#chose the way the first one is based on the fandom btw. i see more nischa content than content abt mischa and talia

[dxntloseurhead]

firm believer in talia is real and mischa loves both her AND Noel .

[duckieduccss]

NEW KAIJU OC?!?!

Well, yea technically. Basically i was interested in figuring out how id go with making my own kaiju. At first i wasnt sure where to go for designing one. So i chose to base it off another existing kaiju for inspiration. I kinda wanted to go for a dragon type kaiju (i like dragons) and the only thing i could think of was Ghidorah so i went with that (now that i think about it more, I could’ve maybe used Manda too prob but oh well, Ghidorah was still a good option). I added some different details to mine that make it unique to the og Ghidorah

My idea was that it could potentially be a relative to Ghidorah (being of the same species) but still far apart from one another to the point they arent all that aware of the other existing (theyre in for a shock when & if they do encounter each other lol). This version actually relies on cosmic energy derived from such sources like stars & generally anything that produce some form of energy within the vast universe (basing it off how Ghidorah themselves originally came from space & this variant being much more dependent on that factor). It stores that energy & relatively stays in a dormant stage for an extended period of time until when faced with the challenge to defend itself or fight off those it deems as a danger. Then it would release all that ginormous amount of space energy that manifests itself as a rapidly expanding glow of extremely bright light. Enough to cause extreme damage & bring down the opposition. It can gather energy by using special crystals it can grow (took that also as inspiration but from Space Godzilla) & become as some form of attracting & absorbing the energy. In a way, the energy is like its main source of food & energy to maintain itself (right after releasing a lot of it during its final attack of using that glow, it would be put in a highly vulnerable state if not recovered by regaining some energy back soon enough). For the most part, they mostly sleep (being lazy 24/7 just like me fr lmao) to keep all that energy but can be potentially dangerous if disturbed or provoked in some manner

(Here’s a better closer look at their faces. Realized the canvas’ too big to properly see each of them-)

The name of this kaiju you may be wondering???

It’s Ryudorah

(Yea i know im the most creative person out there. I combined another nickname i use for myself and just added the end part of Ghidorah’s name to make it clear it’s related to the other kaiju. I couldn’t think of anything else im sorry😭)

And also each head has its own individual name:

Do, Re & Mi

(Named after intervals in the musical scale (ex: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do)

Did i mention this kaiju can also technically sing too :)

I did have a lot of fun with coming up with the concept for them (tho it honestly took longer in designing them due to a busy schedule ive been put in as of late & finding the time to finish it) but im glad to finally be able to share this with you all. Hopefully I can share more about them soon (i have a whole google doc’s worth of lore lmao) & probably draw them again (tho maybe a lot more simplified by then). Didn’t wanna overwhelm ppl with the huge amount of info so I’ll prob slowly reveal more over time.

[Another thing too is that i still am new to the fandom (tho with more knowledge from getting to learn more from the source material) & most of this i gathered from already know stuff i knew. Tho im also open to feedback & maybe some ideas to add onto my own kaiju. So id very much appreciate it if there’s any suggestions from you guys ^^⭐️]

(I’ll only be taking constructive criticism btw. Anything hateful will obv be ignored)

[bdudette]

I saw the hcs of hort falling for someone from the good school, but what about not just hcs of them being a princess from that school, but they are different from the others. They don’t like pastel colors like the rest and prefers darker colors (Let’s say they somehow found a black dress or took one colorful dress and just modified it. Plus don’t really care what the rest think), not afraid to stand up for others no matter what school they are from, kind, and empathetic (You could add Tedros too if you’d like)

THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL GUYS FALLING FOR A NEVER LIKE EVER !

• Characters Included: Hort and Tedros

• a|n: tbh, i didn’t know how to do this one super well. I was mostly thinking of like — typical Disney ‘ I’m not like the other girls ‘ kinda gal. don’t beat me up for saying that 😂. idk if this fits with the tittle but I remember when the ‘ever’ girls called Agatha a ‘never’ because of how she first looked and I kinda wanna work with that ? Uh — yeah

• ps. sorry for taking months to do this, y’all know that at this point I generate fics at the pace of a slug in a 5 yard run. rewatched the movie for y’all. i’ve also been trying to write for some different fandoms im into as well, the amount of drafts I have — cough … this was from 2022 btw 💀

• warnings: based on movie, obsessive Hort ( bro needs to chill a lil ), kinda wack Tedros, rusty writing, short.

✫ Hort

Obsessed Immediately

It’s not everyday when Hort gets to see such a … different kind of princess.

Typically, they are all like — sheep in fancy clothes and makeup, always following what the most popular shepherd’s words were as if it were like their last drop of water in a dry and hot desert.

So when you were thrown in and showed up in such dark ‘never’ colors in the entrance ceremony of those lame-o ‘ever’s he just — he stared way too hard at you from afar.

What were you trying to accomplish when you chose that outfit? What were you thinking when choosing such darkness of colors that almost had you thrown to the side of the ‘never’s by the humanized wolf guards the very first day?

He was honestly just confused as soon as he first saw you, you were so much different than what he was used to seeing or hearing. So when he continuously saw you wear such clothings for more than a day, he decided to well — stalk you to learn more about your intentions.

And he wasn’t gonna lie and say he didn’t start liking you as soon as you started to show up the next few days after the second one still wearing dark clothing — further pushing the continuations of his stalking towards you in where he’d just stare at you with his arm perched on the cafeteria table with his head leaned against his closed fist.

All while he sighed so dreamily towards you.

Wow that was long.

But it’s true, he so rarely got to see you though because of your different ‘statuses’— so when he did see you again, he always used that time to stare at You.

It wasn’t far after the first few days that You were able to catch on that an never was staring and soon felt kind of uncomfortable.

And it wasn’t because the guy was an never, no — it was just — that weird guy seemed to have a staring problem since the first time You came in.

Well — everyone here had a staring problem when it came to Your clothing style — the difference was that while the others stared in disgust, envy or pity … he stared with something akin to a Dreamy Look.

And that always seemed to put you on a fluttering edge of — confusion, and extreme flattery —

Not you’d outrightly say it, not to this pretty stranger of a never, after all — what’s the fun in making things easy.

After gathering all your courage one day, you had decided that it was time to finally speak to this staring guy.

A smile grazed your colored lips, eyes squinting under the light of the sun rays as you were lightly caressed by the sun itself all while you stared down at the sitting wolf who looked like he was seeing an ethereal being right in front of him.

So this is how it started, the little romantic advances of a wolf man and dark clothing wearing riding hood.

✫ Tedros

Confused Yet Enamored

He was honestly so — confused as to what you were wearing when he first saw you walking on the grounds of the ever school.

Wondering why a Never was walking in the same grounds of the Evers, but after seeing you on the second to third day, it was solidified that you were an Ever … dressed in darkened items.

At first, he had been confused — extremely confused and not understanding as to why an Ever would ever wear such darkened clothings to the point of being confused to a Never.

Why an Ever would ever be kind to a Never when they were the enemies, the villains, of their future life long stories — even standing up for them from time and time again.

He was unsure, but he could not deny the rapid palpations of his golden heart at the sight of your beautiful figure.

Be it from Far, Far Away or Close By.

As a popular guy, he can’t deny that he was somewhat — arrogant when it came to a romantic advance with pretty ladies, but you had been indifferent to the sight of him.

This was one of the many reasons why he has been so enamored with you, why his eyes could not leave you for more than a second.

And sure, it might sound like a typical ‘this is the first time a lady has ever rejected me’ sort of romance, but this was different for Tedros.

This was way too different.

Especially when he started speaking with You, his eyes not leaving You as he had a spark of interest by the time he first spoke to You.

Your empathy, Your kindness, Your wit, Your intelligence — everything about You was different than the ordinary one minded ladies he has met before … not to be insulting.

But You were just different to everyone, to himself, You were — Yourself.

And by the stars above, you were one of a kind to him, You were the beautiful moon that shined the path of salvation to him, the setting sky that held the most beautiful of darkening colors — You ARE his One.

He knew it, he felt it.

From the sole of his feet, to the edge of his fingers and to the top of his hairs — You lit his heart ablaze like the flames on Hades head.

You are the One who held the key within his own Heart and Soul.

Which is why, as soon as he knew, he gently grasped at your darkened nail tainted hands, looking directly at your eyes as his heart trembled within himself while throat dried out for a moment

You looked at him with a light fever within your own, wonder cascading with yourself at this beautiful man that held a tender look within his own eyes.

Was this to be your happily Ever After?

Despite who you were, despite how you dressed — Tedros would not have you any different than right now.

After all, You are the One, truly the One he fell deeply — into the depths of the underworld and above — in love with you.

[jasian]

Alright, since I did three random ones for you, it's time for you to answer these three questions, and I randomized three of your characters for it LMAO You can use any of them for any of the questions tho!

Okay, I lied, there's four, but that last question was way too tempting LMAO

You're so lucky because I randomized- Leo Cavallone, Xavier Armand, and Sebastian Armand ♥

Thanks love <3 I actually really enjoyed this!! btw I'm going down the list so Leo gets the first question, Xavier the second, Sebastian the third, and I'm answering the last one with all three ;)

What headcanons/theories do you believe fandom would invent about your character?

Leo is a philanderer with one too many pregnancy scares with his then-girlfriends. Though in Canon he doesn't have any random and/or unexpected kids, fandom probably headcanons that he does which then leads to people thinking he'd be a deadbeat father. Totally untrue! Leo is Dino Cavallone's son - a man who emphasized the importance of family. Leo loves his mom, dad, baby sister, and whatever future family he ends up having.

I'd have more, but I don't really do much with him!

What feelings does your character most instill in their fans?

Hoo boy. Xavier. If I'm being honest, when he's first introduced as an MC, people don't really think much about him - especially when compared to his rockstar brother and their grumpy father. He might have a small fan base in the beginning given his good looks (assuming you're shallow like me lol), but most people compare him as a younger, quieter and calmer version of his father. Xavier doesn't like to fight. He's kind of just there.

However, as the series progresses and our colorful cast of characters develop more, Xavier becomes more of a fan favorite. I think it starts after he and Mia break up when he ends up getting involved in a lot more action. Then, when he discovers his flame of wrath, more and more people look to him as some kind of badass. He's definitely a fan favorite, especially among the girlies <3!

What song is playing over an AMV/TikTok of scenes between your character and their loved interest?

Can I be honest? This was a very hard question LOL. I Googled popular TikTok songs and just chose from the list (after I listened to it lol). I really wanted a rock n' roll song to go hand in hand with Sebastian's aesthetic, but I couldn't think of anything.

Anyways, it's Beautiful Things by Benson Boone. NGL, when I heard the chorus (I guess it's called that idk, but you'll know what part I mean I hope) I thought this was Harry Styles LOL because that's the only part of the song I know. I never listened to it in it's entirety until now.

What is the wildest crackship(s) you can imagine for your characters?

Oh, this is definitely my favorite question lol. I also took into consideration what would be the most popular ships in the fandom.

Leo x Rhys, Leo x Mako, or Leo x Sei. I sort of considered Leo and Lucie, but there was no way I could see her tolerating his ass LOL. It's funny how all his crack ships are with guys considering he's the straightest OC I know LSDFJSDLFJ.

Sebastian x Addison, Sebastian x Celine, or Sebastian x Mia. Fun fact: Sebastian x Mia used to be canon. But, I had a difficult time with Seb because he hardly interacts with anyone. The only friends he has are lesbians LOL.

And now for my favorite (and the one who has the most)...

Xavier x Tali, Xavier x Tabitha, Xavier x Nina, Xavier x Salem x Bronwyn or Xavier x Salem, Xavier x Seiryo, and Xavier x Koi.

To those who don't know, the second pairing is a MAJOR red flag if anyone were to actually ship these two.

[epicfranb]

ethubs or gempearl? :0

Gempearl: Ship It

1.What made you ship it?

Will you believe me if i say. this was actually one of the first if not THE first hc pair that i shipped. Aside from ethubs ofc but that was mostly from Last Life. But then a twitter bug bit me and i went OH NO but The Boundaries! and stopped. I'm still recovering btw.

