#it’s extremely upsetting also considering that i love writing and it’s the only activity that makes sense to me

[passthroughtime]

i hope you don’t mind me not participating in sunday six for so long and not updating my fic... i’m having a bit rough time handling my life irl right now

[asneakyfox]

ok so for some reason I love reading about torture and violence, especially if it's happening to my best blorbos. but lately, like since season two came out, I've noticed a bit of a trend? where a fic will be tagged in such a way that i think it's right up my alley. and then when i read it, it's just straight up my darling ed being horrifically tortured and killed. and no one even comes to help him. like, for example, a detailed description of ned low scalping him and skinning him alive? and then the comments are like "blackbeard deserved that" and i can't understand what these people could possibly be getting out of this? what's the point? they care about extremely minor antagonists like ned and the racist french captain so much more than the main fucking love interest that they had to write that? i just want to read my whump in peace without being haunted by cursed images dear god.

oof. yeah. ok. so the word "scalping" adds a horrific layer of anti-indigenous racism here beyond even what i expected

anyway if you haven't run into this sort of thing before this is what we call "spitefic" and it happens in a lot of fandoms. it's been a problem in ofmd fandom particularly since the end of s2, when a lot of deep canyon members felt izzy's death and apology were a narrative betrayal and they want to get some catharsis of their anger at the narrative through fic. i have posted before about a genre of ofmd spitefic i think of as Horror at the Inn because it usually focuses on ed and stede having a horrible time at the inn and falling out of love and then usually ed starts randomly committing domestic violence or something because the author wants to reject the idea that they can be happy wtihout izzy in their lives and/or wants to prove that ed is a monstrous psychopath who goes around cutting people's toes off because he just does that sort of thing when he's pissed off and not at all because of some very specific factors about his relationship with izzy.

it would be nice if people who felt like writing spitefic would just agree on a tag for it but unfortunately the psychology that makes people want to write it in the first place tends to also make them not want to tag it, either because tagging it would mean conceding that their perspective isn't simply canon, or because they actively want to punish people who liked canon by making them read this stuff. however in your case i think there's something you can do, which is before reading anything tagged with "torture" etc check the author's ao3 tags and see if any fic they wrote before october 2023 (in ofmd OR other fandoms) seems to have those sorts of themes. if the author's been writing about that all along then they're probably just into the same tropes you are. if the interest in graphic violence seems to have been sudden and always focused on ed teach then you are more likely dealing with something different.

you might also consider blocking or muting people who write untagged spitefic AND people who leave those sorts of upsetting comments on them; i usually figure i'm not going to want to read any other content from someone who does that sort of thing, and that's the only reason i've ever blocked or muted anyone on ao3.

[mythicmanuscripts]

Hi Sea!! Listen, you're actually amazing. I think I spam liked almost every one of your posts 😭. I love your writing and the way your brain works. You're an author who I can constantly rely on to need my needs. I love subby men 😭. Very bbg coded. I'm actually in love with you. I recently had been HOOKED on your vampire au. I am so obsessed with Aegon x vampire reader. I also would love to see more of Jace x Vamp reader in the future, but I would like to request some Aegon rn. I read a recent post where you said how Aegon would get upset and possessive once he found out the reader fed on someone else. Can you please write smth about that? Where the reader needed to feed and didn't bother Aegon. I would like to see Aegons' reaction. Once again, love you. ❤️

Aw thank you anon!!! I'm so glad to hear you're enjoying my writing that means so much!

Since I know AUs arent everyone's cup of tea I'll put my answer below the cut, and also because there's definitely some implied sexual activity. If you don't want to see more of this then block the 'hotd supernatural!au' tag.

So for those of you that missed the first ask, this is in reference to an idea someone had with the supernatural!au where the reader is a vampire and while everyone else is scared of them, Aegon is just head over heels in love. Yes you're extremely dangerous, he knows this and he only loves you even more. When he first meets you, you end up having a one night stand with him. You had planned on finding someone to feed on that night but you didnt, because he was far too sweet to ask that of him. The next morning you try to leave because you're in dire need of a feed and Aegon refuses to let you go because he had the best time and he just holds out his wrist for you to drink from.

Your relationship with Aegon flourishes from there. At first you just sneak into the castle and fuck him, because you can't deny how irresistible wrecking him is. He always waits up for you, and the moment you walk through the door he jumps your bones, always desperate and needy no matter how much you fuck him.

Pretty soon he's asking you to spend more and more time there, and it becomes second nature for him to just gently tilt his head to the side or hold out his wrist for you. He finds that he loves the feeling, the slight pain when you bite down, the feeling when you suck lightly, and then the way you always lick over the bite marks for them to heal better. It actually relaxes him so much? He loves it. His favourite position is sitting across your lap, letting you drink your fill and then snuggling up against you, drifting in and out of sleep and requesting kisses.

You enjoy feeding from him as well of course, and you always make sure to thank him and make sure he knows that. However, you still operate under the assumption that he's doing you a favour. He obviously enjoys sleeping with you and spending time with you, so you think that him allowing you to drink from him is his way of thanking you for the things he likes doing with you. You never consider that letting you feed from him was something he actually wanted, enjoyed even.

You first discover this after you a very busy week where you werent able to visit Aegon once. There were only two nights that you were free and both times when you went to the keep you could see there was no light in Aegon's window meaning he was either somewhere else or already asleep. the next few days you don't have the time to stop by.

By that point you didnt enjoy feeding from others. If given the choice you would always choose Aegon, but clearly he was busy so you went and found some others. You drank your fill and then the next night you went to the keep and saw the light in Aegon's room.

Needless to say, he's overjoyed to see you. He jumps right into your arms, not even letting you finish greeting him before he's kissing you and pulling you into the bed. You expect him to immediately want sex, but instead he's kissing you gently and giggling and telling you about his week. You pull him closer and listen, taking his hand and tangling your fingers together.

Aegon starts telling you about something Alicent wants of him and as he talks, he raise his hand, wrist up towards you. You smile at him and press a kiss to his palm before gently pushing it away, explaining to him that you fed the night before so he doesn't need to do that.

You expect him to relax then, but no, he actually gets upset? He frowns and sits upright in bed, tilting his head to the side and asking why you'd do that. You ask what he means and he repeats himself, saying that he doesn't understand why you would have fed from someone else.

You explain to him that you hadnt fed in a few days and you needed to. You tell him that you did come to check if he was available but you could see he wasnt so you went to find someone else. This only makes him cuddle closer and apologise for not being there, telling you that you could have stayed in his room until he returned. He even offers you a key so you can get in easier.

You try to tell him that he doesn't need to do that because you can always find someone else, but this only makes him sit up from you again and seem upset. You have coax it out of him, but he eventually explains that he really likes when you feed from him and he doesn't like the idea of you doing that with anyone else.

You chuckle and bring him closer, asking him if he wants to be the only one you feed from and he nods. You try to explain why that wouldnt work, why he shouldn't be offering you that much because it could weaken him, he just tells you that he doesn't need to be strong because he has a vampire to protect him.

Which... you can't really argue with that.

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 23 thoughts:

So much happened in so few chapters, how do I even break this down?!?

First off, Colin had better stop fucking bonding with my daughter! And apologizing and making amends for past wrongs! I'm a huge fan of redemption arcs and second chances and that is being used against me! JUST LET ME HATE THIS MAN!!!!!!

My bug daughter is in prison but that's almost like, a minor side thing? It barely matters right now except that it gives some background structure. Compared to everything else the prison bit is just . . . a thing.

I'm in tears over bug horse. I'm bawling. I may never recover. RIP Atlas, you were the best of us.

TAYLOR GOES TO THERAPY!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT IS EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED!!!!!!

I love Jessica so much! She does such a good job. I want to bake her cookies as thanks but I'm not sure if that would trigger some type of conflict of interest.

Fucking Glenn. I want to hate him and love him all at the same time.

Is he an artist? Absolutely! He has a vision and it is beautiful.

But also if it comes down to "letting the world end or compromising said vision" he might be the kind of person who would watch the world burn with a tear running down his cheek, because at least it was beautiful.

Look I get it. My daughter is terrifying. But that isn't because bugs are scary. It's cause my daughter is terrifying. Making her use butterflies just means a bunch of people are gonna start having butterfly phobias.

Like come on, Clockblocker gets to break fundamental forces of the universe and cause people to question their very existence!

Do not try to tell me that someone getting time frozen and just . . . skipping a chunk of time because their mind is not part of the time stream for a few minutes would not provoke some deep thoughts of existential dread! Sure not in everyone, but not everyone is scared of bugs either! I just think it's very unfair.

