#honestly I’m not in a lot of fandoms which means I can’t talk about a lot of stuff so I like watching new things

[space-batzz]

I watched spooky month yesterday and I really liked it

[lunee43]

Okay soooo I might get bashed for saying this but unpopular opinion coming and a rant hopefully this is a safe space;

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Six hundred strike was amazing musically: unlike many I enjoyed the beginning of the song but by the end I was a bit put off because how does Odysseus, a mortal defeat a literal god, not just a god but POSEIDON god of the fricken sea and earthquakes? Like it’s a cool concept but it’s just… makes Poseidon look and seem weak then in the ocean saga. Sure Odysseus became a “monster” but he’s still a mortal, I also find the “six hundred strike” silly like Odysseus did that?…. Using a wind bag?

I enjoy the concept but the plot kinda turns it off for me (not that it’s bad please don’t bash me) Poseidon is one of the 3 major gods, I feel like Odysseus was made to be too overpowered I’d understand if there was a power boost or divine intervention. Poseidon is made to seem weak which contradicts seeing him as a threat. It strays from the original Odyssey way more in this song, and the song is very amazing though I find it silly how Poseidon was defeated and how Odysseus is way too over powered.

And let’s talk about the animation, the person who made it is so very talented but I feel it doesn’t fit, the jet pack windbag? Boss battle? Interesting but it really put me off when I listened and watched it it kinda ruined the aspects for me.

Overall in the end I feel six hundred strike had a good concept and was very great musically but I personally didn’t like the plot of Odysseus defeating Poseidon so easily I mean the man has many different powers aswell? Anyways this is just my personal opinion

Another rant: Also I loved the song “I’m not sorry for loving you” though I feel like if I even said that out loud I’d be bashed by the fandom because, yes, calypso is a bad person I know but the song is really nice and musical it doesnt mean I like the things she’s doing to Odysseus.

Another rant (apologies); I feel like everyone is too blindsided with Odysseus, a lot of people blame everyone but him a lot like he’s just a “cinnamon roll who loves his wife so much and the crew are all a-holes” because like eurylochus he also made mistakes aswell he tries to keep his crew alive abd get home but we do have to accept that this was from Greek mythology he is a flawed character aswell and I enjoy him for that. It makes the audience connect with Odysseus.

Another thing, wisdom saga— I feel Telemachus is used like a child a characterization of a child or teenager unlike the 20 year old he is. It’s a bit off putting for me. And it’s possible to make him innocent and grown such as the use of Polites. Personally he’s like an embodiment of a child and it’s weird to me because he’s a prince and will be king, shouldn’t he have some roles?

Now another thing connecting onto what I just said about ���Odysseus does no wrong” ALOT of people in the fandom seem to use Eurylochus as a scapegoat for their hatred and anger to who’s at fault when it’s really the gods and fate, it’s just something the fandom has created to put the anger on why Odysseus couldn’t get home quickly, and I can understand because we look through Odysseus’s perspective throughout the musical. But personally I feel like Eurylochus gets too much hate he is sadly the scapegoat. Even the crew, but it’s saddening because they also have lives, they had family, they are mere mortals what are they to do? What would you all do in these situations if you didn’t know Odysseus’s plans and inner monologues? How would you act?

It’s honestly saddening you can’t like eurylochus without a person spewing about why they hate him, heck I’ve even seen just simple cute TikTok and art about the man but people place hatred within the comments about the character. And it’s only him, you could like Odysseus, polites, perimedies elpenor, Circe, etc. but hate Eurylochus?

<<This is all I have to rant about this is a safe space on my acc for all opinions so you can comment your own opinions, just don’t be mean to eachother>>

(I’m most likely gonna get hate or bashed sadly for having these opinions though I genuinely enjoy the musical a ton. I feel the fandoms grown a bit toxic lately.)

[sincerelyneo]

i don’t know how to properly articulate my feelings at the moment so let me just rant.

when sm announced that they’d be making a new boy group (riize) i was super excited; especially since the group was set to debut shotaro and sungchan (ex members of nct) who i really liked. and when the group eventually debuted and had good music i was fully ready to tune in and support those boys.

however, when seunghan’s hiatus was announced, my feelings toward the group shifted. all the content and new music just felt off, like there was sad tension around it. for me this was weird because i consider myself ot7, and i love those other six boys a lot (don’t get me wrong), but for me, i couldn’t fully support the group on principle.

this was because every time i saw content of the group i had this gnawing feeling in my mind that would ask the question ‘in what world is it acceptable to punish and penalise a person for having a life?’ people keep pointing out that seunghan was a teenager in those pre-debut photos that were leaked (without his consent, btw), as if it changes anything. whether he was 17, 23 or 40, having romantic relationships is normal, and the fact that he’s being punished for that is just disgusting and disappointing.

i was really excited yesterday when seunghan announced his return. i even thought about officially launching a separate blog that i’ve been working on for riize, which i’d put on the back burner since i was keeping my support minimal. but now, with him withdrawing from the group, it’s honestly left me feeling sick.

i really do love those boys, but i can’t support the group in good conscience—and i feel guilty about it. i think it’s because it’s obvious those boys aren’t being protected. it makes me wonder if the fandom and company would turn their backs on another member if their privacy was similarly violated. that’s what i mean when i talk about it on a principle level.

this whole situation feels dystopian, honestly. it’s insane. and sm keeps allowing it to happen—like with karina apologizing for her relationship not long ago. it’s heartbreaking to see talent and hard work thrown away because people can’t accept that idols are real human beings with lives and emotions, not products to buy and sell.

this is so rambly, and i hope it made sense. i’m just really frustrated by the news and disappointed. and like i said, i still love all seven of those boys, but i’m struggling to fully support the group knowing that sm and these fans have ruined a man’s career without a shred of remorse or care. it’s terrifying, truly.

[inphront]

y’know i’m writing this fic and it’s making me think that maybe we don’t recognize enough as a fandom that a lot of harrow’s guilt and shame, which make her light years more sympathetic as a character, are a.) not actually that moral, b.) directly caused by the ninth, and c.) probably shared with her parents, the only characters in the whole series that i’ve never seen a single post trying to humanize/analyze as complex. like. harrow hates herself for what her parents did and honestly? the most likely reason for this is just that kids subconsciously recognize themselves as extensions of their parents, and *her parents probably hated themselves for what they did.* regularly explaining your crimes against humanity to your five-year-old but only being willing to discuss it in the terms of it being a horrible sin and having to take a ritual cleansing bath every single time is the action of a very guilty person. i have to imagine that those saltwater baths probably included some really intense self-flagellation on the part of harrow’s parents that she internalized. i’d venture so far as to say that their suicides were motivated by guilt over the massacre just as much as by shame over the opening of the tomb.

harrow’s sense of constant guilt is so often seen as proof of her having overcome the imperial morality pushed by the houses, and that makes sense given the fact that she *has* taken a viewpoint by the end of the series that opposes imperial morality, but also, guilt is like the main export of the ninth house. harrow’s relationship to it, even once it stops being something she projects onto gideon or otherwise externalizes, is fundamentally ninth and ties her to what she herself acknowledges as “the worst flaws of her house.” ultimately it is something she inherited just as much as the 200, which to me provokes a lot of questions about how her parents actually coped with the consequences of their own fucked-up actions. gideon experienced that coping as just straight cruelty, but we know that harrow got a much more complex window into their feelings and behaviors, and my guess is those behaviors bore distinct resemblance to hers.

i have to wonder what sorts of systemic pressures were falling on them and their house that led to them killing off a whole generation, and what sort of transformations they underwent. how *do* you live with yourself knowing that the blood of so many innocent people, people you were responsible for *protecting,* is on your hands? how could you possibly raise a well-adjusted child when she’s basically a mirror into an atrocity you could’ve hardly fathomed up till the day you committed it? do you think they tried to? i think they probably tried to, but ultimately being a good parent doesn’t change being a mass murderer, and it’s impossible to pull off at all when the mass murder is so directly tied to your hopes for your child. the ninth’s entire purpose within the empire is to carry the weight and memory of one of the most horrible things john ever did, to *inherit the mass death and necromantic subjugation of the earth.* in this capacity, harrow’s parents are *victims* of the empire and its doctrine around death who proceeded to perpetuate both the mass death and necromantic subjugation AND the task of bearing the burden of shame onto their next generation. i don’t really know where i’m going with this aside from “the ninth’s cycle of violence is based in shame and is an extension of john’s disbelief in forgiveness, which means harrow can’t break it without forgiving something unforgivable; it’ll be interesting to see how she manages such a difficult task,” and “i think we oughtta talk about the politics of guilt as it applies to the entire reverend family dynamic”

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

I’m an OG fan. I ship L/H but how ships are meant to be - your fave pairing, fun, fantasy, fandom activity, not something to discuss publicly much less with the celebs - but I never interacted much in fandom bc I disliked the bizarre obsession with ships being “real”. The “truth” of their sex/love lives is none of our business & was never their value to me. (i’d be much more interested in the truth about their friendships/coworker dynamics but we’ll never get it.) I drifted from the fandom when they went solo bc I saw how Harry was “Timberlake’ing”. No one seemed to see how calculated & ruthlessly ambitious he is, vapid, & fame obsessed. how he only befriends/dates rich, well-connected people. It’s refreshing to learn that blogs like yours exist - that people see him & see what he did to the other guys. Zayn, Louis, Liam - were all at times villainized and scapegoated while he’s treated like a naive princess who can do no wrong. His interviews are so pointless bc he never answers anything honestly. he’d never admit to being a cokehead who purposely deceived & fucked over the others to make sure he could launch his solo career without competition. Zayn tried to outmaneuver him but didn’t have the powerful team behind him & has too much integrity to ever be the kind of “star” Harry is. tbh I enjoy how much it irks harry that Zayn sees through him. It’s wild how sincere the others stayed, how they matured, how they have bigger priorities than money or fame. Harry mimicked Louis’ personality when they were younger, pretending he couldn’t wait to have kids & marry - when really he just wanted to be as rich, promiscuous, and famous as humanly possible. He bootlicks anyone in showbiz, so he has a glowing reputation in the industry - it’s laughable. “TPWK” unless it’s your bandmates who you can’t deign to acknowledge unless it benefits you - hosting SNL or winning an award? ok, mention the band so you get headlines. But like one of their promo posts or even follow them back on IG? heaven forbid, bc that won’t benefit him more than them. It shows his true character that he’s SO successful but still won’t be openly supportive or even seen with them. I don’t think he’s evil but I do think he’s lost to the industry… which is sad, bc there’s once a lot of sweetness there. His eyes have lost their sparkle; he traded it for “success”.

