#which is a shame considering it's one of my faves

[eighthwholove]

Some interesting little McGann items I have gtten ahold of I'm recent months- an Australian article on Paper Mask which includes an interview with the author and screenwriter, John Collee. And a promotional booklet of Dealers, which gives a synopsis of the movie, and displays some theatrical posters. There was even a dealing game you could purchase as well

[phagodyke]

looking at taking some local evening classes in the new year + there's a lit one on magical realism as a genre in relation to economic & political oppression, run by someone who wrote her phd thesis around a haruki murakami novel... the reading list alone is 🥴🥴🥴🥴

[iztea]

Would you ever be willing to draw atsushi, akutagawa, or other characters? They would look so ethereal in your art style imo

Also what are your thoughts on the recent chapter?

i have drawn Aku like. twice a while back which is a shame cause he's one of my faves and i like both him and atsushi and many other charas 😭 my Dazai exclusivity is purely accidental. He has me in a chokehold and brother, I've never been much of a fighter.

I've shared my thoughts on the recent chap on twt (more or less) so i'll paraphrase from there but overall i think it was very hype! i usually complain about the plot because the arc feels like suuuuch a drag atp but I've always considered bsd to be a very character-driven show rather than plot-driven (like AoT to give an example) so I've come to embrace the wackiness of the plot although it does tackle some very interesting elements this time like spacetime (more on that later).

Character-wise, it was very curious to see Fyodors reaction to like., the human spirit and just how genuinely disgusted and repulsed he was by Atsushi's selflessness; it really makes you wonder what exactly happened that shaped him into such a spiteful man (perhaps his liver was diseased aha ok no sorry). And then he dropped that line about Dazai not being fit to be his other half??? Which really raises a lot of questions, first of all being if Dazai was even aware of this soulmate fantasy of his? Did he ever ask ?😭 (he'd still refuse but still). Maybe if he stopped trying to kill him then he'd get the message. And not to make everything about skk ( their relationship is an integral part of the show IT'S NOT MY FAULT nor do i mean this in a shippy way‐at all) but....I'll just paste what i said on twt because im too lazy to rephrase it

and the MY GOAT AKU came to save the day although i dont think it's really him atm the fit goes crazyyyyyyyy harddddddddddddddd we love you harukawa !!! <33

i also . okay since they brought irl physics into this then so will I so hear me out:

-the AmeNoFuku thing exists in the the 4-dimentional spacetime so that means the principles of General Relativity still apply.

-What distorts spacetime? Gravity.

-Who can offensively manipulate gravity and cause great destruction and havoc? That's right! Chuuya in his corrupted form SO, unless the AmeNoFuku-triple-McCombo bitch opperates in the context of Special Relativity (because he did mention his body being in the Minkowski space where gravity is effectively neglected--but come on why would he that's such a cop out) then that means that 2+2 = Chuuya is fully capable of defeating that thing and saving the day if he weren't in France!!! thanks for coming to my TedTalk

[scraplette]

This is random but I noticed you mention you were a big Rung/Skids shipper and I'm curious about something. I wasn't active in the fandom where MTMTE/LL were coming out and I feel like I missed huge discourse or something, because I'm really confused about why I have always seen Rung/Fort Max and Rung/Whirl and MegaRung everywhere but nobody seems to ship Rung with the guy he was super close with from the beginning and committed suicide thinking about and coughed up crystals over? I know it's not because it's wrong for therapists and patients to date because all of those people were Rung's patients. Do you know why this is?

Hello there! Sorry for the late response, I wanted to do this on desktop and just hadn't found the time.

You've sent a really interesting question but, I'm sorry, I'm not sure I have an answer for you. Heck, even at the time the comics were coming out I was always surprised by the lack of content for the ship. There was some discourse about Rung dating paitents but, funnily enough, Skids was never really a part of it. He wasn't really considered by the fandom as one of Rung's paitents so it wasn't an issue. The storyarc we the readers found out that Rung was treating Skids, was also the same arc where Rung quit. You did have some folks producing some excellent content for it(@littlestowl is still hands down my fave writer for this pair and @herzspalter did some hecking good fanart!) but never to the same extent as other ships. Not gonna blame people for that, we all have our preferences! Live and let ship and all that! So, since I had no anwers of my own I decided to counsult THE COUNCI(my friends who like Transformers) for their opinions and they came up with the excellent points. We even gathered DATA(we looked at Ao3 XD) Nothing definitive, of course, because obviously we're just a group of robot fans and can't speak for every TF fan on the net. These are just our thoughts and general vibes. 1) Rung is just so darn shippable. He potentially works well with a lot of characters and was pulled in lots of diff directions. Speaking as the main Rung/Skids shipper of the group I sort of get this(stupid sexy Rung) but even with all the diff ships sailing Rung/Skids still seemed oddly small in comparsion. 2)Another friend brought up a good point, Rung/Skids are a lovely ship but they're very wholesome and nice. Now, there is nothing wrong with that but you can't deny that spicy ships oozing with, as they put it, DRAMA just get folks excited. Lots of the other ships had this in spades. 3) Another friend had a lovely thought to add to this and I agree with it 100%. I'm just going to quote them directly "Which is kinda a shame because they have other kinds of cool drama - Rung basically compromised his position for Skids! Skids revived Rung's memory! The non-goodbye! But not conflict -drama." 4)Perhaps the venn diagram of Skids fan and Rungs fans didn't neccisarily crossover. Looking at the DATA, we can see that the most popular ships for Skids(in order) were SkidsSwerve, SkidsGetaway, and SkidsRung. I'm not sure if the Getaway fics were written pre or post betrayl.

5) Not really important but something I thought was a cool detail. Rung/Skids was really popular in the Japanese side of the fandom. I even own a physical doujin anthology for the pair! I can't remember any names of the top of my head, it's been years, but there were lots of lovely pieces of Rung/Skids fanart on the JP art sites.

I'm always a little sad about Rung/Skids. I always thought here were always lots of hooks throughtout the story that could lead the pair to more. Lots of little quiet personal moments just for the two of them. Like, Skids defending Rung against Getaway's snide comments. Ratchet sending Skids to Rung because he things the little chap is lonely. That final weirdly tense exchange between them will always sit a bit oddly with me. I know at the time there was a theory that Skids might've been into Nuatica at the time but nothing seemed to come of it, so I geuss we'll never know. I think I remember reading that Alex Milne didn't realise that would be their last interaction together, otherise he would've done the panel differently* Thank you for your ask! It was lovely to look back on old fandom memories ^_^ I hope I gave you some insights. As for myself, I'm hoping to get back into fic writing so no doubt I'll be adding to my collection of Rung/Skids drabbles.

*IMPORTANT UPDATE EDIT THING! I couldn't drop the final goodbye between them and the Alex Milne thing(it was nearly a decade ago so I was worried I'd misremembered) so I hunted down the original tweet and I've misremembered!

Sigh, what a shame that the final on-page interaction of my fave ship is forever off key and weird because of Writer/Artist miscomunucation :<

[pinazee]

Psy vs. Psy

I genuinely think that if they were going to bring back any psych villian, Lindsay Leikin would pose the biggest threat. She knows Shawn isn’t psychic, she has adequate motivation to target him personally, and has the skills to prove he’s a fraud and do it slyly as she is also highly skilled in deductive reasoning (she did manage to get them to the counterfeiter to begin with so she has legitimate talent). She could even orchestrate it from prison. Maybe her parole was denied again so, like, what else is she going to do? Plus, she’s kind of nuts. Faking being a psychic with the FBI is a whole other level of bold compared to a local precinct, then she met a counterfeiter and was like yes please, more crime, then killed him when he tried to run, slept with Shawn that same night, then tried to take him hostage when she got caught. Its just a shame she wasn’t a bit more charismatic or eccentric. They had her play it as a very normal girl swept into a life of crime because of a guy (probably because she was a “love interest” for Shawn) when the receipts show she was an absolute lunatic (look at her face after they found the guy she killed. This bitch is smiling).

