#i feel like tagging the other ships would be too obscure

[silkoodles]

I had opportunities to avoid doing my taxes and finish these recently

All ships mostly requested by @stunfiskz Theres even a part 2 Dashneal comic. Anyway enjoy~

[melodrangea]

Hello! I see that requests are open and I am in need of more SE content, so I figured I would just slide on in! I realise you said obscure characters, so I don't expect this to be answered because my home boy is one of the main characters, feel free to ignore this! But I've been so obsessed with the idea of Kid with a reader who kinda just let's people walk all over them. They're too shy to speak up! And out of fear of upsetting Kid they dress as symmetrically as they can! They even started folding their toilet paper and picking up various other habits to please him:') Since they tag along with him everywhere he and the sisters go, they figured it was the least they could do:')))) So maybe one day something happens to say... maybe their outfit or smth? Perhaps it tears on a mission in a way that is asymmetrical. They start crying cuz they are afraid Kid will yell at them or worse- stop talking to them entirely! How does Kid react?

Stay hydrated and eat well!!!!! OR I'LL TAKE YOUR SOUL>:DDDD (Politely ofc U_U) 💛💛💛💛💛💛

Firstly I would like to say I'M FINALLY BACK BITCHES

Between holidays and my computer breaking and needing a new one I was unable to post for the longest time because shipping is a bitch but I'm totally back now and will be posting at least once or twice a week!

Now! Getting back into it...

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-Kid would be the type to absolutely not realize that you are doing all that you do to please him

-he would love the matching outfits and all the symmetric habits you pick up but he figures that's just what happens in relationships and that you enjoys his habits

-after hanging out with them for a period of time, Liz does pick up on what you're doing and worries that you are doing it for different reasons than Kid thinks

-but she doesn't say anything because it doesn't seem to be really affecting you

-that is until you go on a mission together

-you and your weapon partner go on a joint mission with Kid to spend more time together and because Kid wanted to be able to protect you

-anyways the fight gets under swing and slowly but surely you're taking damage

-you don't notice but you outfit it coming undone; the laces rip on your right shoe, one of the buttons on your shirt gets torn off and you build up battle grime etc..

-once the fight is over you go to swipe the hair out of your face when you realize a part of you bangs has been trimmed on the left side

-you panic and inspect the rest of your outfit, realizing the rest of the imperfections in your outfit

-without even meaning to your eyes start to fill with tears, terrified that Kid is going to be upset with you, you heart begins to race and you feel your heartbeat in your ears

-you weapon partner is off assessing damage with Liz and Patty so Kid is the first to notice you upset

-he rushes over to you, at first thinking that you got hurt

"y/n are you alright? are you injured?" his eyes scan over you, hands rubbing soothingly across your jaw.

your lip quivers and tears stream down your cheeks, "I'm sorry" you whisper.

Kid's brow scrunches, "for what?"

you release a shaky breath, "I don't look perfect anymore. One of my buttons is gone, my shoes are dirty, I think that guy with the sword chopped my hair. Please don't be mad at me."

Kid frowns, "oh darling, what makes you think any of that matters to me? I admit I like symmetry but you could be wearing rainbow tie-dye and glow in the dark sketchers for all that I care. "

your eyes widen, "really?"

"really"

-after that mission you slowly start to develop your own style, occasionally swinging for matching outfits of course

-Liz helps Kid point out other habits that you copy unintentionally and helps you to gently shut them down

-Kid is your biggest supporter in helping you choose your own style, he can and will take you shopping whenever you feel like (live laugh love Kid's daddy's money agenda)

-and if you want to keep some of the habits you've picked up Kid is also happy because it means that you like him for who he is <3

---------------------------------------------------

tis all for now my lovelies

please don't be shy about asking because you think the character is "too mainstream", I'm pretty sure my entire inbox is Kid anyways so his character and I are getting fairly acquainted

as usual I am at your writing service my dears

-Melodrangea <3

[geometricgiovanni]

YOU ARE NOW A PRETTY PRINCESS! ✨

This blog contains references to threats and violence. You have been warned.

(hey guys cool sexy man here to tell you first half is in-character, second half under cut is out-of-character)

HELLO! I MADE THIS ACCOUNT OUT OF SPITE OF THAT DISGUSTING THING THAT PLAGUES THIS GOD-FORSAKEN SITE!

NO, DON'T ASK ME ABOUT IT. IF YOU DO, I WILL CRUSH YOU! LETHALLY. You will feel pain. also he blocked me on all 8 of my accounts so um, y'know........

ASK ME THINGS! ASK ME TO DESCRIBE IN EXCRUCIATING DETAIL ASPECTS OF MY LIFE! ASK ME TO DO OBSCURE ACTIVIES THAT WOULD SEVER MY LIMBS IF I HAD ANY!

So here's some info in a similar format to my other blog, some things, such as boundaries, will be copied and pasted:

Blog Information✨

This is an ask/rp blog for Jeremy from regretevator, specifically the Jeremy referenced in @displ3azant. I might use this blog to more freely talk about my specific headcanons about characters from the perspective of an outsider, so that account is likely the only specific one referenced on this blog.

Jeremy in this blog uses he/any!

MAIN TAGS:

#geometric asks - Asks

#geometric posts - Non-ask related posts/reblogs

#ooc - Out-of-character post

BLOG OWNER 🔥

Hello! I am Hex! Yes, you will see me talking to myself! No, do not comment on it. Please refer to me using he/him or it/its pronouns.

My other accounts are: @hexexists - my main blog, if you receive notifications from this account, please know it is just me! @hexational - my regretevator blog @displ3azant - afformentioned Unpleasant rp blog

I'll try to respond to most asks with a drawing of some variety, and if it's something I can use to reveal little ass-shit and bull-dumps about my version of Jeremy.

Please note, however, I am not just one singular guy but also a senior who should really be spending his free time studying, so sometimes I will just give a text response.

Also to note: I am 17 years old, therefore a minor! Even if I was not a minor, I am still not comfortable with weird shit! Keep it in your fucking pants, asshole! Apologies if I sound rude, but holy shit the only blog gets SO many weird asks! I will just be blocking and ignoring any freaky anons, apologies if you are my friend trying to mess with me, but I genuinely cannot take any more risks.

Boundaries ✨

Shipping content: Shipping content is okay, but I don't care much for romance personally and so will likely not play much into it. Please don't push anything, I guess, and nothing that promotes proshipping or any kind of literally illegal pairing. If you dislike any direction taken ship-wise for this blog, then block me and move on with your day.

NSFW content: NSFW CONTENT IS NOT ALLOWED. I am a minor. Thx. Also, "suggestive" jokes are very selectively okay. Basically, if it makes me uncomfortable or is literally disgusting, it will be ignored and likely deleted, and I will probably make fun of you.

Roleplaying: I am totally okay with roleplaying and sending/responding to asks in character!

(ps: i'm also happy to rp with other regretevator ocs too, i think those r super duper cool)

That's all, really.

your mortal enemy,

-Hex

[constellationandcompendium]

Writeblr Intro

Greetings traveller!

About Me:

She/her, early 30s

PhD graduate working in heritage

British (obsessed with tea)

Also sings and crochets

Enjoys both Star Trek & Star Wars

Occasional NaNoWriMo participant

Fanfic writer of 15 years making the jump into original fiction (find my fandom blog @thetamehistorian)

Happy to take asks / play tag games etc.

Has a habit of designing covers rather than writing

Second attempt at this blog (main blog this time, cha cha real smooth)

Tends To Write / Read

Sci-Fi & Cyberpunk

Urban Fantasy & Fantasy

Historical

Comedy (this suprised me too)

Introducing My WIPS

A crime thriller with a touch of cyberpunk...

