#<- guy who doesn't have experience writing for other fandoms and is trying to pretend he's not so so so scared

[desperatepleasures]

reading a lotta manga while I'm in a "can't fucking write" phase is kinda comforting tho like...it's ok I'm gathering nuts for winter 👍

[bougiebutchbinch]

EDITED TO ADD: yes, I 'know what abuse looks like'. Yes, I have personal experience. I can't believe I have to shake my Trauma Credentials in front of Certain Rabid Ed Stans so they won't make weird unbiased claims about my personal life and experience.

Take a good, long, hard look at yourself. Is that really the person you want to be? Is that really supportive of other survivors, to make them dredge up their own trauma to defend a freaking fandom opinion?

ANYWAY.

I think the whole 'Ed isn't REALLY an abuser tho, because [extremely convoluted reason that victim blames and glosses over abuse]' thing from certain Ed fans is melting my mind a little. I say, as an Ed fan.

You can like a character who has done shitty things! You can like a character who does not take any actions to try and become a less shitty person! I certainly do! I love Ed! He's the reason I started watching the show, and he was my fave character all the way through Season 1 and for some of Season 2! He's great fun to write and I am so eternally fascinated by him. That love is why I'm so annoyed about what they did with his character.

But y'know what? Even if you hate exploring the mere possibility that Ed is, canonically, an abuser, it's possible to create a wholly different fanon if you wanna!! No one is forcing you to accept canon within your fanworks! That's what fanworks are for, and why I'm writing Season 2 fix-its, lmao.

But maybe don't deny what is very clear text within canon itself, just because you stan a character? Just... take a step back???

Like...... I ship Cross Guild. Clean Cut Clown Abuse in canon (if you know anything about One Piece). I choose to ship it as a consensual and fun silly BDSM relationship, rather than the Very Fucked Up Work Situationship it is in canon, because I think Buggy deserves 3 Big Hott Boyfriends (Yes, They All Smoke Weed).

But I'm not.... gonna deny...... that in canon he's in an extremely shitty abusive situation that's played for Comedy Purposes...... just because I love Crocodile and Mihawk.....? I'm not gonna say that people who really, really don't like the ship because of the abusive overtones are 'making stuff up' or 'just don't understand literary devices', or (heaven forbid) that 'it's okay actually because Buggy is a villain and therefore he deserves it'?

Hell, I love the Joker as a character (in certain franchises). But I'm not gonna pretend he isn't an extremely abusive, fucked-up and dangerous guy?

Obviously these are very different characters in very different tonal settings, but just -

You guys realise you can like characters who would be inexcusable IRL, right?? You guys realise that it doesn't make you a bad person, so long as you don't start claiming their victims 'deserved' it, or that these actions would be acceptable in real life?? When a show clearly shows Your Favourite Blorbo abusing people and acknowledges that the survivors are badly mentally affected by this trauma, then does not show your blorbo putting any meaningful work into changing... You can accept that this will make other people dislike his character, while still personally caring for him, yeah??? We've all accepted those basic principles as a fandom, right???????

.....Right?

[chobani-flip]

the disconnect between the storytelling of the show and of the fandom

lately, I've been thinking about storytelling and storytellers in the context of 911.

like, there's two sides to this storytelling business, right?

there's the small group writers and showcreators who have an idea for the characters and plots and have to come up with a way to share those ideas within the constraints of a network television series

and then there's us, a massive international community with a wide-range of life experiences, who watch their show and then go on to tell our own story about it.

and i wonder if we're always watching the story they're telling.

im not even necessarily talking about the buddie goggles right now.

what got me thinking about this was ana flores.

and the one scene the fandom likes to pretend sealed her fate (when in actuality, let's be quite candid, it was the fact that she was a beautiful woman who dared to date eddie instead of allowing him to remain a viable option for canonical/fanonical offscreen cannoodling with buck)

"there's a lot to be said for getting back on the horse, but there's also some value in learning that you don't like horses." eddie: "i'm sorry?" "sometimes, our limitations tell us when to stop. but sometimes, they can show us where to look next." (romantic, feelingsy song starts playing) "today, he falls off the skateboard. but tomorrow, he writes the great american novel."

see, the problem here is that this is CLEARLY meant to be viewed as wise and deep advice. as a moment of connection between ana and eddie... the way the scene is cut, the music that plays in the background, the intense eye-contact between the two characters, the way eddie reacts to her words... we're meant to enjoy the simmering tension and potential between them...

but... it's not great and deep advice, not really. it's been pointed out that it comes off as ableist. and ana is supposed to be a teacher at this excellent inclusive institution; she is meant to have experience with children of different abilities feeling frustrated and wanting to do the same things other children are doing... someone on here pointed out that if they were the teacher, they would seek to understand what need christopher was trying to fullfil by getting on the skateboard and help him achieve it by other means

but what ana comes up with is this awkward horse metaphor that doesn't really make sense for the situation, and a condescending: "awwww, well, im sure he's the next hemingway"

BUT SEE, THAT'S NOT THE STORY THE SHOW IS TELLING US. the show is ostensibly framing this scene as romantic and great and deep. and that is NOT ana's fault. the character of ana didn't travel to our reality, didn't block the scene, didn't cut it and add the soundtrack. that's on the showcreators.

but somehow, it's really difficult for us to see it that way when it comes to ana.

in a way that it's not when it comes to Hen, poor little Mara and the Doberman.

because we know Hen and Karen, and we like them.

so we awkwardly shuffle around, side-eyeing each other, quietly nudging each other and going: "bit of a fail that, huh? kinda a weird thing to do on the part of the show, huh? comparing a little Black girl to a dog...why did they do that???"

or there was an excellent post floating around about whether Buck and Eddie realize they can say no to sex, that their consent matters.

"what if i come home and she wants to haaaaaave..." "well, you'll get through it somehow," says buck with an amused grin on his face.

see, the problem isn't necessarily whether the characters know that their consent matters, but whether the showcreators do. because this is clearly meant to be viewed as a joke.

eddie is a macho guy, who tends to keep his cool in difficult situations, so it's funny when you see him freaking out over the fact that his girlfriend wants to have sex with him and he doesn't want to have sex with her because her former chosen-profession taps into his well of Messy Catholic Feelings.

isn't it? isn't that just fucking hilarious?

and the answer to that is: no. it's not funny to any part of the audience who's ever felt pressured (by a partner, by society, by their own expectations) to want or to have sex.

but does the show realize that?

i'm sorry but i don't think so. this is the show that framed dr.wells sexually assaulting buck during a therapy session as a joke to casually bring up and needle him over later, that felt the need to reassure us that chimney and maddie can and do have wild, passionate monkey sex (you remember, albert teasing chim, then the hotel with the revolving room, etc), that had karen ask hen what the point of a relationship was if the couple weren't having sex...

now, i genuinely don't think the showcreators mean to be hurtful, or harmful. i don't think they realise how all these things come off. because they're a fairly small group of people from Los Angeles, North America, and are working within the constraints of a network television show

(and the point of the Eddie and Buck scene was Buck coming out to Eddie, so maybe they felt Buck saying: "you know, you can tell her you don't want to have sex, right? that's allowed." would fraction the focus of it? idk)

but what happens is that there's this disconnect between the story they're telling us and the story we continue to tell among ourselves.

when it comes to the characters we like, we tend to ignore the unpleasant meanings and messages in relation to the character, or we retcon it in fanfic, or we Fix-it with some heart-to-hearts and apologies.

(for example, i haven't seen many fics that show athena being a Cop as not-a-great-thing. but are we really ok with her saying "i wasn't on their side, but i understood their side." when her son expresses some reasonable dissatisfaction with her reaction to a cop pointing a gun at him and michael? or are we just ignoring it because we love angela bassett?)

when it comes to characters we are predisposed to dislike, this disconnect makes us dislike them even more. which leads to the writing of bashing fics, and in some cases harassing the performers online jfc do not do that people that's never ok

(of course, some characters are hated justifiedly imao, like the buckley parents and chimney's father...)

maybe this is the frustration that makes for such a prolific and active fandom?

