#when i like a thing i criticize it A LOT bc that's where my creativity kinda comes from ajkldjf

[librarycards]

pls ignore this is its too weird or too much labor, but i was wondering if you maybe had any tips or resources for ppl who have creative desires like writing but brain fog and fatigue tends to get in the way?

i do! it may not work for you bc people have very random/unexpected ways of dealing with this, but it's *very* common and there is hope :) [i think a lot of this is applicable across form, but i'm using "writing" here because it's what i'm familiar with]

one way is to be strategic about timing: this includes thinking about when you're least foggy/have the most energy, and/or the most "downtime" where there isn't anything in particular you need to do. many people wake up early so that they have alone time before their responsibilities. some people stay up late to write. i tend to do my daily writing (which I elucidate on below) in the evenings, around 7-10pm. whatever works, works!

relatedly: scheduling/routine is, for me, critical. i think it is for a lot of creative ppl. I write every day, in multiple ways: i keep a journal - i've done this since i was like 12, so it's as ingrained as brushing my teeth and i don't really think about it - and also work on some aspect of my current longest project [so, for the last 4 years, it's been the aforementioned second novel; for the 4ish years before that, it was Failure to Comply. i write other stuff during the daytime, of course, because writing is also my job(s). but if you're looking to establish a consistent creative practice, you don't need to be aiming for a certain hour or word count.

Instead: Aim for consistency and progress. Not perfection, not a "muse," not magic. There is no shame in making something that doesn't seem good, or that you end up deleting. in this particular instance, "perfect is the enemy of good" is 10000% true, and i think especially applicable to people who already experience external + internalized ableist ideologies on a daily basis. your art, regardless of what it is, should be a space where you get to make mistakes, change your mind, and learn new things. it should be something you can come to when you're tired, unsure, confused, scared, etc, even if it means just keysmashing and then closing your notes app for the day.

for me, having a daily practice, regardless of anything, means embracing the days where i write only one word and then despair, as well as the days i write pages. when i feel most depressed, in a very clinicized sense, i try to move from "everything i make now is going to be shitty :(" to "everything i make now is going to be shitty :)", not because i'm happy about it, but because....that's simply part of creating. everything is a bodily function. if you're not feeling good, maybe your poop will look weird. so too with writing. but you still do it. it can be mechanical. but it'll happen, and by doing it consistently, you give yourself the *opportunity* to locate insight hitherto buried, to have an idea creep up on your tiredself.

i guess in sum I'd say that the healthiest thing i ever did for my writing is something tantamount to body neutrality, which has also been an immensely positive addition to my set of frameworks for physical embodimindment. creative neutrality, i guess. this doesn't mean i don't tie my ego and personhood to work/productivity/quality. i mean, i totally do, and it sucks, but there we are. but it also means that i place that in a corner that does not touch my desire to chip away at something big, regularly. i make time every day to summon the urgency of whatever i'm working on, not because i'm proud of it at that moment, but because i want to give it another opportunity to give me something cool.

tl:dr: give yourself the gift of consistency and time, and don't be scared of making stuff that isn't good, or gets deleted, or doesn't make sense. write from wherever you want, physically, mentally, spiritually. give it the opportunity & even the expectation to happen and then work from there.

[scekrex]

You know who it is, it's ya boy! 🕺

So. Obviously a crack fic, if anyone is wondering - no, I don't smoke pot, I'm just very stupid with dumb, but creative ideas, about Adam, Lute and the reader having a mission given to them from Sera, we're they have to got to the Earth in their human disguises (Of course Adam is just Adam without the mask and brown eyes, because Alex Brightman, fuck yeah) to do some business with some of the governments. What they didn't think of is the fact that when they got their human disguises, they also came with human traits, like being able to get absolutely hammered. Like for angels it would take a lot of alcohol (I'm looking at you Castiel when you drank a whole ass liquor store) to get drunk, but humans have a weaker immune system when it comes to percentages. So Adam the drunkest of them all getting the amazing idea of stealing a shopping cart, a little less drunk reader agreeing and them running off before Lute could stop them, Adam in the cart, reader pushing. In the end they accidentally drove off the sidewalk and launched themselves into the damn brook. Lute panicked before they emerged, laughing their asses off, Adam just started to glide his hands over his clothes as if he wanted to hand wash them. Here cue the meme:

-I'M WASHING ME AND MY CLOTHES

-He's drunk as fuck

-Biiitch, I'm washing me and my clothes 😌

With the "I'm washing me and my clothes" being Adam, "He's drunk as fuck" being Lute and the reader just floating in the water next to Adam wondering what the hell he was doing before catching the vibe and doing the same. Now imagine Sera just wanting to check on them and their progress through that orb in Heaven like during "You didn't know" 😂 Miss girl would face plam so hard her big ass lashes would fly off her face 😂😂😂

Bro. Bro I adore you and I adore your fucking crack prompts, they're my new favorite thing to write. So here ya go babes

Drunk 'n' Nasty

pairing: Adam x male!reader

warnings: language, use of alcohol, yet another crack fic

note: not beta read bc fuck you I don't have beta readers

Lute grabbed your wrist and pulled you away from the bar entrance, Adam had already been grabbed by his shirt to keep him from entering the building. “No, Sera explicitly said that we need to get this over with as fast as possible,” the lieutenant spoke in a firm voice as she dragged both you and your husband away from the pub, “So we will finish the job and then straight up head back to heaven.”

You pounded at her, “You’re no fun, c’mon Lute just let us have one drink, in and out in no time.” But the exorcist shook her head and stood her ground, “No. One drink will lead to two and two drinks will lead to you and Adam getting completely wasted.” Adam wiggled out of her grip and slapped the hand she had wrapped around your wrist. Yes, Sera had given you orders, but where was the fun in having human disguises if you weren't able to enjoy the night on earth?

“Oh fucking quit it, danger tits, we all know it will end like that either way,” Adam groaned and rolled his eyes, “Loosen up, bitch.” Lute side eyed the first man critically but eventually gave in with a sigh. She wordlessly stepped aside so the two of you were able to enter the crowded bar and Adam dragged you inside before Lute was able to change her mind again. “Let’s fucking go,” the brunette cheered and sat down at the counter. He patted his thigh as his now brown eyes caught yours, “C’mere babes.” That he didn't need to tell you twice, you closed the small gab that was left between the two of you and sat down on his thigh as the first man ordered two shots of whiskey for the both of you, he knew Lute wouldn't drink, she appeared to be quite tense ever since the three of you had arrived on earth.

Once the drinks were put down in front of you, you immediately reached for the tiny shot glass and downed it in one go by tilting your head back, Adam's eyes were locked on your throat as he was able to see how you swallowed the liquid, a nasty grin appeared on his lips as he leaned in a little closer to you, “Fuck, how often will I get that view tonight?” “Depends,” you grinned back at him, the pleasant yet unusual burn of alcohol made you shiver slightly, “How often do ya wanna see it, pretty boy?” Adam leaned in even closer until his lips brushed softly against your ear and his hot breath hit your face, “I don't think I will ever get enough of it.” And with that he downed his own shot just to slam the empty glass on the counter and ask the bartender for another round.

“Sir,” Lute had managed to get through the crowd somehow and was now standing behind you, “That was your one shot, we'll leave now.” Adam looked at you, it was so weird to see the first man with dark brown eyes instead of bright golden ones, but it was something you could get used to, they seemed honest, not that his golden eyes were serving you lies but the brown orbs just felt different, more personal. “Lute, do us a fucking favor and find some dude who will pull that massive fucking stick outta your ass so we can enjoy ourselves for a little while,” your husband shared his opinion on Lute's behavior towards the both of you, then he turned around again to focus on the drinks on the counter. The first man raised his glass, you did the same and in union you purred, “To us.” Another shot was swallowed and you slowly felt your cheeks heating up because of the alcohol. Oh how you had missed the burning liquor.