Featuring

Man with habit of doing wrong thing for right reason

Best buds to reluctant allies to ‘I would die for you’

That ‘I can’t believe you’ve done this’ meme

Conspiracies and double agents

Lots of angst and hurt (with some comfort)

Wholesome parent / child relationships

Summary

Solaris City has a problem. Whilst the metropolis flourishes, down below in the old mines the Undercity grows wild and dangerous, it’s people cut off from the prosperity above, dreaming of the sun and spreading Haze - an addictive drug.

Elias also has a problem. Working for the Bureau has cleaned his slate but he hasn’t cut all ties with those underground. Now there’s a girl hidden in his flat and something big has been uncovered that has his contacts in a flurry.

With two days to go to a vote on unifying the two halves of the city, and his friend Sebastien caught right in the middle, Elias has a feeling that it'll only take one domino falling for everything to come crashing down.

Work Page

First Draft Complete, If Messy (Mind the Plot Holes)

A sci-fi comedy of a ship of misfits...

Featuring

Puns for ship names (and just bad jokes in general)

Captain packing up the ship and all its crew because they can no longer thrive in this household

Overly social parents (please stop inviting my professor over to dinner)

Space worker unions (and aliens)

Learning self-worth and finding strength through working together

Found family

Summary

The United Earth Ship Archimedes patrols the border of charted space. Beyond it - the vast and unexplored reaches of the universe.

It’s an exciting prospect for Aster Kobor, newly graduated from the fleet academy and hoping to make her mark upon the stars. Unfortunately, it only takes a few weeks for Aster to realise that the Archimedes is nicknamed ‘the screw’ for a reason. It’s a ship for the rejects and misfits, those deemed unfit to serve in the frontier ships and command never lets them do anything exciting. Still, Aster is determined to make the best of it and, unbeknownst to her, her meddling Captain is about to give the crew of the Archimedes their chance to show command what they're made of.

Soon a bad reputation is the least of their troubles and, whether the crew like it or not, they’ll have to learn to survive in deep space - where their only certainty is each other.

Work Page

Currently Wrangling Vibes Into ~ Characters ~ and ~ Plot ~

A historical novel about determined women, trains, and winning a war…

Featuring

One woman’s obsession with the railways

Code breaking commuters

Breakfasts cooked on a coal shovel

Being accidentally adopted by an elderly fireman and driver duo

Occasional air raid for added ~spice~

Solidarity in the face of adversity and outdated systems

Summary

Bea had always been fascinated by the railways, but her dream of driving one of the locomotives always seemed out of reach. Working the trains is dangerous, dirty, and completely off limits to the fairer sex.

Then the war came and the men went off the fight. Answering the call to help, Bea and her fellow railway volunteers find themselves with an opportunity of a lifetime. Obscured from judging eyes by steam and smoke they shadow the veteran drivers and engineers, learning what they can on the job and hitting the library when they can't.

The trains need to run, they are vital to the war effort. All it would take is one rogue bomb, one mishap to take out a driver and the wheels stop spinning.

Or at least, that's what the station manager thinks.

Work Page

Currently Doing Research and Initial Planning!

