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noisyghost · 10 days

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Ooo you fed me so well, I wasn’t even sure if I would get answers! So now I’m gonna try my hand at asking who bit Ark, what happened?! This is so juicy (rubbing my gremlin hands together).

oh rest assured, I will answer any and all OC related questions with overwhelming fervor and I will not be cool about it at all <3

The person that bit Ark was Josie! She's what the girlies like to call "a hot mess" <3

im so sorry this reply is so long. I started typing and kept failing to summarize things until it was. way too many paragraphs lmao. TLDR; Ark and Mira were attempting to rescue a woman named Josie who'd basically been manipulated into servitude by a very shitty guy. Josie also happens to be a werewolf. At some point during the attempted rescue, Josie had to watch someone she cared about a lot be killed, and she immediately wolfed out and attacked everyone around her, including Ark <3

I did not proofread this after typing it and it's 1am so i'm sorry if some things dont line up correctly, im stupid :)

Josie got bit when she was 18 on a camping trip with friends and it subsequently ruined her life. She survived bc a monster hunter killed the werewolf before it killed her, but she still got bit and ended up running away from home bc the aforementioned monster hunter told her to (it was either "run away and never come back" or "im killing you right now for real") everyone in her family thinks she died except her sister, Rose, who saw it happen and - upon never finding the body - spent the next 10 or so years looking for her.

Because Josie never really had anyone to explain to her what was going on, or support her in any way, she spent a lot of time alone, and subsequently fell into some pretty dark places. She eventually finds herself stuck in a monster fighting ring bc shes been conditioned to think that this is literally all shes good for. At the very least, she makes "good friends" with another werewolf girl stuck in the same spot as her named Cleo and theyre basically the only thing keeping each other alive for the next couple years.

At some point in all this, her sister Rose manages to track her down, but worried about her and her sisters safety, gets in contact with Mira (who is functionally the lynchpin holding the entire cities supernatural community together whether anyone knows it or not lmao) to ask for help rescuing her from the guy basically keeping her prisoner.

Aforementioned guy keeping these monster girls prisoner was named Dekker, and he was basically the scum of the earth. He dealt in monsters and magic and took advantage of a lot of peoples inability to get help (EX: 'you're a werewolf. what are you gonna do? who's gonna help you? no one. theyll just think you're crazy, and then youll end up killing innocent people because you're a monster and that's what you do). Josie and Cleo were his favorite girls and he showboated them around as both arm candy and bodyguards.

The thing with Mira and her work is that she likes to help people as best she can, but she's not like. A superhero with all the latest tech. She's a woman with a smartphone and a handful of 30 year old weirdo friends that share a group chat where someone will text "do we have plans this weekend?" and then someone will reply 3 days later with "i forgot what day it was". They're not exactly the justice league.

All they were trying to do was find Josie and rescue her for her sister. Mira has a lot of power and can do a lot of things, but this Dekker guy was notoriously slippery, and no amount of brute force was going to get them into one of these monster fights without notifying Dekker and giving him a chance to escape with the girls.

So, after tracking down one of these fights, the plan was to sneak in, find Josie and then convince her to leave with them. Originally, it was just supposed to be Mira doing all the legwork. But Ark, who was going thru a fucking crisis of identity at the time and also saw a lot of his own sister in Rose, essentially demands Mira lets him help under the guise of "I'm human, I'm way less likely to draw unwanted attention". Esp since Mira is a 6'4" goddess who attracts attention everywhere she goes lmao (Of note, they had several friends who also urged Ark to Not Volunteer To Do This, but outside factors made it unrealistic for this plan to work without getting caught with anyone other than Ark oops).

So Ark went in to find Josie and Mira was anxiously playing support, ready to rush in and save him if need be. And, to be fair, he did in fact find Josie! He told her who he was and who sent him here (Rose) and told her all she had to do was go find Mira and she would get her out. But Josie was skeptical and, frankly, afraid. She didn't believe that Mira had the power to keep her safe from Dekker, but she also didn't want to believe that her sister had been looking for her for 10 years because she was so disgusted with herself she would have preferred her sister just think she was dead!

However - Cleo, who was with Josie, did not share her fears. Cleo had had Enough, and wanted to run away with her. Josie panicked, afraid that if they ran, they were going to be hunted down and everyone involved with her was going to be killed.

So she ran away to a back room to calm down. Cleo went after her, and Ark kind of followed, but at a distance. Cleo did manage to get her settled a little, but the both of them got caught by Dekker, who harassed Josie into admitting that there was someone there trying to get them to leave, hoping he would respect the honesty. He did not.

To try and mitigate some of the flack, Cleo claimed she was the one the guy was talking to, so he would chew her out instead. Josie and Cleo both felt bad that they'd fucked this guy over, but if he was with someone as powerful as he claimed to be, he'd be alright, surely?

Apparently this was not the first time Cleo has been distant from Dekker recently. It was clear she wasn't as afraid of him as he thought she should be. So he made the executive decision to make an example out of her.

The thing about werewolves and the full moon is this: the full moon is the only time when a werewolf is forced to turn. However, they can technically turn whenever if you supply enough trauma. For Josie, that line was watching Dekker kill the only person she'd loved in the last decade.

He'd expected her to fall in line because that's what she'd been doing for the last few years. He didn't really know what Cleo had meant to her, so he hadn't expected any retaliation. But something snapped in her brain and everything kinda went red.

Josie's a particularly large werewolf - at least 13'; there's a reason she was a fighting champion - so when a beast like that gets let loose in a relatively small arena, things tend to go bad fast! She just blindly started tearing people apart (including Dekker, of course).

Ark had heard the muffled gunshots over the music and the crowd and he just went in on instinct, knowing immediately he was fucked regardless of what he did. Things escalated very quickly after that. It couldn't have been more than 30 seconds that passed inbetween Josie wolfing out and her clamping her teeth into his shoulder. And maybe it was just a moment of grief-stricken clarity, but she wavered just slightly - what the fuck was she doing? She hated him because he'd tried to help and if he'd never shown up, they would be fine. But Cleo had trusted him without a doubt, like she just intrinsically knew something about him. And no matter how much she hated him in that moment, It's not what Cleo would have wanted. Dekker was dead.

Josie gently let go of him, mostly sure it wouldn't matter because he'd die either way. She took Cleo's body and she fled. Mira saw Ark, and she saw Josie run - she could choose one or the other. She, of course, chose to help Ark, immediately struck with the guilt of knowing that he was here because she couldn't talk him out of it, and because she thought she'd be strong enough to keep him safe anyway.

The next couple weeks are a blur for everyone. Mira hates Josie and she hates Rose for coming to her in the first place. Ark hates himself, mostly, because he was tired of being the weak little human everyone had to dote on so he decided to get in over his head playing hero. Well, at least he didnt have to worry about the human part any more.

