#or rather partly about it

[mylittleredgirl]

genuinely though i love that the critique that gets lobbed at tng sometimes is that it's boring because the characters sit and think and talk and many of the episodes resolve with very few explosions, and yes! that's the point!!!

like the whole ethos of tng was "space (and everyone in it) is not a threat once you understand it" and sometimes you have to get quiet about it for a minute or have a productive group discussion or do some pontificating to reach that moment of understanding and communication, but at the end we warp away having made a friend or gained a greater understanding of the complexity of the universe and maybe it was a little bit silly or a character learned how to be a better version of themself along the way and that's why i love it!!

#and sometimes things can blow up like that's fun too but the best of both worlds and yesterday's enterprise are excellent partly because #those fate of the universe dark lighting intense stakes episodes are few and far between so they hit hard #there might also be something about the cold war as a backdrop giving the audience an understanding for why picard and co #will go to such extreme lengths and risk life and limb rather than fire first... idk. a thought is brewing. #tng

[anghraine]

Okay, breaking my principles hiatus again for another fanfic rant despite my profound frustration w/ Tumblr currently:

I have another post and conversation on DW about this, but while pretty much my entire dash has zero patience with the overtly contemptuous Hot Fanfic Takes, I do pretty often see takes on Fanfiction's Limitations As A Form that are phrased more gently and/or academically but which rely on the same assumptions and make the same mistakes.

IMO even the gentlest, and/or most earnest, and/or most eruditely theorized takes on fanfiction as a form still suffer from one basic problem: the formal argument does not work.

I have never once seen a take on fanfiction as a form that could provide a coherent formal definition of what fanfiction is and what it is not (formal as in "related to its form" not as in "proper" or "stuffy"). Every argument I have ever seen on the strengths/weaknesses of fanfiction as a form vs original fiction relies to some extent on this lack of clarity.

Hence the inevitable "what about Shakespeare/Ovid/Wide Sargasso Sea/modern takes on ancient religious narratives/retold fairy tales/adaptation/expanded universes/etc" responses. The assumptions and assertions about fanfiction as a form in these arguments pretty much always should apply to other things based on the defining formal qualities of fanfic in these arguments ("fanfiction is fundamentally X because it re-purposes pre-existing characters and stories rather than inventing new ones" "fanfiction is fundamentally Y because it's often serialized" etc).

Yet the framing of the argument virtually always makes it clear that the generalizations about fanfic are not being applied to Real Literature. Nor can this argument account for original fics produced within a fandom context such as AO3 that are basically indistinguishable from fanfic in every way apart from lacking a canon source.

At the end of the day, I do not think fanfic is "the way it is" because of any fundamental formal qualities—after all, it shares these qualities with vast swaths of other human literature and art over thousands of years that most people would never consider fanfic. My view is that an argument about fanfic based purely on form must also apply to "non-fanfic" works that share the formal qualities brought up in the argument (these arguments never actually apply their theories to anything other than fanfic, though).

Alternately, the formal argument could provide a definition of fanfic (a formal one, not one based on judgment of merit or morality) that excludes these other kinds of works and genres. In that case, the argument would actually apply only to fanfic (as defined). But I have never seen this happen, either.

So ultimately, I think the whole formal argument about fanfic is unsalvageably flawed in practice.

Realistically, fanfiction is not the way it is because of something fundamentally derived from writing characters/settings etc you didn't originate (or serialization as some new-fangled form, lmao). Fanfiction as a category is an intrinsically modern concept resulting largely from similarly modern concepts of intellectual property and auteurship (legally and culturally) that have been so extremely normalized in many English-language media spaces (at the least) that many people do not realize these concepts are context-dependent and not universal truths.

Fanfic does not look like it does (or exist as a discrete category at all) without specifically modern legal practices (and assumptions about law that may or may not be true, like with many authorial & corporate attempts to use the possibility of legal threats to dictate terms of engagement w/ media to fandom, the Marion Zimmer Bradley myth, etc).

Fanfic does not look like it does without the broader fandom cultures and trends around it. It does not look like it does without the massive popularity of various romance genres and some very popular SF/F. It does not look like it does without any number of other social and cultural forces that are also extremely modern in the grand scheme of things.

The formal argument is just so completely ahistorical and obliviously presentist in its assumptions about art and generally incoherent that, sure, it's nicer when people present it politely, but it's still wrong.

