#each other all the same and they’re my faves if anyone cares :)

[sparky-is-spiders]

Jonmelanie would communicate near exclusively in arguing and nobody would find out that they were dating for three years.

[mintmentos]

Sergeant Finch and Constable Evans my beloved

[aiahsthetic]

˚ ༘♡ some of my fave shoujo anime ♡ ༘ ˚

1. Natsume Yuujinchou

i can’t express how much I love this anime. i just want to hug Natsume because he really didn’t deserve what he’s been through (˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥) but it’s so touching to see him finally find people who understand him and care for him ‧⁺◟( ᵒ̴̶̷̥́ ·̫ ᵒ̴̶̷̣̥̀ ) ps. same author as hotarubi no mori e, made me cry almost every episode.

2. Lovely Complex

this is my favorite in the romcom genre ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧ i really love the dynamic between Risa and Otani; they’re perfect for each other. their relationship is everything I’ve always dreamed of—have ups and downs, but they always find a way to work things out. the anime perfectly combines romance and comedy.

3. Skip to Loafer

i really recommend this anime to anyone who enjoys coming-of-age, romance, and comedy. it shows what high school life is really like, and the characters feel very relatable and easy to connect with. mitsumi is my favorite; she’s so kind and pure, and I wanna be like her. this show is super wholesome, and I can’t wait for the next season! ٩(^ᗜ^ )و ´-

4. Ouran High School Host Club

this is one of the best reverse harem anime out there. it’s such a fun show to watch, and all the characters are lovable ◟( ˃̶͈◡ ˂̶͈ )◞ the female lead isn’t a damsel in distress; she can definitely stand up for herself ( ◡̀_◡́)ᕤ just a note: before watching, you might find the twins a bit weird, but keep in mind it’s for fan service since they’re literally hosts, and they don’t act like that all the time.

[storiesofsvu]

A Dangerous Game Ch 21

Emily Prentiss x reader Warnings: language, i think that's about it.

The following week you honestly felt like the heaviest weight had finally been lifted off your shoulders. You started to realize just how down you’d been and were now eternally grateful that it hadn’t been any longer. The next morning you were sat at your desk wrapping up paperwork when a coffee was discreetly placed onto your desk, you glanced up to barely catch Emily striding through the bull pen on the way to her office. From across the room Garcia managed to catch your eye, a wicked grin on her face as she glanced between the two of you.

*

That evening when you got home you were cursing yourself for having not bought groceries, having nothing edible but eggs in the fridge when there was a knock on the door. Your faved penne primavera with extra garlic bread on the side and a mini lava cake all fresh and hot and fully paid for. You scooped up your phone while digging into the bread,

‘You don’t have to buy your way out of this ya know. I already accepted your apology.’

‘Think of it as a double hitter. I… wanted to make sure you were eating.’

‘Turns out my appetite is back in full force this week.’

‘I’m glad. Enjoy your dinner.’

‘Thank you.’

You spent the rest of the evening texting, making each other laugh, watching the same shows from different houses before finally saying goodnight and crawling into bed.

*

You were almost running late the next morning, racing out the door and practically directly into a delivery man, the most gorgeous bouquet of roses and lilies you’d ever seen in the package. You had just enough time to leave them on the entry way table before running to the car, your phone buzzing in the cup holder the moment you sat it down.

‘Don’t worry, those ones are from me.’

You managed to slip into the elevator at the BAU right before the doors slid shut, letting out a breath when you noticed it had managed to trap you and Emily alone together.

“Thought I said you weren’t in the dog house.”

“Still allowed to spoil you, aren’t I?” She replied with a shrug and you laughed, “I’ll stop if you want, it’s just… making me feel a little better about the whole thing. I want to make sure you know how much I actually do care about you.”

“I do.” Smiling, you leant in, kissing her cheek softly, “thank you. They’re gorgeous.”

Emily had just enough time to squeeze at your wrist before the doors slid open and you went your separate ways.

*

Halfway through the morning Derek rolled his chair over to your desk, a bakery box finding home on top of it.

“Brought your favourite.” He greeted and you looked over at him with a small smile.

“You don’t need to feed me Derek, I ate breakfast. But thank you.” You lifted the lid to find that he did indeed get your favourite and began picking bites off the muffin.

“Just checkin’ in.” He replied with a shrug, “you know you have been in a helluva better mood this week.”

“That’ll happen when you manage to escape a toxic ex and get to sleep in your own bed again.”

“You really hate Seattle that much hey?”

“I’d rather move back to Florida.”

“Ouch.” He surveyed you for a moment, practically studying you to see if this was some kind of cover up or if you were actually doing better.

“What?” You laughed.

“Nothing.” He shook his head, “just, whatever you’re doing, keep doing it. A smile looks good on you.” He squeezed your shoulder affectionately before wandering back to his desk and it took all of your willpower to not look over to Emily’s office. You could feel her eyes on you and a few minutes later when you risked a glance up in her direction you found them still on you, doing your best not to laugh as she blushed. You shot her a quick wink and returned to the paperwork at hand.

*

Penelope managed to coerce you into drinks on Wednesday after work and you were thankful it was just the two of you, you knew she was likely going to grill you and that would be almost impossible in front of anyone else from the team. You’d settled in with your third drink when she finally couldn’t hold it back anymore.

“Okay, so I take it from the very improved mood this week that you’ve talked things out?” She asked, a wicked grin on her lips.

“We have…” you took a sip of your drink, “she explained everything, a very big apology was given that I accepted.”

“Oh please tell me you’re back together, you have to be back together, you’re just so friggin cute!”

“I dunno if I’d call it ‘back together’.” You laughed, “but yeah, we’re like, officially together now.”

“Oh thank god!” She squeezed at your arm, “so when are you gonna tell the rest of the team?”

“I… uh.. once we figure out the politics of it I guess? At this point we’re just like, not sneaking around.”

“But the sneaking around kinda makes it hotter, doesn’t it?” She smirked and you laughed.

“Yeah I’ve gotta admit, sometimes it does, knowing someone on the team’s in the next hotel room so you’ve gotta stay quiet…. Adds some spice.”

“And spice is something the two of you most definitely have.” She smirked and your eyes widened.

“I told you to fast forward that shit!”

“Didn’t need to listen to any more than I’d already heard sunshine. I knew daddy issues were a thing, but I’ve always kind of wondered how that would translate to lesbianism.”

“Well you’re welcome for educating you.” You replied dryly, rolling you eyes before taking another sip of your drink.

“All teasing aside, I am really happy for you.” Her hand slid across the table to squeeze at yours, “you deserve happiness and love and you’ve found that, even if it kinda went to hell and back on the way.”

“Thanks Penelope.”

*

You let out a soft sigh, scrawling your signature across the bottom of a sheet of paper before flipping the case file shut and pushing your chair back. Crossing through the bull pen you knocked on the door jam of Emily’s office, pausing a moment before entering, flashing her a small smile.

“Papers fully filled out and everything documented.” You stated, placing the file down into her inbox.

“Thanks.” She smiled back at you before you turned to leave, “hey… good work today. No one else could get through to that girl.”

“Thanks.” You shrugged, turning back to her, “I’ve always been good with kids despite not having the desire to want my own.”

“No?”

“My track record with family isn’t exactly great.” You laughed, leaning against one of the chairs in front of her desk.

“Me neither.” She chuckled in response, “but just because you had shitty parents doesn’t mean you’d be one.”

“I know.” You smiled softly, “but with this job? The hours alone are enough to make me feel bad much less the risks and baggage we bring home.” Your brow furrowed as you realized something, “oh… we’ve never talked about this… it’s not a deal breaker or anything, I just don’t see it being a great idea.” Emily smiled softly, looking up at you.

“There was a time I entertained the idea, but like you said, it wouldn’t be easy with this job. Besides, you know how whiney Sergio gets when I’ve been gone a while, I can’t imagine an actual child.”

You barked out a laugh at that, the smile remaining on your cheeks as Emily’s lips curved into a knowing smirk.

You were acutely aware that outside the office you were being watched, you could feel the eyes on you but weren’t sure who they belonged to. It was Derek, leaning against his desk with his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the two of you through the office windows.

“What’re we staring at?” Penelope asked, settling in beside him.

“Wilson’s been in there too long for just dropping off paperwork.” He replied without looking away.

“Well, she took the interview with that last vic, maybe they’re talking about the case?”

“No.” He frowned, “they’re way too casual for that. Look at the way she just laughed.”

“Aww.” Penelope smiled.

“A week and a half ago Wilson was going through hell.”

“And now Emily’s making her smile, that’s a good thing.” She nudged at his side with her elbow, “I mean, just look at them, Wilson should spend the rest of the afternoon in her office.”

“Why are you so happy about this?” He finally managed to drag his eyes away from the office to look at the blonde.

“Because they’re so freaking cute! Just look at them,” she gestured toward the office, “you can’t tell me they’re not crazy about each other!”

“Baby… Prentiss fucked her up royally, you can’t be okay with this. Wilson was a wreck while we were in Seattle…”

“Oh my love,” she squeezed at his arm, “you have it all wrong.”

Back inside the office you were finally turning to leave, knowing there was only one tiny pile of paperwork sitting between you and the ability to punch out when Emily spoke again.

“Hey… uh.. you have plans tomorrow?”

“Just this little thing called work.” You turned back to her with a grin and she laughed.

