#but people in this fandom are actually really nice (or here on tumblr at least) which is a pleasant surprise hehe

[kenzan-brainrot-mp4]

Have been getting quite a few people recently telling me that they really enjoy my yap posts RAHHHHH thank u guys....

[silvysartfulness]

So last night, I finally typed out a few sentences I’ve been keeping in my head for several years – the ending lines of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It. And then I started crying.

I’m honestly still feeling emotional, thinking about it. I first started writing this story in the summer of 2020, almost 5 years ago, while still recovering from the lingering effects of a life-threatening bout of the original covid virus. It was only a month or so after I first watched the Untamed and got utterly swept away.

I have been working on this fic ever since, and it’s been by far one of the most important things in my life for years – I’ve lost two beloved cats during that time, and gone through a lot of really hard times. This fic was always there, an anchor, both a light and burden.

It ended up 471.000 words long. (For reference, that’s about the same length as the official English translation of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, or just shy of the total wordcount of the LOTR trilogy.)

And it’s done.

It’s finished. I did it. I hauled that insane, gargantuan beast all the way across the finish line.

When I first came up with the outlines of the idea, I was 100% certain I’d never write it down. I hadn’t written fanfic in many years, my brain is chronically damaged from consecutive autistic burnouts to the point of diagnosed clinical disability, and I struggle a lot with fatigue and concentration and memory issues. The idea of writing anything, let alone something of that scope and needing that much research seemed impossible to the point of laughable.

But a friend and writer I really looked up to told me she’d love to read it. So I figured I could at least try to start, see how it went.

I, uh. Didn’t think it’d get quite this long.

I am actually very proud of what I have accomplished! It’ll be a long while yet before I can post all the last 5 chapters – they need beta and edits, illustrations, and getting translated into Russian by my friend in Ukraine. It may be months yet.

But it’s done.

And I could never have done without all the people cheering me on along the way – the friends I made in this fandom, and old friends who decided to come along on this journey with me. Every single person ever commenting, or sending me asks, or drawing me art, or writing nice things in the reblog tags here on tumblr. I am beyond grateful to you all!

Heaven Has A Road is done.

This journey is over. But it’s not really the end.

Just another new beginning.

[pigfartsviatardis]

Was discussing queerbaiting recently with a friend because we’re watching Once Upon A Time (trash, but shockingly well written trash in the first 3 seasons) and obs we both ship swan queen. I mean. Come on.

But we noticed that from the start of s3 onwards, there was noticeably less shippy stuff between these two. There’s still a bit here and there because a) lesbian mums and b) chemistryyyy… but it felt like the writers were intentionally backing off from that pairing and putting genuine effort into the male love interests for both characters.

You might think that becalming the swan queen ship would have annoyed or disappointed my friend and myself, the shippers. But tbh we both agreed that it was actually nice to see a writing team see a popular queer fandom ship, go ‘oh whoops that’s not endgame’, and actively NOT bait it.

Obviously everyone here is aware of the Golden Age Of Queerbaiting, the late 2000s/early 2010s; even if you’re too young to have actually battled through it, it’s deep tumblr lore. We all know the repeat and egregious offenders from that time - destiel, merthur, johnlock, whatever the main one was on teen wolf - and how gleefully these shows would dangle queer rep in front of our twitching little noses.

Recently, I’ve noticed a more insidious trend: the Male Friendship Scarcity Myth. The most glaring recent examples are nandermo (WWDITS) and jayvik (arcane), both of which were popular ships after the first season(s) of their shows aired and were subsequently given increased screen time and shippy scenes/storylines. In the case of nandermo, the romantic feelings (at least from Guillermo) were textual. Both pairings were given ambiguous endings where they were together, but not confirmed as, yknow, together.

And then both showrunners, after the shows ended, decided to step up to the mic and give a heartfelt little speech along the lines of ‘men are allowed to be friends without it being sexual, and it’s actually really important that we show this, because we need more representation of close platonic brotherly male friendship in media’.

Anyone who was around during the aforementioned Golden Age Of Queerbaiting, or in fact anyone who consumes popular media at all, knows that this is horseshit.

It’s only ever close platonic brotherly male friendship. Or at least, 95% of the time. Everywhere you look, from major fandom shows to mcu movies, platonic male relationships are often front and centre. That’s nearly always the canon. How often does a major mlm ship actually go canon??? Hardly ever. Even destiel didn’t; cas’s feelings were confirmed last minute, but the official canon dynamic between him and dean is still brotherly bffs.

Are these friendships often the subject of intense fandom shipping? Yes, as literally any close relationship between any two characters of any gender always will be. People like shipping! But the official canon, and the gospel truth held up by poorly disguised homophobes in fandom, is nearly always strictly platonic bros.

Anyway. All this to say, I’ve been disillusioned recently seeing this myth pop up in every comments section on any jayvik-related content, that we have a lack of male friendship in media (we don’t, we have a lack of male friendship that isn’t queer coded to super turbo gay hell and back in media). I was even more disillusioned seeing the exact same rhetoric being spewed by those involved with WWDITS, which is ironically a show jam packed full of close male friendships THAT INVOLVE CASUAL SEX. The call was truly coming from inside the coffin on that one.

