#thanks for humouring me anon!

[ablazenqueen]

For writer's ask game ^^

✨💖 🥺💔

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

Hoo boy, starting off easy, huh? 😅

I guess the first thing that comes to mind is that I think I’m pretty decent at writing angst. I’ve watched a few people cry from reading some of my fics so it’s something I’ve grown to feel fairly confident about over the years!

💖 What made you start writing?

I’ve been writing since I was old enough to know how and really, why does anyone do anything as a kid? It just sparks joy, always has 😊

I got into fic specifically though because I was tired of not seeing the obscure fic AUs I wanted for my ships. I am a recurring victim of the infamous “guess I have to do it myself” mentality.

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

Oh, I’m a HUGE fan of romantic confessions that are half self-deprecation, half argument, between close friends who think their friendship is falling apart because they couldn’t keep their feelings in check. It’s one of my favouritest things ever and it always makes me Feel So Much.

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

In my friend group, I’m pretty notoriously bad at gauging how angsty my writing is and that’s because I don’t tend to make myself sad when writing. I already know a happy ending is on the way so it feels so temporary, you know?

That said, there is one time I’ve gone “oof” while writing and that was during Chapter 3 of my Patpran Thieves AU. Those who know know, I got a lot of screams of anguish after posting it. I’m rather proud of that 😌

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

is there anything golden girls you have Lots of Thoughts on that you haven't got to talk about fully or been asked about yet? consider this a free space to share those thoughts.

Anon, this question is essentially a declaration of love to me. You couldn't have made me happier. I am kissing you on the lips (or going to buy the best cheesecake in the world for you, your pick).

After some deliberation, I ended up choosing a subject I've been thinking about (and mentioning on here) ever since my first watch-through of the series, i.e. why a queer reading of Dorothy, Blanche and Rose doesn't only make sense because of their interactions with each other, but is actually in line with their journey as characters, the challenges they face, and the overall tune of the show. It seems like I ended up writing a short essay about it, so I'm putting it all under a cut. Hope you enjoy!

Ok, so, I'd like to make a little premise first. I love the platonic view of the show. I'm always always fond of stories that celebrate the importance of platonic bonds. If anything I'm sort of annoyed that they sometimes use familial language (they're ‘sisters’, Sophia loves them 'as her own') to symbolize their love for one another, but I understand why they chose to use it -- it's a quick way to communicate profound affection to the audience, and especially to the audience at the time.

That being said, I feel like a queer romantic view of the bond between Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche is equally poignant -- and of course it's especially dear to me, as a queer woman. For one thing, it’s still in tune with the core message of the show: whatever kind of affection they feel for one another, they’re still an unusual unit by societal standards, and yet there's no doubt that they’re the most important people in each other’s life (in fact, one could argue that they are, in canon, what today we'd call a QPR, but I digress). They love each other, they're committed to each other, they share their lives, in a way that doesn't conform to societal standards.

Dorothy sums it up very well in her speech in S7E4 That’s For Me To Know: they’re not a conventional family, but theirs is a real, honest love. This is a message that feels very in tune with the queer experience: how many of us have been told that our loves, our identities, our relationships and our (chosen) families aren’t real? Not to mention some of the problems they face: how many queer people have been kept apart from their loved ones in the hospital because they weren't related? How many have gone through the anxiety of an HIV test? I'm not surprised the show resonated so much with queer people in the 80s/90s, and I'm not surprised it still does.

Dorothy

What about the characters themselves? Let's start with Dorothy, since I've already spoken a bit about her in the past. Dorothy's character journey is, in essence, a journey towards self-discovery, self-acceptance, and self-love. She begins the show as a recently divorced woman who has been with the same horrid man for her entire adult life, a man she married in a hurry because he got her pregnant at 17; her self-esteem is on the floor. She doesn't know what being loved in a romantic sense means. Through living with the Girls she learns how to take back what she's lost; how to feel secure in her sexuality and attractiveness, how to love herself more, and (as a consequence of this self-love) how to open herself up to the world and other people. She even states so in the series finale:

We've all learned a lot from each other. I mean, Ma taught me life does not end because you've reached a certain age. And I've become much more comfortable with my sexuality because of Blanche. And Rose has taught me… Rose has taught me... [...] Anyway, because of them I feel that I'm ready to love you. (S7E25 One Flew Out Of The Cuckoo's Nest)

This is a queer-aligned narrative already!! Years and years of sacrifice and repression followed by a journey towards self-discovery thanks to love, support, and a sense of community? That's queer, baby! I particularly like the interpretation of Dorothy as a repressed lesbian because I feel like it fits very well with her character traits, but honestly, any queer reading of her fits as well. Having her realize that she is queer and eventually choose to act on it would have been a great way to reinforce her character journey.

