#They have great chemistry and you can always tell they're having a lot of fun playing off of each other

[whysamwhy123]

Broke - MJF vs Omega

Woke - Shida vs Abadon, Fright Night Fight

[trainsinanime]

Your favorite fanfic writer doesn't know (but would like to)

Let's talk about comments on fanfics. This is not meant as a guide or call to action, just a bit of observations. Personally, I always saw it as impolite to ask for reviews or kudos or comments or likes or reblogs or whatever. That's not a rational point of view, it just reflects how I am. And people actually telling others that they have to leave any of this feedback? I've blocked folks over that. In my mind that's not okay. I'm not announcing a change of that, this is not a policy, just some deep-seated mental issues, but I want to write down some more things that have been going through my mind, from the perspective of someone who occasionally writes fanfics. My previous suggestion in this regard was mostly to write some fanfic yourself and see what happens and what you'd like to happen, because it's genuinely fun and I think you probably have more to say than you realise.

But there's also another point here, and that is that your favourite fanfic writer has no idea that they are. If you're anything like me, then it will seem like the great writers in your fandom are obvious. Also, the last time you bought Blåhajs, it ended with you having to flee a smoke-filled subway tunnel. The great stories and great writers in your universe are facts of nature. You read a story and you think, "this is the greatest thing I've ever seen." A story rewires your brain chemistry forever. You keep coming back and reading that one fic whenever the mood hits you. It feels obvious that this story is great. How could it not be?

It feels trite to say that the author of that fic doesn't know that unless you tell them, but it's hard to really understand the feeling unless you've been there yourself. You write a story, but is it any good? Maybe you get a lot of kudos, or maybe very little, but what does either of that mean? Kudos can mean literally anything from "loved this" to "didn't close the tab in disgust". Maybe you just got unlucky. Maybe you just got lucky. What do these numbers mean? What is a good number of kudos? 1? 10? 100? 1000? Should I calculate ratios? How do I know whether people like this?

In light of this, a comment where someone just said, "I loved this", has an almost incalculable worth. A comment where someone says they read this over and over again, or quotes lines they loved, or something? You can't imagine how valuable that is. A while ago someone told me "a couple of us are talking about this on Discord, we love it and we keep repeating our favorite lines". I thanked them, but I was too polite to say, "really? What are they saying? Which are your favorite lines? How many people are there who love it? What are their names? Which lines are the favorite ones, please, tell me!". Part of me still regrets that, because I so desperately want to know! I don't think it was a public Discord and I never heard from the others on it, but just the idea that they're out there and they like my story was so powerful. (By the way, it's not on any account that's linked from here, please don't try to find that comment.)

Now, I firmly believe that you, as a reader, don't have to care about any of that. I know there are people who disagree with me on this point, very strongly in fact, but I don't think it's necessarily your job to care. It's great if you do, and I think a lot of you do in fact care, that's why I'm writing this. But if you haven't thought about that or don't feel comfortable leaving comments or whatever, that's fine, that's normal, and you are in fact part of the majority. Any well-adjusted fic author has found ways to deal with this. They have learned to love writing for its own sake, or they love re-reading their own fics, or they have a couple of trusted friends who like their work, or ideally all three. Personally I was scared of Discord for the longest time, but it really helps with that. One person who you sort of know going "hey that's neat" can outweigh just about anything else. (Still, there will be days when you post something and you won't get a response and that just plain sucks, no two ways about it.)

But if you do care, if you think it's important that a fanfic writer knows what they mean to you, not because of any concern about the wider unpaid fan creator economy but just because of the way their work affected you, then this is important. Your favorite fanfic writer probably doesn't know and/or believe that they're anyone's favorite, and even if they do, a reminder or learning that someone knew found them will make them incredibly happy. And obviously, all of that applies at least just as much to all the beginners with potential that are out there. So if you're wondering whether it's worth it leaving a comment that says how much you enjoyed something: It probably is. And if you shared this with others and they loved it, or if this is your favourite fic, or if you enjoy how original it is, or how well it does your favourite tropes, or anything like that, the writer is going to be so happy to hear that.

A final aside: This obviously applies even more when it's about fandoms, pairings, subject matter and in particular ratings that are considered a bit embarrassing. Writers who write stuff that, say, happens to be E-rated for whatever reason, doesn't matter, will probably get fewer kudos and comments just because people are embarrassed to have their names show up in the Kudos and Comment sections. If that's you, just a note that it is perfectly okay to comment anonymously, or to create a second separate account for leaving kudos on, commenting on and maybe even posting the somewhat more risqué stuff. Now I'm not saying I have one of these second accounts, at least I'm not saying that in public, but it is an option worth considering.

[mecachrome]

i swear there is something about landoscar that makes me insane like i got into this fandom and have liked a lot of ships like maxiel, carlando, lestappen etc but there is just something different about landoscar??? idk if it's the dynamic between the two?? or if it's oscar's personality that makes their interactions feel genuine but i would love your analysis or thoughts on this cause WHYYYYYYY have these boys taken over my brain like so??? i swear other ships are literally out here hugging like mad and saying sexual innuendos to each other etc etc and im unfazed but i see oscar and lando have the slightest touch or glance at each other and im feral foaming at the mouth lmfaooooo !!!

omggg anon i answered an ask here about why 814's personalities appeal to Me Personally but maybe i shouldn't get too into that... 😔

anyway idk whether this makes any sense but perso with some rpf ships i find that the myth somewhat outweighs the canon or vice versa — i.e. the "potential narrative" of a ship is really compelling but it doesn't quite exist as it's written in canon, or a ship doesn't have that many compelling extra narratives other than the existing relationship that's strongly visible in canon. and i think these are all great and fun to ship, but i guess as EYE see it it sort of feels like 814 balance those aspects fairly well? like they have a dece amount of sweet and interesting interactions with each other, but obviously they're not best friends and there's enough of this like, sense of repression + the fact of their personalities being not fully diametric but still different enough that it feels like you can take them in a lot of directions. i really like that landoscar aren't quite foils but also aren't "twins" either as some people say, and oscar despite being so lauded as mature is still inspired by lando in many ways and shares the same sarcastic humor as him and enjoys his presence a lot. they work because they aren't opposites but there are enough crucial aspects that separate them so you can make a lot of tropes and aus fit them. which isn't to say you can't do the same with the other ships you mentioned but... idk i'm also just biased because i'm an oscarybroTM so i don't really think about 90% of the grid so i'm fundamentally less invested HLKSDFHLH

also i've mentioned this b4 but my favorite hockey ship (2124) is literally the hockey version of oscar (dorky californian sportsnerd who brings his gaming setup on road trips to play fifa) x his dry finnish linemate whom he doesn't even interact with off the ice but ON the ice they have the most electric wordless chemistry and are constantly aware of where the other is and play beautifully together and get super awkward when reporters try to talk to them about it. so like to me unspoken collaboration IS a beautiful and worthy thing to rpf about.... *__* so clearly i enjoy teammate repression and awkwardness in my ships already but then 814 are kind of even more insane because they're less myth than 2124 so there's SO much to chew on. at least for moi 🥰 icl i'm a little bit anti-pda so constructing intricate rituals to look longingly at other men and laugh at their bad jokes is more compelling to me than straight up skinship/bgp... i was just telling @inchidentally whose analysis i feel like might be up your alley that i don't rly get why people act like oscar's "heart eyes" toward lando are "pr" (???) because from everyth we've been told and see about him it's so clear that he's always been just himself and the level of... unguarded emotion he displays around lando isn't something you can just make up imo. even if it's just little things and they go off and do completely different things off-track (which again i kind of enjoy. like romanze can be guy who goes off to party with models the day after a race x guy who's in bed gearing up his 10th joke about getting his wisdom teeth removed) it makes them rly fun to watch ;__;

[swifty-fox]

Send me a fic of mine and I'll answer...

A Kingdom for a Kiss?

THIS GOT SO LONG I AM SORRY

My favorite scene

oh god that is so hard to choose.

I think honestly chapter eighteen/the second sex scene is my favorite scene. It is the culmination of so many issues in Gale's psyche, especially around John and Gale's perception of their dynamic. Taking all that and flipping it right on its head.

Previously in the story Gale is so obsessed with the ways he is not like John in terms of his masculinity and terms of how he expects John to be in bed. Every fantasy of his is tinged with shame and twisted in terms of gender and role because Gale cannot picture himself as an active participant. It doesn't feel safe for him because it feels too unrealistic for John to ever want him as a man, so he pretends to be a woman in his fantasies to ground him (comphet is a hell of a drug)

We do see briefly in one fantasy that Gale does want to take charge in bed but it scares him, feels too close and too real so he shies away from it. Chapter Eighteen is all about him coming to terms with his own desires. And also John is a really fun bottom to write

My favorite chapter (if it's a multichapter)

Lmao the book fingering chapter. It was fun to just let loose and do something really unhinged. Plus any scene/chapter where I got to write Gale and John Sr. interacting was just really fun they had a ton of chemistry as characters and were just a blast to bounce off of each other.

Hardest scene to write

Honestly the whole story flowed relatively easy. I think my biggest struggles were the James chapters just because I wanted to get the tone/intention and dynamic exactly right between Gale and James. I needed to make it clear that Gale was willingly putting himself in a situation that was going to trigger/mentally harm him. He was committing an act of self harm, just with sex instead of some sort of physical wounding. And that while James was not a great guy he was as far as he could tell, receiving full consent from Gale. So that chapter went through a couple revisions and was sent to a lot of people for review

Favorite character to write in the fic

John Sr.!!!! I think he's a delightful foil to Gale and John. I think he can be very easy to hate and be angry at because we care so much about John, but when you get into his head a bit you see a man who was making harmful choices but was doing what he thought was best because he is also deeply traumatized and hurting. He Is John and Gale, in essence. He's them twenty/thirty years in the future and he's them if they were not able to find community and safe space to talk about their experiences in the war. His brothers were killed, his parents died/killed themselves he left for war with a full family and came home to just a wife and a young son who didn't recognize him.

