#i love this fandom and want us to be a happy thriving community

[alwaysbethewest]

Hot take: it’s okay to fantasize about celebrities, actually

[grifonecoronato]

Mae-ho Aniseya: Film Noir Protagonist

(Spoilers for The Acolyte)

As I've said in another post, Mae and Osha are binary opposites in their personalities and motivations.

Mae has a kind of "first child syndrome": a desire to exhibit perfection in the eyes of her mothers, so that they can shower her with praise. She loves being in her community of witches, learning and using the Thread, and indulging in the daily activities of life on Brendok.

She thrives when she is surrounded by her people, but Osha doesn't want the same things, which is something that confuses Mae deeply.

In this scene from Episode 3: Destiny, the two sisters as children talk about what they want:

MAE: "It isn't fair. I share everything with you, and you hide things from me or run off alone." OSHA: "I want to have my own things." MAE: "Why?" OSHA: "Because I don't want to do everything together all the time." MAE: "But why?" OSHA: "Because we're not the same." [...] OSHA: "Don't you wonder what else could be out there? Besides Brendok?" MAE: "No. Everything I need is here."

For Osha, her arc in The Acolyte has all the trappings of a dark romance. But from Mae's perspective, she's the heroine of her own Film Noir.

Film Noir Themes in The Acolyte

Beyond its aesthetics, Film Noir has three (3) major thematic characteristics with regard to its protagonists:

Its protagonist has an idyllic past where they were happy and life was good;

Their idyllic past is ripped away from them, often violently, in a single moment that they relive again and again in the present;

The inciting incident is an opportunity to reclaim their idyllic past, or if that's impossible, to get justice for what was lost... because to do nothing is to be haunted by it forever.

For example, we can look at the seasonal arc of Veronica Mars (2004): she's a happy high schooler and best friends with Lily Kane, then Lily is murdered and Veronica is ostracised from her former friends, and now she is seeking opportunities to solve her friend's murder, while being haunted by the memories of her.

Or consider the video game Max Payne (1998): he's a cop with a happy wife and daughter, then his wife and daughter are murdered by drug addicts high on Compound V, now he joins the DEA in an effort to find and destroy the source of Compound V, and finally stop feeling haunted by the memories of his family.

Mae's story is very similar: she was a happy kid living with a family and community that gave her everything she wanted, then the Jedi came and massacred everyone she loved, and now she's joined up with a powerful ally who will teach her to get bloody justice.

Mae's Fatal Flaw

Mae's biggest problem is that she's impulsive and frequently enters situations without a clear plan. However, this bullheadedness shows that she trusts herself to get out of any situation she finds herself in.

(Qimir once said to Osha "you should learn to trust yourself", but I doubt this is a lesson he had to teach Mae.)

Detractors often say that Mae's motivations don't make sense, or that she's "flip flopping" all the time. But this criticism -- like most criticisms from the fandom menace -- is unfair. Mae's motivations are very clear, and her shifting tactics are done as a response to new information that comes her way.

In Episodes 1 and 2, her goal is two-fold:

Hunt down the four guilty Jedi

Keep The Stranger satisfied in her progress as his apprentice

But in Episode 4 and 5, after she learns that her sister lives, her goal changes to "reunite with Osha." But when Osha refuses to listen to her, Mae's slightly modifies her goal, to "find a way to de-program Osha from her Jedi brainwashing, by exposing Sol."

Viewers that understand what drives Mae see that not flaky; she's adaptive.

The Fatal Lesson of Film Noir

The thing about Film Noir protagonists is that most of the time (not always, but most of the time), their quest for reclaiming their idyllic past is a fool's errand: they either sacrifice a big part of themselves in the attempt, or they learn to heal form the past, let go, and move on.

Mae opts for the former. When she finally succeeds in revealing that Sol has been lying for sixteen years, Osha murders him. Afterward, Osha bargains for Mae's life, which the Stranger accepts but only if he be permitted to erase her memories.

So Mae recaptures her idyllic past by being able to reconnect with her sister... only to lose her sense of self in the process. The quest consumed her.

But was it worth it?

[draconicsparkle]

So I just wanted to take a moment to say something to the people of this fandom.

I want to express my immense gratitude and happiness about being a part of this community. The people who love Rain Code have over and over again proven to be incredibly kind and amazing people. Since this fandom started, there have been so many talented individuals on all media types sharing their works with the rest of us and I’m in awe constantly. Not only that, but the openness and acceptance of the fans has been wonderful, more than any other fandom I’ve been in thus far. I have gotten to meet and speak with so many people, making new friends in the same fandom constantly. I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of this community.

Thank you, each and every one of you, for making this place feel like a cozy home full of friends. I hope that it continues to thrive with creativity and warmth.

[lurkingshan]

Okay now that Halloween is over and my head is clearer, I wanted to add some thoughts to the great posts @waitmyturtles and @bengiyo shared debriefing Only Friends and unpacking this desire by some in fandom to declare that it has no message and therefore we can't be upset with the creators for what they chose to put out into the world via this show. Let me just say upfront: I find that claim preposterous and completely contra the basic tenets of media literacy and analysis.

Turtles already gave a great overview of the foundational truth here: media is communication, and all communication contains messages, both explicit and implicit. For the first 11 weeks, I believed that Only Friends was attempting to take a neutral POV on its characters' morality, asking us instead to think for ourselves about the moral complexities and implicit messages of the situations the characters were in, and wondered if the lack of a very explicit perspective from the show was making folks uncomfortable. But then, in the final hour, the show shifted its tone to provide an extremely explicit POV on the characters and its themes (with the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the head), with a heavy focus on punishing Boston, and that POV was so rooted in heteronormativity, sex shaming, and frankly, anti-queer sentiment, that it took many of us aback. As Ben put it so succinctly in his post: NOT A SLAY.

I want to unpack this more because it’s important to understand that there are ways to write the events of the final episode as essentially the same without embedding that explicit moralistic POV. If the intent was to maintain a neutral presentation of events that does not cast judgment on Boston, you would not do any of the following:

Have several characters explicitly judge Boston for being a non-monogamous slut in dialogue with no counterpoint voices

Make Boston spend the episode apologizing to every character while receiving no apologies in return for the wrongs done to him

Insert a random episode of Boston acting on impulse in a way that is not actually consistent with any of his previous behavior to make a sudden point that he can't change

Have Nick, who has been explicitly singled out as the one person who understands and loves Boston, change his mind and dump him in a frankly condescending way while Boston begs him for another chance

End Boston's final scene of the show with him devastated, alone, and defeated while the rest of the characters are happy and thriving

There is absolutely nothing neutral about those choices, fam. And they were in fact choices that the creators of this show are responsible for. They could have had the basic events of the finale stay the same, but changed the dialogue and framing of these interactions, and it would have completely changed the message being sent. For instance:

Instead of having Sand say Nick deserves better than Boston because Boston kissed someone else, he could have focused his comments on helping Nick understand whether he wants monogamy and why

Instead of having Boston grovel to everyone, they could have had all the friends just decide to forgive and forget all their mutual trespasses, or had the rest offer Boston sincere apologies in response to his own

Instead of Boston randomly deciding to make out with Boeing and lie about it, they could have had him invite Boeing to meet Nick for a threesome and have Nick react to that

Instead of having Nick dump Boston, they could have had them mutually decide they want different things and decide to part ways

Instead of Boston crying and dejected on the concrete, we could have seen him say goodbye to Nick on positive terms and walk away with his head held high to the life waiting for him in NYC where he can be his authentic self

Do you see how that works? All of the events of the story are the same, but the message it delivers is completely different. This version of the story would tell us that even though Boston's current friends don't really get him, and even though Nick is not ultimately comfortable with an open relationship, there is nothing inherently wrong with the way Boston wants to live. But they didn't give us this version; they gave us the stigmatizing and shaming one I described above. And that is absolutely something we should hold the creators responsible for, even if it makes us feel some kind of way about our drama heroes.

