#and this is why fanon is the way it is: a desire for one's interpretation to be special

[onewomancitadel]

Expanding my aside from this post here about coding.

The cinematic weight (and consequentially cultural weight) of 'coding' comes as a consequence of the Hayes Code (although there are arguably other contexts applicable beyond the scope of this post e.g. in antiquity). It was considered indecent and immoral to depict gay characters, or at the very least without giving them a summarily unhappy ending, and this is where the Bury Your Gays trope has its home. Films such as Lawrence of Arabia were seriously considered to be borderline pushing the envelope on how much to 'code' for with Lawrence (and if you have any interest in Dune, I really recommend Lawrence of Arabia to get a better picture of the inspiration on the books and the later film adaptation(s)), where it was known he was portrayed as gay without it explicitly being said. But as a consequence, for anybody who is familiar with this topic, coding was often alright to be associated with villains either to condemn those villains, or tacitly portray LGBT+ characters.

I'm skipping over a lot of history here, but the usage of 'coding' now effectively refers to interpretive work on part of the viewer or actual subliminal character work. When it comes to something like R/WBY, do you think they would have to (with great intentions) skirt around coding I/ronwood as autistic? Sure, we can start talking about implicit characterisation, but calling it intentional 'coding' from the get-go is dangerous (and imo, if they did actually do such, achieving such through transparently borderline offensive 'coding' e.g. associating autism with ideology, either on part of the fandom or the writers is a disaster). Really it is a product of desire.

But given that I see 'coding' used in outright bizarro homophobic ways in fandom I guess this is no surprise (no, posing male characters near fruit does not make them, quote, 'fruit', a notable gay slur; yes this was a real post I read in a major shipping fandom) that this sort of applicable, useful parlance is used for self-involved ends. Be it well-meaning or not.

If something is coded, is that substantial character work? If it's not read into, is it really there? Those are actually interesting questions to me, because any neurodivergent coding with I/ronwood that's supposedly there doesn't coherently hold up as calling it, equally, weighted representation. If you sympathise with I/ronwood because you feel like it's similar to your experience of neurodivergence, sure, that's not the point I'm taking issue with; I'm taking issue with headcanons, and 'coding', as disputed textual weight.

In addition to that I don't really thinking 'coding' (in the sense originally used) is actually something that's really necessary or perhaps even... acceptable. 'Coding' was a way to express ideas without the opportunity to do so. So what are the present things stopping that now if the Hayes Code is out? When it comes to I/ronwood himself, why am I disputing headcanons as opposed to disputing the acceptability of his ideology within the R/WBYworld and storytelling? I know why, because his character has very specific ends about the way Salem is supposed to be dealt with and what the resolution of the story is. That is not entering the conversation.

As a final remark, yes, linguistic drift happens. This is a feature of all language, and sometimes jargon migrates. But in the case of 'coding', it comes with a specific set of assumptions about a storyteller's intentions and the climate of that storytelling, and the requisite work to understand what the character is truly saying; if coding is used as argument for why a story's conclusions are inappropriate, I need to take it very seriously indeed. So even if I might ordinarily agree that you can't help the way terms are applied, I still have to take it on the terms that it's applied in this case. What makes coding 'coding' hasn't fundamentally altered, just its application and context has.

[teruthecreator]

the problem with writing fanfic and why i kinda consider it to be a stepping stone for writers is it doesn’t really scratch the itch for full narrative building because of how much you’re borrowing from the source material. so when i’m feeling particularly despondent about my writing i Can use fanfic writing as a crutch to get into regular solo writing, but i also feel like i have to write more of it just to satisfy the same itch i get from when i write a solely-individually-derived short story that is significantly shorter. which is why i try to do less and less of it as i’ve gotten older because i feel like i’m also undervaluing my skills as a writer when i’m using someone else’s world to make my stories 

(also before anyone gets on my ass, this is not me saying fanfic is lesser than original works. i just feel like, as a writer, i get more out of my work when i am building every inch of the story rather than taking from already established worlds and narratives that i had no hand in. and also i Do think fanfic is a stepping stone and good practice but it should be something you eventually step away from, as you develop as a writer. that is not to say that you cant do it--obviously you can do whatever you want--but i do think more people should try and dabble in their own original worlds because it is good practice and also a lot of fun) 

[utilitycaster]

Unpopular opinion: parts of the cr fandom are really dismissive/ reductive of Travis’s characters. It feels like it’s due to Travis being seen as THE cis het man of the group, and by extension his characters must be heteronormative and bad, despite the fact that you could have queer interpretations of his characters. At the very least, Travis’s characters explore masculinity and the different ways it might look. It’s like the people who are all “ew men are gross and shitty” and act like that’s an absolutely normal reaction to a man just existing.

So this is another one in that I agree with the initial statement, but I'm actually not sure re: the reasoning why. I think it's possible but I could not tell you for sure.

I used to, again, think this was people carrying through Campaign 1 elements well beyond the point where C1 had ended, and so Grog having an intelligence of 6 was being applied to Travis; and this definitely does come through to an extent when people treat Fjord (objectively as smart as Beau without her circlet) as stupid or act shocked that Chetney is the brains of Bells Hells or that he can play a Cerrit, Fjord, or Nathaniel. However, again, I think this is one of those opinions that pops up among people who weren't around for Campaign 1 (or early enough in C2 to be exposed to it regularly) so I don't know if that's the case anymore. It could still be - it could be that Approved Fandom Opinions get passed down even when the logic behind them has long since been lost; that's a really common thing in institutional memory. But I can't say for sure.

I also have in the past credited it to, as you said, people assuming his characters are the cishet guys and then writing them off. That's still possible - I've seen both Fjord and Chetney called "token straight" despite considerable evidence of bisexuality, and they also paradoxically are both commonly headcanoned as trans while still getting called "token straight," which sort of ties into a post I would need to find from someone else from quite some time ago about which cast members are granted agency by the fandom in their choices vs. which are assumed to be the victims of circumstance. And I do think that there are people in fandom who have decided men are icky or whatever, and I used to think this came from a place of bigotry and a slide towards t*rf ideology but I now do genuinely think it's just idiots who don't grant interiority to characters outside their own limited understanding.

But I think it's also useful to consider a few things, most of which I've brought up before:

Travis is extremely offline. He is not here to entertain your headcanons; he has been politely but openly dismissive of some (imo, really fucking dumb) fanon/fan theories. I think the cast frequently talks about how it's their table, and I think that's valid and correct, but Travis is one of the players who lives it the most. He is playing this game with his friends, and he'd like it to be a good story, but if you don't like it, he is not here to make you like it. I think that really fucks with the parasocial connections some people desire with the cast.

Travis's characters tend to examine masculinity as a performance but also the general performance of the self, and the fact that you cannot in the end control how you are perceived entirely, and I think that really unsettles people who have equated presentation with reality and are again, looking for external validation of the self.

Travis can play it big but he's often extremely subtle, especially with his more serious characters, and he's not as easily quotable out of context as some others at the table. I think because he is a lot more naturalistic than dramatic at times (Chetney notwithstanding) and isn't as pithy and quotable in his characters as many of Taliesin's PCs are, and a lot of the strength is in the delivery, he gets overlooked despite being very good with words on the fly.

And finally: this would be a whole post on its own but people are still very foolishly wed to this idea that pressing the big red button in D&D is Wild and Chaotic and haha Big ADHD Man when it's actually how you play D&D if you're not a coward; the button is where the story is stored, and a lot of Travis's strength is that he is extremely good at understanding what the GM wants and supporting it with sufficient grace that it's only visible if you know what you're fucking doing.