I have so much love and empathy for him and it was totally unexpected. Does he make great decisions? no. Is he trying his best to not just be a father to John but also to Edie and a good husband to his wife? Absolutely he is.

Favorite dynamic to write in the fic

Aside from Clegan obviously, It's Gale and John Sr.

I think like John says in the opening theme they're very similar men deep down. I think they're able to communicate in ways the more emotional Bucky is not able to with his father. While they always loved each other I think there was always this slight issue of communication between them where they just don't quite get one another.

Gale, with his observational ability and honestly, some level of fear of John Sr. (older fatherly men etc.) he's very attuned and attentive not just what John Sr. is saying out loud but also what he is not saying. There's a lot of nonverbal communication between them that is fun to write between the lines.

Why I chose that title

My body turns

And yearns for a sleep that won't ever come

It's never over

My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder

It's never over

All my riches for her smiles

When I've slept so soft against her

obviously pronouns changed, but this is the part of the song I pulled the title from. The song is just all about yearning and a missed opportunity which is I think a very central theme to Kfak. Obviously it works out for them too but god it took a second to get there!

A fun fact about the fic

Fun fact ooo lets see...

John calls his dad Pops because it's time period appropriate but also that's what I called my grandfather! It feels like a nice little hello to him every time I write it and it's a fun way of keeping my memory of him alive and fresh. John Sr. is not like my pops at all but either way it makes me smile to type

[nugulover69]

I too am a member of the Taiya-hater club and every episode I question why I'm not dropping this show until they show me scraps of Mira or Agent Shirabe or the Three Idiots, but I think from now on I'll be fastforwarding through new eps just for them. My only sentai are Zenkai and halfway through Donbros so being forced to watch Boonboom Red as the main character is like beibg fed cardboard after a pizza.

Oh man. if your only sentai experience is zenkai and donbros, two very experimental and Not A Typical Sentai sentais, yeah boonboom must hit a real sour note since its a return to basics lol

I personally wouldn't call it bad so far, a solid B+ imo, but Taiya is def the weakest character, and his blandness is only more evident whenever an episode is focused on him

I can suggest some good sentais that are more typical in structure for you to watch in the future:

Gokaiger- the core team is phenomenal here, bursting with personality and incredible chemistry between each of them. this IS an anniversary sentai, meaning past rangers are constantly showing up to be apart of the plot, but you do NOT need to have seen their shows to get the gist and have a fun time. you're following the gokaigers and their character arcs are always the main focus. plus they're aliens (space pirates even) that don't know jackshit abt Earth, so you and them are on the same level of knowledge lol

Idk why folks don't recommend this as a starter sentai more often. it was my first ever sentai and I picked the next sentais I watched based on how entertained I was by a past characters appearance. its how I watched go-onger and carranger (and liveman but I don't wanna talk abt that)

Also Marvelous is best red. this is an objective fact we as a community all agree on, even if he's not our own personal favorite red

Speaking of go-on

Go-onger- the canon, main strength of this team is their stupidity. VERY CARTOONY, heavy on hijinks, light on serious plot (it was written by a veteran kids anime writer and boy can you tell). if you like loud genki kinda assholeish shonen protags than you'll love the red Sosuke. if you don't...perhaps skip this one lol. Sosuke is a biiiig make or break of someone's enjoyment of go-on. the villains are great tho, very team rocket, kinda like the Sanseaters in boonboom

(and its a much better car sentai. Speedor is there all the time. boonboom only has Speedor for one episode. I rest my case)

Zyuohger- if you need an animal sentai under your belt, this is the best one. the red, Yamato, does get more focus than the rest of the team (many more power ups as well) but he's a likeable character played by a guy who can actually act. GREAT VILLAINS, they evolve over time as well and I can't say much w/o spoiling things, but I'll just say Genis caused his own demise

Also I haven't seen donbros but I know the donbros sixth is deranged, so if you need more deranged sixths in your life you should watch zyuoh for Misao

Gekiranger- if you really love serialized story telling and characters growing and changing and all that, I cannot recommend geki enough. in a lot of sentai, the weapons are usually just found or given, which isn't inherently a bad thing but I can see why someone wouldn't care for that. every weapon and power up the gekis get is always earned thru them overcoming some obstacle, literal or figurative, so its that much more rewarding when the new Marketable Touy is used

Also they're kung fu fighting cats. did I mention they're kung fu fighting cats. the red was raised in the woods and literally acts like a feral animal most of the time. he does mellow out over the course of the show, but honestly if someone doesn't like Jan from the jump I don't trust them (he has CRAZY yaois with the main villain Leo btw)

[natashasbitxh]

I have to say it. I started my Shayne journey this week and honestly not mad at all. I just u know, love to see sometimes how Shayne will be looking at chance like he's trying to understand something in him, that he doesn't even realize. Always when chance isn't looking obviously, the other part to me is how gentle the interactions are, sometimes I feel like Shayne is afraid of Chance in a good way I think. Then when they laugh at the same joke, it's rare but curious. I sense like they could be really good friends, but there's something that doesn't let them be close in that way. Maybe they're not trying to be friends, maybe they will always see the other as someone dar away even though they actually have a lot of things to relate. The new video with the fanfic really highlights for me that strange aura around them, like a wall they're too afraid to be friendly, Shayne seemed nervous and I don't understand why, nothing bad really happens and he doesn't like the eye contact too much hahahaha. Those two are a funny little duo, like they would be the kind of friendship that act like they have a secret and wouldn't tell anybody and inside jokes. So I'm saying this to you now, thank you for sharing your love for this duo, they deserve more, even if it's only shipping, it works for me, I don't mind. Another thing is, I would love to see more banter between them in the next videos hahahaha. Chance did a great job in the fanfic, he really is a theater kid. I wonder if he sense Shayne nervousness sometimes or not. Please share you thoughts on them too!!! I would totally read just an essay of them, explaining why you like this dynamic if you ever wanted to write it

Well first off, welcome to shaynse nation! Was gonna say that I hope ur enjoying ur journey but it seems u r!

(Putting more under the cut because this got rlly long!)

Adding on, I also find that Chanse does the same with Shayne! Both of them watch eachother and seem to REALLY be listening. I think Shayne wants to impress Chanse, not always but often he'll make a joke and look over to Chanse for his reaction.

And I understand what u mean sm! I could deffo feel some nervousness from Shayne, once again I've seen other ppl say it but it is so introvert x extrovert!

and honestly even without shipping, I think their dynamic and friendship is so fun and entertaining! They really are so funny together!

I honestly tried to go back and see what video made me think of shaynse, but I honestly can't remember at all!

Honestly, I think I like this ship just cause its so interesting and like you said, gentle? There's this sort of softness that I always associate with shaynse, and even any angst I imagine to be the same if that makes sense. I've said it before, but they really do give me the vibes of evermore (by Taylor Swift), Cigarettes After Sex, Lana Del Rey and maybe even Mitski. Also just throwing this in but I've noticed he's started to give Shayne the "Angela..." treatment, "Shayne..." and I think that shows a development in at least friendship. Like taking out any romance, I think you really can notice how they've gotten closer in videos and have great chemistry. I've also noticed in videos recently that they mirror each other a lot or even finish each other's sentences to an extent and I think that's rlly sweet! I've mentioned this before but Chanse often twirls his hair whilst he's listening or talking to Shayne, just an observation! I've noticed he does this kinda thing (not saying it's just limited to Shayne) where he responds to Shayne with this far off look in his eyes as he twirls his hair. Honestly that may very well not be a shaynse moment and is probably Chanse just zoning out, and quite frankly he's so real for that I relate to that so hard. And I'm sorry but my shipping self...the way Chanse looks at Shayne makes me insane sometimes!! Even when neither of them are talking!! And then when Shayne is talking, the eye contact from Chanse is so FIERCE. I've said before that the formula is that Chanse gazes at Shayne and Shayne cries at Chanse's jokes...and honestly now both things apply to both of them! Shayne also very much gives the vibe that he's nervous to compliment Chanse to his face but absolutely gushes abt him to other ppl (this thought coming from Shayne bringing up Chanse AS MUCH AS HE CAN).

Sorry, this became sooo unorganised but I kinda just jotted down all my shaynse feelings/ideas! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, I found it so fun to read and so fun to reply!! Don't be afraid to do it again! (And that goes to everybody!)

Shaynse is a niche ship and I get that not everybody is gonna like it, but I do rlly appreciate shaynse nation and smoshblr in general!

