#every sense8 character is amazing to me

[browniefox]

Anyway here's a some FFXVI Recs for anyone who's interested.

A Lesser Dragon by ScribeOfReaper

Dragoon's learn many things from their namesake. Many of their techniques and traditions are derived from the dragons. Pride not least among them. A shame that no one told them; pride cometh before a fall.

It's really a shame that so little is done with Clive's Imperial Slave name. Like, what was the purpose of it? Why did it never come up again? How did he get that name? This fic provides answer to at least some of that, and is just a fun and well-written fic!

to kill fate by godblues

Ifrit is not the only thing that awakens on the night that Phoenix Gate burns, and bonds of consciousness manifest in ways Ultima never expected.

Unfinished :( but, still fun to read! I love big messy soulmate bonds, which is more or less what this is - all of the eikons have this kind of mental link to each other. It's inspired by Sense8, which I've never watched but know the general premise of. The relationships I feel are really fun and interesting, including some pairings I've either never considered or liked done in a different way.

Chains of Fate by ScribeOfReaper

In the Aftermath of Phoenix Gate, Anabella finds a most precious treasure. One that will not only guarantee her position as Empress and ensure the preservation of her line, but one that proves the power of her noble blood. For who else can lay claim to being the mother of not one, but two Dominants.

Unfinished but updates ~weekly. A very good and clearly well thought out alternate version of events where Clive is taken to Sanbreque with Anabelle bc she knows he's a dominant. The politics are so fascinating to read about! The different sides only grow more interesting, and the author just very clearly knows what they're doing - my best memory is getting to a part and feeling like ':( man this is hard on Clive I wish he had at least *some* support' AND LOW BEHOLD HE GOT IT RIGHT THEN!

These Things Are True by nightspear

After surviving the tragic fire that killed his father and brother, fifteen-year-old Clive Rosfield moves in with his mother and her new husband, the CEO of Bahamut Industries. Following a report from a concerned doctor six months later, Clive is taken into foster care and sent to stay with a man named Cid Telamon. Injured and grieving, Clive struggles to find his footing in a new home while his mother and stepfather fight for his return.

Top tier. Unfinished but updates ~weekly, and I *think* it's finished, just being posted spread out. One of those fics that could be read by someone with no knowledge of the fandom and you'd still get an amazing read and experience out of it. These kind of fics make me think of BDG's explanation of the commedia dell'arte, where the characters names foretell the role and relationships they'll have in the story, but again you could read this w/o having played FFXVI - And you should! Golden characteriation, relationships, distinct voices for each character, I'm eating this up and every update I am screaming and cheering and tearing through it!

my opus, daughter dearest by shepherd

The girl snuffled, trembling and pale and waiflike enough that Cid half expected that she would be carried away with the fading autumn leaves – and when Cid hoisted her up and placed his hand against the small of her back, it almost swallowed her entirely.

Short but cute oneshot of Cid finding Mid. There's a tragic lack of Mid fics, and it was just so nice to read one about Cid getting wrapped around her finger immediately <3

Second Flight of the Fledgling by Ghostline

As Joshua surrendered the Phoenix to his brother he felt the cold of death upon him, and Clive's fiery wings were the last thing he ever expected to see. He did not expect to wake in his brother's arms 18 years earlier, prior to the Night of Flames. Whether by Ultima, his brother, or Metia's divine grace, he had been gifted a chance to right the wrong that had torn his brother from him.

Unfinished by a couple chapters. There's a great many time travel fics in the fandom, but I am also rather picky when it comes to time travel, and this is the only one that's really scratched the itch I've been looking for. It's told mostly through POVs that are not Joshua, which I feel like works very strongly in its favor. The reactions of other characters is exactly what you want them to be and does not disappoint. Also has a great explanation for 'time traveled character in their younger counterpart, which one are they' that will stick with me forever I think and influence how I write some time travel fics.

Queen of Blood and Snow by AnxieteaAndCake

Jill approached the table, putting on the guise she resentfully called “the pretty little doll”. She walks, she even talks! She rarely thinks for herself, however, and never ruffles feathers! And so pretty! It was a cloak she’d donned many times in her life: in Rosaria, on the Iron Islands, even at the Hideaway before she’d finally become comfortable there. She hated it. It was like putting on rancid animal skins: unpleasantly slick on her skin and cloying in her nose.

A good fic that plays with two things that the game should have and never did: the fact that Gav is also a Northerner, and that Jill presumably still has a family or at least Kingdom that she could visit, if not try to make home once more should she wish. In general, Jill's situation with the Rosfields and how that'd impact her and her family is underutilized. This fic utilizes it! There are some things I'd change or tweak, and I can never get enough Gav, but I still think it's a great exploration of Jill going home - if it can even be called that anymore.

Encore by BrownieFox

Joshua wakes up in the Year of the Realm 860, confused but with knowledge of the future he should not have. With time, he will find that he is not the only one. or One by one, the dominants in the past come to remember a future that will never exist.

Wh-what??? How embarrassing, how did this get here? But of course I'm gonna rec my own fic. Have you ever read a time travel fic and were like 'gee, I wish this only focused on each character remembering the future and their immediate reactions to that kind of knowledge', then you're in luck bc that's what this is! It does have something of forward momentum, as there's a short time skip between each chapter, and you get to see how some things change bc of the Dominants remembering things.

[figuringthengsout]

10 Characters and 10 Fandoms

Rules: name 10 of your favourite characters from 10 different fandoms, then tag 10 people to do the same.

Thank you @midnight-sun16 for tagging me! This is going to be a list of mainly secondary characters because that's my brand, I'm sorry. Also, this could easily be just aftg, but I put a lot of effort and made it diverse haha

Aaron Minyard of All for the game - because of course he was going to be on the list, come on!

Finnick Odair of The hunger games - I think he quite literally was my first blorbo in the way he started making me think about charcaters' backstories and how they could be worked around canon.

Jean Moreau of All for the game - it was a toss up between him and Kevin, but I think Jean has more rights to be here considering he just has a few lines in canon.

Sophie of Howl's moving castle - her version in the book is just so brash, I love her and I love how she thinks she's so self aware and then proceeds to act the way she does.

Orla of Derry Girls - no explanations needed, she's the best.

Kent Parson of Check Please! - I'm never not thinking about him. He just has everything that I find interesting in a character (shame, guilt and anger issues, btw)

Sana Bakkoush of Skam - she's a queen and has iconic lines. Her season really made me reappreciate the series and I will never get tired of seeing her thriving in life after what she went through. Plus, she has amazing style.

Mike of My own private Idaho - "I love you, and ... you don't pay me." and then proceeds to follow him all over the world.

Puck Connolly of The Scorpio Races - like Finnick, this was one of the first books who made me want to know more about the characters. I don't remember a lot about her because I read the book a lifetime ago, but I remember I liked it.

Sun of Sense8 - actually not just her but also Moon, Wolfgang and Kala. I just love every Sense8 character, but she has something special.

