#I'd watch and read harry potter in english

[wonwoonlight]

hi! this is kinda random lol but i remember u saying that you've been learning korean since u were like 12? 13? ish + know it well enough to live there (which is so so cool btw!!) so do u have any recs for resources u used to learn? :)

i don't really plan to move to korea or anything but i think it'd be nice to know since i consume so much korean content lmao 😭 thanks in advance !! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Hi hiii~ yes I was a kid when I started learning, plus we all have different ways of studying so what works for me might differ. But! Basically at first I learned all the basic grammars through a bunch of books and some online materials. After I felt like I've grasped (not fully understood!) most of the grammars, I no longer study... in a conventional way, if you will?

I learn mostly from variety shows; pick up the grammars, and kinda shadow what they're saying. That way I was able to fully grasp how do you use certain grammars and what it implies. I'd watch the same video 3 times; the first one with english subtitles, then with korean subtitles, then with no subtitles. That way, I could connect that A means B in an applicable way and get used to the grammars and the words bc I keep hearing them over and over again. And you'd also learn the intonation and stuff haha. It helps with listening

I get used to hangul by song lyrics tho. I'd listen and write down words of the lyrics and stuff haha.

I'm in no way fluent in Korean but I hope this will help you somehow🙈

[nordickies]

Nordictalia Fanfiction Masterpost

Hello, hello! I recently asked people to send me their Nordic 5-centric fanfiction recommendations, and I ended up getting so many good suggestions that I figured I'd compile them all into a single master post! Thank you so much to everyone who participated; this is exactly what I was looking for <3

All linked fanfictions are recommended by people in my inbox, I haven't read them all (yet). I'm willing to update this list if more recommendations come my way!

I decided to share this list because I have seen other people on the desperate lookout for new fics to read. Hopefully, this list will serve you well, too!

─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Oneshots (<10K)

Sticky notes by MilyV wc: 732 || rating: G || pairings: SuFin || completed Soulmates AU summary: AU. If you had the chance, would you communicate with your soulmate through sticky notes? Tino wasn't really sure about it but he decided to try it anyway. Fishermen & drowning sailors prompt by @saltcove wc: ~800 || rating: Not Rated || pairings: DenNor || completed Fantasy AU summary: pairing: denmark/norway / theme: fishermen & drowning sailors SuNor oneshot by @norgetalia wc: ~900 || rating: Not Rated || pairings: SuNor || completed Nationverse summary: Inspired by this post by nordickies! I love writing SuNor… mmmm stoic old men exes who are secretly in love >:) Linger by islande wc: 1,207 || rating: T || pairings: NorEst || completed Paranormal AU summary: Estonia sees ghosts from his past. They linger in the corner of his eyes, always watching. People who cared for him, people he cared for in return. Even strangers—men, women, and children whom he had never seen while they lived—appear before him. But Norway cares for him now, and Estonia is glad to care for him for as long as he will accept it. Beowulf by @balladofthewhitehorse wc: ~1,400 || rating: Not Rated || pairings: Eng & Swe || completed Nationverse summary: One of the earliest mentions of Sweden in old English literature comes in the form of the epic poem of Beowulf ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Coffee and Piano Keys by @scarlettlillies wc: 1,545 || rating: G || pairings: DenEst || completed Human AU summary: Christian is a busy construction worker who's a social butterfly, Eduard is a pianist who's tickets aren't selling. Everything started with just a cup of coffee. Knight's Ghost by RosieTheRo wc: 1,550 || rating: G || pairings: SuFin || completed Paranormal AU summary: Musician Tino Väinämöinen is interviewed for a television show, and has a strange story to tell. Inspired by the show "Celebrity Ghost Stories." Slight SuFin. First-person monologue. // cw: Major Character Death The Librarian Aide's Tale by Fintastica wc: 2,142 || rating: G || pairings: Ame & Liet, Den & Nor || completed Harry Potter AU summary: Lukas Bondevik, or, the struggles of dealing with people Kärringkånk - Or Not by Kono10 wc: 2,521 || rating: G || pairings: SuFin, DenNor || completed Nationverse summary: Finland and Estonia compete in the "Wife-Carrying" competition every year which makes Sweden very jealous. So, after a few drinks, he marches all the way across the Baltic to get his lover back, but he ends up going the wrong way to Denmark's front door instead. Will his friends comfort him in his time of emotional need? Highly unlikely.. Fireflies by @darcymariaphoster wc: 2,534 || rating: T || pairings: SuNor || completed Human AU summary: It started and ended on a summer night, before Berwald goes off to college. But apparently neither forgot, and a more or less chance meeting at a cafe some 20 years later reignites a spark they almost let disappear. [Late Night Vibes/High School prompts for SuNorWeek2022 on tumblr] the shore by phyripo wc: 3,000 || rating: G || pairings: Nyo!DenEst || completed Fantasy AU, Mermaid AU summary: Helle has always loved the sea, loves living this close to it, despite the dangers that come with the situation. The air is always sharper here than inland, carrying with it cold from the east, the smell of salt or faraway forests. The sea brings stories that no one would ever hear otherwise. And sometimes, the sea brings wandering mermaids. My Caoineag by @darcymariaphoster wc: 4,148 || rating: T || pairings: ScotNor || completed Fantasy AU summary: The waves should have taken him, but fate had other ideas. Sigurd instead found himself entangled with a creature who could not know kindness, and yet only showed kindness to him. [loosely ScotNor] ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Alternative Universes (AUs)

With Flowers by orphan_account wc: 2,170 || rating: G || pairings: DenNor, SuFin || completed Flower Shop AU summary: What was not normal was the blonde man shoving the door open, panting and red faced. Lukas stood up abruptly, before the man looked up, eyes locking on him. "How do you say 'screw you' with flowers?" Reverie Of The North by @eveistdiepommes wc: ~4,000 || rating: Not Rated || pairings: SuFin || work in progress Fantasy AU summary: ROTN: We Were Tasked With Slaying the Demon Prince takes place in a medieval/fairytale/fantasy setting. Magic is ever present, beasts and creatures roam the forests, and while peace is happily maintained in the northern kingdoms, a new threat looms over the horizon. Word has spread of ferocious, terrifying armies of dark beings attacking kingdoms and leaving civilians fleeing their homes. The only kingdoms with enough time and resources to assemble a plan are the ones high up, the ones who haven’t been affected… yet. The Kingdoms of Frost, Shadows, Mystery, Isolation, and Life must band together and find the root of the issue. Good thing the princes from each kingdom are childhood best friends! Your Guardian Ghosts by @darcymariaphoster wc: 7,253 || rating: T || pairings: NorFin || completed Paranormal AU summary: Emil has always seen things -- ghosts and the like. The problem is, they're never nice things, and so he's refused to admit that he sees anything at all. But as his life changes, he may have to admit defeat. [A story of spooks and hauntings and healing for tumblr's 2022 Hetaween event.] // cw: major character death ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Espresso Kiss by @darcymariaphoster wc: 10,094 || rating: T || pairings: NorFin || completed Human AU summary: Lukas has run this cat cafe for the past three years and he's never had any problems. Until now -- two weeks before Christmas, his friends all show up for a big get-together and he's supposed to get an inspection right before the holiday hits. Maybe he'd be able to handle it, if his ex wasn't also going to be there, and if he hadn't just brought in a new batch of kittens, one of which seems absolutely hellbent on escaping. Or, maybe not so much escaping as pushing people together… Diamond Glints on Snow by Ludwiggle73 wc: 11,574 || rating: T || pairings: DenNor, SuFin || completed Fantasy AU summary: Mikkel sets off on a quest to save an old friend and ends up finding a new perspective as well. // cw: Major Character Death Not With Haste by @snark-sniper wc: 12,109 || rating: G || pairings: DenNor || completed Nobility AU summary: In a world where literacy is restricted to the upperclass, Mathias finds his soulmate's first words to him written on his forearm. Lukas doesn't. ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

folly of men by @brokskar wc: 15,689 || rating: T || pairings: DenNor || completed Human AU summary: Losing his job is not something that Mathias is particularly happy about. But it leads him back to Lukas, an old friend he lost touch with years ago. A lot has changed throughout the years, and as Mathias learns more about Lukas, he realizes there's more to learn about himself, too. The Best Bakery In The City by Peanutsfan1 wc: 33,439 || rating: T || pairings: DenNor, SUFin, HongIce || completed Human AU, Crime AU summary: Mathias Køhler was feeling quite confident. The week started with his Captain approaching him with the best case, an undercover mission to investigate the crime organisation run by the Bondevik family. Turns out this case isn't as simple as Mathias thought. As he keeps running into obstacles, he has to deal with the ever-present fear that he will be found out. Can he take down this criminal organisation without being discovered? And is Lukas Bondevik as terrifying as he let's on? Read My Lips by Terra Saltt wc: 36,782 || rating: T || pairings: SuFin || completed Superpower AU summary: Tino enjoys the comfort of a quiet library and dreaming minds when he picks up on the charming thoughts of a perfect stranger. Has Berwald found someone that can fully understand him, even when he is silent? MindReader!Tino x Deaf!Berwald AU ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Nationverse

