#probably shitty writing

[batty-pham]

Danny working in retail.

Dead end job.

He always ends up at the nightshift.

Everyone thinks the bags under his eyes are because he can't sleep.

He gets told all the time that he "looks like death" and he always just replies "thanks"

He just sorta stands in the dark corner and customers don't notice him, but they sorta inherently know he's there and avoid him, but he moves and they about shit their pants.

#just a half assed idea #i think about danny working the night shift at some shitty job #like #alot actually #ill probably end up working it into a fic eventually #if i ever end up completing any fic im writing #dpxdc #dp x dc #dc x dp #dp x dc crossover #danny phantom

[willowser]

i will never stop writing bakugou as a shy, blushy loserboy, but. the idea of you being more inexperienced than him ??

you're carefully bandaging him up at the agency clinic, after he'd taken a nasty hit that left his shoulder scuffed up, and he's been in here with you more times than he can count, much too late at night, and maybe that's how you get into this conversation in the first place; weird stuff always gets said at this hour.

"no, i'm telling you," despite the vulnerability of what you're saying — despite the awful look that must be on his face — you're laughing. "never dated anyone, never been taken on a date, nothing."

and — he really must look truly terrible, with his mouth open and his lip curled over his teeth and his brows furrowed, because he can't hardly believe a fucking word you're saying. it pisses him off and he doesn't know why, just seems. a waste, for no one to have appreciated someone like you.

someone that he maybe thinks about too much, that is too nice and not funny to anyone but themselves but still laughs and hardworking and. so pretty that it annoys him.

his question comes out rough, harsh. "why the hell not?"

"i don't know," you shrug, eyes cutting to his before focusing back on patching him up. "i'm — probably too shy and weird, or something. and online dating is hard, y'know! some guys are really into the purity thing, like too into it, and some guys find out and won't touch me with a ten-foot pole, so," and then you shrug. like that's all there is to it.

and katsuki is just astounded to know this. not that he's ever done all that much himself, but all his bases have been covered, by now in his life, and he just really can't imagine anyone knowing you and not wanting to—

he realizes the irony of thinking this, like a punch to the gut. after knowing you for almost two years now and never so much as complimenting your stupid hair and the stupid way you wear it.

"well," katsuki grumbles, averting his eyes to the walls of the clinic, trying to seem more interested in your creepy, anatomy posters. "maybe he's comin'...or whatever."

"who's coming?"

"your guy, i don't know!" it's unfortunate that his shirt is off for this, because there's no way you aren't getting a perfect view of the flush that spreading down to his chest. "your dude, maybe he's...figuring it out."

"hmm, maybe. that's what my gran says, but who knows?" you shrug, oblivious — and suddenly your singleness makes a smidge more sense. "i've resigned myself to a touchless, loveless life for—"

"he's comin'!" katsuki barks and you startle at the outburst, eyes casting over his warm cheeks and then down his chest and back. finally, it fucking clicks for you, like he hasn't been finding excuse after excuse to see you every damn night for ages. "he's...checkin' his work schedule and then he's...gonna figure it out, alright?"

you brighten considerably, lip going between your teeth. "oh, yeah, yeah," and your smile is unstoppable, not hidden in the slightest as you turn to the steri-tray at your side, shyness bleeding into his own. "alright."

#WAAAAHHHH #he considers himself so inexperienced #to the point he's such a flustered fucking dork about dating anyone #and so it makes him remarkably nervous around you to begin with #and then he goes absolutely bonkers learning that you've done even less than HIM AKFHDJSKAKAL #he's PISSED like WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN NO ONE HAS EVER KISSED YOU BEFORE #NEVER BOUGHT YOU SHITTY FLOWERS BEFORE #it is probably the thing that riles him up enough to make his move because he's just. so pissed about it alfbsisjai #lmaoooooo #✿ willow writes #✿ thoughts: bakugou #✿ theme: pre relationship bakugou

[atopvisenyashill]

i was thinking more about characters Performing Gender, but not necessarily Transgressing Gender. I wound up focusing on Ned and Sansa bc I feel like I understand them the most but-

Sansa as a hostage is imo the most obvious (bc it’s so well done) moment of someone clearly Performing Gender but not being transgressive in that performance. Which isn’t to say it’s not a complicated performance; it’s a fine line Sansa walks between weaponizing her gender to protect herself without seeming too fake. She’s trying to placate the Lannisters by playing the perfect, dedicated, air headed betrothed because it’s the only defense she has - if she outwardly rebels, she will be punished in a likely violent and/or sexual way (which isn’t even conjecture - when she says “or maybe he’ll give me yours” Joffrey has her struck with an armored hand). She’s not quite successful in being convincing but that’s because it’s a rather extreme situation; despite no one believing her, she does make herself seem meek and stupid enough that no one suspects she’s plotting to escape with Dontos until she’s well away from KL. The fact that she even has Dontos to confide in is because of Sansa’s relationship with gender! When she saves him, she covers her rebellious slip by playing up Joffrey’s intelligence & his role as King; she reaches for “tools” of her gender AND of ~proper manhood~ to save a life and herself from another beating. Her retreats into the godswood and silence are very much Sansa attempting to recharge from these draining interactions, the same way a knight would need to stop and eat and rest after a fight. She is fighting, constantly, by forcing herself to stay within the narrow confines of a specific type of gender performance as a way of shielding herself from harm.