Tagging @miidnightraiin @bloody-wonder @batri-jopa @oretsevs if you want to do it

[periru3]

An Unauthorized Tafadhali Vid Starter Pack

Today I was bored, and when I am bored I make lists. The list my brain has decided to make today is a list of my favorite of my sister’s (@tafadhali) fanvids. Except “favorite” was too difficult and too vague, so I started thinking of it in terms of what vids I would recommend to someone who had never seen her vids before. That still wasn’t enough structure for me, so I decided to give myself some categories to make sure I had a wider array of vids represented, and what I ended up with was sort of... vid superlatives? Anyway, I’m quite happy with my list, so I’ve decided to share it with you all. Without further ado, here is me shouting through a megaphone about how cool my sister is for no particular reason:

YouTube Playlist

1) Most On-Brand: I am a (Library) Scientist - Multi-Fandom (Horror)

If you want to get a very quick impression on what sort of vidder Taf is, and some insight into her interests, this is pretty representative.  Multi-fandom? Check! Horror? Check! Literally about her IRL profession? Check! An ideal get-to-know-you vid for Tafadhali. 

2) Special Interest Vid: We Kiss in the Shadows - Multi-Fandom (LGBT)

Love me a vid that’s basically like “hey, come look at this rarely-vidded thing I know lots about!” (admittedly, a not dissimilar category to the one above). Anyway, Taf’s love and knowledge of classic films and of queer film history come through beautifully in this (as well as the other vid in her Screened Out series, Masculine Women! Feminine Men!), and it makes me cry every time. 

Honorable Mention: Paperback Writer - Multi-Fandom (Stephen King)

3) Critical Vid: Fortunate Son - Star Wars

This vid is amazing because it both captures all that I love about Finn as a character while also highlighting and calling out the ways in which the character what let down and done dirty by the writing of Star Wars. Also truly amazing song choice and lyrical matches. 

Honorable Mention: Hail Satan - Stranger Things

4) Character Study: Patient Zero - Harry Potter

One of Taf’s earliest vids, this character study is one I come back to again and again for it’s beautiful and insightful portrayal of Harry’s arc throughout the series, with a focus on his relationship with fame, destiny, and some really complex parental figures.

Honorable Mention: California - Mad Men

5) Shippy Vid: Umbrella - Singin’ in the Rain

Yes, it’s a Cosmo character study, but it’s also the cutest darn OT3 vid in all the land, and it’s Taf’s most popular vid for good reason! It’s a total delight! It’s full of silliness and very well-matched-to-the-music dancing! And it uses a song cover inspired by this very movie, so that’s fun!

Honorable Mention: C’est la Vie - Doctor Who

6) Emotionally Devastating Vid: Achilles Come Down - Les Miserables

If you’re looking to cry, this vid is the one for you! Tafadhali seamlessly blends multiple adaptations of the same story into one heart-wrenchingly gorgeous vid (rendered all the more stark and affecting in it’s Black and Red iteration). This story and these characters are dear to the vidder’s heart, and it shows. 

7) Intense Vid: Man on a Wire - Hannibal

This psychological horror/thriller vid is definitely one to get the adrenaline pumping! The fast-paced song paired with the super sharp editing of this vid really do justice to the visually stunning source, and capture the fractured mental state of Will Graham perfectly.

Honorable Mention: Brutal - Yellowjackets

8) Comfort Vid: Waters of March - Multi-Fandom (Miyazaki) 

This is easily one of my most re-watched of Tafadhali’s vids. While in moments this vid is tinged with sadness or sort of bittersweet nostalgic feelings, by the end of it I always feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and like my heart’s grown three sizes, and a bunch of other sappy metaphors. 

Honorable Mention: Synchronicity - Sense8

9) Vid that Makes Me LOL: Whatta Man - George of the Jungle

Honestly, whatta vid. It manages to be genuinely sweet while also making me giggle like a mad man. The song choice is inspired. It truly captures all that is delightful about this ridiculous movie. Honestly just a good, silly time from start to finish!

Honorable Mention: Short Skirt Long Jacket - What’s Up Doc?

10) Dance Party Vid: Super Bass - Sense8

Also a valid category for this one: The Sexy Vid. Basically it’s just a fun, energetic, sexy, joyous romp of a vid and it makes me want to crank the volume and dance along to Nicki Minaj and the lovely cast of Sense8! 

11) I Don’t Even Go Here: Beautiful Dirty Rich - Columbo 

So when Taf made this, I pretty much knew nothing about Columbo (I’ve since seen a couple eps), but what I did know is I loved the hell out of this vid, and sometimes that’s just how it goes! Must one know who these people are? Is it not enough that a vid entrance you with its on-point editing and its vibes? 

12) Non-English Vid: La Noyée - Portrait of a Lady on Fire

This gorgeous vid, like the movie it’s for, is in French. I think some of the beauty of this one is that while the lyrical matching is perfectly done, if you want to first experience the vid without the distraction of subtitles, I think the visuals paired with the obvious melancholy of the music paints just as clear a picture whether you understand the lyrics or not. 

Honorable Mention: Desaparecida - Carmen Sandiego

13) A Gift for Her Favorite Sister: Sound the Bells - It (Miniseries) 

Look, I never claimed to be coming at this list from an unbiased perspective. And Tafadhali makes me vids all the time, whether in the form of actual gifted works, or just vids she knows I am the main target audience for, so this seemed like a fair category to include. This one in particular is for a fandom that is super meaningful to both of us, and it makes me tear up every time! 

Honorable Mention: Derry Jukebox/Castlerock Around the Clock - Multi-Fandom (Stephen King)

14) A Co-Vid with Her Favorite Sister: The Chosen One’s Lament - Multi-Fandom

Honestly, I couldn’t make this list without this category any more than I could make a list of my own vids without it. We love making vids together, and we’ve made quite a few! This vid is the first (and arguably best) in many categories that have since defined our co-vidding body of work - multi-fandom, meta, humorous, set to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend music, just to name a few. Also the need for the 11-way split screen in this is what got us both to finally transition to using Premiere instead of iMovie, so I’d say we both owe a lot of our subsequent vid quality to this one. 

Honorable Mention: Rose Bride My World - Revolutionary Girl Utena

15) Best In Show: Pynk - Multi-Fandom (LGBT)

I literally cannot praise this vid highly enough. It’s beautifully edited, beautifully curated (what a selection of movies!), beautifully structured. The sheer scale of this project (not to mention the fact that it was editing in iMovie, where organizing clips is basically impossible) is enough for it to warrant a spot on this list, but what really takes it from merely an impressive vid to a truly great one is the love of the subject material that shines through in every clip choice and edit. It’s an earnest celebration of girlhood, adolescence, femininity, and queerness, and watching it even for the hundredth time still takes my breath away. Watching this vid, I just feel so much - I feel awkwardness and the excitement and the angst of growing up, I feel the delight and the connectedness of those formative friendships, I feel the giddiness and the heartache of first loves, I feel the confusion and the joy and the defiance of emergent queerness. I just love everything about this vid and I can’t think of a better example of Tafadhali’s skills and strengths as a vidder than this. 

Anyway, thank you for coming to my TED Talk. 

[yichens]

8 Shows to Get to Know Me

thank you for tagging me josi @wanderlust-in-my-soul​​ ♥ am always happy to talk about shows that are important to me~

(tried to write these down in order from oldest to newest! meaning: when they came into my life and changed me)

I. Merlin (2008-2012)

one of the first shows i ever watched from a streaming site (aka illegally online haha), tho i did start watching it while it was airing on our tv. i adore the atmosphere, the world, the characters, and the whole journey throughout all five seasons. it feels whole. the fandom here is also amazing, even if i mostly watch it from afar ♥

II. Theory of Love (2019)

am not really sure when exactly i watched this for the first time, but i have vague memories of the last ep or the special ep only having just aired. it was one of my first introductions to bls - to good and more thoughtful bls - and i loved it with my whole chest. after rewatching it a year ago, i can still say it’s one of those shows that has rearranged something permanently in me. 

