#it's been The Main Thing i care about literally for like 5 years now. other interests come and go but i'm a vargonhead through it all

[wizardships]

get fucking ready you guys. tomorrow it's fitz friday

[pinksmonkey]

Posting my Ultimate Byler Evidence/Analysis List here directly because it probably makes it more convenient and I should have done this a while ago. XD

There is so much proof for Byler being endgame in S5 of Stranger Things. They are so cute together, and so much in the show has been building up to their relationship. I just wanted to share some of my favourite Byler analyses, because they are so cool, detailed, and in-depth. I love reading about all the hints, symbolism, and subtext for Byler, it's amazing how much thought must have been put into all these things. Why go through all the effort of adding these details if they aren't actually going anywhere with them? Mike is so queercoded, and they are truly in love with each other.

🫥 Just gonna leave some good Byler analyses here 🤐

Most of the links go to written Tumblr posts, and a couple of them are Reddit posts. So it's a lot of reading. If you prefer watching videos over reading, I highlighted my Byler YouTube playlist in green so it's easy to find.

And apologies for any of the links that aren't working, I know some of the posts have been deleted now sadly, but there's no way I'm re-numbering all these so I'm just leaving them in. My fellow Bylers, please stop deleting your amazing posts. ;-;

So anyway, here is the list of some of my favourite Byler evidence/analyses of all time (not in any particular order):

1. Mike's Season 4 Monologue To El

2. Camera Roll Byler Proof Part 3

3. Mike's Monologue and Milkvan

4. Mostly Byler Post Index

5. Dawson's Creek Parallel

6. "My Experience With Stranger Things"

7. What Ollie Learned From Film School

8. Byler Music Analysis

9. Why Don't The Duffers Discuss This?

10. ST Theories Masterpost

11. If Byler Isn't Endgame Then Someone Screwed Up

12. Byler Crumbs From The Cast and Crew

13. Favourite Combination of Endgame Byler Proof

14. I Doubt Byler Then I Remember This

15. The Fact That We Have This Interview

16. You Know Your Ship is Endgame When

17. Mostly Byler Post Index 2

18. Losing Hope Of Byler Endgame?

19. Why I Think Byler is Endgame

20. So Many Thoughts on This

21. Mike's Wall Art

22. Painting Miscommunication Leading to Mike's Monologue Coded

23. Yes, That Scene Did Foreshadow Mike's Monologue as Disingenuous

24. Mike's Monologue Didn't Sit Right With Me

25. Blue And Yellow Pen

26. That Tweet Is So Sweet

27. Heart Eyes, Literally

28. "My Process of Realizing Byler is Real"

29. Looking at Will, Not El

30. High School Musical Parallel

31. Said It Before and I'll Say It Again

32. Delusional Milkdud?

33. ST Writers Twitter Analysis 1

34. ST Writers Twitter Analysis 2

35. For When You Are Doubting Byler

36. Is Mike Bi or Gay?

37. Fully Convinced

38. The Ultimate Byler Playlist (my Byler YouTube playlist)

39. 100% Confident

40. Mike in S4 and S2

41. Mike Is Angry With Himself

42. It's Been A Year, Mike

43. Rink-O-Mania Remodel

44. The Development Of Will And Mike's Relationship

45. Mike's Lies

46. El Was Holding So Much In

47. Flickergate + Lettergate

48. Did Mike Ever Like El Romantically?

49. Mike Is Stupid

50. Byler Won't Write Itself

51. What's The Alternative Explanation?

52. Comparing Mileven and Byler

53. It Was Always About Them

54. Mike Is Not Ok

55. He Has A Love Interest

56. Will's Happy Ending

57. Trying To Be Normal

58. It's Not That Milevens Are Homophobic

59. Byler Is Reality

60. A Proper Look At El's Shrine To Mike

61. Mileven Through The Seasons

62. Suspicious

63. I Can't Doubt Byler

64. D&D Soulmates

65. Let's Talk Phones

66. Not Delusional

67. What Do They Want?

68. The Main Character

69. Mike's Mental Health

70. So Close

71. This Look Confirms Byler Isn't One Sided

72. Mileven Is Bones

73. They Don't Care About Mileven?

74. The Airport Hug Will Always Be Famous

75. The Monologue Mystery, Why Did They Lose?

76. The Cabin Scene

77. Why Couldn't Mike Say It For 2 Seasons?

78. He Was Trying To Find Will

79. Mike The Surfer Boy

80. Mike Definitely Shows Attraction To Girls

81. The Cast Knows

82. Mileven Loses On All Fronts

83. The Bouquet

84. 53 Minutes And 5 Seconds

85. Pink Panther

86. El And Choice

87. Will's Spotify Playlist

88. He'll Come Crawling Back To You, Begging For Forgiveness

89. Mike's Character Arc Prediction

90. It's The Same Look

91. Will's Truly Happy Ending

92. That's The Same Look, Right?

93. You're The Heart

94. Mike And El's Relationship In S4 Was Really Weird

95. Fireworks Parallel

96. Mileven Has Been Built Up For 4 Seasons

97. Not Stupid: The Fate of Mileven and Byler

98. This Suddenly Makes So Much Sense

99. Metaphors In Filmmaking

And unfortunately Tumblr will only let me add 100 links per post, so when I've posted part 2 of this list, I'll link it here: Part 2

[prince-liest]

I’m a sex-repulsed ace, and reading the latest chapter of 666 (as well as your analysis here on Tumblr) made me realize that I have been subconsciously thinking about MY OWN sexuality from an allo perspective? And that it has kinda been messing me up?? Like, ever since I learned that sexual attraction was actually a Thing and that it’s Important To People, I had been carrying around a fear of being deficient in some way and not being able to love to the same extent as allos. (1)

Even though I know logically that’s complete garbage and totally untrue, I felt left out of the loop because people seemed to care strongly about this thing I couldn’t even imagine. Whenever it looked like a relationship might happen I panicked for a reason that I couldn’t understand. But now I’m starting to realize that it’s because I was subconsciously terrified of an ‘ulterior motive’ behind the other person’s reasons for wanting to be with me. (2) That part of the reason they even cared was because of something I don’t experience. So thank you, because this realization just clicked into place while reading your work. The thing is, this way of thinking was just internalized in such a way that I didn’t even realize it was there until literally this week. And I think you’re right; one of the main reasons behind that is because I’ve always consumed media written from an allo perspective. (3) If ace/aros are shown at all, they’re depicted as “lacking” and their character development usually revolves around being “fixed” by the story. When I was ~10 years old my mom sometimes let me watch the Big Bang Theory with her (looking back, maybe not the best decision). Anyways, there was one episode deep into the series where Sheldon (who for the past nineish seasons was probably the closest thing to mainstream ace rep) has sex with his girlfriend for the first time. (4) Afterwards, he says something along the lines of “that was better than I thought it would be”, and it’s presented as a Very Good Thing and a big step in their relationship. I think a lifetime of stuff like that makes it very easy to internalize aphobia and feel like the lesser part of the relationship. Or to feel like the other partner is making a huge sacrifice to be with you. That got wayy too long, sorry. All that was just a lot of words to say that I appreciate you. Take care of yourself!(5)

The portrayal of asexuality that you see in media being almost exclusively as you described is very tedious to me because it presumes that something is inherently lacking in aro/aceness rather than that feeling of "lacking" being something that is induced by societal norms. Actually, one of the things that I find additionally alienating is that fandom spaces specifically have been getting better and better about ace characters - but got damn does fandom not jive with aromanticism. Like, a character doesn't want to fuck? That's becoming a liiiittle more fine, it's 2024, we stan consent. But not shipping someone romantically?? Not so easy, now.

I'm glad that my work has been something that resonated with you in this respect! Alastor cares a lot about his reputation as a demon but is pretty blatantly a person who could not possibly give less of a shit about being "wrong" for not being experiencing romantic or sexual attraction. The explanation Viv gave at one point for his own understanding of himself (that he thinks he's just "waiting for the right woman") actually stuck out to me a lot because it's a very "well, nothing is wrong with me for not feeling anything, it's the world that's failed to produce a suitable person" perspective.

But having that kind of confident perspective of your own rightness in the world is really not often portrayed in media, or even in fandom, which even ten years ago was still in the throes of standardizing "Oh, no! Me, gay? These feelings are so wrong!" style m/m content and is honestly not that far off from essentially that for aro/ace characters.

Anyway, all of that is to say that there's not yet much out there that doesn't frame allo/amatonormative values as the default that "even aro/ace people can (and should want to) achieve," and that it's really fun to write a fic that is unequivocally from the perspective of a character who is aroace and doesn't see it as even remotely a fault in himself. Does he have moments where he's a little confused and trying to process how things fit for him? Absolutely. But he just doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who thinks he owes romance to Vox of all people, hahaha. I've written him trying to conform to allo/amatonormativity more with Mimzy, because I think the social standards of their time could push him into it, but Vox? Absolutely not, he does not respect Vox enough for it to even enter his mind.