It also would have added some amazing layers to her whole backstory, both as pertains to her marriage (doesn't it all feel more tragic, if you think of her as a repressed lesbian?) and, for example, to her friendship with Jean (how would she have felt seeing her friend be openly gay while she denied the same truth about herself?). I just think there's lots and lots that could be explored when we consider Dorothy in this lens.

Blanche

On to Blanche. A lot of Blanche's character traits (her vanity, her self-centeredness, her need to be the center of attention in a positive way) stem, I feel, from the way she was treated in her childhood and from two pivotal episodes in her life: the 'disappearance' of her Mammy and George's death. Her stories about her childhood (especially the ones she tells when her sisters are involved in an episode) make it seem as if her parents, while affectionate (Big Daddy especially), weren't exactly involved; she had to fight for their attention in constant competition with her siblings, particularly her sisters. There were only two people in her life whose love didn't feel dependent on her performance, her Mammy and George, and they both disappeared from her life abruptly and without any warning.

What does this teach a person? That they have to be the most attractive version of themselves at all times; that they need to be very careful with how they present themselves in society, so that they may always appear as the best within the bunch; that even the people who seem to love them unconditionally can leave them at any minute. The end result is Blanche, the woman in the mask. She seems very open in her attitude, especially towards the sexual sphere of life, but she's open in the same way the titular character of Fleabag is open:

Yeah, I think she’s using a certain type of honesty as a weapon of distraction. She talks very openly and honestly about sex so you feel like she’s being open with you when, actually, she’s completely hiding by doing that. She’s distracting you from a completely different side of her, which is the side that’s traumatized and in pain. (from this interview to Phoebe Waller-Bridge)

In truth, she's always very attentive to the way she presents herself to others, because she's afraid that people will turn away from her if she steps out of her persona. Look at what she says to her Mammy in S6E5 Wham, Bam, Thank You, Mammy:

You didn't even say goodbye. I woke up one morning, and you were gone. I loved you. I spent the next few years wondering what I'd done, what I'd said to make you leave me.

She's convinced (until this episode, at least) that she was abandoned by someone she loved so dearly because of something she'd done. And, well, George's death is a bit of a different thing, but also... do you think she hasn't spent long, sleepless nights wondering what would have happened if she'd convinced him not to go wherever he was going? If she'd gone with him? If she'd made different choices, if she'd said different things, if she'd been better?

What does all this have to do with queerness? Well... we know that some of Blanche's issues manifest in her constant concern with how society perceives her. This ranges from her search for rich and sophisticated men to parade around to her struggle to accept Rebecca's decision to undergo artificial insemination -- not to mention how she reacts to Clayton's coming out and especially to his decision to marry Doug. If that was how she reacted to a member of her family proudly coming out as gay, how would she react to the realization that she might also be queer in some way?

I figure the steps would be her usual ones -- denial denial denial, fear of judgement, bargaining with herself, eventual acceptance and even pride -- but with the added complexity of having to deal with something that concerns her and her desires. Not her daughter, not her brother, her. If she comes out and/or acts on her attraction, any eventual consequence from a societal standpoint would be due to her actions, not a reflection of someone close to her, and I feel like that would be interesting to explore. We already know she can get over her fear and prejudices when it comes to the people she loves; can she do the same for herself? I like to think she would, eventually, overcome her need for societal approval, just like she (sort of) does in the show, and the journey there would be fascinating from a character standpoint.

Rose

What about Rose? There's a minor thread in her character journey that's about fear of intimacy due to Charlie's death, but it gets resolved pretty early on (apart from an episode in S7, but I feel like that's more of a momentary setback than anything major). Apart from this, I think her character growth is about becoming bolder: more sure of herself, better at advocating for herself and her loved ones, better at asking people to respect her needs and wants.

This is a very minor spoiler for The Golden Palace, so thread with a pinch of caution, but -- in it, Dorothy is shocked that Rose became strong, and while I understand her surprise, I don't think that's necessarily the right word to use. Rose is meek, and gentle, and she certainly wasn't at her best at the beginning of the show (S1E9 Break In and S1E22 Job Hunting are proof enough), but I think we forget that she's overcome a lot throughout her life. It takes a strong person to recognize that her home is too filled with grief to keep living there, and uproot her whole life (leaving behind her whole community and support system) to begin to heal:

The winters are rough, here in Minnesota, and this place is too filled with memories to let me get on with my life. I need to start over without you, Charlie, and I think this is the best way. (from S2E25 A Piece Of Cake)

I think she's always been a tough cookie, and remarkably in touch with her emotions, even if her grief for Charlie momentarily weakened her. Living with the Girls helps her get her conviction back and gain the newfound boldness she needs to know she has a spine of steel and use it when the moment calls for it.