Ned yelling at Cat is another big one, and I’ve seen the scene referred to as Ned using his patriarchal power to scare Cat, which is a great description. It feels like a Performance because Ned is putting on this terrifying Lord Stark mask in an attempt to get Catelyn to stop asking about Jon (and Lyanna). This is not how he usually acts with those he loves! When Ned is with His People, he is welcoming of questions, curiosity, emotion, even transgressive thought (to a point! the idea that Ned is a feminist because he lets Arya learn to fight is Not accurate but you can’t deny he allows significantly more flexibility wrt gender expression than most of the fathers we meet in this series. the bar is in hell tho). Yet when Cat asks him about Jon’s mother, Ned scares her so well she stops asking & still remembers the moment bitterly over a decade later. And if that snippet we see through Bran’s eyes of Ned praying that Cat will forgive him does come after she asks (like it’s suspected), it’s clear not only that this is a performance he’s putting on & weaponizing against Cat, it’s one he does not like using as a weapon against someone he is close to. After using the power his gender gives him to cause harm, he retreats to the godswood and silence to pray and rest, much like Sansa. A spiritual cleanse, the way a soldier may pray after battle, to reset and reconnect Being A Proper Man to Being A Kind Man.

I think there’s something interesting in that two of the characters most widely defined by how well they adhere to Westerosi gender norms both dislike feeling like they had to weaponize their gender. They are exhausted by the performance, because it’s a performance. This isn’t Sansa getting excited over tourneys, or Ned teaching his sons to fight; it’s toxic masculinity, it’s structural misogyny. It’s something they’re good at, excel at, and connected to something they enjoy but when it’s paired with violence, whether done by Ned or done to Sansa, it crosses over in their minds from an innate part of themselves (The Gender) to a performance necessary due to survival (The Gender Role). And that after these performances, both retreat to nature & god as a way of resting and cleansing from the experience.

#valyrianscrolls #ned stark #sansa stark #getting on my soap box #there’s something here too about romanticism. like shelley and coleridge and whitman. the need to return to nature to undo society’s harm. #especially with the way various romance movements and romantic tropes are played with by their characters. #i can’t even remember who said it which just shows u how shitty an english major i am aksjd but about how. #like society is necessary but just as necessary is the ability to escape into nature. i *think* it was coleridge i’m probably wrong. #the gender war makes corpses of us all #gender politics in asoiaf #obviously you can point to several moments for both of them. sansa calling petyr father. ned’s relationship with theon. wherein they both #are clearly performing something for an audience. #there’s like 12 other branches of this in my head. jaime’s romanticism. being knighted bloody & the sacrilegious nature of the sept sex. #and his inability to escape his gender performance the way ned & sansa do. ned being willing to cry in front of others but robb only ever #crying in the dark with his baby brother after he loses ned. cat’s tower stuff & finding solace in sewing. #i’m gonna try to write up something about loras & renly here too. tomorrow. #also i wrote this at the train station after work so if there’s errors or it makes no sense just pretend u never saw it skskdj

[hootiee]

After re-watching the new Blue Exorcist anime episode (ep.4) I can't stop thinking about how this arc should have been adapted soo many years sooner. it came out 10 years ago. And THIS is the true quality writing this series is known for and what truly pushes fans into really getting into it. Yes, this series is a slow burn/in-for-the-long-haul and the waiting always pays off tremendously, but I still believe it should not have taken THIS long for it to be adapted into an anime.

And it just sucks. It sucks even more that even the biggest anime-only fan's sole interaction with this series was nothing more than the mere introductory premise and never got to the true plot of this series for over than a decade since the first season. I can't help but pity them, at least in the manga it took around 5(?) years for this arc to start, it should not have taken any longer than that after the kyoto saga adaptation imo.

This series has soo much to say with so many stories left unexplored in the anime and yet the wider anime community still calls it "mid" based off the shitty non-canon season 1 ending that unfortunately left everyone with false impressions of this series. It says A LOT how the majority of people who have read the manga agrees it's phenomenal, miles better than the anime.

And it just frustrates me because Blue Exorcist could have still kept up the huge audience and the reputation & recognition it deserves for it's level of quality writing, especially for shonen. Instead of bearing the fate of its audience whittling away over the years due to the anime's mistreatment and the only fans remaining are the loyal manga fans. This series deserved better treatment years ago, but late is better than never.