And then, on the other hand, writing it from an aroace perspective centers the way that romantic and sexual interest can feel like a betrayal of a good thing. With a character like Alastor, it frames romantic and sexual attraction the same alien way that we usually see aromanticism and asexuality framed as.

In the end, this is just one of a plethora of different experiences that aro/ace people can have, but it's one that I really wanted to see represented more, so I'm very happy to write it. I'm glad that you're enjoying it!

[tbhimnoteasyonmyself]

Who is White?

If it is not I, your friendly neighbourhood non-binary deranged literature major, once again to tell you about stuff that the voices™︎ have prompted me.

This time, let's talk about the elephant in the room, the odd one out: Mr. White, a.k.a the fandom's babyboy.

(me as Fluke in this GIF, walking in ready to dissect this bitch)

So, what do we factually know about this man?

From what we're directly told in the show:

He's Tee's boyfriend, at least, since 12th grade, meaning they have been together for about 3 years, maybe 4 (depending on when exactly we are in terms of time in the present and when exactly during 12th grade they started dating).

He's younger than the rest of them, according to Por and Top in episode 1.

He studied at a different school from the main gang AND from Phee (yes, despite the embroidery having a similar colour, the writings where the institution's name should be are nothing alike, thus, not from the same place)

He cares a lot about his appearance (he does skincare when Por is literally dying downstairs and he sees a rash on his body while under the effect of New's absynthe - idk if it's absynthe or not but my friends and I have been calling it that since we saw them drink the green drinks so it's absynthe for me and there's that).

He's generally a very respectful person (he always speaks formally and nicely to everyone, even when people are hostile to him, like Tee or Fluke).

His fear doesn't seem to paralyze him in high-pressure situations (he strikes people with a tripod twice to save himself and others when he thinks they're in danger).

Another source could be the Yearbook, which, now, we have to be a bit more skeptical about because, as seen in New's case, it's not 100% accurate. One can argue that it is accurate because the yearbook would have Tan's info, since that's who he's living as and no one knows any better than that, including the institutions and, sure, yeah, fair. But while we don't know that White is hiding anything from us as well, we can't be sure of it. So, take the following with a grain of salt:

(translated with Google Translate)

His legal name is Watcharin Siriphan

He was born on the 25th of February 2005 (which confirms what Por and Top say)

His blood type is A (which according to the Blood Type Personality Theory means he is shy, stubborn, a perfectionist, polite and hard-working, apparently. tbh this thing is super shifty, no source seems to agree on the meaning of each type and, of course, it's a pseudoscience and all, so... yeah. take it as you will)

He's studying Software Engineering

He likes cakes

He dislikes cockroaches

He plays games and programs in his free time

So... We don't know much. He's the most generic person ever. Like... I too, and half the world's population, like cake, dislike cockroaches and like to play games. It's not exactly very special. Which is exactly why he is so intriguing. After all, we had 5 whole episodes so far, which were just the backstory of the people we see together in the mansion in the present. We've seen their personalities, their qualities and flaws, what they did and what they didn't do. We've been given a reason as to why they're here. Not just in the more direct sense of "they agreed to come here for Jin's goodbye party" but of why exactly they needed to be put all together in these conditions for this story. All except White. White is just... Barely an afterthought. We're shown when he comes into this story for the group (when he becomes Tee's boyfriend), but we're not given a reason so far as to why the narrative wants him there.

Because, sure, IRL people sometimes end up in random places and things can be pretty meaningless but this is a work of fiction. One that, evidently, has been greatly focused on details (Non's framed apple picture and Phee eating an apple alone, for example, or the correlation between the group and the colour blue). So why would it just throw us a character that is, seemingly, irrelevant to the story?

And to this, there are 2 possibilities my friends: either White is a narrative tool to get to the audience or White is not who we think he is. So let's explore it, shall we?

White = Narrative Tool

Let's start by assuming, possibly the most likely outcome, that White is exactly just a guy who ended up there due to his connection to Tee. Why would this narrative need that character?

Glad you asked. Because he's the only person who's 100% innocent. If he's just some guy who, as we've seen, keeps being respectful and nice and trying to always do the right thing, then he's got nothing to do with the others who, in different degrees are all guilty of something. He's the odd one out.

Because, yes, this is not a show of villains (at least, not in which concerns the main characters). They're all morally grey. But they have some drop of black that makes them grey.

Por is arrogant and a liar and selfish.

Tee is aggressive and manipulative and a control freak.

Top is an overall asshole and a coward.

These 3 actively bully Non. Por steals his work. Tee and Top blame him for shit he didn't do which puts in the situation where he owns Por and they spy on him. Tee manipulates him into mafia money laundry and threatens him.

Fluke is selfish and refuses to take action even when he knows it's the right thing to do.

Jin's doesn't have the capability to realize that the peaceful passive way with which he normally carries himself with won't solve the issue. Plus he's overly emotional. And a bit selfish too.

They didn't help Non when it was their moral obligation to do so. And Jin records him being abused by their teacher and possibly posts it online (though that's still up for debate).

Phee is too stubborn and also overly emotional and even overly empathic.

New is obsessive and vengeful.

Phee never really helps Non because all the ways he offers Non help are the wrong ones. He almost tries to control him. And he fails. And then he tells him awful things and breaks up with him in a terribly vulnerable moment for Non. And even when he regrets it and tries to bring justice to him, he fucks Jin because he wanted to and tries to cover it up as if it was part of the plan. Sure, they were broken up, technically, but Phee himself seems to have had "take-backies" over that breaking up. So, in his mind, at least, it's fair to say he cheats on him, which is very hypocritical after how he reacts to Non being abused. And New... He tries to help sincerely because he feels guilty but he only makes things worse. Nothing is solved and their father curses them both before committing public suicide at their mom's funeral.

Non (which may be even more relevant if he's still alive) is overly independent and uncommunicative.

He doesn't tell Jin he has a boyfriend when it's clear Jin's trying to make a move on him, event though Non's not interested. He hides very important things from Phee. He commits fraud (understandably, but yeah). And yeah, he's justified in his rage and attack but... Does he ever think of how his actions affect other such as Jin, for example, who, in his eyes, is innocent? Not really.

"Oh but White won't die!", I hear you say. "The innocent people never die in slashers!! Only the people who did the killer wrong do!" And that's exactly where I have to disagree.

So, amidst a sea of grey characters, White is, funnily enough: white. He's just good. He's done nothing wrong. And the narrative needs him because, when the others die, we'll feel (to different degrees, sure, but still, we will) that there's a reason. Even if we like the characters, those deaths will make sense. But what happens when an innocent man dies? What happens when you kill the man who wasn't even supposed to be there (he joined the trip at the last minute)?

As @syrena-del-mar says in this post: "DFF is more than just a 90s slasher film imitation". It "sits at a novel intersection of genre: horror slasher on the one hand and BL on the other hand" as @brifrischu puts it here and, for that, it bends expectations and rules and subverts what are natural tropes and events of the slasher archetype. White dying is the sort of thing this narrative, and our inventive genius Sammon, would do. Because... Do you really think they're giving us grey characters instead of black ones because we're supposed not to question this revenge? Because we're supposed to be happy about this? No. Of course not. That would be dumb. If we're meant to 100% side with the killer, then why give us likeable characters as the targets? Because, and this is as much speculation as it is reading the room, we're not.

This story, I don't know how it will end, but regardless I'm pretty confident it's supposed to tell us something important about cycles of violence: that they're neverending until someone chooses peace instead. That aggression and bloodshed and revenge... They won't bring time back, they won't undo the mistakes we make, they won't restore that which is lost, they won't make the grief go away... That they won't make us feel better. More even: that they will only hurt more people, create more injustice and prompt more revenge. And, thus, perpetuate the cycle.

So what's White's role? Being the final drop into our collective cup of realization (and perhaps the characters' as well) that this revenge mission is pointless and won't solve anything. White's role is to die.

"Oh, but uncle Dang was also innocent! Is his death not enough??", I hear you ask. And well... Maybe, maybe not. I think, honestly, his death is too impersonal for us to feel too deeply about it. Like, sure, yes, it is the death of an innocent, but it's a distant innocent. It doesn't make our blood boil because we don't know shit about that man. But, for all we don't know of White's past, we've seen him cry, we've seen him scared, we've seen him fight for his life, we've seen him be a good boyfriend and a good friend. He might just be some dude but we like him. He's the fandom's babyboy, as I said. It is more impactful and it tells the story better.

But this is just a hypothesis. And it might not convince you. And that's fair. So, because I'm a persistent obnoxious fucker with a little too much free time, I'm bringing you a second theory. For this one, though... You might need a little tinfoil hat... Be prepared.

White ≠ Who He Says He Is

So, if you think just having a character be hollow and pure good in a show of very fleshed-out and grey characters is weird, even if he might be narratively relevant, then we can only assume there's something important to White's character we don't know about yet. (I'm adding this in retrospective because I forgot but this idea came to me partially from @yellingaboutkp and their great analysis of horns in the show that you can find here)

But what could that be? We've seemingly seen all the flashbacks we needed from everyone, White doesn't seem very relevant to anyone's storyline but Tee's but... We'd assume if there was something directly connected to Tee's actions and White that we needed to see, we would've. Admittedly, the next episode seems to be on its way to tell us what Tee knows about what happened to Non and Keng while they were captured by the mafia and he could be there but I think, honestly, that it goes deeper than that. And here's why: because there's a person who's even more of an odd one out then White: whoever Perth's character is.