Words and Broken Tables by Liradawn wc: 475 || rating: T || pairings: SuFin || completed Nationverse summary: "I thought I would love you forever. But forever is a long time to be wrong." SuFin angst, written for the kink meme. Reviews will always be much loved! The Birch tree by @caffinatedstory wc: ~800 II rating: Not Rated II pairings: none II completed Nationverse summary: It’s not a pretty sight that greets his eyes. His uniform is ripped and worn. Pale and washed out from far too much exposure to the outdoors. Scars are visible all over his chest. Deep grooves and soft lines of pink mar his pale skin. But scars are nothing new. Scars do not cause him pain. // cw: gore Two Oceans by @caffinatedstory wc: 934 || rating: G || pairings: Nor & Ice || completed Nationverse summary: "What's love?" Iceland enquires with a curious gaze up at his brother. The question seems to take Norway by surprise. The previous 30-50 questions Iceland had asked today had been more about why grass was green and the sky blue. Norway wasn't prepared for this sort of stuff. He'd gotten away with blaming the gods for a lot of stuff too, but he didn't think that would work now. Selfoss by @scarlettlillies wc: 1,346 || rating: G || pairings: Swe & Ice || completed Nationverse summary: During a trip to see the northern lights near the Icelandic town of Selfoss, Sweden couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was being watched. Yesterday by @scarlettlillies wc: 1,450 || rating: G || pairings: Nyo!DenEst || completed Nationverse summary: It was the final day of their brief holiday in Hiiumaa. Even though Estonia assures her that they will be back again soon, it's not enough. Denmark was tired of going home alone. Change by @ifindus wc: 2,515 || rating: G || pairings: SuNor || completed Nationverse summary: Norway is not happy with being traded around like a piece of property and he is certainly not happy with his new "boss" ; Sweden. Over the years, his opinion does not change, but their personal relationship just might. Brushstrokes by yuuago wc: ~3,100 || rating: G || pairings: SuFin || completed Nationverse summary: When Sweden had commissioned the portraits, he had meant it only as a token of affection; he hadn't thought there would be a time when he'd see Finland's portrait more often than Finland himself. ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Ástin mín by @i-am-a--lionheart wc: 3,941 II rating: M II pairing: SuNor II completed Nationverse summary: At the End of Kalmar, nothing keeps Sweden around but Norway. As he asks him to leave the union, the words between them stay soft and gentle, but hearts are torn apart anyways. // cw: Graphic Depictions Of Violence. Major Character Death Siblings and Quibblings by @95jezzica wc: 4,587 || rating: G (K) || pairings: none || completed Nationverse summary: Multiple fics dedicated to sibling idiocy. xD - [Ch1, Punchline: Norway goes to the market and leaves Sweden with the task of keeping Denmark out of trouble. In hindsight that was a stupid idea.] - [Ch5, Parenting is Warranting: There was no rush, and so Sweden could afford to let Sealand n Ladonia finish thinking what was on their minds. In hindsight, this had been a mistake.] xD Those Easy Days by kosame wc: 5,409 || rating: M || pairings: DenNor || completed Nationverse summary: He may not have his memories, but he has a good, simple life, until two strangers come to town and destroy his quiet equilibrium. The Butterfly I Keep in the Pocket of my Shirt by @randomw07 wc: 5,501 || rating: G || pairings: none || completed Nationverse summary: In Norway, he doesn't so much question his sexuality as realise it has a name. Snippets of Love by @95jezzica wc: 8,499 || rating: G (K+) || pairings: SuFin || completed Nationverse summary: Multiple snippets of various genres and SuFin's love for each other. [Ch1: Not Leaving. -Sweden has to be insane if he thinks Finland is about to leave him wounded and alone in the middle of a blizzard.] - [Ch10: Just Trust - Free Falling. - "Trust is a must in relationships, but sometimes Finland takes trust falls a little TOO literally for Sweden's and Estonia's liking."] xD ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Waiting for Sunshine in Tallinn by A_Virtuous_Pyromaniac wc: 10,207 || rating: T || pairings: SuFin || completed Nationverse summary: The year is 1974. From fraternal obligation, Finland takes a ferry across the Iron Curtain to pay Estonia a Christmas visit. Soviet Estonia might seem closed-off and static, but change is rippling beneath the surface. A mostly-serious historical fic about Estonian/Finnish relations during the Soviet occupation Five Loves for Berwald Oxenstierna by coeurgie wc: 17k+ || rating: M || pairings: DenSu, SuNor, SuFin || completed Nationverse summary: From Björn of the ætt Steirnung to Lord Berwald Oxenstierna to Papa, one thing has stayed the same: Sweden loves. / Sweden/OFC, Sweden/Denmark, Sweden/Finland, Sweden/Norway, Papa!Sweden Sealand. Historically accurate. Author's note inside with more. Why Iceland Can Speak Arabic by Klokkenspel wc: 23,429 || rating: T || pairings: none || completed Nationverse summary: He didn't think this visit would be different from the others, as his people were doing quite well, after all. He probably should have paid more attention to those ships on the horizon, but there was little room for regret when your hands are tied and you're taken aboard on a voyage to who-knows-where. Iceland is kidnapped by Barbary pirates. Norway comes to the rescue. Based off the Turkish Abductions of 1627. // cw: kidnapping Once a Family by Simana wc: 28,638 || rating: G || pairings: none || completed Nationverse summary: Once a family, always a family. Nordic story, Denmark-centric. Five times Denmark was there for his family, and one time his family was there for him. No slash. Originally posted on FF.net. Lif & Lifthrasir by @snark-sniper wc: 39,387 || rating: T || pairings: HongIce || completed Nationverse summary: On May 10, 1940, Iceland is occupied by England; per tradition, the personification of Iceland is brought to London to live in England's household. An Asian colony greets him at the door. (A story of coming of age in quarantine.) // cw: WW2 Healing by messe_jesse wc: 40,680 || rating: Not Rated || pairings: Dennor, SuFin || completed Nationverse summary: It's the end of World War II. The Nordics, after not being together for six years, are living together again under the same roof. It's tough, and all they want to do is go back to normal. But how do you go back to normal after seeing nothing but death, destruction and fear for six years? The chapters after the prologue are the same events but in different point of views so there's some repetition, but it's to show how everybody is processing events differently. The prologue is a bit heavy with the history and there's no dialogue, but the rest of the story has a lot more going on! Also, I apologize if any of my history is incorrect!! I did my best with research. // cw: WW2, PTSD ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Multichapters (+50K)

Apartment 43 by @lumassen wc: 56,867 || rating: T || pairings: DenNor || completed Human AU summary: Sigurd is a single parent to Emil, and they've just moved in to a new apartment complex for a fresh start. Mads, their neighbour below them in Apartment 33 becomes friends with them over time, and he realises that he can help Sigurd in more ways than one. While he figures out what he wants to do with his life, Mads not only forms a friendship with Sigurd, but with little Emil too. Under the North Star by Embrose wc: 66,327 || rating: T || pairings: SuFin, DenNor || completed Human AU summary: Tino Väinämöinen lives in the farthest reaches of Lapland, scraping together a living and keeping himself sane through painting. He ran away from his past, but cast himself into loneliness and darkness. But his quiet living is interrupted, when a Swedish giant Berwald Oxenstierna comes into his life and gradually pulls Tino back into the light. But eventually Tino's past catches up to him… Sendlingur og Sandlóa by @pyrrhocorax wc: 74,037 || rating: T || pairings: SuNor, EstFin, (queerplatonic) DenNor and SuFin (romantic) || completed Nationverse summary: During an average summer in modern day, the Nordics meet up in the countryside for a long vacation to relax together. However, with hundreds of years of history between them, old memories get dredged up, both bad and good. Sendlingur og Sandlóa is a story about perspective, of loss and longing, the temperamental nature of both life and human relationships, and family. (Aromantic asexual Iceland, queerplatonic SuNor and EstFin, romantic DenNor and SuFin. Centered around DenNorIce as a family unit but includes other relationships as well. And honestly, even though this is my intent, you can freely interpret the relationships however you see fit and I actively encourage you to do so if you'd like.) Top Secret by VyraFinn wc: 76,001 || rating: T || pairings: DenNor, SuFin || completed Nationverse summary: Iceland thought that his life would return to normal once he finished the studies in Copenhagen. Unfortunately, he wasn’t right about that, and a bet made with Norway gives him whole new set of problems. Can he survive the Norwegian military training and find the spy before it is too late? There is also something strange going on with Denmark and Norway, but Iceland is not even sure if he wants to know more about that. Sequel to Higher Education. Mise en Scène by @brokskar wc: 77,013 || rating: M || pairings: DenNor || completed Human AU summary: As a screenwriter, Lukas wants to tell the truth about the world; that it's messy, unkind, and complicated. He's also desperate for a way out of the home situation he's stuck in. As a director, Mathias is trying to take back control of the life he lost sight of two years ago. He's looking for an escape from the messy, unkind, and complicated world that Lukas is so adamant on recreating. As members of the same film group, they both have their own ideas and ambitions when it comes to making their new movie, and neither one of them are particularly interested in letting the other get in their way. Stories Through the Years by Ikikuka wc: 79,541 || rating: M || pairings: SuFin || work in progress Nationverse summary: Short, and sometimes a little bit longer, stories from the North. Finland's and Sweden's journey from the past to this day from their respective perspectives. Gutters by glassamilk wc: 98,149 || rating: M || pairings: Den & Sea || completed Apocalypse AU summary: 'The Calamity' has left the world stripped and dying. Alone in a civilian bunker in Munich, Sealand will be reunited with the last known living member of his surrogate family and together, they will set out across Europe to find those they have lost. // cw: Major Character Death ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Higher Education by VyraFinn wc: 99,845 || rating: T || pairings: DenNor, SuFin || completed Nationverse summary: After a brief argument with his boss Iceland finds himself to be enrolled in to a master program in University of Copenhagen. Not only he is a nation but now he should somehow survive the student life and keep it all secret from his family. Good thing Denmark never notices anything, right? A Kingdom to Fall by @darcymariaphoster wc: 150,275 || rating: M || pairings: Nordic polycule || work in progress Fantasy AU summary: The Väinämöinen family is dead. That's the news that sparks the building of a new and vast kingdom, one that promises to rival even the most powerful kingdoms in Europe. It's not the way Sigurd had imagined meeting any of his soul partners, under political terms and conditions. But here he is -- with three other men, conspiracy, and more personal challenges than he'd ever thought one could handle. All he'd wanted was to be King. // cw: Graphic Depictions Of Violence. Major Character Death Take a Chance on Me by Hetart wc: 183,443 || rating: Not Rated || pairings: DenNor || completed Human AU, High School AU summary: When Lukas moved in with his grandparents next door, Mathias immediately knew they would be the best of friends. For the most part, this prediction was correct. But as the years pass and the two grow older, Mathias learns that life is rarely as simple as it seems when you are six years old and with a heart full of stars. Or. A story of two boys who, against all odds, will find each other every time. Once in 19th century by VyraFinn wc: 203,195 II rating: M II pairings: DenNor, SuFin II work in progress Nationverse summary: Denmark has fallen, Norway has been taken away, and Iceland… Iceland is all alone. Thrown into a life of great changes and discoveries, he has to figure out what it really means to grow up. Independent, stand-alone part of the Icelandic Studies, and prequel of sort to Higher Education and Top Secret. ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Explicit [18+]

Head Over Feet by Sara Generis (kanadka) wc: 2,128 || rating: E || pairings: NedDen || completed Nationverse summary: It all starts out perfectly innocent: well-travelled routes brought a Viking Dane through to Dorestad where he met a young Lowland enterpreneur selling wares. And when they grew up it was natural enough to consider each other for a spot of casual fun. Just innocent fun, filthy sex, but nothing so messy as romance. //cw: smut Stuffed by uncagingwardens wc: 3,275 || rating: E || pairings: DenNor || completed Nationverse summary: Aleksander makes a promise, and Mathias holds him to it. // cw: smut, OC Decades by wickedlupin wc: 3,477 || rating: E || pairings: DenNor || work in progress Nationverse summary: separation. n. 1. the action or state of being moved apart. 2. the division of something into constituent or distinct elements. independence. n. 1. free from outside control. 2. not depending on another for livelihood or subsistence. “Sve will be pissed if he finds out I have you like this.” “That’s all the more reason for you to do it, then, isn’t it?” // cw: smut Under Your Breath by Ludwiggle73 wc: 5,007 || rating: E || pairings: SuFin || completed Human AU summary: Berwald is a chiropractor. Tino gets his back blown out. // cw: smut, omega verse Rags To Dance In by bunnyfication wc: 9,690 || rating: E || pairings: NedDen || completed Nationverse summary: In which blood is thicker than water, but even that might not be enough, and Netherlands is a (mostly) neutral spectator helping bros with trouble with other bros. // cw: smut, medical trauma Dragon's Heart by Domina_Ecca wc: 10,359 || rating: E || pairing: DenSu || completed Fantasy AU summary: Hetalia Fantasy AU: A beast of legend has attacked a defenseless village at the base of a dark mountain. Only one warrior is brave enough to seek it out. But no creature is more determined at getting what it wants than a dragon… Rated for cursing, adult content, and some violence. [warrior!Sweden x dragonshifter!Denmark] // cw: smut ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

[thebeesareback]

Saltburn time

First and foremost, Rosamund Pike is Mother.

Secondly, I'd like to talk about Harry Potter in Saltburn. Allow me to preface this by confirming that JKR is an absolute shithead and can sit on a hot poker.

So throughout the summer, we see Felix, Venetia and Farleigh passing around a copy of the final Harry Potter book. It makes a huge amount of sense for them to read it! They're all in that strange stage of arrested development one forms at uni, because you're an adult living independently for most of the year, but then you come back to your parents' house and return to a teenage state. Surrounded by physical reminders of your childhood, you may well regress and re-engage with old media. I think many people have returned home and listened to CDs or flicked through forgotten video games. So there's a sense of nostalgia.

It also helps to ground Saltburn in the mid '00s. The hiddeous fashions are hilarious, the phones are bricks, and everyone was reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final installation in the saga. Given that Felix, Venetia and Farleigh are in their late teens/early 20s, it would make sense for them to have grown up reading those books. Again, I can't be the only person to interact with media I've "aged out" of because, well, I've invested so much in the series. I imagine a fair number of people who read the final book(s) weren't officially part of the target audience, but read it because they felt nostalgic or curious about how the story ended.

Finally, there are some obvious comparisons between Harry Potter and Saltburn. Both take place primarily in a beautiful old building and feature a character (Harry and Oliver) who wants to join a different world (magical/extreme wealth and status). You could also compare the characters of James Potter and Severus Snape with Felix and Oliver. You have the popular, desirable person, and then the jealous, slimy genius. There are classical allusions in Harry Potter and JKR actually read classics and French at Exeter uni. The joke about Cerberus, guardian of the underworld and terror of 11 year olds being named "Fluffy" is pretty hilarious. Farleigh reads English at Oxford, so he's going to get those references... even if he's not especially literate or into books.

