#sorry if this is preachy or pedantic

[fogwitchoftheevermore]

thank you for this! genuinely very interesting info about the search function here, i don't totally get everything about ao3 sometimes, lol.

when i referred to incorrectly wrangled tags here, i meant that i was finding fics that were, on the fic itself, tagged as / (for example, ImpulseSV/ZombieCleo), and when i clicked on the / tag, it directed me to the & tag. idk exactly how wrangling platonic versus romantic fics and tags work, but i did know you couldn't change fics that were, on their own, incorrect, so i was referring to things that were tagged differently but sorted together.

when doing this and the empires one, i found three tags that had this happening. those tags being impulse and cleo's / and & tags, impulse and martyn's / and & tags, and pix and xornoth's / and & tags (tumblr won't let me link the tag for some reason) if you wanna look for yourself at what i mean (idk if my explanation was all that clear). but overall, thank you for all this info! glad i caught a wrangler's attention with this, lol.

Have you ever wondered what shipping statistics look like for the Life Series on AO3? God I sure hope you have, cause this took ages!

As stated in the introduction slide, this project is inspired by @docmlm77 's Hermitshipping 2022 project from December! i had a lot of fun doing this so i may come back to it at the end of the year to see how things change, we'll see! and keep an eye out for the empiresshipping version, which i'll be posting soon!

A link to the full spreadsheet will be in the reblogs.

(transcripts for each slide will be in the alt text on each image!)

[the-faultofdaedalus]

re the Are Figs Vegan thing, for me, personally (other vegans may differ), veganism is about avoiding/minimising the _exploitation_ of animals, of seeing them and using them as a material resource or means to an end, rather than a sentient being.

So honey, again, FOR ME, and many vegans do differ on this, isn't vegan, because honey bees are seen as a commercial resource and bee keepers keep them for their honey. (I will accept that some people see the bees as their equals and maybe that honey is vegan, but that's not the honey that I have available to me!)

With figs, the fig is the commercial product. The wasps aren't being farmed, they're just living their best wasp life (or death).

you could, and some people do, then argue that most commercial fruit crops are pollinated by commercial honey bees, which absolutely is exploiting the animals. And generally people say this as a bit of a "gotcha, nothing's vegan so why don't you eat steak" but I see it more as a huge indictment of the system that we live in and an incentive to continue to live my ethics as much as I can, even imperfectly.

Sorry that was long, and perhaps a bit preachy, but it's an interesting question I think. Everything we do causes some effect somewhere, noone can be "perfect" or "pure" and you have to consider intent, and what is actually possible, as well as ideals.

Thanks for making me think about it all!

oh, yeah, i personally am not trying to say what is and is not vegan, especially because. i'm not vegan, but i'm interested in other people's opinions because i think it's an interesting bit of ecology and an interesting bit of semantics. partially i am just a pedantic nerd, and i think it's interesting to see where people think lines for certian decisions are drawn.

(imho the only unethical thing about bee keeping is that in north america, domesticated honeybees are not native and do out-compete native bee species. the honey bees themselves are... they're fine. they can leave. extremely unionized insects. but that's not the opinion some people have and that's fine)

also. to be honest. to be completely honest.

it's mostly an excuse to make more people learn about the fig wasp situation

[two-sapphics-reading]

Hello from Kate!

Hi there! I'm Kate, one half of two-sapphics-reading. I'm a playwright and novelist who writes about women and bisexuals (especially bisexual women) in all their various, wondrous, magical forms. I'm also an actress, daydreamer, voracious reader, introvert, klutz, dog-lover, and overuser of tape. Besides reading, I'm a big fan of Broadway musicals, Taylor Swift, the color yellow, sushi, plaid flannels, the bi pride flag, and coffee in all its forms. Speaking of coffee, the coffee cup is my symbol, so when you see posts marked with this ☕, that means I'm writing!

(Oh, and I have two adorable dogs. I love them with my whole heart, and you should too.)

(^ Penny and Scout!)