Now, he would've been completely unsuspicious if it wasn't for one thing: Perth's presence in the promotion of this series. He's just... Always there, somehow? Like, his character has only really appeared last episode massaging Tee's uncle but he's constantly talking about this series. Plus, his name is very well credited. AND, the absolute cherry on top, his character appears in THIS poster:

Now, yeah, I understand Marketing and Publicity (it's part of my Master's, you don't have to explain it to me). So, I know this could very well just be a strategy to sell the series. After all, Perth did get a lot of attention after The Hidden Character, I know, I know. It's also a way to put his name out there for other future roles, kinda like a soft launch. Plus, this is the show that killed Us's character first when he was one of the most popular actors in the cast. HOWEVER, I'd argue that, considering the previously mentioned attention to detail, they would not have given one of their rising stars a role in this series if it wasn't important. Like... No other background character without lines (so far) was given an important actor to play it. So pardon me, but I don't buy it. Perth's character's gotta matter somehow. And, back to what I was saying, I think the next episode will be exactly where.

See, I made a poll here on the hellsite asking what y'all think happened to Non. It's this one. And it shows that, overwhelmingly, we all think Non is alive BECAUSE he was helped by the man himself:

"Okay, Dante, but, even if that's true, where does White fit in all this?" Glad. You. Asked.

Now, if we're assuming Perth's character's the one that's gonna help Non (and possibly Keng or maybe not, idk and it really doesn't matter for now), we've gotta assume he's a possible suspect for the murderer. And even more so under this optic that Non is alive. Who more than a person whose whole reality seemed to be the mafia and who might've escaped it would be okay with murdering people? Right? Or, on the contrary, that he took a liking to Non and is trying to prevent him from further digging himself a hole in life and is trying to save him from himself.

You see, I didn't watch The Hidden Character (and those who did apparently recommend it stays that way). I didn't know any of these people before except those who were in Kinnporsche. And you know what that led me to? Curiously enough, dear reader: confusing Fuaiz with Perth. So, yeah, you know where this is going... White and Perth's character might be related. Brothers, probably.

"All because you think they look alike?" Well, if you ignore the way I just explained how it would tie some very loose ends... Yeah, kinda. BUT, in my defence, it makes a lot of genetic sense.

See, no other characters in the show really look this much alike. Believe me, I tested it.

For this purpose, I tried many different sites but the one that seemed to give me the most reliable results was FaceShape. Most characters got no more than 10%, some even got 0% (e.g. New and Perth's Character). And you wanna know how much White and Perth's character got? Nearly 50%.

For comparison reasons, New and Non who are CANONICALLY brothers, got about 30%.

BUT, if this is not convincing enough, my sister and I (who share EXACTLY the same 2 parents) got lower than them.

(pls ignore the picture, I was trynna make it as accurate as possible so I took a front pic with a neutral expression. also, my sister is censored for privacy reasons)

Now... Will I claim this is irrefutable proof? No. Not at all, but think about it: if White and Perth are related that might maybe explain how Tee and White met. It might also explain that really weird scene in the pre-release trailer (albeit all scenes in that are rather odd) where White-

Yes, thank you, Obi-Wan. And Anakin Tee is looking up at him, as if White has more power than Tee does. Because then, it could probably mean that White knows something and is probably there to do something. What exactly? Idk, man. He could be there to ensure the group remains clueless/confused or that they remain where they need to be for things to work... Or he could be there to try and prevent stuff from happening much to the likeness of what I stated for Perth's character's case.

"Oh, but if he knows something, wouldn't he know what happened to Non? Why would he be curious to watch the recording??"

Well, not necessarily. We know Non is not communicative and that he doesn't typically share his problems with anyone (the exception being Keng, obviously, but then again, the exception confirms the rule). And sure, Keng might be more talkative but idk if he would say something if Non asked him not to. I have a feeling he probably wouldn't (since he has that weird thing JJ mentioned about how he "loves Non" and, therefore, even if he's an abuser, he doesn't perceive himself that way and wouldn't do something he actively thinks would hurt Non). So, while Perth's character would know what happened to Non while he was being held by Tee's uncle and even some things about why he is there, he probably wouldn't know the rest.

But then why would he date Tee? Well, this is a narrative so... Foils are something that can happen. Having White and his relationship with Tee be a parallel to that of Phee and Jin is not weird and, in fact, has happened in the very first episode when both couples arrive at the room where the singles are, in pairs. Therefore, it wouldn't be weird to think of White as someone who maybe also fell in love with the guy that was supposed to be a means to an end or, alternatively, and perhaps more interestingly, have White NOT be in love with him and actually succeed, unlike Phee. Thus, drawing the comparison that, while Tee and White are in a relationship, White didn't fall in love and, inversely, while Phee and Jin aren't in a relationship, Phee did fall in love.

And this would mean that all we've seen of White's fear might, in fact, be an act to throw suspicion off of him. Or even more justified because he knows exactly what's lurking in the woods... After all, why would he suddenly join Jin's goodbye party if he's not a friend of Jin's? What reason better than to tag along your boyfriend's getaway with his friends if not to protect him from the terrible consequences of his actions?

But I get it. It's an extremely convoluted theory and, in all honesty, maybe makes the show more dull and boring if it's true because... Why would they repeat this "secret brother" twist? Or the dating with second intentions trope? It could be a narrative parallel, yes, but I can also definitely see how people could point that out as uncreative or lazy writing.

Either way: these thoughts were circling around my head and, before the next episode confirms or destroys them, I wanted to get them out into the world for y'all to, maybe, hopefully, join in on the hype for it, as it's less than 24h 'till it airs. Hope in that I was successful, at the very least.

Anyway... As usual feel free to (politely) argue with me, tell me I'm wrong, tell me I missed this and that, add to it, etc... Because if there's one thing I currently love more than DFF itself, it's definitely the fandom and I want us to make the most of it!!

I'll see y'all tomorrow when we're freaking out about episode 10!!!

All the love! 💜💜💜

[inthemaelstrom]

So we're about six weeks out from another "most important election of my lifetime" and it's predictably making me literally sick to my stomach. When Trumpacabra got elected in 2016, I threw myself into politics in a way I never had in my lifetime and it almost wrecked me. I was one of those people who never voted for religious reasons (long, separate story) and I felt I had to make up for lost time. By the time 2020 rolled around, I was an unhealthy mess. I had stopped reading. Everything. When I wasn't watching MSNBC and political commentators obsessively, I started consuming absolute junk TV: home improvement shows, crack paranormal ghost hunter crap, etc. Things with no plot, no emotional investment, no danger. No fear.

Right before the 2020 election, old fanfic friends from my days in the Master and Apprentice Star Wars listserv found me and saved me.

They dragged me back into fandom, introduced me to Discord, and got me writing again. I updated a story I hadn't touched in 5 years. I made new friends online and in RL. I got some great fiction and fic recs from those friends and discovered a subgenre called Hopepunk—low stakes fiction with very little if any violence and fear and with happy endings. (Becky Chambers writes a lot of what I read, and Amy Crook has also become a favorite.)

One morning, I had one of those really vivid, realistic, linear plot dreams that literally dragged me out of bed to the keyboard. It was a meet-cute modern au of The Phantom Menace's characters, set in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I cranked out about 2000 words the first day. Then another 2000. Then another 2000. Then another 2000. And so on every damn day for the next four years until I had four novels, about 668k words, several timestamps written by three other collaborators who've come on board, some beautiful art I've been allowed to use, and now a fifth book in the works.

This is the Yooperverse.

It's not just The Fic That Saved Me, it's the place where I'm writing a vision of what the world could be like into being. A place where people with fucking obscene amounts of money don't spend it on themselves, or hoard it, or exploit other people to get more, but use it to help other people. It's a place where people who are bigoted dicks either get their comeuppance and crawl back under their rocks, or learn better and do better. It's a place where abused kids get rescued, everybody gets therapy and healthcare and is paid a living wage, people learn to value themselves and each other, and protect each other and defend each other. It's kinky and queer (although I'm neither) and above all, if not entirely safe to be both, I'm trying to write both things as just being another setting on the dryer. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It's not a utopia, by any means, because there are still assholes and the government is still ... the government, and capitalism is still a thing. There's some danger, especially in the first book, and there are accidents and illnesses and the vagaries of life. In the middle of the series, I had spinal surgery and was out of commission for a few months and that made me start thinking more about my main character dealing with aging and the limitations thereof. There's a LOT of mental health issues and the working through thereof, and a lot of ongoing process. Nobody's perfect. The world outside is still pretty much what it is. But in the little corners where my characters dwell, life is pretty dang good, sometimes great.