[ecogirl2759]

~~~NEW UPDATE~~~

(I'M A DUMBASS WHO DOESN'T KNOW HOW TUMBLR WORKS SO IF YOU SAW THIS ALREADY NO YOU DIDN'T)

I'm glad people liked my 4コマ KINGS post so much lol. I love spreading the word about obscure lore :)

Under the cut I've responded to some of my favorite tags, given a little more backstory into the source of these pictures, as well as posted a few new ones :D

There's also a question at the very bottom that I'd love to hear opinions on, but no pressure if y'all don't feel comfortable answering ^w^

You're welcome >:D

Same, bro. I was basically thinking that the entire time I was reading these books lol

I feel like I should give a little context to these comics and where they come from lol. I wasn't very clear about the backstory in my original post. I do agree, when I found these, I thought they were super important, too, particularly because I don't think a lot of the fandom knows about these books lol.

The Danganronpa 4コマ KINGS anthology series was published in the early 2010's featuring a bunch of different artists. The series is 4 volumes long and published by Spike Chunsoft, meaning, while these aren't necessarily canon, they ARE official :)

There is another series of anthologies in relation to both the first and second games, but I don't have those.

The first two volumes of this series is relatively well documented. There are sites where English translations have already been added to all of the comics in them (I'm pretty sure), as well as some screenshots popping up on places like Pinterest.

The third and fourth installments, however, are really poorly archived. The third has some content from it floating around, but it's hard to come by. The fourth had almost no information on it no matter where I searched.

I say this because a while ago I found the ONLY pictures of the Mastermind!Taka comic on this really old Tumblr blog from 2014 and REALLY wanted to figure out what it was about. (Didn't help that I couldn't read some of the bubbles in those photos.) First I searched for an English translation (there wasn't (so I'm working on one hehe)), then I tried to find which book it was even from, and NOTHING!

These books, since they were in circulation around 2014-ish, have stopped being printed, so copies of them are very hard to come by. Luckily, I was able to get my copies from a kind stranger on Ebay :)

-NOW-

Here are a few more pictures that I thought were funny/interesting that I couldn't add in my first post because of the picture limit lol.

Sorry for the really long post, I just thought it'd be interesting to share :)

Here's the page of artists that contributed to this anthology! Please go check them out (or see if they have any socials since it's been so long). Some credits change per volume, hence how many photos there are. (And sorry for my hand, it's hard to hold these open lol.)

You've probably all seen the covers, but have you seen what's behind the covers? (Also including the opening illustrations. These have probably been posted online already as well, but they're worth including imo.) (Again, please excuse the fingers, I'm trying my best ;-;)

^ Sayaka came with a smudge :( she still pretty tho

So, uh, remember when I said Hifumi made ship fodder? ......Here it is. Eat your heart out lol

Also remember when I said that Mondo's hair was fluffy and bouncy? Here's the proof:

Sakura has been de-buff-ified twice LMAO

ALSO remember when I said Syo was a fan of BL? ...... :)

ALSO remember when I said Kyoko was kinda socially awkward?

(Context: Kyoko sees Kiyotaka and Mondo calling each other bro and, thinking it'll strengthen their bond as well, calls Makoto "Makoto-oniichan," or "big brother Makoto" lol. Also, second picture says "I have come to save you, Makoto")

Chihiro Shinji chair meme

I'm at my picture cap, but there's a lot I haven't brought up lol

-SO-

For a different thread, would people like me to find pictures of certain characters? (i.e. just photos of the characters looking cool/hot/stupid without a lot of the text.) Because I am totally willing to do that :)

I've already got a lot on Byakuya, Sakura, Aoi and Mondo for all you simps out there, and it's not hard to find even more lol.

So lmk :D

[weirdass-shiptournament]

WELCOME TO THE (UN)OFFICIAL WEIRDASS SHIP TOURNAMENT‼️

DO YOU:

- Have a rare pair so rare they never interact in canon? Or even exist in the same canon?

- Is literally only known by a small circle of friends and is completely incomprehensible to the average onlooker?

THEN THIS IS THE POLL FOR YOU‼️

THE SUBMISSION RULES ARE:

- CANNOT interact in canon! We are talking the obscurest of obscure. I need to have to hunt these character down and edit them into a photo in order for them to be valid. If I google their names together and can easily find official pictures of them hanging out it’s invalid(exceptions can be made depending on circumstances)

- CAN be from different source material. Literally anything goes!! Anime character and Spongebob? OKAY!!! Two characters from the same show who’ve never interacted?? YES!! I’m looking for ships you need to explain the development of. There needs to be a lore.

- CANNOT have a mass following. Once again, I’m looking for ships that can only be comprehended by a group of friends with insider knowledge. So things like BBC Sherlock’s mormor, despite being a ship wjere one of the characters technically doesn’t exist, doesn’t count on account of being immensely popular and having several hundreds of fics made for them. WE’RE TALKING WEIRD. RANDOM. OBSCURE. There’s gotta be like 5 fics of them MAXIMUM(exceptions can be made if they’re all by the same one or two very dedicated ppl)

- ALL SUBMISSIONS WILL BE JUDGED BY DEDICATION NOT NUMBERS!!! I want you FIGHTING for your LIFE to justify why your blorbos are not only weird but extremely valid to ship. I want to see essays with the same passion and effort youd put into your English paper worth 50% of your grade.

AND THE POLL RULES ARE:

- NO REAL LIFE PEOPLE. streamers count.

- I have full control of who gets in or not. Once again, we are going by dedication, not numbers. Please don’t be upset if your blorbos do not make it in. I f things go well, I’ll probably do this again, so you’ll likely have more chances to see them submitted.

- I DO NOT HAVE ENCYCLOPEDIC KNOWLEDGE OF EVERY MEDIA EVER. while i will go out of my way to do background checks of any character I don’t recognize, I’m not very smart. If a ship gets in that’s in some way notably problematic, I assure you I did not know!! Please just DM me about it if it happens!!!

- I don’t want to see any trash talking towards other opponents. This is a for fun poll! Please have fun. Discover new weird ships to have. Form weird ship polycules with the opponents and kiss or smth. If I see any vile behavior in the polls you will be blocked.

- unfortunately I am a human bound by feelings and bias. This was originally just going to be a ‘weird a3 ships’ thing before I decided to branch out since I doubt I’d get many submissions sticking to one fandom. If you see a lot of a3! Specific ships thats because I have a lot of friends who are all individually buckwild about certain weird ships.

- ALL PROPAGANDAIS NOT ONLY BELOVED AND ADORED BUT ENCOURAGED!!! GO APE!!!

THE SUBMISSIONS WILL LAST UNTIL MAY 15TH GMT -4‼️ (<- linked here)

(Should a date be needed I will specify later down the line. I will give more than enough time with a heads up for when I close submissions, so you do not have to worry about being too late to submit your blorbos.)

I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE SPECIAL SHOUTOUTS TO @pinkandbluebracket @redandyellowbracket @a3outfitstournament AND @greenhairandpronouns-tournament FOR MAKING POLLS SEEM FUN AND SILLY AND THUS MY ENCOURAGEMENT TO MAKE MY OWN!!! ALSO BECAUSE TAGGING SEEMS CUSTOMARY

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

LOTR-Themed Tag Game

I got tagged by the lovely @quillofspirit (thank you!) and tried to keep my answers to manageable length!

How old were you when you were first introduced to LOTR? My mom sort of told me the LOTR narrative in summarized chunks as a bedtime story when I was 5 or 6 (too little to have the patience to have the whole thing read to me). But I was probably 12 the first time I tried to read the books for myself.

Favorite LOTR character? Major character: Éomer. Minor character: Háma. And I have many desperately strong feelings about some very obscure canon guys that I still passionately love.

Books or movies? I thoroughly enjoy both, but I’m first and foremost a books gal.

Which location in Middle Earth would you want to visit? Just to visit? Lórien. I wouldn’t want to live among the elves full time, but it seems like the beauty in Lórien is out of this world so I’d love to see it. And check in on Haldir while I’m there.

Favorite movie? Most of the best Rohan content is in Two Towers.

Favorite scene? “DEATH!!!!!”

Favorite quote? I think this line from Haldir is beautiful and underrated: “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all the lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” Also, my sentimental fave from Háma: “I said not Éomer. And he is not the last. There is Éowyn, daughter of Éomund, his sister. She is fearless and high-hearted.” True king shit.

What Middle Earth race would you want to be? Give me the messy, complicated humans (bonus points for the sweaty, dirty ones). Stick with what you know! (And I can’t live in a tree or underground.)

Favorite LOTR ship? Of the most popular ships, I guess I’d say either Farawyn or Gigolas, depending on whether I’m feeling a little emo or just want to be delighted at the time. My personal little pet ship is Guthláf and Wídfara, though I understand that’s not comprehensible to most people.

