#ok really getting off the soapbox now

[blorbologist]

ok im going to get off my usual perc’ahlia soapbox to outstretch my hand to the vaxleth mains (hi babes we really in it now) and say holy shit

these new parallels between Vax and Keyleth

(or if not new so very strengthened)

LIKE. LISTEN.

She did not choose this path, she did not, she embarked on the same journey her mother did. For her family, for her tribe, out of love, out of duty. Like her mother before her. Made to pass through fire. 

One day a mantle will rest on her shoulders and though she can take it off it writes its weight into her skin. She sees it in the mirror even when it’s not there. She did not choose this power or this responsibility and she rises, she rises to the challenge.

He did not care what he chose, only that he chose for his sister to live. Whatever the fuck he chose, it wasn’t this, he had no idea what he signed up for but he will not balk, he will not falter, he can’t because his sister breathes. For his family, his family of one, out of love, out of duty. They have a deal. Do not go far from me. 

Today, he can’t take it off. It clings like a lover’s touch (such loneliness in her eyes), he can’t forget it even for a second, can’t rid himself of what the mantle he has taken up. This role is his now and he will not forget it

Voice of the Tempest, Champion of Ravens

Yall got some good fuckin food is all I’m sayin

[bitchslapblastoids]

dumb fic thoughts that are going to sound whiney and like personal complaints but i promise are really me talking big picture about the state of fic engagement on ao3. and i know i've been on this soapbox before and I KNOW everyone who follows me is a homie so i’m really just old man yells at skying about this again, but just let me say all the quiet parts out loud please. I do not wish to be aloof and demure.

1. hits to kudos ratios are so fucking bleak. and i don't mean wrt my own fics, i mean in general, the two numbers side by side is always so dismal to see. hits are kind of a meaningless metric, esp for chaptered fics and for fics that people return to to reread, so i wish ao3 just wouldn't publish them, because it sets up this weird pair of numbers for people to compare and jump to conclusions based upon, even though they aren't actually informative for anyone. Why do I want to know how many people clicked on something? That doesn’t tell me anything.

2. That being said (to make it about me now), I know I’m a good fic writer. and while obviously my fic isn’t going to be to everyone’s taste (puppet smut isn’t a crowdpleaser wym??), I feel pretty confident that out of the 250+ people who have clicked on my brand new fic so far, more than just 17 of them must’ve liked it. which brings me to…

3. people can get so cagey about leaving kudos on explicit fics. this is a time-tested truth. let's let go of this phenomenon! I promise no one's stalking where you've left kudos. if they are, they're a freak. and if they're judging you, they're especially a freak because HEY LOOK, they wouldn’t have seen it if they weren’t on that fic too lol! let's all try and shake off these fucking shackles of sexual shame and stigma.

4. similarly, the # of bookmarks that i can see on an explicit fic i've posted vs the # of bookmarks the public can see is so funny. This one makes more sense to me and I can understand why bookmark choices feel more private. But i will say again, people aren't judging your bookmarks. even if it's smut! no one cares what you get horny about and probably the only reason they'd be looking is bc they trust your judgment and they'd like to get horny about it too lol.

5. lack of feedback/interaction is such a scourge. We all gotta fucking engage with the writers we like! it means so much and it's such a great way to build a mutually supportive community. Also, people who have left comments on my fic and vice versa are the people i became most immediately PALS with on here. It’s a lovely thing to do and it’s not time intensive I promise! Authors don’t seek comments for validation but more because publishing fic is sharing this thing this offering that you became so obsessive and giddy about that you had to literally create it and once it’s out you just want to be giddy and obsessive with others about it.

6. Obvs no one should feel obligated to leave kudos or bookmark or comment on anything they don’t like. Be a discerning reader and engage with what brings you joy! There’s a ton of shlock out there. No one has to pretend to like it all. But societally I feel like we’ve become such selfish consumers - I see it in streaming our favorite music for .0000000000000000000000000000002 cents, in the erosion of concert etiquette, in the rabid sense of entitlement towards celebrities’ attention and time, in the uncredited circulation of other people’s art without a second thought, and in the way apparently only ~10% of readers leave kudos, which are a paltry way for an author to get a sense if someone liked something enough to take the most bare bones possible step of simply tapping a button (you don't even have to have an account! you can leave kudos as a guest!). that's a bummer. I don’t want fandom to be a selfish one-sided space where we’re just taking what we want instead of connecting or building together.

Ok, that’s all ✌️✌️✌️

[calciumdeficientt]

HELLO! it’s me milky you may remember me from my posts or maybe from my many many unspeakable crimes.

anyway in all seriousness i wanted to hop on and address some of the things ive been seeing since i took a step back from posting.

firstly i’ve been seeing some cliques emerging in the fandom. something i found a little bit strange because of bully’s source material and the strong ‘dangers of clique’ message. and i’m not trying to get on here and police who is friends with who but we’re a small collective as a fandom so i think it would be nice if we all uplifted each other’s opinions and work.

on that note id really love if we appreciated all the time and effort that goes not only into artwork but into written works as well. they’re art, and art takes time. this particular point is relatively self indulgent because, when my ask box was open i got very very sick. i was trying to keep up an almost impossible posting schedule, so i wasn’t eating, i wasn’t sleeping and i wasn’t happy. i enjoyed posting but the pressure i felt to keep putting stuff out was immense and it made me very unwell.

anyway i’ll get off the soapbox now but i really felt like i needed to raise these qualms and hopefully we as a fandom can work together to make some positive change ok love you bye <3

[warmhappycat]

Time for me to bang this drum again:

I’m pretty sure CALICO JACK IS STRAIGHT.

