#and the idea of anyone in my other fandoms getting upset at me for writing a different ship than usual is laughable

[folklorianhaze]

Guys, I think I… might actually really want to write my first ever elucien fic 👀🙈

I am EXTREMELY nervous to post this because I write a lot of e/riel and I don’t want the people who follow me for those fics to get angry at me for wanting to try writing something else or a different dynamic 😅 I genuinely like both ships a lot and I want to continue to write for both, but some people in this fandom can be so all or nothing and it’s kind of scary and the negativity is a little exhausting sometimes lol

Idk I’m still debating it and whether or not me wanting to do something different creatively is worth me potentially receiving harassment for it 🥲

[frownyalfred]

Why is it so hard to find ppl that actually understand bruce? I am tired of either finding ppl that see him as an abuser or others that only love wfa version of him I am really tired of this like really I can't even join a Fandom without getting my favorite character not getting mischaracterized left and right 😔

I'm going to rant a little bit here, and I apologize in advance. This isn't really directed at you. But I'm kind of tired of this flavor of ask. I get it a lot -- half of these asks are praising me for having a "good" interpretation of canon, and the other half are blasting me for being too "fanon" and bending too much to fandom tropes in my posts and writing. And of course the nonstop WFA hatred in my inbox is tiring.

Be the change you want to see in the world. If you don't like what the fandom is doing to your blorbo, write him your way. But sitting at the edge of the playpen complaining about how someone else is playing with their toys isn't useful. And it's really getting annoying to me, as a content creator.

I'm also tired of the superiority some canon-adherents have over those who write/draw more fanon tropes. So many of you are SO bitter over the idea that fandom is "ruining" Bruce or your other Batfamily blorbo because how DARE they write your blorbo in that way that is so OOC. How DARE they! And yet, you sit on the sidelines and create bitchy tumblr posts about how those fandom participants are stupid, or ill-informed, or simply don't have the higher thinking ability to understand your blorbo like you do.

And yet. You don't write Bruce the way you "enjoy." You don't create content or share posts or promote those canon characteristics you so highly value. Instead, you write posts complaining about the others in this fandom and deride them for being stupid like adhering to canon strictly somehow makes you better than anyone else. You mock their acceptance of fanon tropes as canon as if there is required reading in this fandom, entirely dismissing the idea that the line between DC fanon/canon is confusing as hell on a good day, and ignoring that the natural progression of engaging in fandom is finding out -- sometimes on your own timeline -- what actually happened in canon. Especially when canon is so vast.

And guess what? At the end of the day, we are all on the fandom website(s). You're still reading fanfiction at the end of the day. Canon or fanon or some blend of the in-between, you are still a fan participating in fandom content in some way or another. And we are all equal in that respect.

We are all here to enjoy these characters. Fanfiction is a medium that allows us to further explore canon, yes, But it is also a way to explore the OOC, the what-if's, the out of character but fandom-fave ideas and tropes people want. The fact that OTHER people enjoy those things should never impact your enjoyment of fandom.

If you cannot handle someone else playing with the same toys as you, but playing with them in a way you don't like, you need to go back to preschool. And if someone won't give you your toy back, find another one. Write the story. Create the post. Build your own engagement from the ground up, finding likeminded people if you can. They are definitely on here.

But I get the impression that when people complain about fanon "ruining" fandom, what they're actually saying is "I'm upset that canon content isn't as popular as fanon content." And that, I can't help you with. We can't always change what other people love or want to engage with.

I'm sorry that this rant is blunt, but it's been simmering inside me for a while. I'm really tired of getting and deleting this ask 15 times a day. You will not find much sympathy on this blog for canon purism and the derision of fanon/fandom, and for that I apologize. But it's the truth.

I enjoy consuming content about both "fanon" and canon Bruce. I like the contrast and complexities. But I have seriously had to stop following a ton of blogs in the last year who don't create "canon" content anymore and instead spend their time complaining about other people in the fandom who are just enjoying themselves and creating their own content. It's incredibly disheartening and frustrating.

[simpjaes]

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏❤︎ SIMPJAES WRITING TIPS ͏❤︎

hello! I realize how often I get asked to provide tips for new writers and here I am making a full post for it so that way I can always have something to refer people to! So, here's my personal tips with writing. they might not work for everyone, but these are all things I do or have done when starting out.

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏❤︎ ACCESSIBILITY.

• something I always do, and literally beg other people to do: please put works over 1k under a read more bar. not just for the ease of scrolling for others, but because when you don't you end up forcing anyone and everyone to scroll your work. this is not being mindful as there are minors who may run across your fics and you should not be allowing it to be that available for them to witness. better yet, force them to scroll through it. • see the gradient text titling this post? this is cute, it's fun, pretty to look at, but keep in mind not everyone uses light mode like i do, they may not be able to see the darker parts of my text because of this. same goes the other way around. maintain visibility if you're trying to make your fics legible. not everyone has the best eyesight either, keep that in mind when making your posts and trying to make them pretty. • tag. your. fics. properly. in. the. content. section. of. your. work. do not censor your trigger words, be blatant and honest about what you are posting so that people do not find themselves shocked or upset if you happen to write darker fics. • also tag your fics properly within the tag area of your post. do not tag every member on your post if they aren't in the fic. it will more often than not annoy people rather than get them to read your work. additionally: i wouldn't tag hard hours under the smut tags unless it's actually relating to smut or is long enough to be considered a drabble. Otherwise, tag it under the hard hours tag for your fandom, not the common fic tags. • no, you don't need a banner or "cover" for your fic though I will say that it helps tremendously to include a visual alongside it. many gif makers here do not want their work involved with smut though, so be sure to make your own banners or gifs and do not use someone else's images without their permission.

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏❤︎ IDEAS & OUTLINING

• How do you come up with new ideas? typically, for me at least, ideas come naturally or when I get some sort of inspiration and build off of it. Many times, inspiration comes from a lyric or a scene in a movie. Other times, it can come from something as cringy as a dream, or a funny conversation with friends. You can even base your fics off of your real life, just be careful with that if you're sharing them publicly, as with anything personal, it's not always fun to share with everyone. • how do you start to flesh out an idea? I have different methods but my first tip is to keep your notes app open on your phone and write down literally any and every idea possible. whether it's for a new fic idea, or one you're already working on. Often times just a few words is enough to remember your state of mind at the time and inspire you all over again when you get to it. fleshing it out is different. my primary way of doing this goes in this exact order: ➤͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏write a few paragraphs that would sum up the entire fic in a document. from start to finish, summarize it however you need to. it does NOT need to be perfect.➤͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏give it a title and a make a banner. ➤͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏i always write the fic synopsis at this point, it helps me stay on track and stick to the plot. if I go off track anyway, I just change the synopsis lmfao. ➤͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏take your previous paragraph of ideas and one sentence at a time, start outlining each portion.

ex paragraph: jake is always alone, and it's driving him mad. so mad that he seeks the company of a familiar face that would never, ever, expect to see him again. Strangely enough, your curiosity upon your ex best friend's ex boyfriend contacting you drives you to places you never thought you'd go (his house.)

➤͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏now ask yourself questions: why is jake alone? why is he going mad? what makes him seek company? why does he choose you? how does he contact you? what happens after he contacts you? what is the point of view? how do you as the reader feel when he contacts you? where does this lead?

all of that is the very start of an outline. from there you can start fleshing out scenes vs. filler in as much or as little detail as you like.

example of outline: ① ➤͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏scene of jake alone in his room wallowing in his thoughts. angst angst angst filler. talk about his dynamic with his ex girlfriend and why he's so lonely at this point. move forward to his relationship with reader and explain why she's on his mind too. ② ➤͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ jake texting you, blah blah blah, you give him the run around but he seems really desperate. not for like...sex or anything, he genuinely just seems lonely. you're curious despite, you know, being well aware that if your ex bestie found out, she'd beat the fuck out of you. cute flirting for like a few weeks via text. ③ ➤͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏three weeks pass, you and jake are kinda flirty via text but it always ends abruptly. he's....very sad, like a lost puppy. you might sort of have some sort of crush. explain reader's point of view, her dynamic with jake before vs. now. she ends up texting him after he dips on his previous flirting again, being blatant and forward with him about it. "why do you keep flirting then acting like im weird when i flirt back?" etc etc etc, you get the point. I'm not seriously going to sit here and flesh out an entire outline i made up just now and don't intend to ever write, sorry KJFHDSKJ

• Do i need an outline? hell no you don't. sometimes it's better to just take your initial idea and run with it. my best advice here is to do a first draft. free write, as in: write without fixing anything, go wherever your mind takes you, then when you're done for the day just leave it be and come back with fresh eyes. if you like where it's going, keep going. if you don't, boom, second draft.

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏❤︎ WRITING PROCESS

• don't be hard on yourself. no one is looking at your fic but you right now. try any and all ideas, shift scenes around, change whatever you want. it doesn't matter if it's not what you promised. you are the writer. • you may notice that i rarely proof read my works, you can search for a beta/editor if you'd like. just make sure they know the time frame you'd like for your fic to be posted and set some boundaries so they don't end up insulting your work. for instance, in the past, i only allow editors to fix typos, sentence flow, and grammatical errors. i do not ever allow them to comment on plot changes, character changes, etc. • don't want an editor but also don't want your fic to be full of typos? the best I can offer is: every time you finish writing for the day/night and pick up on another day...re-read everything you previously wrote. not only does this help get you into the right mindset, you can catch typos and errors along the way. • not every fic needs research, sorry. If you're writing a smut fic and you intend to focus on smut, just let people know you may have incorrect information regarding whatever. for instance: i like religion kink because i hate religion. because I hate religion, i do not do research on it and use the knowledge i know and what i grew up with. I make that loud and clear to everyone. It's kind of bitchy and lazy though, not gonna lie. but again, if it's smut, people are there for the porn anyway, and not the ins and out of the career one of your characters has.

• TALK TO YOURSELF. Speak the dialogue out loud, yes, even the dirty talk. This is the best way to determine if something sounds awkward.

• this is more of a me thing but, avoid using "y/n" in dialogue. more often than not, this is where it gets very very cringe. In reality, you do not need "y/n" as an indicator that your name is being said or called. You can change that part from dialogue to "He/she/they call(s) your name." or "You hear your name in a broken voice as you swiftly turn, only to find no one there."

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏❤︎ MOTIVATION

• Motivation is hard and not every method works for me. Meaning, it probably won't work for everyone else either. What I do is: i write fics in my head before going to sleep. I listen to songs that remind me of the fic. I re-read feedback from previous fics. If you've not written one yet, the best move here is to discuss it with a trusted friend.

• do not allow numbers, notes, likes, anonymous messages, or any form of "popularity" force you to write something you're not in the mood to write. sometimes we just need a break, and it's okay to break promises. people want fics you loved writing, not the ones you suffered for to get through.

• IGNORE ENTITLEMENT. This will kill your motivation more than anything else imo, and it will fucking destroy your confidence.

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏❤︎ HATE ON TUMBLR DOT COM

• first and foremost, block and ignore any and every hateful or entitled anonymous (or not) person in your inbox. I'm not joking, if you respond to them, you will have your friends defending you but at the end of the day, it does nothing but generate negativity and pity. I answer my hate from time to time too, but at the end of the day, it's more like a slap in the face to the hateful anons when you ignore them and continue to be happy. do not let them feel like they have power over your emotions or mood, even if they do. do NOT let them dictate what you want to write and do not be a people pleaser. you are doing enough already by making attempts to write. you don't owe anyone anything.

• relating to the last point, eventually you just grow numb to it. the bigger your blog grows, the more people will hate you for one reason or another. stay kind, try not to let it make you a miserable bitch like I was at one point. focus on the plethora of love you can and will receive.

• don't resent or send anons to other writers either. so what if their fic did more numbers? so what if they didn't follow you? so what? so what? being a writer on this site has a lot of down sides to it, and the writing community + all the shit that comes with it can really be exhausting. My best advice to you is to remember that this is tumblr. nothing more, nothing less. it's not the end of the world if someone dislikes you, and it's not the end of someone else's world if you dislike them. feeding into that energy ruins the entire environment for everyone.