IDK what made me ship it tbh!! ig i just saw two cute girls hanging out and went hey that's adorable. they're so weird together and are doing funny things to troll impulse. i love this

2.What are your favorite things about the ship?

i like how they're kinda like. switching who's the weird one from time to time. it's mostly pearl who's weird but idk i like how they join in on eahc other's bits. also they kill each other homoerotically

3.Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

i dont see opinions on them + i dont think about them that often so i dont have anything to say sorry lol orz

Ethubs: Ship It

1.What made you ship it?

yknow. yknow. last life. i have eyes and ears

2.What are your favorite things about the ship?

there are a lot homestly just scroll thru my ethubs tag but i'll say my fav thing that first comes to mind. it's that they seem in a lot of ways like opposites but the closer you inspect them the more you see that.. they actually have way more similarities between eahc toher than differences??? they just work so well together. it's like two pieces of a puzzle met and fit together perfectly

3.Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm idk i'll have to think abt it. im sure there;s smth but i tend to follow ppl i agree with and homestly compared to my other ships. i think the ethubs fandom understands those guys very well

ok im back i thought abt it and i think most of my gripes with any iteration of ethubs come down to mischaracterizing them individually. so like showing bdubs as this loud and boastful guy and completely missing that his self-esteem was nonexistent and is still kinda low, or commiting too much to one facet of etho (be it his trickery or his shyness) while disregarding his other traits. im guilty of this too cuz THEY ARE VERY DIFFICULT CHARACTERS TO WRITE and the fact that they have years of history to reference means everybody's ethubs is going to be a little different based on how much of that they've seen and what they remembered the most or chose to focus on. so even if i don't agree with a take on them (which has happened before) it's completely fine cuz like. there's A LOOOT of space to have differing opinions about them.

tldr i probably do but i forgor

[beom1e]

lonely hearts chapter 09 | serial dater

genre angst-ish. warnings none. wc 473. author’s note i chose the boy who came second in the poll for this btw!

the coffee shop was becoming less and less busy, two customers hanging around and occupying the tables. chaeyoung was on the verge of sleep, her elbows propped up on the counter and her chin supported by her palm. you felt the same way, but your mind was also racing with thoughts about your upcoming date.

it was all so strange, but you’d given up on questioning it. you were just lucky, and this was just how your life was going.

‘customer,’ chaeyoung mumbled, straightening herself up. you simply hummed in acknowledgement and moved to the back to get ready for the order. ‘hey, isn’t that one of the boys from your band of lovers?’

you spun around fast, almost slipping over and having to regain your balance. she was right, in came taehyun looking way too casual for your liking. internally, you felt as if your heart was about to break through your ribcage.

‘could i get an iced americano? thank you,’ he spoke to your best friend first, while you shot off towards the stack of cups. just when you thought you’d escaped, he spoke again. ‘y/n, could we talk?’

‘oh, but i don’t have another break today,’ you gulped. ‘maybe some other time?’

‘don’t be ridiculous,’ chaeyoung moved to grab you by your shoulders, before shuffling you towards the other side of the counter. ‘there’s like… two people here!’

you had no choice but to follow taehyun outside of the building, strangely feeling like a student in trouble with their teacher. he stopped just after the glass doors, ensuring nobody inside could see through to you. your worries were more based on whether somebody outside could see the two of you.

‘what are you doing here?’ you whisper-yelled, looking around for any sign of somebody watching. ‘someone could see.’

‘would you calm down? you’re making a scene,’ despite the fact that his words were harsh, he had this smile on his lips as he looked down at you. ‘you look cute in that apron.’

‘what?’ you glanced down before crossing your arms over the material, suddenly aware of how messy you must’ve looked. ‘now why are you here, taehyun?’

‘i don’t think you should go on that date with beomgyu,’ he spoke, straight-faced and with the same emotionless tone. ‘well, none of us think you should.’

‘why not?’ you frowned.

‘beomgyu always gets the girl, even when he doesn’t really want her,’ his eyes never looked away from your own. ‘we’ve seen it happen too many times, and it’ll probably happen to you too.’

‘beomgyu? choi beomgyu?’ you couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped your lips. ‘the same beomgyu who tips cashiers… a serial dater? are we talking about the same beomgyu here?’

‘don’t say i didn’t warn you,’ he shrugged. ‘i’ll just get my drink and leave, then. goodbye, y/n.’

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[badgirlcovenrep]

My Raylla Theories for Motherland: Fort Salem Season 2 - Queen Goddess Mycelium

This season so far has been so absolutely incredible it has made me want to dust off my theorist hat after episode 4 and make a long winded post about all the correlations there seem to be between Raylla/the mycellium and my theories around it. Now keep in mind these are all just personal theories and nothing more, it could all be wrong and honestly, probably will, but I thought it'd be fun either way.

The thing that really made me (and everyone else in the fandom) start theorizing that Scylla might also be connected to the mushroom was probably the scene in episode 3, when Raelle tries to "reason" with the mycelium and ends up remembering that moment with Scylla in the forest.

Of Course, we find out she has that specific vision because the Mycelium for some reason wants that seed, which instantly got me thinking. Earlier in the episode, Raelle comments how Izadora has been making her sing every seed they can find to see if the mushroom will react to it, and then later, after the mushroom colonized her throat (which is so creepy btw), she has this conversation with the unit:

Now, that got me really thinking. Of course the sounds were changed by the mycelium once it entered Raelle's vocal cords but still, when Scylla sang that seed in S1 we were led to believe that it was probably a pretty simple necromancy seed that was taught at Fort Salem, and it could totally still be, but I'd think Izadora (the "Anacostia" of Necros) would've had Raelle try that seed along with other necro seeds when they were "trying every seed" to see if it got a reaction. Or that, idk, someone, might have sang tha particular seed close to the mycelium before since it's literally right there in the middle of the necro building.

Besides, I think it's pretty telling that the mycelium wanted that seed in particular, like maybe it means something to her. And then we got some visuals in the promos that really solidified the "Scylla has something to do with the mushroom" theory.

I mean???? Glowy eyed mushroom girlfriends if I've ever seen any.

Then this. In the first picture we see the spores or whatever smoky substance came out of the Mycelium in episode 3, and then, what seems like the same exact thing going into Scylla's mouth from one of the promos (I'm guessing from episode 5 based on the outfit).

I thought it could also be something spree related before but I think it'd be something totally new since there's been nothing like that in the show besides the mycelium, as far as I know.

Now, the real question is, how would Scylla be related to the Mycelium when she grew up with the Dodgers and was never supposed to be in Fort Salem in the first place? And I've got my own theory on that.

Some people have been saying maybe she was related to Nicte Batan, but I personally don't think Nicte has anything to do with Miss Mycelium. Whatever magic she developed is obviously related to the spree and they probably don't know how to mess with the mushroom since there'd be a more obvious link.

I think maybe it has something to do with the Dodgers, or even with just Scylla's family in particular. Think about it, we've seen how the Tarim chose to stay away from the military to protect this ancient kind of magic they thought would be dangerous in Alder's (or really anyone's) hands, which means they were Dodgers in their own way.

So it's possible that Scylla's family also dodged the military for similar reasons and they might have known things about the mycelium Izadora and the rest of the military doesn't know. Eliot said in interviews that the mycelium covers miles and miles of roots underground, so Scylla's parents could even have been studying it or interacting with it while also being Dodgers.

Maybe they taught her the death cap seed and that is why Izadora didn't seem to know it. Also, madam mushroom is like a goddess to necros according to Eliot so I think it makes sense they'd be protective over it.

I don't know if any of this is actually true but I think it's telling that Raelle now has a power that is so intrinsically connected to necromancy when she's a fixer. I think in a show like this there's probably a reason for that and it'd just be really interesting and a good way to rewrite their connection imo.

[bigskydreaming]

I am once more begging people, BEGGING, to at least READ Batman #416 if you’re going to cite every moment of Dick meeting Jason and then blowing up at Bruce, except in a totally ‘that’s not at all how it happened’ kinda way.

If I have to read ONE MORE sizzling hot take about how Dick blew up at Bruce and stormed off at the end of that encounter, when THIS is how it ACTUALLY ended....

Ah yes, the famous Dick Grayson temper, better described as ‘someone else loses their shit at Dick and fandom twists it into the exact opposite so he’s actually the bad guy all along.’

Was Dick heated before that point? Yup. Did he have reason to be? Also yup. Did Bruce, however, have reason to be heated that Dick had the gall to be coming back to his childhood home to confront him about the fact that after eighteen months of not speaking, when Bruce is the one who CHOSE to not even say goodbye to Dick or make any effort to still make a place for Dick in his life after firing him, with the only possible indication in all that time through which Dick was expected to come up with even an INKLING that Bruce missed him was discovering from reading the paper that Bruce had given his old mantle to a new, even younger partner? Its gonna be a big fat NOPE from me, guys.

There’s an exchange between them a few pages before this that always resonated with me....

Bruce: The truth is, I taught you everything I could. It was time for you to step out on your own.

Dick: So you figured the best thing for you to do was drive me out of your life, right? That’s exactly what you do to anyone who gets too close. Always hurt them before they have a chance to hurt you. It didn’t matter to you that I didn’t have any life other than the one we shared.

Like, I can not express any more clearly why it drives me so B-A-N-A-N-A-S to see people spin this so that it was Bruce that was somehow the victim of his son’s tempestuous, nomadic ways. Like he was somehow left behind, that Dick outgrew him or moved on, and everything Dick felt about Robin after the fact was him throwing spoiled temper tantrums that someone dared pick up something he no longer wanted. Umm. No times infinity and beyond.

Bruce was the one with all the power. Bruce was the one making all the choices. All Dick had, at most, was the choice to either stay somewhere Bruce seemed intent on driving him away from, or go somewhere else. This issue clearly expressed that like. Bruce wasn’t open to talking. Not when he fired Dick as Robin, there was no negotiating that, and even throughout this whole encounter here, where Dick comes here and says “I think you owe me some explanations” because based on everything Bruce was doing and how radically opposed those actions are to the last interactions he and Bruce had, which had a HUGE impact on Dick’s life, yes, he WAS owed explanations here, make no mistake....even here, Bruce spends the whole encounter acting like he’s being unfairly interrogated, like its trying his patience to even have to deal with Dick being there at all....

Phones work two ways, Bruce. There’s two people in this dynamic. If you haven’t heard from Dick in eighteen months, its equally true that he hasn’t heard from you in eighteen months. And if you missed him so damn much, you know what was always a perfectly valid way to express that, which DIDN’T involve anyone else? Picking up the damn phone and calling Dick and telling him that.

Bruce acts like that was never even an option, like HE was the one stuck with limited choices based on Dick’s behavior throughout all this time, and that’s just flat out, unconditionally, one hundred percent, NOT TRUE. Bruce was the one in charge. The one calling the shots. The one with the resources, the power, the authority. Dick was ALWAYS the one who had more to lose, of the two of them.

And Bruce knew all this when he took Dick in. He knew all this when he took Robin away from Dick while the latter was still a teenager, still living at home. And he was the one who failed to even so much as OFFER Dick an alternative take on how he could still be there, still be in Bruce’s life, part of his family, still share in being part of his life, the life the two of them had shared, now that Bruce had made the choice that Dick no longer had the option of living out his part of that life in the manner they’d BOTH built up for him originally.

And yet for so many years, fandom has added insult to injury by acting like the cherry on top here, Bruce giving away the very mantle he took from Dick, like this was somehow completely reasonable because in comparison, Dick is the one being unreasonable. People completely gloss over that little act of Bruce’s to focus instead on how Dick reacted, instead of giving that betrayal of trust its own fair due and focus, and the problem is....they don’t even actually focus on how Dick actually acted! Again, notice it was Dick who approached Bruce, and Bruce who told Dick to leave. It was Dick who had actual cause to be angry, but Bruce who blew up and broke shit because Dick dared demand answers. 

And this is the way Dick leaves things with Jason, btw. I know people know this part by now, mostly at least, about the phone number and such, but how many people have actually SEEN how that played out rather than just heard it summarized in a dry recitation of events that underplays just how that interaction went?

Like, that wasn’t just Dick acting like this was being FORCED upon him and bleeding reluctance at every turn. He went above and fucking beyond to make Jason feel welcomed and secure in his position as Robin. But that’s not how the narrative goes in fandom, is it? Even when acknowledging this part, people act like Dick was at most doing the bare minimum, instead of acknowledging that Dick didn’t owe anyone this at all. No, it wasn’t Jason’s fault he became Robin, but NONE of this was Dick’s fault, Dick’s choice, or Dick’s RESPONSIBILITY. He wasn’t living at home, in Bruce’s life, and he wasn’t adopted yet let alone even still Bruce’s ward at this point. He’d aged out at eighteen. Dick had NO actual ties to Bruce and by extension Jason at this particular moment in time, and thus no ACTUAL obligations to either of them, no matter how much fandom harps on him having failed Jason as a brother back during this time when more accurately, Bruce was actively failing Dick as a father - as in not even being one, but Dick’s responsibilities towards a family he didn’t have at the moment are supposed to be still intact? NOPE. Don’t think so.

