#esp in fic like I feel like I can’t read one fic without every character being so condescending and rude to wwx and calling him stupid | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wishful-soda · 2 years

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OKAY GIRL I REEMPHASISE: THE CHAPTER WAS PERFECT

Obviously don’t answer this too soon re: spoilers

my overall thought is that it PERFECTLY showed the progression in how they feel/think about each other without being too explicit like you just subtly showed it in actions/words and that’s what made it SO chefs kiss my GOD

my quick summary is to share the 3 moments where i went from smiling so wide while reading to jaw dropped on the floor:

1. you’re harder to hate than you think you are- DID HE RLY JUST ADMIT THAT TO HER imo that’s one step from him admitting to himself he loves her like my GOD

2. CHRISTIAN HORNER. TEAM PRINCIPAL. Ma’am i CACKLED i cannot BELIEVE u did this it’s the best thing to ever happen to me i SWEAR

3. Alright there’s a new purpose now…. THEY WAY HE JUST CHANGED THE TONE SUCCESSFULLY AND MADE IT SIGNIFICANT I DIED. how did you successfully craft this transition it was too perfect

THOSE ARE MY ABSOLUTE FAVE MOMENTS

Other thoughts are:

THE FACT CHARLES WAS LIKE OH I KNOW WHO WILL MAKE HER FEEL BETTER like. 6 months ago people would have made them avoid each other to not get more pissed off but NOW they’re so damn OBVIOUS (i mean charles knows they’re fucking but to know they will bring each other a better MOOD is just SO MUCH SKSKSKS)

I know we saw the ~more obsessed with her than i am~ line in the WIP game but it still hit. SO. hard.

i laughed out loud at “that they’re a shit couple and no one thinks they’re good together” and max’s response was so max like i could HEAR it in his voice

i also snorted at daniel “it’s pretty big” at the hickey…. cocky son of a bitch… actually just that whole scene is cocky son of a bitch… and i LOVED IT esp w the whole backwards hat image going on

daniel is literally INCAPABLE of paying attention to anything but charles hands and movements like this is a NEW level of jealousy…. i wish him good luck in the coming chapters sksksks. But it hurts my physically the way he just loses all anger when she smiles at him like JESUS he is in so deep he’s gotta admit that to himself (more on this later but he pretty much has admitted it he just hasn’t SAID it to himself he is SO close to figuring it out and i for one can’t wait)

AND MAX FINALLY USED HIS EYES AND FINALLY REALISED DANIEL IS ATTRACTED TO HER!!! good on ya max :)

trying not to over comment here but i love every bit of it jsyk why i can’t stop

ok we carry on:

“you don’t need to remind me that you hate me” :(((((((((((( i cry

the WAY they’re just. chatting in the alleyway just HOLDING each other. and they’re gonna tell me they’re not in love? IDIOTS I HATE THEM I LOVE THEM

THEY TRUST EACH OTHER. that’s a HUGE deal maam i love that u included that 😭😭😭😭😭

using the blow job idea for a reassurance thing…… absolute GENIUS my GOD it was perfection

“angry rough and manly revenge fyck” IS THE FUNNIEST LINE EVER daniel laughing and giving up is so in character i love them.

THE INTERLACING FINGERS MOTIF STRIKES AGAIN AND IT HITS EVERY TIME

and lastly he ADMITTED he is trying to get her to like him…. which is admitting basically that he already likes her (not just doesn’t hate her) ITS RLY HAPPENING HERE!!! and i DIED my heart was POUNDING at this moment

ANYWAYS, final thoughts:

the way she was using their enemy start as a barrier and now he took down the first layer (their meeting) there are LESS REASONS TO NOT BE IN LOVE NOW!!!! you are perfectly stripping down the layers of the walls between them until it will be undeniable for them and that’s why you’re the best fic author on this site! i said what i said!

 thanks for another AMAZING chapter i cannot WAIT for more!!!!! you are BEYOND appreciated i hope you know that 🥹😭🤘🏼

GIRL.

Okay listen; I fucked around with the moment where he pivots the purpose of the moment for SO LONG and I literally was so anxious about it, like I felt it was too...idk meh. So when you tell me that I pulled it off? STOP I'LL CRY 😭

Also I love that you mentioned Max's response to Daniel's "They're a shit couple" comment because I stg I HEARD Max's voice in my head as I wrote that, like his laugh and the way he says 'mate', it was literally just an audio in my brain so so I'm so glad that it came across the way I was hearing it.

AND YES. Max finally opened his damn eyes. I feel like Daniel doesn't even realize how obvious he's being now, he thinks he's still playing it lowkey and that he's got everyone fooled and in reality the only person he's got fooled is himself 😏

Listen I've come to grips that girly pop just expresses lots of her emotions with blowjobs ok? She's all about that 🙇‍♀️

ALSO; when he breaks and starts laughing and gives up, omg I felt like it was so Daniel so I love that you caught that too!

Y'all are gonna get tired and fed up with the hold holding I swear because I'm obsessed with it.

"the way she was using their enemy start as a barrier and now he took down the first layer (their meeting) there are LESS REASONS TO NOT BE IN LOVE NOW!!!!" BESTIE YOU'VE GOT IT NAILED. Homegirl knows that as soon as there's no more reasons to hate him she's going to fall HARD and she's flipping the fuck out.

THANK YOU SO MUCH BBY!!! I seriously look forward to your thoughts and comments every time I post and get super stoked when I see you in my notifications. I LOVE YOU AND APPRECIATE YOU MORE THAN YOU KNOW 😭😘😘🥰🥰

#sotd spoilers #speak of the devil spoilers

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neo-shitty · 2 years

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i would do exactly the same, seungmin got bolder in each era now 😭 i can't refrain myself to go around being crazy on how he looked on that outfit and his expressions is so 🔥🔥

once you get close with han i'm sure you had to deal with everything he has in mind 😌

i will if i do have some time (if my uni gives me a break) i saw a few cuts but i don't remember any of them, i have a bad memory though 🥺 i haven't read the webtoon you've showed me though but that character gives me yoshi vibes in jikjin! man that kid deserves a lot of love and i'll wait for you to write something about it 💕

yeah! it's like representing a young love which a couple would spend their date on an amusement park or somewhere fun and take polaroid pictures later, jeez, that kind of feeling though 😭 ahh yes definitely agree with it, wonpil and seungmin can pass as brothers, then there's jake too and then sunghoon and minho really do sound like each other as well 👀 just that they have different personalities.

have you seen the teasers? man everyone looks so good! i can't wait to listen to their new album, it's been a quite while since "i know i love you" though. ahh yes! i started stanning day6 around 2016 i've listened to every song too just like how seungmin does, and yes! they're the most successful mydays and aghases 😭 you should check them out sometime 😇

i felt comfortable talking with you about it 🥺 yeah i do, especially when it's like e.g. 4.4 (april 4) sale, they give discounts, i don't know if it's applicable to the other countries but sellers on twitter and shopee would do that so i can buy them cheap, they're actually legit though

same here though, i have a lot of school works to do 😭

— ☁️

HELP???? OH MY GOD. i’m so sorry, i thought i posted this but it got saved to my drafts instead :(( sorry for the long wait!! on the topic of seungsung, i saw this on twt the other day. also, i’m sorry if my response here is pretty bad and incoherent. i don’t really know what to say nor how to communicate T_T

lately, i’ve been seeing a lot of the concert clips of skz and AAAAA i love seeing them literally glow on stage. i really want to see them live someday :((

i actually haven’t read that webtoon i just happened to see that character a lot on tiktok i think. also, i haven’t read the lyrics of polaroid love, i just assume what the song means through the vibe. on the topic of polaroids, they’re still mad expensive to me. but i do admit, they’re cute to look at.

i haven’t had the time to see the teasers. i have been sooooo busy with school. i’ll check it out maybe later. i don’t even know if it already released. i loved the recent comeback songs so much without me knowing?? bc i can’t say i didn’t love them when i wrote fics inspired fr them.

oh!!! i thought they were discounts for the photocards themselves instead of just the checkout. i think my friend uses them a lot. i’ll keep it in mind to make my purchases on dates like that. ON THE TOPIC OF PHOTOCARDS, MY BESTFRIEND GAVE ME SEUNGCHAN PCS T___T nearly cried my eyes out over these, esp the seung pc literally one of the cutest ones i’ve ever seen.

i finished uni yesterday AAAA good luck with yours tho!!

#toff.asks #☁️

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army-of-mai-lovers · 3 years

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in which I get progressively angrier at the various tropes of atla fandom misogyny

tbh I think it would serve all of us to have a larger conversation about the specific ways misogyny manifests in this fandom, because I’ve seen a lot of people who characterize themselves as feminists, many of whom are women themselves, discuss the female characters of atla/lok in misogynistic ways, and people don’t talk about it enough.

disclaimer before I start: I’m not a woman, I’m an afab nonbinary person who is semi-closeted and thus often read as a woman. I’m speaking to things that I’ve seen that have made me uncomfy, but if any women (esp women existing along other axes of oppression, e.g. trans women, women of color, disabled women, etc) want to add onto this post, please do!

“This female character is a total badass but I’m not even a little bit interested in exploring her as a human being.”

I’ve seen a lot of people say of various female characters in atla/lok, “I love her! She’s such a badass!” now, this statement on its own isn’t misogynistic, but it represents a pretty pervasive form of misogyny that I’ve seen leveled in large part toward the canon female love interests of one or both of the members of a popular gay ship (*cough* zukka *cough*) I’m going to use Suki as an example of this because I see it with her most often, but it can honestly be applied to nearly every female character in atla/lok. Basically, people will say that they stan Suki, but when it comes time to engage with her as an actual character, they refuse to do it. I’ve seen meta after meta about Zuko’s redemption arc, but I so rarely see people engage with Suki on any level beyond “look at this cool fight scene!” and yeah, I love a cool Suki fight scene as much as anybody else, but I’m also interested in meta and headcanons and fics about who she is as a person, when she isn’t an accessory to Sokka’s development or doing something cool. of course, the material for this kind of engagement with Suki is scant considering she doesn’t have a canon backstory (yet) (don’t let me down Faith Erin Hicks counting on you girl) but with the way I’ve seen people in this fandom expand upon canon to flesh out male characters, I know y’all have it in you to do more with Suki, and with all the female characters, than you currently do. frankly, the most engagement I’ve seen with Suki in mainstream fandom is justifying either zukki (which again, is characterizing her in relation to male characters, one of whom she barely interacts with in canon) or one of the Suki wlw pairings. which brings me to--

“I conveniently ship this female character whose canon love interest is one of the members of my favorite non-canon ship with another female character! gay rights!”

now, I will admit, two of my favorite atla ships are yueki and mailee, and so I totally understand being interested in these characters’ dynamics, even if, as is the case with yueki, they’ve never interacted canonically. however, it becomes a problem for me when these ships are always in the background of a zukka fic. at some point, it becomes obvious that you like this ship because it gets either Zuko or Sokka’s female love interests out of the way, not because you actually think the characters would mesh well together. It’s bad form to dislike a female character because she gets in the way of your gay ship, so instead, you find another girl to pair her off with and call it a day. to be clear, I’m not saying that everybody who ships either mailee or yueki (or tysuki or maisuki or yumai or whatever other wlw rarepair involving Zuko or Sokka’s canon love interests) is nefariously trying to sideline a female character while acting publicly as if she’s is one of their faves--far from it--but it is noteworthy to me how difficult it is to find content that centers wlw ships, while it’s incredibly easy to find content that centers zukka in which mailee and/or yueki plays a background role.

also, notice how little traction wlw Katara ships gain in this fandom. when’s the last time you saw yuetara on your dash? there’s no reason for wlw Katara ships to gain traction in a fandom that is so focused on Zuko and Sokka getting together, bc she doesn’t present an immediate obstacle to that goal (at least, not an obstacle that can be overcome by pairing her up with a woman). if you are primarily interested in Zuko and Sokka’s relationship, and your queer readings of other female characters are motivated by a desire to get them out of the way for zukka, then Katara’s canon m/f relationship isn’t a threat to you, and thus, there’s no reason to read her as potentially queer. Or even, really, to think about her at all.

