#like will is so insane i’d love to see that explored in a different way

[sophfandoms53]

Finished the Knuckles Show and uhhhhhhhhhh it’s certainly a show.

There’s good stuff buried in every episode especially where Knuckles is concerned. They set up a very interesting arc for him and just didn’t really explore much with it. After the first episode Knuckles is shoved to the side CONSTANTLY and is made the B plot more often than he should be as the TITULAR character.

Every criticism that said Wade takes over the show is correct.

After episode 1, Wade takes over every A plot and Knuckles is only ever in the B plot that has either minimal time focused on him or he’s just straight up not around (episode 4 is the worst offender here but it’s an issue from eps2-6). They actively write Knuckles out of the plot constantly and it’s very frustrating.

If you like Wade and enjoy his personal journey about his family then this’ll be fine. I, for one, thought it was interesting on its own but 100% it has no reason to be here in a SONIC MOVIE KNUCKLES spin off show. This is not Knuckles’ show. It’s Wade’s and that’s the biggest let down.

Knuckles IS there but that’s it, he’s just THERE.

And it sucks because Movie!Knuckles himself is very well crafted and very entertaining and engaging to watch. The show is at its strongest when it’s about Knuckles and spending time with him. Episode 1 is the only episode that it feels like what it was advertised as - the Knuckles show.

Sonic, Tails, and Maddie only show up for the first episode and never come back. Which is wild because part of the plot is Maddie has grounded Knuckles and he sneaks out but there’s never any consequences shown once he gets home nor do we see how anyone reacted once they noticed Knuckles is gone. These three are just abandoned after episode 1.

Tails has like 6 or 7 lines, my boy deserves sm better LMAOO

A big highlight, however, I LOVED Sonic in this one episode. The way you can see and FEEL how he’s grown from movie to movie and in this first episode is very well done. He’s truly becoming the Sonic I know and when he and Knuckles had their conversation on the roof where he tries to help Knuckles see the beauty in Green Hills, his home - that entire scene was PURE Sonic’s golden heart on display. He does still have his jokes that remind you Ben Schwartz is his actor and that he’s a silly kid but he IS still Sonic at his core and I loved that. It made me very sad we didn’t get to see more of him but I appreciated seeing Sonic handled this way. It makes me very eager to see how movie 3 goes about him considering everything Shadow brings to the table and how different of a threat he’s gonna be for Sonic.

Episode 2 is alright but GOOD LORD episodes 3-5 are such a waste of time. There’s good sprinkled in them in isolation but as full blown episodes, a waste. You can skip most of what’s happened and be fine.

The big climax fight in the finale just HAPPENS. The plot armor literally comes bursting through the wall and yanks Knuckles out of the plot for way too long and we only get TRUE and INCREDIBLE Movie Knuckles action (his fire fists which were insane btw) in the last 5 minutes and it only lasted like 2 of those 5 minutes.

Overall, it’s not entirely unwatchable but it’s not worth a majority of people’s time. You don’t need this for movie 3 so if you wanna skip it - I’d recommend that. If you really watch though, I’d only say watch the first episode and the finale and just google the context for what’s in between bc eps 2-5 are total slogs after a while.

If you like silly dumb fun - this is the show for you. But it’s not the show many Sonic fans may have wanted or expected.

I’m not angry or anything like many people have been. It’s not worth getting angry over. I’m moreso just disappointed because I can see a good show about Knuckles hidden in there. They just opted to give more time into Wade for whatever reason.

Just an overall let down imo.

Knuckles deserved better❤️

[richtkin]

i need a NBC: Hannibal and Netflix: You crossover but with Will Graham as Joe Goldberg asap.

[nerves-nebula]

I sometimes get uncomfortable around arguments about if certain characters are abusive or not- obviously I see this the most with 2012 tmnt and nobody really needs my opinion but I keep thinking about it so here’s some words to chew on.

Keep in mind I haven’t seen much of 2012 so I’ll mostly be talking about the WAY I see these discussions being had here, rather than the show itself.

I doubt the creators intended for the turtles to be abusive and I kind of just assume that everything they do is within the genre of slapstick kids show. But I also don’t think people who cringe away from the way they treat each other are reading too much into it.

I’ve seen people argue that ppl who think the brothers are abusive just don’t have siblings and that’s an insane take to me. Obviously its probably hyperbole in some instances but as someone with more siblings than most of the people I know, I 100% see the abuse reading of this series. It’s a very obvious idea to latch onto for me as someone who HAS been abused by my siblings- and who’s probably been abusive too.

The main thing that really gets under my skin is when people point out how much the turtles actually care about each other as evidence against abuse. Cause that doesn’t make any sense ??? you can abuse people you love and care about deeply.

And it really rubs me the wrong way when I see a post that’s like Raph can’t be abusive because he does X nice/cute things with Mikey or something like. That’s not how abuse works. You guys have to know that right?? Abuse isn’t just a person being mean 24/7 without pause.

A bit of a tangent coming up, but growing up, I really hated Mabel from gravity falls. not because she is inherently any more annoying or selfish or anything than other characters but because the way she treated dipper was extremely triggering for me as a child with a lot of anxiety. Like if Mabel was real and my sibling, I would’ve considered a lot of the shit she did abusive. Obviously I’m normal about her now cause I’m not 12 anymore but the biggest hurdle about watching that show when I was younger was that I would sometimes be brought to tears of frustration, imagining how scared and distressed I’d be if Mabel did that shit to me.

THE POINT of this tangent is that saying “the 2012 turtles aren’t abusive because I do that stuff with my siblings all the time/cause teenage boys are just like that” isn’t a genuine critique because abuse isn’t just about the action it’s about the relationship. Punching your sibling who’s actually ok with being punched isn’t abuse. Punching your sibling who really doesn’t want you to, and who you KNOW really doesn’t want you to, and who you KNOW would be genuinely upset by being punched? That is abuse.

And I find it annoying because I think we’re all aware that abuse was likely not the intent of the show. (Probably not even the text of the show but once again can’t say for sure) Maybe some dysfunction for drama, but probably not abuse, so you’re really just arguing against someone’s headcanon/personal interpretation of this show. And it’s like.. ok you have a different reading cool I guess.

In the show they aren’t treated as abusive, but fandoms are built around exploring different aspects of art that weren’t explored in canon. So I guess idk why this is a big deal.

Idk I think people have this idea that abusive = evil and always wrong. But abuse is just someone hurting you repeatedly and refusing to stop for whatever reason.

And with a show like 2012 where it’s all played for laughs it can be hard to tell if that’s how they are with each other because they’re ok with it or if that’s how they are cause they don’t know any other way. The turtles are kind of really mean in 2012, and wether that’s a familiarity kind of meanness or not is up to you in fandom, yknow?

Does Mikey actually consider Raph hitting him as like a fun part if their banter or is he coping with jokes about being physically abused? You decide! Like genuinely it can be either and I think that’s fun!

I mean obviously you all know what i’d pick, but that’s because I’m blissfully aware of what I want out of stories and what i want is nuanced discussions of abuse.

Personally, I acted very similarly to the 2012 turtles when living with my siblings, but I didn’t actually fucking like it. It was a defense mechanism because being genuine would only be met with ridicule. So I’m not inclined to agree that it’s fine because it’s just what they do.

Once again though, I doubt it was on purpose. And if you don’t think that they’re abusive then congrats! The show probably doesn’t either! So I just don’t see why people get super upset about it. Don’t you love that someone got a different story out of the same media??

Anyway obviously it doesn’t super matter and I don’t really have a horse in this race. I just got a bit annoyed with the way abuse is discussed and as a hobbyist Abuse Analyst I thought I’d weigh in.

I wrote this instead of going to sleep and it’s sooo late and also so much longer that I meant for it to be… y’all better not have bad takes in response or I’ll be annoyed as hell tomorrow morning, guh.

[saltiestgempearl]

Today is the day! At long last, I can talk about my absolute favorite headcanon about Dr. Seward with you all.

I'm writing a new post about it instead of just reblogging my post from last year because that post is not spoiler free. That is, I posted October 22 of 2022, so it does mention things from entries that have not happened yet in the 2023 Dracula Daily.

That said, most of it is still fine now that the September 3 entry has arrived, so I have put together a slightly edited version that does not touch on anything that happens after the September 3 Dracula entry:

It starts out with this passage from today's entry:

How can he'—and he pointed at me with the same look and gesture as that with which once he pointed me out to his class, on, or rather after, a particular occasion which he never fails to remind me of—'know anything of a young ladies? He has his madmen to play with, and to bring them back to happiness, and to those that love them.

The thing is, that's not exactly the wording in the original book. In the original book, it says “He has his madams to play with, and to bring them back to happiness, and to those that love them.” Many people write this off as a typo to the point of changing it to “madmans” or “madmen” in some versions.

But what if it wasn’t a typo?

