#for a character in a show i've only seen edits/fanfic of

[theharddeck]

the reasons i'm alone, i know by heart (rhett abbott x fem!reader)

“My–” Rhett broke off, his voice hoarser than both of you had expected, and he cleared his throat before trying again. “My hands are dirty.” You looked down at them.  Dried white paint flecked over the tops of his knuckles, smudged over the tips of his fingers, flecked like freckles over his forearms. When your fingers traced over the specks of paint, you heard his breath catch as you looked back up at his face. You liked how he sounded, how he looked, wanted to know how he felt. “Guess I’m going to be doing all the touching, then.”

A leak after a snowstorm. A long afternoon waiting for paint to dry. Another snowstorm, a power surge, and a connection that might just last past dawn. -- two chapter fic coming soon.

[silenzahra]

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team appreciation post ✨

A few days ago I was suggested by @keakruiser to write a fic in which Mario and Luigi were in a cold environment (working on it! Almost done, promise!). This gave me a chance to rescue an idea I had a looooong time ago, back when I first played Dream Team (around 2015), but I never got to write it.

So, I've been watching some gameplays of this game and listening to its music again (so as to get in the mood), and man, I had simply forgotten how truly and absolutely ADORABLE the brothers are in this game.

I mean, the cuties????? The way they hug as if they hadn't seen each other in, like, years??? Patting each other's back and nodding and smiling in complete joy AW they're the sweetest!!! 😭😭😭

The fact that Luigi starts laughing in the real world while his dreamy self embraces his big bro will always make me emotional.

THE SILLIEEEEES AAAAHHH LOOK AT THEM BEING TWO CUTE LITTLE BEANS OMG I LOVE THEM SO SO MUCH 😭😭😭

I have always LOVED the way Luigi rocks his legs while he's on Mario's shoulders right before they do the Side Drill move. He's such a cute little baby 🥺💚✨

Also, I find their pose right before starting a Luiginary Attack quite hilarious 😂

The Luiginary Moves and the Giant Battles. Is there really anything else to say? Only one: these two elements were the final proof that this game's true hero was Luigi. He had the chance to show his courage and protect his big bro from danger, as well as being the one who made it possible for him and Mario to get into the dream world.

He was the main character in this game. And it really made me love him even more than I already did.

Not meaning to belittle Mario, far from it! But this game really made his little brother shine, and he definitely seemed giddy about it! Just look at him on top of the Luiginary Typhoon or Giant Luigi's hat. He's the true picture of pride! 🥹

I just LOVE his determination on the latter picture. It just shows that he truly believes in Luigi's abilities to defeat their enemies on his own! But of course, Mario will always be there to fight by his side, just as Luigi has always been there to have his back. They're a team, after all. The Dream Team.

And last but not least... have you guys seen this???

That. Knowing. LOOK. Aren't they the most adorable brothers to ever exist OMG I love them SO MUCH!!! 😭😭😭

I swear I let out a squeak when I noticed they gave each other that quick look when celebrating in this game. The sweetness in the gesture simply melts my heart 🥹🥹🥹 (Actually, I'm making that last picture my new pfp because I just LOVE how absolutely cute they look.)

Before I go, here are a few more pictures of them being silly and funny and adorable 💚❤✨

Just two sleepy boys about to zone out 🤭

My poor Luigi seems to have always been chased by lava! The man can't even take a short break 😮‍💨

Love how tiny Mario looks on the last one btw 🤭 So cute! ✨

So yeah! Now you know that the next fanfic I intend to post is going to be based on this amazing game 🤭 And I'm really happy I got to write it, because it made me remember how deeply I loved Dream Team when I first played it almost ten years ago 🥹

So thank you, @keakruiser, for your amazing suggestion. I'll be delivering soon and I really hope you like the result! 💖

EDIT: Here's the fic! ✨

[dejwrites]

i don't mean this in a rude way and i'm also black but i've always had this question but never knew if it's okay to ask but why do you think representation of black women in fanfiction is important? cause i've seen never seen hispanic, asian, (especially south asian) indigenous ect fanfiction before, reader's looks are almost always neutral

for one, i always find it strange that black writers in fandom spaces/fanfic communities are always questioned on why they write black reader. like we're really the only group of people that get asked this as if it's our phone number and literally, the answer to this question can be found in countless popular posts on here explaining black people frustration of reading 'ran his fingers through your silky hair', 'you blushed so hardly your cheeks stained red', the fanfic aesthetic edits that have white girl in them, the fan art made for the fic where it's y/n and character and y/n is drawn as a visible white woman...i can go on.

but to answer your question, it's important for black representation in fanfiction, just like it's important to have black representation in books, tv shows, movies, modeling, art, journalism, tech, the health industry, etc. it's important to have black representation in fandom spaces period, especially when we engage in fandom type of stuff—we're usually bullied and hit with anti blackness *cough* see black cosplayers for example *cough*. plus, i think it's important because i know in some years there will be some 18-year-old jujutsu kaisen loving ass black person stumbling upon my or one of the lovely black writers archived blogs or a03 account (pls tumblr and a03 survive so the next generation can experience it hehe) and eyes literally lighting up reading fanfics where reader is described of having natural hair, box braids, brown skin, etc.

and for the last portion of your message, with other poc communities..if they wanted to describe reader's looks and culture for their specific community...they could. maybe it's a preference for them to have reader neutral...just like for some black writers it's a preference for them to write reader as neutral as possible.

pls let's leave the 'why you write reader as black' type of questions in this year. frankly all obviously white coded reader in fanfics aside........black writers can write reader as black because we fuckin' can.

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

The way you only show an interest in nonwhite characters if they can be shipped with a white character is truly disturbing. Not only that, when you do write them you clearly see them as nothing more than stereotypes. We have Chakotay as the noble savage, B’Elanna as Tom’s “exotic” wife, and Harry who you constantly infantilize and desexualize. Seriously, are you brain damaged or do you just not think racism is a serious issue?

You have finally come for me and I didn't even publish the P/T wedding fic yet. Thanks for being so proactive.

I'll make you a deal, P/T Anon: direct me to which of my fics and which scenes/dialogue/description specifically are supporting these tropes and I will fix those. I am willing to concede that I am still learning how to write diverse characters, and I've been writing for 15 years so theres probably a lot of things I have written clumsily or in ignorance that could be updated.

If you can't do that then I will assume you are doing this in bad faith. I will assume you are doing what we have all seen you doing to the P/T authors: sending inflamatory messages based on their story tags rather than story content. I will assume your accusations are meritless and designed to put me on the defensive about whether i'm a racist or not, or that maybe youre a white nationalist using classic russian troll tactics (or a bot!) in order to try to spook me and so many other writers into only writing white characters.

I will not be spooked. I will continue to write the ship I've loved since childhood. I will continue trying to do that sensitively an well. I will continue to write diverse characters. I will continue learning from what I read and write and hear from credible sources about how to do that well. I will continue writing P/T into fics and trying to write them better than the 90s canon did. I will continue writing Chakotay and trying to write him better shit than the canon dumpster fire did. And I will continue writing all of them fucking. Joyously and angstily and maybe all at once if I can get that many limbs in a scene to make sense. And you know, I barely ever write anything about Harry because frankly hes just kinda boring, but maybe I will now as a treat.

I will do everything short of paying a sensitivity reader to edit my fanfic because frankly, I don't have the money to do that for fanfic writing, for which I do not get paid.

If youre capable of sending more than accusations and death threats then come on down and get in the weeds with me and tell me what I missed. And I will fix it.

If you respond to this with some bullshit telling me to kill myself then I'll delete it. And then I'll go write more stories with diverse characters.

[likeabxrdinflight]

so as we all know, the live action atla airs tomorrow. knowing me, I'll end up binging the whole thing in one, two days tops.