“Katara’s here but she’s not actually going to do anything, because deep down, I’m not interested in her as a person.”

the show has an enormous amount of textual evidence to support the claim that Sokka and Katara are integral parts of each other’s lives. so, she typically makes some kind of appearance in zukka content. sometimes, her presence in the story is as an actual character with layers and nuance, someone whom Sokka cares about and who cares about Sokka in return, but also has her own life and goals outside of her brother (or other male characters, for that matter.) sometimes, however, she’s just there because halfway through writing the author remembered that Sokka actually has a sister who’s a huge part of the show they’re writing fanfiction for, and then they proceed to show her having a meetcute with Aang or helping Sokka through an emotional problem, without expressing wants or desires outside of those characters. I’m honestly really surprised that I haven’t seen more people calling out the fact that so much of Katara’s personality in fanon revolves around her connections to men? she’s Aang’s girlfriend, she’s Sokka’s sister, she’s Zuko’s bestie. never mind that in canon she spends an enormous amount of time fighting against (anachronistic, Westernized) sexism to establish herself as a person in her own right, outside of these connections. and that in canon she has such interesting complex relationships with other female characters (e.g. Toph, Kanna, Hama, Korra if you want to write lok content) or that there are a plethora of characters with whom she could have interesting relationships with in fanon (Mai, Suki, Ty Lee, Yue, Smellerbee, and if you want to write lok content, Kya II, Lin, Asami, Senna, etc). to me, the lack of fandom material exploring Katara’s relationships with other women or with herself speak to a profound indifference to Katara as a character. I’m not saying you have to like Katara or include her in everything you write, but I am asking you to consider why you don’t find her interesting outside of her relationships with men.

“I hate Katara because she talks about her mother dying too often.”

this is something I’ve seen addressed by people far more qualified than I to address it, but I want to mention it here in part because when I asked people which fandom tropes they wanted me to talk about, this came up often, but also because I find it really disgusting that this is a thing that needs to be addressed at all. Y’all see a little girl who watched her mother be killed by the forces of an imperialist nation and say that she talks about it too much??? That is a formational, foundational event in a child’s life. Of course she’s going to talk about it. I’ve seen people say that she doesn’t talk about it that often, or that she only talks about it to connect with other victims of fn imperialism e.g. Jet and Haru, but frankly, she could speak about it every episode for no plot-significant reason whatsoever and I would still be angry to see people say she talks about it too much. And before you even bring up the Sokka comparison, people deal with grief in different ways. Sokka repressed a lot of his grief/channeled it into being the “man” of his village because he knew that they would come for Katara next if he gave them the opportunity. he probably would talk about his mother more if a) he didn’t feel massive guilt at not being able to remember what she looked like, and b) he was allowed to be a child processing the loss of his mother instead of having to become a tiny adult when Hakoda had to leave to help fight the fn. And this gets into an intersection with fandom racism, in that white fans (esp white American fans) are incapable of relating to the structural trauma that both Sokka and Katara experience and thus can’t see the ways in which structural trauma colors every single aspect of both of their characters, leading them to flatten nuance and to have some really bad takes. And you know what, speaking of bad fandom takes--

“Shitting on Mai because she gets in the way of my favorite Zuko ship is actually totally okay because she’s ~abusive~”

y’all WHAT.

ok listen, I get not liking maiko. I didn’t like it when I first got into fandom, and later I realized that while bryke cannot write romance to save their lives, fans who like maiko sure can, so I changed my tune. but if you still don’t like it, that’s fine. no skin off my back.

what IS skin off my back is taking instances in which Mai had justified anger toward Zuko, and turning it into “Mai abused Zuko.” do you not realize how ridiculous you sound? this is another thing where I get so angry about it that I don’t know how useful my analysis is actually going to be, but I’ll do my best. numerous people have noted how analysis of Mai and Zuko’s breakup in “The Beach” or Mai being justifiably angry with him at Boiling Rock or her asking for FUCKING FRUIT in “Nightmares and Daydreams” that says that all of these events were her trying to gain control over him is....ahhh...lacking in reading comprehension, but I’d like to go a step further and talk about why y’all are so intent on taking down a girl who doesn’t show emotion in normative ways. obviously, there’s a “Zuko can do no wrong” aspect to Mai criticism (which is super weird considering how his whole arc is about how he can do lots of wrong and he has to atone for the wrong that he’s done--but that’s a separate post.) But I also see slandering Mai for not expressing her emotions normatively and not putting up with Zuko’s shit and slandering Katara for “talking about her mother too often” as two sides of the same coin. In both cases, a female character expresses emotions that make you, the viewer, uncomfortable, and so instead of attempting to understand where those emotions may have come from and why they might be manifesting the way they are, y’all just throw the whole character away. this is another instance of people in the fandom being fundamentally disinterested in engaging with the female characters of atla in a real way, except instead of shallowly “stanning” Mai, y’all hate her. so we get to this point where female characters are flattened into one of two things: perfect queens who can do no wrong, or bitches. and that’s not who they are. that’s not who anyone is. but while we as a fandom are pretty good at understanding b1 Zuko’s actions as layered and multifaceted even though he’s essentially an asshole then, few are willing to lend the same grace to any female character, least of all Mai.

and what’s funny is sometimes this trope will intersect with “I conveniently ship this female character whose canon love interest is one of the members of my favorite non-canon ship with another female character! gay rights!”, so you’ll have someone actively calling Mai toxic/problematic/abusive, and at the same time ship her with Ty Lee? make it make sense! but then again, maybe that’s happening because y’all are fundamentally disinterested in Ty Lee as a character too.

“I love Ty Lee so much that I’m going to treat her like an infantilized hypersexual airhead!”

there are so many things happening in y’alls characterization of Ty Lee that I struggled to synthesize it into one quippy section header. on one hand, you have the hypersexualization, and on the other hand, you have the infantilization, which just makes the hypersexualization that much worse.

(of course, sexualizing or hypersexualizing ANY atla character is really not the move, considering that these are child characters in a children’s show, but then again, that’s a separate post.)

now, I understand how, from a very, very surface reading of the text, you could come to the conclusion that Ty Lee is an uncomplicated bimbo. if you grew up on Western media the way I did, you’ll know that Ty Lee has a lot of the character traits we associate with bimbos: the form-fitting pink crop top, the general conventional attractiveness, the ditzy dialogue. but if you think about it for more than three seconds, you’ll understand that Ty Lee has spent her whole life walking a tightrope, trying to please Azula and the rest of the royal family while also staying true to herself. Ty Lee and Azula’s relationship is a really complex and interesting topic that I don’t really have time to explore at the moment given how long this post is, but I’d argue that Ty Lee’s constant, vocal adulation is at least partially a product of learning to survive at court at an early age. Like Mai, she has been forced to regulate her emotions as a member of fn nobility, but unlike Mai, she also has six sisters who look exactly like her, so she has a motivation to be more peppy and more affectionate to stand out.

fandom does not do the work to understand Ty Lee. as is a theme with this post, fandom is actively disinterested in investigating female characters beyond a very surface level reading of them. Thus, fandom takes Ty Lee’s surface level qualities--her love of the color pink, her revealing standard outfit, and the fact that once she found a boy attractive and also once a lot of boys found her attractive--and they stretch this into “Ty Lee is basically Karen Smith from Mean Girls.” thus, Ty Lee is painted as a bimbo, or more specifically, as not smart, uncritically adoring of Azula (did y’all forget all the non-zukka bits of Boiling Rock?), and attractive to the point of hypersexualization. I saw somebody make a post that was like “I wish mailee was more popular but I’m also glad it isn’t because otherwise people would write it as Mai having to put up with her dumb gf” and honestly I have to agree!! this is one instance in which I’m glad that fandom doesn’t discuss one of my favorite characters that often because I hate the fanon interpretation of Ty Lee, I think it’s rooted in misogyny (particularly misogyny against East Asian women, which often takes the form of fetishizing them and viewing them only through a Western white male gaze)

(side note: here at army-of-mai-lovers, we stan bimbos. bimbos are fucking awesome. I personally don’t read Ty Lee as a bimbo, but if that’s you, that’s fucking awesome. keep doing what you’re doing, queen <3 or king or monarch, it’s 2021, anyone can be a bimbo, bitches <3)

“Toph can and will destroy everyone here with her bare hands because she’s a meathead who likes to murder people and that’s it!”

Toph is, and always has been, one of my favorite ATLA characters. My very first fic in fandom was about her, and she appears prominently in a lot of my other work as well. One thing that I am always struck by with Toph is how big a heart she has. She’s independent, yes, snarky, yes, but she cares about people--even the family that forced her to make herself smaller because they didn’t believe that their blind daughter could be powerful and strong. Her storyline is powerful and emotionally resonant, her bending is cool precisely because it’s based in a “wait and listen” approach instead of just smashing things indiscriminately, she’s great disabled rep, and overall one of the best characters in the show.

And in fandom, she gets flattened into “snarky murder child.”

So where does this come from? Well, as we all know, Toph was originally conceived of as a male character, and retained a lot of androgyny (or as the kids call it, Gender) when she was rewritten as a female character. There are a lot of cultural ideas about androgynous/butch women being violent, and people in fandom seem to connect that larger cultural narrative with some of Toph’s more violent moments in the show to create the meathead murder child trope, erasing her canon emotionality, softness, heart, and femininity in the process.

This is not to say that you shouldn’t write or characterize Toph as being violent or snarky at all ever, because yeah, Toph definitely did do Earth Rumbles a lot before joining the gaang, and yeah, Toph is definitely a sarcastic person who makes fun of her friends a lot. What I am saying is that people take these traits, sans the emotional logic, marry them to their conception of androgynous/butch women as violent/unemotional/uncaring, and thus create a caricature of Toph that is not at all up to snuff. When I see Toph as a side character in a fic (because yeah, Toph never gets to be a main character, because why would a fandom obsessed with one male character in particular ever make Toph a protagonist in her own right?) she’s making fun of people, killing people, pranking people, etc, etc. She’s never talking to people about her emotions, or palling around with her found family, or showing that she cares about her friends. Everything about her relationship with her parents, her disability, her relationship to Gender, and her love of her friends is shoved aside to focus on a version of Toph that is mean and uncaring because people have gotten it into their heads that androgynous/butch women are mean and uncaring.

again, we see a female character who does not emote normatively or in a way that makes you, the viewer, comfortable, and so you warp her character until she’s completely unrecognizable and flat. and for what?

Azula

no, I didn’t come up with a snappy name for this section, mainly because fanon interpretations of Azula and my own feelings toward the character are...complicated. I know there were some people who wanted me to write about Azula and the intersection of misogyny and ableism in fanon interpretations of her character, but I don’t think I can deliver on that because I personally am in a period of transition with how I see Azula. that is to say, while I still like her and believe that she can be redeemed, there is a lot of merit to disliking her. the whole point of this post is that the female characters of ATLA are complex people whom the fandom flattens into stereotypes that don’t hold up to scrutiny, or dislike for reasons that don’t make sense. Azula, however, is a different case. the rise of Azula defenders and Azula stans has led to this sentiment that Azula is a 14 y/o abuse victim who shouldn’t be held accountable for her actions. it seems to me that people are reacting to a long, horrible legacy of male ATLA fans armchair diagnosing Azula with various personality disorders (and suggesting that people with those personality disorders are inherently monstrous and unlovable which ahhhh....yikes) and then saying that those personality disorders make her unlovable, which is quite obviously bad. and hey, I get loving a character that everyone else hates and maybe getting so swept up in that love that you forget that your fave is complicated and has made some unsavory choices. it sucks that fanon takes these well-written, complex villains/antiheroes and turns them into monsters with no critical thought whatsoever. but the attitude among Azula stans that her redemption shouldn’t be hard, that her being a child excuses all of the bad things that she’s done, that she is owed redemption....all of that rubs me the wrong way. I might make another post about this in the future that discusses this in more depth, but as it stands now: while I understand that there is a legacy of misogynistic, ableist, unnuanced takes on Azula, the backlash to that does not take into account the people she hurt or the fact that in ATLA she does not make the choice to pursue redemption. and yes, Zuko had help in making that choice that Azula didn’t, and yes, Azula is a victim of abuse, but in a show about children who have gone through untold horrors and still work to better the lives of the people around them, that is not enough for me to uncritically stan her.