It's a vision of a life we all deserve. It's the thing I loved about Star Trek's universe, where people's basic needs are cared for and the obstacles to them developing their best selves removed. It's what I've loved about science fiction in general, especially Ursula LeGuin's: that opportunity to explore possibilities that are better than the present. It's modeled on the MacArthur Genius grants, but you don't have to prove your worthiness first. My main character invests in people's potential, young or old, with scholarships and grants and a steadying hand. His partner builds low or no-cost housing for people in need. There's an informal network of queer and straight kid rescuing going on under the noses of unfriendly governments and failed social service safety nets. The main characters build refuges, literal and emotional. They love each other fiercely and respectfully.

Right now, we're living in a country that is almost the antithesis of these ideas, for far too many of us. People are being manipulated by their fears, which are stoked by unscrupulous, lying shitbag politicians whose all too real evil would never make it past the pitch if you were going to try to sell it as a TV show or movie. They're consciously turning us on each other with lies about our common humanity, about the state of our country, about who and what's responsible for many of its faults, sewing suspicion and hate. And though the Yooperverse started as my personal comfort fic, I'm trying in my very small way to counteract what's happening in the world right now.

I've always believed in the power of story to change people's minds and lives, and I've experienced it myself. When I talk about story, I don't just mean fiction, though. I mean the narratives we tell ourselves and others about our own lives as a whole and day by day or moment by moment. I mean the stories we tell about each other when we're together, at the bar, at wakes, at a party. I mean the stories we invest in as fans in whatever kind of media we consume. I mean the stories we spin for ourselves and others to explain what the everloving fuck is wrong with the world.

Stories aren't separate from the world, they are the world. They tell it into being. They give it shape and purpose and meaning and a sense of possibility. Whatever stories we tell ourselves or each other about how things should be or how we should act as human beings (also called our "beliefs" or "morals" or "ethics"), they shape us, and we shape society. We are society, both together and as individuals. One person with a big voice and a story can tip a mass of people into either violence or solidarity.

I have no illusions that the Yooperverse will ever have that kind of power. It has a tiny audience on AO3 and Discord and it's mostly written for me to explore the things I feel deeply about, and wish I could do, and to teach myself to be a better person and live up to my own ideals. It's a world I'd like to manifest, to call into being, even in a small way. Even if it's just a story.

[strengthsapprentice]

Asra x Reader Headcanon Dump (SFW)

It's been two years since I've actively read up on The Arcana but I still think about this man a lot. A LOT. So, here's how I think he'd be in a relationship.

Asra, deep down, is a touch starved lover. Very lovey dovey and is absolutely thrilled when you both adventure together

Oh? You think your flaws are too unloveable? He doesn't think so! You're not put on a pedestal because he thinks you're flawless, you're his partner because your flaws ARE what he adores.

Do you think this man cares about your body type? He's the furthest man from shallow anyone can be (I think this goes for like 5/6 main interests in The Arcana)

He's a little impatient, but that comes with learning in a relationship. He'll want to take things fast, but he knows a thing or two about letting you grow as a person first.

The title "Master" he's not a fan of as much, but he'll come up with any other sweet name for you!

I can imagine him getting very caught up in sweeping you off your feet that ANY time you return the chance to blow his mind? He's got puppy love all over again.

Neutral on marriage at first tbh, but would probably love any union ceremony with you! Whether it be actual marriage or a slow dance in a forest of magic.

Artists are his soft spot! Even if you're just beginning, he's so so madly in love with creation that he'll enjoy any time he spends with you in your own little worlds.

Please get Faust a friend. Please. Your familiars will have a bond so strong they act like a wholesome old married couple. Whether you get a fellow reptile or even something as big as an elephant!

Okay, Asra may not show how protective he is, but let's not forget what he's sacrificed for you already. You can count on him DEFENDING you with his very life. He can't lose you again.

His favorite game, if video games were a thing in this universe, would be Legend Of Zelda. Specifically Tears Of The Kingdom. No, he doesn't like Korok torture, but he adores puzzle solving. And the graphics have him MESMERIZED.

If you have a fursona, he'll make one with you. Man literally HAS a fursona at the ready, all he's got to do is make the fursuit- or, does the magic he use count as a fursuit-? I'll leave that up to you guys.

If you don't have an animal to ride on, you have a horse now. He brought you home a foal. That is your horse now.

[tuakaai]

Good morning people. Since Ep 3 review I have gone outside and touched grass trying to process the ending of the series. So here we go.

Ep 4

First of all. I knew it! I knew it was the dad that killed Ben!

Second of all, the episode was between boring and annoying.

Klaus is doing his completely separate thing from the entire group.

The main group, instead, is on the search for Ben

Which himself is having his own soap-opera

Meanwhile Jean and Gene spend the whole episode in a burger King

Ep 5 & 6

We all know what I'm gonna say...

Lila and Five is just a no, I'm not gonna go too deep on it.

We get to see the in-laws!

The entire cast is separated by duos with very little mixing and I don't like that. They feel so much less like a family than any other season. And I purely believe you could make a more united/mixed season by changing some characters arcs, for example Klaus's exclusion from the main plot!

I do agree that some characters are more independant during the entire series, like Viktor or Five (or Ben cos he hates the entire group). They can stay how they are. I like consistant characterization.

I also want to point out the butchering of female storylines this season. Especially regarding Jennifer and Lila.

Lila is a badass! She's a strong woman, confident in herself, doesn't wait for a no or yes to do something, independant, loving, crazy, stubborn, fun... She's all of it. And this season she's purely been used as Five's love interest. She went from punk to a cottage-core stay at home wife. We barely see her join any of Five's excursions outside the house, except for that last one where she effectively does nothing. Is it only crazy to me that the Lila that said "we're not giving up" has spent more than seven years in her domestic wife fase? And the only reason she is able to go back has been handed to her by Five while insisting she should stay cos he doesn't want to fix the apocalipse and that he's better than her "failed marriage"? She hasn't been given any agency, the writer has done whatever he wanted with her and just won't accept any criticism. He's literally made his fantasies cannon just cos he could.

And Jennifer? Much of the same. A romantic object to advance the plot. Do we know anything about her? No. Does she make her own choices besides sticking beside her oh so loved Ben? No. She's rescued when she has to be rescued, she's killed when she has to be killed, she's romanced just because. She takes no forefront, basically Ben's attachment!

Now, the ending

I don't care, I literally don't care. Is it shit? Very. But what are you supposed to do when you fuck up the entire season before it?

I don't mind the "we have to sacrifice ourselves for this to stop", but it has to be done well. With character arcs finished at the very least.

Also, are you telling me that if they didn't drink the marigold they could've literally throw it to Jennifer and it would've been sorted? And Viktor can remove the marigold from a person, can he not? (like in season 2 & 3)

Idk, I'm going crazy again

Anyway

Reginald should've died

Moon lady shouldn't have been included

A dance scene should've

Good night, can't wait for the fanfics.

[mellkellyismyhero]

Jonathan Stroud and Kipps

You know, as a kid reading Lockwood and Co., I LOVED Lucy, George, Lockwood, and Holly. They were all my age! Every time a new book came out I’d imagine Lucy was growing up with me.

But that meant that I didn’t have much of a connection with Kipps, who was kind of L&Co.’s punching bag (affectionate). I liked him, but I never loved him the way I loved everyone else.

Now, I’m older than L&Co. Reading the books and watching the show feels like revisiting my younger self. I was expecting to love the L&Co. trio dynamic- and I did! But one thing I really wasn’t expecting was my newfound appreciation for Kipps.

Jonathan Stroud’s decision to focus on Kipps’ transition from brilliant teen agent to terrified, washed-up adult... It didn’t speak to me as a kid because I was too busy identifying with how cool Lucy’s Talent was. But now that I’m in Kipps’ age range, I identify with Kipps a lot more over Lucy. I can’t really put it in words- this is probably going to be the first of many posts of me spewing emotions and love for Jonathan Stroud’s writing skill- but I’m going to try.

Minor Kipps-related spoilers for L&Co. books under the cut.

Kipps, in the show and books, is 20-22 years old. He’s college-aged. And he cannot do the one thing that he has trained his entire life for, and needs to adjust to that. As a kid, I just kind of saw that as the same kind of “kids rule, adults drool” thing that happens in all kids adventure stories. Can’t have the responsible adults ruining the kids’ fun!

But Kipps was unusual in that you get to SEE him go from ‘competent rival agent’ to ‘technically a useless adult’. He’s straddling the line in the way that other series, where kids get to have magic because they’re good and pure or whatever don’t.

The thing is, it would’ve been easy for Kipps to be forgotten. Just let him fade into the background and never be mentioned again after book 2. But he’s there in book 3, and 4, and 5, still doing his best to fight ghosts even if he can’t see them. As a kid, I was just like ‘huh, okay, that’s a choice’ and kind of ignored him. Who cares what Kipps is doing when Lucy and Holly are having an epic argument that’s going to bring a million ghosts down on their heads?

As an adult, I LOVE that Stroud chose to keep Kipps around. I love that Kipps found a new way to keep fighting (the goggles). I love that Kipps kind of became a member of Lockwood and Co. I love that Stroud made the readers and the characters confront the reality that one day our beloved main characters would lose their Talents too, that even Lucy would go deaf one day, instead of just ignoring the generous but very real time limit the characters had hanging over their heads.