I think the majority of my followers on this platform followed me back in 2020, when the animated show dropped on netflix and saw a sudden resurgence in popularity. so most of you know me as a fan, and it's not exactly a secret. I adore the animated show. It's somewhere in my top ten favorite tv series of all time. it might even be the top, I've never actually sat down and thought about it that deeply, but if I did, atla very well could be number one.

it's not a perfect show, far from it. it has flaws. everything does. but I was there with atla from literally day one. I remember back in 2005, all the tv ads for this cool, anime-esque nickelodeon show that was gonna air soon. I memorized the date and time of the premiere. I made damn sure I wasn't gonna miss it. my 12-year-old ass forced my little brother to surrender the remote for that hour and refused to let him touch it. turns out I didn't need to, because we both got invested right away. and I tuned in for every new episode from that day on. even if I was at a friend's house, I made sure we watched if a new episode of atla was airing. I was that insane about this show.

I can remember making up fake bending routines in my parents' living room (usually firebending lol). in the summers I'd pretend to be a waterbender in the swimming pool. some of my earliest drawings are of katara, aang, and zuko, and then later azula. I remember when the blue spirit first aired and presenting my brother with the "zuko will definitely become aang's friend and teach him firebending" manifesto. he was not convinced. I was devastated by the season two finale, and so vindicated by season three. I remember how long the 2008 writer's strike felt when it delayed the second half of season three. and I remember when the finale finally aired- by this point I was now 15- and just the rollercoaster of emotions that was for me as a teenager. I remember not wanting it to be over, delving into the online fandom and discovering all the different ships, fanart, fanfics, and video edits (and drama). I learned how to use windows movie maker and pirate the episodes just because I wanted to join in on the fun. I wrote a not good zutara fic that I never finished. I put my shitty little azula videos on youtube. I've been in and out of this fandom ever since.

so to say I have a lot of love for the animated series would be an understatement. when I think of the media that defined my childhood, there's really five things that first come to mind- harry potter, pokemon, anime more broadly (special shout out to yugioh and sailor moon), disney, and atla.

I say this all to establish that there is zero chance the live action adaptation could ever overtake the animated original for me. I will always love it more, it will always be the more special version of this story. I was exactly aang's age when that first episode aired. there's no replacing something like that. when I think of this story and these characters, I think I will always default to the animated version.

that said, I really am feeling optimistic about the live action adaptation. I'm frequently skeptical of these kinds of projects, especially the disney remake trend, but there's a couple reasons I feel pretty okay with the adaptation of atla. one is that there has been a recent uptick in popularity of the original. it's a good time to re-visit this story, people are interested, and it can only serve to get even more people to watch the original given both will now be on netflix. two is that I'm very encouraged to see that both in front of and behind the camera, asian and indigenous people are taking center stage. I don't think we can discount the importance of that. third, everything I've seen about this show that's not a panicked hot take on twitter or a headline pulled out of context is fairly encouraging. I mostly like what I've heard from the cast and showrunners in interviews. several reviews of the first episode's premiere have been broadly positive, most importantly to me, from actual fans who attended.

I do have some reservations. I'm not totally sold on the visual aesthetic, with the somewhat darker color palette and the contrasting saturation of the costumes. for this first season, I'm easily most concerned about how katara is going to be written. I want them to make changes and tell the story differently, but I do worry they won't find the right balance. too much change to central character arcs could deleteriously impact the story. and I will always be concerned about the portrayal of azula.

I also have mixed feelings about the sexism thing- I'm not necessarily pressed that they might tone down sokka's or even pakku's overt sexism, and frankly the "girls can fight too!" version of feminism is kind of tired in 2024. I also know several indigenous people have spoken up about how the water tribe's being sexist was not a great look. but I am concerned that, in toning this aspect down, they might inadvertently neuter katara's character arc or remove some of her best moments. I have to question how this change will impact suki as well. ironically I'm not as worried about sokka, his sexism was a minimal part of his overall character arc- but it's impact on the women around him was much more meaningful. that's what I'm more concerned about.

I've also heard that the first episode suffers from a glut of exposition that was felt necessary for new viewers but returning fans will likely find tiresome. and naturally I'm worried some things will look goofy, fail to translate from cartoon to live action well, or that some of the heart and charm of the original will get lost in translation. so yeah, there's concerns.

but generally speaking I'm more excited than not. if the show has as much love put into it as the cast and crew interviews seem to indicate, then I think revisiting this world and these characters in a new way with a new generation at the helm will be a lot of fun. the nostalgia market is definitely oversaturated right now, you can certainly argue this didn't need to exist, but I'm not going to pretend I'm not interested to see what they do with this. especially when we already got such a bad live action version- it's not like this is a new idea for atla as a franchise. there's a precedent already set for trying it again. so I'm going in with an open mind. let's see what they do- it's not like it's ever going to replace the original. it can't.

...also I think the tag I'm going to use is "natla spoilers". I've been tagging "atla live action" but I think I'm gonna switch over to "natla" primarily from now on. and believe me, I will be sharing my thoughts.

[avastrasposts]

Hello!

So I just realised about 300+ people decided to follow me and, I suppose, read my stories? And 300 is such a small number but to me it's surreal that so many of you want to read what I write!

So I thought I'd introduce myself a little, just to be polite you know, and be like those author blurbs they put on the inside flap of books. So read on if you want to know more about me and my writing, or just keep scrolling if you'd rather I remain a redheaded mystery with a thing for Frankie Morales.

Also, chapter 16 of The Pilot and his Girl will be posted tomorrow, it just needs another round of editing.

Also, again, this got long, so if you can't be bothered reading all my ramblings below the cut, I totally understand. I have a habit of getting wordy....

So, I'm in my 40's and I've been writing for most of my life, starting with embarrassing little short stories in adorable misspelled fashion when I was just wee. I aspired to be a journalist and then went on a completely different tangent career wise, ending up with a PhD in an area I no longer work in (fifteen years of higher education never to be touched again but you definitely want me on your team in a pub quiz!). I have vague memories of writing fan fiction in my early 20, I think? (I'm old, give me a break). But I only got back to it late last year as a way to kick start my imagination and discipline around writing again. I needed a creative outlet and writing is something I always enjoyed and found easy to do.

I live in England, in the amazing but fucking expensive city of London. I look pretty much like my profile picture, only more wrinkles and maybe a bit of silver in all that gingerness. I'm a very good cook and baker (Pedro, I'll teach you how to cook any day!) and I'm married to my very own sweet Latino man. He's not called Frankie but he does call me cariño. I have big chunk of family in Sweden and I speak a little bit of Swedish (it's actually where I am right now, we're over here celebrating midsummer).

I started writing fanfics for The Boys fandom and Karl Urban as I was binging the whole show after finishing season 4. Then I stumbled into the Pedro Pascal fandom as I watched The Last of Us.

TLoU has a very special place in my heart. I've been gaming since my early teens and bought a Playstation 3 after saving for months, my first console after playing on PC for years. When TLoU came out in 2013 I bought and played it straight away and I, like so many others, had an experience playing it. It's the only story, in any medium, that's made me cry after just 10-15 minutes of game play. The scene were Sarah dies, still gets me every time. And the rest of the game...I turned up at work the next week in a daze, just needing to tell people about this incredible story and experience I'd had. It was like no other game I'd ever played, before or since. And I've replayed the game about once a year since 2013. Back then, that kind of game was totally unique, there was nothing like it. Some games had explored stronger story telling elements, but not on this level, nothing came even close to creating such a bond between gamer and characters. Now days we're spoiled by powerful storytelling in video games, in 2013, The Last of Us was totally unique (sorry, I'm blabbering, but I could go on at length about TLoU and the impact it had).

So when I heard there was talks about turning into a tv-series, I was scared. Really worried. The gaming community have seen so many horrendous adaptations of video games, my beloved Assassin's Creed was butchered in 2016. But then I heard Pedro Pascal had been cast as Joel and I was carefully hopeful, and then Bella Ramsey as Ellie and I got really excited. I'd seen them both in Game of Thrones, both of their performances sticking in my mind. I even remember reading about Pedro being cast in GoT and looking him up and being disappointed because he looked nothing like I'd pictured the Red Viper when I read the books. But then he just swanned in and crushed it, he was so damn good, he won me over straight away. I can't imagine anyone else playing Oberyn.

