#this has an element of rpf to it sorry

[starlightiing]

what if we were best friends growing up, inseparable little monsters on the track that shuffled over to each other's homes for a hot warm meal after a long day of racing hard in the unforgiving snow?

what if we both had impossible dreams of making it into F1, but we never gave up through thick and thin to get there, together?

what if 'through thick and thin' became our reality, and the air really did thicken between us, and we pushed each other away so desperately and so viciously, that we just came flinging back into each other's orbit despite our best efforts to keep apart?

what if we both made it in to f1, two silly kids that grew up 20 minutes apart with a shared dream, only to harden our hearts and try to pretend those parts of our lives never existed?

what if we ended up, by the imperceptible winds of fate, as teammates in the same sport we grew up chasing together - despite all of the clamor and vitriol we were slung for daring to dream bigger and brighter?

what if we thought this could change us and it didn't. what if we fell farther apart, our relationship crumbling to dust right before our eyes without the hope of ever even catching a wisp of sand between our trembling fingers to hold us together?

what if we, again manipulated by those imperceptible winds of fate, end up stumbling into a podium together during our quickly waning time as teammates?

what if we, two little kids from France with a dream, ended up here together despite how thick the air between us has gotten to breathe, despite the fire and the flames, the good and the bad, the better and the worse?

what if we held each other close and tight, enough to feel the tremble of each other's bodies as excitement courses through our veins, during this impossibly magical moment we get to share with each other, together yet again?

what if we could breathe thin air together again, even for just a little while, and keep that door wedged open just enough that we could peek in from time to time without it feeling like our hearts were in vice grips?

what if this could fix us?

[utahlive]

Q&A yippeee!!

answering some questions from the inbox :D Some of these are a little old, so sorry u_u

aw man I get you!! All the stickers are in plain white envelopes and contain the sticker + a little doodle from me :] Here's a little front + back view of what a typical letter looks like:

no theres no lore whatsoever

Maybe a 6 or 7? They do have a plastic coating and I've had mine on my sketchbook for a while, but I'm not sure how he would fare in the elements... he also may try to peel off and run away if you take him to work

I don't know about Ao3 but I have considered posting this to Tapas or Webtoon. For now its tumblr exclusive! :thumbs_up:

Youre right it was really fucked up of me to draw real wilbur soot getting murdered by his father, philza minecraft. that was really big news and my true crime rpf has gone too far

yeah go crazy :D (emphasis on with credit tho)

[wrishwrosh]

re: tags on labor in historical fiction post, would be very interested to hear what the four examples you mentioned are!!

ok u know what that tag WAS bait, thank you for taking it. technically speaking these aren't works dealing strictly with labor in historical fiction, they are my four treasured examples of BUREAUCRAT FICTION (so not NOT about labor in history?) i was gonna try to make this post pithy and short but then i remembered how extremely passionate i am about this microgenre i made up. so sorry.

bureaucrat fiction is not limited by genre or format but criteria for inclusion are as follows: long and detour-filled story about functionary on the outside of society finding unexpected success within a ponderously large and powerful System/exploring themes of class and physicality and work and autonomy and what it means to hold power over others beneath the heartless crushing wheels of empire/sad little man does paperwork. also typically long as hell. should include at least one scene where the protagonist is unironically applauded-perhaps for the first time in their life-for filling out a form really good. without further ado:

soldier's heart by alex51324. the bureaucracy: british army medical corps during wwi. the bureacrat: mean gay footman/new ramc recruit thomas barrow. YEAH it's a downton abbey fic YEAH it's a masterpiece. i've talked about it before at length, my love has not faded. the crowning moment of bureaucracy is a long interlude where thomas optimizes the hospital laundry (this actually happens twice or maybe three times)

hands of the emperor by victoria goddard. the bureaucracy: crumbling fantasy empire some time after magical apocalypse. the bureacrat: passionate late-career clerk from the hinterlands cliopher mdang. i reread this book every winter bc it is as a warm bath for my SAD-addled brain and every time i neglect all my responsibilities to read all nine billion pages in three days. it puts abt 93% of the worldbuilding momentum into elaborating all of the ministries and secretaries and audits necessary to run a global government and like 7% into the magic and stuff. there are also several charming companion novellas and an equally long sequel that dives more into the central relationship between cliopher and the emperor which i highly recommend if you like gentle old man yaoi and/or magic, but there's more bureaucracy in HOTE.

the cromwell trilogy by hilary mantel. the bureaucracy: court of henry viii. the bureaucrat: thomas cromwell, the real guy. curveball! it's critically acclaimed booker prize winning rpf novel wolf hall! mantel is really interested in particular ways of gaining and maintaining power in delicate and labyrinthine systems like the tudor court, specifically in strongmen who use both physical intimidation and metaphysical manipulation to succeed. under these conditions i do think my best friend long-dead historical personage thomas cromwell counts as Bureaucrat Fiction (as do danton and robespierre in a place of greater safety. bonus rec.)

going postal by terry pratchett. the bureaucracy: fantasy postal service of ankh-morpork. the bureaucrat: conman, scammer, and little freak moist von lipwig. this is definitely shorter and lighter than the other three entries on the list, sort of a screwball take on the bureaucrat. but the mail is such a classic bureaucracy thing? who doesn't love thinking about the mail? also contains a key genre element which is a fraught sexual tension with the person immediately above the protagonist in their hierarchy, who is also their god-king and boyfriend-dad. you can't tell me vetinari isn't torturing moist psychologically AND sexually.

anyway sorry about all this. if you've read any of these come talk to me about them. bureaucrat fiction recs welcomed with the openest possible arms.

