#rr fan season

[foxkairi]

10 more days before the fight for the crown begins again. Who are you siding for?

[starstriix]

seeing shit like "I hate this new cast! They should bring back the OGs!" on ROTI comment sections is wild like u know these characters have been here since 2012 right

[horseshoe-bay-ledger]

NANCY DREW || 4x01: The Dilemma of the Lover’s Curse

“The bodies stole themselves.”

[sundaemuddysucks]

starting a project then immediately losing motivation to continue it<<<<<<

[android-and-ale]

My Philon Awards Spirk Fic Recs

It's Philon Awards Season! I'm going through my bookmarks trying to decide how to narrow down the many, MANY amazing fics and art I've voraciously consumed.

If you're not deep in the fandom you might not have heard of the awards. They're given at KisCon, the annual Kirk/Spock convention in Seattle. However, they're open to nomination and voting by anyone who enjoys Spirk!

Click Here for a link where you can learn all about the categories and access the anonymous google form to nominate your favorites. You don't have to attend the con to vote. It's open to all Spirk loving fans!

I've assembled my own short list below. It doesn't begin to cover all the great fics published in the last year, and for some of these writers narrowing it down to only a couple nominations each was incredibly hard!

Whether or not any of these fics make it onto your personal nominations lists, please check them out. This has been a great year in the fandom!

Short Fic (under 10K):

Lost and Found in Translation by @indeedcaptain

How to Win Plants and Influence Lizards by @indeedcaptain

We Need Disposable Towels In The Gym by @affixjoy

Baby It's Cold Outside by ChancelorGriffen/SpaceIsGay

Here We Go Again Again Again Again Again Again Again Again (Again Again) by @flippyspoon

Melting Snow, Sweat, and Other Dripping Fluids by CampySpaceSlime

Long Fic (10K - 50K):

The Yeomen of the Garden by @cicaklah

Get Some by @flippyspoon

Please Don't Take Him Just Because You Can by ChancelorGriffen/SpaceIsGay

Way from Within by @gunstreet

Heirs to the Glimmering World by @gunstreet

Sugar In Your Hand by @werewolves-are-real

Don't You Know Me by @strangenewwords

Hurt by @therebewhaleshere

Novels (over 50K):

The Exiles by @jennelikejennay

The Recitation of Names by @jennelikejennay

Regulatory Relations by @indeedcaptain

(note: the author says RR will be complete before the end of the nomination period)

Mol-Kur by @uhuraprime

Of Trees And Telepathy by StupidCat

Shameless Self Recs (all under 10K):

And Filled With Tomorrows by me

Replicator Roulette by me

If you're looking for some great new fic, please read the back catalog of FlippySpoon, Moreta1848, IndeedCaptain, Gunstreet, SpaceIsGay, and the entire One Man series by Cicak. It's all so good! (All links take you to their AO3.)

[spacerockfloater]

Hi, I just wanted to say that I wholeheartedly agree with your recent post. It really bothers me how the fandom, especially those who are supposed to be green fans, are turning on Aemond. Don't get me wrong, I loathe the way they handled his character this season, but it's really interesting how for the last two years we had to listen Aegon stans complain about him being ruined by bad writing. Yet, they never turned on him. He was just the writers' victim, according to them (which isn't untrue). However, those same people (you saw it in the replies) are unwilling to extend the same courtesy to Aemond when he's being treated even worse by the writers for the whole f**king season, all that without having a decent amount of screentime or an actual POV (unlike Aegon who actually got a much better material this season). I guess these fans only "liked" Aemond while he was what Aegon thought of him, "a loyal hound he could set against his foes and who knows his place". Double standards much? Let's get this straight, I hate what they did with RR and Aemond burning Aegon is another dirty trick of the writers in order to divide the green fandom. Apparently, TG fans are unfortunately eating it all up. Nevertheless, it's not the reason the greens are in a bad situation because we saw that Aegon and Sunfyre wouldn't be of much help in battle anyway. Sunfyre could go against dragons like Vermax and Moondancer, but that's it. And Aegon is not a great warrior or a leader. Therefore, just like you said, Aemond can't fight alone so him asking Helaena to join with her big ass dragon isn't unreasonable. Yes, she isn't violent and doesn't want to burn anyone, but nether is Rhaena and I can bet she'll get the Nettles arc, ride the dragon and burn things.. So why does everyone treat Helaena as a little fragile house pet? Aemond is right, she can't defend herself and they would tear her apart. But no, he's also in the wrong here (showing him being violent towards Helaena is so OOC I won't even comment on it). And don't get me started on Alicent. She practically betrayed her faction twice, in ep 3 when she let Rhaenyra go. And she could have ended the war there and then, even before RR. Now she goes to Dragonstone to tell Rhaenyra she'll open the gates for her and this is framed as a good thing because her son is awful and she just wants to save her daughter? Yeah, no. However, Alicent is also defended, it's all on Aemond now, he is the evil villain ™. Aegon can be forgiven , Alicent can be forgiven, but Aemond can't? It's ridiculous. The worst thing is that I'm saying this as someone who has loved Alicent and all her children since s1.

THANK YOU SO FUCKING MUCH FOR THIS!

You’ve done it, you’ve said exactly what I have been thinking!

I wish I had something of substance to add to what you said, but I don’t. This needs to be a post of its own.