But Dick, INSTEAD, puts Jason FIRST, puts him OVER his obviously hurt and bitter feelings to focus on what’s best for Jason here, and gives him literally everything he CAN to do right by Jason here. He gives Jason his own old costume and clear approval, cementing Jason’s place as Robin in a way not even Bruce could when giving it to Jason, because it was never Bruce’s to actually pass on. Jason even wonders earlier in the issue if Dick might want his old role back, and Dick puts that fear to rest, without any hesitation or doubt.

In addition, Dick offers up support and solidarity he doesn’t owe Jason, doesn’t owe anyone, because its HIS time, HIS support, its not something someone can take for granted and yet too many people do....especially considering that in the hyper-fixation on how much support and time Dick supposedly DIDN’T offer or grant Jason, most people pay next to no attention to the fact that it wasn’t like Dick was being given time or support by Bruce, ie Dick is going out of his way to offer stuff he’s not even getting himself, because he RECOGNIZES from that what its like not to have it. Basically what I mean is all that talk about Dick being a hypocrite for doing to others what he complains about Bruce not doing for him? Patently untrue, as we see here, because this is Dick actively acting upon what he’s missing out on by making sure that others don’t miss out on it because of Bruce’s failings or emotional repression.

And look at the end result.....Jason’s enjoying his teamup with Dick, these aren’t two people who look pained at being forced into proximity or acting like the other is a burden to be around or thinking the other doesn’t really want to be here. They were comfortable from practically the word go, because Dick knows how to make people uncomfortable but he also knows how to make people comfortable, and he made the CHOICE, the INTENT to make sure he was someone Jason felt WANTED to be there with him, the complete opposite of someone who is taking out their bitterness or resentment on their replacement or at least not trying to hide it very well.

So my question is.....what the hell else is it people wanted Dick to do? When they cite this issue specifically, at least, when they talk about the time Dick went to Gotham to confront Bruce about Robin, when they talk about the phone number or the costume or the teamup or the things that so often get mentioned in passing like they’re insignificant or the bare minimum or mere formalities that do nothing to take away from all the supposed OTHER asshole behavior that Dick allegedly heaped on Jason despite never actually happening anywhere, even a little bit, and thus that some people claim is just an extrapolation of how Dick PROBABLY acted off the page, given his clear resentment and jealousy....umm. Huh? Based off THIS? Seriously, I mean it. What ELSE was Dick supposed to have done, to counter that take, what else could he POSSIBLY have done to do right by Jason here, that he didn’t actually already do? What exactly did people want from this character, in order to not hold this eternal grudge they have against him for what a big old jerk he was to Jason, who did nothing to deserve it - with that part being true at least, and literally WHY Dick made the point to recognize that and not take out his feelings on Jason?

Like, this will never not be an axe for me to grind because like. The SPIN fandom always gives all this, when look at the last page of this issue......Bruce is watching from a distance, and even he’s like thanks Dick, and that honestly bugs me so much. Because in the end, the only one of these three characters who DIDN’T get what he wanted here, was Dick. Jason got the validation and security as Robin he was looking for, the approval of his predecessor, and words of advice and an offer to listen and be there should he ever want to talk. Bruce got Dick’s validation of the actions Bruce took that he had no right to take when giving his old mantle to Jason, but that Dick ratified all the same, even if it was for Jason’s sake and not Bruce’s. Bruce still got the closure on that particular mistake of his, with the evidence that Dick was willing to see past it for Jason’s sake rather than drag it out....like. Dick is the only one who didn’t get what he was looking for there, he didn’t even get an apology from Bruce for overstepping when he passed on Dick’s mantle, an acknowledgment that this was WRONG, the most Dick got was Bruce admitting for a single panel that he missed him.....before telling Dick to leave and get out and effectively taking back anything Dick could have possibly taken away from that admittance. Because what the fuck does it matter if someone misses you if even though they finally have you right there in front of them, they still tell you to leave again anyway?

In conclusion, I hate this issue, lol, because everybody seems to know what’s in it and yet practically nobody ever seems interested in referencing what’s ACTUALLY in it. Instead just forever playing telephone with the most bad faith interpretation of Dick’s actions possible.

[whatiwillsay]

I follow this/listen to your podcast (which is great btw) and also follow the Gaylor sub on Reddit. I was curious if you knew why so many people on there tend to ship kaylor so hard and hate on Swiftgron? The way I see the breaks ups went like this:

Dianna- they were both in their easily 20s and traveling a lot so there could have been some back and forth (Taylor likely didn’t write Babe for nothing) but I think ultimately they are were outed and then separated by their teams which both were sad about it. It seems like they still kind of tried to maybe work through it but then Karlie came into the picture and Taylor chose her. As you’ve mentioned on the timeline, Dianna was really hurt based on her posts at this time and seemingly ran away to marry Winston. Based on that take- they broke each other’s hearts and it mostly comes down to age and timing. Nothing too toxic which is always how it’s described.

Karlie- my take is that she always wanted it to be more casual than Taylor did. Taylor is a smart lady so I feel like she was being told something different and Karlie truly may have been ignoring her actual feelings but who can say. To me it reads like once Taylor no longer wanted to be a secret side chick, Karlie was out and started her family with Josh instead. And then she proceeded to befriend some of Taylor’s enemies while also still maintaining they are friends for public imagine.

Based on that, Karlie feels much more toxic to me unless I’m missing some pieces (which is entirely possible). I find myself shipping Swiftgron way more based on what I know. Plus I just don’t think it can deny the amount the two of them have in common and are into the same shit (like still leaving easter eggs about their relationship 10 years later). They are both weirdos in the best way.

Sorry it’s so long but I was hoping to get your thoughts. Thanks!

well first tysm for listening!

second it’s not about the ships themselves i think it’s about fandom politics. in 2016-2017 while kaylor had just gathered up a ton of steam due to reputation seeming so damn gay a very big kaylor blog went gaylor and said swiftgron was back together. i don’t really know why they were just reading too much into social media clues i guess because dianna was fully with winston at the time but this blogger who had been a big kaylor supporter jumped ship and said swiftgron is back together. they were aggressive in their beliefs and convictions and it pissed all the kaylors off and there was some infighting amongst kaylors vs swiftgron at that point. it annoyed everyone and made people dislike swiftgron when before it had been lightly appreciated and fun to theorize on they even had swiftgron saturdays on one of the other big big kay blogs. but it’s one of those “i dislike this person and they’re not on my team anymore so i dislike the thing they like.”

there was also this unhinged person named laine who would go into people’s anons and curious cats on twitter and write these long raging rants about dianna and how she caused taylor’s eating disorder and all this ridiculous untrue stuff but some people would see it and i guess believe it.

but also the kaylor vs swiftgron preference is due to kaylor being the big beloved ship. and it was the big beloved ship because whatever it was as a sexual/romantic relationship in private (i tend to think a dedicated messy besties hook up situation i think similar to what you think) publicly it was marketed very heavily as bestie goals and a big part of the 1989 marketing around taylor to make her seem like the relatable best friend you always wanted.

these girls called the paps on themselves when they were out shopping and on lunch dates, made cute instagram pledges of adoration to one another, did a huge vogue spread together and who can forget the best best friends video! marketing/pr WORKS. there is a reason that someone can hum the mcdonald’s theme song and you’ll want some hot salty fries after that. there is a reason that seeing taylor and karlie being all affectionate with one another made you fall in love with them as a couple- a couple of friends? a couple of lovers? with taylor seeming so gay who could tell! most saw them as friends but those who didn’t fell in love with them as much much more.

kaylor shippers got all this amazing public content and like i’m sorry i personally don’t blame them at all for falling in love with that ship who could blame them back in 2014/2015 when kaylor was all over the place and long before karlie had married josh or had a baby with him and long before taylor got apparently committed to joe. but they don’t wanna let all that go now and to some extent i understand it. i can’t relate- i love appreciating all this obviously over stuff in the past tense from houghlor to swiftgron etc etc.

but swiftgron doesn’t have all that public content. most of the ships don’t. swiftgron never called the paps on themselves and rarely referenced each other publicly more seemingly trying to keep their relationship, whatever it was, out of the public for the most part.

gaylor also took off during (and even due to) kaylor. very few people were around during swiftgron. so so many gaylors used to be sitting around as kaylors pulling for kaylor end game. some of them still wanna do that 🤷‍♀️

if you look at the music and the timelines and content to me it’s always read as taylor and dianna didn’t work out due to external pressure but still generally have fond feelings for one another tho they’ve both moved on with their lives. dianna was at snl in 2019 with taylor’s blessing and even streamed cardigan to spotify. taylor’s music about the 1989 muse has always been tender and forgiving. that’s why i have a soft spot for swiftgron anyway. on the flip side of things karlie seemed to choose josh like you said and then ofc you have the betrayal in the master’s heist beyond that really for me seals the deal of this is not the sunshine ship you think it is. that’s why i am not that into kaylor anyway.

tl;dr - fandom politics and people being loyal to the big favorite public ship. it doesn’t matter what the content is.

[ouyangzizhensdad]

Please please do write the post about wwx not being dumb/oblivious. Those posts were just funny at first but somehow it's now become accepted fact. Meanwhile whether cql or mdzs wwx is a very competent, savvy protagonist who's actually pretty observant! It's getting pretty tiring to see him reduced to genki oblivous magical girl (not that I don't like those, it's just wwx is not one).

Hey anon! 

I do plan on writing a more elaborate meta post exploring what arguments there are in the novel to support my wwx is not dumb/oblivious agenda.

But for now I just want to address one factor I think plays a big part in shaping the fandom’s perception of wwx as oblivious/dumb, regardless of how wwx was actually written in the novel. That is, the creative liberties taken by (or forced onto) the cql production team, which have had in my opinion two consequences: 1) cql does not manage to establish how quick-witted and savvy wwx is, which is compounded by the fact that it chose to play the troublemaker persona straight  2) the fact that wwx and lwj’s relationship is entirely subtext actually ends up making wwx look oblivious (at least to people applying a queer reading/bl-danmei reading to their interactions--people who are obvious to or choose to ignore the subtext certainly wouldn’t come to the same conclusions). 

So, the first issue. In the novel, wwx’s intelligence is more of a focal point in the narrative because it is a crucial part of the dramatic irony/tragedy of his death: as a result it cannot help being more important to the themes of the novel. After all, he is ultimately hunted down because of and killed by his inventions. The man created an entirely new field of cultivation! In cql, this is somewhat lost due to the fact that he does not invent modao nor does he create the yin hufu, and his death is more of a suicide than a sacrifice (i am still not over the fact that he throws the yin hufu at the crowd to let them wage war over it? that’s the complete thematic opposite of his death in the novel...). 

The novel, as well, is better at establishing that wwx’s antics are generally not because he’s just being a troublemaker, but that they are a way in which he garners information, gets people to act the way he needs them to or misdirect them. For instance, in cql, when lwj destroys wwx’s (well, nhs’s) spring book in the library, wwx looks genuinely pained and affronted--in the novel, it is clearly shown that, when wwx realized lwj intended to bring the spring book to lqr, he intentionally made him angry so that he would destroy the evidence himself. the point of the prank was also to not only get a reaction out of lwj, but also (reading btw the lines) wwx’s way of trying to leave a lasting impression on lwj now that his punishment was over. Differently put, while wwx can do directionless pranks,  more often than not, they have an underlying meaning/goal instead of just being for Attention(TM) in general. In contrast, the web series is full of missed opportunities in terms of characterisation, and is so from the very beginning (I find extremely disappointing how they decided to adapt the mo mansion and dafan mountain arcs because of how important they are to establishing wwx’s character for the readers/viewers. Through these arcs, we get acquainted with the way he thinks and deduces information, and how he uses people’s perceptions of him and others to his advantage. If you can only read English, @pumpkinpaix‘s translation of the first few chapters might help get a better sense of the nuances). 

I’m not saying that wwx is portrayed as dumb in cql: but that his characterization is a lot more fuzzy and inconsistent, and that his intelligence is utilized mostly when wwx goes into his detective mode. As a result, I do feel like it undermines how analytical wwx is in all aspects of his life, making it easy to see him as, you know, someone who’s, like, half-smart, half-super-dumb. 