Oliver, of course, doesn't read Harry Potter. It's too pedestrian and reminds him of the life he's trying to leave behind by cutting ties with his parents. Oliver is a total snob, and wouldn't deign to interact with anything like that. I don't really think Oliver even likes reading, to be honest. Do we ever see him with a book? He does it before uni and completes the reading list, yet when he mentions this to the professor, the professor is shocked. Then he ignores Oliver. Oliver only does things which he thinks will benefit him, other than when his sensory, animalistic, sexual desires finally come through. See - fucking the graves.

Anyway, you should watch Saltburn. It's excellent! Beautiful! The cast is gorgeous and talented! Everyone is psychotic!

[a-hundred-jewels]

ptsd made me a hardcore marauders fan for seven months

Ao3

content warning: the following contains discussions of school violence, teen violence, (briefly) domestic violence, mental health issues, depression, and trauma. if any of these are sensitive topics for you, please proceed with caution. in addition, if you feel i've missed a warning, please nicely let me know in the comments.

I don't like Harry Potter. 

Sure, I binge-read the entire series in a bored, undiagnosed-ADHD-induced haze at the age of thirteen, have spent countless hours reading and even writing fanfiction for the series, have followed tumblr tags, listened to playlists, watched youtube videos, and am in the process of very slowly hand-binding myself a copy of A Black Mass Over Highway Ninety, but—

I don't like it, but nevertheless, I was sucked in. 

~

"Some kid overdosed," one of my classmates said. 

"What?" 

"They're clearing the hallways."

Our principal had just come on the loudspeakers to issue a "shelter in place" order, telling us to ignore all bells and stay in our current classroom until he came back on and told us otherwise. I was actually glad, hoping the extra time would allow me to finish my Spanish homework before second period, since I'd spent most of the weekend thinking about the Strictly Come Dancing finals and my King Lear presentation in English class. 

I hardly thought about the order itself—they're extremely common in United State schools, both as drills and as actual occurences. "Shelter in place" originated as a milder verison of going into lockdown where, instead of hiding from a potential shooter, students and teachers must simply not leave the room. In any case, I saw no reason to worry, and set about doing my homework. 

~

In fall of 2022, I started my senior year of high school at the age of seventeen. I was having a rough year—my younger sister's depression was at an all-time high and my mother was recovering from a health scare—but, fandomwise, I was doing great. After all, Our Flag Means Death had come out that spring and I was in love. All I wanted to talk about were the gay pirates, and I even bought myself a "Team Edward" t-shirt with Taika Waititi's face smack in the middle as a "back to school" present. Everything was supposed to get better. 

School sucked, because I went to a big public high school that looked like a prison and had equally-shitty Wifi, my (still undiagnosed) ADHD was worsening, and my grades were getting kind of bad. Even so, for a couple of months, I remained confident that my senior year would be my best one yet.

~

Third period was gym class, meaning I was only about an hour and a half away from the King Lear presentation. Senior year was actually one of the few years where I liked gym, which was awesome. It was just me and six boys, all of whom were nice to me, and our teacher was great. I think we were playing badminton that day, when our principal came on the loudspeakers to say that we were, once again, under a "shelter in place" order. 

We were nonchalant about this, just as we had been in the morning. I cannot stress how desensitized children in the U.S. are to things like this, these days. When my little sister was in elementary school, there was a day when the whole school was put in a "shelter in place" because a man was walking around outside with a bunch of knives. When I was a junior, a boy severely beat up his girlfriend in the school hallway, giving her a concussion and leading to two mass protests. There were violent fights at my town's public schools almost weekly—and all of this is very, very normal. I would go so far as to say that my situation was pretty mild. 

So we sat on the floor and did homework as time crept on, wondering vaguely what was going on, but no moreso than that. Third period ended, and we stayed. It should have been lunch time—we were getting hungry—but there was still no word about the lockdown ending. We stayed. Surely, it could only be another ten minutes or so?

And then, one of my classmates looked up from his phone screen, which was displaying a chat on Discord. 

"Oh my god—someone was stabbed."

~

Before, I get properly started, I'd like to be totally clear: the point of this essay isn't to bash the Harry Potter fandom, not as a whole, and certainly not the sections of it I've been in. I met some incredible people while in my period of rabidly consuming Marauders content, and I don't want to put them down or dishonor the beautiful things they've created with my attitude. I loved my time in the Marauders fandom as much as I could love anything at that point in my life and have nothing but respect for the writers, artists, and tumblrinas who welcomed me into their space. 

All of that being said, I think it's fascinating that I fell into a fandom like this one, particularly when I was doing so badly mentally. My dislike of Harry Potter only increases as I grow, as does my indifference, and, while I understand that's a fairly common sentiment shared among Marauders fans, I also get the impression that nostalgia plays a big part in their participation in the fandom. A Harry Potter- loving, bookworm child grows into a cynical teen, and then into a kind, brilliant adult with a "well, fuck it" attitude towards the world, using their limited free time to take that nostalgia from a childhood book series and write the kind of queer narratives they wish they'd had in adolescence. I could, of course, be wrong, but that's more-or-less how I understood the specific parts of the fandom I was in. (I know pretty much nothing about the tik tok side of the Marauders fandom, so we're just not factoring that in at all). Also, note that I said "adult" before, because the majority of people I interacted with were in their twenties and thirties. Being eighteen at the time and still in highschool, they all seemed at least moderately grown-up and untouchable to me. 

All this to say, once again, that I literally didn't care about Harry Potter until I was almost fourteen and, even then, I only started reading it out of sheer boredom. I have pretty much no nostalgia or happy childhood memories associated with the series—I even skipped large sections of the fourth and seventh books because it irritated me whenever the main characters were fighting with each other. I was, at best, a casual fan. 

There's something comforting, though, about being in such a big fandom, especially when your bad habit of choice is binge-reading smutty fanfiction in order to feel less dead. And, regardless of how I actually felt about Harry Potter , the concrete safety of a completed, unchanging series of books and movies where the author was already widely disliked definitely appealed tome and my less-than-stable life. You don't need to worry about a scandal if they've all already happened and, no matter how hard she tried to on Twitter, Joanne can't actually change the contents of the books. In my world of current fandoms and kind writers and actors all accessible on social media, the fuck-ass Harry Potter fandom was a bit of a refuge. 

So that's why I think it was specifically the Marauders that I got into.

~

I don't actually remember how long we were in that gym. It must have been at least two hours, including the class time beforehand, but I barely remember any of it. I texted my friends, frantically trying to determine that everyone I knew was okay, and I told my parents what was going on. To this day, the thing I am most thankful for is that my sister, who we'll call Tabitha, wasn't there. I don't know what I would have done if she'd been in school that day. The other main thing I remember thinking about was my King Lear presentation, which was supposed to happen right after lunch, and, as the time stretched on, I became more and more worried that I wouldn't get to do it that day. 

Shortly after my classmate saw the Discord messages about the stabbing, a video of the fight was leaked across Snapchat, as well as an image of the wound. We all looked on in horror, including my teacher (who we'll call Mr. Blake). It's objectively horrible to watch footage of a child being stabbed, no matter how grainy the video is, but, so far, we'd received no official information from the school, so this was literally all we had, and it had happened in the same building. Our principal wasn't allowed to make any statements (at least to my understanding) without it going through our superintendant and, for whatever reason, she didn't feel it necessary to get ahead of social media on this. 

I was trapped in a school with thousands of other people, one of whom had just assaulted someone. 

~

The night before my second semester of senior year began, I stayed up past midnight reading Dear Your Holiness by @mollymarymarie fleabag AU where Remus is a priest by day and a local rock musician by night, and Sirius has a popular music magazine. I had also spent much of my winter break listening to a podfic of All The Young Dudes (made it to sixth year) and generally rooting around people's bookmarks and gifts to get out of my head, so it's safe to say that, by the time I got to school in January, my brain was practially deep-fried in this new fandom, and it would only get moreso. 

~

Mr. Blake felt, after an hour or so, that we'd be safer in the boys' locker room. He brought us down through a stairwell I'd never seen before, tucked away in corner of a closet in the gymnasium. I was thrilled by the opportunity to explore and filmed the journey on my phone. It's a weird, haunting video, not just for the grim situation and shadowy rooms, but because I'm so lively behind the camera. We're all fairly upbeat, joking about how big the school is and what things must have been like when it opened. I won't share the video here, as I don't feel like doxing myself, but I did rewatch it in preparation for writing this and it's truly disconcerting to look at the inside of a building I haven't been in for over a year, to hear the voice of a past version of myself and know I'm seeing snapshots of a day that changed me forever. 

All there was to eat in the locker room were these Gatorade protein bars—mine was supposedly cookies and cream flavoured. I still remember the taste, sickly sweet and artificial. On an empty stomach, particularly an overly sensitive autistic one like mine, it was a horrible idea, and I felt sick afterwards, but god, I was so hungry. 

I sent a selfie to my parents and Tabitha, then tried to read fanfiction while listening to one of my classmates talk in what sounded like Hatian Creole with his family on the phone. Boys were constantly being paraded in to use the urinals. The walls were painted concrete blocks, the benches were narrow and hard, and so I sat there. 

~

In February, I spend a weekend binge-reading A Black Mass Over Highway Ninety, which kickstarted an obsession with seventies music and fashion. I read and reread the sex scenes during my final few months of highschool, trying desperately to shut my brain up and keep me from feeling so trapped in my daily life and the school I still attended. I got into the works of @spookymoonie, who was incredibly kind to me, and used to visit and refresh their blog every day to see if they'd (sigh) written more porn. Look, man, it was really good porn. 

On the day of my high school graduation, I got dressed in pants that were too small for me, a shirt that was too big, and a cap and gown that made me look like a walking body bag. I mingled with my friends beforehand, taking pictures with people who I now haven't spoken to in months. The ceremony was long and boring but I'm a sucker for that kind of symbolic stuff, so I kind of liked it. I did say for weeks afterwards, though, that I didn't feel like I'd really graduated until I was cycling home, listening to "Telephone Line" on my tinny iPhone speaker. That was my graduation. 

And I only knew that song from the official Black Mass playlist. 

~

By the time we were finally released from the "shelter in place" and sent for lunch, it had been about three hours since our principal's initial announcement back in third period. There was little fanfare to the whole ordeal, and I don't recall any actual information being given to our parents from the school at this point, either, though I could be misremembering. Our principal simply came on the speakers and told us that the lockdown was up and we were to go for lunch. I had a pre-packaged turkey wrap that day—my mum got them from the store sometimes as a special lunch for me. I'm a vegetarian these days, so I wouldn't eat it regardless, but, even if I weren't, I don't think I could bring myself to eat one of those wraps again, not without remembering. 

We'd only been in lunch for about ten minutes when somebody pulled the fire alarm. I don't know who did it, only that it was a student and there was no fire. I hate the fire alarm for the same reasons I hate all sudden, loud noises, and I was so overwhelmed already that I remember crying as we were paraded out into the parking lots, shivering in the cold, late-December air. I sat on a curb and ate my sandwich, wishing I had left when some of my classmates had, as soon as the "shelter in place" was lifted, or at least that I had my jacket and keys with me so I could get my bike and leave right then. 

The fire drill was over as quickly as it had started and, god, I wish I'd left right then. Just grabbed my shit and got the hell out of there. But, well…my English presentation. 

To anyone with rational mind capabilities, it would be incredibly obvious by now that said English presentation was absolutely not happening. A child had been stabbed, we'd all seen it on video and then been trapped for three hours— King Lear was far from a pressing concern. But I was traumatized and one of my groupmates was leaving the next day, so it felt like an emergency. So long as I was focused on my presentation and the soap opera-like melodrama of the play, I didn't have to think about what was happening around me. 

