#it's fanned fiction. we are all ooc by definition

[greenerteacups]

Have you ever considered Draco x Ginny as a pairing? I’m a Dramione fan through and through, BUT I do recall a few Drinny fics I read back on the ole fanfiction.net (nearly a decade + ago) that I did enjoy, much like Drarry. Ooh! And Druna!

I’m absolutely positive that if you have any thoughts on Drinny or Druna, what you think of their possible dynamics, what would or wouldn’t work for you when it comes to your interpretations of the characters, etc, I’d love to read them.

I don't ship Draco with anyone but Hermione, and I haven't read any Drinny or Druna, but I'm a pretty chill shipper — I'm not opposed to reading something outside the boundaries of my taste, I just don't go looking for it. Well-written is well-written, you know?

Draco and Ginny is probably equivalently likely to happen as Draco and Hermione is, if you're going by canon — but Ginny's romance with Harry always felt more natural to me than Hermione's with Ron, which is possibly why I'm less eager for them to break up. Do I see it for them long-term? No, but then, I don't for most of the endgame DH couples; I think they date for like, 4 years, break up amicably, and remember each other fondly down the line as each other's first love. Likewise, with Hermione and Ron. (I think they take longer to break up because they're more stubborn, and they take forever to admit feelings AND forever to admit failure, both of which is tacit in a breakup, and I think they're more awkward around each other post-breakup, but it's still amicable.)

To swerve back onto something resembling a topic, I would say that Draco in canon is a sort of slate you can inscribe various iterations of the fanon character onto; so you might as well pair him with whatever person scratches the itch caused by your specific brainworms.

[mindibindi]

⭐(Re)Visit a Classic XF Fic [7/7]⭐

So, as part of The X files 30th anniversary celebrations, I took it upon myself to highlight some of the AMAZING authors I first read in this fandom. They were a HUGE part of my experience of watching the show during it's original run. For shippers, the original run was a marathon in faith, frustration and endurance. We were judged, dismissed, ridiculed and gaslit throughout. But in fandom, we found solidarity, and in fanfic, we found solace. (AND we won in the end, so THERE).

As a retired author, I also have a vested interest in pleading the case of older writers. Fanfic archives are libraries, not social media sites. Don't just read whatever comes up most recently in your feed. Search. Discover. Explore. Experiment. Yes, there are some differences in older fanfic culture that are evident in these seven recs. Characters may be understood differently in their original context, narrative style may also differ (more 1st/2nd person address that even addresses the reader directly), there may also be less clear trigger warnings and fewer opportunities for feedback/community. I know we all love AO3 and are grateful for its good works. But don't forget that there are other avenues through which to explore fanfiction.

For this final rec, I want to return to the first author I rec-ed. I urge you to check out her other works. The characters are sometimes a little overwrought or OOC but even when they are, her stuff is tremendously messy, sexy and fun. Here Mulder and Scully are perfectly in character in a rather rauchy scenario. (If you're a babyphile and you don't know the politics at play then ask an auntyphile to fill you in). I will post links below for all the classic authors I have rec-ed, along with a few archives you may want to check out.

Rec #7:

MSR, obligatory stakeout fic

Prompted by current events, Mulder and Scully discuss oral sex

Some knowledge of the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal required

READ MORE BY:

Rachel Anton (inc lots of Krycek content)

Beduini

Suzanne Schramm

Shalimar

Terma99

Narida Law

The search engine is not great but Gossamer IS still up and running:

X-Libris is a current archive that is doing a great job of recovering older works. You can suggest fics to be added to the site or even ask for a long lost fic to be tracked down!!

Smaller archives but also still up and running is Whispers of X and XFSM, both of which are good for different pairings, threesomes and a bit of kink, if that's your jam.

In particular, if you're into BDSM then you may want to check out Kristel St Johns "Aphrodisia" which does a beautiful job of putting Mulder and Scully in a v different, intense kind of physical relationship . The novel is unfinished but definitely still worth a read.

[gralunaisland]

being a Graylu shipper am i the only one that doesn't like the idea of Lucy or anyone else being a Gruvia Shipper?

About Fairy Tail members being either complicit or enablers of juvia abusing Gray

You're definitely not alone, my friend! I personally am a Gralu shipper, but I don't necessarily agree just because of that.

I've said it in a post before, but I became an Anti gr///vian first and a Gralu shipper second. I totally understand people who don't like a certain ship just because they ship those individuals with other people, and I think that's a perfectly valid reason to hate a ship, as we can hate ships for mostly any reason. So, yes, being a Gralu shipper gives me another reason to not like it if Lucy were to ship gr///via because that basically just reconfirms that they don't like each other.

However, for me personally, I hate it whenever Lucy (whom I don't remember supporting gr///via very much if at all, but she definitely didn't actively oppose it to the best of my knowledge), Erza, or anyone in Fairy Tail/the FT universe supports gr///via mostly because that makes them, at best, complicit in juvia's abuse of Gray, and, at worst, enablers of this abuse.

I refuse to believe that manipulative and toxic affection was the true moral of Mashima's Fairy Tail, even if his characters actively advocate for it. I think he lost sight somewhere along the line of what it truly means to be a Fairy Tail member, and that means to be a loyal, compassionate, brave friend who always looks out for each other and love one another. juvia is none of those things, not even loyal to Gray, because what she does is a detriment to him, and she's really just loyal to herself and her "love" for him. Yet, Mashima promotes her behavior by giving her what she so desperately coveted in the end and by forcing his characters to be completely OOC and back up juvia, the slobbering, nasty, selfish pig, and not their loving, stalwart brother-in-arms and victim here, Gray.

That is despicable.

What's more, beyond how awful it is that FT people would rather back juvia than Gray, it's just bad, lazy writing. In no world would juvia be able to abuse other people and manipulate them and bully women and yet also be praised and protected and loved by those same people. Erza should have never sided with juvia over the 413 days matter or berated Gray for "not being clear enough" when he's been plenty clear. The other FT members shouldn't have ever blasted Gray for "leading juvia on". No one should even like juvia or want to be her friend because of what a b*tch she is.

Yet of course, everyone loves her for NO REASON. There are so many reasons to hate her (and honestly not one good reason to love her in my opinion), but does Mashima care? Absolutely not. juvia is his self-proclaimed self-insert's waifu, after all.

Anyway, true FT fans should be enraged that juvia lockser is one of the main people we are encouraged to be like in this show. They should be indignant that juvia has been made a poster child for this anime, when she embodies none of its values. They should refuse to accept this as healthy and desirable. They should balk at the fact that their beloved characters endorse juvia's actions and life choices, which are wholly unacceptable and unhealthy not only to herself but most importantly to others.

But lots of fans delude themselves, and the fans drive Mashima, so unfortunately, here we are, with a whole cast of characters who promote and affirm juvia, the least deserving of the Fairy Tail members.

For the record, I am not really talking about the fans who acknowledge juvia's toxicity but still like her and the ship because of a sort of suspension of disbelief. Honestly, there are many problematic or evil characters that many people like, and I usually see no problem with it if you are able to separate your fictional fantasies with reality. (Some deeply problematic things I do not excuse though). For example, I like Sukuna from JJK. Do I think he's a good person? Aaaaabsolutely not. He's a completely awful person. But still, I think he's cool and his power is sick, so I like him.

My issue lies within the area of the FT community who refuse to accept that juvia's behavior is deplorable and who attack anyone who tells them otherwise. These are the rabid fans who'd go for Mashima's throat if he dared to not make gr///via canon. I don't believe the fans who know juvia is a bad person but still ship gr///via would be so up in arms about it because this sort of self-awareness indicates maturity to me.

[Sidenote, the really aggravating and only thing that sets juvia apart from the characters who are literal villains and douches is that juvia isn't treated like a bad guy within the story. Sans some uncomfortable stares and sweat drops, she is largely treated like family, and everyone loves her. When even the canon material itself won't acknowledge a character's toxicity and awfulness to itself, of course there'll be people who don't think she's toxic. I hate that Fairy Tail lies to itself in this way. It just helps to turn the deluded fans against well-meaning Antis who speak literal objective truth, that the way juvia acts is not okay in real life.]

Anyway, those are my two cents, thank you for your patience and ask!

[more-than-a-princess]

I haven't done one of these in awhile! A munday post: new month (and one of the best of the year), so why not?

