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ottogatto · 9 months

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I would like to submit two ideas because I think I'm poking something but not going in fully, so I would very much like your opinions and additions about it (of course, as long as they remain in good faith *side eyes possible antis viewing my post*).

Marauders and surface-level rebellion

I've finally put to words something that really bothered me with the Marauders, though I don't know the name for it.

It started when I read a reblog that said:

I remember Brennan saying “laws are just structured threats made by the ruling socioeconomic class” during an episode of D20 and we truly just had to stan immediately

This is something dear privileged white woman Rowling didn't realize/understand well, since she held a high socioeconomical status even during her """poverty""" stage. It's known that, despite seeming to be defending ideas of fighting against fascism and "pureblood" supremacy in favor of acceptance of the other, her books reek of colonialism/imperalism. The story of the Marauders, a gang of privileged boys like her, is an in-world replica of that problem where Rowling betrays yet again her actual mindset.

The Marauders adopt the "bad boys who break rules" to get style, while completely losing/staining the moral sense in it.

Let's take piracy.

Some people pirate stuff because they consider that the stuff they'd like to get comes from unethical companies that abuse their employees or use modern slavery, or people who spread harm against certain minorities (like Rowling against trans people and thus the LGBT+ community), so while they may want to access the content, they don't want to give them money and might even encourage pirating their stuff to make them lose money.

Some pirate stuff because otherwise it's lost due to unfortunate "terms of use" -- see video games companies like Ubisoft (deletes gaming account after a while), Nintendo (does not bring back old games), etc.

Others pirate stuff because they just don't have the money but they still want to try the stuff that might make them happy and forget that they're poor -- reasoning that the company isn't losing any money anyway, or not much, since they wouldn't have been able to pay for it in any case.

Others pirate stuff because they consider the price ridiculously high or they consider it shouldn't be something to pay for at all. (Like education stuff -- isn't education supposed to be free for all, so that it can actually uphold everyone's fundamental and unconditional ( = not conditioned by wealth...) right to have an education? Oh and before anyone asks: I've DEFINITELY bought the ~15 expensive books that's roughly worth 500€ in total and that my uni asked I buy to study and get my degree...)

Rowling's Marauders is a group that would pirate stuff just because they'd think it would give them an edge, because they'd think it would make them cool to be seen as "talented" hackers who "defy" companies. Companies... that their own friends and families would own, and as such, would find that kind of behavior funny and entertaining (while they would trash other people around for considering it).

Another example. In society, in history, it's been proven time and again that breaking rules -- going against the law -- is an eventuality that's important for everyone to consider, if they want to defend their rights. Anti-racism, feminism, LGBT Pride, etc, advanced because people broke rules. In USA states where abortion is currently being banned, women and minors (+ their close ones) must now consider breaking the rules to get an abortion. (Privileged people don't give a fuck about those people, and if they suddenly decide that (moral) rules don't apply to them and they will get an abortion, they will just take a plane ticket to a country where abortion is legal, fiddling with legal stuff if necessary thanks to the lawyers their fortunes can afford and the lobbies that they're instituting.)

Revolutions happened because people broke rules too. I particularly like the 1793 Constitution in France Because it asserts that the people have the right to break rules and riot if the power in place threatens their fundamental rights:

Article 35. - Quand le gouvernement viole les droits du peuple, l'insurrection est, pour le peuple et pour chaque portion du peuple, le plus sacré des droits et le plus indispensable des devoirs. Article 35. - When the government violates the people's rights, insurrection is, for the people and for each portion of the people, the most sacred of rights and the most essential of duties.

(Of course the power in place would state and enforce and make use of propaganda to say that it's completely illegal and illegetimate and that those who riot for legitimate rights are terrorists!)

Breaking rules is at the core of anti-fascism, anti-dictatorship, anti-totalitarianism. Breaking rules is essential when those rules are abusive. Too often, those who put those rules in place really are only setting their rules of the game to establish their power over the others. Or as the reblog says: "laws are just structured threats made by the ruling socioeconomic class".

Rowling's Marauders break rules because they are the socioeconomical class in power. As such, no one can do anything about it, no one will really tell them down for it. They get excused and justified and romanticized by their peers, just like billionaires & politicians are excused by their peers and notably mainstream media (which is owned... by other billionaires). They break rules -- not because they think it's necessary and the morally right thing to do despite the dangers it puts them in -- but because it makes them feel powerful, important, invincible, which for them is very fun. As Snape says: James and his cronies broke rules because they thought themselves above them:

“Your father didn’t set much store by rules either,” Snape went on, pressing his advantage, his thin face full of malice. “Rules were for lesser mortals, not Quidditch Cup-winners. [...]”

They break rules because they're allowed to.

Which is why, in reality, the Marauders aren't really breaking rules or defying anything or opposing an actual big threat. They're a bunch of jocks who are having fun in the playground that's been attributed to them thanks to their status and family heritage (others wouldn't get the same indulgence because they don't get that privilege).

They break rules because they want to look cool, to be the "bad boys". The message has been compleyely botched. Especially with Lily actually finding this hot.

Because Rowling finds this hot:

[...] I shook hands with a woman who leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, 'Sirius Black is sexy, right?' And yes, of course she was right, as the Immeritus club know. The best-looking, most rebellious, most dangerous of the four marauders... and to answer one burning question on the discussion boards, his eyes are grey.

(Anyone has an eyes washing station?)

Another quote:

"Sirius was too busy being a big rebel to get married."

(Nevermind the eyes washing, anyone's got some bleach instead?)

Stanning James Potter for being the leader of a gang that prides itself on breaking rules and always getting away with it -- it feels like stanning Elon Musk for being "innovative" and "a daring entrepreneur" despite being a manchild who exploits workers and modern-world slavery to play with his billions while always getting away with it.

They're not being "rebels" -- they're being bullies and flexing the fact they can get away with it thanks to abundance of privilege. Those are the tastes of a posh British white woman. She wanted the facade -- not the substance (that is, if she ever understood it).

You might say that they did oppose a big threat, the Death Eaters, but again, it's botched because:

they target a lonely, unpopular boy who's best friends with a Muggleborn Gryffindor, rather than baby Death Eaters like Mulciber, Lucius, Rosier, Avery, Regulus, etc.

The leader sexually harasses the Muggleborn Gryffindor because he's sexually jealous of the unpopular boy who dared not take the insult about his chosen House and shut up. Lily is treated as an object, they don't listen to her, and they barely speak about her later. (Lots to say to show that, which I won't do here because this is not the main subject.)

When the Marauders do join the Order, they do it... because they primarily want to adopt a rock-n-roll style and play the "bad boys" again. Or at least that's the message that's given to the reader:

They seemed to be in their late teens. The one who had been driving had long black hair; his insolent good looks reminded Fisher unpleasantly of his daughter's guitar-playing, layabout boyfriend. The second boy also had black hair, though his was short and stuck up in all directions; he wore glasses and a broad grin. Both were dressed in T-shirts emblazoned with a large golden bird; the emblem, no doubt, of some deafening, tuneless rock band.

(God, the Prequel is so cringy.)

They don't choose Dumbledore as the Secret Keeper, they don't tell him they changed to Pettigrew -- even though he literally was their war leader -- James uses the Cape to fuck around even though he was supposed to be hiding with Lily and then Harry (until Dumbledore takes the Cape from him)... and eventually, their group exploded, with James killed off, Sirius thrown to Azkaban, Peter (the traitor) hiding as a rat and Lupin going off to find jobs to survive.

Why did that happen? Because they thought of playing their part in the Order like going on a teenage adventure rather than engaging in a resistance organization. It was, first and foremost, about playing "the bad boys" and having fun.

(Harry half-inherits this. While he doesn't break rules just to look cool, and actually has several moments where he does break rules because it's the right thing to do -- like under Umbridge or, of course, when Voldemort takes power -- he does often get pampered when he breaks them in his earlier years. By Dumbledore, but also McGonagall, however much Rowling tries to sell her as a "strict but fair" teacher. Or by Slughorn, now that I think about it. That's something that enraged Snape, as it brought up memories of Harry's father -- Snape's own bully -- getting the same treatment.)

It's not a coincidence that Rowling not only failed to properly convey through the Marauders the true value of breaking rules, but also lusted over them for adopting that "bad boys" trope. It speaks to her own privilege -- she who never had to put herself in danger and go against the law in a risky attempt to protect herself or other less privileged people.

(Here's a useful read to expand on those worldbuilding issues.)

2. Dark Magic, obscurantism and conservatism

For context: Opinion: The Dark Magic/Light Magic Dichotomy is Nonsense (by pet_genius).

The idea of "Dark Magic" as something that's repeatedly told to be "evil" magic and where you cross the line of the forbidden, while hardly putting in question that notion that was (for some reason) enforced by wizard society, is another blatant example of Rowling betraying her mindset of privileged British white woman.

Rowling couldn't put herself in the minds of a society of "outcasts (witches & wizards) deeply enough to consider they would not see any magic as "Dark" at all (being a ""Muggle"" concept), or that Dark magic is only magic that requires something unvaluable to be traded off -- like one's soul or health or life or sanity. Instead, she has Dark Magic defined as "evil" magic, even though her own books show that you can do evil stuff with normal magic, and that you can do morally good stuff with Dark magic. This thing happened because Rowling could not think past her own little world and instead she poured a conservatist mentality (+ typical "Muggle", anti-witch prejudice) into the HP (wizard society) worldbuilding without considering that there could, in fact, be fundamental differences between the two worlds that include thinking of magic differently. (This has a lot to do with Rowling's wizard world being a pro-imperalism fest.)

"Dark Magic" feels like a lazy, badly-executed plot device to tell the reader who's a good guy and who is not. Because of course, that's how things work in real-life, huh… (Did she ever hear of "don't tell, show"?) It's used as an excuse to define who's evil (teen Severus) or not (James), who's worthy or not -- not how their magic was used. Which is a BIG problem:

“I’m just trying to show you they’re not as wonderful as everyone seems to think they are.” The intensity of his gaze made her blush. “They don’t use Dark Magic, though.” / “Scourgify!” Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape’s mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him —

Even worse, Rowling doesn't follow her own in-world moral framework. Dark magic is acceptable for some people (Rowling's partial self-inserts: Dumbledore, Harry, Hermione to Marietta...) but not for those that Rowling hates (Snape, who ironically represents the closest thing to rebelling by unapologetically obsessing over the Dark Arts). Again, this is at best unadressed in-world hypocrisy, at worst an expression of in-world and out-universe privilege (I get to do this and stay a good guy, but you don't).

