#is it annoying that people are just assuming things about said engagement? yes!

[wouldvecouldveshouldve]

Did you see the articles that say Taylor is for sure getting engaged soon to Travis? Isn’t that a little weird? It says something like “page six says soon”

meh, they said the same thing about her and joe. there have been tabloid articles about their engagement since a couple of months after they went public, it's not a shocker.

[docholligay]

Do you think authors sometimes don't realize how their, uh, interests creep into their writing? I'm talking about stuff like Robert Jordan's obvious femdom kink, or Anne Rice's preoccupation with inc*st and p*dophilia. Did their editors ever gently ask them if they've ever actually read what they've written?

Firstly, a reminder: This is not tiktok and we just say the words incest and pedophilia here.

Secondly, I don't know if I would call them 'interests' so much as fixations or even concerns. There are monstrous things that people think about, and I think writing is a place to engage with those monstrous things. It doesn't bother me that people engage with those things. I exist somewhere within the whump scale, and I would hope no one would think less of me just because sooner or later I like to rough a good character up a bit, you know? It's fun to torture characters, as a treat!

But, anyway, assuming this question isn't, "Do writers know they're gross when I think they are gross" which I'm going to take the kind road and assume it isn't, but is instead, "Do you think authors are aware of the things they constantly come back to?"

Sometimes. It can be jarring to read your own writing and realize that there are things you CLEARLY are preoccupied with. (mm, I like that word more than concerns). There are things you think about over and over, your run your mind over them and they keep working their way back in. I think this is true of most authors, when you read enough of them. Where you almost want to ask, "So...what's up with that?" or sometimes I read enough of someone's work that I have a PRETTY good idea what's up with that.

I've never read Robert Jordan and I don't intend to start (I think it would bore me this is not a moral stance) and I've really never read Rice's erotica. In erotica especially I think you have all the right in the world to get fucking weird about it! But so, when I was young I read the whole Vampire Chronicles series. I don't remember it perfectly, but there's plenty in it to reveal VERY plainly that Anne Rice has issues with God but deeply believes in God, and Anne Rice has a preoccupation with the idea of what should stay dead, and what it means to become. So, when i found out her daughter died at the age of six, before Rice wrote all of this, and she grew up very very Catholic' I said, 'yeah, that fucking checks out'.

Was Rice herself aware of how those things formed her writing? I think at a certain point probably yes. The character of Claudia is in every way too on the nose for her not to have SOME idea unless she was REAL REAL dense about her own inner workings. But, sometimes I know where something I write about comes from, that doesn't mean I'm interested in sharing it with the class. I would never ever fucking say, 'The reasons I seem to write so much of x as y is that z happened to me years ago' ahaha FUCK THAT NOISE. NYET. RIDE ON, COWBOY.

But I've known some people in fandom works who clearly have something going on and don't seem to realize it. Or they're very good at hiding it. Based on the people I'm talking about I would say it's more a lack of self-knowledge, and I don't even mean that unkindly. I have, in many ways, taken myself down to the studs and rebuilt it all, so I unfortunately am very aware of why I do and write the things I do most of the time. It's extremely annoying not to be able to blame something. I imagine it must be very freeing. But it ain't me, babe.

Anyway, a lot of words to say: Maybe! But that might not stop them from writing it, it might be a useful thing for them to engage with, and you can always just not read it.

Also, we don't censor words here.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

hi, I hope this isn't too heavy for an anon ask, but I truly don't know where else to ask this

when i saw your thread about child sex ed, I just wondered... did i accidentally assault my brother???

so for some context I was raped/CSA'd sometime before the age of 11 and it's fucked up my perception of what's considered appropriate. when we were little, my brother who is very close in age to me and I used to have a game of "going to the doctor" where we would go in the bathroom and just look at each other's bodies (in a nonsexual way, normal behavior for curious kids). the part that gets me is that I remember trying to get him to stick his fingers in my holes -- to his credit he always refused and I never physically forced him to do anything, but in retrospect the thought just makes me ill

and before you ask, yes, our sex ed as children was very spotty and pretty much ended at how babies are made

hi anon,

this is a heavy one, and I'm sorry you've been feeling gross about this.

for what it's worth, I don't think anything you're describing is inappropriate or particularly unusual. as you said, it's very normal for young children to examine each other's bodies. this is a very developmentally normal curiosity to have, especially between children who have noticed that their body parts look different. that can include exploring bodily cavities, and there's nothing inherently harmful or abusive about that. some years ago Lena Dunham got BLASTED as a child abuser for talking about looking at her baby sibling's vulva in her memoir, and that made me incredibly mad. Lena Dunham wasn't molesting her sibling; she was a curious child and people using completely ordinary childhood activities to call her a pedophile just because she's annoying fucking sucks.

listen. caveat: not all instances of children taking an interest in each other's bodies is harmless. molestation can very much occur between siblings, and cause lasting trauma. okay? that's a real thing. your fears are not baseless.

but it sounds like you and your brother were both engaging in consensual play and you didn't force the issue when he didn't want to digitally penetrate you. unless you feel like dredging the issue up with your brother, or he wants to bring it up and/or is exhibiting any signs of lasting sexual trauma, I think you are probably safe to assume that you didn't do any lasting harm.

it's understandable to have the ick about it now as an adult, with greater context. and it's very normal to be cautious and worried that you may have hurt your brother unintentionally. but please try not to be too hard on yourself about this. you were a kid doing things kids do. your intentions were not malicious, and being a kid unknowingly doing something that *might* hurt someone is not the same as being an abuser.

[olivsie]

Something I like about epic the musical is that it Gives it's changes to the original text an actual Purpose

( The first couple paragraphs are basically a rant regarding retellings. If you only want to hear about epic Skip to paragraph 4)

1. I am a bit annoyed by the lack of. Understanding as to why RETELLINGS aren't the most historicaly accurate things in the world. Sorry to break this to you, but that's both just how they work and I would guess how they reach success. Ancient Greece is a much different culture than our own, And most of us would be terrified to actually live back then. When you are Trying to create content That is based on ancient Greece And you want it to be successful/ At least reach a wide, and notably, MODERN audience. You're likely going to have to take some creative liberty And change a few things. Don't get me wrong, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LIKE RETELLINGS KNOWING THAT FACT ( Me personally, I'm not the biggest fan of Miller's novels Even though I do like epic) BUT IT IS SOMETHING TO BE AWARE OF. And because of that I don't think I would ever expect a retelling to be perfectly accurate And I don't. I had interest in mythology LONG before epic the musical But I didn't actually read the Odyssey until getting into epic. I did not expect it To be just like the musical, I knew Odysseus was going to be much more of an asshole, along with other characters. The odyssey and epic are different pieces of media to me And I am not less of a mythology nerd for liking epic ( Though I will admit that sometimes I take tiny little fun facts of mythology And like to think of them in the context of epic, but that's just for fun.)

2. The Only time being a fan of retellings is wrong as if you genuinely believe they are perfectly accurate And refuse to listen to anything else ( Which has definitely happened, And mythology nerds have the right to be annoyed at that)

3. Some people only like to consume real mythology media, Others like both real mythology and retellings, Others only like to engage with retellings (I would hope they have the self-awareness to know It's not real mythology, From what I've seen some do and some don't, Unfortunately)

4. Ok. now on to what the title of this long ass rant says

I like that epic the musical Retells the story, Not only to both cater to modern audience But Also with its OWN purpose of man versus monster.

Obviously, this is not the point of the original text. Mythos Odysseus does not give a single fuck About the stuff that epic odysseus does. I don't know why the creator Decided to rewrite it this way, (If he's ever said why let me know) But I would assume he wanted to make something about the oddessy And this was simply a very creative way to Translate that for modern audience.

I like this because, yes, holy damn. It does have changes from the original text. But it's not JUST changing it. It's changing it with a purpose

It feels reminiscent of some kind of Dramatic play. the way that epic characterizes.

