#like they fall under the same trope category

[gghostwriter]

Whispered Truths

Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Summary: Your weekly reading club with boyfriend, Spencer Reid, has never been as sweet and life-changing as this night Trope: Fluff! Just fluff! w.c: 0.8k a/n: This is actually a request from @bloodredrubyrose and I really liked how this came out. I also used my favorite piece of fiction here as a prop so I hope you like it! Comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated! 💗 masterlist

Couples, no matter how new or old, tend to create personalized dates as a way to strengthen the relationship. Some go on hikes together, some go on travels, while some stay in the comfort of their homes—under a blanket with a chosen book on hand.

You and Spencer definitely fall under the latter category. It was quite obvious from the first meeting that literature would be one of the strongest bonding agents between you and him. After all, it was how you were brought together—crashing into one another at the library with books and miscellaneous items scattered on the tiled floor. A few shy glances and bewitching dates later, you found yourself spending your Saturday nights in the presence of your boyfriend of six months, hosting an exclusive reading club with just two members, you and him.

“I never thought of it that way,” your left hand paving an aimless path through Spencer’s curly hair while the other held the book up high.

The pitter patters of the rain outside softly echoed through the walls. You were propped up on the loveseat sofa, his head resting on your lap as he looked upwards in question in regards to your statement.

“Never thought of which?” His voice low and soft, striking a resemblance to how he gazed at you oh so lovingly. As if you were the most riveting piece if art he had ever laid his eyes upon.

“How water played a big symbol throughout the whole book. It was really focused on during the first chapters but I—I just never quite connected the dots,” you clarified, bring the book to a close.

It was your choice for the week, East of Eden by John Steinbeck—a modern classic and had been your favorite work of literature since high school. Spencer had lent his copy to you last week and you vice versa—both turning brown from age, pages about to fall apart from its binding, annotations scribbled on the margins and any lengthy self reflections written on various notebook pages sandwiched in between.

“Your explanation on the empty pages at the end—how water is capable of bringing both life and death. Water being essential for the crops but at the same time, drowned victims. It’s such a poignant note that I think I just fell more in love with Steinbeck’s writing,” you added. “It also made me realize how water in his novel represents the dual capacity of the human soul for good and evil. How we are all filled with conundrums and contradictions and what makes us different from the other species on Earth is our ability to choose whether we are good or evil—” Spencer had sat up and leaned in, interrupting your musings. “—what?” You breathed out as his lips hovered on yours.

The once cozy atmosphere quickly charged with tension and desire that seemed to ooze out of Spencer. There was little space in between and you had no doubt that from the outside looking in, it looked like he was kissing you but he was not, rather a sliver of air was still given space to pass through. So close but so far.

You studied his features up close. How his long lashes fluttered like butterfly wings beating against the wind as his molten, darkened, hazel eyes flickered between your lips and eyes. How his nose lightly caressed yours in an endless Eskimo kiss. How his cheeks stained into a lighter shade of red. And how his pink tongue peeked out to wet his pillowy lips. 

“I’m in love with you,” he whispered as if it was some kind of national secret that he now felt right to expose.

Your breath caught in your throat. This was the first time he had said it. His love for you had been conveyed with every touch, with every action, and with every silence but this was the first time he had put it into words.

His lips caressed yours—the pressure almost non-existent. A ghost of a kiss to gauge your reaction and consent.

“I love you,” he repeated a little louder this time, eyes locking into the very depths of your soul. “You and your mind have enchanted me since the beginning—so beautiful, so captivating.”

The butterflies set free in your stomach caused you to viscerally shiver in reaction.

“I love you too, Spencer.”

A smile graced his face and it was bright and as blinding as the sun, like it had finally decided to stop hiding behind the clouds and show itself in all of its glory.

He leaned in once more. The pressure from his lips now heavier and headier, trying to stamp his everlasting mark on you and in between all these kisses were whispers of his utter devotion and adoration until there was no more space—until you both became one on his loveseat sofa.

Comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated!

[linedbycaro]

୨⎯ 𝐫𝐞𝐜 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 ⎯୧

These are my fic recs :) I will put them under categories as i read more. Currently I've been consuming almost exclusively Pazzi (hehe)

𝚸𝐚𝐳𝐳𝐢 💗

Everything- and I mean everything- by @hcneymooners (like even including her non Pazzi works). While she writes in a way that is so distinctly Paige and Azzi, she takes the characters as we know them and molds them into figures that reflect our own real, brutal struggles and internal conflicts. Each one of her stories makes a point or reflects a theme that goes way beyond fan fiction. Her work is so uniquely, vividly descriptive — so deep and intimate and tangible — dark and light at the same time. She writes with a maturity earned not just from talent (which she has plenty of), but also from experience, hard work, and passion.

I began reading @bucketsorbueckers for her work No Hard Feelings. It was incredible. So then I started her ongoing second work, Wishing you the best (In the worst way)- which is just INSANE. And THEN, while waiting for her to finish WYTB, I began reading her latest work, Trouble, and let me tell you: I'm floored. I haven't been this entertained, this captivated, in a long time. She's insane. She's a flirt. She knows how to write tension right. Her IQ? Off the charts. And she's funny as fuck- like Azzi Fudd level funny. And apparently she's machine because she's been cranking out chapters like nobody's business. It's fun over on her page, a great sense of community, truly.

@azzibueckers5 's two part Pushing it Down and Praying series: i wanna know peace again (wanna sing a different song) and i want you to need me (need to want something more). Ella cross-posts on ao3, but I'll just link her masterlist here. This series is SO GOOD. She posted IWKPA first, and it literally cried, and then I screamed (really screamed) when she posted IWYTNM as a second part. She needs to write more asap.

Slow falling by restlessnights04 on ao3. WARNING though- it's incompleted... and hasn't been updated since July of last year. I'm devastated. However, I still love it so much and i feel that it's worth the read. It's just so good and I'd literally give anything for the author to complete it.

Motion Sick by @wbbfannnnnn13 is insane. Like so good. All of her works are incredible, honestly. I love a good homoerotic friendship trope. If you like angst and drama, this author is for you! I'm hooked. K is extremely talented and has me on the edge of my seat.

Anything and Everything by @luvergirl-535!!! She is the Pazzi GOAT. I especially love her one-shots not a lot, just forever and i don't see what anyone could see in anyone else (but you) Just the normalcy of it, the fluff. Ugh. Tew good.

This time it'll work fr by @loeysoi !! It's cross posted on Ao3, is hilarious and funny and smutty and delicious.

Oh and I just dropped my first one shot! Check it out if ya feel like it! Love - Keyshia Cole

[light-the-spark-of-dawn]

"No metas in Gotham" is such a stupid trope/headcanon because it has literally nothing of value to offer beyond low effort jokes like "it's only applied to Superboy and the Green Lanterns because Batman thinks they're annoying!" And maybe those are funny for like five seconds but the moment that you play it straight, that's when all the problems begin.

Like first and foremost, it's straight up discrimination. Designating an entire group of people as Dangerous Undesirables? Enforcing a policy of forced exclusion even when they haven't actually done any harm? This is the kind of shit that you expect from X-Men villains that were made to be a heavy-handed metaphor for racism and xenophobia.

Second, what even is the definition of metahuman? DC kind of flip-flops on this. Sometimes it refers specifically to humans who have powers as a result of their DNA being different, like the mutants of Marvel. Sometimes, it also applies to aliens and Atlanteans and Amazons. Or anyone who can use magic regardless of whether that ability comes from their genetics. Or people who have learned techniques to enhance their bodies beyond what normal humans can achieve, or those who can wield advanced alien technology- which is especially bonkers since Bruce "I learned how to control my heartbeat from Tibetan monks and have used Green and Yellow Lantern rings" Wayne falls into both categories.

But even if we're not counting Bruce himself, it's still hypocritical as a policy because Duke Thomas aka The Signal exists and is canonically a metahuman, nebulous as the definition of that term may be. "But he's part of the Batfam-" So he gets a pass because he's "one of the good ones?" Is this really a road you want to go down? Especially when the Batfamily as a whole are being portrayed as the socioeconomic elite who control Gotham by force?

Third, what exactly is Batman hoping to achieve by enforcing a ban on metahumans that includes his fellow superheroes? i've seen some people try to justify it as "the presence of superpowered heroes will invite equally powerful villains." But Gotham already has metahuman villains. Killer Croc usually has enhanced strength, speed, and durability. There have been multiple Clayfaces with shapeshifting abilities. Ivy is basically an immortal plant elemental. And also not every supervillain is like Reverse Flash or Joker, who follow their respective heroes wherever they go in the hopes of tormenting them.

And to round it all off, there's no actual comic where the words "no metas in Gotham" have ever been said outright. The closest that canon Bruce ever gets to saying anything similar is an issue of 90s Superboy when he's telling Cass he doesn't want her around "his kind" while referring to Kon.

Which is certainly questionable wording at best, but hardly tantamount to a declaration that he's going to turn Gotham into a police state whose borders are permanently closed to all metahumans. Incidentally, there was a comic where this did happen, but it wasn't even Bruce who did it, it was Barbara in an Elseworlds AU

And I think it's important to point out that Babs' xenophobia and authoritarian control over Gotham is explicitly a Bad Thing fueled by her paranoia, and her character arc within the story is overcoming that character flaw.