There could have easily been rightful criticism of whatever could be defined as "Dark Magic". What if Dark magic was just something defined as "Dark" usually because the power in place doesn't want the people to touch it? Is abortion or contraception or a sex-altering or a goverment-threatening spell, Dark Magic? Is foreign or ethnicity-specific or female-centered or queer-centered magic, "Dark"? How about showing why (Muggle-raised but also neurodivergent) Severus thought Dark magic was so great, showing his point of view, while also establishing where the true limits are? If Lily can't be the one who sees past the "fear-mongering anti-intellectualism/propaganda", how about Harry being the one who does, thanks to him relating to Snape on a personal level? How about making Hermione go from someone who condems Dark Magic, to someone who entirely changes her point of view and understands that this is all bullshit -- effectively showing the dangers of only following what the books say, without putting them into question or thinking by yourself? How about a nuanced view of Dark magic as something that requires a significant sacrifice, which is conceivable for something they see as equally or even more important [Lily's life for Harry; Snape's soul integrity for Dumbledore]? How about making the Death Eaters, people who deviate that legitimate interest, rather than just evil guys who thrive in Dark magic for its supposed added evilness? How about showing that Dark magic was just a notion invented by Muggles to throw "witches" (real or not) to the burning stakes -- later taken by the witches and wizards in power to define, in the magical community, what was okay or definitely forbidden because it's the trademark of those who represent a threat to the magical community (understand: people who riot or strike or protest against the ruling socioeconomical class' politics)?

But there was none of that.

"Dark" magic in HP merely seems to be a weird concept that at best accidentally takes the form of an in-world obscurantism, at worst is just the trademark of someone who cannot imagine a "hunted, ostracized" community with a different culture and mindset than her own. Aggravating is the fact that she used "Dark magic" as a plot device to magically cast some people as good and others as never bad – again, probably reflecting her own questionable mentality.

The fact Rowlnig invented the notion of Dark Magic and had her world consider it seriously as an evil thing instead of being open-minded seems to be less telling of her wishes to show a wizard society that can be as prejudiced as the muggle one, and more of her own bizarre world where you must be evil if you are knowledgeable in or interested in certain "taboo" things (RIP neurodivergents).

Rowling glorifies the Trio and the Marauders for breaking rules. Yet when it comes to actually breaking expectations and norms, notably in the wizarding society -- like the use of another magical species as slaves, or the blatant anti-Muggle prejudice held by everyone including "good guys" (or anti-centaur while we're at it), or stupid anti-knowledge prejudice like "Dark magic is evil" -- there is none of that. At best, it's surface-level opposition that comes out as white savior syndrome. At worst, the protagonists make it their noble code to enforce those norms, and "sinful" characters (Snape, for one) are punished for not conforming. Too often, those sinful characters are punished by the "good guys" with the very thing that they apparently oppose so fervently.

Without ever adressing the fact that those characters were ("morally") allowed to do that because it was just, in the end, a matter of who gets the privilege to do that, and who does not.

There.

Do you have anything to say to develop on those ideas? I feel like I'm reaching my knowledge limit and I'd like to see if those ideas can be expanded.

#pro snape #severus snape #harry potter #dark magic #sectumsempra #anti marauders #anti jkr #fuck jkr #classism #imperalism #colonialism #hp #hp books #hp prequel #obscurantism #bad boys #piracy #virtue signaling

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smallearthboundfindings · 1 year

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[Banner Source]

Sprite Edit Requests: Open!

Submissions: Open!

Asks: Open!

[Blog Contents Masterpost!]

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Request Rules:

Specify what game style you want, please! If unspecified and the character/item/enemy only appears in one game, then I will use that style by default, but if they appear in multiple games (Porky, for example), I will ask which style you're looking for! Save the wait and let me know in advance!

If you are requesting a character, please specify a pose or action desired! Otherwise, I'll just toss canon sprite sheets or generic standing forwards sprites at you; I don't know what you want.

I can decline requests! Those deemed too complex, inappropriate, or hateful will be declined. Don't even bother.

Yes, you can request your OC! Just follow the other character rules and please give me at least a written description of what they look like! (Though pictures are preferred.) OC requests with no appearance will be declined.

I prefer you use the asks box rather than a comment or reblog for requests. It's easier for me to see that way! If you want to make sure I see your request, put it in the asks!

All of our canon sprites are sourced from Spriters' Resource here, here, and here to give all due credit! It's kinda hard to remember crediting every single time, so I'll put it here! Hope that works...

Submission Box Rules:

If you have something more interesting to say than me at a given time, feel free to suggest new posts as submissions or add to any preexisting posts in whatever way you find suitable! We might feature them on this blog! Just follow our little submission rules if you're going to send a brand new post! (Note: These only apply to submitted facts. Submitted headcanons only require the last rule.)

Please try to include at least one form of media, such as an image, video, or audio track as support or proof! If the media is from elsewhere on the internet and isn't a plain normal gameplay screenshot/song from one of the games, however, please credit it in a link or embed it! TL;DR: credit whoever scanned that page of Pollyanna you want to show us, for example!

Credit your sources, please! Made-up sources or “source: dude trust me”'s will not be allowed unless it’s a joke submission. Say what game or bit of secondary material you’re posting about somewhere and in what context it appears, if applicable. A simple “in the Japanese manual for [game]” or “in the debug menu for [game]” should do!

No hateful, bigoted, or NSFW submissions! I mean, we are working with a Nintendo franchise so this probably won’t happen, but just in case. Swearing is a-okay though because the mod thinks it’s funny. Please submit your Kumatora swear montage; it’ll be hilarious.

Asks:

You're totally welcome to walk up to this blog's asks and go "hey allen, what are your thoughts on george?" or something else like that. I ain't no corporate - I'm real and you can talk to me even if it's silly! I'm just some guy (gender neutral) posting Mother content and I'll gladly welcome community interaction!

Pings:

You may ping if you wanna present something you made based on something we did or showed off here, to credit something, or if you desperately want me to see a relevant informational post / a tournament were Ness got nominated and you wanna sic the propaganda on me / basically anything interesting! Overall, I don't mind them.

Miscellaneous:

Regarding the safety of our community and fandom, active bigots such as racists, LGBT-phobes, TERFs; perpetrators/glorifiers of abuse such as MAPs, zoos, and proshippers; and anyone I deem to be too mean-spirited to other users will be blocked the moment I catch you. This has been your warning. The close tab button is right there.

#not a finding #pinned post #submission rules #request rules #the formatting is a work in progress

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limunette · 2 years

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Send me the 🙌 emoji and I will draw a random 1 min sketch of the intuitive message I will get.

You may ask questions. You might receive an answer or the answer you need for something else.

It won't be good. It might not even make sense cause 🌿 or it might be amazing and just the message sketch you need. Cause magic.

Just answering until I fall asleep so send them fast!!!

Rules:

1. One per person

2. All readings will be public & posted

3. First initial/name + DOB and signifier emoji + question (if applies) Anon is fine but not preferred.

4. Leave me a question about anything, send me a joke/compliment/rant/love. Send a funny or scary story. Tell me your favorite urban legend. Etc.

5. Send an ask after to tell me your interpretation , how you feel about the reading etc.

6. Not required but extremely appreciate reblogging my pinned post and/or spirit companion post

That's all. Send your ask now

#divination reading #divination #energy work #tarot #free divination

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zstraps · 1 year

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I posted 2,159 times in 2022

That's 1,984 more posts than 2021!

57 posts created (3%)

2,102 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@blackbeardskneebrace

@blakbonnet

@snake-snack-stede

@wizardshark

@a-real-goblin

I tagged 1,345 of my posts in 2022

Only 38% of my posts had no tags

#ofmd - 1,025 posts

#blackbonnet - 109 posts

#ofmd textposts - 49 posts

#ofmd fanart - 43 posts

#edward teach loml - 39 posts

#our flag means death - 33 posts

#prev -> - 24 posts

#ofmd meta - 18 posts

#oh my god - 11 posts

#ofmd costuming - 9 posts

Longest Tag: 125 characters

#where’s that tik tok that’s like ‘you’re not in love’ ‘how do you know?’ ‘bc he’s a fictional character and you’re a lesbian’

My Top Posts in 2022:

reading first-time ed/stede fanfics where stede is all nervous and telling ed he doesn’t know what he’s doing and asking for guidance is so fucking funny. are we talking about the same character here? yes he’s inexperienced but you think that would slow him down for a fucking second? this man would be on his knees going “standard blowjob rules apply then? what are those exactly?”

669 notes - Posted September 24, 2022

tbh one thing that makes Our Flag Means Death so delightful is how utterly unhinged all the characters are and how fully we just accept that. there’s a sort of moral suspension of disbelief—like yeah i know that in the moral universe i exist in, setting a ship full of people on fire and leaving them to die is not an okay thing to do, really. but i don’t give a second thought to it happening in the silly gay pirate moral universe.

and i feel like that’s a credit to the show! like in the same way that really good world-building lets a viewer suspend their disbelief and engage in a fantasy/sci-fi world—even though part of your brain is aware that in the world you live in, people can’t, say, move things with their mind, you accept that in this fantasy world, they can. But it needs to be consistent to be convincing—if the rules of the world don’t apply to some characters for unexplained reasons, or the logic breaks down if you look too closely, it jolts you out of that universe.

if you extend that same logic to the characters’ way of seeing the world—the OFMD creators did a great job of creating characters who are unhinged but in a way that’s convincing and even relatable within the context of the story. i accept that within the little gay pirate world, there is nothing morally wrong with murder or maiming or torture or stealing, but being racist or creating pointless work for your crew out of spite makes you an asshole.

and it’s so delightful because it allows for all these bonkers character interactions, little moments of subverted expectations. like stede’s guilt in ep 2 turning out to not be about killing nigel at all but about leaving his family without closure. or like when ed tells stede he hasn’t killed anyone since his own father—in a different universe that might indicate a moral difference between him and the other pirates, but instead he follows it up with “maiming’s different. love a good maim” and acknowledgement that he orders people killed all the time, just doesn’t like to do it himself. and suddenly an interaction that you’d expect to be about guilt or not wanting to cause harm instead becomes something else—something about ed’s discomfort with the uglier aspects of piracy, or about his reaction to his father’s violence, or about a part of himself he’s afraid to face, or about his relationship to the idea of death. so many possible interpretations—it’s such a fascinating little window opened up into his character.

it’s also fun bc it just completely absolves you of any feeling that you have to agree with a character’s morals in order to like them. not that that’s a super interesting way to engage in media anyway, but in a show like OFMD you literally can’t bc NONE of the protagonists would pass that test. so you’re sort of forced to just sit back and enjoy the ride

669 notes - Posted July 26, 2022

that fanfic thing where the writer takes a relatively minor line a character says at some point in the show and repurposes it in a different context, and it’s such a perfect little touchpoint to make the character/moment feel so familiar and it lets you hear it in their voice so clearly and it’s so exactly THEM. fic writers who do this i am picking you up and kissing you on the head like a soft little mouse

718 notes - Posted August 26, 2022

i may look like i’m paying attention to what’s going on around me but inside my head it’s just “well sussed!” “not bloody optimal” “dickfuck, no it’s not” “did you mean to do that?” “hi all!” “there’s always an escape” “i know that, BABE” “man for sale!” “coming nana! coming for cake!” “take your sword. run me through” “treasure is the real treasure!” “that’s some damn good marmalade”

2,490 notes - Posted August 26, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

i saw a post about the “izzy thinks stede and ed are fucking when theyre actually swordfighting” scene that was like “we need a s2 parallel where izzy thinks theyre swordfighting and walks in on them fucking”

and honestly youre right, and also, the reason izzy thinks theyre dueling is bc stede keeps loudly saying things like “well, now, that was an excellent move! youve got to show me how to do that sometime”

5,192 notes - Posted June 27, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #so sorry i know everyone’s posting this but i am not immune to fun data overviews #ztalks

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rollerskatinglizard · 1 year

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I posted 2,904 times in 2022

That's 344 more posts than 2021!