Polites' kind nature is Representative of the Concept of being merciful Represented in his lines such as " This life is amazing when you greet it with open arms" /"There is so much guilt inside your heart, So why not replace it?"

While in contrast you have eurylochus with more ruthlessness and cautious nature, this is Found in some of his lines such as "You rely on wit, and people die on it" /"we don't know what's ahead" / "I say we strike first. We don't have time to waste so lets raid the place-" /"Let's just cut our losses, You and I and let's run"

And then you have Odysseus, the man/monster. The first act of this Musical is his internal struggle With what He should be On that scale. And the other characters Represent this struggle in the song monster

" Is the cyclops struck with gilt when he kills, is he up in the middle of the night? Or does he end my men to avenge his friend and then Sleep knowing he has done him right?

When the witch turns men to pigs to protect her nymphs, is she going insane? Or did she learn to be colder when she got older and now she saves them the pain?

When a God comes down and makes a Fleet drown Is he scared that he's doing something wrong? Or does he keep us in check So we must respect him and now no one dares to piss him off"

He then Applies this to himself

" Does a soldier use a wooden horse to kill sleeping trojans cause he is vile? Or does he throw away his remorse and save more lives with guile?"

And this marks his turning point of deciding that Ruthlessness It's ultimately worth it if it means Getting home, as aeolus says "The end Always justifies the means"

It's in my opinion, a very creative way to go about retelling a myth. Is it accurate? Absolutely not. For example, circe (From what we know) is not protecting When she turns men into pigs, For all we know, she could just do it because Shits and giggles.

Her character and most others in epic is changed from the original. But it's not ONLY changing for the sake of apeling to the modern Western audience and being successful like Many other retellings. It is also and mainly changing for the sake of influencing the plot that Jorge Rivera herrans crafted For the sake of Retelling epic. It is creative and I enjoy it despite knowing it's not accurate.

[lemotmo]

Not to balance out the ask or anything, but there's something I picked up on during the season. For the record I'm a buddie shipper but I'm not blind to the fandom's fault.

There's a leaker in twitter who posted vague stuffs during the season that turned out to be true; implying that Buck will kiss a man who isn't Eddie, Marisol being a former nun, karaoke scene being cut et cetera. I can't remember exactly when but it's most likely during the heights of Buddies being mad that the karaoke scene was cut (I don't think it's queerbaiting since the show already went past that since season 1 but I understand people being upset) the leaker posted something about "Guys please be nice" or something to tone down the backlash, despite he himself encouraging the fandom to be louder for the karaoke scene, go figure and then shortly after Tim made that post about the karaoke scene on his FB. I then assumed that he got wind of Tim getting fed up with people asking for the karaoke scene despite he himself volunteering to post that disregarding the song license stuff.

While I've seen how crazy some of the Bummys have been lately, I'm not ruling out the possibility that Tim's also getting fed up with us Buddies especially since he's been exposed longer to Buddies than Bucktommys; it's just he perceived the toxicity to be twofolds since it comes from two queer ships. The fact that Buddies on twitter, his primary social media source of gauging fandom reaction before he decided to call it quits, has new people who uses similar modus operandi as some Tevans operate to farm engagement and content, makes the possibility of the toxicity among Buddie fandoms raising there to be higher.

I guess my takeaway is just for us to quietly ship harder on Buddie without engaging in the same kind of toxicity Kinleys are doing. Just focus on the good things on Buddie (and Bucktommy if you multiship), don't drag down actors/actresses or love interests they play to the same extent *they* did (in general, if you think your ship is THAT good finding every small detail to discredit other love interests is not needed because your own foundation should be enough) as your anon said, Tim can feel hurt from criticism so as long as the grievances were expressed in a more civil manner it should be good for us.

Yes Nonny. I agree.

The karaoke scene debacle is certainly a really good example of where the Buddie fandom went too far. I get the disappointment. I was disappointed too, but I ranted about it to the mutuals, took a deep breath and moved on.

I know that some people on Twitter (and even here on Tumblr) most definitely overreacted to that scene being cut. I don't know if I remember it right, but a few of the most crazy Buddie stans even sent him nasty messages. The fact that Tim had to publicly react wasn't very flattering for our fandom.

To me it's the way he reacted that stands out here. From his tone (which is always hard to gauge in a written message) he seemed calm but annoyed with the fans who kept on asking for that scene. He even admitted to liking Buddie and wanting to give this to the fans.

After that, most Buddie fans got the message and stopped demanding to release the scene, with the few exceptions of course. 🤷‍♀️ Whenever the karaoke scene comes up these days, it's mostly people asking nicely.

This last Tim interview felt very different. It was a direct call out to the BT people who had bullied and threatened some of the 911 cast and crew, to the point that some of them had to be blocked. These people kept on running to Tim's Facebook DMs to then post them on Twitter to 'bludgeon another part of fandom'. That's a direct call out, which is on a whole other level than the karaoke debacle.

But ultimately I completely agree with your conclusion. It is very important to keep the positivity and civility while shipping Buddie (and BT if you multi-ship). In that regard Tumblr is very different from Twitter. Although there are definitely a lot of great Buddie fans on Twitter who aren't afraid to call out toxic behaviour within our own fandom, which is a good buffer to keep out the worst of the toxicity.

Fandoms are fandoms. A certain level of toxicity will never be able to be avoided. All we can do is, like you said, quietly keep on shipping Buddie and keep it all respectful towards others.

Hope you have a great day Nonny!

[gh0ulkisser]

who's he?` hobie brown

warnings cats??, i didn't proofread so there's probably some mistakes lol, the n word is used once....twice... maybe three times, sexual tenison ig, shit talking ab white people LOL & that should be it... enjoy! also i don't know how british people talk soo he's american in this either hate it or love it. this is my first time writing after a while so feedback would be really appreciated.

based on the song "that's the way love goes" to some extent. was listening to it on repeat & got inspired.

and happy juneteenth to my fellow african americans!

★★★★★★★★★★★★

it's a beautiful monday afternoon. the blazing sun hitting my chocolate skin, the cool breeze kissing my cheeks making me feel relaxed. me and my friend grace decided to have picnic crowded park to celebrate juneteenth, something simple something cute.

"and my mom made these sandwiches for us." grace face lit up with a bright smile showing off the sandwiches that are wrapped in wax paper. "what kind of sandwiches are they?" i asked taking one from her hand.

"some vegetarian sandwich, my mom is on her healthy shit." she unwrapped the wax paper biting the sandwich immediately. "so what's going on with you? i haven't seen you in a while miss thing."

grace looks at me with engaging eyes. "nothing, i've been chilling that's all." i said lightly breaking eye contact. "nigga stop lying." grace yelled making people turn their heads to stare. "who's the boy?"

"there's no boy. i promi-" i got cut off by my phone ringing. me and grace both look at the contact name.

"hobie🫶"

"bitch who the fuck is hobie? and why did you put that emoji?" grace stares at the phone with a shocked face. "why are you assuming its a boy first of all, second of all i use the emoji for everyone i cherish."

"you don't have that emoji for me." i rolled my eyes. "it's not that big of deal i promise. he's just a friend." i grabbed my phone putting it on dnd. "bitch you fucking annoying." grace murmured.

"can you at least tell me about him? likeeee what does he look like.... how do you meet him?" grace asks. i shook my head. "nigga why not?" you can talk to me about anything else but this is where you draw the line?" i nodded taking a bite of my sandwich.

"oh my god! did you fuck him?" grace questions. my mouth open in shocked. "no i didn't fuck him! i literally just met him. grace please!" i unlocked my phone going straight to my camera roll to pull up a picture of him. "this is him." i said passing my phone to grace.

it was a picture of hobie and me at a cat café. his beautiful smile showing his pearly whites, the silver piercings making his face even more sexier and his thick stunning wicks.

★★★★★★★★★★★★

the four-legged animal purred underneath my hand as i softly pet it. "i want to adopt a cat so badly." i said breaking the silence between me and hobie. he looks at me and then the cat. "why? cats are evil."