“I will regret this,” Lute grumbled as the exorcist sat down on the stool next to you. Your eyes beamed at her and you were quick to order three cocktails, visibly happy that she had decided to join you. “Just because I'm sitting down doesn't mean I will drink with you, it's enough of a burden that you two are,” she hissed and eyed the neon pink drink suspiciously as it was placed in front of her. “Don’t be such a princess, it's just one drink,” Adam commented and pushed the pretty looking drink a little closer to Lute. She however, simply passed it to some chick that was passing by. And that was the moment you chose to ignore the woman for the rest of the evening. If she was fine with staying sober and doing as stupid fucking Sera said, so be it, you and Adam however had other plans.

It didn't really take long for the alcohol to actually punch you two in the face though, heaven offered no such things as alcohol, weed, crack or nicotine so the tolerance bar for Adam and you was basically on the floor. And that was probably part of the reason why the two of you had one hell of a blast running away from Lute.

And then Adam spotted the supermarket that wasn't too far away from the pub so he made quick work of picking you up bridal style and then he was on his way to investigate whatever it was that was going on there. “What now, big guy, are we taking off together? Away from stick-in-the-ass-Lute and go-fuck-yourself-Sera?” you chuckled as the brunette continued to carry you over to the empty parking lot. “Damn fucking right, babes,” Adam agreed. The taller man let you down once your destination was reached and he immediately saw something new he wanted to investigate.

The fucking shopping carts.

So you tagged along, mainly to make sure Adam wouldn't hurt himself but also because you were curious too. You weren't quite sure how, but somehow Adam had managed to disconnect the metal chain from the cart, the first man was pulling it away from the others and as soon as it stopped moving, he climbed in it to sit down, “What are you waiting for, bitch, fucking push me!” Adam pointed to the street.

Lute had just managed to catch up to you two drunken asses as you rushed past her. You pushed the shopping cart as fast as physically possible, “Fuck yeah,” Adam yelled and threw his fists in the air, that man was having the time of his life - or well, existence. Either way it was fun, you two were having fun.

Lute on the other hand regretted every single decision that had led her to his exact moment, if she could she would punch her past self for even agreeing to coming with you. Fuck what had she been thinking, that you two would take this serious for once? Yeah, dead fucking wrong.

It was all fun and games until you stumbled over your own feet, lost control of the cart and pushed it right into the brook that was besides the sidewalk you had been running on. Your alcohol clouded brain didn't even think of letting go and therefore you fell with Adam. Instead of being bummed about it, you thought of this as an upgrade though, because now you were floating on water.

“Adam look,” you called for your husband, “I’m floating.” Adam turned around in order to see what you were doing and chuckled at the sight. “‘m washin’ me ‘n’ my clothes,” the brunette explained what he was doing as he slid his hands all across his body, crumbling up his very wet clothes.

Lute had finally managed to fully catch up to you and just watched you with annoyance. “He’s drunk as fuck,” she grumbled, clearly talking to you but you simply shook your head violently, you somehow managed to get over to where Adam was washing himself and his clothes and helped him by sliding your hands all over his body too, “Bitch, we're washing him and his clothes.”

The brunette turned around to face you and poked your chest, “If you handsome bitch keep touching me like that I might just fuck you right here, right now,” the words he spoke were a little hard to understand die to the alcohol he had been drinking earlier. But hard to understand didn't mean impossible to understand, because as soon as your brain had processed the words your husband had spoken you pressed your entire body against his, your wet clothes clinging onto each other.

“Oh Lord have mercy,” Lute prayed as she covered her ears and turned around so that she wouldn't have to watch.

“Yeah? What's stopping you, big guy?” you were up for the challenge, if he wanted to fuck you right there, then he should get to do that. At least that's how you saw it.

Sera had a gut feeling that told her to check on the group and so she did. But what she saw was something she surely hadn't expected. Lute was standing on the sidewalk, the woman was still covering her ears and had squeezed her eyes shut in order to tune out what was happening behind her back.

Because Adam and you were standing in a brook, both fully naked. Sera immediately regretted what she had just done, she wanted to unsee what her eyes had been able to see. She stopped the transmission in an instant. That had simply been too much for her nerves, she had also made the decision to never address what was currently going down on earth.

Spoiler: Adam was going down on you.

[multidimensionalguidance]

SR Chart in-depth Analysis Part 2 🔒

Here’s the continuation and final part of my SR chart analysis and predictions, which has been very fun because its the few moments where I can see myself from a different perspective, and just focus on the information I can decode without any room for judgment.

Taurus 8th house: my sense of security will depend a lot on how much I can rely on indulging in delicacies within my own hidden safe space. Finances are merged or shared within close relationships. Partners resources become my own. Inflexible or hard-headed when it comes to the type of comfort or luxury I expect to enjoy. A big focus in other people’s resources becoming my own somehow. The ruler of this house sits in the 12H, which means that the money I receive or try to keep hidden will be used towards spirituality, foreign settlement, expenditure, bed pleasures, self care, health, work clothes, skincare, and extravagant procedures to enhance my natural beauty, which could be to an almost detrimental or excessive level since Venus is debilitated.

Gemini 9th house: communications in general will be towards philosophy, higher knowledge, luck, feeling blessed, traveling, foreigners, teachers, spiritual guides, etc. It is also likely I will be speaking a foreign language quite often. Lots of short distance traveling to foreigners places. These conversations and type of mindset will influence my finances, bet it due to new perspectives or simply luck allowing me monetize those newly acquired learnings and skills. That would particularly be due to 9H ruler sitting in the 2nd house. I’ve read before that Mercury in the 2nd denotes above average intelligence, so perhaps that will also influence on how I’ll be able to increase my resources.

Cancer 10th house: this year people will perceive me as very nurturing, mother-like, soft, intuitive, and like wife material (particularly bc that asteroid Bried is conj the MC). It is likely that I will be receiving lots of attention because that’s what luminaries do, they put a spotlight, which is career/public image for me. My work environment could be spent in a space that IS or feels like home. There could be discomfort from having matters that are private exposed to the public, so I might have to deal with some of that as well. The ruler of this house sits in the 5H, so I might be doing creative work online, related to children, with romantic partner, in a fun way.

Leo 11th house: my social circle will be full of creatives (artists, leaders, performers, teachers, government workers etc), royal-like people or individuals with a certain amount of influence. My goals, social media image, and gains/income will be focused towards notoriety, fame, child-like joy, romance, appearance, etc. On top of that, the ruler of the house sits in the 2H, so those gains/goals/social media image will also influenced my resources and finances.

Virgo 12th house: with Venus sitting there and it being the debilitation, I’m led to thinking that the possible negative significations of this placement will be experienced in isolation, during my daily night routine or in foreign places. The difficulty with Venus in Virgo is how overly critical and judgy it is towards itself and others. There is a difficulty with fully enjoying the experience of love and beauty because you’re too busy thinking of how things can be better or improved. Now, on the other hand, no one does acts of service and has a deeper awareness of health and beauty than this sign. They give and give happily to those they commit to or love in general. I will probably be enjoying a bit of those sides during this year.

Thank you for reading this far! I’m excited to check this during December and doing a sort of checklist of what I predicted accurately + everything else that will definitely happen without my awareness.

[choccy-milky]

Hi babe, just read what u published about getting hate on Clora from your latest chapter.

I just wanted to say that there’ll always be people that will throw HATE - on your oc - story- decisions u make for your fanfic-story-character. The important thing here is to know where you stand, what u like, how u want your characters-story to be headed. I knoooow for a fact that is jealousy, towards you, your creativity, your imagination, and they just wanna be “cool”.

