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artificialchaoscola · 1 month ago

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CW for mentions of inc*st/implied inc*st + (hopefully unintentional) misogyny in the fandom space in discussions regarding Maria and Shadow's relationship. Serious yap session, please be wary and please read everything if you choose to do so:

I made the horrid mistake of opening Twitter, and I'm shoved headfirst into the horrible world of... Shadow/Maria discourse... Fucking ew.

Typically, when I see something I don't like, I'm a firm believer of the "block and move on" mentality. However, as I'm very passionate about Sonic as a series, I felt the need to weigh in on something I feel a strong distaste for. Another disclaimer: this isn't about anyone in particular but rather a collection of stances about this topic I've seen over the years in this fandom. It's much easier to write out my thoughts here than on Twitter, so sorry to subject you guys over here to the drama happening on the other side! Hopefully, it's coherent. I'm running on NO coffee today////

First and foremost, it goes without saying that misogyny is a huge problem. The hatred of women/non-men manifests itself in all aspects of life, unfortunately, with media being no exception. The perception of women/girls/female presenting characters is undeniably corrupted by the sexualization of female presenting concepts. Be it the way women love, the way they dress, the way they walk, talk, behave. The age, the type of relationship they have with the men around them, etc. does not shield women from sexualization. A lot of media will intentionally lean into perversion regarding ANY relationship between a man and a woman as a result. This is all worth criticizing and analyzing, and it's a topic I've written a ton on in my life.

Regarding Shadow and Maria's relationship specifically, I'll be straightforward: I find it disgusting to depict them in ANY romantic manner, and the defenses I've been seeing of it remind me of the sexualization I mentioned above.

There are so many claims that it is "obvious Shadow loves her more than platonically" because they believe "romantic love is more powerful"... in the same series where Sonic the Hedgehog himself represents a love for life, the planet, and its people. Hell, talking about the same relationship in which Maria held that pure idealistic love for the entire world she never got to return to. This love pecking order always bothers me, as though people haven't moved mountains for family, friends, strangers. It's just aggravating. Even if romance was intended here it's just a stupid thing to say regardless.

Maria and Shadow's interactions on the ARK over the years have been intentionally kept a mystery for the most part. I hope they keep it this way, as I feel it adds to The Point™ that is Shadow's life, but the tidbits we've seen in Dark Beginnings have been showing us what we've known: Shadow was made to cure Maria. Shadow feels insecure about his origins and his inability to cure Maria. Maria is a source of comfort and morality in his formative years, but he was made for her. I'm seeing people claim his devotion is an indicator of romantic love which is just... it's illogical. Romantic love isn't "better" than platonic love as I've stated. Shadow is distraught that he couldn't do the one thing beaten into his head at "birth". He saw her life end right in front of him, helpless to do anything. He's traumatized. Longing for a life in which an innocent girl got to live is not implying anything, I feel most normal people would feel that way.

"Shipping Shadow and Maria makes sense, especially since Sonic is a reincarnation of Maria--" idk wtf I'm reading. If you believe that Sonic can be a reincarnation of Maria, that's fine ig, but you can do this without making it weird. I don't buy into this theory personally, as I Sonic and his friends moreso represent the love Maria hoped Shadow would find on Earth one day, but like... you can make this not weird. Plz ffs--

I have a hard time understanding why anyone would see romantic implications when their interactions have no subtext implying that? I know shipping is for fun and doesn't have to rely on canon, but the entire reason this current discourse is even happening is that people think Shadow daydreaming about Maria being alive and leaning against him is inherently romantic??? tf LMFAO I'm a subtext girly, and I've read SO many things where I wish the romantic subtext didn't exist so it's not like I intentionally ignore it, but it just doesn't exist here. I'm not an end-all-be-all of knowledge of course, and I'm always open to being wrong about analysis in general, but the only thing they have to offer is things that aren't romantic by nature. Things people do with their siblings.

Some people bring up that Shadow's creator and devs at SEGA ship it... and to that, I say who gives a fuck what a writer says if it doesn't exist in the text? Shadow and Maria have never had romantic implications unless you think devotion to someone/their beliefs = romance, which we KNOW is not the case. I don't know where this is coming from exactly either, but I have seen people mention Shadow and Maria were apparently inspired by a couple from Please Save My Earth. I haven't read this so I can't comment on that story, but I have to once again mention the specific context of Shadow and Maria's actual story? If that was the OG intent back when SA2 was released, it's long lost to the direction SEGA ultimately went with. If the current status of their relationship is meant to be interpretable, they failed miserably.

People, rightfully, look at you weird if you ship Sonic with Tails because they're found family (and the age gap but that's obvious lol). Although not related by blood, they've grown together, fought together, and laughed together, forging a bond where they'd literally die for one another. They're brothers without a doubt. So why, then, are Shadow and Maria up for debate? Part of the implications of Shadow's tragedy in SA2, the reason you can compare him and Sonic so easily, is you get to imagine a world where Tails was robbed from Sonic so brutally. Sonic and Shadow are different people, but the reason Shadow is so snarky and cool in SA2 is that he and Sonic may not have been so different if life had been kinder to him. Hidden behind the angst are a ton of qualities Sonic also possesses. And the way I've always read it is that a huge part of why they are the way they are is due to the influence of their siblings to varying degrees. I have to ask: If everything was the same except Sonic or Tails was a girl and the other still a boy, would people suddenly debate if their love is romantic despite all their interactions being the same? If Shadow was a girl, and Maria was still a girl, would everyone suddenly agree they're siblings? I think the answer to both is obvious.

To wrap this all up, I'm just extremely grossed out by this interpretation of their relationship. I personally feel Shadow/Maria is just another case of people not knowing what platonic love is, as well as viewing ALL relationships between men/women in this specific way. I just needed my thoughts thrown out into the universe. Thank you for reading <3

#arti yaps #im not gonna tag this as anything sonic related I dont wish to subject those poor ppl looking at shadow art to this #cw incest #cw misogny

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anxiousdreamcore · 6 months ago

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I saw that recent post you made writing out how you view all the Avatar characters, and in it, you mentioned that your opinion of the characters has changed a lot in the past year and a half (I can't believe it's been that long since ATWOW!)

So how did your opinion of the characters change and why? Who changed the most radically? I'd love to hear your thought process!

Warning: yapping ahead

My opinion changed as I began consuming content from different people in the fanbase, as I sadly started out my journey relegated to mostly the recom side of the fandom.

A very specific vision I’ve formed was one of him and Neytiri. Her and Spider are two individuals forced to be close by circumstance, and not necessarily liking each other but they’re known each other for so long that they know each other, you know? The way I see it, they can’t pretend to be strangers, and their argument in the high ground comics, which is the only time any of the children oppose Neytiri makes me think that this is the dynamic going on between them.

Being a Spider fan outside of the recom space was a horrible experience for many of my mutuals, and I heard from more than one person that just liking the character earned them death threats, so I kept to the only space where he was actually liked, which uh…may or may not have been a bit of an echo chamber.

First months after ATWOW came out the opinions were extremely polarising and there was little depth to go around. I realised later on though, I didn’t have to pick a side and didn’t have to force myself to forgive Quaritch, because I never wanted to. I didn’t have to see him as either a 🥺baby gworl🥺 or an emotionless monstrosity.

As I said before, the essays made by Quaritch fans sold me at first. They seemed to provide a lot of proof and I was on board with the identity crisis theory, but as time went on I believed it less and less. Looking at the movie with fresh eyes months later, I formed and opinion of my own and that is — That recom Quaritch is an amalgamation of his past self and the Na’vi instincts/perspective of his new body. He’s a fucked up soup that is, in a way, different than his human predecessor but not different enough to be considered a wholly separate creature. If human Quaritch was a dying garden then recom Quaritch is that same garden decayed to the core, with one single flower emerging amongst the rot, not yet consumed by it. (That flower being his fatherhood obv)

I went from seeing him as a man perhaps capable of redemption and seeing value in Pandora, to a man who, while not enjoying violence per ce, obviously doesn’t give much of a damn about the moon or its habitat or its many cultures. All that matters to Quaritch is that these things matter to his son, so he’ll entertain them and go easy on the destruction, just for him. He doesn’t yet accept Pandora, not fully, but he accepts that Spider does so. That is about his only good quality.

The way I began to see it, Socorro is somewhat his only functioning organ. A breathing lung in an otherwise dead body. Miles hasn’t felt anything but manic happiness and rage for as long as we knew him on screen, and that only changed when he stood in the boy’s presence, constantly challenged by him, and brought out of his comfort zone over and over again. He needs him to be remotely alive and likeable to the audience. He needs him to be something more than a chained army dog.

That brings me to my next point; my other big change in perspective was one of his dynamic with Spider. The more I analysed the franchise the more I came to conclusion that Miles is just an unbearable softie for him, and it was really the deleted scenes and the fact that Spider has a new bow in the ikran taming scene that sold me. He not just likes Spider, he loves him, to death. His sacrifices might not seem sufficient, but for his character, they‘re very much drastic, as Miles is traditionally not a loving person.

Quaritch is canonically a traitor to the RDA because he jeopardised his mission three times in a row, all for a single child. His inner father and colonel are constantly fighting each other, as he knows what he should be focusing on, but can’t resist being a father; having priorities of his own. He was an old fool who thought he could have his cake and eat it too; make Spider safe and happy and be a colonel at the same time, but in the end he made up his mind on what matters more, and it’s Spider. The way I see it now is; Quaritch is only truly loyal to Spider. He can hate it, but he can’t run from it.