And then of course, the first few trailers of TLoU dropped and we got glimpses of the show and I remember texting my equally TLoU obsessed friend and we squealed in delight at how good it looked! And the first time I heard the clicker sound....I shuddered, it was a very real physical reaction. If I'd been on the actual set and heard it, I think I would've run a mile.

And then, as I was still writing The British Connection, a fic set in The Boys fandom, I watched Triple Frontier, and, like so many others, fell hard for sweet Frankie Morales. So jumping the gun a bit, I decided to write something with him, just a drabble, to get used to writing him and to write in the Reader insert format. But it kind a grew in scope and when I had the idea of sticking him and the rest of the Triple Frontier boys into TLoU universe I knew I had to create something bigger.

Looking back I would've made the story tighter, less lengthy, had I known from the start that's where it was going to go. But part of the fun of fan fiction is posting as you go, I think. I get feedback from you guys and it makes me think of other elements to add to the story. There isn't always a set road map for how a fic is going to develop.

If you've made it this far, congratulations and thank you, I'm impressed you read all that rambling from some stranger on Tumblr! The Pilot and his Girl has a set plan now, I have chapters drawn up and although I'm not sure how many chapters I'm going to end up with, I know where the story is going. You'll find out what's happened to Pope, Will and Benny. And Joel and Tommy will of course come back to the story later on. There will be more trauma and angst as the story continues but there will be a happy ending, of sorts, in the end.

And again, thank you all for reading, commenting and reblogging! I love you all!

[lamonnaie]

bad buddy fandom getting-to-know-you meme!

Thanks for the tag @fiercynn !! This is a really lovely idea :)

note: i consider "fanworks" to pretty much everything people create related to a fandom, including but not limited to meta/analysis/discussion, gifs, fanvids/edits/fancams, filk, fanart, fanfic, fan food, fan crafts, etc. please include this note with the meme unless you have a different definition!

name and whatever you want to share about yourself hi i'm mars, i use she/her pronouns, i live in australia and i've been into thai/asian bl for a little over a year now. i mostly just lurk and mass rb on tumblr lol, but i'd definitely like to get to know more people !!

when did you watch bad buddy/join the fandom? I was actually trying to track down the exact date recently (i failed), but i watched it for the first time around mid-september 2022, ended up binging it in a day and been a part of the fandom since

favorite ship(s) patpran <3

favorite character(s) pat !! he's one of my favourite characters from any media ever. I just love how selfless he is and how he transforms through the show, and how bright he is but knows when to stand his ground. i could wax poetics about him fr <3

favorite episode(s) Whenever i watch/rewatch bad buddy i tend to binge it so i can never distinguish betweens episodes lol. In general, ep 12 is definitely one of my favs because i feel like it ties things up nicely and i like seeing them happy :) i can probably give a better answer for favourite scene...

favorite scene(s) ...which is why it's great that this is the next question!

In no particular order: the staircase proposal scene, the bus stop roleplaying scene, the post-curtain bench hand holding scene (specifically that one face pat/ohm makes which imo is the single most most heartbreaking frame in the entire show), the ep 12 post-credits scene (wait was it actually post-credits, i don't remember ajksdjf), the screaming on the rocks at the zero-waste village scene, and the rooftop kiss (ofc)

Basically i just like to see them happy (most of the time) :)

one thing you would change about the show if you could the whole making-it-up-to-wai arc was not it for me. WHY was pran the one apologising and going after him??? still makes me mad to this day, but i think i'd have a lot more animosity towards wai if ep 12 didn't exist (also all the wai redemption arcs in fanfics have made me warm up to him :P)

what are your some of your favorite fanworks made by other people? ahhh so many!! joy of stanning a show that's finished is that it stays going through fanworks, but also now there's too many that i absolutely adore to remember in the moment, sp here's some:

we both know you're my only dream (fic) by @fiercynn: one of my favourite fics ever that i constantly go back and reread whenever i'm having a bad day (or not)

yield strength (fic) by @dulosis: the physics analogies do something to my brain /pos

10 things i hate about you (fic) by @nobodynobodyno: this one's so cute and i reread it all the time

this fmv to tujh mein rab dikhta hai by @transpat: desi moots, iykyk. but fr this holds such a special place in my heart, the lyrics are so patpran and the editing and clip choice is just *chef's kiss*

this fmv to dandelions: IT'S SO GOOD. all the parallels, the dialogue overlaying is just perfect, and the TRANSITIONS (the one at 1:28 especially)

every single one of @hereforlou's art: i'm literally obsessed, i don't always see everything on my dash so i'll literally check their tumblr every couple days. is this stalker behaviour? possibly, but if you've seen their art i think you'd understand.

Also special mention to this one gifset of the staircase proposal scene which was my first ever exposure to bad buddy, it made me watch the show to begin with, but i didn't rb it when i first saw it so now it's lost to the times 😭😭

I have an insane amount of fanfic i wanted to put here but for the sake of length of this post, i restrained myself ajskdjf

(if you create fanworks) what are your favorite fanworks that you’ve made? i do not (yet 👀)

a song that makes you think of bbs (the ones in the show don’t count lol) pretty much every fmv/edit that i've rewatched a couple times set to a song will make me thing of bbs lol, so some are tujh mein rab dikhta hai and dandelions from above, emily by Jeremy Zucker and Chelsea Cutler because of this amazing fic, and gorgeous by Taylor Swift because of this gorgeous edit (y'all please go watch it it's amazing).

idk anything else you want us to know? It's the perfect timing for this because these are my nails right now ):)

honestly not super sure who of my mutuals are bbs moots so i'm just gonna tag some people, feel free to ignore this if you've already been tagged/don't want to do it! :)

@nobodynobodyno @dropthedemiurge @justafriend-ql @cornflowershade @hometothecanyonmoon @7nessasaryevils

If you see this and you want to do it, this is is me tagging you as well !!

[hanzajesthanza]

really cool asks i received from @electricbluenb literal months ago, but never got around to publishing :P! but i still want to post this because this is quite interesting:

electricbluenb asked:

Hi! I'm here to report on a lecture I've listened to about Witcher!!!!

Exposition: the lecturer (she) is a philologist, specifically a researcher of fantasy as a transmedia phenomenon; the lecture is titled: 'Witcher Universe. Books, games, series', and from the short description in the announcements I imagined I wouldn't hear much new, or positive takes about TWN (derogatory), and I was interested to listen to it. It was only 90 minutes, so obviously it wasn't super deep in material.

The lecturer did show up in a t-shirt with a print of TW3 Geralt holding a kitten on it, and a games-style Wolf School medallion. For context this is a free library event in Moscow, held in Russian. I am writing this on the same night, so please excuse possible mistakes and I'll try to elaborate if needed.

Overall, I have to say that I haven't heard much that I can't find on your blog. That is only to say that the woman knows her stuff, and that she'd probably be delighted to hear about yours.

Summary of points:

Transmedia (media in different mediums which seeks to build upon each other, unlike adaptation, which only reframes source in a different medium, by her definition) often begins, like fanfiction, in places where source material is incomplete (like how many lotr fanfics focus on Silmarillion). It is crucial for both adaptations and transmedia to be made with love for source material, which TWN showrunners clearly lack.

Historical context and its empirical feel ("liquidity" of reality in the presence of great political and social change, end-of-the-world forefeeling) of the time when Sapkowski created earlier novellas is crucial to interpreting and adapting them. That feel of the setting, and also self-irony and subvertiveness of the text are what both The Hexer and TWN do not translate to the viewer.

Regarding games, she mostly calls them transmedia (not adaptation). She argues that writers of the games recreated that "liquid", end-of-the-world timespace better (not necessarily accurate to lore) than The Hexer or TWN, and more importantly excelled at culture-coding the setting as polish, making it attractive to other slav people as well.