"if cats are evil why did you agree on coming to a cat café with me?" i lifted an eyebrow looking at him. he smirks. "i needed an excuse to hang out with you." i blushed breaking eye contact.

"i don't know if this is a weird thing to say." i looked up at him admiring his face. so damn attractive...the things this man can do to me. "but white people are so fucking weird." he said snapping me out of thoughts.

silence...

we just looked at each other.

i busted out laughing scaring the poor innocent cat. "what made you say some shit like that hobie?" i asked and he just shrugged. "there was this white girl in my class that had the same last name as me." i paused to pet the cat calming it down. "and i just thought about her ancestors enslaving my people."

"is that a fucked up thing to think about?" i asked him as i played with the cat's tail. "yes." he said nonchalantly. we sat in silence but the silence was soothing and very comfortable.

the purring of the cat and the chatter of the customers filled in the silence. i felt him stare at me. making my heart start to pound against my chest. i then felt this hand start to stroke my thigh.

i looked at his hand then i looked at him.

"you good?" he asked in a mocking way. "mhmm." he smirked knowing i was in fact not good. "you wanna go to my place?" he squeezed my thigh. his cold rings leaving a mark on my thigh.

★★★★★★★★★★★★

"he's cute." grace said grinning. "yea i know." i finished eating my sandwich wiping the crumbs off my mouth. "so he's not your boyfriend?" grace gave you back your phone. you shook your head.

"we are only friends."

[dreamwritesimagines]

Garden of Secrets - Extra Scene 1

A.N: So I got very inspired and excited by your wonderful asks and comments my loves! ❤️ I hope you like this extra scene, it was inspired by this ask ❤️ 

Well.

This was quite shocking.

Josie couldn’t decide whether she wanted to laugh or freeze. She had been staring at the letter for the last minute, the lines quite simple to understand and yet she couldn’t wrap her mind around them;

“By the way, I’m engaged now to that annoying artist I mentioned before. I’ll send you the details about the wedding.”

“My love?”

Josie blinked a couple of times as Bess made her way to her, then wrapped her arms around her waist from behind to rest her chin on her shoulder.

“Bess,” Josie said, holding up the letter. “Would you please read me the last part of this letter? Out loud?”

Bess pulled her brows together, then her eyes skimmed the lines.

“By the way, I’m engaged now to that annoying artist I mentioned before. I’ll send you the details about the wedding— this is lovely, who’s getting married?”

“Oh so I’m not imagining this,” Josie murmured and Bess let out a small laugh.

“Who’s getting married?”

“My sister.”

Bess pulled back slightly. “…Clover?”

“Jesus Christ—do you think she’s kidnapped?” Josie asked as she stepped out of Bess’s arms to make her way to the drawer to pull it open. “Is she writing to me from an asylum of the sort? Would I even know if she was in an asylum?”

“I don’t think people in those unfortunate places can send letters my darling,” Bess threw herself onto the bed. “Besides, the address is the same is it not?”

“It looks like her handwriting…” Josie muttered to herself as she pulled out the letters and Bess let out a laugh.

“What are you doing?”

“Listen to this;” Josie said as she opened one of the letters. “I’ve also met one of the most infuriating artists in the entire world, his name is Benedict Bridgerton and I cannot even begin to explain just how much he vexes me. He followed me around the museum I had to attend the other day, and auntie saw it. I admit that he’s very good looking, but he is very much aware of it so I suppose that convinced him that every lady must be under his spell. It’s so annoying, I hope he leaves me alone the next time we see each other. ”

“Aw she said he’s very good looking!” Bess said. “Did not take that long to fall under his spell I take it?”

“Another one,” Josie said, pulling out another letter. “I decided that I hate Benedict Bridgerton, that artist I told you about in my last letter. He had the audacity to show up at the same flower exhibition I attended, ask me for a dance for that night’s ball in front of auntie so I had to say yes, and then came to the ball near the end of the night and dared assume I was heartbroken for not being able to dance with him. Can you believe that? Josie, can you believe the audacity this man has?”

“Why was he late?”

“I have no idea and it’s not even the last of it,” Josie said. “This gossip paper wrote about me and Benedict Bridgerton and auntie seems convinced that I could have feelings for him when all I feel for him is annoyance. As if that’s not enough, he decided to— this goes on and on.” Josie threw the paper on the table. “Line after line about this artist, about just how much she hates him and how much he annoys her, and she is marrying him?”

“Who’s marrying who?” a voice reached them and Josie turned her head. Andrew gave her a big smile and wiggled his brows before entering the room, carrying a bowl of dried fruit. “Who has made my beautiful wife so displeased this early in the morning?”

“Were you not spending the night at Martin’s estate?” Bess asked, tilting her head and Andrew shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t think I shall be spending any night at Martin’s estate again, my dearest cousin,” he said, flinging himself next to her and Bess shot him a look.

“Lover’s spat?”

“Lover’s separation, more likely.”

Bess hissed in a breath. “Ouch, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, worse things happen every day. It’s not like I woke up to his dead body next to me.”

Bess slapped his arm. “Ugh, when will you let that go?”

“Never. Your late husband, may he rest in peace, managed to surprise you for once in his very short time with you and you think I will let that go—how long were you married for by the way, when he tragically passed away? A year?”

Bess rolled her eyes. “Shut it.”

Andrew let out a chuckle. “He lasted longer than I thought he would. I was sure he would have died on his way to chapel.”

“So did I,” Bess pointed out and Andrew tilted his head.

“Josie? Who’s getting married?”

Josie held up the letter and shook her head. “How is she marrying him?” she asked. “She keeps saying she hates him in all these letters.”

“There’s a thin line between love and hate,” Andrew said wistfully. “Will you two tell me who’s getting married or…?”

“My sister,” Josie murmured without looking up from the letter and Andrew gasped.

“Aw, our Clover is getting married?” he asked, pressing a hand on his chest. “I feel emotional. It feels like just yesterday that I met her and she gave me a list of everything that my father’s gardener was doing wrong in our garden—”

“Do you think he’s forcing her?” Josie asked, her brows pulled into a frown. “Because if he’s forcing her into anything, I’m going to have to kill him.”

Andrew and Bess exchanged glances.

“Fun.” Andrew deadpanned. “It’s been a while since I last saw someone kill someone.”

“Stop encouraging her—I feel like she would tell you if she were being forced,” Bess said quickly and Andrew threw a raisin in the air, then caught it with his mouth.

“Does this mean we’re going back to England?” he asked. “I mean don’t get me wrong, I love Spain but...I’d like to see that house father left us at the very least.”

“Left you, you mean.”

“You’re my best friend and technically my wife so what’s mine is yours, we’ve been over this,” Andrew told Josie and turned to Bess. “I’m sure we can find someone to die next to you there too Bess—”

He was cut off when Bess grabbed the pillow and smacked it at his arm, making him chuckle and reach out to pull her into a tight hug.

“Sorry!”

“I hate you so much,” Bess said with a smile before her head snapped up. “Wait, I think I also have a house there somewhere as a part of my inheritance.”

“Ah, I forgot about that!” Andrew exclaimed. “Yes you do!”

“I mean it’s a small one, but it’s still something.”

Andrew nodded his head. “Almost makes up for the fact that he died next to you to leave you that house.”  

“Andrew, so help me God…”

Josie clicked her tongue and folded the paper in her hand.

“Do you two think it’s safe?” she asked. “To go back?”

“Didn’t you say your parents were not in London?” Andrew asked. “I’d say it’s very safe. And even if they do show up there, we can handle them. I promise.”

Josie thought for a moment, nibbling on her lip before she rolled her eyes.

“Fine,” she ended up saying, making Andrew clap his hands together and Bess let out a giggle. “I suppose we’re going back to England.”

[grey-gazania]

I'm sorry someone bombarded you with bitchy comments 😭. While my To Read list is lengthy and continually lengthier (actually I think something of yours with her is on it), I'd like to hear more about Ianneth-Fingon-Maedhros if you want to talk about them.

