#dozen contexts for why this is this and that is that idk

[fishareglorious]

Hey, just wanted to say that I really enjoyed reading through your limbus "Liveblog(?)" Always entertaining to see someone's first time through a PM game

Thanks! I've been immensely enjoying the game so far.

[chamerionwrites]

As a random aside I think my immunity to the aesthetic charms of vampires may partly explain the way my brain processes NBC Hannibal, which is to say: S1 was electric spine-tingling horror that truly hits in a way that’s rare for me with the genre; in the abstract I can appreciate that it is a deeply horny show (unsettling power games, intensely lush and sensual visual language, have you looked at all these actors); however in practice the fact that Hannibal Lecter is genuinely scary coexists with the fact that personally I find him to be the world’s most cringefail loser in the least endearing or sexy way possible

[gigglesandfreckles-hp]

firstly I LOVE your writing so so so much!!! so many of my fav jily fics are yours <3

#34 from the prompt list (“sorry, bad habit”) but it’s james fidgeting (messing with his hair clicking a pen idk idc u do u) and lily is annoyed with him with herself for finding it endearing & finally does something about it

from these prompts

It’s not that she never noticed it before.

Context, however, is everything and there is just simply a stark contrast between noticing it because McGonagall consistently points it out with a heavy sigh and a ‘for the last time, Mr. Potter, please wear your uniform with a sense of propriety’ and noticing it because Lily can’t physically make herself look away.

She’s not quite sure when her mind takes that sharp detour, though.

“Merlin, I’m knackered.”

Lily looks up from her book as he falls into the seat across from her. “You’re late.”

James grimaces apologetically. “Flitwick had me helping the firsties with—never mind. Sorry. Let’s get started, yeah?”

He wasn’t her first choice for essay partner, or her second or third for that matter, but he’s competent, which Lily supposes she should be grateful for. Honestly, she’s still trying to wrap her head around the fact that school has been back in session for an entire month and they haven’t gotten in a row even once.

James pulls his bag up onto the small table and begins haphazardly fishing through it for his own textbook and some parchment, then reaches up and gives a sharp tug on the knot of his tie, pulling it away from his neck. Lily’s gaze catches on the motion she must have seen him do a dozen times, but she’s never been close enough to notice the sliver of skin it reveals before and she’s certainly never found herself appreciating it.

She quickly files that away as information to never ever process and shakes her head.

“Yeah, let’s get…” She clears her throat and looks back toward her book. “Started.”

But once she starts noticing it—well. It becomes a bit of a problem.

The moment he walks into the common room, his hand moves to loosen his tie. As soon as he collapses onto the couch of their shared Heads’ Office. While he walks alongside her to Arithmancy. Every single day. Constantly.

“Blimey, the weather’s gorgeous, isn’t it?”

Lily purses her lips to keep from smiling at the childish way James throws his hands up toward the sky the minute they step into the sunshine. It’s been a gruelling day of revising for both of them and she found herself not even able to muster a half-hearted excuse for why they shouldn’t take a break to go for a walk on the grounds.

“There’s just something about October,” he continues, sighing happily.

Lily opens her mouth to agree, but then she catches the flash of his hand—they’re not even fifteen steps away from the castle, but there he goes, the scarlet-and-gold-striped fabric slipping through his fingers as he makes quick work of the knot of his tie.

“Why do you always do that?” she finds herself blurting out.

He glances quickly over at her, his fingers freezing their motion. “Sorry,” he says, wincing, “bad habit.”

Lily just nods in response, not trusting herself to say something normal, and tries not to watch as he tugs the tie completely off and shoves it deep into the front pocket of his trousers.

October passes and Lily feels herself relax, because the Scottish autumn is on her side on this (and only on this, really). Hogwarts students spend the month of November adding more layers to their wardrobe, not removing them.

Lily has never in her life been so passionate about scarves.

“Most prestigious school in the wizarding world and they can’t bloody insulate the halls,” James whinges, blowing hot air into his cupped hands and rubbing them together.

Lily looks sharply away from that and ignores the little flop her stomach does. “That would compromise the ambience, Potter.”

“Of course. How can Hogwarts expect to maintain its honour if at least one student doesn’t die of hypothermia?”

Lily’s laugh is halted as they turn a corner and begin their portion of the patrol colloquially known among the other prefects as The Polar Vortex. This section of the castle seems to always be particularly drafty, and honestly, if Lily wasn’t eager to extend her time with James, she’d likely suggest they just skip it and head back to Gryffindor Tower.

As it is, though, she shivers involuntarily, her teeth clattering loudly together, unbidden.

“Merlin, Evans, here. Take—”

“I’m fine!” she says quickly, because, Jesus bloody Christ, he was reaching for his scarf.

“That hypothermia joke wasn’t a personal challenge, Lil. Take my scarf and—”

“I don’t want it!”

His next step falters and he turns slowly to face her, his face setting into a confused frown. “Why not?”

Lily feels her face begin to flush. “I just—I don’t want to be a…bother.”

James watches her for another moment, then a grin slowly spreads across his face. “Evans,” he says, unlooping the scarf from his neck, and turning to more fully face her, “you always bother me.” He gently drops the scarf around her neck, ignoring her protests as he tugs it snugly around the collar of her jumper.

Lily takes a breath, hating and loving the fact that the scarf smells exactly like him, but otherwise settles into a feeling of relief. That wasn’t so bad. Just because he removed his scarf doesn’t mean—

“Oh my God, are you serious right now?!”

James stops walking again, his fingers freezing in the midst of their mission to unknot his tie. “Er, what?”

Lily covers her face with her hands and tries not to scream. 

“Evans?” He asks, and that pushes her closer to the edge, because she can hear the concern in his voice. “Am I serious about what?”

“Nothing,” she squeaks, shaking her head, even as her hands remain covering her face.

“Ev-ans.”

“No, really, I—”

He gently tugs one of the ends of the scarf—his scarf—causing her to stumble toward him a bit. “What’s wrong?”

She allows her hands to fall and forces himself to look up at him. “Why are you even wearing your tie?” she mumbles.

“What? My…tie?” He frowns, deeply puzzled, then manages a half-shrug. “I dunno. Just forgot to take it off after lessons, I guess. Why?”

“You constantly mess with it,” Lily says. “Non-stop. Loosening it, untying it, taking it off, playing with it.”

“I told you,” he says sheepishly, “it’s a bad habit. I—”

“It’s infuriating!”

His eyebrows lift in surprise. “I’m…sorry?”

“A Lily Evans torture device, really.”

He opens his mouth again, but she beats him to it.

“It’s like, if every person who’s ever hated me attended a…a convention. And they had a chat about all the things that drive me spare, devising a plan to slowly make me go completely mental. This—,” she knows she’s mad and that she’ll hate herself later, but she doesn’t care because she’s been wanting to do this for months,—“this is what they would end up deciding on.” She reaches up and, in one swift motion, tugs on the knot of his tie, watching in immense satisfaction as it separates from the collar of his shirt, hanging limply across the grey fabric of his jumper. 