Hi anon,

I was reading this ask and nodding my head right along each sentence. A lot to unpack here, but mostly you’ve said everything I’ve tried to say. I’m not sure if anyone is listening, to be honest! Like you wrote, blogs who don’t worship Harry never become popular. So here I am talking to the air lol. Insanity.

I don’t think Harry is evil either. I think he realizes the trade-offs now, watching his ex-bandmates’ careers slowly build with intentions very different from his, their old ties fading to nothing except when tragedy yokes them back together. He has gazillions in wealth, industry kissing his feet, a lot of women (+ a few men) fantasizing about him, but nothing inside, the lights gone from his eyes years ago. It must feel awkward to stand next to his bandmates again?

Here’s the thing. I’m sure in every circumstance, forever for the foreseeable future, Louis is always going to be the bigger man and speak well of Harry. No matter how many times Louis refutes the idea of Larry, Louis has always said he’s proud of Harry, and I am sure he means it. 100%. No matter what Harry says or does, Louis considers him part of One Direction, his band, and that concept is sacrosanct to him. “We move as one.”

What Louis has in his heart is worth a million Manchester Co-ops. It is priceless. No one can take it away— no Kardashian money, no Rolling Stone cover, no Anna Wintour, no A-list actress or acting role. Nothing. What Louis has is the feeling of loyalty and unity that is the epitome of the song he wrote, Strong. “I don’t care, I’m not scared of love.” It’s not romantic love, at least not anymore, but what Louis describes in Only The Brave— the love that comes from the deepest pain, from uncomfortable truths, alienation, grief— broken beaks and dead birds— the love that requires moral courage. “Because love is only for the brave.” Louis earned it by going through fire, the love that endures because he chose to respect it, intentionally, over all the other things.

Last, Zayn’s intentionality is also transparent for those who open their eyes and see. I’m glad to see that Zayn is touring, and choosing to play the same smaller venues as Louis when he first started his tour. I’m also glad to see Louis communicating via social media. It’s not actual friendship, but a step! It means so much.

Louis and Zayn aren’t perfect people— far from it— but they chose to stay grounded and chose to preserve some part of their humanity. I know they haven’t always been their best selves. But who they are, especially who Louis is, is so endearing, and so inspiring.

[pixl-place]

as much as i have personal beef with nora for the way she does not gaf about the foxes or their trauma (this is a joke pls don’t come for me) i am honestly looking forward to the rest of the tsc trilogy to maybe redeem her for that, possibly positioning those books as a, sort of, foil to the main series. one thing i feel like people really don’t get about the main series is how deeply rooted in the trauma of its characters it is. like some of them are going through actively depicted trauma throughout the series. i think that’s another reason why there’s such a clear divide between the upper classmen and the monsters, because the upper classmen are already in the process of healing from or at least bettering themselves a little bit in terms of their trauma. the only time the monsters are even remotely close to that is andrew and aaron going to sessions with bee. for the most part, they’re actively going through events that are traumatic. the series is not about them healing, which is why i think a lot of the fandom becomes so divided about characterization, we are not necessary seeing them for their true selves, we are seeing them through the lens of unhealthy coping mechanisms and layers of pain. but back to my original point about tsc it really centers the idea of healing in a way that (don’t even get my started on the extra content 🙄) the foxes never get to experience in their books. i’ve seen a lot of people be like oh yeah i can’t wait for more angst, and yes, there’s no easy way to heal from trauma, it is extremely rough so there will undoubtedly be angst moments from jean and maybe even jeremy if we find out what’s up with him. but i think a really key thing to talk about is that the sadness is a jumping point for happiness and healing. like the romance aspect of the story is important because we are seeing them heal together and actually get good things ! sure it’s important that they do reflect on that trauma which will means that trauma is present in the books (angst hours) but i do really like that tsc is tame and “boring”, that they get boba and coffee, and get to live like normal college kids despite it all. i would really love more of the fandom to embrace that for the foxes too tbh. again with all love to her, i think nora accidentally built them into a trauma prison and it would be nice to see all of the characters escaping out of that.

tldr: i’m sick of people only liking this series for its sucky shit cause i would like to see characters healing depicted in media !! (esp to this quite accurate degree)

[your-unfriendlyghost]

sodapop patrick curtis thoughts on my desk by the end of the week or ur DONE /j

How I feel about this character

  Uh like he’s perfect and should be my wife i think

  Nah but fr Soda’s one of my favorite characters ever. He’s sweet and all, but he’s so much more than that. Pony says he’s movie-star handsome, that he can go from gentle one minute to “blazing with anger” the next, that he gets drunk just on living, and understands everybody. Soda’s a Kerouac-style “mad one”- “mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes Awww!”

He’s a guy who’s sensitive but strong, a “bawl baby” who’s tough, he’s probably got ADHD and dyslexia, the school system failed him. His folks died and left him holding his brothers together by a thread. He’s pretty but not pretty enough for Sandy to stay. He might end up dying in Vietnam, and thank God that isn’t canon, but it’s still there. He’s happy to live life simply, behind a white picket fence with a wife and kids- hell, he’s thrilled to. But that’s not gonna happen, at least not for a while, because Soda is a tragedy. But he loves his brothers and his friends so much that he becomes a beacon of hope despite it all.

  I love Soda. Honestly, this barely scratches the surface of how I feel about him. I haven’t even touched on the adrenaline junkie stuff or the ways he’s sometimes so relatable to me that it hurts. 

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Steve, and sometimes Evie. 

  I’ve found I’m a friends-to-lovers enjoyer, so Stevepop scratches that part of my brain lol. To have someone who’s got your back through thick and thin, aware of your flaws but in spite of them- well, ain’t that the dream? The angst of it being the 60s makes it interesting to me too, because there’s a lot of ways to handle that. Man, when I first read the book I didn’t get the hype for them at all, but idk. It clicked. I get it now. 

  And then Steviepop is my roman empire lol. It’s all I love about Stevepop, but Evie adds even more complexity. I like her a lot and I love writing her, and I love writing her with characters who I also love. There is absolutely no canon anything to back this ship up. But dammit that’s the point of fandom.

  I will say though that I like exploring Soda’s dynamic with Sandy, but I don’t really ship them. I think the fact that Sandy left him (and I mean cheated on him, even if that can be read ambiguously) implies that there’s something about him that could be undesirable, romantically. I don’t mean cheating is good or that people deserve it, just that in this case, the idea that Soda’s an imperfect boyfriend adds layers to a character who is mostly just positives. We’ll never know Sandy’s POV on it, and I don’t think Soda will either. Sandypop to me will never have closure. That’s what makes it hurt so much. That’s what makes it relatable

My non-romantic OTP for this character

  I mean honestly? Steve. I know this isn’t really fair, since I like Stevepop and all, but idk, there’s no one else who I think it could be. 

  Steve’s a character who’s cocky and troubled and prone to assholeish-ness, but even he loves Soda. He knows about Sandy and gets angry on Soda’s behalf at Pony for mentioning her, which means Soda can tell him- angry, tough Steve Randle- about sensitive stuff. And Soda, who I think is a little in love with everyone he meets and could have anyone he wants, sees this bastard and sticks with him. He sees the parts of Steve that Pony can’t. Parts that make him worthy of being his best buddy.

It’s been said before, but no matter how you look at it, romantic or platonic, they’re each other’s person. I don’t think I could put anyone else in this slot.

My unpopular opinion about this character

 I have a few lol.

1- I see a lotta fics and takes where the whole “drunk on living” thing is a lie Soda feeds Ponyboy, and while I like that take, I do also think it’s totally possible and even plausible that Soda really doesn’t drink and Pony’s view of him (in that aspect) is right.

  I dunno, I mean, I know firsthand what it’s like to just get drunk on adrenaline/excitement. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug, and the rush from it is better than any other high I’ve had. Thrill rides make me act as stupid as someone drinking- when I’m excited, I lose all ability to filter thoughts or fight impulses. I’ve done all sorts of dumb moves- climbing onto tables, singing loudly without knowing or caring if it bothers people, play-fighting my buddies so hard we both get genuinely injured, standing up in a convertible going down the freeway... (This is obviously anecdotal and not real evidence or anything, but like, duh. This is an opinion piece lol.)

  I guess what I’m saying is that there’s a lot of interesting things that can still be done with a Soda who genuinely doesn’t drink. (Or at least not much.)

2- I love darker takes on Soda. I love when people dig into his addictive personality, his temper, his relationship with his looks/self image, all that stuff. I love his flaws, and I especially love when they co-exist with his earnest sweetness and genuine sensitivity. In a few of my fics, I’ve explored some slightly darker Sodas- Sodas who are impulsive, pent up, semi-narcissistic and occasionally manipulative. I haven’t delved deep into it or anything, and I usually keep his character wholesome, but I love it when other folks don’t. 

3- I actually really like the Vietnam War storyline. I mean it hurts, but it seems plausible. I hate the idea of him dying there, but I like exploring the idea of him being drafted. Hell, maybe he even enlisted. The military is known for being a good way to earn enough money to pull one’s family out of poverty, and this paired with the flawed ideas of masculinity and strength of the time lead to a really interesting version of Soda’s future.

  I’m real glad it isn’t canon though.

4- This isn’t technically unpopular but brown eyed Soda will always be canon to me. I like Rob Lowe’s Soda a lot but man….he coulda used brown contacts, yk? /hj lol

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Well I still think it’s a crime his emotional monologue got cut outta the original version of the film. Thank God for the full novel version, but man, still.

Woulda also have been cool to see him mentioned in That Was Then This is Now, but I get that SE Hinton wasn’t trying to make an Outsiders sequel really.