@polutrope

It wasn't really upsetting, just annoying and honestly a little bit funny. This guy left comments on all six chapters of By Love or at Least Free Will, every time I updated the story, just objecting to the entire premise of the story and ranting about how Elves have incorruptible pure souls and are immune to lust. I was sorely tempted to respond with this quote from "Laws & Customs Among the Eldar":

Even when in after days, as the histories reveal, many of the Eldar in Middle-earth became corrupted, and their hearts darkened by the shadow that lies upon Arda, seldom is any tale told of deeds of lust among them.

'Seldom' is not the same thing as 'never', and furthermore, I don't think lust is even a major theme of my story. It's more about conflicting obligations and unruly hearts.

In the end I deleted the comments without responding, because I have a personal policy of not engaging with people who are acting in bad faith. But I have to assume that this guy has no actual hobbies if he spends his time hate-reading entire stories instead of just...closing the window and moving on with his life. Maybe take up crochet, bro? Or volunteer at a soup kitchen? Watch a TV show that you like? Grow some tomatoes? Do something that will be more fulfilling than typing long screeds on AO3. I promise it will make you a happier person.

Anyway. On to the actual topic of your ask! As you've probably noticed, I am very fond of Russingon. However, I am also very fond of Fingon as Gil-galad's father. At first I balanced these two ideas by keeping my Russingon ideas and my Fingon-father-of-Gil-galad ideas in two separate universes, but then I started really fleshing out Gil-galad's mother, and it made me think some thoughts. To repeat something I said to @cuarthol in a comment on AO3:

...half the genesis of Ianneth was seeing so many stories (in multiple fandoms, not just Tolkien) where the woman is written out of a canon or semi-canon couple to make room for a popular M/M ship instead, without the female character being treated with any respect. I decided that the female perspective on that situation would be a nice change of pace and interesting to write.

I'm not trying to point fingers -- I'll readily admit that I have my male faves just like the next gal and that it's fun to make them kiss -- but the wives and girlfriends don't get a lot of love in fandom, do they? And it doesn't help that the legendarium in general tends to be a bit of a sausage fest. So I decided that Fingon would have a wife and be in love with Maedhros. But instead of focusing just on the forbidden love, I was going to focus on the wife's feelings, too.

Ianneth ("bridge-woman") is one of the Northern Sindar, from the community that lives around Lake Mithrim. She's the daughter of Annael (yes, that Annael), whom I've imagined to be one of the more influential leaders among the Northern Sindar, and particularly among the Elves of Mithrim.

Her betrothal to Fingon starts as a political arrangement. Fingolfin loves Fingon dearly, of course, but he's also been hinting for a while now that Fingon really needs to settle down and start having kids so that there will be a strong line of heirs should Fingolfin die. After all, Argon's dead, and Turgon and Aredhel abruptly fucked off to god-knows-where some three hundred years ago and haven't been seen nor heard from since. Your dad needs some grandsons, Fingon, and this also seems like a ripe opportunity to strengthen the Noldor's alliance with the Northern Sindar.

I don't think political marriage is unknown among the Elves of Beleriand. (For one example in the text, see Celegorm trying to marry Luthien to force Doriath into an alliance.) And the quote I drew the title of the aforementioned Fingon/Ianneth story from, also found in "Laws and Customs Among the Eldar," is:

The Eldar wedded only once in life, and for love or at the least by free will upon either part.

Free will could easily mean, "Are we in love? No. But I'll still marry you, for the good of our peoples, and I'll bring some of Dad's soldiers along with me." That sort of thing happened all the time among real-world nobility, so I see no reason why it can't happen among Elven nobility in Beleriand, too.

At any rate, Fingolfin arranges for Fingon to meet the daughters of some of the more powerful leaders of the Northern Sindar, and he's hint-hint-hinting that Fingon really needs to pick one of them to be his wife. Fingon, having been in love with Maedhros since they were young in Valinor, is not exactly keen on this plan. But he goes along with it anyway because he is a dutiful son, he knows that his father is right about needing to strengthen the line of succession, and he also knows that revealing his (quite taboo!) relationship with Maedhros to his father would probably break Fingolfin's heart.

It takes Fingon a while to decide who to court, but he picks Ianneth because he likes her sense of humor; she has the guts to gently tease him at their first meeting, which he finds quite charming. He doesn't think he can love anyone besides Maedhros, but he does look at Ianneth and think, "This is a woman I could grow to care for and whose companionship I think could enjoy."

The trouble begins when, over the course of their courtship, Fingon starts falling in love with Ianneth without falling out of love with Maedhros. And he doesn't know what to do about this. He can't call off the marriage, and he doesn't want to break things off with Maedhros, so he decides to just...keep the whole thing with Maedhros a secret and marry Ianneth anyway. It's not a good decision, but really, are there any options here that won't end with someone getting hurt? I don't think so.

So we have Ianneth, blissfully ignorant of her husband's infidelity (for now); Fingon, in love with two people at once and feeling horribly guilty about it, but unwilling to pick one partner over the other; and Maedhros, resigned to the situation but still hurting because Fingon is no longer his alone.

Maedhros' feelings are complicated by the fact that, once he meets her, he finds that likes Ianneth. It would be easier, he thinks, if he could write her off as just a political necessity for Fingon, but it turns out that she's charming and intelligent and kind, and he can understand why Fingon loves her. His feelings soften further once Ereiniel is born, because Fingon is so happy being a father, and he loves Fingon, so how can he begrudge him that? There's a line from "Famous Blue Raincoat" by Leonard Cohen that I always think of when I'm getting into Maedhros' head at this point:

And thanks for the trouble you took from [his] eyes. I thought it was there for good, so I never tried.

Things tick along about as smoothly as they can for thirteen years, until, in the aftermath of Fingolfin's death during the Dagor Bragollach, as Fingon prepares to send Ianneth and Ereiniel to the Falas for their safety, Ianneth learns his secret. This is understandably devastating for her, and leaves her wondering if Fingon ever really loved her as she loved him, or if his marriage to her was simply a politically expedient sham.

Add to that the fact that she leaves for the Falas less than ten hours after this revelation and spends most of that ten hours either crying or asleep, as she's too upset to really talk to Fingon about what she's discovered, and it leaves her with this horrible knowledge and all the worst thoughts that come from it gnawing at her nearly a full year until Fingon next comes to Eglarest -- time that she spends as the sole caregiver for her young daughter, among strangers in a foreign city, without her mother or her sister or any of her friends who might have theoretically been able to offer her some emotional support.

Theoretically is a key word there, though, because even if, say, her sister had come to Eglarest, Ianneth isn't sure she'd even be able to tell her. For one thing, she can't help feeling ashamed, because infidelity is very rare among Elves, and she can't help thinking that maybe she failed as a wife somehow, and if she'd done something different, Fingon wouldn't have strayed. Then there's the fact that he's the High King of the Noldor, and if this gets out it could cause a crisis in the Noldorin government and possibly tank the alliance between the House of Fingolfin and the Northern Sindar. Ianneth is a practical woman, and she's of the Northern Sindar -- the people who have been living practically on Morgoth's doorstep for centuries, with no Maia queen's magic girdle to protect them. Their alliance with the Noldor is vital, and she would never want to jeopardize it.

So Ianneth is just...completely alone with this pain. She has no one to turn to, no one who can comfort her. And that pain is central to her story, and a not insignificant part of Ereiniel's story, too.

[jyndor]

I'm not gonna punch left ever. like yes do I have both strategic and ideological disagreements with some leftists? yeah obviously since leftist infighting and disagreement is the feature not the bug.

