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lightcrowe · 2 years

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Beginner's guide 2: An elaboration

Hello everyone, firstly I'd like to say thanks to all the people who liked my earlier post. I've started posting on fresh accounts before and I was fully expecting to get absolutely no attention. Maybe things work differently on Tumblr than other sites, maybe I got lucky. Either way, thanks! This post will be a follow up to my last post and will include some new topics I felt unnecessary to go over in the last one, as well as elaborating on my exact definition on Classes. With this post, there is going to be a lot more speculation and references to canon than there was in Part 1. Actually, there weren't any spoilers in Part 1, even though I said there would be. My bad, I ended up simplifying things a lot in the end and didn't feel the need to justify my definitions. There will, however, be a lot of that in this post. So I will repeat: Do not read this post if you care about being spoiled! This post contains spoilers for all acts of Homestuck! With that out of the way, let's get started.

Part 1: Master Classes

The Master Classes are specifically stated to only belong to uniquely important individuals, presumably not any average Human Sburb player. Thus, I decided not to go over them in Part 1. In my opinion, you shouldn't Classpect yourself as a Lord (Right) or Muse (Left) because they're supposed to be reserved for unique cases. It can also be presumed that they only belong to 2 player sessions, and as we cannot confirm how any given session will begin - given that Sburb does not exist - these Classes cannot, in my opinion, be held by any IRL fan. However, this is just my opinion. I absolutely cannot tell you not to Classpect yourself as such, you are free to do so if you wish. I'm only sharing how I feel about the matter. With that being said, it's worth at least going over what exactly these Classes do and their Active/Passive alignment.

Lord - Active (-)

Things start to get really complicated starting here. Calliope herself says that she doesn't know what her own title, Muse, does. We can only speculate. Lord is Active, and performs their role by Commanding their Aspect or Commanding through their Aspect. Take the 'Lord' title very literally. They're like a ruler, and their Aspect is completely submissive to their will. Lords, as well as Muses, are thought to be the strongest Classes in the game, and this definition leaves no doubts as to why. It's almost the same role as a Witch, pushed to the extreme. Lords and presumably Muses are believed to have an extremely difficult journey to complete. Similar to that of a Page, only even more so. Lord is also stated to be the most Active Class in the game, while Muse is the most Passive.

Muse - Passive (+)

Muse is Passive, and performs their role by Inspiring their Aspect or Inspiring others through their Aspect. At first, this seems far weaker than Lord's role, but hear me out. Muse is stated to be the most Passive Class in the game, while Lord is the most Active. Muses don't have direct control over their Aspect, but their Aspect is still ready to submit. They Inspire their Aspect, indirectly influencing things to happen to their Aspect. They also Inspire other people through their Aspect. "Inspire" is a word that, in my opinion, doesn't really explain the full scope of what a Muse does. However, it's the best we've got. Think of it as them indirectly doing the same thing that Lord does, through other people. They have control over their Aspect on the same level as a Lord, but they execute their role Passively. A Lord pulls out a gun and shoots somebody. A Muse tells their teammate to shoot them. Both got the same result, just through different methods.

Part 2: Gendered Alignments

It is commonly thought that some Classes are aligned by gender, that meaning that certain Classes can only be held by Males, and some by Females. Ignoring the fact that some people don't fall into either category (you can get the fuck off my blog if you have a problem with that statement), this is pretty reductive and, in some ways, sexist. The reason many believe Classes to be aligned by gender is that, well, we're told that they are in canon. Calliope states that some Classes are aligned by gender, and even gives us a few examples. In my opinion, the best reading of this is that Calliope is basing that belief on her own species, with how inherently everything about Cherubs is bound to gender, and it doesn't actually apply to Humans. I can't prove this, nor can anybody else. It's just an interpretation that I think works the best. If you buy into the idea that some Classes are bound by gender, then I'll indulge the idea at the very least. We're told by Calliope that there are an equal number of Male-exclusive and Female-exclusive Classes. She states that Lord, Prince and Bard are all Male-exclusive, and states that Muse is Female-exclusive. With there being an equal number of Male and Female Classes, that means at least 2 more Classes must be Female-exclusive, possibly more. Out of the remaining 10 Classes, Thief, Rogue, Mage, Seer and Knight are confirmed to be gender neutral, either being stated by Calliope, or by both Male and Female players holding them. That leaves 5. Witch, Heir, Maid, Sylph and Page have ambiguous gender alignment. Many believe Maid and Sylph to be the remaining Female-exclusive Classes, given that their role (Create) is the opposite of the other confirmed Male-exclusive roles, Prince and Bard (Destroy). Others say it might be Witch and Maid, given their names' feminine connotations. Either interpretation is valid. If you held a gun to my head and told me to pick which remaining Classes are gendered, I'd tell you that Maid, Sylph and Witch are Female-exclusive, and Heir is Male-exclusive. This leaves the alignments even, and lines up with our canon players. However, make no mistake, I dislike this reading of Classes and I think it's overall reductive. In my opinion, Calliope is assuming that Human roles work the same as Cherub roles whereas they, in reality, do not. Therefore, any player can have any role, regardless of gender. Andrew Hussie has responded to a question asking "Could there be a Female Prince player?" to which he simply responded "Sure". This doesn't prove much, it's a single word responding to a pretty specific question. However, it, at the very least, lends credence to the idea that Classes aren't gendered.

Part 3: Classes, continued

Moving on, I will now be elaborating on my previous post and going more in depth about each Class and what role they perform exactly.

Thief - Active (-)

Thieves are explicitly stated to Steal their Aspect or Steal through their Aspect, and canon examples back this up. Vriska Serket, the Thief of Light, is notable for stealing luck from others, turning the outcome of battles into her favor. She also steals Light, literally, by causing Terezi Pyrope to go blind. She also steals relevance, another notable part of the Light Aspect, by intentionally creating Bec Noir with the intention of being the one to kill him herself. Meenah Peixes, the Thief of Life, took the lives of her and her teammates by timing a detonation to happen right before they initiated the Scratch, so that they could continue to exist as ghosts after it. It's a little tenuous to call this "stealing" Life, she, moreso, ended it. However, it's the best we can do. Her post-scratch self, Her Imperious Condescension, instructed Roxy Lalonde, the Rogue of Void, to steal the Matriorb in order to save her species. She also has an increased lifespan due to her blood caste, and is able to extend this power to others, i.e the Ψiioniic. Through this, however, she essentially steals any life he could have lived by enslaving him as the helmsman of her ship, which eventually leads to his death.

Rogue - Passive (+)

Rogues are explicitly stated to Steal their Aspect or Steal through their Aspect, but in a Passive sense. They more Redistribute it, like a Robin Hood type. You could also see it in a communal sense, like redistributing wealth. Roxy Lalonde, the Rogue of Void, steals Void in several ways. Most notably stealing Void out of things, making them "Not nonexistent", therefore making them real. She was able to create the Matriorb out of thin air, and does so selflessly, saving a species she doesn't belong to. Nepeta Leijon, the Rogue of Heart, doesn't do anything of note in relation to her role as a Rogue. Rufioh Nitram, the Rogue of Breath, also doesn't do anything of note in relation to his role as a Rogue. His post-scratch self, the Summoner, does, however. He inspires and leads a revolution against the Highbloods in the name of freedom for the Lowbloods. Redistribution of Breath.

Prince - Active (-)

Princes are explicitly stated to Destroy their Aspect or Destroy through their Aspect. Dirk Strider, the Prince of Heart, is notably emotionless, being called a "stone cold motherfucker", despite his role as a Heart player. This can be seen as him destroying Heart in himself, not feeling any emotions. After Aranea Serket heals away Jake English's insecurities and causes him to become a fully realized Page, a version of Dirk that originally existed only in Jake's mind manifests as real, due to Jake being a Hope player. He proceeds to attack Aranea, and attempts to rip the soul out of her body, therefore destroying Heart. The only reason he fails is to due to her influence keeping Jake fully realized, causing him to lose his powers and eventually completely stop existing after Jake's death. He also uses this move against Lord Jack during [S] Collide. He was also, personality wise, completely immune to trickster mode. Eridan Ampora, the Prince of Hope, was Hopeless. Not just as a romantic, he had no hope that any of them would survive Bec Noir, deciding to join him instead. Upon him killing Feferi Peixes and severely wounding Sollux Captor, he had a standoff with Kanaya Maryam, but instead of attacking her, he attacked the Matriorb, destroying all hope for the future of their species. The weapon he used he described as a "science wand". Despite it just being a regular stick with no special properties, he was able to use it to shoot beams of energy powerful enough to win again Sollux's eye beams, just by believing hard enough that it would. Therefore, destroying through Hope. Kurloz Makara, The Prince of Rage, does very little in relation to his role as a Prince. He, at one point, had a nightmare so terrifying that it caused him to release a sound so loud that it caused Meulin Leijon, who was sleeping next to him, to go completely deaf. This has very few if any connections to his role, but is worth mentioning.