I have been giving this show the benefit of the doubt for weeks because I had a lot of faith in Jojo and Ninew not to put art out into the world with such a terrible message, a faith that was rooted in their previous work, including Gay OK Bangkok, 3 Will Be Free, and The Warp Effect, all of which featured queer ensembles and strong sex positive messaging. But no creator is infallible and mistakes were made. We will never know how much of the final messages in Only Friends were intentional versus a result of sloppy and rushed storytelling, or how much was the creators’ original vision versus studio interference, but ultimately it doesn't matter. We have to deal with the show we got, and we should be putting a critical eye on the people who delivered it to us. I know I will not be going into any future Jojo/Ninew shows with the same kind of faith, and I will not be pretending this one wasn’t a huge letdown from these creators.

[peculiarbeauty]

not to be gay on main but i am going to be gay on main. it's positivity post time !!! i just wanted to shout out a couple amazing people who have become ultra close to me ( or were ultra close in the past and we reconnected hehe ) this is just a few names, i don't have time unfortunately to write a message for everyone on the dash but please please know that you are special to me if you are a follower. this is never in a particular order.

@seachant - NINI i love you. you are such a breath of fresh air. genuinely a twinkling star that just happened to fall in my vicinity. lucky me tbh. thank you for giving me the chance to be friends with you and write on multiple different blogs with you. writing with your ariel here was such a DREAM of mine. i remember seeing your blog around and just adoring it. we did write previously when i wrote in the fandom but we never became close pals like we are now. seeing your posts makes my day. i'm really happy we are friends.

@dragetunge - MY DEAREST KRIS. we've been through a couple rocky roads together now but we stick together. it's really nice to talk to you. you are the reason i got into httyd. so thank you for that. i wouldn't have took the time if it wasnt for you and I REALLY NEEDED TO. you are essentially the dragon enthusiast of tumblr. i mean that like. literally. when i think of dragon enthusiasts i think of you. fgckjkfg I LOVE YOU SO MUCH KRIS. i cant wait to actually show you my island on dreamlight when it is a fully decked out like yours.

@solehr - sef, i miss you. i cant wait for you to come back and see that i wrote this for you kffdjdf i cannot forget you on this list. you and nini were the first disney blogs to welcome me. thank you for being my friend and allowing me to send you that ghibli movie dkffdj it's been such a pleasure knowing you. i hope for many more memories together. :)

@swevene - DEAREST KELSEY .. my belovedddd. i love our convos even when we are busy for an extended period of time. you check on me every so often and its really an honor to consider you a friend. thank you for being there, i really appreciate it. i hope we have many more memories !!! your beast is so important to my belle, i have to tell you. <3

@oudachi - aka my favorite ark .. in all locations of your blogs .. i could tag literally all of them rn but im not going to dkfjdf we joke about how we always come back together over the years. it doesn't really ??? matter how long we don't talk bc fate brings us back. our first meeting was back in 2015 and i remember you were the realest person i had ever met on this site. that has not changed. i think that more folks should understand how brilliant you are .. not only as a writer , but as a friend. you never leave people out. i've been left out before and it's a very terrible feeling. thank you for allowing me into your circle again after a bit of time of not talking. we picked up like it was such a short time of us not chatting like we were bffs again. i can't begin to tell you how grateful i am. seeing you thrive as well OH MAN .. i love that.

@chainmemories - toma, at this point it has to be obvious but when i came back .. you were the first to show me great excitement. making a blog after an extended leave on the site is a scary thing. it is like walking into the lion's den tbh dkfjfk plus there were a ton of big changes to tumblr so i didn't know where to start. it was scary. you wrote cuphead at this time. i've grown to really love cuphead and many other things because of you. playing mario party at least weekly is such a GENUINE pleasure. you make me feel like i have a place in the community. i can't begin to tell you how grateful i am that you are here and backing me up. i also hope that you know you are this shining star of every community you go into. there is not a community you haven't touched that you haven't left your mark on. of course my precious toma is the sunshine protag lover .. but he is also the sunshine protag in my opinion. i don't take criticism. I LOVE YOU.

@ghostbustingreen - spooky, I LOVE YOU. being in the posse with toma and you has been so so wonderful. i am grateful i get to talk to you on the daily about our interests. seeing you write our fav green plumber is wonderful YES YES. every muse you capture is brilliant though. i love writing with you on multiple of your blogs. simbaaaaaaaa. P.S. i am sorry for our latest party shindig where i continued to take the star away from you. i hope you can forgive me. i really hope our group goes strong for a long time because you guys always make me feel so much better.

@dnangelic - HI FAVVVV. thanks for putting up with me changing blogs on you so many times and still deciding to follow me and look forward to my muses. we are SO BACK on haru tbh. i love writing with you. you have such a grasp on your muse and i don't even know him that well. i wish i knew MORE tbh. the things that we have written though are truly precious and i look forward to future threads. i look forward to your responses truly. thanks for being my friend and also always hyping me up.

@matryochka - i cannot forget my favorite hype queen. dottie, you and i met in dc. you decided to follow me on my other blogs and genuinely messaged me when i was inactive there saying pretty much where tf are u dfkdjkfd WHICH I LOVE THAT. i wish more people would show interest in mutuals they care about that way. im trying to recruit you into our disney princess line up . it'll happen i know it. please know i love you so much. our little conversations are everything to me.

@jokethur - jess .. my beloved. also a hype queen and someone i met in dc. i love you. we don't talk too much rn but you are forever important to me. our conversations got me through some really dark points in my life and i can't begin to say how grateful i am for that. i hope that we have many more memories of chatting. always know i am here and ready to chat. we could stop talking for months and pick up just like that. that's how strong our friendship is <333 i love you. AND GIVE DIX A KISS FOR ME.

@pearlcure - DIORRRR my beloved. being your friend is a true genuine pleasure. IT IS PREDESTINED WE MET. we write the best girls out there. good for us. i love our convos and i love how real you are about everything. your graphics, writing, everything ABOUT YOU is amazing. im grateful we are friends and i hope for many more years together !!

