#and criticism bc keep me grounded as well

[thewrothode-if]

Buckle up for a boatful of admiration! First of all; I read the demo, and I adored it. The difference in tone based on whether you touch the statue or not is really good—Though I definitely have to go right back and see what this "attack" is all about, very excited for that. Second of all; I went through your entire archive and I can't put into words how excited I am that we're on the same page about various things IF wise. Especially the gendered difference, I adore that the Male ROs act different with Male MC, and likewise that Female MCs will get to have a closeness with Female ROs that they will not show Male MCs. Likewise with the romance variable, which I will first of all remind to not put too much on your plate; the moment it gets too complicated toss it. Enjoying your writing should always be prioritised. You're trying a new thing, it may or may not work, and there's joy in learning it.

And last, but certainly not least; remember to take breaks and don't put too much pressure on yourself. I look forward to following you on this journey, and eager to see where this project goes. And, while I'm certain you might have found it already, another good naming source is; nordicnames(.)de It has categories, relevant to your project being (tacked onto the end of the "de"); /wiki/Category:Old_Danish_Names /wiki/Category:Old_Norse_Names

Ahh! Thank you so much!! I have been taking a break from this IF so I can focus on other pressing matters. Ugh, life and all that. Even though I feel a little guilty about it, thank you for reassuring me. I really needed that. :,)

On the take about the tone, I love when the readers notice small changes in the writing depending on the choices picked. It makes me feel so giddy seeing my hard work noticed!

And in all honesty, this whole IF is everything I ever wanted in a game. I started this for myself, but I feel like all IF writers do as well.

With all that said, I will definitely check out that naming source because I'm literally running out of good names for side characters...

[punksocks]

My Opinions on the Moon Signs

(Btw I’m going to reply soon, sorry life and work has been very busy this June ;0)

Aries moon- The definition of passionate. They can be outgoing and a lot of fun. Definitely super charismatic people. Determinators (more than Aries sun sometimes imo), they’re going to get what they want done. They also really hate not being listened to or treated as the leaders in the room. When they’re mad they get passive aggressive asf and so pissy. Every Aries moon I’ve known has basically refused to be personable while they’re upset. No matter if they were older or younger than me (my grandfather was an Aries moon). They’re loud when they’re happy and loud then distressingly quiet when they’re upset. They stay mad until they decide not to be mad anymore. Then they’ll never talk about it again and be so jovial you could never guess they were upset 2 minutes ago. Good time friends and great at entertaining a crowd though.

Taurus moon- I’m biased bc my partner has this and I love them :0. Softies. They’re grounded and caring, like no one will help soothe you more than a Taurus moon. They’re really giving but it depends what they feel resource rich in. Like if they have a lot of control over their time they’ll spend days on you. But if they grew up during constant instability and financial stress they have a hard time being flexible with giving money or moving house or things like that. They’ll come around if you can show them that they can keep their physical safety. In fact, I think it’s easiest to change a Taurus moon’s mind out of all the fixed moons (in my experience).Also, They really like it when you call them on their shit and shoot straight with them. Also food, they love good food. Any tactile good time really. They’ll make you feel special if you give them affection.

Gemini moon- I don’t have a ton of experience here. Chatty but keep more to themselves than Gemini suns. Only shows you certain parts of themselves, they always have a lot on their minds. The poster child overthinkers of the zodiac (and virgo moons too ofc). Funny tho, always a sense of humor and philosophy about just about every situation.

Cancer moon- Sweethearts. Exalted placement for a reason. Really good at sensing problems/insecurities and putting words to them. They can catch crushes easily. They need to get as much validation as they give. Like a lot. That’s one of their emotional love languages. Can be comforting or very manipulative it depends on how developed they are. One of the most creative people I ever met was a cancer moon, they were super talented and recieved a lot of praise for their great work. A sweetheart that had a lot of creative hobbies and was close to their family. Daydreamed quite a bit, but no more than any other water sign placement.

Leo moon- They don’t need to be the center of attention as often as people think, but they do need to be listened to. It means a lot to them. Can be really aggressive as kids for a period of time then they grow into themselves and can be pretty chill. Maybe a bit too chill about things they aren’t passionate about. They light up when they’re excited though. Also, they can be super competitive, like they can get in their feelings about losing at something they’re trying to show off in. (Like a video game or team sport or what have you)

Virgo moon- Very thoughtful and insightful people. They’re able to pick through and see little imperfections in people that others can not. Whether they use those powers for good or evil is truly up to them. (I have had many friends use this power for good and a relative or two use this power for evil). Everyone I’ve met with this placement has been so seriously beautiful and so aesthetically put together, idk how they do it. Doesn’t love to be called on their shit lol, you must be gentle with criticism unless you know them very very well. But they have a lot that’s on their mind and a bit they’re insecure about so you may accidentally start beef by saying something. But super perceptive people, a delight to gossip with (mercurial moons love to bond over gossip) and they have great ideas. If you have a problem to solve or analyze they’ll often have a set of solutions.

Libra moon- don’t know a ton of them. Not super well anyway. They can be very intelligent and understand a lot about the things they like. And they bluff/charm their way through everything else. Most likely to act differently around different people to try to be the person they think whoever they’re talking to will like.

Scorpio moon- usually very goth/dark style, or they’re drawn to it. Usually just radiate intensity. But also more detached from more situations than I expect every time? They have had a lot of emotional hardships growing up and so they kind of expect to get hurt again by those they’re close to. It’s like a callous for them. If they let you in you’re very special. The developed ones are such sweethearts. Knew a manipulative one that was underdeveloped and crazy tho ngl. Like that person seemed violent and like they wanted to burn the world to feel warm. So either very sweet and stand-offish or just destructive asl.

Sagittarius moon- not my cleanest set of experiences ngl. If you’re like having a good time with one then they’re funny and can be the life of the party. Can also not know how to be emotionally supportive, but will attempt it. But my mom was my bad experience and there was a lot of explosive anger at little things mixed with being immature about others emotions. Throwing a book across the room because she didn’t understand what her (post grad) homework was or coming home angry and yelling after a bad day of work without so much as saying hi. And a lot of being mad at me and other kids for not being instantly emotionally soothed yknow? Like if I needed to sit in silence and process that would tick her off and set off a chain reaction. Explosive anger. Also forcing themselves to laugh loudly after an argument to feel better (Aries moon grandfather did this too I don’t get it). This is mainly underdeveloped energy though. I had a friend with this moon placement and they had a hard time processing their emotions and would usually breakdown for a moment then get back up again. Also people with this placement tend to get most romantically interested in unavailable people imo.

Capricorn moon- me! And a lot of people I connected with briefly and deeply. Having terrible mothers and bonding over it lol. High standards for others even higher standards for themselves. Seems emotionally distant but will break down and cry when they feel safe and are probably alone. And they have a playlist for feeling sad I bet. You either are someone that they tell when they cry or you never know. Has to work out of seeing emotions they were shamed for as a sign of weakness. Gifts are their love language and if they can’t find the words to tell you how they feel about you they will often buy you something you mentioned you always wanted or something you needed off hand. Sentimental types, trouble right expressing it. Will talk to you about everything if they like you and nothing if they don’t. Capricorn placement most likely to go into isolation mode to really consider their relationships and place in life. Might grow suddenly distant if they feel neglected or betrayed. Underdeveloped ones are removed from their emotions in a dangerous way and in denial about all the healing they need to do.

Aquarius moon- also another set of messy personal experiences. Can come up with really out of the box solutions. Seem to either be revolutionary or very very conservative. Like most of the Aquarius moons I’ve known have been men so grain of salt but they would be the ones to most constantly say “a good woman does x” or “if you have that attitude you won’t get married” or throw shade on “girly” hobbies. You can’t change their mind. Even if you present evidence or a sound argument, hardest to get through to of all the fixed signs imo. Sometimes they’ll come back having changed their own mind. Maybe they googled whatever you said and started to believe you. But they’re not going to say you changed their mind. It’s something that they have to believe they made themselves come around on. They often have an independent sense of right and wrong. Sometimes very intelligent, sometimes just bluffing their way through it. Always will respond to opinions though. Can be really funny people, sometimes on accident. Allergic to routine and desk jobs. Usually… detached. Like if they care about you, they’re going to express it in an abstract or private way. Can be hard to tell if they care at all in my personal experiences ngl. My dad is an underdeveloped Aquarius moon and he’d often tell me to swallow my emotions and repress them and go with the way things were. (I don’t talk to my parents anymore lol, they’re narcissistic people)

Pisces moon- I’ve only known a few personally. Sometimes really surprisingly basic. Sometimes they’re just made of magic and they see the world in a whole different way. Emotionally in-tuned with people around them. If their environment is misanthropic then they’re more likely to be. If their environment is upbeat then they’re more likely to be. Most likely to grow up to be like their family/peers but assume they’re not imo. Sentimental with the folks they’re close to.