Bard - Passive (+)

Bards are explicitly defined in a..strange, roundabout way. Bards are explicitly stated to "Allow Destruction of their Aspect or Invite Destruction through their Aspect". Gamzee Makara, the Bard of Rage, spent the early parts of his story stoned on Sopor Slime, which impaired his judgment and generally mellowed him out. His Lusus being absent for large portions of his upbringing lead to him having poor common sense and little common knowledge. This all could be seen as allowing the destruction of Rage in himself. He also follows a religion only he seems to believe in and believes in miracles. Again, seeming to indicate destruction of Rage in himself, believing things on faith and lacking skepticism. He eventually learns the truth about his religion, and stares into the eyes of Lil Cal soon after and learns that he is a descendant of the High Subjugglators. Having run out of Sopor Slime, he is no longer mellowed out and decides that he must kill all his friends, having decided that he's both of the gods from his own religion. This is a weird mishmash of destroying Rage and embracing it. He proceeds to demonstrate powerful physical strength, succeeding in killing multiple foes thought to be physically stronger. This likely indicates that Rage has links to physical brute strength, and Gamzee most definitely uses it to destroy. It is also revealed that Gamzee dealt the most powerful hit to the Black King during the Trolls' session, other than maybe Vriska. Gamzee also implanted a clown plush resembling Jack Noir into John Egbert's dream room, ultimately leading in part to Jack's rise to power. His reason for doing this was to "get even" with Dave Strider, who had mocked his religion. Inviting destruction through Rage. Eventually, Gamzee is calmed down. Later on, it's implied he's "in kahoots with Lord English" and he eventually begins serving Caliborn. Aiding Caliborn can reasonably be seen as inviting destruction, though it seemingly doesn't have any ties to Rage. Sheesh, I had a lot to say about Gamzee, huh? Let's move on. Cronus Ampora, the Bard of Hope, doesn't do anything of note in relation to his role as a Bard, nor does his post-scratch self, Orphaner Dualscar.

Maid - Active (-)

The exact role of the Maid is not explicitly stated in canon, so we must theorize. Some theorize that Maid's role is to Upkeep and Maintain their Aspect, which fits well with the title itself, Maid. Others say it's to Protect their Aspect. I disagree with these interpretations, and I'll go over why for each canon example. Jane Crocker, the Maid of Life, was able to bring people back from the dead, though only once per person. She was also able to bring herself back, though again, only once. This doesn't really fit "Maintaining" her Aspect, nor does it seem to fit "Protecting" it. If her role is to protect her Aspect, she failed. I think the most reasonable interpretation of Jane's role is Creator of Life. Aradia Megido, the Maid of Time, is shown to be able to freeze Bec Noir in time after God-tiering. She could have escaped at any time but chose to keep him frozen to buy time for everybody else. She also performs this move against Lord English during [S] Collide, and I have to say. It's one thing to freeze a being with first guardian powers, it's a whole 'nother thing to freeze a LORD OF TIME in place, even if for much less time than she does to Bec Noir. Her role never really indicates "Upkeeping" or "Maintaining" Time. Her ability to freeze foes in Time could suggest a power to Manipulate, similar to Witch. It could also be interpreted as Creating Time, in a very literal sense. Adding Time onto the enemy so much so that they slow to a standstill. She also created Time for her friends by keeping Jack frozen as long as she could. Both valid interpretations. Considering my conclusion with Jane's role, I'm going to go with the Aradia's role being Creator of Time. Porrim Maryam, the Maid of Space, doesn't do anything of note in relation to her role as a Maid, nor does her post-scratch self, the Dolorosa. From all of this, we can, reasonably, determine that the role of a Maid is "One who Creates their Aspect or Creates through their Aspect".

Sylph - Passive (+)

Sylph is not given an exact definition in canon, but Aranea Serket has described her own actions as a Sylph of Light as Healing, so many believe the role of a Sylph to be "One who Heals their Aspect or Heals through their Aspect". We'll see if this definition holds up in analysis. Kanaya Maryam, the Sylph of Space, doesn't do anything of note in relation to her role as a Sylph. Aranea Serket, the Sylph of Light, was able to restore Terezi Pyrope's vision by healing her eyes. She was also able to heal Jake English's personal struggles and essentially bypass his journey to unlock his full potential as a Page instantly. How exactly this works is unknown. It could be she showed him exactly what was his flaws were and how to overcome them, and greatly accelerated his personal internal journey through healing. She also planned to heal a doomed timeline to such relevance that it became the new alpha timeline, therefore reducing Lord English to a footnote. This can be seen as her healing the relevance of the doomed timeline, or even potentially healing through relevance since she'd be saving many people from Lord English's wrath. Now yes, this plan was a failure. In my opinion, it doesn't matter. All that matters is her intentions and the role she intended to perform. Her post-scratch self, Marquise Spinneret Mindfang, does nothing of note in relation to her role as a Sylph. We're in a difficult spot here where we're given very little information from most sources, but a lot of information from one specific source. Given what we know, I'm going to say Aranea most likely represents what the role of a Sylph is, therefore Sylph's role is "One who Heals their Aspect or Heals through their Aspect". In my opinion, this makes perfect sense to pair with Maid, being that Maid is about Creating, and Sylph is about Healing. Similar ideas, no?

Witch - Active (-)

The exact role of the Witch is unknown, therefore we must theorize. Jade Harley, the Witch of Space, was able to manipulate the size and momentum of objects, including entire planets. She was also able to move objects around telekinetically. This could be seen as controlling or Manipulating Space. Feferi Peixes, the Witch of Life, was able to heal WV's injuries, and saved ghosts from being vanquished to oblivion by establishing dream bubbles. These honestly sound much more like the traits of a Sylph, but I personally would interpret it as Feferi simply using her role for good. These actions still fall within the definition of "Manipulation". Damara Megido, the Witch of Time, had vaguely defined Time powers, apparently appearing at key points in the timeline to sabotage her teammates after being driven to snap by Meenah Peixes. She, however, did perform the Scratch with no resistance, gusto even. Possibly because she knew it would cause the end of their universe. Her post-scratch self, the Handmaid, does nothing of note in relation to her role as a Witch. With these analyses, we still can't say with absolute certainty. However, I think the best interpretation is that Witch is "One who Manipulates their Aspect or Manipulates through their Aspect".

Heir - Passive (+)

The role of the Heir is not explicitly stated, therefore we must theorycraft. John Egbert, the Heir of Breath, was able to control the wind itself and create tornadoes. He was also able to turn himself into the wind in order to evade attacks. Neither Grimbark Jade Harley nor Bec Noir were able to catch him in this form. Equius Zahhak, the Heir of Void, was known to be difficult to observe, seemingly due to being surrounded by Void. His blood was also used to block out information in Rose's tome. Mituna Captor, the Heir of Doom, was said to have "prophetic insights" and lost his psychic powers as well as his sanity to protect his friends from an imminent disaster. His post-scratch self, the Ψiioniic, was enlisted as the helmsman of the Condesce's ship, being doomed to a life of being little more than a tool. These all have very few through-lines that could allow me to come up with many ideas. My best interpretation is to treat John Egbert's role with the most significance since we know easily the most about it. In doing such, we can come to the conclusion I drew in my earlier Part 1 post. That being, "One who Embodies their Aspect or is Influenced by their Aspect". Passive in the literal sense, much like the Bard. Now of course Heirs still have control over their Aspect, but it also controls them to an extent. Think of it like this: If you embody your Aspect, and you are in control of yourself, are you not in control of your Aspect?

Mage - Active (-)

The exact definition of Mage's role is unknown, and very little is known about them. Therefore, more theories. When I say little is known about Mages, I mean it. Look at the Wiki page for Mage:

That's literally all we know for 100% certain. That being, nothing. This is where I must express my gratitude to all of the people who analyzed these Classes before me. They walked so I can run, with "run" meaning "have any idea what I'm talking about". The most common definition of Mage is "One who experiences their Aspect and gains deep intuitive knowledge of it". This would make it the Active counterpart to Seer. Let's take a look at canon examples and see what I can string together. Sollux Captor, the Mage of Doom, experiences Doom an impressive number of times, starting with even Pre-Hivebent. Sollux hears the voices of the recently deceased, warning him of the destruction of Alternia. He believes that all Trolls are going to die. Next up is when he wakes up, believing that all of his teammates were in the Medium. Feferi's Lusus soon after unleashed the Vast Glub, a psychic attack that kills all Trolls lower than Fuchsia on the Hemospectrum. Sollux dies in the Glub before he can be brought into the Medium, but is then revived by Feferi, who had not yet entered the Medium. Post-hivebent, Sollux believes that himself and his teammates are all doomed and therefore doesn't bother Trolling the kids. He watches Aradiabot explode as he's having a conversation with her. Believing that she is dead, he goes on to become closer with Feferi and spends a lot of time with her. When Eridan Ampora decides to leave and join Bec Noir, he attempts to get Feferi to join him. She refuses, and Sollux engages with Eridan in a duel. Sollux loses this duel, and is left severely injured. Eridan proceeds to kill Feferi. The duel leaves Sollux unconscious and blinded, but alive. Karkat Vantas drags his body around, intending to keep him safe from the various murderers roaming around at the time. He, however, accidentally drops Sollux's body down the stairs, knocking out his teeth. After waking up, he seems to lose his ability to hear the doomed voices, which brings him great relief. After the creation of the Green Sun via the use of the Tumor, Sollux pilots the meteor away from Bec Noir, and towards the Sun. However, he overexerts himself and dies upon reaching the Sun. All in all, Sollux experiences Doom, and more specifically death, an insane number of times. Meulin Leijon, the Mage of Heart, doesn't do anything of note in relation to her role as a Mage, nor does her post-scratch self, the Disciple. Like I said, we are given incredibly little information and what we can gain comes from just one source, similarly to Sylph. It's difficult to even say that a lot of Sollux's story is even about him being a Mage, having prophetic visions of Doom is something that his dancestor, Mituna Captor, also shares, and he's an Heir of Doom, not a Mage or even a Seer. Mituna also experiences Doom, though this is more expected with him being an Heir. We know so little that I find it difficult to come to a conclusion. However, with the context of most other Classes already being pretty firmly paired, and with what we do know, I think the generally accepted definition is the best interpretation. "One who experiences their Aspect and gains deep intuitive understanding of it".

