#we all have our natural faves and preferences

[seamayweed]

got tagged four times, so i thought it was about time i crawled out of the woodwork and did this! thanks, @godotismissingx, @akingyouniverse, @pashminabitch & @idrilka 💙

Rules: Answer all the questions, then tag 9 people you want to get to know better!

Three ships: i'm a seon-ho multishipper but if i had to choose then it would be bangseon (yi bang-won/nam seon-ho, MCTNA); sephcloud (sephiroth/cloud strife, FF7); balthorki (baldr/thor/loki, Marvel/MCU); as a bonus: heavar (heahmund/ivar, Vikings)

First ship: i think it might have been sasunaru lol

Last song I listened to: Labour by Paris Paloma

Last movie I watched: it's still The Divine Fury (haven't gotten around to watching The Handmaiden yet, but i hope to soon! /o\)

Currently reading: not really reading anything right now... though i guess i recently got Fire & Blood by George R. R. Martin. also meant to start reading Gilgi - eine von uns by Irmgard Keun soon beyond the sneak peek i already got (folks, is it gay to call your girl best friend "Marzipanmädchen" and dreamily think of her as romance itself in the era of the "Neue Sachlichkeit" that eschews romance and sentimentality of any kind???).

Currently watching: i gave in to the urge and finally started watching House of the Dragon (hence why i got Fire & Blood). alicent hightower is my poor little meow meow who is surrounded by creeps and has sapphic longing for her childhood friend/first love turned enemy and can do no wrong

Currently consuming: water - remember to stay hydrated, everyone!

Currently craving: savory puff pastries or há cảo 🤤

Tagging @illwynd, @pyrebomb, @argents-huntress, @hedvig-ulrika, @sadviper, @rain-hat, @nubreed73, @lilsjames, @fuckingfeatherine, @blueberry-cheese-pizza, @springkitten, @contagiousrhythminmybrain, @lvsifer, @noona96n, @strandedchesspiece, @bienmoreau, @cumberbatchedandproud, @laireshi, @judiwench, @itsza, @yohankang, @radialarch, @convenientalias, @avauntus and anyone else who wants to do it!

[sheyfu]

gang idk what i was on; i don't understand this piece nor do i have the energy to understand it 😭😭; read for a (kinda) banger 💛; i do hope it's still enjoyable tho!!

“do you ever think about the possibility of us being soulmates centuries ago?” gazing at your lover, you find him already looking at you, his head propped up on his fist and eyebrows raised.

“what brought this on, dear? i mean, i've certainly thought of it before, but are you perhaps getting bored? do you want to go out while i finish up my work?” 

“no. it's fine. it's just that when we first met, i instantly fell in love with you. i don't believe in love at first sight so i couldn't help but think those were the lasting feelings of my previous body. well i mean, it's either that or i'm just really delusional. anyways, sorry. i'm rambling again.” you say with a grumble.

a chuckle sounds around the room. “it's alright, my dearest. you can ramble all you want. now, go on.”

“alright, if you say so. anyways, when we started going out with each other, everything felt…..natural? it's like we've been doing this for thousands of years. i mean, don't get me wrong. i think we'd really have great chemistry with each other even if we weren't together before! but i feel like we've known each other for so long to the point our bodies act on their own. plus it's very easy to love you. i didn't have to adjust myself according to your preferences just for you to love me. and it'll be really cool if we lived thousands of life together!” 

“well, that's certainly intriguing. maybe we were intwertwined at some point before this. maybe we were lovers in a book or maybe silly things like two rocks.” he laughs heartily as he walks over to you. 

“but i guess even if this is our first time together, then fate is most likely on our side.” he bends down to kiss you, embracing your figure tightly as he holds you close to him.

and at that time, it didn't matter if you were previous lovers or not. as long as you were by each other's sides, you were more than happy to live a life with him.

- neuvilette, zhongli, alhaitham, kaveh, wriothesley, kamisato ayato, your faves 💛

[accio-victuuri]

IF & DOVE LIVESTREAM CLUES. 🧩

we’ve been missing our bunny laoshi for quite some time now and to have back to back livestreams from him was such a treat! and well, that new haircut! anyway, here are some sus moments from those events. this post is mostly for me who missed it and want to catch up/ archive these sweets.

for the IF livestream. i think the most glaring one is when xz said “活过来了”/ “i’m revived” related to drinking. and how it’s what wyb exactly said in exploring the unknown when he was able to finally get that first sip of coffee in the morning. well, you can say that it’s a common expression someone will use but why is it always them? and how close it was that we caught it? also the way it was natural and effortless. it’s times like this that we see their connection.

they don’t show up in front of the camera and events together but little bits like this, them adapting the other’s habits tell us what is true. i also saw one person say days ago that these two now tend to insert some english words in their sentences and i was like — oh yes. that’s true. i kinda noticed that too! even the dialect sometimes and other examples. so this incidence is just one of those. that happens when you spend a lot of time or talk to someone so often.

his clothes from acne studios, which a fave between them. yeah. they are not the only two people in this world who wear this brand but you all know we love some wardrobe similarity.

and this one he was saying how he sweats easily and that he is afraid of the summer because of it. which is not a new information cause we have seen this happen. and why he always has a fan with him. but i’m cackling how OP was relating it to that one LRLG rumor where WYB said that when XZ says it’s hot, he gets two strands of white hair. meaning that stresses him out. HAHAHAHAHA! He is too sweet. He can’t stand seeing/knowing that XZ is not comfortable.

Now let’s move on to the DOVE chocolates livestream which was so fun 🍫

the first one being ( again ) another example of a similarity. how they both like crispy things, and this is what zz commented when asked. which makes sense cause he likes potato chips among other things. as for wyb, he mentioned this when he was eating that food in ETU.

another way to interpret what wyb said was that he was only appreciating the crispiness of it and not exactly saying he prefers it. he said it himself that he is not picky with food. however i agree that this is more than enough to set off our cpn alarm bells. ugh. they are so obvious sometimes.

there was also a moment where he had to make a sentence based on a word that was given to him and what he came up with was:

we can go camping on the grassland and enjoy a relaxing time together with friend

dude i know we are all sick and tired of the camping cpn but they are not. lol. they love it so much and it gives us more sweet fuel so we have to endure 😂 and not only that — together with a friend? is this the friend from the crew? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

he used a cherry for his cupcake too! he really loves it and only put one. reminds me of that cherry cpn.

there was a challenge too where he had to blow the can to move and also push it somehow. he was so persistent! it may seem simple but that’s one characteristic they have in common. they are competitive in their own way ( okay wyb is more ) and won’t give up on challenges! fans noticed too how xz looks so young with his haircut, and how his whole aura is still so innocent and playful. that’s one thing i love about them actually. they maintain or choose that kind of wonder in the world even if it hasn’t always been kind to them.

-END.

[reblogandlikes]

Dipped a toe and snooped in the pro IC and Co. tag just for shits and giggles and it's crazy how so many can't seem to comprehend general criticism of the acotar books and will call people or stans of other characters abusive and idiots and whatever else for simply being a stan of (name character) but do not see the total hypocrisy in their own faves. The abusive nature of their faves. The favoritism towards their faves. The manipulation both from and of their faves.

Many resfuse to see how all over the place SJM writing generally is and I find it hilarious how when it's stated that SJM retcon blatantly to fit the 1st person narrative of the book it's bullshit people and antis are hating for no reason, but as soon as it comes to ACOSF it's lies pandering to pro Nesta despite the story being written in 3rd person from both Nesta and Cassian's POV. I'm sorry, your fave Rhysand has always been a dick. They'd take everything in first books as gospel, but the moment it's Nesta's or even Bryce’s, it's not true? It's biased. It doesn't count.

Hmm...odd

I don't like ACOSF. The story wasn't about healing, but beating a character down into submission and as a Nesta stan, I still critique it because...I can and I will. Cassian can go fall down those stairs and give the usefulness of his wings to Emerie.

If they want to read the books blindly, go ahead, but don't get mad when others actually internalise and think about the messages being spoken. Everyone digest media differently, and that's OK. I personally like reading about ambiguous and indepth characters. Not a fan of being told how to feel and what to think. The ability to ready between the lines and pick up things that aren't in big neon writing is preferable. SJM has the capability, generally, which from what I've seen, is why TOG is far better recieved, even with the criticism.

They say if we hate Rhysand or Feyre so much, why keep reading? Well, at this fucking point, we're all too deep in this shit show to stop. Call it morbid curiosity. These books have made me a masochist.

If you're an anti blog, keep doing your thing. If you're a pro blog, same thing. Who cares? We find our communities and have fun talking shit. But the unnecessary harsh name calling over something supposedly "not that deep" is wild.

[overtake]

Not to be weird but I feel like I got zapped when I read your hockey snippet, how didn't I know that this existed? It's literally been living my brain for hours and I've not been able to stop re-reading it since 🙃 clearly you can take the girl out of toronto but you can't take toronto out the girl because im a changed person now. No pressure ofc I mean this in non-prodding way but praying and willing you to put your snippets together. If you never come around to it then I'm glad (and changed) for what you've shared with world regardless 🙏🏻🙏🏻

This is SO sweet 🥹 I love you so much. Just for this, please have a bit more hockey au. There's a tiny snippet after a media bit (Surprise, this fic is multi-media! Writing the social media parts has been my fave part of the entire process)

@.MapleLeafs on TikTok: | December 12, 2023

[Players walk by a whiteboard on their way into the practice rink. They're stopped to answer the question written on it as they enter. The caption written over their heads reads: "Who don’t your Leafs want to sit next to on a flight?"]

ALEX ALBON: Easy one. Esteban Ocon. He’ll bite your head off if you make a single noise. I think he’d get mad if the plane was going down and you tried to warn him. LOGAN SARGEANT: Gasly or Ocon. I don’t know if it’s a French thing, but they both get really annoyed if you talk to them on a plane. PIERRE GASLY: Danny Ric. He is the loudest person I’ve ever met in my life. ESTEBAN OCON: Daniel Ricciardo. Sorry, Daniel. DANIEL RICCIARDO: Gasly. Max and I were just having a conversation and he rose up behind us and nearly bit our heads off for laughing. I don’t know why he keeps sitting near us. MAX VERSTAPPEN: I don’t really mind sitting next to anyone. I usually sit next to Daniel, and we have a good time. He keeps movies downloaded for us. They're often not very good, but that's sometimes more fun, you know? YUKI TSUNODA: Daniel. VALTERRI BOTTAS: Daniel Ricciardo. ZHOU GUANYU: Daniel. He is very nice and fun, but sometimes you just want to relax on a flight. MARCUS ERICCSON: Surely everyone except Max picked Daniel, right? FERNANDO ALONSO: I don’t want to sit next to anyone.