James stares at her, eyes wide, body completely rigid as she, Jesus, manhandles him like a fiend. 

“Sorry,” she huffs out as she draws her hand back to her own person, but she isn’t even sure she means it. “You just—it really is a terrible habit, Potter. Promise me you’ll work on it.”

He blinks. “I…”

“Good.” Lily nods. “Thank you for the scarf, by the way. We should be good to head back down now, yeah?” She takes off walking down the corridor, before he can verbally question her sanity or she can do something else truly mad like use the leverage of his tie—stupid, bloody tie—to bring his mouth down to hers.

[alleyskywalker]

I sat down to write my reaction post to the second ep of HOTD and…realized Idk how to approach it, where to start. And not because I hated every single thing about it – like with ep1 there were lots of good or at least interesting moments. There were other choices I wouldn’t have personally liked in any circumstance but that weren’t necessarily bad in and of themselves if they’d been in another show, surrounded with other context or other scenes. The problem is how ridiculously biased this writing is and how that bias and the ridiculousness of it permeates everything, even the parts that were good or fine or reasonably in character. We knew, of course, even from S1, that the writing was biased. But this season it feels especially blatant.

How am I supposed to feel about say…Jae’s funeral? On one hand, a gut-wrenching scene, carried so well by Olivia and Phia’s superb understated acting. It’s a scene that has every reason to be there – royal funeral processions/spectacles were (and still are) normal. And even if it’s not a regular occurrence in this universe (questionable), it’s a very good and smart play by Otto. On the other hand, is it not suspect that the funeral of this child was less of a melancholy moment of mourning like Luke’s funeral (despite the obviously grieving family) but focused on Helaena’s panic attack at being too close to too many people, and with the distraction of Jae’s cart getting stuck in the mud (was that supposed to be symbolic of something???). Do we not remember TB shrieking long before the episode aired that the Greens have a public funeral for Jae “just to make the Greens look bad”? These people are known for the worst faith takes, so what does it say that the writers apparently agree with them?

How am I supposed to feel about Alicent’s inability to successfully, if at all, to comfort her children? Is this a potentially interesting exploration of how her own grief, guilt, self-blame/low self-esteem, and complicated relationship with her kids due to their common and individual family traumas (and, in Helaena’s case…neurodivergence, I guess?) have and are affecting her? Or is it just a low-key attempt at character assassination, given that last season she was shown as perfectly capable of showing affection to her children (more than one with Aemond, hugging Helaena and making other attempts when she was less receptive, even kissing Aegon at the coronation despite their turbulent relationship)?

Is Alicent’s self-blame and guilt a potentially interesting exploration of how grief can affect people, of what happens when a person feels they are breaking some moral or ethical or religious code of conduct that they sincerely believe in/believe they can be punished for breaking? Or does the narrative blame her too/knows that a large chunk of the audience will too or at least will find the self-blame and guilt pathetic or unsympathetic (because goodness knows that’s all Twitter/X has to say on the matter, it seems).

How am I supposed to feel about Aegon hanging the ratcatchers? Of course, Otto is right – this was a terrible thing to do, not just because it was politically a misstep, but first of all because there were many innocent people executed without trial. It’s a canonical event, and in context of Aegon’s grief and fury, it’s interesting in and of itself, it’s part of the commentary on the wreckage that war and nobles’ games cause. I’d have no issue with it, except…. Why was this made into a literal cartoon-villain-esque kick the dog moment? By making me feel sorry for the sad, cute puppy am I supposed to think that hanging Cheese was somehow wrong? After he sawed off a child’s head? And why is it that the smallfolk get angry when Aegon hands the ratcatchers but not when Rhaenys trembles dozens of smallfolk in the dragon pit? How come Aegon is held accountable for all his mistakes, at least by the people closest to him, and Criston very specifically sends a kingsguard member to impersonate his twin and kill Rhaenyra, but the show removed maximum responsibility from Daemon and of course made sure that Rhaenya was just appalled by the whole thing. (And suddenly cares about Helaena? I actually rolled my eyes at that line so hard it hurt.)

What am I to think of the messy/awkward/complicated TG family dynamics? They’re interesting! They’re fun! They could make for some great television (and fic lol). I could/should/would enjoy this. But on the other hand, when TB get all these bonding moments, or the potential messiness (e.g. Rhaena feeling ignored by her father) is ignored in like 85% of situations? And when this imbalance is not at all in the book? (When it feels like they wanted to cut/held off on Daeron specifically because he was so sweet and mild tempered and beloved by everyone?) It becomes frustrating, not fun.

At what point do I need to decide that this show isn’t worth it? After all, I think the sentiment that “maybe this is just not telling the kind of story you want to hear/watch��� is generally a wise approach. Except…that would hold if this was an original show or if it was one of those “loosely based on/inspired by” things that were not pretending to be adaptations. But when you’re advertised an adaptation, you’re not coming in blind. Ideally, you’re coming in knowing what sort of story you’re coming for, at the very least. Unlike  ASOIAF, the Dance is a fully finished story. There shouldn’t have been any “nasty surprises” like some people got in the last seasons in GoT…

But they mentioned Daeron by name. Tom’s acting is incredible. We know I’m not going anywhere for now lmao.

Maybe I won’t do my usual type of notes/reaction post this time, after all I’ve said so much of what I most feel right now anyway.

Sorry for the depression/pessimism guys. I’m just so tired.

[cheswirls]

idk if this has been addressed more coherently on here yet but i keep seeing the "bonney is technically a CD" hot takes and they never make any sense to me so. idk what it is with ppl not taking context into account but i want to clarify for my own peace of mind

cw for typical celestial dragon nonsense

the point i've seen the most is "bonney's biological father is a CD therefore she is one as well"

that's not how that works. especially when you take into account how many "wives" a single CD can have at one time. the first look at a CD in the story was a guy who had 10+ wives and very nonchalantly dismissed a handful of them while making plans to take a woman from sabaody to add to his ranks.

when your parents are world nobles, then by birthright you are one as well. but do you really think a CD would consider the child of a slave as anything but a slave? egghead gave us a whole arc of the five elders referring to humans as insects - all of them!! even their own cipher pol agents!! there is no difference to them. why would they consider the offspring of a "human" as one of their own?

also, another point, "bonney is an outlier with her bloodline"

you have to be incredibly dense to think that at this point in the story. bonney is the only human with a world noble parent that has been shown and named in the story, yes, but she is a dime a dozen in the one piece world. what happened to ginny was tragic, but it's supposed to be so sickening bc you as the reader have it click that this is commonplace. they sent ginny away because she was sick, not because she was pregnant. they could have terminated her pregnancy at any time, but why would they? that's another slave.

case in point? kuma. not long after kuma was born, a spy in the hospital told the WG about his bloodline. kuma was enslaved as an infant instead of being killed and his father, the older and stronger person who would be more suited to perform work as a slave, was taken along with his newborn child. that's reality. they knew kuma would grow up and be useful as a slave.

that very well could have been bonney's reality as well. ginny was enslaved because of her beauty. all they had to do was bide their time and wait for ginny's baby to grow up.

kuma's backstory as a whole really made me question just how many slaves are born in captivity. it's chilling to think about. the thought never crossed my mind before egghead. wano scratched the surface with slave labor but kept it to men who could work (or also, i think it was only men who revolted in some way, so citizens that kept quiet were left alone). the children born in wano grew up in extreme poverty, but it's different from being born a slave to a master that considers you subhuman.

tldr; bonney isn't a world noble of any kind because she has human blood running through her veins.

