#anyone would be discouraged trying to read from that by themselves

[britneyshakespeare]

might fuck around and buy my friend a copy of the riverside shakespeare (1973) for his birthday

side note it astonishes me that ppl are selling this book for between $50 to $100 secondhand in some places. you can get it for under 10 bucks at so many online retailers. it's a fifty-year-old tome that was commonly used as a college textbook, there are so many fuckin copies still floating around out there and most of them on the market are in the acceptable-to-good category of condition. how could one you have be worth much more than that? is yours in extra special superb condition? what?

do ppl just think everything vintage is valuable... bc oftentimes it just isn't

#idk #tales from diana #i just figure as a book my copy has meant a lot to me #like it is no exaggeration at all for me to say the riverside shakespeare changed my life #changed my reading habits changed my relationship to art #despite being such an unwieldy inconveniently gigantic and uncomfortable physical object to read from #i still have read uhhhh like 17 plays in there and a number of the poems. #not to mention all the supplementary materials like introductions and historical essays #if 5 years ago my grandmother didn't let me take home my aunt's old college textbook i cant imagine my life now i genuinely cant #i already did read shakespeare at that time but i had read so few. i didnt know how to continue. whether to keep buying copies #going to libraries etc #i never wouldve bought myself the complete works at that age i had no money #if i HAD bought myself smth i mightve gone for that b&n coffeetable book w no fucking supplementary material at all #that thing is a waste of paper btw ive probably said that before #that thing was not made to actually read shakespeare from but it's made to look like a good deal for beginners #FUCK THAT THING i mean i suppose it's not crazy expensive but it's not HELPFUL #anyone would be discouraged trying to read from that by themselves #anyway this friend also already does like shakespeare and stuff we talk about it sometimes. he took a class at one point in college #but i dont think he owns the complete works. i texted his gf asking him if he still has his textbook from that class #i dont think he does bc i know him to have rented textbooks most of the time buuuuut #just checking #im excited teehee #itd be a nice personal gift. i love mine not just for the wealth of interest it's brought me but the personal attachment to my copy #id like to have that kind of bond through an object w someone else. #plus it's just a nice thing to have around the house #it sat in my grandmother's house as a pretty untouched object for more than 40 years #it sparks curiosity. it's wonderful. it's a great reference. it holds the complete works of shakespeare! #yeah im excited about this

[funky-little-archivist]

Okay besties listen to me right now. Here’s how steddyhands can still win (real and true)

Stede and Ed clearly love each other very much, but they just can’t seem to stop fighting. They can’t seem to get on quite the same page, and this is a problem they’ve had from the start. They both want different things at the end of the day, and they just haven’t been able to reconcile that issue. Ed wants to explore non pirate life, which he’s never really had a chance to do, while Stede wants to explore pirate life for the exact same reason. I can’t really point at either of them and say that either of these things are wrong or they’re being intentionally malicious with each other. I also can’t point at the writers and complain about them stringing us along when all we want is for gentlebeard to be happy because this feels like very natural progression for both of them. As I said, they’ve been heading in this direction from the very start of the show.

So you know what I think they need? A stabilizing force. An anchor. A mediator. These are two whim-proned people who need someone to keep them grounded. And who’s sitting right there waiting for the chance to do exactly that? Izzy.

All season, apart from the parts where he was mourning blackbeard and the loss of his leg, izzy has been doing pretty much exactly that for both of them. Yes last season izzy was pretty much nothing but toxic for Ed, encouraging the worst parts of him. But he’s since come to regret that and was actively the one that stopped his downwards spiral. And he’s been coaching Stede, getting to know him better and teaching him how to pirate properly. This season izzy has really been encouraging both of them towards the goals they had at the start of season 1, in a way, making them the versions of themselves they want to be. But it does seem like he doesn’t intend for Stede to go off the deep end like Ed did either, as izzy discouraged him getting into the bar fight and kept trying to make him back down. I don’t think season 1 izzy would have ever done that for Ed. He’d have wanted blackbeard to defend his reputation. I think izzy wants them to be better, and as he said he actively approves of and encourages Stede and Ed’s relationship. He knows that they’re good for each other, and he doesn’t necessarily want to see them break up. But he also wants them to be the best versions of themselves.

And I’m honestly starting to think that’s what they need. As I said, they need a calming force, because both of them are very active passionate energies in their own way. But here’s the thing, I could be crazy but I’m actually starting to suspect maybe there’s a chance the show is going in this direction as well? I mean I could be reading too much into it, and listen I’ll be the last to put faith into this kind of theorizing again. But listen

How could it possibly not have been intentional to have izzy serenade Ed and stede’s first time together? It could have been literally anyone. It could have been frenchie, we’ve seen him sing before. But no, it was izzy, he got glammed up, showing his immense emotional growth and maturity compared to the first season, and had him practically sing his blessings for their relationship. And yes, maybe that’s all it was meant to symbolize, that izzy approves now and has moved on. Except he so clearly hasn’t moved on (we all saw that heart eyes stare he gave Ed in man on fire) and for me it’s the fact that he actually played an active part in their scene together, at least for the audience. He set the mood guys. In a sort of metatextual way, izzy was part of Ed and stede’s love scene.

And then there’s the fact that the show has been exploring non traditional non monogamist relationships for the entire season. I mean, already in season 1 we had Lucius telling izzy that they don’t get jealous when izzy tried to use that against him, but now we have olu and Jim actively celebrating each other’s relationships with other people despite still sort of being in some kind on non platonic relationship (shown by olu calling Jim babe during the safe space stand still scene). Olu, Jim and Archie sort of formed a straight up throuple? And then olu and zheng almost invited Jim and Archie to? Share a room with them?? Maybe? Whatever the case, it’s all fluid. And that’s okay! This type of relationship fluidity has been so normalized on the show, I don’t really see a reason for them to get precious about Stede and Ed being the only exclusive couple. At it makes sense, sexual fluidity has always been an integral part of the queer community and it’s so refreshing to see it represented here realistically. (Not to say that monogamy isn’t also accepted and valid in queer spaces but many shows have and will continue to represent that. It’s nice to see a representation of the less traditional, less “sanitized” side of queerness.) (edit: AND LET’S NOT FORGET SPANISH JACKIE! hell she was doing it before anyone else)

And hey as a bisexual myself I understand not everyone will like this allusion but I did see someone say that izzy is quite literally Ed and stede’s unicorn lmao. So. there’s that.

And not that this would be a perfect solution to all their problems either. I don’t want izzy to just continue to play custodian to Ed’s problems and add stede’s to that as well, not to mention that izzy and Ed have SO much work to do to fix their mess of a relationship. But I just think maybe all three of them can help balance each other out, mediate each side of the triangle. The dynamic would just be so satisfyingly perfect, and hey, a stool can’t hold up anything with just two legs, but with three it is stable.

Anyway, basically I’m starting to see it guys and maybe I’m crazy but maybe there’s actually a chance here. Again, I’m by no means saying this is 100% going to happen, and most likely I’m seeing things they didn’t intend. But from interviews from David jenkins and the cast, to subtext in the show, I think maybe there’s a non zero chance. Either way, I cannot wait to see what this show has in store for us in the last three episodes.

#ofmd #our flag means death #gentlebeard #blackbonnet #steddyhands #Stede bonnet #Edward teach #izzy hands #ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2 #stizzy #blackhands #ofmd meta

[spearxwind]

Oof I'm kinda scared to ask... Why do you not want to be an artist professionally?

Its just like, incredibly miserable in my experience.

Everyone wants their dream job of being paid to draw whatever the hell they want but 99% of the time you are hired and tasked to draw things that you don't have a lot of interest in, professionally speaking, and constantly getting your artistic efforts undermined by the rest of the team (this is esp. true in the videogame industry) artists always try to push for better designs and get their takes watered down for the sake of general public pleasing. Also you don't have a security blanket unless you're under long term contract. Most freelancers live gig to gig with the fear of not being able to support themselves if they don't take a job to take a break. Videogame and movie jobs arent stable because companies never keep the art teams, they are laid off and rehired whenever there is a new project

During my major, I drew nonstop for 4 years for class. Not always things I enjoyed, but also not always things I didnt like. In fact I enjoyed my major immensely! It was so fun. But the burnout is very, very real, and the workload was similar (even inferior to) regular art jobs. What happens if you like to draw in your off time? You spend your days making and pumping out art nonstop for hours, and then on your free time breaks you draw some more? I personally couldn't do it. I just wanted to do other things

And like.... I spent the first three years being told by teachers (people with stable, contract based jobs) how cool of a job it is to do art, and then the last year getting grilled on how insanely hard it is to make it out there. If you don't have connections, money, an audience, a studio, it's actually impossible. You need to be your own lawyer, abide by the very strict self employment rules that take a severe chunk out of your earnings. Do all of your finance/schedule/marketing etc while on top of that constantly producing work (I know there's people who can do it but, personally, I cannot) I really admire the people who were able to build themselves up as artists from the ground like this (because its definitely possible, just insanely hard)

Also, making something you love into your job ends up being miserable too. I experienced this with patreon, which I posted to as like a chill thing and it just got increasingly hard to make content for it or just post in general, even drawing my own ocs and sharing stuff about them started to feel like a chore.

Maybe it's just me though, this has just been my personal experience but yeah in general I realized I am immensely happier just keeping art as a hobby or its gonna suck my soul out (Since I already experienced it)

I don't mean to discourage anyone, I think the world in general needs more artists. But for that we would need to actually be taken seriously and valued, which sadly we are not, at all. And if there's anyone reading that is considering art as a job: it is absolutely grueling. It's not an easy job. Even if you desperately love art it can suck the life out of you and the joy for what you do

(As an extra sidenote. Artists are usually exploited using this mentality as well. That they are supposed to love their job. So they expect you to work your wrists off "For the passion". Dont fall victim to it)

#ask #anon #genuinely i just wanna share my stories and content. see others stories in turn and make friends about it #the desperate need to monetize everything that makes you happy is such an insidious mentality. #people need to learn that you can have hobbies without needing to monetize them. your joy has inherent value and you dont need to sell it #like... i need people to stop being like 'oh you are so good at art/crochet/writing you should sell things : )' it fucking sucks #there is a lot of nuance to the topic of course but im talking like. in general #doing art out of ones heart is always good but having to pump out content under the crushing wheel of capitalism and need to survive is not #this is about my experience with drawn art but this goes for any other artistic discipline #music... writing... etc. we are all in the same boat #sorry for the long winded answer and tags i am just so passionate about this #and especially as someone whos skill wasnt taken seriously until i started making money from it........ fuck that so fucking much #you are allowed to create. in fact you should create. without feeling the need to put a price on it #not everything needs a price tag to be valuable. #especially not your joy.