III. Sense8 (2015-2018)

the show that feels like it was made for me. it’s just so full of things i love: fantasy, mysteries, action, character bonds, found family, love, acceptance, understanding, and even psychological themes. i love each of the characters very dearly and enjoyed all of their relationships with each other. i also loved what this show did with intimacy, both the emotional and physical kind, by showing how it can be a source of great comfort. 

IV. The Untamed (2019)

my first ever cdrama that opened up a whole new world for me. it became one of my first ever big hyperfixations, one of my great loves. it let me dive into the world of other cdramas and so even more great shows. and it brought me to many new things and ppl here on tumblr after leading me into editing and so to the mdzs network ♥

V. The Lost Tomb 2 / Explore With The Note (2019)

i cannot really pack dmbj into only one show bc each of the adaptations has given me something to chew on, but tlt2 is always my baby. it is the show that made me love pingxie, the show that made me insane about their story, and the show i would die for. it gave me serious brainrot for such a long time, and even if it’s not the best one of the adaptations, it’s still very, very dear to me.

VI. You’re My Glory (2021) 

i never thought a romance show would get to me but this one did in so many ways. it taught me some precious lessons and i think it changed how i see accomplishments, dreams, and working hard to reach personal goals. it gave me hope and strength, and it just made me believe in love that is comfortable and adjusts to your needs. 

VII. Bad Buddy (2021)

the show that changed me about a year ago. the show that somehow opened up a lock inside of me, that allowed me to feel new things, that comforted me and understood me. idk if any bl can ever feel as much home as bb does. little did i know that when i started watching this silly bl during the christmas it was still airing, it would consume me, heart and soul, and then lead me here, wrapped up in this bl world. 

VIII. Vice Versa (2022)

if there’s one show to define me right now, to define me for the past year, it’s vice versa. it’s everything to me in every sense. it’s a show i go to when i want to cry, or smile, or feel warm, or happy, or sad, or delighted, or comforted, or loved. it’s a show that feels like a hug, a show that heals me in all the ways i need to be healed. it means so much to me. and it doesn’t hurt that it’s still one of the most beautiful bls i’ve ever seen ♥ (i could write essays of vv, tho at the same time it feels like the jane austen quote, “if i loved you less, i might be able to talk about it more”)

some honorary mentions: 

The Long Ballad (2021), Not Me (2021), My Country: The New Age (2019), The Blood of Youth (2022), and 3 Will Be Free (2019)

tagging: @leonpob​ @stormyoceans​ @dimpledpran​ @hils79​ @psychic-waffles​ @ardentlytess​ @oswlld​ @sanoreo​ ♥

[roseapothecary]

Sense8, Schitt’s, Lucifer

Oh god. All three in one ask? Ok ok.

Sense8

Favorite character: Lito, my baby.

Funniest character: Lito

Best-looking character: Kala

3 favorite ships: Lito/Hernando, Nomi/Amanita, Kala/Wolfgang/Rajan.

Least favorite character: Whispers, obviously. I literally do not have a least favorite except for the bad guy.

Least favorite ship: Don't have one.

Reason why I watch it: It's the best show ever developed??? No but, like... It's super queer, it's super unique, both the plot and the overarching concept/worldbuilding is so compelling... I'll be starting a re-watch in a few weeks bc I watch it every year for Pride. I love it more than anything in the world.

Why I started watching it: I don't even remember. I think my best friend might've recommended it to me back in the day?

Schitt's Creek

Favorite character: David

Funniest character: Moira

Best-looking character: Alexis

3 favorite ships: David/Patrick, Twylexis, Tedlexis.

Least favorite character: Sebastien. He's only there for one episode and I want to punch him in the face... but only after asking what products he uses in his hair.

Least favorite ship: Idk, Bob and Gwen?

Reason why I watch it: It's an amazing show about love and family and found family and happy endings and joy and

Why I started watching it: Okay, this one was definitely recommended to me by my best friend. She sent me the Olive Branch scene and that was that.

Lucifer

Favorite character: Mazikeen

Funniest character: Lucifer

Best-looking character: Mazikeen

3 favorite ships: Deckerstar, Mazieve, Dan and Charlotte

Least favorite character: Mmm.

Least favorite ship: Dan and Ella. That was weird.

Reason why I watch it: It's just really fun, and the character development is shockingly stellar. Plus, the concept is literally bananas, but I love that journey for it.

Why I started watching it: I remember seeing an ad when they first added Eve to the show and being like "What the fuck is this?"

Send me a show.

[rayvern-sheep]

God i wish arcane had got 3 seasons

That second season couldve been SO much better if they were allowed to spread it out more. Build suspense. Let the watcher fucking breathe for one second and take stuff in.

I’ve finished my rewatch of season 1 and HOLY FUCK i forgot how amazing it was???

I dont hate season 2, far from it. Its still got fantastic animation and character designs, which is what i signed up for when i first watched those first three episodes of the show back in, what, 2022(?). I was not let down in that regard. And it wasnt a disappointment of a season… unlike a certain pirate show im not getting into rn. But it couldve rlly been SO much fucking better.

And I have a strong suspicion Netflix’s obsession w/ cancelling every show after two seasons had smthn to do w/ Arcane season 2 being paced the way it was. The impact couldve hit so much better. We couldve got so much more characters development, so much more wonderful animation. But instead the crew had to sprint through everything so they could get a satisfying ending to the main things they set up.

It reminds me of Sense8’s final season… How messy and rushed that was. And that show was far from perfect, but it didn’t deserve the disrespect Netflix gave it.

Fuck capitalism man. It’s the bane of art.

[s-zephyr]

I love this and agree– a lot of this is why I struggle to just blindly support female characters in popular media, because it is so rare to get women who truly feel like real human beings and who also have true agency in the story.

But something that’s coming to mind for me is something I learned in my high school AP Lang class (with one of the coolest teachers I’ve had). He talked about how, actually, a lot of older media had a wider breadth of complicated female characters, as surprising as that may seem, because a lot of early TV and movies regarded those women as still people who had something to contribute to the plot, unlike a lot of more recent media. Now, there are certainly things that don’t age well, and things that have gotten better, but our society is extremely conservative (with many not really realizing it). As time has gone on, in many cases, media HAS gotten less feminist. There have been some recent (performative) attempts, and absolutely some recent successes (for another Wachowski project with a LOT more female agency, PLEASE watch Sense8!! It’s amazing, underrated, and managed to eke out a happy ending through the support of a dedicated fanbase despite the show being dropped/almost dropped 1-2 times), but on the whole many “feminist” movies have been a disappointment to me. The amount of people fawning over the nothing-burger that the Barbie movie was was insane to me– it’s like, BARELY feminist, and honestly I’m hesitating to even give it *that* much credit, because it also managed to belittle the real dangers of fascism and Barbie’s very real past upholding extremely narrow and unrealistic beauty standards… but I digress.