[browngirl-inthering]

decade accurate marauders era wardrobes - remus lupin

hair: black, coily, and styled into a short afro/brown, mid-length and curly.

i personally hc remus as black so i typically imagine him wearing his hair in an afro as it was popular amongst black people at the time.

i see canon remus as having a hairstyle more like the one on the right.

clothes: consist of earthy tones such as brown, green, yellow and red. stripes and plaids. knitwear, corduroy, and cotton blends. shirts, vests, sweaters and flannels.

while 70s fashion is typically associated with bright colors and flashy designs, casual clothing made with earthy tones and natural materials such as wool, wood, and cotton were also very popular.

the notorious avocado greens, harvest golds, coppertone oranges, and burnt siennas that are synonymous with the 70s functioned as a sort of knee jerk reaction to the psychedelic color palette of the 60s and its equally as wild politics that eventually carried on into the 70s. people developed a sort of anxiety towards the experimental and spontaneous nature of the times and instead yearned for more simplicity, stability, and comfort in their lives which they found in crafts like knitting and crocheting.

perhaps someone better spoken than me can articulate my point better but i feel like this somewhat parallels remus and his place in the wizarding world. wizards, specifically anti-muggle wizards, are canonically described via pottermore to adopt a "deliberately flamboyant, out-of-date or dandyish style" as a way to demonstrate their superiority over muggles. like muggle society, their sense of fashion also mirrored their equally as ignorant, outdated, and dramatic politics. remus, on the other hand, is commonly depicted in fanon as wearing "simple but smart" looking clothing such as knitted sweaters and vests with calm, naturally occurring colors. the simplicity in his style could also be interpreted a knee-jerk reaction to flamboyancy of wizarding fashion and culture as a whole. his lycanthropy gives him many self esteem issues and a strong desire to be liked which influences the way he carries himself amongst wizarding society. he is articulate and philosophical in his speech and is repeatedly shown to try to repress angry outbursts in possible fear of being depicted as dangerous or violent.

despite this, he has his moments when his true, sarcastic nature shines through. i think he'd enjoy jokey graphic tees that encapsulate this aspect of him.

shoes: doc martens and loafers

accessories: messenger bag, pins, walking cane.

cane user remus ftw‼️

he uses the messenger bag as his schoolbag and puts the pins on them for decoration. ik he wouldn't have *realistically* used 2/3 of these pins but i thought they were funny and fitting so why not.

[jessaerys]

that poll made me think of this excellent post by @magicaii re: mello’s fanon interpretation as overly emotional, and i broadly agree with all the points made, but i would also like to posit that if one subscribes to the hypothesis that mello and near grew up in a somewhat foster-sibling-like environment (which seems to already be almost universally accepted in the matt-mello relationship. is it even canon that they were roommates? it is so prevalent in the fandom that i forgot to even question it. but i digress) 

in a foster-sibling-like environment at the orphanage a certain level of childhood intimacy would be inescapable between mello and near just by virtue of growing up together: having meals together, attending the same classes, sharing caretakers and chores, being teamed up by teachers during assignments, existing in the same recreational spaces, etc. even if they were never particularly friendly with each other, they would inevitably, perhaps even unwittingly, develop some kind of understanding (“something identical in them […] something which would dart to one face, then to the other, depending on an expression or a trick of the light or the angle at which a head was cocked”) by virtue of being intellectual equals above the rest of their peers. they are, after all, foils to the L-light relationship.

in fact i find it harder to believe that they would not have interacted often at wammy’s. being slated to become and in competition for the role of L’s successor, their tutors would have set them up to push each other through special assignments/tests/projects. it is a highly effective didactic tool used in all sorts of competitive and academic environments. mello’s “you know near and i don’t get along” would be thoroughly justified: who amongst us would not hate being Assigned Partners At School with your (self-declared) nemesis!  roger knows this! he has probably threatened mello with a get-along-t-shirt! mello’s emphasis on you know is not clunky as-you-know exposition but an exasperated teenager going UGHH MOM! at a guardian that keeps refusing to acknowledge mello's protests

all of this is to say that, with this context in mind, i can imagine mello lightly “bullying”⁽¹⁾ near not because he wants to make a punching bag out of him but because in the way kids naturally learn through play and social interaction, he'd be feeling for his advantages over near (being more athletic, better with people, easier to get along with, etc) debatably he might even want to establish/prove these differences in the social hierarchy at wammy’s (given his high “social life” stats in dn13:htr) it is these differences (that near is too passive, emotionless, haughty, at least in mello’s head) which seem to frustrate mello the most, so it doesn’t strike me as out of character to think the boy who is introduced hitting someone with a ball and tugging at someone else's hair would surrender to his id⁽²⁾ and try to get a rise out of near, that he’d want to bring near down to everyone else’s “level"

and perhaps this is the shipping goggles i have on but there is something thoroughly intoxicating about being the center of attention of someone who you passionately resent when you are undoubtedly on top.⁽³⁾ you could argue mello subconsciously desires near’s admiration and either refuses to see it whenever it is there (“near told me i did good job, the condescending dick”) or near is absolute shit at communicating it (“your thought process in this essay was almost impossible to follow” <- badly worded compliment), so mello veers for the next best thing: near’s attention. much like with a bad cat, negative attention is still attention, and on god he is getting his fix of being so fucking annoying (look at me, why won't you look at me!) wherever he can get it

-

⁽¹⁾ie. wrestling him down in the playground, toppling over his towers, hiding favorite toys, pulling his hair, locking him in closets etc. nothing life-threatening or overly painful; the mean teasing of a resentful older brother, not the harassing of a bloodthirsty middle school terrorist 

⁽²⁾especially when they are younger mello would have far less developed self control lol. by the time we first meet them, at 13 and 15, this light bullying would've been largely a thing of the past, with mello becoming gradually more distant around the time he transitions into brooding teenagehood while near is still a kid, which would've made leaving wammy's far easier (i also think that mello would firmly believe that he has earned the right to bother near while everyone else has not and he WILL be fighting them about it. only he can mess with near, thank you very much. typical older brother behavior. but this post is already too long)

⁽³⁾ no. i shan't say it

[witsserviceablesubstitute]

I don’t think the harassment is acceptable. I think people are really out of pocket doing that, but I do think him establishing what is and isn’t part of his job is fine. And maybe did need to be said, because clearly people didn’t know.

As for using Buddie as promo… idk. The marketing team is gonna do whatever ABC feels will garner the most viewers, and right now it’s Buck being bi and the long held desire to see him and Eddie become canon. They’re gonna milk it however they can, which falls back on Tim, thus him feelings like he needed to explain himself, presumably.

I do agree it could be toned down though, because Buck is now canonically dating someone else, and I don’t recall them teasing Buddie for real when he was with women. So doing it now the way they are is purely because they’re banking on Buddie fans, while also currently not committing.

Plus, everything Buddie related from before has to now be assumed not canon, so it’s putting everyone in a messy spot. Because we have canon, fanon, show runner confirmed but not on screen, and canon jokes that are now floating in the in between because no one knows if the they’ll be acknowledged in canon or get scrapped.

I think people should just calm down and wait to see what the season brings, anyway. Once it’s over and we get an idea of where all the characters are at, then start asking bigger questions or letting out the more angry frustrations.

