#ao3 tags are important

[lavenderauthor]

Title: Not What It Looks Like by LavenderAuthor (14.6k)

Rating: Teen and Up

Fandom: Marvel

Relationship: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Avengers Team Members & Peter Parker, Avengers Team Members & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark

Summary:  Tony Stark is known as many things: Genius, Inventor, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist, Iron Man. Honestly, nobody doubted any of those even when he started to date Pepper Potts. He was not, however, known for tolerating or even liking kids.

It was just something that everyone seemed to know so imagine Steve Rogers's shock when he comes by Tony's lab with a list of equipment they needed upgraded to find what looked like a teenager in his lab. Even more shocking was the teen chattering away to Tony himself.

[spockderangementsyndrome]

Congratulations to TOS Kirk/Spock shippers, thee original slash fandom that is only getting stronger with time. Let's get this bread in 2024.

Edit: It's annoying the shit out of me that this is circulating with an interpretation I don't think is supported by data (see this), and then I remembered it's my blog and I can be petty if I want to. No more reblogs.

[erinwantstowrite]

hey guys as a reminder to y'all: i literally can not put more tags on LoF. i would have to nuke some tags to put new ones. there is a limit on how many tags to put and i am not gonna panic to add a tag right now and i'll do it when i feel like sitting down and figuring out what to keep and what to throw out. i know i need to put a wally/dick tag (to the nice people that reminded me, this isn't abour you i promise, y'all were very sweet!). that being said. stop leaving homophobic comments on LoF or i will go crazy 💖 while we're at it, stop leaving transphobic or other hateful comments on my fic too. IN GENERAL you should not be leaving hate comments on a fic. i don't delete hate comments unless they're actively being homophobic/transphobic/racist/etc. but it is not chill to tell me you "loved the story until it got gay." or "too woke." honestly? you can kiss my ass. obviously the story wasn't meant for you. move on and do not comment

[necrotic-nephilim]

Tim's unternet suit really is the most glaringly obvious hero worship/crush for Dick thing he ever has. in the unternet, where Tim's subconscious creates what he is. that's the suit his brain comes up with? something so clearly derivative of Nightwing? down to the *finger stripes*?

red robin #19

this is gay as hell. the reason Tim can't wear this soul irl is bc the first thing he would do is jerk off in it. and he couldn't handle the embarrassment of Dick seeing how similar it is. if DC ever made this Tim's official suit the first thing they would have to do is make Tim and Dick fuck in it. i'm so close to writing that fic i won't lie.

[creepypastalover97]

Stop Project 2025 | American Civil Liberties Union

Everyone! If you are over the age of 18 and you live in the US please Go to this site and sign this petition. Please! Our entire way of life can be destroyed if we don't do something now. If there isn't a recount or a revote by the end of December then we are all screwed when Trump gets in office. Regardless if project 2025 is real or just was a fear mongering, there is literally a chance that this is real and everything we know might be gone next year. So please. Go sign the petition, so if things go down hill we at least have a fighting chance to at least put up a fight! Please! Sign like you have a gay friend, coworker or family member! Sign if you have a trans friend , coworker or family member! Sign if you have a friend, coworker or family member who is a person of color! Sign if you have a friend, coworker or family member who is a immigrant! Sign if you have female friends , co workers or family members! Every signature counts! Please. There is currently only 56,811 signatures right now. We need at least 75,000 for this to have a fighting chance to stop this! So please go sign like your life depends on it. Please don't take a chance of project 2025 happening. Regardless if it doesn't happen. Isn't it better to be safer than sorry? Do you really want to take the risk? Please.

PS. Banning Fanfic sites are part of project 2025's agenda too. Just adding that regardless if it's at the bottom of the list of things we should be worried about.

[heleizition]

this is my naruto oc age 12 and age like 15 lmao she goes through it

[frilledshark-enthusiast]

Stop scrolling to save sites like ao3 and tumblr

Sign petitions stopping this bill, KOSA would allow the right to sue and take down websites like ao3 and tumblr for having queer content and being a safe space for queer people

[coquelicoq]

I KEEP FORGETTING TO SAY THIS but my ideal au is always, ALWAYS a three men and a baby au. doesn't have to be men just yknow three adults and a baby. i know i have said this before but it was only the one time and it bears repeating, it bears so much repeating because i need it so bad for everything forever.