13 posts created (0%)

2,891 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@unpretty

@roach-works

@elodieunderglass

@elfwreck

@expressions-of-nature

I tagged 2,900 of my posts in 2022

#video - 449 posts

#laugh rule - 347 posts

#funny - 308 posts

#cute animals - 240 posts

#beautiful scenery - 227 posts

#fav - 199 posts

#fascinating - 177 posts

#long post - 175 posts

#beautiful art - 147 posts

#well said - 133 posts

Longest Tag: 129 characters

#what with all the ppl assuming straight means 'oh of course ur still attracted to the same sex u just don't do anything about it'

My Top Posts in 2022:

Writing trademark: let's see if these sweet dorks can sort their feelings out if they fuck (spoiler: yes)

Hah! I am fond of that trope, yes... >.>;;

7 notes - Posted June 13, 2022

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Motorcity (Cartoon) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Mike Chilton & Julie Kane Characters: Julie Kane, Mike Chilton Additional Tags: Insomnia, Bittersweet, Hurt/Comfort, shortfic

Word count: 1.7k

Summary: “Hey, Jules, you up too?” She jumps hard and turns, swinging her legs back onto the landing. “Mike! Don’t walk around without your boots on, I didn’t hear you coming!” - Late at night, two insomniacs have a long-deferred conversation.

13 notes - Posted January 17, 2022

OC asks: #36 for anybody from After the Storm?

36: Tell us something about your OC that doesn't make it onto the page.

At times, Ben is mildly haunted by the question of if he might be Basil's dad.

Basil's parents were Spooks. Ben used to be a Spook. He's ace and uninterested, so he's not exactly hopping merrily from bed to bed, but he has slept with people for various reasons in the past, and he's also gotten his memory redacted a time or two, for Spook-related reasons. He could have slept with a lady Spook in one of those periods of time he can't remember now, at about the right time for her to have Basil later. He occasionally wonders, and then firmly pushes the thought away again. He's not set up to parent anyone, and he feels like he'd have to say something if he ever found out for sure.

Meanwhile Basil also wondered as soon as he met Ben at like thirteen, immediately went about sneaking a DNA sample to do the requisite testing, found out Ben's definitely not his dad, and moved on with his life. It never occurred to him to mention it; it's not like Ben wouldn't know for sure, right?

26 notes - Posted May 10, 2022

I love these lines ! Thank you for writing, you’re very talented!

Oh my GOD you did little COMICS, I LOVE THEM, I'M DYING!!!!

XD god, Mike sparkling hopefully at Chuck until he agrees to get at least partly naked, that's adorable. And the Very Srs Expression on I'm the helpfullest! RIDICULOUSLY cute!! Ahhh thank you so much, this made my day!

(These adorable dorks are from my incubus fic, Waves Hit My Head.)

33 notes - Posted May 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

One Week Book Sale

Our books are on sale at Smashwords from March 6th to March 12th! If you’re into m/m sci fi or fantasy, this is your chance! And remember, a chunk of each book is free to read if you want a sample to try first.

After the Storm is on sale for 75% off! 200k of queer post-post-apocalyptic hurt/comfort with cute boys, trauma recovery, found family, top-shelf erotica and really awesome women.

See the full post

134 notes - Posted March 6, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #oh my god I made so few of my own posts #posting could be FUN tho self! try it maybe!#long post

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hereticalteapot · 1 year

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I posted 1,241 times in 2022

11 posts created (1%)

1,230 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@dingdongyouarewrong

@mollyjames

@vacuously-true

@elpuntthing

@greatcheshire

I tagged 378 of my posts in 2022

#dark souls - 43 posts

#♥ - 23 posts

#omfg - 23 posts

#yugioh - 21 posts

#lmfao - 17 posts

#:) - 17 posts

#hollow knight - 15 posts

#mood - 12 posts

#art - 11 posts

#cambrian - 11 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#your fake and blatantly unenforceable rules based on categories that are far less rigid and separate than you think literally do not matter

My Top Posts in 2022:

People who are saying "I'll subscribe to Tumblr when they bring back nsfw content" are really not grasping the predicament they're in or that that isn't an option on the table right now. Tumblr takes money to run, quite a lot of it. And Tumblr is unprofitable, it has haemorrhaged money for years. This place will shut down if they don't find a way to change that.

Demanding that they first bring back porn is like saying you'll help bail out a sinking ship if they just drill a few extra holes in the floor for you. Right now it would jeopardise their relationship with advertisers - who thet need if you're not paying them - and start another big fight with Apple, who are so much bigger and more powerful than Tumblr that it's not even funny.

If you want there to still be a Tumblr for you to use (and you have the money, which is not a lot if you live in a wealthy country), subscribe. If that model becomes sustainable then it's a lot more plausible that we might see nsfw content returning down the line. Refusing to subscribe when you can, and claiming you'll do it once they implement a change they absolutely can't right now, is a transparent rationalisation.

2 notes - Posted February 28, 2022

Happy Wrath Month Everyone!

3 notes - Posted July 1, 2022

3 notes - Posted May 22, 2022

i'm girl :)

4 notes - Posted January 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Hey, I'm 17, gonna start my first year of college next month. I'm taking up research physics and hope to do my PG course on astronomy and astrophysics.

Do you have any advice, or exams to write, or online programs to apply for that would help through experience or credit.

Caveat this with the fact that I'm likely in a different country to you and don't know the details of the system you're entering, but honestly the best advice I can give you is to chill out.

The biggest risk by far to the career of enthusiastic young scientists is that they work themselves to exhaustion, burn themselves out, and ultimately end up hurting themselves for no good reason. You are *very* early in your career and you have time to find your feet and have a bit of fun before you start getting serious about building a path to a research career. You matter and your health and happiness matters and it is important to take that idea seriously from day 1.

34 notes - Posted August 9, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #sure why not #¯\_(ツ)_/¯

0 notes

octoagentmiles · 2 years

Text

about me!! yeah :)

name: Miles!

pronouns: they/them. I prefer gender neutral or masculine language. (mx./mr., sir, etc.)

funky brain go- *incomprehensible jargon and mechanical screeching*: a lot of this fandom is neurodivergent, so I want to share that I am autistic, have ADHD, dyscalculia, and anxiety. Many of these things affect the timeliness, or other aspects, of my posts or responses.

I don't want to share my age publicly, but I want to state that folks of all ages are welcome here! Please note though, that some of my content may involve slightly more mature themes, such as swearing (not from me directly, but from reblogs, memes, audios used over videos, etc.), and sometimes angsty topics discussing headcanons and theories related to mental illness or trauma. I will never post anything ns\ft. I will always add CWs and TWs to my posts; if I miss one, please don't be afraid to let me know, or request anything specific!

favourite character: Barnacles 🛞💙

(VERY honourable mentions: Tweak 🔧💚, Natquik/Tracker ❄️🤍, and Kwazii/CJ/Pete 🏴‍☠️🧡)

posts I make: character/episode analyses, random observations/thoughts, funnies/jokes/memes, headcanons/theories, videos/edits, etc.

favourite GBR song(s): Pirate Pie and Briney Blue. Kwazii go prr <3

favourite special: Great Arctic Adventure

favourite season: all of them 4th and 5th

go listen to my Octonauts playlist >:)

"I sent an ask and it's been a while lmao": I struggle with executive dysfunction really badly, but I will get to you eventually. I pinky-promise. /gen

"Where's your askbox?"

ask/dni rules under cut:

(the block button is my dearest sweetest bestest friend <3 so read carefully lmao)

(There are "\"s through some words, so that this post isn't filtered for people who have them blocked.)

Please DON'T ask me shipping questions. This includes my opinions on certain ships, what I ship or don’t, prompts or requests implying certain ships, etc. I know that shipping is fun for a lot of people, but publicly talking about it triggers my anxiety, so I’d rather not. Thank you for understanding.

Side note: Please DON'T TAG ANY of my posts as #ship, unless explicitly stated otherwise with a "#tag however you wish" or "#interpret how you wish". It's rare that I use these tags, but if I do, it's fair game. If you leave comments on my posts or in my inbox about shipping, I will not respond to them, and I'll probably remove them.

Side note²: I don't like pros\hippers. Go away. If I see ANY pros\hip content or support of such content on your blog AT ALL you will instantly be sentenced to life of a block without trial. No excuses, no second chances. ❌

Keep it family friendly. Meaning: No swearing or usage of slurs (even if you don’t know it’s a slur, or if you personally can/have reclaimed it, I will delete your ask/reply, and block you. the word “queer” is fine.), no references to or specific asks about dr*g use or alc*hol, no lemony or sugg\estive material, no graphic viole\nce, go\re, or inju\ry. This applies to comments on my posts, as well.

No queer\phobia (this includes gatekeeping), no rac\ism or xeno\phobia, no able\ism. (or any other kind of -isms, if they ever come up). Don't ever send me hate speech, dis\course, or bullying, regarding myself or others. It's pointless, will be deleted on sight, and I may block you. Go eat a snickers and think about your life choices.

If you really want to ask something that might imply one of the above, please put CWs and TWs* at the beginning of your ask; and be very clear that what you're sending in is a genuine question*, headcanon, or whatever else it may be. (*If it's a question, I may respond privately.)

Also remember that I can decide to just,, not answer something, even if it follows the rules. Usually I’ll do this if I’m not sure how to answer an ask, like, if I’m not knowledgeable enough on the subject, or it references a non-octonauts piece of media that I’m not a fan of, or it features a weird specific trigger/squick of mine that you would have no way of knowing about. Either way, if you’re sitting in your room staring at the wall and you randomly think to yourself, “Hey... my ask never got answered.......” that could be why.

I welcome angst concepts with open arms! But again, please use CW/TWs, and refer to the previous rule’s “no graphic viole\nce” note. If you’ve been here a while, you’ll know I love some good emotional angst~ (high school english teacher voice: "in writing, that's called ✨catharsis!✨")

...UNLESS it’s just a case of Funky Brain Syndrome (executive dysfunction, or good ol' anxiety). In that case, I promise it's not personal, and I am sincerely sorry for the delay—please continue being patient 🙏, and take this lollipop for your troubles: 🍭

———

*Quick glossary:

a CW warns for content that someone may not want to see or hear, for any reason. (examples: viole\nce, ns\ft, certain people or topics, phobias, squicks or triggers: see final note.)

a TW warns for content that may be triggering for someone to see or hear. (examples: flash\ing, eye\strain, unr\eality, vents, tics, certain topics, words and/or phrases, or phobias.)

a squick is something that may make someone highly uncomfortable to see, hear, or read about; it's different from a trigger in the sense that they're usually more mild, and less likely to cause real damage or harm, but you'd still prefer to avoid them nonetheless. (examples: they can be anything, but are often things like certain tropes, topics, ships, or milder phobias, secondhand embarrassment, etc.)