As for issue #2, part of it boils down to the fact that most of the obstacles to wangxian’s relationship had to be erased due to censorship. There no longer is homophobia/internalized homophobia to motivate moments of denial or internal conflict; there is no longer the phoenix mountain kiss to explain lwj’s reluctance to respond to wwx’s flirting after his rebirth (as I explored in one of my other meta post); there is no longer lwj’s failed confession and lwj’s mistaken belief that wwx knows of his feelings, etc. These vectors of tension help contextualise and explain why it takes so long for wwx to realize lwj’s feelings towards him (but let’s not forget that he does: after jinlintai, he starts to realize that lwj treats him especially well, which becomes a certainty after the second siege). the cql production team had no choice but to take these elements away. 

that being said, by adding new or by changing moments to support the subtext and to please (bl-danmei) fans, the show actually takes away even more vectors of tension/misunderstanding between wwx and lwj, and makes wwx’s crush seem even more obvious and straight-forward. Take for instance the mo mansion arc. In the novel, wwx sees the Lan disciples’ white robes and has this moment of reflection that he recognizes the robes, and sees danger in the fact that the Lan sect is involved, thinking he should leave but knowing he can’t until he resolves the curse. in cql, we get a slow-pan flash-back of wwx’s first encounter with lwj, leaving him clearly emotional. The novel sets up the association as: white robes -> Lan Sect (subtext, Lan Zhan) -> orthodox/sticklers to rules/people i’ve met in my previous life who disapproved of modao -> danger! In cql, we have instead: whites robes -> Lan Zhan -> emotional reaction/I miss him. That fact is further driven home when wwx starts playing wuji on a blade of grass, ending with a soulfully whispered “lan zhan”. In terms of subtext, it sure lays it on thick: wwx does look like he has a big crush on lwj! But that destroys a big source of tension between them at the beginning: when wwx is summoned into mxy’s body, he thinks lwj hates him and disapproves of his methods and wants to bring him to gusu to punish him. That’s why he wants to run away at first, why he doesn’t disclose his identity to him and why it takes him a moment to understand lwj’s intentions. cql does not do a great job of setting that up. And the changes they make to the events of wwx’s first life, including changes to the timeline through which we are introduced to what happened in the past, makes it even more difficult to see how wwx could have misunderstood lwj’s intentions or his own feelings (again, in a queer or danmei-bl reading of the subtext). They go on a mission together! Spend a lot of time working together toward a similar goal!Lwj calls him his zhiji (”soulmate” as is often translated)! Lwj literally tries to save him from dying! The last thing wwx would remember when he wakes up in mxy’s body would be lwj holding onto his hand and screaming his name when he let go! Again, it does great for the subtext--but it makes it really difficult to understand why wwx would misunderstand lwj’s intentions and feelings, and it makes his own feelings toward lwj seem quite obvious. 

Overall, the changes in the themes, genre, events, narrative timeline, characterisation and much more in adapting mdzs into cql have been an important influence explaining why the fandom has this vision of wwx as dumb/oblivious. It reminds me of the way some people on tumblr like to talk about Mr. Darcy as “shy” and “awkward” based on the movie pride and prejudice 2005, which totally misses the point of Mr Darcy and his character as portrayed by Jane Austen--but, if people have only or mainly engaged with this specific adaptation, it is not necessarily surprising that they hold this frankly misguided interpretation due to the choices made by the film production team. 

In contrast, in the novel, we are shown a lot to help us understand why wwx comes to the wrong conclusions or might not understand his own feelings and reactions. But that’s for all for another post!

[narukoibito]

Hi Naru, I'm not sure if you answered any questions like this before. If so, please, feel free to ignore. Do you believe in soulmates? Or do you believe that soulmates are the only possible explanation for Harry and Ginny' love for each other? I get this feeling that whenever you write them (always so beautifully, btw), there's always more to it than just "they're soulmates". It feels like a meaningful connection, but with work on the relationship involved and I love it so much!

Hi @whathefawkes! Thank you so much for this lovely ask.

To answer whether I believe in soulmates, let’s start with what I believe is fate. Fate is what ends up happening based on the choices we all make. Everyone has choices laid out to them, but those choices are limited by all the choices others have made before and presently. So while fate seems pre-determined, there is a lot of flexibility in supposed rigidity. 

This was my definition of fate before reading Harry Potter, but the series seems to understand fate in the same way. The Prophecy didn’t have to mean anything, but Voldemort chose to believe it and his actions make it true. Voldemort could have chosen Neville, and Snape would not have turned in that moment, and Voldemort would have similarly marked Neville as his equal in some way. There is agency in life, even if it is limited by the agency and choices of others. Even those who we may never meet may have a huge impact on our lives. And what is character but the choices we make in the face of circumstances thrust upon us?

When I first heard the quote from the author that Harry and Ginny were soulmates, my little shipper heart did a gymnastic flip. It seemed like a huge validation for this couple that I had always hoped for, and it was wonderful to see something to refute all the hatred my OTP received. But when I returned to fandom 10+ years later, having experienced real love myself, the idea of soulmates seemed too simple.

I am a huge “in every universe” fan for Harry/Ginny, meaning I see them ideally together no matter what the circumstances, whether they are Muggle, whether Neville was the Boy Who Lived, whether they made different choices that led them down different paths. They are always drawn to one another, the way I always felt they were in the books. The core of who they are – the things that draw them together, the things that make them love one another, the way they make each other so happy – is why I ship them in every universe.

But relationships are work, even the ones that seem effortless. There is no perfect couple. Things happen in life that throw us off kilter. We suffer new traumas, new challenges that threaten our happiness. Sometimes it has nothing to do with the other person, but what an individual is going through. Can Harry and Ginny sustain their connection even when the trials of life come their way? None of us are perfect, especially not when we’re suffering from depression, anxiety, illness, or grief. But it’s their desire to want to be together, to be there for one another, to be better for each other that gets them through it. They choose to be together.

Ultimately, there are some universes where I can’t see Harry and Ginny with anyone else. If Ginny died in DH, I can’t see Harry not being irrevocably changed for the worse. She was his best source of comfort, his idea of a future in canon. But even in universes where they aren’t together, I think perhaps (as much as it pains me) they can be with other people, but I simply don’t see them having the same unique love they share with anyone else, even if they have no idea of what could have been because they never met.

[mercuryonparklane]

An attempt at objectivity on the topic of Tayliz/a summary: Part 2

(Kind of...)

I’ve been busy with irl stuff the last week, so I haven’t been posting much lately. I finally have a day where I have nothing else to do and I’ve been considering making a post about where I currently stand on Tayliz/Gaylor in general for a while, so I thought now would be a good time to do that.

Disclaimer: I don’t know any of these people personally and this is all my own interpretation of publicly available information. I apologize for the length of this post...

I’ve been a Taylor fan since 2006 and a Gaylor since at least early 2009 when I was posting fanfics on LiveJournal (I stopped writing rpf a long time ago, btw). I’ve been in and out of the Gaylor fandom since then. I’ve created and deleted multiple blogs/accounts in the past 12+ years. I was mostly active between 2009 and 2015, but I did a lot of lurking during that time and only engaged when I felt I had something to contribute. 2015/2016 was a crazy time and I was going through some of my own stuff, so I stopped following Gaylor as closely for a while. I listened to reputation and Lover, I read the Gaylor theories, made a couple comments, and moved along. When folklore was released it drew me back in.

I created this blog in September 2020, before I even had an inkling that Liz might be more than just another name that has been thrown into the potential exes list, along with Claire C. and Kellie (I don’t believe either of those two had anything beyond friendship with Taylor). I had never looked into it too much because it seemed like there was not as much information as there was for the main 3 (Emily, Dianna, and Karlie). Now, after researching Tayliz for 5 months, I believe there is at least as much, if not more, to go on as there is for the main 3.

As for Taymily, I believe that, at the very least, Taylor had a massive crush on Emily. I don’t like to get too in-depth about that because there is a very suspect age gap. I’m not saying that those things don’t happen, but I will reiterate my statement from an earlier post that I am not comfortable essentially accusing someone of committing a crime when all that can be deciphered is that Taylor seemed to really care about her. I do think there are multiple songs about Emily.

I also believe that Taylor did date Dianna and possibly had some kind of relationship with Karlie. I think both of these possible relationships are long over at this point. Taylor may have been looking back on those relationships (along with others) in her last few albums. 

I still personally think it is possible that Taylor is a lesbian, but there are reasons to think she might be bi and I understand why people think that she is. I don’t really talk about the guys Taylor may have dated, but I will say that, to me, all of the boyfriends she had after high school seem like beards. I could be wrong, of course. There are way too many signs that she is queer for me to not think that she is at least bi.

There have always been sapphic themes in Taylor’s music, even in early songs like “Me And Britney” and “Angelina”. Her entire discography is littered with sapphic themes. In recent years, she has seemed to hint at being some form of queer in other ways as well. This has all been examined by others, so I won’t get into that in this post.

Anyway, on to Tayliz…

There is some compelling “circumstantial evidence” suggesting that there may have been something beyond friendship between Tayliz (a lot of this was covered in my first post and all of the information has been mentioned at some point on my blog):

They met multiple times between December 2006 and February 2009, when Liz first performed with Taylor, but it is hard to tell how well they knew each other at that time. Based on the information available, I actually think they might have even been close, or at least friendly, before Liz was hired, but I could be wrong.

The “official” story is that Liz met Taylor at a meet and greet in December 2006 and again in July 2007. She asked if she could sing for Taylor and Taylor gave her advice, including suggesting that she enter a talent contest and that she should move to Nashville. Some accounts say that Liz sang for Taylor in her dressing room, but I have never found a source for this part of the story.

Taylor wrote the following sentence about Liz in her blog on February 5, 2008, after performing on the competition show that Liz was a contestant on: “It sounds strange, but there was always something different about her that stuck out in my mind”. That is super suspect to me...

Taylor was the only musician to perform on the show, btw (although they did have the touring cast of HSM on the next week). Taylor allegedly said, during the interview portion of her appearance, that she knew Liz and that Liz had gone to “all” of her shows and meet and greets… whatever that means.

According to Liz, she moved to Nashville in June 2008 and sometime within the next 6 months she received a call to audition as a backup singer, but did not know for which artist she was auditioning. I feel like it would be an incredible coincidence that Taylor suggested she move to Nashville two years earlier, they met multiple times after that, and randomly Liz got a call to audition for Taylor without knowing it was for her within 6 months of moving there. I don’t know, maybe I’m being too skeptical, but it seems almost more of a reach to say that Taylor didn’t somehow have a hand in her getting that audition.

Liz already seemed very comfortable around Taylor in that picture with George Strait taken on the day of her first show with the band in February 2009.

At the one-off shows after Liz joined the band, there was a little skit between Taylor, Liz, and Grant during YBWM, where Grant played the love interest and Liz played the “Cheer Captain”. There was even a talking bit. During the Australia one-off shows, there was a talking bit before F&A where Taylor introduced Liz and they had a little conversation that ended similarly to the one Taylor has with the interviewer during the Fearless Tour. After this, they rarely interacted on stage. 

Taylor seemed to allow Liz’s input during the auditions for the Fearless Tour dancers, two months after she joined the band, and Taylor ended up hiring two of her friends.

Liz went with Taylor to visit Abigail at her university in Kansas two months after joining the band.

Taylor took Liz with her to see Britney Spears’ Circus Tour show in Chicago right after the Kansas trip.

Taylor said in an interview for Oprah’s website, released in May 2009, that Australia and Lawrence, KS were her two favorite places to visit, which just so happen to be two of the places she had recently been with Liz.

The fact that they shared a hotel room in London a few months after Liz joined the band. Caitlin, who had been in the band for a while at that point, and her mom were both there for that trip. Maybe Taylor was just happy to be able to hang out with another woman around her age. It seems strange, but it could be a completely platonic situation.

Taylor and the band, including Liz, recorded a cover of “American Girl” by Tom Petty (one of Liz’s favorite artists) in front of the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon in May 2009. The secret message for “Sparks Fly” is “Portland, Oregon” and she mentions the Rose Garden in “The Lucky One”.

Taylor mentions going to dinner with Liz, seemingly just the two of them, in her vlog from May 29, 2009, which was around Liz’s birthday (May 27).

The amount of Liz content in the vlogs. Plus, the choice to put the line “I like where you sleep, when you sleep next to me” right before showing Liz sleeping on a couch (this was the trip where they shared a hotel room, which does make that fact more suspect, imo) and including the song “She (For Liz)” in another vlog, in which she dedicates a whole section to Liz’s habit of falling asleep “All. The. Time.”

In fact, in both of those vlogs, which were posted a year apart from each other (May 2009 and April 2010), Taylor wears a black dot shirt, in clips that include only her and Liz, that is similar to the one she wore in the IKYWT mv. 