Hi! Sorry for the late reply. The sheer amount of work that goes into television hasn't often been well realized in fan spaces. The writing, how it translates to screen, the process of acting, all the work by the crew, the pressures from moneymen, managing the expectations of the audience, the long hours and repetition of scenes. How multiple people working on a creative project means multiple interpretations— all of which bleed through. The showrunner has every right to protect himself and the people who work for him. I was mainly trying to draw on my own experiences in how these harassment campaigns happen, how they continue, and how they can be mitigated.

US TV production has a long and rocky history when it comes to queer narratives. That doesn't really end now that there are canonically queer characters on screen and this fallout is part of the response to that tension.

For example, if I engage in the whole Buddie vs. Bucktommy thing (sorry), I'd say both perspectives have a point they don't realize they're making about queerness in television storytelling.

The thesis I feel like Buddie fans are making is there are two queer coded main characters who love each other, who have seasons of build up in their individual characters and in their relationship. Why can't they be together? Because they're two male main characters on network television? Be bold, be brave. Wouldn't it be amazing if they did commit to that story? Wouldn't it be game changing? Sexuality and friendship and love is not set in stone, it's okay to be flexible. M/F relationships are allowed that space to develop within a story and you know if one of them were a woman they probably would be together already.

The thesis I feel like BuckTommy fans are making is that Buddie was never going to happen, realistically, and it's amazing enough that they committed to Buck being canonically bisexual. Why do you want to rock the boat? Don't you see that if you can't embrace this development it could be snatched away at any moment. The show is its own thing within its own context and not the blinkered interpretation you have of two characters. This queerness is canon.

Those two thesis's (thesi?) are rubbing up against each other and building straw men of the other to attack and tear down. A showrunner wading in was only ever going to combust that tension further and that's what happened. What keeps happening.

[bestworstcase]

the fanon that cinder Does Not Know Anything is really just. kind of funny. i do think—among people who’ve picked up what the narrative is putting down with her—it’s partly a reflex to ‘soften’ her in anticipation of the villain -> hero arc by abrogating her agency: of course if she knew the truth about salem, she wouldn’t do these terrible things. of course she’s only salem’s misguided, mindless little puppet. it makes the possibility of a turnaround more palatable.

but it requires cinder to be an idiot, which she demonstrably isn’t.

if hazel and watts are informed about and have prior experience dealing with silver-eyed adversaries, and speak openly about this without rebuke or intervention from salem, then how likely is it really that cinder knew nothing? how likely is it that, somehow, she still knows nothing after experiencing the glare firsthand?

similarly the assumption among people who think summer has been hounded always seems to be that cinder doesn’t know… but salem made not the slightest effort to hide the hound from her and, vague on the details or not, confirmed that the hound was unusual—an experiment—when cinder asked. if summer is alive as some sort of hound-like being, why would salem take pains to hide her from cinder, but not the hound?

if cinder doesn’t know salem’s plans, why does salem speak to her like cinder is informed? the answer is that of course salem is lying, but the problem with that is salem has been remarkably consistent across millions of years about envisioning a new world, in some form or another, and if that’s still the case then she’s telling cinder the truth. do we trust what ozpin says while he’s expressly trying to scare hazel into betraying her? is tyrian a reliable narrator?

“you’re free to speak your mind,” salem says, and then answers the questions cinder asks. in a roundabout way, true, but her meaning is not difficult to piece together.

“your newfound strength brings with it a crippling weakness” + “you will have what i promised you, but remember that it comes with a cost” + “there’s only so much i can do to aid you”—if this is salem trying to hold cinder under her thumb by making cinder feel weak and worthless and desperate for power only salem can give her, then salem is straight up a terrible manipulator. “you can have the carrot but bear in mind that it’s poisoned. oh, and don’t depend on me, i can’t help you.”

if she’s dangling the maiden powers to keep cinder on a leash, why does she tell cinder repeatedly to be cautious of them? this power you’ve asked me to give to you will weaken you and open you to greater harm. remember what it cost you last time. be careful.

like either:

salem is a complete idiot who doesn’t grasp that undermining cinder’s desire for the maiden power will weaken her hold over cinder, and cinder is stupid enough to be fooled anyway; or

salem truly believes that killing maidens or gaining more magic will put cinder in greater danger, and she gives cinder an honest warning because she wants cinder to be cautious.

and this is true of most things salem says to cinder; if one presumes that the story is well-written, which it is, then it usually makes more sense to interpret what salem says as truthful, if vague, and presume cinder is generally better-informed on salem’s plans than the audience is.

[ceoofhelaegon]

I’m surprised people find “dutiful aemond” a canon show characterization- we see him break this over and over again. Claiming Vhagar, the Strong boys toast, Storm’s End. It’s a very fanon interpretation and I think actual canon Aemond remains much closer to Aegon in characterization. They’re both very smart and certainly willing to protect the family, but they’re serving themselves first. Aegon is hedonistic while Aemond inflates his self purpose. Aemond’s concept of being the better king comes from not understand why his brother is the way he is- after all, Aegon never thought he’d rule. He’s just trying to have a good time lol. Sorry to dump on you, it’s just something I see come up over and over and I find it a funny argument between the brothers. Neither of them are particularly dutiful people, it just comes across in different ways. Aegon is more open about disregarding it haha.

I actually agree with you, Nonnie.

I think that both of them try to get Alicent’s approval, Aemond by being the smart son and Aegon by marrying Helaena and having children with her.

I do think that Aemond has a holier than thou mentality, he does everything that he thinks makes him better than Aegon but Aegon couldn’t care less lol.

Maybe his desire to be King comes from the wish of being seen as the “worthy one”.

His whole talk of “depravities” and saying much better he is than Aegon could come from wanting to prove himself…

Because think think about it, he didn’t have a dragon for ten years so he got one…but it was short lived because now he lost an eye and he had to prove that he can still be this great fighter and “worthy” son.

In conclusion, I believe he’s overcompensating so it seems that he’s dutiful but he’s actually wearing his heart on his sleeve and is very impulsive.

[burst-of-iridescent]

i've been re-reading the hunger games in preparation for the tbosas movie, and having last read the trilogy over eight years ago, i didn't realize how much i'd bought into the fanon interpretation of gale. it's pretty well-established that gale and peeta (to put it a little simplistically) represent war and peace, respectively. but the way gale is discussed and presented in fandom seems to act like he was always that way, that he never had a chance, and i realized upon reread that that's just not true.

On other days, deep in the woods, I've listened to him rant about how the tesserae are just another tool to cause misery in our district. A way to plant hatred between the starving workers of the Seam and those who can generally count on supper and thereby ensure we will never trust one another. "It's to the Capitol's advantage to have us divided among ourselves," he might say if there were no ears to hear but mine.

this passage is taken from the very first chapter of the first book, and it's evident from this that gale knows who the real enemy is, at least in theory. but that doesn't stop him from being angry at madge, from being able to dehumanize the other tributes in a way katniss never does. then he doesn't understand why katniss is outraged by the treatment of her prep team in 13, and and that turns into being willing to sacrifice the miners left in the nut in mockingjay, until finally, he designs weapons that take advantage of compassion and empathy and the desire to help fellow human beings.

gale takes human connection - the very thing he recognized the capitol was trying to destroy because of the innate challenge it posed to authoritarian rule - and deliberately uses it against itself to wreak destruction, and in doing so becomes exactly what he once despised and condemned so thoroughly.

and i think that perfectly illustrates the point suzanne collins was trying to make, that holding onto your humanity in the midst of war and suffering and brutality is a choice. war is inherently, fundamentally dehumanizing. it has to be, in order to justify itself, and no one is immune to falling into that trap, not even good people.

in recognizing the value of human life, in refusing to pay that price needlessly, in choosing to connect with others over and over again simply on the basis of their humanity, peeta and katniss go against everything war demands of them. they make the choice to hold onto their humanity by refusing to lose sight of the humanity of others.

and that's a path that was always available to gale, even if he lacked the innate compassion and goodwill for others that peeta and katniss share. though the seeds have been sown, the gale that katniss talks about in that paragraph is not yet the boy who would end up complicit in the slaughter of innocents. he isn't doomed to walk down the path that he eventually does. he still has a chance to be different, to choose different.

but it's a choice he doesn't make (is likely no longer able to make by the end), though he once might have, and to me that is the real tragedy of gale's character.