[hattersarts]

if i may ask, how do you feel about people referencing your art and studying your style when trying to teach themselves how to draw?

hi sorry i never responded to this! i read it while i was busy and had some time to mull it over.

while im very flattered ppl would use my art as a study i think i would discourage it not bc of anything to do with copying any artists style or "stealing" in some way but because my art has a lot of mistakes!! studying my art is already distorting the subject matter by a factor of one and if this is a "how to draw" stage, there are far better ways to spend your time studying (still life, life drawing etc things that are directly from subject matters) than my own work

even as a second step away from subject matters i would use masters studies not my own work, and while this obviously depends on what you feel you goals of your work are (realism, draughtsmanship, cartooning etc) studying a broad range of styles and artists will give you way more knowledge than if you stick to JUST what artists who do the work you want to emulate or get close to do.

so that is to say, while im perfectly happy with ppl using or studying my art (very flattered actually!!) i don't think its actually a great tool in the learning how to draw stage, more when you've got grasps of fundamentals and can more easily pick out why i might make certain decisions rather then simply copying them or how i do a particular technique (like capturing likeness, or colours)

baiscally if anyone comes out with bad anatomy from studying my work its not my fault!!!!!!! this is my disclaimer!!!!

i was gonna include mannerism (the long baby jesus artists) in this answer because in my head for some reason i have them as an example of studying from previous paintings vs real life (as a counter movement to the renaissance) but i literally cant find a citation for this so idk where i got that idea.

#ask #justinesmic

[crazilust]

Astro notes (2) 

Hello every one, I hope every single one of y'all is doing okay. Just some random notes I've had for a while. Please disregard anything that doesn't apply to you.

Leo and Virgo mixed in a chart can be so fucking intense. If you add Scorpio to the mix, you can get someone that not only refuses to see their own flaws, but also pretty vindictive. (underdeveloped ones, ofc)

On the bright side, Leos are one the best hype man/woman ever. If you ever get to be their best friend or partner, you will always feel special next to them. They're ruled by the sun, baby!

One thing I freaking LOVE about Scorpio placements is how shameless they are about their feelings (except maybe scorpio moon, lmao y'all are struggling :') ). In a culture where being nonchalant is the norm and the "cool" thing to do, I love how y'all refuse to adhere to it.

While I don't agree with the whole "female ____ are better than male _____" or vice versa, I still think there's a difference between signs but it's not necessarily based on gender, but more on how you were raised. Let's take Aries for example. If you were raised in a society where being a man meant that violence was okay to perform, being ultra competitive was encouraged, you might become a pretty toxic Aries (because those natural traits of yours are being amplified and not discouraged). As opposed to an Aries who's born a female, and have been told that it's ugly to get angry, they should never be competitive, they might be a pretty mellow Aries. Bottom line : No, [enter a zodiac sign] men as a whole are not inherently toxic, they're just chained to the patriarchy.

Pisces mercury are the most vague people ever as their mercury are in detriment in Pisces. BUT! Man, if you let them express themselves through art, their sensibility and imagination really shine through. Let your pisces mercury friend express themselves how they want, man. They can feel you getting annoyed lmao.

Geminis are underrated in my opinion, when it comes to being geniuses or pioneers. I feel like we always comment on earth signs' intelligence or Aquariuses for the pioneer thing, but we always overlook Geminis!! Let me list a few : Marilyn Monroe, the icon. Laverne Cox, the first transgender to appear on Cosmo, Time, to have a wax figure at Madame Tussaud's museum, Prince, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West. Man, the list goes on!! Emma Chamberlain (the most popular influencer of our time). F*ck, I could really go on and ooooooon. I will, as a matter of fact. Not on this post though, this one.

I envy Libra's ability to understand what people want from them and execute it perfectly (Kim Kardashian, anyone?). How do you do that?

If you ever have a problem that seems like there's no solution, get yourself an Aquarius and ask them what they would do. The best advices I ever gotten was from an Aquarius (Capricorns, too).

I got into astrology when I was 17, so my 6th profection year, which is the Virgo house. I forgot about it, then got back into it when I was 23, which is the 12th house profection year (or Pisces house). Thought that was interesting. I've always loved the weird relation between these two sister signs. For someone who's not into astrology at all, they always see these two signs as being soooo different. But I don't really think so.

My favorite coworkers are Sagittarius. They can get pretty intense and bossy sometimes, but always so funny. I don't like working with Virgos and Scorpios, though. Love them as friends, lmao.

-----------------------------

This is it! You're done! Thank you for reading till the very end. I'm gonna try being a little bit more consistent on here, cause it really feels like my little comfort zone, away from the toxic social medias that eat at my soul. I really wanna try this sandwich place near where I'm at right now. I've been thinking about it while I was writing this. I'll tell you how it was on the next post.

dolly 💜,

x.

#astrology #astro community #astrology observations #astroblr #astrology notes #astro notes #birth chart #astro observations #virgo venus #scorpio #sagittaire #sagittarius #taurus #pisces mercury #pisces #capricorn #aquarius #celebrity observations #anextremesweetheart

[grilledcheeseandguavajelly]

I have been seeing a lot of discourse on certain tags lately about fanfiction and writing fics that are “out of character”. And I don’t like conflict, so I was keeping my nose out. But now I’ve seen some things that I just can’t let go, and as the self-proclaimed fandom mom, I feel like I need to step in and state this loud and clear—

Fandom is for you.

The whole point of fanfic and fanart and cosplay and anything fan related is for you, the fan, to take a work that has already been created and have fun with it. Make it your own. Dive in and explore and do what you will. Fandom is meant to be a creative outlet where you can share ideas and art with other people who have the same interests as you.

THAT BEING SAID: it is never. And I repeat, NEVER okay to gatekeep fandom. And yeah, I fucking hate the word gatekeep. But it’s the only way to describe what I’m seeing happening. And so I’m going to use it again—

It is never okay to gatekeep fandom. It is never okay to gatekeep characters. And to throw negativity at anyone’s work, let alone come straight out and tell them that they’re wrong for shaping a character a certain way— I’m sorry, but where do you get off? I am completely understanding of wanting characters to stay true to the source material. I am completely understanding of having your own opinions about/expectations for a character and wanting them to behave a certain way. But YOU, my dear friend (or rather, we), are not the creator of those characters. Which means that we have no right to tell someone else what they can or cannot do with them.

The whole point of fandom is to let your imagination run wild. And if that means that a typically good character leans more evil in a fic, fine. If they make decisions you don’t agree with, great. If they do things that directly contradict what would have happened in the source material, even better!!

LET. PEOPLE. CREATE.

Let them throw characters into crazy situations and analyze how they react. Let them stretch them out like putty and poke at all of the soft bits inside. Let them shape them into something completely other just to see what happens. Let them be curious. Let them explore. Let them have fun.

Fandom should be fun.

And the second one person starts dictating what is right or wrong for a character or a ship, that’s the second it stops being fun. And that’s when fandoms die.

Don’t gatekeep something that doesn’t belong to you. Because again— It doesn’t belong to you.

You are allowed to have your own opinions. You are allowed to have your own expectations for characters. But who do you think you are, to flat out tell someone (or a group of people) that the way they write someone is wrong? That the way they have imagined something is wrong? That their creativity, their expression, their joy, is wrong? Or, as I’ve seen more recently, when someone gets dejected by the posts you’ve made telling them they’re creating wrong, you have the audacity to tell them “that’s okay, now that you know you did something I don’t like, you can reevaluate your work and try to improve!”

How dare you.

Because once again, I hate to break it to you, but you’re not the creator of these characters. And I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the actual creator is probably just so happy to see the diversity of idea that has sprung from their creation. So who do you think you are, to dictate an entire fandom?

If you don’t like it, move along. Click out of the fic, find something else to read. I understand having frustrations when things don’t go as you’d hoped, when a piece of work that you were excited about crosses those outer lines of your expectations and you feel disappointed. Again. But you know what? That’s your expectation. What about the person halfway across the world who reads the same fic and finds themselves in it? Finds a small piece of comfort that encourages them to hold on for just one more day. What happens when your words completely discourage the creators of your fandom, have them second guessing themselves? What happens when they lose confidence and stop creating completely? What happens when the fandom dies, and suddenly there’s nothing new to explore— to your standards or not?

You are allowed to have your opinions. Of course you are. You are allowed to express them. But you are never. EVER. allowed to tell people that they are wrong for making art that you don’t agree with. For using their imagination in a way that doesn’t fit into your small box of approval.

Let creators find happiness.

Let creators create.

#creators are amazing #and their minds are brilliant #and all of your ideas are so uniquely YOU #don’t let anyone tell you otherwise #go forth and create #spread positivity #stop hate #marvel-talk #I’m looking at you #and I am NOT happy #fandom #tagging this fandom so hopefully anyone who saw the discouraging stuff will remember that #the whole fandom is thankful that they’re writing and creating #dovesso #Clarissa dovey #Leonora lesso #lady lesso #sge #sge netflix #tsfgae #sfgae

[redpanther23]

Being Rong (a short grimoire)

Rong isn't just a band, it's a magical practice, and anyone can be Rong who follows these guidelines and calls themselves such.

