#like there has been an influx of people just being so shitty to authors

[maaaxx]

dont get me wrong i am more excited for this atla remake and the inevitable renaissance part 2 than i have ever been for anything in my life. however im also terrified of what changes this is going to bring to the fandom. Obviously the 2020 renaissance brought a lot of new and good things (zukka, a ton of amazing fics, etc). But more people joining the fandom means new people joining ao3 and interacting with fics and authors and artists too. Even in the few years that i've been active in fandom i've noticed a dramatic shift in how people interact with artists and authors especially. And I can't see this not getting worse as more people whose main social media experiences include tik tok and instagram coming to ao3 and tumblr. Like these people are used to content creators who revolve their content around what their audience wants because its their job, and I know this isnt going to translate well to the culture around ao3 writers especially when unconsolidated comments and 'advise' is already a problem for a ton of authors. And for people who dont understand that fics and fanart are supposed be transactional in the sense that you need to leave comments and kudos and reblog stuff when they're used to simply liking something *maybe* being enough. Idk whats going on with other fandoms, but I do know that these things have been an ongoing issue for the atla fandom and like I said, I can't imagine having another 'renaissance' and this stuff not getting worse.

[arsenic-catnep]

Have you noticed that in the past couple months, maybe even the past year. That there has been a massive rise in hate comments on fanfics. Like you’ll be writing your fic and it already has a few nice comments. Then suddenly like a wave of abuse will just appear in the comments.

I had to delete one of my fics because I just started to receive really hurtful and personal attacks in the comments, and was a really silly reason, all because they didn’t like a plot twist I wrote. It made me hate the work and I had to delete it because I started to cry whenever I looked at it, and it made me dread receiving comments

Even when I read fanfics and go to comment on a chapter, I have noticed nasty comments on their work. The same thing happens, people didn’t like the direction the story was going so they just hurl abuse at the author.

I know that there will always be the odd shitty comment, but know it’s like multiple on each chapter. Like where are they all coming from, I don’t understand why people have started to act like this, have you noticed it?

I only post on here so I haven't noticed an influx of hate, and I don't read fanfic very often

I'm so sorry that's happening to you. I think people have just become too comfortable on the internet and don't realize that there is a person on the other side of the screen and that their opinions are actually being read and seen.

Some people also take to the internet to start petty arguments as a way to relieve stress or fuel their own disorder with drama (BPD, bipolar, schizo, NPD) which is a terrible coping mechanism.

[impishtubist]

I feel like the biggest differences w/Gen Z in comparison to some of the older Generations' works are that they're willing to take the Marauders into different universes as children and write about them in a more contemporary style.

Young/new adult (17-28) and older readers were first introduced to Sirius and Remus as 33-year-old individuals, so it was easier for those readers to write S & R as adults attempting to grapple with their background and trauma and grief than it was to reach back and try to make their Hogwarts years more accessible. I think Gen Z writers are coming in and reclaiming their life experiences as young people growing up with technology and texting and the realities of being Online All the Time in a way that older authors weren't doing at the time. I assume part of that comes back to the development of technology and the schisms that exist between gen x/millennial/gen z readers on that front, but I also think older writers may have been less aware of some of JKR's bullshit, which made it less uncomfortable to stick to canon environments and scenarios.

Barring 'All the Young Dudes', many of the currently popular wolfstar stories take place in non-magical settings (college AUs, sports AUs, etc), and while those aren't exclusively written by the youths™, I think their prolificness has likely been influenced by JKR's shitty behavior; it's a lot easier to divorce those characters from their author's terrible views when you remove them from the world she created. That also plays into how large of a factor the characters' queerness plays in the narratives being planned—and as you mentioned, the influx in fics that feature trans, NB, or genderfluid characters is a great side effect of these shifts.

Also, having spent a fair amount of time reading fics in the fandom, I think there was a bit of a high bar to clear in terms of writing quality early on. There are always posts going around that recommend more "literary" wolfstar pieces, and a fair amount of them tend to skew older (specifically: before 2010). By and large, online communities seem to have embraced the "everyone has to start somewhere" mentality a bit more in recent years than they had then, but I distinctly remember getting comments when I was writing in the 2000s where people would drop in to tell me I had utterly mischaracterized someone or that my grammar was bad. All for constructive criticism, but I do have to wonder if the "flame" reviews forced people to either conform to what people were looking for (literary, stylistic writing), switch to another platform (LJ to ff, or ff to Wattpad, etc), or stop writing altogether.

Nowadays, I think our younger authors have an idea for a fic and just...go for it. They don't always have beta readers (which aren't inherently necessary, but can definitely impact style, structure, and word choice) so they'll post things as they come to them, they've got fan-pages on instagram and tiktok and tumblr where they make textposts about characters using modern slang that get hundred of likes/reblogs—they've found a formula that works for them, and they aren't inclined to change it (see: how many texting fics exist). Beyond that, relying on conversational and colloquial writing means they can process their emotions in real time while writing, in a way that we as older writers definitely could have, but didn't usually. When I was reading fics then, and even rereading some of those fics now, it always seemed as if fics danced around trauma a bit more delicately than some of the popular fics do now.

That's not meant as a slam to younger writers, but I do think young people on the internet these days are FAR more willing to share about their personal trauma(s) online, and when they write their fics, sometimes that's obvious. Older authors do/did it too, but I think it's usually a bit more strategically veiled than younger authors are now. It was a poetic thing, and arguably, not always a good one, considering the way mental illness/saviour complexes could often be romanticized. Young authors now fall into the same patterns, which again, aren't great, but I also think that they're the first to acknowledge their own mental health crises and say it hasn't been a great experience—even in a joking manner.

I could go on about this for DAYS but I've already written you an essay, so I'll leave it there hahahah

Thank you for the essay!!!! I love all of these points. Yes, I have also noticed that the big fics in this corner of the fandom tend to be the non-magical AU ones--fics that essentially follow the plot structure of contemporary romance novels, but just so happen to have characters named Sirius and Remus in them. I mean, any one of those fics could have the serial numbers filed off and be published as an original romance book, you know? Up until now, I was just chalking that up to the popularity of romance novels--I figured that the writers were just replicating the structure of the books like they like to read, but in fanfic form. But you bring an excellent point--it might be more that they're trying to divorce the characters from the world JKR created.

This is fascinating. I'm loving all the meta that's ended up in my inbox today.

[himboarcher]

reasons i've seen folks say that grad critics hate grad:

they hate travis (in fairness, i’ve def seen some comments of people shitting on trav for the sake of shitting on trav, but it’s not super common and typically gets downvoted into oblivion on reddit.)

it's not balance / travis isn't griffin (???????)

they hate neurodivergent people (again, in fairness, i have seen a handful of comments that could come across this way! but most of the time when travis being ADHD or his NPD is brought up, it's by defenders saying that criticizing travis is ableist because he's neurodivergent or, in one particular comment, infantilizing him bc of it and literally comparing grad to putting a kid's artwork on the fridge. there were some comments early on that pointed to him being a narcissist as the reason for things people disliked about grad, but everyone seems to have realized that that's a shitty train of thought and left it behind.)

they're just toxic haters (again, there are a small handful of people like this because this is the internet, but the genuine criticism greatly outweighs their bullshit. i 100% think that the people, which is mostly just one dude who is also insufferable on reddit, who have been responding rudely to positive tweets under the episode announcements lately are out of line and need to stop. there's been an influx of that lately, presumably because people are frustrated that after over a year of grad going on, there's been no improvement to most of the major issues. that's still no excuse to be a dick to folks, though.)

vs some of the actual reasons i don't like grad:

the racism / racist tropes, and the way that they’ve straight up ignored this criticism and will likely never acknowledge it. pretty wild considering a core tenet of their brand is their willingness to acknowledge when they’ve messed up and do their best to course correct.

clumsy attempts at inclusion that are shallow and often end up being fairly offensive ("...ask me about my wheelchair," anyone?)

on a related note: i don't think that travis had bad intentions, but as an nonbinary person, it feels othering to me that travis only has enby characters give others their pronouns unprompted. i'm thinking specifically of kai here. having listened to their introduction, i don't think it's as bad or awkward as some people have said, but i can't remember travis ever having another NPC tell the PCs their pronouns, especially not a cis character. it's not a huge deal, but it's something that rubbed me the wrong way. admittedly, i don't think it would bother me so much if travis hadn't dropped the ball so much with performative inclusion in the past.

okay i'm putting the rest under a read more because even without getting into all of the problems i have with it, this got Long.

little to no player agency. player choices are ultimately meaningless and have little to no effect on the world. even when he seems to go along with a plan they come up with, it always ends with them having to go back to travis' pre-written script (see: subpoenaing the xorn, but not really because they had to go with travis' original plan of "send the xorn home through the rift".) the players repeatedly get told things about what they think or feel or what they've been doing to an unnecessary degree. fitzroy is the only one who really gets space to play and decide things for himself, and that's only because travis has decided he's the main character.

the NPCs are all too nice and willing to give the PCs anything they ask for and more, unless the PCs are trying to follow their own plan and then the NPCs are completely useless. but honestly, aside from gray, all of the NPCs are just.... nice. travis refuses to even let his antagonists be mean or cruel or even more than just slightly rude, because that'd be a bummer and we don't want that! the "twist" of gordy the lich king actually being polite and chill is not a twist at all because everyone is like that in this world. the NPCs are also wildly overpowered, but then suddenly absolutely useless when the PCs actually want their help.