[hyakinthou-naos]

I’m new so plz be patient

I’m kinda scared of the gods especially Apollo and idk what I should do

He’s are not always the nicest in the myths but idk how accurate some of the characters are. I’m scared of offending or angering him, but I also feel a connection to him

I was raised evangelical and they don’t have the healthiest relationship with their god so idk if it’s just my upbringing or not

Thank you ☀️(I’ve also asked other blogs in case you see the same question)

Khaire Miles, and thank you for your question!

I want to start by saying that it is okay to be afraid; there should be no shame in fear or trauma, and The Theoi should *never* be angry with you for having emotions.

A slight tangent, but (from a mental health perspective) emotions in it of themselves are neither “good” nor “bad” - it is what you do with those emotions that denotes morality*.

*Of course there is a lot of nuance in this type of discussion, but an important bit of nuance I want to add is that (in this context) emotions are not the same as beliefs.

As humans there is so much pressure to “control” and “fight” our emotions. But in my experience, it is much easier and more productive to allow yourself to feel your emotions without judgement and then try to understand why you feeling the way you are - instead of trying to “fight” your mind.

I also want you to know that you are not alone in how you feel! I was raised Roman Catholic, and I was scared/hesitant to work with any male divinities (Apollo included) when I began my venture into Hellenic Polytheism.

I was put off by the way myth depicted deities such as Lord Apollo, King Zeus, and even Queen Hera. These emotions and beliefs were due in large part to the fact that I was operating under the mindset of “mythic literalism” or “fundamentalism” (which is present in most Christian denominations).

“Fundamentalism: noun

a form of a religion […] based on the belief that everything that is written in the scriptures is completely true”

- Source: Oxford Learners Dictionary

However, current theories around ancient Hellenic worship - as well as the current worship by Hellenic Polytheists - tend to favor viewing Greek Myths through the lense of Mythic Symbolism instead of Mythic Literalism.

“Literalists tend to seek factual or historical bases for a given mythological narrative while advocates of one the many symbolic approaches prefer to regard the narrative as a code requiring some mode of decipher-ment.”

- Source: “The Flood Myth” by Alan Dundes

To simplify - if you view Greek Myth from a Literalist perspective, then you’re going to believe that Hades/The Underworld is a physical place you can get to if you dig deep enough below the ground. If you view Greek Myth from a Symbolic perspective, then you’re going to view Hades/The Underworld as a metaphor or symbolic explanation of what life is like after death.

So, did King Zeus literally cheat on his wife with dozens of women - ignoring his marriage vows and often assaulting women in these various myths? No.

Greek Myth existed and continues to exist as stories, to explore human morality - to explain that which we don’t yet understand - and to provide a framework for belief and ritual. The reason why so many myths portray The Gods in a negative light, is because the actions of The Gods are supposed to be a reflection of humanity. Humans can be terrible, we can cause unspeakable harm to ourselves and others - but humans can also be wonderful, creating joy and kindness in situations where these things are lacking.

This paradigm shift, from Mythic Literalism to Mythic Symbolism, is something that can be challenging and difficult to navigate. I was a practicing pagan for 10 years before I ever comfortably worked with a male deity - and now Lord Apollo is the principle god in my personal pantheon.

Lord Apollo is an incredibly complex and wonderful deity. He is artistry and creativity, he is joy and light - he can also be one who requests discipline and rigor, one who holds his ground and embodies social justice. He is many things to many people, but to me he is nothing to fear. I firmly believe he has been guiding me my whole life, and I would not worship him if I thought for a second that he was not a moral or just entity.

I hope this has been helpful to you in some way, if you have any additional or follow up questions please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Eirene - peace and farewell,

- Aön

[pricemarshfield]

Answer the prime numbers. Do All Tha Prime Numbers 🫵

good lord. okay but i’m putting it under the cut

2. Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

biiiit of both? i know very concretely where i want a fic to start & end, i know the general placement of a few important scenes throughout the fic, and then i have Loose outlines about how each chapter will get me there. but mostly i write as i go; i just have an idea of the endpoint so i don’t wander off into the wilderness (drive my outline wildly off course)

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

well since playing bg3 it’s: become haunted by an idea involving raphael baldursgate, say oh my god no i haven’t even written any of my current wips in months i don’t have time, and then blacking out with 6k of porn that’s somehow not even close to done on my google docs. and this repeats forever

but also. i kinda just do it idk. i sit at my computer and write until it’s done

5. Do you like constructive criticism?

context dependent. if i ask for it, yeah. unprompted in comments, nah. people are much better about this than they used to be, which is funny because i’m less bothered now than i used to be. baby fic author sarah was haunted by concrit; current me is like yeah critique is the only way to improve but i am writing this for funnnn so leaf me alone

(should specify i Just mean in terms of like. technical advice here. if i’m being a bigot in my writing somehow, that is something i want to know and fix asap)

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

vibessss. whoever i wanna write more in the moment unless the specific scene only works from one perspective. this is why talk is getting a sequel (threequel. i guess. bc i’m also doing the two-part “endings”) which is just the same fic but from raphael pov bc i want to write him now

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

only three? damn. can i do four 😭 you sent me over a dozen questions i’m doing four.

of street names & subway wall prophecies by @dalgursbate is SO good. buffyverse au shadowstarion, so well-characterized and vivid and also FUN i LOVE it. i already liked shadowstarion (shocking! girl who multiships everything likes pairing between two of her favorite characters!) but now i rotate them in my mind forever. i want to bind this physically so i have it and am only stopped by having not actually kept most of my bookbinding stuff when i moved. but i need a physical copy so i can Eat It. also everyone should read everything else molly’s ever posted

who will burn who by @pouralaura is so good i’m proselytizing for it. PHENOMENAL fic. professor au raphael and he is SOOO fun; he fits so well in this verse without being defanged into something unrecognizable. and also it’s HOT!!!! SO HOT! fanning myself when i read it! the prose is just soooo fucking nice in this too. all of what i’ve said about this fic is true of all of laura’s fics and once again. everyone should read everything she’s ever posted