To start with, Rong is the dumbest, most fucked up punk band in the world. Think of it like playing a character, not just being in a band. I recommend the following rules to start with, though you can drop some or add some as you see fit or as skill level allows:

1. Only covers

2. Only songs about girls.

3. No key changes

4. Only 4/4 time.

5. Eat acid at every practice and every show (this is the most important part.)

You aren't limited to acid - get creative and follow your heart! (For example, my grandfather recommended we only take peyote.) The best songs have no chord progression changes, so you can have long improv solos without getting lost. Try not to stop between songs as much as possible. Five members is ideal, the lower the skill level the better - there are no band members too unskilled, only songs that are too hard.

If you're familiar with the Grateful Dead, Rong is kind of like the Evil Dead. Get weird, get crazy, get stupid. For our first show I told everyone we would have pony rides, but we actually had my bassist give piggyback rides while wearing a pony mask I made from duct tape (this following a tradition my dad's Rong started.)

In addition to our five instrument-wielding band members, we also have a mascot, named Rong Boy. Rong Boy's job is to mosh like the world is ending even if it's a slow song. If anyone else starts dancing, he attacks them. If no one else is dancing, he attacks the band. (This is a gender neutral title.)

Every practice, and especially every show, is a ritual to honor Eris, the goddess of chaos. I recommend reading Principia Discordia for inspiration, but on the other hand, being able to read isn't very punk rock.

Don't be discouraged if your whole band breaks up after each show and you have to find new members - it's traditional. (It may even be detrimental to have too many practices before a show, as it will give your band time to break up early.)

This sacred magical practice was passed down to me by my father, who began the work in 1992. To hear both of our Rongs' recordings, check out my Youtube page (here's the playlist.) If you decide to be Rong, send me your recordings!

#my music #rong #Youtube

[deadbydangit]

Hey how's it going? I would like to request one where the survivors/killers comfort the chubby reader who is feeling insecure about their body. It could be with David, Jeff, Joey and Evan

Yes, I can do that. In the future, three characters max please. Please enjoy. I'm going to change it to just be insecure about their body so I have more to write.

With a Reader who is Insecure about their Body

David, Jeff, Joey (Legion), Trapper

David King

Body insecurity is something he has never understood.

Then again, insecurity is something he's never understood.

David is a very confident individual.

Not to mention he has the body of a god.

So, he's never had issues with his body image.

So when he hears how you've been feeling, he's very confused.

"What do ya mean you don't like the way you look? You're the sexiest thing on the damned planet."

Aside from not being able to make a tasteful compliment.

He really means it.

And seeing you hate yourself for something he finds so amazing hurts him so much.

Anytime he sees you looking in the mirror he'll go out of his way to compliment you.

Even if they aren't the most appropriate.

He's not always the best with words.

"Damn, that ass in those jeans. Can't get enough of it baby."

He'll even cat-call you from afar while others are listening.

It's really embarrassing.

But he won't stop unless you tell him to.

It's just his way of trying to make you feel better.

If you really want to better yourself, he will help you with the things he can do.

He may not know a whole lot about weight loss or building muscle, but he knows people who do.

And he will sit down for hours and pick their brain to come up with a safe and effective exercise plan to help you.

He'll also ask them a lot of dumb questions.

"So, what's a carb again?"

"Wait, so if fruits have sugar, aren't they bad?"

But eventually, he'll get all the information.

And he will go out of his way to help you.

He'll encourage you through the whole thing.

He'll even write down all your goals and help you keep track of them.

Make sure you write down your goals too, because you won't be able to read his handwriting.

He's so proud of you and he tells you every time you're done with a workout.

And he'll remind you everyday how beautiful you are.

Jeff Johanson

Believe it or not, Jeff is very insecure about himself as well.

He knows he's on the heavier side.

And the scar on his face adds to his lack of confidence.

So when you mention you're feeling self-conscious about your body, he won't tell you to forget those thoughts or tell you how silly you're acting.

He refuses to gloss over your feelings of sadness by simply giving you compliments that won't help.

He'll acknowledge them.

"Love, you are human, and that's normal."

He'll tell you all about his own insecurities and how he has battled with them.

He will then point to every part of your body and tell you why and how much he loves it.

He could spend hours doing this.

It's so sweet and poetic.

He might even start crying because he genuinely means every word he's saying.

But also because the thought of you hurting so badly and hating yourself makes him feel like a failure of a partner.

He wasn't there when you needed him.

He knows he's not in the best of shape, so, if you're really serious about this journey to better yourself, he's going on it with you.

If you're going on a diet, so is he.

He may not know a whole lot about weight loss, so he'll ask people who do.

And he will create a perfect diet and exercise regimen for you both.

And you won't ever feel discouraged.

Even when it feels like you aren't making progress, Jeff will be there to remind you how strong and brave you are.

And how proud he is of you.

If anyone dares make fun of you while you're working out, Jeff will confront them.

"You're making fun of s/o, but they're clearly trying to better themselves. And that's more than I can say about you right now. You should be ashamed of yourself."

And he'll leave it at that.

After, those same people will be cheering you on.

Every milestone you reach he's sure to tell you how impressed he is.

And he'll also tell you how much he loves you every time.

Joey (Legion)

Joey doesn't catch on to things very fast.

You could be eating less or looking at yourself in the mirror more and he won't really think much of it.

It's only one you make a verbal comment on how much you dislike your body does he spring into action.

The first time you said something hateful about yourself his eyes nearly bulged out of his head in shock.

Joey's never really had body image problems.

The mask is just part of his identity, not him hiding himself.

At least, that's what he's forced himself to think.

The more you talk poorly about yourself the harder it is for him to sit still.

So, in order to help boost your confidence, he'll take his mask off in public.

Yes, he does feel uncomfortable without it.

He also needs someone to teach him how to shave better.

But he is proving his point.

If he can be confident with his flaws, then so should you.

If you really want to better yourself, he will help.

He doesn't really think about asking somebody how to formulate a workout that works for you.

To him, you run and you lose weight, right?

That's not how it works.

Eventually someone more knowledgeable will step in and help you two out.

He'll work out with you, cheering you on every step of the way.

Seeing you getting better shape has inspired him to do the same.

It has also inspired the entire Legion to do the same.

So now all of you work out together.

Now that you are feeling more confident in yourself with your body, you can help him find somebody to teach him how to shave properly.

Trapper

Evan is very observant.

He most definitely notices when you stop eating so much or when you look in the mirror more.

But he won't ask you unless he notices something serious.

He figures this is your private business.

And, even though you're in a relationship, you're still entitled to your own private thoughts.

It wasn't until you said something about yourself that he intervened.

He was so angry to hear you say such things that he will pick up whatever he's holding and slam it on the floor.

He isn't angry with you.

He's more upset with himself.

He should have said something sooner when he noticed.

He feels like a failure, that he wasn't there for you and your time of need.

But he will not let you talk about yourself like that.

Anytime you begin to speak that way of yourself he will stop you.

He will then proceed to aggressively compliment you.

It would almost be scary if he wasn't trying to make you feel better.

"You have the most amazing eyes, and I'll kill anyone who says otherwise."

Evan himself is not insecure about how he looks.

He sees the spikes through his body as more of an inconvenience than an insecurity.

And his mask as a tool to scare survivors.

Even so, he remembers a time when they did bother him that way.

And he had to deal with it all by himself.

He isn't going to let you deal with this on your own.

If you want to better yourself he will support you.

As long as you do so in a healthy way he doesn't care how it's done.

He just doesn't want to see you hurt yourself trying.

If you try anything like that he will stop you.

It's just because he loves you so much.

#dbd imagines #dbd ask blog #dbd x reader #dbd killer #dbd survivor #dbd david #dbd jeff #dbd joey #dbd legion #dbd trapper

[gimmickverse-fanfic]

Chapter Two- Hesitation

@intothegimmickverseofficial

Chell hesitated. Wait, why was she running through the rain? A droplet fell into her mouth. The flash of bright blindness hurt her eyes and left her on the ground, coughing, whispering to turn back.

Why wasn't she able to?

Even as Castillo watched, snake curled around her neck, she couldn't bring herself to help.

Even as Tinder and Earth called from the door, they found themselves paralysed.

Stanley had gone mute. SCP was frozen. Identify breathed and stopped. Moon and Sun didn't even look up.

Then, suddenly, footsteps as Tinder rushed to collect Chell barely before the lightning hit.

"Why the hell would you do that??" Tinder dropped Chell onto the sofa as footsteps echoes around them.

"I'm not sure." Chell paused. An echo of the truth echoed in her mind. Dare you cheat your way around the board for a chance at paradise? "I damn near thought I was having some sort of manic or psychotic episode. Alas, I was not. That was last week." She laughed.

Stanley was shaking, sweat dripping down her forehead, a choke in her lungs not quite prohibiting breathing but very strongly discouraging it.

"Why did you save me?" Chell stared, before fainting.

"I thought Stanley would like me to keep you in a preferable state... not torn to shreds by lightning." Tinder laughed before skipping upstairs to avoid SCP's torrent of questions doomed to circle them.

Even as the footsteps stilled, the house moaned and settled, even as the rain beat down as though it was trying to break in, SCP barely slept.

What had prevented them from moving?

A tiptoe here, a footstep there, and they were in front of Stanley's door.

"You awake?" SCP barely breathed as they ghosted through the room to loom above Stanley:s bed like a totem of doom.

"Hmm?" Stanley barely blinked. "Yeah, why?"

"How doesn't that scare you?" SCP mumbled before sitting down. "Anyway, what was it?"

"Invisible idiots holding us down. Unicorns. A tray of sand is magic and angry. I don't know." Stanley drew from her dreams and sighed, "Though you'd expect Chell to behave a little more... Normal."

"Who in this house is normal?" SCP snorted. Stanley chuckled before standing.

"Let's get some tea... or hot chocolate," Yawn, "And discuss this downstairs."

Chell remained cuddled up to herself downstairs, as Stanley made the chocolate and tea. SCP curled their arms around Chell before floating upstairs.

