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rabbit-surfboard · 7 months

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Fictional podcast recs

One of my friends got into audio drama and I just sent them a whole list of recommendations to go through, I thought someone who follows these tags might also appreciate it and perhaps have some more to throw in. I resisted the urge to throw in the little blurb about audio dramas as a weird little medium and their tropes that I wrote up. It was something to the effect of nodding at how the medium has rapidly been improving since Welcome to Nightvale started, also how a lot of the tropes that tie the medium together are products of the indie podcast scene being accessible and primarily based in audio. Also at how well horror works in the format. Those paragraphs went unsaved but writing first about the medium in general helped me to reflect on a lot of the things that make audiodramas appealing or repulsive to me for discussing each show in brief beyond just explaining what they're about.

All recommendations are tagged for the tldr.

Fiction podcast recommendations in no particular order:

The Magnus Archives

Horror

The biggest criticism I ever had of this podcast’s voice acting from episode 1 turned out to be a relevant plot point. This thing is probably the best of the best, but I would never recommend it to someone unfamiliar with podcasts because the listener only notices a plot hook somewhere between episodes 20-40 and that’s daunting in the face of a 200 episode show. Getting sucked in rewards you with 200 episodes of thoughtful content and a great explanation for most of the weird things this show chooses to incorporate.

Old Gods of Appalachia

Horror

Fantastic production quality on this ongoing show. Many seasons with interconnected lore and a hell of a narrator. It’s not my personal favorite but it’s quite excellent.

Red Valley

Found footage mystery

One of the newer shows I’ve gotten into, Red Valley is well-crafted. It becomes compelling very quickly with a rapid pace that slows down to land in a neat spot for a while so you can savor the cool parts. The production quality is excellent and the two main voice actors have excellent chemistry. The third and final season is currently being produced.

The Silt Verses

Horror

Often compared to American Gods, this newer podcast made by an experienced team is doing a lot of creative and fresh things at once. The magnificently fucked up religious system of The Silt Verses is both a neat plot vehicle and cleanly works as a criticism of late stage capitalism, where many podcasts like to jab at capitalism this one is much more pointed in its commentary. Episodes are long and very well produced. All the credits in the third season have been mostly diegetic and add flavor to the world.

Archive 81

Found footage horror

Slow to start but by season 2 the production quality and plot are among the best in the game. Unfortunately, on an extended hiatus.

Ars Paradoxica

Science fiction, historical

Very well produced considering its age, this is a highly regarded show among people who follow the medium. Excellent time travel mechanics here. The plot drags a bit by the end because time travel stories must violently contort themselves into a conclusion, but the first season or two are fantastic and it’s always nice to have an ending instead of interminable hiatus.

Caravan

Gay demons n stuff

Showed up, did magic and gay shit, disappeared and went on hiatus probably with some kinda unsatisfying cliffhanger seeing as I don’t remember the plot. Could I recommend it in good faith? Not until they at least cough up season 2. I don’t remember it being bad and that alone is notable for the medium.

Mabel

Gothic horror

This is the deepest cut on the list except for maybe Caravan. Lesbians pine at each other for increasingly complicated reasons, eventually devolving into them doing datura and then spewing cryptic poetry together for the rest of their days. The production quality is fair. The slow windup and creepy house are American-gothic af. This show has had a few hiatuses, but each time it comes back significantly more intriguing.

Welcome to Nightvale

Goofy spooky news broadcast

Old and iconic, not very consistent. Sometimes explores emotional, tense, spooky, or funny scenes well, but the show is really focused on being local news for an ooky spooky desert town because Cecil is damn good at his job. Don’t come here looking for plot, it’s a fun vibe and I don’t know that anybody’s ripped it off and notably improved on this classic. Above average production quality for its time which improved through the years.

Alice isn’t Dead

USA road trip, horror

Made by at least one of the Nightvale writers, totally different show with a lesbian trucker making wry observations of some magnificently twisted shit seen around the United States. The producers know how to run a show, so the production is pretty good.

Tanis

Found footage horror

Tanis is not good. However, it was the first fiction podcast to make me ask “Is this real?” and hesitantly believe it for a frankly embarrassing number of episodes. The stories in the first season were interesting and the lore is just some big-tent conspiracy style of cramming a bunch of fun Wikipedia research into what turns out to be an increasingly nonsensical plot. Every season after the second, I return to hate-listen and am gaslit into thinking the show might low-key rock a few episodes before the finale, which is routinely frustrating and makes sure to throw out any good plot points Terry Miles comes up with. The acting is routinely terrible, and the frame narrative allows lazy and frequent retcons, ruining what I think is a good premise. Also it’s incomplete.

The Black Tapes

Horror

Terry Miles started this show before Tanis began releasing about 5 months later. I think of it as one of his earlier works because it behaves like Tanis with an added layer of cringe from a time waster of an awkward romance(?) between the two main characters. I couldn’t finish this show. You won’t see this recommended as often as it used to be online because there’s many better shows now, but this used to be a big deal. There’s a bunch of memes making fun of the annoying cadence of the characters’ speech and iconic sponsorship reads in both this and Tanis. If you’re interested in some cringe atop your creepypasta podcast, the two are interchangeable.

Rabbits

ARG investigation

Not as horror focused as Terry Miles’ other shows, the cringe is dialed down and the show is better for it. Tanis and The Black Tapes are more well known, I think the only reason more people don’t think about this one is because the first two don’t inspire trust in the production or narrative quality of this show, but I remember it being fine for a season. I have not gone back to catch up now that more is out.

Malevolent

Horror

Inspired by The King in Yellow, one man performs two voices and verbally abuses himself with aplomb. Having a blind main character with an extra voice in his head is a frame story I haven’t heard yet (unless it came up in the magnus archives and I don’t remember), the concept works out great for the frame of a podcast to deploy the environmental imagery that foley cannot communicate. It also prevents the podcast trope of lengthy exposition about visual surroundings from sounding awkward or potentially impacting someone’s character development to show setting.

Wolf 359

Comedy, science fiction

A crew of whacky characters is stuck in deep space, hanging out and researching a star. Since that’s not actually very interesting they crack jokes and fuck around for a slow burn until interesting stuff happens. Good but not great, this one is long and satisfying and a bit less heavy than all the horror this medium often focuses on. Decent production quality.

The White Vault

Found footage horror

I lost patience with this podcast even though the overarching story seemed very cool – it progresses very slowly yet appears to grow bigger and more confusing instead of deigning to answer basic questions for a frustratingly long drag through the first four seasons. I worry that this frustration may be the point and the Patreon gated stories are the drivers for this tendency towards the confusing patchwork of ideas this show communicates. The production quality is good though.

The Left Right Game

Found footage horror

Genuinely great reddit creepypasta got turned into an overproduced podcast – I say “over” in comparison to the voice acting quality because it’s kind of impossible to sell some of the lines, which makes sense considering the source. Brief, complete, punchy, interesting, and just a little odd to hear such a clean production but a creepypasta this fun deserves the effort.

Wooden Overcoats

Comedy

Surprisingly good production quality for its age, and also a refresher from the usual tropes of the medium. Just a chill sitcom about a funeral parlor in a small town. I haven’t finished this 4 season show yet but its good.

The Black List Table Reads

Movie script readings

Some movie scripts just short of making the cut to be turned into a full Hollywood production were well liked enough by a group of film nerds that sat down to act them out as a podcast. Half of the episodes are interviews with screenwriters, and the other half see a script read all the way through by actors. They’re all rejected for different reasons so there’s a pretty broad spread of genres. My favorites were Blood From a Stone and Balls Out.

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doodlegirl1998 · 8 months

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So we all know BNHA is terrible at Actions and Consequences on characters that deserve it.

But have you ever wondered that when consequences ARE dished out it's on people that don't deserve it?

Case in point, Sero with the Finals, Mina and Denki with the finals because they were CLEARLY at a disadvantage, Izuku with the House Arrest, the list can go on.

Like, why is it with characters that hasn't done anything bad while those who do get to go off Scot free?

Now this could've been used in a good way as to show how kind of flawed their society is if they allow the bad ones go while the good ones suffer in their place.

But that's just me I guess.

Hi @theloganator101 👋,

That is an excellent point and one I hadn't thought of before.

The problem with MHA is not just the assholes of the story getting no consequence, it's the fact that when consequences are dished out it's on those who do not deserve it.

It creates a deeply unsatisfying narrative because MHA never uses this as a tool to show how flawed their universe is. Instead the narrative says it's ok for people like Bakugou (especially Bakugou) to be let off the hook all the time.

Let's go through your examples because you raise some excellent points;

Sero in the finals was used for Mineta's character development and failed when he passed out. This is unfair in several ways 1) he saved Mineta which is what heroes are meant to do. 2) Sero worked with him the whole time till he passed out 3) his tape meant that Mineta could succeed. 4) If Sero fails BAKUGOU should also have failed, for more reason too because unlike Sero Bakugou didn't do points 1,2, or 3 with Izuku and only briefly worked with him after punching his ally in the face. The punching in the face thing should have been an immediate fail because imagine if Bakugou pulled that shit in an actual fight - it could have caused the death of himself and his ally.

Mina and Denki in the finals where not given a fair shot and were set up to fail against Nedzu. I've seen people laugh about this, saying Aizawa must have known they had no chance to succeed to let Nedzu vent his sadistic tendencies on them which...yikes. Aizawa stans are now outing him as an awful teacher but I also do not put this past him. Teachers are meant to set up their pupils for success, not failure. Can you imagine the fear, realistically, that Mina and Denki would have felt upon failing with Expellzawa is their homeroom teacher, ready to drop an expulsion for shits and giggles? They would think he would turn around to them and say - 'You died in this test therefore your prospects as a hero are now dead too,' By contrast IZUKU in his and Bakugou's final exam was used for Bakugou's benefit only. During his final Recover Girl says about Izuku and Bakugou "they are terrible at teamwork those two", like it's some two sided issue and not Izuku trying desperately to work with his abuser because HIS GRADE is at stake!!

