#but otoh there are other fun ideas to be had with this

[fortune-maiden]

Based on Bridon Ep 4, I’m starting to wonder more about how Lu Guang’s powers work

He took a photo of CXS and was apparently able to keep an eye on him through that

But doesn’t that raise some questions about the “12 hours into the future” that LG can see? He took the photo so wouldn’t it make more sense that he could see 12 hours into the photographer’s future? It would explain why he followed CXS to the pub rather than watch from the hotel room, but somehow it also looked like he was able to know exactly what CXS was doing in the pub so he knew the exact moment to call and summon him back

Is he just able to zoom in on the particulars as long as he’s physically present in/within some short radius of the location?

[clatterbane]

My new aftermarket leg! With the sleeve part that goes over it folded down inside. They did tape that onto the socket at the bottom.

I managed to get that at a weird like 0.8 zoom, but hey.

Just got back from PT, and they're still holding the leg hostage. Though, at least now we do have a better idea of when I should be able to take it home. They want me back Thursday, and again next Tuesday which is apparently the last walking clinic before Christmas. So, barring unforeseen events? I should have it for keeps in a week. 😃

Today went better than I halfway expected, thankfully. I spent about an hour walking around while the PT lady watched and gave suggestions on gait with it, first at the bars and then with the rollator again. They also had me going sideways and then backwards some at the bars. I walked up and down the hall outside some.

The prosthetist was there, and did a couple of minor alignment adjustments on, like, foot alignment after watching how I was walking on it. The socket itself does feel like a reasonable fit from my admittedly near-zero experience, and they double checked to make sure my actual leg didn't have any worrying marks after nearly an hour up on the thing.

One of the weirdest experiences was when I was walking around and Ghost Ankle started hurting and feeling sorta stiff. That was probably from a muscle spasm in the remaining calf, but it was odder for my brain to deal with while I was actually walking around on a mostly metal ankle that I knew full well couldn't possibly be registering "I must have twisted this a little without noticing" pain.

The legimately terrible meat knees, OTOH? Thankfully behaved remarkably well. I was actively trying to take it easy on them just in case, but encouraging still.

Some muscles I barely remembered having are pretty tired right now, and I could definitely tell again that I have a lot of stamina and strength to build back up. Things were easier than I had halfway expected, though. And I kinda got the impression again that they were expecting much worse from somebody who hadn't had two legs to walk on for over 4 years.

I mean, I was also trying pretty hard to look as strong and competent as possible dealing with the folks who were deciding when I could reasonably take my leg home. But, that can only go so far. On the whole, not so bad today. I was sorta expecting a bunch of mat exercises too, but that hasn't come up so far. It was also maybe looking like I had, in fact, been keeping up more with some targeted exercises than is the case.

Coming up: practice with stairs on a foot/ankle without full "normal" movement, some other "fun stuff" (according to the PT person), and who knows what else. I don't know if they're planning to have me try with crutches for added stability there, but that is definitely something I plan on myself.

Then next week we should be good(ish) to go, and work on the whole endurance part on my own lookout.

[an-au-blog]

hello again!!

i'm quietly dying to know if u!buggy is present when robin translates the skypeian poneglyph & the note roger asked oden to leave on it. just. an amnesiac clown staring at this giant rock, too busy silently screaming what does it meeeean to hear robin explaining what it means. cracks me up.

(i also love the thought of there being a pattern of older locals recognizing buggy just a moment too late as 'one of the kids from back then'. i love a running gag that doubles as foreshadowing! though crocus would surely recognize buggy on sight, i bet he assumes buggy's being cryptic on purpose when he "pretends" not to know him, and goes along with it.)

i'd misremembered that conversation at shakky's bar as having only a handful of the strawhats present, and so was imagining that buggy had no idea they'd gotten a lead on his past, and rayleigh would only see buggy on the kizaru-kuma-strawhat battlefield for a minute before he gets kuma'd away… on one hand, i still love this idea bc i love pain. otoh that conversation happening with everyone but buggy present feels wrong. and a "don't tell me, i'll find out the truth for myself!" ending to rayleigh and buggy reuniting is so fitting, it's the same argument robin & luffy make to rayleigh in that scene!

i looove the thought of buggy losing track of luffy after marineford. what a situation he's in now!! surrounded by dozens of ex-prisoners who idolize him, maybe two he gets along with, a half-dozen he's terrified of, and shanks. he's heard stories from luffy, but that's luffy! you can't go to him for realism or accuracy!! but... this shanks guy does have a boat... and something about his face is kind of familiar...

how long does it take shanks to realize buggy acting like he doesn't know him isn't an act, i wonder? how many old grudges does shanks halfheartedly apologize for, trying to get buggy to give in and acknowledge him? is one of those apologies the thing that makes something click for buggy? does he freeze up, or immediately snap and shout at shanks bc he's misremembered why buggy was mad at him that time? :3c

xoxo, difan

Hello, Difan!

I thought about that like once when I was thinking about Robin in the u! universe, but then i forgot and never really thought about it again lol. In my mind he comes along somewhere between East Blue and Alabasta, though if anyone wants to adopt this au, I'm fine with whatever interpretation or spin they want to put on it.

Now that you said it, I agree, it would be really fun if the locals recognize him randomly like "yeah, yeah, that was the red-nosed kid! Aw, he was so cute, we gotta live him! Pity he's not with his friend though, hope nothing bad happened to the other one..." And Buggy just going"ifk what you're talking about, you're being weird af" and everyone just assumes the other kid (shanks) died and it's a painful memory so they're all like "Oh, yes of course... our bad... if there's anything we can do to help you tell us, it's been so hard for you, we're so sorry ". Which confuses Buggy even more, but hey, he's getting positive attention, even if it's pity, and he's not going to complain about it.

Buggy meeting Rayleigh in the bar is so dear to me. Idk if it'd be realistic but I feel like he'd be very defensive qt first but then Rayleigh would be "Buggy? Is that you? I barely recognized you, you've grown so much, and become such a strong young man" and then something snaps and he just falls into his arms absolutely sobbing. He doesn't know why, he can't remember him on a conscious level, but they still jave this father/son moment of comfort.

I don't remember if I said this in the last post or if I thought of it now, but him losing Luffy at Marine Ford and clinging to Shanks for protection would be funnier (to me) if he goes by the logic of "Okay, he's scary, the generals are even scared of him, Luffy likes him and he seems fond of Luffy. He looks a bit familiar so idk if he would have some grudge with me if I've wronged him in some way... so I'm just going to use my contact with Luffy as leverage!" So he just starts going "You know Luffy, right? Well I'm in his crew" (which breaks Shanks's heart because... why isn't he in his crew? What did Luffy offer him that Shanks can't?? And why is he jealous of his child protege? Buggy sees he's a little upset by it so he continues "So if- if you're his friend and care for him, you'll take me and my men to safety... and not kill me.......... please."

And he switches from being sad to being so confused like,

Shanks: wdym I'll do it because of Luffy. I'm not helping you because of Luffy,

Buggy absolutely terrified that his one strategy of manipulating his one ticket to freedom has expired:..... wh.. why?

Shanks: I'm gonna help you because we're friends! You're my best friend Buggy!

Buggy: We are? I mean uh, we are.

Shanks assuming he remembers him and being do happy: So you remember me?

Buggy afraid if he says no, Shanks will get mad and leave him: ... yes.

