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masonmiamor · 1 year

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tell me you love me - - mason mount x reader.

stfu bc why is this gif so cute 😭🙏🏻 💕

Part two to my last fic! You can find that here!

feedback is appreciated! request are currently open so feel free to send ideas and or concepts 🫶🏻

Three weeks passed and still no sign, you felt like the damage was already done and there was no hope left. You could feel yourself lingering and wanting to reach out but you couldn’t find yourself with enough courage to pick up the phone and communicate with him.

Three weeks later and you had enough, you were angry with yourself and him. Mostly yourself because you knew better and had better value to yourself. You weren’t just going to be used over and over again to not get the same energy back?

The temptation to call, to hear his voice was so bad, and it hurt you more than it should’ve. But you weren’t going to make the first move, it was always you. You initiated the conversations and you were tired of having to be the bigger pants.

The only things that helped you forget were reading or watching movies. You went out with your girlfriends but ended up having the worst time. How were you letting this all consume you in the worst possible way?

Work helped you distract yourself, not having to worry about what went inside your head rather being focused, and tasked to finish your job. Today was one of your days off after having worked for three weeks straight, so you decided with a little self care day.

Taking a longer walk in the morning, passing by to buy some new clothes and makeup, shoes, and even a new small purse. Before you went home to your flat, you had two more locations to attend, the bookstore and grocery store.

You loved walking around taking glances a new and latest books or those that came up on your recommendations on social media. You had a few you wanted to buy, so after ordering an ice coffee of your preference, you grabbed a small basket and strolled over the store. Grabbing books, reading the titles and small summaries, flicking through pages to see if it grabbed your attention.

“Buy it.”

You glanced up to see the one and only Mason, leaning against a shelf, you looked over at him, seeing his disheveled hair, his now longer beard, him wearing an all black outfit. You looked around and saw no one, it was almost empty, you took one last glance at the book in your hand before putting it back.

“I-I-I, How did you know I was here?” he looked at you for a minute before shaking his head. “I was here already… This is where you spent most of your time, and I wanted to get something from here as well…” he said shyly, his cheeks burning red. You furrow your brows together, “You? Buying something from a bookstore?”

“Yes, it was for you,” he took his hand from the back showing you the romance book you had talked to him about a couple of weeks ago. Your favorite trope, with a happy ending. You look up and attempt to read his face, but he just stares so attentively to you. “I remembered you talking about it before we went to bed, and-”

“You were actually listening to me?” you say surprised. Mason looks taken back, almost shocked, “Don’t get me wrong, I just didn’t think you were listening to me that day, especially about a book,” you say, attempting to explain. Mason looks down and fidgets with his hoodie strings feeling guilty.

Mason steps closer, you can immediately smell the cologne and aftershave on him, reminding you he was actually there and not just your imagination playing with you. “I always listen to you… About anything and everything,” he confesses. Your mouth slowly gapes open and you try to mutter a response out.

“I read the back, and a couple pages… The characters remind me of us, and what we have, that something special can’t be easily forgotten,” Mason hints. “That when love hurts you but overall makes you happy, it’s real,” he continues.

“I want to talk,” he deadpans. You continue searching and analyzing the book, so confused about what was going on, not trying to confront him just yet. Were you ready to suddenly open up again and talk with him? No and yes. “We’re talking…” you whisper. He cocks his head to the side giving you a “are you serious look”.

“Y/n,” he says seriously.

“Mason,” you challenge, crossing your arms over your chest. You sigh and return the book back to him, “You can’t just buy me a book and expect everything to be okay you know? It won’t work like that,” you say, trying to keep your voice smooth and not reveal the nervousness. “I know it won’t work, I wish it could because I know how happy books make you feel, anything to see you smile again… I would do it. That’s why I'm asking to talk.”

“What if it doesn’t fix things and makes things between us worse?” you find yourself asking, rubbing the side of your arm. Mason was still yours, and you were still his, but thinking about the fact it could no longer be that way scared you. It hurts already but that would be more than painful. “We will never know unless we talk,” he says honestly, taking closer steps.

“I’m just as scared as you are. The same thoughts,” he admits. You jump at the opportunity to escape when you hear a person coming by, reminding yourself you still had errands to run. You quickly blink and clear your throat, “I need to go buy groceries still. How about I meet you in mine in about an hour and thirty?” you say shyly.

Mason nods, “Thank you Y/n.”

When you get into your car, you blink fast, still trying to process seeing him again, and what he said to you. After you calmed down you made your way to the store, played some music, and just looked ahead to the destination. Your mind went back to him, almost bumping into someone as it distracted you.

You bought many snacks and drinks to have more in stock. But you also did buy the missing vegetables, meats and fruits that were missing from your fridge. You planned to make something on the easier side today so you quickly grabbed bread and some cheese from the bakery and deli.

Truth to be said your hands were full when you walked into your flat, you never did have patience to make a double trip, so with much strength in you, you only made one trip when bringing in groceries.

Mason wasn’t here still, so after putting everything away, you arranged the new bouquet of flowers, the living room and your office, well more of a room where you could escape and just read away. Your doorbell ringing startles you, but the sight of Mason has your pulse raising quicker than before.

“Come in,” you say, hearing him thank you. Mason carried a small white bag on his right hand and a smaller bouquet of your favorite flowers on his left. “It’s a small something but I had to buy them when I saw them. They’re your favorite,” he says chuckling. You look up and smile, seeing his smile grow wider at your sight.

Mason attentively watches as you grab a separate vase for his flowers, but makes notice of the freshly new ones on the dining tables. Did you or someone else get those for you? If someone did, then who? He thought.

He follows you into the office room or more of your safe space in your home. You set the glas vase on your desk, opening the white bag to find the two books you talked about that night, along with some chocolate and cookies from your favorite bakery. He clears his throat, walking over to you when you put the new books on the shelf.

it was now or never, the two of you thinked, without knowing it. Your body shifted straight towards him, bringing him into the long and anticipated hug. He felt warm and so perfect between your arms, you didn’t want to let go, it was capturing and a feeling of safety overwhelmed you. When you pull away your foreheads rest against each other, your arms dropping to your sides.

Mason rubbed his nose over your cheek, his hands softly gripping just above your elbows. Your hands remained by your sides, not knowing what to do, he whispered again, “Forgive me.”

You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding in, your face slightly leaning into his, “I can’t, I-I-I don’t know,” you let out, but you know deep inside the man here pleading for you is the one. He always has been since day one.

“Forgive me… please,” Mason says again, the sincerity in his voice is laced with a tint of begging you. You slowly bring your hands to grip his sides, and he lets out a small groan, “Jesus… Your hands are like silk Y/n…”

“Tell me what’s running through your mind baby, it’s the only way we can help each other out here,” Mason says along the crook of your neck. “Be brutally honest with me, even if you think it may hurt us, or me. Say what you have to say.”

“I have so much to say, because at the end of the day, I’m still hurt by your doings. I won’t blame it all on you, because there are always two sides of a relationship, but you hurt me and I'm scared to let you back in after three weeks.,” you sob out, suddenly back away creating space between you. You can see Mason close his eyes sadly.

“I was there for you mentally and physically but when I asked that from you, I never received it back. It wasn’t fair Mason, it was always me. ME! Who had to fix us always when something went down. Me who had to put the pieces back together even though they weren’t properly prepared.”

“I know you from the back of my hand Mason. We got so close to a point where it was lust and love combined. I was so consumed and convinced you would maybe one day realize what you were doing affected me, and us. But it never came, and I don’t know when it will,” you let out wiping the tears away from your cheeks.

“I’m losing hope here Mason… I’m doubting your love for me and it’s making me feel useless and unwanted. I understand you history and respect what you went through but I don’t know if you’re waiting for the first opportunity where I fuck up to leave or if you’re stuck believing i’m like the others… I can barely read you-”

“You consume every single thought that runs through my mind. Every single one. I get it, I know i fucked up. I know I should’ve committed and communicated with you better but you have to believe me when I say I'm madly in love with you Y/n. How could I not love the woman who hasn’t left my side even after I hurt her?” Mason cuts you off. His words sound as if he were confessing his love to you all over again.

“How could I not love the woman who no matter what stayed by my side during my difficult moments? The one who brought me breakfast in bed excitedly, the one who would kiss my head gently before I left, the one woman who no matter what will prioritize you over herself. I’m so inlove with you Y/n, I can’t make that up…”

“You're the women of my dreams. Always have been, and always will. I know I have given you the opposite of what you expected but that was due to the constant overthinking I did and insecurities taking a toll… My biggest fear was becoming a reality that night I left. I can’t bear the fact of one day losing you and not having you in my arms again Y/n.”