Josie buried Cleo in the woods. She marked the grave and visits often.

Anyway.

Would you believe me if I told you this very sad series of events somehow ends in Ark marrying a professional wrestler? Or Josie going on to become a lawyer with a house-husband who is also part demon? Because it somehow gets much, much weirder.

#shut up bug #not art #bug answers #absolutely deranged headworld i've built #'when does the guy with blue hair show up'#don't worry about it

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peachesofteal · 4 months

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with all these asks im resigning myself more and more to the bittersweet ending of them not getting back together but it being for the benefit of them all 😭

they obviously love eachother so much but for several chapters there’s this idea that’s been floating in the back of my head haunting me lol. idk when it’s mentioned, but you said in an ask that ‘simon’s job when he’s home is just darling’ in that he shoulders taking care of her. which is so lovely and when she isn’t doing well it seems necessary, BUT i feel like its cruel long term. he almost sets her up to fail (not on purpose) bc he gives her all of the support and attention he can and then he goes basically no contact for an indeterminate amount of time in a very dangerous environment where he can’t guarantee he’ll ever come home, and when she falters without the crutch, he gets home and has to do so much legwork just for her to get back to “baseline”. and this repeats over and over and she never gets the opportunity to really take control of her own health and wellness.

i can’t see it working longterm if one or both of the boys stays on fieldwork, but i feel like simon talking to price was about getting to him to switch to deskwork but the Hand of Author God makes me feel like him switching wouldn’t have worked if bringing it up for the first time made everything so fucked up like this lmao. like, for this whole blowup to happen because she never let him finish his sentence to say “i’m switching off fieldwork” seems like too much of a consequence for it to be the ONLY problem with the plan

him being on deskwork fixes the on-off support with darling, but he’d probably be miserable and then johnny would be alone in the field without his support. and the 141 would be definitely kneecapped if half their team transitioned to deskwork, and i feel like there’s too much camaraderie for them to leave Price and Gaz high and dry like that

i think it’ll end up happy but not in the way that erases all of the issues that have been building. which sucks. but is very empowering to darling, to potentially see her get out of the cycle of hurt that honestly hurts MORE since it comes from such pure intentions. she loves her boys and they love her but it’s so hard on them all :’)))) maybe a few years down the line when she’s more solid and self-sufficient she could withstand the downsides of their job better, and maybe by then they’d be semi retired from age or injury anyways, but idk. then it starts to become simple math HAHAHA

id love for u to prove me entirely wrong and be like no actually the power of love fixes it all, they all get happy and pseudo married or whatever and no one is sad ever again but i feel like you’re not gonna do that lmfao

anyways hugs and kisses for this story its eating me alive HAHAHA

All I will say is happy endings are ✨ subjective ✨ but don’t resign yourself to anything, just wait and see 🖤

#frogladder #peaches asks

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anonymousad · 9 months

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Just learned about your blog, and I have been SO tired of keeping quiet about my issues with Harlan. I was in the Invictus server for about 2 years and I saw so much. I'm going to bullet point what I can remember:

-Harlan has repeatedly posted screenshots of negative reviews/critiques without redacting usernames, despite being advised that it could lead to fans dogpiling

-He has shared screenshots of emails from his family where they said negative things about him, which is wildly inappropriate for a creator to share with his fans

-Some of the perks to being an Invictus patreon member is getting weekly Malevolent episodes (which then get put together as a single longer public episode) and typically an episode ends with a choice and patreon members at certain tier and above can vote on which option is chosen, like a choise your own adventure story. Back in October someone voiced their disappointment in not getting to vote in the patreon poll because Harlan closed it on a Friday instead of a Sunday as normal, he went on an emotional spiral where he lashed out at fans, said "anyone who is unhappy being a patreon doesn't have to be a patreon", and tried to guilt trip people by bringing up his son.

-Other perks of higher patreon tiers include a personal message from a character of your choosing at the $25 tier and a personal thank you video from Harlan and Jo at the $50. I know of multiple people who paid at the $25 tier for months, a few who paid for a whole year at once, who didn't receive these rewards until they reached out and contacted Harlan themselves, months after they had paid for the tier. And they did have to be the ones to message Harlan, when it was brought to his attention that there were many people waiting for their rewards he didn't do any legwork himself to find out who's had never been fulfilled, which is extremely unprofessional.

-Everything up to now has just been the things I saw as a member of the server with access to the patreon channels. I'm friends with an ex-mod, and her getting kicked from the mod team was my sign to give up on the server and finally leave it. I hadn't posted anything in there in months, and I didn't make any sort of "im leaving" post, I just dipped. Apparently they keep track of who's left the server, because Harlan DM'd me saying he was sorry to see me go and he was there if I ever wanted to talk. When I didn't respond overnight, he followed up with "Well, if you ever want to hear my side of this thing with [former mod], I'll be here 🙂". I still don't understand what his intention was in messaging me, but I was curious so I engaged him in conversation and he sent me a screenshot of the message he had sent her explaining why she was being removed from the mod team. I just want to point out that I never asked to see any screenshot. When I asked if he had ever established mod expectations he tried to pass me off to another Invictus admin, despite the fact he was the one who contacted me and I was no longer a member of the server. I told him that he needed better boundaries in his interactions towards fans (or ex-fans in my case) and that there was no reason for him to have messaged me. Instead of apologizing or responding in any way, he simply blocked me.

I am aware of other things that have happened in the server since I left, but I don't want to share stories I haven't been given the ok to bring up or talk about things I've only heard about secondhand. I've been uncomfortable with the way Harlan publicly interacts with people for a long time now, and I kept quiet because I didn't want to start drama but at this point it feels irresponsible to not talk about it.

this anon says they saw a lot over the 2 years they were in the server, so I would like to say upfront that I don't know how much of that is things that have stopped and been addressed and how much has continued more recently.

some of these points seem more related to other aspects than the discord, like apparent issues with the Patreon supporter relationship side of things.

#anonymous ad #anonymous #malevolent discord #Malevolent patreon #again I want to state I don't know whether some of these points are or aren't still valid #so I guess it's your own discretion or experience on that aspect #as I said if things are addressed appropriately then I don't know how much good it does to bring them up over and over #if they aren't dealt with then you start getting into “pattern of behavior” kind of stuff

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bmodiwrites · 2 years

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Please do this for Steddie!!! "you bought me a SWORD? OH MAN IM GONNA BE SO DANGEROUS". There is much potential for epicness.

I clapped my hands together when I saw this in my inbox! I didn't even know it was on this meme I reblogged, but I'm stoked to see it. Little known fact about me, I'm a black belt, so swords are near & dear to me. I even have a small little collection. Anyway... Here's Steve being the best ever -

Steve's hands were tight around the wheel, the knuckles of his fingers a little white from the grip. He'd been on edge and nervous for most of his shift. Something special took up space in his trunk, drawing Steve's attention no matter how hard he tried. It was his first time giving such a meaningful gift and he wanted it to be perfect.