"Back so soon?" Stanley questioned Moon, who may or may not have been watching at the stairs to the basement.

"SCP-"

"Took Chell back to her room." Stanley stifled another yawn as she poured the milk. "How many spoonfuls of sugar does SCP like again?"

"Three, I believe," Chell shrugged, "but wh-"

"Shh, they're coming back." Stanley spooned in the sugar as SCP stepped into the kitchen, nodding at Moon and smiling at Stanley.

"Alright, let's figure this out." Stanley mumbled before passing the tea to SCP, who nodded in thanks, and they sat next to each other to contemplate the extraordinary.

Moon watched for a while before stepping downstairs. Sun was already there, sitting in a couch and reading some book or other.

Without a glance up, Sun parted the space next to her and let Moon huff down. Tensing, Sun flipped the page of the book and finally flicked her eyes up.

"What happened?"

"Oh, SCP and Stanley up at the small hours for reasons as of yet unknown to man and beast alike, the usual."

"Ah. Has anyone introduced those two to sleep yet?"

"I think Etho attempted to once, a while back, but SCP decided to throw themselves into some SCP containment chamber and Stanley decided that falling out of a window was better."

Sun laughed, in a way that made her name represent her; hair thrown back and sparkling in the dim light, a mythical laugh of strength and power, of charm and honour. Moon quivered to be  before such a goddess, and moreover to be left alive in such proximity.

"Wow..." Moon breathed. Sun stared. Her Moon was such a pretty one, shiny hair that fluttered behind her without a wind, eyes that twinkled in the dying starlight... proof that people really were made of stardust.

"Well, that's enough romance novels for one day." Sun quipped, letting her book fall to the ground as Moon leaned in, neither noticing the figure standing behind them.

[booburry]

First chapter out and, as promised, it is also posted in the readmore, below. Thank you to those who take the time to read it! I hope you enjoy it and that I have captured Sam well.

Word Count: 5,906; No Warning for now but there (of course) will eventually be smut.

Chapter 1: Lost & Found

Mallory took a deep breath as she looked towards the small opening that led her deeper into the cave she searched in. It was beyond her how an unknown mineral that crashed into the Earth’s surface would have been able to get this deep. Perhaps it was due to the mineral itself, maybe the density and the weight had it plummet further than the crater NASA had marked it at.

But she had to find it now, otherwise, she wouldn’t have a job to return to.

“You’re an executive assistant Mallory, not an explorer.” She muttered to herself, trying to discourage herself from the risk ahead of her; it was her natural reaction to anything excitable. She sighed again with a small shake of her head, finding her two parts fighting themselves within her. “There was a reason that report came by your desk Mallory, you got this. We’ve crawled into smaller caves.”

She shook her hands, arms and then shoulders as if trying to physically shake off her doubts. Her eyes became fixed on the small crack, analyzing it to imagine how she would squeeze through it. She brought her flashlight to peer through but she saw nothing but black—that did not help her confidence.

Shocked, and admittedly scared, at the black void that was behind that crack, Mallory stood back. Her muscles tensed as she felt the voice of self-doubt start to take over her mind but then, like a soothing relief, she heard a buzzing hum fill her ears. If she could explain this sensation to anyone, it would be like a frequency being sent through her body, muscles and skin. Her whole body tingled in a way that made her feel like she was floating, like she was not where she was yet it also provided her with a laser focus.

A focus that was fixated on that crack she had been quarrelling about entering or not. A focus that removed all previous inhibitions and hesitations and had her, uncharacteristically, leaping at the chance to find the object, being or thing that was bringing her this sense of unhinged freedom of thought and being.

Callously she shoved her body into the crack, quickly moving and shifting herself to squeeze through the small opening. She could not feel her feet touch the ground, something that would have made her immediately retreat but something about that humming sensation let her know it was safe—like she had done this before; akin to a moment of déjà vu.

Mallory released her grip and let her body fall, sure she would fall safely to the floor—or whatever lay beneath her—and she did. Gracefully she landed on her feet, her knees barely buckling under the sudden force and solid ground.

The moment she was sure of her footing, a small, glowing and pulsating light caught her attention. It was subtle and distant, but it shed enough light for her to follow—as upon immediate attempt at using her flashlight Mallory realized that it was, somehow, useless here. Something that, once again, under normal circumstances would have caused an immense amount of concern for Mallory however this glowing light, and humming frequency, was consuming all of her focus.

Her heart was beating so quickly at the anticipation to see what was here, what was causing these lights and sensations. The excitement of discovering something new, the elated thrill-seeking that Mallory always wanted to have in her life but her fears and anxiety never allowed. The eagerness to finally get her hands on a small piece of the great vastness of space that had always consumed her mind, even as a child.

Mallory rounded the corner to see a slender piece of metal embedded into a rock. Crystals covered the small cavern that this object had sculpted around itself. She felt crazy to even think that it felt like this metal was…alive? The pulsing light felt like breaths, it's hum like a voice, it’s frequency like it’s embrace. For a woman who never felt like she had belonged—like she was always out of place or in the way—it felt odd that, for once, she felt like this was where she was meant to be.

Mallory approached the metal object when a crackle pierced through the calming hum that had surrounded her.

“Do you see anything?” A woman’s voice called out to her, yet it didn’t echo like it should within a cave. It sounded like it was coming from a pair of broken headphones. Mallory paused a moment, waiting to hear the voice again, and looking around to make sure she was alone. But the crackle never reappeared and, instead, the calm humming from the metal returned to fill her senses, her focus back onto the alien metal.

She reached out to it, feeling a heaviness set upon her body as if she were wearing a suit of iron. She also felt her hair start to float, and her vision shake, yet that humming frequency told her it was all okay. It embraced her, calmed her, and enticed her to continue to reach.

The moment she touched that metal object she felt like she was flung through the cosmos, the humming turning into a symphony of unknown sounds and visuals, overwhelming her senses and surroundings before suddenly bringing her to black.

Mallory had no concept of where she was. She tried to open her eyes but they were too heavy, she tried to breathe but there was no air, yet she somehow saw her surroundings and did not feel as if she was suffocating. She stood on an invisible floor, surrounded by the stars within a black void. Slowly, a large light appeared before her, the same light that had filled the cave, taking the form of the image she had been brought to when grabbing that piece of metal.

But another, unexpected, image appeared. One of herself, yet it wasn’t her, only looked like her.

This image stood in front of Mallory, expressionless, and donned in what looked like advanced spacewear. Mallory did not understand. She looked around her franticly, no longer hearing the humming that had entranced her, no longer being under that spell that had her lose her senses. She shot another, more panicked, look at the image, reflection, of herself.

“It’s too soon.” It said to her in a voice that could only be described as otherworldly, inhuman—godly.

Before Mallory could even bring a thought to her mind to speak or ask questions, she felt the same force that pulled her to this place, push her back out of it. Yet where she was sent was not where, or when, she had been.

“Dusty!” A familiar voice called out to her. “Snap out of it.” The voice demanded of Mallory, who slowly felt herself brought to the present moment and unable to remember where she had just been. She opened her eyes to see a large, bright, circle light above her that was attached to some machinery she had never seen. With a glance to the side, in search of the owner of the voice, Mallory shot up in shock.

She stared at two people she did not know, in a facility she was not familiar with—yet how was her voice familiar?

“Woah, woah.” The man said to Mallory’s immediate panic. She looked at him, her eyes going wide as his did too. It was obvious that her panic was a shock or concern to him. “Take it easy there, okay?” He asked of her in a calm tone. “You were out cold, just take a moment. Deep breaths.” Mallory allowed herself a deep breath, looking to the floor beneath her. After a moment of silence, she heard the two people step aside and speak with hushed tones.

“Physically she is fine.” The man continued to speak. “Mentally…,” he hesitated, “the jury is still out.”

“Where am I?” Mallory finally croaked, finding her throat hoarse and her mind, terrifyingly, blank. She couldn’t remember where she was, she couldn’t remember where she had been before this, she didn’t recognize these people. She needed to understand. Mallory looked up to see the two individuals look at her with great concern, the woman quickly masking hers yet the man continued to frown; she hoped he would be kind enough to answer her question.

“You don’t remember?” He asked her, slowly approaching Mallory in his metal suit. All she could do was slowly shake her head, feeling the fear and panic set in. He paused to watch her, his brows pinching together in concern. “Do you remember anything?” He asked her.

It hurt to think, a sharp pain spiking in her temples as Mallory tried to concentrate as hard as she could on the moments before this.

“Leave her be, she just needs time to wake up.” The woman spoke up. It was something in her voice, or tone or cadence that brought a sudden memory to Mallory.

“I work for NASA.” She said, excitedly, as she looked back towards the man, hoping that this news would bring some clarity to her moment. However, when she saw him scowl deeply, even more concern present in his expression than before, Mallory did not feel reassured.

“Lin, we need to get her to a doc.” The man said to the woman, Lin.

“Calm down, Hellar. Let’s just get her to the surface—hopefully, some fresh air will do her some good. Client’s on their way anyways, so we need to go up, get paid and then move on from this.” Lin grabbed Mallory by her arms and lifted her up into a standing position. Unlike the two of them, she wasn’t in an armored suit but she wore clothes she did not remember—although at this point it wasn’t entirely alarming to Mallory that she didn’t recognize it.

At least, it wasn’t more alarming to Mallory than not remembering the more important things. As she slowly followed Lin and Hellar, she was deep in thought on what she did, or could manage, to remember.

My name is Mallory Harper . She told herself. I am an Executive Assistant to Claire Munroe, Director of Resource Management, at NASA. I was born in Scarborough, Ontario. My mother’s name was Samantha, and my father’s was Clark. He worked as a car mechanic. I was an only child. Everything will be fine. Everything will be fine.

“Don’t worry dusty,” Hellar told her as the large elevator finally brought them out of the cave.

“My name is—” She muttered the rest as Mallory saw, with her own eyes, a planet incredibly close to the surface she stood on. It was large, with rings, yet it was not Saturn. It also meant that wherever she stood, it must be a moon of this unknown planet. Immediately, any sliver of hope she had that she was still on Earth was shattered.

