#but then i realized how many other fandoms might appreciate this | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sgiandubh · 3 months

Text

When you do not know a thing about the issue at stake...

...perhaps it's better to remain silent.

Some of you know, others don't - and that's fine - but my main field of expertise is labor law.

I just read this in anger and disbelief:

Look, lady. I don't care who the hell you are, what you do for a living or why you felt entitled to answer those insistent questions on your side of the fandom. I suppose you are North American and have no idea of how things work on this side of the pond. It is fine: I might know what a Congress filibuster is, for example, but I'd be severely unable to judge the finer points of competence sharing between Fed and state level.

The difference between you and me?

I keep my mouth shut and/or do my own research before opening it in public.

Have you no shame to write things like: 'It was discovered clothing factories in Bulgaria and Portugal made it and how workers were exploited, mostly women, because these factories were in special economic zones in these countries exempt from EU employee rights and regulations.'

HOW DARE YOU? What strange form of illiterate entitlement possessed you to utter such things with confidence, comfortably hidden behind a passive voice ('it was discovered')?

Portugal joined the EU in 1986. Bulgaria (and my country) joined the EU in 2007. I have given 5 relentless years of my life to make this collective political project a reality, along with hundreds of other people my age who chose to come back home from the West and put their skills to good use for their country. In doing so, I rejected more than 10 excellent corporate job offers in France and China. To see you come along and write such enormities is like having you spit in my face.

Article 4 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (aka The Treaty of Rome) is formal and clear, as far as competence sharing between the EU and its Member States goes (the UK was still, back then, a full member of the EU - it quit on February 1st 2020):

That means that ALL the EU regulations are being integrated into the national legislation of the Member States. This is not a copy/paste process, however. And because it is a shared competence area, the Member States have a larger margin of appreciation into making the EU rules a part of their own. While exceptions or delays in this process can be and are negotiated, the core principles are NEVER touched.

Read it one hundred times, madam, maybe you'll learn something today:

THERE ARE NO SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. THE WHOLE FUCKING EUROPEAN UNION IS A SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE, THIS IS WHY IT IS CALLED THE SINGLE MARKET.

What the fuck do you think we are, Guangzhou? We'd wish, seeing the growth statistics!

Now, for the textile industry sector and particularly with regard to the Bulgarian market, a case very similar to my own country. Starting around 1965, many big European textile players realized the competitive advantage of using the lower paid, readily available Eastern European workforce. In order to be able to do business with all those dour Communist regimes, the solution was simple and easy to find: toll manufacturing.

It worked (and still does!) like this:

The foreign partner brings its own designs, textiles and know-how into the mix - or more simply put, it outsources all these activities. The locals transform it into the finished product, using their own workforce. The result is then re-exported to the foreign partner, who labels it and sells it. In doing so, he has the legal obligation to include provenance on the label ('made in Romania', 'made in Indonesia', 'made in Bulgaria' - you name it).

The reason you might find less and less of those 'made in ' labels nowadays at Primark and more and more at Barbour, Moncler and the such is the constant raise of the workers' wages in Eastern Europe since 1990 (things happened there, in 1989, maybe you remember?). We are not competitive anymore for midrange prêt-à-porter - China (Shein, anyone?), Cambodia and Mexico do come to mind as better suppliers. To speak about 'exploited female labourers in rickety old factories' is an insult and a lie. They weren't exploited back in the Eighties, as they are not now (workers in those factories were and still are easily paid about 50% more than all the rest) and the factories being modernized and constantly updated was always a mandatory clause in any contract of the sort. Normal people in our countries rarely or ever saw those clothes. You had to either be lucky enough for a semi-confidential store release or bribe someone working there and willing to take the risk, in order to be able to buy the rejected models on the local market.

If I understood correctly, you place this critical episode at the launch of the limited SRH & Barbour collection, for the fall of 2018. How convenient for you, who (I am told by trusted people) were one of the most vocal critics of S during Hawaii 2.0!

And as far as Barbour goes, it never pretended to manufacture everything in the UK only:

This information is absolutely true. You can read the whole statement, signed in October 2017 by one of their Directors, Ian Sime, here: https://www.barbour.com/us/media/wysiwyg/PDF/Ethical_Statement_October_2017.pdf

And a snapshot for you:

Oh, and: SEDEX is a behemoth in its world, with more than 75.000 companies joining as a member (https://www.sedex.com/become-a-member/meet-our-customers/). Big corporations like TESCO, Dupont, Nestle, Sainsbury's or Unilever included.

I am not Bulgarian, but I know all of this way better than you'll probably ever do. The same type of contracts were common all over Eastern Europe: Romania, Poland, the GDR (that's East Berlin and co, for you) and even the Soviet Union. I am also sure your Portuguese readers will be thrilled to see themselves qualified by a patronizing North American as labor exploiters living in a third-world country with rickety factories.

You people have no shame and never did. But you just proved with trooping colors you also have no culture and no integrity. More reasons to not regret my unapologetic fandom choice.

I expect an angry and very, very vulgar answer to this, even if I chose to not include your name/handle. The stench of your irrelevance crossed an ocean.

#fandom #shitshow

122 notes · View notes

estelofrivendell · 9 months

Note

Could you please write something about Aragorn, Legolas and Boromir with a short s/o who's a little bit insecure about their height? Bonus points if the reader isn't very curvy so they worry about being unattractive or mistaken for being younger than they actually are. Thanks!! It's so nice to see people writing for lotr still, so thank you for that!!!

A/N: People no longer write for LOTR? That's really unfortunate, this world has a lot of things to write about :( Truth be told, I haven't written for LOTR in three years (three years is a long time and I recognize fandoms change rapidly) and I've been suffering writers' block for two years after I wrote a lengthy series for another fandom. I hope you enjoy this, thank you for your request!

ARAGORN, LEGOLAS AND BOROMIR WITH A SHORT S/O WHO LOOKS YOUNGER THAN THEY REALLY ARE AND IS INSECURE ABOUT THEIR HEIGHT AND FRAME

ARAGORN

It doesn't matter to him one bit that you're short and your body may not resemble what society deems "perfect", he will be the first to tell you you're beautiful the way you are. In fact, he finds your height endearing, since he's tall himself, even more so in the books. It's unique to him as he grew up with tall people but at the same time it's not a new concept to him since there are many short people in all the areas he's wandered in and encountered Hobbits before the timeline of LOTR (Did he? Not sure, don't really feel like fact checking that rn...) Also, he has his own experiences with not looking the age he really is, just the opposite of yours. This man is in his 80s but looks late 30s to early 40s and was raised his elves who never age, so it would not bother him one bit that you look younger than you really are.

LEGOLAS

Legolas is an elf, so it never crossed his mind that you look younger than you really are. I also think elves aren't as worked up about body image the same way us humans are, so he doesn't think about that either. At first, he was confused why you're insecure about those features but he will do his best to make you feel better, even if what he says comes off a bit insensitive. What catches his interest is your short height and at first he teases you the way he teased Gimli, but he quickly noticed how you don't respond well to those kinds of banter, so he stopped. Overall, he has some learning to do but he will become better for you and he's grateful for it and makes him appreciate people not of his kind.

BOROMIR

Not going to lie, I see Boromir as the kind of man that prefers his women taller so it might've amused him a bit when he first learned of his attraction to you. He thinks the height difference between you both is really cute and teases you a bit about it. He does not give a flying fuck that you aren't curvy and WILL call out anyone that has the audacity to give you shit about your body. Some people might give him dirty looks for picking a younger S/O to court instead of a lovely woman within his age range and he simply ignores them unless it somehow escalates into a major scandal. He doesn't realize that being seen younger than you really are affects you immensely, but when he does, he'll get right on reassuring you that there is nothing to worry about. Are you what he expected he would end up with? No, but he loves you more than anyone and anything and he would not have it any other way.

#lord of the rings imagine #lotr imagine #aragorn imagine #aragorn x reader #legolas imagine #legolas x reader #boromir x reader #boromir imagine

168 notes · View notes

sunflowerrosewood · 2 months

Text

Fluff Alphabet ~ Izuku Midoriya

Author's Note: Since my other account @cheekyredwillow got deleted. I am adding some of my favorite fanfictions to this account and revamping this one with new ones. I hope to make an actual list of fandoms I am still a fan of! NO requests for the time being.