#atwow #avatar way of water #atwow quaritch #recom quaritch #miles quaritch #atwow spider #spider socorro #avatar spider #avatar 2 #avatar the way of water

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devotioncrater · 2 years ago

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The Tedependent Tinhat Thesis

Welcome! Welcome to The Tedependent Tinhat Thesis.

As of writing this, only Episode 1 of Season 3 has been released so far. If you feel the need to send me an anon about how Ted/Trent won’t happen, I implore you to remember when fandom culture used to encourage people to ship characters freely — even when those characters never interacted. This is all written in good fun, and to critically analyze Ted Lasso through a queer lens.

Disclaimer: This meta compiles various topics discussed by people in the Tedependent camp. I cannot take credit for everything. If anything, this is a love letter to them.

To make this a bit easier to digest (and write), I’ve divided this meta into the following sections:

Queerness in the Media. Ted Lasso and His Subtextual Bisexuality. Trent Crimm, Independent. Tedependent Evidence. Rom-com Tropes and Structure. Narratives and Storytelling. Unexpected Ending.

So let’s begin on a base level of understanding about queerness in the media and how that history does and doesn’t tie into Ted Lasso.

Queerness in the Media

The presence of queer people in film has been a contentious topic since the enactment of the Hays Code in 1934. The Hays Code sanitized/censored what could be shown on-screen, and catered to an audience of white, straight men. This sanitization/censorship of media went hand in hand with the American societal shift into conservatism at the end of the Great Depression and WWI.

The Hays Code remained in effect until 1968, when the political landscape of America once again shifted — this time into a more progressive light. Until 1968, filmmakers and creatives within the industry sought out ways to bend and push the Code’s rules. The invention of television helped play a role in the dissolution of the Code, as did the growing number of foreign films which depicted things like queerness and women’s sexuality.

Why is this relevant to Ted Lasso, a television show made in 2020?

30 years of conservative censorship and catering to straight, white men does a number on what people deem “acceptable” to show in film. This thinking extends into the world of television. The Hays Code was rooted in conservative ideology and created a system in Hollywood that prioritized white, straight men’s stories — to the point where there was little representation of anyone else. Its effects are still felt today, 55 years on from dissolution. There still is a terrible underrepresentation problem in Hollywood that runs from POC stories to women’s stories to queer stories. Even worse if any of those stories intersect with each other.

Before we dive into the topic of queer-coding in television, we need to understand the history of queer signaling. Queer signaling emerged so that queer people could identify themselves to other queer people without outing themselves to danger. It is by nature subtle to ensure safety within a homophobic society. Men wearing green carnations on their lapels, women giving other women violets, and the use of lavender are all queer signals that were used back in the day. Fashion choices are another signal (the old hanky code), as are certain phrases (“Are you a friend of Dorothy?”).

When you leave things to be subtle, it allows for people on the outside to interpret the information in a way that is easiest for them to digest. That has ramifications on queer history to be erased or explained away or rewritten to better push a heterosexual "default". You see it time and time again when historians call women who lived together for decades "good friends" or when historians laugh at the possibility of someone like Abe Lincoln being queer. There's this homophobic undercurrent of: How can this beloved, well-known person be queer? Why would you even imply something like that?

The same thing happens to queer characters on-screen. Queerness in television, specifically, has a history of being coded. Queer-coded characters are characters who are not explicitly queer — sometimes even are mentioned as straight —, but through their mannerisms and traits can be perceived as queer to the audience. Well known queer signals help aid in queer-coding. Harmful stereotypes also are utilizied to code a character. Therefore it is important to discern the intent and the use of these signals and/or stereotypes.

(Please note: Queer-coding is different than Queer-baiting. To code a character as queer is inherently neutral, while to bait a character as queer is almost always negative.)

The ambiguity of coding allows for the show/studio to not have to present overt representation at the risk of alienating its audience. Hello, Hays Code.

Queer-coding is a reflection on society's stance on queer people at the time the character is written. In the 1980’s, when the AIDS Crisis was labeled a “Gay Cancer”, Disney films queer-coded their villains (notable ones include Ursula and Scar). In the 1990’s, Chandler Bing in Friends became a queer-coded character, but instead of villainizing him, it served to ridicule him. Even jumping forward to today, characters (such as Deborah in Hacks) still remain coded despite other characters within the same show being explicitly queer.

And while the queer-coded characters of today are not targets of outright villainization, there lies an undercurrent rationalization to their subtextual queerness. For example, characters like Wednesday and Enid Sinclair from Wednesday are explained away as: “Well they’re just friends”.

Characters like Ted in Ted Lasso can be explained away as: “Well he isn’t toxically masculine”.

Ted Lasso and His Subtextual Bisexuality

Ted? A queer-coded character? Afraid so, bucko.

He isn’t the only one in the show, either. Keeley, Colin, and Trent are also queer-coded for their own reasons. Colin most notably for his Grindr comment; Keeley most notably for her various sapphic comments. Trent…we will get to later on.

(It is worth noting that as of writing this, there are still no explicitly confirmed queer characters in the show. Although the case can be made that Keeley is confirmed bisexual already).

Focusing back on Ted, there is a good amount of evidence for bisexuality that can admittingly be explained away. People can point out that he’s secure in his heterosexuality, that he isn’t toxically masculine, that that is just how his character is. And yes, those viewpoints are all true and well and good, but I want to pose a question:

Why are we so adamant that Ted Lasso isn’t queer?

Explaining away a queer-coded character’s subtextual queerness is perhaps the easiest route fans can take. Whether there is (implicit) homophobia attached or simply because of the fan’s strict adherence to what’s been canonically established so far, quite a few people’s knee-jerk reaction to reading a theory their beloved main character could be queer is: “Nope! No way, José!”

Let’s challenge that reaction for a second. Let’s put down the explanations. Let’s take a look into what, exactly, I am talking about when I say that Ted can be read as a bisexual man.

“Rugby. What a game. It’s like if American football and sumo wrestling gave birth to a baby with huge muscular thighs all caked in mud.” — Season 3, Episode 1.

This is a peek into how Ted views the sport of Rugby, and it sure is telling to what he pays attention to. It’s also said in the context of asking if Sharon is seeing anyone. The phrase “huge muscular thighs all caked in mud” draws up quite the image, which when paired up with the direct conversation context, lends itself into an erotic visual. Rugby is known to be a homoerotic sport, too.

(Please note: The “baby" in this sentence is Rugby personified to help segue the listener from imagining the sport as an abstract to imagining the sport as tangible. “It’s like if ___ and ___ gave birth to a baby” is a common figure of speech used to mean the combination of two things. The focus in this sentence is not the baby, but rather the muscular thighs.)

Ted could have said anything else about Rugby. But he didn’t. The first association he has with the sport is “muscular thighs caked in mud”. Why is that?

“Guys have underestimated me my entire life. And for years, I never understood why. It used to really bother me. But then one day, I was driving my little boy to school, and I saw this quote by Walt Whitman, and it was painted on the wall there. It said, ‘Be curious, not judgmental.’ I like that.” — Season 1, Episode 8

Walt Whitman was an openly gay poet in the 1800’s. His famous body of work Leaves of Grass has clear homoeroticism within it. The quote Ted references, though, isn’t a Whitman quote. But Ted believes it to be. “Be curious, not judgmental” is an aspired quote that reminds us to be more open-minded.

Added layer: Not understanding why peers underestimate you or treat you different is a common experience in the queer community.

“That’s funny, when it comes to small talk I often ask myself what would Dolly Parton do? Start with the 9 to 5 and end with God Only Knows” — Official Twitter. Sept 28, 2021

“And next week is, if I remember correctly, Shania Twain.” — Season 2, Episode 1

Dolly Parton and Shania Twain are gay icons, especially to country folk.

“Shoot, I know I got goosebumps. I remember being a little kid, sitting in front of the television and watching Queen perform right over there during Live Aid.” — Season 2, Episode 8

Queen is not only an iconic band, but interwoven with queer culture. Freddie Mercury was bisexual.

“Last time I saw equipment this impressive, I was about 20 minutes into Boogie Nights.” — Official Twitter. Aug 30, 2022.

Boogie Nights is a 1997 film about a man becoming an adult-film sensation in the 1970’s. Twenty minutes in, there is a scene referencing the main character’s dick.

Boogie Nights also draws heavily from the disco genre for it’s soundtrack. Disco is a staple in queer culture as it allowed people freedom to express their identities in the nightlife scene. It didn’t matter who danced with who in the clubs.

“I feel like you two [Beard and Nate] are about to do some improv comedy or tell me that you’re dating each other. Either one’s cool with me. ‘Cause your suggestion is: ally.” — Season 1, Episode 9

Ted is supportive of queer relationships. An ally, as he says. But maybe he isn’t just an ally.

He repeatedly calls members of the Diamond Dogs pet names/terms of endearment. “Sweetie” “Baby” “Honey”, the list goes on. When this began in Season 1, Episode 6, Beard found it out of character for Ted to do so. (Nate asking him if Ted’s alright and Beard laughing, “No!”). What makes me pause on this is that the origin of Ted’s terms of endearment stem from Michelle leaving him. Ted’s looking for emotional comfort or familiarity in other men that he can no longer give to or receive from his ex-wife.

Other straight men in the show (like Roy) don’t engage in this behavior.

Ted also really enjoys musical theatre. He references musicals a lot. I mention this information now because it is important later.

There are more examples in the show, but I hope I’ve laid out enough to get you to at least see the repeated mentions of queer culture. They’re spinkled in, sure, but they are there. And they’re given in a way that gives an impression that maybe, maybe Ted isn’t as straight as we’re led to believe.

Keep in mind that sexuality is fluid, bisexuality exists, and characters evolve over the course of their stories. Is it really so out there to imagine Ted developing into his own?