too many cliffhangers that are dropped immediately at the beginning of the next episode. i feel bad for travis because so many of these cliffhangers actually set up good momentum and seemed like things were gonna get interesting, but almost every single time he just dropped them at the beginning of the next episode. like when althea showed up to interview the boys and the next episode started with travis being like "actually you went to sleep, she said she'll be back tomorrow!"

that time travis specifically said in his exposition dump that the thundermen left their horses behind because they thought the centaurs might be offended by them riding horses, only to later on rag on them for being surprised that the centaurs had horses they could ride.....

also the centaur arc in general, but i already listed racism above, so.

the way that the toxic positivity and parasocial tendencies in the mcelroy fandoms have made a large portion of the fandom take ANY criticism as a personal attack on travis and/or on themselves for enjoying something others consider bad, either morally or just quality-wise. it’s okay to admit that something you like has problematic elements or just isn’t as good as it once was. you can and should engage critically with the media you consume.

related to above: the way travis has handled genuine criticism, which is to throw public tantrums on his twitter or make weird passive aggressive tweets & ultimately ignore all the genuine criticism and advice he's been offered by claiming it's all subjective, even after he specifically asked for it and set up an email for folks to send in genuine, objective advice for him (after he threw a tantrum on twitter and replied to someone's criticism publicly, which resulted in his followers dogpiling on that person bc how dare they insult their internet best friend). while i was writing this last night, he actually announced that he’s taking a break from Twitter and acknowledged that he’s been using it as an echo chamber where he can easily get validation from folks, and honestly i’m happy for him that he’s recognized this problem and is stepping away for a while! i hope he’ll genuinely use this time to reflect on how he’s been behaving and find a more healthy way to use social media. i’m leaving this point in because i think his Twitter being such a positive echo chamber was encouraging him to do stuff like this, and him somewhat acknowledging his behavior doesn’t mean it can no longer be discussed.

rainer. extremely cool concept in theory and i was very into it until that awkward "does anyone want to ask about my wheelchair?" moment. also when travis had her use her mobility aid to RAM INTO A DOOR instead of just fucking knocking???? also all the times travis has tried to force a romantic relationship between her and fitzroy, despite fitzroy displaying no interest in her in that way. also, just to clarify: as an ace person, i don’t think this is aphobic! (and it’s kind of a stretch to call it that imo, especially since griffin never explicitly said that fitzroy's aromantic!) i just think it’s weird and awkward and a little uncomfortable for me personally, mostly because it reminds me of the times i’ve been in similar situations.

less of a problem than a lot of the other stuff and more just bad writing, but the forced emotional moments. in general, nothing in grad feels earned (why are the boys heading a war? when they have multiple actual heroes with combat experience on their side and a supposedly powerful secret organization? and the thundermen are like 21 years old max and have only had like ~10 fights in the entire campaign?) but there've been a couple times where travis has tried to force unearned emotional moments, presumably because he knows people enjoyed those with the last campaigns. but the difference is that in balance, the big emotional moments happened because they were earned. in grad, it's just travis throwing a baby pegasus at us for a few minutes and then the next time she shows up, it's supposed to be a tearful goodbye.

there are absolutely no stakes. remember when the thundermen got told that if they left, gray would kill 10 students? and then they left and came back and it turns out that what gray actually meant was, "i'll tie ten students who are mostly nameless NPCs to a tree and throw some dogs at them that you can easily stop in time, then throw a tantrum because how dare you but i'll leave before you can really do anything to hurt me lol" travis did have fitzroy's magic get taken away, but like. it didn't really do anything? also all he had to get it back was be coerced into using drugs by an authority figure and trip in the woods?

we're told that the school is weird and the hero system is corrupt, but the world of nua is still presented as more of a liberal utopia than anything? althea getting fired because of a corrupt villain is the only time we've somewhat seen corruption, but even then, she was still allowed to get (what seems to me, anyway, but admittedly i don't know for sure bc nothing about the HOG makes much sense) a fairly important job from the very people who stripped her of her hero license or whatever the fuck heroes need?

travis doesn't actually seem to understand how capitalism or bureaucracy works and just chalks up everything to "red tape." also more on the rest of the boys than him specifically, but the "let's destroy capitalism!" thing turning into just pushing some filing cabinets over................... okay.

and one last piece of extremely subjective criticism: it's just kind of.... boring. i think a lot of people, myself included, would be willing to overlook 90% of the problems with graduation if it didn't feel like such a slog to get through.

also people saying that we can't or shouldn't criticize graduation because it's "free" is absolutely absurd for several reasons. first, something being free does not make it above criticism. second, there ARE people who directly financially support the show with monthly donations. three, there's a difference between something being free and something being not for profit. podcasting is their full time job. they make their living off of money made from TAZ and MBMBAM (and probably their other shows to a lesser extent). this not a fun home game that they are graciously recording and sharing with us. it is a product they are producing that they make money off of, both from ads in the episodes and merch & books based off of these podcasts. they have marketed themselves as professionals, and both griffin and travis have been on panels where they are marketed as professional DMs and appear alongside other professional DMs (which makes it incredibly frustrating when people say that travis is just a newbie DM and we can't criticize him because of that. if he's a newbie, then he should not be taking part of panels as a professional DM where he speaks as an expert). TAZ is free in the same way that an episode of NCIS is free. i may not pay for it directly, but the creators are paid to create it and profit off of me consuming this product. so saying we should be grateful for any mcelnoise that the benevolent good boys share with us and that we're not allowed to criticize it "because it's free" is absolutely wild.

[almasexya]

I've been seeing an influx of hp posts on my dashboard again and I gotta get this out

It really drives me up the fucking wall when every time Joanne does some new shitty thing, all the people still holding a torch for those goddamn books years after she outed herself as a reprehensible bigot have to get on their soapboxes and cry about how sad they are that the mean transes keep making posts that make them feel bad about their comfort media, that we need to just let them mourn and stop being so vicious online and just

Setting aside the complete disregard for the fact that interacting with Joanne's work in any way supports her and her ongoing crusade to make sure trans women are legislated out of existence, a topic that has been shouted out again and again until all of us are blue in the face, don't you people fucking think for a second that maybe, just maybe, we read the damn books too?

That maybe we also made connections to them, and had fun with them, and then felt gut wrenchingly betrayed when an author we read since we were children made it her life's work to attack us and everyone like us, who has literally influenced the wheels of government to dehumanize and attack us? Don't you chucklefucks think trans women may also have felt the same pain you're crying about years later, refusing to get over because you don't want to reckon with the genuine consequences of the content you create, consume, and discuss?

Get over yourselves

[whattheheehaw]

Hi! I’m sorry you’re getting shitty anons about this and you’re probably sick of it so I apologise for asking this but I’m genuinely curious what made you start actively disliking zutara? Like, considering how much excellent and insightful content/meta you yourself used to make/write? I get that interests change over time and you’re totally valid!! the anons sending you hate over it are really dumb, but if you’d be ok with sharing, I’d be really interested in hearing why you’ve done almost a complete 180 on the ship? Was is just burnout/end of a hyper-obsession? Or was it some of us in the rest of the fandom that turned you off? Or was it even something about the ship/characters themselves that you changed your mind about? xx

In short, it was a combination of burnout, dissatisfaction with fandom, and disappointment in myself that caused my disinterest for Zvtara.

I got asks similar to this one a couple of times before, but I never gave a comprehensive answer, mainly because I didn't know how to articulate my reasons why I don't like it anymore. But now that I've been out of ZK fandom for a month and have had some time to reflect, I think I can give a much more thorough response. Beware, this is long and I heavily critique the Zvtara fandom, so if you're a ZK shipper, keep reading at your own risk.

My first minor annoyance with Zvtara is that the fandom has a tendency to idolize certain fics and creators. And while there’s certainly nothing inherently wrong about that, I feel like the Zvtara fandom does it to such an extent that it influences the type of content that content creators make in order to get recognition. And to illustrate my point, I’m going to talk about one of the most famous Zvtara fics of all time: Once Around The Sun by eleventy7.

Don’t get me wrong, I love OATS. I think it’s a great fanfic and I think the author devoted a lot of time and effort to make it such an excellent fic. The plot, the development of the characters and their relationships to one other, and the messages about family and love were all brilliantly written. I mean, there is a reason why it’s regarded as the “Zvtara Bible”. This one fanfic had such a profound impact upon the ZK fandom, and I think the biggest impact that came from it is the dramatic influx of post-war Zvtara AU fanfiction. 

Because so many people kept reading OATS and recommending it to others, I think there was an overall interest in ZK fics that take place in a post-war setting. And I think that all of the high praise towards OATS made more fic writers start to write post-war fanfics because of this demand for post-war AU.* I normally wouldn't complain about it because more content is more content, but in my opinion, 99% of ZK post-war fics are the same fic but in different fonts.

Like, there's at least 3 of these elements in every ZK post-war fanfic:

Ambassador Katara

An assassination attempt (usually on Zuko's life)

A healing scene between Zuko and Katara (usually Katara heals Zuko)

Aang and/or Mai is pushed to the side or vilified to some extent in order to make ZK happen

A private journey between Zuko and Katara to facilitate #6

S L O W B U R N (that's not really slowburn and more like "I love you and I very much want to be vocal about my feelings but #7 is in this fic" but the love story takes up like 30 chapters so I guess it's a slowburn?)