So, unexpectedly and somewhat depressingly, swan queen and OUAT have been a balm for the soul in the midst of all this. No queerbaiting (at least not where I’m up to), just good old fashioned straightwashing. At least it’s honest 🤷‍♀️

[some-stars]

i was about to reblog this post with some thoughts, and then reblogs got turned off so i will just put them here instead:

it's not that i disagree with any of the sentiment in this post--while i personally have been very lucky to get plenty of nice comments, it's definitely eerily quiet and sometimes weirdly hostile out there for most people, much more than it used to be. but i just don't think posts like this are effective, and honestly i don't think that "number of comments from strangers" is what's really missing. what people are missing is the community that fandom/fanfic used to have, and the way you get that is by making it. you gotta make fandom friends who are excited for your thoughts and your stories, and you gotta get excited about their stuff, and you gotta spend hours on discord and/or in the group chat bouncing ideas off each other and just, get invested in each other as fans and as writers. (and hopefully also as people you'll still be friends with a decade from now!)

like i'm never ever going to turn down a nice comment on ao3, it's always wonderful! when someone quotes the parts they liked best it absolutely makes my day! but what i need, what actually fuels me, is the attention and interest from the 2-5 people i actually write all my fics for, because they loved the idea and i know they can't wait to read it and will scream at me at length once they do. relationships are always going to motivate and reward you better than fans, and fortunately relationships are the one of those two things that you have some control over!

so how do you build those relationships? start by commenting on fics you love on ao3, and especially leave longer, detailed comments. follow the author and reblog their fics on tumblr and add some thoughts about why you loved them. if the author engages with you when you do either of those things, keep doing it. maybe they'll follow you back, and once you've had a few mutuals-type interactions on the dashboard try sending them a DM asking if they want to chat about [fandom/character/pairing]; maybe briefly mention an idea/WIP you have that you're looking to bounce around with someone. i know if you have social anxiety this all sounds like horrible cruel lies but i SWEAR, this approach has never once failed me.

and i know that this advice probably sounds like disingenuous bullshit coming from someone who usually gets a lot of comments. all i can say is that i've been writing fanfic for 25 years and until 2020, i hardly ever pulled the kind of numbers i do now, and i genuinely did not care because i always had at least a couple friends to talk to about my ideas and listen to their ideas and get excited together. build relationships that feed you with other fans/writers, it's so much more rewarding and reliable than hoping strangers will be nice to you.

(and i'm not saying they shouldn't be nice to you! people SHOULD comment more! OP is completely correct! but you can't hand over control of your emotions about a hobby you love to random strangers on the internet and just hope they'll do the right thing. that is not a recipe for happiness.)

(also all of the above is in regard to people not leaving comments. the issue of people leaving asshole comments criticizing your work or demanding more without even bothering to say something nice first is related but separate, and the way to deal with those people is to either publicly shame them or bitch about them in the group chat and delete their comments, depending on your energy levels.)

[mythalism]

i think, anecdotally, canadians love to use land acknowledgments and Diversity(tm) a bit more than americans do, and have a degree of always pointing at the us and being like "well at least WE didn't do anything that fucked up! we're so much more enlightened and respectful 😌". and so any acknowledgment that racism exists, or that necessary societal change is often only brought by unpleasant disruption, or specifically that indigenous people live in terrible conditions because of colonization, is bracketed with this type of "but it's very complicated, and who's to say if there's a solution? we're thinking about it really hard, and holding space, and listening and learning, and maybe we will get to fixing it in like 50 years if people ask nicely" rhetoric. and there's a degree of apprehension that "land back" is a call for ethnic cleansing of settlers (somehow, despite this being both physically not possible and not actually anyone's demand) and that any movement towards that will be bad and overly radical.

which maps directly onto how bioware writes elves specifically haha. they'll sympathetically show how they're oppressed and living under the boot of a catholic church-esque entity, but then... ahhh noo, actually they had a very problematic pre-colonization culture, and they're too impractically fixated on the past and that prevents them from moving forward, and the church employees are sometimes trying their best and making amends, and the demands of the elven leadership are just too out there and violent... so really, it's very complicated. maybe it could be better to keep the status quo and only have Incremental Change, forever.

(they sort of didn't do this in the masked empire, but as always they had to throw in a bit about how Rude And Mean the dalish are. plus the ridiculously evil chevalier lore of each one randomly executing a few elves as a rite of passage, and then never mentioning that aspect again bc i guess it wasn't relevant to michel's story. as well as the insanely underwritten premise of what briala and celene's relationship actually was. there's ~toxic lesbians~, and then there's "extremely rich and powerful white noblewoman calls her younger servant class gf ugly for being dark skinned, lies to her for years, has her family and then entire community killed, then tries to seduce her back when she gets angry and leaves" lmao. i think weekes was going for a tragic morally grey starcrossed lovers to enemies vibe, but to me it was more of a horrific one-sided exploitation that the author did not seem to realize they were writing.)

and in veilguard i suppose they tried to avoid the entire issue by mostly removing those aspects of the setting, so you no longer even have the somewhat well-observed depictions of oppression combined with Justin Trudeau Moments, it's just kind of empty.

anyway thank you for appreciating my very long ted talk! i left tumblr after the whole "popular bloggers mass reporting pro-palestine people for terrorism" thing (i can get that treatment for free irl, don't need that extra stress from the Fandom Webbed Site haha). i've just been drifting back to look at dragon age posts bc i was curious about veilguard. i didn't expect much from bioware but it was surprising that they just went even further into tone-deaf bizarre race allegories rather than reading 1 (one) nonfiction book in the years since dai, or hiring anybody from a different background who could weigh in. :')

wow this is seriously so fascinating and insightful and truly does give me a better understanding of both canada and bioware LMFAO so thank you so much for sharing seriously. you are welcome in my inbox for more ted talks anytime and now im just gonna leave this here to marinate on it further and hope other people read it because its fantastic. xoxo

[sombrathedragon]

It’s my birthday today !! and honestly, I want to thank each and every one of you who made a post or sent a inbox ask or just wished me a happy birthday today, it genuinely made me really really happy that people I’ve never seen care for me just as much as my irl friends. :] ANYWAYS I’m feeling generous and in the birthday spirit so MUTUAL APPRECIATION TIME WITH ALL OF MY MOOTS !!!!

@real-odark !!!!! YOU GANG !!! You’re the one who actually got me to use and get an account on Tumblr lol and I gotta thank you for all those epic drawings you sent to me for my bday 😛😛😛😛 and your also like my only irl friend on here 🎉🎉

@wolfdog-weatherman I met you through your like wof x little shop drawing you did and I’m glad I did 😁😁 even though I don’t interact with you a lot you did convince me to watch ghd the musical and it is pretty banger so I gotta thank you for that vro !!!

