#people who aren't gonna know what those stupid little phrases mean?

[martianbugsbunny]

Here's smthn I find very annoying: when an academic book uses latin or French phrases to describe what it's talking about for no reason. an average person reading that book bc they want to learn from it isn't gonna know what they mean. they're never explained. it's jargon, really, and it gets in the way. every time I come across one of those I feel a little spike of pure annoyance and mutter to myself "why couldn't the author have just described it in the same language as the rest of the book?" it's so distracting from the process of engaging with the material that I came onto Tumblr for a solid couple of minutes to write this irritated post about it instead of continuing on in the chapter I was reading.

[firstelevens]

👀 🤗 🧠 (the latter for sam)

🧠 Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them.

A lot of my headcanons are hobby-adjacent, I'm realizing. My favorite one for Sam is that he's the kind of person who likes to work with his hands, and particularly enjoys tinkering with mechanical things. I know we canonically see him working on Redwing and the boat, but I firmly believe that if he was unable to channel his energy into superheroing, he'd be taking apart toasters and wall clocks trying to make them work better. I've worked it into lots of fics and I firmly stand by it!

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

I'm gonna be honest, bud; it has been a rough time for WIPs around these parts and that's not likely to change, given that Ramadan is coming up and I usually don't have the energy to write then.

All I can offer you is this excerpt from a silly installment of the Formula 1 AU, which has been put on pause until my ability to write returns from the war

“There’s finally a real bed here and you have to leave for the airport at 6 AM tomorrow,” Bucky says, shucking off his t-shirt and flinging it towards a random corner of the room. “Take your pants off already, Wilson; the clock is ticking.” But Sam does not, in fact, take his pants off. He doesn’t even stand up. He stays exactly where he is, surrounded by an objectively stupid amount of throw pillows with his reading glasses perched on his nose. And then he smirks, reaches for the hoodie that Bucky abandoned a little while ago, and puts on an extra layer. Bucky blinks. Sam blinks back. The reading glasses are crooked from how quickly he pulled on the hoodie and it’s kind of adorable. “Seriously?” “Oh, was I supposed to be wooed by that?” asks Sam, straightening his glasses. “Efficiency is supposed to get me going?” “You made out with me in the backseat of the truck just for streamlining a grocery list.” “That was forever ago.” “That was last week.”

Third answer is under the cut because it got kind of long!

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

I think useful writing advice is SO dependent on what type of person/writer you are, but here's a few things that I think would be broadly applicable.

Save your scraps! An issue that I had when I first started writing and still deal with to this day is the impulse to just delete everything when a piece of writing isn't working out the way I want it to. I've learned now to just move that writing into a separate document where I keep all the fic scraps I've written that haven't really fit into a story. It's made me a better writer because now I don't spend all my time trying desperately to make a section of the story work with the rest of my idea, just so the time I spent writing it won't go to waste. I'm much more willing to cut something and if I know I won't lose it forever, and a lot of the time those extra bits of writing come in handy later on.

Trust your instincts. Write about the characters and emotions and experiences that interest you, no matter how wildly self-indulgent they are or how many other people have written the same thing. It's not magically going to mean you have no issues while writing, but it's a whole lot easier to work through a roadblock in your story when you care about what you're writing. (And the truth is that if you write about something you feel lukewarm about, all the kudos and comments in the world aren't going to make you feel less lukewarm about it. It'll always just be kind of meh, so you might as well chase the concepts you care about.)

Read widely. I was a mimic before I ever figured out what my own writer's voice sounded like, and I still shamelessly lift structures or turns of phrase from my favorite authors. I know we all go through times where it's just hard to get through books, but there's always poetry or essays or articles or even narrative podcasts if that's more your thing. Seeing other people do things with words is a really helpful way to mine information or inspiration, but it also helps you figure out what you like and don't like in writing, which makes it easier to figure out how to write things in a way that's satisfying to you.