I’m wondering (and by ‘wondering’ I mean I feel that this is likely true) if this is another piece of the conservative backlash that started all the way back with Nixon and Reagan’s “silent majority” that has shaped the rest of our lives in so many ways. I’m thinking about Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986). While Ellen Ripley continues to be cool in Aliens, her character is also flattened considerably in that movie, with a big focus on turning her into a mother figure. In Alien, she was allowed to be her own person, to be an amazing human being who survived through her wits and all of that wonderful stuff previously mentioned. Watching Aliens, it felt to me that her story was controlled more by men, and that the whole motherhood arc took away so much of what made her special by putting her into the only role the men writing her could conceive of her in.

Where Alien is a beautiful commentary on the horrors of birth and pregnancy and the fight for bodily autonomy (even nearly to the death), Aliens takes this outstanding and complex character and puts her neatly into a mothering box. A box with a really cool forklift mech! But still a role that feels limiting, from what she had stood for before– to me, at least. I know a LOT of people love Aliens (me included) and critique of it may be considered sacrilege, but I stand by it.

The difference between those two movies, aside from the switch in directors/crew members/etc, is a matter of a few years, 1979 to 1986, with the script for Aliens being written sometime in/after 1983. Reagan was first elected in 1980.

It is important to me to remember that Ellen Ripley’s role was originally written as a man– and thus she was treated with equal respect and dignity (or rather, disrespect and indignity) as every other member of the crew. It is also important to me to remember that in the wake of the progressive successes in the 60s and 70s, many of the few good things in America were made a lot, lot worse by conservative backlash.

I watched a movie from 1982: The Last Unicorn. In it, the titular unicorn sets out on an adventure of her own making essentially to breathe life into the dying embers of the world she knows. I watched as she met every challenge she faced with poise and dignity. I watched as her drive and inner spirit moved the plot forward. I watched as the power, influence, and selfish desires of bumbling men complicated her journey, reshaped her body, and stamped trauma onto her mind that she would carry forever. I watched as she was bested in every contest of might until the final act, and as the movie laid out in its text that such things were not in her lane. That was what heroes do, it said, and in my head all I could hear was “men’s work.” I watched as the unicorn’s love for a man changed her until she could fight in the way parceled out for men and become something more than she had started, transcending an immortal stagnancy to evolve into something singular and lonely. I saw that her ability to contribute to the narrative hinged on her love and her capacity to persevere, but more fundamentally to suffer. I understood that this was what the movie saw to be women’s power, and that sat ill with me, but the unicorn’s journey remained so inspiring that she and the movie stuck with me for good. The rest rolled off my shoulders, cause… I mean it was an 80s movie based on a book from the late 60s. I applied the phrase “for its time” like a lotion, took what resonated, and moved on…

I watched a movie from 1999: The Matrix. In it, a man (though I would later see the trans allegory) walks through the steps of waking up to the cultural bindings that trap him and in the end transcends them. I watched as every step of his journey was enabled by the support of the character who was, by several orders of magnitude, the coolest woman I’d ever seen: Trinity. I went starry-eyed, not realizing my appreciation extended to wanting to be her. She was everything: cool, witty, strong, tough, determined, stylish, and gorgeous to boot. On first watch I marveled uncritically. By my half dozenth watch it hit me that everything she did amounted to getting the leading man where he needed to be. I realized that as a narrative device she existed not to change a world in need of changing but to back Neo’s play so that he could swan in and finish the fight she’d been fighting all her life. Her love, her strength, her labor: all a great big alley-oop. I cringed, but I told myself that at least she had power and agency. That mattered. So I rewatched it about another thousand times, took what resonated, and moved on.

I watched a movie from 2003: Pirates of the Caribbean - Curse of the Black Pearl. In it, though this isn’t the point by half, a woman as obsessed with pirates as I’ve always been gets to live out her swashbuckling fantasies. I watched as she lived by her wits, eyes rolling at every dunce of a man to get in her way. I watched as she scrapped her way through with resourcefulness and hijinks, but only actually accomplished her goals when leveraging a privileged station based solely on her value to men. All her efforts fell flat: she’d flee swiftly and still get kidnapped, deal shrewdly but right into the bad guy’s hands, recapture the Black Pearl so sneakily and deftly only for her allies to immediately sail away with it. I watched all the men around her win on their own merits: Jack Sparrow through his canny and luck, Will Turner through his swordsmanship, Barbossa through ruthless overwhelming power. The message read all too clear to me: Elizabeth Swann was meant to be fun, I was not only allowed but encouraged to like her, but I could only experience her in a narrative written by men where the world was stacked against her. A world written by men couldn’t let her win outside of borrowing their power. The force of it hit me like a brick across the eyes. I wanted to love the daring and suave Miss Swann even as what she meant left me seething. I watched the sequels and in some ways it appeared to get better, but only on the surface. She got in sword fights and won, but that was never really who she was, was it? She became a pirate queen… but only through the aid of Jack Sparrow and only to suit his plans. She could not win and remain herself, and for everything that she could have accomplished what the narrative chose to focus on was her as Will Turner’s consolation prize for being stuck at the helm of the Dutchman. I gritted my teeth, got called a misogynist every time I wasn’t sufficiently enthusiastic about Elizabeth Swann, resolved to take what resonated from fanfic, and moved on.

I watched a movie from 2015: Mad Max - Fury Road. In it, and this is almost entirely the point, a tough-as-nails road warrior leads a fierce battle for the freedom of women from the clutches of a powerful man. I watched as Mad Max also participated, because it was not his story, and the movie only kind of pretended it was. I watched Furiosa be everything I wanted to see in a strong woman. I watched the story happen on her terms, through her plans, moving forward under her power and through her agency. I watched her be celebrated as the hero of the narrative, both in-world and by the fans. I watched the women she worked to save take an active role, take the movie by storm, and be vindicated time and again. I sat thinking about that movie for days after I watched it, went to see it twice in theaters, got the blu ray as soon as I could find it. The one thing I could never quite shake was why it had to be Mad Max’s name on the title card. But of course it did, right? That’s the industry, for you. An established IP name puts butts in seats. Appealing to men with the plausible deniability that maybe it was Max’s story sidesteps a boycott from the patriarchy. There are pragmatic reasons, ones that make sense. Though I still wished it could have been a story advertised and told without the intrusion of Max, there was still so much good and seeing a blockbuster movie of that magnitude with a narrative driven so completely by women felt like progress. So I took what resonated, and so much did, and moved on.

I watched a movie called Alien. In it, a space trucker struggles to survive an encounter with a horrible monster in space. I watched as men in authority and corporate interests screw her over at every turn. I watched as she made all the right moves against an implacable foe and survived against incalculable odds because she was strong, smart, and capable. I noted that the advertising didn’t even make a big deal out of her, they just told the story they wanted to tell. I read deeper, finding interview material confirming that gender commentary was at the forefront of the creative team’s minds. I looked up the date of release for this post… and found that it was 1979. The earliest of all the movies I wanted to reference, and by my measure the most progressive. A knot forms in my throat as I wonder what that means about progress, and I hopefully chalk it up to a fluke. A movie far ahead of its time. Cinema’s ability and willingness to tell women’s stories mist still be moving forward, I tell myself, and I move on.

(From here on, there be relevant spoilers.)