Also, she just kinda gave up when she was caught. I wish she’d have been screaming “he’s a fraud!” as she was taken to the car or even had a heart to heart moment with Lou Diamond Phillips because she did betray him after all. Idk, i just wanted more. (But i think maybe the writers recognized this and thats how we get Declan later??)

Gus is basically siri at this point. Between the archeology, safes, online poker, the law, tennis players, space, comic books, of course pharmaceuticals, and now studies tender from all over the world- its a smaller list of what Gus doesn’t know. Gus clearly likes learning. I’m surprised he never thought of becoming a teacher or college professor, to try to pass that love of learning to the next generation. Though i guess we see he’s not that great with people surprisingly, considering he’s a successful salesman. (OH MY GOD WHAT IF THIS WHOLE TIME GUS ACTUALLY HAD LIVED UP TO HIS POTENTIAL AND BECAME AN INTERNATIONAL SPY. He knows all these things because of his job, psychs only been able to stay open because Gus can fund it from his spy job, joining psych was a good front but he was also lonely from never getting to be himself. I kid, i kid, but its a fun idea for me haha)

No fucking way shawn doesn’t know what a drill is. Henry definitely would have beat that kind of man stuff into him. The military time too. I just felt the need to point this out. its like the show itself is dissing my boy and i have to defend him lol

I love when Gus is proud and smarmy over shawns talent. Look at his face here. My boy about to prove you wrong.

And do you think Shawn is actually afraid of competition or do you think he learned at an early age from his father that he didn’t have value unless he was the best? Huh Henry, huh???(Weekend warriors “you don’t want to be a loser” comes to mind)

Henry trying some reverse psychology here. I can’t tell if its because Henry is actually concerned for Shawns safety like he said he wasn’t in the previous episode, or if he’s still taking it personally that Shawns using the gifts he “gave” him to be psychic. Probably both. We know he was really bothered by his motorcycle accident, so i wonder if he’s been kind of spiraling, and adding up all the crazy situations he’s been in. (Which, i don’t think Shawn tells him about. i think Gus calls him like a weekly report haha) I think the fact that shawns cases are becoming more dangerous he suddenly doesn’t like the idea of him being a detective, well a detective this way at least, because i think in his mind he’d be safer if he was an actual cop where he had a partner with a gun, and back up, and rules, and training. I mean we know he wouldn’t be, (look at what happens to Lassie and Juliet)

I just wanted to gif this because it’s one of my fave jokes in the episode!

Mildred to the rescue! Im not entirely sure how this worked but it did and thats what matters haha

*Appropriate reaction is appropriate*

[laughterbynight]

Possibly unpopular opinions incoming which means post it before bed, natch.

I actually think Tim in a trio would be cute. I don’t trust DC not to make it weird of course but as far as headcanons go I could see him trying that out for a bit. One partner is of course Kon. DC can fight it all they want but I do think someday (maybe when I’m 70) Tim and Kon will end up canon.

Anyway, temporary trio wise I think Tim, Kon, and maybe a new character. I have no issue with Bernard but I always feel like DC shoved him in there to cut off timkon talk so I have a hard time seeing him as anything permanent y’know? But then again that would work as a transition into timkon when the trio ends. Amicably!! I’m so not here for drama.

I’d like to see a woman in there maybe, for some balance. No not Steph. I know some fans are still really married to the idea of them but the whole manic pixie dreamgirl thing has never been my jam personally. That’s why I’m generally attracted to the batfam. I like stoics. Yes, Dick isn’t my fave either (drawing all kinds of targets on myself tonight).

I feel like figuring out sexuality is so…basic and static in comics. Like yeah they talk about it being a journey of discovery but we don’t really *see* that, they just say it.

I think I’ve seen Bart as a popular third. Idk if that’s in line with him as a character at all since I’m less familiar with him but I’m open to it. I do kinda like the idea of an Amazon about their age. I know the supe/bat/amazon thing is common ground but hey it works really good. I can’t argue with it. I like reading superwonderbat too. Sue me.

If we wanna shake things up it would be interesting if it was a male Amazon. I mean we know men aren’t allowed to stay there so they must go somewhere. I think it would be interesting to see a male character from a culture where women are in control and that’s considered normal. No hate about it just, yeah that’s how it is here. I get bored of the sausage club that is the batfamily but I’ll take it if that means an interesting third.

sidebar: I really wish Cass was in more stories and we could have more girldad Bruce moments. I feel like DC tries to do the “girlpower” thing by putting all the girls on teams together and honest to god I do not care. I wanna see Batman and his kick ass daughter and her brothers, together.

It’s almost a shame Cass was adopted bc she would fit as a good third but of course we can’t do that for obvious reasons. Maybe in an AU, but I’d be more sad if she didn’t have batdad instead.

Anyone have any ideas about a third? I’m curious. Keeping in mind they'd need to get along with Tim and Kon on some level obvs or why would any of them bother.

Edit: How do we feel about Connor? I realized the rep for Ace characters is abysmal and I think Tim and Kon would be really sweet and understanding compared to like, idk a lot of other characters in general. Tbh I think of Tim as demi but idk if DC can handle that Bi was hard enough for them. But then I think I’d want them to stay a trio too. Idk y’all is Connor around their ages I seriously can’t keep up with how DC rearranges timelines. I DO know it would probably cause Bruce and Ollie to get catty with each other around the holidays and that’s always a bonus in my book.

So many ideassssss

edit edit: wait that’s two Connors. I shouldn’t do this at 1am. That would also be funny tho.

[gabessquishytum]

Re: panty stealing neighbors

Dream's tired of his favorite panties being stolen right out of the dryer. His apartment is on the same floor as the laundry room so he often gets lazy about picking up his laundry right away.

One day he sets a trap for the panty bandit by leaving out a pair of red lacy panties at the top of his laundry basket while he goes back to "get detergent". He catches Hob red-handed, quite literally. Hob finally confesses that he's been quietly crushing on his hot neighbor and one day noticed Dream dropped a pair of dirty panties in the hallway on the way to laundry room. Hob took his opportunity and has been stealing Dream's underwear ever since.

But while Dream's in the middle of shaming Hob for being a pervert, Hob notices Dream is wearing a pair of HIS boxers, which he gleefully points out. Dream blushes, also caught red handed. Turns out Dream's been swiping Hob's underwear from the gym down the street. Dream's never gotten a reallllllllyyyyyy good look at Hob's face at the gym, he was always constantly distracted by the chest rug and his sexy hairy legs. So whenever Hob would shower at the gym, Dream would just nick the boxers and smell them for days after, then just wear them around the apartment.

Cue hot and bothered making out that ends in sexy times at Dream's apartment down the hall. And then cute little gifts of dirty underwear left in each other's apartment.

Off anon cause we already all know I'm a degenerate 😂💖

SEIYA MY BELOVED

thank you SO much for indulging my pantysniffing thoughts and expanding on this. i absolutely love it <33 also please know that the phrase "panty bandit" is now my favourite ever.