You wouldn’t say that a gay person having had straight sex in the past makes them less gay, right? You’re not out there saying that Stede is definitely, 100%, indisputably, canonically bisexual (as opposed to gay) for having had sex with Mary, right?

Ok. Fun fact: It works the other way too.

Jack literally said the words, “anything goes at sea.”

I guess you can headcanon whatever you want. Sure. But to be honest, I find it kind of sus when someone is like, “well if he had gay sex then he must be queer!” That’s just. Not how that works, and seems kinda… idk, I don’t want to sling accusations, but it always makes me go 🤨 Because, why? Why can you accept that the kinds of sex people engage in don’t map exactly onto their identity when the “aberrant” sex is m/f, but not when it’s same-sex? I’m not inclined to think that anyone in this fandom is consciously thinking thoughts like this, but it really smacks of “well gay sex is gross, so no one would ever do that out of convenience or whatever. The only people who’d be willing to do that, under any circumstances, are people who really, innately want it.”

Plus - to get off my soapbox and be a bit less dramatic and moralistic about it, thank you for bearing with me through that - I don’t understand why you want, narratively, for the guy who tries to break up Ed and Stede, insults Stede, says “anything goes at sea,” is mean to Ed, and then dies, to be queer.

There’s no story to be had there about a self-loathing queer person learning to accept himself. If he was a self-loathing queer person, then he was still self-loathing when he died. That just feels, mean for this show? It’s depressing. I’ve seen enough shows about gay people hating themselves for their sexuality and then dying without ever finding peace. I don’t want that in my happy pirate show.

If he was straight, however, it’s an interesting story. It would mean he was a homophobic guy who used Ed for sex and consenting to being used in return, purely out of convenience, and the implication is that Ed was getting to have the kind of sex he wanted, but for his safety, had to pretend it wasn’t what he really wanted. Isn’t that so much more interesting!? Ed has had gay sex, probably a lot of it, but he’s never been safe to admit that he wants to be having gay sex! He’s probably had to stifle the signs of his pleasure, because if his partner thought he was having too good of a time, that could be dangerous for him!

I know a lot of people don’t want to be confronted with the threat of homophobic violence in their happy pirate show. I myself just said that I don’t want to see the tragic self-loathing gay trope in my happy pirate show. But, here’s the thing, one of those things is the case with Jack. I just don’t see a third option. Either he was queer and he behaved the way he did anyway, or he was straight, and that carries the implications it carries.

Personally, I find the second option both more plausible and more hopeful. We know Ed has been through terrible, traumatic things. That’s already true; adding the implication that having gay sex with straight men carried risks of violence for him doesn’t whumpify a character who was doing great before. It does, however, add a layer of meaning to his relationship with Stede! He’s been through that, and maybe he thought that was the only kind of sexual relationship he’d ever get to have! Maybe that’s part of why he thinks he’s unloveable! He’s surely heard that there are people out there “mAKiNg LoVe,” but none of the people he’s ever wanted to have sex with have loved him. It wasn’t even a possibility, and what’s more, he couldn’t even be honest about his own attraction to them lest they hurt him. But now!! Now! He’s attracted to Stede!! And he wants to have sex with Stede!!! And he loves Stede!!!!!!!!! And Stede!!!!!!! Feels! The! Same! Way!!!!!! They’re gonna have gay sex on purpose!!!

I mean, doesn’t that just seem nicer?

[paddingtonfan69]

ok getting on a soapbox about fanfiction for a second, apologies!!!

~four years ago I got back into writing fanfic in a big way and it was a true joy! one of the reasons it was so great is bc of the ol ao3 comment section! ofc hearing all those nice things was swell for my ego, but beyond that, it was a tool for building community. literally next month I am going to a the wedding of a friend that I originally met the comment section of ao3, how cool is that!!!!

but in the last four years, the comment rate has dropped like hell and everyone knows it!! there are a myriad of reasons that ppl smarter than me have noted, like people treating ao3 like social media or a transaction or an algorithm or whatever. bad stuff!

i’d never really felt the comment drop off as much maybe bc I’ve mostly been in smaller (and more desperate lol) fandoms, but this weekend I dropped a little agatha along fic. (which you should all read hehe it’s fun!) but this, as we know, is a fandom that is very popular right now! and boy that’s a different experience. so let’s look at these stats:

okay brag that it got over 500 kudos in two days, wow slay! but, as you can see, there are also only 17 comments. only 3.4% of the people who liked it thought it was worth saying a nice little thing?? come on girlies we can do better than this!!!

obvi part of it is me wanting the little dopamine hit, but it’s more than that! this is coming from someone who’s fic is doing WELL, like imagine you’re newer to writing fic and you don’t get those wonderful notes of encouragement to keep going!! fandom can be such a welcoming place and ao3 comments are truly such an easy and kind way to open the door to that community! do better!!

i’m tagging the fandom hehe bc I looove to inspire some good old fashioned shame :)

anyway if you’ve read this, go comment on a bunch of fic bc it makes people’s days!! okay bye!!!