I’ve followed u for a time now ( and sorry I’ve always wanted to message you saying how awesome u are 🥲 but didn’t have the courage to do so… but this drew the line! ) and how you manage to portray the feelings, story and the character’s personalities is truly unique. U👏KEEP👏DOING👏THAT👏.

In my country we say “take the things from who says them” ( poor translation sorry ) it basically means take the comments and opinions from the people who know about the topic, from people that are important to you, from people you admire, etc. Not from those kind of people who CLEARLY have NO CLUE about the HP plot 😅 which like u said, it revolves about sacrifice and love, or just for the art of hating an -awesome- OC. Like, c’on we’re too old for this hating on one and other 😒.

I know it’s upsetting. BUT: Keep on shining. Keep on giving Clora her vibrant and wonderful personality that u both share. Keep working hard. Keep creating.

I’m sending all my love and support from a remote corner of Earth. 💖🫶

PS. Sorry for the long AF message. Toodaloo!😘

AWW TY BABE SRSLY💖💖💖 im so happy youve been enjoying my art/story/following me for so long!!!😭💖💖

and you're 100000% right, i need to just focus on the positive and people who enjoy my content and who are kind to me and whose opinions i respect 😭💖LIKE YOU!!💖💖and ik people might just then accuse me of surrounding myself in an echo chamber of yes men who just are nice to me bc i cant take criticism BUT HEY!! what else am i supposed to do for my mental health? if you dont like clora or my story/art or w.e else, just block me and curate your feed and move on and dont think about me anymore, the same way im trying to do for my own wellbeing. im lucky enough to have lot of ppl like my art and story but that doesnt mean i signed some agreement to have people be rude to me and i just have to take it with a smile. like naw my guy, i have ANXIETY UP THE WAZOO!! and im allowed to block and delete and respond to stuff like that when it upsets me too ALSO THANK YOU AS WELL @jodiswiftle 💖💖im so happy youre enjoying my fic sm. i got your ask but i hope you dont mind me just addressing it here, bc i dont wanna keep drawing attention to this and keep making separate posts about it/the negativity and i want this to be the last one. but IT REALLY DOES MEAN A LOT, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PASSIONATE RANT OF AFFECTION BAHAHA IT RLY CHEERED ME UP TOO 💖💖🥹

[takiki16]

Hey so I am starting to get into Jupiter Ascending fandom (a couple years late but what can I say). I was thinking of writing a fic. Do you have any resources for JA extra information?

Thanks in advance. Also I am loving your fic (it's how I started getting into the fandom lololol). can't wait to reread!!!

HOOOOOOO BOY!!!!

I'm paging @bemusedlybespectacled, @gallifreyburning, @vr-trakowski, @sorrelchestnut, @florentinequill, @fuckyeahjupiterascending, @vrabia, and honestly ANYONE ELSE who wants to chime in here, bc HOOOOOOO BOY!

(I made that sweet puppy in fucking 2015 on my dying laptop in the travel study dorm in DC, JUPITER ASCENDING HOW I LOVE THEE)

The eternal fucking tragedy of Jupiter Ascending is that the wider world doesn't love it like we do. Does it have every single thing that turns my crank, id-wise? Sure! Does it have gorgeous over-the-top sequined costumes and extravagant set pieces that remind you at every minute that this movie specially thanked Swarovski Crystal in the credits? Sure! Does it have theeeee single most pinpoint reading of MY PERSONAL FEMALE GAZE that Channing Tatum has ever done? (sorry mister Magic Mike, but you do not even come CLOSE to "may I kill him?" in terms of sexy) SURE! Was this movie a commercial or critical success? Absolutely not 😔

There isn't, as far as I'm aware, an art book. There isn't an official novelization. There isn't even an actual script posted to the usual internet databases that isn't just an automatic shitty talk-to-text rendition of the movie dialogue. There are concept art paintings and old cast interviews floating around, and this auction website where the Wachowskis auctioned off some of the props from the movie, but as far as canon resources and extra material beyond the movie itself there isn't much. A quick duckduckgo search would probably be more helpful to you than anything else, if any of the websites still have the articles up - it WAS eight years ago, and doesn't that just break my fucking heart.

My corner of tumblr LOVED this movie. In 2015, there were TONS of posts gathering interviews, posting concept art, making cosplays, all the signs of a small but healthy fandom ecosystem. However, we call this the blue hellsite for a reason - not all of those resources are still there, and the ones that survived time and incompetent archival site coding are probably difficult to find. I would definitely recommend trawling the JA tags of all the blogs I tagged at the start of this post, as JA introduced me to two of my longest and most beloved of all mutuals. ALL of their insights were key to A Fine Chain.

There is also my own jupiter ascending tag and my more specific jupiter ascending meta tag, although I don't know how bored you are lol. The general JA tag is 105 pages - I would almost recommend just starting at page 105 and working forward from there since it chronicles my descent into kinky space angel werewolf brain rot pretty nicely. There are also my ao3 bookmarks for JA.

I WILL SAY that it has been 8 years, and I have changed into a very different person than the one I was when I first saw this movie. I don't REGRET the first few chapters of A Fine Chain, or any of my breathless meta posts, but I do think that if I were to write any of them over again, I'd hope that my writing style has matured and I'd have lots more extra material to draw from. Actually graduating from law school, writing long fic in another fandom, and generally percolating more as a person has given me lots of new perspectives on JA that make it more interesting even as I still enjoy it (for example, HBO's Succession is ODDLY RELEVANT and I wish there were more JA fanwriters to take advantage of that fact).

...I hope that was helpful? I will ETERNALLY mourn the fact that this fandom wasn't isn't bigger - we haven't even broken 1k on ao3! But EYE MYSELF am here to discuss JA stuff as long as this weird spurt of creative energy sustains me, and my inbox is always open!

[franciskirkland]

i saw you say that you’re take on spamano diverts from canon and honestly i’d love to know more about it, i feel like most spamano shippers do this and i love hearing all takes because i feel like they’re all interesting! and i love them so so much!! do you have any hc’s that you think are unpopular with the fandom?? or do you like they way spamano is represented for the most part??

Hi! Thanks so much for the ask 💕 If you're the same anon who sent the last one I'm working on it. To answer honestly, I don't interact with Spamano fanwork enough to know what is and isn't popular or accepted as fanon these days.

But I'll hesitantly say that no, I think my views on this ship differ from that of the fandom status quo, as they usually do. I don't say this for the sake of being edgy or a need to always play contrarian, but bc I have a unique perspective.

Disclaimer; long post ahead. my opinion was asked for and you're about to receive it. Everything stated is opinion and I'm not discrediting alternate headcanons.

So I'll start by saying I'm not an expert on Spain's history or characterization. I have mentioned this before but the way Himaruya chose to portray him is a bit odd to me. Then again, Hetalia nations aren't really direct representations of their government, but instead stereotypes of their people. If everyone was accurate they'd all be unsympathetic assholes.

Spain as an empire was once a ruthless colonial force, and as a nation in more recent centuries they have a history of fascist rule, violent uprising and general civil discord.

Spain as a character is a sunny, bubbly himbo after he lost his reputation as a global power. I think he has a tendency to downplay the harm he's caused in the past and manipulate others into viewing him as a shiny happy goofy airhead.

Don't get me wrong, I think Antonio is adorable. He's cute, right? Dude's main personality trait is having a GREAT ASS 🍑 and liking tomates 🍅 He loves to cook and dance and do fuck all. The Hetalia wiki describes him as a, quote, 'cheerful country bumpkin' and honestly, let's go with that for the sake of his personhood?

This is why I like human AU. I enjoy reading historical Hetalia, but writing it isn't for me. As a creative, I don't want to operate within the limits of real world events and not gonna lie I prefer writing them as people!! And that's where I exercise some divergence from canon.