[autism-alley]

hi originally posted this at the end of a long thread of back and forth, here’s the og post if you want full context but i feel like this needs to be its own post especially bc i keep seeing this argument being made—the argument that the kids (in this case it was annabeth) SHOULD just know the monsters are monsters and who they are and how to defeat them before ever encountering them, that it’s a problem if they don’t.

the problem is not if 12 year olds should recognize a trap when they see one, even if they’re smart 12 year olds, and if that’s realistic. that is entirely beside the point.

the problem is rick riordan wrote a book series whose formula is bringing myths to the modern age and he’s not sticking true to that in the show—percy jackson and the olympians’ Shtick is taking these classic, ancient threats and giving them a new face. these traps work because these kids are not walking into a cave marked with Get Out and getting ambushed by monsters—the monsters are disguised as harmless mortal human beings, in harmless mortal human being places (for the most part) and i think we—and more importantly, the show—are all forgetting the mist, the magic involved here. it’s not just that medusa is a “creepy lady with her eyes covered” it’s that there is ancient magic at work here, magic that, like the systems of abuse pjo exists to criticize, has been evolving and continuing its malevolence for millennia. it’s formulaic, that’s the point. it’s the same trap you’ve learned about all your childhood, the same trap a thousand children before you learned all their childhoods, and still, it works. you fall into the trap. because that’s how generational abuse works. it’s a trap. it isn’t enough to learn monsters exist, what they look like from a second hand story that originated thousands of years ago. if you want to escape alive, you have to adapt as quickly as they do, recognize their face, and ultimately, beyond any individual trap, the game itself has to change. real, generational change.

so. the problem is rick riordan wrote a series with a formula for action that perfectly captures the overarching, systemic conflicts he was commentating on, and then threw that formula out in the show because it was “unrealistic”. i don’t give a damn about realism when it works to the detriment of the story. this is a story about generational abuse, yes, but it’s told through ‘a tale as old as time’ and that’s why it works so fucking well. and when it comes to basic storytelling, if your characters know the threat before they even walk in and you do practically nothing to then make up for the stakes you have removed, that’s a flaw. now you’ve lost the entertainment value for your audience, on top of also lessening your themes.

something else that is so. honestly soul-crushing as a writer and a creative, is that to me this is reflective of the way we are now afraid to tell earnest stories. stories where we care not for listening to the people who want to pick apart fictional, mythical, fantasy stories for not being “realistic” instead of aligning with our target audience who acknowledges reality is not what makes a story. think of your favorite movie, show, book, comic, what have you—has the reason for your favoritism ever been because it is the most reasonable, the most grounded, the most practical out of any you’ve seen? or is it because of the emotion? the way it speaks to you, to your life and the person you are? the journey it takes you on? is the percy jackson and the olympians book series so good because it’s inherently realistic?

the secret to storytelling is, very simply, focus on your story. everything else is secondary. if it’s written well, it doesn’t matter to me that the characters walk into a trap that, to the audience, is obviously a trap. because i can understand how the characters don’t know it, and how the story falls apart if the narrative just tells the characters it’s a trap from the jump. that’s what dramatic irony is—first used in greek tragedies! this is literally a tale as old as time in every sense except for the end—where it’s happy. and it’s not earned if we don’t first see, over and over, the status quo as a tragic trap.

it’s not about if annabeth (or the other kids) is “smart enough” to not walk into a trap, or about if she’s just too prideful to not walk into what she knows is a trap (or any reason that could apply to the other characters), it’s that annabeth, at the end of the day, is a character. she is a storytelling tool for the messages of the narrative. that doesn’t make her any lesser. in fact ignoring it reduces her, because it reduces what she represents. it’s about how rick riordan, or whoever else at disney, has fumbled the storytelling bag so ridiculously hard that they can’t take the simple, effective formula outlined from start to finish (by good ol 2009 rick himself) and adapt it to the screen without answering the most unimportant, derailing, anti-story questions.

[itsphoenix0724]

Meet Me On The Ice (Azriel x Reader)~ Chapter 4

Warnings: none

Word Count: 1.2k

MMOTI Masterlist

A/N: Hi everyone! I just wanted to talk to everyone. ik I've been really noncommittal with this series, but I'm going to keep working on it bc I love it, and I hope you guys continue to love it too <3 I tried to build some insight into why Az doesn't like the reader in this chapter and I hope it came across okay, as always constructive criticism/feedback is welcome!

Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER: I am not a figure skater or a hockey player, so while I'm trying to be as accurate as possible, it's likely some things may not be correct and/or are bent a little to fit the plot!

You could say that a tentative truce was established between the two of you after your night at the arcade. So much so Alis finally permitted you to get out on the ice. 

“Don’t be nervous, the two of you have come leaps and bounds since last week.” She reassures you from her spot on the stands. “We’re gonna start with some basics, and then we work our way up to the lifts just like in the studio.” You shoot Azriel a nervous glare and he tries his best to send you a reassuring look. 

Even though you still feel like you’re walking on eggshells around him, it’s almost nice being around him sometimes.

 Reluctantly, Az has gotten used to your relentless positivity. Even if he can still hear your voice echo in his head sometimes. 

It happened when you were thirteen, and it was a stupid comment he wasn’t even meant to hear. He has tried to put it behind him so many times, but every time he looked at you it popped up in the corner of his mind like a buzzing fly. Reflexively his hands tucked in the pockets of his sweatpants as you skated up to him with your sparkly eyes and sunshiney smile. The version of you from years ago scatters like ash in the wind as Az takes you in, amusement lighting in his eyes as he takes in your hot pink leg warmers. 

“Is this an 80s workout video?” He chuckles and he likes the way your eyebrows furrow in false outrage. 

“For your information, they keep my feet super warm so don’t come crying to me when you’re freezing.” You poke him in the chest and he laughs. It feels nice, he thinks, to simply exist around you without hostility. 

The figure skates still feel tight on his feet, but practice is mostly uneventful after that. Azriel even manages to safely get you off the ground without losing his balance. 

“Great work!” Alis actually seems proud for a moment. “I need you two to stay for a moment so you can try on your costumes.” Azriel looks horrified at the thought of him having to wear leggings, but something cold thaws in his chest when he sees your excitement. You had to throw your old costume away after Lucien’s accident, the fabric was permanently stained red. Az goes first. His costume is simple, a black shirt and leggings with bands of blue around his wrists and chest. You try to put a lid on your bubbling laughter when Az comes out of the changing room, but it still boils over even as Az shoots you a murderous glare. Your dress matches the blue on his costume, with lace cutouts that expose your collar bones, and delicate fabric that flows like water around your upper thighs. The whole thing is delicately studded with blue and silver rhinestones like you wrapped yourself in the night sky. Azriel briefly feels like the air is sucked out of his lungs as he watches you examine yourself in the mirror. 

“Well, what do you think?” You twirl once for effect scattering stardust in your wake. “It’s not so bad is it?” 

“No,” Azriel coughs around a closing throat. “Not bad at all.” You nod, sending him a puzzling look. The two of you change back into your normal clothes and bid Alis goodnight before walking to your cars.

“We’re still on tonight for bowling with Rhys and Cas right?” You ask rocking back on the balls of your feet.

“Absolutely.” He agrees.

“There’s actually something I wanted to ask you about,” You start right before you’re about to split for your cars. Azriel nods at you to continue. “Lucien wanted to know if he could come tonight, he really needs to get out of the house, so he’ll be there too.” 

“Alright.” Az answers “See you later.” he tucks his hands in his hoodie pocket again before walking to his own car. 

₊˚｡⋆❆⋆｡˚₊₊˚｡⋆❆⋆｡˚₊₊˚｡⋆❆⋆｡˚₊

Lucien somehow successfully gets into the passenger seat of your car casted foot and all. You didn’t realize how much you missed him until you were driving around like you always did, singing along badly and loudly to your driving playlist. Eventually, you pull up infront of the bowling alley, bright neon lights bouncing off of the hood of your car. You help Lucien out of the seat, handing him his crutches and slowly walking into the bowling alley. Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel are already inside having claimed a booth and a lane in the back corner. Cas greets you joyfully scooping you up and twirling you around immediately, he also claps Lucien on the shoulder and you’re grateful that at least someone is making an effort to make him feel included. Rhys ordered you nachos and a drink and got Lucien a soft pretzel immediately chatting up a storm about their shared business communication class. Az hasn’t even said hello to you, even though this is supposed to be one of your bonding experiences, he just gave the both of you a noncommittal head nod and shoveled pizza in his mouth. You try not to outwardly sigh because you thought you were making progress, you thought you were past this. 