The word “madam” implies an older woman, like anywhere from middle-aged to elderly. And at the time, it was not at all uncommon for women in this age group to be sent to asylums to recuperate. Sometimes it was just a way to get female relatives you didn’t like out of the way, but sometimes it wasn’t.

You see, many Victorians (men and women alike) unironically bought into the “delicate woman” narrative. People really, genuinely thought women were just psychologically more predisposed to mental instability.

Anyway, the headcanon is that Seward actually started out as a relatively low-level psychologist at an asylum, primarily working with middle-aged to elderly women. And being the inquisitive man he is, he interacted with the patients in a less-than-conventional way, letting them talk about things that would normally be considered signs of imbalance by the contemporary medical community (e.g., “sometimes I wish I’d never had my children,” “sometimes I just want as little to do with my husband as possible,” “honestly those suffragettes make some good points,” etc.). This isn’t to say he was some feminist icon mind you; he didn’t even necessarily agree or legitimize these ideas. But he didn’t shoot them down either—he just listened. And by engaging with the women in this way, he was essentially exploring some of what we now call talk therapy, which was very much not a thing at this time. He may have also tried to be supportive of their hobbies, which while not unheard of (institutions like Bedlam set a precedent for this), was not the most common thing either.

So he did this for a while, and surprise surprise, it actually helped these women quite a bit. He quickly got a reputation for being someone who was unusually gifted in turning around cases of “nervous disorders” that were so common with these delicate womenfolk.

But then some higher-ups decided “oh, well if he’s good with this, he must be good with insane people too.” So despite being a 29-year-old budding psychologist in a very young field, he suddenly found himself the head of an asylum with a very different sort of population to treat.

Given why he was put in this position, Jack naturally continues using the methods that helped his former patients recover so spectacularly. The issue is, of course, that people who are dealing with psychosis or other more serious conditions generally need a different approach than neglected women with anxiety. Basic talk therapy isn’t going to cut it with someone like Renfield.

But again, this field is very young, so Seward is actually relatively limited on how much he can research this. So he continues with his talk therapy, but then adds things like straightjackets into the mix when his patients have meltdowns because that was also a relatively accepted solution at the time (though not universally so; even in Bram Stoker’s time, there were some professionals in the field who had figured out that this type of manual restraint was not helpful and honestly not humane.)

It’s also possible that Jack might have had some criticism early on for not being firm enough with his more “difficult” patients, so he might have overcompensated for that by using the straightjacket solution more often when things got out of hand.

And finally, Jack also has his mad scientist tendencies that he openly grapples with in his diary—you know, the sort that caused him to make wildly irresponsible decisions like “let’s let Renfield escape, but supervised, and see what happens.” And since Jack was the head of the hospital, no one shot down this obviously ridiclous idea because they probably didn’t have the authority to.

TL;DR: The headcanon is “maybe Van Helsing did mean ‘madams’ because Jack started off wildly successful in treating older women with anxiety, and as a result was catapulted into a much more powerful position he was neither properly trained for nor mentally ready for.”

[captain-ozone]

MY VERY SPOILERY THOUGHTS ON THE LITTLE MERMAID

I’m going absolutely feral after seeing The Little Mermaid. My inner child has been FED, and I HAVE NO ONE TO TALK TO ABOUT IT YET so here I am to spew my thoughts. Spoilers below:

1. Halle was perfect. I will accept no criticism on this point. The only thing I cared about when this live-action movie was announced was that our new Ariel would have a voice to match Jodi Benson’s, and Halle did more than deliver. She epitomized the spirit of Ariel in every way. She was playful, she was inquisitive, she was joyful and bright and fun, she was so good at tugging the heartstrings (even without dialogue!!!) and appealing to our innate wanderlust and desire to discover and experience,  and she was so so EARNEST in her portrayal I can’t even. 

2. THE DEPTH THEY ADDED TO PRINCE ERIC’S CHARACTER OKAY!?!?! LIKE?!?!?! Okay, I will NOT GET OVER THIS. It was SO CLEVER of them to mirror Ariel’s journey with his desire to break free of his position’s restrictions. It worked incredibly well and did not once detract from our heroine’s spotlight. Rather, it ENHANCED their connection and sold me on their three-day love story in a deeper and more meaningful way than the original did (more on that below). ALSO ALSO ALSO SO COOL of them not to kill off his ADOPTIVE mother. ADOPTIVE. Marvelous choice! Truly. His mother’s fear of the sea gods offered a parallel to Triton’s fear of the surface world, and *CHEFS KISS*

3. Melissa McCarthy’s Pour Unfortunate Souls was a FUN TIME. 

4. Awkwafina as Scuttle? Inspired. 

5. MAX WAS ADORABLE AND THE STAR OF THE SHOW EVERY TIME HE WAS ON SCREEN. BEST BOY.

6. Wherever they filmed? The castle? Fucking gorgeous.

7. JODI BENSON CAMEOOOOOOO 

8. Grimsby is the GOAT. Enough said.

9. NEW SONGS

I may get some hate for this, but I’m not the biggest fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda.  Idk how to put this. He has an insane amount of talent, but for...untraditional musicals. I wouldn’t say he’d be my first choice to write new songs that fit the more traditional Broadway-like musical vibes that characterized so much of the Disney Renaissance. 

That being said, The Scuttlebutt was the strongest of the bunch, I think. It was very much a Miranda song, and in most instances, I’d be a little irritated by how they included a song that has a style so different from the rest of the lyrical music we know and love from the original animated movie. But it worked here, likely because it was delivered by Awkwafina’s Scuttle and FIT the character.

Honorable mention to Wild Uncharted Waters, only because WOW Jonah Hauer-King went OFF on that performance. This boy said “I get one musical number and I’m going to KILL IT” and he did.

Also very much liked the Part of Your World (Reprise II)! It tied everything together really nicely.

10. THE OTHER NOTABLE CHANGES I NEED TO SCREAM ABOUT

I LOVE THAT ARIEL HESITATED BEFORE CHOOSING TO GO THROUGH WITH THE SPELL.

I LOVE THAT ARIEL WAS FORCED TO FORGET SHE NEEDED A KISS FROM ERIC. --> THIS. THIS IS FREAKING AMAZING. I can’t even express how much more I felt for Ariel and Eric’s love story. How much more real it felt. How much more believable and true. I don’t buy in to one-day (or few-day) love stories very easily, especially when physical intimacy/attraction is a driving force. My little aroace ass dug the fact that kissing Eric literally was the last thing on Ariel’s mind. She got to be herself, explore this new world, AND do it with someone who appreciated her curiosity and found joy in how much joy she was experiencing, who could have just as much fun as she could. God. Goals. 

I LOVE THAT ERIC KNEW SOMETHING WASN’T RIGHT WITH VANESSA, EVEN IF HE COULDN’T PUT HIS FINGER ON IT. Very reminiscent of Prince of Song and Sea by Linsey Miller (a YA AU retelling told from Prince Eric’s POV. It’s a fun, easy read, if you’re curious).

I LOVE THAT ARIEL ACTIVELY TACKLED VANESSA AND BROKE THE SHELL NECKLACE HERSELF.

I LOVE THAT ARIEL WAS THE ONE TO STAB URSULA. I LOVE THAT SO MUCH. WE LOVE A BADASS HEROINE WHO DON’T NEED NO MAN TO SAVE HER.

All of these changes were important and mean a lot to me. I think it challenges a lot of the issues people have with the original animated movie, in that, here in the 2023 version, no one can argue that Ariel made her choices because she was lusting after a man. Or that she’s a damsel in distress. Very good stuff there.

11. My critiques

Some of the cinematography was weird. The transition between acting scenes and singing scenes didn’t always flow right. They felt abrupt and awkward. I definitely worried a bit about the CGI too, and it wasn’t too terrible imo. 

And my biggest complaint: idk what it was about the ending, but it didn’t *quite* hit right. In the original animated movie, one of the last bits of dialogue comes from Triton, when he says, “...how much I’m going to miss her.” The finale of the animated movie is then a spectacle of swelling music and a heartfelt case of “show” rather than “tell.” The hug between Ariel and Triton on the wedding barge is perfect. The way in which the mer-people come to witness the wedding and send off Eric and Ariel is perfect. 

The live-action ending felt...a little too somber. It became too much about Triton letting go and not enough about Ariel and Eric setting off on adventure together or about their worlds colliding in peace. I wouldn’t say that the last conversation between Triton and Ariel in the 2023 movie cheapens the line “...how much I’m going to miss her” and the bittersweetness with which he gifts her back her human legs, but it came close. I would have MUCH rather had a little more from Eric and Ariel than from Triton. LIKE HELLO??? WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT RING GRIMSBY KICKED AWAY!??? THERE WAS SOMETHING THEY COULD HAVE USED RIGHT THERE. Or better yet: if they wanted to do something super touching, they could have had Eric’s mother and Triton do a short aside by themselves, or perhaps even have a sort of moment where they acknowledge each other with respect/compassion/understanding before we all refocused on Ariel and Eric for the grand finale. But nah, they did what they did, and I’ll be a bit salty about it forever.