That's all I have for now! Feel free to ask anything else, i'll do my best to answer and add it here! I am open to giving advice on designing and editing your banners btw, i'm not some bitch ass gatekeeper. i will go into more depth with all of this too, such as "how do i write a good synopsis?", "how do you know when your fic is finished?", or "how do i start the fic in a way that's interesting?" etc etc etc

[theglassesgirl]

Calypso vs Antinous: A Tale of Two Villains

I know this is such a weird topic for me to come back for after not blogging for months, especially I’ve never spoken on this fandom here, as opposed to TikTok. But precisely BECAUSE tiktok is so limiting, even if you make various videos on a topic, someone won’t have all the context and the comment system of that app is pure ass so here I am

Calypso and Antinous are two (out of three!) of the MAJOR villains in the Wisdom Saga, however, both these villains have produced polarizing discourse that has fascinated yet confounded me. On Calypo’s end, she is a villain who many are made upset by when she is interpreted as the villain she is (in varying degrees). On Antinous’s end, he is a villain who many are made upset by when he is interpreted as anything BUT the villain he is (in various extremes). What on earth happened here?

I’ll try to dissect what has transpired as i have come to understand both situations.

PLEASE try to read through the end, but if you like, you are also more than welcome to just focus on one section if you don’t care for both discourses or how i think one affects the other. I totally get it. KEEP IN MIND, that i might speak about something you haven’t PERSONALLY seen, but as i often say in fandom, just because YOU didn’t see it, doesn’t mean it didn’t HAPPEN. It adds context to why/how certain fans are reacting as they are. You could be in one camp, and never have seen what the other camp has, so at any point where youre reading and saying to yourself “is this a thing that happened?” Consider that it did indeed, happen, and you are welcome to expand your knowledge on the subject.

ANY comments that go “you have no idea what your talking about/this isn’t true/i’ve never seen this/when did this happen(sarcastically)” will not be answered and you will be blocked, because it is clear you are not actually open to discussion. You’ve made up your mind about these characters and topics, and my time, at least, is valuable.

GENUINE questions like “I didn’t know this/when did this happen (genuine)/can you explain this point more” are more than welcome. I will absolutely entertain character interpretation as well, so long as we’re not trying to “convince” one another, as that isn’t the point of this post. These are two villains who i find fascinating and am wondering why are being treated so differently in discourse spaces.

For Calypso:

I truly and HONESTLY believe that because Calypso is a unique (and lovable! Mind you!) villain, it had led to many of her newer fans to feel uncomfortable with her role in the story. I have seen numerous sides of her discourse and have come with a few iron-clad rules: it is ONLY acceptable to call someone out if they are harassing Wangui, calypo’s VA (which has NOT happened as i am writing this out) OR if an anti-calypso comes into SOMEONE ELSE’s post saying anything like “if you like calypso then you condone her actions” because as what we sane people know, that is just a silly fallacy, OR if they start shit in a cosplayers/fanfic writer/fanartists comment section. ASIDE from these instances, i will be speaking on what none sense has transpired about how Calypso is portrayed in the Musical within her first song, and her future song, because BOTH have been used for utter bias.

A few things to debunk:

FIRST Calypso is NOT cursed to fall in love with anyone who comes across her island. That is a Percy Jackson ONLY addition that has no bearings on her actions in the musical or the original poem.

ALSO though Calypso CANONICALLY RAPES Odysseus for seven years in the original poem, the CHILDREN from that abuse only really exist in secondary sources/works. They NOT in the original poem.

Having said that:

The Ambiguity of Calypso’s actions in both of her songs means that everyone is right when they speculate on what she has done. Odysseus was trapped on her island against HIS will for seven years. He is canonically seen refusing her advances, trying to kill himself, and begging her to let him go and leave him alone. These are UNDISPUTED facts. As such, regardless of how YOU personally choose to interpret Calypso actions, she will always have a CANONICAL victim in the musical. I feel people are forgetting Odysseus when they speak on Calypso and that’s the whole point of her existence in the poem and the musical.

This leads directly into WHY there has been arguments about Calypso’s character. In the POEM, she very much sexually assaults Odysseus for seven long years. He is seen crying nightly and begging to be free. In the MUSICAL, Jorge has decided to leave the situation ambiguous - which, i have seen, does not sit well with current fandom culture. NEW fans of Calypso seem to be very adamant about NOT interpreting Calypso as a rapist, in levels that range for they’re just not comfy with it so decided not to head canon her as such, to other very concerningly speaking about rape survivors in such a way to justify liking a villain when you dont HAVE to justify liking a villain at any point at all ever.

Let’s break it down.

Those who just don’t like the idea of Calypso being a rapist in the MUSICAL are valid. It’s very easy to block and avoid those who have chosen to explore this aspect of her in the musical because they can and are allowed to. I am very pro-finding a space in fandom where you can talk about Calypso without HAVING to mention she might have raped someone. She’s still a villain for having kept Odysseus captive for seven years, but it’s not important. You are more than allowed to love villains, and without the rape aspect, Calypso’s villainy boils down to her physiological and emotionally torturing Odysseus while physically kidnapping him. That’s still ALOT of bad stuff to unpack, if you so want to. You could also not want to! It doesn’t hurt anyone, and anyone who says it does is not being intellectually honest.

The PROBLEM that I’m seeing, is that many of her newer fans…DONT want Calypso to be seen as a villain. At all. Which…is not how fandom works, I’m sorry to say.

While some EPIC fans have interpreted Calypso of being manipulative / selfish even in their most sympathetic analysis of the story (and the current song), others are treating these interpretation as wholly incorrect and somehow a form of harassment. The main caveat to this reaction appears to be, as TikTok puts it, “That Calypso DOESN’T SA Odysseus on the musical”

As we have pointed out, Calypso canonically rapes Odysseus in the poem, while it’s ambiguous in the musical. As we have ALSO pointed out, the ambiguity of the musical allow ALL INTERPRETATIONS to be correct. Something about the RAPE aspect of Calypso’s characterization in this musical, however, is the primary reason this discourse has happened.

Now, as i have said earlier. You are in your RIGHT to not head canon Calypso has a rapist in the musical. In the same vein others also have a RIGHT to head canon Calypso AS a rapist in the musical. But from what I’ve seen, it’s when others interpret Calypso as a rapist that newer Calypso fans leave comments about they’re not “interpreting the story correctly” and not “Judging calypso based on Jorge’s vision” and at first i found it funny…now it’s a bit concerning.

There are two instances that come to mind. One tiktoker made a video where she was in tears saying that it made HER SAD that people were “judging Calypso wholly based on outside sources material” which is disingenuous. As i have said before, even without the RAPE aspect of Calypso, which i will go further into what her newer fans consider “rape”, she is still an antagonist within the musical - she is a villain who keeps Odysseus against his will. To claim that they are calling her a villain for that reason alone is a blatant and useless addition to the discourse. I did not care for it at all. It would have been MUCH MORE constructive for this tiktoker to say that even though Calypso is a villain, the sexual assault is up to individual interpretation, and as all interpretations are valid, it’s better to find people who agree with your head canons rather than start fights with people who don’t share yours. This tiktoker very poorly worded the discourse as a one-sided thing where one side is wrong, and that is simply not true.

ANOTHER tiktoker, who wisely turned off comments because such discussions are impossible on the app, worryingly claimed that a line in Not Sorry for Loving You was absolute PROOF that Calypso did not “rape” Odysseus so it was wrong to interpret her as such, because, and this is a loose quotation “i don’t think Jorge would make Odysseus say something like that HAD Calypso done that to him” which unfortunately leaves fandom discourse into REAL WORLD victim discourse. Holy shit. The line she is referring to is when Odysseus calms Calypso down when she is in the middle of explaining her actions by saying “Calypso i love you, but not the way you want me to” to this tiktoker, it seems illogical for a rape victim to every say these kinds of things to their rapist…which is….NOT it. At all. Fiction, as beautiful as it is, is meant for you to QUESTION “huh…how would this impossible fictional scenario work? What makes this compelling?” It is NOT meant for you to attribute your REAL WORLD assumptions onto a FICTIONAL SCENARIO in order to justify you liking a villain character when you dont HAVE to justify it. You can like Calypso! It’s only weird when you make real-world comparisons like this because a rape victim can and HAS said as much and even more to their rapists in known history. *bonks you* dont do what this person did! Fiction allows you to explore situation that would be traumatizing outside of it in as safe and consensual way! You CANNOT and should NOT ascribe your personal biases on sensitive topics for FICTIONAL characters. That’s not how this works. “real victim wouldn’t x, so fictional wouldn’t y” is a ludicrous statement! You can’t back it up with facts! “Fictional victim does x, so i wonder if there ever would be a situation where a real victim would do y, and would like educate myself on the topic” IS what fiction was made for! OPENing your mind, not closing it for stupid reasons.

But it got me thinking. BECAUSE these fans anchor their arguments on the rape of Odysseus, even when they themselves DONT consider it, what exactly do they consider rape, and why is that ONE act Calypso may or may not do the ONLY reason to call her a villain when she is one, regardless.

Well, I’ve seen a lot of back and forth. Some anti-calypso’s are okay with the idea that Calypso is more of a “kissy-face” monster, a silly villain who, having no concept of what actual love is and what your supposed to do with someone you love, thinks hugging and kissing is the only thing on the table. It still makes this version of Calypso something of a sex pest and is still in line with sexual assault as we see Odysseus is miserable. The gravity of the situation is based entirely on funny fanfics to Odysseus canonically trying to kill himself because of Calypso’s affection. This interpretation (shockingly enough) is also hated by some new Calypso fans.

Because from what i have gathered. “SA” as used in TikTok, had been boiled down to a literal forced insertion of Odysseus’s dick in Calypso’s vagina. Not the literal words “sexual assault” which is an umbrella term for multiple things. But in this discourse “SA” has JUST been used for the ACT of rape itself. That is what new Calypso fans think is criminal. That is what they entirely base her villainy on. Because we will NEVER get confirmation on whether this happened, it’s impossible to engage with some of the newer fans, who dislike attributing Calypso with the villain title because of this one thing and this one thing alone. Any other line, from Calypso saying “and I’m sorry if i pushed you, or if i came on too strong” in her next song, or even her saying “in bed we will climb” is, for some reason, not grounds for others to be allowed to interpret her as, at the very least, assaulting Odysseus physically and sexually in a way without having to have actually raped him. It boggles my mind. Truly. But every argument i have seen has boiled down to the newer fans saying “welllllll, we dont know the context, and Odysseus said —“ when i have already explained that none of that matters. All interpretations are valid. You CANNOT say with certainty that she did or didn’t rape Odysseus. That’s the POINT. You can’t PROVE either, stop TRYING to, it’s YOUR choice and your interpretation can be backed by lyrics/official animatics, but it is hardly an absolute.

It has become a GROWING problem that in videos where Calypso is portrayed negatively, there are at least a dozen newer calypso fans who have to bring up how she is sympathetic, and therefore, not a villain. Which is not true. She is the MOST compelling villain in the epic musical, thus far.

These “fans” say that she absolutely didn’t rape Odysseus which is theory, not fact. And not a theory that can become fact. In the same way that saying she absolutely did rape is can not become fact. They appear to believe everything outside of this hypothetical act, nothing else she does is deserving of her title as a villain, and start arguments in non discourse posts about all the ways she’s sympathetic when it goes hand in hand with what makes her a compelling villain antagonist.

There’s also a newer cope saying that it’s all Zeus’s fault anyway, which has NO bearings on the conversation as, again, despite Zeus being a dick and allowing Odysseus live while not necessarily enabling him returning to Ithaca, it’s still up to Calypso on how she acts towards HER captive. And she straight up chooses violence lmao. Athena asks for “Devine intervention” to an impossible situation, regardless of if it was Zeus’s actions that led to it, it’s also up to him to “untie apprehensions” because Calypso, being a goddess, has complete control over whether Odysseus can leave and SHE won’t. She has to be ORDERD to. By a HIGHER power. Zeus.

Such argumentations as “well if YOU were in Calypso’s situation, wouldn’t you also do the same” are useless fallacies to get into, because you are NOT a goddess who owns an island and is in possession of a man who does not love you. Even if you were, guess what, it still makes you the antagonist. A villain. A knowing one or not.

In fact, since I LIKE interpretations that Calypso isn’t psychologically torturing Odysseus ON PURPOSE, i go as far as to say that her being a genuine goddess who wants love is in fact…..so much more painful, narratively. Because that means she is INCAPABLE of ever being a good person. Her loneliness and fear of being unloved makes her utterly blind to Odysseus’s misery. She HEARS him saying constantly that he misses his family, that all he hears are screams, and that SHE doesn’t know him, but she in turn CANNOT get passed this because she is, at her core, unable to, and thus accidentally triggers him constantly, is delusional about her island being paradise, AND convinces herself that her love is real (when it is not) and that Oddy will love her back if she keeps trying.

THAT is what you call a compelling villain!