Conclusion

misogyny in this fandom runs rampant. while there are some tropes of fandom misogyny that are well-documented and have been debunked numerous times, there are other, subtler forms of misogyny that as far as I know have gone completely unchecked.

what I find so interesting about misogyny in atla fandom is that it’s clear that it’s perpetrated by people who are aware of fandom misogyny who are actively trying not to be misogynistic. when I first joined atla fandom last summer, memes about how zukka fandom was better than every other fandom because they didn’t hate the female characters who got in the way of their gay ship were extremely prevalent, and there was this sense that *this* fandom was going to model respectful, fun, feminist online fandom. not all of the topes I’ve outlined are exclusive to or even largely utilized in zukka fandom, but a lot of them are. I’ve been in and out of fandom since I was eleven years old, and most of the fandom spaces I’ve been in have been majority-female, and all of them have been incredibly misogynistic. and I always want to know why. why, in these communities created in large part by women, in large part for women, does misogyny run wild? what I realize now is that there’s never going to be a one-size fits all answer to that question. what’s true for 1D fandom on Wattpad in 2012 is absolutely not true for atla fandom on tumblr in 2021. the answers that I’ve cobbled together for previous fandoms don’t work here.

so, why is atla fandom like this? why did the dream of a feminist fandom almost entirely focused on the romantic relationship between two male characters fall apart? honestly, I think the notion that zukka fandom ever was this way was horrifically ignorant to begin with. from my very first moment in the fandom, I was seeing racism, widespread sexualization of minors, and yes, misogyny. these aspects of the fandom weren’t talked about as much as the crocverse or other, much more fun aspects. further, atla (specifically zukka) fandom misogyny often doesn’t look like the fandom misogyny we’ve become familiar with from like, Sherlock fandom or what have you. for the most part, people don’t actively hate Suki, they just “stan” without actually caring about her. they hate Mai because they believe in treating male victims of abuse equally. they’re not characterizing Toph poorly, they’re writing her as a “strong woman.” in short, people are misogynistic, and then invoke a shallow, incomplete interpretation of feminist theory to shield themselves from accusations of misogyny. it’s not unlike the way some people will invoke a shallow, incomplete interpretation of critical race theory to shield themselves from accusations of racism, or how they’ll talk about “freedom of speech” and “the suppression of women’s sexuality” to justify sexualizing minors. the performance of feminism and antiracism is what’s important, not the actual practice.

if you’ve made it this far, first off, hi, thanks so much for reading, I know this was a lot. second, I would seriously encourage you to be aware of these fandom tropes and to call them out when you see them. elevate the voices of fans who do the work of bringing the female characters of atla to life. invest in the wlw ships in this fandom. drop a kudos and a comment on a rangshi fic (please, drop a kudos and a comment on a rangshi fic). read some yuetara. let’s all be honest about where we are now, and try to do better in the future. I believe in us.

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ranboo5 · 3 years

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whats 'the clip' and knifetrick?

Augh. Under the cut for shipping discourse and p/dophilia ment (nothing graphic or specific). Gets long bc I discuss my thoughts on DSMP shipping in general. You are setting me up fr anon

Some quick vocab -

intimacy here is used to refer to. Well. Any kind of intimacy between characters, of any sort, as an umbrella term /r, /p, and /qp here are used as shorteners to denote "romantic," "platonic," and "queerplatonic," both as adjectives And as verbs ("to /r" = "to portray romantically") shipping here is used to refer to any focused examination of intimacy between characters

And some clarity that Should follow from the essay next but may not - """anti-antis"""" and RPF writers delete forever

The Clip is from one of if not the? most recent Discord stage(s) Mr Live has done (which I missed when it was live RIP) wherein he issues a hard ban on shipping him ("do not ship me, in any way, with anyone!") which would less influence c!beeduo (which has been portrayed/stated to be romantic AND nonromantic both conflictingly for a while until being confirmed unconfirmed several months ago, that being the last was heard) without its direct invocation if he hadn't also cited for the reason as being underage ("'Cause, one, it's straight up pedophilia") which is! a) immediately applicable to At Least his DSMP character, Partially and b) while not Strictly True (should b obvious that portraying a relationship within the bounds of what it is in canon and in a nonsexual way is not That, and /r-ing c!beeduo etc was possible to do Appropriately again by remaining w/in the bounds of canon) is Clearly Indicative of the fact that baggage-wise it IS associated with people being fucking creeps

This Really complicates things bc like okay the apparent solution is "lol just don't /r it" but it's really like. A Worse issue than that bc like.

Okay the reason shipping in terms of fictional characters is a Different Bar is bc it's an examination of Intimacy and certain lines exist in certain dynamics of intimacy that Isn't Shown (which is the whole Within The Bounds Of Canon thing) which is important in a medium like DSMP because of the smaller gap + more personal relationship b/w character and streamer. Examining intimacy beyond th bounds of the consent that has been established in that regard is Weird at best and Violating And Creepy more often and, As Mentioned In Ranb's Stage, Literally Evil at worst

Which is why writing abt like. QPR or platonically intimate Techno and Philza (characters) is smth that is fine because that's smth that has been shown and repeatedly stated onscreen; it's in the bounds of canon n thus within th bounds of what the streamers've consented 2 be done with their characters. But writing T3chza making out or whatever is fucked up because it's smth that's beyond those consent barriers

And the thing is right

Slapping a /p on T3chza makeout doesn't. Make it less violating

Like what you CALL romantic is not the measure or whether it's past those barriers yk? And if it's indistinguishable, if it's in extrapolative territory that is Past The Bounds, it Does Not Matter how much you /p it EVEN IF IT IS TECHNICALLY PLATONIC y feel? Like at the end of the day placing a moratorium on some/all forms of shipping is placing a moratorium on certain examinings of intimacy

And okay 2 go back to Mr Live and his character. What it implies taken in context w/ older portrayals of c!beeduo and said by invoking smth that both evokes Really fucked up baggage (that does unfortunately exist btw I'm sorry if you didn't know that but People Really Do B Fucked Up Abt Beeduo) AND applies to his character is a revocation of consent to examining deep intimacies:tm: with his character, which is gonna apply regardless of the nature of that intimacy (even if nonromantic)

Like I don't /r c!beeduo myself, do not, never have, but I talk to people who have and have consumed content where they r background /r; I also don't think it matters. Like I don't Actively /r it and I don't Actively Not /r it because imho w/ the intimacy regarding c!beeduo that is plot relevant and character important whether that intimacy is /p /qp or /r doesn't really matter. I don't consider myself Less of a c!beeduo shipper than someone who /rs them because that would be dumb as hell and while none of the content I've made* is Intrinsically or Intentionally /r it certainly can be read tht way as much as it can be read /qp or /p. It's be dumb and hypocritical of me to like, dunk on ppl for /r-ing c!beeduo when I'm also invested in these two and my tonetags r not gonna suddenly Delete the picking apart I've done of the dynamic @ hand

Which Has Been. Within Bounds Of Canon. It's been what's been shown (sometimes to my great distress. There is a reason that the :canon_beeduo: emote looks the way it does) Directly Onscreen and in general keeping with the tone n intensity/directions of what they've Done With The Characters

HOWEVER

As mentioned up there. Revocation of consent

It makes. Full sense 2 me that Mr Live wants to place a moratorium or fullon ban on shipping his characters perhaps where he wouldn't have before because of the Unfortunately Very Extant trends of people being Fucking Weird about shipping his characters AND of using them as a Thinly Veiled Excuse to ship HIM, which. I should not have to explain why shipping real people is fucking abhorrent

THIS creates a problem which is a. Bit of a vacuum in interacting with what is a facet of c!Ranboo's arc, decision making, and character. Like you CAN have c!Ranboo w/o cbeeduo but you Can't Really have his plotline without examining c!beeduo. And as I mentioned earlier: even if your examination of c!beeduo is fully platonic, the significance of it To the plotline means that any examination of it and its relevance to the plotline and characters IS gonna be an examination of intimacy, which. Regardless of it's platonic, Is Still Shipping

Unless some HARD retconning happens it leaves this like. Hole in an aspect of c!Ranboo's arc and decisionmaking and it's very. Uncertain? God. Fucking months ago I was already kind of :huh. Does he know what the fuck he's doing: irt c!beeduo and desperately wishing for things to be cleared up and now it's only That Much Stronger

NOW. KNIFETRICK, FINALLY

Knifetrick (or, as it’s actually listed, Bishop’s Knife Trick) is a fic about "Ran and Jackie from The Pit TFTSMP" in a "canon-typical ambiguously romantic relationship." As you can tell from the scare quotes, especially if you've seen me vague, both of these are, to put it politely, Doubtful. I've read the fic; I will not be sharing my opinions because that would be neither productive nor responsible (I will just say I can't recommend it and leave it at that) but I WILL say the following that Is relevant to the conversation:

Ran's and Jackie's characterizations respectively have very little to do with characterizations from The Pit, and bear a dollar-store-version resemblance to tropes and personality motifs found in ESPECIALLY fanon c!beeduo, especially later in the fic. I would not go so far as to say they are Intentionally Literally Ranboo and Tubbo but they are transparent expies and were clearly written at LEAST unintentionally w/ c!beeduo in mind (esp since. Ran and Jackie barely interacted in The Pit), and for a readerbase that, as far as I can tell, is HUGELY dominated by /r c!beeduo shippers. Like. Sorry. This is off-brand c!beeduo.

The dynamic between the two is pretty unambiguously romantic, also; despite what the fic's white knights claim, romantic tropes and implications/motifs/imagery from at LEAST chapter two, and is very much explicitly romantic by the most recent chapter.

FROM CH1:

"And now, with raised eyebrows and a pursed lip, the newly named General Jackie observes Ran in such a way that makes the enderman’s skin crawl. Ran reminds himself that this kid, as short and harmless as he may look, is trained to kill. [...] Jackie narrows his eyes and tilts his head a little, as if he’s trying to read in between every one of Ran’s imperfect scales."

FROM CH2:

"It makes Ran’s skin itch with discomfort. [...] 'That actually doesn’t explain much of anything at all,' complains Jackie, and he pops a few croutons into his mouth with one hand. 'Tell me what you’re thinking, pretty-boy.'

"Ran feels his face flush, no doubt mildly glowing green.

"Yes, that was the other thing. The unnecessary compliments to his physical appearance.

"They don’t happen very often, and don’t seem to have very much meaning or intention behind them— Jackie often speaks like an unthinking kid— but when they do happen… they’re embarrassing. [...] It’s annoying how the rug is pulled out from under his feet in these moments when he’s 'embarrassed'. Like the conversation see-saw has temporarily shifted weight in the general’s favor."

I am not going to include excerpts from Chapter 6 because it's just the entire chapter.

I WILL SAY, HOWEVER, STEPPING ON THIS SCORPION BEFORE IT STINGS: they are not written in an RPFy manner and I don't think there's any grounds, including Vibes, of accusing Knifetrick of being like. Closet truthing or whatever. Also, while I think there's certainly Some Weirdness ESPECIALLY around the reaction, the romance itself is Not written in any way I'd call weird or problematic pre-clip; it's nothing inappropriate or like Weirdly Fetishy or whatever. Knifetrick is not #problematic or anything and I don't have beef with like the concept of liking it intrinsically; if I thought it was like. Abhorrent I wouldn't be sharing excerpts lmao dhjfnhdsbvdnfjh. Hence: if anyone uses this post or anyth like it to send harassment or bad faith ANYTHING to anyone involved with Knifetrick I will hunt you down in the fucking night even if it WAS #problematic that'd be the LITERAL OPPOSITE of productive and as it stands it's Literally Not. Essentially: Knifetrick is a (questionably-written /mean) fic using Ran and Jackie from The Pit as a vessel for a large chunk of the dynamics and headcanons of fanon /r c!beeduo in particular

And again, I would not call it problematic in any way (aside from the disingenuity of the insistence that it's TOTALLY UNRELATED TO BEEDUO and TOOOTALLY WASN'T INTENDED TO BE ROMANTIC GUYS like own your shit please)... IF it weren't for the advent of The Clip, which is calling in2 question the Entirety of the problem of /r-ing any variant of c!beeduo or any of Ranboo's characters at all

I really do not have an answer for this tbh. I genuinely wanna hear from the streamer on this more specifically because I like,,, I got no clue where 2 go from here? Do I just consider an arc retconned? Was it an issue of speaking abt a troubling subject kneejerk wise and I'm reading too much in2 it?