So who am I as a reader?

Favorite Genres: YA, Romance, Fantasy, Contemporary, Mystery, and Plays

Favorite Books: Anything by Becky Albertalli, The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, Nimona by ND Stevenson, Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher, Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzalez, One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, and Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas.

What I Love to Re-Read (besides my favorites!): The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill, and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Favorite Themes & Tropes: Found family, time travel, writer characters, coffee shop and bookstore and theater settings, magic in the real world, friends to lovers, slow burn romances, mutual pining, well-written banter, dialogue dialogue dialogue, sunny/grumpy dynamics, golden retriever boys, fiercely-protective-I-would-kill-for-you girls, lovers in denial, retellings, heists and lovable criminals, witches and ghosts and other Halloween-y vibes.

What Gives Me the "Reading Ick:" The dog dying, insta-love, "I can change them," excusing toxic/abusive behavior, emotionally unavailable men, boring/self-absorbed protagonists, cheating, biphobia, excusing discrimination of any kind, pedantic/preachy writing, toxic masculinity, girls hating on girls for no reason.

Last Book I Read: Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni (bisexual Armenian rep!)

Currently Reading:

Astrid Parker Doesn't Fall by Ashley Herring Blake (a gift from Liv!)

Orpheus Girl by Brynne Rebele-Henry

Beach Read by Emily Henry

I'm the Girl by Courtney Summers

Reviews to come soon . . . Until then, drop a comment with what you're currently reading!

Talk soon! :)

(^ picture from @hellosunnycore's TOON ME! Piccrew)

[simkjrs]

Hi! Just a quick writing question. How do you keep au versions of canon characters from feeling like OCs and vice versa? I've been trying to write an OC fic but lately I've been wondering if it might work better as an au Izuku fic. I ask you because your fics always seen so in character even tho you have one where Izuku is like a distortion in the fabric of reality or something. that's one's really neat by the way.

for me, when considering au versions of a character, it basically comes down to: (1) what fundamental characteristics stay, regardless of change? (2) how are their beliefs and their inner world shaped by their alternate circumstances?

let’s consider the case for izuku. for question no. 1, i’d say that some facets of his personality that stay regardless of the universe are:

his tendency to fixate on a subject/topic of interest, which often becomes a driving passion as well. mostly: he’s a nerd who will write, color code, and organize 13 notebooks on heroism if that’s what interests him. although his interests may change between universes, how he engages with them does not.

his tendency to avoid or escape from his own problems, even though he knows he shouldn’t

tendency to devalue himself (this is usually tied to the years of bullying & abuse he suffered at bakugou’s hands)

alarming proclivity to go “self harm is okay then?” and do something extremely inadvisable for himself in pursuit of a goal (which is, more often than not, helping someone else)

this is because izuku considers his health and well-being as a tool he has to be used in pursuit of a goal, rather than a goal in and of itself

quick thinking and analysis, as well as some sarcastic quips if he feels comfortable at the time

loves his friends and family, would do just about anything for them

an unshakeable conviction and impulse to act when concerning his beliefs. he may be nervous, afraid, unwilling, etc. in any other situation or when it comes to protecting himself; but put him in a situation where someone is out of line with his beliefs, and he will act. (i.e. in canon, compare izuku’s normal demeanor with when he yells at todo/roki and i/nasa to get over themselves and get a-heroing. top 10 anime scenes)

so then we have a very good idea of the skeleton of izuku’s personality. we then flesh it out with changes rendered by an au, and consider question (2). 

example #1: in byggualom, izuku still fixates on heroism, so he is still knowledgable about heroes, their laws and history, etc. however, in this au, his passion also leads him to start considering all the flaws that exist within the industry. 