Realizing that she might be queer would encourage her in this journey towards boldness, I feel. I don't think she'd have any internal hang-ups like Dorothy and Blanche would (her sort of reticence towards homosexuality in the show seems like it comes from a place of ignorance, rather than repression), but we know she can be sensitive to societal perception, even if not at Blanche's level (see S1E13 A Little Romance), and a queer relationship is the sort of thing that, unfortunately, invites a lot of societal scrutiny. The need to be there and ensure the safety and happiness of her partner(s) would embolden her to show her strength and aid her journey as a character.

Sophia

As an addendum: what would a coming out from any of her three Girls (Dorothy especially) mean for Sophia? In the show she's always supportive of homosexuality:

Jean is a nice person; she just likes girls instead of guys. Some people like cats instead of dogs. Frankly, I'd rather live with a lesbian than a cat. Unless a lesbian sheds, that I don't know. I'll tell you the truth, Dorothy. If one of my kids was gay, I wouldn't love him one bit less. I would wish him all the happiness in the world. (S2E5 Isn't It Romantic?)

That's what Doug and Clayton want, too. Everyone wants someone to grow old with. And shouldn't everyone have that chance? (S6E14 Sisters Of The Bride)

However, she's also shown to have some hang-ups when it comes to this sort of thing. Her issues with Phil's cross-dressing are the best example, but I'd count her attitude towards Rose while they're waiting for her AIDS test results in the mix, too. I wonder if a coming out from (one of) her Girls would prove more difficult to handle? I have no doubts that she'd come around in the end, of course -- I just wonder if she might have to work at it a bit first (and if her reaction to Dorothy coming out would be any different from her reaction to Blanche and/or Rose coming out).

Sophia's journey in the show is subtle, and the one I find harder to pinpoint. My personal opinion is that she gradually becomes softer around the edges, more open and openly vulnerable with the Girls; she gets more playful, more relaxed, more in her element as the show progresses. I think it's possible that a coming out from (one of) her Girls would encourage this progression towards openness; having her loved ones confide in her about something so personal would invite more confidence from her part too.

Whew, that was a long answer! It's a mess and I'm sure there's lots more that could be explored -- these are just some of my thoughts finally put on paper. If anyone has anything to add (or any contrasting opinion too!!) I'd love to read what you think!! In the meantime, anon, thank you so much for this ask. You seriously made my week!

[femboycharles]

oscar topping mark….. i can see it

mark feeling very weird and guilty about fucking this guy who. is half his age and someone for whom he is responsible. and oscar’s just like. fine. don’t fuck me. what if i fuck you instead. and mark gets very flustered because he hadn’t thought of that before but he can’t stop thinking about it now. he ends up crying while oscar’s dick is in his ass. how embarrassing.

anon I’m so sorry I kind of just laughed reading this at first alslsks (I’ve been half awake for a while now)

I’m still laughing reading the last part alslsk help

BUT RIGHT YEAH idk I like the idea of kind of turning the power dynamic on its head and Oscar ‘being in charge��� etc

[drbased]

Radfem makes me too aware and I just wanna die. How do we live in such a world with so much awareness? It’s painful to know. Other women ignore it and live delusionally better lives.

Oh, anon, I understand. It's the paradox of awareness; we're expected to grow and develop a larger pool of knowledge and wisdom whilst that same larger awareness ends up hurting us greatly.

Honestly, the main thing I would recommend is staying away from online radfem misery echo chambers. I don't like to reblog tragedies, or violence against women, or anything negative outside general observations, quotes from books, and theory. I'm always on the lookout for radfem-friendly blogs that don't share horrible news stories or graphic imagery without trigger warnings.

The problem with the internet is that you can easily access the Worst Horrors. But also, being Aware of the Worst Horrors doesn't actually make you a better, more moral person, or a better activist or feminist. It just wears you down, makes you feel shittier and shittier about the world. I would recommend making your world smaller and smaller; think of the internet as just another collection of books on your bookshelf and nothing more. With what you do know, learn to make peace with the idea that those Horrors existed before you knew about them, and that you're not responsible for them, and you're allowed to forget about them. If you're not planning on being any sort of activist, just forget most of this shit and concentrate on the things and people you love. Life's not worth it.