Just imagine Dream’s OUTRAGE. he's standing there, red faced, giving Hob a piece of his mind- "how dare you, do you know how disgusting you are, do you know how much these things COST?" And Hob listens penitantly, he really does, until he starts smirking.

And once Dream is done he's like "you're absolutely right love and I do apologise, but I think that your argument would have more weight if you weren't literally wearing my underwear."

Dream doesn't really have much of a response except to turn bright red (same colour as the panties, actually). He doesn't even use the gym anymore, he just goes there to hopelessly ogle men and steal his fave gym crush's boxers. It's not his fault! Hob shouldn't take them off in the first place! What's he doing, going commando in the gym?! He's just asking for trouble.

Hob grins and shrugs. Leans across to whisper in Dream’s ear - "I'm not commando now, sweetheart. I'm wearing some of yours." Dream literally moans out loud.

He gets to drag Hob back to his apartment (laundry abandoned) and take the contraband panties off with his teeth - which is no mean feat, considering how tight they are on Hob. They smell divine, but not as good as Hob’s actual body. Dream’s never been happier than he is between those sexy hairy thighs.

A couple of days later, Dream gets a delivery. First of all, a "fresh" pair of Hob’s boxers. And by fresh, I mean freshly covered in cum. Secondly, a new package of luxury lingerie, all in Dream’s size, with an accompanying note:

I'm keeping those red ones from the other day, so thought I'd better make up for it. Can't wait to see you ruin these for me <3

[aintgonnatakethis]

Writing Share/Fave Line/Kiss Tags

Thanks to @tragedycoded (x) (x) @wyked-ao3 (x) @finickyfelix (x) aziz-reads (x) (x) @the-golden-comet (x)

@gioiaalbanoart (x) and @willtheweaver (x) for the tags!

The Beach Episode has slowed a bit as I've reached a potential sex scene and I'm unsure of how explicit I want to make it. In the meantime, I've done some more reading through of the 450k fic I was working on during lockdown and snagging bits I think are good and/or can be repurposed for other fics.

Background here is Telford's POV, longstanding friends-with-benefits arrangement going on with Young. Telford's recruited Rush to the programme and Gloria's still alive. The fave line is bolded and I'm sure you can see why it's my favourite! I love my twisted little guy. 😂

“What are you waiting for?” Young asked, the rough massage he was treating Telford's dick to getting him hard pretty quickly. “Bit awkward.” Telford bit at Young’s neck, pulling his shirt down so he could make marks where no one would see. “I’m not actually going to sleep with him.” The hand stilled and he just about stopped himself from bucking into it. Rewards came to those who waited. Patience was a virtue. All that useless shit. “Why not?” Telford didn’t understand how Young managed to get by thinking solely with his dick without once considering the logic that maybe it wasn't a good idea to alienate the project's lead geek. If he fucked with Rush and it went wrong, then where did that leave him? He’d have practically handed the reigns to Jackson with a wrapped invitation. He knew Young wouldn’t accept that answer, but he also knew the alternative one would ruin the mood. It wouldn’t be too hard to get it back though; Young was a slut when it came down to it. Telford didn’t think he’d ever call the man that unless he was really pissed off, but it was nice to think. “His wife’s dying,” he said, trying not to sound as if he cared more about the hand on his groin than Gloria Rush and her untimely demise. “Cancer,” he supplied as the corners of Young’s mouth turned down. “Shit.” It would be much more convenient if she wasn’t dying, though then maybe she wouldn’t support Rush so ardently when it came to moving across the country and taking up with the military. Telford then considered that it would be more convenient if she had already died. “It’s a shame. I think Nick would be good in bed.” It was probably only because Young was so used to him saying wildly inappropriate things that the man didn’t just get out of bed right then and there. He gave Telford an extremely chastising look instead, which didn’t really hit its mark because Telford had never met anyone in his life who could make him feel chastised. “He told me to dress up for him,” he continued, because apparently his mouth didn’t know what was good for it. At least Young was distracted by that. “What?” Telford cleared his throat and attempted to put on a Scottish accent. He’d never tried one before so he imagined it to be rather lacking in quality. “Wear something other than those fucking fatigues. If you own any normal clothes.” Young laughed and the hand still resting on Telford’s crotch gave him a light squeeze. “I’m gonna wear that leather jacket you said makes me look like a porn star.” Young buried his face in Telford’s neck in response, shoulders shaking with mirth. His hand started stroking again which made Telford hum approvingly. “Why, if you’re not gonna sleep with him?” Telford reasoned that saying ‘so when his wife dies I’m ahead of the curve’ would most likely get him kicked out. It would certainly stop Young’s hand from moving. “Doesn’t mean I can’t have fun.” He hooked a hand into Young’s hair and manoeuvred him into kissing range. Young bit at Telford’s tongue. “Poor Rush.” He didn’t sound as if he felt sorry for the mathematician in the slightest.

Tagging: @moltenwrites @paeliae-occasionally @wyked-ao3 @lychhiker-writes @misguidedghostie + OPEN

[qsmprambling]

I was thinking about the good good good day 79 reaper lore, and decided to check the wiki - they have done such a good write up of that day!! I'm so glad!

The tension between Cellbit, Dapper and Bad's views on ressurection is so good. I adore Bad's clear discomfort and his repeated attempts to dissuade Cellbit from messing with death, how Cellbit refuses to listen and also doesn't think Bad understands the subject (ironically, considering Bad is a grim reaper), how Dapper insists on helping Cellbit despite the fact it goes against the grim reaper code (showing his scientific mind conflicting with his grim reaper teachings)...

I also really adore that before he leaves, it feels like Bad gives in and shares some very specific/detailed information about the dangers of ressurection, how connections, time and attachment all play a role, and how attempting ressurection won't bring back someone the same way and could bring back something completely different - it really felt like he had not wanted to (or was not supposed to) share this information, but he just couldn't let Cellbit go forward without a warning of the dangers. He is very specific about the dangers, which shows a level of knowledge on the subject that should have made Cellbit question WHY he knows so much.

But it's obvious that Cellbit isn't listening to a word he is saying, or that he doesn't care. I really don't think he took what he overheard Bad and Dapper saying about grim reapers seriously, and so he doesn't listen to anything Bad says about the dangers - he doesn't understand that Bad is giving him incredibly valuable information. Bad dropped some great lore but Cellbit was so focused on fixing his relationship with Roier (and for cc!Cellbit maybe his own lore?) that I genuinely don't think he even registered it as important or unusual for Bad to have this information.

And then Bad ending the stream discussing with Dapper the importance of death as a part of life, how it isn't the end but the start of another journey ... aaaack it was all so good!! (Just a shame Dapper crashed and he didn't get to finish the reaper heart to heart ;w; I wanted to hear it!)

It was all so goooooood!! One of my fave Bad lore moments!

[eisforeidolon]

https://www.tumblr.com/eisforeidolon/751943165375856640/do-you-consider-dean-to-be-abusive-to-sam-i-read

You are totally entitled to your opinion, but this reply was a not so much, "no, I don’t think Dean was abusive" response. It was more a "look at all the times Sam is meaner and worse than Dean" response, which is what Sam fans get accused of doing in reverse. The thing is, Sam girls ARE overly defensive of Sam, but it is partially because the show narrative itself almost always sides with Dean, as in his choices end up being "right" even when they logically shouldn’t be. Or sam just has to "get over" things or he’s a "bitch, but Dean is allowed to be angry and hurt without the show shitting on him for it. Sam even gets blamed for things that he didn’t even do (this is by Castiel often, though. And he sucks, so … whatever). Sorry, but just some backstory on why Sam girls get sensitive.