[house-of-mirrors]

Ok I was trying not to complain yet and I was expecting accessibility concerns to be fumbled in the city in silver update but sigh

The options being like... "do hard labor or you're a fake supporter of the union." Not great. Isn't the whole point of the city that no one has a job they aren't suited for? I and my character share the same disability and cannot physically do labor. And a city still needs desk jobs like bankers, engineers, lawyers, and teachers to run! White collar work is just as important, isn't inherently paid more or less abusive than blue collar work, and the schism between white collar and blue collar exists to keep us further divided—ok I'll get off the soapbox now

Also just Urgh the game continuing to assume the player is inherently selfish and motivated by their pocketbook. Maybe my character just want to hang out with friends and help

The most bothersome to me was the "home sweet home" card where you have to choose between "get a nice house and offend the revolutionaries" and "get a more modest house and save the better houses for people that might struggle more with the stairs" but hello it's me I struggle with the stairs :/

I guess I shouldn't be so stuck on it. It's just a game it's fine! It's not like there's a real world issue of "do I really deserve this accommodation" or "am I just whining for not wanting to do physical work" that I already struggle with :')

Anyway time to lay down because I have a compressed nerve in my spine. In my house that is both modest and does not have stairs

[azazelsazaleas]

Ok, this is really, really nit picky, but it’s been bothering me since I watched the last season of DS9, so here goes…

Y’know when Kira gets assigned to help out the Cardassian resistance and they put her in a Starfleet uniform (for obvious political reasons)? The uniform they gave her had three pips, indicating the rank of Commander.

She should’ve had four.

By that point in the show’s run, she had been promoted to Colonel - not Lieutenant Colonel, she was a full bird - which is the army equivalent in rank to a naval Captain, not a Commander. Her uniform should’ve reflected that. Kira should’ve had four pips on her collar, not three.

Ok, I’ll get off my nerdy soapbox now.

[ratcandy]

After Consideration, I probably won't be outright avoiding PT stuff as god dammit if my brain didn't latch on like a motherfucker, but I won't be posting anything here (or on the artblog) about it for those who may be Uncomfortable

Mostly just holding onto some optimism that something'll be done to fix the lingering issues. Should my hopes be unfounded, well. Piss, ig

Oh for fucks sake

[cupcakefoggy]

Ok, this drives me nuts.

I love Bridgerton. And I don't love all things Regency, so before you write me off as a romance-loving Austenite (which is ALSO a perfectly valid thing to be, thankyouverymuch) just hear me out on why this take is so damn annoying.

Ok. Cool. Now, you're entitled to your opinion that Bridgerton is too fluffy, too girly, and needs more "texture" (which, according to the article, should come in the form of labor, hardship, threatened financial ruin, the usual good stuff) but I want to impress upon you, firmly but politely, that if you're in the market for something gritty, you probably should turn off Bridgerton.

She compares Bridgerton to every prominent period show in this article, and consistently complains that it doesn't measure up. "Well it's not Downton Abbey!" No, no it isn't, and that's what we like about it. We aren't watching it to Learn Something. We're watching it because, for an hour or three at a time, it's really nice to forget that there's so much awful crap going on in the world, and just focus in on Penelope's up-and-down courtship with Colin or how damn cute Kate and Anthony are together.

But that isn't even the thing that bothers me the most about this article.

Why, in the year of our lord 2024, are we still perpetuating this "fluffy girly things are BRAIN CANDY" nonsense? Has Jane Austen truly taught us nothing? At the age of 12, back in the early aughts, my dad gave me a hard time for reading the Sweet Valley Twins books. He wanted me to read Pride and Prejudice, and aggressively shoved it under my nose until I finally agreed to take a look at it. I found it incomprehensible, looked it up online, and found to my immense pleasure that Jane Austen's literature was considered "popular" and "feminine" in its day -- not at all serious literature. I took my findings to my dad, who just about exploded and told me "that's not the point, it's a classic NOW, so shut up and read it."

Guys, I don't care if it was written in the 1600s or last week, pop culture is pop culture. It reflects its time. And more importantly, it shapes its time.

In the 1990s, Seinfeld aired the now-famous episode wherein the boys and Julia Louis-Dreyfus' character, Elaine, have a contest to see how long they can all go without masturbating. One of the men is out before the contest begins; of the remaining contestants, Elaine cracks first. This is now considered a bold statement, because in the 90s, women actually ENJOYING orgasms was taboo -- a concept they make sure to acknowledge within the episode itself, as the men insist women don't masturbate.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus later said of her time on Seinfeld, "We weren't trying to change the world, we were just trying to make something really funny. And that's really hard to do. And if you can do it, you CAN change the world a little bit."

Now, I don't watch Seinfeld. I hate it. I tried to watch a bit of it for Julia, bc I loved her so much in New Adventures of Old Christine, but I just couldn't get into it. but I saw the episode she's talking about, and it IS funny. Because they aren't up on a soapbox, they're just having fun, and she's a damn good comedic actress. So why am I bringing up Seinfeld in a conversation about Bridgerton? Because they're both fluff. No one is watching Seinfeld in an effort to solve the mysteries of the human condition or reflect on the nature of good and evil. It's just for fun. And so is Bridgerton.