Idk, Soda served his purpose, I think. 

tl;dr- I love him

[funhouse-mirror-barbie]

My problem with Sallie May—a discussion of representation:

There’s been some discourse around Sallie May lately that’s gotten me thinking more about her. Not really as a character, but what her purpose is in the narrative and how she’s treated by the fandom and the show’s creators.

Sallie May is an interesting case study in representation without depth, and I wanted to talk a little more about what that means.

OPINION DISCLAIMER—I’m gonna be talking about how I personally view lgbtq+ and queer representation and what I consider to be well-rounded representation vs. empty or shallow representation.

Also. I am only one member of the queer community—I don’t speak for all lgbtq+ people, and I am DEFINITELY NOT trying to talk over other’s experiences. My opinions are my own, and if you agree with me, cool! And if you don’t agree with me, that’s great too!!

Also also. I don’t think I should have to say this but, this is NOT a personal attack on ANYONE involved w/i the production and creation of Helluva Boss. This is my own analysis, b/c I like to talk about media and the ways we interact with and interpret it.

So, with all of that out of the way, if you’re interested in my analysis, let’s talk about Sallie May!! (TLDR @ end of post)

First do want to make it clear that my issue is not actually with her like…existing. Or with her general characterization. Mostly because, even with Hell’s Belles, she still doesn’t really have a very strong characterization to begin with, and isn’t a fully-fleshed out character.

In her initial appearance she was a bit-character, bordering on just being a straight up background character. She had three lines in her debut (and to date, ONLY) appearance in the show proper.

Until Hell’s Belles we knew next to nothing about her other than that she likes violence and also that she has a neighborhood body count? Which. I don’t know if they were trying to imply that she’s a serial killer, I doubt that was the intent. Or maybe they were. I can’t know.

Regardless, I honestly believe they didn’t really think the implications of that writing decision through at all. There’s a very real and very harmful “trans serial killer/murderer” trope in media, and while the impact is definitely lessened by the vast majority of HB characters being violent murderers—it still feels weird having the only trans character we’ve seen at this point be literally INTRODUCED to the audience by the fact that she’s a murderer, and to then be given NO further information on her.

Luckily, we DID get more information about Sallie, even if it was still very little and surface level. In Hell’s Belles we learn that Sallie May and Millie used to be a lot closer, and that Sallie May felt left behind when Millie moved to the big city.

In the short, Sallie May expresses her frustration with having to pick up the slack around their family’s ranch, and that she’s been lonely without Millie there. Millie and Sally have a little heart to heart and are able to make up, and the short ends.

This is a nice little piece of backstory, and does give us slightly more insight into Sallie May and what her life is like, but because the episode is a short, we still really don’t get to know her as a person.

Like Millie, Sallie May doesn’t have any real depth. We only know starter information about her, like that she cares about her family, and that she’s violent.

But unlike Millie, Sallie May is a minor character. She has (at the time of my writing this) appeared in ONE episode of the actual show, and one short. She is a minor character, and the ONLY transgender character in the show with a name and lines.

So. Okay. Why does literally any of that matter??? Who cares if Sallie May is an under-developed minor background character??

Well, in my opinion, it matters because the show-runners frame and treat Sallie May as if she is a main character, without actually writing her—or any trans character for that matter—as a main character.

This really rubs me the wrong way, because it comes across as tokenism.

In my opinion since she was introduced, Sallie May has become a token transgender character—an excuse for the HB writers to not write or develop more transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse characters and stories, because they already have one.

I worry that, if anyone rightfully points out that HB is severely lacking in gender-diverse characters and storylines, the creators and fandom will point to Sallie May as “proof” that they do have representation.

If HB is as radically queer and LGBTQ+ friendly as it claims to be, why do we only have ONE named trans character in the show’s 5 years of existence?

Due to all of the above, I find I can’t agree with people who praise the show for its representation, because of how stunted it is. I just don’t think I, or anyone, should have to read sources outside of the narrative to learn important parts of a character’s identity.

I feel this very deeply as a lesbian and nonbinary person—I understand that most of the women characters in Helluva Boss are sapphic, but I ONLY know that because of the HB Pride Print that came out just this year. I have not actually gotten to SEE any of these character’s sexualities fully represented, and it’s because of this that I struggle to see myself represented in HB in any way.

I do need to clarify that what I am NOT SAYING is that no one can feel represented by Sallie May, or that if they do, they’ve been tricked somehow by writers into thinking they got more representation than they actually did.

Sallie May is a very popular character, and because of that I honestly would like to see more of her. I want to see more of her because she’s the only trans character on the show, and I want her to be properly developed.

I talked previously about how I enjoyed Hell’s Belles, but wished we had gotten to see more of Sallie and Millie’s relationship in the actual show. Their relationship has a lot of potential to show the unique ways in which siblings interact and navigate conflict, but we only got to see a few seconds of them interacting in Sallie’s debut. The short gives us an idea of what Sallie’s personality is like, but it’s so brief that I still don’t feel like we really KNOW her on a deeper level.

To me, three lines + one short with a brief backstory doesn’t feel like the sort of amazing representation that fans of the show laud Helluva Boss for.

As a series that often boasts about its queer and trans rep and inclusivity, I can’t help but feel like Sallie May should either have been a main character from the very beginning, or that she shouldn’t have been trotted out like some sort of bastion of trans representation, when the only indication she is trans is her horns/white roots.

And yes. As a genderqueer gay I KNOW that it can be extremely tiring to have all of our stories revolve around our struggles and ONLY be about being LGBTQ+. I also want to see a variety of stories about queer people like me going on adventures and getting to do things that don’t revolve around our struggles. But I also want to still actually see myself represented.

Not just know outside the story that, “oh that character is nonbinary, but it will not be mentioned in the narrative in any way and will not ever be important in the context of this character I’m supposed to see myself in.”

Madeline Maye talked about this specifically in her critique of Helluva Boss, and her pointing this out was kind of what made me realize that, yeah. Anyone watching Helluva Boss for the first time would probably have NO IDEA that Sallie Mae is a transgender woman.

It also made me realize that the only reason I knew that Sallie May was trans was because her VA, Morgana Ignis, who is also a trans woman, tweeted about it, and the official Helluva Boss Twitter retweeted it.

The original tweet is hidden now (Ignis has since left Twitter—idk why, I genuinely hope it wasn’t due to harassment—that’s never okay) but I was able to confirm that this was the case based on the HB wiki, and the official HB’s retweet still being up:

The only confirmation we’ve ever had that Sallie May is transgender has been outside of the show—either from social media Q&As and the show’s wiki or merch—

Sallie May has a LOT of merch. Like a lot, this isn’t even all of it. And yes, SOME of the merch is from the recently released “Hell’s Belles” short, but the vast majority of it is from the 3 years since her initial introduction.

The vast majority of it is also highly sexualized, and highlights Sallie’s penis through her swimsuit. Now, I’m aware that Morgana Ignis requested this, and I honestly don’t have too much of an opinion on it. I’m not a trans woman, and I’ve seen multiple opinions from trans women on this design choice for Sally’s merch. I’ve seen some trans women say that they liked and felt represented by this choice, and some say that they felt objectified and that it made them dysphoric. This is one of those situations where I don’t think everyone can be pleased—like I said at the beginning of this post, LGBTQ+ people are as diverse in their opinions as we are in our identities and self-expression, and I think everyone’s feelings regarding Sallie’s portrayals in the merch are valid.

I bring it up because, other than the wiki explaining that Sallie May has “male horns”, this is the only other way to confirm that Sally is trans, as it is never acknowledged in the story. I bring it up because I don’t think merch should be the only way an LGBTQ character’s identity is validated.

I assume that all of Sallie Mae’s merch is because of her popularity, but I also can’t help but wonder if this has contributed to the impression that Sallie is a main character, when, in the narrative so far, she is still a minor one.

I don’t believe that when she was originally created to be a “token trans” character, but since her introduction, there have not been any main characters that are transgender, nonbinary, or genderqueer.

We’ve only had one other trans character with a speaking role—this imp:

Who is FTM. He seems to know Blitz from a while back, and talks Blitz into staying at the party. Then he watches him drunkenly make out with random people with another (I assume) trans imp who is probably MTF:

(Also—as an aside, this scene kinda bothers me?? I don’t THINK this was the intention at all, but having a VERY CLEARLY drunk off of his ass Blitz, who can’t meaningfully consent at this time, being watched, and almost like…leered at by two of the only visibly trans characters in the show…it feels gross. Like why are two of the only other confirmed trans characters voyeuristically watching a drunk man who can’t consent making out? It would be one thing if we had a story full of different trans characters who acted in all sorts of different ways, but at this time these two are 2/3rds of the show’s ENTIRE trans rep. With the other 1/3rd being introduced to us as a serial killer. Like. Guys. What is it that you’re trying to say?)

Apparently Sallie May’s VA has stated the below on Social Media, and stated that there’s a lot more coming for Sallie May in the future. And that’s great!!! I really really want to believe that.

But I look at the above and can’t help but wonder…if this is the case, why did it take three years for her to get another appearance? In just a short? Why wasn’t she given more focus and importance from the very beginning, in her introductory episode? If her original appearance wasn’t representative of her and Millie’s relationship then why did they even write it that way???

I want to believe all of the above—that Sallie May actually WILL get to become a main character. But I look at the way she’s been barely portrayed, and the way that she’s basically been used to just sell merch, and it makes me sad.

I would love to see more of her, more of any trans characters that aren’t 2 second background characters, but I honestly have a hard time believing we ever will when the episodes take as long as the do to come out, and the when the episodes focus so heavily on shipping pre-existing pairings.

As a lesbian, I would love to see Sallie May get a girlfriend, but given Spindlehorse’s track record with lackluster sapphic pairings and representation, I don’t have much hope of seeing that either.

I just. If you managed to get all the way through this heinously long post, thank you for reading. If you didn’t, that’s very fair (lol) and I’ve got the tldr for you here—

TLDR:

—My issue with Sallie May is not actually with Sallie May at all. It’s with the fact that we don’t get enough of Sallie May, or any trans characters, for that matter.

—You can, of course, feel represented by any character, but I think it’s important to ask yourself how you are being represented, and if you are actually being represented.

