#tbh i don't often listen by artist

[musicrunsthroughmysoul]

Fans can be so funny sometimes. (Myself included.)

[filmnoirsbian]

I'm not necessarily a punk gatekeeper like idrc abt "sell out" accusations bc tbh I like when artists I like get paid and expand their audiences and I'm a green day fan so yk but even at their most sell out they were putting out shit like american idiot so it's not like they weren't still politically punk. And I don't even think you can't necessarily be privileged and still make good punk music (again, go listen to willow smith's recent stuff both her solo albums and as the anxiety it's great) but as a huge fan of the baltimore and dc hxc scene it's just like ok. So what's the point? Punk sounds like garbage to people who don't like it because punks cared more about getting their message across than making shit that might get radio airplay. They were fucking angry about the state of things and they made music for people who were also angry about it, and so often there was no crossover appeal. Remember when bad brains got fucking banned from dc bc their shows went so hard? If you want to make music with a punk-sounding influence that isn't necessarily political that's fine, that's how we got pop punk and the alt scene, all those "I hate my town" bands, the blink 182s and avril lavignes of the world, but there's a reason it's called pop punk and not just punk. Avril wasn't called the punk princess ever bc people knew that'd sound fucking ridiculous. She was the pop punk princess. I'm not saying that punk songs and bands can't become mainstream or popular, green day won fucking grammies, the clash and the sex pistols etc all got their big paydays. Which is why the hxc (and other early punk subgroups like riot grrrl etc) scene erupted at all; they felt like the big punk names weren't going hard enough anymore, and in a lot of ways they were right but that's sort of the nature of music, eventually audiences get bored or radio stations and studio execs want to discover the new big thing and then what was outsider music becomes mainstream and then those outsider fans decide those bands have sold out and look for something still outside/something harder which won't so easily be sold to the general public, rinse repeat. But I AM saying that if you're going to try to call your music punk, I better see you in the fucking pit.

[die-die-mydarling-xx]

Hi! I would like to see the slashers as parents. especially Vincent^^

Slashers as Parents

SFW, GN! Reader

In this post: Vincent Sinclair, Bo Sinclair, Lester Sinclair, Thomas Hewitt, Bubba Sawyer

Vincent Sinclair

I don't think he necessarily thought that much about him having kids

It probably was your idea to bring up the possibility of the two of you having kids, but he finds he really enjoys being a father in ways he didn't expect

Loves having your kid(s) sit on his lap or nearby as he works on his sculptures

But he would of course be very careful not to let them around hazardous areas of his workshop

He would be so proud if they pursued any artistic hobbies, but he'd be especially excited if they followed in his own footsteps and did any wax sculpting

Bo Sinclair

Definitely something he's thought about before, but with the way his life went, he didn't expect it to be a reality for him

So he's immediately in when you bring up having kids

He'd be really active with them, playing catch or hide and seek or whatever they wanted

Once they're old enough he'd definitely start teaching them how to fix up cars!

Will read them bedtime stories but hates anyone else seeing him do it lol

Lester Sinclair

Secretly he's always dreamed about leaving Ambrose behind and having a normal family of his own

He won't, of course, he's too loyal to his brothers. He's just the least involved in all the murder and he often worries what would happen if they were caught

Regardless he'd be so excited if you brought up the idea of starting a family!

He's definitely a very hands-on parent, like Bo he's going to be playing catch or any other games the kid(s) want to play

Loves going on walks through the forest with you, Jonesy, and your kid(s)

100% reads them bedtime stories and does voices while reading

Thomas Hewitt

Definitely has wanted to start a family of his own for awhile!

And probably would love multiple kids as well

Would be so sweet and gentle with them, he wouldn't want them anywhere near his workshop where they could potentially get hurt

At the same time, he's going on a rampage if anyone ever makes fun of them . . . he knows exactly what that's like and would hate for his kids to experience that

Would love laying with you and listening to your voice if you read to them!

Bubba Sawyer

Also has definitely thought about it before and would be ecstatic when you bring up having kids

I think he'd be a bit of an anxious parent, always following the kid(s) around and making sure they're okay

He'd also be super indulgent, he'd let them walk all over him if you're not careful!

So you'll probably have to be the voice of reason lol

Like Thomas he loves listening to you if you read to your kid(s)

Hope you like it!! I wanted to add Brahms as well but I can't really picture him as a parent tbh 😶

If you're not able to have kids yourself we can say they're adopted from a victim or something lol

[ping-ski]

Hewwo, hope you are having a lovely day! :3 For the Artist Ask meme questions, what is your favourite music to draw to, your go-to things to draw for comfort and do you little warmup sketches before drawing? Thank you and have a wonderful rest of the weekend!!

hi ama!! :3 thank you and i hope your day + weekend is lovely too!! <3 (now to the questions, sorry for the yappage lol)

🎼 Your favorite music to draw to right now? ooo how fun!! i got 2 other anons asking this too haha! i love music and i'm also a (hobbyist) musician myself so... usually the music while i draw is dependent on the mood/intention/character i have with the piece! (silly art = silly music etc.) often times i'll loop a song for DAYS just to keep up the "vibe" cause i don't have a go-to favorite when i draw! otherwise i just listen to whatever comes to mind in the moment! but yeah right now (while i draw DCA au stuff), i'm listening to Willow Smith's "empathogen" album & yaelokre's "Hayfields" because i adore that project and it's fun to sing along with!

🐻 Your go-to things to draw when you need comfort? hmm... my go-to comfort to draw is almost always whatever my current hyperfixation is! which is primarily DCA right now! outside of that (tho i'd probably have art block tbh), it's usually drawing myself in varying styles or (if i pull them out of the basement) my OCs. i'm a fanartist at heart, so drawing original stuff sometimes feels alien to me haha! i need a fictional muse to fuel the art lmao

☕ Do you do warmup sketches before drawing? (Bonus: do you have any to share?) actually- no i don't! i don't really "warmup" at all because it ALWAYS ends up being a sketch i post or end up as a finished piece! (i feel like this would make more sense if you watch me draw live ig/posted a speedpaint? maybe for art requests and commissions, but i can't recall tbh.) before digital art, i always drew with a PEN or CRAYON cause that's the most sensory friendly option for me. (it doesn't make a lot of scratchy noises like markers and pencils) so i unintentionally trained my muscle memory and myself to draw whatever comes to mind because every stroke was (literally) permanent + i tried to draw fast and loose cause i hate the feeling of paper. it gives me the strongest, most volatile, and intense visceral ICK. when i draw, i always draw with intention otherwise i'm probably not drawing at all! (this is also why i'll go on streaks of posting often then disappearing) idk my vision is usually clear, even for sketches and the muscle memory does its job! im too lazy to do actual "warmups" tbh. anyways, it's not a warmup sketch per say but i here's a random wips i have !! :3 (it's all LDR, but the last two images are from a separate wip!)