[starrierknight]

What do you think of fanon Gojo/Megumi being presented as dad/son and canon Gojo/Megumi being presented as benefactor/student and Gojo saying he could kill Megumi because he looked like Toji and everything? What's your opinion on how Gege writes them?

𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐕𝐒 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

— 𝐠. 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐮 & 𝐟. 𝐦𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐦𝐢

"Blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb."

HOW DO YOU VIEW GOJO & MEGUMI?

wc— 1.6k

tags/cws— major manga spoilers, death mentioned, Getou's cult mentioned, proofreading is for the weak lol

FATHER/SON DYNAMIC

Why it appeals to the fandom (the desire for fanon dynamics)

Found family in JJK

Why it appeals to the fandom

Narrative Potential: The father/son dynamic often comes with built-in narrative potential. It can be used to explore character growth, conflicts, and resolutions, providing opportunities for interesting and engaging story arcs in fanfiction.

Protective Instincts: Fans may enjoy the idea of Gojo taking on a protective and guiding role in Megumi's life, especially given the dangers and challenges the characters face in the world of JJK. This can evoke feelings of warmth and support in the fanbase.

Fan Creativity: Fandom often involves creative expression, and fans may enjoy exploring and expanding upon the relationships between characters through fanfiction, fan art, and other fan-created content. The father/son dynamic can serve as a rich source of inspiration for creative works—especially for those who enjoy the 'found family' trope.

Sense of Belonging: Fans sometimes enjoy the sense of belonging and community that comes with shared interpretations of characters and relationships. A significant portion of the fanbase embraces the idea of a father/son dynamic between Megumi and Gojo, so it can contribute to a sense of shared enthusiasm and connection among fans.

It's worth noting that these interpretations are fan-driven and not necessarily reflective of the creator's original intentions. The beauty of fandom lies in the diverse ways individuals engage with and interpret the source material.

Found family in JJK

Arguably one of the most major thematic features that Gege explores in JJK is the idea of "family". While I could make a completely separate post and write essays on this subject, we’re here to talk about found family specifically. Let’s look at three examples:

Itadori and Todo: While Todo’s affection for Itadori may have a scantly accurate origin (as it is revealed that Todo’s mind created some false memories of shared time between them during middle school), it is undeniably true that both characters share a strong bond. Todo is more boisterous and unconventional, while Itadori is pragmatic and initially sceptical of Todo's methods. Their friendship evolves despite these differences, echoing the found family trope where individuals with diverse backgrounds find a strong connection.

During Todo and Itadori’s fight with Hanami during the Kyoto Sister-School Exchange Event Arc, we repeatedly see Todo refer to Itadori as “my brother” (<- at least the VA does in the anime, from what I remember) and his “best friend” until Itadori eventually adopts these, too. Both characters learn to adapt to the other as they fight, and comfortably find a rhythm to fight against Hanami with—yes, both are skilled fighters, but is unlikely that they could fight so seamlessly together unless there was some deeper connection.

Additionally, during Itadori and Todo’s fight against Mahito during the Shibuya Arc, we see that Todo carries a locket on his person with his favourite idol photographed on one side, and on the other, Itadori. His two favourite people. Cute.

Getou, Nanako, and Mimiko: These three are probably the clearest example of found family in JJK. After massacrering a village of non-sorcerers and sparing Mimiko and Nanako, Getou adopts them into his “family” (his cult) and treats both girls like his adopted daughters. Nanako and Mimiko are the first members of Getou’s “family” that we see he chooses after rejecting (and murdering) his parents.

Long after Getou has passed, we still see his cult honouring his “family legacy” during the Shibuya Arc. The girls even attempt to bargain with Sukuna after he was re-possesed Itadori’s body to kill Kenjaku—they are enraged that Getou’s body is being puppeted about by Kenjaku. To try and attempt bargaining with Sukuna, The King of Curses, is a clear example of how dearly the girls were devoted to Getou—even if their “family” was fucked up.

Fun fact! Gege has referred to him as "Papa Getou" on several occasions.

Tsumiki and Megumi: The most overlooked example of found family by the fandom, by far. In elementary school, their parents disappeared without a trace, leaving the two children to look after themselves. We’re shown in flashbacks that Tsumiki and Megumi attended the same middle school, where she often scolded Megumi for getting into fights—she even throws her milk box at his head, which is peak big-sister behaviour lol.

At such young ages, both children were left by their parents to care for one another while Gojo acted as Megumi’s benefactor—on the condition that Megumi would do what he could to become strong and then attend Jujutsu Tech to become a sorcerer, once of age. Megumi did not accept this proposition because he respected Gojo or trusted Gojo as an “adult” figure, but only because he was assured that Tsumiki would be miserable if the alternative were to happen—that is, if he were adopted by the Zen’in Clan.

It’s important to distinguish that Megumi did not seek the company, reassurance, or protection of an adult (like Gojo—if we can even call Gojo that, in this instance) because he had been disappointed and abandoned by adults so many times in the past. His priority was Tsumiki and her happiness—regardless of his own personal cost, even safety. Gojo was likely to be viewed by Megumi, at such a young age, as more of a business partner who only later grows in to a mentor figure.

BENEFACTOR/STUDENT

Why the father/son dynamic and found family trope do not apply to Gojo and Megumi

The issues with applying the father/son dynamic and found family trope to Gojo and Megumi

How should we view them?

Why the father/son dynamic and found family trope do not apply to Gojo and Megumi

From what I have gathered, there are two main reasons:

Megumi does not want to rely on adults: Whether it be for the sake of Tsumiki’s happiness or otherwise, Megumi wants to be self-sufficient and strong enough by himself that he can secure a future he wants. Naturally, he cannot do this by himself, so he begrudgingly learns how—even learning in the future that he can rely on his classmates.

The key difference is that Megumi chooses these people with great care. Megumi, by force of circumstance, agrees to Gojo’s deal; Megumi, by force of will, agrees to let Gojo mentor him and looks to him for guidance, acknowledging that he does need Gojo’s help—but he does not choose Gojo.

Far too much has happened to Megumi for him to choose Gojo.

Gojo primarily sees Megumi as raw potential: Having just successfully fought Toji after nearly being killed by him, Gojo’s interest in Megumi likely lies in a few places. How strong would the child of Fushiguro Toji be? What could make that child stronger?

Speaking purely in terms of clan politics, in Gojo’s position it would understandably be the most beneficial to have the child of someone so strong on his side, rather than as an opponent. If Megumi was taken in by the Zen’in Clan—who do not get along with the Gojo Clan because of some shared history*—Gojo and his clan could have potentially been under some threat. It’s better to have the insurance rather than risk.

*A Ten Shadows user from the Zen’in and a sorcerer with the Six Eyes + Limitless fought and both were killed by the other

Gojo’s main interest is strength, and using strength to define a future he wants—that is, a future where Jujutsu Society is no longer dictated by corrupt, conservative Higher-Ups. Having just been radicalised by Amanai’s death and Getou’s defection, Gojo is left with a substantial loss of allies that he desperately needs. Megumi, in a way, is a blessing of a solution for Gojo at this point in the story. Megumi has the potential to help shape a future that Gojo wants to live in.