@story-magic - AKA ALL OF YOUR BLOGS HERE AS WELL .. but my darling sleepy. i call you sleepy. i know that you have a name but you will forever by my favorite sleepy sloth. you keep things fair for us in the game. if i ever get down on my luck in party, you try to even the odds for me. i am so so grateful to be your friend. i know i don't tell you enough over discord and the like and you leave me a bunch of cute messages to make my day, but BEING YOUR FRIEND IS A TRUE PLEASURE i've gotta tell ya. i'm really happy we are so close !!! <3 i hope for many more memories.

@0brighta - big shoutout to you, ettie. <3 i know we arent super close but you putting me in your little shoutout post made me really feel so grateful. your blog is this shining, brilliant star. i mean that. like, DANG. shine bright like a diamond. i see that people love you and there is a reason for this believe me - you are so pure. so good natured. i wish more people were like you with their mutuals. letting people know that they matter is something a lot of people do not do tbh. you do that. thank you. <3

@naru-uzumaki - NOODLES .. we are back in action after such a long time of not talking. you and i were close back in 2016 i think?? somewhere close to there. when i saw your blog pop back up in my recommended, I LITERALLY RAN TO FOLLOW because i missed you so much. you are still this positive radiant little sun on the dash .. much like your muse. i am bias absolutely but. your writing and your heart for our favorite ramen lover is such a pleasure to witness. never ever change please. <3

[kiuda]

DREAMBLR CENSUS 2023

Hi, hello and welcome everyone to the 2023 Dreamblr census results! 

Let me start by thanking all of you for taking part - I love looking at statistics like that and making this has been a real joy. I hope at least some of you will find the results interesting as well <3

So, first things first - some numbers. 353 people have taken part in the census. There are over 350 people that say ‘yes I am a part of Dreamblr’. That’s amazing! I am so happy to see this community thrive :D 

Now let’s get to the questions.

What continent are you from?

One of the more straightforward questions on this census. 

The results are not surprising in the slightest - over 85% of the people that have taken the survey are from North America or Europe. 5.9% come from South America, 4.8% from Asia, 1.7% from Australia and Oceania. 4 people decided not to answer and thus became citizens of Antarctica and one person comes from Africa.

What country are you from (optional)?

Before we get to the statistics, it’s important to mention a couple of things. First of all - this question was optional. The survey site let you pass without putting anything in and the question itself had the word ‘optional’ in it. Despite that 2 of the 4 people that chose Antarctica also wrote in the countries they lived in. All in all 270 out of the 353 people decided to answer this question.

Second of all. 

Americans.

For the love of everything holy. 

Please. PLEASE. Decide on one way to call your country.

As I was using google forms, the survey was sensitive to lower- and upper-case letters, which meant that in the end there were 25 versions of the your country’s name, including (but not limited) to: America, Murica (including ‘eagle noise’ once), the U.S, The U.S., u.s, U.S.A., U.S.A, United States, united states, United States of America, United states of america, US, Us, us, USA, USA! and u s of a. 

Special shoutout to the person who just wrote in ���Arizona’ as well. 

In the end the top 10 (eh kind of) most popular countries on the survey were……

Drumroll please!!

USA - 133 

Canada - 26

Germany - 17

Poland & UK - 8

Brazil - 7

England - 6

Russia - 5

Chile, France, Sweden and the Netherlands - each with 4

As you can see, I have decided to treat ‘England’ and ‘UK’ as two different answers, since that’s how the survey responders decided to specify their countries.

What age are you?

Another straightforward question. Over 70% of us are between 18 and 25 years old. 13 are 31-45 years old and 8 people decided not to specify their age. 1 person has declared to be over 45 years old. You can see all the answers on this awesome pie chart as well!

I think it’s pretty cool how while a lot of us are young adults or even still teenagers, there are also older fandom enjoyers among us :D I hope you are all enjoying your time!!

When did you join the fandom?

First of the more fandom-specific questions. And probably the first question, where the answers genuinely surprised me!

A lot of us are OGs! Either having joined in 2019 or early/late 2020! Those people remember it all - the beginning of Dream SMP, the first vlog, Antfrost’s coming out and even the beginning of manhunts in some cases!

Out of the rest, early 2021 was another popular entry point to the fandom. Which shouldn’t surprise anyone either - it was still during the pandemic, probably the peak of Dream’s (and Dream Team’s/Dream SMP’s popularity). 

9 people did not remember when they joined the fandom.

Similarly, 9 people are newbies! They’ve joined us in late 2022, while 23 joined in early 2022. 

No one has joined in 2023 yet. (or haven’t seen the census. also possible.)

Who is your main?

This is a question that I could have made better in hindsight. I think a better answer than ‘I can’t decide’ would be ‘I like them all equally’, since I was assuming that all participants of the census did like the Dream Team members either way. It’s not a big mistake, just a small note I wanted to add.

To most likely no one’s surprise - the most popular person among Dreamblr’s population is Dream (224), followed by George (63) and Sapnap (15). 51 participants couldn’t decide on one of them.

Who do you watch besides the DTeam the most (out of other mcyts)? Please list 3 people max.

This question caused more problems than I'd imagined. Guys. I was asking about other MCYT (aka Minecraft Youtubers and Streamers) besides the DTeam. That means that I had to unfortunately eliminate some answers, the most popular out of which was Hasan, who I don’t think has ever played Minecraft before.

To answer some of you, who had some doubts about who counts as a MCYT….

Yes, Wilbur Soot does count.

Yes, Charlie Slimecicle also counts.

Yes, Hermits also count.

I am also counting Ludwig, since he did make Minecraft content.

PeteZahHutt also counts.

Corpse Husband counts as well, since he is technically a DSMP member.

RTGame counts as well - again, Minecraft content on his channel.

Again - Hasan does not count.

So now, without further ado… The top 10 most popular answers!

I have also not counted answers that went over 3 people (as in, I have only counted the first 3 names).

If any of you were wondering - 8 people really wish Hasan did play Minecraft.

Which Dream content is the best content?

Another easy question with an easy answer, where most people either prefer Dream’s Youtube content or just love it all.

Quick shout out to the two people who love Dream’s music the most and two who prefer other content than specified in the survey. 

What got you into the fandom?

The toughest question to count. I did not expect so many different answers, so in the end I’ve decided to sort all the answers into a few categories (and I am sorry about that I know it’s not the best way to go about it, but here you guys can see all the answers to the question in an google spreadsheet if you want to).

dnf (answers included: ao3, heatwaves, dnf compilations on youtube or tiktok…)

manhunts (answers included: youtube recommendation of manhunts, binge watching manhunts…)

art (answers included: sad-ist animations, art in general, cosplays…)

lore (answers included: Dream SMP, lore vods…)

Other MCYT creators (answers included: SMP live, wilbur soot’s videos…)

Friend/family member recommendation

Among us streams

Twitter (answers included: seeing drama, twitter trending page…)

Other Dream Team content (answers included: other Dteam videos, tiktoks by them…)

Fandom (answers included: a tumblr mutual started posting about them, tiktok compilations, youtube compilations…)

Hot (answers included: found George/Sapnap hot)

I don’t remember

And finally. The last question of the census. The one we all have been wondering about.