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

Wei Wuxian and Narrative Agency – Part Three

For Xiantober Day Five: Past and Present, in which the author gets very unhinged about what parts of the past are shown and how that’s affected by the present!

(Part One | Part Two | Full version on AO3)

The Power of Agency: Shaping the Narrative

When I've discussed Wei Wuxian's agency previously, I’ve talked about how what’s shown and omitted tells us about a character, and we’ve talked about the character himself. Though this is a niche topic, it’s not necessarily something out of the ordinary to analyse, and we can assume everything up to here has been in some way intentional.

This? Linking structure to a character’s in-universe preferences?

This is where we get unhinged.

Before I start, let’s quickly establish something which will be important later: although Wei Wuxian is the central character, MDZS isn’t strictly from his POV. While omitting events a character doesn’t like to dwell on and concealing things the character wishes to hide is common in books with only one narrator, MDZS has multiple narrators which it switches between relatively quickly. This includes Wei Wuxian, but it also includes nearly every major character that appears in the story, and omniscient narrator as well. As a default, this format doesn’t lead to this deliberate shaping and omission because of one character’s preferences, since we have many other sources of information and events – which is what makes Wei Wuxian’s influence over the narrative and structure so interesting. We could have access to a lot more information, and access to it at different times, than we do (and that’s not an insult, quite the opposite!).

To begin: we’ve established that times such as Wei Wuxian’s time on the streets, his three months in the Burial Mounds and his loss in the Siege aren’t shown because Wei Wuxian has little agency there. But that’s not the only special thing about them. They’re also the three most traumatic times in his life, and so moments Wei Wuxian himself either can’t remember, or doesn’t like to dwell on.

This is why discussing Wei Wuxian’s treatment of tragedy in his life was important. Firstly, it shows he doesn’t focus on the tragedy in his life, so the idea that the narrative not focusing on this tragedy relates to his character has merit; secondly, it affirms that this is not a passive trait, but a choice. Therefore, when the narrative omits events due to this aspect of Wei Wuxian, it’s respecting not only a character detail – which would be cool by itself – but also an active decision. One that shapes the story it’s made in.

In other words, its very structure is respecting Wei Wuxian’s agency!

Now, of course there are flashbacks to other moments of his past he probably wouldn’t like to dwell on, too. But within the structure, they’re only shown when Wei Wuxian is thinking about them (or when he has reason to)!

Wei WuXian hadn’t woken up yet. His eyes were still tightly shut, yet his hand didn’t let go either. He seemed to be dreaming, muttering, “… Don’t… Don’t be angry…” Lan WangJi seemed somewhat surprised. His voice was gentle, “I am not angry.” Wei WuXian, “… Oh.” Hearing this, as though he finally felt assured, his fingers loosened. Lan WangJi sat beside Wei WuXian for a while. Seeing that he was motionless again, he was about to stand up when Wei WuXian grabbed him with his other hand, hugging his arm and refusing to let go. He shouted, “I’ll go with you, quick, take me back to your sect!” Chapter 63, EXR translation

Which, of course, is him dwelling on…

Lan WangJi spoke one word at a time, “Go back to Gusu with me.” Hearing this, both Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng were surprised. Quickly afterward, Wei WuXian laughed, “Go back to Gusu with you? To the Cloud Recesses? Why go there?” He immediately seemed to realize, “Oh. I forgot. Your uncle Lan QiRen hates crooked people like me. You’re his proudest disciple, so of course you’re the same as him, haha. I refuse.” Chapter 62, EXR translation

…the painful flashback immediately preceding this. The third set of flashbacks (which are also painful) are a similar case. Look at the contex:

He lifted the bottom of his robe, revealing a prosthetic leg made of wood, “This leg of mine was destroyed by you, that night in the Nightless City (…)” (…) “Wei WuXian, I won’t ask you if you remember or not. Both of my parents died by your hands. You owe too many people. You definitely won’t remember them either. But, I, Fang MengChen, will never forget! And never forgive you!” (…) “In the fight at Qiongqi Path, my son was strangled to death by your dog Wen Ning!” “My shixiong died by poison, his entire body festering due to your cruel curse!” Chapter 68 (immediately preceding the flashbacks), EXR translation