Zuko's advisers don't want him to get married to Katara because ✨racism✨

Ursa is found

Azula is in the fic because a) she's going to get a healing arc ft. Zuko and Katara and thereby helps them get together or b) she's the villain and thereby helps them get together

ZK wedding happens in the FN

After reading multiple post-war fics back to back, I could tell that the format was pretty much the same across the board, which isn't very interesting for me to read. My only other fic options in the Zvtara tag on AO3 are canon divergence fics which almost always take place during The Crossroads of Destiny or after The Southern Raiders. And to some extent, those stories are pretty much the same too. There's nothing really new or creative going on in the ZK fandom fic-wise, and because of that, my interest in ZK fandom started to dwindle.

My second issue with Zvtara is that it's a very old ship from a very old show. Because there's been 10+ years since the end of A:TLA, every nuanced point about shipping and the show itself have been talked to death.** There's just nothing new to say. It's the same arguments being rehashed over and over again in the tag because there's no other interpretation one can come up with.

For example, there's so many people who talk about why Zvtara as depicted in The Southern Raiders is not toxic and that's great and all, but I (and most likely many others) have read those same points about five times already. And for some reason, each time this happens, people act like someone just discovered the lost city of Atlantis when they bring up their new-but-not-new argument in defense of Zvtara. Honestly, I'm ashamed to say that I'm not exempt from being part of the group of people that reiterate old arguments. I've done it with one of my posts about The Southern Raiders and I've done it again with my Zutara/Omashu parallels post.

There's no new content to really dissect and analyze (especially considering Zuko and Katara are rarely in the same panel in any of the post-war comics), and because of this, people are just restating points that someone else made several years ago.*** And even if someone did have a different interpretation of an episode, their ideas would most likely be shut down because for the past several years, the same interpretation has been recycled through the fandom repeatedly and people are resistant to new perspectives.

This brings me to the third thing that I dislike about Zvtara: the insistence that there can only be one way to interpret The Southern Raiders. For the longest time, I've read take after take that said if Katara decided to kill Yon Rha, it would be ok because that's her grief to deal with and if she thinks that's the best way to mete out justice, then good for her. And again, I'm ashamed to say that I perpetuated that idea in a few of my own posts. I have always thought that "Katara killing Yon Rha is ok" is just a bad take in general, but I didn't want to vocalize that opinion when so many people—so many of the nice mutuals that I made—all shared that same opinion. Taking down a popular opinion of your own ship is completely different from taking down a popular opinion of a ship that you dislike. The Zvtara fandom is the first fandom that I was actually active in and I wanted to fit in so badly with everyone else that I just parroted whatever other people said, even if I didn't agree with those sentiments.

This leads me to my final reason why I don't want to be a part of ZK fandom anymore. I think I established myself as a "meta" person pretty early on and because of that, I constantly felt pressured to come up with new takes on the ship. And when people started flooding my ask box with stuff like "Can you write a meta about your thoughts on the idea that 'Zuko only took Katara on that field trip in TSR because he wanted her to forgive him'?" and "What are your thoughts about antis saying Zuko and Katara are toxic because of TSR?", I realized that I don't need to come up with new takes. People just want me to paraphrase something that 10 other people said about the same exact topic, because if I said what I actually thought about the subject (i.e. there is some truth in what antis say about TSR and it's not as much of a "Zvtara episode" that most people make it out to be), I'd probably get ZK shippers in the replies telling me that I'm wrong because x, y, and z or "you shouldn't tag this as Zvtara".

And that was pretty much how my love for ZK turned into disinterest. I was and still am disappointed that I didn't stick to my personal opinions. For as much as I talk about herd mentality on Twitter, I certainly don't practice what I preach. In all honesty, the only reason why I held on so long to ZK fandom was because I had so many nice mutuals there and we all shared this collective distaste for antis. I think I started to become more anti-Zvkka and anti-Kataang than pro-Zvtara, which isn't what I wanted to do when I made this Tumblr blog.

The thing that made me joke about becoming anti-Zvtara was the fact that some ZK shippers just like to send shitty anons to people whom they've reblogged countless different metas from. Sending shitty anons to people in the first place is wrong, but sending them to people who tagged their posts correctly and did nothing wrong is just disgusting.

*I'm not a fic writer and can't speak for fic writers, but it definitely feels like a lot of ZK fic authors are pushing themselves to write the next OATS, and by doing so, they are proliferating the tag with post-war fics that have very similar aspects to OATS.

**I think that as more people point out the same nuanced points about Zvtara, it diminishes the actual significance of those points. Like, it's hard to explain but the more people talk about the subtleties of the ship, the more those parts become glaringly obvious and I become numb to their actual impact on the characters and the show.

***At this point, if someone wanted to make a new argument about Zvtara, I think they would have to look very closely at every little detail in every single one of their scenes together to find a crumb of new meta material. And speaking from experience, it's not very fun trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. Whenever I post a "meta" like that, I feel like I'm reaching to make a point that doesn't exist.

[potatowitch]

finding out that the star wars sequel series was written on the fly rather than actually planned out makes so much fucking sense but also pisses me off EVEN MORE because i watched the force awakens in 2016 and within a day of leaving the cinema had a fully fleshed out idea in my head of the direction the next two films would take and the plot points they would cover, all brainstormed in the shower. 16 year old me was more capable of writing a cohesive storyline than disney was. so here you are - i rewrote the sequels to be ten times better than what disney actually gave us. enjoy.

- after rey finds luke they train for a bit then he's like "gotta tell u something. u ever heard of mara jade? she's ur mum" "wait weren't u two dating for a bit" "yeah" "does that mean ur...." "...yeah"

- "why did u leave me on jakku?" "i didnt. she did. i only just learned u existed i wouldve come for u" "oh."

- "...can i call u dad or" "i would be honored if u did"

- meanwhile at the resistance base leia realises finn is force sensitive, gives him her old lightsaber she had in the comics

- because come on. rewatch the force awakens and tell me that man aint fuckin feeling the "shitloads of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced" when starkiller goes off

- and he picks up a lightsaber and instinctively knows how to use it?

- also: two main heroes in a star wars film being a queer coded woman and a queer coded black man.

- and the whole "used to be a stormtrooper and defected, becomes a jedi" is a TOTALLY NEW storyline? not some tired old "white boy villain is a dick for three movies then suddenly turns Good TM right at the end" trope

- make rey explicitly asexual. she's beautiful and smart and got abs that make everyone who sees them MELT but she is NOT INTERESTED in anything but JUSTICE and PLATONIC HUGS

- finn and poe are also making out because come on, disney, if u wanted to show you're becoming more progressive having a loving interracial gay romance is the fucking easiest way to do it. BB8 has two dads and they share The Jacket

- turns out finn is a kenobi because u cannot tell me obi wan didnt Fuck. jedi code says "dont form attachments" but watch the clone wars - obi wan plays fast and loose w the jedi code at the best of times. now we got a skywalker and a kenobi working together being best buds again, THE WAY IT SHOULD BE.

- the destruction of starkiller has crippled the first order. don't fucking look at me like "the resistance just won a major, VERY VISIBLE victory but OOO no somehow they're still very low on numbers and infrastructure" NO. the public destruction of starkiller has earned the resistance an influx of allies. the republic has started publicly supporting them. the first order spent years building that thing and now not only is all that time, effort and MONEY gone, they lost a shitload of staff and military personnel when it blew up

- "the first order is rich" is a plot point I DO NOT UNDERSTAND because it directly contradicts what's going on in the expanded universe books. the first order was built from remnants of the empire that had been banished to the outer reaches of the galaxy to live out of broken down, shitty old star destroyers.

- it's the reason hux, who was raised in a decrepit old academy in the ass end of the universe by an abusive father, is SO anti republic. in his head, it's the reason he starved as a child. it's the reason his mother is dead. it's the reason he had to be raised by a father that beat him. his hatred for the republic is PERSONAL

- disney learn how to write a good villain challenge? hux EASILY could have been terrifying AND sympathetic

- hux and kylo now have to deal with how absolutely PISSED snoke is that both of them failed with starkiller. hux gets force choked and threatened. kylo gets snoke very painfully rooting around in his head. it is emphasised that snoke's relationship with these two is downright abusive.

- somewhere in there, they realise that the whole five years they've known each other snoke has been deliberately pitting them against each other and sneakily forcing them to undermine each other's authority

- they realise it was snoke's shitty leadership that lead to the destruction of starkiller. they realise that maybe they'd be better off on their own

- the two of them plot to murder snoke themselves. while this is happening, the resistance is happily building an army, gathering resources, and forming alliances. luke and rey have reunited with the resistance and now rey and finn are both happily training with luke.

- snoke dies. hux decides to take the mantle of emperor. kylo LETS HIM because he realises he doesn't know shit about fuck when it comes to leading anything more than his knights. has a crisis of confidence about how useful he actually is, then hux decides he wants to keep the knights of ren around as his personal "fuck up the resistance" squad.

- the two of them working together turn out to be fucking terrifying, competent villains. the films have short, five to ten minute sections where they explore their VERY SIMILAR traumas to make them sympathetic WITHOUT making them seem like "uwu they're not actually bad people" because THEY'RE STILL AWFUL GENOCIDAL MASS MURDERERS

- on the kylo trauma side: it's made obvious in the books that from about age 6 snoke has been in his head deliberately grooming him away from his family. make that obvious in the films. make its impact on kylo obvious in how unsure of himself he actually is. don't make his "redemption arc" one where he suddenly goes light side. give him a bastardisation arc where he realises his whole life he has never made a choice - and then make THE FIRST ORDER his choice. (it is the wrong choice! emphasise that! but make him MAKE THAT CHOICE)

- the resistance thinks they're doing well. they have two new jedi. they've seen very little of the first order outside of small operations that they've been squashing. they think "hm. starkiller's loss must have crippled them. we're doing well!"

