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purplesoil · 2 months

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It Takes a Town

🌱 YAM 46 (02/15/2024)

A story for International Fanworks Day

A pigtailed girl barely older than 10 silently stands at one end of an empty tennis court, racquet in hand. It’s Victoria, the town’s tennis prodigy. She takes a deep breath, then unleashes all of her rage into hitting the tennis ball, sending it straight into a stuffed cat on one corner just behind the net. The ball smacks into the stuffed cat’s stomach and the momentum sends it careening into the stuffed elephant and dog behind it and out of the court.

Her tantrum unfinished, Victoria serves another ball to the other side and knocks out a stuffed giraffe. The giraffe flips into the air and smacks into the rocky wall behind the court.

“Woah!”

A young man with a white ranger hat peeks out from the top of the rocky wall. The girl recognizes him; it’s Johnny, the ranger from the colder, upper areas of the town. His expression is as intense as she remembers.

“That was a powerful serve there, sport!” he shouts down to her. “Keep on practicing, and you’ll be winning tournaments left and right!”

Something snaps inside Victoria and she lowers her head trying to hide her tears. Don’t show weakness, don’t show weakness…

Johnny instantly feels something’s wrong. “Uhh, hang on, sport, I’m coming down!” He hurriedly climbs down from the wall and appears by her side. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Don’t show–

The floodgates open. Victoria bursts into tears. “I DID win, Johnny! While you were away I won a tennis tournament. It’s my tenth victory, you know?”

Johnny flinches. As a ranger, he goes around town making sure citizens are doing well. With the thief out and about and mucking everything up, he’s been occupied prioritizing his help to those who are in great need. Victoria is not one of them (much to his relief). Then, the gondola disappears and the ranger is stuck in the northern area until it is rebuilt. He sheepishly remembers flying down the broken gondola to request Torajiro to rebuild Dean’s home– that’s the only reason why he’s down here with Victoria: if he could successfully climb down the broken gondola and race across town to Torajiro’s house, surely he could find a way to climb down the hill to the main and southern parts of town and do his job. He’s a ranger, after all! But all this meant he hasn’t seen Victoria and her family in weeks prior to today.

“Is that right?” Johnny’s mind is scrambling for the right words, “I knew you could do it! So, why are you upset?”

The blue-haired girl sniffles. “You see it too, right Johnny? The town’s all funny right now and no one wants to play with me anymore…”

Ah, so she’s lonely. That explains the stuffed animals. That’s not too much of a problem–

“...Mommy and Daddy are away at a tournament now, but they promised they would send me a present. And the letter that always comes from Mommy and Daddy hasn’t come yet. Where is it? They promised!”

–Well, that’s a BIGGER problem!

“Y-You’re all alone?!” The ranger stares at her in disbelief. Victoria didn’t seem to hear him as her tantrum flares.

“No letter.. No present…” she lets out an angry huff and stomps her feet. “Mommy and Daddy are big fibbers! I don’t need them anymore! I hate them!”

“Victoria– sport– hang on,” Johnny’s head is spinning, “Your parents left you all alone for a tennis tournament?! How long has it been?! How are you taking care of yourself?”

The girl crosses her arms. “It’s not the first time,” she counts in her head, “Mommy and Daddy have been going to tournaments every year since I was seven. I can be a big girl and take care of myself.” Tears well up in her eyes. “But this time is different because I had a tennis tournament last week and I won. And today’s my birthday too. I wish Mommy and Daddy were here making me apple pie and playing with me.”

This is the worst case of child neglect I’ve ever seen! Johnny hides his exasperated concern as Victoria looks up at him hopefully.

“Maybe a victory will cheer me up…Johnny, will you play tennis with me? You’ll play right? I’ll even lend you a racquet!”

“A-Ah, just a minute, sport,” the ranger smiles, “I’m gonna grab a friend and be right back!” He practically jumps up the rocky wall and runs all the way to the ski-jumping area. “DEAN!”

His boyfriend peeks out from the reception booth. “What’s up?”

“YOU HAVE TO HELP! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, VICTORIA’S PARENTS LEFT HER ALONE AT HOME!” Fire blazes in Johnny’s eyes as he drags the teal-haired man away, past the broken gondola and towards the rocky cliff above the tennis courts. Dean yelps and clings onto him.

“Woah, YIKES JOHNNY!” Dean cautiously peers over the ledge. “This isn’t a practice slope! I haven’t warmed up yet– I don’t even have my gear on! What are you doing?!”

Johnny forcefully pulls him along by holding hands and leading him down the wall. Dean mutters under his breath about how hot-headed he could be as Victoria watches them curiously.

“You’re back! Do you wanna play with me now? Please?”

“Dean!” Johnny’s sharp ranger voice snaps him to attention. “You’re free, right? Victoria needs an opponent for tennis practice.”

“HUH?!” Dean looks at the ranger incredulously. “Dude, I have a ski lift to manage.”

“It’s not open until later in the morning. Besides, you needed a warm-up, right?” Johnny leans over and hisses, “Please, Dean? Just for an hour! I need to check on the rest of the town and tell the mayor about this situation. I’ll be right back!”

Dean’s eyes flicker between a hopeful Victoria and a pleading Johnny. He sighs and spins towards the girl. “Heyyy Victoria! It’s been a while! Hand me that racket, will ya?”

With that, Johnny races around town to assess the damages. As in the north, the thief had ruined most houses and public facilities. According to the remaining folks, many neighbors have already moved or are moving out of the island. Johnny quickly found Hugh the policeman, who was busy working with Lily the curio shop owner to find the thief. He had been caught on camera slipping away into Tim’s zoo after a harrowing chase.

“It’s all my fault,” Hugh admits with a sag of his shoulders. “I was too afraid of… gh-ghosts… to patrol at night, so he keeps getting away with robbery.” He points to a TV screen where a tape plays a recording of a shadowy man leaping over fences. “I was chasing him up to here. I promise I’ll be more courageous now. I won’t stop until he’s caught!”

“Alright, I’ll leave that up to you two! I’ll be helping the townsfolk in the meantime.” Johnny salutes him and Lily and races to the mayor’s office. Inside, Ellen is swamped with paperwork and packages, with dilapidated piles almost up to her neck. “Mayor Ellen!”

“Johnny!” The young mayor’s tired eyes look up at him in surprise. “You’re down here! Does that mean the gondola is fixed?”

The ranger blushes. “Not yet. I climbed down to see how the rest of the town is doing.”

Ellen’s mood drops. “Not well at all. So many people are selling their homes– or the area where their houses used to be– and are moving out, saying they don’t feel safe anymore. I’m trying to help them with the paperwork, but I just feel so sad.” Her eyebags are darker than Johnny’s ever seen them. “It’s all my fault. I’m not a strong enough mayor that the thief would take seriously and stop his nonsense. I can’t even inspire confidence in the townsfolk to keep them here and help out.”

“It’s not your fault, Mayor Ellen,” Johnny interjects. “The thief is the one who should be feeling guilty– he’s ruining our livelihoods with his greed!” He pats her shoulders assuredly. “We’ll be here for you. We’ll help each other out!”

Ellen wipes away her tears. “Thanks Johnny,” she laughs gratefully. “Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?”

The ranger quickly fills her in on Victoria’s situation, and the mayor is left with a frown. “Oh man… This is a bit troubling… That’s definitely not safe at all, even if Victoria can take care of herself. Now I’m wondering if they’re also looking for a new house along the way to move after they return. Speaking of which…” She points to a large white suitcase with a red bow in the corner. “This luggage came by the other day, but the name tag is all scratched up. Totally unreadable! Um… VI…RA or something… It’s addressed to someone here, so it’s not the dozens that are going out. It might be Victoria’s, it having a bow and all and today being her birthday. Can I trust you to take care of this? Make sure she gets it! And, thanks for letting me know! Let me know if you need anything.”

Johnny obeys and hauls the heavy luggage to the tennis court, where Dean slumps over with his hands on his knees, panting heavily. Victoria picks up a ball and skips to her spot, ready to serve.

“WOW! Dean, you’re great! With just a little practice, you could get even better! Ready to go again?”

“Wa… wait a… a minute…” Dean puffs, delirious from exercise. “Man… I’m so out of shape… Johnny’s gonna kill me…”

The ranger clears his throat to announce his presence, “What’s the score so far?”

“10 to 1!” Victoria laughs. “I’m about to win!” She waits for Dean to stand up and immediately serves him a mean ball. The teal-haired man flops to the ground trying to hit it and misses. He weakly groans and remains on the ground.

Shortly after her victory cheer, Victoria’s smile drops. “I wish Mom and Dad were here to see this,” she mumbles. She looks up when Johnny places a hand on her shoulder.

“Check this out, sport. Does this look familiar to you?”

The girl gasps in delight. “It’s my gift! It’s gotta be!” She unties the bow and unzips the luggage and squeals. “A new tennis racquet! With a letter!” Victoria opens the letter and reads,

“To our dearest Victoria. Congratulations on your latest win. We hope you are doing well. Take care not to catch a cold. Sorry we can’t be home right now; we do miss you dearly. We’ll be back home as soon as the tennis tournament is over. We promise we’ll spend lots of time together upon our return. We’ll make your favorite apple pie to celebrate your 10th birthday. Please be a big girl just a little longer. We can’t wait to see you again. All our love, Mom and Dad.”

Johnny and Dean exchange uneasy glances with one another as Victoria bursts into tears of relief. “Mommy and Daddy kept their promise! I’m sorry Mommy and Daddy, I take back all those mean things I said about you…”

“Erm, I was thinking, sport,” Johnny says, “Mayor Ellen makes delicious carrot cakes. What do you say we have that as your birthday cake today and celebrate while we wait for your parents to return?”

Victoria beams in excitement. “Yes yes! I’d love to have some cake!” She tugs at his and Dean’s arms. “Then we can hit the court for some more tennis practice! Gotta stay a champion you know… I can’t be getting rusty while Mommy and Daddy are winning championships!”

Dean wails, “Can I just have the cake? Please?”

bgm: Village Hidden in a Mountain [Symphonic], from Dragon Quest XI

inspired by: honestly, Johnny's reaction was my reaction when I went through Victoria's quest 0_0

#yam #creative writing #fanfiction #mysims fanfiction #mysims kingdom ds #mysims kingdom #victoria #johnny #dean #accidental parenting #or babysitting #IFD2024 #International Fanworks Day 2024 #IFDrabble

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forabeatofadrum · 5 months

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Happy Out of Touch Thursday. I finally watched the 4 hour long plagiarism video. How y'all doing? No one tagged me yesterday, but I had something to share and I also have some musings.

I am a huge Brittana girlie. I'm a big Gay Squad lover.

But man, I am excited to throw in some Dantana for my December Fanworks fic, just to throw myself out of the loop, or whatever it's called.

“How’s Brittany?” An uncomfortable silence follows. What is it with uncomfortable silences this day? “Kurt, Brittany and I broke up,” Santana says solemnly and Kurt’s eyes widen, “And I got a new girlfriend.” “… Woah. What happened?” “So, the person who subleased your room?” Santana starts and Kurt nods. “Dani?” Yes, he’s met her briefly before he moved to Ljubljana. “Yeah, she’s my new girlfriend.”

Anyway, musings! My December Fanworks fic is a direct sequel to last year's Advent Ljubim te and I have dropped some hints that I have thought about this sequel for a while, but it wasn't going well. This is kind of why. Ljubim te wasn't written with a sequel in mind, and I notice it. I suddenly have to think about things I didn't have to care about in the first fic. I completely let out Kurt's friends, for example. They were mentioned, but that was it. Same goes for Blaine's family. They existed off-screen and now I am confronted by the fact that I never had Kurt and Blaine speak to their friends and family (except for Burt) in Ljubim te.

So yeah, that's just sort of on my mind. I suddenly have to think about all these other things. I got away with it in the first fic, because Kurt and Blaine were in Ljubljana, far away from their friends and family. Literally, all connection to America they had was Quinn and Kurt didn't even speak to her for most of the story. But now they're in LA and New York and they have family, friends, classmates, colleagues, etc. Oh my God. I don't want shit to become too messy by adding a lot of more people to the story, but I also feel like I cannot ignore it like I could with Ljubim te.

Especially since I don't want to fall into the same pitfall with Ljubim te, in my eyes, which was "what the FUCK is Kurt doing???"