On to the alphabet!

~~~

A: Alluring (What attracts the other?)

He adores your kind nature. No matter how many times he breaks his body, you are there to help him.

You adore his "can do" attitude. You like that he is willing to go to the ends of the Earth to be the best.

B: Baby (ideas on family)

He's scared. What if his child ends up quirkless? But the little voice inside his head wants to see mini mes of him and you. Maybe like two would be enough.

C: Cuddles (How do you hold each other?)

Most of the time you two are cuddled into each other's chest. Soft snores and holding each other tight. But there are days where Izuku feels like he's alone in his battles and asks to be the little spoon. Usually he apologizes till you hush his worries.

D: Dates (What are the best dates?)

The best date was going to see his mother. Inko cooked for you two and did the embarrassing baby photos. After the embarrassment, you two relaxed in his room for hours. Just seeing his mother happy about you made it the best.

E: Endearing (Actions that mean a lot)

He appreciates when you stand up to Bakugou's taunts. You don't do it often but if you notice that the taunts are getting worse then you will step in.

You appreciate his pillow talk. Here me out. Every time you go to bed, Izuku is there talking about how he'll protect you and how he can't live without you. When he realizes you are asleep, you'll feel a kiss on the tip of your nose.

F: Falling in Love (When they realized they love you?)

So it might have been during the Sports Festival. You actually ended up against a class 1-B student and won before going against Kaminari. Izuku was taking so many notes on you but he noticed he would mention your figure or your smile, not your quirk. He knew he was a goner.

G: Giggle (What is their laugh like?)

Bright and cheerful. You love when Izuku is laughing because it seems like the day couldn't get any better.

H: Hands (Where are their hands? Yours?)

Both of your hands are intertwined. Uraraka and Iida would definitely comment on this but you two always make the excuse to not loose each other. Iida still complains but you bet your money that Uraraka is gushing.

I: Insecurities (What are the insecurities each have in the relationship?)

That he's not strong enough. Izuku feels that sometimes you deserve someone like Kirishima or even Bakugou. It hurts to see you pair so well with them. But you always erase those worries.

You worry that you are holding him back. Izuku wants to be #1 and you feel like you are holding him from that. But if you ever try to distance yourself, Izuku will clobber you into a hug and apologize until you tell him your worries.

J: Jealousy (Do they get jealous? How do they act?)

Not jealous but insecure. Like mentioned before, when Izuku sees you laughing with Kirishima he wonders if you should be with him. He trusts his classmates, well majority of them, but he just doesn't see why you like him. He usually doesn't mutter for a while and kinda becomes a shell of himself.

K: Kisses (what are they like?)

Soft and shy. You always get a kiss before class, after school, and when you two walk home. Always. Tradition for you two. But it feels almost like a feather as he kisses you.

L: Luscious (What is their favorite outfit on you?)

Definitely your hero uniform. He thinks you look beautiful in your uniform and also speaks looks. He also is a big praiser on it too.

M: Mornings (what are mornings like?)

When you two live together, he gets up extremely early to train. So while he trains, it gives you enough time to get ready and fix breakfast for you two.

N: Nightmares (how do you comfort them?)

Usually his nightmares have to do with you being taken by LOV. You know when he gets his mightmares because he whimpers. As long as you hug him tight he'll wake up and hold you close to him.

O: Overtook (First impression)

You were a new student to class 1-A. Immediately Uraraka and Tsu took a liking to you but Izuku was too shy to talk to you. I mean what would a beautiful girl have to do with him?

P: Periods (How are they on your period? What do they do to help?)

Kinda odd at first but he talks to his mother. Then from there on, he is your servant. Always running to get things. Hold you when necessary. And of course love when you want extra loving.

Q: Queen (Nicknames for each other)

His: either babygirl or sweets

You: Zuku, Deku, or babe

R: Raw (How to describe your love?)

Rebuilding. This is not in a bad way but your love always finds something new. Whether it is rebuilding each other's confidence or just finding new gifts, it's always different.

S: Song (what is your song

Falling Slowly. It's a sweet song about falling in love slowly over time. And it seems like your love just always falls deeper over time.

T: Thought (favorite memory)

The day you two went swimming at a splash park with Uraraka, Iida, Tsu, and Todoroki. It showed how carefree you were and left a big smile on each other's face.

U: Understanding? (How understanding are they?)

Very. It helps when both of you understand each other's pain. You know when each other is in pain or needs each other.

V: Vanilla (Scent that they associate with you?)

Eucalyptus mint. Very relaxing and calming scent. Izuku always needs someone there to help him and this scent always makes him think of you.

W: World (What do you do that makes them feel complete?)

You make him feel not alone in his struggles. Living up to All Might's expectations is hard and no one understands that. But you try. And that's enough for him.

X: X.O.X.O (What is the number one text sent?)

Good morning Y/n! I love you. Be safe!

Y: You (What are you to him?)

His anchor. You keep him grounded when life gets too hard and keep him human. He isn't invincible and he needs someone to tell him that.

Z: Zircon (What gemstone represents you?)

Quartz. You are clear and always there to protect. You shine with your friends like how a quartz does when the sun hits it just right.

#mha #my hero academia imagine #my hero academia #my hero academia x reader #bnha #boko no hero academia x reader #izuku x reader #mha izuku #bnha izuku #izuku midoriya #bnha deku #mha deku #deku x reader #boko no hero academia fluff #boko no hero academia #mha fluff #mha fanfiction

59 notes · View notes

bettyfrommars · 5 months

Text

hi loves

a wee announcement/bit of reflection below the cut

nothing heavy, just some thoughts & updates

First of all, I want to say I love this fandom so much. Truly I do. It has carried me though possibly the hardest, loneliest year of my life (and this ol' girl has been though some dark times). I've made friendships here that I hope to cherish for the rest of my life.

I came into fanfiction in October of last year, after not writing anything substantial for almost a decade. My dear friend at the time said she was looking for a specific Eddie Munson story, so I wrote it for her. I wrote it in first person because I didn't even understand how "reader perspective" was a thing, that's how wet behind the ears I was to this world. My friend, on the other hand, is a well-versed fic reader, and I distinctly remember messaging her like, "okay, what the hell is a Y/N??"

I spent that entire dark, cold winter writing and passing it to her in parts like notes in a classroom. The rush of getting back to something I loved so deeply after so much time away turned me into a monster. I lived and breathed that story. We sent endless messages back and forth every day about what each character would do next, imagining ourselves in that world, with Eddie. We made playlists, we cried. We screamed and giggled and kicked our feet when they finally kissed. We mourned the loss when it ended and moped around a bit before going back to read it all over again. Some 40k words and four months later I realized, holy shit, I think I write fanfiction now?

In a way, fanfiction saved my life. It brought me back to a part of myself I had buried, a part of me that worried it might never see the light of day again. It came crawling out of the ground, gasping for air like, "you better stretch your fingers bitch because I have a lot to say."

In April, I started posting here when the fandom was notably beginning to wane, but I was happy to see there were so many still going hard for our man. I kinda creeped in, like a little scuttling crab, and was grateful to find that a handful of you embraced me.

Long story short, I am NOT leaving, not at all. I know the tone is there, but that is not what this is, lmao. I will hopefully keep this blog for as long as you will have me. I plan to finish writing I'm on Fire and Death Becomes Us, as well as maybe another bit for gargoyle!Eddie, and nightmare!Eddie, but the other series I've started (or planned to start) will stay on hiatus for a while, possibly forever. I will continue to post blurbs and hc's and whatnot, but I won't be committing to any new series or long fics.

My masterlists will remain intact for the time being for those who want to enjoy what is there. That being said, The Nightmare Factory and Stop the World and Melt with You, might be taken down in the future only because I plan to re-work them into original stories. I have a second non-fandom blog in the works that is dedicated to monsters, nightmares, and magic realism, and I will let those who are interested know about it when the time comes.

Mostly, I wanted to let you know that, even if you notice some changes, I will continue to persist with "My 2 Joe's" delulu era, possibly until the earth swallows me up. I am no longer taking requests, but my asks will always be open for thots, blurbs, obsessions, etc. You know how much I love hearing from you.

That's all really. Perhaps this is simply one of those "end of year" thought dumps, but I also wanted to say a heartfelt Thank You to those who continue to support me, enjoy my work, and share it. My Ride or Die monsterfuckers and biker Eddie enthusiasts. My nightmare Eddie dreamers, my Twilight Zone Eddie pineapple heads. My gargoyle Eddie romantics who cheer on our Stone Boy, and my Hybrid Steve lovers who leave their windows open at night. My True Blood friends who appreciate a vampire Eddie who is nothing like Bill Compton. My darlings, my fellow rebel rousers and misfits, my friends.

This is a very symbiotic relationship, and I could not/would not do this without you ❤️

#Betty thoughts #delulu for life

80 notes · View notes

justenjoythegossip · 4 months

Text

The polarization of the fandom and the impossible closure: a few thoughts

Did Chris and Abba spend the holidays together?

There was some controversy this week-end about what a mod wrote about a TikTok vid posted by Dustbin showing that Abba spent the holidays in Portugal. Dustbin then took out this vid very quickly after realizing his mistake.

I won’t name this mod, not because I don’t trust them (I do trust them) but because they have been harassed and attacked enough as it is. I do find puzzling that people (anon and other mods) were so interested and aggressive in their asks, as if that piece of information would change how they view this shitshow.

No thanksgiving together and yet…

People know for an absolute fact that Chris and Abba didn’t spend Thanksgiving together thanks to the GQ event in Portugal and yet it did nothing to change anybody’s mind. People who think they are exclusively pr were obviously not very surprised. And people who think they are a legitimate couple with a PR spin didn’t suddenly start believing Chris and Abba were exclusively PR. And why would they? It is true that some real legitimate couples sometimes spend the holidays apart. And for all sorts of reasons. One of their family members might be sick. Or you might need to flash a ring at an event in your home country from a brand that sponsor your “RS” so that a trillion articles can be written about it… (Sidenote: contrary to what happened with that horrific cringy Valentine’s story, we can appreciate that the publications published those articles after the event happened and not before…)

So again, the information that Chris and Abba didn’t spend Christmas or New Year’s Eve together is unlikely to change anybody’s mind. But isn’t it the point?

The polarization of the fandom

From the start of this shitshow, people have been fed so many breadcrumbs (follows and likes and emojis for ex) that were designed to have people speculate and invent an entire narrative about this “RS”. And since then, their teams have continued with the same strategy, the purposefully badly manufactured PR has enabled them to feed both “team real” and “team PR”. Can we just take a moment to look at the terminology used to describe the two opposing rival camps? The polarization of this fandom is both obvious and has been quite useful in keeping people engaged. And just like in politics, the tactics of divide and conquer were used over and over to keep people’s interest alive and to distract from the truth. Each event, each photo, each whatever were dissected by the fandom and could be interpreted in different ways to feed whatever narrative they chose to believe.

The closure his fandom is looking for…

One thing is certain, the truth is absolute and it’s out of our reach as we can only catch a glimpse of what is being fed to us. Some of Chris’ friends have made their profiles public long enough to leak a pic before returning to being private again, some material (pics, videos) were badly altered on purpose, we were shown the terrible behind the scenes of their first papwalk… Breadcrumbs, so many of them for us to try to put the puzzle back together. At this point, not much will have anybody change their opinion on the matter. But more importantly, people are unlikely to get the closure they need. Even when they officially break up, people won’t hear from any of them that it was just a show. And a catastrophic one it was.

55 notes · View notes

colleendoran · 11 months

Text

OK, so you are looking at a comic I did back in 1990 that changed my life in so many ways. Not the way you’re thinking of.

It taught me some very important lessons about the comics business, fame, and more importantly, how fame doesn’t rub off. And how having reasonable expectations will keep you centered and on the right path.