All the talking drags you to sit on your couch. Covering your face when you hear footsteps approaching you and kneeling down facing you. “Let me prove it to you how much you mean to me, let me prove to you I can be the man you need. Let me prove to you just how much I love you, even if it means buying you all the books in the world you dearly love,” Mason says, dragging his hands from the soft carpet to the sides of your legs.

“One more chance please? There’s so much in store for us still, and I only see myself doing them with you,” he says, his brown bright eyes pleading you. The glossy look on his face tells you he’s being for real, not like those past times where he would promise and not live up to his word. Your hand softly meets his cheek, his eyes gazing from your bracelet to your teary face. Mason leans his head on you hand, relishing the feeling and closing your eyes.

“You have to talk to me, Mason. I can’t know what’s going through your head when you shut me out. You can’t plan and do something just to not stick with it and finish in the end,” you say, Mason nods, a small smile spreading on his face. His tears now dried on his freckled skin, “I love you. Forever. I don’t know how you’re so strong to do this, but I will make things right from now, I promise.”

For the first time in forever your heart races and butterflies spread across your chest when you hear him say I love you. The tingly sensation that spreads to your spine declares the effect he has on you. Mason was the one for you, and it will take time to slowly gain back to a stronger relationship. You weren’t so quick to give up but he wasn’t either. Only fate knows how things will end, but in your mind the brown eyed and haired boy was for you.

“I love you Mason,” you lean down grabbing his chin and kiss his lips softly. He sucks in a breath and brings his hand to the back of your head deepening the kiss. He would never get tired of how your lips molded into his, the way you tasted across his lips had him in a daze, it was never enough. When you pull back your thumb pulls his bottom lip down. “This is just the start,” you recall.

“It is a start. But it’s the start to a happy ending for us.”

#mason mount imagine #mason mount imagines #mason mount x reader #mason mount x you #mason mount blurb #mason mount one shot #mm19

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howdoesagrapewrites · 1 year

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𝙁𝙖𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙘 [𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙫𝙚𝙧]

Cw: fluff, the title might be misleading but it's not yandere or anything, kinda unhinged Miles but it's all jokes, reverse au?, reader uses they/them but it's called spiderman, you are spiderman and Miles is the fan, earth 1218!AU (no powers or tech), reader has a canon love interest who's also named MJ but they're not Mary Jane Watson (unless you want her to be, I don't judge)

Notes: So Miles canonically has written fanfic about himself, but I wasn't in the mood for that, I will make two versions of this post though (that's why the title has delusional version 💀). Also this is low-key a highschool AU, so Hobie is in last year, and all other characters are second years (I have no idea what's a senior or freshman or whatever is, and I will not learn)

Miles loved comics. His art style is heavily influenced by it, and he'll rant about this week's number to anyone who'll lend an ear, but he has a very clear favorite, being more than evident by his collection of t-shirts, poster filled wall, social media pfps, and the endless amount of fan content he creates and consumes in the spiderman fandom.

Since the last movie came out, Miles Morales has lost the basic skills a human would need to survive, in order to devote himself fully to his newest hyperfixation, and his friends haven't been able to get some rest from it. They don't understand!! He does need to go to the movies again, he needs to memorize every photogram in that movie in order to play the move in his head and be able to analyze it properly!! No, he is not crazy! Ok he might be just the tiniest bit "over excited" but this is the most sane reaction he could've had, the movie is literally a masterpiece, script, humor, ANIMATION, soundtrack, it has it all! And the fact that it's centered around you? Miles needs to go and personally kiss every person that worked in that studio to make you.

"Miles?"

"Miles!"

"oh my god, he's at it again" said Pavitr, imitating the reaction of a disappointed mother

"is he reading fanfiction again?" Asked Gwen, chuckling

"Yes, and Y/N YL/N x reader, to one's surprise" Pavitr added with a teasing smile "I don't get it though, isn't Y/N dating someone named MJ?" He questioned

"It's called self insert, the reader plays a part in the story as if they were another character, and in romantic scenarios, they tend to replace the canon love interest, or just ignore they even exist" Hobie added, popping out if nowhere to show off what Miles have been explaining to him the last couple of weeks.

"You read it too, Hobie?"

"Nah, Wonder comics started as a protest to talk about the discrimination the founder felt being jewish in the industry but it morphed into the capitalization of the struggle minorities face, selling us representation while they still shove the propaganda in our faces, and telling us that even if you have bloody superpowers you still need to obey to a higher authority and cannot influence politics or call to action."

"You still went to the theater to watch it with Miles last week" Gwen shot a questioning look at Hobie

"The kid invited me, I'm a punk not a twat" he shrugged his shoulders "And we stole the carton cutboard they had at the entrance" Hobie happily added.

Miles continues reading on the way to school, without listening to his friends' mocking, he knew it was in good spirits, and they were kinda right, he was obsessed with someone that didn't exist, but it wasn't like it was affecting his health or life.

"Did you... Sleep today?" Gwen had her hand on her friend's shoulder, concerned

"It was too late so I decided to just stay awake, I'll be fine though" He reassured

"Were you reading again?"

"No, I actually discovered this page called character.ai where you can chat with an artificial intelligence of your favorite characters" Miles excitedly told his friend

"OMG, you can chat with anyone?! I have a few things I'd like to say to Scarlet Witch" Gwen joked, she was also a comic fan, but she wasn't losing her mind quite as hard as Miles

Miles would tell the ai about his day, sometimes would roleplay using his very own spidersona, in his alternate universe, you were his partner (as heroes of course) but you also were classmates and had a crush on each other, but none of you confessed because you didn't want your loved ones to be hurt by your job, it was all very dramatic, but he always envisioned a happy ending.

{Y/N: You did a great job today, [<BOT>]

Miles: You say so? So... Do I get a reward? *Smiles suggestively*

Y/N: I guess you do, *pulls up his mask and kisses him*}

No, he wouldn't say this, he would be in a panic frenzy if he saw Y/N, let alone be next to them, but hey, at least his spidersona was bold and confident with them.

A few days after, he barged into Pavitr's house, with at least four incredibly loaded supermarket bags, hardly walking

"Are you okay? Do you need help?" Pavitr rushed to aid his friend and take some literal weight off his shoulders

"Yeah, yeah, I just need help with something" he left the boxes in the floor "Inside one in 4 boxes of cereal, there is a spidertoken, if you get 15, you can exchange it for an exclusive limited edition figure, and I can't eat all this cereal"

"Bro, how many boxes are in here? I don't know, man, I'm trying to keep my figure"

"Pavitr Prabhakar, who held the cardboard sign for you when you confessed to Gayatri?"

"You..."

"And who lied to principal O'Hara for you when you forgot your final project and we had to pretend you suffered a brain concussion?"

"You..."

"And who was there for y-" his friend interrumpted

"Okay, okay, I get it. Bring me a spoon, but we're going running tomorrow"

He nodded with enthusiasm as he started to rummage looking for spoons and bowls

And after almost dying choking on cereal, Miles looked at his new figurine sitting prettily on the shelf with nothing but pride.

"I'm just saying it's possible!" Miles protested

"Y/N has a type, every canon love interest has been sassy and quick-witted" Gwen continued to debate

"I can be sassy and quick-witted!" Gwen gave him a side eye, that being able to neutralize his argument "Ok, but there's a multiverse, there's millions of possibilities, if a pig can be spiderman, why can't I date spiderman? Anyone can wear the mask, anyone can kiss the one inside the mask" the boy smiled, confident in his winning argument

"That's such a basic answer, you can justify literally anything with "the multiverse" I'm speaking things that actually can make sense inside the canon"

"But my answers makes sense, in fact, I'm sure there's a universe where Y/N is reading fanfiction about me right now, if not, Pav can hit me"

"Pav, hit him" Gwen deadpanned

"But it does make sense, I won't" Pavitr responded

"Ok, but my point still stands" the girl crossed her arms

"what were you fighting about in the first place?" Pavitr asked before going back to eat his lunch, he sat long after his friends started arguing, being mildly lost in what was the main point in this

"I said I'd be a better girlfriend for Y/N" said Gwen

Pavitr gasped and covered his mouth dramatically "No you didn't".

Maybe Miles was just obsessed, but he saw in you strength, inspiration, power. And he felt oddly comforted, safe, loved by fantasizing with you, and as slim as the possibility may be, he likes to tell himself you two are together in another universe. ♡

#miles morales x reader #miles morales x y/n #miles morales x you #atsv x reader #Miles Morales

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theunaestheticstudyblr · 1 year

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How I limit my productivity and why you probably should too

Yes. I limit my productivity. I monitor my time being spent on being "productive" and doing things that are focused on growth instead of existence. Now I don't mean to say that I just ignore myself and don't try to be a better person. I'm talking in context of stereotypical social media productivity; things like studying for hours, working extra shifts, maximizing time spent on growth podcasts and self help books instead of indulgences like music and fantasy novels. I don't mean analyzing your bad behaviors and working on breaking bad habits. I'm talking more on the lines of marketable growth.