You thought you were almost friends. 

Attempting to stomp down the flash of hurt you send him a tight-lipped smile and a nod in return. This is Lucien’s first night out since his accident, so you will remain positive for his sake. 

Bowling continues uneventfully after that. Azriel and Cas are seemingly in a heated competition over this bowling match, and you and Rhys are playing much less committedly. Rhys has been flirting with the girl behind the counter for the past fifteen minutes, and you had been half-heartedly throwing your ball down the lane when it was your turn. 

Lucien had been a good cheerleader from his spot in the booth, but you weren’t very concerned about the game, content to sip on the slushy you bought. The two of you are in the middle of a very animated conversation when Cassian calls your name, coming behind you and looping his arms around your shoulders. 

“Are you coming to the victory party this Saturday after the game?” He drawls, glancing at Azriel out of the corner of his eye. “I would invite you to Vanserra, but-” Cassian glances at Lucien’s casted leg but the red-head simply shrugs. 

“No offense taken here.” Lucien raises his hands in mock surrender, “That’s not really my scene anyway.” 

“Well, we are planning on crushing your brothers’ team anyway, too bad Azzy’s still benched.” Cassian croons and Azriel sends him a murderous glare from where he’s about to launch his bowling ball. “You should come, we’ll be drinking on the Smokehound tab anyhow.” It was a sort of unspoken agreement amongst some of the local university hockey teams, losers host an after-party, booze included. 

“I’ll think about it.” You promise, and Cas ruffles your hair before leaving to grab his bowling ball. 

You completely miss the silent daggers Azriel is sending Cassian from behind your back. He doesn’t want you anywhere near this party, and Rhys won’t be too happy about your attendance either. Cas does nothing but chuckles at him with a knowing glint in his eye that sparks his irritation. You look at him once over your shoulder, and you must mistake his glower for being directed at you because for a brief second hurt flashes across your eyes. 

Something pinches in his chest and Azriel can do nothing but shove his hands in his pockets and avert his gaze to the ground.

@sidthedollface2 @bionic-donut @lyinginameadow @feyretopia @natashachelsea @going-through-shit @mika-no-sekai-blog @hijabi-desi-bookworm @brandywineeeee @littlelunelunatic @gorlillaglue25

[bestworstcase]

Quick question: When and how did you start realizing that fandom tends to be hostile or anti-analysis? Was it just something that happened overtime?

i mean. have you ever made a textually-supported point contradicted by popular fanon? people seethe

but it’s also just sort of baked into what fandom is. the whole concept of ‘headcanon’ is inherently antitextual—things held to be true irrespective of the text—and the whole point of fanworks is to engage transformatively with the text. fandom is explicitly not a community oriented around textual analysis, and while analytical readings can (and do) support and enrich transformative works, they are also just not what fandom is about.

so within fandom receptivity to textual analysis is generally lukewarm and varies widely depending on how closely it happens to align with the fanon, and in my experience fandom has a particular difficulty parsing character analysis outside the blorbo framework (ie liking / disliking / personally identifying with a character).

there is in particular a tendency for analytical readings to get parsed in fandom spaces as critical of the story or the characters being discussed; for example i’ve had explicitly positive character analysis of mine (as in, posts where i directly state my appreciation for or enjoyment of the thing i’m talking about) get reblogged and tagged ‘anti-whatever’ because the thing i’m talking about is, like, a character flaw. or something bad that a character did that caused conflict in the narrative.

and i think that really gets to the heart of the, like, cultural divide between transformative fandom and analytical engagement, because in fandom spaces if you say, for instance, “yang has a hot temper she works hard to keep in check” that is generally going to be understood as a value judgment (either a positive remark on her maturity and emotional discipline or a complaint about her expressions of anger) whereas in an analytical context it’s just an observation that needs to be evaluated in terms of whether the text supports it or not.

the consequence of that is that if i write analytically about the role of anger in yang’s character arc—which is a facet of her that i personally really enjoy and think is done quite well—and if that breaks containment and travels outside of my immediate circle of followers (who presumably follow me because they like reading my analysis and who obv know what i’m about) then odds are it’ll land in front of someone who goes “UGH not ANOTHER person picking on yang for bEiNg AnGrY, she’s got good reasons to be mad when she gets mad and also she doesn’t get mad NEARLY as often as these assholes think” (which is true) (yang almost never loses her temper and she’s very quick to check herself on those occasions; and when she chooses to let it out she’s always justified)—because anger is culturally perceived as bad and the social norm in most fan spaces is that you don’t write lengthy posts focused on a character’s flaws (or ‘flaws’) unless you just think they suck.

(<- this isn’t a hypothetical btw. like i’ve gotten blocked over my yangposting being interpreted in exactly this way grbfksj)

the funny part is that while my analysis intermittently makes people SPITTING MAD, the fanfic i write (which follows from my analysis!) doesn’t. i’m sure there’s plenty of people who don’t like my fanfic, but if i write a character in a way that contradicts the popular fanon what happens is folks will comment stuff like “this is such a cool unique take on this character” brfhkg. and that’s primarily why i think it’s a cultural thing, where textual analysis—with its strict grounding in textual evidence and dismissal of ideas that can’t be supported by the text—gets people’s hackles up bc it’s a) examining the text at an emotional remove and thus hard to parse in a social environment where the primary mode of engagement is driven by emotional attachment to specific characters, and b) often perceived as telling people their headcanons are wrong, which is rude.

(sometimes headcanons ARE wrong, in the sense of being textually refuted. that is the entire point of headcanon. i think the experience of fandom is much improved by keeping this in mind. analysis is never a threat to headcanon because headcanon is supposed to be transformative. equally, headcanon is irrelevant to analysis because analysis is strictly concerned with the text.)

more broadly i just find fandom culture to be interesting in and of itself. so in addition to participating in fandom directly i also lurk a lot and pay attention to cross-fandom phenomena (e.g. migratory sapphic and slash shippers) and read discussions about fandom and that sort of thing. and i think approaching fandom from that perspective, it’s sort of a what it says on the tin situation; fandom is transformative by definition, ‘fuck canon’ is an ubiquitous meme, fanon… exists at all as a concept and is widely celebrated as superior to canon, AUs are terrifically popular, “fix-it” fics are terrifically popular, etc etc.

so i don’t think my view here is even unusual necessarily except insofar as i articulate it in a very precise (and perhaps pedantic) way. like the average person in fandom is probably aware that playing in the sandbox is different from constructing a lego set and that people in the sandbox are, as a general rule, not all that keen to make sand castles in strict accordance with the lego instructions. because it’s sand. lmao

[wienersmosh]

rapid fire list of my smosh-related opinions:

noah grossman needs to have been phased out 3 months ago. people acting like FREELANCER contracts are so fucking ironclad and that's why smosh couldn't do anything are so disingenuous. they phased out saige in 2022, they could've very easily done the same to noah -- they just didn't want to.

eat it or yeet it was fun for the first few episodes, but they ran it to the ground when they realized it was a hit with the locals/casual viewers and they needed those numbers. it's SO absurd that they made 89 episodes and it got really boring, really fast. (i'm glad anthony got to be on it before they got rid of it tho)

i've always found garrett annoying and unfunny for the most part. he's maybe said one or two funny things in all of my time watching smosh and i will never understand how some people stan him or find him attractive.

to be clear even if they replaced garrett as host on eioyi, it would still be boring and stale to me.

i miss kimmy being on camera. she wasn't the funniest and the smiley sunshine persona can be a bit much but she was one of the better sketch actors imo.

i do not want the og smosh games cast back. it's also weird they keep bringing up smosh on their ogsog content. i'm glad they appear to be on good terms with ian and anthony but unless there's ACTUALLY a future collab in the works they need to stop namedropping smosh so much.

i don't necessarily miss saige on smosh but i do miss damien and saige as a couple.

i don't care if people don't like anthony or don't find him funny, but the way a LOT of fans (mostly on twitter and reddit) blatantly disrespect him, the fact that he started smosh, and him literally reuniting with his best friend, just bc they got rid of the unscripted series on main really pisses me off. also he's not to blame for EVERYTHING wrong with smosh today.