—Not every queer/trans/lgbt story has to explicitly be about being queer. The stories in which we are represented should be as diverse and vibrant as all the members of our community. But, I still want to actually be able to tell and to see that the characters are lgbtq+. If a character is a lesbian or sapphic, I want to see her show an interest in other women. If a character is transgender I want to see that acknowledged by the narrative, whether it’s the character mentioning their transition or just saying they’re trans. I want to SEE myself and other queer identities. Not just know that they’re there.

[spaceagebachelormann]

alright. Maybe I am attracted to black and white classic monsters. Maybe I did read your Adam Frankenstein fanfiction even though I don’t quite know if he’s the monster or just some other guy related to the scientist. Maybe I’ll request something.

I notice you don’t have any Jekyll and Hyde fanfiction. I can help with that. Maybe falling in love with both Jekyll and Hyde? Like, being in love with both and not knowing who to choose? Don't know if you can write something like that, but man am I thinking about it.

✧.* 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐇 𝐃𝐑. 𝐉𝐄𝐊𝐘𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐑. 𝐇𝐘𝐃𝐄

╰┈➤ MASTERLIST. NAVIGATION.

╰┈➤ CARMILLAS NOTES: black and white monsters are so hot bbg nobody is blaming u 🙏 also if it helps adam frankenstein is a name for the monster given by the fandom because the creature/monster feels rlly mean. also if u have any other jekyll and hyde or frankenstein requests, i’m your girl

╰┈➤ WARNINGS: mentions of murder (its jekyll and hyde)

oh you poor soul

falling in love with them both is a horrible, horrible, mistake

jekyll is pretty oblivious to it, he just thinks you’re being nice, but he is suspicious because you’re being a little to nice

but for the most part he doesn’t overthink it

hyde, though, knows almost immediately

and it really amuses him

will start kinda rudely flirting with you and affectionately bullying you simply because he finds your reactions funny

will very subtly compliment you in some way and have to stop himself from laughing when you turn bright red

when jekyll finds out about this he is extremely embarrassed

embarrassed at the way hyde is acting and embarrassed he didn’t realize sooner

he begins thinking, and it really explains quite a lot

it explains the way you act around both of them, how you go out of your way to do things for them, how you switch up when your alone with them than with other people

jekyll is both honoured and terrified that you actually like him

it puts both of them at an impasse because they can’t agree on what to do

hyde wants to keep tormenting you and messing with your mind into thinking he likes you (he’s not even sure if he does or not)

but jekyll wants to either politely reject you or ask you out in a meaningful way

the main issue is they don’t know if they really do like you or not

hyde is mainly just surprised and almost disgusted you actually like him, but he’s too interested to not be more curious than anything

because, honestly, him?? of all people??

jekyll is sure he also likes you, but he’s also refusing to admit it because of hyde

he’s mainly concerned of what he’ll do to you if your feeling for him are one sided, he doesn’t want you to end up hurt

he’d rather die than be the reason someone else is hurt (that’s why hyde is there, but in this case he doesn’t even want hyde to do it)

they accidentally avoid you while trying to figure out what they’re supposed to do

hydes urge to kill you (if he ever really even had one) is gone almost immediately, he just thinks your very stupid and amusing now

he almost. almost adores you

the situation is much worse for you in your perspective

you like both a murderer and a sociopath, it’s not great for you

even worse you’re convinced you have to choose just one

and they’re also both kind of avoiding you which is really horrible

they don’t even realize they’re doing it, which is the worst part

so, while you’re trying to figure out who’s the best option for you, they’re trying to figure out if they both even like you

well actually they’re sure they do, they just can’t agree on a way to move forward

once their little era of avoiding you is over, they’re both very nice (hyde is nice in his own way)

jekyll invites you over and gives you a long meaningful talk about their feelings and where they are in figuring it out, and he also gives an apology for accidentally ignoring you for a week or two

hyde is still pretty much himself, but you find him looking at you more often and offering to kill people you mentioned not liking before

he most likely does it, even if you don’t want him too

he goes back to his regular affectionate(ish, you can’t tell if he’s being really serious or not) and slightly crude flirting

but now you know he really does mean it

you all take your time in finding out how you’d like to proceed, until they both just confess to you and you use hydes idea of just moving forward and figuring everything out as you go along

[king-candybug-backup]

Hello! You may not remember me, but I’m the anon with NPD from a while ago that talked about really appreciating how you wrote KCB’s processing of the twins’ deaths. I’m back again because, well, I have a LOT to say about the new chapter…

I don’t think I’ve ever ugly-cried that hard reading a fic in my life. I actually had to take a break halfway through Vanny and KCB’s fight because I was crying so much that I couldn’t read, lol. You have no idea how much it means to me, not only that one of my favorite writers sees Turbo in the same light that I do, but also being able to read a piece of fanfiction that actually understands me. I’ve been an avid fic reader for a few years now, and I’ve never had this experience with a fanfiction before. I’ve not read a lot of fics that address NPD directly in the first place (I think I’ve come across maybe two before this one? I know there’s bound to be more, but that’s all I’ve found in the particular fandoms I’ve been in.) and even then, it was framed in a more “NPD = Evil Person” kind of light, which was a huge bummer for me. And then, for those fics that don’t address it directly but are about characters that have heavily implied NPD, the authors either completely strip away the qualities that come with having NPD, or frame it as something that can be “fixed” through “the power of redemption” or something. 🙄 It’s so frustrating. So, I’m beyond happy at how you managed to keep Turbo feeling like himself while also addressing the painful aspect of NPD that so many people don’t care enough about to acknowledge. Honestly, this topic was handled so well and respectfully that I was quite surprised to read how nervous you were about it in the chapter notes. Please rest assured that you’ve done an amazing job, and I think the fact that you were this worried about it in the first place just goes to show how much respect and care you put into addressing NPD at all. :-)

The relationship with Vanellope is also just… wow. AMAZINGLY done! I love how, even though they don’t really understand each other, Vanellope has been picking up on things that bother him and working towards making adjustments to make everything more comfortable to work through. Her putting a stop to the “pet” comments is probably the most obvious example, but the part of their developing friendship that I like the most is the way their teasing of each other has developed. One of my favorite parts about the fic as a whole has been the way Vanellope continuously reassures him that her teasing isn’t actually malicious. How, in the beginning, she could see the way that he could never tell if she was trying to insult him or not, and making sure to clarify that it’s all in good fun every step of the way. I love how it was carefully sprinkled throughout a bunch of the chapters, and how it showed King Candy slowly coming around to it. He can still be pretty mean with some of his remarks at times, sure, but it really feels like he’s grown a lot more comfortable and casual in the playful teasing aspect of things, and that growth is so satisfying to see! 

I also am so in love with how Vanellope, as good as her intentions may be, can easily fall into the trap of assuming we can just “choose” not to feel like this. It’s like the “Have you tried NOT being depressed?” meme, but instead it’s “Have you tried NOT having NPD?” Lol. I’ve definitely had moments of major frustration in how even other neurodivergent people sometimes act like my disorder is something I could just “turn off”, even though they of all people should know that’s not how it works. (On the topics of choice, though, I also really appreciate that she acknowledges the terrible things he did can’t be excused by the way his brain works, and he has to take accountability for the things he chose to do. That whole scene struck the perfect balance of her being sympathetic to the feelings he can’t control, but also mindful enough to know there was a level of personal choice involved that can’t be blamed on the NPD.)

Lastly, one more thing I’d like to say is how much I adore your commentary on Felix’s interpretation of the Roadblasters event. That’s something that’s always bothered me as well, and the “unreliable narrator” comment is something I think fits perfectly to the situation. How in the absolute hell am I supposed to take Felix’s word for it, all things considered? The way Vanellope describes the inconsistencies is pretty much on point. It can’t have been something as basic as “simple jealousy”. Turbo kamikaze’d another cabinet. That is not a fucking normal reaction. There had to have been far more to Turbo’s mental state than what we were told, and it frustrates me to my core how it was all completely swept over. Apologies for the massive rant, I’m just so thrilled that this fic exists and I desperately want you to know how much it means to me! I see a lot of my own struggles in the way you write KCB, and I’m tearing up again just thinking about it. It has always been one of my top favorites from the WIR fandom since chapter 3, but after this chapter, Kill Switch has just skyrocketed to becoming my top favorite fanfiction of all time, and it’s not even close. In a world that can be so uncaring towards people like me, you made me feel seen and understood, and I can’t thank you enough for that. 💕

I’M SORRY FOR MAKING YOU CRY, BUT IF IT MAKES YOU FEEL ANY BETTER, THIS ASK JUST MADE ME CRY TOO, SO LET’S CALL IT EVEN 😭😭😭😭💖💖💖💖💖💖

ABSOLUTELY NO WORRIES ABOUT THE LENGTHY ASK, LIKE SERIOUSLY TRUST ME I LOVE LONG ASKS A LOT, ALSO BE WARNED I AM GOING TO DO A LOT OF RAMBLING IN RESPONSE BECAUSE I HAVE SOOOOOOO MANY THOUGHTS ON THIS YOU HAVE NO IDEA SFGJDHVJB (ALSO OMFG SERIOUSLY THANK YOU SO MUCH, IT MAKES ME BEYOND HAPPY THAT SOME SILLY IMPULSE FIC OF MINE COULD MEAN THAT MUCH TO SOMEBODY 😭 LIKE I’M ABOUT TO EXPLODE OVER HERE, AAAUUUGGGHH) ALSO YOUR ASK MADE ME DRAW A DUMB THING LMFAO:

Vanellope’s progression of how she sees KCB in this fic be like-

Bro is on the fast-track to becoming a statistic at this point 😭

That being said bro has hit MULTIPLE rock-bottoms and yet keeps cockroaching his way back up the food chain SO LIKE WHO REALLY KNOWS LMAOO

I’ve already talked a few peoples’ ears off about aspects of this (Y’ALL KNOW WHO YOU ARE LMAO), but I AM ABOUT TO DO IT AGAIN BECAUSE OH MY GODDDD. SO MANY THINGS TO SAY. (Also some of my rambling here is just gonna be elaborating on crud I already mentioned in chapter notes BUT WHATEVER, I'MA RAMBLE ANYWAY-)