The stress of the situation made the next series of events a whirlwind, to express it the best.

A spaceship—SPACESHIP—flew down onto a landing pad in the outpost they were in. She was greeted by an alarmingly cheerful man named Barrett and a walking, talking, robot named Vasco. If that wasn’t enough, the way Barrett studied her when Lin advised that she had touched some metal object—the one he sought—left her feeling quite uneasy. Especially since she didn’t remember grabbing any such object in the first place.

There was a hint of knowledge behind his gaze, a life of people watching gave Mallory enough skill in insight to know when someone was holding their cards close to their chest.

That look was the only moment of clarity that Mallory had before another spaceship appeared and Barrett commanded Vasco to take Mallory aboard his ship; citing ‘Protocol Indigo’. It was chaos around her. Hellar and Lin drew weapons, Barrett drew what looked like a pistol and Vasco was shooting lasers toward the oncoming others that had just landed—enemies?

The sudden stress of the moment had Mallory’s mind escape her, completely disassociating from the present moment while desperately wishing she was back home at her desk job. She only came out of that headspace to realize she was on a spaceship, flying, in space with no idea where she was going and only a sentient robot for companionship.

“This thing will fly itself?” Mallory hesitantly asked Vasco, who turned to look at her with it’s lens eye.

“Yes, with Protocol Indigo, we are to head right to the headquarters of Constellation, The Lodge, within the city of New Atlantis.” Vasco informed her, in an analytical way one should expect from a robot. Despite how off-putting it was for Mallory to be having a conversation with a being such as Vasco, there was a sense of relief she found in finally getting answers to her questions. And in that sense of relief came the realization that Mallory could take advantage of Vasco’s analytical responses.

“New Atlantis? Is it underwater or something?” Mallory joked, not realizing that a robot would not recognize, nor appreciate, such a joke.

“You are mistaking that with the lost city of Atlantis on Earth, a planet within the Sol system and the origin planet of the human race.” Vasco responded in his normal cadence. “New Atlantis is the capital city of the United Colonies, on the planet of Jemison in the Alpha Centauri system.”

United Colonies. A planet called Jemison. A star system called Alpha Centauri...

None of this was within her realms of knowledge, and the more she ruminated on that thought instead of running from it, she found it impossible to remain ignorant of the most pressing fact in front of her.

“Vasco, what year is it?” Mallory asked as she closed her eyes, bracing herself to learn that she was no longer in her present time, but the future or somewhere completely different.

“It is the year 2330.” The robot replied, not realizing how heavy his simple answer was.

2330 . Mallory thought to herself in panic, her eyes pressing together, her eyebrows pinching under the pressure of her muscle tension. She was 300 years ahead of when she had been.

“Oh my god,” Mallory spoke aloud, no longer being able to keep her thoughts and panic within herself. She buried her head into her hands. “Oh my god, oh my god! How is this happening?” She exclaimed to herself, her arms shooting out in front of her. She twisted them, half expecting something marvellous or miraculous to happen but it was just her flesh and blood. Her eyes looked past herself to the only bed within the cabin, and on it lay a slender piece of metal that she did not recognize yet found familiar.

But it was not a good familiar. No…it was fear. Panic. Danger. Threatening.

Every alarm within her senses went off as Mallory tried to scramble away from the object.

“Send me back.” She demanded Vasco as she ran towards the robot, clinging to its metal frame and desperately staring into its lense. “I don’t belong here, I need to go back. Send me back!” She screamed as she felt a slight pinch in her side and the world quickly went black once again.

“It’s not right, Sarah.” Mallory heard a man’s voice as she dreamt. She was floating in an endless black sea, surrounded by small, flickering lights. It was peaceful, and the man’s voice only continued to soothe her soul. His voice echoed and reverberated around her as if encapsulating her in it’s essence. She breathed in the words, finding herself seeking the comfort of that voice.

“What else were we supposed to do Sam?” A woman’s voice now drifted past her, this one wasn’t as sweet and inviting as the man’s, but it still did not alarm her. It felt guiding, firm but still gentle; parental. “Vasco brought her here sedated, and informed us that she was begging him to ‘send her back’. When she came to, she claimed to be from Earth, Sam. An 'Earth' not like ours, but that of over 300 years ago.”

Vasco? That was something familiar, something tangible, that pulled her from the black sea that surrounded her. Memories came back to her at the name, and with the words that the woman spoke after.

Ripped from her dream with a flood of visuals—the cave, Hellar and Lin, that large planet in the sky, Vasco flying her on the ship, that metal object—Mallory awoke in a small room that appeared to be quickly rigged for the purpose of a jail cell.

“Jeeze…that’s tough.” Mallory heard the man mutter, the same man she had heard as she was dreaming. “But still, Sarah, you can’t honestly think that keeping her sedated will help with that? If we are meant to understand what is going on, we need to talk to her.”

“We already tried that Sam. We don’t know what we are dealing with here, we can’t be hasty.” Sarah’s tone came with a heavy warning, but she heard the man scoff immediately.

“We also can’t be inhuman!” Sam argued back with a calm sternness. “Go get Barrett back, I will handle this.” As quick as his words came, soft footsteps followed. Mallory forced herself to sit up, still feeling groggy from the apparent sedation but she wanted to be alert for whatever Sam intended with his approach.

However, from the small part that she had heard him speak, she wanted to be hopeful that he was going to be kind.

Shortly after she sat up and managed to compose herself as best as she could, Sam rounded the corner. He would best be described as a cowboy, without the southern drawl that she was so used to associating with his aesthetic. Mallory couldn’t help but smile, widely, at a sight that finally reminded her of something normal.

Her smile seemed to catch Sam off guard, as he halted in his steps and awkwardly smiled.

“Uh, hey.” He said to her, as a greeting, immediately bringing Mallory back to being hyper-vigilant. Her muscles tensed as her smile quickly faded. Sam stretched out his hands. “No, I mean you no harm, please. I’m Sam.” He softly introduced himself.

“I heard,” Mallory spoke coldly.

“Ah, so you heard all of that then?” He asked her, guilt vividly present in his expression. Both adults paused, the silence lingering as Mallory watched Sam with trepidation and Sam watched Mallory with concern and curiosity.

“Who are you people? Why are you sedating me?” Mallory demanded to know of him, bringing an immediate sigh from Sam.

“We’re a group called Constellation, set to seek out the unknown within the charted stars but I have a feeling that means nothing to you.” He informed her, his eyes softening as he continued to watch her with a small amount of pity.

“No,” Mallory muttered in defeat, finding her defences being unarmed by Sam’s gentle and honest approach.

“As for the sedation, hey,” he shot up his arms in a sign of surrender, “that wasn’t my call and not one I ever would have taken.” He paused a moment, watching Mallory before sighing again and adjusting his cowboy hat. “You have to be hungry, let me go, uh, find something that you can eat.” Sam turned around and started to walk away before giving a soft chuckle. “Definitely won’t be what you are used to.” He commented out loud, causing the corners of Mallory’s lips to twitch upward.

There was a calm silence that lingered after Sam left. Mallory felt a significant amount of panic leave her due to the kindness and compassion Sam was showing her. She felt herself blush and forcefully curl her lips as she judged herself for lingering on the thought of how handsome he had also been.

“Is it true?” An eager voice spoke to Mallory, causing her to look up and see a young girl eagerly watching her from the door Sam had only recently walked through. With Mallory’s glance, the girl excitedly walked forward. “Are you really from the past?”

If it wasn’t for the obvious wonder and spark of curiosity within the child’s gaze, Mallory would have felt like she was being gawked at like a zoo animal. Instead, she just cleared her throat and nodded.

“Woah! That is so cool!” The girl smiled brightly, immediately sticking her hand through the gate. “I’m Cora.” Mallory hesitated a moment before reaching out to grab Cora’s hand.

“Mallory.” Cora gripped Mallory’s hand with the same vigour and enthusiasm she exuded before releasing it.

“What a strange name,” Cora remarked, an absolutely bizarre oddity to focus on, at least Mallory thought so, causing the woman to snort as she stifled a laugh.

“My name is the strangest thing about me?” Mallory asked, causing Cora to laugh as well.

“Besides the obvious, yeah.” She corrected, causing Mallory to hum in amusement and agreement as she leaned back against the wall of her ‘cell’.

“So you believe me then?” She asked Cora, who was quick to answer.

“My dad always tells me that the galaxy is full of endless possibilities, so why couldn’t this also be one?” She asked, curiously.

“Your father seems wise,” Mallory remarked with a smile, finding it slightly odd how calming it was to talk to a child about her situation yet still greatly appreciating the feeling and acceptance. It was already an abnormal existence she found herself in, so ‘odd’ should be expected.

“I like to think so, myself.” Sam agreed with a restrained smugness as he returned with a plate and a few packages. “I also think I told you,” his gaze narrowed onto Cora, “to leave our guest alone for today. She’s been through enough.” Mallory saw Cora’s shoulders slump slightly, her excitement deflating.

“It’s okay.” Mallory found herself immediately defending the girl’s presence. Sam smiled as Cora returned to her previous enthusiasm.

“Alright then.” Sam nodded to Mallory, perhaps as a gesture of appreciation? She was unsure about that, however, what she was sure about was the fact that, for the first time since she found herself in this new time, she felt safe. “She can be a handful sometimes,” Sam remarked with a smirk as he set down the plate on a crate just outside of Mallory’s cell.

“I’m right here...” Cora grumbled, causing Sam to chuckle with amusement.

“You know it. I know it. Heck—the whole settled system knows it.” Sam said as he continued to tease his daughter, placing the packages next to the plate. “Don’t worry gumdrop, I still love you for it.” He added sweetly with a glance at his daughter.

“Daaaaaad.” Cora groaned as she physically cringed at her father.

“It’s my one for the day, okay? But, like I told you before and despite what this kind woman has said, I can’t have a kid interrogating her. We need some time alone, okay? Boring adult stuff, alright?”