Seer - Passive (+)

Seer is defined as having extensive knowledge about their Aspect, or using their Aspect to gain knowledge. Thank the heavens, I get to take a break with this one. Rose Lalonde, the Seer of Light, spends extensive time trying to learn about Sburb. Upon learning that their session was impossible to win, she begins breaking the rules, attempting to find any way to save herself and her friends. Through her speaking with the Trolls, deciphering various information from her planet and a collection of artifacts, including a strange crystal ball, she becomes remarkably knowledgeable about Sburb and intends to use this knowledge to break the game. During this time, she is in contact with Doc Scratch, a first guardian that claims to be omniscient. She asks him for information and he claims not to ever lie, but still lies by omission, ultimately fooling Rose into believing that the Tumor would destroy the Green Sun, when in reality, it created it. Terezi Pyrope, the Seer of Mind, was able to see multiple possible outcomes of any given action, and used this knowledge to be decisive and gain a tactical advantage. When Vriska Serket intended to attempt to fight Bec Noir, Terezi is able to see the outcome of letting her go and observes that it would result in all of their deaths. Thus, she chooses to kill Vriska, saving the rest of them. Kankri Vantas, the Seer of Blood, doesn't directly do anything of note in relation to his role as a Seer. His post-scratch self, the Signless Sufferer, was able to see visions of Beforus before the Scratch occured and began preaching about how troll society was on Beforus.

Knight - Active (-)

The role of a Knight is not explicitly defined, but is described by Aradia Megido as a warrior who exploits their Aspect as a weapon. Let's analyze. Dave Strider, the Knight of Time, was able to use time travel to effectively clone himself in order to have more manpower in a fight. He also used time travel to manipulate the stock market on his planet in order to make Boondollars. Karkat Vantas, the Knight of Blood, was naturally skilled at leadership. He used his personal bond with Gamzee Makara to calm him down after he had gone around murdering several people. Latula Pyrope, the Knight of Mind, doesn't do anything of note in relation to her role as a Knight, nor does her Post-scratch self, Neophyte Redglare. From what we are told and the examples we are given, the most reasonable interpretation of Knight's role seems to be what Aradia says, "One who Exploits their Aspect or Exploits through their Aspect".

Page - Passive (+)

The role of a Page is not explicitly defined, nor is it even vaguely defined. We must, once again, interpret based on the journey of known Page players. Something worth noting is that Pages are known to start their journey incredibly weak. They're thought to have a deficit in their Aspect, but if they meet their full potential, they're most definitely the strongest Class of them all, not including the Master Classes. Jake English, the Page of Hope, was almost completely powerless for most of the story. He was able to create a "Brain ghost" version of Dirk Strider in his head that only he (and Terezi Pyrope, interestingly, likely due to her role as a Seer of Mind) could see. Brain ghost Dirk tells Jake that he is "only as real as Jake's ability to believe in him". This lends credence to the idea that Pages create their Aspect in some capacity. When Aranea Serket set her plan to eliminate the Condesce and heal a doomed timeline to relevance into motion, she used her Sylph of Light powers to heal Jake's flaws and accelerate his journey and reach his maximum potential instantly. Upon reaching maximum potential, he created a "Hope field", in addition to several Angels. This Hope field was strong enough to overpower Grimbark Jade Harley empowered by the Green sun. After the creation of the Hope field, Brain ghost Dirk manifested into reality via Jake believing in him. He proceeded to attack Aranea via ripping the soul out of her body. Jake's power was bound to Aranea's existence, however, and his Hope field dissipated. This gave a mind-controlled Jane Crocker an opportunity to attack, killing Jake. Due to this, Brain ghost Dirk stops existing. Jake's death is ultimately deemed not Heroic or Just, therefore he is revived. Tavros Nitram, the Page of Breath, was known as being the weakest of all the Trolls, and never reached his full potential. He could be seen as having a deficit in Breath, due to being wheelchair-bound during hivebent. Horuss Zahhak, the Page of Void, was a self-taught master of his many proficiencies. His skills are stated to be built "from the blank slate his Aspect would imply" and were built "at the slow rate his Class would imply". It's said that his Aspect ruled his life, in the sense that he was never truly recognized for his accomplishments. This would all take place before Sburb, and his role in the Alpha Trolls' session is not mentioned. His Post-scratch self, Executor Darkleer, was apparently able to create "dark pockets", similarly to other Void players. A common definition of Page is "One who provides others with their Aspect". Based on the canon examples, this makes a lot of sense and is probably the closest we can get. I personally phrased this as "One who equips others with their Aspect to fight" in my Part 1 post, just as a way of connecting it more to Knight. I would say Page has the least connection to Knight as a pairing, but with my analyses, there really isn't any other way to pair them up. With other interpretations of certain Classes, sure, it could be matched with a different one. However, for the purposes of this post, it's the Passive counterpart to Knight and is defined as "One who provides others with their Aspect".

Part 4: Conclusion

That brings us to the end of this post! This took a lot longer than I expected, I would've likely had it done on the 15th if a certain TV drama I watch wasn't airing that night (S'all good, man). This won't be my last post, I have plenty of other ideas to talk about, but it'll be a while. Writing long posts like this can be very draining! See y'all later! -Crowe

#homestuck #classpect #classpect analysis #classpect guide #homestuck classpect #homestuck class analysis

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strawberry-barista · 9 months

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A quick and dirty RP policy guide

Bold all that apply to you and your blog. Italics if you’re on the fence about something. Either reblog or repost. Feel free to add anything I may have missed in the appropriate category, or recategorize something that is in the wrong place!

My blog is _______

Open to all

Semi-selective

Selective

Moderately Selective

Highly selective

Exclusive

Only going to RP with mutuals

Mostly going to RP with mutuals

Indie

Affiliated with a group

Spoilers free

Spoilers tagged

Spoilers mostly tagged

Not spoiler free

I will RP with ______

Any fandom

Most fandoms

Only fandoms I know (It's nice to have some info going in, but I can try to work with my own limited research ability.)

Only people in my fandom

OCs

OCs with no fandom ties

OCs who are related to/know my character in their backstory (If you wanna talk something over with me, I'll be happy to try and work that out!)

Only one version of any particular character

People who have the same muse as me

People who do not have a rules page

Multimuse blogs

People in RP groups

Indie RPers

When RPing, I like to use _______

Paragraphs

Shorter forms of text

*Action*

Icons

Gifs (some of his irl fc stuff uses gifs, so that'll come up occasionally)

Gif icons

Formatted text

Whatever my partner is using (I try to mactch the style of icons you're using, e.g. irl fc icons for a partner using an irl fc)

My own style regardless of my partner’s reply

I will ship with _______

No one

Anyone

Chemistry

Select ships

OCs

Others of my own muse

Crossovers with characters from different fandoms

Only one version of a particular character

One person in my main verse

Multiship, all ships independent of each other & main ship

One main/canon ship within my main verse (if he ever gets to that point with someone and clicks really well I might make it canon, but I'll still multiship non-canon ships.)

My blog WILL contain ______ in it’s content

Fluff

Light fluff

Angst

Gore

Violence

Smut (I might one day get to a point where I'm comfortable adding this cut, but so far this has not happened.)

Blood

Torture

Shipping

Death

Dark humor

Cheating

Assault

I will follow ______ back

Everyone

Only some people

Most people

Only people in my fandom

Every RP blog

Only people I actively wish to RP with

People who do not post a lot of OOC

People whose posts I am comfortable with on my dashboard

To RP with me, you should _______

Follow back

Answer an open

Message me OOC

Message me IC

Make me a starter

Answer my starter

Send in a meme

Like a starter call

Other:

I practice reblog karma with memes

I expect reblog karma with memes

I expect my rules/about to be read

I always read the rules/about before following/interacting

If you follow me, I would like suicide and assault tagged

I expect all smut to be beneath a read-more

I am a multiverse blog

I am multi-muse

I do not wish for my OOC posts to be reblogged

I do not wish for my threads to be reblogged by those not involved

I expect post length to be matched (I don't expect length so much as just expect to get something I can reply to.)

I expect icons/gifs to be used in a reply if I have used them

I don’t expect post length to be matched, but I will try to match your own.

I am patient when waiting for replies and expect the same courtesy. (For reference, I have waited over a year for a reply before, and then just continued like nothing happened. ✌️)

#anonymity annoying me ⤙ooc⤚⚄#wise and very well organized ⤙psa⤚⚄#that's how the connection works ⤙rules⤚⚄#read by someone taken as a good one ⤙dash⤚⚄

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purplesurveys · 8 months

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1734

1 - What’s your favourite type of survey to take? A survey with just a mix of random questions is always a safe choice – that's what most of them have been, anyway. Every now and then I like to enjoy categories, and to a lesser degree, themed ones.

2 - What about your least favourite? Do you ever take these anyway if you can’t find anything else? I mean, about-mes are only fun if you're new to surveys but they'll get old quickly. I don't like song shuffles either because I have a million separate playlists on Spotify, so those surveys could never capture my music taste as a whole.