Because what the FUCK is Kurt doing??? So I actually was quite excited when I got the idea that his friends moved on to other things (or people, like Santana) while he was gone and he feels a bit left out (totallynotwhathappenedtomewhenicamebackfromljubljanawhatdoyoumean), but that entails adding Kurt's friends to an already packed idea, since Blaine and Quinn's whole thing with them coming out etc. is also a huge chunk of the fic. Or at least, that's the plan.

Anyway... that's my musing.

And now, the weather: @quizasvivamos @jinglejavey @coffeegleek @otherworldsivelivedin @caramelcoffeeaddict @sillyunicorn @dragoneggos @raenestee @tectonicduck @nightimedreamersworld @urban-sith @thnxforknowingme @captain-aralias @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @justgleekout @cerriddwenluna @tea-brigade @ivelovedhimthroughworse @bookish-bogwitch @confused-bi-queer @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @1908jmd @special-bc-ur-part-of-it @larkral @cutestkilla @wellbelesbian @artsyunderstudy @martsonmars @facewithoutheart @shrekgogurt @rockitmans @bitbybitwrites @blackberrysummerblog @whatevertheweather @theotherhufflepuff

#tagged in #wip wednesday

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sparkletastic-cookiedough · 1 year

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Is Beetlejuice really Autistic, or am I just projecting really hard?

Ah yes, the character of my hyperfixation- Beetlejuice. He’s a demon that I’ve read way too much fanfiction about.

One thing I’ve seen come up a good handful of times in reading my Beetlejuice fanfiction is the concept of Beetlejuice being autistic. As an autistic person myself, I am intrigued by the idea. Perhaps some sort of autistic coding might be responsible for why I relate so heavily to these characters.

The first one I came across was “Meltdown” from nonbinarytaylorswift - It’s an absolutely amazing work of fanfiction by the way, I legit cried, better autistic representation than published books, go give it a read.

And that is not the only one. Searching “Beetlejuice Autistic” in AO3 comes up with 22 results. That’s a lot of fics made by different people who very strongly project autism onto Beetlejuice (and also Lydia).

The wonderful thing about fanfiction is how we can shift and stretch the characters and plot to suit our own needs. Consider how many hurt/comfort stories there are that delve into very specific issues, ones that the author may even explicitly state are personal for them. It’s wonderful and I absolutely respect it. We project our own problems onto these characters and then project the solution. Who needs therapy when we can just imagine a fictional character giving us positive self–affirmations? (Plot twist, arguably reading and writing these stories helps reinforce those positive vibes, which makes them good for the mental health).

When it comes down to it, get a large enough fandom, and there’s probably going to be some autistic people projecting themselves into fanworks. Plus with hyper fixating on a certain show or character making neurodivergents more likely to engage in fanfic and art and whatnot? It’s pretty much a guarantee that there’s going to be work claiming one character or another is autistic, and let’s all project really hard onto it.

Which is all great. I want to make it really clear- even if the canon work doesn’t reinforce the idea that your character is autistic (or lgbt or neurodivergent or anything else), it’s completely fair that you create work depicting them as such.

But I wanted to investigate this a bit closer. Is there an argument for Beetlejuice being autistic in the work itself?

Consider the many people who work on creative projects. Tons of creatives will confess to shoving themselves into a character in some way. I’d argue it’s hard not to put your own experience into a character, even if only for the reason that well written characters will delve on truths about us as humans that cut deep into most people who view them. Writing a story about love might entail that the writer ends up harkening back to their experiences with love. If you boil a character down to their most basic struggle, it turns out you can relate to them.

For Musical Beetlejuice, his motivation is becoming visible. He wants to be seen. He wants to interact with the world. (And wouldn’t you know it, Lydia also has this struggle). So how does that relate to universal human truths or whatever?

Well, I think that most people can probably think of a time where they weren’t seen, taken seriously, or something like that. People have felt completely alone at times in their life. We’ve all felt ignored, shunned by the world. Woah, these characters are relatable to the audience? Who would’ve thought.

Relating to a character’s struggles doesn’t necessarily make them autistic. Turns out, I can project my issues on to a similar feeling without it being the exact same thing.

But I still feel like there’s something very autistic about Beetlejuice, and one of the people responsible for the character might be responsible for that as well: Tim Burton himself. Allegedly, he might be autistic. I don’t want to cite anything here- most of the top sources claiming he’s autistic are ones I don’t respect. (One of them uses functioning labels, many cite asperger's syndrome despite that not being the correct term anymore, and so on) It’s not a claim that’s been confirmed by a diagnosis, but I also don’t think a confirmed diagnosis needs to exist. (not going to get into the whole diagnosis debate right now). The point is, a lot of stuff he makes ties to struggles that an autistic person might deal with. I mean, the misunderstood outcast who’s very different from the rest of the people around them is the main character in… most Tim Burton films. It’s a relatable trope, but one that kind of rings true for autistic people.

Social connections are hard for autistic people to make- usually harder than neurotypical people. I, and many other autistic people like me, struggle with socializing. It’s one of the diagnostic requirements for ASD. So a story about a person who has a lot of difficulty navigating social environments would be relatable to me. That misunderstood outcast? Yeah, that’s me.

These protagonists aren’t usually just weird. Usually there’s a reason behind it: maybe their closest relationship is with a corpse, maybe they exist in a boundary between human and inhuman- some sort of almost-monster figure, or maybe they just have interests that no one else has or understands. (Can you name the different Burton protagonists that these each apply to? Hint: they could all refer to more than one). It makes sense from a story perspective- the audience should probably have a reason for why a character is rejected from society. The thing that makes it so autistic is that these people are rejected for seemingly no fault of their own, for a reason that doesn’t make a lot of sense.

It’s a very sad point of social outcast: they will never belong to the main in-group. They can try, but it never ends up working- thus instead they have to accept both their identity as an outcast, and the thing that makes them unique.

Beetlejuice (musical version) is a bit of a twist on that idea, in that it’s others that learn to accept them, rather than learning to accept themselves. This is especially true for Lydia’s arc- her dad learns to respect who she is as a person, instead of trying to change her into the image of the daughter he wants. The movie, we sort of get that? It’s more like she meets people who respect her for who she is. The movie isn’t as neat in tying off the story arcs. Or maybe I’m just bad at watching movies.

But there’s more that makes (musical) Beetlejuice autistic than the social outcast angle.

One of the things that I’ve seen brought up when talking about this is how the character’s body language can contribute to that sort of reading. I’m treading a bit carefully here, because a lot of Beetlejucie’s body language can also be described as “inhuman”, and talking about how non-human characters work in terms of neurodiversity allegories is a whole other discussion, one that delves into the various problems with those readings.

But aside from that, I also want to offer my own interpretation as an autistic who enjoys watching stuff: it’s exaggerated expression.

One of the problems with me watching a lot of films for my film classes is that I have trouble with subtle emotions. Stuff other people can pick up on in movies I’ll pick up on differently. “A bit sad” isn’t a facial expression for me, it’s a sound cue, it’s a lighting cue, it’s body language, it’s movement. When a film wants me to rely on a character’s face, dialouge, actions, and the story to pinpoint how a character is feelings and their internal motivations, I can struggle a bit. That being said, there are films that I really enjoy watching. If I don’t need to rely on half of the cues to tell what a person is feeling, I like the film more. Arguably the stuff that gives off the best cues? Animation and musicals.

People don’t move like that in real life. But by disconnecting the film from what is real, we move into something that I can enjoy quite a bit. So if you look at an image from a musical, and put it side by side with an image from a hyper-realistic drama, the musical has a completely different method of expression. It might be expressing the same emotion, but it feels super different.

So this overly-expressive style is something I can understand, but it’s also something I can do. It’s very uncanny for people who meet me in real life- I sometimes slip into a method of self expression that can seem very off to a normal person. I might pace back and forth and dramatically monologue about how my boss is a jerk- yes I have actually done this. It’s difficult to analyze my own behavior, but from what I understand, it’s there. I have very expressive emotions, even if they don’t express in a “normal” way.

So that’s kind of an explanation on the behavior and body language aspects to the character being autistic.

But even considering the genre, Musical Beetlejuice is especially autistic.

Consider the fact that he’s really socially ignorant. He doesn’t seem to pick up on normal social cues at all - or if he does, he doesn’t acknowledge them. He’s easily tricked in “Creepy Old Guy”, and again “tricked with love” by Juno near the end.

It’s sympathetic. It’s ignorance. It’s an autistic character.

But whether or not you agree with me on if Beetlejuice is autistic, that’s fine. Perhaps his character was influenced by autistic people (Tim Burton or otherwise), or maybe I’m just projecting into things that are common for people overall. Either way, it doesn’t matter. I intended on just talking about the trope as it appears in different works of fanfiction, but instead I got distracted and just wrote several pages on character tropes or something. Anyway, go read some autistic beetlejuice fanfiction.

#a really big drabble #beetlejuice #beetlejuice the musical #autism #I read way too much fanfiction #media tropes?#Tim Burton #forgive me I wrote this at 2 am

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quietwingsinthesky · 7 months

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Question: cringe culture is 100% dead, but I'm curious what you'd pick as your most embarrassing fandom, past or present? I know some people consider supernatural to be a guilty pleasure but honestly there's some other fandoms that I'm way more embarrassed to still like

Generally, I’m not really embarrassed about any of the stuff I’ve been into. If I liked it, clearly it brought me joy at the time and that’s what matters. You know, how would I be the person I am today if I didn’t play Undertale or even if I didn’t read every creepypasta I could get my hands on as a kid? That plus my memory problems means no cringe for me lol. But I guess I could talk about a few.

MLP was back when the show was still airing — I want to say 3rd or 4th season? — and I just dove into the fandom because ‘woah guys did you know that people write stories about the ponies? That there are infinite amount of stories to read?’ Which, you know, ups and downs, you got your Keepers of Discord but you’ve also got your Cupcakes. (Though, to be honest, the fact that I had a reading of Cupcakes bookmarked on my computer to listen to to help me fall asleep? probably explains uhm. Some Stuff About Me.) Honestly, wouldn’t trade my time with MLP for anything, and I still love the show and a lot of fanworks dearly. I rewatch Lullaby for a Princess every few weeks, I reread Something Sweet To Bite every Halloween, and when I can’t sleep, I still find myself going to ObabScribbler or TheLostNarrator’s YouTube channels to find fic readings to calm my brain down.

Dream SMP is… more complicated. Obviously, if you know anything about it, you know all the shit that came out. I won’t get into that here because that’s not really a part of my experience? Just sort of a gross thing that overshadows it all, even though I was out of the fandom before any of that stuff was known. I actually got into it to bond with my little sister, she loved that stuff, and damn it all, but I got unironically sucked in by just the fantastic work that came out of a fandom surrounding a minecraft roleplay server lol. They aren’t wrong about the art that got made for those YouTubers, it’s all stunningly good. And it’s how I found Sad-ist’s animations on YouTube. Still subscribed to them, their work is always beautiful to watch, the old Dream SMP stuff and the new stuff. And I liked bonding with my sister over the bonkers minecraft lore. The end of that hyperfixation was when Technoblade died. Got too real, all of a sudden, too close to home, and I peaced out hard. It was good, though, while I was there. I liked having something to talk to my sister about.

Uhhhh okay out of that downer ending let’s talk about Sherlock. Yes hi hello original superwholock-er here, despite only seeing the first two seasons of doctor who but IT COUNTS. I can’t even be mad at past me for liking Sherlock because I probably wouldn’t be as close to my friends as I am if we hadn’t all been watching s3-4 live. And dunking hard on s4. I was never a johnlock conspiracy person, so that helps. There was the time my friend read us outloud some Johnlock mpreg ass birth fanfic in math class. That was… an experience. I give this a “I can’t plug my phone in without being haunted by his voice”/10

And finally, back to serious town, Harry Potter. I don’t even have anything good to say here, really. The whole “mourning something important to my childhood” phase is long over, the damage continues to be done, and. And nothing. I just don’t want to see it anymore. It’s not shame or cringe, I guess, it’s more like… disappointment. Not at myself, because fuck it, dude, I was a kid, I knew everything there was to know about the books, I waited for the mail when I turned eleven, I wrote “Hogwarts is my Home” on the inside of my closet like a ward to keep me safe. The first thing I ever read about being trans was a damn Harry Potter fic, one of the first podfics I ever made, too, though I was too chicken to post it. So what’s left except disappointment, even the anger long gone because it just keeps happening. I just don’t want to see it anymore.