[missyourflight]

rough day for daniel girlies (gn) so i'm self-soothing by thinking about a maxiel strictly come dancing/dancing with the stars au

suspend yr disbelief and follow me under the cut etc

max retires after like 3 wdc, comes out, is somehow persuaded into going on strictly come dancing w the stars (don't worry about it). daniel is a beloved pro dancer, he's made the final a few times but never won. he's never had a male partner on the show, either, and he's low-key nervous about it. he tells max, we're a team, okay. i've got your back.

max doesn't have the best musicality but he's got great stamina and he's fast and he picks up the steps quickly -- like the top end of what you'd hope for in a sportsman even if he's a bit awkward at first. daniel's like, i can work with this, but what he doesn't expect is max's lack of self-consciousness about his body, the way he'll take direction and adjustments from daniel and go wherever daniel puts him. and it's fun, actually. they laugh a lot.

they muddle through the early weeks okay (max's charleston rictus grin is something to behold, oof) but then they have a really fun quickstep and they're flying. high tempo, sparkly bow ties, big smiles, max nails the cane work.

the judges talk a lot about their strong partnership; what they mean is chemistry but they don't call it that lol. max is always getting notes about opening it out to the audience bc he's just dancing for daniel basically. every day in training he laughs until he's sore and then goes back to his hotel and jerks off desperately thinking about daniel's hands on him, the way he sometimes catches daniel looking at him in the mirror.

one week they're working on argentine tango, trying to switch the lead back and forth between them, and max throws his hands up like, can we -- i just want to be held, actually. and daniel's like, you mean you want to be in hold. and they look at each other, and max sighs, and they go again.

people are really rooting for them; they stay in, and stay in, and stay in; they survive a really dodgy samba and come back with a fantastic jive.

for couple's choice they do contemporary (daniel's like lol you are not doing streetdance, please allow me to save you from yourself), and the expectation is that max is going to open up about whatever emotional backstory on camera, which, there's no fucking way. so daniel's like, we don't have to tell them, but you can tell me, and max trusts him, so he does, and daniel tells him some stuff about growing up in perth, and when they dance two of the judges cry.

and then they have to rumba, and daniel picks i'm on fire for the music, and it's a lot. max tries to kiss daniel after, in the dressing room, and daniel has to try to hold it together and be like, i can't do this while we're on the show.

and they make the final, and they do their showdance to i've had the time of my life wearing complementary party shirts, and it's like, joyous. after they've seen the judges max uses up the whole of their allotted time talking really fiercely about how daniel of course deserves to win more than anybody.

they don't win, but they do kiss on the dancefloor under the glitterball at the end of the show, everyone milling around them, camera craning up into the air. max moves in with daniel in LA, and they're a team, like daniel said.

[magicalhideoutengineer]

Newt & Tina: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Eddie Redmayne: What was kind of wonderful about what J.K. Rowling's written is that the way in which they met, they're almost antagonists to begin with. It's definitely not love at first sight.

Katherine Waterston: There's something. I mean, he catches my eye right away and I'm instantly suspicious of him.

Eddie Redmayne: Suspicion. Attraction.

Katherine Waterston: It's a fine line. Yeah, so, I mean, obviously that's an indication of my amazing instincts as an Auror, but also I think you do it with attraction. You notice right away something about someone, but they are not aware of it, but it's nice that the audience gets to be able to watch it from that perspective, knowing that these people will...

- Entertainment Weekly

Katherine Waterston: It’s wonderful how, throughout the film, they reveal little bits of their past and certainly reveal a great deal of their character to each other. As things are when you first meet someone, you get a very general sense of who they are. My sense of who Newt is at the beginning is that he’s dangerous and untrustworthy, and kind of cute, too. Part of what I love about Tina is she's flawed and often doesn't achieve what she is pursuing or things don't work out for her [like] she hopes. But she is good at her job and the moment she sees Newt she knows something is going on, even though she doesn't exactly know what. And that, to me, was the first clue that she's not a total disaster.

- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Movie-Making News & The Case of Beasts: Explore the Film Wizardry of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Katherine Waterstob: One of my favourite messages of the film: that there's so much more to people than initially meets the eye. I think it's one of the great discoveries in the film, at least for Tina as she gets to know Newt. At the beginning, he's not very engaged; he's prickly; he really wishes she'd probably fuzz off. She thinks he's got an interest in a ridiculous subject, and one that's dangerous and a nuisance. But it's through getting to know him better that she comes to understand what these creatures really mean and what they can be. And through seeing his relationship with the creatures, she comes to see there's so much more to him than just the prickly, standoffish and disinterested outsider she meets at the beginning of the film.

- HMV

Eddie Redmayne: Certainly at the beginning of the film when he meets Katherine's character, there's a great antagonism between them, and they're both quite sort of knotty characters. We sort of know that ultimately those two in the Potter lore get together, and there's this sort of central build of these two people who are outsiders finding each other.

- Entertainment Weekly

Eddie Redmayne: One of the things I loved about this script when I first read it is, I think JK Rowling had always seen it as telling a larger story, but the film is it's own thing. Actually the relationships that you see arrive in the film, they stand together as one sort of whole piece. But What I love is that the relationship starts kind of...

Katherine Waterston: Combative.

Eddie Redmayne: Yeah, it's not love at first sight put it that way. Maybe there's a bit chemistry at first sight, but it's quite combative. But what was lovely was to play a slow build, to be able to play this kind of — these characters are thrown into a world, this quartet together. They're all outsiders in some ways, and yet they have really heroic qualities within them. So it's kind of lovely for us to not rush that and be able to play it slow.

Katherine Waterston: You know that eventually you know these two people end up together. So you can see and look for when they start to notice each other, you know what I mean? Because you're in on it in a way that I think is really fun. I feel like there's a lot in this movie of us kind of like, oh, that tragic stuff where you look at someone and they're not looking at you, and then you look away and then they look at you. So there's like all of that sort of stuff going on.

- Entertainment Weekly

Katherine Waterston: I think the biggest distinction is actually the way witches and wizards interact with the muggles, or as we call them "No-Majs" in America, because we're forbidden to engage with them at all. We were persecuted during the very real Salem Witch Trials and went into hiding. There's just a lot more secrecy aroud witchcraft in America. When Newt shows up, he's very casual about things we are very, very strict about.

Eddie Redmayne: I feel like Newt doesn't really care about rules that much anyway.

Katherine Waterston: No, he doesnt. It's quite shocking to me.

Eddie Redmayne: It really irks her.Katherine Waterston: It stresses me out a bit, but also I find him really charming and engaging. So you know...

- Entertainment Weekly Binge Dec 07 2016

Katherine Waterston: With Newt and his case, the main problem is that it's a lot easier for witches and wizards to hide from the No-Maj world than to hide magical creatures, especially ones that are on the loose in the community. So that's the number one threat. It would be disatrous. They plough things over, they break things, they could harm people. For most of the film, Tina is just imagining the worst-case scenario. In Amercian, as it's established in the film, we've been taught that magical creatures is a bad thing. We should not have them at all, not in America and certainly not on the loose. She's almost panicked to get them back. In her interaction with the beasts as the're tracked down and recovered, Tina galves a better appreciation for Newt. So when push comes to shove, she again abandons the rule book and helps someone in trouble.

- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Movie-Making News

David Yates: She had done something really bad. Like Newt, she is a wee bit of an outsider.'

- Inside the Magic: The Making of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Katherine Waterston: Her relationship with Newt? I think if you're peculiar, it's nice to meet other peculiar people. Whether it's romantic or not, it's lonely when you feel like you're the only peculiar person out there. I think Newt and Tina are both kinda offbeat and have a lot of qualities that have often been attributed to geeks. I don't really think of them as geeks, just a little bit unusual.

- Yahoo UK

Katherine Waterson: There’s pieces of it that are very true to life, the cultural clash, we use different words, we have different ways of engaging, she’s an New Yorker, she’s kind of loud and aggressive.

Eddie Redmayne: He’s an introvert. He hates people.

Katherine Waterston: Yeah, and polite. Maybe not polite. There’s a different way of interacting that you certainly notice, Iike I notice goning from New York, as I'm from New York, to England to shoot the movie and sometimes there's a real...

Eddie Redmayn: Even in press, there are things. Sometimes I'll say a word and Katherine will be like, "What does that mean?" Or I'll say the other way around.Katherine Waterston: I'll have to translate it or the other way. Yeah, so, there was so much that I think that JK Rowling noticed about the differences and the cultures that she used in the story. But then at the same time, there are these beautiful parallels between Newt and Tina, and I think once they get to know each other better, they notice the similarities, and the connection there builds. But at the beginning, I think all they see is differences.

- Netease

Katherine Waterston: I think she felt more like a fish put of water in the first film, and I think maybe she and Newt recognised the similarity in one another. They both were in a situation where things weren't quite familiar or right for them.

- SFX Magazine

Katherine Waterston: Actually this is a point of connection between Newt and Tina is that they both had an aspect of their lives that really makes sense to them that in which they are highly functional, and then these other aspects of their lives are not so much. She also struggles with communication. She was orphaned as a child and had to take on a lot of responsibility at home, and as a result, didn't really socialise and develop like the average teenager might. So there are these aspects of her that are a bit stunted, but like all JK Rowling characters, utimately, whatever the guards are, whatever the barriers are, she has this huge heart.

- Kermodeandmayo

Katherine Waterston: What was great at the beginning, you see this slight clash of cultures. He's the outsider in New York. It's her town. She says things he doesn't understand, like No-Maj. He doesn't know what she's talking about. And they started off having this combative relationship. And I think they probably think that they are quite different from one another, but as they get to know each other, they see that there's a lot of points of connection that they had actually quite a lot in common, that they are both really passionate about their work, that they are both a little bit awkward in social interactions. That part of their lives has been sort of neglected and underdeveloped. And they both have a tenderness to them and big-heartedness to them that is quite covered by the way that they present themselves to the world. So it's fun to find the moment where they recognise each other.  

- Tencent

Eddie Redmayne: They're both really passionate people. Newt is absolutely, he's sort of slightly awkward amongst sort of human beings and wizards, but with his creatures he's like hugely passionate, and similarly Tina is pretty formidable at what she does. She's fallen from fame at the beginning of the film, but she is deeply, deeply sort of obssessed with her work in a brilliant way.

Katherine Waterston: Yeah, actually in our world, we both kind of come alive, and in the rest of the world, we haven't quite figure out how to be complete people. Also what's so nice about that is that there's so much room for us, I think, as actors, for us to grow. I think these characters will, when push comes to shove, I'm imagining in the future films, be challenged to rise more to occasions and stuff and I think it'll be really fun to, you know, it's more interesting and exciting to see someone who doesn't know if they're gonna able to pull something off and attempted and than someone who's like, "That's right and no problem. I got this." There's no tension there. So I think there'll be lots of fun. Feats ahead.