[scp230kinnie]

pls do music tastes for stardew valley bachelors🙏🙏

- someone you definitely don't know

Before we begin I want everyone to know I did see the requests for other fics/hcs and I’m working on them but it has been a little hard cuz of exams 😭 will have them finished as soon is I can

I love shartstew valley omg 😻😻

I definitely don’t know you or anything 😻💪

May I introduce to you all

STARDEW VALLEY BACHELORS MUSIC TASTE HEADCANONS

Characters: Alex, Elliott, Harvey, Sam, Sebastian, Shane

Warnings: cringe

Alex

Modern music

Not Harry styles or anything I think he would hate him

He probably listens to imagine dragons and rap music

He secretly listens to country music

His favorite songs are believer by imagine dragons and high hopes by panic! At the disco

He probably listens to pierce the veil secretly tbh

Emo music is his guilty pleasure

He listens to Eminem while he works out

He also probably doesn’t listen to music very often

Elliott

So obvious but classical music

Like if it has piano or violin he loves it

He also listens to opera

Like he won’t watch it but he likes hearing the voices

He has his music going when he’s writing or he’ll have it playing quietly while he does stuff in his shack

His guilty pleasure is EDM music

He swears he hates it and insists he’s a man of culture

But he does listen to EDM

Not very often tho

Harvey

I like to think he doesn’t really listen to music that often

But if he were to I think he would like smooth jazz

He has it playing quietly in his little hospital sometimes along with the elevator music that’s probably playing

He also listens to 80s rock music

Not very often tho

Usually just when combing his moustache or reading

Not really music but he also likes to listen to ocean noises

Usually only when he REALLY can’t sleep

Which isn’t very often

Sam

Rock music

Of course

He also probably listens to whatever music his own band makes

His favorite artists/bands are måneskin, Paramore, Ozzy Osbourne, and Metallica

He also listens to ABBA

His all time favorite song is dancing queen

He secretly listens to KPOP

Specifically the girl groups

But he totally fanboys over Felix from SKZ

Same

It’s not really a secret because I can guarantee Sebastian knows

He also tries singing along but he doesn’t know Korean so he just says gibberish and hopes it’s close

He also likes listening to whatever openings are from his favorite shows lol

Sebastian

My one true love

Listens to emo music duh

Jk he likes metal, rock, and nu metal

His favorite bands are being me the horizon, Pierce the veil, motionless in white, evanescence, and asking Alexandria

His favorite Song is dark passenger by motionless in white

He is not open to new music

He’s the typa guy to go “come on turn on something good instead of this trash” when you’re listening to anything that’s not within his music taste

He insists his music taste is better than everyone else’s

He doesn’t say it out loud, but when he sees someone in public wearing merch from one of the bands he likes, he really wants to ask them to name 3 songs

I still love him tbh

Late night K-POP karaoke with Sam

Shane

He listens to SoundCloud rappers

He doesn’t make any but he kinda wants to

His favorite band is Green day

His favorite song is Superman by Eminem

I feel like he would put in headphones on the way to work every morning and listen to music

Aside from that I don’t really feel like he listens to music that often

His guilty pleasure is country music

Claims it’s the worst thing he ever heard but secretly shazams any songs

Probably sits in silence with his own thoughts most of the time

Okay that’s it lmk if y’all want the bachelorettes lololol

I hope you enjoy person i definitely don’t know

[dr-demi-bee]

Writing Interview Tag Game!

Thanks for the tag @lastlight-inn! 🥰

When did you start writing?

TBH, that's hard to pin down! I was drawing clumsy comics with story lines as early as 4th grade (so like 9 or 10ish?) - and I've always had a thing for telling stories. I don't think I started earnestly writing until maybe 12. But I know for sure I was writing in middle school, and was well and truly into it in high school. There was a brief once-upon-a-time I thought about going that way for a career (but I also considered being an artist or musician ha).

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

So, I find I often write a lot darker than I read. Broadly speaking, I read a lot of fantasy, sci-fi, and some non-fiction. But I write predominantly fantasy. I've dabbled in sci-fi, but I find it a lot harder (perhaps because I'm quite picky about science accuracy).

But thematically, I much prefer to read romances and lighter hearted drama. I think my writing might lean a bit darker than I typically consume (more focus on harsh/traumatic topics).

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

Ahhh this is so hard to answer. I've not had anyone really compare my work to others (at least not by name). I don't try to copy anyone's style, but I definitely am influenced by many.

If I have to pick some - Oliver Sacks, Tolkien, and GRRM.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

Well! I have several!

My main office is in an open loft in the second floor of my house - past the railings are large picture windows that look out into my woods and let in a lot of natural light. I've got an L shaped desk stocked with supplies/notebooks/snacks. It looks like the kind of organized chaos one expects with ADHD.

On the left hand is an easel for painting/drawing, and on the right hand is my dual monitor set up (slightly lofted). My space is covered in cute knickknacks and things my husband has made for me. He's a wood worker, so there's lots of cute little things - including a little ghost and a miniature zen garden. I also have an owl skull and spine. My keyboard/mouse/mat and wrist pads are all space themed, as is the desktop (not that you can ever see it.) Beside my desk is my behemoth, very colorful PC tower I built myself (named Eureka).

I also have a yoga laptop that doubles as my writing on the go platform and drawing tablet (named Epiphany). I'll take it downstairs to write on my armchair, or into one of the bedrooms for some more quiet and soft surfaces. And I also take it with me on trips. Had a nice period on vacation at the beach where I got to write in a rocking chair on the porch looking out at the ocean. Ahh... (take me back :sob:)

Very occasionally I will write on my phone. But this is mostly just for notes and short form RP sort of writing.

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

So aside from becoming obsessed with something (e.g. media or my own imagined world) usually I get my ideas via listening to music or taking a shower.

Or, inevitably, whenever I'm doing something else that doesn't give me time to write. I wrote several chapters of my novel while writing my dissertation... procrasti-writing.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

On the positive side: found family, loving through pain, helping each other to heal, platonic love.

On the less positive side: the effects of trauma, the way danger and stress hurts our bodies and our minds. Fighting through adversity and oppression. Chronic pain/conditions.

I'm not super surprised by either of these, really - they're all a big part my scientific life too. Before I left clinical practice I primarily helped individuals recover from trauma and addiction - and that involved a lot of working on finding self worth. My research was all devoted to studying stress and cognition - and I tried to pioneer new work on intrusive cognitions. I think this probably comes out heavily in my writing for fun, too.

What is your reason for writing?

Fun, mostly. Catharsis. And a bit of dissociating, I suppose. I've always just kind of had the urge to spew stories out into the world, even if it's just for me. I also write to connect with others.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

Ohhhh, any comment makes me incredibly happy. If someone says they like something specific I am over the moon. I'm especially thrilled to hear anyone connecting with or caring about my OC characters.

When another writer I really admire or respect gives me a comment or praise (like @alpydk or @sorceresssundries) my little heart feels ready to burst! Recently had the absolute delight of having friends read and react in real time to some of my work and gooood grief is that ever motivating. (@crimson-and-lavender and @lastlight-inn I'm looking at you lol)

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

I want to be approachable and interesting as a person. I hope people want to read my work or even collab.

I want my writing to be novel, engaging, and exciting. I want to subvert their expectations, but also tell them a story that's approachable and will resonate with them.

Mostly I want my writing to make others feel (good).