To be clear -the story truly started when he and Eddie decided to move in together.

They'd been dating for a little more than a year when Eddie made the suggestion - it was almost casual in the way he first brought it to the table. Steve vividly remembered turning from the stove at his parents place with a smile on his face when Eddie called his name. He was breathy, saying "Steve" like he sometimes did in bed. It was impossible to worry about the eggs when Eddie's tone was tangible temptation.

Steve said "yeah, babe?" like he was annoyed by the interruption, even though a beaming smile overtook his face, giving his true feelings away. Eddie knew him well enough to return the look with a little smirk.

"I found an apartment I think we should take a look at." He said it with so much confidence and ease, like there was no sane option for Steve other than agreeing. While Steve was 100% on board with that sentiment, he was still ever so slightly taken aback. He allowed finishing up the eggs to take away his attention for a moment, long enough, at least, to collect himself. When he turned back to Eddie, Steve was resolute in his decision.

"Kind of you to do the legwork, Eds. I have Thursday off this week, want to go then?"

They went that Thursday to discover a nicely priced place that would do well for a first home together. It was a two bedroom spot that gave them the freedom to intently browse without a second look from the realtor. The balding old man didn't need to know that Steve and Eddie were quietly making plans for a game room as they walked around. Sharing a bedroom was nobody's business but their own.

Steve hated to admit how exhilarated he felt when he signed his name on the line next to Eddie's when the apartment first became their's. His head was already swimming with the bigness of sharing space with the person he hoped to spend the rest of his time with. Thinking about what it meant for them, as a couple, to share legal responsibility for something was just too much.

Except, it really wasn't. As they settled in and made the place their own, Steve started to like the intensity of commitment living together brought about. When plans were made, Steve didn't have to second guess that Eddie would be right there with him. Cooking dinner at night meant learning the in's and out's of Eddie's favorite foods and finding the best ways to keep the man out of the kitchen without hurting his feelings. Tangling their things together also came with the inevitable warping of lives and stories and hopes for the future.

When Steve looked at Eddie, which he got to do quite often in the hours they were at home together, he saw the future. He couldn't wait to witness the deepening of Eddie's laugh lines and the graying of his hair. They were young but Steve understood that time moved fast and he wanted it to pass him with Eddie by his side. Never mind the fact that Steve was more than certain Eddie felt the same way. He'd never been with someone who made their feelings known the way Eddie did. It was refreshing and reassuring and soothing to be sure of something that was just for him.

Which meant that Steve found it mandatory to put pressure on himself when it came to celebrating holidays and successes and birthdays with the person he so desperately wanted to make happy. Their first Christmas in the apartment was a grump fest of epic proportions until Steve burnt the turkey and they spent the night doing what they did best - laughing, getting high, listening to music, and making love. Steve knew in a relationship as easy as their's, that worrying about tangible shit was silly. Though, he did it anyway.

As Eddie's 22nd birthday approached, Steve felt the familiar tightness starting to well up in his chest. They went to a Metallica concert the year before, so he knew it was going to be tough to top such an evening. Even Steve, who wasn't their biggest fan, enjoyed the heck out of himself. It'd been a miracle he managed to nab the tickets when he did - expecting something like that to come along twice was just too much to ask.

Of course, Steve forgot that he was surrounded by nosy little geniuses. Now that the kids were a little further in their teens, all of their finer qualities were heightened. Meaning Dustin Henderson's penchant for sniffing out information was reaching top notch.

All of the kids, Ericka included, were gathered in the game cave where Eddie was finishing up one of his epic campaigns. While Steve didn't play, he liked to hang out on the couch and watch the proceedings. With the addition of Max and El to the campaigns, there was never a dull moment. Usually, Steve pretended to watch TV while he sneakily listened to Eddie's voice - the night Dustin caught him out, Steve was flipping through a Gaming Monthly magazine looking for ideas.

"There's nothing good coming out until at least May," Dustin said, pulling Steve away from his racing thoughts. Though he already knew that based on his research throughout the evening, Steve still quirked a brow, trying for confusion.

Dustin wasn't deterred by the look - the kid never was. "I've got something better for you to thumb through. I'll bring it next week." He nodded at Steve like his word made it so, then followed the rest of the crew out of the room and into the kitchen where Eddie was more than likely taking orders for grilled cheeses. Shaking his head, Steve got up from his spot on the couch and followed Dustin down the hall to help Eddie feed the crew.

As promised, Dustin pushed a beat up weapons guide into Steve's hands the next week, smiling widely. "There's a blacksmith I know that makes a few of those - I circled them for you."

Steve couldn't help the incredulous look on your face. "You know a blacksmith?" While it wouldn't be all that surprising that the party had a plethora of interesting people in their back pocket, Steve didn't have restraint enough not to ask.

Dustin's smile grew a little, his dark eyes sparkling. "When Lucas got his license, we got to go to the Renaissance Festival in Indianapolis. You meet all kinds of people there."

Before Steve could ask anymore, Eddie was calling order to the party, demanding Dustin's attention.

Despite the fact that Steve didn't want to admit it, Dustin's help was futile. Steve had a great time thumbing through Eddie's DnD notes and reference books when his boyfriend wasn't home, looking for commonly used weapons and preferences to aesthetics. Once Steve decided on the custom gift, he was ready to put in the effort to make it perfect.

Being so unfamiliar made the task a little more difficult than Steve expected, yet he enjoyed it all the same. Once the research portion of the endeavor was over, Steve spent a handful of Saturday mornings in the forge experiencing the process of moving metal.

The finished product was done a whole week before Eddie's birthday, which made getting to the day almost impossible. Steve was so excited by the work the surprisingly laid back weapon maker put together that not sharing was killing him.

Finally, Steve was minutes away from letting Eddie in on the secret and he couldn't wait. He left work earlier than usual in hopes of beating Eddie home from the garage. Steve didn't foresee much of a chance of inconspicuousness if his boyfriend was home. For once, luck was one his side and Eddie's van wasn't in its usual parking spot.

Steve was just able to get Eddie's gift in the door before Eddie got home. He banged through the place like the force of nature he was, throwing off his shoes and making his way into the kitchen. His long hair was still up in a low ponytail when Steve saw him. They shared a look, then Eddie grinned.

"What do you have there, pretty boy?" Eddie asked from behind his hair. He was chewing on a few strands, staring at Steve eagerly.

Steve nodded at the table - "why don't you find out for yourself?"

There was no hesitation; Eddie shifted from his spot at the doorframe until he was in Steve's space, then past him (though, not without a very thorough brush of their bodies). His still grease streaked fingers were nimble on the purple fabric that covered the scabbard of the Greatsword.