But anyway. Overall, I was very pleased. My disappointment with the lack of emotional impact from the ending does not supersede my enjoyment of everything else.

If you made it this far, please share your thoughts! I’m eager to talk to people, because all my friends aren’t like me and didn’t go see it opening night, lol.

[folklauerate]

2023 Fic Year in Review

Thanks to @a-regular-jo for tagging me!

List of fics completed

take my hand, wreck my plans, that’s my man series

The Yellow Tulips of Texas

an affair, three ways series

inosculation

cause I’m a mastermind (the west wing au)

in our perfect park

leave the light on

Santa Kate series

fuck it, it’s fine series

I’m on Fire

Modern Omega

Number of words written

502,159 😳

Your most popular fic

The Set Up by a laughably large margin. Although as I checked stats now to answer this question, I see that Bridgerton, Actually (my Love, Actually AU) is now second and it wasn’t before, quite recently actually! It seems it got a lot of holiday readership :)

Your personal fav

This is like asking me to pick a fav child! It’s difficult but I’d have to go with the professor au (take my hand, wreck my plans, that’s my man series). It came at a time where I was feeling uninspired and sort of adrift fandom-wise. Following the completion of Bridgerton, Actually, which was a behemoth and draining to write (though I loved it!), I was in the midst of taking some downtime to just… be. To consume without worrying about creating and to just reconsider. During that time, I read plenty of other things, including fic from other fandoms. I noticed tropes and things I simply hadn’t been exposed to ever/in a while, and found myself really drawn to the idea of an age gap with Kathony. Their fics feature them being near/the same age so often, in an effort to illustrate just how well matched they are. I wanted to do a sort of character study and love story when they had a significant age gap. I wanted to explore the ways Anthony might have been different if he was older, the fears of dying young (perhaps) abated but with no Kate to spur them forward. The Anthony I created in this AU was someone who had lived a bit of a life, hadn’t settled for a marriage for the sake of it, and had grown up and developed his own tastes in between teaching lectures and devoting himself to his family. I feel as though it can be popular to show Anthony devoid of taste or personality in terms of home decor or outside pursuits pre-Kate, and that simply wasn’t an option with him here. I really enjoyed developing this man with cultivated and exacting tastes. I’m getting rambly here so I’ll stop, because I could talk about this oneshot for a while. The point being—this oneshot marked a time of sort of creative freedom for me. When I started writing it, it felt nearly insane. I just wrote and wrote with no real reader expectation because I was writing a daddy kink in a fandom that really didn’t seem to have one. I was writing and entirely possessed by the story and characters and premise itself. I wrote that and nothing else for a while. I wrote it across continents and flights and subways and in my room, alone. I would text Kara about it nonstop and I’d post excerpts and just wrote it and didn’t think about it… and then it came time to post. I genuinely didn’t know how it would be received. And I need to add that it is far from the most popular Kathony fic ever, and it’s not even my most popular Kathony fic ever, but the response was nonetheless astounding. I genuinely couldn’t have expected the way it would be received and I’m so grateful for anyone who spent time with those words and maybe found themselves inspired to push boundaries in their own fic and writing.

Your fav scene

I genuinely can’t pick one. I think I’ve written too much hahaha. I’ll state a few that come to mind now;

In the Texas!Anthony AU I loved writing Anthony meeting Kate’s extended family. I loved giving her an extended family, filled with doting grandparents, noisy cousins, and all the fun hallmarks of Indian American kid life.

The papercut scene in the Prof AU.

Nearly the entirety of the spanking oneshot follow-up to the prof au

And also the Lover inspired fic in the prof au lol

I loved the Balmoral chapter of The Set Up, especially the beginning vignette of three; Charlie/Harry, Hugo/Willie, Kate/ghosts/legacy/history. The moment she lights incense and says a prayer in this really storied, old, English castle is unbelievably significant, I think, in ways that will come to play in the fic now.

So much of the roommates fic is a real love letter to NYC. I did a reread recently and was almost surprised by it myself? I think I’ve had enough time away to be surprised by it and I was. I know those places, I feel those places. I hope the sense of self comes across as significantly for the reader as it does to me.

Writing the aftermath of the shooting scene in The West Wing AU and Kate winning the election as well were really poignant. I cried writing them and I cry rereading them. They’re almost a brilliantly rebellious ode to hope in the face of the perceived hopelessness of US politics. Regardless of whether or not a president like Kate Sharma plausible, I center my politics and general life philosophies around hope. That fic felt like hope and belief in a better world.

A fic or scene that challenged you

Plenty! The Balmoral chapter challenged me a lot until I saw Angels in America and something clicked. I actually can’t think of more right now in a really specific way but I will say anytime I felt challenged I either ignored it or wrote through it. Writing through it was always the answer and right way to tackle it.

A line of writing you’re proud of

There’s definitely a lot I’m a proud of but I am currently traveling and CBA to trawl through over 500k words to find the line I’m proud of. There’s a LOT of prose I’m really proud of though. The recent chapter of Babel where I describe Simon’s party is some of my best work, I think. Sweet Like Honey (stepfather au) has some prose I’m exceptionally proud of. As does the Obsession AU. Some descriptions of Texas in the Texas!Anthony AU are gorgeous. If you can think of anything that stood out to you, let me know.

A comment that touched you

I genuinely treasure every single comment I’ve received and I’m currently working through responding to many (if you get a months late response,,, I’m sorry). I will take this time to impress upon anyone who might be reading that leaving comments can be so encouraging and I do love hearing from readers. Fic really does feel like I’m writing directly for you guys. And so it’s great to get feedback or excited squealing because it makes it less lonely and helps me feel like I’m a part of it with you guys. I love when friends comment, I love when people who I only know through excited screeching on ao3 comment, I really love it all.

Recently, a longtime reader left a comment on my recent update of The Set Up just to thank me for writing this year and it was so moving and so lovely I teared up. It was unbelievably kind and thoughtful. That really snuck in at the end of the year for one that just took the cake for me.

Something that inspired your writing

Everything. Angels in America. Echoing Jo by saying Prince Harry’s memoir Spare. A lot of Haladriel and Darklina works and writers. Bruce Springsteen. Lysistrata. Babel by R.F. Kuang. Little Rabbit by Alyssa Songsiridej. Babylon the film. Singing in the Rain. The West Wing lol. Dachshunds (English cream) and Greyhounds. The British royals. Kafka. Religious trauma. Guts by Olivia Rodrigo (specifically bad idea, right?). Wet Dream and Chaise Lounge by Wet Leg. The people who broke my heart and the people who helped me stitch it back up. My fellow writers and friends, always.

Your proudest accomplishment

Getting over a bad depressive episode and writing slump and purposefully refocusing my attentions to: myself, why I felt compelled to write, and the people who did love me and read my writing and made that clear, as opposed to the people who didn’t.

Do you have any writing goals for next year?

To finish The Set Up. To finish some Perfect Park drabbles and revisit the west wing au for some good election year distraction. And, maybe, to take a little break as I work on original things. I am not leaving, don’t worry. I have set some professional and personal goals for myself that require more of my emotional and intellectual time/space/energy and I need to refocus some efforts there. But I’m not done and I will be back. I’m tentatively planning something quite exciting fic-wise. If it comes to fruition, I’ll tell you all in time.

Tagging @grantairesbottle @amalinwrites who is never on tumblr but I’ll annoy her to do it, @bad-surprise @inkbugfic @ladykettlechips and Rama whose tumblr @ I always forget to do this lol

[daddysfangirls-marvel]

Polyamorous: Tears of Joy

Pairing Steve Rogers x reader x Bucky Barnes, Stucky x reader

Warning: Pure fluff

The First kiss |  The first touch | Moving In | The day they left for war | Found you | The day Stark found out | Big Change | The Train | The Plane | Alone | Unfortunate sequences of events | I know her | The Resturant part 1 | The Resturant part 2 | It’s me | You can keep her | He’s okay with that | Mama loves me | Kissing Captain | Kissing Winter | Healing | Hurt | We’ll Wait | Memories | Prude | Whore | Put in her place | The day Stark Jr. Found out | Now you know |  Nursing | Like a Virgin | Morning After | The Catacombs | Off with her head | Grieving the Insane | Let me make it up to you | Punishment | Spiderling pt1 | Spiderling pt2 | Twentieth-century love | The new we can imagine | Connection | Please, marry me | Walk me | Stand with me | Final touches | I Do | Honeymoon | A moment of Paradise | Pictures from Paradise | The Fever | The bad days | Let’s talk about it | Practice makes perfect pt1 | Practice makes perfect pt2 | Seed | Unknown Stolen | unfulfilled Duties | Talking Emotion | Next Step | Holy Shit!! | First steps to hope | She’s Awake | Nicknames | The Mother and The father | The Boy | The Name Game |Talking | Not Ready | No Boy | Returning lust | Seven Days (pt1) | Seven Days (pt2) | Seven Days (pt3) | Seven Days (Final Part) | Tears of Joy 

A few weeks had passed since their little vacation and the throuple had begun to build their home. And it was just about done, thank you Tony Stark, just the wiring and the extra accessories left to work on. (Y/n) was excited to see the final results she and Ash were already buying furniture. 