To reiterate the thesis of this post, "no metas in Gotham" is a stupid trope that exists in the same category as "the contingency plans can take down anyone" or "the Justice League are shocked to learn that Batman has a secret family." It's a tired and overused joke that falls apart under even surface-level scrutiny and does nothing except mischaracterize Batman and his allies as the equivalent of superhero ICE.

[hauntiingg]

I spent the past week playing Block Tales on Roblox, and something I really like is how it subverts the Chosen One trope.

Subversions of this trope aren't anything new: you have fake Chosen Ones, Chosen Ones that fall from grace, Chosen Ones who don't have anything special about them at all, etc. The player falls under the last category: the only thing that sets them apart from everyone else is that they are from the future. They have the same capabilities as everyone else, and it's how they wield them that allows them to succeed.

That is why Chapter 3's climax works as well as it does: they don't have a pure soul. They're still a human, with human emotions--emotions that lead to them touching the Ghostwalker despite being told not to. You have to purge (perceived to be) negative emotions, and on your journey to do so, you can see all the worst thoughts and feelings the player has towards their journey: they think they deserve to keep the swords, they want to go back home, and they fear what's to come. Yet even as they lose them, they push on regardless.

But after purging those emotions, you aren't left with a pure soul. You're left with wrath--the emotion that can cause the most damage, both to yourself and others, and is the easiest to lose yourself to. And in order to finally purify their soul, the player has to defeat their hatred.

Perhaps every impure soul who touches the Ghostwalker has to go through this process. Perhaps everyone has their own unique emotions to process, but in the end, they all have to face the same emotion, Hatred. But most people end up losing themselves to Hatred, becoming trapped in the Ghostwalker forever.

After purifying their soul? The player says they're fine, but a human losing their negative emotions...could they still be considered human? Or are they essentially a dead man walking?

Whatever the case may be, the player has ended up gaining the special trait of a Chosen One in a way--but at what cost?

[yourpenpaldee]

·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ WRITEBLR INTRODUCTION.

I don't usually put myself out there as it makes me nervous. But I've been a lurker for way too long, and it's about time I step out of my comfort zone. So, hello! I'm Dee (she/her), twenty-two, and have found my voice with storytelling.

Writing has always been a passion of mine, and continues to be the tool I turn to when I need an outlet to freely express myself. I have, unfortunately, hit a rough patch with consistency, and I'm here to bring all of that motivation and inspiration back. Especially since there are one too many WIPs sitting on the backburner, and they're all calling my name.

As someone who loves to dip their toes into every genre of fiction, I will read anything that peaks my interest. However, when it comes to creating, my works usually fall under romance and mystery. With practice, I intend on branching out into other genres I don't write often. There's a lot to explore in the world of writing, and I don't want to limit myself to only two categories.

Creating this blog provides me the space I need to accomplish the many goals I often dream of achieving. I acknowledge that it all starts with the ability to hold myself accountable. To show up for myself. To become comfortable with the uncomfortable. Putting myself and my projects out into the world is only the first of many steps, and it feels quite liberating.

I aim to use the voice I've found to not only contribute to the progression of POC representation, but to touch on several topics that remain heavily stigmatized in today's media. There’s a joy that runs through my veins every time I see someone like me on my screen or in a book. I feel seen, heard, and proud. I feel important. But as a creator, there’s that itch that can only be scratched when I create. When I make something that lets the next person know that they’re not invisible. That they're valued, loved, and appreciated. That's what I hope for when someone reads a project of mine. For them to feel the same rush of joy flowing through them as it does me.

Wow, I’m a yapper. I'd like to close this intro off with some fun facts, so here are some of my top five favorites with sidenotes because I still want to yap a bit more about the things I adore.

SOLO ARTISTS:

ARI LENNOX ✧ ˚ · . CHOCOLATE POMEGRANATE — GET CLOSE — GOAT — POF — UP LATE

HALSEY ✧ ˚ · . 100 LETTERS — I HATE EVERYBODY — NIGHTMARE — ROMAN HOLIDAY — THE LIGHTHOUSE

HOPE TALA ✧ ˚ · . CHERRIES — EDEN — I CAN'T EVEN CRY — LEAVE IT ON THE DANCEFLOOR — SUNBURN

MELANIE MARTINEZ ✧ ˚ · . ALPHABET BOY — DEAD TO ME — EVIL — NOTEBOOK — STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

HALIMA ✧ ˚ · . DOWNTOWN — FORD CARDINAL — IF LOVE WAS GREEN — SAMANTHA — TALK

BANDS:

5 SECONDS OF SUMMER ✧ ˚ · . AIRPLANES — BETTER MAN — KILL MY TIME — LONG WAY HOME — TEARS!

FALL OUT BOY ✧ ˚ · . BANG THE DOLDRUMS — CHICAGO IS SO TWO YEARS AGO — HEADFIRST SLIDE INTO COOPERSTOWN ON A BAD BET — NOBODY PUTS BABY IN THE CORNER — WHERE DID THE PARTY GO

FLO ✧ ˚ · . CARDBOARD BOX — FLY GIRL — IMMATURE — SUITE LIFE (FAMILIAR) — WALK LIKE THIS

PARAMORE ✧ ˚ · . BIG MAN, LITTLE DIGNITY — CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE — FRANKLIN — MISGUIDED GHOST — PART II

THE INTERNET ✧ ˚ · . DONTCHA — HOLD ON — LOOK WHAT U STARTED — SOMTHING'S MISSING — SPECIAL AFFAIR

GAMES:

CORAL ISLAND ✧ ˚ · . IF I START LISTING NAMES, I'M GOING TO MENTION EVERYONE. BUT I'M A LOYAL MARK GIRL. AND NOAH... AND MILLIE, EVA, BEN, Y—

DISNEY DREAMLIGHT VALLEY ✧ ˚ · . THIS IS SUCH A COMFORT GAME THAT SOOTHES MY INNER CHILD.

DON'T STARVE [TOGETHER] ✧ ˚ · . I MAY OR MAY NOT STILL SUCK AT THIS GAME AFTER A SOLID THREE YEARS, BUT I'M A WIGFRID MAIN.

STARDEW VALLEY ✧ ˚ · . I LOVE SEBASTIAN AND LEAH, AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL IF I HAVE TO.

THE SIMS 4 ✧ ˚ · . WHERE I SPEND A LOT MORE TIME IN CREATE-A-SIM AND BUILD MODE COMPARED TO PLAYING THE ACTUAL GAME.

TROPES:

FAKE RELATIONSHIP ✧ ˚ · . MHM... JUST SAY YOU LIKE EACH OTHER ALREADY.

FATED MATE ✧ ˚ · . I'M A BIT PICKY ABOUT THIS TROPE THOUGH. THINGS TEND TO MOVE VERY QUICKLY BUT I ENJOY IT NONETHELESS.

FRIENDS TO LOVERS ✧ ˚ · . A CLASSIC THAT DOESN'T NEED AN EXPLANATION.

REUNION ✧ ˚ · . ESPECIALLY IF THEY WERE CHILDHOOD FRIENDS AND THEY REMINISCE OLD MEMORIES, OH MY GOODNESS. I EAT THIS TROPE UP EVERY TIME.

SLOWBURN ✧ ˚ · . NO DOUBT THIS IS MY MOST FAVORITE TROPE. THE BUILDUP TO EVEN THE TINIEST PIVOTAL MOMENT ALWAYS MAKES MY HEART THUMP.

TV SHOWS:

CRIMINAL MINDS ✧ ˚ · . YES, I’LL WATCH ALL 16 SEASONS FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME AND FALL IN LOVE WITH PRENTISS EACH TIME. WE WERE ALSO ROBBED OF BEARDED HOTCH CONTENT.

BRIDGERTON ✧ ˚ · . DO I CRY EVERY TIME I WATCH GEORGE AND CHARLOTTE'S STORY? YES. WILL I CONTINUE TO REWATCH IT AND RECITE THE LINES EVERY TIME SOMETHING REMINDS ME OF IT? ASOLUTELY.

THE BEAR ✧ ˚ · . I WISH I KNEW OF AYO EDEBIRI BEFORE THIS SHOW BECAUSE THAT WOMAN IS AMAZING??? LIKE, HELLO???

THE EQUALIZER ✧ ˚ · . *mini spoiler* STILL CAN'T STOP THINKING OF DANTE'S GRIN WHEN HE GOT TO SEE MEL, ROB, AND HARRY'S LITTLE WORK SPOT FOUR SEASONS LATER.

SWEET MAGNOLIAS ✧ ˚ · . HELEN, MADDIE, AND DANA SUE IS HOW I PICTURE MY FRIENDS AND I IN THE FUTURE. MARGARITA NIGHTS, BEING AUNTIES TO EACH OTHER'S CHILDREN, UGH. I LOVE THEM WHOLEHEARTEDLY.

And that concludes this introduction on me and this blog. I would love to connect and befriend other authors, so please don't hesitate to reach out as my DMs will always be open! I'd love to support and read your works, so don't be hesitant to share them with me if you'd like.

I hope you all will enjoy reading my works as much as I enjoy the process of bringing my ideas to life.

divider creds to strangergraphics ♡

[viktorarcanedeservesbetter]

Can you speak more about the weird characterization of Viktor as mean/rude? I've seen it a lot, and I'm just curious as to your thoughts about it?

Yes I can!