Steve watched with fascination as Eddie took in the dark leather covering a wood on the grip that would withstand actual battle (or so he'd been told, anyway). The sword was Damascus steel, swirling together to make a pattern that made the thick line of metal look even more regal. Eddie's eyes were all over the place, more than likely processing every one of the the details.

Eddie finally glanced at Steve with an open mouth before his excitement boiled over. "You bought me a sword? Oh man I'm gonna be so dangerous!" His voice was thick and rich like honey, the happiness in his words tangible.

They both marveled at the sword for a while longer, talking about details and specifics Eddie couldn't get enough of. Steve was happy to talk about the creation process he witnessed, absolutely anything to watch Eddie's eyes light up the way that they were. When there was nothing left to say on the matter, Steve leaned into Eddie's space, wrapping both arms around him. They shared a kiss, then Steve whispered "happy birthday, Eds," into the skin of Eddie's neck.

Strong hands on his cheeks had them eye to eye a moment later. "I love you, Steve." Eddie looked at him longingly, trying so desperately to portray just how much.

Grinning, because Steve already knew, he closed the space between them, whispering a low "I love you, too" before taking Eddie's lips again.

To say Eddie liked his present would've been an understatement. When the party came over for the next leg of the campaign following Eddie's birthday, each of them were told the tail of Eddie the Banished's Greatsword and the adventures he planned to take with it.

Steve made sure to corner Dustin in the kitchen later, elbowing him playfully in the side. He waited for the kid to look at him before smiling softly. "Thanks. For the help."

Dustin, ever the little shit, grinned triumphantly. "I know my dads well."

Prompts to Shake Things Up

#steddie #steve harrington x eddie munson #eddie munson x steve harrington #steve x eddie #steve/eddie #henderfamily #henderdads #stranger things #bobbie writes #prompts to shake things up

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96percentdone · 7 months

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hi i am the same anon as earlier dksjhjgf ive been following you for a short while! I'm in this fun camp where i love what AINI could have been if it *hadn't* been a sequel, or didn't have such heavy emphasis on seemingly undoing so much of the emotional character legwork for recurring characters - but i also think its an incredibly valuable extension of the universe it's set in and has *so many* incredible plot points. i love that someone else genuinely enjoys the game!! because i do too! the somniums were fun and refreshing and felt like new twists on an already good idea! the doubles reveal is genuinely cool and interesting, i just wish it wasn't specifically with that character. ryuki is extremely close to my heart as a character! when stuff starts to fall apart for him later in the game i had to take a break because that closeness started to really affect me. i LOVE seeing a multitude of perspectives instead of just my own, or just the opinions of the people who introduced me to the game. AINI is SO dear to me it makes me ill i just. I just wish it either followed up clearer or divorced itself more from the original storyline. i DO eagerly await your essay and the points you'll make, im excited to be able to expand upon my own views! but also thank you for the initial response too, and i hope your day has gone well!!

Ah, see, that's where you and I are not on the same page at all. It's like what I illustrated in my last answer; I think a sequel is only bad if refuses to commit to saying anything. I think a lot of criticism of DD and SoJ is bad, because the angle is focused on them not being more Apollo Justice as opposed to why the actual text of the work is a mess, which is the true reason they're bad sequels. I won't write a worse version of my essay here or the 17k I've already written will go waste, and I want my defense to be as well thought out and coherent as the game itself, but I wish very dearly that the fandom would criticize AINI as it exists and not for failing to be a hypothetical AITSF 2.

People will yell up and down that Nirvana Initiative overwrites the original cast and turns them into hollow facsimiles, that it's disrespectful to Mizuki especially and cancels her story, and I could not disagree more. As a follow up, I literally only take issue with Date's stupid mask, and that's about the execution not its existence. Yeah, that's right I am going to defend Mizuki's writing! I said what I said! Nirvana Initiative has undone nothing. It expands on the ideas about love and family that came before while adding new layers to those concepts, and it's biggest writing flaws are the misogynistic tendencies that were also on full display in the first game.

I love Nirvana Initiative so much. I think it's beautiful. Dying on this hill is not a choice; it is my righteous duty!

Thank you for the asks. I enjoy having excuses to expand on my hot takes. Enjoy the rest of your day or night or whatever time it is for you!

#hope.txt #i love being controversial by going to bat for a thing people don't like #it's far more satisfying that being a hater of things everyone likes #it's good to love!!!!#I LOVE NIRVANA INITIATIVE MAN!!!!!

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revasserium · 7 months

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but in the meantime, i love love love childhood friends to lovers too <3 all the best with the zoro fic! -- @anonymilk

i love how in the previous reply of my ask you said you don't have the energy to write and your new zoro fic is estimated to be hella long. go girl, give us your blood, sweat, and tears <3 (im saying all these with a sincere and endearing tone XD). how is the progress of that fic? you said that you normally write without much planning, and you seldom do drafts (iirc), but is it the same for long fics? how do you handle longer fics? what sparked the idea?? also don't forget to drink water and take breaks! also, dw abt not having "that girl" tips for dealing with stress. i also have a few bad habits up my sleeve, although thankfully it has been sort of controlled and i hopefully won't spiral again XD

LMFAO LAWD go on -- expOSE me some more why dont u HAHAH. no but in all honesty, i think it was a combo of me feeling super inspired by opla, opla fandom being fucking HYPER active right now, and actually (!!!) me forcing myself to read like actual books that i enjoy reading!

i always forget (for some stupid reason) that nothing inspires me to write like reading does. and you'd that after almost 20 years of reading and writing voraciously, i'd have learned that by now but alas, here we are -- every single fucking time.

it's like pms-ing, and then realizing when u get ur period that u were feeling genocidal bc of pms... and just like living through that cycle every month. whomph.

and yes, you're right -- i do write with zero plan. i still write with zero plan. but the its like... hm. how do i say this without sounding absolutely unhinged and literally clinically insane --

whenever i feel inspired to write down a story, i'll hear/see/feel the first few lines in my head, like literally word for word, the sentences will just... unfurl inside my brain. and i'll get this like vague, misty impression of how the story might go. now IF at this point in time, i'm in a place where i can write down the first few lines and "pin down" the start of the story, then it's safe. it's home free. think of it like... tendrils of silk on a high wind -- if i manage to catch the end of one and pin it down, the rest of the string might still flutter in the wind, but there's much less chance of it just flying away.

now if i DONT manage to get those first few lines pinned down to a word doc or a notion page or like... the back of a grocery store receipt, then the story simply flies off, towards another willing creative who might have the time and energy to pin it down instead. it's happened plenty where the start of stories will come to me when im in bed or riding the subway or whatever, and i'm too tired or there's no service or whatever -- and i decide to let that story go. but literally it'll just flitter through me and then by the time i sit down somewhere i can actually write, i'll have forgotten the whole thing.