Blood in the Wine by @atrueneutral is so fucking interesting that i literally had to lie in bed and just stare at my ceiling and THINK about it after i read the latest chapter today. priest raphael au But Watch Out. i’m so deeply intrigued by the world-building in this, and neutral’s tav is INCREDIBLY compelling. this fic makes me want to paint again and if i had a canvas on hand i probably would have by now. and not to sound like a broken record but everyone read all of neutral’s fics too tyvm 🙏

Cooler Than Me by @wetcatspellcaster has absolutely brightened my day with every update, which has been nice because boyyy am i going through it a little bit. an academic/celebrity modern au with rosalie frostsong, love of my life, as the academic consulting on a film about a historical figure she Hates, and astarion, playing that guy. it’s so fun and funny and fluffy, and i just love seeing how all the different characters are translated to this AU because they’re ALL bangers. fox you are my roommate and know this already but for anyone just reading through, i absolutely cannot recommend all of emma’s fics enough :)

for all of these peep me being #insane in the comments and also know i could have listed like eight more fics even Just sticking with bg3, plus like 10 more if i brought in all the banger d20 ones i still need to catch up on. anyway i’m gonna go reread all of these once i finish answering this ask

13. what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

FOR ME show don’t tell works. because i treat it as a mantra to make sure i’m showing what i’m telling, since my (unedited) writing style is just. so direct. my characters are introspective and love to think “i am doing x because y which results in z” and that’s fun but sometimes less is more. but also i think it’s a tip that’s oft misused and not always helpful hence the For Me

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

i simply do something else 👍 i am past the point of forcing words out of myself. i wrote a 40 page paper in one night bc i procrastinated so badly in my senior year of college and i don’t want to return to the mental state that invoked in me. especially not for Fanfiction, my Hobby

19. What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

post-canon, fluff, and alternate universe - canon divergence are the main three; i should note that these are largely one-off fics under 2k i wrote half a decade ago, and most of my fics now are messy longfics with a lot of smut. the canon divergence one is still real though

23. Best writing advice for other writers?

🗣️ if you’re stuck, go back three sentences!!! oh my GOD did this save my editing process. the fact i finish editing chapters ever is due to this. also write what you want to write when you want to write it; if you’re writing for a self-imposed deadline or entitled commenters, the fun’s gonna get sucked out of it Fast.

also if you get someone who makes a Lot of fic requests that brush veryyyy close to what you’re not comfortable taking just block them. it’s fine. protect your peace

29. What’s your revision or editing process like?

finish draft. take a full day away from it. reread. fix mistakes. i absolutely Should do more—reading aloud, probably make comments to myself and then go back—but tbh. i am impatient. i want to Post and see people’s Thoughts right away

31. Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

used to be characters and a Vibe and the plot would come after, now plots complete with characters and themes attack me in the night until a new outline appears in my google docs. i blame raphael

37. How do you choose where to end a chapter?

“okay so this chapter should end at this scene :) oh god why is this other scene getting so long. ah fuck this is already 6k words and i’m not halfway through my plans. oh jesus christ wait a second it’s incredibly self-indulgent additional scene with the steel chair!!” and then i keep writing until i hit whatever is in my outline. don’t do this. you can change your chapter count. i am inflexibly stubborn but everyone else can and should do that. or just don’t commit to a chapter count at first. don’t be like me

41. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

I LOVE REREADING FICS !!! i guarantee every single fic i recommended above i have reread at least a dozen times times, and i think all three of them came out this year. one i discovered a momth ago. i have some fics i have reread Hundreds of times. i Love to reread fics

43. Do you take a sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more the "If you hurt them I would kill everyone and then myself" kind of person?

*poorly hiding a comically large mallet behind my back* i’m sooo nice to my characters actually. ignore the longfic which is just my tav’s bad end. and also the one where i put her in a version of hell she’d hate more than usual. and also all the things i’m gonna do in later knife’s edge chapters. and also that time i posted “this sucks for everyone but me, the writer who loves making things worse”

47. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

one. two if i’m really motivated. like a quarter of the way through before i give up and post immediately if i’m really UNmotivated. don’t be like me

53. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

i go through phases of each. i’ve written a lot this month, i read a lot last month. i think probably like 60:40 reader/writer but it’d probably be 50:50 if i wasn’t so committed to leaving comments with my full thoughts (and i love commenting. so i will not give that up)

59. Does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? if not, would you tell anyone?

my mom said she’d read my noir au when i told her about it (she has not). my grandma tried to figure out what to get me for my birthday by asking what fanfiction characters i liked right now. my aunt who i don’t even like has my ao3. i have no shame and also my writing fucks so like

61. Why do you continue writing fics?

I Need. To Read My Ideas. I Need Them To Exist. The Words Need To Be Out Of My Head And In A Form I Can Enjoy. also it’s fun and i like the community aspect of fandom

67. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

i love prompts and challenges but the fics i’ve been most excited to write have been fully independent ideas. still, fics i’ve loved and think are some of my best have come from challenges! so. idk i guess wishy-washy copout answer It Depends

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

i got a note on my phone with bullet points that are not clear enough and that i will be confused about later until at 3am i remember what the hell i meant by a bullet simply reading “jowan” (note: this is a real example. it is not a dragon age fic)

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

i got no clue. i’m so bad at describing my own writing in general, i have no idea how to differentiate it from others’ work. i like it though! i’m just terrible at articulating stuff about my Own writing lmfao

fox you sent this to me An Hour Ago. if there are typos dont tell me. if i missed a prime number for Sure dont tell me. goddamn.

[sporesgalaxy]

Hey I've seen you got into one piece.

I've also recently gotten into one piece, I find it really cool.

I've seen you also talking about the show both to praise it and in a critical way.

Sorry to ask unprompted and this isn't to spark anything just a genuine question: what do you think about usopp's design?

I love the character but his design has always felt.... Bad and uncomfortable to put it mildly. Mostly the lips.

Am I being stupid? Idk you or maybe some of your followers can answer me/there can be a (civil obviously) discussion.

If you don't respond could you say that you won't be responding to the usopp ask so I know to never ask things like this? If you want. You don't have to do anything

Yeah, the lips on Usopp's design resemble an anti-black caricature. I do hate that.

I can't say I know or understand if the context of drawing lips that way is the same in Japan as it is here in America*. In America, there is a generations-long precedent of stylizing lips that way for antiblack racist caricatures. This put me off of One Piece for many many years.

I started reading just before the live action show dropped. I wanted to know why so many Americans could overlook something as off-putting as the Usopp's caricature-esque lips.

I fully expected a dime-a-dozen case study in audience willingness to dismiss antiblackness when there are enough other appealing aspects to distract from it.