[beabnormal24]

https://www.tumblr.com/beabnormal24/749880910352105472/hi-i-just-need-to-vent-i-do-not-have-the-words

This!!!! Oh my god!!! I really did like landoscar fics at first. But the way the amount of fics now that just portray Carlos as the bad guy is insane!!! And it's not just landoscar but lestappen fics too!

Carlos always ends up being the antagonist or the ex that was horrible and well as you've said a ab*ser. I get it that it's fiction and it's their writing and they're free to do whatever they want.

And I understand that sometimes in some plots why Carlos had to be the bad guy. It makes sense plot wise. Great. You're free to write what ever you want.

But there's a line that should not be crossed. And they cross it all the time.

And sometimes you can clearly tell that they do not like Carlos just from how they write him. Especially in fics where Charles or Oscar are the main protagonist in lestappen and landoscar fics because the writer will always make Carlos this horrible character. And it’s always the fics with lestappen and landoscar as side ship or vice versa. Which again ok everyone has their fav drivers and are free to have opinions but the way they are so easy and quick to make Carlos (a real person that they don’t know personally) an ab*ser.

The way I have backed out of multiple ongoing fics that i did like recently because they didn’t tag it properly (probably for like a shock element) and Carlos was this ab*ser character and was horrible to poor Charles and Lando and Oscar and Max were this saviour protecting them from big bad Carlos. One fic is somewhat understandable but multiple fics that’s just hating and being vile towards Carlos is insane. And making him this character that is always this ab*ser like character.

The way this behavior has turned me away from lestappen (which was how i got into f1 rpf bc I loved them and still do but i just cannot read or appreciate them anymore) and landoscar is actually crazy. I have been in multiple fandoms with ships that I don’t like and let the shippers be. Always been a firm believer in “don’t like don’t read/dni” but sometimes you have to interact and call what they’re doing wrong. It’s not even the ships that are bad it’s the shippers. They are so toxic and this toxicity makes you turn away from the whole ship.

Sorry if this doesn’t make sense but yeah…

Anon, this made incredibly sense, and I have to share this because I have never heard truer words. I, too, have had to clock out of ongoing fics because of this, I just can’t stand it when Carlos becomes the bad character, sometimes even without a logical reason at all!

Like once I was reading this Landoscar fic and all of a sudden they just straight out started saying that Carlos was stupid and an idiot and he was an asshole, but that didn’t even fit in the entire dialogue the characters were having!

In another fic, they went as far as k*lling Carlos, just because they hated him.

This is not fiction, this is a problematic mentality. I get that you can despise someone, but as anon said that’s just taking it too far and it has become extremely toxic and disgusting.

[charleslelurk]

how do you decide on what to write and which ship and trope would fit into it .

Oh this is so hard to explain because it’s not as conscious a decision as your question makes it sound. All my fics start off from one little brainworm. One glimpse of relief was a tumblr post. Death Bloom was me overthinking the biology of ABO. Four week wedding came from a Try Guys YouTube video. (I’m realizing as I write this that I can’t remember what started Erosion? I might be distraught about this?) Something plants the seed and then it just keeps growing.

Nine times out of ten, I consume whatever inspired me (be that a movie, someone else’s fic, an anecdote from real life) and when I imagine fic of it, it’s not like I’m sitting there saying “hmm so who should I put into this situation” but that the idea exists with the ship/driver already ingrained in it and attached to it.

I have examples below the cut, but it got loooooong sorry

For example, my (unposted wip) knights tale au has always been lestappen. I had the budding idea just because I love a knights tale and there is some amazing knight Charles art on this site (future Amy, come back and add a link there to some of it) so I had the brainworms half formed. But then I went to the ren faire in August and one of the knights in the final joust was literally named Max and had a lion insignia and I was like “oh YEAH, enemies to lovers jousting tourney lestappen let’s fucking gooooo.” Like that idea doesn’t exist to me if it’s not lestappen, it fits their narrative and how I like to view their rpf dynamic of being enemies/rivals to lovers.

But then for say, borderline of a bad idea it was born from an ask someone else got asking their thoughts about Carlando. And they said something about how the most interesting thing about Carlando to them is how toxic they could be as friends who fucked once and never talked about it. So I took that dynamic and ran with it. The uni/frat setting came from how my own situationship that ruined my life happened in college, as so many people’s life altering homoerotic situationships do. And having been in a (non Panhellenic) sorority myself, I know enough about Greek life to insert that as my like special interest element in the fic.