Anyway, uhhhhm. Hope that suffices as an answer lol, I rambled on way too long.

#sorry wow lol you asked for one I gave you four #I am bad at being concise sorry #anyway if you want me to say which one is most embarrassing — it’s Sherlock. that’s the only one I’m a little embarrassed about.#ask #mlp #dream smp #harry potter #sherlock #< in case anyone has those blocked o7

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gold-pavilion · 2 years

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In your opinion based on the dozens of dialogues and moments in the manga that they have had is there something romantic going on between Mikey and Takemichi? are their moments legitimately in light of romance or are shippers misreading their relationship? Adding to the total disinterest that Takemichi showed in the Bonten arc for his "dream" wedding preparations and also for his fiancée Hina.

These asks are fun DFHSDF

To be clear, it's just my opinion that I'm throwing here! BUUUUTTTT, first things first:

As always, my man, ship absolutely anything you want. May we all do the same and have a blast. It doesn't need to be canon or canon-valid or anything to ship and go nuts.

That being said…! While I don't personally see anything explicitly romantic there up to this point (dialogue has stayed at a platonic level, many gestures that are certainly grand but open to interpretation on what their emotional significance is, no particular action that's unmistakably romantic, that kinda stuff), I can see the shipping material.

There's a million gestures and cues that make it abundantly clear that Mikey favors Takemichi a ton, and that Takemichi grew to care for Mikey immensely; so much that he'd risk the timeline where everyone but Mikey was okay in order to give him a chance at happiness too. They're close, no doubt. To each their own interpretation of that emotional bond, what is and isn't a factor in it.

Personally, I think it does speak about their bond that he's seeing Hina in the wedding dress and keeps thinking "damn this is gonna be a great day and Mikey should be in it, imagining my homie so much right now". It's kinda funny, kinda goddammit Michi respect your fiancée a lil bit more, kinda sweet, kinda woah Michi date a buddy if you're gonna be like that lmao.

One has to remember, though, that he's been in contact with a lot of traumatic events around Mikey in particular, and as the very last element left out of a 'perfect' future, it's understandable that it sticks in his mind. He both adores Mikey and is super worried about him. Humor aside, he's abundantly displayed his interest in Hina staying strong throughout the series with all he's done to make sure she lives to adulthood and how nuts he goes at anything she does, so I wouldn't quite say he's grown disinterested - he's happy to get married - but that his head isn't all there at the moment.

If that means other developments and other things about his emotions is up to interpretation, as usual. Pretty great stuff for exploration in fanworks!

(I can leave the extra note, though, that some things with Takemichi and Hina easily fall in an area of cultural differences that translation alone can't bridge, which is partly a reason why things can seem odd between them. What I mean is, their couple behavior is easter-style and old fashioned to a fault. Both in the cute sense in which it takes a long time of relationship to arrive at a first kiss and hand-holding is still a big deal, and… old fashioned in the less pleasant way; in japanese culture, sadly, viewing a girlfriend/marriage as one thing and sex as another has historically been a thing, giving men more justification than is reasonable about cheating, to name an example. In general, I don't think Takemichi is a great boyfriend nor good with/for girls, but it's Hina's call on who she dates. I don't doubt he loves her, but he's also a fucking fool. It's a whole thing!)

#asks #i always talk a lot sfdhsdhf #it's how I roll so pls expect me to ramble at the slightest thing #specially if it's a complex character thing I'll ramble a lot more #hanagaki takemichi #sano manjiro #tachibana hinata #thoughts and talk and so

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mythandlaur · 2 years

Note

Woah character meme? How will I indicate this with an emote?…… stares at ones that start with e…

Do Klug

Send me a character and I’ll reply with my:

– Egg, thrown directly back into your face

– Overall opinion of them

Klug would not know common sense if it ran him over. He's absolutely doomed unless he cultivates some actual friendships. I want him to get better but I sure do love seeing him make a fool of himself.

– Gender/sexuality headcanons

Cisgender but in a very shrug emoji sort of way, bisexual because look at his reaction to Maguro in 20th and what he says about Lemres in PPT2 and try to tell me that boy is straight in any way, shape, or form (completely oblivious to it though)

– Favorite moment in canon

Most of his screentime in the Extracurricular Activity drama (hearing him genuinely apologize is so weird); the end of Fever 2 where he tries to play off the whole game's events as by design and also Amitie take this bookmark definitely because I don't need it anymore and not because I'm freaked out; him calling Satan a cosplayer in 15th; pretty much everything in PPT2 Chapter 3 and 3-S especially actually talking to Sig and then Lemres about everything that happened

– Favorite moment in a fanwork

I really need to catch up on the fic, but in A Soul Rended, A Soul Mended (I'd get a link but I think AO3 literally just died as I was going to do it) his talk with Sig on the ferris wheel and his later stint forced through "Aya"'s memories after switching out with them.

– Favorite line, in canon or otherwise

The entire "YOU ACCURSED CODEX" rant (in either language. It's one of the few things I'm willing to give to his English voice, the delivery is...it's something else.)

– Characters I love seeing them interact with

I get no food canonically I just want to see him interact with people other than the usual ones he has to get paired up with. I'd of course like to see more of him talking to Amitie and Sig, and I love seeing his interactions with Aya in fanworks.

– Last thing before sleeping headcanons

He doesn't tend to sleep until he's utterly exhausted or there's nothing left to do, so it's usually either homework or late-night reading. He'll also sometimes climb up onto the roof of his house and stargaze--he makes his own charts and everything.

– Sleeping habits headcanons

He spends a lot of time thinking too much, so it can be hard for him to fall asleep, but when he does it's deep. He's very active and has fallen off his bed a couple of times, or otherwise ended up with his blankets tangled around his legs while he's lying sideways across his bed somehow. He'd really much prefer to be awake at night, but unfortunately school doesn't really permit that, so he maintains at least somewhat of a schedule and forces himself out of bed pretty quickly in the mornings, except for those days where it catches up to him and he feels like he'll never be able to move again.

– First thing after waking up headcanons

He tends to set out everything he's going to need the next morning beforehand, so he can go through mornings mostly on autopilot. Chances are he's not even entirely conscious until he's already out the door with a piece of bread with jam in his mouth.

– Favorite locations headcanon

He spends a lot of time at the library, though less so now that he feels like Akuma is constantly watching him (and the Record). Really, he likes going places at night even if it's probably not a good idea. On the weekends or during the summer you'll find him in the woods at night a lot, though notably nowhere near the Arca Ruins...

#infectois #also an anon

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giuliafc · 3 years

Text

Never Give up!

Written by: JuliaFC

Beta: @rose-beagle-bagel (I beg your pardon, got the names confused!)

Summary: After Gabriel lowers his bar by locking Adrien up in his room unless he relinquishes his ring (because apparently, 'it interferes with his work'), Chat Noir can see only one solution. But Ladybug doesn't agree.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc, TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Written for the "Snippet July" challenge of the Miraculous Fanworks Discord server @miraculousfanworks AND for LadyNoir July @ladynoirjuly Day 8 — Tyranny/Admiration. Let me know what you think!

oOoOoOoOoOo

Adrien knocked at the door of his father's atélier and waited for him to tell him to come in.

"Adrien," commanded Gabriel. Adrien gulped and stood there.

"You wanted to speak with me, father?" he asked, his heart drumming in his ears.

Gabriel gave him a cold stare. "It has come to my attention that you wear items of clothing that haven't been agreed in the exclusivity contract of the Agreste brand."

"What?" Adrien had to check that he'd heard correctly. "Father, I only wear the clothes you provide for me."

Gabriel's gaze hardened. "Show me your hands."

Adrien gasped. "Is it about my ring?"

"François complained after yesterday's photoshoot. He told you to take the ring off because it was interfering with the outfit, and you refused. Is this true?"

"I-it is." Adrien gulped. Gabriel’s gaze punctured his soul and the boy put his left hand on top of his right one, as if to protect his Miraculous from his father's attention.

"Hand over the ring."

Adrien's face paled "No! No, father, why? You can't—"

"I can and I will, Adrien. Your attachment to that junk has affected your work. It's stated clearly in your contract that all you wear must be pre-approved. I won't give you my approval for something that can damage your image."

"Father!" retorted Adrien, his body tense. "It's only a ring!"

"Go back to your chamber. I'll cancel your enrollment at school; from tomorrow you shall resume your homeschooling lessons with Nathalie." Gabriel sneered when Adrien gasped. "You won't be allowed to see any of your friends nor to set foot out of this house until you relinquish that ring."

Adrien's eyes widened in shock and his mouth hung open. "You can't be serious, father? Containing me in my room, for a ring?"

"If it was only that, you would've relinquished it here and now. Evidently, it's not 'only a ring' to you. You're refusing a direct order. I won't repeat myself, go to your chamber."

Adrien balled both hands into fists, his arms shaking, his eyes looking down. "I can't believe this," he muttered. He got up and, glaring at his father with tears in his eyes, dragged himself out of his office.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Chat heard the soft thump behind him and saw Ladybug sitting graciously next to him. His gaze scanned gloomily the city of Love beneath them. A view that until now, had been for him and his Lady, only. A look that he would never see again. His heart sank when his gaze met bluebells. It was the only way.

"You said that it was important, Chaton?" said Ladybug, but she immediately noticed his heavy gloom. "What's wrong?"

"I… need to give my Miraculous back." Ladybug sucked her breath in. "I'm sorry."

She put a hand on his shoulder. " W-what's going on?"

He lowered his gaze as his hand played with the Miraculous on his ring finger. "My life at home isn't easy, Buginette. I have a lot of restrictions and up to now, I have been able to pencil time for our patrols and escape timely enough to help you in the akuma fights." He sighed. "But things have changed today. My fath-uh-family is very controlling. I can’t do anything that isn't 'pre-approved'." He paused. "Today, I've been asked to relinquish my ring. I've been literally locked up in my own house with no possibility of getting out until I do it."

He found his eyes looking at Ladybug; all he saw was disbelief in her face.

"I never knew that your civilian life was so difficult, Chaton. I can't believe that someone you call 'family' would forbid you from wearing a ring. Can you not just put it on a chain to your neck?"

Chat Noir sighed. "No, M’lady. They would see the chain and ask me to remove it. By contract I'm not allowed to wear anything that is not branded Ag—uh, family brand. Until today, the rule never bothered me; now… it bit me in the back."

"I cannot believe that a family member could be such a tyrant!" Ladybug's voice was high and cracking and Chat Noir's green eyes were on the brink of tears. He explained to Ladybug the truth of his situation, trying to avoid any detail that would give his identity away. He explained how his mother died a year ago, how his father hardened since her death, how he sometimes didn't even have time to breathe with all the commitments his family was pushing on him.

"Woah," muttered Ladybug absent-mindedly. "You're always so cheerful, Minou. I would never have thought you were going through such-such hell." Her eyes were burning with anger. "I don't know how you do it. Honestly, I admire you, Chaton. It sounds as if you had your hands full, but you were never late for a patrol and you always arrived as soon as possible during akuma attacks. You must have the best organisational skills in the world."

Chat Noir smiled. "Thank you, Buginette. Your admiration means the world to me." His smile faltered. "How do you want to do it? Should I take you to my room and detransform?"

She grabbed his hands and looked up at him with a frown of pure determination. "No way, Chaton. You're not giving up on the only freedom you have. I'm not doing this without you either." Her voice cracked. "It's you and me against the world, remember? Ladybug and Chat Noir. If you're giving up yours, I'll be giving up mine. Together or nothing." She smiled softly as she said that and he smiled shyly back. "We will find a way," she continued. "But first, c'me here." She opened her arms wide and Chat Noir's eyes filled with tears as he let her wrap him into a hug.

Yes, she was right. They would find a way. They were an unstoppable team and there was nothing on this planet that they couldn't overcome together.

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

Author's Note

Hi there! Here we are with day 8. I know… but with a prompt like 'tyranny' all I could think of was angst. Hope I managed to save it at the end with a little fluff. I hope you like it and will leave me a comment. You know that comments are my bread and butter!