I watch a movie from 2024: War of the Rohirrim. In it, a princess of Rohan survives an attempted coup and saves the kingdom. I watch the trailer so many times over, and as it centers itself on the lost shieldmaidens of Rohan in all its iterations—even casting Miranda Otto to narrate as Eowyn—my optimism and nervousness increase in equal measure. I watch as the princess is introduced as an adventure-loving free spirit, and hope we will see her shine. Then I watch her barely impact the narrative for nearly half the movie’s runtime. There are good moments. She takes down a rabid oliphaunt by being a fast rider unafraid to put herself in danger. She rescues the common folk of Edoras by going rogue and choosing the right moment to evacuate them. Towards the end of the movie when she’s finally put in charge her ingenuity and prowess lead to her ending the conflict barely losing a single soul under her protection. But for every one of these, I watch the movie cut what inherent feminism there might be off at the knees. I watch it open on an argument over arranged marriage and on the king ignoring the princess’ every word because… of course it does. I watch the princess sob before or after nearly every major plot point. I watch all of her strength and savvy melt into paralyzed uselessness any time a man attacks her in a way reminiscent of sexual assault. I watch her endanger her subjects by showing mercy multiple times over to a man who has spent the movie oathbreaking and betraying. I watch the narrative unravel into near nonsense around her until the hand of the author is so apparent that it’s tough to tell what can be credited to her actions and what just… happens. It reminds me of every flaw that’s ever bothered me in movies featuring strong women throughout my life. I struggle to find anything that resonates because it feels like an echo, like the kind of movie we should be well past by now, and I’m tired of waiting and hoping for this caliber of gender ideology to become dinosaur thinking.

War of the Rohirrim isn’t a bad movie. It’s thoroughly middling by way of a mixed experience: some epic moments, some eye rollers, and a lot of dial tone in between. I could tolerate that more if it didn’t still carry the misogynist baggage of movies 40 years its senior. Part of why I’m upset with it is likely that I dared to hope it would be something more than it was. If you go in with no expectations other than to see pretty anime you might like it. But the audience it advertises to are those who would see a movie centering on a strong woman and those who enjoy Lord of the Rings fiction, and I feel it falls short for both target audiences. Which leaves the question… who is it even for?

Going forward I’m going to hold Amalthea, Trinity, Furiosa, some fanfic version of what Elizabeth Swann might have been, and the incomparable Ellen Ripley close to my heart and in my pantheon of fictional feminine all timers. I’ll treasure every addition that list, and do my best to put out my own media where women can shine like a wish into the world. But more than anything I long for a future where young women can carry around not a list of shining exceptions in a world of mens’ media, but standouts in a world where fiction that really values women is the norm.

[springerconnie]

lito rodriguez or nick miller!!

ohhh that's a hard one, okay so i have to say that i love nick with all my heart but i'd still say lito!!

make me choose between two things (characters, ships, anything)

[angeryrobotredhead]

Interfacing and Intimacy

One of the most interesting original concepts from dbh to me has always been androids capability to interface. And unfortunately I think it’s an ability that many people don’t understand. Now yes, this could be because the game uses it as a rather abstract concept by telling us what the characters experienced, rather than, thankfully not, showing us, which leads people to be confused.

People watch Markus and North interface for the first time and either don’t get what happened, see it as something rather surface level as just a means of giving comfort to one another, or, my personal worst take, see it as android sex - because y’know people are incapable of seeing intimacy in a romantic context without it being sexually coded.

But, to me at least, interfacing allows androids to quickly establish a deep emotional connection. I don’t know if any of you have watched Netflix’s amazing series, Sense8, but in it the main characters have the ability to telepathically connect with each other. By “visiting” each other they not only share thoughts and in-the-moment experiences but also feelings, memories, skills and physical sensations. And that ability to me is the closest depiction I can suggest as to what interfacing actually is.

And this is what allows Markus and North to have such a deep connection so quickly - because they experience, not just witness, what each other has gone through. We say we need to “see the world through someone else’s eyes” or to put ourselves “in someone else’s shoes”, and this is literally what is done every time they connect. And this is what creates an incredibly strong empathic connection between them.

Therapist Dr. Mick says in his recent dbh playthrough that the disclosure of personal information is key in establishing emotional intimacy (I can’t provide a timestamp but the discussion starts at around 1hr 27m, and is a really interesting listen), and that via interfacing androids can potentially access the entire collective experience of the other, therefore it is undoubtedly an incredibly intimate act. Add to that that it basically means that neither party can lie or omit details about the truth, and we begin to understand why Markus and North can be so trusting of each other.

I know that not everyone’s fond of this pairing, but I think if we can analyse interfacing deeper and what that means in the context of forming an intense interpersonal relationship, remembering that android biology and abilities are fundamentally different, than I think it goes a long way to understanding their bond.

[butterflydm]

wheel of time (pre-rewatch)

I’m planning on rewatching the first three episodes of Wheel of Time this weekend, and I might do reviews for each of them, but I wanted to share some overall thoughts first.

So, I actually watched this with my mom, because she’s the one who introduced me to all of these sorts of books (I also went to Dune with her, which is another thing I want to rewatch in order to really dig into it, but going to the theater again is harder than just queuing up episodes on prime, so!), and she and I were both pretty thrilled with the adaptation (my mom actually liked this better than she liked Dune 2021, which I am not personally willing to go as far as yet, lol, but I liked it a whole lot).

They changed a lot of things from the books, but all the changes so far do make a reasonable amount of sense to me. Now, I did deliberately refrain from re-reading the books once we knew for sure the series was happening, because I wanted to be able to experience the show with a somewhat fresh eye, and I think that approach really worked for me. I wasn’t caught up on specific scenes but more thinking about if the flow of the show suited the series as a whole, which it definitely did for me.

(and now we go into Book Spoilers territory)

To start with the most controversial thing... Perrin’s short-lived wife. I get why she existed and why she died. Was she the best way to convey that information (Perrin being scared of his own strength and terrified of losing control and hurting the people he loves)? I’m gonna give that a firm... I don’t know. But there are more than enough female characters with rich and interesting stories that I’m personally not too emotionally hung up over her death. I mean, given that the prologue isn’t in the show (...yet? we might get flashbacks in the future idk), I kinda feel like we just traded one fridged wife for a different one, you know? And Perrin is even more in his own head than the other boys are, so it helps to have something external to illustrate his issues.

I straight-up just approve of the change in Mat’s background. It fits very thematically with where his character goes in the future and gives him some emotionally grounded moments before his personality gets affected by Shadar Logoth.

Egwene and Rand’s romance upgrade before the break-up -- I liked it! I liked all their scenes together, honestly. I’ve always had a soft spot for them, though Rand’s upcoming set of relationships is my everything. If I get canon polycule on-screen, I may well expire on the spot. Like, Rand’s polycule was my Sense8-type emotional awakening before Sense8 existed, if you understand my feelings on the matter. There is a line directly from my love of the polycule to my love for Sense8.

Lan and Nynaeve were perfect. That is all. Oh, wait, Lan and Moiraine’s incredibly-close but non-sexual relationship... also perfect. Moiraine saying Siuan’s name while she was delirious and sick? Perfect. tbh, if they use introducing Thom later as a way to subtly begin to un-canon M/T so that we can get M/S endgame instead, every change they made is absolutely justified and I will defend them to the death.