The Adepts are fun. Sure powers aren't "magic" but might as well have fun with the idea! Besides it seems to be working and if I had powers I'd absolutely love to lean into a magical focus idea.

I am quite upset about the fact that during the whole Thirteenth Hour thing Weaver didn't get to shove bugs down Clockblocker's throat to save him. It would have been so poetic. Saving the day by shoving bugs down throats was still super amazing, I just wanted it to be Clockblocker.

It was the most extreme level of active awareness and minor "control" while being disabled that we've seen from Taylor so far though! Really curious to get more into that, the nature of passengers/shards, and all those things. I have so many thoughts, but they're all just speculation right now (I don't think writing 75 pages of theories that all end up being wrong is really gonna be very helpful).

“If anyone asks, you kicked their asses with butterflies.” Clockblocker gets it!

It was really cool to get more into different vibes of the world with the Vegas section! I love me some thinkers and strangers.

I'm very glad The Number Man used a sniper rifle. I would have been a little disappointed if he didn't after getting into his head in his interlude - it is just the perfect weapon for him. Motherfucker over here just bouncing bullets.

Finally got to see more Bambina after the little bit in arc 8. Her power is wild, I love it! Also Bambina's mom just shot right into the top contenders for "worst parent in Worm". Like, WTF lady.

August Prince is wild. Sucks when the most effective use of your power is "human shield" though.

Considering she had an interaction with The Number Man and Contessa, Taylor actually came out of it pretty good! Sure they lost the target they were trying to bring in, but I don't know that they really had a chance of keeping Pretender. Contessa isn't easy to stop.

The only problem I have with the Las Vegas Wards actions is hiring Bambina to break Pretender free. Otherwise ya, fucking ditch the Protectorate. Given the information they have it makes sense.

TAYLOR HAS FAN MAIL!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Grue's letter was way to heartfelt. Tattletale clearly wrote most of it.

Like come on: "I could hit you, hug you, yell at you and hold onto you for hours all at the same time. It’s fitting that I want to kiss you and throttle you at the same time because that’s what you were to me for a long time. You drive me crazy and I can never understand what’s going through your head." This is totally Tattletale! She couldn't flirt with Taylor in her own letter, she had to be sneaky about it!

"You’re an idiot. I want you to know that. You’re an idiot, Skitter. You’re brilliant and reckless and I’m betting it makes sense to you to do this but you’re an idiot." - also Tattletale.

LOOK I'M GONNA MAKE THIS SHIT GAY AND THERE ISN'T ANYTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME!!!!!!!

Imp's letter might be my favorite.

Tattletale's actual letter ends with "See you there, hun?" Just. So fucking gay. Sorry I don't make the rules.

Speaking of gay, Rachel's letter!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wolfspider wolfspider wolfspider!

Like I mean come on

"Being around you wasn’t simple or quiet but things made more sense.  Your minion with dark hair said we need to be around people but I’m around people and still feel somethings missing." GAY

"Going to take puppies to your place again soon. Show the kids to them. Might help." SO GAY

"You have plan, okay. But if your plan means you’re thinking about fighting us you should know I am getting very good at hunting and skinning things." HOLY SHIT IT'S THE MOST LESBIAN THING EVER

"We both stay alive. Try hard." TOP-TIER GAY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!

GGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY

AND THE SCENE WITH THE CHILDREN!!! AND THE BUTTERFLIES! AND THE DICE!!!!!!!!!!!

dies of joy

Seriously, 23.4 is the most beautiful chapter in Worm so far and it'll be very hard for it to be outdone.

I could talk about just that chapter for pages. It was perfect in every way. Even if I knew it had to end with Behemoth pretty early on. There was too much hope in that chapter for it to end any other way.

But in the middle of all that downward "oh fuck it's Behemoth" stuff we got an Undersiders reunion! With so much gay!

Like - “But you guys mean a lot to me.  I’m sorry I didn’t say it before, but I couldn’t without letting on that something was going on.  You’re my family, in a way.  As lame as it might be, I love you guys.” My head turned from Grue to Rachel to Tattletale as I said it.

SO FUCKING GAY

She starts at Grue sure but ends with Rachel and Lisa when saying "I love you". Certified gay.

So gay that even Imp agrees! Though I've been doing the long drawn out “Gaaaaaaayyyyyyy” since like arc 2. So Imp is a bit behind the curve here.

TAYLOR WANTS TO GO ON A DOG PARK DATE WITH RACHEL! IT'S THE MOST LESBIAN DATE POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!

Weaver's new flight suit is pretty neat. Dragon is a pretty good big sister.

Cody Interlude thoughts:

THIS motherfucker! I was waiting for him to show up again.

I am so mad. I'm so fucking mad.

Cody is the worst. He's pathetic and dumb.

And Accord just has to go and get killed by him in the dumbest way! GOD DAMMIT ACCORD I SIMPED FOR YOU SO HARD!!! AND THEN YOU DIE TO CODY! OF ALL PEOPLE! YOU CAN'T BE COOL IF YOU DIE TO CODY!

Chevy too! I thought he was cool and all, but he had to die to Cody. God. The worst.

ALSO MY BABY GIRL HE TRIED TO HURT MY BABY! THE ONE WHO ISN'T MY DAUGHTER!

SOMEBODY HELP TATTLETALE!

I did like seeing more of the mechanics of the Yàngbǎn after getting hints about how they work in the Lung interlude.

The power sharing plus the power amplification is a pretty broken combo tbh. Feels like there is some pretty neat stuff that could be accomplished with that.

Fuck this man though. Simmy just had to whisper to him and just dove right in. Cody can't even conceptualize what fighting back means, that would require him to grow as a person in literally any way.

Sucks for the Behemoth fight though. I guess my daughters are going to have to save the day. Again.

[apathetic-pixel-42]

hello, I noticed that you write for shaman king and I wanted to request if you could make like oneshots or head cannons about the boys realizing that they fell for the reader. You can use any gender you want. Thank you!

Hiii!! Thank you so much for your request!! I hope you love it! <33333

Shaman King Boys Realizing That They're In Love 💌

Includes: Yoh, Horohoro, Ren, Lyserg, Chocolove, and Hao

Yoh:

I think when Yoh first figured out that he had feelings for you, he'd definitely have a mini mental crisis.

I mean, he planned on marrying Anna after all! Imagine what would happen if he tried to call it off.

He'd probably take some time to clear his mind, asking his friends and family for any advice on what to do.

He'd eventually talk it out with Anna, which surprisingly goes quite well. No hard feelings and even some words of encouragement!

During this time, I think he'd definitely be a bit distant. I don't think he'd actively try to avoid you, but he'd probably be less talkative or touchy.

However, once he has everything sorted out, he'd slowly start actively pursuing you.

There'd be little changes in his behavior: he'd be hugging you or holding your hand more often, naturally standing closer to you, staring at you more often, and the likes!

It probably wouldn't be super noticeable at first, since you guys would probably be close friends before all of this.

If you don't get the hint, then he'd start upping up the ante. He'd start spending more alone time with you, gifting you little trinkets, training with you, etc.

Eventually, he'd have the courage to confess to you. Of course, if you confess to him first, he'd be ecstatic.

Overall, super sweet and chill about the whole thing. He'd have his awkward moments, but he's super relaxed and comfortable around you.

Horohoro:

Another one who'd have a mental crisis, but for different reasons.

Given what happened last time Horohoro liked someone, he's terrified that you'll end up with the same fate.

He almost immediately becomes distant, too lost in his fears and intrusive thoughts to actually consider what he's doing.

It isn't until someone like Ren or Yoh knocks some sense into him that he understands what he's actually doing.

He takes a lot of time to himself, reflecting on what he should do and if he should even try to pursue you at all.

Not only that, but he also has to consider a lot of other circumstances! With the competition still going on, Hao's presence, and his own personality, who knows what'll happen?

He's so scared about scaring you away. He doesn't want to hurt you, but he also doesn't want someone to target you.

If you confronted him first, he'd be extremely nervous. He'd be serious though, explaining his fears and apologizing for pushing you away.

If you didn't confront him, he'd probably approach you when he knew he couldn't avoid it any longer. He tells you about the issue, wholeheartedly expecting you to reject him.

If you reject him, he'd understand. If you reciprocated his feelings, he'd be so grateful and happy. It'd take him a while to get fully comfortable with the new situation, but you'd get to see the old, playful Horohoro soon enough.

He'd be stuck by your side, always at your beck and call whenever you needed him. He's super protective and clingy, always going to you whenever something upsets him. Overall, it'd be a bit of work in the beginning, but he'd be super sweet and loyal!