Mara (DR’s Reputation Era) @.mv33fan: Fernando Alonso: I hate this entire team The entire team: We hate Daniel and the French Max and Daniel: Ask again later. Our mouths are occupied with each other’s dicks.

________

Theoretically, Daniel knew that his and Max's pre-game ritual could end up on the broadcast. Butt taps and silly handshakes in the tunnel inevitably end up on team Instagram stories even if they don't air on TV. It was to be expected, particularly on a Saturday night game against Ottawa.

Still, he didn’t exactly expect a whole montage. It's a nice little package, to be fair. It shows him and Max laughing next to each other in the tunnels and locker rooms before games, followed by their fingers interlocking in their usual drawn-out high five. Daniel prefers to fist bump the whole team and exit only before the goalies, but his routine with Max is always a bit of a production that holds up the line. It's only a surprise it hasn't been uploaded sooner.

After a game where Max scored two goals and Daniel threw his body in front of a rogue deflection and stopped the Sens from a late-third tie, the media naturally focuses on the montage. God forbid they talk about actual fucking hockey in the hockey interview.

“We call it tangled love,” he tells reporters in the press scrum after the game. “In honour of our artistic collision last game.”

It wasn’t a real collision. They’d just got tangled up together when things got chippy by the net. Their skates had collided and they'd taken each other out while trying to defend Esteban from some Habs players. It was all over social media, though, and Daniel knew they’d end up in some embarrassing NHL moments compilation.

They’d both laid on the ice, a little stunned and a lot stupid, before Daniel let out a giant laugh and broke the tension. Max had risen to his feet and tried to pull up Daniel, only for them both to fall right back down as if this was the first time they'd ever skated.

They’d actually been doing this little handshake all season, but reporters were always happy for a soundbite to latch onto and a joke they’d never let go. There's not much to work with in this league in the way of on-camera personality, so it’d probably be a story for the next week. The go-karting clips of the two of them were so popular than even Max mentioned he’d seen them on Reels, and he’d carefully curated his feed to show him anything but Leafs content.

Daniel can’t explain it, this warmth that makes him feel like he’s glowing from inside out all the time since the season started, but he knows he feels it most when he sees people write his name alongside Max’s like their togetherness is a given.

[gogandmagog]

Guys! Yesterday I had a book-shaped piece of mail, and inside of it was my copy of Children and Childhoods in L.M. Montgomery: Continuing Conversations being returned, from another very dear user here! I bring this up only because some-months-ago I promised to copy out a particular article from this book, for yet another user here, who was interested! Interested because it’s on the the subject of a Fan Favourite thing... fan fiction. And better still because some of our (basically famous) mutuals here are mentioned by name! If you’ve ever wondered if the Montgomery scholarship is reading your fan fiction... the answer is yes, they are! They totally are. More than that, they also have some thoughts to share… as well as recommendations of their faves too! This article even covers the F/F and M/M fan fiction presented by fans in LMM’s universe, and I’m personally super excited to be able to begin reading these works, as soon as I can find them all. I’ve done my best to link what I could immediately find, but some of the mentioned stories were unavailable... potentially due to changes in usernames? (That said... if anyone knows of the works indicated here, that I haven’t provided a link for, please do share!)   This article, by the way, was written recently... in 2020! It’s very current, and it covers a few stories that were still being actively updated during the pandemic. The focus of this article is less so on canon (or really just the Anne/Gilbert pairing), though, and seems to prefer demonstrating the versatility of mixing relationships (Anne and Emily, for one!) and the wider more general universe-building aspects (the entanglements of future generations/Anne’s grandchildren) that fans have been expounding on for nothing less than decades. 

Okay, here we go! xx

Continuing Stories: L.M. Montgomery and Fanfiction in the Digital Era by Balaka Basu

Fanfiction – the recreational (re)writing of texts – is a literary genre of rapidly growing significance. Abigail Derecho in her brief history of fanfiction identifies it as “a genre that has a long history of appealing to women and minorities, minorities, individuals on the cultural margins who used archontic writing as a means to express not only their narrative creativity, but their criticisms of social and political inequities as well.”

Insightfully defined by Francesca Coppa and Mary Ellen Curtin as “speculative fiction about character,” fanfiction can be even more precisely understood as fantasies about the diegetic positioning of characters in the context of various settings, communities, relationships both textual and paratextual, and eventually all manner of cultural mythologies.

Kristina Busse and Karen Hellekson describe the production of fanfiction as “part collaboration and part response to not only the source text, but also the cultural context within and outside the fannish community in which it is produced.”

They point out that the shift in the method of dissemination of fanfiction from newsletters and zines to internet archives means that “ever-younger fans who previously would not have had access to the fannish culture except through their parents can now enter the fan space effortlessly; financial resources have become less of a concern because access to a computer is the only prerequisite; and national boundaries and time zones have ceased to limit fannish interaction.”

The nature of fanfiction allows participants to cross-generational and socio-economic boundaries in an ongoing exchange of responses to a source text with which they share a fascination, developing new texts that in turn elicit their own responses. While the creation of fanfiction is evidence of an affective, loving, communal relationship with the source text, this genre of writing is still dismissed in many quarters as overly emotional, purely erotic, and even perverse, a type of amateur and immature engagement with popular texts that produces writing necessarily divorced from literary significance. Produced in staggeringly vast quantities by subcultures with complex vocabularies and traditions that can intimidate the casual reader, fanfiction is perceived by many to be more of a cultural practice than a literary genre, variously denigrated for its pornographic potential and its lack of originality. However, close examination reveals that fan writers are able to create a critical dialogue with the originating author in acts of communal storytelling that incorporate allusions and reference points to which other dedicated fan readers and writers may respond.

In this chapter, after examining how L.M. Montgomery and her writer heroine Emily themselves engage in practices now associated with fanfiction, I survey four forms of fanfiction that remove Montgomery’s novels from her seemingly idyllic and timeless island settings, contextualizing her characters and plots within history and other genres: the sequel set during the Second World War, the modern AU (alternate universe), the gap-filler, and the slash fic, all of which allow the young readers who grow up with her novels to engage in dialogue with the stories they love, a type of literary conversation that Montgomery herself models within her texts. Emily’s reading, which is active rather than passive, resembles twenty-first-century fans’ ownership of the texts they love, provoking creative responses. For instance, after reading works by Lord Tennyson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Matthew Arnold, Emily writes, “Teddy lent me 3 books of poetry. One of them was Tennyson and I have learned The Bugle Song off by heart so I will always have it. One was Mrs. Browning. She is lovely. I would like to meet her. I suppose I will when I die but that may be a long time away. The other was just one poem called Sohrab and Rustum. After I went to bed I cried over it. Aunt Elizabeth said ‘what are you sniffling about?’ I wasn’t sniffling – I was weeping sore … I couldn’t go to sleep until I had thought out a different end for it – a happy one.”

The reactions Emily catalogues are those of the fan; they are viscerally felt in the body and attempt to dissolve the boundary between author and reader, producer and consumer. She inscribes Tennyson within her heart in order to possess the poem she loves; she creates a relationship between Barrett Browning and herself; and, most significantly, she interjects her own desired happy ending into Arnold’s tragic narrative, a corrective desire that is at the core of many works of fanfiction. Emily’s diaries and her story reflect Montgomery’s own experiences from childhood to adulthood as reader, writer, and reader-turned-writer discussed in the introduction to this volume. Depicting Emily as a voracious reader and a life-writer like herself, Montgomery places the child Emily’s voice in conversation with that of the narrator through Emily’s letters to her dead father in Emily of New Moon and through her diary entries in Emily Climbs and Emily’s Quest, creating a form of joint authorship that is referenced explicitly in “Salad Days,” the second chapter of Emily Climbs: “book is not going to be wholly, or even mainly, made up of extracts from Emily’s diary; but, by way of linking up matters unimportant enough for a chapter in themselves, and yet necessary for a proper understanding of her personality and environment, I am going to include some more of them. Besides, when one has material ready to hand, why not use it?”

The narrator’s willingness to use the “material” that is “ready to hand” reflects Montgomery’s and Emily’s practices, and also validates other writers’ use of the material Montgomery places at their disposal. As with many fans, Emily’s reading frequently makes itself felt within her writing.

Like Montgomery, Emily learns her trade through mimicry, from her first poem in blank verse inspired by James Thomson’s Seasons to her unwitting imitation of Kipling that is pointed out by her teacher, Mr Carpenter, in his review of her work. Like Sara Stanley of The Story Girl, whose compelling and fascinating stories are rarely if ever original, Emily is a fan of the oral traditions of her community, incorporating and building upon them in her own writing, transforming and recreating, for instance, the story of “The Woman Who Spanked the King” in Emily Climbs.

The retelling and versioning that Emily practises signal her immense admiration for the source texts she adapts, just as the creation of fanfiction does for Montgomery’s readership and fans. The possibilities inherent in versioning and adaptation are illustrated in Emily’s Quest. When Montgomery depicts Emily undertaking the reworking of someone else’s narrative, she is adapting an episode from her own experience while working for The Echo in Halifax, which she records in her journal. Montgomery, like Emily, was asked to create an ending for a serialized story, “A Royal Betrothal,” after compositors had misplaced the original text.

Like Emily, she claims that her “knowledge of royal love affairs [was] limited,” and that she was unaccustomed “to write with flippant levity of kings and queens.” Nevertheless, Montgomery manages to create a conclusion that passes muster, since “as yet nobody has guessed where the ‘seam’ comes in.” She is, however, curious about the original author’s reaction to her unauthorized adaptation, and while she never discovers this in real life, she does imagine it in her fiction when she introduces Mark Greaves, who is horrified by Emily’s new ending for the story but enchanted by its author. Neither Montgomery nor Emily engages in this sort of writing from a place of fandom; they have no previous attachment to “A Royal Betrothal,” and both are writing professionally. Nevertheless, the ability to solve the puzzle of the story and the weaving of their work into an already extant text are the very project of fanfiction: ludic narrative composition that recalls the way children play make-believe with the narratives they love, reworking and extending them. It is telling that Montgomery uses the metaphor of the “seam” to describe this particular craft. Jane Dawkins, writing about her fanfiction, which is inspired by Jane Austen, describes her fan novel Letters from Pemberley as “an old-fashioned patchwork quilt, where in place of the scraps of fabric reminding one of the favorite frocks or shirts whence they came, there is a line or a phrase or a sentence from one of [the original] books or letters stitched alongside the lesser scraps of my own manufacture.”