As in all Calypso stories. There is NEVER a moment of clarity where Calypso realizes “if i actually love this person, i should let him go” in the musical HERMES is tasked in telling her to let him go. And she, as in all her other stories, goes on a tirade to explain/justify her actions, however you wish to see her being manipulative or honest. Regardless of how you choose to SEE calypso, at the end of the day, she has NO RIGHT to be upset at Odysseus because he was her captive. And REGARDLESS of whether Odysseus’s words are interpreted as him forgiving her, or just placating her, at the end of the day, he is her victim and she ends her next song upset that he is willingly leaving her once he got the chance. With absolutely no hope of him returning her feelings. It’s not his job to make her feel better, she IS an antagonist, and you are allowed to love her no matter how that might upset others. It is ONLY a problem when you take it to such extremes that you are in other peoples comments acting as if Calypso is a real person who needs defending. You are more than in your right to block people who come into YOUR videos accusing you of somehow being a bad person because you like a bad person. That’s not how fiction works.

Once again. My analysis of the Calypso debacle is that for some, calling Calypso a villain upsets them. Because they like her, and they are uncomfortable with the idea of liking a villain. This is a personal grievance that shouldn’t boil into fandom. Know your truth, have fun. You CAN make silly calypso videos. Many have. Her song is a bop, the meaning of the song is hilariously dark compared to the composition. Jorge did his job VERY well. Too well, that the idea of liking Calypso feels either / or when it’s not. TRUST that i would not be on the side of anyone who says “if you like calypso, youre evil”, but I HAVE seen a pattern that because Calypso is likable, than several people have made it their confused mission to tell everyone who is “mean to her” that “if you DISLIKE calypso, YOU are evil”. That’s bizarre to me. Calypso does enough evil actions in the musical to warrant that title regardless of the reasons for her actions, whether she is being purposely malicious or unconsciously so due to her lack of socialization. Being weird about real life SA survivors for a fictional character is never acceptable. For or against Calypso, whether she is a rapist or not, it is up to YOU to find like minded people who share your interpretation, not to argue with people who disagree with you in their own space. She isn’t real. Get over it.

ANYONE WHO HARASSES WAGNUI, COSPLAYERS, OR GOES INTO POSITIVE CALYPSO INTERPRETATION SPACES TO BE PURPOSELY MEAN* ARE WRONG. Otherwise. Leave them alone, they are as valid as you are. “Defending” a character is a waste of time when you could be creating for them. Calypso is a compelling villian antagonist regardless of how uwu or vile you choose to make her. Thus is the beauty of fiction.

(*purposely mean, would, logically, be someone calling you an idiot or a rape apologist for headcanoning her in a positive way. The ideal interaction with a negative calypso interpreter would be “i dont see her this way, but i understand/like your headcanon”)

WHICH BRINGS US TO Antinous:

Hilariously enough. Antinous has the complete INVERSE problem as Calypso, which was also detailed in her section for fairness sake at multiple points, and this problem is much easier to understand. Antinous is a villian antagonist in the musical Epic, and in his debut in the wisdom saga, he is shown (like calypso) to be in direct opposition to Telemachus and Penelope’s goal.

He alludes to sexual assault much more clearly than calypso. He calls Penelope a tramp to her son’s face AND suggests he let them into her room “so [they] can have fun with her” which is in the same vein as calypso saying “soon in bed we will climb” to Odysseus later on that “you (Odysseus) are mine all mine” in her own song. Like calypso, it is told to us that Antinous has been having this kind of vibe for FIVE YEARS* (a fan pointed this out to me! read here🙏🏼) as opposed to calypso’s seven years. Everyone is, usually, in agreement that Antinous is a villain in the wisdom saga and in the overall Epic musical.

Antinous’s VA is ON TikTok, and has spoken about how happy he is that fans consider him a talented person who did a spectacular rendition of such a villainous character. AND YET.

Inversely from what we saw in the Calypso section, where some of her fans are against the notion of her being portrayed as the antagonist she is, for Antinous we have MANY fans claiming that others are not ALLOWED to portray him as anything BUT an antagonist. Unlike with Calypso, where people circularly argue that her allusions to sexual assault are “too ambigous” and lead to much senseless debate on whether you’re “allowed” to like her or call her a villian, with ANTINOUS, there is this claim that he ABSOLUTELY is alluded to sexual assault and therefore, cannot be liked or treated as anything other than a villain.

As i have discussed AT LENGTH in Calypso’s section, this argumentation is pure fallacy.

There have been NUMEROUS thirst videos that have rightfully said that DESPITE the actions of the character, they still think Antinous is hot and likable (the Gaston affect, if you will). Even WITHOUT the disclaimer, it is OF COURSE understood that Antinous fans are NOT rape apologists. That is a ridiculous assumption that serves only to kill any interpretation that someone else can rightfully have.

It’s utterly devoid of nuance or actual knowledge of how to play within fandom and interact w characters.

There have been SEVERAL posts calling Antinous fans delusional for liking him and “reminding” the fandom that he is a bad guy. This serves no purpose and is utterly useless to the discourse. Antinous being a bad guy is not debated. This is factual. It doesn’t (or shouldn’t, because we cannot speak in absolutes) hurt anyone’s feelings to see an Antinous videos depicting him as the villain he is. Like with Calypso it is ONLY acceptable to call someone out if they are harassing Ayron Alexander, Antinous’s VA (which has NOT happened as i am writing this out) OR if an anti-Antinous comes into SOMEONE ELSE’s post saying anything like “if you like Antinous then you condone his actions” because as what we sane people know, that is just a silly fallacy, OR if they start shit in a cosplayers/fanfic writer/fanartists comment section.

Otherwise. Who cares that someone is saying Antinous is a villain? Block the no fun police and enjoy analysis from others who choose to see him purely as what he is, if you want. If you dont, block them to, it’s your space. You have a RIGHT to headcanon Antinous however you want, even make up AUs for him where he’s nice or lives and gets a happy ending, SO LONG AS you’re not in other people’s posts going actually Antie is my uwu child and he did nothing wrong. Cuz then youre just being dumb. And annoying. Fandom is already impatient with genuine disagreement, being a smart ass gets your head dunked in a toilet. I used to think this was common sense.

(And in case you didn’t read the Calypso section, or didn’t see enough of it there, this IS the appropriate response to people who address newer fans of her as rape apologists too, its in her section, i just also thought it was important to touch on the stranger phenomena of her other fans refusing to call her a villain because it makes them personally uncomfortable - it’s very interesting as Calypso is a female antagonist while Antinous being a male antagonist is being treated very differently for the same subject. In any case, it’s a disservice to either character and Jorge’s narrative to get upset about the very real fact that BOTH of these characters are villain antagonists.)

The very CURRENT discourse surrounding Antinous is that he was recently shipped with Telemachus.

The animator for Apollo’s section of God Games was harassed to such a point that she had to make a public apology regarding her ALTERNATE UNIVERSE scenario. And i, personally, think that’s bullshit.

There have been accusations that she was being insensitive to sexual assault survivors, and that she made a dark joke, all of which she addressed in her apology IN ADDITION to her explaining that she is ALSO a survivor of child sexual assault. She took down her work. DESPITE all of this, there are still others who continue to harass her, and claim that they dont want “a rape creator” in THEIR fandom. To those people: you don’t speak for any of us. In the same way you can claim not to believe that the animator is a survivor, i have no reason to consider your concerns in any way shape or form as being in service of victims. It is absolutely not your call, when blocking and scrolling on will ALWAYS be an option for YOU.

Even in the event someone writes Antonio’s fan fiction keeping his canon personality and characterization in a non-canon divergent way it is not grounds to harass people.

In addition to this animator, there have been SEVERAL Antinous shippers who have expressed disappointment that she was essentially harassed into a corner, as they also liked the ship and the AU she created. These people are NOT “weird” they are allowed to express themselves creatively, and if you disagree, dont even bother with leaving any sort of response — i wont read it, my time is important. Stay in your echo chamber. Even if it wasn’t an AU, and someone wants to write for Antinous as he is in the narrative, they are more than allowed to do so. Dark fiction isn’t going to traumatize you or give you cooties. Grow up.

I am MUCH more willing to ride with Antinous shippers than i ever will be with fans who attempt to control how a character is interpreted by others. Because to ship Antinous with anyone, AU or otherwise, you have to have an UNDERSTANDING of why this would be a compelling thing to write/make fanart for. He is an evil character, and it would be FASCINATING to see him in fictional scenarios that (like in the calypso section) lead us to as WHY this would be an appealing and interesting take on someone. It’s OKAY to do it in fiction. He isn’t REAL. It’s not hurting EVERYONE. And more so than with calypso, it IS understood that Antinous HAS victims in Penelope and Telemachus There’s no senseless debate on what he is, a villain, no one is arguing he is a uwu babygirl so please sympathize w him, it’s inherently understood even among his FANS.

This is why find Antonio’s and Calypso’s discourses so polarizing. Because no one is getting offended or arguing that Antinous only acts villainously because of some tragic backstory or sympathetic reason. It would be absurd to.

That’s the appeal of a lovable villain. Because like Calypso, Antinous IS lovable, but in such a different way that you have fans treating both characters as if they’re polar opposite when at the very LEAST, there’s on the same bracket, just different ends of them. Telemachus/Penelope and Odysseus’s plights are being MIRRORED in parallel.

THAT is what floors me about these two discourses. That they are functionally THE SAME yet are being treating as if they aren’t. I’m positive that there is an Antinous fan who detests Calypso in the same way there is a Calypso fan who detests Antinous. These are called biases. Once you KNOW your own bias, it is up to YOU to act right according to them.

You are responsible for your OWN fyp.

The Epic fandom had yet to experience such backwards discourse as this, and I wouldn’t expect Jorge or any of the VAs to dignify such trivial discourse with a response. If you’re the type to bring it up to them, you’re being awful. The popular fandom Epic tiktokers are already way too involved as it is. And even they are getting things wrong.

It almost feels remiss to say that in the NARRATIVE of the musical, both Calypso and Antinous are villian antagonists, while outside of the narrative they become dolls you can play with however you like, so long as we are not in each others comments being obtuse. I don’t expect any of my essay to even make it to a larger part of the fandom. But i HAD to get my ideas written down, because if you don’t see someone else connecting the dots you have, you have to present them yourself. Very “can’t we all just get along?” But hopefully, not as insufferable nor one-sides as others might have been. I tried to bring up ideas/points that i have not seen discussed about these two villains and why they seem to connect and go hand in hand.

Why is Calypso, as a female antagonist, given more grace than Antinous, a male antagonist, who is very firmly given none at all. It very well could be just how they were presented, and if so, ask yourself WHY these villains were presented so differently. What purpose do they serve? What are they trying to accomplish? These are questions more suited for actual fandom collaboration that is being drowned out by circular arguements. It feels like homework, instead of knee-jerk reacting to interpretations unlike your own.

To ME, these two characters are two sides of the same coin. (though I DO think it’s funny that the NEUTRAL phrase to refer to either character is “I hate them BUT” because in reasonable fandoms, this is understood inherently….but in this fandom such decorum seems to be lost? For some reason?? Wisdom saga has brought out a lack of wisdom, I fear.) This is the kind of purity culture that suggest you can’t LIKE a character of their a villain, so you go out of your way to argue they aren’t, or that no one else should like them: that’s bonkers. You might disagree and it might even upset you, but that’s a you problem to have.

Having said that, and if you are POSITIVE that you want to engage in conversation with me, you are welcome to do so.

[fluxweeed]

hi i'm a grouchy old hag muttering to myself in my hut in the woods

1. not everyone finds it hurtful to find out that people are discussing their fic in private discord servers or on tiktok, actually. i for one passionately don't care that people aren't only mentioning my fic where i can see it. ofc i'm curious when one fic gets a sudden unexplained boost in kudos for a few days. am i HURT that i don't know exactly where the new readers are coming from? am i upset that the boost in hits/kudos isn't accompanied with a flurry of praise? am i sad that i can't jump into the discussion? i am not.

2. the messaging of "okay but you wouldn't post the fic if you didn't enjoy validation" makes me want to delete my ao3 immediately kasdjhfg. people post things for all sorts of reasons thank u!! my personal motivation is i'm trying to make myself feel better about making imperfect things!! the idea that by posting fic i'm inherently coming across as seeking praise makes me want to throw up. (since this discussion started, i've considered disabling comments on my fic for this reason – but i'm worried that move is so non-standard that it'll end up coming across even MORE that i want attention 😭)

3. i also pretty firmly disagree with "commenting on fic builds community!" personally i feel the community spirit when i'm in a server discussing which weasley has the biggest dick (percy). i don't feel it when people are being nice to me in my fic's comments. i'd almost go as far as to say community CAN'T be built when one person is praising another bc there's an inherent imbalance. sure, writers can mutually read and comment on each other's fic and become friends/community co-members that way, but what if u don't write? who's in YOUR comments telling u how great u are? idk about anyone else, but when i am in a community space (like a discord server) and someone starts being nice about my fic, i feel awkward; the focus shifts from a shared enjoyment onto something inherently UNshared, because one person is the creator and the others are readers. that's not to say that these interactions shouldn't happen, but imo it's disingenuous to say that's the core of fandom community.