Until (hopefully) tomorrow, bug out!

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #miraculous les aventures de ladybug et chat noir #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #adrienette #chat noir #adrinette #ladybug #ladynoir july #ladynoir #miraculous fanworks #ladynoirjuly2021

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tea-with-veth · 3 years

Photo

Hello, and welcome back to The Tea Party, where I interview authors from the Minecraft Youtube fandom! Today’s guest is the one and only @aenqa, author of Protected, as well as a number of brilliant Dream SMP fics!

Tell us about yourself!

Sure! So, I go by Aenqa online, and that's what all my social media is under - AO3 and Tumblr being my main accounts. I use both she/her and they/them pronouns and I'm a writer who's especially into MCYT and Dream SMP fic right now!

How long have you been writing?

I've been writing my whole life, really - I still have my very first "book" which was a few pieces of stapled-together printer paper that I made when I was around five years old. I've been writing fic for probably about a decade, since I was a teenager. For MCYT stuff, I've been writing since about August 2020. :)

Your fics have a lot of traction-- Protected alone has 9.5K kudos on AO3. Was there a moment for you where you went “holy cow this is big” or was it more gradual?

It was definitely gradual at first. When I was publishing Protected, it was getting a decent amount of traction, but it was pretty typical for fics at that time. When I completed it, I think it was around 1K kudos. Then there was a moment after it was completed when the whole "medieval AU" became a HUGE thing in the DNF fandom after the King George storyline happened in the Dream SMP. People were actively seeking out medieval content, and I happened to have a really long, completed story in that vein already written. I started getting a lot of mentions and recommendations on Twitter, and that's the moment when I was like, Woah. There are suddenly a ton of people reading this who want to see more from me. That was a totally unique experience for me, and it was really cool!!

Did that ever feel very intense or stressful, or was it generally smooth sailing?

It was stressful at times. When you have a fic that gets popular, there are some people who feel more free to criticize it or make slightly mean jokes about it online, which was a little strange to get used to. But overall, it was a really great experience. It was so exciting to see people talking about something I had written. And I'm super proud of Protected, so it made me really happy that it was bringing other people joy, too! Plus, it made me feel like I had something of a built-in audience for other fics I wanted to write, which was also really amazing.

What have you been writing recently?

I've been focusing a lot more on Dream SMP fics recently, rather than RPF. Although I dabble in a lot of different areas (like AUs or canon-divergent stuff), I'm really interested in fics that are more-or-less canon-compliant. The characters and character relationships in the Dream SMP are really rich and interesting to me, and I love being able to really dig into them and explore them in a way that can't always happen through the streaming medium. Both my AO3 stuff and the shorter fics I write for Tumblr tend to center around those characters, especially the SBI characters. But really I just love writing anything that revolves around the Dream SMP - it feels like such a fun and expansive playground for making fan content. There's so much potential from almost every angle!

I'm also really glad people seem to be enjoying my Dream SMP stuff, because as happy as I am with how Protected came out, I'm not overly interested in RPF in general, and I don't want to be seen as just a DNF writer. It makes me happy when people who find me through Protected are willing to give my other works a try. (Though there's certainly nothing wrong with being just a DNF writer!)

So, talking about readers, and the MCYT community in general, what are some things you really love about the community? And is there something you'd like to see change?

There are some things I really really love about the MCYT community. There are so many FANTASTICALLY talented fanartists and writers in this community. The sheer amount and overwhelming quality of fanwork for the Dream SMP, for example - and the way it communicates with and even influences canon - is so fascinating. I've met some really amazing people in this space and made some incredible friends, people who are just genuinely kind and immensely talented. I think there's a really cool writing community of people who are genuine to each other and support each other's work.

I do think the MCYT community in general might be going through some growing pains as it gets bigger and bigger. I generally wish people could stop picking fights with each other over characters - although I understand the impulse to defend your favorite or preferred character at times. From my perspective, it's much more interesting to think about and explore the complicated characters and relationships in the story than to go to war over who's "right" in a complicated moral situation. I don't think that flaw is anything unique to MCYT, though. I think it's something a lot of fanspaces have to deal with.

A lot of young authors are getting started writing with the MCYT fandom-- are there some words of wisdom you have for them?

I would say the best thing you can do for your writing is to find other people who are on the same wavelength as you and want to write with you. Are you writing 100% for fun? That's awesome! And writing is so much more fun when you have friends who hype up your stuff and write along with you, regardless of the reception you get from internet strangers. Are you writing to improve your craft? That's great! And fanfiction can be a great place to get a lot of writing done and practice and hone your skills. You should find people who are willing to really push you, to beta for you, or give you comments and be honest with you and really push you to improve.

At this point, I feel like I should give a shout-out to my friends who have done that for me. There have been several and I hate to name them specifically for fear of leaving someone out, but I have made several writing friends in this space who have made me a better writer. It's been an incredibly gratifying experience for me and I really hope that every young writer finds a friend or two like that, because it turns writing from what can be a somewhat lonely, intimidating experience into something that can be communal and collaborative, and fun. It also might take a bit of an ego check to accept criticism from other people, but once you can do that without taking it personally, you'll see major improvements - it's worth the wounded pride!

Before we go, any final thoughts or shoutouts?

Shout out to the Free Real Estate discord (that's our title right now at least, I'm sure it'll have changed by the time the interview gets posted, but they know who they are...) you guys rock and I love you all dearly! and shout out to the lo-fi hip hop beats girl, she always has my back.

Check out Aenqa’s work on Ao3, and go follow her on Tumblr! The next Tea Party will be with HognoseSnake, coming soon! As always, if you have suggestions for who I should interview next, or questions you’d like to see answered, let me know! I’m saving ideas in my inbox, and I really appreciate them. Have a great day guys, and take care.

#the tea party #teahound talks

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paradiselostbythedashboardlight · 3 years

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Quarantine, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Wrote 430,943 Words of Prose in a Year

As we are coming up terrifyingly fast on a full year of quarantine with no end to the pandemic yet in sight for most people, I’ve been taking some time to reflect on the last year of my existence in a state that most people now refer to as quarantine. Since March of 2020, I, like most other sane people in my country, have stopped traveling, going to stores, seeing all but a limited group of other humans, and begun having recurring nightmares about being in crowds without a piece of cloth over my nose and mouth.

Suffice to say, it has been a bit stressful.

The other thing that I have done since COVID-19 began rapidly spreading across the globe last year is write over 430,943 words of fiction.

The number seems insane to me still. That is (approximately) one Gone With The Wind, one entire Lord of the Rings series, or the first four Harry Potter books. That is still sadly not yet War and Peace (but who knows… the pandemic isn’t over yet).

So now that I am looking back, I find myself with one question: how did this happen? Why did I do this? What does this mean about my life this year?

Since apparently I answer best by writing a lot, let’s begin at the beginning. Let me tell you a story. I’ll keep it short, I swear.

Part 1: Blast From the Past

In March of 2020, I was still in the midst of an academic semester. There was a long academic document to write and a class to teach. However, as quarantine abruptly robbed me of most of my usual commitments, I was suddenly thrust into the position of having more time on my hands than I knew what to do with. Consequently, I decided to break out the Nintendo Switch I’d gotten for Christmas and revive a childhood interest in video games.

And boy did I. I played the games I owned for all they were worth. I played them during the evenings when I had no social engagements to attend. I played them during the Zoom meetings I was already struggling to pay attention to. By the end of March, I had finished one game, and it had set the wheels turning in my brain.

Here’s a fact about me: I don’t usually tend to write or read a lot of fanfiction about things that I consider really really good. Basically, fanfiction for me has always been an impulse born from incompletion or imperfection. I see no need to add to a perfect story (although I happily consume and create fanart). But for something enjoyable and yet slightly unsatisfying? That’s fanfic territory, bud.

So by April, I had developed a sort of epic fanfiction for this video game I was playing. It was one of those magnum opus kind of ideas, a grand retelling of the story with a huge sprawling plot and Themes (™).

At first, it was merely a thought experiment that lived only in my head, a sort of entertainment to ponder in the hours before falling asleep. What changed? Well, a friend of mine decided to also write a fanfiction on the same video game and she kindly consented to let me read it.

Suddenly, I was ravenously hungry to read and to write and to share and to consume. I wrote a hundred thousand words of this fanfic in April and into early May, sending each chapter to my friend and being spurred onward by her kind comments.

The fic became a gargantuan endeavor full of strange little challenges I set for myself. It was a canon-divergence, requiring plotting, worldbuilding, a darker and grimer tone. For some reason, I decided to write each chapter from a different character’s perspective, making the final product into a series of essentially short story character studies which together formed a plot.

By the end of May, the story was published for the world to see. It was well-received, although not particularly popular by fandom standards. And that was the end. I had gotten out my pandemic crazies, the semester was over and now I could move on. I had made my peace with the source material, plumbing all of the little details that I wanted to examine and creating a narrative that I found satisfying.

It was over.

Part 2: Summer Lovin?

Except that it wasn’t.

Confession: as I had been posting my giant fanfiction, I had also begun to explore the fan community itself, mostly curious to see some nice art and gather a bit of demographic info about what was popular within the community. As a result, I found a fanfic recommendations page. Among the recommendations was one author who kept popping up and i finally decided to give the fic a read.

Woah. It was good. Like, really good. Like, professional quality writing and themes that seemed designed to appeal to me. I devoured everything that the creator had posted in a week and then subscribed to eagerly wait for more.

As June rolled around, I realized that I had a problem on my hands. My great big gen masterpiece was finished, but this author had gotten me hooked on something else, something with a nefarious reputation online: shipping.

The term du jour for this seems to be “brain worms” so let’s just say that reading other fanworks had given me some brain worms. Inspired this time not just by the source material of the game, but now the fan community itself, my mind began to develop another idea.

I wrote the fic, about 11k, in a single afternoon of frantic writing. When I finished it, I knew it was one of my strongest pieces. It had just come together, a combination of all the thought that I’d been brewing up and a stylistic execution that just worked with the story I wanted to tell.

I posted it on a new account. Shipping seemed vaguely shameful to me still and my mom reads the other account.

To my surprise, the fic blew up. It got so much more attention than my long fic ever had. Even more significantly, a fan artist actually drew a gorgeous comic of the pivotal scene, completely out of the blue! I was essentially thunderstruck. Honestly, it was probably the first time in my life that I’d ever received so much positive reinforcement from a piece of writing.

While I’d written short stories for undergrad workshops, they’d never been particularly good and I’d never gotten particularly great feedback on them. I’d applied and been rejected by more MFAs and literary magazines than I could count. I’d pretty much resigned myself to writing for an audience of me and me alone (which I don’t mean to sound tragic about, writing for you is great and fun!)

But receiving so much support and praise and feeling like I’d made other people happy or sad or moved? There’s nothing better.

This makes my decision to write another fic for the ship sound vaguely cynical, the action of a person driven by an addiction to praise. I mean, no lie, aren’t we all a little addicted to approval?

But my next fic was another long one, an 80k passion project modern AU that I dreamed up while spending a slow summer alone with my books and only able to leave the house for long rambling walks in the woods. The premise was essentially about characters attending a five year college reunion, something that I myself had missed due to COVID in May of the same year. The fic quickly became a way for me to process thoughts on a lot of topics in my life ranging from relationships to politics to mental health to classical literature.

This fic was also received with far more attention than I was used to and, as a result, I finally joined the notorious Twitter dot com where I found people talking about my fic unprompted, eager to follow me and like my every random thought.

I can’t say that this process was not without its ups and downs. Fandom has changed, in many ways for the better, since my last engagement with it during the 2013 Supernatural days on Tumblr. While fan friendships are often idealized or demonized, they are pretty much like any other human friendship (okay, maybe a little bit more horny on main). There is potential for amazing connection as well as pettiness. But in a year where many people suddenly had no social spaces that were safe anymore, I’m glad that I found a new line of communication with the world.

So I kept writing fics for the ship, producing a lot of work that I am genuinely proud of and making connections with other people who enjoyed it enough to leave a comment.

To conclude this section, I was in fandom again. While I had not seriously engaged with a fan community since around 2014, I was back with a vengeance. And I had discovered an important truth about what unlocked my ability to write more than I ever had before: community support.

Not simply the kudos and the views. It was the comments. The discourse. The discussion. To add and contribute my thoughts and ideas to a greater network of thoughts and ideas that fed off of one another.

