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missingn000 · 1 month

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a note about tpg's hiatus

hi everyone!! i've missed y'all <33 i want to share a quick note on tpg's hiatus, and how long it will last.

first and foremost, the tl;dr: i will not abandon tpg. the story remains incredibly important to me, and this hiatus is only that: a hiatus. i will return eventually, and while i am not exactly sure when "eventually" is, i hope to begin updating again soon.

now the long explanation. tpg's hiatus has lasted much, much longer than i expected. it wasn't until i took a break that i realized how mentally and emotionally drained i was after writing 600k+ in 2 years, along with being an engineering master's student then starting a job in aerospace. especially after writing sukuna's backstory (75k+ words in one month), my brain was utterly fried. all in all, it's been a lot.

as some of you may know, i started watching one piece in september. and i love it! it's an incredibly fun, well-written feel-good series. it's been a refreshing mental break to engage with a new series, especially since jjk canon has been so disappointing in both content and writing quality.

if you check my ao3, you'll notice i took a break from jjk with other series in the past: namely dr. stone, sxf, and natsume yuujinchou. this is necessary for me to remain creative and explore narrative themes that i bring back to tpg when i return to it. but by the time my recent hiatus started, it had been well over a year since i engaged with any other series than jjk, and it was starting to take its toll on me. i'm almost caught up on one piece now, which means i'll be able to focus on tpg again soon.

when i return from tpg's hiatus, updates may be slower. releasing 15k+ word chapters every 2-4 weeks was incredibly mentally taxing and required much of my time and focus to constantly be on the story. it wasn't healthy, and other areas of my life were impacted negatively. it can be easy to forget that i'm a real person with real-life responsibilities writing this story in my spare time for free -- even i sometimes forgot this.

another note on why taking a break has been so necessary is my mental health. when season 2 released and toji + satosugu was animated, the fandom exploded and tpg's readership drastically increased. while this meant an influx of amazing love and support, i also started to receive rude and hateful comments and messages.

don't get me wrong: not everyone has to like tpg. that's totally fine! but as a very sensitive person, receiving hate took a huge toll on my mental health and motivation, and i have needed time to recover from it. i've been doing better mentally lately, and have taken some measures to reduce unkind interactions. i'm working on becoming less sensitive in the meantime so i can handle it better if/when it happens again.

since i've been feeling guilty about not posting jjk content, i haven't been on tumblr quite as much, but i'm still around online on both discord and instagram. mutuals can request my priv @chiidoriii on IG, and my discord is @MissingN000 -- just shoot me a message with who you are when you request! i'll still post fic updates on both new stories as well as tpg content and previews on tumblr, so please stick around :)

thank you so much for your patience with me! i love you all so much, and truly appreciate your support. love, chi <333

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butmakeitgayblog · 3 months

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Can I just say I love how like, into revisiting and analysing this dumb show’s scenes you still are — with the rise in popularity of streaming (I’m sure this has something to do with it, anyway) it’s become more and more commonplace for people to consume a piece of media, enjoy it, get bored of it after a while and never touch it again after moving on to the next new thing. It’s so wholesome and refreshing to see people still be so passionate and always find something new to talk about a show that, for all many of us care, ended 8 years ago. I do move in and out of being obsessed and disinterested with the media I’ve enjoyed, but in a world where I’m constantly seeing people say “oh you’re a fan of [X]? But that’s old :/“ (mostly about something that finished like last year lol) your blog is a breath of fresh air :)

Well thank you 🥹

The thing is, I get it. I get why and how people move on to different fandoms so quickly, and I don't really think poorly of that or anything. It's been almost a decade and it's easy to fall out of love with something after so long. Hell, when you think about it, this fandom has outlived the lifespan of a lot of entire relationships people have had 🥴. People find new things to get excited over and the *gasp* feeling of finding this new /thing/ is always fun. So I do get it.

But for me, it's just not that way. It's not that simple. Not because I think I'm somehow special (maybe a lil deranged 😬), but rather that's just how I operate. Before Clexa the only other ship I ever really cared about was Willara from Buffy which I watched when I was a goddamn teenager lol (RIP to my fellow gays always falling for girls who get shot ✊😔). I just don't get attached much to characters and ships. Usually ai like them in passing, enjoy watching them, and then that's... it. Tibette from the L Word. Wayhaught. Brittana. I like them and I follow them, but there's no real desire to delve deeper beneath the surface.

And then something like Clexa comes around and just absolutely fucks me up. It hits me and connects with me in a way that I just can't shake. Watching the show isn't enough. Thinking about it isn't enough. I have to discuss it and dissect it and fill in the gaps that we didn't see, and read and (now) create more stories for them just to understand everything about them to a deeper degree.

So few characters really elicit that kind of connection, but Clexa do. Even for a lot of the people who have moved on, at one time they felt that connection. Clexa was a fuckin madhouse for years and I think the fact that even still to this day people keep discovering and rediscovering them and falling in love with them all over again speaks volumes about just how wonderful that relationship and those characters actually were.

Especially Lexa.

Now, I love Clarke. I make it known that thiiiisss is a Clarke Griffin apologist's blog. That feral little kitten has never done anything wrong in her life. Ever. Including all of the terrible things she's done, as well as the many, many things that were flat out wrong. She is still innocent. She is only a baby. A murderous, tormented, compassionate, complex babygirl. So never get it twisted that I'm saying Clarke is somehow lesser than, but when push comes to shove when we're talking about baseline complexity, there is no character like Lexa. There's just not.

This woman was definition of doomed by the narrative. A child stolen away to be used as a glorified sacrificial lamb for her people. A toddler wielding a sword made of wood taller than her own tiny body, trained to accept her own life as expendable for the greatest good of her people before even learning her ABCs. She took the throne at 12 bby slaughtering her only companions and made her death mask out of kohl and fallen tears. Every person she ever loved as a mother, father, brother, either died for her, or by her own hand. The only two people she ever dared to be weak for were torn from her in the name of politics and the weight of her own bloodied crown. Under all the regalia she was just Lexa. Heda, always surrounded by her people and yet eternally just a lonely soul. Born here on Earth, raised to eventually die for others, left to rule over the people on the ground as best she knew how.

And yet through the pain, she was strong. So fucking strong it emboldened the warriors around her. She was brave, and lethal, and unyielding in her pursuit of peace. Meeting every push against her forward march to change head on, never flinching in her own brutality along the way. She knew that she was born for this; believed the black of her blood to be every bit as much of a blessing as it was a curse. Even when people doubted her and did their best to end her reign, Lexa always came out swinging.

She loved hard and kicked ass even harder, is what I'm saying. And the fact that they took a character like that and ended her so fucking carelessly? I just... I'm gonna be pissed off about that for a very long time. And until I'm no longer pissed off about that, I'll be here running mouth about it 🥴 probably still trying to make it better by writing her and the love of her life in as many stories as I can, so they can finally get the happy ending that was robbed of them in canon 🫡

#bisexualseraphim #clexa #lexa kom trikru

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swordfright · 8 months

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do you have any c!awesamdream fics recomendations?