The two words CW + TW can, and very often do, go hand-in-hand; but the difference can matter sometimes—so can the difference between a squick and a trigger.

#*drumroll* an introduction!! i will update this once in a while‚ just so it's always current.#pls read my rules. i beg.

96 notes · View notes

xjoonchildx · 4 years

Text

greedy | myg x reader | chapter one: you like milkshakes?

summary: being a loner has never bothered yoongi until now. until you.

pairing: yoongi x reader

genre: mafia AU, pining, eventual smut

rating: 18+

word count: 4.3K

notes: confession, i am struggling these days with my insane attraction to min yoongi. this guy has it all. looks and talent and mystery and sweetness -- he’s the total package. so i really wanted to give him a story in this AU that i’ve come to love so much and i truly hope you guys enjoy it.

i also hope you guys know how much i appreciate every single one of you. i see your reblogs and comments and likes and i try to answer every one because it truly makes my day. you guys make my day.

i could not post this fic without shouting out the amazing @hobi-gif because honestly, if hope didn’t read it, did i even write it? and i’m sending major love to three people who are such a source of laughter and support for me, @ladyartemesia @ppersonna @taetaewonderland. you guys keep me in stitches.

this fic is a continuation of the Guarded Series but can be read as a standalone piece! Chapter 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05

*************************

Yoongi had fucked up.

He’d misread the massive man’s approach, tracking him in one direction when the guy was actually headed in another. That’s how the asshole managed to catch Yoongi off guard with one meaty fist to the face.

It didn’t matter that it was hundreds of pounds of fat -- not muscle -- behind that punch. It was wielding more than enough momentum to blow up the side of Yoongi’s face like a bomb.

That’s the night he landed in the ER at Songdo at nearly two in the morning, pressing gauze to his bleeding face.

That’s the night he found himself chuckling inside an empty exam room, reading triage paperwork that made him sound like some kind of war hero instead of just an idiot who got caught looking the wrong way.

That’s the night he met you.

“Rough evening, Mister Yun?”

Yoongi had looked up from the floor just as you’d breezed into the room, tablet in hand. That moment marked the second time he’d been caught off guard that night.

“That looks like it hurts,” you’d murmured sympathetically, eyes raking over the bloody mess on his face. Your gaze was clinical -- professional -- as you assessed his grossly swollen eye and the half dozen bleeding cuts that surrounded it.

But then you’d stopped looking at him -- and stepped back to really look at him.

Yoongi had taken one look at your enormous, dark eyes and your soft, sweet face and he was dumbstruck. He’d blinked back at you with the only eye that could still move.

“You’re a doctor?”

“Nope,” you’d replied casually, turning to reach for a pair of latex gloves. “I’m a janitor. But I’ve always wanted to give this medicine thing a try. You don’t mind, right?”

Your eyes had sparkled then, bright with humor -- and Yoongi couldn’t help but grin despite the pain pulsing from the left side of his face.

“Here’s the deal, Mister Yun,” you’d said, pulling on your gloves. “I’m a resident. And I’m more than qualified to handle the -- situation -- on your face, but if you feel more comfortable waiting for the attending, I’m happy to step back. Good luck seeing him before sunrise, though.”

“Nah,” Yoongi had chuckled. “I think I’ll take my chances with you.”

“Good call.”

You’d leaned in close after that, gloved fingers firm under his chin as you turned his face from side to side. You’d smelled fucking amazing. The light, fresh scent that lingered on your skin sure as hell beat the disinfectant odor in this place.

“What happened to you tonight, Mister Yun?”

“It’s a funny story, actually.”

“Oh, great,” you’d said dryly. “‘Cause it turns out, I love funny stories.”

Yoongi had flinched when you’d peeled the gauze back, exposing the angry wounds to the air. But he’d forced himself to sit dutifully still as you got to work cleaning the caked blood off his face and eye.

“Thing is, I work for the circus,” he’d started, hissing under his breath when you swiped across an open cut above his eye. “One of the elephants got rowdy while we were practicing a number tonight and just kicked me right in the face.”

You’d stopped dabbing at his eye then, one brow raised and a cynical slant to your mouth.

Yoongi liked that you knew he was full of shit right away.

He liked that you’d played along anyway.

“God, I hate when that happens,” you’d said with feigned outrage, cutting your eyes at him as you dropped a piece of bloody gauze on the tray at his side.

“I know, right?”

That’s when Yoongi had won a real smile from you, wide and genuine. That's when Yoongi made the mistake of looking at you for just a moment too long.

He knew it by the way your smile fell away as you cleared your throat and turned your focus back to his damaged face.

“Well, I have good news for you Mister Yun,” you’d said after a while, eyes scanning the freshly cleaned wounds. You’d run your gloved fingers gently over one particularly deep slash over his eye and Yoongi felt a shudder run up his back. “I’m pretty sure you’re going to live.”

“Well, that is good news.”

There was that smile again.

It seemed like no time at all before you had him all patched up -- cuts sanitized and sealed with skin adhesive; swollen eye cleaned and medicated. Yoongi had felt a strange kind of disappointment as he’d watched you gather your supplies, pull your gloves off and drop them in the trash can near the door.

“You’re all set, Mister Yun,” you’d murmured. “Watch out for those elephants, okay? I’d hate for them to ruin a perfectly nice face.”

Then you were gone.

***************************

Thing is -- Kim Namjoon is a rules guy.

It doesn’t matter that he runs a criminal organization -- or that the men in his employ are gangsters in custom ties and suits. He expects dirty work done clean because that’s what sets the Gajog apart.

Rotate hospitals. Use fake names. Pay in cash.

All of those protocols are in place to keep any one of the Gajog from drawing unwanted attention. Truthfully, Namjoon’s operations usually run so neatly his men rarely have to seek treatment for anything beyond the occasional black eye or broken bone. That’s why he’d rather trust his men to legitimate doctors in legitimate hospitals than hand them over to some back-alley hack.

Thing is -- shit has gotten a lot more heated of late.

An audit of the Gajog books has turned up millions in missing won, stolen over time by street-level guys all over the city. Yoongi and Hoseok are the ones on the front lines, tasked with confronting those men -- getting them to pay and getting them back in line.

Sometimes they play ball. Sometimes they don’t.

Tonight is one of those nights.

Yoongi knew the moment they arrived at the crumbling warehouse in the Nowon district that shit was probably going to get messy. Their contact was fucked up -- sloppy drunk -- and belligerent from the jump.

After that, everything was a blur.

At some point during the scuffle, Yoongi heard his hand crunch under the heavy weight of the man’s steel-toed boot. The pain was still flaring hot from his knuckles when Hoseok finally took the guy down.

Right now Yoongi should be at Asan or Gachon or any of the other half-dozen hospitals in the city. He should have dragged his tired ass and bloody hand across town because those are the rules.

But instead -- for the second time in a month -- he’s sitting under the sickly fluorescent lights in an empty exam room at Songdo at nearly three in the morning.

Hoping to see you.

*************************

Yoongi is gingerly flexing his aching fingers when a light knock sounds at the door.

It was a long shot that you’d be here tonight -- and an even longer shot that you’d be the one treating him. But when the door to the exam room opens, it’s you on the other side.

Yoongi’s pulse picks up in response.

“Sorry to keep you waiting tonight Mister -- ” you stop dead in your tracks, eyes wide on his before darting back down the tablet in your hand. You scan the screen slowly then look back up, gaze critical.

“ -- Mister Woo.”

“Yeah, sure,” Yoongi replies casually. “It’s no problem.”

You approach him slowly then, disbelief etched into your delicate features and Yoongi takes in every detail.

It’s like he’d forgotten how pretty you are since the last time he saw you.

You’re nothing like the flashy women who like to hang around the usual Gajog haunts. You’re the kind of pretty that doesn’t cost hundreds of thousands of won a month to maintain. The kind of pretty that doesn’t come off at the end of the night.

Yoongi swallows thickly as you eye him, lips parted like you’re about to fire off a hundred different questions. But you don’t.

You play along.

Again.

“Right. Let’s get to it then, Mister Woo,” you say carefully, slipping on your gloves. “What happened to your hand?”

“Well, you see, I’m a hot air balloon operator.”

His mouth quirks into a smile and your eyes flash in response.

“Wind was nuts today and the basket came down on my hand. I think I might have broken something.”

“Hmm,” you murmur. “Hot air balloon operator, huh?”

Yoongi winces when you take his hand between your gloved ones, gently applying pressure to each knuckle.

“Yeah.”

“That’s an interesting way to make a living, Mister Woo.”

Yoongi chokes down a groan when you press against one particularly sore spot. You back off the pressure, turning to make a note on your chart.

“Well, I’m an interesting guy,” he whispers.

You look up at him then, dark eyes focused and intense.

“That you are.”

You’re looking at Yoongi like you can see inside him and the scrutiny makes him squirm. He lowers his eyes to the floor and keeps quiet while you clean his hand and apply ointment to his cuts.

“Mister Woo, it looks like most of these are surface abrasions, but the knuckles concern me. I’m going to have to send you for an X-ray.”

“Yeah, okay. It hurts like hell.”

“I bet it does,” you say quietly, typing into your tablet. “Someone is going to come and take you back when they’re ready. I have to go check on some other patients, but I’ll be back when we have some images to go over.”

“Sure,” Yoongi breathes.

You take another long look at him before standing to leave and Yoongi wonders for a moment if he’s made a mistake. Maybe he’s misread you like he misread that brawler who caught him with the nasty punch all those weeks ago.

You could be off to flag a security guard. Or leaving to call the police.

He really should have just followed protocol.

Yoongi sits in the quiet of that exam room waiting -- ready -- for trouble that never comes. Because when a knock finally sounds at the door, it’s not the Korean National Police.

It’s the X-ray technician.

Maybe he didn’t misread you after all.

*********************

It takes hours for you to come back.

“Mixed news tonight, Mister Woo,” you say upon your return. “You have hairline fractures in three of your knuckles, which explains the pain. Unfortunately, that means I’m not going to be able to do much for you beyond wrapping your hand.”

Yoongi nods. “Got it.”

“And you should probably lay off the ballooning for a while,” you say under your breath as you lay out your bandages. “Just a suggestion.”

“Good idea,” Yoongi chuckles. “Safety first.”

You fix him with another one of those long, indecipherable looks before getting to work on his hand. But you don’t say anything and the longer the silence stretches on, the antsier Yoongi feels.

“So…” he exhales, clearing his throat, “... you like milkshakes?”

“Everyone likes milkshakes,” you return evenly. You don’t take your eyes off his hand or the flexible material you’re carefully wrapping around his sore knuckles.

“Lactose intolerant people don’t like milkshakes.”

“Lactose intolerant people like milkshakes as much as the rest of us,” you argue. “They just can’t tolerate them.”

“What are you, some kind of doctor?”