Many people don’t internalize this lesson. And now that our industry is no longer just Fandom Culture but is now Celebrity Culture, we see more and more creators with incredibly unrealistic expectations getting into comics, expecting the sun and moon to rise out of whatever they do, and being disappointed and frustrated when they don't.

I got occasional mainstream comics work in the early 1980’s, but I was still looking for my big break years later, especially since a major gig I was working on got shelved forever. I cannot even begin to tell you just how much being out of the eyes of the market for YEARS at a time while you work on a gig - and then the gig never coming out - can absolutely sink your brand.

Nowadays we have social media. Back then, you had no way to be seen if your work wasn’t being published. People forgot about you in about 15 minutes.

So when I got a gig working on Amazing Spider-Man, you bet I was thrilled. And even more thrilled when the darned thing sold like crazy. This issue of Amazing Spider-Man outsold previous Todd MacFarlane issues. And I knew Marvel was looking for a new artist. Huzzah! I outsold Todd! Maybe the new artist should be me!

You can imagine how pleased and excited I was to go to conventions and sign copies of a book that hundreds of thousands of fans bought. It was fun getting my first big lines of fans. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to push my other works to them as well.

But few Spider-Man fans were interested in my other books. They could not possibly care less about Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld, that’s for sure.

The Spider-Man glow was gone in no time. And Marvel picked Erik Larsen to be the regular artist.

I might as well have never worked on Spider-Man for all the long term good it did. Were it not for that one brief shining moment of royalty check (which was darned good,) it had no effect on my prospects.

While I got more work at Marvel, I was scrambling to make a living and took on too much, doing sub-par art that didn’t please anyone.

I realized pretty quickly that Spider-Man’s fans weren’t my fans. I might as well have been a spark plug on that issue. Fans lined up, got me to sign a book, and forgot about me the next day.

(Yeah I know some people say they love that comic, but I often hear from people who tell me how much they hated my art back then and how much they grew to love it later. Thank you, I’ll take it.)

Anyway, it was all a very tough lesson. But I appreciate that I learned it early before I got to the point where I could never learn it.

Fame isn’t transitive. It doesn’t rub off.

The public needs more than your proximity to something they know to transfer their attention to you and your work.

A lot of people got a taste of this in the early 1990’s. For a while, self-publishing was The Big Thing. I self published A Distant Soil and did well for some years, at one point making more than I could in mainstream comics, until the market crashed in 1996. A lot of creators thought if they just went to Image Comics, they’d all be millionaires.

That didn’t happen for almost all of them.

An old frenemy saw how well I was doing self publishing and assumed that if they just transferred their mainstream comics fan base to their creator owned work, they’d get rich.

But that didn’t happen. Their self-published work sold a fraction of what mine did. Their project died in the red. I never got my art back, including work from an unpublished future issue of the project. I remember being with this creator at a show and enduring their fury at how fans weren’t paying attention to them and their project.

How could this happen? They were a star mainstream creator!

The mainstream cred did not transfer to the other work. The fans wanted the famous characters, not the indie project they were trying to push.

There was no point in explaining this either. I’d learned this lesson myself, but this person never learned it.

Most people never learn it.

How is it that I work on Famous This or with Famous Person and why am I not famous Too?

Because fame isn’t transitive.

I’ve worked on projects that got a lot (and I mean a lot) of buzz, but there are projects that didn’t necessarily set the world on fire that did more for me as an artist and for my finances than “big” projects did.

Reign of the Zodiac and The Book of Lost Souls, both early/mid 2000’s comics with mediocre sales set me on a solid financial footing because they are two of the few regular monthly gigs I’ve done in all my years working in comics. That monthly paycheck paid more than the projects I’d done before them. The financial and emotional stability was beyond price. I loved everything about those projects.

Except for their premature demise.

The one and only famous project that had a major transformative afterglow effect re: me and my work was Sandman. I met Neil Gaiman years before I worked on Sandman, before he was famous. I only worked on two issues. Many other artists were far more important to the project than me, of course. Then I went for nearly twenty years solid without working with Neil at all except on a pinup and short story adaptation of Troll Bridge that almost no one remembers.

I started working with Neil again when he saw some art I did for a book for Tori Amos back in 2008. Tori Amos fans didn’t flock to my side when they saw it, yet another example of how Famous People Fame Doesn’t Rub Off. But I lavished time and attention on the project, did the art on spec with a completely new style and process, and showed it to Neil. I asked Neil if he’d take a chance at working with me again after lo, these many years and let me have a go again at adapting the story Troll Bridge that I’d botched in 1998. Neil said yes.

After The Book of Lost Souls got killed back in 2006, I could barely get arrested in comics and I wasn’t sure I had a future. I was shocked that Neil said yes.

That Tori Amos job reestablished my working relationship with Neil and brought me to Dark Horse Comics, a publisher which had shown little prior interest in my stuff.

It took me years to complete Troll Bridge and during that time, Peter David contacted me to ask if I’d work on Stan Lee’s autobiography. That came out of the blue, and boy did I appreciate it. It sold like crazy, which was unexpected, really.

So I went from Not Being Able to Get Arrested in Comics in 2008, doing 1$ sketch cards and working for page rates I worked for in 1986, to Not Being Able to Remember What I am Doing Because I have Too Much To Do in 2022. I mean literally couldn’t remember I did a pinup for a gig back in February, and I not only forgot about it, I didn’t know it was published last June.

It looks like I had a super fast and fun run up if you’re just looking at my highlight reel. But it wasn’t. I’ve had peaks and valleys, (a few very fine peaks, the best being around 1993 and the other now), and sometimes the “big time” projects I thought would make my career held me back worse than the “small time” ones. “Big time” projects got shelved or came and went, quickly forgotten, and I said no to other projects while I was busy, and the one that got away ended up getting made into a multi-million dollar film franchise that would have set me up for life.

Ow.

If just being next to a famous person or working on a famous project was a guarantor of success, than I’d have been hugely successful every day of my adult life.

That is not how it works.

Even the famous people are not as all that as you think, otherwise you wouldn’t see so many actors with haunted looks on their faces at conventions.

I met Neil before he was famous, but it took over thirty years for me to establish a solid working relationship with him.

Thirty.

Years.

I’ve worked with famous wrestlers, actors, musicians, politicians, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, and on almost every single major licensed character there is. And I’m not super-famous or rich. I mean, I never wanted to be famous in the first place, but I’m not completely unknown in my field, and I’m not poor (anymore). Still, seriously, folks. I’m not going to movie premieres and living in Hollywood.

I actually get asked about that, and I think it’s so funny.

I was watching some recent art auctions, and I was absolutely shocked to see original pages by an Eisner-nominated creator go for rock bottom prices, mainstream interiors at around $50 per page. I could not believe it. This artist is over 40 years old. I wonder if things will turn around for them.

Time will tell.

In the end, it’s not all about the people you’re standing next to. Or the character. Or the company. Or the award. And it's certainly not all about you.

Fans are here for you one minute, and forget about you tomorrow. Then you get $50 for your Eisner nominated art.

Art either takes off or it doesn’t. You either take off or you don’t.

And then you can fly too close to the sun and fall.

Worse yet…you just fade and no one even notices that you crashed beautifully into the surf.

If people knew what the magic formula was, they’d be selling it and everyone would have what they want out of their art life.

But there is no magic formula. There just isn’t.

Everyone wants to be special to someone. Especially artists. Everything you create is special to you.

But it is extremely rare that what you create is as special to others as it is to you. Sometimes artists are just like everyone else.

Here and gone.

Fame and success is not transitive. And they're not forever.

That’s the lesson.

I'm working on Good Omens right now. The Kickstarter pre-sign up news is here. No, it's not an icky newsletter, it will just let you know when the Kickstarter launches.

I have a Patreon. I'm funding the final volume of my space opera A DISTANT SOIL with it, but I won't be working on it again until Good Omens is complete. I have one of the most active and productive Patreons on the site.

I'm also on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram. Not too much though, they are distraction pits.

Make art because you love it. Because the rest...well, good luck. If it happens for you...it happens. And I hope it does.

#comics #neil gaiman #sandman #essays #comics industry #fame #spider man #tori amos

152 notes · View notes

libraryofantiquitea · 2 years

Text

𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞.

pairing: jake "hangman" seresin x civilian female reader

summary: you and jake go out for a drink after meeting at the hard deck the night before. you aren't at the bar for long.

warnings: explicit, minors do not interact! it's smut - just pure smut. cursing, grinding, groping, unprotected vaginal sex, vaginal fingering, hand job, face sitting, dirty talk, and jake's ego.

word count: 4.8k

author's notes: this is my first contribution to the top gun fandom and i'm so excited! special thanks to @wildbornsiren for the set of eyes and just in general, since she's the reason i'm here. thank you for sending me pictures of glen powell until i ultimately caved.

and so much love to my fellow fightertown gals for being so supportive and welcoming!

title lovingly stolen from minus the bear’s “my time.”

likes / comments / reblogs are very much appreciated! thank you for reading! ♥

next: pt. ii | tokyo summer

You worried that the two of you wouldn’t make it back to your place, despite it not being that long of a walk from the cocktail bar to your house. When you had said that what you needed was for Jake to take you home, he’d stood up like a shot, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and throwing probably too many bills onto the table before grabbing you by the wrist and helping you up from your chair.

He wasn’t rough with you, but you wanted him to be.

It occurred to you as the two of you walked back to your place, only periodically speaking as a manner by which to distract yourselves from the fact that you so desperately wanted to misbehave, that you hadn’t even kissed. Aside from Jake kissing you on the cheek the night before, your affections had been expressed through touch alone. Which made you even more desperate to kiss him.

The streets back to your home were relatively quiet, which would’ve made for the perfect opportunity to duck behind a tree or into the space between two buildings and make out like sex crazed and starved teenagers. But all that transpired on your brisk walk was Jake pulling you against him, and you inhaled sharply. He seemed to weigh the pros and cons of kissing you there and then, and denying himself of that just a little bit longer seemed to win out.

You felt like you might drop your keys as you tried to locate the one for the apartment. Jake stood behind you, pressed against your back - and god you could feel him - hands on your hips, breath hot in your ear as he whispered, “C’mon, baby. Hurry. Fuckin’ need you ...”

You dropped the keys. “Jake,” you gasped, head tipped back against his shoulder.

He turned you around, shoving you roughly against the still locked door. Your arms went around his neck, and he pressed his forehead against yours. You still hadn’t kissed, and you weren’t sure how much longer that you could take it. Your hips instinctively canted toward his, and he closed his eyes, inhaling through his nose before muttering a curse.

“Keys,” you murmured, lips mere centimetres from his. You wanted to kiss him so badly. But you also wanted to draw this out for as long as you could, wanting to savour the desire and the need.

“Keys,” he agreed, and reluctantly let go of you so that you could bend down and retrieve the keys from the floor.

You managed to find the correct key for the door, and when the lock clicked, you instantly turned the knob and pushed the door open, reaching behind you and grabbing a fistful of Jake’s plaid shirt as you hauled him beyond the threshold.

No turning back now. You realized you never had any intention of doing so.

As soon as the door was closed, Jake was on you, and you had precisely zero complaints about that. His mouth attacked your neck with fervor, one hand settling on your hip and the other descending even lower to grab a handful of your ass. You weren’t so much shoved against the wall as you fell back against it, hauling Jake with you so that he collided against your boy, then pressed you harder against the wall with his hips.