The issues with applying the father/son dynamic and found family trope to Gojo and Megumi

It overlooks the family that Megumi does have: More often than not, it very easily brushes past why Toji would leave Mehumi behind and how Tsumiki was left to watch over him. Tsumiki was the primary nurturing force, and Megumi’s kindness is likely to have been taken from her set example. 

It (often, not always) mischaracterises Gojo: Gojo is not a warm, nurturing figure in the slightest. He’s cheerful, humorous, but not nurturing. Gojo, for better or worse, casts the Jujutsu World in its most harsh light—strength, survival, and death. 

“You die alone.” 

There’s more than one way to interpret this:

You die and no one will be sharing your death with you, regardless of how much you loved them or how hard you fought or who you are. There is nothing you can do to change this.

You die and you won’t be there for those you loved. You leave them behind, and they can no longer reach you.

You die and it means that you were never strong enough to protect the ones you loved, because you couldn’t fight alone. The fight, in your case, was just a slow death. You were always weaker, you were always going to die weaker.

You die because you were never strong enough to stand by your loved ones. You needed shielding, and you hid your own weakness behind them. Your weakness is your isolation, your death.

There is no sentimentality. Gojo sees and tells it like it is, regardless of where that leaves Megumi.

How should we view them?

There is no set way! With the best will in the world, we can all read the same manga panels and take in the same empirical information, and come to very different conclusions and interpretations. I would always suggest gathering as much evidence and justification to support your reasoning, though. If not because you like to debate, but rather to fully understand how and why you came to the conclusion/s you did.

There's no harm in changing your mind or liking more than one way of interpreting their character dynamic.

A/N: If you've read all of my word vomit, then wow. Bravo LMAOOO. I hope you enjoyed my two cents.

[wetcatspellcaster]

First of all, thank you so much for all you do! Your work has gotten me through a really rough few weeks dealing with the first anniversary of my mom's death. I'm so excited every time I get an ao3 notification for one of your stories. ❤️

Also I'm a huge Buffy fan and your Ascended Astarion has such presouled-but-in-love-with-buffy Spike vibes I love it. Especially his not understanding why his super romantic gestures of murder and abduction are not working on the object of his affections. I love how frustrated and baffled Astarion is by Rose's refusals. "These things are the *height* of vampire wooing? how's she not swooning?? She must be playing hard to get."

Also every time they get into a physical altercation, it absolutely feels like it may end in building destroying sex. 😏

I did have a question about Astarion's expectations about Rose (which feel free not to answer if its spoilers or you dont feel like it). I know he dumped her after she wouldn't be turned by him post ritual but it seems like he's definitely spent years getting things ready to have her living with him since then with the custom bedrooms and the rose gardens. Did he expect her to come back on her own since then? even after telling her he basically wanted nothing to do with her?

Anyway this was long 😅 but thanks again for sharing your talent and imagination with us. good luck with your surgery! ❤️

Hello anon, thank you so much for messaging me. I use fic writing as a mental health lifeline (and guess what! I have also bereaved a parent in my time!) so I'm glad I can pay that comfort forward to you and anyone else, in some small form. I hope the anniversary and any related feelings that come up pass smoothly.

(also, Ascendent/Spike parallels are such a call out at the particular moment I am in drafting. I think my approach to souls in D&D is very coloured by what meaning they hold in BtVS).

To your question! I'll try to answer as best I can.

The initial reaction and break up is obvious dictated a little by canon, but in my version of events, it's also coloured by the violent/traumatic nature of the Ascendent's 'birth'. On the one hand, Ascended!Astarion is drunk on power and his first real sense of freedom, but on the other, it has come at a dramatic and awful cost that everyone around him witnessed and cannot deny. Also, not to spoil, but I have aligned my reading of the events with the fanon interpretation that a romanced Astarion justifies his desire for Ascendency through Tav, or fear of losing that relationship. So Rose's initial rejection causes a lot of anger and deliberate cruelty, because of the confusion and pain behind it: he did the Rite, partly for her, Rosalie watched him do the Rite and didn't stop him, and now? she's suddenly having second thoughts? When it's irreversible? When he's stuck here, now? And she refuses keep him company?

The anger and pain around that was real, I believe, and causes him to lash out. Hence, the break-up. Much with the way I write the Ascendent in all guises, he does an extremely stupid thing, then commits to the bit and doubles down. Oh, he's dumped her now? He kind of didn't mean to do that, but now he can't be desperate and take it back, so he has to lean in and pretend that was what intended to do all along, etc.

Then she leaves for real? Well, fuck her. He didn't need her anyway - that's why he dumped her, after all. Nothing to do with the trauma, or his mistakes. So then, he commits to the bit, twicefold. He leans in further. Starts to perform the exact life he'd said he'd have without her. Gets new friends, new lovers, an underground network of power, etc. That takes a few years.

Oh. Wait. Why does none of this feel good? Why does it all feel awful???Must be because his girlfriend, the one he did this all for, isn't here (and who's fault was that again? by this point, he's forgotten).

But pride is still a major factor in the way the Ascendent conducts himself, and he can't go to her - he can't look desperate, or unhappy, or like he regrets his decisions. I've used this in a justification of why he never sought her out in places he couldn't pretend he found her by chance, even though he can smell her blood and knows she goes to Waterdeep - he can't be the one to go to her. And she must be miserable, right? He is. So he starts to engineer things for her return, because she'll be the one to cave first, and besides, he's got eternity anyway. He's so patient (lol).

And then, inevitably, when Rosalie continues living her life avoiding him, he's like "welp. I can't go to her (pride), and she isn't coming to me. Time to make her come to me (murderous intent)" and that's how he kills a ballroom full of people. He genuinely thinks what's keeping them apart is the distance, not the element of choice (because. um. we've seen what he thinks of free will). He believes that once they're in the same room together, it'll be impossible for her to resist. He can charm her. He did it once before. And he's not sad or conflicted about it this time. And he's the same person, right?

[author laughs in REDACTED]

So basically, his expectation of Rose was that she would be the one to break first. They both love each other, and she's a nice person. She's the bleeding heart. She's the one who was seduced the first time round.

When none of that happens, he decides to engineer the same set of circumstances in a lab, assuming that forcing her into returning will have the same outcome as her choosing to return (you may notice a pattern of behaviour emerging). So once the Ascendent has created forced proximity and given himself the chance to seduce Tav all over again, he's certain he'll win, because he knows the playbook, and it worked on them, and since he Ascended he's had proof it works on everyone else.

But unfortunately, a successful romance in this scenario relies on Ascended!Astarion not being awful, for 5 minutes which... um.... he hasn't achieved once in this fic, not once.

[dracothedeatheatingcupcake-ao3]

I doubt literally anyone else will care about this, but this has been a mini goal/desire of mine for so fricken long now, so I wanted to at least share it here, ha.

Anyway, TPWP is one of my more popular fics. It took a while to get there when I was posting, creeping up with the kudos and hits and everything each week, but by god did it get there. Once I finished posting it and it plateaued in statistics, the only fic that was above it in terms of popularity was my old fic, A Pirate’s Life (APL), which I had written when I was like 17-18 I believe. And APL is not a bad fic, no. It’s just definitely unpolished and a bit rough in spots. And the ship itself is a bit ehhhh, though I always liked the fanon interpretation of the ship much more than anything from canon. I’m digressing though.