“Fine.” Cora groaned before turning to Mallory, who had watched this conversation unfold with intrigue and amusement, with a smile. “It was really nice meeting you. If you want to lie to my dad about your name, I promise not to say anything. Our secret—they think your name is Lee.” Cora smiled at her dad before rushing out of the room.

“What—” Sam exclaimed as he turned towards where his daughter ran to.

“Hey, kid!” Mallory found herself yelling out, drawn and endeared by Cora’s curiosity, rebelliousness and immediate comradery. Cora popped her head into view. “Come interrogate me later, okay?” Cora smiled brighter than she had before.

“Okay!” She agreed with excitement before, what sounded like, running off and out of earshot.

“You may regret that,” Sam said with a smile as he approached Mallory’s cell. “But I appreciate it all the same, it can be hard for a kid to always be around a bunch of adults. Especially those who just see her as a kid.”

“She seems quite inquisitive,” Mallory replied, seemingly to Sam’s liking. “Besides, she is the only one who appears to believe me.”

“You don’t think I do?” Sam asked as he unlocked the chains that held her cell doors together and clumsily moved them aside, enough that Mallory could freely walk through them, but she didn’t move. Instead, she watched Sam with scrutiny, wanting to know if his kindness was just a façade to get her comfortable.

“Don’t blame me if I am uncertain of your intentions behind your belief. A kid never has any intentions beyond genuine curiosity and seeking understanding. Adults are different.”

“No blame at all. I understand being captured but not sent to another time, so…” Sam trailed off in thought and speech for a moment, his gaze sliding past Mallory’s before snapping back to her. “Look, how, uh, how can I help you trust me?” Sam paused a moment as he watched her with genuine concern. “If you want a history lesson, I’ll fall asleep before you do. Talk to Cora about that stuff, she has a ton of books about things you will want to know, I am sure.” He pursed his lips, his eyebrows twitching as he tried, very hard, to think of a way to gain Mallory’s trust. “What I can tell you, if it helps, is that we think these artifacts we found—the one you pulled out of the mine—have something to do with what happened to you.” He added with a small amount of enthusiasm.

“Artifact?” Mallory’s expression pinched at the word. “That metal thing?” Mallory hated that she still couldn’t recall that moment, only when she woke up in that strange room with Lin and Hellar.

“Yeah, exactly,” Sam confirmed, either ignoring or not realizing Mallory’s inner frustrations, before taking a step back and inviting her to sit on a stool next to the food he brought.

She still didn’t move, but her eyes darted to the plate to see four small, cube-shaped, objects.

“You eat cubes?” Mallory asked in absolute astonishment at the food choice in the future overriding her reservations about Sam’s intentions. He just gave a single, soft, laugh.

“I told you it wouldn’t be something you’re used to,” Sam remarked with a smirk. “Also, they’re called ‘Chunks’, not cubes. I figured it would be better over the alien jerky, at least.” Mallory immediately grimaced at the idea of eating alien jerky, causing an honest belly laugh from Sam.

“Yeah, chunks sound great now, thank you.” Sam smiled with a light exhale, sigh even—perhaps relieved?

“The packs are water, just so you know.” He pointed towards two silver packages. Mallory smiled, reminded briefly of a capri-sun, or something akin to it. Looking back at Sam to see his concern soften and his features relax, and having been taken out of her mistrusting mood, Mallory decided it was time to accept some of their hospitality.

“Thank you.” She gave a small smile along with her words of gratitude, before walking to the stool Sam had pointed to earlier.

“Back to the artifacts…” Sam began to speak as Mallory ate her first cube of food—thankfully it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. “It’s the second one we have found, Barrett—the guy that was with Vasco—found the first one. Sarah went to get him, and hopefully, he can help us make some sense of this. In the meantime…” Sam stretched out his hand and gestured towards the refreshments he brought. “I suggest you settle in as best as you can. I will speak with Noel about getting one of the spare rooms ready for you.”

Mallory nodded at the idea of getting a room instead of a cell, however, she did not like the idea of ‘settling in’. This wasn’t going to be a permanent thing, or even long-term! She wanted to go home as quickly as possible.

“I don’t wish to get comfortable here,” Mallory advised, feeling her steel walls build themselves up, once again. Sam let out a small sigh as he shifted his torso forward, holding himself up by resting his hands on his knees.

“I’m not sure who you assume I am, or my intentions, so I will kindly remind you that you don’t know me.” Sam softly advised with a small smirk. He said it, not as a threat, but as a reminder that she shouldn’t assume his plans. Perhaps he was right, Sam himself hadn’t shown her any intention of harm, however she couldn’t say the same for the rest of his group. Sam, alone, was not a reason to drop her guard.

“You don’t know me either.” Mallory retorted while looking back at her cubed food, feeling stubborn in not wanting to admit defeat at this moment. Despite her wish to remain in solitude from the world she found herself in, she was not dumb or over-confident enough to think she would be better off on her own, or on that moon she woke up from. God, I probably would have ended up dead if I wasn’t taken away by Vasco, Mallory thought to herself with a small amount of horror.

“At least I’m trying.” Sam quipped, pulling her from her despairing thoughts, his tone carrying an underlying message of ‘gotcha’. Mallory, immediately returning to steeled self, grumbled at Sam’s words and proceeded to stuff another mysterious cube into her mouth—chomping furiously as she glowered towards the space cowboy in front of her. “Was it a thing in your time to eat so aggressively?” He asked with a slight husk in his tone, his stupid—inviting—smile spreading across his face as the already familiar glint in his eye returned. “Can’t say I hate it.” He added slyly.

Mallory swallowed, more out of fear she would choke if he continued with his stupid comments.

“Three answers.” She announced, wishing to draw her attention away from wanting to focus on Sam in detail. “That’s all I will give you from this bizarre interrogation.” She added, wishing to divert more attention away from that foreign feeling. Sam smiled and leaned back, comfortable and relaxed, as he basked in the glory of his persuasion.

“Not an interrogation, but I will take that deal.” He flashed his intoxicating smirk. “You enjoying the ‘food cubes’?” He immediately asked, playfully mocking her for how she originally referred to the Chunks. However, Mallory still cocked an eyebrow at the question, tilting her head to the side as she stared, perplexed, at Sam.

“Are you really going to use one of your answers on that?” She asked, stunned.

“No,” Sam gave a quick laugh followed by a satisfied sigh, “but you answered with a question, which isn’t an answer, so therefore it doesn’t count.” He crossed his arms as he fully rested his body on the wall behind him; smug and smitten with himself. “Just testing the rules…you know.” Mallory let out a shocked, sharp and single laugh before shaking her head in silence. She couldn’t believe this man.

What a bizarre future she found herself in.

“I think you’re worse than your daughter,” Mallory stated as she continued to shake her head at him, until she smiled, feeling a small victory right around the corner. “That’s an answer for you.” She added, revealing her own mischievous smirk.

“Hey, woah—that doesn’t count.” Sam protested, immediately defensive and having lost all of his previous bravado. “No way.” He slowly added, almost pouting at her.

“My deal, my rules,” Mallory confirmed with a shrug. “Sorry, Cowboy.” She continued, unable to stop herself from continuing the teasing banter. The nickname seemed to perk him back up.

“Cowboy, huh?” He lightly commented. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen a horse in real life.” He spoke slowly as if running through a catalogue in his mind of all his core memories.

“Not all cowboys ride horses,” Mallory replied, causing Sam to smile and a comfortable silence to fill the room. They both just looked at each other, their gazes locked, until Mallory felt a rush of heat to her face and chest, and turned to eat another ‘food cube’.

“Answers,” Sam said, Mallory half expecting it was for himself, rather than her. “So, speaking of my daughter…what’s your real name?” She swallowed her food, pausing a moment to look at Sam once again, perplexed at how easily he could redirect his attention and thoughts. Her’s were still on the sensation that had her look away, and now on the slight twitch in his smile. “Not going to tell me, huh?”

“Mallory.” She said, finding herself snapping back to the present moment. “No idea how you got Lee from that, but…there you are.” Mallory cleared her throat as she reached for one of the water packs.

“Huh…yeah.” Sam paused a moment, almost like a sound or thought pulled him off track. Mallory immediately noticed the loss of composure from him, until he seemed to snap back to the present. “Let me help you with that.” He offered, reaching out for the package but Mallory moved it away and out of his reach.

“I’m a capable woman, even if I am not from here.” She remarked, feeling a bit of her pride battered at how reliant she was on others. That had never been the case for her, ever. She understood she had to for survival, but it didn’t make it any easier to accept. Sam just raised his hands in another sign of surrender and leaned back against the wall.

“Well, Mallory,” he stressed her name with a soft, inviting, sweetness, “last question. If I offered for you to join Constellation…our giant dysfunctional family, would you? At least until we can get you home, but that way…you, uh…have a home before that. I think it would help you if nothing else. And we can keep your secret safe.” Something shifted in Sam’s expression at the mention of her secret, her ‘situation’. His face became sunken and tense. “I don’t want to think what the wrong people would do if they found out about you.” He added, sounded extremely serious for the first time she had met him, and something that didn’t seem to match the character he had shown her so far.

Mallory paused, pulling her attention away from her worry about him and instead to his proposition. It did make sense to stay with them. If these ‘Artifacts’ really are what brought her here, or are connected to the thing that did, then their goals could be aligned. But, still, Mallory barely trusted Sam at this point—how was he to expect her to trust the rest?

“You…want me to join the group of people who have held me hostage and kept me sedated?” Mallory asked him in a flat tone, wanting to know why, exactly, he wanted her to join.

“Have any better idea on where to be?” He asked her with that damn smug smile of his. When Mallory hesitated to respond, he stuck out his hand. “Welcome to the crew.”

She hesitated a moment before accepting his hand and deal. He was right—where else was she going to go? What better option did she have?

Besides, she worked for one of the most well-known companies for space exploration, how different could this be?

Very.