Izuku with the house arrest - I have another ask about this so I will go more in-depth there but the punishment Izuku received was unfair because even if you make the argument of *The security cameras didn't have audio, Aizawa didn't know Bakugou dragged Izuku out to fight,* watching the footage should have shown, Bakugou was the main aggressor and dragged Izuku out to fight. To add on to this, Bakugou has been the aggressor of Izuku all academic year. Aizawa is meant to be smart, Mr Logical etc... So how is he such a dumbass about this? Besides the house arrest benefits Bakugou in the end because he doesn't get his butt kicked by Mirio, Bakugou avoids what would have been a humbling moment for him.

All of this is deeply unsatisfying to watch when you realise that the assholes of the story will never get punished while Izuku and the other good characters get dragged, either in the name of comedy or because Hori likes to watch them suffer all the time...

#mha critical #bnha critical #anti bakugou #anti bakugou katsuki

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luciusgerard · 2 years

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How to tell if someone is going to have the absolute worst Stranger Things takes:

If any of the things on this list apply to a user on any social media site (particularly Tumblr, Twitter, or TikTok) or a person IRL, chances are they're not worth engaging with because their opinions and theories regarding the show will be hot garbage.

This is just my opinion by the way, if you disagree you may continue on your merry way and continue having crappy opinions. That said, let's begin.

1. They stan this bitch.

Now, don't get me wrong. When I say this, I don't mean people who like Billy as a character because of what he adds to the show. I'm talking about people who have allowed themselves to become so obsessed that they make excuses for his abusive and racist actions. A place of understanding is not a place of justification. I'm also talking about the people who ship him with Steve (or anyone), believe he and Eddie would be friends, hate Max because she "insulted" their "baby," and the people who shit on Eddie and the Steddie ship as a whole because they view Eddie as some kind of carbon copy of Billy. You know who you are, and you suck.

2. They hate Robin or Lucas.

Neither of these characters have done anything wrong. I've never seen anyone justify their dislike of Robin for a non-ableist or non-homophobic reason (because they don't exist), and Lucas, one of two Black main characters in the show, gets criticised so harshly and so often compared to White characters who have done inarguably worse things. Y'all don't realise how damn quick you are to antagonise a Black boy in situations where he's behaving in entirely reasonable and rational manners, like when he was "mean to El" in season one when he's doing what the majority of people in his situation would do, meanwhile I hardly ever see people calling Mike out for being so needlessly rude to Max in season two. Case in point: If you hate on Robin or Lucas, your opinion is trash.

3. They're strongly against Byler and its shippers.

I honestly don't care whether you personally ship Byler or not, you can't deny that people who are 100% against even the idea of Byler are at least a little homophobic (well, technically you could, but you'd be wrong).

"Mike is straight!"

Has that been confirmed? Did Mike tell you that? Did the Duffer Brothers tell you that? No? Exactly. Besides, even if it were outright confirmed that Mike is only into girls, why is it so difficult for you to let people enjoy things that aren't causing you or anyone else any direct or indirect harm? God, please just make some friends.

"But Mike has only ever shown interest in girls!"

Tell me you have little to no media literacy skills without telling me you have little to no media literacy skills. Seriously, babe, that's not even remotely true. I can guarantee that if Will and/or Eddie were women, people like you would be all over the Byler ship and the Mike-having-a-crush-on-Eddie headcanon.

"Mike and El are in love, didn't you hear his monologue?"

See the first sentence of my last point and shut up.

4. They unironically refer to Will as "the gay one" or a variation of it.

This one is more specifically talking to the allocishets: Why is it that for three seasons Will Byers got to be referred to by his name like every other character, but season four comes out (no pun intended) and all of a sudden he's being reduced to his sexual orientation? Answer quickly.

Anyway, I'm done ranting. If you have anything to add, comment or reblog. Have a good day, people these points don't apply to.

#stranger things #stranger things fandom #stranger things opinions #byler #anti billy hargrove #anti harringrove #anti mungrove #steddie #robin buckley #lucas sinclair #steve harrington #eddie munson #anti mileven #will byers #mike wheeler #max mayfield

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ronaldmcdonaldstastytits · 10 months

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It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia: Realistic Representation

Hello Sunnyblr!

I asked if anyone wanted to see my paper I did on Always Sunny for school and some people said yes, so here it is. It’s like 5000 words and it was super rushed, so it’s not brilliant. Hope you have fun reading it and I recommend you also check out the sources I referenced at the end because some of those where a hell of a read and so fucking interesting.

[NOTE] This was originally intended for my teacher’s eyes who has not seen Always Sunny, so a lot of the first two chapters are very anecdotal and recount some plot points of always sunny, so if you know the show (which if you’re seeing this, you probably do) they aren’t necessary to read, neither is the log but I decided to include it anyway.

Introduction

This personal Interest Project will explore the way in which homosexuality is portrayed in the media, with an emphasis and focus on the TV show “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and the ways that they make the queer representation in it both realistic and relatable, to everyone in the audience.

I chose this as my topic for multiple reasons: I love looking at and reading about the ways that the media presents queerness and the LGBTQ+ community. I’ve consumed a large amount of media with queer characters since I was first introduced to the concept, and of all the media, the most relatable and well presented I have come across so far has to be in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” in the character of Mac and his struggles between religion and sexuality.

The way that homosexuality and queerness in general is shown in the media is important for society as a whole, as it is always important to see yourself and others reflected in the media you consume. In this study I reference self made questionnaires, interviews and researched secondary sources to further evidence my judgements in a way so that I could get diverse opinions on a niche subject. My cross-cultural component included interviewing people who have been invested in the show far longer than i have to show what has changed in the community’s attitude towards Always Sunny’s representation over the years.

Log

My first step in creating my study was to do secondary research on the topics of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, LGBTQ+ representation in the media and the Queer habitation of fandom spaces.

Once I had a list of both formal and scholarly and informal references I could use, I sent them to my email to ensure they would not get lost or forgotten and I started reading them all, making mental notes on what to use as I went along.

Next I started by beginning an introduction to the study. I then made an essay plan for each chapter, making sure to note down which sources I would be using and where. I plotted exactly what I would talk about in each chapter and estimated how long they would each be.

When I started the body of my study I realised it was actually far longer than I had been anticipating and I spent a long time cutting it down before continuing with my Third chapter, which I realised I would have to condense down from chapters three and four into just one.

After I had finally finished the three chapters I made sure to annotate each of the sources I had used, add footnotes and graphs and relevant pictures.

The last task I had yet to complete was the log, which was easy to fill out even though i had made no attempts at creating a project diary (which I should do in the future so that this last process is even easier).

Chapter 1 – Sunny’s Dark Satire

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is the longest running live-action American sit-com ever made. In 2003 two struggling actors, Rob McElhenny and Glenn Howerton came up with an idea that flipped traditional comedy on its head, made a pilot episode with a budget of $200 and titled it, “It’s Always Sunny on TV”.

The show was to take place in Hollywood, about three actors trying to make it big. The three main characters were Rob McElhenny, Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day playing as themselves.

The first episode, “Charlie has Cancer” started with Glenn visiting Charlie’s apartment to “borrow a bowl of sugar”, only to find out that his friend might have cancer. When Charlie starts confiding in Glenn about how he feels about all of it Glenn awkwardly responds, “Oh, I’m s--- did you wanna talk right now?”, creating the awkward, dark, satirical comedy aspect that It’s Always Sunny is well known for.

Later, after the show was picked up by FX, It was decided that the premise of the show would need to be changed. FX believed there were already too many sitcoms set in Los Angeles and they decided the new show would be set in McElhenney’s home town of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They also didn’t want it to be about actors as there were too many shows about that as well, but with the premise and comedy of the show the characters would need to have a lot of free time on their hands, and so the decision was made that the characters would be bar owners, and the name of the show was changed to “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

The characters’ names also changed, McElhenney was now Ronald “Mac” McDonald (yes like the clown), Howerton was now called Dennis Reynolds and Day was still called Charlie, only the last name switched from “Day” to “Kelly” and Dennis’ twin sister was played by Kaitlyn Olsen. The show that started with the characters and actors at 28 and 29 years old, now has them at 46 and 47 in the newest season of the show which only came out in early June this year and the show is still signed for two more seasons.

Always Sunny was made to be an anti sitcom, a direct opposite to something like F.R.I.E.N.D.S. or How I Met Your Mother.

Most sitcoms feature lovable characters who might be a little morally dubious at the beginning but eventually turn into better people, sometimes they fall in love and get married and the end of the story is nice and happy.

Anti-sitcoms-- not so much.

While a sitcom explores the characters’ growth as individuals through comedy, anti sitcoms often do the opposite. In Always Sunny every single character is set up to be one of the worst people imaginable. The point of the show is to make you hate the characters and root against them so that when they finally get what they deserve-- often physical violence-- you feel justified in laughing at them.

Each of the characters has at least one thing that is absolutely awful about them so that if you get too close to liking them someone else can point out, How can you like him? He stalked a woman for 15 years! Making you like the character less.

They all have their terrible flaws; Charlie stalked a woman for 15 years, Mac is incredibly misogynistic and homophobic, Dennis has harassed and assaulted women on multiple occasions. The characters are awful, you can’t help but hate them, and that makes seeing them get what they deserve at the end of every episode so much more satisfying.