Let’s move on to Trent.

Trent Crimm, Independent

We do not know much of Trent’s backstory. Yet. James Lance has said in interviews that Jason Sudeikis brought it up to him early on. Interesting, as Trent hadn’t yet become a series regular. Was there always a plan in store for his character?

Well what do we know of Trent? From other character’s reactions and comments about him, we know he is someone who writes scathing exposés as a journalist. We know he’s highly obervant, blunt, and at times aloof. He takes his job seriously and he loves the sport of football. A “tough cookie” as Ted put it. People listen to what he writes about, as Rebecca mentions in Season 1 Episode 3. He’s established in his profession.

We also come to discover that he’s grown dissatisfied with his career. He’s “looking for something deeper”. He goes from disliking Ted (“Is this a fucking joke?”) to burning his source out of personal respect for Ted (“My source was Nate”). This shift in character is pretty drastic, though believable if you pay attention to how he acts in the press room and the questions he asks throughout Seasons 1 & 2.

He has a je ne sais quoi about him that queer fans of Ted Lasso have picked up on. Perhaps it’s the way he dresses, his hair, or his overall vibe. Perhaps it’s the way he looks at Ted like he’s endlessly fascinated by him. Trent Crimm, Independent inexplicably reads as gay.

Tedependent Evidence and Speculation

Keeping everything we’ve established so far in mind, let’s go through some of their scenes together. Keyword: some. This meta is long enough as is.

Lasting First Impressions

In the Pilot episode, one of the first things Ted says to Trent is, “I like your glasses.” To which Trent takes them off, looks at them, and replies, “Oh, thank you.” And then it becomes a recurring move he does nearly every time he talks to Ted.

In Season 1 Episode 3, Trent greets Ted, “Hello Coach Ted Lasso from America.” to which Ted replies, “Hello Trent Crimm from the Independent.” And then that becomes a recurring joke between them.

Speaking of Season 1 Episode 3, if you jump to 18:29, you’ll catch Trent giving Ted a full body check as Ted finishes getting ready.

Bring It On!

“Make like Dunst and Union and Bring It On, baby!” Ted says to Trent in Season 2, Episode 3.

The 2000 film Bring It On! includes a storyline about a gay cheerleader who is comfortable in his sexuality. The movie addresses issues of racism, appropriation, and systemic inequality. It’s become a beloved cult classic.

It is also the first time Ted uses a term of endearment on Trent. He doesn’t do that to any of the other journalists, indicating that they’re on personal friendly terms. Most of their interactions seem to happen off-screen. Ted baked birthday biscuits (and decorated them) for Trent’s daughter. Trent and Ted may have swapped phone numbers somewhere along the way too, seeing as Trent’s able to text him about Nate later on in the season.

The Tie Between Oklahoma! and Casablanca

When Ted references Oklahoma! in Season 1, Episode 5, it’s to specify that the musical is ruined for him due to it becoming a safeword in his marriage with Michelle. The direct quote is:

“So if either of us says ‘Oklahoma,’ the other one has to tell the God’s honest truth… Did ruin the musical for me though. So now every time I hear, ‘Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,’ or, uh… what… ‘Surrey with the Fringe on Top,’…”

“Surrey with the Fringe on Top” makes an appearance in the 1989 rom-com film When Harry Met Sally. Harry and Sally sing it together impromptu on a karaoke machine in an electronics store. Sally’s profession in the film is in journalism.

What else is referenced in When Harry Met Sally…? So glad you asked. Casablanca is referenced in the film a couple times. In the beginning and in the middle. It serves the narrative purpose to indicate how Harry and Sally’s outlook on love has developed over the years.

Casablanca is a hallmark of the romance genre. And it’s also been referenced in Ted Lasso. In Season 2 Episode 7, when Trent leaves his date to go over to talk to Ted, he says, “Of all the pub joints!”

The Casablanca quote is: “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” It is said by Rick about meeting Ilsa again.

Season 3 Episode 8 is allegedly titled “We’ll Never Have Paris”, which is a subversion of the Casablanca quote “We’ll always have Paris”.

Now for the absolutely insane bonkers speculation. That quote is said in the final scene of the film right after Ilsa asks Rick, “What about us?”. Rick isn’t getting on the plane with her, they’re separating, this is the end of their story. “We’ll always have Paris” is a reassurance that they’ll always be together in their memories.

So if “We’ll always have Paris” is a signifier to the end of a romance, it is possible that “We’ll Never Have Paris” is a signifier to the start of a romance. And who else in Ted Lasso has referenced Casablanca? No one. The only reference in the entire show so far has been said by Trent to Ted.

Twelfth Night

Want to get even more insane in the membrane? Of course you do.

Before Trent walks over to where Ted sits at the bar, Mae makes a reference to the Shakespearan play Twelfth Night. Her direct quote is: “If music be the food of love, play on. Give me excess of it.”

To which Ted replies: “If that's your fancy way of asking if I want another one, you guessed right.”

Sidebar here — because I love connecting the dots even if it turns out I haven’t connected jackshit — Ted’s reply could be a double entendre. He doesn’t say “if I want another drink”, he says “if I want another one”. Another one of what? It’s clear in the context of the bar it’s another one (beer), but it could also foreshadow to mean another one (love). The latter makes sense when combined with Mae’s reference.

Because Twelfth Night is a love story. It’s a romantic comedy. It’s a queer romantic comedy.

So Mae makes a cryptic reference — unprompted — to the opening of a queer love story, and then immediately afterwards we get Trent greeting Ted with a reference to another famous love story.

Remember how Trent did a full body check on Ted in Season 1 Episode 3? Well now it’s Ted’s turn. He does a full body check on Trent around the 31:50 mark in this episode. And he seems genuinely happy to see Trent until Trent puts his journalist cap on.

This happiness is also short-lived if we jump forward to Season 2 Episode 12. When Trent texts Ted initially, Ted smiles at his phone. The smile goes away as soon as Trent sends him the article he wrote.

Burning A Source

Trent burned his source for Ted. This serious, established journalist burned his source.

The Carpark

“Hey! There he is. I was worried about you. I thought you might’ve been in a bike accident or something.”

“Actually, I don’t know how to ride a bicycle.”

“Really? That surprises me.”

“Why? Cause of the hair and the whole vibe?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

— Season 2, Episode 12

Let’s break this down.

Remember how I said certain phrases are used as queer signaling? Bicycle is one of them. Bi-cycle used to be slang for bisexual (an example of this in pop culture is Queen’s song “Bicycle Race”). Trent saying he doesn’t know how to ride a bicycle could be a double entendre, with the hidden meaning that he isn’t bisexual. He then goes on to ask Ted about “the hair and the whole vibe”, which could be another double entendre. This time with the hidden meaning to ask if Ted’s got a gaydar. The pause at the end of his question and the way he asks it is equally important. He’s testing the waters with Ted.

And Ted passes the test with, “Yeah, I guess so.”

They are also in a carpark, which is a callback and parallel to not just Ted and Michelle, but also to Roy and Keeley.

This entire scene is coded and contains heavy foreshadowing. There’s a lot to unpack. From Trent’s choice of words to locking himself out of his car to Ted saying, “Do what The Man says and try to follow your bliss.”

Speaking of Ted, this is the last scene we see of him in Season 2.

Rom-com Tropes and Structure

So how does that evidence fit in with the story structure? We all know Ted Lasso is a rom-com. So let’s dissect the genre’s tropes and how its typically set-up.

Perhaps one of the most common rom-com tropes is the journalist falling in love (sometimes with who they’re writing about). Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally, He’s Just Not That Into You, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, etc. This profession is popular.

There are also the friends of the romantic leads who help guide them. Diamond Dogs, anyone?

The anatomy of a rom-com is typically done in three acts.

ACT ONE: Meet-Cute

Every rom-com has a meet-cute. It’s integral to the structure. And oftentimes — if the rom-com includes someone who is a journalist — that meet-cute happens in the workplace. During this act, the two characters get to know one another and start to fall in love.

ACT TWO: Lose

This stage typically happens two-thirds of the way through. There’s a dissolution of some sort. One character betrays another or they argue or something gets in between them. Either way, one of them leaves.

ACT THREE: Declaration

Whoever left realizes “Wait a minute…I’m in love.” and then the rest of the film leads up to an iconic declaration of love. The characters reconcile and it’s — generally speaking — a happy ending.

It would make sense for Ted Lasso — which references rom-coms and rom-communism out the wazoo — to incorporate this structure. And I think that it already has somewhat in regards to Ted and Trent’s storyline, if you view each act as a corresponding season.

Narratives and Storytelling

Before we saw Ted’s panic attacks and now chronic depression, we got inklings of it. The writers consistently sprinkle foreshadowing into every major plot point in Ted Lasso. The situations in the show feel plausible and real because they’re given the space and the time to breathe, grow, and develop. Pacing is integral to this.

For a show to be so progressive yet not have an explicitly queer character seems strange to me. It feels off. We are given hints, though, which lead me to believe that sexuality will be a major plot point in Season 3. For it being the last season, it’s not going to be enough to potentially only have Colin be the One Gay in the entire cast of characters. That would feel uncharacteristically dismissive from the writers on a show about inclusion and found family.

It would also completely throw out a chance to further enrich the story and deepen the characters. Think about the wasted comedic potential of Trent becoming an accidental gay mentor to Colin. Or the wasted dramatic potential of the Richmond team banding together against homophobia. Or, I don’t know, the wasted dramedy in Ted talking to the Diamond Dogs about how he’s realizing he’s got feelings for men, and there’s a moment where they’re like, “No shit.”