#this is probably my most pretentious fanfiction defense squad post but it's difficult to express in other terms #like. people talking about ao3 house style (not always by name but clearly referring to it) as a result of fanfic as a form #and not the social/cultural effect of ao3 as a fandom space #you don't get ao3 house style without ao3 itself and you don't get ao3 without strikethrough and livejournal etc #and you don't get those without authors and corporations trying to exercise control over fic based on law (often us law) & myths about law #and you don't get those without distinctly modern concepts of intellectual property and copyright #none of those things have fuck all to do with form! #anghraine rants #fanfiction #general fanwank #long post #thinking about this partly because the softer & gentler versions of fanfic discourse keep crossing my dash #and partly because i've written like 30 pages about a playwright i adore who was just not very good at 'original fiction' as we'd define it #both his major works are ... glorified rpf in our context but splendid tragedies in his #and the idea of categorizing /anything/ in that era by originality of conception rather than comedy/tragedy/etc would be buckwild #ivory tower blogging #anghraine's meta

[funkytoesart]

concept for one of the main/central characters of a possible webcomic I wanna start soon :)

#myart #She's a cutie! #I've been wanting to do this comic idea for YEARS now but i've always hesitated lol #partly bc... i've always imagined this character as biracial and I'm le very white and so... i'm at a crossroads atm LOL #like do I change the race of the character so I don't put myself (accidentally) in a situation where i'm canceled bc I might #mess up writing a black character?? #OR do i risk having a black character as my main character. This is what i'm wrestling with atm lol #for clarification the story isn't ABOUT being black or the black american experience #but more she just.. happens to be a black character and I've always imagined her as black so 🫤 i'd rather NOT change her design/background #anyway. Maybe i should just choose a different story idea where the main character just... isn't a poc :/ #but that feels like a cop out lol #but anyways. I'm enjoying working on this comic even if i'll probably chicken out doing it the way i want to :') #lol anyway feel free to ignore me i'm just rambling lol

[hephaestuscrew]

By the way, I am still thinking about the Greater Boston Season 4 finale, and I am obsessed with the idea that when you have days where you wake feeling strange and unsettled without any identifiable cause, it might be because someone who you never met but who would have narrated you kindly has passed on out of the world.

#Greater Boston podcast #greater Boston #I am obsessed with a city of people all feeling like something is off. like something has shifted. like something has been lost #and they don't know why #but it's because Leon is no longer there #It's because there was a ghost in the narrative who cared so deeply about people and now he's gone #And the thing is Leon wasn't some kind of special chosen one #He was just a guy who loved his friends/family and lived by his Google Calendar and died on a rollercoaster and ended up in a crystal ball #And I like that #He was weird but he was ordinary #And yet his life and death and true passing mattered so much #Normally narratives about people having a kind of supernatural awareness of someone dying don't really resonate with me #but this one did. And I think it's partly cos I care about Leon so much #and partly cos people experienced a vague hard-to-identify feeling rather than a dramatic vision #and partly cos people who didn't know him were included in that awareness #Maybe every person deserves that their passing out of the world be marked like that #Greater Boston spoilers #Greater Boston podcast spoilers #The empty man posteth

[toaster-selfships]

Send me good wishes yall. I'm going to try and work on some late work when I get home but I'm chronically bad at doing that without an energy drink but I'm not ready for the impending doom of selling my soul to energy drinks so I can function

Uuhhhhhhhhh I accidentally went on a tangent and there's a whole vent in the tags oopsies

#i already get an energy drink every time on my lunch break at work. but thats partly cause im not too fond of my current job anyways #i dont need perfect grades just. as long as theyre passing i dont care #and are still passing grades after whatverr the finals do to it #im going to a trade school anyways gpa doesnt matter. ive just. QUITE LITERALLY. spent my whole life smacking my head into a desk- #-cause of school. and im so desperate to get my ass outta here. It'll be so much easier cause i will be free from family too #once i get my own place that is. I honest to God would rather sell my soul to two jobs and come home to peace and breathe #than this hell now. being at school is tourment and being at home is tourment. cant wait till im actually HOME. and not some. house. #home is where the dodge challenger that i will sleep in is. home is where the heart is. and my heart isnt anywhere here. #just. one more year. i can get my license at my brithday which is all the way in decemeber but. one more year from now #and I can scrape by and graduate and say adios. #i refuse to acknowledge the scenerio of not making it cause. fuck it we ball or something. am i using that saying right #i already did my time in prison(summer school) #i dont know about yall but summer school was honestly one of the WORST expereinces ive ever been in. horrible.

