#just. discouraged I guess?

[queerfables]

This came up in my recent discussion with @indigovigilance, but for my own reference, I wanted to make a dedicated post about it.

Fandom speculation in the wake of season 2 has pointed to the themes of deception, sleight of hand and memory tampering to suggest there's an unsolved mystery woven through the season that we can piece together with the right evidence. I think there's a solid case for this, but I also think it's possible we've been deliberately lead into overthinking things.

Crowley and Aziraphale's conversation about Clues-with-a-captial-C is a reference to Terry Pratchett's iconic Discworld detective, Samuel Vimes. Vimes is skeptical about Clues. He considers assembling a singular, intricate explanation that accounts for every available piece of evidence a great way to end up with a theory that is enormously clever and completely off base.

From Feet of Clay:

Samuel Vimes dreamed about Clues. He had a jaundiced view of Clues. He instinctively distrusted them. They got in the way. And he distrusted the kind of person who’d take one look at another man and say in a lordly voice to his companion, “Ah, my dear sir, I can tell you nothing except that he is a left-handed stonemason who has spent some years in the merchant navy and has recently fallen on hard times,” and then unroll a lot of supercilious commentary about calluses and stance and the state of a man’s boots, when exactly the same comments could apply to a man who was wearing his old clothes because he’d been doing a spot of home bricklaying for a new barbecue pit, and had been tattooed once when he was drunk and seventeen and in fact got seasick on a wet pavement. What arrogance! What an insult to the rich and chaotic variety of the human experience!

From the Fifth Elephant:

Mr. Vimes had told him never to get too excited about clues, because clues could lead you a dismal dance. They could become a habit. You ended up finding a wooden leg, a silk slipper and a feather at the scene of a crime and constructing an elegant theory involving a one-legged ballet dancer and a production of Chicken Lake.

Coupled with the conspicuous barrel of red herrings in the opening credits, I have to wonder if the show, while teasing the possibility of a mystery, is explicitly telling us not to look too hard. I'm not ruling out some kind of twist, but I'm inclined to think that for this story, theories are strongest when they rely on only a few pieces of evidence and follow a clear, straightforward narrative. If there is something still hidden in season 2, maybe it's not an elaborate puzzle but a simple misdirect.

[scummy-writes]

I will not be leaving tumblr because. There is literally no other good site for posting writing that also promises interaction with others. Stuck here until it crashes and burns, I guess.

[skania]

I keep seeing people saying "Aqua only wanted to date Akane because he couldn't date Kana", but I'm not convinced things are that white-and-black.

The thing is, I think a lot of us underestimate just how attached Aqua got to Akane. Sure, at first he wants to keep her near because of her intelligence and incredible insight, but that changes the moment Akane figures out his secret.

The Japanese side-text even gives us a helpful ただのビジネス、 カップルを越えて— telling us that they're becoming more than just a business couple.

This little moment right here pretty much disarms the guy. He gets a taste of what being understood is like, and he can't help himself after that. Suddenly he is letting down his walls and allowing Akane to watch his childhood videos, something that even takes Gotanda aback because Aqua doesn't let anyone watch those.

More importantly, he even goes as far as to confess his goal to Akane. It was a clear gamble to gauge just how honest she was to him when she told him that she would be his ally no matter what, and Akane gives him more than he bargained for.

Akane is the real deal. What she is offering him—unconditional understanding and support—is the real deal. And Aqua doesn't know how to react to that. His black star even reverts back to white!

However, we see just how important this was to him a few chapters later, when we get this gem:

"Did you think you finally found someone who understands you after meeting Akane Kurokawa?"

In hindsight, the fact that Goro is highlighting Akane's understanding of Aqua and putting her right up there with Kana completely sets-up the events that would follow.

Because, what happens after Aqua finds out that he's finally free?

He thinks of both, Kana and Akane. She has managed to get under his skin to the point he is genuinely considering her as a romantic option, something he said would never happen.

This is when things get pretty interesting, because Aqua began dating Akane just to use her, right? So he no longer has any reason to keep her around.

Except he wants to keep her around, and this time it's for entirely personal reasons. He knows his growing attachment to Akane will do her no good though, so he shoots that selfish thought down at once.

Akane is young and she has a bright future. I can't hold her back forever...

By his own admission, he thinks he is holding her back, so he decides to break up with her to set her free. He even says as much as they're walking to the bridge, almost like he's trying to convince himself it's the right thing to do.

I don't think... it's good for me to keep you tied down forever, Akane.