Oh, other amazing characterization things -- loved the change they made to the Taren’s Ferry scene. Moiraine was so cold there but so justified in it. The show did a fantastic job of illustrating the Three Oaths in action, imo, in that scene and then in the Whitecloaks scene.

(the Whitecloaks? Terrifying!)

I felt like the episodes did get stronger as they went along -- three felt the strongest of all, for me -- oh! yes, loved Dana the Darkfriend. Getting that nihilistic philosophy out there near the start of the show was a good thing and that actress was amazing.

For me, the show is a five out of five banger and I am going to be on the edge of my seat every week waiting for the new episode to come out.

[fencesandfrogs]

did you have a favorite character on sense8? i only watched the first season i think and i liked all of them but i remembered really enjoying Wolfgang, Sun, and Lito's arcs personally

oh man it's been ages since i watched and i'm bad w names (memory problem) so let me just cheat and check the wiki.

i'll lead with: i really like every character in sense8. picking a favourite would be hard. actually i'm just going to ramble on the cluster and associates and let u draw ur conclusions lol. i'm very indecisive n bad at picking favourites. there will prob b spoilers nonnie sorry i don't remember what was what season in my head it's all one chunk of television

will: took me a while to appreciate him, but i like how his story ended. i really like him n riley, but i don't appreciate either of them alone? like i'm thinking about it and i don't have much to say other than one thing i'm putting in riley's section to give her some meat.

riley: see will. also, i really like...there was that thing when they were playing a trick on where they were? so they got the yogurt? i was super excited bc i really like icelandic yogurt so i was like YEAH THAT'S MY SHIT

capheus: OH MAN i fucking love him. i didn't get his references and i thought it was funny when he said zebra (rhymes w debra) but i really, really, really grew to love him. he's just such a warm guy and i can't think of a single moment he was on screen that i didn't like. also as someone who can't drive (or, well, couldn't at the time and now a very big "it's complicated"), his driving? like? that was easily the MOST superhero shit in the show to me

sun: i really liked her plot line, but not while i was watching the show. i was watching this show as a fairly young teen, so i didn't really have a good appreciation for what was going on with her at first. i was very "screw your family! why the hell are you making these decisions!" now, looking back, with the benefit of a good number of years (and some more life experiences and cultural awareness), i have a lot of love for her.

lito: i lied he's my favourite. as soon as he came up on the list i realized that, without hesitation, he's my favourite. no ifs ands or buts about it. i don't know why. i never really related to him very much (i would LATER, but i always adored him), and i wasn't like "oh cool gay character!", so i can't really say. i just know that i adore this man. what he does for daniela? holy shit dude. lito my beloved.

kala: i really like her but i don't have much to say. also i like the scene where she's mixing chemicals. i like her relationships. i just really like her but in a quiet way. she never stole the show for me, but i love her a lot.

wolfgang: eh...i d k. i never got into his plots. nothing against the dude, he just never really spoke to me? i did LIKE his plots, i just wasn't half as invented, and i thought he just was kind of meh. like cool dude go have your diamonds. whatever. i want to b really clear that the fact that i'm being so passé about him is deceptive because if you asked me to compare wolfgang and a character from like. anything else. i'd go oh yeah wolfgang is 10 million times better.

nomi: uhhhhhhhhhhhh. she's torn up in a tangle of emotions for me. i was watching this show as a young, trans teen with home life issues (if you can't tell from the disorder), but she also didn't "hit too close to home" or even "close to home." at the same time, she was kind of the dream. (well, sense8 plot aside.) she got out. she transitioned. she had a fucking amazing girlfriend. so i have this weird emotion about nomi i don't know how to express. i think it's positive, though.

amanita: what you thought i was only doing the cluster? nope. i have to get amanita in here so we're also doing a few bonuses. i fucking LOVE amanita. i love how she adapts to nomi's situation. i love her i love her i love her. going through the past few months, i now know just how valuable having a support like her is when you're dealing with multiple people in your head. (no, osddid and sense8 aren't alike, except superficially, but there are some meaningful comparisons to be made.) so. yeah. she's always been really top tier for me, but i have a new and profound appreciation for how important she is.

hernando: he's fine. i just feel weird leaving him out since i'm gonna do daniela. i get his struggle, i really do. i just don't love him.

daniela: FUCK YEAH DANI. okay i love her sm. she really, really had to grow on me: at first i thought she was kind of a bitch, and then i thought she was REALLY a bitch, and then i loved her. i have no idea when the flip switched, but it did and it did HARD.

riley's dad: sorry i don't feel like seeing if he has a name i assume he does

wait hold on tumblr yelled at at me for having too many characters in a block LOL

staff hey hey hey staff please make bullets not work as one block if ur gonna b like that about it that's really annoying

(also please let me copy text across more than one block. it's really hard to move around multiple paragraphs of text at a time. it's been driving me crazy. pls help me.)

okay ANYWAY.

riley's dad: i really, really love him. holy fuck i want to give him a hug. no. i want to get a hug from him. i love him sm.

so yeah that's how i feel lol

[slonekaru]

I posted 5,767 times in 2021

61 posts created (1%) ( I guess I better get to creating)

5706 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 93.5 posts.

I added 2,251 tags in 2021 (This list doesn't surprise me!)

#wang yibo - 493 posts

#xiao zhan - 489 posts

#wangxian - 239 posts

#word of honor - 220 posts

#zhang zhehan - 197 posts

#the untamed - 153 posts

#gong jun - 148 posts

#wenzhou - 134 posts

#wei wuxian - 99 posts

#wen kexing - 79 posts

Longest Tag: 113 characters

#to be fair there are some shot i'm sure are done a certain way to make them look like they could he holding hands

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

9-1-1 - OMG

What the hell.

1. My reaction was the same as Buck's! Like totally frozen and stunned. That came out of nowhere!

2. I'd just fucking settled and given up on Buddie happening but you bastards are dragging me back in. Seriously. The slow mo, the staring, the reaching out!

3. If Buddie happens I'm betting Eddie makes the first move. Strange since Buddie has always just been under the surface for Buck but I think he's sorta in denial. Eddie is going to go for it both feet in.

4. If Buddie happens I want Taylor to stick around and be Bucks galpal. She calls him on his shit! Also it'll be funny if he's running off to her to talk about Eddie.

5. I want there to be a crossover where the Lone Star guys make fun of Buck and Eddie for taking so long!

28 notes • Posted 2021-05-18 18:58:47 GMT

#4

Watch "The SARFT of China officially declared its position on BL TV series.What do Chinese netizens think?" on YouTube

To be honest I am not at all surprised and felt the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television of China was heading this way what with the news a week or so ago about stopping "sissy/effeminate idols".

Partly government-driven but also partly antis-driven. I actually feel like all this has come about because of the Xiao Zhan drama last year and then Zhang Zhehan seems to have just been the springboard for all this change to be kicked off this year. While it's not illegal to be queer in China the government is not exactly welcoming it with open arms.

Let's face it. We should have seen this coming when they stopped allowing males to have earrings on tv. It was a little thing but it was probably all related.

So I guess we will have to see what comes of those dramas filming

37 notes • Posted 2021-09-17 14:23:25 GMT

#3

Buddie shippers I have that gif of 'The Office' ready.

You know the one where Steve Carrells character is running around yelling "it's happening, everybody stay calm"

Just in case!