Set aside a regular time for writing or thinking about writing. This is a skill I literally just picked up last year and it's the only reason I've managed to write the fics I did. Every chapter of the Bake Off AU was worked out during a little chunk of time that I had on Tuesdays where I would sit down at a coffee shop and outline things (by hand, because working with my computer was distracting) or make notes on dialogue/write up sections for the media interludes. Before that, my writing time used to be in bed before I went to sleep, making notes or adding a sentence to a doc on my phone. Even if it's just five minutes at a set time just once a week, if you do it enough, your brain will get into the habit of it. I still feel the itch to sit down and write on Tuesdays at 11, even when I'm in a slow period for writing. It's a nice way to remember that writer's block and packed out days don't last forever, and I'll find my way back to storytelling when my brain gets the time.

[bredforloyalty]

for the unpopular opinion .. d*stial (sorry)

it's okay thank you for the ask!! i just appreciate that no one's gone for the jugular, yet, lmaooo. let's not discuss further what this means

but okay destiel, whatever, i'm not sure i want to sit here all day and type and, act like i can make people who are committed to misunderstanding me (hellers in this case) see my point of view lol.. but the post did say 'brutally honest opinion' and i've got PLANY off time..... i will say, here, that i personally kind of hate it, which you obviously knew. given the way you asked 🥴 i'll just put the uhh vent under a cut

(i'm gonna continue using the word heller but i really don't mean it in a derogatory way, i find it fun and when i first started watching spn and getting involved with the fandom, destiel enthusiasts were calling themselves that, and it's shorter than destiel enthusiast. or enjoyer. so yeah i mean nothing bad by that, if anyone's got a better idea of what to call them i'm listening)

umm so generally i don't hate ships, like i mean unless i find a good reason, unless they're fundamentally offensive (what falls under that umbrella for you might differ from what falls under it for me. this one's not offensive though). but the stupidity i have witnessed from hellers specifically. it's astounding. that's what i hate, how pervasive it is, the way of looking at the show that hellers have 😬 'they silenced you' says so much, i don't know how they got there. it seems like a group hallucination, most of the queerbaiting and the versions of the characters people have in their heads. especially dean

i can't comprehend what some of the destiel bloggers on here saw in the show, i don't know what they watched, i don't know how they're looking at the world, it's a mystery to me. maybe they really wanted it, i mean destiel to,, not be a baseless ship, maybe they really wanted those crumbs from canon. why though.... i have such a hard time sympathizing with that, with the people who annoyed the actors at cons, who demanded shit from the writers and thought the finale wasn't fit for the characters because a ship that's huge on tumblr blinded them to what actually happened in the show....... and it's the community that's essentially responsible for the novel ship it, i mean that in itself is unforgivable LMAO

it's the wrong approach to, well, media, imo. asking for "representation". when there was zero intention there from the beginning. it just isn't there, that's what i think: destiel is not there, it is fanon, almost entirely. which wouldn't be a problem, but big internet communities have convinced themselves otherwise, and started shitting on people who watched the show for the show and not for the "secret good version of supernatural in their heads". the way i used to use that phrase and now it fills me with loathing lmaoo before i watched any of spn, i was under the impression there was at least tension or a little queerbaiting. but the characters are just not who hellers pretend they are 😔 i've been cheated by destiel, i've been lied to, big destiel burnt my crops and snuck into my house in the middle of the night and killed my children and stole my donkey gyshjcyx you get the idea

it seems like a completely different way of approaching entertainment. this "let's ignore canon and see how well it works as clay" thing. why not watch a romcom. is this really the big romance for you? otp, destiel? the hill you die on, is this, this nothing? there's so much stuff, out there, and you want to. imagine a supernatural that's different in all key aspects from the real show