I definitely KNOW a lot of other people have answered these so I will probably mess up and tag someone who’s already done it! But I’ll take a no pressure stab with @frodothefair and @eomerofrohan

[slveepyscwrs]

You want ACTUALLY obscure ship dynamics inspired by small fandoms WITH prompts for each of them to help you write? I got you bestie:

I get the frustration. You want to explore a new ship dynamic to practice your romance writing skills, but you can't find anything aside from the same old.

If that sounds like something you struggle with, here are some ship dynamics that are criminally underused because I've either seen it in a fandom that's teeny-tiny, or I thought of them myself and I haven't been able to see it anywhere.

(Disclaimer: Some of these MIGHT be slightly popular already, so don't go saying "erm actually I've already seen this trope used a bunch of times." I'm not saying that these ideas haven't been used at all, I'm just saying that their popularity is very less compared to some other tropes. I'm also not trying to judge anyone who likes popular tropes.)

Be sure to tag me if you use any of the prompts included here!

Teacher x Teacher. Blame Mr. Ajayi x Mr. Farouk from Heartstopper for my obsession with this. I know, Heartstopper itself isn't a small fandom, but this shipping trope is. Student x Student has already been done a gazillion times. Student x Teacher... uh... not everyone's cup of tea. Teacher x Teacher has a lot of opportunities for fluff and angst, and is also good practice for writing older characters.

(+ Bonus Points if the students notice and try to get them together and/or just sit there confused because how the hell did we get here?)

Prompt Ideas:

"It's 10:00 P.M., and you're still grading tests? Nope, I'll handle them, and you need to go home and rest."

"This is the third time this week that you've been crying in the teacher's lounge. That's it, tell me the names of the kids that I need to give a piece of my mind and extra homework to."

2. Childhood Enemies to Lovers. Before you say, "Wouldn't that just count as enemies to lovers?," the vast majority of enemies to lovers that I've seen involve A and B meeting when they're already teens/young adults.

We love childhood friends to lovers. We love enemies to lovers. Why not have both?

The media that I got this trope from is a BL drama called "We Best Love." If I gushed about how much I love this series and how it lives rent-free in my head, this post would last forever.

(+ Bonus Points If they realise that they never really actually hated each other, it was just a silent lie they were telling each other throughout their childhood.)

Prompt Ideas:

"You couldn't even let me have the slide for five seconds when we were kids. Why are you doing all this for me only now?"

"Wait, don't tell me you're still holding grudges from when we were literally in diapers?"

3. Okay guys today we've gathered to come up with a plan to get these two gosh darn idiots together. I don't really know how to describe it other than that. I also don't recall seeing it any of my fandoms, mostly from my OC stories.

However, I don't know if it's just me, but I LOVE seeing the ship's friends getting involved in having the ship sail successfully. We Stan supportive friends, and the comedy that comes with such situations is a surefire way to keep readers hooked.

(+Bonus Points if two of the friends slowly realise their feelings for each other WHILE doing their shenanigans to try and get the main ship together. Extra Chaos.)

Prompt Ideas:

"What are you suddenly doing here?" "[Friend] sent me." "That's weird, [Friend] sent me too." "Wait..."

"You're telling me that they still didn't realise they have feelings for each other? Ugh, fine, I guess it's time for Plan B..."

I have a lot more of these, but this post is getting too long. If you want to hear more about lesser known tropes, please show some love to this post!

Love,

Your Gay Writing Bestie

[obscureother]

🌑 ˚x'˙ intro. . ??

Hello. . !! im new to tumblr, so sorry if wonky things happen while im setting this up. im still trying to figure things out guys-

i lurk on other accounts for general content but im closeted n shy so i made this one to yell about things instead so i don’t expose myself to people i know lolol

if you know or find other profiles i own, i request you not expose it for those reasons before im comfortable to.

so this is just an f/o blog/journaling. . thing. I'm not entirely sure what content will be here, but it will be centered around f/os, self-shipping, and its just to give me a place to yell about the people that live in my/your brain rent-free and know they don’t exist but we pretend they do anyway for comfort reasons and serotonin, dopamine, uhh what other things feel good and ok??

some of it will be for you if I happen to think of something, other times it is for me to explode over my fixation f/os!!

youre also welcome to come yell about your f/os if you just need someone to talk to them about!! dont think i know em?? COME OVER and INTRODUCE THEM. you can come in DMs, asks, or however you want to!! id be happy to know your f/o or listen to you talk about them if no one else will :00

This is a comfort blog to me, so there wont be any room for meanness or intended offenses here. Dont come to me with troublesome things or somehow twist/morph my content into something its not, we're just here to have a cool time with our fictional people, bro. . :((

ok who r you tho:

To be honest, I don’t have a name or something to go by as of posting this, I might get one later or just make a new comment all fancy for the pin. . For now you can just call me whatever you deem good or just go off my blog/username!! Don’t be mean tho. i may take one you guys think of or figure it out on my own.

they/them

im 21 yo. (if youre a minor, i dont mind you coming to say hello, but do look below the other stuff content for what you need to look out for. you should also know some of you goofy kiddos have energies i dont know how to respond to sometimes, so dont worry if i get awkward or something, its not your fault lolol.)

im in college, so forgive me if im slow, im also just not on tumblr very often :v i dont ghost people on purpose i swEaR-

i might post my f/os on a whole list, idk yet, but theyll prolly be mentioned sometimes to the very least. you can def ask of them tho!! (edited: i made an f/o list if you want to see them.)

i dont know if ill post content of my own f/os or me/my sona for them, but it could be there.

i dont mind sharing f/os!! id love to yell about them together. if you dont like that, then its ok!! i either wont talk about them with you so you can be their person when we talk of them, or you can just block/not interact. ill be sad i dont get to meet you, but its ok.

other stuff:

Nothing explicit/detailed will normally be posted. but: The worst there will be is just being hormonally silly from kind of "rrr ovaries go brr, chew on theM-" energy of my f/os. i will try to create a tag to mark it with so you can exclude honky content if you want or need to later, tho. from what i know, you can "block" tags. . so i think that will work if you like the other goofy stuff on the blog??

(edited: I DID IT, I DID THEM, LOOK: 🌑obscure tags list for the obscure blog )

NSFW talk can be in DMs, tho.

DO NOT come to me with those concepts if youre a minor tho, oh dear GOD. honky grown-up talk is not for you goofy child-folk.

LGBTQ+ friendly!! im nonbinary and love everybody. youre ok too. 💙

i do roleplay sometimes, but only in dms n please dont go exposing our roleplays to others. . i would be very not comfy :"0

if you want to roleplay, you can dm me to ask but i dont have to say yes or i might not be able to. im slow too dfsdf=

i may or may not make a side blog once i figure out how to do stuff, but know that until then, im going to just post whatever on this one til i know how to do things on tumblr lolol.

forgive me if some of my content gets deleted, edited, whatever as we go. like i said, this whole thing is very new to me and its not very organized for now. its just there. its gonna get wonky over here on my side for a bit.

• tiny bat gif •

[katyspersonal]

if you could ask Miyazaki a single question on Bloodborne lore and he had to give you a complete and non-obscure answer, what would you ask?

"Why the Doll from Bloodborne is dressed like this?". In a heartbeat.

There ARE some other things I really want to know, of course! All Fromsoft, not just Bloodborne. Like who was Djura's third companion, because it is absolutely not obvious since Joseph is not unique but just a summon variant of a generic invader enemy 'Izzy's Follower'! Or exact list of parents of Gwyn's children, so the family tree is solid! Or how exactly Rom ascended, because whereas Micolash claims she was given eyes by Kos, she is a Spider (Nightmare/Amygdalae affiliation) AND is found as a corpse near weeping Ebrietas in the Choir! Or who exactly Gloam-Eyed Queen was... All that!

However, simply answering all these with theories and headcanons and interpretations does not have consequences! The Doll's clothing discourse, however, does!

It is obvious that we as a fandom are not ready for Miyazaki's genius, and above all, not ready to be mature enough to respect each other's takes! Doll discourse brings out the worst in people! No other unresolved lore question makes people block each other on the spot for """wrong""" reading of this. People even block Gehrmaria shippers as if to distance from "impurity uwu" instead of just blocking the ship's name, like Tumblr allows to do! No other question makes them vagueblog absolutely vile shit about another, or sometimes put their hate for character/ship in the tags. No other question makes people call their opponents misogyny-apologists, braindead, weirdos, media-illiterate or straight up claim they "just want to woobify the cis white man" (seriously what the fuck RACE has to do with this?) ..... this is the part where I should address the wrongdoings of people with charitable Gehrman reading as a 'both sides bad' matter but I can't recall anything lolololololol