Have you been here since before the face reveal?

As it turns out…

Only 2 people joined us since the face reveal!

The rest of us has known about this community and about Dream earlier and was waiting the day of the face reveal impatiently.

And that’s it! Thank you once again for taking part, hopefully my rambling won’t make this post too boring to read!

Have a great day/night! <3

[jaynovz]

Hi piratefam, so you've probably heard it's officially ten years of Black Sails today, huh?

For me, personally, it's been three, but what an indescribably wondrous three. 💜💜

I sat down tonight with a rum fully intending to be a little sappy. I wanted to write something that expressed just how much the show has fundamentally altered the course of my life, revived my relationship with writing and with fandom engagement, and how many amazing ppl it has introduced me to. Most of the ppl I consider my closest friends in the world I have met through this show in one way or another, truly an inestimable treasure.

But, mostly, I'm just finding myself at a loss to sum it up. It cannot be quantified in that way, in one small set of banal sentiments, even if I mean them.

I've left many, many thoughts on the page here, in my stories, in various community discord servers and group chats full of friends I found through this show and this fandom.

So, to put it quite simply: This is my home. It feels like it will be my home forever. Black Sails has this looping and timeless quality, and like the sea, she always come back around, she won't let you escape. ➰➰

Happy 10th birthday to My Show, the best show ever made (not the perfect one, but the best one), and cheers to all of us who love it and have built such a fantastic and thriving community around that passion.

I'll see you all in the loop. Here's to ten more years! 🏴‍☠️🥃

[animasola86]

Happy Anniversary, Hogwarts Legacy!

My HL journey started on May 5th, but I'm just happy this fandom is still around and thriving, and I am so glad to be a part of it! It took me 10 days to finish the game in my first run (before I dove in time and time again with new MCs and spent even more days and weeks and months in the game), and this is how my precious Nebbia looked in her original (shoddy PS4) form:

She's come quite a ways from that. Also, I wish I would have played on PC to begin with, but oh well, this way I had two HL experiences, and I am more than happy about it!

It certainly helped in keeping up my creativity and productivity over a freakishly long time. I've written 352,529 words in seven months, 270,038 on my AO3 alone, (which for me is quite a lot), I've learned to write things I have never written before (I went from innocent fanfiction writer to something I cannot talk with my family about), and all of it because of some pixels on my screen. It's pretty incredible.

And on top of that, I've met lovely people to share in my weird thoughts and delusions and overall excitement about this game and its characters. I've never been active on social media, I've always been a silent lurker, watching and consuming, but I learned that creating and sharing my work and engaging with other like-minded people is quite something, something I like to do and want to do more.

And I thank you, dear followers and anyone who stumbles upon this, for interacting with me in whatever way you choose. I see you, and I am happy you spend your time with my stuff.

I am also grateful to be a part of such a creative community. I've also never read this much in my life as I did the last nine months, ever since I stepped into this fandom. And it's not just the fanfics and oneshots and headcanons, it's the art works, the AI adventure (which bot am I gonna talk to today, hm?) we all embarked on (and bless whoever started using ElevenLabs to keep that voice kink flourishing!), the thousands of shared screenshots, all these different MCs, and all those other ways people contributed to this fandom - it was/is a joy to see you guys' different kinds of creative outlets!

So thank you, HL fandom, for your continuous contributions, keeping our mutual obsessions alive! But also for just being here, consuming and supporting and providing inspiration and motivation! Thank you!

Onto more years!

[5ivebyfive]

God. What I love. What I FUCKING LOVE about Power Rangers 2017 is that...they’re just five lost teenagers, searching for something more. For belonging. Searching for acceptance. And they just...they’ll fucking die for each other. Literally. They say it and mean it. And they’ll die to save the world. Not because of whatever inner anguish they all possess, but because it’s right. And they fucking love it. They love each other. This is, what, 11 days they’ve been together. But they come together and are this amazing family who just happen to kick major ass with SO MUCH heart and determination. The world has been so hard for them, but they want to save it all the same. Despite the world’s flaws, they want to save it. It’s theirs. And they want to save each other. They deeply believe in one another. They come to believe in their own humanity. In themselves. These kids who, at the start of the movie, don’t believe in themselves. And you get to the end of the movie, after the final fight scene, and they’re just so happy. Are their problems all resolved? No. But...they have something. Together. I hate that the tagline “Together We Are More” wasn’t actually in the movie, because it’s sooo fitting. They are more together. They’re their best selves together. And yeah, Stand By Me always makes me tear up, but so does the end scene when we see them thriving. Maybe they aren’t forgiven for their past mistakes (minus Trini who made none), but they just...they’re better. Because of each other, and because of who they are, and it’s just so fucking beautiful. I love this movie.

And I’m forever heartbroken that we don’t get more. The end is so bittersweet for that. I just love that I’m not alone in this, that there’s a community here that all gets it, and shares in it, even if we drift into other fandoms. It’s like...deep down we’re all still here, we’re all still fans of this amazing movie. It’s like we pass each other in the hallways of tumblr, secretly smiling to each other, because we know. We know. And we don’t need anyone to tell us differently.

I just...fucking love this movie.

[nikonladyz4]

General Hospital Storyline of Pop Singer Outed today.

I am a General Hospital junkie since I was a teenager. Over the years they have tackled queer relationships and homophobia. Currently there is a new storyline of a rising pop star, Blaze, who is gay and in her first serious relationship with a woman. This singer has remained in the closet because of her homophobic mother, Natalia, who is her business manager.

Ava recorded a conversation with Natalia slamming her daughter and saying very hurtful things about gay people. The episode today is dealing with the press publishing this recording for the world to hear and the impact to the two women and their respective careers. The comments on the episode’s social media are harsh. Many against homosexuality, but just as many about hiding and lying to the fans by presenting a public facing straight image. Her partner who is opening a new LGBTQ center (for queer people to have a place to go and resources to help those coming out) is being asked by the board to step down from her own center of which her father funded. The reason being she is publicly out but is in a secret relationship with the pop star hiding who she is.

Soap operas have plenty of drama, but they are telling the story with care and authenticity. Last year they had a storyline where this same pop singer was being s*xually harassed and threatened by her previous manager.

So I bring all this up because of course it made me think of Jimin and Jungkook and the Album that Jimin is releasing. There are many people in the fandom who see SGMB and Muse as a love song for Army. Those of us who recognize and hear Jimin as he tells us who he is, still cannot openly come out. As bad as the current backlash is for the two characters right now; two women in a country with laws to protect gay relationships, with a large openly queer population, family & friends that love and support them as a couple, they will survive and eventually thrive as a couple on the show.

The homophobic social media statements will subside, the homophobic fans will leave only to be replaced by fans who support the artist and their music, not who they sleep with.