Beyond foreshadowing, another common style the Ted Lasso writers love to utilize is the red herring. A red herring is a misleading bit of information used to distract the audience from the relevant information. We saw it in Season 2 between Ted and Rebecca and Sam. Some people didn’t connect the dots between Sam’s Bantr storyline and Rebecca’s Bantr storyline because Ted — the red herring in this example — was shown also texting on his phone. Editing played a part in this too, as some shots cut to Ted directly after Rebecca had a Bantr Moment.

I honestly think we’re going to get a subversion of this in Season 3. Only this time Rebecca will be the red herring to distract from Ted and Trent. Here’s why:

There are multiple parallels between scenes where Ted interacts with Rebecca and with Trent. This gifset captures those parallels. He gets through both of their barriers (hopping over Rebecca’s “fence” and softening Trent’s “tough cookie” exterior). It’s the Lasso Effect, baby!

What’s more, a larger portion of the audience watching Ted Lasso are primed to expect Ted and Rebecca as endgame. It’s what happens in shows between two main characters of the opposite gender, right? They get together, live happily ever after. Especially if they’re good friends.

Anyone expecting the Ted and Rebecca ending will probably disregard anything developing between Ted and Trent even if its right in front of them. Because historically two men don’t end up together on-screen. Especially not in a show as big as Ted Lasso.

But what if a queer endgame is what Jason Sudeikis means when he says in interviews that the ending is not what we’ll expect?

Unexpected Ending

Before we look at the ending, we must look at the beginning.

The first shot of the season is of Ted’s depressed face in an airport. Since Ted Lasso has so far began and ended each season with a juxtaposition shot, it would make sense for the last shot in Season 3 to be of Ted’s happy face. Whether or not that’s in an airport remains to be seen.

The teaser trailer for this season dropped on Valentine’s Day, which was our first look into Season 3. Season 3 ends on May 31, 2023, one day before June. Or, in other words, one day before Pride Month. The combination here of Valentine’s Day and Pride Month lends itself to an interesting choice.

The official Season 3 playlist dropped on Apple Music. So far all the song’s have been in order, and as there are 56 songs on the playlist, I’m inclined to believe that it’s the entire season.

“Wigwam” by Bob Dylan is the first song of the season. It’s got a melancholic, drifting feel to it, with no real lyrics. If it still stands that the songs are in order, then the last song on the show is “I Am What I Am” by Donald Pippin & George Hearn from the 1983 Broadway musical La Cage aux Folles. It’s got a purposeful, proud feel to it, with meaningful lyrics.

Remember how I said that Ted is a huge musical theatre nerd? La Cage aux Folles is an insane pick — in the best way — to end the show. It’s cultural impact was huge when it came out, as it was the first hit Broadway show that centered on a gay couple, Albin and Georges. “I Am What I Am” quickly became a gay anthem. I can’t give notable lyrics because the entire song is a love letter to being out and proud of who you are. It’s also worth noting that Albin and Georges are fathers to a son.

But why would they pick this particular song from this particular musical? Why choose a gay anthem?

I cannot say for certain that Ted and Trent will end up together by the end of Season 3. All I can say is that it would make sense if they do. From the set-up to the Rom-com tropes to the unexpected ending. And if it doesn’t, if all this ends up being wrong, that’s okay too.

Still, though, I can’t help but root for them.

#ted lasso #ted lasso meta #trent crimm #tedependent #ted lasso speculation #tedtrent #can you fuckign believe this is over 4k words....jesus #there was so much i did not include such as interviews from both james and jason #hope this made sense LMAO

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polin-erospsyche · 5 months ago

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Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2 Thoughts

Alright, it’s been a few days since the end of Season 3 Part 2 of Bridgerton, and I’ve had some time to think about all of it and rewatch the show. I have some thoughts. I’m not sure how much this will add to what everybody has already said, but I’m hoping that by writing this, I can free myself from the torment that is my Polin obsession. There are a few points I’d like to hit on, so this will probably be separated into parts.

1. The Break Between Part 1 and Part 2

I’ll start this whole thread with what seems to me like a big reason for which Part 2 was received the way it was in the fandom: the break. Of course, that is not to say that Part 2 was perfect. It wasn’t. I think by now we all agree that something was missing from it. Some used the word “lackluster”; others deemed it “disappointing.” However, what seems interesting to me after having spoken about it with some of my friends who watch it but are nowhere near as invested is that they overall enjoyed Part 2. Some even thought Part 2 was better than Part 1, with more solid storytelling. I personally have come to the conclusion that it is overall a great season and a very entertaining one. With its flaws, of course, but then again, no season of Bridgerton so far was ever perfect.

The difference, then, to me, between casual viewers of the show and the fandom, and maybe what could explain the difference in the level of disappointment we felt after Part 2, is the break. How we lived the break more specifically, and the AMOUNT of media we consumed during it. In effect, this break was essentially a great idea and the worst mistake Netflix could have made. A great idea because it caught a lot of people’s attention. With nothing to do but to wait after that carriage scene of all scenes, the only place to turn to, if you couldn’t get it out of your head, was online with the fan community. And god knows we were fed. Constantly and very, very well. With drops nearly every day, interviews, stills, and everything else, we had plenty to interact with. On top of that, you add fan theories and possible spoilers and a constant assurance that this season would get “very steamy, the steamiest,” and you end up with a lot of hype around Part 2.

I truly believe we might have been disappointed if we had gotten the whole season in one go, but the fallout might not have been as bad because they simply wouldn’t have had the time to build so much hype around it. That was the stupid aspect of putting a break in the middle. Nothing, I think, could have come close to what each one of us hoped and prayed Part 2 could be. It is the eternal problem of expectations vs. reality.

One last thing that I will add to this is the reputation Bridgerton has built for itself over the years. Bridgerton, when it was first released, was new, thrilling, a show that bent convention of traditional historical drama, a show that was steamy. We had a lot in terms of intimacy scenes in Season 1. Then Season 2 came, and fans were disappointed. Then Season 3 rolled along, and fans are finding themselves equally disappointed (now I see there are actually wars being fought over which season between 2 and 3 was the least steamy or showed the least amount of nudity, and I just sit here rolling my eyes because is this really necessary? Anyway, I digress. This is not the point here). We, as a fandom, have come to expect more nudity, more steaminess, more focus on the main couple, and each season for the past two we get disappointed. Season 1, no matter what you may think of it, and Queen Charlotte both delivered, I would say, in terms of focus on the main couple and steamy scenes. That is because both of them had fewer things going on in them, fewer side plots. My friend said something to me that made me laugh: she said that if you expect a romance show focused on the main couple above all else, you will inevitably be disappointed. However, if you make your peace with the fact that the format has changed somewhat, then it’s actually great fun. I personally think that the problem is the format has changed, but Bridgerton is still being sold to us on its original pitch, and if the original pitch is to be kept, then the 8-episode format is nowhere near enough to cram everything in, ending up in a weirdly paced show with disjointed scenes and a disappointed fan base.

Now that the problems have been laid out, and despite the flaws, this season still remains so beautiful, especially due to the complexity in both Colin and Penelope individually and as a couple (which I cannot wait to discuss!). It is worth sitting with it and taking it as a whole and not as a Part 1 and Part 2 😊

#this is the only take that is somewhat negative #the rest will be more positive I promise #I actually LOVE love love the character arc so I will discuss it #but this had to be said first #polin #bridgerton #bridgerton season 3

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danielfuckingricciardo · 1 year ago

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Why Anita Driver should be Stopped - An Essay(ish) Post

Hi. So I don’t often do long posts like this, you probably know me as a fic writer and shitposter, but this situation has been irking me since I first read about it and so I only felt it right to explain why.

First off, I wanna say that I understand what she’s doing (I’m going to refer to Anita as she/her throughout this though I have no clue on the author’s actual gender identity). I think she’s very intelligent, using pastiche and parody to create content tailored towards a certain specific audience.

But as someone who knows their fandom history, and has moved in fanfiction circles for over 10 years, the attention one specific book I’m not going to refer to by title because I may throw up in my mouth a little, has received has me very worried for F1 RPF writers as a whole.

RPF has always been a main stay of fanfiction culture. Though there are many ‘antis’ who think it’s wrong and inappropriate to write about real people, RPF fandoms, think One Direction, BTS etc have always been some of the biggest out there.

And I’m sure you’ve seen as popular fan works such as the ‘After’ series by Anna Todd and ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ by E.L. James have transitioned from fan work into published original novels.

Because of this, fan works are booming. Fanfiction is less of a dirty little secret now, confined to locked sites and email chains, but is something that many people know about even if they don’t consume it themselves.

And so, enter Anita Driver. Capitalising on the BookTok trend of ‘spicy’ fiction (what I would call erotica), the author has taken it upon herself to self publish a novel in that similar style but using Daniel Ricciardo not just as inspiration, but as the main protagonist.

I get what she’s trying to do, I really do. I can see that it’s parody, it’s not meant to be taken seriously, but firstly it’s illegal and secondly it really puts fanfiction communities at risk.

Part One: Defamation

Legally, you can’t take someone else’s identity and profit off of it without their explicit consent to do so. There’s a reason Harry Styles became Hardin Scott, and Edward Cullen became Christian Grey. That’s someone else’s intellectual property, or their identity. You cannot legally make a profit out of that. The subject could quite easily build a lawsuit against the author, and the author would have no grounds for defence. There’s a reason AO3 do not allow you to share fundraising links or anything else similar to that, and it’s to protect themselves and the authors against possible lawsuits.