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

The longer I've been writing things - honestly, I think it's patience. Being willing to change ideas, move them around, or even abandon them if need be. It took a long time to be okay with those things.

How do you feel about your own writing?

Oh, we have a love hate relationship. I know I can be a bit...verbose. But I also find my own writing pretty fun and interesting. I know I've done a pretty good job if I enjoy re-reading it.

Tagging some lovely mooots with affectionate no-pressure boops: @abysskeeper, @feedthepheasants, and an open tag for any other lovelies that want to!

[shinesurge]

I, for one, would love to read your thoughts on comics vs novels.

A similar bugbear I have is the conflation or comics and animation, two mediums that are both lamentably infantilized. In my opinion we've seen this more in the past twenty years with the mainstream acceptance of anime in the US, the idea that comics are just a storyboard for animation, or just an ancillary tie in.

Utterly foolish.

Hard same about the lack of respect for animation AND viewing comics as a jumping off point for more """legitimate""" forms of art, that's a whole different conversation but UGH ughgjsldjf. Guillermo Del Toro has a lot of good stuff to say about it and he's smarter than I am hehe

ANYWAY I reserve the right to come back and write another essay on this later when I have more time and stamina but my opinion here mostly boils down to the difference between looking at a picture and reading a word, right

In prose, as an author, I have room to take time and use the EXACT words I want to communicate. Those words have definitions, and while I can already hear poets (and my fellow english majors i'm sure) complaining that words are extremely malleable and context dependent, ultimately they DO have definitions no matter what because the writer chose them.

Like, okay, Phineas is looking at Ulrich and I go, in a scene where Phineas is leading, "Ulrich's face is unreadable." It doesn't MATTER what other ways you could read that, I THE AUTHOR have indicated that the thing to take away from this is "Phineas cannot get information from Ulrich's face." Ultimately there's no other way to interpret that sentence in that context, literally just by virtue of having to describe the interaction with words that have definitions I have dictated what I want the takeaway to be. We can discuss that decision all day long, but it IS a concrete aspect that can only ever be concrete, and it must be acknowledged in any analysis; jumping to prose is WILD because I suddenly have infinitely more influence over the audience. Not an inherently bad thing! It is a feature of the medium! BUT

In a comic (IGNORING the thousand billion framing/coloring/lighting/paneling/layout decisions that could multiply the context) this scene would probably be the audience looking at two characters from the outside, with zero concrete guidance from me the author for how exactly to interpret the interaction. Every single reader who looks at those panels could find something different about the art to extrapolate different data from and ALL of their findings could be correct. Looking at their expressions could feel different to everybody, maybe she CAN read his face and still feels confused, maybe she DOES get it and is choosing not to share for reasons. Could be anything!!

And again, listen listen to me I respect prose SO so much and I am not saying at all that it isn't an equally complex and nuanced medium worth analyzing. I went to school specifically for this, almost ALL my biggest artistic influences are prose writers. This is apples and oranges don't anybody dare take this as me putting down writing as art. My point here is I am goddamn tired of comics not getting their due as an extremely complex form of art on its own from anybody anywhere, audiences or publishers or critics or (it often feels like) anyone besides us freaks who are masochistic enough to make them. It's the single most frustrating thing I've encountered in my career and I have no idea what to do about it tbh.

Tangentially, I'm also sick of people going "no totally, comics ARE art. I read Watchmen AND Sandman :)" or like, trotting out some harrowing black and white autobio. Those are fine! It's FINE, I love Sandman, but please fucking god I am begging people to consider newer comics and more varied art styles too, additional good comics HAVE been produced in the last 20 years, and also comics aren't ONLY worth something when they're either working hard to downplay the fact that they're cartoons or dealing with fully realistic heavy topics (or in Sandman's case, allowed a pass because Gaiman is a respected enough creator to be allowed to do his thing).

I'm just tired dude I love comics so much and I believe in telling stories with them that are allowed to be just as weird and varied as stories any other format. We shouldn't have to constantly justify our existence to everybody before we even get to discuss the art itself, I'm so fucking frustrated lmao

[voidc4t-fiction]

When you get this, list 5 songs you like to listen to, publish them, and send this ask to the last 10 people in your notifs

Ho boy, this is fun! Thanks for the tag! For convenience I also included links to the corresponding videos :>

Red Wine Supernova - Chappell Roan (her live performances sound SO much better than her studio recordings tbh, her voice just shines more when it's live, it's just such a powerful voice)

The Night We Met - Lord Huron (gosh I just love this song so much and I swear I've logged countless HOURS listening to it on repeat)

Wellerman - Nathan Evans ft. Santiano (another favourite! Santiano is originally a german band who I also adore and this is just soooooo good! I often catch myself just singing along randomly, bonus track: Wie Zuhause featuring that other german rapper lol)

Your Blood - AURORA (it was really hard to pick just one since she's an amazing artist and an amazing person with such a beautiful voice, seriously give her a listen! honorary mentions to 'Gentle Earthquakes', 'The Woman I Am', 'Blood in the Wine', 'All Is Soft Inside', 'Starvation' - well basically everything)

Was Weißt Du Schon - Apache 207 (more german rap/hip hop lmao, again it's his voice and fair to say the catchy beats)

bonus tracks:

Good Luck, Babe - Chappell Roan (bonus track because I don't want to include an artist twice haha)

WEISSE ZÄHNE - Alligatoah ft. Bausa (another german one, my favourite german rapper and my other favourite german rapper teamed up for the first guys' dip into a metal album, hah!)

100km/h - Bausa (another german one! I love his voice okay)

I hope someone finds as much joy from those songs as I get from them :>

[davyjoneslockr]

3, 7, and 12, mista and fugo :3

TONY UNSHADOWBANNED PARTY I know this was from a month ago but I'm gonna answer it anyhow lmfao

(For this ask game)

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

For Mista, the Trish cleavage scene. You know the one. I don't think I have to explain this much. Boy Why Did You Do That. The only good thing to come out of that scene was jaunty jigglesacks + overeager horndog insane psychic damage combo of lines in the dub.

I could take this a lot of ways for Fugo tbh. Because there's a lot of things that drive me insane about him as a person, but looking at him as a character, I LOVE that he's rash and hurts his friends and his defining character moment is him making a selfish, cowardly decision. I guess I'd say his misogyny in Purple Haze Feedback? I'm admittedly a believer that, yes, he would fucking say that, but it sucks that he would. At least he gets better by the end lol. Fugo voice I'm sorry women Sheila E is me

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

I love that Mista has been designated Beautiful Brown-Eyed Bisexual Man by literally the entire fandom. Bi Mista brings us all together. And I do like the idea that his queerness is something he discovered much more slowly, and as a direct result of the gang. Something about that really ties in with the idea of the Bucci Gang as less of a realistic gang, more akin to a drag house or similar queer pseudo-family. Credit to that concept to Fox figcookie01 btw this is one of my favorite Vento Aureo analyses ever and it really informs how I conceptualize the Bucci Gang. Anyhow.

