#but ofc there’s more interpretations too

[roseetube]

this is so so true!! I got so much joy from prev analyzing the first chapter of my fic!!! it literally is so much better than any kudos could ever be (though ofc authors appreciate those too) The uncertainty of just knowing someone liked your work but not knowing why they did is a weird feeling to describe. Just having anything specifying how someone interpreted certain parts of my writing or how it made them feel is infinitely more helpful and fulfilling than just saying "wow I really liked this" (even though, again, things like that are still SUPER appreciated, and I don't want to discourage comments like that) and helped me improve my own writing by A LOT

so conclusion-> I've been rambling and comments that are specific and actually have constructive criticism are my favorite kind and I hope to get more

A writer friend told me something that broke my heart a little bit today; they're going to quit publishing their fanfic.

My instant thought was that they had been trolled or attacked or that something terrible had happened in their life because this person is so passionate about their writing. It wasn't any of that. Engagement with their works has been going down, as it has for many of us. Comments are like gold dust a lot of the time, and just looking through the historical comment counts on old fics on ao3 demonstrates this trend very clearly. It was not simply the comments dropping off which caused them to decide to stop posting, however.

My friend came across a discord server for their fandom (I should point out here that their fandom interest and mine diverged a couple of years ago, we stay in touch but don't currently read each other's posts because I'm not into their fandom and they would rather gouge their eyes out with a wooden spoon than read anything Star Wars) and specifically to share fic in that fandom. They joined, because we all love a good fic rec, only to discover that their latest multichapter fic, which has almost no comments and very few kudos, is being hotly discussed in this server as one of the best stories ever. Not one of these people has bothered to say this to them on the fic. When they asked, none of participants could see the point in telling the author of the fic they apparently loved so much that they love it.

This discovery has absolutely destroyed my friend's love of sharing fic. They share because they love seeing other people's enjoyment, and fic writers do that through comments and kudos/reblogs/likes because we don't get paid. There is no literary critic writing a blog post/article about how amazing the story is for us to copy and keep/frame. There is no money from royalties. All we have are the words of the people reading our works.

Those people on that server could have taken five minutes of the time they spent gushing about how amazing my friend's story was to other people and used it to tell the one person guaranteed to want to hear that praise how much they loved it. They could have taken a moment to express their opinion to the person who spent hours upon hours plotting, writing, editing, and posting those chapters. Instead, they deprived my friend of thing that keeps them sharing their writing, and in the process have killed their love of it. My friend now feels used and unmotivated.

I won't be sharing a link to their fic, they said I could share their experience but not their identity. I know they plan to post one final chapter. I know they intend to express their hurt at being excluded from the praise for the thing they created, and I know they intend to announce that as a consequence they will not be posting for a long while, if at all.

So please, I beg you, don't hide your love of a story from the writer. It's just about the only thing we have.

[contamination-zone]

Just wanted to tell you that i love your Nightmare and Fresh headcanons and personalities ^_^

I love how your Nightmare is such a menace 😭, i dont necessarily enjoy when people make him dadmare (to each their own ofc), so seeing this nightmare is so reFRESHing! I love how you show us his thought process too, its seriously so interesting to see how he thinks

Your fresh too! He's such a silly goober

Seriously, chefs kiss

Thank youuu! X]]]

[Not ship] [Just, so much yammering under the cut]

I am also, ahh, not the most interested in dadmare... I prefer when he is genuinely cruel and an awful person, because I like when characters are just the worst :-][I do feel like I sand off many of the hard edges though, even still... bad habit of mine, to try and make them more palatable hehe]

Also a reason Nightmare is so interesting to me is as a tool to show more of Fresh's characterization off. Most of what I see with Fresh is either ignoring how morally grey he is, or characters helping him get "better." Nightmare though, I feel like he could really show off and feed into Fresh's worst habits.

Nightmare would do very little to make Fresh stop being so existentially terrified of death, I think he'd even feed into it or try to make it worse; its useful to him, it keeps Fresh close. Nightmare is powerful, and if Fresh is so scared all the time, it means it would want to have a strong ally to protect it.