Your lips quirk with the threat of a laugh you manage to suppress but Yoongi catches the expression before it disappears. You seem to relax after that. He does, too.

“Dijeoteu has the best milkshakes in the city. Ever been there?”

“Can’t say that I have,” you admit, taping off a bandage.

“It’s not far from here. Open twenty-four hours. I hang out there sometimes.”

“So you’re a milkshake-drinking hot-air balloon enthusiast,” you murmur, inspecting your handiwork closely. “Anything else I should know about you, Mister Woo?’

Yoongi scratches the back of his neck with his free hand.

“Not really. That about covers it.”

You hum thoughtfully under your breath as you finish wrapping the bruised knuckles.

“All done. How does it feel?”

“Better,” Yoongi admits. “Thanks.”

You gaze at him then, thoughtful -- expression soft with something that looks almost like concern. Yoongi drops his gaze down to his bandaged hand.

This is the part where you’ve finished -- the part where you leave.

This is the part where he should say something to you but he has no idea what or how.

“I would say come back soon, but this is a hospital and that seems wildly inappropriate,” you announce, voice breaking clear through his stupor.

You turn back to him just as you’re walking towards the door, and for a moment Yoongi thinks you’re going to give in and ask him any one of the dozens of questions that must be swirling around your mind.

But you don’t.

“Try to take care of that hand, Mister Woo.”

Yoongi nods.

“Thanks, Doc.”

**********************

YOU

Doctor Lee is on his Houdini shit tonight, apparently.

The ER is packed -- waiting room crowded with crabby patients -- and you are, once again, running yourself ragged to get to every last one. Lee is, once again, nowhere to be found.

“Page him again,” you call out as you pass the charge nurse outside an exam room.

A quick scan of your tablet confirms the toddler behind this magic door has been vomiting all night. You shut your eyes and wish a slow, violent death on your absent attending. Vomit is the single worst phenomenon in medicine.

“I’ve paged him three times,” Nurse Ko calls back.

“Page him again,” you repeat, forcing a smile and pushing into the room.

Thirty minutes and one change of scrubs later you are checking charts on the next patient in line. You pat the pocket of your new scrubs and realize you’ve left a half-eaten energy bar around here somewhere.

No chance you’ll get that back.

Lee picks this moment to reappear, back from doing God knows what. He strolls down the hallway like a man with nothing on his to-do list.

“You paged for me?” he inquires casually.

“A few times, actually,” you mutter. “I’m getting killed out here.”

“Relax,” Lee purrs, condescension dripping from his tone. “We’ll get it done.”

You bite the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from firing back the half-dozen nasty responses that spring to mind. There is no we when it comes to Doctor Lee. He’s always been flighty and inconsistent, but these days he’s practically a missing person. You’re still not sure how hospital management hasn’t figured out that he’s making his resident run the overnight ER.

“There’s a guy down the hall who says he swallowed a magnet,” you say, waving a hand in that direction. “If you can pick him up I can get to this head trauma.”

Lee sighs like it’s a major inconvenience that you’ve asked him to do his job.

“Yeah, I’ll grab it.”

***********************

It’s nearly four in the morning by the time you have a chance to catch your breath.

You walk out to scan the waiting area and to your relief, there are only a handful of patients yet to be seen. Then your eyes land on one young man -- slumped into a chair in an oversized coat, hat pulled low over his eyes.

You freeze.

The man in the chair must feel your stare from across the room because he straightens, giving you a better look at the face hidden under the brim of his hat. You let go of a breath you don’t realize you’ve been holding.

It’s not him.

It’s not the mysterious man with the fake names and the bogus stories and the insanely handsome face. You shake your head as you look back down at your tablet, silently chastising yourself for even entertaining the thought.

You shouldn’t still be thinking about this guy and you know it.

But it’s driving you nuts that you can’t figure him out.

He’s never tried to play you for pills and that seems to be the only thing people lie about these days. But if his problem isn’t drugs it’s certainly something because no one lands in the hospital that many times, with that many phoney stories unless they’re up to no good.

So you ignore the nonsensical disappointment you feel when the guy in that chair is not the guy.

Because deep down you know he’s either in trouble -- or he is trouble.

***********************

Your pager goes off for a second time and you silence the alert, tossing it onto a nearby blanket.

It’s not like you’re hiding out in here -- not really.

It’s just that you’ve already had one patient cough up blood on your sneakers and another swing at you when you refused to give him narcotics, so this night is off to a spectacularly bad start.

Besides, Doctor Lee could use a taste of his own medicine.

This week has been the worst, by far. You’ve been seeing at least three patients to his every one and you’re exhausted. If there’s any justice, he’s walking into the exam room where the infant with explosive diarrhea is waiting to be seen -- you check your watch -- right about now.

The door to the linen closet cracks open and you groan, hiding your face in your hands.

“What, you thought I didn’t know about your little hiding place?” Nurse Ko asks with a grin. “I find everyone’s hiding place, eventually.”

“Haven’t found Lee’s yet,” you gripe.

“Yeah, well he’s sneakier,” she laughs. “Here, I brought you something.”

She tosses a granola bar at you and it lands in your lap.

“Thanks,” you sigh, ripping it open. You take a bite and Ko leans against the doorframe.

“I don’t page you for my health, you know.”

“I know,” you whine around a mouthful of dried oats. “I just needed five minutes.”

“Well, I’ve got a guy out here who says he’ll only see you. Doesn’t want Doctor Lee and says he’ll wait as long as it takes.”

A piece of the granola bar lodges in your throat and you cough around it, spluttering while Ko looks on, amused. She waits for you to collect yourself.

“Is he -- ”

“ -- hot? Yes. Very,” Ko smiles.

Your cheeks flame with embarrassment at both the observation and the fact that it’s coming from a woman in her sixties.

“I was going to say young,” you grumble, standing and dusting your hands off with a towel.

“That, too. Come to think of it, I know I’ve seen him here before. You have some kind of admirer, jagiya?”

You flush.

**************************

“Good evening, Mister Kim.”

You hope the air of nonchalance you affect when you enter the exam room is enough to mask your jitters.

Your mystery patient looks back at you with those dark eyes and a half-smirk that makes your heart trip in your chest. You take a steadying breath as you look down at your tablet.

Get it together, girl.

“What brings you in tonight?” you inquire lightly. “Sword-swallowing accident? Lose a fist fight with a bear?”

Your mysterious patient chuckles under his breath.

“Where would you get a couple of outlandish ideas like that, Doc?”

You look up at him just as the teasing smirk on his face becomes a full smile and heat blooms in your chest and face. You force yourself to tear your gaze away.

“I dislocated my shoulder. Did you know I work air traffic control at Incheon?”

You shake your head with amused weariness as you make notes on your tablet.

“Crazy night. One of the planes nearly slid off the runway and I threw my shoulder out trying to get it back on track.”

“Did you save it?”

“Saved it and all 227 people on board.”

“Bravo, Mister Kim.”

“Just doing my job,” he shrugs.

You set your tablet down on the exam table with a thump, eyeing him as you reach for a pair of gloves.

“The charge nurse says you asked for me.”

“I did,” he admits. “You never told me what your favorite kind of milkshake is.”

You cock your head to the side as you look at him.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mister Kim,” you murmur, feigning ignorance. “According to my records this is the first time I’ve ever seen you.”

“Oh, yeah. Right,” he chuckles.

“You need some help getting undressed?”

“Yeah,” he admits, slipping one arm out of his leather jacket. You lean in to help him pull the other side off, compelling yourself to ignore the way he smells like soap and sweat and man when you’re this close.

“It’s strawberry.”

You blurt the words out, anxious to give your brain a task that doesn’t involve analyzing this man’s smell. Something about the mischievous twist to his mouth tells you he knows you’re flustered by his nearness.

“I would have guessed chocolate,” he muses, reaching one hand down to grab the hem of his shirt. He drags it up his abdomen and you will your eyes to stay on his face -- refusing to give him any indication that you have more than a clinical interest in what lies underneath.

“Everyone likes chocolate,” you argue, taking over when he can’t get the shirt up any higher. You push it over his head and carefully work it off his shoulder. “I don’t want to be like everyone else.”

“Mission accomplished, Doc.”

He gazes at you then -- chest bare and eyes sharp beneath those inky lashes -- and you feel a bolt of awareness run the length of your spine. You pray the heat you suddenly feel all over your body is not manifesting in damning spots of color on your face.

You remind yourself to get back to work.

He sucks a breath between his teeth when you press gently against the inflamed muscle and tissue.

“My shoulder’s been shit for years,” he confesses. “I screwed it up when I was a kid and it hasn’t been the same since.”

“So this happens to you from time to time?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, then I’m going to have to refer you for an MRI,” you say, and he groans when you press into his shoulder again. “There could be a lot of scar tissue in here, but I won’t be able to know what’s going on until we get some clear scans.”

Your eyes flick back to his.

Every word that’s ever come out of this man’s mouth is a lie -- but there’s something that feels honest about the way he’s looking at you right now. Something that makes you feel seasick, unsteady.

“Turn to the side for me,” you say quietly, and the thin paper that lines the exam table rustles as he complies. The relief you feel when he pivots away from you with those eyes and that look is whole-bodied.

“For now, the best I can do is probably pop -- “

Your words trail off as your eyes lock on a wound that sits just a few inches from his spine, just above the line of his jeans. The edges are white and soft with age -- the area long-healed -- but the trauma is unmistakable.

Textbook.

The anger you feel as you stare at the wound doesn’t make any sense.

But you feel it anyway.

“Is it still inside of you, or did they pull it out?”

“What -- ”

“-- The bullet Mister Kim,” you interrupt sharply. “If it’s still in you, I promise it will come out the second they load you into an MRI machine. The hard way.”

The muscles of his back flex as he stiffens. Tension bleeds into the lines of his body and into his voice when he finally speaks.

“It’s out.”

Neither of you says another word.

The room feels hollow now, painfully quiet without talk of elephants or hot air balloons or milkshakes. The two of you work together silently to crack his abused shoulder back into place. Somehow he manages to endure that pain without making a sound.

In the end, it’s you that has to speak first.

“That should hold you for now,” you say tightly, standing to toss your gloves in the trash. You grab your tablet to make notes.

“You mad at me, Doc?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” you mutter, fingers flying over your screen. “I don’t even know you.”

“Then why does it feel like you’re mad at me?”

You tear your eyes away from the screen to find his.

There’s no teasing or humor there anymore. He looks boyish and unsure like this, peering back at you with somber eyes from beneath long black bangs that have fallen into his face.

“No more stories, no more bullshit. Tell me who you are.”

The words are out of your mouth before you can think better of them -- before you can consider how stupid it is to interrogate a complete stranger with a now confirmed history of violence. Before you can consider that you have no right to the anger that now streaks white-hot through your veins.

“I can’t,” he breathes quietly. “I’m sorry.”

You shake your head in disgust.

“Are you dangerous?”

Before he even speaks, you get your answer. You get it in the way color erupts across the bridge of his nose and cheeks. The way he looks away from you and down to his hands.

“I guess that depends on who you ask,” he whispers.