Yeah, I might not believe there was any sort of misogyny tradwife stuff planned for the character. It is not just a matter of "even the doll should it please you" and "his curious mania" being inventions of localisation team:

Doll says '私をお使いください' ('Watashi o o tsukai kudasai', so, please use me), referring to using her for channeling Blood Echoes! Gehrman says '君さえよければ、あの人形もね⋯' ('kimi sae yokereba, ano ningyō mo neso', so, 'doll too if only you are okay with it', or '...if that is alright with you') in the context of talking about the Hunter tools in the Workshop, again, pointing us towards the fact that she is, too, a 'tool' in a way. Some tools fortify your weapons, others (herself) turn blood echoes into your power.

The "mania" mentioned in this line also uses the word 狂熱 (kyoonetsu), which refers to madness and insanity. Meanwhile, the "mania" mentioned in the description of Doll's clothes uses the word 偏執 (henshuu), meaning to be absorbed in the process very much, being very fixated etc. So, he was so absorbed in his work on the clothes of the Doll that he lost track of time!

It is... everything. Him being put up as a tragic character with a tragic song, when Fromsoft is always blunt when they want someone to be a weirdo or disliked. It is Doll crying a tear of joy upon feeling how Gehrman cared for Maria through Hair Ornament. It is Doll being based on Victorian grief dolls and not being a sex doll or whatever Reddittube said and Twitbr parroted. It is bifauxnen archetype being more often about a woman who did not even want to be masculine but something, or someone, pushed her to, than about plain masculine woman, paired with how much Maria regretted joining the hunt and her hunter attire being the 'masculine wear'. If not and transition was genuine, grief doll implies Maria at least used to be this way, and Gehrman clings to the past version of her, away from what killed her.

But in the end, it doesn't matter which! I try to not have biases besides 'what works better' or 'what feels more natural'! But even if Miyazaki said that yes, he did imply misogyny tradwife forced femininity whatever whatever for this character, what would matter is a concrete answer! Again: we as a fandom, heck, as a species, are not intellectually ready for the concepts like 'up to interpretation'. But removing interpretation factor from THIS thing would've saved so, so, SO many unnecessary petty dramas and conflicts!

[uwabbittuwabbit]

in my head these r what miyazaki ghibli pairings map onto what motogp ships:

-rosquez are obviously howl and sophie, which i go more into depth into here. its also important that sophie and howl get into the fight about howl's hair, because sophie ultimately does go back, puts on her business face etc. i think the timeline would work out like, they get into that big argument whatever its about but marc goes back, vale tries to make up for it with the ring and beautifying marc's clothes and eventually the house in the mountains but during that time its like their relationship is completely frozen even though they're living in the same house...marc considers moving out to live with alex etc. just becomes older with his withdrawal because of the curse. And then vale moves the castle to marc's old home. sophie is also like very much obligated to her family as the oldest daughter (which is why she stays in the hat shop) which is very marc! he wants to make his people happy...Also don't tell me fuck ass bob vale DOESN'T scream young howl to you. say it to my face. u can't.

-enea/casey are san and ashitaka from princess mononoke. just imagine the "im going to cut ur throat/ur beautiful" scene with them...i dont think casey necessarily gets cured from the illness that he gets from the corrupted forest god it just becomes part of him, so its no longer killing him after the forest god's head is returned but still ails him. hes from a super far secret civilization and cant go back after being banished (kind of like how u can't fade into obscurity after rising to fame). rides an antelope looking thing and is so so noble. enea is feral and living with the wolves. hates humans. but when this stranger comes and gets shot in his name he can't help but feel something other than that hatred he has felt all of his life. chews casey's food for him and delivers it mouth to mouth when he's too weak to eat...the same mouth that spat out the poisoned blood around the mother wolf's bullet wound. etc.

-cele/bezz r sosuke and ponyo, but they also have the potential to be kiki(bezz) and tombo(cele) and sheeta(cele) and pazu(bezz)...to me cele is sosuke, the weird kid who lives in the house on a hill (alone), signals ships at night just to talk to somebody and flies maritime flags. likes to fix stuff, has a tiny little dinky car. works as a daycare science teacher taking the kids on trips to catch bugs and frogs but also helps out at the nursing home next door, fixing the wheelchairs of the residents and like taking them out for fresh air while the kids tag along. thats summer though and in the winter he helps out at the dock and on fishing boats. he would love you if you were a worm, in short. bezz's misadventures get him stuck in a jar (he could cry he's so embarrassed) but cele finds him when testing his newest like little motorized toy boat prototype he wants to show the kids and bezz IMMEDIATELY falls in love, it's crazy. you bet he licked the blood off of cele's gashed finger just like that. is absolutely INDULGING in the attention he gets when cele brings him in for Show And Tell/Storytime and explains in his pondering voice how he found bezz. gets sloshed on that forbidden magic juice right after getting plopped back home and runs on giant fucking waves as cele commutes home to impress him. all cele feels is like, mild concern like damn do i have to detour home? i would have known if there was some major meteorological event coming my way. when the curly haired stranger with an earnest smile shows up at his home and engulfs him in a hug, he meets it with the same bewilderment but because bezz feels familiar. consequentially is not very impressed or surprised about bezz being a fish loool. i was just picturing the thumbnail of this video the entire time i wrote this and that's literally their whole vibe. that's bezz in cele's tub right there. this post is getting away from me more than it already is so ill like do a quick preface of the other premises...bezz is a witch and his familiar is rubik...flies away to a big city and meets cele with his homemade flying contraptions...gets tattoed for the first time by some random artist in the woods...becomes depressed...can't fly anymore...cele is the last member of a royal family and falls from the sky after being held on an airship, with bezz as the one to catch him...bezz has always wanted adventure because his father was one of the few people to have ever seen the fabled castle in the sky...wants to take his chances with cele...cele's billowing curls and tragic eyes...all bezz wants to do is make him happy...all cele wants is to go home.

-luca/pecco as haku and chihiro from spirited away. their whole vibe is childhood friends that grew apart and then rekindled imo. when they meet in the spirit world luca introduces himself as maro and to pecco he seems familiar; you how it was on a playground when you were young and you knew everything about someone except for their name? so maro it is, and he takes pecco's hand when he cries about his roommates (pecco's in college and ended up in an abandoned places exploration group with them) being turned into pigs and is panicking about not being able to go home and is generally a mess and tells him to get up from where he's been curled up into a ball and run with him to the bathhouse where he gets a job and becomes just pecco, no francesco because his name gets taken away. life is pretty tough for pecco at first and he's very lonely while luca is away doing missions for the boss, which is most of the time. hes also very insecure and fears luca leaving him because he's not good enough. but he puts his head down and slowly earns respect from his peers. starts standing up for himself and becoming more confident, and eventually has his standout moment for completely cleansing a polluted spirit. luca (a river spirit) fell in love with pecco when he fell into him and wasn't able to swim. even though that was very much an embarrassing moment what made it worse were pecco's flailing attempts to keep his head above water, but that was what endeared him to luca. it was his stupidly stubborn will to keep his nose to the grindstone even when it filled his mouth with water and got him nowhere. that is how a river thinks, and luca could never forget pecco's lanky straggling form as he struggled up the banks of the river, wretched and alive but triumphant for doing so.

[findafight]

Okay - not typically a fan of either ship, but the idea of Nancy being the gf that Steve and Robin share is hilarious to me for some reason? idk, I can just see Nancy tentatively agreeing to this and just being more and more baffled at the state of the relationship. Like, she’s not unhappy, but it’s just - she can’t really wrap her around it? It all seems so easy in a way that makes her wary and start second-guessing everything. Except therapy’s made her conscious of these kind of patterns and she’s trying to work out if this is what’s actually happening, or if she’s just getting in her head about it -