(Side note: part of my love for this series might be stemming from my complicated feelings about the Seven Wonders book series, where a kid is told he has less than a year to live and will likely spend months in debilitating pain and then... spends that year fucking around looking for magical artifacts and not actually having any kind of physical consequences for LITERALLY HAVING A DEADLY ILLNESS-)

Anyway.

Kipps is fantastic. The way he represents the inevitable future of Lockwood and Co... the way he represents the thousands of other agents who grew too old to sense ghosts and couldn’t keep fighting even if they wanted to... the way that he tries so hard to keep the kids he’s in charge of alive but can’t because he’s only one person and he’s losing his Talent...

He’s going through such a major transition and doesn’t know what his place in the world is anymore, and honestly, what early-twenties person does? There’s something there about Talents and childhood trauma and taking your first few steps into adulthood without the tools that saved your life as a child because they don’t work anymore...

In conclusion: Kipps was an amazing character, and I’m sorry I didn’t appreciate him sooner.

[rorywritesjunk]

I can’t tell where the journey will end But I know where to start

Prequel to my Kid Buggy fic, set about 11-ish years before that story.

Buggy meets you by chance when he needs his buttons sewn back onto his jacket. He’s young, up and coming, and he thinks everyone should cower before him wherever he goes, but all you do is smile at him.

Rating: PG-13ish just for some swearing. Warning: Buggy is full of anxiety and insecurity about his relationship for the most part. Someone else shows up briefly but takes the rejection well. Mentions of harassment. Sunny loves Buggy. A/N: I think this main story is going to be about 20 some chapters? And then from then on it will just be any one-shot I think of for these two.

Title comes from “Wake Me Up” by Avicii.

TAGLIST: @lostfirefly @ane5e @kingofthemfingpirates @the-angriest-angel @tiredemomama @valen-yamyam16 @i-reblog-fics-i-like @plethora-of-fickleness @uhnanix

Chapter 1 + Chapter 2 + Chapter 3 + Chapter 4 + Chapter 5 + Chapter 6 + Chapter 7 + Chapter 8 + Chapter 9 + Chapter 10 + Chapter 11 + Chapter 12 + Chapter 13 + Chapter 14 + Chapter 15 + Chapter 16 + Chapter 17 + Chapter 18 + Epilogue

Chapter 13

You were nearing the end of the apprenticeship. Your life for the last 10 years was about to go into a different direction, something you didn’t anticipate, but you were looking forward to it. Gradually you packed away some of your things into a few bags while sorting things you could get rid of. It should have been an easy task but Benji was sitting on your bed one time after dinner, arms crossed as he watched you.

“You don’t have to go, you know.” He said as you packed away some of the dresses you made. “Miss Pins would keep you on full time.”

“I’m ready to leave, Benji.” You told him as you put your photos into layers of clothes to protect them. “Besides, it will allow Miss Pins to get another apprentice or two if I’m not here taking up space.”

“She can find room!” 

“Benji, the point is to leave and start my career elsewhere once I finish here.” You reminded him as you turned to look at him. “I’ve enjoyed working with you for the last few months, but now Miss Pins can focus on you for a while before another apprentice shows up.”

He made a face, not liking the sound of that. He liked having you around and he didn't want that to change. “Why do you wanna marry that clown anyway?”

You glared at him and sighed. “Don't call him that.”

“He's literally a clown.” Benji said, gesturing to his nose. “It honks, doesn't it?”

“Benji, don't be mean. He's sensitive about his nose, okay?” You said, sounding a bit frustrated. “He already got embarrassed by the two previous apprentices about it and I don't want to hear it from you as well. I don’t care if you don't like him but do not make fun of him like that.”

Benji huffed and looked away. “Fine. He smells, though. If you marry him you're marrying a stinky pirate.”

“I can deal with that.”

“What if he mistreats you?”

“He won't, Benji.” You said. “That's not in his nature.”

“But you barely know him!” Benji exclaimed. “You haven't known him that long and you're marrying him!”

“Everyone is different! Love happens differently for people and I can see myself spending the rest of my life with him. It's not going to be all roses and rainbows, you know, just like any relationship.” You told him, growing annoyed by his questions. “We’ll get to know each other just like any couple and have our ups and downs, but I love that goofy pirate and we are getting married.” You closed one of your bags and sighed. “He’s very sweet, you know? Everyone else just looks at him and thinks he's some… clown, not taking anything seriously, but he does.”

“You should have gone on a date with that one pirate, the one who didn't wear a shirt.” Benji muttered. “He was handsome.”

“Why don't you marry him once you're old enough then?” You snapped. “You have no idea what it's been like being a girl working in a town full of pirates. Most don't care who you are or what you do, they just see a pretty girl and think “easy target”. All Buggy did when I helped him with his coat was pay me too much. Never made crude comments or advances. And he came around for silly little things after a while but he never made me feel uncomfortable.”

Benji frowned, listening to what you said. “Does that happen?”

“Yes. Every apprentice I knew while I was here went through it. We all had countless men trying to convince us to come with them, or in my case, that… man with the scar and cigar telling me to marry him.” You shuddered when you thought back to seeing him again. “It's difficult to deal with, okay? So I'm choosing to marry who I want and that's Buggy.”

Benji sat back, thinking about what you said. That man had been scary, and Benji thought himself to be pretty tough, but when he locked eyes with him he was truly scared. Buggy, on the other hand… Benji had no reason to fear him. He found the pirate to be more pathetic or ridiculous than anything, but he kind of got why you'd choose Buggy over anyone else. 

“I still think it's weird.” He mumbled. “Marrying someone you barely know.”

“Well, it's a good thing I'm choosing to do it and not being forced, you know?” You replied as you packed the last bag for the evening. “I'm happy with Buggy.”

“Hmph.” Benji crossed his arms and looked away from you. “Fine, but if I get word that he's made you unhappy, I'll hunt him down.”

You chuckled softly and shook your head. “If I'm ever unhappy, you'll be the first to find out, okay?”

“Good.”

~

You had just a few days left and time was moving slow. Some customers came in, requesting you fulfill their orders, and that meant you had to work faster than normal. It also meant telling Buggy you needed a few days to finish those orders, which he took as well as you expected.

“You don't want me around?!” He demanded as you sat at the table with your sewing tools. 

“I didn't say that.” You said firmly as you worked on an order, fixing tears in the sleeves of a jacket. “All I said was that I'm going to be busy, Buggy. I’m not available for the next few days.”

“But-”

“After I'm finished with these orders, you can have me all to yourself to do whatever you want.” You said as you looked up at him. He stared at you, cheeks turning pink as his brain interpreted what you said. You tried not to roll your eyes at that. “You can come by but I have to work.”

He grumbled softly before taking a seat at the table next to you, arms crossed as he watched you work. You reached over and placed your palm against his cheek; he leaned into your touch and looked at you with big eyes. 

“You're so cute, Buggy.” You smiled before leaning over to peck him on the lips. He was already a bit of a distraction, just sitting there looking at you, but you could handle it. “Maybe Miss Pins has some work you can do.”

“I'm fine sitting here.” He said, scooting his chair closer to you. “I wanna watch you work.”

Shaking your head you went back to sewing. Buggy settled down, leaning towards you as he closed his eyes. You had peace and quiet for only five minutes until the shop door opened and someone entered. Your eyes widened just for a moment when you saw who it was.

“Captain Kuro!” You smiled as you got up to greet him. Buggy opened his eyes and turned to look at who came in.“How nice to see you again.”

When the captain turned around to face you, Buggy's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Who was this guy and how did you know him? You were smiling quite a bit as you approached him, touching one of his gloves hands while Buggy stared at the two of you. There was a wave of jealousy followed by insecurity that hit Buggy as he watched the well dressed captain kiss your hand. 

This was like that handsome swordsman situation all over again.

“How are you doing, captain? Are you here to have work done?” You asked as you brushed off a few flecks of dust from his sleeve. “I should let you know, I don't think I can take anymore work on. I'll be ending my apprenticeship in a few days.”

“Is that so? Then I suppose my showing up is good timing.” 

You looked at him curiously as he took your hand in yours. You could feel Buggy's eyes on you as Kuro kissed your hand again; surprisingly Buggy remained quiet as he watched what was unfolding. 

“I thought I would ask if you'd like to join me for lunch?” Kuro asked.

That wasn't the reason you were expecting to see him. Admittedly you were surprised by his question, but you withdrew your hand from his, still smiling politely as you gestured to the ring on the chain that hung around your neck.

“I would love to, but my fiancee would be upset.” You told him as you glanced over at Buggy. He was glaring at the two of you from his chair but hadn't moved from it. “We got engaged a few months ago.”

Kuro’s eyes flickered in Buggy's direction, giving him a look over before he turned back to you with a tight smile. “Is that so? Then congratulations must be in order.”

“Ah, thank you.” You smiled. “I'm happy to see you again, Captain, and I'm sorry I won't be able to do any work for you.”

