#and end rant

[endwersed]

13 fics to me that is crazy. Can I say I truly enjoyed Striking Out. I really don't understand the hate you got for it. Understand not liking what a character is doing but in the end its truly just a story that the author is creating don't read if you don't like. It's tagged angst with a happy ending. There is going to be parts that make you feel sad or mad but it will get better. Sorry I just really loved what you have written for the story.

It's crazy to me too, anon 😁

Thank you, that's very sweet of you to say - and I do agree with you, when I read a story tagged with angst, I'm expecting angst! Over time, I've come to think that maybe some people took the actions of the characters in that story a little too personally, and that's why the reaction was as... intense as it was.

Either way, as much as I have gotten some negative and demotivating comments on that fic, I have also had some truly lovely ones that have been a joy to read - stuff a lot like this 💖

[chiisana-lion]

[bixels]

The final TF2 issue really got to me. Spoilers, but it’s the reveal that all of this suffering and murder and war over gravel and shitty land was for nothing but senseless, bottomless hatred. That the administrator can’t even remember where this revenge plot started as she flashes through different false memories of her parents’ deaths. There was never a tragic backstory or justification, only terrible people doing despicable things. And despite how crass and stupid and unserious TF2 is, the story subverts every expectation by showing the survivors and inheritors willingly breaking the cycle. Ms. Pauling lies to the administrator and chooses not to save her, and finally lets her die. (Hurts even more if you read into the subtext that Ms. Pauling is in love with the administrator.) She lets the final cache of Australium go and walks away from the burden and legacy of a century-old bloodfeud. Hale lets Gray’s daughter go and live her life freely. Spy is the first to arrive at Scout’s house and meet his big family, finally takes off his mask, and helps with the kids. Even Merasmus exhaustedly makes peace with himself and Soldier and chooses not to curse him or something. There’s nothing to finish, no promises to keep, and no one to avenge. The only thing to do is break the cycle and walk away.

It feels odd how happy and warm everything is, but it feels so right and earned. These bloodthirsty, awful, violent men were expendable cogs in a machine of endless violence, and they found a way out. It’s a genuinely great message about letting go the past that burdens you and finding the will and a way to hit the bricks, change, and be happy. Maybe they don’t technically deserve happiness, but they’ve got it nonetheless, and they’re not gonna let it go to waste. They’re still all crazy and violent, but on their own terms now and with people who love them! Smiles.

[zorangezest]

Shockwave somewhere off in the corner with starscream watching this personality swap unfold that he caused somehow

HOLD ON. YOU’RE RIGJT. SHOCKWAVE DEFINITELY CAUSED ALL OF THIS

you inspired me to make this comic why is this becoming an actual au why does this stupid blucking au have lore I’m going to cry

[bamsara]

I think that one thing people fail to understand is that unsolicited literary criticism coming from an online stranger who is reading with no knowledge of what the authors intended goal is, is not going to be received the same as say: the authors beta reader or friends who know what the authors intended goal and has the sufficient knowledge and input to help the author reach that desired outcome.

"But I'm only trying to be helpful" How do I know you have the knowledge and literary skill for you to be able to actaully do that when we don't know each other and you are essentially a stranger to me? Are you applying this criticism based out of personal biased experience and desire to see the story or characterization be driven in another direction or tweaked, or do you know the author's intentions for the character? If the story is incomplete, are you basing your criticism of a character on the incomplete narration with only partial information available of them or are you building up a report until the story's completion? Did the author provide you with the information needed to make a fully informed criticism?

Have you discussed with the author what their plans are or are you assuming them based off the narration, especially if the narration is proven or implied to be unreliable or missing key points of the plot? Are you unbiased enough to help them reach their desired outcome for the characters and story regardless of your personal feelings towards the characters/antagonists and setting? Can you handle being told your specific input isn't wanted because you're a reader and/or have no written anything relating to their genre or topic? Do you understand and respect that the author's personal experiences might influence their writing and make it different than how you would have done it personally? Do you understand if an author only wants input from a specific demographic relating to their story?