For me, radical feminism became a gateway into recognising my True Worth as a woman and human being; I have thoroughly incorporated feminism into my personal moral philosophy, and I feel enriched, emboldened and more grounded in result. After years of feeling stupid and insecure, I can finally recognise why and how that's come about. It's miserable to realise just how much the people who claim to love you are hurting you, and it can get very lonely - but I'm learning to come to peace with people as flawed members of a patriarchal society, each trying to survive and make sense of the world in their own way. I understand things a lot better than I used to, and I understand myself a lot better than I used to, and there's a real comfort, perhaps even a joy, in that.

I would also like to say that, frankly, it's arguable that these other women lead better lives. For one, you're doomed to misery if you believe that there is an objective measure of a 'good life'. Remember, everyone you meet is trying to project the best of themselves and their lives - you don't know what's going on in their private lives. And from what I've seen, the life of an average women is literally a horror story; women suffer greatly, losing their sanity and sense of self merely to cope with a world that punishes them for daring to exist. Your awareness may kill a certain part of you that was naive and lighthearted, but it will also set you free. You were never going to stay naive and lighthearted forever, and no doubt at some point your naivete could have lead you into the kind of real danger that kills women, metaphorically or physically. Maybe you already have had that happen to you. In which case, consider this your awakening, your sense of closure, an opportunity for real growth; you have an opportunity to gain a real understanding of your life and personhood that the patriarchy never wanted you to have. This is your chance to be human in a way that society doesn't think is even possible, this is a chance to defy all odds, this is a chance to say no, I will carve out a space for who I am.

Lastly, I'd like to make some shameless plugs; first, for my tag wisdom posting - I truly believe that you cannot develop and coherent and robust philosophical model of understanding and approaching the world without feminism, and in this tag I collect and describe all the wisdom that has really worked for me. To shamelessly quote myself

'you cannot gain true wisdom or understanding of the world without feminism. you cannot make the connections you need to make about how the human mind relates to things like suffering, competition and ego without decoupling yourself from male thought. female thought will set you free. male thought is designed to strangle you from within.'

When you realise just how much you've been lied to, you will find comfort in real truth.

And I'd also like to make another plug for my other blog learning womanhood, where I reblog and share everything I can find that deconstructs reverses patriarchal narratives around male supremacy, and instead centers women and female positivity. I used to be a very male-centred person; I thought of myself as an 'honourary guy' (way before hearing of transgenderism), so in this blog I re-examine what womanhood means to me and decouple myself from patriarchal understandings of who I am and my relationship with my sexed body. I've learned so much about how our (female) bodies are more robust; that we still don't know our potential in sport and exercise but we can develop our knowledge through rethinking what women-centered sport would look like; various contributions women have made throughout history, which have been ignored; that everything men say about women is complete projection; that women are the default form of human being; I could go on. It's been an exercise in deprogramming my mind and reconnecting with the full extent of my humanity and capability. All of this enrichment has been achieved through feminism. So there are horrible, horrible downsides, but it's the price I'm willing to pay for this level of understanding and sense of self in a world that was hostile to me way before I even knew what that meant.

[kohakhearts]

🥐

🥐: name one internet reference that will always make you laugh

honestly it's really not hard to make me laugh, but i'm like...from the ytp generation. so i'm pretty partial to like, weegee level memes. also 99% of memes i've seen using the intro to run away with me by crj pretty much always make me lose it. honorable mention to my favourite tweet of all time being a jason derulo joke (the "don't make me get the broom" one. happy to share it if you have no idea what im referring to lmao)

writer truth and dare ask game

[aceattorneyheritageposts]

Hold It! the biggest requirement for a tumblr sexyman is bafflement. if you were new to tumblr and you saw the character and you weren’t confused as all hell, its not a tumblr sexyman!

I've posted asks to this effect already but I'm posting this one still purely because it started with "Hold It!"

[wastemanjohn]

fun fact! humans can get so constipated it affects the vagus nerve, like near the brain stem. a woman in tokyo passed the stool in-hospital and forgot who she was for eight hours

okay that is absolutely incredible

[crabussy]

hi! i barely interact, but you said a bit ago that you needed a distraction, so im going to ask you some REALLY random questions to do just that. feel free to respond however you please, as long as it works

if you were to have one celebrity as a piece of furniture, who and what would you choose?

would you rather have to wear a full fursuit, regardless of weather, every time you go out in public or only be able to eat swiss cheese for the rest of your life? no health repercussions btw.

and a normal one. whats the weirdest passing conversation youve heard out in public? this includes school

hope these help :-P

first one WHAT DOES TGIS MEAN. IM SO SCARED also that made me laugh out loud thank you so much. ed sheeran ottoman

secondly. can I choose both. I’m serious can I have both of those things PLEASE I fucking love cheese and I love fursuits also. pleas

third, oughggg not sure- I am The Forgetful 💔 plenty of strangers have overheard my weird convos though Im sure. screamed about indigo earlier and scared the bus warden ):