- Entertainment Weekly

Katherine Waterston: She has good instincts. She knows she has a lot of potential, but can't seem to convince people of it. I think Newt sees that potential in her. That's a lot of what falling in love is, you feel someone else recognizing what you have to offer. As the relationship evolves, she sees what’s motivating him and why he is the way he is. They are both very passionate about what they do. They are both a little stunted, not very good at expressing themselves. And then you start to see the reason why they have become that way. He’s very isolated in his work. She’s become the parent to her sister, Queenie, because they lost their parents when they were young. So they’re these two people who really haven’t had much time to have a good time. In contrast to Jacob and Queenie who are much freer, and it’s in that contrast that you see how trapped they are. The moments where a little bit of who they really are gets to come out, it’s really exciting. And as the film goes on, that starts to happen more and more.

- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Movie-Making News & The Case of Beasts: Explore the Film Wizardry of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Katherine Waterston: I think what you see there are two characters who are confronted with their own social limitations. That the areas in their lives where they really thrive. If he’s with his animals, he’s confident and he knows just what to do. And although we don’t really see her thriving at work in this film, at work – that’s the place where the world makes sense to her. It’s what she’s poured all of her energy into in her life. In a sense, by mistake they’ve missed out on developing the parts of themselves that would allow them to just simply enjoy a dinner. I think in that moment they’re both confronted with their own inadequacies and their shyness, so they’re recognizing something similar in one another, but also totally too limited to do anything about the fact that they’re realizing that they’re similar. Then it’s almost made more embarrassing by the fact that the two people right next to them have no difficulty in this area. But, I think that the whole quartet tells a story of oddballs coming together and feel understood by one another. The same thing is happening for both couples in that moment. The ones that are having an easy time talking are finding that they have things in common and a connection, and the ones that are struggling are also finding a connection in that moment.

- Snitchseeker

Katherine Waterston: I think they really kind of are actually kindred spirits. They recognize a similarity in the other. He has an area of his life that makes sense to him when he's with his creatures, and that's the safe place in the world he understands. In the broader world, it's challenging in many ways. Human interactions are challenging. Tina, her work makes sense to her. That's the world in which she thrives, and beyond that interpersonal relationships are quite difficult. You see it when Queenie and Jacob are at the dinner table in the first one. I always thought that scene told so much about these two. Just with the little quick glances and stuff, they were observing a great deal about the trap they are both in a little bit in human interactions, while these other two are so freely engaging with each other, but that's a comfort for them, and I also think I really don't have to act. It's a wonderful gift. Tina loves his relationship to the creatures and I, Katherine, I think it's so beautiful to watch Eddie work with them in the way he does. I feel like that's something that's very easy to perform, but that I think makes her feel like, "This is a really, really special wizard."

- FilmsNow Bloopers & Extras

Katherine Waterston: Part of what causes the wonderful connection to happen in the first film is that they recognise that similarity in each other. She also has a world that makes sense to her, and the greater world is a challenge and those personal relationships, she just doesn't... I think a little bit differently. She just maybe hasn't allowed herself that. There hasn't been time for that part in her life, because she's had a responsibility to care for her sister and focus on her work. But also that's the kind of thing people say when they're like justifying being single or something.

- Wizarding World

Katherine Waterston: When I first read the script, I really loved her journey that at the beginning she's really uneducated about fantastical beasts and maybe even a little bigoted and judgemental of what she doesn't fully understand and through the process of being exposed to them and seeing what they are through Eddie's eyes, she comes to a greater understanding and I loved that journey and that growth.

- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Interview

Katherine Waterston: And I love Tina because – and I think we can all relate to this. She’s very complicated. She has that aspect where you can feel incredibly confident in yourself, but also be filled with self-doubt and insecurity. She’s got all this hope for herself, but every time she tries to do something right, it goes wrong. So she’s wondering if she is as hopeless as other people perceive her to be. She’s living with that question when Eddie’s character comes along. He lets her try magic and it galvanises her. It can be lonely being an oddball until you find other oddballs. Their friendship is not a mere byproduct of the extreme set of circumstances they go through together; it is their common experience as outsiders that draws them to one another.

- Hot Press

Katherine Waterston: Tina is a very serious, hard-working, also awkward, damaged person. They share some traits. Both are very passionate about their work and thrive in that enviroment, but are little stunted developmentally in other ways. What I loved about Tina was that she loves her work. She's so proud of it and has a sense that she has great potential as a witch, as an Auror, but also at the same exact time, harbours a real anxiety and fear that she won't reach her potential, that she isn't good enough, and so I love that kind of internal struggle she has. It is when she too bonds together with these other three... It's kind of strength in numbers thing. They, especially Newt, I think, starts to encourage her to performe magic more than she's been doing recently because she's been demoted at work and she starts to kind of get her groove back because of that support.

- Filmsnow Movie Bloopers & Extras

Katherine Waterston: It just occurred to me now that both Newt and Tina are kind of rebels. He got kicked of Hogwarts at the beginning of the film. She is been demoted at work, so she's like a career gal without a career when you first meet her and is sort of struggling between both, feeling courageous, outgoing and confident and also vulnerable and insecure, so she's a bit of jumble. It is through joining together with, well, particulary Newt, but with the main four, or the other three I should say, that she kind of gets her groove back.

- MoviemaniacsDE

Katherine Waterston: Yeah, I mean it's one of the lovely things that I think Newt and Tina have in common is that both are really passionate about their work and their interests. It's where they kind of come alive. So for her, to have the place where she's most comfortable taken from her is very uncomfortable for her. So she wants to be a great Auror, but she also really wants to get back in the swing of things, because that's where she feels the best. She's really striving to kind of undo the damage she's done, but she has so much heart, and sometimes there are situations that compelled her to maybe bend or break the rules, even though all she wants is to get back in good graces at work. So she's kind of got this internal struggle going on there. But what's also amazing in the couse of the film is that because... I think that Newt sees her potential and kind of encourages her to get back into doing some pretty badass witchcraft.

- Entertainment Weekly Binge Dec 07 2016

Eddie Redmayne: With Katherine's character, it is sort of a slow-build connection. these two people, who are outsiders yet passionate people, begins to glimpse things in one another.

- Inside the Magic: The Making of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Eddie Redmayne: It was one of the things that I loved – the idiosyncrasies within these characters, as you say. Tina was someone that presents as incredibly strong, and yet she has the fragility as well. And similarly, Newt has a seeming awkwardness and shyness, and a complete incapacity to relate to other people. One gets a sense that that stems from some sort of damage. It's also because he is someone who has grown up with these creatures, so he has great empathy for them. And he's his own person. J.K. Rowling writes about these characters who all appear to be misunderstood or outsiders in some way, but when they find each other, they bring qualities out in each other. Both Newt and Tina have a certain pre-judgmental notion, and yet when they really look and listen, I feel that they see each other.

- HMV

Eddie Redmayne: He does have a vulnerability but it's not like he's striving for a connection with humans. At the beginning of the film, he's very happy in himself. He's seemingly completely content in his skin, but it's only when he realises that he can have a connection, that he sort of begins to fall for Tina. He connects with Tina and it's very slow burn but it's been wonderful to play. They start as antagonists, finding each other deeply frustrating, but by the end there's a kind of sense of something.

- Yahoo UK

Katherine Waterston: I don’t think it’s too theatrical a notion that Newt and Tina could bond so quickly, because a lot happens. When you’re thrown together with someone in a high-stakes environment, you tend to feel quite close to them even after a little bit of time. Sometimes you know someone for three days and it’s amazing and you think, “Hey I actually know you. You don’t, ladies! You don’t know them yet, but you can feel like you do.

- Wizarding World

Katherine Waterston: As Tina gets to know Newt, she sees more of him when she sees him interact with the animals because at first she does see him as uncomfortabe and guarded, but she's not seeing him interacting with the creatures, and I think it's part of where the love story begins at least for her is when she sees him the side that he kind of hides from other humans and it's very moving to her. 

- Adorocinema

Katherine Waterston: She really has a journey there to understand so much that she's never explored before. She took her job very seriously and she has great pride in being a part of MACUSA, but there's also a bigger world out there. There might be something a little bit narrow-minded about her—her perspective in the beginning of the film. This is why diversity is a good thing and understanding other cultures is an important thing. As she gets to know Eddie's character, she also comes to understand there's lots of different kinds of points of view about things that she had sort of been a little bit more rigid about... rigid-minded about before.

- KUTV

Katherine Waterston: My character in the beginning of the film, has been raised and taught to fear the other in the case of the fantastic beasts. And through education and through understanding and being exposed to it…Eddie Redmayne: And empathy.Katherine Waterston: Yeah, and being presented with a different perspective on it, she comes to understand that there's no reason for her to fear what she's been taught to fear. So those messages have a solution in them, too, which I think is fucking useful.

- Mugglenet

Katherine Waterston: In another interview I was talking about Tina's journey: she has a fear of the other, she's been educated to fear these magical creatures, and through exposure to them and exposure to a person who has a different perspective on them, her perspective changes. There's hope for growth so long as we open ourselves up to it.

- Leaky Cauldron

Eddie Redmayne: At the beginning, I think Newt has sort of no interest in Jacob. He's just about getting the creatures back. But there's one moment early on when Newt takes him down into the case and Newt doesn't take many people down, if anyone down to the case and he shows Jacob the Occamy, the little and he watches the way. Because these creatures are hated by the wizarding world. Everyone hates these creatures. He watches the way that Jacob looks at this creature and he suddenly sees someone who sees what he sees. And I think that's the first moment that Newt kind of falls a bit for Jacob and I love that progression. And similarly with Tina, when she comes down later and begins to understand these creatures for what they are and I think he can put his defense down a bit.

- Star

David Yates: There's another scene where Alison and Katherine, in the case, sing the Ilvermorny song, the school song. I asked Alison would she write it, and she wrote this beautiful Ilvermorny school song. And they sing it together and the two boys, Jacob and Newt, they sit there and they watch. And as the girls perform this song, this ode to Ilvermorny, they slowly fall in love.