I don't know.

but I think it's something to keep in mind when watching the show. because that disconnect is always going to be there and I know that for my own personal mental health, it's easier and nicer to believe that a group of RL people might sometimes be just a bit ignorant at times and write in weird shit unintentionally, than that my favourite characters are massive assholes unpredictably and randomly

[sappholovell]

TW: SA, r@pe, and discussions of abuse and violence particularly in romantic relationships

Also spoilers for ACoTar and Shadow and Bone

This is just a tangent that's been on my mind for a while, so take this as me shouting into the void. There's been a few trends in YA literature that have caught my attention, but none as much as "you're a bad person, hence you are a rapist." My best example of this is A Court of Thorns and Roses, or ACoTaR, by Sarah J. Maas. Nearly every character who is a bad person has either sexually assaulted another character or offered to keep a female or underaged character for their followers or minions or some shit. Amarantha, Ianthe, and many of the Illyrian soldiers (who are supposed to be GOOD GUYS, might I add) are like this, and others are just neglectful or abusive to their partners or families (Beron, Tamlin, Kier, and even Eris, to an extent.) Now, stories about SA survivors are always good to tell, but that's not what this is. This is the lazy ability to make a character a rapist in order to make them unlikable, even against their own personality.

This happens in Shadow and Bone as well with the Darkling. Before the fandom gets their pitchforks and starts running, let me finish. Making Genya spy on the king at the age of eleven, knowing that he would sexually abuse her? That is something that the Darkling would do. But astral projecting into Alina's room and pretending to be her boyfriend to get in her pants? His whole thing is trying to make her stronger and more confident so that if (when, in his mind) she chooses to leave Mal and join the Darkling they can rule as equals. She's the Persephone to his Hades, in his mind. He's a horrible person. He's committed genocide, created abominations, and tried to torture some guy while his girlfriend watched in order to steal the girlfriend, all out of a twisted and selfish love for his people and himself. Writing him coercing Alina just feels like a lazy way to make him eviler, and it takes all of the depth from his later character arcs.

In SJM's case, Rhys as an SA survivor comes up, but it isn't a major part of his story arc. His experiences (as well as Mor's, Gwyns, and Nesta's) are only brought up in long, performative rants that are supposed to be empowering but lose purpose after the first six hundred words. And the rapists themselves? I have no idea. They have no personality after that point, except for maybe Amarantha. I thought that it fit Amarantha's personality okay. But seriously, this idea that all men are creepy sex addicts who can't control themselves and hate women unless they are the four conveniently attractive magical men SJM has lined up for us gets old really fast, and it takes all the fun out of the villain. Oh, there's a female rapist too? That's neat. That could open a discussion. What else does she do? What does she want? What are the villains' motivations? She doesn't know, and neither do we. It's power or something. We could have guessed this ourselves. Even Tamlin had to be violent and mentally abusive.

In conclusion, in order to write a good villain please think about the direction you are going to take them in, and give them a personality and backstory as you would any other character before making them do evil things; Make those evil things line up with their motivations and experiences. And please, please, please don't make them ALL rapists and sex offenders if they are a nomadic or indigenous civilization because that comes off as really really racist. Thank you and good night.

[caatws]

Thank you so much for your post about Gamora and the way grief has been portrayed for her compared to other characters like vision. I have felt all alone for years in being upset that Gamora's death just didn't get treated like it was supposed to. From the beginning it was mostly framed around what it meant to Thanos and then slowly confined to Nebula before landing on Peter to do all the emotional work while eveyone else who was part of Gamora's life acted like they had no clue what was going on. Vol 3 felt like watching some sort of long con cover up job with people trying to pretend a murder never occurred. I don't know what Gunn was thinking because we all saw Gamora die. It was one of the stand out moments in one of the mcu's biggest movies. We have video evidence of the murder so why are they acting foolish.

Then fandom has been another mess. People thinking there just wasn't any time to have anyone else say any words about her death even though it would take less than 1 minutes for a sentence about how hard it's been for everyone. Some people are acting like Gamora never did anything before dying and the whole team was run by all the guys. On top of that writing fic has been pushed as a solution to this whole situation and it's not that simple. The canon has turned the abuse and murder of a woman into something we're all supposed to be okay with because Thanos was sad and most of her family thinks she has memory problems. Fic isn't going to fix this.

It hurts because you can see how in real life reactions to tragedies and loss can be different when people who aren't white are involved. It feels like the mcu mostly had time and space to care about some characters who died in IW and EG and not others based on the same criteria. I thought as time went on it would get better but instead it kept getting worse. First the idea to have 2014 Gamora instead of bringing 2018 Gamora back to life. Who really sat there and thought doing that was the way to go as if all Gamora's growth and healing was meaningless. Then the holiday special taking no time to address how Gamora's death had been for the team. Now we have vol 3 with its entire debacle of a storyline for Gamora where she's popped back in to deal with a mess she didn't help create with people she doesn't know and with no explanation of what she's been going through in the years since EG. Nobody knew what they were doing or where they were going with any of this and it shows. Gamora never should have been murdered in the first place. But since they went there the least they could do is not treat it with idiocy.

you're definitely not alone anon! the lack of mainstream popularity for gamora's character definitely made the experience of grieving her feel very isolating. like all my irls who aren't In This Deep with mcu who just casually follow were def more focused on the avengers characters and their stuff in iw or just weren't in deep enough to care much beyond it being a summer blockbuster (which is also valid!) so it rly felt like no one else grasped like just how much that movie imploded the gotg franchise

i must admit i second guess myself and my feelings toward the gamora situation a lot bc it just feels so weird that it seems like not many other ppl rly talk abt it the way they probably would if this kind of thing happened to one of the lead avengers characters or something. like it feels like most mcu viewers don't even realize the depth of what's happened which is so ?!?!??? so it's nice to see there are others in fandom like you who get it <3

and yeah, i agree with everything you said here. i think it's fair to say fandom often reflects like society in the ways they regard characters of different backgrounds, and i'd argue that's definitely happening here with gamora at least to some extent

[miragemirrors]

tokusatsu; 10, 13, 25

10. worst part of fanon

all the guys are into intricate relationships with each other and any girls that exist in the show simply exist to deliver snappy one-liners every so often. i.e. all women are expendable and just getting in the way of my ships so unless i can rewrite her into just doing girlboss shit i'm going to pretend she doesn't exist. i didn't name a show but i don't have to bc it's every show.

13. worst blorboficiation

i hate the damn frog from geats and people being so horny for him and obsessed with him being unproblematic parasocial fan they try to pin the fact that he is acting misogynistically on the. writing being misogynistic rather than this being intentional as a display of antagonistic characteristics

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

complaining about people being horny for the actresses. you guys post actor shirtless pictures all the time can you let us womenfuckers speak as frankly about a nice boob as y'all do for once?

also in the same vein, mistaking any complex emotional storylines involving female characters for "misogynistic writing" bc she's not kicking ass and taking names at all times or she doesn't have a hero transformation (the latter esp in a show where. it'd make no sense narratively or budget-wise for her to have one. though yeah we can have a conversation as to why we have less women in the roster of characters who can get transformations. which should be directed at marketing dept, not writing) when there's. more to character narrative and overall narrative than that. and like. it's all performative because these people give zero attention to these female characters other than complaining about them being shafted whenever they're brought to their attention - it's just smoke and mirrors to justify why they're not engaging with a character with a complex and well-written storyline and instead jumping to either 1. completely ignore two guys' established personalities and dynamics to smash them together like barbie dolls or 2. be some male character's reply guy for the rest of time, all while getting to experience the catharsis of yelling on the internet that they dared put a pink catgirl on their boy show

[ffwriteradvisor]

I've never really commented on controversies in the fanfiction writing community. Part of it was that I didn't want to feel that anyone visiting this blog was being pressured to adjust their beliefs either way, but part of it was that I didn't want to apply that pressure to myself here - I wanted to avoid arguments.