Anyway, we did nothing English related fourth period, instead sitting in a circle and letting our teacher talk us through how we were feeling. I'm very grateful to her for giving us the space she did to feel our fear and anger without judgement, and I will never forget her telling us that we were to use the teachers' bathrooms for the rest of the day, and if any administrators had a problem with it, they could take things up with her. It might not seem like much, but when the stabbing had occured in a student bathroom, it was really nice for someone to acknowledge that we might be scared. 

Another hour, or so, and the day was over. 

~

I also want to get ahead and make sure I'm not framing my leaving of the Marauders fandom as a particularly good thing, or a good time in my life. I was still depressed and unemployed and, even after I finally got a job in August, I managed to hit several more crushing lows before the end of 2023—I was just reading different fanfiction to cope. At the very least, though, I was reading fic for stuff I was actually a fan of, which is typically a good place to start. 

The feeling reminded me a bit of the one I used to get after I'd finished writing and posting a piece of puppet erotica—just this overwhelming sensation of "Wait, what was that?" It's like post-nut clarity, except clearly not. My time as a Marauders fan feels, in retrospect, like a bastardization, an appropriation. I was not a real fan because I didn't really care—I just needed something safe to numb my pain and confusion. That's why it feels so important to make sure I'm not trying to represent or bash the fandom in any way. It wouldn't be fair, because I wasn't really, genuinely a part of it. 

~

When I finally had cycled home and let myself in the back door, I only remember collapsing. My mum was in the living room and I just stood there, I think. All I really remember is this image of how I think I looked, as though my mind had floated out of my head and taken a photograph. My face is very pale and completely blank, my bag somewhere on the floor next to me, and I'm staring at nothing, the performance of being okay just…evaporating. I know my mum told me she'd been facetiming my grandparents and aunt throughout the day and they were worried as well. 

One thing I often forget about that day is that, barely an hour after coming home, I had a violin lesson over zoom. I assume it must have been a similar situation to the King Lear presentation, where I had to act as normal as possible in order to not completely freak out. I told myself that I couldn't cancel, because then I'd have to pay the fee, but, like. I'm pretty sure he would have made an exception. I remember telling him "oh, by the way, I'm a little out of it because someone got stabbed at school today," and seeing the utterly baffled look on his face. He offered to postpone, and I declined. I was not a very good student that day—I think I'd forgotten what we did in the lesson before the hour was even finished. 

I went downstairs afterward and told my mum everything—I think. Either that or I lay in bed. The next thing I remember is going to school the next day, because I was still clinging to that King Lear presentation. Or maybe it was just because I didn't know what to do with myself? No idea. The next night, I was feeling sick and tested positive for Covid. 

So that was nice. 

~

My high school was never the same after the stabbing. Rules got stricter, a mass of teachers quit or transfered, the classes graduated and moved on, and I truly think something died that day. No matter how bad things were beforehand, there was always this hope I felt—this optimism. Even if I'd been cynical for weeks, all it took to love that shitty old building was an orchestra concert or a school play. It was trash, but it was home. That love didn't come back. 

My love for the Marauders proved to be just as fleeting. I literally woke up one day last July with a craving for this Good Omens/Buzzfeed Unsolved crossover fanfiction (called video appeal by ravel_aorla) and that was the end of my phase. Poof! Avada Kadavra! 

I'm proud to say, though, that I'm doing much better now. I'm writing and editing this in my college dorm room, which I moved into just yesterday. I'm also very into My Chemical Romance now, and am able to share that interest (and a long furby) with one of my best friends, @vriska-serketboard. It's been a year and a half since my high school has darkened the door of my feet and I am worlds better for it. 

Call it instinct as a former GSA leader, but that's how I want to end this. It get's better. I got better, and you can too. 

Thank you.

[touchlikethesun]

a few informal thoughts on accent in written media and accent in translation

in light of a recent rb about dialect in haikyuu (which i recommend reading since i'm sorta responding to it but it's not required), i wanted to write down my quite complex thoughts about how "accent" is conveyed in written media, and how "accent" or "dialect" is translated cross-linguistically. it's really not a simple issue...

the biggest issue is that the very notion of an accent or a dialect as most non-linguists conceive of them is rooted in some form of bigotry, because there is almost always an underlying supposition that an "accent"/"dialect" exists in opposition to or as a deviation from the "standard." in written media, what that means is that some characters - often the main characters or the pov characters - have the privileged of their thoughts and words transcribed with standardised spellings and english teacher approved grammar (for the most part), and some characters - often but not always a character from a marginalised background or a character that is some way othered - are transcribed with intentional "errors."

(lmao readmore is deffo warranted this is a long one xx)

i want to give a very clear example of what i'm talking about, and i'm sorry to cite harry potter but it is a treasure trove for this kinda thing. also like... is it any surprise that jkr is particularly egregiously guilty of this... but anyways, look at that following passage from the philosopher's stone and watch the corresponding scene (hopefully the vid starts at the the part i want sorry youtube sucks)

“I'm a what?" gasped Harry. "A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good'un I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be?”

now to my american ears, both harry and hagrid in this scene have noticable differences in pronunciation compared to how i might say the same lines - there are so many ways their speech might be written differently (from my pov; from a british pov i'm sure they'd have some changes to make in writing down my speech i'll never be free from the wodder boddle jokes).

what i think is particularly interesting tho is that harry says the word "what" twice in the clip, with two different pronunciations. the first time he says it, he actually doesn't pronounce the /t/ at the end of the word (in technical terms, it's an unreleased unvoiced alveolar plosive), and the second time the pronunciation of the /t/ is exaggerated for emphasis (a particularly aspirated unvoiced alveolar plosive). but this difference in the way harry says these two words is not conveyed in the text of hp. harry simply says "what."

i wish i had a more direct example, but a very similar sort of thing is going on when hagrid says the word "and," which he pronounces with an unreleased voiced alveolar plosive - almost exactly the same as harry's first "what" - but instead of "and" being written with standard spelling, jkr opts to replace the "d" with an apostrophe.

it's essentially the same linguistic phenomenon, but because harry is supposed to be middle class and from surrey, his linguistic quirks are not conveyed in the writing because he speaks "proper" english - whereas hagrid's linguistic quirks (in this case it is the same quirk present in harry's speech) are meticulously documented because he is working class and uneducated, and his language is deemed a deviation from the standard. harry's english is unmarked and deemed unaccented because his variety is very close to the enforced standard. and the "standard" is just the speech of the privileged classes. sorry that reasoning reads a bit circular, but it isn't supposed to be logical, it is in fact a very illogical line of reasoning.

a lot of times, authors will justify their choice to transcribe accents because accents are often integral to a character's identity. and i do not disagree that many people take pride in their accents or that accents aren't used as a way to index for group/regional identity. but the issue is, when are accents faithfully being transcribed and when are they assumed?

as an example of this, look at these two passages from another problematic author, cassie clare in the clockwork prince:

"You think I’m a fool,” Molly went on. “This is a trap, innit? You Nephilim catch me selling that sort of stuff, an’ it’s the stick for Old Mol, it is.” “You’re already dead.” Will did his best not to sound irritable. “I don’t know what you think the Clave could do to you now.” “Pah.” Her hollow eyes flamed. “The prisons of the Silent Brothers, beneath the earth, can ’old either the living or the dead; you know that, Shadowhunter." (tid.ii, prolouge)

and

"We’re in the Pyx Chamber,” he said. “Used to be a treasury. Boxes of gold and silver all along the walls.” “A Shadowhunter treasury?” Tessa was thoroughly puzzled. “No, the British royal treasury—thus the thick walls and doors,” said Jem. “But we Shadowhunters have always had access.” He smiled at her expression. “Monarchies down through the ages have tithed to the Nephilim, in secret, to keep their kingdoms safe from demons.” “Not in America,” said Tessa with spirit. “We haven’t got a monarchy—" (tid.ii, chapter 1)

i pulled these passages basically at random so maybe there are lines of dialogue that prove the point better (or disprove my point tho i doubt that, just based on my memory of these books), but in passage one, there are two speakers: an cockney woman from east london and a welsh man from an upper class background. i won't go line by line, but it's essentially like with the difference between harry and hagrid, where old molly has her shibboleths all written down whereas will is written with unquestionably grammatical speech.

in passage two, there are three speakers: the same upper class welshman, a lower middle class american woman, and a british-chinese (likely well off) man. we're told at certain points that will has a welsh accent; we can assume that tessa has an american/new york accent; i don't even know where i'd begin to describe jem's accent but it's probably not welsh or american. however, if you look at their dialogue, there is no way to discern any of these differences. their regional identities are all ostensibly important to them, as they are mentioned many many times in the narrative, but for some reason, it wasn't important enough to even make nods to their different accents? meanwhile, a random side character has their accent carefully laid out, dropped 'h's iconic slang and all? why? why is old mol's accent important enough to faithfully write down, but tessa and will's aren't? it couldn't have anything to do with classism could it...? surely not... (they say, with extreme sarcasm)

now, after all that. you might think my stance is that "accent" should never be written down because it necessarily involves classist/racist/otherwise bigoted judgement on what is marked and what is unmarked speech.

if only it were so easy.

honestly the biggest issue with jkr and clare's choices here is that it's so clearly coming from a place of ignorance and/or prejudice. there's nothing wrong with the way hagrid or old molly speak, and writing systems are inherently messy and inaccurate; there shouldn't be anything wrong with trying to more accurately convey utterances. before writing standardisation, people would just write what they thought a word sounded like, resulting in many if not dozens of accepted spellings for each word (sidenote: i've lost the email but i once spoke with someone that was attempting to reconstruct an older variety of english spoken in MA based on "spelling errors" in books from a small new england printing house it was a very cool project).

also, i am not african american so i can't fully speak to the accuracy of the AAVE, but i've seen discussion of how the AAVE and codeswitching in the hate u give by angie thomas was used to convey nuances in identity, and political realities in the US. the way people speak, the variety of language, and the attitudes they and others have towards that variety, are often extremely important narrative tools. as a black girl that also exists in white-dominated spaces, starr carter is aware of her speech and the changes she makes to fit in with white peers, but that doesn't mean that AAVE isn't a part of her, that it isn't important and valid. wouldn't it also be a bit disrespectful to write the AAVE in the hate u give as if it were standard english, when it is such an important part of starr's identity that it's not? AAVE is just as legitimate as a dialect as the dialect that starr's white peers speak, so on what grounds can anyone insist that it not be faithfully written down for its speakers? and lastly and most importantly, who am i, and who is anyone exterior to a linguistic community, to say how community members ought to write down their own speech/dialogue??

this is just one specific case, but i think when someone is writing from an in-group perspective, that changes things. it changes things immensely. there are so many reasons why a writer might choose to feature distinctive accents in their writing, and i don't think it's possible on their presence alone to make a judgement call on if the accent is being featured respectfully and/or with good reason, or if it is bigoted and unnecessary.

and this brings us to the somehow even more difficult question of what to do with "accents" when translating dialogue. not only do translators have to convey semantic meaning, they have to try to convey pragmatic meaning, cultural meaning, implications, and so on and so on. there is also the very important question of what is the role of a translator? i think that answer will depend on the individual, and unfortunately how one answers will have an impact on how they think translators ought to convey accent.

if the author of a text writes a character's dialogue from a prejudiced point of view, like jkr has done with hagrid, is it the role of the translator to dutifully convey the same (or as close to the same as possible) prejudiced implications in their translation? or does the translator have more of an editorial role, allowing them to convey the meaning in a way that won't carry the same connotations in the new language? does it matter what connotations were intended by the author? is the translator at fault for assumptions made by the audience of their translation due to the choice to convey an accent in one way or another? it is impossible to perfectly convey cultural nuances in accents so do we settle for the closest thing or do we forego it entirely and leave it up to something lost in translation? what about the translators own biases and prejudices, what do we do then?

honestly there are so many questions, and i don't have many answers. i err on the side that says the role of the translator is to be as faithful to the meaning of the text as possible, regardless of the translator's personal feelings about what is being conveyed. if an accent is being used purely for comedic effect, i do not think that the translator has the jurisdiction to say "well i think that's rude and ignorant so i won't include it," but at the same time, i think there should be multiple checks and balances, like sensitivity readers, that ensure that the translation is not introducing more prejudiced elements or pushing things even further than the source text.

what initially got me thinking about this was the post linked above about kansai dialect in haikyuu. the only characters that are written to not speak in tokyo dialect (otherwise considered the standard in japan) are the characters from inarizaki, a school in the kansai region. since they are the only characters to be explicitly written to be speaking a regional dialect, i would say it is probably an important - or considered an important by the mangaka - part of their characterisation. regardless of whether or not there should be cultural connotations to a particular variety is unfortunately not relavent in this instance.

i do think translators should not exaggerate the presence of an accent. from what i can tell from forums online, inarizaki's accents are pronounced but more than understandable, so i am liable to suspect some prejudice or mis-informed opinions when i see panels of the miya twins that are barely intelligible. but in general, i am of the opinion that translators should try and match as closely as they can the connotations of the source text, even if the source text is itself problematic. obviously there is not perfect choice. obviously a translation is never going to perfectly capture the original meaning.

in the end i guess these are two different discussions but i do think there is connection between the two. i understand the upset over egregiously translated accented dialogue, but at the same time, i do not think it is the translator's call entirely whether to translate it or not, however they do have a duty to at least try to match contexts as closely as possible. and as for the presence of accent in written media at all, it is really a case-by-case basis if i think it's being done well and with good cause or if it is just an example of ignorance, and i do think there should be room for nuance in this discussion.

come back next time when i ramble about how people write on the internet is a case study for how accent could be written in fiction lol xx

[absolutebl]

Hello!