I don’t actually think Dean is abusive. I think he’s damaged and dealing in the way he knows how. And, yeah, both brothers hurt each other a lot by lying, saying harsh things, etc. I actually think the times either have punched each other, the other hardly counts as anything serious. Nit the big fights, but the single- punches. I’m not saying they are right, but growing up fighting monsters, a punch is going to mean less to both of them than not trusting each other or things like that.

Also, in my opinion, I get people’s annoyance at the whole Sam trying to get Dean to talk about things on his time frame isn’t cool. But, it results in Dean knowing he can open up when HE is ready. He always ends up sharing with Sam in th end. But, as the show goes on, Dean shuts doesn’t Sam’s attempts to talk about how he feels. So he stops. Sam is a bit hypocritical in wanting Dean to talk when he wouldn’t, yes, but he’s also learned that after being shut down a few key times. In the late seasons, both are better at sharing with each other, so they get there in the end.

Sorry, if this comes off as combative, but I agree with your initial point that they have both hurt each other in many ways. I think whoever we identify with, we are always going to give more leeway though.

Can’t we all just agree to hate Castiel for blaming Sam for things he hadn’t done, betraying Dean, and generally sucking?

Honestly, I mostly avoid a lot of the brother vs. brother conversations just because it is so hard to address it in a way that will not be taken badly by one side or the other because there are so many biased, rancid takes floating around. People can get very entrenched and defensive, which is kind of a shame. Not just because that's not fun, but people being willing to give their faves more leeway? Can actually lead to all kinds of interesting speculation and meta about the characters' choices that I think often enriches the fandom.

The initial premise of the anon was regarding claims Dean is abusive by people taking Dean's worst behaviors regarding Sam in a vacuum. Since I don't agree Dean was uniquely terrible to Sam specifically because they've both got issues with control and yes, their lives are violent and they've both gotten physical with each other? I wasn't sure how else to address that without pointing out Sam's side of that equation existing. And I did want to use some specific examples to avoid having to come back later and add them in because 'Well, *I* don't remember Sam ever...'

I did see how that could come off as harping on Sam, but I didn't really see a way around it. I could have tried to reiterate more of Dean's various behavior which was not great - but given that was baked into the initial premise and punching people when you're angry is kind of ... obviously bad? If there was a more even-handed way to say what I meant, it was sadly beyond my abilities when composing the post. But my intention was very much just to point out that the context in which Dean's behavior occurs is a relationship that's kinda fucked up sometimes from both sides, not to imply Sam was worse or meaner to Dean than Dean was to Sam.

[heliosrisingheroesimagines]

Would you be willing to do the Venus Signs for the Yellow West too? I loved reading the previous headcanons so much! - from a fellow astrology geek 💖💫

(Me not doing this for the groups with my top 2 fave characters..... for shame

For Junior's I imagined him a little older and little more mature, when he'd be more invested in romance than as a baby like he is in canon rn lmao)

WEST SECTOR VENUS SIGNS

Dino Albani:

Pisces Venus. Dino has always been a highly intuitive person, not to mention emotionally intelligent, so it’s only natural that the connection you felt with him was almost instantaneous. He’s a partner who wants to have fun, finding creative ways to bond and experience life together. You’ll never experience a love more unconditional than the one Dino displayed for you, though his Aries sun makes him rather direct so don’t think he’ll allow you to run from any problems you might have.

Faith Beams:

Aries Venus. Faith is someone who needs that excitement, that thrill, a real challenge since people throw themselves at him with reckless abandon. He wants a person who can keep him on his toes but isn’t annoying about it, still displaying an interest but making it known they won’t let him give them anything less than the world. He naturally takes the lead but it always sparked his interest when you decided to take the reins, trusting you not to lead you both to your demise.

Keith Max:

Scorpio Venus. On the surface, Keith doesn’t seem to fulfill the ‘Scorpio Venus’ stereotype of ‘obsessive’ or pro-active but he’s a person who loves deeply. He wants to know you intimately and that includes knowing the negative parts of you, the ones you’d be embarrassed or horrified for others to see. His vices are on display for all to see, which he hated, but it didn’t quite feel right if he didn’t know what your weaknesses were too. Ultimately, he wanted to know and love the real you, which meant having to dig a little deeper as frustrating as those conversations may be.

Leonard Wright Jr:

Taurus Venus. Ever the hard worker, Junior is motivated to work twice as hard to provide you a life that you deserve. Loyalty was a serious thing to him, and there’s no one else that would catch his eye after he determined you were the one for him. He doesn’t get people who cheat or those who have a partner yet still flirt with others, because he felt no inclination from the moment he set his heart on you. You find that he’s a true romantic, always trying his hardest to set up nice dates for you to be alone together (and he even wrote a song for you once, but he’s too embarrassed to bring that up later in your relationship).

EAST SECTOR VENUS SIGNS

Asch Albright:

Leo Venus. Asch is a man whose lived in luxury his entire life, so it’s only natural he wants to give his partner the same life he had. He will not let you accept anything less than extravagant and he will complain if you try to make him tone it down, wondering if you just don't know what it's like to be loved by someone like him. He liked when you looked good together and would be even happier if you were considered a power couple, thinking the name fit you both perfectly.

Billy Wise:

Gemini Venus. You’re in for a ride with Billy, if you couldn’t tell from what you know of his personality already, but you’ll never have a dull time. He can run hot and cold but not because his feelings for you fluctuate, but because committing wholeheartedly to a person makes him nervous. Giving your heart away is a big deal, and making friends was far different than falling in love, though the pain of losing that might be equal in his mind. You’ll have to earn his friendship first and even then it might take time, but Billy’s constant flirting and allowing you to get closer to him than he’s ever let someone get before.  

Gray Reverse:

Cancer Venus. Gray needs some security and affirmations, even with his confident (very slowly) building up; he needs to know he’s not a burden on you, that his faults aren’t deal-breakers, and that you’ll love him despite the great amount of patience it requires to be with him. He’s naturally thoughtful and intuitive, knowing what you need before you even know, and there’s a part of you that wanted to tease him on what an expert boyfriend he was. He truly loves you unconditionally, to the point it’s almost worship, which can throw others off but you know better than to take advantage of your loving boyfriend.

Jay Kidman:

Sagittarius Venus. It goes without saying that Jay was a difficult man to pin down, something that might be odd for a man who had a wife at one point, but he admitted to being swept up in the adventure of it all when he was young. He tries to take romance a little more seriously now which is why he doesn’t ‘commit’ to long-term arrangements often, a man who fully enjoyed his singleness as he focused on being a hero. He’s someone who needs the space to be who he is but once you show you not only support him but seek out a life and adventure of your own, he’s more than happy to change what could’ve been a temporary connection into something more permanent.

[ctimenefic]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to five other writers! 💗

Aaahh thank you for the tag! Okay I'm going to venture back through the mists of time here so, apologies in advance that some of these are not about the vroom vroom men. But we'll go in reverse order, so you guys can just shut your eyes halfway down when we leave the bilgewater of rpf for the filth of the MCU etc.