Also the lack of regard for others/using others in self interest. Extremely self explanatory, I think they are just enjoying meals together X]

I also think Nightmare treats Fresh different to the rest of his gang; the gang is useful in what they can do For Nightmare, and only producers of negativity second. Fresh, however, would probably not be a very public ally to Nightmare, and wouldn't provide that sort of thing. His use is in his own suffering, and the suffering of the host he's inhibiting. Which means Nightmare cares less for using him in more practical ways, and more for just Keeping him.

This leads to Fresh getting more special treatment, almost akin to pampering HAHA. Nightmare needs to show that Fresh would have a better time With him than Away from him. He has to balance what he wants of the relationship with the fact that Fresh is liable to bolt if He's not providing enough to Fresh. [And I think escaping, fleeing, is one of Fresh's strong-suits.]

Also sorry gahaha, you had such lovely things to say about my nightmare interpretation, but I just went off about freshi and how he's affected by the relationship.

[kezzamjam]

Mane Six Redesign! 🌟 + Finalized Cutie Mark Redesigns!

these ponies are the only things keeping me sane during this insane time guys! hope they can help u too if you’re having a tough time^^

Some notes about their designs below if you’re interested! :D

Finally redesigned their cutiemarks! I wanted them to be as intricate as their cutie mark story! I tried to make them match my style as well, cause the originals didn’t really fit too well in my interpretations. these will probably be the ones i use from now on!

Twilight of course has her iconic blunt cut, I think the ponytail suits her straight to the point, sarcastic but loving and fun personality in the first season! her hair will slowly start to loosen into a low tied back ponytail as she learns the magic of friendship :’) if you saw my Older Mane Six Redesigns you can see what I mean! She also has birthmarks around her chest and horn! While marks are seen in Pegasi usually, they are seen in Unicorns in rare cases. When she becomes an Alicorn, creatures mistakenly think she was born a Pegasus.

I feel like Applejack, in her traditional country girl style would have a longer mane than originally! I gave her Pear Butter’s hair texture, and though she doesn’t really know how to maintain it, she keeps it long in honor of her mother. But! she does keep it braided to keep it out of the way. Vitiligo bc I think it would be common among Earth Ponies, supposedly mirroring the way sun dances on the soil.It also is what causes her freckles! Also, I made her hair similar to the shape of a bitten apple! I think it rly suits her as the CORE (pun intended) apple! :p

Fluttershy!! Shorter mane/tied up bc the animals always try to claw and tangle themselves in it. Her silhouette is meant to juxtapose Dash’s, despite their similar design choices! (ie similar length manes, tails, both pegasus ofc) this is to really emphasize the fact that Pegasi come in so many varieties! When people say she should have just been an Earth Pony makes me so sad, bc that’s the whole point! She isn’t your typical pegasus but we love her for it! Multiple pink shades in her mane to mirror Celestia, as many ponies later point out her likeness to her— I also think it’s an interesting point of what exactly is the beauty standard in Equestria! Fluttershy has often been remarked as very beautiful, and I’d like to think her similarity to the Princess is part of that. She also has hoof marks on her! All pegasi do and in rare cases, they relate directly to their future cutie mark!

RARITY MY DIVA !!!! Ofc had to give her the most luxurious mane of all. She has a curly hair type, and is arguably the only one of the Mane Six who knows how to properly care for her hair type 😭 don’t worry! she teaches her friends and it’s wonderful (i wonder who i mentioned earlier that rly needs her help…. 💎🍎…..) I wanted her to invoke the feeling of the original myths of unicorns, with their lankiness and long, flowing white coats. She was actually my first redesign all the way back in august, and the only one i haven’t changed! I love her more than anything.

Pinkie Pie was lowk the hardest for me because of her monotonous color palette 😭 but I didn’t want to change it bc she is simply!!! iconic!!!! I enjoy the designs of the original mane six and just wanted to alter elements of the designs rather then entirely recreate the characters from the ground up. She has very tight coily hair (my poc queen 🤞🤞) and decorates it with her favorite confetti! and sometimes frosting >< Gave her highlights to better see the shapes in her mane. And ofc gave her more blue accents! I think it’s so understated that she has two iconic colors in her palette and no one takes about it