#blue exorcist #ao no exorcist #aoex #blue exorcist season 3 #ao no exorcist season 3 #always fighting between 'this series deserves so much recognition' vs 'i must gatekeep this from shitty anime fans at all costs' #but this series at the bare minimum deserves THIS arc to be adapted. #it also just sucks that the only way for a series to get popular is thru anime adaptions but whatever that wont go away anytime soon #the marketing for this series in the west by viz is definitely partially to blame for its audience declining over the years. #anyways watch the new season. and better yet read the manga too! ITS STILL ONGOING NEW CHAPTER DROPS FEB 1ST #READ IT ON VIZ SHONEN JUMP OR MANGAPLUS BOTH ON DESKTOP AND APP. LEGALLY. AND MANGAPLUS APP HAS THE FULL CHAPS FOR FREE #me when i have the aoex autism instead of the good at math autism and writes an essay abt it at 10pm at night when i could be doing smth el #also hi new fans or returning fans. im chase u probably have seen me or my posts/art around #im arguably the most autistic aoex fan ever 😁😁 can u tell

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

I'm in love with your drawing of Wally and Howdy fighting over the arm. I love how mad Poppy is. Her saying "is2g" gave me the idea that she starts cussing more the longer she has to deal with this bs. And I'm also imagining Frank leaning against Eddie's hat saying "oh Eddie we're really in it now"

10 out of 10 artwork. Good job. No notes.

it has been Well Received it seems! i'm very pleased, i was hoping i wouldn't be the only one who found it funny ahaha

and i couldn't resist:

#if poppy knew swears she would probably end up using them yeah #but none of them know swears! if i scribble them swearing its for Comedic Effect! #because children's show puppets saying 'fuck' is peak humor imo #thinking very hard about the four of them and their experiences together #wh lights out au #scribble salad #rambles from the bog #god. one day i want to fuckin Write this au. #because i dont have it in me to plan out scribbles and draw 'comics' for it In Order #so yall are just getting bits and pieces from random parts #i do want to write it though #i need to know them i need to Know Them for that #their speech patterns their likes their dislikes their vernacular their voices their emotions their opinions and quirks #hopefully this desire to write for it persists through that point #i suppose i could... write a shitty rough draft #a very bland rough draft that would just be the basics... #that could make it easier for future me to edit and tweak and ReWrite #i am Considering.... #hopefully i manage to write the Actual au and not just the aftermath which takes up 90% of the au's room in my head #but that is something i won't be talking about! #if the au gets written it'd be a Massive Spoiler! plus i'd probably write th aftermath as a companion sequel! maybe two! #for the different perspectives of course. or it would be a bonus fic where each chapter is a snapshot... hm thinking Thinking...

[redrobin-detective]

#me writing my lockwood that literally one one is going to care about #I know Ive written some pretty dog shit stories with zero notes #but its an interesting experience going into the writing being like 'man literally No One is gonna want to read this' #this is for me only #probably shouldnt even bother posting #zero notes in my heart ❤ #in a way its kind of freeing like zero stress or expectations I can write my story as shitty and self indulgent as I like #I was thinking today i really want to work in skull driving and was like man thats stupid #then i realized no one but me will read this so beep beep motherfuckers this bone head is driving

[heteromerous-rhyming]

i think that i've figured out why i don't like show sally.

ok like don't get me wrong, virginia kull?? she ATE with that interpretation. her acting?? amazing. like i could truly get the core of her character.

it's just that i don't like the character the writers give us.

cw: discussion of abusive relationships, of toxic family dynamics, probably a good bit of generational trauma. I don't really get into details except with stuff shown on the show and written in the books but i wanted to be safe.

as someone from an immigrant household, as someone whose mom works a part time minimum wage job, as someone whose seen and been there as my parents fought, i just really really dislike sally's portrayal in the show. and it's partly because of poseidon and partly because of gabe (mostly because of her character in general but yeah, lets get the men out of the way first)

I feel strongly about poseidon in his relationship to sally very specifically. i don't mind his relationship to percy either books or show. but it's pretty damn clear to me that this show was written by someone who's never experienced sally's situation, of being the single working parent with an absentee partner (or in gabe's case a partner who literally ahHHHHHh). because from the beginning, from sally's reaction and snark to gabe, I felt like something was wrong or off, and it was Specifically the show because i read the books and i watched (some) of the musical and i never felt that way towards either of those. i'm not saying that my family situation is sally's (don't have a god for a father for one), but. by all accounts sally knows that this is an abusive relationship, the only reason that she's with gabe is because of the protection he offers percy. i have to assume that this is true because sally jackson turning gabe to stone is something i'm assuming is staying in the show, and i remember this being mentioned by grover? or someone in the first few episodes. and the cord that struck in me was not the traditional (that is, visible, defined, i don't like this word but i don't have a better one) abusive relationship but relationships in my community, of women staying with husbands because of their children, women outright saying this, women who know the world is cruel to single women and to single mothers specifically. sally, to me has never been under any illusions that gabe is any sort of relationship material. she has never been under any illusions that poseidon would be able to help in any way.

and that crux of sally's relationships made her first scene in the show all that more jarring. but it's not anything specifically that i can put a finger on. and maybe i'm wrong for this or maybe i'm expecting too much. but. sally doesn't have the resentment or the quietness or the bitterness or even the loudness that i expected. you have been the only true caretaker for your child, the only one in the house that really puts food on the table and on top of that is expected to do emotional labor? to cook and clean or at least pick up the food?

but she treats gabe like he's an annoyance. someone to brush off. and you see the manipulation tactics from gabe, you do, but.