but after i've got the beginning down, there's a high chance that while i'm writing the beginning, i'll get some idea of how i want it to end (this isn't always the case; a lot of times the end won't come to me till i'm solidly halfway through). so i'll like write down roughly how the story wants to end, and from there, i have to do the legwork of filling in the middle -- aka GETTING from the beginning to the end.

and truthfully, i still don't plan. i have no idea how most of the story will go. but i like to think of the story as it's own kind of living thing as opposed to it coming from like... inside me. so i trust it like it's a living thing too, i trust that if i write down the beginning and then as much as i can of it, it'll stay put where it's supposed to be till i have time to come back to it. and so far, that's what's worked for me.

this is the case even for my "longer" fics, and i think the longest i've written on this blog is like... 4/5k, but in my personal "archives" of fics i've just written for myself (there's a kakashi fic, a criminal minds spencer reid fic, and an inuyasha fic, that are all like 50k+ words each, and unfinished), this is still the case. i just write what comes to me, and trust that if a story wants to and is meant to be told by me, it'll stay put for as long as i need it to till i can find the time and energy to take care of it and write it down.

there's no advanced planning, no like... outlines or anything. i still just sit down and write.

before, back when i didn't have to get up at 8am to work a big girl job, i would just tough it out and stay up all night writing till i was done with the story or it was done with me or i got too delusional to keep on writing. but now, as long as i've got a decent start penned down, i can kinda close out the fic whenever i want to, and then come back to it later.

and thank you for reminding me to drink water!!! it's highly necessary haha. AND YES I LOVE CHILDHOOD FRIENDS TO LOVERS BRO. i can't wait till this fic is finished <3 now this answer got WAYYY fucking long but i hope you enjoyed reading my answer regardless.

#anonymilk #writing advice #im answering ur first ask here so i don't publish ur url! i'll keep that as a secret to myself u__u <3 #dont be embaressed!!! i wont expose you i promise!#🌧 raindrops

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sapphicblight · 1 year

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3, 13, 41, 49 and 50 please? Love your writing and would love to know more 💖💖💖

3. What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics?

insecurity is a big one i’d say. it’s one of my favorite topics to read about in fics too so naturally it made its way into my writing. we’re not gonna look too deeply into how that relates to my own insecurities and journey into learning to love myself, shhhh. crying is also a theme too, because i want my characters to suffer but i also want them to be able to let it out, give them that release shdjfg

as for smut specific details, crying is once again a thing?? ok sure 😅 and overstimulation too, even in the v first smut i ever wrote (your body’s a tether), though the first time i properly went in on that was for eat bathe (make) love where the entire second and third chapter pete is just overstimulated to hell and back. sorry buddy sdbhf

also — im still learning how to write bdsm and kinda chickened out of realllly exploring it for my past fics, so i just kinda stuck to choking and spanking for most of my vp sex scenes, and in the case of intrinsically i actually kind of regret that (the spanking especially, in hindsight i just don’t think it fits the tone and what the characters would do / need right then)

13. Are there any tropes you used to like but don’t anymore?

ooooh shit i actually rly need to think about this one. idk does abo count? shdnjfk i used to read it sort of almost accidentally, not really realizing what i was getting into with that till much later, back when i used to read a lot of sterek fanfiction (and some destiel too). very occasionally an author will do a lot of legwork with worldbuilding and sell me on it for that fic specifically, but in general i havent been into abo or mpreg themes (not counting a ftm trans character in that — the thing i dislike reading is mpreg that can’t occur irl) for a few years now.

i also used to be more into aus that had nothing to do w canon, like high school aus and (for stuff like merlin) modern aus, which is funny bc i wrote a college au and am now writing a historical au w luna, but i never said i wasn’t a hypocrite hdnjgh — but yeah nowadays i almost exclusively read canon-compliant, canon-divergent, or post-canon fics. i came here for these characters in this setting usually, so then that’s what i seek more of 🤷‍♀️

41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

oooh there are MANY. there are some authors whose writing styles have my brain zooming with envy but mostly just so much appreciation and enjoyment. some of my very favorites tend to be angsty fics, and angst is just my go to vibe and genre to read, so while i have many favorites that are more happy or humorous, i'm going to specifically shout out two of the angstiest pete-centric ones that made my chest ache with emotion as i read them: milk teeth by constitutiondumpstat; and only the heart knows. by evashougouki (i still havent gotten around to their recent 20k words pete fic nothing. that i just know is going to break me so good. i rly need to get on that asap but consider this a pre-emptive shoutout to that for probably changing my brain chemistry once i read it as well)

49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!

ohoho well for snippets of the prohibition au i recommend checking luna’s twitter or tumblr, she’s posted a few already!

so instead i’ll post a slightly redacted snippet from the 4th chapter of my mobwife au (‘ultraviolet disguise’, a canon-divergent au where pete never got recruited as bodyguard but ends up caught up in mafia bullshit anyway when he starts dating a mafia don named ‘hwan’ who vegas has been trying to take down for a while now)

50. Answer any question of your choice, or talk about anything you want to talk about!

hmmmm. i think i’ll take this opportunity to grab question 48 (What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it?) and plug @lu-sn’s discotheque rouge which just got a second chapter that makes me want to live inside her specific brand of post-canon vegaspete 💕

#THANK YOU FOR SENDING ME NUMBERS!!!!!#and so many too omg #tumblr ate my first answer so i drafted the second in my notes and am praying all the links and @s are functioning as they should #thank you again!!!!!#text #writing #ask #fic rec #fic recs

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alivehouse · 1 year

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just wondering why you dislike Neil gaiman so much?? not trying to criticize or defend him, just curious

gghhhhh

(this is all just going to be based on good omens related stuff bc i havent really willingly interacted with any other work of his since i was like 12 he is not a great writer imo)

ok before i get into why specifically the way he uses his socials annoys me so much i just want to mention that good omens (tv show) has a serious problem with treating its characters of color poorly/as disposable (which this post goes into) and as far as i know neil has never so much as acknowledged this let alone apologize for it so theres that

but as for why i hate his social media presence specifically so much i just think the way he interacts with his fanbase is annoying & i dont want to use the term 'gaslighting' for something this stupid but i dont even know how else to describe his habit of like. pretending he wrote aziraphale and crowley in a relationship for the sake of clout?