@willoillo COOL PERSON ALERT !!!!! Guh you’re such a good artist and I can’t believe we’re moots and you’re really nice as well :3333 And um yeah im glad we’re moots :3

@theo-the-rockstar99 sorry for tagging you cause I know we like never talk ever but you seem like a cool awesome person so yeah !!! :33

@gay-witches-are-the-best CRICKET !!!!!!!!! YOU IS ALSO GANG !!!! Orghhh I’m also so glad we’re moots !!! Your Wicked art is SO AMAZING and you are such a nice and caring and cool person and aghahahahah yeah !1!!1!1!2!2

@scrollwyrm Scroll !!!!! Your art style is SO COOL !!!! Like I have never seen anything like it !!! /vpos I’m so glad I’m moots with a cool person like you !2!2!2!2!2!

@sprinkellz we don’t talk much buttt you also seem very cool and fire and dope !!!! And your art is cool !! :D

@salveofthesandwonks We don’t talk a lot but you were one of my first moots that I really talked to so yeah you like started my journey out I guess :3 you seem like a cool person !! :D

@minttea31 your art is AWESOME !!! Like I love how you shade and everything grhahhhhh !!1!1!1!1!2!2 I’m also glad I’m moots with a cool person like you even if we never talk !1!!1!1!1!1

@petrockenthusiast Your art and ocs seem so awesome !1!!1!1!2!2! And you also seem so cool !!!!!! :D I’m glad I’m moots with you !! :3

@spookys1fan We don’t talk like at all BUT your art is cool and awesome !!! You also seem awesome and cool !! :]

@secondhandtroubles You haven’t been online in a while but YOUR ART !!!! OH MY GODS ITS SO GOOD !!!1!1!1!1!1!1!1 I can’t believe I’m moots with a person like you !!!!!!

@lunaeclips We don’t talk that often but you seem cool and the art that I’ve seen of yours looks cool !! :] You seem like a dope person !!

@axilarycobra sorry for tagging you as we don’t talk like ever but your wof headcannons are cool and awesome !!! And I bet you’re as cool and awesome as them :]

@ninjazzy orghh your art is sick and um we don’t really talk ever but yeah :DD bet you’re awesome !!

@fourtytwo42 Okay sorry for tagging you cause we like don’t talk ever but your art is also SO GOOD !!!! And I think it’s really cool !!! :3

@raven-does-artstuff-894 We don’t talk a lot but I think you’re a cool person and your art is cool as well !!! I bet you’re awesome as well :33

T@fairyfrogmother We don’t talk at all hit I like your art style and your art and I think you’re a cool person !!!! :3 :D

@volleyballval You might not be online anymore buttt I think your wof art is cool !!!! And I’m pretty sure you also like TSOA so yeah !!!! :D bet you’re a cool and awesome person !!

@kotsuyadesign YOUR WOF STICKERS ARE SO COOL !!!!!! Would totally want to buy them someday !!! ^^ and you seem really cool !!!

@mythos321 MYTHOS !!1!!1!1!1!2!1!!1!2 COOL GUY ALERT !!!!! You are so cool and awesome !!!! I love all the little wof things combined with other fandoms you send me in my inbox (at least I’m pretty sure it’s you), they make my day :] And even though Im not in the Persona 5 fandom, your wof x persona 5 fanfic seems really cool !!!!

@rosy-cozy-radio Fellow corvid enjoyer !!!! You’re cool and you like epic the musical so that automatically makes you awesome as well 😎😎 I’m glad to have someone like you as my moot !!!!

@notodysseusofithaca YOU COOL !!!! WOF AND EPIC !!!!! Also I think you got me into watching Starkid (mainly just tgwdlm, Black Friday and npmd but hey it’s still something) you cool and awesome !!!!! Glad to have you as my moot !!!!!

@thequasarwinds We don’t talk much but you like wof and epic so automatic awesome person !!!! Anyways like I said you seem pretty cool and awesome and nice :DDD

@novalunosismyths we became moots because of your epic/the odyssey as a dating sim idea lol :3 but even if we don’t talk much, you still seem cool !!!! (And I still think about that epic dating sim,, Jorge you know what the people want /silly /j)

@seasonalmoss again we don’t talk much but like I said with your sibling you seem cool and dope and awesome !!! :D

@randommushro0m YOUR ART IS SO GORGEOUS HELLO !!?!?!?1!1?!1?1!1?1! I’m so glad someone with your awesome art skills became moots with little old me :333 you seem really cool and nice !!!!

@barnowlive I LOVE YOUR GREEK MYTHOLOGY/EPIC AS DRAGON DESIGNS !!!1!1!!1!2!2!2! GRAHHHHH !!!!!!! Anyways you’re so cool and awesome and I can’t believe I’m moots with some one like you !!1!1!1!1! :D

@moon-snailsss another one of my irl friends !!! :D thank you for the sugar cookie today it was lowkey fire,,, :33 hope a belted kingfisher comes up to u and you get to keep it :DD

@verridith we don’t talk like at all but your art is SO GOOD AND AWESOME LIKE WOAH !!!!!!! Glad I’m moots with a cool and awesome person like you !!!! :33

@mrmrsdarklordjrthethird like I’ve said for a lot of my moots we don’t talk like at all but I think your art is dope and I bet you’re a cool and nice person :DD

@harperfrost Harper !!!! Orgh love all the little convos we have every day even if we just say wawa back and forth :3 you seem very cool and I’m glad I’m moots with you :D

@brokenflaem123432 I alway liked your drawing a wof character a day series, and I think your art is really nice !!!! :D I think you’re cool and yeah !!! :)

@yellow-computer-mouse YELLOW THE LEGEND !!1!2!2!2!2!2!2!2!2! I LOVE YOU AND YOUR FICTIVES /p !1!1!1!1!2!2!1!1!!1 orghhhh your art style and art and you are SO COOL AND AWESOME !!!!!!!! I am so glad to be moots with a person like you !!!!!

@crystalshifer I think your art has a ton of potential (and in no way do I mean that badly !! I just wanna say I can see you being a amzigg by artist in your future !! Even though your art already amazing 😛😛) I’m glad to be moots with you !!