Ren:

I can see this going one of two ways. He'd either be super confident and accepting of his feelings, or he'd be panicked and freaking out. Maybe both.

Ren's the kind of guy who confronts his problems head on, but he seems to struggle when it comes to an internal problem.

He probably seeks out Yoh's advice first. I mean come on, Yoh's the one with a fiancé after all.

Ren also talks to his family, asking them about how he should go about this. He also wants some other points of view on the matter. After all, he wants to be prepared for every possibility.

He takes some time to prepare. He plans out an outline of what he wants to say, but he also prepares himself for rejection.

Once he feels ready, he approaches you nonchalantly. He keeps his confession short and sweet, laying out the basic foundation of what he wanted and what he'd like if you agreed.

If you reject him, he understands and quickly moves on. It would depend on you whether or not your relationship with him changes, but he wouldn't be too bothered by it.

If you accepted his feelings, he'd be pleased. He'd sit down and quickly establish stuff like boundaries. He's let you know about the stuff that comes with beings his partner, and you'd do the same.

He's not super physically affectionate, but he makes up for it through acts of service.

He's also a bit protective given the enemies him and his family have, so he's usually stuck by your side.

Overall, he's super loyal despite not being super vulnerable. It'd take some time for both of you to find a normal routine, but he'd eventually get the hang of it.

Lyserg:

Lyserg is definitely one of the more complicated ones on this list.

Given how good Lyserg appears to be when it comes to hiding his feelings, I honestly don't know how he'd react when he first realizes his feeling for you.

Whether or not he's with the X-Laws, I think he'd be conflicted on what to do.

I see Lyserg as the one who doesn't do anything about his feelings. He tries pushing them down, hoping that they'll eventually just go away.

I doubt that he'll approach you about it, so you'd probably be the one to confront him about his behavior.

I also think it'd be a lot worse if he had just joined the X-Laws. He'd be missing you terribly, but he'd also be actively ignoring you and pushing you away.

With everything and everyone in the way, you'd probably get fed up or give up. He's not surprised, but he slowly becomes more frantic and persistent in wanting to see you.

If you agree to meet, he'd confess everything. He'd probably cry and beg for at least your forgiveness, promising to never do this again.

If you reject him, he cries himself to sleep that night. If you accept his feelings, he runs to you sobbing. He hugs you tightly, nuzzling into your shoulder and accidently getting your shirt wet.

He'd actively start working on himself in order to help the relationship, even sticking up to Marco a few times. He's not the most affectionate, but I see him as a guy who's great with words. He'd write you little love letters, expressing his love for you and how grateful he was for you.

Overall, he's super sweet and affectionate behind closed doors. He's more modest around the group, but he makes sure too make up for it.

Chocolove:

The most accepting and reassured with his feelings out of the entire group.

When he first realized he fell for you, he didn't mind acknowledging it. Sure, he felt a little embarrassed, but he couldn't help but feel giddy.

He wouldn't change the way he acted around you, but it'd be obvious that he was taking a liking to you. He'd be more playful, more touchy, and he'd do more jokes and stunts to get your praise and attention.

If you reciprocated with teasing remarks, you can expect him to be flustered as hell. He'd quickly regain his composure though, teasing and playfully flirting back.

This wouldn't change when he became blind, but I think he'd start spending more alone time with you.

With everything that'd happened, he'd be a lot more vulnerable with you. The loss of his friends hit him hard, and he doesn't want to take his time with you for granted.

He'd initiate small acts of physical affection, testing the waters to see what you like and don't like. Once you were comfortable with each other, then he'll start being more openly affectionate around the others.

Wrapping his arm around your shoulders, hugging you, holding your hand, it doesn't matter. If you like it, then he likes it.

Eventually, he'd build up the courage to properly confess. Maybe with a cheesy pun, but it's certainly adorable.

If you reject him, he'll understand and back off despite being disappointed. If you accept him, he'll be so happy that he'll pick you up and twirl you around.

Overall, the most playful and relaxed. He'll have his flustered and embarrassed moments, but he knows you love it.

Hao:

The most confident about his feelings. The second he realizes what he's feeling, he immediately begins pursing you.

If you were on his team, he'd pursue you in private. He'd start hanging out with you more, but he doesn't beat around the bush about his feelings.

If you weren't on his side, then he'd have fun messing with you. He'd show up at random times, teasing you relentlessly just to get your attention.

Sometimes after your fights, he'd secretly approach you and compliment your skill. He doesn't do this with amateurs, so he considers you special.

Given his mind reading abilities, he'll automatically know whether you like him or not. Even if you don't feel the same, he'll still continue his fun until he's bored.

If you happen to be bold, he'll happily have flirting sessions with you. His remarks are teasing and playful, but they can sometimes become a little possessive.

He doesn't necessarily feel the need to confess, but he will nonetheless. In private, under the stars, he'll take your hand and ask you to rule beside him.

Breaking the news to the others doesn't matter to him, but he'll be alright with keeping the relationship a secret if you really wanted to.

You'll have to make up for his lack of physical affection from the last 1000 years, so be prepared for a lot of late night snuggles. He'd only be affectionate in private, since he doesn't need anyone else knowing about his weakness: you.

When he becomes the Shaman King, he gives you the option of whether or not you want to stay with him in the Great Spirit. Though, he'd much prefer if you stayed with him.

Overall, he's infatuated with you. After years of being alone, he's grateful to have you by his side.

[bitter-sweet-coffee]

hey if you feel comfortable

can you maybe explain the espave ship? like whats the chemistry? what makes you like them and see them working as a couple? (or not lmao)

HI ANON! first of all, it’s totally fine to be on anon for this but jsyk (and everyone else) i absolutely THRIVE on questions about my purple bisexuals. i’ve probably answered this a billion times but that won’t stop me from saying it again because i love excuses to ramble fkdkfkdisidsi

SO, in terms of canon stuff, i have always adored the chaotix and rogues as a group dynamic. WAY before idw did it too (and i personally think they did it very wrong. ian flynn on record states that he hates the rogues and doesn’t want to write them well but i’ll save that can of worms for another day)

anyways, espio and wave have very similar predicaments for their team dynamic. they’re both typecast as the “intelligent, voice of reason” who is often ignored by their (green) leaders which leads to a lot of passive aggressiveness. they’re both extremely arrogant, which is really hard to combat considering they’re both too intelligent to dismiss. wave is a mechamechanical genius who in certain fields, canonically surpasses tails and eggman, one of the world’s best extreme gear riders, brilliant at melee combat, translates ancient runes and artifacts, is an accomplished thief, and will verbally spar you to death. espio is a detective ninja chameleon who can turn invisible, run as fast as sonic and shadow, jump into computers, control the wind a bit, is fluent in 17 languages (which implies he learns a new one every year) and so on.

so like… they’re both OP as fuck while simultaneously ignored by their teams AND the fandom which is really funny (read as: annoying) for me to deal with

anyways, on a deeper level, wave’s neglect is… really sad. i talk about it a lot, both in-lore and in terms of how the fandom treats her, and the worst part is that it’s played for jokes. a lot of people interpret her as wanting to lead the rogues which directly contradicts the canon: she wants JET to be a good leader and puts all her energy and effort into mentoring him so he can lead on his own. hijacking the rogues wouldn’t do any good and she genuinely thinks he can grow into his position despite being so young. and yet… she’s ignored. she does so much for the team and really tries to be patient, but can you blame her for being so jaded and dismissive when all her life’s work goes shoved aside and played for jokes? that cutscene in riders really always upset me because she’s clearly giving a long speech with good intentions, and jet just… walks away. and her reaction implies people do this to her all the time.

cutting away to espio for a second, i’d like to point out that as the knuckles chaotix manual states, espio was the ONLY chaotix member to be a detective before they formed. long before we had the chaotix as a team, espio was already a PI who was on angel island to explore its history, culture, and suspicious activity. this was always who he is, because he is inquisitive and perceptive by his very nature. his name in spanish MEANS “i spy” and its also short for espionage. THIS IS HIS WHOLE LIFE! so yeah, espio loves to ask questions. it’s also noted he has a rivalry with knuckles because he’s jealous the echidnas have such a rich and extensive cultural history, considering he doesn’t. note that he eventually became a ninja as if to appear like he does LMAO

okay, so. we have a character with rich cultural history who is extremely intelligent and neglected, and then another character who is obsessed with rich cultural history who is extremely intelligent and loves to listen to people.