The team had also resumed moving into the compound. So, a good majority of the labs and training halls were packed away which meant (y/n) had less work to do and more time to shop. And today she was Dragging Bruce along with her. They were finishing up the kitchen. The throuple agreed to light grey countertop and dark grey cabinets with silver handles, the idea of white anything just unsettled the family as a whole. They all agree on the walls, beyond their personal space, being off white and grey. 

“Oh this is cute” (Y/n) said showing a Kawaii, yes Kawaii not cute, kitten designed kitchen utensils. 

“You already have spatulas and those don’t even match the aesthic. “Bruce said as he took it from her hand and put it back.” We are here for the bathrooms.”

“Ash can decorate her own bathroom. And Steve and Bucky can careless as long as the towels are soft enough and there are shelves for their products. They are being simple”

“most men are”

“They aren’t simply. They are BEING simple big difference.”

“How?” Bruce asked as he manuvered (Y/n) way from the kitchen section and into the bathroom section. 

“Steve wants an art room. And he wants the whole nine yards with it. A thousand shelves and drawers, a million canvas, and sketch books. And a big window so he can gaze at nature for inspiration.”

“Why don’t I believe you?”

And he shouldn’t. Steve truly just wanted a little nook/ window seel where he could draw in peace and a desk or closet to put his art supplies away. It was (y/n) and Bucky who wanted him to have more, his own personal space to explore. Steve could do with small and simple but they always wanted to give him more. 

They were all like that with each other. 

Bruce watched as (Y/n) slows down as she looked at the bathroom decor specifically his & her decor. She picked up two matching soap dispensers. Leaning on the cart Bruce bumps her hip slightly releasing her from her deep thoughts. 

“I never thought I’d have this.” He looked at her confused “Honestly, the time I came from what i currently have wasn’t even a possibility. But even if we did manage somehow, it still wouldn’t have been because we were so poor at the time. And now... I’m not even looking at price tags. 

I’m building a house-not buying building. A high-tech one as well. And I have a daughter. I have an awesome job taking care of people... This wasn’t even a dream.... Bruce?”

“Yeah?”

“I think I’m going to cry.”

“I think we’ve done enough shopping today. Let’s go cry in the car.”

-

“Welcome home” Bucky called out as he heard the Elevator door close. Steve greeted him as he rounded the corner. “I’m making dinner. We’re having salmon.” 

“Where are the girl?” Steve asked as he approached him hugging him from behind and asking his neck. 

“They are in the living room watching tv.” Bucky said as he leaned back to get a proper kiss from him. “Go tell them to wash up for dinner. I’m almost done.” 

“Hey, hey” (Y/n) said Steve approached them from behind. Leaning over the back of the couch he kissed Ash’s forehead before giving (Y/n) a proper kiss. 

“What are you guys watching?” 

“Nothing really. We are actually looking up furniture for Ash’s room.” (Y/n) explained as she handed him the tablet showing what they had. 

“This looks really good. Can’t wait to see it all together. By the way Time for dinner. We’re eating salmon.” 

“Oh, I love salmon” 

“Honestly you love just love food.”

“Correction, I love good food” (y/n) said they all went to wash up. 

“Did you decide on anything?” Bucky asked as he set their plates. 

“Thank you, honey. And yes, she found a few thinks she liked.” 

Taking out the tablet again Ash handed over to Bucky and they began to talk about her choses. (Y/n) watched as Ash and Bucky went over her room and what more she could put in it and decorate it. They were both smiling as the spoke. You could see the resemblance in their smiles and the way they laughed. Both so beautiful. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Steve asked as he reached across the table taking her hand.  (Y/n) hadn’t realized she had started crying she laughed and started wiping her tears away. 

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

Everything stopped.

“what-what did you say?” (Y/n) whispered as more tears spilled. 

“I...mom?” 

(Y/n) started laughing as she pulled Ash into her chest hugging her. In all the time Ash had been with them she had never addressed them as anything but their names this was the first time she’d ever...

“You called me mom. I’m mom” 

“Why are you crying?” Ash asked as she hugged her Mother. 

“Because I’m happy. I’m so happy I’m crying. You’re making me happy.” The whole family sigh in relief as (Y/n) continued to cry and hug her daughter.  “I just never thought... oh I love you all, I love you all so much.” 

[jihyoruri]

me when it’s time for the yearly anon confession potluck and I have to admit that to me… wowyn.. is just.. 🙂. I think she is a little toxic and the wonyn situation takes me out so bad like it’s genuinely the funniest thing to me EVER. like I can not explain why but the wonyoung is like eh ik u like me but I don’t rlly wanna deal with that so! uhm!.. anyway! and wowyn just… listens tew her😭😭like ur telling me wowyn breaks up w girls If wonyoung doesn’t like them LMFAOO😭

idk for some reason wowyn to me is more of a loser than loseryn not even in a mean way just.. I don’t know I feel like if I met her fr I’d be like.. ur such a sad person…

moving past this… who is your favorite yn? we all know mine…

(1. shamelessyn 2. richgirl yn 3. aespayn/firecrackeryn)

i may not be the president of the aespayn or richgirlyn fanclub but I’m actually both of their therapists btw. yeah Ik you guys don’t know but my side gig is actually fixing them. yeah no aespayn is in the trenches… it’s bad in these streets. (I love richgirlyn almost the same amount as shamelessyn I’m a cheater sorry)

also side note I am sat for anything u write but I hope you continue to explore richgirlyn’s dynamic with chaewon and the other members.. idk maybe it’s bc I grew up with a lot of money but the way ppl w wealth act has always been so.. weird tew me. like I know these r just sillay yn works but I feel like people who write rich characters forget like.. these r the most emotionally stunted people on earth. they never learned to socialize or explain their emotions 😭dealing w rich people is insane because no one talks abt anything or knows how to interact with regular people like they have such hard times w it for some reason?? (because they never had to)

ANYWAY sorry for the long ask 😞I hope we get some aespayn fans out here for 4/20 SHOW SUPPORT FOR UR GIRL😭😭

-🎏

LOL babes imma have to correct you on some things. 😭

it’s not that wony is like “eh ik u like me but I don’t rlly wanna deal with that so! uhm!.. anyway!” she’s genuinely playing hard to get with yn, she feels like yn will always wait for her so she just doesn’t want to get into a relationship just as yet, I think I’ve mentioned it in early asks but wonyoung is playing hard to get with yn😭. wonyn is really a sad situation when you think about it because they’d be really good for each other but they’re not on the same page at all like wow!yn doesn’t think wonyoung likes her even tho wony does hold some feelings for her but she’s waiting it out but realizing that her time is running out. The only reason why wow!yn breaks up with people sometimes if wony doesn’t like them because wonyoung is genuinely her best friend if Giselle didn’t like one of yn’s gfs yn would probably break up with them as well, it’s so easy for her do that because she was just bored like she wasn’t in the relationship for real feelings if she acc had real feelings for the person it would be a different story take winter for example BOTH wonyoung and yujin didn’t like her and yn knew that but yn didn’t break up with her because she genuinely liked her but then she realized that she genuinely liked her so she broke up with her LMAOOOOOO. I wouldn’t call wow!yn a loser because she genuinely has problems, she has some mental instability. like her problems with her dad has definitely affected how she thinks about things and butchers how her mind functions in certain situations, she is a sad person tho. ANYWAYS moving on from wow!yn

my favourite yn and wow!yn and nwjns!yn THE SISTERS honestly I love wow!yn because she’s my most complex yn and honestly she’s just such a shit head and it’s so fun and amusing writing her and nwjns!yn is just a sweet mess like when I finally introduced her fic you guys will see what I mean, she’s the exact opposite of her sister 😭 (also a respectful mention of aespa!yn)

LOL they both need therapists for real so you got the job‼️ aespa!yn is a mess she’s a rich mess (I just took in that you like the two extremely rich yn’s LOL also firecracker!yn is always on someone’s favourite list and it always makes me laugh LMAOOO)

yes I am totally gonna explore richgirl!yn more, I tried my best to give a small peak into richgirl!yn having some problems I was so happy when you picked up on it in ur last ask for her

I honestly love long asks so much so this was fun to read LOL and thank you so much for reading and enjoying my works

[mickmundy]

Big Post of some of my bushmedicine headcanons... hehee... my personal thoughts on medic and sniper as a couple, my favorite dynamics, etc!

starting it off by saying that i think this ship works best when its post-comics. i like the idea of the two of them Knowing each other as teammates (but not really Friends), and then sniper's revival being the Strange Insane Catalyst that.. "brings them together".