Some people, some hellers, fervently deny fundamental parts of spn, and that, i hate </3 tv shows aren't completely subjective, you can't just make shit up, there's intentions and narratives and, whatever the fuck, you know. even if the show isn't really good. it's not all in the eye of the beholder, some interpretations ARE simply dumb or biased. i'm incredibly tired of people with Those interpretations being the loudest, and of them roping so many others in

like, mutuals who haven't seen a minute of this show put stupid spn posts on my dash because the desticule convinced them of stupid shit 😭 i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm whiny about this. i'm whiny because supernatural has become fucking important to me and people don't even attempt to see it for the parts i think are good, they get straight to butchering it and playing tea party with the monster stitched together from its corpse gxsfhxy

like watching the show for destiel is kind of an insult towards me </3 and it's also completely alien. don't know where it comes from, i can't even stand misha collins's acting, i do think it's worse than both jackles and jarpad, and castiel is just not interesting to me. making him and his relationship with dean interesting sounds like a really tough job, you're doing all the work, because the writers served almost nothing

so there, that's my opinion. destiel is bland, not supported by canon in major ways, plus it does the opposite of pleasing me aesthetically :( but if i think of what it could be, there's something there? michael's vessel and a violent hunter, daddy's blunt little instrument, with the angel who rebelled? :) on paper it doesn't suck! i have a few mutuals who ship destiel among other things who are totally cool and normal. i wouldn't have big problems with the ship and shippers just doing their own thing

if there was any chance of me ever becoming interested in dean/cas or suddenly finding myself compelled, it's gone by now. died. raise a glass to the memory of a positive relationship between me and deancas 💔💔💔

[gracie-p8-officialblog]

Defending Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny

Ah oxymorons, one of my favourite literary devices... If you don't know what an oxymoron is, let me enlighten you: it's a phrase that contradicts itself (kinda like verbal irony), like "jumbo shrimp", "chilled hot chocolate," "clearly confused" or "defending Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny".

Because, you know, Raoul doesn't need much defending. Seriously. If there's going to be any defending going on here, Raoul's the one who does the defending for most of the play (up until Final Lair where the roles are reversed and Christine is now the one who does the defending but more on that later.) Are we clear on that? Good.

And it has come to my attention that Raoul has got a lot of flak from phans for various reasons. And in this post, I'm going to refute the stupidest Raoul bashing arguments.

Also, we're not counting Love Never Dies because I think it's just an alternate universe and that it ruined Raoul's character for the sake of that fanfiction.

It is a truth universally acknowledged (or at least in the wee Raoul Defense Squad Circle) that Raoul is one of the greatest and most underrated boyfriends to ever exist in musical theatre. There seem to be two kinds of people in this world: those who appreciate Phantom of the Opera, and those who don't know what they're missing. The ones who appreciate Raoul as the hero, prince charming and cinnamon roll he is, and then there's the other camp. The ones who villainize Raoul and think he is nothing but a stupid, wimpy, abusive fop who crushed the Phantom (aka. Erik's) dreams and never truly loved Christine. They seem to be laboured under the mistaken delusion that Raoul is a cowardly pretty boy who is pretty much Gaston 2.0. (Technically, there's a third group: those who know nothing about Phantom of the Opera (POTO) but we can only hope that they will come out from under their rocks as soon as possible)

In case if you couldn't tell, I'm Team Raoul. And the bashing he recieves is unfair tbh. This is where I will appreciate and explain why I love him.

First of all, I'd like to combat the theory that he is boring. Ladies, puh-leeze. He's much more relatable than you admit and that we all have a little bit of Raoul in us. Failure to see things staring us in the face, saying or doing the wrong thing at the wrong time, having a 'see it to believe it' attitude when we have little-to-no evidence on something... yeah, don't pretend you don't see a trend. Raoul is relatable whether we want him to be or not.

And just because Raoul has boy-band hair and dresses well, that doesn't make someone a fop. He's a navy man and a nobleman so he is expected to look nice. But Erik is the one who takes it to the extreme. I mean, c'mon, a fedora?

I also noticed that when he asked Christine out for dinner after reuniting with her ruffled the feathers of many phans. What right has Raoul to fall in love with Christine? What does he need from her? He only fell in love with her for her voice and beauty! And he only noticed her when she was in Hannibal! Can't he just go get someone else?

News flash people. It's been YEARS since Raoul last saw Christine. And they were kids when they last saw each other, along with the fact that he travelled in order to train as a navy man! So it's understandable on why he got excited to see Christine again after so long. Plus, his love for her is more than just her voice and beauty. Sure, they have mutual memories and he likes the way she sings, and he likes how beautiful she is. But there's nothing wrong with thinking of how beautiful a girl is AND how beautiful is her voice (within reason).