And even if there was absolutely no value to Bridgerton besides being fun, it would still be "okay" to watch it. Because sometimes we just need fluff. But I don't think we really spend enough time thinking about just how much impact that "fluff" has on our culture.

I've seen people argue that Bridgerton DOES tackle occasional "serious" topics, and that's why it has value. I disagree. Bridgerton's value comes from the fact that it is FUN. It's easy to get into, it's easy to watch, no one is FORCING it on you, like my dad tried to do with P&P. And because it's fun, people -- YOUNG people -- are willingly watching it…

And they're seeing elderly women, women of color, and plus-size women being depicted as beautiful and desirable.

They're seeing a young, newly-married woman force herself on her husband and realizing that women also need to be taught about consent, and that a lack of sex education leads to damaged relationships.

They're seeing depictions of mental illness in the Queen Charlotte spinoff. They're seeing a man with a mental illness bare his soul to a woman he loves, and hearing her say, in no uncertain terms, that as damaged as he thinks he is, she loves him too. Unconditionally.

They're seeing queer representation in the Queen Charlotte spinoff, too. They're seeing racism and politics and medical abuse. They're seeing storylines that they'd never seek out on their own, and intentionally or not, they're learning from those stories.

Maybe it's optimistic to a fault, but I just can't stop wondering, how many young girls talked to each other about Daphne and Simon? How many plus-size women saw Penelope and Colin's sex scene and felt beautiful, felt seen, for the first time? How many people with mental illness saw Charlotte love King George and realized that they too are worthy of love? How many people heard Violet shyly tell Agatha that she misses having sex with her husband, and felt validated that, no, you don't turn 40 and stop being horny?

I sobbed my eyes out watching S3 the other night, because they captured the feeling of being unpopular and overweight so damn well. I saw my high school years reflected in Penelope's story and it broke my heart and gave me hope all at the same time. I love that they dress Violet and Agatha and Charlotte as richly as they do the younger, "hotter" leads. I love that Anthony Bridgerton goes down on Kate every fucking chance he gets. I love Bridgerton's message, however unintentional, that you don't have to be the classic Pretty Skinny Caucasian Starlet - you can be fat, old, BIPOC, disabled, outcast, anything, and still deserve and GET your happily-ever-after.

Shondaland is not trying to change the world. They're just trying to be fluffy and horny. And if they can do it, they can change the world just a little bit.

[relaxxattack]

Ok pitch pairings… I think solkat and dirkuu are pretty good pitch pairings hehe. Could be fun to draw. Or like. Vrisrose (im not very good at thinking of pitch ships rip) (there’s gotta be some im forgetting)

i fucking LOVEEE dirkuu. its just so unhinged like its incredible. so fun. and solkat is literally the GOAT of pitch pairings as ive said before

but as for vrisrose. okay i know people are gonna call me crazy for this. hashing Unpopular Opinion incoming. but i don’t really ship vris♠️rose like that.

i have more refined tastes. called, whatever the fuck you would call THIS absolute disaster

i just think it would healthier for them and also i made posts about how it’s textually supported /silly

okay getting off my soapbox now. gnighttt

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

THE ASK ABT JOBS SUGURU WOULD HAVE ,,,,,, i love thinking abt it thats my favorite subject EVA !!!! [thats a lie suguru as a whole is my favorite subject teehee :3]

ur SOOO right abt him being in law 2 help ppl ,,,,,, SO right w the idea of him walking around w a briefcase + slicked back ponytail + coffee GOHDDDD ok . okay . jobs I THINK suguru would have LETS GO !!

CERAMICIST - hed make these insane pots + sculptures n have showcases that r BOOKED like ,,, hes just so ,,,, pottery person 2 me,,,, n i feel like hed have a focus on using old pottery methods n keeping them alive in the modern day ,, like hes got some crazy intricate jomon pots, porcelain bowls + other kitchenware, n probs some bizen pots that he made dotted around his garden ,,,,, WAUGHHH I LOEV ART HISTORY

TATTOO ARTIST - ok . popular hc BUT STILL . hes worked his way up from being an apprentice in a huge shop -> owning his own lil studio pretty fast n hes GOOD . like hes got a rlly nice set of flashes that r colorful n playful but on himself hes probably got these super serious grayscale marbles and mythology plastered all over him [except for a family portrait mimiko + nanako made when they were like . 6 that he thought was so cute he got it tattooed on him] also i dont think hed b SUUPER in2 tattooing ppls names on other ppl or on himself, but maybe once u two have been dating for a LONGG while or r even almost a solid decade into marriage hed consider getting your name tatted somewhere hidden-but-not-really-hidden [womb tattoo, around the back of his ear, inner thigh]

MARINE BIOLOGIST - oHH MY GOHD OH MY GOHD OHHHHH MY GOHD i get super excited abt this cuz i wanna b a marine biologist SO BADDDDDD . its coming . TRUST !!!! anyway, he probably does some type of conservation bcuz . cmon . look at him . so he dives pretty often, like a weekly typa thing, BUT IMAGINE HIM IN THE SCUBA OUTFIT . he comes out sopping wet n hes probably rlly hot 4 a solid minute b4 the Stench hits u since ur both in an enclosed space and he smells like the underside of a dock.