So obviously there's the dynamic of boss and his underling that existed when Romano was young. We can't entirely ignore that that arc exists and is part of his character development, but when Romano grows up I don't see them that way, and there's no denying their romantic potential.

I hear, and understand the common criticisms of Spamano. I don't view them as related, and Romano is not Spain's territory anymore. To me it's fair game. Hetalia is complicated bc well... these nation-beings are hundreds of years old, therefore the case for morality in shipping isn't black and white.

Personally I don't believe any ship is 'too problematic' to exist. I'm of the opinion that we can explore just about any dynamic in fiction as long as we do it mindfully. I'm a multishipper, these characters are all so versatile.

This might sound silly to say about an anime character but my analysis of Romano's personality is more in depth. As someone of Italian descent I recognize his stereotypical traits; and feel pretty strongly about his mischaracterization.

For one, he has a small dog Napoleon complex and that's a big thing for Italian guys (more on that later)

In canon (i.e. world history and Hetalia itself) when Romano was young, Spain did spend a lot of money protecting and defending him. Now as an adult he feels guilty, like he has an obligation to him, and he doesn't want to be seen as weak, reliant or incapable ever again. I don't think he'd allow himself to be dominated, in any way, or even want to be.

Here's an unpopular opinion; he is very masculine, but I think people have a hard time comprehending what constitutes masculinity.

And I'm not saying Antonio is therefore feminine. They're both cis men to me, and switch in the bedroom, but I will admit I prefer Lovino as the generally more dominant partner - in a physical and hierarchical sense.

Ultimately I don't think they box themselves into heteronormative roles all too much. Maybe for funsies, because Lovino likes feeling needed and Antonio to me doesn't have the discipline it takes to wear the proverbial pants in the relationship.

In a comic strip, Spain proposed to Romano when same-sex marriage became legal, and he basically said yes as long as you cook for me?? They're husbands!! It's canon 😎

It's a bit hard to explain, but in my perspective, Lovino would protect and cherish Antonio like a man would his 'wife'. He's his Carino. His Tesoro. His Amorino. Toni might be taller than him, but he's always talking to him like a child - mostly affectionately, but we've seen otherwise.

One of my favourite Romano lines is from the April Fools episode, "No talking to me when you look stupid", that to me is a defining moment of their relationship 💖💖💖

So anyway, this attitude of his brings me to the topic of Maschismo. If you're not familiar with that term, it's a performative, arrogant, and fragile brand of toxic masculinity that's prevalent in men of Mediterranean and Latin American descent. Any man can be machismo but the term is associated with these cultures.

(Again I'm of Mediterranean descent, I have lived experience with this, please don't think I'm racist and if that's legitimately your takeaway you have the reading comprehension of a sea cucumber)

In machismo society, men are discouraged from showing any emotion except anger. They're expected to be strong, and are extremely affected by any implication of personal failure, or threat to their (imagined) role as top dog. When something upsets them, aggression is the default response.

Men affected by machismo are often possessive, competitive, and motivated by material success; because there's an expectation to provide for - and honor - your family. They will often talk over women, objectify or ignore them completely, like second class citizens.

Whether this was a conscious intention or not, Hima actually does a great job at displaying Romano as a machismo poster boy. He's simultaneously expressive and repressed. He's stubborn, defensive and argumentative, and if that doesn't say Italian dad to you then you're probably a WASP /hj

What the fandom might see as a little tsundere uke, I see as machismo tough guy. He's not soft, that's the thing, but he deserves space to be soft because so does everyone. Maybe Antonio does bring that out in him. But it's not easy and it's not for anyone else to see. He pretends to hate when Toni calls him cute because he doesn't allow himself to feel appreciated on that level. He actually has a deep, unspoken respect for Antonio. It's just easier to tease him.

And he actually does care. He just does it in a way that isn't instantly recognisable as caring because it's not 'gentle'. He's jealous of Feliciano because he's the 'nice' brother. He's concerned for Feli when others mistreat him. That concern and protectiveness translates into condescension and ironically, distancing.

Sorry for going so in depth on what is essentially old man land mass yaoi, if you've read this far thank you and congratulations I guess.

[papercranium]

THE BEAR CHARACTERS’ ZODIAC SIGNS🐻

steaming hot takes with my (limited) knowledge of astrology. but this has been simmering in my brain for many days and i simply must speak my truth...(part 1/?) idk lmk if you want more bc i have a few thoughts!

carmy is an aquarius!!!! i know this to be true deep in my heart!! the passion, the drive, the focus, the intellect, it's all there. he's driven by his desire to be good, and to keep getting better. carmy knows what he wants and although he sometimes struggles with emotional intimacy, he's actually a really good communicator. he doesn't do small talk, but as we've seen, he's open and willing to discuss difficult topics and be vulnerable with the people he's close to. he is a stubborn believer in the people he cares about, and strongly values teamwork and his desire to make the world around him better.

i think sydney is a gemini she is such a summer girl to meeee!! i loved s2e03 bc we really got to glimpse into her creative thought process. it's fast-paced and fluid and innovative and strongly influenced by her surroundings. she has really vivid goals and dives fully into them, as we see her do in building the beef, but underneath it all i think she definitely gets flustered and struggles with self-doubt--what if her passion isn't enough to make things work? sydney's a little impulsive/impatient at times, but recovers quickly because, like carmy, she's a really strong communicator (i could go ON about sydcarmy &their signs' compatibility....but that's maybe for another time lol).

richie is a sagittarius. he just is. he's brash and extroverted and really driven by a desire to find his purpose, whether it be in his relationships or in his work (s2e07 my beloved)!!! richie's an entertainer and a people person and he's not afraid to take up a lot of space. part of this comes from his closeness to mikey, but he's a great storyteller and wants for people to hear him. but when he's upset, esp when arguing with carmy, he's very blunt and isn't afraid to hit him where it hurts. i think some of the other characters find him a bit unpredictable, and likely it's bc he's trying to unpack a lot of difficult emotions while battling against his own pride.

natalie is a libra and i love her for it. i think one of the most prominent things about nat is that she's always seeking for balance, for security, for things to be stable and good and okay (with the bear, with carmy, with her mother) she is a people pleaser!!!!!! which is probably her greatest strength as well as her greatest weakness--she really wants carmy to be okay, but the work she puts in clearly takes a toll on her. natalie can turn up the charm if it helps her get the job done, as we see her do with cicero. she's critical and focused and has a good eye, which makes her a great project manager (where would carmy and syd be without her)

[crispy-chan]

a guide how to not f*ck over your writers

hello, i am joining the bandwagon with my own two cents on how tumblr interactions have gone from shit to lower shit.

first of all, let me just stress how much i appreciate readers who interact with fanfics. you guys are the true mvp's and i applaud you for doing god's work. (also let's be real a significant portion of those readers are fic writers themselves).

second of all, i want to say that i'm not trying to be “ungrateful” or sound like a prick, i just see so many writers leave this site because they feel unappreciated, alone or they think that nobody enjoys the fics they work hard on.

honestly, there were/are times where i think if this is even worth it. i get so much enjoyment from this, it's a hobby that allows me to be creative, to escape reality and have a little fun. yet i feel like what i'm doing is just good for nothing since it seems like people are allergic to me on this site.

it truly means a lot to us when you guys interact. it doesn't even have to be much, just a short comment, but it can still make our day

now onto the ways you can support your fave writers:

1. interact with the fics -- comment, reblog, send asks. trust me, you can't go wrong with this one. don't be afraid to send an incoherent wordspill or type out that essay in caps lock where you go nuts about your favorite scenes, comment on the characters and their development or compliment the author's writing style. again, i guarantee you'll receive answers that are similarly incoherent as the author tries to not lose their shit bcs what the fuck? someone is finally interacting with my stories