I'm still not saying I'm voting for kamala but I do think she will be a better opponent than trump. I believe in strategic voting so tbh if your district is a swing district, if you are in a swing state, I think voting democratic is smart because they are at least able to be beaten into some concessions from the left when we are organized. one big issue is the liberals who see any criticism as support for the republicans, and they're gonna be annoying as hell but I do think more people are aware that the democrats suck now than they did during the obama years.

that said, it is totally understandable for people in the global south to be hostile to any us president. and it is reasonable for them to hate us for anything we do politically because all these freaks have done material harm to millions of people globally. so I'm not offended as a white queer us american woman that a third world maoist might hate that I am considering voting for kamala harris. it's cool, they're not wrong to be angry with us americans' selfish politics.

and at this same time imo there is no real path forward for a third party candidate in the us. and it's deeply frustrating to me that so many amazing activists use their time and resources on what is to me a herculean task, running for president as a third party candidate and not even for a party like the greens which has name recognition. I'd rather they focus on local politics and even statewide politics, where they have more of a chance. I also don't think they're wreckers though, I just don't agree with their strategies. and they can call me a liberal or whatever for saying that, that's fine whatever lol I'm not going to punch leftists doing important work.

it is one thing to disagree on strategy, even on ideology and politics. but to assume that they are not genuine in their politics... it's just gross and dismissive. you do not know what you're talking about. I don't love the PSL for a few different reasons but I respect the activism they do, and I'm not gonna disrespect leftist activists doing far more than I ever will, even if I don't agree with everything they do.

tumblr is full of white liberals who might in fact have access to financial resources that many others do not have, and that's important for us to understand because it does impact how we view politics. it does. it's so easy for you vote blue folks to call ANYONE who criticizes democrats bots or russian ops or whatever. it does you no favors politically. you do not want to negatively polarize potential allies by constantly treating them like they've got ulterior motives for not supporting the democratic party.

but most people who for instance supported the uncommitted campaign and who were working to get biden out of the race all these months are likely doing so because we WANT to vote against trump. not that everyone in the free palestine movement is a democratic voter or even is in favor of electoralism, but a lot are in the states. so... it's weird to me that liberals treated us like ignorant wreckers who don't care about abortion or queer rights or voting rights etc, or somehow PALESTINIAN RIGHTS LMFAO I mean I'm trying to stay nice and call these libs racist cunts for speaking down to voters of color in particular but that's what it is.

do you really think the people who are the most tapped into politics are not going to vote??? really???? some won't but most will. especially those in swing districts. do you think that someone like me, who has been politically active since I was TWELVE, does not understand the utility of voting???

as always, your job is not going to be speaking down to people so politically engaged that they are threatening to WITHHOLD THEIR VOTES BECAUSE OF FOREIGN POLICY. IN THE UNITED STATES OF NOBODY GIVES A FUCK ABOUT FOREIGN POLICY. they're doing the work you should have been doing this whole time. you will have to sit with your complacency at some point.

your job is going to be getting off your ass and convincing everyone you know who is not registered to vote because they don't care about politics or don't like politics or whatever that they need to be invested in our political system.

bad news: you will not do that by shaming them for being ignorant or apathetic.

good news: a lot of people are very easy to get on board with shit like rent caps (which biden was just talking about the other day, 5% caps on rent federally! that's amazing and would help so many people - we should pressure kamala to adopt that policy) and reproductive justice. a lot of apathetic people care about this shit, they just don't know how it impacts them or where to start engaging with this shit.

do not pull the smug liberal shit, do not speak down to them, meet them where they are at! ask them about the things that they are bothered about, things like potholes and shit. that matters to people. get them registered, drive them to the polls. you will do more good than shouting at lefties on tumblr dot com. otherwise you're just preaching to the choir.

[tooti-fruiti]

TOUGH LOVE [CHAPTER TWELVE]

The date

Papyrus glared down at you. "YOU WERE MUCH STRONGER THAN I HAD ANTICIPATED. YOU MANAGED TO HOLD YOUR GROUND."

He sighed and made his glowing red bone disappear. "DESPITE HOW IRRITATED I AM THAT YOU MANAGED TO STAY ALIVE. I ALWAYS KEEP MY WORD."

He flipped his cape and smirked. "I SHALL TAKE YOU ON A DATE, HUMAN."

"COME ALONG." He said as he walked past you.

You silently groaned and followed him to wherever he wanted to take you.

He took you to his house and held the door open for you.

You walked inside and saw a black and red house, which looked extremely clean.

"You must take good care of your house." You said as you looked around.

Papyrus chuckled proudly and nodded. "YOU ARE QUITE RIGHT (Y/N). I ALWAYS MAKE SURE MY HOME IS IN PRISTINE CONDITION."

"NOW, IF YOU'LL FOLLOW ME UPSTAIRS. HOPEFULLY, SANS IS AT GRILLBY'S WHILE WE HAVE OUR DATE." Papyrus said to himself as he walked up the stairs.

You hesitantly follow him up the stairs.

He opens a door for you and steps into what you assume is his room.

After you go inside, you noticed that his wallpaper has flames on it and so does his bed.

There is also a cat asleep in the corner of the room, presumably Doomfanger.

You and Papyrus both decided to leave her be and let her sleep.

"Your room is very cool." You said.

Papyrus chuckled. "THANK YOU. MY ROOM IS RATHER BADASS. YES?"

"Yes." You sarcastically repeated as you sat down on his bed.

"So when does this date start?"

Papyrus smirked at you. "RIGHT NOW."

He then walked towards you and crawled on top of you, pinning you to his bed.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH!" You yelled as your face started to turn red.

"WHAT'S THE ISSUE? IS THIS NOT WHAT PEOPLE DO WHEN THEY GO ON A DATE?"

"Not usually on the first one!"

"HMM...I HAD ASSUMED YOU WOULD BE MORE EAGER IN ENGAGING IN INTERCOURSE."

Your jaw dropped as he said.

Papyrus then got off you and fixed his cape. "PERHAPS YOU WANT TO TAKE THINGS SLOW. VERY WELL."

You blinked. "Um...okay...so what do we instead?"

"WE TALK. GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER. IS THAT SLOW ENOUGH FOR YOU?"

"Yeah?"

"VERY WELL."

Papyrus then sat down on the bed next down.

"TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF, (Y/N)."

"Uhh...like what?"

Papyrus looked at you, annoyed. "LIKE, A HOBBY."

Once you understood what he was asking, you told him what your hobby was.

"REALLY? ARE YOU GOOD AT IT?"

"I mean, I would hope so. But it doesn't really matter if I'm good at it or not. It's just for fun."

"HAVING A HOBBY SOUNDS...RELAXING. HOWEVER, I AM FAR TOO BUSY FOR A HOBBY."

"Because of the royal guard?" You asked.

"PRECISELY."

"How did you get into the royal guards anyway?"

Papyrus looked away. "THE KING OFFERED ME THE POSITION A FEW YEARS AGO AFTER AN INCIDENT HAPPENED. AND I'VE WORKED MY WAY UP TO SECOND IN COMMAND THROUGH TRAINING."

"AND IF YOU HADN'T FLIRTED WITH ME AND WITHSTOOD MY ATTACKS, I WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GIVE YOUR SOUL TO THE KING AND NOT ONLY WOULD I HAVE BEEN PROMOTED BUT WE WOULD HAVE ALSO BEEN FREED FROM THIS PRISON." He scowled.

"And I have the seventh soul."

"CORRECT."

Papyrus hunched over and clenched his fist.

"THIS IS PATHETIC. I FAILED MY TASK. I LOST TO YOU AND HERE I AM, GOING ON A DATE WITH YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH ME."

You rolled your eyes. "You didn't fail. If you failed, I would be stronger than you and would have defeated you. I didn't. I just held my ground."

"I DID FAIL. I WAS SUPPOSED TO KILL YOU AND TAKE YOUR SOUL."

You both sat in silence for a little while.

"Is there a way that I can keep my soul and still break ther barrier?"

"I DON'T KNOW. AND EVEN IF THERE WAS, WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO HELP? ALL ANYONE HAS DONE HERE IS TRY TO KILL YOU."

"Yes, but you all are desperate to get out. You're trapped. I don't know why, but my heart and soul are telling me that this is the right thing to do. I want to help."