… see what i’m proposing here? LMAO

espio and wave, despite being on opposite ends of an affluent spectrum, are cut from the same cloth in terms of their team dynamics, and the cores of their individuality answer one another. you can even look at their chase for money as a compelling foil, while also taking into consideration the detective/thief dynamic.

espio, unlike most characters, would not only be very interested in everything wave has to say, he’d actually be intelligent enough (and a very fast learner) to actually ENRICH the dialogue. wave finally has someone to talk to, and he’s not exactly innocent, so she has an arrogant verbal sparring partner that’ll humble them both through their discussions.

it’s here i’d also like to point out that espio is taken for granted too. maybe not as much as wave is, as it’s very hard to find a character treated as poorly by her team while also getting no pathos, but espio is ignored in his own ways. looking past how he’s dismissed at times, espio is character-typed by everyone around him. yes, he’s a ninja, but that’s not all he is. yes, he’s the voice of reason at times, but he’s also extremely vain and reckless with canonical anger issues. people want to talk about how he could be some great shinobi warrior, forgetting that the only reason sega made him a ninja was because naruto was popular at a time 😭 i’m not saying he’s a poser and a weeb, but he clearly puts up this front of being a super serious guy… which works. too well. it fools most of the fandom LMAO. but espio is actually really funny, witty, cocky, and playful. dare i say whimsical? he likes CAMPING, GUYS! THAT’S ONE OF HIS INTERESTS, YET I SEE NO CONTENT OF HIM BUSTING OUT A PORTABLE GEORGE FORMAN GRILL IN THE MIDDLE OF MYSTIC JUNGLE, DO I? anyways, espio’s persona is a lie, and yet if anyone were to question it, he’d be more like himself. but no one ever does. they take his front as fact and never consider delving into who he is as a person, beyond the act he has on. and it’s not like he’s good at hiding it either, sonic x showcases how stupid he really is at times LMAO

okay, i’ve zig-zagged around a lot, but it’s safe to say i really love both these characters and think they could fix each other

… for the canon series. i personally like to have them make each other worse before getting mildly better, because it’s way more fun to write hehehehe. i’ll save that for another ask because this is already a wall of text, but do ask me more stuff if this hasn’t scared you off, because i love getting to do this!

[dolphin1812]

I love that Cosette’s beauty is first and foremost for herself. The previous chapters have had lots of implications of romance and attracting the interest of men, but here, her beauty is defined outside of that sphere. Instead of thinking, “I could be attractive to men,” Cosette is curious about beauty because she heard it commented on in the convent and wonders what the experience of being beautiful is like. Of course, it’s not that beauty in the convent is outside of gendered expectations – it was considered threatening precisely because beautiful women were seen as more likely to get married because they appealed to men – but it’s only implicit here, as if it’s not at the forefront of Cosette’s mind. Her curiosity befits her youth (she’s still a child!), and her decisions about how to dress herself to enjoy her beauty and experiment with fashion signal her growing independence (as well as her consistent willingness to change and engage with the world – a product of the love and security she’s had).

Of course, this is Hugo Writing Women, so there are uncomfortable elements. His focus on beauty with most of the main women in the novel (Fantine, Éponine, and now Cosette) suggests that he considered it one of the more valuable traits in women, and while each character’s struggle to live up to gendered expectations that they want to meet is sympathetic on its own, that each character is so eager to meet these expectations does limit the broader portrayal of women in the novel (most of the really sympathetic women who don’t adhere to notions of beauty and romance are nuns). He also explicitly states that love and beauty are a woman’s whole life, which is a pretty horrible line. Still, I’m glad that Cosette got a lot of agency here!

In contrast to Cosette, the ever-frightened Jean Valjean fears change. Cosette has had years of security with Valjean; he’s only ever had partial safety, having to conceal his identity even in the convent (even if it wasn’t the same risk of arrest he lives with now). Add to that all of his years of imprisonment and he becomes even more insecure and stressed. Hugo reminds us of his status as an ex-convict when stating that all Valjean cares about is Cosette loving him, thus letting us know that the two are connected. Since he does not value himself, Valjean only knows how to find love through this established tie with Cosette. Her beauty isn’t bad; it’s destabilizing. She now has different interests, and he doesn’t know how to manage that properly because he can’t communicate his anxieties. Nothing in this chapter suggests that Cosette loves him any less, but unfortunately, Jean Valjean’s low self-esteem makes that the apparent outcome of any change in their lives in his mind.

Another link to early Jean Valjean: he stays in the backyard instead of the garden, as if he were a dog. He was below a dog when we first met him, as the dog had a doghouse and he had nowhere. He’s no longer actively being placed below animals by society, but because he’s internalized these ideas, he does this to himself.

Dogs are also extremely obedient to authority within the context of the novel (think of Javert). There’s no societal authority, but Valjean has also created his own hierarchy, where Cosette is in charge and he must submit (she actually doesn’t want this – she wants him to be happy and equal to her – but in this case, he just has to not say anything for her to not know that he’s upset; consequently, it’s harder for her to challenge him on this than everything else).

[latenight-panic]

Hi, Tumblr-Community!

First of all, I'm asking for people to reblog this - I only have like thirty active followers and for the advice I want, I think I need a little more reach.

So, I've got a problem. I'm a teacher at a German secondary school, and am the tutor/ class teacher of a class/ tutor group that is about to go to year eight.

After the summer holidays, I'm going to have a new student in my class who hangs back from last year.

I've taught this student already in English and Philosophy for years, but was never before socially responsible for him, and now he's going to be in my group.

This student is extremely difficult. Lately he's been suspended for attacking a student and a teacher with scissors. He's had bad attitude/ work problems and is socially quite awkward and has never fit in with his classes/ learning groups. He's been... bullied, I guess you could say, although mostly kids just ignore him. He's definitely isolated.

This student is also very autistic. I've had a conversation with his mother last year in which she told me that he was diagnosed with autism, but they didn't believe in it and didn't want the diagnosis to make a stereotype out of him, so... basically he isn't getting any of the help he needs because teachers can't/ don't really give big/impactful accommodations unless there's a diagnosis to go along with it.

I'm not a therapist, so I'm not an expert on autism. So when I say "very autistic", I specifically mean this:

He's speech-impaired, the melody and tone of the way he talks is... off.

He has very little understanding for the way people interact together/ implicit social rules.

He doesn't really have the ability to judge people's emotion. As a teacher, you can usually make a student stop by giving them a look, with him you have to explicitly say: "I don't think this is funny, please stop." As a result, I think he can't fully understand when he annoys people.

He tends to... close off when he's upset or overwhelmed. After a conflict, I've seen him stand in front of an open window for ten minutes, swaying from side to side. He didn't react to words or touch.

Occasionally, he becomes aggressive when upset. (See: Scissors incident, which was the most extreme thing but not the only thing).

He doesn't really... work. I don't know if this is a thing for many autistic people, but for tasks where students have to write something, he just... doesn't. I've tried. I've encouraged him. I've asked what he didn't understand about the task. I've solved the beginning of a task together with him. 90% of the time, he doesn't work at all, doesn't listen, doesn't talk to his peers, doesn't write.

He does NOT appear to be overly sensitive to loud noises.

Now, on top of that or maybe as a result of that, he's also not the easiest person to get along with. He's started singing in class as a reaction to me asking him to be quiet (or other provocations happen almost weekly), he tries to bully/insult others to be considered funny by his peers, after a conflict he regularly lies to portray himself as the victim (this has been proven beyond doubt on many occasions, at least three in which I was primarily involved).

Now. Why am I writing these paragraphs? I need help. Specifically from autistic people.

What are things I can do to help him fit in? What are things you wish people would have done for you? Should I try to talk the parents into doing something with the diagnosis? Is there a way to prevent aggression? What are things I should pay special attention to? How can I help the other kids take him in - especially after the incident and after he repeated a class? (I love them to death, but those kids I teach are straight-up nerds. They use grades like currency.)

I've been trying to research it, but I only get tips for primary school kids, and he is like 14.

Thanks for answers/reblogs!

[repelomuggletum]

Listen, I’ve always been fascinated by Grindeldore...

First of all: yes, I'm aware that it's not exactly the least problematic ship. It canonically suffers from the "kill your gays" trope, and it's only canon because JKR retconed it and didn't care enough to actually write queer characters in her series (though, quite frankly, I wouldn't trust her to write queer characters at all, considering her incredibly harmful ideology).

However, I love the potential. 