“I’m asking you,” you fire back.

He doesn’t answer.

You stand there for what feels like an eternity, waiting for him to say something in his defense. Waiting for him to pull another gag and tell just one more ridiculous story. But the seconds tick by and he says nothing.

“A nurse is going to come by with a sling. She’ll help you get dressed, too,” you say tightly, walking to the door.

You don’t know why your heart feels like it seizes in your chest when you turn to give him one more look.

“Take care of yourself, Mister Kim,” you say quietly. “And don’t come back.”

*****************************

Glossary:

Dijeoteu: dessert

Jagiya: sweetie, sweetheart

*****************************

Tag List!

@heroesfan101 @kpop-saved-ruinedme @mono-kookie @ctvrty @bluewhale52 @thenopekid @uhgood-dooghu @youwannabelostandnotbefound @yiyi4657 @daydreambrliever @mstbeautifulmmt @darktsuki0 @mademysongtakeflight @fireflyinsummer @paperpurple @btseditsworld @outrofenty @taestannie @yeojaa @sahmfanficbts @snackhobi

#yoongi smut #yoongi x reader #yoongi mafia #ficswithluv #ksmutclub #btswriterscollective #networkbangtan #bangtanarmynet

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comedicreliefonlyworkswhenfunny · 3 years

Text

I am against the "Americanization" of fandoms.

What this applies to

Holding non American characters (and sometimes even fans) to an American moral standard. This includes

Refusing to take into account that, first things first, America is NOT the target audience, so certain tropes that would or would not pass in the west are different in Japan.

Like seriously, quite a few of the jokes are just not going to pass or hit, because they require background information that is not universal.

Assuming all American experience is standard. (This could mean watering down just how much pressure is placed on Japanese youth irl by saying that sort of thing is universal (while it is, to a degree, Japanese suicide rates are pretty fucking high because of how fast paced and work heavy some of their loads tend to be), and it's really annoying and rude when someone is trying to speak out about how heavy and harsh the standards are placed on them to succeed just for some American whose mom occasionally yells at them to do their homework dropping by to say "it's like that everywhere")

Demonizing (or wubbifying) a character using American morals, including and up to harassing fans over their interpretations or gatekeeping whether or not a character "should" get development (while you shouldn't do that fucking period, it's rude and annoying- this is specifically for the people who use American standards without acknowledging the cultural gap between them and, you know, the fucking target audience) ((Like seriously, saying "It's different in Japan" is not the end all be all excusing someone's actions, but sometimes the author didn't immediately think that maybe (insert vaguely universal thing) was that bad or that heavy of a topic before they put it into their media. If you don't want to see things like that? Pick a different series and stop harassing the fans))

Getting mad at or making fun of Japan's attempts to satirize their own culture. (A good example is Ace Attorney! To most of us, it's just a funny laugh can you imagine if courts were actually like that- guess what? Japan's are! (Not that America's are actually that much better, they just look good on paper))

Making America/American issues the center of your fan spaces

(Usually without sharing or bringing light to the issues that other countries are going through)

Your

Experiences

Are

Not

Univseral!

Seriously, very few things across America, even, are universal. Texas things the hundreds are nothing while Minnesota's like "oh it's only thirty degrees below zero"- so for fucks sake, stop assuming that all other countries work in ways similar to America.

It's good and important to share Ameican issues with your American followers, but guess what? America isn't the only country out there, and it's certainly not the only one going through bullshit. Don't pull shit like "why's no one reblogging this?" or "why should I care about what's happening in (X country)?"

Don't assume everyone lives in America.

Stop assuming everyone lives in America.

America is not and has never been the target audience for anime, and it's certainly not the only country outside of Japan that enjoys it.

Like I said above, sometimes Japan attempts to satirize its own culture. We can't tell what is and isn't meant as satire, because it's not our culture.

Social media activism can be tiring and maybe you don't have the energy to focus on things that are out of your control, but, if someone tells you about the shit they're going through, don't bring American politics up.

For the neurodivergent crowd out there thinking, "But why?" it's because a lot of social media, especially, is very heavily Americanized- sometimes to the point where people assume that everyone is American. Not to mention, it's disheartening. I'm sorry to say, but you're not actually relating to the conversation, you're often diverting the focus away from the topic at hand. Even if you mean well, America is heavily pedestaled and talked about frequently, and people from other countries are tired of America taking precedent over their own issues.

Don't divert non-American issues into American ones. Seriously. It's not your place. Please just support the original issue or move on.

Racist Bullshit

This especially goes for islanders and South Asian characters, as well as poc characters (because, yes, Japan DOES have black people)

Making "funny" racist headcanons. Not fucking cool.

Changing the canon interpretation of an explicit character of color in order to fit racist stereotypes.

Whitewashing or color draining characters. Different artistic skill sets can be hard, yes, but are you seriously going to look at someone and say "I don't feel like accurately portraying you or people that look like you, because it's difficult for me." If someone tries to correct you on your cultural depiction of a character and/or their life style, don't be an ass. (If possible, it would be nice for those that do the corrections to be polite as well, but it does get really frustrating).

Seriously, no offense guys, but, if you want to persue art, you're going to need to learn to depict different body types, skin colors, and/or ethnic features.

On that note, purposefully, willingly, or consistently inaccurately portraying people or characters of color (especially if someone in the fandom has "called you out" or specifically told you that what you're doing comes across as racist and you continue to do it). If you need help or suck at looking things up, there are references for you! Ask your followers if they have tutorials on poc (issue that you're having), whether it be bodily portrayal, facial proportions, or coloring and shading. Art is so much more fun when you can depict a wider variety, and guess what? Before you drew the same skinny, basic, white character over and over, you couldn't even draw that!

Attempting or claiming to DEPECT CULTURAL ACCURACY within a work or meta, while being completely fucking wrong. ESPECIALLY and specifically if someone calls you out, and you refuse to fix, correct, or change anything.

*little side note that the discussion revolving art is a very multilayered conversation, and it has quite a few technical potholes, which I'll bring up again farther into this post.

Fucking history

Stop demonizing or for absolute fucks sake wubbifying Japanese history because UwU Japan ♡0♡ or bringing up shit like "you know they sided with Nazis, right?" It's good to recognize poor past decisions, but literally it's not your country keep your nose out of it. And? A lot of decisions made by countries were not made by their general peoples. Even those that were, often involved heavy propaganda that made them think what they were doing was right.

Seriously, it's not your country, not your history. Unless you have some sort of higher education (but honestly even then a lot of those contain heavy bias), just don't butt in.

^^^ this also goes to all countries that are NOT Japan (specifically when people from non American countries talk about their history while in fandoms and someone wants to Amerisplain to them why "well, actually-"). When we said, "question your sources," we didn't mean "question the people who know better than you, while blindly accepting the (more than likely biased) education you were given in the past."

What this does NOT include:

Fanfiction

FANfiction

FanFICTION

FANFICTION.

Seriously, fanfiction is literally UNPAID WORK from RANDOM FANS- a lot of which who are or have started as kids. ((No, I'm not trying to excuse racist depictions of people just because they're free, please see above where I talk about learning to grow a skill and how it's possible tone bad and get good, on top of the fact that some inaccuracies are not just willful ignorance))

"Looking it up" doesn't work

"Looking it up" almost never works

Please, for fucks sake, you know that most all online search engines are heavily biased, right? Not to mention, not everything is universal across the entirety of Japan. You want to look up how the school system works in Hokkaido? Well it's different from the ones in Osaka!

Most fanfiction is meant to be an idealized version of the world. Homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, ableism, and racism are very prevalent and heavy topics that some fan authors would prefer to avoid. (Keep in mind, this is also used by some people in those minorities often because thinking about how relevant those kinds of things are is to them every day).

A lot of shit that happens in writing is purely because it's an ideal setting. I've seen a few arguments recently about how fan authors portray Japanese schools wrong- listen, I can't tell you how many random school systems I have pulled from my ass purely because (I need them to interact at these points, in these ways). Sometimes the only compliment I can think of is 'I like your shirt' or sometimes I need character A to realize that character B likes the same thing as they do, so I might ignore the fact that most all Japanese schools require uniforms, so that I can put my character in a shirt that will get someone else's attention.

Sometimes it's difficult to find information on different types of systems, and sometimes when you DO know those things, they directly rule out a plot point that needs to happen (like back on the topic of schools (from what I've seen/heard/read- which guess what? Despite being from multiple sources, might still be inaccurate!) Japanese schools don't have mandatory elective classes (outside of like gym and most of them usually learn English or another language- I've seen stuff about art classes? But the information across the board varies.), but, if I need my character to walk in and see someone completely in their element, I'm probably not going to try and gun for accuracy or make up a million and two reasons as to why this (non elective) person would possibly need something from (elective teacher) after school of all things.)

Some experiences ARE universal- or at least overlap American and Japanese norms! Like friends going to fast food places after school doesn't /sound Japanese/ or whatever, but it's not like a horrible inaccuracy to say that your characters ate at McDonald's because they were hungry. Especially when you consider that the Japanese idolization of American "culture" is also a thing.

Also I saw someone complaining about how, in December, a lot of (usually westerners) write Christmas fics! Well, not only are quite a few of those often gift fics, with it being the season if giving and all, but Japanese people do celebrate Christmas! Not as "the birth of Christ," but rather as a popularized holiday about gift giving (also pst: America isn't the only place that celebrates Christmas)

But, on that note, sometimes things like Holidays are "willfully ignorant" of what actually happens (I've made this point several times, but (also this does by no means excuse actual racism)), because, again: plot convenience! Hey what IF they celebrated Halloween by Trick or Treating? What if Easter was a thing and they got to watch their kids or younger siblings crawl around on the ground looking for tiny plastic eggs?

Fanfiction authors can put in hours of work for one or two thousand words- let alone ten thousand words, fifty thousand words, a hundred thousand words. And all of these are free. There is absolutely no (legal) way to make money off of their fanworks, but they spent hours, days, weeks, months- sometimes even years- writing. It is so unnecessary to EXPECT or REQUIRE them to spend even more hours looking up shit that, no offense, almost no one is going to notice. No one is going go care that all of my combini prices are accurate or that I wrote a fic with a Japanese map of a train station that I had to backwards search three times to find an English version that I could read.

Not everyone has the attention span or ability to spend hours of research before writing a single word. Neurodivergent people are literally a thing yall. Instead of producing the perfectly pretty accurate version of Japan that people want to happen, what ACTUALLY happens is that the writer reads and reads and reads and either never finds the information they need or they lose the motivation to write.

^^^ (This does NOT apply to indigenous or native peoples, like Pacific Islanders or tribes that exist in real life. Please make sure that you portray tribal minorities accurately. If you can't find the information you need (assuming that the content of the series is not specifically about a tribe), please just make one up (and for fucks sake, recognize that a lot of what you've been taught about tribal practices, such as shit like human sacrifices or godly worship, is actually just propaganda.)