Yeahhh, tbh, my biggest concern was about, like, writing about it as somebody who doesn’t actually have it myself, but also I was nervous about the whole stereotypical “give the villain NPD” thing because it’s, like, always villains that are getting headcanoned with it, lol? And I know that in and of itself can be iffy. 😭 I just wanted to be super duper clear that I wasn’t trying to frame it as, like what you said, a whole “NPD = Evil Person” kind of thing, like I was struggling to know if my intentions were coming off right sgfdhcgvhbj BUT IT SEEMS LIKE IT IS COMING OFF WELL, SO AAAAAAAAA I’M SO RELIEVED LOL. Like, I cannot believe that we are in the year 2025 and people STILL think it’s okay to de-humanize an entire group of people for disorders they have zero choice in having. Holy shit, people. (Hell, even just, like, a week ago I saw a post from someone with diagnosed NPD talking about how they were trying to have a healthy relationship with their sister and keep her needs in mind regarding a wedding situation and stuff, and a bunch of the comments were like “YOU CAN’T ACTUALLY HAVE NPD BECAUSE PEOPLE WITH NPD DON’T CARE AT ALL ABOUT THIS KIND OF STUFF, SO YOU MUST NOT ACTUALLY HAVE NPD” and it made me want to bang my head against a f’ckin’ wall lmfao, NPD FOLKS ARE NOT SHALLOW STEREOTYPE CARDBOARD CUT-OUTS, PEOPLE. THEY ARE COMPLEX HUMAN BEINGS JUST LIKE ANYBODY ELSE. HOLY SHIT, LOL.)

THANK YOU SO MUCH ON THE VANELLOPE THING BTW, THAT WAS ONE OF THE SCENES I WAS MOST WORRIED ABOUT BECAUSE IMO IT FELT REALLY NOT-SUBTLE AND AWKWARDLY WRITTEN LMAO, BUT I FELT IT WAS MORE IMPORTANT TO CLARIFY THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN CHOICE AND LIKE, BRAIN CHEMISTRY I GUESS, SO IT WOULDN’T SOUND LIKE I WAS DOING SOMETHING LIKE, “You’re terrible BECAUSE you have NPD” THAT’S NOT THE MESSAGING I WANTED TO GET ACROSS SO I GOT KINDA ON-THE-NOSE ABOUT IT IN THAT PART HGFDCFGJVHBJ– All that being said, I am VERY happy that the overdirect nature of that scene didn’t ruin it HFDGFGJKGVFJH Vanellope is a SWEETHEART but I imagine she would certainly not be immune to making the assumption that people with Cluster B disorders can just “stop it but choose not to” ghhjffchgvjbk LIKE I DON’T THINK BRO IS ALL TOO THRILLED ABOUT HAVING HIS SELF-WORTH BE TOTALLY RELIANT ON COMPLETELY EXTERNAL FACTORS EITHER, VANNY (That being said, her ignorance is more easily excused due to her being literally 9, and even then, she’s still more compassionate and understanding than like 90% of the arcade LMAO *sobs*) 

AND FELIX, GOD, FELIX. Felix is a good dude, but we know from the movie that he’s extremely oblivious to other people’s suffering. While it was never clarified in canon exactly HOW well he knew Turbo before the Roadblasters incident, I’m of the opinion that it wouldn’t really have changed how he narrated the situation whether they had been close or not? Like, hell, he knew Ralph for 30 years, literally SAW RALPH GO TURBO, and STILL was all shocked Pikachu face when Ralph was like “Hey, people treated me like a criminal for my entire life” LIKE BRO??? FELIX, YOU WERE LITERALLY THERE, MY DUDE, WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED???????

Anyways, slight side tangent aside, that’s why I think that, no matter which way you spin Felix and Turbo’s past relationship, Felix was always going to end up being a bit of an unreliable narrator. He had NO WAY of knowing what was really going through Turbo’s head that pushed him to invade Roadblasters, and while his assessment of the situation was sort of correct in a VERY surface-level kind of way, to just portray it as “Lol Turbo got jealous and tried to take over the new game” is both EXTREMELY oversimplifying the situation and also making a lot of assumptions that he’d have no way to truly confirm without asking Turbo directly. Given everything we know about how devastating an unplugging is for game citizens, it’s pretty easy to guess that that’s one of the big motivators behind Turbo's actions, like, the possibility of his game being replaced by the shiny new one, leaving TurboTime at a pretty big risk of unplugging, not having the love of the players anymore... Felix framed it more like Turbo had one bad Tuesday and then went psycho rather than, like, the HUGE emotional/mental blow that it all would’ve been to Turbo. Like, Turbo 100% HAD TO HAVE KNOWN he was straight-up HEAVILY risking his life by pulling that stunt, like, even if he didn’t necessarily plan on Roadblasters getting unplugged, he still crashed into another car in a game that was not his own, and every character knows you DO NOT regenerate outside of your own game, like, BRO WASN’T JUST OUT FOR BLOOD, HE WAS FULL-ON THROWING HIS LIFE AWAY AT THAT POINT, HE WAS DESPAIRING HARD, I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL. IF THEY’RE GOING TO GIVE HIM CONCERNING TRAITS AND NOT ELABORATE ON IT THEN THEY’RE GOING TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH ME GETTING INTO THE NITTY GRITTIES OF THE DEPRESSING PARTS OF NPD AND INTERPRETING HIS ACTIONS FROM THAT LENS. NOBODY CAN STOP ME GHFSGDCJFHV  (Obviously NOT saying Turbo was in the right AT ALL, he was 100% OBVIOUSLY in the wrong and straight-up got people killed with no remorse lmao, I just think people also kind of completely stopped thinking of Turbo as a person after that and instead this “thing”, COMPLETELY “other”ing him from everybody else. While Turbo’s actions were beyond extreme, it’s also not totally impossible to see where his thought process was at the time, especially considering the overall culture of the arcade. (I do think Felix’s use of the term “take over” in the script was more meant as a hint or foreshadowing to his becoming of King Candy, but like, yeah, point is, we learn about all of that through Felix’s interpretation of events, not Turbo’s, and we all know how unreliable Felix can be at reading people who are in unfortunate circumstances FGHDGFGJVFGH (Not bashing Felix at all though, that’s honestly the biggest thing I like about him as a character, he’s clearly very well-intentioned and wants everybody to get along, but they allow him to be flawed in the way of being a little ignorant of other people’s feelings (at first, anyway) and I LOVE THAT A LOT FROM A WRITING STANDPOINT, IT WORKS SUPER WELL)

As a side thing, I think it’s important to note that there is ABSOLUTELY no way I’m the first person to write him from this kind of perspective, I’ve seen good analysis posts about him having NPD too, so I’m sure there’s gotta be more fan works that approach him from this angle, I just haven’t personally seen a lot of what’s out there since I’m so late to the fandom, rip. 😭 (That’s not to say I don’t appreciate the compliments because I VERY MUCH DO, YOUR ASK HAS MADE MY ENTIRE MONTH TBH, I just also don’t wanna come across like, presenting my take on it as wholly unique or anything like that, because I know for sure it is not lmao) ALSO YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT @orbofrommyshows AND @badbugbotblood's FICS BECAUSE THEY VIEW TURBO PSYCHOLOGICALLY IN A LOT OF THE SAME WAYS THAT I DO SO YOU'LL PROBABLY LIKE THOSE ONES GHFDCFVHJN

Also I need to give a huge huge HUUUGE thanks to @saltnpepperbunny helping me better understand things about stuff like the “narc high” and the “narc crash” and some other things, I had been initially struggling a lot with these kinds of scenes in regards to writing the emotions of King Candy because of how hard it is to find actually good sources that elaborate on NPD behaviours in meaningful ways, so they were a MASSIVE help by phrasing things in a way that clicked a lot easier for my brain to understand, it really really helped me with stuff like this chapter in particular, better phrasing some of the future scenes yet to come, as well as going back to rephrase some of the older scenes that I wasn’t super happy with (still have a lot that are a bit on the "meh" side, but oh well, they can’t all be winners lol), so like, HUGE MASSIVE PROPS TO THEM! They also have their own fanfic about a character with NPD called Beacon, it’s for a different fandom but like, THEY’RE SUCH A GOOD WRITER I FEEL LIKE IT DOESN’T EVEN MATTER IF YOU’RE IN THAT FANDOM OR NOT, like trust me, this author is BASED AF and if you’re wanting to find another story that won’t demonize NPD, I can ASSURE you that this one is going to knock your socks off, definitely worth checking out!!! :D (I know I’m talking it up a lot when there’s only like one chapter out, but the reason I’m so confident is because they tackle A LOT of stigmatized disorders in their works overall (hence why I reached out to them in the first place in regards to NPD) and they always do a SPECTACULAR job, so like, yeah, very skilled writer!!! Highly HIGHLY recommend!!!!!!) If you like my writing you will DEFINITELY like SaltnPepper’s because it’s like on a WHOLE other level of quality fr, I don’t say this in a self-deprecating way or anything like that btw like I am VERY happy with Kill Switch and I know that lots of people are enjoying it so don’t take this as anything like me shitting on my own fic or something, what I mean is that this particular author is like. OBJECTIVELY skilled in a way that completely blows my mind lmao, like their writing style and storytelling skills are BEYOND impressive TRUST ME ON THIS OKAY- HI PEPPER SORRY FOR RANDOMLY GUSHING ABOUT YOU IN A COMPLETELY UNRELATED FANDOM I just needed anon to know about Beacon for the awesome NPD rep incoming, lol