“No, I meant tomorrow night.”

“Not a thing.”

“I meant it a couple of weeks ago when I said I wanted to actually take you out…” She began hesitantly, sucking her lip into her teeth.

“Are you asking me on a date Agent Prentiss?” You grinned, moving back closer to her desk so your voice wouldn’t carry through the door.

“Yeah. I am.” She let out a breath, unsure why she was suddenly so nervous, “and I’m really hoping you’ll say yes.”

“If we weren’t getting stared down by Garcia and Morgan… I’d be kissing you right now.” You chuckled, “of course it’s a yes.” She smiled warmly at you, a light shade of pink tinging her cheeks, “you sure this isn’t just about that dress?” You asked and she scoffed.

“Oh c’mon.”

“Your brain short circuited when I opened the door that night and you cannot deny that.”

“Fine.” She grumbled with a smile, “but this is about me wanting to take you somewhere nice, you deserve it.”

“As long as it’s not too fancy.” You teased.

“Pinky promise I won’t order for you.” She smirked back and you laughed, playfully rolling your eyes, “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“Sounds perfect.”

*

At the end of the day Emily was stuck a little later than she’d planned, a phone call with the director taking loner than expected and a little bit of extra paperwork because of it. She was finally emptying her inbox, tossing the folder into her outbox when there was a knock on the open office door and she looked up to find Derek stepping into the room.

“Hey.” She greeted, “thought you’d taken off already.”

“I was about to, but I didn’t want to leave without talking to you first otherwise this’d be eating away at me all night.”

“What’s up?” She asked, sitting back in her chair and Derek let out a heavy huff, dropping into one in front of her desk.

“Don’t be mad at Penelope… it’s thanks to her that I’ve been fully looped in now.”

“Okay?” She raised a brow.

“You and Wilson.” He sighed, “I was confused, and honestly a little upset to see how civil she was being to you, I didn’t think you deserved it from her, but now I know what really went down. Emily… I really hope you’re doing the right thing here, and for the right reasons. I know that your personal life and what you do outside of this office is literally none of my business, but I was also witnessing first hand when Wilson hit her absolute rock bottom breaking point. And I don’t ever want to see her that low again, so if you hurt her, again, and for real, you’ll never be hearing the end of it from me.”

“I don’t have a single plan in the world to ever pull something like that again, especially to her. And I’d expect you to, I’m glad she’s got you in her corner.”

“She doesn’t have many other options. This team is her family, like it is for a lot of us. I wanna make sure she knows that and that she doesn’t leave because something went south between the two of you.”

“I just…” Emily sighed, chewing on her lip, “I didn’t know what to do so I went with the first instinct I had. I didn’t know how much time I had, how close Dewald was. I didn’t want her to get hurt or killed just because of her association with me.”

“And you suck at communicating your feelings sometimes.” Derek stated, and while he was right, there was a teasing grin on his lips that she couldn’t help but huff a small laugh out at as she rolled her eyes.

“I’ve made a promise of open communication for what it’s worth.” She defended and he laughed quietly, “I just needed her safe…”

“Emily, I get it, I really do. That kind of a case? An unsub who had history with someone on the team, who made it very clear they were coming for you, and that meant her. You were flashing back to Doyle. It makes perfect sense that you wanted to protect her as much as possible, even doing it the way you did. You even made sure that Dewald would know, and then shipped her out of state just in case he didn’t believe it. You didn’t tell her about it because you were afraid she’d pull a you and take it on herself and end up getting herself killed. Hell even if you didn’t realize it, your subconscious did and this time we caught the guy and no one got hurt.”

“Yeah…” she murmured.

“As mad as I was before, I understand it.” He let out a breath, “can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Are you happy? Like truly, really happy?”

“More than I ever have been in my entire life.” She replied, a soft smile on her lips.

“Make sure she knows that. Because that girl cares about you more than anyone in the world.”

“I know.” She nodded, “and I will. She means the world to me.”

“Good.” Smiling, he pushed to standing, “I’m happy for you Prentiss, really.”

“Thanks.” She watched him start to leave the office.

“Oh, and promise me one more thing?”

“What?” She asked with a small laugh as Derek turned back in the doorway to face her.

“For the love of god could you two maybe keep the jet sex free in the future?! I’ll never be able to sit on that couch again.”

Emily felt the colour drain out of her face but the mortification was immediately usurped by wanting to get one in over Derek, a smirk breaking out on her lips.

“Alright, no mile high club. But I can’t make promises about what you might overhear otherwise.”

“What does that mean?”

“Remember back when she first joined the team and we were out in Atlanta? You complained on the way home about not getting any sleep thanks to someone else in the hotel being too noisy…” She grinned and Derek made a face of disgust with a grimace.

“That’s it, I’m bunking with Wilson for the foreseeable future, keep you two apart while we’re on the road.” He quickly backed out of the office, not wanting to hear anymore, leaving Emily laughing.  

__________

@mickey-gomez @momlifebehard @melindawarnersgf @itisdoctortoyousir @emilyprentiss4life @somethingimaginative17 @temilyrights @alexxavicry  @daddy-heather-dunbar @aliensaurusrex @rustyzebra @ilovemycrayons @mandy-asimp @thegrantwater @leftoverenvy @kades95 @dextur @m00nkn1ghts @supercriminalbean @daffodil-heart @msvenablesbitch @its-soph-xx  @going-gray @just-a-torn-up-masterpiece @hopelesslyfallenninlove @peanutbutterprincess  @kdaghay @emilyprentisssluvr @lex13cm @awolfcsworld @zizzlekwum @emobabeyy @riveramorylunar @s1ut4nat @midnight-sapphic @scorpsik @thisisraes @prentiss-theorem @unsubologyy @strongsassysexysloane @svushots  @overtrred28 @happenstnces  @sapphicprentiss @heidss @geekyandgay98 @pagetboobstarcomments

[lilac-hecox]

That anon that’s convinced you have something against Chanse and Angela doesn’t seem to understand that having a duo in everything is not comparable to having one cast member in everything. Yes, Shayne kind of saturates a lot of Smosh content, but he’s just one guy. It would be nice if he were rotated out more to give other members a chance to appear but Chanse and Angela take up two whole spots in a video rather than one (keep in mind, most videos feature like, 4-5 people). This applies to other singular people who show up a lot in videos too like Courtney or Amanda. They won’t feel like they’re dominating the videos if enough of the rest of the cast is in there with them.

Additionally, Shayne is a poor choice of example bc his style of comedy is not nearly as boisterous as Chanse and Angela’s. I think part of the reason he present so much in videos is bc he has such a laid back and versatile personality. He can be loud and silly and strange when the time calls for it but ultimately he’s very chill and can adapt to who else is in a video with him. Chanse and Angela are much bigger personalities. For clarification, this isn’t a criticism, just a fact. They kind of set the tone of the humor for a video when they’re in it together because their dynamic is so tight and they are able to heighten each other’s energy. They are both much more intense than a cast member like Shayne.

Now here is where the criticism comes in. It’s not with Chanse and Angela but rather with the cast rotation. Having two whole people dominate the current cast rotation with their high energy humor can get a little tiring. It starts to get tired a lot faster. I could just be extrapolating my own experience here, but that’s my theory. I love Chanse and Angela but I’m not always in the mood for their style of humor. I wouldn’t even mind them being in the cast rotation but being in separate videos more often just to change up the dynamic and bit. Which before anyone says anything, that sentiment applies to other duos as well. I love Ian and Anthony together but I like when they are in the occasional video without each other because then there is more room for the dynamic to be dynamic. The same goes for Amanda and Angela. The same goes for Shayne and Courtney. The problem here is not that anyone is hating on Chanse or Angela, the problem is that Smosh has had a longtime cast rotation issue that ebbs and flows unpredictably for viewers. I makes it so that your fave may not show up again for weeks and weeks on end which discourages viewership. If you don’t care for a cast member (or two) as much, or you’re just tired of seeing them all the time, it also damages viewership. It’s definitely been a problem with their content and I’m not sure why they don’t really seem to do anything about it but whatever. It’s not my company. Anyway, sorry this is long. It just immediately came to me when I saw that anon reply.

I appreciate your take on this because I do agree with you in the sense that even if Shayne is in a lot of videos he doesn't necessarily always have the focus of the video on himself. Like, if he's hosting he's more a sidenote than the main event.

Smosh does have a tone-deaf kind of rotation issue and with how they film you're right in the sense that suddenly it can be months before you see anyone else except those dynamics chosen for that particular shoot block. Though I think a few things have been shot and come out a little quicker lately so it has the potential to offer different dynamics.

I just wanna re-state yet again in this ask I don't hate Chanse or Angela by any means. I just don't want them or even Angela in almost every video the whole week.

[twopoppies]

I’m a newer Larrie and pretty naive about the One Direction days because I didn’t listen to that type of music during the time they were a band. I started liking them individually and somehow found myself in this fandom. I guess my question is why do fans compare them constantly? They all came from the same band, they all seem to support each other at least privately if not publicly and appear to be pretty grateful to have had that same experience. I’ve seen some some solo Harry fans really attack Liam and Louis negatively with even comments on their looks. They constantly compare them to Harry and how they’re somehow losers because they don’t currently have the kind of commercial success as Harry. I’ve seen other solo fans also go after Harry for all kinds of reasons too, which is just so sad to see. Was it like this in the band too? Or has this all heightened because they all went solo? They all have different sounds, so why compare them? Am I missing something maybe?