I've talked about it before, but never in one place, and usually in the tags of a post. I think (as well as a few others I agree with) it's a few different things happening.

Why Viktor is Often Mischaracterized In Fandom Spaces and How People React To It, In 4 Reasons

edit: this is really long oops

I'd also like to clarify (since this anon was also asking in a different ask if I was talking about headcanons or just characterization in a pervious post) that these are specifically for characterizations in fan works, not just like, headcanons people list and talk about.

One, I think people see the character designs and hear their voices and go "this is usually the _____" character trope-and they're usually right! A character design like Viktor-skinny, put together, handsome in the more classical way (pointed features, very clean) is usually kind of mean and rude in a lot of shows. Animated or not. So, to a casual viewer or someone who is only seeing clips (or, dear god, Tik Tok skits) is going to think the same thing.

(I could go on and on about Arcane subverting character tropes but we'd be here all day)

Two, I think it's a way of attempting to subvert or prevent ableism. I think people are so focused on not making Viktor look or seem "weak" because he is canonically disabled, they go very hard on character traits (some that he doesn't even have) to try and prevent it. Like an over-correction. However, in doing so, they fall into two different categories: going all the way back around to old-fashioned ablism of old shows (the disabled character being mean, sassy, or saying rude things because they can "get away" with it) or a completely rude character.

Ex: Dr. House. The only real things they have in common are cane usage, intelligence, and a weird co-dependent relationship that ends in them dying together, canonically both on-screen (Jayvik) and off-screen (confirmed by creators, House/Wilson). (Not to say I don't love House's characterization, it's very valid, but Viktor is very much not like him at all).

Three, I think it's because there is no great consistent way, or even concise way, of describing a character who is smart, polite, but also capable of the silent anger and notable frustration Viktor is. Especially with only 2 seasons of content when a fandom of a similar size to Arcane has about 4-5 more. Canonically, I don't think he's going around shoving people out of the way with his cane, scoffing under his breath about "Pilties" but I also don't think he's a doormat who allows people to step on him and can't tell people no. All of that is a long run-on sentence of a description that doesn't even end in what his actual characterization is.

Four, I think people struggle with-and I'm being honest and not judgmental-creating OC's! Especially in fandom as a lot of those fics tend to get ignored when compared to fics that only have (or only focus on) canon characters. So they take a canon character and mold it to how they want, even if it's not at all canon. And there are no rules in fandom! However; this also means leaving it up to being called out or commented on it-which is why a tag like OOC exists on Ao3 or other fansites. It's much easier to add or change characterizations of an existing character than it is to create your own, as well as getting someone's attention and actually reading it in fandom. Which is like, very fair.

Also, I think some people don't quite understand the differences between people talking about head canons (ones that relate to canon or cracky) and canon discussion (like here). If we're talking canon, then very little is up for interpretation beyond what we see and understand, which is, for example: Viktor never raises his voice at Jayce, at least to any point that is considered shouting or yelling, and his anger is quiet and soft. Additionally, he forgives very easily-hence allowing Jayce to lead him away from the bridge barely a minute after confronting him, and also ya know, forgiving him every time Jayce killed him.

So anything else beyond that would be expanded upon-so you can go different ways, like maybe he does raise his voice when generally frustrated or deeply angry, or maybe it's one of his personal faults that he forgives too easily and does it for more people than just Jayce. And, for some people, they go through one of the four reasons above, and that's how we get back to mischaracterization!

ANYWAYS BACK TO YOUR POINT

There's a lot of reasons Viktor gets mischaracterized, but it's usually down to those four reasons above, and it all depends on how people react and choose to continue. For me, I personally get turned off of fanfic that has a Viktor characterization like that-but I just leave and go read something different, I don't comment on the fic talking about how I don't like it. Some people do! (Read and create those fics I mean).

Anyways, anon, what do you think? IDK. My class ended early and I have nothing to do today. Thanks for the ask.

[yandere-wishes]

I just found a love in your almost cult yandere clone tropes and their cyares with the Jedi blessings. I mean damn you (later than ever). I'm imagining Cody and Rex and the bad batch. Or just Cody sharing with 😉 .

You made sprout the cult follower in me.

Here at Yandere-Wishes HQ, we try to inspire the inner cult follower in all our fans. We want the dark, deranged side of all our clients to shin through and someday even start cults of their own. 💜💜

I'm very sorry for how all over the place this is, tried to section it off as best I could. I'm still incredibly jet lagged😭😭

I think the reason behind the Jedi giving their blessing so freely to the clones comes from an inner yearning to be loved. The Jedi know their place in the universe, know that a sentiment-free life is what they must endure. Still, if those around them can be happy, then (in a selfless way befitting a Jedi) they can be happy too. Although I'm rather curious as to what would happen if say Anakin or Obi-wan fell for the cyare of their commanders. 

Personally, I think Rex and Cody would definitely share a darling. Same with Echo and Fives (and maybe Tup too). Maybe if you REALLY  want to lean into the cult aesthetic Anon, then what if each squadron has its own cyare?? A darling shared amongst all of them (That's a lot but I'm kinda only referring to the relevant troopers from each squadron 🤣🤣) it would be super cute if all her dresses were in said squadron's colors. Kinda like a personal cheerleader for them. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself here lol. 

🧡💙Being Cody and Rex's darling.

💙They're both very busy men. Constantly being deployed to the front lines. Always busy with some mission or another. They've tried to make sure at least one of them is with you, so you're never alone. It doesn't work, there are always long periods of time when you are trapped in isolation. 

🧡I truly believe that Rex and Cody's cyare wouldn't really "feel" like a "cyare", per se. Sure she doesn't have any freedom and is never permitted to make any decisions on her own. But they treat her so well, give her anything she could ever want, and they never hurt her in any way. 

💙Rex and Cody are both strict, not much leniency coming from either one. They have strict rules for they're cyare, under the pretext of keeping her safe. They've seen and experienced all the cruelties of the galaxy. And they don't want ANYTHING to ever hurt you. 

🧡Cody is more affectionate. More open with embracing and kissing you. Rex is much more reserved, stiffer. Yet he can't help but melt whenever your lips push against his. 

501st sharing (Rex, Fives,Echo, Tup, Jesse, Hardcase and Kix)

It's honestly exhausting belonging to all of them. Constantly being pulled in every direction. Sure the 501st is one of the gentler squadrons per se. But they are smoldering, constantly wanting to touch you in some way. It also doesn't help that regardless of the mission one of them is left behind to "watch" you. Not so much out of a fear of you running away but more out of concern for your well-being. I wonder what would happen if Anakin began to develop feelings for this particular cyare.

As for the bad batch I've yet to watch it (Although I've only heard good things) So I can't make a full observation just yet. Although I'd like to think that Hunter and Wrecker are on the "tougher" side, using force to make their cyare submit. Tech falls more into the stalker category. Take all this with a grain of salt, these ideas will 100% change once I've actually seen the show. 

.... All this aside can you imagine Obi-Wan and Cody sharing a darling?? Or even Anakin and Rex sharing a darling?? I mean every cult needs its leader right 😉😘

[cripplecharacters]

had to shorten this a bit: What are some thoughts on able bodied people writing a character who becomes disabled through an accident? In this instance a person in a wheelchair. I understand that this is often a tried trope which focuses on the characters “misery of being in a wheelchair” or can devolve into inspiration porn where the person is “cured” Might this fall under the category of “this is a tired cliche Maybe don’t” or can it be done if it’s approached with care and well researched?

Hey!

I believe that it can be done, sometimes quite easily so. While it is somewhat of a trope, for some disabilities more than others, people do become disabled through accidents. That's just a fact, rather hard to argue with that.

The main issue is related to the fact that a lot of abled writers merge the accident - usually an at least unpleasant experience - and the disability into the same thing. As you said, it does often go into the "misery of having x disability or having to use z mobility aid" territory, which is a very tired trope.

I think that the easiest way you can avoid that is to not write about the process of getting used to suddenly being disabled. For example, maybe the accident was years ago, or it happened when they were too young to remember, maybe the traumatic scenario is not even described (it doesn't have to be, really - most people don't love just talking about them for the fun of it). So then the character is disabled through an accident, but you don't have to write about them getting used to the new changes - that's generally better left to disabled writers because it's often very nuanced territory.

The second, harder way would be just "get a sensitivity reader, and go from there". If you do want to write about the process, you need someone to help you with that, in my opinion at least.

Last thing would be that the "accident trope" is, at least in my experience, overrepresented in fiction about disability. This doesn't mean it doesn't have its place, of course, but disability is inherently diverse - most people don't get theirs due to accidents. It's basically always a good idea to add a second (or third, fourth, etc.) disabled character to have that diversity shown. For your character specifically, maybe they're a wheelchair user because of an accident, but they would almost definitely know more people like them and a lot of them would have different reasons for using it - maybe they could have spina bifida, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, or rheumatoid arthritis, or polio, or a million other things. Especially someone who acquired their disability later in life would have community ties, because they would need to quickly learn to navigate a ton of new things, and you need to learn that from someone. Try to think of the community around them - it's a much better thing to focus on rather than just "misery from being disabled".

I hope this helps,

mod Sasza

[zaruba-needslove]

How to tag your fic (on AO3)

NGL I kept contemplating whether or not to make this post, cos seriously, considering that AO3 already have a FAQ page for most of the site's functions, I thought people can just look em up themselves.