that said i don't think medic loves sniper Solely because he's his greatest achievement; him Defying Modern Medicine for sniper (of all people) was definitely Not something either of them expected! medic has always held appreciation for sniper as a teammate and respects his craft

but didn't really come to appreciate him as a Person until after the gray mann stuff. because they’re both workaholics it was hard for them to really ‘get to know’ each other. both value the other as teammates but simply never thought of getting any closer. 

i think it would take Effort on both of their parts to “get the ball rolling” in terms of talking to one another a bit more personally. they’re socially very different after all! but i think they'd both be Pleasantly Surprised that they find each other very Easy to be around!

and, no, i do not think sniper is “afraid” of medic or what he does. sniper’s been around gore and death for as long as he’s been alive and willingly volunteered to get the uber implant! i think it would be more likely that he’d ask medic to give him gills or claws before he’d be running away screaming in fear lol. but that’s just me!

love to think of them both as Weird Only Children but on complete opposite ends of the spectrum. sniper is shut in and felt Both smothered And abandoned by his parents. medic is Just A Hellion and always has been. doesn't feel one Dramatic way or another for/about his parents and that's that! i think medic loves/d his family but just thought it was like... Funny that they ever tried to Contain him! medic is Sympathetic sniper's complicated family issues but can't Relate. his family was Very Direct, just like him! LOL

they have very different energy, but i don’t see that as a flaw or a bad thing, nor do i see either of them seeking to change the other. sniper likes that medic loves to babble and medic likes that sniper is quiet and likes to listen!

at first i think both of them would struggle to read one another, since they are So different! but medic and sniper love to learn things, especially(/sometimes Only) if they’re interested in the person they’re learning from! 

part of what makes this ship so charming to me is that they aren’t like. love at first sight, or second sight, or third sight… they’re two people that Saw A Spark in each other and work at their relationship! it makes them feel very Real to me!

medic knows sniper’s body really.. intimately. before they started dating he knew it of course as the team’s doctor, but when they got together… it’s like exploring something that’s been right in front of you the whole time… for the first time… 

which excites medic because i think he’d be like “hooh! all of this in front of me this whole time and i didn’t even think to-!” and he leans down and kisses sniper’s scars which makes sniper soooo……………………ummm………………h*rny………. i mean……………….. Silly!

that said i think they also have had Aesthetic Appreciation for one another and/or would be like “yeah i’d absolutely **** him if i got the chance but i’ll just leave it at a fantasy” but as far as wanting to Date or Become More… that’s super new for both of them…

sniper hates/fears commitment and medic just never really enjoyed the idea of Entertaining any Romantic Connections long-term (work comes first for both of them!) but once medic is invested he’s like “if you don’t ask me out by letting me take a nap in your ribcage then forget it”… he loves the Passion!! he wants to know his partner is just as Devoted to him as he is to him!! and sniper is Very Passionate and has a lot of love to Give! once you get him to confess that hehe… but i think medic enjoys “the chase” and thinks of it like a fun game!! he likes that it's Only Him that elicits Those Feelings/Reactions in sniper... it makes him feel Special!

imo they’re the perfect delicious physical manifestation of their work (sniper is medic’s greatest achievement! and medic saved his life!).. so they’re both just woven into so many different parts of them that when they Finally come together they’re just… One… 

i don’t think sniper is/was traumatized by his death. i think he’s someone who knew/accepted death and that it could come for him at any time, so he’s never been afraid of dying. but i don’t think anyone could be prepared for being Revived… 

and i think sniper is always saddled with Complicated Feelings of Being Worthy of/Deserving Things. he was raised to live humbly and appreciate what he had, so anything “extravagant” (by his standards) being done for him always leaves him kind of Perplexed. feels like he has to Earn something to Deserve it, even when it comes to feeling things. “i can’t feel bad/mad/sad/glad/etc if i don’t have a Reason”. feelings should be put into categories and Understood for him. he’s very “in his head” about every single little thing! which is why he clings to the Ideal of “professionalism”!

whereas medic very freely feels and says and does whatever the fuck he wants because thats how He was raised. he doesn’t think he should smother himself for anyone for any reason and if you imply that he should he’ll knock you in the mouth LOL. 

“aren’t you tired of being professional? don’t you want to go apenshitten?” medic trying to encourage sniper to have Fun and Live A Little! and sniper can’t really resist medic’s charisma and Charm… hehee… its fun to think about sniper being wrapped up in being Professional and medic being like “we’re being professional, we’re Doing our Professions! who says we can’t also have FUN with it!” (medic is being Sadistic about it whereas thats Against sniper’s Beliefs) and that makes sniper laugh and shake his head and smile…

i believe that sniper is the more emotionally-immature one. not in touch with his feelings whatsoever and is more prone to “breaking down” (usually isolating but sometimes Lashing Out). medic is impulsive but has great self control (Only when he wants to!) and is Very in touch with his own feelings at all times.

sniper sees his job as A Job. a Duty a Task Things He Is Contractually Obligated to do. but medic sees it as a total wildcard playing field where he's constantly testing the limits to see what he can get away with, what he can do and how much fun he can have!

at first sniper is taken aback/a bit overwhelmed by medic’s In Your Face demeanor but comes to really love it. he likes that medic doesn’t mince words or play mind games (when it really counts, anyway) and he can rely on the doctor to mean what he says when he says it. he hates having to “decode” people!

medic typically doesn’t bother with trying to “decode” people, but he’s patient with sniper and his lack of communication know-how/willingness. sometimes sniper can be very stubborn! but medic just giggles and sits with him and is like “i could sit here all day! >:) so take all the time you need!” and sniper’s never had anyone Actually Willing to Sit Here All Day for him so medic’s love for “a challenge” becomes something really endearing to him… and he doesn’t feel like a Burden or a Challenge to his doctor…!

petnames!! if you’ve read my fics you already know of sniper calling medic dovey, and medic calling sniper spatz/spatzchen, which means “sparrow”, because house sparrow face markings remind medic of sniper’s sideburns! i also love the idea of sniper calling medic his plover and medic calling sniper his krokodil, like the symbiotic relationship of the bird that hangs out in the mouth of crocodiles! 

sniper also calls medic pidge/pigeon, or nurse too! if they’re alone, sniper will pepper in a “-darling, -sweetness, etc” after the petname of choice! medic loves cooing at sniper and really laying the petnames on thick, and while sniper still isn’t As Bold as medic in public, in private he loves smothering medic right back! hehe

“you gonna behave yourself out there today?” <- sniper says things like this before they Fight and it makes medic giggle and shake his head and be like “ABSOLUTELY NOT! >:)” and sniper chuckles and is like “mhmm… ://)”.. sniper also calls medic Death or RED Death, whispering it low in his ear before they go into combat… and it makes medic shoot through the roof with heart eyes like in loony tunes….  his mind is NOT on medicine for the rest of the match! hehe!

medic knows sniper doesn’t like drawing attention to himself in public, so he does his best to be respectful of that. they both like keeping things Professional in combat, but sometimes medic will scoop sniper up clean off his feet and spin around before putting him down with a shrill laugh if he just had a particularly exciting kill. sniper loves medic’s excited outbursts of energy and it always leaves him wobbly-legged and breathless!

sniper’s friends (demo, engie, scout) love breaking sniper’s balls about dating/being in love. they’ll tease the crap out of him and make him light up red with fluster because ha ha! Stoic Professional Turned Loverboy! medic’s friends (spy, heavy, pyro) have much more insightful talks about their relationship and give medic advice (or listen to medic gush about how cute he thinks sniper is)!

both bond over medicine… obviously! sniper is a survivalist and therefore extremely resourceful and medic eats up all of his advice and wisdom! he also loves listening to sniper talk about his days as a hunter before he came to mann co. the one where he slept in the corpse of a water buffalo is medic’s favorite! 

they also love talking about exotic animals (medic is very curious and sniper is very knowledgeable), jazz/classical music, botany and nonfiction literature! they’re not Literary Buffs like spy and heavy, but they enjoy learning new things and like to read things they can put down and pick up again a week later.

they’re both very touchy-feely! in public they’re a bit more reserved but sniper will still hook his finger in one of medic’s belt straps and pull him close to him, or medic will slip his hand into sniper’s back pocket (and squeeze his butt just to fluster him! hoo!) 

sniper is absolutely the earlier riser and is very Routine Based. medic makes his own schedule and if you don’t like it you can ***. if he knows medic had a late night, he’ll go and feed his doves and put a pot of coffee on for him and leave a shirt of his next to him in bed so medic can wake up smelling him!

they love cooking for/sharing food with each other; often nothing too fancy, but something as simple as peeling an orange and sharing it is as intimate as a kiss… they’re both guilty of getting too wrapped up in their work to remember to eat, so one will often remember when the other doesn’t! plus, eating together accomplishes two things: spending time together and eating, so they both enjoy the Double Productivity of it!