Hi darling. Welcome to the hellhole fandom. So, no. When they were in the band it was actually unusual for anyone to ever voice a dislike for any one of them. People had their favorites, but publicly everyone supported everyone.

1DHQ started the fracture with the constant pushing of Harry vs the band. They really wanted to position Harry as being separate from (and better than) the other guys. Then Zayn left. There were people who were disappointed/angry with him or who no longer cared about his career, so we started having OT5 vs OT4 discourse. Then babygate started and we had the next fracture where people began to think maybe Larry broke up or Louis cheated on Harry. This was when people became houies (people who thought HL has dated, but now has broken up). Then that was followed by the hiatus and Harry/his team pushing the separation of Harry up a notch.

There were still many OT4 supporters until HS1 dropped and then there was a whole faction of people who flipped out over Harry’s lyrics and image not meeting their expectations and I think that was when houies really divided into harries and louies. There were still larries and antis. But now there were also louies who were only interested in Louis and “rad louies” (radical louies) who hated Harry and thought he was the reason Louis’ career was being “sabotaged”. And there were also harries — some of whom hated Louis because they thought he cheated on Harry and some also bought into the idea that Harry was just better than everyone else.

The fractured nature of our fandom really went into overdrive with the popularity of Fine Line and quarantine. Thousands and thousands of people entered the fandom and many had zero interest in 1D. Harry’s het image was in overdrive with Watermelon Sugar and the idea that Camille broke his heart (thus, being inspiration for the album). Holivia, DWD, As It Was, Harry’s House and Harry’s growing fame really made things worse in that department.

It seems as though a lot of Harry’s newest fans see any link back to 1D or his former bandmates as being a step backwards or as the other guys trying to “use” Harry as a way to promote themselves. And until recently, Harry spoke very little about the band and had very little public interaction with them, so unless you paid very close attention, it was easy to think he didn’t care much for or about them. I think many fans do this weird thing of needing their fave to be “the best” — as if that somehow reflects on them, as well. Like, the way many Harries went overboard making sure Lloyd won best tour photographer only because they didn’t want Louis’ photographer to win. It’s ridiculous.

Some of the hatred towards Harry is rooted in jealousy because people feel he had an unfair advantage over the others, thus having a success the others could have had just as well. Some of the hate is people feeling as though he has the power to do whatever he wants in terms of his image and stunts, so he must be fake and only cares about fame and money. Some of it is people buying into the idea that Harry ended the band because he wanted to be a star and he’s actively trying to ruin Louis’ career. There are a million different reasons people send hate his way.

As for comparing the five of them, as you say, they all have different sounds and none of them compete with each other. But I do think Sony very much wants Harry to be the Justin Timberlake and be the only one who reaches that huge level of success. And the media doesn’t help because many of the articles are written in a way that praises Harry and puts the others down (for no reason at all), so fans feel defensive and lash out. I tend to think Liam, Niall, Louis, and Harry all care about each other very much and are supportive of each other. And I really doubt they like the articles that do that nor would they support the nasty way some of the fans behave.

Sorry this was so long. And at the same time, this barely touched the surface, but I hope it helped a little.

[sitp-recs]

Do you have any recommendations or tags for stories that have a dramatic love declaration?

Of course! I listed below my absolute faves as they left a big impression when it comes to love confessions. Whenever I get asks about this I crave for a Grey’s Anatomy AU emulating this scene with Lexie *sigh* (I always think of Far From the Tree when I see it though…)

An Emerald In The Sky by @corvuscrowned (M, 6k)

The hardest part about shagging an Unspeakable is that they’re not allowed to speak of anything. All Draco knows is that Harry works in Time. Harry works in Time, and while he’s out there in all of that time, it is as unforgiving to him as it is to anyone.

The Eighth Tale by lettered (E, 12k)

Draco Malfoy tries to fix the past, but instead mucks it up some more. For Harry, it all becomes quite clear.

What Real Thing? by @l0vegl0wsinthedark (E, 12.6k)

They don’t cuddle, they don’t talk about their relationship (or lack thereof) and they certainly never fall asleep in each other’s arms.

White as Snow by @bixgirl1 (E, 19k)

After a quick escape from danger, Harry and Draco find themselves trapped in a blizzard, a small cabin their only refuge from the storm. It's the perfect place to recover and regroup — and to have a long-overdue conversation or two.

The Boy Who Only Lived Twice by lettered (E, 54k)

Harry Potter is an Unspeakable. Draco Malfoy is the wizard who shagged him. Adventure! Intrigue! Secret identities, celebrities, spies! It's all right here, folks.

We Are Young (I'll Carry You Home Tonight) by Femme (E, 68k)

Harry and Draco have been falling into bed on and off again since the last election five years ago, much to the amusement--and financial gain--of their circle of friends.

Tea and No Sympathy by who_la_hoop (E, 70k)

It's Potter's fault, of course, that Draco finds himself trapped in the same twenty-four-hour period, repeating itself over and over again. It's been nearly a year since the unpleasant business at Hogwarts, and Draco's getting on with his life quite nicely, thank you, until Harry sodding Potter steps in and ruins it all, just like always.

Azoth by @lol-zeitgeistic (E, 88k)

Now that Harry is back at Hogwarts with Hermione for eighth year, he realises that something’s missing from his life, and it either has to do with Ron, his boggart, Snape, or Malfoy. Furthermore, what, exactly, does it mean when one’s life is defined by the desire to simultaneously impress and annoy a portrait? Harry has no idea; he’s too busy trying not to be in love with Malfoy to care.

Far From The Tree by aideomai (E, 112k)

The arrival of Harry Potter’s children—snapped back in time, the children themselves guessed, twenty or so years—was the most interesting thing to happen at Hogwarts for years.

What We Pretend We Can't See by gyzym (M, 131k)

Seven years out from the war, Harry learns the hard truth of old history: it’s never quite as far behind you as you thought.

Dwelling on Dreams by @the-sinking-ship (E, 135k)

Draco thought he could avoid Potter for the duration of his brief return to England. He’d stick to his schedule and be back home in Paris, where he belonged, in a few short months. No trouble at all. He had plenty to occupy him, what with the opening of the London branch of his successful apothecary, his innovative research, drinks with Pansy, a backlog of unread potions periodicals.

By the Grace by lettered (T, 140k)

Harry is an Auror instructor. Malfoy wants to be an Auror.

These Secrets In Me by Femme (E, 357k) - part 3 of Tales from the Special Branch series

Auror Special Branch team seven-four-alpha--Sergeant Draco Malfoy, Constable Pansy Parkinson, and Constable Blaise Zabini led by their SIO, Inspector Harry Potter--must handle personal and political fallout from the implication of Ministry employees and Aurors in the scandal around escaped Death Eaters and a Dementor uprising at Azkaban. On top of that, their original target, Antonin Dolohov, is in the wind.

[0shewrites0]

Did Lucas actually forgive MC when she saves him from the dumping if you do Noah route? Or it's just amnesia glitch?

Hi there! 🫶🏼

Okay, so, I just went on Lucas’s route again and - just for you! - participated in Operation Nope so he would break up with me. Here are some screenshots I put together because I think they’ll show why I do think that, yes, he does forgive you.

This is the morning after the party where everyone found out about Lottie’s and Gary’s kiss and about MC’s and Noah’s kiss. He is pretty hurt which just goes to show that he actually developed feelings for MC. (Also, we went all the way in the hideaway and as someone who doesn’t get into bed with just anyone, that’s a huge deal for Lucas!) He’s confused, he doesn’t know what to do but he doesn’t want to push her away just like that either.

My MC went on Jakub’s date and despite him being so hurt by her kissing Noah, he’s still smug about the fact that she didn’t enjoy the date with Jakub. Why would he act like that if he didn’t give a shit?

He breaks up with MC despite her apologising and telling him again that she still wants him. But from his reaction you can see that he’s just doing it to protect himself from getting hurt even more. And it hurts him breaking up with MC, too.

[The next day] Lucas didn’t just “get over it all” nor did he move on just like that. He’s legitimately hurt by what happened and doesn’t know how to behave or how to pretend like everything is fine.

Then there’s the cake-baking challenge they have to do together because they’re still a couple and that’s where it gets interesting. The banter and the sexual tension between them is still there 👀 (I mean, duh, it won’t just disappear overnight)

During the challenge, everything felt so easy and normal with him. It almost felt as if nothing had happened and then MC decided to show Lucas that she could very well eat that whole cake by herself. And it earned her his fave t-shirt, too. And look how he’s treating her, my heart was bleeding! 😭💔

[The disaster recoupling] I seriously think we were always supposed to participate in ON and kiss Noah because otherwise it doesn’t make any sense that Lucas would “meaningfully look at Noah” during the recoupling. He couldn’t care less about Priya, it’s Hope and MC he fancies.

This is what Hope told Priya on the last day of CA before we were to head back to the main villa and I couldn’t help but think, what if she knows something we don’t know? Because she doesn’t say that when it’s Priya who is coupled up with Noah… Also, Priya tells us later she isn’t sure this thing with Lucas has any potential and she’s right about that because in my opinion, Lucas never got over MC. He didn’t even try to!