In other words, Aqua isn't breaking up with Akane because he isn't romantically interested in her. At the contrary, he even ends up admitting that he is attracted to her.

However, he doesn't seem to be entirely sure of what he feels for her and he is under the impression that Akane isn't romantically interested in him.

All this to say, Aqua mainly wanted to break up with Akane for her. Because he has been deceiving her and holding her back.

Case in point, a chapter later he goes on a date with Kana, who even asks him what he plans to do with Akane. You'd think that this would be the perfect moment for Aqua to confirm his romantic-disinterest in Akane by telling Kana something like:

I tried to break up with her but we got interrupted

I'm going to break up with her

Or any variation of those lines, since that's what he intended to do last time we saw him with Akane. He tells her this instead:

We talked about it the other day, but we got interrupted.

Oh, so breaking up actually isn't a done deal.

We'll probably get an answer... the next time we meet.

So, it isn't only Akane who is trying to figure out what Aqua is to her. Aqua himself is thinking about what Akane means to him.

Something about his conversation with Akane got to him, so he starts second-guessing whether he should break up with her or not even though it's "a little too late", since they talked about breaking up already.

If he were 100% intending to pursue Kana, why would he be telling her all this? Not to mention, why is he thinking carefully about his relationship with Akane instead of focusing on his relationship with Kana?

When it comes down to it, ever since Aqua found out that he is free to love someone, Akane and his relationship with her remain at the forefront of his mind. He even broaches the subject right after Akane finds his corpse, which was far and away not the time for that lol

Which of course leads us to the moment they get the answer Aqua alluded to earlier.

Akane finally understands what she feels for Aqua, and while she tries to keep a smile on for him, her true feelings come pouring through her tears.

Aqua wondered if Akane even harbored any romantic feelings for him. Those tears seem to be the answer to that question.

Which leaves us with: What does Aqua feel for Akane?

Aqua seems to realize it in very much the same way Akane did earlier. Through it all, they have been supporting each other, getting to know each other, understanding each other and having fun together.

Their relationship hasn't been a lie. Akane sincerely wanted to get close to him to help him. He sincerely wants to stay close to her to protect her.

Since Aqua had already resolved the question of 'should I fall in love?', that left him with two other questions to answer.

Can he fall in love with Akane?

Does he want to fall in love with her?

Going by this, he obviously decides that the answer to both questions is yes.

Now, this post isn't here to claim that he did fall for her or anything, he obviously still has unresolved feelings for Kana. What I'm 100% here to say though is that Aqua's feelings were way less set in stone than people make it sound, and that that the order of events clearly show that Aqua actually gave his feelings for Akane a whole lot of thought, even before he realized he should keep his distance from Kana.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

on my quest to find more books to read this year, there's been something kind of heartwarming to see that of the books on hold at my local library, or on the weekly bestseller's list at my local bookstores, there's always at least one book up there that's about Palestine. It's at least nice to see that some people in my area want to learn about the historical context of what's happening now, and learn far more than what a few posts on their feed can tell them. It makes me hope that public perception will continue to change for the better - and that the kind of support I've seen in my area won't die down immediately after a ceasefire is called

[wolfiery]

reblog to like ratio is sooooo sad on here these days. SIGH.

[ghostlynimbus]

In an AU where Hopper ends up taking in Billy too, El picks up Billy's habit of saying "I can't do [x] im gay."

only she doesn't understand what it means really or what context is appropriate to use it in or that Billy's mostly being sarcastic/joking when he says it (he can in fact do math, and he personally thinks his driving skills are just fine thank you very much).

And it eventually leads to a situation like that one scene in Modern Family, with Hopper telling El "You're not gay you're just confused!" way louder than he meant to in the public space they're in.

[northern-passage]

hey. have you all heard about this. they’re making a squid game reality tv show. like an actual squid games. have you heard about that. did you hear about amazon also planning a disco elysium tv series, and a life is strange tv series? of course we already have rings of power and then over on HBO we have the last of us and then wherever that shit halo show is streaming. and don’t forget all the star wars spin offs whose taglines are “the revolution will be televised” while being streamed by one of the worst media companies of all time who uses their billions of dollars to support bigots in the government and create military propaganda. have you heard about the booktok industry plant? have you heard about that author who gets their agent to spoon-feed them tropes so they can write the most soulless, bland fanfic that they can then repackage as a YA novel (she’s a new york times best-selling author btw) have you heard about all of that?

the creative industry is so discouraging right now. sometimes i really struggle to find any motivation at all when i see the way certain stories are treated - completely bastardized, milked for all their worth (and then beaten like a dead horse just for good measure) or otherwise you have creators that clearly could not care less, nothing but a cash grab with a pretty coat of paint, usually piggybacking off of trends or just using a pre-existing media (because then you already have a pre-existing fanbase. easy money!) and i’m not going to pretend like i understand how all of it works, what the process is from book/game to movie deal to netflix show but i will say i hate that this is the “goal” now, that this seems to be the expectation with so much art these days, whether the creator wants it or not.

it’s all just so... bleak.