Often I had seen people complain about there not being enough fanworks for particular media or characters. Now I knew the secret. The comments and the community created the works. If I commented on other people’s fics, the more likely they were to write more. I made a resolution I have tried to keep, to comment on any story that I legitimately enjoyed reading, even if I had no particularly intelligent thing to say about it.

Part 3: A Novel Idea

By late October, I had produced a considering oeuvre for my ship of choice and was enjoying slowing my pace as I planned a few future projects.

Remember, though, how I mentioned not having engaged with fandom for the past 5 years? Well, that didn’t mean I hadn’t been writing.

For the past 4 years, I have won NaNoWriMo and completed 4 novels of over 100k each in length. These projects have been massively fun and improved my confidence with executing stories at the scope that I desire.

And so in November 2020, I settled down to write another novel. November is always a sort of terrible time write a novel if you work in academia, but this year, I had more time than usual. I set out to write a comedy fantasy novel, something mostly lighthearted and full of hijinks in order to pretend away some of the quarantine blues (which by this point were well established in my psyche).

This year in particular, I was reminded that writing a novel is… harder than fanfic. That seems like a very obvious point, but I’d written novels before. Suddenly, though, I was realizing how much a novel requires you to set up the world and the characters, while fanfic can be pretty much all payoff all the time.

While the fanfic flowed in wild creative bursts of energy, the novel required diligence of another sort. I wrote 2,000 words every day for two months. It was a grind. Sometimes, it was a slog.

And sometimes it just wasn't good. The thing about writing your own novels is that the first draft is way more likely to be not good. You’re balancing a lot and it’s easy to let a few balls that you have in the air drop for a chapter or two, with no recourse but to go back and edit later.

I finished the novel by writing a final speedrun of 6k on new years eve, ending my 2020 with another project under my belt. No one has read it. Not even I have reread it.

I’m still glad that I wrote it. I’ll write another one next year. No one will read that one either.

Sometimes, we write for ourselves and no external validation is necessary.

Part 4: Where are they now?

January of 2021 is somehow now behind me, which is terrifying. I’m still writing. Mostly fanfic, although occasionally I go doodle around with some original ideas that are more conceptual sketches for the next novel.

As for the fanfic, I think I still have a few more good ideas left in me, but I will probably leave it behind before the year is out. That feels a little bittersweet, a sort of temporary burst of fun and friendship that I wonder if I’ll ever experience again.

Coming to the end of this reflection, I suppose I should make a summative statement about what it all means.

In the end, it might not mean a lot. There are some small takeaways.

It turns out that encouragement makes you write more! Who knew? Also, more free time makes you write more! Wow!!!!

The point that I think this reflection exercise has shown me, the point that I think matters more than any other, is that writing is a way to process my thoughts. Even if it is through the lens of ridiculous video game fanfic or novels about sad wizards, my writing is my way to make sense of my own mind.

And sharing that is special. If you share it with online strangers, with your family on Christmas Eve, with your close friend who has become even closer and dearer to you since she let you read her work, or just with your mom (the one personal legally required to read your damn novel if you want to share it). To share writing is to give someone a little peek at your beliefs about the world.

And right now? When we’re still isolated and bored and scared and in desperate need of distraction? Binge some TV, play Nintendo, read a book. Take in other people’s thoughts.

But put down your own somewhere as well. It’s a conversation.

And for once, it’s a conversation that doesn’t have to take place on fucking Zoom.

#writing #personal rambling #fanfiction

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a-kouka-rat · 6 years

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WIP meme (part 1)

Woah I got double tagged?!

List all the things you’re currently working on in as much or as little detail as you’d like, then tag some friends to see what they’re working on. This can be writing, art, vids, gifsets, fanwork, or original work! I was tagged by @peachchanvidel and @sorasan000

WIP FANFICS (because sometimes I write, not that I’ll ever post these but still) #1: Suwon gets his arm badly hurt during a battle and it has to be amputated. There are two versions of this, one where judoh volunteers to assist during the procedure and one were Hak does. I like both so I don’t know what to do. #2: AU where Yona and suwon get married. Que very awkward courting because obviously this is what would happen, this is suwon and yona we’re talkign about. THey blush and can’t speak and get frustrated. Then there’s the weddign night and absolutely zero smut happens because suwon is so flustered he’s about to have a stroke and he’s about as clueless as yona is. They just end up cuddling awkwardly to sleep. (I’ve written many versions of this but none really reflect the awkwardness and innosence I want to give to it.)

#3 Yona and co are part of the army in the war against Kai. When an unexpected wave of bad weather hits the land, suwon’s informants are delayed and a large portion of the kai army is starting to attack villages for resources, killing innocent people. Yona and Suwon argue on what should be done. The story is just a comment on war-induced lack of morality and the responsibilities of commanding. (written, needs some fixing up, I like the most part of it but I can’t find the right ending) #4 modern AU (Jusu). Judoh regrets his choice of allowing Suwon, a graduate student to stay at his place for a little while. But he owed a big favor to yuhon, and the youth’s apartment mysteriously caught fire and burned to the ground, so until he can find a new place, judoh has to deal with this. But Suwon is infuriatingly and effortlessly finding his place in judoh’s life and that’s scary. (written but I’m not happy with it yet)

#5 Yona and hak walk around a random town when an archery contest sidetracks them. Yona is very ready to compete for the prize (a large, smoked piece of meat that yun will love) against a bunch of useless drunken townsfolk, when a mysterious stranger steals the victory righ tout of ther hands. (this is more or less finsihed and just needs some touch ups. I might actually upload this)

#6 Hak goes to the dentist. This is all I have. I don’t remember where I wanted to go with it.

#7. Suwon witnessed his first execution when he was six (aka Yuhon’s questionable methods of education) (written the basics for it, need to turn it into soemthing readable) #8 Suwon pays his mother a visit after his coronation. (half-written) #9 Judoh slowly dies of an infected wound. ( I’ve written like the first three paragraphs of it then it just became so dark and I kinda stopped. Might revisit it sometime)

#10 In the AU where Judoh and Suwon go undercover in xing during the war preparations (alterign the canon storyline), they get captured and somehow Kouren mistakes Judoh as Yuhon’s son, and Suwon as his advisor. Que a bunch of prison-related angst, sufering and chaos. Judoh almost gets executed. (written but I think I went too far with the violence and I’m really lost with how canon went and how I should treat the xing characters so Idk if I’ll ever do anything with this.

I probably have more because when it comes to fanfics I start many of them but I never finish anything. I did not include my SooHak wips because they’re just mostly smut or hate/love-filled hak POVS so yeah. I also have unfinished Jusu stuff (like, tons of little unrelated scenes) and a whole lot of suwon-related whump. (suwon getting an arrow on his back, suwon getting trapped under a collapsed building, suwon getting a spear removed from his leg etc etc.) Art WIPS will come tomorrow because now I’m very tired and I can’t

#akatsuki no yona #wip meme #mentions of violence #i guess

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logan-are-you-okay · 6 years

Text

Anti’s Backstory part 5

Nurse: “Sir, I need you to calm down so we can check what’s wrong.”

Jack: “No! I want my Dr!”

Nurse: “Then who’s your doctor then?”

Jack: “You just kicked him out of here when I asked! I don’t trust any of you fuckers!”

Jack then starts pulling on his brown hair. The pain was so intense that he keepings trying to hurt himself in other places so he can focus on something less mild.

Nurse: “Sir. You need to take a deep breath so we can put in your IV.”

Jack: “Fuck you!”

He doesn’t mean to be rude, that isn’t the kind of person that he is. But when he is basically feels like he’s getting his leg pulled off, that can cause a little manners to change.

Somehow the nurse... with ten other nurses are able to get Jack’s IV into his arm where the release a drug to help him with the pain so it doesn’t hurt as much anymore. Once he’s finally able to calm down he looks at the nurse how was talking to him.

Jack: “Sorry... I didn’t mean to swear.”

He the proceeds to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Nurse: “It happens all the time. The Dr will come in soon to see what is the problem.

Jack: “Thank you.”

Even though his leg still hurt like hell, he did want to calm down. Acting like that wasn’t something That he liked to do. Even if it was just from the pain.

***

Schneeplstein keeps pacing around in the waiting room. Jacks only been back there for a couple hours, but it feels like an eternity. It was absolute torture to not know what was going on. Why would they just leave him to think of all the bad possibilities that could be happening? Randomly a nurse from the front desk walks over to Schneeplstein.

Nurse: “You’ve been here for quite awhile. Do you want anything to drink or eat?”

Dr. Schneeplstein: “Not really. I just want to know what’s going on so my heart can stop having heart palpitations.”

Nurse raises her eyebrow. She didn’t know if he was joking or not, but that was really weird to just randomly say.

Nurse: “Heart Palpitation?”

Dr. Schneeplstein: “Skipping heart beats. I basically said it because my hearts going time million miles an hour, so it feels like it’s skipping beats.”

Nurse: “Oh, Okay. Is there anyone you need me to check on to see if they’re in stable condition?”

Schneeplstein’s eyes light up. If she could do that, why the hell wouldn’t they just come out and say that he’s fine. God, this hospital needs better protocols.

Dr. Schneeplstein: “Sean McLoughlin.” (I DONT KNOW HOW TO SPELL JACKS LAST NAME)

The nurse goes back to the front desk and types in Jack’s name. Surprisingly, he’s been able to see visitors for the past hour.

Nurse: “He’s stable, you can go back and see him. Room 24-A.”

Without a second thought Schneeplstein runs through the automatic doors to the room the nurse said. He didn’t even say thank you, he was to worried about Jack.

***

Once he gets inside the room, he sees a nurse changing out the IV fluid while Jack was asleep. At least he was able to calm down. Schneeplstein then goes over and sits down in a chair next to Jack’s medical bed. The new nurse notices that he just came in and recognize him almost instantly.

Nurse: “You said you where in the middle of getting your License right?”

Dr. Schneeplstein: “Uh... yeah, Something on those lines, sure.”

Nurse: “Well his broken leg was worse than we thought. There’s a certain medical term that you wouldn’t have learned yet. When the leg broke it ruptured a vein and the blood started to clot and run up to his chest. That was the stinging pain that he felt that went to his spine. Also the bone wasn’t fix back into its original place when it was attempted to reset it. Which confused his brain and heart which sent blood to his lungs.”

Dr. Schneeplstein: “What the fuck!? How on earth does that happen. He was fine until he tried walking around!”

Nurse: “It takes a while for the syptomes to accrue.”

Dr. Schneeplstein: “Is that why he’s wearing a breathing Mask?”

The nurse nods and then leaves after finishing changing Jack’s IV fluid. Schneeplstein then looks over Jack who looks like he’s having a nightmare. To bad they can’t help with that part. He sighs to himself, and decides to grab his phone and take a picture of Jack. Knowing that he had blood in his lungs, means that he’s going to be stuck here for quite awhile. Schneeplstein then uploads the photo to Jack’s twitter and tells them briefly of what happen acting as if he was Jack, and that a friend took the picture while he slept.

Almost instantly people start freaking out and wishing that he’ll get better. That’s one thing Schneeplstein loved about Jack’s community that he created. All the love and support, them never thinking he was just doing it for popularity. Schneep then looks over at the clock hanging on the wall.

7:48 AM.

Wow, time passed a lot faster than he has expected. Since Jack’s asleep there’s no point in him being awake. So he props himself against the chairs and falls asleep.

***

Jack jumps awake from the nightmare he was having. It felt so real, and it didn’t help that the breathing mask felt like it was suffocating him. He makes an attempt to take it off, but Schneeplstein stops him from doing so.

Dr. Schneeplstein: “Don’t take it off Jack! You need it to help you breathe!”

Jack: “I can breathe just fine Schneep, I don’t need this to help me.”

Schneeplstein then makes a very stern look at Jack, which prompts him to keep the mask on.

Dr. Schneeplstein: “I know you made a video about your broken leg, but I posted a picture on twitter saying it. You scared the living daylights out of me you know.”

Jack: “I didn’t CHOOSE to break my leg you know.”

Dr. Schneeplstein: “Whatever, but lots of people are wishing you to get better.”