I was wondering if you’ve seen Good Omens (2 seasons out on Amazon Prime) and if you would consider it BL? It has some similar aspects while other aspects are considerably different. Thoughts?

I started watching Season 1 but like Our Flag Means Death it's not really my thing. I don't watch much TV in English anymore unless I have to for work.

I do not consider it in any way BL. It has none of the tropes, origins, source material, country, archetypes, settings, characters, or yaoi heritage. There's nothing BL about it.

It's kinda gay, I guess?

ALL BL has a queer romantic arc, but not all content with a queer romantic arc is BL.

Also, Good O doesn't NEED to be associated with BL. It's not in it's marketing or DNA. It's not relevant to its fanbase or demographics. Why would they want to slap a BL moniker on it? Why would you? Why would anyone?

I mean there is crossover watchers (between BL and us) but that's about it. But that's because it's Gaimen (not because it's at all BL) and for some reason Gaimen is a big deal with lots of fans. (Don't @ me I can't STAND his stuff. It's like Stephen King. I'm never gonna get it. You do you massive fandoms, don't involve me, I don't like your content. I'm side eyeing Star Wars, Twilight, and Harry Potter too. Look I'm either too old or too young and that shit just sailed by me and I toddled along in a weird kid fog of trying to find queer shit as a total geek - which, as a few of you reading this know, took us olds to some very odd places in the days before the internet... bootlegged Ranma ½ anyone? Just me?)

See my feels on Heartstopper for more on this kind of discussion.

Also, I do think I'm coming down pretty firmly on the side of...

BL has to be Asian.

Something about the cultural and linguistic backbone means BL just doesn't seem to work if it comes from somewhere else.

I'm thinking also about the great 2020 Dialogue around Date Me, Bryson Keller - which is an English Language derivative(?) work of my favorite BL of all time, Seven Days.

And I really don't want to get into that kind of debate again.

All of which is to say:

Good Omens is not BL.

IMHO of course. But...

I'm right.

So there.

*** Added note from the comments chatting with @heretherebedork

The point of genre (or sub genre) is to manage our expectations. It's like the label on a TV dinner. We gotta know if we're getting Spaghetti or Pad Thai. That packaged meal could very well be a terrible execution of either, and they ARE both noodles, but I want my expectations met. And if I opened a container labeled Pad Thai and got spaghetti I'd be pretty darn pissed.

If someone sold me Good Omens by saying it was a BL? And I watched it thinking it was? I'd be mad at both them and it.

[twig-tea]

SHIPPER TAG GAME

Tagged by @lurkingshan and @stuffnonsenseandotherthings to dig into the vault. Friends, I have been Perpetually Online since 1995, when that meant I had to haunt my school library computer at lunchtime, so this is going to be for the fellow Olds. Sorry in advance for the HP mentions.

1. What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care anymore?

Have I let any ships go? Hmm. I'll go with Mulder/Scully from X-Files. Watching now, they should definitely not end up together lol

2. Which ship would you consider your first one?

Sailor Mercury/Sailor Jupiter from Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon. I. Was. Obsessed. This ship hit me like a ton of bricks in I want to say 6th or 7th grade.

I watched the show as it aired with English dubs, found out the episodes we got were censored, immediately fell into my completionist ways, went to the Asian mall (it was literally pan-Asian with stuff from Japan, China, Taiwain, Korea, etc.) and got definitely not official VCDs with Mandarin subtitles, and would sit with friends who spoke Mandarin and had them translate the subs to English for me (I say this like I forced them, but they offered because they were my friends and they also felt passionately about people seeing the uncensored show). I then learned how to Internet and would trawl for fanpages of the manga (it would take 20 minutes to load an image at the time, so rather than full scanlations I'd get walls of text describing what happened with maybe a single panel illustration). Uranus and Neptune were fantastic, but I already had Ami and Makoto aka Mercury and Jupiter long before I got to the Uranus/Neptune episodes (or the Sailor Stars manga arc).

3. Your first fanfic belonged to which couple?

Definitely Sailor Moon fanfic was the first fic I read. It was an easy step from finding fan summaries of the chapters not yet out in English > finding fan sites with fanfic on them, back before we had archives or even decent search engines and you had to just find the sites you needed through links from other sites. It was like a whole new world of possibilities opening up. The first real fanfic community I was in was Harry Potter.

In terms of first fic I wrote, I am not a writer; I've only ever written a small handful of not worth mentioning ficlets featuring the Kirk/Spock ship (Star Trek TOS).

4. Do you remember the first couple you saw a fanart over?

Oh it was likely Serena/Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon and it was in person, because I had friends who got me into anime and manga early and they were artists who drew a lot of fanart.

5. Did you ever get into ship discourse?

Friends, I had a Livejournal. It was impossible not to get into ship discourse.

6. Did you used to have any no-otp or have it currently?

I am going to echo @stuffnonsenseandotherthings and @lurkingshan and say I was dead-set against Hermione as a ship with any of the men in Harry Potter (Hermione/Luna or Hermione/Ginny, though, we could talk), and I also really disliked Draco/Ron. I also am not here for Spock/McCoy (Star Trek), and I don't really enjoy Stucky (as in Captain America/Winter Soldier or Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes from Marvel).

OH and can I be a hater on main for a second? The first couple that I remember hating as a thing was probably Jo and Professor Bhaer from Little Women; I was SO MAD they married in the end. I felt very validated years later when I read that the author Lousia May Alcott was forced by her publisher to marry Jo off and made up the couple out of spite.

7. Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read?

The last fic I read was a Word of Honour modern AU pairing Wen Ke Xing/Zhou Zishu in which they rescued stray kittens.

SInce I started this, I've also read a One Piece Luffy/Zoro fic (and that's not even my favourite ship--I've been a Zoro/Sanji girlie since the early 2000s! I'm weak for banter.)

8. Currently, do you have any OTPs?

I have so many. SO many. Truly. I don't even know where to start with this question! I follow several AO3 tags and fanfic writers that I get regular fic updates from. Most of my OTPs are either canon (from queer/BL/GL media) or the most popular ship (I feel very lucky that my taste is so basic). There is no one couple I love the most. Just going to throw a dart at the board: From BL, the one I come back to a lot is Hira/Kiyoi in Utsukushii Kare, because their dynamic is so intense.

9. Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

Hmm. That's what fandom is for, so not really? I usually get more annoyed when people do get together that I wish had stayed platonic (never forgiving Pacific Rim for that kiss, it was so unnecessary). And I'm extremely mad about censorship, i.e. couples that DID get together but we didn't get to see it for whatever reason (see e.g. Uranus and Neptune from Sailor Moon Sailor Stars; Chinese danmei novel live-action adaptations). Otherwise there are lots of these but I just read the fanfic and recover. I'll say I'm still annoyed Buffy didn't get to have with Faith what she had with Spike though. Their chemistry was off the charts.

10. Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

This is such a hard question. I came around a little on Lan Xichen/Jiang Cheng from MDZS/the Untamed, though it's still not my fave (it's a soft no not a hard no). I'll also give you an oldie: Andie McPhee and Pacey from Dawson's Creek. I hated Andie's character back in the day but now I like her character but really dislike how she was used in the show, which isn't the same thing. And I actually really liked how she and Pacey worked together.

I'll also give you a BL one: Kurosawa and Haruta in Ossan's Love. Ossan's Love s1 & 3 it was clear they were not OTP so that's a bit irrelevant anyway, but it's much less clear in s2 (the AU season) and the first time I watched it I wasn't sure how I felt about the way that season ended as much as I loved the season as a whole. I like it more every time I rewatch.

11. Do you have any ship that, in the past, was considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

LOL I am with everyone else on the Brian/Justin train but since that's been said twice I'll go with something else. I was a big Harry/Draco shipper back in the day, which would now probably get me cancelled for shipping someone with his bully (though a significant part of the fun of that ship was about how Draco was such an ineffectual bully...but I digress), in addition to of course how the author's transphobia ruined the whole thing for all of us (fanfic doesn't make her any money, so I don't have a problem continuing to read it in theory, but it's left a sour note over my experience and makes any engagement in that fandom less fun).

12. What was your favorite crack ship?

I was one of those foolish people obsessed with Hawkeye/Coulson before we'd even seen them face-to-face or knew almost anything about MCU Clint Barton. I still read fanfic of that ship even though it's been fully jossed and makes no sense at all anymore. Ok one more, I really love the very small Breakfast Club fandom shipping Brian/John and Claire/Allison. I've read the few fics on AO3 for the queer pair ghost ships in that show multiple times.

13. Who is the couple you read more fanfics of?

Of all time, I've probably read the most Kirk/Spock fanfic. But that's due to the length of time I've been into the ship, the amount of time it's existed, and its popularity. I still read Kirk/Spock regularly.

14. What most of your ships usually have in common?

Honestly most can be boiled down to grumpy/sunshine pairs in which both are very competent in specific ways and both are hiding crippling self esteem issues behind their grumpy or sunshine-ness, and have strong but differing moral codes that they each respect in one another (and is usually where the feelings start). Banter is a must. I am admittedly also here for height difference in my ships. Double-plus bonus for terrible communicators who learn to understand one another's particular communication quirks.

Perfect encapsulation of this dynamic is Danny/Steve from Hawaii Five-0 (listen that show was copaganda trash but the fanfic was fun as hell).

15. What do you absolutely hate in a ship?

Power dynamics that remain unaddressed as part of the story. Hate to love that isn't earned over time. When the relationship makes each other worse rather than better. When they never learn to trust one another. When one of them is in it as part of a savior complex and that doesn't get challenged or worked through. When only one of them has a personality. There's very little that I'd say is a hard no in terms of dynamics or setup for me, but it has to be handled well, and sometimes I don't have the energy to give something the benefit of the doubt.

tagging: @respectthepetty @wen-kexing-apologist @so-much-yet-to-learn @ginnymoonbeam @bengiyo with as always no pressure, plus anyone who sees this who wants to fill it out, consider yourself tagged and let me know so I can see it!

[boookfreeak]

Introductory Post

I think it's time for me to finally do this

Hi lovely people looking at my blog <3

I'm boookfreeak.

My name is Lilli - like Lily or Lilly or Lili, but different.

I'm German but was born and raised in Singapore so I grew up bilingual, which means I'm just as bad at English as I am at German. I also speak French and Swedish.

I am 19 y/o but because of Covid I feel like I should still be 15, school and friend group drama being my biggest problems.