Honestly, I don’t have a ton of recs. c!awesamdream fic is mysteriously hard to find, and I also wouldn’t want to recommend you anything super E-rated in case that’s not your jam. Personally I’ve had more success searching the Sam & Dream gen relationship tag than the slash tag. That said, here are my no-brainer recs, most are gen with some exceptions:

inosculation by @theminecraftbox - canon compliant, reflection on how their relationship progresses during the prison arc, how c!sam’s authoritarian tendencies bloom in pandora, and the weird symbiosis he and dream achieve. technically not a slash fic but like it is To Me!!

saltwater on rock by @elmhat - also not technically a slash fic but it is a fun exploration of their relationship post-prison: who are they to each other, now that they aren’t prisoner and warden? what power has dream reclaimed, what power has sam ceded? or is it the other way around? fun stuff.

the trees deny themselves nothing by @lookinghalfacorpse - if you’re asking for recs you’ve probably already read this one (it’s basically THE awesamdream fic at this point) but i think it lends itself to re-readability! and if you haven’t read it: dream loses his leg in pandora, phil n techno conscript sam to make him a new one after the jailbreak, things get interesting. OP also wrote a post-fic oneshot which you can read here.

everlasting evermore by @elmhat - incomplete atm and also not slash but definitely awesamdream vibes. sam is a sad widower king who interrogates dream in his dungeon so it scratches the fantasy itch. this fic does some cool things with the cloning lab lore and i’m really excited to see where it goes!

21 steps in the desert by @airrec - banger. it's short so i won't describe it in detail. banger tho!

scream eureka by @cgogs - basically a post-canon domestic horror fic, sam and dream are married (with a kid on the way) but neither of them is able to move on from pandora. this fic deals with issues of bodily autonomy very well and it’s also refreshing to see trans pregnancy handled with tact, rather than treated like a fetish or a joke. IIRC this fic is an AU of an AU so be warned, it does come with like 30 pages of background lore which isn't necessary to understand the fic but does make it easier to follow.

all these lives by @lookinghalfacorpse - reincarnation drabble, plays with sam’s obsession in fun ways. not really sure how else to describe this one but i reread it sometimes! it’s good!

you don't have to be like that by @dr3amofagame - incomplete, i haven't reread this one in a while but i remember enjoying it at lot! dream gives sam the book in a moment of desperation and then has to navigate the fallout.

accident by @airrec - another fave. concise, fucked up, and very well written.

i’ve also been working on a multichap awesamdream fic (am i allowed to rec my own fics??? is that too cringe??) that’s gonna be wrapping up soon. pandora's vault gains sentience, that's the whole plot. like most of the other works on this list, it’s not technically ship fic but it is very much about sam and dream’s...situation. full warning tho, it’s long and rambly and weird, sorry for that!

i also wanna add that pretty much any fic that explores the scrapped lore is gonna have to deal with awesamdreamisms by necessity, owing to the nature of, well, the lore. there's a decent amount of fics about it, here's one that I found recently and enjoyed a lot.

Have fun, mind the tags. And if you find more then by all means, feel free to add to this post! I know there's a lot of tumblr-exclusive content floating around out there that can be harder to find than stuff on AO3.

Also, it's worth mentioning that some of the most compelling c!awesamdream content I've read were brief interludes in fics about much broader subjects in the fandom; I've read a lot of great c!awesamdream moments in c!rivals fics, prison trio fics, c!dnf fics, etc. So my advice is to cast your net wide, if that makes sense? Happy reading!

#like i said most are gen but like gen: suggestive edition if you catch my drift #i hope thats ok to say dfghnjmkjhg #if anyone wants to be untagged from this post and/or have their work removed just dm me and i'll make it happen!#c!sam #c!awesamdream #c!dream #awesamdude #dreblr #fic rec #asks #i don't have time to check these links before going back to work but hopefully they all lead where they're supposed to #if not lmk

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this-acuteneurosis · 10 months

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Can I just say how much I appreciate the fact you don't stray much from the movies?

It's just so refreshing to see a fic that is built on a clear, unbiased and simple canon base. This way, as you demonstrated, a writer not only has the ability to further explore the main themes and ideas introduced in the source material, but they can also go ahead and naturally develop their own by branching out on those fundamentals. They can offer their perspective by using the source material to their advantage, instead of working against it or even worse, trying to include all contradicting canon aspects. Part of writing a fic is kind of like offering your input in a conversation/disagreement. You have to listen carefully to what the other person is saying in order to form your answer...If you're listening to a thousand different people who are all saying a different thing (in this case, The clone wars, legends, novels, comics ect), you won't be able to give an answer that makes sense, much less give a structured and stable opinion.

I love how you were like "I know star wars is entering an era of a shit ton of spin off content with seemingly no end and most star wars fans know shit like who chewie lost his virginity to and what the kessel run is but screw this. The movies and maybe some late night wiki research is enough."

And you were right.

It's so funny, because I feel like I do ultimately stray pretty far from the movies. Not in terms of events I guess, but especially the prequels, I reject some of the underlying assumptions of what is said on screen and just treat it like fallible people strongly asserting opinions that no one calls them on. See: everything I ever assert about the Force/Anakin's "destiny."

I do think it helped me to stick with limited material. And it wasn't even because I saw all of this new SW content coming. I've mentioned this before, but when I started writing Don't Look Back (when it was just Like Fire and I naively believed I was gonna be done in 200k words, lol, rip past me) I hesitated a lot because as far as I was concerned, I wasn't a Star Wars Fan.

I'd watched the OT and PT multiple times. I knew that novels and games and cartoons existed, I knew people had consumed them all. I had been reading some SW fic because @mylongsufferingroommate had been sending me stuff they were enjoying and I was having fun with it. But like, I would never have called myself a Fan. I got goaded into writing this fic by people who knew me too well and really wanted a political thriller. I wouldn't have called them Star Wars Fans either.

Limiting myself to the six movies I had watched was a preemptive defense mechanism against a fan base I wasn't sure would want to accept me. My thin skin is my own problem, but every time I think about writing in a new fandom the same sort of nerves take me: what if my fanon is "wrong" and people are mean?

I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you so much to everyone who gave me a chance and encouraged me and were excited and shared that excitement.

And please, for the love of all the sky and stars DON'T GATEKEEP FANDOMS.

Don't tell people their canon is too big (@blue-sunshine-mauve-morning and @chancecraz have amazing fics that are much more compliant than mine to the broader canon, as a quick example), and definitely don't tell people their canon is too small. Walk away if you aren't enjoying something. Give compliments when you like something that is unique in a fandom you're familiar with. Be patient with people, be kind.

I could easily have given this story up if people hadn't been patient with me. I got comments as early as my first chapter from people who were angry with a single thing that I said and felt the need to tell me I was wrong. I could have left. I could have stopped.

I'm glad I didn't. But I wonder how many other people have.

#writing #people are so kind #fandom #stop gatekeeping #please #canon what canon #me just playing around in my own little sandbox #hoping you all are enjoying the show #anxious someone might steal my toys #or knock over my castle #yes I'm still like this #my thin skin problem

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anokayapple-blog · 3 months

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Lessons in Being a Fan/in a Fandom

In light of what happened with III and the possibility of Sleep Token no longer making music, I would like to refresh some of us who participate in media and fandom on how to engage with media in a healthy way and keep these artists safe and comfortable in interacting with their fanbase.

Of course, it isn't new for artists and content creators to feel hesitancy in interacting with their fanbases. Taylor Swift has been accused of being queer for a very long time and there are some people in her fandom that still refuse to believe she isn't queer and will become enraged at the suggestion she isn't. There is the rumor that Markiplier and Jacksepticeye don't make videos together anymore/rarely will make videos together because of the Septiplier stuff getting out of hand. So, I'm not saying this is a new behavior for some fans to exhibit, I just want to do my part to try and encourage good behavior among not just other fans, but other people in general.

Things to not Do:

This will be a comprehensive list of things I've seen in most fandoms that i would call "feral" behavior. If you do these things currently, i would highly encourage you to stop. It is not healthy behavior, and it certainly isn't good for you or whoever is on the receiving end.