What I learned was this: One Piece is very long. One Piece has made openly anti-racist arguments on more than one occasion, especially in some recent parts of the story**. One Piece has played into racist tropes on more than one occasion, especially earlier in the story.

The philosophy One Piece is built around is that everyone deserves equal human rights and autonomy, and that everyone is capable of helping to make that a reality. That philosophy is fundamentally against antiblack racism. That absolutely does NOT mean that One Piece or Oda are incapable of antiblack racism.

But I think One Piece's philosophy makes it a story worth discussing!!! A story worth reading and thinking about and using to reflect on yourself!!!!

I think that Usopp is irreplaceable as an aspirational figure for people with a desire to make a positive impact on the world who struggle with fear and anxiety, and I'm glad he was written. I still fucking wish they would stop drawing his lips like that though, yeah.

*The more Japanese animation I've watched over time, the more I see nonblack characters with lips stylized that way. That's what makes me question if there's some separate origin to it, maybe not based in bigoted caricature?? But I have no idea.

**Recent parts of One Piece have also started discussing DNA as a source for superpowers. If Oda fucks this up and makes it eugenicist I'm going to kill him. I have hope that it won't happen, because of all of the non-biological family representation in One Piece, but if it does, seriously, I'm gonna flip my shit...

[kierancaz]

The way I’m literally about to fight and bring the facts to this TikTok comment section because people can have their ships but also can y’all realize that certain characters have certain functions and they may not be big functions that’s ok. Cause like someone posted a video of Miles and Margo of their 30 second interaction with like pieces of the script layered over it and like yah you can see the vibe between these two but ALSO Margo has two functions 1) make Gwen jealous the way Hobie makes Miles jealous and 2) don’t hit the button on the machine and let Miles go back to his own dimension.

“I WANT THEM TO BE TOGETHER SO BAD !!!!” Why? Literally why? Margo has no character, has had a total of like 1 minutes screen time, and 1 scene with Miles.

People trying to use the spider-resonating as something to prove they should be together when that happens to everyone when they meet another spider-person?? Someone commented that in a book or smth it says Margo finds Miles cute which I think in her short screen time they get across really well.

But it just baffles me because like, Gwen and Miles are set up so perfectly. To me they’re on the list of ships I could never break for anyone else and that’s like two other ships. What is it that you see in Margo and Miles besides them idk looking cute together??

Scrolling through these comments is making me actually insane someone said that they were mad at Gwen for pulling Miles away like she owns him and said “and then you have ppl on tiktok acting like it wasn’t weird” ???? GIRL THEY ARE IN A RUSH TO GO MEET MIGUEL ?? GWEN IS CLEARLY STRESSING LIKE THIS WHOLE WALK ???

And then literally the creator of the og tiktok replied to them and said “the whole fandom likes to think Gwen owns Miles- I know the reason, but that’s for another discussion” and then when someone called them out for making everything about race they said they didn’t and that the person calling them out was making it about race like ?? You know don’t actually have to say the words “race” or “black” or “white” to make something about race? Your insinuation was clear as fucking day.

And also, because I did comment what I said earlier about Margo being to Gwen what Hobie is to Miles, someone replied saying that Hobie and Gwen see each other as friends and it’s obviously not the case with Margo and Miles and that they have a connection that will probably be explained in btsv.

I’m sorry. But I think you’re wrong. Hobie is super interesting and layered and I love him for that but he also serves two main functions (the creators just decided to give him much more depth with his five minutes of screen time, which I’m sure they would’ve done with Margo too if she had 5 minutes of screen time). Those functions are 1) make Miles jealous and 2) make the watch for Gwen so that when she gets booted back to her world by Miguel she can still travel dimensions.

Yes we know Hobie and Gwen see each other as friends but Miles does not. What Miles knows is that Gwen for the last however many months she has been in the spider society has been hanging out with some guy called Hobie that she thinks is super cool and he lets her crash in his dimension. What Miles knows is that Hobie is actually super cool and despite not wanting to like him because of Hobie’s relationship he does because he’s just that cool. He knows that Gwen took his shoes and left her sweater at his place and her toothbrush. He knows they’ve been on a couple dozen missions together. He knows that Hobie calls Gwen “Gwendy” and “my drummer” which while we may not have picked that up in a romantic context Miles in his little tiny jealous teen brain could have.

And also. When Miles hears any of that information is it very clear that he is NOT happy about it. It’s very obvious that he is jealous of Hobie. What Margo does is that same exact thing for Gwen but in a much shorter span of time and with much less build up because that’s all they really have to work with. And they get that Miles and Margo have chemistry across great.

But over all, there is no real reason to ship them. Because Margo has almost no character depth and almost no scenes and no real relationship with Miles in like any way. I’m not even sure you could call them acquaintances at this point. It feels like the only reason people ship them is because they’re two black characters.

Anyway thank you for coming to my ted talk ig.

[aita-blorbos]

aita for killing my best friend?

This looks so bad lol but I'm posting in anyways, its one of those title vs post things. My (16, i lost my gender in an accident) best friend (15F) cannot, functionally, die. Well, she CAN, but she can just "respawn" so it's basically nothing. No problem! We're all pals here lol. While dying is technically traumatizing as all get out for her (she like grows back all her flesh n shit??? its so gross i dont really watch that feels kinda gay :/) she says its fine if I need to kill her for like a bit or to get us out of a jam or if we don't have anything planned.

I usually hang out with her in a group of 3 other people in our grade--we're in this stupid little club that we cant quit because its load-bearing in a way. Anyways, one day were sitting around and we arent doing shit so I take a brick out of my backpack and throw it at my friend's head which kills her. Someone else in the club (15NB) is like "oh my god OP, you just killed her!" For context, this person both knows about my girlfriend (PLATONIC i'm not gay) and her respawn shit and HATES me.

Going off topic to talk about this person, seriously they hate me so much and I don't know why. We have such a needlessly contentious relationship and I don't know why! I've only thrown things at their head like a couple dozen times, and have really toned down the insinuating they're going to hell. Anyways, back on topic, they saw me kill my friend (fine) (morally correct) (heterosexual) and got all up in arms.

They went off about how that's "fucked up" and "taking advantage of her natural loyal disposition" even when I pointed out it's literally fine! I straight up kick them in the balls every once in a while and they don't even care. They were stubborn about the whole keeping a brick in my backpack thing and I was pretty solid on my convictions, but IDK! Am I the asshole?

[mollywog]

Far From The Madding Crowd - Chapter 20

Revisiting this chapter because it’s my favorite so far in the reread

In every point of view, ranging from politic to passionate, it was desirable that she, a lonely girl, should marry, and marry this earnest, well-to-do, and respected man.