Once in the ship (because the prisoners are so many) everyone sleeps wherever they can. Except for Buggy. Shanks insists on giving him his bed or at least his a place in his room. "We were bunkmates after all" he says but Buggy just smiles and nods hoping he doesn't find out he doesn't actually recognize him. Shanks can feel Buggy is on edge the entire time and he tries asking but Buggy always goes "No, no it's fine, everything's great haha" so he starts testing the waters by asking "hey do you remember *insert thing that never happened* that was so crazy, right?" To which Buggy'll go all "yeaaaah, absolutely haha, very crazy that happened I remember!" And after the third or fourth time Shanks couldn't take it and confronts him about it. Buggy is furious but also devastated because that's it. He's going to kill him now. Maybe even worse. (Keep in mind Buggy has seen how cruel people can be and his time with the straw hats doesn't help him think better of people, because they also keep bumping into horrible people)

He starts scream crying at him, he's already a deadman, what else does he have to lose, might as well let it all out. Meanwhile, Shanks is so confused because he understands absolutely nothing.

[runespoor7]

nmj/wwx or jgy/wwx or lxc/wwx

Oh, interesting!

I answered under the cut, all three options and a surprise.

NMJ/WWX

don't ship it

Why don't you ship it?

lack of history in canon, I think. never really thought about it, they both die early without much to do with one another, I don't feel like I see what's going on there. I'm very busy shipping them with their respective it's-complicated.

What would have made you like it?

More history between them would have been a good start.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything to say about it?

ok see the Draw for me here is that I think the in-universe RPF game for these two was insane. Probably unwarranted! Lots of LWJ or JC stuff being given to NMJ for some reason and some Meng Yao stuff given to WWX. But there was a time it was the big YLLZ-era ship. Righteous Chifeng-zun calling out and going to to war against the fallen Yiling Laozu! Action! Drama! Lots of possible captive scenarios! Some stories have WWX be secretly a spy for the Wens during the war and NMJ being unable to prove it, and realizing only after the war that WWX is trying to set himself up as the new WRH! Some stories have WWX save NMJ during the war, only to be corrupted by his demonic cultivation later on! It's definitely the Hot ship at the time.

It falls off in popularity after NMJ's death - it's taken over by WWX/JC (which had started becoming real popular since JC killed WWX; JC gets a lot of the darker versions of RPF!Chifeng-zun's personality traits in those stories) - but it probably leaves a decent smattering of heirs in non-RPF stories. The most popular romance story in the present is from an author who wrote NMJ/WWX, they're not quite expies but iykyk.

(the YLLZ's actual most common ship is YLLZ/Ghost General, in stories where YLLZ is the villain and not part of the main pair. These stories are overwhelmingly NMJ/JYL after she's been widowed by the YLLZ.)

JGY/WWX

don't ship it!

Why don't you ship it?

I have never seen a protagonist and a "main(?) antagonist" care so little about one another and be so perpendicular to each other's stories. The Venn diagram between WWX and JGY is "WWX's sidekick/boyfriend's brother is JGY's bestie" and "the person who wants JGY destroyed threw ideas at the wall and WWX stuck."

It's very interesting. It kind of makes mdzs into the kind of case fic where the case is less important than the emotions. For me, "the emotions," "the plot," was the mystery question of: "how come wwx died? how did it end up that way?"; I suspect ardent wgxn shippers see "the plot" as "how do wwx and lwj get together". In either case, it's got nothing to do with JGY.

What would have made you like it?

so if they did have interactions/history/something I might be into it, but otoh it's such a fun thing that they're just incidental to one another that it would almost be a shame.

(at this point it may become apparent that my answer to everything is "idk, if they'd been childhood friends and had a falling out?" but what can you do.)

This would have been a cool story: WWX and JGY knew one another as kids. Maybe WWX's parents left him at an inn down the street from the brothel Meng Yao lived in when they left on the night-hunt that would kill them.

Maybe bby Wei Ying boasted about his cultivator parents and gave Meng Yao pointers. Maybe Meng Yao gave WWX food once after bby WWX lost his parents. Maybe they played together/hid together. I see something like at most a few weeks of something that someone older would have called a friendship, and then bby WWX disappearing from Meng Yao's life.

Meng Yao remembers the other boy; WWX doesn't.

Depending on how long they were friends you might need to make up a reason why Meng Yao never learned the other boy's real name; maybe part of a joke during their first meeting that WWX refused to clear up later? fits in with WWX's joke to LQY. Or if they did exchange names, you might need a reason why Meng Yao doesn't try to turn his friendship with WWX into something actionable once he learns WWX is head disciple of YMJ. The reason might be as simple as Meng Yao not knowing what became of Wei Ying until after he tried to reach his father the first time. The rejection, the humiliation, the fear of being a laughing stock and or being rejected again, pride - those might suffice to explain why Meng Yao wouldn't throw himself at the mercy of Wei Ying or the Jiangs. (Especially if their meetings were under the sign of bby WWX bragging about his parents or sth like that.)

Keeping canon otherwise the same, this makes for a starting point for "what if" contemplations I'd be interested in.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

I'm very into JGY having Opinions on WWX. there are definitely cool AUs to be made about them.

LXC/WWX

don't ship it

Why don't you ship it?

most of my ships need some... thing from canon. LXC/WWX is a complete mystery. I would be interested in making up stories about them, simply because there would be many stories to tell depending on your starting point. But I'm probably not going to want to spend effort or time on it.

LWJ and his feelings are also very much something that I'd need to consider, from LXC's PoV at least. And that's a lot.

What would have made you like it?

Hm, I dunno. A very different canon? One where they have more history, or more scenes together. Possibly one where I'm more invested in LXC as well.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

Oh yes, it sounds fascinating!

Are we talking about WWX/LXC post-canon, with wgxn either a thing or having been a thing? How do they navigate LWJ's feelings for WWX? Are they going behind his back? Is it sad, or sordid, is it an unexpected friendship that goes deeper than any of them expected?

Or did LWJ die from his punishment while WWX was dead? Is LXC/WWX the relationship in this story because LXC has been mourning for his brother ever since; how resentful of WWX is he? Did LWJ try to get him to promise not to resent WWX? Does LXC try to understand WWX (for LWJ) anyway, does he try to meet him halfway? Does he end up seeing good things in WWX as well? Or it is a destructive urge that drives them together? (There would certainly be a parallel between LXC and JC in a story where LWJ died for WWX. Is WWX projecting? What kind of relationship do LXC and JC have?)

WWX/NMJ/LXC/JGY

I don't ship it but I think if given the opportunity WWX might joke about performing a 3zun hat trick a lot.

And then possibly commit to the bit, the only sort of commitment he's at ease with. (/cheap shot)

Or panic and not do it, given that he's hugely sentimental deep down, but he would love the joke!!!!

[deepestbluesky]

[the not actual image description is that this is a very barebones powerpoint in which each slide has picture(s) of a kinnporsche character and bullet point text describing it. the full text is under the cut below the latter set of pictures.]

all text from @minnarr​!!! now, onwards

[title slide] minna explains kinnporsche without knowing it

[kinn] kinn ● eyebrows ● was written lowkey as RPF of actor who plays him and i would like to never think about that but people remind me constantly ● smiling imp emoji ● also this man has a lot of buttons open but if that coat is red i approve

[porsche] this IS porsche right? his bangs are actually covering his forehead ● he's kinn's bodyguard? which is the opposite casting to what I thought would be true before I figured out which was which. He just looks very mild. Protect him. ● something deeply wrong with him but i haven't absorbed enough to know if it's personal or systemic ● lol sometimes if you change anything about the hairline i do not recognize a person ● (porsche i think of as having like 90s heartthrob hair for some reason) ● [upon seeing bodyguard hairstyle] i must inflate my hair to look intimidating. like a bird.