First off, don't like a gold rush - it was really close between this and positive negatives, and I do consider them almost sister fics, in that they are both one half of Galex going completely insane. BUT. I have this fear about being only able to write AUs. Is that a weird thing to have a hang up about? Probably. Nevertheless, I do. So writing a fic that is plausibly within the canon of, uh, real life sportspeople, is important to me. (However there is one mistake that was a failure of research which will haunt me til I die yay)

Second, Imperator - yes sorry having said I have a fear of being pigeon-holed as an AU writer, here is a historical AU I enjoyed writing a lot. However, it's a fave for me because it's just one scene, but I feel like I got to tell a whole shared life story within it. Nothing else I've published has been this neat and self-contained without feeling sparse, imo. Also, I strongly advocate for evil George as part of a healthy diet.

Third, Indelible Ink - uh oh, fandom change alert, we're in Daredevil land now. Indelible Ink is the sequel to the most popular (?) fic I've ever written. It is a work of endurance. It took me years to complete, and I finished it during the height of Covid in 2020. I have some incomplete fics on my Ao3 profile that still make me cringe with shame, but finishing this gives me hope that someday, I'll clear those WIPs as well. It's also a break up make up, which is truly one of my favourite tropes, because of the complexity of emotion it entails. This is one I look at and go, oh. A grown up wrote that. I'm a grown up.

Fourth, a question to which the answer is not - the only Merlin fic I still acknowledge don't ask about my ff.net account. Similar to Imperator, I like how neat this is – it's three scenes, a single day, there's a deliberate dramatic structure to echo the fact that they're actors. I don't think it's quite as strongly done as it could be in drawing a whole world, in part because the fanon around Merlin Modern AUs was already so pervasive and also because I at one point planned to write a prequel (lol). But it is a sweet and simple idea that I pulled off, like a well-iced cupcake.

Fifth and finally, My ear should catch your voice - back in the Daredevil fandom, this one became a favourite because of the comments I got. In fact, because of the comments I got from one single person. I hope they don't mind me shouting them out, but warmfuzzydyke, if you're out there – I think about you every single time I think of this fic. A lot of the time, I feel writers talk about what they put into a fic, and I certainly did with this one – it has a lot of my feelings, big and small, about faith and music and grief – but seeing what warmfuzzydyke was able to take away from this, god. It's why I still write.

[winx-trash]

I'm bored and I can't fall asleep so I'm going to do one of those best/worst things that people do. Remember that it's all just my personal taste and if you disagree that's absolutely fine. This is a long post.

The best and the worst out of each transformation

Magic Winx

Honestly this one is good on everyone but my fave will always be Tecna. Her Magic Winx design is so unique and her wings transform into a paper plane when she flies. Top notch.

There isn't a single bad design in here and I can't even say which one I like the least so I'm going to skip it.

2. Enchantix

This one is hard because I love all of Enchantix designs. I'm going to split this one between Aisha and Flora cuz they're dead gorgeous.

The Enchantix I like the least would probably be Tecna's. But considering how good Enchantix is in general it's not that bad.

3. Believix

Tecna slays. Just look at her. Her Believix form is just so cool. A massive upgrade from her Enchantix form. That bob cut just suits her so well...

I hate to say it but I really don't like Musa's Believix form. It's so out there. I know they have this whole thing about superheroes but did she really need to wear underpants on top of her leggings?

4. Harmonix

Musa's Harmonix is easily the best one. It looks good and I love it.

As for the worst... Bloom. I just don't like it.

5. Sirenix

I don't like Sirenix in general but Aisha's Sirenix is pretty good. Aisha doesn't really have bad transformations to begin with.

And the worst is Tecna. It's just bad.

6. Bloomix

Now this is my favorite! Bloomix is like the best transformation we've gotten since Enchantix in terms of looks.

I will split this one between Bloom and Musa because I can't choose. Bloom's Bloomix form is very good. That hair color on her looks fantastic and the outfit itself is so well put together that I wish we could have kept Bloomix for the rest of the series. Musa is another favorite of mine. Shame that this transformation had to be replaced by Butterflix.

Stella's Bloomix doesn't actually look that bad I just think her hairdo ruins the whole look.

7. Mythix

Mythix isn't so bad of a transformation. But it looks really bad in 3D so I'm judging its 2D version.

Bloom's Mythix looks really fun so yeah.

I don't like Flora's Mythix for the same reason I don't like S5 formal dresses. Too many flowers. It looks too busy.

8. Butterflix

Butterflix can go die in a fire yada yada but... Musa pretty... (Stella's Butterflix is very nice too actually)

And the worst out of the worst is... Tecna's! It doesn't look too bad in a vacuum but it signifies the problem I've had with Tecna's character writing past S4. That's not Tecna. Tecna past S4 is just Bloom but tech-savvy. And the way her Butterflix looks is a constant reminder of that.

9. Tynix

I like Musa's Tynix. It's cool. Other than that I don't have much to say about this transformation.

And I hate to do this to my girl Tecna, but I like her Tynix the least.

10. Dreamix

Tecna eats. Plain and simple. That haircut never lies. Also, I love how Tecna's transformations are either the best or the worst on my list.

And I very much dislike Bloom's Dreamix look. Dunno, I just don't like it.

11. Onyrix

About time Stella shows up on my list. From how underwhelming this transformation is Stella's look was a pleasant surprise. Love that blue on her.

And again. Bloom's Onyrix is the worst. Goodness gracious this shade of pink is abhorrent on her.

12. Cosmix

Cosmix is nice. I do like it a lot actually. There isn't a single Cosmix design that I hate. But I do love Stella's Cosmix form.

I don't hate Flora's Cosmix but I like it the least.

I will not cover S8's updated designs for previous transformations. Not a fan of them. I also didn't mention either Lovix or Sofix so I'll just drop my faves.

Congrats if you made it this far!

[territorialufo]

i give in can you tell me about that little iphone binch

YESS YES I CAN TELL YOU ABOUT THE LITTLE IPHONE BINCH !!!!!!!!! this is literally just rambling im so sorry. There's a lot of text blocks in the beginning but the end has more pics and silly stuff 

Also ii spoilers but its hard to talk abt mephone without getting into the recent stuff so whatever 

Under cut cause this got. Really long. whoops

Context/background of II/mephone 

“Inanimate Insanity” (ii) is a web animation originally released in 2011, considered the second “major” object show after BFDI. btw an object show is a genre of web series that features anthropomorphized inanimate objects competing for some kind of prize. I am NOT the right person to ask about object shows cause the only one ive ever been invested in to this extent is ii and theres SOO many other ones out there LMAO. Ok sorry i sounded like a bot for a second there JUST PROVIDING CONTEXT!! Inanimate Insanity’s structure is kind of interesting because it starts out as a silly comedy in s1 and most of s2 before descending into a really drama heavy storyline, with tension caused both by mephone’s past haunting him and conflict between the contestants themselves. Then suddenly s2 goes on a four year hiatus and animationepic (main youtube channel) launches s3 with new characters and artstyle, seemingly completely ditching the plot they had in s2??? IM NOT GONNA GET TOO INTO ALL THAT but it all works out timeline wise so its chill the tone switch was just rly funny at the time 😭😭😭 

ANYWAYYYY mephone. Mephone4. Mister phone. Four. The one and only four. MeFon! MePhone4 (parodying the IPhone4) is the de facto host of the in-universe reality show “Inanimate Insanity”!! As the host, he has speaking lines in nearly every episode which is super awesome and epic for mephone4 enjoyers (me). His initial vibe was inspired by Chris McClean from TDI, and was even voiced by Christian Potenza in the first episode before being switched to Mark Katz, who is the father of the creator of II, Adam Katz, which is also pretty cool i think. Since Mark Katz is a grown ass dude, mephone just has. The same voice for like the entire series SHDHF everyone else’s voices are changing and stuff as the creators got older but mephone just sounds like a middle aged man for all of it 😭I love it tho this isn’t a criticism!!! As the years go by it gets more and more expressive :) s1 is. rough. considering it was made by a bunch of kids, its very much a product of its time lol

Lore/character 

Ok lore time cause the thing w mephone is most of his backstory was kind of just hinted at (or implied with the existence of Apple irl). Like in s1 there was the introduction of mephone4s and 5, but otherwise, not much (as far as I can remember. I watched s1 when i was a kid so its been a while lmao). Then there was s2e8 where the contestants go to headquarters and we meet steve cobs (yes, like steve jobs), who’s his creator and dad?? Again some hints are dropped but nothing concrete about their relationship. And then BOOM. SEASON 2 EPISODE 13. “Mine Your Own Business” was my fave II ep for sooo long (idk what my fave is now tbh) cause THE MEPHONE LORE DROP??????? IT WAS CRAZY and also the ending of the episode with fan’s monologue and the soundtrack “shell of a fan” is my fave in the show ANYWAY ANYWAY so begins the remembering of the Horrors. 