izuku wants to be a hero. in this au, this ambition leads izuku to actually take action – training himself to the point of absurdity, which leads to his strength. then, he finds he has the capability to help others. one of izuku’s strongly held beliefs is that if someone needs help, then you should help. therefore: izuku takes up vigilantism because he’s there, and he can help. he also blames himself for instances when he can’t help everyone the way he wants to, because he’s trained and he can fight and he should be able to do better! he shouldn’t need to burden anyone else with his problems! then we can see how izuku’s fighting prowess and insecurity can coexist, and in fact, are even related.

izuku’s “self harm is ok then?” tendency in this au changes his relationship with bakugou; bakugou fights him, punches him, etc. etc. and izuku goes, “well, it doesn’t hurt me anymore, so it’s okay!” and if bakugou says something hurtful every now and then, well, it’s just words. so izuku suppresses the hurt, anger, and occasional antipathy he feels for bakugou abusing him, and goes out of his way not to think about it. so here we have an internal character arc in the making.

example #2: black dirt under your feet, with afo!izuku. being abused by all for one for the better part of his life, izuku doesn’t have a lot of interests of his own, and in fact actively hides them. however, his analysis & ability to organize information makes him effective at carrying out the missions/tasks he is assigned. 

we know that all for one has been trying to shape izuku into a tool, but izuku manages to hang onto himself because a) his fixation on heroes, and admiration for how they helped others, from before he was taken; b) his core beliefs, i.e. villainy is bad. 

we also know that izuku, in order to survive, has suppressed these facets of himself and molded himself to afo’s expectations until he could plot a way to kill afo. but in order to do this, he had to do things that go against his moral code. izuku, then, is going to carry a lot of guilt and self-hatred, and probably has passive self-harm tendencies in that he lets himself get hurt even though he probably could have avoided it. he also makes his plan to kill afo, fully believing he would be dead afterwards. 

being raised into the villain alliance, izuku has had to learn to lie convincingly, to act, etc. the trauma he’s suffered under afo has also made him taciturn, wary, and mistrustful. he plays his cards close to his chest and will manipulate the people around him to meet his goals – this is what he was taught to do, after all. but some things don’t change, which is that izuku wants to do right. things can be extrapolated from there. 

example #3: with my spirit academia, i ask myself what experiences he went through as a child, and what kind of beliefs they installed in him. for example: did he try and tell others about the spirits, what kind of reaction did he receive? if it was repeated disbelief, then wouldn’t izuku learn that he has to keep that to himself? being unable to share such a large part of his world, wouldn’t izuku be unable to relate as well to the people around him? 

we have a premise, that izuku “should not exist” (for reasons i have yet to disclose), and that the spirits alternately fear him and revile him – except when they’re taking advantage of his skills. how would this treatment affect a young child? i’ll not write more on this but feel free to take a guess. 

so that’s roughly my process for understanding au versions of different characters, so that they are in character but still reflect the changes of my universe. 

i think the difference between an oc and an au version of character really comes down to... what are their fundamental characteristics? if your au character doesn’t share the same fundamentals as their canon counterpart, they’ll come across as ooc. if your oc shares the fundamentals of a canon character, then they could operate as an au version of said character. 

if you want to make sure your oc doesn’t overlap with a canon character, then i’d challenge you to figure out your oc’s fundamental  characteristics, how their personality was then informed by the environment they grew up in, and how that changes their relationships to others. 

hope this helps!

[nekropsii]

sorry to harp on this!! i know kankri was based a lot on tumblr sjws in the early 2010s, and a lot of people identified as aroace at that time, so i can see how it would be relevant. but… he’s celibate? not aroace? i always thought it was more about him being linked to religion (the Irons necklace and such) or as a chirst figure of sorts himself? idk idr too much about kankri but if you wouldn’t mind shedding some light on how his canon character is offensive to aroace people i’d appreciate it ^^

(Including this anon as well as to not leave them out. Thank you both for your interest!!)

I wouldn’t say you’re harping, just asking a genuinely valid question. Questions are always welcome.