I first turned up on tumblr in 2020 because my older sibling introduced me to it and it was a great platform to interact with fandoms with (that wasn't tiktok). Now I'm still here to talk about my special interests but also to speak to my mutuals and make new ones because you guys are the best!!

I am also on ao3, eventhough I don't post as much as I'd like to. You can find me under the same name boookfreeak.

-ꕥ-

my interests are:

The Witcher, Marvel, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Avatar (the blue ones and the airbender lmao), Lockwood & Co, Dead Boy Detectives, Sherlock Holmes, Pride and Prejudice, My Lady Jane, Voltron, Supernatural, Hunger Games, Teen Wolf, Grishaverse, Cruel Prince, Karen M McManus books, Holly Jackson books, Rubinrot (a German book series very few people on here know :') ), How To Train Your Dragon, The 100, Shadowhunters, Anne of Green Gables, Ghosts, The Office (both versions), Shameless (only the US one), Brooklyn 99, New Girl, Derry Girls, Merlin

The Amazing Devil, Taylor Swift, Noah Kahan, Hozier, Bo Burnham, Lin Manuel-Miranda, Chloe Ament

books, movies, tv shows, musicals, video games (mostly tw3 and sims), mythologies, historical dramas, linguistics, crime, writing and drawing

If you don't support LGBTQIA+ or the people of Palestine you are not welcome here.

-ꕥ-

my current read: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

my current watch: Supernatural and X-Men

-ꕥ-

Some fun facts about me:

I am queer (mostly in the asexual way, but who-knows-what-else way)

I have the ability to lick my own elbow (but only the left one for some fucking reason)

I love rain and snow

I've been to four continents and 20 countries

the first musical I ever saw live was Cats and my first concert was P!nk

people like to debate if I am a blonde or a redhead so I'd confidentaly say that I have strawberry blonde hair

my eyes are green and blue

I do not wear glasses (the only one in my family not to, suckerrrs)

I have 3 siblings and am wedged in the middle

I tend to curse so you probably see that a lot in my tags even if I try to keep it down

I have 3 budgies and a golden retriever

My hogwarts house is ravenclaw

My personality type is INTP

[igaveyouamortentia]

Introduction?

Name: Well.. It's a secret that I won't tell, I might tell you later if we get to know each other. But it starts with 𝑨.

Nationality: Not really a secret, I'll tell if you ask me, but I'll not put it out here yet if not interested. (But English isn't my first language so if you find any mistakes, I'm sorry, feel free to correct me, I'll try not to get offended 😄)

Age: 22 (August 6)

Height(? If that matters); Around 162-164 cm, 5'3-5'4 feet?

Hair: Mostly straight, naturally brunette, and dyed brunette now, but I had a few colours..

Eyes: Green? I think. Have some brown in the center, but mostly green.

Sign: Leo ♌︎, I'm a bit into astrology, I wouldn't say I base everything on it, it's fun, and I'd say there's some truth in it definitely.

Occupation: I just started workiiing, I've been studying this and that, but nothing got me a job until recently.

I'm an introvert.

I've been told I can be funny.. I'd describe my humour as... Bad. 😂 Sarcastic.. Dark sometimes. I can make people laugh, but definitely myself.

I prefer cats a bit more, we've always had dogs, but since we got some cats too I started to like them more maybe. But I'm fine with either!

I have a tattoo since I was 13... Almost 14 O.o yep. It's kind of a family tattoo.

I can't really say anything about my music taste.. It's like everything... Almost.

I probably have some undiagnosed mental health issues, so be aware of that, that can be the reason for my insecurity, negativity or absence, but I'm not gonna do anything, don't worry.

I started this.. Or my previous Tumblr accounts in upper primary I believe 😂 I think I had ones before this, but I always lost access to them, forgot the passwords and such, but I have this since 6-7 or 8th grade. My friends had it, they were watching maybe fan arts, or we were just sad and depressed, yk teen life.. So I joined them and created it. They're not active anymore, and I just come here every now and then for different reasons.. To vent, to look for inspiration for fandoms, or right now.. I'm looking for stuff to send to the man I'm interested in.. And it's a long distance kind of thing, so that's how we try to beat this. 😄

As a hobby.. I like playing video games sometimes, I tried out video editing, you know for TikTok and stuff. I love to write.. I'd not say I'm good at it, but I love doing it. I had some experience in roleplaying for years, but I quit it 😄I want to write a book one day in the future hopefully.

Hmm.. What else can I say.. Oh movies maybe.

I watched all of the seasons of American Horror Story! So we can talk about that.

I watched Breaking Bad, and now I'm watching Better Call Saul..

Also watched Fleabag and some non popular series if you wanna hear it 😂

I've been made to watch almost all of the Marvel movies so I know about that a bit 😄

As I mentioned before I'm a biiig Harry Potter fan, I only watched the films, haven't read the books yet. I'm obsessed with Professor Severus Snape 💚And the actor who played him Alan Rickman (I have his book, the diariesss). So there goes my daddy issues-

I had a lot of years when I questioned my sexuality, and I'm still not sure.. I could describe it best as.. I don't care about gender, nor anything else like age(don't get me wrong, I mean adults 🙌) I love a person regardless of those.. I fall in love with their vibe, and need to have that connection. Some would call it pansexual... I don't know. I had times when I thought I'm asexual, but my sex drive is way too high for that-

That's about it for now...

We can discuss more about that and other things.. Feel free to ask me, anons too, I'd be happy to answer anything. I don't judge or bite.

~𝑨

[cepheusgalaxy]

Hello! This is the one who asked for tips on 12yo Brazilian OC.

Thank you so much for all the tips, you give me so many I don't even think of. I will re-read them later.

May I ask something else please? You gave me the titles for dramas and it's so helpful! I actually need them so I can familiarise myself with the country. Thank you.

This time, I want suggestions for Brazilian novels, so I can read how Brazilian people write about themselves. Do you have any recs for me? Preferably those who have English translation because...of course.

Maybe those which have drama and slice of life as genres, but anything is okay.

Drama/telenovelas for teenagers/adults recommendations are welcome too, so I can have the more mature POV. Also, recommending Brazilian Lifestyle Youtubers is great too if you know some!

Hello anon! I'm glad my answer was useful to you :)

Now, first, of all, I thought a little about some books and shows and movies to recommend you, but I also wanted to disclaim a very relevant aspect of brazilian media that you may not know:

Most of the media we consume here is foreign.

For starters, let's say that finding a fan of "national literature" how we call it is kind of unusual. Most of the hits we have here (Percy Jackson, godforsaken Harry Potter, Pollyanna, Pride and Prejudice, The Matrix, Disney movies, I could go on) are all from the US or other Northern countries. Brazilian media is highly americanized. Take that plus manga and anime and also recently korean dorama, little of what we have comes from here.

If you asked, say, a random young adult in the street to tell you about a good Brazilian book, they'd probably just know the Old Classics like Machado de Assis or Jorge Amado, the kinds of books we have to read for school to answer a test. Those very old, very famous books that use of an arcaic Portuguese that is really hard to understand, especially if you're just doing it for a grade.

Most people's favorite shows, favorite book series, favorite movies... they're mostly all from the US.

This is pretty annoying, to be honest, to not find any "famous" or popular brazilian books. Shows and movies have more luck, but it's still tough out there. Finding media that's really from here sometimes it's not even compensating, so mostly we just stick with what comes from the outside. So, even if your character is brazilian, I think it wouldn't be unreasonable for her to just watch a lot of USamerican shows, like USamerican movies and read USamerican book series.

Now, since we've taken that out of the way, I have here some media sorted by medium and target audience for your purposes! There may be really frustrating to find actual brazilian stories out there, but that doesn't mean we don't have them!

Books:

Um Milhão de Finais Felizes - English title: "A Million Happy Endings". Genre: Queer romance. Story about young gay adult who wants to write a book but can't bring himself to. If I remember well it's a coming of age story. Rate: I'd say it's a teen to YA story.

Enquanto Eu Não Te Encontro - Couldn't find any records of an English version. Rough translation: "While I Can't Find You". Description: Queer romance about a guy who meets a dude in a bar and they fall in love. They lose contact and the protagonist tries to let it go untill they finally meet again. Rate: Teen to Young Adult.

Os Karas - English title: "Karas Chronicles". Description: A book series about a bunch of teenagers who solve misteries and defeat bad forces. Has about 5 volumes, I think, but I'm not sure. Maybe more. Rate: Tween to Teen.

A Hora da Estrela - English title: Hour of the Star. Description: I haven't really read it, but it's some romance and this is a really classic one. Rate: I have no idea but I know adults like it.

Nó na Garganta - Couldn't find any record of an English version (which SUCKS because this is a really interesting slice of life). Rough translation: Lump in the Throat. Description: Slice of life-ish. Story about a young black girl that moves with her family to the countryside, in a town full of whiter and richer kids than her. She tries hard to make friends, find a way to have fun and deal with expectations at home. Rate: Tween

Luna Clara & Apolo Onze - I'm not sure if there is an English version, but Onze means Eleven if you wanna try your luck looking for it. The rest of the title should be about the same. Info: About a girl in North Desatino who is waiting for her father to come back, and she watches every day for a sign of him, who is said to carry a cloud of rain on his head at all times; on the South, a boy has a forever lasting birthday party, when a stranger brings rain inside his house and he decided to help him. Has some romance and is a story with non-chronollogical chapters and is really funky. But it's pretty cool. Rate: I'd say is for tweens and teens.

Any book from Coleção Vaga-Lume - it's a collection with many many stories for children and teens and I haven't read a lot of them but it was more popular, I think, around three decades ago. I read a few as a child and they are really fun, some mistery here and there.

Movies:

O Auto Da Compadecida - English title: "A Dog's Will". Info: This is probably the most classic movie that is out there. It is adapted from a play with the same name (in Portuguese, "auto" means theathre play) and is a comedy movie about two really poor guys; one who is sweet-tongued and mischievous, and the other who is always telling way less-convincing and absurdist lies. The story follows them getting in trouble and making more trouble to escape the first one. "O Auto Da Compadecida" got translated as A Dog's Will, but a more accurate translation would be "Holy Mary's Play". It's a really fun movie. Rate: Family/All ages.

Minha Mãe É Uma Peça - English title: "My Mom is a Character". Info: Another classic and very loved comedy about a housewife who, tired from her family, leaves her children with their rich father and rich stepmother and goes to her aunt's house, to complain about her life. It's quite a masterpiece and I think it has two sequels, but I can't say how good they are cuz I haven't seen them. Rate: Family/All Ages.

Os Salafrários - English title: "Get the Grift". Another comedy movie about two siblings running from the law and their complicated relationship. Rate: Family/All ages.

Tô Ryca - English title: "I'm Rich". Info: Yet another comedy movie (sorry, that's all i watch lmao since i'm not a big movie watcher) about a working class woman who, one day, finds out to have a huge inheritance from a recently dead lady who is apparently her grandmother. However, to earn the money, she must pass one test: To spend 30mi reais (a brazilian real is about 1/5 usd) in thirty days. Rate: Family/All Ages.

Alice Jr - Info: Queer comedy/romance about a trans girl named Alice who temporarily moves to a small town in the countryside; for as long as her father has to stay there for finishing a job, Alice must survive her (temporary) new life with new people, new friends, new enemies, and a catholic school. Rate: I'm not completely sure but i'd also bet For All Ages or Teens.

Movies with Lázaro Ramos - I'm not a big fan like my mom for example, but he's a famous actor who apparently did a lot of great movies, so you could also check them out.

Shows:

De Volta Aos 15 - English title: Back to 15. Info: I'm not really the target audience so I haven't really touched it, but overall is a show about a woman who by some sort of magic becomes 15 years old again. I'm pretty sure it's a highschool drama. Rate: Children and Tweens, I suppose.