CLASSICAL MUSICIAN - u know how i was talking abt how suguru would b a cellist ? yeah hed b a DAMN GOOD cellist like that man is principal cellist and hes so nice abt it 2 ,,, like he doesn't flaunt it and whenever someone in his section needs help w bowings or smthn else he gladly helps them !! he probably solos a ton on the tuba 2 ,,, like hes just SO GOOD at everything he picks up its insane

CONDUCTOR - same vein as the classical musician thing, he would b such a fine ass conductor ,,,,, like his facial expressions when the music gets intense and then it softens and hes swaying with the orchestra, hands gliding through the air ,,, also hed just b rlly good at keeping ppl in time and figuring out what each section was doing wrong.

oki thats my 2 cents on the whole thing ill get off my soapbox now dhhdhd :3

ASHLEY i’m finally getting to this…… these are all so bigbrained it’s crazy . AND I’M SO GLAD YOU SEE THE LAWYER!SUGU VISION <3333 he means the world 2 me….. silly little guy……

BUT WAHHH. CERAMIST SUGU THE LOML????? there’s this one stsg fic i rlly like where he’s a ceramics instructor and it …. changed me. as a person. AND I AGREE COMPLETELY the part abt him wanting to keep old art alive….. showcases constantly booked bc he’s just so skilled….. 😵‍💫 yeah. sugu as any kind of artist makes me insane. and him being good at pottery is just so…. weirdly attractive to me???? LIKE . him just having the most steady gentle hands…… teaching you how to mold the clay properly……… your back against his chest as he guides your hands . i need him so bad

AND . TATTOO ARTIST. yes it’s popular but it’s popular for a REASON (reason being: he is hot). HIM OWNING HIS OWN STUDIO and being so skilled….. the mythological tattoos + family portrait 🥺🥺 wahhh . he’s so sweet ashley…. i need him so bad…….. AND THE NAME THING …… i agree btw i feel like he would see tattoos as very . very very special. so getting your name inked into his skin so permanently might feel just as serious as a proposal to him 😭😭 i could see him doing it eventually tho ….. i agree w all the placements bUT. a part of me feels like . he’d get it tattooed somewhere on his chest … close to his heart….. :’3 sniffle. i could also see him getting a tiny heart you doodled onto his palm tattooed w/o you knowing and you’re just like ???? SUGURU??????? and he’s just. “i thought it was cute :)”…… sick sick man (affectionate) 😔😔

AND MARINE BIOLOGIST!SUGU ??? YOUR BRAINNNNN i remember you mentioning that in the sashisu college au too :33 him scuba diving!!!!! being constantly drenched and smelling of seasalt….. i’m of the firm belief that he was obsessed w marine biology as a kid so it just makes sense. I TRUST YOU BTWWW you’ll become a marine biologist for sure 🫡🫡🫡 pls let me pet the sharks once it happens . i would like to see them.

and finally ….. classical musician and conductor. CONDUCTOR!SUGU HAS ME IN A CHOKEHOLD BTW?? he would look so graceful and commanding and and and 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 just . him. swaying w the orchestra!!!!! he’s like a beautiful swan….. and ofc i love the idea of him being a musician too :3 it just makes sense. AND . HIM BEING A CELLIST. WHAT IF I CRYYYY he’d look so good playing it……

ashley your brain is actually so insanely big did you know that …… tysm for the food as always 🙏🙏 i am nomming him 2 death

[englishstrawbie]

I saw your tag and i'm happy too!!! People are whinning a lot and it seems like they dont know that pregnancies on tv (SPECIALLY shondaland) aren't like fanfic. We get 2 or 3 scenes and a time jump.

Life changes and they're just adopting a baby, not removing Carina's uterus 🫠🫠🫠🫠

I'm also noticing some weird takes about adoption and people forgetting this is an essembled show and we have limited marina screen time so I rather see them with a baby thant a 2 secs scene of Maya kissing a bump lol

Well, we don’t actually know that they’re adopting a baby - it’s all speculation based on one synopsis. 😂 But there’s certainly a strong feeling that they might go there.

And look… even as someone who isn’t massively interested in the baby storyline, I understand the frustration because it’s been 2 years of this storyline already (and season 5 really was a waste of time) and fans are invested in getting a happy ending- but also, what else are the writers supposed to do in 10 episodes? IVF isn’t a click of fingers and snap here’s a baby - at least not if they’re going to tell it properly.

Sure, in an ideal world we’d get to see it all - the IVF process, the pregnancy, the birth, and motherhood. But the reality is that the show has been cancelled and it’s looking likely that we only have these 10 episodes left to wrap up the storyline. The end of season 6 and the orphaned baby gives the writers the chance to give fans what they’ve been asking for - to see Maya and Carina as moms. I think that’s something to be happy about.

Yes, Carina has talked about how much she wants to give birth and I hope this is addressed, but adopting a baby doesn’t stop that from happening for her. Adoption also isn’t something to be demonised just because it doesn’t fit within fans’ preferred narrative. After all they’ve been through, maybe Maya and Carina see this as a chance to build their family and give this baby a happy life instead of one growing up in the social care system? (From what I’ve seen and heard from people who have actually been through the IVF process, changing your mind about how you grow your family isn’t uncommon.)