But I guess not.

Like I guess if you're new to the site, seeing THIS👇 may seem daunting to you...

Like you just wanna post your fics, why so COMPLICATED, well... it's not like you HAVE to read all of them before you start using the site, no? Besides, you only need to read those IF you're unsure of how to use certain functions... like if you dunno how you're supposed to create pseuds or why you need them (you don't, usually, unless you need to like separate your works while still on the same accounts etc) So ANYWAY... back to tagging your fics, you can just jump to the FAQ for Tags and read up on anything you need to know about it. I'm not gonna to explain every bit of that, cos the FAQ is already doing the job. You just have to read them. Because I don't think it's that confusing. As long as YOU don't overthink or overcomplicate the process, and make yourself confused.

Let's get started.

First thing, first. The purpose of tagging was to allow people to find your fic. So yes, that was the purpose of your needing to fill in the details of your fic.

But really, just because there seemed to be a 'lot' of things that you needed to fill... not ALL of them are compulsory!

The bits that are a must for you to fill in are the bits/info that are marked with * and coloured red, like this. 👇

If you're unsure how to tag your fics to make it easy to find, please read THIS, which is pretty self-explanatory.

Personally, I find the A03 system of archives easy to use... because if you're writing for some new shows, you don't have to email the site support or anything to have the new category made... you can just straight up type it in (if the category/tag has not yet existed), unlike on FF.net.

That said, if anyone wanna know how to type the support email to FFnet support to request for new categories, well, I used to type out a tutorial for it HERE. Also, THIS was an example of the replies I get from FFnet support.

Back to Tagging on AO3.

Basically, the things that you should tag on your fics are the things that will allow people to find your fics (besides searching for the title of the fic or reading the summaries etc). So that means, you DO need to at least have a general idea (or vibes, like how younglings say nowadays) of what your fic was about, for you to be able to market/promote your fic and get people to read your fic.

Cos frankly, with AO3, you generally had so much freedom on what to tag (esp on the Additional tags corner.) And it's not as limiting as what you can get on FFnet, like...

👆Do you have any idea how hard it was to try figuring out what genre to put on your fics on FFnet (and we only get 2 slots)? Especially when your fic doesn't exactly fall into any certain categories?

So what kind of things should you tag on your fics? Well, it can be about the GENRE of your fics, or any specific tropes that your fic has, or any warnings that you may need people to know.

I rarely put too many tags on my fics (aside from characters and (main) relationship), but whenever needed, I do include them with the fics. Like this,

While tags DO help with filtering, you don't really have to tag everything. Just put in the important things.

Also, while we're on the topic... character tags and relationship tags that have [mentioned] or [background] included were practically pointless. Since tag wranglers will still wrangle them all together under that ONE SAME MAIN TAG. Same with Relationship tags. There's no such thing as Seme/Uke @ Dominant/Submissive ruling in how the Character names are ordered. Most of the time, the order of the character names will be in alphabetical order. So, no matter how many times you wanna tag A/B or B/A to differentiate the two, the tag will still be reset as A/B.

------------------------

Also, some main random genre tags and what they meant. There will be many combinations that can help narrow down the filters; you can just type it in, and all the related tags will appear.

Angst - The plot involves a lot of pain and heartache, or just about anything about someone brooding about something dramatically

Whump - Plot that involves pain and suffering, but unlike angst, the pain and suffering was literal and physical.

Fluff - Anything cute and sweet and fluffy and teeth-rotting sugary stuff and nothing else but.

Hurt/Comfort - Whatever plot that involves a character(s) hurting and later having that 'hurt' comforted by someone.

Hurt/Hurt no Comfort - Basically the same as above, but there is NO comfort.

Comfort - Same as H/C, but we don't focus too much on the 'hurt' plot

Light-hearted - Not so serious plot. Likewise, serious plot will have the word Heavy on it. Like the Heavy Angst tag.

Crack - Random plot that may not make sense/not to be taken too seriously. Or just about anything crazy.

Dead Dove: Do not Eat - this tag applies to fics that should have some pretty literal content warnings. If you put this tag on your fic, please also include the relevant tags. Usually used for fics with Dark themes or explicit stuff.

You can look at the Tag Set to see the rest of the common tags people used.

Also, bonus on crossover fics:

Crossover - Any normal crossover that involves characters from two or more different fandoms interacting in a mutual setting.

Alternate Universe - Fusion - Crossovers that involve characters from one fandom being assimilated into the setting from another fandom. Example: Characters in Naruto, if they existed inside the Marvel Universe instead of their original universe.

[evil-by-noon]

It's me, Midnight. He/Him.

This blog contains themes of violence, mental illness, torture, abuse, and sexual assault among other things so be cautious if you struggle with any of these topics.

This blog contains explicit content, including posts which may be violent, sexual, or suggestive in nature or otherwise connected to sexual subcultures such as BDSM dynamics.

You are entering a Dead Dove: Do Not Eat zone.

All depictions on this blog are entirely fictional and should not be replicated outside of Safe, Sane and Consensual activities between adults. 💞

Main @gone-by-noon. More info on navigating this blog below the cut. (It's long.)

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Tag Guide

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#whump writing

These are actual scenes.

#whump idea

These are only the prompts, snippets or concepts that aren't fully written out.

#whumperflies

These are my favorites.

#hurt/comfort

I rarely write a caretaker or comfort in my whump, but all the ones I do have this tag.

#mine

These are all my original posts.

#answered

This is where all answered asks are.

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Color Guide

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Whump:

The title of each post will be color coded to whichever one most closely matches the contents.

Torture

In which the point is the Whumpee being intentionally hurt by a Whumper.

Captivity

In which the Whumpee is forced into a role in a relationship they cannot leave. Whump where they are captured, enslaved, imprisoned, conscripted, or in an abusive relationship may fall under this category.

Psychological

Focusing on fucking up Whumpee mentally. Mental illness sickfics and mindfuck will fall under this category.

Medical

Set in a hospital or perhaps experimental facility, this whump genre may involve things like needles or restraints. This could also be illness whump like sickfics.

Emotional

These are scenarios in which the main source of pain is emotional rather than physical or mental. AKA this is the one where the dog dies.

Recovery

This is for when the difficulty of recovery is whump in and of itself.

Caretaker:

Color coded to whatever trope matches best.

Overprotective

These Caretakers get angry and even vengeful on behalf of Whumpee. They often hate Whumper even more than Whumpee does and some may unintentionally move into Whumper territory themselves with how controlling they can be.

Rough

These do not treat the Whumpee like they are made of glass. They may be a little deadpan or even mean, but ultimately they are there for Whumpee. This is the tough love Caretaker.

Inexperienced

This Caretaker has never had to do a job like this before, and if they have it wasn't as severe or the same type of whump. They're trying their best, though, and that's usually enough.

Whumpee

Carewhumpees are right there in it with Whumpee, but they either have a different strategy, position, or personality that makes it so they are the one soothing their fellow Whumpee.

Detached

This Caretaker doesn't have personal stake in Whumpee's suffering, but they take care of them regardless. Perhaps it's their job or perhaps taking in Whumpees is a lifestyle for them. Their somewhat cold demeanor can be a relief to a Whumpee who needs space or has become fearful of others seeking intimacy from them.

Gentle

These are the most classic Caretakers who treat Whumpee with tender care. They give affection freely and comfort Whumpee with soft touch and a soothing voice.

Whumper:

Color coded to whichever one most closely matches the personality of the Whumper.

Sadistic

These characters enjoy inflicting pain for the sake of pain.

Controlling

This is a typical whumper who wants obedience from their victim.

Care

Carewhumpers take the role of a caretaker as well, often because they feel they are sincerely doing the right thing.

Reluctant

These characters don't want to hurt the Whumpee, but unfortunately they must for some reason or another.

Indifferent

A Whumper who doesn't seem to have any personal feelings about the whump. They may do it out of necessity if it's their job, for example.

Intimate

These characters more often have especially personal feelings about the Whumpee! They whump in ways that force closeness or perhaps they interact with the Whumpee in ways only a loved one normally would, possibly confusing or making the Whumpee uncomfortable.

Whumpee

Whichever trope is closest to the main person getting whumped.

Defiant

This Whumpee is often found in torture whump. They don't give in to Whumper despite the cost. For them, the only thing worse than the pain would be submission.

Conditioned

When a Whumpee has been through the same things over and over again, their reactions become natural. Certain things are ingrained deep within them whether they like it or not, they can't help it.

Innocent

They have never experienced The Horrors and don't quite understand what is happening to them or why. They are lost and confused but have strength in their persistent kindness or hope.

Obedient

These Whumpees believe it is better to obey, to try to appease their Whumper if it'll lessen their punishments. With a Carewhumper, they lean into the caregiving even if they know they're being manipulated because the comfort is worth it.

Stoic

These Whumpees put up a strong front, hiding their reactions and stowing away their emotions. Until it becomes too much, that is.

Willing

These seek out the whumping for whatever reason. Perhaps they feel guilty like they deserve it, or are volunteering to take another's place. They can often be self-sacrificial or self-loathing. Although they are called willing, more often than not they'd rather be anywhere else.

[theladyofbloodshed]

I have finished that book. My thoughts are under the cut

This book was genetically engineered in a lab based in market research that highlighted the hottest trends in booktok. It is a Frankenstein-esque splicing of Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, Divergent, Eragon, and ACOTAR.