3 - Do you have a favourite survey maker? How long have you been following their blog for? I have a few favorites on Bzoink but I haven't been able to catch up with any of their newer surveys because life.

4 - Do you ever get surveys from somewhere that isn’t Tumblr? What other sites do you like to use for finding surveys? I used to go on Bzoink and lift newer surveys from there over here, but 2022/2023 has kept me very busy that these days I just play catch-up with all the surveys everyone takes here. Until around 2-3 years ago I also used to go on LiveJournal but the survey tag doesn't get updated as much, so I eventually I stopped visiting.

5 - Do you like to take surveys at a particular time of day? I like taking them in the evenings before going to bed. I also reserve most of my survey-taking on weekends, but if a work day has been gross and just need an outlet to vent or whatever I will occasionally squeeze time on a weeknight.

6 - Do you have a favourite location to take surveys - eg. on your bed or in the living room? I'll take them in my room most of the time – it's quiet and peaceful here. Occasionally I'd do them on the couch in the living room or at the dining table, but it's almost always too distracting to finish one.

7 - How often would you say you took surveys? Do you go through phases of taking loads and then stopping for a while? I've been pretty consistent in the 10-11 years I've been taking surveys, tbh! I never really took a 'break' from them – they serve the same purpose as a journal, so I've never felt burned out from surveys.

The most distinct difference, if anything, about my survey-taking habits is how it surged like crazy during the pandemic. Like dude. I didn't have a job, I had just graduated, I was stuck at home – I used to do 5-6 surveys a day, EVERYDAY, for like six months.

8 - Do you like to watch TV or listen to music while you take surveys? If I have something on in the background, it has to be something I can't understand so that my brain doesn't get overstimulated lol. That said, I like having Korean-language vlogs on when taking surveys.

9 - Have you ever taken surveys with another person before? NOOOOOOOO. I prefer to keep IRLs out of my survey-taking hobby.

10 - Do people in real life know you take surveys? If not, would you be embarrassed if someone found out about your blog? Only my sister knows and that's just because I know she doesn't give a shit and I trust her to not judge me for it. I shared the blog with my now-ex at some point but that's also why I changed my user recently.

11 - Do you often have something to eat and drink next to you while you take surveys? Drink, yes. Coffee and surveys go hand-in-hand for me. Food, no. Too much of a distraction.

12 - What kind of chair or surface do you find yourself sitting on the most when you take them? The mini sofa in my room.

13 - Have you ever taken surveys at work before? I used to sneak surveys in during my internship when work would be slow; but otherwise I've never done it since getting formally employed.

14 - Do you prefer doing surveys on a laptop, a phone or another device? Laptop. Dealing with this big a body of text on a phone seems like such a headache.

15 - What kind of surveys would you like to see more of? What about less of? I mean I don't have any expectations when it comes to surveys lol. As long as I don't run out of any to take. Thank you, active survey-makers!!

16 - Have you ever discovered new bands, TV shows or anything through reading other people’s surveys? I'm sure it's happened, but I wouldn't say it's a frequent occurrence.

17 - Do you like to read other people’s answers? Are there some people whose blogs you always check? Sure, I keep up with the little circle I have on here. I'm usually too shy to comment, but I'm generally aware of the ups and downs everyone's been going through and I just kind of like...silently send my support or well wishes or condolences and whatnot.

18 - Have you ever taken a survey while drunk or high? I have taken surveys while drunk but most of the time it ends up with me being too sleepy to take the full thing and just finishing the rest the next morning.

19 - Have you ever attempted the 5,000 question survey? Did you ever finish or did you find yourself getting bored part-way through? I have actually never finished it, no. I should get my ass to take the whole thing at some point.

20 - What first got you into taking surveys? I have no clue, honestly. Maybe it's because the earliest forms of social media like Myspace and LJ would have people do the generic about-me prompts and I guess it just made me curious about more long-form surveys that could possibly exist out there. Eventually I found Bzoink and that's how this whole habit started.

21 - How old were you (roughly) when you first started taking them? I was technically 10 when I first found out about Bzoink, but didn't start keeping a blog up until I was either 13 or 14.

22 - What’s the reason behind you taking surveys? It's a journal that's able to keep a record of my life, simply put.

23 - What’s one thing that would put you off taking or finishing a survey? If the questions get too irritating, or if I'm way too stressed that not even surveys could save the day.

24 - In your opinion, what’s the ideal length for a survey? Would you not bother taking a survey if you thought it was too short or too long? Anywhere between 40 to 60 is fun enough for me, but overall it depends on my mood and how awake I feel.

25 - Do you answer questions using proper spelling and grammar? Yes.

26 - Do you prefer questions that require long answers or are you happy to take yes/no surveys? Ones that demand more substantial answers are fine but don't, like, get all philosophical or existential. That's another thing that would push me away from finishing a survey.

27 - Is there a specific style of survey that you’ve never taken before? Surveys that have you answer with a photo. I don't like those either.

28 - What kind of surveys would you like to see in the future? That could be in terms of style or category or anything, really? Again, don't really have expectations when it comes to surveys haha. I just take whatever I see that I feel are interesting enough.

29 - Have you ever shared your surveys with friends and family on social media? Nope.

30 - Do you find that time goes by quickly or slowly when you take surveys? Quickly.

#a survey about surveys -- cool!

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calicoquiltedtranshag · 9 months

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Barbie spoilers and thoughts (I’m trans and queer as fuck)

TLDR: I wish it had gone FURTHER

The Barbie movie has entered a category in my mind I like to call “I don’t know how to feel about this”

Does it have a very concise expression of what it’s like to find out what identified as a woman irl is like? How systemic misogyny is in American society?

Oh absolutely.

Is it…ham fisted?

Kinda. Yeah. Does the movie’s plot do much to address…any of that horror?

No.

At least…gosh I don’t even know. Not really??

The whole subplot with ken (which is like the spine of the movie) is that he feels sidelined in Barbieland, visits the real world and brings “the patriarchy” back. It’s almost cartoonish misogyny that also — there’s moments where people in the real world are like “hey that’s not how things work” and ken goes “sure, hey by the way did you know Men rule the world here?”

And then basically tries to - gosh - he like forcefully bimbofies all the Barbies in Barbieland. There’s homages to some truly terrible misogynistic commercials there.

It IS horrifying. And there’s some social rewiring that our Barbie has to do to get it done. She and a mom from the real world help snap everyone out of it and stop the Kens from committing fascism.

Also pretty sure the term “white savior Barbie” was thrown around at some point???

This whole deal is - I don’t know - it feels like an oversimplified version of the US’s civil rights crisis with an ending that - doesn’t **fix** it or even say we NEED TO FIX IT.

Does it have to??

I - I think so? I think it should?

Like the movie acknowledges it’s own flaws but also I don’t know why it exists. It wraps everything I would shout at a bigot about in a nice little pink package and goes “yay! We did it!”

When nothing’s been done to affect change.

The ONLY real world impact that happens in the movie is an “Ordinary” Barbie toy is made, and…Barbie becomes human.

Everything the movie calls out - the objectification, the constant anxiety and fear of just living under the patriarchy AND IN THE GENDER BINARY IN GENERAL, the micro and macro aggressions that we’re all just - used to - it does so with the grace of a freight train.

But I can’t tell if that’s good or bad.

It says it.

It says a lot.

But kinda in the way I say a bunch of shit. That’s not always right.

The board of Mattel is a bunch of men who all follow their boss (Will Ferrel) like a bunch of trailing ducklings. There’s a bunch of pecking order and blatant misogyny moments. At one point the CEO asks our Barbie to get strapped into a box, like plastic restraints and all. You get the idea that these guys shouldn’t be in charge of the company and that they suck.

But they’re silly. They’re bumbling. They trip and stumble and follow the money like ants and breadcrumbs. Which likes- fair, that’s what most business majors I’ve been with are like - but they don’t…lose anything? Literally they just make record profits the entire movie?

THE STATUS QUO IS MAINTAINED BY THE END OF THE MOVIE.

Overturning the “Kendom” would have had more of an impact if it wasn’t just an imitation of the real world. Like okay, great! Barbieland is free! Please forget about everything else you experienced in this movie. :3

That, and the fact that the MAJORITY of Barbieland got brainwashed instantly just…doesn’t sit well with me.

The mom character compares it to smallpox blankets and I kinda just sputtered because like - alright, yeah - introducing diseases that a society isn’t prepared for can take it down quickly -

But the Barbie’s in the story are written as a RESPONSE to the patriarchy. This is like your immune system getting a vaccine and then letting the disease do even more damage. I don’t…I don’t get it! What is it trying to say?

But I still don’t know what those things are. I am a little disturbed, kinda re-traumatized and also not sure if I like it still.

If it was a matter of like - I dunno, Ken brings a **gun** to barbieland, and starts arming the other kens, or literally brings a disease - I feel like that’d be something - but the Barbies - why was it like this?????

Did it make me feel things? Yep!

It’s like trying to convince myself I like licorice again except the bag is pink and says “FEMINISM WIN (all proceeds will go to the Oppressing Marginalized Groups fund) on the front.

Highkey the movie should have ended with the Barbies leaving and beginning a rough and tumble societal overhaul, unable to die or be stopped because they’re literally ideas. Fire and blood kinda deal.

#Barbie #barbie 2023 #Barbie Spoilers

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donald4spiderman · 3 years

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Sweating, And A Lesson On Self-Worth

masterlist

Summary: Spencer finds himself falling for his NAT (new agent training) defensive tactics coach.