I also really like when people actually take care to explore his character and make him a very distinct, smarter-than-he-looks, older brother-type figure. It's really interesting when people explore his spirituality, too, whatever religion that may be, because that's a pretty important part of him. AND also OCD Mista truthers who know when to treat his superstitions and compulsions with some weight I love you forever. I think he's a character that gets watered down in fanworks a lot, but when his characterization's good, it's really good. There's plenty of artists and writers that have really blown me away with their Mista (and I say this as someone who's picky about characterization lol)

With Fugo, first of all. The PHF scars. Another thing that Mandela Effected the PHF fandom, but it's so so important to me. I love you physical, tangible, blatantly visible proof that Fugo has grown as a person since the day he abandoned the gang. Awesome. I also like that people mix and match his manga/anime colors, and every artist kinda draws him in a different way.

My favorite thing is probably the Fugo-Abbacchio stepkid and stepparent/siblings/Big Goth and Baby Emo Who Secretly Looks Up To Them dynamic. It’s awesome when it’s cartoonishly antagonistic and it’s awesome when it’s actually very sweet and heartfelt. Out of all the Bucci Gang dynamic interpretations the fandom’s produced, theirs is one of my favorites <3

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

SO MANY FOR BOTH OF THEM LOL. But I’ll try to list some I don’t talk about as much.

Besides The Carpenters, Mista’s a big fan of folk, acoustic singer-songwriter pop, and soft classic R&B/gospel. Artists with really strong voices tend to catch his attention. The Mamas and the Papas, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Simon and Garfunkel, The Seekers, and Gordon Lightfoot are some of his favorites. He’s also just a big sucker for love songs in general, and the hopeless romantic in him loves old girl groups like The Ronettes and The Shirelles. He’s also very much Schrödinger’s Guy to me. Cis? Trans? Who knows. Depends on what the situation calls for (though more often trans to me as of late). He’s just Some Dude.

Fugo’s a surprisingly good singer, but he’ll rarely do it if he knows other people are listening. A lot of times, he’ll sing in the shower, or when he’s alone in the car. As he gets older, he gets less self-conscious about it, and he’ll sing around the house when he’s with Giorno, or do duets with Mista for fun. There are also very much timelines in the Vento Aureo Multiverse in my brain where Fugo’s transfem. This also tends to coincide with transfem Abbacchio timelines, so there’s another layer added to Fugo looking up to Abbacchio, and I think Giorno (always transmasc to me) is really instrumental in helping her work through things and take pride in her transness. Maybe a little bit of a self-indulgent fluffy comfort hc that helps me work though my own genderisms lol

[zannolin]

fic author q&a

tagged by @beautyofsorrow <3

why do you write fanfic?

short answer, because i love it and it makes me happy. longer answer, still that. but it makes other people happy too, sometimes, and especially as i am often writing for nicher series/pairings/dynamics/etc, i love knowing that someday if anyone else likes this obscure silly thing, they can go looking for fic about it and mine will be there waiting for them. also i am immensely unhappy when i'm not writing. i don't think i could live without it. and writing fanfic is fulfilling to me in a way that original work often is not, largely because of the community aspect and the low pressure for it to be marketable or revised or support me as a person or an artist tbh.

which of your posted stories do you think of the most even though the story is "finished"?

mmm tough call. the fey au in the sense that it's the world and plot i am proudest of craft-wise. i worked really hard and i think you can see that it paid off. but other than that i think... i think it might have to be please don't hold me to it right now. because i did it just how i wanted. in a way it's like what my boys in bars series was trying to be but didn't quite reach on the friendship level i think.

if you could give yourself fic advice from when you first started writing fic, what would that advice be?

just let yourself write what you want, how you want. you can have flowery prose. you can be weird and vague and metaphorical. you can just write about friends, i promise. and stop looking at your fucking stats.

what's your relationship to fic stats?

well. i think above answers that one lol. i've blocked my ao3 stats. i cannot see hit or kudos or bookmark counts on ANY fics. + i've gotten much better about not expecting anything especially by writing highly niche stuff.

is there a pairing or scenario or friendship that you miss writing? if so, why? if not, why not?

ehhh. the shazamily, to an extent. the shazam fandom is lovely because so many of us are writing family/friendship centric works and that's if not the norm, at least MUCH more common than in other fandoms that i've been in, and i miss that because at heart, i'm a genficcer. i'm a friendshipper. i love platonic and ambiguous relationships so much. so i miss that, but for the most part, i'm actually okay with not writing anything i used to write. that's okay.

what motivates you to write?

i WILL lose my mind if i don't. i can't even elaborate past that like i'll just go bonkers.

why do you write for the fandom(s) you write for?

because i am sick and ill and dying from brainrot and nobody is writing the highly specific content that i crave in the way that i crave it. sometimes there's nothing for the fandom at all, and SOMEBODY's gotta be the change. mostly i'm just like hyperfixated and losing it.

if you're stuck writing a WIP, what do you do?

take a break. do other things like jigsaw puzzles and taking walks and reading books. listening to phoebe bridgers on my floor. the usual. it'll pass. the ideas will come when they're ready.

what do you wish people knew about comments?

a genuine comment is never a bother. NEVER. no author that i have ever met is going to be upset at you for commenting on a fic and saying hey i really loved this!!! or something like that. no matter how old that fic is. no matter if the author has moved on, or put it on anon, or hasn't written fanfiction in years. it is never, ever a bother. when i get a comment on a fic that i didn't JUST post, i rejoice. i lie on my floor and i think about how incredible it is that people are still finding, reading, and loving something that i wrote, no matter how bad i think it is now that i've grown into a different person. i have coasted for WEEKS on the fact that someone left me a comment saying i loved this and here's my favorite part. here's why. this made me cry. this made me smile. this reminded me of my best friend. this is how it feels, really, you got it. any of that. all of it. sometimes a fic is me going "is this crazy??" and a comment is someone saying "no, no, it's not, i see it". a comment that takes like two minutes to type can matter for two years just by being like, hey, this mattered to me. plus like 90% of my friendships online have been founded on the basis of commenting on fanfic so you know, rave reviews from me.

maybe there's a question you wish had been on here. what's that question (and answer)? -> is there a fic and/or author who is doing what you want to be doing with your own writing? who/what?

i can yap all day about inspirations but lately, i am haunted by love me on purpose by smoosnoom in terms of themes, emotions, and pure aching; @thcscus in sheer technicality and prose; the pacing, metaphor, and tone in there's daggers in men's smiles, @beautyofsorrow's sensory work in literally Every fic ever + her fic for the barbie zine none of you losers get to read yet; and @blusandbirds' ability to capture visceral emotion so damn vividly and succinctly.

tagging @blusandbirds @transjlawrence @lordgrimwing @pinkgrapefloyd!

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

as someone who used to be huge bts fan and biased jimin and jk to now really only caring and being excited about jimin and his art feels so horrible to me tbh but i cant help it jungkook especially made me so dissapointed in this second chapter and i lost so much affection for him. i feel like he lost his appeal to me. Jimin however blew me away smf was just beyond amazing and then face and lc with all the art and heart in it ppl making all kinds of theories connecting him to poems, movies, queer ppl and writting essays about his work. I miss that i miss feeling of excitement and love like that with all 7 of them but jimin just seems to have stolen all my affection. i dont wanna be a solo stan tbh but i feel like i will never like bts as i used to.