2. recommendations -- you can rec fics to networks for various events, send your recs to your moots or maybe even to fic rec accounts who accept recommendations. even by reblogging - you're already basically doing this. it can make our day when we see that someone recommended something we worked on to someone else :)

3. interaction -- usually, most authors on here wouldn't mind more asks that don't even have to be about fics. you can ask how their day was, talk to them about a favorite book/movie/song literally whatever. i feel like i don't really have much to say on this topic cause i don't really get these types of asks :} but yeah, i think most of us would feel really touched if people wanted to talk to us outside of our writings. note: if you're shy, you can go on anon :> it's there for a reason :P

4. criticism -- now be careful - this one is tricky. you should first make sure if the person is okay with you giving some constructive criticism. if it isn't mentioned anywhere on their page/at the bottom of their fic, just ask. i for one wouldn't mind hearing things like “just a suggestion but i think you could work on your descriptions more” or “be careful - you often use the same words in one paragraph” etc.

lastly, i wanted to stress that you shouldn't force yourself per se to do these. nobody wan't your feedback if it isn't genuine. i just feel like people think “oh well if i won't comment, i'm sure somebody else will-” bullshit! that's the problem here. this mindset is what has to change. if you want the writing community to not wither into dust, you'll have to give something. in this case it's interactions and feedback.

i won't go into the details of how long it takes to write but as someone who writes primarily long fics, i can tell you it's extremely time consuming. and i spent the past fifteen minutes typing this post instead of working on yellow wood @_@

so yeah, this is a desperate cry from me. i'm hoping that if you're a silent reader/serial liker who doesn't leave feedback, you'll learn something new here. thank you for reading so far and i hope you have a lovely day <3

[anti-katsuki-lounge]

yk, it kind of annoys me when people rag on shinso for "coasting through life with his quirk". like, there are plenty of other valid criticisms of his character in canon (though admittedly i love his fanon characterization a lot bc of my own biases) but that one always gets under my skin. because that's,,, something basically every canon character does? if you have a quirk, youre going to use it, and the metric for which people use to identify a character as "relying on their quirk too much" seem inconsistent at best. even our very own main character midoriya starts relying on his quirk for everything basically as soon as he can use it without hurting himself, and we stop getting those fun moments where he gets to show his intelligence and creativity nearly as often as theyre replaced with "who can punch harder" contests.

also people who claim shinso did no physical training before the entrance exam, or before aizawa picked him up. because as far as im aware,,, thats never stated in canon? i think people are assuming that if he did any physical training, he would've automatically gotten into the hero course, but that's just not true. even if he trained as hard as he physically could, its gonna be basically impossible for a 15 year old who doesnt have a quirk that gives them an advantage to win against enough robots to pass... which is the literal point of the test. and before anyone brings up hagakure or ojiro, ojiro has an extra limb which canonically helps with his destructive power (he uses his tail to destroy things his punches/kicks couldnt multiple times) and professional martial arts training that shinso clearly doesnt have based on how he flailed during his fight with midoriya, and hagakure is invisible so she can easily sneak up on the robots and take the time to find their weaknesses without being attacked. clear advantages.

and even if he did absolutely no combat training, that could easily be a result of the whole quirk-centric society brainwashing everyone that their quirk makes them who they are. that they have to rely on it, and use it as their guide on who/what to become. so the fact that people are so quick to chalk it up to stupidity and arrogance, when it could easily be just a teenager who isnt immune to propaganda being bitter (and admittedly cruel, like i said not a fan of his canon characterization) when he tries to do something good with his "evil" quirk and it doesnt work, or hell any number of hundreds of other explanations, annoys me a bit. (i realize this is probably coming off as more of an angry rant than im intending, but im not actually that upset about it, im just trying to communicate my thoughts clearly.) ultimately, i dont think we have enough info on shinso's character to decide things like that, you know? and i dont think its productive to just decide that one interpretation of the very limited information we have on his thoughts and actions is the canon one, and then bash/praise him for that interpretation.

i think that's also why tagging things as OOC isnt really done anymore unless its egregious, because there are so many interpretations of characters that are close enough to canon that that version of them can be argued, and a lot of times the person who holds that interpretation is truly convinced that version in their heads is canon, to the point that anyone saying it isnt is automatically deemed an idiot who can't read. so its easy to say "people should tag more things as OOC", but it takes a lot to be aware that how you read a character may not be what is actually displayed in the text or what the author intended, and a lot of people only think about how they read the story due to their own biases or creativeness or pet peeves, not the literal reading of the text. its especially hard in manga, when drawings of facial expressions can sometimes be argued to display a number of emotions, thoughts, etc.

and that one post where someone said that shinso would die immediately if he had to fight someone with a weapon, when he wasnt trained, and they were genetically physically immune to his quirk?? like, yeah, obviously??? so would anyone! these hypotheticals are meaningless, because you could easily say "well, what is hagakure had to fight someone with a gun who had heat vision on day one, she'd probably die" or any other random character and scenario. it means nothing, especially since shinso was actively training to get into a school where he would be trained to both use his quirk and what to do when he cant use it. just saying "well he wasnt good at fighting before he got in" is a terrible argument. i agree with a lot of the rest of the post, but that one part baffled and irritated me.

I think Hitoshi’s biggest flaw is that the world building around him sucks. Had he been shown to train and still failed and had we actually been showed that he’s been bullied, his anger would’ve been justified or at least understandable/sympathetic. Instead we have… nothing, which makes him seem like he’s throwing a temper tantrum and/or comes off as entitled. On paper, he’s not a bad character whatsoever, and the same goes for Shota. The main issue with both characters comes from how they’re executed and how they mesh with the world they’re in.

[chevvy-yates]

WIP WEDNESDAY

Not being tagged, just thought I could share some stuff I'm onto. :) Decided to tag others because I'd love to see an update from you as well (if you got sth, no pressure!).

So I'm tagging; @imaginarycyberpunk2023, @medtech-mara, @elvenbeard, @humberg, @ugh-my-back, @itzsassha, @kittenchrissy, @hydrasshole, @spicyraeman, @bnbc, @drunkchasind, @morganlefaye79, @gloryride FYI: some of you are currently hyperfixating bg3 I know; doesn't matter to me. You are welcome to share wips of this as well (even I'm not into it) bc you may have followers that may be interested to see that as well?

—

At first

So, last weekend I've been producing a little mass of Ryder in things VP I can now scatter over the next few weeks — at the cost of entirely neglecting my other boys once again. As always I feel bad about it, because they deserve attention as well (especially JJ bc he got the least atm, but @gloryride takes so pretty shippy pics of Enzo and him lately, I'm always melting when I get to see them! I'll give him and them love soon too I promise!). It is what it is — Ry happens to be my personal fav. I have to accept it and say it is okay.

— NPV

Some of you know I have him already as npv and I was about to get things ready for others who might be interested in taking pics of him or/and befriend him with their own ocs.

FYI: His npv is not only for me! So feel free to ask me about him. I do not bite (but he does) :)

However, just by using his npv version only a few times I knew I need more than the 15 outfits he already got due to story related things and general vp ideas with two or more ocs in my head. So only after like what? — barely three months he's going to receive an update with the rest of his outfits to be added. There's only one permission I'm waiting for. If I do not receive an answer in the next days, these two outfits will be added without that specific piece.

— VP

I. Nice pics

That I took a mass of him mainly happened bc I needed 2-3 pics for my info pdf as I grew tired of some older ones (without raytracing) and I was missing one for Formal, Summer and one for Merc anyways as well as the Special category, so I took pics in one of the outfits that are presented there.

I'll post them during the next few weeks. It's just pretty pics since their intention is more or less focused on the outfit in general.