Papyrus stared at you for a little while.

Then he sighed. "MANY YEARS AGO...MY BROTHER ANGERED THE KING, AND HE WAS GOING TO BE KILLED. I STEPPED IN AND STOPPED HIM."

"IMPRESSED BY MY COURAGE AND MY QUICK INSTINCTS, I WAS OFFERED A POSITION IN THE ROYAL GUARD."

"AND BECAUSE OF MY ACT OF DEFIANCE AGAINST THE KING, I GOT THESE SCARS ON MY EYE."

Papyrus turned to you.

"YOU REMIND ME OF MYSELF."

Then he stood up with a scowl on his face. "COME ON. WE'RE LEAVING."

"Where are we going?" You asked.

"WE'RE GOING TO GO SEE IF YOU CAN BREAK THE BARRIER AND KEEP YOUR SOUL."

[Hope you enjoyed. Stay tuned for more and have a good day]

<-Chapter Eleven

[bugsbenefit]

From the last anon - I could go on and on about how much I just don’t get bylers who like mike when he’s canonically done stupid shit and still don’t really know the reasons. Put away all your little theories away for a second and think about it, he’s literally not a good person. The way he treats el and Will are just a testament look at the stank faces he pulled at Lucus’s game, he wasn’t just being annoying he was showing how he doesn’t know how to be a good friend. I think his character arc should be completed with him learning how to be a better friend to everyone around him maybe then would I be interested in him. Maybe then he could apologize to hopper for whatever season 3 was where he was being disrespectful for no reason.

What I’ll give Mike is him helping Joyce with the whole possession thing in s2 at least he was trying to be helpful to the plot. Season 4 he really didn’t do anything but sit there and yell at will make a weird attempt of apologizing to him, sit in a van acting oblivious to Will pouring his literal heart out then going back to el and saying the most cringe monologue in that entire show. That’s not someone I’m gonna really like or tune in to especially since they killed his character development he’s not developing.

So yes this happens to be the el show and the Will show the hopper show and the Joyce show I’m gonna say core 4.

and i'm gonna say you sound dumb as hell why are you camping in my ask box when you clearly know i'm just going to keep calling you stupid?

i don't even know where i could start to tell you you're wrong here this is just a complete disaster statement

you're baffled that people are interested in a character who's agency and reasoning is unclear? or a character that had good and bad moments? have you ever been in a fandom? one of the main reasons Mike is so interesting to me personally IS the fact that his pov is purposefully left unclear. having engaging characters that aren't laid out to you with all cards on the table while offering enough content so you can guess what's going on is always going to draw people in. that's also the reason why Will's involvement with the UD works so well, that hasn't been explained yet either and people are looking forward to it in s5. i really don't understand how the concept of being invested in something that's open ended is making you this upset

no one is forcing you to start liking Mike anonie, i promise it's going to be okay, maybe the reason you're so upset is because you're engaging with blogs that Do care about his character? have you considered that before?

also since you apparently think the show is simultaneously the El Will Joyce and Hopper show i'm assuming you Know that it's an ensemble show and there's multiple main character (sadly for you that just happens to include Mike as well based on the narrative itself and on what all the actors and writers have said until now but oh well)

also also are there actually people that think Mike should apologize to Hopper for some reason??? he was being annoying and smug in s3 that's the most forgivable teenage behaviour why should he apologize? Hopper is a cop and full grown adult and directly threatened Mike in a car because he sucked so bad at talking. i don't know what to tell you, might just be the evil Mike sympathizer in me talking, but i feel like the adult responding to an annoying teenager by being threatening because he can't think of anything else to do doesn't deserve an apology here💀

[circular-bircular]

Why I Do This.

This post is clearly due to another post in the tags. However, I will not be replying to or linking the post as the user in question just genuinely wants to be left alone.

However, given the popularity recently of people coming into syscoursers inboxes to dictate what is and isn't healthy, I really wanted to answer their (what I'm thinking is completely rhetorical) question.

Why do we do this?

I first entered syscourse 6 years ago as a pro-endo. I was pro-endo because I was in denial about my trauma and actively could not remember most of it. I got... incredibly fucking traumatized by that, blocked a lot out. I went full tilt the other direction in my beliefs out of traumatized protection of the self, and then eventually evened out, and now I"m pro-endo but slightly less annoying about it.

Syscourse absolutely hurt me. I'm vocal about that. And sometimes, yes, it is incredibly exhausting. (That's why I take breaks, and yes, believe it or not, I do take them!)

I've stuck around, because for the first time in my life, I could see the impact my words had on the world. I could change people's minds.

Have I made missteps? Obviously -- who hasn't? Lord knows I have said some frankly ridiculous shit. Lord knows I have screamed myself hoarse in a triggered rage. But... Frankly, when's the last time that happened? The last big Triggered State I remember from online things was sometime in September. It's now January of a new year, and I am feeling far better, despite still participating in syscourse.

Why engage in these meaningless fights? What's the point?

You're a nihilist, a pessimist, or you're just struggling right now to see the good in the world. Regardless of the reason, these aren't fights, and they aren't meaningless. Or, at least, they shouldn't be.

I'm not fighting over here. I'm flourishing and sharing with open arms and a vulnerable heart. I share my trauma and experiences online, knowing it could damage me, because I know how badly I needed to see someone with these experiences when I was first discovering my system. I discuss the ableism that affects me to further clarify ideas for those who are attempting to make the world a less ableist place, who unintentionally say ableist things. And other people tell me when I am unintentionally ableist, and I learn, and I grow.

And so many other people in these tags aren't fighting, either. @traumascumathena @sysmedsaresexist @artisticdysfunction @hiiragi7 @system-of-a-feather @greens-spilled-tea @mournfall-syscourse and more that aren't coming to the front of my mind at the moment. These people aren't trying to fight. They're trying to spread information about the topics they know and are passionate about. I've watched these people learn and grow with me, and they have helped me change.

And then there are those who are fighting for their lives, fighting just to exist online, regardless of system type. The amount of shit people need to block and brace themselves for, just to exist, just to see -- but well, I assume OP knows that, seeing as they appear to be one of those systems themselves. You cannot enter system spaces at the moment without bracing for a fight, and that isn't going to change unless we do something about it -- unless we work together to correct misinfo and collectively work on being less ableist.

It is absolutely okay to feel unsafe around those who are in the syscourse tags. There's a reason people have syscourse DNIs and try to avoid syscourse. It's absolutely fair to try and avoid it.

But keep in mind that the people that are there aren't all the horrific fakeclaiming assholes that only seek to hate. There are people who genuinely enjoy being in this space, no matter how exhausting, because they can help people. I don't distrust people who find their passions exhausting, and yet still participate in those passions.

I know it's scary. I know this world is a horrific place for us. But I want to make the world better. I want to grow and see the world grow with me.

That's why I do this.

[no-where-new-hero]

A final Barney/Dean parallel: Emily proposes to Dean just as Valancy proposes to Barney.

The situations are, interestingly, reversed though: Valancy proposes to Barney at the end of her life. Emily proposes to Dean at the new beginning of hers (after her recovery). In terms of what's happening in the scene, the emotional roles are also reversed: Emily almost seems like Barney accepting Valancy, driven to linking her life with Dean's out of affection and something like pity. Both partnerships begin from friendship and a weird kind of mutual obligation, which absolutely plays into the statements that both Barney and Dean make about love being a bondage (I am very very certain LMM thought love was a bondage, especially her marriage, though she tries to work past it in an idealistic way). But Emily still chooses her bondage to Dean, as Valancy chooses hers to Barney, which feels radical in the context of the time.