Especially the line “We haven’t really worked out how we feel about each other yet” hits so differently now that we were apart for a while. And he’s absolutely right because we haven’t worked that out. The both of us were developing feelings for each other but we didn’t get the chance to talk about them because MC fucked up.

And is it just me or does he usually not do the whole “looking around at the other boys and muttering ‘I’m sorry, lads’”? It feels like he’s a bit hesitant here, afraid to give MC another chance but at the same time he can’t fight his own feelings 🥺🥺

[The morning after] Despite having broken up with MC previously, he still feels safe by her side and he still thinks she’s the one he can feel most himself with and that actually makes sense! Because there were feelings involved that never went away. But because he didn’t want to be vulnerable he tried to push them away and shut MC out. Though, it never really worked in the first place, did it? 🥹

I think it’s important for him to see that MC really means it when she says she’s sorry for hurting him. He wants to not only hear that she wants him, he wants to see it too. He wants to see her put in the effort and I reckon that’s why he does forgive us. But I can guarantee it’ll be the last chance because Lucas doesn’t usually give second chances!

[1moreoffkeyanthem]

I have quite a few hang ups with Come Morning Light, the hunger games au I posted one chapter for back in November and have yet to update.

The first and foremost personal challenge is the fact that I, PCE, a certified Angst Wimp, am gonna have to kill off sooooo many of my faves. Like Hunger Games has some dark ass subject matter, kids forced to kill each other. I’m struggling with that, especially with what I have planned for Craig.

Along that same line, it’s gonna be a HUGE cast of characters, which I’ve had difficulty with in the past, it’s one of the reasons I primarily operate in oneshots. I love a good The Gangs All Here fic, but fleshing out 20+ characters is HARD. Bc a fluffy 2k word oneshot of Stan and Kyle in an awkward meet cute where there’s maybe one other character (usually kenny lmfao I’m a creature of habit) is a WHOLE different animal than a multicharacter multichapter. That’s something I had to figure out recently with TWITR, and character introduction held me up a lot in ATLCTS.

Okay this one may seem really inconsequential to a lot of people, but one thing I didn’t think about when developing this concept was the fact that there’s not really away for me to get around Stan eating meat lmao that’s one thing that over my time writing sp fanfiction has become ESSENTIAL to me characterizing that boy. I’ll probably just have him make a comment about how he could never kill animals himself WHICH BRINGS ME TO:

Kyle as our Katniss character. So if you’re familiar with my bs, every time I write Kyle, he’s inherently less angry until it’s called for, he’s very idealistic in his worldview and it takes something actually really pissing him off for him to snap. This is NOT gonna be the case here!!! This boy is ANGRY BY DEFAULT, the worlds out to get him? fuck the world right back! Plus, the entire story is gonna be from his perspective, bc I love writing Kyle, but it’s gonna take all my willpower not to turn him into my usual empathetic to a fault sweet people loving Kys.

Also, I usually tend to leave the adults mostly out of my stuff, but they’re gonna play quite the role in this. We got Garrison as Haymitch, Big Gay Al as Effie, fuckin Mr Slave as Cinna. I’ve never even WRITTEN the three of them. The dynamics gonna be fun tho.

Ofc there’s the problem of it being an adaptation too. There’s a fine line between just replacing hg characters with sp names and copying the plot, as opposed to making it your own. I do have some plot changes planned, but this is an issue I faced with We’re Gonna Sing It Even So, and that almost led me to abandon that fic when I felt like I was just plagiarizing Hadestown.

Also I’m not planning to adapt more than the first book. I reallllly couldn’t handle Kenny taking out Ike with his trap in the third one.

BUT!!! This won’t be abandoned, it’ll just be slow going!!! Ya wanna know the main reason?

Because the first idea I had for CML (other than Kyle volunteering for his little brother) was STAN AND KYLE IN THE FUCKING CAVE SCENES. A major change is that both of them are already deeply down bad, but those scenes??? Yeah no one’s playing for the cameras. I wanna fuck Stan up in the arena so bad lmfao that boy is my original sp whump muse and NATURALLY Kyle taking care of him I love that shit. Girl we gonna GET that prosthetic leg the movies left out (Ship In A Bottle Stan moment, I love that fic btw) as the Style Injury Dealer, I MUST deliver.

So, yeah, if anyone’s down, I’ll eventually pick it back up lmao.

[yellowhollyhock]

Leo and April

Out of all the 03 turtles I feel like April had to earn Leo’s trust, he was always gonna be polite to her but there was a wall there, and that kind of makes it all the more precious when he does come around.

Leo doesn’t like change. A big part of his training with the Ancient One was learning how to be okay with it. And the very first episode is literally called “Things Change.”

Some of those big changes for the turtles are losing their home and gaining a new one, and meeting a human who actually becomes their friend. Both huge deals for teenagers.

Leo doesn’t initially like sharing his space with April. He even seems a little jealous when she gets along with Splinter. April has some reservations about sharing her space with five new people, too. The issue really does seem to be the space and not anything against each other, but still it takes them a little time to warm up. However, when they do. Neither of them do anything halfway.

The Auggie’s artifact episode I think is a big step. They’re on friendly terms before, but in this episode Leo starts teasing April. He doesn’t show his sense of humor to most people right away. I headcanon this is where he starts seeing her less as a civilian and more as a friend, because he’s vocally impressed by her gymnastics and the thing he teases her about is her whole “jungle girl” routine. Which is, uh. The exact flavor of dork that we’re used to seeing from Leo. He sees Her being a leader, taking the situation seriously, and really getting into her role (having fun being serious) and he’s like oh! That means it’s my turn to be the annoying brother! And then she throws mud at him, fighting back which he respects. From that moment on they’re equals. Later in the H.A.T.E. episode he pauses his favorite activity (private training with Splinter) to help her impress Casey’s mom, and during his big arc she’s the first (only?) person he confides in.

Side note, while I think he does see Casey as a friend, he never gets as comfortable with him as he is with April. Side side note, Leonardo never seems as comfortable with Any of their other friends as the rest of the guys, exceptions being April and Usagi. Guess you have to show yourself competent at leadership and/or ninjitsu to unlock the highest level of Leo’s friendship.

Something especially precious about these two is that they take each other seriously. Like, they tease one another, same as the other guys. But they’re both a bit more sensitive and serious, and because of that they’re also more careful with each other. Leo deserves one sibling who really buys his serious ninja routine, and April deserves friends she can have calm conversations with (her life became such chaos so fast somebody get this girl a pedicure—)

And speaking of pedicures, because they are both more serious and calm, Leo having gotten over his initial jealousy, I totally think they would have self-care nights together. Let April teach Leo about facials and ice baths for their feets. Let them eat chocolate and listen to relaxing music and enjoy not having to say anything to anyone for a whole evening. They’ve beyond earned it.

I think I kind of already covered favorite moments—uh. Fave concept, Leo April and Mikey have a book club. They would take turns picking because they all have such different tastes and IMAGINE APRIL AND LEO BOTH accidentally getting really into comic books and trying not to admit it to each other—dang it I have to write this now—

[shslskaterboy]

Anon who asked your faves here- Good choices!!! :D all amazing characters. Will you tell me more about why you like them? :3c (i want to hear your thoughts and give you the chance to talk blorbos!)

O_o you honour me anon, I’m really about write a whole essay Godspeed 🙏

I love Sakura and Mondo because I am, and always have been, a complete sucker for buff people who are actually so soft. Mondo really made himself cry when he talked to Makoto about his dog and I will never be able to get over that. Sakura is the ultimate martial artist and people are always terrified of her at first glance but then it turns out she’s sweet and soft and feminine and cares deeply for her friends and her moral principals. Also they’re so gay so like that automatically gives them a million points

MAKOTO my darling dearest boy is so delightful, so optimistic, and also such a little freak (affectionately). He is truly the glue that holds the group together, he is so relatable, he’s secretly a snarky little bitch, and he’s the littlest guy ever in the world 🥰 Also something else that not only pertains to him but also the other protags as well that I love is the journey from being so insecure so realizing their true capabilities, which I just love for them

Gundham my beloved, was instantly so high in my list because he is A Goth, he has Hamsters, and he is so unapologetic about who he is. He wears all black, he loves eyeliner, he loves animals, he Talks Like That, he knows who he is and he likes to have fun, and he really does come to love and care for his friends and classmates by the end. He makes connections. He’s so autistic but that doesn’t stop anyone from loving him. He is everything to me ❤️

Keebo was immediately my fave in v3 because he is also such an autistic representation and he is immediately so sassy in scene 1, he is straightforward and intelligent, and his whole existence raises so many interesting philosophical questions about AI which I will probably talk more about in its own post, and he’s just so pure, so lovely. I love him. Best boy.

Shuichi baby. How can I even do him justice. He’s shy, he’s insecure, he’s a little emo boy (I see all black and I pass out and hit reblog), and he just needs a hug so bad. Also his arc is so satisfying to me, he undergoes grief, anxiety, depression, and he still comes out the other side stronger than he ever was. Also sassy, he has that signature protag sass and I love it.

Miu was a fave because she’s literally sooo annoying like why is she like that? Is she insecure too? Probably! But her methods of coping are so opposite to anyone else in the series (apart from toko/syo who I also like for the same reasons) that it’s just so comical. She hilarious, she’s also unapologetic, and she’s really out here just saying whatever. We love to see it.