However, while we hate these characters, that doesn’t mean we can’t also relate to them. It also doesn’t mean that the show can’t have good representation. Because it does and we do; Topics like mental health issues, eating disorders, Childhood sexual assault and LGBTQ+ identities are explored by the characters.

But one of the things that so many fans of the show relate to about the characters is the queer aspect. In every show that has a fandom, there are characters consistently “headcannonned” as queer in some respect. Always Sunny is no exception, however, it did go farther in seeing how they had been portraying the characters, noticing that one of them did seem gay even to them and actually taking the step to confirm that the character was gay.

Chapter 2 – Mac’s Journey

In 2016’s season 11 finale McElhenney’s character, Mac, came out as gay. Mac was an ultra conservative man infected with so much toxic masculinity that he took any altercation and raised it to violence out of insecurity. He was also insanely homophobic, misogynistic and transphobic despite the fact that he once dated a transgender woman named Carmen on and off for two years.

Carmen was actually first introduced in season one episode four “Charlie has Cancer”, the pilot of Sunny on TV. Carmen was played by Brittany Daniel in the FX show, and the plot of the episode didn’t change much from the original: Mac tries to find a girl to get her to sleep with Charlie to cheer him up since he supposedly has cancer. The only girl he sees in the bar is Carmen, they start talking and Mac goes back to Dennis and Dee to tell them he’s “found the perfect girl for Charlie”. Then Dennis and Dee tell him that “that’s a dude”. When Mac goes to confront Carmen about it she expertly deflects the accusation and they continue flirting.

MAC: You lied to me.

CARMEN: No, I didn't. You lied to me. You don't work out? Please. I've seen you at the gym. You're ripped.

MAC: No. Don't turn this around. Wait. Really? You think so?

CARMEN: Yeah.

MAC: (flexes his muscles) I was afraid I was getting a little too ripped, you know?

CARMEN: Oh, no. I like it.

MAC: Wow! Hmm. Well, I gotta get back to work. Um, but I don't know. Maybe I'll give you a call sometime.

After that they end up going on dates and they seem like a happy couple apart from the fact that Mac is very clearly uncomfortable with dating someone with a penis. Eventually their relationship ends when while on a date, Carmen approaches Mac from behind and taps his shoulder and Mac freaks out and accidentally punches her out of instinct.

In a later episode of Season three, “Mac is a serial killer”, the plot twist of the episode is that, while the gang thinks that Mac has been acting shady recently because he’s now a serial killer, it is actually because Mac has been trying to hide the fact that he’s been dating Carmen again from them out of fear of their reactions considering what they thought the last time they dated. Through this episode Mac still clearly is uncomfortable with her being trans but he also seems to really like her considering the amount of research he had been doing into her “condition”, as Mac puts it. Towards the end of the episode Carmen dumps him because she thinks he is ashamed of her. Upset, Mac goes to Charlie and tells him “It’s over,” since he had assumed that Charlie knew the whole time. The gang confronts Mac about being a serial killer and Mac immediately yells back “I’m not a serial killer! [...] I’ve been banging the [t slur]!” Just as Mac had predicted, the gang immediately seems disgusted by this.

Carmen appears in two other later episodes as well, in one of them Mac runs into her at the gym and finds out she’s getting married soon. The rest of the episode is about Mac being so jealous that she’s getting married to someone that he decides that it is a “gay marriage” and therefore a sin and tries to dissuade the couple from getting married by using homophobic bible quotes. Predictably, this episode is called “Mac Fights Gay Marriage”.

The last episode with Carmen in it is one in which Dee gives birth after being pregnant all season, it is revealed at the end of this episode that after the Gang tried so hard to figure out who the father was all season and were prepared to look after this kid together, that Dee was actually a surrogate, and what’s more, she was a surrogate for Carmen and her Husband.

Miraculously, Carmen is the only character or side character who has ever left an encounter with the gang unscathed, she even somehow came out the end better, with a family. Every other character has been dragged down into the pits of hell with the rest of the gang whenever they’ve had to endure anything with them.

Along with being transphobic and yet dating a trans woman Mac was also very homophobic, and the best example of that comes from the season nine episode, “Mac Day”, in which Mac’s cousin from the country (“Country Mac”) comes to the city. Later in the episode Mac makes his friends participate in “Greasing up some Beefcakes” which is actually just rubbing oil on body builders. Mac says some very suggestive things when the Gang doesn’t want to do it-- “These guys work off their beautiful glutes for our enjoyment, okay? The least we can do is pay them back in tan and grease.”-- Country Mac seems all too up for the activity, however, and says he's been getting a lot of phone numbers. Dennis asks where there are women, to which Country Mac replies, “Chicks? No. Dudes. I’m into Dudes.” The Gang expresses their positive sentiments and when Country Mac walks away Charlie says, “It’s so much more comfortable when someone’s gay and open about it. And like, I know we’ve never said this as a group, but… Mac’s gay." The rest of the Gang all immediately agreed with no restraint. At the end of the episode, after Country Mac’s untimely death, Mac makes a eulogy which includes the characteristic homophobia, “And it turns out, he was totally queer. Which, as we all know, is a sin. And that, coupled with his radical religious beliefs, has most likely landed him in Hell, where he will burn for all eternity. So I will ask for a moment of silence, in which I will beg God's forgiveness for Country Mac's evil, homo ways…”

Although the writers clearly knew what they were doing with “Mac Day”, the season ten two part finale “The Gang Goes to Hell Parts 1 and 2” is where they really made their intentions surrounding Mac’s character and sexuality clear.

Goes to Hell were two of the episodes that showcased exactly how awful each of the characters are. In the story, every one of the characters committed one of the seven deadly sins and ended up on the brig of the Christian cruise ship they were on. They were on the Christian cruise ship because Mac had converted from his Roman Catholic church he had grown up in, to a Christian one because his usual church was “getting too Vietnamese”, just showcasing again how Mac is a horrible person.

Of course Charlie and Frank’s sin was gluttony in the form of alcoholism (they drank boat fuel), Dee was wrathful and punched a woman and Dennis attempted to have sex with a girl who was 19 even though he was 39. Out of everyone in the Gang, Mac was the only one who didn’t commit a sin and yet he ended up in the brig as well.

The reason Mac was in the brig was because he had found out the men he had become friends with were actually married and gay and Mac, being incredibly homophobic as he was, had decided that he was put on the cruise by God to convert them to being straight. This of course didn’t work and when Mac told the men all of this they said:

DAVID: You want to convert us?

MAC: Yeah!

DAVID: Do you realise how insulting that is? How would you like it if I tried to convert you?

MAC: Uh… Wouldn’t care. Cause that’s, like, impossible. There’s no way you guys could convert me to your lifestyle.

SCOTT: Let’s give it a shot.

The next scene opened with Mac walking straight into the brig, closing the door and saying defeatedly, “Well… I’m gay.”

Mac’s sexuality was further explored in the Season 13 finale, “Mac Finds His Pride” in which he came out to his father and his prison mates through an interpretive dance, only for him to walk out of the room midway through his performance. Mac was clearly devastated by this and the episode ended with Frank, who had accompanied Mac throughout the episode and who was typically quite ignorant and homophobic, finally understanding how Mac had felt his whole life.

Chapter 3 – Was it Good Representation?

Having representation in the media is important for all minorities. Minorities can see others like them, and non-minorities can see how minorities are affected by a world not catered for them and see how things need to change.

In a survey regarding what people thought about shows with Queer representation, I asked the questions: what was the best queer representation you’ve seen in the media and why?

In response to what the best queer representation was, the results varied greatly as there are many different pieces of media containing good LGBTQ+ representation. However, the most recurring answers were It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia with 17.3%, Our Flag Means Death with 11.5% and The Owl House with 7.7%. The top qualities in good representation were (in order of highest to lowest); realism, normalisation, diversity, relatability, unashamedness, and acceptance.

In an interview with a long time fan of Always Sunny, 22 year old Lillian H, in response to being asked what she liked about the representation in Always Sunny, said that while she didn’t think that the portrayal of Mac’s identity was as good as it could have been her favourite thing about the show was it’s portrayal of mental illness and trauma: “There’s not many aspects of the show that I would ever look at as “good” representation, I mean that would be the opposite of the message that the show is trying to convey. I don’t even think that Mac is as good a representation that he could be. But I also think Sunny is the best tv representation I have ever seen of trauma and mental illness. One of my favorite things about this show is that at its core, Sunny is about five traumatized people who were deeply affected by their terrible upbringing and continue to perpetuate the cycle and project it all over anyone they encounter.”

Lillian started watching the show around the time the first two seasons had begun airing and was introduced to it by her Dad who loved the show. “My dad was obsessed with it and when we weren’t watching it on television he was showing me his favorite scenes on youtube.”, she said. She also talked about how when she was in middle school and properly able to digest and process the humour of the show beyond a group of adults yelling at each other for 20 minutes straight, she started engaging with the online fandom on tumblr. When asked how the fandom has changed over time she said, “The majority of tumblr users were under thirty, so I think the fans there were a lot more accepting and open minded than the people like my dad who just watched it on tv. I never witnessed any kind of blatant homophobia or racism of any kind. From what I remember everyone for the most part understood the satire and knew what the show was portraying was wrong. The blackface was definitely an issue though. It was (rightfully!) openly shunned and criticized in the fandom. There were other tumblr users that had never seen the show who would attack sunny blogs for being racist and problematic for supporting a show and cast that performed blackface. [...] The response to Mac coming out was initially terrible. He came out of the closet only to go right back in at the end of the episode. I think the majority of LGBTQ fans felt this episode made it clear that Mac's sexuality was being trivialized and played up for laughs. It was especially disappointing coming from a crew who claimed to be gay allies, one of which had two moms and a gay brother who worked on the show. When Mac finally came out for good, the response was overwhelmingly positive and celebratory. I think at the time even the older fans (like my dad) were too caught off guard to be hateful. It was a bizarrely emotional episode.”