“Sometimes things aren't meant to be.” He kept looking over at Buggy, taking in his appearance. Wrinkled and dirty clothes, messy hair, scuffed shoes, and he hadn't bathed in a week so he was dirty in general. Kuro turned his nose up before smiling thinly at you. “I'll see you again sometime, Miss Sunny.”

“Oh, okay, bye.” You watched as he left, but not before giving Buggy one more look over. Once the door was closed you sighed and went back to the table, looking down at Buggy who looked ready to snap. “Are you okay?”

“Me? I'm fine.” He said through clenched teeth. “Just fine. Who wouldn't be after watching their fiancee get slobbered on by some other man?”

“Ew, Buggy.”

“You let him do that! Why? Why did you let him keep kissing your hand?!”

“Because that's just how he's always treated me.” You told him as you touched his shoulder carefully. He jerked away, glaring up at you, but then he looked down, taking in his own appearance as he thought of how the other pirate was dressed. Why would you be with someone like him when there were others like Kuro? It was hard not to compare himself to the others and his mind started to go into a downward spiral, thinking he didn't deserve you, you should be with someone better than him, but you had put a hand on his shoulder while the other went to his cheek, turning him to face you. “Hey, Buggy, don't.”

He tried to look away but you wouldn't let him. You turned him to look at you. “I'm marrying you because you're the one I want to be with, honey.”

“Yea, but-”

“There's no ‘buts’ with my feelings for you.” You said. “I don't want you to think someone is going to come along and take me away from you because it won't happen.” And Buggy still didn't look convinced so you leaned down to kiss him, feeling him relax a bit. “I'm going to marry you so please don't worry, Buggy.”

“But…”

“No buts.” You told him firmly. “I want to and if you still want to then we will, okay?”

“W-What?! Of course I want to!” Buggy exclaimed. “Why would you think I wouldn't?!”

“No reason.” You said with a smile as you leaned down to kiss him once more. That seemed to snap him out of his funk. He was glaring up at you as he took your hands in his.

“I’ll make you the happiest wife, Sunny.” He told you. “I promise.”

[akookminsupporter]

It's incredible frustrating to see the narrative shift from " mhj doing illegal shit with hybe having literal proof of it" to " apparently hybe is now in a cult and bts is at the center of it because reasons"?? Mhj dropping names left and right and getting their respective fandoms riled up against each other but more importantly against bts because we all know kpop fans don't care about anything else other than bashing on bts :) we have literal fans of disbanded groups crawling out of holes to try to insert themselves into this whole mess just so they can make a tweet about bts when their groups haven't been active for literal years. Saying bts paid their way to the top but then they kept saying bts will never succeed because they can't even afford to pay their producers.. so which is it :) I've met a lot of people in my life but nobody was as fucking stupid, dense, ignorant and sometimes borderline racist as kpop fans. And I know our fandom does the same and I'm not saying we don't have people like that. But holy fuck. Kpop fans are truly some of the stupidest people on earth.

BTS shouldn't even be in this mess in the first place if it wasn't for mhj name dropping them and admitting that shaman story. It took me a long time to realise that it was indeed a true story and not just some fabricated story because holy fuck who in their right mind does that. We literally had everything from accusing them of every single possible thing that is known to men to bighit going to court for them just because some people can't accept the PAST 10 YEARS. Like these hate campaigns are literally insane and if everyone could just take 5 seconds to think about them, we wouldn't be here: I mean imagine if Taylor swift or Beyonce or Coldplay had to go to court to prove that they didn't do illegal shit. But because it's BTS everyone just dismisses it with "oh they are very famous it's to be expected" and moves on. Meanwhile it's not to be expected and it's literally insane that some people are running these hate campaigns against 7 real life existing literal living breathing people and so many people don't even bat an eye.

Apparently the k-gp is siding with mhj rn because the overworked and tired office workers resonate with her sticking up to her boss - while she's also a literal CEO and reportedly has been horrible to her employees? Okay I guess.

I have my own problems with hybe and bighit and bang pd, I have A LOT of problems with them so I don't want to sound like someone who is siding with the company, but holy fuck can we just get back to the main point? Which is mhj doing illegal shit ?? And leave BTS and le sserafim and seventeen and txt and I don't fucking know who else out of this? I'm not even a fan of any of them and I have half of their fandoms blocked for stupid shit but they have nothing to do with this issue and still get dragged into this.

I sincerely hope bighit sues everyone.

THIS IS CRAZY? And why is BTS ALWAYS THE BAD GUY?! WTF?

Im so fucking tired of Kpoppies 🤬🤬🤬🤬

[sarascamander]

If you love Kit and Ty, you HAVE to read the Adventure of Holloway Holmes — it gives the EXACT VIBE of KitTy. I'm not even kidding. We have two wannabe sleuths absolutely pining for each other, crimes to solve, amazing banters, and just so much more! One of the similarities:

1. The main character is Jack Moreno who Kit wished he was. I LOVE KIT but Jack stole my heart in a way he didn't lmao. They both are sarcastic, hilarious, independent and undeniably in love with their partner in crime. Honestly, being in Jack's head is one of the best experiences of my love. It's so fun!

I wanted to close my eyes. I wanted to smack my head against the steering wheel. Off the top of my head, I could make a list: some fairly good weed, a lot of addies, condoms (not that those were illegal), unopened vapes (those were), this rare tentacle porn manga that Ty Bryce had paid me for but asked me to hold on to. After I got out of prison in thirty years, I already knew, Dad was going to make me have a super awkward sex talk.

2. And Holmes aka H (as Jack fondly nicknamed because Holloway Holmes is such a posh name in his humble opinion) is so precious!!!! I want to wrap him in a blanket burrito even though he is actually capable of breaking my arm without blinking. But god! Someone needs to take care of him. Although it's never been specified in the book, I'm 80% sure he's autistic. Either that or he was badly abused (which he was). He reminded me of Ty by the way he speaks and acts.

I examined his face. Then I gave him a smile. He was doing a Holmes thing, not looking me in the eye, so I moved my head until he was. This was something we’d been working on.

3. You know how Kit will suddenly drift to a paragraph of how beautiful Ty is? Well, Jack Moreno might give Kit a run for his money (he's so obsessed with H's knuckles and the thousands of shades of gold in his hair, it's embarrassing)

He made a frustrated noise. Then he smiled. The expression was a little stiff; he wasn’t used to doing it, and it was another of those things that he was self-conscious about. I’d read about people who get up at two or three in the morning—on vacation, no less, when they’re in Hawaii—and then they drive hours and hours, and all of it is to see the sunrise from this one specific spot, and I thought, Come to Utah if you want something worth your time

Context: they're in Utah. Jack basically said that Holmes' smile is prettier than the sunrise!! 😩

4. Their relationship is literally so pure and one of the things that get me insane about them is their communication!! They always worked hard to communicate with each other and sort things out it's so satisfying to read!!

“I lied,” Holmes said, but he still wasn’t looking me in the eye. “I am angry with you.” “I guessed.” “I don’t want to do this right now.” “It’s good practice."

5. Their banter is *chef kiss*

“I’ll tell him it’s a sex thing.” “Good,” Holmes said. “He’ll be pleased that all your hours of mindless pornography are finally paying dividends.” My jaw legit dropped. “H!” “Desk, please.” “That was so amazingly bitchy.” “Desk.” “And, like, also kind of evil. Which I loved.”

And there are literally hundreds of reasons to read this trilogy if you are craving for Kit and Ty. And although their vibes are similar, they are also their own people. And words can't say how much I adore them. The story and relationship is really beautifully written. I honestly don't care much about the crime but I'm obsessed with these two

Some of my favourites quotes:

He sat there in silhouette, head down. I knew the curve of his spine. I knew the span of his shoulders. Anywhere, I thought. I could be anywhere and know you

“You are my soul, Jack Moreno. I do not know why John Watson wrote his stories that way, why he wrote himself so small, when he was so much more. I do not think I will ever understand. But I do not want to know what I would be without you.”

I knew that he was something more than me, something vast and wonderful that I could only touch the edges of. But for someone like me, the edge was enough—just a glimpse was enough. And, more importantly for right now, I knew what he sounded like when he’d been hurt, the quality of his breathing, because I’d hurt him in a way few people ever had. Which was why, in those rare midnight hours when I could be honest with myself, I knew it was better this way, as friends. Because I didn’t deserve him

“But he was so much more. Sherlock Holmes was a brilliant detective, Jack. He would have been that regardless of other circumstances. But he was a good man—he was a happy man—because of John Watson.”

“What do you say to that, I wanted to know. What am I supposed to say? What do you want me to say? But what I was really asking was, How am I supposed to do this again? I barely survived the first time; what am I supposed to do when you leave me again?”

I had seen, this spring, jacaranda blossoms so pale they were almost blue, trembling with the breath of the mountains. I had seen, when I'd been twelve, a foil of goldfinches flocking against the crushed dusk. I had seen a shooting star once, thinning across the sky like combed silver. And I had seen Holloway Holmes smile.

There's so much but I don't want to spam so I really hope you give it a try!!