[galaxythreads]

i know - i know - that querying involves a lot of rejections, and by god have I got them, but I got a rejection from an agent I really thought would like my og book and i feel really, really, really discouraged right now. :/

[libraryspectre]

I tested at a 7th grade reading level in 2nd grade, which was a big deal for me. Our school library had a rule that you had to get your teacher's permission to check out a book with a reading level more than 2 above your grade. We took that test after a few weeks of me bringing my library selections to my teacher like 🥺 and the first time I brought her some big ol chapter books after that test she just threw her hands up and was like "YOU dont have to ask anymore". Best day ever, I was king of the library after that

[in-tua-deep]

I think I may just have to accept that my mum had absolutely buckwild manic pixie dream girl game back in the day

[robotwrangler]

28 year old men at uni can’t get enough of my approachable theythem swag

[s0ckh3adstudios]

Hey random but if there's anything I'm ever somehow being disrespectful about or saying incorrectly or doing wrong things, PLEASE let me know because chances are I have absolutely no idea. Because the last thing I want to do is something disrespectful or offensive

[aceofwhump]

not to sound like an ungrateful ass because i'm really grateful somebody took the event over rather than it getting abandoned completely but oh boy, i really wish there was more consideration put into thinking about us poor lil gif makers lmao. i saw the prompt list & my heart sank because wow, what the flip am i supposed to do with some of these prompts? i was up late last night trying to come up with a plan & yh, it's going to be difficult that's for sure! anyway best of luck to you my love! x

Nonny I am really glad you sent this message because I am feeling the EXACT same way.

I am so grateful to the new mods that whumptober is continuing and I recognize how massive this event is, how much time goes into planning and running something on this scale. I have a massive amount of appreciation for themcause I certainly couldnt handle it. And I love them for doing it. I do.

But it feels like they only thought of this event as a writing event and that irks me. This prompt list is so hard for gifmakers. It's great for writing and I'm glad a lot of writers are feeling inspired but as gifmaker my heart sunk further and further with each days prompt I read. How on earth am I supposed to come with enough scenes for a compilation gifset for these prompts? Hell, I can't even come up with a single scene for a lot of these. Even the alternates are a challenge so I can't even use those to help me.

I don't know. I'm not giving up though!! I'm gonna figure something out for each day even if it's only vaguely related to the prompt! Still, it's a little discouraging reading these prompts. Feels like sometimes people forget that the whump community is fandom community and not just a writing community. There is so much more to this community than writing and I wish that was acknowledged more sometimes. Not to diss writers! I'm a writer! I love whump writers! Y'all are amazing! But being a gifmaker it can make me sad sometimes that people think of the community as strictly a writing community when it's more than that.

Ugh sorry for being a downer. I'm struggling here. I don't want to repeat scenes I've giffed before but it's not looking good. I know I'm gonna have to repeat scenes cause I just don't have any other examples. I was really hoping for specific tropes instead of vague ideas this year.

But its gonna be okay, yeah? Us gifmakers can do this! We got this! And we can help each other. I already know of a few days I'm going to ask for help with so if I can help anyone with a prompt please ask! We can do this!

[ghostbustermelanieking]

for anyone who follows me and writes, fanfiction or original stuff... is it normal for pretty much no one in your personal in-person life to be interested in your writing? like i've got people who might read the odd short story i wrote, but usually if i ask someone to read something they just never do, and i never have anyone asking me about it, so like... is that normal?? does the average person not care if their friend or family member is working on a novel?

[dufrau]

i keep being like TOMORROW IM GONNA WRITE but ive had a lot of random stuff going on that has interrupted my routine and like tomorrow i am maybe getting a fridge delivered so im gonna be worrying about that all day and then friday i have a friend coming over to maybe take some of my boots that i dont really wear anymore off my hands and then i have a family dinner in the evening and then saturday im probably gonna be hungover from family dinner.

so. like.

SUNDAY i am gonna write.

[the-kipsabian]

reminder that the reblog button is free to use