Ok, I’m getting off my soapbox now! 🙃 I’m staying in my bubble of being excited for the new season and interested in what sort of happy ending Maya and Carina are going to get. And, even though we might not get to see them on our screens any more, they’re going to live on in fanfic and headcanons and group chats because that is one of the joys of fandom. ❤️

[thirdset]

cannot even say wta is in its straight era because technically it is not but the vibes are so weird. not necessarily bad. but weird. i think it's because there is no balance. what do i mean by that? i don't even know. am i rewriting history in my head? maybe. i think the "old era" of like...serena/maria/caro/angie/aga/ana/vika were so...not necessarily messy but so different? the rotations were better somehow. you could group them together easily and they played each other more often.

but now i feel like im lying!!! like aryna/iga, aryna/elena, elena/iga in theory have a similar sort of dynamic that can translate from on court to off but i cannot make it work...coco's rotational abilities are interesting to me because there is potential. i think jess is so....straight married boring and maria fell off the face of the earth. even tho i still think they're fun mirrors of each other meaning...it's a flop fest. you understand me etc. iga is just like....you can't even have messy (fake!!!!!) fun with her psychologist or whatever. that video of her inviting jasmine over for pierogies for CHRISTMAS like girl...i was thinking. and then NAOMI who i thought was the centre of the wta universe is like...where are you? iga/naomi is still interesting to me but their lives SEEM so opposite that i find it hard to like. just ignore the fact that naomi has an entire baby. even tho rpf is FAKE fake fake. and just using them as pre-tense for stories. like i get that i am not really a tinhatter in any sense of it. but idk. i think that's part of why m/m rpf is more popular because it's like. easier to forget about the rest of their lives where with women it is still so much more centred? idk. maybe i've lost my marbles. who else even is there. i know i wrote a dreamwidth post with all my potential pairings i'd write but...that is under lock and key. aryna is def, imo, the most rotatable because she is the most extroverted and in everyone else's business. i thought emma had so much potential but now i'm like...mhm. karo is like. ok dyke but also ? mhm. doubles is so...i could make it work but the effort vs. reward of writing it stresses me out too much. bianca is my favourite "no homo" "im not lesbian just to clear that up" remix but she's so isolated from the tour that it's hard to make it work. absolutely NOBODY cared about emma/bianca even though i still think it works and is interesting. jannik/carlos does nothing for me i'm so sorry. holger/anyone i can be into. i keep starting and deleting a very dumb and indulgent denis/domi fic where domi decides to coach denis and it is a mess that's kind of successful except it ends up with a v weird sexual dynamic ¯_(ツ)_/¯. if i am being honest i am still thinking about dyke novak. sorry. other pairings i just...idk. i don't even think the current crop of players are boring but there's just less content and they feel more media trained/resistant to saying anything interesting? but then i read transcripts and watch interviews and i don't know if that's true. even in trophy speeches...it's like i see. i think i still just have brain blockage of how f/f is perceived vs. m/m and i'm not...trying to be like well you must read/write f/f to be a good person because that's...stupid. it is just...i do not care about men nearly as much as i do women in any facet! it is not on purpose! or to prove anything or out of any sense of ~activism. i just cannot find men that interesting and i do not want to come across as standing on a soapbox or whatever. but idk. the difference is interesting to me? i felt like it was SO easy to come up with random tidbits of ideas/stories/pwp vague ideas for the like....2012-2018 era and now i'm stuck half the time and everything feels so repetitive. maybe there's just less...grounded in reality and the season is so jumpy without consistency (not of results but just of repetitive match ups or like...they are in the same place. and talk to each other off court) or whatever. i thought the olympics was going to be ripe with rpf happenings but no! it was just this weird "qinwen isn't friendly" bullshit. tho i guess that did result in one v good fic so there's that. idk. i have no point here.

already on AO3 pairings (* indicates ive written them already, from only this season, restricted from dec 2023 to now)

jannik/carlos (192)

roger/rafa (46)

holger/casper* (39)

daniil/stefanos (34)

karen/andrey (16)

novak/rafa (15)

grigor/andrey* (12)

daniil/andrey (11)

novak/andy (10)

flavio/ben(12)

jannik/sonego (8)

stefanos/zverev (7)

hubert/iga (6)

carlos/ferrero (6)

nikola/mate (5)

fritz/zverev (5)

jess/maria* (4)

iga/qinwen* (4)

draper/jannik (4)

novak/roger (3)

aryna/iga* (3)

karo/iga (3)

andrey/zverev (2)

daniil/daria (3)

paula/aryna* (2)

holger/jannik (2)

elena/aryna* (2)

carlos/novak

grigor/hubert

novak/holger* (2)

emma/bianca* (2)

iga/elena* (1)

qinwen/li na* (1)

naomi/iga*

maria/serena

jannik/carlos is soooo dominant it's crazy...good for them etc. the gap between m/m and f/f is wiiiiild but not really surprising. other pairings i've written but before this year angie/andrea, caro/serena, caro/alizé, caro/kristina, borna/donna.

potential pairings (that i would write, probably)

iga/bianca

novak/denis

aryna/jess

madi/sloane

jess/madi

coco/iga

jasmine/iga

donna/maria (technically already wrote this but)

elena/qinwen

holger/denis (spider man meme basically)

retirement fic still has a hold on me...which is so dumb but it does. but it never hits the way i want it to. maria/serena/caro/angie and any iteration of them....you have my attention. there's other pairings that i'd never write but think are interesting. jess/taylor, emma/qinwen is like...i can see the vision and i deeply respect it but i cannot make it work. reading it, hell yes. idk. i am back at a point where writing feels very useless and too self-indulgent and the payoff isn't really worth it but. who knows. off-season is a great time to make shit up.