She said with her whole chest that TWN production, and Lauren Hissrich specifically, is just not putting any fucking effort into looking at source material, slapping diversity on what they don't understand to already have themes of otherness and conflict (The Greater Evil is the only example I have in my written notes for books, but she also pointed at games' presenting Geralt as non-human and how it is involved in quests).

In that same vein, she said there's just no romantic relationship between Geralt and Yennefer in TWN, which in books is relying on Eros and Thanatos, and weirdly that drive, finding no exit, is instead can be seen when comparing Renfri fight and stryga fight (she put up screenshots side by side), Geralt only loving the monstrous, and intimacy being deadly (in stryga fight the 'disenchanting kiss' bite). In the games she pointed at the cinematic trailer for Blood and Wine (fight with Orianna / Lullaby of Woe), and went over how it's basically also Eros/Thanatos imagery.

Continuing on Yennefer, she said that it is just laughable to call the character TWN portrays 'Yennefer', because 'inner logic of the character says otherwise', because there's no Yen & Ciri mother-daughter relationship, and the character seems to be 'more like Ciri's either older or younger sister who is afraid of her'.

She touched upon game / series / books interconnectivity (two swords on Geralt's back in Season of Storms versus one in pentalogy, TWN changing Nilfgaardian armour for s3, CDPR adding TWN's Nilfgaardian armor as an option on iirc ps5 edition) and just that it's interesting to her as a researcher that there exist points of clear medium interactions that are expressions of interest and love for the creation, even if the creation is flawed.

She argued that an english translation (the one that she read, obviously there might be different ones) has less visible irony across both text and subtext, in part, possibly, due to censure. I kinda doubt her expertise on english lit as she does seem more focused on Russian lit and translations to Russian, but basically she argues it might be another ground where TWN is just out of depth.

In the Q&A portion I mentioned Redanian Intelligence's article about 'western audiences' and she completely agreed it is just an excuse for what is a skill issue on showrunner's part.

That's all for my report. Hope it leaves you feeling affirmed, knowing that somewhere there are scholars who agree, almost to the letter, completely. :)

electricbluenb asked:

Oops, missed some notes.

As a true researcher, she held a poll on books vs. TWN.

Of about ~25 people in the audience:

22 read the books, 22 liked the books

24 watched S1, 0 loved S1 (aside feelings for actors), 2 people were meh on S1

20 watched S2, again 0 for loving S2

7 watched S3, another 7 considered watching S3, and again 0 for loving S3.

She was prepared to talk more about Ciri, Falka, and Regis, but time was very short.

---

i was really elated to hear about this, the term transmedia is fascinating and i feel like this applies to the witcher phenomenon really well. the term "adaptation" doesn't suit the games, which take the books as a starting point. the topic of interconnectivity between the various mediums is also great, certainly true as every witcher media begins to reflect one another as they're created. one topic i'm interested here is where did geralt's facial scar originally come from, as there is some art of it which predates the creation of the games.

"the setting, and also self-irony and subvertiveness of the text" is definitely what i find missing in netflix as well. i believe the continent, at least in the pentalogy, is way more fleshed out than people think, and the setting really really begins to define the story during the saga, so much so that it becomes as important as the characters themselves. the irony and subversion the text uses are truly hallmarks of the witcher, as well as intertextuality with other fantasy works.

to this list, i would also add comedy :D though twn tries to be funny sometimes it seems to be in an entirely different context and different angle. i was thinking yesterday about how some of the comic characters present in the short stories: dandelion, torque, tellico, freixenet, really had their comedic presence entirely changed or removed from netflix's version. and i thought about the barbegazi and knocker from tower of the swallow, these guys are so funny and endearing, if strange and odd. i think something that netflix does which really, really clashes with the books, is that they treat every monster like a serious threat or at the very least dull them down. in the books, i'd wager that at least half of the 'monsters' present are actually used for comedic effect as well as dramatic effect. now, it's not separate, plenty of characters are both. but netflix seems to only focus on monsters as dangerous, whereas in the books they can actually be quite funny. i think this use of comedy presents a world that is "comfortable" being a fantasy world, that has really incorporated its fantasy elements in a realistic way, so that it's not just there for drama, but has integrated itself into every part of life.

i adore the comparison of geralt and yennefer's relationship with that of the fight with adda, vereena, or renfri. this is something i've been thinking about for a while. exactly, yennefer in the last wish is the antagonist of the story - a powerful, magical woman, literally, a witch. in this sense, yennefer is not unlike the other dangerous opponents geralt faces. in many myths and stories, the hero faces, challenges, defeats an evil witch, sorceress, female user of magic who aims to seduce, deceive the hero. this is the trope we're working with.

the kicker is that yennefer's character gets developed past this, as she begins to be intimately explored - even beyond geralt's lens - and within their context, we see their relationship transform from antagonistic to romantic to fates intertwined. but their chemistry and energy begins with that inherent match in energy, their yin and yang, light and dark, witch and witcher. that (literally) electric sense, that yennefer is never going to be 'defeated' by geralt, that she remains independent even while by his (and ciri's) side.

overall i really enjoyed this report, and respect this lecturer a lot! again, sorry i took so long to publish this as it's been a strange past few months, but better late than never :')

[sunshinemarauders]

Racist Experiences in the Marauders Fandom

These anonymous submissions come from a survey I published several weeks ago where I asked for fans in the Marauders fandom to share their experiences with me. I was overwhelmed with the results, and this is, in their own words, some of the submissions I was sent.

There has been lost of push back against fans using POC fan casts for various characters

weird reactions to desi james or east asian sirius!!

I have seen people get upset when characters are fancast as non-white actors (like dev Patel for James)

Clash of opinions about fanon Hermione being black

I have seen lots of racism towards people's newer fancasts, as all the OGs (ben barnes, andrew garfield, aaron taylor-johnson, etc.) are white and some people are trying to change that!

I saw a fanart one time, where james had a darker skin (he was latino) and someone commented that it doesn't suit him

I draw Sirius black as Asian and I’ve gotten quite a few racist comments about this and I’ve seen a lot of racism about desi James. Also when BIPOC people cosplay characters that people think are “white”

People tend to cast characters as white, and sometimes I see people getting mad someone is fancasting a non-canonically black character as black or as a person of colour (I've seen some good black Remus, non-white Lily, non-white Peter fancasts, and yet, there is still peope being sooo mad about it like??). Sadly, I think a lot of people can tell about the fact that fancasts are often discussed and hated for no reason when they're not white or whatever, when it's basically just a fancast, that goes against the "canon" a bigot (JKR) made up.

the first that’s coming to mind is people fighting against the interpretation/portrayal of characters as poc (most often james bs i think he’s most popularly hced as desi but also others) either that or just straight up gatekeeping

Only the general feeling that the white characters are more interesting and loved than any of the characters of color. Racebending seems token, like nobody wants to be exclusionary but also don't have the comfort or confidence to make that diversity ring true in terms of cultural resonance. By cultural resonance I don't only mean make them ethnic but to portray and discuss or casually mention the postcolonial personhood or third culture kid experience as applies.

A comment on my fic about making it a “racial jungle”, saying that it wasn’t accurate for the time period even though representation of races otherwise had no significance in the fic

theres is a lot people that will fight tooth and nail for exclusively white maruaders (in terms of fancasts) and they slander other people in the fandom for using more diverse fancasts such as desi james or black evan

I've seen it in passing, especially towards POC writers/people who HC characters who were not diverse in canon.

