Why is writing so hard? Like my ideas are genius and I know what I’m trying to do but once it actually comes to writing my brain just stops

Do fandoms scare anybody else?

I don't mean that as an insult to people, in general, in fandoms--God knows I'm part of a ton--but people who genuinely take this deathly seriously?

Like, for example, I'm a zutara shipper--oh no, blasphemy, I know, anyways. I have NEVER seen a kataang video with comments like "zutara>kataang," "zutara better," etc., etc., etc. (My PERSONAL experience. Chill). But it's rare to see a zutara video without seeing a whole ass ship war breaking out in the comments.

Another universe I enjoy is ASOIAF, and lately HOTD. But God DAMN, the fandom scares me--full grown adults flat out ignoring stuff that happens in the show because they don't want to accept the fact that NONE OF THESE CHARACTERS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD PEOPLE. "Alic*nt." "The Whore of Dragonstone." "Lol toddler death it was justified tho." I don't even know any more. They're fictional, and just because the world is brutal and misogynistic, doesn't mean you should try and make fandom spaces safe spaces to vent your own misogyny. Like, Christ.

In honor of House of the Dragon season 2 coming out this year, we can criticize women in this universe without calling them "whores," c*nts," or "b*tches." It is a thing that is possible. I don't trust your opinion if you call alicent "alic*nt," Rhaenyra the "whore of dragonstone," or whatever the fuck other nicknames people have. Christ.

As someone who's made up so much red lotus lore that I can't watch book 3 of LOK anymore, I have decided that P'li was captured by that warlord she mentions, Zaheer left a rich family that exploited the poor, etc., Ghazan was a peasant in the Earth Kingdom, and Ming-Hua dealt with a lot of ableism. Then eventually they all banded together and had different gripes against the system and decided they may as well just tear it all down. They ban Zaheer from discussing philosophy at mealtimes. He's their favourite person to bully. They would all die for each other. They have monthly beach days. Ghazan and P'li are drinking buddies. Ming-Hua and P'li are the bestest of besties. What do you MEAN it's not canon? It is now, fuckers. The writers don't decide what's canon, I do.

Why is this putting all my thoughts about arcane into words

I am still decompressing from the Arcane finale, and I will be for a very long time, but I just wanted to point out how important Arcane is as a show. Arcane is showing absolutely everyone just what happens when you put genuine care and attention into telling a story, and using the proper mediums to do so. In a media landscape that is saturated with lazy writing, endless parades of live-action remakes, bloated, uninspired CGI graphics, sexism, racism, misogyny, mindless, purposeless violence, hollow characters, weak or nonexistent character arcs, cliched backstories and tired tropes, Arcane has emerged as proof of what storytelling could be.

Arcane has already broken all of Netflix's records, both in the most-watched show on the platform, as well as the highest-rated, and that feels like all the proof we need of what audiences and individuals are starved for. It feels like a revelation of how all of our newfound media technology could and should be used. We don't want animation and CGI to be used just to recreate realism down to the fibers of a shirt or the individual hairs on someone's head. We want animation that is exploratory, revelatory, engaging - animation that shows us a new perspective, that breathes new life into the story it's telling - animation that tells a story in a way that no other form of media could. Beyond the animation, we want a story that means something. We want characters that have depth and nuance, that are morally fallible, even when they're trying to do what's right. We want heroes that are selfish and make mistakes, and we want villains that have a heart and an ocean's worth of depth behind all their villainy. We want stories that leave nothing behind, stories that care enough about the art of the telling that they follow every narrative thread, every character's journey, all the way to the end, bitter or otherwise. We want writers who fight for accurate and fulfilling representation.

And that's what Arcane has given us. I'm not exaggerating when I say I feel like this show has changed me as a person. Maybe that's a little dramatic, but I honestly think it's true. I am in total awe of what they've managed to do in just nine episodes. I am inspired and overwhelmed and hopeful that this is setting the precedent for what storytelling could look like in the future.

reblog if you’ve read fanfictions that are more professional, better written than some actual novels. I’m trying to see something

SOMETIMES THE POINT ISN'T MONEY. SOMETIMES IT'S JUST TO CREATE.

I was telling my dad about ao3 and he asked "But why would anyone do it if they're not being paid?" And that genuinely makes me so sad. The fact that the majority of people are told things are only worth doing if there is financial gain in it. Oh you're an artist? Artists don't make any money.

Sometimes the point isn't money. Sometimes it's just to create.

I hate modern media.

Like don't get me wrong, there's plenty of good stuff out there, but for the most part it feels like so little heart goes into most books/movies/shows?

Like--the PJO show, don't get me wrong, it was good...but it was, at least to me, just kind of...fine? Nostalgia can only go so far.

Casting-wise, it was perfect, and it does seem like it was made by people who genuinely love and care about the source material, but who had to rush their story because they just didn't have the time. They had 8 episodes. Each of those episodes was like 35-45 minutes long, but not only is that pretty long for a single episode, if each of those episodes pretty much just covers one part of the story...that's still not a lot??