We don't see enough of Grindelwald (in the original HP series, because I am consciously ignoring the fact that the Fantastic Beasts movies exist) to know much about his personality or how he would interact with Dumbledore, but he's canonically very powerful and, because he evidently had a large following, it's likely that he was also charismatic. Dumbledore is also both of these things, wielding enough power to not only defeat Grindelwald but also terrify Voldemort, and being charismatic enough to be a politician and essentially a war leader. Watching two people like that interact would be fascinating, especially in a context where they care for each other without agreeing with each other. The tension would be palpable. 

Still, my favorite thing about the ship isn't really the dynamics -- it's the tragedy. Dumbledore may have been misguided in his youth but he eventually grew to recognize that conquering and subjugating muggles would be bad, actually, and he acted accordingly: he began to dedicate a decent portion of his life to advocating not only for muggles and muggleborns but also other marginalized members of society (eg: letting Remus attend Hogwarts and employing Dobby). Now, I'm not saying that he does it well but, considering the state and prejudices of most of wizarding Britain, his actions seem almost radical. This, combined with him actively working against dark lords and being instrumental in their defeats, paints a pretty clear picture of him, morally speaking.

Grindelwald, on the other hand, was obsessed with power and did horrific things for it, never seeming to learn his lesson. Because of his relegation to the status of a minor character, we don't know that much about him other than the fact that, due to the very nature of the time he was active and what war his conflicts were running parallel to (and the fact that his name seems German, or at least Germanic), the narrative is implying that he's wizard H*tler. Naturally, that doesn't frame him in a good light, morally speaking. He never gets a redemption, either -- I've seen it suggested that Grindelwald intentionally lost his final battle against Dumbledore out of love but there's no actual evidence for that in HP, especially considering how it's mentioned that their final duel was legendary, implying that neither of them held back (and, in any case, losing a fight is not really deserving of redemption) -- though an argument can be made in regards to his final moments. The problem is, we’ll never know for certain whether Grindelwald’s refusal to admit that Dumbledore had the Elder Wand was him honoring what was most definitely Dumbledore’s wishes for the knowledge to be kept secret or if he was still upset that he’d lost ownership of it and he didn’t want anyone else, including Voldemort, to get it.

The bottom line is: Grindelwald and Dumbledore are moral opposites. Any reasonably healthy relationship between them would require a massive shift in personal/moral values (and this is not me saying that people with different values can’t have a happy relationship, but Grindelwald and Dumbledore are two extremes that simply aren’t compatible).

And that’s the tragedy of the whole thing.

Dumbledore is forever haunted by the specter of his relationship with Grindelwald. When Rita Skeeter publishes her biography about him, she talks at length about the summer of 1899, when the two had been lovers and co-conspirators. She mentions how he’d been the one to coin the very phrase that Grindelwald would later use to wreak mass havoc across Europe. There’s no way that someone like Albus Dumbledore, who seemed to prize moral virtue, would ever truly cope with what he’d had a hand in creating.

Grindelwald, on the other hand, was defeated by the very man he’d used to care for and is left imprisoned for fifty years with nothing to do but ponder his actions. Again, we don’t know enough about him to know his thoughts, but -- in the case of someone as ruthless and charismatic as a dark lord -- there was probably rage and betrayal, a sense that someone that used to be his had done this to him. 

To me, Grindeldore is not about how they’d be together but rather how they’re affected by the aftermath. Even separated by several countries and fifty years, they will never be rid of each other. Grindelwald was the one to open Dumbledore’s eyes to the injustices of the world and Dumbledore was the one who ultimately foiled all of Grindelwald’s plans.

Grindeldore, in its purest form, is a tragedy, and I find it absolutely fascinating.

[earlgreytea68]

the way you write dialogue is so good, it seems so natural and accurate. especially with Pete and Patrick. could I maybe get some dialogue tips from you, just in general? it's something I struggle with. I always either make it too silly or quippy and I end up deleting it because it sounds stupid, or it's like every line is trying to be the most serious deep important thing on earth. idk where the balance is, it's hard for me but you do it so well.

Some of it is honestly just practice. Years and years and years of reading and then writing dialogue.

But some of it is finding your style of dialogue that works for you. I consider myself, chiefly, a writer of dialogue. I'm never going to be huge into descriptions. I can do them every once in a while, but they're not really my thing. And that's okay! I'm not upset about that! I lean into what feels natural to me. So, with dialogue, I think some of it is finding the dialogue style that feels like it works for you, that you're comfortable with, that doesn't feel like it's artificial. I look back now at stuff I wrote years ago and it feels like I was trying to copy other people, which is fine! But it took me a while to find my groove, to be okay with things like saying flat-out "he says" a bunch of times. A lot of writing advice will tell you not to use "said" more than twice a page or something like that and I decided I didn't like that advice, it didn't work for me. The characters are talking too rapid-fire for me to want you to worry overly much about what verb they're using to communication. I don't always use "says" but I don't freak out if I use it more often than someone else would have said to, because honestly it's only there to make sure you don't lose track of who's speaking where.

Also, I will sometimes try my dialogue out loud. Like, I'll write the scene by acting out the parts in the shower. This requires me to remember what I said, but as long as I've got the rough shape of it, I'm okay, and I think that exercise helps my dialogue feel more natural and back-and-forth. If you're worried about remembering it, you could maybe record yourself doing this.

You talk about striking the balance, and I was trying to think of advice for this, and I realized something: Sometimes my characters have extremely deep conversations. Those are usually the scenes I've planned for and I know are coming from a long way off. "There needs to be a huge declaration of love," or "they need to talk about this problem they're having." Those scenes are kind of like their own things, because they have a very specific goal of some deep communication that needs to happen. Those are very different from the connective tissue scenes that I write to get to those scenes. And, because I don't outline or heavily plan my fics, often I have no idea what's going to happen in any given scene. Like, I'll start writing a scene, like the scene I posted in the Christmas fic tonight, and all I need to happen in that scene is: Pete and Patrick pick out a Christmas tree. Now I could have just skipped that scene, like, what's really happening in that scene? Really not much of anything. But to me I don't skip those scenes because I think those scenes are the important scenes where you really get a feeling for the relationship between the characters, you get to see them interact. So, in THAT kind of scene, it's basically all quips and jokes. And when I run out of quips and jokes lol, then maybe there will be a serious moment of self-reflection in there.

Again, because I don't plan my fics out very much, oftentimes I just let the characters talk to each other until some kind of point emerges. This means I have to actively come up with things for them to talk about. Random things, not story point things. And, because of that, I think the dialogue naturally feels more spontaneous and unplanned and meandering, because that's how the scene is unfolding. So I guess I would say that the balance is struck by knowing what the scene needs to accomplish. If it's a light, frivolous scene, then I just let them go where they want to go. If it's an intense scene, I have more of an idea in mind, and so there's less brainstorming through the dialogue.

I have no idea if this is helpful!!!! Another thing I would recommend is to find a writer whose dialogue you really like and spend some time with it, thinking about what you like about it, why you like it, and how you could keep that in mind as you write. I tell this story a lot but the first piece of writing I ever saw by Aaron Sorkin was "The State Dinner," which is an episode of "The West Wing," and it, like, took the top of my head off, the way he was writing dialogue. I watched a lot of Aaron Sorkin throughout my twenties, anything and everything he did. (I still watch Sorkin's stuff, because I can't help it, he taught me a lot of what I know, and even though his style has become highly mockable, it was really formative for me.) Anyway, I used to spend a lot of time trying to think about what about his dialogue made me so impressed by it, and some of it was the speed, and some of it was how he wasn't afraid to make it repetitive and confusing and silly and pointless. I mean, it's not like real talking because nobody REALLY talks like an Aaron Sorkin character but it FELT like this approximation of reality that really appealed to me. I remember the first time I wrote a character say something like, "I don't want to turn into one of those couples who's all like, 'We can't do anything solo.'" My beta at the time circled it and was like, "This speech is too informal." Because way back when in the twentieth century, that was how we thought about dialogue, that it had to be this more formalized thing, cleaned up from how real-life speech is. Sorkin kind of taught me that it didn't have to be. (I'm sure other people could have. He happened to be who I found.) So I used to watch a lot of West Wing to get its rhythm in my head, and then I would write my own stories, and as I did that, I found I sounded more like Sorkin. That wasn't actually my goal, and I think I sound less like him now, twenty years down the line, but it WAS my goal to really hone in on my dialogue the way he had. It made me not afraid to tell a story mainly through its dialogue, where I had been before him. Idk. This turned into a whole Aaron Sorkin thing and I didn't mean it to be but it was a huge turning point in how I wrote and I think about it a lot hahahaha. ANYWAY. Yeah.