My queue is currently empty and my to-write list is currently at five replies, which is...more than I'd like to tackle all at once. Between the usual medication side effects and the unusual uptick in how busy I am at work (though I'm hoping this might change soon, or at least some of my duties will get redistributed), I'm exhausted pretty often. Add in preparing for a convention at the end of October, trying to remodel two rooms in my house, and general adult responsibilities, and my writing energy isn't what it used to be.

That said, I'm trying to get on top of what I currently owe and I'd really like some new threads/interactions going so I don't get burned out on my current threads. All I ask is that you understand that turnaround time will be a bit slower on my end: interspersing aesthetic, art, and meme content with replies and posting IC content every other day has been a good system so far, so I'll be keeping with that. Additionally, sometimes I just need to turn on my do not disturb on discord so I can focus on replies to writing partners. With limited time, I often need to choose between chatting OOC and getting any IC writing done most days.

That said, so this isn't all asking for patience with replies, here's a little of what I wore at Dragon Con last month! I brought nine costumes and ended up wearing eight of them, which is a pretty good record for me. This was a five day convention (instead of many anime/game conventions, which are three or four days), which is the only reason why I could fit that many in. And while there are anime and video game panels, costumes, etc. at this event, they are definitely in the minority: it really is a pop culture convention run by fans, for fans.

This is one of my Nesta Archeron costumes from the book series A Court of Thorns and Roses! I love romantasy fiction and the SJM universe especially. This was just after the big Sarah J. Maas universe photoshoot, where there was probably 75-100 attendees! We needed a bigger shoot location.

And here is my Penelope Featherington costume from Season 2 Episode 1 of Bridgerton. I love her tacky star dress and while it's hard to see in this photo, this dress has hundreds of tiny rhinestones applied to the golden yellow lace. I did this by hand and it took about two weeks to do, off and on.

This is my reminder that I need to get out my rhinestone applicator tool to touch up some rhinestones on a gown for my next anime convention...sigh.

[exastrisnonnocere]

Character Info Sheet

NAME: Silas Lane Garcia Alderin

NAME MEANING: Silas meaning 'of the forest' from the Latin Silvanus and he is named after his paternal grandfather. Lane is masculinized from his mother's name Elena (specifically her nickname Lanie), which is the Spanish variation of the name Helen, meaning 'bright, shining light'. Silas's surname is officially Alderin, with his mother's first surname Garcia (of Garcia Villegas or Garcia-Villegas from the traditional dos apellidos convention) listed as a sort of second middle name, since Elena had elected to take her husband's name at the time of their marriage. Garcia is a Spanish surname meaning 'bear', while Alderin is a spelling variation of Aldrin, either from the Old English meaning 'old and wise ruler' or the Old Norse Áleifr meaning 'noble leader'. (OOC: surname was definitely chosen because Buzz Aldrin but also more because mun is a Lily Aldrin from HIMYM stan no regrets)

ALIAS/ES: Nicknamed Si (pronounced like sigh), also called Miguel by his grandfather after he developed dementia and often mistook Silas for his father, Michael.

ETHNICITY: Mexican (Mother's side) & British/Italian (Father's side)

ONE (1) PICTURE YOU LIKE BEST OF YOUR CHARACTER:

THREE HCS YOU'VE NEVER TOLD ANYONE: ( I've been writing this man since 2012, I'm pretty sure I've told everything to one person or another at some point, so we'll go with some HCs I haven't posted on this blog yet. )

Silas is allergic to copper (and incidentally the blood and various other bodily fluids of Vulcans; he learned this the hard way with his Vulcan Academy boyfriend because I thought it was funny af and for literally no other reason)

He really, *really* enjoys getting flowers. Like, a lot. Give this lorge grown ass man flowers and watch him smile and blush.

Silas is not especially a fan of labels in regards to sexuality. Silas has almost exclusively dated men for almost twenty years, but he has also had many emotional relationships with women during that time. If pressed, he would say that he is primarily physically attracted to men and primarily emotionally attracted to women, though both attractions develop with either one, eventually. His relationships with men tend to be intensely passionate, but emotionally shallow or needlessly complicated, while his relationships with women are often deeply established before any kind of desire rears its head. Because of this, the women he falls in love with are usually already well-established as friends, and he declines to pursue any romantic involvement for the sake of the existing relationship.

THREE THINGS YOUR CHARACTER LIKES DOING IN THEIR FREE TIME:

Reading. This boy is always reading like five books at a time. He is partial to poetry and fiction, but he's also all up in the niche scientific and anthropological research spaces.

Cooking. He likes food. Real food. Replicators suck. The end.

Dancing/Singing. He sings while he's cooking. He dances in the shower. Music lives in his body at all times, thank you for coming to my TED talk.

EIGHT PEOPLE YOUR CHARACTER LIKES/LOVES: (PSA: multiship so each one exists in its own little verse unless there's an arranged poly situation going on; also, if you are not on this list don't worry, he likes almost everyone! I just picked the 8 who are closest to him currently and/or have been close to him for years; if we haven't interacted much or haven't discussed their relationship OOC then I don't like to make assumptions about it overall.)

Ten of Eleven aka Madeline - his baby girl, pride and joy, and the true love of his life, his adopted daughter.

Jin Kim - Long time OTP played off-site, biochemist with a crappy disposition but great legs.

Leonard McCoy (@onlybonesleft ) - Sometimes platonic soulmate, sometimes not platonic at all, but inevitably cut from the same cloth. Both men are too used to caring for others and not enough for themselves, so they pester each other into self-care submission and their relationship keeps me up at night because reasons.

Christine Chapel (@nursc ) - The bright spot in a shitty day but also 100% reliable when you need help on the floor. She knows her shit, she gets things done, she's the one he calls when he needs a hand. He hopes she knows she can count on him for the same. His work wife, his non-work wife, his gossip girl, his bestie. Can't live without her, doesn't want to.

Sergio Alderin - His middle brother, closest in age and the one he still sometimes talks to. Schoolteacher. Married to his childhood BFF.

Simon Castelo - His childhood BFF and brother-in-law, keeps him up to date with goings on in his brothers' lives more often than the brothers themselves, given their rocky relationships.

Michael (Mikey) Alderin Jr. - Youngest brother, wanderlust type with little guidance and direction in his life. Suffered in foster care and blames Silas for not being there to protect him.

James T. Kirk (@traiilblazer ) - On-again, off-again lovers, played off-site.

TWO THINGS YOUR CHARACTER REGRETS:

Losing his brothers. While they are all three alive and well, the relationship between them is strained. Silas leaving foster care and his subsequent failure to obtain custody of his younger brothers at the time of their parents' deaths is something he wishes had gone differently. He thinks he gave up too easily, that he should have tried harder. He also carries guilt because, deep down, his failure at the time had been a relief. Relief from the burden of trying to figure out how to provide for and raise his siblings when he, himself, was only 17.

Getting married. Not so much the relationships themselves, but the almost knee-jerk urge to put untested romances under the stress of a long-term, official commitment. Military marriages tho, amirite?

TWO PHOBIAS YOUR CHARACTER HAS:

Autophobia, also called monophobia, isolophobia, or eremophobia, is the specific phobia or a morbid fear or dread of oneself or of being alone, isolated, abandoned, and ignored. For Silas, this manifests as a fear of ending up alone or almost an expectation of abandonment. This is, incidentally, contrary to how he has operated throughout his life in the past, where he is and always has been fiercely independent out of necessity and often chooses not to rely on others for help or support. He often pursues relationships with individuals who need him in some way, rather than pursuing mutuality and emotional intimacy which would require him to be vulnerable, thereby ensuring that he both has intrinsic value to the other person and that if/when the relationship ends, he is not utterly destroyed by it. He believes that love exists, but he does not believe it exists for him or that he is deserving of it.

Trypanophobia is the extreme fear of medical procedures involving injections or hypodermic needles. This seems like an inconvenient fear for a doctor to have, however it only manifests when he himself is facing an injection or medical procedure, himself. The fear, at this point in his life, is fairly minor and easily overcome, however it was, at one point, severe and debilitating to his ability to work. Early in his career, Silas and a few others on his away team encountered a Borg vessel and were partially assimilated during that encounter. After being recovered, the various nanite appendages were surgically removed, but the initial trauma of being injected and losing identity and autonomy was heavily damaging to his mental state for some time after the event.