In a separate survey when the question, “what was the best queer representation you have seen and why?” was posed, the reasons behind people responding with Mac from Always Sunny were mostly very similar; “because he is the epitome of who I used to be (Catholic and extremely in denial about my sexuality)”, “Mac McDonald, mostly because I can relate to him a lot. We are both gay, we are both religious [...]”, “It’s really relatable for me. I grew up in [a] catholic setting, so it was just easier to lock away my true feelings.”, “Mac's shame and guilt regarding his sexuality and being stuck in the closet and denial was executed well and it's something many lgbt folks can relate to”, “Mac finds his pride is definitely one of the best episodes of the show and shows his struggle with his internalised homophobia and struggle to find a place to fit in, which i can relate to.”

Most people in more recent times, when talking about why they liked Mac’s representation, reference how they feel it relates to them. Most of these people are gay, religious or both like Mac was and understand that what happened when Mac first came out and then went back into the closet was a way of denial and repression and something they related to.

This proposes the theory that perhaps this view in particular regarding Mac’s character and story has changed over time from something that people were unhappy about when it first happened to something that people now praise for making it feel realistic and relatable.

However this is a phenomenon known only to those within the fandom. In an interview with 17 year old Jordan Wade, who only considers himself a casual enjoyer of the show and has only watched the first two seasons, he said that he hadn’t really noticed any queer aspects to any of the characters and had not picked up on any representation in the show where he was up to. It should be noted that there is LGBTQ+ themes and representation in the first season in the form of Carmen and perhaps this shows that the only people who really pay enough attention to the show to be able to pick out and examine each piece of representation are those who are engaged in the fandom. And most people who engage in fandom are queer or part of other minorities and as such are already used to searching thoroughly for any representation.

In a survey, 10 memes from Always Sunny were presented to the participants and they were asked if they recognised the meme. On all of the memes 55 people responded and of all those memes the lowest number of people who recognised a meme was 32, with the highest being 51 of the 55 saying they recognised it. The spread of memes on the internet among people who know the show and don’t, contribute to the spread of the show, which contributes to the spread of its representation. Of the ten memes, before I had even watched the show, I had seen nine of them, just due to being online on platforms such as Tumblr and TikTok.

Conclusion

Ultimately, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia has some good representation of LGBTQ+ characters and also of mental health issues. The show is absolutely flawed but it is usually quite good at staying within the confines of a dark satire and using it to its advantage. Mac’s character could have been dealt with more gently and so could Carmen’s but ultimately they did really well with what they did at the time and many people relate really well to the characters. The characters and representation in Always Sunny is genuinely really good and many people agree that it is relatable, and realistic and not made a huge deal of, only increasing the value of the representation.

The use of realistic and relatable plot points in Mac’s story help to make the character more accessible to queer audiences. The fact that he came out and then went back in only helps queer people relate to him more. His internalised homophobia is ever present throughout the show and drawn upon to add to his queer identity, showing how overtime he worked on and diminished his internalised homophobia and was finally able to feel himself after the season thirteen finale.

While aspects of it may still be widely contested by fans of Always Sunny online, it stands without competition that Mac in many ways was good representation that fed people starved of representation. And while Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, Charlie Day and the other writers of Always Sunny could have done better, it is undeniable that they were well intentioned and got their messages across quite well in the end.

Reference List

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXY0uDeZ5jw

Charlie Has Cancer - Original Pilot. (2004). United States of America. Retrieved June 15, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXY0uDeZ5jw.

https://whatnerd.com/what-is-anti-sitcom-explained-with-examples/

McManus, B., McManus, C., Conall McManusConall McManus is a contributor at whatNerd. He’s an avid fan of cinema, Conall McManus is a contributor at whatNerd. He’s an avid fan of cinema, & Read more by Conall McManus ». (2022, October 12). What’s an anti-sitcom? Explained (with 5 great examples). whatNerd. https://whatnerd.com/what-is-anti-sitcom-explained-with-examples/

https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/amusing-abusers-and-humourless-survivors-analysing-the-role-of-comedy-in-media-representations-of-sexual-violence

Rose, L. B. (2021). Amusing abusers and humourless survivors: analysing the role of comedy in media representations of sexual violence. Galactica Media: Journal of Media Studies, (3), 344-373.

https://mediarxiv.org/8hgfa/download?format=pdf

Johnson Jr, M. (2020). Queer Incrementalism and the Emancipatory Rhetoric of Redemption on FX’s “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj12BBtbRkM

YouTube. (2022). The Gang Does Trans Representation. YouTube. Retrieved June 15, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj12BBtbRkM.

https://deadline.com/2021/12/its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia-addresses-blackface-controversy-1234884709/

Haring, B. (2021, December 4). “it’s always sunny in Philadelphia” addresses blackface controversy in “lethal weapon 7” season 15 episode. Deadline. https://deadline.com/2021/12/its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia-addresses-blackface-controversy-1234884709/

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/lgbtq-fans-remaking-fandom-in-our-own-image-stitch-fan-service

Stitch. (2021, June 9). LGBTQ+ fans: We’re here, Queer, and remaking fandom in our own image. Teen Vogue. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/lgbtq-fans-remaking-fandom-in-our-own-image-stitch-fan-service

https://www.tumblr.com/sunnykeysmash/717820696920719360/im-also-thinking-that-it-would-mean-mac-would

Sunnykeysmash. (2023, May 20). “wait One Year” on Tumblr. Tumblr. https://www.tumblr.com/sunnykeysmash/717820696920719360/im-also-thinking-that-it-would-mean-mac-would

https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/1043761

Kimmel, K. (2017). THE GANG’S IN A THESIS: AN EXAMINATION OF AMERICAN TELEVISION’S DARK HORSE SITCOM “IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA” (Doctoral dissertation, Georgetown University).

And of course thank you to @lgbdee for helping me and @sunnykeysmash for unknowlingly giving me something to use as a source and a good read lol. And thanks to everyone who participated in all the polls and surveys i put out, it was a huge help and I was able to get a MUCH larger amount of data on my surveys than my classmates did which I count as a win on it’s own even though I have no idea what my marks for this assignment were.

Also if you’re going to read any of the sources above I highly recommend “Amusing abusers and humourless survivors: analysing the role of comedy in media representations of sexual violence” by LB Rose. I genuinely really enjoyed reading it and reread it later too.

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symwinter · 18 days

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So… about that Miraculous rewrite, what do you have in mind?

Okay, thank you for asking, I appreciate it. I’ll try and make this as concise as possible, because there’s a lot and I tend to ramble, so I’ve made it in the form of a numbered list:

1. I don’t plan on redeeming Chloé. I feel like despite actually knowing why Chloé didn’t get redeemed, there’s a pretty decent lesson about how entitlement doesn’t mean you get what you want that they definitely also could’ve gone with of if they were a bit smarter with it.

2. No zodiac kwami. They’re the bane of my existence. Why are two of them time travel based in power?

3. Adrienette is the endgame couple.

4. As of right now I’m sitting at three seasons, each one being 16 episodes plus three specials but I might either add a season four or make season three longer. One of the specials is the alternate dimension one. I love the concept of it.

5. I also gave the show an actual timeline. Because the Christmas specials says it’s Adrien’s first Christmas without his mother, but then season one has the Valentine’s Day episode which means it’s February and then the school year in France starts in September so if we look at season one as somewhat chronological, it means the Christmas special is wrong and that drove me crazy so I just redid the whole timeline. Because it would be his second Christmas without his mom.

6. Nathalie doesn’t have an unrequited crush on Gabriel. I never quite got that.

7. Any rich kid that was a sentimonster isn’t one anymore. The peacock miraculous doesn’t create sentimonsters but rather charms enemies as its main skill.

8. Adrien has more of a backbone than he does is canon and Marinette’s crush on. Adrian is a bit more healthy.

9. Rather than using potions to unlock new skills, the kwamis can manifest them themselves. They just need to expend extra energy and there are just some situations where that’s more difficult. I just feel like the book and the potions and the rennlings from the Shanghai special make the kwamis feel less like something ancient powerful and more like a tool. And also because Frozer takes place in January/February and Syren takes place in March/April (both are season two episodes though).

10. Up until the collector, Natalie didn’t know that Gabriel was Hawkmoth and agrees to wear the butterfly miraculous in order to get Gabriel to let Adrien go back to school and not be able to pull them out for a stupid reason anymore otherwise she’ll just go to the cops and be like “my boss is the supervillain.” She does this again in Simon Says but with Adrien’s love life as a preemptive caution.

11. Adrien is in the finale battle. I don’t get why they didn’t include him in season 5.

12. Emilie Agreste is a famous actress so her disappearance (aka I haven’t quite settled on what I want to do with her) is a lot more well-known to the public.

13. I am planning on renaming both of Felix‘s parents. I just haven’t quite settled on names yet.

I think that’s all I got right now. I’ve mainly been focussing on the timeline and the episode list and any changes to episodes rather than the characters themselves which feels counterproductive, but it’s just the way that my brain works, especially since I find it really difficult to think out Marinette and Adrien as individuals. My brain kinda just weaves them together.