[multiplicity-positivity]

(There is more context to this question that may affect perspectives on it, but as they are 18+, and I don't want to cross boundaries by discussing those topics without consent, I'm going to be keeping this as SFW as possible.)

I am hoping you have advice on how to handle consent and autonomy when within a system. One of our headmates, we'll call him O, is interested in doing an activity that he would enjoy, but could cause temporary damage to the body. He is aware of the risk, and is willing to do his part to ensure any harm is minimized and we are fully prepared to handle the aftermath, but some of us have reservations.

He's a frequent fronter who often doesn't get to do much that he enjoys because his preferences are a bit more extreme than the majority of us, but he's expressed frustration lately that he can't have as much freedom as others. I want to give him more autonomy to do what he enjoys, but I'm not sure how to navigate activities that may cause us harm, even if it is something anticipated and understood to be brief.

Personally I would not mind if he did do the activity, as long as there was firm plans in place on how to handle any injury that did occur, but the problem is that with as many headmates as we have, we usually vote on things like this, and while a majority of us are neutral or in the same stance as myself, there's a vocal minority who are extremely against even considering the idea, and one has expressed anger at O for even considering the activity in question. It would be something done with someone that we trust with our life who is practiced in safety during activities like this, and they would be around to help us in the aftermath if we needed assistance in any way, so a large part of us want to tell the ones saying no that they've been outvoted and not to be rude to O for having different desires, but I also don't want to risk upsetting them enough to cause fallout and harm internally.

Sorry if this crossed a line or was too descriptive to be safely posted, I'm struggling a bit to give the necessary context without outright discussing the topics. Feel free to not answer this if you are not comfortable with it (though if it's not rude to ask, I would request an acknowledgement that it was received, just so we know Tumblr didn't eat the ask in the first place.) Thank you in advance.

Hi! This is pretty tricky, but I think we do have some advice on helping headmates have agency while ensuring the safety of the system as a whole.

We feel that compromises are really important when it comes to building trust between headmates. For example, we have a headmate who loves piercings and wants a lot of them! At the same time, many members in our system are afraid of needles or are alterhuman and feel uncomfortable about having holes in the body. We compromised by getting the body’s ears pierced! This way, that particular headmate can wear earrings sometimes and the system only has to worry about one set of piercings.

When it comes to asking O to compromise, here are some things you can ask them (although we don’t know the full context, so some of these may not work!):

- Is there any less dangerous alternative that can still spark joy for you?

- Is this something you’d be willing to do for less time/with less amounts/cut back/etc in order to keep the system safe?

- Is there anything you can do to prepare or practice caution that can help put other headmates’ minds at ease?

And to those with reservations, maybe ask:

- Would it help to write out a list of questions for the person you trust to make sure y’all are as knowledgeable as you can be about this?

- Can you speak to anyone else who has done this to hear multiple perspectives?

- If your system has a gatekeeper or any control over switching, would it be easier if those who were nervous stayed away from the front until it’s over?

If y’all are able to keep an open dialogue, it may help everyone in the system feel more at ease with O’s choices and desires.

Additionally, if O is wanting to do something that is illegal, unhealthy, or could cause serious harm to your system or someone else, perhaps it may be best to bring this up to a therapist or mental health professional. It can be hard to recognize when is the right time to reach out for help, but it’s important to take the necessary measures to make sure your system can stay safe!

We hope this helps somewhat! So sorry if this response is all over the place or isn’t very useful. We tried our best to provide some insight without context! Best of luck to you, O, and the rest of your system as y’all figure this out!

🌸 Margo and 💫 Parker

[miasmaghoul]

Fanfic ask game!!! I'm excited to see your answers!!

6: What’s the last line you wrote?

25: What’s your favorite part of the writing process (worldbuilding, brainstorming/outlining, writing, editing, etc)?

36: What fic are you proudest of?

72: What’s your favorite writing compliment you’ve gotten?

74: Do you have a fic you wish got a bit more love?

Thank you!!! 💙💙💙

THANK YOU MIBOOOO 💜💜

6 - "Aether is having a very bad day." Heheheh >:)

25 - Worldbuilding, though most of that information is still just in my head. I need to write out my headcanons at some point. I also really enjoy the editing process! I'm a stream of consciousness writer, I let the words come out and hope they make sense. It's very satisfying to go back and see what I ended up with and fix what doesn't work. A lot of the time that results in me scrapping whole chunks of storytelling (cough the first half of Permafrost took seven rewrites cough), but that's okay! It's all part of the process!

36 - Ooooooh. Hmm. Probably Permafrost for the fact that it was my first gift fic, my longest so far, and for the fact that people really seemed to enjoy it! It was a struggle in several ways, but so worth it in the end. I was also super happy with Saint-Like Behaviour, I never do the squishy stuff and it was so well received!

72 - I read my comments whenever I need a serotonin boost, every single one of them. I treasure every single one. However, a couple stand out for sure.

For all the drama surrounding All Water Holy, there was some incredibly good feedback as well. One of my favorites was a longer comment that boiled down to this:

"Extremely well written and well conveyed emotions. I hate it. But it was great."

Also this one from @gayrickgrimes on And I Will Bathe in Your Devotion makes me giddy:

"I AM VERY FUCKING NORMAL ABOUT SWEAT KINKS THIS IS SO FUCKING PERFECT MIASMA"

74 - In general they've all been well received! I did think By Your Righteous Hand would get more attention, if I'm being up front, but I'm not upset by the response it got in the slightest! Considering the fact that I've only been active in the Ghost fandom since October, I have zero complaints!

[rise-my-angel]

I am an avid fan of your work!

Seriously, the Dany fans are worse than militant Swifties sometimes lmao. (I also feel it necessary to point out that I’m referring to the deranged swifties) Don’t let them bother you (which is easy to say, I know)

It’s clear from some of the hate you’re getting that there is a particular culture of Dany fans who have no skills in engaging with texts critically - in that sometimes they have to consider both sides of an argument. If they see anyone disagree with their ‘absolutely right opinion’ then they throw huge temper tantrums.

There’s nothing wrong with people who like her and I’m not saying they’re stupid at all but that little microcosm of people who are obsessed with her and actively go out of their way to harass you clearly lack any sort of decorum and make it so very clear they don’t understand the series lol.

Or better yet, if they don’t like seeing posts that are anti Targaryen then perhaps they should consider not interacting with that post.

In my opinion, I think it’s daft to feel so passionately about a character who is clearly extremely power hungry, because if a Dany stan was magically transported to Westeros they likely would have been burned because let’s face it, she doesn’t care about her people to the extent people suggest she does, she only cares about power.

Basically, I think you’re great and your writing is beautiful and keep it up!

It sort of just baffles me at this point how often they feel the need to defend her against any and all criticism. I see criticism of characters I love, but I ignore it. I see a lot of Ned Stark criticism from Rhaegar stans but I simply instead make my own post about my own views and opinions on that matter rather than engage in arguing. I am fine with the fact that I probably haven't changed anyones mind on Dany as a character, I am here to just explore my interpretations and why I got to them. Not to debate her fans on their own personal enjoyment.

I've had a surprisingly high number of even random one off anons tell me to just "shut up about her keep her name out of your mouth" and it's like, I never tag her name alone. I only ever use anti tags so that people who disagree or like her don't have to see my stances against her but it's like they seek out ways to get angry when I never post my thoughts to the tags I know normal Dany stans will be in. I can be a snarky smart ass sometimes in my tags but I don't actually go out of my way to upset these people.

Blindly defending everything a character does to me, seems nonsensical when we are talking about a character with a violent streak for cruelty and uses her dragons as a threat for mass death. I feel like on a very surface level analysis, those are things which naturally deserve criticism about her as a character. Even with my favourite characters, I can explain WHY they did something negative but I won't blindly defend them as being correct or in the unquestioning right about the matter.

I had someone yesterday send me an ask claiming I was being disingenuous and blaming Sansa for something by pointing out a bunch of things I write literally did not say, because they were just mad they disagreed with my point.

It just doesn't make sense to me, going to someones blog or adding onto someones own post JUST to tell you they think your interpretation of something is backwards and wrong or stupid and mean.

That is not a productive way to convince someone that you have a point worth listening too.

[dashawfrostart]

This Week In "Time & Again" #4: Musings, And More Lothar For Everyone!!!

So! I made myself a "To-Do Before Xmas/New Year's" list! And I'll show it to ya! Ta-daaaa!