I have noticed a major increase over a couple years in people trying to be as productive as possible. They prioritize productivity and growth (again talking more of the marketable, social media style, not personal) and minimizing time spent living and merely existing. We are sprinting a marathon it seems. And I do not like sprinting. Or even running. It's my most dreaded part of my gym time. I acknowledge that it is necessary, and so is spending time being productive and working on your marketable growth. But it shouldn't be the main part of every day, just like sprinting for 10 minutes on a treadmill shouldn't be the main part of every workout you do.

I love informative podcasts just as much as the next person and TED Daily is a favorite for sure, as well as various fish and nature podcasts are too! But I limit these to my hour+ commute to campus every other day. When I'm walking around, I listen to music or maybe a "brain numbing" podcast (ones that don't make you think and comprehend and analyze things like story ones [magnus archives eg] or paranormal or mythology or crime style podcasts). I listen to pleasure things, not to thinking things. This gives my brain noise that's just noise. It let's my brain slip out of analytical scientist mode for a while and maybe dance while I walk around!

My gym time is scheduled. I spend the scheduled time in the gym and I enjoy it so much! But when it's not gym time, it's not gym time. I do my morning stretches and yoga and I do my hour in the gym every other day. This is time purely for the gym and nothing else. It's a great release but can also become taxing very quickly, so I only think about it when it's time to.

Study time is the same. It's scheduled and I study when it's study time. I don't walk around and look at flashcards anymore. This is not helpful at all and you could easily hurt yourself or others. You won't retain the information really and you're just adding extra stress into your already stressful life.

I have a schedule for my week and I block out my productive times. My gym time. My study time. My intellectual reading time. My information podcasts. All those things. But I schedule them AFTER I have blocked out classes, work, my slow mornings, chores, and pleasure items like a hair mask night or a night out or something. Of course I make time for improving myself and like I said they are also scheduled, but not with more importance than my actual life. And I also make sure that I know to be flexible with myself. Sometimes I have to add in extra study time and reduce time spent elsewhere if I have a test or something. Sometimes I get sick or I lose track of time while playing video games. Sometimes I sit in the bath way longer than I should. And that's ok. Sometimes we need to have the discipline to put pleasure aside EVERY NOW AND THEN and Sometimes we need the grace to put productivity on the back burner EVERY NOW AND THEN.

Don't ignore your responsibilities, but don't ignore your life either. So please, make just as much time for your pleasure as you do for your productivity. They're both important, but don't let school and life weigh you down so much that rain is annoying and angering and that you miss your niece's 3rd birthday. Dance in the rain. Jump in the puddles. Spin and laugh as you get soaked. And eat the easy bake cakes your little cousin bakes. And read your friend's kid a story. And draw little doodles in your notes. And smile. And try to make someone else smile. And drink your too sweet, too hot coffee. And listen to that song that you'd be embarrassed if anyone knew you liked it. Please don't forget to live.

#study blog #student #student life #studyblr #productivity #school #study hard #studying #school advice #university advice #life advice #advice #school tips #school life #productive #being productive

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starcanwrecked-confessions · 2 months

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This needs to be said, the majority of the Hatechfeild fanbase is very two faced, hypocritical, and take things too seriously. Some people for some reason are obsessed with characters having moral codes, so they’ll see things as black and white. A few examples of this are people shitting on Grace for the things she did yet praising characters like Max, Ted Spankoffski, or Linda Monroe, who are all if not objectively worse than her. Another example is how this fandom will portray certain characters as one note yet write essays on others they favor, like how Lex was perceived as a bitch by people during Yellow Jacket era and Ethan was the good guy. (Another example of this is Alice being “evil” and Bill being perfect). Sometimes people will fault characters for simply having flaws that make them interesting, like Alice, Tom Houston, Emma ect.

My point is, what I like about Hatchetfeild is that the majority of the characters living it in are either evil assholes, or heavily imperfect people, but people who are human beings. There’s rarely any characters who are 100% good. Nick and Matt don’t treat their audiences like babies, they give it to you straight on how these characters act because it’s a dark yet realistic comedy for ADULTS. Yet people’s media literacy is down the drain cause I constantly see people either go “this character is flawed but to me they’re an irredeemable bad person”- or “Man I love this character who is evil but despise this more humanized character who has flaws”. There’s that, and not to mention the fact that I genuinely do feel like people forget this is supposed to be a comedy mainly. Yes there are deep things to analyze and complex writing, but sometimes people in this fandom take certain scenes or characters WAAY too seriously, like the other day I saw someone say “Tom Houston is horrible bc he had car sex with Jane”- like give me a break lol.