I don't understand why horny dragons make the riders horny.

Much of the world building had me scratching my head. I didn't understand why they were willing to lose so many 18-21 year olds every single year in their training when they're suffering many casualties in the war efforts. It makes no sense. At one point, when the party is held for the king, the infantry numbers outweigh the riders significantly - so why are they seemingly not defending outposts too?

I couldn't understand the differences between the school years. The second and third years all take part in the same trials as the first years together; they should surely be more experienced and have a breadth of knowledge to call upon but they don't. There is little difference between the years.

There were many names mentioned. In Harry Potter, this adds to the richness of the world building because they're not just names thrown in; we actually see them interacting with the MC and they have a backstory and personality - we also see them pop up many times. In FW, the names are pretty much interchangeable. It could be said by a third year or a second year or someone from this class or that one; there's no distinguishing these random characters who make one or two appearances.

Violet falls into the Mary Sue category as deeply as the plot relies on tried-and-tested tropes. From the first page, I could have predicted she would have a special dragon, and special powers, that the bad boy is not really a bad boy.

There was so much telling and not showing. Xaden is so ruthless. Xaden cares for nobody. Then his behaviour is him not punishing Violet for sneaking out, giving her advice, teaching her.

Whilst the cringey modern language put me off (toxic man, how hot everybody is, for the win etc) and Tairn devolves from a grumpy ancient being to a millennial, what I will say is that it was easy to read despite its predictability. I actually preferred the writing to this than in When The Moon Hatched and Once Upon a Broken Heart.

If I was 15/16 I'd have probably been crazy about this book - I was a Twihard.

I liked Liam a lot :(

[heyclickadee]

Fandom salt under the cut. Not really fandom salt. Maybe fandom paprika or fandom ground cloves:

I sometimes feel like the idea that death has no meaning in Star Wars has more to do with backlash to Zombie Palpatine in TRoS and fandom endlessly repeating the idea that no one dies than death actually being uncommon in Star Wars.

Because, yes, there have been some badly handled fake-out deaths and untimely resurrections in Star Wars. But there have been some very well handled fake-out deaths and resurrections, too, and the majority of characters who die do actually stay dead. The ones who don’t tend to fall into one of two categories: either they were originally supposed to die, but then later on someone realized that was a mistake because they just showed up and there’s more story to tell with them, no point wasting a sick ass character design (eg. Maul, Boba, potentially Fennec Shand); or we never actually saw them die on screen to begin with (eg. Ahsoka two times over).

(And then there’s the Palpatine thing which is its own category of one; I enjoy Zombie Palps, to tell you the truth, but that doesn’t mean I think it was a good choice.)

Does that mean they were all well done? Oh, goodness no. But it’s really something that has to be considered on a case-by-case basis. Do I think it was the right choice to bring Echo back? Absolutely. Would I argue the same thing for Fives if he were to come back? No, I probably wouldn’t.

And yes, main characters die a lot less often than side characters, true, but that’s because they’re main characters. They’re the vehicles through which the story is being told so, yes, they’re going to have a bit more plot armor than background characters. Unless it’s Game of Thrones, or something like it where you spend hundreds of pages getting to know a character only to have them die horribly to make a point about the world they live in, when you kill a main character, you really have to kill them. Not everything is or should be Game of Thrones. Otherwise a big chunk of the audience will always be wondering when that character is coming back.

Fake-out deaths can be misused and poorly done. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad trope by itself. A well executed fake-out can be a powerful tool. Theres a lot a writer or a team can do with it. And it doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences; it just means the consequences are different.

[williamrikers]

The Undeniable Queerness of Enchanté the Series

(thank you @ranchthoughts for letting me ramble about this in your inbox before turning my thoughts into a post)

there are bls and then there are bls. right? there are dead fish kisses and there are characters who kiss each other like their lives depend on it.

and enchanté firmly belongs in the second category. 1,500-word essay under the cut.

there is such a consistent and tangible queer undercurrent to everything that's happening on this show and i'm not just talking about the fact that several scenes look like they could be the opening scene of a gay porno. or the surprise bondage. or force in drag. or proposing marriage in front of the eiffel tower. no, there's this aching, desperate desire underlying everything. theo has--in addition to his main love interest--four very hot gay suitors who all very obviously desire him carnally... this is some sort of gay manic pixie dream boy wish fulfilment fantasy and i am absolutely eating it up.

there is a vibe to the show that @ranchthoughts called "fanfic-like", and i would argue that that's because enchanté is actually fanfiction of the little prince. (i'm planning on making a separate post soon about how the book was referenced on and used as inspiration for the show.)

enchanté is fully aware of its own fictionality. it is on-the-nose fictional. but that's what makes it so much fun--it's not trying to be something it isn't.

take the reading memories segments in episode 4 [3/4] for example: these scenes were incredibly cringe, like, full-on bad-green-screen terrible-costumes-and-wigs hilarious-acting cringe, but fully aware of their own cringe-ness. (also, gawin was both in drag and naked in the same scene as two different characters, like. get on enchanté's level.) (incidentally, can anyone tell me what character aou/phupha was supposed to be? i got detective conan, monkey d. luffy and momotarō for the others, but i'm stumped on phupha's character.)

and that self-awareness makes it camp! there is such a level of camp to the whole show which feels extremely intentional (especially in the first two thirds), almost like a meta-commentary: "this is the genre. we know it's stupid but we love it here", and i adore that. they know the tropes, they know the bl landscape, and they're just having fun with all of it.

and the whole set-up in itself is a queer allegory, isn't it? theo and akk are "from different worlds", so to speak, hindered in their love not just by their complete inability to communicate but also by their forced separation as children. when they meet again, theo doesn't really belong anywhere, he's an outsider both in france and in thailand, he is unable to act the way thai society expects him to act (e.g. failing to show the proper respect to the seniors), unable to get his parents to understand him while being actively lied to by them (the whole ocean of miscommunication in that family deserves its own post), harboring feelings for his childhood friend his whole life but unable to voice them in a normal sort of way, instead falling back on concocting the most convoluted, immediately backfiring plan to try to make akk jealous and get him to confess his feelings first.

theo is fundamentally isolated because he grew up between two cultures, and neither one quite fits him: when he's in france, he is comforted by thai food and the only people he's close with (his grandmother and sun) are from thailand like himself; but when he's in thailand, he can't quite get used to the social conventions and makes social blunders, he is very slow at writing in thai.

it's such a poignant queer allegory in my opinion. they didn't end up making as much a point of it on the show as they could have, but it very much informed my whole reading of the show and the characters. there is a sort of inability to articulate his experience surrounding theo that makes him even more isolated and screams "baby gay in need of a community" to me. having akk share his experience at the end is something that i'm not a big fan of for other, unrelated reasons (might make a separate post about enchanté's ending and why it fell flat for me), but when looking at it through this lens, it is the only way for akk to really get theo, to really understand his struggle on a fundamental level.

which brings me back to that desire i mentioned earlier: theo desires akk, very much so, there are a whole handful of scenes where akk gets close to him and theo closes his eyes, expecting to finally be kissed by him, but more than that, he desires understanding. he often brushes off his own difficulties and has a tendency to be emotionally clueless (for example about his parents' divorce), but what i see most in his character is the desire to be understood, to be seen by akk, for akk to see him for who he is and to love him for who he is. (akk, of course, has been doing both of those things all along. he's constantly taking pictures of theo, he's watching him through his window--with theo's full knowledge--he is always looking at him, he's always loving him.)

it's not inherently queer to want to be loved as we truly are, i believe heterosexual people experience this, too, but in the context of queerness itself, being perceived as queer by other queer people is indeed a fundamental aspect to experiencing queer love (maybe not in gay for you bls, but i haven't heard of much gay for you happening in real life). not to be unscientific about this, but the vibes of the perception aspect of enchanté are just very queer to me, you know?

oh, and speaking of desire: enchanté in general is very physical. there is a level of intimacy between the actors and the camera that seems incredibly intentional: there are several shower scenes, scenes of theo and akk shirtless, TWO (2) nude gawin scenes (though one of those is sadly a fake-out and he is actually wearing shorts), many, many scenes that include bare feet, which is not something i see super often in bl, at least not to the point that i notice the frequency of it.

enchanté is very rooted in the physical reality of desirable bodies: theo is allowed to openly, physically flirt with saifa, even though that's not even his endgame love interest, phupha uses physical touch in his pursuit of theo, natee shows his obsession with theo by drawing his face/body about a hundred times, and akk and theo are wholly unable to keep their hands off each other. i've joked about the intricate rituals, but seriously, they are constructing so many intricate rituals. there are two separate scenes in which they make up excuses to kiss each other's elbows/arms/backs. they keep touching each other in a thousand ways, in every possible way they can that is still plausibly deniable as physical desire--until they kiss while watching that movie and then it's just a game of chicken of who will confess first. because their physical attraction to each other is undeniable. it's obvious. this was really refreshing to see in a genre that so often plays with the blushing maiden trope, and one character is so often made to pursue the other: on enchanté, akk and theo are equally horny for each other. it's not their lack of physical attraction that keeps them apart for so long.