Montgomery’s final book, framed by the two world wars, is just such a patchwork sequel, albeit providing only brief glimpses of the characters that readers met as children and who have now grown older. When a version of the book was published in 1974 as The Road to Yesterday, these glimpses, lacking the interstitial materials, became even briefer, mirroring the more forced insertion of beloved characters that the two earlier collections, Chronicles of Avonlea and Further Chronicles of Avonlea, display. Only two of Anne’s grandchildren – Gilbert Ford and Walter Blythe – are obliquely referred to, in the story “A Commonplace Woman,” where an unpleasant young doctor reflects on both of them as potential rivals for the affection of a beautiful girl he himself hopes to pursue.

However, the full novel, The Blythes Are Quoted, published in 2009 and comprised of short stories about the people in Glen St Mary and over the harbour, is interspersed with poetry by both a young Walter and an adult Anne. The poems are cut with tiny slices of dialogue that suggest the continuing lives of fans’ favourite characters and how they might have developed. In “‘Dragged at Anne’s Chariot Wheels’: L.M. Montgomery and the Sequels to Anne of Green Gables,” Carole Gerson notes the mixture of feelings from pleasure to frustration that Montgomery records in her journals as she prepares to write her first sequel.

While Montgomery wrote the first installments of her various series out of inspiration, she was certainly aware of what her market desired from subsequent installments. She often regretted the necessity of marrying off her characters, but was aware that her fans demanded this conventional outcome for the characters they had come to love; these traditionally romantic endings, when not offered by Montgomery herself at the instigation of her publishers, are regularly deployed by contemporary fanfiction authors building on the source texts.

Indeed, long before the original structure of The Blythes Are Quoted was revealed to readers in Benjamin Lefebvre’s afterword, fanfiction writers were spinning off lengthy narratives that included a third generation of young Blythes, Fords, and Merediths dealing with the onslaught of the Second World War. While earlier installments in the Anne series – such as Anne of Green Gables and Anne’s House of Dreams – depict the deaths of Matthew, Anne and Gilbert’s first daughter (Joyce), and Captain Jim, Walter’s death in Rilla of Ingleside is somehow more striking. Unlike Matthew and Captain Jim, he has not yet had time to grow old; unlike Joyce, readers have had opportunities to get to know him as a child in Rainbow Valley and as he grows into young adulthood in Rilla of Ingleside. His death is unnatural and, therefore, all the more horrifying. These two aspects of Rilla of Ingleside – the evocation of history by a nostalgic fictional world that is still tied to real time and the use of high drama, tragedy, and romance – provide fanfiction authors with a model they can use to appeal to the emotions of those readers who are immersed in the next generation of Montgomery characters.

The Second World War, then, provides an entry point into the series for fanfiction authors, who can deploy real history coupled with beloved characters to create a tale that feels absolutely authentic. One example of this is a short story, “The Pen and the Sword,” written in 2007 by MarnaNightingale. Here, mimicking the style of Dorothy L. Sayers’s The Wimsey Papers (a series of Spectator articles published between 1939 and 1940, which interestingly also continue the story of First World War–era characters during the Second World War), MarnaNightingale employs epistolary excerpts and newspaper articles to tell the story of a family going through the horrors of war for a second time. Grounding her fragmented story – like The Blythes Are Quoted, a mixture of genres – in the accounts of novelist Mollie Panter-Downes (1939) and war correspondents Ernie Pyle (1940) and Ross Munro of the Canadian Press (1941), whose articles are attributed to Kenneth Ford, she offers a story that, like Rilla of Ingleside, is anchored to the historical moment, while also nostalgically focusing on the character development that comes from Gilbert Ford’s death, Rilla’s and Faith’s reactions to the war, and the lives of their children. Here war also serves as an opportunity for new experiences, particularly for women and children: Rilla takes a factory job as a machinist, liking it better than working in Carter Flagg’s store; one of Anne’s grandchildren, Susan, plans to be a doctor; and Faith, who worked as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse in the First World War, mentions how she can sympathize. As well, the daily tidbits that flavour the pages of Rilla of Ingleside are there: one article, attributed to Anne, includes the recipe for Susan Baker’s war bread, reminding readers of the problems of wartime rationing, even in the Americas. Real life events – like the Canadian forces trying (and failing) to make a beachhead at Dieppe – arouse the passions of the reader. Unlike Austen – who also famously wrote of three or four families in a country town, but kept the Napoleonic wars firmly in the shadows – Montgomery brings the passions and high drama of the world stage into the sleepy villages of Prince Edward Island, which inspire fanfiction spinoffs.

The long novel Cecilia of Red Apple Farm, by a fan author who posts under the pseudonym ruby gillis, also directly reworks passages and scenes from the whole range of Anne books, set in the late-nineteenth century, to The Blythes Are Quoted, set in the early years of the Second World War, to highlight the similarity between her new generation of characters and their ancestors. Cecilia is the daughter of Una Meredith and Shirley Blythe (characters often married off in fanfiction). Like MarnaNightingale, ruby gillis provides period flavouring in the styles of dresses and behaviour and in references to 1940s popular films and songs. Simultaneously, this setting offers new opportunities to her female character: Cecilia wants to be a doctor, and rather than staying in Canada, she joins up to be a nurse in England. She has a series of romances – one with Sid Gardiner (before he marries May Binnie), and one with her cousin Blythe Meredith, who is this generation’s poet – before finally ending up with Marshall Douglas (the son of Mary Vance). Just as Anne initially refuses Gilbert Blythe in favour of Roy Gardner’s resemblance to her ideal man in Anne of the Island, ruby gillis’s Cecilia is fooled by the allure of Sid and Blythe as Roy Gardner–like romantic heroes into believing that she does not truly love her fun, practical, “Gilbert-esque” friend. Published in 2004, Cecilia of Red Apple Farm further illustrates the opportunities presented by reusing and reworking a body of texts through its incorporation of Montgomery’s poem “I Wish You” as the work of Blythe Meredith. Montgomery includes this poem and attributes it to Anne in The Blythes Are Quoted, although ruby gillis could not have known this when writing. The repetition of names and circumstances might seem derivative, but for readers who have read and reread the original books so many times, the extension of the story world is prized, even if – perhaps even because of – its callbacks to the original text. Due to the tendency of fans to fixate on “the good bits” in a reread, these parts can be taken for the whole.

Austen fanfiction demonstrates this aptly. Indeed, Helen Fielding’s second Bridget Jones novel, Bridget Jones and the Edge of Reason (1999), illustrates just such a reading of Pride and Prejudice: she shows Bridget, a fan, watching the scene from the 1995 mini-series in which Darcy, dripping in a wet see-through shirt, exits the lake, and then rewinding and rewatching the scene multiple times. How many times might a similar fan reread Walter’s letter from Courcelette? This repeated reviewing of selected portions can replace the amplitude of the original novel. With this delimited focus, narrative is no longer seen as a progression, but as a single moment of pleasure, sustained as long as possible. Reading the Second World War as a repetitive sequel to the First World War further highlights this possibility.

Even Montgomery seems to do so, as demonstrated in The Blythes Are Quoted, with its new generation of characters confusingly named after the old: Walter, Jem, Rilla, Di, Anne, and Gilbert. A variation on Marah Gubar’s kinship model, this kind of continuation highlights the blurred boundaries between child and adult characters who are literally related to one another and whose adventures mimic one another.

In a third example of fanfiction set during the Second World War, Weeping May Tarry, a long novel by ElouiseBates, Meggie, the heroine, is Shirley’s daughter (and also, surprisingly, Paul Irving’s granddaughter). In this story, which like Cecilia of Red Apple Farm is an installment of a longer series, Meggie is sent off to a conservatory of music to study singing, aptly combining the traditions of the nostalgic boarding-school novel with “Girl’s Own” wartime fiction. Following the tradition of Magic for Marigold, which explicitly suggests in its second chapter that the Murrays of Blair Water and the Lesleys of Cloud of Spruce exist in the same universe, @e-louise-bates (like many other fanfiction authors, including ruby gillis) suggests that all of Montgomery’s characters exist in a single universe: Meggie partners briefly with the grandson of Sara Stanley (The Story Girl and The Golden Road) and is close friends with Jane Stuart (Jane of Lantern Hill).

Going even further, @e-louise-bates introduces the grandchildren of the What Katy Did series as friends for Meggie and includes Betsy from Dorothy Canfield Fisher’s Understood Betsy as Bruce Meredith’s wife, creating a world where all the characters of early-twentieth-century girls’ fiction seem to have truly lived, where their descendants must cope with victory gardens and dances with soldiers at the Exhibition Grounds, and where kisses are much more commonplace than they once were.

These particular continuers of Montgomery are also desirous of membership in the community of her fans, seeing their literary endeavours as productive of approval from a fellow readership. Likewise, the novels are notable for their sociality – they seem to offer the reader not only a fantasy friendship with the characters themselves but also the very real society of fellow readers of the works. Thus, these fan authors attempt to diversify their stories so that they represent contemporary beliefs regarding multiculturalism; ruby gillis, for instance, introduces into the family by way of marriage a French girl who has had to flee the Nazis due to being Jewish, a situation Montgomery and her contemporaries might have had some difficulty accepting, considering early-twentieth-century attitudes toward interreligious marriage and Montgomery’s othering of the German-Jewish peddler who sells Anne green hair dye.

The Second World War thus offers writers of Montgomery fanfiction the loom on which to weave new, more diverse stories, even as The Blythes Are Quoted, which also traces the characters’ reactions to this new war, demonstrates how these readers-turned-writers followed Montgomery’s own trajectory, not knowing that they were doing so. On the subject of fanfiction, young-adult author Patricia C. Wrede writes: “The thing that fascinates me about fanfiction, though, is the way that it models the decision tree that writers go through (whether consciously or unconsciously) to get to their final product. For those of us who do this part mostly unconsciously, it can be interesting and instructing to see the multitude of alternate paths that a story could have taken, all laid out more-or-less neatly in different authors’ fanfics [… taking a slightly different fork in the road] resulting in the plot veering in a completely new direction. Friends become enemies; enemies become friends; goals and objectives and results shift and change.” Within these pieces of fanfiction, then, fan writers are able to follow these decision trees with subsequent generations of characters as well.