its not that i want sally's spirit to be crushed. my mother's spirit wasn't crushed. the women in my community, they laugh, they cry, they watch silly tv shows, they have lives that they live, and in many cases they live well.

but the women that i know are also angry. they are either on fire or they used to burn. when they banter with their partners it often turns ugly because they are tired of the same damn argument day after day, because often the trivial things that are asked are compounded and compounded and compounded because you live in the same house, there is no escape, there is no private space, not really.

it's new york and sally works a job to support an apartment and her family. they are not well-off. sally has no support network we can see, and how could she? poseidon mentions that she has no one to talk to about these things, her parents are clearly out of the picture. all this to say. there is a certain understanding of class that exists within the books that was excised, i believe unknowingly, from the show, and it is the worse for it. there is a tiredness, a worn-down-ness from being low income that sally had in the books, but in the show i only see a struggling first time single parent. i don't see the complexity of a woman who literally gave up on finding a fulfilling relationship to be with a man for her child. i don't see the complexity of a woman working fulltime and still getting demanded from at home. and i didn't realize that I wanted to see that until I saw the show. i didn't realize that that was what i loved about the books.

i hate that they tried to bring poseidon back into sally's life as this perfect man who through cosmic forces can't help. i hate that sally calls him, i hate that he says he'll listen. but most of all i hate that sally just accepts him, falls into him. it's really hard to be a mother when your partner doesn't seem to help you parent in any way, even if he cannot help you. he's a greek god, there's no way in hell that he can begin to understand the lengths that sally has gone through to sacrifice and survive, the very human things that she's done. sally in the books thinks of poseidon as a sweet memory, almost a fairytale, and it's clear that this story is the one that brings her comfort. poseidon is a one night stand, a sweet stranger, she understands he's not coming back. but this poseidon comes when sally calls, and that i cannot believe. i cannot believe that she still thinks of him as the fairytale man, that she accepts him so easily if there isn't that distance. i cannot believe that there is no resentment, that she still puts faith in him as her god (the first episode when she talks about him just felt so wrong to me) if he's not a memory, but a recurring figure. this is not a story of star-crossed lovers, sally feels too real as a human being for that.

sally finds trust, finds contentment, in the books after percy leaves home, after she no longer has to put up with gabe for his safety. she does not find poseidon again. she marries a human man, a very ordinary human man who cares for her. poseidon visits after she is in this relationship and its an amicable one. he is percy's father but also distant memory all in one. sally has the strength to survive a terrible relationship and still find a way to heal and live fully after that.

but the anger. the fire was there. she turned gabe to stone. she reclaimed her life with her two hands.

you don't kill a man for no reason. you don't kill a man without emotion.

but it's that reason and that emotion that i don't get from the writer's room. and it just makes me deeply sad.

#probably got a bit too personal with this one boys #but i needed to get it out #because i realized i recognize sally's situation #percy jackson #pjo tv show #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo show crit #adding tags bc i feel like i should explain #sally and poseidon are characters that have consistent (relatively despite my gripes with poseidon's) characterization #i don't like them for personal reasons partly #and partly bc they got rid of most of the gabe shittiness #and class critique #ofc #lol #but these are just my opinions #this isnt a specific critique of the show's writing #it's more of a critique of what themes they chose to keep in and the nuance that they missed by not keeping those themes #riordan literally says they toned down the abuse (if not eliminating it entirely) and i get that to an extent #but i think there are ways to address abuse in children/teen's tv shows #anywhoooooo #.

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

Writing Mordred is slowly making me realise I don’t actually hate him.

The more I think about it, the more I realise he’s just a traumatised child who felt trapped and ran out of options when every single person in his life who was supposed to help him failed in some way or others. Most in more than one way if we’re being honest.

The kid literally had no one to turn to when the girl he loved died and was openly hated by the guy he’s thought of as a god since he was a child.

Like let that sink in.

Merlin openly wished him dead, and Mordred literally worshipped the ground he walked on.

(I’m usually a Merlin apologist but bloody hell he fucked up at every opportunity when it came to Mordred)

Morgana was the exact opposite of his morals but wanted magic free, (at the cost of non magic users lives which is also problematic, but that’s a different conversation) so he didn’t stick around with her, but when Camelot no longer felt safe for him, he ran.

Which is definitely a trauma response considering how he grew up with the Druids and then whatever the fuck happened after he left them.

Arthur was the only person who was continuously good for him, saving him as a child and later becoming a brother/father figure, but then he killed Kara and Mordred had to watch another magic user be killed by Camelot except this time it was someone he truly believed was good. He didn’t see her attacking Arthur like she did, just that the king of Camelot was killing another magic user which was bound to bring up trauma that he hasn’t felt safe enough to unpack and heal from.

I have a lot more to say on this, but I’ve got to leave for work in a few minutes so I’ll come back and scream about it another time

Fucking Mordred though, poor kid. He really went through it.