Doxing in general. If you seek out the addresses/phone numbers of an artists/content creators/influencers at all, it's not okay. If you do this with the intention of going to visit them, you are weird. Think of it like showing up to a coworker/classmates home uninvited. No one really wants that, especially if they don't know you that well or at all. This is not healthy behavior and could land you with legal issues. Please, please do not do this.

Sexual advances. I'm sorry to say this, but you are not in a Wattpad story, and you are not Y/N. It is very, very unlikely that an artist/content creator/influencer will EVER take you up on these advances or date/marry you. Honestly it's kind of predatory if they do. Sure, it's fun to imagine, but to chase after them like this (especially at a meet and greet or just running into them on the street) is really uncomfortable for them, and frankly is super cringe to watch. Just to add onto this, please do not send these people explicit messages and images. If you don't want them from randos, they don't want them from you.

Hateful messages. Sometimes our favorite artists and creators do something we don't like. This could be them saying something insensitive or doing something dumb or dangerous. This does not mean we get to fill their comments or inboxes with hate (more on this below). The Taylor Swift situation is a good example for this, Taylor Swift has said many times that she isn't queer, and she gets hate for this. She in no way has done anything to lead people to believe she is homophobic or transphobic or anything, but she still receives hate just for being cishet. You see this a lot in kpop fandoms as well, especially if a certain idol has put on weight or has done something to not abide by/naturally does not abide by beauty standards. They receive hate for interacting with idols of a different sex because they "could be flirting" or "could be dating." Honestly i feel bad for kpop idols because i feel like they get hate just for breathing. I will say this again: if you send hate to an artist or creator for something miniscule like this, you are being weird. You need to stop. This is not healthy behavior and you need to stop and think of why you do this because. It is very damaging behavior not just for the person on the receiving end, but for you as well.

Being delulu. It's kind of a meme, but honestly it's startling to see how many people genuinely believe in their delusional fantasies and try to bring them to life with artists and creators. Please stop doing this, it is cringe and can at times be distressing for creators and artists.

Just to double down on this: this behavior is dangerous for artists and creators. It is harmful to their mental health and can at times be harmful for them physically. I am begging you on my hands and knees to not continue with this behavior and to make better choices.

Engaging Healthily:

This is a list of ways to engage with fandom culture in a healthy way and to encourage others to do so as well.

Engage with content. Leaving a like on an artist or creators media is always a nice, arm's length way to participate in fandoms. Lurking is absolutely fine, leaving a comment to tell them how much you enjoy their content is even better. I highly encourage you to do this with smaller creators, as feedback is the best way to keep them posting! Share their media as well! Please keep in mind when you do this, keep it positive! There is such a thing as unproductive criticism! Please also do not be creepy!

When going to meet and greets, it's absolutely okay to tell creators and artists that their art has saved your life. If their art means a lot to you, let them know! Please always ask before you hug, please do not kiss them. It's okay to cry. When it is time to move on, please don't linger too long. Please don't make sexual advances on them or touch them inappropriately. If you want to be silly or goofy, ask them to participate! If they say no, that's sad, but move on. Don't be mean.

If you see your favorite creator on the street or out in the wild, please read the room if you want to approach. It is perfectly okay to approach and tell them you like their content. If they seem to not want to have a conversation or take a selfie, then leave it at that. Please don't force it on them. If they seem receptive, go ahead and ask for a selfie or an autograph! If they still say no, then leave it at that! It's certainly okay to be disappointed in not getting that, but being mean about it isn't fair to that artist or creator. Once the interaction seems to be at an end, move on with your day.

Guys, it's this easy. Artists and creators are people just like you and me, and chances are if you wouldn't want this behavior done to you, they don't want it done to them. Treat artists and creators as normal people, they have feelings and emotions and lives just like the rest of us. They are not deities or Gods, they are mortals who fart and poop and make mistakes just like we do. The sooner we learn this, the sooner we can engage with these creators better.

Okay, but Apple, sometimes these people suck.

This is very true. Sometimes these artists and creators suck a lot. Sometimes they make mistakes that boggle our minds and hold beliefs that are damaging for people like them to have a platform. So what do we do, then? How do we vent our frustrations and do our best to lower or totally abolish their platforms?

Hey, super easy: stop engaging with their media. But APPLE. What if that isn't enough? Well, let's gauge it.

For those of you who were on social media back in the wild west days, you may remember Onision. To make a long story short: he is walking garbage. He has been totally deplatformed because people stopped engaging with his media. Not only that, a lot of people told other people about what he did and said to stop engaging with him. Onision did his best to do damage control and at times did some absurd things to try and get some of that sweet, sweet bad publicity, but in the end his channel died. Sure, he still posts, but he has little to no engagement.

Let's look at this from a different perspective. JK Rowling is a known TERF. She does her best to demonize and at times try to erase trans culture and existence. Many, many people do their best to voice this about JKR and do not engage with her media to try and lower her platform. Of course, it is very hard to do this because Harry Potter is a literal cash cow and you can find HP merchandise for literally everything. So how do we deal with this? Well, we simply don't engage. We spread awareness and ignore her. Does it do a lot? No, she's a billionaire. We can't touch her. But we can certainly denounce her and let her know we don't approve.

Fantastic. So when you say "let her know we don't approve" you mean threaten her on social media and dox her, right? Hey, no! That is unhealthy behavior! While some of us would love nothing more than to see JKR get her just desserts for being a TERF, YOU SHOULD NOT BRING HARM TO ANY PERSON UNLESS THEY ARE DIRECTLY HARMING YOU. And when i say directly harming, i mean literally hitting you with fists or baseball bats or something.

It is perfectly acceptable to be mad and frustrated at the inhuman things some of these people with platforms do/say, especially if it is harmful to your way of life. No one is saying you can't be, and no one is saying there is nothing you can do about it. What you can't do is be the reason someone gets hurt or dies. That is the very real outcome of some of these behaviors. I promise you, if someone gets hurt or dies from your behavior, no matter who they are, you are going to feel it and you will never be okay again.

Hey Apple, you're wrong and you should feel bad.

Nuh uh.

If you don't like this, sorry. I'm putting this here in an effort to be a positive force in the world and if you don't agree that is perfectly fine. Not everyone has the ability to gauge when its okay to approach their favorite creators, and not everyone knows when they're getting a little too excited to meet their favorite person. I completely understand that, and it is okay if you make things a little awkward because of this. No one is saying you're a bad person for not being able to figure this out. Sometimes we need learning opportunities, sometimes we simply go on with our lives.

I am saying if you are going into a situation with the intent on harming someone or ruining their day, you suck. I don't care who you are or what your beliefs are, you are propagating bad energy and you should feel bad.

I know it doesn't feel like it, but the world isn't black and white. Everything is gray, some things are darker shades of gray and others are lighter shades. Sometimes the rules in this post won't apply, other times they will. I am begging you guys to take this seriously and stop being feral to our favorite artists and creators because when you act out of pocket you ruin it for the rest of us. Because someone decided to act like a wild child and dox III, it is very possible we will lose a band that could make (and very much have already made) waves in the music industry and possibly change the game altogether.

Let's try to keep this from happening again. Hold your friends and those you see on social media accountable, be the change you want to see.

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sitp-recs · 1 year

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Eager for the Sky by @oknowkiss

Harry/Draco, minor Harry/Ron and Draco/Blaise (2022, Mature, 35k)

It was announced, just as the Triwizard Tournament had been, at the start of term feast. A year-long, international Quidditch varsity match — the inaugural Wizarding Academy Cup. In which Harry is Hogwarts' star Seeker, Draco is on the bench, and they both have a thing or two to learn about playing for the same team.

Draco hated that, the way Potter would sneak up on him, proving he’d been listening. He had always seemed to be caught up in his own head, never paying attention to anything or anyone but himself, but now that Draco was starting to know him, he was beginning to see the truth of Potter.