4. i really can't stress enough how crazy it makes writers when they're writing for praise/validation. i've had conversations with very well-known drarry writers where they've been genuinely upset that nobody is reading their fic (the fic in question had hundreds of comments). i've had conversations with people who take part in fests, only to continually sort the works by stats and feel awful that theirs isn't at the top. i've had conversations with people who have had multiple devastating life events happen to them so they're struggling to write, and the lack of New Fic Comment Validation makes them feel 10x worse. i can't help but feel like if you ARE posting for feedback (or "recognition" or however you want to package it), it's genuinely not good for your brain.

5. obviously there's nuance to all of this! it's a big topic! i'm sure everyone experiences this differently! but notice how we're talking about it on tumblr, not in ao3 comments. it would probably be even more productive in a discord server. in a voice chat. you know – fandom community spaces like that.

6. can y'all keep the next round of discussions to like 700 words max pls lmao i have stuff to do

[chaifootsteps]

With Moxxies origin, wouldn’t it have made more sense if Moxxie just lied about his home ring? This would explain why he didn’t fit in with the wrath imps in harvest moon and wasn’t used to the culture. It would also have more impact to find out he lied to Millie of all people, because it makes you wonder, “why would he do that? He trusts Millie.” And while Millie is upset and questions it, Blitzø understands. A turn around of the usual dynamic.

Moxxie: Oh no, no, I hate this place. I grew up right over there.

Blitzø: I thought wrath was your old stomping grounds Mox?

Moxxie: Shit, busted. Okay. I haven’t been honest. This may be hard to believe, but I didn’t grow up on a ranch in the wrath fields.

Blitzø: Thats actually not hard to believe. I get it. I’m a greed imp too. Not the prettiest place.

Moxxie: I didn’t know that.

(After meeting Crimson)

Millie: Mox, why did you lie to me about where you’re from, and how come I haven’t met your Pa before?

Moxxie: I just don’t like to talk about this part of my life. I’m ashamed of the things that happened here. I’ll explain everything later Millie.

(Maybe you could add Blitzø telling Millie that some people aren’t proud of their families or where they grew up. This is something Millie struggles to understand, since she’s so proud of her own.)

I feel like there are ways to make new ideas fit with your story, and if they have an obvious inconsistency at first, you can adapt that into characters voicing the same confusion and questions the audience may have. Then just provide an in-universe answer. Book no more explanatory Twitter threads needed for your show.

Don’t just throw shit at the wall and hope it sticks. Or less graphically, don’t paint a wall green then later touch up the paint with blue and call it the same colour. Paint it turquoise.

It makes sense that Moxxie would lie about his home ring since he changed his own name just to hide from it. And that twist even makes the story and conflict better. At the dinner table Millie might even bring this lie up, having Crimson use it to try and drive a wedge between them. Because what else is he lying about? Same with Blitzø going to wrath after leaving Verosika, but in the next episode say to stolas that hes never been there. Both cant be true.

This episode just missed so many marks. On paper, Crimson and Chaz are a good dynamic duo of villains, one serious and dangerous, the other the less scary comic relief. You could have kept Crimsons scene very dark and serious, then after it ends and he goes upstairs to bed, Chaz does the dumb dick jokes. You keep Crimson as a threat, and keep the silliness you wanted, just keep that part focussed on Chaz. That’s what a comic relief is.

I just feel like the show needs consideration of its audience. There are ways to resolve plot holes by adapting the story slightly, even use them to create new reveals and new conflict.

There are absolutely ways to resolve plot holes by adapting the story slightly and ways to paint a green wall turquoise and all of this other extremely good and actionable writing advice. Unfortunately, Viv's solution to writing dilemmas is a mixture of "Do whatever and let the fandom harass anyone who points it out" and "add more rape."

[strip-weathers]

How have your feelings on the fandom as a whole changed?

Oh dear this will be long..but thank you for the ask!

By this answer I don’t hate on anyone and I don’t want to upset anyone! I’m not going to hate on anyone and I’d never do that. I’m just saying my opinion!

And if you gonna read it to the end, thank you so much for that. ❤️ this is also a part of my venting. I felt very scared to say it out loud because I’m scared that people are going to hate on me because of this. I hope you guys won’t and you’ll understand me. 💙

Also if you’d like to discuss on anything I just wrote down, don’t worry and discuss with me about that! Just DM me and we can discuss!

My feelings about this fandom changed a lot. Before, like from 2017 (even lower years) probably to 2021 the fandom was something different. People were kind, respectful, nearly every Cars or Planes blogs got attention and people interacted with them. They were simply enjoying the time being there and also people’s ideas and creations. They were simply talking about head cannons and also enjoying that. And I’ve been happily enjoying that too.

But after that 2021 year, I have a feeling it changed a lot. Lots of well known people left, or they stopped posting maybe because they’re busy in their lives or they just ran out of ideas or they’re not interested in this fandom anymore. And still lot of people quitting and leaving this fandom.

Amount of people on Instagram? Very small. Amount of people on TikTok? Also very small. Amount of people on Tumblr? A little bit more cause probably most of them don’t have Insta. I feel like this fandom is getting smaller and more closed and people don’t want to interact. (Maybe they’re shy? Not sure.)

Also these days there’s one big issue, attention. Lot of attention as likes, comments, shares (reblogs for Tumblr) get only those well known people in the fandom. But not those small accounts or blogs (including me). But why? Why small artists don’t get attention we should get for work we do? Where’s the problem? Maybe the algorithm of the app or the app doesn’t let us be seen on people’s dashboards and fyp? Or is that because we draw something people are not interested in? Or maybe they don’t like us? I’m not sure about that but it’s sad to see it.

I also want people from fandom to know that I’m here. I want them to know that I also like this franchise. I want them to known that I’m drawing and writing about Cars and Planes. I want them to know that I’m also part of this fandom and I want them to know that they can reach me or interact with me without any worries.

And I did find lot of great friends and moots I’m glad and happy for. You guys are amazing and thank you for being in contact with me and interacting with me. I really appreciate it! Also all people who like, share (regblog) or comment my posts, thank you for that!

There’s also another issue in this fandom. Some people who may not be in the fandom (I’m not sure about that) just draw cars or planes randomly and post it and everyone are interacting as hell and it goes viral. And that’s all. But those who are here for longer time (also including me) post as much as they can but they never get any attention and interactions. Why? Where’s the problem? I’m trying to be as active as possible (for example here on Tumblr) and I get some attention (and I appreciate it) but not as much as other artists. I find it very unfair.

And the last one issue is that these days people ship characters that shouldn’t be shipped. 🚫By this part I’m not hating on lgbt community🚫

Yeah, some ships I do understand like Filmore and Sarge or Finn McMissile and Leland Turbo and some other ships. (Dont worry I also can see some cute ships with Cars or Planes and maybe I’ll show them some day owo.) But there are some ships that shouldn’t be. Like Strip and Chick. I’m sorry but in all honesty I hate this ship. You can’t just ship a married race car with mean race car. Why don’t yall give Chick some lady car? Like Natalie? I don’t get why do people ship them.

But I’m not here to hate on anyone! I’m not going to hate on anyone! People can do anything they want and I understand that. But I just don’t get this case and it’s so disturbing for me.

So in overall I sometimes feel like if you’re not friends with well known people in this fandom who would help you get viral, you’re not gonna be famous or well known in this fandom.

Again thank you for reading this into the end and have nice day / night!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for lying about my age to make some new friends?

I (17nb) recently joined a new fandom. I did the usual procedure of finding popular artists and writers, following them, and consuming their content while falling down the famous rabbit-hole. Then I saw one of the artists I liked had a discord server. I joined it bc I saw it as a way to make new fandom friends, get fic recs etc etc

i joined the server and the carl-bot(?) message popped up and a few people waved to it, so it was all on a high-note. Then I checked the rules and saw that it was 18+ members only and anyone found to be below 18 would be kicked. This is where I worry i may be the asshole.

People were already greeting the small flux of new members in the chat (I had joined in a small wave of other new members) and they were all incredibly friendly. I suddenly felt very self-concious about the idea of immediately leaving so soon after joining so, when writing my introduction, I said I was 18.

At the time, it felt like a bit of a white lie - after all, I'm 17 and am oftentimes mistaken for being ~20 online. I don't have my age in any of my socials for internet safety and I've always behaved quite maturely for my age. 18 was the lowest number I could go, and many of my friends are 18, so I know i can at least be friends with other 18 yr-olds.

The issue comes with the fact there is an nsfw channel in the server. Now, I'm on the internet and heavily versed in fandom - i use ao3. I'm not going to cry over a discord server which has an nsfw channel, that's just stupid. The issue is, I am very aware that quite a lot of the members might be uncomfortable with the idea they've been making nsfw jokes or posting nsfw art where a minor can see, no matter how close to an adult that minor is.

I've been doing my best to 'minimalize' the damage - I rarely talk in the nsfw chat and keep quite strictly to the sfw channels instead. It gives me some sense of, idk, decency for what I'm doing.

I've been in the server for several months now and it's a really safe and fun environment - it's discourse-free and everyone is just really great to talk to. I really enjoy being a member. However, I am also aware I'm violating the rules and lying about my age. I fear leaving now, abruptly, might bring attention to me or upset some of the people who I often talk to on the server.

But it also feels like a very tiny offense - I'm not going around, 'disturbing the peace', and kicking up drama. I'm avoiding what I know they wouldn't be comfortable with me seeing and I stay friendly and mature within conversation

So, aita? Should I leave the server or would that just be a dramatic reaction for one white lie?

What are these acronyms?

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

I read your post about not letting kudos and hits upset us. I try to think this way but I'm curious about something else. I've written many fanfics for my fandom and they're all "flop". I don't mind that honestly. But then some writers have written only one fic about the ship I do and and it gets hundreds of kudos. How do some writers achieve that when I'm doing the same and it doesn't get the same response. What else can I do?

I’m afraid I can’t give you a definite answer about what you should do or why this person’s work is more popular, but what I can give you are some advice and, from my experience, some reasons that might explain why other’s works receive more hits and kudos.

start with why other writers’ works are more popular when it’s the same characters, same ship, same fandom. there are various factors at play that might be it;

maybe the person already has large audience base prior to their posting about the fandom you’re in, I know a few authors who already have these sorts of loyal readers that would read any work the authors posted even if they (the readers) were not in that fandom.

maybe someone, anyone, decided share the link to this person’s work on Tumblr or Twitter (X) or any social media platform, and it kind of became viral, thus it drew in lots and lots of readers. it could take just one person, didn’t necessarily have to be the author themself, to share the link among the fandom as a recommendation, or maybe a screenshot of one sentence from the fic that they liked, what happened next is that the replies were filled with people asking for the link.

tags and summary are important factors when people are looking for a fic to read. so maybe this person’s work is tagged with the content people were looking for? maybe their summary grabbed people’s attention or curiosity?

these are just what I can think of over the top of my head.

as for what you can do to gain more readers, I’ve never seen your work so the advice I can give will be a general one; I believe the trick lies in summary, tags as well as the format of one’s work.

when it comes to AO3 (I assume it’s your platform?), tags and summary are the main things people use to determine whether or not they want to click on the fic.

tag your content properly, what characters or pairings it’s about, as well as what the readers will find upon reading your work (you don’t have to spoil it, only the general tags that will give your readers an idea of what they’re in for).

summaries are just as important. there are no “rules” obviously, and I’m not telling you or any writers what to do. though a little advice that I personally take is that you use this little summary section AO3 gives you to do anything to make sure it stands out and that people will see it and want to click on it. that means leave “author’s note” out of the summary section. folks, AO3 summary is the first glimpse into the fic itself that people will see prior to clicking on it, most of the time, people look at the summary to see the author’s writing style and if what’s written, plotwise, grabs their interest. personally, when I see an author use “summary” as a place to write “author’s note”, chances are, I will scroll past that fic as I am interested in what the fic is about, not what the author has to say about their opinion on said fic or their personal life or anything (there’s an author’s note section for that) and if I can’t get a glimpse of what the plot is about or what the author’s writing style is from the summary section, then I won’t click on it, and will look for other fic that can get me interested instead.

moving on to fic format, again, I am not telling anyone what to do here. this is only a suggestion, an advice I’ve learned and want to share: when you write your fic, make sure to use line and paragraph spacing. if your 10k word long fic is one long block of text with no paragraph break, chances are, people will back away from it entirely. also, if it’s two different characters talking with dialogues, don’t put all of their dialogues in one paragraph. for instance, a paragraph for character A’s dialogue, then another separate paragraph for character B’s dialogue and so on.

and I think that’s it for my advice? however, I’ll say this again that the secret to truly enjoying your role as a fanfic writer is that you only focus on yourself. write whatever you want for yourself. it doesn’t matter if this person’s work is more popular, because fanfics and fandoms aren’t a competition. you are your main audience. just have fun creating the stories you want to create for you.