#writing this out made me realise I probably kin him a little too much #bbc merlin #mordred #character analysis #merlin emrys #uther pendragon #is shitty #kinnie moment #arthur pendragon #merlin #Kilgharrah hate club #kilgharrah #morgana #they’re all just traumatised kids #Mordred apologist apparently #long post #rant

[aroaceleovaldez]

a quick helpful reference guide:

Children's books - Target demographic is generally up to like age 10 - basically elementary school and below, for us Americans.

Middle-grade books - Target demographic is approximately middle schoolers (ages 11-15).

YA (Young Adult) - Target demographic is about 15-20ish year olds, so high schoolers and early college.

There is such thing as "upper middle-grade books" (targeted more towards the upper range of middle grade, so middle schoolers going into high school) and other such more specific intended target demographic age ranges within those groupings.

What these ranges mean is that the books differ in how they present subject matter to be appropriate to the intended audience demographic. Obviously, books geared towards younger kids are going to be shorter, use simpler language, and present concepts in ways that are easier to understand for younger children. As the target age demographic increases, the length, word choice, and presentation of topics will become more complex. The actual subject matter within the book itself is unrelated to this classification system for the most part - the books are graded on what's presumed appropriate for that age-range in terms of how children learn and their presumed literacy and reading comprehension at that age, rather than the topic itself.

Rick Riordan is a middle-grade author, and his books are usually middle-grade - including the entirety of the Riordanverse and Daughter of the Deep. The only exception is The Sun And The Star, which is loosely either upper middle-grade or YA, as Mark Oshiro is a YA author and co-authored it.

#rick riordan #< basically only gonna tag that cause this is more general books rather than pjo-specific #anyways stop calling Rick a YA author he's not #also QUALITY IS SUBJECTIVE TO THESE CATEGORIES #a book being shitty because it's middle-grade does not excuse it being shitty #it just means it's shitty and also middle-grade #in fact its probably more difficult to write well for younger age groups because you have to break down the concepts well #and your audience is less likely to have the life experience to understand certain references or experiences #and you need to take that into account #it doesn't mean they can't handle certain concepts or deserve shitty writing #some writing is just obectively bad from a structural standpoint

[13eyond13]

the only gay rep I truly care about is

1. countless lives are destroyed because two proud people can't fully admit their gay crushes on each other

and

2. someone hides being a murderer as a metaphor for also hiding being gay

#miss me with that perfect wholesome gay rep stuff #in theory like yeah its good to have that too but does it resonate with me no #like is it probably homophobic to always make the obsessive weird villains creepy and gay yeah #but is that also by far the most fun yeah usually it is #theres this lesbian couple with basically opposite taste to me in my book club #and we read something with a shitty queer coded villain and im like yay #and they're like thats homophobic #and im like youre not wrong but id rather die than give 5 stars to the h/ouse in the c/erulean sea #i feel the 'bad rep' feels different when its a gay person writing it too... like clearly it is complicated #p

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

The whole discourse about the privacy/secrecy/support thing has been sitting with me for a few days (I mean other than it always does to a certain degree) thanks to all the excellent discussion happening and I know I'm not saying anything that hasn't been said a million times before, but I think what we're seeing and what we're going to learn (e.g. from TTPD) is that it wasn't just the support issue, but how it was shown/handled.

We've all gone out of our way to show that introversion =/= lack of support. Someone can be shy, reserved, etc. and still show up for their partner, whether in public or at home. To chalk any of the differences up to the clash between introversion and extroversion is unfair to folks who count themselves among either tbh.

@thisisctrying said something the other day that hit the nail on the head about how if that support had been offered in private, there very well may not have been a Joever to begin with, or at least not at this point in time. (Sorry for loosely paraphrasing, and for namedropping you! Long time listener, first time poster.)

If this were a case where the "shy" partner said, "I am really uncomfortable with the spotlight personally and do not want to court it, but I will support you in your ambitions and offer you whatever you need to make them happen and make the glare bearable," I suspect that would have gone a long way to making Taylor feel seen and comfortable in pursuing her goals in the way that she now has. Again, that might have been more akin to the balance that seemed to have been struck around 2019 from what we can see, but even speaking in a general sense, there are lots of couples out there, celebrity or not, that have similar approaches where there are highly driven people and busy careers involved.

(A famous example being Dolly Parton's marriage. Tbh I know next to nothing about her and Carl, but she's always heralded as an example in this regard, because her husband is famously uncomfortable with the spotlight and hasn't accompanied her to public events in decades, but she's said that she never minded that because that was always work to her, and what was important was that he supported her in pursuing all her career goals and basically ensured she had a place to call home to return to at the end of the day.)

We're kind of in a brave new world with her current relationship because it felt like, at least at the start, we were maybe watching her figure out her boundaries in real time as to what she was comfortable with or not and adjust accordingly. Like so many have said, I fully believe the extreme privacy thing was initially driven by herself and her experiences in 2016, and she needed that quiet time to recover from all of the things and figure out how to exist in the world again.

Stating the obvious, it seemed like eventually privacy was equated with secrecy, turning the relationship and the celebrity into the elephant in the room and something to never be spoken of to the outside world. People are free to choose whatever works best for themselves and their relationships, and for some the separate public lives might work, but the “kept me like a secret but I kept you like an oath” theme is all over her work and it’s clear that it’s a sore spot for her, because she’s been made to feel shame just for the life she leads so many times in the past.