But, I can't in good faith continue to pursue that neutrality. Because it has come to a point where it's just allowing ignorance to fester.

I'm not a... proper fandom old, in my mind. I was never on any mailing list, I wasn't online at the time of Strikethrough and I was never personally impacted by the 2012 purges on FFnet - probably because I wasn't popular and because the (short lived) smut I put there simply was too tame to consider banishing. Same with the Tumblr porn purge for the most part.

But I at least tried to stay aware of the history. To know the rules and outlines to being a 'good' member of fandom. Formatting fics well, tagging properly, putting up content warnings where applicable when it came to common triggers and squicks while looking out for those that I didn't care for myself, and not getting into fights over who's fictional characters were better suited for each other.

It was never complicated. If you don't like it, you don't read it. If the writer places a warning sign up for a certain thing, you go in with the expectation that thing will be there. Leave a nice comment when you leave, if that's at all possible.

But that's apparently too difficult for some people.

So let me put it simply; the minute you decide that you're going to use someone's fandom creation or opinions as an excuse to attack them, be it through false reports or physical assault or nasty messages, you have become the bad guy.

I don't care if the person you're attacking was shipping two fictional teenagers. I don't care if their favorite ship is 'toxic'. I don't care if they were writing RPF. I don't care if they drew horny art. I don't care if the character they like is 'problematic' or 'glorifies bad behavior'.

It is all based in fiction. The characters are not real. The things those characters do have no impact on reality. The situations are not real. A picture of a fictional character in a sexual situation is not equivalent to a real person.

The only real people who are being potentially harmed are the artists you choose to abuse because of something that isn't real and those that have entered a space without doing their own due diligence beforehand. And I only have sympathy for the former.

Yes, I know that you can accidentally run into something you wish that you hadn't seen in fandom spaces. It has happened to me many times. And do you know what I've done in response? I learned to tag my things appropriately, put warnings in so that people know what they're walking into. I also made an effort to be better at curating my own experience; if someone I follow has begun posting things I don't care for - I unfollow and leave it at that. If that fails, I block.

I do not pretend to exist on some kind of flawless moral pedestal - I know my failings and I work to improve on them every day of my life. But I also know for a fact that the behavior far too many people are exhibiting in fandom spaces is unacceptable and that every precedent for it ever seen before has only ended in tragedy and tears.

I'm sure that there's plenty of people who can find a bad faith argument in my post - I'm not going to spend the time going back over it to find every potential hole and patch it over before release, because regardless of how 'perfectly' I try to word these feelings, it won't matter to someone who really wants to start a fight.

Because that's all this is about for these fandom Puritanicals - finding a fight wherever they can find one and using it to drag whoever disagrees with them through the mud so they can come out looking spotless in comparison.

It doesn't matter to them if the warning tag on a fic is covering discussion of war crimes. It doesn't matter if a writer puts a warning about suicide on their story so that way people who are triggered by that know not to go in. It's all about being able to point at someone and say 'this person thinks about terrible things and is a terrible person for it'.

They want to be able to point their finger at someone they don't like and say 'I saw Goody Proctor with the Devil', except it's about Goody Proctor even thinking about the Devil existing outside of a narrow 'acceptable' context.

[mermaidsirennikita]

What the people going on about how disliking Penelope is fatphobic don’t seem to get is that the writing for the character on the show is fatphobic. Am I side-eying the people who hate her but don’t seem to mind what Daphne did? Yeah, and people characterizing Nicola Coughlan as some scheming attention whore sets off alarm bells too, but it’s not like writing the fat girl as sad, bitter, and unable to get a man isn’t also using inherently fatphobic tropes.

I'll be honest--I don't care for Nicola. However, I don't think she's a scheming social climber lol. I think that's projecting her character onto her. I think she's messy and needs media training--which, tbh, she probably learned based off of interactions with this rancid fandom. I can't particularly shake the deuxmoi shit in light of it being in response to RJP, who was receiving an explicitly racist backlash from the fandom... But I don't think she's... calculated lol. And I do think that REGARDLESS of how I feel about Nicola, she experiences fatphobia. It's apparently in how she is presented on Bridgerton. Nicola is objectively pretty. Like. I don't care what ya think about her personally. She's a conventionally pretty woman. Why is she cast as the girl who can't get a guy? Because she's fat. That's it.

Here's another blunt take here--I tend to wonder.... If a lot of the people... Citing "fatphobia" as the reason why people dislike Penelope... Are actually fat. Because like. While I won't pretend that I'm as big as some women who might find it more difficult to get through life--while I won't pretend that I can't hide shit with the right angles in my selfies--I shop in the plus size section at Target like many a girl (I actually have hyperinsulinism, so even when I try to lose weight... it's rough, buddy!). Many of my friends are in the same boat, or similar. Idk. I look at us, and I look at Penelope, and like... I rarely claim shit over anything, because I'm a cis white woman and am thus pretty fucking privileged in the country I live in... But it is oddly degrading?

And I felt this way with book!Penelope, too. The comments about her weight, the note that she lost weight before Colin decided to fuck her--but like, at least that shit was written quite a while ago. The show doesn't have that excuse. The show has Nicola, who they'll cite as hot enough to carry a Pat McGrath campaign... And be like "aw, this poor fat sap, he doesn't see her as anything but a friend". That's... not what I want to see. I don't want a pat on the back, and that's frankly not what I get in real life. Like, believe it or not, many men see fat women as highly fuckable. And Colin. Could totally. See Penelope. As that. Like you could even find a way to get the classic "uhhhh I'd never marry Penelope Featherington" moment in without making it seem like a condescension.

The thing is that I don't feel like... The show is gonna sell me on him being *sexually attracted* to her. And it's in part because Luke N. and Nicola don't have a charged chemistry (it's just her being like uwu Colin pls notice me and him being like *WHERE'S A SKINNY BITCH*) but also... in part due to the writing. Like, even the fact that Penelope is getting the, let's be fucking real, largely agreed upon *also ran* brother who the show has made out to be a dipshit compared to the Tortured Eldest Son Who Eats Pussy Like It's Breakfast and The Freewheeling Artist Threesome Brother.... is telling. Idk. I just. Don't buy that this show will honor Penelope as a woman who is fat, deserves love, *AND* deserves to have her clock rocked like her life depends on it.

And that is in part because, yes, she's been painted as envious of other women. I won't pretend to have grown up without body image issues. I've been a size 8 and been like "oh God nobody will love me" and I've been a size 16 and been like "oh God nobody will love me". But Penelope... That's like, her defining trait. You can be insecure as a fat woman in a world that caters to thin women (though uh, I will add, idk that body standards were the same in Regency England as they were in the 21st century) and also be talented and confident and bitchy. Penelope has *never* had a man look at her, and that's so fucked up to me. Like. What. Am I supposed to feel good about someone noticing her during the Polin season when she's gone 2-3 seasons beforehand being treated as this ugly, pathetic, jealous hag?

Like, I literally have no fucking idea why Penelope would feel that way... besides her fatness. Her sisters don't experience that. And you could say "well the bully her" yeah but why. Because of her fatness, right? And that's a choice the writers made. To make Penelope's fatness a key part of her personality and insecurities, rather than like... a fact of her body. A part of her hot, sexually appealing body.

Lol I just have zero interest in fat rep that's.......... about being jealous of skinny girls. And striking out against them. Idk. I was raised by a skinny bitch (who has also been not skinny) and I'm a sister to a skinny bitch. I won't say that I haven't experienced moments of jealousy, but I also see that there is a price to be paid either way, and we all have our fucking issues and burdens to bear. I've never been what I would call truly *skinny* but I've been way closer to that than I am now, I didn't magically feel better about myself. So idk. The messaging the show sends with Penelope... That she is suffering due to her fatness, that her behavior is linked to insecurities that are connected to her fatness and therefore we should just be down with it......... Isn't good for me.