i do not think sniper stinks like pee or keeps jarate in his van and i’ve talked about that in the thread i made for him specifically BUT anyway. i think they’re both Very Hygienic people who also love getting their hands dirty. they love a good sweat session on the field (or.. alone… elsewhere… hehee <3) and love the Smell of each other. 

they love being silly! medic tends to bring this out in sniper and he might have thought it was originally Cringe but medic has shown him how to be silly and fun-loving and full of whimsy! they play chase (medic will pinch sniper’s butt and take off running and howling with laughter and sniper will snicker and Eagerly Pursue) and hide and seek, which is their favorite… medic loves seeing sniper in action and showing off his skills that aren’t Just sniping! tracking, Hunting… and of course, he loves being the thing he’s Hunting >:)! its a very fun flirtatious game for them! 

another merc being like “where’s sniper?” medic giggling and being like “hoo! <v< hoh! >v> i don’t know!! isn’t that exciting!! ehee hee! ^v^” and the other mercs being like :|? KSDKFDSF.. i think they’re very Weird and Cringe and Free as a couple and while the other mercs might not Get Them they are happy for their friends :)

sniper is very quiet and medic is often easy to sneak up on (sniper likes to do so >:)) and when medic tries sneaking up on sniper (he is not as good at it….) sometimes sniper will be like “aht aht. heard you comin’ five miles away!” or he’ll be like “GASP!! awh you got me. you sneaky thing!” just because he likes to see his pretty dovey win ://)

sniper's "gotta make a necklace outta your teeth" line. medic hears him say it on the field and is like "wait. do you really do that?" and sniper's like “y’wanna find out?" and medic's like ">//u//< JA!" sniper surprises him with a necklace of human teeth... fit for a king <3

we know medic is Weird but i also like to imagine sniper being Weird too. he and medic are putting their hands in the dirt finding worms bugs snakes etc.. sniper giving medic bird heart pendants and snake venom etc etc.. medic's like "ohh hee hee! we are married now i think! ^v^"

[jukemaid]

ok real talk i know it’s fun doing angst to the twins but there needs to be a hard line drawn in the obsession with making emmet insane and violent with grief. i’m taking a gamble putting this in the main tag but i believe it NEEDS to be said, so please feel free to block and disregard if it’s too upsetting. believe me i get it

i have ptsd. i know what it’s like to be so traumatized that it changes you, makes you angry and upset and prone to lashing out bc your brain can’t function properly anymore. i know exactly what it’s like to lose control of how you think and feel and process information and it’s terrifying. i’m all about respectful depictions of mental illness in my media and anyone who’s followed me for a while is well aware how passionate i am that people DO talk about it. write fic about it, make art about it. but have some goddamn tact for all of us out there who don’t have the luxury of moving on from one fanfic to the next.

think about us reading these things and having to deal with the reality that this is how you perceive us. we’ve suffered from immense trauma and continue to suffer in so many different ways all the time, and that’s not something we can escape from. we can’t push the tragedy away like you can. we get triggered, have flashbacks, have psychotic episodes, and have to manage those for our own safety and well-being. i have triggers that i’ve spent years working through so i can safely browse random shit online, but even then something could happen at any second that sends me spiraling. it happens. it has happened and will happen countless times for the rest of my life, but i’m fortunate enough to have had treatment for my ptsd and adjacent traumas.

there are many of us who aren’t as lucky to get that help and end up somewhere truly awful, and they’re the ones hurt the most. we are not inherently violent. we aren’t suddenly cruel and callous and do horrible things to people we love. we are permanently, irreparably injured and cast aside, disregarded, because we’re an ugly truth nobody likes to acknowledge. we exist just like the rest of you, have regular mundane lives, and fight every single day to keep our heads above water only to try to indulge in our favorite series’ and see ourselves painted as broken, violent things to pity, by the very people we thought we could trust with our vulnerability. and i’ve been burned before.

trauma victims are not concepts of fiction for you to play with. we aren’t tropes and tags to delight in for morbid satisfaction or borderline perversion for tragedy. i love angst and i love dark media exploring these exact topics and go out of my way to roll around in disturbing content and psychological horror. it’s cathartic, it tickles my psychology brain, and i know i'd love them with or without my own mental illnesses. with them however, i genuinely adore and appreciate grounded depictions of emmet working through his trauma, confronting the darkest parts of himself, and learning from them. that’s a struggle i understand. it’s unfathomably difficult and many of us don’t make it out. it’s ugly at times but it is all the same.

so here is what i present at the end of all this: have respect for topics of mental illness, trauma, and ptsd. have respect for the victims out there who enjoy the same things you do, the same genres, but find ourselves romanticized. fetishized. author intent does not matter because we’re real people whose largest wounds are being used as playthings in media we’re trying to enjoy with everyone else.

and if you continue to do so regardless (i’m not your dad you can do whatever you want), don’t be surprised by negative reactions. being quiet certainly hasn’t helped us this far.

[taylortruther]

Your post about the logical bridge being in tradition of Dear John, WCS, ATW10 or I Can See You is super interesting, because while I agree in a general sense (Taylor is THE trailblazer for the current messy weird vulnerable teen girl pop stars), I also feel like the specific openness about sex in particular that we see in many of these girls is owed to a broader development in pop culture. Unfortunately the first thing that comes to mind is Lana’s Question For The Culture post where she lists off mainly POC women who are open about sex, but I do think these women definitely also deserve to be talked about when we look at the current state of explorations of female sexuality, and there are women like that in every musical genre. E.g. WCS to me feels less like a trailblazer moment (though it is insanely brave to release it!!!) and more like something that is in line with songs like Motion Sickness, that make sex an explicit (ha.) part of the toxicity detailed in the song. And of course Phoebe is already inspired by Taylor as well, but I think due to her underground status and the different state of the world in 2017, she was able to build on that influence in a way that added something new. Which, in return, might have influenced Taylor. (I’d also argue that the indie girlies adjacent to Phoebe likely are a huge influence on Olivia as well.) (AND the fact that a pop star of Taylor’s status releases a song like WCS also has a different shining power than an indie artist doing so, no doubt about that.)

I don’t know if this makes sense; it is just so interesting to me to see how artists influence each other and how they influence the culture and vice versa. There simply is a new level of openness surrounding taboo topics such as partying and sex (and, to some extent, flirting with bisexuality – I have seperate Thoughts on that) that separates a 2023 release from a 2010 release, despite all similarities between the artists, and I think it’s interesting to see where that came from and how it also reshapes and impacts the art of the girl who released the 2010 record now in 2023.

it makes sense and i agree! taylor definitely was not olivia's only influence - we can't forget about fiona apple or joni mitchell or courtney love or other indie artists who were also trailblazers for this generation of singer-songwriters!

and agreed that music is such a fascinating time capsule and touchpoint for what the culture thinks of sex, women, etc. at the time it was made. olivia writing about sex isn't shocking, but if taylor had written about it that openly at that age, it would've been, but fiona apple was open in similar-but-different ways and she made a name on it (although she was also severely criticized at the time.) and we haven't touched on the question-for-the-culture of it all where women of color are allowed yet shamed yet expected to be very sexual and have been for decades.

also here for you post about bisexuality!!!!

[babsvibes]

What are 5 AU's that you'd love to write for Louigan and 1 AU that you'd never write?? 👀📝 (yes I am taking notes)

My darling! GOD, I love AUs, eeeespecially the weirder ones. My extrinsic motivation keeps me writing the “modern/realistic” worlds, which I love too, but… you know, there aren’t any pirates in a Coworkers AU 🤷‍♀️

1. Soulmate AU

In this AU, everyone has their own “tell” that’s supposed to coincide with their identity. For example, Tina writes on her hand and the words show up on her soulmate’s hand. There’s different rarities for tells, and they each have their own kind of history and culture. Sometimes people don’t have the same tell as their soulmate, sometimes their soulmate is platonic, and often people don’t know what their tell is. However, there are also people who wish they didn’t have a tell at all. Wouldn’t it be funny if Louise got the rare, the revered, and the most classically romantic Red String of Fate?

This one I’ve already got a good portion written, plus I’ve done a ton of worldbuilding. Ahh I’m so excited to share with y’all! It won’t be posted for a while 😅 but the world is really interesting to me so uhh if anyone had questions about it 👉👈 I’d love to talk about it!

2. Dystopian AU

Another one I’ve done worldbuilding for but probably wouldn’t write because it’s haaaard lol. This would be a world with an eradicated middle class; there are people with money and people without. It’d explore a lot of darker themes and warped values after extreme socioeconomic influence. The focus would be on the Dire Dogs, an infamous band of chaotic people wearing feral dog masks. Everyone assumes they’re from the lower class, people so beat down that they need to scream and break shit, but Louise has never seen blond hair like that in her neighborhood.

3. Three Wishes AU

Wishing is such an interesting concept. Like… it’s a story where you know the ending. You’re not supposed to wish for things, but what if it was different this time? Why can’t our desires come easily? Who deserves to have their wishes granted? What develops between a wisher and a wish granter, between the one who has desires and the one who fulfills them? What kind of mythology would evolve in a world where we really could wish for anything? What would the wishes be really, and what does it say about that character? So so fascinating.