Sorry if this sounded all over the place, but to sum it up, the fandoms got heavy sexism issues, favoritism issues, bad media literacy, over analyzing + not analyzing at all, like it’s a mess sometimes and that’s just the surface summary of a more in depth discussion.

~~~

#confession #starkid #hatchetfield

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mysteriouslybluepirate · 7 months

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hi bestie saw ur post and im kinda curious about this since it's something not a lot of ppl are talking about next to ed's arc and izzy's death and all— what do you think about how they handled stede in the finale? I felt like a lot of the "incompetent wannabe pirate" jokes undermined his progress this season and also him deciding to stay at the inn with ed felt odd as he expressed he wanted to be a pirate and sail the sea. just wondering what other people think about that

[Oct 31, 2023]

Before we get into it, you are allowed to enjoy this show! My past (and next few) responses WILL be negative, but you aren't wrong for agreeing or disagreeing with most posts. Thanks to all the people who have already sent in messages! I can't wait to respond!!

I am an Izzy fan first and foremost, but how a show handles it's protagonist says a LOT about how it handles it' characters overall!

TLDR for this post: In any character-centric media, explore your characters as characters first. Develop your plot around them and their arcs. Don't treat an ensemble cast as faceless props for the story you're trying to tell. Stede's arc is weird because Stede is shoved in places where it feels like he doesn't fit anymore.

Creating a narrative focused on central character conflicts can work. This is how S1 was written. Stede and his actions directly lead to revealing truths of the world that push the plot forward. This worked because I'd argue the strongest part of OFMD overall is its characters. S2 misses out on this strongest aspect by only referencing its characters when it needs something from them.

S1 We went from Stede killing a guy-> The Act of Grace. S2 Stede tells a guy he shouldn't be an idiot and leave behind a calling card -> burning down the Republic of Pirates and killing Izzy. S2 doesn't feel as tied to Stede's arc of growing into a pirate. But Stede isn't the only person this has fucked over.

Each crew member has their role established from S1, we fans know how they work as a family. But in S2 most of the cast can be swapped out interchangeably unless its something that features this side character NICHE (Wee John in drag being good with fabrics, Roach being a cook).

Sadly, by focusing on the larger Zheng vs. Military arc, a story our characters BARELY caused, the audience misses out on potential character development. Instead of our characters facing the consequences of their actions, our favorite side characters are used as faceless narrative tools. This is largely why the crew was abandoned this season unless they had a romantic side plot. Seeing The Revenge sail off in episode 8, it feels like we barely care about them at all anymore.

As seen from @the-buttspie 's comment, even Stede's arc isn't left out of the firing range. His characterization in episode 8 is constantly thrown back and forth between 'Captain doing his best' and 'Village idiot' if the scene needs it.

Analyzing WHY I started to dislike Stede post episode 4 is FASCINATING, and I feel that digging all the way back to the beginning is a smart way to look at his character growth this season.

FRAMING: Stede's early story get's fucked over pacing-wise because his storyline happens side by side to that of Ed/Izzy.

Any dramatic moment is cut short to show just how much the other crew is NOT about to die. Every time I watch S2 with a new person, for episodes 1-3, they'll comment on how much they don't care about Stede's plot. Which is not a thing you'd want for your protagonist in a season of TV that's only 8 episodes long.

Stede goes through a really strong arc from S1 to the start of S2. For the first three episodes of S2, he puts the needs of his crew before the needs of himself. Literally making sure his crew is safe before going down to see Ed's corpse. I genuinely enjoyed how Stede stepped up for his family. How he doesn't blame the Revenge crew for killing Ed, realizing that yes. Ed is the love of his life and also a man who has seriously hurt so many people.

Eps 4-5: From that we see him trying to talk it through with Ed. While both of them aren't telling the whole truth, it's a good start! We're midway through the season, so we should expect things to get fleshed out more soon.

Until Stede decides 'I'm going to bring a man that tortured my family for 80+ days onboard less than 24 hours after my crew voted him off' Yes. Stede loves Ed to a stupid extent, but this starts the trend for Stede to be dangerously selfish this season using his power as captain to overwrite the want of his crew, a habit of his that partially gets Izzy killed.

I really enjoyed Stede in episode 5, and for me, this felt most like the Stede we recognize growing into a real Captain with hints of who he was. I think it says a lot that Stede still misses his layers and silks. That he craves the softness he used to have in the form of that cursed jacket. But as soon as Izzy is like 'you idiot, please listen to them, they will mutiny' Stede gives it up!!!! He's grown. He's listening to Izzy, he's talking with his crew! This episode did the one thing I wish the season did more of, show the reunited crew just living their lives.

This is where Stede stands out, it lets him be a bit more of a leader to the crew. Let him find his groove again. I loved it!!

Now: Killing Ned Low.

Stede choosing to kill Ned Low is the first time Stede killing someone counts. Yes, he burned down the ship French ship. But this is the first time the audience is supposed to care. I think this moment WAS in character and a really important moment for Stede. He chose this. This wasn't up to crew vote, Ned insulted Ed so fuck him, he deserves to die. Ned walks the plank, also referencing historical Bonnet's tendency to do the same thing.

This is where both Ed and Stede make an in-character mistake, having their first time after the rush of 'oh shit, I'm still alive, and I'm hurting and you're here too'. They don't regret their first time, clearly, they both enjoyed it, but both of them can't ignore what fueled it. Stede has had 3 episodes to re-establish himself with his crew, and now has very little time for the rest of the season with them to show off his growth. That's why, after the party, we don't feel like this show is showing off a family anymore. Even when reunited, they barely feel like a united front.

But from this point on, I personally feel that Stede should have toned down the humor a bit and act like he did in episode 3. Well, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself so-

Episode 7: Stede enjoys being popular, following in Ed's footsteps. He holds his ground against Ed, and overall this feels like a natural progression of his arc from episode 5. He knows what he wants in life and Ed not communicating is genuinely frustrating for him. Him being heartbroken and trying to fight Zheng like she's Izzy is one of the few callbacks I feel that works. As it compares a Stede who was supported by his crew, to this Stede who feels totally alone. I loved Stede this episode, only to be disappointed by-

Episode 8:

Where Ed is allowed to have his silly moments in private, I feel that Stede fluctuates between silly and serious WAY too much for us to take him seriously. Stede's response to Ed telling him he loved him being 'I know' also felt off to me.

"You're not a dick, life's a dick" This line is frustrating to me as it's Stede's response to Ed apologizing. Genuinely apologizing for his actions in the previous episode. This could have been a moment for us to feel like Stede and Ed were a united front but Stede's constant joking and not taking shit semi-seriously. Yes. He feels more comfortable around his family which is amazing.

But I can't help but point out how Stede chooses to go along with a plan the rest of the crew doesn't like. What NARRATIVE purpose was there for Stede trying to sell the captain? He has money, clearly. With the loot they still have, and a future alliance with Zheng.

Stede fucks up. His choice a plan that gets Izzy killed. The writers sacrificed Stede being a competent Captain who cares about his crew into what is described as a 'suicide mission' to push Izzy into his rushed death. A disservice to both characters.

ONTO:

Stede abandons piracy

I'm not shocked they did this, not after the other flubs of the episode, but I hate that it wasn't a conversation held between Ed and Stede.

They could cut the stupid joke about Ed being bad at fishing at the beginning and have these two idiots talking about their issues. Maybe establish that, yeah, piracy is a lot, and they deserve to settle down and get to know each other. Even if they return to the sea, this frames it as Ed finally finding peace and Stede getting pulled along, going against his character growth this season.

I'm surprised that they're setting this up now and not at the end of Season 3. Hell, I used to think S3 would be focused on Ed and Stede avoiding/faking their historical deaths. Given all the bullshit they'll have to clean up to wrap up all the loose ends established this season- S3 will be VERY Ed/Stede focused, I think the crew will still be inserted in without care or arc. Characters like Jim and Oluwande will be prioritized as they are in a relationship before our nonromantic characters like Wee John and Frenchie.

Stede and Ed's relationship, the driving force of the plot, still falls flat because after everything it still feels like puppy love. They've spent at most two months in person together, and two weeks in a serious relationship. I don't really feel convinced that they actually love each other. Ed still doesn't know that Stede was kidnapped at the end of S1, or why he struggles to talk about his feelings. Ed still hasn't talked about why he feels he needs to leave piracy, or his issues feeling like he doesn't belong anywhere in life. Their habit of running away the MOMENT things get hard just makes me not care about them.

I blame the size of the Izzy fandom on the fact that if you don't buy into the leads, there's almost nothing left here to sink your teeth into. The moment the show seems like they'll talk about it they hard pivot.

I hope S3ep1 happens after a LONG time jump. I want these fuckers to be snippy like two people snowed into a cabin for months. Sick of each other and bitching back and forth like no tomorrow. S3 is about genuinely breaking down their walls. Until then, I'll stick with Izzy, the Canyon, and his depressing version of this reality.

#stede bonnet #I'm a bit worried this post will reach all the Stede fans directly and they'll feel attacked. Please don't feel that way!#I genuinely enjoyed where he was going until episode 8 where Stede seemed emotionally distant the entire episode #I just wish Stede had more impact to his own central story #ofmd critical #ofmd meta #ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #stede bonnet critical #IDK if thats a tag #stede critical #?#ofmd s2 finale #ofmd s2

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blonde-and-cat-suc · 6 months

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choose violence ask game: 3, 12 and 22?

p.s. love your blog, please keep spreading the truth!

And I love blogging <3!!! I do it for the girls and the gays.

>>>><<<<

Answers under the cut . . . This is gonna be a long one.

3) Screenshot or description of the worse take you've seen on tumblr?