When I started this blog over two years ago, I’d write (smaller, but still) recs for every fic I liked. At some point I was reccing up to 3 fics a day and started bookmarking them all to keep track of my own recs - maybe that’s why I got more than 600 bookmarks lol - and it was really fun and fulfilling, but it also demanded A LOT of time and energy. As they both became scarce, I changed strategies and decided to only rec fics that touched me in a more personal way. These days I write recs mostly on a whim; it happens less and less because I’m not reading as much, sure, but also because it needs to be a frantic urge, almost like a trance, and it needs to hit me right after I’m finished a fic otherwise it won’t be fresh in my mind.

I’ve wanted to rec something from E for so long and after being left intrigued and impressed by any day now and licence to kill (two solid recs if you haven’t read those yet!) I couldn’t see what was holding me back. Now I ask myself if I had been waiting for Eager for the Sky. And not necessarily because it’s the perfect fit for my tastes - in fact, I barely read or care for 8th year fics nowadays - but because this fic found me at the moment I needed it the most. Coming back from a brief hiatus (that felt longer than life itself) right before Christmas last year, I can say that reading this was a refreshing and lovely experience, but also magical in many ways. And funnily enough, this rec has been sitting in my drafts, half-finished, since January. Once again, something I couldn’t figure out was holding me back until I saw this gorgeous binding post by @a-gay-old-time (go check it right now!!) and I accidentally found out that last week was E’s one year fandomversary! Perfect timing to wrap this up and post it as a humble homage to one of the authors whose talent I’ve enjoyed and admired the most in the past year. What a gift to have you in this fandom, and what a privilege to read this incredible 8th year romance!

Way beyond the delight of watching Draco and Harry fall in love over the course of a (very cool and inventive) Quidditch championship, I was so touched by the amount of tenderness, youth and heart this story coveys. There is something unbearably sweet about an enemies to friends to lovers journey that explores the wonders of being young and free to flirt, experience and discover. I could feel the joy of falling in love all over again through every line here, through every knowing smile and surreptitious touch. The slow burn is masterfully done in a way that never feels empty, boring or dragged. Every little moment brings new discoveries about each other and is important to bring them together as friends, and then as lovers.

It’s worth mentioning that there’s a fair amount of longing, UST and some infuriating delicious cockblocking but somehow the way it’s written and the context it’s given make the experience even sweeter and more rewarding. I was in no rush to see this over and found it very charming that they saw value in wanting, teasing, flirting, chasing. Because I really ready young Drarry I had almost forgotten how fun a pining Draco can be in all his teenage complexity, capable of signaling confidence, vulnerability, inadequacy and tenderness all at once.

His emotions felt so very real I could feel a lump in my throat, and I was especially moved by his genuine response to Harry’s prior involvement with Ron (Be still my Rarry heart!!! For those wondering: this is a minor but significant plot point that made my heart ache and grow twice its size, I’m so soft for this brOTP! By the way - side Rarry & Blaco? A fic after my own heart!). Even more brilliant is the fact that E published Eager for the Sky and July Tree pretty much back to back and these two fantastic 8th year tales complement each other perfectly. They got a very different tone from her usual edgy “mature Drarry” which I also love - and maybe that’s why I was caught off guard by how fast I felt emotionally connected to this softer, more innocent brand of love. Not to mention that superb art by @upthehillart - killing me softly as per usual, with the ultimate teenage Drarry headcanon what a treat!!

This fic was exactly what I needed and it gave me the delicious catharsis I was looking for without really knowing. It pulled me back into the fandom with its light, easy, unpretentious young romance, sprinkled with some excellent dialogue and charming banter that will make you laugh out loud at their sass, plus a sweet and delightful mix of curious, inexperienced but extremely insightful and lovable characters. I’m so happy I found this fic and that I got to write a rec for it! Thank you E for sharing this beauty and so many other fantastic stories with us - I’m delighted to share this space with you and can’t wait to see what comes next 💜

Read on AO3

#drarry fic rec #happy belated fandomversary E! 🎉

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youngjusticeslut · 7 months

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Since we can almost all agree season 1 was the best. What do you think made it so good and so favorited compared to the three seasons?

Given that I've recently finished rewatching Season 1, I feel like now is an excellent time to answer this ask.

In my opinion, Season 1 of Young Justice is the best, and none of the following seasons even come close to matching it. At its core, Season 1 introduced us to this core team of teenage heroes and told the story through their lens. There are a few defining key features to this season that makes it stand above the others, and they are as follows:

You did not have to know any comics history in order to understand and follow the plot. This is, arguably, one of the most important elements of Season 1 that the other seasons (Outsiders and Phantoms in particular) fail on. Each character is a unique take to their comic counterparts. In the case of Kaldur and Artemis, they remain completely separate and can almost be considered characters that are completely unique to the show. In the case of more recognizable heroes (Wally, Dick, Superboy and Miss Martain), Season 1 gives them enough of a refresh that they feel new, but with familiar elements that make them fun to watch and get to know. Easter eggs don't detract from the plot, and remain just fun little things to point out and commend for their inclusion. Unlike later seasons, which pulled heavy elements from DC comics and wove them into the plot, Season 1 is accessible and enjoyable to everyone and isn't just for those who've read the comics.

The core cast of characters. Season 1, primarily, focused on the Team (Aqualad, Robin, Superboy, Kid Flash, Miss Martian and Artemis, sometimes Red Arrow.... and later, Zatanna and Rocket). These characters were the main cast, and every episode revolved around a story that put them in the spotlight. Every character (with the exception of Rocket) got at least one episode focused on their their development and gave them a chance to shine, and the audience a chance to get to know and appreciate them. The famous couples (Spitfire, Supermartian, etc.) got proper build up and were pretty fleshed out, making them endearing to the fandom. Unlike later seasons, which have outrageously bloated casts and relationships that got maybe 50 seconds of screentime (I'm looking at you, Wonderbird), Season 1 invested in its characters and let them lead the story, making them feel all the more real and the story that much more genuine. This is why the harsh transition between Season 1 and Invasion feels like a heartbreak. We spent 26 episodes falling in love with the core Team, and now all of a sudden we're expected to care about an entirely new cast with no support, explanation or buildup. It felt like being cheated out of 5 years with this cast, and even now we still don't have answers to a lot of questions in the gap.

Show, don't tell. I won't get too much into this one, but if you've been following me throughout Outsiders and Phantoms you'll know how much I loathe the amount of "telling" instead of showing. Season 1 does this so much better. Missions are played out, instead of explained to viewers through excessive monologues. Characters let their actions speak for them and actually had the time to play around the plot, instead of letting the plot making the decisions for them.

The reality of it all. At the risk of sounding like I belong on Twitter, Outsiders and Phantoms has an insane amount of 'woke' storylines-- for the sake of being woke. Don't get me wrong, several of the topics brought up in these later seasons are extremely important topics and I can understand why they're included; they're just not executed well. Compare this to Season 1 where the natural reaction to the events of Failsafe was that everyone on the team needed therapy to discuss it. There was no cheesiness, no hammering on the head about it. Action --> Natural Consequence.

I can really go on and on about how amazing Season 1 is, but truly, it was so good. I wish we'd gotten 4 seasons just outlining 4 years with the Team, getting to see them grow and change and be together. The rest of the seasons are fine, but none hold the charm and sheer power that the first have, and for that it will always be top tier in my book.

#yj #young justice

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hekateinhell · 4 months

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#vcficfriday psa

It just occurred to me that it's been almost a year since @monstersinthecosmos and I started doing this fic recs on Fridays thing, and since there's been lots of new people join our little fandom bubble since (hi guys! 🥹💖), I figured I'd do a quick little refresher!