[porchay] oh... i don't know ● he looks like he's 17 but also I'm trash at judging ages. DOES look like he's waiting until he can go back to his video game ● [would you like to make any guesses or nah?] at names? god no ● i know like 3 names that i can't match to anyone and i know them wholly disconnected from anything about them as people ● pete? is this Pete? ● i have no idea how anyone besides kinn and porsche even fit in the story

[tankhun] i think this might be tankhun ● REALLY loving this matching coat and cape in colorful floral ● do his pants have fun organic cutouts ● no wait those are shiny leather boots ● or pants. ok ● wow this is a look. ok. well this man is NOT doing the fighting. he is either very scary or very fun. or both. ● IS he the third crime brother or is my brain just insisting literally everyone has this surname ● one thing this show does is let men wear fun things

[pete] is THIS Pete ● i saw a vegaspete gifset either today or yesterday and the only thing i retained about pete's face is that he looked nice ● good laugh 10/10 what is he doing here ● bought a 10pk of white hanes tshirts and got invited to whatever This is ● (i don't know if this last is even remotely accurate to his vibe or if I'm judging on 1 picture and faint memory) ● either vegas is the sex dungeon haver or I'm hilariously wrong about Pete's vibe

[kim] kim (crime bros surname)???? ● the guy who would be besties with nie huaisang ● he looks like he's here to have fun and take pictures on his phone to save to his terrifyingly extensive blackmail folder ● again he has little brother energy ● i do like his face. i wanna see him in scenes ● like the way you distantly blorbo people from gifs. he's my favorite kp guy.

[vegas] vegas ● [within 1 second of seeing picture] sex dungeon ● please save his hedgehog ● he's one of the 3 people i can name

[korn] ...d..dad? ● i frankly did not know this show had anyone other than pretty 20-30 year old men ● [we talked about this and you went 'there are OLD PEOPLE?'] i have simply never seen them!!! ● ok he's either crime dad or the guy who's the reason kp are sleeping in like military-ass transports and getting helicoptered to safety ● (rival crime boss?)

[kun] also i think the first old man is the villain and the second older man is crime dad ● Oh No I Like Him ● otoh he could be crime dad and the fashion is genetic ● otoh. delightful dissipated uncle when ● i still think he should be the uncle who is no help at all but is very excited to hear about what dumb thing his nephews are getting up to now with vibes of kind of wanting to be on the young people's level. upside can be counted on for resources at odd moments but only if it's for a stupid purpose ● i don't think that's what he is but i want it for the crime bros

[slide with no picture] pause to recap ● ok so [for the first five] we have kinnporsche tanhkun fabulous crime brother flannelboy (tentatively porchay) and Pete ● if that's all the young people btw I'm locking in porchay? on flannelboy ● fuck if i know maybe one of the young dudes is the villain. maybe it's vegas. maybe it's brother vs brother.

[yok] my best friend ● i love her ● fashion is a little glitzy maybe to be porsche's friend even though i wanted that for him....does kinn have friends he seems like he probably mostly hangs out with family and people he pays to be around him ● lighting is very clubby tho so like ● just club clothes ● i have no clue how she fits in but i bet she has a nice laugh and takes no shit

[slide with multiple pictures - the first one is ken] ● trust fund brat ● i know they're not british but he has such POWERFUL unbearable character on Sherlock energy ● either that or like baby's first (very nice) suit

[big] ● oh!!!! it's a uniform!!!! ● these two are like lower level bodyguards. or kinn's actual family-hired bodyguards and kinn like hired porsche after a weird meet-ugly involving gunfire and now the vibe is awkward ● this one is anxious

[middle text] .... bad analogy probably need a better wording but to use cql again. first bodyguard is the sizhui and second bodyguard is the Jingyi the Calm One and the one you need to tell Calm Down

[slide with two pictures - the first one is tay] ● also omg this was dyed hair boy ● i was picturing BOTH kim(?) and this man. amalgam gossip friend. ● also the flowy pants/all white/heeled boot/"are you talking to me?" look ● extremely good

[chan] ● kim's bodyguard for the thousandth time telling him no, you need to stay where it's safe ● this is probably incorrect and I'm now just judging anyone with a lapel pin a bodyguard ● this is a very bouncer vibe tho

[macau] ● this one actually is a teenager, right? that looks like a school uniform shirt although maybe not bc idk what school with embroidered patch uniform shirts is also like sure boys can wear hoops [we give away my extremely usamerican Christian school experience] ● better caption What Is a Child Doing Here

[extra text for macau] have i miscalculated did i either misassign a crime boy or are there 4 crime boys. i feel like one of these children should be here for family reasons wait unless one is porsche's brother not this one flannelboy [a picture of the i’ve connected the dots meme]

[slide with two pictures - the first is arthee] ● :( ● give him a cup of tea and a bandaid ● he just looks sad for some reason! ● who are you woebegone man

[time] ● i would not have chosen the turtleneck ● i know the other shirt is also turtleneck but this is "shirt i wore in the 90s" mockneck and i cannot define why it makes me want to laugh ● he is doing bad cosplay of bleach mullet ● that NECKLACE is NOT HELPING

[slide with three pictures - the first is tawan] ● surprisingly the first shirtless boy ● i like his hair, he looks a little smarmy, the vanity mirror + shirtless is giving me either he's in showbiz or he has too many people in private rooms ● do love the noir blinds thing happening. maybe he's a femme fatale. ● i looked at him and literally thought "hair goals" lmaooo

[jom and tem] ● they look nice and also the set dressing is SO suburban ● if i had to assign them a fic trope it's accidental child acquisition fake (or real) marriage ● they are on the pta ● (i truly have no idea)

[arm] oh no i love his vibe and his glasses ● 'i know organized crime needs shady bookkeepers/lawyers/IT professionals but did it have to be me, with these particular criminals' ● my first thought was "cast him as Indiana Jones" bc hair and glasses so that's just send me back to first impression

[lil-bit-louder]

4 12 14 19 for the first part 

6 7 for the second part! 

🥰

4. Genie granted you three NSFW wishes. What are you wishing for?

Serious: I wish I could turn my brain off more easily. I tend to get really up in my head during sex and not enjoy it because of that. Honestly, part of the appeal of BDSM is just that it gives me something to think about 😭

More fun: I wish everyone could somehow clock me for the subby slut that I am. I wish you could spot it from a mile away and take advantage of it whenever you want ♥️ I want to be groped and used in public, everyone knowing exactly what buttons to push to reset my brain and reduce me to a drooly mess ☺️

Lastly, I wish for a body swap, just because I’m extremely curious about what it’s like to have a pussy and I’m annoyed I’ll never get to know 😔

12. What’s the weirdest thing that turned you on? Did you masturbate to it? Would you do it again?

This is such a hard question 😭

I’m *super* into intox stuff, but irl try not to drink or smoke much because I get scared by losing control. But I definitely have masturbated to it a lot 😩 That’s kinda weird!

But I’ll go through weird phases of getting into strange porn niches that weird me out when I’m not turned on, like massive amounts of cum for example. (uhh if you want more examples feel free to send me weird porn for a rating 🫣)

I think the thing that would strike most normies as weirdest would be all the monster fucking, because of how taboo some aspects of that are. Like, I think most people would be alarmed about having too many feelings about werewolf cock.

14. What body part would you worship on other people to the end of time because NGHHHH?

Thighs 🤤 Running my hands up and down them, squeezing and scratching and kissing them, holding fast to them while I eat you out, feeling them squeeze around me… GOD just THIGHS.

18. You can do only ONE thing to your partner sex-wise for an entire month. What is your pick?

Spend the month fucking my mouth. I don’t need to cum. What I need is to be trained in getting you off. Make me intimately familiar with your pussy. Make sure I treat you right, and grab my hair and push me down if I don’t. Watch me grind against the bed in desperation. There’s a month left to go.