[sequinsmile-x]

You and Me, Forevermore

Three consecutive New Years Eve's that Emily and Aaron spend together.

-x-

Hi besties!

This is very soft, sweet, largely pointless and just a way of me saying thank you for all the love and support from you all this year. This fandom may be small, but it's lovely and wonderful and I adore every single one of you. This is my favourite corner of the internet <3

Writing is my favourite thing to do in the world, and anytime anyone tells me a fic of mine has made them smile, or cry or it's simply provided a distraction in this increasingly horrid world we live in, it makes my day.

Thank you for being here, and I'll continue to be here writing about our favourite idiots for years to come.

For the last time in 2024, please let me know what you think <3

-x-

Warnings: some alcohol consumption, largely just them being soft idiots in love

Words: 4.5k

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

Emily had never been a fan of New Year's parties. 

Of all the parties she’d grown up going to do they had been her least favourite. Long nights where she’d been nothing but an ornament her mother put on display so her friends could tell Emily how much she’d grown in a year, how much she looked like her mother as they asked questions they didn’t care about the answer to just to pass the time. 

She loved the holidays, she always had, but New Year's itself had always felt like an anticlimax. All the promises of being a better person, of making better choices, were gone before January was over. It only ever seemed to feed into the artificial life she’d grown up in where no one said what they actually thought, and no one spoke about anything that felt genuinely important. 

This year felt different. 

She smiles as she looks around Dave’s house, at the team scattered amongst his other friends and acquaintances, and she thinks this might be the first New Year’s party she’d truly enjoy. 

“Princess,” Derek says, getting her attention as he approaches her and Penelope, his smile wide and posture relaxed, “Where’s your guy? I thought you two were glued at the hip these days.” 

She rolls her eyes but can’t fight her smile, and she looks over her shoulder and smiles as her eyes catch Aaron’s where he’s standing at the bar, and she gives him a small wave, “He’s getting me a drink.” 

Penelope squeals, like she always did when she encountered Emily and Aaron’s relationship outside of work, and she quickly clears her throat, “Sorry, I’m still not used to how cute you two are.” 

“Please don’t call Hotch cute,” Derek replies, faking a shudder as he sips his beer and winks at Emily, “I can’t picture him that way.” 

If Derek had made that comment even a few months ago, Emily would have felt her shackles rise. Out of everyone, he’d been the one to take the news of her and Aaron’s relationship the hardest. It took him several weeks to get used to the idea, for his snide comments to slowly give way, and it had driven her crazy. She’d talked to him about it more than once, and had come away from that conversation upset each time. She’d had to tell Aaron to not get involved, sure that the two men butting heads would only make matters worse, and she knew it had been hard for him to see her upset by one of her closest friends not accepting a relationship that made her happier than she had ever been. 

She still didn’t know what had truly got through to Derek. If he finally saw that both she and Aaron deserved this after everything they’d been through with Ian and Foyet respectively, if he saw that she was a different person when she came back from Paris and Aaron helped her find herself again, or if he’d taken the time to watch them together when they thought no one was looking. If he’d seen the way they cared for each other and understood each other. 

Or if, what Emily thought was the most likely, Penelope had finally called him out on his bullshit and told him to get himself together. 

“But they are cute,” Penelope says, turning to look at Emily, “Right?”

She chuckles and shrugs, her teeth sinking into her lower lip as she tries to answer in a way she knows won’t embarrass her boyfriend. Because they were cute. Sickeningly in love with each other in a way that would make her turn her nose up if she read about it in a book or saw it in a movie, and the worst part was she loved it. She loved him and knew she always would. 

“Here you go, sweetheart.” 

She smiles and turns as Aaron’s hand skims her lower back and lands on her hip. He hands her a glass of champagne and she kisses him, “Thanks, honey.” 

“Oh god,” Derek says, scrunching his nose up in mock disgust, “I think I preferred it when you were pretending you weren’t in love with each other.” 

“I didn’t,” Penelope quips, her smile wide as she watches them, “I think it’s sweet.” 

Emily feels Aaron tense next to her, any progress that he’d made on relaxing around their friends, with the help of alcohol and her insistence that everything was fine, undone in a matter of seconds. She makes a point of leaning further into him, her arm looping around his waist as she kisses his jaw and then his cheek, smiling against his skin when it’s enough to relax him a little. She pulls back and looks at their friends, her eyebrow raised in a mix of amusement and defiance at the contrasting looks on their faces.

“Derek, it’s New Year's Eve, this is a party,” she holds up her glass of champagne, “This is my…” 

“Fourth,” Aaron offers as she trails off, and she smiles up at him again, the soft smile she gets in return mixed in with the alcohol enough for her to briefly forget the point she was trying to make.

“Right, thanks honey,” she looks back at Derek and Penelope again, “This is my fourth drink. I’m going to get a little drunk and a little handsy with my boyfriend, okay?” She can’t deny that she doesn’t get a kick out of how Aaron briefly tightens his hold on her or how Derek scrunches his nose up, “If you don’t like that, I think thats your problem.” 

“Chill out, princess, I was only joking.” 

She sticks her tongue out at him and smiles, letting him know that she is too, mostly. Then she turns in Aaron’s embrace and smiles at him, cupping his cheek and pulling him in for a kiss. It was almost midnight, almost the start of a year she was looking forward to for once, and she wanted some time alone with the man she loves. 

“Let’s go find the guy with the tray of those mini desserts,” she says, grateful when he immediately nods, his smile soft and loving as he reaches for her hand and links their fingers together. 

He looks at Derek and Penelope, “Happy New Year.” 

“Happy New Year, sir. Hotch.” Penelope replies, her smile sparkling with mischief as she looks at Emily directly “Don’t desecrate Dave’s home office. Again.” 

Emily widens her eyes and ignores Aaron’s gaze burning into her side, “Pen. What happened to what is said on girl's night, stays on girl’s night?” 

Penelope has the decency to look embarrassed and she holds her glass higher, “Sorry, it’s the champagne, it’s like truth serum.” 

“Come on, sweetheart,” Aaron says, his hand on Emily’s hip as he leads her away from their friends, his smile and the spark in his eyes letting her know he isn’t mad at her, “Let’s go before any more details about our sex life come out.” 

She nods and lets him lead her away, leaning into his side as they weave through the pockets of people all scattered around Dave’s house, “Sorry, baby,” she says, stamping a kiss against his jacket, “Pen and her big mouth.” 

He hums, his eyes soft and loving as he comes to a stop and wraps his arms around her, “Do I even want to know how our sex life came up in conversation?” 

“You know what she’s like, she wants to know everything,” she replies, hooking an arm around the back of his neck, “And she knows how to get me to talk,” she says, pressing her lips together when he simply raises an eyebrow at her, “She tried to imply that you’re…,” she looks around them and makes sure no one can overhear them, her cheeks warm with the alcohol thrumming under her skin and embarrassment that Penelope had played her so well, “Vanilla in the bedroom.” 

He laughs, loud and bright and beautiful, and he shakes his head lovingly at her before he kisses her, “Sweetheart, it’s sweet that you want to defend me, but I think I can live with Garcia thinking I’m boring in bed.” 

Her response is cut off as someone yells that the ball in Times Square is dropping, and that the countdown has begun. She smiles as Aaron tugs at her hand and pulls her into the empty hallway, the sound of the crowd counting down from ten following them. She leans against the wall and encourages him closer, her hand on his shoulder as his nose knocks against hers, something that draws a sound she refuses to call a giggle out of her as the countdown continues. 

“Three, two, one. Happy New Year!”

She kisses him, sighing into it as she tastes champagne and her future on his tongue, and she smiles when they break apart, her forehead resting against his as his breath skips across her face. 

“Happy New Year, sweetheart.” 

She cups the back of his neck and tugs him in for another kiss, her reply lost against his lips, “Happy New Year, honey.” 

___

She’s making a cup of tea when the doorbell rings. She walks out of the kitchen and calls up the stairs, smiling when she already hears a door being thrown open. “Jack, that will be your Aunt Jess. Say goodbye to your dad and then come down here.” 

“Coming, Emily!” 

When she answers the door Jess pulls her into a hug, “Happy New Year!”

“Happy New Year,” she replies, stepping back to let Jess into the house, “Jack is on his way.” 

“How���s the patient?” Jess asks, smiling when Emily groans and rolls her eyes. 

“Hard work, as you’d expect,” Emily replies, shaking her head as she thinks of Aaron, “He was insistent that we go to our friend’s New Year party until about 30 minutes ago when he almost passed out getting out of bed.” 

Aaron had woken up not feeling well a couple of days ago. At first, he’d tried to play it off, say it was just a cold, but it quickly became clear it was the flu. Somehow, they’d managed to make sure Jack hadn’t caught it so he was still able to go and spend New Year’s with Jess and Roy like he always did. Emily was just grateful that the flu had waited until after Christmas to take down her giant, cuddly, whiny man, because it meant that they’d been able to enjoy the day in their new home. They’d moved in back in November, a busy time of year anyway in amongst Aaron’s birthday and Thanksgiving, and she loved it. It was a home, the first one she’d ever truly had, and she knew that had nothing to do with the house that they knew was perfect for them the moment they first saw it. 

“Good luck to you then,” Jessica replies, and Jack runs over, sliding in his socks on the hardwood floor towards them. 

“Hi, Aunt Jess!” He says excitedly, handing his bag to her as he slips on his shoes, “Is Grandpa excited? I want to tell him all about Christmas and what Dad and Emily got me.”

Jess nods and exchanges a look over the top of his head with Emily. Roy’s feelings about Aaron moving on, about him starting a new life when Haley couldn’t, were well known. He wasn’t particularly polite to Emily whenever he spent time with them as a family, something that she knew embarrassed Jess to no end. 

“He’s so excited to see you, buddy,” she replies diplomatically, “Now, say goodbye to Emily.” 

Jack nods and hugs Emily, his arms tight around her as she leans down to hug him back. When he pulls back to look at her, the excitement he’d had moments ago is gone, replaced with concern that makes her ache. 

“What’s wrong, kiddo?” She asks, pushing his hair from his forehead, smiling when it flops right back down. 

“Is Daddy going to be okay?” He asks, his gaze drifting to the stairs, “He looked sick and I don’t have to go.” 

She smiles at him, his endless empathy and kindness, despite everything he’d already been through, one of the many, many things she loved about him, “I’ll look after him, I promise,” she says, kissing his cheek, “You know he wants you to go have fun.” 

Jack nods, still looking unsure, “And you’ll be okay?” 

“I’ll be okay,” she replies, hugging him again, exchanging a smile with Jess over his shoulder when she looks up at her, “I promise.” 

“Okay,” he replies, “I love you, Emmy.” 

She squeezes him tightly for a moment, overwhelmed by a type of love that she never thought she’d get to feel before she pulls back to look at him, “I love you too, Jack.” 

He hugs her one more time before he leaves, and she and Jess exchange one too as they discuss when she’ll bring Jack back home the following day. As soon as she closes the door she locks it behind them and blows out a slow breath. Her phone beeps, letting her know it is time for Aaron to have more meds, and she goes to the kitchen to get them and finish making his cup of tea. 

When she walks into their bedroom her heart feels like it’s in a vice when she sees him. He’s curled around her pillow, the sheets twisted around his legs, and he looks sick. He’s pale and miserable and she knows she’d do anything to make him feel better. 

“Here you go honey,” she says, sitting on the edge of the bed and turning on the lamp on his nightstand, wincing when it makes him groan, “Sorry, baby. I brought you some more meds. They’ll make you feel better.” 

He groans again as he sits up and takes the glass of water she offers him and the meds. He takes the medication without question - a true sign of how awful he must be feeling, “You really should go to Dave’s party you know,” he says, sniffing in a futile attempt to clear his nose, “It will be more fun than sitting here with me on my death bed.” 