@crowsorrel We don’t talk like at all but I like the way you shade and draw,, and I think you’re really cool and awesome :33 glad to be moots with a person like you :]

@eury-the-cow-man we don’t talk ever but I’m glad to be moots with Eurylochus himself lol /silly you seem really cool and nice though :]

@dawnxd wof fan !!! :3 and your art is actually really nice !!!!! :D you seem like a nice and awesome person, glad I’m moots with you :]

@plalache0 Your wof art is so cool and dope !!!!1!1!1 and you seem so nice and cool and awesome !!! Glad I’m moots with someone like you :33

@ac1dfang your art is also so cool and wow !!!! I love the way you shade and draw !!! Glad I’m moots with a cool person like you !!

@imnotskyguy-the-third SKYYYYYY !1!1!1!2!2! TUMBLR CAN NEVER GET RID OF YOUUUUU !1!1!1!!2!2!2!2! You’ve been such an awesome friend/moot and your were one of the first that I managed to convert to an epic fan !!!!! >:D I’m so glad I’m moots with you Sky !!! :3

@sunbitternb WOF AND EPIC !!!!! You seem like quite the awesome person and I love your art style !!! I’m standing by what I said that it tastes like pomegranate :33 glad I’m moots with you :D

@el-crafts AH EL YOU ARE SO SO TALENTED AND GRAHJJJJH I CANT BELIEVE IM MUTUALS WITH YOU ?!?!1?1!1!1’ oh em gee your wof maps and epic animations are SO SO GOOD and your art style is just !!!!!!! Im so glad to be moots with a person like you :DD (don’t mind how I like fangirled in this entire message 😭😭)

@ieatsporks11 wof fan !!!!! :33 you have like the EXACT same profile as one of my moots and I think that’s kinda funny :33 you seem really cool and awesome and I bet you are !! Glad I’m moots with a person like you :DD

Andddd that’s all my moots !!! I love each and every one of you !! /p and I am so so sorry if none of you wanted to be tagged !! Anywayssss I’m eepy

[calamaroo]

KWAZII RACKHAM REDESIGN 🐈

& IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT‼️

(please read, I'd appreciate it)

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE I LOVE HIM SO MUCH 🧡

Here lately, as you can tell if you've been around for my blog, I've been struggling to post. Part of the reason is I've just not been happy with my art style and designs. SO, in hopes to remedy this, I wanted to redesign my little meow meow man!!

I feel like I struggle really badly with same face syndrome, so I want my new style to focus more on different face and body structures/types!

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Design Elements :

The green eyes stuck out too much to me (sensory overload kinda deal), so I made them yellow! I feel it flows better with the oranges everywhere else!

Sharper angles that point inwards!

Actually looks like a human that can turn into a cat! --- I want my "human" designs to have more animal features because that's what I like about them the most! (My human designs are meant to be shifters/can turn back into the original animal species, but I forget to say that a lot)

I haven't liked the way the uniforms look, so that may also change, too. I just haven't gotten to it yet.

□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□

IMPORTANT‼️ (at least to me)

Now, on a more serious note. Since I started tumblr, I got decently popular way quicker than I expected, and the little bit of stardom and fame got to my head. I loved (and still do) seeing people interacting with my art, especially the bigger name people of the Octo-fandom. Not to get too personal, but I've struggled with my self-esteem for as long as I can remember (sucks ass, but it is what it is). On top of that, seasonal depression is kicking my ass, and it started to seriously stress me out seeing the notifications decline. It's silly, and I'm super embarrassed about it, but it's better to let it out than bottle it in, and I've already done damn well enough of that, and I'm sick of pretending.

I love all the support and praise I get about my art. It feels like that's the only thing I'm good at, so it's very personal to me. It's my way of coping with a shitty world. I've thought a lot about it, and I want to start not caring so much about seeing the notes and stuff. I still LOVE and appreciate them. It's nice beyond words to see people actually like my stuff.

IM NOT LEAVING TUMBLR, btw. I love it WAY too much to do that 😅 I just felt like finally saying something. I shouldn't feel the need to explain myself to randoms on the internet, but eh, it is what it is. Can't win them all.

If you read all that, thank you so much!!! Please do not feel responsible for my mental health, it's mine, and I need to fix it my own way.

I hope you liked my Kwazii redesign! I want to redo everyone eventually, but I'm not sure how soon I'll get to it. Tryna focus on mental sanity rn

Byeeee, and thanks for reading my goofy little half silly cat man half vent post !

[faerie-remuslupinsversion]

Look okay. I don’t believe that anyone should shame anyone else for headcanons. Especially in some fandoms. All this shit is made up. We get to do all the race, sexuality and gender fuckery we want. We can kill canon if we want. Seperate ourselves from the witch that inspired us. We can do anything. Bullying real actual people for their personal ideas is fucking wild. I don’t believe every head canon I see, I believe some things are wrong. And if I do. I scroll. I block the person, I move on. I ignore it.

Even people who have preached of fandom etiquette have done this. Honestly, I personally see some characters as gay too. Does that mean other people can’t headcanon them as bi or with women? No. Let people have their fun. It’s a made up fandom with made up stories. And in my opinion. Everything can be good if written right. Might be used to showcase a characters self discovery of gender or sexuality, might help them come to a realisation.

I think that people can change characters from canon, I think they can seperate agreeing with what the character does and thinking they are interesting.

Also one the other end of this spectrum. You can give characters who were barely mentioned in canon stories. That’s what we do here. Saying “but these three lines that we have here from an extremely biased source who hadn’t talked to this person in years before they died so you can’t give them a redemption arc” ISNT really that solid a ground for harassment. If you have that opinion and you see a post you disagree with. Just scroll, block the user, you have free will. Use your free will to be a person who respects other people.

Fandom is not supposed to be a place for people to start unwanted arguments. It’s a place to relax and have fun. Make up silly stories about silly blorbos. This is just for fun. Be nice to each-other!!! I’m pretty new to tumblr but shaming anyone for what they like is weird. We’re all just cringe kids on a stupid gay app. Can’t we be nice to each-other at least?