Your line of thinking is so categorical, which is something very common when we're operating within a fandom. You mentioned lost affection, which indicates why you're feeling like this. It's the emotional involvement that makes us so involved and to feel so strongly about everything they do. And it can be something positive, like you said about Jimin, or something more negative, like your feelings towards Jungkook right now. I think it's easier for us to navigate these conversations once we acknowledge our position and we understand and admit were we're coming from. For example, I know that almost everything of Jimin's work is elevated and given extra importance in my mind because I like him. It doesn't mean that it's false or I made it all in my head, but if I only heard of him vaguely and looked through some of his work, I'd probably say at first "cool dude, he's interesting". And maybe if I was in the mood, I'd look it up more. It's the same as Jungkook fans now defending/celebrating every step of his career in Chapter 2 and they do that just like any other fan of an artist who is deep into a parasocial relationship. (Also, let's no hide or say only a category of fans are like that. Most of us are and we manifest in various ways).

If you want to label yourself as a solo stan, fine by me. Categories can make life easier, but they also limit not just us, but also those we are interested in or we don't really like. To me, this position is not one I would choose and I see the damage. Being so much involved in fandom, from the position of a solo stan, or a particular shipper/supporter or ot7/whatever else there is, can make us obtuse sometimes and more often than not, really mean in an environment in which online bullying is now acceptable. I see what JK solos say about Jimin and I see what Jimin solos say about Jungkook. It's horrible. Not only that, it's predictable because what they say is what is being transmitted throughout their own communities. It's like learning a script, especially when it comes to insults. And one has to be categorical and hateful. Not critical, because that would imply nuance and we know how no one cares about that.

I'm not enjoying the music Jungkook has been putting out in Chapter 2. I'm not enjoying how it's promoted. But to go from there and change my entire opinion seems too dramatic for me. He's not this horrible guy that he's being painted at. Just listen to him talk, watch his wlives. He's still a dork and he seems genuinely nice. I can live with all these thoughts in my head. Like I said, emotional involvement makes us go crazy, but in my case, previous experience with other creative people and celebrities is influencing the way I see things. I have favorite directors/actors that have some films that I consider really bad and so far from some of their earlier good stuff. But the world doesn't end there. It's ok. It's either a phase or they'll go down the hill, but there's still films that I like or I enjoy their way of looking at the world through their art. I like stuff from people I find displeasing, but I can put that aside and only look at the object.

It's the same with Jungkook for me. And if I don't like something, I will not waste my time trying to find excuses for it or defend it just because I like the person.

Just now I saw that clip of Bang PD talking about JK and it confirmed what others and I've been saying since Seven was released. This was Scooter's work, just as 3D and the other songs that will be released on the album. Jungkook in Chapter 2 musically and Golden are now the result of the partnership between Hybe and Hybe America. And it seems that the strategy is to focus on collabs to bring more attention to it, let Scooter gather all the songs and basically set the tone for everything and deliver a recipe for success. Do I wish Jungkook would let himself be convinced to put out a music album by other sort of people and not Bang & Scooter? Yes. But it was his decision and I can only look at the results and say that it's not for me. But I'm talking about it because I have an interest in Jungkook and because I have the right to say it, just like everyone on the internet.

I'm perfectly fine with all of these contradictions, while still expressing some of my frustrations. I won't expect from Jungkook something similar to what Jimin does because artistically they seem to not have that much in common right now, separately. It doesn't mean that I don't consider Jimin's work to have more artistic value. It has and it's something that I'm interested in and to which I pay attention to.

And sometimes, pop music is just pop music and we can simply enjoy it. Theoretically, that's Jungkook's path right now, but given how it came to fruition, the message it sends, knowing what Jungkook is capable of in terms of producing/writing lyrics, then it is disappointing to me. And so be it.

[blmpff]

My Top 9 Albums of 2023

Tagged by @troubled-mind you know what's up 😎🤘

Tbh I listen to playlists more often than albums (I put all the songs by a certain artist I like all in one playlist and listen to those most of the time) (I have two kinds of playlists: 1. artists 2. genre), but these are the ones I do listen to on their own (the slower songs got bye byed).

I'll be as kind you and put their names below in case anyone is interested, and even add my favorite songs, muah

Nothing More - Spirits (also eg: Turn It Up Like, Don't Look Back, Face It, Spirits)

2. Architects - the classic symptoms of a broken spirit (also eg: deep fake, tear gas, living is killing us)

3. Stray Kids - 5 star (also: Hall of Fame, S-Class, Item, Super Bowl, Get Lit)

4. Smash Into Pieces - Disconnect (also eg: Reckoning, Vanguard, Heathens, Deadman)

5. From Ashes To New - Blackout (also eg: Heartache, Nightmare, Broken By Design)

6. Skindred - Smile (also eg: Our Religion, Gimme That Boom, Black Stars)

7. Five Finger Death Punch - Afterlife (also eg: Afterlife, IOU)

8. Xikers - House of Tricky (also eg: Tricky House)

9. John Wick 4 ost (also eg: Blood Code, though I honestly love all of them)

No pressure tagging: @solaarflaree @scarefox @neuroticbookworm @lurkingshan @sparklyeyedhimbo @lukaherehelp @pharawee @firstkanaphans @guzhu-furen @colourme-feral @tenprem @mysterygrl20 @stormyoceans @yourstormthlaylirahh @poetry-protest-pornography @cangse-sanren @italianpersonwithashippersheart @maxescheibechlinichacheli and everyone who'd like to, only if you feel like it of course, and if you've done it already could you please @ me in your list hehe 🙏

[jollyinha]

I have brought... My YuuriVoice listeners.

...On The Sims, because I can't draw for shit. I spent pretty much the whole day redesigning (except Rookie, who already got a glow up bc he's my favorite child) and dressing them up like Barbie dolls lol

DISCLAIMER: I'm being a lil' poser because I have never watched Bittersweet nor the Faust audios (and yet I still have Sugarboo and Star done, go figure), and am catching up on Lost and Found as I type this. ANYWAY HERE ARE MY BABIES, MORE INFO ON THEM UNDER THE CUT YIPPEEEEEEEE

FÉLIX/ROOKIE:

- As previously mentioned, he's my favorite child, sorry not sorry, I adore this boy so much

- Dumb of ass and home of sexual (out of the closet to everyone except his mom, oof), pulled a millionaire CEO with his ADHD swag. Also canonically a cheeky horny bastard

- An artist (draws/paints and crafts all sorts of stuff) at heart, but had to pursue a more lucrative career in order to support his family. So, Law school it is. Viva le capitalism

- Is an ENFP and his birthday is on February 16th

- His mother is Brazilian and his dad was Colombian. They have been living in the USA since Félix was a young child. He also has a little sister (not so little, she's in college by the time Shattered begins) whom he loves very much and basically raised her, to the point where she sees him as his dad more than their actual dad (whom passed away when she was a toddler)

- Has an excellent relationship with his uncle (and his wife), aunt and cousins. Him and Joy/Sunflower don't meet that often bc she lives a bit far away, but when they do, they share the same braincell

- Appears to be suave and chill when he's at work, but he's actually a SOFTIE. The biggest golden retriever... Well, not literally the biggest. He's 5'7ft/1m69cm. Compared to Auron, he's pocket-sized. But anyway-

- He loves Trish. They bully Auron together. Incredible dynamic

- Has pyrophobia bc ✨ PAST TRAUMA ✨. Began cooking as a hobby to try to work through it

- Likes: Arts, cooking, biking, peacocks, sun imageries (long story), sea monsters and plaid jackets

- Félix has SO MUCH LORE and tidbits (like his tattoos!) about him, I would need an entire separate post to tell it all. And I might do it bc I need that sweet infodump dopamine...