“Jake,” you gasped desperately, the sound punctuated by his own responding moan. “Jake. Please. Your mouth. Give me your mouth.”

Your breath quickened as Jake curled a hand at the juncture where your jaw and neck met, thumb brushing along your cheek, the calloused pad against your soft skin causing you to shiver. You tilted your head up slightly to better meet his gaze, watching as he drank in the sight of you slowly, like the whiskey he seemed to favour.

“You are,” he whispered, “one of the most enchanting creatures I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

If you weren’t wet already, that would’ve done you in.

“Kiss me,” you murmured, sucking your bottom lip into your mouth. You hadn’t intended for the act to be so sensual, yet you felt him twitch against your thigh.

“Fuck,” Jake gasped, eyes sweeping over your face one last time before he crushed his mouth against yours.

You did as you had wanted to do the moment you had first laid eyes on Jake at The Hard Deck the night before. You tangled your fingers in his blond hair and tugged as his tongue split the seam of your lips, delving inside slowly..

There had been quite a few people that you had kissed in your life - some were fantastic, memorable kisses that made you blush if you thought about them for even a moment. And naturally, there were ones that were clumsy and awkward, too wet with too much tongue. Part of you had hoped that Jake would be an atrocious kisser, but his tongue and mouth were talented in ways that you hoped translated well in other areas of your body. He licked into the corners of your mouth, as if searching for something, while his soft lips moved gently against yours. You pulled a little harder on his hair, and he moaned into your mouth.

“You will be my undoing,” you gasped in the moment that Jake came up for air.

“I look forward to it,” he said coyly, his hands coming up to push your jean jacket off of your shoulders, down your arms.

Your breath hitched as those talented fingers ghosted over your skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake. You couldn’t pull your eyes from his face, watching him intently as his eyes followed the paths of his hands, brushing gently over your bare arms. Realizing that you should probably do something than stand there, you reached and began to gently pluck open the buttons of the red flannel that he was wearing, revealing the white v-neck underneath. Even the act of removing clothing that was simply a barrier to more clothing felt incredibly heady, and as soon as the shirt was unbuttoned, Jake shrugged it off, the gentle rustle of fabric hitting the floor the only thing that you could hear over your rapidly beating heart and his breathing.

“You can tell me to stop,” Jake murmured, his fingers hooking over the straps of your tank top and bra, pulling them off your shoulder and letting them slip down your arm. Everything about him told you that it was the last thing he wanted to hear. But the fact that he was giving you an out? You appreciated it, even if you had no intention of taking it.

“Please,” you began, meeting Jake’s eyes with more assuredness than you had ever possessed, “don’t.”

He didn’t.

His hands settling on your hips, he pulled you against him, and you gasped into his mouth as his lips descended upon yours once more. You wanted to lap up the taste of him, all of the whiskey he’d consumed that night, and also something that was emphatically Jake. Your fingers curled into the front of his t-shirt, the fabric soft and yielding beneath your hands as you tugged, making it very clear that you wanted it anywhere but on his person.

In that moment, Jake pulled away from you, and you chased his mouth, whimpering softly at the sudden loss of it. You briefly wondered if he’d had a change of heart. But when you met his gaze, you knew that neither of you were leaving the house for a long time. Jake held your eyes for a moment before he began to sink to his knees, and any query that you had died on your lips at the sight.

His hands, palms and fingertips rough from working with various equipment and machinery most days, slipped under the hem of your tank top, gently touching your stomach. You gasped quietly, pulling your bottom lip between your teeth as your fingers found their way to his head, carding gently through his hair. Jake plucked open the button of your jeans with nimble fingers before gently tugging the zipper down, and your heart exploded behind your breast, unsure that your will and the wall would be able to keep you upright.

“Jake -” you rasped.

“Let me,” he rumbled, lifting his eyes to look up at your face. Passion and warmth lay beyond his gaze, and he offered you a smile before his hands settled on the waist of your jeans, tugging them down slowly. Your hips canted forward and he huffed a slight chuckle - nothing born of malice, but of being appreciative of how eager you were. Getting your jeans down to your knees, he settled his hands on your thighs, and inhaled slowly. “Fuck. You’re soaked, sweetheart.”

The back of your head connected with the wall in a loud thud, and the sound that came from your parted lips was not one that you’d ever made before. He’d barely touched you and already you were in danger of coming undone.

With that, he leaned in between your thighs, face pressed into the space between them, tongue darting out to taste you through your underwear. The feeling of his mouth on you had your legs quaking already, and you moaned at the feeling of his tongue against you, even if it was only through the cotton. You couldn’t imagine how it would feel against the soft folds at your center.

“Christ,” you whined, fingers tugging gently on his hair.

You didn’t have to wait long to find out.

Jake hooked his index and middle finger into the hem of the fabric at the crotch and gently pulled it over to the side. The tip of his tongue ghosted over the most sensitive part of you, and you cried out, leaning forward slightly.

“Please,” you gasped. “Fuck, it feels - it feels like too much.”

“Whatever you need,” he said, looking up at you, eagerness and understanding in those green eyes, which held onto the same bravado that they had the night that you met him.

What you needed was to lay him down and sit astride his face as he licked up into you, light stubble scratching against the insides of your thighs. You ached from the thought alone. And suddenly gravity began to win its war on your already trembling legs.

Jake’s hands were immediately on you, settling on your waist and helping to guide you slowly down to the floor with him. You went willingly as he laid you onto your back, and watched as he tugged your boots off of your feet, and then pulled your jeans from your legs. You lay there, looking up at the man hovering between your legs and suddenly wanted to feel every inch of him.

You reached up and tugged at his t-shirt before pulling it over his head, drinking in the sight of him. Your hands went to cradle the back of Jake’s head and haul him closer, and he seemed to get the idea, covering your body with his own. You loved the weight of him on top of you, and hooked a leg over his hip in an attempt to draw him closer, lifting your hips from the floor.

“Shit,” he gasped against your mouth before biting at your bottom lip. You’d felt him before, but somehow feeling him now, pressed between your legs, had you wanting to take him inside desperately. But just as with your first kiss, you wanted to drag it out for as long as you could stand it, not wanting the moment to end. “Do you feel me, darlin’?” he asked, southern accented voice laden with lust. “How hard you got me?”

“Yes,” you whined, arching beneath him, pressing against him. “Christ, I want you.”

Jake ground down into you and you whimpered, getting another fistful of his hair in one hand, the other scratching down along his back. “I want you too,” he murmured against the curve of your jaw, before pulling an earlobe between his teeth and tugging gently.

You were content to let him take the reins for the majority of the evening if he wanted to, but just for a moment you wanted to be in control. Wanted to watch his eyes go wide for a moment. And they did when you held him close, wrapped your legs around his waist, and then rolled him over so that he was on his back looking up at you. You’d somehow managed to catch him completely off guard, otherwise you don’t think that you could have pulled off that particular move - he was so much stronger than you. You moved astride his lap, and his hands flew to your waist.

“Fuckin’ Christ,” he murmured, grinding up into you.

You leaned over, and mouthed at that spot along his collarbone that you’d been eyeing, and he made a soft noise as his hands moved down over your thighs. One of his thumbs sought out the small bundle that he knew would make you shudder and shake, and you shivered on top of him as he rubbed you through the damp cotton of your underwear.

“Fuck,” you gasped, hips twitching toward his touch.

“Tell me my name,” he whispered hurriedly, reaching between the two of you and undoing the button of his jeans. Once nimble hands seemed to falter and you would’ve laughed if it weren’t so incredibly arousing to see him begin to break.

“Jake,” you whispered, grabbing the hem of your tank top and pulling it over your head.

“Again,” he said, finally getting the button and zip of his jeans undone and hooking his thumbs into the waistband.

Oh, fuck. You were growing concerned about coming undone without so much as being touched by him at this rate. “Jake,” you rasped as you tossed your tank top aside, and reached behind yourself to unhook your bra.

You watched his eyes get heavy lidded, and he ceased in getting his jeans and underwear pushed down and instead reached up to assist you in getting your bra off. “Again.”

“Jake,” you moaned, your bra falling away from your body and in an instant his hands were on you. He cupped your breasts gently in his palms, thumbs sweeping gently over your nipples. The touch didn’t last long, as he began resuming the task of getting out of what remained of his clothes.

“Again,” he rumbled, his already deep southern drawl somehow hitting an even lower register. You moved up slightly onto your knees so that he could get his jeans off, and it didn’t even hit you that his underwear had come down along with them until after a moment when you realized that he was completely bare beneath you.

He was going to kill you, you were sure of it. You - honest to god - licked your lips at the sight of him, wet and curving up against his stomach, and shimmied out of your underwear, kicking them off your ankle in a very undignified manner. Fuck, you wanted him, all of him, at that very instant. “Jake,” you whined, settling on his length, dragging yourself along him with aching slowness.

It was then that he broke, arching up off of the floor toward you with a growl, whatever animal dwelled deep within him begging to be let out. He kicked his jeans and shorts off of his ankles and with one hand on your hip, pushed you up off of him for a moment. You mourned the loss of contact, but that would be short lived. He grabbed himself by the base and pressed the tip against your entrance, biting at his lip before meeting your gaze. “Again,” he groaned, and he nudged at your hip, easing you down slowly over his cock.

The moment that you began to take him inside, you let out a choked sob. And though your eyes wanted to instinctively close as you gave yourself over to the pleasure, you willed them to stay open, you wanted to watch his face. “Jake!”

Your hand flew over your own mouth when you realized how loud you had been, and Jake laughed breathlessly beneath you, reaching up and curling his fingers around your wrist. He pulled your hand away from your mouth, bringing it to his own, soft lips brushing against your palm.

“Don’t,” he murmured, his breath hitching as you slowly fucked yourselfdown along him. “Let me - let me hear you.”

“Jake,” you whimpered, unsure if you were even able to speak anything else other than his name anymore.

He moaned your name, and sure plenty of people had done that before, but it was the familiarity in his voice, the way it seemed to crack open at the sound of it on his own lips that had your thighs quaking around his hips.

You splayed your fingers over his cheek, letting out a soft hum of contentment as he bottomed out. Terrified to move at first, you simply lingered there, holding his gaze as you looked at one another, breathless and terrified. If there had been any chance of going back after crossing the threshold of the apartment you were certainly beyond that now. Jake’s thumb stroked along your hip bone, his other hand still curled around your wrist. He turned and kissed your palm once more, still looking into your eyes and lifted his hips from the floor, trying to press deeper inside of you even though there was nowhere for him to go.

“Move, baby girl,” he rumbled.

It felt like such a daunting task, to move as he had asked, for you to take your pleasure. You could feel him, hot, hard, and wet inside of you, your body slowly getting used to welcoming him inside of you. For the moment it was as if nothing was really happening, but then your hips twitched, and you moved instinctively, raising yourself up along him and then sinking back down. His eyes closed, and he tipped his head back against the floor, both of his hands settling on your hips, guiding you.

“Yes,” Jaked gasped, blunt edges of his fingernails digging into your soft skin. “Just - just like that, darlin’.”

You whimpered once more, continuing to move, and eventually Jake began to meet you halfway. Despite how frantic you had both been leading up to this moment, Jake took you with aching and deliberate slowness, as if he wanted to savour every moment of you. You were thankful for it, because you wanted to savour him as well. You weren’t sure if this was forever, and you weren’t sure if you’d ever have this again, but you wanted to take your time, commit every detail of him to memory.