^ he used to regularly regularly say condescending no homo shit like this but then when he realized he could get attention for pretending he wrote queer characters he pulled a 180 and started going 'ohhhh i DID write them in a relationship actually and also trans and also nonbinary i cant believe you didnt GET it just because its SUBTLE im sorry half assed vaguely subtextual scene #5 was not enough for you stupid fa- i mean people'

and he does this shit constantlyyyy and gets no flack for it. in fact a lot of his fanbase encourages it even bc were still stuck on begging for word of god scraps from rich straight men instead of engaging with work made by actual queer people i guess. (ALSO THIS TWEET SPECIFICALLY IS REALLY FUNNY bc like a month later he lied about there being a secret handholding scene in the show to send people on a wild goose chase zooming in on shit trying to find anything just to give him more streams i guess i dont know i think it was a stupid thing to even fall for honestly but it still strikes me as kind of cruel)

i mentioned this in tags before & idk if he still does this but he used to go look up his own name on here to find people talking negatively about him so he could reblog it and get them dogpiled which is why you see people talking negatively about him calling him 'neilman' so much instead of his actual searchable name. literal full grown man picking fights with random people on here bc he knows hell win since hes a famous author and will get backed up no matter what

and ok this is edging into fandom circlejerking (i think hes only said this one a few times but his fanbase brings it up constantly to shield him from any criticisms) so i wont go into this as much as i could but theres this Thing hell do where he says they cant be gay bc they technically arent men bc they arent humans (based on a bit in the book where they feel the need to specify that aziraphale is NOT ACTUALLY GAY after continuously subjecting him to homophobic language/aggression) and people will bend over backwards trying to interpret this as meaning they are canon nonbinary and Epic Trans Rep and hell vaguely encourage this instead of like acknowledging the extended man-in-a-dress evil nanny bit in the show and pointing out that it was fucked up? & honestly the whole undertone of that is like 'this character might go out of their way to look like and dress like and act like and refer to himself as a man but he cant REALLY be a man because he wasnt Created That Way' like how the fuck am i supposed to be treating this as a trans positive read of the situation lmao. not to mention the 'inhuman = nonbinary,' 'nonbinary = CANT be gay!!! there are no gay nonbinary people i guess' legwork going on here going on here i dont know its a whole mess

PLUS i just think its funny that hes said making characters gay would be disrespectful to his deceased cowriter but pulling an entire second out of his ass for that sweet amazon money apparently isnt lmao

and to finish this off just for fun heres him at the start of the pandemic when there was a crazy high rising death toll making it about his fucking book, + him answering another ask in response to that AFTER he had deleted the original post, to make the person asking him look like they were attacking him for no reason:

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procedurebybyte · 6 months

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the fundamental problem is i started this reread without planning on trying this time either so now that im actually kind of thinking about trying. well i would need to put in some legwork. i still dont even know what the place looks like im bad at visualizing descriptions i would have to put legitimate effort to drawing a map

#i also want to go get an improved death tally #bc they give you a fixed number of ppl in the sanctuary #and deaths in red text are guaranteed etc etc #so i want to try and keep better track of goings on #lb:tftbn

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betchasnatcher · 11 months

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aaauuu au auaaaa auau uau badge stealer *drooling* sweetened deal (smile) i keep writing stuff down in my notes I should start n finish some fanfiction already... something simple maybe a ship thing. I already have some rly nice scenes written down. I cant always rely on visions, i gotta do a bit of legwork too... i should write down a sort of skeleton for the sweetened deal thing even if its no conflict no (or little) climax just them cuddling (+something leading up to that) then falling asleep n snatcher has a trauma nightmare stumbles over to cc already in kitchen (probably not cooking? Im not sure. maybe preparing to cook) n she cheers her up w cup of hot cocoa (reference to cut voiceline) n snatcher goes wait. did you have breakfast yet n she goes ummm not really i was actually getting ready to cook before you came in! n hes like ahhh sorry...... you shouldntve had to take care of me on an empty stomach..... n before it can suggest that itself cc goes ohh thats ok we can cook together! say, are there any.. subconian recipes you know? id love to try something new! or something. n snatchers goes silent (thinking) n like. not really. BUT I COULD fetch a cookbook from our library, in case we have one there. if we have one there. but that could take a while. so they jot that down for another time n make something cc already knows

#talk

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partypocket95 · 2 years

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beast-of-the-occupation · 3 years

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Miranax “Mira” Ref

(backstory under the cut)

Prior to the war, Mira lived in the outlands with Cliff and a small colony of programs, mostly ISOs and a few strays, of which she is neither. Her purpose was as an inventor of sorts, creating technology within the grid to optimize life for the programs living there. However, the coding of her render was flawed; sections were unstable, flickering in and out of existence, with some sections, such as her arm, gone entirely.

This didn’t stop her from serving out her purpose and she was able to make rudimentary stabilizers to prevent the glitching and basic prosthetics for the missing pieces. However, she was still an imperfect program in a system bent on perfection. Though her mind and abilities were completely intact, the programs around her saw only her body and she was frequently barred from being able to live up to her true potential.

That is, until she met Mark, an ISO who’d come in from the outlands to restock supplies. Though he wasn’t originally looking for one, there was no denying the colony needed a tech and she needed something new to do. And there she found it, a technical playground of sorts where she was free to live out her purpose to the highest extent, developing code to make the hard life of the wasteland a little easier for the colonists, as well as work on some personal projects on the side.

She was actually the one who found Cliff, wandering aimlessly in the outlands with no idea of who or where he was, and brought him back to live with the colonists. They quickly developed a familial bond. When the Purge struck, the two of them found a new calling, with Cliff working undercover in the occupation to transport ISOs out of the city, and Mira using the newly developed disguising tech built into her stabilizers to pass unnoticed in the city as she located and brought the fugitives to Cliff for safe passage.

#tron #tron oc #oc: miranax #art tag #there will be a lot more concept art and character refs here than usual #my hope is to make some fan comics in the future with these characters #but im starting with the legwork this time

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djpurple3 · 3 years

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Loceit college au soulmates fic. Background romile (roman x emile). Its 1.30am and im writinf on my phone so forgive typos

Smatterings of angst, happy ending, most under the cut. Fairly short. :)

-- -- --

If Logan had been asked, he would have rolled his eyes at the question of soulmates. He would have said he was well aware they were real, thank you, but that didn't mean the standards weren't unrealistic, and that one didn't have to put in the legwork any relationship required.

He had seen enough relationships around him, soulmates or no, crumble under not-enough care to know.

And if Logan had been brave enough to answer honestly, he would have quietly replied that he did hope he had a soulmate and that he hoped their paths would actually cross.

He knew the statistics. He knew it was not likely, but likely enough to dream otherwise - if he dared.

His older brother, Emile, had pulled him out of home as soon as he could, even if he only could at the start of college, but Logan understood, and he was so, so thankful nonetheless.

And it was so nice to see his brother again - five years his senior - and even nicer to see that he'd found hinself a partner that could paint red across his skin just as he could paint baby-blue-pale-pink across theirs. Roman, their name was, and Emile had met them months ago and they'd been living together alnost since. Logan had been thrilled (even if he found his brother's soulmate obnoxious at times) because it had been a wonderful rebellion to how they'd been raised. They worked. They made the effort. They loved each other.