It's basically what it sounds like: on a Friday (sometimes this is a Saturday or even a Wednesday LOL whenever we remember and have the time tbh it's really just a state of mind!!!) we make a post linking to a Vampire Chronicles fanfic we've read that we want to share!

We use the hashtag #vcficfriday so it's easy for people to find and the whole idea is that it's a community tag, so everyone is more than welcome to use it and that way we can build a little group archive of VC fic recs for people to go through when they're looking for something new to read (or reread!). It's a great way to discover other fic writers and/or to hype up someone whose work you've enjoyed and share it with the rest of us!!!

Check out what vcblr has pooled together so far HERE under the #vcficfridays tag going back to March 2023!

It's super chill, we post whenever we feel like it — you don't have to commit to doing this every single Friday unless you want to 🥹 you can rec one fic or however many you want! I tend to do three at a time just because... well, I really like things in multiples of three 😂 but sometimes I just do one fic! And we do try to go through the tag and rb some other recs we see to spread the love! BECAUSE WE LOVE FIC SO DAMN MUCH!!!!!!

Anyway that's it that's all I wanted to say, hope you have fun out there whether you're sharing fics or reading the recs or rbing the rec lists or just hanging out!!!! 🥰

#i was gonna add my fic recs here but this got long so i'll do it separately in a bit oops!!!!#my ADD made me spend an hour writing this rip #the vampire chronicles #vc #lestat de lioncourt #louis de pointe du lac #armand #marius de romanus #daniel molloy #vcficfriday psa #vc fic

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dropintomanga · 4 months

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Manga I Enjoyed in 2023

It's been another great year for manga. And I don't think we wouldn't have it any other way, right?

I got to read a bunch of manga, old and new, this year. But these titles stood out to me the the most.

Honorable Mention: Kindergarten WARS by You Chiba - This was something I needed, post-Assassination Classroom. A school filled with rich kids protected by assassins who have nowhere to go fighting against assassins trying to kill the kids. Not only that, the main female lead is desperate for a boyfriend and will date anyone who looks hot. But if they have certain peeves, the bodies will hit the floor. This is a really funny series with fun characters and a lot of action. It also has one of the best gags of the year.

Favorite Ongoing Weekly Manga: Akane-banashi by Yuki Suenaga and Takamase Moue - Akane-banashi continues to impress me every week. I absolutely love how every chapter continues to be impactful. Akane is still a refreshing protagonist and I love how it feels that even though she can win rakugo competitions based on sheer determination, Akane knows that she has a lot to learn. This is a stand-out manga that is excellent for teenagers.

Here's my top 5 manga of the year!

5.) A Home Far Away and The Yakuza's Bias by Teki Yatsuda (tie) - Once I got into K-Pop, I had to check out The Yakuza's Bias. I enjoyed a lot of the humor and the gags are well-done. It's a title that really showcases what it means to take a deep dive into fandom when you're new at it in hilarious fashion. But Yatsuda's debut work about 2 boys on the run is one of the best things I've read all year. It's truly a heartbreaking LGBT romance that will touch a lot of emotions. Also, Yatsuda's art is absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait to see their new work being licensed in the future.

4.) ZOM 100: Bucket List of the Dead by Haro Aso and Kotaro Tanaka - The only zombie manga story I read was Kengo Hanazawa's I Am A Hero, but I gave this title a follow because people were telling me about it due to its messaging. ZOM 100 stands out as an upbeat zombie apocalypse story that speaks to the resilience of people in tough times. I think we all forget that we can do great things in times of adversity if we all get support. There's some great moments in this series worth talking about. I never felt bored reading it. I'm glad I gave this manga a chance because I really think depressed people need to be told that while it's okay to feel the way they feel, they can still try and people shouldn't shame them for it.

3.) Kowloon Generic Romance by Jun Mayuzuki - Hong Kong nostalgia at its finest, in my opinion. This is one of the most fascinating stories of 2023 with regards to finding your identity and reconciling your past with your present. I have this high up because I really like how the central love story is slowly tying into a bigger mystery on why the world in the manga seems very off. People struggle so much with their pasts and I feel that this manga resonates with those folks. Especially me as I find myself longing for past moments that I dearly miss despite having not-so-pleasant experiences I would like to forget.

2.) Chainsaw Man Part II by Tatsuki Fujimoto - I absolutely adore this series. Fujimoto pulls no stops in telling the story he wants to tell. I love the new female characters that have all shown up and the return of a very notable one. I like Denji's development as he really doesn't know what he wants despite being granted a frightening power that continues to be a target to those who want to use him. This is the story of a "hero" who doesn't have the resilience to be an actual hero. It's also a story about people having their emotional needs warped into desires in the worst way.

1.) The Summer Hikaru Died by Mokumokuren - I normally don't read horror manga, but this manga is phenomenal. There was so much hype about the manga being released here in the U.S. and it has delivered in all cylinders. The art is great. The usage of sound effects to convey a sense of dread is top-notch. The interpersonal dynamic between the two main characters is frighteningly realistic. This manga, at its core, about dealing with a relationship that should've ended, but didn't. As much as we talk about needing relationships with people to survive, they have to end sometimes. There's a lot of horror and dread over how to talk about a relationship ending and good god, the manga delivers on displaying that. I also love the subtle reminder that bad relationships have serious consequences for everyone else. In real life, we've seen how abuse and interpersonal trauma trickles down from the victim into other parts of life and other people. All of this makes The Summer Hikaru Died my top manga of 2023.

I hope you all enjoyed my top picks. There's been a lot of fun reads that I probably missed out on, so let me know what you guys enjoyed. 2024 is probably going to be another great year for manga and there's already titles I'm looking forward to.

See you all in 2024!

#top manga of 2023 #manga #reading #2023 list #year-end list #mental health #psychology

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f1crecs · 3 days

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'Megaverse Monday - Week Nine

if your fic is on this list and you don’t want it to be, please let us know and we will remove it immediately, no questions asked. we have contacted most of the authors on this list, but sometimes people fall through the gaps - just pop us a message🤍

have a pairing you want us to do next? please read the faqs and then head to the inbox.

don’t forget to give the authors featured on this list some love in the form of kudos, bookmarks, and comments

did you know that this fandom has one of the highest percentages of a/b/o content? join us as we celebrate the fandom’s incredible omegaverse works every ’megaverse monday. 🤍

Charles/Pierre

and i long for you to appear by @singsweetmelodies | T | 17.5k

Pierre's reputation is on the line after he is accused of breaking a bond, but luckily PR Manager (and childhood best friend) Charles is on hand to help. This is such a beautiful story - despite being separated for some years, it is immediately obvious just how much Charles and Pierre care about each other, and the way it shapes their interactions is such a joy to read. This story is so tender and sweet, and everything I love about a/b/o. As always, ohmygasly's dialogue is incredible: natural, flowing, funny, hot, sweet. It's very easy to get lost in this fantastic world she has built!

But Pierre can’t help himself. For all that he's carefree, fun-loving and fond of flirting, when someone truly means something to him, he’s all in. He’s no good at holding himself back when he cares about someone. The amount of years between him and Charles don’t matter. Pierre cared about him, once – cared about him more than he cared about almost anyone else in the world – and he can’t just forget about that.

Esteban/Max

nsfw: gone too far this time by anonymous | E | 4.9k

Max has been on heat suppressants since he was 17, but new regulations has all long-term suppressants banned. Esteban helps him through his first heat in 8.5 years. This was really, really good. I loved everything about their dynamic and how Esteban was so caring towards Max!