Anyway, I always privately hoped that TPWP would surpass APL in popularity, since I much prefer TPWP in terms of writing ability and the ship itself. I also wanted my most kudosed and ‘popular’ fic to be something that reflected my current writing level and ships, not something I wrote and liked when I was newly an adult. While I know now that the number of kudos on a fic ultimately doesn’t matter too much and doesn’t really say if a fic is popular or not, TPWP having more kudos than APL was always a private goal of mine, something I privately wanted and hoped for.

However, after I had finally finished posting TPWP and the last of the rush of kudos came in from that, I saw that TPWP was almost 200 kudos away from APL, and given the fact that fics will often stagnate in kudos/hits once they’re complete and haven’t posted in a couple months (at least in my experience), I had a feeling that I’d never really make this goal. And it was a little disappointing, but I never let it bother me too much. Plus, starting last year I had a new most popular fic (thanks, Luigi and the Beast), so I had something else that reflected my modern writing style and ships, so it wasn’t that big of a deal anymore in my mind.

Still, part of me wanted TPWP to surpass APL, and today, it finally happened. While this can obviously still swap since I do still get kudos on APL from time to time, the fact that TPWP not only managed to reach APL’s kudos count, but surpassed it even once? I never thought that would happen, to be honest. I never thought that TPWP would manage to get almost 200 extra kudos once I stopped posting regularly, since in my experience that doesn’t happen often. Usually I’ll get a decent amount once it’s no longer an active fic, but not enough that it would surpass another old fic that was gaining passive kudos too.

Anyway, I’m not so sure where I’m going with this. As you can see from my screenshots, it’s like 5am where I am now, and my brain just woke me up and refuses to let me go back to sleep (a common occurrence these days, for some reason. I’ve long since stopped asking why my brain does what it does in regards to sleep. It’s better that way), so I’m kinda rambling.

The point, I suppose, is that this was a goal of mine for so long now, and I’m honestly kind of proud and happy that I finally reached it. While I do have problems with TPWP, ultimately I am very proud of it and it makes me so, so happy that people are still enjoying it all of these years later. When I started writing fanfic over 13 years ago at age 13, I never would have expected to be here. My writing was meh at best and I struggled a lot with getting my thoughts and ideas across. There’s a reason I will never post my fanfiction.Net username, even though my oldest fics are still posted there. Writing was just something I did for fun and as a way to show my love for my fandoms; it was never anything serious. But I always wanted to write a fic that mattered… you know? That stuck with people. That people genuinely liked and that maybe even helped them. You know?

I think I managed that with TPWP. I’ve gotten so many comments over the years thanking me for writing it, people saying that they will go back to it and reread it from time to time, that it helped them, etc. I was always so grateful and happy that I was able to write something that resonated with so many people, which had been a dream of mine ever since I started writing and would cry tears of frustration when I struggled to get my thoughts across how I wanted to.

And, like I’ve said. I know that kudos/favorites are not the only metric to determine if a fic is popular or ‘good.’ However, it has always been a good base for me to gauge interest in my fics, to see roughly what people think of it. And, even though it prolly shouldn’t, the amount of kudos/favorites on my fics has always mattered to me. Ever since I was a young child I’ve had an intense desire to be liked. But more than that, I always wanted to be ‘the favorite.’ To be ‘the best.’ Even when I knew I never would be, simply because I lacked the skill or patience to be ‘the best.’ I still would always want that, and it would hurt me deep inside to know that I just… wasn’t. Yes, I was smart, but I was never ‘the smartest.’ Yes, I was well liked by my peers, but I was never ‘popular.’ Yes, I was always doing well and could hold my own in most things I tried, but I was never (and would never) be ‘the best.’ I just couldn’t. I was either too unskilled, too impatient, too shaky (physically, in some cases), too… everything, and I could never, ever be the absolute best at anything, really. I just physically couldn’t. I’d never be the best singer, I’d never be the best artist, I’d never be the best writer, I’d never be the best chef, I’d never be the best creator, and I’d never be that elusive ‘favorite.’ Never, never, never.

And it hurt. A lot. Growing up and even to this day. But I’ve gotten so much better with it over the years. With the knowledge that I will never be ‘the best,’ that I will never be ‘the favorite,’ and that this is okay. And, in fact, not only is this okay, but it’s expected. Perfection is a myth and it’s impossible to achieve. I spent over 375k words trying to showcase this fact, because it’s something I still, to this day, three months past twenty-six, struggle with. But I’m getting there. By god, am I getting there. And by removing that desire to be ‘perfect,’ to be ‘the best,’ I’ve improved so much in every field I create work in. Once I did away with the desire to create something ‘perfect,’ I was able to make things that were just ‘good enough.’ Is this art project I spent hours working on made more of hot glue than its actual art medium? Yes, but it’s made. And it looks nice enough. And while it will never win any awards, I like it. Is my writing repetitive, derivative of itself, sometimes rushed, and more focused on angst than plot? Yes. But it’s made. And it’s good enough. And people like it. And, most importantly of all?

I like it.

I like it. Even if it isn’t ’perfect.’ Even if it won’t win awards. Even if no one else on the planet likes it, if everyone looks at it and goes ‘… okay, so what?’ I like it. I spent so much time and effort creating it. I did everything I could to make it properly. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a bit lumpy. If it has exposed seams. If it doesn’t look like other people’s creations. It’s made, and I made it, and I put my heart and soul into it, and that? That’s what matters. I learned while making it, and next time I make something similar, I’ll do better. And the time after that? I’ll do better again. And again. And again. I’ll never reach ‘perfection.’ I’ll never make something that people will look at, gasp, and think ‘my god, that’s the most perfect thing I’ve ever seen.’ I’ll never reach that impossible goal that I made for myself when I was a young preteen, painfully insecure and wanting to find validation in others. I never will reach this goal, never, ever, ever, ever, ever.

But I will get better. I will improve from what I’ve done before. And I will get stronger in every possible way I can, and I will forgive myself for the ways that I can’t. I have a lot of limitations, things I cannot physically or mentally overcome. And I will forgive myself for it. I will. I will.

And I guess, at the end of the day, that’s my point here. That perfection is a lie, that there is no end, that there is only improvement and self-appreciation. APL represents this a lot for me. At 17-18, I still struggled with this so much. I spent all of my high school years riddled with self-hatred and anxiety, wanting to be the best, but riddled with the knowledge that I never would be. I crashed and burned in middle and high school because of this. I was so terrified of never being all I wanted to be that I let myself burn to ash, to give up completely, because that was better in my mind than trying my hardest and failing. I always failed at what I wanted to do, and I was so focused on that supposed ‘failure’ that I failed to see how far I had come. I failed to see that while I wasn’t ’the favorite,’ I was still well liked. I failed to see that while I wasn’t ’the best,’ I was good enough. I was good enough. And I always would be. This is something I didn’t realize at 17-18, not yet.

But I do now. I do now, and TPWP represents that for me in many ways. Perfection in a myth. Unilateral adoration and love is impossible. And no matter what, every time you create you will get a little better, a little better, a little better. And so, the only thing you can do is create. And love what you create. And keep trying no matter what, all so that you can create more in the future and grow. So you can do what you love without fear of failure.

Anyway, this has gone on much longer than anticipated. It was just supposed to be a quick ‘haha look! I succeeded at an old, useless goal! :-D’ But somehow it turned into this. But that’s okay. That’s just who I am. I like to ramble. I like to get my thoughts out there into the world. I’m pretentious and think way too deeply on things that matter to no one else. It matters to me. It matters to me. And it doesn’t matter if no one ever reads this, or if people read it and roll their eyes at my pretension. I wrote this for me, to just get this out there in the world, and at the end of the day, that’s what matters. That’s what’s important. Not what the ‘invisible audience’ in my head screams at me every day.