People not wanting desi Potters in art or otherwise

One Harry Potter fan got mad at me for drawing James (and Harry) dark skinned

GOD THE FRIKIN FANCASTS. They really don't matter that much and everyone makes it such a big deal. To me at least- representation only really matters if its real. If there's fat Peter, darkskin Dorcas, desi James, or Japanese Sirius/Regulus in a fanfic, that is the representation of that. It doesn't need to be reflected in a fancast used in an edit. Personal opinion but annoying as fuck I just wish everyone would enjoy the fact that someone spent time pouring over numerous tiny clips from many different TV shows and movies just for fun, and other people getting mad that they didn't use a person that literally doesn't exist angers me to no end.

mostly just a complete ignorance of POC identities. sometimes poc characters are ignored in favour of white characters. but also, even when POC are centered, i often see like a lot of fetishization and stereotyping and it's just... not good...

there’s a lot of jewish people in the fandom that have pointed out antisemitism within the fandom a few times. i am not jewish, and i cannot speak on the issue, but that’s something i’ve heard a lot. i’ve also seen the whitewashing of fancasts for characters like mary and dorcas who are widely accepted to be women of color, so that feels weird to me, but i think? that’s everything i’ve noticed or heard.

i've seen racism thrown to black creators, poc fancasts, and at myself for being arab and head-cannoning the black brother as arab.

There was a black dude cosplaying remus and their were people saying remus wasnt a N-word but it was a white person saying it

I have seen some fans respond in a racist way to Black fans who have called out the racism in the way in which Black characters are written and portrayed in the fandom.

[darkstarofchaos]

Unpopular Opinions: EarthSpark Wishlist Edition.

Was going to give some thoughts on S1 a while back but never got around to it, so eh. Let's look ahead to S2 with some things I'd like to see and some I wouldn't.

Characters:

Ironically, the one character I wanted to see but didn't think would fit the show seems like he's actually going to appear. I've already written up an extensive Prowl wishlist, but to summarize: socially awkward and seemingly cold or rude, but nice once you get to know him; either not a cop or an ex-cop; disability optional but strongly encouraged. Also, if he's going to have low empathy or a strongly numbers-based approach to the world, don't villainize him for it.

Aside from Prowl, the only characters I have strong feelings about are ones I don't want to see. Basically all of them are MTMTE/LL characters, but the only ones I'm going to call out specifically are the DJD: I feel like they would need to be a season-long threat to be properly utilized, and since we've already had one major "hunt down Decepticons" plotline, I'm not interested in seeing another.

Not a deal-breaker, but I'd rather not see any more gender-swapping. I don't mind Ravage or Nova Storm and I warmed up to Frenzy, but Skywarp just doesn't feel like the same character. By which I mean I wouldn't be able to write her the same way I write him, because the way I write him would be a female stereotype applied to her. And I couldn't do her relationship with Starscream the same way either (same goes for her relationship with Thundercracker if he shows up). So as far as fanfic goes, she's literally a different character who I'd need to approach completely differently, and I just. If you need a bigger female cast and you can bring in characters like Hardtop and Skullcrusher, you can give little-seen female characters some time in the sun. Do that instead.

Pairings:

So first off, kudos to EarthSpark for finally producing a Megatron & Optimus dynamic where they actually feel like friends, but that's all I see them as, tbh. In fact, there's only one pairing I have any interest in so far, and that's MegaStar. And with that being said, I would like to see some development between them in the next season. But not Megatron trying to make things right with Starscream: Starscream deserves to have his desire for distance respected. Instead, put them in a situation where they're forced to cooperate and let them start to work things out from there. Maybe some apologies that neither is required to accept (we don't actually know what Starscream might have to apologize for in this universe, but I'm sure there's something).

As far as potential future pairings, I guess I wouldn't hate TaraProwl. On one hand, I would prefer as few IDW influences as possible, but on the other hand, the monsterfucker in me wants someone to pair Tarantulas with. But if they're going to interact, I need Prowl to not be a jerk and I'd love it if they didn't already know each other.

Other Random Desires:

Minimal IDW influences.

Normally I wouldn't think about this in a Transformers show, but after the Mother's Day episode: no more holiday episodes please (I will make an exception for an Independence Day episode that highlights recreational explosives as a horrible way to celebrate. Seems perfect for this show).

Still torn on whether or not I want to see Nightshade become aware of transphobia, but I'm thinking not. Won't say no to having more trans/nonbinary characters, though (I will make an exception to the no gender-swapping thing if the swapped character is explicitly trans).

More disabled characters! If not Prowl, then someone (was kinda disappointed that Twitch's optic got repaired by the Magic, not gonna lie).

Okay, that's all for now. Might revisit this when we get a trailer for S2.

[ace-sher-bi-john]

Welcome One & All

I am new to the BBC Sherlock fandom, having only been a fan for a little over a month now. And I love it!

On this blog, I want to fill in some gaps in the market, so to speak in the Sherlock fandom. Examples of what I plan to provide are aro-spec/a-spec Sherlock headcanons, lots of Johnlock and Parentlock.

Aro/Ace Sherlock & Johnlock...

Naturally, of course I love Johnlock. It took me a little longer than it probably should have to see how perfect they were for each other, because one of the first video edits I ever watched was Sherlock Being AroAce for 12.5 Minutes. Being that I am somewhat aroace myself, I was excited to find that I related to Sherlock and that was part of what drew me into the fandom.

But at first I didn't want to ship John and Sherlock, because it kinda conflicted with my headcanon that Sherlock is aroace. If I were to put an aromantic character into a romantic relationship, that would be a bit arophobic would it not? It would make it seem like I believe romantic relationships to be superior to platonic relationships.

But then I remembered that aromanticism and asexuality have spectrums. I am on said spectrum. My personal headcanon for Sherlock Holmes is now that he is grey-homoromantic asexual. Basically, he's never been in love until he met John.

That sounds pretty cliche, but that's how being greyromantic works for some people. People who identify that way, may only ever fall in love with one person romantically. Or they may experience romantic attraction for multiple people in their lives. All being greyromantic means is that you rarely experience romantic attraction, but sometimes you do.

Still unsure of whether I want to headcanon Johnlock to be a queer platonic relationship or full blown romance.

I want to add my aro-spec and a-spec Sherlock headcanons, because I don't feel that there are enough out there. Which is sad because just as representation is important for other identities to feel seen and valid, it seems as though aro-spec and a-spec people get next to no positive, respectful, accurate representation.

This can lead to people who are aro/ace feeling like there's something wrong with them. They may have a hard time finding an identity that fits them, and may lead to them having misconceptions about said identity which lead to them feeling invalid in their own identity. It took me three years to feel valid in being aroace, but also romance-positive and desiring a romantic relationship.

But now that I have educated myself on the matter, I want to spread the information to anyone who feels they are struggling with their potential aro-spec/a-spec identity. To people who are struggling with misconceptions which make them feel invalid.

Parentlock...

Rosie is the most adorable thing to happen to these characters and it's a shame that we didn't get to see more of her on the show. It's just as much of a shame that there are next to no headcanons, fanfic, fanart, anything of her. I plan to fix that.

I have no guarantees on the fanfiction, but I do plan to write a massive AU which is mostly canon-compliant, except I rewrite the episodes and change canon to be the way I personally would have liked it to be.

In my fanfiction series, I will write the infamous duo's adventures in raising Rosie. If I ever make it that far, that is. I will be starting my series in season one, and making my way slowly to a potential full rewrite of season four. Then after I've written every era of BBC Sherlock into my story, I will write Rosie's story. From being an infant, to an adult. I am a sucker for a good Parentlock adventure, and will be writing ALL of the Parentlock adventures.

But once again, zero guarantees. I have never written a full fanfiction in my life. I've never been motivated enough, no matter how many ideas I have. Every time I sit down to write down my ideas, they just escape and my brain goes blank.

To End Things Off...

I just wanted to end this by saying that I am excited to be a part of this fandom. I am excited to hopefully become as good as everyone else at analyzing every single scene for every little detail. I hope to one day be writing the analyses that I love to read so much.

I'm probably not going to mention this again on here, but I was on Tumblr a couple years ago. I didn't have the best experience with the fandom I was in, and it took a toll on my mental health. I have been debating coming back on Tumblr, but decided that it was important to share my headcanons. I can't think of a better place to share them than here.