When you think about it, she probably should feel more alone: she’s in an unfamiliar place, with no family present, taking on a job she didn’t expect, she fired her Bailiff… Gabriel is the only person she knows and trusts. He’s a steady, reassuring presence in her life

~~~~~~~~

This feels significant-

Oak stood somewhat as Eros is represented when in the act of sharpening his arrows: his figure slightly bent, the weight of his body thrown over on the shears, and his head balanced side-ways, with a critical compression of the lips and contraction of the eyelids to crown the attitude.

Eros - Greek God of Love and Sex 👀 - she’s also about to talk to him about her love life so there’s that too.

~~~~~~~~~

This description is so vivid, I can feel it:

The peculiar motion involved in turning a wheel has a wonderful tendency to benumb the mind. It is a sort of attenuated variety of Ixion's punishment, and contributes a dismal chapter to the history of gaols. The brain gets muddled, the head grows heavy, and the body's centre of gravity seems to settle by degrees in a leaden lump somewhere between the eyebrows and the crown. Bathsheba felt the unpleasant symptoms after two or three dozen turns.

~~~~~~~~~~

Then there this:

He relinquished the winch, and inclosing her two hands completely in his own (taking each as we sometimes slap a child's hand in teaching him to write), grasped the shears with her. "Incline the edge so," he said.

Hands and shears were inclined to suit the words, and held thus for a peculiarly long time by the instructor as he spoke.

"That will do," exclaimed Bathsheba. "Loose my hands. I won't have them held! Turn the winch."

In another context, this would be a pretty sexy moment, and maybe it was for Gabriel who held on for a peculiarly long time, but that Hardy says ‘taking each as we sometimes slap a child's hand in teaching him to write’ which kills the vibe for me… with that being said - it sets the scene for the rest of their encounter - Gabriel (compared to the God of love and desire) reprimanding/advising her on her actions towards Boldwood and Bathsheba, frustrated and batting him away.

~~~~~~~~~

As I was listening - this popped out at me:

A woman may be treated with a bitterness which is sweet to her, and with a rudeness which is not offensive. Bathsheba would have submitted to an indignant chastisement for her levity had Gabriel protested that he was loving her at the same time; the impetuosity of passion unrequited is bearable, even if it stings and anathematizes—there is a triumph in the humiliation, and a tenderness in the strife. This was what she had been expecting, and what she had not got. To be lectured because the lecturer saw her in the cold morning light of open-shuttered disillusion was exasperating. He had not finished, either. He continued in a more agitated voice:—

Which reminded me of

It takes a long time before I get to the bottom of why I'm so upset. When I do, it's almost too mortifying to admit. All those months of taking it for granted that Peeta thought I was wonderful are over. Finally, he can see me for who I really am.

IDK, what do you think? Does the whole argument have a similar flavor to Hijacked Peeta’s first conversation with Katniss?

[dragon-reblogs-and-rambles]

One down 7 to go hoooooooooooo boy

fun fact this is the first time i got 100% achievements on a game please ignore the Visual Novel tag I am a very pro gamer I swear

anyway some quick rambles:

I've been slowly making my way through this game rather than rushing through so some of my thoughts on the early sections are lost to time,

the main thing about this is that it takes a while to get to the good part but also without the slice of life elements i think it would be a significantly worse game so probably slowly going through rather than binging all at once is the right call

also the steam release has "updated" sprites (you can turn off) and i have a rant on why those sprites are actually worse in my opinion even tho they are technically drawn better but that could be its own post

(would you believe me if i told you these two sprites are supposed to be conveying the exact same emotion, according to the game these are the same sprite)

(or what about mion being banned from showing emotion beyond default anime expressions, not like she's a super playful energetic character or anything)

you can turn these out so it's not an issue but if we have to have redraws for rereleases can they be like.... good, when all a visual novel has is a couple dozen sprites per character they need to be good at showing emotion

oh yeah also its very obvious they only have like 7 songs total for this game ost lol there is only one good song in the ost btw, from a quick google serch looks like every version of the vn has a different ost lol

what else was i gunna sayy uhhhhhh

oh right yeah one thing is that going into the VN knowing the twist from the anime i think did make the experience slightly less good in some places i kinda do wish i could go in 100% blind but i know it would not hold my attention otherwise

(spoiler talk) knowing about the Hinamizawa Syndrome ahead of time def made it some some suspenseful scenes had me going "Keichi you ass your literally just tripping balls" like on one hand scenes where i notice a logical explanation with the context of knowing the twist is a sign of good writing but because i did not get my first experience with the VN idk i feel like i was missing out

regardless ill probs slowly go through the rest of the VN cuz i liked it overall, i already bought the next 3 games (first was free) so i guess i have to cuz i hate having a backlog

oh yeah the first chapter of the VN is free and its 10+ hours so if you like sorta kinda are intrested cuz of the anime you dont have anything to loose i wouldnt say its a strong reccomened yet but its more a "i enjoyed it and didnt feel like my time was waisted"

[zmediaoutlet]

twenty questions for fic writers

tagged to do the do by @prince-of-elsinore, ty ty for thinking of me

How many works do you have on ao3?

211 (and elsewhere, maybe a dozen we don't talk about, bc they suck, on livejournal; maybe a couple dozen short pieces here on tumblr that have never migrated to ao3)

What's your total ao3 word count?

1,515,103

What fandoms do you write for?

Almost all Supernatural, but also some video game fandoms (FF, DA, maybe BG3 soon), MCU, etc. usual suspects.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. oh so good, oh so fine -- 993 kudos 2. there will be better days -- 846 kudos 3. see things so much clearer -- 621 kudos 4. into the flood again -- 602 kudos 5. side two, track one -- 558 kudos maybe someday we'll break 1000, lol

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Absolutely I do, and would find it rude not to. I know other people have all kinds of reasons they don't respond but I don't have any of those reasons, especially since I'm pathetically grateful every time someone bothers to say they liked something, lol. If anyone's even a tiny bit encouraged to become a repeat reader by the writer responding, I want to encourage that as much as possible. Plus, every once in a while, you can get a dece conversation going in the comments! Find a like-minded fan! That's worth any effort to compose a few sentences of thanks. The only comments I don't respond to are emoji strings or cut-and-paste 'another kudos here' comments, because they're not actually comments. (I appreciate the thought, but... I don't want them.)

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I have had some beta friends who would argue about this one, lol. I guess the saddest is probably the hollow summer, since the whole plot is kind of hurt/no comfort. I don't believe in a successful boy king, let's say that.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

again, probably depends on how you define 'happy'. glory days is probably the most cheerful; for me, the happy comes better with more experience behind it, so the thirty-third yard would maybe be my personal choice.

Do you get hate on fics?

nope; worst I ever got was some twerp who actually responded to someone else's comment, bitching that I didn't put the right peepee in the right poopyhole. But only one of those, ever, and safely ignored. idk, I don't attract that much.