I just. I dunno

Tl;dr (AT LONG LAST)

- The Clip is a clip of a Discord stage where Ranboo (streamer) loudly explicitly decried shipping in a way that implicitly applies to characters he plays - This would be all well and good but is rendered complicated by the plot relevance of c!beeduo, which does not stop being shipping if it's /p'd due to it still necessarily being an examination of a particular intimacy in a way that is in canon hard to distinguish the /p, /qp, or /r nature of - Bishop's Knife Trick is an AO3 fic centered around using TFTSMP characters as /r c!beeduo expies which is not a bad thing in and of itself unless it also is covered under this moratorium - Things remain unclear until and unless we get clearer word from streamer, but considering Mr Live seems to be allergic to clarifying anything abt c!beeduo this is doubtful

*very little if any of the content I personally have made 4 c!beeduo has been posted publicly, for related reasons. You May have seen it if you're in servers w/ me, depending on Which Ones

#dsmp fandom critical #kind of?#jic #ask to tag #I am technically defending Kn1fetrick on this post #I am not nice to it but I am defending it technically. If people start being rude abt it I am going to set myself on fire #this IS ludicrously long but I have tl;dr'd it as I do with all my ludicrously long posts. I think I have salient thoughts

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ceridwyn2 · 3 years

Text

This may seem like a stupid (and unpopular with some) question, with AO3, is there a way to filter out some writers in search results? I’m doing a search through a particular fandom (no, not stating which one, as I’ve seen it across more than just one fandom) at the moment, and there is a lot of crap there amongst the good gems. I’m picky when I read fanfic 😅 , and a lot of times I don’t have time to wade through hundreds/thousands of stories to look for the good ones.

By the way, this ended up being a lot longer than I originally intended 😂 as I was thinking it through. What I like in the stories I read as follows:

A) Be grammatically correct

B) Spelling correct

C) Sentence & paragraph structure correct. Dialogue for each character in separate paragraphs.

D) Point of View: maintain one person’s point of view either for the whole scene or whole story. Especially important if stories are written in first person (I/My/Me) or second person (You/Them/They). These stories are often harder to write and maintain throughout well. If it’s first person, you’re only writing from one character’s point of view: on how *I* see/hear/experience the things around *me*. *I* don’t/can’t know what the other characters are thinking/feeling other than what *I* see/observe in their behaviour, unless they tell *me* what they think/feel. Writing in second person is equally difficult to maintain unless you’re very skilled at it. You’re writing as though your addressing the reader/person directly, as if you know them personally, intimately (does not need to be sexually) by using *you*. / Example: You love to write; you should do it more often. / If you’re of a certain age and remember the ‘choose your own adventure’ child/young adult books of the 70s-90s, they were in a person point of view.

Majority of fanfiction, and fiction in general is written in third person. Third person is like you’re the audience watching a tv show/film/play/book. You’re a non-active participant of what is happening and cannot affect the direction or outcome of the story. The primary subject of the scene is referred to by their name or rank and their pronoun(s), and is often the first character mentioned at/near beginning of the scene / Example: DCI Cassie Stewart walked into the incident room of her Historic Cases Unit, with a quick glance at her officers before heading into her office. It wasn’t long before her second in command, DS Sunil Khan, or Sunny, as he preferred, wrapped on the glass window pane of her office door. / That scene is dictated from her point of view, how she directs those around her and how those around her interact with her. Had it been slightly different, but same scenario: /DS Sunil Khan looked up as the door to the Historic Cases Unit opened and saw his boss, DCI Stewart, make her way to her office, glancing at the team as she did. Having got some new leads on their current case overnight, Sunny headed towards her office to notify her ahead of the day’s briefing. / This obviously changes whose point of view is the primary for that scene to Sunil.

Third person It allows the writer to explore different perspectives and viewpoints of different characters to move the story forward. However, that being said, to avoid reader confusion, pick one character - a main character, supporting character, or a villain - as the primary character of that scene and stick with their focus/perspective for the duration of a scene/chapter. If you want to express multiple character’s reactions or points of view to a specific same scene (like say a team of detectives coming onto a murder scene) and if it makes sense to do so, you can write the scenes same but different as each character will have their own take on what they saw/perceived/when they entered/exited the scene - but each character that you’re writing about will have a separate section, separated by punctuation marks, above and below the change of perspective. However, that can easily come across as too repetitive for the reader. Might be best to put that in a notes page each scene of how each sees the same scene - because you as the audience can visualise the characters as being there, when they arrived and what they observed. When you write the scene, write it from one character’s point of view, but as you have the other characters interacting with them, they can comment on what they saw observed, contributing to the overall pieces of information, without repetition, unless it contradicts or adds to a specific point being made.

E) Age correlateable. By which I mean, if someone’s going to write about established characters that are in their 40s, 50s, etc., their life experiences, maturity, have them act/respond to each other as such. I have read stories - or rather attempted to - but the mental maturity of the author was showing through characters in their 40s, 50s, and it was obvious the writer hasn’t grasped that maturity of the characters. Listen to the character’s voices (what they’re saying, how they’re saying, even what they’re not saying but expressing visually) you’re writing about. This really comes out when writing arguments and sex scenes, btw.

F) Physical/mental characteristics: If a character has an illness or physical disability, or like affecting joints or paralysed limbs, amputations, or anything that affects movement, be aware of that, esp if writing a sex scene (a whole other rabbit hole of bad writing exists there, see next item). If in an argument, you’re trying to express the character throwing something in anger, like a mug/glass, etc., for example, and the character has an injured/disabled arm, their strength to throw is going to be limited. Show the character’s frustration that the action they wanted had less effect at releasing that anger/frustration. If the character has a visual (partial or full blindness) or auditory disability (eg. hard of hearing, deafness in one or both ears, over-sensitive to sound/volume), take that into account. Esp in arguments, if one of the people in the scene has a tendency to mumble, they may not be understood as words run together are not easily decipherable either by sound or lip reading. Mental health /illness (eg PTSD /complex PTSD [cPTSD], depression, anxiety affects physical health responses. If the characters have mental health disorders, be aware and maintain that continuity through the story. Don’t need to mention it all the time but be aware it can affect movement/physical responses, behaviour. And unless you’re House, you don’t need to include every odd, weird, very rare symptom he seems to need to diagnose something for the character 😂 .

G) Sex scenes: some are done so well that it’s seamless and flows well with the other parts of the story, where the intimacy blends well. Others, very much no so. Unless it’s a specifically written PWP (plot, what plot) story, and those can work when written well. Trust me, I’ve read otherwise well-written stories ruined by a sex scene that reads like a bad porn with characters that otherwise had physical limitation(s) in the rest of the story but were suddenly able to pull off manoeuvres of someone 20 years younger and fully able-bodied. Like someone just tacked on an explicit sex scene on that didn’t mesh with the story as if they were two completely different people that happened to have the same names as the ones in the rest of the story.

H) Continuity. Whether your story is short or long, be aware of where your characters are/what they’re doing. Having a sense of timing. Helpful to have a notepad (digital or paper) sometimes to keep track of movement. They can’t be in two concurrent scenes at the same time. Passing off information between the characters; don’t assume one character (or group of characters) knows what the other(s) are doing, unless they are in contact with each other (visual/audio/both/text). Cause/effect. Action/reaction. There may be delayed effects or reactions (over scenes/chapters), but reference them back to the original cause or action and why there was a delay. For example, somebody witnesses or experiences a tragedy, war, fire, sexual assault, accident, or other traumatic experience, and it triggers a delayed emotional or physical response hours, days, months, years later. The character may or may not be able to explain to their partner, colleague, friend what it was that caused effect/reaction. Similarly, following onto earlier example of a thrown glass/mug/vase, if it smashes there could be subsequent injury from ceramic/glass/etc. like a cut finger/palm of hand if picking up the pieces/cleaning the mess. So maybe it requires a bandage or wrap. Continuity would include making further grasping of things discomforting or painful, maybe a comment from another person inquiring what happened later on if they’re noticing a bandage that wasn’t there the last time they saw them.

I) Alternate Universe stories. I don’t mind AUs when done right - so that even if the characters are placed in a different setting, their general personality traits are very recognizable. I’ve read quite a few that nail this perfectly. Others, not so much. When it works, it works. Otherwise it’s just slapping familiar names onto original fic just to get more eyes on a story.

#fanfiction #fanfic #writing #preferences #edits #filtering #writing styles #this ended up being longer and more detailed than I thought #AO3 #AO3 filters

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ijustwant2write · 3 years

Text

The Visit-Shelby Brothers x Shelby!Sister

(GIF credit to @mormarsli)

Requested by anonymous: ‘Heyaa there, just want to say i love ur writings esp the Peaky fics *^*May i ask a request, Sister!Shelby one. Where they're at a cemetery, they talking and reminiscing about their childhood and stuff. They're always mentioning the reader and John memories (cause they're twins). Hope my request will be selected. Thank you in advance have a nc day 😊💕’

Characters: Thomas Shelby x Shelby!Reader, Arthur Shelby x Shelby!Reader, Finn Shelby x Shelby!Reader, John Shelby x Shelby!Reader

Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name

Warnings: Death, graveyard, swearing, mourning, mentions of alcohol, violence and vandalism, fluff

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

With no clouds in the sky, the sun was able to shine bright, a lovely change to Small Heath’s usual dark, depressing weather. It was still cold, due to the biting wind that had arrived due to it being so close to Winter. But no one was complaining about this today, it made a lovely change, even the most miserable person could put on a small smile, for just a second.

For the Shelby’s however, it was ironic. With Arthur in the driver’s seat of the car, Tommy beside him and Finn stuck in the back, they all had solemn faces. The youngest Shelby stared down at the bouquet of flowers in his lap, both hands cradling it. They were a mix of white and various pink colours, the stems were trimmed and any thorns or leaves had been cut off. He couldn’t take his eyes away from them, they were the brightest thing he had seen around him for a long time, but he wasn’t sure whether that was ironic or mocking.

Arthur pulled up and braked, gripping onto the steering wheel as Tommy instantly got out. Finn hesitated before following, glancing back at his older brother who couldn’t seem to move.

“Arthur.” Tommy gently said, not having closed the door yet.“Come on.”

“Yeah.” Arthur mumbled, still staring straight ahead.“I’m...I’m coming.”

With everyone out of the car, they clutched onto their coats as the cold hit them, though still taking long strides into the graveyard; it was big and open, stretching across a large field with rich, green grass, and a variation of headstones scattered across it. They made a beeline to the ones they were looking for, having done this walk many times.

Arthur always dreaded the walk, the initial feeling of being there. It made him sick. To think someone from his family was in here, and no longer with them, it was an incredibly hard thing to get over. Finn couldn’t help but feel upset every time, almost on the verge of tears. He was always the one to carry the flowers, it had just become some sort of tradition. So it wasn’t surprising to see Tommy’s blank expression whenever they visited. Of course he had sobbed and wailed as he mourned over the death, but the lack of expressing his emotions made him easily hide how he really felt. And he knew that if he let it all out, his brother’s would become concerned, no one would have control.

“Well, here we are again.” Arthur said.

Finn laid the flowers against the headstone, seeing the names before running his fingers along the engraving.“Here you are.”

“The girls were here a few days ago, hope they spoke to you as well. I’m sure they did, probably complaining about the likes of me.” Tommy coughed after speaking.

“Let’s be honest, they’re complaining about all of us.” Arthur tried to lighten the mood, though his smile held sadness.