If it's for fanfiction or other hobby media, are you holding a free hobby to a professional standard? Are you trying to give criticism because you feel like the author has produced 'subpar job performance' of their fic? Are you viewing their work as a personal intimate outlet or something that must conform with mass media? Are you applying rules and guidelines when the fic is shared for simple sharing sake? Is your criticism worded appropriately and focused on the parts where the author has requested input on rather than a general dismissal and or disapproval?

Have you put yourself in a place where you assumed you have the input needed for the story to evolve better, or have you asked what the author needs and what they're having trouble with? Can you handle having your criticism rejected if the author decides their story doesn't need the change and not take it as a personal offense against your character? Are you crossing that boundary because you think you are doing the author a favor? Are you trying to be helpful, or do you just want to be?

I think sometimes when people hear authors go 'please don't give me unsolicited writing advice or criticism' they automatically chalk it up to 'this author doesn't want ANY constructive feedback on their stuff at all' and not "i already have trusted individuals who will help me with my writing goals and- hey i don't know you like that, please stop acting so overly familiar with me'

[buddyhollyscurls]

*taps mic* hello i am once again here to discuss the subversion of gendered tropes in the apothecary diaries when it comes to jinshi and maomaos growing romantic relationship and I'm surprised I didn't say this before bc its one of the most obvious examples but

can we talk about the way Jinshi just like... follows Maomao's lead? essentially. like not to say he doesn't take initiative or take charge of things but like.... can we talk about how he observes her (before she starts observing him too is what I'm referring to) and it's crucial to how he falls in love with her so much so that it's the one constant you see in official art; him watching her as shes inspecting plants, him literally following behind her. he learns from her not only about plants and poisons and medicine but about how to navigate the world outside of palace walls yk or how ppl outside the palace (esp women) live

and its so distinct bc usually in these historical dramas its always the WOMEN who learn from men. like its always the women who live sheltered lives and learn from men about the "real world"

jinshi is not afraid to be guided by her or learn from her, or even recognize that she may know more than him in certain situations, he values her intelligence even tho he's not only a man but a man of royal birth like literally who is doing it like him for real for real

[feverdreamsandlucidnightmares]

Honestly if the situation was less dire 24 year old Renee Walker watching her 19 year old best friend be horrendously down bad for the new 19 18 year old asshole striker would have a lot of comedic potential. You know he’s furious about his crush. In denial. Renee sure as shit knows. Wymack knows. Kevin is tired as hell and trying to domesticate Neil like a feral cat.

[rasangan-raspberry]

I don't think i posted this? lol

tbh after thinking about hancock a bit, i feel like she would become attached to anyone that treated her like how luffy treated her (as an equal and a friend, and not practically deifying her)

[life-in-toontown]

Sorry but I just need a little vent post about Lilo and Stitch to get this shit off my chest

I’m not going to go over every single change listed here, this post is mainly gonna be about Nani and Lilo, and Jumba will be mentioned eventually too.

In the original film, Nani was not a neglectful sister. Yes, she and Lilo did fight with each other (yelling, not physical abuse, of course) but ffs, Nani was just 19 years old and was now the sole caretaker of her five year old sister, a sister who was not an easy child to deal with (I’m not saying that to imply Lilo’s a bad character, not at all. She had a group of girls always bullying her for being different, and that combined with her trauma and grief from losing her parents results in her getting behavioral issues and resorting to physical violence against her bullies. I actually love that they portrayed her in that complicated and complex way).

And don’t forget Nani’s grieving throughout the whole movie too, hell she probably never even found time to process her grief since she’s suddenly in the role of a caretaker and provider for her little sister. And just to add to this, her room has lots of surfing trophies which means she was on her way to becoming a professional surfer but she had to give that up for Lilo.

So yeah, of course Nani wasn’t a perfect parent to Lilo, she was a grieving 19 year old woman taking care of a five year old with behavioral issues. And honestly, you’d think it would make sense for her to give Lilo to CPS right?