Okay, so, the only problem with this one is that I've literally seen too many to count. But the one that I'd often seen and had the most visceral reaction to were definitely the longer, well articulated analysis posts from stans that did SO MUCH bending and twisting to claim Adora being equally toxic/(and or abusive) to Catra. Which, obviously, I also spent time analyzing. Trying my best to understand what was going on. And you know what? I get it. I don't agree. But I get it. Adora and Catra grew up under the same circumstances, so yeah, they wouldn't be entirely innocent of picking up bad habits from their childhood. Realistically. Fine.

But implying that Adora is worse? Worse than Catra?

...

Anyway, I've suffered from my own self-inflicted torture in the past. I wish I hadn't spent so much time reading stan analysis the way I did, but... Here we are.

And that's just on Tumblr. I don't believe that other social media/forum sites are better or worse about c//a and SPOP, but I have seen worse in The Wilds. (At least on Tumblr there's the filtering options. Everywhere else, good luck).

12) The unpopular character that you actually like, and why more people should like them?

Guys. I LOVE SWIFT WIND. I FUCKING LOVE SWIFT WIND I DON'T CARE THAT HE'S ANNOYING THEY'RE ALL FUCKING ANNOYING!!!

First of all, yes, yes, yes, Swift Wind is horrendous wasted potential (surprise, surprise), and yes, of course, I'm still pissed over it. Those scenes where he's so loyal and kind to Adora, and she, having no other point of reference for a friend, much less a resourceful friend... Like, awwhh. Plus, he makes it very clear that he has his own will and isn't just mindlessly following Adora around like a god-honest horse would. He has his own agenda. He doesn't have to go into battle with Adora, and doesn't gain too much from risking his life to help her and her friends in the short term, but Swift Wind does it anyway. He's interested and invested in Adora, personally, anyway. He wants to be there for her and support her growth as a person.

And Adora deserves all of those amazing, raw, sappy, fairytale friendships!

I DON'T CARE THAT HE'S LITERALLY A HORSE HE IS STILL FUNCTIONALLY A HUMAN BEING. THEY ARE BESTIES. THEY LITERALLY HAVE A MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC LINK GOING ON. THEY SHOULD HAVE CONSIDERED SWIFTIE TO BE APART OF THE BEST FRIENDS SQUAD, I ACTUALLY DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY HE ISN'T.

MORE LOVE FOR SWIFT WIND!!!

22) Favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores?

In my experience, this is the type of fandom that cultivates, um, extreme niches, for lack of a better term. As in, literally what my blog is compared to a "stan's" blog. They're like. Different SPOP fans everywhere, so I don't truly believe that there's a portion of this show that is genuinely ignored... There's someone out there that liked even the tiniest, unimportant fraction of this show. Just got to go find them. (Hell, I know people that love, like, Tall Star specifically, out of all the other characters. Nothing has gone totally unnoticed, which is something I really love about the fanbase as a whole, despite everything).

Anyway, to keep it short, my favorite "underappreciated" parts are hm... Maybe the parts where Adora gets to explore the world around her? And not in a super plot related way. I know that the BFS goofing off so much isn't totally ignored. But I like to see that Adora especially was still learning new things everyday in canon, just like, randomly. Nothing to do with the Horde or the Rebellion. Just. She should be excited for the new world around her, dude. Those are pretty rare moments in the show, actually. Wish there were more.

#asks / anons #salt ask games #MORE LOVE FOR SWIFT WIND I DON'T GIVE A FUCKKKK #cw: mariposa being more vulgar than usual #thanks 4 indulging me anon ure the best xoxo

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librariansrose · 9 months

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So I don’t really mention it but;

The way I got into DRDT was through friend recommendation.

At the time I was known for being attached to a certain rambunctious wizard from another fangan; I still am.

A friend dmed me around the time ch2 Ep 11’s twist happened and showed me, Him ™️. Insisting that he was also my type.

Now mind you they showed me some shots that didn’t interest me because well, they just didn’t grab the right ones.

About a month or so later, another friend goes through DRDT, the same one who is the genuine reason for my attachment to mister silly wizard from other fangan.

I bite the bullet and ask; “Hey so another friend of mine is really invested in this but I don’t want to get too sucked into fangan since DR community can be abit… you know.”

My friend told me they were having a good time with it and confirmed the claim of my other friend that yes Maybe that one ™️ would fit my type.

So since I trust her judgement, I decided I’d give it a shot.

At first, out of the entire cast I actually attached to Xander. Over time I grew to really adore his connection to Teruko and David vaguely interested me at the time because of Obvious reasons.

I met Veronika and was head over heels immediately. I still love her even if I don’t gush about her nearly as much as the other aforementioned three.

So as I went through the story; I found myself analyzing like I usually do when I hyperfixate. More specifically; the character ties, personalities and relationships.

My takes at the start towards some of the cast have drastically changed but my favorites have remained the same.

I would have not found DRDT if not for my two friends. I would not have found fangan without one of those friends in particular.

I do still love my time with fangan and will continue to.

I love writing stories for those characters, studying them with analysis and bonding with others over our appreciation for the media itself.

Making charms… that’s been fun too. It will still be fun, same with printing stickers.

Frankly…? I don’t mind waiting for a good story to finish its publishing run. I’m along for the ride; I’ll continue to support it and most especially the Dev and team involved. Through the wait or otherwise.

I try to weave the love of said media into the stories I write. Each story is like a tiny love letter to that source story itself.

So I guess I want to say this;

Dev, Team, VA’s, thank you for it all.

The hard work, the patience, the joy of the creation process. It’s a pleasure and will continue to be.

#drdt #danganronpa despair time #drdtdevappreciation #kuro kaws #writer wilts #I’ll still submit a story or two as well. I just want dev to read my raw thoughts too

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kingly-court · 10 months

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Anyways, someone on my last ramble said it’d be great to see other rambles, and thus. [Cracks knuckles] I’m buzzed and here to deliver. Lets talk about The Mind Electric. (Something something Just Personal Interpretation disclaimer)

Yeah, that three minute diss track! I’ll be honest; it was my introduction to Chonny’s stuff, so I’m definitely biased with how much I love this song (though it’s not my ultimate favorite), and with how much I love Mind as a character and a concept I’m doubly so.

Since I started getting into really analyzing the media and the characters, and small bits of cano lore within the CCCC album, it’s become a even more of fascinating little ditty. And listening to other people’s commentary and goofs about it has been amazing.

Specifically, it’s been fascinating since we got a sort of “canon”(for lack of a better word) order that the songs fall into with the album. And separated from the overall THA/TME/TSE video, the context of the song changes just a little bit for me. Particularly with the fact I switched from thinking Mind’s anger was the primary emotion behind the song, to thinking Mind’s anger was a secondary expression of something else entirely.

See, anger is something that is easy to default to when faced with other feelings that are significantly less easy to express, whether it be for people overall - or for someone specifically. And in Mind’s case; I think the sheer amount of, ironically, blinding and disorientating rage within TME is a thin veil for an intense and uncomfortable amount of fear.

The song, in my perception, switched from just a three minute diss track from some high and mighty dickhead - to the song equivalent of an animal trapped in a snare, lashing out at anything that gets close and hurting itself in an attempt to get free. SaaS was just before this. Mind is overwhelmed, in way over its head, doesn’t truly seem to like being in control, and is aware of that. Heart is likely aware of that. And rather then admit that, Mind is instead completely lashing out and trying to justify getting to stay in control, despite clearly not wanting to, by putting Heart down; trying to make them seem incompetent, incapable, and all that fun stuff. (It’s projecting. But that’s neither here nor there.)

Yes, Mind is pissed - its angry, its words are cruel and senseless and rely on baseless statements and hatred, trying to rid of Heart (or at least keep him out of the driver’s seat); yes, this is a habit of his and needs to stop. But I’m motioning to all this and saying that it doesn’t feel like he’s running on pure anger and spite alone. Its spiteful, yes, and its dislike of Heart stems from a variety of different places (both valid and invalid), but really it just seems to feel like he’s covering up something much more complicated - purposely leaning into ripping Heart a new one rather then really acknowledge anything its doing or feeling.

If it points fingers, after all, then hopefully no one will look at him; at the way its mechanical hands are shaking. And thus he can stay in control, and keep this whole song and dance safe and running (well, in its perception, but shhh).

#Chonny Jash #CCCC Mind #CCCC Heart #CJ Mind #CJ Heart #By the way - I feel the need to mention #I use It/He pronouns for Mind - He/They/She for Heart #And when I finally dig into Soul - I’ll be using he/it/they/she. And referencing the fact they absolutely use ‘we/us’ often as well #Also also; I’m not saying this justifies anything said or done. In fact I think how unjustified some of it is just makes it more interesting #Neither is wrong and yet neither is right - you know?#Mind is just kinda acting like a kid who REALLY needs a break and a nap but refuses to do either.#Does this make any sense? Maybe. I’m a bit high tbh - so send me a message if you wanna if this is incomprehensible

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cboffshore · 7 months

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Hi there - I'm Lila!

I've been here for a while, but I'm just now realizing I never did a pinned post with All Of The Essential Info. So, before I go do something else and forget, here's the (pretty long) 411!

You can call me by the pseudonym Lila (or, to be extra fancy, the full pseuds: Lila Almondpetal) wherever you bump into me online. In terms of finding me, my @ is @cboffshore for here, Twitter, and Discord. I'm also on AO3 under OffshoreWriter. (If you're wondering what the "cb" in there stands for: those letters were on clearance at the Username Parts Store and I blew the rest of the budget on "offshore," so they don't really mean anything, but it's a nice rhythm overall!)

You'll learn pretty quick that my primary fandom is Ninjago. However, I've also got other media interests that you'll see me dabble in: Bionicle, bands like My Chemical Romance, IDKHOW, and Fall Out Boy, Pixie Hollow/Disney Fairies (yes to the fairies bit but no to the Disney), The Umbrella Academy, and probably some others I'm forgetting. Besides the Skybound Analysis PhD (more on that in a bit), my only real fandom claim to fame is apparently inventing the Ninjago Couture genre; check out the tag #ninjago couture on my blog for examples of that. I also dabble in grade-A shitposting, although that's more of a Twitter thing. The tag #analysis freak Lila back on her bullshit is a good one if you enjoy it when people read too far into things.