TAGGED BY STOLEN FROM: @ensnchekov TAGGING: @onlybonesleft & anyone else (if u want u don't have to)

[skaruresonic]

Heh, I just remembered: Metroid fans have been waiting for Prime 4 literally for as long as HL fans have for HL3: since 2007

You guys got Alyx which teases HL3 while we got an announcement trailer in 2017 followed by a notice in 2018 that development was starting over from scratch with a new team and we haven't heard anything since.

To be fair, we did get a thinly-veiled "update" in the form of Marc Laidlaw publishing his written treatment for a possible Episode 3 with various character names changed, called Epistle 3, in 2017. Until Half-Life: Alyx, we got radio silence, and all we had to go off of was Epistle 3.

And it was, uh. Weird. And OOC. ...no shade to Laidlaw, he's an excellent prose writer. It's just... his ideas and characterization tend to be exaggerated to the point of near-cartoonishness. That is to say, his treatments are definitely rough drafts. You'll find that even with previous written treatments of his, Valve winds up heavily editing his work to the point where they come off as different pieces of fiction entirely. The rest of the team polish the general ideas to suit the game and world they're trying to craft. Evaluating the series finale by judging what was essentially a quick sketch may have been unfair, but it was also like, Valve, you'd had years to work on this thing: why was a written treatment the most you had to show for it?

Then again, if '06 taught us anything, it's that it's better to have a late and excellent product than a forever-rushed one. I'd rather not have an HL3 at all if Valve simply developed it just to get people off their backs. In addition, I have my issues with HLA in regard to how it relates to the series as a whole. As excellent as the game is, I really do think it should have been a standalone prequel rather than a bridge between Episodes 2 and 3. I feel like that does it a disservice. The ending feels tacked-on. Like previous HL games, it uses yet another cliffhanger to postpone the next chapter: a narrative device that, at this point, 25 years on, has overstayed its welcome. (I'm starting to think Valve simply doesn't know how the series will end.) The first twenty minutes of Episode 3 could have just as easily reversed Eli's death if it wanted to - I feel it simply detracts from HLA's otherwise solid narrative to retcon the previous game.

[tiffanytoms]

Do you think one of the reasons why (the vast majority) of Jily fics consist of the same recycled tropes and characterizations is because the Jily fandom (or at least a vocal minority) is less receptive to anything different like fics where the characters are more morally ambiguous/not as perfectly brave+good as they’re usually portrayed?

Hello!

Okay, I am going to answer this question like it was asked in good faith and is not a trap - and really hope that one of the 50 trolls I've blocked doesn't come out of the woodwork bc their spidey-senses started tingling and they just can't wait to yell their Karen opinions at me (I've been traumatized... can you tell I've been traumatized? 🤪)

Yes, absolutely yes. And I would agree it is a vocal minority, bc my anon asks and reader stats have never been better than for my darkest fic. Even the ppl who ended up turning on it were some of the biggest fans/reviewers/ask-senders, etc, so, at the end of the day that's their problem with human psychology and not me.

Morally ambiguous content is DEFINITELY popular, but you got some really loud, obnoxious, morally-superior purity warriors who (can't read warnings and tags), I guess, are here to cleanse all our souls by chastising and bullying others (??) whenever they admit that they like anything different, and that (understandably) pushes ppl back into the shadows. You can one thousand percent enjoy something that you know is bad for you or that you shouldn't. (Hello, sugar? Alcohol? Anything fun? Hahaha) Guilty pleasures are not a crime and reading literal crimes is not a crime. Seriously. You can read about murder and no one has to go to jail! 😱

But let me explain myself further: do I think popular tropes are a bad thing? No! Obviously if so many ppl are writing them, ppl like them! I enjoy them too. I think that's great, write away, but I think there's a problem when ppl are actively trying to stop others from writing anything different bc it's not what they personally want to read. We don't cater to entitled narcissists around here. It's the internet. There's enough room for everyone and ppl gotta learn to share their toys, lol. It is really sad bc over the years I have seen other specific writers (weird that this seems to be a recurring theme...) bullying away several amazing, original writers and that's just all sorts of fucked up. You can't tout this perfect utopian community by ostracizing and lying about anyone who dares to think even slightly differently than the norm. It's dumb as hell, and really insecure on those writers' parts. And frankly, I'm pissed they keep getting away with it.

That being said, let's veer into less nefarious waters and say that these ppl didn't lash out due to jealousy and marking their territory, but bc ppl in general are scared of anything new and what they don't understand. Ppl are creatures of habit, so if enough ppl write Jily in a specific way, that way almost becomes canon. For example, I will never forget my complete 'HUH 🤔' moment when someone was sharing my non-problematic, canon story WAYDTM (so they were clearly a fan) and tagged it as 'OOC'. Bc in my head I was like............. how are they out of character? We literally only know xyz about them and THAT'S IT. But it was completely bc so many ppl had written Lily and James in that specific way that that was almost what was expected. Me making James actually be an asshole at the beginning was marked as 'out of character' even if it made complete sense for the way I told the story.

And to that I say, fuck that.

No one here owns Jily, no one here knows Jily, bc Jily does not exist, they are not real, so write them however the fuck you want. It literally hurts no one, it is a story.

If ppl read the story, cool. If they don't, also cool. But at the end of the day, this is fanfiction over fictional characters, and if you're not allowed to play, then what's the fucking point.

I think it boils down to 2 camps: ppl who want to read/write aspirational Jily, and ppl who want to read/write messy, real (sometimes bad) Jily. Both are completely acceptable and wonderful and AWESOME, and we can have both. We just need both camps to mind their own business (but feel free to travel between them! That's cool!) and live and let live and not pretend like either is better than the other.

It just gets so fucking weird when you have ppl trying to tell you what you can or cannot do. Cut that shit out.

Thanks for the ask 😁 Sorry I got a little heated, this has just been a lot.

[sylvies-chen]

Has Chenford storyline completely met your expectations/wishes all the way from season 1 till now? I mean... would you like some things to have been written differently both for their individual & relationship development?

Oh wow, well that’s a big question!!

Hmm. Well. Have they met ALL of my expectations? I don’t know. I have a hard time believing the way a writer’s room chooses to develop a fictional relationship could ever 100% satisfy the pre-existing expectations of any one individual. We could be 100% happy with what we get, even if it doesn’t meet the exact expectations we had going into it. So I’d say probably not. But I would say I am really happy with how they’ve developed Tim and Lucy individually and together. Tim’s growth from the pilot is astronomical and in all the right ways. Lucy has also grown a lot and I just love her to bits so it makes me proud thinking about it. As for their relationship, I think the growth has been very satisfying to watch. Even though there are big milestones for them that you can pinpoint as being markers for a shift in their relationship— Lucy’s kidnapping, her choosing to be Tim’s gaufer, their first kiss, the hotel moment, the discussion in 5.02, and the list goes on— it still feels like a beautifully gradual progression. So in terms of the pacing, I’d say it’s definitely met my expectations of a slowburn. 10/10. It’s just so fucking amazing.

I will confess, though, that I don’t think Chenford as a ship fully clicked with me until the season 1 finale and I think that plays into why I didn’t have any crushed dreams for them. There was that moment earlier where Lucy catches Tim and tries convincing him not to help Isabel, and I watched that and definitely saw a little something, that maybe it could happen with the right growth, but it wasn’t until the season 1 finale that I really fell hard for them. And from then on out I was— as you may have already guessed from my blog— OBSESSED. But I think because I didn’t ship them right away I didn’t have as many expectations for them. I wasn’t making a wishlist in my head of things I wanted to happen in their journey to getting together. I was kind of just accepting whatever happened, along for the ride and loving the crumbs we got!

Maybe, if I had to pick one thing I’d want written differently for their relationship, I would have preferred if they didn’t have Lucy prank Tim by falsely confessing feelings, not only because it was cheap bait for the fans and unnecessary, but because I think it breached a subject Chenford wasn’t ready to talk about yet. I will always be concerned with whether something is on-brand for a character and this was one of the only things I think was truly ooc for Lucy. The scene just didn’t make sense within the context either. Your TO is acting like nothing will change once you stop riding with him so your plan is to pretend to be in love with him to get him to… what, love you back? so he’ll actually miss you? Or was it to get him to feel bad about letting you go?? To make him uncomfortable?? I don’t know, it was just such a weird thing to do and it was so obvious the writers wanted to bait fans so badly that it led them to write that in— even if it made no sense.