Not to mention, it often puts a wall in front of readers who would then need to pull up their OWN information (that may or may not be biased) just in order to interact with the fic ((okay, this one has a little bit of arguability when it comes to things like measurements and currency, because Americans don't know what a meter is and no one else knows what a foot is- either way, one of yall is going to have to look up measurements if they want to get a better understanding of the fic)). However, a lot of Americans who do write using 'feet, Fahrenheit, dollars,' also write for their American followers or friends (which really could go both ways).

On a less easily arguable side, most fic readers aren't going to open up a new tab just to search everything that the author has written (re the whole deep topics, not everyone wants to read about those sorts of things, either). Not only are you making it more difficult on the writer, but you're also making it more difficult for the reader who's now wondering why you decided to add in Grandma's Katsudon recipe, and whether or not the details you have added are accurate.

Some series, themselves, ignore Japanese norms! Piercings, hair dye, and incorrectly wearing ones uniform are frowns upon in Japanese schools- sometimes up to inflicting punishment on those students because of it. However, some anime characters still have naturally or dyed blond hair some of them still have piercings or wear their uniforms wrong. Some series aren't set specifically in Japan, but rather in a vague based-off-real-life Japan that's just slightly different (like Haikyuu and all of its different prefectures). Sometimes they're based on real places, but real places that have gone through major changes (like the Hero Academia series with its quirks and shit).

Fandom is not a full time job. Please stop treating it like it is one. Most people in fandoms have to engage in other things like school or work that most definitely take precident over frantically Googling the cultural implications of dying your hair pink in Japan.

Art is also meant to be a creative freedom and is almost always a hobby, so there are a few cracks that tend to spark debate. Like I said, it is still a hobby, something that's meant to be fun (on this note!)

If trying new things and expanding your portfolio is genuinely making you upset, it's okay to take a break from it. You're not going to get it right on the first try and please, please to everyone out there critiquing artists' works, please take this into account before you post things.

I'm sorry to say, but, while it gets frustrating to see the same things done wrong over and over again, some people are genuinely trying. If it matters enough for you to point out, please offer solutions or resources that would possibly help the artist do better (honestly this could be said about a lot of online activism). I get that they should "want" to do better (and maybe they don't and your annoyance towards them is completely justified- again, as I said, if this becomes a repeated offense and they don't listen to or care about the people trying to help them, yeah you can be a bitch if it helps you feel better- just please don't assume that everyone is willfully ignorant of how hurtful/upsetting/annoying a certain way of portraying things is), but also WANTING to do better and ACTUALLY doing better are two different things.

Maybe they didn't realize what they were doing was inaccurate. Maybe they didn't have the right tutorials. Maybe they tried to look it up, but that failed them. Either way, to some- especially neurodivergent artists- just being told that their work is bad or racist or awful isn't going to make them want to search for better resources in order to be more accurate, it's just going to make them give up.

Also! In fic and in writing, no one is going to get it right on the first try. Especially at the stage where we creators ARE merely in fan spaces is a great time to "fuck around and find out", before we bring our willfully or accidentally racist shit into monetized media. Absolutely hold your fan creators to higher standards, but literally fan work has so little actual impact on popular media (and this goes for just about every debate about fan spaces), and constructive criticism as well as routine practice can mean worlds for representation in future media. NOT allowing for mistakes in micro spaces like fandoms is how you get genuinely harmful or just... bad... portrayals of minorities in popularized media that DOES have an impact on the greater public. OR you get a bunch of creators who are too afraid to walk out of their own little bubbles, because what if they get it wrong and everyone turns against them. It's better to just "stick with what they know" (hobbies are something that you are meant to get better at, even if that is a slow road- for all of my writers and artists out there, it does take time, but you will get it. To everyone else, please do speak up about things that are wrong, but don't make it all about what's wrong and please don't be rude. It's frustrating on both ends, so, if you can, please try not to escalate the situation more.)

Anyways, I'm tired of everyone holding fictional characters to American Puritanical standards, but I'm also tired of seeing every "stop Americanizing fandom" somehow loop into fanfiction and how all authors who don't make their fics as accurate as possible are actually just racist and perpetuating or enabling America's take over of the world or some shit.

Fan interpretation of published media is different than fan creation of mon monetized media. Americans dominating or monopolizing spaces meant for all fans (especially in a fandom that was never meant for them to begin with) is annoying and can be harmful sometimes. Americans writing out their own personal experience using random fictional characters (more often than not) isn't.

#just google it #better represent real life #if you tell a fic reader to ngl you're being pretty ableist and don't really have a good idea of how search engines work #also when people DO try to make culturally accurate fics often times at least one or two people will pop in and say 'actually that's wrong'#not to mention sometimes they might not even be right to begin with...#and okay once or twice it is what it is #but seriously if this keeps happening over and over most people are just going to stop writing or caring #fanfiction #fanfiction is literally free #fanfiction is free labor #adding layers upon layers of research and knowledge needed- on top of how difficult it can be to portray human emotion #it's not going to it's just going to make once starry eyed writers loss their ability to enjoy their work #and guess what #some ACTUALLY racist (or homophobic or transphobic or misogynistic) writer is going to swoop in not giving two fucks #and they're going to go on and get their work published because they don't care about accuracy

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m34gs · 3 years

Note

I saw you reblog some of my merlin posts, do you have any recs 👀

Recs you say?...Recs....hmmm, recs indeed. I have recs. For what? A whole plethora of things. So I'll give you a few of each:

(This'll be long, and potential spoilers for things so I will put the rest under a cut here!)

First up, the fanfics! This is the reason I took so long to answer...it's been a long time and I first read Merlin fics when I was new to AO3, so I didn't know how to bookmark yet. I had to hunt through my history for these:

1. Connecting the Dots by Rona23: this is a funny crack fic where the knights of Camelot speculate about Merlin and all the goings on around Camelot, and what really might be happening. It's fun, lighthearted, and full of situational irony. Makes me grin just thinking about it.

2. Lost in Forever by Camelittle: A cute sort-of fix-it fic. Takes place after the big battle in Season 5. Arthur is alive and at the castle recovering with his knights. Merlin is nowhere to be found, but a crotchety old sorcerer is giving Arthur grief as he goes on a quest to find his manservant. Very endearing, I highly enjoyed this.

3. how to knight (orphan_account): this one follows some original characters who are new knights of Camelot. They are given a secret set of instructions by the older knights, mostly pertaining to Merlin and Arthur and what to Never Do. Very cute. Only 2 chapters, but I enjoyed it very much.

Alright, let's move on! Recs for books that have some similar aspects! Let's goooo:

1. The Faithful and the Fallen series by John Gwynne, a fantasy series set in a medieval time period. This is a series about a prophecy involving the Champions of two gods fighting to determine which god would win and rule the land. The fun thing here is that there is a prophecy, but it is very open to interpretation which allows everyone to have their own motives and drives. There is a variety of characters and I really enjoyed this series. The first book is titled "Malice". There may not be dragons, but there are giants, magic, spirits, wolves, and other fun aspects!

2. The Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan. Medieval fantasy? Yup. Variety of characters? Yup. Underdog as the main character? Yes indeed. Enemies-to-friends(to potentially lovers if you wanna stray from canon)? YES. Will is an orphan, brought up with other orphans, and when he comes of age to start apprenticing for work, he is chosen to be a Ranger. One of his meanest bullies goes to train as a knight. Do they go through character development? YES! Do they end up fighting in multiple wars together? YES! Do they end up travelling to solve conflicts all around the country, sometimes with and sometimes without one another? YESSSS! Are there kick-ass women in this story, like princesses who know how to use their power to bargain and diplomats who are quick-witted enough to give even the oldest scholars a run for their money? Hell yesssss! So, while it may seem a bit geared toward younger audiences (as in young teens) I adore this series and highly recommend it. There are many books, and there are even spin-off series that take place in the same universe but follow a different set of characters! Very fun!

Let's talk about anime and manga! I do have a few that I think you would like based on the fact you enjoy Merlin.

1. Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit. I will never skip on an opportunity to share this title. It is set back in time, when a young prince must run from his uncle who wishes to kill him. A spear-wielding woman is hired to act as his bodyguard. They end up developing a very familial mother-son dynamic as they evade and run from everyone sent to kill the prince. To be honest, the parts of this I find most similar to Merlin is the found family aspect, magic being considered a thing to be feared, and the ending being rather bittersweet.

2. The Rising of the Shield Hero. This is an anime, and also a light novel series by Aneko Yusagi. Do you like isekai shows where the main character actually isn't immediately liked by the people in the other universe? And has to work his way from the bottom using every skill and ounce of self-preservation he has? Who is pretty much discriminated against by the king because of his power, even though he works time and time again to save the world he was transported to? Do you enjoy CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT?!!!! AND REALISTIC STRUGGLES????? Then this would be something I recommend. Again, there is plenty of magic, lots of fighting, and some very interesting storytelling as four heroes summoned from different worlds fight to save a world none of them realized existed until now.

3. Wise Man's Grandchild, another anime and light novel series, written by Tsuyoshi Yoshioka. This one is an isekai anime that relates to the story of King Arthur. In this story, Shin is a young boy in a medieval world where magic exists, whose soul was reincarnated there from our modern world, where he was an adult. Shin retains much of his knowledge from our world, and he applies this extensive knowledge of science to his innate magic abilities, making him very powerful. He is taught and raised by an old wizard named Merlin (the wise man who pretty much adopts him as his grandson). He goes to a school where other students are learning to master magic or the sword and gains a group of friends to learn more magic with in order to protect their king and country. Very fun, a short anime, easy to binge-watch.

4. Yona of the Dawn, an anime, and a manga series by Mizuho Kusanagi. A princess who has to flee for her life with a loyal servant, and needs to find the other human incarnations of the different-coloured dragons. Very fun and beautiful, I really liked this anime. Unfortunately, I have not read the manga (yet) but I found the anime very fun!

These are just a few of what's out there! Feel free to ask me for more, as I am always collecting new anime/manga/books/fics that I would more than love to share with others!!!! Enjoy :D

#anonymouslylovesyou #friends #mutuals #recs #recommendations #anime #books #fanfics #hope you enjoy this list #have fun #Merlin #bbc merlin

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averykedavra · 3 years

Note

Is it okay as a cis person to reblog trans/non-binary/genderqueer etc. Stuff?

Thanks for asking! Since you didn’t specify what Stuff, I gotta say it’s a pretty nuanced question? It both relies on what the post is about, and what you’re reblogging it with. You probably didn’t ask for a specific checklist, and this isn’t necessarily aimed at you, but I’d say, in general:

Positivity post? Yes! You can always reblog a positivity post for a group that you’re not part of, as long as you aren’t ignorant or hurtful in the reblog.

Awareness post? Yes! It’s important to raise awareness of struggles or issues. Reblog all you like, as long as you aren’t derailing the post.

Post aimed at trans people? Sometimes! It really depends on the post itself. If it’s a post about and for that community, you might not want to intrude. But if you can relate, or generally think it’s funny, you could reblog without doing too much harm. I’d say, when in doubt, reblog the lighter posts. Try not to reblog posts by and for a minority group that talk about personal suffering, unless it’s an awareness post.