Another avenue of access occurs when fan authors transpose historical narratives into the contemporary moment. Perhaps the best-known example of this modern alternate universe [AU] conversion is the television program Sherlock, which takes Arthur Conan Doyle’s Victorian detective into the twenty-first century. While new cultural contexts appear, the essence of character is meant to be retained. Just as Sherlock uses text messages and blogs to substitute for telegraphs and handwritten journals, fans of Montgomery reimagine the relationships between her characters as if they were taking place online.

For instance, “Work in Progress” (2012) by verity postulates a friendship between Montgomery’s most famous heroines, Anne and Emily. In this piece of fanfiction, Emily circumvents Aunt Elizabeth’s injunction against fiction during her time at Shrewsbury High by becoming a blogger who is restricted to the “truth.” The story’s online summary, a part of which reads “Anne rolls her eyes. ‘Is your aunt really going to know if you cheat on your nonfiction with some hot prose on the side?’” shows how the story preserves the character qualities that Montgomery laid out, complete with references to the Murray pride and Anne’s orphanhood. Mr Carpenter’s admonitions are spelled out at the beginning of the story:

“Emily Byrd Starr has a sticky note on her desktop. It reads:

ITALICS

CAPITALS

!!!!!

“just”

“really”

CTRL+F!

It is almost like having Mr Carpenter in the room with her.”

Verity creates humour through the juxtaposition of contemporary social media and allusions to Montgomery’s source text. Another story by verity detailing Rilla’s romance with Ken Ford and her friendship with Una Meredith, “Rilla of Toronto,” takes place mainly through instant messages. In this story, Rilla reflects on her life from eighteen to twenty-five, tracing a continuum from her child self to her new adulthood, underscored by verity’s translation of Montgomery’s work into contemporary millennial language.

A third type of fanfiction narrative, the gap-filler, focuses on and expands the implications of the source texts. Moira Walley-Beckett’s Netflix/CBC series Anne with an “E,” as Laura Robinson shows in chapter 12 of this volume, is somewhat fanfictional in and of itself: as Robinson points out, the show fills gaps by bringing to the fore the darker currents that have always been beneath the seemingly untroubled waters of Anne of Green Gables, including Anne’s potential post-traumatic stress disorder from the disturbing life she led before coming to Green Gables. This kind of versioning and adaptation tacitly permits fan authors to feel that their versions are just as valid as those produced by professionals. Gap-fillers frequently expand on romantic pairings and in fandom are often referred to by portmanteaux of characters’ names that perpetuate some inside joke or work as puns. “Shirbert” – a moniker for Anne and Gilbert – is the latter, and demonstrates how fans posting on sites like Archive of Our Own (Ao3), Fanfiction.net, and Wattpad (this last generally populated by younger fans) develop their own language to identify their stories within the community for which they write.

One such story, “You caught me staring, but I caught you staring back,” by Anuka, clearly inspired more by the television series than the novels, begins with an author’s note that reads, “I decided to write some fluff for these two, because I need more Shirbert moments, and season 2 is so far away. I added gifs to make it more vivid.” Here, the romance between Anne and Gilbert as depicted by Montgomery and Walley-Beckett is not sufficient for the reader-turned-writer. Anuka wants the gaps in the narrative to be more fully explored than they are on either page or screen and to be made more “vivid” by the inclusion of images that help make the story come alive.

Similarly, “Rilla Blythe’s Wedding: A Not Entirely Comprehensive Account” by Scylla also fills a gap: Rilla and Ken’s wedding day, a scene that Montgomery leaves to the reader’s imagination at the end of Rilla of Ingleside. Modelled upon other accounts of weddings within Montgomery’s fiction, the story also suggests that accounts of Walter’s death have been gravely exaggerated, as he makes a stunning appearance at his sister’s wedding. In order to align her work with Montgomery’s novel, Scylla ensures that Little Dog Monday’s awareness of Walter’s death remains, but makes it only a technicality, writing, “His heart had stopped for a full ten seconds – long enough for his Captain to feel for his empty pulse and for Dog Monday to be jolted with the fullness of his death. Little dogs, after all, can only have tender dogs’ hearts. Grief to Dog Monday was an all-consuming thing, and when Walter’s heart began to beat once more, he was deaf to its spark of joy.” After meeting with his eldest sister, Joyce, in heaven – which is, as he had always hoped, Rainbow Valley, Walter is returned to life so that he may write of peace as well as war (as he did when he was a boy), marry Una, and repair the broken hearts of readers who did not want to lose him.

While heterosexual pairings are the most prevalent in Montgomery fandom, there is room for queer imaginings as well.

This very popular genre of fanfiction, known as “slash,” is generally defined as stories that centre on samesex romances between characters, particularly between men. Montgomery slash fiction usually stars Walter Blythe.

One slash story, “but i don’t know who you are” by @freyafrida, imagines a bisexual Walter. Told in an enduringly popular sub-genre of fanfiction often referred to as Five Things Plus One (which involves a series of thematically linked but not necessarily chronological scenes), the story is summarized by @freyafrida as “Five people Walter thought he wanted, and one person he didn���t notice until it was too late.”

This last person is original to Montgomery’s text: Una, whose apparently unreturned attraction to Walter is woven through Rilla of Ingleside. The other five potential partners are all alluded to as Walter’s close friends, beginning in childhood with Alice Parker from Anne of Ingleside and Pat Brewster from The Blythes Are Quoted and then carrying on through adolescence and young adulthood with Faith Meredith, Ken Ford, and finally Paul Irving from Anne of Avonlea. While his feelings for Faith and Ken are clearly unrequited, Alice, Pat, and Paul all express their own desire for Walter. The inclusion of the famous poet and Walter’s “model” uncle, Paul Irving, in particular, particular, illustrates how traits of sensitivity and aesthetic appreciation that challenge traditional ideas about masculinity are frequently interpreted as queer by fan readers and writers.

In another slash fiction, cero_ate’s “The Moving Finger Writes, and Having Writ Moves On,” Walter discovers his homosexuality while fighting in Europe:

He wrote half truths and lies once more, when he wrote his Rilla that he could not form poems of the depths of the war. For who could write his sister of the phallic love he had found? He had found his reason in a tow-headed American boy. He meant so much more to Walter than mere friendship could explain. He wanted to write, as sweethearts write, of the tempest of joy in the darkest night. But how would they understand? How would they even try to understand he sought not the Dark Lady of Shakespeare but the youth, fair and Wilde? When he was presented with Una’s faithful heart, he spurned it. When his tow-headed darling presented his own, Walter took it, greedy for him. His grecian style love, the boy who’s [sic] eyes danced, even in the darkest of days. He would do anything to keep him safe. But he could not present him to his family, for their scorn or pity. War had broken him, but made him as well.

While male/male pairings are generally the most popular stories in fandoms, Montgomery’s novels, peopled as they are by communities of girls and women, require that readers who want to queer the text must explore what is called femslash (that is, slash fiction featuring two female characters).

Such relationships have been explored within the academic setting. For instance, Laura Robinson remarks in “Bosom Friends: Lesbian Desire and the Anne Books,” that the relationship between Anne and Diana uses “the language that readers associate with adult romantic love rather than girlhood affections,” even as it is expressed through the heterosexual paradigm of marriage.

One fanfiction author, ArcticLava21, makes it clear that such fan written stories are not speculation but instead address key issues of representation. The author’s note to ArcticLava21’s short Anne/Diana story, “Nature,” reads, “Hello everybody! Hope your [sic] having a wonderful day. Before anyone yells at me for ‘sexualizing platonic friendships’ please note that this is for all those queer kids who grew up pretending. Pretending that he ended up with him instead of her, or desperately wanted representation. Are we good? <3 Enjoy yourselves lovely people.” The intended audience of the story, “queer kids who grew up,” again establishes the transgenerational kinship between Montgomery’s child and adult fans.

All fan fiction, shared on the Internet, exist in dialogue not just with Montgomery’s fiction but with the author herself, and between the fans who read the novels as children and adolescents and the adults that these readers become.

Whether fan writers extend the narrative or fill gaps, transpose chronology or to queer the text, these pieces of fanfiction allow fans not only to insert themselves into the narrative, but also simultaneously to revivify the original novels, published a century ago. In performing interventions to the text, Montgomery’s young fans grow up to reply to the discussions that she began long ago in the pages of her journals and stories, ensuring that all three – author, reader, and text – are continually reborn into a conversation that will never end.

[icanseethefuture333]

Hi Desi ! Can i ask you who is stray kids would date a woc of different ethnicities ? Thank you :)

Oop! 😳 Time to spill some more tea then 🤭

MTL to date a WOC outside of Korea in Stray Kids:

(According to my pendulum, based off of their current energy / preferences)

Felix

I.N

Bang Chan

Changbin

Seungmin

Han

Hyunjin

Lee Know

Top row:

Left is Bang Chan, center is I.N, and right is Felix

Bang chan's reasoning for being third most likely is because he's very sexually enticed by woc outside of his race. They peak his interest and finds them attractive. I am pretty sure he's been with them before. Some of you guys might not want to hear this but it's giving he wants to soar his oats with just about anybody 🫣. I'm not really getting any romantic feelings, so he seems non committal or he would date a foreigner, but would really have to think about if he'd marry one. He's not really mature yet long term for a cross cultural or interracial relationship. Bang Chan is still ignorant in some areas of other cultures (he just wants to fuck 🥱). It's just giving like he is aware of other people's culture and then when dating someone who's not from the same culture, it's like he think would make a better partner than someone hasn't before. A know it all who doesn't really know it all ifykwim. When its like he can't hold any of his relationships down, he constantly searches for new beginnings or the next thing sexually (for any Bang Chan fans ready to fight don't be arguing with me on anon in my inbox!!! This is his energy for now, he's in his fuckboy era, do not put the blame on me for this! Sometimes we won't always hear the most pure or positive messages about our faves and that is okay)

Ngl I.N surprised me 😳 even though I did channeled before that his future spouse was someone that had dual citizenships (Korean and British). I was pleased to hear what his response was on dating a woc outside of his country or race. I.N's view on dating a woc that isn't Korean is quite positive. He shows admiration for them and has more pure intentions than I would say in comparison to Bang Chan (💀 I mean no shade??? but eh, I said what I said). I.N would be very supportive and willing to learn about his partner's culture or traditions. He honestly wouldn't care as long as they have similar family structures. I.N is rebellious by nature, so he just cares about his happiness and the happiness of his loved ones.