Meanwhile Steve and Robin are just vibing, debating over whether or not they should get matching tattoos (Robin wants them to get the same thing, like a little bird with a crown, or two halves of a matching set. Steve wants them to get something that alludes to an obscure inside reference, like each others’ middle names or something).

Whatever the state of affairs between the three of them, my headcanon is that Nancy is perpetually low-key baffled at Steve and Robin’s relationship. They do in fact have boundaries in their friendship, but they’re never where she expects them to be. Comments about Steve’s parents? Over the line. Robin following him into the bathroom and locking the door behind them so they can continue their argument? Apparently his only complaint is that they have to stop doing this at other people’s houses, Rob, people are gonna think we’re weird. They both react with over the top disgust at the idea of anyone suggesting that there’s anything romantic or sexual between them, but one time Robin was paranoid that she might have found a lump on her breast and called on *Steve* for a second opinion?

And like, with the best will in the world, she’s talked to Robin. Robin’s *very* intelligent. What do her and Steve have to talk about. To say nothing of all this stuff that Robin knows about Steve that Nancy had no clue about?

Omg. Yeah I could see this also being fueled by a desire to confuse the hell out of literally everyone (including herself) for Nancy. Like, she likes Steve and since they rekindled their relationship obviously Robin has been tagging along, and Nancy has realized that she isn't as annoying as she thought, especially when Steve's there to be a little comedy duo with her. And she's pretty so that's a bonus.

But Nancy's also bamboozled because sometimes Steve and Robin act more like an old married couple than her and Steve, who've actually been together for a while! Or her and Robin who do like to debate together! And I love her seeing herself start to maybe self sabotage and reigning that in, noticing that she's got a good thing here even if she herself doesn't understand that (and maybe stobin's general stobinness helps her realize that sometimes...things don't have to make sense to her) and working to make sure it stays good.

I think Robin and Steve's general tomfoolery dynamic would be a bit of a shock for Nancy, who Robin has pretty deep and mildly intellectual discussions with or Steve who talks about the future with such surety while staring up at the stars, and then they come together and immediately give each other raspberries on the cheek and giggle. The boundaries are incomprehensible to her. She knows they're there but she cannot figure out rhyme nor reason. Steve and Robin are pack bathroom trip people, but then Robin gets shy if Nancy wants to come along too. But they all make each other feel safe.

I suppose it could be really interesting and silly haha

[mylittleredgirl]

20 questions for fic writers

thanks @annerbhp for the tag! i really enjoyed reading her answers too!

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

215

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

646,705 (average of 3k per fic, which sounds about right)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

stargate atlantis most often, followed by sg-1, various star treks, and the x-files (with other miscellaneous fandoms on demand for exchanges and gifts).

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

No Sooner Met (voyager, janeway/chakotay)

Career Day (sg-1, mini!otp)

Next Chapter (the good place, chidi/eleanor)

First Date (voyager, janeway/chakotay) editor's note: man my title game was weak in my voyager era

Occupational Hazards (the good place, chidi/eleanor)

it's so funny to spend my online time in small or inactive fandoms and look at statistics because i'm like yeah... i'm kind of a big deal... people know me... i have many leather-bound volumes... and not a single one of my fics crack 300 kudos (& very few over 100). the person i reblogged from topped out over 9,000! what's it like to write long fics for popular fandoms? is it cool?

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i do now! and it's awesome! for a long time i was intimidated by praise and had a hard time responding, but my brain works now and i really enjoy exchanging comments that turn into long threads of headcanon back-and-forth and sometimes new friends.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

oh god PLEASE let me unburden my soul about Twilight (sga, john/elizabeth). it's so uncharacteristically hopeless for me -- far future fic, complicated family dynamics, elizabeth has dementia and john is estranged from their son... really no one is having a good time. i think it's interesting and a cool departure from my usual writing style, but it's also a big sad mess.

i still feel sooooo guilty about these two thousand words of misery that i REGULARLY think about writing a sequel where john and his son fix it with time travel and mend fences. like i lie awake at night worrying about these characters because one time in 2007 i didn't give them a happy ending and suggested john might not break the bad father generational cycle. normal fic writer behavior.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Weaving Loose Ends (sg-1, sam/jack)! i love happy and hopeful endings but i think of all of them, this one is the most resolved and least complicated.

8. Do you get hate on fic?

nope. oh!!!! there was the one time when i caused Big Drama in a corner of the Dancing With The Stars fandom by turning people's headcanons into rpf, which everyone liked until one included porn. people got so heated with each other over this one smut fic (doxing! splinter factions! a fandom schism!) but somehow no one was ever actually mean to me. i didn't even get blocked or banned for my rpf transgressions, i was just standing there at the eye of the storm. so... i guess the answer is still no??

9. Do you write smut?

yes! i should probably write more, though. it has been all slow and gauzy the past few years, somebody should really get railed pretty soon.

10. Do you write crossovers?

nope.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

i don't think so. happily toiling in obscurity.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

back in the x-files days i think someone translated some of my doggett/reyes fics for a spanish archive, so those might still be out there.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

no i haven't!! i am really not doing well collecting my fic writer girl scout badges here!!

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

john sheppard/elizabeth weir my beloved.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but probably won’t?

i have 10k of an sg-1 episode-by-episode soulmate fic that started really strong and i would love to share someday, but i lack staying power so it will surely just go to seed in my dropbox forever!!

16. What are your writing strengths?

hopefully character complexity and dialogue. dialogue is interesting in fanfic, because the dialogue on many TV shows is really different than how real humans speak (it's scripted to be clearer, more concise and direct, uninterrupted, etc), so it's a fun challenge to balance that and get something that sounds both in-character and realistic.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

long fics!

the big related weakness is that i find it incredibly difficult to keep writing on a fic after i show it to anyone (as a sneak peek, or because i want feedback / encouragement / brainstorming help). i lose steam on my own, but posting or inviting other people into the process is like pouring sugar in the gas tank. why is that!! how do i fix this!!!

and i don't know if this is a "writing weakness" or an "egregious personal character flaw" but i sure did finish an exchange fic this year literally forty seconds before reveals, so that's... pretty bad.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

SO SCARY aughhhh my fear of Being Wrong really nukes me here. it doesn't even have to be a real language. it's like the ghost of JRR Tolkein himself is standing over my shoulder telling me that if i don't backwards engineer an entire proto-latinate space language instead of just chucking words into google translate and calling it Ancient i'm committing unpardonable sins.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

star trek! first internet-published fics were x-files, but first limited-print-edition fics were xeroxed hand-bound voyager stories my sister and i would give as "gifts" to family friends (and then stand there staring at them while they read the first few pages and told us how clever and creative we were and promised to "read the rest later").

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

new answer! i have always answered this before with ain't no sunshine (sga, john/elizabeth) or career day (sg-1, mini!otp), but i think i really stuck the landing this year on pieces (sga, john/elizabeth). which, incidentally, is the one i finished forty seconds before reveals so i'm definitely not going to learn anything from that narrow escape.

tagging @ussjellyfish if you haven't already done this one, @coraclavia, @havocthecat, @lonesomehighways, and anyone else who made it through this long post and would like to do it!

[yeoldehetalian]

💘 - What's the most obscure pairing you've got a soft spot for?

@hetalia-rarepairweek

Hetalia Rarepair Week 2023

Day 7 – Free day

Cameroon and Macau!

(the above is just a simple edit with canon art by Himaruya, the meat of the post is below:)