Pairing: SR x Fem!Reader *described as petite to give the illusion of assumed vulnerability when IRL she’s a badass— no other specific physical details are mentioned*

Category: Fluff

TW: Mentions of body image, general CM talk, mentions of fighting/grappling/wrestling, small age gap (reader is 28 & reid is 22)

concept inspired by @sierraraeck’s fic “Bad Liar” about Morgan training Spencer. I love wrestling so I wanted to do one about a badass female combat coach/agent.

REBLOG!

When Spencer and the rest of the trainees are ushered into the fitness center on their second day at the academy, he almost shits himself. He’s well aware of the physical demands being in the FBI requires, and he’s been dreading the PFT (Physical Fitness Test) since he applied.

There are hundreds of men and women huddled in the middle of the room, anticipating the orientation, and Spencer feels his palms sweat before he’s even started working out. The majority of the trainees are football players, wrestling’s, and weight lifters— he can tell by their muscular build and general atmosphere of strength and confidence.

SSA Jesse Fallon introduces their defensive tactics coach for the next twenty weeks— a petite but athletic woman. She’s dressed in a gray t-shirt and flexible khaki pants— Spencer would be lying if he said she didn’t look gorgeous, even in the bland attire.

“I’m SSA and defensive tactics coach (Y/N) (Y/L/N).” She introduces herself, giving a warm smile to the crowd. “I’ve been an SSA for five years and the head coach of this portion of the academy for two. This is my third official wave of trainees— and believe me— I won’t be going easy on any of you.”

Light laughter disperses through the crowd, and Spencer wears an uneasy look on his face.

“Today, I’ve prepped stations for each of you to cycle through for the next three hours. Agent Rivera is monitoring the weapon defense; Agent Glover is in charge of the takedowns; And I’ll be handling hand-to-hand combat and grappling. You’ll spend an hour at each station, run a mile at the end, and then you’re done for the day. Sound good?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Choruses through the crowd.

SSA (Y/N) clasps her hands together, “Alright, you know your groups. Split up!”

Spencer’s assigned to the takedown station first. Agent Glover’s criticisms are primarily nonconstructive, and Spencer struggles with apprehending and cuffing his more robust and much more muscular partner on the floor. He’s never trained this hard for anything in his life, physically, speaking. He’s half-dead within the first hour, and he dreads having to do this two more times.

His next stop is with Agent Rivera, who’s much kinder to Spencer than his prior. Reid is better at disarming his opponent, but his long limbs flail wildly due to his incoordination— he’s trying his best, but he sees the way everyone else giggles at him. It’s a blow to the chest that leaves him defeated more than any gunshot could.

The last hour is spent working at SSA (Y/N) (Y/L/N)’s station. She commands the attention of the entire group so naturally, despite being considered a rookie, she has an intimidating amount of knowledge.

“How many of you are wrestlers or judokas?” About sixty percent of the group raises their hand, and Spencer scans around for who might have the strength to kill him with one blow.

“Good,” She smiles. “This will come naturally to you, then. Now, a head-and-arm throw most likely won’t work in the field— so, sorry, judokas. However, double legs, body locks, and blast-doubles are constantly used to take down an unsub with minimal injury to the agent. Even someone as short as me can use leverage to grapple and control a much taller person.” (Y/N) scans the crowd of trainees for a moment before pointing directly at Spencer.

“You, come here.” She commands, and Spencer waddles nervously up next to her on the mat. “This is...”

He’s confused for a moment before realizing she’s asking for his name. “S-Spencer Reid.”

“Hi, Spencer.” She smiles. “How tall are you?”

“Six foot two.”

“Spencer has the advantage of almost a whole foot of height against me. But, I can use his higher center of gravity to tip him over more easily. We do this a lot in wrestling— being low to the ground and agile is important.”

(Y/N) firmly plants her hands on Spencer’s shoulder, moving him so that he’s turned to the side. “This move is called a modified blast double— it prioritizes attacking the ankles and knees rather than the knees and abdomen.”

She leans in closer to Spencer, “Don’t post your wrist out when you fall.” She whispers in his ear, sending chills down his spine. “Keep your neck tucked too.” Her breath is warm and minty, and Spencer almost forgets that he has 30 other people watching him.

“I’m going to simulate an active attack with Spencer. Doing this move in a wrestling match is much more controlled than against a rogue criminal playing by their own rules. They might have a melee or close-range weapon like a knife or hammer on them, so it’s important to make this move when the best opportunity strikes.”

“Spencer’s going to run at me and attempt to land a punch to my face.” She gives him a nod, and he chambers over to her.

Swiftly crouching lower to the ground, she launches herself towards him, gripping the back of his ankles and pushing her shoulder into his knees, and suddenly he’s flying back onto the mat. She follows through, straddling Spencer’s hips and covering his movements with an arm under his neck.

He’s out of breath as he watches the beautiful SSA leaning above him. His head is slightly sore from the impact, but overall he feels... invigorated.

“You never let your opponent fall onto the ground without covering them. Straddling your opponent allows you to keep them down while having full use of your fists.” She swings her leg off of Spencer, standing up. She reaches a hand out and quickly yanks him up.

“Find someone and drill that move. I’m coming around to help all of you.”

She gives Spencer a firm pat on his back, to which he blushes furiously, pulling his lower lip in between his teeth.

Spencer spent the rest of the hour getting slammed onto the mat over and over by various men and women. His entire shirt is soaked, and his breathing is so labored he thinks he’s going to faint. SSA (Y/N) (Y/L/N) might have appeared at ease earlier in the day, but she wasn’t kidding when she promised she would work them to no end. Everyone was at the brink of death when they approached the last lap of their mile— Spencer at risk of passing out more than others.

The relief he feels after completing his tenth lap around the gym is euphoric. Trainees collapse onto the ground with exhaustion all around him.

“Great job today.” SSA (Y/N) compliments happily. “I appreciate all the effort you guys showed today. It better still be here in four months.” And with that, she excuses them, along with the agents monitoring each station.

Spencer’s one of the last agents to trickle out of the gym. His legs feel like jello when he walks, and his lungs burn.

He almost makes it past the threshold of the door before his name is called.

“Dr. Reid.” She beckons him over with a finger. “May I talk to you for a moment.”

Spencer nervously shuffles over. “Yes, SSA (Y/L/N)?”

“I applaud your effort at training today. I can tell you were working hard.” He blushes. “But I’ve been informed that the board is willing to wave all physical training requirements for your acceptance into the FBI.”

“Yeah... I-I uh figured they’d want me for my IQ only.” He jokes nervously, shrugging his shoulders. He knows it’s disrespectful not to look her in the eye, but she intimidates him too much.

She laughs, and it’s a sweet, joyful sound that Spencer can’t get enough of. She’s powerful and radiant— stealing attention from everyone else. “You’re charming, and your reputation precedes you.”

Charming? Since when has little Spencer Reid ever been charming? He smiles awkwardly, looking off to the side to hide his blush.

“You know, the forensics department wants their hands on the trainee with the chemistry doctorate, and the surveillance department wants the kid with eidetic memory, and word has it that you speak more than four languages, so everyone wants their fair share.”

“W-why are you telling me this?” Spencer asks, voice shy and barely above a whisper.

“Because,” she places a tender hand on his shoulder, “You need to carry yourself with more confidence, Spencer. I saw you— surrounded by all those athletes— it made you feel out of place. I get it.”

“How d-do you get it?”

“I was 23 years old when I became an SSA, surrounded by people two decades older than me. I felt like the office secretary— constantly getting pushed around by people I was afraid to upset. But the thing is, Spencer, you need to demand respect from other people. I’m not saying you need to be arrogant or be a bully, but you are one of— if not the most promising agent trainee— and you need to realize your self-worth.”

“I’m smart, I-I know that. But I’m not strong or athletic by any means.” He sighs, gripping the duffle bag slung across his shoulder tightly.

“That’s alright. You’re not going to be Kyle Dake overnight. But you can’t beat yourself up about it.” (Y/N) chuckles lightly.

Spencer thinks for a moment, “T-thank you... for uh saying all those nice things about me.”

“They're true.” She nods.

“I think I’ll continue with the defensive tactics training. I could um use it.” Its partially true, but he’s most inclined to stick around because of the kind and beautiful SSA that’ll be training him.

“Yay! That’s great, Spencer.” She cheers, wrapping him in a hug that’s a little too friendly to be professional. He accepts despite being drenched in sweat.

Her arms are wrapped tightly around Spencer, and she pats him on the back twice before pulling away like a proud mentor would. He can’t decide if (Y/N) would be a better girlfriend or a better teacher. If she would, he’d prefer for her to be both. He’d give her all he had to offer if she’d allow him.

He doesn’t recognize the smile that plays on her lips, and it’s a foreign feeling for the aggressive and focused SSA. She hasn’t felt something like this in a while, especially not for a nerdy trainee named Dr. Spencer Reid.

“Hit the showers.” She teases. “You stink.”

Spencer nods furiously, “Y-yeah, of course. Thank you, again, SSA—“

“Just call me (Y/N).”

“T-thank you, (Y/N).” He smiles, scurrying out of the gym and into the hallway as giddy as ever.