Jack starts smiling. He hasn’t ever been really Hurt while doing YouTube, so having people send ‘get well’ stuff was amazing. Even all of Twitter was filled with getting better fanwork. It was amazing.

Suddenly a Doctor walks in... they think? He wasn’t wearing the usual uniform that the other doctors were wearing. He had on a long polo shirt, with scruffy gray hair. He then walks over to Jack and takes of the air mask. Instantly earning him an angry Schneeplstein to stand up.

Dr. Schneeplstein: “Hey!”

The Doctor?: “He doesn’t need it anymore, he’s able to breathe fine now.”

Schneeplstein quickly looks over at Jack to make sure he can breathe alright, which thankfully he can. He then looks over at the so called doctor. Schneep May not be licensed, but he knows that, that would not be acceptable.

The possible doctor then sits on the bed next to Jack, which instantly raised some concerns. Doctors where NOT suppose to do that. Jack has a pretty good bullshit detector, and this man was setting it off like wild fire. But he still wanted to be nice.

Jack: “So... what brings you in Doctor?”

Defiantly a doctor that doesn’t look suspicious at ALL: “I just wanted to warn you, not to be as crazy next time you decided to make woopy.”

What the fuck!? Who the hell was this man to assume such a thing, he probably doesn’t know a thing about what happened so he just assumed!? This made Dr. Schneeplstein’s blood boil!

Dr. Schneeplstein: “Excuse me!? How dare you come in here and assume such a thing! We where not having sex Mr. He’s basically my brother and we’re not gay!”

Jack gets startled in surprise. He has never in his life seen Schneeplstein so mad at someone, he was the most down to earth person out of any of them.

Jack: “Woah, Schneep calm down a little bit.”

Not going to lie, Jack didn’t like how the so called doctor assumed. Maybe it’s because Schneep didn’t have a shirt on, or maybe because they where both guys. It doesn’t matter, but Jack still didn’t like the looks of this doctor.

The doctor: “It’s just common sense to me. But, we would like to give you something for the pain you might be experiencing.”

The doctor turns around to pull something out of his pocket.

Jack: “But.... I’m really not feeling any pain right now?”

The doctor then turns back around carrying a injecting kneedle filled with... a glowing green liquid!

Jack: “Oh hell no! Keep that away from me!”

Jack practically throws himself off of the bed away from the doctor. Pulling out his IV from his arm and the heart monitor which made it sound like he flatlined.

Thankfully Schneeplstein caught Jack in his fit of escape so he didn’t hurt his leg anymore. Even though he barley caught his arms. Even though it sent a sting down Jack’s entire body when hisbleg barely hit the floor.

The doctor: “What? It’s just going to help with the pain.”

Dr. Schneeplstein: “Jack what on earth are you doing!?”

Jack might have had very little sleep last night, but he was still able to put two-two together. Even though it was decades ago, this man looked very Similar to what Anti described in his journal. The gray shaggy hair and age range! Also the glowing green liquid isn’t something just to randomly had. Even jack matched the serial kidnappers victims al except the age range. Maybe it was his son who wanted to replicate his father’s legacy?

Jack: “I don’t want to be anywhere near this psycho!”

Even though Schneeplstein didn’t know what was going on, he didn’t want to be anywhere near this dude either.

The doctor rolls his eyes and leaves the room. However as he leaves, he drops a bar code out of his pocket and doesn’t even notice. But, Jack did. Schneeplstein sets Jack back into the medical bed and reattaches everything to where it’s suppose to be and grabs the bar code off the ground. He then inspects it, but he notices Jack becoming relatively antsy as he does.

Dr. Schneeplstein: “Why are you so excited?”

Jack: “Can I see that real quick?”

Schneeplstein shrugs his shoulders and hands it over to Jack who quickly takes a picture of the bar code and it takes him to some weird website. Schneeplstein looks over Jack’s shoulder and gasps at what the first thing that pops up.

Jack: “What the fuck?”

The first that that appears is a picture of Jack from when he dyed his hair back to its original brown color. The whole website was in a green and black, and there was descriptions of him all over. ‘Age, 27. Hair, Brown. Eye Color, Blue.’ There was very personal stuff on him that he didn’t expect to notice. However one thing stood out to him the most. ‘Resembles subject 748-YB. The one subject who was succefulky able to perform all tests on, yet to far of an extreme to which he died and couldn’t reconnect. Tests have yet to be conducted.’

Normally this would be weird on its own, but after reading Anti’s journal, it’s pretty obvious that subject 748-YB was Anti.

(Doesn’t really have much of Anti, but I’m setting up for something)

#antisepticeye #dr schneeplestein #jacksepticeye #septicart #it counts fanficton is still a form of art

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nitewrighter · 7 years

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So what made you a fan Symmarah and Spiderbyte? And can I say it's somewhat refreshing that Pharah's the one who gets pregnant in your story? She's always "the man" in most fanworks.

Well for Spiderbyte it basically started when I got this fic prompt back in February when I was doing a bunch of Valentine’s day prompts, and at the time I didn’t really ship Widow or Sombra very strongly with anyone. And I was like “haha, cute.” But it ended up sticking with me—Like before, I liked the idea of shipping Widowmaker with a sort of perky foil character who would run circles around her, but I really couldn’t bring myself to ship WidowTracer because Tracer always struck me as so heartbroken and horrified at Mondatta’s death in “Alive,” and on top of that Tracer has Emily, but then writing that fic made Spiderbyte kind of click for me since Sombra is this character who, I believe is very conscious of what happened to Widowmaker, and Widowmaker is like, one of the darkest reflections of what Talon is willing to do, and Sombra is on Talon as a means to an end more than anything. I’d say I got more ‘locked in’ to the ship when I started getting prompts for ‘Post-Talon’ Spiderbyte. My first reaction to a ‘post-Talon’ Spiderbyte prompt was “y’all really want Sombra and Widowmaker to leave Talon?” but then I thought more on it and as I wrote about it I was like, “Wait a second…” and like… the idea of this relationship developing in the midst of a major character arc for Sombra as well as Widowmaker being able to escape Talon was really appealing to me. Sombra is appealing to me as this character who walks this thin line between assuring her own survival and constantly risking her life in pursuit of her “eye” conspiracy, and at first it started out as this “haha Sombra relentlessly flirts with Widowmaker because she knows nothing will ever happen with Widowmaker but then what if something happens” and gradually it evolved into these characters escaping and recovering together which, if you knew me back when I was a big ASOIAF fan, you’d know I’ve always had a soft spot for couples who are escaping terrifying situations together.

Symmarah I was kind of already shipping via fandom osmosis before I started writing fics about them. In spite of the confusion over the ship name, I had a decent amount of it turning up on my dash and it was refreshing to see a Pharah pairing that isn’t just filling in the gaps of Pharah’s personality with obsession over the other half of the pairing, you know? Like Symmarah as a pairing coupled Symmetra’s redemption arc from Vishkar with Pharah coming into her own among people who weren’t involved with Overwatch—like so much of Pharah’s personality in game is her kind of… fangirling over the old Overwatch and pairing her with Symmetra sort of allows her to develop as a character in her own right more. Like I liked Symbra and Symmphony, but I liked Spiderbyte and Bunnyribbit more, and Symmarah had this really appealing butch/femme brawn/brains warrior/mage dynamic (and woah nelly am I a sucker for warrior/mage couples) so it was kind of like “yes. This is who I ship Pharah with. This is who I ship Symmetra with.” I got more into it when I started playing more as Symmetra during Capture the Flag in the Lunar New Year event, but I’d say what really sold me on them as a couple was writing the fic where they first meet.

Also thanks! I just kind of got the vibe that pregnancy and childbirth is… kind of (really) messy business and Symmetra wouldn’t be too keen on it (like “Incontinence? No thank you.”) so Pharah would be like, “Don’t worry, babe, I got this.”

#symmarah #spiderbyte #pregnancy mention

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movietvtechgeeks · 7 years

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Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/kim-rhodes-briana-buckmaster-supernatural-interview-part-2/