I’d also just like to add that there’s plenty of erotic F1 inspired books out there. I haven’t read them myself but I know that the ‘Dirty Air’ series draws inspiration from current drivers on the grid, but doesn’t explicitly mention anyone real by name! Every character is the intellectual property of the author, it is original fiction that can safely make a profit.

By using Daniel Ricciardo’s image and personality, Anita Driver is putting herself at risk, in this case, not for theft of intellectual property, but of defamation. I haven’t read the book, of course I haven’t read the book, but I can easily believe that the content within could be considered to be defamatory as it may damage public perceptions of him. Now I’m no expert on law, I took a semester of media law and that’s it, but people have definitely sued for less.

In U.K. law (which I’m going off because I know the most about it) “A statement is not defamatory unless its publication has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of the claimant.” (x) It could easily be said that portraying Daniel in this way would cause damage to his reputation. We know his image isn’t squeaky clean, but having this book using his name could easily lead people to believe that he was in some way associated with its production. I don’t think anyone would like their public perception to be that they actively encourage and fund the production of erotica about them.

In a lawsuit, Amazon could also be held liable for this, as their website is the main distribution platform for the book, and Anita Driver is a pseudonym and and an unknown.

“It is a defence for the operator to show that it was not the operator who posted the statement on the website. The defence is defeated if the claimant shows that it was not possible for the claimant to identify the person who posted the statement.” (x) If Anita Driver remains anonymous, Amazon could easily be held liable in a court case. Because of this, it would be in their best interests to remove the book to avoid this. (I do not like Amazon, and while they would easily be able to fight the court case with their billions, it would be much easier for them to remove the book and avoid any possible cases.)

So honestly, it is easy to see why this book is a danger to the author. Now I’m not saying that Daniel would necessarily sue. I think he’d probably just laugh it off even if it does make him feel uncomfortable (which it probably does, it would me!) because he has more important things to do. But I honestly don’t know how F1 and Liberty Media might react to this, they would definitely be more likely considering Daniel’s Reputation in turn reflects their own.

Part Two: Danger to Fan Works

This leads me in nicely to part two, actually, because legal threats against fanfiction writers have been a real problem to various communities over the years. Anne Rice, creator of the ‘Interview with a Vampire’ series, had all works purged from the internet in the early 2000s, and threatened writers with legal action if they continued to post fanfiction.

Fanfiction has always been a niche. It’s a small part of the internet for those who want to put their blorbos in situations, or just to think about them fucking nasty. But fan works haven’t always been accepted. Many people still look down on fanfiction, particularly those feature OCs (original characters) or reader inserts.

Anita Driver’s book would be more at home on Wattpad than Kindle Unlimited. It is a fan work. It is written by fans, for fans, and should be kept to that specific audience (without paying for it of course, because as I said, it’s very illegal!)

A work of fanfiction being a book is nothing new, as I mentioned earlier, the ‘After’ series and ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ started out life as fanfiction. But when published, they were no longer fanfiction, they became original works of their own.

Putting fan works out in the open like that only threatens the F1 RPF community. It leaves us open, vulnerable, more so than normal. Sites like AO3 can only protect us to a certain extent, we can lock fics, sure, but that only stops those who don’t have an account from accessing our works.

If this one book is out there, who knows what may happen next. All it takes is for someone to say ‘I don’t want works featuring me published online and I will threaten a lawsuit’ and we’re back to email chains and password locked neocities webpages.

So it genuinely makes me worry.

And with the recent development of Dax Shepard sharing the book with Daniel himself, I feel that it’s all just too close. Fanfiction is never meant to be seen or read by its original subjects. Sure, they may actively seek it out if they want to, but unless they explicitly consent to it, they shouldn’t be seeing it. Daniel has had no say in the matter, it seems. It is being forced on him, which is going to look bad for the fanfiction community as a whole.

Part Three: Conclusion

Honestly, I don’t know whether I’m just being overly freaked out by this whole thing, I hope it just nicely blows over, the book disappears from people’s minds and we get to just keep our niche little side of the internet safe. But part of me is scared.

I’m scared for what may come, if the book is popular, will people try and emulate it? Will people start ripping fics from Tumblr/AO3/Wattpad to sell on Amazon to make a quick buck off the back of this? And will we have another Anne Rice type situation which kills the community completely?

I don’t know. And that’s what worries me. I hope that this whole thing blows over, that Daniel isn’t too freaked out, and that Anita Driver stops using ai image generators to make her book covers (Lance has waaay too many fingers on her most recent one. Caught you out babes x)

This is the end, for now. I suppose I’ll probably add to this if there are any more developments, and if anyone has anything to add (maybe some better law knowledge because mine is basic) please feel free!

Thanks for reading.

#f1 #formula one

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mareenavee · 1 year ago

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Fic Authors Self Rec!

Tagged by the indominable @kookaburra1701! Rules:

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love!

I love this. OKAY LET'S GO. Tell me about how proud you are of your work, friends. You've come so far <3

Tagging: @paraparadigm, @polypolymorph, @changelingsandothernonsense, @thana-topsy, @dirty-bosmer, @thequeenofthewinter, @gilgamish, @archangelsunited, @throughtrialbyfire, @expended-sleeper, @ladytanithia and YOU yes if you see this, talk kindly about your writing journey and TAG ME BACK <3

Below the cut because I do be ramblin' (: They're not really in any particular order, I just love them all for different reasons.

1) If We Knew Anything At All

This one was a hell ship prompted by a list that Topsy shared with a bunch of us and I had a brainwyrm, then ended up crying while I wrote the end of it. Quite possibly one of my favorite ever pieces. This one is both the inevitable end to my fic universe and something completely outside time. How did I manage this? Via Sheogorath's voicing. I don't think it gets more unreliable than that.

2) Metempsychosis

A very dear friend and fantastic teammate I met through Skywind sent me this prompt and it gave me such an excellent challenge not only to flex on weird god voice stuff again, but also to bust out some spoken word poetry tricks. I did end up recording myself reading this one too and it felt like old times. I loved all the layers of references I shoved into 1,000 words. It is also my first Morrowfic. And also one that reminded me what I am capable of even more strongly than some of my other projects did. 🥰

3) Serpens Caput

This one is newer, yes BUT OH MY GODS what a flex it was. ANOTHER Morrowfic but it's set in Ceth's fic universe featuring not only major character death but the mindset of a villain in his final moments. And we get to see Danger!Josh through his eyes. It was WEIRD. WEIRD WEIRD but so much fun. I don't think I've yelled so much about a fic whilst writing before. Ceth threw me this prompt, but I don't think was expecting this to end up...being this way (: Borrowed the description of Teldryn and Nerevar from her universe and just RAN WITH IT.

4) Little Dragon

This was written as part of my cute, happy LDB!Athis polycule AU where nothing is quite as horrifically messy as my main fic universe. It is a different kind of catharsis to write, often fun and humorous and a flex in that direction, since I didn't know what i was capable of—I always write pining and heartbreak lol. This came about as part of a fic writer's duel with AU (judged by Poly) which was honestly one of the coolest fandom experiences I've ever been in. It has become its own thing now with multiple other stories and I've been in yet another fandom duel since then. So it's all cute fuzzy feelings and happy memories and I love it to bits.

and last but certainly not least:

5) The World on Our Shoulders

My longfic which throws characters into extremely tough situations, handles horribly difficult themes and topics, shows people being messy and still finds ways to show it all with grace. It's what got me out of my multi-year writing slump and truly, truly brought me back to myself. So yes maybe some of the characters have some of my irl nonsense. Some scenes are far too relatable and it's a little scary sometimes how horrible that is, but it's a different kind of Catharsis. I love also the support its gotten so far for its specific type of storytelling structure as well as all the weird details that sprawl into other stories (Like my honorable mention written for Para, Recurse) and sequels and spin offs. It's been a great joy to be writing this and it's continued to inspire me. From draft one, which I wrote in challenge mode, posting every day this last February to now, where I am mid-ground-up-edit, I love this project to bits and will do all I can to see it through to the end. I see how much I can accomplish in this project. I see what can be done with common tropes and themes and even Fic in general. It's unalienated labor that I do for the sheer hell of it because I can and it's mine and I don't have to follow The Rules. There's something beautiful about that. It's one reason I get up at the crack of dawn every day -- to write for the sake of writing. Out of spite sometimes for all the ways the world tries to crush this kind of self expression out of us. This is my gem of a project. And I am proud of it and how far I've come since I started it. (:

So now it's your turn, if you got this far. Why do you write? How have your favorite fics you've written changed your perspective on the craft so far?

#AskMareena #Fic Authors Self Rec #The World on Our Shoulders #Dragonborn and Far-Star Marked #skyrim #skyrim fic #Nyenna #LDB/Athis #LDB/Teldryn #LDB/Teldryn Sero #Nerevarine Teldryn Sero #Nerevarine Teldryn #Nerevarine #elder scrolls #tes #tesblr #fanficblr

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thelightsandtheroses · 8 months ago

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hi bby ✨ I’m hoping to spread a little love around today (it is someone’s birthday after all — so you might see others answering this)!