He was “born” in Meeple Headquarters, and PLEASE KNOW THAT HE WAS BORN AN ADULT OH MY GOD there are some clowns who think hes literally 14 years old bc thats how old the iphone4 is USE YOUR BRAIN USE YOUR BRAIN AAAAA right so he basically knows nothing about the world, confined to headquarters until his eventual escape. Cobs and mephone have a pretty interesting dynamic, where cobs has most of the power. The way Cobs praises mephone but later shoots him down is so AUHGHGHGH. It’s an oppressive environment he's living in, only expected to do assigned tasks and shamed for any genuine interests, while having the pressure to impress his creator on his shoulders at the threat of being discarded. Mephone grows to hate and fear cobs, but at the same time, cobs is the only person whos known him since the beginning.

The way literally every problem mephone has can be traced back to his origin/how he was raised is so crazy. Like even before the s2e16 twist, it was extremely prevalent??? There are a bunch of analysis posts that explain it way better than I could but MANNNN for a show that the crew started when they were literally 13, they were able to tie things together pretty well, i think! 

It’s been pretty obvious since s2e13 that hosting Inanimate Insanity is just one big escapist fantasy for mephone, one where he is free to do as he pleases while ignoring all the trauma he sustained in “childhood”. Cause it’s implied he escaped Meeple, deleted his bad memories, and then started s1 right after. I mean, it makes sense, since outside of the cold, mechanical nature of Meeple, the only warmth he got was from his enjoyment of reality tv shows. If s1 is an amnesia mephone, and s2 is a spiraling mephone, then I’d describe s3 as “escapism but worse” mephone. It doesn’t ever get as gloomy as s2, but s3 has steady background reminders of “hey guys remember mephone is running away from all his problems right now!!” until it all comes to head in the finale. Some ppl dislike how mephone-centric the show’s gotten, but honestly idgaf more for me

I do want to say that he is very flawed, though. Esp near the beginning, he is really fucking rude and does not respect his contestants at all and frequently belittles them and puts them in mortal danger. he tends to view them and everything that happens to them through the lens of “its just part of the show!!!!”. He tends to brush off everyone’s problems, no matter how serious, even when he’s the one that caused them.

His reality show host personality is all a very big facade to cover up how he feels about the past (thus further submerging him in the fantasy of Inanimate Insanity). Like previous users have mentioned, this is likely due to the fact that he had no one to learn HOW to be empathetic/kind from besides reality television (which is known to be exaggerated for drama) and cobs (who is his abuser) But I famously do enjoy characters who are kind of dickheads, the confidence being a mask is like a tasty bonus to me.

The dichotomy between his arrogant host exterior and paranoid/anxious interior is really interesting and fun to watch. Compared to his relatively sweet/naive beginning personality, it’s wild to see just how much he’s changed since then because of everything that’s happened.  His relationships with the rest of the characters is also interesting, cause despite being their host, he isn’t very close with a lot of them. Other than maybe Bot, who I believe he feels kinship with since they're both robots who freed themselves from the expectations of others. Same with Mepad, since they’re both from Meeple. 

He’s a robot, but in an emotional/psychological sense, is basically a normal person/object (person is synonymous with object in this case). He feels like a person despite being an AI. which makes cobs a lot worse imo, he mistreats all his creations, but at least the other newer mephones are barely “feeling” at all, unlike 4.

Basically, 

Cobs: i have engineered a machine that is functionally a person

Everyone: you fucked up a perfectly good phone is what you did. Look at him. He’s got ptsd. 

Not to get too into ii16/17, but they basically recontextualized the entire series and made what we initially thought about mephone’s escapist tendencies and origins a million times worse. Bro was so tormented he subconsciously made his OCs come to life 😭😭😭all while projecting all his issues onto them??? Psychologically sound individual activities. Additionally, the way he was created is also. Terrible. Cobs basically invaded an alien planet, kidnapped an alien kid, and then presumably used its energy to create mephone4. Outer space colonization? In MY object show? yes!

Ok now im just gonna talk about random stuff i like about him  

His powers are so cool.,.,,. Esp as a foil to cobs/mephonex, who could represent destruction, he represents creation with his generation ability. Also something abt using his powers for non violent reasons when his creation was built upon violence uhh idk. And I think the screen turning green and the sound effect is very satisfying dlsjkfg. Oh and the fact that he canonically had to practice to get better at it? In the flashbacks he’s shown having trouble generating even a simple tree, and now he can make pretty much anything with minimal effort. 

Also MeLife, which allows him to bring contestants back from the dead, is an ability unique to him, which is super cool!!

He can create portals as well and this is never explained. He can just suddenly do it KDLJFGH this kind of renders Mepad’s teleportation ability useless but it's still fun. 

I like when he uses his face as an actual screen :)

Something something robot related stuff

He is not waterproof and will malfunction or even die when wet

His speaking function can be disabled by other people

Glitches while talking sometimes!! Delightful 

Something that gets overlooked often I think is the s1 finale, where mephone4S (mephone4's brother) basically killed himself to save mephone4 by downgrading his own OS. Technically, mephone isn’t even in his original body anymore, he’s inhabiting his brother’s. Fun!

this is unrelated but he got shot in the face with a gun once. there havent been any guns since unfortunately

Get yoinked idiot 

In conclusion, 

I heart him and im sad ii is gonna be ending soon thx for reading

[thearvariblues]

Oh, hey, look, it's another Biu-scandal post.

I've been considering and getting ready to write it for a few days now, but so far my words are kinda refusing to word. I decided I would still try, though, because I feel like I need to formulate the thoughts that have been running through my head for the past week.

Just as the last time, if my opinions make you uncomfortable, please feel free to block me and send me hateful anons, it's always a delight! ���

First things first - yes, I still support Build. Yes, even a week later. No, I have not changed my mind. No, I'm not planning to. No matter his misdemeanors.

So you are IGNORING–

No. I'm not. I am aware of the fact that the things he allegedly said are what we consider shitty, but that doesn't change my opinion of him. At all.

Well I hope you have a REALLY GOOD REASON–

Yes, I have several, thank you for asking!

Reason one - I simply don't require my faves to be morally superior and clean as a freshly fallen snow. He is human. Humans make mistakes. Humans get frustrated and say stupid shit about their friends to another friends, humans talk shit about their job, humans make stupid jokes, humans are simply human. I don't mind finding out that a man I admire has made mistakes because.... I just don't. Sue me. (Please don't. As opposed to Ms. Ombre Pink, I do not have money to pay.)