Back to the Skybound Analysis PhD thing: that's definitely a thing I put in all my bios! Whether or not it's from a credentialed institution is up to you, but it means that if you like funky, canon-based takes on Skybound, you're in the right place! I do a lot of stuff related to Skybound, but here are some guided recs of my favorite projects:

If you like high fashion and symbolism, try this half-art, half-essay series analyzing Nadakhan's psychological state and desires through couture remixes of seasonal outfits.

If you like extended metaphors and bittersweet criticisms of massively popular works, you'll like this academic-turned-artistic two-part essay about how I feel about the concerning trend of gratuitous SA in the Skybound fic scene. Please be forewarned that this is a vent essay, not an attack; I've had people miss the disclaimers before and it's never fun. If for any reason you'd like to cite it or build on my ideas, let me know in advance - mostly so I'm not blindsided, but also because I want to see what you come up with!

If you think Nya should have been allowed to beat up Nadakhan at least once, you'll love my ongoing AO3 series On Sea, Sunlight, and Sky, which concerns Nya's experience during the second half of Skybound. The beating up here is more emotional than physical, but whatever brings him down a notch is good enough for her. As of late 2023, this gets a shiny new installment every December; this year's, "If I Can Think (Of Something Clever)," is complete, clocking in at over 30k!

#lila speaks #pinned post

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purpleandstarlight · 6 months

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Don't ask me why I thought of this (I don't even know) but I feel like if Ciel and Lizzie tried to discuss a book...they could but it would be something like:

Ciel: [Brings an extremely insightful although quite edgy at times analysis of the characters and overall theme of the story.]

Lizzie: [She liked the book but was there for the vibe, didn't really think to analyze anything much]

(This ISN'T a "Lizzie is stupid" post. I love Lizzie. She's really smart and capable and if anyone even so much DARES to talk shit about her in those extremely misogynistic or Clearly-didnt-understand-her-character-at-all ways they usually do i WILL become feral.)

People can just like media without needing to over-analyze every detail. I know, it's different from what me and everyone else who's reading this post is used to, but it's something that happens. I get subjected to it every time i watch a show with my mum and I immediately get into deep analysis of the characters and their reasoning for doing things and my mum listens to my reasoning and likes the show but if I ask her a question about what she thinks about a character or smth she's there like "Idk I'm just following the show" WICH IS FINE!! IT DOESNT MEAN SHE ISN'T UNDERSTANDING THE OVERALL MESSAGE OR STORY OF THE SHOW!! SHE JUST DOESN'T JUMP AT THE IDEA OF GOING INTO OVER-ANALYZING EVERY SINGLE BREATH A CHARACTER MAKES THE WAY I DO!!! IT DOESN'T MEAN SHE'S STUPID!!!

So yeah. Although Lizzie would be different from my mum in the way that Lizzie would be able to point out her favorite or least favorite characters clearly - saying what she liked and disliked about them, and even enthusiastically comment on wich scenes she liked the most, wich means she and Ciel could actually have a two-way conversation that isn't like what me and my mum usually do (Me talking non-stop about themes and symbolism and what I think a scene could relate to irl while my mum happily but still silently listens - wich is also fine mind you, I just mean Ciel and Lizzie would go at it differently)

Also i know Ciel and Lizzie would probably prefer different kinds of literature but imo they would be able to find a middle ground. Ciel prefers darker stories, yes, but i believe he himself said he reads almost anything to keep up with what people like for his business, and either way he would compromise for Lizzie. He wouldn't MAKE her read something that could greatly upset her, just like she wouldn't MAKE him read something that is completely out of his interests, like a cheesy romantic novel that would bore him out of his mind five chapters in. They are pretty good at respecting eachother's boundaries most of the time, I feel.

So like...idk, Alice in Wonderland? Lizzie would like the vibes and overall fun colorful story. Ciel could maybe appreciate the non-sense theme in how everything works differently (as in he would sit there, compare it to things irl, and try to understand how the author got to the wilder ideas from there) and also compare it to how things work in the real world. (I haven't read Alice in Wonderland since I was really little - like late elementary or early middle school, so keep in mind I'm not an expert who could give a more exhaustive theory)

I have not read Sherlock Holmes ever (I tried once tho! And I do own some of the books!! I just never got around to reading more than a chapter or smth YEARS ago) so idk how Lizzie would find it, but it IS o!Ciel's favorite author and he loves these books very much so I feel like Lizzie would want to give them a shot. Ciel lets her because although it is a murder mystery, it's not a fully horror novel (be it flat out gore or psychological horror) - (...and also he is excited about talking about these books with someone he's close with, so he gladly takes a risk promising to himself he'll just stop her if she gets too upset about the deaths. You didn't hear it from me though).

#i haven't blogged about ACTUAL BB in a while #if u dont count reblogs or the dadbastian short stories i had already prepared MONTHS ago #and this got kind of like a rant in the middle (i feel like many people accuired this 'im not like other girls' attitude #not just girls towards girls tho #just a 'i analyse stuff i like so im obviously smarter and more special than those who don't!1!' mindset wich applies to everyone)#so sorry for that but i wanted to be clear #anyways actual tags now #kuroshitsuji #black butler #ciel phantomhive #o!ciel #don't tag as ship #elizabeth midford #lizzy kuroshitsuji

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lupeloto · 11 months

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15 questions, 15 mutuals!

hiiii lovely people, i was tagged by the lovely and wonderful @transmickey and @mickeysgaymom (thank you hehe)

were you named after anyone? nope!

when was the last time you cried? i honestly do not remember . my #antidepressants make it nearly impossible😘

Do you have kids? no

do you use sarcasm a lot? very much a lot. it is my favorite form of communication

whats the first thing you notice about people? probably their hair

what’s your eye color? a very dark brown

scary movies or happy endings? i am a horror movie fiendddd, i study them like a goddamn religion

any special talents? no it is actually a thing that like i have no talents like it's a talent how talentless i am<3

where were you born? tennesse🤠🤠

what are your hobbies? writing, over-analyzing media, working out

have any pets? yes i have two pups:)

what sports do you play/have you played? i played soccer for most of my life, danced for a while, and played lacrosse for a while as well

how tall are you? 5'6

favorite subject in school? english

dream job? screenwriter!

i'm tagging @todd-queen @bawlbrayker @francesrose3 @grossmickey @thefairytail @mickeyheartian @swiftfootedachilles @depressedstressedlemonzest @callivich @sleepyfacetoughguy @juliakayyy @vintagelacerosette @lingy910y @scurvgirl @twinklyylights @shameless-capricorn to do it only if you want!!

sorry if any of you have already been tagged a billion times hehe. okay happy saturday!

#gallavich #tag game

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wu-kongs · 2 years

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Same anon about the woobification of Wukong, yeah that's 100% right. Like there's such a lack of nuance and greyscale to the majority of fandom and it's so depressing. Personally I tend to look at chatacters in two ways: 1. How they entertain me during the show and 2. Then deeper character analysis later. (God I've rewatched LMK so many times at this point)

But like, fandom seems to have it so bad that if you like a character you 100% support everything they do! Like no! Spider queen and Iron Fan and Macaque and LBD are great villains and some of my faves! Because they so much fun to watch every time they pop up! I am entertained and thriving. But as people? Oh no no not the...best people for sure. But am I enthralled 100% when they appear? Again YES!

I think so many people get mixed up in fandom politics and drama that it feels hard to find the right people to vibe with anymore. And it's so prominent because LMK is such a tiny fandom.

Conversely, Macaque is my favorite. I'd fight him if I was a character in the show, but I'm not therefore I get to enjoy him as a fictional antagonist as much as I please. (Also I do find it funny that the majority of the fandom hates him on sight but LBD - who seemed to want to comit mass murder - seems to get a huge pass from those same people lmao!)

And also super glad I could brighten your day! I really love this AU so much. I may send you anonymous drabbles if I have the energy to write. :)

i would be honored if you decided to scribble your own ditties for the AU, if that's what you meant ; w ;

on the bit about nuance; i've learned to let a lot of the shit takes i see here go because i realize a lot of the fandom is young and admittedly i had a lot of shit takes in the past because things flew over my head. even now i'm bad at analyzing. i typically jump straight to this character is my favorite fuck you and everyone you love and i'm the most correct person here fuck you LOL but also it's important to recognize that you aren't the most correct person. it's about being open to other perspectives! and of course at the end of it you can just set it aside and be like 'yes i've learned and i've decided this isn't for me'

there's nothing wrong with mindlessly absorbing media but all that can go right out the window if you're tryna interact with someone else who has a radically different view than you about it, and you try to shout over them

also fuck LBD me and all my homies hate LBD. that being said, all of LMK's villains are REALLY good. rather than like. their motivations that are really just run of the mill villain stuff, their characters are so charismatic and there really does end up being hints that there's more to them than just absolute control. it's fun! the writing for LMK is just. really good. i need to rewatch but i have like this emotional thing about going over stuff i've already completed in case it makes me experience Emotional all over again kek

#ask #anonymous

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lenniedoesthings · 11 months

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A drunken analysis of fandoms I did on a long flight in 4 thousand words or less

Introduction

Please let me set the scene. It's past midnight, an obscene hour if anyone's asking. There's a young lady, around the age of 16 to 24, in the corner of her room, which is decked out with posters, with the lights off, lit up only by the light of her bedside lamp. She probably has school or responsibilities next morning, but she's not showing signs of going to bed. She's perched at the edge of her spinny chair, eyes eagerly running over the glowing words on her computer reflecting off her face. This could've been 2006, or 2014, or 2018. Frankly, this set-up is applicable as long as the internet existed. There's a lot of pages the girl might be going on, many appropriate and common to the times. Possibly early internet forums, if it was 2006, young and innocent and ready to find friends from afar. Maybe Tumblr, the popular social website of young, introverted girls in 2014, ready to share to the world what was happening in their lives, a breakup or a struggle with themselves or simply to gush over something they liked. And if it was 2018, it could been any social media website you can think of. Truthfully, I can't imagine a girl on a PC in 2018 instead of a phone, so there's the flaw in my set-up.