(Y/N) knows she can’t pursue this— at least, not right now. She’ll give it a few years to let him settle in the FBI (his acceptance is inevitable) if she can be patient for that long. All she knows is that eventually, she wants the awkwardly adorable boy to be hers— and she wants to be his.

i’m so proud of this fic but sry i got carried away talking about wrestling i love it sm

#spencer reid #criminal minds #spencer reid smut #spencer reid fanfiction #sub!spencer #criminal minds fanfiction #dr reid #spencer reid x reader #criminal minds x reader #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid masterlist #baby!spencer #bau

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sevenkittensinatrenchcoat · 3 years

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Misto’s Mating Dance Partners

Because the White Cat Lift AKA Mating Dance scene of the Jellicle Ball focuses mainly on Victoria and whoever she’s dancing with, what’s going on in the background is often ignored. But, there’s a clear pattern. The other cats pair off, go to the edges of the stage, forming a circle around Victoria and Her Man. They then do...whatever. There don’t seem to be official rules for what the pairs do, so some of them nap, some of the stare out into space, some of them cuddle...

And some of them blatantly fuck.

This scene is often called the Cat Orgy because of the blatant fucking that often occurs. So, you can watch the characters, see who pairs up with who and whether or not they fuck. Because Misto is my favorite character and one of the easiest to identify in even low-quality bootlegs, I went and watched him during this scene in every production in my bootleg collection.

Part One: Failure

In several of the older productions, I couldn’t see anything. Bootleggers and professionals alike tended to zoom in on Victoria and Her Man and stay there for most of the scene. Mexico 1991 mainly did this. Also, Vienna, with its Dark Voids and Weird Editing Choices was impossible to decipher.

Among the newer productions, Madrid was lost to Weird Editing Choices. Most of the dance wasn’t even visible! There were long close ups on Old Deuteronomy and Grizabella doing nothing when they should have been filming Victoria and Plato doing Something. It wasn’t even like they were distracted by an interesting background event. They just held the camera on characters who weren’t doing anything other than Reacting Slightly.

Part Two: Mistoria

Paris and Zurich paired Misto with Victoria for the Mating Dance. There was a slightly different dynamic with Misto and Victoria than there is when Plato or Tumblebrutus is Victoria’s Man. When Plato or Tumble, the most common choices for this part, approach Victoria, they’re awkward, but they still sort of take the lead. Victoria comes across as a bit shy at first, but she quickly gets into it. In the Mistoria versions, Misto is far more nervous approaching and often jumps back startled after touching Victoria. It feels like Victoria takes the lead in these versions, turning her back and basically being like “lift me”. Zurich Misto in particular is practically freaking out and the lift is kind of bizarre to watch because he looks so tiny!

Part Three: You’d Think Misto/Cassandra Would Be a Bigger Ship

Broadway-based productions, which paired Alonzo with Demeter, seemed to love pairing Misto with Cassandra for the Mating Dance. Troika and Buenos Aires did this and they did it in the same way. Misto and Cassandra practically have a dance of their own, performing the same motions when paired together. Usually, these pairs tend to seem like they’re improvising a little, but this specific couple has its own choreography.

The idea to pair Misto and Cassandra most likely comes from Misto later choosing Cassandra as his “lovely assistant” when he brings back Old Deuteronomy. In most productions, they don’t have much interaction outside of that. In Troika, Cassandra is also one of the cats who sometimes stands in for Coricopat and Tantomile, who were cut. Coricopat and Tantomile’s twin stuff was given to Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, while a lot of their psychic moments were given to either Demeter or Cassandra. So, in Troika, Misto and Cassandra are both mystical cats of some sort, which brings them together, because it’s something other cats don’t get.

I’m not super into this ship, because I generally don’t ship Misto with women, but the implications of the pairing in the Troika version are interesting.

Part Four: Lonely Misto

Hamburg, The German Tent Tour, and probably Moscow didn’t pair Misto with anyone. He just sat by himself. In Hamburg, there was a reason for this. Just like how Buenos Aires and Troika gave Misto’s role of fetching Old Deuteronomy to Skimble, Hamburg has a Mistotable instead of a Skimbletable.

I probably should’ve listed Moscow as a failure, but I’m still not sure what happened there.

The German Tent Tour just has Misto sitting by himself. He crawls to the Cuddle Pile, does a handstand, and no one cares.

But, the German Tent Tour shows signs of being part of a trend. While earlier, Broadway-based shows liked pairing Misto and Cassandra, newer productions never seem sure who to pair him with, so you have this scene of a lonely Misto surrounded by happy, horny straight couples and looking a bit out of place. This was probably unintentional, but it gives Misto an extra layer of gay coding.

Part Five: More Recent Stuff That Doesn’t Fit in the Other Categories

The 2013 UK Tour does something a bit interesting. Misto just sort of naps during the Mating Dance, but Carbucketty, who’s been following him around and imitating his dance moves for the past few minutes, lies down to nap at his feet. They don’t really interact and they’re barely touching, but it still counts as a pair. This is the closest I’ve gotten to finding a version where Misto’s paired with a tom. Of course, compared to most of the straight couples in any version of this scene, there is no horniness to be found. So, they’re two bros napping next to each other, but not quite cuddling ‘cause they’re not gay :(

Also I think Carbucketty might’ve ditched Misto for Rumpleteazer at the last second. We can never have nice things.

The Broadway Revival, having different choreography and staging for most of the Jellicle Ball is interesting in the way the Broadway Revival is usually interesting (kind of frustrating tbh). In the new choreography, everything from Bomba’s solo through the Mating Dance is basically one scene. Some queens dance, even more queens join them, a bunch of toms show up and pair up with them, the Boys Ballet and Whirlygigs are replaced with a romantic dance, everyone takes a hit of moonlight and things start to resemble other productions a bit more from there.

Because the pairs pair up quickly and stay together for a long time, it’s easy to see all of them. Only most of the cast is paired up, but I can identify, Tugger/Bomba, Munk/Demeter, Alonzo/Cassandra, Skimble/Jenny, Plato/Victoria, Coricopat/Tantomile (why do the siblings always stay together for the horny scenes?), Mungojerrie/Rumpleteazer (they’re probably not siblings in this version, so they get a pass), Pouncival/Electra, and Carbucketty/Sillabub.

Jellylorum, Tumblebrutus, and Mistoffelees are absent. They’re offstage until the Mating Dance properly starts. I have no idea where Tumblebrutus went, but this isn’t about him. Tugger crawls past Misto and they almost interact before Tugger leaves with Bomba. Jellylorum pairs up with Misto, presumably because neither one could find an actually date.

Now, the actress who played Jellylorum in this production has said in interviews that she played Jellylorum as the same age as Tugger. (The actors are besties irl so they made their characters besties too). So, this isn’t quite as weird as if feels when you first read it. Everyone’s the same age in this show, except for the kittens. Electra, Sillabub, and Pouncival were played as literal children in every scene but this one, because no one can escape the cat orgy (except Tumblebrutus, for some reason). But, unlike in 1998, which featured a lot of crack pairings during this scene (Tugger/Jenny, anyone?), pretty much every pairing in the 2016 orgy is the most obvious pairing possible. Anyone who didn’t have an obvious opposite gender counterpart was given one, except for Misto, Jelly, and Tumble. They could’ve brought back Peter (renamed Asparagus) from the opening to be Jelly’s obvious pairing, and then just had Tumble nap on Misto’s feet like 2013 Carbucketty, but they didn’t.

The result is that they created a bunch of comphet pairings but simply couldn’t do so for Misto. All his usual comphet pairing were taken. Cassandra’s with Alonzo and Victoria’s with Plato. Knowing that Tyler Hanes and Ricky Ubeda both shipped Tuggoffelees, they probably didn’t want to do the comphet thing either. Up until this point, this production had actually downplayed Tugger/Bomba, compared to other versions and added Tugger/Misto moments. I think, if it’d been allowed, Tugger and Misto would’ve been paired up there. Bomba can be like 1998, not having her usual partner and just going with whoever’s not paired up, which would be Tumblebrutus this time. Peter could be there for Jelly. Everyone’s happy!

But seriously, Gay Misto Mating Dance Scene when? Somebody get on that. People already find the horniness in Cats to be weird and adding gay horniness won’t make much of a difference.

#cats paris 1990 #cats zurich #mr mistoffelees #cats victoria #mistoria #cats buenos aires #cats troika #cats cassandra #missandra?#cats hamburg #cats german tent tour #cats uk 2013 #carbucketty #mistbuckety #cats 2016 #jellylorum #rum tum tugger #tuggoffelees #2016 misto cannot be comphet paired

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probably-haven · 3 years

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after binge reading i have come to a new revelation: I’m not a fan of most Xiaoven fanfics

Don’t get me wrong, I love the ship and its one of my favorite to think about.... but most of the fanfiction for the ship just- doesn’t sit right with me for a number of reasons.

Disclaimer: these are personal opinions from my own taste and are in no way an attack against any authors out there, because frankly fanfic authors are great and not like i could do better lol. As these are personal opinions, I acknowledge here and now that a number of people disagree and that they are under no obligation to change their opinions in any way as it is not and never will be my intention to tell others what they should be thinking That said- read at your own risk if you want- meh, anyway-

time to share some opinions that have been on my mind lately

The biggest reason.... is how they handle Xiao. And I don’t even mean mischaracterization because Xiao is such a complex and yet simultaneously simple character that as long as you’re somewhere in the range of “Xiao vibes” it’s really hard to write him out of character because of his complexities. What I mean is something that i actually completely agree with as being accurate to his character. In nearly every single fanfic I’ve seen, there is some element of idolization that Xiao has for Venti, or for the sake of reference, Barbatos. He tends to think himself beneath Barbatos and/or indebted to him, whether that be because he’s an archon, because he saved him, or simply because of Xiao’s tendency to dehumanize(yes i see the irony in that word usage) himself. This by itself isn’t an issue but its often how this trait of his is treated.