[imaginespazzi]

BESTIE! It is good to have you back around. Anything new or just crushed w school work?

First of all, happy W Playoffs Semifinals Day 1 ! And lets go Liberty! (though in all honesty I like all the teams left overall). Cant wait to watch and Im just hoping for no sweeps after the 1st rd provided no 3rd game. Which, if youll allow a soapbox moment, all the series should be at least 5 games and automatically have games at both places! Hill I will die on

Argh. Yeah my final Mystics thought/sentiment basically boils down to ~well better than nothing~ Really curious to see the rules/system the leagues organizes re expansion along w the next draft! Ok slightly surprised by Curt getting the axe but was really floored by Spoon. I guess those organizations seem known for some odd, not necessarily beneficial decision making though.

Its so odd to see her in action in Kentucky gear! Superficial, and maybe Im still just adjusting, but I feel like the VT colors suit her appearance more than the royal blue. I do feel like the weirdness and finality of the change is probs kinda hitting Kitley as official practices for next wcbb season begin, so funny that you mentioned. In fact I saw somewhere on here that she was listening to what was formerly her "Georgia" playlist recently. Though w this girl and her emo ways w music, I dont really know how much meaning to quite attribute to that. And at least just going off my personal observation within the general world of college athletics, this is def the time of year where the recognition of change/a fresh start really sets in for players. And Im sure its true in a sense for Liz, as she realizes that its the fall but for the first time she isnt going back to school. Would think that the playoffs and knee rehab are a providing a decent distraction though!

GH Ch 10 🤌. Possessive Stephie was a great laugh and the beginning of Pookie dramatics + contract discussion have me eager for the next read! (Uncle Drew 🥹)

BESTIE HI so I'm like years too late to answering this but hey at least I'm here!

Lmao choosing tonight to answer this is actually really funny cause in hindsight you did get half of your wish! The Liberty made is so fun to root for them in the semis and have now decided they are going to make is so difficult to root for them in the finals. I was a little conflicted to begin with an after this first final...yeah maybe I need to cool off lmao.

Also a great day to answer this cause we do know the rules now and well....was that late run that established absolutely nothing worth only having ~10% of a chance of getting Paige Bueckers, Mike??? T-Spoon getting the Axe was an insane choice and I have no idea what the Sky is thinking with that. Curt was also such a random choice but mayhaps LA will get Stephanie White now (I say because I can't stand the idea of her going to the Fever)

It's definitely strange not seeing her in the VT uniform and the blue is pretty but just doesn't feel like her yet. And while not the biggest thing, I'm sure it's one of those tiny changes that adds to Liz probably feeling a little bittersweet about this whole time.

Ah yes...the next read that I totally have made so much progress on mmhm

[katatonicimpression]

Bobby/Romeo, you’ve probably talked about them before but I don’t remember

Oooh so i actually really like this. And, like, in a way I dont ship it - I don't make or consume fan content for it - but I really like what Vecchio and Orlando did with it. I think it's a strong storyline.

Because I'm petty and my brain is weird, I'm gonna format this by responding to objections:

A) The age thing/is this problematic?

So, Romeo was time displaced teen!Bobby's boyfriend. Canonically, when they sent the teens back to the past, they wiped their memories with one exception - bobby was allowed to retain his memories of being out as a teen, as a treat. I believe the intention here was just to make it a little less depressing, but it opened a possibility that Vecchio noticed. Present-day bobby does remember dating Romeo - he now has an adolescent crush on a character who is actually a viable romantic interest.

Romeo was late teens when we first saw him. Vecchio's comic takes place "nebulous sliding timeline" years later, but in the real world was about 7 years afterwards. On top of this, Vecchio added a line where Romeo says he was caught up in some time travel shenanigans of his own, and has aged an additional 10 years. This puts him in his 30s, the same vague age as Bobby.

Some people object to this on principle. The trope of rapidly aging a character to make them sexually viable is absolutely a thing in comics (think Layla Miller and Magik and how they both jarringly oscillate between being young children and sexualised young women. Or even think about Synch and Talon, and how they wrote an in universe reason for him to physically age, because they thought it would seem weird if he was still physically a teenager - which is bad writing but I concede it's less viscerally creepy than the magik and Layla stuff). The objection is basically that the aging up of an underage character to make them a viable love interest is creepy and weird - and I do pretty much agree with that.

Like, if someone wanted to age up an existing kid character like Gabby just to put her romantically with an adult, I would be right there with you saying that this is fucked up. So, yes, point granted.

However, not only would Romeo have been well into his 20s even without that 10 year boost, more importantly this is not an example of a pre-existing dude just being plucked out of his life and warped into a love interest role for bobby. He's a character who literally only exists to be a love interest for bobby. On top of that, weird time travel hijinks were always on the table with this. And I think that does change the situation. It's not "let's take this kid and age him up", it's "this couple transcends spacetime."