So, “Macaroon” eh? – more than just a dessert item, it could also be a delightfully obscure Hetalia rarepair! I've never seen anything with this pair before (maybe I just missed it), so I made them a bit of an introductory post.

There may be controversy over macaroons vs macarons, which word to use for which exact dessert, but here’s what shouldn’t be controversial – how good these two look together!   Aren't they just so handsome? 

But a ship should have more than just looks, right?  Of course! Let’s start off with some things they have in common:

-described as being like a “big brother”

-described as being easy to get along with/easy going

-both seem fairly relaxed, personality-wise

-despite the above, both have serious sides that can come out

-are tall

-wear glasses

-would be close to the same age

-both nations got their current English names via Portuguese traders/explorers in the 1400s-1500s

Other things I would like to bring to your attention:

Due to the Portugal connection, they may have been aware of each other for some time before they actually met in person. Maybe Porgutal introduced them to each other some how. Macau is much more closely tied to Portugal, though, I don’t think Cameroon has much of a tie except the history of his name – but I could be wrong.

I feel that these two would get along well even if they don’t share all the same interests. Some compelling contrasts here could be – Macau is expert at tourism with his economy almost solely dependent on it, and Cameroon is looking to increase tourism, so there could be some collaboration there.  Likewise, Cameroon has much more land, with a diversity of beautiful landscapes, lots of farming, animals, etc, something that Macau lacks (Macau is tiny, land-wise, despite his height!) so he might like to go visit there to relax in nature.

Cameroon seems like he is great with kids – he is seen playing football (soccer) with kids and seems to have a fun-loving side.  He also seems to be good with animals.  Macau was described as doing some toy manufacture (though in reality this seems to be declining) and being very hospitable, and he seems to get along pretty well with his neighboring nations/family. And both seem chill and easy going.  This all adds up to: potential to be a super domestic!  I mean, whatever you do, don’t envision Macau bringing out some delicious treats and drinks for Cameroon and all the random kids he was playing with outside all afternoon. It is just too adorable! Don’t think about Cameroon taking Macau out into his nature for a secluded picnic in the shade of a tree on a sunny day.  Surely you would not want to consider them just having the most chillax relationship ever simply because they are naturally so easy to get along with and have zero reason to interact in kind of antagonistic way as nations.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a huge amount of canon material for either of these two (You can find most of it by going to https://hetarchive.net/ and typing in a name in the search bar).  So I have a lot of unanswered questions, like what does Macau enjoy doing for fun/relaxation?  What are Cameroon’s interactions with his neighbor nations like?  What were they both like as young nations? Do either of them have “human” names?

That’s about all I have for you now, please give Macaroon some consideration!  Maybe you can add some headcanons in the tags.  Or send me some :D  Go for it!

[writing-for-life]

Neil reblogged a post and I muse about fandom pipelines…

I woke up to absolute chaos on my lawn again—in excess of nearly 1,500 notes. Took me a hot sec, but this time I got fairly quickly that Neil reblogged one of my posts again (the last time it happened, I was much more confused). And while that’s always super fun (of all the posts, it had to be one with the #murphy and his cool hat-tag 🙈. Also: Thanks Neil for my shredded inbox—I was sleeping and couldn’t switch off notes. So if any of you are waiting on replies or anything, forget it right now, can’t find anything 🤣), it also made me reflect. You know me, I always have to turn everything into an essay, so here goes…

The post in question was a couple of days old and already sat in the 400 notes range before Neil hit the chaos button. I have posted some of Vince’s art before, most notably the sister piece to this one (which I personally think is a more accomplished work of art, but that’s personal taste). As you can tell, none of them have near as much engagement. No surprises there.

My blog is small, but not tiny (4 figure amount of followers). Pretty pictures always get engagement, but mostly when they’re Murphy or Death (I don’t post shipping content because despite ample shitposts, I created this blog with the goal of source material appreciation and deeper engagement with it). The odd one of Delirium or Desire breaks through, BUT…

I often read that people care about all the characters of the Sandman, even (!, ha) the female ones. My blog is mostly rooted in the comics with the odd journey into the show (you won’t find too much fan-content about the actors here), so I try to post about ALL the characters, even “obscure” ones, and tag accordingly. Of course I have my own preferences, and there’s obviously also much more art centring Morpheus than, say, Despair (which also supports the point I’ll try to make), but I make an effort to dig and/or write for it, be that art of Destiny or Lyta or a meta about Desire or Lucien/ne. And especially the writing can feel discouraging and somewhat self-perpetuating, because if you spend whatever time you have left in your day on creating content that no one is interested in because it’s not centred around one or two favourite characters (because they always get engagement on here, and I’m sometimes not sure if people even truly digest them—some of the tags/comments suggest they don’t), you simply reassess if you shouldn’t do something else with that time. Or you keep on writing about one favourite character because… you might as well.

But when something like this happens, I notice one thing: Most people so obviously don’t search the tags. They get their content from one or two (or a handful of) blogs and content curators. Neil is obviously different in the way a post takes off, but I also see this on a smaller scale regularly:

People say they care about Sandman characters other than Morpheus (and “the other one”), but hardly any posts about them (bar Death and *maybe* Delirium and even *more maybe* Desire) get any engagement off the bat. Often not even from people I know are fans. And of course we’re not all online 24/7 and things slip through, but these are visible trends, not just singular occurrences, when you run a blog like mine.

Because that content is right there, in the tags, if you only look for it.

If people checked the tags of the characters they supposedly care about, they would find them, even if the posts are not as plentiful. And every so often (read: hardly ever, but it has happened once or twice), one of the bigger shipping blogs will reblog a post about those characters. And guess what? Immediate engagement. Slay Queen! 🙄

But many, many people don’t look for them. They find them on their dash because they follow certain blogs and let them curate stuff for them. Fair enough, it’s at least partly how Tumblr works. But that’s also how the fandom pipeline works. And the fandom pipeline is biased.

Call me slow, but if people profess their love for all the characters and especially the women of the Sandman, why don’t they check their tags? Because if you run a blog with half-decent engagement like mine, it becomes so immediately obvious where the engagement comes from:

Posts about Murphy: Almost always directly via my blog AND reblogs. The former means through my followers and tags. And I can see that a decent amount comes through tags, because not everyone who reblogs from my blog follows me. So for Dream, people do check the tags (although: pictures always do better than metas, and thirst-trap pictures do a lot better than more artistic and abstract takes. Fics? Bwahaha, you’re joking. I don’t write Dre@mling, reader-inserts or smut, so no chance).

Posts about Death and Delirium: Yeah, maybe? Occasionally? Especially the “pretty” ones. Especially the ones that sideline them a bit and still centre Murphy in some way (and I understand how hard it is not to do that, because in the grand scheme of things, it is his arc we’re following. He is the central character, even if not in all storylines, and we don’t need to pretend he’s not and be angry about it either).

Posts about everyone else: Hahaha, nope. UNLESS a big (shipping) blog reposts them. Which hardly ever happens.

So is it really true that people care about the female characters (or any characters other than Morpheus and the one that shan’t be named) if they don’t even check their tags? If they only get their content from a handful of blogs that are so clearly biased towards two characters?

Don’t get me wrong, I have my favourites, too. And that’s totally okay. We’re all allowed to like what we like, it’s not about that. But we can’t be in denial about the fact that the majority (I’m not saying everyone) of fandom engages with The Sandman purely through a shipping lens, so I guess I personally just wish people would reflect more on how the fandom pipeline works. People are commonly told to create what they want to see etc. But what’s so totally obvious is that most people don’t even look for other characters via the tags. They let other people do the work for them. And if those blogs don’t post diversity apart from the odd token female character, guess what happens?