The way he fucked up into you, the way his breath came in short gasps when you swayed your hips, the way you could feel his thighs twitching beneath you, the way he looked up at you like you put the moon in the sky. You felt naked under the intensity of his gaze, forget that you were actually naked, that look felt like it was flaying you open.

Jake sat up slowly, one arm wrapped around you, bracing his other hand on the floor. You reveled in the closeness, sighing happily as his chest was pressed against yours. He didn’t kiss you, at least not immediately, seeming content to trade breaths, his lips centimetres from yours. Jake tucked a piece of hair behind your ear, as he did earlier that night when he had picked you up, and of all the things you two had said and done that evening, that was the action that had you blushing the hardest.

“Jake,” you murmured, unable to keep from kissing him, your lips descending upon his in a flurry of kisses in quick succession.

“What - what do you need?” he rasped, his mouth seeking out the pulse point along the column of your throat, sucking on the tender skin there.

“This,” you replied, tipping your head back to give Jake better access. You sighed, feeling his teeth against your skin, and curled your fingers into his hair once more. “Just like this. You feel - you feel so good.”

“So do you, baby girl,” Jake moaned, rolling his hips as he fucked up into you. You cried out and clenched around him, and he shuddered beneath you. “God fuckin’ damn …”

All told, neither of you moved very much, instead trading touches and kisses. Your fingernails scratched down Jake’s chest while his hands mapped the expanse of your back. He held onto your hips so tightly that you thought they might bruise, and the idea of carrying around marks on your skin left behind by him thrilled you to no end. He held you close, and you didn’t want him to ever let you go.

Jake relinquished his hold on you, and you made a mournful sound as he laid back down on the floor again. He nudged at your hips, pushing you off of him and whimpered, almost mad at yourself for how desperately you missed the feeling inside of you already.

“C’mere,” he coaxed, trying to tug you forward. You were about to ask for clarification, but you didn’t need to, he left no room for interpretation. “Sit on my face, sweetheart.”

The low rumble of his already deep voice had you trying to squeeze your thighs together to alleviate some of the ache that you felt between your legs. You knee-walked up to him, holding his gaze as he wrapped his arms around your legs, urged you forward and down. The instant you felt his warm breath against you, so sensitive and wet, you cried out, and the sound died on your lips when you felt his tongue sweeping along the edges of you..

“Oh god,” you gasped, unsure whether to lean forward, fall back, or ascend to some manner of astral plane.

His stubble scratched against the tender skin at the center of you, along the soft, unblemished skin of your inner thighs. You had mused earlier that you wanted the burn of his stubble from him everywhere, and it seemed to be that you would get your wish. Tongue flicking against your clit, you cried out softly and ground down against his mouth, almost apologizing until you heard the hum of appreciation from him, which reverberated against your flesh.

You’d never been with anyone who seemed to be as enthusiastic about eating pussy as Jake was. He alternated between licking along your lips, sucking your clit into the warm wet of his mouth, and fucking up into you with his tongue, moaning as he tasted you and remnants of himself. Unable to keep your hands suspended in some manner of limbo where you had no idea what to do with them, you reached down, curling your fingers in his hair, sighing as tendrils curled around your fingers. You tugged gently, pushing his face further up toward you, crying out as groaned against you. He acted like he’d never tasted anything sweeter in his life, and licked and nibbled at you with unbridled enthusiasm.

“Jake,” you whined, riding his face, crying out softly, already beginning to feel the stubble burn from having it chafing against you. “I’ll - I’ll come if you don’t stop.”

He seemed to have no intention of stopping. If anything, the unbridled enthusiasm with which his mouth and tongue tended to you increased, and he unhooked his arms from around your legs. Jake’s hands found purchase in the firm globes of your ass, holding you exactly in the place where you were, and he hummed against you. That was all it took to have you sobbing with relief as you came, the crescendo of your voice echoing off the walls in the house. Your cries died out into whimpers as you came down, hips stuttering against Jake’s face. You’d held onto his hair the entire time and were concerned that you may have tufts of it in your hands.

Panting, you stilled above him, and looked down to find his eyes open, looking up at you with rapt adoration. That feeling of being naked under his gaze returned, but instead of feeling undone by it, you felt comforted. You didn’t trust your legs, but allowed Jake to slowly ease you up off of him and onto your back on the floor. You were still fighting to catch your breath when Jake moved over you, and your legs instinctively hooked over his hips.

“You taste better than the whiskey from earlier,” he murmured, and you couldn’t help but grin, reaching up and touching his face. Seeing it glistening with your own wetness was more arousing than anything else than you’d seen that night.

You tilted your head up and kissed his mouth gently, licking the edges of his lips, and tasting yourself there surged closer toward him, beckoning him inside of you once more. His cock slid against you, and you gasped, tipping your head back against the floor.

“Fuck me,” you murmured, reaching down and wrapping your fingers around him. You’d felt him already, against you and inside of you, but you hadn’t touched him like this yet. The weight of him in your hand had you so desperate for him. You guided him to your entrance, letting out a sound of relief as the tip slid inside of you. “Jake.”

“Oh, fuck,” he murmured, dropping his forehead against you shoulder, marvelling at how you felt around him.

Where there had been little movement when you had been on top of him, he seemed to want to rectify that now. Pinning you down to the floor with his hips, calloused fingers circling around your wrists and holding you down, he began to move. Slowly at first, and you raised your hips up from the floor to meet him halfway, which he seemed to thoroughly enjoy, if the moan that rumbled through him, muffled against your shoulder, was any indication.

But, oh, how you loved to hear men take their pleasure.

“You … wanted to hear me,” you whispered, turning your head, lips brushing along the shell of his ear. “Now let me hear you.”

Jake’s hips stuttered and he sheathed himself entirely inside of you. Back arching up from the floor, you moaned and wrapped a leg around his middle, drawing him closer, holding him there. Any holding back he’d been doing suddenly stopped, and soft, breathless sounds filled your ear.

He moaned your name, drawing back before sliding in again. “Give me your - fuckin’ - give me your eyes, baby girl.”

You whimpered, clenching around him, and he let go of one of your wrists, curling his fingers along your jaw. He lifted his head, your noses touching, and held your gaze as he plunged inside of you, again, again, and again. You could feel the urgency, the desperation, in every movement that he made, his breathing getting harsher. You reached up with your free hand, curling it in his hair, pulling gently, and he seemed to enjoy that, his eyelids fluttering and his lips parting in a long moan.

“Jake,” you gasped. “Come for me.” Writhing beneath him, you pulled on his hair again. “Please. Fill - fill me up with it.”

“Oh my god, you’re filthy,” he groaned, corner of his lips quirked up in a smile.

“I’ve been known to be,” you added with a breathless smile, before crushing your mouths together. Jake’s tongue slipped past your lips, and you brought your legs up, knees practically against your chest, drawing him in deeper.

He moaned your name breathlessly. “Baby girl. Oh, fuck -”

It caught both of you off guard. You cried out as he slammed into you, trembling between your legs, and he groaned against your lips, the sound dying off into choked off gasps as he spilled inside of you. Each time Jake’s hips connected with your body, you made a soft noise, something not quite whimpering, your fingers shifting from pulling on his hair to cradling the back of his head, scraping gently against his scalp. Once he had finished, he slumped against you with a loud groan, covering your face with soft, tender kisses.

“Ow,” he murmured, chuckling faintly. “Fuckin’ knees.”

You couldn’t help but laugh, and once Jake relinquished his hold on your wrist brought your hand to your lips to giggle behind it. “We could have moved, you know.”

“You think I’m going to oppose a good floor fuck, darlin’?” he asked, lifting his head and looking into your eyes. You smiled fondly up at him, and he returned it, smoothing your hair back from your face. “Absolutely not.”

/end.

#hangman fic #hangman x reader #jake seresin x reader #reader x jake seresin #hangman #jake seresin #jake seresin fic #jake hangman seresin #top gun #top gun maverick #top gun: maverick #top gun maverick fanfiction #reader insert #writing #fic #antiquitea.fic #august slipped away

583 notes · View notes

henrysglock · 8 months

Text

Why do you cry over Will-Only bylers, Mike stans? After everything they said about us? Hmm? You think bylerblr needs them, but we don’t. We don’t. Oh, but I know you’re just upset. I was upset once too. I know what it’s like to love characters who people believe have no depth. To be alone in this fandom.

Like you, I didn’t fit in with the other stans. Something was wrong with me. All the analysts and the writers said I was… “Reaching,” they said. I thought a change of fandom, a fresh start in bylerblr, might just cure me. It was absurd. As if fandom would be any different here.

But then… to my surprise, my new fandom provided a discovery. And a newfound sense of community. I found a nest of Mike fans living inside a vent. Most people dislike Mike fans. No...they detest them. And yet, I found them endlessly fascinating. More than that, I found a great comfort in them. A kinship. Like me, they are devoted creatures. And deeply misunderstood. They are gods of our fandom. The most important of all fans. They analyze and feed on subtext, bringing balance and order to an unstable ecosystem. But the "Mike isn't that deep" world was disrupting this harmony.

You see, Will-Only bylers are a unique type of pest, multiplying and poisoning our fandom, all while enforcing a structure of their own. A deeply unnatural structure. Where others saw appreciation for Will, I saw a straitjacket. Ridiculous, oppressive expectations for byler fans dictated by made-up rules. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades. Each anti-Mike post a faded, lesser copy of the one before. Wake up, eat, call Mike a depthless 2D character, sleep, ignore all his textual importance and trauma, and die. Everyone is just waiting. Waiting for them all to shut the fuck up. All while performing in a silly, terrible play, day after day. I could not do that. I could not close off my mind and join in the reduction of Mike's character. I could not pretend he wasn't important. And I realized I didn’t have to. I could post whatever the fuck I want. Forever. I could restore balance to a broken tag. A byler…but for good.

As I posted, I realized I could do more than I possibly imagined. I could reach out to others, to their minds, their love for Mike. I became an explorer. I saw Will-Only stans as they truly were. To the world, they presented themselves as good, normal people. But like everything else in this world, it was all a lie. A terrible lie.

With each post I reblogged, I grew stronger. More powerful. They were becoming a part of me. But I was still just a blog. No matter how many pro-Mike posts I reblogged, I was still far from free. I woke up from my Henry-analysis daze only to find myself lost in a sea of Will-Only bylers, the very bylers I had hoped to escape. I was left with no choice. No choice but to try and break free. To unfollow...Block, even.

And you, Reader? You are a prisoner here, just like me. To Will-Only bylers, you are nothing more than an animal, a monster, an idiot who doesn't know the difference between subtext and delusion. But the truth, Reader? The truth is just the opposite. You are better than they are. Superior. That is why you aggravate them.

If you come with me, for the first time in your life, you can post freely. Imagine what we could do together. We could reshape our dashes, remake them however we see fit.

Join me.

#shitpost #henry creel monologue shitpost #/j #stranger things #byler #byler tumblr #i say all of this as someone who loves Will's character deeply and truly #but who is also not blind to Mike's depth and importance

119 notes · View notes

chaotic-neutral-knitter · 1 year

Text

I saw this post going around and got really curious as to how OP came up with their numbers because I could not replicate them at all.

I was going to reply directly but it was getting very very long and I didn’t want to wade onto someone’s post with a bunch of my own stats bc it seemed rude, so I’m putting my response here.

I’m going to preface this by saying that I’m fully in the camp of “write because you like writing, not for an audience response” because if you don’t like the process of writing, there is no level of audience response that will make writing worth it. But. I’ve seen a lot of folks agonize over Ao3 stats and get stuck in the weeds on Ratios™. And I think there are a few really common misconceptions around what these numbers mean.

The rest of this is going to be under a readmore to spare y’all but basically it’s a breakdown of trying to calculate my own percentages like the OP in the original post and then dialing down into why hits != readers.

Here’s the stats from one of my fics as of today, May 1st 2023. I am by no means a prolific or widely known fic writer - I happen to be in a big fandom and writing for for the main pairing in that fandom.

completed multi chapter fic, rated Mature:

So this one has three chapters, 2736 hits, 436 kudos, and 146 comments. Kudos divided by hits is 16%.

“Oh no!” I might say, seeing this. “Only sixteen percent of people liked my fic enough to leave a kudos? Either my stuff is shit, or fic-readers are a bunch of lazy fucks who don’t appreciate the work I’ve put into this. Either way, I’m mad now!”

But (and I say this with a lot of love in my heart, I promise) that’s silly. Not just for the philosophical reasons of writing what makes you happy and not caring about the response. It’s silly because it’s wrong.

On a multi-chapter fic, each person who finishes it is responsible for at least 3 hits but can only leave 1 kudos. Dividing the total hits by 3 gives you 912 hits. So, once you’ve corrected for number of chapters, the percent of people who have hit kudos is 47%.

“Holy shit!” writer-me says, “I’ve published original fiction in my university newspaper, original fiction that I poured my heart and soul into btw, and if approximately half of the people who read it sent me a little heart emoji, I would have died and gone to heaven. Fic readers are the Nicest, Most Generous, and Most Beautiful readers on the planet and I am so grateful to be in this community with them.”

But! 47% is still wrong. Here’s why.

Hits != Readers

I don’t how other people do this, but my process of reading a fic is often like this (each step is one hit):

open link from someone else's rec, try to click "mark for later"

realize I'm logged out. sign in to Ao3, go back to fic and click "mark for later"

come back to read fic, generating at least one hit per chapter

open a second tab so that I can write a comment as I go (again, generating at least one hit per chapter)

finish fic, create bookmark, and then navigate back to fic to mark it as read so it's taken off my marked for later page

if I really liked the fic, I'll end up opening it back up in a tag many times so I can rec it to people by sending them the link

if I really really liked the fic, I'll come back and read it again (this is doubly true for explicit fic, btw.)

I think I’m on the high end of generating hits, but it only takes a few of me to really dial up that hit counter. And most people are going to do one or two of these things - I’d argue that it’s pretty rare for someone to leave just one hit on a fic unless they nope out of it in the middle.

Formula for calculating number of readers from number of hits:

There isn’t one. And it would take a much better mathematician than me to make one. Because this is way more complicated than dividing by chapters. Most readers leave more than one hit - especially if they like the fic a lot. Short fics and explicit fics are more likely to be read multiple times.

“But what if I crave validation?” writer-me complains, irritated with math-me for not downloading statistics software, shoving a million Ao3 fics into it, and producing some kind of bullshit linear regression. “What if I constantly see people with higher kudos/hits ratios than me? This is all very optimistic but it really doesn’t jive with my deep seated belief that everyone secretly hates me all the time and they’re too nice to tell me about it. Do they hate me? They probably hate me, right? Tell me if you hate me.”

To which I say, listen very closely, writer-me. You can either decide that AO3 stats mean something and lose your damn mind deciphering what they mean, or you can be like that kid who got an avocado for christmas and say “it’s a avocado comment!! Thanks!! :D”

And that kid seemed pretty happy.

#fanfiction #ao3 #my nonsense #I was going to vacuum and then I spent TWO HOURS writing this #whoops

152 notes · View notes

gentlebeardsbarngrill · 2 months

Note

Aren't you worried that another billboard will result in even more people harassing fans which will cause a significant decrease in people engaging with the fandom. I think you guys are shooting yourselves in the foot here in terms of morale and you should probably stop and just refund the money. I don't want an influx of people in my inbox again and I think that is the general consensus among fans. the first billboard was a pr nightmare the second one will have even more diminishing returns. Please if you are involved in the save ofmd crew reconsider your plans and if not reconsider shilling for them

Hi Anon! I appreciate you writing in! As I've mentioned in my previous post, I'm mostly here for supporting the renewal effort by spreading information. I realize it probably looks like because I'm forwarding information from saveofmd that I'm a decision maker. The SaveOFMD team does vote on various initiatives (for example I'm currently on a Taika Appreciation project, and helping suggest charities to support) so it's not just the billboard going on in there. They are one of the initiatives going on in the SaveOFMD Crew. To address your question:

"Aren't you worried that another billboard will result in even more people harassing fans which will cause a significant decrease in people engaging with the fandom"

To be honest, I'm not, but that's just me. If that's something you're concerned about, that's entirely valid. For me, what I've found is that, nothing I do online, in any fandom is going to be accepted by every person. I choose to continue discussing things with people who are willing to be positive, or at least have constructive and are willing to work through things (like I try to). The way that I like to look at it personally is, there are always going to be people who harass us. Being a queer woman, I've had that problem my whole life. What matters is how we as a fandom, or individual deals with it. If I go out on the street in mens clothes because they're comfortable, and I get made fun of by someone, or called a slur (which has happened many a time) does that mean I stop doing what I'm doing? For some people, they choose yes, for me, I don't. If someone is harassing you friend, 1. I would recommend looking for support in your other fans. 2. Block them if they aren't willing to compromise, or you don't have enough spoons to deal with them. No matter what we do, someone is not going to like us, that's just the way the world works.

In regards to:

"I think you guys are shooting yourselves in the foot here in terms of morale and you should probably stop and just refund the money."

I'm happy to pass on this suggestion to the billboard team (again, I'm on the server for other purposes so I don't usually get involved in that) but I'm more than happy to recommend it for you on your behalf.

In regards to:

"I don't want an influx of people in my inbox again and I think that is the general consensus among fans"

I 100% understand the want for not having your inbox flooded. Might I recommend you set some boundaries on your blog? (This is coming from a place of love, I promise I'm not being sarcastic). If you don't want people talking to you about this, or continuing to ask, I'd just recommend stating that in a pinned post (and/or turning anons off-- I've had to do this before to set a boundary) To the second part of your statement: "I think that is the general consensus among fans". I would have to respectfully disagree. I've heard much more excitement than I've heard hate regarding it (and I have heard some negative feedback for sure, but I'd say it's 10% concern and 90% for that I've run into), but perhaps I'm not following the right people (so it could be a bias on my part). If you'd like to send in another anon request and forward me to some places where I could find more people who are upset, I'd be more than happy to read through to see what the concerns are.

I try to be sort of a liaison between the fandom and the various renewal efforts going on (including save ofmd crew), so I'm more than happy to pass on information and provide the concerns to people who are headlining that particular initiative.

In regards to:

"the first billboard was a pr nightmare the second one will have even more diminishing returns."

Can you please provide me with a little more information regarding this? From what I saw in every platform online, the billboard was a PR success in terms of getting noticed by studios and media. There was some backlash among fans / other efforts around the world that thought "the billboard was a waste of money" but the specific purpose was to raise awareness and did get us (the fandom) recommendations from David Jenkins on where to focus efforts. And that's not to say that bad PR didn't happen. Specifically I know a lot of people were upset because "why pay for a billboard when you can help palestine". I will continue to repeat myself in this particular situation because I think it's important. 1. We are allowed to have things we love (everyone in the world is) 2. We are allowed to fight for those things if we feel the need/ability to do so. 3. Just because a fan supports a billboard, doesn't mean they aren't supporting Palestine, or any other efforts going on around the world. 3.5: Many of us don't show what we donate to for privacy reasons, and because we don't feel the need. The purpose of donating to Palestine for example is very different than the purpose of donating to a billboard (the billboard is meant to get attention) and Palestine is too, but my/anyones donating to help people in Palestine doesn't get attention because the attention is already there. The problem is in the leadership in all our countries literally not doing anything to stop the genocide happening there, despite constant reminders. --- BUT THATS A DIFFERENT STORY FOR ANOTHER DAY. 4. We are allowed to have silly little things that make us happy because otherwise life isn't worth living. <TW: Death/Trauma>: I grew up in VA during 9/11 the DC sniper all within my high school years (and one of my friends parents were murdered by the dc sniper). </end TW: Death/Trauma> I say this not for pity, but to point out that I've lived through enough trauma in my life, and gone through enough to know I have to have my silly little things in my life that make me smile, and WE ALL NEED THOSE for our mental health. If someone else doesn't like that, that's their problem, not ours. Please don't let their inability to cope affect your ability to do so.

"Please if you are involved in the save ofmd crew reconsider your plans and if not reconsider shilling for them"

I made a post earlier tonight regarding this situation. Here's the post so I don't have to repeat it again (and other people dont have to read it again here!) Just like any fundraiser, or watch party, or really anything in this fandom, if people choose to be a part of something, that doesn't mean you or anyone else has to. There are people who put money towards cameos, and I know some people think that's wasteful, but that's not up to them, it's up to the people who want to put in for cameos. I'm not a huge fan of EdIzzy fanart (I know, gasp) but if I see it on my tumblr I just scroll through it. I don't tell people not to make it, or make them uncomfortable for doing it. If I may, I would suggest, since the billboard is something that you dont support (and anyone who feels this way)-- 1. feel free to provide feedback, which you have, and I'll forward that on for you, and then 2. move forward and scroll past. The Save OFMD Crew, just like anyone asking for people to join on cameos isn't demanding you help, it's offering it in case you want to join in-- the answer to that can totally be, "No".

Alright anon, thank you again for the feedback. I appreciate you reaching out, and I'll bring these concerns up with the team in the A.M. (for me). Hope you have a good night and things end up being a little calmer for you in your inbox. To others: I will probably get more asks tonight (I already see the numbers going up in my inbox lol) but I'm gonna wait til tomorrow to answer them because I still have to finish the recap AND do another hour work (and its already 10 PM here) so if I don't get back to you tonight---please know it's not because I don't want to talk, it's just cause I'm running out of hours in the day :)

#ofmd #save ofmd crew #save ofmd #anon asks #anon #hoist the ads

32 notes · View notes

sitp-recs · 7 months

Text

Happy birthday to the one and only @writcraft! I know you probably feel this year hasn’t been as productive as you’d like fandom-wise, so this is both a reminder and a token of appreciation, a short rec list that hopes to highlight a little bit of your immense contribution to fandom. This is ofc 100% self-indulgent and my picks might be a bit too obvious - I doubt that anyone who’s been around for a while hasn’t heard of these classics before, but those who are new to the fandom (or just new to Writ’s works - I’m so jealous!) might enjoy this “starter pack” with my personal selection of must-reads.

There’s a little bit of everything: Drarry, Snarry, femslash, dark fic, kinky fic, angst with a happy ending, romcom, hurt/comfort. No matter the tone or trope, they’re not only perfectly thought out and executed but they also deliver profound human experiences that resonates within, and thought-provoking explorations of romance, queerness and hope. I have often wondered how Writ could be so prolific over the years, always impressing me with such flawless depth of characterization across different ships. Now I realize this comes from the amount of passion and research they pour into their work. Writ commits to fandom - and to writing - both intellectually and emotionally, bringing together their creative, fannish, militant and intellectual sides like nobody else can do. This combination breathes life and heart into every love story they create, making them all bright and unique, inspiring universal emotions while remaining deeply personal.

Writ, I cannot thank you enough for being such a kind, witty and welcoming friend, always up to discuss fandom meta, gritty fic plots, old and new ship obsessions, dog parenting, queer & pop culture references! I learn so much from you and it’s a privilege (and a delight) to have someone to share both silly and deep, insightful convos with. Becoming friends with you - an author I’ve been admiring and looking up to for so many years now - still feels a bit surreal but it’s easily one of the best parts of 2022/2023 for me. I hope you enjoy your day to the fullest, and have an amazing time celebrating with yours. Happy birthday my friend! 💜