Felix's reasoning for being most likely to date a woc is given the fact he feels like he is an outsider in his own country and culture as well. He is Korean, but doesn't feel Korean enough? Felix resonates more with how he grew up in Australia and misses that lifestyle. There is water here and what seems like a beach. Felix could outpour a lot of love towards people that are different from him now and doesn't judge based off of racial stereotypes. Being able to travel overseas and meet new people has allowed him to open his mind and broaden his horizons. It's almost as if he was limiting himself in some areas (caring too much about labels, what's Korean, what's not Korean, what makes him Australian or what doesn't make him Australian). Controversial maybe??? Felix could feel more loved and respected by woc outside of Korea (I laughed I'm sorry 💀). There is a cultural difference so maybe they are more expressive with their love language where as in Korea they show it differently (I.E: a foreign woc might be affectionate and show physical touch, where a Korean woman would exchange gifts). Felix's view on dating woc could be more so a romantic fantasy or he likes the relationships he's seen in movies, television, or music videos. I channeled this before in a reading for him but I always think of Harry Styles and his Grammy's performance for "As It Was" to be his ideal romance. (Felix fr just as delulu as the rest of us LMAOOO 🤧)

Middle row:

Left is Changbin, center is Seungmin, and right is Han

Changbin is down for whatever honestly 💀. He's not the type to search for love but more so takes action only if he wants to experience it. He's romantic in general so if anyone could handle him and his quirks, then he's happy. Changbin would be very charming. I feel like he just needs the opportunity to meet a woc? I don't think he's ever dated a woc outside of Korea fr. "I had the plan, I just needed the platform" type of energy 🤣

Seungmin would be a hot mess I'm sorry 💀 I'm not even gonna sugarcoat it. It's like he wants to but he's not doing it based off of realistic decisions. It's more so he has an idea of what it's like to date a woc outside of Korea, but he's not focusing on the sentimental value of what it means to be in a relationship. Seungmin is very picky in general and makes romantic decisions based off of his illusions (another delulu??? Free the Virgos please). So because of his high expectations he would not be able to form long lasting connections. Also woc could be turned off by his behavior as well, they would most likely call him out or reject him because he's not mature enough. They won't tolerate it. Seungmin would just get his feelings hurt but it would be his own fault for being so damn sassy all the time 😂. He is stubborn though, so he would keep trying until he learns his lesson and also he finds the right person who can match his energy. The person he dates would require a looooot of patience because he is not easy to deal with. Very chaotic energy, but funny!

The reason Han is one of the members who is least likely is because he is more shy and introverted. So going up to a person and asking them out in general is not his thing. If Han were to date a woc that wasn't Korean, he'd have to be most likely friends first. "I have anxiety bruh." (💀). He'd want to take his time and get to know the person regardless of what their race is. I don't think he has much of a preference, it's just about who he's attracted to within that time. Han would be protective of his partner though and would express his love through gifts, money, etc.

Bottom row:

Left is Hyunjin & right is Lee Know

Hyunjin for being one of the members who is least likely to date a non-Korean woc is because he is very traditional. Whenever I do readings regarding his love life he always makes this very clear. He finds some woc (yes I said some because it's not a large number of woc he likes💀) beautiful, but it's not something he wants to go through all the trouble for. Too tedious for his liking. Hyunjin's fanbase is mostly in Korea as well so he could focus more on that because that is the attention he is used to getting from, so he cares more about catering to his fans, his family's expectations, as well as his own personal preferences. It's like he's not closed off to the idea, but Hyunjin doesn't like change. He prefers to stick to what he knows and situations that are predictable. To try being in a cross cultural or interracial relationship, it would make Hyunjin really anxious, nervous, and uncomfortable, because it is a type of environment he is not used to. I can say for sure say he's only ever dated a woman who was Korean or of Asian descent. Hyunjin would have to work on his confidence and care more about his own thoughts than other people's thoughts in order to be with a woc that wasn't Korean.

Lee Know is somewhat similar to Hyunjin's response, with a nicer approach. In his opinion, he feels like it requires courage to be in a relationship with a woc outside of Korea. He believes people who date someone that isn't the same race as them go through a lot of hardship. Channeled message: "I think if I was a father and my child looked like me, or looked like me a little less because they had features like their mama, whether their skin was maybe darker or their hair was a different texture. People would be very cruel and it would make me very upset as a dad. It's not a easy route to take. Maybe in the future when I am more brave I will think about it, as for now I am okay with being a coward!" (PLS 💀)

I hope you guys enjoyed this reading! I will be forming my own harem with these 4, take care besties 💋

[lexosaurus]

ok for some tangential reason i was analyzing our character's fave wines tonight and welp here we go keep in mind this went through a VERY rigorous peer review process (the academic court of my opinion) so this should be 100% accurate.

jack and maddie both drink chardonnay, but jack likes his oaked and maddie likes hers unoaked. sorry but neither of them drink enough wine to have any preferences beyond this point

jazz: pinot grigio, easy. i feel like this whole family's a white wine family

danny: he's also a chardonnay bitch. he likes his mom's faves better but doesn't know why cuz he doesn't even know what "oaked vs unoaked" means. all he knows is that he doesn't like the taste of alcohol and unoaked chard tastes the most like water and that's why he'll drink it.

vladdy: he's a wine snob who drinks anything expensive (and pretends he can taste the difference between South African and French wines as if they're not both dry) but his fave is a dry cab. when he's out eating dinner with his business associates, he pretends to love those natural earthy wines, but he secretly almost always wishes he was drinking his basic (expensive) bottle of cab.

sam: pinot noir. she probs enjoys a good cab here and there tho

tucker: prosecco. obviously.

paulina and star: rosé girlies! star genuinely likes rosé the best (sparkling for her!), but paulina doesn't really care and only prefers it because it looks the cutest. she also has these adorable little wine glasses she got on a beach vacation she drinks it out of. sorry i dont make the rules.

dash: a sav blanc bitch but he won't admit it. wine is "for girls" and he only drinks beer in front of the other guys. meanwhile, kwan's enjoying his bubbly rosé with star in the corner.

lancer: depends on the season and what food he's pairing it with. if it's winter, he drinks more chianti and pinot noir, and if it's summer, he drinks more chard and pinot grigio. but i think ultimately, he prefers the pinot grigio.

ok that's all i got. hope this was an educational experience for u. 🙏

[hag-lad]

RANKED: MY TOP TEN FAVORITE NANDAMURI TARAKA RAMA RAO JR LOOKS

Us Jr NTR fans are blessed to have quite the chameleon oosaravelli as our fave, because there are so many glorious looks to keep us entertained over his illustrious 30-film career. It was SO GODDAM HARD to choose just ten, but here they are! Gun to my head! His ten finest looks!

10. Krishna's pink shirt in Brindavanam

I remember when these "fcuk" shirts were all the rage, but nobody ever wore it quite like Krishna! He looks sooooo good in pink! What a little hottie. With the earrings too?!!?! Goddam it. Just. Goddam this man.

9. Kusa's mullet for Doschestha

Styling wise, I feel nothing towards this, except maybe a spark of delight to see Tarak in pink yet again. But look, Kusa does not know how to dress, and I love that for him. This look is all about THE HAIR!!!! We never see Tarak with hair this long, but it's so fucking GOOD!!!!!! The little ponytail!!!!!!!! How could one not fall in love?!

8. Simhadri's fishnet vest for Chinnadamme Cheekulu

Oh go OFF, King!!!!!!!! Look at the sheer, unfiltered ATTITUDE he's serving! Absolutely no one on Earth looks good in light-dark wash jeans (the true blight of the 2000's) but this son of a bitch pulls it off!!!! How does he do it?!

7. Munna's saffron headband in Andhrawala

Okay, so conceptually, this is the same thing as Simhadri (headband, open shirt, slutty vest, jeans) but I prefer these colors! I also prefer Munna's facial hair; it's a little more grown out, and I love Tarak most when he is FURRY. And FAT! I think Munna's got a couple pounds on Simhadri? Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't care. I love them both so much.

6. Jai's Swing Zara ensemble in Jai Lava Kusa

God, Jai is such a fucking peacock, isn't he? A total queen, the last of the old school gays. I have so much respect for his drip. Jai would never, ever, in a million years, let mortal eyes witness him looking anything less than spectacular. His beard is groomed, his hair is moussed, every stitch of clothing on his body is tailored and professionally pressed, and you know what? I think that goes for his underwear too. Or idk, maybe he's freeballin' it. He can do whatever he wants, quite frankly.

5. Tarak's Academy Awards ensemble

Who on earth would dare deny how positively GORGEOUS Tarak looked on this night!? Head to toe, so exquisite, so dashing. The bejeweled tiger! The rich black velvet! The eye makeup! The natural hair! Everything to love.

4. Tony's baby face in Oosaravelli

I want to just grab his widdol cheeks and squish them!!! He looks like an angel! A cherub!!!! This is so obviously the cutest Tarak has ever looked, but he's still so fucking sexy and alluring??!?! HOW DOES HE DO IT???!!?!! I also love that liiiiiitle bit of edge he's giving with the earrings and the neck tattoo... even if it is just his own name, lmfao.

3. Ramakrishna's tank top in Rakhee

Look at this fucking BEAR!!!!!!!! I'm not gonna sugarcoat this, kids. Ramakrishna is fluffy and hot and sweaty and I bet he smells salty and I want to HUFF him so fucking bad. The lil beads of sweat take me out, god I love how raw and sexy and manly he is. Absolute HUNK, I fucking cannot say it any other way. This is a gay pornstar. I beat my meat.

2. Young Yama in Yamadonga

Oh COME ONNNN!!!! THIS is how His Majesty Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr. was meant to walk the earth: Clad in gold, dripping with jewels, eyeliner on fleek (or, as my mother would say, "on flique") just taking up ALL THE SPACE and commanding ALL THE ATTENTION. He wears regality so very well, so naturally, I become a bootlicking monarchist just looking at him!!! Drag me to hell, Young Yama!!!

1. Komuram Bheem's langoti in RRR.

Hey, you knew Bheema had to be number one!!!! I've never seen a human being look hotter than this, this is just PEAK. The body hair!!!! The nosering!!!!! The muscles!!!!!! He is fucking CUT, Tarak had to work so goddam hard for so long to look like this, I genuinely hope he never does anything like this again, but MY GOD the art is worth it. Shoutout to Rajamouli for not whitewashing him so we could behold the beauty and majesty of his real skin color!!!!! With his natural hair too!!?!?!? SEXIEST MAN WHO EVER LIVED, case closed, no argument, go home, we're done. Bheem is hot. Ram's a lucky man.