I'm trying to get more interesting shots in between but I'm super critical with myself thinking my ideas aren't 'great', ' very conceptual' or 'interesting' enough (I do not feel forced to do it in the fandom, but I know I should do it ore often bc it is my job life too) – I do think the same about may daily business work and yet I receive comments from coworkers like 'You're so creative with this one' and 'glad I took your expertise', so I can't be that uncreative, heh?.

II. Sneak Peak

Y'all may have noticed that there's a new harness out for both female and male and ofc I was all bats about how it looks on Ry. So here I can show you his fine belly for now:

My Idea was to take pictures in green light (the Afterlife stairway). But once I started colorgrading afterwards in Adobe Lightroom, I almost deleted the entire green because the brown makes him look way more "realistic".

I'm torn between doing all pics this way or split it up into both. The green def. has a nice catch but I'm so sold to the colorgraded version. I want to bring him back together with Thyjs there anyways, so maybe I'll use the green for them instead and then pics in the Afterlife stairway make more sense (if I try think story wise) rather than jsut a nice photoset with lots of skin that could have been shot anywhere since you do not see wehere it is exactly. Next days will decide what I do with the green or not.

III. Reshots.

Ryder is turns 1 this year! September 17th is his creation day (his birthday is October 31st though). <3 So I took the opportunity to look at his first pics I did back in the day, where I had zero clue what to do with him. A few characteristics were set; like his black clothing only concept but in general I didn't know how he would react in pictures. Today I know!

Here's a another sneak peak. Taking him from emotionless oc to German Raver Dude™. <3

Fun fact: I forgot to add his blade cyberware back then on the first day and redid the pics already the next day (Sep. 18th) with the blades but left this pic on the left out bc I didn't like it that much. He looked at me like a psycho and made me think "Will I like you?"

Last year I tried to make my pics colorful, because Cyberpunk is a colorful game after all, but I forced myself to do bc usually my style is and always has been like the colors are in the right picture; desaturated, with a nice noise. I'm happy I went to retake his first pics and I'll continue with a few (e.g. The Atlantis, Konpeki red maybe too).

— FIC (snippet)

Here's one of my rp answers of a deep talk Ry and Arki are having during a rooftop party. It's only my reply so it's why Arki does not say anything here.

Ryder suddenly feels understood. He shifts into an upright position, placing one knee onto the other, his foot wobbling to the sound of the music playing in the background. Arki almost sounds like he’s battling the same, but on a different level. You feel like that too? Ry’s eyes get bigger and he gives off a rather surprised look as he listens further. He decides to sip his bottle again, takes a deep breath, then shifts into another position anew, looking at the reflection in the glass. “Yeah — ‘Bad. Enduring. Aggressing. Sinister. Termination.' — or in short: 'B.E.A.S.T.' That's how I started calling it that way.” Ry states, eyes back on him. “It forces me to do -bad-. It’s sort of an -enduring- beat in my head, I can beat Beast only for a time while listening to hard rave beats. — It makes me -aggressive- to no end. It -scares- me because out of not knowing what’s happening I am frightened to see what I’ve done again because— because it only ends with -termination- for my opponents while I’m just lucky to have survived each time.” Ryder adds with a cracking voice followed by a sigh.

Arki’s ‘You are not alone, Ryder’ gave Scharfenberg, to his own surprise, hope again. “Funny,” he lets out next, another tiny laugh leaving his lips. “Never thought someone could understand me, feel what I feel. And out of all it turns out to be you.” — He explained it to V and to Thy. They tried but will never understand it entirely because they do not –thank the netlords– have to deal with it as he has. “How it looks inside me, how it screams and yells in there. Tells me how I have to do it.”  I never wanted this, Ryder thinks for himself. Must kill! Beast barks at him immediately. Halt doch einfach mal die Fresse! Ryder yells back in German in his mind, his teeth bared a little behind lightly twitching lips as his expression slips for Arki to see. “But I—” he goes on, eyes continuing to fix onto Arki’s. Fetch me souls! “— how can I win? Be good? Get rid of it — the fire, the burning voice, the constant pounds and torment? That rage?” Ry throws in one question after another, gaze fixated on the other man as if he awaits an answer Arki surely may not have for him either after he told how he feels as well. Scharfenberg takes a bigger sip and enjoys the fizzing of the beer on his tongue again for a moment. “I can't escape it. Got to go the way it chases me. It’s an endless road.” His hand reaches up to rub his beard for a long moment as he leans back, hesitating if he should tell more or not. Let Arki eventually take part of his struggle he's been battling for almost eight years now. His gaze wanders off again to look literally everywhere, legs now both bob a certain rhythm even though the background music in the distance is currently off because Vijay seems to be searching for some other tunes. “For me it's a daily and constant ‘knock-knock’ that says: "Now where is that anger? That hunger to kill? You need it. Fetch me souls”—suddenly he swings back forth again, voice getting louder, teeth baring, white rings of his optics flaring up dangerously fixed back on Arki. ”Hey! — I'm here, don't you ignore me! Let me out! They harmed you. Kill them. Let me— Let me out! Must! Kill! All!" Ryder expresses himself citing Beast under repressed anger. He abruptly takes another big gulp, and falls back into the lounge, a heavy sigh leaving his lips as he’s busy for a moment pushing Beast back.

okay that was a lot actually. I could ad way more but I'll keep that for another wip post! xD

Thanks for reading and kudos to everyone who landed here!

[youngjustus]

raven’s name has technically been rachel roth for 20 years too but im not fucking calling her that lmao…idk for me it’s partially 1) fuck johns and the way he sought to completely change kon’s character and spit in the face of all his prior development just to make his stupid fan theory canon 2) having a character go from going by kon to conner is like going from tim to timothy. why make it longer, yfeel? and 3) 50% of the people who call him conner misspell it as connor, which would be fine (annoying, but ultimately harmless) except dc already has a connor, and i’m vehemently against dc’s inability to come up with an original name for any of their characters. hashtag team jon should’ve been given literally any other name bc there’s already like 6 jonathan kents

i know there is a lot to criticize about johns's run, but i honestly don't find a lot of things with what he did with conner leading up to his death in infinite crisis in terms of characterization to be out of character. although, full disclosure, i haven't revisited teen titans vol. 3 in [checks calendar] 7 years, so there might be some gaps in my memory.

i like that he's getting used to having an actual structured life with going to school and living in a house with parents that care about him. he's also still dealing with the aftermath of the finale of his solo series and graduation day! he's adjusting! it would be normal for him to feel weird and off. this is a post that i made a few years ago with a good addition from another user that puts this well.

however, i do generally dislike the luthor reveal because of how many stories that came after for conner have so heavily focused on it, when a) we already did something similar in the 90's with his original backstory and b) it contributes to one of the most annoying fan discourses i've had to see for my entire comics reading experience regarding superman being a 'dead beat dad'. unfortunately, at this point, it is a part of canon that is ingrained in too many fans and writers' heads, and is tied into too many plot lines for them to go away with it. such is the nature of a shared intellectual property! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i think i'm probably misreading what you're saying, but kon isn't short for conner, and i don't think tim's full name is a good comparison. they’re two separate names. i've posted about the origin's of the name kon-el a few times over the years, and i even have the issue where he receives it in my personal comic collection. it is a very important part of the character's history, and a good thing to point to when people doubt the positive relationship between conner and superman. the name is one with real history, and it is a gift!

this is where my own headcanons and speculation comes in: it makes the most amount of sense to me that conner is a name that he specifically chose himself when he was adopted by the kents.

if somehow i missed a random issue of superman or action comics from between when his superboy series was canceled to him showing up in teen titans that gives an origin to the civilian name conner kent, or even just an interview with the creatives discussing the issue the name first shows up in, please send it my way!

if such a comic or interview does not exist, and if i ever had the chance to write the character, this is 100% something i'd like to explore. i have my own ideas that i've thought about a lot over the years (and even a middle name picked, too).

i also think that there are much bigger problems with dc comics than a few characters sharing a first name. like a lot more problems.

conner is his name as much as it is kon, and it's not wrong to call him it in the way that it's not wrong to refer to superman as clark or kal. the comparison at the start of this ask to raven is interesting, but i think the key difference there is that rachel roth feels like a regression (she's deaged and put in high school) and to me conner kent is further growth (being with the family that wants him in their lives).