[elsartzz]

I really love your art! your style is so pretty, it's like eye candy fr. you're such a skilled artist! also, I wanted to mention that I saw a couple of your thoughts posts and I wanted to suggest possibly investing into a journal to write them down into instead—I've found it helps to get the negative thoughts out, and then you're not broadcasting them to random strangers on the internet. not trying to throw shade, just genuinely concerned for your mental health. I really do enjoy your mha and genshin art, and it makes me happy when you post it! I love how you added both kaeya and klee in your recent contribution to the barbie meme lol. I hope you're having a good day, and if not, I hope things start looking up real soon! stay safe, and don't be too hard on yourself, alright? you're an awesome person 🩷 this is your sign to keep going

Hello!! Thank you so much for the kind words, I’m happy you like my art :))

Regarding the comment abt my thoughts posts – aw thanks for your concern! But first off, it’s actually been a while since I posted those (I checked and I think it was more than a year back? same w my mha art tbh– either you’ve been following for a while or you must’ve scrolled a lot LOL either way I’m impressed.) and I did delete a bunch of older emo posts and shifted some stuff to a more private blog, cos I realised it wasn’t too healthy to post everything online.

And I do have a journal!! It helps me a lot to get my thoughts out of my head and reason through emotional issues. I highly recommend keeping a journal too (even though I haven’t updated mine in a few days lol).

As for why I have the tendency to post more personal thoughts online… sometimes I want to share about smth ppl might find relevant, and sometimes I simply want the space to quickly vent about things that I can’t share with people in real life (for whatever reason). And I only do it cos I know I’m a small account (half my followers are bots) and it doesn’t really “endanger” my reputation and all that.

It’s a bit like shouting off a mountain or into a void, except sometimes the void speaks back and is kinda somewhat decent to you.

And occasionally people have replied!! (not on Tumblr tho lol) to share help/advice/support, which has been really nice.

But yes, I’m aware venting on the internet is probably not the healthiest and can be potentially dangerous as well. Also maybe it’s a bit of a turnoff if an artist you like keeps complaining about how miserable they are lol.

Don’t worry I’ll be sure to keep to myself more since my account is growing a bit, and draw a line between how much and what I share on the internet. I’m aware of Internet safety!!

…but just wanna say I’m probably not gonna stop random posting about unimportant things in life like how horrible my sweaty palms are lol they’re the literal worst FRRRR 😭😭

[alightbuthappypen]

tell us more about your wip dilemma? what fic are you working on

AN ASK

Haaa thanks for indulging me, anon.

It is the sunshot era hurt/comfort/whump/fraught-you-nearly-died-sex fic I think I briefly mentioned a little while ago. It isn't a new wip, it's one that was on the back burner for ages that I recently resurrected but had originally picked up as a prompt in a bottomji fest some time (I mean, probably years) ago.

So many of my wips are prompts I picked up at bottomji fests years ago (not all though...i have a healthy number that are prompts I picked up at the kink meme years ago) this is why I no longer really look at prompt fests.

Anyway this is the heart of the dilemma. Penetrative sex is kind of built into the prompt. But I'm just not sure I can believably write it for the kind of "we're not really communicating well if at all, and this is a quick, messy, emotional encounter between two virgins" vibe the story requires.

Like I'm not saying it can't be done (or couldn't happen between two people in a similar situation/emotional state irl), but I'm feeling resistance in my writer brain that needs to know how to come at a sex scene from quite a close character pov before I can write it.

Anyway I've not made any decisions yet. The fact is the prompt fest is long closed so if I decide I can't write this one with full on cockinass then I can still just finish it as its own story, it's not really a big deal.

[corrodedcoughin]

T-poses in your askbox

-attempts a cartwheel and aborts when I remember I can’t do gymnastics- hey bb come here often?