Other than that, I’d say I’ve been very satisfied with how they’ve grown both as individuals and as a pair!

[mesfantomes-marie]

My Favourite TenRose Fics

Fanfiction is brilliant. There, I said it. After years of studying for my PhD in Linguistics and Phililogy, endless nights spent reading Calderón, Diderot and Dostoevsky, I still believe certain fanfiction should be praised and published. It should be remembered.

Quadrophobia by Howlcastle. The Doctor is split in 4 personalities, but not in a creepy James McAvoy kinda way, trust me. I love this, because of our beloved TenRose dynamic. It's well-written and laconic. Novel, Teen (there will be a lot of these in this post, since I'm not a big fan of explicitness in fiction, since it's hard to find something tasteful)

Wolf and the Butterfly by sparrowmarrow. When Rose begins to be plagued by ominous nightmares of the Doctor’s future, a future without her, they realize that something sinister may be lurking behind the exotic stalls of Opifex’s acclaimed market. Oh the Angst! With a happy ending, of course. The characterisation is SO GOOD, darn. Novel, All ages.

Breaking Vows by Molleyn. Ten and Rose accidentaly bump into a parallel version of Rose on parallel Earth at war. Basically, the Doc can't tell them apart and leaves the His Rose there, only to realise his terrible mistake and come back to her 3 months later. Will she ever forgive him? Beautifully written angst with a happy ending. Evil doppelgangers, love confessions and a smidge of well-written smut. Novel, Teen.

Effeuiller La Marguerite Part 2 by whollyuncertain. Angsty and original. Happy ending. Hurt/Comfort. Post ThatDamnedFireplaceEpisode I hate so much it took me 5 months to even CONSIDER reading fixits of. Short Story, Teen

TenToo/Rose

I think it's the best happy ending Rose could've ever gotten. Not gonna lie, it had been difficult and so many fics had dissapointed me in the past. 99% just go in the exact same direction of 10.5 being miserable and as far from 10 as possible. I don't like it. So these fics are the only ones where I feel like Tentoo is actually 'in character'.

Laddie, Lie Near Me by @abadplanwellexecuted. Beautiful. I am a big fan of this author, check out her work. Here, Tentoo is not OOC (what a surprise...) and Rose is not a total byotch to him (another surprise). Short story, Teen.

The Wind By Night by @tripwirealarm. A masterpiece! Told from His perspective, which is honestly refreshing. Angst with a happt ending. Novel, Adult.

AUs

Never been a fan of AU fics before, but I guess falling in love with this particular pairing means you all of a sudden become a fic addict and anything goes. Am I right?

A Place Where We Only Say Goodbye by @weezly14. I cried, but actually it was worth every single tear (cheesy, but heck! that's the way I feel about this masterpiece). So much insight, great character development. Coffeshop AU, novel, part of the Time Loop series, Teen. Did I mention it's slow burn? Gotta love 'em.

nothing happens until something moves by @lauraxxtennant. UniVerse. Professor!Ten / Student!Rose. I had a crush on my German Professor once, it was wonderful. Novel, tastefully Mature.

Sweetheart by @stoprobbersfic. UniVerse. TenRose, Oxford. Read this whilst listening to 'Dark of the Matinee' by Franz Ferdinand with a cuppa on a war mnight in early spring. Romaticize your life a bit. You will not regret it. Novel, part of a Series, tastefully Mature. Warning: mentions of a certain French individual.

A Sun Will Always Sing by @lixabiz. Tutor!Ten / Student!Rose. I guess I'm just a sucker for this particular trope, especially written by someone so talented. What a pleasure. Short story, Teen.

That Home I Find Outside Your Door by Queen of The Castle. Homeless!AU. Last, but definitely not least. This fic just left me speechless. The idea is bloody brilliant, keeps you on your toes 'til the very end. Angst with a happy ending, of course. 2-parter, Teen.

And a bit of a (unofficial) crossover. I love the Harry Potter series and especially the character of Barty Crouch Jr. Tennant in a long leather coat will haunt my dreams forever. So, there's this incredible fic, called Snakes' Nest by elmira777. Summary: When Rose Clifton, a pureblooded witch, had been abducted and forced to marry Barty Crouch Jr, it didn't even cross her mind that this was her chance to save the world. AU, takes place after Goblet of Fire. It's a Work In Progress, which sucks. BUT! And it's a big 'but'. It's so cool! Technically, it's not a HP/Doctor Who crossover, but I just can't help it. Rose here, Rose there. It somehow just works.

And you know what? The best thing about WIPs - you can use your imagination and finish them in your head. Novel, Teen.

[al-hekima-madara-blog]

🔥Madarapedia🔥

Latest updates of all my ramblings, so you can easily binge-read and drown yourself in this blog.

AO3 : Alhekima (fic/analysis archive) Twitter : @Alhekima (mostly backup)

Madara & Uchiha clan :

Fanfiction : Madara Golden Age (Table content)

Canon-compliant expansion on Madara co-leading the Uchiha clan with Izuna during the Warring states era. Adventure, Action, Uchiha-centric, Power struggle, Violence.

Headcanon : Madara, the complete astrological birth chart

analysing his canon personality, guessing what could have been his whole astrological chart.

Analysis : Madara's rumours

How Madara's story in canon is retold by different characters except him.

Thoughts : Madara's life is tragedy upon tragedies

Why did he change drastically to become this corrupt?

Thoughts : Madara's core

His value system in opposition with Hashirama's

Thoughts : Madara, the Ghost of the Uchiha

metaphor and definition of a ghost. Why it fits Madara's position

Thoughts : Izuna, the true ghost of the Shinobi World

Present nowhere, but watching you everywhere

Analysis : Madara final Speech (anime)

how it resumes perfectly his actions

Thoughts : Canon Madara VS Fandom Madara

one of the rare (unique?) naruto character who is almost systematically OOC by his own fans (at least in tumblr)

Analysis : Speculations from the cavern part I, part II, part III, part IV

Let's try to guess what Madara did in secret for 50+ years

More after the cut🔽

Analysis : "Hashirama when did I go wrong?" 1/2 Dominate your inner demon

Breakdown of Madara's personal mistakes Part 1

Analysis : "Hashirama, when did I go wrong ?" 2/2 Breath out your spirit into the mud

Breakdown of Madara's personal mistakes Part 2

Meta-analysis : Uchiha & importance of bloodline

Hints toward a strong voluntary endogamy amongst Uchiha and Hyuga clans

Speculations : Sarada Uchiha's lineage : Speculation (02/03/22)

What if Sarada was really the child of Sakura, Sasuke and Karin altogether?

Thoughts : Indra (+ avatars) VS Ashura (+avatars)

It's a power struggle not a Good vs Evil

Headcanon : Madara : realistic headcanons

headcanons but with a seinen flavour

Headcanons: Madara as a parent

What if he had children?

Ask : Madara & romance?

headcanons on his love life

Humour : Why Madara is innocent

playing devil advocate to save your fav

Headcanon : Madara & Izuna, the Devil twins

Astrological perceptive on the Uchiha Brothers, why are Capricorn and Aquarius, winter signs, both so similar and different?

Meta-analysis : Is Madara our Lord and Saviour ?

Symbolism behind 24th of December and his role in the storyline.

Thoughts : Indra an other upset Capricorn

Before Madara, there was Indra.

Ask : Naruto & Hashirama, two Libras

Exploring degrees in astrology and it's impact on the character

Honest reaction : Madara exclusive interview

the POV, post-mortem, we all have been waiting for !

Thoughts : Kishimoto has a twin brother

About the unique bound of twins, how it impacts Naruto's characters

Analysis : Inconsistency in Narutoverse

I admire Kishimoto a lot for his work, but this is his main flaw

Thoughts : You wanna see Akatsuki for real?

Red full moon is a real phenomenon you can observe two times a year

Thoughts : Who would you cast to play Madara live action?

My top 5

Speculation : Madara is (still) Kaguya vessel

Is Madara coming back in Boruto? All hints (01/03/22)

Speculation : Madara & Jigen

Warring states' era flashback in Boruto? (16/03/22)

Analysis : Why and Who killed Itama Senju?