She chuckles and takes the glass from him before she settles next to him in bed, sitting up against the headboard whilst he lays back down, “That really would earn me the title of fiancée of the year if I left you here by yourself on New Year’s Eve.” 

He laughs, or tries to, the sound dying in his sore throat as he shifts closer to her, his head on her stomach and his arm over her hips as he snuggles against her. He’d always been tactile with her, had always been all over her at any given opportunity, but when he was sick it was another level. It was something he’d passed on to his son, who also insisted on sleeping pressed up against her when he was sick, and she loved it. Loved being the source of their comfort, and she couldn’t help but picture a world where a kid who was half her and half Aaron did the same. They’d started trying for a baby recently, hope pressed into every corner of their home, and the thought of it made her giddy. 

“Well, at least it’s New Year’s Eve,” he says, his skin warm even through the barrier of her t-shirt, “The criteria resets tomorrow.”

She smiles and runs her fingers through his hair, “I’m not going anywhere,” she says, smiling when he looks up at her, “I always want to spend New Year with you.” 

“I always want to spend New Year with you too.” 

He slips in between sleep and being awake for hours whilst pressed up against her side. She only gets out of bed to make dinner for them, the empty places now on her nightstand.  She turns on the TV and keeps the volume low, making sure she doesn’t disturb him whilst he rests. She eventually switches the channel to watch the news at Times Square, smiling at the crowds of people huddled together in the freezing cold to watch the ball drop in person. 

“What time is it?” 

She smiles down at him and pushes his hair away from his forehead, “Almost midnight.” 

He nods and sits up, blinking repeatedly to clear his head before he stands up, “Okay.”

“Honey,” she says, raising her eyebrow at him, “What are you doing?” 

“Going to brush my teeth,” he mutters, leaning against the wall as he walks to the ensuite. She rolls her eyes and gets out of bed to follow him. 

“Why?” 

“So I can kiss you at midnight,” he says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world, “My breath sucks.”

She hums and crosses her arms over her chest, pressing her lips together as she tries to suppress a smile, “Yeah,” she says, looking him up and down, the palour of his skin almost worse in the light of the bathroom, “That’s the problem with kissing right now.” 

He pauses, furrowing his brow as he stops squeezing toothpaste onto his toothbrush as if he’d just remembered he was sick.

“Oh, yeah, sorry sweetheart-” He says, and she leans in and kisses him, stamping her lips against his, smiling when he frowns in confusion when she pulls back. “You’ll get sick.” 

“Worth it,” she presses her thumb against his lower lip, “But you’re right, you should brush your teeth, your breath sucks.” 

He shakes his head at her lovingly and she winks at him and walks back out to their bedroom. She settles back into bed and pulls the covers over her lap, smiling as she takes the chance to look at her engagement ring. She was going to marry him next year, and hopefully expand their family too. The excitement of it all makes her skin tingle, and as Aaron slips back into bed next to her, it feels infinitely better than any evening drinking expensive champagne ever could have. 

They watch the ball drop on the TV and share a kiss at midnight, his skin warm against hers as he settles against her afterwards. 

“Happy New Year, Em.”

She kisses the top of his head, smiling against his hairline as she thinks of all they have to come, “Happy New Year, Aaron.” 

___

She hums a tune she can’t name as she paces back and forth in her bedroom, one hand under the 4-month-old against her chest, and one rubbing soothing circles on his back. Issac gristles against her, grumbling as he rubs his face against her chest. She kisses the top of his head and sighs, suppressing a yawn as she breathes in his sweet scent. 

“You’ll feel so much better if you get some sleep, sweet boy,” she says, falling to suppress her yawn this time as she carries on, “We all need some sleep.” 

Isaac hadn’t been a great sleeper from the start, but in the last couple of weeks, he’d barely slept for more than one hour at a time. She knew it was normal, she knew that he’d grow out of it, but it was hard. She was more exhausted than she’d ever been in her life but she was also the happiest she’d ever been. It was overwhelming sometimes and would spill out of her in the form of what felt like constant tears on her cheeks because somehow this was her life now. She had a husband and two little boys she loved more than she ever thought possible, and it was beautifully, achingly normal. 

It was strange to think how much had changed in the space of a year. Last New Year’s Eve, when Aaron had been sick and she’d stayed home to look after him, this was exactly where she hoped she’d be now. In early January, when she suddenly found herself feeling awful she convinced herself that she’d caught the flu from Aaron. It took almost a week before she let herself even consider that it might be something else, before she dared to take a pregnancy test. She still had it in a drawer in the bathroom, the digital screen that once displayed the word pregnant now faded, because she couldn’t bring herself to throw it away. 

She looks up as the bedroom door opens and she smiles at Aaron as he walks in and closes the door behind him, “Jack’s settled in his bed.”

“He’ll be so mad in the morning,” she says, smiling softly as she continues to pace the room, “He was hoping he’d make it to midnight this year.” 

Jack surprised them when he asked to stay home this New Year instead of going to his grandfather’s like he usually did. He explained that he wanted to spend it with them and Issac, and he’d been insistent that he’d stay awake until midnight. He’d fallen asleep in their bed just a few minutes ago and Aaron had taken him back to his room so he’d get a better night’s sleep than he would in the same room as his little brother who woke up several times a night. 

“I know,” Aaron says, walking over to them, “How is the littlest Hotchner doing?”

“He might make it to midnight,” she replies dryly, “I think Zaccy thinks sleep is for the weak,” she says, tilting her head to look at her still wide-awake son, “Huh, kiddo?” 

“Want me to try?” 

She nods and kisses the top of Issac’s head as she passes him over, “Yes please, my arms are starting to ache.” 

“He just loves his mommy so much that he wants to be in your arms all the time.” 

“I think it might be because I smell of milk,” she hums and sits on the bed, her back against the headrest as she rubs her eyes, “But that’s a sweet thought.” 

Aaron smiles at her as he sways side to side, Issac secure against his chest, “You know as well as I do that you are the centre of the world for every Hotchner who lives in this house.” 

She feels her cheeks go warm, still not used to his love and affection even after all this time, and she is distracted by her phone as it vibrates on her nightstand. She smiles as she picks it up, a selfie of the team at Dave’s annual New Year’s Eve party starting up at her, their smiles and slightly dazed eyes letting her know they were all several drinks in. 

“Dave sent a picture of the team,” she says, turning her phone to show him, “With the caption ‘What will be your excuse to miss next year’s party?’” 

Aaron laughs and looks down to see Issac is now sleeping, “He’s asleep.” 

Emily huffs out a breath and watches as he places the baby in the bassinet on her side of the bed and stamps a kiss against his forehead. 

“I’d be pissed you got him off so quickly,” she says, wrapping her arms around one of Aaron’s the moment he’s in bed, “But I am far too tired to care about that right now.” 

He kisses the top of her head and then rests his cheek there, yawning himself as they settle against each other. He looks at the clock on her nightstand and hums, “Only one hour until the new year. I wonder what it will bring us” 

She turns her head to kiss him, “Hopefully more sleep,” she quips, smiling against his lips, “But I’d be happy with more of what we’ve already got.” 

“Me too.” 

She lets herself enjoy the silence that was so rare in their home these days, and she settles into his warmth. She doesn’t remember falling asleep, she isn’t even aware she has until she feels small hands on her face and shoulder. 

“Mom,” Jack whispers, his eyes wide as she opens hers to meet them, “Mom, we all fell asleep.” 

“We fell asleep?” She groans as she blinks a few times and she looks over at the clock to see it is now 12.30 am, “We fell asleep.” She looks over at Issac, panic racing through her until she sees he’s still fast asleep, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. She looks at Aaron and realises they are both still sitting up, that they’d slumped against each other in bed with the light still on and fallen asleep without realising. She looks at Jack and smiles at him, opening her arms up to him and encouraging him in for a hug. He crawls into her arms and she rearranges the covers around them both “I don’t think I’ve fallen asleep before midnight on New Year’s since I was your age, sweet boy.”

“I woke up in my bedroom but I don’t remember going to bed,” he says, resting his head on her shoulder. 

“Dad took you to bed,” she replies, smiling as she looks at her still sleeping husband.

“Should we wake him up?” 

She’s about to say no, to try and figure out how she can get them all lying down without waking him up, but then Issac cries, loud and sharp in the otherwise quiet room and Aaron shocks awake. 

“I’ll get him,” he mutters, wiping his eyes with the heels of his hands as he stands up. She watches with amusement as he walks a few paces and then realises she’s sitting up and Jack is with them too, “What time is it?” 

“It’s the new year Dad!” Jack exclaims, and Emily smiles at him, her nails scratching lightly at his scalp. “Happy New Year!”

“Happy New Year, buddy!” 

Emily turns to look at Aaron, a familiar swooping in her gut as she watches him lift Issac into his arms. She’d always known he was an amazing father, but watching him with their infant son had taken it to a new level. She wanted more kids with him, a thought that wasn’t even dulled by the bone deep exhaustion of having a baby right now, and part of her wondered if, by the end of the year, she’d once again be missing the opportunity to be drunk at Dave’s party. 

“We fell asleep.” She says simply, smiling as he hums in response, Issac against his chest as he starts to settle down, clearly just wanting to be part of the fun.

“I’m not surprised. We’ve barely slept in weeks,” he smiles at Emily and leans in to kiss her, his lips quickly stamped against hers, “Happy New Year by the way.” 

She kisses him back, “Happy New Year,” she then smiles at Jack and kisses the top of his head,  “You too, Jack,” she reaches out and runs her knuckles down Issac’s cheek, “You too, sweet boy.” 

“Happy New Year, Mom and Dad,” Jack beams at her before he leans in and kisses Issac’s cheek, “Happy New Year, Zaccy.” 

Issac blows a spit bubble and it makes Jack giggle, and Emily wipes Issac’s mouth with the sleep of her shirt. 

“I think that’s his way of saying it back, kiddo.” 

Aaron smiles at his eldest, “What do you want to happen this year, Jack?” 

He furrows his brow as he thinks about it for a second before a delighted smile spreads across his face, “I’d like a baby sister!” 

[nerdysleepybunny]

I got this idea while talking with a Husk bot on character.ai LMAO there will be more Hazbin fics coming, I just need to find the motivation to write them ^^

🩷☁️N E R D Y S L E E P Y B U N N Y☁️🩷

Fandom(s): Hazbin Hotel

Character(s): Husk

Reader: Gender-neutral (you/your)

TW: Alcohol, crying

Style: Short story

Summary: you’ve been crying at the bar for a while now. When Husk finally decides to ask why, you give him probably the dumbest story he’s ever heard. But he comforts you regardless.

🩷☁️N E R D Y S L E E P Y B U N N Y☁️🩷

It was a late night in the Hazbin Hotel. Husk should’ve closed the bar a while ago, as there were no more customers to serve at this hour. But he was forced to stay on the clock due to you. You’ve been sitting in that same stool, sobbing and occasionally sipping on the drink he had given you a while ago. It was honestly just sad seeing you like this. With only your choked sobs and sniffles filling the otherwise quiet room, it was hard to ignore you. Even with all the booze he was drinking.

But you and Husk haven’t talked much. Sure, he’s memorized your favorite drinks, and he’s learned a lot about you just by observing you during Charlie’s bonding activities. But you haven’t exactly talked one on one. So he couldn’t find it in him to just… comfort you. Especially since it’s already been, what? Ten minutes? Husk just sat there and chugged down bottle after bottle, occasionally glancing at you to see if you were calming down. He just hoped that you’d stop crying soon and fuck off so he could finally close the bar.

But when you did begin to calm down, Husk’s attitude was different. Your cries slowly morphed into hiccups as you began to take deep breaths, finally trying to calm yourself. And instead of kicking you out like he would anyone else, he finally spoke up. “What happened, kid?”

You perked up at the sound of Husk’s voice, honestly forgetting that he had even been there. He was so silent while you were crying, you may as well have been in an empty room. But you were too embarrassed to answer Husk’s question. The reason you were crying wasn’t ideal in the slightest, and you’ve seen how Husk was. Especially with Angel Dust. Always so judgmental… surely he’d laugh at you if you told him. “Nothing, it’s stupid.”

Husk rose one of his (comically) large eyebrows at you. He was a bartender, he’s heard it all before. Relationship issues, trauma, losing a loved one. Hell, even Alastor has gotten too drunk and spilled some… very much not needed information to the poor cat demon. How could your issues be any worse? “Kid, if it’s making you cry this hard, it must be a big deal to you.”