[torialefay]

Hey- I'm willing to respond to your DM's soon but I had a random thought and wanted to ask because I love simping over Chris with my other babygirls.

What have been your favourite looks of Chris?

For me- and this is honestly with all of my fave idols.

I always think they look their best with their natural, dark hair. I find their skin just glows a lot more than with other dyed colours.

So I'm always and forever going to be on team dark-haired Chris and my fave is obvs curly-haired Chris but those are far and few in-between b/c he's mentioned on bubble he prefers having straight hair.

The all-black outfits are my personal fave, they just scrape my love for the grunge aesthetic so perfectly.

He's the only 26 year old man that can call himself 'daddy' and identify as an alpha wolf and I'm like

'Yep- he deserves to be called that. He lives up to the title'

I AGREE WITH THIS 100%.

i know a lot of people are on the blonde chan train (and it's probably my third fav), but his hair is 100% cutest when it's dark. either his natural brown or black.

i think chan is a winter??? idk i'm not good at color analysis, but i truly think he is bc he just looks so GOOD in dark black (more than like a muted black, although that's good too). but when he does wear colors, i think he pops in "royal" jewel tones. like a royal purple looks so fucking good on him. that's why i think if his hair isn't dark, i think he suits the purple & blue a lot! it won't let me add any more pics to this post (10 pic limit 😞), but i'm thinking maniac era chan with the blue hair, purple top, and black pants... it was immaculate 😮‍💨

and idk i love him in his tight-ish fit clothes just bc it outlines his body shape so well, BUT i also think he looks so cute in just his everyday lounge attire. like just his hoodies & shorts. there's just something about it that reminds me of everyone i grew up this. it makes him feel so familiar... and like such a "dude's dude" as well.

i think a lot of the reason we may like him in the darker clothes is bc... idk it just matches his face??? idk how to describe it, but he just has a more masculine face. like he LOOKS like a bad boy. he just does. and even though he's such a sweetie, those clothes bring that part of his personality out more.

and when you think about it, he's kind of bringing out a fantasy in all of us. the "bad boy" who is actually very sweet to you.... idk ab you, but i got into trouble when i was younger bc i wanted a lil bad boy, but then they were always the actual worst. but w chan, you get the bad boy aesthetic with a heart of gold. fulfilling all of our desires ughhhh 😭😭

p.s. other v much contrasting thought is FNF chan. idk something ab that just did it for me

[xadenviolct]

You know what I find almost... IDK, sad but funny, I guess--when it comes to the SJM/ACOTAR fandom?

The ship wars.

I remember a time (an age ago and in other fandom circles) where everyone was just "ship and let ship". We all had our faves, our OTPs and even our NOTPS. We all had our PREFERENCES and opinions and like-- that's just normal human nature. What one person likes, another will not, and vice versa.

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with such a thing!

But what the ACOTAR fandom reminds me so much of is the OUAT fandom when it comes to ships. And damn, that was a nasty time. A horrible time (a lot like what SJM's books bring out in people today on the internet).

Because it became about attacking people, hating on people, thinking one side was dumb or delusional or stupid and it was just downright HATEFUL. The whole "us versus them" mentality was sickening and, while that, too, is part of human nature (sadly), at the end of the day, it all boiled down to one thing:

It was all FICTION, and some people were outright hating on/insulting REAL PEOPLE over such things.

The ACOTAR fandom gives me major flashbacks to that OUAT time. Just saying.

So here's the basic thing I've learned after time in many different fandoms, after many different ships and faves and whatnot:

Stay in your lane. Ship and let ship. Canon will be whatever it is (it might be "your" ship and it might be "their" ship, who knows; that's the AUTHOR'S/WRITERS' decision), but you know what the fucking beautiful thing about fandom is--

WE CAN DO (AND SHIP) WHATEVER AND WHOMEVER THE HELL WE WANT.

I'm gonna use OUAT since that canon is over, whereas ACOTAR is still-ongoing for an example. Canon-wise? Captain Swan (Killian/Emma) ended up together, happily ever after.

Did that mean those who shipped Swan Queen were wrong? That they couldn't participate in fandom? That they were somehow stupid or whatever other insult one side hurled at the other?

Fuck no. Swan Queen fans got from the story what they wanted, and there is nothing at all wrong with them continuing stories and art and whatnot with those characters and ships. Same for Captain Swan. The beauty of fandom is that shared ENJOYMENT of a source material and the potential to "what if" our way anywhere and everywhere.

Personally, I feel there's more story telling potential in an Elriel story than an Elucien story, but you know what? If SJM writes the book and it turns out Elucien, I have absolute faith in her that she will make the story work. That it will be written in a way for me to see it better (I mean, c'mon, lots of opinions changed on Nesta herself after ACOSF so let's be honest... it's bound to do the same with Elain in her book.)

But also-- whichever way it turns out (Elucien, Elriel, whatever), that is one version of the canon story. You want to ship the hell out of the other version? Fucking go for it!

Quit insulting each other for what one person likes/enjoys and just-- enjoy your stuff.

[otakusheep15]

The Obey Me fandom is back at it again lol

This is probably the longest post I've ever made, and I honestly don't know why it got so long to begin with. As a brief summary, someone on Reddit insulted Levi, talking about how he's a creep and no one would like him if he existed irl, and they said we need to raise out standards. However, they didn't ever mention how none of the brothers would be good people irl. Also, this is a fictional game with fictional characters who aren't real to begin with, so all of their argument is kind of invalid. And this is my response. The Reddit post is under the cut in paragraph two.

For those of you who want to know, the full post (excluding these two) is a total of about 15 paragraphs. Some are longer than others, but most of them are pretty decent lengths. I know not many people will read the whole thing through, and I get that. If you go to the Reddit post, most people in the comments do a better job of making these arguments in fewer words, so I'd recommend that if you'd prefer.

Update: they deleted the post, but you can still see the comments, so you can have a basic idea of what was said.

So, basically, I saw a Reddit post about Leviathan. Now, for those of you who don't know, Levi is my favorite Obey Me character, so I was naturally interested in this thread. The original post was about how no one would like Leviathan if he wasn't a hot anime boy. Like, if he weren't conventionally attractive, most people would see him as a pervert, a creep, and a weirdo. Then, the post ended with saying that we should raise our standards if we like Leviathan.

Full link here if you wanna take a look for yourself. Most of the comments on that post kind of said what I'm about to say now, so if you don't wanna read all of this post, I highly recommend reading some of the comments, as they do a good job of explaining most of my points.

Anyways, this whole post just completely misses the point of not only Levi's character, but the entire Obey Me game as a whole. The OP specifically goes and attacks Levi for his personality, but, in reality, if any of the brothers were real people or not conventionally attractive, they would be some of the worst, most hated people I can think of. All of them have their own red flags and bad personality traits, but that's part of the fun. The game is a form of escapism that shows us idealized versions of these people that would usually give most people major icks. I'm gonna go over just a few of my own personal icks with each character just to give y'all some examples, but just know that I'm not attacking anyone's fave, I'm just trying to make a point.

Lucifer has a very dominating personality. He acts like he's the most important one in the room, and he does his best to control you, the player. In a few interactions with him, you're not given the option to say no to his advances, and it makes me (and some others) uncomfortable. Plus, he has this whole thing about how he fully believes we can't love anyone more than we love him, which is a weird mentality. If Lucifer were real, he would be seen as one of those creepy guys who try and manipulate you into a relationship and then fully expects you to listen to whatever he says at all times. That's not attractive, that's creepy and a major red flag, at least from my perspective.

Mammon is way too overprotective of the player. Whenever we try and interact with one of his brothers and/or another character, he constantly cockblocks us and forces out of a romantic interaction. In real life, this behavior would be a red flag on so many levels, and it would just be seen as downright possessiveness. That level of possessiveness is not attractive. Not to mention, Mammon has a major money problem. He's constantly in debt and gambling all of his money away. He has a straight up addiction to gambling and spending money, and that is not healthy. Plus, he always seems to have beef with someone over money, and it's usually us or one of his brothers who has to bail him out of it. That's not attractive, and no one in real life would want to date someone with this much trouble with money.

Since Levi was the main focus of the Reddit thread, I'm going to skip him for now and come back later because I have some points I'd like to make.

Satan has severe anger issues, and I think we all know how well that translates into a relationship in real life. He very easily has the chance to become an abuser of some kind, especially a violent one. Not to mention, Satan has horrendous amounts of daddy issues, and that's all he can talk about half the time. These two things are a terrible combination, and it would not work out well in real life. If Satan ever got angry at a partner, who knows what he could do to them. He also has a bad habit of bringing in stray cats without any warning. These cats could have diseases, they could be violent, or they could be someone else's cat entirely. But he'll refuse to part with the cat, and it'll be pretty hard to get him to let it go. This last part is more speculation than anything, but he also seems like the manipulative type. Like, he's very intelligent, and he seems like he has the ability to easily manipulate someone if he wanted.

Asmodeus is very flirtatious, and he flirts with a lot of people. Look, I love Asmo so very much, and I will defend him with my life, but I'm making this point because it's necessary to my argument. Asmo would be a cheater in real life. He'd be a huge cheat, or, at the very least, he's want some kind of open relationship. Now, I'm not bashing on open relationships. However, I don't think Asmo would effectively communicate properly enough to have a healthy open relationship. He'd go out without telling you, hook up with people without telling you, and I could even see him try setting you up with other people without your permission. Not to mention, he's famous, and he has a lot of fans. Sometimes, he puts those fans first instead of you, and that can make anyone jealous. Not to mention, he has a habit of being very vain and attention seeking. he also prioritizes himself above all else, including you. He always compliments you, but then ends it with something along the lines of "but you're still not as cute as me," and ruining the whole compliment. This type of guy in real life would been as a playboy and a self-centered asshole, and no one wants someone like that.

Beelzebub eats way to much, and he's constantly running down his family's food supply. He also has a habit of spending way too much money, but it's usually food-centered. Again, this is just mere speculation, but Beel also seems like the type to be rude to waiters if they mess up his order or don't have a certain food he wants. It's already canon that he has pretty bad anger issues, and sometimes they can even rival Satan's, so it isn't much of a stretch to believe he would get angry at wait staff for something like this. Honestly, I can't think of many other icks I have with him, and he seems like one of the least problematic brothers to me, but feel free to talk about your own Beel icks if you have any.