JOYCE "JOY"/SUNFLOWER

- Actually my first YV OC! I met the channel through the infamous Finn compilation

- Bisexual! Finn is her first serious boyfriend, though, up until she met him, she only had girlfriends... And she had the worst luck with all of them. Oof

- Colombian, just like Félix

- Huge animal lover, especially the aquatic critters and reptiles. Has a Bull Terrier named Cow (yes, that's her name.) that has her entire heart. Currently trying to get a job in the veterinarian field! Just... Don't put bugs near her. Please

- Is an ESFP and her birthday is on July 27th... The day the Finn compilation premiered

- Her mother had her pretty young. She doesn't know who her father is, and her mom refuses to talk about it... But tbh, Joy doesn't care that much. She loves her mama, and that's all that matters

- (also her mother loves Finn dearly. everytime they meet, he leaves with a piece of cake or some other home made food bc she loves to spoil her "son-in-law" lmao)

- Surfs on her spare time! Queen shit! Also plays a bit of soccer

- Had pretty severe acne as a teen and still has its marks

- Golden retriever energy runs in the Torres family, because she has it too

- Likes: Snakes, whales, surfing, soccer (as stressful as it is to watch it lol), jogging, her dog Cow, hoodies, fun scrunchies

CARINA/SUGARBOO

- Like I previously stated, I haven't watched Bittersweet, so, I may not have much to say about Sugarboo except for the (few) misc audios from Al and Seth I have heard... BUT GODDAMNIT SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL OH GOD

- Straight, but poly

- Japanese, but was born and raised in the USA and, sadly, doesn't has much connection to her roots... Mostly bc she's not super close to her family :(

- (Canonically) Likes to bake! Also cooking, but still has a preference for pastries. Works in a bakery... Which isn't a very healthy workplace, but, oh well

- Is an ESFJ, and her birthday is on January 20th (it's coming!!!!! happy early birthday, queen!!!!!)

- Pulled TWO bitches by having ADHD

- Has A SHIT LOAD of tattoos because she's best friends with a tattoo artist... Who may or may not be Star 👀

- Used to have long hair when she met Alphonse

- She may be Al's impulse control, but Seth is her impulse control 💀

- Calls Alphonse "bug". Earlier on their relationship it was ironically ("so you and me together can be bugaboo!"), but the pet name has stuck

- But in reality, she does have a passion for bugs! Especially butterflies and moths ("NOT Mothman, Seth. Normal, regular moths.")

- Also love cats

- She bullies Seth for believing in cryptids... But believes in aliens

- Again, I haven't watched Bittersweet, so feel free to discard this part if it's contradicting canon events, but... She kind of likes Charlie. She thinks he's cute, even with all the shit that happened

- Likes: Baking, collecting jewelry like some kind of dragon, bugs, cats, tattoos, aliens

ASHER/CASPER

- The coolest mf to ever walk on this earth. I don't make the rules, it's the truth

- FtM trans of gender, also home of sexual

- Just american. F

- Yes, his last name is a Life Is Strange reference, sue me

- I... I have no idea what he works with? Because gotta wait for more Charlie videos to find out wtf canon!Casper is up to he's such a mysterious guy,,,,,

- (I really hope that the "Casper works for Auron" theory is true tho, the Auron/Félix & Charlie/Asher shenanigans would be so funny to imagine)

- What I do know is that he's kind of a gym bro, except if said bro was fruity

- Seriously though, he's a sporty guy. Likes to go jogging, (he and Joy/Sunflower would be good workout buddies!), climbing, hiking, good ol' fashioned working out and, of course, skating! But after Charlie left, he got into roller skating as well, and he's pretty damn good at it

- He's an ISFP, and his birthday is on April 22nd (Earth Day, get it, bc his favorite color is green,,,,,,)

- Disowned by his parents, but was taken in by his uncle and aunt, whom really support him <3

- Has a tooth gap! Cute shit

- Braided his hair as a kid, still does it nowadays. Certain things never change

- He WANTS to get SO MANY TATTOOS AND PIERCINGS... But he has a pretty bad case of trypanophobia (his ears are pierced bc his parents had him pierce it as a baby). Having his top surgery was challenging enough! He just wanted to get some tattoos... :(

- Always carries an extra hair tie on his arm, like a bracelet. Mostly for himself, but sometimes he gives it to Charlie too

- Has dyslexia! Fucking hated school bc of that

- Likes: Skating, roller skating, climbing, collecting sick ass knives, bad horror movies, hair styling (he wanted to be a hairstylist as a kid even!)

- I don't have thaaaaat much to say about him as of right now since I'm still finishing Lost and Found, but he's growing a lot on me, I love him

PAIGE/ANGEL

- URGH I LOVE HER SO MUCH AAAAAAAAAA ULTIMATE SASS AND NIHILISM

- Their relationship with gender is... Confusing. Doesn't like any labels, really. Just go with she/them and you'll be fine. Considers themselves to be pansexual, though

- British ("sadly, stupid ass country"), still has a strong accent even if they have been living in the USA for quite a while

- ...They like tea though

- She works on the IT department of a big company. Boring office job. But she doesn't mind it that much. Everyone is nice enough and it pays the bills. That's more than enough for her

- But besides programming and gaming, her big passion in life is... Sewing! 80% of the plushies in her collection are handmade, including Sir Gengar himself

- Also a huge cinephile

- Is an INTP, and their birthday is on September 4th (it may or may not be a reference to Gengar's pokedex number)

- Pulled a LITERAL DEMON FROM HELL with her autism swag

- Has chronic pain on her left knee due to a past accident

- Obviously, huge Pokémon fan

- Ironically enough, doesn't really like cooking, which explains why their house didn't had shit when it comes to ingredients lol At least now they have a demon boy to cook for them

- Awful relationship with her family. All of it. Ran away for the USA to escape from them

- Doesn't have many friends irl, most of them are virtual friends

- Considers themselves to be "plain and boring". Normally they don't give a damn about it, but got kind of insecure when they and Lucien got officially together... But in their most confident days, they think it's hilarious how the most normal-looking human ever managed to pull a demon

- Deep, deep down, Paige is a sweet and caring person. Heck, that's why her soul was so enticing. She just has trouble demonstrating it (Autistic Struggle™)

- Likes four leaf clovers. No idea why. She just does

- ...I feel like she would watch Faust's streams ironically. She thinks the cat boy is hilarious

- Likes: Cinema, games, programming, plushies making, clovers, tea

ENID/STAR

- ...I haven't watched a single Faust audio in my life, but Enid just... Popped up in my head. Their design came to me and they were yelling at me to bring them to existence. So here they are?????? I really gotta hear the twink's audios any of these days...