[tswwwit]

Has fam!Bill ever landed on a talk show or got interviewed, or has someone atleast made a movie/series/novel about him or his life with dipper?

I'd think that Dipper tries to keep Bill out of the spotlight. Partly so it doesn't feed his enormous ego any further - and partly so Bill doesn't try starting a cult. For like, the millionth time. He's a little too persuasive when he gets public attention.

There also exists a case - probably many decades along, once Dipper's out of his first life - where there is a movie/series/novel.... about Dipper.

Of course Bill's there. You can hardly have a story about Dipper Pines without at least vaguely addressing the demonic power subject - but in this one, Bill's cast as sort of a demonic sidekick. Unable to tempt the righteous Dipper Pines from his heroic cause. Bumbling, and awkward.

Used for comedic effect.

You bet your ass Bill's absolutely fuming about it.

#answers #In later decades it becomes very rare to find copies #Partly because it wasn't a very good movie #Too bad to even be funny #Didn't sell well and wasn't even pirated much #And partly because there's a lot of murders associated with watching it #One of those urban myths #Even *Dipper's* offended by the portrayal of Bill #Thankfully Bill gets to correct the damage done to his public image sooner rather than later #There are likely other much better portrayals of Bill and/or the state of their relationship #That one just sticks out as a sort point for Bill #But overall he's *also* huffy because a LOT of them cast Dipper as some kind of 'hero' #Like c'mon!! They BOTH wouldn't be in this situation if Dipper Pines hadn't messed up horribly #To which Dipper points out that in the demon realm HE'S always the sidekick so deal with it AND #BILL also messed up horribly or HE wouldn't be here #It's something to bicker about #Bill might get more pissy about it than Dipper but they both mock the movies #It's fun to drag them and also fun to revisit old arguments in a very married couple way

[chris-continues]

Cool, feel free to joke about the tragedy of today but know that several children in the daycare at the base of the towers, their parents who worked there, first responders trying to help, and roughly 800 people in the 4 planes had to choose between being burnt alive or falling to their own deaths because it was faster.

#tw death #Chris continues #it gets on my nerves #9/11 #9/11 attacks #it isn’t funny #I saw a meme #thought it was cute #great #esp w my gen (genz) #too young to remember or not even born yet #people are rather insensitive about it #people lost their lives. and it’s not something avoidable or stupid or amusing #or even partly humorous or laughable #like a bunch of other dumb incidents #no. shit happened. it was real. not funny. #dark humor is one thing but idk #it just #it hurts. #not targeted

[kris-mage-fics]

I've spent most of this afternoon working on an autism-fueled rant about "show, don't tell" and I wore myself out before I could finish. Somehow I always forget how draining brain work is. Despite the fact that I know the brain is the biggest energy hog of all our organs. So let this be a reminder that if you're using your brain, make sure to eat, drink, and take breaks! Because it uses up a ton of energy and you need to replace it.

#rip to the cooking I was planning on doing today #apparently I had to write about writing advice instead #do I know when I'll finish said rant? no idea #but thinking about it literally kept me awake last night so I had to start writing it #I just realized none of you have actually ever seen one of my rants #this is partly because I do try to be level-headed and not go off half-cocked #but also because they take a lot out of me since I'm rather verbose and keep thinking of new points lol

[dnangelic]

what ghost haunts you?

the ghost of devotion .

your body was crafted to be loved and to be adored. you write with the touch of a poet, the fingertips of a lover. if you are not loved, you are not whole. you are made to be sculpted by the hands of another into something perfect. without their love, you feel as though you may crumble without the support of purpose their touch provides. when ernest hemingway wrote “it was too good to last.” when ocean vuong wrote, “i miss you more than i remember you.” when david foster wallace wrote, “everything i’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it.”

the ghost of the damned .

you rot with the need for something more than what you have. the ghost is built up of the feeling of stagnation. you find it staring at the ceiling with sleep - blurred vision ; this is the third night you have met its eyes in the early hours of the morning. you tear yourself apart looking for comfort, for validation, for acceptance. but it never feels quite enough. you ruin everything you touch, despite every attempt to be more than what you have always been. you would sculpt yourself as something perfect for those around you, but you are no artist. when albert camus wrote, “be silent, heart; there is no hope!” when lucille clifton wrote, “maybe i should’ve wanted less. maybe i should’ve ignored the bowl in me, begging to be filled.” when taylor swift said, “i’m still on that tightrope, i’m still trying everything to get you looking at me.”

tagged by @primordyalsoul ty sumin!!!!