Lastly, Belphegor literally killed us. Like, yeah, most of the brothers have threatened to kill us or have come close at some point, but Belphie actually succeeds. And, in real life, if you die, you don't come back, so Belphie is already the worst one in real life. But, let's move past that. He is so lazy to the point where he refuses to get out of bed half the time. He's constantly falling asleep in the most random of places, and it is downright impossible to wake him up sometimes. Plus, he also tries to drag us down with him, thereby keeping us from being productive and missing important events. Belphie is also the youngest child, so he's been spoiled his whole life and just automatically assumes everything he wants should be given to him without him working for it. For the record, I'm not saying every youngest child is like this, but Belphie certainly is. He can also be quite the manipulative guy, using his youngest privilege to pretend like he's all innocent and whatnot.

So, yeah, overall, all of the brothers easily have their own icks that would make them terrible in real life. However, I do want to circle back to Leviathan. I will admit, just like his brothers, Levi does have his own icks I would dislike in real life, but the one's OP brings up aren't even icks. They're traits that most introverted people have, not to mention Levi is heavily autistic coded and has many traits that line up with how people with autism act.

Their first point is that the way Levi talks about idol groups is creepy or weird. They then cite a quote from him complaining about how an idol group he likes that's known for being cute suddenly dropped a new music video that looks much sexier. Then OP says that Levi has not right to get mad over what an idol group chooses to do. However, Levi has every right to get mad. In fact, most people get mad whenever a group they like decides to change directions in some way. I mean, we all saw what happened when One Direction broke up. And, if you actually look at how Levi reacts, it's really not that extreme of a reaction. With how OP treats his words, you'd think he did something horrible like go online and spread hateful and misogynistic words about the group like so many creepy otaku men tend to do. But, Levi doesn't do that. He's simply just expressing his dislike of this new route to a friend. That's a very healthy way to express negative feelings, and he's doing it well. He even says that he's still gonna support the group and just see where it goes from there. He does nothing creepy or weird at all in this interaction.

And right after that, they bring up the fact that this is a fictional game. Their exact words are "I know this is all fictional and whatever..." and the ngo on to say something else. With that one phrase, they completely contradict their own argument. The whole point is that this is a fictional game with fictional characters. Levi isn't real, and none of the others are real, so there's really no point in getting hung up in their personalities like this. The only reason I did was to show that none of them are perfect and we shouldn't target just one without taking the others into account as well.

Then they say that no one would be gushing over him if he were real and that he's cringy, creepy, and weird. However, most of his traits are just those of an introverted, autistic person with bad social skills. He likes anime and video games, and he likes talking about those interests and interacting with his fandoms. Yes, he lacks a filter, but that's not creepy, that's just bad social skills. Hell, I tend to lack a filter because I have trouble reading the room sometimes. I am both introverted and mentally ill, but no one would call my behavior creepy or cringy. I just have trouble socializing, just like Levi. If he were real, he would just be an awkward guy who needs help figuring out social cues. He's not as creepy or perverted as people make him out to be, especially compared to characters like Lucifer, Asmo, and even Mammon at some points.

Finally, they end their argument with saying that if he weren't pretty or an LI, he would be the most hated character in the game. Except, he already kind of is, because this is how most people tend to think already. Many people fail to understand that lots of Levi's traits are just him being social awkward and autistic. If fact, he rarely even pervs on the player because he's too shy, meaning we have to initiate most of the more heated scenes because he won't do it himself. He's not a perv, he just lacks a filter sometimes.

And, honestly, this whole paragraph they stuck at the end: "Also: I’m well aware that ppl already think he’s creepy, but this is addressing those who excuse it all because he’s pretty, or loves you. Like please raise your standards. Also your free to have your own taste in men, this is not to make fun of people who like Levi. This is about levi himself, and if he looked totally different, things would not be how they are now." was just straight garbage. If we raise our standards for one, shouldn't we raise them for all? Meaning we wouldn't like any of them because they're all terrible.

Sorry this was so long, and thank you to anyone who stuck around and read it all (probably no one). I just get really mad whenever someone comes after Levi like this.

[rainboneish]

realistically i don’t think gege has the time to set up a drastically different ending right now, two chapters seems like a good amount to wrap up the shinjuku showdown aftermath in a satisfying way, but not to introduce new conflict that hasn’t already been resolved behind the scenes (like the clan thing presumably has been)

the Mei Mei - ex-NSS Head conversation presumably happened before/during the replacement training month since she told Hakari she had taken care of that when they were making plans so i don’t think the clans/NSS elders are going to be an issue, especially considering Gojo probably killed a lot of them when he killed the higher ups (we don’t exactly know who the higher ups are but it’s fair to assume they were mostly clan elders, including the senior and/or politically motivated members of nss)

i’m assuming the culling games can be ended in a decently easy way considering how many players are dead/don’t have a reason to fight anymore, either by doing something to the barriers or my making a new rule

so it looks like we are all set for a happy ending (or as happy as it gets considering the loss and trauma our cast has gone through)

so the only two options for a sudden “turn to the worst” ending is can see right now are either something going wrong while ending the games (which seems kind of unlikely considering how the games haven’t seemed to be much of a priority lately) or the non-sorcerer military attacking them after seeing all of the destruction (possibly as becoming easier as a result of the barriers coming down to end the culling games)

but i do think the “characters think they have won only to have everything ripped away at the last moment, without enough time to grieve or deal with any repercussions” would not be a very satisfying ending

so i will cautiously say that it looks like we are in the clear? (always with the caveat that gege could be standing around the corner holding a bomb, or that we could end on an ambiguous “sequel bait sign kenjaku of sukuna are still alive” panel)

edit: ngl if we get any kind of ambiguous teaser panels i’d prefer hints at some of our dead faves being reincarnated, i think that would be more fun and fit with the circular nature/buddhist themes of jjk (satosugu reincarnation AU canon when)

[restwellsoon]

amor vincit omnia | aphrodite mood board

I thought it'd be fun to share some of my author's notes/ mood boards for amor vincit omnia since it's my absolute labor of love.

Hopefully this provides more incite into Reader/Aphrodite.

Theme Songs

For a fic of this length, I thought it was appropriate to give Aph a theme song or two.

"Barbie Girl" - Aqua

Rather than taking inspiration from "Barbie Girl's" hook (You can touch / You can play / If you say, "I'm always yours"), I found myself associating Aphrodite more with these lyrics:

Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees

To me, these lyrics epitomize how others view the goddess - a doll that plays the part of being pretty, a plaything that others exact their will upon. The goddess is more than that though. I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees gave me the vibe of a woman who's not as vapid as others seem. She's someone that recognizes the desires of others and is able to adapt according to the situation.

I also really liked the Pygamlion vibes this gave me. In the myth, Pygmalion falls in love with his creation, and Aphrodite brings it to life.

"Dream Girl Evil" - Florence and the Machine

Am I your dream girl? You think of me in bed But you could never hold me You like me better in your head

&

Did I disappoint you? Did mommy make you sad? Do I just remind you Of every girl that made you mad? Make me perfect, make me your fantasy

This speaks to Aphrodite's self-awareness of others' opinions of her as the dream girl ideal fantasy. Knowing that though, she understands that others aren't seeing her for who she truly is, therefore disappointing and angering themselves. Rather than being mad about it though, she understands her worth (You could never hold me) and leans into it (Make me perfect, make me your fantasy).

I also really like the Madonna-whore complex and good vs evil themes of the song too, which I think sums up Aphrodite's complexity perfectly.

The Face of Aphrodite

I don't like to associate real people for reader-inserts since I prefer the lack of physical descriptors and most physical descriptions are irrelevant to the plot. However, I just had to make an exception for this fic. I was inspired the iconic goddess of pop herself, Cher!

I love this picture of Cher in particular because it shows off her confidence and power as a starlet from a young age. This is the look of a woman who knows her talents and beauty and knows how to get what she wants! This was something that I wanted to embody in Aphrodite as well when I write her mannerisms and others' reactions to her presence.

Here are some of my fave Cher quotes:

Women have to harness their power - its absolutely true. It's just learning not to take the first no. And if you can't go straight ahead, you go around the corner.

&

I know it sounds weird, but how bad, how hard can dying be?

&

A girl can wait for the right man to come along but in the meantime that still doesn’t mean she can’t have a wonderful time with all the wrong ones

&

Yes, it’s a man’s world, but that’s all right because they’re making a total mess of it. We’re chipping away at their control, taking the parts we want. Some women think it’s a difficult task, but it’s not.

&

Mom, I am a rich man

Symbols & Imagery

Seashells & Black Pearl

Naturally, Aph is associated with shells and pearls because of her ties with the sea and Botticelli's Birth of Venus.

Sea shells are hard on the outside, protecting the soft innards of the creature inside - just like our beloved goddess with her tough exterior.

I liked the imagery of black pearls in particular because of their mysteriousness aesthetic. Black pearls are associated with strength and healing - two things that are at the core of Aphrodite's arc in the story.

Turbulent Waves and Sea Foam

Following Aphrodite's birth, I thought that turbulent waves would be best to associate her with. Though the ocean is beautiful, it's also fucking scary, which is how I interpret the goddess. Love and Aphrodite are a force of nature - one to be admired but not fucked with.

Sea foam is made by agitating sea water. I like to think that contributes to her volatile nature.

Roses

Symbolizing love and beauty, it's natural for roses to be Aphrodite's flower. I love the myths about the first red roses. When Aph found out that Adonis had been injured, she ran to him, scratching her skin and painting white roses red. Alternatively, there were roses surrounding them as he died. While Aphrodite wept, her tears mixed with Adonis' blood, thus staining the roses around them red. There's a bittersweet aspect to roses with regards to her myth, and that was something that I wanted to focus on.

Thinking of Aphrodite as a rose herself, I thought it would be fitting to make them a part of her character arc - starting off with her essentially being a withering rose, then blooming again as she meets Ares / Jason - and of course, her thorns.

With Lore Olympus being one of my initial sources of inspiration, I also had to give Aphrodite her roses back from Persephone since Smythe gave them to the wrong goddess. This was also how I decided upon Persephone / Selina being Aphrodite's rival (she's also meant to help Aphrodite grow).

Bloody hands

Unlike Athena, whose powers are based on intangible intellect, the source of love can be seen and heard by all.