Jimin and Jungkook do not have that status as of today, if they were officially outed. They could literally go to jail as two gay men if they were to be intimate on base. There would be huge backlash to their careers, the group and their family and friends. They have no laws to protect their rights as gay men.

But the beauty of these two men, the group and their families is Jimin and Jungkook still maintain their longterm relationship in spite of these challenges. The group and each member have shown public support of the lgbtq community for years. JM and JK have shown us as much as they can that they are in a relationship. JM has shown us who he is a queer man through photographs, body art, and song. He is taking a bold, bold step with his music on this album. So many Army see SGMB as a kids song or a love song to Army. Whereas, if people open their minds and really read they lyrics and watch the video’s symbolism, you can watch and hear Jimin telling us he is happy, he is in love, he does not want to hide his feelings anymore (to Army about loving a band member who is same gender). This man is bold, proud and as open as he can be now.

I just had these thoughts and wanted to share them. Then we received a beautiful surprise that we are getting the Jikook Travel show on 8/8/24. This notification has been dropped in the middle of Jimin’s promo of an album where:

he is HAPPY with the song “SGMB” that was released on i’ntl pride day - 6/28

where he is reborn in the song “Rebirth”

he is singing about “Be Mine”

he is singing about slow dance (usually for lovers)

he is singing about “Who” which is labeled with lgbtq colors

an album cover that is a replica of the pride flag colors

ends the album with his fan song to Army - “Closer Than This”, whom he tells he loves Army and he loves his bandmate(s)

he will have a wonderful time through travel vacations with his dearest and closer friend and partner. No other band members!

All I can say with love and joy in my heart is that I am so proud of Jimin. He is so fearless in a very toxic situation. I can’t leave out Jungkook. Many of us Army/fans believe Jimin is in a relationship with JK. Although JK has not chosen to reveal as much “about himself” as Jimin, he is not hiding their relationship and he openly supports Jimin and “who they are to each other”. If JK and JM are truly in a romantic relationship, he would surely have to approve of Jimin releasing such an intimate album that could potentially have repercussions on him as well. It is obvious he has done so.

Peace and love to these two beautiful souls and peace and love to the fans who truly support them. 💜💜

[dozing-composing]

Hey there! I was wondering if you had any sfw/nsfw headcanons for 21 and a transmasc reader? (And thanks for running this blog! This fandom is smaller than what I’m used to so it’s awesome that I can count on new content from ya!)

You're So Welcome! Yes, The Venture Bros Fandom Is A Small, But Thriving Community, But We Thrive Together, Y'know? Thank You So Much For Checking Out My Little Blog!! 😭 I Apologize In Advance If These Don't Seem Up To Par, Gender Is Something I Struggle Writing With. Hopefully, These Are Fine. I Tried To Be As Relatable As Possible. Then Again, If Something's Not Right, Let Me Know! I'll Be More Than Happy To Change Things!

Warnings (Just In Case): Mentions Of Dysphoria, Gender Talk

ꜰᴀɴᴛᴀꜱᴛɪᴄ ᴛʀᴀɴꜱᴍᴀꜱᴄ…

๋࣭ ⭑ ��ꜰᴡ

✦ He might not understand fully, but dammit, he's going to learn. You'll need to explain everything in detail so he can be the best boyfriend he wants to be. He can get a little confused at times, but he's got the spirit! ✦ Binder breaks! He expects you to take breaks between each wear. He knows that it can be difficult, but he doesn't want you to hurt yourself for wearing it for so long. He'll even do some stretches with you during breaks. And if you don't have a binder and/or would like one, he will research one for you and buy one! ✦ He's a great listener. Whatever problem you may have, he's there to help you talk it out. ✦ Dysphoria sucks. Sometimes, you get so uncomfortable in your own body because it doesn't match the way you perceive your gender. Which, in turn, makes you so anxious about how other people would perceive you. But Gary will always be there to remind you of how perfect you are because no matter what, you are experiencing you. And that in itself is a glorious thing. ✦ He loves you with every breath of his being. He wouldn't know what to do with himself if you were hurting. He's just so...augh! He loves every part of you so dearly and he hopes that you can see yourself the way he sees you: absolute perfection.

☆ 18+ Activities, DNI If You Are Uncomfortable With Suggestive/Sexual Themes And Content ↓ NSFW Below ↓

๋࣭ ⭑ ɴꜱꜰᴡ

✦ Before ANYTHING goes down, you need to express your boundaries and what all you're comfortable with. Don't worry, he's patient and he's respectful. ✦ He would prefer if you would walk him through what you want to do. Do you just want to suck him off? Should he put his finger(s) here? You tell him, he'll do it. Or, he'll let you do it. Whatever plan you want to go through, he'll be down for it. He puts your needs before his. ✦ Again, if you are feeling dysphoric about something, he will stop what he's doing and immediately comfort you. He'll praise you on how well you did and how much of a big step you took. ✦ If there are certain words you prefer to use to describe your body, he'll use them. Boy pussy, boy cunt, junk. Whatever! He does what he can so you can have a good experience during it all. If you use toys and you want the same for those, no problem! It's all about what you want/need. He's just there to help you have a good time (; ✦ If you are repulsed by the idea of sex, that is totally fine with him! Just know that he's not only with you for pleasure. He wants you to be the best you can be.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi Raven! Lemme start out saying that I love your posts, they are really thought out and informative, especially with matters going on in the community. You don’t have to answer this if you're busy,but I have a question. I wanna start a Twist blog, well kinda. I wanna start posting some of my works, and kinda make a blog on my Twist OC, but I don't know where to start. If you have any tips or tricks, that would be helpful l, but if you don't have a direct answer to this, that's fine too anything will help. And another question is, how do you get over to fear of people not liking your works or even OC? I've seen quite a bit of hate in this Fandom, and idk if my sensitive heart can take it. 😅 It's kinda the reason why I've never posted at all. Thanks again.

Hello there ^^ I’m happy that you enjoy my blog and that you find my posts informative!

For general advice on starting and maintaining a writing blog, please see this post. I’m going to use the rest of this response to speak at length about the second question posed by the asker: “how do you get over the fear of people not liking your works or even OC?”

First, let’s get something out of the way: humans are inherently social creatures; therefore, it is in our nature to desire positive attention/approval and to be afraid of rejection and ostracism. There is no shame in wanting validation. It’s a built-in survival mechanism leftover from the past—because when humans band together, they are more likely to thrive. However, I also think that in the modern world, it’s easy to get carried away and care too much about what others will think of you. This is so true in the age of social media, where likes, shares, and even follows and views are quantifiable and thus can be used as a point of comparison to others on the same platform. It’s also easier than ever to connect with others, which can be both a boon (meeting people you otherwise could have never met) and a detriment (internet hate).