(More rambling Dean discourse under the cut)

It's so tempting to see Dean as somehow pressuring Emily into choosing him because he's older and has this authority over her, and that's true to an extent. Obviously, he wouldn't have been in Emily's life at all if he didn't intentionally cultivate her friendship. But I think LMM is careful to underscore Emily's own agency in the matter and the way that she made this decision to marry him in the end based on a lot of other competing factors. Would she have proposed if Teddy were around and did anything but write an anemic distant letter to her? Probably not. But he did write that anemic distant letter which is BAD FORM BUDDY, so no wonder she felt abandoned by everyone else she cared for except for Dean, who stayed by her. Even from the beginning, LMM makes it clear that Emily pursues Dean's friendship as much as he does hers: look, it's hard being a weird misunderstood girl. Sometimes your best friend can be a weird misunderstood guy and if he happens to be 20 years older than you, that's a problem, but that's not really anyone's fault. (She also offers to kiss him if he wants when she doesn't like kissing people. Not that is is sexual or romantic by any means (in her mind at any rate), but she is giving him a special privilege, which is basically what she does when she proposes. We love people staying in character.)

That being said, I think LMM's determination to make Emily the master of her own fate is the hardest thing to reconcile. Through a modern lens, the types of patterns that bring Emily to Dean and keep him in her life are plainly visible (lonely young girl, lacking good guardianship, precociousness, etc). In a modern novel, we would say the person in Emily's place is a victim and interpret her with that as part of her identity. Yet because of how uncompromising LMM makes Emily, it feels impossible to think of her that way. When Emily wants to hang out with Teddy, she will, even if it’s at Dean’s expense, and she once gets annoyed at Teddy for not being like Dean and complimenting her looks (which is another interesting note on Emily’s personality). Emily even refuses to blame Dean for her destruction of her book, which translates to assuming culpability for her own exile from creativity.

One thing I did notice on a recent reread was that she finds life "cruel and wasteful" after looking at Vega of the Lyre. We're obviously meant to know she's thinking about Teddy in this moment. Two conclusions can be drawn from this: either the thought of him makes her more lonely and desperate because he continues not to be there for her, or the thought of him isn't powerful enough to counteract Dean’s condemnation of her work. Either way, we can never escape this unholy triangle of her creativity, Teddy, and Dean. The removal of one element is impossible.

But if she doesn’t blame Dean during the engagement, is she operating under chronic self-delusion? Because that’s not really part of her personality. Yes, she is dissatisfied in some measure, but the conditions of this seem unclear even to Emily. Which is why the choice of Teddy over Dean is no more satisfying to me in certain ways BECAUSE when Emily yearns for Teddy at the end of Emily’s Quest, it’s again because there’s no one left. She goes to him in the same way she turned to Dean. Yadda yadda, Emily and Teddy belong to each other. That’s all very well and we accept this because we’ve accepted everything else LMM has done. But even though Teddy wouldn’t have made her give up writing, we’re still stuck in the writing/Teddy/Dean triangle on almost the very last page as though that’s the only paradigm in which Emily can operate.

This got very out of control and so multitudinous apologies. I also feel like every time I sound like I’m defending Dean I put myself in front of a metaphorical firing squad for being a terrible person, so hopefully that won’t happen here.

[wa-royal-tea]

Previous | Beginning | Next

(Transcript & Translations under the cut & here - Click Pics for HQ Version!)

@thebrixtons​​​

Symphony Manor, Holan (8:30am)

*alarm rings*

Alfie: Good morning, cutie.

Catalina: Mhm, morning.

Alfie: Go back to sleep, it’s still early.

Catalina: Nuh-uh. I’ve been sleeping a lot lately.

*light switch clicks*

Alfie: You should be resting a lot, Lina. You’re still recovering from your injuries.

Catalina: I’m fine. You’re overreacting.

Alfie: Am I though?

Catalina: Yes, you are. It’s been two weeks. I feel better now. I can walk too.

Catalina: And I can do more than walk. If you know what I mean.

Alfie: Tempting, but, I don’t want to take the risk of hurting you. So, I’ll keep my hands to myself until I’m sure you’re fine.

Catalina: Urgh, you suck.

Alfie: *chuckles* Stay in bed. I’ll bring breakfast to you.

Catalina: You’re treating me like a child again.

Alfie: This time, for a good reason. I don’t want you to tire yourself out. And the doctors said that it’s going to take a while before you can make a full recovery.

Alfie: Please listen to me, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt again.

Catalina: *groans* Fine.

Alfie: Good girl.

*door opens and closes*

Tweet 1: an INTRUDER AT THE PALACE ?? fr ?? they got into a whole fight with alfie and #trashlina

Reply to tweet 1: they prob tried to put her in her place💀the bitch deserves it

Reply to tweet 1′s reply: stfu stop being a hater

Tweet 2: I feel sorry for the guests that already arrived. Ppl are dying around the world and they wasted their money on a wedding only for it to be postponed.

Tweet 3: LMAOOO THEY CANCELED THEIR WEDDING !!!! move over #trashlina, its marie’s time to shine ✨

Tweet 4: wait? they postponed their wedding? why?

Reply to tweet 4: the palace hasnt said anything … pelik (weird)

Tweet 5: atp i’m anti-monarchy, because what the hell is even going on?

Tweet 6: idc what everyone else says, i’m standing by alfie and lina 😔 nobody deserves what they’re going through

Tweet 7: how much do u guys wanna bet that they’re lying about the intruder? 👁👁

Reply to tweet 7: i saw a tweet from a former staff and they said nothing even happened … let’s put our tin foil hats on 😬

Reply to tweet 7′s reply: korg ckp ni boleh pakai otak tak? (ppl, can we pls think with our heads for 2 seconds?) stop jumping to conclusions you guys annoy the hell out of me.

Tweet 8: The hate she’s getting rn is unfair. Why’d you guys assume the worse of her?

Reply to tweet 8: Are you fcking fr? Did you forget what she did the other day?

Tweet 8′s OP replies: The apology thingy? You’re mad at her for that? I didn’t realize the marie stans are brain dead when it comes to Lina. She was doing the right thing by apologizing for something she didn’t even do. I bet if it was your fav who did this, you’d be praising her to the skies. Be serious.

*door opens and closes*

Alfie: What are you doing?

Catalina: N-nothing.

Alfie: Are you reading tweets on twister again? Stop reading those. It’s full of shit.

Catalina: I can’t help it. Last week was supposed to be our wedding day but it got postponed because of me.

Alfie: You didn’t ask for this to happen. And those people don’t know what actually happened. They’re just talking out of their asses right now.

Catalina: *sighs* Whatever. It already happened. Did your mum said anything about the wedding date?

Alfie: She said the wedding has been postponed to next month. The latest it would be is in two.

Catalina: But what are we gonna do until then? Don’t tell me you expect me to be in bed everyday?

Alfie: Mum said she’ll give us a new schedule to make up for the tour. She wants us to do joint engagements to build your reputation again. Right now the people are divided in half when it comes to you.

Catalina: Not surprised.

Alfie: Don’t think too much about it. You have me and the others to support you. And this time, if you did mess up, I will tell you. No sugarcoating. But, I won’t be an asshole about it.

Catalina: I’m a bit scared to hear what you’re going to say but thanks for listening to me.

Alfie: It’s no big deal.

Catalina: Oh, I forgot to ask. Did your mum said anything about my assistant? Since, y’know, Rowena’s not really in the picture anymore?

Alfie: She’s considering Anna to be your permanent assistant. The accusations against her has been dropped because Rowena confessed that she lied.

Catalina: Thank god. I liked Anna. I knew she won’t do it.

Alfie: Yeah. I’m just glad Anna still want to work with us. I heard mum said that she was a student Auntie Athy sponsored back in Cordelia. So she’s trusted.

Catalina: Is she a spellcaster like Lucy too?

Alfie: Nope. She’s a normal human. Like us.

Catalina: Oh, that’s cool. But what happens to Rowena now?

Alfie: She’s still under investigation. Your mama thinks it’s impossible for her to work alone. There must be someone helping her out and they’re trying to pry the answers out from her.

Catalina: Hmm...

*phone rings*

Alfie (to the phone): Hello, mum? Yeah, I’m at home.

Alfie: What? Are you serious?