And finally, Rainbow Dash! Dashie was so much fun bc I had such a clear vision for her. I wanted that sweet lightning bolt motif, both cause I think she would have a cut specifically for dazzling up her flying skills, but also to mirror AJ’s hair motifs! (for u appledashies out the ;3) and also because they’re always head to head, but rly they go hoof in hoof together and compliment their softer friends so well. Dash’s scars on her wings are from her first sonic rainboom! She was very lucky to have it heal stinger than before, and was the only filly to ever do so. Her Pegasi hoof marks are actually very plain, which is why she tattooed over them! she had them done is the same style of her cutie mark, and actually got one of her hoof wings tattooed white too. Speaking of her cutie mark, I wanted it to feel like the sonic rainboom really left an impression on her physically, dancing on her coat, forever with her :) it also, to dash’s enjoyment, is rad as heck!!

thank u for reading if u made it this far, and I can’t wait to draw these designs some more!!! x3

[vanpalmerenthusiast]

need need need pre-crash/no-crash parkinglot headcanons i’m recently so getting into them

omg headcanons about us yes ofc

i feel like you can view some of these as platonic or romantic or secret third thing, so however you want to interpret be my guest <3 wasn’t really sure which version to write for so it’s mostly romantic vibe stuff

okay so we’ve all seen the “lottie was lonely, not alone” thing by now (which is a fucking amazing little analysis by @before-it-felt-like-a-sin, love it so much) and that’s something i think van tends to notice about lottie pre-crash. she understands that lottie is different than the others, because van is different too. she senses that loneliness in lottie and that forms a kind of unspoken kinship between the two, maybe even before they officially become friends. they’re connected on a level neither of them really quite understand.

bouncing off of that, van has a bit of a deeper connection to lottie in that she looks up to her terminally. she would follow her anywhere, even off a cliff if lottie said it was the right thing to do. we see this in the wilderness, but no-crash/pre-crash it’s more of just an intense loyalty than a girlfailure cult leader and her lesbiacolyte

parkinglot are like, crazy confused about each other. van knows she’s gay (lottie maybe not so much), but even then it’s like “how the fuck do i feel about this weird ass girl actually”

the gray area is SUFFOCATING

both too nervous to make an official first move so i feel like their relationship ends up stemming from a simple innocent everyday comment to them like fully going at it

lottie braids van’s hair

she does

parkinglot at the end of the day is about unconditional, devotional love. they see each others imperfections down to their core, and they just do not give a fuck because they love each other so much.

van is not the smooth one in this relationship i do indeed fear

like she has her moments but i feel like lottie catches her off-guard and gets her flustered with a random comment and lottie’s just left wondering like why did she just get so red and run away

these silly lesbians

little spoon van big spoon lottie WHO SAID THAT!!

van is ALWAYS trying to get lottie into her favorite movies and i feel like medicated lottie would be a movie fiend too so it’s not that difficult of a process

parkinglot movie nights are a staple

“it’s fine, i’ll just eat it” van and “excuse me, she asked for no pickles” lottie

this is how you do butchfemme guys, parkinglot is how you do butchfemme

i can see them connecting on their family issues at like a big slumber party while everyone else is asleep because they’re both night owls

lottie talking about her parents not wanting to deal with her, van talking about her mom not wanting to deal with anything. this conversation definitely ends with them sound asleep beside each other and sleeping in hours after everybody else.

them being the only people they can each open up to, fully.

GOD I LOVE THEM

tried thinking about them in the adult years but it got too freaky and i could not for the life of me separate them from the narrative so just put this in highschool/college no crash au

part of that was just me rambling and the rest is just the most random little things popping into my head, hope it suffices x

also, i just noticed that my list of uni headcanons you sent an ask for a while ago has just been sitting fully completed in my drafts… not sure why that happened but i will be posting it the minute after i post this!! THANK U FOR THE ASK ILY KAT 💋💋

[padfootastic]

Regarding your next gen kids post, sometimes I really do wish there wasn’t an epilogue. That the reader left the world on a hopeful note instead of fast forwarding 19 years later and finding out Harry named his child fucking Albus Severus

ahahaha i know right!!! like i get symbolism and i get neatly wrapping everything up and i get closure but !!! albus severus?? eugh. even ignoring all the implications of the people he’s named after, it’s just. such a profoundly uncool name like bro. harry. ginny. spare some mercy for ur kid pls 😭😭

(also it is so funny to imagine that james and lily were once married with a kid and the vol. 2 version of them are just. siblings 💀 becomes worse when the next gen kids are characterised as carbon copies of their namesakes)

[cardo-de-comer]

10/10 - "all is gone, none is won"

[writing-for-life]

Dream—Craig Hamilton

I can’t get over the symbolism in this one. The poppies stand for themselves of course, but the obelisk!