-

FIXING AN ERROR

6. What’s the most flattering thing someone’s said about your naked body?

People have said a lot of nice things about my cock 🫣 but I never know whether to believe them, idk people feel like they’re supposed to say a lot of things during sex and I get weird about it

7. What’s a part of clothing you would love to see your crush/partner in?

Sweatpants for a day in of unrestrained lust

Women’s formalwear. Just. 👌 good shit

I’ve had a couple girlfriends who looked ridiculously appealing in just their nice jeans and a hoody. Idk I’m not really a lingerie kinda person, or that into latex or leather … my fantasies tend to be more domestic or grounded I think, and I don’t need any help looking at someone attractive and becoming obsessed with them 😩

-

6. Creampie or Throatpie?

Depends on who’s receiving 🫣 umm in my experience, the first one

7. Cuck someone or Get cucked?

I’m actually not really into cuckoldry! OTOH… I really love the idea of being shared, or being “forced” to pleasure someone. Does that count as cucking my partner in a weird way? If they join in, are they cucking me too? Tell us, Socrates!

[consistentsquash]

https://consistentsquash.tumblr.com/post/735968615712653312/favourite-snape-characterisation-in-fanfic This range is genuinely shocking. From outside Snape fandom look like they agree on Snape's characterization unlike Marauders fandom. How are these different headcanons coexisting without discourse friction?

Hiya!!

The actual range in Snape fandom is huge!!! That post is my personal Snape reading range. Lots and lots of great fic with softer/darker Snape characterizations on either side of that range.

My takes as a reader below the cut. YMMV. Also tagging @danpuff-ao3 who knows this fandom inside out, @perverse-idyll who is the best for history <3

Of course Snape fans have pretty strong personal takes on Snape characterization. But folks are probably older on average and more chill? This type of ship is a pretty different vibe compared to other popular ships because of the powerdynamics and age gap. Also a lot of folks probably exhausted forever because Snape fandom OoTP/HBP/DH was pretty intense. Plus Lily. It was the type of intensity which really burned out a lot of folks. Not saying we dont have headcanon wars but like its a different stage of fandom compared to Marauders. I am pretty jealous of the level of activity in Marauders tbh but otoh it can also get exhausting. Snarry/Snape fandom isn't really huge like Marauders. Probably shrinking based on the fandom ship stats. Also a ton of folks are multishippers. Those folks are chill about headcanons because they probably have different dynamics for Snarry/Snack/Snupin/Snamione/other ships.

Tl;dr we have headcanons and stuff. Folks probably dont notice because other ships/fandoms have more activity. It's not really a cult with one standard Snape characterization version. Not saying we don't do cults because Snapewives was a thing :D

Also hard to generalize. Snape multishippers/Snape OTP fandom, Snape het fandom/Snape slash fandom, Snape age gap fandom/Snape peer ship fandom, Snape shipping fandom/Snape gen fandom have some overlaps but also lots of differences. Also the folks interested in the type of Rich Pure Blood Snape before OoTP/folks interested in reading/writing him after OoTP/after HBP/after DH are really pretty different because his character arc had lots of twists.

Maybe check out the Snarry fanlore article to get an idea about that range/history. Also really good info on the history side in this interview from Ellen Fremedon

The only list that I really stayed active on was the Snape slash list, and pretty much I made the transition from Star Trek to Harry Potter when I found the Snape slash list and realized that that was where the grownups were. It — especially at that point in the fandom it was very Balkanized, and the Snape slashers were actually renowned at that point for generally being level-headed and rational grown-ups that it was fun to be around. (laughs) Well, because they were grown-ups who'd been in other fandoms before and who'd come to this out of other fannish communities and knew the fucking social norms and were not a bunch of feral teenagers that had to be socialized. And they also were not heavily invested in shipping wars because they were Snape slashers and they knew that Snape was not going to get a boyfriend in the books. Ever. So, we were not looking for textual validation. (laughs) So, yeah, it was sort of its own little polite, well-mannered, sane — it sounds crazy saying this at this point now, but that's really, yeah, it was where the nice, polite, well-mannered rational grownups hung out when I first got into Harry Potter fandom. (both interviewer and interviewee laugh) Well, remember this was also before any of the movies, so there wasn't the Alan Rickman thing going on yet either.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

The magic talk is very interesting! and I would love to hear more ideas if you got em.

If pokemon still exist there/ mage fights replace pokemon battles then I imagine being a mailman in a world where meeting eyes can lead to a throw down then you have to at LEAST be decent at battling lol (maybe it isnt but I like the weird culture Pokemon got going on)

oh man TIMING, i was actually just thinking about whether pokemon exist in this world... on the one hand it feels a little? odd? to have them and the whole snarl of types & etc just be present on the side and then magic is the main focus of the thing, but on the other hand... yeah i do really love the pokemon culture and i feel like you can't really replicate it without, yknow, the pokemon.

would it be weird to have them just be there in the background while the magic shit is happening? OR, maybe pokemon still exist or "exist" but rather than having types in the traditional sense they're more like, magical animals. i was thinking abt the counterpart's pikachu specifically, and if they still had an analogue to it in this world. and them still having some sort of electrically charged rodent but it isn't exactly a pikachu as we know it might be fun. and that also opens up the opportunity to potentially invent some fakemon based on the new magic system... hmm...

and YEAH LOL that's the thing right, is if ingo is this world-class healer but also an adept at like, interrogation and scrying and etc, and emmet is an incredible battlemage alongside him, they can't exactly have like. a safe boring job can they. they are Doing Something to necessitate that extreme offensive/supportive power. but what! hmmm mmm.

anyway entirely unrelated thought. the marks on mage's hands that i vaguely referenced i think are called ley lines. that's not the traditional use of the term, but w/e. ley lines are widely considered to be sort of like metaphysical grooves worn into your spirit and body by repetitive use of magic, like how a river carves out a canyon or repeated footfalls create a packed-earth path. hence why they take on an appearance reflective of your typical school, and appear mostly on your dominant hand (although most people are not 100% exclusively sinister or dexter mages, and so most people will have like, a lot on one hand/arm and a little on the other.) it's unclear and probably a subject of debate if the development of ley lines is what makes a mage more powerful over time, or vice versa.

wearing gloves doesn't always signify you're a mage with someone to hide—y'know, gloves are practical and there are plenty of people who don't use magic and just like, do regular work that necessitates them—but there's definitely a cultural connotation there. cyllene wears a glove on her right hand to disguise the fact that she was a swordguard since her ley lines make it very obvious. otoh, adaman wears gloves to hide the fact that he doesn't have any ley lines, really at all. ingo wears gloves probably as a literal way to block his ley lines since he's forbidden from using magic. the protagonist is probably encouraged to hide their really intense lines whenever they have to go into a town for some reason, bc it draws attention, potentially of the negative sort, but they find doing so really uncomfortable.

e cause i forgot: also thank you!! i think universes like this are really fun to play around with hehe

[sasquapossum]

Over 50 here, and I've actually had to do the "call me" thing recently because someone was dead. Here's a crazy idea. Instead of trying to prescribe One Way to convey meaning in texts, how about live and let live? If it's your mother or your supervisor texting you, you know them and their demographic and their texting style. Calibrate and interpret accordingly. It's certainly what some of us older folks do when reading texts from younger folks. Oh yes, some "generationally correct" text idioms can seem weird or offensive too. Send an old person a 💀 and you'll see what I mean.

My daughter does lightly make fun of me for texting in complete sentences, with capitals. It's just a habit I can't break. OTOH, I probably use punctuation and emojis more like a typical Zoomer than like a typical GenX or older. Partly it comes from working with a lot of Millennials with chat as a primary communication channel for three and a half years. Partly it comes from my daughter and her boyfriend (yes we talk directly sometimes because we're kind of friends too at this point). The emoji part is sort of an adaptation of emoticons which I got used to on Usenet and other pre-web fora.