Aegon was treated horribly by the show. I am a huge fan of his. But now they’re doing the same thing to Aemond and he doesn’t deserve that shit.

Aemond is all that left of the Greens.

This show has butchered every single TG character.

[aroaceleovaldez]

I've been listening to hank green explain (at various times with various contexts but most recently during a vlogbrothers video on Bree Sharp's David Duchovny) how "nothing lasts on the contemporary internet" and I wonder what that might have to do with your analysis on fandom infrastructure... like IS it even possible for BNF/public AUs/OCs/fandom events to exist at the same scale in the new internet? I also have to wonder if rr is similarly operating in this new (awful) way with the knowledge that the old books could last longer as cultural moments while the new books are kinda just... there to trend for a hot minute and then fade away into nonexistence within the fandom canon. or maybe i'm just coping bc I miss old tumblr

I absolutely do think old-style fandom is possible on the modern internet! some of the oldest pillars of fandom are from BEFORE the internet was popularized! Plus, there are still plenty of old-style fandoms that are active in those same ways!

You mention "at the same scale" and i think that's interesting because, yes, a lot of those old-style fandoms that are active are smaller. The thing is the scope of old fandom we're used to when we think of classic examples are outliers who were MASSIVE. PJO was a fandom GIANT back in the day, at least so far as book fandoms went (and still is!). The major thing that's changed is that "fandom" has become mainstream - or at least, the concept of fandom.

The thing with mainstream modern fandom is it gets conflated with general audience a lot. A lot of people trying to engage with fandom when they're new to it don't understand how it's different from just being a normal fan or audience member of a thing, and so just treat them as equivalent and this causes a lot of problems. The main one being the reliance on source material - which causes a lot of newer fandoms to die out whenever there is no new source material - comparatively to old-style fandom, which is inherently self-sustaining.

Some examples of old-style fandoms that are still plenty active are furry fandom (obviously), a decent number of anime fandoms (particularly older ones or less mainstream ones cause the communities are smaller/closer-knit, also their fandoms aren't as strictly western-leaning), and Hermitcraft/associated fandoms is one particularly that I'm in that's VERY active and old-fandom style. They're constantly engaging with material that's long over or series that have ended (Evo, older Life series, older Hermitcraft seasons, etc). They have fandom OCs/AUs/concepts that are shared, they have a TON of projects happening constantly (a recent massive one that just finished is the Hotguy Comics zine! It's an incredibly cool project). Hermitcraft fandom is pretty much the closest new* fandom to old-style fandom that I've found so far (*it is technically 11 years old but it had a recent boom during the MCYT surge in like 2020).

But yes! Old-style fandom absolutely can still exist - and does! It's just far less common because the mainstream image/concept of what fandom is that has become popularized differs from it in practicality. People are being introduced to fandom as just being equivalent to a general audience and are interacting with it as such, when it should be interacted with as a niche, very passionate community. The core of old fandom is always community.

I guess i would describe it as like, passive fandom versus active fandom? Passive fandom being the "new fandom" type format - near complete reliance on source material, usually some attitude of entitlement towards fanwork creators because theyre viewing it as another source material to passively engage with, large lack of headcanons or hcs being equated to theories, shipping is restricted almost exclusively to canon pairings (and ships/headcanons are treated more as things you want to become canon, not explorations outside of canon), etc etc. There's no community or creation happening, only a focus on consumption and maybe at best how to streamline consumption (the only sorts of hubs we see form in this type of fandom are update accounts and official social medias). Basically no proper community has formed and there is little to no engagement with the material outside of the source media. (I also have a theory that this format leads to some New Fandom behaviors that have become more commonplace comparatively to Old Fandom, such as a LOT more trying to directly interact with writers/cast/crew or reliance on them as secondary source materials during hiatus or similar - we see this now with PJO TV and a lot of people downright literally stalking the actors - and almost a refusal to make fanwork of their own. You see a lot more of "omg somebody write/draw [concept]" or trying to pitch ideas to source material writers because they only want to engage passively, not actively, or genuinely don't know how to engage actively.) Big Name Fans can absolutely exist in this sphere, but it's a completely different environment (for PJO, Velinxi is a good example of a new fandom BNF - ive found in this format of fandom, BNFs are almost exclusively fanartists, because fanart is one of the easiest fanworks to find and passively engage with. This also often results in the community being extremely entitled towards larger fanartists).

Active fandom, comparatively, is focused on community and creation. This is where you see fandom projects, engaging with the media beyond the source material, things of that nature. There is actually a structured community.

This post got long but I have more points regarding the second half of your question and my thoughts for why the new books are so. Like That. so I'm going to move that whole ramble to a second post which I will post momentarily.

[part 2 here!]

[fatecolossal]

TWIN PEAKS - the Red Room x the Glass Box Room: eerie, interdimensional portals of coffee, kissing, & comfy armchairs... The Sam-and-Tracey scenes of Parts 1 & 2 are evocative of a number of other elements of the show, none more so than TP's various Red Room scenes.

Tracey's black dress is redolent of RR-Laura's black dress, and the chalky, naked, humanlike figure that materializes in the Glass Box is shot in stances and at angles distinctly similar to those used by/for the white, naked sculptures in the Red Room...

Notably, in Part 2 one of the RR sculptures transforms into a doppelgänger of the Evolution of the Arm, a sinister figure whose gaping maw and wrathful lashing-out are similar to those of the Glass Box's "Experiment"... (Apologies for the gore in the image.)