[your-brilliant-lady-m]

Part 4 - Basic Concepts of Miraculous Ladybug: Glamour

You can call it however you want: kid's show logic, superhero disguise logic, magical girl show logic, cartoon laws, suspension of disbelief, etc. But the fact that nobody recognises Marinette, Adrien and others when they are suited up IS NOT BAD WRITING. It's one of the main laws of this genre. That's not because characters are stupid, okay? So, being frustrated that everyone in the show acts stupid about this "wearing a mask that covers only eyes" trope is strange. This criticism is not valid or fair.

But, this trope has to make sense in-universe as a worldbuilding and narrative element.

Miraculous doesn't give us much direct information on how glamour works. And in this case, I think we need both SHOW and TELL. Because if you don't establish the glamour rules clearly, you are going to run into problems and create unfortunate implications with your storytelling choices.

Appearance

Miraculous obviously gives our heroes magical glamour. In "Lady WiFi" we find out that masks can't be taken off. It's magic. No other explanation is needed.

Miraculous can slightly change the appearance of users (eyes, face shape, height and hairstyles). People can identify and notice the hairstyles of heroes (numerous Ladybug wigs, statue in Copycat). Jagged Stone points out the change of hair when he mistakes Chloe for Ladybug ("Antibug"). But it's just a costume. There is no magic that prevents Jagged from understanding that Chloe isn't Ladybug. So, how does it work? But it's forgivable because it's cartoon logic. Suspension of disbelief works here, I suppose. I won't judge this too harshly.

Glamour also obviously prevents people from making a connection that Marinette and Ladybug have identical hairstyles. So people know that Ladybug wears her hair in pigtails, but magic does not allow them to notice similarities.

Another important question. Does glamour work on Kwamis? Can they see who is behind the mask?

New York Special makes it clear that magic does not affect robots and they can see through glamour. Does that mean that Markov, AI built by Max, knows the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir? And it's never addressed.

Plagg in "Frightningale" says that holders can subconsciously choose their superhero appearance. This is actually pretty interesting and I like this idea a lot. Except the show is not consistent with this. The transformation of Master Fu looks identical to Nathalie's. And we have seen how different from each other Ladybug and Black Cat holders looked in the past. At the same time, Master Fu and Nino have different takes on Turtle superhero suit.

Age Glamour

Does age glamour exist? Do people see Ladybug, Chat Noir and other heroes as adults even when they look like teenagers to the audience (their height and build are smaller even when they are transformed)? Is that why no one ever questions the fact that children nearly die on a daily basis?

I mentioned unfortunate implications earlier. Well, this is where they come into play. Let's talk about "Copycat". A lot of people discussed it before me, so I won't bore you with details.

When I watched "Copycat" for the first time Theo's crush on Ladybug didn't bother me, because I thought that he sees Ladybug as his peer, a girl who is about 20-23 years old. Theo is an artist, his character design is that of an adult. He has his own studio, its appearance indicates that he did serious commissions in the past. The guy has no idea that Ladybug is like 13.

But then we get "Heroes' Day" and "Ladybug". And Hawkmoth calls them "kids", which means that there is no age glamour. Others see Ladybug and Chat Noir as teenagers. Perhaps, other Miraculous users aren't affected by age glamour. Therefore regular people see all heroes as adults but other heroes are able to guess their age more or less correctly. But you must spell this thing out because the audience can interpret "Copycat" differently. If there is no age glamour, then Theo is crushing on a teenage girl and he is fully aware of this fact. And this doesn't look good for your show.

The "No Age Glamour" theory is further confirmed in "Sapotis" where Alya just straight up analyses voice recordings and says that Ladybug is a girl their age. If glamour exists then it should also cover technology. Kwami can't be photographed. Face and voice recognition software shouldn't be able to analyse transformed superheroes and detect their identities in any way.

Besides, after "Sapotis" Alya should definitely be sure that Ladybug is not 5000 years old (also not an adult), especially after she wore Miraculous herself and was one door away from detransformed Ladybug.

SEASON 4 UPDATE! There's no age glamour after all.

In "Furious Fu" Su Han calls Chat Noir a child without knowing his identity. It means that everyone knows their superheroes are teenagers. "Copycat" can't be saved from that, uh, subtext anymore. No one questions the danger of their job or the balance of their lives outside of the mask. No one doubts their competence after "Origins" ever again. No one becomes annoyed after being bossed around by two teenagers in spandex. You had many opportunities to drop these details into the narrative. Someone could have been akumatized over this (I will not be ordered around by some magical kids!).

I don't know why writers decided not to use at least this idea and slightly adjust "Copycat" if they got rid of the age glamour completely. It can be explained as kid's show logic, but unfortunately, I'm reluctant to do it. If many characters sympathise with akuma victims on-screen, why not with the teenage superheroes who must fight them?

New York Special had this weird focus on collateral damage out of nowhere (the damage done by sentimonster Robostus) and yet it has 0 effect on the main story. No one in Paris is pissed that their 2 teenage protectors weren't there.

Ironically, "Furious Fu" and that one remark made by Su Han also created unfortunate implications for other moments in the show. Just hear me out. Apparently, Jagged Stone wrote a "thank you" song for Ladybug knowing that she is 13-15 year old child back in "Pixelator". Fandom is more than happy to roast Lila for lying about saving Jagged Stone's cat and him writing her a "thank you" song. Fandom claims that Lila's tale could harm Jagged's reputation, when he wrote a song for teenage Ladybug several weeks prior. Meanwhile, in-universe this lie is 100% believable.

If we put on "realism glasses", then both this whole song situation and Theo's crush in "Copycat" have uncomfortable implications. However, the show's canon can't be viewed and criticised through "realism glasses". I admit that bits and pieces of my criticisms are affected by these "glasses", but, ultimately, I'm trying to be fair and concentrate only on things that can't be justified by "cartoon logic and worldbuilding".

Could the existence of age glamour solve this problem of unfortunate implications and other concerns mentioned above? YES. Is it better for the narrative? YES. Is essential for the story? NOT QUITE. Could the absence of age glamour be called an irredeemable storytelling flaw? NO.

Disclaimer: On a side note, only older audience can notice these implications. Children, the target audience, most likely won't understand this subtext simply because they don't have enough experience. So, perhaps, this criticism is unfair, because these moments only look weird to me as an adult. It's like an adult joke in a cartoon that you don't get until you reach a certain age.

There's nothing technically wrong with adult writing a "thank you" song for a teenager. It's just an expression of gratitude. However, unfortunately, we live in a world, where adults normally wouldn't write songs for teens to express gratitude only. In real life similar actions would imply pedophilia and would be actively scorned by the public. No one would risk their reputation like that even if their intentions were genuinely pure and sincere. But this show can't be viewed through "realism glasses", because it's a cartoon and in certain cases we as the audience must use suspension of disbelief and pretend that certain things are possible for plot to happen.

Su Han also wants to give Ladybug and Black Cat to adults. Why didn't Master Fu do this then? Writers don't give us any explanation. Throughout the show we never question this up until the moment it's revealed that adults don't have time-limited powers. Then comes "Furious Fu". Story suddenly becomes self-aware here. Because apparently nothing prevented Fu from giving the most powerful Miraculous to adults who won't have time limit and will be more effective against Hawkmoth (see part 3 for more details).

I have a very good example of Age Glamour done right. It works in the story. There is no confusion or unfortunate implications. There is like one plothole connected to the glamour (it's been years and I still can't forgive them for Cornelia and Caleb) but otherwise, it's a pretty solid example of both show and tell. Clearly, writers wanted to avoid uncomfortable implications which are present in "Copycat". I am talking about W.I.T.C.H. comic books and animated series.