Imma just list a few ways I’ve seen this be handled within Xiaoven fics. - It isn’t handled, it’s just there and accepted as a part of who he is in the story - It isn’t handled but his trait is treated as source of humor within the story - Venti(and others) roll with it (finding humor in it, just cant change it, encouraging it, making jokes about it, etc.) - Venti takes advantage of it(whether accidentally or purposely) - it’s actually addressed(by Venti or someone else or the narration- can go a number of ways, but just- even a brief reference to the fact that its not a good mindset fits in here) - savior!Venti(Where venti disagrees with it but the way it’s written gives off “god among mortals” vibes- like he’s just being humble and truly is above him in reality) - its the focus of the story - not directly addressed but shown to be destructive. - they chose not to not include this in the story’s characterization of Xiao(just saying that this is valid ahead of time) Theres others but i have a lot already. Note that I tend to read more ‘serious-toned’(idk if that makes sense) fics so that may skew my perception

Now there’s a few that i have issues with on their own- both instances of it not being handled, Venti(and others) rolling with it, Venti takes advantage of it(purposely(and without good intent)), and savior!Venti. Xiao not only has this trait, but he is unfamiliar with what is normal in relationships or emotions as a result of isolation and inexperience. He is also either not aware of or not concerned with what is considered strictly “healthy.” Combining these makes for a rather dangerous combination and just accepting it as “oh he’s just like that, it’s who he is” or making it out to be something funny- It’s not wrong or bad by any means necessarily, and I could still possibly enjoy it to an extent depending on a series of different factors, but its- not as often. Even in the case where I do enjoy reading it however, I would still feel uncomfortable sharing it with or recommending it to others because in the first instance it feels like normalizing a destructive and dangerous mindset, and in the second case it does the same while simultaneously making a joke of it. It’s the same deal with Venti or other characters rolling with it, but that’s probably gonna be mentioned later too. Not to say that this is a “wrong” way to handle it, that it makes the fic bad, or that authors even are normalizing anything by doing so, just that in my specific instance- not a fan.

I’ll get to the others when i talk more about Venti, but for now: It’s the focus of the story. I think I saw like... 2? where the story was like- focused on this and why its a problem which- power to them, address those real world problems like a boss- but also i wouldn’t actively seek it out or anything- like, good job, but doing so just leaves it open neutrally for other factors to decide how good a story i think it is.

not directly addressed but shown to be destructive. You’d think i wouldn’t like this- but frankly in fanfiction not everyone wants to address every character flaw verbally because it can through off story, narration, dialogue, and general flow to do so. This can be with an event, an action, a dialogue, a mere comment, making it actually fit into the it’s actually addressed category except that its- subtle enough to make its own category. plus i live for show not tell- in everything- its a thing. im- very much a fan of when the fics do this but the subtlety is easy to miss and its not common so-

It’s actually adressed- doesnt have to be a lot- just mention anywhere or imply anywhere that maybe idolizing someone as a god and savior and being in a relationship with them while having little knowledge of standards, emotions, relationships, or healthy behaviors in general- maybe isnt the smartest idea in the word. (”Call me Venti, not Barbatos” by itself is not enough to fit in this category tho as a note)

Now lets talk about Venti...

uh.... those who have followed me for awhile will probably already know this but... I have a lot of opinions on Venti and a pretty- “niche(?)” perception of his characterization that isn’t shared by a lot of others- so I don’t actually read as much Venti fanfic in general as you might expect because I often end up disagreeing with how writers portray him, which again, in no way is their characterization wrong, but- “their perceived truth” conflicts with “my perceived truth” and by extent so does the characterization, though neither is any more correct than the other from an objective point of view, if that makes sense... but anyways now that that’s said, moving on before this becomes a philosophy lecture, as fun as that would be for me. I’ll try to keep my “perceived truth” out of this for the first bit.

Venti’s response to this:

He rolls with it: this depends on the mood of the fanfiction. If they dont put a lot of stress on that trait of Xiao’s it totally fine but if the trait seems to be a major part of Xiao’s character, it seems like normalization once more. (more on this later)

he takes advantage of it purposely: if its an AU or something and Venti’s like a villain(i saw a few) then- villain venti isnt my cup of tea but i have no qualms. If they don’t portray Venti in a negative light while having him take advantage however that’s a bit uncomfortable to read for me because it feels like normalizing taking advantage of that mindset as well as the mindset itself. However, i did see a number of instances of Venti using it as leverage for like- self care- which i definitely have no qualms. Xiao: [insert probably destructive idolizing statement about being indebt] Venti: How bout you pay me back by actually sleeping for once smh or other variations are okay and depending on the vibe are actually a really fun dynamic as long as it doesnt turn into romanticizing or normalizing it, y’know?

Venti accidentally taking advantage of it.... I love angst- and in most of these theres a sense of guilt when he realizes- and i just think thats a lovely way of addressing the dangers of such a mindset for both sides. As long as it doesn’t keep repeating to the point of romanticization its totally cool to read in my eyes(not irl ofc). If Venti never realizes he accidentally took or is taking advantage it feels a bit like normalization, and if he does but just- doesn’t care thats- a rip.

savior!Venti...... i- i hate. the story giving off vibes that Xiao’s mindset is technically correct while Venti oh so humbly tells him to treat him as an equal like the wonderful and charitable person he is.... i just- no. of course thats over dramatizing it- I think the main thing that gives it this vibe is when Venti doesn’t seem either concerned, surprised, uncomfortable, or otherwise have a negative feeling towards Xiao’s mindset. Just- it makes the whole thing weird in my eyes when Venti doesnt really seem to have his own reason to oppose the mindset idk-

fact time!

Venti is the god of freedom. His backstory is freeing Mondstadt from a god’s tyrannical reign. His origin is a windsprite, just another breeze bringing changes for the better. His form is a nameless boy who played an instrument and then died, thus failing at his only dream and only ever accomplishing anything because of the help of others. He slept for a thousand years after the archon war to avoid putting Mond under the rule of yet another tyrannical god. He only even became a god because Andrius chose to let him. He wouldn’t have even had that chance if the nameless bard had survived, he’d remain just another wind while his friend ascended to godhood. Venti sacrifices his own power for his people’s freedom.

now that I’ve laid out a number of canon facts, time for opinions:

Venti has little to no desire to be seen as a god. He thrives in, comes from, and emphasizes a lack of superiority in quite nearly everything. The first Ragnvindir, who canonically turned his back on Venti after Decarabian’s fall, likely did so because one- he anticipated power would corrupt and Venti would soon become just another tyrannical god, two- he suspected Venti used the nameless bard in an attempt to rise to godhood, or three- idk insert other possibilities to acknowledge again that i could totally be wrong.

Look me in the eyes and tell me Venti wouldnt trade godhood for his friend in an instant. His godhood was only granted to him because his friend died and could easily serve to constantly remind him of what could have been and what he lost. Venti takes no enjoyment from being seen as superior and in my opinion, I feel that it could actually make him largely uncomfortable when his divinity and abilities as an archon get involved-

also self promotion for my favorite posts- check out #archon war era venti if thats interesting to you

so anyway Venti rolling with it or making jokes about it just doesn’t sit right with me.-

Okay! enough talking about that mindset!

idk- i have... a few/lot of other gripes and stuff or just things that kinda throw off the vibe for me but that’s the main one plus my general personal pickiness when it come to Venti fanfics- but this has gotten long enough already-

idk i just felt like rambling about it and i haven’t done a long post in a while so-

again, I love the ship and its actually one of my favorites- just the fanfic isnt my thing..... that doesn’t mean i don’t still love it and come up with a whole ton of brainrot and ideas on it tho lmao

#genshin impact #genshin xiao #genshin venti #xiaoven #genshin barbatos #opinions #discourse #? idk ill tag it just in case #dont mind my constant backtracking and justifying and repeated disclaimers-#i just have a crippling fear of being cancelled lol

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gay-little-fruit · 3 years

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My guys, my people, my dearest favourite humans, what the fuck?

My shitposts have taken me this far?

I refuse to believe you guys are okay

But thank you. Thank you so fucking much. I love you all. You're the light in my darkest days and I'm NOT exaggerating like the overdramatic Herondale that I am. I love you I love you I love you so much❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Thank you all for giving me this beautiful gift in the Pride Month and right after my horrible week. I appreciate y'all so much.

Now, for the celebration :

I would like to let you all know that I am learning to make wallpapers and edits and stuff like that and I am slowly getting there. So there will be one row for those things in the celebration ask list although I can not promise that it'll be very good. It has a high chance of being shitty, in fact. But I'll try.