(sadly, the show then shies away from actually getting very sexually physical: after their desperate, stunning, amazing balcony-kiss, they aren't allowed to be horny for each other in the last two episodes, when they're actually in a relationship. this is just one of the many aspects that i didn't like about the conclusion of the story, because you simply cannot tell me that these two as we got to know them in episodes 1 to 8 would really be as chaste with each other as they're shown in episodes 9 and 10.)

leaving that aside for the moment, let's talk about that kiss. as mentioned right at the beginning, when these two kiss each other on the balcony, it's desperation in its rawest form. these two--and especially theo--crave each other. theo kisses akk like he will die without him. theo kisses akk like he can finally breathe. theo kisses akk like he never wants to do anything else ever again.

i'm a bit obsessed with book's acting here, because of all the kissing scenes i've seen him in, i think this is THE most desperate one. force plays it a bit more subtle, but book's expression is full-on anguish. theo waited his whole life to be kissed by akk, and book portrays that so beautifully, with such depth. it's one of my favorite bl kisses for sure, it's played with so much heart, so much feeling, that it's hard to even think of kisses that compare, apart from the bad buddy episode 5 rooftop kiss.

anyway, all of this to say that enchanté to me is deeply, lovingly queer, and it's a shame that so many people are sleeping on it. (and that includes myself, i was wary about watching this show for a long time because i'd heard so many negative things about it.)

but i'm here to tell you: watch enchanté. it's wonderful, it's hilariously funny, it's endearing, it has book and force in it, and it is extremely queer.

[patiann345]

I'm gonna be honest; I don't think it's fair to blame a single game (BATIM in this case) for the state of Modern Mascot Horror...

That's giving Bendy WAY too much credit hj/

But seriously though; to say that BATIM is at fault for the state of mascot horror and that it started/popularized all the overused trends is just. really really unfair to it. And that's coming from someone who is extremely critical of the series, I WISH I could blame Bendy for everything but alas, I am unable 😔

I think my biggest issue with blaming Bendy, or really any big horror like Fnaf or Poppy, is that.. so many of those trends aren't unique to those games? Bendy takes SO MUCH from games like Bioshock, but we're not blaming Bioshock for mascot horror trends, are we? And yeah, you can say "Well Bioshock isn't indie and it's not mascot horror" but,, where do you think people are drawing inspiration? Yeah, a lotta games may be inspired by Bendy, but a lot of others, INCLUDING Bendy, are inspired by the classics before it.

To talk about some arguments I've seen; saying Bendy popularized "exploring an abandoned facility" feels almost silly considering how many popular horror games and media have done that before. It's been a horror staple for forever, so of course a lot of mascot and/or indie games would follow suit. There's the first Resident Evil, I think Silent Hill COULD count, RPG maker games such as Ao Oni.. And as for film; technically The Blair Witch falls into this category. And the same goes for "cute mascot turned scary" like.. I'm sorry but plenty of games alone were doing that before Bendy. Ever played Tattletail? You could argue FNAF has done this too. Spooky's jumpscare mansion perhaps? And if you wanna look past just games; Gremlins. And yes, I'm counting Gremlins as horror. If you don't, then consider Chucky or Annabelle (though maybe Annabelle is to a lesser extent since she's.. pretty freaky looking before the possession stuff in the film) I'm not. even going to address "free roam gameplay" because. I mean, do I have to? I should not have to go over a list of free roam horror games to tell you why that's 1. not even a trend? and 2. not.. Bendy specific.

All this also isn't considering a lot of other media you could take inspiration from; Creepypastas and ARGs and Books and so on and so forth. A lot of those have contributed to Mascot Horror, ESPECIALLY creepypasta.. Most of the popular ones do fall under the "cute-to-scary" trope such as Cupcakes, Sonic.EXE, the Tails Doll curse, and a lot of lost episodes and haunted gaming creepypastas. You can't tell me some of the big games now aren't slightly inspired.

Also also, a lotta popular mascot horror recently has followed certain tropes and trends, yeah, but that doesn't mean they're necessarily good or bad. People hear "Cliche" and think negatively, but you CAN do a cliche really REALLY well, you can put a super strong spin on it if you try and make it feel new and fresh, even if it's been done over and over before by other pieces of media. Yes, BATIM has "cute-to-scary" mascots, it has abandoned location exploration, and it released in chapters, and so on and so forth. But we're not considering HOW it uses these tropes and if they're done well. We're just saying "Well, it has them so.. blame Bendy ig" and that's, again, not fair! It's not fair to BATIM and it's not fair to other horror media, some of which has served as big inspirations and the sort of "building blocks" for modern horror.

To make something clear, and I know this may upset some people to hear; BATIM is not unique as a piece of horror media. The only thing that sets it apart is the artstyle, and even then, with the release of BATDR, we've been inching away from that rubberhose-1930s style for a more generic look and feel. Bendy is not special, and it's not special as a mascot horror, even by the standards of 2017 when it came out. There were other games doing what it was doing, and there will continue to be games that do what it did.

It is not fair to blame Bendy, and it's not fair to blame any one single game or piece of media. Tropes and trends and cliches come and they go, and whether or not you like the current state of mascot horror, if you agree or disagree that it's a problem (I personally don't think it is and don't. really care tbh?) You cannot blame a single piece of media for the problems you have with a genre.

(Sorry this is so ramble-y!! And if it's not super well structured, I just really wanted to get my thoughts out there akjagsdhljgadslh,, also, I'd love to hear other people's thoughts, if you agree or disagree or are unsure. Think it'd be cool to start a discussion ^^)

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Let's say you have complete creative control.

How would you write a Marinette (non-Akuma/Amok) corruption arc?

If I had complete creative control, I wouldn't do a corruption arc for Marinette, I'd do one for Gabriel. But I'm assuming you want me to pretend I would do one for Marinette, so I will because why not? How I'd do it would depend heavily on when the writing team gave up and shoved the story into my hands. For the purposes of this hypothetical, I'm going to have to lean into the bad writing, so read on at your own risk.

Current state: as of the end of season five, Marinette seemingly knows that Adrien is a sentimonster. Marinette also has anxiety issues and there's a new butterfly villain on the loose whose knowledge regarding Adrien and connection to Gabriel are unknown. We also have Felix's previous less-than-heroic actions and Nathalie's status as Gabriel's former right hand lady. With all these less-than-awesome people out there, fully aware of Adrien's vulnerability, we have a pretty fantastic setup for an arc where Marinette gets ever more paranoid and controlling in the name of keeping Adrien safe from this new villain. Basically have her spiral into Gabriel 2.0 where her love for Adrien is used to justify terrible things. Not a setup I'd want to watch, but it does fit the show's treatment of The Power of Love so, you know, do with that what you will.

Season three up to near the end of season five: Something to do with Lila making Marinette lose all faith in her friends because, if you're going to write them as terrible friends, you may as well own it. Have Marinette feel like she's sacrificing everything for people who treat her like a villain or a child in spite of all she does, so she decides why bother to be the good guy? Why make all these sacrifices when it never works out for her? I'd probably have her stop showing up to fights like Chat Noir did in Kuro Neko, only if Ladybug did that it would be a much bigger deal. You could even have her full out quit and give Chat Noir her miraculous and the miracle box as a bit of a "fine, you do it and see if you can do it better" thing. Basically anything that lets her go fully selfish due to pressure and poor treatment since it's really not fair that Adrien's the only one who's allowed to miss battles and give up his miraculous when he doesn't feel appreciated.

A variation on this could be quitting because of something like her friends are putting too much pressure on her re:Adrien combined with the show's love of never letting her make the right call when it really matters, so she snaps from all this pressure on every side.

Pre season three: I don't think there's really a great lead up to a corruption in the earlier seasons. Things were pretty great back then. Idk, maybe have her snap from frustration with Chat Noir never taking things seriously, so she starts mimicking him, leading to people getting hurt? (Reminder, I think this is a writing issue when it comes to Chat Noir, but it's there and I said we were going to lean into canon's bad writing for this so here we are.)

And there you go! My takes on evil!Marinette. As I said at the start, I'm not interested in writing any of these. While I do think canon has the setup for them, they rely too heavily on things canon should never have done. Things that don't fit my image of Marinette's core character.

I'm also not big on corruption arcs for heroes. For me, they fall under the same category as the broken partnership/team trope: interesting concept, but one that's rarely executed in a satisfying way. They also tend to be too depressing and/or tragic for my tastes.

My two major hobbies are writing/reading fiction and studying world history/cultures. World history isn't all doom and gloom, but there's a lot of harsh, tragic, and sad things to be found in the past. As such, I've never really enjoyed fictional stories with a hopeless feeling to them. I turn to fictional worlds to escape reality. To go to places full of satisfying endings that are, at worst, bittersweet. If I'm reading a tragedy, I want something that's all or mostly historical fact. Not a matter of judgment, just one of personal preference.

[thenexusofsouls]

Meta: Freya's Psychology - How it Differs From Ravenna's, and Where She Falls on the Morality Spectrum

{i am the caretaker of souls} Just some random philosophical notes on Freya... She is different from Ravenna. Like, and duh, of course she is, there are layers and levels of villains, not all are the same, they're not a monolith, etc. and so forth, but... where is that line past which you say they aren't able to be rehabilitated? Where's the line between truly evil and only partly so? Between evil and affected by trauma? Evil and affected by trauma? How much evil is an acceptable level of "understandable" based on someone's trauma? Some? All? None?