So it’s like… the ideas are married to the ships and characters entirely, they don’t exist separate from those dynamics because they’re so intertwined that one doesn’t exist without the other. If that makes sense?

I have only once come up with an idea and had to truly ponder who to put into the situation and that’s a recent idea I had for a love triangle and had to figure out what drivers could fit in it together and how they all interplay with one another, but that fic is way in the future if it ever even happens because I have too many things to work on before then.

[live-laugh-loverpool]

for my robmo request, hows about andy finding mo alone at the training center after the whole news regarding mos afcon injury, the whole controversy w lfc and the egypt nt, you know!! after some comfort andy goes out of his way to get a thoughtful suprise gift for mo! whatever it is, is up to you :3

it's finally here! sorry for the LOOOONG wait...

@moomin279 @millythegoat @alissonbear-ker @liverpool-enjoyer @loverpool-chocolate-fishy

@youni-yni @anfieldroad @snuuysideup

it's different, but i swear it has the elements of your request involved!

[hms-tardimpala]

For the latest ask game, I would like to give you some options: - If you think the "fandom" part can be applied to your wrestling RPF fandom then please feel free to view this as an excuse to talk about them ;) - and/or I would love to hear your answers to the "character" questions for Thurston Niles <3

Aahaaahhh NARA YOU SPOIL ME! When I saw this ask I squealed and rubbed my hands together. You know me, if you give me options I'll choose both, but I'll start with our boy Thurston.

003 - Character: Thurston Niles

How I feel about this character: I like him! I think he's a well-written, morally grey antagonist for Fetch and I'm excited to see where Luke takes him. The industrialist character is obviously one you want to watch in a setting that experiences an industrial revolution. I love that he should be the epitome of conformism and normality and reason but he's shown to be a bit of a freak (inviting your casual enemy over to duel in armor hello?).

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Complicated question. I like reading Philes fics, and I do like them together, it can be weird as fuck, I'm into that. But if you know me you know how attached I am to canon compliance when I engage with a piece of media. I can only truly ship characters when there are solid canon elements to support it (look at my other ships, like Destiel, and you'll see what I mean). So I can like ships and read fics for ships like Fetch/Niles but by my definition of shipping, I don't ship them. Maybe that doesn't make sense, idk. Sorry!

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I would have loved to see Lance and Thurston in action together. I'm sure they made a great team, and since we are in Fetch's POV, we never quite see how much the loss affected Niles, who must feel like half of a pair left alive.

My unpopular opinion about this character: Maybe I'd like him to keep being a bastard and a real antagonist for Fetch. I'm all for their reluctant friendship, but I genuinely want him to be a villain.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I want him to come to a point where he has a difficult moral choice to make. Like, between his business interests and the well-being of some people. A Schindler moment (remember we compared him to Schindler an eternity ago, Nara?). I want to see where he falls in a situation like this.

What I said about shipping kind of disqualifies some of the questions here so I'll answer the ones I can.

Consider this an answer to the question "My crack ship" if it was part of the game: You know what would be horrible but very funny to me personally? Next book Mortales rolls into town, Niles organizes a party at his manor he invites Fetch to and when Fetch comes in he sees him arm in arm with General Taryn. Boom! Turns out these two have been happily married for 20 years but living separately for business (and reputation) reasons. They met when Niles Corp was growing and Mortales bought it. It was a subsidiary company all this time! Taryn and Thurston met at the merger. Lance rolled his eyes at his little brother falling for the big strong grizzled army man (he disapproved, it's unprofessional). In the present day Fetch is foaming at the mouth, eye twitching, seizing in the entrance hall. His heart has finally given out.

Did I just write the shortest and most horrible fanfic our fandom has ever seen? Yes :P

My kink: I'd love him to get his rocks off getting choked. He's very dominant on the daily, he's a powerful man, so I think it could be fun for him to be powerless and hurt. I think he would be the kind of guy to ask his partner to go harder and harder, until they're worried.

A headcanon fact: That man is bisexual, that's my headcanon. Maybe I'm projecting, but it's obvious to me. He's just a little too off-kilter to be straight. Maybe he even turned his eye toward Sunder City because it's primarily a magum city and magum don't care about sexual orientation the way humans do. Maybe he can take a breath there. Also, I believe it would fit the nuanced moral line of the series. It can't be the good queer magum against the bad heteronormative humans. It's more complicated. Niles can be a great queer villain.

My gender bend: Niles would work so well as a woman. Are you kidding me. She would rule over Sunder in no time. And Fetch's feelings toward her would become infinitely more complicated. He'd look at her and think he has covid (we know he's into MILFs since the Carissa affair). She would still invite him over to duel and he would feel all kinds of ways about it.

Nara, I had SO MUCH FUN thinking about Niles more in depth like this, thank you for asking me!!!