I am a big fan of people enjoying cake and celebrating, and sometimes cake can be just tooting your own horn 💁‍♀️ so with that in mind, I’d love to know what THREE pieces of work you’re super proud of that you’d recommend others reading, and why 🍰

Hi jo,

I love this idea so much and I'm sorry if this got long! I fully support the cake and celebrating - I'm having a great time and adding to my tbr by seeing other answers to this as well. So, for my three fics I'm most proud of/would recommend to others:

Sing Fever to the Form I love romance tropes like fake dating but i was really proud of the twists I put on this and way I explored this with Frankie. It bought in a number of ideas and tiny references at the time I felt nervous and not confident enough to write. Also, this fic was the first one where I decide to try and write a tiny bit more smut than I usually would and gave me confidence in this more than a fade to black (there is nothing wrong with a fade to black at all btw)

Your Hand In Mine I've been plotting this fic since the show started airing but was nervous to write it. My lovely friend @joelsgreys encouraged me when I told her about the idea and so I started writing it. I feel like this fic demonstrates that blend of fluff, angst and romance that I feel is my style at the moment? Flangst, it's flangst. Also, I really started this during a difficult time, when my Javi fic got too personal, too difficult and I was scared I had written myself back into writer’s block or anxiety again. Thiis fic helped me through that, plus I'm proud of how I’ve executed a number of its plots. I am looking forward to bringing it back more to a slightly more romance/fluff place for the last few chapters too.

Let’s Get Lost I think this one is probably the one that seems to be resonating or landing with people the most at the moment, but is one of the ideas I am most proud of. It allows me to write an incredible setting (I haven’t stated where the wedding is for people to imagine, but I have a specific location in mind in my head - it’s somewhere the Carribbean) and play with so many concepts I love? I really care about these characters and from when I started brainstorming the idea more last year, I felt this one had something a little special to it and I really hope I am doing it justice so far.

Also finally, I am cheating here but, I think I have to give an honorable mention to Between the Shadow and Soul which I wrote very early in my time in the fandom and it didn't seem to land at the time, but this fic ran so that all of the above fics could walk and I was so proud of it when I wrote it.

#lolabee's got ✉️#undercoverpena

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goshen-applecrumbledore · 5 months ago

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(apologies in advance if this ask is overly personal or presumptuous or anything else along those lines. i do not wish to make assumptions or project onto your work and process, this is a clumsy, grammatically poor attempt at appreciation that i am feverishly typing while waiting for my train home)

despite being fandom...aligned(?) for well over a decade, i've never been able to enjoy fanfiction the way many seem to do. i'm not really a big Shipper, at least not in a "i want my faves to fuck and get married and be endgame" way. if anything i've always gravitated towards messy gay unspoken divorce between dependent freaks who were never even married in the first place. right person wrong time or whatever tumblr would consider that hybrid of vulnerable possession and rehearsed disgust.

back in 2020, i was losing my mind over not being able to read any books that i hadn't already committed to memory, so i opened ao3 for the first time since high school and stumbled across your Yakuza fics and read them all in one sitting. reading your fics and your interpretation of kazumaji (and daigo's entanglement with that) almost brought me to tears at 3:00 am on a monday morning. it was the first time i saw someone represent their relationship in a way that made sense to me, in a way that felt *real*.

flash forward a bit later and i am overjoyed to see your Venture Bros fic, falling in love with your interpretation of brock/rusty just like i did with kazumaji (i have this fic downloaded, i revisit it at least once a month and think of it an embarrassing amount).

and just now, i finished reading both of your fics for The Bear. once again-- loving your interpretation of them as well. and also somehow only now seeing you have a tumblr.

this is all a very insufferably drawn out way to say that i truly adore your writing in every aspect! specifically, the way you write sex is nothing short of beautiful. it's a display of communication, something teetering between impulse and years of planning-- wholly vulnerable and oftentimes sickeningly selfish. an act that exposes your core in a way so specific to its nature that you can devour someone and still look them in the eyes afterwards and deny you even care. i adore your use of time during these scenes as well. physically, fucking (generally) doesn't take that long, but there's a mental battle of trying to stay in your body to commit every touch to memory when your head is floating off to think of every conversation, every glance, *everything* that led to that moment.

i was only able to read the preview chapter of a yakuza original book you had linked in the notes of one of the Yakuza fics and i believe it has since been removed, but i'll be waiting for whatever book you write in the future. patiently and with all the love a reader can possess <3

hello! wow this is all so incredibly kind, thank you. I don't even know what to say. I like my yakuza fics a lot, I'm glad they still hold up. and that venture bros fic is somehow one of my favourite things I've written, not sure why.

your paragraph about writing sex is so eloquent that I'm like, bashful over it lol. that is very much what I'm trying to get at- vulnerable, selfish, devouring. getting stuck in your head or checking out. I don't think I always nail it, but it's great to hear that I do sometimes. I'm never totally confident in my sex scenes especially.

that book is not for sale anymore, it's something I came up with when I was young and self-published it and I don't sell anymore. it was about a gang of goons in a city in ontario that I don't think I explicitly say is thunder bay. it does have a goodreads page, which I'm thrilled by but which obviously SUPER over-rates it cause it's got gay content that tumblrinas love. it was not a good book. my next one will be good and real. thank you for your enthusiasm

#and!! don't beat yourself up!#this is not clumsy nor gramatically incorrect #not that I know much about grammar #ronanswers #long post

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miss-meri · 7 months ago

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I’ve wanted to say this for months. Years? But it’s hard. I can feel myself losing my voice again. Fandom is important to me because in some ways I feel it’s the only way I can really connect with others.

My therapist said something interesting right when we met. After talking about my life and friends and worries, she said, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, “Oh, so you’re an extrovert.”

?????

I have been scolded for being too quiet and too private and too scared of speaking to strangers since childhood. An extrovert?

But she’s not… wrong.

I was lonely, weird only child with too much of an intense interest in things no one else was interested in. Meteorology: I watched the weather channel like other people watched cartoons. Books: I read the same ones over and over and over. Star Trek: I sort of lived in space with them and got the nickname “little miss vocabulary” because of all the language I mimicked.

ADHD explains some of this, now. Very intense fixations with zero interest in anything that doesn’t align. And maybe I’m a little on the spectrum too, although I will not seek that diagnosis and don’t score high on the RAADS test.

I feel like most of my childhood was spent searching for someone who cared about things the way I did, and then coming up empty handed.

That’s not to say I was without friends!

I’ve always had friends. Close friends, starting in kindergarten and continuing on, even when I was years younger than everyone else, ahead a grade and getting bullied, even when I was bad at hiding how weird my interests are. That’s really lucky, and I’m grateful.

But having friends did not mean sharing my intense interests with them. They’d let me chatter about it, just like I listened to things I wasn’t interested in (boys mostly later on, this is long before I realized I was ace), but it wasn’t shared, if that make sense?

Fandom and my best friends were the first place I felt that mirrored back. Anime conventions. Writing stories together. Cosplay. Watching The Show and then reading The Fic and then discussing, endlessly. It is the high I’ve chased ever since. All my close relationships are based on it. I met my spouse through cosplay.

I finally had people!! I finally had people who understood what I was trying to say!!! And I understood them too, deep and unambiguous. Fandom is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s driven me around the world, brought me joy and creativity and self-worth and new skills. I love it.

And then, my longest, deepest, and going-on-eight-years-strong hyper fixation: Yuri on Ice.

Holy shit.

Nothing has ever hit so hard. I spent literally years talking about it with other fans, every day creating. I’ve published over 400,000 words of fanfiction and have much more yet-unpublished. Before writing this post I wrote 2k. I think about it constantly and enjoy it for its own sake, as evidenced by how much of it I just don’t post anywhere at all. I love sharing but in the end fic truly is for me.

But the fandom has slowed down, in the natural way things do. It’s no one’s fault. There are plenty of other interesting things to see and read and do. All my precious friends have been moving on, one by one. And we’re still friends, don’t get me wrong! Of course we are. I have spoken with most of them every day for years, and care deeply about their lives outside of fandom.

But what I’m trying to say is I’m an extrovert in a *very specific way*, and now I’m back in that place again. I can’t connect and have it reflected back, I can’t hear something new. There’s no end to it. Have been trying to have some space for grief. I have been getting quieter and quieter, and not feeling a lot to look forward to.

Been playing mobile games to fill the void and just feeling gray. I’m not sad, just. Faded out. It sounds so dramatic that I don’t want to even type all of this out. I want to say there’s no thesis, nothing I’m seeking, no end goal.

But maybe it’s the same as always: I want understanding.

So that’s what’s up.

#personal

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lycorogue · 1 year ago

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20 Questions for Fic Writers

Originally started by @izanae. **EDIT: Seems izanae was also tagged by someone, but didn't state who. So I'm not sure who truly originated this questionnaire... Thanks for the tag @tree-reads

The "original" Fic Writers Ask thread (that izanae started) was getting lengthy (by nature of the game), and I was about to double its size (by nature of my writing style). But please go and check that thread out to see how other wriblrs answered. You might find a new favorite that way!

Alright, let's get to it.

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

49 (really? It feels like I have so many more...) You can also find me over on FFN and DA still, and I do post my stories here too... just... FYI.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

357,107* *I feel like I should clarify that the 49 stories and 357k words is since I started publishing fanfic in 2010. I feel like this doesn't seem all that impressive now... (also... holy hecken! I've been publishing fanfic for 13 years!?)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly Miraculous Ladybug (31), but I originated in the "Hey, Arnold!" fandom (7*). I've also written for Fruits Basket (4). I have a couple of D&D fanfics - 1 each for 2 of my D&D characters, and I have written one story each for the following fandoms: - Left 4 Dead/Jonathan Coulton's song "Re: Your Brains" - Graceling Realm series by Kristin Cashore (specifically, the novel Bitterblue) [Rated: Explicit] - Ender Series by Orson Scott Card (specifically, the novel Speaker for the Dead) - Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (the LoZ franchise is one of my main fandoms... I'm shocked I haven't written more for it...) [Told in 1st person] - An all-OCs fic set in the X-Men: Evolution universe *I have more HA fics over on FFN that I didn't port over because they aren't completed works.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Woven Heartstrings Summary: Chat Noir needs a Christmas gift for Ladybug. Marinette is a very crafty and creative person, so Chat Noir asks her for some help in making a gift for his lady. While hesitant in aiding Chat Noir's attempts to woo her superhero self, Marinette reluctantly agrees. Although, after a week of working side-by-side with Marinette, Chat Noir's not so sure he wants to gift the scarf he's making to Ladybug after all. Could Your Paradise Also Be Your Hell? Summary: Marinette is not coping very well when she's magically transported into her older-self's body, and discovers she's now married to Adrien Agreste. [Unofficial companion piece to Remember That Time When... by @mostlovedgirl-writes ] Peeping Tomcat Summary: Something called to Adrien, and before he knew it, he was addicted to sitting outside Marinette's window as Chat Noir; just watching her. His voyeuristic habit needs to stop, but things have gotten far too complicated now that he realizes he's growing a crush on her. [Story told in 1st person; non-sexual voyeurism] I Was Thinking of You Summary: Girls' Day derails when Marinette realizes the male lead of a romance movie reminds her of someone other than Adrien. [Lukanette story] Is it True? Summary: Marinette instantly regrets confessing her feelings for Adrien. He decides it might be time for a confession of his own.