The punctuation part goes back even further. I know how to use punctuation in a strictly "correct" way and do so in "serious" contexts, but I also remember getting dinged for incorrect usage at least as far back as 12 years old. (That would be 1977 BTW, or 46 years ago. It was before even I was on the internet, and I was on it in the MERIT days because of the work I did. I'd say it was competing with AOL and the like, except that AOL didn't exist yet.) That's how long I have believed that punctuation should work like stage instructions. I have always overused parentheses, for example, because to me they have always represented the slight lowering of voice that's common in spoken conversation for a side comment. Paired dashes are basically the same, sometimes used in a different grammatical context ... or other times to relieve the monotony of all those parentheses. 😅 In that mode comma, single dash, and period are just different kinds of pauses.

Ellipses are an interesting one, because I use them (and see them used by other fluent writers) in two ways. One is simply a long pause. The other is a pause and a lowering - like parentheses. See the example in the previous paragraph. Either way, I think of it as the moment in spoken conversation to let a thought sink in, before either moving on or expressing a second related but tonally different (often humorous) thought. Again, it represents a pretty specific "stage instruction" for something that's common in speech.

But that's just me. I'm sure it doesn't exactly match anyone else's prescribed or practiced usage, but people who know me know that's how I write ... in that mode, which is not the one I'm in right now BTW. That's the important part. You know the person you're talking to and the medium you're in, so use that knowledge.

P.S. Never forget that intergenerational conflict is a distraction from the real conflict that's out in the world, especially that between rich and poor.

old people really need to learn how to text accurately to the mood they’re trying to represent like my boss texted me wondering when my semester is over so she can start scheduling me more hours and i was like my finals are done the 15th! And she texts back “Yay for you….” how the fuck am i supposed to interpret that besides passive aggressive

[40sandfabulousaf]

大家好! 4 January 2024 marks 6 months since I ate fastfood, the last time being 4 July 2023. This milestone shows that replacing unhealthy meals with moderately healthy ones is possible and sustainable. Ads showing gooey melted cheese don't make me drool when I associate it and other overly greasy foods with after-meal sluggishness. Soup noodles OTOH... 🤤🤤🤤

Pa wanted chicken rice so we ate some. Tender poached chicken breast (no sauce), blanched veggies (no sauce), no chilli nor dark soy sauce, white rice for him and chicken rice for me. It was plain, it was moderately healthy and it was extremely enjoyable because I got to eat this with my favourite makan kaki (dining partner). I spied more food stalls to try on weekends, WFH days and when there's time. Variety keeps me from being bored, so I welcome local favourites in different versions!

I visited another nasi padang (Muslim version of cai fan - mixed dishes and rice) stall and opted for a quick and simple lunch of 2 veggies, fried egg and rice. Some of their vegetable dishes are quite similar to cai fan ones, i.e. so delicious, I had no problem finishing them! I'll try to have some Muslim food when I dine out until the conflict in Gaza ends. Over 20,000 Palestinian civilians have died; meanwhile, the suffering of the living continues to horrify me. I still pray for a ceasefire, a two-state solution and an end to their immense suffering.

Onto something cheerful: on a whim, the office had a potluck breakfast. Colleagues brought bread, luncheon meat, ham, hotdogs, canned tuna as well as tuna mayo, cheese, salad, fried eggs, cut vegetables and jam. It was like having a mini buffet spread and we had fun! Adding to the celebratory spirit, the CEO announced that we could take the afternoon off yesterday, the last working day of 2023. You have no idea how much we appreciated the perk!

Today, I catch up with LL, my expat friend from China. Tomorrow, i.e. New Year's Eve, I catch up with Grace and Douglas, as well as Pa. Pa will usher in 2024 with me as we carry on leading moderately healthy lives and merrymaking. May the next 12 months be peaceful and stable for the world and may the conflict in Gaza end. 下次见!

[adelle-ein]

So team asano has once again flubbed a bravely app and BDBL is ending in february (13 month lifespan total.) The fact that they have done this four times is so embarrassing. I'm embarrassed for them. They need to stop doing this.

I've been mad all along that the devs straight up admitted that BDBL was given equal dev time and priority to BD2, that they consider BDBL a "main" entry, that they're considering having bravely's future be on smartphones, etc. But the really stupid part is that they fucking suck at this. BDBL's failure was written on the wall from month one and if I could see it than man, they really should have too.

Like either BDBL was never built to last or they went about this really stupidly. They include all bd1/2 protags and all their equipment at launch, aka all the most popular characters, so there goes any chance of really making money down the line. They have a set, very bland story that nobody seems to really like. No cute or fun seasonal events/alts, just the same Fight Enemy Over And Over grind. The game has always been crashy, unreliable, buggy, et cetera, and the stabilization improvements have been iffy. 3d graphics = massive load times, doesn't run on old phones, barely runs on others. Worst of all, the gameplay is incredibly barebones - a stripped down battle system where everyone has two fixed moves and a basic attack/heal. No dungeons, no customization, no exploration, no jobs, no player interaction, nothing. There was no plan. I have no idea how they were expecting to make money off this. Maybe it was always meant to be limited time but...I doubt that.

Not to mention...promising there would be no character gacha and that all characters would be equal and usable. Ahaha. Ahahahaha. Out of the launch characters, most of them aren't even usable anymore, and a lot of them sucked from day one. Edea, Adelle, Anihal, Nikolai, never good. Khint, Ominas, only good against certain enemies. And then selene, seth, ringabel, janne, all nerfed into oblivion....gloria and agnes are interchangable.....list goes on this is all just otoh....

I've seen the dropping ratings and profits, writing's been on the wall from the start. This isn't surprising and it's for the best, but damn, they really messed this up. I don't even know how they thought this would ever be a successful endeavor

But lbr the alternative is a "success" like Octo/path COTC, and I don't really want that either. COTC has a nasty gacha system, a nastier fanbase, and massive amounts of marketing and pressure to spend, so that sounds...also super unpleasant. Also an incredibly misogynistic, racist, frankly terrible story. but that's neither here nor there, it's making money and that's what matters :))))

At least we got new art and a sprinkling of lore for the blorbos, that's the only upside in all this mess. I would have rather had a proper final chapter for bd2 though!! imagine!!! caring about your franchise enough to give characters their proper due!!! But we don't do that in 8path (that galdera ending SUCKS and I'm tired of pretending it doesn't) or bd2 I guess

seriously though people are right about squeenix apps, they suck, and team asano really sucks at them, so i hope they stop sooner than later. like i said, embarrassed for them. mad on bd2's behalf (also eng fandom already somehow blaming bd2 for this is pretty funny. if bd2 soulless why best game?* checkmate)

*my best game lol

[kharmii]

I saw your psychology of tropes post and I immediately realized why I love Yandere ships, so I just wanted to tell you why. I know that the reason I love it is because of my abandonment issues, think about it, there’s this person who is obsessed with you and will never leave you, and all you have to do it follow what they say and never leave, then they’ll love you. I would, of course, never want to be in a Yandere relationship, but I get the appeal in fiction.

Thanks for all the feedback anons! It's always appreciated. This is a reply to this post and also this post.

This might be a controversial take, but I have to wonder if the pendulum has swung the opposite way as the attitudes expressed in the first link. Women are told to value being strong and independent, but what if some like the idea of being taken care of by someone strong and capable? We live in a society of delayed adolescence in the Western world, and I for one am surrounded by sad, pathetic 3 time loser men in their forties and fifties who act like they are still in college living the party high life. They couldn't be trusted to push a hotdog cart and feed a dog, let alone care for another human being. Tell me it isn't the same everywhere?