Tracey carries coffee cups with a black-on-white "Z" figure drawn on them; likewise, her dress is later shown to feature a white-on-black "Z." Whatever else they may evoke, these zigzagging figures are visually like the iconic chevron zigzags of the Red Room's floor...

The side table in the Glass Box Room ["GBR"] has a small bonsai tree which, while (as fans have noted) evocative of the bonsai Windham Earle uses in Season 2, also is evocative of the Red Room's own tree, the Evolution of the Arm...

Like the Red Room, the Glass Box Room is a type of "waiting room," one likewise filled with "secrets." A picture of its primary secret, the Experiment, is viewed by Gordon et al in Part 3, its wraithlike figure floating over an oval much like the RR's oval owl cave ring...

When the Glass Box Room is visited by Cooper in P2, we get a shot of the reflection of his floating figure looming over the empty seating in the room, a tableau curiously similar in framing to the superimposition of the Angel floating over the empty RR chairs in FWWM...

One of the most intriguing aspects of Cooper's P2 visit to the GBR is that it means we get to watch a replay of Sam/Tracey scenes first seen in P1. A similar replay occurs in P18, this time of RR scenes first seen in P2. It all seems linked to the slipperiness of time in TP:TR...

"Someone is here," Gerard says; "No one is here," Tracey says. These opposing lines get at the ways the RR & GBR scenes are also set up in certain ways to be subtly opposite of one each other...

As always, more could be said about the subjects raised by the above posts—why the show is setting up these weird parallels, what we might make of the slippery, repetitive time elements of these scenes, etc. I'll likely post more on this parallel soon...

TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN - Part 1.

[t4taletyler]

Noah(TDI) and Queer characters in media.

In 2007 Teletoon premiered Total Drama Island, Apart from that cast was Noah. Noah quickly became a fan favorite along with Cody in the episode 'The Big Sleep' where Noah is shown to be kissing Cody's ear in his sleep, The two wake up and freak out. They quickly run away from each other.

This becomes a running gag of sorts, As in the episode 'Haute camp-ture' We see all the characters who got voted off this far in the show at the resort Playa Des Losers.

We see Noah featured in some of these scenes in the episode, As Noah is describing his experience on Total Drama Island he says he's gotten nothing out of it and that it was completely uneventful to him. We see Izzy pop in and say, "He kissed a guy!" The two bicker back and forth about whether it happened or not, Trent rebuttals Noah's no's with "He totally did" and then shows a flashback to Noah and Cody kissing with Noah saying he has no comment. We see this gag again in Total Drama Action in the Aftermath show, We are introduced to the people who didn't end up making it on TDA. In Noah's introduction, we are shown a clip of him kissing Cody AGAIN. They are also shown sitting with each other in a lot of the TDA aftermath segments.

One question I have is why is this gag shown over and over again? In the episode where it came from it didn't move the plot along, it was just a few-second gag. I feel as if this was hinting at Noah being gay, Freshtv who was producing the series has made gay characters before in their other show 6teen. I firmly believe that Noah is queer-coded at the very least. When Justin is introduced to us in episode one of Total Drama Island we see Noah, Owen and Trent all swoon over him much like the girls

In the Total Drama flash game 'Oh No U Di'n't' we see Noah say this about Cody

Though this saying can be said by any of the characters in the Flash game about Cody it sounds the most like Noah, especially with his sarcastic voice. Noah's personality is also a gay stereotype, at least in the first three seasons. In the 2000s typically gay men were depicted as feminine, sassy, and sarcastic. We can see this in TV shows such as Sex in the City and the movie The Devil Wears Prada. Noah emulates a lot of these traits with his sarcastic personality and how sassy he is. He is also depicted as skinny and having a 'girly' scream, shown in the special Total Drama Drama Drama Drama Island.

A lot of these scenes are played as a joke as LGBTQ+ representation was very hard to find that wasn't played as a "haha funny" moment.

In Celebrity Manhunt we see Cody and Noah parallel two straight pairings in this scene. We don't see Noah actually smile a lot but the times he does we see him with men such as Cody,Alejandro and Owen

(aftermath show)

(Newf kids on the Rock)

(I see London..)

On FreshTV's now-deactivated Tumblr blog, they said in response to an ask about Noah

This along with the existence of Nemma (Noah x Emma from rr) has always confused me, Why would Fresh TV go back on their character and suddenly change him to be less sarcastic and sassy? I think if they addressed Noah's queerness they would get backlash because he is A stereotype of a gay man BUT! I think the way they did it was actually more harmful to the queer TDI community. It made a lot of Noco,Alenoah and Nowen shippers face backlash till this day. Now with the TDI reboot we finally have two canon queer characters that are dating which is exciting and I'm glad they fought so hard to keep them but i think this was a way to pay their respects to characters they couldn't make queer like Noah and Owen.

Final Notes/TLDR;

Noah is a queercoded character that wasn't allowed to be queer which still hasn't been answered to this day. I hope with future seasons of total drama we will get more queer rep!

[cinnamonglrls]

all the pills that you take to keep me at arms length don't work [rr.]

pairing: roman reigns x fem!reader.

warnings: asshole roman. toxic work relationship. injury. angst. sunshine jey.

summary: an accident that occurs backstage seems to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for Isabel. 

wc: 2.6k.

an: the idea for this story literally made me create this account i kid u not. happy reading & leave some comments if u liked it. ♡🦋💗💞

—————————

MONDAY NIGHT RAW.