#miraculous ladybug #symwinter’s trash writing #symwinter answers

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theinfinitedivides · 4 months

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this is so random but i would love to hear your opinion on mydramalist as a fellow asian drama lover. because it’s obviously well known as a reliable wiki of sorts in dramaland but i beg to differ. (the only plus i feel being the summary and cast list for info)

i mean, i’ve not seen a single comsec w more than two brain cells as a whole? there’s always complaints about female leads rooted from misogyny, they are never happy about story progression, and i just find so many of them kinda dumb sorry lol. like zero media literacy to be found, insufferable arguments, etc. the star ratings are rly just given to popular dramas w high profile actors too.

and i personally find it disheartening that so many ppl end up referring to mdl when considering dramas because so many gems are then lost and not given appreciation.

anon. anon anon anon if you know the way i sat straight the f*ck up when i saw the notification and then read through this ask bc yes. yes to everything here that is exactly it. almost three fourths of what i've watched this year was either 1. not received well by the general MDL crowd (Moon in the Day. where is the taste brethren to not like MITD and not even for reasons that actually make sense), 2. received well but had a good chunk of people bitching in the comment section, or 3. received well but had the main point of the show (and its relevant characterization) go over their heads. (The Worst of Evil aka TWOE comment section, i am f*cking looking at you. i can count on one hand the number of people who understood what that show was supposed to be about) the one fourth that managed to escape was bc the toxicity did not reach the comment section and everyone was pretty f*cking civil. alas if only it could be like that all of the time

case in point for the ratings example, since we've already briefly tackled the lack of media literacy—j-dramas on MDL are notoriously rated much, much lower than either k- or c-dramas. half of the time that's bc there are less users watching (and rating) them therefore the average is lower but the other half it's bc people simply do not understand good media when they see it. don't get me wrong there's some freaky ass sh*t in the j-drama world that i would not touch with a Grinch level pole but to see MDLers out here talking about how slow j-dramas are and that nothing's happening. have you considered that you are either watching the wrong genre or you shouldn't be watching j-dramas in the first place bc their entire setup and general narrative framing arcs are not your style. have you even thought about that for six seconds or are you too busy expecting it to read like a typical tropey rom-com k-drama with your trending oppas. (no hate on my tropey rom-coms with [most of] said oppas, i need them when i don't want to think i just want to see sh*t on my screen and scream about hot people and the Hand Umbrellas in the Rain and the Back Hold when the male lead catches the female lead before she falls and you have the fifteen second focus on their faces just looking at each other)

and the misogyny. oh God do not get me started on the dichotomy that was the Cult, as we affectionatly called ourselves, on the feeds while THEE sageuk of the year My Dearest was airing (beloved show [that i still need to finish. JangChae i'm sorry ily life hates me like the mf it is 😭], beloved commentary on the feeds. they saw the vision on the feeds) vs the sh*tshow that was the landmine field of the comment section (the takes i saw on Gil Chae, Eun Ae AND Ryang Eum respectively.......... the misogyny wasn't enough we had to add the homophobia into the mix. buy one get one free deal fr fr). you mad man. that sh*t was insane there was a point i banned myself from scrolling farther than the cast section until the show finished airing. i kid you not on average they didn't have even half a braincell. maybe a quarter of a quarter of one. f*cked up just say you are not decent people and go

this is not to say that all of MDL is like this. i have gotten tuned into absolute masterpieces of content (and have tuned others, amen) bc of a comment comparing a show i'm watching to another one or a review being posted in the feeds about a film with less than 500 people interested. i have reconsidered my choice to not watch something after having spirited discussions in private messages discussing the pros and cons of the premise and whether they managed to get it done without f*cking sh*t up. i still contribute semi-regularly by adding relatively unknown actors and crew members to the database so they can get the credit due them. if you know where to look, you can get some good sh*t out of that place. problem is most users who are new to both the site and East/Southeast Asian cinema as a whole don't know where to look, and the cycle continues, and the ratings continue to be skewed/bloated and no one pays attention to the plot, if there even is any to pay attention to.

tl;dr: begging people to not let MDL be the be all end all for their drama recs a la 'well MDL doesn't like it so i won't watch it'. babe we have said MDLers complaining about how the ratings on Viki are too high but in my entire time watching dramas i've found that in the past two to three years the Viki ratings are making more sense than the MDL ones. sit with that for a sec. when you're done branch out and see the world (literally and cinematically), i promise you will be a better person for it

#inbox #q: anon #mydramalist #mdl #kdrama #not what i expected to see this Friday but i needed to see it #anon love this got a bit long i'm sorry i am just. Passionate about this subject as you can tell #honestly istg the only reason i still use MDL is to track my sh*t. plus i obsessively organized my profile page and i am not letting that #go to waste no ty #i feel like the Asian drama fandom over here on Tumblr are just. slightly more normal somehow. also you'll get f*ckingly long analyses #on shows that will have you face down on the ground shot in six different places taken apart etc etc #situations like these are when i'm grateful that Bollywood is not available on MDL bc the takes with even less than a quarter of #a quarter of a braincell that i would have to deal with then........... God loves me that's why it hasn't happened #also. the Caribbean seeped into this once again let me explain. 'you mad man' is a Dominican (DM not DR) phrase. it has nothing #to do with the 'you mad?' in the African American community that is an entirely separate thing. 'you mad' here means 'you crazy?'#or 'bitch you ain't serious'. could have also said 'you too have limyé' but that would need another paragraph by itself to explain #bc of the Dominican specific context and this is not the kweyol/patois class session today sksksksk

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joycrispy · 5 months

Text

So I've mentioned before that I've had a lot of arts n' crafts small creative projects on the go (and a few not-so-small ones, but that's another post), and I just kinda felt like talking about 3 of them.

SO I WILL.

1. Bookbinding

This is more of an ongoing learning process than any one particular book I'm binding --but the process is going very well. Pictured here is the latest attempt, and my most ambitious attempt in that it was mostly me going, 'huh, I wonder if that would work' and dicking around until I got some sort of result.

(Example: I dyed that cover black. Did not know if it would work. It...kinda does? Further testing required.)

The final book is far from perfect, but I'm actually very happy with it. It's like a prototype of the kind of book I've been wanting to make all along, the whole reason I picked up bookbinding. Old fashioned tomes are the goal here.

More on that in a bit.

2. DnD Character Journals

At the moment I am in three different ongoing campaigns (including one I'd been playing in for two years before Covid happened, now picked back up again, and another which is a sequel to a previously completed campaign. Exciting stuff. The third is a character I usually reserve for one-shots, but she got a whole campaign this time. Good for her!), and I have completed journals for two out of my three characters.

(If you don't know what a character journal is: it's basically just a Character Sheet, but way more extra and ~Aesthetic. Sort of a functional gaming scrapbook. I also design mine to make the game as accessible as possible to my very ADHD brain. I highly recommend it, as a practice).

Pictured here is the main stat page for my monk, Wormwood, who just reached level 5.

Speaking of DnD...

3. Campaign Journal

So anyone who has played with me knows that I take EXTREMELY DETAILED NOTES, but this time around I'm taking the notes, immediately converting them into readable prose recountings (as opposed to fast n' easy notetaker's shorthand, which only makes sense to me), and then sharing them as an editable Google document with the group. They can add anything I missed, or flesh out details I skimmed over, add their character's POV of a scene, or whatever they like!

(This also has the neat side-effect of generating material for the DM's World Anvil, which is nice. He's free to pick and choose what he wants, or ask me to write an article for him, etc.)

This makes it very easy for the group to refresh their memories between sessions, but also, when the campaign is finished...there will be a very thorough record of it.

Last year I had the thought that, with the way I take my notes, I could easily print out a campaign journal and bind it as a physical book, and then have that as a memento/give it as a gift to the other players.

That's an exceptional amount of work to do AFTER the fact, but doing it one session at a time, as they happen...that's very doable.

I mean. People bind novel-length fanfiction for their own personal collections. There's no reason I shouldn't bind a novel-length campaign, lol.

And I can personalize each book to each player, as well! No, yeah, this is EXACTLY the kind of thing I love to contribute to a game. The group's excited, I'm excited, lots to look forward to, here.

I have other projects, including two large ones that are each going to take the better part of 2024, which slows all these little ones down...but I'm consistently whittling down the daily to-do list into something more manageable.

And work is nice right now because my main job atm is something I'm really, really good at...

(charity fundraising: my location is 1st in the district and 7th in the country for donations, and almost a third of those donations were made through me. I'm very, very good at this part of my job)

(I tend to be good at things I care about --ADHD, like I say-- and our partner charity benefits local queer and disabled kids who need shelter and support, so, YES, I CARE ABOUT THAT)

...so it makes the days pass quickly and peacefully. I get to come home in a good mood to all my little arts n' crafts. It's been very fun.

I'm glad I have time to be on tumblr again, though.

#about me #I can't remember if I have a bookbinding tag or not #I'll figure it out later #the moment I hit post on this I am turning around and throwing myself at one of the big projects for the next two days so wish me luck #Leah bookbinds

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theredcapeofk · 4 months

Text

20 Questions More

A deeper and more detailed version of the 20 questions for AO3 fanfic writers. Thanks @fazedlight for the tag!!

1) How do you keep getting ideas for your ship/fandom?

I have three main sources of inspiration:

my own brain where my ship and fandoms live rent-free.

tumblr: other people's works keep the passion alive and new ideas coming

discussing the ships and fandoms with other fans

2) Which authors inspire you in your fandom, and why are they so freakishly good?

So many of you guys do inspire me for so many different reasons it's hard to make a list.

3) Aside from the characters of your main ship, who are the characters you love to write?

I love to have Eliza around she brings a sense of calm and reassurance to my scenes. I also love to have Esme, she's so cute and I like having her melt everyone's hearts from sheer cuteness.

4) Are there pairings or tropes you know for sure you'd never write about? Which ones?

Writing and reading fanfics have taught me that my views tend to change on ships and tropes. So my never today could inspire me tomorrow.