Honestly, just go watch the video she made for Emily and then watch the vlogs after Liz joined the band… I just get a similar vibe in the clips she chose to include of both women.

They went to a Paramore concert together the weekend before Taylor hosted SNL in November 2009. At the concert, they were filmed by other attendees dancing next to each other on the balcony. One of the songs they were filmed dancing to is “That’s What You Get” and Taylor asked Hayley to perform that song with her (and the band, including Liz) at one of the Nashville shows on the SN Tour in 2011. In November 2019, Liz released her own song called “That’s What You Get” that sounds like it could be the opposite side of the relationship much of Red is about (and a couple other Taylor songs from other albums).

In Taylor’s Glamour interview published on 10/5/2010, she mentions that she designed the two guest rooms at her Nashville condo with Caitlin and Liz in mind. 

After tweeting about attending the Katy P. concert in Dublin with Taylor (and Grant and Caitlin) someone asked Liz what her favorite KP song was and she responded “Thinking Of You”. This is suspect because at the time Liz did have a bf, but she may have just liked the song and didn’t necessarily relate to it personally.

There are tweets from people who are either not really well-known or aren’t in the industry at all that mention Taylor and Liz hanging out outside of touring. They are mentioned together in quite a few tweets actually. They seemed to have a good number of mutual friends during that time (spring/summer 2009-fall 2012). After Liz left the band, Taylor stopped hanging out with most of those people, while Liz continues to maintain some of those friendships to this day. This could be explained by the fact that Taylor began spending less time in Nashville.

One such friend is the photographer who Taylor hired for Red. She is actually a longtime friend of Liz. Supposedly she took some photos of Liz that Taylor saw and Taylor hired her after that. There are some pictures from Taylor’s Red photoshoot that are similar to Liz’s photos.

There are rumors that Liz was fired, but the “official” story is that she left to pursue her own music.

Liz did not wish Taylor a happy birthday on twitter in 2012, which she had done in previous years. She did not tweet @ or mention Taylor for almost a year. Taylor didn’t respond to any of her tweets or mention her until October 2014.

Some of the songs Liz released in late 2012/early 2013 have similar lyrics/themes to Taylor’s music and may be about Taylor.

The lyric video for Liz’s song STFU&HM includes polaroid pictures with the song’s lyrics written on them and neon signs, which is basically the 1989 aesthetic. The actual mv has some potential parallels to the IKYWT mv. (side note: Liz specified in an interview that the kind of “sour candy” she is singing about in the song is Watermelon Sour Patch, which Taylor mentioned in the June 2008 issue of Teen Vogue was something that she “couldn’t live without”)

The love interest wears a key necklace in the STFU&HM mv and Taylor wears one in the IKYWT mv.

The bridge of IKYWT is very similar to lyrics from a song by Patty Griffin called “Nobody’s Crying”. Liz once said that Patty is her favorite singer (this was when she was still in Taylor’s band) and has mentioned her and that particular song multiple times over the years. Side note: Taylor mentioned last year that another one of Patty’s songs was the inspiration for “betty”.

Liz played the other woman in the mv for TSOU and in the photoshoot for SN. At the end of the mv for her song “H8U”, Liz interrupts her love interest’s wedding and kisses his tall, blonde, curly haired bride.

This one could be a crazy coincidence, but Liz recorded the backing vocals on a song called “Dear John” that was written by the backup dancer who came out to Taylor during the Fearless Tour. Btw, by no means am I saying DJ is about Liz because that would make zero sense.

Liz’s birthday is on one of the board games in the “Lover” mv that reference “Cruel Summer”. Most people think CS is about Karlie and that makes sense, but it also seems to reference “Love Story”, which was potentially written sometime around when Taylor performed on the show Liz was a contestant on. I don’t know if LS is about Liz and I am not trying to claim that, but it is interesting. Even if it’s not, they performed that song together a lot and Liz helped out with the onstage costume change during that song. CS could be about her experiences with both Liz and Karlie. Or it could just be about Karlie and the date in the “Lover” mv has nothing to do with Liz’s birthday.

In “the 1” and “dorothea”, Taylor potentially references Liz’s song “Never Know” and by reference, I mean that she essentially uses the exact same lyrics: “I guess you never know, you never know” = “I guess you never know, never know” and “I guess I’ll never know” = literally just the same line. Not to mention in “dorothea” Taylor also sings “Do you ever stop and think about me?” and in NK Liz sings “I wonder if you think about me” right before the line “I guess I’ll never know”. I am not saying that either of those songs are about Liz, but it is interesting, especially since Liz tweeted about “the 1”, which was the thing that really sent me on my deep dive into Tayliz.

The “cardigan” looks like the cardigan she wears in the first vlog she included Liz in. It could be nothing, but it is interesting because I have a theory that Liz is the first woman she had a “relationship” with and that “cardigan” is about Liz, Dianna, Karlie, and possibly some other women she might have dated/been with.

These are just some of the highlights and are more focused on the facts as opposed to some of my more tinfoil hat, fun, crack theory stuff or just some of the things that are loosely related to Liz or might involve a little (or a lot of) reaching to connect them to her.

Everything I have mentioned could just be a series of strange coincidences, even though there appears to be quite a few of them. Whether anything ever happened between them or it was just one of those intense, romantic friendships that some women tend to have, I don’t really know. Based on what I have seen, I tend to think there was something going on there beyond friendship, but possibly it was never anything official.

Liz seemed to have a boyfriend most of the time that Tayliz were working together/hanging out, which is one of the main things that makes me question my own theory. Of course, it is always possible that she had something with Taylor, while she also had a boyfriend. There are many reasons for that (poly, closeted, etc.), so that does not exclude the idea that she may have actually been involved with two people at one time and one of those people could have been Taylor.

If they were together in some capacity, while Liz also had a boyfriend, it could explain the messy relationship that Taylor seemed to write about during that time. I think it is possible that Emily was just a crush and Liz was her first actual experience with another woman where the feelings were reciprocated to some degree. OR they could have just been really good friends and I am utterly, completely wrong. 

Maybe Taylor is just a straight girl, who doesn’t realize that she’s been sending signals that she is queer for years. Whenever that thought crosses my mind, I think about all of the things she has said and done that imply she may not be straight and I just can’t help thinking that it is intentional. I don’t think she is queerbaiting or unintentionally signaling that she might be queer. I think she is queer and has dropped multiple hints to suggest that over the years.

Anyway… Liz has a bf right now and seems to be in a good place, so let’s let her be, please. I hope we get some more new music from her soon.

As far as researching Tayliz goes, I’ll probably keep looking into it when I have time, but at this point I think I have seen pretty much all there is to see (of the content available online currently). I’ll be waiting for the songs from Taylor’s “vault” to drop to see if there are any potential connections there (at least in the “vault” songs for Fearless, Speak Now, and Red).

In conclusion (TL;DR)...

My personal opinion is that there is enough “circumstantial evidence” to include Liz on the list of Taylor potential exes. For me the Gaylor timeline looks something like this:

(Fair Warning: this is all total speculation based on song lyrics and other information that is publicly available)

Summer 2006-December 2007: Taylor develops a crush on Emily. Emily possibly finds out somehow and it doesn’t go over well (OR it does). She is fired from the band AND maybe she is paid off to pursue other interests…

2008/2009- Spring (Summer? Fall?) 2012: Taylor has an on/off relationship with Liz, while Liz also dates men. The relationship may have even started developing as early as the first time they supposedly met back in December 2006, but Taylor definitely was feeling something by the time she posted that blog in February 2008. It’s complicated and non-exclusive. Maybe Taylor wanted more of a commitment and maybe there were promises made that things could/would change, but they never did. By the time she started hanging out with Dianna she was ready to move on. So, she ended things in March/April… but still met up with Liz a couple times after (possibly as friends). 

Taylor may have also dated Julianne H. at some point in 2008/2009.

Spring 2012-Fall 2013 (?): Taylor has an on/off relationship with Dianna that may have ended, in part, due to interference from Taylor’s team. Maybe it is the one relationship with a woman that could have actually developed into something more concrete, but maybe that also scared Taylor a bit.

Winter 2013/Early 2014-Fall 2016: Taylor has an on/off relationship with Karlie, while Karlie is also involved with Josh (hence my comment about how CS could be about her experiences with both Liz and Karlie because they may have been similar circumstances, where sometimes they were single and other times they had a serious bf). 

Fall 2016-Present: There are at least a couple potential girlfriends within this timeframe. I lean towards Tily being a thing from at least fall 2016-Summer 2019. I am open to Zaylor and I do find it interesting, but I’m not as sold on that one. I personally do not think Taylor is with Joe nor do I think that Joe is WB.

The straight explanation could be that Taylor gets into really, intensely close friendships with other women and eventually they grow apart and move on with their lives. 

The funny thing is that I remember Taylor once saying something about how after a breakup, she completely cuts that person off. That fits with her relationships (whatever the nature) with Liz, Dianna, and Karlie. With each of these women, Taylor shared a friend group with them, but Taylor seemed most interested in them. She has had a few friendly/cordial interactions with them, but she seems to have completely separated her life from them after their “friendships” ended. In fact, she moved to entirely different cities on opposite sides of the country (and in one case a different country, with a whole ocean in between) after she stopped hanging out with them.

That’s where I stand and it’s not really much different from where I was back in October when I posted my first summary on Tayliz. 

Although, I do have more information now than I did then that leads me to think something was going on. 70% of the time I am convinced they had a relationship beyond friendship and 30% of the time I think they were only ever friends. 99.9% of the time I think I am a clown.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I am inclined to believe that Tayliz is more likely to have had some sort of relationship than Taymily and is slightly less likely to have happened than Swiftgron and Kaylor. Other Gaylors might think they were only coworkers or friends. I’m not out to convince anyone. I am just presenting the information I have found and I don’t mind a friendly discussion/debate if anyone wants to talk about it.

[darkpoisonouslove]

More GxV Headcanons for the Soul (and Mind)

@ the anon that said they’d like to hear more of my Griffin and Valtor thoughts - I have some more that I just remembered. Hot from the oven even though I have had some of these ever since I first came back to this fandom last year.

I see Griffin and Valtor as complementary opposites if that makes sense. She is the water to his fire so to speak. Now we haven’t been told what element her magic revolves around and have only been given some general magical abilities she has so her element could as well be water, though I headcanon her magic is more related with space bodies and draws power from the cosmos. I look at the fire/water duality in a metaphorical way. We’ve seen Valtor’s temper on the show. He is definitely quick to anger and explode while he also can give you anything you want to warm your heart so to speak. And what we’ve seen from Griffin definitely places her temperament under the symbol of water for me in all of its states. We’ve seen her get angry much like boiling water turning to vapor, we’ve seen her be cold and calculating like ice and we’ve seen her being adaptive towards the shift in circumstances. To me she is the perfect embodiment of water as an element and the perfect complementary part to Valtor as she can both hold him back by being the rationality to his recklessness and she can match his temper to match him in his thirst for victory.

Now even though I don’t think her magic actually has anything to do with water, I headcanon Griffin as coming from a realm that is heavily water based and fares on producing crops. It’s what made her so good with plants as she knew all about them from a child and her specialty are herbs in particular. I like the idea that Griffin is actually pretty good in healing magic but she refuses to utilize her natural gift because she is tired of people reacting like it’s unheard of a witch to have healing powers. She got a lot of shit for that when she was younger so she’s suppressed that side of her powers even if it is her best and destructive magic requires a lot more effort than the healing spells that come naturally to her. Now all of this works to make her even more an opposite and simultaneously a complementary reflection of Valtor since his Dragon Fire is the thing that created all life but he is using it for destruction instead. Btw in one of my “drabbles” I wrote that in Griffin’s realm they didn’t have fireworks and all usage of fire was closely monitored due to the production of crops. You know, just for the heck of it as it made her partnership with Valtor an even more interesting dynamic. I even headcanon that she was wary of his fire powers at first just for the fact that it was fire and she was not exactly used to having someone so explosive around her at all times.

Also somewhat on the same topic, in 3x25 when Valtor used the spell of the elements against the realm of Magix, he sent water to CT and fire to Alfea which has been interesting to me to dig into. It may not have held a lot of significance as a choice to the writers but I think it rather makes sense because Valtor was so mad at Griffin about her betrayal that he thought she didn’t “deserve” to be ended by fire which is his element. And on the other hand, he was pretty pissed at Faragonda and there was already one unsuccessful attempt at permanently getting rid of her when he trapped her into the tree (unlike Griffin who he only imprisoned) so he wanted to make sure he’ll be rid of her once and for all and what better way to do that than fire? Also, of course, sending fire to Alfea aka Bloom makes sense and the Alfea/CT opposition of fire/water could have been based on the opposition between fairies and witches. Either way, I like to tie this to my personal headcanon about his and Griffin’s relationship on a symbolical level as well as his rage over the betrayal. I think it makes sense whether that was intended or not.