- until they learn actually. they've got an emperor now. and the commander of the knights of ren is INCREDIBLY loyal to him. the first order is PISSED OFF and VENGEFUL. they're back with a force. they've started invading and subjugating planets even with their forces cut as thin as they are because hux is a military mastermind and kylo and the knights of ren are a fucking TERRIFYING unit in combat.

- also why did disney decide to present hux in the films as a weak pissbaby when he probably topped his class in all combat situations and fights dirty in close quarters. man can SNIPE. man will bite your fucking finger off if you manage to disarm him. he is a 6 foot beanpole and he will kick your ass

- kylo has a crisis about actually having to kill his mother, uncle and cousin. he still feels a bit bad about han - despite everything, he still loves them and is struggling. he actually confides in his knights about this. we get to see that the knights of ren have a found family dynamic with their commander and they comfort him.

- kylo realises it will be painful to murder the last of his bio family but it must be done, because he's come around to hux's view that the resistance and the republic are standing in the way of true peace in the galaxy. he actually believes that reinstating an empire is the best thing for the galaxy. this makes him a more effective villain because he actually believes what he's doing is right.

- more stormtroopers defect to the resistance. finn is there to welcome them and help them adjust. there's a couple of lowkey force sensitive troopers in there too. we learn more about how horrible, soul crushing and traumatic stormtrooper training is. this is a good way to keep painting the first order as an organisation that violates human rights and the geneva convention at every turn.

- the first order makes up for this loss of troops in picking up recruits from the planets they've taken over in the outer rim because they've been providing stability. again - it is SO EASY to write the first order as sympathetic villains WHO ARE STILL FASCIST ASSHOLES. this would've been such a good opportunity to show the moral argument between stability vs freedom. show the flaws in the republic because they do exist!! we see that throughout the ENTIRE expanded universe! every iteration of the republic fails in some way!

- the fight against the first order becomes increasingly more difficult, but they're actually on pretty even ground. it doesn't make sense to me that disney decided to go for the route of "the resistance should've been squished easily by the might of the first order but uwu kylo can't make up his mind and thats what saves them!" that is not a compelling storyline! they are relatively evenly matched and the resistance only JUST comes out on top!

- kylo kills luke in actual combat, not just "luke randomly dissolves for ... no good reason?". this hits the resistance HARD. rey and finn have to struggle with their desire for revenge. leia realises her son is beyond help. it nearly breaks her. she has a moment where she feels like she has lost everything. poe has to step in to remind her she still has him. it is revealed that he joined the resistance after the first order killed his family HORRIBLY when he was a teenager and he and leia sort of have a mother/son relationship.

- this is also a good way to juxtapose hux and kylo. they took their trauma and it made them awful. poe takes his trauma and it makes him kind. it makes him want to protect people from what he went through. also gets rid of the "haha we made the latino man have a drug dealer background" bullshit that disney did

- poe also has to comfort his boyfriend and best friend and remind them that they are fighting to make the galaxy a better place, NOT for revenge. then they have a discussion about "yeah, don't make revenge your main priority, but the jedi were a bit wrong in saying that you shouldn't enjoy it anyway. it's going to feel good to fucking murder kylo and that's okay". acknowledgement that the old jedi code was garbage and too restrictive for actual PEOPLE to follow it.

- kylo still can't kill leia or chewie. we get flashbacks of her singing to him, braiding his hair, comforting him after nightmares. we see baby ben riding on chewie's shoulders. seeing the conflict between kylo recognising his family loved him and still choosing to be a villain would have RUINED ME. he tells hux this, expecting hux to shoot him for it. hux understands - he had a mother, once. the republic killed her.

- (they actually didn't. she was an imperial slave and was probably left behind when an imperial settlement was being razed. the only reason hux actually survived was because he was his father's only heir. there's a whole spiel in the books about brendol going "this kid is a piece of shit bastard i dont want him" and imperial officials being like "the empire needs kids. go pick him up")

- hux decides to kill leia instead. he nearly dies doing so because woman is STILL a force to be reckoned with even at this age. remember she is actually trained to use a lightsaber AND guns. the only reason hux doesn't die? kylo steps in at the last minute and kills his own mother. he's made his choice. he mourns, and then he steels. there is nothing left to pull him to the light side anymore.

- anakin has given up trying to bring his grandson to the light from beyond the grave. him and obi wan are focusing their force ghost attention on rey and finn. now luke and leia are both there too. we get the same "all my jedi ancestors are rooting for me" moment that disney gave us, except now it's shared between rey and finn.

- the two of them plus chewie cut through the knights of ren until they get to kylo. he kicks the living shit out of them, but they manage to kill him. rey earns some gnarly, sexy scars. chewie needs a hug and goddamn does he get one.

- poe is the one to kill hux. he's not just doing it for the galaxy, he's doing it for leia. the first order already stole his first family from him. he won't lose his second family to them. bonus points if BB8 joins the fight and like ... tases hux in the leg a few times.

- we get some gratuitous "c3p0 and r2 are sneaking through an imperial base and fucking shit up but like, badly because 3p0 never stops talking" scenes

- you want to bring rose tico into it? she's head of the resistance's infiltration team. she's with the droids taking down shields, stabbing people in the back, freeing prisoners, stealing plans, sowing chaos. she's the one who finally takes down phasma.

- without their emperor and the knights of ren, the new empire crumbles pretty quickly. the resistance has taken HEAVY losses but they have won. we get a very beautiful funeral scene for luke and leia. there's a gorgeous group hug between finn, rey, poe, chewie and bb8. poe and finn smooch against the sunset.

- we see finn and rey going into crystal caves to get kyber crystals. poe, chewie, bb8, r2 and 3P0 wait outside the cave in the falcon for them to be done picking up their crystals, then we see finn and rey inside the falcon building their new lightsabers with guidance from a bunch of force ghosts. we get to see that rey has chosen to decorate the inside of the falcon with a bunch of potted plants so she can be surrounded by greenery at all time. the found family aesthetic is STRONG

- rey builds a saber pike. it comes out golden. finn builds a standard single blade saber that comes out white, like ahsoka's. gold to emphasise protection of the weak and the perfect blend of combat and scholarly pursuits. white to emphasise free will from both the jedi and the sith. it is emphasised that these two will NOT be your traditional jedi.

- we see an epilogue where poe is working to help shift the republic's focus from political squabbling to actually protecting its citizens. he leads reconstruction efforts, helps establish more of a presence in the outer rim, constantly fights for moving resources from protecting the republic's assests to providing food, shelter and safety to its citizens.

- finn is constantly by his side. we see him protecting his new husband, on the front lines destroying remnants of the empire and the first order, and using his combat prowess to absolutely murder slave owners.

- rey has taken to training new force sensitives with chewie by her side, however she recognises the jedi code has been failing force sensistives for millennia, and instead her teachings are more aligned with the grey jedi philosophy. she recognises that people feel anger, hate, grief - and that they are all valid emotions. it's what you choose to do with them that is important.

- she actively encourages personal connection, believing that loving your friends and family is righteous and the true path to the light side. her apprentices all adore her, and she is always there for them - she'll listen to their worries, from something as small as "i am 13 years old and my first crush just rejected me" to "i am a former slave coming to you after the first order murdered my family and tortured me. i am having nightmares and am afraid of the anger i feel".

- she encourages apprentices to stay in contact with their family, and she becomes that family for the ones who have lost theirs.

- you get the feeling that this time, peace in the galaxy is actually going to last. anakin, obi wan, luke and leia look on from the Force in pride at their children and grandchildren. they did good. they can finally rest.

- the sequels have made personal choice a major theme. finn chooses to defect. poe and rey choose to be kind, when they have every reason not to be. hux and kylo make the wrong choices. there's no flip flopping like a dead fish between good and evil until the very last second. the lines between kindness and freedom and hatred and subjugation are clearly drawn again and again.

- i sit in the cinema after the screen goes black and i weep. i am satisfied. this was a fitting end for a franchise i have loved for most of my life.

[yoongi-sugaglider]

Daegu Quarantine

Jungkook x reader

Gang/ zombie apocalypse au

Warnings:

Gore, violence, zombies, mention of drugs and drug dealing, weapons discharge in self defense, possible future main character death, zombies, course language, zombies, drinking, did I mention zombies?

Summary:

They were the top of their game, known throughout the city as the smartest and most dangerous crew to ever hit the Daegu streets. But what's going to happen when this group of young men encounter something right out of a horror film?

Word count: 4,004

Part 1 === Part 2

I remember the day he was initiated. Body bloody and bruised and beaten as Namjoon supported him through the front door of our tiny apartment,one arm slung over his shoulder and his free hand tightly gripped around the black bandanna that would quickly become his new status symbol.

I'd screamed and begged and cried as Namjoon lowered him into the ratty armchair of our meagerly furnished living room. But it fell on deaf ears.

“It's better this way.” Words murmured between bruise swollen lips.

Four words I grew to dread,even hate.

It's better this way.

He'd always say that when things got tough.

Gunshot wounds hastily sewn closed at our kitchen sink as sirens chased the ghost of his crimes through mute neighborhoods and empty streets.