4. Stranded on an Island AU

There was an episode of The Nanny that changed my brain chemistry as a kid and now I want to see everyone trapped on an island all the time. It’s got everything: forced proximity, teamwork or you die, the question of “who are you outside of society’s eye?” and tropical settings. It would make no sense. It would be silly. There’d be so much sexual tension it’s insane, ahhh!

5. Mafia AU

Screw it, let’s also throw in the most classic of all enemies to lovers AUs with a mafia AU. This could toootally go different ways. We could shift back to Al Capone era gangsters, we could have modern Louise join the One-Eyed Snakes, etc. etc. If it was in the past, then Logan as a rival gang leader would be A1. Modern era, then I think it’d be funnier if he took after his dad and became a doctor. And you know who often needs a doctor? 😏😏

One AU I would probably never write is a Swap AU of any kind (personality, age, gender, role, family, etc). They confuse my brain and usually change the dynamic too much to be recognizable.

[balladofmyramblings]

Lucy Gray Baird - an innocent victim or a manipulator?

What's your first impression of Lucy Gray?

Do you think she loved Coriolanus in tbosas?

What do you think might have happened to Lucy Gray in the end?

What's your opinion about theories :

1. Greasy Sae as Lucy Gray.

2. Coin as a daughter or relative of Lucy Gray.

Thank you :)

@curiousnonny

I’d say a victim who HAD to be a manipulator, but overall was innocent and just knew what was up.

The first example we see is from when we are first introduced to her- the dress! She’s wearing that to the reaping to make a statement, to stand out, to let everyone know she does NOT conform and is already manipulating their view of her into what she wants.

However, later on, we also see that wearing the dress is the only thing keeping her together. So, we can infer that while it may have started out as something not super soft or sweet, suddenly the dress isn’t that anymore. There’s also the fact that she lets the little girl with the juice thing touch her dress- she’s trying to decide if the public and her manipulation of them is more important than keeping things close to her.

Then again, there’s the possibility here that we’re severely over or underestimating her (thanks, Coriolanus’ POV). Maybe every single part of her was orchestrated and carefully chosen by Lucy Gray, or maybe none of it was, and that’s part of the amazing mystery about her- we don’t KNOW if she was or not.

Were those tears fake? Did she ever actually love him? We’ll never actually know, and that’s part of why her character is so great.

My first impression though is she knows what’s up. It’s crazy how, even before manipulating the games was a thing…she manipulated the games. She might not have done it knowingly (it was probably more for the benefit against Billy Taupe & Mayfair), but she did, and it was incredible. I can’t say I ever thought she was crazy, but maybe a little unhinged.

I was also VERY against Coriolanus and Lucy Gray’s relationship in the beginning (like for my first 4 rereads), but overall came to like it, and how it shows different parts of their characters and how it REALLY showed Coriolanus’s character development into a tirant.

For if she loved him, I’d say that we honestly have no clue. It’s why she’s so interesting to explore. I mean, throughout the series, these characters stay pretty much the same as when they are introduced. Sejanus, the district 2 rebel sympathizer who can be a little goofy occasionally. Tigris, the girl who takes care of people, and protects them. Dr. Gaul, the maniac who’s powerful.

But with Lucy Gray? We’re first introduced to her as some slightly deranged district girl, and she also has that little bit of being district automatically added to how we perceive her (thanks, Coriolanus’ POV) so we automatically view her as less than, crazy, etc.

But this changes. We later view her as someone ABOVE the districts, and a performer, rather than a crazy person, and someone to take pity on. We (reader and Coriolanus) might even unconsciously underestimate her during this stage BECAUSE of this.

What’s super interesting about Lucy Gray is just how versatile the arguments about her can be. You can go around and around in circles, debating if she was a cold blooded killer or not. Like for example, her kills in the arena. The way she taunted Reaper with the flag, and literally ran him to death? Absolutely insane, but later on, she felt bad about it. Or did she? We have no clue.

Back to if she loved Coriolanus, though- I think she convinced herself she did, just like how Coriolanus convinced himself he did, and neither of them wanted to see how far they’d take that so we got the ending we got. Lucy Gray realized she couldn’t gaslight herself into falling in love with him because she couldn’t ever really love him because she couldn’t ever really trust him. I’ve talked about them before somewhere else, I think in a post about the endings, so if you’re interested in that I can link it but still. It’s fascinating, the way her character is written so well.

Dialogue is such an important part of character, and rereading Lucy Gray’s dialogue is especially confusing for me because every time I do, my mind changes. A lot of people would remember her differently if Coriolanus (and therefore us) spent less time thinking about her and more time interacting with her, but eh.

Personally, that’s why I think her most authentic showing would be around 2/3 into the book, while they have that little honeymoon period when Coriolanus is a peacekeeper and she’s just singing before stuff goes down. I know that wasn’t a question, but I want to expand on it.

There’s less pressure there to constantly preform and become this person she wants herself to be. Lucy Gray was one of (if not the) first to use capitol people’s views of the tributes to her advantage. She figured out the game and she played it, and now she has to realize how to stop playing it. She also has to make sure she can trust Coriolanus.

So really, it can be argued that all of her personality is a test or a performance. It can also be argued that none of it was.

I’m going to move on before I start going in circles again lol, but yall get the point.

I think in the end Lucy Gray realized she couldn’t trust ANYONE (and as she’s said before, trust is super important) (except for maybe the Covey, but she didn’t want to endanger them or herself by staying with them), so she just went off into the woods.

I know she said something about being too lonely without Coriolanus, but again, this calls the question; was she trying to manipulate him and play up his ego or was she really just sensitive?

Again, part of her character is her mystery. There’s a reason she’s named after the Lucy Gray from the story. She just…flew off.

I could see Greasy Sae as Lucy Gray. I think it’d make sense for her to come back in like 10 years once the mayor’s dead, pay off her good peacekeeper friends, and then watch the Covey and her/Katniss’ family from a difference (because I definitely believe she and Katniss are related).

Does that mean I think it’s true? Nope! I think Lucy Gray truly has left district 12 forever.

However, I will say for sure, she’s definitely not in district 13. Not as a citizen or Coin. It goes against everything she believes in and enjoys, and I think the citizens of such a recently broken home wouldn’t LET her become one of them. Plus the ages are off. Are we forgetting Coin didn’t want music at Finnick and Annie’s wedding? It’s honestly one of my least favorite theories because to truly believe it, you’d have to misinterpret Lucy Gray’s character (one of the hardest to misinterpret, given my reasons above) AND Coin’s character.

Ok. Sort of misread that question, but I’ll answer it too.

I don’t think Coin is related to Lucy Gray at all. Any child of Lucy Gray’s would be Covey, and I think it’d hurt her too much to raise a child so colorless and unempathetic. While I do admire this theory more than the other, I just don’t see it happening at all. Maybe if Lucy Gray was pregnant, dropped the kid in 13, and then fled, and then Coin had to be raised in that environment and see the destruction and devastation and stuff…or maybe seeing her mom after the games, and the impact they can have on people…still, it’s an eh for me.

This was really fun to answer, and sorry if I rambled too much or went in circles a lot lol. Thanks for the question, @curiousnonny! As always, feel free to debate but not argue in the replies/reblogs!

[tenshiharmonia]

So, I went to see the Super Mario movie saturday afternoon and I must say, I had an absolute blast. Don't get me wrong, it was far from perfect. And I'll have to agree that it could have used ten or fifteen more minutes to pace things a little more organically. But really, I had a smile on my face the entire time. As a Bowser fan, the film was an especially exhilarating treat. From enjoying himself at a heavy metal concert, to bashfully trying to woo the princess, writing her an exquisitely awkward love song and rehearsing his proposal with Kamek, to ruthlessly tearing into the hero after they saved the day ruined everything he worked so hard towards, he walked such an astounding line between adorable and intense (also, I'd like to add that he was really, really sexy :3 ). Not that the other characters weren't delightful too, of course. I must admit, I'm actually quite surprised that they chose to address Peach's origins. I mean, even back when the brothers being from Brooklyn was a staple of the series, the incongruity of a (seemingly) human princess leading a nation of mushroom people never really came into question. If a sequel there is, I'd definitely like for that point to be explored a little more... Also, I'm particularly fond of the way the Kongs were integrated into the story. To tell you the truth, I've never really cared for the DK side of the franchise all that much. But really, the visit to the Jungle Kingdom was quite a riot, both in terms of action and worldbuilding. And let’s not forget the sheer insanity of the Koopa General... Really though, that movie was just, so much fun. Bright, colorful, light-hearted, unadulterated fun. Which is not to say that it was without emotions. The brothers' feeling of inadequacy, both expressed in different ways, their tearful reunion, the need to prove themselves to the world and to each other... Truly, fraternal affection is the crux of the film. In fact, family as a whole is an omnipresent theme throughout the story, from Peach's devotion to the Toads, to DK's own issues with his dad. And I'm not even talking about the love that was poured into all the little details. It's already been said a thousand times, but there are so many Easter eggs* hidden in the film, be it in the picture or the score. I've seen the movie being described as a "love letter" to the franchise and its fans, and really, I feel like there is no better way to put it. In a sense, I'd say it's like a puzzle : watching all the different little pieces fall neatly into place is also part of the fun. Sure, it wasn't The Last Wish, but then again, it didn't need to be. In its case - and I insist on the word "case"** -, the world is the plot. And the film executes it spectacularly. Anyway, this accolade is probably long enough (unlike the movie, which could afford to be much longer, if only because what we got was so good already :p ). Still, let me emphasize one last time what a joy it was to see the Mushroom World come alive this way, in such a luminous and bustling manner. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if instead of a sequel, we were to get a whole-ass show, in the vein of the first three cartoons. A mix of slice-of-life and adventure to explore this beautiful version of the Mario universe and everything it has to offer. I think it would be great. With that being said, thank you for listening to my divagations on the matter. As always, it was nice to get those thoughts out of my system. I mean, it was such a wholesome movie ; I needed to share my giddy excitement with the universe. ^_^