A chuckle came from Finn.“Pol would always rant to me about (Y/N) and John, when I was still living with her. She would tell me everything they got up to as children, especially if I had done something similar and she was telling me off.”

“They were a pair of rascals.” Arthur added.“Never did anything without each other. And you could always tell when they were plotting something, there was just something in the air.”

“Remember when they stole the Christmas turkey? We were just kids then.” Tommy managed to smile.

“Fuck me, that was a long time ago. They thought it would be funny to take the turkey before it had been cooked, poor Pol had been slaving away in the kitchen all day. When she realised, all hell broke loose! Turns out, they had put it in next door’s chicken coop! Oh, remember their first night out? Their proper night out?”

“Even I remember that! I was only five, but the sight of them stumbling into the house was funny to me.” Finn exclaimed.

“You don’t know the half of it.” Tommy started.“We took them out, knowing they would be a mess the entire night. Your sister danced with any boy that glanced her way, jumping on top of tables and the bars. John was exactly the same, I’m sure he almost got two girls pregnant in one night. But John being John, he had to get into a fight at some point. Except (Y/N) also joined. As soon as she heard her brother yelling, she was right beside him. That confused those lads, especially when she started throwing punches just as hard as John.”

“No, but you know what was one of the best memories? Us finding them out of school, when they were trying to break into their teacher’s car.”

Finn’s eyes widened.“Why did they do that?!”

“Apparently a teacher disrespected our name, but to be fair, he was a bastard. They always complained about him when they returned home, so one day they decided to do something about it. They sneaked out of the school, found his car and used a wrench and a screwdriver to break into it. It wasn’t spontaneous because they brought the tools. We caught them in the act, obviously furious because this was proving the man’s point.”

“So you just left it?”

“Oh no, we smashed up his car. It was his fault for parking it in such a rough area. There had been loads of reports about vandalism.”

Finn laughed, making his older brothers smile. Their attention went back onto the headstones as they calmed down, a slight sadness returning to the atmosphere.

Tommy sighed.“I’m sorry, we can’t stay for long. Got business to attend to, business that you would want to attend.”

Arthur clamped a hand down on Finn’s shoulder.“But we’re going to show the little one the ropes. Hopefully he’ll be just as good as you were.”

“I hate when we leave early. I could stay here for hours.” Finn said.

“I know, Finn. But Arthur’s got a point. We need to get you out there. Come on, before we start stalling.”

They all said goodbye to the stone, never feeling odd for speaking to it. It was a coping mechanism, almost a place to vent, to feel connected. Tommy lead again, Arthur catching up beside him to start talking about their plan. Finn looked over his shoulder, seeing that the flowers were no longer resting up against the stone. Rushing back, he propped them back up, kissing his hand before placing it to the headstones.

“I miss you both.”

Slowly standing, he read their names, and the dates, hating how his heart sank. He was broken from the trance when Arthur called his name, running after them. But those etchings never left his head, the saddest thing he thought he would ever see.

John Shelby 1892-1926

(Y/N) Shelby 1892-1926

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kpopfanfictrash · 2 years

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I guess I have a 2 sided question, but a) how do you write your BTS characters so well, especially Jin? I’ve had such a hard time locking down his characteristics in my fic without being a stereotype, which also leads to question b) what do you do when you start to lose inspiration when writing? I have already changed the time period because I couldn’t get the tone right, changed side characters because it didn’t make sense who I had there before, and I’ve changed how the fake world is set up for names to make sense in context…but now after this last scene I’ve written I just..am not excited about it. It feels like a placeholder, and it’s making me question why I’m even writing this dang story in the first place :/

HELLO! Thank you so much for sending me questions -- I’m so glad to hear you feel I write BTS well! Putting my answers below a cut because this got longer than anticipated haha

A. Writing Seokjin/BTS members.

Honestly, I feel like this is kind of subjective! I’m sure there are readers out there who feel I write the members all wrong. None of us truly know them, so at the end of the day, we’re all just making a best guess at their characters! I will say there are certain tropes/characteristics I tend to lean into while writing them. For example, I usually give my Yoongi’s deadpan, dry humor. Or I give Namjoon moments of great clarity coupled with lacking of common sense. LOL for Seokjin, some of the characteristics I gravitate towards are: humorous (esp. physical comedy), uses his humor as a defense mechanism, not the jealous type, loyal, will go to great lengths for his friends but tends to do so out of the limelight. I can’t find the clip, but there’s this conversation between Namjoon and Seokjin in Bon Voyage Hawaii I think about a lot. I feel like it was one of the first times Seokjin dropped his “Jin” mask and was pretty honest about who he is. Honestly, I think just taking some time to think about who Seokjin is behind the persona (I kind of feel the same way about writing Hobi) is a great place to start.

B. What do I do when I start to lose inspiration while writing?

Oooooof. This is an interesting question. Two things: 1) I’m a big proponent of the idea that ‘inspiration’ doesn’t really exist and 2) I’m also a fan of shitty first drafts. So, let me explain what I mean by the first! There’s a Madeline L’Engle quote that says, “Inspiration usually comes during work, not before it.” For me, I rarely wake up and think, “oh, I’m in the perfect place, mood, etc. to write.” There’s always going to be a reason not to write, and it’s only through forcing myself to sit and keep going that I get anywhere. It usually helps me to set goals for myself! I.e., I want to write at least 500 words today. Or, I want to write something every day. More often than not, I’ll find myself writing more than intended.

And then, the second concept! I know not everyone is a fan of this, but for me, shitty first drafts are crucial. The first draft I write of whatever I write is usually complete, utter nonsense. I use it to simply get words down on paper. Sometimes, I’ll even write entire scenes that clash with the rest of the fic. That’s because my second drat is where I take a step back, truly think about the story and start fresh. I revise my world-building notes and solidify the rules of magic, the naming conventions and the relationships between characters. Then, I sit down and write the whole thing again. Things will wildly change from my first draft to my second based on exactly what you said in your ask. For example, in the first draft of Lovely Demons included the following:

Jimin and Y/N didn’t meet at the tavern. Instead, they met for the first time when she enters the Infernal Palace

Jimin could read minds

Y/N was a Seer

The Princes of Hell didn’t have special powers

Seokjin wasn’t the one who told Y/N about the exit from the Infernal Palace

Y/N didn’t go with Jimin to fight monsters in Tartarus

Cassandra died

Some of these are pretty large plot points which affect the entire story. It was only during the second and third drafts when I figured out what was important and made sense with the story I was trying to tell. If I were you, I would just push on with your story, get everything down on paper and then take a step back and figure out what needs to change!

Alternatively, if you’re seriously overthinking and not having fun: take a break. Step away from the computer, step away from the story. Write something else. Read something. Go on an adventure with friends. Give yourself some distance from the story and come back to it later with fresh eyes!

I’m sorry to hear things haven’t been flowing lately, and sending all the good thoughts your way! Best of luck with your fic and your writing!

#asks #on writing #personal #fyi there are some Lovely Demons spoilers beyond the cut!

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mego42 · 3 years

Text

Shamelessly stealing @foxmagpie’s monthly rec thing without the ability to get my life together to do these on a monthly basis so, seasonal recs! So excited to see if I manage to do this again with anything remotely resembling consistency but i’ve been keeping the notes for approximately 43 years (or since ~september, whatever that means) so by god i’m gonna use them.

found my thrill - s_t_c_s / @sothischickshe

Turner POV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

guys turner is SO OBSESSED with Beth and Rio

both canonically and in this fic

it’s gr9

also features a weirdly soothing and relatable cord untangling moment as a metaphor

truly disturbingly relatable turner pov tbh

relentless boomer disdain, always a plus

led to the creation of this monstrosity, not sure what kind of a monster would do that

War In My Mind - mintletters16

Backread!!!!

post-213, gorgeous character study

guaranteed to make you feEl stUfF

I really love the like, cyclical, fractured pattern of Beth’s internal monologue, it gives the whole thing a really affecting at times dreamy, at times haunted vibe

the end twist is *chef’s kiss*

mourning bells - Ejunkiet / @ejunkiet

Backread!!!!

Later s2 era, Rio’s at a funeral, gets drunk and calls Beth

V short, kind of…..mmm, not sweet, but almost? Idk

It’s got a wistful sort of almost/i can be quiet with you vibe that i go extremely bonkers for

delinquents - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie

Lol are any of you actually not reading this yet?

g o d ch 8 where do i start

First off how ABSOLUTELY VERY DARE for the tragic angst that is delinquents!beth boland. This poor baby, this precious bean. MUST PROTEC

SHE’S TRYING HER BEST AND I LOVE HER

zero percent deserves dean’s clammy hands, no i have not forgotten, tattooed on my brain, will never forgive

I also love love love love LOVE the ruby/stan subplot happening

(and ruby’s mom!!!!!) (seriously though you write the best moms)

oh god and baby beth starting to have confusing feelings about rio?????? *chef’s kiss*

p sure i was just like, straight screaming the entire end of the chapter

the dugout is like, pure serotonin

I can’t even talk about the closet

tHe teNsiOn

thank you i will take eleventy billion

don't give it a hand, offer it a soul - medievalraven / @medievalraven

am a desperate heaux for any fic that features rio and mick friendship

you are all incredibly shocked i know

still would not be mad if this swerved into rio x mick fake dating but beth x rio is cool too i guess

Speaking of things i am a desperate heaux for: DIANE!!!!!!!!

and DATING ANNIE???????????? Blessed

honestly this fic is worth it purely for the assertion that mick watches queer eye

Why don't we go to Venus? - watermelonriddles / @bensonstablers

another grief study!

apparently i was working through some stuff in september, idk, that was like 4 years ago

considering it’s the premise of the fic, i don’t think it’s a spoiler to say this fic is canon divergent and working with the premise that rio killed beth in 302

he is uh, not coping well

extremely haunted you might say

lots of marcus and rhea which is a delight!

rhea is to good for him tbh

i said what i said

truly top notch dream (nightmare?) sequences

the conversation at the end is extremely uncalled for

drop the game - Ejunkiet / @ejunkiet

Backread!!!!

Am going to die mad Beth and Rio didn’t hook up in 211 but luckily this fic scratched the itch

(temporarily, it’s a fairly permanent itch)

Bonus rec: missing scene series i wanna do bad things to you featuring 2x02 and 2x04

Viva Voce - zetuslapetus / @querenaxx

Whoops we woke up married Vegas shenanigans!!

So cute!!!!! So sexy!!!!!

What more do you want?

am desperately obsessed with how beth can’t help stalking rio

feels right, feels organic

this makes me feel a lot of stuff about how they could be without their canon garbage between them

🎶 we could’ve had it aaaaaaaaaaall 🎶

you showed me colors (i can't see them with anyone else) - gild_fire / @gild-and-fire

really into the use of color to illustrate beth’s emotional state, i feel like there’s a word for that but idk what it is

UNIMPORTANT

really nice job capturing beth’s inner vulnerability balanced by her outer stubbornness

am DESPERATELY into Mick playing matchmaker

more please???????