Hypothesis why the Uchiha killed Itama

Thoughts : Madara, Resentment & Betrayals

on the importance of diplomatic skills for a leader. And why fictions are based on real life event.

Analysis : Madara & Obito : awakening the Master of Chaos An attempt to understand this decode the disturbing relationship betweeen Madara and Obito.

Thoughts : Why Izanami is the most powerful Genjutsu

Reflection on Sharingan power in male and female users

Honest reaction : Itachi& Sasuke Edition

fun, no filter

Honest reaction : Madara Edition

fun, no filter

Honest reaction : Naruto Fandom Edition

fun, no filter

Thoughts : The Madara's voices holy war.

SUB versus DUB? Let's debate !

Analysis : How did Madara (really) awaken his sharingan?

an alternative investigation.

Thoughts : What is Madara dominant hand?

An existential investigation for fun

Thoughts : What if Marada's past was a seinen story?

A short parallel between Madara and with Guts from Berserk

Thoughts : Madara's distant uncle : Samurai deeper Kyo

They really look alike !

Thoughts : Uchihas are the plot in Naruto

Without this clan there is no story in Shippuden

Humour : Why Uchiha are undercover muslims

After Christmas, Ramadan deserve also to culturally appropriate the Uchihas

Ask: More Uchiha muslim content part 2

Others :

Databook : Morino Ibiki

Databook : Izuna

Databook : A founder of Kumo, is actually Jimi Hendrix

Onoki : the dysfunctional scale

Kawaki : A character that I appreciate

[padfootastic]

Remus is definitely the most woobified, sugar-coated marauder in fanon. He was so interesting in canon when he was portrayed as a character who was on the good side but with typical villain traits: charismatic manipulator, selfish, gaslighter, etc. His motivations were understandable too. What are your thoughts on him? How do you feel about him in fanon vs canon?

hello 💜 i absolutely agree with you! re remus: i have one super rambly answer here which i still fully stand by. also some more thoughts under a cut so remus fans can skip this one lol

honestly, fanon remus makes me so annoyed i don’t think i can even properly articulate it lol. it’s gotten so bad that people will completely forget how the man acted in the books and then have go and say ‘oh it was completely out of character for him to do x’ when like,,,,no? (i mean, if u don’t care about canon then great, just say that and we’re gucci) like i’ve literally seen people argue him trying to run out on his wife and unborn kid was ooc as if we didn’t get multiple examples of his cowardice (self admitted) and avoidance tactics. like, he was not a saint and he definitely was not a morally upstanding person. he often comes off so much more favourably compared to sirius and james when the man wasn’t any better. all his faults are whitewashed into ‘he was scared of losing the only friends he had’ which is such a shit excuse (even more than the ‘poor werewolf’ one). i once saw someone saying ‘how do you think remus would’ve reacted to harry’s illegal tournament entry’ as an aside to ‘how would sirius have reacted as a free man’ and i remember being completely baffled because…we know how he reacted? which is that he didn’t. the man didn’t even bother to send a letter to harry, didn’t show up before the task when everyone else’s families did, didn’t help him with any of the crises, wasn’t there post graveyard. like, there’s a theme here. remus has no interest in cultivating a relationship with harry (or if he does, he has a very shitty way of showing it). honestly, he’s kind of terrible at relationships in general imo.

i’ve mentioned this before, i think, but also the double standards with which he’s treated coupled with the complete lack of accountability is so frustrating. like, remus can mess up more than anyone else but it’ll never stick. for eg, you’ll have so many people saying sirius treated harry like a second coming of james (and i do blame the movies for that one) but remus’ repeated usage of james as a way to manipulate harry is completely ignored. like that scene in poa is actually cruel. sirius’ forced absence from harry’s life is thrown in his face, but remus is never once questioned. (it’s why him being called a second godfather is a pet peeve of mine tbh). he wasn’t a known werewolf until poa, what the fuck was he doing until then? that’s the thing right, there’s so many gaps in his storyline that u can fill it any way u want. fans will do it favourably, while people like me who don’t like him won’t.

there’s also the whole sirius aspect of it, for me. as far as fictional characters go, i think remus is terrible for sirius. like most people think the exact opposite, yeah? remus is out of sirius’ league, there’s a power dynamic that’s skewed in sirius’ favor, remus’ low self esteem, trust issues blah blah. but i genuinely believe it’ll be sirius who comes off worse in a r/s relationship. so ykno, that just adds to my bias lol.

editing to add: guess it’s the hallmark of a successful manipulative character, though, that he flies under the radar the way he does eh? like that’s the sign of success right there, that he can pull all the shit in the world without it sticking to him so good on him lol

[shamelesshitposter]

so, last night i couldn't sleep and i started thinking about pinnochio and then about svsss, the 'becoming real' that is achieved by love and sacrifice. i haven't read the original work of carlo collodi, and i read svsss almost two years ago... so ngl i'm definitely bending the stories to support this half-assed interpretation lmao, but i’d love to share it and see other’s opinions. sorry if it's not very well-written, english is not my first language...

there's this perfect meta about how sqq never really feels that any of his experiences after the transmigration are false, even though it'd make everything easier for him. and i think that's true. he never doubts about this new reality and its high-stakes, i mean, he accepts the tranmigration-trope as something real that's happening to him and not an hallutination or a dream, he might think that this universe is plot-oriented even as he's trying to live in there while trying to scape the plot, and the people, he might often think of them as characters, but he never treats them only as prompts for whom he should have no consideration, but as realities that exceed him. that maybe is at the beginning just a comment on the psychological attachment of fans to the works they love, it's very usual for readers -especially young readers- not to approach and criticize fiction for what it is but as a record of real events, but i don't think that's the case, knowing cucumber bro, i think -and sorry if i'm bieng philosophical here- that it's because real things present themselves before us with that 'extra', that 'i don't exhaust myself in your perceptions', and our conscience sees it clearly and distinctly. so even if sqq rationally has strong reasons to think everything is kinda virtual, kinda false, he can't really behave as if it is, because he feels the reality of it.

BUT. he knows this universe doesn’t work with the same laws as his original universe. the laws of this universe are the laws of fiction (the protagonist halo, the inevitability of the abyss, the necessity of melodrama and an antagonist, the ooc prohibition, the fanfic-baiting scenarios, the side-plots and plot holes that he has to amend -he has a mission after all!-, the easy mode, the scenario pushers) and these rules are endorsed by the SYSTEM. the SYSTEM functions here as the guarantor of the permanence of the fiction. the SYSTEM provides the transmigration and establishes the cool-points system to secure different narrative milestones to maintain the fictionality in a universe that otherwise would run free. it limits but also empowers sqq. fiction limits and empowers him, that is clearly seen in the fact that all sqq's expectations are based in the original book, that gives him the gift of some clairvoyance but also blinds him to the new developments, it stagnates him as much as it gives him an advantage. he really understates his own impact in the world around him and there's always an emotional distance between him and the poeple around him: fiction is his coping-mechanism, fiction, the very area in which he is presumably an expert -given the arrogance with which he felt entitled to criticize airplane's work-, is his way to navigate his new reality, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. and like xin mo for luo binghe, sqq's coping-mechanism is not well-adjusted.