Kim Rhodes, Briana Buckmaster 'Supernatural' interview Part 2

One thing about Lynn Zubernis; she knows how to get any interview subject to just let it all out and spill the tea all over the table and drip down on the floor. Her interview with Kim Rhodes and Briana Buckmaster was such a huge one, we had to split it into two parts. Part one is here. Lynn's latest book, Family Don’t End With Blood: Cast and Fans on How Supernatural Has Changed Lives (You can order it here), hits today, and from the reviews, it's a must must read! If you want to attend her Los Angeles book launch check it out here. You just might meet some of your Supernatural favs there. Her latest book features With contributions by Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, Mark Sheppard, Jim Beaver, Rob Benedict, Briana Buckmaster, Osric Chau, Matt Cohen, Ruth Connell, Gil McKinney, Rachel Miner and Kim Rhodes, and a Dozen Passionate Fans! Check out her classic interview with Misha Collins and Jim Beaver. Check out when we interviewed Lynn on her own Supernatural experiences. Check out exclusive excerpts from Lynn’s upcoming book! Now for the continuation of Lynn's interview with Kim Rhodes and Briana Buckmaster: Briana: I just sent my husband a picture that someone posted of us [Briana and Kim] on twitter – it was probably you, Kim – and he was like woah, you guys look so hot, I know why people ship you now! Lynn: I love your husband. Briana: I would actually rather Donna be with Jody than anybody. Lynn: So would many fans. Though it won’t happen. Briana: No, it won’t happen, sadly. It will happen in our heads… Lynn: And in fanworks… Kim: I’ve actually seen some really beautiful art of us, like the backs of our heads, we’re lying entwined in bed. Briana: [wide eyed] Nooooo! Kim: OMG yes, I’ll send it to you. Briana: [clapping] Oh, send them to me! Kim: But it was really so tender, so beautiful. Kim: Now I don’t talk about ships much because it’s such a dangerous mine field. Lynn: It is. Kim: People take it really personally, and the reason I don’t talk about it is twofold. One, I don’t wanna get in trouble. Like ultimately I’m a teenager inside, and I don’t want to make anyone mad and be like aaaahh they’re yelling at me. But secondly ships are so personal, I don’t wanna say anything… I mean, I am an actor. I’m also a fan, I’m one of everybody. But if I walk in a room, I carry a responsibility with me. And so if I speak to a ship, there’s a volume to my voice and I don’t wanna say anything that would get in anybody’s way of what makes them happy. Lynn: Because validating one ship can invalidate another. Kim: YES! That’s the thing. Briana: That’s why we don’t like to answer the ship questions. Lynn: But you answered it perfectly – you didn’t wig out, you didn’t refuse to answer. I love what Kim said, “frankly I ship Jody with everyone.” Kim: Mm-hmm. But that said, one of the things I love so much that only people in fandom get is that what I just said — that I’ve seen pics that are tender. Like the ships generally involve sex, but they are about relationships. Lynn: That’s why they’re called ships. Kim: And I think that’s, like no wonder people take them so seriously! No wonder people treat them so seriously, because they are tender because they’re about two people being in love Briana: Yeah. Lynn: They are. Kim: And so it’s not porn. It can be pornographic, but it comes from a place… Lynn: Of love, and relationship… Kim: Yes. It’s not like ‘Mr. Beaver Goes to Camp’ or whatever the fuck, there’s a genuineness to the ships, so that’s also why I don’t speak of it, because I’m not gonna piss in somebody else’s rose garden. I don’t know what would be stepping on toes. So it’s actually not out of – like there are some people who don’t talk about ships because of an unwillingness to acknowledge what they are, and I actually think they are something precious and important to each person. Lynn: Me too. Kim: So that’s why I don’t go in there. Lynn: I love how passionate shippers are, but I don’t care who you ship. It’s like fantasy – everyone has their own fantasy, and your fantasy is important and personal to you. Briana: And you’re invested in them, right? Frankly, it’s like religion and politics. Kim: Yeah, yeah. Briana: It’s like hey man, everyone has an opinion, and yours is not more correct than hers. Lynn: I wish there weren’t such a thing as ‘ship wars.' I understand that it can feel like a zero sum game, like if my ship ‘wins,' then yours ‘loses,' but really it’s usually not. Briana: It’s just not a sexy show! I don’t really understand the wars. That’s the first time I got in trouble on twitter, and she saved me. She was like everybody chill out; she doesn’t know… Kim: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Briana: So I now know, yeah. Lynn: The perception is that for once, fans actually had a little influence, that The Powers That Be kinda listened to what fandom wanted with Don’t You Forget About Me, an episode that was essentially Wayward Daughters – because for once, all factions of the fandom wanted it. Briana: Is it all factions? I actually have no idea. Kim: No, there are definitely haters. Lynn: Some people have problems with the Claire character but not many with Jody or Donna, I don’t think. Kim: God bless her, Kathryn Newton is a very brave actor, even if she’s being brave and doesn’t know it. She doesn’t try to soften Claire’s edges. She’s like, oh, this is a sullen, angry teenager. And you know what? Sullen angry teenagers can be shitheads. So there are people who go wow, Claire’s kinda a shithead… Briana: She’s being truthful… Kim: But you know what? You’d be a shithead too if you went through this. Lynn: The multiple traumas that girl has been through… Kim: My own mother, when we were talking about how I was at this age and at that age when we brought up the age of 16, my own mother said ‘Kimmie, I always loved you, but I didn’t like you when you were sixteen.’ Lynn: And it’s a testament to Kathryn’s acting that she’s playing what the character was intended to be. Kim: Yes. And I would like to think that the fandom influenced this episode. We always use the phrase love letter to the fans, and I think that phrase can really be offensive. Briana: I agree, I think it’s patronizing. Kim: It’s like, why do you think that? You don’t think this is just like a good episode? You know what would actually be a love letter to the fans? Listening to the fans, that would be a love letter to them. So I don’t mean this in reference to this show, let me be really clear, not in terms of Supernatural, because I thought the 200th episode was charming – I’m on record as loving that episode – I just mean the industry says oh it’s a love letter to Marvel fans and you’re like No, it’s actually not. Briana: It could’ve been. Kim: But it’s actually not, it’s got whats-her-face with her tits up to her chin and no plot line. Lynn: Sort of placating, like chew on this for a while. Briana: Like, that’ll hold you over for a while. Kim: So it’s my personal opinion, like from my own experience, that episode was as much of a love letter to the fans as I can give. Like to me, I knew the desire there; I knew the relationships that were important to the fans – and to me. And that’s the other thing, that’s why I felt so passionately about this episode, is because the same things that were important to the fans were important to me as an actor. The authenticity of the relationships, the love — the deep broken flawed love between all 5 of the people at that dinner table — the humor that comes from love and pain and fear and the love and pain and fear itself – just that phrase, that’s the scary thing about family because you have so much to lose. Briana: And I think that’s kind of the conclusion of the whole television show. Lynn: YES! That’s exactly what I said in my review – like, that’s Supernatural! Kim: Yes, yes, so when I read the script and even more so when I saw the episode, to me, I hope fans took it personally. Because I didn’t hear anything from anybody in any position of power at all. I have no idea how it was received, no idea what they meant, da da da, I did my job and went home. But for me, where I come from, that was personal to the fans. Because like you were just saying, I can’t contact every fan. When I’m in an autograph line, I can’t meet the intensity of a person’s experience; I can’t give them the time I would like to, it’s just physically impossible. Lynn: It is. Kim: So my heart for that entire episode was connected to the fans and my awareness that this was a gift to them. That they may or may not have created as a gift to me – which is fucking awesome! Briana: Like, right? Kim: So yeah, that’s my Kumbaya. Briana: That’s super true, especially about Wayward Daughters, the idea that people are like I hope that Wayward Daughters can happen for the fans, and I’m like really? Because it would be unbelievable. And like I said, Kim and I have had very little to do other than just any time Riley or Betty contact us, who are kinda running the whole campaign, they’re always like, we’re gonna do this, are you guys cool with this? And we’re like omg YES! Kim: Like the thunderclap thing, we don’t even know what that is. Briana: They are on it though. The idea that this could give something to others, while we would also benefit from it, right? Lynn: It felt that way. We had this discussion at the academic conference; there was a panel on fan/producer relationships. And a panelist said look, it’s all about money. If TPTB are listening, it’s because something will make them money. And I said, do you think there are small occasional exceptions? Because I felt like this episode might have been. Kim: It has to be a perfect storm though. They probably looked at the arc of the season, and like you create the arc of the season, you’ve got the Darkness, dealing with duh duh duh and now because Jensen and Jared are getting their asses handed to them with their schedule, they need some lighter episodes, where they get to go home and remind their kids who daddy is, and also, they’ve got Thanksgiving breaks smack dab in the middle of it, so we can’t have a high special effects episode that we split on either side, so it could also have been just technically, I don’t know, who haven’t we seen? What are the ideas we’re fucking around with? Briana: This is what I do when I’m with Kim, I’m like no no no no this is what happened. [to Kim] Because remember last season, when they dropped her off at your house, and I’m texting Kim going wtf is happening? Kim: [nodding] Briana: And then she tweeted ‘I don’t know, I’m not watching!’ Lynn: [laughing} But you’re right, they specifically set up the possibility. Briana: They did! Lynn: Like that seemingly throwaway comment that you’re a hunter now too. Kim: But if I had a dollar for everything they’ve ever set up that never came to fruition, I would not have to work this year. Lynn: True, but at least it’s a possibility. Kim: Oh, she’s totally coming back. Briana: You know what I’d love to see? I’d love to see Donna as a hunter like she doesn’t know she’s dating a werewolf… Everyone: [laughing] Lynn: So Kim, talk about that dinner scene. Kim: OMG it was the most fun thing I’ve ever shot! Lynn: I laughed so hard. Briana: It was just a good solid scene. Kim: Well, first of all, we ALL, like everybody was excited to be doing the scene because it was funny and tender and sweet and spoke to what everybody does well. So nobody was like eh, I’m not gonna look good in this scene, you know? It’s like, I definitely come into some scenes and am like, this isn’t my scene, I’m here to make you look good, and I’m happy to do it. Briana: Yeah. Kim: But this was, everybody had their moment. Lynn: And all five people just totally brought it. Kim: I can’t think of another episode that had such a quintessential Winchester family dinner. That’s what it was, that’s what a Winchester family dinner is – we’ve got monsters to kill, and please wear a condom. Lynn: [laughing] And Jensen and Jared just sort of like, What? Huh? [caption id="attachment_46042" align="aligncenter" width="600"] What?[/caption] [caption id="attachment_46043" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Huh?[/caption] Briana: OMG it was so good. Lynn: And Jody’s exasperation, everyone was identifying with Jody and her exasperation with them. Kim: It was really well written too, there wasn’t any like, oh now we’ve gotta change to – like, the transitions made sense and were earned. Lynn: True, true. Who wrote that? Kim: Nancy. Lynn: Oh, oh, Nancy Won, yes, I really like her! She did her homework. She can stay. Like, forever. ETA: [SOB!!!!!] Briana: Yeah, this episode was great. Good for her. Kim: it felt really really good. I thought that scene was so much fun. Lynn: And Jensen was busily making a fort out of his mashed potatoes? Kim: [wry smile] Again, when it’s not their coverage, you have all kinds of things happening. And we were shooting it the last night before everybody left for vacation, so people were kinda mentally already on vacation. They were like, ooh, you want real wine in your glass? And I was like, NO! Because I had to drink two bottles of it. God, it was so bad. But yeah, it was hilarious. Lynn: And there were adlibs? Kim: It wasn’t so much adlibs, but Stefan, who directed it, is always open to that – I don’t think I tweeted this but there was that moment I looked at Claire and said, ‘you were right.’ And I had told Stefan, you know what’s missing from this script? Is an acknowledgment from Jody that she was wrong. Lynn: YES. Kim: I said, I really really need for Jody to show Claire the respect of you were right. Briana: [nodding] Lynn: And that was so important, because that’s what allowed Claire at the end to heal. Otherwise, why would there have been healing? Kim: Right. And why, knowing who Claire is, why didn’t she spend the next scene going okay I told you so? Briana: Like, I’m outta here… Lynn: She would have. [caption id="attachment_46045" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Tweet @Kimrhodes4real[/caption] Kim: Yeah! So, back to the scene, what did get cut was that when I said ‘don’t pull up the drawbridge,’ Claire had an addition that we weren’t really sure, but we’re pretty sure it was a butt reference in the script, but then we all started trying to come up with euphemisms for having sex that aren’t really words for sex. Lynn: lol Kim: The ‘Sit. Stay’. That was originally supposed to be ‘No, no, you’re family too, sit down.’ And I was like, there are too many words there for the level of panic that Jody is feeling. There’s just too many words. So I said, can I try something else? And he [Stefan] said you can do whatever you want. Lynn: That’s nice, that collaboration. Briana: it is nice. Kim: And again, when I justify WHY – if I just say, I don’t think Jody would say that, can I say something else, I guarantee they’re not gonna be like oh sure go ahead, say whatever you want, we don’t care. But when I say, the level of panic does not match the intellectual capacity that Jody would have to have to say ‘no no you’re still family’ – no, this has to be a problem. No. Sit. Stay. Lynn: And the great thing is, their faces at that moment, we got that comic moment too. Kim: Yes, because the irony – the thing I love – is that I spoke to them like they were puppies, and they responded like they were puppies. Lynn: [giggling] A pure behavioral reaction! And it worked. Kim: I also try to use my mom voice with them whenever I can because they are not used to having a mom voice. Briana: And the show is all about them dealing with their mother’s death. Lynn: Yes, and longing for that mothering. Kim: And that’s another aspect of mothering. So I love to see that, their reaction, it was kind of like ohhhh, we just sat and stayed. Like the confusion of why did we do that? That is magical! So the sit stay was kinda an adlib, it was what came out of my mouth at the time. The other thing is, Alex was supposed to reach for my wine, and I was supposed to just swat it away, and they had two cameras running at the same time, so I’m glad they got it because my head was turned at the time – because Katherine Ramdeen is an exceptional actor. [caption id="attachment_46046" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Katherine Ramdeen and Katherine Newton. Tweet @kimrhodes4real[/caption] Lynn and Briana: [nodding] Kim: And she’s got enough method in her to do that. One of my favorite things – I was watching Colony last night – and one of my favorite things is when actors let their characters be good liars. I hate it when like you see an actor selling a lie that the other character buys, but they’re so bad at it, you know that it wouldn’t actually work. So Katherine is like, I’m trying to grab a glass of her wine, and I know she probably isn’t gonna roll over, so she waits until I’m not looking. Lynn: Which is exactly what a kid would do. Kim: Which is exactly what a kid would do! So I turn around, and she’s got the wine all the way up to her mouth, and I had to stop dead in my tracks with what I was saying and be like hey – and that was Kim you saw acting — like how the fuck did you get that wine? Stop, put it back! Lynn: That’s probably why it played so real. Briana: And that’s everything. Like that’s, of course, the actors, but also a director trusting their actors and also a writer giving you a scene that’s long enough that you’re like oh wow I get to ACT in this scene. Lynn: I feel like Supernatural works so well because all of you care so much about your characters and how you play them – and because it can be so collaborative. Briana: [to Kim] And you’ve worked with Stefan before. Kim: Yes, Stefan and I knew each other. But also? That’s Jared and Jensen as well. Briana: That’s very true, they set the tone. Kim: I think most directors kind of feed off of how Jared and Jensen are responding to the actors, because I’ve definitely seen some moments of ‘hey you know, I’m thinking of doing…’ and Jared will be like, yeah. And Jared would never shut another actor down because that’s not who he is as a person, but you can tell if you know him if he thinks it’s a bad fucking idea, frankly. And Jared’s like, it’s not my job to tell you it’s a bad fuckin’ idea, but that’s not gonna serve the script. Sure enough, it’s like no, let’s stick to the script. So it’s not really a free range kind of environment. Lynn: Nor should it be. Kim: Right, but I know that when I offer a note I’m not boning somebody else. I know my job. I know the stars and I know how to serve the script. Lynn: And at this point, you know this character. And Jensen has talked about directing you, so he knows. Kim: Yes, Jensen has directed me! Briana: Jensen directed you? Kim: It was awesome. Jensen gave me one of my favorite notes ever. EVER. So he comes over, and he goes, ‘this line, duh duh duh duh duh, what are you doing there?’ and I said, ‘saying it really fast because I don’t know what I’m doing.' And he goes, ‘and that’s exactly what it looks like. So can I tell you something?’ Briana: [laughing] Kim: And he was like, let me give you something to think about, and I was like OHHHHH, now I know what I’m doing there. Lynn: He knew what you would need to get it because he could put himself in your shoes. Briana: Yeah, and he also has an outside eye. Kim: And he also could tell what I was doing, that I was saying it real fast to get to the next part. Speaking of Jensen, so the scene as scripted ended as I stood up to go I said ‘I’m gonna go get some mashed potatoes, long running’ and then I swallowed the wine. Lynn: That was scripted? Kim: I wanna say yes, it was scripted. And then I’m like okay, potatoes, potatoes… that was actually in there for my sister because my sister along-runningpotato joke… Lynn and Briana: lol Kim: And then Jensen goes, ‘well this is fun.’ Lynn: Wait, so that wasn’t scripted? Kim: Oh no, the scene was done! So that long fourth shot of Kathryn going heh heh heh… Lynn: And that awkward silence? Because Katherine and Kathryn did that so well too. Kim: Oh yeah. Everybody thought the scene was over, but until we hear cut – also that’s a testament to the writing of that scene because we were having so much fun playing it – Lynn: That you just kept going… Kim: We just kept going, like until you call cut, we’re just gonna keep going! Lynn: And everyone stayed in character! Kim: Yeah. Briana: When an actor really likes to do a scene, it’s because it’s well written. It’s not necessarily that they get to do the most or because they do something that’s really rad for their character or really badass, if the writing clicks so well with the character, it’s just like this magic. Kim: It’s like being on a ride, instead of pushing something. Like, you can push the car or you can drive the car, and when a scene is well written it’s like YEAHHHh we’re cruising. Lynn: The process is so similar to writing, especially writing fiction, it will feel like that, and I’ll say it out loud sometimes, because there’s nothing like when people talk in a way that people would never ever talk. Kim: I get so angry when the writer tries to do my job. In life, when I say I’m feeling X Y and Z right now, well then something else must be going on, because nobody actually has to articulate what clearly is going on! Briana: Exactly. ‘I’m feeling?’ No. Lynn: Unless you’re in the middle of a therapy session… Kim: Oh, or the history recaps. ‘Well, you remember that one time when…’ or ‘I thought I’d never forgive you when…’ Briana: OMG yes. Kim: Like, really? Do you need to tell me that? Lynn: Occasionally Supernatural does have a problem with exposition. Kim: And well, sometimes it’s necessary. A necessary evil. Also, it is not to be equated with bad writing when you have to serve a higher purpose. Which is make sure people know what the fuck is going on, especially new viewers, right? Lynn: Right. It was so interesting when I was on set to learn about the process that a script goes through, especially notes from the studio about making sure a new viewer would know what was going on. I had never thought of it that way. Kim: Of course. Like, how we gonna know that so and so? Briana: But mostly the fans know a lot more than the producers. Kim: And frankly in this day and age, fucking google it! Lynn: Or there’s always the superwiki! Everyone: [is laughing] Lynn: So before we end, a lot of people are saying that Colony is really good, and that your character is in the bad guy uniform. Kim: I’m in disguise. I watched it last night in my hotel room. I start off really light, and in the next episodes my character manifests a lot more. You see what her purpose is, where she is in the resistance and how the other characters relate to her. It’s intense. I play a mother, with 2 sons, in the resistance. No husband. And in 10 episodes, not once did I have to emotionally justify myself. I never had a comment of where my husband was. Lynn: Wow Kim: I know. Sarah and I had a discussion about how well written the female characters were that we were so un-used to having to that – as women, as female characters, we always emotionally justify our actions through a relationship with generally a male character. Either a child, a husband, a love interest. I’m doing what I’m doing and somehow it’s because of this or that, not just doing what you’re doing because it’s the right fucking think to do. Briana: It’s a resistance movement. Kim: Unheard of. And so Sarah and I were talking about how different it was, because we’re used to rooting ourselves in an emotional relationship and need from another character. And just rooting ourselves in our own convictions and beliefs was not a place we were familiar with. Lynn: Novel Kim: It was awesome! But also last night, I was in the script a little bit and I had read it, but watching it I was actively upset by what I saw. Not as an actor, as a viewer. I knew what was coming and it still got me. And I was like, how did that just happen? And I was live tweeting and dicking around and like ‘yeah resist forever’, and then I was like I’m done, I have to go read my book now, I’m upset. And it continues to get more upsetting. Lynn: So it’s dark. Kim: And the beautiful irony of Carlton Cuse is that this is about aliens landing, but the darkness is pure humanity. And also because you know like on twitter I follow kind of a dark segment of the population. In fact a lot of the people I follow have never seen my work. They know I have a blue check mark next to my name and as far as they’re concerned they know that it means it’s open season on fucking with me sometimes, like let’s see if we can scare her off today. But because of that, the resistance, I’m like, I know this thinking. Briana: You’re familiar with it. Kim: It’s like, this is people who are familiar with how hideous humanity can be. It’s an intense show. It’s up for Season 2 already, there will be 13 next season. [Whether or not Kim will be back was up in the air at the time} Kim: I never have a problem with how a character is treated though. Briana: A character you play? Kim: Any character. As long as the level of treatment equals the level of story change that it inspires. So for instance, in Colony when shit goes down and I’m like, how could you do that? It’s equivalent to the force that was needed to drive the story in a new direction. Lynn: So it’s not gratuitous… Kim: Yes, that’s the thing! So in terms of Supernatural, I think I’m a little different. I don’t say you shouldn’t hit – like oh I have a problem with the female character being beaten up. What I say is I want to see an equal payoff for what happened. Like when Jody got the shit kicked out of her is what Claire needed to see that to go ‘OMG she would have died for me.’ So that, I don’t think that’s gratuitous. When a beloved character dies and the trajectory of the rest of the show is like running over a speed bump and it continues, then I don’t care how simple and sweet and beautiful the death may have even been. Not warranted. Briana: Tell good stories! Kim: Yes, and with Colony, it’s incredible and necessary. All the horrible moments. At that point, Kim and Briana realized they needed to go sign autographs, so I snapped a few pictures. Lynn: Awwww, you guys. Kim: We’re just honestly as delighted with each other in real life as we seem to be onstage. Briana: I was so excited to come to this con, because she and I haven’t seen each other in a while. Kim: it was like Ooooh, I get to see her in a couple days Kim: [to Briana] You actually smell really good… Briana: It’s a perfume I got in London… Kim: Mmmm nice. We will continue through the launch of Lynn’s book with some of her best Supernatural interviews. Check out Kim and Briana's chapter – along with many other cast and fan chapters – in Family Don’t End With Blood. You can pre-order it here.