[charmixpower]

Okay, so Selina the earth fairy as an antagonist

S6 did this by, for some insane reason, by making Selina Bloom's childhood friend who's always had magic which doesn't work on literally every level. So I'm going to try and come up with some ideas that make parts of it work

Selina the earth fairy that was taught by Eldora:

Tbh this is the easiest option

Selina is an earth fairy from the old days along with Eldora. During the WotBC attempted wiping out of all magic users they fled to Tir Na Nog and live under Morgana and Nebula

The Legendarum is a book created by ancient Faries that Selina's family has been in charge of caring for for generations

When the fairies of vengeance are released Selina is soooo excited to help kill the Wizards and the Winx, and their leader Bloom take their revenge away from them by complaining that they shouldn't be allowed to kill the people that tried to WIPE THEM OUT

Selina is pissed, and her teacher Eldora, the woman that saved her life, going on about how forgiveness is the way isn't helping

Season 5 teaches her about the rest of the magical dimension, season 5 teaches her about the Trix

The Trix are blinded by their desire for revenge and make the perfect pawns. They don't care what they lose as long as the winx don't win

And Selina assures them, the Winx will not win

Selina the earth fairy that was Bloom's friend:

This one is a very elegant solution me thinks and it's the FUN one.

Selina and Bloom are childhood friends and the main targets for Mitzi's bullying. Bloom has kind parents, Selina does not, and for eight hours a day they have to listen to people talk badly about them. Mitzi never puts hands on them but they're social pariah's and deal with constant verbal harassment and false accusations

First year of highschool is more of the same and Selina is prepared for it to be them against the world again in their second year, and then Bloom never comes to class

Selina is alone to deal with the bullying she at least had a confidant in Bloom to at least tolerate it with, and now she's alone

Mitzi tells everyone that Bloom was sent to a school that caters to the mentally ill to finally convince the 16 year old that fairies aren't real, and Selina makes things worse for herself by defending Bloom

They text each other, not often and Bloom won't tell her what new school she's going to but they still text. Selina comes over when Bloom goes back to earth (and goes home before the Trix show up)

And then the next year Bloom goes to Mitzi's Halloween party with her new, cool, pretty, friends. Bloom excitedly tells her about it, she's finally going to make Mitzi the butt of the joke and all Selina can think is that she's been replaced

That's not fair though? Bloom is allowed to be happy at her new school so she bites her tongue and pushes down her resentment and rejects Bloom's offer to come with

Next year is...fine. Bloom comes to her graduation party, and she's a bit mopey that she didn't graduate with honors like her new friends but is over all more excited to hear about Selina's college plans. Bloom goes on a trip in the middle of summer and comes back glowing because "the mistake in my grades was fixed and now I have honors!" And it sounds like a lie but Selina doesn't bother calling her out on it. I mean? What if she's telling the truth

Then season 4 happens, and then it's revealed that Bloom is a fairy

Not only did Bloom replace her with better, prettier friends, but she also lied to Selina about being a fairy. Lied to her face about everything related to magic because apparently Bloom never trusted her

And Selina burns with resentment

Selina stops responding to Bloom's texts and avoids her. Everyone asks Selina if she knew, if Bloom told her, who those aliens are, and all Selina has is half truths from the stories Bloom spun her to respond with

Seeing Mitzi become a fairy, unaware of the dead magic that run though her, unaware that the power Mitzi was given comes with a price no one should have to pay, Selina is furious. Incandescent

Magic returned to earth and Selina can float small objects. She's one of the few people that after the earth's magic core was repaired gained magic and she's on the bottom of the scale of power in a group categorized by how they're not as strong as those who can use magic without the core

Hatred fills her lungs like smoke

Season 5 Selina sticks to herself. Bloom usually isn't on earth like she was last year and this Diaspro chick who came from a different planet to help earth get caught up with the rest of the dimension is on the TV all the time talking about Bloom. Selina hates the fact that this woman who met Bloom though a knock-down drag-out fight knows Bloom better than Selina ever did

Did Bloom ever think of her as a real friend?

(Bloom couldn't take the one person that was her friend though all of that calling her a liar, she comes to regret this)

Eventually, while stumbling around the woods, far away from faces that could mock and lie to her she stumbles across a book. The Legendarum. It promises her power, Bloom's regret, importance. All she has to do is open it, anyone with magic can, her strength doesn't matter with the Legendarum doing the work for her

How could she ever refuse?

[caffeine-clouds]

What Your Favourite Sonic Ship Says About You! (Part 1)

(Sonamy, Sonadow, Sonally) FULL DISCLAIMER: Shipping is a hot topic of debate, but this post is lighthearted fun! I'm a multi-shipper, I love most of these ships - and I can see why some people like the dynamics that I might not. This is not a bashing post, this is fun time. So, without further ado- Sonamy

You appreciate the simpler things in life. You decided to ship the protagonist with the main girl character just like 90% of all media writers, it's just what you're comfortable with. In terms of fanfiction tropes, do you happen to enjoy childhood sweethearts, meet-cutes, soulmates - that type of thing? I just had a feeling... Either way, you're just here for the cute vibes and the pining - and who can blame you? You probably really liked the fact that when you first came across the ship that it was the girl of the pair being the one so forward with her romantic feelings. But as time has gone on - you're either one of those people that really miss that side of Amy, or you're one of those that are so dang grateful they've toned her down. Either way, it's safe to say that this is one of the most vanilla of Sonic ships - and that's not an insult, vanilla is a good ice cream flavour. But no one is really going to fight you on your opinion other than the 5% of remaining toxic Sonally shippers, and those people that are somehow still living in the Sonic Heroes era. Sonadow

You saw that Sonic and Shadow's rivalry has been going on for far longer than 7 years, so it must be gay - and honestly, I can't fault your logic. You're a sucker for two disasters who can't express their feelings, and you have just determined that fighting is simply their love language. Even with Shadow's limited screen time in Prime, you suck every single dang crumb you're given like a vacuum. And by the way, you definitely have an Ao3 account - don't try and hide it. We already know you're a sucker for enemies/rivals to lovers... and I'd also wager you enjoy just-one-bed. Also you like that thing where characters constantly call each other by a nickname, and only end up calling them by their actual name during a confession scene or when one of the characters is seriously injured. I dunno, just had a hunch you'd like that sort of thing. You are debating between two sides of yourself - part of you wants Shadow's old characterization back where he was a more in-depth character and showed Sonic more respect, but part of you also loves how so damn obsessive Shadow is in modern games over Sonic and how much he wants to fight him - because that at least implies that Sonic is on Shadow's mind literally most of the time. But when all is said and done, this is vanilla when it comes to gay ships in the Sonic community. It's too damn easy, it's why it's the most popular Sonic ship on Tumblr. This ship was made for the LGBTQ+ community. Sonally

Opposites attract is your go-to, and it's been tried and tested - the formula works, I see it. You strike me as the person who really cares about canon material, and you tend to steer away from a lot of fanon. I also have a strong feeling you're a Sonic fan that's on the older side, back when SatAM and Archie were at their peak and considerably more popular. It's a ship with all the things you need to be happy - the characters have a deep, long-lasting bond, it's a sweet ship, and the two have constrasting personalities - so it doesn't get stale for you. You're probably into similar tropes as the Sonamy shippers - but you enjoy more drama and spice to your fanfics, and you won't shy away from angst - Archie loved its angst, I know you enjoyed that shit. You're either content with all the Sonally content you've gotten over the years, and will occassionally look at fanarts. Or you're one of those people who will not let the Archie comics go, you are still in denial - you are begging for Sally's return into the series and you're hoping now that Ian Flynn is writing for the games, that your dreams might just become a reality.

[stickthisbig]

Sooo the biggest positive news in my life right now: I came out as nonbinary at work!

I had a whole thing here but it got really personally identifiable. Read more instead.

Anyway the upshot is that while some people in my organization have known since like 2019, my supervisor and our boss found out (with my consent) I guess about 6 months ago? And I finally couldn't take it anymore, so I ended up coming out to my boss. I've been really nervous about it and not really knowing how things would go, because I live in a very conservative area and my boss, even though he is very liberal, is a very religious person.

But we were at an event, and the only other openly non-binary person in our organization referred to me as they, and I had this moment of, oh I could have this all the time, and it wouldn't feel like a knife was being stuck in my ear all day.

So I came out! My boss was super supportive, and he would have been totally behind me if I had wanted to make an announcement or put my pronouns in my email signature or whatever. Honestly I felt really valued and really respected? And I'm really grateful that this is what happened.

So here are my two main takeaways:

1. I was going to say that I am very lucky that this is what happened, and I am very lucky. I live in a very conservative area, and many employers, including other organizations like mine, would have just found a way to fire me. But the reason that it happened like it did was really because I have maintained a commitment to being as authentic as possible. When I started it was still legal for an employer to fire you for being queer. (We are also an at will state, so you can get fired for literally anything, but we're all given additional protections.) I refused to go to work for an employer where I couldn't be out. And I am lucky that such an employer still exists in this area, but I'm the one who made this happen.