HOWEVER, that being said, i do believe there was a better way to transition smosh main. they could've had anthony do a speed run of all of their unscripted series to give them a proper goodbye, and THEN uploaded the sketches.

EBE was a hit or miss, but when they did it well they did it REALLY well.

other than ian, anthony, and finnerty, syd and olivia were their best sketch writers.

people who are genuinely mad that they have memberships now are overreacting. i get that paying for anything sucks but if you're an adult with a job in a first world country $10 USD a month *maximum* really isn't that much. also, they're independent now, that's just the reality of capitalism.

people who act like smosh is above any and all criticism genuinely terrify me. they're a youtube channel and a company, and as audience members we're allowed to critique them.

the old smoshcast was better than smosh mouth, but i might be biased bc ian did host most of them.

agree to disagree was a good series, but they botched it when they started using more serious prompts which caused a lot of viewers to lose respect for some of the cast for problematic opinions.

i used to like olivia but considering she was only in 30 videos last year and she really doesn't seem like she cares anymore, i don't get how they expect any of us to still care about her. also she posted something in support of israel on her story, but hardly anyone knows about it.

i love the guy but shayne doesn't need to be in every video. i get that he brings in the views, but jesus christ.

smosh pit theater is their best pit series, followed closely by beopardy.

i find a lot of their defy era series on pit eg sleepover, show with no name, put it in my mouth, etc to be really boring and i’m glad they got out of defy and sarah whittle was more in charge of pit.

i didn’t like angela at first but i love her now.

[tianshiisdead]

Posts trying to get ppl not to be mad at Biden are so wild to me do u know how a democracy works. Ofc u should get mad at Biden like not to sound like a Hot Blooded American or whatever but it's ur goddamn right and responsibility to get mad and hold candidates responsible. Like that's the entire point of the concept of transparency and democracy 😭 setting aside whether I think its working (I don't) ppl who are so pro democracy they get upset at ppl criticizing the system is crazy. 'you don't know how good you have it' if ur really a democracy stan you wouldn't try to keep people in line with threats of a worse system, because having a democracy shouldn't be seen as something to be earned. It's literally a right and a bare minimum and should be seen as such.

Why are you determined to stop people from rallying for progress and change in a system that still commits genocide inside and ESP outside of America, is that not the whole thing America is so proud of? Rallying for change? They had the same democracy in the 1900s as lol and I don't see people getting retrospectively mad at people rallying for change back then. And then furthermore the 'what about blank which would be worse if trump came to office' doesn't work when the angriest people I've seen... are poc and esp MENA who are already suffering a lot or have families living in war zones, the concept of 'both systems are the same to my experience of suffering' is not a new thing 💀

You see this in some other countries where indigenous people/minorities may vote for the more conservative party bc the liberal party treats them just as poorly but with a better optics system... do people's experiences on the ground not matter anymore, oftentimes this comes from that.... literally why working class will vote for reactionaries. Instead of trying to push for a better left wing option that actually shows care for working class and tries to appeal to them, people just scold on tumblr dot com about not criticizing the lukewarm option too much or calling the genocidal empire a genocidal empire bc 'at least most ppl at home are treated well and have free speech'. That doesn't make it not an empire... the height of Japanese liberalism and democracy and openly allowed dissident/poor people pushing for change and being allowed literally happened in the middle of (brutally) colonizing Taiwan and Korea etc. no one is saying the US is the #1 worst country to live in lol of COURSE not. It's literally the privileged imperial core, unless ur one of the minorities going thru internal colonialism

[aidaronan]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @wynnyfryd and @stevethehairington. Thank!!! 1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 131 (Jesus Christ)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,069,649

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently I write primarily Stranger Things with the occasion OFMD but I have written for Marvel (Stucky, Sambucky, Danbeau, gen), The Old Guard, and The Walking Dead. I tend to hyperfixate on a ship/fandom for a few years and then mostly move on when for whatever reason I no longer have interest.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Steddie completely overtook all my top fics, which is pretty wild. The top five are: The Prettiest Boy in Hawkins, Indiana Anywhere, Anytime Critical Hit It's Not a Big Deal I'd Burn the Castle for You

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Sometimes. I very much like to interact with fandom and fandom people. That's kind of the whole point. But I'm ultimately a person with a lot going on and treating comments like they're transactional (aka always owed a response) makes responding to comments feel like a job which is exhausting for me personally.

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

I mean, as much as I generally like a hopeful ending, there's a fair few. I mean, I was in The Walking Dead fandom where anyone can die so... lol But a recentish one I can remember is one I don't talk about much or promote really bc I don't like to think about it all that often. It's just Steve sneaking back into the Upside Down to bury Eddie. Nothing else, just closure. I wrote it when I was processing some feelings about losing my grandma's cat in a pretty traumatic way. I bottle fed him as a baby and always considered him kind of my cat too. Because of how and when it all happened, I had to take charge and bury him all alone, so I sort of used Steve to get some of it out.

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

Lol I tend to do Happy Endings so... God, hard to pick. I like the way I'd Burn the Castle for You ends because it's happy but it feels really grounded at the same time which I think makes it happier because it feels like they could actually have it. But when I think of the happiest, I might have to go back to Stucky and We didn't need this to love each other, but I'm glad we get to do it anyway which is a fic where Steve and Bucky never went to war, find a way to live a whole life together despite how hard it was to do so, and then get married when it's finally legal in NY. (Yes, I will keep using the characters getting married when it's finally legal trope because 1. I'm actually a sap, and 2. It's a good reminder that it's recent and hard-won.)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Sometimes, not in a while

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

Well. Hahahhahaha It can be anything from tender lovemaking to hardcore to hardcore with monsters and any mix or combo of those.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Crossovers in the sense of characters from different fandoms interacting? Not in a very long time, I don't think?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Stolen where they attempt to pass it off as theirs, I don't think so. I have, however, had quite a few rude little fuckers repost it on Wattpad lol

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! A few of my Stucky fics were translated into Russian.

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

No because I'm terrible at asking for people to work on stuff with me lol I am trying to get better at not thinking I'm annoying everyone all the time and actually talk about collabs and things. @sparklyslug and I are maybe going to do something if we can stop signing up for bangs lmao

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I can't answer this because the answer is always going to change based on whatever I'm into at the time lol

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

I can't point to any specific one because I genuinely don't know which ones I will and won't finish. BUT I do know there's never any conceivable way I'll finish all of my WIPs because just for Stranger Things, I have like 59. Maybe I'll say the Paramedic fic because I sort of lost the will to work on it after I took it down. It didn't really feel like there was any interest.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue. And fucknasty porn if we're being honest.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I sometimes feel like I really struggle writing any interpersonal relationships because I'm pretty bad at them irl. I know ADHD bleeds into my work and in every single character I write even if they don't intentionally have ADHD traits because I'll never ever actually understand the world from any other perspective. I also have to resist overexplaining shit even in my writing. I'm also bad at actually, you know, starting the task of writing sometimes lmaooo Plus just, like, me and my insecurities. Which is more of a personal weakness but it def affects how I interact with some of my own work/responses to it sometimes. Also see above and hate asking for "help" and being a "bother" and the fact that only like a few of my stories are beta'd lol

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

I don't do it very often, esp in Steddie. But I've done it in the past (I mean, Bucky Barnes, so...) It's like anything else in writing. You do it when you have a reason to do it and you consider the why of it and how different readers might interact with it and how you WANT them to interact with it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

MCR and The Used bandfic back on motherfucking Quizilla

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? Not to flex with the fact that I have 131 works on ao3 and that I've been writing on there for over 10 years, but there are so many things I love and love still--or even things I don't love still and would do a completely different way but love the memory of, or even just the accomplishment represented by that thing--that it'd be impossible to pick just one. But I'll talk about a few that come to mind - Fave Steddie is still Cut and Changed and Rearranged and my baby bisexual Steve learning he is loved

I love the work and historical research I put into The Second Labor, my alt version of the first Captain America movie where Steve joins the war effort in a different way.

And I also love my Cyberpunk Stucky, Empires Fall, but Not Us and think of it fondly.