When researching and trying to think of natural ways to connect love and war together, I came across several idioms and metaphors relating love to physical force (E.g. to hit on someone, fall in love, to pursue someone, etc). This made me think of the power of love as being strong, something that can be felt physically. It also made me think of love and Aphrodite as a hunter/ predator. While Eros has their arrows, I thought that goddess of love would have more simple means of dealing with hearts by using her bare hands. I finalized on this concept when I thought of tying heart strings together and what that process might be like.

I also drew inspiration from Poe's Tell-Tale Heart. Having Aphrodite using violent means to commit Love's will and hearing the hearts of others gives the goddess an insane and horror aspect to her character that I thought was cool.

Silk

The luxuriousness and exclusivity of silk certainly means it'll be a staple in Aphrodite's wardrobe. I also like to describe her powers as feeling similar to silk. Have you ever shaved your legs and gone under some fresh covers? It feels like absolute heaven.

Diamonds

Coming from the Greek word adamas, which means invincible or indomitable, diamonds represent strength and beauty. Diamonds were believed to instill courage during battle and ancient people even thought that Cupid's arrows were diamond-tipped. Some even believed that diamonds were the tears of the gods.

Kronos also castrated his father Ouranos with a diamond sickle, thus giving birth to Aphrodite.

Diamonds aren't Aphrodite's assigned gemstone, but I loved the history behind it, especially since everyone knows that diamonds are associated with love and marriage.

I also wanted to associate Aph with diamonds because they're known to be poor electricity conductors. Who is the god of thunder and lightning? Zeus / Bruce! So associating Aph with diamonds not only gives her ties to Ares / Jason but also represents how she's a foil to Zeus / Bruce.

A/N: So that was a little look into my character development process and inspirations. I'll probably post Ares/Jason's mood board as well as my little notes about the other characters too.

[yourinterestisnotcringe]

different anon - what just rubs me the wrong way i guess is the implication of the cast ‘taking over’ ian and anthony’s spot. fans back then where shamed about thinking or being worried that the cast or the content they created would be pushed away on the main channel when unscripted content wasn’t coming back, but now fans are ‘valid’ in thinking that the cast are taking over ian and anthony’s place.

i’m just uncomfortable with the insinuation (whether intentional or not) that the cast is ‘taking’ a spot thats not rightfully theirs and vice-versa. i think there’s a balance that can be made on the main channel and that there’s no need to alienate one over the other. it all just feels like that time the smosh squad got introduced and i feel like we shouldve grown past that way of thinking.

Hi 👋🏻

(Firstly: your last point was the reason I made sure to say I love the cast again and again, because I agree. This is not an anti-squad thing. I hated that back in the day.)

It wasn't right or ok to shame people for having that opinion, I agree. Though, I was always of the opinion that they weren't pushed away from any spotlight, the main channel just changed direction again (people were upset over cast member channels vanishing from main, but actually they were just moved to Pit - which doesn't mean anything deep, Main just changed direction and content concepts). But shaming people for their opinion in this context is never nice.

I didn't intent to make my reply to sound like the cast doesn't deserve screentime or they don't deserve a spot on main because it's "not rightfully theirs". Everyone on Smosh "deserves" a spot anywhere, it's their job after all. I think all this is messy af because we're all protective of our faves and there lies the source of lots of bad fandom discourse.

I can't put into words well what I'm feeling, I'm sorry. But I'll try again.

The age old debate in the Smosh fandom will always be scripted vs unscripted (or I&A vs Cast ig, which I hate). Scripted was on main, unscripted on the other channel(s). Scripted was I & A and the cast (minus the very beginning), Unscripted was the cast and I&A. Ideally, when things were/are going well, everyone has a place where they could shine. Some viewers preferred Scripted, some Unscripted (some, like me, both). Then Anthony left and the place where Scripted took place slowly became un-/semi scripted. Naturally there wasn't a place for I & A to shine, because I & A didn't exist anymore. It was Ian and the cast. Some viewers were sad over that understandably so. Their fave content was vanishing.

Then Anthony came back, the Scripted place became scripted again (making the sad viewers mostly happy again and other viewers sad) and cast got more empowerment on the Unscripted side (shows, the new pitch admission system, etc) while semi scripted stuff happened in the form of Live Shows. Intense Nostalgia stuff happened and then cast got more parts again on the Scripted side.

What I and others are now a bit worried about is that the Scripted stuff on the Scripted Main Channel will vanish again and be replaced by Unscripted/Semi-scripted stuff - stuff that wouldve been on the Unscripted Channel normally. And that content featuring I&A will slowly vanish or hardly be there. That might sound irrational but those feelings are also valid. When the cast wasn't in a few new sketches, they were still around Pit and Games, so we wouldn't worry over not seeing them anymore. If the Scripted content vanishes, people are worried over losing I&A content. Seems irrational, i totally get that. But it is what it is.

I'm not trying to alienate between both "sides", pls believe me. I absolute adore the cast and love many scripted formats they had during Anthony's absence.

I just want both concepts to co-exist and not be shamed for still loving I&A and the kinda neat thing of Main = Scripted feat I&A and the cast, Pit/Games = Unscripted feat cast and I&A. To me that seems perfectly balanced and idk why they would mix that up.

Pls understand that I'm not having ill intentions, I've watched Smosh through sooo many changes since 2006 and stayed watching. I personally never shamed any person that mourned cast being gone from main for a while.

(Then again, who knows what the announcement will bring and maybe I'll feel sooo silly over all this 😬)

I have a feeling you chose that wording (rubbing you the wrong way) because I used it the way i did, I apologize. I meant that it rubs me the wrong way how people have prejudice against people that like I&A and think they must hate the cast or that they shame those people.

[bluegekk0]

fave colours of the whole au family? fave foods maybe? other insignificant details?

it's gonna be long so i'll put it under a read more

fav colors:

i'll start with grimm since i think it's the most obvious. his favorite color is without a doubt red, crimson red to be precise. it's everywhere - his eyes, his cloak fluff, the grimm troupe as a whole, the flame. inside the nightmare realm, he's noticeably more red and flashy as well. there's also the fact that blood is very commonly red (at least in the au, though there are some species that have different blood colors), and as we know, he's very fond of it

i mentioned before that fpk would also like red, mainly due to the association with grimm - grimm's presence, despite his nightmarish aura, brings him much comfort. that being said, i also think he likes green quite a lot. it's a very calming color, it brings you closer to nature. he would enjoy that, which could also be part of the reason why he prefers to hunt in greenpath. if i were to pick and exact shade he would like the most, it would be warm, yellowish but a bit muted green. something like moss green

as for hornet, i like to think that despite the color of her clothes, red isn't her favorite. she likes it, and she certainly looks good in it, which is why she tends to choose it for her clothing (the association with her old cloak, which i like to think was a gift from herrah, also plays a role in it), but her favorite is blue. similarly to green, it's a quite calming color, which i think would be the reason why she gravitates towards it considering all that pent up anger she deals with - especially later down the line as she looks for more peaceful outlets for said anger. also, if you recall the drawing i made of her as a baby being held by grimm, she wore a blue cloak with a red bow. i think it makes sense why she would be fond of those two colors, they remind her of her childhood, a much simpler time all things considered

for holly it would either be green or white. green because of similar reasons to fpk, plus i imagine they feel a connection to it (since their mother was a plant-like creature). and white because of their love and loyalty towards their father - they remember his blinding white light, and i think they saw it as motivation for their mission to stop the infection. even though they didn't succeed, i believe they still think fondly of that color, especially since they were able to reunite with fpk and finally experience the life they deserve. also, as an additional note. i mentioned in the past that they were colorblind after suffering damage to their brain (or brain-like structure) due to the infection. but i'm still debating whether it would be complete color blindness or another type. that doesn't change the fact that they still have those favorite colors, but it would determine whether they can still see them post infection

lewk's favorite color is orange. he was born years after the infection, so unlike the rest of the family, he doesn't have the same negative memories connected to it. to him, it's a very energetic, joyful color, which matches his personality

zote likes purple the most. he 100% read somewhere that it's a color associated with royalty so now he's extra annoying about it. but i do think he genuinely likes the color. perhaps he sees the connection to royalty as some kind of inspiration, or maybe he just likes how it looks

---

fav foods:

since i haven't done any worldbuilding about the types of food in hallownest and their cultures, and there isn't much to take from the source, i think i'll just pretend they're in our modern world for this question. i imagine similar kinds of food would be present in their world so i think it still works. if not, at least you'll still get some kind of idea about what they like

fpk is the easiest, since he's the foodie of the family. in the actual au canon, tiktik meat is his favorite, so i guess this could be a starting point. he likes raw meat, so he would without a doubt enjoy something like a rare steak, or just any meat dish in general. he's a big fan of cheeses and i could see him enjoying pasta, so he'd be a fan of a lot of italian dishes. but he could eat pretty much anything and enjoy it, maybe with the exception of food with a lot of mushroom in it (i don't think he'd be a fan of mushrooms). a fun little joke-y headcanon i had is that he would absolutely love nutella (or just chocolate in general). makes sense, he'd definitely enjoy it for the serotonin boost hahah

grimm... this is a bit tricky. in the au canon i'd say blood is his favorite taste. but at the same time, blood isn't really food. and i like the idea of him enjoying sweet foods. maybe pie? i think he would like pie, apple pie perhaps? and i imagine he'd enjoy fruit in general, i like to think of it a small nod to fruit bats. it's also something that connects to what he smells like, he enjoys drinking tea in the au, so i always imagined that he'd kind of smell like fruit tea. something like raspberry tea, perhaps

for hornet, i like the idea of her liking croissants. coffee and croissants would be her go-to combination. but similarly to fpk, she enjoys the taste of meat, and i imagine she'd like fish as well so i could absolutely see her being a fan of sushi. i do think that she's a lot more of a picky eater than her dad, though

i think holly would be very fond of soups, i love the idea of them sipping with their weird void tendril thingies, or using them like a tongue and drinking like a cat. chicken noodle soup would be their favorite, or anything else with delicate and soft meat in it

lewk would love all kinds of food, but not for the same gluttonous reasons as fpk. he loves trying new things, and since he has an interest in cooking, it makes him want to experience all kinds of tastes and food combinations, so i think he would have trouble picking his favorite. but since he's a carnivore, i think he would naturally gravitate towards meat dishes

i've decided that zote is the only herbivore/vegetarian in the family, so he basically has to cook for himself. but if we're picking favorite foods, i think he'd enjoy salads, or perhaps something like mac and cheese (which i imagine would be a lot more popular with the rest of the family hahaha)