Now I'll rant about wrestling a little ^^

001 - fandom: wrestling RPF

Favorite character: CM Punk. He's my good time boy my drama queen my toxic old man. He might not be the best pro wrestler ever (debatable) but he embodies what pro wrestling (the good and the bad) is so well. In fics, I particularly the Ring Of Honor-period Punk because he's so passionate and queer-coded. Also, the look! The bad bleaching, the chipping nail polish, the piercings the ugly shirts and baggy jeans and basketball shorts!!

Least Favorite character: Chad Gable. The American Made faction as a whole gives me the ick. It's too american and patriotic, it's all I hate. Chad also, as a heel, treats people like shit and it works on me so well I hate to see him onscreen.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): CM Punk/Samoa Joe, CM Punk/MJF for the shippy ships. The following three are not ships, just wrestlers I like to see together in the ring because they work well together: Andrade/Carmelo Hayes, Bianca Belair/Iyo Sky, Sheamus/Pete Dunne.

Character I find most attractive: Solo Sikoa. I love thick men 😍

Character I would marry: Samoa Joe. Serious, discreet, hot. A long-time worker. A safe bet!

Character I would be best friends with: Damian Priest looks really cool.

a random thought: Is wrestling RPF? Since the wrestlers play a character and act out stories? The fact that they pretend it's all real and that they're closer to their character than actors makes it sound like RPF. It's a mindfuck.

An unpopular opinion: I'm not interested in the Bloodline-and-Cody story and I think too much time is devoted to it and not enough happens to justify all that screen time.

most badass character: Jacob Fatu. That man looks dangerous as hell.

pairing I am not a fan of: Cody/Roman. I don't see the chemistry.

character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): Right now, I feel like the writing is doing a disservice to Rhea Ripley. The feud with Liv Morgan needs to evolve out of "two chicks fight because of a boy".

favourite friendship: CM Punk/Samoa Joe. Seeing them smile at each other in the ring as they punch each other, seeing Punk struggling to hold back a smile when they find each other again in AEW, the backstage photos... It looks like a wholesome friendship.

character I want to adopt or be adopted by: If someone is mean to R-Truth I'll kill everybody in this room.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PLAYING WITH ME NARA 💙💙

[lightyakami]

💫 🌿💌

fic writer's asks hello snap thank you!!! <3 <3 <3

💫 what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

i am always so so touched when people tell me they've connected with some aspect of a fic on a personal level. i think it's an incredibly vulnerable thing to share with someone and i'm SO grateful when people choose to do that. 🌿 how does creating make you feel? to me, writing always feels more like a craft than anything else. it feels like assembling the pieces of something practical, like a chair or a table or something, then whittling down the pieces to make it look nice and function the way it's meant to function. i really respect people who write based on emotion and such but i am literally always thinking of the technical elements then slotting them together piece by piece.

sometimes when i say this people think i don't have an emotional connection to my work or that i'm approaching it from a mercenary perspective, but this is not it at all. i love writing and much of the writing i do is deeply personal. i just experience and approach it more as a craft than an art.

💌 share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited! SO i have finally started my kpop au in earnest for nanowrimo. i am very excited to share this -- it will in theory be my first slow burn & also encompasses a lot of thoughts i've had about mental illness and dependency (mostly healthy!) that i've had for a while. in terms of specific and concrete things, it's going to involve creating a lot of social media ephemera, which is one of my literal favourite things to do. i think (?) u have possibly seen this already but i will share L's author's note from this au. he is writing rpf about beyond (who is in this universe a kpop idol he and light are obsessed with.)

hey everyone  sorry it’s been a while … i don’t have a good excuse. my cat did die though so obviously i didn’t like that. rip. send me recs for new cat names ig. anyway i promise i’m still working on scarlet but i wanted to get this idea down first. beyond’s kind of mean in this at first but i wanted it to be realistic since in real life people don’t always “get” stuff like this … he gets nicer once he understands what’s going on though so don’t worry.

[runa-falls]

Girrrrl, I love your writing, you haven't thought about writing smut about Oscar or Pedro, or idk if you already have, sorry my english is not perfect

Use this hc for Oscar, Miguel, idc, but he's a pussy licking addict, and y/n has crying kink

ohhh ehheheheh okok so i'm writing that 69 thing with steven and it has this element to it 🫠

i hope ur ok with it being steven and not oscar -- i don't write rpf [real person fiction]

thanks for the idea, it only further inspires my wip!!!

[antspaul]

🏜️🍦

sorry it took me a while to get back to you anon!

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

comments that reference details or that engage with some of the more subtle themes or callbacks i write into my fic! as i writer i definitely put a lot of thought into adding layers into my stories (perhaps too much thought at times?) - like making them thematically cohesive & cogent, or choosing a title with a few different meanings, things like that.

it's not upsetting or anything that these things are commented on by the average reader, people aren't going to ao3 to analyze the works published there, and i believe that oftentimes these elements enhance the story in ways that readers will feel but might not be able to put their finger on. but it's always gratifying to hear from readers who have picked up on them!

🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate

this is difficult because i dont think i ha -- actually nevermind halfway through writing this i remembered christian pulisic existed ummmmm.... it feels a little strange to answer this about rpf hahaha!! but whatever we do it anyway.