[singsweetmelodies]

60, 59, 36 and 14 for the otp ask?❤️

thanks so much for these, dear anon! let's make these last ones fully fill that saying "last but not least" :D 💞

60. Who pulls the other closer when they’re sleeping?

answered here 💙

59. Who tops? Who bottoms?

HAHAHAHAHAHA, omg. omfg. you know, i was just waiting for someone to send this ask. i was waiting for it, bahahaha. i bet you knew exactly what you were doing with this one, right, anon? lmaooo.

well, the first thing i'm going to say is - according to the people, here is your answer. charles bottoms 98% of the time, whereas pierre is 100% a switch. so it would usually be pierre tops and charles bottoms, but very occasionally, they switch it up. 👌

and you know what, i agree. the piarlies have excellent taste 😌 in my headcanons, yep, pierre tops, 9 times out of 10. to me, he just gives such cocky, confident top energy most of the time - he's all "yep, i have a big cock, and i know what to do with it" BDE. sometimes, though. sometimes he can just be such an incredible little shit, and so infuriating, but in the cutest way possible. "baby brother mode activated," as i like to call it - because he knows he's annoying, but he also knows he can get away with it, because he knows exactly how cute he is. at times like these, i feel like he just needs to be pushed up against a wall and kissed stupid. or maybe bent over a table and --[gunshots]

and as for charles - well, i mean, if you just look at charles interacting with any other man... he's not a top. or at least, not usually. he's got the biggest babygirl/pillow princess/bottom energy i have ever seen in a professional athlete, lmfao. (i adore him for it.) i do also think, though, that charles is not 100% a bottom. i mean, hell, he's a race-car driver, and he's said it himself that he can be a control freak. so i feel like sometimes - but only sometimes! - that translates into bed, and he wants to be in control. he's also fit enough (thanks for the proof, ferrari thirst traps) that he's definitely strong enough to push pierre up against things and hold him down, if he really wants to. but that's the exception, not the rule. most of the time, he's more than happy to lie back and be taken apart 😌 which works out very well, because pierre loves to top if it's charles beneath him. match made in heaven <3

36. Who's more likely to fire up the stove at 2am because the other woke up in the middle of the night hungry?

to be completely honest with you, i don't think either of them would do this with a great deal of success - purely because i don't think either of them are the very best of cooks. charles, as we know, is very proud of the fact that he can do a good pasta. but... that's also about all he can do 😆 and pierre is not a lot better, lmao. in fact, in my headcanon, his culinary skills are limited to a fry-up. so if either of them were to wake up suddenly and ravenously hungry at night, i think they'd be more likely to raid the fridge/pantry and eat whatever they can find, diets notwithstanding.

and as for who would do it for who - well, i feel like charles sleeps like the absolute dead, lmao, and takes about twenty-odd minutes to wake up properly. the chances of him being coherent enough to do anything for pierre at 2am are incredibly low. pierre, on the other hand, is probably one of those people who gets massive bursts of energy late at night. so i'm just imagining an exhausted charles trailing after a hyper pierre, trying not to fall asleep on his shoulder as pierre raids the fridge... 🥺 that is an INCREDIBLY cute image, actually, and i kind of love it. yep! that's my answer. charles would wake up at 2am and stagger down to the kitchen with pierre, but he'd be a lot less helpful and a lot more sleepy and cute. and then they would probably end up making out on the counter, because charles is just too adorable when he's all soft and sleepy like that, and pierre can't help himself. midnight snack forgotten in favour of... well, midnight dessert. heh. needless to say, that's sleeping done for the evening.

14. How do their personalities compliment each other? How do they clash?

oooooohhh, this is a fab one! and fair warning... i fucking LOVE to talk about characterisation/how these two are foils for each other, so *ahem* buckle yourself in, because this is going to be a long one.

the first point i want to talk about is a bit of a depressing one, but it's also one that i feel is very crucial to their characters. it's all about how they handle loss - and i touched on it a little bit here, when i was talking about hiding their emotions/the other being able to tell anyway. but i want to go into a bit more depth here: especially on charles. because i feel like charles is someone who has lost so much - and yet, he manages to do almost unbelievable things (like win an f2 race) right after terrible loss (his father passing away.) to me, this is a crucial part of who he is. he is able to compartmentalise incredibly effectively - he has to be, otherwise there's no way he'd still be able to race after everything he's lost. he has also said in interviews that he's all about living in the moment, and knowing how lucky he is that he gets to be where he is. so, yeah. charles is someone who handles loss by compartmentalising it, and then not dwelling on it in favour of focusing on what he does have, instead.

pierre, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. like i said in that linked post, he has a tendency to overthink, and get lost in his own head about things. if he makes a mistake, he's likely to replay it, and agonise over it to the point that it becomes worse and worse. this is, of course, the exact opposite to charles, who doesn't dwell on mistakes or losses. he just moves on to the next thing he can control - which is both a good thing, and sometimes less good, because there are times in which you need to take the time to process. so i feel like their personalities complement each other incredibly well in that aspect: when pierre overthinks too much, charles is there to ground him and help him let it go/live in the moment for a little while. at the same time, pierre is there to remind charles that it's okay to let himself overthink, just once in a while, to help him process. and since they've known each other for so long, i think they've helped each other like this a lot of times. so, yeah. that's a beautiful point of complimenting personalities there.