the sheer existence of the SYSTEM and the presence of sy is a descentralizing power, it removes the centrality of lbh, and in the space between those two centres the world finds respite. it might be that the reality of sy streams into everything that surrounds him, but this new reality is so thirsty of that, it wants to burst the stricts constraints of the SYSTEM so bad. we joke a lot about it, sqq's harem, but it makes sense that the characters seem to be attracted by the genuine existence of sqq, the 'already-finished' person. the world wants to be its own thing, and it spills over and the SYSTEM redirects it into discarded and forgotten elements to complete itself, to maintain it within the limits of fiction. the universe contains within itself the potential of its original outline, of higher quality than what pidw ended up being, having been carried away by the preferences of the mass of readers, but this world is real here, it can't really be corseted: the resentment of chunshan, zhuzhi-lang's devotion and the death of gongyi xiao, the weight of shen jiu, haunting the present like a ghost, the inteligence of the different seconday characters (especially girls) that can't stay that low, the relationships and roles that can't stay as they are needed to fit the genre expectations and clichés. the world's  dynamics and inertia seem to flow to other places and the SYSTEM won't let them or it will phagocytise them. there's this dialectic between the SYSTEM, sqq and the universe, influencing each other and sometimes it's impossible to know which is the motor..., but i'd say the final change in the genre of the story sqq is 'co-writing' with the SYSTEM is evidence of this overflow from the universe. the necessity of a meta perspective -our perspective, where sy and the SYSTEM are characters as well- to comprehend the story they're writing without plotholes is evidence too of this overflow. in the end it's the SYSTEM that has to adapt for the enterprise not to fail miserably, it has to revert to the original purpose of this universe's creator to make sense (we don't know to what extent that was something inescapable -engraved in the bones of airplane's creation- or something that occurs by accident, by the fact that cucumber bro is really and unknowingly airplane's zhiji, or really it's just the SYSTEM rationalizing something ungovernable). svsss is the story sqq is writing. it starts with the SYSTEM's entry and it ends with the SYSTEM's exit as it has concluded its fix-it mission. 'our story has just begun' is just a saying, what does begin is real life.

like pinocchio, it's all about a test. sy, in his own world, lives in and for fiction -a pseudo life-, and the SYSTEM, like the Blue Fairy, gives him the opportunity of trascend it, to transition through this liminal space between reality and fiction that is the svsss universe. here the test is not of morality but of narrative skills -but more important, to confront something that surpass them (the reality of binghe as different from his pidw counterpart, and the reality of himself beyond his heteronormative self-image), and the reward is real life. finally, sy can live in reality. at last, he's real too.

pinocchio's trial is to differenciate good from evil, because, once he has the knowledge of good and evil -the original sin- he can't be anything but a person, a person with a soul that can be condemned or saved by god.. but he's made real because of his love for his father (faith?). sqq is there to fix a story, but he's made real because of his kindness, because he can't but engage with the reality of binghe, he's made real when he doesn't desert binghe and his own feelings, really sees binghe as he is and sacrifices himself out of love.

[hephaestiions]

you literally glorified infidelity in your wireless 2020, fic writers like you really need to die out before you damage the community at large

you know, i’ve cycled through many iterations of a response to this ask. 

first i thought, let’s respond with a bit of sass. let’s say something like, ‘bold of you to assume i haven’t already died out, that tumblr isn’t just a congregation of ghosts moaning about the lives they wish they had’ or ‘what’s a community’ or maybe even a screenshot of the actual definition of glorification (which, well, i do suggest you look up anyway). 

then i thought, why entertain it at all? this is my space, this is my blog, it’s my fic. i can delete this ask, turn off anons and be done with it. i would be within my rights to do that. 

i also thought many times of explaining the contents of my fic. of explaining myself. contemplated answering this with poetry that metaphorically explains the many many things wrong with this. 

but here’s what i finally settled on:

honestly, anon, i’m feeling a little salty. it seems to me that you want fandom to be a highly sanitised space that fits into your personal parameters of ‘safe’ or consumable. what concerns me about that, and about this particular genre of anon hate in general is– for some reason your safe and sanitised world does not exclude sending people comments such as “...[you] need to die out”. i would argue that suggesting someone needs to die is maybe exponentially more threatening and damaging to ‘the community at large’ than a tagged fic that includes a disclaimer stating i do not endorse the behaviour i am writing about, but hey! personal opinions, am i right? 

i’m not going to defend my fic. i don’t feel the need to.

but if you think fanfiction about infidelity, fictional work that does not automatically demonise individuals who do something awful as the worst kind of monsters to exist, will actively push people to cheat on their partners (which is what i am assuming your definition of ‘damage’ to be in this scenario)... i’m going to have to ask you to reevaluate. fiction is not validation. it is exploration in a world where there are no real life casualties or consequences. 

i cannot believe that people have to keep repeating this: sanitising fan spaces by censoring content you personally find offensive will not in any way make fandom safer.  

in fact, this is literally the kind of comment that puts people and the ‘community’ in danger. 

i’ll explain. 

imagine this: people listen to you. people say, well, the glorification of infidelity really is quite awful, quite traumatising, we ought to ban it. but who determines what glorification is? who determines what romanticisation is? the line is too blurry anon, the only way forward here is to ban infidelity in fics completely. 

now readers who found comfort and solace in reading infidelity fics with hurt/comfort, with forgiveness or with freedom, with a particular quote that resonated with them, readers who turned to this fic at 3 am... they’ve lost it too. 

but hey, let’s take it further still, because that’s what this type of censorship will open fandom up to. let’s talk about how this will validate people who find content with any exploration of nsfw themes, r*cism, mis*gyny, homoph*bia, transph*bia, r*pe offensive. let’s talk about how they will approach the showrunners of censorship with the same argument: this content could be traumatising, could be validating for someone’s darker impulses, let’s ban it. and it all gets banned. 

enemies to lovers, banned because it might be construed as abusive. a/b/o, might be construed as misogynistic or codependent. hmm. high-school/college, oh god, that could be underage! soulmates? where’s the agency?! kid-fics? a minefield, any parenting is bad parenting to parents who do not parent that way. mcd? let’s not even go there. body-swap? the consent issues!! 

“alright. what about ‘there was only one bed’?” “well, i mean, i’m really not comfortable with that, it’s really creepy how writers will just force characters who don’t want to consent to that kind of intimacy into each others’ spaces.”

now i’m not saying that your personal opinions on these tropes, these themes, these topics is invalid. i’m not saying that if you’re triggered or made uncomfortable by these things, you should still read them. i’m saying that enforcing your personal preferences and takes on every single person in a community is not what critical consumers of media do, it’s what fascist and authoritarian governments and abusive individuals who do not understand boundaries do. 

here’s the truth about media that antis don’t like: there are antis for the media they actually do like. you ban something, you open up the goddamn floodgates for fluff antis to present their cases about how making characters ooc in fluff can be highly traumatic to people and how it should be banned. you start this brand of censorship, you risk losing fandom and the community you are so concerned about me damaging entirely. 

i’ll leave you with a realisation i’ve come to by reading all the posts made by people better with words than i am: the fastest way to create a dystopia is for someone to think their version of utopia is universal.

further reading for folks who might be interested in tumblr posts about fanfic: 

fanfiction as a collective exists as a combination of the ideal state and all the broken pieces that are left behind.  fanfiction: the stories mainstream showrunners won’t tell. for the people trying to make fandom a better place.

coexistence of hurt and healing

there are thousands of other such posts, articles, books, academic articles, maybe even interviews on the subject, and if anyone wants to send a few mine (and anon’s) way, feel free!

[reidingandwriting]

"Deja Vu"

Word Count: ~2300 words

Ship: Peter Parker x Stark!Reader (ex/platonic?), Peter Parker x Michelle Jones

Warnings: A curse word or two, slightly OOC moments but it is fan-fiction so :)

A/N: I'm in love with this song and had to write this. Popped this baby out in 3 hours, and I'm pretty happy with it. Side note: I created my own timeline for this lmao. Morgan exists, but they don't live in the cabin. Reader is mentioned to be fem once or twice, but reads neutral besides that! Reader is Tony's kid but it could be read as adopted/his bio kid.

“One strawberry ice cream, just for you.” Peter said as he set the cup down in front of MJ, a single spoon dipped in the light pink dessert. MJ immediately started to eat as Peter took a seat beside her, and you and Ned were seated across from the couple at a local ice cream shop you had discovered. The one where you had taken him, where you had convinced him to try the strawberry ice cream instead of the vanilla he always got. You scooped a spoonful of your rocky road ice cream a little too aggressively, unable to eat your favorite ice cream flavor anymore.

“Thanks, Parker, it’s really good.” MJ said and Peter nudged her shoulder.

“Mind if I steal a bite?’

“Of course I mind.” MJ deadpanned and Peter blanched before MJ smirked at him. “Go ahead, loser. Just one.” MJ gave him a look and Peter saluted.

“Scout’s honor.” Peter took MJ’s spoon before he took a bite, and you barely held back the scowl as you looked over at Ned. He gave you a sympathetic smile and tapped his foot against yours under the safety of the booth. You brushed your shoulder against Ned’s while Peter and MJ were too entranced by each other to notice.