[one-squash-one-end]

I wrote a giant Raven Cycle analysis

Hi! Over the last year or so I've been working on a sort of essay about various themes in the raven cycle series, and I finally finished it a few weeks ago.

It is titled: "Why I love The Raven Cycle - An excessive analysis of the themes of friendship, queerness and growing up".

And since tumblr loves its meta (and bc I love peer validation) I've decided to start uploading it bit by bit here, making this the masterpost (if I can figure out the logistics of the linking lmao, bear with me)

(beware of spoilers up to greywaren starting at like 3b!)

Introduction

What even is the Raven Cycle?

Trust me, the characters are queer as fuck and I can prove it a) Blue Sargent b) Gansey c) Adam Parrish d) Ronan Lynch e) Noah f) Henry Cheng g) Honorary mentions

The Gangsey is a polycule

Analyzing the reoccurring themes a) Friendship b) Being a teen/growing up c) (Found) Family d) Magic (as a metaphor) e) Further themes I appreciate

Drawing a conclusion

Click here to start with the introductory parts!

1. Introduction

So here’s the thing: I love fiction almost as much as I love my friends. There’s something deeply comforting about the escapism, even if the book actually makes me want to scream and throw it on the floor (only one book has been thrown so far, I promise!).  Fiction is a healthy thing to occupy my thoughts with: headcanons! Quotes being on loop in my brain! Just fandoms!

And for me, if I am hooked on a book (series), it does not even need a good plot where a lot of things happen. In fact, I would say that my enjoyment of a book is made up of 30% plot and about 70% characters and vibes. If the characters are bland, if they do not make me feel much emotion, it likely won’t be more than 4 stars (additional info: I am way too nice rating books!). I really, really need to love the characters, to be able to relate to some aspects of them, or it just won’t become an obsession.

Since I have already started explaining that a bit, let’s look at this question: What is important to make a book special to me? 1. I need to cry reading it. 2. I have to think about it often, even weeks to months after having read it. 3. Obviously, I need to love the characters. 4. I need to be in the fandom! This can be hard with some books, but the internet is a whimsical space allowing you to find at least a small number of people who are obsessed with a work of fiction to a similar extent as you are.

Now, why am I elaborating on this so much? It’s because The Raven Cycle did all that for me. It is my favorite comfort book series at the moment, for all those aspects mentioned, but of course I cannot just leave it at that. No, I wrote a whole-ass analysis on headcanons and some of its themes. You’re welcome.

2. What even is The Raven Cycle?

The Raven Cycle is all I adore and live for (next to my friends). So, naturally, it’s a book series, specifically a four book young adult contemporary fantasy series by American author Maggie Stiefvater. The books in question are: The Raven Boys (2012), The Dream Thieves (2013), Blue Lily, Lily Blue (2014) and The Raven King (2016), and yes I will admit that the publishing dates are a bit of a red flag. There is also the very relevant follow-up series called The Dreamer Trilogy (Call Down The Hawk, Mister Impossible, Greywaren), but it’s a lot less easy to get into that here as I do not know these entire books by heart, so I’ll stick to the original tetralogy here.

To stick to red flags, the books are set in the fictional Henrietta, a rural town in non-fictional Virginia, US, in the 2010s. However, that doesn’t really say *that* much about the plot, so let me summarize that really quick, because I can do better than the official synopsis! (Or let’s pretend I can.)

Blue Sargent comes from a family of psychics, yet she does not have any powers of her own. Even worse, she is a bit of an amplifier for the others, meaning she is always somehow but never directly involved in the business. As if that isn’t enough for an identity crisis, every psychic she has ever met has told her that her kiss would kill her true love. Yikes.

But because she is that amplifier, she comes to a church watch on St. Mark’s Eve, where psychics see the spirits of those to die within the following year. It’s important business, but to her it’s really just staring into the dark. Until she does actually see a spirit: That of Gansey. Of course this is not a coincidence. No, to add to this teen’s mount of problems, there are only two reasons why a non-seer would see someone’s spirit: They are their true love, or they killed them. Or, in Blue’s case, maybe both.

The aforementioned Gansey is Henrietta’s Golden Boy, the son of politicians (read: he’s fucking loaded). He does not run with the Republicans though, he runs with dead Welsh kings, meaning he has been searching for the probably dead, presumably sleeping Welsh king Glendower (*1350; †1416; yikes) for the past like seven years. Why the fuck would he do that? Well, legend says that he will grant a wish to whoever wakes him, and our favorite PTSD-ridden guy really wants that favor.

Aiding him are fellow Aglionby students Adam Parrish, Ronan Lynch and Noah Czerny, plus Henry Cheng, though only a lot later in the series, but I really did not want to leave out that menace (affectionately) here. The paths of Blue and the boys cross because of Gansey’s search for Glendower, plus the fact that Blue works at a popular pizza place, but that’s a lot less whimsical. And, well, there’s the implication that Gansey might also be her true love, but perhaps she just kills him because of his bad fashion sense, it would be justified. Anyway, in true Famous Five fashion (Ronan is the dog; I won’t elaborate, the girls that get it, get it) they are of course not the only ones searching for the king, so it’s not completely a wholesome friend bonding activity all the way through.

Be prepared for: friendship and growing up, lots of treasure hunting, family mysteries, magical forests, illegal and slightly distasteful activities (our favorite of course), but most of all, heavily queer-coded (or even canonically queer) characters. Be Gay, Do Crime.

[sparks-chaotic-cove]

Gonna talk for a moment about how nice it is that the Fable cast interacts with the fandom so much-

It's a bit understandable how many of the huge huge creators (like- dsmp level, certain hermits) aren't able to interact with the fandom for a few reasons (sheer size of the fandom, people crossing boundaries, not wanting to see certain sides of the fandom, etc-) but It's just so special when you actually get to see the creator's reactions so what you've made

because all we're doing is being obsessed with the blorbos that the cast is also very obsessed with themselves- it's like an excited little kindergarten show and tell circle. The cast holds up their little blorbos and go "this is my guy!" and we're all like "that's your guy! they're so cool!" and trade art and stories and headcanons-

Even though it might seem a bit daunting to have some creators so intertwined with the fandom space over here on Tumblr at the very least- it's also really cool! Knowing the creators are seeing how much you love what they've helped create, and knowing that they probably love what you've created for that thing is just such a rewarding little dance.