And Wei Wuxian’s own thoughts and words:

Wei WuXian looked at the cultivators before the Demon-Slaughtering Cave. Their expressions were the absolute same as those of the cultivators from the night of the pledge conference, pouring their wine on the ground as they took the pledge to scatter the ashes of the Wen Sect’s remnants and him.  (…) Wei WuXian, “Now it’s time to ask just whom it is that treasures it so much. It’s like Wen Ning. Back then, some certain sects or so were scared to death of the Ghost General. They said they’d kill him on the surface, but behind their backs they hid him for over ten years. How strange. Who was the one that said his ashes had been scattered back then?” Chapter 79 (immediately succeeding the flashbacks), EXR translation 

Once again, Wei Wuxian’s own thoughts relate to the flashbacks we’ve just been shown. And, as I previously mentioned, though all the events which are shown are tragic, they’re also events which Wei Wuxian’s own choices and actions shaped – which he has this to say about:

“The things I did, not only do you remember them, I remember them too. You won’t forget them, and they’ll stay even longer in my mind!” Chapter 82, EXR

Admittedly, this applies more to the third set of flashbacks than the second (which is still fitting as the third set was the most recent), as in the second, although he still had agency within and influence over his circumstances, the majority of the pain was caused by others’ actions (excluding, of course, the Golden Core transfer… which is something we know stays for a long time in his mind, albeit with a caveat we’ll soon discuss). But it’s still important to note – especially considering that otherwise, focusing on this very painful time in his life wouldn’t seem like something very in-character for Wei Wuxian to do.

Of course, this can all just be explained by good writing. It is best to insert flashbacks when they’re relevant to the characters and events in the present day! But it is interesting to compare these to the start of the (not painful) Gusu flashbacks, which open this way:

At a later time, Wei WuXian pondered upon the reason why his relationship with Lan WangJi wasn’t good. Getting to the root of the matter, everything started when he was fifteen, coming to the GusuLan Sect with Jiang Cheng to study for three months. Chapter 13, EXR

Again, considering the circumstances around which these flashbacks take place – returning to the Cloud Recesses for the first time since the lectures, and meeting Lan Wangji once more – it makes complete sense for Wei Wuxian to be thinking about these events*. So it does fit the pattern of Wei Wuxian dwelling on something, thus leading to the narrative dwelling on it, too (and being shaped by his thoughts)… but there’s another layer to this. Importantly, it is the only flashback where Wei Wuxian’s present thoughts don’t lead to this happening, with his thoughts at an unspecified future time leading to it, instead. I like to interpret this as the text saying that, since these events aren’t something Wei Wuxian wouldn’t focus on in normal circumstances, he can dwell on them at any time. Therefore, they’re free to come up in the narrative at any time as well, even if he’s not dwelling on them in the present moment!

So, to summarise: Wei Wuxian’s decision not to focus on the painful times in his life directly influences the narrative to not focus on these times. When painful times are brought up and shown to us, it’s in the context of him thinking about them in the present day, and even then, his most painful moments still aren’t shown to us. His agency in this regard is still respected by the narrative structure.

This is the main way his agency influences the structure of the narrative, but I’d like to talk about the revealing and concealing of information, too. For example, I said I’d talk about the Golden Core transfer – though Wei Wuxian does think about this many times, as evidenced by his internal narration in Chapter 103. But unlike everything we’re shown through the flashbacks, this is something Wei Wuxian is actively trying to hide from others. And the narrative respects this choice (Wei Wuxian’s agency, again), never reveals it even when it would be relevant in the flashbacks, and we find out not through narration, but through a character’s dialogue!

And to clarify – I know these aspects may not be in the book for this exact reason. Showing flashbacks in relevant moments is good writing, concealing an important plot point you want to do a reveal for is necessary writing, and MXTX has said she didn’t want to write about Wei Wuxian’s time in the Burial Mounds, due to not liking to write transformation sequences (and also because it would not be pleasant at all, which likely also applies to Wei Wuxian’s death). That doesn’t prevent it from also being intentional – MXTX’s intelligence is shown in many aspects of this book, and there’s nothing disproving it – but there’s no proof for either option, so I won’t pretend there is. I bring this up because I know this feels like I’m overanalysing, as I feel that way as well.