It was the reverberation of your shrill cry once your body weight leveled out on your ankle that spared you his once-over.

He’s been a complete dick to you since he’s met you to say the least, and even more so since creative pitched the concept between you two. But this? 

This is absolutely unacceptable.

Just five month ago in Seattle, you were apart of a promo segment where Roman, Cody, and his entourage get into a heated debacle. Roman was supposed to clear the premise and you were supposed to slide out the bottom ring at the first sign of trouble, but instead you remained in the ring— stuck in a corner due to missed timing. Gradually you found yourself in the center with your back facing his and then simultaneously you two turned to faced one another, chests heaving at the adrenaline of destruction and the electrifying energy zapping throughout the arena. 

To the camera, you were a deer caught in headlights. A damsel in distress, the seemingly next prey of wrestling entertainment’s most notorious apex predator. 

In reality, you were a deer caught in headlights. An amateur who’s incident of pure human error just so happened to unfurl on live television and in front of wrestling veterans.

However, to your luck, the twenty-two second clipped segment went ultra-viral and not for the reasons you feared it would. 

It was the smoldering smoke and fire between you two the clip unveiled that sent it globetrotting. A furrowed-brow herculean Roman, wet hair curtaining the frame of his face as he’s stopped dead in his track of demolition because of the presence of a sultry femme fatale a mere handful of inches before him.

Roman — like a seasoned professional — ended up slowly backing away before exiting the ring without removing his eyes from yours with The Wiseman hot on his tail, as if this was the exact way the segment was supposed to conclude. But this would kickstart the beginning of an extremely hostile and deeply uncomfortable work relationship between you and him.

He’d made it no secret that he was no fan of yours.

He was cold in every sense of the word. He’d spend majority of his free time backstage and in the lounges with your co-workers, chatting it up and cracking jokes. It was merely the addition of your presence in any room that would sour his demeanor. At first this was very unsettling for you especially due to your deep unrealistic desire to be liked by every human you cross paths with, but eventually Becky clued you in to the rumors that creative had pitched him an idea about a potential romance between you two after keeping a close eye on the brewing demand and spiked viewership. Apparently, out of respect for his wife, when he was negotiating his contract he’d requested a clause stating that he would be excluded from any future romantic narratives.

Still, stomachs grumbled for the story and viewership was gradually skyrocketing as a result of even crumbs of you two in the same frame. Roman’s wishes be dammed, according to management.

So then it began. Five months of a meticulous slow-burn. Five months of animosity. Five months of him disregarding your entire existence if there wasn’t a cameraman within a ten-foot radius. Five months of zero rehearsals despite your persistent request to prevent another blunder like that night in Seattle. Five months of snide remarks and passive aggressive comments beneath his breath. Throughout it all you made sure to hold all your grievances close to your chest and take it all to the chin, as its simply your nature to do so. Everyone knew you as the roster’s sweetheart, too reserved to really hold your ground. It was the what made those around you want to protect you so adamantly. 

Ultimately you made peace with the state of your turbulent relationship with your coworker.

But there is nothing quite peaceful about the agonizing white-hot sensation shooting up the tendons in your right calf right now.

You messily crumble to your feet, your hands immediately cupping the compromised heel as your shrill cry perks his ear, stopping Roman dead in his tracks. 

Tonight’s segment was supposed to be swift and hurried, you were supposed to be approached by Cody and a couple women backstage. The gist of the idea was Cody would sic the women on you as he’d know Roman was quite fond of you and they’d do some damage. Roman would then soar to your rescue, brawl with Cody and scare them off and it would end with him carrying you away bridal-style as one of the women would have fucked your leg up pretty badly. 

Tossing you off of him the millisecond the camera stopped rolling was never apart of the script.

Your voice is a wail yet still a burning red-hot flame, “what the fuck is wrong with you!” You can tell both by the shocked expression written on his face and the hesitant step forward he just took that he doesn’t exactly know what to do at the moment and that he didn’t intend on causing you any harm, but that doesn’t quell the hell you’re about to raise.

You’ve had it up to your wits end.

He tries to say something that you can’t quite hear because the radiating pain shooting from your ankle is too distracting to do anything but heave and whimper as your hands hover over your ankle as if doing so will prevent any further damage. Roman tries to lower and sit on his haunches, looking immensely out of his element as this is the most concerned he’s ever been about you since meeting you, “hold o-,”

Gathering the courage to apply your body weight on your other foot as you stand, you immediately scurry to your feet, inhaling a tight gust of air and squeezing your eyes shut. Desperate to distance yourself away from the catalyst of this debilitating pain. Your thunderous voice is the flame to curious moths, attracting stray eyes backstage, “get away from me you piece of shit!” your hand clutches onto a black equipment box for dear life to support your frame in staying upright despite the fact that you’re in no condition to do so at the moment.

You can see Naomi and the twins quickly approaching with concerned expressions at the commotion past Roman’s shoulders as he too begins to stand from his lowered stance. But you don’t allow that to deter your fury-driven tunnel vision, “why is it that you think you’re the first married man who’s had a romance angle? are you and your wife that insecure that a fictitious tale for television would shake the foundation of your weak marriage?”