I'm watching Winter's War right now because it happens to be on and I'm just... always fascinated by the interactions between Freya and Ravenna. First of all... seriously, they are both QUEENS and by "they" I mean the actresses, heh. They have amazing versatility with emotion and facial expression and it's like candy for a writer like me to watch them play in a scene together because it feeds my soul, heh, but that aside. When I watch Freya and Ravenna together, the differences between them are so apparent. SO apparent.

I've always wanted to do a deep dive into Freya's character and even compared to Ravenna's, and really get into the question of... is Freya really a sympathetic character, or can she be, or should she be... or am I just sympathetic towards her because I happen to like the character? This is not going to be that because, quite honestly, sometimes I can't tell. Or maybe it is. We'll see how well I'm able to probe her mind right now, haha. I'm in a mood, lol.

My own personal alignment is Lawful Good with Neutral Good tendencies, meaning that I will always be and champion good, and I will usually follow rules and laws but not simply for what they are. If good can and should be furthered by breaking a rule of law, I will consider it. Like for me, good comes first, law second. Lawful Good is the alignment of paladins and the classic White Knight trope in writing, although I of course would never place myself in that category which I often idealize in its purest form when I see it in fictional media. I'd say I'm the realistic life version of what that alignment could idealistically or optimally be under some fantasy conditions, heh, which isn't so pristine or heroic by any means. I'm mostly just a wet blanket to most people, I've noticed, haha. Having said that, I guess that's why I love and tend to gravitate towards writing paladin types.

So... here's a little window into my writing for you, heh... if I'm writing someone who is morally ambiguous, and especially if they are a full-on villain, it's hard for me. Very hard. I don't understand those mindsets very often and so it's difficult for me to get inside the heads of villains or morally gray characters. But... I try, because I do love the psychology of morality and to analyze the reasons behind characters' motivations, the lies they tell not only others but themselves as well, and the ways in which they justify what they do. The way my mind works, though, is very black and white, very specific... which doesn't help me write characters who don't 100% or cleanly fit the definition of a hero or a villain. Understanding where those lines are, why points are sympathetic about a character and which are not justifiable, and how to write villains and anti-heroes accurately and true to their characters despite the limitations of my own brain is something I very much struggle with.

If I can find something sympathetic about a character, there's a chance I can write them, because that's what I use as my anchor. Writing 100% evil characters doesn't interest me at all. I need ones that are evil for very sympathetic reasons, or who do evil things but then also do good things or have good qualities. Those are my biggest challenges as a writer, because it's harder to find that balance in my writing them of what my brain wants to do and what is true to the character.

In watching Snow White and the Huntsman and The Huntsman: Winter's War, I always found myself kindof fascinated by Ravenna while really hating her, heh. Not even her tragic backstory could make me sympathize with her. I enjoy watching her from an entertainment point of view, but I don't feel badly for her, nor do I feel that her actions are justified by her traumatic childhood. But with Freya, for whatever reason, despite me being Lawful Good and that alignment usually not tolerating people who do really terrible things, I always feel so sad for her and so sympathetic towards her. I've never written a thread in which Freya essentially admits that her anti-love policies are crap, that she still loves and wants to be loved, and that she's just done all of this as one long stint of improperly processing the trauma of losing her daughter and being betrayed by a lover. And yet, she reveals almost all of that in the actual movie.

Going back to what I said about seeing the differences clearly between Freya and Ravenna in their scenes together, I notice so much more emotional faltering on the part of Freya than Ravenna. I think I only saw Ravenna cry once in Winter's War, and that was nothing more than her eyes tearing up as she said, "Do you think think I wanted a child? Do you not think I wanted love? But I was not meant for such things. I have a higher calling." I don't believe her when she "cries" during that line. It comes across as performative rather than genuine emotion. The character, I mean, not the actress. The supposedly spontaneous display of actual emotion feels just as stilted and contrived in the moment as does any other of Ravenna's "emotions." Freya, on the other hand... I believe her emotion is real. The way her eyes dart around, the hard swallows, the uncertainty in her expression. And later, when Ravenna starts killing her Huntsman, if Freya's panic for their safety isn't love, I don't know what is.

I refuse to make Ravenna a muse, even though she's been bugging me to do it for about two years now. The reason I won't is because 1) I don't think I would write her well, even though I have kindof dabbled with her as a guest muse as times, 2) I have nowhere to go with her, no development goals, no endgame of redemption, nothing to push her towards. I don't just write characters I like, I write ones that I want better future for, alternate futures for, or that I feel have a plethora of untapped potential for scenarios that were never explored in canon. Ravenna... is a cold-hearted conqueror, she always will be, and nothing and no one can ever change her. But if we look at what Ravenna's done, and what Freya's done, they're almost identical. They're both sorceresses who use their powers cruelly, they're both conquerors, and they both think the world has wronged them and owes them power in return. So what's different about Ravenna and Freya that makes it okay in my mind to write Freya but not Ravenna?

I think maybe it's that Ravenna is out for herself 100% of the time, but Freya isn't? Ravenna, at the end of every day, at the conclusion of every battle or conflict, and in every life or death situation, will always choose herself. Self-preservation and survival is paramount to her in any situation. In the first movie, she sacrificed her own brother to save herself, even though he was her greatest ally. In the second movie, she killed Freya to protect herself, or at least dealt the fatal wound that eventually killed her. No one and nothing will ever mean as much to Ravenna... as herself. That sort of selfishness, at least in my mind, is permanent and never changing. It's also uninteresting to me, because there's no room for development.

Freya isn't... always selfish. And I'm not even sure that I would call it selfishness. I'm really not sure, heh. Usually I don't write a muse unless I really understand them, or I've created them myself, because need to come from a place of deep knowing to write someone, that's just my deal and the limitations of my abilities as a writer. But Freya is that rare exception of me feeling like I really don't fully understand her. There's emotion there, there's love, there's need, there's loneliness, there's heartache and grief... but then she takes all of those things and does such terrible things with them. So is she redeemable or not? My first instinct is to say yes, but then I shy away from ever writing her reaching that point, even though it's probably what I want most for her. Why is that?

Maybe it's that I don't really understand why she does what she does? My best explanation for the many inconsistencies and contradictions in her philosophy on love is that she's lying to herself, processing trauma in an entirely toxic way, and refusing to believe comfortable lies instead of painful truths about her own life. She couldn't deal with losing her child or with the idea that someone she'd loved and trusted had betrayed her (I know it was really Ravenna, but Freya doesn't know that until the very end), so she searched for some greater meaning in it, some answer outside herself. Rather than believe either that 1) sometimes bad things happen to good people and there's no reason for it and it doesn't make any sense, or that 2) she'd been naive and taken advantage of because of that, she chose to believe that there was some grander evil afoot that resulted in her life being destroyed.

Freya's philosophy is entirely meant to make her personal traumas easier to bear. All love is evil and wrong. That's why it hurt her. All men are selfish pigs who just use women and throw them away. That's why her lover betrayed her. Love will always end in tragedy and pain. That's why it happened to her. By believing this, she removes any blame from herself, and places it instead on the universe. This is more comfortable to believe than the reality of... I was wronged randomly and without greater meaning, it just happened, and that's that. Instead, she can now believe that she was but one victim in the multitudes that love has claimed throughout time. Well now how was she to resist or to avoid it, when love is just that insidious and cruel?

Where her evil then comes in is two-fold. First, she knows better. Freya isn't insane, as much as people like to label her as such. She's of sound mind, knows what she's doing, and knows right from wrong. But even knowing that, she chooses to feed her own lies. She chooses to ignore what she knows is the truth in favor of feeding into her own narrative to make herself feel better. Second, she decides to commit atrocities way worse than what was done to her in order to accomplish this.

Freya is hurt by what her lover did and feels vulnerable and taken advantage of, so she conquers to prove she's strong and not a victim, to overwrite in her mind how powerless and fragile she felt all those years ago. She lost her child and now has nowhere to go with her need to be a mother, and she has a need to replace the child she lost. So she takes the children of others and deludes herself into thinking she's saving them, that they're actually better off with her, and that she's saving them from ever having to feel the pain that she felt. In reality, she's causing them all that pain and so much more. She needs to believe this narrative, though, otherwise her whole philosophy on life, herself, and what happened to her comes crashing down, and she'll be forced to face and process the trauma she's never been willing to confront before.

But... Freya does love her "children," she truly does. I think she started out kindof deluding herself with this philosophy of... well I'm taking you from your parents and saving you from love to make you stronger... but then later on, she had to keep up that narrative or she'd have to face that she'd actually wronged them... and the potential fact that none of them actually love her the way she loves them. It's so sad to me to think that she was alone with that love, that she cared so much for them but then at the same time tried to ignore it and pretend like each time one of them died it didn't hurt her, when I think it did. I think a lot of her coldness was an act, and I would challenge her writers to show me more scenes when she was alone in her sanctum, for example after she'd ordered Eric to be killed, either the first time or the second. I think she would have felt real emotion for him, and for all others that had fallen as a result of her orders. But it was clear to me in the way she looked at her Huntsman, the way she spoke to them, the way she feared for them in having to tell them of Ravenna's new orders or when Ravenna attacked them, that she did genuinely love them.