And he was right. It was a big deal for you, but for others? It was laughable. But you wanted to tell someone, since nobody else understood. Maybe he’d be the one to sympathize with you. So you took a deep breath, bracing yourself, and drunkenly slurred your troubles to him.

“My friend took my favorite shirt and stretched it out. It doesn’t fit me the same anymore, and I won’t be able to find another one like it.”

Husk just… blinked. And stared. Had he heard you right? So the reason he’s been sitting here listening to you sob for a good ten-fifteen minutes, was because of a goddamn shirt? “…that’s it?”

You could practically hear the disappointment in Husk’s voice, and a sigh left your lips as you buried your face in your arms. You weren’t in the mood to be judged. “Nevermind. Forget it.”

Husk could hear the defeat in your voice, and it was enough to make his ears go flat against his head. He didn’t mean to upset you further. In fact, he didn’t mean it in that way at all. “No, kid-! I didn’t mean it like that. I just thought you’d be crying over something more serious.” Husk had to think fast. You were already upset, and he had no idea how to make you feel better. “Listen… I get it, y’know? It sucks losing things you’re attached to.”

You hadn’t expected that from Husk at all, to the point you questioned if maybe he was faking it. But his words sounded so genuine, making you slowly lift your head from your arms to peek. Your eyes met his yellow ones, and his ears quickly lifted once he realized you were looking, like he didn’t want you to see that he actually cared. But you had seen the movement clear as day, even with the tears in your eyes. It made you smile.

Husk assumed that you were smiling because of his words, so he decided to keep going. “You wanna know something, kid? Back when I was alive, I had this hat. It was the damn best hat I’ve ever owned. Wore it every day. But then I lost it… and I never really got over it.” Seeing the curious glint in your eyes, Husk smiled. Just a little. “Yeah. It still hurts me, y’know? Every time I see a sinner down here with a similar hat, I feel the pain all over again.”

🩷☁️N E R D Y S L E E P Y B U N N Y☁️🩷

Bonus: You and Husk surprised each other with a new hat and a new shirt. You became more than just drinking buddies in no time. :)

[ofstarsandvibranium]

Unexpectedly Yours: Part 13

Fandom: Ted Lasso (Regency AU)

Pairing: Roy Kent x F!Reader

Summary: Lord Roy Kent still has yet to marry. He hates the notion that marriage is a way to ensure your status in society. You have delayed your debut to society for years because of the same idea. So what happens when two people who hate the idea of marriage are constantly drawn to each other?

Series Masterlist

You feign illness the day after your discovery of Roy and Duchess Georgina. You couldn't find the strength to do anything at all.

Your mother had checked up on you, of course, after breakfast. You reassured her it was just a head cold that would dissipate within a day or two.

Around lunch time, your lady's maid came into your room, "Miss, um, Lord Kent is here to see you."

You sigh, looking over your shoulder from your writing desk, "Tell him that I'm ill and in no state to see anyone today."

You can see your hand maid have some hesitation, but she only replies with, "Yes, miss." She leaves promptly.

You sigh, moving from your writing desk to your reading nook in your window sill. It was your favorite part of your room. The way the sun shines through it, illuminating the small cubicle. It also gave you a few of the street below. When you're not in the mood to read, you like to watch people go about their days.

Unfortunately, when you decide to peer down, you see Lord Kent exit your home and bound back to his carriage. For some reason, he turns and looks up, immediately catching your gaze. You see sorrow in his eyes but you scoff, immediately moving away from the window.

He has the audacity to be upset when you found him with his ex-lover? How dare he!

_______________________________

Clara watches her brother pace back and forth in the drawing room. After he told her what happened, she couldn't help but roll her eyes. She never liked Georgina and of course she would find a way to still hurt Roy after all these years.

"She hasn't written me about breaking off the engagement so that must be a good sign, right?" Roy asks his sister, "Maybe I should try to see her again later? I caught a glimpse of her and she seemed well."

Clara rolls her eyes, "Brother, trust me, she needs time. Allow her that. She's heartbroken."

"But if she'll let me talk to her, I can ease her-"

"Roy!"

He stops, looking at his sister helplessly, "Please, give her time. Maybe, I should see her later rather you?"

Roy relents with a sigh, "Fine. I suppose that is best."

_________________________

Before dinner, your lady's maid announces that Clara was here to see you. Did Roy really send his sister to speak with you? A part of you wants to send her away as well but decide against that.

"I'll meet her in the drawing room."

Moments later, you enter the drawing room to find Clara sitting on the chaise sipping some tea.

She stands to greet you, "Hello, Y/N."

You curtsey, "Ma'am," and then sit on a chair across from her.

Clara chuckles, "Back to formalities again?" You don't answer and she continues to speak, "I heard you were feeling unwell earlier. I take it you're feeling better?"

"Getting there."

Clara hums, "My brother didn't send me. In fact, I decided to come here instead of Roy." She pauses to see if you would say anything, but you remain silent. She sighs, "Roy may be an arse sometimes, but he would never hurt you like that, Y/N. He loves you. Truly. I've never seen him this way before. Georgina may have been his first love, but you, you're different."

You slump forward, all propriety slipping from you, "I just can't see him right now, Clara. Give me another day and I'll be ready to talk to him."

She nods and stands. She makes the short distance to you and places a reassuring hand on your shoulder, "You're the best thing that's ever happened to him, Y/N. He wouldn't ruin this. What you saw, I'm sure, was very heartbreaking, but I think you should listen to Roy has to say," she kisses your head before leaving.

______________________

After breakfast, your handmaiden accompanies you to the Kent estate. You're escorted to the sitting room and one of Roy's servants steps out to find his master. It's not long until Roy bursts into the room.

You swallow down a nervous gulp and stand, "Good day, sir," you curtsey and Roy's jaw clenches.

"Please, don't do that. You don't ever need to do that with me."

You sit down and Roy, hesitantly sits on the couch with you, but on the opposite end.

"How are you feeling?" he asks, nervously rubbing his hand along his pant leg.

"Physically, I'm fine, but...my heart hurts, Roy."

Roy gulps and nods, "I understand. What you saw that day-I'm sure I'd feel the same if the circumstances were switched. But, Y/N," he turns his entire body to face you, "I can assure you what you saw was unwanted by me. Ge-The Duchess had thrown herself at me."

"Why though? Why would she do such a thing if she's already married? Married to a man that she left you for, no less."

Roy couldn't help but chuckle, "When she saw us together at the ball, she saw how happy I was. How happy I am when I'm with you. Unfortunately for her, her marriage to the Duke isn't what she expected it to be. She wants an annulment and wants to be with me again." He watches as your jaw clenches and you grip your dress tightly.

He reaches out, placing his hand over yours, "Hey," he says softly, "I don't want anything to do with her, Y/N. Only you. You infuriatingly beautiful and smart woman, you. You drive me up the walls in the best way. You challenge me and you fit so well with Clara and Phoebe. I can't see myself with anyone but you, Y/N."

"So, you still love me and you still want to marry me?"

Roy chuckles, "I gave you that, frankly, incredibly romantic speech and you still ask me if I still love and marry you?"

He brings your gloved hand to his mouth and kisses it, "I love you. I adore you. I yearn for you. Irrevocably so. I want to be by your side forever."

You immediately press your lips to Roy's and you can feel him smiling. He pulls you closer to deepen the kiss but the door pushes open and you hear a surprised gasp.

You pull apart to see Clara with a smirking from the threshold, "Well, I'm happy things turned out well."

You promptly distance yourself from Roy, "Apologies."

"Don't be. I'm just glad my brother won't be sulking around the house anymore."

Roy glared at his sister, "I wasn't sulking."

"Of course you weren't, brother. Anyways, I believe you two should continue wedding planning, yes?"

You shoot up from your place on the couch, "Yes! Oh goodness, there's still so much to do," you turn back to Roy, "Will you be available today? Oh, nevermind, it's too last minute. You must have-"

Roy chuckles as he stands, "I'll cancel my meetings. My future wife needs me," he slips his hand into yours and looks at you with loving eyes.

[layanomaly]

Okay- so I feel like im a bit calm (definitely real) after yesterdays finale to properly make a statement about it

And I really want to put a few of these points out there while the tags are still trending and while I still have time cuz now that AAA I finally over I really need to focus on my studies which is gonna be hard…..but yeah it is what it is

And honestly 

Look idc what anyone says anymore

Yes there were some loose ends and a whole lot of questions

And I get that a lot of people were upset…..believe me I was too and still am

But I wanna be a voice of positivity

cuz I feel like whatever plot wholes they left 

Like jac said were there for US to interpret

Or as my delusional ass is telling me maybe theyre setting up for another season???

And yes for those of you whore saying that we shouldn’t be the ones to figure theyre story out YOURE RIGHT, I AGREE WE SHOULDNT

But at the end of the day it still was a marvel show

And Whatever it was 

It was an amazing experience

Yes we had our highs and lows 

And Looking back on Agatha’s story, yes I do feel a mix of admiration and frustration. There was so much potential in exploring her relationship with Rio and the complex layers of her own journey, which felt overshadowed in the end. At times, the focus on Agatha's role as a mother felt like it could have been handled differently and Instead of fully delving into Agatha’s growth, her story was ultimately used to elevate Billy’s arc, leaving her character, her grief, and her love for Rio without the closure they deserved.

That being said 

Again while it's fair to wish for a bit more closure for characters like Agatha, Rio, Jen, and Alice,

I truly do think jac schaeffer is a genius

like for a really long time i used to think that we were reading too deep into scenes and that they arent actually that deep and we’re just being delusional

But watching, reading interviews of her 

Finding out that as a matter of fact it actually IS that deep

And that everything means something and nothing is unintensional

just hearing her talk about the characters she writes is such a fulfilling feeling you have no idea

its the way she understands those characters and portrays their trauma….She really cares for themm 

she does her research and makes sure she understand her characters and the lore

unlike *cough michael waldron cough* 

Who couldnt even be bothered enough to watch a show which was an indefinitely important arc for one of the characters he was assigned to write for a movie 

Its just-

Look all im tryna say is

Shes a master in her craft and no one does it like her 

despite everything she provided us with two of MARVELs best shows up to date and no one can tell me other wise

Cuz While the narrative pivot left parts of Agatha’s story untold, Schaeffer's dedication to character depth shows her commitment to storytelling which you can really see in the way she talks about those characters

again while I wasnt satisfied with the finale its her dedication to understanding these characters, down to the smallest detail means so much to me. 

Cuz it’s not just about the story—she collaborates with her actors to bring out the arcs they envision which makes it even more special

And It’s truly disappointing that Marvel didn’t fully capitalize on the opportunity to explore Agatha’s own arc in its entirety, especially with such a capable writer at the helm. 

Still, I’m hopeful that future stories will revisit and give the characters like Agatha and Rio the focus they deserve

And i reallyyy hope they sign jac up as a writer for future projects

Cuz ultimately, I think her approach to these characters makes her one of the standout storytellers in Marvel right now, and I’m excited to see what she does next with all the new responses from the fandom 

I hope you guys get what im trying to say

Anyways to conclude my thoughts

Whatever it was

I truly did love this show

And ill really miss coming back home on Thursdays to watch the new episodes drop

[longing4yesterday]

give me mcharrison thoughts ☕

ohhhhhh man. i could honestly go on FOREVER about those two.