- Slashfilm

Eddie Redmayne: In order to surprise him, Newt has to appear entirely relaxed and unpredictable, but the Demiguise knows him; he already has a sense of what he’s going to do. So Newt encourages Tina to just be casual. That it’s going to be up to her to catch the Demiguise, because he knows less about her. I think that not only is Newt trying to find the Demiguise, but subconsciously he’s beginning to enjoy the proximity with Tina.

- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Movie-Making News

Katherine Waterston: Perhaps my favorite day on set was a scene with Tina and Newt on a dock. We were on location in an enormous hanger originally used to build zeppelins. It’s the biggest single storey building I’ve ever seen in my life, and had this incredible energy to it. We only shot a few takes of that scene, but that was one of my best memories. It was just one of those days that felt electric.

- Female First

Katherine Waterston: I loved the scene between us at the end of the movie. Because we’ve been doing all these action and stunts and working with the magical creatures, and this was just a very simple scene, two actors just communicating together, and we shot it with two cameras as well. So it was like sometimes you shoot one side and then the other, but we were really in the moment together. So what you see in the movie isn’t cut together between like many hours of shooting. It’s kind of more in real time. That felt magical.

- Tencent

Eddie Redmayne: What do I enjoy most about the work? It's the tiny moments when things feel real and they happen very, very rarely. You're very lucky if it you have one in an entire job and it happened for me on this job when, in the last scene between Tina and Newt, when they're leaving to go away, she wishes him and says, "Good luck on the book." And then she says the title of the book, 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.' Newt can't believe that someone's seen him, and in that moment, whenever Katherine said that, I got goosebumps. I was like got the tingles, "Wow!" Like being seen. And It's a weird moment. You can't really quite describe it and that's why you never talk about it in acting, but it's like something feels true for a minute or a second, and you don't feel like you're putting it on. It's just a natural reaction that happens to you.

- Snitchseeker

David Yates: In the course of the story Tina and Newt have this unrequited, quite tender, quite funny journey together.

- Inside the Magic: The Making of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Katherine Waterston: I suppose in the beginning of the first film, she's a survivor and she sort of developed a kind of hardness in order to get by in the world and I think when she encounters Newt, it does soften her in a way.

- Cinemark Argentina

Eddie Redmayne: One of the things I love about Newt is that he's completely his own person. He's learned to be content with that - or he thinks he's content with it. In the last movie, he connected with the [principal] trio, and particularly with Tina, who saw elements in him which other people had never seen. Probably one of the only other people in his life who had seen that was Dumbledore.

- SFX Magazine

Eddie Redmayne: In the last movie, getting to meet Queenie and Jacob, and particularly Tina, like his heart has been opened. So his world has always been his creatures and his case, and through meeting Tina, his heart's kind of exploded, and so I would say he is out for being much more open

- iQIYI

Eddie Redmayne: What is it that he doesn't like about Tina? I think Tina is an extraordinary character. She is formidable, she is vulnerable, she is incredibly caring, she sort of looked after her sister in this extraordinary way despite a tricky upbringing. Even though she's created in the first film this sort of exoskeleton through damage, he can see into her and I think it's just a magnetic connection between them.

- FilmsNow Bloopers & Extras

[fallinforerling]

*ੈ✩ taylor's songs prompt list ༘♡

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ A/N: What I wrote down are the vibes that each Taylor song gives off FOR ME. But, if you got completely different ones while listening to them, you can list it on the request. I have no problem at all!

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ TAG ME IF YOU USE IT!

ೃ⁀➷ masterlist

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ ˛ * 。° 。 •˚.・。.・゜✭・.⋆·˚ ༘ .・。.・゜✭・..・。.・

: ̗̀➛ lover - destined soulmates, perfect match, deep love. | the type of love we all want and manifest while daydreaming. perfect phrase: "i feel like i've known you my whole life"

: ̗̀➛ cardigan - ruined romance, lost chance, hurtful breakup. | the relationship that marked you, and even though you got over it, you'll always remember it from time to time and feel the ghost of the pain. they healed you just to break you again. perfect phrase: "i loved you as much as you hurted me. which was a lot"

: ̗̀➛ august - an affair, a brief romance, secret relationship. | you wanted it to be more, but you were never enough for them; you just wanted to be loved. perfect phrase: "i was up all night wishing you'd call"

: ̗̀➛ style - relinked over and over, same passion, trust issues. | the one person who you can never reject even if you know it's a mistake, years pass and they make you feel the same. they never stay. perfect phrase: "you'll never get over me, i'm unforgettable"

: ̗̀➛ getaway car - rebound, regretting it right away, guilt. | you thought it would make you feel better, but you know you used the other person to get out of a relationship. perfect phrase: "i'm sorry for what i did, i'm sorry about breaking your heart"

: ̗̀➛ paper rings - comitted relationship, finally feeling ready, happiness. | this is your person, you're done looking for anything else because you got everything you ever wanted right here. perfect phrase: "i don't care what happens as long as i'm with you"

: ̗̀➛ don't blame me - love rush, never felt like this before, love of your life. | loving them is like a drug, you never want to leave the honeymoon phase; you're the happiest when you're by their side. perfect phrase: "you're my other half, and without you i'm not myself"

: ̗̀➛ all too well - bad breakup, you lost your self-esteem, why not you? | this one is going to hurt forever and you're going to always wonder what was wrong with you, if it was something you did. you'll curse their name forever. perfect phrase: "i can still remember it like it was yesterday"

: ̗̀➛ anti-hero - bad desicions, self-sabotage, you're the bad guy. | sometimes you're not the victim, and that's okay. you hate yourself for what you'd done. same mistakes over and over. perfect phrase: "i want to, but at the end of the day i'll never learn"

: ̗̀➛ blank space - failed romance, vengence, you didn't loved them. | you have a bad reputation and you like it. you date for fun, so what? and if they did you wrong, you'll just get involvied with their best friend. perfect phrase: "like i care what you think about me"

: ̗̀➛ gorgeous - big crush, obsesed with them, you're too much of a coward, silly jealousy. | they're your friend, but you can't find the courage to tell them how you feel. fake scenarios keep you going. you don't see it, but they flirt with you all the time. perfect phrase: "i wish you notice me at least once, i'm right here"

: ̗̀➛ enchanted - attraction at first sight, crazy chemistry, childish love. | a crush that developed fast and hit you hard. you thought about them all the time since the first time you've met them. they're so dreamy, you wish they could come and confess their love to you. perfect phrase: "i wonder if they noticed how my eyes sparkled when i saw them"

: ̗̀➛ bejeweled - toxic relationship, self-love, validation. | you won't let anyone take you down or extiguish your light because your smile is still the one that brightens every room you step in. perfect phrase: "i don't need you to love me, i already love myself"

: ̗̀➛ the great war - betrayal, resentfulness, stuck in the pass. | you couldn't get over what they did, and maybe you didn't want to either. the scars were too deep to heal. you miss them, but also hate them. perfect phrase: "i can't believe it's possible to love someone as much as you hate them"

: ̗̀➛ delicate - secret relationship, fear of being rejected, deep feelings. | you know you were supposed to be careless and see were does it go, but you like them so much. is it okay to pretend in front of people? you don't know anymore. perfect phrase: "i want you all to myself even though i shouldn't"

: ̗̀➛ karma - betrayal, patience. | they betrayed you, but you know they'll get what they deserve. you're waiting around to corner to see it all. perfect phrase: "i'm sure you knew what was coming. you deserved it"

: ̗̀➛ back to december - guilt, past relationship, you were the jerk. | you still regret how the relationship ended because you two could've been the best couple ever if you just did better; you want them back, but you're not so sure if they want you back. ever. perfect phrase: "if i could back in time i would, but since i can't, i can offer you the promise of something better"

[dearweirdme]

BigHit and BTS are not ypur typical K-Pop label/group and they never were. From the first day they debuted and their (or rather Bang PD’s) strategy was to showcase the members as their real selves (minus the assigned stage personas), as in they filmed a lot of logs on YouTube just talking to the fans about their real thoughts and such. Bang PD encouraged them to write their own feelings into their music, and their music has been defiant to the norm since day 1.

BTS have been shunned by the industry to the point they had to make their own reality shows to better express themselves without prejudice, while continuing to film every step of their journey and keep track of almost their every waking moment to show the fans what kind of people and artists they are.

BTS risked getting blacklisted by their government twice because of songs like Am I Wrong? and Spring Day, mind you these were released when BTS were still a 3-4 year old group that was barely starting to get recognized by the industry.

In Jikook's case, they have been close since day 1. They slept in Jimin's bed, they stayed behind to practice more then sleep in the lobby together as to not wake the members, they were 'all-nighter buddies', they kept getting closer each year to the point they grew inseparable and you'd see them always together in b-t-s content like in memories. They got paired together during shoots because of their insane chemistry. And it reached a point where in 2019 after the Rose Bowl ear incident, Tkkrs mass emailed the company and spammed Twitter with hashtags asking them to "stop the gay fan service" but BigHit didn't give a damn and continued showcasing them as a close duo because that's what the reality is.

Only in 2020, BTS worldwide popularity doubled because of Dynamite and a new wave of fans started getting to know BTS and with that Taekook grew even more popular individually and as a ship (as did every member and duo but Taekook grew bigger because they're the youngest, and have arguably more Euro-centric fitting visuals) and BigHit started caring more about the international audience as opposed to the Korean audience how it used to be (notice how K-armys have been complacent in streaming for the past 3-4 years because most of them are mad BTS are giving western ARMYs more content and performances and English songs). So BigHit started banking on Taekook and started pairing them in ads, shoots, highlighting them in choreographies, songs, and in memories. But Jikook remain undefeated quantity and quality wise, why? Because they simply spend more time together that can be kept in content. That is probably why you saw that Taekook ITS talk and why Taekook content stopped getting edited out as much after that. They're still a meh duo in terms of chemistry to be honest with you, and that's probably why they'll never be used as much as Jikook for fun content. Like imagine being one of the editors and you have to edit every DVD down to like 40 minutes or something and you have to choose between clips of Taekook just sitting there or Jikook being fun and playful? I think it's an obvious choice. But I can still see that they're making more effort into keeping as much as Taekook content in possible to appease to their audience. I don't envy yall honestly. And before you tell me that I ship Jikook based on company content that the company chooses to leave in, I don't. I'm not a Jikook shipper I just enjoy their bond and I can see their chemistry and from a business perspective I understand why BigHit chooses to leave in their moments (even the most controversial ones) because it's fun and entertaining and it causes discussions. And it doesn't really matter who thinks that their chemistry is legit and who thinks that they just play it up for cameras, Jikook have great, great chemistry and it far surpasses anything I've seen of Taekook. And I've seen a lot of them two in the past 3-4 years.