So for any cast member that reads this, just know though we may seem a bit intimidated by you in our notifs- we're glad you're here to see what we've made with your tragic little guys :]

And thank you so much for being here

[etoilesombre]

You know what? People shouldn't feel bad about liking things in fandom, or creating things that make them happy. I'm absolutely vagueposting, but this really isn't about one post, it's about a tone I've noticed popping up again lately from multiple people (including people I follow and generally respect!)

-"They absolutely cannot fuck! So crazy people would think about that and be into it, it would break canon! "

-"Mod AU doesn't work, they're Serious Characters they aren't gonna run a coffee shop its OOC! "

-"Actually, fun fluffy fic about them at all during a certain era doesn't work!"

I get it. I agree with a fair part of it. People post all kinds of asinine shit that I hate actually. But you know where I bitch about it? Privately in group chat.

Let people fucking have fun. I get the sense that many people come to this fandom specifically because it's Serious and Challenging and you want to Do Serious Analysis. I think a lot of folks around these parts either are in school and not having a good time about it, or wish that they had gone into better academia that doesn't really exist, and they're getting that need met here. And that's great! For real!

But you know what else is fine? People who either don't have that need, or are getting it met in other parts of their lives, and come here for stress relief and a fun free hobby.

Of course they can't fuck for real! It's not in the text, they simply don't. But the tension is obviously written in, and playing with possibilities can be fun! Also if you can't see how it could happen and still not fix shit, that's a skill issue. Fic authors aren't stupid, we don't fail to understand canon, but not everything has to be everything all the time. Sometimes you want to do all the work and try to match the level of writing in the show, and sometimes you want to have something nice and easy. The show is REALLY well written and what it needs to be, the point of transformative works is playing with what it's NOT. Some people cope with fluff, or good ending everybody lives AUs, and it might be so totally valid to look down on that, but maybe being publicly correct might be less important than being kind?

Actually, the main thing I want to say is that if YOU reading this are a person who wants to write a cute coffeeshop AU, or be horny on main about your boys kissing, it's actually fine!! At least, it historically has been fine. This is a really small fandom now and not that many people are actively creating, please don't be discouraged by this stuff, because the people who criticize on tumblr are actually not the majority. The REASON they criticize is that, if you go to AO3 and sort by kudos, much of it is this super sweet OOC stuff! It looks like that's most of what there is, because a lot of readers in the wild who watch the show and look up fic like it!

Anyway. Let people have fun, it doesn't cost you anything, and not every thought needs to be public. It actually does discourage people.

[dinosaurswant2rule]

Sauron keeps his word OR Sauron never lies

I was thinking about random clips, seeing random gifs on tumblr and it gave me a lot of thoughts (this fandom is so talented just wow) about SAURON/HALBRAND/THE DEAD EYED MONK

So here are some random quotes about how Sauron always keeps his word (unintentionally or otherwise)

"You bind me to light and I bind you to power"

I think this one is particularly sad in a way as I always thought his offer to her was genuine and at least for me heavily romantically inclined (as far as he is capable of that)

I love the fact Sauron absolutely keeps his promise / request to Galadriel, he absolutely does bind her to power, the ring he built for her via Brimby saves her race and binds her to serious power (ironically over him) for the rest of her natural life.

(and it was a god damn wedding ring, this is a hill I will die on)

And the sad bit for me is Galadriel never binds him to the light (ie her, tell me again that these are people are not lovers) or not in the way he so desperately wants. He is only ever bound by his connection/obsession through her. A connection he CAN NEVER break as in her defences against him ie he's always outside looking in (thank fuck that), whether he wants to break away is a separate question (and a different rant), but to me this is strangely sad. It adds a certain level of desperation to his request/offer to her in the first series and when they meet again in season 2, it's even more brutal and tragic because

She is now bound to power that can defeat him and he knows it (possibly why he wants Nenya so bad)

Also it's a constant reminder that something he created, but never actually laid his hands on was bathed in light, so a connection/bind to the light (for him) was possible, but now absolutely unachievable in the way he so absolutely desired (hello major inferiority complex but again a separate rant)

Anyway rambling a bit

NEXT!

"That I had to heal everything I helped ruin"

While Sauron's destruction is major in the earlier ages (and all of it is probs not on his shoulders I'm talking Morgoth etc here not the one ring) and he obviously doesn't rebuild the whole of Middle Earth, he again sort of sets out what he plans to do . Specifically he does kind of heal Galadriel (albeit unintentionally) her fight against Sauron, her desire to kill him just for revenge and no other reason (and possibly herself in the process) disappears and she manages to move on from her brother's death thanks to her dealings with Halbrand (woooh for irony!) She's forced to learn humility and some good sense, (I have issues with this plot point), but regardless she pushes forward with her life and does for the lack of a better word "heal"

AND LAST BUT BY NO MEANS LEAST

"I would never have rested until all Middle Earth had been brought to it's knees to worship the lights of it's Queen"

This sort of happens too, she does become a Queen of Middle Earth (also thanks to her awesomeness in of herself too) that everyone respects/admires/fears. So if not all Middle Earth, at least a goodly chunk come to fear/adore the lady of light, thanks to her dealings with him/what she becomes. And In terms of the book (just as a side point) - Galadriel's realm is not a nice place - it's terrifying (Lothlorien) while the fellowship are safe there (sort of) the implication is that they kind of go mad in the process (potentially)

So I feel this quote from Sauron is veryon brand for book Galadriel and who she ends up being

Not sure if it's intentional in the writing, but I love the idea that Sauron keeps his word to Galadriel to the end of his days - woooh for an obsessive love affair/loyalty/cosmic/non-romantic almost partnership