He was a good kid, my childhood sweetheart and long time best friend. Though we’d gone through so much together it never ceased to amaze me just how close we were or how little there was that could tear us apart.

“Babe, did you see where Hobi hid the scales?” He rifled through the drawers of our now larger kitchen. We’d bought a house together, the money having been obtained through his hard work and determination to come out on top. Not to mention a few hundred thousand illegally gained dollars.

“Top right hand drawer by the stove. He was using it yesterday to weight out a couple sacks for Yoongi to put on the corner today.” I watched as Jungkook grunted in response, finding the scale in question and shuffling his way back to the office he’d set up to deal with sales and distribution.

I shook my head, returning my attention to the news article I’d been reading.

“Hey y/n. Find anything interesting yet?” Namjoon entered the kitchen from the living room, a ghost of a dimpled smile flashing towards me as he joined me by leaning casually against the kitchen island.

“Yeah actually…” My eyes continued to skim the article,trying to make heads or tails of the medical jargon being thrown at me. “There’s this big thing going on in some of the major cities. Something about people coming down with some kind of altered form of rabies. They say it’s spreading fast and they’re having a hard time finding a cure.”

Namjoon frowned, pulling the laptop towards himself and scanning the headlines. “Looks like it started somewhere in China or something. And it’s making people bite other people?”

I shook my head in wonder. “I swear sometimes I’m glad we live where we do.”

“Daegu may not be the biggest city, but we’re technically landlocked. It’d be pretty shitty if something big happened and we couldn’t get out.” He pushed the laptop back towards me and straightened up.

“Yeah but we live on the outskirts of town. If something big were to happen we could just hole up here right? Or get out into the countryside and find a place to hide out until things clear up.” I gazed up at him, worry creasing my brow as I gnawed at the skin of my lower lip with my teeth.

“Don’t worry about it too much kiddo. Even if something were to happen on a scale like that, the Americans would have it figured out in no time. Plus you’ve got us and the gang to protect you. We both know Jungkook would never let anything bad happen to you. That boy would lay down his life for you if he had to.” Namjoon reached across the counter and patted my head.

My frown darkened as I pulled out of his grasp, smoothing down my hair as he turned and walked out of the kitchen with a pleasant wave over his shoulder.

“That’s the part that scares me the most…” I muttered to no one in particular as I stared down at the article once more before shutting the laptop down.

***

Darkness descended quickly. Early winter always had this ability to put me on edge. The days shortened and temperatures dropping rapidly to leave me on edge no matter what I did or what mindset I tried to put myself in.

Jungkook and Hoseok had gone out earlier that evening to make a delivery. Big money having been put on the line in order to ensure that our suppliers didn’t go into hiding for the winter months like they liked to do when the snow set in and the streets got too cold to huddle on the corners for a quick sale.

Namjoon and I sat in the living room, eyes focused on the news from overseas as our lookouts Yoongi and Jin called in occasional reports from the police scanners.

“Looks like it’s going to be a slow night.” Yoongi grumbled from his corner of the room as he set down his headphones and stretched.

Namjoon shrugged, flipping to another news channel in order to refresh the cycle and perhaps get a new perspective on the details that were flooding in from China. “We can only hope it stays slow. Jungkook’s gonna be out with Hobi most of the night making that delivery and I’d hate for things to heat up before they can get back.”

Jin glanced over from his station, gaze dulled by boredom as he switched between the radio channels. “Fire out at the high school. Looks like multiple trucks going in, no injuries.”

Yoongi grunted, standing from his chair and heading towards the kitchen. “Anybody need anything while I’m up?” He quirked his head in my direction, seeming to have aimed the question at me more than anyone else.

I shook my head, giving him an appreciative smile which he reciprocated with a quick nod before disappearing from the room.

“Hey, I…” Namjoon stuttered before giving up at Yoongi’s disappearance. “Well never mind then hyung.” He muttered before turning his attention back to the television.

“We interrupt this broadcast to bring you new information on the developing situation in Mainland China.”

“Hey Joonie turn that up would you?” I scooted to the edge of the sofa, watching intently as Namjoon fumbled with the remote while raising the volume enough for us to hear the report.

“According to authorities the South Korean government has elected to refuse all planes and ships inbound from China and other asianic coast bound countries. There have been multiple cases of attacks in airports that seem to have stemmed from the disease along with several hundred casualties and dozens more in major cities all across South Korea that have been injured. Hospitals are filling up rapidly all across the country with people in a panic over supposed symptoms. Doctors are citing an inability to keep up with the influx of new patients.”

“Looks like people are starting to panic.” Namjoon mused over the report as he watched the ticker scrolling across the bottom of the screen.

“I don’t like this…” I said more to myself as I sat back and pulled my blanket around me. Huddling into the warmth my attention was pulled to the phone in my hand, checking once more for any messages that I may have missed from either Hobi or Jungkook.

“Have either of you heard from Jimin?” Jin’s calm voice pulled me from the phone and I looked up at him, eyes furrowed with increasing worry.

“He said he was on shift yesterday but I haven’t heard much from him since.” Namjoon worried at his lower lip as he answered, attention now drawn to his own phone as he shot the young doctor a message.

Jimin worked at a local clinic, having been sort of initiated into our group after Yoongi and Hoseok had ended up having to bring him back to our place one night when Hobi’d been shot in the shoulder after a deal gone wrong. He’d quickly become our go to doctor when injuries happened to occur and going to a mainstream hospital had been out of the question.

He didn’t ask questions the first year or so that we’d known him but eventually we’d clued him in to our business and despite his misgivings he’d been pretty much considered family ever since.

“Says he was on call late last night and spent today catching up on sleep. He’s on his way over now but that he might get called into work if the panic starts to get worse.” Namjoon sat his phone on the coffee table in front of us and returned his attention to the news reports that continued to flash across the screen.

I huffed, pulling my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around them as my eyes stared off into nothingness.

With everything we’d gone through, from turf wars to money loss, supply runs to foreign countries and a handful of betrayals that’d almost landed half our crew in jail a few years back, I'd never been truly scared. Worried yes, but never actually scared. This though…

This new...whatever it was that seemed to be making its rounds, really had me on edge.

I didn’t even notice when Yoongi set a cup of hot coffee in my hands, despite me having told him not to worry about me. I barely acknowledged Jimin when he’d walked in the door and taken over Jin’s spot at the police scanners. My mind was too focused on the news, and the hundreds of things that could and probably would go wrong.

Namjoon and Yoongi’s phones rang at the same time, pulling them from their posts to either side of me as they got up and left the room. I looked over to Jimin who’d exchanged worried glances with Jin as he waved the elder boy over to the second scanner across from him.

“Channel's 15 and 8.”

Jin nodded that’d he’d heard, placing the headphones over his head as he spun the dials back and forth between the mentioned stations, pausing only long enough to listen with wide eyes before moving on to the next station.

“What is it, what’s wrong?” I could feel the panic begin to rise as I watched the two men begin to get increasingly agitated.

The news grabbed my attention.

“We’re coming to you live from Daegu where there has been a reported outbreak. Multiple injuries reported, many….lives are...stay...inside...danger…”

The reporter seemed to have been live on location, the camera man struggling to keep up with the running reporter. It looked to me like they were running away from something,or someone.

“That’s at the hospital!” I just about shrieked, jumping to my feet as I watched with wide eyes. The cameraman turned, aiming the shaking camera at a massive crowd of people that seemed to be running in terror from a hospital.

One person went down, being virtually trampled to death and a woman screamed as an older man jumped on her back, tearing into her neck like some starved animal.

“Jesus…” Jin muttered as he watched the news. “This is happening all over. The cops can barely keep up with all the calls that are flooding in.”

My hands trembled as I scrambled to pick up my phone, quivering fingers struggling to type in the numbers needed to reach Jungkook.

“He’s alright. I just got off the phone with him. He’s on his way back here but it sounds like Hobi got hurt when they were trying to escape.” Namjoon had reentered the room, Yoongi following close behind with his phone still to his ear.

“Taehyung’s with them. Hobi wasn’t bit just got shoved into the street. Fucking car hit him and fucked up his leg.” Yoongi hung up the phone, eyes pinning me down with a concerned look. “Jungkook is okay, just like Joon said.”

I nodded,barely hearing anything over the screaming on the television and the sound of blood rushing through my veins. My vision wavered for a moment as panic began to set in and Yoongi reacted immediately.

He stalked across the room, hands around my waist as he lowered me to the sofa. His touch was reassuring as he guided me through the panic attack.

“Just breathe. Focus on my voice.” He turned to Namjoon with a glare. “Fuck’s sake turn it down she’s freaking out.”

Namjoon compiled, lowering the volume to a quiet drone as I began to get a handle on my emotions. Yoongi crouched before me, cat like eyes boring into my own as a focus point.

“There we go little sis. Breathe, it’s okay. We’re safe here and Jungkook’s on his way back.”

I nodded, inhaling deeply through my nose and letting out the breath in a slow whistle through pursed lips.

“It’s alright. I’m okay Yoongi.”

He glanced over my face, checking for residual signs of lingering doubt. Satisfied with what he saw he shot me a nose crinkling grin as he gave my hands one last pat and came back to his feet.

Shaking out the last of my nerves I stood as well, realizing that without Jungkook there they were going to end up looking to me for direction.

“Alright. Joon get on the phone with East Side. Make sure they’re stocked up and tell them to hole up until this blows over. The last thing we need is for them to go wandering off and get caught up in the police barricades.”