Reason two - I refuse to judge the level of his shittiness, his homophobia and everything else he's being accused of based on a few out-of-context texts translated by antis who don't even try to make it a secret that they will not stop their bullshit until he either leaves public life, or (preferably) dies by his own hand. Listen, kids, I'm a translator myself, and trust me, I can completely change the meaning of a sentence while technically staying true to it in its bare essence. I can take a vaguely bitchy statement and make you into a monster without breaking a sweat. So excuse me if I don't trust people who are actively trying to destroy him to deliver the most truthful and accurate translations.

Reason three - I won't do anyone's dirty work for them. I have a brain. And I even use it from time to time. (Yayyyyy!) And it just seems... kinda weird that the very moment when Build gets back on his feet, mysterious twitter accounts start popping up and throwing accusations at him until they find something that sticks. They started with private photos, because apparently getting evidence of his relationship with Ombre Pink can turn the fans against him! (Spoiler alert - it did not.) Then they followed up with accusations of him throwing away the remnants of money bouquets - from a year ago, which raises its own questions about for how long has this mysterious person been planning on taking him down. (I'm saying mysterious person, as if we don't know her name starts with P and ends with I, with only one letter in between.) Anyway, this didn't work either, because apparently the fans are okay with him not keeping the wrapping of the gifts they give him. Who would have guessed! Well, the first attempts didn't work, so now we have a new scandal, using the big guns in the form of Bible and Apo's names! That's sure gonna work! And it does. But not on me. Like I said. Sometimes I tend to use my brain. What a shame.

Reason four (but maybe more of a reason 3B) - no matter who is exposing his "crimes", it's very clear to me that this person isn't doing it for our benefit. They don't want to expose Biu as a despicable monster because they don't want the fans to live in a lie or whatever. They are doing it with a very clear and open goal to destroy Build Jakapan. And I will not support that.

Reason five - presumably, all those alleged texts (don't forget that Ombre Pink has forged text conversations before) are from before the breakup, and also presumably from before the famous Phuket trip (and in case you don't know, in the leaked phone call from January, she accuses him of changing after that trip). Now, have you ever met a person who made you change your behavior without even realizing it? I have. Seriously, I know that spending too much time with certain friends makes me a worse person than I usually am. Hell, my mother is a terribly hateful person, and I always have to be careful around her because let me tell you, that hate spreads like a goddamn forest fire. What does this have to do with Build? Oh, nothing. Just a fact that Poi is clearly an extremely hateful, homophobic bitch who hates... you've guessed it, Bible and Apo. Let it sit for a moment.

Reason six - you know what, I think that's been enough reasons, I'm tired of that shit.

My point is this. In the essence, this whole thing is and should have stayed a private matter. It was an ugly, messy breakup after a shitty, clearly abusive relationship.

Listen, it's not coincidence that so many people who have had to deal with a narcissist abuser in their lives took a single look at Poi's behavior (no matter if it was back in January or later on) and went "wait... I know this shit". When you've been through it, you know. Trust me. You know. And it makes you sick in your stomach.

This is, and always has been, a private battle between a man and a woman.

On one side, we have Build, who might have made mistakes, but none of his mistakes are worth being cancelled for. Ever since this whole thing started back in January, he's been staying calm and collected, and he didn't talk shit about his crazy ex even when it could have helped him. Has he leaked their private call and some texts? Yes, but clearly only to clear his name. If you want to hate him for what he's "done", fine. Don't engage with his content. But let us morally fallen monsters enjoy it and support him in peace.

Because remember that on the other side, we have a woman who is openly homophobic (and if you don't see her "he cheated on me, oh god, do I have to get tested for AIDS?!" comment as homophobic, then I really have no words), has been proven to lie and forge evidence on multiple occasions (and had to confess to it) and has used twitter to spill secrets about her ex under the guise of "writing a story" (including, possibly, outing him as bisexual, since her "definitely not inspired by Build" character was bi) and scream at and blackmail him. We also know that as Daemi, she and Yok were being shit to multiple KinnPorsche actors, and they forced Barcode, a minor, to give them massages, claiming that's just a standard in the industry (and then proceeded to make fun of it to a point when Jeff fucking Satur felt the need to step up and say in a livestream that no, it's not a standard, you don't have to do those things, Barcode, you know).

Look. I'm not saying that because she's worse, it makes him an angel. It does not. Like I said, if you hate Build, feel free to, but don't hate on people who still choose to support him. Ignore him, and ignore us. Trust me, we don't want to argue with you all the fucking time.

I'm just begging you to think before you start spreading hate on Biu on the social media. Think who you're serving. Thing whose dirty work you're doing.

And then ask yourself if you are really the morally pure angels if you wish death upon one man and all his supporters because of a few stupid texts.

That's all. Thank you for your attention.

And if you still support Build, remember that I love you all, and you're not alone. 💙

[broomsticks]

help needed??? i've been in fandom for 5 years and i still haven't proper *proper* read a femslash fic???? i'm not counting side relationships and established relationships. shame on me, i know, but i'm here requesting for a guide because i thought i could start anywhere, and then realised i didn't know what i wanted - or who i wanted to watch fall in love. which is.... sort of absurd, like i'm a multishipper, and i have female faves too. anyway! would you be so kind as to rec your fav recs, fics, or metas, or fav ships so i could jump aboard one?

many thanks in advance 🤗

ykw i actually think i get what you mean anon. especially in HP fandom, where so many of the main characters are male and so many of the important relationships are het or between two male characters, you do have to make a special effort, go out of your way almost, to consider female characters. and then in that light femslash seems almost - contrived? forced? and not only is that not fun for a lot of people, there’s also the side of ‘am i just rehashing amatonormativity again???!’ you just can’t win, etc

all of which is to say, if you (more so anyone else reading this) don’t feel particularly drawn to femslash, especially in the HP fandom, that’s okay! maybe think about trying out more original media that centers female characters and relationships between them—i’ve recently loved both a league of their own (1940s american girls professional baseball league! so much canon wlw) and house of the dragon (dyke drama with dragons! canon is only het though) for this—but, meh, your fannish brain wants what it wants. ❤️

THAT was a really long way of saying: that’s why i think probably the first fic that really unlocked my femslash brain was this 200k longfic by @hawksquill, Luna Lovegood and the Forgotten Circle. it’s tagged luna/ginny but is really more of a luna centric AU, set parallel to the canon timeline. several canon events happen ‘in the background,’ like the chamber being opened in COS and sirius escaping pre POA, but luna is the main character, with a prophecy centered around her, and the story basically completely diverges from canon by the mid Hogwarts years. the main cast is almost all female characters: luna, her mother, ginny, mrs figg, mcgonagall, gwenog jones - everyone from bellatrix to lavender! really opened my eyes to the potential stories that could be told with the little scraps and tidbits of characterization given to these female characters.

have a little excerpt from chapter 17 that i still think about way too often:

“If you could have magic, like with a snap of your fingers, would you do it?” “You know, I’ve wondered about that for a long time. There will always be a part of me, a large part, that thinks I should say yes in an instant. But there are a lot of scammers trying to prey on us Squibs, and we have to be careful. And we ought to remember that fairy tales teach us to be careful what we wish for, particularly when we are offered something that seems too good to be true,” Mrs. Figg reflected as she added the valerian root and passed some to Luna. “So I suppose that if I were to get magic after all this time, I should want to work for it, so I could truly appreciate it, and be sure it was real. Which is why I keep pottering on at the Circle, and why you all think I’m such a fool.” “I don’t think you’re a fool,” Luna said quickly, but the lie tasted bitter on her tongue, and she was sure Mrs. Figg could sense it too.