BUT.

Look at their family at the end of the film.

Jumba and Pleakley live with them as Lilo’s gay uncles, Cobra Bubbles is now a family friend, and Nani and David get to date more.

Their family grew, Nani’s able to have time to herself to grow her relationship with David since Lilo has more people to watch her.

They even get to go on trips!

And it’s all thanks to Stitch.

Oh boy, here I go, this always makes me cry ;___;

But someone at Disney said, “Meh idk, maybe that found family ending wasn’t such a good idea after all :/ I know! Let’s end the movie with Nani and Lilo separated! And Jumba and Pleakley* won’t be involved in their found family either cuz they’re villains throughout the whole thing now!”

*I keep seeing people talk about Jumba being a villain now but what happens to Pleakley at the end of the movie? If anyone knows please tell me.

Anyone who gives this remake good reviews and uses words like “heartfelt” or “heartwarming” or any other synonyms like that either fell asleep during the movie or was paid to say that I stg.

[emmavakarian-theirin]

🐦‍⬛

[raggedydocs]

It makes me so mad how excited I was for Belinda. To see a companion who didn't buy into the hype and the mystique that often surrounds The Doctor, who didn't see him as this infallible hero but as this flawed and potentially dangerous man, who never fell in line or at his feet but stood in front and asserted herself as an equal, who isn't in the TARDIS by choice and has a life of her own as a single woman in a high-pressured job that she still wants to get back to despite the time travel and the adventure, because she too gets to save lives every day even back on Earth and she doesn't need a Time Lord to do that - it was so incredibly refreshing.

And the issue is, while Belinda continued to call the shots for at least the first five episodes of the series, they dropped the ball with her characterisation as early as the second episode. For her to be so critical of The Doctor at the end of episode one, and so immediately perceptive of his ability to endanger those around him for the sake of his own pursuit of adventure, and yet for her to already abandon that notion and trust him entirely by the end of the next episode, to the extent that by the end of the series she is completely unfazed when on several occasions her instincts were proven to be correct, is not only a massive change in characterisation, but also a colossal waste of such a compelling premise.

And then for her character to be reduced not only to being the mother of The Doctor's child, but ultimately completely rewritten so that they were brought together so that she could be Poppy's mother - and choose to leave on that premise also - is so unbelievably insulting and disappointing. Varada is wonderful. Belinda is wonderful. The dynamic between the actors and the characters is one of my favourites in a long time.

Belinda and Varada aren't the only ones who deserve better after this series (I could write entire essays about Ruby and Fifteen), but I really thought we were onto something and while Belinda will always have a place in my heart, I'm just gutted the series and the character ended on this note.

[sameboot]

Simon petrikov coping FAIL compilation

[theribbajack]

"Now, the vow will be honoured, and my Lord brother's soul will return."

Radahn stans keep winning, but I personally am in Miyazaki's walls rn

[inkedinserendipity]

just finished re-reading all systems red and the way martha wells' narration directly tracks murderbot's thoughts is, like, diabolical in retrospect.

because on my first read-through, i'll be honest. i did not remember the presaux crew at all. pin-lee and gurathin show up in exit strategy and i, remembering nothing about those two except ":D! presaux friends!" expected them to be like "omg hey murderbot!" because i figured the presaux crew would be excited to see their secunit again. i did not remember pin-lee's temper or gurathin's skepticism. because the presaux crew kinda blurred together for me in the first book. because that's how murderbot saw them too!

all systems red has the most en media res of all en media res beginnings. not just because it starts in the middle of an action sequence, but because it also starts in the middle of an emotional sequence. the survey has been happening, for, what - a couple of weeks? - by the time asr starts. murderbot has already met the crew. they have already formed impressions of it. but, crucially, it has formed almost no opinions of them*.