Turma da Mônica: Cine Gibi - I don't know if there is any English dub or subtitled version but I'm confident there is. I mentioned Turma da Mônica (Monica n' Friends, for you) in the other post, but I didn't really explained what it is. It's basically a big comic franchise that's really really popular and had one director for what, 60 years? Now it's his gay son directing the thing but back to the plot, it's about four children in a neighbourhood that live some funky adventures with caricaturesque characters, leaded by the protagonist, Mônica, who has herculeous force and is known as the boss of the street. The franchise got a few episode adaptations, but the one I'm talking about is a collection of about ten episodes of short stories that follow the premise that all the HQs get in an animation-ator made by one of the reocurring characters, who is an inventor, and they all get together in the theathre to see it. They also frequently break the fourth wall. Rate: Children and Tweens.

Novellas (mostly for teens, children and young teens/tweens):

Chiquititas

Carrossel

As Aventuras de Pollyanna

Carinha de Anjo

and many many many many more. My classmates usually watch novellas for older people as well, like the 6PM one or the 8PM one which i have no idea which are, but if you want to look for them i have the impression that it won't be really hard. Although, be warned, their episodes are usually 1h long and the shows last like forever. Like One Piece or smth, idk.

[arcielee]

Interview With a Writer

Thank you @theoneeyedprince for giving us some behind the scenes perspective on your brilliant writing 💜 As always, Interview With a Writer is my ongoing series of the talented souls on Tumblr and ao3, and their brilliant writing!

Dividers by @saradika 💜

Name: theoneeyedprince 

Story: A Refined Taste

Paring: modern Aemond Targaryen x Female!Reader

Warnings: Explicit/18+, be mindful of chapter warnings!

So, when did you start writing?

I have been interested in story telling and writing since I can remember. My first story that I've ever written was for a class in my third grade tilted "A Tale of a Little Droplet". I don't really remember why I decided to write a story about the journey that water goes through. Perhaps our teacher gave us this topic or I was just funny like that.

The thing is that I think that I've always had a soft spot for fiction. Then as the years went by I wrote everything from prose, to lyrics and poetry. Then I went to university and I started writing scripts, which became my new favourite form of writing, if I have to be honest.

When it comes to fanfiction it was the Harry Potter fandom that introduced me to it a decade ago. I read Dramione, Harry and Hermione and The Marauders fics first in my native language and then switched to writing those in English.

I didn't write at first but after months of being a reader I decided to give it a go and posted my own Dramione fic. Unfortunately, I believe that it got lost in the Internet ether because I didn't save the chapters on my computer-I wrote everything on the fanfiction site I used back then.

My fanfiction experience stopped or rather ended abruptly when I was in my senior year of high school and during four years at uni until my final year of my Masters degree began in October 2022. Funny enough it wasn't only the year when House of the Dragon premiered, but also the month when the older Aemond Targaryen appeared in the show.

The moment I saw this character on screen it was as if an old friend whispered in my ear telling me to come back. So after years and years of absence in the fanfiction community, I was finally back. All thanks to a new ASOIAF universe show and an incredibly intriguing character of Aemond Targaryen, played by Ewan Mitchell who I already knew from his role as Osferth in The Last Kingdom.

I took it slow however, searching fics and getting to know AO3 and the fanfiction side of tumblr. And as I was doing that, an idea for my own HOTD fanfic came to me. At that moment I felt like I was truly back.

What made you decide to start writing in English? Do you have any advice for budding new writers where English is not their native tongue?

I'd talk about bilingualism and literature written in English by non-native speakers for hours on end!

In my country (Poland, for anyone interested) kids start learning English in kindergarten so it became my second language pretty early on in my childhood, a constant since I was 6 years old. Lucky for me, it sunk into my brain with ease so the more I studied it the more comfortable I became with talking and writing in it.

Also, growing up with British and American shows, films and Internet helped me with that. I stopped reading translated books in high school (in English that is) 'cause I thought that if I watched visual media and listened to songs without having them translated, then why not try that with literature.

My journey with writing prose and poetry in English started then too. For some reason, writing in my second language (English) comes easier to me than in my first. I'm not sure how to describe it, it's still a mystery to me. Maybe it's the fact that I've been familiar with English for so long that my brain simply prefers it. Also, I got my degrees in English literature and translation studies so that helped me a lot with understanding this language at a level that feels like my second native tongue.

I'd say that as an author who writes in English I have an advantage because of how much time and space English occupied my life in the past and in the present.

My advice to anyone who wants to write in English but isn't a native speaker would be to simply start. Start writing and reading and get familiar with the language through these activities. The saying 'Practise makes perfect' is one hundred percent accurate!

To those who already write in their second or third language - I applaud you because by doing so you show everyone a skill that you should be proud of! In our modern times English is a global language and so available for everyone to learn that people take it for granted when someone says they read or write in it. How hard could it be, right? Well, the latter takes time and expertise and requires love and devotion for what you do. And doing that in another language is worth praising.

Where did the plot for A Refined Taste come from?

The idea came to me after devouring every modern AU that came my way. Summer was around the corner and I thought 'What if I wrote a modern AU myself? Can I do it?'

I was writing my in-canon Aemond fic at that time but started feeling a little burnt out and needed something else to focus on with hopes that it'll fill me with new inspiration and motivation. I wrote two short scenes but for what turned out to be a completely different fic at the end–the action took place during summer holidays so these scenes ended up in ART's Part 4 and 5.

The inspiration for A Refined Taste particularly came from Pinterest and Lana del Rey. A still from The Talented Mr Ripley showed up on my dash, while I was listening to Lana's Honeymoon album. Soon enough I was adding tens of pictures to my 'old money aesthetics’ board and then it dawned on me. This is perfect–a modern AU about the Targaryens being an old money family who lives in a big mansion by the sea and owns a private vineyard!

I had the title at the ready because it was one of three that I considered for a completely different modern AU but luckily it fit the theme and aesthetics. 'A refined taste' is a reference to the vineyard and their private wine collection, the old money lifestyle (the romanticised one, of course) and as we later find out in the story to the people we choose to spend time with and love.

So, in short the idea started with a desire to write a modern AU fic and old money aesthetics.

Explain your interpretation of Aemond. What drives him? Why is he the way he is in ART?

Aemond from A Refined Taste can be described in two different ways depending on who you ask about him. If you're like the reader at the beginning of the story, so someone who doesn't know him personally, no connection despite shaking hands with him once, he seems distant, so quiet that you might think him pompous and judgmental and there's this cocky attitude that comes to the surface from time to time.

However if you get to know him closer or manage to break down his walls, it turns out that he's more of an observant than a participant that's why he barely talks around strangers. Well, except for when there are his siblings around, then he might join in the conversation or crack a joke (whether it ends up being genuinely funny or mean that's another story 'cause our guy spends more time with books, he's an academic scholar after all, than with people that aren't his family).

When Aemond trusts someone or falls in love with them he lets them see this vulnerable and caring side of him that he keeps locked deep inside due to the trauma and heartbreak he faced in the past. He was raised by his mother because his father was always absent so one might assume that being doted on by Alicent he'd be more in touch with his feelings but unfortunately for him it was the opposite. Especially after losing his eye it became obvious how little Viserys cared for him.

Also, he became a shell of himself, locking himself from the world, in consequence becoming a very lonely boy who later had trouble finding friends outside of his siblings. That is why he focused on his studies.

When it comes to his romantic life, he had crushes but his low self-esteem constantly pulled him back from shooting his shot with those girls. He went through some sort of transformation during the summer before his first year at Oldtown University with the help of Aegon who was finished with his B.A. at KLU at that time. That's when he met Alys, his first serious girlfriend and a cause for the return of his bitterness and insecurities (it was a long, on and off toxic relationship). After that he was with Cass who was only a rebound for him, turning him into a cold and selfish dick in her eyes, which he was at the end. Aemond simply couldn't think of any way to cope with his previous relationship and treated Cass like Alys treated him. And that is one of the reasons why he enjoys sex, because he can be in control of a situation and forget everything just for a moment.

Then, there came the reader who showed him that he doesn't have to be at odds with the world and people in it only because he's hurting so much, that if he gave someone a chance they can surprise him in a good way.

His love language is acts of service (and quality time, at the same time)–he offers to teach the reader how to play tennis, notices what book she's been reading and gives her a first edition he's sure she'd like, shows his attraction to her by providing her pleasure without wanting anything in return (Part 4 and Part 5), takes her on a date on a boat and at the vineyard, chooses the PHD program that is closest to where she lives, shows up with flowers at her work in order to surprise her. Words of affirmation are something new to him though, but seeing how open she is with her feelings, he decided to grand her the same in return.

He's a very contradicting character in canon, so I wanted to convey that in ART too.

Was there anything in specific that inspired your Reader?

I wanted the character of the Reader to be someone who is independent on her own but would benefit from ending up in a relationship with someone who shares her interests and challenges her. I'm not going to lie, her love for literature is the author showing themselves in the fictional character. But that's totally okay because every writer leaves a part of themselves in the characters they create.

I tried to make her as relatable to the person reading as her as I was able. Besides a couple of mentions of the quite big difference in height between her and Aemond, I decided not to describe her physical appearance so you the reader can see yourself in her, act in this role even. In this I got inspired by some amazing modern AUs where a reader can wholly become The Reader.

On the other hand, I needed her to be three-dimensional at the same time. In the process she became a mixture of my favourite characters and the women in my life. Confident in what she wants and needs but not free from self-doubt, realistic but romantic, in touch with her feelings but sometimes too much that it causes her distress, empathetic but prejudiced in some cases (Aemond at the beginning). Indeed it was the women I'm influenced by that inspired to write the Reader in this particular way.

Why do you think your Reader complements Aemond so well?

I think that my Reader and Aemond complement each other because they're interested in literature and relate to each other's love for their siblings, but also because they differ in so many aspects. They naturally challenge each other and not only in a fun way that excites them, but also so they're able to grow as individual people–find and reveal hidden sides they were too afraid to act on.

Was there another characters in your story you enjoyed writing?

I really enjoyed writing the Reader’s sister Argella. She was the only OC in this story–besides the Reader of course if we can consider her to be an OC–that i made from scratch.

Argella and Reader’s relationship was inspired by the one I have with my sister but changed slightly into something even more special, deep in understanding of one another. A truly profound sisterhood. Besides that I loved throwing in these little moments of her and Helaena together and I can’t wait to write a one shot where we’ll get to know Argella as a character and which will delve into the girls’ relationship.

Do you think there be a sequel? Or do you have anything else you are working on next?

I don’t think there’s a need for a sequel. The Epilogue was written in a way that both concludes the story but allows us to imagine their life after it. There might be one shots if anyone requested something that would added to the story.

For now I’d like to focus on the rewriting of my first Aemond fic titled Of Blood and Fire which I’m currently in the middle of and an upcoming Tom Bennet story - As The World Burns. In both cases the romantic interests are original female characters, which are just so fun to create. Also one shots are to be always expected because my mind comes up with too many ideas. It’s just too little time to bring them all to life.

But one will be posted soon as part of your/arcielee’s 1k celebration! All I can say is keep an eye on my blog 🤭

Do you have a personal favorite story you'd like to share?

I thoroughly enjoyed @adragonprinceswhore 's “Warm Me Up” one shot and I see she’s got a series inspired by Fleetwood Mac, which sounds amazing!

"Come Back To Me" by @assortedseaglass has a special place in my heart because it was the very first Billy Washington fic I have ever read. "My Heart Belongs To Daddy" was the first fic of @humanpurposes that I read and in my top 5 of favourite modern AUs.

Also, @endless-ineffabilities series Maroon captured my heart! It’s been months since I read it and I’m still thinking about it.