No matter if you look at ancient Egypt or Greece, it is so loaded with connotations to creation, gods and kings (especially sun gods like Ra and Apollo, and many pharaos and kings used obelisks as a symbol of divine power), connecting earth and sky, often symbolising a ray of sun. And that connection is also so beautifully mirrored in Morpheus himself, with his hair basically becoming one with the night sky.

The positioning of an obelisk was either east-facing (rising sun/rebirth) or west-facing (setting sun/death and afterlife). The capstone (the pyramidion/benben stone) stood for Ra’s first emergence because the original benben stone was believed to have risen from the primordial waters: a symbol for the literal birth of life/creation and renewal. And since the ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife, an obelisk also meant safe passage and ascension of the soul.

I particularly like the myth of Bennu (a heron-like bird) that would sit on the benben and cry/sing one last time when all Gods die (and it would be told to sing by Ra himself because it was basically connected to/a part of his soul). The Bennu might also have been the ancient inspiration for the legend of the Phoenix.

And while there are no birds to see in here, the mythology surrounding obelisks dnd their capstones is honestly so fitting—including the connections to sun gods and Phoenix-like birds.

And it is so interesting to me that the Sandman in general makes so many references to Morpheus/Dream getting mixed up with Apollo, be it by worshippers, be it as Calliope’s consort/Orpheus’ father, be it through Aristeas (who was Apollo’s raven), be it through putting Orpheus out of his misery (there’s that part of mythology, too—it’s complicated). There’s some strange balance in replacing the epitome of sun/light with its (seemingly) opposite. And of course an obelisk stands for balance, too…

[trans-leek-cookie]

listen I'm not gonna be a Curly apologist he did Fucked Up as captain but I genuinely recommend ppl watch a playthru that goes thru the game in chronological order. It kinda helps clear up the events and gaps between them, bc even tho u See the times, you still experience it out of order.

The stuff Anya says definitely sets off alarm bells but it doesn't seem like he Fully Understands what she means, and I'm going to be 100% honest I think she was trying to repress it herself. This isn't to say that she is AT ALL "at fault" for what happened after and she should've gotten help even if she wasn't ready to fully discuss the issue but I genuinely think she herself was still coming to terms with things, so she didn't necessarily process the full impact before talking to Curly, and a lot of what happens occurs after they're laid off- like this delves into personal interpretation but I genuinely think Anya only registered Jimmy as a serious danger after his outburst towards Curly. Ofc my interpretation is limited bc of the limited pov in game and not having gone through what she has, but it personally reads more akin to coercion over time than a singular Obviously Violent incident (like. Not to say that Sexual Assault isnt violent in nature, just that coercion often specifically works to obfuscate the fact it is a form of violence.) The layoff is a Massive catalyst for her bc of Jimmy, in that she now has a very clear understanding of his capacity for aggression.

To extrapolate a little from the "Dead Pixel" conversation, she starts by saying she Likes The Screen (even though it's fake). While Curly has his quotes about the pixel "not ruining the illusion" which. Y'know is Symbolic Of His Flaws. She doesn't say the pixel ruins it, just that she can't get it out of her mind.

If we take the pixel to represent her Or jimmy, either way the way she talks about it kind of downplays things, like it's a Minor Thing that's Slightly Upsetting, but she's still okay with the big picture. Idk I could be 100% wrong but that is my take