it's been watching media and half-assing its job. and at this point in murderbot's journey, and therefore its internal narration that forms the text, a human is a human is a human. it is not invested in their work, so we don't hear about the start of their survey. it literally starts paying attention to them when they are in danger and when they start to realize that it is a person, because that is when murderbot has to start paying attention.

and this is why i remembered almost nothing distinct about the presaux crew. there are a lot of crew members, but murderbot spends very little time thinking about them as individuals. so the narration tends to skim over their distinct personalities, because murderbot doesn't really consider them* at all!

and then of course we come to exit strategy and network effect, and the contrast could not be more clear. now it's got opinions about everyone, and because it has a better grasp on their personalities, the narrative does too. oh yes that's arada, wibbly bulwark, the human murderbot trusts to not be overconfident and ignore its advice. that's gurathin. it doesn't like gurathin. that's pin-lee, the combatunit of lawyers, well-dressed and sharp-tongued. and of course, that's ratthi (tag: bestie!!), who stays in the car because he will get himself killed by something.

and of course, there's dr mensah. but she was always an exception.

*dr mensah is, as she always is when it comes to murderbot, an exception to this generalization. that's tag: intrepid explorer like blorbo from my shows! that you're talking about. even when murderbot mostly tried to avoid humans at all costs, even murderbot paid attention to her. from asr to now, that has been and remains perfectly true.

[acid-ixx]

mild spoilers for chapter six for my series again &. again, but i really feel the need to ramble about this, and i'd love to hear anybody's opinion on this hehe.

as i write outline chapter six (and write for chapter five), i'd like to say i couldn't wait to write the reader's face reveal in bruce's perspective. and it's not just angst, for me, this plays a very pivotal turn for the series— because bruce will spiral to insanity.

to never once see a single portrait of your second youngest child, whose presence has long been erased from the manor, not a single image, nor trace of you is sickening to the heart, even if he scours through the internet day and night for a single memoir of you, nothing— but to find your portrait in alfred's living quarters and seeing you for the first time in forever? graduating a milestone no less?

god, he's in for a ride just analyzing every aspect of your physical appearance.

the color of your eyes, the shape of your nose, the quip of your mouth, the fat in your cheeks; even the length of your lashes! god, does he brand it into the deepest parts of his mind to never forget you anymore. his pearl, his treasure.

the longer he stares, the more he notices and gazes even more, obsessive as he stands lonesome in the room with every bone in his body locking up, his eyes unable to look away from the portrait that showcases his baby child.

and there, there it is that he concludes a detail so small it's unrecognizable for someone who's seen it for his entire life; yet it's all the same triggered deranged emotions deep within him.

— you don't just share him and your mother's traits, no, your smile is also reminiscent of his mother's.

martha wayne, who'd died in his arms, laying in a pool of her blood with a bullet grazed deep inside her body. his loving mother, who caressed his face whenever he'd cry from his nightmares, who'd shown him motherly love that until now he still craves.

she died with her pearl necklace that once decorated her porcelain neck spilling to the ground and stained with crimson.

you wore pearl earrings on your graduation.

the thought alone is enough for him to just snap.

this? this is the child that he's been neglecting far too long? who shares the same, loving expression of his mother's? his child? not even a single memory could be conjured with you but fantasies now do. if your happiest moments were within the picture frame that he holds with shivering fingers at present; could your smile be any wider if you'd be with him?

how come he never once noticed? why is bruce always destined to fail left and right? why, just why is he brimming with jealousy for all the people who must've seen your smile before him, and contempt for himself that he was never there to pick you up from the police station beforehand?

bruce isn't a heckler for favoritism, but a darker part of him is motivated to take you away from wherever you are, and to never let anybody else witness his beautiful, little treasure.

he's gotham's knight, first and foremost. but he's a father, too, with goals to protect his children just like a father should.

and the things he'd do for you, his child, now? anything.

if it means he has to see that smile, then he'll turn the world upside-down.

he has to protect your smile.

[reunitedinterlude]

dan posting phil on his insta stories at the beginning and end of tit era