But, whether it’s intentional or not, it exists in the text, and I adore it – so, regardless, it’s something I’ll explore. Because taking this into account… We aren't just told about Wei Wuxian having agency, we aren’t just shown it in the text, we aren’t even just shown it through which parts of his past are shown and hidden in the structure of the text (as I talked about in Part One). The parts of the past that are shown and hidden also have an in-universe reason for being shown and hidden, this reason being the choices he makes! Agency is the ability of a character to influence the story they’re in, but Wei Wuxian’s agency, as a property of a character who only exists in-universe, shapes the out-of-universe structure as well! That’s how we’re shown its importance! How cool is that?

At The End Of The Road: Summary and Final Thoughts

In this essay, we’ve covered how important Wei Wuxian’s agency is not only to the events of the plot, but to the structure of the narrative as well. The narrative omits periods in which Wei Wuxian has little or no agency, in favour of showing us periods in which he does, even when important events happened in the former. This indicates that who Wei Wuxian is without agency isn’t important enough to be shown to the audience, and therefore that his agency is an integral aspect of his character in MDZS. We’ve discussed how both in-universe and out-of-universe, tragedy does not define him – out-of-universe, the tragic events in Wei Wuxian’s life are used not to build sympathy but rather to show his strength of character and who he still is despite going through them; and in-universe, he chooses not to focus on the negativity and resentment caused by his circumstances or others’ actions, instead staying true to his moral compass and enjoying his life in the present day. Finally, we’ve also explored how this choice is another reason for the omission of certain events from the narrative, resulting in his agency shaping the story in a very literal way – it affects the out-of-universe structure, as well.

It’s quite fitting, for a story whose essence is about defying a conventional narrative – that of righteous clans rising up and defeating a great evil – and about a character who defies many conventional narratives on his own – that of status defining how skilled you could be, that for a golden core being necessary for cultivation and other paths being unavailable, that of a tragic but complete story of someone killed for staying true to their moral code (instead, that character returns to life and has a happy ending) – to have its own narrative play a role in such an important and interesting way.

(Or, if an image would be preferable:)

Thank you for reading!

(Part One | Part Two | Full version on AO3)

--

*This strong relation to the present day circumstances is another reason I love the flashback placement so much (and why I think it’s such a loss both screen adaptions altered it so strongly)! 

[morbidlypositive]

BILLS LIKE STOP CSAM ARE TRYING TO BE SNUCK INTO THE NDAA, WHICH IS A MUST PASS BILL. THIS WILL NOT ONLY REMOVE ANY CHANCE OF PRIVACY, ENCRYPTION, AND FREE SPEECH, BUT IT WILL GUT THE INTERNET AS WE KNOW IT. THIS WILL NOT PROTECT CHILDREN AT ALL, IT WILL ONLY CENSOR THEM AND GIVE THEM NO SECURITY OR PRIVACY. CALL YOUR SENATORS AND SIGN PETITIONS!!

[doctorcanon]

Hey FYI I made a video about the Adult Content bans that led us to where we are now. Please watch a spread this video if you can. Everyone needs to be aware of just how bad its gotten and how much worse it will be if we don't educate ourselves.

THE NEFARIOUS IMPLICATIONS OF ADULT CONTENT BANS | The Windows Are Blue For A Reason

[carry-on-my-wayward-butt]

"rebug" is so cute maybe i will start using cohost...

[lavenderknivess]

it’s just me and the other 3? vinylatte authors against the world

[princess-pine-cone]

Meanwhile on the TARDIS Jack: I ran out of ink before I could finish Rose's birthday invitations! They were supposed to say “Rose's birthday”. Nine: And what do they say now. Jack: Rose's bi. Nine: You know, that still works.

[koolkat9]

AO3 is a gift to God's green earth. Just read a fic on ff.net and I was slapped in the face with major character death without warning after 14 chapters. I'm not okay.