House of the Dragon? 10 episodes. No matter how long those 10 episodes are, they're trying to show us how a whole ass war got started in 10 FREAKING EPISODES. How Alicent and Rhaenyra's friendship broke down. Both of their relationships with their spouses and children. They still didn't fully explore Rhaenyra and Harwin's relationship. Does Rhaenyra have any more complicated feelings about her father for his role in the deterioration of her friendship with Alicent? Plus all the time skips...we don't have time to sit with these characters and their relationships and get to know them. Not like we did in GOT (at least the first like 4 seasons).

Not to mention waiting like 2 years between each season. Like, one of my favourite shows ever is Arcane because I like to suffer, and between season 1 and 2 there are 3 years (season 2 comes out November of this year). Watchers may not be happy to wait that long, but we expect good quality for that wait because Arcane is insanely good in all aspects--animation, character arcs, world building, nuance, commentary, music, action, etc., etc., etc. A lot of other shows, not just the two I've mentioned above, just don't feel as worth the wait. I still think they're enjoyable, and I think the writers do want to make good work, but that's hard to do with 8-10 episodes. And Arcane has only 9 episodes, and all of them are long, sure, but I feel like since there are so many moving parts and characters and subplots to the subplots, it can a) keep viewers engaged that long, and b) can easily fill up that much time well with clear priorities and a tightly woven story.

Avatar: The Last Airbender, a masterpiece show in my (and many other people's) opinion, had 20 episode seasons, each episode around 20-25 minutes. That's a reasonable amount of time to focus on one adventure or aspect of the adventure. Prioritize what to focus on, and it slays. But you can't keep giving writers 8 episodes, a shit ton of material, and then expect 100% quality every time.

He adopted a meow meow. This is still a wip btw

It's fine, I didn't need my heart anyway

I found these badasses more adorable than I should.

It's really weird how a lot of people in the got/hotd fandom don't seem to accept how grey grrm's characters are? Idk maybe I'm just on the wrong side of tumblr/tiktok, but...several things can be true at once.

Cersei Lannister can be an abuser, a killer, AND A VICTIM. She can love her children AND have deeply unhealthy relationships with them. Alicent Hightower can resent her children, have unhealthy relationships with them, have no idea how to parent them, and still love them. Rhaenyra can be the rightful heir to the iron throne with good intentions, and still seemingly have no idea how to rule. Viserys can make Rhaenyra his heir and talk about how much he loves Aemma and be a sh*t dad and partner. Sansa Stark can be mean to Arya and also a child whose behavior is reinforced by a guardian (the septa, who she is told to obey and learn from). Joffrey Baratheon can be a sadist who had to die for the good of the realm, and still a child. Robert can be funny and Ned's friend, and a terrible father and husband. Ned and Catelyn can be some of the best parents on either show, love each other and their kids, do everything for each other and their kids, and still have failed to prepare their children for the world they live in. The whole POINT of grrm's characters is that they're not good or evil, they're not black or white, their cruelty has a reason and they are all functioning within an inherently unjust society, and doing the best they can.

The amount of people who get butthurt over diversity in stories is ridiculous.

"They're brainwashing our kids" into what, user19283723546 with no profile picture? Knowing that other people exist?

Gay people exist. People of colour exist. People with disabilities exist. People with mental illnesses exist. Gay people of colour with disabilities and bipolar disorder exist. Fictional stories are reflections of our world, and it's not "forced" or "an agenda" to show all different kinds of people in those stories.

Also: I've seen some writers on social media saying that they feel they have to add representation to their work, or else they'll be accused of discriminating. You don't have to create 3432 fictional lands to include every kind of person in the world; representation takes many forms. Characters with varying sexualities--asexual, aromantic, gay, bi, trans, etc. Different races: Asian, brown, black, Hispanic, Indigenous, etc. Different social classes. Disabilities--deaf, blind, amputee, wheelchair user, etc, etc, etc. Representation doesn't have to be super difficult, with identity crises and discrimination and inequality built into society. In Six of Crows, for example, characters of all backgrounds, sexualities, and races come together, which actually improves the world building, since the city the book takes place in is supposed to be a major hub of trade and economy, so it makes sense that there'd be people from all different places coming through it. I have lots of fun writing diversity, because I love learning about different cultures and places--Mongolian, Indian, Japanese, Romani, you name it. (Plus, if you write fantasy like I prefer, it can inspire some really cool magic systems).

But that's a bit of a ramble. I tend to do that.

I guess the point here is just--is it really "forced" diversity, or is it just reflecting back the kinds of people who live on this planet?

I've been really embroiled in hotd fandom lately, and I switch teams by the day based on vibes and vibes alone, but I always felt so bad for alicent hightower, and I just thought I'd talk about something I've seen a lot--the idea that alicent is raising her kids as hightowers or is preventing them from learning about their targaryen culture.