Now, as simple as it would be for me to say, “create for yourself rather than seek the approval of others”, that advice doesn’t actually do much for anyone. It's easy to talk the talk, but it's much harder to walk the walk. It’s all about mindset, because in actuality, a very small number of people out of the overall fandom will care about your works enough to actively hate on an individual. The mind seemingly magnifies the number because humans are hardwired to pay more attention to the negative experiences over the positive ones (which, again, is another survival instinct; you pay attention to the bad things to avoid them or to resolve the issues). There goes the saying, “we’re our own worst critics”, and it’s very true here. It’s not just negativity from others you must deal with, but self/doubt snd your own mind perpetuating the belief that the negativity is much worse than it actually is. Of course, there are actual serious cases of hate (harassment, stalking, threats, doxxing, racism, etc), but here I am only referring to general cases of other people “not liking what you make” or saying mean things (such as “you’re a bad writer”).

So how does one improve their mindset? Truth be told, it doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, learning to not care what others think of you is a difficult and lengthy process. It will take time and effort to reach a comfortable state of acceptance (and yes, I’m talking years long here)—but it is possible to grow out of that fixation.

Here are some truths you have to accept if you want to overcome your worries:

In putting your work “out there” in a public space, you will naturally invite feedback, both good and bad. An integral part of creating is, of course, wanting to share one’s creations with others. However, it’s unrealistic to think that you won’t ever get negative feedback or critique. It isn’t always constructive or helpful to you, but you must brace for them to come your way all the same. If you think about it, getting nothing but praise isn’t good either because then it traps you in a cycle of thinking you’re perfect and there’s nothing you need to improve on. It becomes an echo chamber and it can lead to stagnation because you’re already satisfied with your current state instead of thinking about how you can grow. Mixed feedback is important for personal growth.

There may not necessarily be a problem with your content, it could be a matter of differences in circumstances or tastes. You must remember that lack of engagement is not always equivalent to hate. Indifference or not even coming into contact with a post is NOT the same as actively going to post a negative comment or ask. That being said, lack of engagement could be the result of a website’s algorithm working against your favor. Alternatively, it could be that you aren’t hitting a target audience. Like, if you write angst, it may not appeal to a certain subsection of fans. These are factors largely outside of your control, and trying to gain that control would be a fruitless effort.

There’s nothing wrong with blocking, especially if things escalate. I know that on sites like Twitter and Tiktok, blocking people is seen as “taboo” or some kind of hateful social statement when… it’s not. Blocking is a means of curating your space so you can have fun online without worrying about others raining on your parade. If people are giving you a hard time, nothing is stopping you from blocking them (which can be done even with anonymous asks). Don’t give people that send “hate” attention by responding and showing just how upset their comments made you, it only encourages them to continue once they’ve seen how much it affects you.

One instance of “hate” is not representative of the entire fandom’s feelings. This circles back to what I said before; the negative and toxic people in this fandom is actually minuscule when compared to the total number of fans in this space. Instead of letting the few rotten apples define the entire bushel, think about all the positive experiences you’ve had!

You can’t please everyone. As much as you try to, it won’t happen. But you know what is much more feasible of a goal? Pleasing yourself. You know what you like best, and if you’re able to make what makes you happy then you have a 100% chance of satisfying at least one person.

If you feel frustrated, it’s fine!! It’s normal to feel this way when you think a work you shared isn’t getting the kind of exposure you want it to (whether it’s little exposure or negative exposure). We want to feel like our energy and time was put into something worthwhile. Just don’t take it too hard because these things are bound to happen. Not everything you make will be a hit, and your audience may not always be receptive to what you put out.

If you create mainly or solely for the approval of others, you won’t be happy with yourself. Ask yourself why you want to create in the first place. Most likely it’s because you’re passionate about TWST and/or you just wanted to have fun. But when this shifts to a focus on pleasing others, is it really fun anymore? If you’re always chasing trends (which are very transient) or thinking about how you should change your work to have greater mass appeal, is it really “you”, or are you just being what you think people want you to be? It just results in never being satisfied, because you’re aiming for the impossibility of making everyone happy. When you weigh your worth based on others’ perception of you or on engagement, you run the risk of burnout and losing joy in creating.

You’ll have to embrace cringe. When I say “cringe”, I mean it in the sense that you should be comfortable being your authentic self even if you fear people won’t like it. Again, you cannot please everyone—but surely there will be people who will accept you and like you for who you are. Some will vibe with you, some won’t, and that’s a fact.

You won’t be perfect at keeping out negativity from others, and that’s okay. What matters is how you address those instances when they arise. It’s not productive to let negative thoughts stew or hold you back from creating what you want. Instead of letting the thoughts fester, try to redirect your energy to something else.

Additionally, here are some suggestions on what you can do to alleviate your doubts. These methods work for me, but I’m not going to claim they work for everyone; I figured I’d just throw the ideas out there in case they’d be helpful to others.

Isolate yourself from social media for a period of time until you're in a better headspace.

An alternative to social media isolation is looking at other people's creations (but ignoring the numbers, as that can be a basis for comparison)! It may inspire you to make something of your own. For example, sometimes I've been scrolling and I'd see someone's OC in their own outfit for an event like Fairy Gala, and that made me excited to do the same for my own characters.

Another alternative to social media isolation is looking at the positives! Think about the number of people who have supported you or left nice comments and how they outweigh the Negative Nancies. (This is an example of using the numbers to your advantage!) I know of some friends who use a special tag on their blogs to denote "feel good" asks so they can reference these to cheer up when they're feeling discouraged or down.

Rather than comparing yourself to others, compare yourself to... yourself! Treat it like a New Year's resolution: you're looking back at where you started and think considering how you've changed since then.

Do something else you love to get your attention away from your creative endeavors. This could be another hobby or spending time with friends or family.

Speaking of friends and family, talk to them! Let them know how you're feeling and why you're feeling this way. They can offer you support and advice. I find that this is especially helpful when you are able to speak with other content creators, who may be able to empathize with your experiences.

Practice mindfulness and gratitude. Instead of thinking about what you don't have, think about what you do have and be appreciative of it. This helps shift the center away from things out of your control (ie other people) and to something that is within your control (ie yourself).

Minimize taking things personally. This can be especially hard in cases of OCs because creators tend to put a lot of themselves into their OCs (particularly if they are self inserts or Yuusonas)—so when others say they don't like an OC, it can feel like an indirect way of saying "I don't like you, the creator". But rarely is this the intended meaning of a comment. When people say they don't like something, it doesn't always mean they also dislike the creator. Remember that at the end of the day, we're all internet strangers that don't know each other on a deeply personal level (so why should you hinge your self-worth on such a thing?). You can be close with your works and OCs, but don't necessarily think of the works/OCs as a 1:1 extension of yourself. When you think of it like that, it helps to detach yourself from negativity that a work may receive.

Think about what you’re good at and focus on that niche. In this way, you will be able to make what you want while also attracting an audience that also appreciates this niche over time.

Make something for yourself, no posting necessary! Sometimes it can help you air out your feelings if you make a piece (art, writing, etc.) for no one but yourself to see. It’s surprisingly very therapeutic.