Some stuff is vibrantly scratched out for the reason of being either a spoiler or something too private. But you get the idea. That is, of course, aside from my grand work on Chapter 5 of "Time & Again", depending on how busy I am with my "wife life" outside of artistic activities. I think I've never mentioned that, but in my scripts and notes I use "JLo" as a short way to say "Jeanny and Lothar". You're welcome 😁 You probably would say I start off the work on Doom anniversary artwork way too early, almost a whole month in advance. But I'd rather do it very well in advance, to make certain it's complete in time. I had a few situations before when I ended up failing my own tasks because I didn't properly estimate time and effort required to complete an artwork... Mind you, this summer I just flat out FORGOT about a celebratory poster with Stu, Alan and Jade that I wanted to draw. It just slipped my mind!.. And now I'm a bit sour about it, for these people celebrated whole 18 years (!) of existence this summer. You might even say, they're now of age!!! 🤣... but I... just forgot to draw a nice artwork featuring them. That's a shame. Well, I guess, I'll try to make up to them 2 years later, on their 20th anniversary 🤦‍♀️😤 (now that I'm thinking about it, it also might magically match with the release of the final chapter of "Time & Again", provided everything goes as smooth as before, and/or I manage to keep up good time-management... but we'll see). "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" is the Disney cartoon that inspired me TREMENDOUSLY back in the day. And it still does. You might clearly see the visual style similarities between "Atlantis" and majority of my works, and particularly when it comes down to "Time & Again". I want to try harder and make my works look even closer to "Atlantis" - which means I'll have to literally break my artist's self in order to simplify/alter peculiarities of my own style to achieve what I want. That will not be easy... But this is what I would love to do. I will most likely talk even further about "Atlantis" in my next posts, perhaps not once, for a wholesome art research is waiting for me. Again. ... And since my dedicated friend Mr. Caco is already wearing the jolly Christmas bells on his head (body?..) and looks pretty excited, I should not disappoint neither himself or myself. I'll try to do everything on my list mindfully and ahead of time, whatever I can (not pushing myself too hard tho, because, according to my experience, this only upsets a person in the end). An incredibly active time awaits me in these pre-Christmas weeks. Yup. ... Aaaand of course I misspelled "practise" again 😫 Ok, memorizing and moving on!

And you know what's cool?!.. As I've been writing this post gradually little by little every day, I've already completed 2 of the tasks on the list, and 2 more are partially complete! Yipeeee! So it's all looking very good right now! 🥳🤩

It's been a few days of nice steady progress - in both life and creative endeavours. I'm trying to attempt a psychotherapy session with myself from time to time, to figure why why my mind - or rather "a radio inside my head") has been pretty much completely stuck on Duran Duran's latest album, Madness and OMD, with a slight prevalence of the latter. I presume, considering overall feel of jolliness these bands have to offer, it must have something to do with a subconscious intention to compensate for a blinding, unbearable rainbow of sh-... 😅 sorry, I meant: "an unfortunate set of events" that will indeed take place in Chapter 5. Because I truly feel I must compensate somehow. Psychological questions of how exactly we choose music to accompany our activities, what the choice is based on, and what exactly it depends on - all of that is extremely interesting to me, especially since music is such a big part of my life. However, the music I've been listening to while working on the chapters of "Time & Again" is a whole huge topic to talk about - possibly for hours at least, but most likely for days. So I presume I'll make a separate post about it a bit later on, depending on my inspiration. I think its fairly safe to give me "a music connoisseur" descriptor for proper identification. This states clearly how much I love, appreciate, and value music as a form of art. This has been always true, since I was a teenager, I believe. I used to collect music magazines, namely "Classic Rock", and books about my favourite bands. And I sure still keep it up, just not as actively as I used to before (for somebody spends nearly all her time drawing some weird graphic novel of sorts, cough... unbelievable!).

But back to "Time & Again" now! Within those last days I've drawn Lothar only, avoiding the other character completely. Currently most of the latest pages only contain his pretty and highly suspicious smile. (like that one, for example... 👇)

That is because the other character still requires a higher degree of certainty in their design. I already had the design finalized and confirmed earlier on, but now it needs a slight correction for a better fit into, mmm, let's say the mood of certain events. I believe, I'll have to refer to Doomguy's mugshot spritesheet working on that peculiar task. Why in the hell (did you hear me?! "why in the hell", 😉 ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-haaaa... *wink wink, twitch twitch* aaah, that was a terrible joke, wasn't it?..) does this game emerge yet again as I write about my graphic novel?.. Well, I believe you will see sometime next year 😉

One more thing that still requires urgent attention from me is the final design of Lothar's underarm pistol holsters. While the choice of his equipment has already been made, I need to invest some little time to do a little training/practice before I start adding that peculiar element of his outfit steadily on each page. To me, one of the trickiest things about redrawing guns from the guns existing in the real world is to find good reference photos, because you need a good look from as many sides and angles as possible, if you want precision and no crooked art. Otherwise... you have to improvise. Which I can do. But I prefer not to. Even though the guns Jeanny and Lothar have in my story are all based off the real pistols, SMGs and whatnot starting from Chapter 2, I allow myself to stray from the actual designs a little (for the high amount of details is going to be appreciated only by the gun nerds around... but I doubt it most of my readers will even pay attention and google for those guns to check if they're taken straight from reality or not). But I deeply enjoy to keep the guns recognizable enough for someone who actually might appreciate that. 🤓🌹 ... But goodness gracious, is it ever difficult to find good reference photos for the guns! 😤 Sometimes it's even hard to find good ones for the guns from the videogames, too. I remember, once I wanted to equip Jeanny with a pair of magnums from Tomb Raider 1, but I could not find any information on what kind of a real life pistol those were based off, and the screenshots from the game - obviously - were pretty pixelated and/or blurry. Soooo... no magnums for Jeanny (yet). No offense, Jeanny. I tried hard, believe me.

What else happened lately, you dare ask me? You see, when you keep drawing and drawing constantly, you might find yourself getting carried away - and sometimes NOT in the direction you expected. When your artworks are stylized - like mine - and when you start to draw details that you see fit or needed, you might find it that you're subconsciously altering your own style, you're "reshaping" it on the go, aaaaand... it might turn weird. You begin to "stumble", you might say. When this happens, I feel like my adorable and treasured creative spark that's always been serving me well has just accidentally and unexpectedly started to burn the curtains, and now the entire room smells funky. Eeeew. When I feel like my head's on fire because I'm overdoing it, I might occasionally take a break and explore the works of the other artists. And that's EXACTLY when "Atlantis" comes in. And then... when I feel like I'm gettin' overly "stuck", it's time to explore and refresh. Makes sense, right?! Currently my "refreshing state" includes gazing at "Atlantis" screenshots, promo arts and animated gifs, as well as sketching the Doom 30th Anniversary poster. The latter still needs a lot of work - but I'm not gonna babble about it here, because this post is primarily about "Time & Again".

Although a lot of stuff still needs to be done for Chapter 5 and the rest of "Time & Again", the work on it goes steady and nicely, and with very little interruptions. A fight with unnecessary perfectionism goes quite well, too. There are still a few dark spots here and there in regard of certain angles and designs - but I'm enjoying the process through and through!

Perhaps, a screenshot from a WIP frame for a farewell will especially cheer you up! Mmmmm, dat look.

Gotta wrap it up, wrote too much again; I gotta keep something exciting for the next post after all, hahaaaaaa! See you next time! 👋

[fiona-fififi]

I wanted to respond here, but didn't have a chance last week, so please forgive me for bringing this back.

First (@theladyyavilee this one's not directed at you at all; I just figured it'd be easier to put it all in the same response), I feel like several people are misunderstanding a bit here.

In this post, I am not talking about Tommy telling Buck "I don't think you're ready." I am specifically referring to the later coffee meet up when he says "I didn't cut things short because you behaved badly. I did it because I didn't want to pressure you." These two statements occur in very different circumstances, and they also say two very different things. Some of the responses to this post seem to think I'm criticizing Tommy for the "I don't think you're ready" comment, but that's not actually the case. It's the latter statement and the way it's framed that I take issue with here.

So anyway, in response to your points here, @theladyyavilee, I absolutely agree, and I wish I was seeing a little more engagement with this nuance. I think that's what's frustrating me most. It seems everyone is either on one extreme or the other—that Tommy is a saint for putting up with Buck and forgiving him and acting as the perfect gay mentor OR that poor Buck is just navigating his way through his queer awakening and Tommy treated him horribly. But neither one of those things is true.