Hajime and Nagito are so prevalent in my mind that I don’t even know where to start. There’s so much to say, and so much of it has been said already, but that won’t stop me from trying. They are mirrors, they are complimenting colours, they are victims of circumstance, they are the only ones who understand each other. They are so snarky, they’re smartasses, they’re simultaneously the smartest and dumbest people in the room at any given moment, they’re so insecure it hurts, but they’re so strong in their convictions that nothing short of the end of the world can shake them. As characters they are complex, they are funny, they are tragic, they go and in hand like chilli and dark chocolate, and that I think is what makes them each compelling as their own individual people as well. I have so many thoughts I cannot even hope to articulate. They’re just so. Soo. AAHG. Ya know?

[glamgoblin]

Assorted GramBlack Headcanons

So @soyellowcurtainsthen (on behalf of corporate 🍳🍳) requested I fill out this post with one of my fave otps GramBlack. And like all good things it spiralled into its own collection so, enjoy? (if corporate needs me I'll be out of office until my next obsession)

What is each member’s love language?

Gram’s is definitely physical touch. If he can, he will constantly be touching Black or just holding on to the back of his shirt or something. Honorable mention to random declarations of love. Gram will take one look at Black and go that’s my whole world, and not hesitate to say so.

Black’s is probably acts of service. He does a lot of things for Gram he wouldn’t for anyone else. like be vulnerable with him or stop him from getting suspended during one of their missions where he literally left Sean . Most importantly, he lets Gram get away with so much more than anyone else. Stupid jokes? Funny if they’re Gram’s. Public displays of affection? Tolerable if it’s Gram. Letting someone else beat him in a sparing match? Occasionally, so Gram knows he cares.

What would they describe as their perfect date?

(What we should’ve gotten in the show I swear) Probably something like the day White and Gram spent at the protest or casually fixing bikes or studying together. They just like being together. Mayybeee early morning bike rides if they’re still up.

Who made the first move?

Honestly, Yok. He made one too many jokes about them needing to get together. Gumpa secretly hyped them both up. But ultimately it was Yok who when veryyy drunk admitted that they both liked each other and if Gram and Black didn’t at least try to kiss, Yok and White would reveal the texts they sent about each other. Good team effort guys.

Who is more sentimental?

Gram. Do I even have to explain this one? Gram. Black may keep one or two sentimental items (the dolls, the DOLLS that should have been GramBlack and if- sorry I digress, also the handkerchief). But Gram will be like this is the rock I was standing by when Black once said my eyes were kind of pretty.

Which member calls the other in to kill the spiders?

They are mutually good at spider disposal. Gram always sets them free in the outside.

Who falls asleep first?

Black, discounting the coma he doesn’t get much sleep so the minute he lays down he’s out. Gram usually takes a little longer.

Who wakes up first?

Also Black, he has things to do. But he’s definitely sneakily tried to wake up Gram by being loud etc.

Who is more more relaxed/carefree?

Gram, do I need to explain this in further detail?

What’s one way their personalities compliment one another? (Is it opposites attract or are they pretty similar?)

In some ways they’re similar, their ideals are the same and they both believe in fighting for people and would protect the people they love with their lives. In every other way? Opposites. Pure ray of wholesome sunshine golden retriever boyfriend and I won’t hesitate bitch black cat boyfriend.

Who is always cold?

Neither of them jk why do you think Black’s collection of jackets is so fabulous

Which member is always trying to bring home stray animals and which member always has to say no?

Gram is always trying to bring home a stray, and Black who knows how hard it is to care for yourself let alone another creature is always telling him no. Gram tried to bring home an iguana last time, we’re not sure what will happen next.

Who worries more?

Naturally, Gram has more anxiety over day to day things than Black but for the most part he’s pretty care free. Black, having gone through everything he did worries a lot more and is more cautious. It takes a lot for him to trust someone after his parents and Todd.

What are some non-sexual activities they do together?

Literally everything. Namely toppling a corrupt business, but also mundane things like grabbing lunch, doing homework, reading, going on walks, fixing bikes, getting tattoos.

Who would be able to talk their way out of a speeding ticket?

Black. He’s had years of growing up with a judge for a parent he knows what words to say. Also he’s good at making things up. Maybe not as good as White when it comes to cover stories, but he’s pretty good. Gram is busy crying when something goes wrong.

Who is the better cook?

Black, since he moved out and cut ties with his family he had to learn to cook for himself. EXCEPT desserts which are Gram’s specialty.

What are some things they don’t agree on?

The validity of Sean’s existence (co-shared disagreement with White). Which flavor of soda is the best.

Which member is more physically affectionate?

Gram, Gram, Gram, Gram. Black may have asked for a hug in that one scene we don’t talk about, but when it comes to day to day physical affection its Gram. If Gram can bear hug Black at any point of the day he WILL.

Which member is more verbally affectionate?

They’re pretty even about verbally expressing emotion and talking about how they feel, not in front of the gang but to each other. But if Gram says it more.

How does each member feel about PDA?

Gram loves PDA as long as they feel like they’re somewhere safe. Black’s not as big of a fan. His instinct is to fight before he shows affection in public.

Who’s the safer driver?

They’re both good at driving bikes. Neither of them would classify as safe exactly.

What’s each member flirting style?

Cringe meet fail.

Which member steals borrows the other ones clothing?

They’re different sizes and fashion senses so it’s hard. Black has occasionally stolen a t-shirt of Gram’s and Gram has occasionally borrowed a jacket from Black but neither fit great. <s> neither of them cared </s> White handing Gram one of Black’s shirts to wear when they were at Gram’s apartment was Gram’s first clue that something had happened to Black.

Who is the cuddle initiator?

Gram he’s a cuddle monster.

Are they an introverted couple or an extroverted one—AKA would they prefer to go out to a party or event together or would they rather stay in?

They would rather stay in or with close friends.

Who is the big/little spoon?

Gram is the little spoon and I will die on this hill. Gram likes waking up with Black’s arms around him fully nestled in the little spoon position. He’s also a big fan of face to face cuddling because he cannot believe he’s lucky enough to date Black. Sometimes if Black needs extra comforting he will be the little spoon.

Who is more likely to make an impulsive decision and who is the voice of reason?

Heh. Reason. (Black has some reason but never uses it, Gram is Gram, and Gumpa has to hold them back by the scruff like month old kittens)

Who’s more likely to laugh at their own jokes?

Probably Gram

Who takes longer showers?

Gram. Strictly speaking they had a whole scene about how Gram wanted Black to style his hair more so Gram.

Who is “more loved” by the in-laws?

By default Black. Since Black doesn’t speak to his parents. However Gram is loved by White and that’s basically the same thing.

Who is more likely to get jealous?

Gram may have been more insecure in their relationship but hell hath no fury like Black when he’s jealous. And it happens way too easily.

What was the most surprising thing they learned about one another once they started dating?

They knew each other pretty well so there weren’t any major surprises. The twin reveal was pretty big but that was before. Gram learned about Black’s scented candle collection and Black learned about Gram’s hierarchy of favorite colors.

Who stays up way too late and who tries to drag them to bed?

They both stay up way too late.

Who’s messier?

Both of them are messy, but Gram’s messier.

Which member is more likely to accidentally spend $300 at Target?

Both, for different reasons. Gram has a lot of impulse buys and Black always gets texts from White mid target run asking for Black to pick something up for him.

Who wanted/would want kids first?

I think they would discuss the reality of having kids in the current physical and political climate, as well as how hard it would be for them to adopt. They’d probably struggle to decide whether it was a good idea or not. That being said, when Gram saw Black baby sit a toddler, his entire heart went to mush.

Who gives piggy back rides to the other?

When they are drunk they give them to each other. By default usually Gram because Black is smaller.

Who fell in love first?

They were friends first so it’s hard to say. Gram will admit to falling in love with Black pretty early on in their friendship, Black will never admit that he fell in love with Gram first.

[fierceawakening]

Phyrexia is referenced, yes, but in a forgettable way. I’m pretty sure that’s intended, as a more clearly focused story would be about trauma and recovery, which would be heavy subject matter, which is what you were intentionally avoiding.

The problem I for one have with it (and I get that others may not, and Magic is as much for them as for me!) is that it’s unrealistic. It makes the whole story feel off and wrong, and I’ve had real trouble getting into any Magic story since. I kind of liked MKM because Teysa has been my fave since her introduction and other people’s glee about Etrata and Proft rubbed off on me, but even that was tough.

It’s also… I’m torn about whether to even bring this up at all, because I don’t think it’s intentional and I don’t want anyone using my words as a bludgeon, but as someone who has experienced trauma and been diagnosed with PTSD it feels a little insulting.

When you’re traumatized, as a lot of people in the multiverse would be if you weren’t pushing the tonal shift first and foremost… it changes everything. Even if you act more or less like you used to, why you do and how you feel about it changes. You’re different now.

There’s a tiny bit of that in the story—Rowan for example is a villain now, when she wouldn’t have been based on where I think her arc was going before the invasion made her cruel and destructively impatient rather than just impulsive and brave.

Jace and Vraska are more sure they’re each other’s one and only. They come off like husband and wife to me now, not just like two people in love that are good for each other.

But that’s not enough to feel real to me. Especially as that’s not the struggle with trauma so much as it’s “Rowan failed, be sad.”