Eventually, someone breaks through the loose circle of people. Max can’t see them, but he can smell them: cedar and citrus, simple and refreshing. He could believe they were an Omega if there wasn’t a hand between his shoulder blades, guiding him forwards through the rapidly dispersing crowd. He doesn’t turn to look until they’re alone, on the steps outside of hospitality. It’s Esteban Ocon, of all fucking people, walking half a step behind him, and he flinches away. “What the fuck are you doing?"

Lando/Oscar

nsfw: i'll kiss you first by orphan_account | E | 3k

Lando, an omega, and Oscar, an alpha, give each other clothes to help each other through ruts and heats. It's no surprise it goes a little further than that. I loved the characterization of Oscar and Lando! You could really feel like the characters themselves were talking and their humors.

Image attachment Image attachment Video attachment 😅 Don’t open those if you don’t want to see my dick It’s so hilariously Oscar.

thanks to @blueballsracing and @boxboxbrioche for this week's recs <3

#'megaverse monday #trope:a/b/o #driver:charles #driver:pierre #driver:max #driver:esteban #pairing:charles/pierre #pairing:esteban/max #driver:lando #driver:oscar #pairing:lando/oscar

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amtrak12 · 5 months

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Hey hi! I read your Helena Wells meta earlier, from ten years ago, and I found it so interesting and spot on, and at the end you were so sad that you felt like you didn't have a good grasp on the character - do you feel that has changed, since then? And if so, how? Or, what do you think of Helena these days?

(the meta you posted and linked here: https://www.tumblr.com/purlturtle/736985181321314304/your-helena-tangent-got-me-thinking-and-yes-this )

Oooo fun and deep questions! :D Thank you!!

Obviously, that was 2.5 high schools ago so I had to reread my original meta to refresh my memory. My first thought is: OMFG LEARN PARAGRAPH BREAKS!! O_O But then, as I kept reading and saw how many spaces were missing after periods and how the sentences after the missing space read like a new paragraph -- my second thought is, I think Tumblr did me dirty at some point in the last 10 years of formatting changes and I actually did use appropriate paragraph breaks originally. Rude. -_-

But on the point of your actual questions! lol

I don't remember writing that exact post, but being nervous and uncertain about my Helena characterization does ring a bell. I was DEFINITELY more confident in analyzing/meta-ing Myka or Pete (if it was in relation to Myka). HG made me nervous and that was only like 10% because she's British and I'm American.

Some of my uncertainty probably came from my lack of historical knowledge (which has not improved. Fun fact: this is why I nearly never invented an artifact for fic). A not-insignificant portion of my uncertainty probably also came from how confident the rest of the fandom spoke about Helena. It seemed like she was meta-ed more often and by more people than Myka was. (Which makes sense as -- in general -- Helena was/probably still is the more popular character in the B&W ship.) I don't remember ever feeling like someone was way off base or out of character with Helena, but I do remember reading meta/fic sometimes and struggling to decide if I disagreed with a character trait/action that the person assigned her or if it was an accurate aspect of Helena's character that I hadn't internalized yet.

Basically I had Opinions about how Myka (and Pete for that matter) should be written and definitely noticed when a fic disagreed with me. But figuring out HG was like the wild west to me and I could never pin her down with firm barriers on who her character is and isn't.

I am very, very rusty on my Warehouse 13 knowledge because it's been nearly a decade since I was deep in my analyzation of the show. So, I wouldn't say I have a better grasp on Helena's characterization today than I did in 2014. But there are some aspects I feel like I could understand better if I took the time to rewatch and meta.

Loss of a child -- look I don't have children, but I do have niblings now that I adore. I'm also raising a dog who taught me I do not have the energy or anxiety coping mechanisms to raise a human child, because worrying about her almost does me in on its own. And I'm in my mid-30's now and seem to have a better understanding of parent-child relationships (or I'm at least way more interested in exploring them now, both from the view of the child and the view of the parent). So, exploring Christina's death and just how much that affected Helena would absolutely be on my list of deep-dives. I never ignored this before, but I'm certain I could pull more out of this backstory today than I could've in 2014.

Helena's guilt -- I started rambling at the end of that post about which things Helena felt guilty about and whether she felt guilty at all. As far as I remember, I usually wrote her as feeling some measure of guilt for her past actions. (Although I was also usually writing full AU settings so it was a moot point.) But I also wasn't wrong when I pointed out how she didn't show any obvious signs of regret over her S2 actions, unless it was something that had hurt Myka. If I was going to go back and meta WH13, I would explore this topic deeper for sure.

Interestingly, it's not something I could've explored deeper prior to 2022-ish. But now I've watched the series Lucifer which deals entirely with guilt and has a protagonist with shut down emotions who doesn't regret things and then, through incremental changes over 6 seasons, opens up, learns to feel every emotion again, unpacks a lot of shit etc. And I have been FASCINATED by how the writers pulled that off, because on the surface it is not a show (or a protagonist) that I should care about. (And if I had watched it from ep 1.01 instead of completely ass backwards, I wouldn't have cared about him.) BUT I DO CARE! And I want to know how they pulled off Lucifer's character arc. And then I want to use some of the techniques they used to explore guilt and pain and apply them to Helena to see what emerges in her character. Because I think it would be really interesting.

And then finally, I'm not sure I have anything new to bring to the conversation around what Helena's future with the warehouse and/or happy ending looks like. But I could also never make up my mind on what would work best for her. Does she return as an agent? Does she become a regent? (Probably not, but you never know.) Does she just become the live-in inventor who doesn't venture into the field unless absolutely necessary? I have absolutely no idea what her future with the warehouse would look like if a romantic relationship with Myka is her happy ending. (Which is my personal goal obviously lol).

Because -- and this is where my Opinions on Myka come into play -- our girl Myka Bering is not leaving that warehouse. Ever. She is the new Artie. She will take over as the lead agent when he retires/partially retires. And then she will die there. In South Dakota of old age (because I refuse to let her die on a mission). Pete? Oh, my boy Pete will meet an awesome lady and retire to be a stay at home dad. He'll walk away one day. Myka? Absolutely never. You're burying her at the warehouse. Which means Helena will have to have some kind of relationship with it again, and I would have to figure out what that looks like because both today and in 2014, I can't decide what option fits her best.

I hope this answers your question! It was so deep and I love it :D I just don't have new thoughts on WH13 yet because I haven't looped back around to a full blown obsession with it yet. (It will happen. Round 2 of BERING AND WELLS ARE THE BEST THING EVER will absolutely happen at some point in my life because that's how I roll and they are.) So this is less meta about how my thoughts on Helena have changed, and more about how my approach to her character would change given the experience I've gained in the last ten years.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS ASK!

#Helena Wells #Warehouse 13 #my meta #ask #purlturtle #yes I've started measuring time in the unit of measure 'high schools' (aka 4 years like American high schools)#because time lost meaning somewhere around 2013 when I got fully settled into my adult job

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quem-pel · 1 year

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I was feeling really unsettled after the finale of The Bad Batch and I wasn’t entirely sure why until I talked to my best friend about it.

Spoilers and unsolicited opinions below.

This is just me trying to sort things out in my head and thought I would share.

Obviously Techs death was pretty devastating, and I thought that it was the loss of his character that had me so in my feelings. They had fleshed him out to be very unique; he was the genius trope while still being confident and warm in his own way. You don’t ever see that portrayed in any sort of media and it was super endearing and refreshing. Then they canonized (I’m calling it canon at this point) him being neurodivergent/Autistic and that felt really good.

From what I can remember, he had never been made fun of by his brothers for info dumping, interrupting or his general demeanor. (The Regs made fun of all of them so I’m not counting that) And again, he wasn’t portrayed as being completely callus and uncaring. When he came across that way, Omega called him out like any little sibling might and he had explained his situation beautifully.