I'm not big on the torture p-rn aspect of it though, which may be sado-maso fetish, or it might be a outlet of self-loathing, as this fantasy might be problematic, even if there are no 'wrong' or 'bad' fantasies. I also don't like when a yandere is shown as inadequate. IE: Someone did a story where Emmet was the yandere taking care of Ingo when he was sick. A female coworker approached Emmet with a home cooked meal for Ingo, and Emmet rebuffed her gift. He ended up going home and heating some soup on the stove because he was a terrible cook. That seems like a terrible fantasy where Ingo could have had something better, and instead he's at the mercy of his weirdo brother who will never let him live a normal life (and might even chop his legs off at the knees).

It's more fun reading about the twins having a consensual relationship where Ingo might do the paperwork because he is more able to sit down and concentrate. Emmet, otoh, is high-strung and fidgety so he does the housework. Consequently, he becomes a very good cook. Some people imagine Ingo being the good cook. Either way, they are good for each other. Nobody wants someone to be obsessed with them who is good for nothing. You wouldn't want some weird guy being obsessed with you who might bring you a peach shake that has been sitting in his car overnight, while your lowlife dirtbag coworkers who talked him into stalking you cackle around you like hyenas and tell you that's what you deserve. -Not that I know anybody like that. It's a theoretical situation. *sigh*

Side note: I don't hate the yandere trope....just some of the dysfunction that goes along with it. What I do hate is when people take the Subway Bosses and make them no longer identical twins. IE: Having one of them being a gross, smelly monster, whereas the other guy is a weird human who wants to bang a gross, smelly monster. -Even worse if the artist doesn't even give the gross, smelly monster a damn conductor's cap and coat and funky sideburns so one can tell which one it even is.

Art credit to: 가루 투구/Toogu@kopl0897 Twitter.

[butterflydm]

wot reread: the fires of heaven (chap 33-chap 34)

spoilers for the fires of heaven

1. Oh, ugh, Luca just straight-up touched Nynaeve without her permission. Yes, he’s ‘concerned’ about her black eye that he apparently only just now noticed? But, like. Dude. Personal bubble.

2.  I kinda forgot that the circus storyline is a LOT more fun for Elayne than it is for Nynaeve. She is having A Time.

3. Either this is following immediately after Elayne’s chapter in chapter #25 or Elayne has taken over more than one of the meetings in TAR from Nynaeve, because Elayne spoke with Egwene ‘last night’ (and more time than that has definitely passed in the Aiel timeline, since Rand and Aviendha have had time to take a snowy vacation together).

4. Rand is straight-up hanging every proven brigand that they run across in Cairhien, according to the news from Egwene via Elayne. Nynaeve is worried because she remembers Rand as a gentle boy.

5. Elayne is SO EMBARRASSED about flirting with Thom now that he knows that she remembers him from when he was in a relationship with her mom. She kinda deserves that one. She played herself.

6. Update on the Prophet: causing issues in Samara currently.

7. Aw. “Not that [Nynaeve] needed [Lan], of course. But his presence would have been... a comfort.” Definitely Jordan’s best-written romance, even with their super-abrupt start in EotW. At least that one kinda works because the book is so heavily Rand’s PoV that literally anything could be happening off-screen at various points.

8. So, matches already exist in the Wot Primeverse: do we think that means that Auldra will get cut? otoh, Mat using fireworks to break into the Stone of Tear is pretty classic and that is set up strongly by Auldra. Though they could get him fireworks another way. I do like Auldra, so I hope she makes it in. She does invent some other important things later, too.

9. Ah, it does feel like this is a second meeting that Elayne went to in Nynaeve’s place and it’s confirmed that she IS deliberately putting off seeing Egwene again.

10. Nynaeve got the black eye because she was basically harassing Cerandin to tell her more about sul’dam/damane when she genuinely doesn’t know more and even then, it only got physical because Nynaeve made it that way. And Elayne is figuring out that she can make ter’angreal, which is a super-rare Talent! She’s figured out the philosophy behind how the a’dam works -- it creates a forced link between two women, with the bracelet-wearing in control.

11. Elayne is so SO delighted at the idea of creating something new and bringing back an old form of knowledge and... oh, bb. Brown Ajah. Brown. This is the most excited we’ve seen her about literally anything, I think.

12. “I could see the pride in his eyes. Pride in what he had made, a thing well-crafted. I would love to feel that, I think. Oh, if we only knew a fraction of what the Forsaken do. The knowledge of the Age of Legends inside their heads, and they use it to serve the Shadow.” Brown Ajah! It’s perfect for you. She’s so excited about finding out this lost knowledge and creating something with it.

13. Because we can see the difference in how Nynaeve just has... zero interest in this idea at all. Because what she’s passionate about is healing. “Healing was important. Any man could build a bridge, and leave him to it was what [Nynaeve] said.”

14. Poor Elayne, shocked at the VERY IDEA that she might break her word about paying Luca his hundred gold marks at the end of their journey. She has more in common with Galad than she’d like to believe. (also Galad: in Samara with a bunch of Whitecloaks)

15. And our Elayne is also a good cook! Who frets over her work not being as good as the chefs in the Royal Palace. She loves to create things! All kinds of things! And she’s such a perfectionist. I am very fond of Elayne.

16. “Nynaeve, you’ve been entering Tel’aran’rhiod practically every night except the meetings with Egwene:” So she’s missed SEVERAL meetings because Egwene traumatized her so much. That’s... you know. A thing that happened.

17. Yeah, and Egwene is lying to both sides of this arrangement -- lying to the Wise Ones about not using TAR without them there to help, and lying to Nynaeve and Elayne by pretending that she does have permission. Egwene’s self-righteousness in her own chapters would bother me SO MUCH LESS if she weren’t constantly lying to everyone.

18. Brigitte is able to sneak Nynaeve to listen in on Moghedien spying on a meeting of four other Forsaken: Graendal, Sammael, Lanfear, and Rahvin, who are all in semi-cahoots, though we the readers know that Lanfear is hedging her bets and also backing Rand/Asmodean. Sammael points out that their plan is aiming Rand directly at him. “If need be, one close to him will die, plainly at your order.” Oooooh, I hadn’t realized this was stated out so clearly.

19. Moghedien spotted them at their spying and followed them back when they left. I love that even captured, Nynaeve is just spitting insults at Moghedien . She’s worried about Birgitte, though, which is so valid. After Moghedien does a bunch of threats and is completely focused on Nynaeve, Birgitte manages to shoot her, and that’s when Moghedien ‘vanishes’ Birgitte from TAR (and then flees for her life bc she just got shot in the chest with an arrow).

20. Liandrin tries to take advantage of Moghedien’s weakness and all of Moghedien’s frustrated anger gets aimed at her as she gives Liandrin her ‘second sharp lesson’ (her final lesson, I think?). It’s a pretty nasty ‘fate worse than death’ kind of ending for her, which Jordan frequently does with his female villains, we will end up seeing. He isn’t entirely incapable of killing them (like Rand is) but he is reluctant and tends to stick them in an eternal living hell instead.

[runespoor7]

Can you explain more about the usages of "catharsis"? Wiki tells me "In dramaturgy, the term usually refers to arousing negative emotion in an audience, which then expels it, making them feel happier." which seems similar to my experience of fannish usage?

In fannish usage, it seems almost inevitably linked to the idea of a relief for the characters, or even comfort, or "good thing after bad". Promising catharsis in the next chapter; saying that you found a specific storyline cathartic (which tbh generally sounds like a healing thing to me. "it was so cathartic when character A came out to their grandma and Granny was supportive!"); "it was just bad things happening all the way down! where's the catharsis!"