I can’t say for sure why, but I didn’t feel the same way about War of The Spark. Bolas lost, yes, but the Gatewatch lost Gideon. Liliana fled, both for survival reasons and because what Gideon had done for her broke through her I don’t care facade and shook her up. She’s more mature now as a character, even if she’s still selfish and snarky and a bad match for Jace.

If one depowered dragon can do all that, Phyrexia can surely do more. They’re THE BADDIE, to the point where Tezzeret wanted Bolas to ascend in part so he could crush them.

I dunno. I feel like you handled the aftermath of WAR well, but the Aftermath of MOM, uh… well, you see the pun.

I would like to add my voice to the group that wanted more visible and lasting consequences of the Phyrexian Invasion. If the consequences aren't visible on the cards without digging for more than a couple of references (liike the Virtue enchantments in WOE) most players IME are just going to miss it. Most players around me don't seem to read the story but still seemed surprised at MOM'S lack of fallout into the next few sets. I think I'd have liked to see that impact clearly on like 20-30 cards to make it loud enough without being a focus of the set, but that's just a gut feeling. It just seems like wanting to do the apocalyptic invasion without giving its fallout similar focus is just destined to limit the perceived impact of doing that story in the first place.

It is on 20+ cards, but if you don't have the context, it's hard to see.

I often use the word "lenticular" to describe a mechanical component, one where it has advanced strategy, but only to the players that have enough understanding of the game to see it.

We also make many "lenticular" flavor cards. If you're following the story, you can see the references, but if story isn't your thing, then the story doesn't get in your way. You can just enjoy the cards in a flavor vacuum.

[heartslobbf]

connected the dots you didn’t connect shit dot jpeg whenever i start rambling about colour theory in relation to utena and saionji

[shijiujun]

on the danmei twitter fight

okay guys i didn’t wanna say anything about this and yes it’s that hot danmei twitter translations saga thing that’s going on, because honestly i feel like there’s nothing much to say but when i see dumb posts on tumblr taking about that, by people who present a misleading hot take and their friends or moots run off with it without even knowing what exactly is going on - it really pisses me off.

and also if you shit talk translators for not continuing their translations or locking their translations whatever - the door is that way on your right and left, but anyway here’s a rundown on what happened because i am seeing people make comments without two brain cells put together, without the slightest bit of consideration for the people who bring them translations

here’s my hot take and thesis: if you enjoy english translations made by fan translators, you don’t, in any way, no matter happens, shit talk fan translators. fan translators do this for free, and whatever their intentions are, whether genuine sharing or like some of you like to say, for clout, if you consume, and you enjoy these translations, i’m sorry, you’re not uninvolved, and you don’t get to sit on a high horse and say translators should or shouldn’t do something. you should just keep quiet, honestly, because someone else is doing you a favour, a favour that you are enjoying and taking. that’s what respect is.

i’m presenting both sides or i guess three sides of the story as objectively as i can, altho my support is still for fan translators who were just minding their own business before this blew up.

===

🔺 what happened:

so it started because one of the bigger translators in the fandom did this poll - i’m not blaming her at all, i doubt she had any intentions of shaming anyone or causing any controversy and was plain curious, but her poll asked english speaking danmei twitter how many people buy the digital, print copies of the danmei they read, and who did not. 

in my honest opinion, it’s not strange at all for her to have created that poll, considering just how much work she’s put into making sure things are accessible for the eng-speaking danmei fandom. i mean i’d be curious too, to know out of my thousands of readers, what the reading and buying behaviour is like. do yourself a favour and don’t read too much into it.

obviously in an era where a lot of people do consume content for free whether the underlying content is profit-making (like anime, donghua, manhua, manga etc.) or not (fanfiction etc.), it was unsurprising to see that the last option - the ones who consume danmei without paying a single cent, came out as the majority. i don’t think this is a surprising result at all, for all sorts of reasons that i will not get into now.

anyway, this is obviously kind of a sore point in the fandom especially for translators who want a wider audience to support their fave author’s works - i won’t get into that for now, but the issue began because other translators or fans started to criticize the majority of people who don’t pay for objectively rather affordable danmei and just consume things for free. 

and yes, i don’t deny that the argument on both sides got really heated and emotionally charged with both sides calling each other names which i believe is uncalled for, but it totally derailed the crux of the issue, which basically is that the majority of english-speaking danmei fandom - consumes danmei for free.

anyway this whole thing escalated and fan translators were brought into this for no fucking reason at all except that the people who didn’t want, or were unable to pay for the danmei they usually consume, made what i call a LOGICAL FALLACY in argument by going to the extremes, i will explain why later.

the end result is that fan translators were brought into this (most of them, the bigger ones i know at least) without even participating in the direct crossfire. and obviously, you can see why they’re hurt and decided to lock their translations. let me explain why

===

🔺 kind of like four camps:

(1) translators and fans who criticized those who consume danmei liberally but do not pay for them in any way - no merch, no digital copies, no physical copies, no audio dramas whatever

*** their arguments:

danmei is so cheap right, that technically people should be able to pay for it in one way or another, even if not all

danmei and its authors are, at the end of the day, out here to earn a living, and the industry, like any money-making industry, is a for-profit enterprise - and unlike public goods, if you cannot afford danmei, then there is no obligation for others to make it free for you (fan translators or otherwise, it wasn’t super clearly stated while this shitshow happened) when it is inherently a for-profit industry

yes, i don’t deny that some of them did call the peeps who don’t pay at all, “leeches” and other sort of names. personally, i wouldn’t go that far or even like venture there to be honest because in general, if it’s something that i’ll get punched in the face for if i called someone that in real life i tend not to do it, but i’ll leave my opinions, whatever they’re worth, for later

(2) the readers and fans of danmei who do not pay in any sort of way for them

*** their arguments:

some of them really cannot afford, even the dollar or more, to spend on danmei for several reasons: upbringing, culture, money-spending mindsets, real poverty, struggling to make ends meet etc. - some definitely more valid than others (and when i say not valid, it’s because SOME, a minority or like those few stragglers, say they cannot afford and then you see them like idk, throwing $50 on other merch on kpop and stuff - i’m just bringing up ONE example. not shaming anyone for spending more money on one aspect rather than the other, but yeah you can see why some of them, when making this same argument, are a little invalid, that’s just a small number of them tho)

if translators are blaming them for consuming free of charge, then the fault lies, at its foundation, fan translators who translate illegally, which i mean, in that definition, all of them including me 

did i mention that we were called illegal translators like you know in response to being called leeches? anyway-

(3) others translators who literally were just minding their own fucking business before some smart alec dragged them into it

i don’t think most of us had an argument. we were just quietly munching on popcorn and staying out of it and yeah, can you imagine, we provide a service, however illegal it is, for free on our own time, we don’t even check whether people support legally or not, we just... provide, and pray that those who are able to, at least support in some small way or another do so, on their own time. i mean i don’t check, most of us don’t, not the bouncers at your local club before COVID happened do, and then suddenly, to be used to derail an argument, we were called illegal translators. and that we should stop translating, and that it is our fault that there are free riders in the fandom

(4) people who offered to provide JJWXC credits to those who said they couldn’t afford it etc.

honestly i think they were just trying to help - no different than a gofundme. there’s no shame in taking a free thing that people already weren’t intending to pay for. it’s there, just take it!

===

🔺 the shitshow that led to fan translators locking their stuff up:

i would provide some actual examples in the form of screenshots but i’ve blocked most of them, and i don’t want to direct any sort of traffic to them so i guess you’ll have to take my word on it or go search on twitter yourself but-

(1) the affordability issue: i can understand the frustration at being called leeches, and some if not a majority of people, do have valid reasons for not being able to afford something or anything and end up pirating content they enjoy. hey, i am not about to crucify anyone for pirating at some point in their lives. we all have done it at some point, or for example hate disney+ and that $30 they were trying to rip off us for a subpar Mulan live action. i don’t have anything to say about that. inherently, is it wrong and illegal? yeah sure of course it is. do we call people leeches? i wouldn’t go that far.

if anyone cannot afford, cannot access for whatever reason, fine, i’m not gonna go check if jjwxc truly is banned in your country, or is your postal service so terrible that you definitely won’t be able to receive a hard copy of the book you like at affordable rates.

and if you have to pirate? go ahead. i mean it’s always been a rampant thing. the only thing fan translators and fans can do is encourage, motivate and incentivise as much as possible to get people to support legally. they can only put up REALLY COMPREHENSIVE guides as to how to access jjwxc or taobao or whatever. 

and if you still cannot afford it and pirate, honestly no one cares about the story behind it. you owe no one justification, just as how no other person is obligated to take it into consideration or understand you or empathize with you. i don’t say this in a malicious way - i do think that in general, you just do you. 