Namjoon saluted, reaching into his pocket for his phone as he left the room once more.

“Yoongi, you and Jin check our ammunition and make sure all the doors and windows are secure. I want the garage ready to be locked down and bolted once Jungkook and the others get here.” The two men saluted as well, both looking grim as they checked their concealed weapons while leaving the room together.

“Jimin?” I turned to the young doctor, reading the fear in his eyes as he stared down at his ringing phone.

“I...the clinic is calling…” He seemed unsure of himself as he looked up at me with tears in his eyes.

“I kind of figured they would.” I moved over to him, hands coming to rest on his shoulders as he sat at the corner table. “Listen, I know you have a job to do. I understand trust me.”

We both glanced down at the phone as it went silent before starting up again with the urgent ring.

“Hobi’s hurt and we need you. But...if you think…”

“No no.” Jimin shook his head as he interrupted me, hands going to turn the ringing phone off.

“You guys are my family. I know they’re gonna need me at the clinic but considering what’s going on I’d much rather stay here with you guys than get stuck holed up at a clinic with a bunch of guys infected with God only knows what.” He seemed determined, despite the slight tremble in his voice and the shake to his hands as he stowed the phone back in his pocket.

“You sure?” I couldn’t help but worry, knowing that he’d always been the first to volunteer should there be an emergency that required his aid.

“Yeah. Just. Keep me busy here until Hobi’s back. I wanna stay here. I’d rather be home.”

I gave him a soft smile, pulling him into a hug before letting him go and stepping away. “That much I can do. Go to the kitchen, grab a pen and paper and head to the basement. I need a full inventory of all the emergency MRE’s that we have. After that check the mini clinic and make sure you have everything stocked up and ready to go.”

“Do...do you think it’s going to come to that?” He asked as he stood from his chair.

“Come to what?” I asked, already knowing what he meant.

“To us being stuck or trapped here for a long time?”

I shrugged, glancing over at the TV which was showing more places that’d dissolved into panic and chaos.

“I honestly don’t know but I’d rather be prepared than caught in some dumb situation where we aren’t ready for whatever this could become.” I heaved a sigh before returning my attention to him with a forced smile.

“No matter what, we’ve got this though. We’re stronger when we’re together and we’re the best this town’s ever seen.”

Jimin nodded, giving me a hesitant smile before leaving to attend to his assigned duties. After taking a moment to ground myself I made my way upstairs, passing Yoongi in the hall who gave me a quick nod.

“Upstairs rooms are secure. Gonna head to the garage and check the cache.”

“Alright,” I replied, patting his arm and giving him a strained smile. “I’m gonna work on getting the guest rooms set up for everybody. Clean sheets and all that. Shouldn’t take me too long. Let me know when Jungkook gets home okay?”

He departed with a nod and I set to work, going from room to room and making sure the hidden weapons were loaded and that all the beds were made up for my boys.

When we had them all spend the night some of them usually shared rooms. Jimin and Taehyung shared a room and Joonie and Hoseok usually shared while Jin and Yoongi opted to have their own rooms.

I paused at the door to mine and Jungkook’s room, standing just inside the door as I surveyed the interior. Jungkook’s hoodie from the day before lay discarded on the floor and the chair to his computer desk had been left pulled out. I walked over to the hoodie, grabbing it off the floor as I dropped into the rolling chair and hugged the hoodie to my chest.

Bringing it up to my nose I inhaled his scent, finding comfort in the realization that he’d stolen my peach body spray once more despite me fussing at him about it before. It always struck me as odd that he could use the same sprays as me and still come out smelling so manly and yet so much like home.

With a sigh I folded the hoodie, placing it on the computer’s keyboard. Just as I went to stand though a shout came from downstairs, followed by what sounded like a groan of pain.

I dashed quickly from the room, making my way across the landing to the stairs just in time to see Jungkook supporting an injured Hobi as they made their way to the basement door tucked beneath the main staircase.

“Kookie?” I hollered, stumbling a bit over my feet as I took the stairs down two at a time.

“I’m good babe, where’s Jimin?” Came his breathless reply.

“Should be in the clinic. Hey Tae, you okay?” I skidded to a stop as Taehyung rushed over and grabbed Hoseok’s free arm, helping Jungkook support the injured man as I opened the basement door for them.

Taehyung gave me a brief nod, motioning to the garage with his head. “Yeah, Yoongi hyung and Namjoon hyung said they needed you. Something about the bolts on the garage doors.”

I worried at my bottom lip with my teeth as I eyed the trail of blood leading from the three men out into the garage.

“Hey, angel. It’s alright. We got this.” Jungkook gave me a look, one that calmed me instantly and reminded me of my roll in the group.

“Keep them busy. Don’t let anybody panic and make sure we’re secure.” He shot me a smile, soft and sweet and filled with love and trust in me.

I returned the smile, tilting my head a bit to look at a very pale Hoseok. “Hang in there okay? Jimin’s gonna get you fixed up real quick.”

He nodded, gulping to bite down another groan of pain as he gave me a shaky grin. “I know. I’m good. Just..the blood…” His voice trailed off to a whimper as he shut his eyes.

“We gotta get him downstairs before he loses anymore blood guys.” Tae interrupted, his tone urgent as he motioned to the torn flesh of Hoseok’s left leg.

I gave Jungkook a quick kiss to his cheek before letting them go, more so as a reassurance for me that he was real and alive than as a show of affection.

***

I made my way to the garage, fingers dancing along the  grip of the 9 mil 1911 that I kept strapped to my hip at all times. It’d become almost like an extra limb to me, days where I wasn’t able to carry it close leaving me feeling bare, almost naked to the public eye.

“Jin, make sure to grab the extended clips from storage.” I hollered into the expansive garage.

Yoongi and Namjoon stood by the large door, both seeming in deep conversation as Jin jogged by me with a nod of deferral in my direction. I inclined my head towards him and continued on my way, stopping before the large doors and listening to the tail end of the two elder’s conversation.

“I know it’s a pretty sturdy lock but I still feel like we should barricade it just in case.” Namjoon seemed pretty adamant on his opinion as he’d been gesturing wildly ever since I stepped into the place.

“That may be so. But think about it Joon. What if we need a quick getaway?” Yoongi frowned at his younger partner, arms folded over his chest as he spoke quietly despite the heated state of the conversation.

“Yoongi, Namjoon, you’re both right. We do need to barricade it but a quick exit needs to be an option for us.”

I glanced over the large double doors, eyeing the motor and mechanisms and taking stock of the two large SUVs parked in the large space.

“Got any suggestions then Miss Queen of the household?” There was no snark or sass in Namjoon’s voice. Quite the contrary, the title was something the boys often used when they were waiting on me to figure a way out of a shitty situation.

Yoongi hushed him as my eyes wandered back to the garage door motor. Trailing along the power cord that trailed from the motor and along the ceiling to an outlet in the corner of the room my eyes and mind lit up.

Piled in the corner of the room where a bunch of 12 foot metal beams and a handful of shorter ones. Iron left over from when Jungkook had added a railing to the back porch 2 summers ago.

“Joonie...do we still have that plasma torch in the basement?” I asked, turning to him with excitement.

He nodded, clearly not following the plan that had begun to form in my head. As I began to outline the idea to the two a sort of giddy excitement fell over our little group.

“Yeah, I think we can manage that.” Yoongi nodded as he went over to the workbench Jin had insisted on having. The bench in question was piled with tools, some put away properly while others had been abandoned in half hazard piles in the middle of whatever project the group happened to be working on.

Pulling a pen and pad of paper from the pile he began sketching out my idea, making sure that he’d gotten all the details down before turning to me with a tooth filled grin.

“This might just fucking work.” Namjoon said as he went over measurements and calculations in his head.

“Just be sure that after you’re done you line up the SUVs and unplug the motor to the door.” I gave each of them a hug, praising them for their earlier work and gaining reassurances that the two would put my plan into motion immediately.

Yoongi went to work gathering what he would need as Namjoon followed me out of the garage and down to the basement, the two of us now grim faced as we could hear Hoseok’s groans of pain from the doorway just beneath the stairs.

[autobot-ratchet]

I just randomly got hit with some Fandom Memories

remember when Lost Light ended and D/ratchet was endgame and Dr1ftrod shippers got really shitty about it

like not to dunk on all Dr1ftrod shippers, everybody knows I love that ship and #notalldriftrods and all that buuuuuuuut... it is an undeniable fact that Dr1ftrod shippers in particular got like. certifiably shitty over D/ratchet becoming canon, flooding the D/ratchet tag with complaints, making a ton of spite fanwork that like clearly says in the author’s notes/post description that they’re “fixing” canon by making Drift get with Roddy instead (not to mention the influx of “Drift and Roddy bang each other and fall in love like ON THE DAY of Ratchet’s funeral” fics lmAO)

but there’s this one post that I am never gonna be able to forget, it was one of the “complaints about D/ratchet being canon put into the D/ratchet tag” posts where this person just had the absolute hottest of spicy takes, I wish I could find it but it’s defs been deleted, I know I shared it with at least one of my friends so its legacy lives on in us lmAO

but this person was like “D/ratchet is an inherently toxic ship, it’s emotionally abusive to Drift because Drift has already lost so many people (Gasket, Wing, etc) and so he can’t deal with any more death (I could swear they said something like “I know canon writes him as being strong willed and able to handle tragedy but that conflicts with my headcanon so canon is wrong” SOMEthing like that, there was definitely an “I don’t care what canon says, I’m right” bit) and so shipping D/ratchet is abusive to Drift since Ratchet dies at the end of the comic and that makes Drift sad”

like. that shit’s gonna haunt me forever I am never gonna be able to forget that fucking post lmAO “Ratchet is abusive to Drift because he dies of old age before Drift does and that makes Drift sad” is the WILDEST fucking take and they were dead serious, too

bonus points for them putting at the end of the post “Drift would’ve been better off with someone else who wouldn’t die before him like Rodimus” like okay lmAO you ain’t slick, just say you’re a bitter Dr1ftrod and keep your bullshit out of the D/ratchet tag

that just comes back to the forefront of my mind every once in a while, just “remember that person who legit tried to argue that D/ratchet is abusive because Ratchet dies? anyway it’s a great day to remember that D/ratchet is canon in Lost Light forever like in print”

[flauntpage]

A Philly Mag Columnist Took the Eagles’ Win and Used It for Race Bait

Philly Mag published a story on Monday titled “The Eagles Won Big Sunday Night, and So Did White Privilege.”