With all of that being said, I’d like to close off this post by saying that conquering the fear of others negatively judging your works is something that all creators have to go through. We're at various stages in this process, and we will continue to have our moments of weakness. This is a completely normal thing (though it is perhaps not commonly discussed out in the open) and it should be normalized. Even I go through periods of self-doubt and find myself holding off on posting certain pieces (especially anything that is OC-related) because I overthink how they may be perceived. I know that most of my audience is here for the canon TWST characters, so I worry that posting OC content is self-indulgent, maybe even selfish if I'm feeling particularly mean toward myself on a given day. It's negative self-talk like this that can be detrimental to creators and their enjoyment of their craft; that's why it's important to identify these moments and try to figure out ways to overcome them, even if it's just taking little baby steps. Some progress is better than no progress!

Anyway, I hope that you found this post useful ^^ If you think it may be also be of use to a creator you know, please consider sharing it with them.

[variousqueerthings]

happy aromantic awareness week!

I've been slowly exploring and poking at my aromanticism throughout the last year or so. while I've been happy to id as such for about 10 years (however long it was after I learnt the term) I definitely felt a certain reticence about thinking too much about it, and mostly deep-dived into other facets of my self -- aromanticism makes even other queer and lgbt+ people uncomfortable, and since I was living my life as I wanted to anyway, I was able to be open about it without insisting on understanding (call that a mix of internalised aro-phobia, fear, and probably just not being ready)

I think as I get older the aro part of me feels like it's coming to the fore as the constructs of society affect me more and more. it's not easy being a part of the world without conforming to normative ideas about relationships and family

this has made me both more radical in my aro-based politics, while also asking more questions on a personal level: what do I want out of my time around other people? what matters to me about connection?

it's been leading me to exploring the term "loveless" -- a pretty heady word I think, a lot of people have a kneejerk reaction about it, but it feels good to me. this could be something in flux (similar to how i inhabited what I call a void space in terms of gender before feeling comfortable exploring masculinity-as-drag, and with asexuality before I started poking at kink), but honestly I've never understood the term or its apparent accompanying feelings. I enjoy the company of other people, I like sharing things with them, and I have connections that for one reason or another have shared more than others due to the ways we've met and our history together, but I'm also not deeply emotionally affected by people on the whole, nor do I feel like I'm "missing" a certain kind of connection that I need to pursue to feel whole

I mostly spend time with others through the lens of specific community spaces, in which we have the same goal (be that political, artistic, fandom-based, sharing rent, etcetc.) and that's really what I want -- shared goals, having a fun time, building spaces, communally caring for one another

so that's where my aro-based poking has lead me so far. it's still a tad reticent, because... well I do worry. I worry that people in my life will take this to mean I'm uncaring about what we've done together or the plans we've made, or that I'm in need of some kind of fixing, and I'm worried as I have been since I was a kid that in the next 10, 20, 30+ years I could really be struggling to survive, because I'm not able to create the kind of social safety nets that are "acceptable" in the eyes of government structures

I do have a safety net currently, and it's a good one I think, with people I really like, and who care about me, but its legal ins and outs, as well as my internal being that will always have this particular lens through which I experience the world, make it less stable than if I'd been in a romantic relationship or even if I experienced "love" in some other way (and tbh ending up in this scenario was pure happenstance and I'd never have been looking for it otherwise)

so to think about the future: what forms of connections do we value, materially? what kind of people do we allow to thrive and under what structures? how do we build (queer) community spaces in which we provide care for one another that aren't predicated on finding the exact special person/s that potentially leave others behind? how can this kind of ethos on a massive, societal scale, potentially make us more able to care for people with no social safety nets, especially homeless, disabled, elderly, and underage people, who get stuck in systems that can't -- and often won't -- adequately support them?

and what sort of connections do you like forming that aren't strictly romantic or fall under "the special person" categories? personally I just joined the local theatre group and am going to their social events and it's been a massive boost to my self-confidence

[sleepingdeath-light]

yandere hcs ; black lemonade cookie

requested by ; anonymous (16/07/23), anonymous (21/07/23)

fandom(s) ; cookie run

fandom masterlist(s) ; hub | specific

character(s) ; black lemonade cookie

outline ; “yandere black lemonade, ik ur not writing for her until she comes out but i love her so”

&

“yandere black lemonade?”

warning(s) ; obsessive behaviour, yandere!black lemonade, stalking (online and in person), guilt tripping, worshipping

for black lemonade cookie you are more than just her partner: you’re the centre of her world, her muse, her obsession, her blessing, her bias — you’re everything and more, an angel born down on this earth just to make her life worth living and she treats you accordingly

she dedicates every song, every album, every performance and interview and post to you — always talking about her ‘awesome partner back home’ and making her fans and onlookers awe at how loving of a spouse she must be, how ‘goals’ and ‘otp’ your relationship is and how much they want a partner who is as ‘devoted’ and ‘so totally into them’ as she is to you

there are entire fan communities dedicated to the two of you: fanfic, fan art, fan edits and accounts dedicated to posting updates on you both (where you were last seen, any posts/mentions that have been made to you by black lemonade cookie, etc.) — it’s so expansive and large that it’s honestly hard to keep track of

but she manages somehow, always keeping on top of the latest trends and seeming to always have a tab open on her phone displaying some fan content of you (usually something less than sfw) because she’s just as obsessed as those fans — she’s just a bit better at hiding it

she keeps tabs on you wherever you go, and she’s been doing it since before she got the confidence to actually approach you — with her constantly refreshing your social media when she’s away on tour or, if she’s in the area, always miraculously showing up wherever you are and joining in on whatever you were doing (errands, shopping, leisure, etc.)

she’s quick to get jealous but she never takes it out on you — always going to extremes to embarrass and intimidate the hell out of whoever was getting too close for her liking (especially if it’s at one of her gigs when she’ll stop what she’s doing to point out the offending party and mock them in front of her crowd of fans, who, of course, will all join in)

she does feel like she doesn’t deserve you — well, really it’s the idea that you’re so good that nobody deserves you rather than just her — and that makes her that much more terrified of losing you, which in turn makes her default to using a lot of manipulation and guilt tripping to keep you locked down in your relationship (it also contributes to her stalking you)

like she’s forever messaging you to ask you if you love her and refuses to leave your home until you’ve kissed her — she thrives off of your affection and attention, really, and she’ll use whatever tactics she can in order to get what she wants from you

if you spend time with anyone else then she’ll start off by constantly texting and calling you because she misses you, then she’ll move on to stalking you through the cameras, and then she’ll feign some sort of injury or mishap during practise which would force you to come home and take care of her — she really doesn’t like sharing your attention with people

definitely tries her best to separate you from your loved ones to make you more reliant on her at first, but if that fails then she’ll integrate herself so perfectly with your family that you’ll feel too entangled and guilty to ever leave her — either way her goal of making you attached to her is achieved so she’s happy

she’d never take a life, she’s not that type of girl, but she’s not afraid to ruin a life — especially if she has shining glitter and rockstar cookie on her side (a little white lie never hurt, and they’d never doubt their new friend after all), which makes the process a whole lot smoother

but that’s only a last resort if someone keeps on taking your attention away from her and can’t get the hint that you’re taken — you’re hers — and they need to be properly dealt with as a result

with all that being said, for as obvious as they seem when written out black lemonade is excellent at keeping all of these things on the down low and playing them off as much more innocent than they are (it’s down to her chilled out demeanour, mostly) so you’re unlikely to notice anything different about her as a yandere compared to how she acts in a normal relationship — well, not until it’s far too late to leave anyway

[daddywright]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

tagged by @samioli ! (late getting to it, happy holidays!)