I’d say the biggest thing about the whole scenario that’s kinda not portrayed well (imo) is like, the whole chapter comes off as pretty “on the nose”, like, the dialogue is a little unnatural at parts and I probably coulda been more subtle and organic with King Candy’s NPD-specific feelings leading up to this blow-up if I were better at, like… writing feelings, I guess??? Idk how to explain it 😂 I do still like how it turned out, I just wish I had the skill to have kinda built it all up a little more naturally. Plus there’s the whole “it usually takes many years of therapy for positive change to occur”, so I think my writing of him is a little bit on the unrealistic side in those ways, but obviously I can’t have the timeline drag on for years lmao, and I also wanted to be very clear about the kind of messaging I was trying to get across by coding him in this way, so I felt that was more important to make all that stuff as transparent as I could rather than prioritize 100% pacing accuracy lol (Like, the absolute LAST thing I want is for people to think I’m saying “He’s done all these bad things so CLEARLY he has NPD because people with NPD are horrible and that’s the only explanation for anybody who does these kind of bad things” LIKE THAT IS NOT WHAT I AM GOING FOR AT ALL, AS I HOPE PEOPLE CAN TELL LMAOOO, but yeah, as I kinda explained in the chapter notes already, some of Turbo’s behaviours and the Roadblasters incident in particular just had me feeling MANY sorts of ways, plus there being the added element of knowing someone irl with NPD and seeing all the bullshit they’ve had to put up with because of it, and I wanted to use all these feelings to write a story about the depression side of NPD, because I just. I couldn’t get it out of my head, dude. It was nagging the HELL out of me. Idk how to really describe it. But I’m so unbelievably happy that it’s paid off in the way of like, making you feel seen!!! 😭 That’s like one of the best outcomes I could have ever hoped for khjgfcfhjgvhkbjknhgvfgcgjhv *DYING SOBBING*)

[melrosing]

What is Dany fans' beef with Jaime?

idkkkk like as ever, not all Dany stans, i follow a fair few who just don’t give a shit about Jaime and all power to them. I don’t think tarring everyone w the same brush is helpful. and also it’s worth adding that Dany gets a LOT of hate from many corners of fandom, I would say more than perhaps any other POV. this is a big part of why she has such a defensive fandom. the bad takes about Dany are genuinely so, so bad, and they are thrown around every day.

but yeah there are a handful of stans who will whip out their bad faith Jaime takes at a moment’s notice, and I get the impression that this is bc they believe themselves to be on the defensive against Jaime stans as a group. yet the only evidence I’ve ever seen for that is a handful of vastly inflated twitter arguments they’ve had with 2-3 show Jaime pfps that I, a Jaime stan of some years now, had never fuckin heard of.

so yeah there are a lot of posts by these stans saying Jaime stans want Dany dead bc we’re scared she’ll ruin his redemption arc and kill him and she makes him look bad and w/e which is just…. I mean as I say I’ve been active in Jaime fandom for a while now and I have basically never seen these talking points made by any big jaime stan. I can’t speak for show stans or random accounts w 20 followers, but as far as the Jaime stans who actively and regularly contribute to the fandom go - idk I just haven’t seen it.

and I’m gonna be real Ive never imagined that Dany would have ANY real impact on Jaime’s redemption arc, which has a whole lot more to do w Brienne, Cersei, the Starks, the Lannisters more broadly, etc etc. I am not worried about Dany killing Jaime either, bc however he dies, I don’t see how it would narratively make sense - for either of them - if Dany had anything much to do with it. they are tied up w different characters, themes, story strains, and so on. and also, I think Jaime would probably LIKE dany. maybe they’ll meet under tense circumstances, so perhaps they don’t hit it off as they might have, but Jaime likes ppl like Dany: she’s honest and honourable, without any pretences. Dany meanwhile, has valid reasons to be suspicious of Jaime. So I’d really like the two of them to have an opportunity to talk about the rebellion, her parents, and maybe why he did what he did to Aerys. I think they’re two people who could understand each other given the right opportunity.

and I also really like Dany, I have always liked her. but even talking on my own blog about the fact that I DON’T like bad faith Jaime takes has ended up w random Dany stans writing hundreds of words about how that’s just bc I secretly hate Dany stans and Dany herself and I’M supposedly a violent misogynist who only likes Jaime bc I can get off to jb etc etc (if this seems like a complete non sequitur that’s bc it is) so honestly, it’s hard for me to say what their beef is. as I have already said, Dany undeniably gets vast amounts of hate, and I have seen it come from all corners. but to claim that Jaime fandom are major proponents of this is just a lie, and who knows why they tell it.

[kankuroplease]

I know you are a gaasaku fan (same! Such an internet dynamic and what cool political means between the leaf and sand it could bring) have you ever thought about what that might look like if Sakura moved to suna and they had a family?

I think about them every other night, anon. Every other night ✨

Honestly a lot of Sakura and Gaara ships cross my mind even if I don’t necessarily ship them (like sometimes it’s me just nodding in a agreement with fandom and other times I’m researching ships to see what I’m messing lol) like I ship GaaSaku because I love both characters so much

I apologize for any incoherent yapping 😅

Tw: mentions of pregnancy

Off the top of my head; Sakura never actually planned to stay in Suna, it just sort of happens

Because it’s serene, but also talking with Gaara about his past and the challenges of such a past made her realize she could bring her work to Suna too

It’s a slow burn deal with lots of teasing from Kanks towards Gaara about making a move before Pinks high tails it back to Konoha

Sakura is lowkey amused by his fan club because he is pretty cool, but he’s not the type to have wandering eyes

Gaara is a busy man but he makes sure to make time for Sakura when possible

And if it’s not entirely possible, he’s found writing her to little notes wishing her a good day or suggesting that she visit this or that shop (he already paid for her ice cream for a year, please go to that shop, Sakura), are greatly appreciated by her

Sometimes when they’re catching up with one another after a busy day/week, they’ll talk until they both fall asleep on the couch

Sakura was pleasantly surprised to see Gaara at her doorstep during her first sandstorm in Suna

He’d made a barrier around himself (and her front door) to come and check on her and was rewarded with a big hug

She was fine, but it was a little worrying considering this wasn’t anything she was use to

And when they eventually do become official, Kanks is confused because huh? Last he checked on them they were gardening and other boring things. But go, bro!

They had to stop Kankuro form making prank wedding invites

No one wants sand falling out onto their floor for a save the date

Their eventual wedding is kind of a big deal, because while it wasn’t a political to them, it still was to everyone else

Naruto’s speech would be tall no jutsu x10 but he’d also throw in that he can’t wait to see their kids. They better hop on that because everyone else is

which would make Sakura choke and shout for him to shut it and made Gaara blush bright red

They aren’t the type for PDA, mostly because Gaara is a kage

BUT he’s okay with kissing her hand as a farewell infront of others

he also finds excuses to include Sakura in as many meetings as possible

Sakura meanwhile lives a busy life bouncing between Suna and Konoha as a teacher of medical jutsus and head of Suna’s medical department

That is until she’s visiting Konoha and feeling a bit under the weather

Ino took on look at her turning up her face at the smell of ramen and she KNEW

“You’re pregnant!?”

“No!.. I mean, I don’t think—”

Girl had to do some mental math on when her last period was and realized she was in fact late by a few weeks

All that stress from work made it slip her mind entirely and mistake her clear symptoms

Gaara is of course excited about the news, but a small part of him is really worried that something could go wrong during the pregnancy

He’s not showing it, but he’s freaking out internally

So he turns into a mother hen and adds an aid to accompany Sakura when he could not personally do it himself

She put up with this aid for a few months, but after be asked how she’s feeling so they could write it in a report and being told she shouldn’t lift anything heavy for the hundredth time, she had to put her foot down

Baby was growing healthy, she was healthy, Gaara take a deep breath. They’re fine and she works at the hospital

if something were to happen, she’s in the best place possible to handle it

When their baby finally does arrive, gaara is in awe. She’s perfect.

a little mushed and alien looking, but perfect

Watermelon pink hair and grayish green eyes that he only got a quick glimpse of before she closed her eyes again

Her nails were unbelievably tiny on the small hand that cupped her own cheek

He could swear he saw the faintest eyebrow hairs. She had eyebrows! Maybe

Sakura teased that he was going to stare a hole in her if he wasn’t careful and Gaara had to smile

Anyone that tried to visit would catch the new family snuggled up on one bed

He would know that he would do everything to protect this little girl and her mother for the rest of his life

And a few years later, they’d welcome a son that has his father’s hair and the most stunning violet eyes

A short while after that they welcomed Shiki into their family

Their kids often bounce back and forth between their parents work places

Temari and Sakura take turns making play date plans with the kids

And when all four kids are together, kankuro swears they’re conspiring against him (they kinda are, but it’s in a loving-ish way)

They once packed a bunch of lizards into one of his puppets

There’s never a dull moment in the kazekage’s home or a moment without Sakura having to remind the kids to pick up all of their sand

Gaara feels loved and wanted

Sakura feels loved and appreciated

Overall a very cute and wholesome family 🌸⏳

[filmofhybe]

Hi, requests are open right? Can I request what type of fanboys enha would be for idol!reader?

type of fanboys enhypen would be for idol reader

pairing : ot7! x reader genre : fan x Idol , fluff 400-500 words per member warning : none

a/n: first request in ages!! Keep them coming in would mean a lot! Icl this kinda turned into a send off / fansign typa thing so I hope you don’t mind and enjoy!!

> masterlist of my other works

© filmofhybe on tumblr — do not copy , translate or share.

정원 jungwon

this guy is your biggest fan he just doesn’t show it

unlike your other fans, he’s really respectful which makes you remember him

and he’s cute and somehow always wins a video call or fansign with you

folds everytime you call his nickname that you gave him

“y/nnie can I give you something?”

“of course wonnie!”

hands you the cutest beaded jewelry and plushie ever

“oh my gosh thank you so much wonnie!!”

Would let you win in a hand wrestling contest

he would freak out when he sees you wearing the jewelry he gave you

He would also freak out when he sees you posting the plushies he gave you

Will post about it on weverse and you would thank him in the comments.

Goes even crazier after that

You both are like best friends 😭

He’s fr famous among your fandom

yk how some ppl in some fandom are so well known they get verified on twitter

Yea that’s him 🤭

#dedicationfr

희 승 heeseung

That fan that would cover all your songs (and the successful ones)

Gets shit tons of views on your covers

which you would notice his videos and talk about how talented he is on weverse

Bro freaked out

Probably be posting about it on all his social media for the rest of his life (even facebook)

“YALL SHE NOTICED ME!!”

“Watch me brag about this for the rest of my life”

Would thank you so much for the compliments when he goes to ur fansigns

“Aww no worries heeseung! Your covers are always my favorite! I listen to them everyday! I even subscribed to your channel as well!”