I hope y’all have a good day. :-)

[rriavian]

M and N for the ask game!!

M - name a character you’d like to have for a friend 

Calliope or Jessamy (though if I could I’d give her back to Dream).

But Calliope was my first thought because I adore her character. I could go on for a long time about why but my answer for N is very long so I might save it for another post.

N - 3 things you wish you saw more of in your main fandom (or one of your choice)

Ok this might be a little controversial but…I don’t actually read that much Sandman fanfic anymore. In the beginning I read so much and while I still write, I think what’s kept me around is that I'm trying to write what I want to see more of. If that makes sense?

Firstly, I’d love to see more diversity.

Not just in ships but in fic in general, more gen, more that explore the female characters, more femslash (never written it but I know you mod Sandman Femslash Fans and I really wanted to do something for the challenge! Have an idea but I’ve been a bit ill recently). I wish there was more love for side characters/minor characters other than Hob. And that there were more explorations of the connections between characters outside of shipping.

I never really enjoy fandoms where one ship is a majority, even when I ship that ship, because in my experience it leads to everything being seen through the lens of that ship.

It tends to lean towards certain fanon interpretations being considered canon, with fandoms forgetting to question/step outside of the ships bubble. It's also just not very interesting. Even when there’s diversity within the ship itself I like to see more of a counterpoint. Otherwise it just…makes the universe feel smaller. Like only ever having chocolate cake on offer, maybe in ten different permutations, but at its core it’s chocolate. Different takes on things make people think, challenge them to think, make them alter their perspective, and it’s a healthy thing. I don’t think this fandom is very good for that tbh. 

Secondly, more characterisations of non-human characters that embrace the fact they are not human.

I see this very common binary of more human like = good vs less human like = bad (very simplified but I hope you understand my point!). So would like to see this not just for Dream, but for other characters too. I know we’re humans engaging with this fandom, so it's hard to envision that perspective, but I’d love to see more of us stepping outside of a human lens. As much as the fandom writes ‘nightmare’ Dream, it’s often shown as his dark or unrestrained side (or primarily a sex thing) so would love to see more diverse views on the spectrum of his aspect. On the flip side the human/retired Dream trope (which is personally a hard no for me unless heavily subverted) is far more popular than its opposite.

Again, this is about a desire for diversity. I'm not suggesting there's something wrong with having different tastes!! Just frustrating when it’s hard to find anything else.

I know this is fanfic, and so we all have our own interpretations and AUs, with many of us embracing the opportunity to write a drastically different version of a character. I just rarely see Dream characterised in a way that, again to my interpretation, I recognise as him. That feels authentically him. Other characters like Lucienne or Death or even Rose often feel like they are smoothed out to be perfect or written in a matchmaking role. I wish more fics let them be as flawed as they are, let them be wrong, let them make mistakes. I’d just love to see more complexity.

Thirdly - this is probably a subpoint of the above - but more of Dream actually enjoying his role, and fics that explore his relationship to humanity.

I'd love to see explorations of what it means to be Dream. I see so much of him rejecting it or being overwhelmed by it. While I do think his feelings are complicated, which in itself is very interesting, he’s not just going through the motions/in need of saving. I wish more people showed that it’s not just this burden he needs freedom from. He’s good at it too. That’s what makes things so tragic. He’s smart, communicative in his own way, but Dream just isn’t human, and so he’s not going to act like one.

(Btw this is not anti Dreamling. I’m not here to hate on anyone’s ship, especially one I do ship in certain ways. I just wish there was more diversity, and I personally disagree with a lot of interpretations of Dream’s character. As fans we’re all allowed to dislike a take/trope. I just don’t read those fics because I'm not the right audience for them. I'm only trying to point out that when those takes/tropes are everywhere it’s really hard to find anything to engage with.)

[limerancy-fics]

what makes xiaoven possible from ventis pov in canonverse? what are some reasons why he would get along w xiao, esp to the point of love?

i see this a lot, actually. a lot of people who aren't xv shippers don't see how they would like each other, and i especially saw for a while at the start people saying venti would never love xiao for "freedom" reasons or whatever. but if someone really thinks venti wouldn't get along with xiao or vice versa, i know they don't actually look at the characters beyond surface interpretation and fanon characterization.

because xiao is exactly the type of person venti is drawn to. before or beyond romance. i mean, look at vennessa--she is, in my mind, very similar to xiao: someone who is trapped and wishes for freedom, someone who is forced to fight when that's not who they want to be, someone who becomes one of the only things between their nation and those who want to destroy it. they're both kind-hearted, deep down, gentle souls who have been given a role in life that pains them (and even after life, in regards to vennessa and celestia). they both fight for the freedom of their people, because they know it's the only thing they can do. and, though we don't know much about the nameless bard, we can assume he was similar to them as well. out of everyone in mond, the nameless bard and vennessa were the ones venti was drawn to. out of everyone in liyue, xiao is the only one we know of who has the power of anemo and has been saved/freed by venti in the same way vennessa was: given just enough to fight for themselves. if venti had not played for xiao that night, he would have been lost to the karma and as far as we're aware, he hasn't been that close to losing it ever since.

venti is very intelligent. he's very compassionate. he's very supportive and understanding. and he's very much drawn to people like xiao. xiao is different from vennessa in that he's had a lot longer to build his walls and be stuck in his rut. so the way venti approaches him is likely a much more delicate dance than what he did with vennessa or the nameless bard. it would take a lot more time. and, despite what most people think, venti doesn't actually bail out when the going gets tough. we see that 100% in how he was with us to face dvalin and how he took down durin with dvalin during the cataclysm--leading durin away from the city and to the mountain, both to protect his people from the dragon itself and the dragon's corrupted corpse.

i think he'd 100% be persistent in wiggling through xiao's walls to at least become his friend, even if just because he thinks xiao needs one. most people seem to think he'd get bored with xiao and how difficult he can be and just move on, but i think he's not so easily fooled. he knows there's more underneath who xiao seems to be on the surface. and he would, of course, slowly reveal the traits xiao has that make him so loveable: his gentleness, his kindness, his loyalty and devotion, his sense of responsibility, his care for liyue and its people, his selflessness, his strength (physically and emotionally), and, most importantly, his deep, deep, deep desire for freedom and peace. i think venti, of all people, would be the one who could see all of this despite the front xiao puts up.

and...how could he not fall in love?

because beyond who xiao is individually, he might also be one of the only people who could understand venti and his very specific grief. there are very few people still alive who went through the archon war, very few people who have lost in the way they have, who have had to live on in the way they have¹. that kind of shared past and pain can create a very strong bond and may be the catalyst for venti feeling like he doesn't have to put on an act around xiao--in fact, xiao is so blunt that it may draw venti away from that mask without him meaning to. and, especially after the Situation with signora, xiao might be one of the only people he can feel safe with.

he doesn't have to put on an act around xiao, he doesn't have to pretend he's not in pain, he doesn't have to worry about being hurt by someone else. he can literally just sit there and play and not say a single word but still be in the company of someone who understands him and i think that's something he very much needs sometimes.

yes, there would definitely be a period of time in which xiao sees him as Lord Barbatos but with a few pranks, antics, and general mischief, that image would be shattered and he would just be venti, which would make being around xiao much more comfortable for him

and i think all of this combined makes the perfect recipe for centuries of extremely intense longing, yearning, pining, etc.