(also if you like him pls dont take this personally!!! ive definitely read and enjoyed fic with him in it, just as a person i dont enjoy his vibes hahaha)

he's american and from the general region where i live so he would probably be an easier character to write i guess?

i feel like his backstory has some interesting points of contrast with the other characters i write about - he's from a culture where football is far less important than others, and he's the captain and top goalscorer of the current usmnt, which is a level of responsibility that not many of his peers have the experience to understand i suppose?

he's much more private than a lot of his current and former teammates, which i have to respect, and which can be a useful character trait in a story.

idk if that's really answering the question well but that's what i've got!

Writers Truth & Dare Ask Game

[sparring-spirals]

This might sound like it’s straying into RPF territory, but thoughts on each of the players’ (including Matt’s dm style) playing style (ie: how they play their characters.)

Hmmm. Tbh, I don't think I'm knowledgable enough about actual game mechanics/playstyles to provide super meaningful analysis on that front, but I do like characters and how they're created and played and grown. So. I'll cheat a little and talk a little about that?

(To avoid straying into weird territory I'll be trying to keep this as speculation-free as possible and focus on some particular character elements I've noticed and appreciate, but it'll include cast appreciation too.)

this got SO FUCKING LONG because I was having a good time. sorry. enjoy?

Ive spoken about this before, but Marisha's characters often have arcs that are deeply self contained and circle around personal growth and triumph and healing in ways I really enjoy. Her characters do tend to be very powerful, which- nice- but more often than not the biggest factor for growth- and her characters always have phenomenal growth arcs- is about overcoming internal stumbling blocks and demons, improving as a person and settling into it. Which. Spells exciting things for Laudna. 👀 I also love how much she physically embodies each of her characters. Delightful to see. Post-nap Beau, mildly delirious Beau, Laudna drunk-and-woozy-from-blood-loss, Laudna hiding behind her hair.... fantastic.

Liam's characters are so fucking full of love, and passion, in ways that wrap around and shape them, both good and bad. And like yes, fantastic and distinct explorations of grief, yes, thoughtful and nuanced portrayals of loss and trauma and upheaval. But- honestly, looking at Caleb, looking at Vax, looking at Orym. They're all just Lads With Feels, yknow? Good lads who love people so damn much, and feel things so strongly and fully, for better or for worse. He also embodies his characters so fully that you feel that fullness to your core. Method acting.

Taliesin's characters are firstly, aesthetic as hell. He also does something really neat with characters and pride and inflexible or presumptous worldviews. And alongside that, each of his characters can beautifully demonstrate points about people who speak well and charismatically and reassuringly and how that really correlates so little about how much they should be trusted. (Cad, this includes you.) There's pages and pages of analysis that can be done about each of his characters and themes about authority, and pride, and self assurance, and judgements and assumptions that feels very intentional, but his characters also feel very human with it all. There are layers there. And the characters manage to not feel overburdened with it! Masterful. And Taliesin is consistent as hell with it, even if he's not always In character like Liam might be.

Sam. Fucking Sam Riegel. Bard at heart. His characters always, always, have layers, without fail, and Sam is enough of a jokester that you can't take everything done in character as hard evidence of analysis- but you can definitely take more of it than you think. And if there's a specific detail that is slightly funny but seems almost too specific, you can rest assured it will probably rip your heart out later. (Veth hates water! haha! -ah shit-) There's a nice level of thoughtfulness there with just enough actual jokes thrown in to keep you off balance, which makes some of the analysis hell but damn if they aren't good characters.

Ashley is- first of all, extremely funny, okay, there's an element of Chaos™ that I think was present in both Yasha and Pike to an extent that is truly blossoming in Fearne, it is delightful. Her characters tend to be funny in the way of deeply absurd, unexpected statements said in completely genuine tones. And it's hilarious. It also lends itself very well to the other aspect of her characters I enjoy, which has to do with them feeling deeply genuine. It is not precisely about honesty- especially with Fearne- it is about characters who say things with a sort of earnestness, who present themselves with a levek of honesty they can't quite help, even when they're lying. Its good for a comedic streak- ("Your cat is? Vibrating?" "I lied :)") and then just as easily be completely heartwrenching. (Yasha, wrecked and angry and guilty. Fearne, quietly telling Dorian, "I'll never forget you."). She plays both sides of it so well.

I'll admit I'm less familiar with Grog, but Fjord was, admittedly, one of my favorite characters from C2 and has one of my favorite charscter arcs and growth of all time. Travis is so fucking good at blending humor and heart in his characters. Like, comedic timing and sense off the charts, instinctive slapstick, which I think can distract from how consistently thoughtful his characters can be? I dunno. But also, I'm aware some people thought Fjord was boring at the start of C2 and then I think about how fucking hilarious he was through the latter half of it- falling on his face, making a fool of himself, using healing spells for 1-2 hitpoints. And go absolutely feral thinking about how that was a reflection of his growth as a character, about how his confidence in himself and being comfortable being him and not an imitation of someone else meant he felt more confident in making a fool about himself, and how he balanced that humor so well with Fjord growing into leadership and comfort with his role as a voice of reason and- oops this became Fjord meta.