And I'm not saying she achieves this SOLEY thanks to him, I just love the idea in terms of what these two mean to each other and their fates, that Sauron always keeps his promises in relation to Galadriel and never really stops doing that :D

Thanks for listening, plz go check out the gifs as well cause this gif makers in this fandom are wildly talented

Elsa out x

[paperstorm]

Favourite fandom memories

Watching 4x16 and 4x18 live. Watching every episode live is fun, but I don’t think there has ever been more unhinged joy in our little tumblr community (at least not in my time in this fandom, sadly I wasn’t here for Push or the engagement!) than during the soulmates scene and the wedding. The evening of 4x16 was off the charts, I remember it so vividly. We were all losing our entire minds – Carlos called them soulmates! Carlos said ‘baby’ not once but TWICE!!!!!!!! – and it was just so, so much fun. And the entire week of promo leading up to 4x18 was just dizzying and exciting and endlessly joyful, and the episode itself was such a whirlwind of heartbreak and ecstatic love and happiness and I will always be grateful I got to experience it with this lovely group of people.

Fics and art and gif makers! This fandom is more blessed than any I’ve ever been in with a deep bench of talented writers. My ‘to read’ list remains miles long despite my attempts to keep up with it and that’s because the writers around here are constantly churning out impeccable stories that are full of love and nuance and poetry and wonderful storytelling and HOT ASS SMUT and it’s been such a joy to get to read all your incredible work for FREE. And to the amazing artists, there are fewer of you but that means each of you shine even brighter when you give us such beautiful visual displays of Tarlos and our other favourite characters, bringing to life things that otherwise would only exist in our minds. And to the gif makes, the true backbone of tumblr fandoms, thank you for your tireless work and for colouring away the dull ass filters used on this show and brightening up scenes so we can actually SEE THEM and for noticing parallels and slowing down kisses and zooming in on hands and all the other wonderful things you do.

Friends! Everyone is saying this but it’s true for me too, the friendships are the best part of fandom and I have made such wonderful ones. I won’t tag them since they know who they are but to the people who I talk to on a daily (or near-daily) basis and plot fic with and complain with and enjoy the show with and send little presents to, who make me laugh, who listen and commiserate on cloudy days, who cheer me on, who hold me accountable and make me a better person, you’ve made this a fun place to be for years now and I hold every one of you close to my heart. (and if you have ever send me a nice anon, I hold you in this category too. We are friends, even though I don’t know your name)

TK Strand This is a bit of a diversion but a final thing I did want to say that TK means so, so much to me on such a deeply personal level, probably more than any other character I’ve ever loved. In this fandom I have been more honest about my own struggles than I’ve ever been online and it has been really heartwarming to have that (mostly) met with kindness. I am humbled by it and grateful for it <3

Thank you for creating this game @thisbuildinghasfeelings and to @annoyingcloudearthquake @strandnreyes @everlastingday @nancys-braids @reyesstrand @carlossreaders @nisbanisba @tellmegoodbye @heartstringsduet @freneticfloetry @firstprince-history-huh @carlos-in-glasses @bonheur-cafe @herefortarlos and @henrygrass for tagging me! I have been so busy lately I fully missed wip wednesday but I will go through this weekend and queue up all your fandom memory posts!!

[randomquadballpun]

Knitting beige cabled socks Johns jumper inspired socks?

A while back I read @calaisreno fanfic 'Ravelling' after stumbling across it on Tumblr. Apart from being beautifully written, it also really hit a chord for me, since knitting is what kept me somewhat sane over the last 2 years and has been a massive help just by keeping my hands and my mind busy.

Ever since I got into knitting bigger projects, I have been flirting with the idea of doing more fandom inspired knitting, since fandom is another big part of my everyday life. But knitting materials are expensive and I only want to knit clothes that I truly love and will get a lot of wear out of, and so far no bigger fanish project has ever appealed to me enough to make the commitment.

For some reason - before reading Ravelling - it hadn't even occurred to me that socks are right there! So just like John in this fanfic I too want to slowly start a fandom inspired sock collection, because that just sounds like a lot of fun.

I am starting off very beige. I found a pattern for an oatmeal jumper inspired sock and the same weekend I went out to shop for some groceries and came across the ideal beige yarn for the purpose. It was basically faith.

This has been my first time knitting a sock from the toe up (if we ignore the at least three times that I unravelled parts of this sock before I was happy with it) and I really like doing it this way! The yarn, while inexpensive and nice to look at, was a bit of a pain to work with though.

Overall I am not 100% sure how much this really resembles the actual oatmeal jumper, but even if it doesn't, it's still a very comfy and nice cable knit sock, just in time for the cold months and it has a special meaning just for me.

The problem with socks, he decides, is that people have heels.

John in Ravelling

While I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment (even though this heel really wasn't that bad), there is an even bigger problem ... which is that people have TWO feet.

So I will post this here mainly to hold myself accountable to actually starting and finishing sock number 2 at some point (even though my mind has already merrily skipped further down fandom knitting lane and is now ogling 221 B wallpaper patterned socks or a Moriarty skull tie pattern). But I am sure I will return to oatmeal sock number 2 in 2-3 business months, just to discover that I have completely forgotten how I made the first one!

Wish me luck!

(And go and read Ravelling if you haven't yet. Go reread it if you have! And if you have the time and the spoons for it, go and create something!)

[blue-disco-lights]

✨ Weekly Tag Wednesday ✨

Thank you so much for tagging me - love this one! (i love them all actually) @jrooc

@stocious @michellemisfit @doshiart @mybrainismelted @mmmichyyy

@sgtmickeyslaughter @gallapiech @suzy-queued @spookygingerr @roryonic

Name and A03 handle: Julia, Blue_Disco_Lights

Current Location: my dining table - my work is hybrid, so this (suprisingly uncomfortable setup) is my desk twice a week.

Favourite picrew: I never really wore my space buns this high, maybe a bit lower… also the jewelry is a Chain Mickey homage obviously.