5) What is your writing process and why is it cursed?

I don't know about a writing process... I get an inspiration and start writing. Sometimes I outline longer fics and sometimes the stories cannot be outlined so I let it write itself as I go. Of course I make the whole thing coherent.

If that wasn't cursed enough, I'll just add that there are times where my brain just won't English so I have to think my writing in French and translate it.

6) What is your favorite part of your writing process?

The outpour of inspiration that makes me write until my eyes/fingers hurt

7) What’s the weirdest thing you’ve had to research for a fic?

I honestly don't remember. But every research I ever make for a fic is a fall down the rabbit hole. You start by a word research and two hours later you end up watching a tutorial on how to comb a Giraffe's hair...(It never actually happened, but you get my point lol)

8) Is there a particular writing rule you struggle with (grammar, spelling, tense, reality in general)?

Sometimes all of the above plus typos and the sequence of tenses? This used to never be a problem, but the further I get from my English classes the blurrier sequence of tenses become.

9) What was your hardest scene to write so far and why?

Fight scenes and action scenes. Like how am I supposed to describe who does what and how...?

10) Have your characters ever done something you didn’t expect, changing your plot completely?

Very often. In Change my Direction Kara was supposed to heal a lot faster. And then she didn't and here we are lol. In My Eyes are Up Here Kara was supposed to spill the secret sooner but she couldn't. And in a project I'm still working on on the rift era, Lena was supposed to cave in sooner but she's stubborn lol

11) If you could converse with any of the characters, who would it be and why?

Definitely Kara and Lena. I have so many questions and I would love their take on what canon left unsaid. I would also like to speak to Brainy and Cat. I would pester Brainy about the 31st century to know the extent of Kara's and Lena's legacy. I'd ask Cat how she managed to create Catco and also what finally gave Kara away.

12) What are some of the tropes or themes that you find yourself returning to in your writing?

Kara and Lena are always idiots in love in my fics and when they do admit their feelings to each other, they only live for one another.

As for themes, I tend to come back to the rift era because canon created a tension that needed solving and their version only broached the surface. And this conflict brought so many things to the surface for the characters there are so many alternate answers to be given I feel that it's an exploration that keeps on giving.

13) What's your most important resource as a writer?

My phone. I've been writing mostly on my phone for years and I love the flexibility it gives me. I can carry it around with me and write whenever inspiration strikes.

14) Can you share some of your strategies for editing and revising your work?

You guys actually have strategies for that? Hahaha. What I tend to do, is highlight words or sentences as I go along. Then, when I'm done with a chapter, I put the fic away for a few days and then I start re-reading the chapter from the start. Best-case scenario I take the highlights off, worst-case scenario I highlight more stuff lol. As some words need translating I try to do this step incrementally because I know how long or hard the language check can be.

When I get stuck to a point where I can't move on, I beg my English speaking friends for help. @lenaralanvers has helped me so much since 2021

15) Which is worse: making the summary, picking the tags, or the anxiety when you post your fic?

The summary is always my absolute nemesis

16) How do you define success for your fanfic - hits? Kudos? Comments? Bookmarks? Or just if you like it?

I think I define it from the hits.

17) Do you have a playlist for your favorite character/ship?

I do have a playlist for Supercorp and it's always growing. There's a lot of Celine Dion and Greek pop songs in it. There's something about Celine Dion's voice and late 90's and early 2000's songs that just screams Supercorp to me. The Greek pop songs have a special way of expressing pain and regret that fits perfectly with the rift era.

18) If fan art was going to be made from your work, which fic would you pick and which fan artist would you like to create it?

If I had to pick someone, I would commission them :). maybe 2024 is the year I finally do this.

And if anyone wants to create fanart from any of my fics please feel free to.

19) How many WIPs do you currently have?

Phew...tough question! I don't have time to actually count them all, but I'd say twelve? out of the top of my head. Some will be one shots, some will hopefully become multichapters.

20) What's your advice to new fanfic writers?

If you want to write fanfic go for it. Don't let anything or anyone stop you from ever writing. Never plagiarize anyone and if you get your inspiration from someone, always give credit.

- - - - -

Tagging (respectfully and without pressure). If you've done the game before, feel free to send me a link to it ;) @chaotic-super, @lenaralanvers , @inkedroplets , @fyonahmacnally if you want some rapid-fire q's thrown your way. But also anyone who'd like to do this!

#20 questions #writing

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randomstupidchaos · 1 year

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Mega List of Writing Asks #2

So. Almost 1 year ago, while procrastinating, I wrote up the first Mega List of Writing Asks, and I feel like it's time for more. Yes, this is 100% me procrastinating again (this time on editing; it's just not working out yet today) and also hoping to get some asks of my own.

I wrote these up with my 1st list open in a different tab and went through and tried to make sure I didn't do any duplicates but I am only human, haha. I've numbered these so if anyone chooses to reblog both lists they can get asks from both. :)

Note: this list is best reblogged with WIP titles and character names in the tags. If you reblog this, please send an ask to the person you reblogged it from! I will do my best to send asks to anyone who reblogs this.

Characters:

Pick a character. What is their biggest flaw? Does this cause problems for them in the story?

Pick a character. Assign them a new hobby, one that won't necessarily be mentioned in the story (and isn't one that has already been mentioned, if applicable). What draws them to this hobby?

Who is your favorite non-main character and why? If they had their own story, would it be the same genre, and what would their character arc be like?

(Character) has a terrible nightmare. What is it about? How do they react?

What was (character)'s favorite toy or game when they were a child? Do they still have it/a space for it in their life?

Character most likely to climb Mt Everest (or 'verse equivalent)

Character most likely to rob a bank

Character who would have conquered the world if not for The Horrors

Character who would take a bullet for a stranger

Character who is just, like, so so weird (and why)

Do you believe characters are tools or parts of yourself?

What is one character from any kind of media (not your own) that you wish you had created? Why?

Do you have face-claims or cast your characters before writing?

Do you have any drawings or art of your characters? Please share (if you're comfortable with that).

What is one aspect of (character)'s backstory that people should know but maybe doesn't get much/any screen time in your story?

Pick a story (author's choice). Tell me about your protagonist. Tell me about your antagonist.

Setting (For Original Fiction or AUs):

17. What is the scale of this story's setting? Can someone travel the whole place in a day or two or is it on a galactic/universe/multiverse scale?

18. How do your characters travel?

19. On a scale of 'you are currently walking through the same universe' to 'human brains go mad trying to comprehend the differences', where does your setting fall in terms of proximity to our reality?

20. Are there horses? Or horse equivalents? Do they have names? All horses are so good. I just want to learn about your horses, friend.

21. What is the weirdest/tiniest detail you have researched for your setting?

22. What have you spent the most time researching for your setting?

23. What is a plothole you have found in your 'verse logic? Have you resolved it?

24. Do you have a map of your setting?

25. Do you have any sections of your writing that describe your setting? Please share a snippet!

Plot:

26. What was the first plot point you thought of for (story)?

27. What scene was the hardest to write for (story)?

28. What scene was the easiest to write for (story)?

29. Do you have scenes that might be considered 'fluff'? Or can you find a reason for every scene in your story (character development, information, mood, theme, etc)?

30. Have you cut any scenes from (story)? Why?

31. Are there any scenes you want to/plan to add to (story)?

32. How do you develop plot? Is there a particular method you follow (snowflake, etc) or do you go with the flow?

33. If you write multiple drafts, does the plot change much between drafts?

Music:

34. What is (character)'s theme song?

35. What is (story)'s theme song?

36. Have you ever heard a song for the first time in a public space and KNOWN it was relevant to your writing? What song was it and what spoke to you about it? How did you react?

37. Are there any particular bands/musicians you gravitate toward with regard to your writing?

38. If your story's soundtrack had to stick with one musical genre, what would it be?

39. Do you have a writing playlist? What are some of the songs on it?

40. What is one scene you associate with a specific song and why? Did you write with that song playing? Is it mentioned in the scene?

Misc:

41. Do you title your chapters or just number them? If you use titles, how much do they reveal about the content of the chapter?

42. If you write multiple drafts, what are the things you usually change in new drafts? (Plot? Description? Character arcs? Etc.)

43. For (story): Find any or all of the following words and share the paragraph they're in: yellow, cold, pain, sky, wall, smile

44. For (story): share a section you are particularly proud of!

45. What is the theme of (story)?

46. What is the weirdest writing ask you've ever received?

#writing #writing ask game #writing ask #writblr #writeblr #fanfiction #original writing #mywriting

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caelumsnuff · 11 months

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I don’t get people being like “you all are only disappointed about how the Quinn storyline went because you were theorizing/had headcanons” or “Erik never hyped up Quinn” and it’s like people are being obtuse on purpose. With the former, theories and headcanons have been a part of fandom culture since before they were called fandoms. When Erik was still in the Discord, listeners used to be *rewarded* early on for discussions on theories with like a specific title or something back then. How does ‘oh it’s your fault for getting hype over this plot line enough to wonder what will happen?’ make any real sense?

And “Erik didn’t hype up Quinn?” Like come on. And this is coming from someone who did not even get to hear Bright Eyes’ storyline, but even without it like…constant talk of how dangerous this character is when he came up, Asher cancelling a dinner date over this character’s presence, Sam concerned about Darlin’ living alone because of Quinn, him bringing up how dangerous a blood bond is, all the murders off-screen, the multi-year build up and references to this character, the Shaw pack being apparently the most renowned and powerful pack in the area needing to call in for help from another pack to get him. He didn’t need to say ‘this character is a big deal!!1!’ explicitly to us when he narrative choices over the past two years have done so. And this is, again, without ever hearing the Bright Eye storyline (which made this even more disappointing because I never got to hear of a single thing *on-screen* that made this character so terrifying. It was all completely secondhand. Instead of ever being *shown* that a character is terrifying and a Big Bad. I was only ever *told* so).