Travis has really good comedic timing but also can spin that on a dime for the most heartfelt, gentle, thoughtful conversations and it is unfair how good he is at it. We're even seeing it with Chetney already. Incredible.

and. Look. I'm sure anyone following me is unsurprised to know that I have. An extreme love for Laura Bailey characters and how they're constructed. And part of this is definitely verging on like, personal preference- I have a specific weakness for characters who are trying so fucking hard to keep it together and be Good and Kind and charming, and who might be doing it VERY convincingly but are also, in one form or another, white knuckling it and On The Edge. Characters that Smile With Teeth (but are also genuinely Trying Their Best). I DUNNO.

But I think it's a testament to Laura truly thinking things through with her characters and how they would feel and react and also fuck things up, and then 100% committing to them. Strong traits as both strengths and flaws. Vex's charm distilled to an arrow point. Jester's happiness being intentional and powerful and terrifying. Imogen being anxious and empathetic and also ruthless under pressure. Her characters are always impressive and flawed in ways that make so much sense, that line up with each other and fall into place and she commits to them fully. They'll say something or do something bad and you'll be like: OOF but also OF COURSE and like. LIKE. isn't that great.

And as a bonus, we don't get to see Matt as a player often and I think NPC building has a level of worldbuilding integrated that can't be ignired. But whenever I see him as a PC he is often-

1- having such a good time, love that for him.

2- Clearly someone so well associated with the rules and uses all of that knowledge and mastery for tomfoolery or specific purposes.

3- making such Lads™. Good bois.

im mostly thinking about Dariax, actually. Dariax was so good, and so complex while also having no more than 3 thoughts at a time. i miss u dariax. ilu.

Matt's characters are a delight, is what I'm saying.

.....

okay this got unreasonably long i think it can probably be boiled down to I Love Complex Characters Who Act Consistently With Some Level Of Characterization and everyone in the cast works so hard to ensure their characters feel fully realized and act consistently and in ways that make sense. And I love characters who act consistently. my bread and butter. and they're all good at different aspects of it but. 👌

[ao3feed-j2]

The Fifth Element

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/oNVlrHA

by candygramme

The world is being menaced by Evil, and only one person can save it. Fortunately he has help!

This is not a story for the faint of heart. There were so many opportunities to lampoon, that I really didn't know where to begin – and if you read then you will certainly notice that I didn't have the sense to know when to stop! All I can say is that I am deeply sorry.

In here you will find a villain the likes of which has never been seen before. You will find a hero of truly monumental ability, and a being who is just about perfect. You will find character death, bravery in the face of impossible odds and a variety of TV heroes past and present, from Star Trek to the X-files and beyond.

I wish to reassure readers that no Tom Wellings were harmed during the making of this movie. It was all done with smoke and mirrors. He will be fine, I promise.

My thanks go to spoonlessone for her stellar beta, and for the way she joyfully joined in the silliness. I also wish to thank the script writer of the Fifth Element, and tinkabell007, whose words I frequently stole. The story was written in 2008.

Words: 28259, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Supernatural (TV 2005) RPF

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Alex Krycek, James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock, Lt. Uhura, Mr. Scott, Dr. McCoy, Kim Manners, Dawn Ostroff, Chad Lindberg, Eric Kripke, Gabriel Tigerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jared Padalecki, Jim Beaver, Katie Cassidy, Bob Singer, Lauren Cohan, Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Han Solo, Chad Michael Murray, Christian Kane, Sandy McCoy, Jensen Ackles, Steve Carlson, Jason Manns

Relationships: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki

Additional Tags: Crack Crossover

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/oNVlrHA

[allsassnoclass]

hi hazel i'm late but if you're still in a chatty mood, what are your favourite 5sos/mashton headcanons? -taylor

@jbhmalumm omg sorry for the delay! i was unpacking stuff today

headcanons for rpf are fun because our "source material" doesn't provide a lot of detailed character information in the same way that a book or movie would and we're completely fictionalizing them anyway, so you can make basically everything up! so here are a few little tidbits, some of them more inspired by the actual boys than others

When on tour, Ashton loves going out to explore! He's gained a new appreciation for seeing the world after the pandemic locked everything down, and he tries to stop somewhere in every city they visit. Often, this is something as simple as going to breakfast with the boys and the crew. Michael, on the other hand, usually doesn't come with because he is the band homebody. He loves travelling too, but tour was a bigger adjustment for him and he needs time to be alone and chill. Calum will almost always go adventuring with Ashton, and while Luke does so more often than not, he's also more likely than the other two to stay back on the bus or hotel.

Ashton offers the boys massages whenever any of them have a knot in their muscles, and he's the most knowledgeable about how to take care of their bodies if they push them too far. He encourages all of them to take ice baths, although Luke is the only one who enjoys it

They're all decent cooks at this point, but Calum is amazing at cooking eggs. For some unknown reason, no one's eggs can match his, even though Ashton or Michael are a little bit better at cooking everything else. Luke has a specific type of cookie that he makes that the others love. The recipe is a very closely guarded secret to ensure that no one else learns how to make it better than him.