That's not always definitionally antithetical to cartharsis in the dramaturgy sense, but it's not related to the concept (at least not the way it was taught to me back then).

Otoh catharsis is a... controversial concept even among classical authors (I use the term loosely), with a number of authors making fun of the concept or arguing that there's no real way to make a difference between the "expelling of negative emotions" of catharsis and the dreaded "emotions happening".

Simplifying horribly (it has been a while), in my experience the usage of catharsis in dramaturgy tended to occur more in cases of "terrible things happen to the characters! the audience feels better for witnessing these terrible things happening to fictional people and now will go in their life free of the negative urges." (I think mostly a XVIIIe century usage, but in practice that's when we pointed to catharsis happening. Even when talking about ancient plays we didn't mention catharsis at other points that when bad things happened/had been happening though. /again I'm simplifying)

Keep in mind I am not a classicist or an academic by any means and am going off of memories of literature courses that are roughly two decades old, so if you want more actually good explanations instead of "idk it's not used in the same moments which give the word completely different vibes" you'll have to ask people who actually really know their stuff or read up on theory. 😔

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa has 8 stories at Gossamer, but there are even more X-Files fics at AO3 and her website. She writes Mulder and Scully in a very lovely way. I've recced 3 of my favorites of her fics here before: Bird in Snow, Fall: East on M St, and Skuamorph. Big thanks to Tabula Rasa for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

I'm always extremely pleasantly surprised to get kudos (or, very rarely, a comment) on my old fic, but I'm always happy to see it! I did post them all (I think) to AO3. I'm not surprised people are still reading fic, though. It's an iconic show and now with streaming, it's really easy to watch older shows and natural to want fic about them!

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

XF was my first fandom, definitely my first online fandom, and so it will always have a special place in my heart. Also... I had a great time! I stumbled upon and joined the Scullyfic email list by accident, but it was the best thing I could have done. I learned a lot about how to be a writer and how to be in fandom, and those lessons are still important to me. Foundational. Also, in terms of modern fandom drama, XF was more low-key on the drama (although it didn't seem like it at the time!). But I learned something that's always served me well: find like-minded people, and hang out with them. Don't worry about the rest.

Also... you can't control the show, but you kind of can control the canon.

Because of Scully, I ended up taking a forensic anthropology class in university-- and now I have a Master's in a forensic science! Part of the Scully Effect, and proud of it!

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

Definitely mostly email list! I never really got the hang of message boards. Posting fic was exhausting, and tbh I never figured out how to work Ephemeral. I checked it every day, though! I loved, after a new episode, everyone sending in their thoughts and reading everyone's experiences together. Fandom was a lot more work back then, tbh!

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

That fic can be just as good, or better, than traditionally published works. There are works of XF fic that have stuck with me for years now, far more than some books I've read. That fan writers can know the characters better than the show writers. The fandom in general was really smart, and mostly more adult than me (I joined fandom when I went away to college, so I always felt at the younger end of the scale. That was good though!).

Also, my first time reading and writing porn. Not gonna lie, I was shocked the first time I accidentally read smut. But I adjusted fast. lol

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

I was still a kid (now we would say preteen) when the show premiered- I think in middle school. But I was already into ghosts, aliens, monsters, solving mysteries, and I'd already imprinted on the dynamic thanks to Square One (really)! I was also just old enough to start developing celebrity crushes. Hilariously, I did not twig to the fact that I'm bisexual the entire time I was in XF fandom, despite having enormous crushes on BOTH Mulder and Scully. Ahhhh!

Also, my whole family was into the show, but I was definitely the one with the hyperfixation. I used to take notes and record the episodes as I watched. It just had the right stuff and hit at the right time. And I've always been obsessive.

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

As a kid I also really liked Star Trek, and someone had given my dad a book about the history of Star Trek, which I read. This included mentions of fandom and fanfic. As soon as I had a private-- and perhaps more importantly fast-- internet connection (in college), I went looking for XF fanfic, and that was that. Hooked immediately. Also I shipped them A LOT so that's what I went looking for.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

I tend to not go back to a fandom once I have a new fandom, so I wouldn't say I'm in it. I did hang around the edges for the revival, of course, because I wanted to experience that with the same people, but since the revival was mostly not that great (with a few exceptions), I didn't get pulled back into it. But I still think of the people I knew in the fandom a lot, and always hope they're doing well.

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

I've never left fandom, and I've been in a BUNCH: Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Bandom, Supernatural, now CQL/The Untamed and other Chinese-media fandoms, with many smaller ones in between or on the side. I feel like at their core fandoms tend to be similar, although where you host the fandom makes a big difference: Livejournal, tumblr, twitter. I think that because fandoms now tend to be bigger and more diverse (which is good) there tends to be more wank (which is bad). In some of them I was close to a group of people, some of them not. Honestly the best thing is when someone you know from an old fandom is in your new fandom. It's so much fun. I have really good friends thanks to fandom, and I've had them for YEARS. Like. 15 years.

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?

I tend to focus more on ships than characters, but some of my all-time favs: Scully, Hermione, Sirius Black, Castiel, Lan Wangji, Xie Lian. That's just fandom-oriented ones, otherwise we'd be here all day. :D

Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

I don't often rewatch episodes any more, although if I come across an ep on tv I might. I definitely still think about them though! For example, I'm a teacher now, and just a couple weeks ago one of my colleagues mentioned he'd heard the students saying they shipped two of their classmates, and he was like "Ship? I don't get it" and I was like "HOO BOY, do I have a story for you!" And I explained how shipping came from XF fandom, and why. That was fun. I definitely still think about Mulder and Scully too-- I mean, they're cultural touchstones, so they do come up sometimes in greater pop culture. Also, I was in Hannibal fandom for a while, and Gillian Anderson is still The Best.

Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

I haven't read XF fic in years, even the ones I remember as being really significant/important to me. I still have my all-time favs saved on an external HD though! Fic in another fandom- every day lol.

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

Blinded by White Light by DashaK has stuck with me. Mr. and Mrs. Smith and the Ruby-Throated Warbler by I forget I'm so sorry -- that's lasted as my ideal post-canon MSR and as an interesting and different way to tell a story.  [Lilydale note: It’s by rah.] I was always thrilled to see fic by Brandon, JET, MaybeAmanda, Syntax6... and, frankly, everyone on the Scullyfic/ Emuse list. So many talented people in that fandom!

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

Things Outside, which is the only thing I've ever written based on a dream, and I'm really satisfied with it. It was hard to write but so much fun to revel in the weirdness. I always kind of wanted to write more because I know a lot more about the situation, but otoh, I like the open, ambiguous ending (usually I am very HEA).

In other fandoms, King & Country in bandom (MCR) and in Supernatural I'm very proud of Hope and Clay. I struggle to write casefics even though I love to read them, but that one really worked out.

Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

I don't think I'll ever write something new. There is an old fic that may be done but it was smut so I was too shy to post it at the time. In theory if I find it and it's decent, I could post it!

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

I do! I write fic very slowly, but I do write still! I have a million ideas for stories, but I'm so slow at the actual writing part.

Where do you get ideas for stories?

I usually take a jumping-off point from canon, or of course, something I need to fix or expand on. Or sometimes I start telling myself a story as I fall asleep and the idea grabs me long enough I can manage to write it.

What's the story behind your pen name?

I was getting into fandom and realized people didn't use their real names. I flipped through my history book looking for inspiration, and decided tabula rasa was a great name for a writer. I tend to add an X because it's rare to get "tabularasa" as a username, and the X is indeed for X-Files (so I'm something like tabulaxrasa most places). I usually go by Tabula Rasa or Tab, though. And I still use it because 1) it IS a great name for a writer; and 2) it's not fandom-specific so I can keep it in every fandom.