“I may process moments and thoughts differently, but it does not mean that I feel any less than you.” Same my tall neurodivergent buddy, same. And I think that is an incredibly powerful thing for a show to say, especially a SciFi universe/series that attracts this sort of following.

So yea, Techs death felt a little like a gut punch. I get sad over character deaths but this one got to me, and Tech wasn’t even my most favorite character.

I believe it was because of the timing and the tone.

It happened with 15 minutes left to the last episode, at that point we know things can’t get better. There would be no ‘fix it’ curve ball where he comes back to save the day, Crosshair wasn’t getting saved and then Omega was taken. There was so much despair and strife that the ‘I’m your sister’ reveal had very little emotional effect on me. At that point, I just didn’t care. I had been curious before, but it’s hard to feel curious about anything when everything felt so demoralizing and hopeless.

And that’s where my disconnect and unsettled feeling is coming from.

Starwars is about Hope, it always has been. It’s a huge reason why I latched onto the universe as my ‘comfort’ fandom. I’m emotionally sick of shows that everything is horrible all the time, if I want that I just open up Facebook or watch the news.

That isn’t to say that bad things don’t happen in Starwars, they absolutely do. But I don’t remember the last time any of the shows or films left me feeling utterly hopeless. Even in season one we have Omega telling Crosshair “You’re still their brother, you’re my brother too.”

This season we get; Tech falling to his death. Wrecker, Echo and Hunter sitting in a Dark Marauder ready to go feral after already trying everything and having nothing left. Crosshair out for the count after being tortured for who knows how long and Omega being kidnapped by the Empire.

Obviously the writing is really good, especially if so many people are having an emotional reaction to it. And I understand that its set right after order 66, so the empire is in full swing of being vicious evil bastards. But I think I am just really missing that punch of hope at the end, that light at the end of the tunnel that can pull us through until next season.

I am unsettled because it just feels really hopeless and that isn’t the theme of Starwars at all.

I want next season to turn that around, I want Tech to make a Starwars ‘not dead yet’ return, Crosshair and Omega to escape and the found family Trope to be intact. But that all seems like a very big ask at this point.

Makes me scared for the Mandalorian. At least we got to see Zeb Live action this week.

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disneyobsessedmouse · 10 months

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CAN WE TALK ABOUT HAILEY’S ON IT.

Disney’s new cartoon: Hailey’s on it! is too good.

Like don’t get me wrong y’all already know I love everything Disney BUT, I’m personally not huge on animated shows and I really never have been, I’m mostly a DCOM girl just by preference. (Not to say that I’m a cartoon hater, I just think my love for DCOMs and live-actions outweigh my love for animated shows and movies.) I’m bringing this point up because if I’M ranting and raving about a Disney cartoon then you already know it’s good. THIS FREAKING SHOW SURPASSED ALLLL MY EXPECTATIONS. The representation flows so naturally and doesn’t feel forced and the whole premise of the show is one that’s actually interesting. I am so pleased with how Hailey’s thought process and personality can be flawed at times yet she has the ability to own up to her mistakes. She’s such a fun, lovable main character and VERY realistic in her portrayal of a teenage girl which makes it so refreshing to watch as a viewer. And I love what they are doing with her and her growing feelings for her best friend (despite the opinions of some of the fandom). It’s giving a slow burn + friends to lovers with the whole her and Scott thing. AND not to mention that the art style is literally adorable and how this show has BOPS. I can officially say I am OBSESSED and that this goes on the recommendation list.

#hailey's on it #disney #disney cartoon #Zoe’s Disney reviews #walt disney #disney channel #gif cred-easthigh

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long-suffering-little-spoon · 6 months

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I JUST REALIZED THAT YOU WATCHED THE OFMD FINALE

H-

How are you feeling 🥲🥲🥲

Pahaha not swimmingly, I'll just say. First I have been doing a bit of the ol' menstruating which means everything is immediately more extreme lol. I've been very conflicted and I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about *THE THING* especially, but this is where I stand right here right now at like 11PM lmao

Under the cut cos this ended up being exponentially longer than I thought it could ever be sorry

Overall I've loved season 2!! It has been so much fun to interact with the community and convert everyone to the Izzy hands cult engage with the fandom week by week. We've had some incredibly beautiful high moments and some lovely refreshing queer joy. I adore the new characters and the developments of our existing ones. I know my negative thoughts here are much more substantial than my positives but this doesn't mean I didn't like it!! I just don't feel the need to describe the positives because I feel like they're pretty obvious and universally recognised, agreed upon and beloved, y'know? (if you want a purely positive thoughts autistic happy flappy hands rant™, i can oblige dw)

Izzy's death is not the only reason I have mixed feelings on the finale. Obviously the episode cuts were a result of HBO'S meddling and isn't the fault of the crew, but the pacing still felt off and everything that happened just kinda washed over me like white noise (haha will wo-). The loose ends were tied up in wholesome ways and if we don't get a season 3 this would be a mostly decent way to end our characters' journeys, if a bit rushed. But then...

Izzy's death. A lot of people feel very very betrayed and hurt by Izzy being killed off, some people don't feel the comfort they used to from this show because of it and no longer want to engage. I don't wanna discount these people's views, more power to them; I cannot stop them from feeling what they feel and doing what they choose. I haven't given up hope on this show but Izzy's death just felt pretty unsatisfying to me?? Putting my bias towards him aside, I get the "killing off mentor at end of second act" trope but I just feel and wish way more could've been done with Izzy. I wanted to see more of him being happy and secure in himself and his found family and his queerness and his disability!! But now I don't get that and it very much stings. I think I could've come to terms more with his death if there had been more time to dwell on it all and get to see the individual characters mourn, but again episode cuts, thanks HBO!! /s. And I know they had the funeral but it still feels like we didn't really get a chance to mourn or treat Izzy's death with the weight it warranted. And I am far too tired especially right now to engage in "is this/is this not bury your gays/disabled character" but I will say I've seen pretty compelling arguments on both sides. As an able-bodied disabled person I don't feel it's fully my place to dictate, but I am upset Izzy was killed right after some big moments in his healing process and being a disabled person and in general just enjoying his life.

Personally I'm not giving up on the show as a whole because the finale left a sour taste in my mouth. I still very much like this show and I'm willing to stick around for a potential season 3 and on future rewatches I'll be able to see the stuff I loved separate from the stuff I didn't. But since looking back now, the latter is most recent, it kind of casts an unpleasant shadow on a very enjoyable season of television.

RIP Izzy Hands you deserved better sweetie, you would've loved Drag Race. And also shoutout to Con O'Neill for a fucking phenomenal performance last season, but especially this one. Izzy was absolutely iconic and a fan favourite for a very good reason, even if imo the writers did him dirty. He was hilarious and a petty little bitch man but then deeply broken and compelling and a genuinely beautiful character with a beautiful journey despite an unfortunate and unjust end?? He slayed.

Wow this was a lot!! Sorry if you were expecting silly goofiness lmfao I got very analysi-ish and a bit melancholic. Thank you so much for the ask JJ, it was a good opportunity to try and express all my thoughts and squish them into something cohesive for both you and me. (And thanks to my friend who I was discussing this with earlier; they helped me get a new perspective by sharing some of his thoughts. Dude, if you're reading this you know who you are, thanks a bunch!!!!)