What I’m trying to say is that it’s pretty obvious something Not Great was happening behind the scenes, which didn’t just amount to “she wanted to be a public celebrity and he wanted to be a private hermit.” (Also, in case anyone forgot, this is a person who also chose a public-facing career who also has to engage in press for it, but I digress.) As her career reached new heights post-folklore, if she had the support at home to do all the things without judgment and with encouragement, and in turn offer the same support to her partner, she may have very well lived just fine with that, not unlike Dolly Parton’s case.

By reading between the lines in all the press since, as well as comments on tour and general ~vibes~ with TTPD teasers, it seems like one of the issues was that that was likely not the case. There was all the stuff that we saw — the reticence to acknowledge each other in the media (particularly on one side), the lack of public support even at events at which they were both in attendance for their respective jobs, the great lengths they went to not to be photographed together at events they attended yet no problem taking pictures with other friends and coworkers, the jobs that separated them, the withdrawing from the public even for work accomplishments, etc. Which could all be manageable if a couple chooses to do so together and are not inherently a sign of trouble in themselves.

But what we’re seeing now I think is a reflection of the things we weren’t seeing then, and it seems to indicate some very deep hurt. (I know, call me Captain Obvious.) And like so many have been saying, it feels likely that that part of that hurt is rooted in that very lack of private support where a person would expect it from their partner. Obviously as a Taylor fan blog I’m going to be more inclined to understand her side of a story, but tbh, it’s also because… this is sooooooo common, and something I’ve experienced in my friend group. (@taylortruther is right when she says most breakups are the same one way or another lol.)

One partner is resentful of the other’s success, or resentful that the other’s priorities begin to evolve as new experiences unlock new goals, or feels the other’s ambitions are not worthy of pursuit, and coupled with perhaps their own struggles in the same domain, it’s easy to see where that can chip away at the other partner’s morale and faith in the relationship. I know I’m just speculating here, but I also don’t think it’s totally unfounded. (Again, because a) I’m picking up what she’s putting down and b) it happens to sooooooo many women even among us dull normals.)

With all the pointed mentions about how much Taylor feels supported in her current relationship and how she in turn loves to offer the same show of support to not only her partner but other loved ones, how she’s stepped out more in the last year to a whole host of events, how she’s mentioned feeling like she locked herself away for years and she’s just proud of her partner and happy she can show up for him even if the chaos around it is unsettling, it paints a picture of what perhaps was happening before last year.

To feel like you’re all alone in carrying the weight of the relationship (or burden of it), of twisting yourself into knots to accommodate the other person’s boundaries (or insecurities) but not feeling reciprocity for your own has to be so painful. (The idea that it may have been even darker and to have a partner not only be unreceptive to your own needs but even perhaps resentful/dismissive/belittling of them is even more painful to think of. I guess we’ll find out when TTPD comes out if that was the case, too.)

At a certain point, that lack of acknowledgement will force your hand to be able to reclaim yourself. And it feels like the further removed Taylor in particular is from it, the more she moves from being sad about the life she felt she gave up by leaving, to angry at the life she felt she was giving up by staying. Especially being in a relationship now where it seems like everything comes much easier, where she can be open about the person she’s with and show up for them, all the stuff that seemed as challenging as climbing Mount Everest in her past is nothing more than a molehill at best in her current life.

TL;DR: I don’t think it’s privacy that inherently spells doom for a celebrity relationship like this; it’s the mutual support and respect that does. If Taylor had felt that in the later years of her previous relationship, I think we could be seeing a different, though not necessarily unfulfilled, person right now in 2024, who’d be happy on tour but whose personal life would look a little different. But it seems like by losing that support she lost parts of herself, and we’ve seen her reclaim that in spades in the last year, and perhaps to degrees she didn’t even realize she could from before all the Bad Stuff started happening in her young adulthood.

I know this was extremely long-winded and unnecessary, especially about total strangers we only know through scraps fed through the media, but I just always bristle at this idea that issues like these boil down to “personality differences,” as though one person wants to live in a city and the other on a remote island, or some shit like that. The whole support (and gender tbh) issue is one that’s just very close to my heart because again, I have seen it play out with so many of my friends in long term relationships and marriages and I just think people in relationships (and women in particular in some circles) deserve better than to feel like they’re being, well, tolerated.