You can hear a few distant gasps as Naomi and Becky rush to your side once they see the state of your hunched stature and how your hand keeps gravitating back towards your sorry ankle, only half-way overlooking the appalling confrontational tone of your voice as it’s the polar opposite of the timid person they’ve always known you to be. They place each of your arms around the necks and grab your hip, “cmon. Cmon. Medical’s right there on the left Beck.”

His face hardens, his jaw still locked. 

“You just sprained my fucking ankle. Answer me!”

“Aye, aye, aye. What’s going on?” Jey stands between you two, placing his palm to Roman’s chest to deescalate the situation. When Becky and Naomi turn you to help you to medic, you mumble something inaudible beneath your breath and wince as everyone who tuned in due to the commotion from wrestlers to venue staff watch you limp away.

Jey turns around to catch the tail end of a brooding Roman flexing his right hand before walking the opposite way.

—————————

Chest heaving and lungs aflame, both of your hands cup your kneecaps when your torso bends forward as you slow down to catch your breath, “shit.”

“You sit on your ass for a couple weeks and lose two decades off your knees? Up.” Becky stalks up to you, kissing her teeth when you breathlessly shake your head and sink your back into the nearest corner of the ring. Since your debut, you can’t count on both hands how many times Becky has consistently either shown up for you and or has taken the fall for you— whether that’s been through showing you the ropes when you were just a new hire or filling the holes during ambiguous social interactions with others backstage. She’s a constant through and through.

You run your tongue over your bottom lip as you glance over your shoulder and scan the empty arena hours before showtime, “you said you’d take it easy on me.”

“I am,” she alters her stance in a fashion that commands your compliance and you sigh out of your nostrils in defeat before pulling yourself out of the corner, bending at your knee and meeting her posture in the middle of the ring. You two roughen each other up for another solid twenty-five minutes before you decide to take another brisk break to take some pressure off your recovering ankle for preventative purposes.

“Izzy motherfuckin’ Osbourne! Say it ain’t so.” 

In typical Jey fashion, you hear him before you see him. He’s halfway down the ramp when you and B turn your heads and his direction makes you believe he came from the side stage. The human manifestation of sunlight, you have no choice but to cheese at him, “there she is. That’s what we like to see.” You slide out of the bottom ring and he meets you at the bottom of the ramp with open arms that you just sink into, your arms wrapped around his back. He rocks you two back and forth so sweetly it’s reminiscent of a warm older brother.

You pluck the end of his cropped top when he releases you from his bear hug, “I thought I told you to stay out of my closet.” 

His eyes widen, his index finger pointing at you as he looks at B past your shoulder, “she got jokes!” His attention gravitates back to you and specifically your heel— his tone less comedic than the second before, “how she doing?” You nod and spend a minute catching him up on your progress and recovery. He crosses his arms and listens attentively when you detail what your doctors told you and he double checks your confidence about your match later tonight. 

—————————

A month and a half.

The fact that it’s been a month and a half since you’ve been overwhelmed by the deafening roar of the crowd is all that you’re mulling about as you walk past the ramp and crossfade backstage after your first match back since your injury, your fingers mindlessly playing with your wristband. 

“Isabel.”

You toss a quick glance over your shoulder at the mention of your name, never once stopping your stroll. 

You almost want to laugh at the audacity once you see Roman using his back to push himself off the wall near the curtains and if you didn’t know any better you might even say he were waiting for you. You turn around and continue walking, “uh oh. What’s next? My wrist?”

“Can we speak?” his tone is so authoritative that even his questions sound like statements.

“We’re speaking.”

The close proximity of his voice clues you in to the fact that he’s definitely following you and as agitated as you are, last month’s confrontation diffused almost everything you were internalizing since that first night in Seattle. You don’t have anything left to say to him. Roman sighs at your stubbornness when you push the door of your locker room open as you finally reach it, “please.” 

Begrudgingly, you enter the dressing room— blind to the way his vigilant eyes swiftly scan the hallway clear of wandering eyes before he follows after you.

He’d never admit it out loud but he’d recently formed a nasty habit of bitting his fingernails raw in an unhealthy attempt to relieve tension he doesn't seem to want to pinpoint the source of. In fact, he’s formed a scroll of destructive habits here recently if the bags beneath his lower lash line are any indication. He hovers near the arm of your black velveteen sofa when you gravitate to your vanity and push your hair behind your ears, briskly removing the backs of your earrings. 

“You got a haircut.”

Your fleeting eyes meet his in the reflection of your vanity mirror like a lock and key, your hands busy at your ears. Silent at his observation.

“You didn’t answer my message.”

You hum in acknowledgement. You didn’t. Why would you? You didn’t have anything left to say to him and everything you had bottled up prior, you unloaded like a sniper the second you landed on your ankle wrong due to his negligence. You’ve never been a fan of apologies anyway. What’s the point when the damage is already done? 

“I know.”

“Why?”

You don’t answer.

“I didn’t mean to do that. You know that.”

“Do I?”

“Isabel.”

His tone is different; nearly pleading. You don’t answer.

He sighs out from his nose and you watch him lower himself to sit on the couch, his dark fitted-cargos enveloped burly thighs spread and his elbows settled on his knees. He’s spent longer than he would ever like imagining how this conversation was going to pan out when you’d return. The depth of his regret is far greater than his ability to ever express it, “I’m trying here.”

Your stomach contracts at the intensity of his gaze that you can just feel so you keep your lips sealed. Your don’t know if its because you don’t know what to do with yourself or because you want to see him suffer a little longer. Or both. 