#Sam Coe #starfield #starfield fanfiction #Cora coe #coemancer #We love us some space cowboy dilf #Booburry Writes

[light-lanterne]

wait, are people actually feeding unfinished fics to ai to get an ending?

,,,is it that hard to just imagine what happens next based on what's already there? whenever i got into a story with slow updates (or an abandoned one), i always had fun coming up with little scenarios about where i would like the story to go, based on my preferences and own scenarios. there was never a need to write or share them; just having them in my head made me happy ~

and sometimes (when the author did eventually update) i'd get things completely wrong, but it's always been a part of reading fics for me and i can't understand why anyone would deprive themselves of this fun.

(not to mention that it's completely unethical to take someone's work and feed it to a machine that was built on the stolen work of thousands of authors who didn't consent to their work being used to teach the machine how to "write")

anyway,,, not that i think it'll happen to my work but just in case,,, i strictly forbid anyone from taking my stories and try to get an ai to write their ending. i know i'm remarkably slow at updating and i apologise profusely for that, but i assure you: even if i'm far from the best author ever, the ai won't be able to write an ending half as good as what i have planned for any of my stories.

so please don't do it. it's the most disrespectful thing i can imagine anyone doing to a fic writer and it will discourage countless people from sharing or finishing their works online.

fanworks are made from the love one has for a specific piece of media and its fandom, so please be appreciative of the authors, artists, editors, gif makers and the lot who work tirelessly to contribute to the fandom. do not try to replace us all with machines just because we're not capable of producing endless "content" to entertain people for just a few minutes >:(

#✒️ #🧸

[literaticat]

Help, I'm a new editor and I've had a slew of atrocious meetings with agents.

The pattern is I get approached for a meeting and it lasts approximately ten minutes in which they neither pitch anything nor ask any questions or know what my publisher does or what I have acquired. And they all seem annoyed to be there. Is this... Normal? I feel so disrespected.

The agencies were not small or unreputable either. Is the point of these meetings something else that I'm not getting? I'm trying hard not to be offended people keep wasting my time like that, it's so discouraging. I just want to buy books from them😭

That's... TOTALLY BIZARRE????

I'm sorry you've had that experience. (I hope you HAVEN'T had meetings with anyone at MY agency, or if you did, that they were the exception to the rule!)

Normally, I consider these initial calls to be totally "get to know you / what you like" so that we can target submissions to you correctly. I'd introduce myself and give my spiel about who I am / the kinds of books I represent and some stuff they might have heard of I rep, etc -- and I'd expect the editor to give their spiel, ie, tell me a bit about themselves, how long they have been there / where they came from / what their role is, etc -- and what kinds of books they work on / are looking to acquire, and their 'book-ICKS' as well. If I'm less familiar with their publisher or team, maybe the "highlights reel" of what other editors are there, who does what, important things about their imprint, new and noteworthy stuff, etc.

I'll also prompt you about things you haven't mentioned. "We didn't talk about graphic novels -- do you guys do them? What about novelty books? You said you liked horror, do you prefer more psychological or like, gory?" etc. (Meanwhile I'm asking questions taking hella notes because I want to share all this intel with my colleagues, too!)

PROBABLY it would last 15-20 minutes or so -- unless we really get on a tear chit-chatting or there are multiple people on the call, then it could be longer. Even if my projects won't necessarily be a fit for you, I still want to KNOW all that stuff, yanno?

I'll probably also ask about other things you like, or they will come up in conversation -- Oh, you like cults? Have you seen this [documentary / show / podcast]? Oh, I see your dog in the background, what a cutie, what's their name? You know. Just like -- normal, friendly things! I'd IMAGINE that it's quite likely we have a fair number of interests in common and usually these convos are fun, or if we REALLY don't have anything in common, at least just normal/friendly/brief.

I will say, I'm probably NOT pitching specific projects on an initial call, unless the conversation happens to wander into some territory where it would be insane for me NOT to pitch it, because it's just too perfect -- it's more likely that I'm just thinking of projects that might be a fit that I have upcoming that I could send, or projects I just sold that would have been a fit, or clients/books I think should be on their radar or something like that. So rather than "ok sit there while I pitch to you", it would be more of "omg, I have something coming up that sounds just like [whatever thing you just said], I'll put you on the list when it's ready!" or "omg, have you read such-and-such by my client? You might really like it given [whatever thing you just said]!"

ANYwho -- if you haven't had a call with my team, EMAIL ME, I'll set something up, and I promise we won't be jerks! We WANT you to buy our books!

[webcomic-character-tournament]

Genuine question. Why are comics from online only publishers discouraged? What is the goal behind discouraging paid webcomics?

sorry for taking so long to answer this!

i got really excited about answering this but also am not very good at communicating things clearly, i often get lost in the details in my passion about stuff like this, so i hope this is still interesting to read and intelligible lol!

i dont think there is any one thing that inherently defines what is and isn't a webcomic, it's an amorphous category that i enjoy the ambiguity of. but for me, what first led to my wonder for them as an 11 year old, and what has been a major factor in my passion for them even as an adult, was their low barrier to entry in both making them and accessing them. if you have internet access and time, almost anyone can make a webcomic if they want to! of course, without editors (or often even full story plans) or sensitivity readers or more people on a team to collaborate and contribute to the comic's vision, and the huge effort that it takes to do all the tasks of writing, inks, coloring, lettering, etc. all on ones own often without professional resources to facilitate that, that means that a lot of webcomics are really rough in some way or another. but a lot of people have interesting ideas they want to work with, but don't have the technical skill, desire or ability to market themselves or be beholden to external work deadlines, or connections in some way or another to be able to share those ideas through traditional publishing. regardless of skill or ability, a lot of marginalized people are barred from having their stories accepted by publishers due to bigotry and expectations about what kind of story is profitable.

as a disabled lgbt kid, i definitely read a lot of really bad webcomics i wish i hadn't, but also some of the media i was exposed to that most represented me back then was in the form of webcomics from people a lot like me. and i could read so much of it easily and for free without having to risk much to access it behind my parents' backs!

obviously that isn't the case for every webcomic, but for me and my history with them, them being easily accessible to both publish and read has been really important.

there are absolutely a lot of good points to be made about how publishing free to read webcomics isn't always the most accessible thing for a lot of people, especially for poor and disabled people. making webcomics takes a huge amount of time and effort, and sometimes even if people are passionate about making a comic, they just can't afford to find the time for that around all the other responsibilities of their day to day lives unless it can be a consistent income source. thats why even if paid online comics arent my platonic ideal of webcomics, i absolutely would never exclude them. i want small creators making stories i want to read to get the money they need to survive and keep telling stories without burning out!

it could be argued that online publishers who specifically focus on webcomics don't always present the same barriers to entry as traditional publishers, and many don't restrict the scope of marginalized creators' stories at all or to the same extent as people have struggled in other more mainstream avenues. and from my outside understanding of publishers like hiveworks, i'd absolutely agree with that! i love a lot of hiveworks comics and think its an awesome thing! (of course literally my icon is from a hiveworks comic, tiger tiger!) nonetheless however, part of my goals with this tournament is to highlight lesser known comics, and as publishers like hiveworks help advertise and promote their comics, even if i still want everyone to read all my favorite comics published by them, and certainly there are limits to those advertising resources, they still don't need as much help as other comics without that support. so its not as much 'try not to submit these' and more 'as you submit stuff like this, try to submit stuff with less advertising resources and popularity too!'

going into this tournament i also had a similar sentiment for stuff like webtoons originals. there was an added element to me in how i feel like i know a lot of people nowadays who read webtoons but don't have much awareness of other forms of webcomic, but even if in my love for webcomics i want people to come to appreciate all the breadth of ways they can exist in, thats obviously not something to make a huge priority. it's incredible the amount of forms comics can take (sidenote but reading scott mccloud's "understanding comics" a couple years ago was really formative for me in cementing how much i appreciate that, i'd highly recommend it!!!), and the way infinite scroll comics like webtoon style comics more fully make use of their digital medium, using time scrolling to pace things in place of traditional gutters and panelling, is really really cool. of course they're becoming more popular in a world where more people have smartphones, where webtoon style comics are a lot easier to read than many other forms. i love a lot of webtoons, and id feel regressive to discourage stuff like line webtoon original comics any more than stuff like hiveworks comics, just to go against current trends in what comics people seem to prefer. they have a similar low barrier to entry (through contests) as other online publishers, and it's cool to see creators get the opportunity to get paid for their work and get help from professional editors and stuff

but in the past couple weeks of running this tournament, i ended up reading a lot more about the behind the scenes of what its like to be a line webtoon original creator. line webtoon's expectations for their creators are incredibly unrealistic and exploitative, with grueling deadlines leading to a lot of creators to get repetitive strain injuries, all while working for well below industry standards. obviously a lot of webcomic creators make an inconsistent poverty level income out of it as independent creators, and that shouldn't happen either, but it's absolutely inexcusable for a company to profit off this labor and then manufacture these same conditions. without any organized labor movement surrounding that issue, that of course isn't an argument against reading or promoting these comics on its own, creators are more likely to get more income if their comics get more popular, and despite the promise of popularity by becoming an official comic, they absolutely still aren't all promoted equally. what has made me want to slightly more discourage (but still absolutely not disallow!) stuff like line webtoon official comics has been the combination of that along with learning that much of the editing of webtoons originals carries less of the benefits of having experienced creatives collaborating with creators to elevate their stories to new levels, and very often instead ends up taking the form of 'simplify this plotline and make this character look more attractive and fit this archetype more fully so we can market this better and have readers easily consume each update while they're scrolling their phone without having to think about it too much'. while obviously there are a lot of amazing webtoon official comics in spite of what i've heard anectdotally, hearing that just really went against so much of what i've most valued about my experience with webcomics!

i want creators to be able to tell stories no matter how weird and unmarketable, where they'll never have to worry about pushback for making stories with characters and themes that resonate for them as a member of any oppressed group, and where there's as little pressure as possible pushing them to work harder or faster than they healthily can or want to! so for me, even if i still love a lot of online published comics and want them to be celebrated and want their creators to be able to make a comfortable living out of them, i still just want to highlight stories that had that level of freedom that has created some of my favorite experiences with webcomics just a little bit more.