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

44... so far :)) (not-so-secret: i actually have a second pseud for one-shots in very small, random fandoms, but i don't use it often.)

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

ah hah. 682,262. i didn't really publish much before the pandemic, but then suddenly all i ever wanted to do was write, and i found such a community online in different fandoms that i haven't really stopped since!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I've published (written is a different story, haha) fic for a few fandoms: namely ace attorney, different sherlock holmes properties, witcher, dragon age, good omens (before the show), and most recently, metal gear!

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

a badge of honor [ace attorney]

plumeria (new beginnings) [enola holmes]

pressure (pushing down on me) [ace attorney]

your heart is cold (but we will warm you) [the hobbit - the first Real Fic i ever published, when i was a kid]

if i woke up (next to you) [ace attorney]

flattering but not surprising that ace attorney is near the top, as far as kudoses go; i joined this fandom in 2020 and it's just EXPLODED since then. it's so cool getting into an older game series and being able to connect with a thriving online community <3

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

I absolutely do! I miss one here and there, on occasion, but i try to say thanks as often as i can. i often return to the comment sections of my more popular fics on rough days when i'm convinced i'm the worst writer in existence kasd;jfalskfjf

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

hm... while i tend to avoid endings that leave readers in pieces, i do enjoy some angst now and then. i wrote a one-shot about john watson reacting to holmes's death in OG sherlock holmes titled 'when good men go to war' that definitely deserved the 'major character death' tag, even if it's one of the most famous fake-out deaths in literature LMAO. i've also written canon compliant lanamia, which just hurts. and a miles edgeworth christmas fic, which is self-explanatory. i also wrote a fic for the animated film Klaus a while back that made me cry writing it, which i don't often do HAHA

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

hmm. 'if i woke up (next to you)' is the epitome of cheesy fix-it for narumitsu, but i think the end of 'pressure (pushing down on me)' was written at a time, for me, when i most desperately wanted to read about a happy ending-- the whole series is a fix-it, but pressure in particular dismantled phoenix's disbarment and brought back characters i missed/wanted more of in a way that was utterly self-indulgent, so for me, that's probably the happiest ending i've ever written. :)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, thankfully. but i've gotten enough of unsolicited crit type comments to piss me off eternally-- though i've gotten better at deleting the ones that hurt rather than engaging. (I stopped writing a witcher fic i really liked because i got a comment that a chapter was boring, and it totally shattered me :///)

9. Do you write smut?

Sure! I have been known to enjoy and write explicit fics. I have an academic interest in sex and education about it, and I think some of the best character study fics in the entire universe are explicit. i also think the saddest fics i've ever read have also included explicit scenes, too.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I have! I love a good, clever crossover.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. (knocks on wood)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, several!

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

Yes! Most recently (published, that is), for pacific rim.

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

OOF. well. i have several, of course. i'll always be attached to classic sherlock holmes x john watson. for fandoms i fell into recently, the bangers are narumitsu, taibani (tiger&bunny, aka narumitsu lite), and newly, otasune (metal gear solid) is THE Moment. the MOMENT, damn it, PLAY METAL GEAR SOLID. and then DM me @solid-snaked because i want to TALK TO YOU ABOUT IT.

some more well-known ships i haven't published fic for over the years but still love: leopika (hxh), kakairu (naruto... YEAH. NARUTO.), kaishin (dmck), and superbat (dc). also, i tend to really gravitate towards platonic/gen fic for different fandoms as well, almost if not more strongly than shipfic.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

ooooh. toss up between 'call me through thunder' (dragon age), because honestly while i loved writing it, i liked the original writing ideas that came from it more than the actual fic elements and 'when the way is dark' (witcher), because of reasons listed above.

16. What are your writing strengths?

i would like to say my dialogue?? i suppose? i really like writing dialogue and specifically, the framing around dialogue-- i like writing body language and trying to describe facial expressions and tone shifts so that people can hear and see the scene i'm trying to write.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

ahh, i'm definitely guilty of writing intimate/emotional scenes at the cost of pacing, and of favoring tone accomplished by dialogue rather than immersion via setting (i'm bad at like. window dressing and connective tissue between scenes, i think)

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

beyond my skillset, I'm afraid

19. First fandom you wrote for?

supernatural. mmhmm. i was a high school sam girlie. the first fic i ever read, also, was supernatural. destiel at age 13. life-ruiner. but i recovered.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

aaaa. overall, i'd say 'pressure' is a fic i'm quite proud of but it's the series overall that makes it my favorite as a writing and a community experience, one that got me through a really tough time in life. however, as far as my writing skill goes, i'm pretty proud of a fic i wrote on a time crunch for Holmestice, a sherlock holmes exchange, called 'the emerald circle', because i got to reference queer history in a way i really enjoyed while writing it.

feel free to pass along this prompt to yourself, fellow writers <3

[babsvibes]

Happy 2024 to one of the biggest hypemen in the Burger fandom (you!!).

I just wanted to let you know how invaluable you have been/are to the creatives within this community. You've definitely inspired myself and several other illustrators at the very least! Providing us with material/content that many of us may have otherwise left unnoticed! You've definitely helped pioneer to keep the fandom full of fresh or engaging ideas. Even if divisive, your ideas make an impression and get the community talking, and ain't that half the battle? 👉😎👉 (Jack Conway ref for the eagle eyed folks lmao). And for that I/we are very grateful for your role in the Burger collective!!

So my ask Is;

Is there anything new/experimental you want to branch into this year? Anything outside the comfort zone you're wanting to try?

My love 🥺🥺💕 this means the world to me, thank you! People can be nervous sharing their thoughts, so if all it takes is one person asking about it then I can be that person. You put love out and you see it spread, you know? Me being divisive is kinda funny because 3/4 of the time I’m trying to get folks to connect or play games. But unfortunately 1/4 of the time I have my own interests 😭😭 What can you do except keep trying to build the good up!

For branching out, I’m not good at art/design, but I might try to organize a zine, maybe? That’s a huuuge undertaking that is way outside of my comfort zone though. For now I’ll stick to ship/appreciation weeks. Can @seemoreseymoursbay count as experimental? I’m going to be seeing ships and characters I don’t think about as often, so it’ll be like a new thing… sort of 😅

Thank you so much for the ask and for being so sweet! I’m glad I can poke creatives like you and see the community thrive in return!