I admit, Raoul and Christine's relationship at first struck me as being sappy and overdone. You must know that I was only nine or ten when I first discovered POTO, and so excuses must be made. By the time I listened to it again at fourteen, I was completely won over. Raoul fell in love with her because she was a nice, beautiful person (both on the inside and out) and they knew each other since they were kids! His love is genuine AND stable for Christine. He represents everything she needs- stability, protection, a guiding hand and affirmed affection. She represents everything he needs, in turn, someone to show affection to and the woman he has loved since childhood. Plus, he was brave enough to ask Christine to marry him despite their class differences, risking that his family might disown him for being married to someone inferior to his rank. It just shows how strong his love for her is.

And now, let's get this point clear, I believe the claim that he was gaslighting Christine is bogus. He's been raised as someone who doesn't believe in the supernatural and 'phantom' literally means 'ghost'. But here’s the kicker. He doesn’t leave. Like, no matter how much he doubts her love of what she says, he still loves her and stays with her. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with him thinking Christine is a little delusional with all the Phantom stuff. None of it added up to him, and it all seemed illogical. Its natural for any human being to not believe those kinds of things, so stop using that to make him look bad. Plus, if he said something like "Oh Christine, you're SO stupid!" and laughed at her about it, phans could definitely have a valid reason to hate him. But he doesn't do that! Instead, he tries to find the Phantom's voice calling out to her and when he saw nothing, he began to comfort her and was like" There, there, shh... Don't worry... Everything's gonna be alright. I'll help you make all the bad things go away." And due to dramatic irony, he has little-to-no evidence to prove the Phantom's existence compared to the audience who saw it all!

If you still aren't convinced, then listen very closely to what I'm about to say: Here's some 'Raoul's I highly recommend to look up before y'all hate on him.

I highly recommend John Cudia, Michael Shawn Lewis, Jordan Donica and Patrick Wilson who play VERY princely and adorable Raouls. Trust me, their Raouls are IMPOSSIBLE to hate!

One last point before I wrap this up: The only reason Raoul asked her to agree to be the lead is because he realized that if Christine does that, the Phantom would be there. And he knows it's their chance to get rid of this elusive Opera Ghost. And the only reason Christine doesn't want to is because she is afraid of what the Phantom will do. Now this annoys many Raoul-haters and call me a broken cassette tape but... Even though I agree it was a teensy bit callous of him to persuade Christine into performing her stalker's opera, Raoul hoped it would catch the Phantom, and he was willing to do it to get protect Christine from the Phantom in the future. Was his plan risky? Probably. Did he honestly think Christine would be in danger? No! He was going to get all the cops to come and protect her. How was he supposed to know the Phantom had other plans? Plus, running away is a big no-no for Raoul. Because as shown in "Why Have You Brought Me Here/Raoul, I've Been There" and "Wandering Child", whenever and wherever they run to, the Phantom ALWAYS finds them! Therefore, to his naive, young mind, he believed that doing Don Juan Triumphant would stop the Phantom from doing more harm to Christine and the opera house. So stop using this to vilify him!

I should like to also take this time, while I still have your attention (you are paying attention, right? Right? Hey! Wake up!) to point out some other important events that showed Raoul's character and bravery; namely, him fighting his way through the French sewer system (aka. The yuckiest parts of France) to save Christine, he didn't keep his hand to the level of his eyes to comfort a terrified Christine, he dodged some fireballs thrown at him in the graveyard just so he could protect Christine AND last but not least, he nearly died for Christine in order to save her from Stockholm syndrome/an abusive relationship!

In short: Raoul de Chagny is a knight in shining armour who loves Christine more than his own life. He stands by her, fights for her, comforts her AND was willing to sacrifice everything for her! And how the audience writes him off as an one-dimensional bad guy who does not love Christine, I will never know why. Are you convinced yet? If not... *hands list of what are the differences between a healthy and unhealty relationship* Yours, I believe.