And Logan wouldn't leave it implied. It made him hopeful.

But studies came first. He threw himself at his degrees (engineering and philosophy, just to keep it interesting) and tried not to get distracted by the very pretty young man in his philosophy class - the one with vitiligo and long dark hair worn in ponytails under a hat that should be stupid but he managed to sell somehow - and wore yellow shirts with black waistcoats and-

Logan had to remind himself that he was here for a reason, and the reason was not to check out pretty boys.

But when, well into their second year, they finally got paired together for a project, Logan had wanted to combust. But he was nice. Sarcastic and quick-witted, he grated against Logan's dry humour perfectly.

Janus was his name, and Logan was willing to doubt the success rates of soulmates if it meant he could try with Janus.

But Janus always went quiet over discussion of soulmates, so Logan never let the topic come up.

After then, though, they became fast friends, and soon they were hanging out more and more. Janus was also doing a double degree, in law, so they ended up graduating in the same year.

Emile and Roman had taken Logan out for celebratory dinner, and said he could invite anyone if he wanted. Janus was a natural choice as breathing.

And Janus accepted, and they sat next to each other and bantered and laughed and it was as easy as breathing.

Emile made a joke about romance, and they both laughed, and Janus jokingly put his hand over Logan's, where it sat on the table.

And they both froze.

Because normal contact never felt that icy warm.

They didn't break eye contact, Janus didn't move his hand.

"You feel that?" Logan breathed.

Their eyes finally fell to their hands, and Janus sucked in a shaky breath and took his back.

Logan had a patch glowing gold from where Janus had touched him.

Janus turned his hand over, staring at the navy blue galaxy now swirling on his palm, along his fingers.

"Oh!" Roman gasped, clasping their hands.

"...Janus?" Logan hesitated.

Janus stood up sharply. "I have to go," he said. "Thank you for dinner."

And Logan had to watch his soulmate all but bolt from the restaurant.

Logan let three days of silence hang before he called Janus. It was Thursday morning. He had to ring twice before Janus picked up.

"Hi, Logan," Janus croaked.

"Hi, Janus," Logan replied. "...Are you okay? You don't sound well."

Janus' breathing hitched.

"I'm sorry," Logan continued. "I didn't know."

"Don't apologise," Janus sighed. "I... thank you for giving me space."

"I value you," Logan said seriously. "As a friend first and foremost. I won't let something as... a-as trivial as soulmates break what we have, if that's what you want."

"You're too kind, Logan."

Logan waited for Janus to elaborate, trying not to let the comment sting. When he didn't reply, Janus sighed in frustration.

"I am not someone who would make a good soulmate."

"How do you know?"

Janus struggled for words for a moment. "It.. runs in the family."

"Oh," said Logan. "...It ..it does in mine, too."

"Please, your brother is living proof of otherwise."

"Emile is the only living proof so far," Logsn shot back, and Janus went quiet. "...It turns out such chains, cycles whatever we choose to call them! It turns out they can be broken."

Janus was quiet.

"I..." Logan swallowed hard. "I would be keen to see if we can challenge our status quo too."

Janus did not reply for another long, empty moment. Then, Logan heard him laugh.

"You know," Janus said conversationally, "I wish I'd known we were soulmates years ago, because I've wanted to kiss you since I first saw you."

A grin cracked through Logan's worried expression and he couldn't help but laugh too, in relief, in absurdity.

"It wasn't just me, then? That makes me feel better."

They were quiet for a moment. Then, Janus spoke again, and his voice was shaking dreadfully. "Logan... may I come over? I believe I owe you a couple things."

Logan ran a hand through his hair. "Of course," he said softly. "You're always welcome here."

---

Logan sat on the couch, trying not to stare at the front door as he waited.

"What's up?"

Emile had leant on the back of the sofa, looking down at him with quiet concern.

"Janus is on his way over now," Logan said. "I'm just anxious to see him."

"Brave of him," Roman called from across the room. "The nerve of him to walk out on you."

They blinked in surprise at the twin glares he got from both Picani boys.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Logan warned.

"Hon," Emile said. "Remember what we talked about."

"I know, I know," Roman threw up their hands. "But still? He hurt you, kid. I don't want him to do that again."

"Neither does he," Logan said, matter-of-factly. And he turned back to the front door, conversation clearly over.

-- --

There came a couple knocks, and Logan was out of his seat in a heartbeat. He yanked open the front door to find Janus, who looked puffed and windswept, who thrusted a bouquet of blue flowers into his hands.

"First thing I owe you," he said breathlessly, "is an apology. Logan, I'm sorry."

"I forgive you."

"...Just like that?"

Janus answered by stepping in close and kissing him.

"It'd be hypocritical otherwise," Logan shrugged, shifting on his feet. "I get it. I really do. ...What was the other thing?"

After a long and delightful moment, they broke for air.

"Oh," Logan finally said, dazed. "Thank you."

And Janus burst out laughing - though Logan was too distracted by his lips that were now glowing a rich navy blue.

"Thank you?" he echoed. "Oh, you're still such a fucking dork. I knew I fell in love with you for a reason."

Logan touched his lips, tinging icy-hot and probably glowing a beautiful shade of gold. "Um," he said. "Want to come in for coffee?"

"I'd love to."

As Logan closed the door behind them, he turned, and realised Emile and Roman were standing there, arms folded.

"Oh," Logan said even as Janus flushed. "You're still here?"

"You look good in gold, Lo-Lo," Emile finally teased, cracking a huge smile. " Now, come on, Roman, let's not interrupt their coffee. Come on a walk?"

And Logan laughed, pulling Janus into a kiss the moment the door closed behind them.

#logan sanders #janus sanders #soulmate au #loceit #romantic loceit #ts fic #sanders sides #sanders sides fic #emile picani #roman sanders #romile #djpurple3's writing yo

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tjadakaa · 2 years

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so where do we go from here?

I want to quit ao3 and I want to make an inclusive platform that centers BIPOC characters and fanworks. If that interests you keep reading. If you’re an anti or hate critical thinking, don’t bother.

I’ve been complaining since 2016/17 about how slim the pickings are for anyone who doesn’t want to read the white man flavor of the week and that chorus hasn’t changed in 2022. Except now you get to pair your black character with a white character to whom the entire story, plot and emotion will be focused on... (lol @ TFATWS)

Currently I am at the nexus of hating the platform for making me more disappointed in fandom and knowing that there is no fandom centralization anymore. ao3 is literally it. tumblr is dead and twitter isn’t worth mentioning.

Idk how to make myself the most accessible to potential readers/writers seeking queer & transformative black content, besides continuing to use ao3. In the hopes that other wary readers clicking on a fic tagged with black characters will be pleasantly delighted to find that the fic is actually *about* those characters!