Hi anon!

Well I agree that BTS is different. They are honest and open as much as they can be, but that does not extend to their relationships.. at all. I think there’s a huge amount of space between being different and totally ignoring cultural and societal standards.

But you do see that what we see is a choice. And I agree, that Tae and Jk’s interactions are probably less entertaining to watch than that of Jkk. Jkk are loud and boisterous and full of energy. While Tae and Jk are often more relaxing and a bit more on the background. That is an actual choice the company made.. and one I think would have been made even without shipping and possible relationships. You are quite wrong about when they started to include Taekook footage again, since the amount of Taekook footage in their earlier years was evident, followed by a real decrease when things looked to be getting more serious, and starting up again when things settles down. Jk prefaced the the uptick in Tkk footage in ITS. That’s because it was indeed a decision made, and not because the suddenly talked things through. (don’t even get me started on your mention of their more Eurocentric features, because they are very clearly asian, and your reasoning here would actually fit my ideas more than yours. Because apparently the company does mingle in what they show.. it’s just not a case when it comes to their relationships?)

As I said.. the difference is whether you think Bh would show or hide an actual queer in band relationship. Look at another ask I received just now (hi other anon!)

I know what I find more likely.

[formalmess]

Hi! I found your fic LMTT and I LOVE IT! Love your Luigi x Peasley ness.

I was just curious: how do you write romance so well and healthy? I'm asking bc I may write more romance fics in the future, both Luigi x Peasley and Mario x Peach, but I'm nervous bc I don't write romance much. Was hoping for advice so that I can do these ships justice.

Hope you're doing well and Merry Christmas! Also, have a new follow!

hello!!! oh i am so glad you stumbled across my fic — i love writing it, so i am very glad you like reading it :] and oooh, i really like this question! i can offer a few bits and pieces of advice i've picked up along my writing journey...

first, know why YOU love your ships! for me, i've been passionate about luisley for about 7 years now, so i've had a lot of time to figure out why it's so special to me (also why it comes so easily in writing them). this kind of leads into a few of the other tips i'll mention, but it's important to know WHY you, personally, love the ships you ship. what is it about luisley and mareach that you love? whatever the answer is, use that to help guide your writing. for example, i love how peasley and luigi are opposites in many areas of their personalities, but also how those opposites can bring out the best in them when they're together. :]

don't forget the little details. subtlety is key! pick out some things for each of the characters you're writing about that only a significant other might notice, like in LMTT where i have peasley notice luigi's quirks (like his mustache when he lies). i find there's something so romantical about a partner (or partner to be) noticing the little things that others might overlook. you can make these up, go off of canon, etc. etc.! have fun with it ^-^

read, read, read! this appears in a lot of writing advice lists so i won't stick here too long and bore you, but reading others' ship/romance works really helps to get the inspiration train a-rolling, and it will also help you realize what you do and don't like!

don't be afraid to let them disagree a bit. for this, i'm referring to your additional adjective in your original question: healthy. something really important for fictional (and real) relationships is the ability to communicate and leave room for disagreements. healthy relationships don't need to be lovey-dovey 24/7; especially in longer fanfic, there are bound to be moments where the members of your ship will not agree (though this has not stopped me from writing pure tooth-rotting, lovey-dovey fluff one-shots at times in my life, haha). the way one represents how ships handle conflict opens the door to a lot of interesting and compelling dynamics, methinks! this pops up in LMTT as well a few times, like in chapter 2. (side note: this does not mean you should feel pressured to have your couple arguing every page, i only mean that you shouldn't shy away from a moment where, organically, you think the members of your ship might disagree and/or want to go down different paths)

experiment! see which tropes you like! play around with your characters! if you placed them in a white room together, could you write a natural conversation with them? what circumstances could you add to that white room that would increase their chemistry? what setting does your ship thrive in? what setting do they NOT thrive in? doing little one-shots and experimental paragraphs to test out what one does and does not like has always been a great way to not only see how i want to write something, but also to tell if it will be able to sustain a longer piece.

above all, have fun with it! i've found that if i try and avoid writing super calculated and stiff romance, it comes off as much more real and organic. this will take time and practice, but just remember to experiment, keep reading, find what you like, and continue to absorb why it is that you love the ships you ship. :]

happy writing!

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Someone might've asked before but, thoughts on zokiku?

Legend. Don't think anyone's asked about ships but it's a fun idea. Never been much into it myself but ZoKiku is a fun one. It's really her classic one but it fell by the wayside as Hiyori took on a way more fun role with it. Zoro & Kiku have a phenomenal chemistry in Bakura Town though, and it all boils down to being Bizarro-World Kuina. We deserve more of their banter, especially in a scenario where Kiku doesn't feel the need to play the dainty maiden.

Here's something I always think about Zoro and Kiku though. What if Kuina never died, and like a lot of young women throughout her teens stopped being quite so tomboyish. Her and Zoro grew closer and they wrote the quest for greatness off as childhood fantasy. They marry and Zoro takes over the dojo. You know, what Koshiro would've probably had in mind was going to happen and a thought it's believable for Zoro to have at times. If Tashigi bugs Zoro because she looks the same and says similar things to a 12yo Kuina...Kiku is a weird one for him because she feels like the woman Kuina could have been. Still skilled, still fierce, but tempered with age and feels a need to act girly. And that's mutual; Zoro's a lot like the Akazaya and I'd even say him and Izo are somewhat similar.

Think he'd like her more than she'd like him, if that makes sense. He seems a little rude from her perspective...but I don't see Zoro being the type to care much about the trans aspect. He's not nagging Kiku here in Bakura because he has x-ray vision under the kimono, he can just tell the waitress is skilled and wants to see cool samurai shit. The arm shows he really liked her on some level. That pissed him off and it's the exact same tone as Robin/Enel.

I can see em having a fun little dynamic where they're constantly screwing with each other but the foundation is solid. With time he'd get how to read her a bit and both seem like they'd enjoy quiet time together or trusting each other to have their own lives.

[larcenywrites]

I'm obsessed with the cute study date one shot and I was wondering if you feel like writing more about study dates with Tony. Maybe headcanons? Like how they started, what they're like, how they help each other, taking breaks to relax and clear y'all's heads, cuddle breaks, nap breaks, sex breaks, kiss and make out breaks, and how they reward each other for being so so smart. Plus, maybe like LOTS OF NERDY TONY 🤓???? Like this man going on a tangent about some topic he likes and talking your ears off, mans just won't stop rambling about science and it's the cutest thing in the entire world. Also he can tell when he's lost you in the middle of too much math, but he'll kiss you to get your attention 😉 thank you so much anywayyy

Awww well there is a lot more that can be said about study dates with Tony! And I'm too lazy to write fics on all the nuances 😂

Warnings: mild sexual references

Study Dates | Headcanons

Also I'm losing it with this gif 🥴🥴🥴

💠Study dates with Tony were inevitable. He'll call nearly anything a date, and he'll do nearly anything to get you to spend time with him!

💠Plus, you probably met in class, so it made sense! Easy excuse for him (or you) to set up a study session around campus or a café (and eventually his room 😏)

💠At first, it was definitely about Tony getting to show off how smart he is and play hero when he helps you out, but... actually, it's still a lot about that even when you're together, let's be honest 😅 Only now he gets to reward you a little more than joking promising to buy you lunch next time or something 😉

💠Regardless, they prevail into the relationship! Doing homework together or a project? Fuck yeah! Plus he can help you with damn near any class! Unless it's like, art appreciation or literature... you may have to help him out for once when he has those classes. And while he hardly ever needs to study, you both make it a fun thing to do before a test!

💠It usually starts out fun and innocent! Really! Or at least just innocent. Sometimes getting through those weekly 50 questions just for calculus and/or chemistry can get frustrating even when Tony can just do them in his head and half of them are just different numbers, same problem 🤧 Maybe this is the best time to motivate one another, but usually it's no problem! Side by side against the headboard of his bed, you're both sharing a textbook and notes or watching one another solve problems. Usually, it's probably you that's watching him for guidance, and he purposefully goes much slower to make sure you can keep up (and sometimes your head on his shoulder distracts him for a solid few seconds so it gives him time to recover 🤭). He even draws little boxes and arrows when numbers get moved around and he knows you have trouble with keeping up with that particular equation's rules 🥺 And he does feel pretty great watching you tackle the next few on your own and getting them right!

💠Sometimes they stay as just that: patiently doing your work and moving on to something much more fun afterward, but usually you both like to make a game out of it! Or something like that. It's a good motivator to keep going when he offers fleeting kisses around your face with the promise that they'll get better and better 😉 It's a fun back-and-forth, but Tony always gets the answers right, so you may have to be a little stricter with your affection, or else a simple hour's worth of work might end up taking closer to three... But even so, you somehow always end up in his lap, with his tongue in your mouth and your hands in his hair. It's hard not to end up that way every time when he's so sweet and patient and that cocky grin eats up the little pecks to the corner of his lips. And the longer the problem you solved, the longer he'll kiss you for 😘 and the harder it is... well, you get the picture 😌

💠But there are other things you do! For every unneeded sheet of paper you fill up, try your hand at tossing it into the wastebasket on the other side of the room. No prizes here, though. Just mild entertainment when your bored 😂 Tony can get pretty competitive, though, for better or worse, and may secretly keep count. Then he'll randomly bring it up... and now you have to compete too! And then those balls of paper might turn into paper airplanes, but how can you compete with someone who you're pretty sure could design a working plane right now if you asked him?? Maybe you should go back to kissing...