Anyway thanks again for the tags Wynn and Mack 🥰! This was a nice little reflection moment lol Tagging @sparklyslug @greatunironic @banannabethchase @vecnuthy @starryeyedjanai

[mattsdae]

Thoughts of mean dom! Matt are the only thing keeping me going nowadays

ok but mean dom!matt is lowkey my baby cuz that was my first fic to really pop off and it’s still my most popular post

BUT even though i’ve attempted a part two multiple times, i kinda realized i don’t want to do an actual part two, but i love making up headcanons and little drabbles about mean!matt. for example i’ve had a draft of matt x reader fic where you work at sp studios and constantly argue with matt (you fucking hate eachother but you also hate when the other doesn’t come in). things escalate until you actually get into a physical fight and you maybe kinda get turned on by it so he uses it as blackmail to get you to do embarassing things to make up for all the arguments.

also mean dom!matt kinda mixed with pet play where he makes you bark and whine like a dog. he loves humiliating you and making you cry, plus you deeply enjoy when he’s the absolute worst to you. he’s the type to make you bark to get permission to cum or keep you on a collar and leash so he can drag you around, it’s just that the man loves watching your face flush as he makes you do these degrading tasks.

kinda in line with mean dom!matt but also primal!matt: him ‘hunting’ you bc he likes seeing you scared. like he’ll ask you to play hide and seek with him but you also know that when he catches you, he will pin you to the ground and criticize your hiding spot while you try to fight him off. he loves a good struggle and always encourages you to fight as hard as possible. maybe he does this multiple times bc he wants you to get in more practice (aka he likes doing it enough times that you give up and just cry and beg him to fuck you)

speaking of making you fight back, he makes you fight. i mean, he wants you to actually punch and kick like your life depends on it just to see how long you can last. you’ve never gotten close to fighting him off, but he loves making you struggle then degrading you for not being able to do it. he’ll rub it in your face like c’mon, baby.. you almost did a full minute last time! you barely lasted 10 seconds!

its even better when you get an actual, proper hit in. it takes him aback and when you go to apologize he praises you. like he fully encourages you to do it again, even though you tell him you can’t. he laughs and it actually kinda scares you when he goes do it again! that was really good, baby! do it one more time for me! he’s kinda masochistic too cuz not only does he love when you get a solid hit on him, he loves when you scratch at him and squeeze him real tight. something about you clawing at him during sex really gets him going.

i also think he’d be really into obedience stuff. he loves doing long training sessions where it’s literally just you following all his orders for however long he wants (if you do well, he’ll give you the best fuck of your life with tons of praise). he also likes making you mess up so that he has a reason to punish you. trick questions are definitely his favorite, like he’ll say you gotta tell me what you want, pup and you actually respond with words, forgetting about your ‘no speech’ rule. just little things like that where he likes fucking with your head a little, just to see you squirm and get all shy.

thats all i can think of rn but also i’m almost always thinking about mean!matt soooo

[cherry1sblog]

Ok honestly I’m glad you have this stance bc people have been freaking out about Niki getting smut written about him when he turns 18 and it’s just so confusing to me. Like yeah obviously having a straight up countdown for it would be weird asf but if people wanted to start posting things for him gradually I don’t see a problem with it. Jungwon isn’t that much older than him and I never saw people freaking out at the level they are for Niki for Jungwon. Didn’t we grow up with him since iland like we did with Niki? People argue that he’s still a minor in Korea (bc the legal age there is 19) but I never saw people being so offended over this for any of the other members. Did I miss it? Regardless, I know technically they stopped using the Korean age system this year but I know the majority of people still observe the old system in Korea (as the new system will take a LONG time to actually set in) so he would actually be 19 in Korea by that standard. I don’t understand the selective outrage. This sense of elevated moral high ground some people have over it is a bit annoying too. If you don’t like it, don’t read it. The people who DO deserve to be criticized about it are the people who have been writing nsfw things about him since he was WELL under the legal age anywhere, not people who are going to write for him gradually, after he is of age. It seems like the same bunch of people are just gonna keep spamming people’s inboxes that have a different opinion on it though.

Exactly my point you guys wanna be so mad over what people write smuts about Jake sunghoon jay and sunoo when all of those three were barley 18 and people were already writing smuts about them along with sunoo being a year younger y’all only care about one person in the group and it’s fucked up y’all like to talk so much about defending him but when I came to the other members nothing right? The switch up is honestly crazy and if you don’t like it don’t read it

[briny]

^not my post, take under cut

i was thinking abt this idea of ahistorically "progressive" fiction being harmful and I think.. I am less interested in this lens of viewing fiction than I used to be. I consider it a very normal reaction to be uninterested in the "liberal project of sanitizing colonial violence" and I believe that the cultural privileging of stories that superimpose images of marginalized people onto the roles of oppressors over stories about how those marginalized people were resisting indicates that the dominant culture does want to foreground their narrative and will adapt in many ways to keep their ideas alive - but I also know that marginalized people have always had many layers of identification and relationships to the concepts represented by historical fiction that permeate our culture most deeply, and it feels so bleak to say that we can't morally explore these identifications without first and foremost fully representing the depth of our abjection. I think lots of people have talked about the inability of fiction to serve as moral authority or even education, and about how the perceived moral imperative for poc to acknowledge abjection and oppression all the time can further degrade our sense of resilience and dignity. as far as my personal taste, I judge a piece of "historical" fiction on how well it explores and connects the concepts it purports to find identification in. not to say I need all my historical fiction to be highbrow, to cover all ground, or even be nuanced! I just want a coherent internal viewpoint. Sometimes the conceptual gap between the story's take and the actual events it's chosen to represent is too big and jarring, and the conclusions that the story presents come off as delusional or projected - this is how I feel about hamilton, I have no idea how the telling of american history from a founding father's perspective particularly serves its central aim of remaking history to include oppressed peoples, and it perturbs me that this is hamilton's answer to "who lives who dies who tells your story". I don't feel this way about all "sanitized" narratives, bc they aren't all contriving to retell history in an "inclusive" way, they're interested in different ideas that don't have to do with making a statement on historical narrative itself. It feels normal for people who intimately know what it is to be desubjectified to be drawn to the dignity and preciousness of courtly romance, or to bond-making amongst those who exist outside the law. I'll never pretend that these identifications aren't loaded or fraught, but it feels both reductive and like a bad faith assessment of your peers/of yourself to assume these multiple fascinations boil down to a power fantasy of being in the oppressor position. I guess I am interested in what value, if any, the post-colonial psyche would find in these identifications - would history and identity begin at the point of total decolonization? Does everything before that point no longer serve us? Is our yet to be decolonized present even serving us? I don't really want to refute op's stance or even disagree with it, but if we're accepting the project of critically analyzing pop culture thru the lens of identity representation I do want to keep following the thread that's there

anyway please don't @ me if you have a grad degree in media studies or something this is off the top of my dome and I've never seen bridgerton so if I'm very wrong abt it well! then I'm very wrong

[roobylavender]

Same anon from a while ago, but yeah there was a bit in the fic where jason wouldnt get medical attention that was otherwise cheap because he had no ID. and then willis swoops in and saves him, which is nice on its own ig, but it felt like they sort of insinuate its bruce’s fault for jason not having that, despite willis also being there….not helping him sooner. the Identification isnt the only thing, but otherwise the writing sort of explains it like “Bruce is too busy blaming himself, ruining his ability to do something about helping Jason recover”

yeah i read through to the end and i think that's what surprised me is it is accurate for bruce to get so caught up in his own emotions that he fails to prioritize another person's emotions when necessary but for that to translate to him willingly withholding material help from jason because the latter won't back down from his moral stance is so.. like where is the logic here lol. i think there's a lot one could do with bruce's classism and his inability to look beyond his initial moral stance to truly understand why jason does what he does, even if it's ultimately wrong in its execution, but for some reason writers are always more immediately interested in the base violence than they are in interrogating any of the factors that feed into it. even the most left-leaning batman writer (in my opinion), mike w. barr, wasn't able to go further than "violence regardless of who employs it is all-around bad". there was a slight acknowledgement on his part of worse material circumstances for poor, marginalized communities, but ultimately he still condemned their retaliatory violence against oppressive structures and portrayed it as disorganized and ultimately leading to mass death (legends of the dark knight #21-23, batman annual #9). part of that factors into portrayals of jason as well, bc it's more convenient for his methodology to be condemnable from the start (even if some small part of it can be explained via his emotional volatility post-resurrection) than it is for it to be grounded in even an iota of reality that actually allows for bruce's classism to be criticized in turn. i almost wonder if writers do so not only to keep jason stagnant but to keep bruce stagnant as well bc at this point it's easier to make him a target for everything in order to explore the desired themes in narrative. even the way willis talks to him in this fic is emblematic of that. it reads like talking points from a book more than it does an actual conversation that acknowledges bruce has any capacity for emotional intelligence and reformation of his views