“Why’d you cut your hair,” he tries again, his voice softer.

“Why’s it matter?”

He shrugs, “I liked it.”

“Then thank god I cut it.”

Roman chuckles, his index finger and thumb glides across his chiseled beard.

He can see you struggle to stifle a smile at your corny joke in the reflection of the mirror as you roll your wristband off your forearm.

“… Twins won’t shut up about you.”

This compels you to turn around, your arms crossed on your chest. The less-than-impressed look on your face makes him shrug obliviously, “I don’t know how to act. My bad. This is weird. I’m sorry. Man. I mean it. Even if it wasn’t my intention, you didn’t deserve that shit. That made me feel like shit for a long time. Tried to reach you after but you weren’t receptive and I get it but… you gotta know. As coworkers in an organization this hazardous, our trust and faith in one another is critical. That’s the bottom line and I fucked that up. I did.” He looks at his phone when it rings it and mindlessly silences it.

You take a deep breath at his vocalized stream of consciousness, a little startled at his honorable regard as the only regard he’s ever reserved for you before the incident were short sentences and cold withdrawn interactions. Your stomach tightens at his first genuine acknowledgement and accountability for his transgressions. You look at the floor as your fingertips flex against your arms, too intimidated to meet his eyes again for reasons unbeknownst to you.

“Thank you.”

—————————

pt 1 <3. ♡

[foxkairi]

SEASON 2 IS FINALLY HERE!

The last(*) three dragons complete this little project of mine, I'm proud that I managed to pull this through.

[bluecrocss]

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series - On Luke and Annabeth:

Okay, so Luke and Annabeth's relationship is sooo important to me in the og pjo books. Like, second only to Percabeth.

Idk, I'm a sucker for found family, and I wish I could find the post that compared Annabeth's perspective of the relationship to watching an older sibling descend into drug addiction and losing themselves (maybe it hits because I've lost an older sibling).

I was really hoping the Disney+ adaptation would expand more on this relationship, since we're not so limited to just Percy's POV anymore.

In all honesty, i don't think they did a great job of that in season 1. There was wayyy too much tell not show i.e. "she's my little sister", "Annabeth is the strongest warrior in camp". It felt like Luke and Annabeth's backstory was just something they were trying to rush out of the way before they moved on to what they thought was more important (The quest, percabeth, an unnecessary number of god introductions, etc.).

And we barely saw them spend any one-on-one time with each other. Which extra sucks, cuz season 1 is the only time we would have seen their relationship before Luke's turn.

Season 2 needs to compensate me with aloootttt of Luke/Thalia/Annabeth flashbacks. And no worries, because with the level of over-correcting RR is subjecting this series to (some good and some not), I can GUARANTEE that any icky, groomer-esque, "did you ever love me?" elements of their relationship will definitely NOT be a part of this adaptation.

I am still holding out hope that they take the (non-racist) criticisms of the first season and develop the character relationships much better for the remainder of the series, because this show truly hit the jackpot with casting.

Seriously, Leah and Charlie's friendship is so precious to me. He's been one of her biggest supporters in response to all the BS that's been thrown at her (always posting about her awards, encouraging his fans to vote for her, joining her IG lives and cheering her on). And it's also super ironic, seeing as Luke was also a blonde main character that is being played by a dark-haired POC, yet with none of the same backlash (interesting 🤔).

Someone on tiktok described their irl dynamic as what Luke and Annabeth should have been, and just:

(@/hrtz_4finnick on TikTok)

😢

[historicity-was-already-taken]

History Blog recs

One of my Very Specific interests over the last...idk 10 years, has been reading blogs about the A Song of Ice and Fire series, by historians. I'm not sure what it is about those books: the complex, multi-layered narrative, the author's claim to work creatively with real world history, the micro-arguments contained in every arc, or what, but historians have the most FASCINATING shit to say about those books.*

I've learned so much about the logistics of civilization, the intellectual history of leadership theory, the history of subsistence agriculture, the type of agriculture needed to sustain societies of a certain size, the evolution of military theory, etc from this very specific, Historians Engage With ASOIAF and its Television Adaptations genre of blog.

There is, of course, the late great Steven Attewell's @racefortheironthrone, but I recently discovered this gem: A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry by Dr. Bret C. Devereaux. I just finished his series analyzing, problematizing, and ultimately debunking George RR Martin's claim that the Dothraki "were actually fashioned as an amalgam of a number of steppe and plains cultures… Mongols and Huns, certainly, but also Alans, Sioux, Cheyenne, and various other Amerindian tribes… seasoned with a dash of pure fantasy."

In Part IV, he writes:

... declaring that the Dothraki really do reflect the real world (I cannot stress that enough) cultures of the Plains Native Americans or Eurasian Steppe Nomads is not merely a lie, but it is an irresponsible lie that can do real harm to real people in the real world. And that irresponsible lie has been accepted by Martin’s fans; he has done a grave disservice to his own fans by lying to them in this way. And of course the worst of it is that the lie – backed by the vast apparatus that is HBO prestige television – will have more reach and more enduring influence than this or any number of historical ‘debunking’ essays. It will befuddle the valiant efforts of teachers in their classrooms (and yes, I frequently encounter students hindered by bad pop-pseudo-history they believe to be true; it is often devilishly hard to get students to leave those preconceptions behind), it will plague efforts to educate the public about these cultures of their histories. And it will probably, in the long run, hurt the real descendants of nomads.