Long story short: I’m a big advocate for getting into the habit of checking the tags for more than just one or two characters (and I know some people do, so this is rather a general observation). And to check the tags regularly, even for the characters we like most if they are the more popular ones; it works the same for them, as reblogs by people like Neil always show. Because that post was already there for days, but the majority of people bar the first 300-400 did NOT find it through the tags.

Echo chambers are the death of different and critical opinions about anything. Even female characters; the fandom pipeline works for them, too. It’s just that far fewer people are interested outright, but the narrative in any fandom gets controlled by the most vocal blogs for any character.

And maybe that’s the former scientist in me speaking, but:

Bias is not the problem. We all have it. And as long as we’re aware of it, it’s okay. The problem starts when we let it work the pipeline until nothing else is left. And the easiest way to avoid that is not to rely on just a couple of favourite blogs for content.

[gammagoop]

Random Acts of Kindness

Small Limited Life fic I wrote for fun ^_^

Featuring Grian and Etho, with other members mentioned (do not tag as ship)

Warnings: emetophobia, lots of anxiety, and talks of death

Words: 1,574

fic is under the cut ⬇️

“Do you want to enact the sword?”

Etho stood, above him, higher than him, in the dirt and ruins of wooden structures. They were almost unrecognizable, as if decades had rotted away the wood and weather had trampled the crops. Joel had tilled this same sweat-soaked soil just a few weeks prior.

Grian’s face lit up at this, seeming to react with real emotion for the first time since Joel had gone out. He dropped his own weapon onto the ground, not bothering to consider the danger of doing so in the tidal wave of emotion.

“YES! Yes! I want to enact the sword!” He clapped his hands together.

His world hit him like a train, like a surprise thunderstorm, his mind reeling as he grasped desperately onto this new semblance of an ally. Etho was close enough to his state. He still had Impulse, but Impulse wasn’t here.

“Oh my god!” His breath ran out of him in a huff, and he felt dizzy all of a sudden, heart pounding blood in his ears.

Etho laughed how he always did, jumping down heavily onto the dirt below and tucking his weapon— the titular sword— away as well. A sign of peace, of agreement.

Grian couldn’t help himself, he reached out and grabbed Etho’s hands, pulled them near his chest and squeezed them. Felt Etho’s blood running in his veins under his fingernails, how warm another body could be.

Etho squeezed back as if he didn’t know what to do. His eyes squinted a bit like an awkward smile.

“I— I—“ Grian was suddenly aware of a tremor through his body, making him feel nauseous. He stepped back shakily, panting, blood loud, releasing his ally’s hands.

“Oh, Etho, I— Don’t feel so good—“

He bent and lurched and vomited into the mud.

“Oh,” Etho said, surprised, unsure, “Are you okay? You’re not sick, are you? You can rest if…”

Grian lifted his head “No— I—“ He heaved a bit. “I’m fine. It… happens,”

“Anxiety?”

“Yeah, that would be it wouldn’t it,”

Etho’s eyes softened, and he fumbled through his inventory for a minute. He pulled out a flask of water, and outstretched an arm to offer it to Grian.

“Drink this, I filled it up with clean water around 30 minutes ago,”

Grian already had water, he thought, but took it anyway. He stumbled over to the end of the bridge, where the wood was, and sat down among the upturned roots of potatoes, legs feeling too tired to hold him anymore. He drank about a third of the flask in two large swigs, just to get the acrid taste out. Etho sat down next to him, more smoothly, and put a hand on his back.

“Don’t go too fast,” He warned.

Grian panted heavily. “Right, yeah, don’t wanna barf again,”

“Mhm…”

They sat like that for a minute. It was nighttime, the sky cloudy enough to obscure the moon.

Grian caught himself expecting to hear the footsteps of Skizz on Skynet below, or the shouting from the clockers, or an explosion somewhere, or Jimmy and Joel running back to the mansion with their hair sticking out and damp from sweat, a bit bloodied, Jimmy stumbling a bit, and looking for Grian.

But it was quieter than it ever had been, trees rustling in waves against the wind.

“…Do you miss your teammates?”

Etho asked, as if it wasn’t obvious. Grian laughed dryly.

“What gave you that idea?”

A pause.

“I think we all do,” Etho responded, unhelpfully.

“You still have Impulse,” Grian pointed out, “Pearl still has BigB and BigB has Pearl. Scott and Martyn are probably going to make it to the very end together— and the Clockers can all be a happy family together in the sky,”

He looked up, as if to see them there. They might be watching, he supposed. He wouldn’t put it past them— out of everyone left on the server, they probably wanted to look down on Grian and Etho the most. He wondered if Jimmy and Joel were watching too. He wondered if they were even still floating around this world, or if they’d long since moved on. It made him feel dizzy again so he tried not to wonder too much.

“Yeah…”

The air was stiff between them. Grian pulled his knees in to sit criss-cross. Etho seemed to be listening to the sounds of the night, the shuffling of the living things below. It was always hard for Grian to tell what Etho was thinking, and he figured that must be the case for everyone. Maybe that’s why Scar was afraid of him.

Grian wasn’t afraid of Etho, not really. He wasn’t any more afraid of Etho than he was of Tango or Martyn or anyone else on the server. But he did feel squirmy around him, like he wasn’t meant to be there. He felt like he had to prove himself to even stand in proximity to Etho— but Etho didn’t seem to want that. There was nuance in the way the other man tapped his pinkie finger against his knee. Maybe he wasn’t coming up with some mastermind scheme to reinvent the and-gate — maybe he was just trying to think of what to say.

Joel had been paired with Etho in the time prior to this one. Random chance, of course, but they’d seem to hit it off quite well. Joel was just better with people than Grian was— he was more casual, if he made a mistake he brushed it off and kept rolling forward. Maybe there was something to the whole positive self-talk thing.

Confidence. Grian recalled it now, Jimmy telling him about the encounter he and Joel had had with Skizz. The affirmations, Grian remembered his own well.

Skizz had hit the nail on the head with each one of them, probably the whole server if he had to guess. Joel was confident, and Jimmy was quick, and Grian was a leader, and Grian was alone. And Grian was alone. And his Jimmy and Joel were dead. Grian was alone.

Grian let out a sudden sob, and rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses.

“You haven’t really been alone before,” Etho murmured.

For all his generic comments before, Grian felt like Etho had looked right into his soul for that one.

“Guess I haven’t” Grian mumbled back.

Etho didn’t say anything for a bit as Grian cried, tears puffing up his eyes and cheeks, not really caring anymore about trying to quiet himself.

“I— I just,” his voice trembled, “I don’t know what to do with myself,”

He was snotty and red-faced now. He removed his glasses, “Can you hold these?” He handed them to Etho, who obliged, and pressed his palms to his wet eyes.

He sniffed, and coughed a bit.

“Etho, honestly I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t remind me of this. I could’ve gone out— I would’ve gone out,”

“I don’t know, you’re pretty good at surviving,”

“No, like—“ Grian squeezed his hands into fists, feeling his fingernails dig little crescent divots into his raw and worn palms. He glanced down, and then away from Etho.

“I would have gone out on purpose,”

Etho was silent for a moment.

“Oh,”

Then,

“Can I ask why?”

Grian opened his mouth, but his brain didn’t produce any words for him to say. He made a small noise in the back of his throat, and coughed.

“I don’t know…”

He said, feeling small.

“I just… I was thinking, that whole time with Pearl and BigB, like… I felt like I didn’t really… belong? Anymore? That there wasn’t anyone out there for me, anyone to go home to, like all my relationships had become temporary. Like… I don’t know. Like there wasn’t really… a point…,”

He grimaced, shifting uncomfortably.

“It sounds really bad when I put it like that,”

Etho was quiet. God, he was always so quiet. Grian almost wanted to scream to drown out the silence. He swallowed thickly, hands fidgeting and pulling tufts of weeds from the dirt, digging his fingers into the soil.

“But you didn’t,” Etho finally spoke.

“No, I didn’t get to,”

Etho hummed, idly cleaning Grian’s glasses with the hem of his shirt. Grian hadn’t realized how dirty they’d gotten, dusty and smattered with grime.

“I guess… maybe it proves something, yeah? If you had, you wouldn’t be here now. I would have never, uh, reminded you. Proves there’s… there’s always gonna be more, out there for you to find…. to…. be with,”

“This, too, shall pass,” Grian murmured like a recollection.

“Uh, yeah,” Etho said.

He raised his hand and hesitated, before gingerly patting Grian on the shoulder.

Grian looked up at him, met his eyes. He leaned into the touch, and then into a hug. His wet cheeks stained Etho’s jacket, but new tears didn’t fall.

They parted, and Grian grunted, shaking himself out. Etho gave him his glasses back, and he smiled back at him in thanks.

They each stood, Etho smooth and Grian shaky.

He thought about Joel lightheartedly teasing him for being sappy, he thought about Jimmy asking him if he was okay. He thought about Etho, standing beside him, gloved palms hoisting Grian up from his cliff, and onto solid ground again.

“Thank you,” He said, “You really didn’t have to do that,”

Etho laughed, “What else was I going to do?”