- I don't even know much about them tbh lol But here's what I do have:

- Non-binary (AFAB), bisexual

- A tattoo artist! They're Sugarboo's friend that I mentioned all the way up there

- Likes to write and read in their spare time (IMAGINE THEM AND AURON WRITING FANFICTION ABOUT THEIR S/Os! Beautiful)

- Likes to watch sports (don't look like the type, do they?)

- Likes questionable shirts with 80s/90s aesthetics

- I can see them being friends with Paige/Angel, ngl :D

- ...That's all about Enid for now, maybe I'll develop them if I get around to hear more of Faust eventually lol

Idk if there's someone reading all of this, but if there is, tysm for reading this HUGE infodump 🥺 If you have any YV OCs, I would LOVE to hear about them too! My DMs are open!

[rabbitsrams]

laundromat -- mikasacus x reader

i have a huge crush on mika (have for a while tbh) and ever since he mentioned the intimacy of being at the laundromat together in the newest ep of music posting, i had to write this. mika ily <3

just fluffiest of fluff <3

wc: 844

laundry day was upon you, and it was something you often dreaded.

because you didn't have a car, you have to lug your big bag of clothing for fifteen minutes to the laundromat right by your apartment building. it was if you were santa claus with his gigantic sack of toys sans sleigh. but it is what it is.

you go every other saturday right when the laundromat opens its doors (7 a.m.), a time when no one else is there. you always have the machines to yourself and you like being able to have some alone time in the early hours of the day.

one of the owners, june, a sweet old lady who's been there for at least fifty years, holds the door open for you as you roll your laundry bag inside.

"g'morning june..." you yawn.

"morning dear, want coffee?" she says, walking over to the counter. a pot of coffee is steaming with your usual mug right beside it.

"yes please, thank you." you roll your laundry bag to your designated machine before going to the counter to prepare your usual cup.

with your headphones in and playing the first song of some album you've been vying to listen to, you begin to load your clothes into two of the machines. once the cycles begin, you turn the volume up and bob your head to the beat, liking the sound of the song.

unbeknownst to you, someone else enters the laundromat. he's got a basket of laundry in his arms, headphones over his ears and a black mask over most of his face. a white cap covers most of his dark hair, but some of it curls out underneath the hat. he notices you by the machines before going to the front counter. june immediately goes to help him.

you can sort of hear june talking over your music. figuring she's on the phone with her grandson as she normally is, you pay it no mind. you start humming the notes to a familiar song on the album as you move your clothes to the dryer, unaware that the guy is loading his clothing into the washing machine to your left.

you turn to get your second load, jumping in surprise at the presence of the tall man. your phone clatters to the ground, your headphones disconnecting from the charger port and playing the song you were listening to. "oh christ, i'm so sorry." you mutter as you pick the phone up and pause the song.

"you're totally good, don't worry," he replies. his voice is deep and calming, and his aura seems very calming. "was that tyler the creator?"

"oh! yeah. i'm, um, listening to igor right now. i usually like to listen to an album or two while i'm here. new to me, usually." you chuckle softly, a soft blush coating your cheeks.

"oh, cool! tyler's one of my favorite artists, you'll love igor."

"i really do so far, i'm actually on, uh, puppet, right now."

"that's a good one," he nods. his eyes crinkle slightly as he smiles under the mask. "i'm alex, by the way."

"y/n."

after you finish putting the rest of your clothes into the dryer, you and alex talk for a bit. you find out he's new in town, actually having just moved into your apartment complex, last week. he tells you about the new job he's going to start that upcoming monday, and about his other creative endeavors. you tell him about your life as well, and he listens earnestly.

"hey, um, do you wanna listen to the rest of the album with me? we can share my headphones or something..." you take out one of your earbuds and wipe it with your sleeve before offering it to him.

"oh... yeah, sure!" he takes the bud and places it in his ear. he has to lean down and move closer to you so his bud won't fall out. you try not to practically swoon because of how close you are to him.

you start the song over and he immediately starts tapping his foot to the beat. you can tell he's listened to the album a lot before with how excited he is to talk about the tracks. and it's not just because his eyes sparkle and look really pretty when he's excited.

you end up staying for an extra hour. your laundry is all done but alex's isn't, and you don't want to pass up the opportunity to talk to him more.

he's so easy to talk to, such a kind and sweet person. he offers to drive you both back to your apartment building so you won't have to carry your laundry all the way back.

in the car you end up giving him some song recommendations from your favorite artists. and when you're in the elevator, you exchange phone numbers. he gets off a floor below you and you exchange silent goodbyes. the elevator barely goes up when your phone dings softly with a message from 'alex🧡'

[triflesandparsnips]

Ways fans go 'splah'

I keep noodling about this thing where fandom gets weird after it receives new canon. And in the middle of writing a different post, I started wondering if it comes down to... cognitive dissonance.

Because to be a Fan means you love a Show (or Movie, or Book, etc.)-- right? Maybe because you felt the Show spoke to you and your experiences in particular, and helped you, and understood you. It's important to you. You form an idea of what the Show is, and who you are in relation both to the Show and to other fans of the Show.

So... what does it mean if, as you interact with new canon, you... don't love what the Show has done?

Suddenly the status quo that you've built for yourself has been upset; now you have to deal with change. With questions. Like: If you Don't Like an element of the Show, does that mean that you're... not a Fan anymore?

Does that mean that when you thought the Show spoke to you, you misunderstood it? That you were wrong?

Does that mean you were a Fan of a Show that doesn't actually exist, and now you've identified yourself (and your social interactions, and your recent history, and your own creative efforts, and and and) with this Other Show, and you feel trapped in that association?

Listen: I absolutely agree that it can hurt to find out that you've tied yourself tightly to a Show that has changed into something you Don't Like. And when it happens... sometimes fans react in one (or more) of the following ways to help resolve the cognitive dissonance of this change... to varying levels of healthy/socially acceptable, creating a lot of the absolute weirdness we see in fandom:

1. They deal with it.

That seems kind of easy to say, but... uh. Well, I can't think of a better way of saying it. Art changes; the fan changes with the art, or they do something else. They learn to say goodbye-- or maybe they learn to ride the metaphorical mechanical bull. Fans who have successfully incorporated this reaction have often diversified their fannishness across multiple fandoms.

It's a safe way to interact with a Show but it can, perhaps, lead to less of the vibrant immersive fannish joy that can come from being really invested in a fandom -- and then downplay or not engage with the real feelings of more invested fans. (Is this one of mine? Oh, definitely. I'm working on it.)

2. They decide the Don't Like element is due to a creative choice rather than personal opinion.

By which I mean, fans who go this route decide that the reason they Don't Like an element is not because they, uh, don't like it, but rather because there is a secret reason (that they've made up) that the Don't Like element exists. With this idea in mind, it's not that there's an actual change to the Show-- it's just that the fan must either wait to see it resolve back into the familiar or, alternately, put in effort to "figure out" what the Don't Like element is "really doing".