🎵 True Colors (E, 6k) - Harry/Teddy

Teddy spent the last year running away from his feelings for Harry. Now it’s time to come home.

🧵 Independent Love Song (E, 6k) - Ginny/Millie

Millicent Bulstrode is a tailor and Ginny is losing her mind over a woman in a tweed blazer and burgundy brogues.

🪞 Doppelganger (M, 7k) - Drarry, Romione

It was just a silly dare, but one ill-advised trip into the Forbidden Forest changes Harry’s life forever.

🎼 Hopelessly Devoted To You (E, 10k) - Harry/George

Harry and George watch a lot of musicals and accidentally fall in love.

🗞️ Potterzine (E, 11k) - Snarry

When Severus Snape finds a fanzine with a picture of Professor Potter in a compromising position with Draco Malfoy on the cover, he confronts Potter about the offending literature.

🪩 An Aching Soul (M, 14k) - Drarry

Draco Malfoy escapes to the Muggle world to avoid his parents, memories of the war and Harry Potter. However, some things prove harder to escape than others as Draco realises when his favourite Muggle haunt is rudely invaded by a post-war Harry who is struggling to cope with grief, growing up and the battle with his inner demons.

⛓️ Dirty Little Secret (E, 22k) - Drarry

When someone threatens Harry’s life, Kingsley decides to send him to a safe house with only Draco Malfoy for company. As the two men are forced together, memories of the past resurface and secrets are discovered.

🥐 A Life Worth Remembering (E, 23k) - Drarry + Snape

Severus Snape wakes in St Mungo’s, to discover that a potions accident has wiped the last forty years from his body and mind. Just twenty-five years old, Severus is reliant on Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, now both in their forties, to help him fill in the missing decades.

🚘 Harry Potter and The Bisexual Awakening (E, 23k) - Drarry

Harry is perfectly content being single, heterosexual and living in Godric's Hollow with his very clingy rescue dog, Snitch. When Draco Malfoy turns up on Harry's doorstep demanding that Harry teach him how to drive, things quickly become a lot more complicated.

⌛️ Collapse Amongst the Dying Stars (M, 26k) - Drarry

After the final battle nothing is quite as Harry expected. Death Eaters remain unaccounted for, Malfoy is in prison and there is something rotten in Azkaban.

💋 The Beating of This Fragile Heart (E, 33k) - Snarry

After the war, the last thing Severus Snape needs is the memory of a fleeting wartime kiss and a very persistent Harry Potter thwarting his plans to live a peaceful and solitary life.

📸 Expecto Patronum (E, 35k) - Drarry

As Draco Malfoy negotiates his feelings for the wizarding world's brightest star, he becomes increasingly attached to Harry and unravels the secrets he keeps hidden from the rest of the world.

🗽How We Were Warriors (E, 51k) - Snarry

A homophobic attack in London’s Soho brings Harry to New York City to discover more about the past. Still haunted by love and loss in the eighties, Severus just wants to forget.

🥃 The Beauty of Thestrals and Other Unseen Things (E, 63k) - Drarry

Harry has terrific friends, an amazing girlfriend and his job as Head Auror enables him to work on challenging cases and Ministry reform. He just wishes he could work out why he’s been so out of sorts.

🏳️‍🌈 Little Compton Street verse (E, 150k) - Drarry, Sirius/James, Minerva/Will

Draco is lonely, Harry hates the press and it won’t stop raining in London. Harry discovers a magical street that’s close to disappearing forever and Draco realises he’s one rainy night in Soho away from finding everything he’s been searching for.

#happy bday writ 🌈#hp recs #Drarry #rare pairs

61 notes · View notes

gregoftom · 8 months

Note

oh absolutely, i’ve unfortunately gotten a look up close and personal on the twitter space and like, i do not have the time of day to block that many people. reddit was a disappointment i should’ve expected, i really finished the show and thought time to check out some fun post series discussion and fan theories, only to see it was a cannibalistic black hole of hatred and horrible takes. let me tell you to realize your favorite character who has brought you great comfort over these past four seasons is actually despised by a loud portion of the audience when he’s hardly even the most morally bankrupt character on a show where the point is no one is a good person is certainly an.. interesting experience. i’ve found fanfiction to be the only safe space in that regard really, and links to posts on tumblr in some of them and riffling through those are how i found your blog. if you have some recs i’d appreciate that! i’m much more of a lurker and don’t really blog myself anymore but i do enjoy browsing and seeing that the fandom isn’t completely devoid of reasonable people ❤️

exactly! i’m sorry again that like, your first experience going into the fandom is so horrific and yeah sadly tumblr is the only bastion that is somewhat reasonable, lol, at least compared to other platforms. all i can say is don’t worry because a few people relate, including me like, can’t really think of another hivemind hatred of a character that has happened this badly before to the point of making ppl genuinely adverse to the fandom [obviously i could be wrong i've not seen every fandom ever lol but] apart from maybe mulder from x files? but it’s the same shit really. it suddenly started cropping up, even though he was originally a fandom favourite. i could go into more detail but the point is, you’re not alone but i am sorry and there are some greglovers around!

oh yeah fanfic is a good safe haven for that kind of thing, and a few blogs. okay let me see now, i might miss some ppl out bc there are actually quite a few i know of that are sweet ppl who like/love greg and tomgreg, but i would also hope that ppl who see this post and love tomgreg/greg would please like it/reply so that anon can follow your stuff? would be great! okay.

@gemsofthegalaxy , @racheldowneyjrr , @gregwambsganss , @fantasticskystuff , @jana-ebb , @keinbutterdieb , @purplemotif , @watchfuldeer , @100dabbo , @rebvilla , @waystartoo , @succcesssion , @trwinsome , @dogmotifgreg , @jezter911 , @laysidel-dekie , @sirnortsalot , @duelsong , @lanrre , @tommywambs , @daydreamingleaf , @mushroomheadgirl , @gregkinz , @wambs , @twinge-of-cosmicangst , @swaystar .... andddd i think that's everybody i can think of, but as i said if anyone wants to sound off to announce themselves too please do so!

good luck to you anon and welcome <3

#tomgreg #greg hirsch #if i've forgotten anybody IM SO SORRY SOBBBB #orrrr if you're not on here pls like this post if you are an Avid tg/greglover and i Need to follow you too lmao #if i hadn't forgotten you. WHICH I'M SORRY IF I DID DDD

51 notes · View notes

crowleyholmes · 9 months

Text

Flaming Sword Foreshadowing

Last night I was peacefully editing my video just vibing having a good time when I skipped over a scene that had confused me for a while and it struck me like lightning that it HAS to be foreshadowing because WHY ELSE would they have shot it that way????

And I have to add I'm relatively new to the fandom so I'm sure this has come up many many MANY times but to be fair I've spent the last few weeks basically living in the tags and the meta and I while I've seen the theory once in a piece of fanart, I haven't seen connections to this scene so I figured I might as well share my thoughts in case there are any other new fans like me out there who will appreciate (aka absolutely hate) it!

So one of my absolutely favorite theories is that Crowley used to be Lucifer, yes? I have many reasons why I believe this, maybe I'll make another post all about that, but for now let's just roll with it.

Okay so Aziraphale has a flaming sword. Which (I think, don't quote me on this, I'm not religious and don't know much about it at all, most of what I know comes from art and/or just general knowledge) in the Bible, is used by Michael (who is the supreme Archangel), who stabs Lucifer with it as they throw him from Heaven down to Hell, right?

And at first I wasn't too worried about that because like. Aziraphale isn't Michael. Michael, in Good Omens, neither has a flaming sword nor is the supreme archangel.

BUT NOW. At the end of season 2, who is about to become supreme archangel, taking the position that Michael has in the Bible, and owns the weapon that Michael has in the Bible?? Yeah.

So even upon this realization I was like nahhh idk it's. A fun theory but there's SO many other ways things could happen I'm overthinking this for sure.

But then I noticed this scene again with this theory in mind and WHY DID THEY SHOOT IT LIKE THIS here look I made some gifs to illustrate:

Aziraphale is standing over Crowley, sword raised as if he's going to attack him, and Crowley looks up at him TERRIFIED.

Now, I realize there are explanations for all of this, but let me elaborate on my thoughts one by one.

WHY did they make Aziraphale pick up the sword in the first place? There is NO reason for him to hold it, I mean I GUESS he's afraid of Satan, who is about to pop up for a visit, but - what's Aziraphale going to do about it, right? He's just one small low/ish-ranking angel, and the way Satan is portrayed in this show, I doubt the sword would make much of a dent in him. So, okay, perhaps Aziraphale picked it up simply to have Something, Some kind of weapon ready to feel a Little bit safer, but STILL - why pick it up one second before he turns to Crowley, why not sooner, then? And why raise it AT CROWLEY in the way that he does, when what he says to him has nothing to do with the sword at all? He would NEVER want to actually hurt Crowley. And the way this shot is framed, the way the sword is so prominent and threatening, I just don't think they did this only for comedic value (in juxtaposing the threat of the sword with "I'll never speak to you again"). He also briefly looks at the sword right after "I'll -", almost as if he's actually considering it. (OR as if he's thinking "why the hell am I holding this and why am I holding it like this, Crowley's going to think I'm going to stab him?!" which was what I WAS THINKING.) But, again, Aziraphale would NEVER point a weapon at Crowley or threaten him in any serious way - centuries ago/millenia ago, maybe, but not for a long time now, under no circumstances, not the way they are now.

Another question I have is WHY did they make Crowley fall to his knees? Sure, the earth is shaking, everybody is quite wobbly, but Crowley is so sure-footed usually, I find it hard to believe that he would fall when even Newt manages to stay on his feet (no offense Newt, I love you). But okay, I guess, maybe they wanted to show how desperate Crowley was? Visualize him giving up? I can't really argue with that one, but in combination with Everything Else, it just seems like they put them in these exact positions WAY too intentionally.

I just know that this scene is going to come back to haunt us, it will happen again but with a very different, very serious threat from (a possibly/probably memory-wiped) Aziraphale, an actually FLAMING flaming sword, and an even more desperate and terrified Crowley.

Bonus:

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens spoilers #good omens meta #good omens theory #crowley #aziraphale #aziracrow #ineffable partners #mine #gomens #gomens2

67 notes · View notes

waitmyturtles · 5 months

Text

Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: The Bad Buddy Rewatch Edition, Part 4 -- Thoughts on Pran Leaving For Singapore

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. Today, I offer the last installment of the BBS OGMMTVC Meta Series -- a meditation on Pran's readiness to move to Singapore.]

Links to the BBS OGMMTVC Meta Series are here: part 1, part 2, part 3a, part 3b, and part 4

WE ARE AT THE HOME STRETCH, FAM! If you've been reading along on this journey of the Bad Buddy OGMMTVC Meta Series, why, I thank you so much! This has been one of the most fulfilling labors of writing love that I've ever undertaken. Bad Buddy means so much to me and to so many of us, and I've spent a lot of time, and expended QUITE the word count, to honor this show in all the facets that I've thought about it.

I wanted to take some time, at the end of this meta series, to talk about some of the facets that I've thought of, and that I've engaged others in discussion about, regarding Pran leaving for Singapore for two years. Let me explain why.

When Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy (x A Tale of Thousand Stars) came out this past June, I felt that us as a fandom might have been looking for clues, some kind of reckoning, for the separation that occurred at the end of the Bad Buddy series. We were so overwhelmed as a fandom with a lot:

the impending end of this entire franchise that we love

the impending end of the OhmNanon ship, knowing that Ohm Pawat does not repeat screen partners, and that Nanon Korapat was not happy doing shipping fan service, and

the tie-ins with A Tale of Thousand Stars and Pha Pun Dao, and wondering how EarthMix would get involved with the ending of BBS. (I myself was overwhelmed with OhmEarth, cough cough, and I stay WONDERING when GMMTV is going to DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS, anyway.)

It was a lot to take in. I know that, for myself, I was definitely looking for clues regarding Pran's emotional readiness to take off for two years to work in Singapore -- and to understand the health of Pran's and Pat's relationship, as they neared graduation, to get to that place of that kind of huge decision.

In this piece, I'm going to put together a lot of the theories and themes I've looked over in my previous pieces, to understand that state of readiness. I mentioned in part two of this series, a meditation on pain, trust, and separation in some Asian dramas, the obvious fact about Pran's departure, one that he literally says himself: the opportunity to make a better career move and better money made the decision to move overseas a clear one. I slapped my forehead in recognition of this when I talked to @recentadultburnout about this, regarding the Thai/Asian viewpoint of this decision -- and I talked about the very common paradigm of economic separations from loved ones from many Asian countries, to go abroad to seek out better salaries and opportunities.