Speaking of CT, I have a fun question to ask right here right now (that I have actually been asking for over a year and a half now but never shared). Where does Valtor sleep in CT? We all know that he wanted to take everything Griffin had as revenge for leaving him which was why he chose CT as his new headquarters when he relocated. He’s mostly been shown to reside in her office after he took control of CT and only ever left it if he had to attend to something else (which I blame on the fact that the show was mostly like “We’ll make the villains so evil that you can’t even imagine them sleeping because that would imply a level of vulnerability that seems OOC.”) Hell, even his entrance during the confrontation with Griffin supports the idea that he wants to take her place since he made himself comfortable in her chair instantly (and Icy called him the new headmaster later). So after all of this, it would be logical to conclude that he sleeps in Griffin’s room and in her bed which I think has so much deliciously irresistible potential for angst on both parts. Like, it’s her space, her very personal, very private space that he has invaded. There is nothing sacred that he won’t touch in his quest for vengeance against her. But on the other hand, it is her space and everything in there will remind him of her and of the life she’s had after she left him for dead so to speak. Just think about the tragic implications that this set up has, soak them in, let them drown you in angst. I hadn’t shared this headcanon because I wanted to write a fic about it but that derailed and I haven’t found a good way to bring it back on track yet so I decided to finally talk about it because I just need it to be out there in the world. JUST. THINK. ABOUT. IT!!!!!!!

Another headcanon I have about them is that because they were partners and so close (it is strongly implied in canon that they did convergence together and that it was super powerful) and they were also in love and spent a lot of time together, Griffin got a feel of the Dragon Fire and can recognize the vibe it gives off so to speak. She just got attuned to the magical presence of the Dragon Fire and she can sense it even if she’s never had it herself. She’s felt it flowing together with her own magic and tangled so deeply with it that it’s almost entering her veins so many times that she’s learned how it feels and can recognize it instantly. And that is not true just about Valtor’s Dragon Fire but also about Marion and Bloom’s as well. In fact that is my explanation about her behavior in 1x06 when she attacked Winx in the library of CT. Her reaction is too overexaggerated to be normal in the situation (she legit tried to kill them for heaven’s sake) and I like to think that it was because she instantly noticed the similarity that Bloom bore to Marion and Oritel’s lost daughter but she didn’t sense any Dragon Fire coming from her because Bloom’s powers were still pretty dormant after not having been used for 16 years. Griffin thought the girl was an impostor so she attacked because she was mad about the painful memories of both Valtor and Marion and Bloom being invoked by this obviously fake “heir”. And one last thing here that I’ve already written out but it will take ages to find the post - Griffin got so used to Valtor’s fire that is was hard to be without it later so she literally conditioned herself into having a resistance to cold because she refused to be left shivering in the stead of his loss.

(I think I might have bitched about this already but I have more rage to spare and some new points to bring to the table so let’s have at it again.) Now is time for a little rant I have had ever since I rewatched s3 for the first time in the beginning of last year. It has to do with my last point in that regardless of whether Griffin can sense the Dragon Fire specifically or not, she can still sense other magic. We’ve seen it in 1x25 when she and Faragonda both sensed the Army of Decay even though it was still too far away for them to actually perceive it via any of their other senses. And we’ve seen it in 2x16 when she knew Lucy was eavesdropping despite the door that was in the way. That second one especially pisses me off so much because Lucy was a student - aka much weaker than Griffin - and she wasn’t using any magic while she was eavesdropping and Griffin still sensed her even though Ediltrude was talking to her and distracting her at the time. But then Valtor - literally the most powerful individual at the whole realm and possibly the universe at the time AND someone that she has closely worked with for years - teleports in her office which means that he used his immense power and she didn’t sense that and was surprised by him showing up. How does THAT make any sense? No, please, this is just ridiculous. She should have sensed him at the very least. I have no illusions that she stood a chance against him either way but it would have been good if they hadn’t made her look totally incompetent and had also let her throw a spell his way at the very least. They had a good opportunity for a battle there that they totally disregarded and I will be forever salty about that.

We all know that magic comes from emotions, right? Well, I have had an interesting idea which I have already included in two of my fics. What if you can read emotions through magic? We’ve all seen those moments when a character is so mad that they literally start glowing in a magical aura and their rage is tangible to everyone around so that had me thinking that perhaps the magic carries the emotional charge that powered it. And if you get attuned enough to it, you can start reading the emotions tangled in the magic. If they spawned it, it would make sense that there are traces of them left in the magic. And it could make perfect sense when it comes to convergence as the binding element in the spell. Like, we know Winx all have different elements but are able to pull off convergence seamlessly  because of the harmony in their feelings. The emotions could very well be acting like the common thing between the different sets of powers that ties them together to allow them all to flow towards the same goal and the spell to be completed. And since I have a headcanon that Griffin is pretty good at reading magical auras and we know that Valtor was literally carved from magic, it would make sense that the two of them would be able to read the emotional charge that a spell carries. I actually like to imagine it was Valtor that taught Griffin how to do that but she got even better than him at it with some practice because she is more in tune with her own emotions and has higher empathy. Also headcanon that they have done that with each other and it helped strengthen both their romantic relationship and their partnership. It was what made Valtor especially mad after she left because that was undeniable proof that she hadn’t been faking her feelings for him which he wanted to pretend was what happened so that it would hurt less. It’s not something anyone can fake.

I also like to think that Valtor taught Griffin a lot about magic and he did it in the way in which he understood and practiced magic. Aka he taught her a more instinctive approach to magic rather than the more academic and removed approach that the magical schools teach. Formal magical education looks at emotions as something that powers magic and thus has to be controlled because it can be dangerous. Magic itself is treated as a weapon or a servant to the magic user which to Valtor seems ridiculous since he is literally made of magic. He was magic before he was a person so for him the two are inseparable. It was exactly what he taught Griffin - that magic is not some tool you use whenever you need it. It is a part of you that you need to accept as equal to your other parts and your consciousness. If you do that, it unlocks a greater potential for power due to the closer connection you have established with your magic. It sort of has the magic user and the magic become one and it is hard to tell who is controlling what. It’s a more dangerous approach because instincts can take over and steer things in uncontrollable directions which is why it isn’t taught in magical schools. Griffin was bitter at first when she learned how much more there was to her magic that her education didn’t teach her about but the more she used the approach Valtor taught her, the more she realized why that was. And especially when she became headmistress of CT, she knew it would be irresponsible to teach young and inexperienced witches that kind of approach to magic. Still, she feels like she takes away from them by not teaching them about the full extent of their powers so she has been looking for ways to include more about getting in touch with one’s own inner feelings for better access to their magic in her lessons so that the witches can use more of their powers.

[mysleepdeprivedass]

Okay. It's like 4am and I need to share with you my AU over this fandom.

The post must be filled with misspelling or some sentence can make no sense buuuttt sorry I guess.

I'm not completely in the fandom but I freaking like the fancontent (I read a LOT of fancontent) sooo anyway. I saw this headcanon time to time so I put my idea in.

MIRACULOUS LADYBUG (honestly right now I have a fever for Ml fancon and fic sooo probably my next post will be ML content )

Honestly the headcanon risk to be kinda messed up and just a big less to read.

Anyway.

Rock/metal! Marinette (with a lil' bit of nerd!Adrien) AU

Sooo (I'm going with point and plus I just translate what I've written

• listening Jagged Stone (and she is a big fan)

• listen a lot a rock band, punk and metal band too.

• Like the old rock French band (like telephone - Which is a real French band if you want listen -)

• Under cut, that's she cut herself. Because she not going to paid 30€ for that and because she did that behind her parents back. She used to cut her mother and father hair (she like doing her family's hair -don't know it's the sentence lean something-)

• she have short hair cut (like at the base of the neck)

• Have few piercing (ear and some on her face (one rand of helix on her left ear, two conch and a industrial on her right ear, tragus on her right ear, stretch on each ear and 2nd earring on each ear. Septum and smiley, tongue and transversal labret.

• she's done almost all a piercing during her rebellious phase (in middle of her middle school) because dang she not going to paid 75€ for a hole on her ear (disclaimer : do not pierced yourself it's dangerous and must be do by a professional, I know that because I have personally some piercing and it's better to do it in a shop with someone you can trust)

•Nor is she oblivious about her piercing. She saw a LOT of video about piercing. She clean the space that's she wan going to pierced like a pro, an she use medical needless (that she buy in pharmacy - you can buy catheter on pharmacy-) She only go on shot for four of her piercing (her tongue, her lip, nose and mouth piercing)

• For a long time, her classmates thought that she pierced in a shop.

• They know the truth during a party at Juleka's place. They're was playing truth OU dare and Alya (who dream to get a piercing) Say that she would love to have a piercing (her parents said that will never happen under theire roof) Marinette tell her that she can pierced her because she have already pierced herself (begging in 6eme -I think it's the equivalent of the 6th grade-) Her first piercing was the helix's (all her classmates are kinda shook )

• oddly a week after the party, when Alya Returned from Marinette home she got home with two new helix on her right ear.

• la class décide de faire une soirée et Marinette percé tout le monde au moins un truc sur leur corps (elle part dans plusieurs pharmacie acheter des aiguilles et acheté sur un site qu'elle connais des prothèses de piercings et des truc pour clipé l'endroit a percé)

• she plays drums

• she like to brings her battery bench at school and she do some impro during break.

• She still love the color pink. One of her motto it's " Punk and rock need more pink" because dang because she love punk and rock doesn't mean she can't love pink.

• Her bedroom it's a weird but pleasant mixed of skull, pink skull, and random things associated with rock/punk style with pink

• like in her bedroom, you can see some studded and chains object and just Beside and little stuff pink kitten teddy and sit beside the kitten she have A goat with static crosses teddy (also pink )

• She have some satanic cercle and gems in her room (she kinda interested with Wicca stuff even she's not doing it everyday)

• she like cute and pink stuff

• her terrace/balcony have a mini-garden with roses, dahlia and a lot of succulents.

• Slay cat eye-liner and eyeshadow pencil.

• She ended by dye her hair, first she got a lock of hair pink and she just got a split hair black and pink (she's dyeing her hakr by herself, when she met Luka, Luka help her)

-To be honest now, it's like 5am and I never thought that translate some shitty idea take so long xD need to take a break. Now it's midday Soo let's go continued-

• When her class know she can do hair, she became theire unofficial hairdresser ( everyone paid her event if in the beginning she refused to be paid. Everyone try to snuk in their money in her stuff in the weirdest way possible) and when she opened deisgn commission she do some on their clothes.

*Scene *

- Alix what are doing IN my locker ?"

- I want to see the inside. Lovely locker, where I haven't been absolutely stuck for 30 mi.

- Just get out and get your butt out of my backpack.

• Her parents a 100% supportive over her chose. But sometimes they said no for some of stuff she want to do.

*Scene*

-No Marinette , believe me that's you're going to regret to do a hawk.

- Come one mom !

- * sigh* Imma going to hide your father's hair clippers and scissors. Believe me it's for your own good.

- No Marinette you are not going to shave your eyebrows !

- But Mom !

- No "But Mom,"! I take away your scissors and shaver

- You will make yourself a split tongue when you no longer live under this roof. Out of the question that I see a tongue split in half under this roof !

- No Marinette you're not too "cool" and to "rock'n'roll" for not eating your carrots. Now get your butt here and finish your vegetables.

- *sad Minecraft villager sound *

• People think that Marinette is some cold deadpan mean bitch before Alya come in her class. Alya had always know people like that (who look cold but are more afraid and shy to talk to people and just look scary ) Alya is the first friend (really friend) of Marinette because she don't give a shit about her look. When the two begging to be friends, the class notice that Marinette it's not mean like that though she is. And the class begging to talk to Marinette and be friend with her.

• She become deputies of her class because she's done with Chloe's bullshit and everyone accepted rapidly to have her like class president. Everyone is kinda shook about organization et Benevolent's Marinette can be. After that everyone really like Marinette and she like the mom friends of everyone but everyone know that she can always be scary especially if she angry and someone pissed her off more.

• Her class know about her deisgn hobit and dream during de hats conteste and that's she made almost all her clothes.