(This is where meta about "writing bad on purpose" and such may be familiar to some.)

By deciding that the Don't Like element is an intentional artistic choice that will eventually resolve back into the familiar Show, there's no reason to fear or question what the change means for the Show or the fan's sense of self. And like-- tbh, some of the best crack meta can come from visiting that mindset for a hot minute. But living there can lead to... significantly greater hurt later, particularly as more canon drops and the likelihood of the Show resolving back to its "original" form grows ever slimmer.

3. They decide that the element they Don't Like doesn't exist.

As in, didn't happen. Or did happen, but only by removing other elements to flip it from Don't Like to the more acceptable/palatable "creative choice" vibe from option 2. The cognitive dissonance is resolved by simply removing the element that would cause the fan to stop loving the Show.

And like-- I've certainly done this. There are episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that I've decided just didn't happen. Also the first season of Parks and Rec. And pretty much any Marvel movie that doesn't allow for the 2012 Avengers tower fanon to somehow magically exist.

I even think that fanfiction and other remediating fanworks are an important extension of this behavior-- fix-it fics are a thing, and I love them. But I think it's crucial that those of us who do this kind of canon excision don't make our choices anyone else's problem. I don't stop other fans from engaging with the things I've elected to ignore; I also don't harass the creators/actors, because jesus fucking christ why would I.

4. They decide the Show they love is not, in fact, the Show they love.

So let's say the fan acknowledges that the Show has changed. They might even acknowledge that the Show was never what they thought it was. And with those two things in mind, some fans choose option 1... but some land here, in option 4.

Because! They think the Show they're a fan of does exist-- just not... on the screen. They love a Platonic Ideal of the Show-- what it should have been. What, somewhere, it is, except that outside forces changed it from the Ideal to the Imperfect.

What kind of forces? The usual suspects: Capitalism. Racism. Heteronormativity. Hollywood bullshit. Actors/writers/creative teams leaving the Show for whatever reason. Hubris. Fallibility. Ad nauseum.

But the Ideal Show (that maybe exists only in the fan's own head... but sometimes appears to be shared and envisioned by other fans too)-- that Ideal Show isn't subject to outside forces. It's completely divorced from the context that the Imperfect Show is being created in. The fan doesn't experience cognitive dissonance because they have, as with option 3, decided something doesn't exist-- but that nonexistent thing is the Show itself. The fan instead exchanges the Imperfect Show for the Ideal Show, which does not have and will never have a Don't Like element.

And like-- sure! Entire careers have been built on the back of believing that an Ideal should exist and replace the Imperfect-- Ed Brubaker is right there. Reimaginings of source material can fall squarely into this as well, particularly when they hit the public domain. Like every other option, this is a thing fandom does that, in some of its forms, shows why fandom is super neat.

But... but the thing is, there's no such thing as art divorced from context. Even if the vision of an Ideal Show seems to be shared identically across oodles of fans, it's still subject to the personal context of every single one of those fans. Like, it goes riiiight back to why you become a Fan of the Show in the first place-- it spoke to you. It validated your experiences.

So there is no Ideal Show. There can't be. There's just the Show that we have-- or the Show that we create, in the real world (and then becomes subject again to all those pesky outside forces), to try and capture what our personal Ideal is.

Fans who go splah with the option 4 route mistake, I think, their Ideal Show for everyone's Ideal Show-- and then every criticism, every meta, every engagement with the Imperfect Show and its fans falls into piles of logical fallacies: that everyone is working from the same Ideal; that those who ignore the Ideal are doing so on purpose; that all Don't Like elements with the Show can be attributed to its failure to meet the Ideal rather than the fan's own preferences; that the Ideal is quantifiable, qualifiable, infallible and incontrovertible...

Maybe, at the end, option 4 is the one that really gets all of us. Because yeah-- I have an Ideal Show in my head. I bet you have one in yours, too. And it can be disappointing when the Ideal and the Imperfect don't align-- it can, in fact, create that cognitive dissonance I've been harping on this whole time.

But how we choose to deal with that disappointment... that's where the weirdness can come from. To both the benefit and ooooh yes, very much the detriment of a fandom that has survived long enough to start experiencing the cognitive dissonance of the Show fans imagine versus the Show fans have.

[septembersghost]

If this is a weird comment you don't have to post it, but listening to E a lot I notice there are a bunch of idk? sounds in his songs that I guess they'd edit out now. you mentioned him laugh in Power of My Love and I hear it EVERY time now, but there's a lot of other stuff too that makes the recordings sound so real.

not a weird comment, i love this actually, and it's true.

i think it's a combination of factors. obviously, no digital editing (and no auto-tuning, which is why his studio vocals and his live vocals are as close to identical as they are. studio recordings are cleaner due to the setting and equipment, but the timbre and tone, the color, the melodic quality, that was truly the man's voice), although engineers could still clean things up in places, and lay in background vocals and further instrumentation etc, it was a bit more involved/arduous as a process and the central recording probably didn't get fiddled with as much. i'm not going to say i'm super well-versed on production of the time, but of course computers and digital mixing, snipping together various takes, etc, today can alter a LOT of what's captured to make it more "flawless." if you listen to any of his rough studio cuts/outtakes, you'll hear him rehearsing, changing up tempos, deciding on different arrangements or following instruction, (messing up lyrics and laughing and being a weirdo lmao i love him), clicking into how to get a song to work.

i also think it has something to do with E's particular technique and delivery, where he breathes is often very deliberate (try singing along and you'll notice how measured and controlled he was at this and the way it emotionally affects his delivery). i mean, as an example that isn't the power of my love laugh™, you can hear him gulp slightly at the beginning of in the ghetto (in the rest after "as the snow flies"), whether that's direct emotion or nerves or just how he was getting the song out. there's a moment in another song where you can hear what i think is the clink of his rings against the microphone. the memphis sessions have a LOT of the raw studio sounds left in. some of this is also that he...did not sit still (affectionate), so some of that fidgeting and rustling and personality is all captured in the recordings. listen to true love travels on a gravel road (my beloved), and there are a bunch of the organic moments right there. especially between the first chorus and the second verse - between "ohhh, true love travels on a gravel road" and "down through the years..." like four different things audibly happen. you can tell when he's playing around and exaggerating some of his vocalizations and quirks and trademarks, leaning into it - which he did in places in the comeback special too, because he knew exactly how to utilize/distill that, and the way it would transfix the audience, he just had command of that to unleash however he chose. (or whatever. he decided. to do. at the end of such a night). it's also why it's really apparent in a song when he smiles, which is one of my favorite things in the world, when you can HEAR a smile in a song. not every artist is easy to detect this with, but he is, and it's so warm.

what i really really love about this with him is it makes the songs so present and lived in and felt, all these unfiltered and natural details still exist in the tracks and so does his personality. then when you listen to the concert recordings, the only significant difference is stuff like banter with the audience or switching up bits of arrangement for the show, but the emotion and the amount of himself he put into everything is as real/accessible/clear in the studio as it is on the stage of the international or anywhere else. it's such a vibrantly alive aspect of his work that i believe it's part of why it's endured the way it has tbh - it still feels like he's right there about to pull that gold curtain back again.