Some people dismissed it as clickbait, and maybe it is, but I was told that only shitty blogs did that, and not traditional and respected media outlets.

Hmm..

Anyhow, I’m stunned that Philly Mag would poo-poo a big sporting event. Stunned! This is the same outlet that crapped all over the NFL Draft being in town, referring to NFL players as “future rapists” in a piece eloquently titled “Dear NFL: Take Your Stupid NFL Draft and Shove It.”

This is the same outlet that hosted the excellent “Birds 24/7” blog, then decided to get rid of it. This is the outlet that decided to part with one of the city’s best Sixers writers for no apparent reason.

So I’m not surprised that they would take a unifying sporting event and use it as an opportunity to publish something totally divisive instead.

The author, Ernest Owens, is a mini-Shaun King who boycotts the NFL over the Colin Kaepernick issue. He wrote an entire story explaining how Malcolm Jenkins is a sellout (aka Uncle Tom) for “exploiting” Kaepernick, with hardly a mention of Jenkins’ award-winning charitable work for communities of color. Other recent offerings for Philly Mag include a story about how white organizers were influencing the Philly Women’s March and how gay male business owners are trying to take advantage of white privilege.

He also wrote a story for the Metro two years ago titled “Please don’t let this Villanova Parade be another display of white privilege,” so it’s almost like he has an agenda he wants to push.

You understand what beat he’s on.

This latest column begins with him again calling Malcolm Jenkins a sellout before writing this:

When so many are chanting “Fly Eagles Fly,” I am reminded of the double standards around these celebrations. Crowds of white people, in all of their unapologetic privilege, got publicly drunk, set fires, scaled traffic poles, and disrespected city monuments on Sunday night — and everyone cheered them on. “It’s a Philly thing,” I heard down my newsfeed as people relished in the team’s victory. There had been reports of violence before the game even started, and based on press conferences last week, the police weren’t planning to stop the antics, but merely manage them.

Ignore the fact that he links to a Philly Mag article that begins with video of a shirtless black man, who appears to be having no trouble celebrating, wearing an Eagle head.

You know, this guy:

As for the “crowds of white people,” here’s one cheering on a black guy who is banging a drum in the middle of Broad Street:

How dare all of these people… enjoy themselves?

And how about this white privilege right here:

Let’s go to Frankford and Cottman, where the white privilege was on full display in this very diverse crowd:

I don’t know. Looks like a crowd of Eagle fans just having some fun. The irony here is that Mayfair is starting to see an influx of immigrants and people of color, which should help prop up a struggling neighborhood. We had a white guy write about that this week.

Let’s go now to the television to see if they got the hooliganism on camera:

Nope, just three black women and a little girl dancing with a mohawked white guy.

So that part of the story doesn’t hold up. It certainly wasn’t just crowds of white people out on Sunday night. Turns out everybody likes the Eagles.

Let’s see what else Ernest has for us:

So thousands of mostly white people got to roam the streets freely without heavy police intervention and basically got to do whatever they wanted all because our city won a game? There’s a long history of this local tolerance of bad behavior from Eagles fans. But honestly, this level of accepted misconduct isn’t a unique “Eagles fan” phenomenon — it’s an acceptance of white privilege.

Well, according to police reports, there wasn’t much misconduct. There was a whopping total of six arrests on Sunday night.

Our African-American Police Commissioner, Richard Ross, spoke about that:

“When you get upwards of tens of thousands of people in different locations you’re gonna get some fights. Mostly minor in nature,” said Ross.

And police say there were six Eagles related arrests.

In one instance, police say a man named Andrew Tornetta punched a Pennsylvania State Police Corporal and his horse. It happened in Lot M about three hours before the Eagles game started. Tornetta now faces assault charges. There were also two disorderly conduct arrests and three for counterfeit tickets.

Still, because of the hard work of the cops and all the fans who celebrated without causing trouble, Ross says Sunday was a win.

“I think in the grand scheme of things it went very well,” said Ross.

The white idiot kid broke the law and was arrested. The rest “went very well,” according to the commissioner.

Does that make Ross a sellout, too?

More:

It’s baffling how public marches and protests that uplift people of color and women can be heavily monitored by police, but widespread mayhem perpetrated by white men isn’t. I have witnessed a small handful of Black and brown activists being followed by multiple police cars and officers on bikes as if they were a large army. And yet I don’t see such zeal in policing when majority white Mummers take over the streets. I also don’t hear much concern over public safety when large crowds of white people partake in multiple days of St. Patrick’s Day drunkenness.

But people of color are never given the same benefit of a doubt, and that matters.

Probably the only part of the column that makes any kind of sense. I’d agree that the Mummer’s Parade has a history of uncouth behavior, some of which is just idiots being idiots (on 2nd street), and some of which is Caitlyn Jenner signs and blackface, and whatever assorted bullshit people come up with. There are plenty of white people out there who have yet to join the rest of us in the 21st Century.

As for the police stuff, it really gets into the weeds with logistics and numbers. Events are different, yeah? Things like the Mummer’s Parade and Odunde Festival are easy to police and protect because they take place in defined geographic areas. I’ve been to both and I think the law enforcement deployment is very similar. Drunk idiots walk around in various spots during St. Patrick’s Day, so that’s harder to game plan for. And small protests, like the one involving Woody’s and ICandy, you’re going to see the obvious disparity between crowd size and police presence, which I’d think is more about protecting a tiny and mobile group rather than straight-up profiling. In the case of Sunday night, you just try to contain revelers and then disburse the crowd peacefully, which I think the police department did a good job of:

Police are now trying to end the #Eagles celebration here at Frankford and Cottman @KYWNewsradio pic.twitter.com/d3mQhD4wfK

— Andrew Kramer (@Philly_Kramer) January 22, 2018

And finally:

Ask yourself whether the city would have embraced a crowd of Black men the same way if the Sixers had made it to the NBA finals? If your answer is no, then ask yourself what exactly are we celebrating for.

Saying that football fans are predominantly white and that basketball fans are predominantly black is a stereotype. I see a lot of scrawny white hipsters at Sixer games. It’s probably the most diverse crowd in town, and to answer your question, yes, it absolutely would have embraced it the same exact way.

Look, I’m a white kid from a white town on the Berks County border. I went to college in a white state, then moved to Georgia to live in a city that was 60% black. I consider myself fortunate to see how people live in different areas of the country, to experience the new south vs. the old south and immerse myself in ideas and cultures that were new and unfamiliar to me. I worked the 2008 election in the Bible Belt. I’ve seen a lot of shit in 33 years and I’m thankful for it.

I’ll tell you that I feel like white privilege DOES exist. I think a lot people like myself are smart enough to acknowledge that, yes, we probably had an easier path to get to where we are today. We don’t take that for granted. I think we understand that we had a bit of a head start, but the only thing you can really do is work hard to try to build from that. I’m not going to walk around feeling “white guilt” for something that I can’t control. I came out of the womb half Italian and half Anglo mutt, so it is what it is. My parents taught me to treat other people the way I wanted to be treated, and hopefully I can play a role in leveling the playing field for everybody else.

The problem here is that you’re taking an event that unifies an incredibly diverse city and making it divisive instead. I didn’t see black and white on Sunday night, I just saw Eagle fans.

Ernest saw colors, white and black, and does himself disservice by viewing it through that lens.

A Philly Mag Columnist Took the Eagles’ Win and Used It for Race Bait published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

[viralhottopics]

Nashville lies at the heart of a divided country: Trump got bubbas to the polls

As the president staged a rally attended largely by out-of-towners, Democratic-leaning denizens of Tennessees Brooklyn pondered an urban-rural rift

Men in stetsons, check shirts and jeans swing their partners around to the thrum of drums, fiddle, keyboard and steel guitar of Mike Oldham & The Tone Rangers. The walls at Roberts Western World in Nashville, Tennessee, are coated with beer logos spelled out in neon or on lampshades or mirrors, old concert posters, photos of country music greats and three rows of cowboy boots for sale. The tiled floor is barely visible under the heaving crowd.

At this and other honky tonk bars on Broadway, Nashvilles main tourist drag, the music is old country: songs about drink, divorce, hardscrabble heartbreak, the miserable struggle to make ends meet. It is a playlist that has taken on new resonance in the era of Donald Trump, like a requiem for white working class voters in small towns who, feeling left behind with nothing to lose, propelled him to the White House.