What's even sadder to me, is that I think she believed they loved her too, or at least wanted to believe that. When Eric tries to kill Freya towards the end of the movie, she looks totally shocked that he would attempt such a thing. She even asks, "Why?" so incredulously. What do you mean, why, heh? He tried to kill you before too! He has so many reasons to! But she actually was surprised. Like why would you want to kill me? I find that fascinating. She was either so deluded in thinking she really hadn't done anything wrong to him, or she refused to believe that Eric really didn't think of her as his queen or mother or whatever else as she wanted him to. That's... so sad.

Freya also, aside from the fact that she took them from their parents gave them no choice whatsoever except to become soldiers, treated her "children" pretty well. "I gave you everything," she even says. They weren't starving. They had good clothes and equipment. A lot of the girls' hair was intricately braided, which suggests some amount of downtime and self care of each other, that they would do that for each other. They had personal items, weapons, clothing... Sara even was permitted to keep her mother's talisman. So they weren't like... tortured or starved or even prevented from having their own personality quirks, like Sara's haughtiness, Eric's comical humor, Tull's insecurity, or Leifr's overblown, alpha male arrogance. Eric's moments with Pippa, too, were heartwarming. However, they were psychologically conditioned and physically pushed to their limits, so some might argue that in itself was torture. But I argue that there's a difference in mentality of a ruler, parent, leader, etc. who would expect much from their children/people/soldiers but treat them well in return, rather than someone who just runs them into the ground without care, treating them as expendable objects.

Tiny side note, that scene where Freya is dissociating a bit by her baby's ice-encrusted cradle, or an ice replica of it I'm not sure which tbh, and one of her "children" comes to bring her her owl mask and he's carrying a torch... She has an emotional outburst due to her traumatic relationship with fire and blows out the torch, freeze-burning his hand. He's clearly afraid of her, even as he hands her the mask. A truly heartless, evil queen who had no caring for her children/subjects would not care about his feelings. But Freya does. She bothers to soften her expression and whisper, "It's alright," to reassure him that she's not really mad at him, and that she forgives his transgression. I think that's very telling for her character.

Larger side note here... all three times she orders Eric to be killed, Freya turns away. The first time, she says, "Take him out of my sight," and turns away. She pauses to look back, but decides against it. The second time, she tells Sara, "Kill him," but then turns her back and goes to the mirror. The third time, Eric even asks her, "Why do you turn away, Freya?" as she's being forced by Ravenna to condemn him and Sara to execution. I think this is an important window to see through the coldness of her orders, which many take as her absolute personality. Well she toys with them, she orders them killed, so she's a cold bitch and there's no feeling there. No, I think she does it because she feels she has to in order to maintain power, but it bothers her, and she would have preferred not to do it. She doesn't want to see Eric die, and that's why she looks away all three times. And her words to him when she comes upon him and the dwarves in Sanctuary, "Eric. My Eric. Your queen has missed you," I believe she was being truthful. She did miss him. That's her Eric. Her "son." Her Huntsman. Her subject. Someone she loves.

Another telling line from the first time he tried to kill her, was, "You knew, didn't you? You knew she would betray you and you spared her still." The emotion in Freya's eyes was genuine at that point. There's a coldness, an emotionless mask that she wears that's almost as performative as Ravenna's, but for Freya, it's very consciously constructed. She has to focus to maintain it, whereas with Ravenna, it's natural and even enjoyable to her. When she says that line, a piece of that same incredulity that she has at the end when Eric tries again to kill her is there in her eyes. She really doesn't understand Eric's behavior and his willingness to be hurt for love. Oh, Freya knows love exists, and that it can be real, she's just too hurt and too afraid to admit it. But what she doesn't understand is why someone would allow themselves to be hurt by it, as in her mind, Eric was. In her mind, there's nothing worse than being screwed over by love, so Eric's willingness to sacrifice himself for it is something that is so outside of Freya's ability to understand at that point. She can't be shown it, she has to feel it herself and learn how to do it through experience.

Also, I'd like to point out, going back to her turning away each of three times she order's Eric's death, that... bitch can literally freeze anyone she wants almost instantly. She can throw ice spikes. She can make a big wall and crush someone with it, I mean... Let's face it, if she wanted Eric dead... really wanted him dead, he'd be dead. When she says that line I mentioned up there and he tries to stab her with his dagger, she grabs his arm. At that point, she could have killed him. Easily. She didn't. Some might argue it didn't serve her purposes at that point, but I disagree. He was a thorn in her side and getting rid of him would have been easier for her and it would have "protected" Sara from his "toxic" love. Some could argue that it was beneath her, that a queen doesn't do her own dirty work. Nah, she'd frozen the two dwarves not seconds ago. Granted, she didn't kill them, but they might have easily been killed, since all those people she freezes end up on a life-sized chess board, and when a piece is taken off the board during a play, the person is shattered, essentially killing them. This was seen in a deleted scene where she plays such a game against Ravenna, but I digress. My point is, it would've been so easy for her to kill Eric, and Freya doesn't shy away from using her magic on people. The only reason she didn't, in my mind, was that she didn't want him dead.

And of course, Freya's final line, as she lays dying and is looking at Sara and Eric yet again in love and working together so well, "How lucky you are." That line breaks my freaking heart. It reveals so much, not the least of which is that she, after everything she'd said and done, still admires and envies those in love. It means she views love in a positive light in some regard. She views love like theirs in a positive light, love that's real and stands the test of time. I think she longed for that herself, and in that moment she realizes that it does exist, just... not for everyone. Not for her. But it does for them. And so... how lucky they are to have it. To have each other. My girl breaks my heart in that moment and I think this one line may have been the linchpin in why I ultimately wanted to write her myself.

But after saying all of this, I feel like nothing more than a Freya apologist, and that doesn't sit well with me. I can't figure out whether that's just my own personal alignment butting heads with Freya's alignment, or whether I'm really seeing things that aren't there and making excuses for a character who doesn't deserve the understanding or second chances. If anyone has any thoughts on all of this, I'd love to hear them! Well, read them, heh.

Alright now let's now take a second to think about why Ravenna did what she did to Freya. Because we can, heh. Freya in her youth was no threat to Ravenna, because as I've established, Ravenna is always out for herself and wants to be on top. By making her a sorceress and awakening her magic through trauma, she actually made Freya capable of rivaling her. Why would she do that? Well, I don't think that was her intention, heh. She had other ones...

In their first scene together, Ravenna says to Freya, "I suppose you are my weakness." That right there, might have been enough reason for her to want to hurt Freya. Eliminating any and all weaknesses is important to Ravenna, because weakness could mean death if it's used against her. But I don't think that's the whole reason. The way Ravenna looks at her when she's looking longing and lovingly at her lover at court is... a look of resentment. Jealousy. Is it possible that Ravenna envied Freya's innocence, or was jealous that someone loved her? Could it be that she was jealous that Freya found real love when she's just seducing and killing kings who only want one thing from her? I would believe that if I also believed Ravenna really wanted to be loved herself, but I really don't think that matters to her.

Could it just be that Ravenna resented her sister being happier than she was? Jealous, maybe, that Freya was happy and didn't need magic in her life while Ravenna was a slave to hers? Or maybe it wasn't even that meaningful... maybe Ravenna just saw her happy and wanted to spoil it. But maybe she knew the magic only comes to protect the sorceress, and Freya needed something to be protected from. She might resent the fact that her life is ruled by her magic, having to always feed it with beauty and blood, such as she does. It wasn't really her choice to have it, it was given to her by her mother. Maybe she wants Freya to feel that same kind of magic-made prison? Maybe she resents her carefree freedom to live her life without the burden that magic brings? I really don't know, my understanding of Ravenna is even worse than that of Freya, haha.

Also I wonder... if maybe Ravenna can't have children for some reason? Because at the end of the second movie, that comment she makes of, "Do you not think I wanted a child?" Um, no, ma'am, I actually would never have thought for a second that you did? Given your personality? XD But is she saying there... that she did? Her eyes tear up, which is interesting. Maybe... that is the root of it. Because she didn't turn on Freya until she realized that she was carrying her lover's child. It would also explain why she didn't just go after the lover, but also killed the child as well. Revenge? Retaliation? A temper tantrum? Because she was jealous that Freya could have children and she could not? Meh... maybe not, heh, since the mirror told her the baby would grow to be even fairer than her, blah blah, so I suppose it's possible Ravenna only went after the baby for that reason. But there was no reason to drag the lover into it. She could have just killed the baby, or compelled a random guard to do it for her, she didn't have to make Freya's lover do it. That bit right there... suggests Ravenna's motivation was not only the baby's eventual fairness alone.

So... there's not much of a point to all of this besides me unloading my brain on the subject of... why do I feel so sympathetic towards Freya but not Ravenna, when they've both dealt with trauma... and also, how redeemable is Freya, really? Am I only seeing what I want to see in her, or is there really something to work with there? I don't know, and maybe that's what I like about her as a muse, that I don't have her all figured out yet. That's honestly never been my m.o. before, heh, I usually like to understand a character inside and out before I write them. *shrugs* I guess we'll see the more I write them, how things turn out for her!

No, Ravenna, you will never be a full muse here. Stop asking me! XD

Meanwhile Eric wants me to get rid of both of them, heh. Muses, amirite?

Phew. Okay. Well. That was a thing I just wrote, haha. I have no idea where this came from tonight, but I hope at least somebody enjoys reading it, heh. Now that I've gotten this out of my system, I'm going to get to some other things! =)