#sorry this is so long lol i am simultaneously so bad at expressing things and so so passionate about talking about things #also sidenote i feel like i unintentionally sound like i'm making an individualist sort of point of 'individual creator vs people who want #to change their work' here but thats absolutely not my intention. its just coincidentally undre capitalism oftentimes its hard for a lot of #people to have get together and have the resources to make something together without being paid for it #which leads to most more collaborative forms of storytelling being more profit motivated (like movies for example) #but im so incredibly interested in alternate forms of collaboration and cooperative models for storytelling and making art. i get why #its rarer in our current society but i love love love when i've seen webcomics doing that. often the best of both with being able to tell #stories that really need telling that people are passionate about #and with the refinement and texture of all the input and skills of everyone involved #such a tangent though lol. but yeah would love recs for stuff like that! #wctrelated #notwctpoll #anonymous #asks #long post

[aristotels]

Thinking about art and fiction and concepts of ownership and honestly it's kinda fucked that collaborative and transformative storytelling is literally as old as time and one of the most basic human instincts that exists, but the only good word it we have right now is "fanfiction"

and when you tell people you write fanfiction they think you're some kind of cringe weirdo and possibly pervert and then the whole thing gets derailed by this bizarre side discussion into how "No it's not all porn, it's absolutely everything and anything imaginable, duh, but like, even if it were all porn, that would also be okay". Like I'm all for pointing out the double standards about how published authors who put sex into their stories don't lose any respectability (especially if they're men, and especially if the sex is cishet), but the second I, a fanfiction person, add a romantic arc into my plotty casefic suddenly I'm a fujoshi with shipper brainrot etc etc-

But it's tiring that this is even a focal point

My favourite funny and sad thing is watching people (usually dudes) who clearly either view themselves as above fanfiction or have simply never ever thought of themselves as "the type" to do creative writing discover The Fanfiction Urge, because the way they express it is like. An increasingly passionate and detailed video essay about how Movie should have gone instead, or, my favourite, a story about something cool that happened to them in XCOM or Darkest Dungeon or some other Difficult Game For Serious Gamers and by the end of the post they're legitimately just writing prose. Like look at this! LOOK! Damn if this person didn't speedrun the gamerbro-to-AO3 pipeline just for a sec. And not that there's anything wrong with those formats but it makes you wonder if that's something they'd be interested in exploring more if their wings got unclipped

Or DnD. Small wonder that TTRPGs are becoming so popular when they're one of the few increasingly non-cringe ways to do the extremely basic human urge of Tell Story Collaboratively

A friend of mine had this to say recently about his own struggles with this kind of internal bias:

i'd like to try out Thousand-Year-Old Vampire (a solo role-playing game with minimal rules to make you write your own narrative) and my toxic masculinity is getting in the way. discouraging thoughts include: i'm not creative enough; creative writing is for Floofy Humanities types and i am a Cold STEM type; it's not a real game unless it has Systems that you can Study and Master. would anyone like to say something encouraging?

and honestly that's incredibly illuminating innit isn't it. The splitting off of creative activity (not just fanfiction, either) into something only for Floofy Humanities Types but not Serious People and the way it's linked to whether or not you can make money off it... oof.

This became a long post thank you for your patience

ngl i just dont rly care that much for fandoms... i like fanfic, i read it and write it, but i dont rly see fandom as my identity or smth i particularly care about, to me all of it is just the same as me playing with barbie dolls.

i dont think its something special that can be compared to actual literature and i think there are certain problems w booktok people relying on tropes that come from fanfic mentality. its just not the same, and i do wish people who like fanfic would sometimes also read.......some actual books sometimes

i just generally dont see what youre describing as some huge thing or problem, i think anti-kink ppl doxxing artists is the major worrisome thing when it comes to fandoms, but i think the doxxers also take the whole fandom experience too seriously

and i say this as someone who also writes fanfic, so like, it rly isnt me going "fanfic authors/readers are stupid", i find fanfic super cool to explore yourself, fanart taught me sooo much as an artist, i even enjoy roleplaying; all of this serves a very real purpose of exploring things as a human in realms of fiction, and pre-existing characters make that easier. i think that can be very useful, we learn about ourselves through books and stories. i just think fandom should be treated the way it is - playtime with toys ✌️

[exitpursuedbyavulcan]

People having different opinions does not mean they’re being “rude” to other people within a fandom. You can disagree with tons of takes and that doesn’t mean you’re being aggressive or judgmental to them? There are literally people in this fandom telling others to kill themselves and sending various other abusive messages and yet you’re judging my ask as being too harsh…….you have a nice day.

Howdy! Sorry for the delay in responding, the store I was getting stocking stuffers at is unfortunately right next door to our local Christmas village so that was a child-filled nightmare.

If you'll go back to my original response, I gave very specific examples of the language in your asks that I took issue with. None of them had anything to do with your opinions on the story or characters we were discussing. What bothered me was the way you spoke about those who have different opinions from yours, as I found that language disrespectful. The only actual story opinion I replied to in that post was my disagreement with the importance of Alys' role in Aemond's story. If you read that again, you will notice that I never asserted my opinions as facts, I always included qualifiers (I believe, I think, etc.), as that is the courtesy I was taught to use in critical debate.

You have very, very interesting interpretations and opinions about HotD and the original book the story comes from that I would love to discuss. However, it does not appear to me that you want to have a genuine conversation that includes others' opinions and sharing why we interpret the story in different ways. To me, it seems like you are staunchly adherent to your interpretations and view anyone who disagrees with you (even respectfully, as I tried to do) as wrong and inferior. This is the wrong attitude to have if you want to engage in literary or media criticism.

I do want to apologize, as I did get a little sassy in some parts of my response. That's something I've been trying to work on for a while, and I will try my hardest to be better about it in the future. I say 'in the future' because I don't want to discourage anyone from coming to me, in my asks or in my DMs, to discuss the book or the show. I love having these conversations. I really, really miss doing this in school but alas, I am now an adult with a job that does not include this.

I also want to address your comments about death threats people have received in this fandom. Believe me, I am painfully aware of this issue, some people I care for very much have received them, and I condemn it wholeheartedly. But the severity of one person's wrongdoings does not discount the wrongness of others which are not as severe as a death threat. I have a very low tolerance for rudeness of any kind, and because of that I will approach all of it the same way: I will call out the problem, and take appropriate action. This is not me conflating rude language with making a death threat by any means, just me explaining that I will not tolerate any of it.

This will be the last post I make on this issue. If you would like to reach out to me again, please do so privately. I was really enjoying our discussion, and I'm very sad it came to this.

-Mel

#asks

[roeyliteratiforever]

It's like Rory anti's literally spin anything to try to prove she's the "worst" or to convince themselves why they hate her and they are nothing but stupid reasons. If I have to hear "Rory had everything handed to her" or "Rory is a spoiled brat" or "Rory is the worst because she dropped out of Yale and can't handle criticism" I'm gonna lose it!

She did not have everything handed to her. She worked her ass off to get into Yale and worked super hard towards her goals. Anyone who thinks "Rory has everything handed to her" did you not watch seasons 1-3 where she worked herself so hard where all she wanted to do was study and read or do extra curriculars to get into Yale? She worked herself so hard to the point her first boyfriend started getting jealous because she would work towards her education instead of spending time with him. She got accepted because she deserved to be there. She didn't get there from her grandparents money they helped pay where she was PAYING BACK! It was a LOAN! Her grandparents didn't just hand out money to her to buy her way into Yale like Logan's parents did she worked hard for it!

She was not a "spoiled brat" either she grew up in a garden shed and the small town of Stars Hollow and even when people tried to put her on a pedestal she fought back she hated how the town and everybody was towards her. Even when she dropped out and was staying in the pool house SHE WAS WORKING! She was not a spoiled brat she was always super grateful for the things people do for her, and even did so much for everyone around her. If anyone needed anything Rory was constantly there for them. Even when Paris was mean to her she was nothing but nice and patient with her and if she ever needed anything Rory was always there for her. I love Paris I'm not attacking her but Rory was always there for Paris even when she wasn't so nice to Rory. She did everything her mother or grandparents asked of her because she didn't want to disappoint them but if Rory has a knee jerk emotional response the fandom is like "oh she's a spoiled brat" instead of understanding that she is just human and messes up sometimes, or in a bad emotional state, but eventually she does come to her senses about most things after she's had space to think things over.

If you hate her for taking a break from Yale that's just so stupid. Lots of people take breaks from school because they aren't sure what they want to do. In Rory's case all she has ever wanted was to be a journalist and having someone so high up in the industry tells you that you don't have what it takes or you aren't good enough is soo crushing! Most people would be so hurt by it, and that was all Rory has ever known and when Mitchum told her that she was so discouraged and needed a break to figure things out and that's perfectly okay. Think if you were in Rory's shoes and someone tell you that you don't have what it takes to achieve your dream how would you react? I'm so amazed how people can't have a lick of compassion over that situation, to add icing on the cake her mom...I love Lorelai but she literally cut her off when she was in a bad emotional crisis and she needed her mom during that time, and that really crushed her more. I'm currently going through a situation like Rory at the moment and I can attest that it's so fucking relatable what Rory was going through. When I first started going to school for the program I was on my counselor also didn't think I had what it took and it hurt and when I started taking the courses it did end up being really hard, and I have been in a burn out and have been struggling with depression and I just needed a break. I got to a point of thinking is this something that I still want to do because everything just feels so uncertain right now. She is literally the most relatable character ever. I love her so much and I can't take these stupid takes that people have to hate her. It's like people will find any reason to hate her and I'm over it!

#rory gilmore #rory gilmore defense #Rory gilmore appreciation #This is a rory gilmore appreciation account #gilmore girls #jess and rory #jess mariano #jess x rory #rory and jess #rory x jess #team jess #literati