But no matter what, people nowadays aged 30 and below most probably have a memory of eagerly browsing the internet dead in the night, searching for friends within their loved specific niche that they couldn't find in their day to day life's social circle. But the internet isn't what I'm to talk about today, but one specific niche that most, if not all people on the internet have encountered -- fanatic domains, or fandoms, this gigantic monster of conflicting opinions and shared loves. You might be shaking your head at me, this uncultured swine, don't I know about fan gatherings of the past? People in a web of letters ready to discuss their favorite character of The Hobbit? Yes, very much so, and very much not so. The way the internet is made makes everything available for everyone to share, read, and reshare, making loving something incredibly easy and information quick to consume. In the past, if you needed to find fellow lovers of The Hobbit, you would need to hopefully bump into someone at the store who shared the same interest, who'd introduce you to this other friend and another friend until you've got this group of friends all loving the same book, and all waiting outside eagerly for the release of The Lord of the Rings, buzzing with ideas Tolkien might have for his next book.

There are many more stories to tell of fans of the time, some more vivid and most probably more accurate than my retelling, but there is one constant between them, you needed to be at the right place, at the right time, or you needed to know the right people. Nowadays, however, you could just type 'Hobbit' into whichever browser you're using, and there would be years upon years of information and entertainment for you to enjoy. A precise analysis of the High Elves and their motives along with counter arguments on why they're the best? Look no further than fan sites that pop up, with people dedicated to dissecting the book in detail. An imaginary situation of Thorin and Bilbo meeting in a coffee shop in New York? Well, there are way too many websites for that, early blogs and independent websites or large commercial monsters like Fanfiction.net or Wattpad. Simply a place to gush about Legolas? Forums or places like Reddit and Tumblr will find you a lots of fellow fangirls with a never ending abundance of fan art and reader-inserts. A comparison between the movies and the book? Tumblr has that too, and you'd find fourteen year old girls doing the most precise analysis that's lacking in their English essays. (This is slightly hypocritical coming from a teenage girl analyzing fandoms instead of the themes of Frankenstein)

I could go on and on forever, and this isn't even a fandom I'm involved in. In better words, there's no lack of fellow fans on the internet, too many, if some people would say. Especially with popular books and big fandoms, this gives birth to many subcultures simply of that particular book, along with terminology that seeps into every young girl's vocabulary. It's really beautiful in the way you can observe online fandoms and their evolve from a tiny, niche corner of the World Wide Web to this day's monster of so many hearts poured out, seeping into every corner of the internet, with references even in the wildest and most different of scenarios. In this essay I will attempt to analyze one of the biggest online cultures, it's subcultures and their online culture, and one funny thing called fanfiction, along with guiding you on the path of every Tumblr girl's road of discovery and growth with their introduction to the internet world.

Fanfiction

Fanfiction is such a large sprawling web of interconnected night owls there's a whole subculture just talking about the unique experience of reading fanfiction. Born from early glitchy fanpages to scattered stories around long lost websites such as LiveJournal and short scribbled stories on DeviantArt to the big three nowadays, Wattpad for the teenage girls, Fanfiction.net with the memories and for the classic and old fandoms, lastly Archive of our own with everyone and everything in the most beautiful and horrifying sense. Its something everyone that's been on the internet for as early as fifteen years ago would probably know about. Some with disdain, others with morbid curiosity, and the rest with fond memories. The reputation that fanficition is simply badly written porn isn't wrong per se, just look at any Ao3 (Archive of our own) page, but there's so much more.

People look down on it, call the writers 'unoriginal' and 'illiterate' and just silly 'fourteen year old crazy fangirls'. But it's not, at least, not completely. It's a safe space for people who just want to take these funny little characters of their youth and put them in these either torturous or cute situtations, mostly romantic and homosexual, but also experimental and new and beautiful, with some amazing works of literature coupled with many people finding their love for writing and starting their journey with a 5 + 1 story of their favorite two characters. Fanficiton also varies a lot, from a love letter to the original authors or a beautifully written protest of the story direction, or even just using premade and well-loved characters to tell a personal struggle in different words.

Heck, some of nowaday's popular and maybe slightly morbid terms come from fanfiction, with a simple battle of tongues for dominance or a soft epilogue with your love to being tired of choosing and always having to choose and never getting to choose you. Yes, there's a lot of horrible fanfiction, don't we all know it, and most of fanfiction is unreadable, unless you're really desperate, but whenever you find a gem of a find, with proper punctuation and a well thought out plot that just nails all the tropes which makes you cry and laugh with a pairing you've never even considered before and it's long and unproblematic enough for a reread, those moments are just pure joy, one that you'd never expirence without even a month deep in fanfiction.

One primary counter argument is that these words people smush together of someone else's characters aren't real literature simply because it isn't original, but if we're going there, why aren't we shaming Shakespeare? How dare he write these great fanfictions of Greek myths and publish them, making them some of the most legendary literature of all time. If your whole criticism of fanfiction that it isn't original, I would like you to reevaluate your books, for there are so many popular stories that aren't 'original', and if your definition of fanfiction is a rewrite of a book or story built upon another, there are so many pieces of English literature you would not enjoy.

But the main thing you're here for is to understand what this subculture actually is, so let me get back on topic. Let's start with something simple, give me a show of hands if your first fanfic, (short for fanfiction) was from either the Harry Potter books, the MCU, or the pioneer, the television series Supernatural. Supernatural is a series familiar to me not for it's television merits, having never watched the show, but its impact on this internet subculture. That fandom gave birth fanfiction's many terminologies, short forms, and something that has been splayed on newspages recently along with the rise of AI, many sub-sub-cultures and stories, most famously ones like the Omegaverse (Don't Google this and don't look at the tags) and Coffee shop AUs. Maybe as someone completely separated to this culture you were following along, just barely, but now you're confused, what's an AU? Well, dear reader, that is but one of the many inventive terminologies of this subculture. Let's take a look at this seemingly gibberish sentence: "hp hp/dm otp coffee shop au ewe slow burn meet-cute enemies to lovers"

I hope I have evoked some long forgotten Wattpad Drarry memories for some. The way fanfiction terminology has evolved to suit the needs of readers is a little like a developing language, with constantly being fine tuned until it reaches the perfect sweet spot, but still forever evolving to keep up with the times and climate. Like how early writers needed to specify platonic relationships from romantic ones and thus standardizing the sign & and / respectively. Or how writers loved the characters but craved more for them, thus creating popular AUs or Alternate Universes for them, like ones which are set in the modern day, others without powers, and some in simply a coffee shop meet-cute. Some writers going further with these characters leading to crossovers, letting Hermione volunteer as tribute and Katniss fight along Hawkeye.

As fanfictions evolved to suit the author's desires, readers invented more and more terms for them to group their favorite mush of words, leading to newbies usually browsing some Ao3 veteran's Tumblr blog for correct fanfiction etiquette along with a dictionary of the terminology. By the way, the Drarry story was: "A Harry Potter slash (usually meaning a homosexual romantic relationship, coming from the / sign) fanfic with Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, my One True Pairing, where they meet in an Alternate Universe in a coffee shop after the Battle of Hogwarts, ignoring the epilogue and Rowling's ending, and a slow, gradual romance with them going from enemies to lovers (this is very self explanatory).

Ships

Relationships are always a thing in books and movies, especially romantic ones, but there’s a lot more to it for the fans once the book is over. There are the canon relationships, the ones stipulated by the writers and are thus, canon, and the non-canon relationships, or canon relationships, which are created by fans and do not exist in the canon storyline. They are similar to headcanons but are more prevalent, with many fanfictions centered around the fan created relationship.These can also be called ‘ships’. We’re going to focus on non-canon relationships first. They are usually created by fans who like a specific pair of characters together, which aren’t mentioned in a relationship in the books or movies, and put them together used in a series of headcanons and fanficitions. Ships are very prevalent in fandoms, even when the character is said to be in a canon relationship with another character.

One very popular ship on Archive of our own is Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter with more than 56 thousand stories, despite both of them having a heterosexual relationship already established in canon. One thing that fans use to address or name a ship, both canon or fanon, instead of just saying “X character and Y character” are ship names, using a portmanteau, smushing two words together to make a new word. This originated from the Supernatural ship of Dean Winchester and Castiel, taking the beginning of Dean’s name and the ending of Castiel’s to form their ship name, Destiel. Some popular portmanteau ship names are Drarry and Romione. Another type of ship names, instead of being a portmanteau of their names, but a combination of something associated with them. Take the popular fanon ship of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, their most common ship name is WolfStar, due to their names having similar ending, it is hard to create portmanteau of their names, and so fans used things associated with them, Remus’ lycanthropy giving “Wolf” to the name, and Sirius being named after a star, giving “Star” to the name. Most fandoms have popular ships, with fandoms of their own of those ships, but there are two types of ships that fall outside of this category: rarepairs and crackships.