If you are not familiar with it, I'll give you a brief explanation. The story follows 5 girls, the Guardians of Kandrakar who are chosen to protect their world and parallel ones from evil. They receive magical powers from the amulet known as the Heart of Kandrakar. Their powers are based on elements: fire, water, earth, air and energy. Our main characters are about 13-15 years old. In the animated series they are younger and they attend middle school, making them 12-14 years old. But the transformation makes them look 18-20. They look like young women to each other and to other people. At the same time, people can recognise them, their looks and voice don't change. Most people don't know that they are really teenagers when they are not transformed and these people don't know that magic can make them look older. That's why everyone treats Guardians like adults when they are transformed. Comics establish this fact in the very beginning. In first issues characters state that they look older, we are also shown this multiple times.

In fact, one of the first side plots revolves around the fact that Irma uses her powers to sneak into the disco club to meet up with her crush. Irma is 13 at the beginning of the series, she is a high school freshman. Her crush, Andrew Hornby is a senior guy 17-18 years old. Irma has liked him for a long time and wants to impress him, so she decides to be clever about this. She transforms into her Guardian form of the 18-year-old girl, hides her wings, sneaks out to the club after her parents are asleep without any problem, and meets Andrew, who obviously doesn't recognise Irma in this girl who looks about his age. Smitten Andrew offers her a ride and 13-year-old Irma doesn't understand the implication of that offer, so she accepts. And, obviously, he decides that she is interested in more than just a ride home, since she agreed, and the comic implies that he fully intended for them to have sex in the backseat of his car. But Irma understands the implication only when Andrew tries to kiss her. She panics and turns him into a frog. And she actually pulls this "I need to look mature" trick more than once over the course of the series.

It's not the only situation where this age difference is handled well and makes sense. People who know the main characters in everyday life remark on their older appearance during transformation. Sometimes people flirt with Guardians when they are transformed. In one of the side-novels centred around Cornelia, she is worried that the prince of the realm they helped to save from famine would try to marry her. That never happens, but Cornelia actually brainstorms with her friends about how to tell the prince that she is really 15.

There are many other plot points where this happens, but I think that you got the idea. I really like how "Age Glamour" was handled in W.I.T.C.H.

How do we fix this? Create the situations where people offhandedly mention "Age Glamour" in the presence of Marinette or Adrien, use Kwami for this.

"Don't worry, dear. Chat Noir and Ladybug are adults, who know what they are doing. I am sure that they will handle this. "

Theo could say: "Oh, I wonder which university Ladybug goes to?"

"So, does that mean that other people see us as grown-ups, Tikki?"

A few words and boom, problem solved. Then allow the "show don't tell" rule do the rest.

[sometimesrosy]

(1/4) (Turns out the unlimited ask doesn't work for me. Huh. How do people do that?) I'm not an active Bellarke shipper, but even to me it was always evident that they're basically canon. Like you, I always defended Jason, because CLEARLY Bellarke are endgame, WHY can't fandom see that. Even when B died, I was willing to give Jason the benefit of the doubt, because there's no way in hell he'd just kill B. Obviously it was just for shock; even his goodbye tweet to Bob – OF COURSE (...)

(2/4) it was just a red herring, so it would be an even bigger surprise when B does get miraculously saved and ends up with Clarke – AS THEY SHOULD HAVE. I must admit, the Blarkes and their negativity and calling people delusional for actually trusting Jason and trusting the story for the first six seasons pissed me off to the point where I kind of hoped he WOULDN'T make BC canon. But I didn't actually expect it, because it wasn't what the story was showing, and I certainly didn't expect...THIS.

(3/4) I know, I could be happy – my faves Murphy and Emori got the best ending they could possibly get, and the annoying Blarkes didn't get their endgame. But I'm pissed. I'm pissed on your behalf and all the other civil Bellarke fans. I've been soo looking forward to saying „SEE! We were right! We're not delusional! We saw the story, we understood the story, and Jason isn't the asshole you guys always made him out to be.“

(4/4) I still don't think I was delusional, because despite this last season, up until then Bellarke were canon. Period. Yes, the Blarkes bullied and abused Jason, yes, they kind of didn't deserve to get what they wanted – but he could have been their king if he just went with the story he's been telling for six years, and it makes absolutely no sense to give up on that. But now I'm the idiot who didn't see that Jason is indeed an asshole... What a stupid dick.

+++

I thought I wanted vindication more than I wanted Bellarke. But it turns out that’s not quite so.

I wanted a good story the most. And I actually trusted him to give us that. I told everybody that if we didnt’ get bellarke I’d have to see what happened before I made a judgment because there are ways to take an ending I don’t like and make it something I’m satisfied with.

But THIS???

This death of humanity? This alien god thing? This Clarke as the real villain all along? Erasing Clarke’s character? Dropping all the narrative threads and leaving them gaping holes? THIS WAS UNACCEPTABLE. And that’s not even including what they did to Bellamy, just erasing him like that and pretending he WASN’T the leading man and trying to retcon that he wasn’t important or he was easy to write off. To not even give him a decent death scene? I was excpecting him and Clarke to die, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was THE WAY he died. And THEN to pretend that Bellarke wasn’t the center of the narrative all along. Dropping Bellarke as the main heroes started the season with a feeling of deep unease. Something felt off from the beginning, like we had to hold our breath waiting for the story to start, and then it never did. Or no. There was one episode where it felt right, when Bellamy came back and they were fighting, and it should have reconnected from there but it didn’t. 

I LIKED the other stories they told, but they never tied together. The season didn’t connect even when the episodes were good. We wanted to hear about the other characters. But we NEEDED Clarke and Bellamy. 

AND THEN. We had JR telling us off screen that the story we’d been watching was not the story we were watching and it was something else? Clarke was really the bad guy in Mount Weather and we had to be in their shoes?? WTF? THEY HELD PEOPLE IN CAGES AND BLED THEM. THEY TURNED PEOPLE INTO A ZOMBIE ARMY. THEY EXPERIMENTED ON THEIR OWN PEOPLE. THEY REFUSED VOLUNTEERS FOR MARROW DONORS AND INSTEAD DECIDED TO TORTURE THEM TO DEATH FOR NO REASON. They were not innocent. Clarke was RIGHT. If she hadn’t done that they would have spread over the earth with their advanced technology and enslaved everybody on the ground because they thought it was their birthright. 

HOW DARE you tell us we were wrong and we have to sympathize with the evil villains or we’re the villains.

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? 

Listen Rothenberg. You don’t get to tell me the story I saw was something different. No gaslighting here. I’ve got reams of meta with evidence from the text, from YOUR TEXT saying MW are the nazis. Don’t tell me to sympathize with them. I HAVE EVIDENCE that Bellarke was the backbone of the narrative. That Clarke and Bellamy were soulmates. That Bellamy was the heart of the story, of the delinquents, and to Clarke’s head.

They were the true loves. They were soulmates. And that’s the story you wrote. You want to pretend Bellamy wasn’t there that’s not going to work. Because it’s all on screen. Evidence. We saw it and it’s not going away.

We also saw your sloppy mop up of the end and your complete failure, because there were SO MANY different ways you could have taken it where it would have made sense and you chose this.

[villainess-noble-girl]

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

Title: Second-Year Valentine's Day

Author: meiberry

Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/12852677/1/Second-Year-Valentine-s-Day

Fandom: Kenkyo Kenjitsu

Pairing: EnjouXReika

Photo: https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/67148847

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

"No. I'm not going to take it. It's going to make me sleepy. Plus it tastes like soap."

The muffled voice of Yukino came from beneath the covers. The IV drip tube poked out from the ball of sheets in the hospital bed.

Shuusuke sighed at his little brother's stubborn actions. Good thing he came prepared for this. "Yukino. Kisshouin-san wrote you a letter."

The ball of sheets shifted, and Yukino's head popped out from beneath the covers, his doe peering up at Enjou in surprise. "...Reika-oneesama?"

Shuusuke held up a small pink envelope with "Yukino-kun" written in neat handwriting in the center. Yukino reached for it when Shuusuke swept it back out of reach with a gentle smile.