“If you get any ice cream on my jacket, I’m burning yours.” MJ’s words were menacing, but you all knew she was (mostly) kidding. Peter scoffed and held his hand against his chest in mock offense, the sleeves of MJ’s jean jacket comedically too short on Peter’s arms. MJ was dressed in Peter’s Midtown hoodie, the same one you had worn just a few months ago.

You thought it would have been funny to switch jackets, knowing your jacket would look funny on him, while you wore Peter’s oversized hoodie. And now here was MJ, wearing the same sweatshirt, while Peter wore her jacket. Have any original ideas, Parker?

“Earth to Y/N.” MJ waved her hand in your face, and you snapped back to the present. “You okay? You zoned out there for a minute.”

“Yeah, sorry. Morgan decided she wanted a sleepover last night, so we just had to build a pillow fort in my room, and that felt fantastic on my back. Almost as great as her practically laying on top of me all night.” You chuckled. “And you know I couldn’t move her, she’s got me wrapped around her finger.”

“And she knows it.” Peter said and you smiled over at him.

“Speaking of Morgan. She’s been asking me all week about if you want to come over sometime this weekend. She’s in a big Lion King phase, and she wants ‘her Petey’ to come have a pajama party with her and have a sing-along. She’s Nala, of course.” Ned snorted and Peter’s face fell.

“I can’t this weekend. MJ and I are having a Glee watch party this weekend, can you believe she’s never seen Glee?” Peter asked and you felt a pang of jealousy in your stomach.

“Oh, really?” You asked. Much like you hadn’t seen it either, until six months ago. “It’s pretty iconic, but also the worst show ever. Singing along is pretty fun, just being annoying. Really fun.” You thought back to when you and Peter were in your room, doing the same thing.

“Don’t stop believing!” Peter stood on your bed, using the remote as a microphone to serenade you. Peter looked at you expectantly, and you rolled your eyes before singing the next line, just as enthusiastically as he did.

“Hold on to the feeling!” Peter cheered and you couldn’t help but laugh at him. “You’re so annoying, Parker.”

“As annoying as this show?”

“Almost.”

“Then I’m not quite done yet.”

“Raincheck next weekend, maybe?” Peter asked and you shrugged.

“I’ll have to check with Madame Secretary. She’ll likely be over The Lion King by next weekend, it’ll be ‘baby stuff.’” Your phone buzzed and you excused yourself before checking the text.

Iron Dad: Hey, kid. Are you busy?

You: A little. Why?

Iron Dad: Pep and I have an emergency meeting for work, and Happy’s sick so he can’t watch Maguna

You: I’m on my way. Give me five to say goodbye

Iron Dad: Thanks, Y/N/N. We owe you one

You: You owe me several. Love you

Iron Dad: Love you tons

“I’m sorry, guys, duty calls.” You smiled, albeit a little sadly, at your friends. “I’ll see you Monday at school?”

“We better. We have a project in chemistry due on Monday.” Ned said and you flipped him off.

“Science is my best class, you know I’ve had the project done and Dr. Banner approved since the project was announced in class.” You winked at Ned before waving at MJ and Peter. “See you later, lovebirds.” You internally cringed when ‘lovebirds’ came out more bitter than you intended. With goodbyes exchanged, you left the ice cream parlor, and you bit back the tears you felt beginning to build up. Did he feel it, too? Did he remember that you did that, too? Was he ever going to tell her all the ‘unique’ things Peter’s done were reused, that you had found them first? You wiped at your eyes before you hailed a taxi, and you shoved all your feelings down to be at your best for your little sister.

--

“Y/N, Y/N, Y/N!” Morgan barreled down the hall when you stepped out of the elevator, and you barely bent down to catch her in time as she collided with you.

“Morgan, Morgan, Morgan!” You scooped your sister up into your arms and peppered her face with kisses until she was laughing, and your mood immediately lifted at the sound. “Where’s Mom and Dad?”

“Mom’s at work, Dad’s in his room. He’s leaving us.” Morgan pouted and you copied her expression.

“Oh, no. You’re stuck with me tonight. Too bad I’m not tall enough to reach the juice pops in the freezer.” You gasped. “Oh, wait. I am!” Morgan thrusted her fist into the air with a cheer, and you set her down. “I need to go talk to Dad real quick, then we can do almost whatever you want.” You emphasized the almost, knowing she’d ask for something you definitely shouldn’t do, then argue that you said ‘anything.’ You definitely saw a career in law for her when she got older.

“Kay-kay. I’ll go get coloring books, then we get juice pops?”

“Deal.” You offered your pinky out, and she linked pinkies with yours before she ran off to her room. You shook your head fondly before you walked off to your dad’s room, and you knocked on his door before coming in. “Dad?”

“Hey, kiddo. Come on in, I’m just packing a few things for Pep.” You walked over to the bag your dad had packed, and you began to inspect everything. “Have I been approved?”

“I think I need a hug before giving approval.” You opened your arms and your dad happily pulled you into his chest, and he held you close, as if he could sense your feelings.

“Are you okay? Do I need to stay?” Tony rubbed your back and rocked you gently, and you buried your face deeper into his chest, your eyes watering and you gripped his shirt tighter, a habit you developed when Tony first took you in- you always grabbed onto him like he was your security blanket, and Tony quickly learned there was no use in getting you to let go until you were ready.

“No, I’m okay.” Your voice was muffled but you made no effort to move yet. “Mom needs you.” You paused. “You’ll be back soon, right?”

“Luckily we’re just headed to the New York headquarters. I hope we’re home by midnight, but I’ll tell you when we find out for sure.” You nodded and let go of your dad, and he brought his hand up to cup your cheek, and he wiped your tears away with his thumb and the action almost made you cry again. “Ben and Jerry’s and sad movies when I get back, or should I get a few punching bags set up in the gym?”

“Ben and Jerry’s.” Tony nodded and pressed a kiss to the top of your head, and you patted his arm, telling him he could continue packing. “ Don’t forget Mom’s favorite lipstick. She always keeps one on her, but you can never be too safe.”

“Lifesaver.” Tony said before he went back to packing.

“I should go check on Morgan, let you finish getting packed.” You said and Tony smiled at you, a softness in his eyes reserved solely for you, Morgan, and Pepper.

“Have I ever told you that you’re the best big sister?”

“I do my best.” You smile back before leaving. Fingers crossed she hadn’t made a mess already.

--

You laid in bed, scrolling through your camera roll with tears streaming down your cheeks. You pressed play on a video and let out a choked sob as you watched. You and Peter were seated at the piano in the living room, and your fingers moved gracefully across the keys, playing one of your favorite songs that Peter had begged you to play for him. The familiar sounds of Billy Joel’s ‘Uptown Girl’ filled your ears, and you sang along as you played. You turned to Peter, nodded at him, and he began to play the same song after you. You hugged him at the end of the song, grinning since he had finally learned it, and you began to play it again, Peter joining you in singing along. Not even that was reserved for you and him anymore, as you had learned recently.

“I didn’t know you played.” You said as MJ took a seat at the piano, Peter seated beside her.

“Oh, I just learned. Peter taught me the one song he knows how to play.” Your heart sank and now Ned was curious.

“What song?” Don’t say it, don’t say it.

“Uptown Girl.” MJ began to play, and you felt your lip begin to tremble. Your song. The one you had taught him. You looked away as Peter quickly pressed a kiss to her cheek after the first chorus, and he whispered something into her ear. You turned to Ned and dove deep into a conversation, refusing to cry in front of them.

You jumped when you heard a knock on your window, and you grabbed the baseball bat you kept by your bed. You would have called for Bucky or Sam, but the pair were off on their own mission. You got out of bed, wiping away your tears, and you walked to the window, bat at the ready. “FRIDAY, who’s getting knocked to next year with my bat?”

“It appears Peter Parker is the one outside your window.” Peter? Of course it was.

“Lights on dim, FRI.” You set the bat down and opened the window, and Peter popped into view. “Peter? What the hell? You almost gave me a heart attack, dude.”

“I’m sorry, I know, sorry. I didn’t plan on coming out here, but I needed to talk to you.” You gestured for Peter to come in, and you suddenly realized how you had to look to him. You were in a shirt you had stolen from Thor- what? His shirt got mixed up with yours, finders keepers. You were in an old pair of sweatpants that were covered in various stains- paint from Morgan, some grease from Tony’s lab, and a bleach mark from where you and Peter were goofing around in the lab and you spilled some mystery chemical on your pants. And let’s not even talk about your puffy eyes and the tear marks on your cheeks from a night of crying.