another point of characterisation i want to talk about is their sibling status! anyone with siblings knows alllll the sibling clichés, lmao - but the thing about clichés is they're often rooted in truth. charles is a middle child, and middle children are often the ones struggling with self-doubt and a lack of self-confidence because their older sibling gets all the praise. now, i don't think this is quite the case for charles, but then again, he did grow up in both lorenzo AND jules' shadows. that can't have been easy, and charles has confirmed in that f1 "when we were young" documentary that he's always struggled to believe in himself. we see it today still - when something goes wrong, he will always blame himself. when it goes right, he will thank the team, not himself. argh. my heart. but anyway. to contrast this with pierre! pierre, now, is a completely different story. he's a youngest child - the absolute baby of his family - and also, per that one biography of his, the "glue" that keeps the entirety of the gasly family together. he's very much adored there, and i can just imagine him being spoiled rotten, lmao. the result of this is that he has a whole fuck-ton of self-confidence, and that he's also quite used to getting his way.

clearly, this contrasts quite sharply with charles, and i can imagine them clashing over it, every so often. maybe pierre can be a little too cocky and energetic and/or needy when charles just needs a little more time to feel more settled and less self-doubting. however - and pierre and charles' own interviews support me here - i don't think they actually clash, as in fight, all that often. actually, they have said that they agree on almost everything, and very rarely argue. so, yeah. while i can imagine small, bitchy fights if they're both stressed, and getting on each other's nerves, i don't really think that they would get into very big blow-ups. also? they just care about each other too much to truly be petty. and they understand each other, so, again, it's easy to resolve fights and forgive each other. 💜

ahhh, and i could talk about characterisation for literal hours more, but i shall force myself to stop, because i do still need to get some work done today 🥲 one last little point before i go, though: another way in which i think pierre and charles are beautifully complimentary is in their shared sense of humour. i am going to link you to two videos to prove my case: here we have a tiny sauber!charles laughing his babygirl head off at jokes and puns that really aren't even funny. and here we have an equally tiny toro rosso!pierre, also giggling like crazy at dad jokes that definitely aren't that amusing. my conclusion? they share the same terrible sense of humour, and that's probably why we always, always see them laughing and giggling together. and you know how the saying goes: boyfriends who laugh together, stay together :DD <3

(obligatory otp asks)

[flustersluts]

I understand exactly what you mean about the troll toll, i will GLADLY pay those tolls for some tummy cuddles

-💁‍♀️

THEN TUMMY CUDDLES U SHALL RECEIVE

[aposemetric]

hi! i'm kinda bored these days because i've just been rewatching shows but i've got an itch to start some new ones and expand my media palate; i was told to ask you because a friend of mine said you had really good taste in anime ^_^ any recs? just list off your favorites! thanks and have a happy new year!

OH... ANON <3 you speak words that sound like birdsong to me. happy new year to you, too!

i'll list the ones i find the very best in no particular order, and i'll attempt to give a "short" description of why they might be worth your time! it'll obviously depend on several things like your own tastes and whether you've ever actually seen any anime etc., but it should cover a range of themes/genres at least :)

Hunter x Hunter (2011) 148 eps

hxh is an action-adventure story that starts out deceptively simple, but is structured in a way where each 'arc' has a wildly different theme/genre influences, meaning you really would never guess where it goes from its somewhat slow start. incredible character writing with emotional highpoints that feel like fantastic pay-off. a real journey, and one that pretty much everyone who's ever touched this show (and There Are Many) will vouch for! best of its genre, hands down.

Cardcaptor Sakura (1998) 70 eps + two films

if you're looking for something very sweet and relaxing, then this is the best pick! css is an episodic type of show you'd most enjoy taking slowly; it's a look into the seemingly idyllic daily life of this lovely cast of characters who are dealing with magic and mystery. this show feels like marshmallows, and with its intrigue captures the feeling of childlike wonder supremely well. a great take on light fantasy set in the modern world, with beautiful animation to boot!

Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1988) 110 eps + two films

if i could force people to watch anything ever, it would be this show. logh is a brilliant epic (in the literary sense) (also in the gamer sense) space opera that at a surface level seems to be about politics and spaceship battles, when it really has character-driven appeal at its core. if you just love wondering why that general looked at his right hand man like that when that other admiral made that clearly philosophically-dubious remark... well. it's genuinely a masterpiece, poses interesting political & philosophical questions about systems of rulership and domestic life and our roles in society, is funny, and has what maybe is the best character of all time. i could not recommend this more!