40 notes • Posted 2021-05-19 06:18:47 GMT

#2

I see you, villain. I see you with your fucking villain mustache.

45 notes • Posted 2021-04-10 06:36:57 GMT

#1

You know I've decided to re-watch sense8 and I just can't get over how visually stunning it is.

How amazing the relationships are.

The connection I felt with a series, I just can't describe.

This is about the 4th rewatch and I feel a connection deeper each time I watch it.

There is no series in this world that I am so disappointed that it didn't continue. Normally I think people over-identify with shows. Over relate to shows but I truly feel this show connected with so many people and yet was overlooked by so many people! How?!?!

I still recommend people to watch this year's after it's finished but I still find people that love it!

Sense8 truly reached new connections

62 notes • Posted 2021-04-09 21:06:33 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[dramaism]

gifmaker appreciation tag

rules: answer the first half of the questions with gifsets of your own, then answer the second half by tagging gifmakers you love!

tagged by: @surii @thingskateknows @jaehwany thank you all so much! admire you and appreciate you as well 💕

LINK A GIFSET…

Link a gifset you’re really proud of:

i’m proud of every compilation quote gifset i make because it’s always a disaster to choose scenes and quotes, i’m losing it all every time. but if i have to choose one it would be this vincenzo 1-20ep compilation set. i’m proud of myself that i managed to logically put 20 episodes of relationships in 10 gifs. phew, that was a ride!  

Link a gifset where you tried something new:

i tried a lot of new things on this days gifset with myul mang - typography, blending, colors etc. and i really love it! i think this one is my favorite in this month. also i tried new things with gradient text on this run on characters set. it turned out really pretty, love it!

Link a gifset that features your favorite character or celebrity: 

exhibit one, two and three. my love for my queen hong cha young will never die 💖

Link a gifset that you want more people to see:

definitely this colorful run on gifset with blending! and i don’t know why i like this so much but this totnt gifset. this is just a dialogue scene maybe i love it because of the acting.

Link a gifset that you had fun making:

again every compilation set with quotes lol. from the most recent ones i think it would be this days bickering/flirting set and this heart eyes joon hwi set.

Link a gifset that you created as part of a meme, challenge, or series:

this colorful tale of nokdu gifset. i made it for ‘kdrama over flowers’. it counts, right? 

Link a gifset of yours that makes you smile:

this one jk and sj bickering set from true beauty. make me smile every time lmao.

Link a gifset that you made for someone else:

 i’ve never made a gifset for anyone tbh.

TAG SOMEONE WHO…

Tag someone who inspired you to start making gifs:

well, i started making gifs 5 years ago and it’s quite hard to remember but i guess it was someone from doctor who or sense8 fandom.

Tag someone who makes great vibrant gifs:

it’s hard to choose someone in particular because for me everyone makes such vibrant sets. but i must give a shout out to @cescedes, @damn-salvatore and @mercurialhigh! did you see their gifs? they are amazing ✨ ✨ ✨

Tag someone who makes great pale/pastel gifs:

i’m not sure what consider pale/pastel sets but i think @mostlyfate is the best in this!

Tag someone who gifs for a fandom you love:

i think we have same taste in dramas and shows with @jaehwany and @uppoompat because they always gif for the fandoms i love, also @cuddlybitch for law school (doing the god’s work!!!), for all korean dramas - @yesdramas and @metawin for bl dramas 😍

Tag someone who uses text/typography really well in their gifsets:

for 100% @baijingting and @deokmis!!! they’re always doing it perfectly and trying new things in their sets. also i don’t know how @jaehwany turns simple quote set into aesthetic masterpiece. I’m amazed by their creativity and skills 

Tag someone who motivates you to step up your game:

definitely @mercurialhigh and @cuddlybitch!!! i genuinely don’t know how they are so talented in using colors that well, with blending and typography. i’m always like ‘omg, your mind!’. i’m in awe and want to get better in what i make because of them 😍   

Tag someone who you have taken inspiration from:

everyone, just everyone. i’m following a lot of people from kdrama fandom they’re all so talented and skillful. also a lot of people from other fandoms started giffing kdramas and sharing their incredible sets. they all definitely inspire me to gif more and more.

Tag gif makers who you admire and appreciate! (Put as many people here as you want!):

@siwanim @damn-salvatore @cescedes @ahjuummas @metawin @trendingkdrama @zhouszishu @theghostvalley @tiesanjiao @kojiseok @chaeunwoo @ryn-s (i tried so hard to tag people who haven’t done it yet but i admire and appreciate every creator i follow!!) but honestly i tag every creator that will see this, give yourself some love 💜 💙 💚

[squeezetheduck]

Pride Month Multi-fandom Rec list

Happy Pride month yall! As someone who is asexual I know we don’t get a lot of representation in the public media BUT we do sometimes get some really good representation in fan fiction. So, for Pride month I wanted to share some of my favorite fan fics from multiple fandoms that feature some really good representation of multiple different queer identities. As I am ace, there is probably more ace recs than anything else, but I have tried to include some other identities as well. So without further ado, I present to you a multi-fandom rec list that nobody asked for:

The closing walls and the ticking clocks by @i-will-not-be-caged . 5k words (mcu: samstevebucky, ace Sam Wilson)

Ok so Sam Wilson is one of my favorite mcu characters and I am soo happy that he finally got his own show with Bucky but this is a fic from before tfatws featuring an ace Sam Wilson and his two supportive boyfriends: Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. This fic is beautifully written and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a fic full of all those ace feels.

Dear Granger, Love Pansy by onlykatelyn. 6k words (hp: Pansimone, wlw)

I don’t tend to read a lot of wlw fics but this one is soo cute and angsty. It features a pining!Pansy who writes a series of heartfelt letters to Hermione and has Drarry and Blaron in the background. Its overall a super enjoyable read and even won a Drarry award in 2018!

when i’m set alight by @killproof. 6k words (atla: Zukka, trans-gay Zuko & bi Sokka)

This a cute little Zukka fic from Sokka’s perspective that basically follows the plot of the the second half of book 3 and shows Sokka falling for Zuko. It’s fluffy and adorable and features a trans Zuko but like it’s done really subtly and really well I think (also Aang and Toph are trans as well I believe).

(hope that i’m able to be) all that you need by @zukosadragon-ace. 10k words (atla: Zukka, ace Zuko & aro Toph)

Ok so I am in love with the idea of Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender being ace and this is one of my all time favorite ace Zuko fics. It is sooo soft and features an aromatic Toph Beifong and Sokka being the supportive partner that every ace hopes to find, and anyway its heartbreaking and adorable.

Such Things Are Possible by convenientalias. 13k words (Sense8: Rajalagang, Polyamory)

Ok so If you haven’t seen Sense8 stop what your doing right now and go watch it because it is an amazing scifi show with found family and more representation then you could dream of and this fic basically re-tales the last episode from the perspective of one of the characters in a CANON polyamorous relationship.

The Case of the Missing Cockatiel by gryvon. 14k words (Psych: Shassie, bi/pan/omni characters)

So I don’t think either Shawn or Lassiter’s sexualities are explicitly stated in this fic but Shawn is basically a chaotic bi in canon and defiantly not monosexual and Im pretty sure Lassie is bi/pan/omni in this fic as well. Either way its a great case fic featuring our favorite sassy psychic detectives who somehow managed to get real psychic powers this time. 