[dykesbat]

bestie my bestie i have a chem lab due in an hour that i don't want to do. i would like to humbly ask for your miscellaneous thoughts on the hunger games pls rant to me i would love to see it <33

FRAMING THIS ON MY WALL FOREVER DEAR GODDDDDDDDD. EVEREST…. YAYYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!! SKIPPING IN A CIRCLE W YOU!!! ok :3 hehe

they make me sick in the head dear god. miscellaneous things abt hunger games that make me sick in the head this is not going to be organized btw.

thresh and katniss being parallels. both being older and non-careers that matched the careers' scores. katniss wishing she could play that stoicism like thresh because then she wouldn't have to act as much. katniss noting that she doesn't think that thresh likes owing people when he spares her for saving rue...... THEY MAKE ME SO SO SICK.

also rue and katniss and prim venn diagram.. katniss seeing herself AND prim in rue (mockingjay symbolism, eldest child, only 12 years old, named after plants, is the primary reason why katniss sticks so so true to her morals within the arena..)

gale. so many complex feelings abt him. like on one hand the way he took out his anger on katniss sucks!!! a lot!!!!! i dont think the way people discuss him is very fair either. he is still a child.. AND if we're working under the assumption that the people of the seam are intentionally indigenous-coded it feels a bit insidious the way people liken him to war and anger and shit like..... yeah gale operates from anger but it is ultimately an anger born from love and generational loss. like. gale deals with a lot of the same traumas that katniss deals with pre-74th games (losing a father, being parentified, being the primary provider for a family, watching children you grew up with die on screen every year, watching people die from disease and hunger, etc etc.) then during/post the hunger games he watched his best friend enter the games and enter an act he knows she has no agency in (and yeah theres jealousy there which. booooo but whatever he has flaws) while keeping his promise to care for her sibling and mother. THEN he is publicly tortured and watches as his home burns to the ground as the capitol attempts to commit a genocide against them, knowing full well that he wasn't able to warn the merchants town in time. i think people talk abt gale as if he's some big villain capable of holding a candle to snow when he's literally a kid whos been manipulated over and over again and led to believe that anger is the only fuel he needs. also. if im honest. im very hesitant with gale's character bc a lot of peoples criticisms of him as a person read a lot like people who believe revolutions should only ever be peaceful and that. is bullshit.

anyways. MADGE. :( I LOVE MADGE SO SO MUCH. she makes me sick she and katniss are a story of generational love. the fact that madge brings katniss the morphling because she cares for her.. the fact that madge brings katniss the pin in the first place!!! the fact that madge's aunt and katniss's mother were best friends!!! its a story of generational love!! IM SO SICK. DEAR GOD.

aro katniss hc :33 its real 2 me..

little rebellions found in small acts of love.. the three-finger salute first appearing when katniss volunteers in prim's place.. the fact that katniss volunteering at all was an unspoken rebellion bc it reinforced this idea of familial love and loyalty that the volunteer system was meant to break.. the salute being a sign of mourning as if to say district twelve will remember katniss's love..... the fact that the salute becomes this symbol of revolution.. katniss and rue bonding and exchanging tales from their districts breaking the separation each district has from the other, katniss laying rue to rest with a lullaby and a bed of flowers the capitol can't not show, district 11 in turn breaking those rules again by sending katniss bread as a token of thanks and solidarity.......... THE MOCKINGJAY PIN BEING KATNISS'S TOKEN THAT WAS GIVEN TO HER BY ONE OF HER ONLY FRIENDS. A PHYSICAL REMINDER THAT SHE WAS LOVED AT HOME. KILL ME. I NEED TO BE SHOT.

the way characters are explored through katniss and vice versa is so so interesting. i already mentioned thresh and gale but also notable are ofc haymitch, johanna, and peeta. all of which are intentionally similar to katniss in a way. (whether it be the all-consuming love and selflessness, the anger, the rebellion, holding on to stoicism as some form of protection, etc.) AND. the fact that so many characters butt heads with katniss because of this (AGAIN. HAYMITCH AND JOHANNA.)

katniss and buttercup. katniss's save the cat moment being her trying to drown the cat is so so telling both about katniss and about the world she lives in (this idea that death is some sort of salvation). buttercup being symbolic of katniss' relationship w herself (like cmon.. catnip. ok.) starting off with hating each other but only being amiable because they both love and want to protect prim, katniss saving buttercup literally only for prim (katniss intentionally wanting to come home for both prim and rue's sake), katniss lashing out at buttercup after prim has died, katniss and buttercup finding comfort in each other because prim is no longer there. their relationship shows katniss's evolution from living for prim to actually living for herself.

WHICH IS SO SO SICK. BECAUSE SHE ONLY LIVES FOR HERSELF WHEN SHE REACHES THE AGE OF ADULTHOOD. SHE HAS ONLY EVER LIVED FOR PRIM. AND EVERYONE KNOWS. JOHANNA MAKES KATNISS SWEAR ON HER MOTHER AND PRIM'S LIFE BECAUSE KATNISS DIDN'T VALUE HER OWN ENOUGH. THEY HAD TO MAKE SURE THAT KATNISS DIDN'T COMMIT SUICIDE SO SO SO MANY TIMES AFTER PRIM DIED. DEAR GODDDDD. SHES ONLY LIVED FOR PRIM.

katniss' relationship w her mother also makes me sick in the head. like mrs everdeen is not the best mom ever but the fact that she and katniss foil and parallel each other makes me so so so sick.. (katniss falling into that same depressive state her mother was in. the mockingjay pin. the seam vs merchants.. etc etc.) katniss and her motehr clearly care for each other too! her mother tries! she tries to make it up to katniss! she tries to care for her! and katniss lets her even if she doesnt like it because she knows its her mother's attempts and that means something! her mother holds her and comforts her and lets out a scream when she realizes that katniss has to be reaped again. katniss yells at her but she also grips her hand and tells her she loves her and lets the braid she wove into her hair be the signature she keeps.

ALSO SOBBING i wish we knew more about each districts individual cultures because we were given snippets of them (annie and finnick's wedding having particular district 4 customs, district 12 and their dances/music, district 11 with their music, etc etc).

also like while i stand by aro katniss 4eversies i do think that narratively peeta wouldve been the best romantic end game for her. basically what im saying is. katpee qpr. also her having children makes so much sense.

[heartscrypt]

hi im the back and im now a stray cat in ur backgarden waiting for a meal. give me fun facts abs ur ocs or ill scratch something. i think they are So Cool. please

ouuu my god YOU HAVE UNLEASHED THE HORRORS . I LOVE MY OCS RAAAAAGHHHHH

ok im . putting this into like subsections based on ocs. limiting myself to 3 fun facts about each oc so i have some that ppl can still ask me about.

looong post so im gonna put it under a read more

cyrus:

he is a nickname guy. he will give people nicknames. the most notable one is "inky" for azul. she started calling him it post-overblot because it made him uncomfortable in an entertaining way. for mc / yuu she'll call them "small-fry" / "zako" because. well. its condescending. also in jpn it's apparently slang for "weak / useless person" or "mob character" LMFAO. "fry" / "chigyo" is how he addresses people that he doesn't care about (mostly other students from different dorms) and he often calls other dorms "chigyochi" (rough translation would be. Breeding ground?? but in official eng it would probably be something like Hatchery i guess. to remove the Implications LOL). she also likes to call specifically freshmen "freshwaters" / "tansugiyo" because. coming from the coral sea as a saltwater mer. the Peak of insult is implying you're a freshwater fish who can't survive the salt or the cold. basically calling all these freshmen weak as fuck

he's so terrified of sebek its so funny. its like an irrational fear of him too. cyrus just wants to Sprint Away as fast as she can when she hears sebeks voice because sebek reminds her of a crocodile. incredibly hilarious considering sebek is a whole freshman and cyrus is a whole junior and they're from completely different dorms so there's like. So little chance of them interacting

she HATES the nrc birthday tradition of the "gift of good fortune" (aka getting cake thrown in her face) because her least favorite food is whipped cream. he honestly just hates cake in general and hates the idea of cake being thrown at him (in reference to the scene in the little mermaid where vanessa stumbles into the wedding cake bc the sealife is attacking her LMFAO). she's not even a good sport about it bc shes immediately trying to run away. her birthday presenter (its cater btw. if u even care) has to literally hold her down kicking and screaming.