Which just. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. Y'all know how deeply concerned I am a. with the outsize influence the entertainment industry has on memory; and b. how little that industry gives a shit about responsible use of its own power. So like, this is my shit. I'm still exploring this blog and it is a TREASURE TROVE.

*I do not include myself in that grouping. My thoughts are like: BUT WHICH ONES ARE THE JEWS DANY IS MY UNPROBLEMATIC QWEEN/AZOR AHAI/PRINCE THAT WAS PROMISED/STALLION THAT'S GONNA MOUNT THE WORLD/ETC I CAN'T WAIT TIL SANSA SHOWS HERSELF IS DANY GONNA BURN IT ALL DOWN AND EMERGE FROM THE FLAMES LIKE THAT ELMO GIF IS ARYA GOING TO RIDE A WOLF WOW I DON'T CARE ABOUT BRAN I THINK THE RHOYNAR ARE THE JEWS WHERE IS THE GODDAMN FUCKING WINDS OF WINTER

**Also, I never watched more than 2 episodes of the show. I hated how it added in sexual violence and nudity for no reason when there was already PLENTY of that in the text, most of it with narrative purpose. But then I read the books because it was 2012 and I wanted to keep up with pop culture.

[pterodactylterrace]

*less than two months ago*

Beloved? You sure about that Condal? Just… forgot about the mass murder at the coronation? Never happened? Not one of those small folk remembered when she killed hundreds of them for absolutely no reason other than to stare at Aegon and then fly off?

If you were going for a more realistic reaction, they would have been cheering that the dragon and dragon rider that slaughtered so many of them answered for their crimes.

So, according to Condal, hanging a dozen rat catchers (I believe?) to ensure no other assassination attempts befell the royal family would turn all the small folk against Aegon, but the dragon that killed HUNDREDS of them was “beloved”? Did Aegon not meet the quota for small folk slaughter to be beloved or something? Is that it? You have to kill at least 200 before they go from hating you to loving you?

Someone get Condal’s dumbass out of the writing room. Let like 3 hardcore fans take his place. One TB, one TG, one Team Smallfolk. They will make a MUCH better and balanced show. And maybe something interesting will happen. I mean, do we really need five episodes of Rhaenyra’s council not listening? And huge chunks of those episodes just being a bunch of old men squabbling about “women can’t!” While Rhaenyra continues doing fuck all but getting upset about it?

Jesus, show us Aemond decimating the blockade with Vhagar now that Meleys’ patrolling isn’t an issue. Show us Sunfyre’s wounds and the men left to guard him! FFS, stop just standing around talking about what they should do and actually DO something already! Fuck, after Jaehaerys assassination why didn’t they all jump on their dragons and just burn down Dragonstone in the middle of the night? Riders without their dragons are just people. Dragon fire can cook them through the stone walls (see Harrenhal) but nooooooo. Just have a bunch of scenes of people blaming each other and doing nothing about it. Super compelling TV.

Season 1 I rewatched several times because there was usually something going on. Season 2, I was able to catch husband up on the entire season in under two minutes. “Aegon wants to be a good king, his son gets killed by assassins, Rhaenyra grieves the loss of her son, Daemon left for Harrenhal after Rhaenyra found out he sent the assassins. Cole leads an army through the crown lands, sets a trap at Rook’s Rest, Aegon drunkenly interferes and ends up getting roasted by Vhagar. Aemond is now regent.” Tada, five episodes summed up. Hit all the major plot points. Most of which weren’t even impactful.

The only two major events have been B&C and RR. We are over halfway through the season, and we have had less action and interesting things happening than the last three episodes of season 1.

We were promised all out war. Is the all out war in the room with us?

[android-and-ale]

My Philon Awards Spirk Fic and Art Recs (Updated)

EDIT: Updated to include art links! Scroll down to feast your eyes!

It's Philon Awards Season! I'm going through my bookmarks trying to decide how to narrow down the many, MANY amazing fics and art I've voraciously consumed.

If you're not deep in the fandom you might not have heard of the awards. They're given at KisCon, the annual Kirk/Spock convention in Seattle. However, they're open to nomination and voting by anyone who enjoys Spirk, no convention membership required!

Click Here for a link where you can learn all about the categories and access the anonymous google form to nominate your favorites. You don't have to attend the con to vote. It's open to all Spirk loving fans!

I've assembled my own short list below. It doesn't begin to cover all the great fics published in the last year, and for some of these writers narrowing it down to only a couple nominations each was incredibly hard! (For the official nominations ballot, you can only chose a max of 3.)

Whether or not any thing below makes it onto your personal nominations lists, please check them out. This has been a great year in the fandom!