I’d like to first clarify that my point was not that Kankri’s character is offensive to AroAce people- it was that his Celibacy was set up in a way that’s meant to have overlap with/be analogous to his textual AroAcehood. Which, yes, is actually a thing:

I’m not denying that his character is offensive to AroAce people. It, in fact, very much so is, speaking as an AroAce person, but the focal point of my argument was that his Celibacy was set up to also be a shot at AroAces. Technically the same argument, but tackled from slightly different angles. One is addressing the real-world effects of the writing, the other is addressing authorial intent. As always, I am pedantic.

The reason this is a- as much as I loathe to use this word- problematic analogy within this specific context is because Kankri’s Celibacy is clearly defined as a choice that he made that he is bad at mentally and emotionally committing to. It adds a whole new layer of upset to his extremely creepy, almost stalker-ish behavior towards Latula. Hussie seems to view AroAces as nothing more than sexually repressed closet creeps that are actually secretly AmatoAllo.

It’s practically physically impossible to argue against the notion that Kankri’s Religiosity is deeply and purposefully intertwined with his status as a Tumblr Parody. The setup is actually pretty clever- if you lean too hard in either direction, it’s a failed reading. Yes, his religious theming is backed by the fact that he is a Pre-Scratch iteration of The Sufferer, but when you take a step back… Not only is it a very literal approach to the fact that Online Political Discourse in that era specifically was known for being “preachy,” but it’s also a pretty clever nod to the idea of a Savior Complex.

His Discoursing is tied to the image of a Sermon, his need to police people to maximize comfortability is tied to a Savior Complex, which is tied to the fact that he is The Signless, his Celibacy is tied to his AroAcehood. Simple equation. If all of his Religious Language and Imagery is also simultaneously tied to him being a Tumblr Parody, then his state of being Celibate- a Religious Practice- and his state of being on the AroAce spectrum- at the time seen as a confusing, Tumblr-specific label- are… You know, more likely than not also connected. It makes significantly more sense if it is- I find no plausible reasoning why that would not have been Hussie’s intention if that’s exactly what they did with so many other details in Kankri’s character.

[bookofmirth]

Hiiiiii, I saw Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng on one of your book rec posts, and I've just finished reading the book. It is giving me a LOT of feelings. I suppose it's meant to be open ended but I'm just stuck in suspense and I wish there was a sequel. What happened to Izzy? Did she find Mia and Pearl? This book sompletely gripped me and I loved the characters too. The best part was Mia's photographs at the end, and tOOTHPICK DAY, MY GOD, that was pure perfection. I know it must be 1/2

2/2 weird to hear someone rambling about a book you read a long time ago, but I had to ramble at someone. Thank you so much for the recommendation. Sorry if the formatting of this post is extremely weird, I still don’t know how to continue an anon message.

I love hearing that someone loved one of my book recommendations! Every time someone messages me I get excited because I was able to share the joy. :) I own her other book and I haven’t read it yet, but I’m sure I’ll love it too - she has such a way of packing so much meaning and heart into concise prose that still manages to be beautiful. And also she touches on all of these sensitive topics with such attention to detail without being pedantic or preachy about it. I’ll buy anything she publishes. 

(Also I’m assuming she did find them, I got a hopeful feeling from the end of the book, and Celeste couldn’t do that to us!)

Also PS you did fine with the asks, I have to format them like this to post if it’s more than one, but as long as I know it’s still the same person it’s fine!

[apexart-journal]

Casey Smith in Kampala: The Practice of Everyday Life

This journal entry is not about particular events or activities; it’s about the seemingly little things, such as walking, navigating traffic as a pedestrian, cooking/eating/drinking, buying food at the market or grocery store, interacting with strangers, etc. These are things we do everyday. I do them in Wlimington, Delaware, in Washington, DC, and in Kampala, Uganda. Wherever you are, dear reader, you do these things also. 