"..." Sullenly, Yukino obediently drank the medicine. Watching as he finished it, Shuusuke patted his head and handed him a glass of water with a piece of candy to take care of the medicine's bitter aftertaste. Yukino popped the candy in his mouth with one hand and eagerly held out the other, looking up at Shuusuke expectantly. Shuusuke handed him the letter and watched as his little brother opened it earnestly.

In the beginning, Shuusuke was pretty surprised to see him get along so well with an older girl. Usually, Yukino was not so nice. He was a really smart kid for his young age, and many older girls had been trapped by his soft, harmless facade only to be humiliated and insulted beyond repair. But recently, Shuusuke found that with Kisshouin, Yukino seemed to genuinely act like his appearance.

Shuusuke could see why. Kisshouin clearly didn't have any ulterior motives when speaking to Yukino. Older girls usually saw Yukino as a means to an end. If they weren't patronizing then they were obsequious, obviously trying to use the younger brother to get to the older one. But when it came to Kisshouin… if anything, it was as if her treatment of the two brothers was reversed. In the ten years of knowing her, the very first time that Kisshouin started a one-on-one conversation with Shuusuke that lasted longer than one minute happened to be because Yukino. It was a dreadfully humbling experience. Yukino has sure put up with a lot these past few years.

In any case, no matter how devilish he was to other people, in the end, Yukino really was still a little boy, and Shuusuke was simply grateful that he was able to be just a normal, cute kid with someone, even if it was a girl who clearly didn't put Shuusuke in her eyes.

He watched peacefully as his little brother's eyes happily flew across the letter.

"Kisshouin-san really cares about Yukino."

Yukino shot a glance over at him, "What? Is oniisama jealous?" And then he continued reading his letter.

"And don't think that I don't realize you told her to write this to make me obediently stay in the hospital."

Shuusuke smiled wryly. When he could tell Yukino was finished reading, he continued, "Well, Yukino seems to really like Kisshouin-san. I thought maybe you would listen if she asked you personally."

Yukino smiled, happy from finishing Kisshouin's letter. "Yeah, I do like her. Reika-oneesama is really nice and she's not just pretending. Do you want to read it, oniisama? I'll let you read it, since you asked her to write this for me. I'm going to the bathroom."

Yukino handed the letter to Shuusuke as he climbed out of bed and grabbed at his drip stand to roll it into the bathroom in the room.

Shuusuke blinked at the letter in his hands. Although he didn't ask to read it, he was honestly pretty curious. What did she say to Yukino to cheer him up, anyways?

The letter was not very long, and it fit neatly on the cute stationary decorated with little birds and vines.

Yukino-kun,

Enjou-sama told me that you are admitted to the hospital. I am worried for your health. Your family must be even more worried than me. I hope you take care of your body because many people care about you very much, and we want for you to quickly become well again. With that said, I hope you listen to the doctor so that you can leave the hospital soon. I know that sometimes it is really hard to do something you don't like. But experts have their reasons for their advice.

Recently I have been learning to make desserts from a friend. To be honest, my dessert-making skill is much farther behind my cooking. I think I know what to do when I try to be creative and individual with my own ideas, but actually, my friend tells me that the greatest mistake in baking is not following from the recipe. This is completely different from cooking, where not following the recipe is not that big of a deal. When I listened to my friend, I made a dessert more delicious than anything I'd ever made in my life! I realized at that moment, ah, so that is the difference between a normal person and an expert. With that said, I hope you understand the importance of listening to experts such as your doctor.

When you come back, you'll be able to see your other friends and me in the Petite Pivoine salon again.

Wishing you a quick recovery,

Kisshouin Reika

By the time Yukino returned from the bathroom, Shuusuke had already finished reading the letter and had set it on the tray over the foot of Yukino's bed.

"So, what did you think of Kisshouin-san's letter? Are you going to listen to her when she asks to you listen to to doctor's advice?"

"I guess." Yukino sat at the foot of the bed and picked up the letter again, folding it and carefully putting it back in its envelope before he flopped back into bed, pulling the covers over himself. "The way she asks me to listen to the doctor is just less irritating than when you ask me to listen to the doctor."

Shuusuke helped put the covers over Yukino.

"I wonder why Reika-oneesama is learning to make desserts." Yukino looked at Shuusuke, his eyes widening. "Valentine's Day is coming up, isn't it? I wonder what Reika-oneesama is making…"

"Hmm. Who knows."

"I wonder if she's learning to bake something for the person she likes..."

"Hmm. Who knows."

Yukino's eyes widened like big dark marbles as he looked at Shuusuke.

"You're curious, too, aren't you oniisama? Ne, ne, what kinds of sweets has oniisama received from Reika-oneesama on Valentine's day?"

"Actually, I've never received anything from Kisshouin-san on Valentine's Day."

"Ehhhhh!"

Shuusuke thought about how in the ten years since he's known Kisshouin Reika, she has never given anyone Valentine's chocolates. Year after year, the whole school secretly held its breath in wonder at who the Goddess Kali of Suiran would afflict with her attentions. And year after year the answer was an anti-climatic… nobody.

Kisshouin Reika never gave anybody at Suiran chocolates for Valentine's day. Him and Masaya were not excluded.

Ah, wait, that's not right. Last year she gave courtesy chocolates to the student council president. In fact, Shuusuke was the one who pointed this out to Masaya... Even though she had done it in secret, for Kisshouin Reika to give chocolates to a guy at Suiran was no small matter and in the end the word leaked anyways. Because she had done it pretty secretively, there were no massive rumours, but the thing about secrets was that they always spread. Shuusuke heard about it from the more low-key sources.

Back then, he had remembered how she seemed to have had a crush on the same student council president back in middle school, but nothing had happened even after all these years. For nothing to have happened all this time, what other conclusion was it other than unrequited love? He hinted at this story of camaraderie to Masaya in hopes of inspiring him to move on with his life. Unrequited love was not the end of the world. Just look at Kisshouin-san.

Who knew that the whole thing would have worked out so beautifully at graduation. Tomoe Senju actually had a girlfriend! And he called Kisshouin Reika a sister in front of everybody. Masaya was so moved by Kisshouin's composure and courage. Shuusuke felt like he was watching Masaya watch a romance movie. Out of all the times that he's taken advantage of Kisshouin, Shuusuke felt most proud about the way that one turned out. Witnessing the way Kisshouin "handled" the student council president's "public rejection" totally inspired Masaya and brought him back from depression. He completely recovered from Yurie's rejection after that.

Yukino's marble eyes seemed to glitter in wonder as he looked up at the handsome young man sitting beside the bed.

"Wow, even though every year it seems like you get chocolates from every single girl we know, there is actually one girl who has never given you any chocolates… not even once! Hehhh..."

Yukino did not look or sound sympathetic at all with the the corner of his lips twitching upwards.

"That reminds me... when we first met and I introduced myself, Reika-oneesama made a 'geh!' face when she heard my name, like she was really saddened to hear that Oniisama was my oniisama... I thought that maybe she hated you!"

"Hmm. I sure hope Kisshouin-san doesn't hate me. But if she does hate me, then that's unfortunate."

"No, no. I don't think Reika-oneesama hates you, Oniisama! She probably doesn't even think about you at all."

"..." Shuusuke's expression remained serene as he stayed silent.

Yukino looked at his face and suddenly giggled. Shuusuke joined in with a few chuckles. For a short moment, they laughed together.

"Ahahaha…"

"Hahaha…"

"..."

"..."

Yukino turned over in bed. "Don't worry, oniisama. Maybe one day Reika-oneesama will also remember to give you chocolates, too."

"..."

"Oh yeah, oniisama, could you find me something to write with? I want to write Reika-oneesama a reply."

"...Alright. I'll go find you some paper."

The next morning, Shuusuke thanked Kisshouin for her letter to Yukino. She looked really happy that it helped. Yeah, it was really useful. She was pretty humble.

"Yukino said that it was fun to read about making sweets."

"I could only think of unimportant things to say… well..."