I won't be reblogging anything that's unrelated to Sherlock, unless it's really funny and positive and something that I need as a part of my life on this blog. On my old account, I would feel immense guilt if I didn't reblog every single serious non-fandom post. While those posts were important, I found that it wasn't very healthy for me to constantly expose myself to them.

I want this to be as mentally healthy an experience for me as possible :)

Thank you for visiting ace-sher-bi-john please enjoy your stay!

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Con O'Neill Media Drinking Game!

I've watched a lot of Con media, and have noticed a few patterns. As a now 21 year old, what better way to analyze these themes than a drinking game!

This is to be used in a show/movie where Con O'Neill plays a part. Again, this is all for fun, and I would love to add your ideas down below! If you don't drink booze, please just drink water….PLEASE. Your body needs it, treat yourself! 

I have the full written out a full version below but a good way to remember it is -sex-murder-love-. Since these are the common things across most Con projects. If something relating to that happens, it's probably on this list. 

Sip If Con's character:

Has an amazing outfit. 

Cries.

Breaks character in a scene (I've only seen it three times)

Swears (be smart, know the media, don't overdo this one)

Smiles

Does something Illegal. 

Sings (good luck if you're watching the bootleg of Blood Brothers, maybe once every few songs?)

Has a dead spouse/family member, and it's mentioned

Is an angry guy/an asshole. 

Hits on a person. 

~Has a Queer moment~

You think, in that moment, he's hot

There are weird editing decisions.

The media reminds you through editing/music/etc, ah yes, this was made in '---' year. 

You recognize another actor in the project

Has an unfortunate haircut

Only 1 Sip if in the plot Con's Character is: 

Wearing a suit and a white shirt. Basic business outfit.  

A Recovering Alcoholic

Playing an overworked boss/manager/team lead(Only first time showed on screen)

Con's character does something suicidal

Something idiotic happens

Takes part in a nightly confession/nightly stroll scene

Has a rough home life

Lives life through work/only lives for the job

Is a criminal 

Is an arm in the law (Think cop, lawyer, military, etc. Under state protection)

Finish Your Drink if Con's character:

Is given a 'love talk'. Often about how his character is closed off, distracted, or 'too busy with work' to love. 

Is hopelessly in love and will probably never do anything about it. 

Lax Gun Safety. (For those who don't know. Aiming a gun at someone loaded/unloaded, hovering finger over a trigger, misfire, etc)

Drugs are used BY Con's character.

Grabbing the chin of his partner before a kiss.

Con's character is killed. 

WE SEE CHEST!

Con's character gives a big 'advice' speech to our protagonist that ties into the series

ENJOY! 

(I am also working on a OFMD Fanfic drinking game, and that should be out over the next few days. It's already six pages long on Google Docs. Spanning most ships, tropes and AU's in the fandom. I would love to hear suggestions for both down below!)

[starlene]

Assorted Moulin Rouge! Stockholm thoughts:

I think it was Thalia's guidance that led me to the front of the balcony in this performance. You see, I've never been a fan of Moulin Rouge! the movie (mostly because of the way it's edited – the music video kinda style is too fast for me; it already feels like that inside my brain all the time, I don't need any more of that in a cinematic format), and though I've listened to the Broadway cast recording a lot, I wouldn't call myself a fan of the musical either. And yet, when they announced the Stockholm production, I knew I had to go to see it.

So, thank you, Thalia, for your guidance and blessing. The show absolutely slapped all the way through.

However... as I said, I'm not a MR! fan, so this point has probably been made a million times and I just haven't seen it, but: the love story in this is... kinda awful, right? Like, I know it's the whole point that Christian is young and naïve and goes mad with love, but oh man, when he goes full young werther near the end and the dying woman has to talk/sing him out of committing suicide in front of a whole audience of people... dunno, I just think he could've handled Satine's rejection a whole lot better, right?

Also, to me, the story would actually be more touching if Satine wasn't dying quite so actively. I know it's an adaptation of La traviata, I know their use of the dying courtesan character archetype is very deliberate – but even so, to me, it would feel more tragic if Satine had to leave with the Duke in the end, living a rich but empty life as his mistress, with only the memory of her and Christian's song left of her true love. There must be fanfics like this, I gotta go read them.

Anyway, I'm not watching and loving this for the story, I'm watching and loving it for the vibes. And the vibes were 100% right in Stockholm. It's not a serious show or something to be taken seriously at all, it's just kitch and glitz and glamour and fun, but with just enough of a dark edge to keep it interesting to me.

Speaking of Satine, though: as @veilingofthesun wrote, Marsha Songcome was made for the role. I don't really have any insights about the character or the performance (it's hard to analyse perfection), I just want to point out that she was just right for the role.

I promised you Harold Zidler posting, so here goes: I'm in love with Morgan Alling in the role. Like. It's not very girlboss feminist of me, but can't help it, middle-aged musical men are my kryptonite. I knew this was going to happen, and here we are. Alling has such a kind energy somehow, and it suits the role surprisingly well! We're creatures of the underworld, we cannot afford to love my ass – he so clearly loves Satine, not romantically of course, but loves her nevertheless. There was something so real/human about the character to me. I gotta see this again just so I can analyse him further.

Also loved Alexander Larsson as Toulouse-Lautrec. What a voice! And Fred Johanson as the Duke of course – he does a great villain and his voice is to die for, just shame about the awful wig.

Currently, MR! the musical is running in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. They're not Broadway replicas, but they're all replica productions of each other, directed by Anders Albien (+ co-directors from Norway and Denmark, I think). Seeing how they've all premiered a couple of weeks within each other, I'd love to hear about the logistics of the thing – how did the creative team manage three simultaneous productions? (Also, why is Finland not a part of this so-called "Nordic production"? Or might we be getting our share later on? I've no doubt whatsoever that MR! is coming to Finland soon, but I'm curious to see if it'll be this production or something else.)

They sung in English but spoke in Swedish. I understand this musical must be an absolute nightmare to translate, and here, since both of those are foreign languages to me, it didn't bother me too much. But if they do the same thing in the eventual Finnish production of MR!, I think I'll have a bigger problem with it, since having to switch between my native language and a foreign language feels more awkward.

tl;dr: Moulin Rouge! Stockholm slaps and I have to see it again, who's coming with me?

[midnightfreeway]

bad buddy fandom getting-to-know-you meme!

tagged by @dudeyuri , meme created by @fiercynn -- thank you both, this was fun!

note: i consider "fanworks" to pretty much everything people create related to a fandom, including but not limited to meta/analysis/discussion, gifs, fanvids/edits/fancams, filk, fanart, fanfic, fan food, fan crafts, etc. please include this note with the meme unless you have a different definition!

name and whatever you want to share about yourself

i'm em. i'm a lurker and a fic writer. i've been in many fandoms over the years, and my main hobby is consuming and creating queer love stories.

when did you watch bad buddy/join the fandom?

i watched the first two or three episodes in late 2022 and the rest in early january 2023. i binged episodes 9-12 in a single night and was a complete mess afterwards. i was just completely overcome with emotion because i loved it so much and no other show had made me feel like that in years.

at first, i didn't participate in the fandom that much, only reblogging a gifset here and there and gushing about it in the tags. i became more active when the our skyy 2 episodes came out. it was so much fun to watch them in real time with the rest of the fandom!

favorite ship(s)

patpran!

favorite character(s)

i'm fond of pran because i see quite a lot of myself in him, so if i could only pick one, i would pick him. i love pat too, they both are some of my favorite fictional characters.

favorite episode(s)

my favorite episode is episode 11. i also really like episodes 7, 5 and 3.

favorite scene(s)

my favorite scene is from episode 11. it's the one where pran brings pat the shirt and pat tells pran how much he appreciates him. i find that scene so sweet and touching. the first time i watched it, i was literally wiping away tears at the exact same time as pran.

other than that... there are so many of them that i don't even know where to begin. every single episode contains at least one scene i love. i really like the late-night conversation on the beach in episode 11. some others i am particularly fond of are the sleepover scene in episode 4 and the fight and the rooftop kiss in episode 5.

one thing you would change about the show if you could

like many others, i didn't like how wai outing pat and pran was handled. other than that, i would probably make episodes 1 and 2 a little less about antagonistic friend groups and spend more time establishing pat and pran individually as characters. i found it a little difficult to get into the story at first because we are introduced to so many characters right off the bat. it didn't help that bad buddy was my first gmmtv show and i didn't know any of the actors and hadn't seen the trailers etc.

what are your some of your favorite fanworks made by other people? 

i don't have any specific fanworks in mind, but i have really enjoyed reading the meta other fans have posted here on tumblr. many people have pointed out things i didn't even notice at first--my mind has been blown so many times and then i fall in love with the show even more. i really appreciate all the meta!