#thisisctrying and taylortruther sorry for tagging you two! #can remove if needed! #but you guys made me think a lot #this was inspired by a conversation i had with a friend the other day #where she relayed an argument she had with her partner #who basically felt slighted that he wasn’t getting acknowledgement for all the housework he does — which is. just. the dishes #and she was like ‘wow congrats you’ve done the dishes — i do every other fucking thing to keep this household afloat in ways you see #and don’t see and i never ask for praise because it’s just stuff that needs to get done because that’s how you support your family’ #and it just reminded me that some partners (and a certain kind of man in particular) just… think their struggles take precedence #when their partners drown in them everyday but keep things afloat out of necessity and are never recognized or supported for it #(my friends have shitty husbands/boyfriends can you tell lol) #long post #again the way i just feel like i know the vibes of ttpd in my bones are 😵‍💫 #i feel like i have a lot more thoughts but I’m trying to be more gracious and less parasocial so #also just want to again defend the introverts of the world by reiterating that being introverted does not mean unsupportive #being a shitty partner does though! #writing letters addressed to the fire #it’s also just like… i feel like if Taylor had had even a modicum of the support in private and even public she needed #she’d probably still be with you know who and wouldn’t have considered leaving let alone doing it #because it would have felt like enough and like it was what was needed for both of them #whereas we’re seeing a completely new side of her open up now because this is the first time she’s ever had that support from a partner #in her adult life at least #and it’s like it’s opening up things she didn’t know she needed or wanted

[27-royal-teas]

pros of joining the fob fandom

everyone is super sweet and nice and likes what I have to say and they’re all creative and good writers and talented and incredible and kind to me and way too cool and have good ideas and and and

cons of joining the fob fandom

I get emotional over a picture of middle aged men smiling at each other. im not nearly mentally stable enough to feel this many emotions all the time and you fuckers feel the need to pull more emotions from out of me all the time

#fob #fall out boy #i should probably get off the internet for once in my life #and actually focus on my own music for once #I just have zero self control #also I feel like I have to write really good articulate stuff all the time for people to notice me and that’s a shitty feeling but #that’s how it is when you worm your way into a fandom #ill find my place eventually #mostly !!! i just want a lot of friends!!!!! #i love friends!!!!! #be my friend!!!! please! #toby speaks

[rorimoon9597]

"I hate being the captain," Shiro whined.

"No you don't," Adam replied. Shiro pouted and rested his head on the bed next to Adam.

"Sometimes I do, though. I can understand why I was the best person to command an entire warship, but at the same time I can't understand the reason why." Adam snorted.

"I thought that it would be obvious. You're the only one that the Paladins will listen to," he said.

"Sometimes they don't listen," Shiro rebuts.

"They still have a lot of respect for you. It's admirable, how much they care about you."

Shiro can't argue against that. His team has always cared about him, even when he was just a guy who they all looked up to. They'd all come to know him for himself, not for his achievements, and he's glad for that.

"Anyway, the medics say that I'll be free to leave soon. Where will I be sleeping?" Shiro lifted his head to look at Adam better.

"Well... I was wondering if... if you'd like to share a room with me." He didn't expect an answer. He wouldn't be upset at Adam if he declined.

"I'd like that," Adam admitted. Shiro nodded.

"Okay. I'll get spare clothes for you, then," Shiro said. He smiled. "I'm being so awkward right now."

"You are," Adam agreed.

"You love me though."

"I hate it when you're right." Shiro smiled even wider.

"Sure," he said. His comm beeped. He pulled it out and checked it. "I have to go. Something about the Paladin's mission has come up."

"Go. I'll still be here when you get back."

"Alright. If it takes longer than expected then I'll get someone to come with a uniform. Sorry, but you're going to have to wear an orange one."

"It's fine, Takashi. Now go, I'll be fine." There's a fond exasperation in Adam's voice. Shiro stood up and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to Adam's forehead.

"Alright. I'll see you later." He left, heading for the meeting room to see what he was needed for.

It's not until dinner time that he's free. He walked to the ship cafeteria, feeling the weight of the day on his shoulders. All he wanted to do was curl up in bed with Adam.

"You look like shit," Adam commented. Shiro looked at him.

"I feel like it," he admitted. Adam smiled at him.

"Come on, you'll feel better after some food, a shower, and some sleep." Adam pulled him into the cafeteria. They grabbed their dinner and sat together to eat.

The crew didn't bother them through out dinner. It was just the two of them, talking and eating. The tension from the day leaked out of Shiro slowly, almost unnoticeable.

When they finished, Adam forced him away from work.

"You need to rest," he insisted. Shiro didn't try to stop him, only asked Curtis to clear the rest of his schedule and to tell the crew that he didn't want to be disturbed.

They made it to their room. Adam pulled Shiro into the bathroom.

"Wait- you don't need to help me here," Shiro said. Adam raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not going to listen to that, and you know it." Shiro sighed.

"I do," he agreed. Adam let go of his hand, only to place his hands on either side of Shiro's face. Adam studied him for a few moments.

"You need some down time, Takashi. Let me take care of you." Shiro leaned into Adam's hands, eyes closed. He held one of Adam's wrists and turned his head to kiss the palm of his hand.

"Alright," he agreed. "I'll let you take care of me."

"Good," Adam said. He removed his hands from Shiro's face and reached into the shower, turning on the water.

Adam was careful in his movements, caring, even. He helped Shiro out of his uniform, chucking parts of it to the side. His fingers traced the scars on his skin. Scars from fights in the gladiator pit and from his Paladin work alike. Adam traced over them with gentle fingers, never lingering too long.

He moved Shiro to stand under the spray of the shower. There was movement outside of the shower, and then Adam was joining him. Shiro was reminded of the times when the pain from his illness was too much for him to move very far, or stand for long. Adam had always helped him shower then, and each time it was with the same gentleness and care.

He wrapped his arms around Adam and buried his face into his shoulder. Adam traced circles onto his skin. It really was comforting, standing here in the shower with the person he loved the most after a relatively stressful day, after being deprived of something like this for so long.

Adam gently pushed Shiro's head away from his shoulder and grabbed the shampoo. Shiro let him massage it into his scalp, practically turning into goo with the motions. When Adam was done, he tilted his head back to wash out the suds. Adam repeated the motions with the conditioner, taking his time to comb out any knots in Shiro's hair. Not that there really was anything, just in his floof. It gave Adam an excuse to spend longer than necessary on Shiro's hair.

When he was finished with that, he moved to washing Shiro's body. He didn't have the energy to be embarrassed by it. Why should he, when they'd done stuff like this before? And Adam was so gentle, it made Shiro want to cry.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked. Shiro nodded.

"Yeah. I just- I've never realised just how much I missed you," he replied. Adam smiled gently. He pulled Shiro into a hug.

"At least we're here, now," Adam said. Shiro pressed a kiss into Adam's shoulder in reply. He decided that it wasn't enough, so He pulled away to press a kiss to Adam's lips. They were just as soft as he remembered.

Funny, how I was able to remember how it feels to kiss him but not how much I love to make him laugh, he thought to himself. He let himself get wrapped up in Adam. The feeling of his skin, his lips, the warmth he brought Shiro. The love that they still had for each other.

"I love you," he whispered when they pulled apart, noses touching.

"I love you too, Takashi," Adam replied. He pressed another kiss to Shiro's lips, then reached out to turn off the water.

Adam dried him off and helped him into clean clothes before he dried himself off and pulled on his own clothes. They climbed into bed together and laid there, facing each other. They just laid there like that. Shiro was still taking in the fact that they were together again.

"What are we?" Shiro asked. He hated how small his voice sounded, how insecure it was.

Adam was silent for a while before he answered.

"I don't know." It was an honest answer, one that was true through and through. Neither of them knew what their relationship status was anymore. All they knew was that they were lovers.

"What do you want us to be?" He wanted Adam to call the shots. It's all he could do, after going off to Kerberos despite Adam's protests.

"I..." Adam trailed off. In the darkness, Shiro could make out the shape of Adam's face. He knew that the other man was thinking. "I know for a fact that I love you, Takashi. I still want to be with you for the rest of my life."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." They went silent again. "What about you, Takashi?"

"I want that too," he admitted. There was the soft sound of movement, and then Adam's hand was cupping his cheek.

"Then let's have that. We don't have to get married now, but I want to do that at some point."

"I want to marry you, too. I was the one who proposed, right?" Shiro said. Adam laughed.

"Yeah. You were a mess."

"Hey!" Shiro pouted. "You said yes anyway." Adam's laughter died down. Shiro could see the smile on his face, even though it was pitch black at that point. The lights had turned off a while ago.

"And I'd say it again. But... it might take a bit for us to get back to that point." Adam was right. Shiro sighed. He moved his head so that his forehead was touching Adam's forehead.

"So... back to boyfriends?" He asked.

"Yeah. At least we're together." Shiro hummed in response.

"That's all that matters now," he agreed.

Shiro wrapped his arms around Adam and tucked himself under his chin.

"Goodnight, Takashi."

"Goodnight. I love you."

"I love you too."

#more word-vomit lol #this is cute tho #cute word-vomit #adashi #shiro x adam #voltron #voltron legendary defender #takashi shirogane #there will be more from this universe #I'm just writing about Adashi and healing ppl while doing it lol #ur welcome #I haven't read over this #probably why its kinda shitty #at least by my standards

[blueper-saiyan]

I have a firm heartfelt belief that neither Goku nor Vegeta is at all normal for a Saiyan but some of the ways that they’re weird overlap perfectly, so they’re both convinced that they’re normal and that’s just what Saiyans are like

#Not the strong women thing though that one is real and universal (the appreciation is present even for those for whom it is not sexual) #Goku and Vegeta have still never met a normal saiyan and they probably never will so this belief is harmless #I do want to write a fic where the two of them get dumped back in time together on Planet Vegeta and have to realize that Saiyans are not #how they expected them to be and they’re both pretty unusual #But 1. I’d have to do a lot of worldbuilding and 2. I would be making Vegeta suffer so much it just feels mean #Goku probably wouldn’t care though if anything he might appreciate a little more evidence that his species isn’t like. born evil #But also he’d definitely want to stop them from being shitty so that would be an exciting and difficult task

[godnectar]

*cough* new theme soon <3 *cough*

#nectar's rambling #dunno how it will look #probably shitty #but new theme in some mins 😋👍 #........................................................................................................................................... #really should write instead of messing with the blog's appearance #♡ announcement

[meownotgood]

no way this fic has me writing fucking HAIKUS I'm past the point of no return I'M DOOMED, LOST IN THE SAUCE, IT'S OVER

#no offense intended to the art of haiku #but I am not. a poet #that probably shows in the shitty haikus I'm writing BAHAHAHA #but it's important to the story okay listen...... #you'll... you'll see......