Hm, there it was. Shuusuke could always hear the instant whenever it sounded like Kisshouin was trying to wrap up a conversation and escape. Usually, he'd just let her go. But for some reason, he didn't feel like it this time. The words Yukino said yesterday skipped around his mind, reviving an old and annoying itch.

"So Kisshouin-san is making sweets. Could it be that on Valentine's day..."

"Umm…" He watched as Kisshouin's eyes lowered, her cheeks blushing very lightly. He could imagine her cheeks must have been warm to the touch now. "Yes..."

"Hn."

It'd be a lie to say that he never expected any chocolates from Kisshouin Reika. It wasn't to say that he wanted her chocolates or anything like that. In fact, the idea of actually eating Kisshouin Reika's handmade sweets seemed like something that belonged to the realms of extreme adventures and chemically dangerous thrill-seeking. Although, whether or not Reika's chocolates are edible, Shuusuke wouldn't want to eat them anyways, as he didn't have a sweet tooth, but...

...He still expected to get them.

It was about logic. If a girl knew Enjou Shuusuke, then she would give him chocolates on Valentine's day. (The same applied to Kaburagi Masaya.) Three of five of chocolates would be honmei. That was the rule. He knew it was a very unique and extraordinary rule. Certainly not every boy in the world had the ridiculous privilege of receiving a mountain of chocolates and sweets from all the girls he knew. But, that was his experience.

In accordance with his life experience, it was natural to expect chocolates from a girl he knew when he's always received chocolates from every girl he knew. With no exceptions.

Except this one.

[atruththatyoudeny]

Monthly Reads | August 2019

Oh, look, it's the 28th again! Celebrating the launch of Gucci's new fragrance and the fantastic new pics I had to reread Landslide. Other than that there are 21 fics in this list - and like always: so many thanks go out to all the amazing authors in this fandom who share their stories with us! ♥

Landslide | aimmyarrowshigh , spibsy (lucy_and_ramona) | historical - 1970s - cults - undercover - psychological drama - racism - period typical attitudes - internalized homophobia - PTSD - and more...please read all the tags carefully - 143k The year is 1976. In November, Jimmy Carter will take control of the White House. Americans are meeting Laverne & Shirley at their apartment in Milwaukee. Hotel California diverges from the reign of Kool & the Gang. And the FBI is still reeling from the repercussions of Watergate, the tragedy at Wounded Knee, Operation Family Secrets, and the strategic terrors of the anti-cult movement. That's what Special Agent Harry Styles has been told is the basis of his mission to an abandoned farmhouse in rural New Hampshire. With his hair grown out long and his shirt untucked, he's going undercover to do reconnaissance on suspected cult leader Louis Tomlinson, who has led a group of people out into the middle of nowhere, leaving no record of the life he'd had before. All Harry knows is what the agency gave him: Tomlinson's name, and instructions to figure out what he's doing with the eleven people he brought with him. In the year that Harry spends undercover and under Louis Tomlinson's wing, he learns more than he ever expected.

I Drove All Night (To Get To You) | lovelarry10 | famous/not famous - strangers to lovers - pining - fluff - 23k Harry’s job as a chauffeur for the rich and famous was not as flashy as he’d thought. Late nights having to listen to the ridiculous demands and whims of these high profile clients leaves him disheartened with the world he thought was all glitz and glamour. One night his boss asks him a favour. To collect one last client before he clocks off. Only problem is when that client gets into the car it’s Louis Tomlinson. As in Harry’s all time crush. As in future husband and father of all his children Louis Tomlinson. He can be cool and professional, right?

Live Like You Were Dying | YesIsAWorld | car accidents - love confessions - self discovery - 2k I’m in love with you. The phone fell from his hand, and the world went black.

Calling Clifford | noellehenry | fluff - humor - 10k The summer AU where Clifford has his own peculiar ways of matchmaking.

Home Remedies | kingsofeverything (FullOnLarrie) | friends to lovers - smut - 4k Louis’ hiccups just won’t stop. Harry, his roommate and best friend, is willing to do anything to help.

Traffic Light | dinosaursmate | Traffic Light Party - smut - friends with benefits - 7k Harry, a university student fresh out of a relationship, attends a Traffic Light Party. He knew all about the red, yellow and green cups, but the blue one confuses him. What does DTF mean, anyway?

Down On the Farm | kingsofeverything (FullOnLarrie) | bonfires - farm/ranch - smut - 5k Every Friday night there's a steady cloud of dust That leads back to a field filled with pickup trucks Got old Hank crankin', way up loud Got coolers in the back, tailgates down There's a big fire burnin' but don't be alarmed It's just country boys and girls gettin' down on the farm — “Down On the Farm” by Tim McGraw

Driving On The Wrong Side, Thinking Of You | dinosaursmate | Marcel AU - implied/ referenced homophobia - High School AU - friends to lovers - promiscuity - 25k Louis is the most popular guy in sixth form. Don't get the wrong idea, he's a good guy, and he absolutely won't stand for his friends teasing his neighbour, Marcel.

Restless Lane | jaerie | a/b/o - secret identity - childhood friends - secrets - friends to lovers - angst - 14k Louis had grown used to his boring life back in Mississippi as a stand-in father figure to his siblings. He never expected his childhood friend to show up on his lawn with the heat of summer or that he would remind Louis how much of himself he'd tucked away and neglected. He also never expected to find himself caught up in a tangled web of feelings or secrets that just might break him. Maybe he had never known Harry at all.

Waiting for the tides to meet | nauticalleeds (metamorphosis) | soulmates - pining - miscommunication - angst - fluff - friends to lovers - slow burn - 60k Soulmate AU. Everyone is born with heterochromia — one eye is their own eye colour, while the other is the colour of their soulmate's. It's only when they meet their soulmate for the first time that their own eyes match properly. After a hazy night at a frat party, Louis wakes up to blue eyes and the shocking realization that he had met his soulmate, without any sober recollection. Seven years pass where Louis comes to terms with the fact that he'll never know who his soulmate is. Then one fated summer, a beautiful green-eyed photographer arrives at Louis' workplace, with promises of endless laughter and a familiar feeling in Louis' heart. Featuring a lovely cup of OT5, a road trip down the coast, and a scene where Harry eats a whole head of lettuce. Don't ask why.

If I Stay | Rearviewdreamer | Walk In The Clouds AU - fake/pretend relationship - mpreg - slow burn - 37k Harry and Louis agree to a temporary arrangement that Harry can't seem to walk away from no matter how many times he tries.

Mirror Touch | pinky_heaven19 | Synesthesia - hurt/comfort - fluff - pining - strangers to lovers - 58k The one where Harry owns a second-hand clothing store, and Louis is a radio host. Louis has mirror-touch synesthesia, which makes him experience what people around him feel. He feels a lot around Harry.

In Your Black Heart (Is Where You'll Find Me) | graceling_in_a_suit | a/b/o - omega/omega - pirates - historical - 36k Louis Tomlinson has been lying for five years. His crew sees him as a pirate, a Captain, and an alpha; only two of those are the truth. He was content to let the illusion go on forever, but an omega named Harry Styles just had to join his crew and get his warm-vanilla stink all over Louis' best laid plans. Or: the story of The Captain and The Carpenter.

Supposed to Be | kikikryslee | High School - stereotypes - enemies to friends to lovers - slow burn - hate to love - 26k The Geek Charming AU where Harry's a film geek, Louis' a popular jock, and they both need each other to get what they want.

Meet me where the tulips grow | tempolarriefics | study abroad - fluff - 19k The one where Harry studies abroad and falls in love with both the city of Amsterdam and the boy he explores it with.

When i'm set alight | mixedfandomfics | teacher AU - hate to love - misunderstandings - 14k Louis and Harry hate each other. Always have, always will. No one is quite sure how they will handle it when their favorite students ask them to lead a new LGBT club at their school.