WARNING; i ramble on forever below the cut, so be warned!!

truthfully, i think their dynamic is just as interesting as mclennon's. however, it's a bit under-explored by the greater fandom and i'm a bit sad about that personally. they were childhood friends that met with a mutual interest in music, connected and decided to learn guitar chords together!! they did typical kid things like getting up to pranks and hanging out at each other's houses. then john came into their lives and everything shifted, both for the better and worse. those two had each other's attention for ages until the formation of the beatles kinda started splitting it between different responsibilities and relationships. but, at this core, george had always loved paul. yet, as they grew older, that bitterness for being shoved out grew more to the forefront and he struggled with it heavily. of course, there's other aspects too i'm not saying that being pushed to the side in terms of importance was the ONLY thing that bothered george at that time, but it is a factor. then it all cracked when the band fell apart in 1969/70. he refused to speak to or see paul, aligning himself with other members like ringo or john, only finally seeming to somewhat amend and remain cordial when they worked together on anthology and john's tapes up until his death in 2001.

there was a push and pull with those two. of course, i'm speculating and i truly don't know if george ever really had queer feelings for anyone, let alone any member of the beatles, so don't mind me as i put on my tinfoil hat for a second. i read george's feelings toward paul as less of an older sibling-figure kind of friendship and more of a one sided affection. he probably figured that paul had his eye on john from the moment they all met, so he kept his own feelings to himself (that + the way society viewed queerness in that time is the perfect recipe for remaining in the closet with a quiet yearning harbored in your heart). things like the impulsive trip to paris early on probably tipped him off initially and it spiraled from there. was george jealous of the gravitational pull john held over paul? maybe! i don't know! his admiration of john in the beginning did die down in later years as he grew to know him and his patterns of behavior better. yet, he kept his mouth shut about liking paul, his best friend, and took a begrudging step back to let those two have their time in the spotlight. though, if he had it his way he'd have swooped up paul faster, kept a tighter grip on him. even when he was older and more detached from everyone, there's still a little part of him that's a little boy, yearning for his friend to love him like he always wanted. i've never seen get back but i think of that scene where george's watching john and paul mirroring each other, playing to each other face to face, and he looks like he's about to cry. it's upsetting and it breaks my soul every time i see it.

george loved paul, even when tensions were high. they created a tight bond with one another during their youth and never really shook the connection. i know i said this before but i'll reiterate it again; they hated each other, they loved each other, they wanted to kill each other, they obsessed over their opinions over each other. it was an obsessive spiral that harmed rather than nurtured. and that's all george wanted, to love paul without being corrected or judged. to hold his attention for just one minute without the fear it'll be snatched up by john again. yet, he never got that. paul did not reciprocate, his affection for george was that of a little brother. which couldn't have felt good.

they're so tragic GOD. i love writing about them so much and i kinda hate that mclennon eclipses them. we need more mcharrison enjoyers out there making art!! pleaseeeeee

anyways, here's some little things i wanna write someday about these two/ideas i like in general to lighten the mood a little bit;

it's been reported that if you ended up sleeping next to george you'd wake up tangled in his limbs. so i thought it was a cute idea that whenever george and paul would have sleepovers paul would wake up to a tiny little george cuddling him. instead of shoving him off, he lets him sleep in longer cause he thinks it's cute

an alternate ending to "sweetly tender is the flesh" where instead of john and paul running off to fuck, it's george and paul instead (much to john's anger and jealousy)

anything that happened in hamburg. i do not believe for a SECOND nothing queer happened over there. i already wrote a tidbit about that but like---i wanna explore it more tbh

older george and paul reconciling after john's passing :( i need it for my soul

paul being possessive of george………that is all

the tenerife vacation lives in my head rent free. i know i also wrote a tidbit about that buuuuuuuut. less angsty mcharrison fling in tenerife cause i ALSO don't believe nothing queer happened on that trip

KEY WEST. see other points above. or like---when they're all drunk telling each other they love one another, george internalizes it and almost admits that it's more than platonic but holds his tongue because he sees how much paul is clinging to john.

and i think that's all i got for now! hopefully that all made sense ^^;

send me a topic + ☕️ emoji and i'll share my honest opinion

[desertforestfic]

i am thirty years late to this but thank you @hephaestiions @citrusses @its-the-allure for the writer interview tag

how many works do you have on ao3? ten! ten fics. ha ha ha

what's your total ao3 word count? 31,294

your top 5 stories by kudos?

where i have to go

horizon

the tie

psychopomp

twirled around his finger

do you respond to comments? you know, i really want to, but it is honestly a lot of brain power to sit down in front of like fifty compliments and try to come up with a genuine response to each - so yes i reply but only in incredibly specific moods, lol

what's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? DIVORCE

what's the fic you've written with the happiest ending? probably this one in which it is foreshadowed that harry gets to go be an unemployed stoner in amsterdam (draco has to get a real job)

do you write crossovers? um does a sports au count? then yes, eventually

have you ever received hate on a fic? no and i am honestly taking it as a sign that i need to step my pussy up and write some more upsetting fic

do you write smut? ya

have you ever had a fic stolen? naur

have you ever had a fic translated? no and i am ambivalent about the idea. i have sooo much respect for the folks who put in the work of translating fic for free, but the idea of not having control of what my fic sounds like in another language is a little scary ngl!

have you ever co-written a fic before? no but it's very much something i would like to try eventually!

what's your all-time favorite ship? oh probably drarry just because i feel like these are My People :) i have some pretty near and dear rpf ships but they feel more like old friends than anything i would want to actively read or create for these days

what's a wip that you want to finish but don't think you ever will? ummm one of the first things i ever wrote was like 1,000 words of draco eating a bagel in a park in new york city and then running into harry. i was real hyped about the idea until i remembered that i have spent like ten hours total in new york city and i went down a reddit rabbit hole trying to decide what neighborhood draco would live in and then was like...why am i doing this. it was cute, maybe i'd pick it back up on the off chance i ever move to new york city, but the writing already feels sooo bad to me that idk if i could stand digging it up and editing it lol

what are your writing strengths? descriptions? that sounds broad. i think i'm really good at evoking freeze-frame moments: a sunset, a landscape, a facial expression. physical sensations, too - being drunk, being cold, having a headache. i really like digging out the exact combination of words to describe sensations and emotions i myself have felt. anything like that is likely going to be the most personal part of my writing.

what are your writing weaknesses? making..there be a plot...lol. i think i can write a believable emotional arc, but i was talking to @yiiiiiiiikes25 the other day and was straight up told "i think you need to have more things happen to your characters." read me for filth.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? am i supposed to have thoughts on this? i don't speak any other languages. there's a good chance i'm going to have to throw some Old Norse loanwords into some stuff i've been working on so uhh any Old Norse speakers out there please hmu

what's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to? i'm reading captive prince rn and i'm quite sure i'll have thoughts when i'm done with that :) also f1 is tugging on the hem of my shirt like an eager toddler

what's your favorite fic you've ever written? horizon by a mile :)

i don't remember who's done this due to the aforementioned being thirty years late but uhh tagging @dryrsheet @kamaela @faiell @thehoneybeet @twnkwlf-writes @marrythemonstersao3 @chaos-bear and anyone else who's feelin it

[yuerikoko]

I think I now get where all the Angela hate (and mischaracterization) came from

(Posting another ramble dedicated to my beloved yay)

I might sound like I’m beating a dead horse here since the Angela hate has died down as of recently but I still can’t help but wonder why she had received that much hate in the first place. What warranted her to get this much hate even until recently, whereas other characters who are written similarly to her, or have done much worse, are not as actively hated? Where did the popular fanon conception of her— one that portrayed her as an abuser, stalker and even r wordist at one point— also come from?

After some thinking and also me having known this fandom for 3 years up to this point, I think(?) I was finally able to trace where all this hate came from and where the infamous fanon version of her came to be.

CW: spoilers for WE and mentions of abuse/stalking/sexual assault and other potentially triggering themes. Please proceed with caution.

Also note: I do not intend to harass or call anyone out with this. Therefore, I will not be naming any names (if any) nor will I mention any works that can be triggering. This is simply a meta analysis trying to dissect a character’s fan reception, and while I may give my own thoughts somewhere down the line, I will also try to be as objective as possible with my observations.

0. Pre-C42

Before C42 came out, Angela did not receive as much hate. She wasn’t as popular as Jack or Elliot either, yet people didn’t have a reason to hate her at all prior to IPS. It was likely because she didn’t have much to remember her by other than being “Lars’s wife” or the S3 coroner, either due to the fact that she doesn’t have as much screen time as compared to other characters, or simply doesn’t have anything that makes her stick out as a character or as iconic as others in the team (e.g. Jack, Elliot and Marina for their designs, Lars, Carmen and Elliot for their attitudes towards the team and other people around them in general).

This, however, will be a topic of discussion again in a while, so please keep this in mind as we move on to the next point in this analysis.

1. The aftermath of C42 and C56

This seems to be the starting point of this whole hullabaloo, and understandably so. Angela had just murdered someone, betrayed us, and tried to frame other people for it (C42) and of course, people were upset about it, yet there were still those who had hope for her and tried to sympathize with her. And then came C56, where she returned, but as a colder, more aggressive version of herself that has pledged loyalty to SOMBRA and was willing to carry out their orders so dutifully that she was willing to plant a bomb. This, of course, likely fueled the hate and people had more of a reason to hate her when she made fun of Dupont’s death. Although one take in particular did stand out to me (and not in a good way):

The idea that she doesn’t genuinely love Lars.

Yes, I do understand that this is a very old take from 2016 and things may change from there, but I would just like to highlight how dangerous it is to perceive characters this way. Takes like these erase the complexities of her writing and essentially reduce her— someone who has had to make a lot of hard decisions to even be with Lars, which became the basis of the person she was up to that point— into a nothing more than a caricature of how people think morally gray characters should be based on whether or not they are deemed “good” or “bad” in the traditional sense.

I also do think certain plot holes in PS’s handling of her character in the final case also contributed to it. It felt ridiculous to see how a character whose most defining trait is being family oriented suddenly turned cold and bitter towards her old team, unhesitatingly claiming that they were enemies now as if their previous friendships did not matter. Maybe this was where the idea that she’s manipulative and/or possessive came from: since she was still clinging onto Lars and the triplets (that her literal last wish was to see them again) while showing this lack of compassion that would be unnatural to her past self.

With that said, the fact that she wasn’t as memorable as a main character but was more iconic as a traitor/antagonist did contribute to mixed opinions from the fandom back then. While a lot of people seemed to be mad at the things she’s done, there were some who thought it made her more interesting as a character. I guess it depends on subjective interpretation in this case, though unfortunately, back when WE first came out, many people fell into the mindset of black-and-white morality, and end up hamfisting complex and nuanced characters into extremes based on whether or not they like them.

2. Fanon/“Yandere” Angela

Following the events of WE, this seems to be a very common fandom perception of her. This subject is somewhat hard to accurately put into words, but I will try my best to give my analysis and thoughts on it, so please correct me if I get something wrong.

For those who don’t know, this is what a yandere is supposedly defined as:

TL;DR: yanderes are known to be violent, possessive and obsessed with a particular love interest. This may even go to the extent of hurting any potential “rivals” or even their love interests themselves.

If you have been in the fandom long enough, and especially if you’re into WE or Angela, you might find that there have been numerous fanfics that described her this way: as an absolutely horrible person who abuses and even stalks Lars in some, along with getting upset when others get close to him.

It may have originated from Wattpad, where there were two fics (afaik) focused on the concept of Angela being a yandere in itself. This, and considering the fact that there is barely any fan material of Angela (most especially fics) and that almost every fic that has her in it at the time either has her play an antagonistic role or use her as a plot device (usually for other ships to happen) may have contributed to the whole idea of her being a “yandere” that was almost universally accepted as the basis of her character in fics.

There is also that perceived manipulation and “sociopathy” from earlier that may have contributed to the idea of yandere Angela. A common fandom perception of her is that Angela has a warped idea of what love is and ends up displaying unhealthy/dangerous behaviors towards Lars as a result of her obsession (which she perceives as “love”). And as a result, she ends up resorting to actual criminal behavior in some of these fics: stalking Lars, physically abusing him and in one extreme case, even raped him. (Disclaimer: I will not be naming any of these fics since I do not condone hate or harassment towards the authors, nor do I want to further trigger anyone reading this by openly naming said content.)

This may have also been a big factor in contributing to Angela hate as the normalization of this depiction of her has led to people almost unanimously accepting this as her actual character.

I would like to say that I very much disagree with this take on her character. While yes, it is true that Angela does have questionable morality (e.g. she understands that what SOMBRA did to children is wrong and actively condemns it, yet was willing to blow up the Bureau hq knowing that Elliot and Sanjay are inside), her love for Lars seems to be genuine and even healthy for the most part. Time and time again, she has shown that she really loves him— hell, her laptop password even has his name on it.

3. Popularization of these misconceptions

As these fics were the only depiction of Angela in the fandom for a time, they are, by far, the most infamous depiction of her. This, along with the “I hate her because she’s a bad person and did bad things” majority, has then led to her getting this much hate from the fandom.

Moreover, there was a time in 2023 where there’s an influx in WE-centered fics, and that also resulted in most of the anti-Angela fics for the most part. This may explain the more recent hate directed towards her as compared to characters from other seasons.

Conclusion

Much of the hate towards Angela in particular stems from both severe misinterpretation of canon events and her character’s actions/intentions, and this version of her being extremely popularized to the point where people treated it like it’s actually her. The former mostly applies to around the time WE was still ongoing to after it ended (2016-2017 ish) while the latter could explain the more recent hate. Fortunately, it seems as though more people have the media literacy to read along the nuances of her character and understand her intentions before forming an opinion.

Anyways this was A LOT— probably even longer than the Carmen/Angela post but I’ve been thinking about this for just as long (there was a time I was afraid to admit I liked her because of how hated she was). Thank you for listening to my TED Talk, I guess.