“About what?” You sat on your bed, eyes not meeting Peter’s.

“About earlier at the ice cream parlor. You seemed really… spaced out. Not yourself. And I caught you scowling once.”

“I didn’t scowl.” You tried to defend yourself but you sighed, knowing he was right.

“And ever since MJ and I started dating, you’ve just seemed different. You’re not, like, jealous, are you?” And you couldn’t help but laugh. Truly laugh, which caused Peter’s brows to furrow. “What’s so funny?”

“You think I’m jealous! Why should I be jealous?” Peter frowned at how you weren’t taking him seriously, and he was confused.

“You know, we had… a thing. Not that we dated, but I mean, we were really close you know.”

“Oh, I know.” Like a switch, your emotions flipped from sad to frustrated in seconds. “And I’m seeing all these ‘things’ we had all over again.” It was Peter’s turn to start getting irritated, and he crossed his arms.

“Oh, really? Like what?”

“Strawberry ice cream at the parlor, you can’t act like we didn’t do that. Trading jackets, we did that shit too. Teaching her piano when I taught you, how do you not get deja vu?” Peter opened his mouth to talk and you held your hand up. “You’ve got a different girl, but there’s nothing new. I discovered those places you take her, I showed you Glee, I taught you the jokes that you tell to her. When are you gonna tell her? She thinks it’s special, but it’s all reused. I know I get deja vu, don’t you?” You had started to cry again, and Peter started to defend himself until FRIDAY spoke.

“Y/N, your father and mother have returned home. You may want to continue this conversation later.” You looked at Peter who wordlessly nodded. He walked to the window, and he paused before he spoke.

“We’ll talk Monday after patrol. Bye, Y/N/N.” You whispered goodbye before he left and you shut the window before you dropped to your knees, letting out broken sobs.

“I get deja vu when she’s with you…”

[bigbadredpanda]

A lot of the Western MDZS fans seem to think that Wei Wuxian has self worth and self esteem issues.Is this interpretation true to the text? What does the Chinese fandom think about it?

Well, I don’t think the dividing lines within the English-speaking fandom (the West vs the East, Asian vs non-Asian, America vs the rest of the world, etc) are that clear-cut. Sure, cultural sensitivities differ, I only have to look at the comments on my translation of the Gusu Lan Sect rules to acknowledge that, some lambast the Gusu Lan Sect for the outrageous deprivation of fundamental liberties, others view the rules as strict but fair and even experienced something similar as part of their own education. However geographic origin is not the be-all and end-all that decides whose opinion is more informed. Curiosity, open-mindedness and a willingness to challenge one’s own frame of reference go a long way to apprehend a work outside of one’s own culture. And that’s what MDZS is for the vast majority of the fans in the international fandom, a piece of fiction from another culture and even a first encounter with a work of Chinese origin. In the end, international fans share the same fandom space without borders, they use the same social media, read the same version of the English translation, come across with the same fanmade content and engage in the same discussions.

The more manifest divide in my opinion is between the international side and the Chinese side. Within the English-speaking fandom, we have differences of interpretations and clashes of opinions but the Chinese fandom has an altogether separate fan culture and another relationship between the audience, the author and the source content. There are superficial similarities between the two sides such as some common fandom trends but they often differ in essence, for instance, the motivations and modus operandi of antis and purity cliques in the Chinese fandom are dissimilar to those in the English-speaking fandom. Both the international and the Chinese fandoms exist while being more and less dimly aware of the other’s presence but there is precious little interaction between the two of them as a whole. When content from one side makes its way to the other side, it’s fanart for the most part as well as Chinese-to-English translations of official and fanmade content. It’s more a unilateral transfer than a conversation between different cultures.

Chinese fandom is organised and segmented, the novel and its adaptation have their own supertopics on Weibo and proper tagging is mandatory so that people can stay in their own lanes. Contrary to the international fandom in which there are relatively few spoken and unspoken rules (you can pretty much post whatever wherever as long as it’s not offensive or stolen), the Chinese fandom abide by a whole set of mostly self-enforced regulations. For example, the MDZS supertopic which is novel-centric has its very own wall of rules in its pinned post, among these there is giving due respect to the author, the characters and the novel; the proscription of breaking up or reversing Wangxian, of disseminating content that distort the facts in the novel, etc, etc... There is a more rigid adherence to what is established as canon. What is not supported by the novel runs the risk of being considered ooc. It’s quite common for fanfics to have an author’s preliminary statement along the lines of “the characters belong to the author, any oocness is on me” as a precautionary measure. I’m describing all this to give a tiny bit of insight on what it’s like on the other side, I don’t think that one fandom culture is superior to the other. It’s like free verse and regulated verse, there’s not much point in comparing what cannot be compared. It stands to reason that the international and the Chinese fandoms have disparate views of the original content as they have evolved independently over the years and they do not consume it the same way. You also have fandom-specific interpretations that spread and become a prevalent norm (e.g. Lan Wangji’s speech patterns).

So, after excessive meanderings, I finally return to the main topic of your question. Wei Wuxian’s supposed self-esteem and self-worth issues are definitely prevailing traits in the English-speaking fandom. It seems to me that it stems from a misreading of cultural norms as many of Wei Wuxian’s actions are rooted in a specific historical and social context steeped in filial piety as well as a literary genre that idealises the archetype of a noble and righteous hero fighting for the greater good. That’s not to say that such representation of him is completely non-existent in the Chinese fandom, it does come up from time and time, perhaps more on the live action side. The more common portrayal of Wei Wuxian though is as a brash young man and a self-assured genius and you have some very good meta on why “perfect equality” between Wangxian is one of their main strengths as a couple (x).

Hope that answered your question despite the long digression =)

[barbiegirldream]

teehee if you’re feeling like starting a conversation here. any fanfic that uses blatantly inaccurate information about the ccs pretty much makes me fully lose immersion. like some fics i will check when they were published and if it was mid-to-late 2020 and certain info wasn’t known yet, i will cut them some slack. but like sometimes i’m just like. you wrote this in like october 2021 and yet george and dream are made to be avid coffee drinkers when they both have stated they dislike it. or you’re making them drink alcohol when for dream it’s a borderline boundary and george has stated he just doesn’t really drink. it’s such small details but my brain is like That’s Not Right and can’t get past it. also can we move past characterizing george as this poor little submissive meow meow who won’t communicate or speak up for himself when it’s very obvious that is not at all his personality. + i will die on the hill that dream is 100% the more introverted awkward one. george isn’t an extrovert by any means but from stories they’ve told he’s definitely more than dream is. yet fics have it backwards constantly. anyways i must constantly remind myself that they’re not crossing anyone’s boundaries and it’s all fiction for a reason and they do this for free so they can write whatever they want blah blah blah but it still makes finding good fanfic like a needle in the haystack that is the dnf ao3 tag

i do wanna talk a bit about this. i'll firstly say personally i consider Dream asking his close friends to not make drinking/drug jokes about him as a boundary. if he doesn't like Sapnap saying he drinks I don't think fans should be writing about him drinking. but i digress

when it comes to aus i will ignore some things. like dream doesn't like soccer it doesn't mean i don't love the fuck out of leigh @sotgnf's soccer au

dream is very outgoing and charasmatic but yes very introverted. george seems more shy but genuinely gets energy from being around people so more extroverted. i remember george taking the mbti thing and getting almost a 50/50 split on introverted extroverted.

but things like yes Dream drinking coffee or drinking alcohol. George being the one to cook all the food. George not being colorblind. George being a bookworm when the only books he says he's ever really liked are Harry Potter. That sort of thing breaks my immersion pretty fast and i'm like hmm

idk it's like they didn't even try to expand their writing horizions and are just writing the original story they want knowingly this fandom is very popular and active right now.

but then again one of my favorite dnf fanfics right now is something i generally hate that being a high school au and also involves george being very open with his emotions and soft. it's ooc and i think everyone knows that doesn't mean i don't like the story.

and no george would probably never wear a skirt but if you wanna put that in your horny fanfiction honestly it doesn't effect me in anyway