Alfie: I...I see. Okay, I’ll tell her later. Keep me updated. Bye. Take care too.

Catalina: What was it? Did something happen?

Alfie: It’s Rowena.

Catalina: What’s wrong with her?

Alfie: She’s...she’s dead.

[terraliensvent]

ok mod, im gonna be /gen. im mostly against terras but i read all the asks and i think its weird how you automatically say any criticism ones are “meatriding” “braindead” and “white knighting”. some of them make alot of sense 2 me, mainly abt the assets cuz even if it was for a species, it was for their own species so its not like they ever expected 2 be banned. any artist has the right to request their art taken down even if their annoying on th unless it was for money, which it wasnt. yall using words like “vandalism” and “literally disgusting” abt this comes off reactionary. not everyone criticizing how yall talk ab this is here to defend coy/civ, im def not i think their annoying af. but if u wanna be fair u gotta hear out others points without assuming and insulting them. i lowkey agree with anon who said some anons r obsessed bc of this

heres the thing, its got a lot to do with wording to me.

if you want to be the guy who says “errrmmmm….yeah you guys are a little obsessed its just furry pngs” or the guy who says “uhm civ and coy put BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS into terras and now theyre being thrown out and discarded in the rain!” thats whiteknighting to me. youre not engaging or making any sort of argument.

additionally, with the assets whiteknight, i call it “whiteknighting” because they refuse to look at the evidence in front of their face. cal said that they would redo all the assets that coy wanted removed, however they also said that its not something that can be done at the drop of a hat. whiteknights are acting like cal and staff turned up their noses sneering “you cant make me” thats literally not at all what happened you guys just refuse to read

for your last point, nobody has said anything about “wording.” its someone who, again, refuses to actually engage with an argument and just spout nonsense. but if were talking about wording, yes i would consider going in to the site and making unapproved changes, possibly causing issues for others but not having care whether it does or not, yeah i would consider that vandalism. i would also consider coy’s history of doing petty, immature shit with little to no concern for the consequences of their actions “disgusting.”

im not gonna tone police myself on my blog, ive said before that i will use hyperbole for humor, but when its time to be fully serious ill tone it down. i think that part of the reason coy especially has been able to scoot by any and all criticism is because people are SO intent on handling them with kids gloves, when theyve shown to be incredibly vindictive, even talking shit about a community they themself cultivated but then acting like they had no part to play in it

i answer all asks here, however if someone just barges in being stupid im gonna handle it like theyre stupid. when people actually have something to say, i am willing to entertain it. im willing to agree with people and change my mind and ill post opinions i dont necessarily totally agree with, but the catch is you actually have to say something instead of burying your head in the sand about counter arguments. (also ive never called anyone braindead as far as i remember but i think were getting into semantics)

im gonna start putting this at the bottom of all my posts just so you guys know im not saying i think coy should be sentenced to the firey pits of hell for all eternity, just that theyre shitty and immature and refuse to learn from their mistakes

[lucysweatslove]

Finished NeuroTribes today. Yes, I binge-listened, and I even put it up from 1.5x to 1.75x then 2x and then 2.3x. My brain just needed it faster, idk.

This means I’m 2 books away from 100! If I finish Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (misplaced Kindle and need to find) and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck (20% through) by Friday before bed, that would be kinda cool, 100 books in half a year.

Contrary to what people say to do, I try not to set too many goals for recreational things / things I do just for fun. Such as reading. Meeting goals can give a sense of achievement and pride, and goals are particularly helpful in getting me to do things I Don’t Really Want To Do (assuming I set the goal myself; otherwise Demand Avoidance enters the chat). However, goals also start to suck the fun out of things I already want to do / am motivated to do on their own. Even if they’re reachable, I focus too much on the goal instead of the intrinsic enjoyment of said thing. Which is why I try not to have goals for # of books to read in general. Buuuut I think this is a time where a short term goal can actually help.

I wavered on whether or not to give NeuroTribes 3 or 4 stars in Goodreads as I felt it was sold 3.5; ultimately I went with 3. That might be different if I visually read instead of listening to the audiobook, as no matter how slow (or fast) I have audiobooks playing, I don’t retain small details as well as I do while visually reading. General thoughts:

Seemed to portray more pictures of autism as those who are lower masking and have higher support needs.

Did talk about the strengths that autistic people bring to society, used Temple Grandin a lot here (I like her so I’m not mad about it).

The downside was that for most of it, he really presented autism in two ways: more profound autism with lower IQ, or such low social engagement, or such high support needs (often to the point that families find them a burden and families, historically they have been institutionalized, there is significant shock and relief when they can do basic ADLs on their own- which I’m iffy on the presentation), OR genius “savant syndrome” level autism. I would’ve more liked representation from those who do have low support needs and are high maskers but aren’t “savant syndrome” level geniuses at their special interest or anything to that degree. I found it difficult to find “me” in the examples, exactly, or a lot of the autistic people I know, and I had to remind myself much of the time that I am still valid even if my intelligent and hyperlexia doesn’t reach the examples he gave.

In later portions he did talk about it as a spectrum (which he also credits Hans Asperger for initially postulating- but that brings up another bullet point), so it’s not like he totally ignores that there are people like me, or my autistic friends, or whoever out there, but the general feel seems to gloss over us.

Also used the “if you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism” idea to reflect that every autistic person is different

Thankfully portrayed how ABA was founded in a negative light. Not like “ABA is stupid and harmful and nobody should ever do it” but actually explained how using punishment for behavioral modification passed review boards

I can’t remember if it was addressed, but he used “functioning” labels for some of the book which is gross.

Dude had a huge boner for Hans Asperger, but this was also written in a time where the common idea was that he was anti-Nazi and only seemed to favor the “lower support needs” kids (“little professors”) to try to get Nazis to not kill autistic kids. Like “look at how useful these kids are, it would be such a shame to kill them when they have so much use to the state.” When I have more emotional energy, I’d like to do a deeper dive into the guy, but as of right now, my opinion of him is fairly low, and I was overall very annoyed at the level of reverence given to him in the book.

Talked about some controversies regarding vaccines and how autism speaks is more “cure” driven than actually support/resource driven.

Did eventually get into the modern day advocacy movement, how more autistic people are demanding their voices be heard when autism is discussed, and how there is a push from actually autistic people for advocacy groups to focus on resources and support and “normalizing” autism as a different neuro type vs “curing” it like it’s something faulty. Also mentioned that actually autistic people have pushed for “disability first” language instead of person-first, which I appreciated.

Overall an interesting history of how we have historically categorized, tried to explain, or pathologize autism in general, and how as we have come to understand it more, we realize how much more common it is.

He talked a little about how when autistic people are around other autistic people, or when alone, struggles and level of disability tend to decrease. But, I wish he would’ve gone deeper into some of the social issues autistic people face, especially the women who do want to fit in, how NT people can often tell when somebody is autistic even if they don’t have the words for it (they can just tell there is something uniquely different)

I think if I had read this in 2015 when it was published, it would have been a 4 star. Which is why I struggled with the 3 or 4 star rating- I want to judge it based on the information available at the time he was researching and writing, but at the same time, I feel like I can’t condone a book that is so Asperger-positive, and a 4 star review feels like condoning it. And I really did want more of a comprehensive look of multiple presentations, not just the very much struggling autistic people who need high levels of support or the Darwins and Einsteins or Grandins in the world.

I guess what it comes down to… to me it feels like this was written for the neurotypical person, and maybe with a goal to shift their view of autism. Establishing a common ground of the stereotyped picture, but then challenging that view primarily by showing the amazing achievements of autistic people, too. Which, I mean, that’s fine to a degree, and it’s not like he talks about those who present more stereotypical in disrespectful ways exactly (he himself isn’t disrespectful, but he doesn’t shy away from detailing the awful history). I just wish the message was less “we need autistic people in society because of all the good the genius ones can do for us NTs” and more “regardless of their support needs or achievements, autistic people deserve to live in an accepting, accommodating, understanding world.”