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

Always. I may run out of spoons and miss a comment for a little while, but I make a point of going back and still replying eventually. Even if it's months later. EDIT: I neglected to copy/paste the whole question originally. So, here's the answer to the why/why not question. I make sure to respond to all comments because people put in the effort to read my story and then tell me how they felt about it. I NEED to send the love right back to them. I need them to know that their words matter and warmed my heart. (That said, even if you don't leave a review, I do love you, Reader)

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

Despite my friends teasing that I'm "the queen of angst", I actually don't have too many stories that don't end on a hopeful note. So, if we're going "pure angst ending" I only have two: Unsent Letter for the Fruits Basket fandom and True Husband for Speaker for the Dead (Enderverse). Both are shorter stories of people believing they are unworthy of love, pity those who do love them, and believe they have sinned and are deserving of being miserable. If you want to stick within the Miraculous fandom, I'd say I'm Not Allowed to Love You [contains s4 finale spoilers]. That was angsty enough that I had to end on a hopeful note via an epilogue that I added to the closing author's notes.

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

Oh goodness! As mentioned, I try to end just about all of my stories on a high note. I was able to narrow the 49 stories down to 8 with a fluffy, happy ending. Out of those 8? I think Woven Heartstrings has the most optimistic, love-filled ending? Everybody is just showing their love and appreciation for everyone else (even Adrien and Gabriel... written pre-Chat Blanc, I believe???). It's just a lovefest story. Runners Up categories: - Favorite LoveSquare Fluff winner: I Just Wanted to Kiss You - Happiest Lukanette content winner: I Was Thinking of You - Happiest Family Unit winner: Build Your Own Luck - Happiest Platonic Love winner*: The Truest of Friends *excluding Woven Heartstrings - Happiest "I'm probably going to rework this as original fiction" winner: I Don't Care [a Gabriemilie story written before s5 lore drops]

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have been so so SO lucky that I have not. My heart goes out to you writers who do. :'(

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I have written smut 3x (working on a 4th). I published 1. I am cishet, so I am vanilla and write cishet. Smut is also a rare genre of writing for me to venture into. So rare that my current "smut" story is more "plot with eventual porn" than it is "porn with(out) plot". The sex is a significant character development moment in 3 out of the 4 stories I wrote. The 4th was more of a character study for a pair of OCs. No shade on the "porn without plot" folks. Those stories are so fun and indulgent and I appreciate them so much. My brain just won't let me pare down to that style no matter how much I try. It's like "Nope. Must have character growth. Throw emotions into this mess!"

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one?

I think I've only attempted to write a crossover once... and it was not a very successful result. It was Arnold Shortman and Helga Pataki from "Hey, Arnold!" in the world of Familiar of Zero. Helga was Louise and Arnold was her familiar Saito.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Uh... I don't think so???

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge (although I'd be down if someone wanted to translate any of my works). That said, Woven Heartstrings does have the only non-English review I've received (it's in French). So.... maybe someone translated it into French without letting me know??? I just assumed the reader knew enough English to understand what I wrote or otherwise used a translating service....

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

Three different times. One was partially published. Prior to the Hey Arnold Jungle Movie officially being made, @chibisunnie and I attempted to write up a fanscript (is that how we met? I can't recall....). My friend Ronoxym and I have also attempted to write two different X-Men OC stories centered around his OC Devon. Although, in both cases, it was more he wrote the story and then I kind of unintentionally hijacked it???? The incomplete co-written fic that I actually attempted to publish* was one of the two I wrote with Rono: Please, Let Me Explain. *not published on AO3; on FFN and DA only

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

That I've written for? Love Square. Specifically anything where Marinette is herself instead of Ladybug: MariChat or Adrienette. They just remind me so much of myself and my husband. Fave in general? My OTP of OTPs is probably Gambit and Rogue from X-Men. I tend to refer to my husband as Gambit to my Rogue. (Are you sensing a theme as per my relationship vs my shipping tendencies?)

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

My poor unintentionally abandoned "Hey, Arnold!" epic What is Truly Meant to Be. It is on FFN and DA only.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I am frequently told that I keep the characters and world so in-character/canon-accurate that my stories read like "lost episodes" of a show. I'm also fairly good at dialogue and conveying emotions.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

- Naming things. Titles. Naming a McGuffin. Coming up with superhero/villain names. etc. - Anything with a LOT of action in it. Be that fight scenes, chase scenes, or sex scenes. I'm someone who can picture things in my head as clear as if I were watching a movie, and I try to convey what I'm seeing to the reader as if I were writing visual media such as a show/movie or comic. This usually leads me to micromanage the movement of the characters and the action ends up feeling clunky and repetitive. - Allowing the characters to get physically hurt in a way that professional medical treatment is needed. Broken limb? Stab wound? Concussion? Injured eye? Poisoned? Nope. Can't do it. Mental block tells me "no". - Write short, sweet, concise stories/drabbles/ficlets (can't you tell?)

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

Huh. With the exception of proper nouns (such as Chat Noir), I'm not sure if I've used non-English words that aren't just borrowed words within English or words most English speakers would know anyway (such as enchanté, cómo estás, or dōmo arigatō). I know I italicize thoughts, so I don't know if I'd italicize a non-English word to signal that it's a foreign word??? I'd assume the readers would know that already. I think, if I were to ever use a foreign word within dialogue it would have to depend on the circumstance. If the foreign word or phrase is important for the POV character to learn, I may include it along with a translation. Otherwise, I may just state that the characters are speaking in this other language and then write it in English so my readers have a better chance at understanding what is being said. Also, I am far from multilingual, so that would help me avoid translation errors.

19. What’s the first fandom you wrote for?

Technically, I think it would be X-Men???? I think I came up with X-Men OCs and storylines for those OCs back when I was in, like, 5th grade????? Then I did some Batman fanfics in middle and early high school. Mostly solo roleplay/dressup in my basement because I was that nerd still playing pretend by myself when I was 16. First fandom I published a fic for? If you don't count play-by-post RPGs*, then my first published-online fanfic fandom was "Hey, Arnold!" *the play-by-post game was for Batman.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

YOU'RE ASKING ME TO PICK MY FAVORITE CHILD!? Unlike parenthood, I GUESS I could put effort into actually answering this.... I've got it narrowed down to 4. These are the 4 I have probably reread the most. Two of them are the stories I wrote as kind of fanfics of @mostlovedgirl-writes 's fanfics. Take what you want from that, but, basically, I guess I love living in the worlds MLG creates??? The other two finalists are my personal headcanons for Miraculous Ladybug. Headcanon stories: Build Your Own Luck - cute little Dupain-Cheng family bonding story about the origins of the lucky charm bracelet that Marinette gave to Adrien. Forever in Darkness - What Plagg's life was like with his previous holders, and why he thinks Adrien is the best one he's had. Inspired by MLG: Could Your Paradise Also Be Your Hell? - How Marinette spent the night before heading off to NYC. Unofficial companion story for Remember That Time When... Rolling Thunder - Adult Marinette and Adrien stumbling their way into a romantic relationship, finally! Based off of Finding Yourself in the Details Honorable Mention to my longest story and first completed chaptered story: Peeping Tomcat

Phew! That... was a LOT! Thanks for sticking around until the end! It was fun going back through my portfolio.

All that wish to answer this, consider yourself tagged!

Official no-pressure tags for: @mostlovedgirl-writes, @captaintoomanybattles, @thetauruspixie, @livrever, and @cyhyr

#tag game #tumblr games #wriblr #fanfic writer asks #LycoRogue writing #LycoRogue original #(?) Kinda?#LycoRogue's added two cents #(since this is technically a pseudo-reblog?)#reblog #(kinda sorta???)#fanfics #LycoRogue fanfic

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leighlew3 · 2 years ago

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Leigh, I'm so sorry to burden you with this, but I've followed you for a few years and witnessed how supportive you've been with SuperCorp fans and the shared disappointment with how the show ended, so I feel safe writing to you.

All the WLW shows getting cancelled fucking sucks. And it hurts. Not because I've necessarily been a big fan of them all, but simply because my voice and story, as a consumer and queer woman, doesn't feel valued.

When I heard Netflix cancelled Warrior Nun, I got angry, and I've been so ever since. It somehow hit different this time, and the cancellation doesn't make sense to me. I've loved the show since its first day on Netflix in 2020. I fell in love with the characters and the actors who portrayed them. I fell in love with the story they were telling and how it was told. Something about Warrior Nun just felt different to me.