Michael and Ashton are wonderful at picking up exactly where they left off. The whole band is given how comfortable they are with each other (and how little time they spend apart) but Michael and Ashton might have less text or phone conversations when apart, but be able to pick up mid-conversation as soon as they get back in the room together. They also really enjoy doing two different things while in the same space together.

It's an inside joke that Michael was Ashton's original friend before the other two entered the picture. He uses it to win arguments even if it has absolutely nothing to do with the initial discussion.

my favorite romantic scenario for mashton is a slow and steady build where both of them are aware of it the entire time, but also scared of what could go wrong. both of them think it's just a little crush, then that their friendship and the band is too important to jeopardize and that the mutual attraction will shift to regular friendship, then after a few years they realize that the romantic feelings aren't going away and that they have nothing to worry about. once they're together, they're together. there's never a question of how permanent it is. they go from being friends directly to being life partners.

then because I'm going to the Renaissance Festival tomorrow, here are some ren fest headcanons!

Michael is the one who suggests that they go, because Michael absolutely loves the food and theatrics and fantasy elements.

Luke is the only one who dresses up at first in a simple shirt and trousers combo, but each year his costume gets more elaborate and the others slowly start to add costume pieces to their wardrobes, too

the first year they go, they stop by a hurdy gurdy performance and Calum becomes obsessed. all of them get the last song stuck in their head and hum it while walking around the fest, but calum finds a spotify playlist of hurdy gurdy music as soon as he gets home and saves it

They all spend an inordinate amount of time watching a blacksmith make a sword. Ashton says that he would love to learn something like that and asks the vendor about the blacksmithing process. Michael immediately googles blacksmithing classes near them and looks up how to build a home forge in the garage if Ashton enjoys the first class

Calum's favorite food at the fest is soup in a bread bowl. Ashton loves talking to all of the different vendors about their products. Luke really loves the street characters and pauses to watch as many little performances as possible. When they sit down for official shows, Michael somehow always gets picked for audience participation portions

Michael goes home absolutely sunburnt after every day at the festival. he also usually goes home with the most merch out of any of them, including a sword one year, some intricate maps, various leather pouches, dragon figurines, and other little trinkets, papers, and things collected from street performers

sleepover weekend

[three-headed-monster]

adam's narrative is what you make it; nobody is wrong. what does the f stand for in RPF again? people should be able to enjoy whatever characterization they want of him without being made to feel like shit. That is the beauty of writing, the character is what you make them. How you write Adam can be awesome, and if someone else writes him totally different, it can still be awesome, and neither is wrong. Using the words "right" and "wrong", black and white words, when talking about something gray (fan fiction) doesn't make sense....nobody is wrong, people can think what they want. immense respect for you knowing so much and providing the facts so others can come to their own conclusions about him

i would agree with this to some extent...some

i assume that you're referring to one of my previous posts where i say:

i was referring to his play here and i don't think anyone would disagree that it's wrong to say that he wasn't playing well today! unless you specifically wanted to twist that element for fic (to handwave a plot point like idk rutger coming to comfort him in his hotel room), i don't think that's incorrect to say.

as well i explained how i feel about it in another ask from yesterday:

i think everyone is very much allowed to have their own characterization in rpf, like you said anon, it is fiction for a reason. however, i don't think that excuses not researching and basing your headcanons or narratives on facts that are easily discoverable to others. that's what i am trying to provide on this blog. for example, i don't think that saying adam has been pushed out by the canadian minor hockey system is right because he himself has said multiple times that's not the case. there's countless evidence provided that's not the case. there are lots of narratives you could run with or storylines you could create without having to vilify others, especially guys like shane, brennan, or brandt who adam has grown up with and has SHOWN to be friends with. i don't think that's being well informed.

however, i think you are right in that fic is a gray area and maybe that's just my opinion. i'm really not trying to control what people write. if i don't like it, i just won't read it. but i really think that an important part of building believable characterization is using what is already there and growing your story upon it, not ignoring it completely. yes it can be stretched, but when it comes to the point of being ooc, that's where it starts to become odd.

maybe i've been too harsh though, and i'lll try to refrain from using black and white words anymore. because as explained before, there is no wrong characterization, there's just yours and mine. sorry if people felt badly about their characterizations of adam after reading the previous asks.

[communistkenobi-archive]

I dont know if this is what you intended and I'm trying to say this in the most respectful of manners: please be aware that your words have impact on other writers.

We are all just here trying to have fun and deal with stuff. I'm not condoning RPF because that's seriously harmful. I can definitely see your points and they are valid.

But after you had posted that, several writers that I know, myself included, have started to question a lot of our works, and many have straight up started to delete their masterlists.

We are all just here trying to have fun and of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I respect that, and I agree with your criticism in parts.