The reality is that this experience for both of them is complicated and messy, and it is okay both for Buck to stumble and for Tommy not to be okay with that. And the perspective from which you consider it does change the situation. If focused on Buck's experience, yeah, Tommy leaving him behind on the date without so much as a conversation was harsh and maybe even a little unfair. If focused on Tommy’s point of view, Buck did kind of behave badly (even if unintentionally) and Tommy had every right to be upset and end the date early, especially because, as you point out, Buck didn't just make a fool of himself but also actively forced Tommy back in the closet for no reason at all (Buck knows Eddie well enough to know that Tommy being gay is not going to make him uncomfortable, and while Buck obviously did not need to come out to Eddie then and there, there was no reason for Eddie to ever assume a date regardless; as if Buck and Eddie have never eaten out at a restaurant just the two of them before? And as if Eddie and Tommy didn't literally just fly to Vegas together just the two of them as buddies?). And yeah, Buck was flustered and anxious, but that doesn't make it okay for him to have pulled Tommy into his lie and forced him into the closet over Buck's own insecurity.

And I find that nuance—that they can both be kind of right and wrong (for lack of a better term) depending on the perspective—SO much more interesting than the way it seems it's being perceived as either one side or the other, with most of the fandom seeming to lean into Tommy as this perfect, soft gay mentor who couldn't possibly have done anything questionable and in fact was only looking out for Buck. Because that reading flattens Tommy’s character so much and ignores the reality of what was represented in that scene. But also, I actually get the feeling that is exactly what the show was leaning into, so I do also understand that reading.

But I am struggling so much with the way it ignores the nuance of the date situation.

And as a result, I'm also still struggling a lot with the "I didn't cut things short because you behaved badly. I did it because I didn't want to pressure you" line because it feels so disingenuous to what actually happened. And I think maybe I don't love it as a writing choice more than anything. Because part of me feels like it was an attempt for the show to really lean into Tommy as the perfect man, but all it did for me was make it feel like he was dismissing Buck and avoiding a conversation about his own boundaries. And I don't really think that was exactly what was intended, but that was how it read to me. I really feel like those lines needed to have been separated from one another or adjusted—maybe with a return to the "I don't think you're ready" point instead of the "I didn't want to pressure you" point. Or maybe just with a deeper conversation.

But for me, that line felt almost like a cop-out to avoid giving Tommy a real role in that conversation, and I think that bothers me a little. Especially because I kind of feel similar about the way he ended the date. It's like they're removing Buck's own agency here by giving Tommy the reins to dictate what Buck is ready for. And I don't think Tommy was wrong by any means—he is not obligated to stay in a situation or a relationship he is not comfortable with, and it really did seem like Buck wasn't ready. But by removing Buck's feelings from the equation and not opening up space for a conversation (especially in the way it forced Buck to seek out Eddie, who knows him so much better, to try to come to terms with what he actually wanted), but also then painting Tommy as perfect in the way he's apparently trying to guide Buck through this new experience feels. off to me.

Honestly, again, I think it's something about the way they’re using the character (in terms of the writing itself, I think, in ways that maybe don't feel fully intentional). Like, Tommy felt so complex in the beginning of the episode because he made those choices that felt just a little left of kind—not cruel or anything, certianly not intentionally so, but just not quite in line with the image they painted of him in the coffee meet up. It just feels like not exploring those more complex choices earlier in the episode flattens Tommy as a character and takes away so much potential for further complexity, mostly because I don't think they'll return to it, and I feel like I'm just supposed to accept Tommy as the sweet, perfect new boyfriend. And I guess that's kind of okay, but the little inconsistencies in that narrative stick out to me—especially because I want those little inconsistencies to be fleshed out and explored for the character, even though I don't think they will be.

And, I mean, this is all likely because Tommy is not meant to stick around and he's being used in a way that helps them move forward Buck's story without taking too much time to flesh out Tommy’s character, and I guess I get that, but I like him, and I'd like to see him become more nuanced than what they've shown us thus far.

And I think I ended up just babbling here in the end, so I guess this isn't a great response, but this is what's been in my head for the last two weeks.

Okay. I'm about to say something that's probably going to get me run out of the fandom, but.

I don't actually think Tommy leaving their date early had anything to do with him not wanting to pressure Buck (regardless of what he claimed later). Instead, I think it had everything to do with Tommy being annoyed and no longer into it that evening, and I think that is both okay AND significantly more interesting than taking him at his word later and framing it as some selfless act by a sanitized elder gay shepherd just trying to do right by Buck.

[aemiron-main]

gay mike and biphobia and analysis

ok one more post abt recent events and this one Is more focused on analysis:  ive gone out of my way repeatedly to explain why my takes about gay mike arent biphobic/highlight specific distinctions of where certain gay mike arguments could get into biphobia & how i’m avoiding that even before i was accused of it because i didnt want to perpetuate biphobia the same way that some people perpetuate casual homophobia and i don’t WANT people to approach gay mike analysis from a biphobic viewpoint which is why i’m such a stickler about it. because imo the biphobic viewpoints, just like the homophobic ones, are both morally and textually invalid and so don’t even serve a purpose analytically.  like when i talk about how it would be 'bad' for mike to have been in love with/attracted to el and then fallen out of love with her i have painstakingly and repeatedly said that its not that it would make mike morally bad and it happens with bi people and all sorts of people all the time and mike would not be morally bad for it but it WOULD imo be narratively 'bad' because it conflicts with el's feelings of feeling unlovable & makes an amicable milkvan breakup/conclusion much more difficult (which imo is what the duffers are going for with a happy ending esp since theyve made will and el adopted siblings and dont want them to feel pitted against eachother permanently/inferior to the other permanently). it’s not that it would make mike a bad person- it’s that imo it doesnt align with a satifsying conclusion for mike, el and will's arcs and for the narrative as a whole esp considering how limited time is going to be in s5. they CHOSE to write el as feeling unlovable, they CHOSE to leave byler and milkvan resolution for the last season so that we are crunched for time & so doing an extremely long ‘bi mike who fell out of love (indicating that theres something about her specifically that he doesnt like which again isnt morally bad but DOES conflict with el’s feelings of  being unlovable as a person) with a girl who already feels unlovable and now they have to once again rebuild that trust and relationship from the ground up and somehow try and salvage a positive, amicable mike and el relationship because they’ve already heavily implied that their show has a happy ending and i cannot see a happy ending with mike and el resenting eachother’ arc in s5 gets overly convoluted and creates a ton of narrative problems that have to be solved. and that’s not even going into how all of the other stuff like familial parallels etc suddenly have no purpose and make no sense if mike was ever into el because the purpose of those parallels is to indicate a platonic bond. 

and conflict isn’t always bad in a narrative! if they had written mike as bi they could have gone that conflict route and made it work, absolutely! but it doesn’t fit with the time crunch in s5, it doesn’t fit with a mike and el happy ending within the space/time that we have, it creates UNNECESSARY conflict that could easily be resolved by gay mike, esp considering that mike and el have already had ENOUGH conflict so adding MORE just makes it even more difficult and upsets the GA and milkvans even more and makes it even more confusing for them (and i know the duffers dont listen to the demands of fans but they DO want to create a cohesive narrative that people can understand & empathize with & they DONT want to create resent towards their queer characters which is what even more mike and el conflict would do due to the way that their relationship has been built up and they HAVE said that they like twists where you maybe dont see it coming but once you look BACK you can see it which is exactly what gay mike is), and so while narrative conflict itself is not inherently bad and is often very very necessary and serves an important purpose, THIS SPECIFIC narrative conflict imo would not only Not serve that purpose but would also actively go AGAINST the narrative that the show is trying to build and would go AGAINST a happy ending within the time constraints of s5, especially since the duffers have said that theyre going to wrap up all relationships and character arcs, so they would HAVE to wrap up mike and el friendship/rebuild it completely from the ground up which they don’t have time for. bi mike imo would involve/necessitate a ton of totally new mike and el platonic scenes which we dont have time for, whereas gay mike RECONTEXUALIZES existing scenes in a platonic light which means that all of those cute mike and el moments are now seen by the audience as cute platonic moments and therefore their friendship is seen as (and has been) being built up from the start and doesn’t have to be rebuilt in s5.   (i think we will def get mike and el platonic scenes and I WANT THEM but we dont have time for them to be something thats absolutely core and necessary and centre stage for a happy ending to be achieved). 

so yeah! please rethink ur definition of biphobia before throwing accusations around at me because i have painstakingly gone out of my way to research and avoid it and like i said, mike wouldn’t be morally bad but it would be narratively ‘bad’ and its not narratively bad BECAUSE being bi is morally bad, but rather, because the narrative has been built with gay mike in mind since the start and so bi mike doesn’t fit and is only ‘bad’  in the sense of being inaccurate. factually wrong, not morally wrong.