I don’t even think everyone wanted Quinn to crash the weddings or the monarchical summit or for Sam & Darlin’ to go Batman on him (though of course some people did). Even without those potential plot lines, I feel like if Sam and Darlin’ had been active participants in *someway* in the actual plot to get Quinn into custody, if things referred to as big deals previously like the blood bond that was set up had ever come up again at all, and/or if literally *anything* about finally getting this character (who has had so many of our main characters walking on eggshells) had happened on-screen instead of in the background for minor and unnamed characters we do not know to handle then maybe there would be less disappointment. I didn’t need a massive spectacle. I just wanted to see the main characters being the ones driving the plot.

oh god this is so good, especially that last part about wanting to see the main characters being the ones driving the plot. I think, personally, perhaps one of the reasons that it was so disappointing is because none of the characters on screen really did too much to move the plot forward. Everything with Quinn being caught happened off screen. I mean, it's not the way i would have loved for it to happen, but if Sam and Darlin aided in getting Quinn captured and turned in i don't think i would have been quite so infuriated with the way this plot went.

Also yeah lol it was very funny to hear people say that he didn't actually hype up Quinn and whatnot because, exactly like you listed, he did it A Lot. I think perhaps it is people being obtuse on purpose, or just like... *waves vaguely*..... you know the way that this fandom is. Redacted fandom moment.

I don't have much more to add onto this unfortunately (i feel I've stated my thoughts on this whole debacle thoroughly), but i agree with you wholeheartedly. Thank you very much for the ask and your thoughts <3

#anon #ask #redacted asmr

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ellesliterarycorner · 1 year

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Writing the Middle of Your Story

Ah, Saggy Middle Syndrome. The bane of every writer’s existence. If you’ve been following along on my NaNoWriMo 2022 journey on instagram, I have been definitely been on the struggle bus in terms of writing the middle of my story. When I do NaNo, I always try to write the middle of my project earlier in the month when I’m more energetic to avoid having Saggy Middle Syndrome later on in the month. One of the downsides of writing scenes out of order, is that I love writing the beginning and the end of my stories, but the middle is always a bit of a drag. It’s a common feeling amongst writers which leads to the aforementioned Saggy Middle Syndrome. It’s really unfortunate because the middle is often the most important part of the story; it bridges the beginning and end and provides a lot of the character development, conflict, and plot.

Can You Say Drama?

One of the main reasons for stories suffering from sagging-middle syndrome is that the middle contains absolutely no content that contributes to the progression of the main conflict. When I write stories, I generally add a lot of conflicts in and around the middle of the story. Obviously the main battle showdown between the two sides shouldn’t take place in the middle of the story and then disappear forever, but I would definitely have your protagonist and your antagonist clash in some form in the middle of the story. They don’t even have to clash directly, but some mini-confrontations are a great way to add some conflict and drama to the middle of your story. This will keep the action rising and intensifying until you reach a peak which is where the final conflict and the climax will happen.

Check Those Character Arcs

I am definitely a character over plot reader. Some of my favorite books may not have had the best plots in the world, but the characters were so compelling and interesting that I didn’t really care. Like I said earlier, the middle is where I normally see the biggest chunk of character development and relationships formed. All your major characters should change over the course of the novel. They don’t have to be completely different people, but there should be a little bit noticeable difference between a character in Chapter 1 and that same character in Chapter 25. If you’ve written the beginning and the end and your characters look exactly the same, adding some character development in the middle of your story is a great way to make the middle of your story more interesting, and overall, make your story more interesting. Personally, I don’t like reading about flat characters, and even if it’s not a major plot point, seeing how they undergo even the smallest change is so interesting to see in my opinion!

A Little Bitty Outline

As y’all know, I am the biggest plotter on the whole planet. I have to at least have a skeleton outline before I start any of my stories. I always tell everyone whether they’re a plotter or a pantser that you should probably plot out or at least have an idea of what the beginning and the ending of your story will be. But, after learning a lot more about Saggy Middle Syndrome, I think I would add the middle of your story to that list as well. You don’t have to have a complete intricate outline, but having even just a little note of a few character beats or plot points that you know you want to include in the story. It’s literally like one of those little Connect the Dots game. If you have an idea of your beginning and end, it can be nice to take a moment and sit down to figure out how the two will connect. Figuring out how your beginning becomes your ending in a cohesive way pretty much ensures that the middle will be interesting and compelling for your readers!

Sprinkle In A Subplot

I talked about this a little bit with my post about writing subplots, but subplots really are a great addition to your story in almost every way. They can definitely boost the word count and content of your story, in the middle section! That shouldn’t be all a subplot is, but if your story has very little to fill the middle of the book, consider adding a sub-plot. These subplots are introduced after the main plot after your story has already been established which conveniently normally falls within the middle of your story. If it’s a shorter subplot, the subplot might even have its climax and resolution all within the middle of the novel. This addition can really give your subplot room to shine in that section of the novel while also keeping your readers engaged in the story and also progressing the story forward when the characters need to take a little break from the main plot of the story.

#writers on tumblr #writer #writers #writersofig #writersofinstagram #writers of ig #writers of instagram #writing plot #writing reference #writing references #writing tip #writing tips #writing resource

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agentvharrison · 10 months

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// I miss Vivian. More importantly, I MISS Y’ALL.

I know a large part of the problem is what I went through a year ago was just deeply horrible. There’s no way to avoid the impact it’s had on Vivian (and other muses, but predominantly her), on rping as a hobby, on my interest in certain fandoms, on rping in certain fandoms, and on me.

And then I went and accidentally deleted YEARS of headcanons, threads, meme responses, and character development. I’m NEVER going to get all of it back. I can’t even remember what half the headcanons I’d written were about. I can’t remember even a fraction of the blogs I was following - blogs I’d rarely or never interacted with, but loved following nonetheless. My tiny “Following” list feels like an accusation.

I’m still upset over everything I’ve lost - in every way.

But I really, truly, deeply miss the people I’d been interacting with and following. I miss seeing people’s ooc, and their headcanons, and reading their threads. I miss throwing ideas around with friends and partners and would-be partners. I miss the PEOPLE the rpc is built on.

And, finally, my offline life is calming down. The stars are aligning. I have some habits I need to try to break (though since I can’t actually build habits I suppose I don’t actually have habits to break), but honestly spending less time on my phone and more time on my laptop involves a lot of things that would be healthier for me.

So. I have A PLAN:

1. The next few days are going to be about loading up my queue. I’m down to 19 posts. And I have several hundred to add - across this and all Vivian’s sideblogs. 2. Reach out to friends/established partners to say HI! I’ve been ignoring some of you for so fucking long and I’m so so so SO sorry. I’ll also see who wants to keep the verses/relationships/dynamics we had, and who might want to start over or adjust things. 3. Make a list of what headcanons I can remember having written on the accidentally deleted blog. Rewrite what I can remember. Set aside what I can’t remember the details of to work on later. Schedule headcanons to be posted over a reasonable span of time. 4. Clear out inbox and drafts. I’m going to be ruthless. Unless discussed with someone as part of #2, it’s going to go. Sorry in advance. 5. Post a few memes. 6. RESPOND to a few memes. 7. Write up Vivian’s two main verses - default MCU, MCU/Spooks crossover. 8. Less time on phone, more time on laptop, as it’s more conducive to writing/being active on this blog. 9. Try to spend at least 30 minutes a day active on this blog while the cat throws her whole body down against my leg while I’m on the couch for the next two weeks. 10. Work on writing up Vivian’s other verses.

I want to be back here. I am GOING to be back here.

#outofsarcasm #Zen's plan to return

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oveliagirlhaditright · 11 months

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Blood Moon

Summary: In season three, Snyder once again enlists Buffy's help in taking kids trick-or-treating for Halloween. Buffy, this time, decides to dress up as Sailor Moon. In needing sometime to unwind before spending some time with the munchkins that night, Buffy stops by the mansion to see her favorite vampire. Thinking she looks pretty cute as Sailor Moon, and that Angel might appreciate the sight, she shouts, "Happy birthday!" to him as she bursts into the place... not knowing that Halloween is actually Angel's birthday, and this is how she's about to find that out. Based on "Buffy The Last Vampire Slayer" listing Halloween as Angel's canon birthday.

"Happy birthday, Angel," Buffy said somewhat shyly, as she strolled into Angel’s mansion in a Sailor Moon costume. Truth be told? As far as Buffy knew, it wasn't actually Angel's birthday. She had no idea when that day was, unfortunately—as there were still some things from his human life that he wasn't comfortable discussing. But she thought that Angel might, in some capacity, enjoy seeing her dressed in such a way, which was why she was saying the turn of phrase.

The actual day was Halloween, hence why Buffy was dressed up (and she'd chosen Sailor Moon for a few reasons. One, because a cute little girl who she had rescued at a comic book store had said that Buffy reminded her of Sailor Moon (1), which had then gotten Buffy to research the manga and to come to the same conclusion herself. And two, because on the off-chance they got turned into their costumes again this year, she wanted a superhero who could always handle things at the end of the day).

Anyway… Buffy was definitely hoping that Angel would think she looked cute like this, hence her lame "happy birthday" comment, to give her something to enjoy before she was once more under Snyder’s scrutiny in a few hours. But as Angel seemed to look at her with puzzlement in his eyes and nothing more, she was very much starting to regret the whole thing.

"How-how'd you know?" Angel gasped, after he'd blinked at the Slayer a few times.