Besides that, Anya tells curly she's pregnant 2 days before the crash, and it isn't until she outright states it that he starts Putting The Pieces Together. I want to note, he says "I'd do anything" and "this doesn't have to go on our performance evals" 1. Before he knows shes pregnant 2. Under the assumption she might attempt suicide, and I doubt he even thought about her using the gun on anyone else before she brings that up. He says literally before the line where she tells him she's pregnant that "being laid off isnt a reason to hurt [herself]". Like I've seen ppl talk about the performance evaluation thing like it's about her and jimmy, but I think he's referring to (his belief) that she might attempt suicide or similar which might genuinely be a consistent thing he's seen her struggle with, given she's able to go through with it. Also just to note: assuming their society is like ours (hellish) reassuring her he won't blab Abt her mental health is like. Genuine reassurance- lots of mentally ill ppl will Not Open Up bc it could have long term consequences (like. For example. On employment) ANYWAYS I hope it doesn't come off like "Curly never failed Anya" but rather "Curly approached this specific situation without the context of why Anya is panicking and (possibly validly) assuming she's dealing with a very different issue"

Also let me say again the time frame is 2 days. We don't Really see what happens, but we know Anya tells Jimmy without Curly knowing. I genuinely believe he maybe didn't do a Great Job in those two days (the fact he says Anya should've talked to Him before telling Jimmy is uhhh. Mm. 1. Your job to create an environment where she comes to you my man 2. Weird to tell her what she should do with HER OWN PERSONAL INFORMATION) but like.

I get a lot of ppl want immediate consequences but consider that they can't really get rid of Jimmy (co pilot. Which is. Y'know it's Own Problems) but also like. Curly knows Jimmy, and we know that Jimmy tends to lash out. Curly should probably Not Confront Jimmy Unless He Knows Exactly How To Keep Him From Hurting Anya. Like I'm not an expert but this is something genuinely important- when confronting an abuser you NEED to take into account the impact it can have on their victim, and sometimes for the victims safety you need to wait until you have a Solid Plan. It sucks but it's important.

And theres discussion to be had about Curly kinda going along with Jimmy saying "well what if we all died" and like. I do believe he Didn't Realize What Jimmy Said. Like he was just processing/trying to keep the situation under control (and failing because he underestimated how willing Jimmy was to hurt everyone including himself).

Like he's definitely an enabler but I would say his problems are mostly before he understands the gravity of the situation, in that he's friends with Jimmy and assumes the best of a man with abusive tendencies, and fails to create an environment that can keep Anya and the others safe. Like, he definitely doesn't handle in game events perfectly (psych evaluation for one- he does do it instead of Anya which is actually helpful, but he still treats it like. Weirdly.)

Idk I have a lot of thoughts about this game and I don't necessarily want to defend Curly but more like. Anya's situation is very delicate (and light on details) so sometimes the way ppl talk Abt it feels like they aren't actually focused on what she wants and what it means to prioritize her safety y'know?

Edit bc I just now figured out kinda how I want to word it: curly is an enabler and making things worse bc he doesn't put a stop to Jimmy's BS, but in the specific scenario we see in game I think he's trying to use his Skillset of like, people pleasing not for Jimmy's sake but for the crews (like "if I nod my head and say I sympathize he won't lash out and hurt them") which like. There are situations which that is unfortunately the safest option (on an individual level yes, but sometimes it's also necessary to prevent abusers lashing out in response toward ppl who are more vulnerable) but it was the Wrong Choice.

It's like. I think Curly was trying and had good intentions, and understood that he needed to protect the crew, but he didn't have the toolset/experience to realize he can't Just go along with things and that he needs to be able to set hard limits, even for ppl he likes and trusts. Like he failed but the failure was "for want of a nail", where it began way before what we see (for want of an understanding of power dynamics I guess.) Again, don't think this makes curly more forgivable or whatever, I just think he's a good example of trying to make the right choices when you never realized you'd have to make these kinds of decisions and therefore are unprepared and/or unaware

Second edit: personally I don't think you can really incapacitate jimmy without there being serious risk (again he's the copilot) but curly should've given Anya the gun when she told him Abt the pregnancy

[rmbunnie]

I am alone on this barren earth (Jason Todd liker and Mia Dearden liker who honestly thinks issues 69-72 of the 2001 Green Arrow run are fun and good and would really like to talk about them beyond "Jason Todd was ooc and irredeemable there because he was trauma-dumping on Mia but also everything he said was fake and made up and he was manipulating her to become his sidekick and he blew up her school in retaliation because she didn't so really we should ignore the whole comic as bad writing /or agree he should just be read as an sadistic sidekick killer" (None of which is true and over half of which is directly stated to be false in the comic's text) but all people ever have to say about the comic is weird wrong takes about the three pages in which the gym fight happens ripped out of the very interesting and fun surrounding context)

[lyramundana]

I have an idea for the 9th member au.