💠Depending on what it is, he might put on a movie in the living room for background noise and an occasional distraction. Tony also prefers working the ground, oddly enough, whether it's the soft carpet in the house or the cement floor in the garage. You may not be as keen to join him (how his back isn't fucked up, you have no idea), but he is kinda cute sitting down there with his legs crossed 🥺 He likes working to music, but you may have trouble concentrating. He'll suck it up, but hopefully you can stand it if you're doing more of a hands-on project than thinking through a math problem! If you're instead sitting around watching him work on something, there's definitely music in the background, and because he's busy or maybe can't really let go of something, he's entrusting you with changing tracks or choosing the next song!

💠On really long and busy days, there's no time for games! You're too busy being surrounded by notes and various types of calculators, or scrambling to finish up a project or presentation that you may have put off for too long (or maybe it was a team effort). It's only when one of you collapses onto the sheets or is facedown on the table that the realization that mini breaks are okay and beneficial! When done responsibly, of course. After so much progress is made, you get a little break! Playing a quick round on the NES or maybe even just laying under the sheets for thirty minutes is good enough! Until Tony really wants to try the level you're stuck on. Or maybe you wouldn't stop squirming to get comfy after being hunched over your notes all day and now your boyfriend is faced with quite a time-consuming issue 😏 And, well, Tony always gets what he wants.

💠Tony also gets incredibly annoying when he's bored. Especially if you're doing homework and he's not. Those paper balls he was throwing away? Now they're being thrown at you. That paper your concentrating on? Now it has a pencil streak across it. Oh, you want his help for something? What does he get out of it? If you ask him to please leave you alone for just a few more minutes, he will... but not without managing to make a lot of noise with that straw in his cup or finding something to rummage through. This mf never cooks, but if you're in the kitchen or the right next door living room, suddenly he's finding the loudest pots and pans he can 😒 A lot of this ends with you having to leave your work behind to cup his face in your hands and sweetly tell him off. Which means he won! And now he won't let your return to you work until his boredom is satiated 😉 Don't worry, as an apology, he'll help you out this when you manage to escape back to your book, or he'll just do it himself if you don't quite have the energy left 😌

💠Tony has glasses! You were pretty surprised, but he never wears them so no wonder you’ve never seen them! He doesn’t really need them, but it’s probably more of a situation where he should probably wear them so his vision doesn’t get worse. He does wear them in private sometimes or when he’s in his father’s lab or the shed behind the house, but you’re only going to see them if you make him wear those glasses! Slide them right on his face yourself! Not necessarily because he should, but because it's pretty darn cute 😘 He may not like them, but he can't really argue when you're swooning over him! Now he knows how to take your attention off that textbook.

💠There's something so riling about it when he gets caught up trying to explain something to you that you're probably more confused about now because he's gone on a tangent and railroaded it too many times to count. When did we get into thermal dynamics? Somehow he's managed to take explaining something to you and turned into him thinking out loud about something he's been stuck on, and then suddenly figures it out right there, and in about an hour, you'll be even more confused and watching him work on whatever personal project you... helped him figure out? All because you asked about nuclear rates of decay?

💠But more importantly, he's lying there playing with a notecard that has the answer to your question on it, and talking to the ceiling at this point because you're too busy watching his fingers twirl the card around and too busy watching his thoughts click behind narrowed eyes that are also behind sleek black glasses that curve so perfectly with his brow and sit right above that cute nose 🫠 There's always rapid thoughts behind those watching eyes, but it's one of your few glimpses into just how loud and intelligent the mind in that pretty head is. It's easy to forget when he's busy being a terror!

💠And now he's probably biting at the corner of the card while he pauses to think and no one could blame you for sliding on top of him and plucking that card from his teeth... Even his thoughts are wiped clean when you're suddenly licking into his mouth 😏

💠But listening to it is enough to tire you out sometimes 😮‍💨 Lay down right next to him and let him talk you to sleep! He probably won't realize you've checked out until he happens to look over and see you asleep or unless you interrupt him altogether. Or when he looks over and the look on your face is a different type of inviting... or just shut him up with a kiss if you're bored ❤

[tuttle-did-it]

Doctor Who The Star Beast initial thoughts (spoilers)

what are they all reaching for? Can someone explain this to me?

I need to chew on this episode a little more because I don't know how I feel about some of it.

I haven't properly watched Doctor Who since Catherine Tate left. I've seen a bit of things in between, but frankly hated most of what I saw. The only reason I'm watching now is because I LOVE Catherine Tate and David Tennant together. They're my favourite pair, and I couldn't not watch if they were finally going to resolve the horrific ending for Catherine Tate.

The good:

Catherine Tate and David Tennant still have electrifying chemistry. Catherine Tate was an absolute delight, as she always was on this show.

Yasmin Finney, as in Heartstoppers, is adorable and charming and fun to watch.

Shaun was a good character, and I liked the Noble-Temple family (except her mum, still hate her mum)

I loved the trans acceptance and I LOVVVED how much Rose's parents treasured and truly loved her. I LOVE ally-Donna, and I wish every queer child out there had parents who were that amazing.

The conversations regarding queerness- it's okay for cis-hets to be uncomfortable and awkward with how to deal with us, it's good for them to talk about it and learn, as long as they still show us respect. It was fine to show that this was new to the cis-hets and they loved Rose so much, they were learning to adapt. That's nice, and it's okay to show that this is hard for cis-hets at first, sometimes.

The conversations regarding pronouns treated as a normal consideration.

Related to this, in this anti-queer era, where trans children can now be taken away from their parents (in America), and the anti-queer/anti-trans attitudes all over (especially US and Britain), I admire that RTD was like 'I'm going to have a beautiful Black trans girl on Doctor Who and I'm going to give her loving and supportive parents, and fuck you if you disagree.' He knew this would get him a lot of backlash, and still did it anyway. And I appreciate and admire that.

The new Tardis interior is a nice kiss to previous iterations whilst a nice spin on things

Donna's horrific ending with Ten was one of the things I have always disliked about NuWho. I HATED what they did to her. It would have been better to kill her than mind-rape her, I hated that ending. It was so cruel. Although I didn't like the way they did it, I'm so happy that's finally resolved and she can go back to being the absolutely brilliant character she became at the end of her run.

The reference to the Tom Baker era with the barrister's wig in Tennant's jacket. It was silly but fun.

Rose's cute little stuffed toys were fun, but the moment I saw the one that looked like an Adipose, I knew the energy had been passed down to her and that would be enough for Donna to survive. Not so much sign-posting as it was sign-blockading- just announcing the entire plot immediately.

The character of Rose, even if I don't like her name, was still an interesting, intelligent, creative and thoughtful young Black trans woman, and that is always a delight to see. After 60 years, there is finally a queer Black person in the Who universe and I really love that. Regardless of whether I think this is a good episode or not, RTD intentionally and knowingly bringing a Black trans woman into the world was really, really lovely.

I also loved seeing a Black father who was loving, supportive and kind- Black fathers are very often shown in entertainment to be harsh, abusive, distant, etc to their families, so I like that we got to see a great Black father who clearly loved his kid and his wife.

The bad:

The annoying monologue beginning- show, don't tell. That was just silly to watch. Especially with just HOW dramatic they were trying to make it.

The Marvel-looking opening, I'm cool with the big budget, but it did feel disconcerting and took away some of the charm of the shoe-string budget DW.

Why, WHY does every story with a trans youth have to show bullying? No, let's talk about this. Because it feels like every story that does include a trans/non-binary/queer character, there is inevitably the scenes that show us suffering and being mistreated. What if, just once, there was a trans youth who was happy, and all their friends were cool with it, and they weren't mistreated because they were different? What if we didn't have monsters tormenting a queer child? We are more than our suffering. And we are story-worthy despite the many scenes of torment. It's almost 2024. Let's try to have at least one queer character in something that is not mistreated because of their identity. Just for fun, let's try it.

The deadnaming of Rose. That added nothing, it was unnecessary, her name is Rose, and no one needed to acknowledge any name that she was previously known by. Please, writers out there: if you're going to have a non-binary or trans character who has found their new identity, understand that we do NOT need to know what their previous name is. Especially if it is going to be used to hurt that character through abuse.

The plot was very, very basic. I know it's a children's show, I know it's trying to reset some things, I know it's going to be very 1-2-3 but does it have to be SO 1-2-3? Couldn't we throw in a spin? 1-1.75-2.35-3? Just a little less basic? I knew everything that was going to happen within just the few minutes.

RTD has an obsession with linking everything back to everything. I never really cared for Billy Piper's Rose, and never really cared for the obsession Ten in particular had for Rose. So I don't see the need for the name, it just feels unnecessary and an attempt to link things back to previous people and events. It's not necessary. We can love Donna's daughter without her being called Rose. I know that's RTD's thing, but I don't really love it.

Donna's mum. She's exhausting. I know that's the point, but I just don't really care for her. The story would have moved faster and been more enjoyable without her, for me.

The pacing of the entire episode was a mess. Everything was drawn out and over-explained until the third act, which was put into hyperspeed with nonsense explanations.

The weird creation of bullet-proof shields from the sonic screwdriver? I know it's a trope that is just used to get out of every scenario, but it just felt a bit silly. I preferred when the sonic screwdriver is used for practical things like 'resonating concrete,' but not absurd things like creating a shield. If he can create bullet-proof shields with that sonic screwdriver, then there's never any danger for him if he has enemies near- just draw a shield. It's stupid, and immediately takes away all drama and energy.