#TAGMEME. #iiiiiIIINTERESTING..... #dark's is fine as is but dai #his relationship with independence/dependence can get a little complicated #his desire is to be independent and he's stubborn about it- hence his rejecting dark's concerns or help sometimes #(that's where the 'what took you so long to call me?' comes from in tandem with constantly reminding daisuke #that they're one and the same; that dark -is- on daisuke's side and very much so. wholly loves and accepts him) #dark's longing is also a reflection of daisuke's longing; to be accepted and loved even within himself for his own flaws and faults #the reality for daisuke too is that so many people around him help and try very hard to care for him from his parents to his friends #the same way everybody remarks he's always trying to do his best for others- which is partly a symptom of dai wanting to be reliable #rather than solely relying on others all of the time... it goes in a big circle #smth smth coexistence and daisuke's simultaneous fear of being ostracized/persecuted for being dark #smth smth dante's inferno and the circle of thieves stealing each other's bodies but the way dark and daisuke learn to share #smth smth you were born to be a phantom thief but it's love that transforms you #dark's longing and loneliness is simultaneously daisuke's longing and loneliness always and forever BUT dark's stagnancy #his supposed state of perfection his immutability that makes him unearthly unhuman - he quietly loathes #dark relies on daisuke to change him too; to be kinder. warmer. the boy's his heart #the same way he's daisuke's supporting dream and aspiration!!! #aw man tag essay. embarrassing. point is dai's very devoted was born for it was destined for it #his family's love gets to the point it's overbearing sometimes but it's so so so genuine and so is his own once he gets to a state of it #but one cannot dismiss ...... the stubborn 'i can do it myself i don't need you' attitude(tm) dai has at dark sometimes #(even though dark is sooooo pathetic n desperate to be relied on)

[houseflyy]

how are you ruined?

ruined by loneliness

you are so lonely. you are miserable in your solitude. you hate that you cannot bring yourself to reach out, to ask for help. you will be forgotten by all who never knew you. your biggest fear is that you will die alone, and you know this fear will be seen to fruition. you refuse to extend yourself beyond the box that others put you in. and it is a box that no one dare come near. you are lonely because you are afraid of yourself.

tagged by: @wurmixia (thank you!! <3)

tagging: snatch it from me!

#she's just like me ..... ummm what i didn't say anything #partly true though i think she's one to be direct about getting help and be stubborn against that fear rather than give in to it #dash games.

[toiletshit]

that random encounter at the end of victory road

#pokemon oras #I was groaning about having to do the background but that actually went rather quickly #context: discussion about wally and partly how he could have been swapped with the oldale clerk that gives you a potion #bc you only meet wally story-wise st the beginning of the game and then he just randomly pops up at the end again #when prepping this I found a video of all wally encounters in emerald and aside from meeting him thrice during the story campaign #the rest is literally just talking to his relatives in petalburg and verdanturf over and over again for the lore drips #no wonder I literally forgot wally existed if it wasn't for the hype-up he got in oras

[yeonban]

I adore how Wammy kids, whether they're trying to succeed L as detectives or go against L as criminals, always end up challenging him for the title of 'the greatest'

#* ooc. / posts. #It's a detail I Really love bc you'd expect them to try to be /as good as/ L since that's already an incredibly tall order in and of itself #but no... they're always going above and beyond to try and SURPASS L instead. #I have a feeling this stems partly from their upbringing at Wammy's aka having been told no one has managed to hold a candle to L #which is why ALL of them have a subconscious desire to prove this wrong and show that they can match; if not even surpass; L #though Tobias may not realize it; he's no different from the others on this. If L had lived and decided to crack down on Tobias' networks #rather than hide as a sane person would when faced w the best detective in the world; Tobias would've tackled the challenge head on #TL;DR: Do NOT bring L up when talking to Wammy kids bc they have just a bit of a screw loose in this regard 😭 #Although tbf... threads where L is brought up in the convo WOULD be great. I don't think Tobias has ever willingly allowed me to have one #but that's fine it doesn't matter what he thinks (<- man who's about to put Tobias in Situations)

[anghraine]

I've always found the "you're not X ethnicity if it comes from your grandmother" thing really strange—partly because my own family dynamics simply don't make sense with that assumption, and partly because it's very obvious that it's going to depend on a lot of different factors. Not belonging to your grandmother's ethnic group isn't even an option for everyone.