I’ve borrowed or stolen my subtitle to this entry from the French socio-cultural theorist and Jesuit, Michel de Certau, the author of “The Practice of Everyday Life.” I brought my copy with me, thinking that I would re-read the entire work. Of course, I’ve only re-read the introduction. De Certau wanted to re-orient cultural studies toward consideration of users and consumers, rather than makers and producers. He wasn’t interested in the exceptional case, the heroic individual, or the unique instance. As his title clearly states, he wanted to understand better the quotidian experiences that have been hidden, buried or thought unworthy of examination. The vast majority of people never get to tell their stories, or rather, the stories they tell never radiate outside of their immediate circle of family and friends.  

I attended a Jesuit high school in Indianapolis, so de Certau’s approach feels familiar. This entry is starting to feel pedantic and preachy, so I’ll cut to the proverbial chase. 

Walking is a challenge in Kampala. You have to have 360 degree vision. If a motorbike isn’t on your ass, it will be in a matter of seconds. Every fifteen or twenty seconds a boda-boda driver will sidle up to you (especially if you’re a Mzungu, i.e. non-African tourist) and say, “Boss.” Sometimes this is done only with eyes, no voice. It’s always friendly. If I put my hand out with the palm down and give a slight shake of my head to the side, that means, “No thanks” and life moves on. It’s very fluid. The boda-boda drivers know that Western tourists are cash cows. We won’t object to inflated charges, because the difference is negligible to us. If I pay a dollar and a quarter USD (roughly 4,000 Ugandan shillings) for a ride across the city, that’s ok with me. Most Ugandans think this is craziness. Mathias would maybe pay 1,000 shillings for the same trip, about 35 cents. I know that negotiating prices is common in most cultures. But, more likely, Mathias wouldn’t pay the fare; he would choose to walk. Taking a boda-boda is kind of a luxury for most Kampalans. Everybody walks everywhere.

To be honest, I don’t feel like I’m being taken advantage of when I get up-charged. I lack the local knowledge that regulates such things. This is part of the system I also remember how baffling sales tax and tipping is for internationals visiting America. Even though the prices are clearly marked, you’re asked for an additional sum (tax) and expected to know the custom of tipping. I had a friend visiting from Germany once. When he took me out for dinner he refused to tip the server, saying it was a stupid custom. When we got on the street, I pretended that I left my sunglasses on the table and left the requisite 20%.  

Transit, how people move about, has probably been the most eye-opening difference between life in an American city such as Washington, DC, and Kampala. I will never again complain about traffic on I-95 or the relative squalor of the Chinatown bus to NY. Our “problems” are so minor. 

The tactics that people in Kampala use to navigate everyday life are different, because they need to adapt to the conditions on the ground.  When Mathias came to NYC as an apexart Fellow in 2014, he experienced similar dislocations. If you’ve never seen a microwave oven, a television remote control, or a subway system, how do you navigate? You adapt, you learn, you follow, you improvise. 

Below are some transit-based photos from central Kampala and the area around my apartment on Mawanda Road. They cast a pale shadow of the manic kinetic movement on the streets and sidewalks, but they might give an idea of street life. Look both ways, look again. and one more time.

It turns out that this entry is already too long, so I don’t have time or space to write about other aspects of everyday life Kampala. Transit and movement is enough. 

Kareem Abdul Jabbar wrote in one of his many books that it’s never cool to run across a street. I don’t think he’s spent much time in Kampala. Everybody runs/jogs when crossing a street. You don’t really have the option to saunter across. The images below are a kind of visual-poem dedicated to the intrepid drivers, boda-boda (motorbike) riders and passengers, and pedestrians of Kampala. 

I took one of these taxis (above) back from Jinja. There were 17 people jammed in. The driver was like a character from “Mad Max”. I had a long conversation with Jesus, telling him that I’m sorry for my negligence and to please help me to arrive safely in Kampala. 

This boda driver was hilarious. He had a megaphone and flashing light attached to his helmet. I’ve seen pretty much everything strapped to the back of a boda, including a queen-sized mattress. 

Green (flora) and orange (soil and ground) are the predominant colors of Kampala. The “Safe Boda-Boda” drivers wear orange vests and orange helmets. They are everywhere.