Both Sides of the Law - JoeyLee / @joeyjoeylee

LAW SCHOOL AU! I suuuuuuper love Beth and Rio here (alt pov!! a gift!!!!) I love how initially prickly they are, I love how it’s evolving into a grudging respect, I love how INCREDIBLY AND HILARIOUSLY OBSESSED WITH EACH OTHER THEY ARE and neither one of them seems to see it

listen I know we’re all already foaming at the mouth over this one but as it’s gonna go down as one of my all time favorites it bears repeating/rereccing

cannot stress enough how masterful the use of POV is here, both voices feel completely true and distinct and I love how the alternating chapters revisit, reveal and emphasize pieces of each other

i can’t talk about this fic without hyperventilating

I LOVE IT SO MUCH YOU GUYS

the slow burn is going to ACTUALLY KILL ME

rip, no regrats

Earned It - wakeupflawless / @wakeupflawless

spanking

that’s it that’s the pitch

H O T

living for beth’s exit in the first chapter, rio and i are both incredibly into it

second chapter also features violently possessive Rio who cannot deal with anyone messing with his girl so if that’s your thing boy howdy get on it

shake, baby, shake - openhearts

backread!!!!!

according to my bookmarks this was a reread but ???????

must’ve read it in the fugue state that followed reading for a moment we were strangers which is gr9 and I believe I have recced it before. If not, horrible oversight, reccing it now

beth and Rio POV lead up to the bathroom break, beautifully done, low-key feel bad reccing it bc the end point of both chapters makes me want to throw things but it’s super worth it for the tEnsiOn. ENJOY

What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have - flashindie / @pynkhues

I’m assuming all of y’all are already reading this

If not OH MY GOD FIX YOUR LIVES

P I R A T E A U

I’m sorry maybe you didn’t hear me piRaTE aU

meticulously researched, brain-meltingly vibrant, already painfully sexy slow-burning PIRATE AU

god where to start okay so first off, the world-building here straight up breaks my brain, sophie’s put in the work and it SHOWS

second, the atmosphere. i’m generally a pretty like, vague mental picture sort of reader but the sensory detail here grabs you by the throat and like, forcibly hauls you in whether your brain’s wired that way or no

and hey speaking of throats if you, like me, go a little funny about the knees at the idea of beth holding a knife to rio’s throat (he’s fine, calm down), there’s a v excellent beth-in-a-barrel moment for you

oh christ and the sexy tension

it’s gonna be a race to see which slow burn takes me out first, this or law school

Stunner - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie

Another high school AU, this time with baby Rio absolutely head over heels for his older sister’s bff

stunner!Rio has an emotional earnestness about him that I feel like delinquents!Rio has already outgrown and it’s so SWEET I can’t get enough

Desperately cute!!!!!!

alL he waNts iS foR beTh tO bE hiS girL

also unreasonably angsty???????

ANN ARBOR IS NOT THAT FAR MEGAN

A Heart's A Heavy Burden - tooshyforthis / @bathroombreaks

Howl’s Moving Castle AU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love Howl’s!!!!!!!!!!!

perfect opp to roast Rio for being a Dramatique Heaux

and it’s gonna be 9 chapters?????? H Y P E

author’s note boldly presumes I did not know I needed this AU when the reality is I did in fact know I needed this AU, I just wasn’t expecting anyone to deliver

so blessed

author also claims to not be team nose stud and yet it features prominently in all its magnificent glory

what is the truth dot gif

A Bit of a Stretch - septiembre / @septiembur

SO????? CUTE?????????

would be on this list for Rio calling Beth E alone tbh

really really really really really love this Rio POV of being settled into a relationship with Beth

It manages to be sweetly domestic af while still holding the edge that makes brio brio which is a neat trick

@septiembur may be a witch

beth’s approach to getting rio to do yoga with her is hilarious and exactly right, canon-typical amounts of subtlety

1000000/10

Post Break-Up Sex - femalegothic / @bethsuglywigs

stg this was called Hit Shuffle

no matter

h O T

with a side of damn i’ve made some questionable choices in my life haven’t i introspection

(no regrats tho)

(esp not with this fic)

not the point of the fic by a long shot but i’m also extremely obsessed with Weed Eddie, so real

She drains my soul... she drains it not - niham87 / @niham87

ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED WITH THIS CONCEPT

am a complete sucker for paranormal world building that satirizes bureaucracy

Is that a trope? If so that’s my favorite

I did it. I’m picking a single favorite. You know what that is growth dot gif

ANYWAY i love the concept, i love the humor, i love beth instantly clicking with annie

I love her and mick’s sort of grudging professional courtesy

Love beth as a champion of environmental responsibility and all of the underworld being like …...okay??

cannot wait to see where this goes

Nine-Tenths - riosnecktattoo / @riosnecktattoo

*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*

sometimes i think about rio putting beth’s hair in a ponytail and have to go lie down

science please explain why this rUinS mE

wait hold on i skipped ahead

HEY KIDS DO YOU LIKE UNBEARABLY CUTE DOMESTIC TENDERNESS

opens with rio sleepily holding beth’s hand to his heart so that’s the kind of thing you’ll be dealing with

uGH theY’RE sO CUTe

idk why precisely but rio adding hair ties to his bracelet collection is my undoing every time

Missed Call - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie

Rio doesn’t come home from a job when he’s supposed to. Beth (and I!!!!!!!) slowly loses her mind

Truly a masterpiece of rising tension

Will literally never forgive her for calling this light angst

I was SO STRESSED OUT

The first person to point out there was an author’s note at the beginning I obvs didn’t read is getting blocked

crush - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie

Listen even though this is centered around two OCs, they are OCs FROM a (n iconic) brio fic AND Beth, Ruby and Rio all make cameos (I mean, Rio’s pretty present since he lives in Mar’s mind rent free bc they are THE SWEETEST MOST ADORABLE BEST OF FRIENDS so idk if i’d call it a cameo but whatever)

and even if it didn’t feature any official GG characters I’d still rec is bc that’s mY SON AND this fic is TOO CUTE

I have so many feelings over mar and rio growing up and not knowing how to cope with girls becoming a Thing in their life and how it affects their friendship and mar feeling left behind but (SPOILERS) at the end of the story rio starts feeling that too and it’s so poignant knowing how that’s going to continue in delinquents

while mar may be my son, i also claim elena’s #1 stan status

before you’re like meg you’re only reccing it bc it’s a bday present ask yourselves do i really strike you as the kind of person that wouldn’t be equally obnoxious about this either way?

truly cannot fathom how hard i have fallen for these OCs i don’t normally do that

@foxmagpie is definitely a witch

The Ottoman - Niham87 / @niham87

look i will be the first to admit that i don’t go near as bonkers over the ottoman line in 308 as y’all do

(don’t get me wrong, i love it!!! I love that he laughs and i love that she’s pleased it just doesn’t hit my lose my whole mind button like idk, the dubby or the 306 convo, idk why)

BUT i v v v much love the context this delightful Rio POV pwp gives it

am also absolutely feral for 209 missing scene fic

and anything that captures the complexity of Rio’s s3 feelings for Beth and how twisted they’ve become

so this scratches a bunch of itches, is what i’m trying to say

Bet On It - zetuslapetus / @querenaxx

*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*

That’s what my brain does when I think about Beth and Rio meeting in ch 1

am DESPERATELY OBSESSED WITH the tension between the two of them in this fic

I love how it plays with the ways they have to rely on but don’t trust each other

plus FAKE DATING and BED SHARING (fair warning hasn’t happened yet but the set up is there)

originally supposed to be 2 chapters, already up to 4, prayer circle it goes on forever

do you like drugs (tonight) - s_t_c_s / @sothischickshe

v important focus on hydration, other fic should take note

extremely about the use of cut to and then flashback to enhance the ‘we were on drugs’ vibe

speaking of, beth and rio absolutely would take ecstasy to prove they are fun bc they are the exact kind of idiots that would peer pressure themselves

so glad beth kept her purse, got a bit stressed there for a second, clutches in that kind of circumstance are A Risk

not that i would know

FLAWLESS USE OF VOICEMAIL TBH

really love the ongoing denial that they are remotely into each other while proceeding to demonstrate how they are in fact, extremely into each other, great vibe

rio dances

I know my brain broke too

mmmm bacon

Navigate A Broken Path - flashindie / @pynkhues

*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*

I have a long standing tradition of getting unreasonably obsessed with side characters so i’m not like, entirely surprised by how obsessed i am with both Mick and Mary Pat but i never in a million years considered them as a ship

AND Y E T

they fit????? so perfectly?????? It’s amazing how she developes them individually enough that i look at them together and think ah yes this makes perfect sense for both characters

and they’re such an amazing foil to Beth and Rio?

can ships have foils? do i know what a foil is?

unimportant

GUYS you dON’T uNDERStAN d

hell i don’t understand

how absolutely very dare you make me care about YET ANOTHER set of gg ‘verse children

do not read this fic if you have no interest in feelings you zero percent asked for

wHA t hAPPeNED iN aLASkA?????????

A Moment’s Silence - femalegothic / @bethsuglywigs

*makes sign of the cross*

y’all are gonna make me rediscover religion

extremely appreciate the author’s note approach to backstory top notch prioritization

listen it’s basically 3k of beth deep throating rio idk what more you need me to say about it

it is…..good stuff

bless the kinkmeme or fest whatever we’re calling it

praise - civillove / @blainesebastian

I mean you had me at “three times rio calls beth a good girl and one time he really means it”

ephemeral rio

I left that note for myself in here in the middle of the night and haven’t the foggiest what i was thinking but i stand by it none the less

okay okay i think i know what i meant, this fic (as do all of my fav civillove brio fics) has this sort of like, liminal, in the quiet moments feel to them that makes the moments and feelings somehow feel like i’m catching a glimpse of something secret and precious???

idk i just really like it okay

Heart and Soul - riosnecktattoo / @riosnecktattoo

oh look more unbearably sweet domestic tenderness, this time to music

thank you ma’am for my life

rio remembers beth used to play piano and gets her one and revoltingly cute shenanigans result

also hilarity

and sexiness

this fic has it all, truly

shout out to mick who sees no reason to keep rio’s feelings to himself

good girls tumblr fic - prettylittlementirosa / @hypermania

cheating and reccing a whole series

It’s my list and i can do what i wanna

stop crying about it, it’s four fics and they’re all AMAZING absolutely impossible to pick a fav

truly flawless characterization, next level ability to capture evocative mood, cannot get enough

three’s a crowd: who knew ballroom dancing while dean watches and grinds his teeth could be so sexy

(trick question everything about that premise sounds A++++ and boy howdy does it live up)

feel it on the way home: rio tries to break up with beth, it goes about as well as you’d expect

(thE angSty tenSioN)

i want to play the game: [from the floor] i’m still not ready to talk about it

(rio/turner, missing scene, 10000000% a taste of what went down in that hotel room)

june after dark: pitch perfect annie pov, really really love the take that Annie is the baby whisperer, can’t fully explain why but it feels incredibly right

(ANNIE X NANCY COULD WORK SO WELL YOU GUYS)

#fingers crossed these links are right i did not double check #i like to live on the edge #truly mind boggling amount of fluff on this list i surprised myself on that one #no i will not at any point get my shit together enough to write out thoughtful commentary this is a shit posting blog first last and always #fic recs #gg fic #nbc good girls #i'll come up with a tag for these if i ever do them again #check back 37 years from now #or ~~~~~~march #whatever that means

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jlf23tumble · 3 years

Note

Hey Jen. I think you’re superb like in a (not to quote anyone but) you can sit and kind of admire what you’re like kind of way. So thanks for being awesome and enjoyable to this internet stranger. In unrelated matter, do you have any angst filled fics? I mostly read HL but I’ll dive into whatever as long as the pain is there. (If I can give a preference, I’m not so much into magic, fantasy, wolves, and sorts.) In these unprecedented times, I think I’d still need a happy ending though after the characters suffer terribly lol. If you find time to put something together for little old moi, I’d appreciate it very much. Thanks! Keep on keeping on! You’re wonderful!

<bryan_cranston_me_question_mark.gif> !!!!!!!!!! This is so incredibly kind, I think you’re pretty wonderful, too! I feel like I’m probably going to let you down here, though, because I generally don’t go too hard for angst (for one, it usually translates into longer fics, for two, some areas of true angst are just things I don’t really want to read for pleasure, like messy cheating aftermaths, abuse, character death, etc., and for three, I get lost in the sauce if I try too hard to dissect if something actually IS major angst versus, say, intense pining), but I’ll do my best! I’m going to give my dirty dozen here--my top 12 for hl--then I’ll dive deeper under the cut, with authors I love who write so much angst it’s tough to pick just one, plus other fandoms, too, in case you want to dive deeper.

Fertile Ground, Blake, 4.4k. Okay, in truth, so much of what Blake writes has gorgeous lashings of angst, so definitely read all of their fic (every fandom), but this one?? HOLY MOLY, it deserves to be separated and celebrated, Harry’s angst about fertility, howwwwww is this 4.4k, I ask, constantly?

sensitive to pressure, momentofclarity/ @gaycousinlarry, 4.4k. Hockey players and pubes and scent kinks, and yet there’s still this current of angst that thrums underneath, man oh man, would I read everything in this universe.