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (2011)

chances are you know of jjba! it's unlike any other anime in presentation and style, for which it is super well-known. jjba has the rather unique appeal of consisting of 'parts', with different casts & settings for each part, while still being a story that ultimately follows one bloodline. this means you start off enjoying a shakespearean tragedy set in 1880s england at some point, and a mafia storyline set in italy in the 2000s at another. jjba does very ridiculous and flashy things, but does them so convincingly and takes itself so seriously that you end up buying every strange twist it throws at you! jjba is just super fun.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006) 28 eps + 'The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya' film

haruhi is an eccentric show with an equally eccentric cast, refusing loyalty to any genre despite an overfamiliar setting. it's... seriously hard to describe what exactly is going on in this show. it plays into the meta of certain anime tropes, and presents characters as being prime examples of those tropes... before you learn they're acting the part knowingly. it dabbles in philosophy, drama, and sci-fi, and yet saying that doesn't represent its appeal accurately at all. it's very non-traditional, yet very easy to get into. it has the best anime film of all time. this is one where you really should check out the first episode, or a trailer, because words aren't going to do it any justice!

Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997) 39 eps + 'Adolescence' film

ourgh... this story. rgu seems like it's going to be a fun story about sword-duels, before hitting you with a genuinely harrowing examination of (gender) roles we're forced to play, systems of control and oppression, and so much dense symbolism you could write fifteen essays after one watch. it's flowery and artistic, and the type of show that requires active input from the viewer in the form of analysis and interpretation. it has a greek chorus! it's not at all hard to care for the (very mentally ill) cast of characters, and you might find yourself fundamentally changed as a person after watching this. especially if you're queer, this show will likely poke hard into your soul.

Berserk (1997) 25 eps

many recommend skipping ep1 for spoiler reasons. i recommend skipping it because it's not interesting. we r not the same. it is a story set in horses-and-knights-and-such era europe, which i generally despise, but this show is SO beautifully atmospheric in its dreamy colours and out-of-this-world soundtrack that it ends up feeling like a hazy and hope-filled memory by the time berserk reveals itself to be... a tragedy. a story that fundamentally is about two people who long for connection with the other so badly, but whose formative experiences were always irrevocably going to contort their fate. additional shout-out to the soundtrack for being completely unlike anything else, and certainly not what you imagine a show set in that era to sound like!

Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995) 26 eps + 'End of Evangelion' film

another very famous show, nge is all about the psychological profiles of some very disturbed characters! they have SO many issues and the show loves to make them go on introspective little journeys of suffering. packed full with symbolism (again), nge loves invoking biblical themes/symbols especially. this story is about the Human Condition and about the pain of trying to get closer to others, all wrapped up alongside some good old action.

91 Days (2016) 12 eps

finally, this is a relatively underground choice here! a very easy show to enjoy, especially for those who haven't watched anime before, 91 days offers a relatively short but well-bounded mafia revenge story. what this show sets out to do, it does quite perfectly, and so it's probably the most straightforward entry in this list. it nails its narrative well, has a fun setting (1920s america), and is really good at sticking the landing when it comes to delivering on emotions and storylines that build throughout the show!

if anyone reads this far, have a great day/evening! :)

[virgo-dream]

Hi! For the fanfiction trope thing- how do you feel about hurt/comfort?

I am a deeply wounded person craving comfort so I eat that shit up lol

I LOVE hurt/comfort. Really, because it’s all about vulnerability. Being made vulnerable and then allowing someone else to see that vulnerability and help heal the wound. It’s very special, in a way, because it’s a healing experience for the reader too (in my case, at least). You can reach deep emotional places with that trope simply because it requires a broader exploration of the themes to be done right.

A: Love it. Spend my time combing AO3 for it.

[she-is-27-i-checked]

OG fandom?

Number 1 fandom?

How do you take your tea?

Ok so this is going to show my age but I first encountered fandom, not that we called it that back then, on the forum of a Willow and Tara site (probably Geocities?) I can still recall the little emojis (not that we called them that!) and the elaborate footers that were added to every post. Ah the glory days of the internet.... From there I quickly progressed to reading the absolute filthiest BtVS fics you've ever seen at the tender age of about 15.

My number 1 fandom at any given time is just whatever my current hyperfixation is so right now it's Rizzles. But if you looked at it by words read it'd probably be Buffy because of how long I've been working on that shit, or xena or Warrior Nun because those guys are prolific and they caught me at a time when I had motivation for naught but reading in bed.

I am British through and through (not in a racist way, I hate that I feel the need to add this but that's Britain today I guess) so Strong and with milk no sugar and in my favourite National Trust mug.