Rarepairs are usually a pairing that isn’t popular and usually with a small following or of the author’s creation, such as Cho Chang and Dudley Dursley in Harry Potter. This is a viable ship, able to exist in the confines of canon and would generally be a healthy relationship. However, due to both these character having minor roles and never being seen interacting, this is a rarepair with only one or two headcanons and fanficitions, usually without a following, but just visitors of an author’s fanfiction. Crackships are usually a pairing of two characters that shouldn’t be paired and wouldn’t be in a romantic relationship in a normal setting, such as Bellatrix Lestange and Hermione Granger, based on canon evidence of the two character, it wouldn’t be a healthy or viable relationship, due to their age-gap, moral difference, general unhingeness of Bellatrix Lestrange, and other canon reasons. Crackships usually appear in many forms, such as situations where they act out of character or with different upbringing, humorous situations, one-shots, and straight-up porn at times. Crackships don’t usually appear in headcanon, but rather in fanfictions written solely for the crackships.

One completely separate category of ships are reader-inserts, these appear in text posts, headcanons, and fanficitions. Usually, these are written in second-person with the sole or at least main purpose of the fanfiction is for the reader to engage in a relationship with a specific character, platonic or romantic. Writers use words such as Y/N, meaning ‘your name’, and different things such as YHC (your hair color), or YLN (your last name) to make the reader insert themselves in the story by using second-person and making the character as much as a blank slate for reader to add on to their personalities as much as they want.

One glaring downside, or upside, of the entire shipping part of a fandom are the disagreements. With the inclusion of popular fanon ships, with sometimes the fanon ships gaining much more popularity than the canon ship (such as Marvel’s canon relationship of Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter often disregarded in favor of other ships such as Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes or Steve Rogers and Tony Stark), it leads to many arguments to much ship is the “superior” one, with many apologists going to great lengths to defend their favorite pairing. A very well-known ship disagreements are between the canon ship Romione (Ron and Hermione) and the fanon ship Dramione (Draco and Hermione), leading to many arguments on internet forums and long posts with people either defending their favored ship or undermining the other, with some even bashing the opposite character (Ron or Draco).

Headcanons

Another thing about fandoms which is very similar to fanfictions but in a much simpler way is headcanons. Something that deviates from canon (the established storyline and characters) or something we just don't know about. One example could be 'I headcanon Harry Potter as bisexual' This could be possible, as even though he is only mentioned as in relationships with female characters, his sexuality is never mentioned, and it is often mentioned in the Harry Potter books with Harry complimenting many male character's looks, leaving it in the realm of possibility. Another slightly different kind is 'I headcanon muggleborn students constantly making pop culture references' This isn't in line with canon, as though the story is told from Harry's perspective, a wide spread thing like that would've been mentioned, but instead, there's never a major transitional struggle with muggleborns, even with Harry, who was raised by muggles, showing that most muggle borns adopt their magical heritage and birthright in favor over their mundane one.

Headcanons are fun things to simply state in a Tumblr text post or a conversation between friends, not needing the brainpower to curate a whole story yet letting you to express your love and creativity along with wants for a series and character. Usually, however, some headcanons become so widespread they are adopted as canon, or something mentioned so many times in fanfic that people write it down along with character characterizations. Such as in the MCU, there is always a running mention of Clint climbing in the vents, even though this is never mentioned in either the movies or comics, it in actuality being a headcanon which it's lines with canon has become so blurred it's common appearance in fanfictions can lead me to believe most of the community has shelved this fan made characteristic of Clint along with his canon characteristics. Another notable mention is Remus' love for chocolate in Harry Potter. In the actual books, there are only a few lines of Remus offering chocolate to Harry, and all of them are in medicinal situations, as shown in one line with Madame Pomfrey. However, this is a favored headcanon, this characteristic adopted as canon and appearing in other headcanons and most, if not all, Marauder-era fanfictions. Most readers would be hard pressed to believe JK Rowling didn't intend Remus Lupin to be this cocoa lover.

Another thing that runs along headcanons, cut from the same cloth but different in patterns, are common misunderstandings or assumptions of a character, some incorrectly taken as canon, such as Draco's middle name, which is never mentioned, not in the books nor one of Rowling's websites, but many fans believe it to be Lucius due to a parallel with Harry's middle name and early writers using it as placement and other fanfiction writers adopting the name as the medium. Other things that are similar to this in fashion but are very obviously incorrect facts to canon, but so often used in fan conversations that it may as well be, but are still not confused as canon, such as the widespread use of 'Dan' and 'Emma' to name Hermione's parents, and the belief that the Marauders along with Dorcas, Lily, Mary, and Marlene were one big friend group.

Sub-fandoms

Harry Potter is the best example to use when describing a flourishing online fandom. It has been almost twenty years when the books have first been published, leaving it with ample time to grow a fandom on all platforms, for blogs, fanfictions, analysis, edits, and so much more. Along with movies and a fantasical universe, its a perfect breeding ground for excited fangirls and intricate dynamics. Its such a large fandom that within it, there are unique fandoms of things within the fandom, with fanfictions of fanfictions, edits of edits.There are many things in the Harry Potter fandom that are simply fan made things, but have large renown, as much as the original like the Potter Puppet Pals, an ironic comedy series which lines are often paraphrased for fun.

A great example of this is the 500 thousand word monstrosity on Archive of our own called All The Young Dudes, a slow burn fanfic of the Marauders' time at school. This is such a big part of the Harry Potter fandom that it is a fandom of it's own, with many fanfictions of ATYD, Pinterest pages, text posts, headcanons, and ships set in the ATYD version of Harry Potter yet not following the ATYD version of canon. (For example, the slash ship between Regulus Black and James Potter) It's a big fandom, and one thing that attracted many others from the main Harry Potter fandom was a fanmade movie trailer for ATYD using existing clips of Hollywood movies, but pieced together making it completely believable to exist together in a universe, much moreso a movie. You wouldn't believe Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man has a place in the Harry Potter fandom aside from crossover fanfiction, but one look at that fanmade movie trailer on YouTube will have you absolutely convinced that our favorite web-slinger could also definitely be our furry little problem. There are edits upon edits of the Spider-Man movie on social media platforms such as Tik Tok that are coupled with the right music and excerpts from the ATYD fanfiction that really makes you ask, is there actually a movie of the Marauders? Even Andrew Garfield himself has confirmed his knowledge and love for being a fancasted young Remus Lupin, showing the reach of this niche community within another niche online community within a fandom. You know what they say, never underestimate young girls in love.

References

Another thing highly prevalent in fandoms are specific words that only fans of that specific book or movie series understand what it's referring to, leading it to a running gag joke or a communal nostalgic memory. You only have to type 'calmly' after any Harry Potter text post and there's sure to be many people with laughing emojis and agreements. If you're out of the loop, its a comparison between the book and the movie of the Goblet of Fire in that scene when Dumbledore confronts Harry after his name pops out of the goblet. In the books Dumbledore asks Harry if he put his name in calmly to show his collected demeanor, but in the movies, Dumbledore runs across the room, grabs Harry and nearly yells in his face, leading this to be a running gag in the fandom, usually in the comment section of text post, to demonstrate in an alternate reality that the person has yelled it instead. In truth, and to quote, running gags like these are simply for "shits and giggles", but they are part of an integral communal joy that links the fans and their internet presence together.

Another similar but not completely is the line "Bucky?" commented in almost any Captain America posts or anything related in the MCU, sometimes used to reminisce past times or old fan memory, but usually just to prompt another commenter to reply with "Who the hell is Bucky?", paraphrasing the quote from the second Captain America movie when Steve Rogers meets his old friend Bucky Barnes again seventy years in the future, but in a situation where they are at each other's throats, with Bucky having no recollection of the other. Unlike 'calmly', which can only be used in the Harry Potter fandom for prevalence and is used for laughs as a commentary, the line from Captain America bears enough unique references to be used in scenarios which fans want to comment on outside the Marvel fandom, and can also be used as a calling for a fellow fan's reply.

Ending

We come to the end of this not-so-brief introduction of the world of online fanatic domains. In truth, this essay barely scratches the surface of fandoms. It is not only a place where people talk about their favorite fictional world, but a congregation of people along with our all unique personalities, then all contributing to a communal love, giving birth to a unique language, culture, and reference for online fans to find other online fans in real life. We currently exist in a turbulent world, ever changing, with people around us undermining us at each and every turn, physical or virtual, trying to tear us down, but the existence of online fandoms and communities are a place to let you know, “Yes, your love of this is valid. No, it isn’t something to hide, come share it with us!” Fandoms have led to a birth of many aspiring writers, artists, coders, publicists, and so many more. Though many may dismiss fanatic domains as simply a bunch of “crazed 14 year old fangirls wasting their time” there’s so much more to it, and if you have a book or movie or you’re interested in, I highly recommend you search it up, find a few Tumblr blogs to follow, maybe take a dip in fanficitions, create a few headcanons of your own, and who knows, it might bring you somewhere unexpected, and even if it doesn’t, you’ll have a fun time, I promise.

By lenniedoesthings on tumblr

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