But Nashville is a booming city where southern civility, religion and conservatism collide with a young, creative and liberal population. Paradoxically, the heart of country music is increasingly at odds in class, culture and politics with the heartland that surrounds it. In this it mirrors the dislocation of other burgeoning American cities that are islands of Democratic blue in deep red Republican states.

There is a vast gulf in ideology and approach to the world, said Bruce Dobie, a Nashville-based media entrepreneur. Its just crazy right now. My street and city are overwhelmingly Democratic. Were astonished by everything we see at the moment.

Dobie estimated that when the US president rolled into Nashville on Wednesday for a campaign-style rally, around 80% of the crowd was from out of town. Trumps warm-up acts were country singers the Gatlin Brothers and Lee Greenwood, whose rendition of God bless the USA earned a cheer with the words to the hills of Tennessee. Trump joined him on stage, grinned, shook his hand and raised two thumbs up as the crowd chanted USA! USA!, some with fists raised, in a near-religious frenzy.

So Im thrilled to be here in Nashville, Tennessee, the home of country music, southern hospitality and the great president Andrew Jackson, Trump said, referring to the 19th-century populist described by the state museum as champion of the common man and notorious for forcing Native Americans off their land.

The crowd waved signs including Promises made, promises kept, Lefty media lies and Women for Trump. Carma Williams, 63, a retired office manager who had travelled from 70 miles away, said: I love him because hes honest. Hes doing everything he said he would do during the campaign. I think hes the first president whos done that.

Inside Roberts Western World after Trumps rally in Nashville, Tennessee. Photograph: Jon Morgan for the Guardian

Outside the Nashville Municipal Auditorium there was a modest gathering of protesters. One stood out. James Walker was wearing a red Make America great again baseball cap, sunglasses, a beard, a black North Face jacket and khaki trousers. He held aloft a sign that said: Ive made a huge mistake.

The 31-year-old explained: I voted for Trump. I thought it would be a positive change, a change that Obama didnt come through on, and it would shake things up. It has shaken things up but in a bad way. I realise now that some of the things that were just campaign promises seemed to carry on beyond the election and become a reality.

Walker, who grew up in California and spent two years in the military, said he ordered the trademark Make America great again hat many weeks ago but it had only just arrived. So that was the spark: I know what Im going to do with this.

He expressed a desire for atonement. I dont know what thats going to be but this is the first step: showing up and being honest.

Walker now works as a wine broker and lives across the Cumberland river in east Nashville, dubbed the citys own Brooklyn with its embrace of beards, tattoos and artisanal foods, along with Jack Whites record label and an explosion of diverse guitar bands and songwriters. Walker added: Its mostly Democratic, blue territory. Only a few of my friends admitted to voting for Trump and did so in confidence. Today is the first day Ive gone public.

Beside him at Wednesdays demonstration was Lisa Kaas Boyle, an environmental attorney holding a bag that posed the question: What would Dolly do? a reference to country music hall-of-famer Dolly Parton, who supports gay rights but said of Trump and rival Hillary Clinton: I think theyre both nuts. Surveying the queue of thousands of Trump supporters that snaked up and around and down a grassy hill, she said: Im shocked by this huge turnout. It really feels like a gut punch for me. Im sure they came from far and wide. Its shocking to me that people have no regard for their fellow Americans.

Boyle has just returned to Nashville after 30 years, partly to be close to family and partly in response to Hillbilly Elegy, author JD Vances personal insight into problems of the white working class including alcoholism, divorce, domestic violence, drugs and hopelessness. As the Washington Post put it, elites in both parties are studying the book as a sort of Rosetta Stone to understand the conditions that enabled the rise of Trump.

The 52-year-old, said: After reading Hillbilly Elegy, I feel progressives have to be involved. I cant just hang out in California with my like-minded friends. I have to make a difference here.

In last years election, Trump trounced Hillary Clinton by 26% in Tennessee, a Bible belt state that was the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan and was last won by a Democrat when Bill Clinton, a southerner, carried it in 1996. Among the few counties he did not win were those containing Memphis and Nashville.

There are a lot of liberal artists

Now, Nashville is thriving with an influx of young professionals priced out of other cities. A record 13.9 million people visited the area in 2016, up 45% over the past decade. The music industry is worth $10bn to the region, according to a 2013 report commissioned by the Music City Music Council, and includes Americana, jazz and other genres as well as country.

It has come a long way since the Grand Ole Opry barn dance became a radio hit in the 1940s, leading to a recording industry and stars from Hank Williams then to Taylor Swift today. It has long been seen as music of the conservative heartland when Elton John denied a rumour that he would perform Trumps inauguration, he suggested, Why not ask … one of those fucking country stars? Theyd do it for you but its relationship with politics has always been more complex than often assumed.

Downtown Nashville. Visitors to the area, drawn by its famous music scene, are up 45% over the past decade. Photograph: Jon Morgan for the Guardian

Bob Dylan, the troubadour responsible for some of the 60s defining protest songs, spent the end of the decade in Nashville and collaborated with Johnny Cash, the man in black who performed for presidents and prisoners. Merle Haggards 1969 Okie from Muskogee was regarded as a conservative anthem but he later defended the Dixie Chicks after they condemned George W Bushs invasion of Iraq and recorded a song in support of Hillary Clinton.

During last years presidential election an informal survey conducted by the trade publication Country Aircheck found that 46% of industry professionals supported Trump while 41% favoured Clinton. But unlike Hollywood, most prefer to remain silent, perhaps fearing that any declaration of allegiance risks losing half their audience.

Earlier this month an analysis by BuzzFeed found that of the 87 artists currently on either Billboards Top Country Albums or Hot Country Songs charts, only five Sturgill Simpson, Justin Moore, Chris Janson, Maren Morris and the Brothers Osborne have gone on the record with clear pro or anti-Trump views.

Sitting at the bar at the Red Door Saloon in east Nashville, Clay Johnson, 29, a composer, said: Trump probably got a lot more support from country music artists than hip-hop artists. But there are a lot of liberal artists. It would be wrong to paint them all as conservatives.

Musing on the urban-rural divide, he added: In rural Tennessee youll see people whove lived there and grown up there. In Nashville people tend to come and go like in any city. Its population versus space. Its shitty how one side can dictate how the other side lives because they live different lives. Its the same anywhere. When you live in the city, its different from living on a farm.

At another table as the clock ticked past 1am was Zie Campbell, 25, a freelance illustrator and teacher. Tennessee is a red state, Nashville is not, she said. Its a melting pot, as much of a New York as its going to get down here. This has been very hard for our specific community because we are surrounded by ignorance and bigotry.

In the rural areas theres not a desire to experience anything else. My dad smokes Marlboro Reds, Ill smoke Marlboro Reds. My dad listens to Johnny Cash, Ill listen to Johnny Cash. In the city you dont have that option any more: whether or not you are seeking it, youre forced to see others.

Zie Campbell, an illustrator and teacher in Nashville: This has been very hard for our specific community. We are surrounded by ignorance. Photograph: Jon Morgan for the Guardian

Campbells parents live 220 miles away in Knoxville. Her father voted for Trump but she found Clintons defeat devastating. She continued: I am an example of the exact opposite of my dads opinions. When the sexual harassment allegations against Trump came out, my dad and I had a long conversation. I cried. We decided were not talking politics after that.

If the other side is willing to bomb Dresden, how do you fight that?

How can the rift between urban and rural, between blue and red, be healed? I dont know if there is something to be done, Campbell said. I dont think anyone is trying to sway anyone else. I dont think theres a whole lot of grey area.

Dobie, the media entrepreneur, said: Thats the $64m question. If youre a modern Democrat youre not in the mood to pussyfoot any more, having been subjected to what amounted to the bombing of Dresden in the last election. Trump committed Dresden. No one is in the mood be accommodating or easy.

Were now in a moment when I dont see much room for sitting around the campfire and holding hands. If the other side is willing to bomb Dresden, how do you fight that? You really have to take it to the streets.

Both parties are likely to compete fiercely for what might be described as the country music constituency. Dobie said: Struggling to meet bills, shooting a deer, breaking up with your girlfriend the lyrics of the country song speak the needs, desires and concerns of the conservative folk and thats why its been successful.

Thats the crowd were all talking about. Thats the demographic thats up for grabs in America and Clinton couldnt harness. Trump got the bubbas to the polls; Clinton did not. The bubbas are listening to country music.

Clay Johnson, a composer in Nashville: Its shitty how one side can dictate how the other side lives. Photograph: Jon Morgan for the Guardian

The divisions here are reflected across America, after an election that exposed brutal faultines and the education split among whites was said to be the critical factor.

Nadine Hubbs, a professor of music at the University of Michigan and author of Rednecks, Queers, and Country Music, said: In the US, our cities are places where many of us go to prosper while small towns or exurbs or suburbs are often places where people are left behind.

Nashville and Austin [in Texas] are really good examples of this phenomenon. To bridge the gap there are economic inequalities we need to pay attention to. Often the most unbridgeable gaps are the ones created by contempt for another group: lack of respect and stripping of dignity.

The way people who are prospering look down on folks who are in rural spaces, often associated with country music, creates the kind of divisions that are really hard to bridge.

The elites talk about the need for education of people in rural spaces; well, we know almost nothing about them. The economic and social segregation of the classes is worse maybe than its ever been in our history.

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from Nashville lies at the heart of a divided country: Trump got bubbas to the polls