Now it's almost 7 in the morning where I live, and I haven't been able to sleep. I was reading a Warrior Nun fic - as one does - and then all the feelings suddenly hit me. Angry turned into sad, and I feel sort of silly for admitting this, but I actually cried. I read somewhere that the brain can't differentiate real people from fictional ones, and I think I'm kind of mourning the loss of the characters 🤷🏻‍♀️ I've never felt this way before and I honestly don't know what to do about it. The whole situation just sucks.

Do you have any advice on how the consumers can be heard by big companies like Netflix and how we can get them to actually value their WLW shows?

Again, I'm sorry to lay this on you, but I don't really have anyone to talk to about this, and I'm just sick and tired of the situation and needed to rant.

(I appreciate you and wish you and your loved ones a happy new year)

It's not a burden at all, I'm glad you feel this is a safe space. 💜

Everything you're saying is relatable and valid as heck. When a show means the world to you, especially if you're part of a marginalized group and taking hit after hit after hit no less... it can be exhausting, infuriating, demoralizing, and so many other complicated emotions when you lose that art that struck you so deeply, that you related to, and that you looked forward to more of to get you through life.

To be honest, I feel like for the most part, fans are doing as best they can as far as efforts to keep shows around. There really are no more tangible specific solutions for fans aside from what's being done, and that's what's frustrating. The endless rewatches, fans doing street team style spreading the word on their own (even spending a lot of money) to make up for lack of official marketing, getting influencers and press behind them, etc. It's actually a sad state of affairs that in recent years, LGBTQ fans have WORK, and FIGHT and PUSH and even PAY constantly to keep a wlw show on the air or to try to get someone to make a ship canon after queerbaiting, or to get more screen time or respectful exploration for a wlw pairing, or to make TPTB see how bad the bury your gays trope is (time and again and again), etc -- rather than just sit back and watch and enjoy.

Fans shouldn't have to work so hard for entertainment, and yet queer fans so often do. And even when people successfully give a show solid numbers, sometimes it's still not enough, and like WN, a well-reviewed, heavily watched series gets the axe anyway.

So it's not on the fans. It's on those at the top, at the end of the day.

Alas, if I had to make some kind of a suggestion... all I can think to say is on the macro, bigger picture level. And this will take some self reflection and increased empathy for some people (sadly a thing some may not be capable of). But... collectively, some people in fandom spaces (small portions, but loud ones) for wlw shows have got to try to stop the silly fanon vs canon wars, and gatekeeping, and jealousies, and creating unnecessary drama and toxicity. There really should be no rival fandoms in wlw spaces at all, unless a show has a fully wlw love triangle or something and people are Team Ship 1 vs Team Ship 2, lol, but even still -- it should be a 'fun' battle, not a toxic war that hurts real people, drives away viewership, etc.

If most people in queer fandoms stuck together, and respected each other's ships even if they don't ship it or watch the show, and generally were supportive of each other as fellow queer fans in their battles against cancellations, in demanding queerbait to be made canon, fighting the BYG trope, etc -- LGBTQ fandoms would have such a collective, expanded power behind these positive efforts. And either way, even if all efforts fail to save a show, etc, at the very least, it would help create a safer, healthier space for queer fans online.

And I know, asking toxic people to not be toxic seems futile, but some people simply need to be reminded that we're all in this together and working together is always going to be ideal when facing off against the real opposition: corporate bias / phobia in the media / industry space.

Ultimately, it's 100% on TPTB at the shows and networks/streamers/studios to do better -- at times creatively, and other times as far as marketing efforts. Sometimes both.

But in the meantime, as far as fandom spaces, some LGBTQ fans gotta try to learn to stick together as much as possible. While there will ALWAYS be toxicity in every fandom from all backgrounds, and fans cannot control each other, I am noticing that as time goes on, and as more wlw fandoms get hurt by networks and streamers, the more angry people are understandably getting, the more reactive and protective of their shows and ships people are getting, and the more then they lash out and try to gatekeep and attack their fellow queer fans and allies, which is... just not it. It's counter productive.

Point is... fans are doing all they can IMO as far as tangible efforts to save (or fix) certain shows. And the rest is on the creatives, the networks and streamers, etc. But in the meantime, at the very least, people shouldn't attack true allies who have proven their support, nor especially attack fellow queer fans who just want to see what a show or ship is about or make positive parallels to their other faves, etc as it could be extra viewers for the show that they're running off.

TLDR: Stay focused on the real problem: corporate media's bias / phobia. Fight them collectively, not each other.

#lgbtq #lgbtq representation #fandom #wlw #sapphic tv

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jjurassicxslytherdor · 2 years ago

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hi there! this is gonna be my first tumblr story so I hope you enjoy it. I have other works on other apps but I will not be sharing that haha.

I’m gonna start with just some y/n drabble that I have muse for. I’m open to notes and for requests ;)

Title: After Life

Warnings: mentions of death

Tags: x reader, fantasy, stranger things, eddie munson

Fandom: stranger things

Characters: eddie munson x reader

An old phonebook. An old, dusty, water damaged phonebook sat at your fingertips. It had to be ancient- no one used these things anymore. The world had Google! Or yellowpages even! Although, that seemed a bit outdated as well. The year was 2023. You flipped through the old pages which made a crunching sound each time they were turned. You knew it was a shot in the dark, but you also couldn’t help but be curious as to what possible outcomes there could be from this experiment. Your finger traced down the words of the book until they landed on one name: Eddie Munson. The section was equipped with his phone number and address. There had been other words next to the name, possibly some numbers, but they had vanished with the time and with the weathering of the book. You jotted down the name and address and put the book back on the shelf.

You gave it some time before deciding to act. You had almost forgotten about your soon to be pen pal when you stumbled upon the note you had taken. You figured it was a sign. You grabbed a pen and some paper and began writing.

Eddie,

I know you don’t know who I am… I don’t even know who you are… but I was hoping to find a penpal. What better way to do so then randomly!

This was starting to feel strange… maybe it wasn't such a good idea… he could be an old man for all you knew! Something inside you urged to continue anyways…

Feel free to reply, but do not feel pressured to. My address will be attached as the return address. My name is Y/n L/n. I live in the US.

It's good to not be super specific in cases like this.

I figured this could be a judgment free zone. I had to get this out to someone, and there aren’t many people here who would take the time to listen to my problems. I don’t have any friends… at least not anymore. Not since I decided I liked my life better when I was being true to myself. My friends didn't end up liking the me I chose to be. Have you ever felt like an outcast?

Yours truly,

Is that too forward?

Your humble penpal, Y/n.

Within the next day or so, the letter was signed, sealed, and delivered so to speak. Days went by, you figured it had gotten lost or that the receiver simply tore it up. You had no idea of the journey this little envelope took.

The afterlife is a concept which not many people can fully agree upon. It has been portrayed many different ways throughout the years. In this case, the afterlife was a blue tinted village that lay underground. Tunnels connected thousands of villages and the blue light extended through them all. The light didn’t seem to be coming from anywhere in particular. It just washed over the village and its residence like a filter. Eddie sat at a bar, tended by an older man who loved nothing more than serving drinks. He poured a glass and handed it off to the curly haired man. Eddie still wore his green vest and a bandana around his head. It wasn’t because he had to. He had died in it after all. But he chose to keep it on. He feared he would be unrecognizable without it. Like if his friends ever joined him, not for a long while he hoped, they would be able to recognize him instantly. A buzzing sound was heard in Eddie's ear as a small creature appeared.

“Mail for the deceased.” It said in a gravelly but high pitched voice. He handed an envelope to Eddie and one to the bartender. The bartender gently laughed.

“She’s sent another one… she still thinks about me.” He said. It was from his wife who had outlived him. It had been nearly 10 years, but she never failed to write him love letters. The postal service was funny like that. Sometimes, mail is sent to the afterlife. If you’ve ever wondered where that Amazon package was lost… it may have ended up in the hands of the deceased. Boy do they love getting gifts like that.

Eddie had only ever gotten one letter. It was one written by his uncle as a final goodbye. Eddie read it and couldn’t bear going back to see him. He had the option- to haunt somewhere- but he knew he would be much happier moving on. He could see his friends in the afterlife eventually anyways. He didn’t recognize the name on the envelope. “Who is it from, boy? You've been dead for a while now…” He started, before he remembered that time worked differently there. Though Eddie had been dead for nearly 20 years, he’d only been in the afterlife for about 10.

“I don’t know…” He said. He looked into the other room where a stage was set up. He still played music in the afterlife. He had received a copy of his guitar and continued to play it. Sometimes, the afterlife reminded him of the Upside Down. But it was much calmer. No one was watching. He kept on his merry way. An eternity in a happy place.

He ripped open the envelope and read its contents. “It's just… someone who wants to be a penpal.” He said. He laughed softly. “Poor thing…” he read the words.

Have you ever felt like an outcast?

He shifted in his seat. Of course he had! He was boiling with advice he could give to this person! Advice he could give to you!

“But we can’t write back to them, can we?” He shrugged it off. The bartender was about to chuckle and agree with him. However instead he stopped in the middle of cleaning a glass and tilted his head.

“Well… I don’t believe I’ve ever tried.” He said. “By all means, boy! Write back! If you can communicate across planes… then I could talk to my wife! My Carol!” he said. He didn’t want to try the experiment out himself because… well… because what if it did work? It might do Carol more harm than good… but this new penpal of Eddie’s… they had no idea that he was dead. They would never suspect it. Eddie could give his advice and not have to cause a disruption between life and what comes next!

He bolted out of his bar stool and ran to a room he called his own. He pulled out paper and a pen and began writing.

To be continued

#x reader #eddie munson #fantasy #stranger things #au

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