Breathe In, Breathe Out | dinosaursmate | friends to lovers - pining - 12k Louis Tomlinson begins visiting a new pub on his lunch break, mostly because he really fancies Harry, the cute, curly-haired barman. As Louis gears up to ask him out, he doesn't realise that there is a huge stumbling block in his way: Harry is taken, and by someone rather familiar.

I am mad all about you | godslut | med students - coffe shop - 5k Harry is a pre-med student trying to quit coffee. louis pretends to be spider-man to make kids laugh.

Welcome Back From The Friend Zone | 2tiedships2 | a/b/o - friends to lovers - fake/pretend relationship - mutual pining - 32k The one where an idea to create a fake wedding with the sole intent to receive gifts from billionaires took a turn no one, but also everyone, saw coming.

A Life That's Good (series) | lovelarry10 | fluff - kid fic - adoption - light angst - 66k Harry and Louis were married young, but always knew that they wanted a family together. Soon, through adoption, Hope came into their lives, and was later joined by her younger brother Oscar. Join the Tomlinsons on their journey in family life. ①  You're My Only Hope Harry and Louis have been hoping to start a family for a while, but it hasn't happened for them just yet. With the surprise arrival of a newborn baby on the doorstep at work, are their family dreams about to become reality? ②  Tiny Dancer It's Hope's first ballet recital, and Harry and Louis are more than excited to watch their four year old daughter perform for the first time. ③  Who You Are Things are going wonderfully for Harry and Louis. Their family has never been stronger. When a connection to their son’s past appears out of nowhere, it makes them wonder what lies ahead for the future of their family. ④  We Got Love Harry and Louis thought their family was complete. They were wrong. ⑤  Follow Your Arrow Hope has a crush, but she’s scared to tell her parents, especially Louis. Harry helps her figure out how to break the news to her other dad, who is ultimately nothing but wonderful. ⑥  Summer Love The Tomlinsons are off on a summer holiday before it’s time for everything to change...

Night Changes | colourexplosion | soulmates - supernatural elements - werewolves - light angst - 40k Louis and Harry are soulmates. (With a twist.)

From The Heart | jacaranda_bloom | coffee shop AU - 25k Every Tuesday, Louis spends his day off holed up in his favorite coffee-come-bookshop, writing his little stories as part of the WordPlay challenge while daydreaming about the resident barista, Harry. Each week a new word prompt is revealed and Louis adds to his series of short stories about Henry, the owner of a B&B in the Cotswolds who has curly hair and dimples, Lewis, his long term guest who just happens to be a writer, and Tigger, Henry’s cat. As Louis and Harry’s friendship develops, could his fantasy world spill out into real life? And how does that reader who leaves the lovely comments with the teacup emoji seem to be able to read Louis’ mind? ①  Henry and Lewis Louis hangs out in his local coffee shop to work on his weekly WordPlay Prompt, speaks to his beloved muse aka Harry the gorgeous barista, embarrasses himself in front of said muse, and receives a comment on AO3 from his favourite reader. ②  Smuturday Louis struggles with this week's WordPlay prompt before finding inspiration, and a date, in an unexpected place, and could there be more going on with his favourite reader than he originally thought. ③  Tea For Two Louis grapples with what to do about his new found suspicions over his favourite readers real-life identity. ④  Life Imitating Art Louis is taken on a very real journey through his fic back catalogue - life has never imitated art so salaciously. ⑤  Entertain Me All good things must come to an end, including the WordPlay challenge. But while Louis has mixed emotions about its end, and struggling to make sense of the final prompt, he is relishing every aspect of his newly revitalised personal life.

[mic-and-cheese]

Ok this is enough. I'm done being vauge and quiet. I have been hurting and in fear for so long and it's not ok that I've been made to believe that I shouldn't talk about it.

I've ignored nasty anons to pretend like it doesn't bother me because I knew that people from the fandom were watching my blog for a response. I was scared to show any sign of weakness because I wanted them to give up and for a while I was happy because nothing happened.

Then I learned that they have been lurking on my blog for who knows how long despite multiple warnings and posts and dnis saying I didn't want them here.

And that's honestly my final straw. I'm a person who wants to forgive no matter what awful things someone has done to me. I still have it in my heart to say I'm sorry to a disgusting person for something they did to me 3 years ago, and I don't even want to associate with them because they turned out to be a fucking p*do (which, in case anyone was worried, my particular conflict with them is unrelated to that) but my point is that even when I hate someone's guts I still can't hate them enough to not want to reconcile. I don't know why that is but the same is true here.

I was so, so willing to put this all behind me, to apologize and accept an apology and finally be fucking friends again even after I already tried and failed to do it once. But after learning that they can't even respect the fact that I'm gone and want nothing to do with them, I've become so conflicted again. I hate them and I'm not afraid to say it. I hate them and it takes me every ounce of self control I have not to call them out by name. I'm done giving them chances. And yet I still feel the need to forgive and now it's not useful for keeping myself calm in pursuit of someday ending the conflict. Now it's just fucking annoying because they've gone past what I can forgive. I don't care about being the bigger person anymore, they hurt me and they need to fucking know it.

I'm sorry I ever believed anything they said or looked down upon certain characters and ships because I thought they were right at the time.

And if any of you assholes are listening right now, you're sick fucking creeps for lurking on this blog despite me telling you not to. How dare you use my space that you were never allowed in to laugh at me. How dare you pretend like you never talked behind my back and made fun of my art.

You act exactly like middle school bullies and I want everyone to know everything you've done to everyone in the Incredibles fandom and how you transformed it into a toxic cesspool and THEN have the audacity to ask why there's so much drama like you're the victims.

You have hurt so many people and made them scared to leave your toxic clique. I want everyone to know how you've harassed creators with anon hate. You guys breathe exclusionist like it's nothing, and then want to pretend that you respected the fact that I'm asexual. You claim to support autistic people, but you talk behind people's backs if they talk "weird" or have a special interest you don't like when so many of you are also autistic or otherwise neurodivergent and know what it feels like to be hated for it. You're progressive up until it comes to someone you don't agree with. You cast out your own friends if they don't agree with you and talk behind their backs when they leave or get kicked out, and then lie about why you kicked them. You have at least three different channels for stalking, harassing, and talking shit. You hate anyone who dares to be in more than just your server. You are trying to isolate people so that you have them under your control and don't feel like they can leave or have anyone to turn to when they realize how toxic you are. And that's only what you've done before I left.

Update: Listen I'm too tired to be eloquent about this but in case anyone wants to say I'm lying:

Anyway, here's what I'm proposing. Stop checking my blog for a month. From now until the end of september, and in turn I'll stop talking about y'all. I will not make another single post about you until October and if I don't get a single check, I will not mention you again so long as you stay off this blog.

I was never mad that we didn't have the same character preference. Annoyed, sure, but it wasn't a big deal. It became a big deal when I realized I didn't feel comfortable around all of the salt in the fandom and realized that I was mearly being tolerated. I don't even support some of the people you've harrassed, but I do not want to be associated with people like you, so I left, and frankly, its my damn right to be able to talk about how I felt. I never published a single name, and I will never, but it's not right of you guys expect me not to talk about how I felt regardless of if your actions were intentional or not. I do not care that I was not your worst target and I never have or will claim to be. But the environment that you have created is toxic, and talking about my experiences with it was never supposed to be a personal attack on you until you got involved.

Also, because I wrote this while I was angry, I will fully admit that I exaggerated some of my claims and they have been changed accordingly. I apologize for my immaturity and should not have said that, however I will not change anything I know to be true.

Another edit: I have deleted the portion about a particular artist and their work. That was an oversight by me as I did not remember that they are suspected of being legitimately predatory and I would not have included that if I had remembered it at the time of writing. That being said, my stance on the issue is that the type of harrassment that took place against that artist isn't right and that it is better to deplatform predatory people by warning others about them and refusing to interact with them, rather than giving the any sort of attention, negative, positive, or otherwise. I do not support that artist, but I also do not support their harassment and anyone saying otherwise is spreading lies about me.