[decepti-thots]

re: meta again (again) - about old fandoms with no/little new input - do you think that there's a point where even though there's kinda more time for meta, the fandom becomes a bit detached from the canon material, maybe partially?

also, you made a really interesting point with developing confidence in one's own taste - I think I (and many others) are used to being graded on media analysis in school, so you'd have to find the 'correct' angle instead of finding the angle that works for you. it feels like it should be obvious that it can be different but I did kinda need you to write it down to get it, so thank you :) also, thank you for the discussion in general - I have actually started to grab screenshots of the comic panels that I've been having thoughts about, but here comes the final boss of writing meta (to me): lack of time, haha

I think it can vary enormously depending on the fandom, honestly. Some fandoms are built up around folks who are there to do textual analysis and as a result, I find that you don't tend to get that kind of "canon drift", because constantly revisiting the text is a large part of the communal fandom experience. (Again I invoke the daddy of all Western acafandoms- book-Tolkien and especially Silmarillion fandom spaces tend to go this way.) They can wind up in their own recursive interpretive bubbles in other ways, mind, but it's in no way a sure thing. I do think fandoms where it is possible to remain engaged without needing to revisit the source material can be prone to it, though. Transformers fandom (including e.g. specifically IDW1 fandom) gives you a lot of avenues for creative fannish outlets that don't need you to revisit the canon material for reference, so it's very possible for fanon environments to... drift away. (I'm thinking of drift here in a way that's a little like semantic drift, honestly.)

I think the idea that it relates to experience with media analysis in school- and I assume you mean school and not higher education here?- is interesting. While my time before dropping out of university wasn't spent in a literature course (I studied linguistics), it was adjacent enough and I spent enough time trying to self-study in it academically that my default understanding of this stuff trends towards my experiences there rather than high school, where I feel like the "right vs wrong" dichotomy is at least less emphasized. But of course those bad educational settings where the idea of "right" analyses are taken for granted bc Teaching To The Test must loom large in most peoples' memories bc it's, you know, the default for most people- like they exist ofc. All I can say to that is that a majority of high school/etc experiences with "media analysis" are so far from what it looks like everywhere else that you deserve to feel comfortable punting it into the fucking sun. Not just in the sense that "academic analysis" doesn't do that in higher education environments (though it shouldn't! i swear to god it shouldn't be like that!!!) but also because so much exciting analysis of art is done fully outside academic environments. ...I just realised that my longstanding investment in artistic analysis of video games as a medium probably helps me here because it ranges from "academic analysis is rejected by the mainstream as Not What Real Games Are About so gamers hate it" to "academic analysis of video games has no room for most indie work and neither does pop culture so it has to exist independently without following convention so academics dismiss it", which means I'm just. Really used to analysis of non-prestigious media that is fully outside "the academy", haha. If you want to get comfortable analysing art when you haven't done it since high school handed you a stupid letter grade, peruse Critical Distance for media analysis that is largely divorced from the idea of consensus among Important People TM, genuinely; critical artistic analysis of video games is a great place to find intelligent, interesting work that ignores a lot of what is conventionally considered "obligatory" for Real Art Criticism TM. (video game crit is like, my default mileau, ngl.)

As for time, I personally write most of my work while doing time theft (this is why you see me on here less at the weekends), but regardless: recommended post on one (excellent) fandom-writer's process. also, take as long as you need. take months if you have to. it's good and fine. write three words a day. write one post a year. or post seven a day, whatever. i will say that folding meta-writing into my 'reading for fun' time helped me a lot, though- meta as an extension of re-reading for fun, rather than something in addition to it, was very helpful to me! don't re-read in addition to planning meta, basically; try and meld the two into one experience. you aren't doing an academia, and you can go off the cuff as you read! make meta into a liveblog, and get meta out of livetweets! same hat!!! etc. but also it's just fine to. take time. yknow.

[raytorosaurus]

listening to common existence all the way through for the first time and am experiencing promethean levels of repeatedly getting my dick blown clear off and regrowing it instantly because of tims tones and notes. why did no one tell me about this. all my life i've been deprived

oh my god. dude i wish i could listen again for the first time. common existence is their most tragically misunderstood album, it was a huge failure at the time and geoff took it very personally bc he was the creative driver of that album and insisted the guys should trust his judgement on it - he wanted to prove that thursday could write an experimental and musically + lyrically mature album while still being super heavy and dark, sound-wise. and it was received really poorly and their following tour had their worst turn-out ever (they'd got out of their major label contract and switched to an indie that "matched their values" but sonically they were a weird fit, and then they were headlining above bring me the horizon on taste of chaos which was just...unfortunate organisation, since they had almost no crossover in fans. some nights up to 80% of the crowd would leave before thursday's headlining set. when they talked to festivalgoers, they often found they were kids who'd never heard of thursday and assumed their name on the poster referred to the literal weekday.)

so basically that album was a really big risk and it did not pay off 😔😔. that's why geoff took a big step back when they were writing no devolucion - he was like i told them to trust me and it didn't work, so i'm sorta washing my hands of it and letting . now the thing is Geoff is an unreliable narrator and very self-critical, tom (lead guitarist) has said geoff has a misconception that he's more neurotic and controlling than anyone else on thursday, which he doesn't think is true. god this band is so messy. in his most recent podcast appearance geoff was like a lot of "our fans are starting to tell us now that common existence is our best record...but where were you guys back then :(" (the ":(" part was audible). :(. in that same episode he also said that "every time [thursday] would write together we'd do irreparable harm to each other...and we have seven records, so the scars run deep." yeah.

anyway sorry for rambling was this your last thursday record? or have you still got more to go? don't forget to check out their split with envy, it's definitely a pre-common existence of sorts. also waiting! their first album! if you like common existence and are used to geoff's voice i bet you'll get into waiting too :^D

[honeyhotteoks]

No pressure to reply to this, but I just needed to say this bc I am such a hater for unsolicited criticism. I know some people don’t mind it, but it’s such a pet peeve of mine when people don’t think twice about how these things can affect you as a creative. There’s a time and place for feedback/negative-leaning comments, and unless someone specifically asks for it, then personally, I think it’s NOT that time and place. I can totally relate to how much of a bummer these kinds of unexpected comments can be. So anyway - *clears throat* - I’m here to cheer you on. 

You are doing such a great job, I think tnt is literally PERFECTION. Your world/character building is just *mwah*, and I’ve seen so many commenters say that over and over. And that includes yungi's relationship too. It's subtle, so maybe ppl who prefer reading lengthier character backstories/dynamics might not feel that the yungi relationship has been built up enough, but it’s definitely there, you’ve fleshed it out in all the right places. Plus, part of being a writer is making decisions on where to cut and using suggestion rather than overexplaining. Cutting 3 chps of world/character building is a choice you’ve made as a writer for this particular fic, and if my opinion counts for anything, I really like it the way you’ve done it. It’s got pace, puts you straight into the action, and a lot of us are here for that! Besides, you said you started tnt to have fun and explore new things in your work, so please continue with that feeling, be confident in your reasons for writing tnt in that specific way, and don’t think of anything else! 

If you agree with the crit you've received, you can file it away and work it out later when/if you feel ready to tackle it. At the end of the day, all those comments - they're all just opinions. Ofc you want people to enjoy your work, but write just for you and your own satisfaction. <3

Let me tell you, your writing has consistently been so tight and so good, so if you ever “disappoint” anyone you best know that it’s just a matter of personal preference for specific types of storytelling (i.e. I doubt it’s personal), and NOT a reflection of the quality or seamlessness of your work.