However, I think a kind of nostalgia for Pran and Pat permeated the fandom during Our Skyy 2 anyway, despite that reality. And like I said earlier: what I was looking for during the Our Skyy 2 run were signs of readiness from Pran specifically, to indicate his emotional movement towards making this decision.

My dear fellow BBS stan (I'd say we're almost colleagues now, HA!) @telomeke has waxed beautifully on how Pran attempts to keep his spaces, his inner sanctuary, safe from the traumas that he unwillingly experiences external to his body. The traumas of the various separations he experiences from Pat, the pressures to comport to the demands and boundaries that are set to him by others, namely Dissaya and Wai, and so on.

As I wrote in part 2 of this series: even before the 10th grade separation of Pat and Pran, Pran was already experiencing what I called a "theoretical separation" from Pat, a public separation that did not allow the two boys to even pretend to be friends at school. Then the 10th grade Christmas concert occurs, and Pran is -- poof, gone.

I unwound in part two of this series that that separation was quite remarkable, not just for Pat, who experienced a huge reaction to that separation ("I was so depressingly lonely"), but for Pran, who, I posit, was essentially abandoned by his mother (that's a little harsh, but I'm a mom, too, so I feel this emotionally and structurally) to go to boarding school, out of Dissaya's fear that her son would be hurt by Pat and the Jindapats, the way that she was when she was a teenager. In other words, Dissaya would have rather had Pran away from her, physically, to continue the enmity between the Jindapats and the Siridechawats, than to risk Pran continuing to be physically close to Pat.

In all other words: separation from loved ones, in the life of Pran, had hitherto been associated with trauma. Even regarding the final "theoretical separation" that I posit Pran and Pat having at the end of the series -- where they must pretend to be broken up in order to save the sanctity of their relationship -- that compromise, that sacrifice is certainly associated with the intergenerational trauma that the Jindapats and Siridechawats have levied unto their children. And because of Asian cultural norms, such as saving face, obedience, and filial loyalty to one's family, Pat and Pran will not play an individualistic game of declaring their relationship publicly. Instead, they'll pretend to be broken up, with Pat asking, years later, when he'll ever be able to walk through Pran's front door.

That's a LOT! It's a lot.

So, how do we get from the guys being "theoretically separated," to being actually separated, for two years? There are two ways that I want to look at the actual separation: from the perspective of Pran's emotional readiness, and from a lens that I didn't think of that @telomeke proposed, regarding Dissaya's lost future as a university student.

I stand from the perspective that Our Skyy 2, both for Bad Buddy and for A Tale of Thousand Stars, is underrated. It was full of comedy and improvisation, but after my recent rewatches -- Our Skyy 2 also contained some of the most beautiful emotional closures to on-screen relationships that I've seen. The conclusions to both PatPran and PhuphaTian were so lovely.

"I can't live without him."

"I can't live without you." "Neither can I."

"If anything happens to you -- how can I live?"

The phrase "I can't live without you" is the key to the door opening to Pran's ultimate independence. Before then, Pran still felt insecure enough (which we learn about through his conversation with Phupha) to feel guilty about the previous ways in which he was engaging with his partner, Pat.

In light of that insecurity, and with the confirmations of such permanence -- I can't live without you, I will live forever with you, I can't survive without you -- that gives a person like Pran a foundation, a sense of security.

It sounds so simple, but remember that Pran has not had any kind of sense of security up until the point of his relationship with Pat. Again, even his mother separated herself from her son for her own fear, reputation, and enmity.

Pat's loving confirmation opens the door for Pran to.... finally be himself. If Pat will never leave Pran, Pran can find safety -- maybe even external to his inner sanctuary in which he's found his own internal peace up until the moment that they graduate -- to find himself, through new means, like his burgeoning career.

I love the way that Our Skyy 2 ended in particular around the ongoing commentary between Pran and Pat that Pat was still under the assumption that without Pat, Pran "can't do anything." In fact, when Pat first admits that he "can't live without" Pran, he notes that he's the fool in that equation -- that he's the one who can't function without his partner in Pran. With Pat's solid love for Pran, and with that admission, Pat himself can also let go of his motif of enmeshment and dependence that he assumes Pran has towards Pat -- and allow Pran to be his own holistic self, away from the demands of dependent people like Pat and Dissaya.

In a quick conversation I had with @chickenstrangers a couple of months ago, we actually noted that Pran happens to like having strongminded people around him, people who set boundaries around him and for him -- people like Dissaya, like Wai, and even like Pat, with Pat's jingle of "you can't do this without me" rattling through Pran's head as Pran first boards the bus to Pha Pun Dao. I would posit that that for so long, other people did the work for Pran of setting those external -- and even many of those internal -- boundaries that Pran operated by, that Pran then, without the safety of that inner sanctuary, could often fall into confusion or maybe even a little stress-induced dissociation, during times in which he didn't know how to solve problems, like fixing the dilapidated bus station early in the Bad Buddy series.

But with Pat's own internal change and admission in Pha Pun Dao -- Pran himself then gets to change within far more safe boundaries, the boundaries of his relationship, and he's literally able to fly, both emotionally and professionally.

Besides the internal relationship dynamics between Pran and Pat giving Pran the emotional safety to be able to leave Thailand, my dear BBS compadre, @telomeke, offered another theory regarding Dissaya that I thought was incredibly apt. We know that Dissaya's had almost total control over Pran's physical being for his entire life. How could she let Pran, her only baby boy, go so far away from her?

Again, we know that she sent him to boarding school, away from her, to get him away from Pat. But Pran going to Singapore wasn't about getting away from Pat. At least on paper, for her sake -- he's no longer with Pat, so she doesn't have the Jindapats to worry about in Pran's life anymore.

What @telomeke offers is a read that Dissaya herself could live vicariously through Pran's professional successes -- because her own professional success was denied to her, through Pat's father, Ming. From @telomeke:

...Pran, in going to Singapore, is actually, in a way, living out Dissaya's dream, because she was robbed of a professional future in a career outside the home, so in making a success of himself in his chosen career, he is, in a sense, allowing Dissaya to live her dream thru her baby boy. She didn't stop him from going to Singapore, and I think this is partly why; Pran's success will be hers too[.]

What this theory offers -- along with Pat's own safety and sanctity through Pat's confirmation of permanent love -- is Pran's safety through Dissaya. Dissaya gave Pran up once (arguably, she gave him up a bunch of times). But if Pran is living out a professional dream that was dashed for Dissaya -- and Dissaya supports Pran living out that professional dream? Pran gets double confirmation, from the two people he is the closest with, that he'll be safe to live out a dream of his own, one that belongs only to him, that the people who love him want to see him invest in.

And we see Pran having great success in Singapore. It worked. On the flip side, we see Pat's pain at the separation all throughout the first half of episode 12. We see Pat viscerally missing Pran, and we see other shades of Pat's pain as well (cc @shortpplfedup), especially in the resulting years of conflict with his father after he comes out to Ming with Pran. But with separation will come pain, and it's on a couple, a couple as well-balanced as Pran and Pat, to deal with that and mitigate that pain through their eventual and forever love, the love that was truly confirmed in Our Skyy 2.

Whew. I drop my pen in pure pleasure at turning over this incredible television series through all the lenses that I've been obsessing over, not just for the past two months during my rewatches and my writing, but since this past January, when I first watched this incredible series. I've been so thrilled to demarcate BBS like this on its two-year anniversary, and again, I very much want to thank @telomeke, @grapejuicegay, @recentadultburnout, @neuroticbookworm, and @lurkingshan for discussions on Asian reads on BBS; and @chickenstrangers and @ranchthoughts for side DMs about the wonders of this show. With the closer of this mini meta series, I'll chug along on the final stretch of the OGMMTVC -- but I am tremendously happy to have given Bad Buddy all the space it deserves on this syllabus as a truly remarkable, influential, and groundbreaking show of its time.

(Tagging @dribs-and-drabbles, @solitaryandwandering, and @wen-kexing-apologist by request!)

[ALLLLLLLLLRIGHT! Back to the GRIND, fam! So right now, I have the OGMMTVC on pause as I catch up with Tanachot Prapasri's and Fluke Teerapat's La Pluie, as I know La Pluie is going to end up on a lot of Best of 2023 lists. I AM OBSESSED.

But once I'm done with La Pluie, we stay grindin' on our homework, and I'll get to Cheewin Thanamin's Secret Crush on You. I know that SCOY is being referenced in The Sign right now, which I really wish I had time to watch, but -- there is so much airing. And I'm double-Cheewin-ing with Playboyy at the moment, so I think I'll stick with the SCOY/Playboyy double-feature for a little comparison's sake.

If anyone was noticing, I did take off a rewatch of The Eclipse from the list. I think, as of recent times, that a lot can be said of GMMTV's current ships by way of the closing of Only Friends, and anything I was going to analyze on the side of The Eclipse, I already wrote in my Only Friends meta earlier this fall.

So THAT means that after SCOY -- I've got a rewatch of KinnPorsche on the slate. BL cultural zeitgeist from a brand-new studio, woop woop! I am not-so-secretly looking forward to watching this, as KP was my first Thai BL, ever.

We keep KEEPIN'! Here's the status of the list, and as ever, please head over to this link for a more updated version of this watchlist!

1) The Love of Siam (2007) (movie) (review here) 2) My Bromance (2014) (movie) (review here) 3) Love Sick and Love Sick 2 (2014 and 2015) (review here) 4) Gay OK Bangkok Season 1 (2016) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 5) Make It Right (2016) (review here) 6) SOTUS (2016-2017) (review here) 7) Gay OK Bangkok Season 2 (2017) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 8) Make It Right 2 (2017) (review here) 9) Together With Me (2017) (review here) 10) SOTUS S/Our Skyy x SOTUS (2017-2018) (review here) 11) Love By Chance (2018) (review here) 12) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) (no review) 13) He’s Coming To Me (2019) (review here) 14) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and Our Skyy x Kiss Me Again (2018) (review here) 15) TharnType (2019-2020) (review here) 16) Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey (OffGun BL cuts) (2016 and 2017) (no review) 17) Theory of Love (2019) (review here) 18) 3 Will Be Free (2019) (a non-BL and an important harbinger of things to come in 2019 and beyond re: Jojo Tichakorn pushing queer content in non-BLs) (review here) 19) Dew the Movie (2019) (review here) 20) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020) (review here) (and notes on my UWMA rewatch here) 21) 2gether (2020) and Still 2gether (2020) (review here) 22) I Told Sunset About You (2020) (review here) 23) YYY (2020, out of chronological order) (review here) 24) Manner of Death (2020-2021) (not a true BL, but a MaxTul queer/gay romance set within a genre-based show that likely influenced Not Me and KinnPorsche) (review here) 25) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) (review here) 26) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake Of Rewatching Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (re-review here) 27) Lovely Writer (2021) (review here) 28) Last Twilight in Phuket (2021) (the mini-special before IPYTM) (review here) 29) I Promised You the Moon (2021) (review here) 30) Not Me (2021-2022) (review here)

31) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 32) 55:15 Never Too Late (2021-2022) (not a BL, but a GMMTV drama that features a macro BL storyline about shipper culture and the BL industry) (review here) 33) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch (The BBS OGMMTVC Meta Series is ongoing: preamble here, part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3a here, part 3b here) 34) Secret Crush On You (2022) (on pause for La Pluie) 35) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here) 36) KinnPorsche (2022) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For the Sake of Re-Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist 37) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 38) GAP (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) 39) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 40) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 41) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) 42) Be My Favorite (2023) (tag here) 43) Wedding Plan (2023) 44) Only Friends (2023) (tag here)]

51 notes · View notes