#you read a lot of fanfiction and saw a lot of fan discussion and so whenever you reread harry potter

[themoonking]

it’s not actually that weird that people are saying “harry potter was never good, actually” after joanne went full mask off, and no it doesn’t mean that we all secretly think harry potter is amazing but don’t want to admit it. it’s pretty simple actually: most people read harry potter when they were children, when they hadn’t read a lot of other books and therefore didn’t have a lot to compare it to. then every time you reread it as an adult, you’re looking through pretty hefty nostalgia goggles. then, after you’ve realized that joanne is a violent bigot that wants you and / or people you love and care for dead, those goggles are broken and when you attempt to look at hp again you’re more likely to see it’s flaws. it’s not rocket science.

#like don't get me wrong people have pointed out stuff wrong with hp since the beginning #both the bigoted aspects of it and the simply bad writing aspects #but it was in bits and pieces and far less vocal #whereas now you see its more 'wait a minute the entire series is lowkey shit' and is a lot more people saying it #also for people like myself #you read a lot of fanfiction and saw a lot of fan discussion and so whenever you reread harry potter #that stuff was in the back of your mind whether you meant it to be or not #and it maybe caused you to think that what you were reading was a lot deeper than it actually was #because you were taking all this fan content as canon even if nothing of what you were actually read in the text suggested it #but then when everything fell apart you hadn't even thought about harry potter for a good while and that fan stuff wasn't in your head #and you could see the text for the mess it was without the bolstering and hole filling that fandom had done for it #i speak #anti jk rowling #and there's also the point that when harry potter was at its peak popularity the entire world was reinforcing the fact that this is amazing #so you're less inclined to find flaws because somethign this big cant POSSIBLY be bad

[izupie]

It really bothers me to see fanfiction writers discussing how to/how not to write certain characters. because I'm like, my dudes. we are on tumblr dot com. we are writing stories about our favourite characters like they're dolls in the dollhouses of our mind.

you can't be sitting there on some kind of fanfiction high horse preaching out that everyone "can't" write this certain character in the way you've decided that you, personally, don't like.

i don't care how many hits your fics have got - like that makes you valid?

filter out the tags you don't enjoy on ao3 by all means, but you can't turn around and say that the way you dislike them being written is 'wrong' - that's your opinion and that's great but it doesn't affect how someone else writes them.

who are you that your opinion matters more? who are you to be the judge and jury on what is in or out of character when you didn't even create them in the first place? sound confident and condescending all you want, doesn't make your opinion any more or less valid than any other fan in the fandom.

Write characters any way you want to. fanfiction is supposed to be fun. if another fan tries to police you about the way you've portrayed a certain character tell them that you hope their toast always burns. and that they need a new hobby.

#i saw a bunch of fans discussing the 'correct' way to write a character and it makes me. so. mad. #advice on how to write a character is fine! it's welcome! it's great to discuss! #but to say that there is a right and wrong way to depict a character really raises my hackles #for context there's a bunch of fans who have high view counts on their fics and they're preaching out this garbage #of how to write [character] #and they're doing it to these fans who are drinking up their opinions because they're the 'cool popular writers' #and they're not at all saying that all of this is their opinion - that they are welcome to write this character whoever they want #they're saying 'writing this character any other way is wrong' #THIS is their personality and THIS is the way they speak #because they've got lots of hits and these are the things they like to see in the fics they write and read #so who's going to disagree with them?? #i think this is the most tags I've ever written #ANYWAY - WRITE CHARACTERS IN FANFICTION HOWEVER TF YOU WANT #DO IT! MAKE THEM WILDLY OUT OF CHARACTER! PUT THEM IN A COFFEE SHOP! MAFIA AU! GENDER SWAP! #doesn't matter because it's fanfiction and you can do what you want to with your blorbo dolls #izu says stuff #izu rants in the tags #fanfiction #ao3

[bambi-kinos]

Beatles Reading List (Introductory)

Hi guys. So I saw a post floating around asking about "where to start" with the Beatles and how to find out more about them. Moeexyz's recommendation on it was to read fanfiction and this alarmed me a bit. Fanfiction just isn't a good source to get information about the band for one simple reason: fanfic authors change stuff for dramatic purposes all the time. It's just not a great way to get more information about them because fanfiction by necessity shifts things around for the sake of storytelling.

That Beatles iceberg is nice but the only way you're going to get a good picture of the Beatles is by doing a lot of reading of published sources. That's right. You're in for a lot of homework.

In an effort to combat misinformation, I asked the McLennon discord server to help me put together a rough list of introductory level books for Beatle fans that want to learn more about the band. These books are either a) read by me or b) read by someone I trust and I have included her quotes about the books she liked. I'll have color commentary talking about what they are and why they should be read. I do not consider this post finished! My server is constantly reading and discussing (we're looking at podcasts right now because they're the ones doing interviews with Liverpool citizens who were peers of the Beatles!) and they're being very gracious by contributing to this list. That means that this post may be updated in the future as I read more! If you want to keep up with updates then give my blog a follow, I'll post every time I update this list.

Some of these books are available on Archive.org but others can be gotten through your local library or through piracy. If you buy something, buy it used. Never pay more than $20 for a Beatle book.

The Whole Story

Anthology This is the documentary made by the band after John Lennon's death in 1980. It is both a documentary as well as a book (essentially a script of the documentary) which makes it very accessible. This is the version of the story that the band wanted to put out and includes interviews with Paul, George, and Ringo. They cover their beginning to their end. Anthology can be found on archive.org if you want to read it: https://archive.org/details/beatlesanthology0000unse_y2k8 The episodes are also available on Archive.org. If you search for "Beatles Anthology" and select "movies" option to search for videos then you will find it there. It's worth the watch and is all around the best introduction to the Beatles.

The Beatles - Hunter Davies This is the only sanctioned biography of the band. It's written in older language since it is contemporary to the 1960s but it's still very readable and a good intro. It is part of the media image that the band wanted to present at the time so you should make sure to think about what you are reading, who is saying what, and contemplate why he is saying it. It it still a great resource.

150 Glimpses of the Beatles - Craig Brown This is a short book that describes 150 anecdotes about the Beatles and what it was like to experience them. I recommend this because it demonstrates what a unique and personal experience the Beatles are while also demonstrating their global reach and how they became the most famous rock band in the world. It's a short read but a good one and there are many charming and thought provoking anecdotes in it. The story of the Beatles is just as much about their fans as it is about the band and you cannot understand one without looking at the other.

Books About Each Beatle

This particular section is a bit of a minefield. Many books written about the Beatles are of questionable veracity or just out and out wrong. (I can think of two that were written as blatant cash grabs and filled with libel that someone should have been sued over.) My recommendations on this may change so please check back from time to time! John Lennon

The John Lennon Letters - John Lennon, edited by Hunter Davies Primary source documents of the various letters and missives John wrote through his life. This may be the most important book on the list because it shows us who John really is: just another ordinary guy like us, trying to get through life. Also gives insight into his mindset as the decades pressed on.

The Making of John Lennon - Francis Kenny This is a very vital and heartbreaking read for people who want more insight into John. John Lennon is the most famous Beatle but he is also the one who's image is the most obscured and distorted. Francis Kenny is a Liverpool native who puts John in his proper context. To quote my server friend who read this one: Kenny, himself a Liverpudlian, takes into account how life in Liverpool in the first half of the 20th century shaped not only John but everyone he knew and his entire family. Mimi and Julia get a good critical view, and Uncle George gets his moment in the sun. He also lays out how class divides affected the Stanleys and then how Mimi took it out on John and Julia. He quotes a 1880s travel guide of London that said Liverpool was called "the New York of Europe," because of its economy and place on the ocean, and like in the Gilded Age New York that was happening concurrently across the ocean, Liverpool had pockets of wealth and splendor surrounded by poverty and rough living. Definitely a pro-read and a great insight into the culture and time John lived in. It does not fall into the pitfalls of hero worshipping John but Francis Kenny still treats John with sympathy and respect, hard qualities to come by when it comes to the cashgrabs written about John and his family.

John - Cynthia Lennon John's first wife, Cynthia, wrote two autobiographies about herself and John. This is one of them. It's a tough read in many places but a good one. Hers is a voice that doesn't shy away from John's flaws and actions but she also takes care to tell us why she and so many other people love him and remain loyal to him.

Paul McCartney

Many Years From Now - Barry Miles This is Paul's only sanctioned biography. It is formatted as a quasi-interview with Paul where there are interruptions of regular prose in each chapter. There are eyebrow raising moments where you can tell Paul is not quite telling the truth but it's important to read and identify these moments since Paul's habit of embroidering the truth is important to know and understand. Nonetheless it is still a lot more honest than I was expecting when I read it.

Paul McCartney: A Life - Peter Ames Carlin Probably the best Paul McCartney biography on the market. Peter Ames Carlin also did a similarly great bio of Paul Simon for people who are into that. To quote my friend Betty who read it: Paul gets to be a whole person here: the preternaturally talented boy wonder, the guy casting around for meaning, the less than attractive moments and qualities described without getting preachy or turning to [Paul Derangement Syndrome]. Carlin treats him with dignity instead of something to be gawked at and gossiped about. His (many) sources are cited at the end of the book. What I really appreciated was the ideas he put forth that I've only seen on Tumblr and not in Serious Official Biographies, which says to me he's writing as a fan and scholar and not a journalist trying to fill column inches.

George Harrison

I Me Mine - George Harrison Make sure to get the extended edition! George Harrison in his own words. There's a lot to say about this biography but it won't make much sense without context so I just encourage you to read it. George Harrison was, in my opinion, the best Beatle.

George Harrison: Behind the Locked Door - Graeme Thomson A good no bullshit biography about George Harrison. This covers his life as the material musician and the man seeking the divine. Graeme worked very hard to be respectful of George and his life, did extensive interviews with George's wife Olivia. Such a pro-read and definitely the best George biography written to date.

Ringo Starr

Photograph - Ringo Starr Ringo has stated that this book is his autobiography. In a few bumpers on the Beatles Sirius XM channel Ringo says that he doesn't want to write a biography like the others did but he was happy with putting this photobook together and essentially writing a bio through the captions. This is the closest that we will get for a biography for him as of right now. In time that may change but this is your best option. Piracy is the way to go when it comes to getting a copy of this, iirc it was a limited run and getting a physical copy might be very expensive these days.

Brian Epstein

A Cellarful of Noise - Brian Epstein/Derek Taylor This autobiography was ghostwritten by Brian's assistant Derek Taylor. It's not a tell-all but Brian talks about his youth and how he met the Beatles, including giving his own personal (and accurate) insights into each band member.

Conclusion

There are many, many books about the Beatles. Almost all of them offer something but most are about very niche periods in the Beatles history. When it comes to understanding the band I tried to put together a list where you can get an overview of the band and then read materials that either come straight from the Beatle in question or are not as biased as the competition. I am a McLennon shipper but for a post like this I did my best to recommend books that don't have that kind of bias in them so this is a list you can send to non-shipper friends haha.

In another post I will put together a history book list in the order of their timeline as a band, starting from the Quarrymen and on to the present. There is a LOT of ground to cover in a historical arrangement and it will take a while to compile. Please check back here regularly or give me a follow: whenever I update this post or make a new list, I'll make sure to post about it.

My plan is to make a website with all of this information that anyone can reference but it will take a long long time to make such a thing so put a pin in that one.

#the beatles #john lennon #paul mccartney #george harrison #ringo starr #richard starkey #brian epstein #beatles merch #beatles books #book recommendations #book recs

[thefangirlfever]

I needed to make a post about this because...well, the title says everything.

First of all I would like to say that I'm feeling a bit anxious sharing my thoughts about this. I don't know if I'm the most qualified to talk about this but it has been bugging me.

I know a lot of people have already discussed the way Miguel, a POC and a latino man out of all people, has been oversexualized to a point that it feels fetishy and a bit concerning sometimes. I think we can all acknowledge this and that already gives us a lot to think about.

But what I think is really interesting is that not only is Miguel an intentional thirst-trap, he is a thirst-trap created mainly by a team of male producers/ writers. From what I read, the people in charge of his character design were men (I want to say that I am by no mean attacking anyone who worked on this movie. They did an amazing job and I am just sharing my thoughts, not saying they are bad people for this choise or anything. Thank you).

And I find this very telling. Because when I first saw this headline, I thought "Oh finally, women have been given the chance to freely thirst over a male character the same way men do." And I think it was a big mistake from me to think this way. (First of all, there are also men and non-binary simping over him). Because, let's be real for one second there, do we really want to thirst over characters the way men do? I have been an anime fan for years and let me tell you, the way a lot of men/ fanboys view female characters is simply gross (I know, I know, not all men). It's also something I noticed in comics and video games. Like, have you seen the outrage when a video game studio wants to propose female characters who do not look like what some p*rn addicts imagines women are?

My point is that Miguel has been created not with the female gaze in mind, but with the male gaze (and it hurts to say this). That's what I got from reading the part of the interview. The emphasis on his butt, the overly masculine, muscular body... Miguel was created not by following what women like in men but by what men imagine that women like in men.

This is also something we can see a lot in various medias over the last years, especially in the romance genre. The way some "desirable" men are depicted do not fit what women seek in a partner but what men imagine women want (ofc every woman has different criteria when it comes to this). I think it's very blatant when you compare medias written by and for women like Shonda Rhimes's shows, Bridgerton, Outlander... and medias written by men. So, in the end, I think that Miguel has been created with that in mind "Let's make a big, tall, dark and broody, muscular matcho man. That's what the female public wants." (ofc it's never as simple as that but you get the idea).

So... does this mean that it's bad to simp/ thirst over this character? Surprisingly I'm going to say no and I even think that it's important that the women in this fandom keep making content around Miguel! Because when we write fanfictions, draw fanarts of him... we are now picturing him with a real female gaze and that's what brings even more complexity and depth to this character.

I have seen so many interpretations of this character since I joined this fandom and a lot of them were really cool/ beautiful, showing just how much people love this character. When you think about it, it's crazy that a character who only got 15 minutes of screen time can have such a strong effect on a fandom, meaning that he is more than just a thirst trap. I genuinely think that the content created by the fans gives this character his humanity back (because, yes, being sexualized to no end deshumanizes a person. Go argue with a wall, thank you very much). I've seen so many tender, soft but also funny depictions of him making him more than just some ass shots on the big screen. And even on the NSFW corner of the fandom, some people out there are really making him more than just this "feral beast" that we have been sold by giving him back his tenderness, his sensuality...

So, yeah, take this headline with care and think what you want of it. Those were just my thoughts. Feel free to disagree, tell me if I got something wrong or just leave your thoughts under this post because I'm genuinely curious of seeing other fan's opinions. I apologize for the mess of this take.

And now I'm going back to sleep.

#miguel o'hara #atsv miguel #spiderman 2099 #across the spiderverse #atsv #spiderverse #we need to talk about this #gender critical #female gaze #male gaze #look at me not writing my college essays but writing this

[yoonieper]

His Majesty | KNJ

Come and serve your King.

・❥・ Pairing: King!Namjoon x Maid!Reader

・❥・ Genre: smut, angst, a tiny bit of fluff

・❥・ Rated: B for Bow 

・❥・ Warnings: cheating, oral (m+f receiving), clothes are ripped, bondage, spanking, exhibitionism, unprotected sex (this the past, but not you <3), joon’s a little too hot in this one, get your fans ready

・❥・ Word Count: 9.6k

・❥・ Summary: His majesty was always fond of you. Little glances here, longing touches there, it was obvious something was going on. When the Queen left the kingdom for a little while, it was finally time. He could finally have you the way he wanted. 

・❥・ Collab: This is part of @erotikkook Kingdom collab! My first collab piece, yay! Thank you so much Levi for finally giving me a reason to write this lol! Please check out the other stories as well! 

・❥・ Now Playing: Earned It by The Weeknd

・❥・ Beta: @xxxanimangxxx thank you so much for reading this so quickly 😭 

・❥・ Author’s Note: HA! I’m back already (hehehehe)~ This was meant to be posted for Joonie’s bday, but things happened… Anyway, fun fact, I got this idea when me and my sister were discussing frozen fanfiction, in particular a very snacky older Hans brother. I owe a lot of these ideas to my sister so shout out to her who helped me come up with this 😩✊🏽 I hope to post a less angsty Joon fic in the near future *hint hint wink wink something might be in the works* :,) Anyway enjoy this y’all ;)

No reposting, modifying. Translating is not allowed unless given explicit permission. Thank you so much :D

You never thought of yourself as nosy. You didn’t think your friends nor your family would disagree at this claim, you were honestly more known for being good at staying out of other’s business. However, your job at the palace seemed to challenge this standard you had for yourself. 

You would oftentimes find yourself in the room when important court officials would be having discussions, but you always tried to pay no mind to their words and carried on with your assigned duties. However, you were just a maid to most of these officials and it always seemed like they wouldn’t care if you were dusting a shelf right across the room. You weren’t nosy, but you were human after all. You had ears. 

You often enjoyed the palace gossip, never spreading it yourself necessarily, but you wouldn’t hesitate to take part in the chatter among the other palace staff that seemed to always spread like wildfire.  

Most court officials always made you feel invisible, you didn’t mind it that way honestly, but one managed to snake his way into your life and became a chapter you never would have pictured for your humble existence. 

“Are you sure that is the best idea?” A deep, booming voice reverberated throughout the empty throne room. You tried your best not to turn around. 

“Your majesty, if you must know I have just gotten word from my father detailing my mother’s illness. I think this is enough reason to leave the palace grounds despite what’s going on right now.” Her voice was firm like she wasn’t even asking.

“I understand. Just considering what everyone is saying at the moment, I am worried. How long are you requesting leave?” 

“I hope to return in one month’s time, but depending on my mother’s condition it might be longer.” You could feel his gaze even with your back turned to them both. He wanted you to listen.  

“That is fine by me, just be sure to inform me of your mother’s condition from time to time, send her my dearest regards.”

“Thank you, your majesty.” 

In your peripheral you saw her majesty get up and turn toward the entrance, but she stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him. 

“Your majesty, upon my return I feel it is best to listen to our people. We need an heir.” She spoke plainly, lacking complete emotion. This was just business.  

Silence filled the room for a little while. 

“I will see you in a month.” He too lacked that emotion one would expect from the weight of her statement. 

No more words were exchanged between the couple and soon you heard the door to the room close behind her majesty. 

Happenings at the palace have been quite tense lately. Security has been tighter than ever and the crowds outside the palace have grown more restless by the passing days. Only you know the true reason for the controversy surrounding the newly appointed King. 

It still felt like yesterday when the news of the death of the former King and Queen was spreading around the kingdom. Their son was of age to take the throne, so from a political standpoint the kingdom was secure, but with how sudden their death was, a lot of things needed to be rushed. 

You had recently started working at the palace when it was announced that the newly crowned King would be marrying the princess of Alreda, a neighboring kingdom you had heard the former King had been trying to make peace with. 

Everyone knew that the marriage was more of a political move than anything out of love, but because of his parents, everyone started with high hopes for the new couple. It was infamous across borders the story of the King and Queen of Kleier was a match that started off as nothing more than an arrangement that eventually blossomed into a fiery romance that seemed to spread over the kingdom.

Everyone had hopes for their son as well. 

King Namjoon though was nothing like his parents by far. His last few years of reign were nothing bad, but he was known around the kingdom as a cold, yet thorough, meticulous, and a questionable ruler. Gone was the same light the former King spread over the kingdom, instead was a husk of what was once a kingdom filled with life and love.

No one complained at first however considering the suddenness of the King and Queen’s death. It was like the entire kingdom was still grieving. 

There were some people however that were not as forgiving, demanding immediate perfection from the new King. Recently the topic everyone seemed to talk about was the fact that his majesty had been married to the Queen for 4 years and still had yet to produce an heir. 

It was tradition that the King and Queen were to consummate their marriage and that would bless the kingdom with good fortune while they ruled. It quickly spread around the kingdom that this ‘blessing’ never happened on their wedding night. That’s essentially what started the gossip. 

The fact that they had been married for so long and the Queen wasn’t even with child at the moment caused a bit of an uproar. Their voices grew louder as time passed and they took advantage of people’s grief about the former King and Queen and turned any small concerns they had into even more voices. 

The King and Queen had even been advised to stay inside the palace gates because of safety concerns.   

No one knew why the King had yet to spend the night with the Queen, no one knew why they hadn’t produced an heir yet, no one knew but you. 

As soon as the door closed, you heard footsteps approaching from behind.

They were slow, calculated, and you could feel his gaze piercing through the back of your skull. You could feel your skin starting to burn, but you never faltered in your task of cleaning the relics that lined the throne room. You never turned around, not even when you felt his sturdy chest against your back. 

“Did you hear that?” His voice was low and soft, not at all the same way he spoke with her majesty.

“I’ve been waiting for a time like this to come. I hope you have as well.” You felt shivers go down your spine, every word making you more eager for his touch than you thought possible. You felt his arm snake around your waist, before he pulled you even closer.

It was not out of lust but of longing, the pain of needing to put his role as the ruler of the kingdom first before his own selfish desires. The reason why the King had yet to spend the night with her majesty, was no reason as complicated as what the kingdom had spread. It was simply you. 

It had been the first time you had laid eyes on the King, it had merely been days after you started your job as a maid in the palace. The head maid had been ushering you to the tea room, when you saw him walk down the hallway.

The head maid urged you to make room and bow, but as you felt his presence sweep by, you had looked up curiously to see his majesty and you felt your heart nearly stop when your eyes met. Instead of the strong, powerful, gaze you expected all you saw was how tired he seemed and pain you didn’t quite understand until later. It was in that moment his eyes locked onto yours as he passed by, a moment that felt like an entirety but was really only a few seconds because he stopped right in his tracks to look at you. 

His entire party that followed closely behind, bumped into each other. Everyone was surprised at him suddenly coming to a halt. 

“Who is this?” He questioned the head maid. You had felt your blood run cold wondering if you had made a mistake already. 

“L/N Y/N your majesty, she’s a new maid I’m training.” The head maid had bowed deeper and her eyes remained trained to the ground. Immediately you senesed the terrible blunder you had made already. 

Namjoon’s gaze returned back to you for a second. Part of you expected him to order for you to be thrown in jail or maybe even sentenced to a vicious beheading, but instead his eyes only lingered for a second longer before he was continuing with his party.   

Some may have not expected this interaction to be much, but anytime you happened to work in the same room as his majesty you couldn’t shake the feeling you were being looked at. Every time you were proved right, he was always staring at you. 

It was one fateful day that basically started this predicament. You had been working one late  night and you happened to walk into a room his majesty was in. As soon as you pushed open the doors, you heard the sounds of pained sobs and pitiful whimpers, and that’s when his majesty sitting by the fireplace turned to you and your eyes met once again.  

You apologized and was about to leave but he stopped you and he told you to continue working. His voice was groggy and you only wondered how long he had been crying. While you tried to work in peace your concern for the King got the best of you and you finally had to ask what was troubling him.

This led to you taking a seat right beside him by the fireplace and you let him vent his frustrations out. He went on about how much he missed his parents, how much he did not want to get married to the princess from Alreada, all the overwhelming Kingly duties that had suddenly been sprung onto him, and pretty much everything that he had seemingly bottled up inside his troubled mind since he took the crown. 

You were there and despite you just being a maid, he let you listen to all his struggles almost as if he had just been waiting for someone to ask him that one question for months. 

Things after that changed between you two, what started as making eye contact longer than you knew you were meant to, almost as if to reminisce the memory of the night you shared, slowly grew longer and longer the closer to the day Namjoon was meant to get married. 

You both never said a word to each other, but it seemed as if you both knew exactly what you wanted the moment you looked into each other’s eyes.

You were confused and you sensed the conflict every time you met his gaze, but that didn’t stop the marriage. You sat in one of the furthest back pews in the church that day. You saw that same saddened look as the day you caught him crying alone as he said his “I dos” and his vow to love the princess. 

For a while whatever was happening between you two ceased completely. As much as your heart ached you knew he had a duty and he was put into a marriage he couldn’t escape. Now that his majesty had gotten married it was finally time to put an end to your foolish fantasy, there was no way you could have been together anyway. 

As the months turned into years, you tried your best to move on and focus on serving the King and Queen, but as rumors about their relationship started to spread around the palace, even escaping past the gates, you could not help but think about that night once more. 

The more rumors that spread the more you noticed the signs yourself. You would sometimes walk into them arguing, you saw how distant they were. They were hardly ever in the same room together, let alone a couple that had been married for some time. The more you noticed the more you also started to see the King’s gaze return to yours once more. 

It didn’t stop there. 

Anytime you were alone he would make sure to move closer to you and watch you work, he would talk to you sometimes and you both would be merry and laugh. Whatever moment you shared before he was married was not a dream like you had been convincing yourself over the years. It slapped you in the face one day when you found yourself in a similar position, alone with his majesty. 

It was late and the guards were right outside, but you both stood on the balcony facing the gardens as he held you in his arms. Nothing happened, but you could feel it, feel just how much he wanted you. 

As much as you wanted to push yourself away from his enchanting presence, he was a married man after all and you were merely a maid, but each time you found yourself alone with him, your skin burned and all you wanted was to have him closer. You needed him closer. 

As his majesty pulled away you only wished to pull him close again and have his way with you. 

What did he mean, what was in store for you?

You found out the very day her majesty boarded her carriage. All the palace staff had been called outside to wish her farewell. You hadn’t been too far from the King, and as her majesty stepped onto the carriage you noticed his gaze was always locked onto yours. 

You felt dirty, the Queen being right there ready to embark on a journey to visit her ill mother, yet all you were thinking about was what his majesty, what her husband was going to do to you. 

It was awful, yet at the same time after she left and everyone was heading inside, his majesty stayed behind with you and whispered something in your ear that made you forget about the questionable morality of the situation. 

“Cellar. 2 strikes on the clock. Don’t be late.” 

And you weren’t, while everyone slept you crept out of the maid’s quarters and down to the cellar where he said he would be. You could not be happier to see him waiting for you.

He was still wearing his royal robes, the blue fabric decorated intricately with lighter swirls along with his family crest sewn into the back and shoulders. He was still even wearing his crown. It was almost like he was waiting for you for a lot longer than you thought. 

You hardly had time to fully grasp he was in front of you before he was grabbing onto your arm, pushing you against the wall, cupping your cheeks, and kissing you like he had been holding back for so many years. 

The passion erupted as you clumsily raked your hands over his body, his crown falling off his head, clanking loudly on the ground, but that didn’t sway you both as he picked you up onto a table and hiked up your nightgown. It was quick, you both were conscious of the fact that someone could walk downstairs at any moment but the tension that’s been built over the years didn’t sway you. 

He took you right then and there and despite everything you couldn’t have been happier. 

You found yourself sneaking down to the cellar while most of the palace staff slept more often than not. It was almost as if it was all a dream, a dream both you and Namjoon knew you would have to wake up from sooner than later. The Queen was to return and for some reason you knew that whatever was going on between you and his majesty would have to end. 

Namjoon would finally have to fulfill his duty and give the kingdom an heir. He had a kingdom to take care of and you wouldn’t allow yourself to come in between that because of feelings. A beautiful kingdom going down for something as trivial as this? No, you wouldn’t do that to everyone. 

Instead you let yourself enjoy this time before her majesty returns, let everything end with happy memories before you needed to say goodbye.  

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

You weren’t paying any mind to the world around you as you focused on polishing the fireplace. The head maid had always complained whenever she would see it, saying you would always do a lousy job. You were set on impressing her this time so you had been concentrating on all the gold and making sure the fireplace sparkled, you didn’t even notice the sound of the door closing and locking. 

You still didn’t really focus on it until you heard the sounds of slow, calculated footsteps walking toward you. It was at that moment you stopped working, feeling every part of yourself light ablaze just at the mere thought of being in the same room alone. 

As his footsteps drew closer you finally allowed yourself to turn around. You were delighted to see him giving you a warm, dimpled smile and you found it impossible not to smile back at him. He was glorious. 

His red robes were wrapped tightly around his frame making his physique hidden underneath almost on full display. Gold accents lined the fabric, along with the chain wrapped around his shoulders that connected the flowy cape dragging behind him. His crown sitting on top of his head sparkled brightly with the array of jewels that decorated it. The room was illuminated by the various colors, alluring rainbows covered the wall behind him making him appear quite heavenly. You couldn’t help but be enchanted by this one in particular, yet also resent it knowing knowing such a simple piece of headwear was the reason you could never be with him. 

“What are you doing?” his powerful, yet kind voice almost made your knees buckle. You turned back around to the fireplace. 

“Polishing your fireplace, your majesty—“ Your heart nearly stopped when you felt his arms wrap around your waist. 

“Is that so?” He sighed as he buried his head in your neck, enjoying the way you smelled like the flowers in his garden. 

“Yes sir, I was almost done if you wanted me to le–” Your voice was shaky. He was normally never so bold during the day. 

“Mmmm, I think you missed a spot.” You noticed the subtle way his words slurred together and the smell of wine on his breath. You suddenly remembered that he had lunch today with neighboring rulers. 

None of that mattered though, knowing now you had somehow missed a spot again despite your efforts. 

“I did your majesty?” You panicked. 

“Here…” He grabbed a hold of the hand that was holding the rag and slowly guided it to a higher spot on the fireplace. 

“Try going a little harder…” Namjoon said softly before stepping back a little. You did as he said, rubbing the metal a little harder but Namjoon was right behind you again and grabbing onto your hand. 

“Not too hard, just– yeah like that.” He intertwined his fingers with yours and helped you work the rag slowly in a circle. You felt your breath hick when his grip on your waist tightened.  

“Go in a circle like this and with just the right amount of pressure…” He let his words linger and you weren’t sure if it was from how close he was standing, his hand around yours, or the words that made your whole body tingle and you wished nothing more than for him to pull you close. 

He pulled your hand away from the metal and you were delighted to see it sparkle like the rest of the beautifully crafted fireplace. “Look at how pretty it shines.” He smiled, finally letting go of you entirely and made his way to sit on the ottoman that sat at the foot of his bed. 

You turned around and you shivered seeing the way he was looking at you. His gaze was dark and almost… hungry? 

You cleared your throat and bent down to grab a different rag, one that you would use to clean the wooden furniture the King had decorated the palace with over the years. 

You moved closer so you were standing right in front of him, he smirked at you as you got on your hands and knees.

“Sorry your highness, I was going to clean this next. Is that ok?” You looked up at him, an act normally that would get you thrown away, but one you knew the King loved when it came to you. He always told you how much he loved your eyes. 

He chuckled darkly and leaned forward so he was only inches away, you noticed his gaze drift down to your lips and back up at your eyes.

“Don’t let me stop you.” 

Everything, everywhere on your body burned, but you maintained a level head and got to work. You started working your rag along the beautiful wooden legs of the ottoman, making sure to do it just like the King had instructed you earlier, all while maintaining eye contact.

You didn’t exactly know what the aim of this game was, but you wanted him just as hot as you were. 

After thoroughly going over the legs you slowly rubbed the cloth along the wood lining underneath the red cushion. As you got closer you slowed down, but maintained that eye contact. When you were right by his leg, he leaned back and parted his legs further. His gaze challenged you and you didn’t hesitate moving in between his thighs to continue working your rag along the lining.

You made sure to go extra slow, making sure you missed no spot, all to make sure the King knew you knew how to do your job correctly. You didn’t miss the way he bit his lip and tried to move himself closer to your hand, all the while you seemingly paid no mind and simply did your job.

You were about to move on to the other side, but as you scooted away Namjoon grabbed onto your arm and pulled you back. 

He stared into your eyes and then glanced over at the door. You knew if his majesty was here his guards would be standing right outside the door. This little game would just have to end for now, maybe later you could sneak downs–

Namjoon’s hand came up to lightly caress your cheek, you stared at him wide eyed as he used his thumb to gently trace over your features. You glanced over at the door and back at him, wondering what he was doing.

He leaned in closely.

“Stand up.” He commanded. 

You were slightly confused but did as he asked. He got up slowly and looked you right in the eyes.

It was like time stood still for a moment, uncertainty lingering in the air the deeper you looked in his eyes.    

But the tension broke and before you knew it, he was pulling you close and kissing you. You could immediately taste the exorbitant wine on his tongue, the price of one bottle amounting to more than you’d ever be worth in your lifetime. Each time you kissed, the forbiddenness of your relationship would become all you could think about, but every time it always made you so hungry for his touch. You wished you could do this all the time…

You were quick to feel Namjoon’s plead for more as his hands eagerly ran down your dress and kissed you with a more hurried need. Your body was quick to be set alight by his lips against yours, sparks being sent all throughout your body. You needed him closer. 

You both slowly pulled away and the look in his eyes was pained with lust. He almost seemed upset, angry, but you knew that wasn’t it.

His hand came back up to cup your cheek and the other that was resting on your waist pulled you closer. You looked up at him curious as to what he was going to do, and your eyes immediately focused on his lips as he started leaning in. Your heart swelled when his lips gently kissed your cheek, but the sweet moment didn’t last long as he pulled you back toward the ottoman and he took a seat. 

Namjoon grabbed your hand and pulled you so you were standing right in front of him. You stood there as his eyes raked over your form and his hand came up to play with the fabric of your skirt.

That angered expression returned. 

“Take this off.” He looked up at you. His words made you shiver but your eyes quickly darted over to the door where the guards were standing outside. 

“What about–” you started, a little concerned but Namjoon quickly interjected.

“Take it off.” He repeated.

His tone was serious and you knew what he was suggesting wasn’t a good idea, risking the secret that you’ve managed to keep between you two for years getting out. But in that moment you remembered the Queen’s words before she had departed. These last few weeks might very well be the last time you even get to glance in his majesty’s direction let alone be intimate the way you wished you could be all the time. 

This was the end of the road and the fact he was so confident knowing that his guards were merely behind his big ebony doors, you knew he would handle the situation if the word were to spread. You trusted him so much that you reached behind you and tugged at the strings that laced up your dress. 

You looked him directly in the eyes as the fabric started to loosen around your skin, the way his eyes darted around your body eagerly awaiting for the slightest skin reveal. His gaze made you warm and the ache between your legs even more unbearable but you couldn’t hide the excitement at having this power over him.

Your apron hit the floor first, then the outer layer of your dress, and the undercoat that gave the dress its shape. You noticed the labored breathing as more of yourself was revealed to his majesty, the more pained his expression looked, and the more you noticed the tent between his legs become more prominent. 

Once the undercoat was removed all you were left in was your white stockings, garters, and the under dress that hung loosely over your form.

“Please…” You heard him whisper as he finally looked up at you. You didn’t hesitate with removing the last layer, revealing the underwear that was encrusted with his initials. All palace staff had a uniform they were required to wear, everything you wore had his mark somewhere on your body. It was standard palace procedure but in this moment you relished in the thought that it was him who covered up your most intimate parts. 

Namjoon sat up and he quickly let his hands explore the exposed skin, he groaned softly at the way you felt underneath his grasp, almost as if he couldn’t stand being apart from you for a second longer. 

You tried to make no noise despite how good his hands felt on your body, but before too long he grabbed onto your hand and pulled you close so he could whisper in your ear. 

“Get down on your knees and serve your King.” The words were filthy, essentially forcing you into complete submission. This was an order. You would have moaned if it wasn’t for the guards outside. You wanted to please him so well, serve your King so well that you instantly dropped down like he wished, eager to make his majesty feel good.

Namjoon looked down at you with hungry eyes as your hands came up and ran over his clothed thighs. He was quick to let you know he was not in the mood for teasing, nor for taking things slow, guiding your hand up to the tie around his waist. 

You didn’t hesitate pulling on the fabric, making sure to maintain eye contact with his majesty. In your peripheral you still noticed his fleeting grip on the ottoman, the red fabric being pulled between his fingers. His head leaned back slightly and even saw his crown tumble clumsily from his head and onto the bed behind him. You were making him a mess before you had truly touched him.

As soon as the tie was undone the King stood up so you were face first with the tent in his pants. He hastily unclipped the chain holding up his fur cape and it draped onto the ottoman. He reached into his pants and you watched with bated breath as you were once again blessed with the sight of his majesty. 

You could not help but stare. No longer being hidden in the darkness of the cellar only lit up by the flickering light of one mere candle, to see him in his full glory, you felt unworthy. You marveled at its slight curve, the way the pink tip leaked and pleaded for you. How his majesty wanted you at all was still a mystery to you as well, you were merely a maid, a maid who had nothing to give him. He had everything to give to you and you stupidly allowed yourself to get mixed up in affairs you knew you had no business in. 

This might very well be the last time you will be blessed with the opportunity of even looking into his eyes. You wanted him to remember you, to remember that there is a maid whose heart he stole, even if only for a short while after the Queen returns.  

Your attention was returned when his majesty reached his hand underneath your chin and pulled you closer to what you have been staring at. The motion forced your eyes to return to his. 

His breath was heavy as he used his other hand to tease his cock between your lips, a primal, guttural moan escaping his lips as you happily opened your mouth and took him whole. 

You watched his eyes flutter shut as you let him get adjusted to the feeling of your mouth before moving back and taking him all once more. 

“Oh– fuck.” He sighed, your mouth feeling too good too quickly. His filthy words made the ache between your legs even worse. The words were filthy, improper, something a King should never say, yet with you he felt comfortable enough to let the title and expectations slip his mind when he was with you. 

Namjoon’s hands hurriedly came up to tangle in your hair, his tight grip made your scalp burn and he forced you into a quicker rhythm. 

His moans were prettier than any tune on the harpsichord ever offered you. For a second you forgot that there were likely people outside listening. Either his majesty didn’t care whatsoever, or he was trying and horribly failing at keeping quiet. 

“So fucking good to me–” He groaned. The words of praise made you want to do better, serve him better. You slacked your jaw so he could more easily push into your mouth, you weren’t prepared for the whine he let out as a result. 

“Ohhhhh…”

You let him fuck your throat completely ignoring the way your eyes started to tear up, instead you focused on his expression and his drunken gaze staring down at you. He seemed amazed, and utterly taken aback by how filthy you are. Your rushed nights together in the cellar was nothing like today. 

His pace started growing more irregular and you knew it would not be long before you could taste his highness.  

Namjoon started to slow down, not yet wanting to finish, but your hands came up to run over his thighs once more trying to keep him from leaving.

“Y/n…” He warned. He didn’t want you to stop either but if he didn’t soon he would–

He finally worked up the will to pull himself out of your mouth, but you did not let him away that easily. Your eyes remained fixed on his as you ran your tongue along the vein and swirled around the tip.

“I’m close, I want–”

“I want to please you, your majesty…” You were practically begging him to finish in your mouth. He stared down at you, taken aback, but he found you incredibly wanton at this moment. It just made the ache worse. 

You teased the tip between your lips, your hand came up and stroked him gently, eager for him to let go. 

His majesty moaned, unable to resist the temptation and pushed his cock between your lips once more. It only took one slow glide of his hips before you felt him release into your mouth. 

In the moment you forgot where you were, the world outside the ebony doors didn’t exist to you anymore. You forgot about the possible consequences of your actions, how the palace staff outside could likely hear you. In that moment it was just you and his majesty, the King was yours and you never wanted it to end. 

You marveled at his soft expression tightening, the strangled moans and unseemly curses that slipped from his lips, the grip on your hair pulling you closer so he could make sure you swallowed every bit of the cum you begged for.

As his high rolled over, his attention returned down to you once more and reached out his hand for you to take it. You grabbed it and stood you up. You ignored how achy and sore your knees felt, choosing instead to focus on his grace and the way he stared at you.

His attention fleeted from your eyes down to your exposed breasts and trailed further down to your garter belt and eventually settled on your panties. His gaze made your skin burn and even more eager for him to finally touch you, you knew he would. 

What you didn’t expect was for him to take a step closer and grab onto your waist. He leaned in close enough that your noses brushed against each other. 

“You perplex me so much Y/n. I’m told you are but a maid, but my heart and body yearn for you as if you were her majesty herself.” It was then that his hands traveled further down until you felt them suddenly grab firmly on your ass. You nearly yelped, his confession so direct and his hands on your body making sure you knew he meant every word. 

“Her majesty is not here and we have only but so much time before my responsibility as the King of this nation must take priority– but right now I want the opportunity to take my time and ravage your body.” You felt every word down below and couldn’t stop yourself when you finally closed the distance. 

You kissed him hurriedly, making sure he knew that you felt the same way and you couldn’t wait for him to take you the way he wanted. Namjoon was quick at getting into rhythm and his hands ran along your body, desperately grabbing at anything he possibly could. 

You fell into his arms, wanting, needing to feel him more closely. You felt him begin to pull at your stockings and panties, you were waiting for him to finally rid them of your body but you could tell he was struggling to remove them. It was then that you remembered you weren’t normally this clothed when you would meet down in the cellar, your nightdress and underwear usually being the only barriers between you two.  

You weren’t prepared for the sudden ripping sound and the coolness of the air on your legs. You finally broke the kiss to look down and saw him ripping your stockings, the force ruining your garter belt. 

Instead of dwelling onto it too much, you aided him in removing your bra as he tugged down your panties down your legs. 

Standing nude in front of him, he looked you over once more before guiding you over the side of his bed and ushering you to take a seat. 

You watched curiously as he hurriedly tugged on the unraveled belt of his pants. You were not prepared for him to order for your hands and begin to tie the belt around your wrist. You were confused yet excited seeing the gleam in his eyes. You knew whatever his majesty had in store for you was more than you deserved.

You were about to ask him what he was doing but the minute his majesty seemed satisfied with the knot he pulled up further up the bed so he could tie the other end around his bed frame post. 

He then ripped the belt that had tied his robe around his waist and did the same to your other wrist. You were bound and at his mercy, he could do anything to you in this position. You did not mind at all though, trusting him completely. 

Once his majesty was done, he moved so he stood at the foot of the bed and just stared at you. His gaze made your skin burn and on instinct you tried to cover yourself up, but with your hands unavailable you could not do much except cross your legs slightly. 

His majesty shook his head at your actions. “Need to see all of you princess.” He whispered quietly, leaning in a little further. 

The nickname was new and you could have melted right there knowing his majesty saw you worthy enough for a nickname as high as the one he decided on. A pedestal higher than you knew what you were worth was enough to give you that little bit of confidence to follow his command. 

Your eyes begged for him and as you spread your legs, it was obvious how much you truly wanted his majesty. You reveled in the way his eyes held desperation as he stared right where you have been wanting him.

“I need you, your majesty…” You pleaded, needing his hands to cool your burning skin. 

Your words visibly got to him, your shy demeanor shedding in favor of something more bold. You knew he knew what you were trying to do and it was clearly working. He desperately threw his robe to the ground and climbed over the ottoman and onto the bed, slotting himself between your thighs. 

You both stared into each other’s eyes for a second, the gaze saying more than a thousand words could have in that moment. You both wanted so much more out of this than you knew was possible, but this will just have to make do. 

His majesty leaned in and planted a soft kiss right on your lips before pulling back. You felt a hand run up along your thigh as he leaned in so he was right by your ear. 

“Let me worship you.” His voice was shaky and you were not sure if it was from emotion or of pure need. 

You couldn’t even speak before you felt his hand move from your thigh to between your legs. You were knocked breathless when his fingers ran up your slit and settled on your clit, rubbing gentle circles that made your eyes flutter close and a soft moan escaped your lips. 

You made sure to maintain eye contact as he watched your face intently, you wanted him to know how good he was making you feel already. 

“Touch me please, your majesty…” You sighed, leaning up to pull him closer. Namjoon knew what you wanted and leaned in further so he was planting his lips on yours. You were hungry and desperately received him, you knew you caught him off guard but he was quick to match your energy. 

You sighed impatiently when his lips trailed further down to kiss your neck. You were not prepared for the glorious sensation of his mouth when he began sucking lightly on your skin. Every touch he gave made your head spin, but just knowing there was a possibility this might leave a mark, that you might walk out of this room branded by his majesty himself for everyone to see made your heart flutter. 

You pulled lightly on your restraints, wishing so badly in that moment to touch him, but was harshly reminded that was not possible right now.

Namjoon’s lips trailed down further, kissing you down your chest, over your breast, down your stomach and closer and closer to where you craved him.

“Please…” You cried. You probably looked pathetic right now, but you needed him so bad you didn’t even care.  

Namjoon smiled up at you, before quickly leaning in to fulfill your desires. His arms wrapped around your thighs to keep you steady as his tongue ran up your slit. At this you couldn’t contain your moan.

You had long forgotten that there were likely people standing outside the door, but your own voice surprised you and you hurriedly tried to shush yourself. The consequences of your actions today were nice to pretend did not exist, that you could both walk out of this room hand and hand and everyone in the palace and kingdom would accept your relationship. 

In truth you both were taking so many risks being together like this in the open. It was already risky enough sneaking into the cellar every other night, but to be out like this in broad daylight people might have assumed the Queen returned home early from her trip. 

Affairs happen all the time for court officials of a kingdom, a lot of their marriages are only ways to advance their political careers so having “someone else” wasn’t uncommon. If this was a normal case people wouldn’t bat an eye at your relationship with his majesty especially considering this was more than your average affair. It was the heart that pulled you both together, not the lustful demon that resided inside you both. 

But this wasn’t the normal case. The people, after experiencing a loving King and Queen, wanted that once again and seemingly wouldn’t settle for less. His Majesty had to give his heart to the Queen in order to avoid a possible rebellion. You simply can not exist. 

You tried to shush yourself as his tongue got to work pleasing you, he knew your body so well after only a few weeks.  

You wished desperately to reach your hands down into his hair like you usually would, but the grip on your wrists once again reminded you were bound and completely at his majesty’s mercy.

You cried out as he eagerly lapped at your folds before he leaned back and let his fingers run through your slick once more.

“Marvelous…” He quietly mumbled to himself, finally getting a great view between your legs.

You didn’t have any time to feel embarrassed at all before two of his fingers were inside you and suddenly it became impossible to be quiet with the way his majesty curled his fingers, hitting a spot he knew all too well made it hard for you to be quiet.

You tried to shush yourself once more, but a glance down to the King himself made you realize this was all intentional. His eyes were locked on your expression and his subtle smile whenever you would moan out for him made it obvious. For some reason he wanted you to scream for him, despite the guards who were standing outside or any passersby he still wanted to hear you.

The revelation made that growing ache down below even worse.

“P–Please, your majesty…” You moaned, hoping he would put you out of your misery soon. You heard a low chuckle before the situation somehow managed to get even worse. His majesty showed you no mercy and made sure everyone in the palace would hear you scream.

He used his tongue along with his fingers, his thumb circling your clit and his tongue had made its way inside you. He would switch, suddenly his tongue on your clit and his fingers inside you. It was too much, he was too good to you and the emotion you felt had that cord inside you wanting to snap.

“Your-your majesty, I–”

“Cum for me princess.” The nickname and his voice was the last thing you needed before your whole body surged with excitement, pleasure flooding all of your senses. It was so good, his majesty was just so good to you, you could hardly believe it when you were able to open your eyes to see the majestic painting that decorated the entire ceiling and to feel the soft sheets on your back.

You were in his majesty’s room and… you glanced down to see his adorable smile looking up at you. Right, he was so sweet to you. 

That dopey expression fleeted quickly though as he reached up and began untying the knots that were around your wrists. 

“So pretty… Everyone in the palace likely heard you princess. You know this is meant to be a secret. I feel like I need to make sure you understand that.” At first you were confused by his words, he knew you were trying your best to quiet yourself, but the smirk on his face told you he was not being serious.

Oh. You understood what was going on.

The minute he was able to wrangle you free, he guided you so you were on your hands and knees in front of him. You couldn’t stop the excitement building up once again at the thought of what could be in store for you next. 

That excitement was raised when you felt the dip in the bed rise and turned around to see his majesty hurriedly tugging down his pants. You felt your face flush the minute you caught sight of his cock springing free and instinctively turned back around. 

 The bed dipped once more and it didn’t take long for you to feel the slow drag of his cock along the swells of your ass, your body shivered and you wanted to scream for him to finally get inside you.

You heard him curse lightly, making you turn around to see his eyes glued to the mounds and you felt his hand come up, run up your thigh before lightly grabbing at your ass.

“So fucking pretty… you’ll be good right? I promise to have you, but first I must…” He didn’t finish his sentence and you were about to question him until you felt a firm slap right across your cheeks.

You yelped, not at all expecting that nor the increased desire you felt to finally have him.

“Count to 10 for me princess, I promise I will fuck you right after.” He almost moaned as he softly rubbed the irritated skin.

You wanted to please him. 

“1.” 

SLAP!

So good, you needed him inside you. This punishment was less of one than a chance to have his hands on you. 

You loved it.

“2…”

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The two guards looked at each other worriedly. The King had said that he was tired after his meeting earlier. He said the wine was getting to him and the guards simply expected a long, but boring rest of their shift. 

What they didn’t expect was merely a few minutes after the door closed behind him, were for moans of his majesty to be heard. That wasn’t the concerning part though. What had them worried was hearing the sound of moans of a woman on the other side of the door.

It became obvious that they were witnesses to an affair. With how rocky the political climate was, they both knew if word were to get out about this, there would be horrible consequences in store.

“Excuse me.” The voice startled them both, but they were relieved to see it was only the King’s right hand. 

“Yes sire.” One of the guards said, standing at attention.

“I have an urgent message for the King.” Jae-su declared– Namjoon’s right hand, someone that’s almost been like a second father to him. Usually it was only protocol to declare the purpose of entering the King’s chambers and as the palace staff all knew him so well, nothing more was needed.

Jae-su was surprised when the spears the guards were holding crossed over each other, preventing him from entering. 

“I’m sorry sire, but now may not be the best time–”

Muffled from inside the room was the clear sound of a female's voice inside, seemingly moaning a number. 

Jae-su looked at the guards confused and they clearly seemed worried. 

“No one has entered, but there seems to be someone else inside but his majesty.” The other guard said, slightly panicked. 

Normally this would just warrant Jae-su to walk away and be sure to give his majesty a stern talking to about his behavior, but he was carrying a red sealed letter, something that was meant to be delivered to his majesty immediately. Unfortunately he could not simply walk away and deal with this later.

“I’m sorry gentlemen, but this is a red sealed letter. This must get to his majesty immediately.” He tried to keep his professional front on, but he was clearly flushed.

The guards looked at each other worriedly, before moving their spears.

Jae-su stepped closer to the door and hesitantly knocked. 

“Your majesty, it’s me. I’ve come to deliver you some news.” He called out. 

There was silence for a little while before his majesty finally answered. “Jae-su, this isn’t the best time right now. Can’t you not come back later?” Namjoon questioned.

“Unfortunately not your majesty, this is a red sealed letter from the Queen.”

More silence passed.

“Come in then.” As much as he didn’t want to, his duty had him turning the door knob and opening the door.

Jae-su still had hope that this was some big misunderstanding, but when he went inside he was horrified to see clothes strewn about the room, his majesty’s crown upside down on the ottoman by his bed and right there on the bed was his majesty and a woman together in a less than pure position.

Jae-su nearly screamed when he heard the slapping sound as he walked around the bed to his majesty’s nightstand. 

“8…” You moaned softly. Your cheeks were burning, the right hand seeing you like this was embarrassing, but you also couldn’t help feeling a little fluttery at the thought of Namjoon being so comfortable letting someone in on your little secret.

You wanted to imagine that after all this somehow this might have a happy ending, it was nice to think about.

“I’m sorry your majesty, but this is from the Queen. It details about her soon return and I would suggest you read it immediately.” Jae-su said, sitting the letter on the little silver platter on the nightstand. 

SLAP!

You were taken aback and so was Jae-su at the continuation of your punishment. “9…” you tried to quiet yourself.

“Thank you Jae-su, I’ll read it as soon as I’m done.” Namjoon sighed, taking a fistful of your ass.

“Right… I’m sure you will… your majesty, I’m sure you’re aware that this is an issue. We must talk.” Jae-su said firmly. It was then that the reality of your little fun came crashing down. Those consequences you tried to pretend didn’t exist were made oh so obvious. 

“Please leave. I’m busy Jae-su.” Namjoon sounded frustrated. Jae-su quickly sensed this and hurried his way out the room. 

Silence lingered for a little while, part of you was sure he’d stop, the moment shared being broken by reality. But you were surprised to feel him grab onto your hips tightly before pulling you back onto his cock. 

You both moaned at the feeling, all this playing leading up to this moment. Finally, finally you had him inside you and you never wanted him to leave. 

“Feel-feel so good m’lady…” Namjoon shakily breathed out. He tried to take in as much as he could, the warmth your walls provided, the way you gripped him like you never wanted to let go, your soft sighs of pleasure. You were absolutely perfect in his eyes, he didn’t, he couldn’t let you go. 

After he let you get adjusted, he slowly pulled back his hips before pushing back in. His steady pace turned punishing, almost desperate, quite quickly. You felt so good around him and he wanted everyone to know.

He relished in the way you cried his name. He wanted everyone in the palace to know you were his. If it wasn’t for this stupid fucking marriage he was forced into, you would be. If his parents were still around they wouldn’t have made him marry the Queen, as soon as he would have told them his heart belonged to you, you would have become his bride instead. 

Namjoon felt tears pricking his eyes at the thought, but he shook them away, instead he wanted to focus on you as this could possibly be your last night spent together. 

“Your maj-majesty!” You cried, your hips high up while your face was buried in the pillow gripping onto the fabric tightly. 

“So good to me princess.” Namjoon sighed, hastily pulling your hips back to meet his. He was close and so were you. 

Namjoon could stand it no longer and quickly pulled out and flipped you back over so you were laying on your back. You were a bit taken aback by this, but the minute he pushed his cock back into you, suddenly that did not matter anymore.

If anything it made things better. You wrapped your arms around his neck as he continued to pound into you. 

He clumsily leaned down to meet your lips, kissing you like his life depended on it. In some ways it did. 

His hurried pace was starting to falter making you realize he was close. 

Namjoon pulled away, his gaze trained on your eyes and every little expression you would make. 

“Y/n–” He rushed out. 

“Yes, your highness…”

“Say it…” It was a command, but he sounded so desperate to hear what he wanted.

“What–what your maj–” 

“My name, please I want to hear you say my name.” You and him both knew what this meant. No one of your status was allowed to simply call the King by his first name. The only one in this palace who had that pleasure was her majesty. 

You stared up at him, taken aback by his words.

“Please, please, please– so close–” He begged, his majesty was begging you to say his name. 

You wrapped your arms around him tightly, pulling him as close as you could. 

“You’re making me feel so fucking good Namjoon, please cum for me…” If anyone heard you outside of this room you would surely be beheaded but his name falling from your lips and your crude language was enough to have him spilling into your warm embrace without any notice.

You helped work him through it, rubbing his back lightly as he moaned softly into your neck. 

He took a moment to calm himself down before he was pulling back to stare at where your bodies connected, his thumb coming down to hastily rub on your clit once more. 

You were shocked but your body reacted instantly, it did not take too long before your orgasm was hitting you once again so suddenly. It felt good, from the tips of your fingers down to your toes your body cried out for Namjoon. 

He helped work you through yours as well, slowly moving his hips as you started to come down from your high.

For a minute you both just sat there, staring into each other’s eyes, but Namjoon was quick to bend down once again and kiss you. He kissed you with all the passion, yearning, and love he had for you.

For a minute he wanted to pretend like the world outside his ebony doors didn’t exist, that he didn’t have responsibilities that were going to keep him away from you. 

But alas, he found himself eventually pulling away to read the letter sent to him by his wife. 

Namjoon stared at the fancy penmanship, reading the words and not wanting to believe them.

Her mother was now well and she is to be returning in three days. 

Namjoon crumbled up the letter and went back over to you who was staring at him, wondering what the letter said. Instead of answering immediately he put the both of you underneath the covers and pulled you close. 

“Your– Namjoon, what did it say?” His name sounded so pretty from your mouth. 

This time he couldn’t stop the tears he felt coming into his eyes. 

“We don’t have much time left– let’s not think about it though. I find greater pleasure holding you close like this.” He smiled at you, but you could see his eyes starting to well up.

Instead of pushing further on the subject you let yourself relax in his arms. 

It was on the tip of your tongue to tell him, but you knew that would only make things worse. You hope he knows how much you love him and will continue to do so even after the Queen becomes with child.

You would cherish today for a lifetime.

#bts #bts smut #namjoon x reader #kim namjoon #namjoon #namjoon smut #namjoon fanfiction #rm fanfic #bts fanfic #bts rm #bts imagines #bts scenarios #bangtan boys #bangtan sonyeondan #bts fan fiction #bts fluff #bts angst #namjoon angst #bangtansorciere #bangtanbathhouse #bts one shot #rm #namjoon one shot

[choicesficwriterscreations]

April Creator of the Month: Aallotarenunelma

Each month, CFWC highlights one of our talented fanfic writers or artists, and this month’s creator of the month is the lovely @aallotarenunelma! The writer is selected at random. More info can be found on the navigation page. Past COTM's can be found here.

Quick Links:

Tumblr Blog My Masterlist

How do you want to be known on Tumblr? 

Aallotar is fine. I am agender. My pronouns are they/them.

More below...

1- When did you start playing Choices? What was the first book you played? 

I saw the app being highlighted a lot in Google Play in 2017, but it was only at the end of February-beginning of March 2018 that I downloaded it. It was when Perfect Match 1 started releasing and shortly before Bloodbound 1 began releasing. Time is flying!

There were already a lot of books, and it was a bit overwhelming. I chose the series that was being heavily advertised: The Royal Romance.

2- When and why did you join Choices fandom?

I joined the Choices sub-Reddit in July 2019, then the Tumblr fandom in April 2020.

I first joined the sub because I wanted to discuss the books and the characters, and hopefully befriending other players. It was lonely to read the books, and having no one to share my opinions and theories with. Then, I took a step back from it and after lurking a bit, I joined the Tumblr community. 

3- How did you pick your blog name? 

When I joined Tumblr, in April 2020, it was initially to be a Writblr. I was writing a story about a heroine named Aallotar. Its title gave my blog’s URL. My blog’s title is its English translation: Aallotar’s dream.

In the end, my blog turned into a bit of everything.

4- Pull up the first post in your archive, and tell us about it!  

This is my very first post. This is my original writing, conveniently mentioned right above. :)

5- Do you write fanfiction, create fan art, or are you one of those really gifted people who do both? 

I define myself as an artist because I create. This is how I express myself. It doesn’t matter if the pencil I use is to write or to draw as long as I create. Before I started learning how to draw, I was always saying that I was drawing with words. To me, this is what writing is. I draw and paint with my words to depict stories that my characters want me to tell.

I mostly write, but I also create fan art, such as sketches and various kinds of edits: quotes, sprites, moodboards, etc. 

6- How long have you been creating for Choices and for any other fandoms?

For the defunct app Lovestruck, from December 2020 to October 2021.

For Choices, since April-May 2020. 

7- What is your favorite Choices book, and what is your favorite Choices book to create for?

My all-time favourite Choices book is Veil of Secrets. I adore it!

I heavily create for the It Lives Anthology - the three books - and also for Immortal Desires. I love these books so much that I made a crossover, and most of the characters from the Anthology and from ID have met and even befriended each other.

8- Share your first Choices fanfic or fan art that you posted with us. Do you still like it, or would you change it if you were creating it today?

My first Choices fiction is a Blades one: Of Stardust and Light.

I still love it and I wouldn’t change anything - except the typos and the clumsy grammar/syntax, due to the fact I am not an English-native speaker.

For a long time, I thought it was my masterpiece, that I wouldn’t write something as good or even as better than this. But I proved myself wrong in the end.

The other reason why I wouldn’t rewrite it now is because I have definitively stopped writing for my Blades pairing, Tyril x Soile. I made it official a few months ago, and this decision is final.

9- What is your favorite piece of fiction or art that you created? 

It’s really hard to choose only one, but I do have a soft spot for Répondez, S’il Vous Plaît ! #3 because this is where I tell about my OCs’ Ash and Skylar’s meeting. It was a story I wanted to write for a long time and I love it.

Chronicles of a Crimson Summer deserves to be mentioned as well. This is the longest story I have shared here, and it’s a real balance of angst, fluff, and funny moments. Also, because its birth was extremely painful, so for all of these reasons, I am glad I wrote it and shared it.

10- Do you have a fic/art that you didn’t expect to be well received, but it was? What about one you expected to do well but found it could use a little more love?

I never expect anything I share to be well received, whether it’s a fiction or a drawing. I’m only sharing it, hoping that at least someone will find it and enjoy it. Even better if it helps the person in any way.

That said, sharing my art remains a lot more difficult than sharing my writing, so any art reblog is leaving me a bit confused, due to my imposter syndrome.

Most people here who are familiar with my stories have read some of the funny stories I have shared, as well as the fluffiest stories I have ever written - sometimes too fluffy for me. 

However, this isn’t only what my writing is about. Darker Than Night has generated so much indifference that it saddens me.

This series really shows what my writing is, minus the layer of humour that you can usually expect. It truly deserves better, just like In Joy and Sorrow, that actually gives a good idea of what my writing really is.

11- (WRITERS) If you could write only angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why? 

I usually share a lot of fluff here, because the world outside is hard, so I want to uplift people with sweet and funny stories. However, my original writing is usually angsty with some funny and fluffy moments to alleviate all the angst a little. So, I’m choosing angst. Definitely. To me, writing angst is comforting.

11a - (ARTISTS) If you could only draw one style or type of art for the rest of your life, what would it be and why? 

I could easily do oil pastels for the rest of my life. It’s an easy technique to learn, it’s very forgiving, it’s calming, and I love how it looks.

12 - Do you ever recognize yourself in any of your MCs or in your writing?

I am agender and aspec, so in any non-binary and/or aspec MC / OC of mine can be found parts of me, regardless of how they define themselves on those large spectrums. Representation is highly important to me, so this is one of the recurring themes in my writing.

Also, the witty/sarcastic and playful characters are easy to write because I know them too well!

13 - What element of writing/art do you struggle with most?

Finding the right word is difficult, either in English or in my native tongue. I always want to capture the emotion, the feeling, the landscape with the perfect word. I’m still learning in my daily life.

Regarding my art, at the level I am right now, that would be shadows. Sometimes, they look great, but they often don’t. Practice makes perfect, so this is what I do whenever I can.

14 - Do you have any neglected work you really want to finish?

I tend to have only one WIP that I see to end. One reason for this is that I usually write my stories in a notebook, before I type them down to share them. The state of the notebook is not always great; I even sometimes struggle to re-read what I corrected!

If it’s about my original work, then, yes, I want to finish that one novel’s second draft.

15 - If someone you know in real life (who isn’t involved in fandoms) asked to see your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you show them first? 

It has actually happened with one of my siblings. At that time, I was only writing for Blades and had maybe like five stories posted. I let my sibling read them because we are close. For other people, I think it would be on a case-by-case basis, but most likely not. I'd rather make them read my original writing, if my shyness isn’t getting in the way.

16 - Are there any writers (published authors and/or fanfic writers) who influenced your writing or art? Are there any artists that influence you?

Émile Zola and Arto Paasilinna are my all-time favourite writers.

I am learning from every fanfiction writer I am reading. First, because I read in a foreign language. Second, because I believe you learn from everyone every day.

In terms of art, I don’t think I have a particular influence. I am still exploring my style.

17- (WRITERS)  Which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series? 

It would be In Joy and Sorrow. I created this It Lives in the Woods AU series to give a life to my first MC, Riikka. The one she couldn’t have. In this series, I talk about close friendships, coming outs, being bilingual/bicultural, how to navigate a romantic relationship as an aspec*, how to deal with bullying/harassment, etc. I talk about timeline collapse and time-travelling as well.

And because there’s the most delightful OC ever, my all-time favourite: Ash. He truly is one of a kind and his friendship with Dan is really something special.

*aspec: a person on the aromantic and asexual spectrums.

18 - (ARTISTS) Which one of your creations would you like to see a fiction written about? 

I don’t have any yet that would justify the honor of having a fiction being written about.

19- Do you write original fiction or create non-fandom art? 

I started writing when I was 10 years old. It was thanks to an assignment for my native tongue class when we were studying the structure of a fairytale. I really enjoyed writing one, so I kept writing over the summer. Little stories about everything and nothing.

I wrote my first novel when I was 13, but never dared to send it to a publisher. I kept writing novels - and not sending them, I have a nice collection, now! - and branching out in other forms of writing, in hope to develop as a writer: rpg forums, poetry, (fan)fictions, creative writing course, etc. I took a ten year break from writing (fan)fictions before returning to them.

I am working on the second draft of a novel about grief, and I have three other different novels already outlined.

Regarding art, I mostly create non-fandom art.

20-  What other hobbies do you have?

Except writing and drawing; I paint murals and do oil pastel; I do theatre; I design and crochet my own clothes.

I enjoy watching old films, Hollywood era and silent ones included, but modern films as well, if they are excellent.

I love learning foreign languages, listening to music and going to gigs.

I am also a true race car enthusiast, preferably Formula races - F1 to F4, Formula Regional included.

I also enjoy going for walks in nature and travelling.

21: Tell us anything you’d like (if you want to).

I want to thank CFWC for highlighting me, and giving me the chance to talk more about my characters, my stories, my writing and my art. This means a lot, especially as this month is also when I’m celebrating my 4 year Tumblr Anniversary.

Thank you for your support throughout these years!

I want to thank so many people, but I’m also scared to miss any of them!

Thank you to my friends, old and new. 💛

Thank you to everyone who has read and reblogged my stories and left kudos and comments on them. It has been helping me so much in believing in myself and my writing.

Thank you to everyone who has reblogged my art and my edits and left comments on them.

Thank you to every talented person who has gifted me a piece of their beautiful art, written or not, anonymously or not.

Thank you to everyone who has asked about my characters and my stories.

Thank you to everyone who has sent me positive and uplifting messages.

Lastly, thank you to every single person who has supported me these past months, in many different ways. Your kindness and your presence have made a difference, and I am grateful for those and for you all.

And a special shoutout to my fellow rainbow creators! 🌈

#choices fic writers creations #cfwc creator of the month #choices stories you play #playchoices #aallotarenunelma #choices #choices fanart #choices fanfic #april creator of the month #playchoices fanfic #playchoices fanart

[tossawary]

Part of the problem with discussing how racism manifests in fandom and in fan organizations is that to present a nuanced and thorough take on a complicated problem, which actually consists of a number of different complex issues with lots of different potential solutions each, you have write really, REALLY long posts about it.

And people don't read long posts.

Or they read the first part and get stuck on one point they don't agree with or can't 100% agree with. So they get caught up in proving one point wrong instead of at least expressing sympathy or sharing the parts they do actually agree with.

(Or people make fun of you for caring about "people being mean in fanfiction communities" as an issue. Because caring is cringe, apparently. Racism in hobbies like book clubs and local knitting groups and kid sports leagues is also important, even if it's "not that big of a deal" in the grand scheme of things in your opinion.)

Which can have (unintentional or intentional) vibes of telling fans of color to shut up about racism. Which is rude and understandably upsetting to people who have experienced this kind of harassment. Saying "go make your own archive" implies that the affected fans of color have not been a part of building the OTW or in running AO3 and don't belong there as writers or readers, which is untrue and unkind.

Now, I know that people have a kneejerk defensive reaction to any form of "We Need To Ban The Bad Fic That I Don't Like". I have that too. And I won't deny that this is a conversation partly about content moderation. And I won't deny that within this broad conversation between lots of different people who want to do something about fandom racism, there are probably some people who are calling to ban everything they find even a little problematic. They're always popping up. I don't agree with those people.

I didn't reblog End OTW Racism's Call to Action post the first time that I saw it because my brain wanted to chew on the thoughts it inspired. I thought a lot about how exactly to write detailed policy that could explicitly ban the worst examples of fanfiction used as intentional hate speech provably for the purpose of targeted harassment, while still ensuring the protection of the queer content, the problematic darkfic, and the explicit kinky fiction that the archive was created to host (which EOTWR also cares about). I do want fans to be able to explore some disturbing and distasteful topics, even if they don't always write it well, without being censored. And yet I also thought a lot about the "Paradox of Tolerance" as a social contract and what it meant to be "Fair to Unfair Voices".

I also thought a lot about how AO3 volunteers can never review every single thing posted to the website (which was not being suggested). And about how this issue intersects heavily with the structural issues that leave some AO3 volunteers overworked and underappreciated. And the structural issues that leave some AO3 volunteers feeling isolated, neglected, ignored, or mistreated. And also how AO3 is shockingly enormous now for being the result of volunteer work on a budget that's small compared to other non-profit organizations.

And honestly, I was fucking exhausted from my job that day and I cynically thought to myself, "I'll read through the links later, but I don't really see how changing the names on a bunch of fics is going to inspire great change within an organization."

(And the people behind this online protest are pretty open about the fact that they didn't expect their awareness campaign - and that's what it is: it's just an awareness campaign - to do anything on the front of "Solving Institutional Racism Immediately".)

But then I thought to myself, "Okay, but I do believe in antiracist action. And even if I don't think some of these suggestions are workable with the current state of things, or that the OTW will ever agree to some things here, there has got to be something here that could be done right now to make things a little better."

I kind of like the idea of expanding the required archive warnings so that more well-meaning people will opt-in to tagging triggering material, which is a form of content moderation. Like the way that the "Graphic Depictions of Violence" tag works already. Major Archive Warnings are left up to the author's best judgement unless reported. And even if people repeatedly refuse to use any relevant warning tags when writing blatantly racist stories, when they get reported for not even using "Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings", then we'll be pretty sure that they're doing it to be a jerk, and AO3 volunteers can suspend or ban them for it.

I like the idea of expanding the abuse policy and clearly defining its terms so that Policy and Abuse volunteers can still retain some freedom of best judgement, but also be more consistent about recognizing when someone is being a racist jerk in the comment section or being racist by gifting violently racist fic to fans of color or otherwise behaving badly. And I like the idea of improving the reporting system while keeping potential misuse in mind. And giving PAC volunteers better admin tools and other resources.

Even if you believe that AO3 is largely run by well-meaning queer women, I personally don't 100% trust that every single volunteer will be great at recognizing the many varied forms of racism, or antisemitism, or transphobia, or prejudice against bisexual or asexual or polyamorous people, or against mentally ill or physically disabled people. And part of this discussion is about when individual members of the PAC team have failed to address malicious behavior that is already explicitly covered by AO3's existing anti-bullying policy. Or that can't be solved by just blocking and muting someone.

Like, this discussion is about racism, and it's worth caring about solely for how it affects fans of color, but optimizing the abuse policy and protocols against harassment would better protect everyone. (And also, please do not assume that fans of color are not also older fans and/or queer fans who care about censorship.)

Some of End OTW Racism's offered solutions are suggestions originally made by AO3 itself back in 2020. A huge part of this discussion is just some fans (they're only, like, 5 people) trying to make some noise so that the OTW will give all users a thorough update on their progress. They are trying to raise awareness to keep the conversation about fandom bigotry going and recruit people to show up to OTW Board meetings to ask what obstacles need to be tackled. They want volunteers trying to change things internally to feel supported and for some more transparency on this subject to externally hold people accountable to their promises.

And I also thought, "Fuck it. This post is worth reblogging if only to remind people that AO3 needs work, to educate new fans on the history and present of fandom racism in general, and to maybe make one person out there feel less alone and connect them with some new friends. Fans of color don't have to be perfect to be heard."

I believe that AO3 has gotten bigger than ever anticipated and management of the OTW has only gotten harder. And I think hiring a diversity consultant, as per AO3's own suggestion back in 2020, sounds like a good idea to curb harassment of all kinds and improve the working conditions of volunteers. Outside contractors have been hired before and these professionals have no effect on OTW's non-profit status. A temporary consultant's job would be to identify where the organization is getting stuck and give suggestions on how to fight bigotry, and the OTW Board can just pick the solutions they think will work in practice with their mission statements.

Honestly, I kind of think it might be a good idea to also hire a security consultant of some kind after some of the harassment of AO3 volunteers in recent years. And if hiring some programming contractors would help the coding volunteers build better admin tools and make tag blacklisting happen sooner, then I support that as well. But that's all up to the OTW Board. And I want the OTW volunteers to know that I support their original suggestion to hire some outside professional help, so that fandom can begin to address some of these ongoing problems beyond just acknowledging that they exist, even if it simply starts with AO3 explicitly calling for more volunteers to get the planned work done.

Saying that there's nothing to be done is defeatist. Saying that the affected fans of color and their allies sound too angry or too serious or too ungrateful, or that everyone involved just doesn't understand how hard these things are, is pretty rude. I don't expect perfect solutions on the first try. I don't expect them immediately. I expect some of these things to take the OTW... years, honestly. I don't always feel very optimistic. I find this entire discussion discomforting and depressing. I'm not ungrateful to the OTW and AO3 when the community has been an undeniably good experience for me personally over the past 10 years. I want people to be able to escape into fandom at the end of a shitty day.

End OTW Racism's awareness campaign is one small part of a much broader discussion and you don't have to agree 100% with everything that they say. Or with what other people talking about fandom racism say (and some people, including academics and journalists and media critics and video essayists, have been talking about fandom racism for a long time). And you definitely don't have to 100% agree with what I've said here.

You don't have immediately volunteer all of your time to the OTW to fix these problems to be a good person. We all have other shit going on in our lives. Just... keep some of the points being made in mind moving forward, yeah? If you have a moment, maybe listen to some of the frustrations with an open mind, and maybe show a little extra love to your fellow fans who are going through it.

And if you have the energy to tear down what you think just one of EOTWR's suggestions is as bad - and they are NOT calling for every single fic on AO3 to be reviewed for problematic tropes or racial slurs before posting, that would be ridiculous, and it's disingenuous to misinterpret them that way - are you also separately talking about and supporting any of the antiracist actions and other harm reduction policies that you think are genuinely viable?

#end otw racism #tossawary ao3 #long post

[istumpysk]

OPERATION ICEBERG: THE TIER LIST

THEORY:

Curtain of Light

TIER:

Fanfiction: These "theories" are nothing short of delusional fan-crafted fantasies, embarrassingly disconnected from any shred of textual reality.

[Tier list overview]

EVIDENCE:

Oh boy!

First, let's outline the theory.

Please note, like any other fan theory, there are always minor differences of opinion. So, we'll cover the basics that most people seem to agree on.

Daenerys, Jon, and Tyrion are the three heads of the dragon.

To defeat the Others, they will each mount a dragon and travel as far north as possible, beyond a curtain of light, where they will encounter a Lovecraftian, apocalyptic dimension filled with all kinds of monsters.

While they are beyond this curtain of light, they will engage in life-affirming activities in the face of death. Some believe this could manifest as Tyrion learning to love himself, childbirth, or a sexual encounter between Jon and Daenerys.

They will then sacrifice themselves and their dragons to defeat the Others. Presumably, much will go up in flames.

Apparently, this epitomizes the theme of the human heart in conflict with itself and will serve as the conclusion of the story.

Now, for the evidence...

Oops, there isn't any.

If you've ever had the privilege of reading someone discuss this theory, you'll have noticed a glaring lack of textual support. Nevertheless, I'll do my best to piece together a coherent argument for why this could happen.

(Honestly, I'm a bit bitter that I'm putting in more effort to prove this theory than anyone else has.)

What does it mean when something is Lovecraftian?

To borrow from dictionary.com, 'Lovecraftian' pertains to elements reminiscent of the works of fantasy and horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, especially those that depict monstrous, misshapen beings from other dimensions or universes.

George R. R. Martin, a fan of literature, incorporates numerous Lovecraftian references in his A Song of Ice and Fire series and its associated works.

Examples include:

Leng (Island): Inspired by Lovecraft's Plateau of Leng.

Sarnath (City): Likely inspired by the city of Sarnath in Lovecraft's "The Doom that Came to Sarnath."

Ib (Island/Civilization): Possibly a nod to Ib from "The Doom that Came to Sarnath."

K'dath in the Grey Waste: Inspired by Lovecraft's Kadath in the Cold Waste.

Church/Cult of Starry Wisdom: A probable reference to the same cult in Lovecraft's "The Haunter of the Dark."

Deep Ones: Likely inspired by the aquatic creatures in Lovecraft's "The Shadow over Innsmouth."

"What's dead may never die": Possibly inspired by Lovecraft's phrase "That is not dead which can eternal lie / And with strange eons even death may die."

The Drowned God: Possibly a nod to Lovecraft's Cthulhu.

Dagon: An Ironborn-associated name, also an ancient being in Lovecraft's lore.

The Black Goat of Qohor: Possibly a reference to Lovecraft's Shub-Niggurath, the "Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young."

N'Ghai and Nefer: Likely inspired by Lovecraft's N'Kai, an underground realm associated with Tsathoggua.

Are you noticing a pattern? These nods to Lovecraft are mostly found in peripheral settings, with minor association to the Ironborn. George tends to make a lot of references to all kinds of literature in a similar fashion.

I'd hesitate to jump to the conclusion that this implies the existence of a parallel universe with otherworldly monsters, accessible via a portal in the far north. But since this is appearing in the evidence section, I guess we'll do that anyway.

Moving on.

The words "curtain of light" appear in a Bran chapter. One time. In only this chapter.

Finally he looked north. He saw the Wall shining like blue crystal, and his bastard brother Jon sleeping alone in a cold bed, his skin growing pale and hard as the memory of all warmth fled from him. And he looked past the Wall, past endless forests cloaked in snow, past the frozen shore and the great blue-white rivers of ice and the dead plains where nothing grew or lived. North and north and north he looked, to the curtain of light at the end of the world, and then beyond that curtain. He looked deep into the heart of winter, and then he cried out, afraid, and the heat of his tears burned on his cheeks. Now you know, the crow whispered as it sat on his shoulder. Now you know why you must live. - Bran III, AGOT

Melisandre also references curtains, though they are clearly different curtains than Bran's curtains. Whatever, it's fine.

Shadows in the shape of skulls, skulls that turned to mist, bodies locked together in lust, writhing and rolling and clawing. Through curtains of fire great winged shadows wheeled against a hard blue sky. - Melisandre I, ADWD

x

The flames crackled softly, and in their crackling she heard the whispered name Jon Snow. His long face floated before her, limned in tongues of red and orange, appearing and disappearing again, a shadow half-seen behind a fluttering curtain. Now he was a man, now a wolf, now a man again. - Melisandre I, ADWD

There is a place called the Land of Always Winter. It's like the Arctic.

The icy trenches rose around them, knee high, then waist high, then higher than their heads. They were in the heart of Winterfell with the castle all around them, but no sign of it could be seen. They might have easily been lost amidst the Land of Always Winter, a thousand leagues beyond the Wall. - Theon I, ADWD

x

Yet no matter the truths of their arts, the children were led by their greenseers, and there is no doubt that they could once be found from the Lands of Always Winter to the shores of the Summer Sea. - The World of Ice and Fire—Ancient History: The Dawn Age

x

What is commonly accepted is that the Age of Heroes began with the Pact and extended through the thousands of years in which the First Men and the children lived in peace with one another. With so much land ceded to them, the First Men at last had room to increase. From the Land of Always Winter to the shores of the Summer Sea, the First Men ruled from their ringforts. - The World of Ice and Fire—Ancient History: The Age of Heroes

The Others are believed to originate from the Land of Always Winter, where, according to legend, you can also find spooky ice spiders.

However, I should mention, a detail that might be easily missed in the books is that they are currently at Hardhome and continue to press south towards the Wall.

Yet there are other tales—harder to credit and yet more central to the old histories—about creatures known as the Others. According to these tales, they came from the frozen Land of Always Winter, bringing the cold and darkness with them as they sought to extinguish all light and warmth. The tales go on to say they rode monstrous ice spiders and the horses of the dead, resurrected to serve them, just as they resurrected dead men to fight on their behalf. - The World of Ice and Fire—Ancient History: The Long Night

In 2012, George confirmed that future books would explore further and further north. No shit, you don't say. I wonder if Bran's journey through history, where we learn more about the origins of the Others, has anything to do with that.

"And what lies really north in my books—we haven't explored that yet, but we will in the last two books." - George R. R. Martin

Bran uses the common metaphor "the heart of _____ (winter)" in the same passage that the curtain of light appears. Later, in another book, Daenerys enters the House of the Undying, where she encounters blue figures reminiscent of the Others. There, she finds a literal blue heart that appears to be their life force. Drogon eats it. Together, these things might suggest that there is a literal blue heart beyond a portal that needs to be set on fire to defeat the Others.

Also, another time, Theon stands in the middle of Winterfell and uses the same "the heart of" metaphor (common phrase found throughout the series). Shortly after, he references the Land of Always Winter, so I thought I would throw it in to be generous.

He looked deep into the heart of winter, and then he cried out, afraid, and the heat of his tears burned on his cheeks. - Bran III, AGOT

x

They were in the heart of Winterfell with the castle all around them, but no sign of it could be seen. They might have easily been lost amidst the Land of Always Winter, a thousand leagues beyond the Wall. - Theon I, ADWD

x

A long stone table filled this room. Above it floated a human heart, swollen and blue with corruption, yet still alive. It beat, a deep ponderous throb of sound, and each pulse sent out a wash of indigo light. The figures around the table were no more than blue shadows. As Dany walked to the empty chair at the foot of the table, they did not stir, nor speak, nor turn to face her. There was no sound but the slow, deep beat of the rotting heart. [...] Through the indigo murk, she could make out the wizened features of the Undying One to her right, an old old man, wrinkled and hairless. His flesh was a ripe violet-blue, his lips and nails bluer still, so dark they were almost black. Even the whites of his eyes were blue. They stared unseeing at the ancient woman on the opposite side of the table, whose gown of pale silk had rotted on her body. One withered breast was left bare in the Qartheen manner, to show a pointed blue nipple hard as leather. She is not breathing. Dany listened to the silence. None of them are breathing, and they do not move, and those eyes see nothing. Could it be that the Undying Ones were dead? [...] Then indigo turned to orange, and whispers turned to screams. Her heart was pounding, racing, the hands and mouths were gone, heat washed over her skin, and Dany blinked at a sudden glare. Perched above her, the dragon spread his wings and tore at the terrible dark heart, ripping the rotten flesh to ribbons, and when his head snapped forward, fire flew from his open jaws, bright and hot. - Daenerys IV, ACOK

x

Only its eyes lived. Bright blue, just as Jon said. They shone like frozen stars. 

[...]

When he opened his eyes the Other's armor was running down its legs in rivulets as pale blue blood hissed and steamed around the black dragonglass dagger in its throat. - Samwell I, ASOS

If you cherry-pick through the text and remove all context, you might be able to piece together a few sentences suggesting that life and love will defeat the Others and that a great self-sacrifice is imminent.

The man looked over at the woman. "The things I do for love," he said with loathing. - Bran II, AGOT

x

We are only human, and the gods have fashioned us for love. That is our great glory, and our great tragedy. - Jon VIII, AGOT

x

"Sansa, permit me to share a bit of womanly wisdom with you on this very special day. Love is poison. A sweet poison, yes, but it will kill you all the same." - Sansa IV, ACOK

x

"You're mine," she whispered. "Mine, as I'm yours. And if we die, we die. All men must die, Jon Snow. But first we'll live." - Jon V, ASOS

x

Someone threw a stone, and when Dany looked, her shoulder was torn and bloody. "No," she wept, "no, please, stop it, it's too high, the price is too high." More stones came flying. - Daenerys VIII, AGOT

x

"You are a boy of fourteen," Benjen said. "Not a man, not yet. Until you have known a woman, you cannot understand what you would be giving up." "I don't care about that!" Jon said hotly. "You might, if you knew what it meant," Benjen said. "If you knew what the oath would cost you, you might be less eager to pay the price, son." - Jon I, AGOT

Daenerys is convinced that there will be three heads of the dragon, and let me tell you, that girl's expectations are always fulfilled.

"If you were grown," she told Drogon, scratching him between the horns, "I'd fly you over the walls and melt that harpy down to slag." But it would be years before her dragons were large enough to ride. And when they are, who shall ride them? The dragon has three heads, but I have only one. She thought of Daario. If ever there was a man who could rape a woman with his eyes . . . - Daenerys V, ASOS

If the author leads you to believe that something will happen, it must be true.

Lastly, I should mention that there are vague references suggesting that George has written other stories with events and themes similar to this proposed ending. However, I can't verify these claims, and unsurprisingly, the works in question are never cited.

Well, that was it.

Say what you will about the "Daario is Euron" theorists, but at least they attempt to back up their crazy idea with actual text from the books.

COUNTER-EVIDENCE:

To put it bluntly, this theory has no basis—no textual support, no historical parallels, no evidence in the companion books, no prophetic visions, no dreams, no myths, no legends, no similarities to the television show, and no foreshadowing to speak of. It is entirely made up, with only a few words from the text as its foundation.

Does that sound like George R. R. Martin to you?

That said, now that I’ve realized his three-fold revelation strategy, I see it in play almost every time. The first, subtle hint for the really astute readers, followed later by the more blatant hint for the less attentive, followed by just spelling it out for everyone else. It’s a brilliant strategy, and highly effective. - Anne Groell, George R. R. Martin's editor

A Song of Ice and Fire is about the people of Westeros putting aside their petty differences and uniting against two existential threats: ice, represented by the Others, and fire, represented by Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons. It's not a story about fire defeating ice.

Well, of course, the two outlying ones — the things going on north of the Wall, and then there is Targaryen on the other continent with her dragons — are of course the ice and fire of the title, "A Song of Ice and Fire." The central stuff — the stuff that's happening in the middle, in King's Landing, the capital of the seven kingdoms — is much more based on historical events, historical fiction. It's loosely drawn from the Wars of the Roses and some of the other conflicts around the 100 Years' War, although, of course, with a fantasy twist. You know, one of the dynamics I started with, there was the sense of people being so consumed by their petty struggles for power within the seven kingdoms, within King's Landing — who's going to be king? Who's going to be on the Small Council? Who's going to determine the policies? — that they're blind to the much greater and more dangerous threats that are happening far away on the periphery of their kingdoms. - George R. R. Martin

x

Ice and fire of course are also opposites, they're a duality and there's a lot in my books that are about duality. Certainly the religion of Melisandre, one of the most important characters, I think is basically a dualist religion with the premise that there are two gods. It's somewhat based on Zoroastrianism, and a little bit based on Catharism, Albigenses heresy who I know had some roots here in Spain once upon a time, before they were all killed. The idea of a world divided between good and evil, war between the two, which is so basic to so many fantasy starting with Tolkien, but much more so in the case of Tolkien imitators, was something that I wanted to recast and think about and maybe subvert a little. But I'm still using kind of the language of it, and some of the symbols associated with it. So all of these are grist for the mill, it's not something as simple as saying ice is this and fire is that. They're both many things. And one of the most important things is that both of them, ice and fire will kill you dead. So they're both dangerous in their own ways, hate, love, desire, coldness, they can both be deadly. - George R. R. Martin

x

While the lion of Lannister and the direwolf of Stark snarl and scrap, however, a second and greater threat takes shape across the narrow sea, where the Dothraki horselords mass their barbarian hordes for a great invasion of the Seven Kingdoms, led by the fierce and beautiful Daenerys Stormborn, the last of the Targaryen dragonlords. The Dothraki invasion will be the central story of my second volume, A Dance with Dragons. The greatest danger of all, however, comes from the north, from the icy wastes beyond the Wall, where half-forgotten demons out of legend, the inhuman others, raise cold legions of the undead and the neverborn and prepare to ride down on the winds of winter to extinguish everything that we would call "life." - The Original Outline

x

I have tried to make it explicit in the novels that the dragons are destructive forces, and Dany (Daenerys Targaryen) has found that out as she tried to rule the city of Meereen and be queen there.

She has the power to destroy, she can wipe out entire cities, and we certainly see that in 'Fire and Blood,' we see the dragons wiping out entire armies, wiping out towns and cities, destroying them, but that doesn't necessarily enable you to rule — it just enables you to destroy. - George R. R. Martin

In the established lore of A Song of Ice and Fire, dragons can't cross the Wall and dislike cold and wet weather. How exactly will they get to this Lovecraftian Land of Always Winter, and how will they be of any use in that climate?

The men of the Night's Watch were as thunderstruck by the queen's dragon as the people of White Harbor had been, though the queen herself noted that Silverwing "does not like this Wall." Though it was summer and the Wall was weeping, the chill of the ice could still be felt whenever the wind blew, and every gust would make the dragon hiss and snap. "Thrice I flew Silverwing high above Castle Black, and thrice I tried to take her north beyond the Wall," Alysanne wrote to Jaehaerys, "but every time she veered back south again and refused to go. Never before has she refused to take me where I wished to go. I laughed about it when I came down again, so the black brothers would not realize anything was amiss, but it troubled me then and it troubles me still." - Fire & Blood: Jaehaerys and Alysanne—Their Triumphs and Tragedies

x

Autumn was well advanced when the Prince of Dragonstone came to Winterfell. The snows lay deep upon the ground, a cold wind was howling from the north, and Lord Stark was in the midst of his preparations for the coming winter, yet he gave Jacaerys a warm welcome. Snow and ice and cold made Vermax ill-tempered, it is said, so the prince did not linger long amongst the northmen, but many a curious tale came out of that short sojourn. - Fire & Blood: the Dying of the Dragons—A Son for a Son

x

The big man looked out toward the terrace. "I knew it would rain," he said in a gloomy tone. "My bones were aching last night. They always ache before it rains. The dragons won't like this. Fire and water don't mix, and that's a fact. You get a good cookfire lit, blazing away nice, then it starts to piss down rain and next thing your wood is sodden and your flames are dead." - The Dragontamer, ADWD

x

He saw no sign of dragons, but he had not expected to. The dragons did not like the rain. - The Queen's Hand, ADWD

x

(bonus, for laughs:)

"The things…Mother have mercy, I do not know how to speak of them…they were…worms with faces…snakes with hands…twisting, slimy, unspeakable things that seemed to writhe and pulse and squirm as they came bursting from her [Aerea Targaryen] flesh. Some were no bigger than my little finger, but one at least was as long as my arm…oh, Warrior protect me, the sounds they made…" "They died, though. I must remember that, cling to that. Whatever they might have been, they were creatures of heat and fire, and they did not love the ice, oh no. One after another they thrashed and writhed and died before my eyes, thank the Seven. I will not presume to give them names…they were horrors." - Fire & Blood: Jaehaerys and Alysanne—Their Triumphs and Tragedies

House Targaryen and their dragons played no role in the previous Long Night.

How the Long Night came to an end is a matter of legend, as all such matters of the distant past have become. In the North, they tell of a last hero who sought out the intercession of the children of the forest, his companions abandoning him or dying one by one as they faced ravenous giants, cold servants, and the Others themselves. Alone he finally reached the children, despite the efforts of the white walkers, and all the tales agree this was a turning point. Thanks to the children, the first men of the Night's Watch banded together and were able to fight—and win—the Battle for the Dawn: the last battle that broke the endless winter and sent the Others fleeing to the icy north. Now, six thousand years later (or eight thousand as True History puts forward), the Wall made to defend the realms of men is still manned by the sworn brothers of the Night's Watch, and neither the Others nor the children have been seen in many centuries. - The World of Ice and Fire—Ancient History: The Long Night

x

The Targaryens were of pure Valyrian blood, dragonlords of ancient lineage. Twelve years before the Doom of Valyria (114 BC), Aenar Targaryen sold his holdings in the Freehold and the Lands of the Long Summer and moved with all his wives, wealth, slaves, dragons, siblings, kin, and children to Dragonstone, a bleak island citadel beneath a smoking mountain in the narrow sea. - The World of Ice and Fire—The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest

Bran's curtain of light is simply a reference to the aurora borealis. For the love of christ, it's not a portal to another dimension.

North and north and north he looked, to the curtain of light at the end of the world, and then beyond that curtain. - Bran III, AGOT

x

Sailors, by nature a gullible and superstitious lot, as fond of their fancies as singers, tell many tales of these frigid northern waters. They speak of queer lights shimmering in the sky, where the demon mother of the ice giants dances eternally through the night, seeking to lure men northward to their doom. - The World of Ice and Fire—Beyond the Free Cities: The Shivering Sea

Speaking of Bran, why isn't he central to this theory? Didn't that sentence appear in his chapter? What is Arya up to? Where is Sansa? Why are the Starks, who are the central characters of this series, taking a backseat in their own conflict, which is unfolding in their own backyard?

(Not to mention the Night's Watch, the wildlings, the northerners, and the children of the forest—you know, the people who are actually integral to this storyline.)

Yeah, the children were always at the heart of this. The Stark children, in particular, were always very central. Bran is the first viewpoint character that we meet, and then we meet Jon and Sansa and Arya and the rest of them. It was always my intention to do that. - George R. R. Martin

x

Whenever I propose analogies like that, fans jump in with their own ideas, but it depends on what team you root for. To me, the Starks are heroes, so they would be the Giants. - George R. R. Martin

It's going to be a pact facilitated by Bran.

What is commonly accepted is that the Age of Heroes began with the Pact and extended through the thousands of years in which the First Men and the children lived in peace with one another. - The World of Ice and Fire—Ancient History: The Age of Heroes

x

Regardless, the children of the forest fought as fiercely as the First Men to defend their lives. Inexorably, the war ground on across generations, until at last the children understood that they could not win. The First Men, perhaps tired of war, also wished to see an end to the fighting. The wisest of both races prevailed, and the chief heroes and rulers of both sides met upon the isle in the Gods Eye to form the Pact. - The World of Ice and Fire—Ancient History: The Coming of First Men

x

According to these tales, the return of the sun came only when a hero convinced Mother Rhoyne's many children—lesser gods such as the Crab King and the Old Man of the River—to put aside their bickering and join together to sing a secret song that brought back the day. - The World of Ice and Fire—Ancient History: The Long Night

x

How the Long Night came to an end is a matter of legend, as all such matters of the distant past have become. In the North, they tell of a last hero who sought out the intercession of the children of the forest, his companions abandoning him or dying one by one as they faced ravenous giants, cold servants, and the Others themselves. Alone he finally reached the children, despite the efforts of the white walkers, and all the tales agree this was a turning point. Thanks to the children, the first men of the Night's Watch banded together and were able to fight—and win—the Battle for the Dawn: the last battle that broke the endless winter and sent the Others fleeing to the icy north. - The World of Ice and Fire—Ancient History: The Long Night

Tyrion Lannister is not a Targaryen; he is not one of the three heads of the dragon. He is the malevolent, vindictive son of Tywin Lannister. He rapes women, he kills women, he marries child hostages to acquire their castles, he will be complicit in the death of potentially hundreds of thousands of people, and he isn't getting anything remotely resembling a heroic ending.

Jaime kissed her cheek. "He left a son." "Aye, he did. That is what I fear the most, in truth." That was a queer remark. "Why should you fear?" "Jaime," she said, tugging on his ear, "sweetling, I have known you since you were a babe at Joanna's breast. You smile like Gerion and fight like Tyg, and there's some of Kevan in you, else you would not wear that cloak . . . but Tyrion is Tywin's son, not you. I said so once to your father's face, and he would not speak to me for half a year. Men are such thundering great fools. Even the sort who come along once in a thousand years." - Jaime V, AFFC

Daenerys and her dragons represent one of the two principal threats in the narrative. Azor Ahai is a misinterpreted prophecy that is intended as a warning, not as the foretelling of a hero.

Since the first book, her sole objective has been to rule foreign lands seized through force. She exploits slaves, consistently engages in brutal acts of violence, and leaves devastation wherever she sets foot. She will intentionally burn King's Landing to the ground, and then she'll be stabbed to death.

No. You are the blood of the dragon. The whispering was growing fainter, as if Ser Jorah were falling farther behind. Dragons plant no trees. Remember that. Remember who you are, what you were made to be. Remember your words. "Fire and Blood," Daenerys told the swaying grass. - Daenerys X, ADWD

The idea that Daenerys, Jon, and Tyrion will love themselves or each other, either physically or emotionally, and then collectively sacrifice themselves, is the dumbest climax anyone has ever conceived. You forfeit the right to ever complain about the show if this is what you thought should happen.

Finally, please remember that, by default, the original creators of this theory are always wrong about everything.

STUMPY'S THOUGHTS:

You might be asking yourselves, "How do we distinguish between joke and fanfiction theories?"

I'll tell you. Both are equally absurd, but the fanfiction tier has the unique quality of making you feel like you're reading a story written by a fanfic writer who's in denial about their aspirations to write fanfic.

VOTE:

I welcome discussions. Feel free to reblog, respond, or challenge my perspective—I won't be offended by any of it.

Please note, if "no" is the eventual winner, or if it's competitive, a second poll will be conducted to determine the proper location.*

*won't be necessary for this theory.

NEXT THEORY:

Varys has Tyrek Lannister

#operation iceberg #asoiaf theory tier list #theory 5 #curtain of light

[composeregg]

disclaimer: I am a volunteer for the OTW. I am speaking for myself, not on behalf of the organization, anything expressed here is my own. I may be wrong about some things, I'm very much not involved in any of this as part of my work. Additionally, I haven't run this by anyone else in the org, so take that as you will. I'm just a person, hoping to reassure other people, fans like myself.

A few people have come to me asking questions about this, and asking clarification already, so I just.... Want to reassure everyone. A lot of people follow me and know I volunteer, even if I don't talk about it much.

No, Ao3/OTW is not endorsing AI. Scraping is not being allowed or encouraged (you can, in fact, see here in this link, the code of Ao3 disallowing scraping). There is only so much the organization can do to prevent this. If you set your works to logged-in users only, it does somewhat give more protections. Data miners are very proactive, and prevention measures can only do so much. After the data is harvested, with or without consent, it is that much harder to pry back and out of those hands.

Many, MANY people are panicking. They saw an excerpt of an interview in this week's OTW Signal news roundup. This interview was from someone on the legal team of the OTW. She was speaking not for the organization, but as someone with credentials in the fields being discussed. Much of this has been misinterpreted and relayed second-hand. It was a conversation primarily about trademarks and AI.

I don't know the course the OTW is going to take regarding AI with the law, myself. That's not my field whatsoever. I can say, how would we even have the TIME or ABILITY to "develop an AI to be integrated with AO3" as some people speculate? It took our volunteer coders years to work out a block/mute function and get it from idea through testing to implementation.

The OTW does not want to just feed everyone's fanfic into AI. The organization may end up taking a middle-ground stance on the legality of AI and AI-generated creations. I don't think that Disney would care much for the distinction between "This is an AI generated item infringing on our trademark, remove it" versus "This is a fan-made item infringing on our trademark, remove it." The legality of AI versus fan creations is a very tricky topic, and from my understanding, that was the focus of the interview and what was being discussed (along with some other ideas).

Protecting the right to fanfiction and fan creations existing is the primary goal, and navigating new, emerging technologies that could find similar arguments, whether or not people at the org agree with them, means they may end up protecting them somewhat. This is not a betrayal of fandom. Every volunteer is an individual, and opinions within the org are all over the place, but we are all fans as well, and we don't want random bots just lifting all our fics and creations without any say-so either.

The topic of AI is a landmine right now, and I do think it was insensitive and ignorant of the current fandom/political sphere to highlight something like that interview, especially in the way it was done. It immediately led to panic, distrust in the org, and people spinning off numerous infeasible ideas because they simply do not have information, and hear rumors or don't parse a conversation about legalese well (I know I had trouble with it! A lot of my understanding comes from reading discussion about it myself). Nuance is important, as is the fact that nothing is ever published or discussed in a vacuum.

I don't blame anyone for having misinformation, I get it. It can be hard to find correct info. Transparency is something the org is not always great at (it's being worked on! Everyone is aware it's an issue! We are just very,,,,, very slow at implementing changes, as a volunteer-run organization). Time is the OTW's most valuable resource, and we are constantly, constantly in demand and in need of more time and manpower. It can make communications difficult, and very stressing.

The OTW is a non-profit, it is not selling any data. It does not want to sell your data. The money it makes is solely from donations. There is not going to be any selling to AI, there is not going to be any attempt to implement AI for the OTW itself.

Honestly, beyond that, I'm super not qualified to talk about the legal aspects of everything in the article/interview. I don't know all the inner workings of the org, I don't know all the thoughts and opinions and legal stances. I don't even know all the nuances of AI legal issues myself. I just know that I don't think it can replace creativity, and that it could be a fascinating tool in a better world (but I do not trust how it could be used here and now).

I hope this helps anyone who sees it. I hope that this is a reassurance, and that maybe it will help people feel better. I know panic is a powerful force, and I know there is a great distrust in any organization even mentioning AI (usually for valid reasons!). I know information can be hard to find, and legal discussions hard to read, I've been there with the org myself.

But the OTW is a group of people trying their best to make sure that fandom has protections. There are like, a thousand of us or something. Not all of us are going to agree on everything, but we all agree fans deserve a space to create and have those creations protected. One of the inciting incidents of its founding was a hatred of the idea of some company trying to profit off of fanworks with complete disregard for the fans themselves.

The OTW was founded to prevent fans from being taken advantage of, and to protect fandom's right to exist. It is never going to betray that core tenet. Partially because we're all fans ourselves and have a vested interest in keeping it that way, but additionally: This organization is nothing without its volunteers, and if someone high up on the board or something genuinely tried, we would know and we would make ourselves known.

(Just look into the Board Election of 2015!)

#otw #organization for transformative works #ao3 #archive of our own #ao3 discourse #egg speaks #ao3 blogging #otw blogging #I will turn off reblogs if people try to start shit #also if staff tells me I fucked up then like. I will delete this tbc #I just. want to say something. I'm just some person #but I don't want other people to feel like they need to panic #or be afraid #or take down their works #also this feels repetitive but yolo

[medli-komali]

I've been enjoying Attack on Titan fanfictions lately, but there's one character that I feel is consistently misrepresented or made too OOC for my taste - Erwin. Whenever I read fanfictions where Erwin has a starring role, I find that he's one of two things...

One, cold hearted / emotionless if not just plain cruel. I feel like this is such a misunderstanding of him as a character. Yes, he makes some difficult decisions, many of which result in the death of many. But taking away his compassion altogether misses so much of who he is, especially the Erwin we get to know in Season 3.

The second pet peeve of mine is less aggravating, but still just not the vibe I'm looking for when I want to read about Erwin Smith - writing him simply as the knight in shining armor. He's so often portrayed as this perfect gentleman to a boring degree in fanfiction, particularly when he has a romantic role in the story. We lose any nuance, any inner conflict, Erwin's natural independence, etc. and are left with just this attractive but boring man. To me Erwin would be much more interesting (in a romantic setting especially) if we wrote in those conflicts and struggles that we saw him deal with in the anime/manga in some way.

Take two of my other favorite characters for example - Levi and Reiner. Levi without his stoicism or his dry sense of humor is just not Levi. Reiner without some semblance of insecurity or inner turmoil (past or present) also feels shallow and OOC to me. I see people consistently writing these two characters well (yay!), exploring the intricacies of who they are in different settings. So why do they so often get to shine in say, hurt/comfort fics for example, but Erwin never seems to?

If you have any recommendations for Erwin fics that you enjoyed, particularly that delve into his character a little more, please do let me know! And if you're an aot fanfiction author this is just one fan's request for an engaging, thought-provoking, but still lovable depiction of Erwin.

For the sake of discussing what has become one of my favorite series, I'd love to hear from you if you have another character or characters that you feel are often misrepresented or not portrayed how you'd like them to be in fanfiction. Nothing turns me off from a fanfic more than having a character that's recognizable in name alone, and I'm sure a lot of you agree with me there, even if Erwin isn't one you've noticed like I have.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far! 😊

#Attack on titan #Aot #Snk #shingeki no kyojin #shingeki no kyoujin #erwin smith #levi ackerman #reiner braun #erwin x reader #fanfiction #Fanfics #fandom #Fanmade #Discussion #questions #erwin x oc #aot erwin #commander erwin #hurt/comfort #angst #angst with a happy ending #angst writing

[yourdyingwish]

how do you feel about bandom fanfics (eg unholyverse)

I'd never been in a fandom that involved real people in this specific way before getting into MCR and it kinda threw me for a loop at first. Mainly because as a fan who joined in 2019 it was wild to meet people who had been into it since middle school–so like those old fics are their nostalgic teen fangirl phase fics. It surprised me how these big popular fanfics were like...something it just seemed like everyone knew about? I actually only read Unholyverse so I felt like I could understand the fandom haha.

Anyways a few years in and my take is that bandom fics that are obvious AUs or are just like...unabashedly horny....tend to weird me out a lot less than what seemed to be going on in the 2000s and 2010s where people got these very serious "characterizations" in their heads about real people and it influenced how people saw the real people the stories were about. Like a lot of the ones that just seem like someone's sexual fantasy about a celebrity are, well, sort of to be expected, and with MCR's worldbuilding I can kinda see why putting the members in imagined paranormal or sci-fantasy situations is appealing. But the stuff that gives me the ick is like....things that become mythology for the band/its fans because of how often they were repeated in fanfiction and in fandom spaces. Like how Bert McCracken was a go-to fanfiction villain who represented a weird reductive stereotype of what an addict is like and that perception bled into non-fanfic fan spaces & discussions. Or the thing where people think Frank Iero is like a gay submissive bottom LMFAO. Just weird shit like that...I think that type of fic is probably not as popular these days but I see a sort of a version of it in how people write text posts some times. To me that's probably the most uncomfortable legacy fanfiction has left on the MCR world as a whole; the rest of it just seems like silly stuff that people should keep to fan communities but which is to be expected and relatively harmless.

[frownyalfred]

Apologies for the extremely long ask.

Omegaverse as a concept is so complicated and interesting as to me as a trans person.

On the one hand, the writer in me is intrigued by the world building implications and the opportunity to explore gender roles/dynamics. The concept of having a secondary dynamic alongside your actual gender is also fascinating to me and it's something I typically would have expected to be in something like sci-fi before I actually got into fanfiction.

I especially love deep diving into pack dynamics. Admittedly, that's where most of my interest and attention is focused on when reading and writing Omegaverse. I just find the concept so fascinating and any opportunity to write characters with heightened instincts, alien or otherwise, is just so much fun.

But on the other hand, I'm also very aware of how Omegaverse came about because some Supernatural fans wanted to play around with the idea of pack roles/relationships based on a messy study of wolf hierarchies. I'm also aware that intentional or not, a lot of early Omegaverse fics and tropes leaned really heavy into more homophobic and transphobic stereotypes, especially between M/M pairings.

I do feel like this has changed a bit over the years, though. From what I recall, a lot of early Omegaverse fics just really over relied on the stereotypical "which guy is really the girl?" trope that you saw a lot in the early to mid 2000s when discussions of queer (but mostly gay) relationships were brought up. I feel like the discussion has become a lot more nuanced since then and I know there are other trans fic writers like me who enjoy writing Omegaverse simply because it provides an opportunity to explore concepts of gender, sexuality and identity in a relatively fun way.

Not all Omegaverse fics/tropes are created equal, though. And every trans person has a different reaction/feeling towards this AU. I definitely feel like the odd one out, though, sometimes since I mostly come to Omegaverse for pack dynamics, less so for the smut (although I have written some in the past for fun or for friends). But I also believe there's validity in writing smut just for the purpose of enjoying smut.

Overall, I think this AU has a lot of potential, but I also see why it could make people very comfortable. I do wanna say that your fics haven't made uncomfortable and I do enjoy your takes on this trope. And I especially appreciate your willingness to listen to other trans people and their thoughts on Omegaverse. It goes a long way.

Side tangent: I will always be amused by how this whole trope came about btw, but also because the original author of that study followed it up by saying his first paper was absolute bullshit actually and shouldn't be viewed as a factual study of wolf pack hierarchy. Man messed up his original study, but he's a dedicated scientist and I love him for debunking his own work. But also the fact that he had an unintended impact on fandom is such fucking gold to me. I love this man so much.

Thank you for putting my thoughts to words, anon! There's definitely a long history there, and I agree with you that the genre itself has changed a lot in recent years, I think for the better.

I don't begrudge anyone for not liking or wanting to read a/b/o fics at all. I think it's intriguing but has the potential to be deeply uncomfortable or even like you said, transphobic for some people. I try to tag everything very well here that mentions it, etc.

I think what I like most about recent changes is that the genre has shifted to be less about "how can we get these two characters to breed?" and more to discussing pack dynamics, the implications of designations and gender roles, and building interesting biological rules and intricacies in an author-unique universe.

#asks #anon #thank you for sharing anon! #a/b/o mention #a/b/o tw #myfic #theresurrectionist #a sky of honey

[lec743]

FNAF Fanfic (Cherub AU)

Alright, nobody here take anything of this story as cannon to @starrspice’s Cherub AU. I’m just a big fan of the concept and I need to get the ideas that I have out of my system. Anyways, this is Y/N meeting Eclipse. Hope y’all enjoy and Starrspice, please don’t actually die. I don’t think I’m the first person that’s written fanfiction for you.

*******************************************************************************************

           You just got off work. You were tired but it wasn’t like one of your bad days’ kind of tired, so you have the energy to do some after work relaxing. Like playing video games, or maybe you’ll watch that one movie you’ve been putting off for a while. It’s dark in your apartment but you know where everything is by heart. You lock your apartment door before you switch the lights on. Then when you turn around you find that you’re in a room made of fluffy clouds. They were colored in rosy pinks, oranges, and reds like you’d see during a sunset and in the middle of the cloud room was a woman sitting at a wooden desk.

           At least, you think you’re seeing a woman. Her image wavered and warped in a way that made her look like she had a head like a setting sun. Or how the moon covers the sun during a solar eclipse. Her rays framed her face like jewelry. She had black sclera that made her yellow irises pop, and she had a soft smile on her face. She had white feathery wings poking out behind her and she was wearing a white turtleneck with a pink jacket, and you could see flowers embroidered on the sleeves.

           You turned back around but your apartment door was missing, all you saw was a wall of clouds. You turned back around when you heard the woman laugh.

           “You’re in a lot of trouble my little friend.”

           You sigh and say out loud, “Man, did I pass out before I could make it to my apartment again!”

           The strange woman called you by your full name, making you snap your attention back to her as she said, “You are perfectly awake,” your eyes widen as a second pair of hands come out of hiding behind the desk as she beckons you towards her with them while her other pair of hands start getting out paperwork from her desk, “We have a lot to discuss.”

           As you walk hesitantly towards her a chair materializes out of the clouds and you sit down in it.

           You leaned towards the woman and asked, “Am I dead?”

           “You’re not dead yet, my friend. You’ve just made a terrible mess and you need to take responsibility for it,” she said with an even smile as she lined up the paperwork in two of her hands and got out a pair of reading glasses with the other pair.

           “What did I do?”

           The woman read over what you did during the month and how it had royally screwed up the work her district does for humanity. How you messed up a breakup that should have happened already, but the couple decided to stay together because of you. How another couple still hasn’t gotten together because of you. You’ve messed up another person’s selflove and there’s a few people’s parental love you’ve damaged as well.

           As the strange woman continued to raddle off what you did that month and the people it affected, you find that most of the people she’s listing are people you know. Most of them you know pretty well and some of them you only know casually. You haven’t interacted with any of these people in months.

           “Hey! Wait! What do you mean, I’m messing up all these people’s lives!? I haven’t spoken with any of them for a month, some of them even longer than that!”

           The strange woman sat her papers down and took off her glasses as she looked at you with an even stare.

           “Well, it seems here, that your absence is the primary cause of all this.”

           You scoffed.

           The strange woman gave you a thin-lipped smile. Then she said, “My name is Eclipse. I’m the Head Cherub of the South-East district. You’ve done a lot of damage with your isolationist attitude. Now you have a choice. You can stay in your little apartment and wither away into nothingness all by yourself, or you can be a temporary Cherub and help us fix this mess.”

           You don’t believe that your absence in anyone’s life could actually affect them, but you do care about them. If they need help, you want to help them, but you also don’t want to be seen by them either.

           “If I become a temporary Cherub, will they need to see me? Will I have to talk with them?”

           Eclipse leaned back into her chair, making her wings splay out farther.

           “That will depend on the situation. Despite your stories of us, Cherubs don’t have arrows that magically make people fall in love or fall out of love at our whims. We are a gentle force that helps guide things along. Maybe you’ll need to talk with people. Maybe you won’t. It’ll depend on what the assignments you are given and what they’ll need.”

           You fiddled with your hands as you stared at your knees and thought about it. You’re sure you can keep yourself hidden if push comes to shove. And heck, considering you didn’t know Cherubs were a reality until this night, you might be given some magic cloaking thing that you’ll be wearing to hide yourself, if you work with them… It will be nice to see everyone again.

           With a sigh you look back up at the Head Cherub and said, “Yah. I’d like to help fix this.”

           With a wide smile and a loud clap Eclipse stood up and said, “Wonderful. Come with me.”

           You were slightly surprised by how tall she was, but you got up and followed her quickly. Granted, you didn’t think there was anywhere to follow, but the clouds bent and moved around her, forming a path that she desired. You two walked down a cloudy tunnel until you came into a room that had several displays of wings.

          Most of them looked like the traditional dove wings that you see Eclipse sporting on her back, but many were wings of other creatures too. Butterfly wings, peacock wings, ladybug wings, parakeet wings and not all of them were displayed for the back. Some looked like they connected to your heels, other’s looked like they were meant to be worn as a skirt or as a shirt, others looked like jewelry.

           You spotted a pair of dove wing earrings in a glass case and for some reason, you were drawn to them. They were simple, but a beautiful pair of dangly earrings that looked like they were made from real feathers, but the feathers were outlined with gold embedded in the feathers that made them shimmer.

           “Ah good,” Eclipse said, making you jump, “You’ve already found your wings. Go on. Try them on.”

           You lift the glass covering, and you take the earrings out of the velvet holding and put them on. Wearing them made you feel lighter and a little bit giddy. They made you feel good to have them on.

           “These wings are your Work I.D. Badge, so to speak. Your new coworkers will know you are one of them with these on, so always keep them on, okay.”

           You nod. You don’t feel like you’d ever want to take them off anyways.

           Eclipse pulled a measuring tape out of her pocket and said, “Now I’ll take your measurements for your work uniform. The uniform is less about looking like a collective and more about representing the type of love you champion. Do you have any ideas?”

           You stood still for Eclipse as she measured you.

           “Uh, can I get back to you on that?”

           “You may,” she finished measuring you, then said, “One last thing,” she pulled a white rose out of her pocket and pinned it to your hair, “This will help you and me contact each other quicker. Like if you’re having a rough day and can’t do a duty immediately, you’ll be able to use this rose to tell me so.”

           “Oh. Good. Okay then.”

           “Welp, that just about settles everything we needed to cover for today. Get plenty of rest tonight my friend, because you’ll be training on the job tomorrow and I know just the two Cherubs who’ll be the perfect teachers for you.”

           You nod uncertainly at the smiling woman. Then the cloud world and the strange woman faded around you and you were back in your apartment. You immediately head to your bathroom and take your medication. Then you stare at yourself in your bathroom mirror. Your eyes dance between your new earrings and the white rose still in your hair.

           “I’m not going to sleep well tonight…”

#fnaf #fanfiction #cherub au #starrspice

[foxykatie425]

Why do we need to fight over the ATLA remake?

I joined tumblr less than a year ago, and when I did I was fully aware that it had somewhat fallen out of style, and that most people who used to use tumblr have moved on to TikTok and other platforms. The reason I did it anyway was because I wanted to find and interact with people who were passionate about the same things I was (whatever my hyperfixation of the moment is). When I don’t know anybody irl who gets excited about the same things I do, I can turn to tumblr to have thoughtful discussions, read fanfiction, and appreciate people’s beautiful fanart. It’s been a way for me to share and express my excitement with people that actually care.

So you can imagine my disappointment when, after watching and enjoying the new live action ATLA series on Netflix, I search the ATLA hashtag on tumblr only to find a lot of the top posts are people shitting all over something I enjoyed and was excited about. (Not that there aren’t some positive, but as with anything the haters always seem to be the loudest.) Now don’t get me wrong, was the show perfect? No, of course not. Was it the same as the original? No, of course not! It’s not supposed to be! And it pains me that people are so quick to talk about things that were negative and just brush off things that were positive. (Especially when we have that movie that doesn’t exist to compare it to…)

That being said, this post isn’t really about ATLA. I don’t care if people didn’t like the new series. Everyone’s entitled to their opinions. And I don’t care if people want to talk about why they didn’t like it or what they didn’t like about it. Hell, there may even be some points I agree with you on. What I don’t like is when people state their opinions like they are facts! You're allowed to not like the same things I do. But don't try to make me feel like I'm wrong for enjoying something you did not! I opened up that hashtag to share my excitement over something, and was very disheartened when all I saw was people saying “it’s terrible, and here’s why!”

It’s okay if you didn’t like it. But it’s also okay if you did! And the fact that I enjoyed the remake doesn’t make me any less of a fan of the original, and it doesn’t mean I appreciate the original any less. If you’re going to share a negative opinion, do it in a way that’s not going to hurt people who don’t share that opinion. (And that goes for anything, not just ATLA!)

#avatar the last airbender #atla #netflix #tumblr #can the majority of us at LEAST agree that it’s better than the movie? #if you don’t agree with that much… actually I’d be kind of intrigued to know why #I hope I don’t get any heat for this post #just trying to vent my feelings #and not get attacked for it #thank you for coming to my ted talk

[acacia-may]

Thank you for the ask, now it's my turn 💘 Nozel x Vanessa from Black Clover? (I know, I'm biased^^') Elfman x Evergreen from Fairy Tail? Isogai x Meg from Assassination Classroom? Mustang x Hawkeye from Fullmetal Alchemist? Sorry, might have went a bit overboard^^'

Hello there friend! Thank you so much for playing and for asking about such fun pairings! 💕 I don't think I've ever been asked anything about Assassination Classroom or Fullmetal Alchemist before so I am so excited for this ^^

(Warnings: I do talk about a Fullemetal Alchemist spoiler, but I tried to steer clear of spoilers when discussing the other pairings. I'm putting it all under the cut just to be safe though).

Nozel x Vanessa

I'm honestly kind of neutral to this ship. I don't have anything against it, but it's probably something I wouldn't have thought about if I wasn't asked about it or if it wasn't requested from me. Since they haven't interacted in the canon, it's hard for me to imagine what their dynamic would be like and how they would get together, so I wouldn't say it makes sense to me to me personally and it doesn't really compel me since I ship both Vanessa and Nozel more with other characters (and some friends' OCs) than with each other.

That said, I have read some really enjoyable fanfictions about them. Yours especially are really lovely and really helped me to see & understand this pairing so thank you so much for that and for sharing your passion for them. 💕I have always been really impressed by this pairing's fans who I have a lot of respect for. I've even written about them a little myself, but only on request since I don't think it's a dynamic I'd really write about much on my own just given my personal preferences and how I personally prefer to imagine and think about the characters. But that's just me and my personal opinions. I can definitely see the appeal of the ship and think it could be a fun pairing--it's just not my personal favorite.

Elfman x Evergreen

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH! They're without a doubt in my top 3 favorite ships in Fairy Tail, and I was so excited every single time they appeared and interacted with each other. Their banter is just glorious. I have rambled about them in the past, so I apologize for repeating myself but these two are just that perfect balance between hilarious and adorable, in my opinion. On a certain level they both have such big personalities that are so wildly different from each other that it's almost goofy to think of them actually working out in relationship, but they complement each other so perfectly and have such a strong foundation of trust and mutual respect which I honestly wasn't expecting at first but was wonderful and delightful. I think the story does such a good job of showing us that they protect each other, sacrifice for each other, and want the best for each other, and ultimately they care about each other deeply, even if they don't always show it, so I do feel like they make a lot of sense as a pairing and, needless to say, I find it extremely compelling.

Isogai x Meg

I'll be honest and tell you that it has been quite a few years since I have read Assassination Classroom and seen the anime, and I forgot about these characters and this pairing and had to google it 😅 (I'm so sorry 🙈). As soon as I saw them though, I had this visceral, squealy "Oh my gosh! It's THEM!!" reaction and remembered being very invested in their relationship. Friends to lovers is probably my favorite ship trope, and (from what I remember) Isogai and Meg work so well together and have so much genuine admiration and respect for each other. Also there is just something so special and so compelling about inter-student-governmental relationships to me (A/N: Total tangent here but I think it goes back to one of my favorite childhood cartoons where there's an episode where these friends were pitted against each other in this really intense campaign to become class president, and (spoilers but) she won by one vote, specifically him voting for her because she had actual principles and ideas for improving the school but he just wanted to win. And oh my gosh I ship that to this day, and I think it has given me this intense affinity for these inter-student governmental relationships. Don't even get me started about my favorite pairings from Fruits Basket and Kaguya-Sama Love Is War that fit in this category. I just really, really, really enjoy this trope). Anyways...my goodness they are so cute! All it took was a short scroll through google images and a brief readthrough of their pages on the wiki to make me remember how much I really adored these two and their dynamic and relationship. I can vividly remember being so excited in the Valentine's Day episode when she gave him that chocolate. ^^

I think Isogai and Meg are really strong characters on their own also, which I really like and appreciate. Isogai is so hardworking, caring, and sincere, and Meg is so strong but so kind as well. And it's so lovely to see the two of them coming together and combining their strengths to become real leaders in their class and build each other and the other characters up. In summary, yes I think this pairing makes a lot of sense, and it definitely compels me personally. Thank you so much for reminding me about them and how much I loved them! 💖 I really want to rewatch Assassination Classroom now...

Roy Mustang x Riza Hawkeye

I may have actually squealed when I saw that you had asked about this pairing because my gosh I have no words for how invested I am in this relationship. If I felt I could write either of them and their dynamic with any semblance of justice, I would probably be writing fics about them non-stop, but I have never trusted myself to be able to do that, so they just live rent-free in my mind in incredibly convoluted scenarios about how they would somehow repeal or circumvent the non-fraternization law in order to get married (A/N: my favorite theory is that they throw another inter-military couple under the bus and use them as the poster-children of repealing the law, turning their wedding into an international spectacle before ultimately taking advantage of the repeal of the law to quietly marry themselves...but I digress).

Anyways, I don't even know what I can possibly say about this ship. Their bond with each other is so deep and so strong that even if they never get together in a romantic sense (which I would honestly be okay with as long as they just always stay together in a platonic sense. I don't need them to kiss...though that would nice...), I honestly just can't imagine either of them with anyone else romantically (which is very rare for me to say about a pairing since I tend to multi-ship). They are one of my favorite parts of the series every time I reread the manga or watch Brotherhood and that scene in the Third Laboratory where Riza thinks he is dead and just sort of breaks, gets me every single time. Even when I know it's coming, I still get so emotional about it. Her devotion and loyalty to him is unbelievable but so compelling, and the best part is that he is equally as devoted and loyal to her as well.

I can't fault this pairing at all. I think they're perfect for each other, and I'm so excited I got to ramble about them a little bit so thank you so much for that (also this my sister's ultimate OTP of all time and I can't wait to teasingly brag to her that someone actually wrote into my blog to ask me to talk about them lol). ^^

#thank you so much for the ask #this was so much fun vilandel!! #some of my all time favorite ships in here! so excited!! #isogai x meg #elfman x evergreen #roy x riza #ship ask games

[thatkodochagirl]

▶️🎉1 Year on YouTube ▶️ 🎉

Today marks my 1 year anniversary of being a YouTuber. When I started creating Kodocha videos, I never expected to make so many new friends and gain so many subscribers who feel just as passionately as I do about the series.

Thank you ALL.

Not only did I become a YouTuber last year, but I also became a wife and an official resident of a new state in the US. 2022 was a big, and difficult year for me. With all the changes and adjustments going on around me, it was comforting knowing that I had the Kodocha community to go back to each day. 

So what inspired me to create a Kodocha channel? There are many reasons, so let’s talk about them! First of all, Kodocha is my favorite animanga series, and sadly there isn’t many Kodocha content creators online. However, the ones that do exist do such AMAZING work for this fandom. I want to give a shout-out to my friend Li over on Twitter (https://twitter.com/kodomonomochaa) for her incredible work gathering Kodocha media and resources for fans to enjoy. She has been a big part of my channel’s growth and is just a sweet person all around. Make sure to give her a follow on all her platforms!

I also want to give a shout-out to @thekodochaarchive, another great resource for fans to see rare content. There is a lot of interesting rare Kodocha media over on that blog/channel, I highly recommend checking it out! Watching the old Kodocha commercials is like being able to go back and time and experience Kodocha at the time when it was first being aired. I would have loved to have been a kid who grew up with that show!

Last but certainly not least, I want to give a HUGE shout-out to my girl @dailykodocha aka M, who runs the BEST Kodocha blog around and writes INCREDIBLE fanfiction. Please go and check out her fic about Akito during the middle school years; it’s SO good and she gets the characters so well. It feels like it could be an official Kodocha novel. Here’s the link to that! (https://archiveofourown.org/works/41971272?view_full_work=true) She also co-hosts our unofficial Kodocha podcast, “19 O’Clock News” with me. We have so much fun with it, and I look forward to sharing many many many more episodes with everyone!

So wanting to contribute more to a series I deeply love, I decided to create my YouTube channel, as I noticed there weren’t really any video essays about Kodocha anywhere. This felt wrong given how much there is to talk about with the series, and how deep the characters are. 

Many of the videos that you’ve watched from me for most of 2022 were formulated from ideas I’ve had in my head since I first saw the series back in 2016. That’s why I was uploading almost weekly, as the writing flowed so naturally as I’d had a lot of time to think about the characters and plot. 

I’m very proud of all the content I have put out thus far - but I will keep improving! I’ve been re-reading the series and am about to finish volume 10, and noticed some things that I should have talked about in previous videos. It’s crazy just how detailed Obana was when she wrote Kodocha! Just when I think I understand a character, I notice a new detail during a read-through and it completely shifts my perspective on them. I used to feel very indifferent about Fuka until pretty recently! Now she is becoming one of my favorite characters.

Another reason I started my channel was for my mental health. Being creative is what keeps me sane. Unfortunately, making music (my main creative hobby) just didn’t have the same spark for me anymore. It used to be my go-to activity for my mental health - but I think I had done it for so long that I got burned out. Also, I felt very limited in what I could do with music, but with my channel, I feel like I can exercise and hone my writing skills and also talk about something I love in a unique way. This summer, I created a second channel which I hope to upload more content on that focuses on obscure media, which I will use as another outlet to discuss things unrelated to Kodocha. I watch YouTube more than anything and would love to create similar content to YouTubers that I enjoy, where they talk about interesting things from childhood or just niche internet mysteries.

Kodocha is the only thing in my life that has ever consistently brought me joy. Ever since I found the series, it’s turned my life around in more ways than one. When I first watched the anime in 2016, it made what could have been a miserable year for me into something hopeful. Sana’s enthusiasm and positivity really awakened my own, and it’s stuck with me ever since. Maybe taking life so seriously isn’t the answer. Sometimes you just gotta shut up and smile, and not worry about things you can’t fix, and just go with the flow. I never knew by 2023 Kodocha would have brought me so many new friends and just a better understanding of myself and life in general. I hope everyone watching my videos can learn not only about the characters of Kodocha, but about themselves as well. My latest video, part 2 of “Exploring Sana & Akito’s Relationship”, actually helped me in my own marriage. Yesterday, my husband told me that he’s the happiest he’s ever been. It made me feel so good because the research and time I put into that video helped me better understand my husband’s love languages, which ultimately strengthened our marriage. 

Kodocha really is my light in this dark world and I hope I am able to spread the joy that it’s instilled in me.

Thank you for reading, and sticking around until now. There is a lot more Kodocha content coming in the future, as always. See ya! 💖

#Kodocha #kodomo no omocha #anime #animanga #manga #life #positivity #youtube #miho obana #shoujo