Probably a lot of this comes from Alicent praying at the dinner and putting up religious symbols instead of Targaryen heraldry, but...there's nothing really to suggest that Alicent's kids have no knowledge of their targaryen heritage?

Alicent suggests the prayer at dinner and Viserys agrees that she should do it...which I personally thought implied it was just their habit to let Alicent pray before eating. Was it just me? And we can point fingers at Alicent for a lot of things--the main thing that gets me is the whole asking-for-joffrey-right-after-rhaenyra-gives-birth thing--but wanting to practice her faith in her own home isn't one of them, like...? The same goes for wanting to teach it to her kids. (If Viserys didn't want it that way, maybe he should've been more involved with his kids, idk). Sure, they're Targaryens, but they're also Hightowers, and it's hardly a crime or an insult or a scheme for Alicent to want her kids to have some of that with them. And we know that Aemond, at the least, is fluent in High Valyrian, so she at least wasn't stopping them from learning about their valyrian heritage--also, marrying sisters to their brothers is literally the most traditionally Targaryen thing ever, whatever your opinion on heleana and aegon's relationship is. Did my girl heleana deserve better than a rapist? Yeah. Does alicent only embrace "queer targaryen customs" (if I were living in westeros, I would also constantly wonder wtf is up with these dragon riders and their sexual attraction to family members?) when it suits her? Likely.

But like...we can have those discussions all day, but the fact remains that IT IS NOT AN INHERENTLY BAD THING for Alicent to try and educate her kids on their mother's religion and culture. I get the Hightowers don't have dragons, but it's still valid. We don't get any actual evidence that Alicent is actively trying to prevent her kids from learning about their targaryen culture.

idk if this counts as being "team green" or whatever cause people get way too obsessed with these teams, but like...team asoiaf women deserve better, ig.

Ok so totally weird brainwave yet what if Maelor had an egg that was the exact colouring (if not a bit lighter) than Sunfyre and when the egg hatched he names his dragon sunstroke as when the light hits his scales unlike how Sunfyre is golden Sunstroke is so bright it's like a blinding light that hits you.

HOTD fandom

Listen, I love HOTD as much as the next person, but some of y'all need to CHILL.

I actually love both "teams"--I support Rhaenyra's claim but the greens are just so much more fascinating to me--but go on tiktok or even tumblr and people are going fucking insane.

Like, some of my fellow team blacks will be calling alicent "alic*nt," mocking her for how she was treated by her father and husband and Larys Strong (who should have died instead of Harwin, btw), even BLAMING her for it; and then criticizing misogyny. I've seen team black people making thoughtful videos/analysis on Alicent's character, but a lot of you are just happy to call her "alic*nt" and call it a day.

But on the flip side, you've got team green calling Rhaenyra a fat cow because...she was described as chubby (after six pregnancies, I wonder why that changed her body?) in the book, and because apparently that's their best insult. I've seen team green making decent points about why they don't like Rhaenyra's character, or other characters on team black; but others will really be saying they don't like her because she's described as fat. (We can debate the laws of this FICTIONAL WORLD all day. This is specifically about people who are just out here calling her a wh*re and a cow and need to think before they post).

Like...they're fake. It's all fake. Please calm down and speak/post/type like rational adults (if you're not 14+, idk why you're watching this show).

Good evening. I am back in my hunger games era.

Don't mind me...

...Just back in my red lotus era, thinking what if zaheer and p'li had a daughter who was a combustionbender.

We get some information about combustionbending and its origins in the new yangchen novel, but I'm going to kind of dodge that for a moment. Let's assume--minor spoilers--that p'li, as the combustionbenders in yangchen's novels were, was tortured into being a combustionbender. But her daughter was not. Maybe she's the first "natural" combustionbender. Whatever. The point is, she's got the ability.

And P'li...she was tortured for her potential ability to combustionbend. She was tortured INTO gaining the ability to combustionbend. She was forced to use it to kill people and ruin lives.

(Obviously part of this is just going to be my interpretation and imaginings of P'li, and general fanon, bc she deserved way more screen time than she got. Anyways...).

So our P'li is obviously conflicted about her powers, and eventually learns to accept it as part of herself and embrace it as you would embrace a tool--it's not inherently good or evil. She'll use it to fight for the freedom that she was robbed of. And then she falls in love, makes friends who become her family, has a daughter, and she's the light of her life...who develops this same power that caused P'li so much suffering.

I imagine P'li trying to help her daughter love every part of herself, even the ones she got from her mother. P'li, who was forced, crying and screaming, to get a tattoo marking her as a weapon, gently tattooing her free daughter's head with a mark of power and spirituality. It would be so complex, and angsty, and uuugghhh I just love this idea so much.

"I am just a mother, trying to forgive myself for what I gave my daughter."

Like...the struggle of wanting her daughter to never use this ability, but not wanting to stop her from being herself...

I'm just a sucker for complex mother-daughter relationships in media and literature. I'm literally in love with this idea.