Do you write smut?

...yes.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

only one, and it only sort of counts -- i heard love was blind, which is Cordell Walker/Dean Winchester, but of course the point is that Dean's getting the body of his brother by other means. I like crossovers but I usually want there to be a point beyond 'let's mash these two faves together and see what happens'; I'm more inclined toward doing a whole-universe fusion, e.g. fully placing characters with what you can salvage of their key backstory elements into a universe not their own... which I guess would also count as a crossover, wouldn't it. so I also did that with putting the Winchesters into the Dragon Age 2 plot, in whatever we were before. definitely 'crazier' than the first one here, lol.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I think that's the kind of thing that happens on WattPad. Who cares.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes, a few.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I tried; it didn't work. Both people need to be contributing to the writing for it to really count as 'co-written'; nevertheless it's stuck with both author names on ao3 because I don't think there's a way to change that.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

I think from context this should be clear. Although will also forever hold many small candles for the little guys.

What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

the aforementioned "co-written" fic, which was meant to be a huge series. The first fic is finished because I brute-forced my way through it, but there was a full five-season arc we were going to try to get through. Alas. The first one is decent, though, and works as a complete fic on its own: In a Cursed Hour.

What are your writing strengths?

voice, pacing, naturalism; characterization, though that can be argued in a fan-space

What are your writing weaknesses?

plot -- I find it intensely boring. Avoidance of plot then tends to flatten stories into similar non-arcs; I don't mind that, but it's a skill to exercise.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I'll only do Spanish, and that's only because I studied it for eight years. Even then it's usually the wrong choice, unless it's a fully blended multilingual story (which most are not, and in the wrong hands it comes off as absurd); better to convey through the POV character either understanding it or not, and dealing with it in narrative instead of straight dialogue. Although a word or two here or there is nbd, clearly.

First fandom you wrote for?

Final Fantasy VIII

Favorite fic you've written?

well, questions, you got me, because I don't believe in favorites. at this moment in terms of writing skill I think the best might be asceticism, but in terms of one that sits in my head and fully just is canon, lol, it might be there will be better days, mentioned above. the only heaven fic I need. I guess that says something.

kind of interesting to look at the stats, if also stressful. let's get some other writers to be interested/stressed -- uhh @redmyeyes, @phynali, @hellhoundsprey, @stillwaterseas, @whiskeycherrypie

some shots in the dark :)

[shantechni]

⚠️[Spoilers for Buddy Daddies EP10 and 11]⚠️

I Wasn't Sad When She Died, I Was Mad

Let me say right away that I do like Kyutaro as a character, he's the in-between of the organization's dark world and the main trio's world of light, the middle man who reminds the audience and characters that he's not a good guy, yet has shown that he's reliable and capable of keeping a secret.

Now then, in spite of all of that, I sort of loathe the guy.

I don't think I'll ever be sure if this is a major L on the writers' part due to time constraints and whatnot, or if they legitimately thought having someone with a moral compass as nomadic and contradictory as the air around you was a good idea.

I guess I should start by mentioning the elephant in the room (something I'd already mentioned in a random reblog last week): he thinks Kazuki and Rei don't have the right to raise Miri after having killed her father. That makes sense out of context, but in the actual context of the show, killing her dad literally has no impact on Miri nor the world around them. Kyutaro keeps nonverbally dubbing himself as the judge for whether or not they'd be willing to bear the sin of killing her dad like they haven't killed dozens of others before (if anything, as Kazuki stated, they have to bear that sin by raising Miri, it's only logical to take responsibility for your actions). Miri's dad doesn't even have a name worth recalling honestly. He's only known for being a human trafficker who cheats on his wife, and bore an illegitimate child with one of his mistresses (of whom he didn't show any recognition for, likely due to him never knowing she existed).

Kazuki and Rei will bear the weight of that sin as well as they've been carrying the weight of their other sins, and Miri will easily go about her life either knowing or not knowing her biological father because it is of no concern to her at this age. Likely wouldn't be of concern to her if she were older either because she doesn't seem like the type of person to dwell on the unknowns that don't need to be known. Children often value those who actually cared for them over someone they've hardly breathed in the same room as, so why would she ever assign any significant amount of emotion towards her real dad when these two grown men are doing so much for her already?

"How do you think she'd feel if she knew?" IDK MAYBE NOTHING

Now then, for the hippo in the room: we saw that he's the one who called Misaki to take Miri back into her custody once Ogino and the organization relentlessly told him to do something about Kazuki and Rei's new life with Miri. And it would make sense to do that, y'know? As I said before in hope, Misaki wouldn't have been on the organization's radar, and as another fan stated, their interest would've likely waned once Miri disappeared and the guys went back to work full-time, right??

Nope, EP11 literally opens up with Shigeki outright telling Rei that Miri and Misaki will be dealt with because he still appears to be attached. Chaos ensues, Misaki unfortunately gets shot and killed, and Kyutaro and Kazuki have to somberly drive Miri back to his safe house without her knowing what transpired.

Now, it's already bad enough that Misaki was clearly willing to put in the effort to change for Miri's sake and happiness, only to sadly meet a tragic end no sooner than when she made the decision.

But, Kyutaro's handling of this whole situation is the only reason Misaki is dead to begin with.

He constantly reminded Kazuki and Rei about what the organization is capable of when you step out of line, but actively put Misaki in danger by connecting her with Miri and the guys when he told her to take Miri. He was so adamant about choosing the best option for Miri's happiness, but he somehow thought separting her from Kazuki and Rei would be in her best interest. He hardly even mentioned her safety now that I think back, he just grilled the guys over keeping her for so long and said she's better off with her mom than the two men who killed her dad. He didn't keep in mind that Miri actually loves them, or that the guys actually love her, that or he stubbornly ignored it. He had the audacity to say, "She meant more to you than I thought," as though he didn't see them literally zoom across the city for her multiple times when she was left at the cafe.

If he really wanted to keep everyone's best interest in mind, he would've taken Miri to the BIG WOODEN SAFE HOUSE HE CONVENIENTLY HAD AT THE END OF EP11, NOT SEND HER OFF TO A PLACE WHERE NO ONE CAN PROTECT HER AT A MOMENT'S NOTICE-

This all just make it seem like bringing Misaki back into the equation was pointless and the worst possible thing to do, and it makes me mad. Yeah sure a little sad, but I'm more so frustrated from the absurdity oozing out of this 'intelligent' man who seems like he'd know what to do when things need to be done. Like, there were better decisions, and this woman lost her life because you thought you were doing the right thing, even though you also thought it wasn't quite the right thing to do.

Unless this is all leading up to some kind of wild twizzler twist near the end, he's an irreconcilable man who does nothing but create the conflict rather than solve it.