I Want You to Love Me (i want you to leave me) by @miniongrin. 20k works (mcu: Pepperony, ace Tony Stark)

I came across the Asexual Tony Stark tag at some point this year and I got a little obsessed because he is such and interesting character to read as ace. this is probably one of my favorite ace Tony fics featuring Tony trying to figure out and come to terms with his identity and a Avenger field trip to a pride parade. TW: Tony as an ace character participates in sex he’s not totally into because of social expectations and pressures that he feels under. 

you belong (to me) by hermionesmydawg . 30k words (mcu: Stucky, gay Buck & bisexual Steve)

So first off this is a NSFW BDSM fic so if that’s not your thing be warned. If you are cool with that though this is one of my favorite Stucky fics featuring a BAMF Natasha Romanov, a supportive Sam Wilson, and as the author puts it an “Aggressively bisexual Steve Rogers.” On top of the BDSM, it is mostly a cute friends-to-lovers fic about Steve, Bucky and their friends trying to live their lives after leaving the Avengers.  

Little Compton Street (One Rainy Night in Soho) by @writcraft & @celilasart. 66k words (Harry Potter: Drarry, mlm)

Both Harry and Draco identify as gay in this fic but I love it and wanted to include it in the list because the fic does a fantastic job of exploring queer history in the UK and puts a magic spin on it. It is also just a well written fic featuring loads of other lgbtq+ characters & fluffy romance with a side of smut. 

[humaninpogresss77]

Hello! Just finished the second season of sense8 and i wanted to share my thoughts if that's alright 😊

I really enjoyed it. The tone was slightly different from the first season, i guess we could say a bit more fast- paced and plot-driven and focusing more on their common goal than the individual arcs but it was executed really well. And because in the first season they really invested time in exploring the characters we could really understand how high the stakes were now.

Again, like the first season, the way they explored certain themes was amazing like i said i was really impressed by how well they handled all these issues together in a single show.

The two-hour episode they filmed to wrap up the show after it was cancelled was quite good, sure there were many things explained off-screen, like kala's recovery and joong-ki's trial which i guess would have been dealt with in season 3 and some "ex-machina" moments like felix showing up out of nowhere with a bazooka. But they were necessary in order to wrap up the show, and overall i believe the writers pulled it off pretty well.

The music is amazing. AMAZING. Like wow. I need to go search for it. And i know it's not the focus of the show (personally at least i wouldn't characterise it as an action show) but the action scenes were just so spectacular? The choreography was sooo good (personal favourites : the car chase and the final battle in Naples )

Ok this is getting long so to sum up : the show's main theme was about embracing difference and it was executed beautifully. It was a brilliant show and I loved it.

You don’t understand how happy I am that you like the show.

Sometimes when we recommend a show to someone else we’re not sure if that’s gonna be something for them or not so I was worried.

Sense8 is by far my favorite show ever. So knowing that you particularly loved it make me happy.

I also notice the difference in pace and structure between the two seasons. But somehow is explained in the show and work fine.

Oh you already saw the finale? The two hours special? Now I can tell you that people was very disappointed in the poly story between Kala, Wolfgang and Raj. I didn’t felt it like that. I always like Raj, but the show made me root for Wolfgang.

For me it was more the problem that it felt like it came of nowhere. Because these developments was gonna happen in the three seasons that was planned that we never got(the plan was to have 5 seasons).

I love how in a show with some kind of sci-fi storyline they embrace more what it means to be human(at least for me).

And yes, their connection is what made it especial.

Two scenes make me so happy.

The scene when Sun is chasing her brother. She is running and all of the cluster is running with her. We know they don’t need to. If she needs them they can show up; and that moment sun could probably need only Will and Wolfgang. But they show us how all of them, including Lito was running with her. Because at that moment all of them we’re running. That came way more interesting later when all of them embrace her in the car crash, but also that scene I mentioned really made me happy.

The other one is the feel you scene in the especial. Because it connects not only the cluster for the surrogates family members. Is a great moment that show how these people love each other so much.

Even more, if you pay attention to that scene; Felix shows up in the train when all of them where happy and together; even if he wasn’t in the sequence and he was introduced later.

I find those moments so especial for me and I’m glad you like the show.

The music is fantastic. I still have experience( the song that plays at the end, when they all have the last orgy) on repeat almost every day.

[aftgficrec]

Hi there! Awhile back you recommended a fic where it was an au based off a tv show, and WyMack was a detective and Aaron had almost killed Neil because a song triggered him for some reason (that I sorta know but its technically a spoiler to the fic), and I can't remember the name and I forgot to subscribe to it. If you could help me out that would be amazing, and also, just fics with a similar vibe of 'weird crap happens' or serious detective au's that would be awesome! Thank you guys so much for all that you do❤🧡💛💚💙💜💖!!!

The first fic below (“Teach me to grieve…”) is the one you’re looking for, based on the show ‘The Sinner’.  We tried our best to collect fics and posts involving detectives and ‘weird crap’ (lol) from our previous recommendations.  Hope you enjoy! - S

detective/spy/hitman/assassin aus

agent/military/detective aus

Sense8 AUS

‘The Nameless Monster’ here

‘Sunday in a six-day War’ here

‘We Used To Be Friends’ here

‘Andrew Versus the Truth’ here 

‘A Phantom and a Fly’ here

‘The Ghost In You’ here

‘Every Time a Bell Rings’ here

‘Post Its and Missing Persons’ here

Teach me to grieve and conspire by boybeaulieu [Rated M, 20003 words, incomplete, last updated Aug 2020]

He knows what he’s done, he feels the blood on his skin, he sees the knife on the ground. He hears the sirens, sees the people looking at him. Aaron knows what he’s done: he got up, walked to those boys and stabbed one of them within an inch of his life. He doesn’t know why.

or

The Sinner AU where detective Wymack finds himself tangled in a case where nothing is what it seems, trying to unravel the dark secrets buried in Aaron Minyard's mind. One fateful night, shattered memories and the ghost of someone dear hold the truth; he's going to set it free.

tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: implied/referenced rape/non-con, tw: major character injury, tw: assumed character death, tw: blood, tw: implied/referenced drug use

Abram Isn’t Dead by fairietailed [Rated M, 86634 words, complete, 2020]

[static]

[radio clicks on]

You always told me that you wouldn't run. You promised, you know; told me that you were done running, that you were going to stay.

But one day I came home, and you were gone.

Most of your drawers were empty. Your favorite Knights sweater was gone. Your barely-held-together running shoes and your Docs, the ones I got you for Christmas two years ago. You left a note on the kitchen counter.

"Don't come looking," you said. 

Well, fuck that. You don't get that choice.

I'm looking, Abram. And I won't stop until I find you.

[radio clicks off]

--

An Alice Isn't Dead AU in which Abram is running and Andrew refuses to let him go.

tw: violence 

devil's got us all in his pockets by PolzkaDotz [Rated M, 48986 words, complete, 2020]

Heaven and Hell had made a wager long ago. No direct influence from both sides, but they could use half-demons and half-angels to do their dirty work. Who had more souls at the end won.

tw: temporary major character death, tw: implied/referenced suicide, tw: violence, tw: torture, tw: implied murder, tw: kidnapping, tw: gun violence, tw: blood, tw: drowning, tw: demonic possession, tw: major character injury