Are you meeting heeseung or is heeseung meeting you rn?

“What’s your dream y/nnie?”

“My dream is to collab with you!”

Luckiest fan on earth honestly cuz you both did a collab a year later

#successfulfanbehavior

박종성 Park Jeongseong

THE ONE WHOSE RICH AND GO CRAZY !!

buy like 40 albums at once just to win a fansign with you😭

AND he would buy like 5 of your concert tickets

Doesn’t matter if your going aboard for your concert

Watch him be there and in the VIP sections as well

Man he really doesn’t care if he spend all his health insurance on you

All he cares is that he sees you and your happy

Always catch him during send offs

You both have the chaotic yet causal talks ever

“Omg jay your here again?”

“Yup! Got another ticket to see you!”

“Your crazy for spending so much!”

“Is worth it when it comes to you.”

would buy you the craziest gifts ever

Branded bags, games , jewelry , plushies etc

Would 100% send you a food truck for good luck during your MV filming or comebacks

You would thank him on weverse cuz you knew is him who would do these type of crazy things

What he’s doing is all of your fanboys biggest dream

#thecrazyrichfan

심재윤 Sim Jaeyun

You can’t tell me he ain’t those funny ass twitter stans

#y/nselfieday 😝

“STOP WHY SHE ATE THIS COMEBACK UP SM?”

Would fight those antis on twitter

“You can’t even talk cuz your face be lopsided and elongated lmao.” - jake

“And what about you? Stop using Google translate for your Korean captions🙄” - anti.

“sis I’m Korean?!”

He will make edits of you and I don’t make the rules on that

“my fav stage of y/n but make it my edit for her xoxo!!”

Would go Borderline excited when he got tickets to your concert

ALWAYS POSTING THE SEND OFF VIDEOS OF YOU

“Y/N TOUCHED MY POLAROID CAMERA IMMA CRY NOW.”

“guys y/n mf knows my twitter. Imma die.”

gets embarrassed when you tell him you know him through his funny tweets and you secretly reads it for positivity

Man could die peacefully after that

#sillybillytwitterstan

성훈 Sunghoon

Another really respectful fan but he’s so shy when it comes to fanboying

More the quiet ones but he would be spotted so easy because of how beautiful he is

Please he stood out the most during your send off

Icl when you saw him you thought you were dreaming a cute fan boy?!?

When you walked over do him his heart stopped. Like omg YOUR MORE GORGEOUS IRL?!

“hi y/n~ can you sign my album please?”

“Of course what’s your name?”

“Sung-sunghoon.”

“Such a cute name for a cute boy!”

Bro your such a flirt💀

He couldn’t handle it and all he did with mumble thank you

“You want a picture as well?”

All he could do was nod and you took a picture of you both tgt

Posted on his social about it and everyone was saying how pretty you both looked

Which made him less shy the next time he saw you

“Omg sunghoon! Hi how are you?”

“I’m good how bout you y/n?”

“I’m good! Glad your less shy now! I was so excited to meet you!!l

He’s the pretty, handsome shy fanboys and will always be😝

#shybuthandsomefanboy

선우 Sunoo

THOSE REALLY HYPER FANS

And those fans who has a shop dedicated to their idols

I mean your kinda hyper so like I get why he would love you

Another chaotic twitter stan but make it weverse

Would pay for your me membership everytime

You would never see him without those little membership tags next to his name on weverse

He would be those fans to say “I love you” mid way while your speaking on stage

You would always react to them with a laugh cuz you find it really funny and cute

His cuteness really captures your attention and he would go insane after you mention about him on your weverse live

“I saw this fanboy during send off, he had pink hair and cute cheeks. Really high pitched voice and he gave me this cute plushie keyring that looks like me. So thank you whoever you are!!”

Knew it was him cuz he was the only fanboy in the crowd with pink hair and was the one who got you that keyring

Would 100% start gifting you clothes for the keyring and you would post about it from time to time

You secretly supports sunoo’s little keyring business after he started selling the one and only y/n keyring

#hypercutiesellerfan

にしむら りき Nishimura Riki

Trend setter fan and secretly hyper fan

We all know how good niki is at dancing so when you drop a new song he danced to it with his own choreography that has gone viral.

LIKE VIRAL VIRAL

and every fam girl of yours was like “omg y/n has a cute fanboy!!” “y/n needs to see this.”

And you did see it and posted about it on weverse as well as Instagram

“Look at him!! He’s so talented!! Time to recreate!!”

NIKI WAS IN HIS PREDEBUT ERA FR LMAO

kicking his feet under the blankets cuz he just got noticed by his idol

Would go insane when you did his dance

Man got to see his dance live as well cuz you performed it during your concert

During send off you can easily tell it was niki in the crowd

“Your the creator of my dance niki right? Your so talented!!”

Are you meeting niki or Is niki meeting you? 2.0

“Haha thank you so much! You did so well as well!!”

You continue to do covers of his dance which makes him go feral everytime

Post about it on insta but behind the screen he’s like :

“She’s about to hire me to be her Choreographer” -niki

“Stop the delusion.” - heeseung

“Watch me.” - niki

Bro predicted his future cuz now half of the your dance is created by him

#trendsetterfan

taglist : @surefornext @spilled-coffee-cup @skepvids @amymyli @in-somnias-world @okjaeminn @nonotwice1 @thinkmyg @blubbfsh

Please comment or reblog to be on the perm taglist :)

[zoloteh-volossya]

I think I know exactly what post you’re referring too and blocked that user (as well as all the people who liked the post) immediately after their string of posts that are horrifically inaccurate readings of both Orin and Minthara, but also joking about Minthara being forced to interact with her rapist for the rest of her life. I’m personally not a fan of the Orinthara ship because it is innately noncon and there is no way to argue that it isn’t, and I despise it being called toxic yuri. The only people I trust with the ship are Minthara fans because they are the only ones who understand the full dynamic between the two. There are some people, like the poster you’re referring too, who have total hate boners for her and only ship Orinthara as a means of punishing her in their heads. And it becomes so obvious that their desire to ship Orinthara is out of complete malice when they only have negative and violent opinions about Minthara and are using “toxic yuri” as a cover.

I can’t even imagine hating a character that much, but still thinking about them all the time. If there is a character I hate, I don’t spend any time thinking about them. At all. They choose to let Minthara live in their heads rent free and it bothers them for some reason, lol.

Yeah. I think that the differentiating factor is care.

To illustrate using a nonsexual, non-BG3 example, in one of my previous fandoms two writers both wrote fics in which the antagonist had a conversation with the protagonist about her crimes. In one fic, the protagonist talked down to the antagonist, listing out all the things she had done wrong while she ranted and raved and screamed. Then she died. Victory!

In the other, even as the antagonist grappled with the magnitude of her failures and the consequences thereof, the author kept her perspective in mind. They used flashbacks to her past to put the audience in her shoes and let her argue her case. And they did it so effectively that I have never felt more sympathetic to this antagonist than I did when reading that scene. She was still wrong. She still died. But the scene landed so much better. The character felt respected by the narrative, her death lacked the almost voyeuristic authorial glee that made the similar scene in the other fic honestly a bit uncomfortable to read.

In a similar vein, lots of Minthara fans write about Orin doing absolutely horrible things to Minthara. But because they care about Minthara (and often also about Orin, who is doing all this for understandable reasons given the absolute shitfuck of a situation that she's coming from) there's a level of respect for the character by the narrative even as she suffers. It's the energy of "I'm going to put my blorbo in situations," it's the phenomenon of taking your favorite and making them bleed because you care about their emotions. Because the point of tragedy is that even if it all ended poorly, it still mattered.

I've seen fic about Orin impregnating Minthara during her time as a slave to the Absolute done, and some of it was done very well. (Orin cut the fetus out of Minthara and killed it, because she's Orin and was actually written in character.) But it worked because the author cared about Minthara, about the horror of the situation, in a way those flippant comments that sparked this conversation did not.

In contrast, if a person who hates a character is talking about them suffering there's this general vibe of, "look at this bitch getting what she deserves", that hangs over the entire conversation like a haze. And because "toxic yuri" encompasses both scenarios but has progressive implications (ooh, look at me paying attention to female characters!) it can easily be used as a shield against criticism for that vibe.

The question, ultimately, both with this Orinthara situation and with the author I discussed above, is whether a person extends the same grace, the same sense of interiority and assumption of an inner life, to the female characters as they do their male faves. And the answer, very often, is "no."

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week’s writer spotlight feature is:  @gayjinkies! gayjinkies has 7 fics posted on AO3 in the Stranger Things fandom and all of them are in the Steddie tag!

Our anonymous nominator recommends the following works by @Gayjinkies:

I’m a lover, boy

lover, you can’t be wrong

heartbeat (increasing heartbeat)

any solitary pleasure

Are You Sending Out Your Love Signs?

"Their writing is absolutely masterpiece. I LOVE their characterisation of Steddie!" -- Anonymous

Below the cut, @gayjinkies answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

I started reading Steddie during a really weird and stressful time in my life. I’d be reading literally the entire night through for months on end. Reading about these dumbass boys was one of the only ways to escape for a while. When my day-to-day chilled out a bit, I figured I may as well give writing a go, since I’d read, I swear to god, hundreds of fics by that point. I immediately fell in love with thinking up the most idiotic, goofy situations to plop Steve and Eddie into. I’m also a sucker for enemies-to-lovers dialogue and the possibilities are endless with these two. There’s so much potential chemistry and tension and canonically unexplored backstories which makes it so much fun to write!

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

I don’t think I have an all-time favourite! One of my favourites is friends-to-enemies-to-lovers because ohhh the layers…the betrayal…the yearning… I also love reading hidden identity fics, I eat them up so damn quick. And then the usual suspects: forced proximity, miscommunication, requited-unrequited, fake dating, only one bed. Honestly I could list so many that I love with my entire heart.

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

I’m not sure if Crack counts as a trope?? If so, then that for sure. The more absurd the better, in my book. I love taking the most ridiculous situation I can think of and trying to write it believably enough that readers could think, “huh, yeah, I can see this happening. This makes sense for these two.” Apart from that, I love writing miscommunication. It’s so much FUN, and as I’m typing it I’ll be shaking my head, clicking my tongue, muttering, “if only you guys just talked…” and then not allowing them to properly talk for another 10k words.