* Quite fitting for the season, now that I think about it. Although the film is so rich in references, that I'd almost be tempted to refer to them as "Fabergé eggs". XD ** I know better than anyone how good at storytelling the franchise can be - as recently demonstrated by Sparks of Hope -, so don't take this statement as a generalization it isn't meant to be.

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

Ok, but you haven't rewritten Soy Luna (yet...), so you can't give out any spoilers there! So!

If you would rewrite Soy Luna, what would you change with the individual characters? Like, "I would write this character like this instead".

Now, this is only how I feel in the heat of the moment, and also it might not be all the characters. Just the ones I think about.

Also, edit, this was really hard without talking about how I'd change a bunch of storylines. Cause this would be focused on the characters more, but they'd also change in storylines.

Luna: I think I'd make her more focused on friendship than romance. She already is in the show, but almost everyone in the show is pushing her to date boys all the time. She can't mention a boy without people asking if she has a crush. She'll still have a romantic plot, but it won't really be the same. Oh, and she would not be that disrespectful to Juliana. Of course, she had a right to call her out, but at times she also behaved rather childishly and I was on Juliana's side lol. I would just remove that little thing. Oh, also, she wouldn't compete in 2x80.

Ámbar: In summary, less bratty, more creepy. For example, I think she's still very picky with the food, but instead of screaming it to the chef's faces, she'll just scream it to Sharon. Now, her brattyness does help with showing how she, too, is just a child and there's an immaturity to her that she tries to hide. But I think we can do it in other ways. For example, I think she'd start off with playing pranks on Luna, but then slowly up her way to just being plain creepy. Like to a degree where she puts up an act around EVERYONE, and she almost does not know who she herself is. I don't know if I am good at describing it, but I love exploring Ámbar's inner thoughts and her identity crisis in S2 is one of the most interesting plots of her character. Also, I'd think I'd have her possibly seek out her bio mom too after the reveal.

Sharon: First of all, more scenes with Luna. I think they interacted way too little, especially in S1 and S3. I'd like there to be some moments in S1 where they just exchange a few words, or just have a casual conversation, and they both feel a sense of familiarity. And in S3, especially towards the end of season, I'd like them to TALK. SPEAK OUT. SOLVE THINGS. AUNT AND NIECE. I also think I’d like her to get more ”visions”. Both flashbacks from the past, but also ”what if” scenarios. As she spirals more and more into insanity, she sees Ámbar and Luna sit together talking and suddenly she’s seeing both of them as little kids. Goes into the kitchen, sees Luna and suddenly she’s little Sol eating a cookie. She goes into Ámbar’s room, suddenly she sees little Ámbar asking her to brush her hair. Also, she’s much more a threat in S3, because in S3… she tbh at times were just hanging around and then in like the final 3 episodes she did something.

Simón: Wouldn’t change much, he is perfect 💜 All I would change is possibly not sleeping in the mansion garage, but rather go stay at a Hotel, or go to stay with Nico and Pedro immediately. Oh, and I'd have him react differently around Daniela. They'd still date for drama purposes but... he's never gonna doubt Luna over anything. Also, he won't decide to go back to Mexico the second he sees Luna kiss someone else, he's gonna see it's a non-consentual kiss (I am having trauma from TWO of these shows that no one saw it as non-consentual and I need to fix it). But otherwise he'd be more or less exactly the same <3

Matteo: Gets held accountable for his crimes /hj

Nina: I think I'd first of all not let her forge Gastón's application. She's still gonna stay in S3, but not due to that journalism for roller skating thing, but because she simply wants to finish her final year and then go to university.

Gastón: He does not break up with Nina. They have a long distance relationship and it works perfectly fine. Otherwise I wouldn't change much.

Ramiro: At first I wouldn't change super much, but I would either give some more impact on him joining Adrenaline, or I would remove the Adrenaline plot entirely because I always forget it exists at every time.

Jim: Make her gayer than she already is <3

Yam: Same as above, but also, her probably knowing more than Jim that she is a lesbian, and giving more hints about it. Also I'd give her more screentime just because <3

Eric: I can allow him to be there, but... he's just gonna be there... maybe just keep him for the "helping him to sing" part, as it can be a fun thing for Nina to go from not daring to sing in public herself to teaching someone else to sing in front of an audience.

Ana: I'm thinking her and Mora having this dating arc kinda going on in the background. Kind of a "hint hint" until they suddenly reveal they're dating. Also she's not gonna date Gary at all, because. She's dating Mora all the time.

Mora: Keep her in S3. And have her drop random hints she's sapphic but then not elaborate. Keep being a sapphic mentor to Jim and Yam at least.

Benicio: He's just gonna be here so that I can make him suffer so much

Emilia: She deserves a redemption. Also I may give some more depth to her. And maybe she has an obvious crush on Ámbar that she refuses to admit.

Juliana: She's gonna stay essentially the same, but be slightly less rude in the beginning. I'm gonna also have her also be a bit of a sapphic mentor too, but to everyone in a way ;)

Jazmin: She's gonna be called out for recording people without their consent. Although, it's gonna be a fun plot where her fans think that everyone in her videos are just acting and that it's not actually true.

Delfi: Basically the same as Jazmin. I'm also gonna maybe change her a bit in S1, but I probably need to rewatch S1 to see exactly how lol.

Everyone else I think I won't change that much or I'm not sure how to rewrite them atm.

[nogenrealldrama]

Oh! Oh! The language of flowers! Or the prince of gryffindor! (or both) 👉👈

Yay! Thank you for the ask! And sorry for being so unreasonable late with this, it's been a busy week.

1. The Language of Flowers is the canon-compliant dual POV of Lily and Petunia’s relationship all the way from pre-Hogwarts to 1981. It’s kind of inspired by that deleted scene from the Deathly Hallows movie where Petunia tells Harry: “You might have lost your mother that night. But I lost a sister.”

Generally the people written as more one-dimensional villains in HP fascinate me because I dislike to see people as inherently evil and nasty like that. So I want to write this fic not to exonerate Petunia, but rather to poke and prod at both the environment and choices that led her to be the way she is.

A big source of inspiration as well is the fact that Lily is never really allowed to be a fully realised character in the books - Harry’s POV, and to some degree I suspect JKR herself, view Lily as this perfectly pure, all-loving, sacrificial mother. Even her name, Lily, is a symbol for purity and innocence. Very Madonna-whore complex vibes. It always gave me the ick because I imagine Lily would have resented this portrayal. Most women I know would resent it, frankly.

I’d like to explore that in this fic - the concept of being give a name with a meaning that fits like someone else’s shoe, of being seen as a role you’re expected to play instead of a person that you are. As a Muggle woman in the 1970s, I’m sure Petunia experienced heaps of that, too. Perhaps her and Lily’s relationship could have healed eventually, if they were only more able to appreciate the way that this same struggle manifests in one another’s life.

As for a snippet, I’ve already posted one here! It’s going to be a short multichapter, and hopefully one of the first fics I get to publish on ao3.

2. The Prince of Gryffindor has been languishing in my WIPs folder for a few good years. It’s a canon divergence fic on what would happen if Snape had been Sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin. In the books, Dumbledore himself comments on Snape’s bravery so it feels like one of my favourite types of canon divergences - one that easily could have happened if someone made a very slightly different choice.

I have the first chapter written, but I struggled to see how I could complete the fic without it escaping into some insane longfic - I only have space for one insane longfic at a time. Fortunately, in the meantime I found a wonderful fic with the same premise - it’s The Gryffindor Sort by small_spyglass. It’s pretty much everything I wanted The Prince of Gryffindor to be, and it’s also funnier than anything I ever could write. I really recommend everyone to check it out!