• When she hang out with friends concerts (people she met at some rock concert ) they decided to have a tattoo. Marinette have a Ladybug under her right foot. Alya is the first to know because during a sleepover, Marinette forget to hide it. Her parents are the seconds to know (same mistake she forgets to hide it with socks). Adrien know while being Chat Noir (he was hang out at her balcony and she was laying on the floor and he see it )

• inverse Crush au. Adrien fell in love to Marinette because she's the first to see who he is and don't try to put him on a pedestal and Adrien can see that's she is very different that her look can send like personality. Marinette love Chat Noir because he is her very first friend that she thrust completely regardless of her look. (Because even in the beginning she still suspicious about Alya)

• When she is Ladybug almost all of her peircings disappeared (her nose ring, stretch, helix's and her miraculous stay)

• she were her miraculous on her second ear lobe holes

• Tikki listening rock and punk music (honestly I want to see Tikki dancing with eavy hard metal in the room)

•Even she know she can't do that. she brings abandoned animals at home. She clean them and feed them in her rope before take them to a refugee or a veterinary. She let for the first time Jagged Stone because she found Fang hidden in a alley. She noticed that he have a collar so she bring him up to a veterinary where she have the habit to go. The collard have the information for contacted Jagged. Fang letting Marinette take him because she have the same smell that Jagged, some metal and vegetal leather.

• Marinette help Adrien to scare his fan. All of them just run away from Marinette. She become unofficially his bodyguard in school.

•She know how to defend herself and scare people because she go to a lot of underground concert and it's not always nice.

• She swear like a sailor. Not in front of her parents. She swear a lot when she frustrated or angry. And know Hawkmoth know that he is forbidden to send a Akuma past 2.30am, because the last Akuma have to deal with a really really angry ladybug (that was the first night since a very long week of sleep deprived and anxiety and a lot of work plus she was on her period which hurt like hell so she was pissed) No one speak about this day. Because the Akuma was running away from her

• Marinette smoke a little bit (most of the time during concerts when she hang out with older people and in rare occasion when she really really freaking out and her anxiety is very high)

• Woke up with eavy metal and hard rock. Tikki just well, have to take the habit

• Adrien is a big dork and nerd. Wear glasses and more "nerd" clothes during school, He is just a big weeb, and do 24h/7d anime and manga ref, Marinette laugh a lot about it +except pun she don't like them)

• Marinette save his phone number with nickname " cutie weebo"

• Adrien save her phone number with nickname "Iron princess"

• Discord group t'chat with Nino, Alya, Mari and Adrien. Name of the group : Rejects of the society Aka. DjDiscount (Nino), Almost-A-Reporter (Alya), Pinkipie-turn-to-emo (Marinette), KingOfTheWeebWorld (Adrien )

• Discord group t'chat for the class (because during my idea have this fever about texting fanfiction so why not, I always read texting fanfiction btw)

Marinette : Prez'AndPunk.

(given by Adrien)

Adrien : Usui Takumi (Weeb).

(Give by himself, everyone know the ref at Kaichouwa maid-sama, excepted Marinette who don't watch anime le read manga. and nobody explain to Marinette the link between their usernames)

Alya : Laydbloger

(By herself )

Nino : SmookWeedNotEveryday

(Giving by Marinette, who saw him hang out with smoker pal and she saw him smoke one, she know the people with who he was.)

Mylène : ImNotAMonster

(Giving by herself)

Ivan : TeddyBear

(By Mylène )

Alix : AlixDontPlayDespacito

(By herself, because Kim just do a full straight week with the same lame joke with Alexa play despacito but put Alix, at the first Alix going for AlixDontPlayDespacitoYou'reShithead but she changed it )

Kim : ICanDoAllBet

(by himself)

Max : Smartass

(By himself, kinda help by Kim, Alix and Marinette, during a all night up when Max and Marinette help Kim and Alix for school homework)

Nathanaël : TryToFoundSomeStreetCreedArtist

( inside joke between Marinette, Alix, Nathanaël and Marc)

Chloé : MyFatherWillKnowAboutThat

(Given by Adrien, Alya, Nino and Marinette after they have do a Harry Potter marathon. Because of the Look like between Chloe and Draco. It's Adrien, who change her username)

Sabrina : NotAWitchYet

(Inside joke between Chloe and her. Given by herself)

Rose : ILiveForMyOTP

(Given by herself, after a discussion between Juleka, Luka and her when she hang out at Juleka's home )

Juleka : IDrinkDarkCoffeeLikeMySoul

(Given by Luka, who stole her phone, inside joke between the two and for some revenge)

• Marinette hide her shyness with her "cold" style. But when she became friend with her classmates she more confortable and became very protective around them, a dont' hesitates to become physically violent. (Happen most of the time with, Alix (because she don't know when to stop before begging a fight) Rose Juleka and Nathanael (who are most of the time bully) and Adrien (she save him from his fan and stupid fuck boy ))

• After she became president of her class. The other class rep and professor don't like her (because of her look) and Marinette disregard all of them because on had they handle Chloe's bullshit. When class rep's and professor see that she competent and do a great shot they tolerate her and begging to appreciate her.

• She hang out with bullied people, she protected them (scaring their bully)

• she still a cinnamon rolls, especially with Tikki, Tikki is also the first to know that Marinette have anxiety. honestly she just a cinnamon rolls with her closest friends and family.

• Sty all night speaking with Tikki about ancient holder while they listen music.

• Sassy, like so much sass from her that it should illegal, when she's Ladybug she gives security and leadership vibe, people juste like her. And no one is afraid of her (Conversely when she is "Marinette")

•Sass a lit Hawkmoth about he fashion style about his Akuma. And during latest Akuma she just swear a lot again him. Because Hawkmotherfucker I need to sleep. And my coffee privileged just go revoked.

• She love hang out with Chat Noir. She try to flirt with him (when she's Ladybug) but he is so oblivious that he never understand and just friendzoned her very hard. (And because I'm a sucker for oblivious Adrien and Marinette)

• She fight some bullies (because fuck it I went a scene after she fight for Adrien and he heal her)

•Also kinda buff! Marinette ?

• She have anxiety and can have Anxiety attack (she can control them sometime ) She hide her anxiety very young. Because little she was shy and have anxiety and wearing and listen rock and punk music help her for be more protected like a shield against everything around her.

• Marinette is vegetarian (because why not) since primary school. And most of a leather clothes she make are vegetal leather or false leather.

•And she love wearing leather, like combat boots, jacket and pants.

Sooo it's took a day to finish to translate everything but Voilà. If you want pick some of the idea feel free to do it just tag me please. You also can reblog and feel free so add more.

[thecagedsong]

Cool, so one of my fandoms is having a really bad day, and since I care about Fablehaven until this monster of a fanfic gets finished, how about some wholesome meta? I don’t really care what the drama was about, so don’t tell me. We’re all a little high strung, and I tend to take disagreements personally in a way that I’m working on, and don’t need to be involved in. 

Now that that disclaimer is out of the way, who wants to talk about the Five crowns? Because I had a 14 hour car ride yesterday, listening to the second half of Evening Star and Shadow Plague, and I am so ready to let you all in on the code I cracked. I found the unifying magic diagram of the Fablehaven verse. The key to ultimate satisfaction, and if there was a magic research journal in universe, I would post this in and win the Top Magic Nerd of this Century award.  My goal is to make this as accepted canon as possible, because I am ridiculously right. No characters involved, so no drama except of the scolastic kind, relying on heavy references to canon. 

Ready? 

SO, I made a pretty big claim. But I’ve been toying with this theory since before Dragonwatch three came out. I need some reviews before I inform Brand Mull that I’ve cracked his secret and won the game. If this symbol isn’t on the spine of the Journal of Secrets, what is even the point. 

A good symbol does three things: identifies the pieces you are dealing with, helps the viewer reach a new understanding about the pieces, and map onto the cultural understandings of the audience. aka a cross with four quadrants of airplane, mitochondria, love, and toe nails is a terrible symbol. See common memes for usually pretty good symbols and graphs. 

So you got five crowns right? That means you have a pentagon and a five pointed star, and the biggest trick was figuring out where each crown went, and how they related to each other. 

Examine five-part belief systems, see where the crowns match, unifying symbol explains everything, move on. Easy.

NO.

You wanna know why?

BECAUSE FIVE POINTED STARS AS SYMBOLS ARE MORE WORTHLESS THAN AAA BATTERIES FOR WATCHING TELEVISION

Okay, a bit of an exaggeration, obviously they are very useful for things like organizing systems within a single body. Who functions as the head, the shield arm, the pivot foot, etc. But the point of that diagram is that they are equally important and dependent to every other part. Which doesn’t work when the different groups keep trying to break each other’s kneecaps (see b5: fairies v demons).

It also falls apart on the five-piece cultural scale. The most well-known 5-piece cultural scale is obviously the chinese elements: Fire Wood Water Metal Earth.

Now, I don’t pretend to be an expert on those at all. But it all broke down on fire, TBH. Were dragons fire? But a large point was that their breath weapons weren’t always fire. Were demons fire? Even the ones covered in sludge. Were demons earth? Was the underking earth? All I got were fairies as water, in the end. If someone wants to give that a go, be my guest. 

I drew so many pentagrams trying to figure it out, and it never worked. No matter the arrangement, it never told me more about the crowns except that there were five of them. I was about to despair. 

But then the muses sang: The Forgotten Crown. 

(That’s the title of my thesis, btw)

Like I said, five pointed stars were trash for this system, but what if I added another crown, one that no one bothers to count, because by their nature, they can’t do anything. That’s right:

The Forgotten Crown of the Fair Folk. 

The symbol slipped into place like sharp pointy things into Warren. And now I can get to the real meta after sharing this image:

Isn’t it beautiful? After I cracked this code, I showed it to my little sister. She smiled contentedly, calling it satisfying. It is so satisfying. It speaks to so many levels of understanding. 

First, I depicted for you, we have the morality and the terrain triangles. 

Morality triangle is the easiest, if you feel uncomfortable labeling drown-happy naiads as good and all demons as evil, congrats, thinking about the nature of good and evil is precisely what Mull was going for. Since I am suddenly one of those people, I’m going to be using the creation/destruction dichotomy, but acknowledge that both of those work. 

Fairies can be most easily understood when Kendra asked the Fairy Queen what she should do with her life. She’s an unlimited fount of the Fairy Queen’s own power, allowed to do whatever she wants, and the Fairy Queen tells her to nurture life. Be fruitful, put good things in the world, help people grow. Their goal is to create, their magic is defensive, beauty is wonderful for its own sake. The better you are at respecting and nurturing life, the stronger your magic is. Dryads are responsible for the whole forest, and throughout the series they are seen as more powerful and serious than fairies, which can make the plants they interact with grow and hamadryads, who are connected only to their tree. Certainly more powerful than the petty, waterbound naiads. 

Ganalus’s speech to Seth about his own nature is where you can understand demons in this world. They like to destroy and torture, they find amusement in things like plague and clipping live beings to their belts and dragging them around. They are driven by the need for more power and control. Their nature is to harm and break apart, and that has its place in this world, but we care about the stuff and people here, so mortals and fairies have got to keep these punks in check.

And of course, the Fair Folk. Here’s where this triangle gets fun. The worst of the worst gets to be Demon King, the best of the best get stronger fairy powers. That means the most neutral of the neutral get to be the leader of the Fair Folk. We’ve heard references to the main city of the Fair Folk: Selona, somewhere in Europe, and a mysterious exert that I’ve seen images of with Lord Dagrel that I’m trying to pin down. I’m posing that their powers come from being neutral. They talk about the terrible consequences of the last time they went to war, what if it the equivalent of their fallen state, when they break their neutrality, and changes them fundamentally. 

This breaks down the most, but they are the Forgotten Crown for a reason. They hold themselves apart from issues of the other crowns. No one even remembers that they have a crown, because as Seth and Celebrant have shown, who cares? They aren’t going to do anything about it. Everyone collectively forgot/don’t care about them. But their abilities are equal in strength to the others, but different in use, and less valued by those who have battles to fight. Their neutrality puts them exactly between good and evil, creation and destruction. They take the choice not to act, and there is power there too. 

Next is the Terrain Creatures. 

Sky giants control the sky, obviously. Thronis and his ability to control the weather, their height, while their feet are on the ground, far as we know, everything important happens in the sky. 

Underking gets under the ground, again, obvious. Different from the other two points of the terrain triangle in that there is a lot of creature classifactions in their domain, but think of how big the surface of the earth is, underneath it, all theirs. 