Everything You Do, jishler/ @jishlerfics, 6.6k. The third part of a stunning series, this one focusing on Harry’s gender identity and the Dunkirk haircut, and if you saw those recent gifsets with him wearing the beanie during training, yeah, this fic is alllll about it

i’m a captain on a jealous sea, devilinmybrain/ @thedevilinmybrain, 15k. A lot of jealousy on Louis’s part about all things Gryles, both real and imagined, I’m loving the vibes this author brings to it all.

taking tips and getting stoned, alison, 24k. I don’t think I can sum this one up quickly, but taxi driver Louis comes across singer Harry, and a lot of things change after that? God, that’s bad, but this fic is not!

hard to confess, @hereforlou, 24k. I adore Maggie’s writing so much, and she’s another one where I could rec at least three more here, but the one where Harry hides that he’s pregnant until the very last second? It’ll forever be the scorpio of mpreg fics, and I say that with the highest praise.

Maybe I Miss You series, 13ways, 28k. THIS SERIES, ooooooooffffff, the angstometer is off the chart, and then the last installment? Harry in makeup? This after all the sexting and boxing and hate sex and finally they figure their shit out? All of it is so good, and I’m eternally sad the author moved on (but jesus, I get it).

hush., Wankerville, 41k. Easily in my top five fics of any fandom, the softness and the cruelty, the growth and the real-life feels, an American high school AU that is still stunning and must have blown doors off back in that particular day (I’d also rec this author’s other work, esp. for angst).

every universe but ours, 28finelines, 49k. Okay, so this one has a little bit of magic that might annoy you, but it’s mostly in a multiverse way, like you’re reading a ton of AUs, but the theme itself has an angsty core, fwiw!

Truly, Madly, Deeply (10 Things I Hate about You), sunsetmog, 54k. I know I talk a LOT about this author’s ongoing wip, Harry Styles Cooks... (which is phenomenal, please do yourself a favor if you haven’t already), but this one? Angst ahoy, Harry auditions for XFUK without telling his boyfriend/friends, becomes a success, then comes home.

Time Passed, coffinofachimera/ @belialsmiracles, 66k. For every fic rec list I make, I always have at least one fic where I say, if you read nothing else, read this one, AND THIS IS IT, all categories, it’s simply astounding, life-changing, world-ending, and it kills me that more people haven’t left comments, but if it keeps shitty comments away, I’m all for it, I’ll protect this author/fic with my life. I can’t even begin to describe it, but if you want to know what the songs Fine Line or She are about, here you go! AIMH, Tokyo Harry!

The World Turned Upside Down, dogslpdi/ @dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram, 71k. I’m really iffy on historical fics, but this fic! This fic nails it! The detail and the emotion, the way you can feel the effects of the strike in so many ways, but also how HIV/AIDS is not that far off on the horizon, it’s just so well done. Plus, I adore Ralph’s humor and the way she tagged this both “minor angst” and “miner angst,” and if I can’t end an angst rec on a light note, what more can I do?

Let’s start with things beyond hl...lately, I’ve been reading a LOT of Untamed fic, and I feel like I should just point you to Liv’s masterlists because they are angst city (and fun city, too), plus she’s done a really good job of labeling them accordingly (right now, my fave angst is from chunk no. 2, Fire in the Blood, which is a case fic, but oof, I can’t wait to read even more in these parts).

I’m also just now getting into Merlin and reading a lot in that fandom, but it’s a bit scattershot at this stage (I haven’t finished the show yet, and I’m still working my way through one author who wrote 100+ fics, all of which are incredible; if you’re curious for something recent from over there, Phoenix wrote a short, angsty one that’s good and ouchy, this tangled thicket).

Speaking of Phoenix, EVERYTHING she has written for Cars (Lightning/Doc) is incredibly angsty, usually with that happy ending finale--I’d rec my current fave, but it’s a wip, so no happy ending yet, wahhh. Check out this link to the rest of them, though, I rec ‘em all!

I still have to watch the source material, but everything anyone’s sent me from Cobra Kai is INCREDIBLY angsty and so, so good, so I’m gonna bet there’s a fair bit of fix-it fic in my future, but we shall see!

Now onto the hl angst, ideally things you haven’t already read a million times before. Like I said earlier, this one’s kind of tough because I’m not into intense angst (major character/close family member death, messy cheating aftermath--though @kingsofeverything’s Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is fantastic, if you’re into that [messy cheating aftermath, not death]; actually, a lot of Lauren’s longer fics have a dose of angst, so dive away!)

Speaking of authors who regularly deliver angst, I have quite a few that I would say just go check out their works because almost every single thing they’ve done has it in varying degrees, you won’t be disappointed! These authors primarily write the hl pairing, and I definitely rec ‘em all: HappyPrincess, got2ghost, mediaville, and sedfierisentio. Authors I love who write Harry/other characters and do it in a hella angsty way include vondrostes, sulkingroom, radiodurans, and wishforwishes (I swear, I still think about call me anything you like at least once a month).

#fic rec #one direction #angst #for someone who hates it i sure have a lot of it

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imaginethathaikyuu · 3 years

Note

How did I find your blog? I was looking for soft Kuroo content on google. And your soft birthday hc’s for him came up. And that’s also how I found tumblr

What was the first story of yours that I read? That Kuroo piece ^

Roughly, how long have I been following this blog? Well I found that piece shortly after it was posted so…. Around the beginning of December 2019 I think. Got a tumblr a few months later and you were the first person I followed (had you in my bookmarks bar before that! (still have you in my bookmarks bar and when I share my screen in classes there are occasionally questions. I ignore them))

What’s something I’ve noticed about you personality wise? You’re really clever and funny. But you’re also sweet. But because you’re clever you have no hesitation in setting up and enforcing your boundaries, and I really admire that strength and confidence.

Have we ever interacted, either by PM, ask, or in the comments? What was my perception of you? YES!!! PM, SOOOOO many asks, comments, and you sent me an ask. And reblogged it. And I cried. A lot. My perception: you’re lovely and I want to h*ld your h*nd ….please.

What’s my favorite story of yours? Oh how to choose. Firstly, I’m a nb, biracial, bisexual. Honey, I’ve never made a choice in my life. But let’s try here. Anything you’ve written for Tsukki. Literally all of it is gold. Fight me. I was going to write “especially [piece title]” but I LITERALLY CANNOT CHOOSE ONE. Your Bokuto nightmare piece. Your Kuroo angsty fight. Your Tendou dealing with S/O with parents who yell piece. Your Kinktobers. Your Futakuchi and Mattsun pieces. And your Terushima pieces. Ugh. I CANNOT CHOOSE. OH AND YOUR STREAMER KENMA!!!!!! OKay just… all of it. I can’t choose. I tried, and I failed, and I’m willing to admit failure.

What’s a story I’d love to see you write? I don’t want to say this… because it hurts me… but I just KNOW you’d write brilliant angst. Some of my fav pieces of yours are pained beginnings with happy endings. That fight with Tsukki after a bad day at work. The pieces I mentioned above (nightmare pieces and fighting pieces and angsty home life ha.. ha.ha.ha.). That Oikawa one where the reader wakes up in bed without him and thinks he left. You write these gorgeous atmospheres and descriptive, visceral feelings, and if you chose to use it for evil…. You could get evil shit done. You’re SO powerful. So I want to read it… but also…. I don’t. I’d love to see you write ABO like you mentioned a while back or just see you explore a cutesy soulmate AU or something. I think you’d be really good at writing an AU where you hear what the other person’s listening too. I feel like you’d be so good at making me feel something for someone who was in another city. (think this would be cute with Tsukki cos he’s headphones boy, OR terushima because I like the dynamic of someone flirty, who clearly cares about looks, falling for someone he can’t see) ANYWAY….

Favorite pairing you write for?/fav reader insert? Tsukishima x reader. It’s my fav self-ship. (but also Mattsun, Bokuto, Oikawa, Tanaka, and Akaashi because you write them SO WELL!!!!)

Have any of your stories helped me through a hard time? Of course. Your self-harm piece came at a time I needed it. Iwaizumi’s in particular saved my life. But also your Tendou dealing with S/O parents who fight… came right when I needed it. Also starting college… was hard.. And reading and rereading your fluff really pulled me through it.

Have any of your stories hit closer to home? YES (see above).

Do I genuinely like your blog, it’s aesthetic or posts? It’s overall feel? It’s content? Yes. The aesthetic is, ngl, a wee bit basic. But I kinda love that. And the feel? It feels like home. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Your blog is my safe space. So, yes, I love. It’s content? YES. OF COURSE. Your personality probably could have kept me here even if your content was kinda shit, but I follow you RELIGIOUSLY because of your content. So yes. I adore.

Is English my first language? Kinda??? I grew up in a trilingual household so I kinda learned three languages at the same time while growing up. But no, I don’t need to translate it in my head. Because English was one of the three.

Anything I want to share? Yes. Please keep being kind to yourself, caring for your mental health, enforcing your boundaries, loving Akaashi, and just generally being you. You’re so lovely as you are, and I hope you continue grow, but never change. Also I’m sorry about all your work stuff…. It literally makes me feel sick. And I hope you find a job where that’s not tolerated, or that your work finds a better way of protecting it’s employees. I know you know this, but none of it is your fault. I just hope things improve. AND I love you… a lot. And I’m so proud of you hitting 9K and you deserve so many more followers because your pieces are just... GORGEOUS. I can’t wait until I’m at Barnes and Noble in a few years and I can pick up a hardback copy of your debut novel. I’m so excited to say “I knew Em Akaashi (which is your legal name as far as I’m concerned) before she was so popular among the masses.”

so ive been trying to figure out the correct and worthy way to reply to this ask since the moment i got it......because its so fucking sweet and kind and amazing and pure and perfect and i just dont know how to use WORDS to explain the way it makes me feel so.......i will just reply in bullet points in regards to every question u answered to make it a lil easier :D

- the fact that u found my blog on google ....... like this may be odd and a very specific thing but before i made this blog i always hoped that 1 day my fanfic would pop up in google searches bc thats ALWAYS how i found fics when i was reading them religiously and i felt so much ENVY!!!!! LIKE I WANTED TO BE THERE I WANTED MY FICS TO B POPULAR ENOUGH TO POP UP ON GOOGLE.....that may sound very selfish but its true......so thats just very cool to me... :]

- u’ve been here for so long omg 🥺🥺🥺🥺 if anyone in ur classes ever asks jus promo my blog like its nbd

- thats so sweet what 🥺🥺🥺 i try my best to advocate for myself and be confident for myself.....ive spent far too much of my time being silently uncomfortable because i was afraid of pushing someone’s buttons seeming rude.....but NO MORE!!!! i know what upsets me, i know my triggers, i know what i dislike experiencing, and im never gonna let myself be anxious or uncomfortable for someone else’s sake, esp if theyre being rude 2 me. i would say its less strength and confidence and moreso me attempting to take control of my anxiety in the places i can (aka on the Internet) bc i am SICK OF ANXIETY ATTACKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- BBY no dont CRY!!!! im racking my brain trying to think of who u are i wanna know so bad so i can thank u personally for being the kindest person in the world n so i can send u more asks >:(........MY HAND IS URS TO HOLD!!!!! dont tell akaashi tho

- OMG my TSUKKI pieces.....hes so hard to write why ;-; thank u so much im so glad u enjoy my works<3333

- NOT ANGST NOT LIKE THIS!!!!!!!!! pained beginnings to happy endings are my specialty.....IMAGINE me writing a sad ending like i CANT!!!!!!!!! ive only done it a few times and it is so Difficult.....YALL ARE SO LUCKY IM NOT EVIL!!!!!! ive had this idea for an angsty akaashi fic that i think about and write in my head every night before falling asleep and it Hurts and i wanna write it but i also can’t make myself :D ABO would be very fun but i genuinely do not know how to explore the concept while making it feel like it’s Written By Me.....u know what i mean? same with soulmate aus, i really dislike writing them because theyre just boring to me like they all feel the same everything’s been done for them.....which is FINE!!! but i write enough cliche stuff as it is HAHA, a long distance type soulmate au could be fun and interesting but ldr’s trigger me bc of a past relationship so </3 but hey maybe someone else could use the idea!!!!!