I identify with it so much I have answered to this name in class (oops). I have a "Tab" t-shirt (as in the soda, but I have worn it to Comic-Con for ease of ID-- better than a nametag!). And my mom got me a necklace with a "tab" typewriter key as a charm, which I adore. Yes, I have accidental merch of myself.

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

As you can tell from the above, my family knows (my family being my parents and sister). They are supportive! I think my mom read a couple stories? But obviously she has to know the fandom to get it... I got my sister into fic, and we even wrote a couple fics together (in Gundam Wing). She's a lot more selective about fandoms, but she's joined fandoms on her own, too. She's just not in one constantly, like me. :p

I tend not to tell not-online friends unless I have felt them out and know they're super fannish, or they bring it up first.

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

Most of my old fic is now on AO3 and I hang out on twitter a lot, @tabula_x_rasa

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

I'm really glad people are still in this fandom! It will always be so important to me. Thank you Lilydale, for this nostalgia trip!

(Posted by Lilydale on March 30, 2021)

[period-dramallama]

Spanish Princess episode 4 thoughts

In chronological order. With extra swearing!

WE’RE HALFWAY THROUGH AND THERE’S STILL A FUCKTON OF EVENTS THAT HAVEN’T HAPPENED YET AHHHH

-so we open with a voice we’ve never heard before and no visuals on this new person and then Bessie addresses the speaker as Anne so the viewer will automatically think Anne Boleyn, but then it’s Anne Hastings? I’m a history nerd and i was so confused i had to rewind. That’s bad direction/editing, imo. Was it really too hard to film Anne’s lips moving?

-”the blasted yew tree in the gardens” blasted as in by lightning, or as in he wanted to say bloody but can’t because his wife is there and she’s eight?

-”that’s a terrible idea” Catherine that is not how you manipulate Henry! You should be like “but if you make wolsey chancellor :( and archbishop :( he will be so :( overworked :( and it wouldn’t be good for his health :( he has enough to do :( and as he’s archbishop of york :( why shouldn’t he be loyal to you :( in York :)”

-COCKBLOCKED

-something darkly funny about archibald pulling on his clothes in the background like his main concern is not dying naked

-look i love meg but c’mon the rules did stress she’s regent UNTIL she marries like she knew that! it’s not like they hid it in the small print!

-also if you’re having sex on the sly, post guards on your door! with halberds and shit. Preferably Douglas men, so they’ll be less likely to gossip. There should be guards on the doors anyway, that’s how royal palaces work. (Granted, the whole Rizzio situation...)

-Don’t write to catherine, write to a functioning human brain. Wolsey, More, YOUR BROTHER*

*alright, semi-functioning human brain.

- bit rich to blame henry for not helping when you didn’t ask him and went to his wife behind his back instead. Sure, he should have helped anyway, but she could have been smarter about it

-”an army coming in peace, how do I show that?” Never heard of a flag of truce, Henry? Also, there was something in the Borgias about holding a spear that represents invasion

-”she risks your health” bish she said she wanted an army not KoA in preggo armour again

-Compton’s less of a weirdo in this episode. Inconsistency, or maybe he’s a bit more normal with Maggie because they’re now at ease with each other’s company? Yeah no it’s inconsistency isn’t it.

-Thomas More looks so done with everyone’s shit. Me too. I hope he has no more stupid lines, but just looks bored in the background of every single scene. and occasionally the camera cuts to him for a good “i’m surrounded by idiots” face.

-”finer minds than many men I know” yeah but that’s a low bar in this show, everyone’s on stupid pills. Also Wolsey and More were at least cordial IRL. There was mutual respect between the two, even tho they didn’t agree politically all the time. Then again, Wolsey is evil in this ‘verse, and the real TM was an ally of the queen, so...i guess they can death glare now.

-”I would have thought court politics no longer surprised you” “tell the scriptwriters that.”

-”you are too good for us all” just because someone loves their kids and thinks toadying is gross, it doesn’t make them superior lmao. It’s called being normal.

-Maggie Pole: ugh the court is full of schemers and manipulators they’re all disgusting

also Maggie: *manipulates Compton’s emotions, albeit for partly selfless reasons*

-like I get it, I like that she’s using her brain, she has good reasons for the scheme even though it’s dishonest, I get that she wants to break up her betrothal as well, but she could be less black-and-white in her view of court politics.  It feels like whiplash when both scenes are in the same episode. 

-the court feels less depopulated this episode. That’s one good thing. It feels like an actual institution.

-Georgie Henley’s poor back... she is the saving grace of this episode. She can do so much with just her facial expressions. 

-”I will not be my sister” bold of you to think you can ever be as cool as your sister, Catherine.

-Maggie you were doing so well at not wearing that stupid blue hood thingy. Bring back the halfway decent green one.

-”Wolsey is shameless in his machinations” look I can forgive the dudes being rude about Wolsey- they’re the king’s BFFs, they can be as rude as they like. You, otoh, Maggie, are on thin fucking ice. Don’t say that, at normal volume, at the dinner table. Where Wolsey’s like two seats away from you!

-Thomas More whispering like he’s David Attenborough in a nature documentary. At least he knows to keep his fucking voice down.

-”it’s late you should go home,” Ah, yes, Tudor London. Famous for being a place where a woman could safely travel through pitch black streets all on her own while wearing extremely expensive clothes and jewellery. You mean to tell me she can’t sleepover on banquet night? FFS.

-”we can’t be together” someone tell this couple that they can hang out without arguing or having sex. Play chess. Play cards. Play hungry hungry hippos, i don’t care.

-oh look catherine’s practical for 2 hot seconds.

-”you bog dwelling fuckers” THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE EPISODE’S TITLE, WE WERE MCROBBED!

-she-wolf is not a compliment! She’d be offended! Call her a lioness if you want to praise her...y’know because the lion is England’s emblem??

-”Sir Compton” this is literally a mistake bad fanfic writers make.

-Maggie being cunning! Yay! I would never see that coming bc she’s a dumbass for the other 23 hours of the day.

-Bessie already being Henry’s mistress but she still genuinely helps and supports Catherine in her confinement and during the birth and looks genuinely stressed when things go wrong, when she could just be downstairs dancing and having fun with Henry like Anne Hastings is...Bessie I love you ditch Henry and elope with me instead

-DROP THE FLAMING TORCH LINA JFC

-do you have a clue how flammable tudor buildings are? Don’t run with it like it’s the fucking Olympics.

-So the heir is so important Catherine has to go into confinement, but you don’t keep midwives 24/7 in her chamber, on standby? 

-”Prince Charles has a ring to it” I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE

-Bessie’s face when the baby’s a girl...comedy gold.

-”I’ll speak with someone who sees sense” you’ll be looking a long time, Meg

-the issue should be Compton kissing a married noblewoman. Nobody would give a flying fuck if it was a married washerwoman.

-’flowers of England’ :) yes they are :)

-”if i had 100 men with a heart like yours I could have conquered the world” that’s actually an excellent pick-up line you DILF now use it on someone who deserves it

-Tourette’s syndrome confirmed!

-dirty baby nappies go in a laundry basket you freaks

-why is the Queen of England carrying washing to a laundry? why why why why?

-also the king of england would not have sex in a laundry. Looks dark, damp, cold, probably smells. AND IT WOULD BE FULL OF WASHERWOMEN AT ALL TIMES. Laundry in those days was a big chore, especially for a laundry that has to wash the entire court’s fancy clothes. You could have just had them banging outside in the grounds where there’s pretty flowers and green grass and then catherine of aragon could turn the corner and spot them. He doesn’t have to hide his adultery, he can have bessie brought to his rooms as usual.