#wowie zowie this took a long time and i am too tired to proof read it lmao it is LATE #but i probably will anyway for the fear of accidentally saying something that is the exact opposite of what i mean #i am still rather conflicted and a bit upset #ofmd #our flag means death #izzy hands #ofmd spoilers #ofmd s2 spoilers #asks #lovely moots tag

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yazthebookish · 1 year

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Since I haven't written a long post on here in a while I'm just going to sort of a refresher post on how the narrative supported Gwynriel from my reading experience while reading ACOSF.

I would also put a reminder here that I wasn't a hardcore shipper in the fandom before ACOSF and wasn't really involved in the fandom pre-ACOSF, so I was pretty much a casual reader and wasn't motivated by a certain ship or something to push an "agenda" to spite other shippers, because as I said I wasn't a hardcore shipper of any of the ACOTAR characters I was happy with Rowaelin so I already won.

But fun fact, I always had a gut feeling a new character might be Azriel's endgame. I loved Azriel but I wasn't convinced of any of the current options. I didn't think Elr*el had much because a lot of their interactions were open to interpretation and 3 brothers and 3 sisters is just very convenient and uninteresting. I have to give it to them the fanart was pretty and made them more appealing (I even had a few Elriel and Elucien art saved on my old Pinterest ACOTAR board) this was before I shipped Az with anyone.

I've always been the type of reader who will go with whatever SJM will write because I enjoy everything she writes despite their flaws. Her books give me so much comfort.

Moving on.

I read purely for Nessian but I was also looking forward to how Azriel's journey would be set up. I think even in one of my older Instagram posts before ACOSF I mentioned how excited I was to see how SJM is going to set up Azriel's journey because she gave him a bonus chapter from his POV and that alone made many readers assume the book after ACOSF is his.

I adored Gwyn from the moment I met her because it was so fun to see someone just be a tad snarky with Nesta. Gwyn wasn't all that friendly with her they were still testing the waters around each other but the more we read about her the more we saw an amazing character. I can tell Sarah enjoyed writing Gwyn because she got a lot of moments of spotlight in ACOSF and we will get back to that.

Now let's talk about Gwynriel.

I think one of the most important things people need to remember is, this is not a ship that came out of nowhere. If some casual readers say they didn't see much of it then that's valid (it's true Gwynriel are not romantically involved at this stage) but when there are other casual readers like myself who brought it up and said it's clear to us SJM is setting them up, why is that invalidated?

Eventually I wasn't just a casual reader I got heavily involved in the fandom and became an active Gwynriel fan. I was pretty thrilled about it after ACOSF and their future potential and was starving for more content from other fans.

I personally find it silly when people claim that Gwynriel is a crackship or made up. Its totally valid to prefer other ships and not be fan of it, it's not cool to invalidate what readers picked up on what the author put in her own book. Interpretation will differ and people will have different meanings for those crumbs, but regardless they are right there in the text.

Let's remember that this is an unfinished series. The author can throw in new crumbs that could establish something in the next book. We will know for sure in the next book.

In time it can be proven true or false, but Sarah has a pattern and her writing style can be predictable sometimes. She is not a subtle writer and she confirmed while talking about Azriel she threw in crumbs in ACOSF and in his bonus chapter and was looking forward to see what theories readers will come up with. That is confirmed by her, but readers will have different interpretations to what those crumbs mean. Me, as a casual reader that went into this book with no expectations, finished it thinking she is setting up Gwyn and Azriel (and at this point I still haven't read the bonus chapter. Now, after reading the bonus chapter it confirmed to me what I suspected while reading the book itself and I thought they were likely be mates). The bonus chapter to me was more in favor of Gwyn than it was for Elain because when the reader finished reading that chapter they are left with how it ended: Azriel burying the image of Gwyn's joy in his chest.

But the popular argument is the bonus chapter is not accessible for everyone and that's true. The bonus chapter gives us a hint to what's going to come up in the next book. Now, people have different interpretations to what the bonus chapter is hinting at but it still made people talk about Gwyn. Whether readers think they're mates, whether she's a Lightsinger, it just proves how the narrative placed Gwyn within Azriel's circle and this doesn't apply to the bonus chapter alone this applies to the book itself.

Now, we need to remember that ACOSF was narrated through Nesta and Cassian's POVs and so it won't focus on developing a romance off-page because no one wants that but it can still establish a connection or a future set up for certain characters. The narrative repeatedly paid attention to Azriel and Gwyn's interactions. It doesn't matter if it's romantic or platonic, Azriel was around other priestesses and Emerie (who we never saw interact with on page) but what the narrative kept bringing up is the interactions between Azriel and Gwyn even if they were subtle.

Sarah is known to leave subtle crumbs that she can build on later and it makes sense because Gwyn is a new character but I would dare say among the secondary characters in Nessian's book, she got more development than the other characters and Sarah left quite a few threads that she can connect Gwyn to (The crossover, Autumn court, Valkyries/Illyrian conflict, mysterious parentage, etc.) and she also established her healing journey and left it unresolved (her wanting to leave the library, her saying she still feels guilty over Catrin's death despite training, her not wearing the priestesses stone yet). This is why Emerie was a bit more in the background because Sarah did not put her in the spotlight as much as she did with Gwyn and we definitely want to see more of her and hope we do n the future books.

There would be an argument on why would Sarah dismiss potential ships that were there since ACOWAR and go for a new character. Let's remember that ACOWAR was published in 2017 and ACOFAS in 2018 while ACOSF was in 2021. Plenty of time passed and this is the reason Sarah herself explains why she never confirms ships—it's because she gets surprised where her characters take her on their journeys and there was even one interview where she said a new ship could pop up and she could go for that even if she had a different ship in mind originally. And to be frank, we can argue endlessly about what she had always planned but in reality no one knows anything. She's an author that could change a ship on a whim and still make it make sense and write a beautiful story for them. Even Gwynriel is not safe, Azriel could have an entirely different romantic partner in the next book that isn't Gwyn or Elain only because Sarah liked that option better.

So I feel like invalidating something based on what she wrote pre-2018 especially for ships doesn't really hold up. She already retconned two events from ACOMAF and ACOWAR in ACOSF so what she wrote in the past could not be that relevant in what she writes in the present day (and that depends). Azriel had shown romantic interest in Mor in ACOMAF, ACOWAR and ACOFAS. His interactions with Elain since ACOWAR were open to interpretation and based on how the fandom is divided on that can be interpreted as for either and again, bonus chapter isn't accessible for anyone so no one will know they almost kissed. It's not about who has the most interactions, it's about who is being set up as the endgame couple in the main novel eventually.

We also need to bear in mind that changing romantic endgames does not impact the overarching plot because if the author wants the new couple to be involved in that she can easily tie them to it without justifying why she wanted to do that change.

Now back to Gwynriel. As I said the narrative paid special attention to some of their interactions and Sarah making Gwyn a unique case when it comes to how Azriel's shadows react to her compared to everyone else is such a big thing. It was written intentionally and because she was a unique case many readers picked that up. It's spoken about a lot regardless of how the theories differ.

ACOSF made the fandom speak a lot about Azriel and Gwyn whether it's someone who is an anti or a fan. She is placed by the author in Azriel's circle there's no denial about that because even antis theorize about her role in Azriel's story since the connection is there.

So someone could be like "hey show me where they are romantic or confess their love for each other" that doesn't really kill that possibility because the crumbs are there, in an SJM book that what matters. We had Chaol and Yrene as an example of a couple that met in one book and fell in love. Gwyn and Azriel, if they're getting the next book, at least had a set up prior to their book. Many readers speak about the set up they have and what that could lead into in the future. Ultimately, what matters is what happens in the future and that's why I believe with what we have now it's likely going the Gwynriel route.

Am I saying this with 100% certainty? nope because I'm not the author but the last book published is what convinced me that it has a high chance of happening.

#gwynriel

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