(if you create fanworks) what are your favorite fanworks that you’ve made?

i haven't made any fanworks yet but i'm working on a patpran fic right now and hope to post it on ao3 at some point in the fall.

idk anything else you want us to know?

i'm so glad i found this show. i love bad buddy and i'm always happy to talk about it with others.

i tag anyone who sees this and wants to do it!

[flutishly]

GGF rewatch, part 2

The thing with Green Gables Fables is that it just sort of... flows. It works. I wrote this in my previous rewatch post too and I'm left feeling like there's not much to add at this point. Anne leaps from mishap to mishap, usually with minor stakes that she dramatically enhances in a way that works perfectly for the character. The adaptation choices are often nimble and sweet. The inclusion of Matthew is wonderful, particularly given how many amateur webseries often felt like they existed in universes fully populated by teens alone (with the occasional young adult). And I love how the many side characters are gradually introduced onscreen. Anne lives at home and talks to Matthew a lot; why wouldn't he be roped into her videos? Diana and Jane are genuine friends who are aware of Anne's whimsies and vlogging quirkiness and join in on occasion. Ruby is initially a somewhat distant friend-from-school who floats into her first video with confidence and ease (in what I think is genuinely the best version of this particularly character I've ever seen) and gradually takes on a meatier role, as we'll see moving forward. And now - as I finish watching "I Hate Rain" - the elusive Gilbert makes his first appearance. He spends most of his time on camera looking at Anne, even as she steadfastly refuses to meet his gaze and continues to address the camera (even when speaking to Gilbert himself, her body remains trained toward us, her audience), Gilbert only glancing at it at the very end.

GGF doesn't feel dated. Sure, I imagine the teen references would be a bit different today (One Direction fanfic...?), but for a show that's 9 years old, it has a timelessness that is rather impressive. As I mentioned in my last post, I can't help but feel that unlike LBD where the vlogging style itself has changed so much since the show first aired, here there's something about Anne's obvious DIY style that feels entirely contemporary. Anne's filming choices also feel much more in tune with how modern casual videos are filmed, albeit hers are obviously far less edited and polished than many contemporary short videos. But would a teenager who's making videos for fun necessarily have clips that are that much more polished? Would Anne have the patience to make those sorts of videos? I'm not sure.

And so the rewatch continues, with little to add on my end. Not because there's nothing worthy, but because Anne of Green Gables is a wonderfully fluid text that doesn't feel like it has the standard Major Plot Points that need to be addressed, so much as an episodic series of events. "I Hate Rain" and the next video in line "Not Happening" are dramatic events for our sake, but there's nothing so drastic in-story in terms of having Gilbert on camera for the first time. There's no tension like with the Lizzie Bennet Diaries' "Darcy Day", in which Darcy himself introduced major drama and his very presence on camera added onto it. It's another Anne mishap, after all! It's what she does! But the viewer can enjoy this first appearance and appreciate it. Truthfully, the biggest dramatic event in GGF will happen much later (...Matthew), and the show becomes a lot more plot-driven in its second season.

For now, let's keep flowing...

[naturepointstheway]

"So who cares if I want to hang out with the lab "weirdo"?" would it be possible for you to write this?

Sooo...ahem. Apparently my fanfic department in my brain went on an extended holiday until now (about time, muses, it's already 2023!)

Anyway, some Tuggoffelees and some mute!Mistoffelees (and anthropomorphic cats edition, like some of my previous fics), with the university setting as in a few fics I'd done with this character set-up. Going with a geology class because a) I've been studying it at uni (doing a Masters in it) and b) I can imagine Misto being drawn in by the beauty of rocks and minerals.

---

If Tugger were to be honest with himself, the only reason he took that undergraduate introductory geology class was because of that cute, mute boy who never said a word in their classes. Jemima had mentioned him before as her new flatmate and how they had become tight besties from day one when he'd moved in over the summer; Mistoffelees--that was his name--was virtually mute but still expressed marvelously. Jemima had constantly gushed about how amazing he was at dancing and how fluid he was at every move, whipping her phone out at one point to show him--and it had been love at first sight. Tugger had been floored by the short videos and had asked if he might be in some of his classes. He was surprised when Jemima had mentioned that he was taking the same advanced performing arts classes as he, for he was positive he would’ve seen him. Nevertheless, Tugger had wasted no time in adding an undergrad geology class when Jemima had mentioned him taking one, though he had little interest in the subject.

He was likely to fail it, but hey, if it meant a chance...

"You're late again, Tugger."

The lead lab demonstrator's hawkish eyes landed on him the moment he stepped through the door, backpack slung over one shoulder, half-open to the point it was a miracle nothing had fallen out on the way.

Tugger leaned his hip against the doorway, winking and grinning at the disapproving demonstrator.

"I'm never late, always right on time."

The demonstrator tutted, rolled her eyes and jabbed a finger in the direction of a table with a lone student sitting there, hunched over his notes and lab book, looking deep in concentration, a rock balanced in one hand. An unopened, unused lab work sat in front of an empty chair next to the student, along with a large box of what looked like rocks.

They all look the same to me.

He glanced at the student, and then stared as he recognised the cute new flatmate of Jemima’s from her video clips and photos.

Tugger was sure that his heart rate was now triple its normal rate. Fate had seemed to favour him today!

Mistoffelees!

Throwing another wink, mouthing "thanks!" at the demonstrator (who had now turned her back on him), Tugger strode to the table, pulling out the empty chair and flopping down in it as dramatically as he could, dropping his backpack carelessly on the floor. The constant thrum of chatter and the occasional thunk from someone dropping a rock on a table didn’t appear to bother Mistoffelees at all.

"Hey," Tugger whispered by way of greeting, as he flipped the lab book in front of him open. "You must be Mistoffelees, huh?"

Mistoffelees paused to glance up for half a second at him then back down at his notes, but nodded in response, in the middle of sketching a careful drawing of the rock in his hand.His sketches looked so carefully done and not messy at all, with arrows drawn and labeled with steady fingers. Tugger caught himself staring at Mistoffelees’ fingers, marveling at how long they were.

He cleared his throat, both to get Mistoffelees’ attention and to snap himself out of it.

"My friend--your flatmate--Jemima has told me alll about you, you know." Tugger leaned back, hands clasped behind his head, completely ignoring the line of annoyance starting to form between Mistoffelees' eyebrows. "She showed me a clip of you dancing--damn. You're fabulous--I haven't seen anyone dance like you do!"

Mistoffelees’ sketching didn’t slow down any, but Tugger could have sworn up and down he saw a tug of a smile at the corner of the other’s mouth, the line between his eyebrows fading a little.

Tugger began flipping through the pages of the lab book, not really paying attention to whatever was written or drawn on the leaves.

“She told me you’re in the same advanced dance performing arts classes as me--but you couldn’t come along? Or...” Tugger caught his eye and winked. “You’re too good for us peasants right?”

Mistoffelees shook his head, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

“I was just kidding,” Tugger assured, but Mistoffelees only looked more confused before shrugging and returning to his work. “I’ll lose but I’m down for a dance off competition with you after class if you came along to them.”