marron:

his worst subject is alchemy. things can and do often blow up in his face... even if that wasn't originally possible for whatever he was making to do. pre-overblot, this is mostly obscured by how he's able to maneuver his lab partners into doing most of the work for him. post-overblot, it's so obvious that it's his weakest subject that crewel immediately puts him in remedial lessons and he's so embarrassed about it. will get snappish and defensive if anyone presses him on it because he hates feeling like he's being criticized

he has a favors gambit running in the freshmen classes. if you picked any random freshman student out of the crowd at nrc... 9 times out of 10 they'll owe marron a favor. it's a lot less formal and definitely a lot less intimidating than azul's contract system, but that's part of what makes it work-- the people indebted to marron are pretty much unaware of their debt until they step out of line and face consequences they weren't anticipating at All.

his brother had connections to a security company named Cloak&Dagger. it has connections to S.T.Y.X. in that it sells information on overblotters to the organization but it also more generally keeps tabs on the influential people of the world (like the royal family). marron uses this connection to cultivate a horrifyingly wide information network. he does have all the personal data on ur phone btw. he knows everything you looked up on wikipedia. he's side-eyeing you for spending that long on sigmund freud's page.

jettie:

the youngest in a family of six. his three siblings, all guys, are older than him-- around college/workforce age. in order from youngest to oldest they are buddy, moore, and ramer (all respectively based off chum, anchor, and bruce from finding nemo). they're a lot more friendly than jettie. also a lot bigger. jetties kind of the runt so hes more aggressive to compensate. they love him anyways <3

his family run a bodyguard business. it's a little ominous. his other three siblings are kind of iffy on continuing it because it's shady as fuck but jettie is READY to take over the business when his father nimius (twisted off of glut from the little mermaid 1) gives him the opportunity or 2) kicks the bucket.

he keeps all his baby teeth in a jar. actually all of his teeth that fall out. he bites a lot of things he shouldn't so this is more common than you think. did you know sharks have a neverending supply of regenerating teeth? isn't that horrifying? well its a trait jettie has and yes it is more horrifying when he's in his human form. he brings out the jar of teeth when he wants to fuck with someone

[lewisbian]

i’m not really familiar with birth charts but can you explain lewis’ birth chart? i only know his sun, moon, and rising but the rest i have no idea what it means

i can. not concisely tho lol sawry!

disclaimer: astrology to me is a guide not a rule book. a fun tool that makes you ask questions about yourself and other people and can eventually help you understand them better.

disclaimer #2: websites claim to know the time of lewis' birth, which gives you info on his rising sign and his houses. idk where tf that info came from tho lol so i'm leaving all of that out and sticking to his 5 personal planets.

disclaimer #3: placements interact with each other! if you have one of his placements too, some of this might be spot on and some of this might not fit at all and that's okay and normal, because that placement interacts with the rest of your chart.

sun: who you are, your sense of self, identity, permanence, life force

capricorn: earth sign, cardinal sign, ruled by saturn

as a cap sun lewis is literally grounded. think of earth (compared to all other elements) as the one you can hold in your hands and mold, the one that will keep a shape. earth gives a stability that no other element can give, it's extremely reliable. cardinal signs are the ones that start the seasons, so they're related to creation, birth, innovation. capricorns create, but they create things they can touch and hold. they create to see a result that they can feel, and the process of creation is also material. capricorns won't make a building without a blueprint, i always say they're blueprint and list makers - lewis literally makes lists of goals and crosses them out - but they're also the sign that will actually present you with the finished building at the end. think of lewis saying, "a lot of commissions fail, but this one has me, and i don't fail at a lot of things." what they start is their job, and they'll make sure to treat it like a job and do it well, see it through. think of lewis setting up a commission to find out exactly what the diversity problem was before actually approaching it and working to solve it. blueprints! strategic, long-term (ruled by saturn, slow moving planet, success takes time and effort and discipline and they know that even if they want it now), careful, methodic vision and planning. also, think of lewis' pride and confidence in the skill, knowledge, even the team, that he's built from the ground up stone by stone, despite all the mistakes that he might've made along the way and then corrected. capricornations! one last thing, they can be overly self-critical and goal-oriented, to the point where, like, joys in life come second to reaching those goals. think of lewis saying sometimes he rewards himself with like actual candy if he thinks he did well, and doesn't let himself have it if he doesn't think he deserves it.

moon: how you feel, impermanence, the emotional and sentimental, the subconscious, what's very deep and personal

cancer: water sign, cardinal sign, ruled by the moon

lewis' moon is at home in cancer. cancer is a water sign, and water represents emotion. he is a very very emotional person (people like torger and serena williams have said this abt him). cancer is water, but also cardinal water (again, starts a season), so think of water of birth, water of origin, water of creation and beginnings. literally water in the womb. a cancer moon is incredibly nurturing, they're emotionally invested in creating an environment where people and things can grow - think of all the times lewis has talked about empowering young talent, about giving people the support they need to be great, about being kind to whoever comes into the sport bc he knows how tough it can be - and they need to be nurtured in return in order to bloom as well, to feel comfortable. think of the way lewis talks about his personal relationships, abt the people he has this deep emotional attachment to: his parents. his father making sacrifices to hone his talent, and his mother and step mother being the reason he has love in his life (he has literally said these words. insane). he's said he wouldn't be where he is without his parents, because they nurtured him both as a human and as a racing driver, and that's clearly huge to him, and he wants to give that back always. cancer moon is like, the emotional investment in wanting to be the river that a civilization gathers around, you are literally keeping them alive, you are a source of life for other people. nurturing! but also, if you think of life-giving water - it's vulnerable. when you have cardinal water, you protect it. you build walls (a shell, like the crab that represents cancer) and only allow certain people in who you know can take care of it. cancer needs reciprocity. you nurture but you need to be nurtured back. lewis has matching loyalty tattoos with his closest friends, nbd. they're allowed inside the shell, he feels safe with them there.

mercury: literally the messenger of the gods. communication, how you convey meaning (speech and writing), how you exchange ideas, intellectually understand things, process info, the questions you ask

sagittarius: fire sign, mutable sign, ruled by jupiter

sagittarius is a fire sign, and fire represents passion, action, inspiration, creativity. sag is a mutable sign (it closes a season, transitions from one season to the next), so you have to imagine fire constantly in movement, constantly evolving. like, if aries is a match and leo is a fireplace, sagittarius is a bushfire. it just grows and grows, which is fitting because it's ruled by jupiter - the largest planet in the solar system. just huge. fire that expands and keeps expanding. and this is literally how lewis communicates. everything is larger than life, everything is significant and transcendent. like, he doesn't have to write 500 words about how our hands tell a story, but he does. he doesn't have to talk about himself as a shooting star and about wanting others to get in his slipstream and shine with him, but he does. everything is projected outwards. i'm also thinking abt the VF article where they're like lewis has all of these phrases (still i rise, powerful beyond measure, etc.) that he uses and actually lives his life by. like these words are truly transcendent to him, they go beyond words, they have real material impact in his life. and sag is all about going beyond what is obvious or within reach - i mean, it's represented by a centaur that shoots arrows, what better representation of extending towards things that are out of reach. this aggrandizing way of conveying meaning can be very polarizing. think of lewis fans finding it inspiring and motivating, then of lewis haters calling him preachy. sag mercury doesn’t care. jupiter is expansive but inclusive, you can’t stop a sag from sharing all that meaning, from wanting people to experience it with them. also, the way lewis processes new information, always ready to learn more and more, always willing to change (mutable sign!) according to new ideas and new information, and not only to change but to act on that new mindset (fire sign!). obviously thinking about his nephew and the princess dress.

venus: literally the goddess of love beauty and pleasure. connection - how you bond with other people - relationships of all types, intimacy

mars: literally the god of war. separation, action, drive, energy, the expression of anger, how you push back/through, how you overcome, sex

pisces: water sign, mutable sign, ruled by jupiter (traditional astrology) and neptune (modern astrology)

lewis' venus and mars are both in pisces. pisces is a mutable sign ruled by jupiter, exactly like sagittarius, so it has a lot of the sag qualities except it's a water sign, not a fire sign, which means those qualities are directed more towards emotion and intuition. the difference between sag and pisces is that while sag fire projects outwards, pisces water is receptive, it takes in, it contains, and the issue with pisces is sometimes it takes in too much. being receptive of the world's contradictions and emotionally adapting to them makes it easy to develop like. martyr syndrome. let's focus on lewis' pisces mars. mars is about pushing back against the things thrown at you. how does a pisces mars overcome an obstacle? they take in, they absorb. lewis is robbed of a title, is given a car that might as well be a submarine, and what does he do? he takes it all in, he says put a hundred sensors on my car and give me the dumbbells and put me on a different setup for every session and i'll sacrifice my races to get us through this. then he shows up with a smile on his face and his sag mercury to talk to his team, taking on the role of mercedes amg antidepressant. think of how he reacted after abu dhabi, no public statements or appearances or declarations, just him and his close circle and some time away to grieve and to reflect, all of it pointed inward. pisces mars!