But please be aware of your reach inside this fandom and know that your words have impacted so many people that they started to delete or considered to delete works they have spent time on. You as a writer yourself should know that sometimes there are hours over hours of work put into a single piece of work, and that fanfiction itself is not harmful, no matter what type, as long as they are not about real persons.

You don't have to answer this publically, you can delete this, I don't mind at all. But I just want you to be aware of your reach and how damaging your words were to a lot of people yesterday.

Thank you for reading until here, and have a nice day.

Reading back over the original post I made, I’ll clarify one thing because I explained myself poorly - I didn’t mean to say all SI content was automatically a form of RPF, and I apologise for how that came across. As I mentioned, I don’t have any issue with insert content in and of itself, and if you enjoy writing/reading it then I am genuinely happy people are having fun. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it!

I will push back on the “fic itself is not harmful no matter what type” point, though, because it’s part of the issue - there absolutely are harmful trends in fandom that get expressed in the art produced by said fandom. Aside from the RPF element, which I’ve already discussed, the relevant trend in this case is the fetishisation of Latino men (which is not a new thing in SW fandom - Oscar Isaac and Diego Luna are treated very similarly). Again, I’m not saying all SI content is inherently fetishistic, because it isn’t, where my issue lies is with the overall trend that the amount of SI content indicates. And like, anybody even passingly familiar with the Pedro-character side of the fandom has probably seen at least some mention about fetishistic and upsetting behaviour, because it seems to make the rounds at regular intervals. The fact that there is a “Pedro-character” portion of the Mandalorian fanbase should be an indicator of that.

I’m not advocating that anyone deletes their content or stops producing more of it and I’m sorry people feel that way. It seems like we’re both in agreement there are some very valid criticisms of certain trends within the fandom, and those criticisms are where my problems begin and end.

Also if anyone reading this goes and harasses this person or starts an argument with them on this post I am going to block you

[savageandwise]

Anon:

Hi, your remarks about angst really resonated with me - especially the part about people using one dimensional bad/abusive etc. characters as background for their fluff - I absolutely hate it when that happens and usually stop reading. I think it's fair enough to sometimes only go for a fluff tag or something that is advertised as "angst with a happy ending" as a reader if you want a fic to cheer you up, but if you do that all the time, that's not a great sign of emotional maturity in my book. The only thing I very much tend to avoid is MCD - especially in RPF, I wouldn't read or write that. In general, my RPF is relatively tame, I think. Obviously, I am in no way writing about the life of the real person, I'm just taking their public persona and inventing something, but it still has their name in it and, perhaps superstitiously, I don't want to treat them too badly, because words have power after all... I fully acknowledge that that part's a bit ridiculous :-P But back to the angst tag - I would never avoid a story just because of that, in fact, I might prefer it to "tooth-rotting fluff". Of course people have very different interpretations of the tags, "hurt&comfort" being a prime example - that could mean a little accident, or emotional hurt, or it could mean someone in the story has been tortured... It's complicated. In the beginning, I basically didn't tag at all because I didn't know what to put, and I'm still reluctant sometimes when I feel like the tag is a plot spoiler. The only compromise I've found in that case is to put a warning in the end notes and mention that there's a warning at the beginning - though that always makes me nervous as a reader (should I click it or shouldn't I?). Let me know if you have any thoughts about that and sorry for the novel-lenght post. This is what happens when I don't use the anon option :D

Savageandwise:

Thank you for this! I almost missed it at first because I never used to get submissions. I'm glad to hear post resonated with you. Again, I don't really care if people want to enjoy fluff but I used to get requests for more fluffy fics when I wrote mclennon and I wasn't interested in writing them. I'm even more against hurt/comfort actually because lots of people seem to be getting off on their fave being abused. Like you said there are different levels of this. And I don't mind if it's a minor theme. I particularly hate if rape or torture is involved and one of the characters heals the other with their love. (My friend calls it the magic dick-healing the character with the magical appendage)

some people have explained to me the reason they enjoy the trope is if their fave is emotionally closed off they enjoy them having to be vulnerable. I can understand that. I do write my faves having to deal with strong emotions because I think every one deals with intense situations at some point (I hope- that's part of life!) But I draw the line at invented violence and major illness.

The tagging thing is very difficult. I agree it's hard to decide when it fits particularly if it would spoil the fic. A friend of mine didn't tag her suicide fic and it caused a huge drama. I think your notes suggestion is a good one.

I tend to just spoil I guess. Better safe than sorry. Though I don't always think every tag is necessary depending on the fandom. I feel "drugs" "violence" shouldn't really come as a surprise when writing in the Oasis fandom. If something was particularly violent I might tag it I guess. Its difficult to take everyone's preferences into account. (To know what everyone might consider triggering. I've seen people tag "cheating" and "cigarettes")

On the subject of spoilers, even in real novels and films I feel the human race no longer wants to be surprised- or film makers are too scared to be sued. I do feel most people want to feel they're aware of all the elements ahead of time. That's why trailers are like a mini version of the film and don't seem to leave much out. Shame. But that's how it goes.