you might ask: "okay, sure, but why xiao? i mean zhongli is right there and he fits a bunch of that criteria!" and i would say: "well, hypothetical anon, as it is, venti and zhongli just can't fucking stand being in each other's presence for more than an hour at most. they are both too much like their elements: free and reckless and flighty as the wind and rigid and stubborn and grand as stone. there's a reason anemo and geo don't react with each other: they just butt up against each other because one is an unstoppable force and the other is an immovable object and they don't get anywhere with each other. i doubt any form of valuable communication can happen between the two of them, and i doubt they could actually like being around each other and genuinely enjoy the other's company beyond just generally annoying each other."

and after all this, i just have to say: i actually wrote a fic all about it, believe it or not. i have an almost 200k word fic about how i think they feel about each other in canonverse, which includes venti's pov and goes over literally everything i said, just much more poetic and filled with a lot more yearning. idk if u've read it yet anon but highly recommend 👍

[lesbianbluesey]

klena and carolena for the ship ask game 💖

assuming by Klena you mean Klaus/Elena and not Katherine/Elena because that reply would be different lol

Whether I ship it or not: not really

Why I ship it or not: there’s no very deep reason, it just isn’t one of the dynamics for either of them that pops to me / makes me want to get invested I do respect the desire to want Elena in non-salvatore ships but I’m more of an Elena/Rebekah and Elena/Elijah girl myself when it comes to Mikaelson/Elena pairings.

My opinion on their canon potential (chemistry, canon interactions, etc): I can see where people get some vibes from things like how he reacts to her in certain late s2/early s3 scenes but again other interactions grabbed me more. In terms of chemistry combined with storyline potential I think Klaus/Bonnie had a lot more going for it, more than a lot of Klaus canon ships (and I say that as someone who did enjoy most canon Klaus ships to different degrees with the exception of Klamille which I didn’t dislike at all but which left me cold).

My opinion on fanon interpretations/fandom around it (Favorite widespread hcs, pet-peeves, etc): I haven’t gotten very deep into the fandom for them so mostly a blank slate but I do think it’s sus when shippers react negatively to Bonnie/Mikaelson ships or people shipping Bonnie in non canon ships with duplicitous people she has chemistry with like Klaus Kai etc. but then go for Klena and Kailena outside of that specific fan archetype I don’t have a problem (sorry this was not a very involved answer I just genuinely don’t think about them much).

Carolena

Whether I ship it or not: hmmm. It actually kind of depends on my mood + what I’ve rewatched last and how I felt about it, I’ve been into the idea at some points but less at others. So I guess yes and no and ultimately sometimes lmao, but regardless their dynamic holds interest to me.

Why I ship it or not: for the yes/warmer on them side of things they play on some archetypes I am into in terms of shipping in general, I do enjoy a toxic teen girl situationship or just a messy friend-situationship and I like ships between chars who are set up to be foils which they really are so moments and storylines that play on/emphasize that can get me thinking of them in a shippy mood. And there are interesting things about the way they treat each other and how the show treats them and like the arc of their relationship on a meta level…. On the other hand the reason why they’ve never been a hardcore ship/otp of mine has to do with how strange and transient I find the writing for them… I’ve actually been trying to make sense of my overall feelings about them more on this rewatch so consider this a very *atm* answer that could evolve lol but I just find the way tvd wrote female friendships very odd they’re both interesting to me and uninteresting to me at the same time, if that makes sense and this is really how I feel about barolena dynamics in general so while I have shipping moments with them I find it hard to get really invested in them romantically the way I did with say, different combos of girls on Pll or even Legacies. I think it’s why all my TVD femslash Otp’s ended up being antagonistic ones other than the fact I just like antagonistic femslash in general (see Elena/Rebekah Caroline/Katherine Bonnie/Nora) because the writing just clicked for me better and I could understand nuances in those dynamics and them being awful to each other better which seems counterintuitive but it’s how I felt ultimately…

My opinion on their canon potential (chemistry, canon interactions, etc): I think they have some standout gay moments “lesbian friend necklace” some of Caroline talking about how perfect Elena is and their chemistry is fine idk if I would say they have amazing chemistry for this show but it’s definitely not bad chemistry for this show either. I tend to be more into Nina and Candice’s on screen chemistry in Katholine scenes but again that might be more subjective because their storylines tend to hold interest for me.

My opinion on fanon interpretations/fandom around it (Favorite widespread hcs, pet-peeves, etc): There are a lot of different takes about the contentiousness of their relationship which I do think should be analyzed/explored but stans do tend to take sides based on who they like more and especially some of the hardcore Caroline stans I’ve seen get into this unfairly vilify Elena in the dynamic imo, I’m sure there’s some of the reverse too but I see it less probably because Care is more of a fan favorite. So I dislike that specifically… but I generally find it interesting to read people’s takes about them maybe also because there are so many different ones lol. ty for the ask!

[vellaphoria]

hi hi! c: for the Get to know your fic writer! meme - 1, 17, 22, 56, and 67? (however many you'd like to answer!)

hiiiiii :D

thanks for the ask!! <3

Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

It depends on what I'm going for! I think that broadly I'd prefer to write one-shots, but I'm very very bad at being concise in writing, so often they turn into multi-chapter fics without me noticing lol The fun thing about oneshots is that you can be Vague and leave people guessing about implication breadcrumbs left through the fic. But the fun thing about multi-chapter fics is that I do really love worldbuilding...

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

For a lack of inspiration, usually I have to step away from the project for a while. Trying to write while uninspired tends to do me more harm than good, and inspiration tends to find me at the most unexpected times. So chances are I'll be coming back to it pretty quickly, when the time is right.

For writers block, I usually bring the issue to my beta reader and we talk through it and brainstorm. Getting a second opinion is really helpful! Especially when the other person can see things that you've missed because you were the one writing it. So, shout out to my beta reader for being excellent (and also for enabling me lol) <3

22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

There are! But for different reasons. Style: I think that epistolary style can be done very well, but I'm not super good at it and have no particular desire to expand my writing skill set in that direction. POV: Likewise, first person and second person pov can be well done (harder with second person, imo), but they're not for me. I could probably write third person omniscient, but I much prefer third person limited because playing with perception and who knows what (and when) is really fun for me! The downside is that sometimes people reading my fic are like. Why didn't the POV character know this thing that they couldn't possibly have known at the time in the plot?? So I think that some people don't understand that third person omniscient and limited pov's are different things Genre: I'm really really really really not a fan of slice of life, as a genre. Or coffee shop AUs. Any genre where narrative conflict is deemphasized is a genre that I'm not super interested in reading or writing Tropes: I won't write AOB because I'm squicked out by the biological determinism and recreation of heterosexual gender dynamics in queer relationshps. Like, I know there are subversions that don't do that, but the majority of it plays it straight, so it's not for me. I also won't write pregnancy of any sort or child acquisition because the first squicks me out and the latter makes me uncomfortable. For DC-specific tropes, I won't write joker junior because the concept makes me sad. I've also been leaning away from a lot of the fanon tropes (i.e. stuff like Tim having a coffee addiction) because while they're fun as jokes, the way that some people are treating them as canon annoys me. Long answer is long lol

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

I like to think that I write pretty compelling relationship dynamics. Or at least I write them in the way that I want to read them, so. That's all that really matters to me at the end of the day <3

67. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

I prefer prompts and challenges since I get to interpret them broadly! Chances are that by they end, they've become completely independent ideas anyway XD

(questions are from this prompt list)