-

(theres like a million and one things under the read more)

-

a couple of shorter femslash recs that hew slightly closer to canon: 

Two Quaffles Pub by @thistlecatfics: postwar, cho and ginny meet at a bar and get to talking about what they have in common. harry. quidditch. michael corner. definitely not war trauma and definitely not unhealthy coping mechanisms!

tags: sometimes you get drunk and trauma dump on your ex's ex at the gay bar, and then make out in the bathroom. messy trauma recovery, Getting Together, not the healthiest of relationships but c'est la vie

“The war impacted me too. Just because I don’t spill my war stories to random girls in bars, doesn’t mean I don’t also have my shit.”  “Tell me, then,” Ginny dared. She leaned across the table, staring at Cho. “I told you about Tom, the man in my body when I was eleven. What have you got?”  Cho knew she shouldn't let this hot woman - no - hot mess of a woman bait her. Not when she was already feeling the alcohol. Not on a date. Well, this wasn’t a date, whatever she had implied earlier. She was not on a date with Harry’s Quidditch star ex who, apparently, had more trauma than anyone knew and a bit of a drinking problem to match.

hermione/ginny: it’s practically canon. they share so much gossip, they share a tent in GOF. here's a sweet untitled vignette series, Ginny is all warmth and strength and movement.

i’m not normally overly one for friends-to-lovers, but i really enjoyed these postwar parvender + werewolf lavender brown fics. again more established relationship than falling in love, but it’s not implausible to imagine given canon basis and there’s plenty more relationship development story to tell! 

beautiful enough for the both of us by dirgewithoutmusic

like the careful undressing of love by comosum

Where Roses Bloom by monetstcroix

-

some marauders era: first thing that came to mind was alice/narcissa, actually! pre first war canon compliant is a fun space to play around in, because it’s circumscribed to an extent — you know you’re writing a doomed angsty romance, you know you’re reading a doomed angsty romance, you know where this story is headed but until then, until then, there is room to put your own stamp on things, your own interpretation of “how it might have gone”

Alice, Look at Me by Rollercoasterwords is probably the definitive marauderstok fic for the ship;

Devil's Snare by endocrine was written in 2015 and has several similar story beats/HCs!

Flying Lessons by Phantomato is a postwar andromeda/rolanda hooch i raved about recently that does a great job of pulling from canon and delving into some aspects of postwar trauma not often explored.

some other i never really thought about these!! ships i’m personally very fond of/ very intrigued by: 

myrtle x mcgonagall: their student years at hogwarts overlapped! katie x cho, they were yearmates and both quidditch girls!  

the (cho/)fleur/angelina/tonks “older than golden trio” girls. cho/fleur (delachang) and flonks are the biggest ships (and i have a couple more flonks recs later), but any of these dynamics would be fascinating, imo.

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there is a limited amount of room to play around if you aren’t open to softening the lightning gen slytherins (in the way a lot of drarry fandom does, queer lightning gen cuddle puddle) (which i do get, i personally have to be in a specific mood for it) - but if you are, there’s a ton more fic! on the longer end too, because the character journeys are typically longer.

i say that and here's a <3k sporty feels cho/pansy, HOT AS FUCK 

absolutely impeccable pansy/ginny double drabble by @nanneramma

delightful post war luna/pansy day at the beach 

if the slytherin x gryffindor dynamic does grab you and you’re okay with that level of ‘canon what canon?’ - there are a number of longer ginny/pansy, pansy/hermione, millicent/hermione, etc. that are as well crafted, plotted, worldbuilt, etc, as any drarry fic of that length - i’m particularly thinking of the largely 25-50k range written for WLWBB! 

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some of hp femslash’s best kept secrets, imo: the incredible inventiveness of some of the rarepair fic - particularly those written around maybe the early-mid 2010s, though there are some in every year. examples: 

Independent Love Song by Writcraft: Millicent Bulstrode is a tailor and Ginny is losing her mind over a woman in a tweed blazer and burgundy brogues.

A swagger, a twinkle, and a fine arse on a broom by Woldy: Tonks lets her eyes linger on Hooch's spiky grey hair, her shining leather boots, and thinks If that woman's straight, then I'm a monkey's uncle.

Stylemagic by Woldy (luna/tonks): Who would have thought that Charing Cross Road was style central?

City Life by holyfant (tonks/ginny): They travel, find each other and themselves.

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& since you mentioned meta, i have to shout out holyfant's essay for @femslashrevolution: Towards A Darker Femslash

I wanted to continue to write smaller pairings and explore female characters, too. And I did, but the point remains that when I look at my story stats now, it’s clear that my f/f stories are shorter in word count and are less varied in their plot and execution than my m/m stories. All this to show that I am 100% part of what I am about to describe: not a problem, per se, but an observation that I think is useful to be aware of and think about. The fact is that femslash, across fandoms, remains a niche category, and that while there are great amounts of people who read and write almost exclusively m/m this is barely ever the case for f/f.

i also really liked this other one On the personal as normal; on the normal as political:

I think one thing that stands out, from a majority of my interactions on this issue through the years, is the perception that the act of writing relationships among women is inherently political, in a way that the act of writing about relationships among men is not. The $64,000 question: do I agree with this? Are electrons particles, or waves?

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going to close this off with one of my self indulgently favorite femslash, both ship and writer: i am in love with the way montparnasse writes second war fleur/tonks and how reminiscent it is of first war wolfstar, the tension of attraction set against the tension of the war. vibe quote included, because either you like her style or it’s not your taste - but if you do, there’s nothing quite like it!!

Six Penny, Seven Stone: Timing is everything. Tonks's was always just a little bit off-kilter.

Fleur accompanied her to exclusive pureblood parties that summer, posing as a personal assistant or dear live-in friend to Tonks’s erectile dysfunction potion heiress while they listened to one of the Yaxleys moan about the dilution of sanctified old blood and got handsy over hors d’oeuvres. Still Fleur seemed disappointingly unaffected by her spectacular breasts in a vicious push-up bra or the Dietrich-esque raised eyebrow/lit cigarette combo: she made advances and spurned Tonks’s and eventually after reporting to the Powers That Be after nights out ruffling robes in enemy territory they ended up at a neon-sleazy diner or got takeout and ate it at one of their flats—Tonks in Southwark, Fleur in Camden—until they fell asleep at opposite ends of the couch after sharing a joint or chamomile tea and watching X-Files and EastEnders reruns. In theory, they kept to their own sides as well as they could, but in practice, their limbs did often wander.

Obscure Topography: Sometimes, Tonks realizes, coming at each other from awkward angles makes you stick, elbows and all.

Sometimes, when she’s either very drunk or feeling particularly soppy, she feels like she can slow time itself down to a sluggish, tipsy trickle, where nothing else matters but her own beating heart and the turn of the world, or—here, now—Fleur’s skin and hips beneath her skin and hips, moving to a rhythm of their own, no time like what your body keeps in its hollows and curves. The brush of a thigh takes hours; the glide of fingers riding over ribs, and she loses track of the day. War and worry and shattered nerves are nothing next to this, meaningless without the strange, humorous patchwork of two hearts beating out of tune, where the radius of the whole world condenses down to the bed and they’re the only women alive in London for a while.

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OKAY NO VERY LAST ONE

@consistentsquash's: