duskanddaydreams

[duskanddaydreams]

Fanfic is a free hobby.

It's one of the last few things we can have as a society that's free. You can engage, for free. People give you things (art, stories, etc), for free.

Don't buy into the consummerism just because it's everywhere else.

You don't have to consume everything you interact with. You don't have to use things, just because they exist.

You're allowed (still, for now), to have things that are enjoyable for free.

Do you realise how insane the world is? We don't have many places where we can just be, for free anymore, but ao3 is. Did you notice we don't have ads in ao3? We don't have pop ups? Where ELSE do we not have that?

Where else can you just go and not have to wait for a commercial to be over or for ads to be on the sidelines?

I don't think the younger people understand, but the whole of internet used to be like this. YouTubers would do Youtube for free, just because. You couldn't monetise your internet presence before.

Ao3 is like a little preserved corner of the internet where the old internet used to be, and it's being attacked by people who do not understand that free things are allowed to exist without judgment.

Please don't ruin this for us.

Some of us need it.

[duskanddaydreams]

Recently I was reading an academic article that used GDragon as a case study of K-pop's 'performative angle'— you know highlighting how performance concepts try to forge certain narratives. While I have counter-points for most of the article's central arguments, one thing I found to be true is: very few people can do 'concepts' successfully like this man right here. Period.

And I can go on & on about all the elaborate concepts & themes GD has pulled over the 20 years stretch of his career, but his recent comeback stage was something of a moment in itself.

There is something incredibly bold & insane to have your first cb stage in 7 years in a whole baby pink outfit, a pink bejeweled crown, camouflaging with your own backup dancers cause they are all in the ditto shade of pink, but rapping a track literally called 'Power', which btw is a diss track to the media for their endless circus. A center that doesn't even need to try hard to be the center at all. It's pink all over, everywhere— but even then you can't even take your eyes off of the man. Endless fans that waited a lifetime for this comeback but also garnering so much hype to the non-fans too that they eventually became a stan.

Oh My GOAT Dragon! 🐉😌

[duskanddaydreams]

people who don't experience hyperfixation don't know what it feels like to hyperfixate so much on something that it becomes not only your subject of obsession but also your source of happiness and literally the main reason why you still keep going; literal source of strength and life.

shoutout to my favorite fictional characters, favorite people, favorite ships, favorite movies, favorite tv shows, fanfics and archive of our own

[duskanddaydreams]

You’re never too old to collect figures.

You’re never too old to be in a fandom.

You’re never too old to play video games.

You’re never too old to listen to music.

You’re never too old to enjoy things.

[duskanddaydreams]

Please don't become the very thing you resent...

[duskanddaydreams]

One day the one in the mirror will smile right back at you! 💛

[duskanddaydreams]

I already know that when Spotify wrapped 2025 comes up, I'll have POWER and HOME SWEET HOME as my number 1 and 2 tracks with "you were in the top 0.0000000000000001% of listeners globally" they will HAVE to personally send this stats to Jiyong himself with something along the lines of "look she's demented"

[duskanddaydreams]

Songbirds Serenade

The night I heard my mother cry for the first time

I was only nine.

"Betty Jones, Mama doesn't cry"—

That's what you had told me every night

The night I saw my mother's tainted golden hue skin for the first time

I was only nine.

"Corsets, baby. I ain't born a sexy little thing"—

That's what you had told me every time

The night I saw my mother choking on the smoke for the first time

I was only nine.

"Betty Jones, you gotta cook when you gotta cook"—

That's what you had told me each night

Almost as if singing—

Songbirds serenading.

The night I fell asleep waiting for my father

I was only nine.

"Babygirl, Daddy's gotta work. Who'll feed you otherwise?"—

That's what you had told me every night

The night I asked my father what dreams were

I was only nine.

"A rich husband, that's for you, baby. For your brother, perhaps an ivy league"—

That's what you had told me each night

The night I asked for a birthday present

I was only nine.

You got me a princess doll, looking pretty.

Never matter that the one with the sword remained on the shelf, forgotten—

Like a songbird mocking the serenade.

The night I won a game with my brother for the first time

I was only nine.

"I let you win, Betty. Men always win"—

That's what you had told me every night

The night I saw you all rugged up from a fistfight, battered and bruised— and I had asked you: 'Does it hurt?'

I was only nine.

"I'm not a sissy like you, Betty"—

That's what you had told me every night

The night I drew you a pink flower

I was only nine.

"Flower are for girls. Pink is for Missies. Don't you know that, Betty Jones?"—

That's what you had told me when you rejected my love tokon for the very first time

As if like a songbird—

Crying songs of melancholy.

I was only nine then

Now I'm twenty-nine

And I look for love at all the wrong places—

Like a dying songbird with no one left to serenade.

My husband gets me flowers—but it doesn't make me happy, brother.

I got a rich husband, Daddy— just as you wished. Got children too. But does it matter?

The corsets kill me, Mama. You never said it ain't easy to be a pretty little thing. Why didn't you?

When I finally sleep, Mama

Don't resurrect me like Lazarus—

For my children are better off without me

For I'll teach my daughter and my son too—

The same old things.

That boys ain't crybabies. That girls needn't dream.

I'll serenade them too—

Like choking little songbirds born out of you.

For flowers never bloom on wastelands

And the world is far too bloodthirsty to ever notice the dead ones—

So Mama, please let me sleep.

(This is an original piece. Please do not repost without credit. Thank you.)

✞ 666 ✞

[duskanddaydreams]

I truly believe that fan culture is still frowned upon because of a patriarchal mindset. That boybands, music, books, art— anything that primarily caters to women are deemed as 'hysteria'. But Beetles too pulled massive numbers of fangirls all over once and was your typical boyband. But now they are a classic group that you must listen to if you have taste?

Why do we associate fanfic with teenage girls and why do we invalidate teenage girls and their creativity to begin with? Grown men painting their faces, getting excited some other sweaty men on field is cool but women doing the same at a concert just plain crazy?

Yes there has to be some decency and parasocial relationships can be problematic, but 'fanfiction', 'fanart' and every creative part of fandom culture should be celebrated!!

More power to AO3, Wattpad, Asianfanfics and all their writers!

[Image Description: A Tweet that reads: Hey, you. You're valid for writing fanfiction. Someone has stayed up late reading your words on their phone with auto-rotate off. Someone has dropped everything when they got that update email. Your work has made someone happy and you do it *in your spare time*. You're awesome. End ID.]

[duskanddaydreams]

Monsters

To the darkness within me,

How are you?

To the monsters within me,

What are your tales?

To the vast ocean,

Why can't you quiet down?

The anger that embroil

The peace nowhere to be found

The relentless chaos

How do I calm these monsters within me?

"My Love", says my fragile heart, "you are a beautiful storm"

A Madness

Hell

Eris

"Why do you fight these monsters?"

"Villains", you say, "Monsters"

But these are the monsters that make me feel something. Anything.

To the me that is lost, best believe:

One day, I will finally be in love with the monsters within me.

(This is an original piece. Please do not repost without credit. Thank you.)

Colorless Musings, Tathev Simonyan

[duskanddaydreams]

The amount of people Ik personally & online who have actively hated on Kdramas and Kpop for so long but are now all raving about Squid Game & some also about the character of Thanos is absolutely UNREAL. This much Thanos love hasn't been around since Endgame. My feed is filled with Thanos thirst edits btw😭😭

And as much as I'm loving all this, back in 2021 with S1, fam asked me "you didn't watch Squid Game yet? How??" Well, because I wasn't initially interested & because there are better Kdramas available?? Who told you that a Netflix original is mainstream & the others are niche?

Now when I tell them that the actor who plays Thanos is also primarily a kpop idol, I don't pretend to be shocked as they hit me with an all too familiar 'but he doesn't look like the others' card. ????? What even is that?

Sister, irrespective of the streaming platform it's released on, Squid Game is still a KDRAMA & T.O.P is still a KPOP IDOL turned actor... So this hypocrisy doesn't make you cool— it only makes you WEIRD AF! 🥱

Anyhow, welcome to my Ted Talk fam! 💛😙

PS: I'm all for recommending/obsessing over some Kdramas and Kpop people!! 😃

CHOI SEUNGHYUN BEING A PURPLE MENACE FOR 16 SECONDS 😈

[duskanddaydreams]

This 'Lifetime' is all that there is!

bitch this is all you’re gonna get. this life, this face, this body. you better not ‘maybe in another universe’ your way out of everything. sit your ass down and face this. go make tea and have a picnic and read a goddamn book. kiss your loved ones, send that damn text, and hug your siblings. this is all you’re gonna get.

[duskanddaydreams]

How peculiar is the life full of regrets. Of what ifs. Only if I had taken that call? Only if I had told her how I felt? Only if I could go back in time... Just this once?

But once the coffee gets cold and the wheel of time turns, an opportunity is forever lost. Lost time. Lost love. Lost space. Lost. Lost. Lost. In a life filled with 'what ifs', it's crazy how we almost never reflect on the moment. Memories are forever cherished but what about those many many singular moments?

Nostalgia is a crazy ride. We constantly yearn for things lost. But going back in time would rectify nothing, cause it isn't the time that was at fault but us who failed to cherish oneself. Nostalgia will forever be the autumn leaves and we will always yearn for the Spring— and forget to celebrate all of it in between— SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN, WINTER.

(This is an original piece. Please do not repost without credit. Thank you.)

Adapted from Homer, The Iliad

// David Benioff, Troy

[duskanddaydreams]

[duskanddaydreams]

Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf

[duskanddaydreams]

To the G(o)D of KPOP

Welcome Back💛

Will it really be an exaggeration to say Kpop= GDragon?

You know how you see some people do their thing, and think to yourself that 'there is no place they'd rather be'. This man right here is EXACTLY THAT. He is the EMPEROR OF KPOP and the stage is his HOME SWEET HOME (pun intended).

There will never be another GDRAGON. There CAN NEVER be another GD. Man is such a case study on Hallyu, Korean Culture, Fashion, Trend, and of course Career Longevity. Crazy how he has managed to stay this relevant in an industry that is so so over saturated- with thousands of new artists debuting every five years. How he started a COUP almost twenty years ago, bulldozed into the industry and inspired innumerable idols after him (right from 3rd to 5th gen) is for the history books.

It's not easy being both a fan favourite and critically acclaimed. There truly is a fine line between 'popular' and 'classic' but somehow GD manages to cross it effortlessly. As he himself said: YES HE'S THE MANNUAL. When a thirteen year old song becomes a political rally cry (looking at you, 'Crooked') or when a 'Bang Bang Bang' becomes a friend group's go to karaoke number, GD is right at the centre of it, sitting on his couch, petting Zoa or Iye(?)

After everything this man has done for that industry, almost single-handedly, it's not hard to see why this comeback (as he releases new music in seven years) is the most anticipated- why MAMA 2024 was almost his and BigBang's second coming/Renaissance performance.

GDragon was always more of an Artist rather than an idol.... But now he is also an EMOTION- a feeling for you alone to experience. And if you want a 101 in Kpop, spread of Hallyu or anything in between, the chapter GDragon must feature!

so many kpop stans will be like "omg the stage presence!!" about their fave and it's just a well-dressed, reasonably handsome guy narrowing his eyes and smirking, sorry but if you want a masterclass in stage presence just watch this fucking gremlin man dressed like the richest grandma you've ever seen

[duskanddaydreams]

This is just a space for me to empty my mind, rant and scribble down the words because spilled writing born out of chaotic minds are the best kind of writings...