What's one thing you want in a picrew? I love a creative background and good sweater options. If left to my own devices, I’d be in a hoodie all the time, but it’s nice to spice things up!

Favourite thing you’ve created (or seen created) for the fandom? Hard to choose! it's a tie between some @galladrabbles and these @gallacrafts.

Why is it your favourite? I’ve been knitting since I was a kid but never really got beyond the scarf phase lol - and Season 1 Not-a-booty-call/“Whatever, see ya” Mickey wore that green scarf and I knew I had to recreate it. The t-shirt is me attempting to draw for the tomato theme and I just think it would be so funny if Ian actually wore this outside.

Did it come easily or was it hard to create? For the scarf, it was all about finding the right yarn and also that cute patch that just appeared out of nowhere at the craft store. Drawing is hard because i don't know how 😆

Last ao3 fic you commented on? It was either on Shame-proof written by @ms-moonlight-inn and @notherenewjersey or A Song Only You Can Hear by @suzy-queued - both so good!

Biggest WIP heartache you’ve ever experienced? I’m usually OK with WIPs taking a while, truly… but oh man, I’ll copy @jrooc's answer and say Things Beyond Mistake by grayola. What a STUNNING work and we’re left just aching for what happens for those two. My second is Elevator Music by gallavichsecurity- another beautifully written one that I hope will continue one day. 

Favourite trope or head cannon you like included in a fanfic? I love enemies to lovers, the slower the burn the better 🫠🔥 . I’ve yelled about loving road trip plots a lot, so I loved Highway of Hedonism  by @roryonic (w/ beautiful art by @gallapiech).

Least favourite? I’ve never gravitated to mpreg   

Secret or surprising kink or trope? Never even knew A/B/O was a thing until i got here - hello! Same goes for Whump - once it clicked that it was an actual genre, it was like oh wow, i think i’ve been into this my whole life lol.

Describe how you feel after you’ve created something new? Er, shocked quite honestly. When I see that I actually have multiple things posted on AO3 I do wonder who that person is??

Top hype man you have that always helps you get across the finish line: There are so many hype people i want to thank in my writing journey - your amazing comments & reblogs really made me feel like a writer! (which was a little shocking - so please know they went a long way 💕) @gallawitchxx @energievie @creepkinginc @jrooc @michellemisfit @palepinkgoat @gillyp @suzy-queued @ian-galagher @sweetbee78 @francesrose3 - and special shout out to @mybrainismelted for being an amazing sounding board and co-conspirator on Gallavich Summer Camp among other things!

It's been a bad day, you turn to the fandom and you _____? Hang out on Discord and Tumblr, and fall into one of the very many tabs I have open. Currently it’s You’ll Never See Us Again by @spoonfulstar - and omggggg.

If you're tagged in this post and haven't made one of these yet - this is your official invite!

tagging in @lingy910y @deedala @heymrspatel @atthedugouts @wehangout

@lupeloto @sisitrip @sandrashaine @shippergirl121fic @stocious

@jessij1997 @sickness-health-all-that-shit @thisdivorce @sam-loves-seb @samantitheos

@mickeyheartian @mickeym4ndy @callivich @transsexual-dandelions @nymacron

@rororowyourboat18 @transmurderbug @bawlbrayker @i-think-you-mean-reduction @gallavichsuperfan

@runawaybrainsc @too-schoolforcool @darlingian @thepupperino @celestialmickey

@crossmydna @spacerockwriting @catgrassplantdad @look-i-love-u @silvanshadow

[blossoms-phan]

as a post-comeback phannie all of the self referential lore and nostalgia is kind of the best part for me. when i started watching them i genuinely didn't know anything about them beyond 'the people tumblr shipped who ended up being gay' and obviously the videos are all fun and entertaining but the thing that makes me insane is the twelve layers of lore and meta-narrative surrounding everything they do, and the whole we know you know of it all. there's just so much of it and every time i find a new piece i feel like a historian piecing together ancient documents trying to figure out what's been going on for the past 15 years. both in terms of their relationship (every day i discover a new piece of 2009 history that causes absolutely lethal psychic damage) but also just like, sometimes they post a new video and i get to learn they're a canonical part of the lion king universe and incorporate that into my worldview.

in terms of comparing them to their old selves, when I go back and watch old stuff sometimes they both (but especially dan) seem so, like... rigidly controlled and tense in a way that is just SO striking to me as someone whose main frame of reference for them is post-hiatus dapg. like to me the happy, out gay dan we have now is the default dan and sometimes i stumble across old clips of him and just get sad. free him from the closet :(

also when they released the pinof reaction videos I didn't even know what pinof was, but between then and now i've gotten so fucking phanniepilled i actually gasped when i got the notif for the amazingdan reaction lmao

hi anon!! thank you so much for taking the time to share, I love having insight into a perspective of them as a viewer that is so different to my own experience. as a longtime phannie who is also on the side of like someone who is now an adult but just a kid when i started watching them and basically grew up with them the way I experience fandom is sooo different now compared to like, 2016, and though the old lore and analysis of everything they do was always like there I hadn’t participated or been part of this whole meta-introspection of what they share until now and it truly feels like we’ll never run out of things to say about their sheer soulmatism- also phannies are just very smart and cool and it feels like there’s a certain level of intellectualism that plays into phannieism fr. also yeah there is just… SO much lore like you will literally see people who have been around forever being like I have never heard or seen this before and they are seemingly always prepared to emotionally devastate us or at least gives us crumbs to suck up with new little tidbits.

in terms of their past selves yeah, it is so lovely to experience them at their happiest and most carefree and comfortable and quite honestly healed versions of themselves now but the difference in old videos is stark. some are really genuinely sad to see but another thing is that someone who grew up watching them I can’t quite break out of being able to find any content from that time comforting still, and it’s nice to still be able to pick out the happy moments from some of the more rigid ones.

that is SO funny to me lmaoooo but im so glad you’re here in the trenches with us. welcome, you are possibly never leaving now, the cat whiskers are forever <3