with pisces there are these transcendent emotional attachments that i think especially in lewis' water dominant chart kind of bleed into his other placements, e.g. i think his pisces venus and mars are inseparable and kind of wrap around his capricorn sun. like, the love he has for a sport that's literally not kind to him, that he has to fight against every day. the way he is legitimately and truly fueled by emotional upheaval, whether that's adversity or adoration. people like to say lewis drives better when he's angry, torger was like they woke up the lion or whatever last year, bottas was like ad21 will only make him stronger next year. but like, think of lewis saying i will fight with everything i have for you this year after spending like a weekend being loved on by the nation of brazil at the beginning of the year. or like, his glow every single time he's surrounded by that love, interlagos 21 or silverstone 22, his performance when he's not being booed by a crowd. i remember him saying something like, "thanks to you i had the wind at my back today," in brazil last year. the emotional nature of his interactions and relationships with others (venus) that he absorbs and that fuels him to fight back and push through (mars).

pisces is hard to grab, how do you grab water in your hands without it slipping through your fingers? pisces is represented by two fish, and fish are slippery, they're hard to get a hold of. to think of pisces venus, think of lewis being like, "i have so much going on in my life, i'm always going from one place to another, and that's not always understood by a romantic partner." or, "nah, you first bruv," @ george when he said he just has to get married to be allowed to wear jewelry in the car. this connects to his cancer moon, to the loyalty and security he needs to feel comfortable to open up and be vulnerable. but once that trust exists, pisces venus just lets emotion flow. pisces is also like a confessor, taking in the most personal parts of the people around them. they bond with other people not necessarily by sharing a passion or an idea or a project like another sign might, but mostly by sharing like, deep emotional experience - which doesn't mean constant emotional vulnerability. there is emotional depth to these relationships, but again, that emotional depth isn't offered to everyone. extremely compassionate and receptive to other people's suffering too.

lastly, the visual and aesthetic appreciation of the transcendent - venus is the planet of beauty, and neptune is related to everything spiritual, intuitive, and transcendent. lewis wore an amethyst helmet and has adorned his body with tattoos of michelangelo's pietà, a UFO, metatron's cube, and his star sign. lmao. or how so much of what he uses to overcome obstacles (mars) is also rooted in manifestation. neptune-ruled pisces venus and mars baby!

also venus and mars in pisces: the most satisfying sex is spiritually significant sex. or whatever lol.

[magnoliamyrrh]

Paul is a fucked up manchild who berates his mom the second he gets supernatural powers and sees himself as better than everyone. That’s only if you can get past herbert’s awful writing where his villains gotta be fat and gay and he repeats these facts every single time they switch povs as if the audience has somehow forgotten (seriously, highlight every time herbert mentions the villain is fat. It’s so common it’s just boring stale writing). Paul in dune is the worst kinda self insert fanfic. Dune is such a shitty book girl how do you enjoy it

ohh he definetely is a man child; i feel bad for him in like the first half of the first book mainly bc hes a teenager, hes 15, like, a teenager teenager not an almost adult 17-18. he may come from a powerful family but hes just thrust into very messed up circumstances, more or less tortured to prove hes human, has to grapple with being some sort of raised-to-be-exceptional genetic experiment and being used in some weird intergalactic lie and war, and incredible amount of historical pressure and other things. like, at 15, hes more kid than adult dealing w this. but also, while being 15, he is smart, and charming to others, and he quickly rises to great infleunce and is good at manipulation. and yea the moment he gets some more power he turns it even against his own mother, against himself, and against others and the longer they go on the more insufferbale he becomes; what ground of expeptionalism in him existed gets raised tenfold -hes an inherently flaued character by all means who even when he tries he fucked up badly many times. i mean like hell, among all the shit he ends up doing, even just that thing that he himself didnt have the power to put shit in order, so he ends up forcing it on his son, like how he was shoved into a bunch of things when he was younger

and yes lol i am well aware of the villan thing. i do get that in this context the "fat" thing and even the gay pedo thing is moreso an allegory for greed and the keeping of and hoarding of precious things (im Not saying fat ppl are like this mind u, im not saying its good either, but in many cultures fat has or is indeed revered as a sign of wealth; and this is used to contrast to those who dont have, and i reckon this is where it comes from in the story). but yes, i do think thats uhh i hate this word problamatic. the fat thing, the gay thing, the pedo thing. definetely part of an ongoing issue of attaching several of those characteristics to villans, and also of making villans generally ugly, thus associsting the two together. like yup, its definitely not good

idk tho, i think. dune was written in the 1960s by a white dude. like, it doesnt suprise me that that stuff is in there. ive read plenty of things that have parts of them that are problamatic or outdated or offensive and it just,, is what it is. like idk i can enjoy something while also being aware and critical of the parts of it that are fucked up - i think if i wasnt able to, i wouldnt be able to like,,,, explore a lot of the literature that exists out there, especially older literature, no matter from where its from in the world or if its written by men or women. most of it or most authors at least have written some weird shit or held some weird shit. idk just a stupid parallel off the top of my head i love the 1001 nights stories - i grew up with them - but theyre filled to the brim with weird shit and problamatic things and sexism and racism and slavery and whatever else, like absolutely filled - to an extend they reflect the times. i still, however, enjoy reading them tho

i also dont know how much paul is a self insert - maybe. ive never read the dude as sympathetic or a sympathetic anti-hero much. i did find the idea that out of this all-female order theyd have the idea that a male would be the one w the greatest power and some sort of prophesied force of power weird, sooo idk maybe. but idk, if its a self insert i rlyyy dont think its supoosed to be a flattering one much. the dude just gets worse and worse as the books progress, and he ends up after fucking up so much and being too weak to fix it, exiled, alone, spending his last yesrs wondering in loneliness and deep regret. so, i dont think its shown that his superiority complex or anything else brought him something good; it just lead to tragedy

mostly i like the series for the intricacy of its plot and the way its introduced, the messages it tries to send even if it at times fails or does so badly. like yea, its not perfect, but it is trying to ssy something about foreign meddeling and co-opting of religions and cultures and desperste situstions, or colonialism and capitalism, of exploitation, greed, power, etc. and also in very large part its lore, its scifi elements, its weird out there mysticism, and all the parts of it that are very, very weird. i am fascinsted by the world that this dude created. im a really big fan of magical realism and to an extent the books are like this - because they start more normal and over time become more and more mystical and fantastical and weird and less grounded as more concepts, creatures, and affects of the spice are introduced. i also do like that the main character isnt an actual hero. all this talk of prophecy and whatever, but its all bad, and it goes so fucking bad. its to an extent a subversion of classical fantasy tropes, combined with space scifi.... and yes. there are times when the writing isnt great, or when its outdated, or when it hammers things again and again (like the villan thing). i also think in many places the writing is intriguing, careful, and calls for attention and contemplation of what is happening

and idk apart from something like 1001 nights..... to an extend, i feel abt dune as i feel about game of thrones. i rly love those books. yes theyre writing by an old white man. yes there are parts of them (less than the show id say) which are problamatic and outdated and i could go on a whole list about that. but, i still enjoy them. i think the world grrm martin created is insanely insanelyyy complex, beautiful, fascinating, the lore is some of the deepest and most intriguing ive ever seen, and the character writing - the sheer complexity of the characters, the willingness to show how fucked up humans are and how often things are so stupidly complicated, the way he can get us to love even insufferable characters, the way there are no perfect good heros, the broader anti-war and even climate change message, the harsh and grounded realism of much of the series,,, the way theyre also kinda like magic realism, bc over the books magic keeps coming back more and more, the world becomes more full of mystic and mystery and prophecies which arent 100% true, the way the books are largely a subversion of fantasy tropes. like, yea. theyve got issues, grrm martins writings got issues. but i think theyre brilliant in many ways at the same time 🤷‍♀️

so i guess. yea. im definitely not saying the books dont have issues or theyre perfect or theyre the peak of literature. but im still able to enjoy parts of them