And Buffy was about to ask “how she knew what?” When it suddenly dawned on her what Angel's question must have meant. She gasped, as she all but tackled him into the couch. He had been standing in the center of the room to hug her, no doubt, but now in her enthusiasm, Buffy was pretty much straddling him atop the sofa in his living room. "Angel, you’re saying Halloween is your actual birthday? Why didn't you ever tell me?!"

Suddenly, Buffy felt heartbroken that she had nothing to give Angel on his actual birthday here. Nothing but her love. Sure, she could give him a late birthday present, but it wouldn’t entirely be the same.

Buffy was about to berate Angel, for letting things become uneven between them this way (where he would be a better boyfriend than she a good girlfriend, since his birthday presents to her would be on time), when Buffy noticed just how intently he was looking at her.

“And you’re really debating telling me something heavy here, aren’t you?” Buffy surmised.

And Angel laughed once at that. And had smiling eyes for just a moment—even going as far as to calling Buffy the “Champion of Love and Justice, indeed--before he seemed to settle back into his despair. “It wasn’t because I thought birthdays were irrelevant after becoming a vampire that I didn’t tell you, Buffy. Please understand that. It wasn’t even the clichéd idea that we vampires moreso celebrate the dates we were sired…

"Though celebrating birthdays for hundreds of years can get confusing and tedious," Angel seemed to add as an afterthought.

"Though that's still not the main reason you left me in the dark?" Buffy asked, drawing circles on Angel’s red, silk shirt with her index finger. She wondered if it had to do with his birthday being on Halloween: the day demons never went out on, because they hated how commercial everything had become. Had Angelus feared everyone would think he was somehow commercial, if they knew when his birthday was?

Sighing heavily, and looking everywhere but at Buffy, Angel admitted in a voice that was small and very out of place for him, "Once my father had deemed me a disappointment in his eyes, he said it was only fitting I'd been born on Halloween, the devil's day and all that… and he was right."

Buffy knew she must have heard wrong. She had to have. Because while she knew that there hadn’t exactly been any love lost between Angel and his father, for a parent to still say that to their child… Even in much harder times, Buffy couldn’t make sense of it in the slightest.

And even Angel himself! Buffy knew that he could brood with the best of them, but he was working so hard for redemption and to prove that he was worth something. Even on his worst days, how could he ever believe something like that about himself? Buffy wanted to believe that he didn’t. But taking one look at how he was so still now, that Buffy knew could actually be the sign of an anxiety attack, she knew it was the truth.

"Angel, that's horrible! I can't believe your father would say that to you! He's dead wrong! He's always been dead wrong about it!"

"How can you say that, Buffy?" Angel countered, turning beaten, tortured eyes onto her. "Look at what I ended up doing to them. He must have-"

While Buffy had gone to just laying on top of Angel before, she was once again straddling him now, and leaning above him so she could peer directly into his eyes. Running a gentle hand over his face as she tried to sooth him, the Slayer whispered the following—as a warm glow from the fireplace settled on the both of them, "Don't you dare tell me he must have somehow seen the future and known you would become Angelus, Angel. That's just impossible. He was being abusive towards you. And you're taking something a demon did, that you're making up for every day, to try and justify those unfair words spoken to a child.

"From now on, we are going to celebrate your birthday on Halloween. And aside from this Sailor Moon costume that I'm totally wearing for you and not because I got roped into taking kids trick-or-treating by Snyder again, notwithstanding… what would you like for said birthday?"

It was clear that Angel was thinking about it—whilst he squeezed Buffy’s hip tightly and seemed to purposely smooth a careful kiss onto the little crescent moon that was on one of her red choker--but the moment that Angel got a guilty look into his eyes, Buffy knew what her vamp was going to try and articulate here. Before he could, Buffy pulled away from him the slightest bit and snapped, "And don't dare say you don't deserve anything from me because of last year, when you weren’t yourself. Or that I give you enough already, as sweet as that would be."

Angel laughed for Buffy’s sassiness for just a moment—something Buffy definitely appreciated—and then pulled her into a kiss that instantly had this Serena melting for her Darien (2). It had been far too long since the two of them had been together like this, Buffy thought, as she tried to not get too lost in the feeling of Angel's claiming kiss, and home. The two of them tried so hard to be virtuous, and not do anything to bring about Angelus. But how could those actions be deemed good when this was so right? Buffy wondered, just as Angel nibbled on her bottom lip once and she moaned.

But all too soon he was pulling away from her and getting up, even—removing temptation, Buffy suspected—and rifling through one of his drawers. If she peered closely, she thought that maybe he was looking at some of his drawings in them?

"I would like for my birthday… a thing of post-it notes."

Buffy stared at Angel for a long moment, thinking that he had to be joking with her, of course—even though her Angel was usually so sober—because who would ever ask for that for their birthday, but while he continued looking at her expectantly, and then in a bashful way, Buffy realized he must have been serious.

"Angel… I know you probably haven't really thought about what you'd want as a gift for a while, but I swear I can splurge way more than tha-"

But thankfully, Angel cut Buffy's somewhat insulted words off with a finger to her lips. "There's a part of me that's always wanted to try my hand at animation… Though to do that, you need to know how to use a computer, which I really don't. But you can somewhat imitate the affect with post-it-notes: in making a flipbook and I'd like to try it. And it would mean a lot to me if you could help me make that dream come true," Angel told her earnestly, dear God, almost doing the puppy dog pout, so that Buffy couldn't refuse him.

This still hardly seemed like enough of a gift for him to Buffy… Even if she went to an art store and asked if they had special post-its for artists, or anything like that, she was still skeptical about it, but she couldn't turn this dream of Angel's down, now that she knew it was a dream of his. But maybe she could do more with it.

"In the name of the Moon, that’s how I’ll heal you," Buffy promised the love of her life… And okay, she somewhat hated the cheesy words as soon as they were out of her mouth. Maybe the DIC dub of Sailor Moon wasn’t that great. Though in its defense, she didn’t think even it had ever been as silly as what she had just said.

But Angel didn’t seem to mind. If anything, he seemed charmed by it all and sealed their promise with a kiss. And being a girl very much in love, Buffy loved it when he ran his hands through her hair as they made out:

Buffy hadn’t actually bought a wig for this costume, but had rather done her hair up in meatballs as best she could. And while her hair wasn’t nearly as long as Serena’s at all—if anything, it was as long as Rini’s—Angel seemed to love her just the way she was, like he always did. Like she did him.

…

Buffy did make good on her promise to Angel, but she did something else, too. Though she knew she was probably the world's most terrible artist, she thought she might get points for effort. So, what did she do? She made her own animation flipbook… it was supposed to depict when she gave Angel a bracelet when they'd been fighting the Sons of Entropy (3), but Buffy thought it probably looked more like a stick figure attempting the hula.

"I don't know," Buffy explained lamely, as she handed him both presents, as they both stood in front of the fire at the mansion. "I just thought that maybe, for your birthday here, it might be nice to reference both presents I've given you so far. It seems really stupid now. I know my drawing sucks," Buffy said all but depressed.

The next thing Buffy knew, Angel was moving in her direction. And her Slayer senses were going absolutely crazy for it, thinking that an angry vampire was trying to attack her—and she nearly prepared herself to go on the defensive—but then she was in his arms as he was trembling. And Buffy remembered where she was, and just how vulnerable the creature in her arms was and just how much she loved him.

"Angel?"

"Thank you, Buffy. Just thank you. Whenever I think I can't love you any more than I already do, you prove me wrong."

"And I’ll always be here to do that for you, Angel," Buffy said gently, kissing her vampire’s ear. And she embraced him a moment longer, before they both sat down in front of the fire to examine Buffy's little animation together.

Before Angel left, he drew his own one in the post-its that Buffy had given him: the time that he had given Buffy her claddagh, thinking it was only fitting that since Buffy had drawn the time she had given him a bracelet that said "always," that he depict when they'd shared rings and promised each other forever. He'd given this to Buffy; and as she'd looked over Angel's gorgeous line work and colors as they moved, she imagined she'd never loved a possession more.

And, yes, even in the long years that she was temporarily without him, did it give her comfort.

Author's Note: (1) That happens in one of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer High School Years comics.

(2) I know that their names are Usagi and Mamoru… but in the time the Buffy seasons take place in, Buffy would most likely know them by what the DIC dub called them: Serena and Darien (and their daughter from the future as “Rini”).

(3) This is a reference to the Buffy books “The Gatekeeper Trilogy,” and Buffy did give Angel a bracelet there.

This whole thing is based on how in Buffy The Last Vampire Slayer, Angel’s birthday—on his wedding certificate to Buffy—is written to be on Halloween. I may not like quite a few things about that series, but that’s cool. And it got the muse inspired to write this whole thing.

For a while now, I’ve thought about Buffy dressing up as Sailor Moon for Halloween, mainly because they have so much in common. And then it combined with the above idea and this fic was born.

I also feel like Angel would know about Sailor Moon, perhaps (which I clearly went with here), because he read a lot—so maybe he’d come across the manga—had been to Japan in the past (so I feel like he maybe knew Japanese, like he knows so many languages—so perhaps he could even be reading the manga in its original language)… and, well, Sailor Moon is so like Buffy. So, if for whatever reason, he ever started the first volume, I feel like he would continue on, because he’d be like, “Oh my gosh, she reminds me of Buffy.”

I do have an idea for a sequel to this, I think, so hopefully we’ll see that soon!

#bangel #buffy the vampire slayer #canon #canon compliant #hurt/comfort #fluff #all the fluff #season 3/series 3 #season 3 #series 3 #mine #my work #shanna's various forms of art #buffy summers #angel

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