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commandervisor · 7 years

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whats good dorter now do swr for that meme

the first character i ever fell in love with: Agent Kallus. It was either the promo video or the actual pilot episode itself, but in all likelihood, the sideburns were probably involved somehow. If anything, I will say that the second character is Tua, the moment she stepped into the shuttle way back in DoD. Like, yo.

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: Darth Maul. But his usage of his EXPERIMENT 2000 DEGREE KNIFE on Kanan’s eyes, Ezra’s innocence, but most importantly, the Inquisition, is the last straw.

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: Kanan/Seventh, since FPJ and SMG are married, yeah. Didn’t last long, since now it’s Fifth/Seventh and I don’t particularly trust a majority of the fanbase anymore to make legible, sane, and legal fanwork where Kanan isn’t in a relationship with Hera/where Seventh is in a relationship at all. Yikes.

my ultimate favorite character™: don’t make me choose

prettiest character: All the female characters look good, and as for the ‘handsome’ kind of pretty, Kallus, Kanan, and the prettiest Lasat in the Galaxy.

my most hated character: Kind of hard to like the I/r/o/n Squadron, since their episode had poor characterization for them, building solely off of them being S1 Ezra clones. They could definitely improve though! And I do have a few headcanons on what they’ve been up to since that episode.

* And I definitely LOVE Zeb, that’s why I hate how they keep… ‘minimizing’ him? Like in “Warhead”, as funny as it was, I didn’t like that the crew and the others were like 'woah you can think?’, 'that was actually very smart of you!’, 'ugh can’t you take charge of the base for one day without trouble’, etc. The writers are obviously trying to show us that Zeb is much more than muscle, but c'mon, really? This kind of stuff is how you treat the audience like they’re goldfish as well as disrespecting the character. Instead of conveying the message that 'Zeb is both smart and strong!’, it comes off more as 'Zeb is strong, but secretly smart!’ or something condescending like that.

my OTP: Mallus, yeah yeah yeah whatever

my NOTP: S/a/b/3/z/r/a, it seems clear to be that they’re just supposed to be like brother and sister. I don’t like a majority of the shippers because they seem to be missing the point (like I remember reading the comments of a clip of where Sabine hug-grabs Ezra in the jetpack chase scene and 90% of it was full of shippers that I swear couldn’t have been older than 12.), but I will say that I like some of the fanart.

favorite episode: “Droids In Distress” (I don’t know, I just watched it a lot back then; in hindsight, I’d say it was a good start to the show), “Empire Day”, “The Honorable Ones”, “The Forgotten Droid” (again, I don’t know, I just liked AP’s and Chopper’s dynamic), “An Inside Man”, “Trials of the Darksaber”, I can safely say “Through Imperial Eyes” because Kallus rests in pepperoni. 😎

saddest death: Hearing Tua died in tSoL way back during Celebration 2015 hit me pretty hard, actually.

favorite season: Season 1 + parts of Season 3, mainly the latter half so far.

least favorite season: Season 2 + the timeskip/transition to Season 3, because it felt like it was rushed; there’s a disconnect between the episodes, especially in the latter half (I suspect it’s due to the writers still being in a TCW mindset, where arcs with completely different stories happened one after the other — not that I’m saying that it’s okay for the writers to do, especially because their intent is obviously for SWR to be in a different format. It’s just that I can see why it happened and I hope that at this point in time, they can at least learn from their mistakes…).

So because of that, new information and the problems are just rapid-fire out of pretty much nowhere instead of foreshadowed or anything like that as well as being solved in a flash, like:

* Hera’s some years of father-daughter estrangement with Cham are dealt with in one episode.* The Inquisitors should’ve done more to build up their credibility, like I thought Seventh was gonna be a rival to Kanan and challenge him as a master to Ezra, but I guess that got given to Maul in the S2 finale.* Fifth is apparently blind, but they didn’t do nothing with that, they could’ve foreshadowed something about it with Kanan, and they also seemed like he was gonna be Seventh’s rival or something (at the time, I imagined it like Ventress and Grievous during TCW), but he ended up just being her lackey.* But no, and then everyone in-universe was like 'eh’, so that ended up being reciprocated by the audience as well.* Also, while we’re on that topic, as 'memetic’ as it was, helisabers really did worsen their credibility than it already was.* I honestly was kind of on the fence about Sabine for a while, since I didn’t like that nothing at least semi-permanently bad happened to her until Season 3 and I just generally don’t like haughty characters that don’t seem to struggle.* Kallus being smug for like the first half of tHO like he’s always been up to that point, and then when he tells his backstory, that attitude is GONE for the rest of the show and then we don’t even get to see the transition from him as a loyal and ruthless Imperial that seemed to enjoy the hunt, to someone who is about the exact opposite.* Ezra’s storyline suffers from something similar, like it looked like it was going somewhere with obsessing with the Sith Holocron and/or doing much more questionable things, but that only gets touched upon in SoS because all of it already happened during the timeskip, so by the time we see Ezra, it’s instead just an excuse for the writers to start having him do more action-y stuff and be problematic (like tWJ).

I like most of the ideas behind them, it’s just that there’s definitely much more to be desired out of them. Yeah, I guess they could do a novel/short story/whatever about these things like the timeskip developments, but that seems kind of sloppy, telling the explanation afterwards instead of showing it when it was the most relevant. I want the writers to respect their characters (and therefore, us) more. It’s certainly possible to do, but it’s not constant; it just comes and goes, as seen here and in TCW.

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: I definitely like/love Chopper, but the memes about him being a Dark Lord or a Darth undercover or whatever are being run into the ground.

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: Agent Kallus, Governor Pryce. Inquisitors technically didn’t make the choice to be this way, so I didn’t count them here.

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: the Inquisitors. And Tua.

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: Mallus, Fifth/Seventh, yeah.

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: Kanera.

#ask #bella #long post #<3 #this ended having more rants than I expected

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