Post that jokingly makes fun of cis people? I’d be careful. Sometimes, people in a minority group make fun of a non-minority group. It’s nothing personal, and it’s annoying when people in that non-minority group get upset, calling it things like “cisphobia.” But it can also be minimizing if a non-minority reblogs or agrees with the post, since they’re essentially saying “Not all [insert non-minority here] are like that.” Which ignores the purpose of the post. Just...maybe stay away from those posts, if you’re not part of that minority.

Post that states cis people can reblog? Yes! If they’ve said it, you can do it. Simple as that.

Post that states cis people can’t reblog? Definitely not! Respect people’s wishes! Don’t say, “I know I’m cis, but--” They have their reasons. It’s not discrimination. In general, you should never reblog a post when the OP has told you not to. That’s just bad manners.

And I know it can be hard to figure out what’s the ‘correct’ way to reblog a post. So here are a few general rules:

Do: add trigger warnings and general tags. Always do that, no matter the content of the post!

Don’t: use tags that minimize the content of the post. For example, tagging racism as #discourse minimizes the problem, and makes it sound like it’s a debate instead of a serious issue.

Do: write support of the group in the tags. “Wishing all my trans followers a good day” or “nonbinary rights always” are perfectly fine! However, I’d be warier of writing that outside of the tags, or on a post that isn’t positivity. That could derail the post. For example, writing “for my Jewish followers” in the text of a post about a Jewish recipe isn’t really necessary.

Don’t: write condemnation of oppressors in the tags. If it’s a post about t*rfs, you can write “fuck t*rfs.” If not, please leave them out of it. Responding to a positivity post by reminding people of negativity, or focusing on hurting oppressors instead of uplifting the oppressed, is just not great allyship. If a post isn’t about oppression, be positive!

Do: research the issue and ask pleasant questions. If you don’t understand the post, do some research! Don’t necessarily ask the OP about it, unless they seem open to questions--minority groups aren’t your dictionaries. Instead, find resources that explain it to you! It’s important to educate yourself.

Don’t: contribute to a discussion you’re not part of. Trans people are talking about their personal experiences? A cis person doesn’t have anything to add. That sounds mean, but it really needs to be said. Any reblog that starts with “I’m cis, but--” usually doesn’t end well. Know when something’s not aimed at you. Reblog without saying anything.

Do: ask if it’s okay to reblog. If you’re not sure, ask the OP! Usually, people are happy to have someone clarify. Shoot them an ask or write in the notes, “Is this okay for a cis person to reblog?” And respect the answer, whatever it turns out to be.

Don’t: add onto the post when you’ve been told not to. If they said no talking--in the tags or not--then don’t. Respect the OP’s wishes. In general, when you’re in doubt, tag the tws and then leave it be. If you don’t have anything productive or helpful to say, don’t say anything at all! Sometimes--and I keep saying this, I know, but it’s true--things really, really aren’t about you.

Do: delete or correct the post if you’ve done something wrong. If OP or another person corrects you, follow their instructions! Delete the reblog or correct it. Please don’t make a long apology, or take it personally, or try to argue with them. Sometimes people make mistakes. It happens. Fix it and move on.

Don’t: stop reblogging posts. I know it can seem overwhelming, looking at all this, and you might wonder if there’s really any way to reblog things respectfully. One, if you’re worried about it, you’re on the right track. And two, personally, I’d rather you mess up while reblogging than not reblog at all.

Please reblog. Reblog what, and when, you can. It’s important not to stay silent, or to leave people feeling like you don’t care about them. You don’t need to reblog every post you see, but think about how you’re using your platform. What kind of space have you created on your blog? Is it a safe one? Or is it suspiciously absent of support for minorities, silent on important information about representation, quiet when fandom issues are going around?

And, for what it’s worth, good intentions matter. They aren’t everything. You can still harm people unintentionally, and people might not want to talk to you. But they do count for something. It counts if you’re respectful, willing to learn, and ask questions like this! If you’re focused on how to help others, it puts you in a far better position to improve.

TL:DR? Raise awareness, spread positivity, and know when to step back and listen. Don’t panic, but take a few seconds to look over your words before you reblog. And get ready to learn a whole hell of a lot, because you can never be perfect, but you can always work to be better.

This post applies to a lot of things, not just cis people reblogging posts about trans people, and you can see that I used several examples. If anything in this post is harmful, incorrect, or ignorant, please let me know.

And this post is okay for everyone to reblog!

#long post #tw longpost #tumblr etiquette #asks and answers #anon #avery's argot

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swiftiephobe · 4 years

Text

thoughts on edit discourse, aka “you all realise this is meant to be fun?”

okay so buckle up swifties because i have some THOUGHTS about the whole edit discourse, the idea of needing to support editors by reblogging their posts and where i think some of you are a bit... misguided in how you approach sharing content on tumblr.com. this is a long post (i have put it under a cut because it is that long) because i am incapable of saying things concisely and i cannot think of another way to get my points across without having them misrepresented. i know a lot of people might ignore this because it’s a long ass essay, and that is valid <3 i just wanna get these thoughts out there. i do appreciate anyone who chooses to read this and try and understand my point of view. i love editors and the content they create. i do not love the idea that people have to run their blogs and engage with content on this website in a very specific way in order to be acceptable to the community.

also this isn’t directed at any one person in particular. the attitudes i am talking about are pervasive in a large portion of the fandom, and i’ve seen them building for quite a while now. i’m happy to have a respectful discussion about many of the points i’ve made here, as i know a lot of you will disagree with them. the purpose of this post isn’t to “attack” people, it’s to provide a different perspective.

i wanna preface this by talking about when i first started posting edits. i don’t do it a lot now mostly because i’m busy and don’t often feel like it but back in 2017/2018 i really got into editing. i remember when i first taught myself how to make gifs in photoshop, and i made my first gifset, and i was so excited to post it because i was so proud of myself for having created something. so i posted it, and then i kept making and posting gifsets. most of them didn’t get many notes, and frankly a lot of them were not very good because i was still learning, but i still posted them because it was nice to have created something.

one day i posted a gifset and tagged it with some appropriate tags, including tagging some big source blogs. well, one of those big source blogs actually reblogged my gifset! and i was so excited by that. i even went and sent that blog an ask profusely thanking them for reblogging my edit. it’s a bit embarrassing to think about having done that now, but the point is i was so excited to have a blog that i considered “important” reblog my stuff, and of course that led to more notes on the gifset which made me happy. that gifset ended up getting about 150 notes, which still isn’t a lot but it made me happy at the time.

why am i telling this story, you might ask? because i want to put it out there that I GET IT. getting that reblog on that gifset made me, a baby editor, very very happy. ecstatic, even. the fact that i can still remember it now shows how much it meant to me. i was already proud of myself for having created something that i thought was good, but getting that extra bit of external validation to tell me that what i had created was actually good felt special. so i understand why editors want people to reblog their work. it makes us feel good to see that others are enjoying what we’ve made enough to want to share it with others.

so i kept making edits, some of them got a lot of notes while others really didn’t. i continued to learn new things about editing, i played around in photoshop and got excited every time i realised a new thing i could do with one of the tools. some of the edits i made were a lot of work, and i was very proud of them, and i still am very proud of them. a lot of those edits that hold a special place in my heart did not get many notes. one edit that i made (which was a url graphic for another person) took hours and a lot of hard work trying to figure out how to make my idea happen, and i think now it has less than ten notes.

sometimes i look back through my edit tag and i see edits like that one, that i loved making and thought turned out very well, but have relatively very few notes. and honestly? when i look at them, i don’t feel sad about the number of notes they have. sure, i think “well, it would’ve been nice if more people had seen this”, but for the most part i still feel damn proud of myself for having made it. i feel happy looking at them because they remind me of when i was making them and how much i enjoyed the process.

at the end of the day, editing isn’t something i do as a job, for the sake of meeting a quota or reaching a benchmark of external achievement. it’s a hobby, something i do because i enjoy the process of creating something. i post my edits here so that they can be hosted publicly on my blog, and yes while getting notes is very very nice, it’s not my primary motivation. this year i’ve mostly been making edits for albums that i have enjoyed, some of which have practically no audience on tumblr and so don’t get many notes. and that’s fine. i don’t make them for other people.

which i suppose brings me to a point that i feel like will upset some people, but... the way some of you talk about editing, sometimes it seems like you don’t even enjoy it? i know that’s ridiculous because you all do, and many of you are crazy talented, but when i read people posting about how getting less than 100 notes on an edit makes them want to give up and never post an edit ever again, i frankly have to wonder if you even enjoyed making the edit in the first place, and if not, why did you do it? it just seems like a lot of you have a warped idea that the end goal of making an edit is notes, when in my opinion it really should be for fun. we’re in the taylor swift tumblr fandom. this is meant to be fun, remember? it’s okay to be upset when something you thought was great doesn’t receive as enthusiastic a reception as you were hoping for, but it happens to everyone and it doesn’t mean you, or others, are doing something wrong. if you enjoyed creating something, and you are proud of it, that’s what really matters in the end.

something else i’ve noticed is the extreme policing of how people interact with edits, mostly the notion that you HAVE to reblog edits and anything else is offensive and unacceptable. and sorry, but no. everyone runs their blogs in a different way. some people use their likes as bookmarks for things they want to reblog or queue for later. some people have a specific aesthetic they want to keep for their blog so don’t reblog every single thing, but they still want to acknowledge that they saw your edit and liked it. people have a million reasons why they don’t want to reblog something, and since it is their blog and their space, all of them are valid.

when you post something to a public social media website, you have to accept that people are going to interact with it in the way that suits them most (this is of course excluding hate or stealing, those are not acceptable). if you are seeing a like on your edit and somehow extrapolating it into some “this isn’t good enough” statement, you are reading way too much into it. if people are liking your edit, it’s because they like your edit. is it nice when people reblog your stuff? yes. but people aren’t obligated to do so.

this also applies to the idea of keeping comments in the tags. i agree that commenting in the tags on edits is proper etiquette, and it’s something i always do. but the absolutely vitriol i have seen directed towards people who comment on their reblogs is not okay. i’ve seen people talk about blocking people who comment on their edits. it’s not nice. if you see someone say “i love this!” about your edit and your first thought isn’t “that’s so nice!” but instead “this person said this in the wrong place so i hate it”, please get your priorities straight.

i think most of the discussion surrounding edits starts off in a good place. it’s good to remind people that reblogging edits is the best way to support them, and that it will make people happy. i think that message has been made clear time and time again, but now it’s turning into something more aggressive. you all say that the fandom is “dying” because people don’t interact with edits (as a side note, edits aren’t the only valid form of content in the fandom. funny text posts, theories, discussions and ask games all contribute to the feeling of the fandom being alive just as much as edits do), but all that these rules you’re trying to implement do is scare people away. people will become more and more afraid to interact with anything, for fear of not interacting enough, not interacting in the right way, or not interacting with the right people. and that, ultimately, will do a lot more harm to the fandom than people liking your edits.

#some of y'all bout to be real mad at me but it must be said <3 #i am TERRIFIED of posting this omfg #please don't yell at me i am sensitive

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