2. I didn't know how much being misgendered upset me until I wasn't as much anymore. I knew that I didn't like it, but the psychic weight of hearing myself referred to incorrectly over and over every day was just so much worse than I thought it was. I was so upset about it that I was trying to convince myself that I had never been nonbinary the first place, but it turns out that when people like actually respect your personhood, shit gets way easier. I've found it also it stops misgendering outside of work from hurting so badly? I am a workaholic, it is just part of my personality, I will find a way to do it no matter where I work, I spend way more time with my coworkers than my friends or my family. Having that space where I can just sort of breathe for a minute has really helped me handle the fact that like I will probably never be able to gender myself correctly in front of our partner organizations. What do I care if the Yoknapatawpha County Board of Supervisors calls me ma'am, they suck out loud anyway.

So I literally never thought I was going to reach this point, but I am so glad that I did, and despite the fact that I feel not great because of a bunch of other stuff that's going on, that piece of it has made my burdens just a little bit lighter. A+ do recommend even if it takes you 5 years

[lady-byleth]

YTTD does something really really interesting with the Sara/Keiji dynamic that I absolutely adore: namely that whenever it - or specifically Keiji's side in it - is questioned, the game itself provides the answers without directly stating them

In chapter 1 we all sat there like "why is this whole ass adult who is 10 years older than Sara and, allegedly, a fucking COP, putting this literal 17 year old wannabe samurai in charge of their survival?"

Chapter 2 reveals he can literally see what's going on inside a person at as little as a glance, an ability he inadvertently teaches Sara to emulate. So obviously he'd put the person with the coolest head in charge, even if it's a high school student, cuz he doesn't trust himself for shit. At first it's, as Kai says, cuz she and Joe can vouch for each other but once he gets to know and can start to read her? She's the boss now.

Does he actually trust her or is he just using her? Chapter 2 comes in with the steel chair of "oh he doesn't trust her cuz he doesn't trust himself, but he WANTS to trust her and he genuinely cares for her. Look how he tries to keep her hallucinations in check cuz he understands this situation, look how he opens up to her after realising he hurt her, look how he is literally putting his life in her hands by giving her the Keymaster". Like, yeah, he's not someone who can trust easily, and he definitely started this game using her, but he's clearly making an effort when he doesn't have to and the game doesn't need to spell it out to make it obvious.

The plan didn't require for Sara to have the Keymaster, they just have to know where it is, but he hands it to Sara. "This is my life, please take good care of it". Especially poignant after Sara told him that getting someone to trust you requires trusting them first. He hurt her by showing he doesn't trust her but she's made it clear she does trust him and now he wants to earn that trust by giving her his own, no matter how hard that is for him.

Why does he still constantly lie to her? Cuz Sara can't lie for shit, he says so himself, the game shows it constantly. "Do you have the sacrifice?" "*most obvious reaction on the fucking planet*" She literally can't lie if her life depends on it so he does it for her. She can't lie about something she doesn't know the truth of and he's very good at lying.

Oh no, there's ONE human from Asunaro in the group?! The thing they've been afraid of since the first floor has been confirmed on floors 4 and 5?! It can't be Kai anymore, he's dead. It can't be Q-taro, he's way too open about his orphanage being managed by Asunaro. Reko or Alice? Yeah, unlikely. Gin or Kanna/Sou? Yeah, get real. That leaves Keiji, right? WRONG. It's Hinako, and cuz Floor Masters can't lie, there is now NO humans from Asunaro within the group.

Does he actually care about her or just her ability to save them? Well, first off, during the Sub-Game, if you loose Spirit Shutter with him he tries to get the dolls to kill him first. Then during the doll house he risks his and Q-taro's plan for the Banquet two times for Sara and chooses death for her.

After Ranmaru's fake announcement he abandons all stealth to make sure she's safe and his freak out over her falling unconscious was not faked. And then during the Banquet he risks exposing himself by trying to reassure her over the radio. Both of these are profoundly idiotic things to do if his main goal was to keep as many alive as possible. It's not tho, he's out to protect Sara above all and what happens to him in that doesn't matter.

Not to mention that Ranmaru accusing him of being the reason Sara is there in the first place is the one time he completely drops the blasé act cuz doing something to hurt Sara is something he just can't see himself do.

And full disclosure, I doubt he is even cognizant that he's slipped into this. He saw her cry once and then all bets were off, big brother/dad mode engage, all hands on deck, baby girl must be protected at a costs.

Hell, he would rather die by extremely painful execution than let Sara live with the guilt of killing Gin for him. And, being the Curious Cat that I am, I have tried to do just that to see what happens. The answer is, nothing happens. You can try multiple times and Keiji will stop Sara from going through with it every single time. At that point he has no idea he's actually safe because Q-taro's in his coffin, but he calmly tells Sara that it's okay. He literally chooses death to keep her hands clean.

And that the most manipulative members of the cast make it a point to mention again and again how precious Sara is to him, and that it's also mentioned multiple times that he's the one Sara trusts the most is another can of worms all together.

The only times Midori's manipulations of Sara actually affect her enough to waver are because he threatens Keiji to get to her and if no one had interfered - Ranmaru first and Keiji the last time - it would have ended badly for her in more ways than one.

It just gets me that despite everything, the trust issues and lies and fear, Sara and Keiji are a package deal now, basically were a package deal the moment they met

And I absolutely adore them

Thank you for coming to my tedtalk

[just-thoughts-no-vibes]

Every day I think about how the Legend of Korra Season 4 could have been one of the best parts of the entire Avatar franchise if the main villain wasn't a new big evil, but already established issues that should have been dealt with long ago.

Ever since the original series, the authors have presented the Earth Kingdom as a place that even without war has a million problems because it's ruled by incompetent monarchs who do not care about the people and whose lack of interest is used by other parts of this corrupt machine.

We have seen how great the class difference is in all parts of the kingdom, especially in Ba Sing Se, how the army treats civilians, how they are willing to send children to war, how the most powerful force in the kingdom can betray its people in a second, how the queen enslaves her people believing they belong to her, how the prince won't lift a finger to help his people, how the king won't even listen to the peasants until the Avatar threatens him, and much more.

In addition to the problems in the Earth Kingdom, we have also seen the problem of apathy coming from other world leaders who have turned their backs on a country that has fallen into chaos. No one except Tenzin lifted a finger to help in any way. They sent no money, no medical or military aid. Their fix was putting an 18-year-old in charge and leaving her to do everything herself.

Two things specifically catch my eye. The only man who actually tried to do something is a member of a nation that has no material resources, no army, and has just begun to recover from the genocide. On the other hand, the leader of the ex-Fire Nation colony that was never given back to the Earth Kingdom didn't provide any help for the said kingdom. The only thing he did was ask a super-rich person to do something, she said no, and he was like oh well too bad. Also yes, I have a problem with Suyin in this situation, not because she refused to be a temporary leader, but because she had the means to help and chose to do nothing. It would be one thing if she were a regular civilian who couldn't do much, but she is not. She is literally among the top 5 richest people in the world, a ruler of the only province in the kingdom that wasn't affected by the death of the queen, and has a metal-bending army that is acknowledged worldwide. Yet, I don't remember her doing anything to help, be it just sending some funds.

Basically, there are so many issues surrounding the Earth Kingdom and Season 4 was the IDEAL time to talk about them. The setup was perfect: the country is in chaos, the avatar can't help, the richest layer of society does nothing, the only world ruler who tries to help is the air nomad, and everyone is okay with the throne being taken by a spoiled prince who doesn't care about the duties of a king.

And just think how much more interesting Kuvira would be in this scenario. I always saw her being a villain as a cheap way to say "Oh look! She is awful! Now you have to ignore everyone else being bad because she is the REAL bad guy!". And to be completely honest, taking into account her backstory, the way she was raised in Zaofu, the fact that she genuinely wanted to help, a lot of things that were said about her by other characters, and the way she surrendered and acted in Ruins of the Empire, it's completely out of place for her to be a villain. She would work just perfectly as a character who is easy to villainize but is not actually evil. She could have been used to criticize the monarchy and the world leaders while also questioning Avatar's place in the world. Literally everyone would benefit from her being a villain: monarchs who don't want to be seen in a bad light because of her reign, world leaders who don't want to be perceived as bad because they did nothing while a teenage girl risked her life every day to do the job, Suyin who turned a blind eye on suffering and ultimately abandoned Kuvira to do everything herself, and Korra who needs to prove she is still useful even if Kuvira was the one taking care of everything.

With Kuvira as a villain, they don't have to work on themselves and their policies, they don't need to change anything, and the status quo remains. But if Kuvira wasn't a villain, but a character that people want and need to be evil, then we could truly look into the core of the problem, that is, the system itself. The world would be forced into radical changes, or at least the beginning of them. The government would be questioned like never before, the richest would be seen for what they really are, and the Avatar wouldn't be able to just beat a new villain and thus regain importance but would have to adapt to the needs of this new world.

But hey, it's easier to make a villain because of whom we simply can't concentrate on the cardinal mistakes of other characters, than actually criticize the system that is the problem. It was cowardly of the authors and I have to say it's really icky that a character who wanted to retrieve colonized land was evil.