- ☁️xx

aw ☁️ you seriously always write me such kind things, and i really really appreciate it.

thank you for giving me this little reminder and for always being so supportive ❤

[goldenhypen]

hi em! i was gonna make this anonymous but ta heck w tht LOL okay so this is gonna b a long one js bc i wanna b as clear as possible for u but i jus wanna kno ur opinion on this n im sorry if this sounds redundant (given what ur whole acc is abt) but i saw this tiktok that was basically talking abt how ppl who read rp (real person) fanfics r weird , disgusting , and freaks (that one hurt ngl😭) and ig bc i never interacted w ppl who read them i had no idea this was such a controversial thing yk? so it kinda hurt and i got hella defensive bc these fics have helped me thru some hard times n r my safe space (esp ur acc i love it sm ur fics r quick n easy reads but so so good! and i love tht u write wholesome sfw fics i don’t like / can’t read nsfw rp fics) and r good when i need a quick romance fix bc i have none irl (tmi fr sorry!) but honestly it made me feel horrible abt myself bc im like damn am i sick freak for reading this even tho i read the sfw n wholesome ones?? n they were sayin the y/n , self inserts were even worse! 😭 n idk if this makes me ignorant but for the life of me i couldn’t figure out what made it weird! nsfw ones r different but regular romance or fantasy? esp since i never see this take when ppl mention they used to read one direction fanfics or mindless behavior & august alsina ones (these were popular among the black community for context!) like everyone laughs n reminisces i feel like ppl r a lot more critical n harsh on kpop stans tbh but i even thought abt deleting my tumblr bc i felt wrong for doing so it made me question myself for awhile just being honest anyways i’ll get off my soapbox im so sorry this is so long i jus wanted to give as much context and detail as possible! if this is too much please disregard but idk i just wanted an opinion on this take from a fix writer and i assume u read some too correct me if i’m wrong! thanks so incredibly much in advance and i hope we can b friends one day! 🧸🎀✨💌💕🫶🏽

this is so real of you omg ok first of all, thank you for going out of your comfort zone to do this! things like this make me so happy cuz you coming out of your way to do this (comfort wise and time wise since it must’ve taken you a while to write sm, esp considering the technical difficulties 😭) makes it all the more meaningful. and i rlly appreciate you coming to me of all ppl too! so thank you!

secondly, i agree with you on all the things you had to say !! i was once in your shoes, and if i’m being completely honest, a part of me is still navigating this as well. like some things i still question for example is if there is rlly nothing wrong with this, why do i feel the need to hide that i read/write? but for the most part, rn i am definitely set on there being absolutely nothing wrong with this! i can definitely see where these other ppl are coming from if they had never thought much of fanfiction or reader inserts etc. bc it’s probably similar to how i felt before being more exposed to fanfiction. but imo these are fantasies i just imagine in my head anyway and are almost like dreams to me yk? and so imo, they’re harmless. in fact, writing and reading ffs help grow my creativity, which is smth i value. cuz not only am i doing this for entertainment, i’m also doing it for the art (this is in terms of writing more so than reading but can still apply to both). however, similar to you, i do believe that imagines can be taken too far, as that is what aligns with my beliefs, such as nsfw fics (which is not anything personal at all to nsfw writers!). that imo can be harmful for the mind and spirit etc. (sorry if this is getting too deep and personal 😭)

ugh this is honestly so nice to talk about and have someone relate to on this cuz literally the things you are saying describe me !!! and dw, i have and never had any love life,, it’s non existent, believe it or not! so dw, you’re not alone 😭 like we can be delulu tgt 😭😭 and ahahaha yesss like i can’t tell you the amount of times i considered deleting this app or stopping writing/reading. it was challenging to process. but after doing so, i have come to the conclusions i mentioned earlier (how i think reading sfw fics are harmless). it’s literally just a form of harmless entertainment lol so i don’t see why ppl have to be so judgmental about it and can’t just mind their own business 😭 so dw, coming from a fellow reader and someone who has faced the same dilemma, you are not at all a freak 😭 and don’t let anyone let you think otherwise 😤☹️

also i can’t go without saying a huge thank you for all the kind things you had to say about my works :((( <3 that is so sweet of you to say and is so encouraging. it’s smth i’m finding i need a lot of, esp lately, so i rlly appreciate that and it means a lot. this whole ask and talking about this is rlly quite meaningful to me tbh 😭 so thank you for coming to me and being so brave to bring this up! 🫶🏻 also, yes let’s be friends omg !! i’d love that 🥹🫶🏻

[bendyguitarpick]

I've been watching the avatar series and honestly, I think this warrants a bullet points review bc I have a lot of opinions, and some are unexpected. I haven't been following a y discourse online about the show bc I wanted to form my own opinions before I finished it! This is episodes 1 through 5.

Right off the bat in episode 1, the first thing that strikes me as a huuuge issue is that Aang does not argue with monk gyatso before running away. It's a problem that keeps coming up in this show, and its that all the conflict is deflated from the characters and given to the plot. Instead of a young character making a mistake and learning from the end result, our protagonists just respond in a way that's removes any of their decision making from the driving force of the story. Aang didn't run from his responsibility out of fear, he just needed to clear his head!- our sweet baby boy remains the moral compass!

That being said, I do think the rearranging of the plot in thr first episode is absolutely the right move for the show. The pace is immediately set and it works.

The visuals (costume and set design) feel very very shiny and new, like how all netflix shows end up looking, overly saturated and costumey.

The casting for aang and zuko is one of my favorite things EVER. They are probably the most competent actors so far tbh. That little boy is giving it his all 🥲

Sokka and suki!!! Another instance where all the conflict and resolution feels unearned because there was nothing to resolve! Fine, you can choose to remove the sexism arc, at its center, this sokka and suki introduction is about sokka developing a level of humility that he will need in order to learn from the people we see him meet on this journey. Sokka comes in in the live action show a clueless small town warrior who gets shown the ropes on the big stage, but for what? We see suki chew him out but because there's no real conflict, he's just some shmuck getting chewed out for no real reason other than not knowing enough. It's completely hollow.

Ok this leads me to the fight scenes. They're bad! The only one that I liked was Bumi and aang, we had sustained wide shots, a creative use of bending, and the actors movements feeling well rehearsed. The opposite was the case for nearly every other fight smh.

Katara my beloved 😭 she is shockingly underwritten and I'm trying to figure out why. She gets so little active screentime that isn't just parroting the plot back to aang and sokka. All her passion and life is dead flat. I was praying they'd give her her painted lady momentand it never came, she never had a moment. It's such a huge fuck up to leave one of your three LEADS out to dry like that.

That being said, I had my little fangirl squee when jet and the freedom fighters were revealed. The casting just had me absolutely giddy 😭

And that's just katara compared to everyone else! Because at the end of the day this is the most poorly written dialogue I've seen in a show in so freaking long. It is written so stilted and klunky, and the actors are given so little direction, the end result is so dry and lifeless. It is honestly the single worst part of the show.

Our characters are no longer active decision makers in each town they visit! The plot is just happening to them! It's an extention of that conflict criticism, our heroes don't have anything to learn, they're just along for the ride! No opinions or conflict here!!

But... the one thing that absolutely is working for me... is the story. All the plot changes have been the right move every time. Combining episodes has worked so well in this short season format that it's kept me following along every time! Putting like four episodes into one omashu episode??? And having them connect in a way that makes sense??? Ik completely impressed

So far, it seems like awkward dialogue and overly shiny visuals has bogged down a show that really really could've worked in the live action format! The plot has still succeeded in keeping me engaged for the hour run time of each episode, along with the really great aang and zuko moments.