Right now I want to jump ship and take a gleeful stand to soothe my hatred/upset but im also aware that with Black Panther 2 coming up its a little too soon :/

One of my biggest gripes is how much of the fan content for Black Panther especially on ao3 (but everywhere in general) *sucks.*

Obviously I’m very very biased and I skew towards M/M side so i can’t really speak for M/F but yeah. Content sucks, micro-agressions, weirdness, racism and all out anti-blackness abounds. It’s fine if it’s just porn, (the internet is for porn, the more transgressive the better) everyone loves porn but it gets a little nauseating when you realize ppl can *only* write porn, for black male characters. (Or rather readers only want to read porn? idk)

So I’ve always taken pride in the level of my writing and my approach to BP that tries to take the world and the characters seriously. i was raised on Harry Potter and Naruto where there were 3 or more different well researched fanon bibles (usually in the form of 200k+ word epics) to lead you on your fic writing journey. There were greats to whom you could stand on their shoulders, trusting that someone with more knowledge, time and research than you already did the legwork for you to play in world.

To go from that breadth of dedication and fervor... to whatever most majorly black character fandoms have... is dizzying.

I’ve started to make my own Wakanda Worldbuilding journal here (meta which is naturally interlaced in my writing):

But there’s simply not enough time in my day, energy in my body or interest from anyone besides my core group in this sort of thing. When I talk with my friends, it’s enough for them to watch some tv, tweet some hater shit, voice chat, play some games maybe roleplay on discord

It feels like we’re too busy surviving to devote time to improving our fandom experience.

I don’t think we’ll ever not be tired, but I want for ppl who feel up to it to share their thoughts/ideas on what a less white/more diverse fandom content space would look like.

#ao3 #fandom #black panther #bipoc #fanworks

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sanktyastag · 3 years

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genuinely so confused with people who hate show!darklng. show!darkling is as much of a part of oppressed minority as book!darkling is but with even more 'validation' for his purpose, and i see people still hate show!him saying "oh but he is very bad in book" but then i see them rooting for book m*l LIKE HOWWW [i do kinda understand with those who dislike book!darkling but im still as baffled when when they root for book m*l]

ah, the good old darkling vs mal debate, lol.

in all honesty, i think whether someone prefers mal or the darkling when they watch/read SaB really comes down to how different fans like to engage with media.

i really enjoy politics, moral ambiguity, and fiction as a tool to examine real world oppression. as a result (and incredibly predictably to every single person who knows me) my favorite character is the darkling, because his character is a great lense to examine those different aspects of the series from. but, let's be honest here - both the books and the show only engage in politics, gray morality, and discrimination and oppression against minorities in like... the most surface-level way possible. if you're not already prone to getting over-invested in those fictional aspects, there's very little incentive to do so - because both the books and the show only set the darkling up as a focal point to examine those concepts in book 1, when alina thinks he could possibly be a good person. as soon as the darkling is revealed to be an eViL mAnIpUlAtOr, quite literally all of the nuance is stripped from his character, and we no longer engage with any valid points he may or may not have.

which means, if you're not super interested in socio-political worldbuilding, or you don't really want to examine war from a philosophical or moral standpoint, the books and show won't make you, and so it's nice and easy to just view the darkling as the amoral antagonist who needs to be taken down. i honestly don't blame fans for not liking him in the books, because the books don't... really want you to. and the show does pretty much the same thing. the show stops sympathizing with the darkling the second baghra lets the truth drop, and so every single thing he was previously shown to care about is now framed as the manipulation of an evil, calculating villain. so if a fan looks at the darkling, sees all the evil shit he does, and doesn't want to look past all of that, in order to critically examine his character, and the biased way he's viewed... i mean. yeah. then they wouldn't be a fan of his. they're more than justified in that, in my opinion. "this character is interesting, you just have to look past all the nonsensical extremist, stupid bullshit he does that harms everyone around him" isn't going to be a universal opinion, and i don't blame them for not wanting to go out of their way to sympathize with an uncompromising, murderous bastard who doesn't really respect anyone else's opinions other than his own (which, i think, is true even of show!darkling, although he feels worse about the fact that he's screwing people over. like he might cry about it, but he's still going to go forward with his plan, regardless of who objects). there's a reason darklina fans spend so much time writing about what they think would have been a more satisfying or interesting character arc for the darkling to go through - because canon absolutely doesn't do him any favors. like at all.

and on the other side, there's mal. i actually like both show and book mal, even though i don't think book mal was always handled incredibly well. i think he's a fairly sympathetic character with phenomenally bad coping mechanisms, and that the story spends essentially no time actually exploring his negative character traits in a meaningful way, which means, again, that we're given a character who the audience is tasked with doing most of the legwork for, if they want to like him. just like darkling fans very rarely excuse every single thing he's ever done, i don't actually see mal fans defend all the shit he pulls - beyond when both sides are baiting each other, in which case everyone seems to say the most black and white shit i've ever heard. but that's just kind of how online discourse works, so i won't judge people based off that, lol.

i think most fans of book mal seem to take his character, examine his negative traits and where they stem from, pick how they, personally, would like to see those issues addressed, and then put in the work to give him and alina the breathing room to do go through that character growth together.

so, by and large, i think fans of book mal and show mal just have different concepts that they find interesting or satisfying to explore in the media that they like. i obviously can't speak for others, but generally with mal and alina, i do think it's an interesting coming of age story, and has a smaller-scale, trauma-focused approach to the over-arching, wide-scale moral dilemmas that i focus on when i think about the darkling and alina. they're two flawed characters, thrust into a horrible situation, and they're desperately trying to get through it together, while fighting for the happy, peaceful lives that no one else has ever cared about them achieving.

so, yeah. in the end, i think it's really about what a fan wants from the media they consume. there's not really a wrong answer, in my opinion. it's only when people start judging each other over their fictional preferences that things start getting rocky, which is something that both darkling/alina shippers and mal/alina shippers could probably be better about, as needlessly antagonistic posts are prominent in both ship tags.

#djafljkdalk i'm sorry if this isn't the answer you wanted anon. but it was an interesting chance to explore both ships!#even though trying to word my thoughts on them was... very difficult lol #because i have very strong opinions - both good and bad - on both #like at the end of the day there IS a reason i ship one of these ships more than the other #but it's an entirely personal preference that has to do with me liking certain tropes more than others #i think they're both equally bad in canon tbqh. i just have more fun exploring darklina stuff than i do mal/alina #but in general i think the romance focus of this series kind of ruined an otherwise interesting story </3 #say it with me folks. we're not anti the ships. we're anti the writing that never fully explored anything satisfactorily #and also we're anti the fans that make hating other ships like half of their personality #shadow and bone #darklina #anti leigh bardugo #mostly for my tags i guess lakdjflak

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