Short Fic (under 10K):

Lost and Found in Translation by @indeedcaptain

How to Win Plants and Influence Lizards by @indeedcaptain

We Need Disposable Towels In The Gym by @affixjoy

Baby It's Cold Outside by ChancelorGriffen/SpaceIsGay

Here We Go Again Again Again Again Again Again Again Again (Again Again) by @flippyspoon

Melting Snow, Sweat, and Other Dripping Fluids by CampySpaceSlime

Long Fic (10K - 50K):

The Yeomen of the Garden by @cicaklah

Get Some by @flippyspoon

Please Don't Take Him Just Because You Can by ChancelorGriffen/SpaceIsGay

Way from Within by @gunstreet

Sugar In Your Hand by @werewolves-are-real

Don't You Know Me by @strangenewwords

Hurt by @therebewhaleshere

Novels (over 50K):

The Exiles by @jennelikejennay

The Recitation of Names by @jennelikejennay

Regulatory Relations by @indeedcaptain

(note: the author says RR will be complete before the end of the nomination period)

Mol-Kur by @uhuraprime

Of Trees And Telepathy by StupidCat

Traditional Art:

Untitled Nude Spock in Pencil by Florian/spirk-ny-love

The Ritual by Purple Enma

The Birth of Adam As Spirk by garneneva

A Piece of the Action by red-cicada

Untitled Spock as a Satyr by USS Genderprise

Untitled Pencil Screenshot Redraw by catloverkid00

Digital Art:

Captain's Gambit by Lorvee

Vulcan's Forge by CelestialVoyeur

Video of "Birdhouse in your soul" with Spirk art they drew by Knifecat111

Untitled Amok Time Portrait by Gensho

This Time In Front of the Klingons by Honey Ginsen

Untitled Shore Leave Gift by Eldar-of-Zemlya

A Barrier by iskander-tm

Kill Your Captain by asyncamestel

Untitled Plato's Stepchildren Art by daekiyu

Untitled Pride Month Pinky Kiss by who-i-am-is-who-i-am

(I might have to roll a D10 to pick my favorite art for the official nomination form. It's been such a good year, and so much stuff scrolls past with only a few seconds of appreciation. Treat yourself to another look!)

Shameless Self Recs (both fics under 10K):

And Filled With Tomorrows by me

Replicator Roulette by me

If you're looking for some great new fic, please read the back catalog of FlippySpoon, Moreta1848, IndeedCaptain, Gunstreet, SpaceIsGay, and the entire One Man series by Cicak. It's all so good! (All links take you to their AO3.)

THESE RECS ARE BY NO MEANS COMPREHENSIVE!

This has been a bumper year for Spirk! I'm about to write a follow up post with stats, but FWIW, based on AO3 posts, this is the most active the fandom has been in over a decade! 2024 is the year we feast!

[nieded]

I knew nothing about F1 until I read Sit Tight, Take Hold this year. Now I’m sad that Daniel Ricciaddo is retiring, and I’m dying to talk about it with F1 fans I know in real life. But I can’t because I don’t know how to explain that I like Daniel primarily because he was the teammate of a fictional driver in a gay fanfic based on a TV show they’ve probably never heard of like WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN

hello!

i'm honestly unwell about danny right now. i waited a bit to respond to this ask because i have been really struggling this weekend.

danny hasn't been performing up to par lately, but the way everything has been handled is so absurd and crazy. two months ago, people were talking about him being guaranteed that red bull seat. then suddenly it was 'liam lawson to replace him in 2025,' and within a week it turned into, 'he's fired after singapore.'

nobody actually knows if he's done or not. it may be likely, but rbr refuse to confirm or deny, just saying they have to look at their options. and we don't know actually know if anyone has told danny anything, but he basically found out from journalists that it was going to be his 'last weekend.'

so, there was no official goodbye. and zak brown is being shitty about him taking fastest lap (danny now holds the fastest lap record at singapore, btw. in a vcarb. how's that for getting fired?), and i have spent a good chunk of the weekend crying.

i love this sport in some ways, but there's a lot to hate or dislike. anytime i see someone say they now subscribe to f1tv because of #rr, i cringe because the governing body of the fia and liberty media does not deserve your money. #rr is the way it is because there's a lot i hate about reality, and i wanted to make it better, even if it was just fiction.

danny has been an ambassador for f1, and he's largely the reason why f1 has so many new fans over the years. with 257 races under his belt, he is now in the top ten of f1 drivers with the most race starts. he's won eight grand prixs when many drivers hope to win even just one. his decision-making has been questionable when it comes to career moves, but he has always been one of the most respected and respectful drivers on the grid. if this is the end, then i hope he takes some time off to heal, and then he can go on and do other great things. race elsewhere or focus more on his vineyard or start a farm or sleep in until noon. whatever the fuck he wants.

personally, i would like danny to come do indycar in the states because then i could actually afford to watch him race, but even this weekend he said that indy still scares him.

but i think we should be paying attention to how this is being handled because danny is in the crossfire, but he's not the real problem. the pr nightmare that is this dumpster fire of a weekend is symptomatic of a greater collapse at red bull. they have lost several key team members (another one was announced today) admist a power struggle within the organization, and it could very well be that no one knows if danny is staying or not publically because nobody knows internally either. even vcarb's team principal does not know, which is why they did a big send off for him post-race just in case.

rbr just lost the lead on the constructors championship and max might very well lose the drivers championship. christian horner was caught in a sex scandal, and their junior driver director spouts off horrifically racist shit all day long and loves to shit stir. helmut marko is probably the reason why yuki is not getting promoted to red bull racing despite outscoring danny this season and being on the junior team for four seasons, yet marko also will not release yuki from his contract. last year, yuki tried to find another seat for 2024 and rb blocked it. and with all the other bullshit about censorship this year and poor performance of red bull's car, max is even talking about retiring.

it's a mess right now and dr3 is a teeny tiny piece of this. this mismanagement of danny's retirement is just the biggest red flag we've seen all season (which is incredible because there have been so many red flags).

so yeah.