[jennawynn]

Discovery Season 1, Episode 2-

Episode 2

God those Vulcan hair-helmets. Even SMG can't pull it off :joy: though it is impressive how they've managed to make it asymmetrical and somehow more culturally Black. I'm glad she was broken of this demeanor... Georgiou's 'game recognizes game' was a nice icebreaker

They named a ship after Shran? Ride, Earhart, Yeager. nice. Subtitles say Sue, but the IMDB trivia says Sioux.

Oh, look, someone had the same thoughts I did about older Trek. Emergency force-field bulkheads when there's a hull breach. Though they still haven't figured out how to stop the bridge from exploding when the ship takes damage. lol

Oh no, Connor? I liked him. Well... can't call this show bloodless I guess :joy:

Well... that's one way to get broken out of prison, I guess.

I wonder if their saying Live long and prosper twice in the first hour of this series is because they never said it in Enterprise.

Seeing the forcefields in action is kinda cool. It was the first thing I thought about when they showed such a big, empty bridge- so much surface area to be punctured by any kind of collision or assault. Well, that and that they must have to speak up when they're on the bridge or they won't be heard.

Was that a giant eagle?

Looks like they've learned a few things- teleporting with weapons drawn and pointed, looking for the threat on arrival. Still haven't learned not to take their top two officers on dangerous combat missions, though.

I thought they were specifically trying NOT to kill him :joy:

Those are really cool ways to show the escape pods peeling off, and I guess it makes sense.

Life imprisonment feels harsh. I don't think Georgiou would have called for that had she lived.

Episode 3

So silver vs gold is military vs science? It didn't seem to be officer/enlisted since Saru was in silver (iirc) He's in gold now though?

Look what I found! Gold for Command, silver for Science. I feel like the ranks are too difficult to see at a glance, but maybe that's not as big a deal for a non-military application. Though they definitely have the militaristic rank structure and hierarchy so idk. Also I note no enlisted ranks.

Jason Isaacs... huh.

Oh Tilly...

I'll call you Mickey. That's more approachable No I won't. No, I won't.

Michael why you trying to get in trouble :joy: stealing Tilly's breath and all.

That's a pretty ship too.

She is the smartest Starfleet officer I have ever known. Huh.. and he knows you. I lol'd.

Dude... gross. I'm eating :joy:

A dozen fully armed dead Klingons, evidence of a rupture through containment... and they aren't immediately requesting backup? Getting the hell out?

Did he just shush you?

They just beam around the ship now, huh?

That's an interesting line: "Universal law is for lackeys. Context... is for kings."

They did not bring that thing onto Discovery... wtf. Captain's got a death wish.

Side note: Had the realization today that I was actually done with Enterprise. I realized I kinda missed Trip. I guess he really did grow on me over the last month or whatever.

[mr-leach]

Okay so I am so close to taking my supervisor to the side and tearing her to shreds and then taking the bosses aside and tearing them to shreds because there are just so many little things about every single job that are never set in stone to the point where unless you are glued to your supervisor (impossible in my department for reasons that I will soon explain) you will have no idea how to do the job right and at least one thing will have to be fixed/changed and you will of course be blamed for it.

Yesterday I had a job where it was unclear to me where the tags should go on the garment. This has happened so many times that it might as well be a daily occurrence. Our athletic tops usually have the label on the left side seam of the garment, because tags on the collar are obtrusive and uncomfortable. Except when the customer wants the tag on the collar, of course. Usually, when that happens, the technical drawing on the work order reflects this. There's also another, secret rule that if there's two tags attached to the bundle (our logo tag plus the legally required fibre content/washing instructions tag) then it MUST be put at the collar. Sometimes though, the people bundling the job will just throw the additional tags in, even though they're not required, and we're supposed to just know when they're not supposed to be used. I have had jobs with hundreds of pieces where I was given two tags and put them on, only to be told after the fact that I should not have put both tags on. It's very frustrating. Oh, but SOMETIMES the customer will ask for things that we supposedly NEVER do, like they will want shorts with 2 tags, and so in that case we ARE supposed to sew both on, even though normally we NEVER sew 2 tags into shorts.

You can see how this gets annoying.

Now you might think that the order sheet that comes with each job would give us this information. It does not. Sometimes the sheet will have context clues on it, like when there's a tag clearly visible on the technical drawing. Sometimes, if there's only one tag, I know there's an 80% chance that tag goes on the side seam and not the neck. But otherwise, I typically have to ask my supervisor.

My supervisor is never around. She actually runs 3 different departments in different parts of the factory, and she is almost never in ours. She has a "helper" in each department, who is someone that basically keeps track of the work to be done and relays any issues to her (before you ask, no, they do not get paid more for the added responsibilities. Obviously. 🙃). Does the helper have access to the secret knowledge regarding the minute details that aren't accounted for on each order sheet? No. Why the fuck would they know that.

So if I have a question about where the fucking tag goes on something, the person directly overseeing me has no way to answer that question. Oh, but our supervisor doesn't like it when any of us get up from our machines and goes looking for her because it makes her look bad, so I have to ask her helper to do it for me. This goes for any of the half dozen of us in our department, meaning that sometimes, my guy isn't even around to relay my question, because he's busy relaying someone else's question. Idk how me sitting on my hands waiting to just ask someone where a label goes does not also look bad on my supervisor but what do I know. When this happens several times a week, or even several times a day, it can get really fucking old, and honestly it makes me feel bad for the helper because he also has his own work he needs to get done and he's stuck running around having to ask dumb questions that should be easily answered by the order sheet. So I'm really just incentivized to try and figure this shit out on my own by process of elimination, while running the risk of getting it wrong.

So yesterday! I had shirts to make. Tags on the side, right? Er, well, there's 2 tags. Well, then, tags on the back neck, right? But wait a fucking second. The technical drawing shows a printed tag (where the tag info is printed onto the fabric directly, for comfort). Maybe the person bundling added 2 tags by mistake? Maybe it's still a side tag, but with 2 labels, for some reason? I have no clue. And helper has gone somewhere. Fuck.

So I sew both tags into the side. I mean why the fuck would they make sure to show a printed tag in the technical drawing if they wanted back neck tags. It takes effort to add the printed tag to the drawing. And if the two tags in the side is wrong, I can blame it on the person who bundled the job for putting in the extra tag.

EXCEPT NOPE WRONG it was back neck tags all along! Apparently I should have seen the two tags and ignored any and all other information and just known to put them in the back neck. I fucking. Hate this shit. Of course when I explained my reasoning, the helper also thought it was weird that the technical drawing showed a printed tag and not a physical tag so he had to run around and be told by the supervisor that yeah, it was supposed to have two tags at the back neck.

Where is this information??? Why does she know where it goes and why is that so different from the context clues?? Also the person bundling must have got that information from somewhere too, how do they know???? WHY ISN'T IT WRITTEN ON THE ORDER SHEET??? GAAAAHHH!!!!!