What if, instead of being the only known female member of the group, she just dresses and acts like a boy in the public to fit in the group? She was a regular trainee and she admired Stray Kids, but being a girl she couldn't debut with them, no matter how good she was. So she had an idea, and for some reason nobody understands, JYP accepted it: Create a fake identity for herself as a male, with another name and birthday entirely. She would debut with Stray Kids but the world would know her as a boy.

Only the members and the company know the truth. The best part of this is that she leads a second life as a normal girl where nobody knows she's an idol, and so has more freedom than the members.

@skzms @minsungisvreal I don't know where minsung will fit into this scenario, but since you both like this au, let me know your thoughts

@moonlightndaydreams @channieandhisgoonsquad @2chopsticks2eyes @queenmea604 @linlinaert

[cheese-water]

Leo and Sunny together gives me tons of feelings because at surface level, it’s just two very similar girls fighting over very childish things like who copied who and who likes Pepito more. But looking deeper made me realize just how similar they are.

It’s a funny coincidence that both Sunny and Leo have pivotal character moments when they interact. One right before and one right after.

Sunny’s is the mermaid family meeting with Tubbo before she was told about Leo’s prank, and it’s hard to watch. This little girl so desperately wants to be loved by others. She so desperately wants her other parents to meet her and take care of her that she’ll take any semblance of them and love it to moon and back. It’s too bad the remaining shards she has are horror stories and a body by the dock.

Leo’s happens right after saying “hola” and a few other words to Sunny and running away up the hill. When Foolish catches up to her, she’s already sitting in a chair and partway through watching a video. The video was an ai Foolish cover of Gary come home in spanish but replaced Gary with Vegetta (Vegetta vuelve a mí). Leo continues watching and it becomes apparent just how much she is affected by her other father’s disappearance. The depressing scene only darken when discovering that the ai cover was made a month before she disappeared. Two and a half months is a dangerously long time to hold out hope. Especially when it can all come crashing down on you in an instant.

Leo and Sunny are deeply lonely and crave the love and attention from their other parents that their single dads just can’t provide. They’re just a couple of girls god damnit let them live :(

[queen0fm0nsterz]

just noticed almost all the "ships" I like are actually just queerplatonic relationships in a trench coat

[satanfemme]

I watched pom poko for the first time last night and it might be my new favorite ghibli movie

[sludgekludge]

seeing the idea that haz/bin and hell/uva should've taken place in an alternate universe instead of being connected canon and honestly i'm not sure i disagree now. i do wonder how much stuff they've locked themselves entirely out of using in both shows because of legal issues. its already kind of noticeable + not super thrilled with the idea that in order to fully understand the lore there's 2 shows you'd have to consume that aren't allowed to directly refer to each other

[harmonicabisexuals]

idk i just think it's so interesting how cameron's hesitations to commit to chase in season 5 are repeatedly speculated to be bc she's still in love with house, even though she (and the narrative) refutes this at multiple points. but at the same time, the people speculating that (chase, cuddy) aren't wrong!! of course she's still in love with house, their chemistry is still insane in literally any scene they have together!! but what's more interesting is that cameron's love for house is kind of irrelevant to the situation, and house himself knows this. instead, he tends to frame it more as commitment issues in general stemming from losing her first husband. which again, isn't wrong per se, but also doesn't fully explain it when you consider that cameron had none of those hesitations whatsoever when she was actively pursuing house. what none of the characters offering opinions on her relationship consider is that cameron simply doesn't love chase as much as he loves her. which is soooo interesting bc even when house is like "you're going to break up with him", by the end of the episodes exploring this dynamic (5.08, 5.21) he is not-so-subtly in his own way telling her to get over herself and commit to chase. he can read her possibly better than anyone else can, and maybe part of him even realizes that she's screaming for an out, but he won't let her do it. which is hm. interesting.

[shirogane-oushirou]

going back through old posts to tag digi!ren and. i knew finding posts that a sentient a.i could relate to would be difficult but. man.