[livwritesstuff]

thanks for the tag @cheeky-undead <3 <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

55 (according to AO3)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

435,923 good lord

3. What fandoms do you write for?

used to write for legends of tomorrow (rip) and now it's literally just steddie (and ronance when the inspiration strikes)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

if we're only talking stranger things (bc tbh i don't really wanna talk LoT lol):

i want your guy (to know)

swing, sucker, swing

plant a seed (we'll watch it grow)

honeydew (you love me, well)

don't look back, love (there's a million people)

5. Do you respond to comments?

yep i try my best to reply to all of them

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i'm not really one for angst tbh (writing it, anyway, i LOVE reading it). Angstiest overall is probably Covered in the Colors (LoT soulmate au w/an unhappy ending). For ST it's probably hold on (hold you)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

tbh most of my series The Satellite and the Sky has happy endings, but I guess that depends on your definition of "happy". plant a seed (we’ll watch it grow) is probably the happiest ending overall.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not very often these days -- i don't think it's ever happened during my time writing for the ST fandom bc i think there's been a shift in awareness that leaving hate comments on fic is generally really shitty and that individuals are ultimately responsible for curating their online experience

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I personally am not a smut writer. idk why but i always run into weird blockers whenever i try

10. Do you write crossovers?

not at the moment

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so -- come to think of it, I should probably being checking in on that every now and then

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

not that i'm aware of

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope - not opposed to it except that I move at a glacial pace when it comes to writing and I don't want to put that burden on anyone else lol

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

ooh fav of all time? idk i’m not really a multi-shipper to be honest. i usually get really into one ship for a while until my interest runs dry. longest running would probably be captain canary from legends of tomorrow, but i see myself ranting about all the ronance missed opportunities for a Long Time

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

i have bits and pieces of a hadestown au for steddie that i sincerely doubt will ever see the light of day bc I'm so genuinely intimidated by it. that musical is so so good and I couldn't write anything that came even close

16. What are your writing strengths?

i think i’m pretty good at making things feel real. i’m a planner and a bit of an over-thinker so i really like the small details. i also tend to lean on writing what i know which i think helps

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I have a hard time sticking to just one tense lol i don’t know what that's about.

i’m also a pretty literal thinker so tapping into metaphors and abstract ideas is still a challenge for me.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

there are stronger soldiers than me out there who can do this. generally speaking, i like to write what i know. english is the only language i have total fluency in so if i wanted to write dialogue in another language, i'd have to rely on google translate which is obviously not accurate at all (not for conversational dialogue anyway), and I think some realism slips there

19. First fandom you wrote for?

not sure if it counts, but i used to write little self-insert harry potter stories when i was in elementary school before i even knew that fic was a thing. i think my first published fic would have been for glee (again, rip)

20. Favorite fic you've written?

tbh I think just like honey (you make me melt) is my fav. I had never written Eddie's POV up to that point and I was really nervous going into it, but something about writing from his perspective made it easier for me to face some of my writing challenges

i also had SO much fun writing my tommy pov i want your guy (to know)

[joanthangroff]

Answer the Questions and Tag 5 Fanfic Authors

Thanks for the tag @incorrectcoldflashblog! :)

1. How did you get into writing fanfiction?

I've been writing my own stories since I was like 10 or 11, but when I got on tumblr a few years later I discovered fanfiction :D First in a German forum where I mostly read Harry Potter fanfiction and eventually I tried my own hand – with drabbles (the actual exactly-100-words-kind of drabble, thank you very much) and then oneshots about Draco/Luna – because what else could have made me write than a rarepair? When I got more into the Glee fandom, I also got more used to fic in English and then I tried my hand on that, too (mostly because, again, I was into a rarepair that nobody else wrote about).

2. How many fandoms have you written in?

If we take all the Arrowverse shows as one fandom, it's 10 :)

3. How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

At least for 13 years :D

4. Do you read or write more fanfiction?

At the moment I read more – because I rarely write at the moment :D But usually I'd say I write more.

5. What is one way you’ve improved as a writer?

I'm much much much better at introspection!! My fics consisted mostly of dialogue when I started writing. And now I spend more time analyzing characters' thoughts and feelings, I think?

6. What’s the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

Oh, don't we all have that moment where we text our bio-engineer friend at 2am in the morning and ask "Hey, if a person in Illinois died in the night of December 11 2013 because they were struck by lightning and then got buried in moist soil, how rotten would their body have been after nine months?"

Otherwise I'd say the month I spent researching lacrosse which almost made me start playing the sport was a very wild ride, personally.

7. What’s your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

"I love all comments equally!", I say like a father who's asked to name their favourite child. (In truth, I have always loved comments that are written while people read the fic. I used to write them, too, but since I mostly read via phone nowadays it's a hassle.)

8. What’s the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

Trans Indian Epic, baby!

9. What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

TIME TRAVEL!!! Do you know how many fic ideas I have that I just can't execute because I keep running in circles whenever I think about the implications of time travel?????? And also anything involved with lots of movement.

10. What is the easiest type?

Chatfics, my beloved <3

11. Where do you do your writing? What platform? When?

I write per hand most of the time while my mum's watching something on TV that I'm not interested in. Then it gets typed up to Google Docs and from there it finds its way to ao3.

12. What is something you’ve been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

The Glee/Flash AU of your dreams is resting in my head. And also the Teen Wolf season 5+6 rewrite where Mason can see Auras.

13. What made you choose your username?

It was my tumblr URL at the time and is a relict of my Marauders phase. pettigrace = pettigrew + ace. Do not mention Peter Pettigrew to me unless you want to be exposed to a rant that would make me look like a Rat Apologist. (On that note: FUCK JKR!!!!!)

I am tagging @lalalenii @pikechris @sophiainspace @frosty-the-killer-doll and I cannot think of a fifth writer rn.

[lizziestudieshistory]

Books of 2023 - May

How is it June already? I read a lot this month but I've felt very wishy-washy about almost everything I've read. I don't think I chose the books I read very well and ended up with a lot of mediocre reads. Most were interesting enough at the time but not memorable over the long term.

If On A Winter's Night A Traveller by Italo Calvino - interesting but ended up feeling very one note... I also hated the unnecessary amounts of weird sex, my inner Victorian lady sensibilities were scandalised 😉

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson - second chance read due to watching too much Shardcast, it was fine but this book was not for me and a lot of the content irritated me

Poems by Christina Rossetti - Rossetti is my new favourite poet, although I didn't read the religious poetry section because that tends to annoy me

The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson - an okay Sanderson book. I'm exhausted by the fixation on magical combat from Sanderson and this book suffered in placed because of that, but it was a fast and entertaining (if a bit forgettable) read.

Turning Darkness Into Light by Marie Brennan - my standout of the month, I loved this book and I think more people need to read Brennan's Lady Trent books. My only concern was Audrey, she felt like a less interesting version of Isabella, rather than her own character.

Maps to Nowhere by Marie Brennan - short stories are not usually my thing but this was interesting, as usual a few stood out more than others. If you're looking at reading a sample from Brennan I would recommend Once A Goddess and Nine Sketches, in Charcoal and Blood

Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie - an entertaining read from Christie, unfortunately I'd worked out who was the murderer in the first third, but I had fun!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling - I needed something easy and familiar to read while I was exhausted from setting, overseeing, and marking mock exams at school

Lysistrata, The Acharnians, and The Clouds by Aristophanes - I've combined these because I didn't like them, but I've learnt I don't like Greek comedy. I just don't like dirty jokes. The events surrounding these plays was so much better than the plays themselves!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling - see above.

Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie - another entertaining read from Christie, I didn't guess the murderer this time! But I was less interested in the characters, so swings and roundabouts. I listened to this one with the Hugh Fraser audiobooks and his narration was fantastic, so I'd recommend trying out the audiobooks if you're interested in Christie

DNF:

The Bright Ages by Gabrielle and Perry - abysmal historical practice made this unreadable

Waverley by Sir Walter Scott - right book, wrong time situation. I will be coming back to this one!

Currently reading:

The Metamorphoses by Ovid

Witches: James I and the English Witch-Hunts by Tracy Borman

The Farthest Short by Ursula K. Le Guin

[censorship]

Explore me bookshelf

(Not actually) Tagged by @matrose :-]

An estimate of how many physical books I own: About 100 maybe? The number is increasing with my age...

Favorite author: Hermann Hesse 4evaaaaa, Jonas Jonasson and Oscar Wilde are also pretty okay

A popular book I've never read and never intend to read: It's a book series as far as I'm aware but the Harry Potter stuff lol I know many of my peers read the books as children but I never touched it in my life (I think, maybe I did though, my memory sucks but at least it launched that out of my brain I guess in case I did touch the books before)

A popular book I thought was just meh: To be fair I haven't read it fully nor have I watched the famous film adaptation but PRIDE AND PREJUDICE BY JANE AUSTEN I'M SORRYYYYY I CANNOT STAND HER WRITING I DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHINGGGGGG

Longest book I own: The Complete Sherlock Holmes collection by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy

Longest series I own all the books to: Ummm I think The Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR Tolkien <3

Prettiest book I own: From the cover art I presume? Probably the Puffin Clothbound Classics edition of Dracula by Bram Stoker

A book or series I wish more people knew about: The Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley! I thought it was a children's/teens' book series but I just googled and nobody mentions that so I guess it's just a normal mystery thing??? I read it as a kid so maybe that's why I was projecting teehee (also the protagonist is 11 at the beginning - or forever, I don't remember)

Book I'm reading now: Maurice by EM Forster and When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro (latter one's for class actually...)

Book that's been on my TBR list for a while but I still haven't got around to it: Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin </3 I will read it after Maurice and WWWO for suuuuure (wink)

Do you have any books in a language other than English: Yeah maybe a third of my library is in German... :-)

Paperback, hardcover, or ebook? Paperback because you can bend it and stuff. Also e-books are cool I guess if you want to read a long story or multiple ones at once on the go but otherwise I am not a big fan of them </3

Tagging these cool people: @ihateleagueoflegends @arhada @baldursgate2 @gomadayo @tanukidrill and anybody else who wants to do this :3 feel free to tag me in it, I'd love to read your post

[therhythmafterthesummer]

Hi darling 👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻. I know this is off topic

If i remember correctly you said English isn't your mother tongue, could you tell us how you learned to write in such a wonderful English? It's really impressive how wide your vocabulary is and the way you convey your characters emotions.

I promise this is my last request for today, can I be 🌑 anon?

Hope you have a nice day 😚

i love this question, btw 🥺 i like talking about this.

the answer is kinda long, so i'll leave it under a cut, but the tl;dr is that english was the only way i could enjoy my special interests, so my autistic ass just... learnt it to indulge in these things. it all led me to reading and writing a lot in the language, which was how i started developing my own creative writing skills.

i always say English was my first love, which is kinda funny considering i used to hate English as a subject in school (bc i couldn't understand it when i was like... 9 years old. it was taught to us as a 'foreign language', but the level of education wasn't exactly.... good. i could barely count to twenty and i knew some colours, that's about it lol).

anyway, when i was around 14 years old i got really into harry potter*. we're talking obsessive levels of being into it... and very quickly i realised that the best spaces online surrounding the series were in english. i ended up joining tumblr back in 2010, when the only available language to use it was english. got really into doctor who and bbc merlin, as well as british youtubers (charlieissocoollike, my beloved...) and i just overall started consuming a lot of media in english. i eventually started reading books in english (percy jackson, the hunger games...), also fanfiction in english, and at some point i just... realised i could understand what i was watching/reading very well.

it was sort of a natural progression, tbh. when i was 17 i was fairly proficient (not fully, i still made basic grammar mistakes, but i think it was understandable for someone that wasn't learning through formal education). i ended up going to uni to study to become a translator (i dropped out lol but that's a story for another day, if you wanna hear it), and my english just got better there when i started to actually study grammar.

by 21 i'd say i was fully fluent... and now i'm here.

when it comes to actual creative writing, reading is what got me the vocabulary i have (which could be way better, i'm sure), and actually sitting down and writing was what got me to where i am right now with my writing. it's a practiced skill, pretty much.

thank you for this question, it got me remembering nice things about my past that make me happy and i often forget about💜

*(for transparency, i'm not into harry potter anymore. i can't stand jkr and her terf-ass, so the series is completely tainted for me. i can't consume anything HP related these days, because all i can think about is how it was written by such a hateful, disgusting person. it triggers only negative emotions in me these days, which is really, really sad tbh)