(2) the poor people don’t deserve nice things argument: honestly, this was not the point of this entire debacle, altho yes, people were rude to those who could not afford to support legally. but this is not the point of this whole thing.

main point - there are free riders who can support but choose not to because they choose to just consume it for free and if you are able to you should support

everyone going off on a tangent - you guys hate poor people / you guys are leeches

well guess what, no one wins in this argument. 

there were a lot of people saying “reading danmei is our only source of happiness, are you saying poor people who can’t access legally don’t deserve to read danmei” (this is just one example i’ve seen, there are other variations), and it wasn’t put across perhaps in the right way, but the other camp of people were saying “you’re not entitled to it for free if you cannot afford it”, which raised a lot of hackles and anti-poor yellings 

altho i do not deny that there are those who mean it maliciously, i think what everyone is trying to say is - the danmei industry, like any other profit-making industry, is looking to make profits. the people working in the industry, the authors even, are looking at numbers - traffic to jjwxc or other legal platforms, how much revenue they’re making from their live actions etc., comments, rankings, etc. i think @/hunxi-after-hours made a really succinct post on this aspect which yall should read.

it’s the same as - if you wanted to purchase a standee which costs $20 USD, but you cannot afford it = you don’t get it. there’s no way you can get this standee unless some gifts it to you for free. what the camp trying to ask people to support legally is saying, is that danmei is NOT A PUBLIC GOOD. it is a private, for-profit product. it might be intangible, but it is a PRODUCT that has a price that needs to be paid.

if you cannot afford it, you either don’t get access entirely (i’m saying this objectively and honestly from an economic standpoint). if someone gifts that standee to you for free, count yourself lucky - if someone makes a danmei accessible to you for free, COUNT YOURSELF LUCKY. you don’t have to be grateful and treat them as gods or like obey their every word, but it’s not rocket science. someone did you a favour that you accepted and consumed, show some respect. 

if you cannot afford to buy the standee - you do not go on twitter demanding that someone ensures that you have access to the standee for free. do you see how ridiculous this sounds once it’s a tangible product? and danmei novels ARE PRODUCTS. they are not FREE CONTENT. if someone cannot afford the standee, this is the equivalent of people going “we didn’t get the standee for free because poor people don’t deserve nice things”

totally missing the point. i don’t even know how it got to this. once again, i do admit that some users were unnecessarily mean, but going to the extreme of this is ridiculous. in argumentative essay writing we call this a logical fallacy:

e.g. “if you cannot pay for merchandise or danmei, it is a fact that you might not have access to it” morphing into “if we cannot pay for food, does this mean we cannot have access to it?!” - this is a slippery slope, and factors are not equivalent!!!! do they not teach people anything in school

don’t confuse fanfiction with danmei - danmei novels ARE PAID PRODUCTS unless for free chapters, just because it’s released online doesn’t mean it’s free public property, and also selected novels (did you guys know the WHOLE of SCI novel is free? about 500 chapters sorry, random, just a tidbit)

there are of course nuances right, like if anyone told me they were pirating disney+ content i’d be like yeah hey get one over those bloodsuckers, they take enough of our money and produce shit content anyway. the difference is that danmei authors, and the danmei industry itself can still be considered a nascent and not-yet matured industry, with a majority of authors if not all, depending on monetary flow, likes, comments, virality on the sites their content is hosted on, for a living, unlike hugeass MNCs trying to squeeze us dry for content that isn’t even interesting.

danmei is priced rather reasonably - and this brings me to another argument that was made, that the value of money is not the same for everyone. i don’t want to make comments on this because yes this is correct to a large extent. a $6 book might be cheap to most of us, but might be expensive to someone else. i’m not gonna comment on how cheap or whatever it is, if you gotta use your money for other things, definitely! i still maintain however, that a novel less than a dollar should be affordable to most people, a majority of people. and i definitely side eye some users who obviously have money but are just creating noise because they wanna continue free-riding

(4) the “they’re losing out on their international audience” argument: honestly, i feel like english-speaking danmei fandom gives themselves a bit too much credit. danmei has long thrived in china in its domestic market - sure the international audience is a plus to have and i’m sure the authors are grateful and flattered that people who don’t understand chinese love their content and love it a lot, but do they and their companies care about fans who basically don’t bring in money? i’m not sure (okay i’ll get to the fan translators doing illegal shit later okay i got it don’t be impatient)

and international fans are great, i don’t deny that - but when i see arguments like “oh but it’s their loss if they don’t cater or deny access to us, they get more popularity and sharing overseas”, i honestly think they don’t care as much as you think. once again, hunxi made a really good argument regarding non-sinophone audiences, but it really irks me, because this is the same as:

an instagram influencer saying they’ll give a restaurant exposure for free to their followers, if they get a free meal

it’s par for par - danmei authors wants earnings, popularity, tangible results that show that they are succeeding. this is life. if i put something out there for sale, i better be getting returns, simple economic logic. they probably don’t care that a non-paying reader is bringing them greater ‘exposure’ - once again, i mean this objectively. 

and yes if they’re thriving without the international market then why should it matter that people are pirating right? which brings me to the next point~

(5) it’s fan translators faults for so many people pirating, and fan translators are the ones doing the “illegal” work: this one is like... wow where do i unpack this and how-

firstly, we are talking about assholes who can pay but decide to free ride and not pay for danmei, and we assume that if you really cannot afford and have to pirate, no one’s saying anything as long as you don’t go around spreading how to pirate, how the hell did it get to fan translators from “you guys are anti-poor” and whatever

yes, fan translations are indeed illegal, i don’t deny that, and i also don’t deny that there are translators who translate for clout and popularity but putting these aside - here’s what i have seen from people who ran their mouths and made this argument

“if you guys care about us pirating the book so much than fan translators shouldn’t have translated in the first place” and “if you wanna come after us for reading illegally, then fan translators, you guys should go get the copyright for the book and then translate it cuz what you guys are doing is also illegal”

hooooo i’m telling ya, i am all for translators locking up their translations at this point. see how fucking hurtful that is? you eat from my hand and then now you biting at the hand that fed you the gays in love?

honestly if you’ve made this argument or supported this, you can basically go to hell. yes this is personal because what, you think fan translators don’t take out their personal time and effort and hard work to make translations accessible to you? if you’re ever consumed and read translations, don’t be a hypocrite and make this argument. you benefitted from it, now you wanna say it’s their fault? 

most translators want to share and spread the love they have for a novel right, want to show you how wonderful all these authors are, how much enjoyment u get from reading these wonderfully thought out stories of gays in love. yes we all know we are illegally translating, which is why on top of sharing we first, purchase the novels legally ourselves first, and then we try to encourage people to buy etc. and actually put their money to use. it doesn’t make it any less illegal, but we are bridging the gap between danmei and basically the english-speaking fandom, albeit illegally

we aren’t that self-important to ask for gratefulness but some respect would be nice. like i said, you read it, you consumed it, you enjoyed it, you can only access it because of illegal translators - a bit counter-intuitive to yell at these translators, who are simply telling you, if you can, please support. and none of us went “if you cannot afford, begone!”

===

🔺 some people tried to help by offering jjwxc credits so people who cannot afford as they say, can get legal access: honestly, just take it right, guess what some of these users did in response

they said the people giving away credits are trying to redeem themselves for their comments by giving away free stuff

they also said that we are trying to shame the people who cannot afford it with this handout to them, to show that they are the bigger person - the fact that they think this is a handout to them is TELLING. the people offering this is giving their money not to these readers, but to the authors! that’s the point of this exercise!!!

one of them even said “instead of trying to do these giveaways, here, there are greater world problems out there, donate instead to these causes” - love the initiative, but how did we get from being able to afford danmei and entertainment content to saving the world? i just- i cannot

===

🔺 so why i get why fan translators are locking up their translations, because wow, so hurtful:

you have no idea how many fucking assholes went “sure, lock up your translations, deal with the consequences” - ermmmm firstly, thanks for making a threat. like who the fuck do you think you are?

the consequences is... the authors still don’t get the money these free riders weren’t going to give them anyway, so no loss, and they weren’t reading on jjwxc anyway so you know, the authors don’t lose or gain any readership numbers or traffic they didn’t already have. instead, it WILL push and force people to pay for the PRODUCT. once again, it’s a product.

this works, and i’d say Word of Honor’s payment model worked marvellously for Youku, because they fucking forced everyone to pay to access content. ALL OF THEM. sure ok some people still pirated it, but how many MORE people paid on Youku, on Youku Youtube, watched on Viki etc. than if they didn’t? even english-speaking fandom were wracking their brains trying to purchase a Youku pass even if there were no subs initially - and other examples that lovely hunxi brought up in her amazing piece

and for translators?! honestly me for one, i’m glad i don’t feel pressured anymore to churn out a chapter every week since we get called names etc. most of us are glad to have a break to be honest. we’ve lost all motivation to translate because it’s a free service, at the very least we don’t expect like hate, or rudeass fuckers. for those who are doing a proof of purchase thing - go for it honestly! 

hopefully it’ll minimize the free rider problem - some people for whatever reasons really cannot buy or support legally, that’s totally cool and they don’t have to justify it, i get that. but for others making the same argument but obviously are just unwilling to pay because they can’t read chinese, think it’s too troublesome when there are guides and translators provide it for free anyway so what’s the point - we all make concessions and make decisions to grab what we like (not talking about the ppl who have their various troubles and difficulties!)