Dragons, they dwell in the sky and below the surface, putting them in both. Water dragons and Dromadus both primarily function beneath the surface, and their wings let them be in the sky. while not stronger necessarily than the other terrain crowns in their own domains, they are top of the food chain for the creatures living on the ground, and could probably take out the undead that venture near the surface, and I have high hopes for seeing a Sky Giant v Dragon in the next book. 

Cool, we got our organization of information. We learn something about them based on their placements within the triangles. But is that our symbol? No! Symbols are different than graphs, we should be able to squeeze ridiculous amounts of meaning from them, and we aren’t done yet. The two triangles map really, really well together.

What does the placement of the two triangles together tell us about the individual components?

a WHOLE TON. This is what makes this symbol the most satisfying, the triangles create two separate categorizations of their powers and abilities, but they inform each other. The morality of the terrain beings, and the domains of morality beings. 

Dragons run the whole spectrum from creation to destruction. We see a lot more of the destruction dragons, because our kids are in a war, but Raxtus hits really close to the Fairies and can heal and grow with his breath weapon. We also have wizards, who chose mortality for the ability to use magic to create. All the way to effing Navarog, honorary demon. They run every shade of the creation/destruction spectrum. We also see dragons that don’t depend on destruction because we know that there are some that agreed to behave if it meant they weren’t shoved into sanctuaries. 

Sky giants, the group we know the least about, are good enough that their queen was deemed able to be the caretaker of a dragon sanctuary, so no inherent thirst for destruction and chaos. But they run the neutral side of creation, they weren’t going to step in to stop the demons, they like magic and creating from what we know of thronis, but they fit right here. 

Underking - fall between neutral destruction. The underking wasn’t orchestrating the opening of the demon prison. They crave life, its a food source, but more than that, they want to endure. They might fall closer to demons in their taste for extinguishing life, but they need their wanting of life to continue existing. They might have individual prizes and desires for life, but because they depend on wanting life for their own continued existence, they will never organize themselves into taking over the world. Congrats, you’re only half as destructive as demons.

The morality on the terrain is much easier to see blatantly. Fairies have wings, but in no way do they control the sky, and they live on the ground. Demons...I’m sure some of them fly, but they tend to prefer caves like Granulas and pits like Jubaya and Kurisok. Prefer the night, though the light doesn’t harm them. Fittingly, the Fair Folk do not have the ability to fly on their own, and they live on the ground, not under it. 

sO SATISFying how those fit together. Are you weeping yet? This is harmony on the organizational level. 

But I claimed this was the perfect symbol, the ultimate. There is one more layer describing how every piece relates to every other piece, per the best symbols. 

Opposites

This is the least defined level of interaction, and each line is unique, while still being opposite its counterpart. We’ll start with the ones we have the least information about and go from there. 

Demon/sky giant: We know nothing, at the moment. They have never commented on each other, and have never interacted. Why didn’t sky giants show up to the Zzyzx party? Who knows! So I’m going to speculate here, and propose that they just really can’t stand each other’s presence. Demons stay away from sky giants, because giants are way bigger than them, and it is hard to feel powerful when you only come up to their knee, and sky giants don’t like demons because...eww, demons. 

Fair Folk/Dragon: We know that there are Fair Folk at all seven dragon sanctuaries. We know that the Fair Folk were there long before the sanctuaries were created. Fair Folk neutrality let both parties trust the dragons to part of their watch. It also seems that Dragons have a very difficult time staying neutral. We’ve seen a lot of flavors of dragon, but the one flavor we haven’t seen, possibly by its nature, is a neutral dragon. The closest we came was Dromadus, who was an abstaining pacifist for two books, but kept lending help to the innocent and those aligned with the innocent. His neutrality broke literally the week someone asked him to break it.

 Fascinatingly, the talents of the Fair Folk are actually the closest analog to the breath weapons of the dragons. One unique ability, can be augmented by training, can do something unique to the characteristics of the user. This is enough to make their uses of magic foils for each other in ways that they can’t be with the other races. In fact, they take human shape, their wizards act a lot like the talents of the Fair Folk.

Their final opposite string: physical appearance. Fair Folk are attractive (symetrical) humans. Dragons are hulking reptiles of scale and claw meant to let everyone who can see them know who is the top predator around. Fair folk are disarmingly beautiful. 

Fairy/Underking: The dichotomy that we know the most about because it’s the one the protagonists find themselves on opposite side of. I could double the length of this post talking about these opposite foils, but this is already ridiculously long, so I’ll keep it brief. Consult upcoming thesis for full analysis.

Most obvious aspect of this line? They literally cannot co-exist, one must overpower the other. Nova Songs are consumed by darkness, while crown-fueled Kendra literally turns the undead into bones and dust. The darkness and light can’t balance like the demon cursed area + Fairy shrine stone did in Shadow Plague, there is no middle ground.

While fairies and demons make the creation-destruction spectrum, Fairy and Underking make the Life-death line. Unicorns, who have so much life and youth that lectoblixes overdose to death on them, and the undead that give up the joys light and live to continue. Because Death lasts as long as life. 

And finally my favorite line of opposites, their crowns functions in exactly the opposite ways. The under-crown does not share power. It accumulates, you become one of consciousness of the crown. They swallow you up, and you will never take power from them. They will continue. Meanwhile the Fairy crown has had several owners, as identified by Risenmay in dw2. And the Fairy Crown shares magic in a way that the other crowns don’t. The fairy Queen shared her magic with Kendra, yes, but she also shared it with her husband. All the male fairies fell with the Fairy King, turning permanently into imps. Unless the Fairy Queen isn’t being honest about how that happened, that meant that the male half of the kingdom was under the authority of her husband when he fell. Which makes sense for this crown. One person can’t make a new person on their own, they have to have a male and a female genetic coding. For the crown that is all about creating and preserving life, that power isn’t meant to be wielded alone. The Fairy crown can share, can give, while the Undercrown can consume and take. They are complete opposites in this.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading through this preliminary thesis. Counterpoints, additions, and commentary are welcome. I want to flesh this out a little more before sending my transcendent, beautiful, unifying symbol to Mull and have him announce that I have officially cracked the code. Really tho, the fact that I can pull this together into a unifying symbol is pretty cool in terms of Mull’s worldbuilding. 

Well...only works if he acknowledges the forgotten crown. Dragonwatch 5: the Crown of Selona. I can’t wait. 

[lizzybeth1986]

This won't make you feel better, but this anon might have an explanation for the problems in Pixelberry's stories: essentially, I think it's because media and fandom culture in general has been hijacked by people with much older value systems, value systems where "whether behavior hurts people or not" was at best a secondary concern. The way Olivia is coddled, for example, does resemble how children used to be expected to be grateful to abusive parents for at least being given food and shelter.

Thank you for the ask anon.

Initially, when you'd sent the first ask, I'd had a different answer planned. Because sure, those kind of mindsets could very possibly factor in on how they treat a certain character type or trope...but it never actually happened with any sort of consistency. There were these invisible unspoken rules that certain characters would get away with breaking, and other characters would be punished for. So if there is no consistency in this treatment, how could I believe that it comes from a value/belief system that the writer holds, and nothing else comes into play?

Which brings me to the second thought you had. It's possible, yes, that the demographic they're hoping to cater to the most are the ones who may benefit the most from seeing white (and perhaps straight) characters thrive above others. The ones who will benefit from black and brown characters being placed on a heirarchy of worth - the most exoticized being the most "worthy" of "good treatment". But PB does benefit from a show of appreciating and celebrating diversity, and they do know it - as you can tell from the posts they were putting out during Black History Month last year:

(Thank you @nikkisha16 for helping me source these!)

This is a "nice gesture"....if we ignore the fact that only three out of the handful of default black characters featured at all. And if we ignore the fact that Griffin from this tiny list was hardly given an opportunity to use his skills in the biggest "disaster relief" diamond scene in the series, just to make more space for the white guy. Or that Luke's "alternative romance" arc was given more attention than the one where the MC chose him - to the point where we didn't get to see his mother (more attention to the alternative arc is often a surefire sign that the team is focusing on another LI and presuming said character as single by default, which is why you'll see more effort in the playthroughs where they're single). If the demographic you aim to please are the ones who may not notice or care about what actually happens to such characters in their respective stories...why this posturing? Why this pretence that you care?

It's not that PB is evilly rubbing their hands and contemplating on which character of colour to screw over today. It's very rarely as cut-and-dried as that. Very often it is just as possible that they don't know, or notice how some of these subconscious beliefs translate into their art. Ignorance of how damaging certain tropes can be for certain communities, and an unknowing favouritism towards certain characters based on their skin tone just as plausible causes for the mess we see in most stories of PB now. And a certain dismissiveness, would account for why it keeps happening despite people pointing out these problems. (I mean, this is the company that issued an apology on Twitter for Drake Walker calling a pink cake girly. And I don't recall them making apologies for anything else thus far)

It takes awareness to understand the cultural weight of some of these tropes and archetypes, and certain kinds of treatment in some cases. It also takes awareness to figure out ways to empower these characters within their stories and arcs! And I do believe for that kind of awareness to emerge in the storyboards and the office meetings...there (possibly? Idk what the PB office is like) would need to be more voices from varying communities in the rooms. For instance, look at this incredible interview by Chelsa Lauderdale on the experience of writing Griffin's character in The Elementalists:

Griffin is the rich, fullfilling character that he is because the writer brought her own experiences and worldview to that character. And you can see glimpses of that promise in so many different black and brown characters when they're given even half a chance. Kiara's ambition and logical bent of mind. Hana's loyalty and struggle to discover who she really is. Sloane's courage in taking on the world while battling an anxiety disorder. Teja's love for her craft and desire to excel in her field. Jax's protectiveness towards the underprivileged. Lily Spencer's humour and playfulness and recognition of those who have less privilege. William's (RoE) recognition of his work-home imbalance and his commitment to change that for this woman he loves. James Ashton's creativity and insecurities. Victoria's wisdom and her experience in the film industry. Aurora's desire to make a name that's her own, so that no one will ever view her as benefiting from her aunt's high position again. But unfortunately, we're often only allowed glimpses for a lot of these characters, rather than whole stories that use these traits as a foundation. Having writers from diverse backgrounds and with diverse experiences - not just a handful but many - with voices that will be embraced and respected, would go a long, long way in both pointing out these blind spots and in enriching the writing and stories themselves. Only a handful of writers cannot be burdened with the task of "educating" an entire company, but a vast team of diverse writers would mean there is an environment where they can more openly question and maybe shoot down more tone-deaf narrative choices.

@massivelysilentchaos made an amazing post about this sometime last year IIRC. A lot may have changed since this post, but there's plenty in it that still applies. More now than ever, I tend to go back to this one paragraph in her post (but please, please read the full thing):

I think a lot of PB’s problems with regard to representation in their writing could be helped by having more diversity on their writing staff. That’s not to say they don’t already have a fairly diverse staff (at least it looks that way from their blog) but some of their narrative choices are tone deaf in a way that tells me they could benefit from more black and brown perspectives on more of their stories. Specifically I’m thinking of the choices to have a book set in Trump country where an eventual protagonist pulls a gun on a potentially black MC or the recent decision to include the detail that Syphax, a black man who spent 8+ years at Lena’s scholae where MC was presumably taught to read and write, can’t read. Both of which were entirely unnecessary to the overall story they’re trying to tell and left a bad taste in mine and many other black fans’ mouths.

To add to this - I can speak, as a South Asian woman who was excited everytime a South Asian character appeared in a series - of Teja Desai getting one solitary scene to address her parents' initial doubts about her becoming a filmmaker, and one solitary scene about being a "woman in a boys club" as a director - which the writers never bothered to connect to her current work ethic - and being presented her as overworked, pressurized, frazzled by the punishing amount of work she was taking on - only for RCD's narrative to turn around and compare her to Marcus von Groot, the mediocre white male whose lack of control over his crew came from his own incompetence and delusions of grandeur (btw, in subsequent books he was written as this adorable funnyman the MC could bond and hang out with). I can talk of Jackie Varma, who was placed in a position where players could pick and choose between her and Bryce (with Bryce having more free scenes), before the narrative wrote her out for a large chunk of the story. Even in Book 2, scenes we get with her explore OUR backgrounds more than hers. Given that getting into medicine or engineering is such a huge deal in our communities, I can just imagine the ways in which that would tie up with Jackie's work ethic. And I know that many desi voices in that room would maybe make those connections and understand how to tie that into these stories.

I'd like to close this post with a quote from Chelsa that I showed you all earlier in this post: "Stories can perpetuate stereotypes or change narratives. That's really up to the people who write them". And perhaps, the people who hire the writers as well.