But it's also extremely noticeable that it's almost invariably framed as "because your grandmother is" and faaaar more rarely "because your grandfather is" or even "because your grandparent is." There's this weird, quiet assumption that the backgrounds and cultures of people's grandmothers—whatever those people's relationships w/ their grandmothers and their grandmothers' cultures—do not matter within families in a way that sounds much less legitimate if you say "grandfather."

Yay patrilineality, I guess??

#i get that e.g. irish-americans who think an irish grandparent makes them totally irish (rather than irish-american) are very obnoxious #and i know that kind of thing is partly where this comes from #but it slides into patriarchal assumptions about women and who gets to carry on culture /so/ fast and often #anghraine babbles #anghraine rants #gender blogging #thought of making this unrebloggable but... eh

[dekusleftsock]

your blog is feeding my togachako hyperfixtation rn

AS I SHOULD BE IM AN INSATIABLE MONSTER OF TOGACHAKO, CHAOS, AND YOUR MOMS PU33Y

Join me in my crusade of feral frothing at mouths and staying up all night thinking about them

#I’m so sorry I’m so tired rn I will regret this come morning #but on a more serious/sappy note all of the people being excited with me has just made me so unbelievably happy #like yes I get on tumblr every day thinking about what new togachako content has been posted now or how things can be interpreted in this- #chapter or this scene but all of the excited has made me fucking THRIVE #I LOVE when people are as excited and frothing at the mouth as me #it genuinely makes my day #togachako #I just want people to have the opportunity to think that they’re queer representation is POSSIBLE #I would rather get disappointed that it didn’t happen than be sad that it won’t happen and EVEN SADDER when it did #why shut your world down like that yk? what’s the point to not being positive? #that’s my philosophy #it’s partly fueled by spite but being hopeful has always made me just that sliver more happy in my day to day life

[hephaestuscrew]

It seems like both of the Funn parents have been dead for a while when Wooden Overcoats starts; Rudyard and Antigone have gotten used to living at and running Funn Funerals on their own, and there's no indication that the absence of their parents is a recent development. But the Funn twins are only thirty-five at the beginning of the series, which suggests they were fairly young when their parents died.

And Georgie, who is younger than the Funns, seems to have been raised by her Nana and doesn't appear to have any other family. (In the flashback to their first meeting, Rudyard asks Georgie "You have family?" and she says "Just my Nana.") If she does have living parents or other relatives, she doesn't appear to feel connected to them.

And I think it adds to that undercurrent of loss and grief in the show that, although it isn't ever really talked about, three of the central characters have probably lost both their parents at a relatively young age. It also gives extra weight to the Funns becoming Georgie's found family too, if they've all experienced that specific kind of loss, and if they all start the series with limited familial (or even friendly) connections.

#Also I know there's plenty of evidence that the Funns' relationship with their parents wasn't a very positive one #but that's often not something that prevents a sense of loss or grief #They don't seem to have any other family on Piffling either #I can't remember if Georgie has canonically been raised by her nana #but I feel like it is at least implied #It was an active choice they made for Georgie to arrive on the island with a grandparent rather than a parent #I know that the absence of the Funn parents is probably partly to avoid the main cast being too big and the dynamics being overcomplicated #but I think it has some underlying emotional significance too #I love stories about lonely people making connections and finding a place for themselves #wooden overcoats #Rudyard Funn #Antigone Funn #Georgie Crusoe

[cookiecomics]

#laughing #SO hard rn #im very much not sorry about being petty rn #star treated my friends and i like absolute shit #and more awareness of how she's actually like will always make me happy #wishing the mods all the best in dealing with this #considering i dont have a twitter anymore partly in due to the stress star caused me im feeling rather giddy #remember how i said i was dealing with racist microaggressions?? #yea #well #yipeedodaday