===

🔺 and those who are saying why is it the ‘rest of us suffer’ from locked translations just because of a few bad apples:

IT ISN’T ABOUT YOU. where the hell were all of ya when we were getting called illegal huh? it’s about us fan translators getting shot at for no reason, and then people still demanding things for free. i don’t see any of the people i’ve seen on tumblr complain about fan translators stopping or locking translations defend any of us in any way. instead, you’re complaining.

it is the translator’s prerogative to start, stop and end translations, unless of course the original author starts to sue i suppose. i see people on tumblr going like if they were gonna do this, they shouldn’t have started in the first place etc. - i don’t what world you live in, but when i do something for free, then get called names and am attacked or get dictated on how i should do something that’s already like free, i tend to be less generous.

i’m sorry, do us illegal and free translators owe ANY OF YOU? i wasn’t aware any of us were being paid for this hobby. readers, especially those who CAN and just refuse to support, don’t get to say SHIT. translators deal with so much shit and so many entitled readers, i say they get to lock whatever they want as long as they aren’t profiting off of this monetarily.

let me give you an example - nan chan, which is translated by lian yin, completed translations by the way for all chapters. it is all free for viewing, and she only locked up one extra and asked for proof of payment. some dumbfuck quotes that locked up extra chapter tweet and said “honestly, this turned me off reading this novel because they restricted access”.

the. fucking. entitlement. the whole of nan chan is free, that’s like what more than 80 chapters. she locked up the EXTRA and the money goes to the author, she doesn’t earn anything. AND HERE THAT BIJ is (yes, i’m going to call them names because you know, fucking asshole who didn’t bother to check) going “yeah i didn’t wanna read because 1/80+ chapters were locked”. 

AN EXTRA. LITERALLY AN EXTRA!!!!!!

at the end of the day, translators are not like DYING to translate, not like some of you are DYING to read the translations. once again, this isn’t a “BE GRATEFUL” message, it’s a please be respectful to the people who put in time and hard work for free and share the goodness ya know? what’s the use of yelling at fan translators as if we owe you anything?

================

🔴🔴🔴 TOO LONG DIDN’T READ 🔴🔴🔴

some people may need really need to pirate - and no one needs to justify why they cannot afford to purchase etc. pirating happens all the time, translators only hope that when you can, and in whatever way you can, to support legally - in general we don’t ask and we get it! we’re just annoyed that some people think that it SHOULD BE FREE, when it is a paid product, especially for those who CAN afford it

readers are not entitled to shit on translators for what they do with their translations - once again, you’re not OBLIGATED to have it. so what if i start and stop? i’m the one doing the work, i get the only say. don’t be a hypocrite and shit on translators, whose works you’ve read - it’s no loss for translators, we read and enjoy danmei just fine

yes, fan translations are illegal, but you can’t read and enjoy them like some of you have, and then turn around and point the finger at translators - a lot of us are happy to stop translating - this isn’t a threat, but at the end of the day, shitting on translators simply decreases access, and sure, some people can indeed live with you know, MTL or shitty translations from people who’ve learnt chinese for only six months or whatever, but you’re gonna be reading an entirely different book tbh

the people saying illegal translators are at fault - funnily enough, most of them consume the translations, so what the fuck? i mean we know it’s illegal, we’re trying to share the love and trying to minimize the illegalities of it by redirecting people to hopefully support legally. it’s still illegal yes, but i think it’s hypocritical for people who have read translations, stab translators in the back. and now that translators are indeed ‘restricting’ and ‘removing’ their ‘illegal translations’, yall yelling again? and threatening?

fan translators aren’t “elitist” or “classist” - just looking for some respect in a community which seems to have taken them for granted, and also looking for support for their fave authors - and honestly a lot of us were caught in the crossfires truly, don’t be an asshole and demand things from fan translators - who are you talking about? do you know why they decided to lock? do you know know what their locking system is like and what for? 

it’s not EASY to lock the translations up - it’s more admin work, it’s putting together a whitelist of people, if given the choice i’m sure translators would prefer to share everything. but not when there are assholes who have a comment on how they should translate etc. and yeah!!! calling us illegal!! i mean we are but still!!

the last straw was seeing that post on tumblr and people in the comments going like fan translators shouldn’t or should do something, without getting the whole picture, without even considering how hard it is for fan translators being caught in this situation. 

whoever puts in the work gets to decide, and everyone else should leave them alone. 

be nice to the people who really cannot afford as they say so (or just don’t think about it), be nice to the translators feeding you content, and the people who free ride and shit on translators - honestly, i’d say ready the pitchforks.

edit: i forgot to mention this is my hot take and i’ve tried to like present all the arguments i’ve seen so far. i’m definitely not doing all of it justice and i don’t claim to speak on behalf of any of them except maybe one or two- and i’ve definitely left out stuff, but anyway, lmao we’re just tiny people doing what we love. i wish we could solve you know inequality or poverty or hunger or other pressing concerns. if i was that great i wouldn’t be stuck on tumblr or twitter or have to make posts like these like a loser.

thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[petz5]

no one asked but real quick here r my opinions on ranma pairings that come to mind!! obv i’m not trying to say u Cant feel differently abt them, these r just my own thoughts

ranma/akane - if uve followed me for even half a day u already know this is my absolute fave one. yes it’s canon no that doesn’t make it boring, they understand each other on a level the other characters don’t even come close to

ranma/shampoo - die in a fire they r SO bad for each other (shampoo is significantly worse but ranma’s also not great to her)

ranma/ukyo - don’t love it but i suppose she’d be the next best choice after akane (at least as a pairing that could realistically happen in canon bc there’s no way something like ranryo would ever happen). i love ukyo but not with ranma, she doesn’t listen to his wants and honestly i think he’d hold her back, and i also don’t think she ever really was in love w him and just kinda felt obligated bc “oh shit if I cant kill him and I don’t marry him then I’ve wasted my life.” LOVE these two as besties tho

ranma/kodachi - literally dont feel like I need to say anything here, ive never seen anyone ship them

ranma/ryoga - not my cup of tea but I can see why ppl like it. genuinely it’s mostly bc i cant see ranma liking men lmao i mean he flirts w them for free food and whatever but he always gets grossed out when they try to respond. i personally see ranma as a lesbian

ranma/ryoga/akane - same as above except i understand it less. mmmmaybe if akane and ryoga both loved ranma but not each other?? ryoga and ranma had some actual chemistry, but akane and ryoga……… eeehh. speaking of!

akane/ryoga - don’t ship at all. ryoga is kinder to her than ranma if you’re judging on the surface, but he doesn’t fundamentally understand her the way ranma does and doubts her ability a lot more. (to the point ranma has to physically stop him in one episode to tell him “this is akane’s fight, she’s got this and will be mad if you meddle”) also the whole p-chan thing is creepy. i enjoy ryoga as character but i don’t think he fits w her at all

akane/shampoo - don’t like it. i mean i’ve read fics where shampoo admits to liking akane (or even just respecting her as a fellow female martial artist) but also like… that exists outside of canon shampoo to me lol. canon shampoo doesn’t care about other people, and she in particular is homophobic towards akane to her face

akane/ukyo - i like it to an extent! if it were in canon i wouldn’t want it to go beyond like akane blushing when ukyo saves her and maybe offhandedly saying something like “she’s so cool” and ukyo, after spending some time w akane, admitting to herself that she can understand why ranma likes her. i think it’s cute to think abt

akane/kodachi - i love this but only one-sidedly. in canon i’d want kodachi to be Like That with ranma purely to rile up akane bc she wants her attention. i mean literally already in canon kodachi seems to not know what to do once she actually gets ranma other than dangle him over her alligator and wait for akane to save his ass. it’d be a funny twist for her to be doing all this just bc she wants to see akane and doesn’t think to just talk to her like a normal person

shampoo/mousse - don’t like at all

shampoo/ukyo - no real thoughts but I don’t love it. maybe similar to how I feel abt ranryo but while my feelings for that as neutral/positive this is neutral/negative

ukyo/ryoga - i can see why ppl like it and I believe I did too back in 2011 or so when i first watched it, but i feel like most ppl who ship this have only watched the anime (valid! but their manga partners are both great characters imo). I didn’t rlly see it at all upon rewatch and reading the manga put the final nail in the coffin. they’d be fun as friends tho! i like that they have a silly friendship similar to akane and mousse’s friendship where they’re more Worsties than anything but will hang out with and help each other if they need to

ukyo/tsubasa - no. i have very mixed feelings abt tsubasa as is, but ukyo has no interest in him and sees him as an annoyance so i wouldn’t want her to be w someone she doesn’t like (side note: used he/him for tsubasa bc he’s very open abt being a crossdresser. i know that crossdresser is used as a transphobic insult in the series, but… eehhh… tsubasa isn’t really like ranma and konatsu who are both pretty blatantly not cis. he declares himself as a guy all the time, which yeah ranma does too, but ranma’s whole character development is how that breaks down for him)

ukyo/konatsu - yes, i think they’re sweet and konatsu is very supportive of ukyo’s goals. i think this pairing would need more development before i’d really want it declared Officially Canon. i mean it is, but obv ukyo still has some feelings to work out similarly to ryoga and his canon gf, and i think she’d need to more clearly let go of ranma before this could truly blossom in canon. i love konatsu and i love ukyo and i think they’d be good girlfriends after a little work

ryoga/akari - love it, it’s sweet and i LOVE akari. like I said i think ryoga needs to work thru some shit/let go of akane to truly appreciate akari, and it’s annoying he’s still attached to her when he has a gf but i understand it’s difficult to just Stop liking someone you’ve liked for prob a solid year or so just bc u got asked out by someone else

these are all the ones I can think of rn but ur more than welcome to ask if u want my thots on any other ones lol