Mistoffelees’ hand jerked, scrawling an unintentional line across a new sketch of a different rock. With a short sigh, he grabbed his eraser and rubbed vigorously at the paper to remove the scrawl. Was it Tugger’s imagination or did Mistoffelees’ shoulders appear more hunched, tensed? Or that his hand had momentarily quivered above the sketch before quickly resuming it like everything was fine?

Catching one of the demonstrators walking pointedly in his direction, Tugger reached forward and pulled his box of sample rocks toward him, picking one up in his hand like he had been studying it all along. It was a dark rock, it felt heavy, and it was...a rock. A short thumbs-up to the demonstrator to show he was definitely working was met with a skeptical look and then a shrug before moving on to someone else asking for help with a question.

Tugger flicked the pages until he found the intro page (so. Much. TEXT.) and began skimming over it, until he found a section explaining deeper about the three broad categories of rocks: sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. His mind was wandering too much to really concentrate properly on them, drifting back off to the videos Jemima had shown him of Mistoffelees’ dance prowess. Those fouettes, those jetes, those arabesques! They were just...something else.And that...

That...

Conjuring Turn.

That’s what Jemima had said it was.

And he believed her when she said that the video did zero justice to that level of skill and talent.

A poke just above his elbow jerked him out of the daydream, turning his head see Mistoffelees looking at him with a hint of amusement in the slight upturn of the corners of his mouth.

“Hmm?”

Mistoffelees tapped his pencil against a blank page, where he had written, fave rock? You’re looking at it like it’s the love of your life.

A nervous laugh from Tugger, though it sounded a little strained to his own ears. “Uh, nah, rocks look the same to me.”

Mistoffelees raised an eyebrow, tilting his head as though to ask, really?

“I mean, not literally,” Tugger said, rubbing his thumb over the rock in his hand. “This one is clearly a black rock with, uh...” he pursed his lips, rubbing his chin as he scrutinised what else he could see about it. “Ooh, those are interesting patterns on its surface.”

Mistoffelees smiled, eyes lighting up in such a way it made Tugger’s heart miss about six or seven beats before pounding in his chest to catch up.

Damn. Jemima could’ve warned me how cute he is!

Tugger rubbed his thumb over the shell-like curves on the rock’s surface, feeling its tiny ridges on his skin. He didn’t care for rocks, but he wasn’t going to lie, this was a beautiful specimen.

A pencil tap on his hand drew his attention again to Mistoffelees, who pointed at more things written on the sheet.

Obsidian. Igneous. Minimal crystal growth due to fast cooling of extruded lava.  Conchoidal fracturing (shell-like). Pretty, isn’t it?

Tugger grinned. “It’s pretty, but not as pretty as your eyes right now.”

Mistoffelees’ eyes grew round at his response, pencil slipping from between his fingers as he fumbled with it, looking back down from Tugger after a second or two.

Does he know how his eyes light up with happiness?

He really needed to talk to Jemima about warning him beforehand of the cuteness of her flatmates in future.

“Jemima tells me you love rocks. I never got it but...”

Then why? Were the next two words from Mistoffelees. Why are you here?

Tugger shrugged. “Just needed an extra class, I guess.”

Like he was going to tell Mistoffelees it was just because he wanted to be closer to him. Maybe one day he’ll tell him that, but certainly not right now. He didn’t want to scare Mistoffelees off before the lab was even over.

Tossing the obsidian back into the sample box, Tugger picked up another rock, one that was tan in colour and had a couple very tiny shells in it. It felt sandy against his palm and under his thumb.

“I imagine you know what this one is too?”

He watched Mistoffelees’ hand writing across the page, recalling again how graceful his hands had looked in Jemima’s videos.

Sandstone. Sedimentary. Feldspar and quartz very common in this rock. Formed over millions of years by compaction.

“Oh yeah, quartz,” Tugger recalled from whatever he had skimmed over in the lab book. “Silicon or something, right?”

SiO2.

He also randomly remembered another snatch of information from the previous class.

“Wait...isn’t sandstone the only rock that has fossils?”

Mistoffelees shook his head, before quickly writing again.

Sedimentary rocks, including sandstone. All sedimentary rocks can contain fossils.

Tugger pointed at one of the tiny shells embedded in the rock. “So this dude here is a fossil?”

A nod from Mistoffelees, who was now smiling a little, eyes lighting up again as they had before. Again, Tugger’s heart skipped a beat when they made eye contact--even if it was only for a split second before Mistoffelees quickly looked away and back down at his own work.

He’s so...adorable? Cute? Um? Jemima, we’re gonna talk.

Tugger tried to force his brain to focus on the lab at hand as Mistoffelees pointedly busied himself with answering more lab questions, but it was hard. Hard to focus when it was so sunny outside, when he kept thinking about the dance videos on Jemima’s phone, considering if he should go ahead and ask for Misto’s number after lab, and--

“Ahem.”

A handed padded its way onto the lab-book, drawing his attention up to another girl who he didn’t know, looking intently at him.

“Hey,” she said, jerking a thumb back at her table, “Why’re you hanging out with this weirdo? Wouldn’t you rather sit with us?”

Did she just...call Mistoffelees...a weirdo? What is this, high-school again?

“What’d you call Mistoffelees?”

The girl scoffed. “He’s a weirdo, he never talks, never makes eye contact with you,” 

Tugger remembered Jemima saying that Mistoffelees had autism, and that it was natural for him to avoid eye contact or want some space, and he was also pretty much mute.

“Neurodivergency exists you know,” Tugger said airily, “And who cares if I want to hang out with the lab “weirdo”? It’s not high-school anymore.”

“Really?” the girl looked disappointed. “I thought you’d like--”

“Thanks but no thanks. I’m fine here. He knows lots of cool things about rocks, and he’s my bestie’s flatmate. I don’t think she’d appreciate you calling him names either.”

“Fine, I give up then.”

With that, the girl flounced off back to her own group.

See you never.

He felt Mistoffelees staring at him, the sounds of the pencil scratching on paper having come to a complete silence. When Tugger looked over at him with a wink, the other quickly looked down at his lab book,

“Don’t worry about her--I’ve got your back. As does Jemima.”

Thanks, but you didn’t have to. I’m used to it.

“Doesn’t make it okay, y’know? You’re worth so much more--bet she can’t even tell a fouette from a pirouette. Hell, she’s probably never heard of either of those terms. Kinda sound like pastries now I think about it. French pastries, naturally.”

Now I’m hungry, Mistoffelees wrote.

“You’re welcome.” Tugger winked. “And you’re welcome to sit with me if you ever wanted to come to the advanced dance class too you know. I wouldn’t mind having you for company.”

Thanks. I’ll see.

“Just think about it. It’d be cool to see you there too. I promise not to annoy you...” Tugger added a little laugh before, “Much.”

I’d like to get back to study. Leave me be.

“Oh yeah, course.” Tugger looked back down at the huge blocks of words. To his brain it just seemed like a wall of text. He sorely wished there was a TL;DR summary or something in a box at the bottom of the page.

And, again, his brain wandered back to those dazzling videos.

The fouettes, the pirouettes, the arabesques, the grande plies...

So perfect, so flawless, so...magical. Graceful. Phenomenal. Stunning. Mystical.

I really, really hope I see him in advanced dance class soon...

If all those videos of his dance, the way his eyes shone when “talking” about rocks, and just how adorable he looked...

If this wasn’t love at first sight, well...then Tugger had no clue what that would be instead.

Look out, Jemima, I’ll be talking your ears off asking about Mistoffelees tonight. And about how you should’ve warned me on how cute he is. He is impossibly cute and talented.

He really really hoped more than ever to see him in the next advanced dance class tomorrow afternoon, just so he could see Mistoffelees’ dance moves in real life, and not “just” from videos on Jemima’s phone.

If he’s amazing in her videos, what is he like in real life? Beyond perfect, probably.

And Tugger would no doubt fall even more in love with him.