And now, without further ado, the celebration :

Send me from any of my fandoms mentioned in this post and I promise I'll try my best :

🔮 + the quote of your choice - for a quote wallpaper with any quote

🖼️ + name of the character/ship - for a wallpaper with a character/ship of your choice

🎞 + name of the character/ship - for a moodboard of a character/ship of your choice

💣 + name of the character/ship - for headcanons about a character/ship of your choice

📝 + name of the character/ship + prompt - for a small fic about a character/ship of your choice

🥴 + name of the character/ship - for a meme with a character/ship of your choice

🎶 + name of the character/ship - for a song rec for a character/ship of your choice

🌪 + name of the character - for my fancast for that character

✏ + name of the character - for a badly hand drawn doodle of a character of your choice

📜 + name of the character/ship - for my opinions on a character/ship of your choice

🌸 + name of the fandom - for CYM asks

📕 - for the name of a random book on my reading list

🦔 - for a random cute animal photo

❄ - for a random fact about myself

🌈 - for a badly hand drawn pride themed doodle

📸 - for a random pic of my choice from pinterest

👀 - for a random crackhead quote

✒ - for a quote in my handwriting

☃ - for a picrew of my face which is the closest thing to a face reveal

💝 + the category - for my favourites in a category (i.e. favourite colour, book, song, ship etc)

💭 - for anything you want to let me know or ask me other than any irl information reveal

The tags will be #rosie celebrates your love and #rosie has 250 followers now

Tagging some mutuals below :

@herondalesunsetcurve @the-blackdale @shat-needs-to-fucking-sleep @22herondale @ghafa-dale @just-here-to-escape-from-reality @neo-lightchild-decafineator @crazy-chicken-popcorn @shadowrunner2000 @thomas-gaypanic-lightwood @nott-the-best @wannabe-warlock @oopyoufoundme @clarys-heosphoros @fortheloveofthecarstairs @wilhxlminxx @cigarettesandpipedreams @dharanidares @the-neighborhoodreader @clockworkprincess19 @pink-party-dino @lunar-mensis @reyna-herondale and everyone else I forgot to tag❤❤❤

#rosie celebrates your love #rosie has 250 followers now #rosie announces

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fangqueen · 3 years

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Fic Rec Tag Meme

@sitp-recs, I’m terribly late, but this looked way too fun, so I had to join in. Fair warning, y’all, not everything here is Drarry, or even HP (I am a prolific rarepair shipper/multi-fandomer, and Dron is my OTP 😂), so I’ve added the fandoms and pairings below as well. All of these (and many more!) can also be found on my ficshelf! It was so hard to pick these as it was, I couldn’t help but point you in the right direction for all the ones I (sadly, unfortunately) had to cut from the list, lol.

Anyway, thank you so much for running this tag meme, @sitp-recs! It’s been amazing seeing everyone’s recs and discovering new fics! 🖤

• A fic you love without knowing the source material: He Was a Punk, Pete Did Tabletop Roleplay by @mscaptainwinchester Marvel | Peter/Wade | NC-17 | 7.5k

• A fic with a premise that shouldn’t work but it does: Anthony J. Crowley, Retired Demon and Airbnb Superhost by @theoldaquarian Good Omens | Hints of Aziraphale/Crowley | G | 3k All fics are valid and work!! That being said, I had no idea just how much I was going to fall in love with a fic about Crowley being an AirBnB host when I first opened it. 😂

• A fic you’ve reread several times: Department of Magical Creatures Case 62637 by @mscaptainwinchester (under RonsPigwidgeon at the time) HP | Draco/various, Ron/OMC, Ron/Draco | R | 121k How could I expected to only pick ONE?! 😂 I’ve reread everything you’re seeing here - I’ve reread nearly every fic I’ve ever recced at least once. But I couldn’t make a favorites list without this fic, so might as well put it here, haha!

• A fic you still remember many years later: Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble by Sushi HP | Severus/Severus | NC-17 | 8.9k I remembered it so well (and fondly) that after 12+ years, I went scouring the Wayback Machine to find it. And yes, the pairing is correct. Don’t look at me. If you’re still interested in reading after knowing that, hit me up, ‘cause it takes a bit of instruction to find it now.

• A comfort fic: You and I by @shiftylinguini HP | Scorpius/Albus S. | NC-17 | 32k

• A cathartic fic: The Conformity Conspiracy by shrink South Park | Michael/Pete (or Ethan/Dylan, as this was written before they had names in canon) | R | 71k I really struggled with this entry. I came to the realization that...I don’t know if I’ve ever actually felt catharsis from a piece of media before??? Well, I have with music, for sure, but not really with anything else. Anyway, I chose this fic for this slot because every time I read it, I’m transported back to being a goth teen. I can feel every word, every action, like I’m going through those years again with them...Which isn’t necessarily what cathartic means, but fuck it, it works for me, haha. ***As always whenever I rec this fic, I do just have to warn that it’s not properly tagged on AO3, and there is definitely some potentially triggering content in it. If you’re interested in reading and would like to know more (so you can be better prepared), feel free to DM me!***

• A fic you’d print and put on your bookshelf: In Flight, Two Boys by lobst_r HP | Marcus/Oliver | NC-17 | 29K Again, how I could possibly pick only one for this one?! I would print out ALL of these fics if I could, and many more! But this is such a beautiful fic, it definitely deserves a spot on the list, and what better spot for it than this? There’s actually a sequel currently posting as well! I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet, but I’m sure it’s just as amazing, if not more so.

• A fic you associate with a song: You Do Your Body Work, I Feel My Pulse Working Overtime by @veelawings HP | Draco/Harry | NC-17 | 1.6k I mean, it’s in the title. 😜 But also this is just a truly inspiring fic that I absolutely had to include! (I realized I somehow haven’t queued a rec post for it yet, and I will make sure to fix that soon!)

• A fic that inspires you: dirtynumbangelboy by @magpiefngrl HP | Draco/Harry | NC-17 | 39k

• A fic that brought you onboard a new ship: Lumos by birdsofshore HP | Draco/Harry | NC-17 | 41k Some people may be surprised to know that Drarry was, uh.......once my NOTP. Yes, really. 😂 You wouldn’t suspect that nowadays, would you??? LOL. It’s all because of this wonderful, beautiful fic. I saw it getting recced everywhere at the time and said fuck it, I’ll give the pairing another try - and I never looked back!

• A fic you wish could be a movie: Midnight in the City of a Hundred Spires by @shiftylinguini HP | Draco/Harry | NC-17 | 25k

• A fic that led to you making friends with the author: A Weasel in the Hamptons by @peachpety HP | Ron/Draco | NC-17 | 15k I don’t quite know if this counts, because I believe we’d already been speaking before this??? 😂 But of course, being that I’m the mod for Ron/Draco Fest, I knew who was writing for this prompt of mine, and thus we dispensed with the formalities in private, haha! It was a great experience, and I was so overjoyed to see the results in the end. So happy to have met you, love! 😘 Hope you’re well!

• Free Space: The Pizzaria: A Sordid Tale of Destiny, Evil and Garlic by Mad_Maudlin HP | Ron/Draco | PG-13 | 36k A Dron/crack!fic staple, honestly, and I just couldn’t make a favorites list without it!

• A fic you’ve gushed about irl: Runway by @candawrites HP | Ron/Draco | R | 15k

• A fic you associate with a place: Archipelago by Mad_Maudlin HP | Ron/Draco | NC-17 | 18k I just have a very distinct visual memory of reading this fic for the first time: sitting on the couch in my mom’s living room, the sun setting outside. (I was visiting for her bday, I believe???) I think of that moment every time I see the title.

• A fic that made you gasp out loud: clutched your life and wished it kept by @glitteringvoids HP | Ron/Draco | R | 110K

• A fic you found at the right time: Howlr by @partialtopotter HP | Draco/Harry | NC-17 | 47k I got really sick in summer 2018. I know I’ve talked about it on here a million times at this point, so I won’t dwell. But I ended up finding and reading this fic the following March, and it reawakened my love of fic and fandom that had been lost over the previous months while I was dealing with everything. I hadn’t been reading or writing at all in all that time, and I ended up reading this whole thing in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down! It just made me feel so good, after a long time of not feeling anywhere near good.

• A fic that you would read fic of: In the Garden After Dark by @the-starryknight HP | Draco/Harry | R | 3.5k I just need more of this universe and Draco’s Illusion magic. 😍

• A fic that made you laugh out loud: Why Parvati Patil Must Die by hull1984 HP | Ron/Draco | PG-13 | 39k

• A fic with a line (or two) that you’ve memorized by heart: Hail to the King by Mad_Maudlin HP | Ron/Zacharias, Ron/Zacharias/Draco | NC-17 | 5k

• A fic that gave you butterflies: The Electric Fizzing Prick Pistols, or Whatever by whitmans_kiss HP | Sirius/Remus | PG-13 | 3.8k

• A fic that embodies something that you value in life: Luna Lovegood: Wank Coach for the Long-Since Deceased by yrfrndfrnkly HP | gen | PG-13 | 9.8k This was another difficult category to choose for. Not that I don’t think any fics I’ve read display good values! Of course they do! But I have this weird issue where I don’t, like...project? at all??? So sometimes it’s hard for me to recognize these things in what I read. But eventually I realized it had to be this fic, because I just love the carefree way Luna lives her life here, her job helping people (well, ghosts who could use some sexual release, specifically, but you know), and the wonderful friends she surrounds herself with.

• A favorite AU: Quibbler Unsolved by Leontina HP | Draco/Harry | PG-13 | 17k More of a fusion than an AU, but it’s just fantastic!

• A fic you stayed up too late to finish reading: Grounds for Divorce by @tepre HP | Draco/Harry | NC-17 | 122k

• A fic that made you feel seen: Taste the Rainbow by @maraudersaffair HP | Ginny/Pansy | PG-13 | 639

#fic rec tag meme #fangqueen recs fics #fangqueen speaks

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