Idk maybe I could have explained that better, but the way I see it, this is a trope that you should watch out for, this particular case is not really a problem.

B) Wait, you're saying Romeo is more of a plot device than a character? Isn't that bad?

Yes, he kind of is, and no it isn't bad.

So, all good characters are plot devices. Ok, yeah in big unending serialised things like comic books and soap operas, characters do start to exist independently of story writing. But, in terms of actually writing a story, the characters are what they bring to the story. That can be in a very utilitarian plot way, or in a more loose thematic way, or, hell, comic relief. Characters are their purpose in the story. They can be more than that, but a well-written character can be identifiable by their narrative/aesthetic purpose in a given work.

*gets down off of soapbox*

Romeo's main purpose is to be a love interest for Bobby, and specifically to be a love-interest with empathy powers for Mr Emotional Repression. He is someone for Bobby to feel things with, to be vulnerable with. He's there to open bobby up (in the first place with teen!bobby) and to be the person he lets in (metaphorically). This is what Vecchio is doing; Bobby initially responds to emotional anguish by running and reverting, then eventually reaches catharsis by breaking down in front of Romeo.

With Orlando, Romeo is there to very literally facilitate the plot, but also to once again reveal Bobby's vulnerabilities, this time in a less positive way. Through Romeo we see Bobby's weaknesses, both in his powers at the time and his psychological failings.

This is good. This is fun. This is why I like romantic storylines in my comc books. I like how they can be used to tell us things about the characters, I like how they can heighten the emotional stakes, and drive conflict and resolution. It's good.

C) Bobby should be with a pre-existing character

My biggest bobby ship is with St. John so idk if I have a leg to stand on here. But one of the things I kept seeing when people were complaining about Romeo coming back was "bobby should be with Hank" and "Bobby should be with Warren" and like... erm... no?

Specifically, it was always phrased as "bobby should be given a new permanent, endgame love interest" which I think is the problem. Shipping is so often about assigning two people to each other forever and ever, but that's not necessarily a thing that canon ever needs to be conerned about in comic book world. And certainly not something it needs to bother with all of the time.

What I wanted was a romantic storyline for Bobby, and I got that. Yes, you could write a storyline with a pre-existing character (e.g. st. john) but you can have a dedicated love-interest guy instead. The important thing is that you actually write it. So, fundamentally I don't think either Hank or Warren would ever actually be considered as love interests for Bobby by editorial, but even if they were, the thing you would need to do is actually write that narrative, and it's not currently there at all imo.

I just find this so silly and weird. Let bobby date some rando it's fine. What matters is whether the story is compelling in its own right.

D) Isn't this a step backwards?

One objection to the writing that I've seen is that by dating his teenage boyfriend, Bobby is basically regressing. This is a step backwards for him, and is bad for that reason.

I agree and disagree. Yes it's a regression, and also I'm kind of into it.

What I mean is that Orlando actually introduces a lot of codependency between Romeo and Bobby. Bobby is literally reliant on Romeo to physically exist, and Romeo is physically stuck somewhere he cannot survive without him. So, like, that's messed up. Also they argue, Bobby is still closed off, uncomfortable with how vulnerable he is. Romeo is kinda clingy, but how else could he possibly act in this situation.

It is deliciously fucked up. And it's using a superhero/sci-fi premise to exaggerate an emotional conflict, to paint the internal into the external. We love to see it.

Orlando didn't really dive into it, beyond having mild conflict between them at times. But I dunno I like drama. I was excited for their to be drama. And if this storyline gets revisited at some point, I kinda hope they lean into it.

E) Monogamy Reigns

This isn't a response to any specific thing I've seen but more a vibe that's floating about. I already mentioned that when people ship, they so often favour this idea of one true endgame pairing, and monogamy is usually the norm. Hell, even polyshipping is usually an ot3, with a set limited number of partners.

Bobby and Romeo's relationship is open, like many relationships between gay men are. They are melodramatically romantic, and they are open. I love this.

We have wiccan and hulkling for cutesy wholesome gays. We have Jean-Paul and Kyle for marriage and monogamy. It's important, to me personally, to also have queer men who don't operate that way. Open relationships are very commonplace for queer men and to me there is something implicitly homophobic about seeing these relationships as less. Hell, I am a very monogamous person myself and I still feel very strongly about this.

I think people have a tendency to not understand what Vecchio and Orlando were trying to show here, and sometimes to take the romance less seriously because of it (oh, it's just a casual thing) and, no, that's not it.

So, yeah, I like it. This was a lot of words to say I like the pairing.

[fanby-fckry]

28

here’s weirder asks

This is a good one.

28. do you wear a mask?

N95 as the default, and sometimes I double mask with a cloth one over it.

I really only take it off if I’m walking outside and unlikely to run into anyone, or during specific physical therapy exercises where I need to not have something obstructing a small part of my lower vision.

I have had covid multiple times due to being exposed through another household member, and it’s not an experience I’d like to repeat, or unwittingly spread to others. Especially since, in my opinion, I got off easy.

There are people who are still suffering the effects of long covid, or who have underlying conditions that make covid practically a death sentence. I want to do everything in my power to make sure I’m not contributing to spreading it or anything else that pops up in the meantime.

Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox now. Thanks for the ask!