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

This is such an impossible question, there’s no way I could pick just one out of so many absolute bangers 🤚 blipblot’s A Lick and a Promise is phenomenal and I’ll shout it from the rooftops (I’ll shout about literally all of their fics from the rooftops, they’re just so spectacular) I’m reading Big Talk by occasional_loverboy which is SO FUCKING GOOD. let’s exchange the experience by jamiethegardener is an absolute favourite. Vulture by GriefAbyss is currently and very actively consuming my thoughts. throw me one by Adure is one of the first Steddie fics I fell in love with right at the start and it’s one of my all-time favourites.

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

Ohhhhh so many. I would love to write a secret identity fic and a fake dating fic, and I’ve got ideas bouncing around my head for both of those. They’ll get written eventually!! I also haven’t really written slow burn yet because I love instant gratification with ensuing angst and drama, but I would love to try my hand at it!

What is your writing process like?

Controversial, maybe! I can’t write any scene without having written the scene before, everything is written sequentially. I don’t plan or draft at all, so scenes just develop as I’m writing, which makes it impossible to jump ahead in the plot and write because the story changes every time I sit down to write more. It also means that if I get stuck on one particular scene, the entire fic grinds to a screeching halt until I figure a single line of dialogue out 🫠 So it’s slow going a lot of the time! I also don’t really edit apart from checking my spelling and grammar, so not much is left on the cutting room floor! Also, I only write while blasting pink noise through my headphones. I sometimes have music playing in the same room but the pink noise stays on the entire time. 

Do you have any writing quirks?

I’m not sure!!! Probably using way too many em dashes, which I say hesitantly for fear of people reading my shit and noticing my overuse 😬 I also recycle specific phrases all the time, which are usually ones that I use in my day-to-day as well. They just seem to snake their way into each and every fic.

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

I’ve discovered that I really do need to have finished writing before starting to post, otherwise there’s a chance it won’t be updated for months as my focus jumps to other projects.

Which fic are you most proud of?

I’m really proud of set my wings on fire. It was my quickest turnaround time from idea conception to finished product, and it’s also the only fic I’ve written that’s just one scene. I also experimented more with structure and writing style with that one. It’s the most love I’ve ever put into a fic and the most fun I’ve had writing so it’s very special to me.

How did you get the idea for any solitary pleasure?

Ahhh, my stink kink fic. Not to put my friend on blast, but they were chatting with me about a guy they’d hooked up with who had a cologne collection totalling over $10,000. When I asked my friend if the guy smelled good, they replied that they didn’t really know, they prefer natural musk and sweat over fancy colognes. I heard that, immediately thought, “sounds like a certain someone…” and knew I had to thrust a scent kink upon Eddie.

When writing heartbeat (increasing heartbeat), what was something you didn’t expect?

I didn’t expect how difficult it would be to orchestrate a phone sex scene! I think dirty talk is one of my weaker areas in writing, so not being able to fall back on action descriptions when it came to Steve and Eddie’s interactions was hard. I’m a big fan of non-verbal communication and not having that as an option was definitely challenging.

What inspired I’m a lover, boy?

I don’t think there was any particular inspiration! The plot for I’m a lover, boy literally popped into my head fully formed one day, and I spent a bit of time just kicking it around before writing it all down.

What was your favorite part to write from lover, you can’t be wrong?

I love writing Steve & Robin scenes, and lover, you can’t be wrong is riddled with them. I’d never written anything from Steve’s POV before and exploring their friendship has been so lovely. Their conversations flow and I love that for both them and me.

How do/did you feel writing Are You Sending Out Your Love Signs??

Are You Sending Out Your Love Signs was the first Steddie fic I wrote, after having not written creatively for years. It was written after a solid few months of sleep-deprivation and stress and I don’t really remember much about how I felt while writing it! I think for a while I was very sure I was never going to post it, so I didn’t care about whether it was actually quality writing or not, which was freeing!! It was a good stepping stone to getting back into writing because it was a zero-pressure experience.

What was the most difficult part of writing Are You Sending Out Your Love Signs??

Probably literally just starting it!! I hadn’t written creatively since high school, and I hadn’t really been good at it then, so I was 100% convinced I wouldn’t be able to do it. Most of my experience is in writing research studies, so it was hard to push past that and embrace flowery, fun fiction writing.

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

In my most recent fic, call my bluff when I roll the dice, there’s a scene where Eddie accidentally humiliates Steve regarding the size of his dick, and I had SO much fun writing it. The entire fic was built around that scene that I’d had in my head for ages. I love writing emotionally-driven dialogue and also Very Silly dialogue, so that was such a fun one to write.

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

I have a bunch of WIPs and even more ideas that haven’t been put on paper yet! I’ve got a long-form fic half written that I’m very excited about which I refuse to start posting until I’ve finished it, but it’s in the works! I’ve also got a third of a gloryhole fic written which I’m also keen to finish and post. Apart from them, I’ve got a bunch of crack ideas that I’m very sure will be posted in the near future!

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

I wanted to thank steddieunderdogfics for everything that you do 💖 big love to you guys!!!

Thank you to our author, @gayjinkies, and our nominator! See more of gayjinkies' works featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer’s Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

[ouidamforeman]

This may make me look like an idiot bc I can’t articulate myself BUT!!!!!!!! Big Queer Good Omens meta incoming

I want to talk about This Neil Gaiman ask for a minute because I figured out why I really like his blanket response to this “discourse” a lot but still somewhat disagree on the nuance, and why fandom attitudes about this bother me much much more than his open ended response like this one

Under a read more because im going to get Insane

First of all this is going to be riddled with my own viewpoints on queerness as a transmasculine nonbinary person who reads too much theory so if u disagree please be polite lol

So like. To begin with I really don’t think Neil is obligated to understand these nuances or even comment on them, let alone explain them to fans desperate for validation, so the fact that he’s been able to answer so eloquently is pretty impressive considering how vicious fandom is. But I want to specifically talk about what I think he means here and why that seems to bother fandom so much sometimes, and how fan interpretation of these ideas he presents can get Really weird and interesting imo.

In my view, Neil is answering this from a Doylist perspective, as in like. To the real life human audience, angels and demons are inherently queer because they don’t fit into traditional human definitions of genders and sexualities. This especially comes across in his insistence that Aziraphale and Crowley aren’t gay because they aren’t human men, but they ARE queer. This literally just looks to me like him saying “yeah so no angels and demons fit into these categories so they’re definitely queer from our perspective but I understand ‘gay’ as being two men and i don’t think that fits because it’s narrow” and while I disagree on some nuances here for reasons I’ll get into I think this makes total sense as an author describing how, from his perspective, an audience is intended to view these nonhuman characters.

However, I’m much more interested in a more Watsonian explanation of how A&C are queer, one that’s much more relativistic and honestly not something I expect Neil to go over every time he gets another ask about this???? My opinion has always been that A&C choosing human queer masculinity is significant and that it gives evidence to them being nonbinary, transmasc, gay, ace, aro, anything that people headcanon really. Because they are presenting themselves as queer in a HUMAN way in universe imo, which makes them queer not just by the standards of the audience but by the standards of other angels and demons in the story? I think that the fact that they were created as sexless and genderless and then CHOSE human gender presentations, whether nonbinary or not, that reflected themselves, and then them being in love with each other in a human way IS what makes them queer, not Just the idea that an angel without a gender or sexuality/romantic or other relationship orientation is inherently queer from the average human’s perspective. People who just want them to be Human Cis Gay Men are really missing this idea I think.

The thing is though. And I don’t think this is Neil’s problem to solve or whatever, nor does it mean “stop liking that angels and demons are genderless”. The thing that annoys the shit out of me. Is that fandom, even queer fandom, took Neil’s Doylist explanation of celestial beings’ gender status and just didn’t think any further about it. To this day people insist that A&C MUST be nonbinary forever just because they’re an angel and demon and were made that way. Like literally just inventing Fantasy Biological Essentialism again which is annoying as hell to me, another nonbinary person. Again, the fact that they were created without any sense of gender or biological sex and then chose any humanish gender for themselves at all whether nonbinary or not is what makes them queer in universe I feel. I think the “they’re an angel and demon so they’re inherently nonbinary and can’t be anything else” is shit tbh.

To reiterate, I think Neil is responding about this from a Doylist perspective aka “to the real life audience all angels and demons are queer because they don’t fit into human genders and sexualities” but I am focused much more on the Watsonian idea that A&C are queer in universe bc angels and demons can choose their gender presentations like humans can and everyone else hasn’t figured it out bc they haven’t been on earth to figure out what gender even is. I feel fandom gets weird about this because lots of people still see gender as something solely internal and inherent, when I genuinely don’t think that’s all it is. It’s internal feeling, external projection/behavior, and both of those as a reflection of social experience all at once. The feelings and internal sense of Knowing your gender or lack thereof is inherent to your self identity, but your gender is also informed by what you understand genders as, and what presentations you understand and have access to! Aziraphale and Crowley can be Human Genders because, because they’ve been on earth, they 1)know what gender is, 2)can see those feelings reflected in themselves, and 3)through that understanding choose how to present based on their feelings! They don’t just have to be genderless celestial beings in the sense angels are if they don’t feel like it anymore! They can be like “oh actually I’m a queer man” or “oh I’m nonbinary but in the way that I’m among humans and I’m not a man or woman.” I just feel like only considering them queer from a human or angel perspective but not both is sort of undermining the themes in the text against bioessentialism in favor of the instant validation of “oh they’re angels so they must be nonbinary.” Perhaps having any human gender presentation is queer to the average angel. Our internal feelings and sense of self knowledge as queer people is inherent. How we act on those things and assign meaning and labels to them can be anything! A&C can be anything they feel like! They don’t have to be the classic celestial beings above gender! I feel like they would love and have fallen into human gender customs just from so long on earth, and that doesn’t mean they can’t be nonbinary or agender. It means they, as a part of humanity, saw and understood human genders and realized what gender they were in relation, whatever you headcanon that to be. And that’s more queer than “god made them without sex and gender so I guess their species makes them inherently one thing”!!!!!!