The Doctor just randomly telling this UNIT stranger all of his woes and secrets and thoughts and worries- again, show, don't tell. None of this needs to be said. And it certainly doesn't need to be said in a hyper-dramatised way. To a random stranger he doesn't know. Even someone like me, who hasn't seen the show in many, many years, will catch up without the monologues.

Because the pacing was a mess, the third act was a mess-- they had to fly through the whole 'Donna will die' stuff, and the 'but she and Rose still have the energy inside them and need to get rid of it' and that was definitely a weak part of the story.

Just 'let it go.' What? 'It's a shame you're not a woman anymore, 'cos she would have understood.' What? What does this even mean? This whole resolution made absolutely no sense.

I'm struggling to understand why the meta-crisis energy was never activated in Rose previously? Why she didn't get a letter home from school when she was glowing? Why when the kids were tormenting her on a playground she didn't accidentally nuke them all with all that power? Why did Donna have to be activated before it activated Rose? That didn't make any sense. Again, not integral, but just another little annoyance.

Rose's cute little stuffed toys were fun, but the moment I saw the one that looked like an Adipose, I knew the energy had been passed down to Rose and that would be enough for Donna to survive.

Also, how did Donna know that he'd regenerated back into Tennant? He never tells her. He also doesn't tell her he was a woman before. Arguably, it could be the energy telling her, but that energy hasn't come in contact with him for 15 years so why would it read him and his past and instantly tell Donna everything? And if that had been the case, Rose should have known who The Doctor was when she met him. Again, not crucial, just another annoyance that wasn't cleared up.

the second we see the cup of coffee, we all know exactly what's going to happen. Couldn't they have thought of a better way to keep Donna in the Tardis?

Donna finally gets to re-evolve, and the first thing you have her do, the first thing? Is to destroy his new console. Seriously?

Tennant's energy was a bit off. Not sure why, yet- I felt he was playing it just a little too much. It felt performative. The first moment it didn't feel that way was when he and Donna were in the Tardis for the first time.

RIP Bernard Cribbins. 🥺 You would have made this episode much better.

Things I'm chewing on

I appreciate that RTD tried to show a beautiful, strong, intelligent Black trans woman with a supportive and loving Black father (Black fathers are very often shown as abusive or absent, so that's really lovely, thanks RTD). So I'm thinking a lot about that, how Rose was represented both on her own and with her family, etc. That's beautiful, and lovely. And all too rare.

I might be struggling with how Rose's gender identity was part of the plot. Particularly, Rose's comment, 'I'm finally me.' I'm trying to work out what that meant. If she wasn't aware that the meta-crisis energy was in her, what, exactly, was stopping her from being her? She was already recognised by her friends and her family as Rose, as 'she.' So... what was that energy doing to her inside to make her say that? Is that why she was feeling lonely and different? Because that's not really made clear.

It also felt a bit like they were saying that Rose was nonbinary and trans because of the meta-crisis energy that had been passed down from Donna. That the energy had changed her somehow, and made her different. So, are they saying she was only trans and non-binary because of the energy inside her? If that's the case, are they inadvertently saying that Rose is not actually trans, and that now that the energy is gone, she knows her true identity? Are they saying trans and non-binary isn't something she was born with? That it's something that can be done to someone, without their knowledge or consent? And that she suffered unnecessarily because this energy made her believe she's trans and non-binary? Would she have been trans and non-binary had the energy never been passed down to her? I'm not really clear on what their message here with all of that was. I think it was poorly written, and thus not very clear. I need time to think on it to try to understand what they were trying to say with all of this.

I am looking forward to Ncuti Gatwa joining-- having two queer Black actors in the tardis would be really lovely (if Rose ends up on the Tardis), and I hope they do that just to piss off the cis-het anti-'woke' crowd.

That said, I wonder if it was fair to Gatwa to bring arguably the most popular NuWho Doctor back just before him. The racist 'fans' are already complaining because you dared to have a transgender and non-binary Black woman on the show. They're probably not too happy about having a queer Black actor stepping into the Tardis, either. By bringing the fan-favourite Tennant back for the 60th anniversary and then taking him away again, I wonder if those 'anti-woke' fans might rally even more against Gatwa, complaining that 'we could have had Tennant again.' Obviously those idiots will find anything to complain about, so fuck them. I hope that people embrace Gatwa with open arms. I haven't enjoyed DW for a very long time, but I'm certainly willing to give him a shot, as I do like him. I'm looking forward to seeing at least the first few episodes with him before deciding whether to continue with it or not.

[flowerslut]

For the writing asks — 1,11,22

1 - Which of your fics would you keep the basic plot of but rewrite completely?

💀💀💀 well you see. I might be doing that right now 🤭

ok. i'm only half-kidding. i'm not rewriting all of call of the night, but it is in the process of getting a major overhaul (the first several chapters are actually getting fully rewritten, and there are going to be HEAVY edits to the first half, and moderate-to-light edits on the second half) because I love that fic, I think it's such a great fun plot, but both 17 year old and 24 year old shannon need to let [REDACTED] year old shannon have a swing at it. i'm not changing any parts of the story plot-wise, but I am polishing it a lot so that its a more straightforward, adventure/mystery-driven story. because holy shit did past me loooove to tell instead of show.

also I would 100% rewrite parts of the hunted, too (just cause I think I could make it better on a sentence-level but also I could definitely make that fic a little longer and a little more fucked up 🤠)

What is it about watching the same two idiots falling in love over and over again?

it's so wonderful!!! because with any ship, there is already something in canon that makes you fucking feral over them; whether they're an established couple, have a fraught relationship, or share some insane chemistry/sexual tension, there is always that little something that draws you toward a ship!!

for me it's usually a dynamic that I go for. not all of my ships fit the same mold, but there's definitely a pattern for me. I love ships where person A has committed atrocities and/or has a fucked up past—a 'doesn't speak unless spoken to' -type bitch who (in some cases) is a bit of an asshole—and person B is a little (or a lot) more outgoing and considered the "good" one, but definitely has that in-universe potential to be a fucked up little monster; a real 'you're a good guy so I guess it's fine if you sometimes get a little morally gray for the sake of the plot' -type bitch. i'm talking vegebul, bbrae, sasusaku, zutara, reylo, jalice, griddlehark—the list goes on man. i've got a Type! ♡

but in fic! watching them fall in love! over and over again!! is incredible! because you get to take this ship—this dynamic you love so dearly between two characters you cherish—and put them in SITUATIONS 🤩 canon only gives you so much to work with (whether that's plot, characterization, etc) so it's so fun to create, and see how other people create new stories and adventures and obstacles for these characters! I wanna watch them fall in love 1000 times because there are an infinite amount of #situations these assholes can get put into, and I just want to see what they'd do 🥰

also I know I already answered 11 but now I just want to bitch a bit about more things. in no particular order: I can't STAND love triangles or jealousy plotlines, and a lot of modern AUs bore the piss out of me 💔

send me more writing asks!

[amethystina]

I love to see when you post and I get great drama recommendations from you. I recently watched Black Knight and the Ying-Yang Master thanks to your posts and loved them!

I find C-Dramas often give the best dynamics between male characters for BLs because there's so much chemistry and great dynamics even after censorship. It also means that the stories are often better and, for me at least, more interesting, as they often can't just explore the relationship between the characters and instead frame it with the plot. I'm not sure whether you've seen it yet or heard about it, but the new show 'The Spirealm' is great! I wanted to recommend it to you after all the shows you've spoken of. There are so many interesting aspects and details that you can find even after multiple watches that I think you'd enjoy.

I'm so happy to hear that! I'm somewhat famous amongst my friends for pushing recommendations onto them, or at least ranting about the things I've watched in painful detail. My poor wife definitely gets the shortest end of that stick, since she sees me pretty much every day. So she's had to listen to me talk about a lot of dramas and movies she's got absolutely no interest in x'D

She really liked The Yin-Yang Master, though! So it's not all bad. Man, I love that movie so, so much.

While it's terrible that CDramas have to be censored the way they are, I agree that it pushes the creators to explore relationships in a very interesting way. They have to build it into the story in a way that more straightforward BLs can just skip, because they can rely on the physical chemistry to convey the budding relationship.

That said, I admit that CDramas often feel a bit... stilted to me? They're too perfectly choreographed, never a hair or detail out of place, to the point where the characters don't always feel like people to me. Like, they're so obviously characters, not real people, if that makes sense?

That's not to say that I don't enjoy them! Heck, The Untamed is still one of the best dramas I've ever watched, Guardian is one of my favourite dumpster fires, and The Yin-Yang Master movie is one of my go-to's when I need something to completely immerse myself into. But, on the whole, they don't intrigue me the way other dramas or movies might, since they're always so polished. Which means I can't connect with them on the same level as I do with many other pieces of media. I can definitely appreciate the plot, story, characters, aesthetics and so on, but it rarely goes deeper than the surface level. It kind of feels like they're keeping me at arm's length, somehow?

But that's definitely a me problem, since I think it has to do with that thing of mine where I want to analyse every tiny detail. And it's not as fun in CDramas because they make it so obvious that every detail is there for a reason. I mean, it always is in all shows and movies — everything on set is knowingly placed there — but the CDramas don't try to hide it? They even go out of their way to make everything as flawless as possible if they can. And something flawless isn't fun for me to analyse. Like, I can tell that they're putting on a show and that just makes me less interested in trying to find the secrets behind it, I guess?

But, again, that doesn't mean I don't enjoy them! I often do, especially for the aesthetics and the sweeping, dramatic plotlines. But it tends to end up being pretty shallow in my case, since they rarely give me enough to really sink my teeth into. Like, I don't think it's a coincidence that the CDrama I've been the closest to writing fanfics for (Guardian) is also one of the messiest, production wise. I like it when things feel more relaxed and real. Not gritty or anything, just... real.

Anyhow! The Spirealm looks interesting so I'll definitely put it on my list of things to watch! Thank you for the recommendation! :D

And I hope I'll be able to spread even more joy in the future!