- gotta love tsukishima <3

- im rlly glad my writing could be there for you friend, one of the biggest reasons i write fanfic (and write the kind of fics i write) is bc i know firsthand how much reading sweet stories abt ur comfort characters can help u through the shittiest times - i just wanna offer ppl some support and happy feelings and love cuz sometimes fanfic is the only time we can find those things (and theres nothing shameful abt that either if anyone bullies u for reading fanfic i will fight them)

- I KNOW MY LAYOUT IS LAZY AND BASIC AS FUCK AND THAT IS BECAUSE I DO NOT GIVE A SHIT LMAOOOO so im glad u think its ok...... like i dont have the patience to create a fancy ass layout that actually works are u KIDDING ME??????? I COULD LITERALLY NEVER plus i kinda like that its just the basic kinda ugly boring default layout like it makes it simple and easy and i feel like it brings focus to the only thing on this blog that i care about which is my writing, i rlly only care about the content here and not aesthetics jdbljdabsdk that blue background will be there til i Die......i adore u more btw

- WHOA trilingual what the hell ur so cool tell me more

- you have my word, friend, that i will continue to do all of that so long as you do the same. take care of yourself, be kind to yourself - i know u can do it, ur so kind to others and u deserve to be kind to urself, too so this is the part that genuinely brought me to tears because *sappy dumb shit ahead* ok look ever since i can remember the one and only thing ive wanted to do with my life is become an author ...... dreams of book covers with my name written on them and words in pages written by me and fanart of my characters and going into my local bookstore n seeing my book there....these thoughts all haunt my fucking brain because i want it SO BAD!!!!!!!! so bad that it makes me CRY!!!!!!!! ive never wanted something more and just!!!!!!!!!!!! idk how much u meant that part but holy fuck!!!!!! i hope so bad that one day i can send u a free copy of my book as a thank u for being the person u are. u have all my love friend, every last bit of it <333333333

#ily<3 #long post

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galaxythreads · 3 years

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oh hey hey! 9? for the fanfic ask? and 35!!! I'd love to hear you ramble. (esp if its something sciency, it's always so cool when you talk science stuff)

Thanks for the ask, Widow!! Sorry I took so long. Life is. Bleh.

9: Which character(s) do you find most difficult to write?

This is actually going to sound weird, but...none of them? I mean, that first transition into writing a different cast of characters for a different fandom is utterly AWFUL, but once I get over that hill and start understanding the characters psyche better, I don’t really fight with them that much. I mean, ha, my first attempts to understand characters and write them is Terrible. You guys read my early SPN or MCU stories and you would all laugh. Or cringe. It’s literally pages and pages of second hand embarrassment. So. Summarize and stop the rambles: once I write characters more, the easier I find it is to write them.

35: Ramble about any fic-related thing you want!

*promptly forgets every fanfic I have ever written* uh. Y’know when someone asks you your favorite song and you just...can’t remember any sound you’ve ever witnessed? Yup.

Okay. Thinking, thinking. We’re going to ramble about The Blodig Skog, a marvel story for pre-Thor This story takes forever to get going. I have this one burst where I write an entire chapter in 1-2 days and then nothing for months. Because it sucks like that. But what I really want to talk about is the PTSD riddled within.

A lot of the time in media, PTSD is treated like it is exactly the same for everyone, and...it’s not. I mean, sure, the symptoms can be the same, but y’know how depression is different for everyone? So is PTSD. So when I sat down and planned out the Blodig Skog, I came to the conclusion that I was going to vastly differentiate between how Loki and Thor deal with the trauma.

Thor is absolute avoidance. He’d rather do anything other than think about what’s bothering him. He doesn’t have nightmares about it. He doesn’t have flashbacks. But it lingers with him, all the time, like a ghost haunting over him. And because Thor wasn’t tortured endlessly for months, he’s frustrated with himself for feeling angsty about it. He is doing his best to ignore people, because his limp absolutely humiliates him. He is shrinking into himself, and when he does talk about it, he tries to make it funny.

Loki, however, has nightmares. He has flashbacks. He feels like he never left. And because of this, he wants to return, simply because he doesn’t want his mind to be so divided anymore. He wants to talk about it, but is terrified of how he’ll be received. He is hyperaware of everyone and everything. Every intention feels like a threat, because Loki is at war with himself, so it only makes sense that he’s at war with everyone else, right? He picks fights with his parents, his peers, Thor, everyone. He wants to talk about what happened. He wants that so desperately, but there’s no one he trusts to listen without judgement. This isn’t funny, and he doesn’t want anyone to treat it like it is. The world has shifted around him with the Warriors and Sif treating him differently, so where is he supposed to fit? So Loki almost daydreams about returning to the Weeping Siren, because yeah, it sucked, but at least then he’s whole.

And I mean, unreliable narrator kind of applies to both of them, because they’re not functioning. And sure, of course Odin and Frigga want to help them, but they can’t get them to talk. At least in this ‘verse, Loki and Thor mostly raised each other with some interference from nurse maids, and, so, Frigga and Odin suddenly taking interest in their lives is...mind boggling to them. They want it, but they don’t know how to receive it so they push it away because it’s easier. This is why Loki is snapping at them all the time, because their undivided attention feels like some sort of joke. It’s only there for this brief moment, then it’s going to go again, right?

And in the end, because of these conflicting opinions about how they reacted to the trauma, Loki and Thor don’t know how to be around each other. It’s not a conscious decision, but they pick fights, they shout, and yell, but, they don’t know what else to do. And on top of all this trauma from Vanaheim, they already have the crap that had been building up for centuries before, so their both like bottle of carbonation that’s been shook. Start talking and they’ll explode.

And, I just. Yup. I really, really don’t think people recognize how much effort I put into planning out these stories. XD You get like, 7 hours of entertainment, while I sell my soul and become obsessive.

More fun facts about this ‘verse:

Vanaheim and Asgard almost went to war when Loki and Thor didn’t come back in the Weeping Siren, and have been on very tense relations since.

The Blodig Skog means “Bloody Forest”

Rydat (The Weeping Siren’s name) loosely means “sobbing” in Russian.

One of the reasons Sif hates Loki because his relationship with Thor is much better than hers is with her own sister. She’s jealous that he’s connected to his family.

The Weeping Siren’s children were killed by something in that tunnel. Something that is going to be important for the Blodig Skog. ;D

#answered #loki and trauma #thor and trauma #the weeping siren fanfic #my fanfic #fanfic analysis #odin fam #loki and thor

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ellewords · 3 years

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HI ELLE IM SORRY I ALMOST FORGOT TO REPLY BACK I FORGOT TUMBLR EXISTED (i was about to sleep coz its around 6:30 or something but like suddenly ur icon popped up in my head and oHMYGOD)

HOW HAVE U BEEN!!! I READ UR RECENT WORKS AND THE COLLEGE TSUKKI ONE WAS SO AMAZING LIKE SERIOUSLY IT WAS SOOOO GOOD.

ANYWAYS UR A SEULGI STAN??? ngl that actually does make sense. i was betting either her or joy omg. BUT IM A YERI STAN AND THE WAY THEY STYLED HER AND EVERY OTHER RV MEMBER THIS ERA WAS ACTUALLY DECENT THIS CB WAS A GOOD COMEBACK ESPECIALLY FOR THEIR EXTREMELY LONG HIATUS HHH (quick whats ur favourite bside in queendom and in their overall discography mine is i just and la rouge)

and actually i feel like u might be the type to like building tiny houses :o and if u do feel like starting it i highly recommend something simple (if im right, theres this one house called happy times from a brand(?) named flever the curtains pissed me off but it was sooo worth it and simple)

ALSO ARE U CAUGHT UP IN HOSPITAL PLAYLIST??? COZ (spoiler alert if not) OMG IKSUN AND JUNWAN’S RECENT INTERACTIONS MAKE MY HEART BEAT FASTER ESP THE ONE WHERE THEY WERE IN THE ER IDK WHY BUT IM A WH0RE FOR HONEST CONVERSATIONS LIKE THOSE. AND OMG IKSONG??? THE ANGSTY IKSONG FLASHBACK SCENE MADE ME FEEL FOR SONGHWA AAA i really hope it all works out in the end all five of them are so funny and unique and nice in their own ways they deserve to be happy :(

MODERN FAMILY !!! the ending is so upsetting in a mostly positive way and cAN I JUST SAY I RARELY CRY WHEN I WATCH SOMETHING BUT THIS!!! it took me three days before i could think about the ending scene without having any tears form in my eyes good GOD. my sister and i started b99 recently and we made it to s4 rn and honestly i am so glad to see a show where they can actually make lgbtq jokes without it being homophobic. and all of the characters are so <3 !!! its so cop propaganda but it also portrays poc and lgbtq people in such a good way that i can’t hate it :,). also idk if its the enfp in me but something about jake peralta and phil dunphy feel really really relatable. AND OOOH COMMUNITY HAS BEEN ON MY ‘TO WATCH’ LIST FOR AGES BUT BECAUSE OF THIS IM GONNA WATCH IT ONCE I FINISH WATCHING AHS (idk if u watched but hell house and coven >>>). ALSO THE GOOD PLACE’S LATTER SEASONS ARE JUST AS GOOD AS THE FIRST TWO IM SO GLAD THEY NEVER TRIED TO KEEP IT GOING UNTIL IT BECAME A PILE OF SHIT (ie: i love supernatural but…supernatural 😔). as for criminal minds i started it not too long ago but i can’t find the site i used to watch it on so i couldn’t finish season 1 </3 .

ANYWAYS YEAH LETS TALK ABOUT THESE MORE PLEASE I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR UR THOUGHTS ON THESE SHOWS (and more shows that u like hehe). LIKE FOR EXAMPLE: DID HALEY DUNPHY HAVE A GOOD ENDING (i think not she and andy were good together and her ending turned her into her mother and not in a good way) OR DO U THINK IKSONG HAPPENS THIS SEASON (ngl im betting that if the show doesn’t end on s2, then definitely s3) OR ANYTHING AT ALL (why am i so in love with tsukki and daichi good god also if haikyuu were real which school would u like to go to and which team would u support but also why does one tooru oikawa look like he would watch legally blonde on a weekly basis and sometimes with wing spiker hajime iwaizumi who now knows every word to the movie).

(btw yeah we have the same timezones :D but as for country 😬)

ITS THE WEEKEND ELLE!!! GO DO SOMETHING GREAT!!! UR AWESOME!!! AND PRETTY!!! (i’ve never seen u but u just give off pretty vibes srsly)

- <3

"I forgot tumblr existed" -- pls omg why is this me on some days?? anyways, ramble a lot on this one so putting everything under the cut hehe <3

first of all,, glad u liked the tsukki fic !! it really made me crave the college bf of my dreams who cuddles me when i can’t sleep (which is honestly every night at this point)

hold up,, why does me being a seulgi stan make sense to people omg ?? I got another ask a while back where they said they figured I was a seulgi stan what ?? also yes joy !! bias wrecker right there,, heart goes dock doki for her aaaa YERI !! pls honestly I could just scream about any and all rv members at this point, they have me by the neck I tell u ;-; I love pushing’ n pulling’ from queendom but from their overall discography I love la rouge as well, the bass (?) is immaculate but I also have a soft spot for light me up for some reason ??

oooh noted,, im always on the hunt for new hobbies so ill take this into consideration if I ever want to start building tiny houses hehe

AAAA IM NOT CAUGHT UP ;-; I just started ep. nine when I got caught up in uni stuff and couldn’t watch ;-; but I am hoping for iksong endgame + junwan/iksun endgame,, honestly I just want all of them to be happy wherever and whoever that happiness may be,, they all deserve the world ;-; AND THE OST ?? pls my fave band performance has to be the one from zoo (?) called met you at the subway station or something like that from s1, what about you?

MODERN FAMILY YES !! it’s just so rewatchable and heartwarming and I love the portrayal of family,, like yeah stuff isn’t perfect but you’re all there for each other in the end,, very easily one of my comfort shows...the finale made my heart clench but I thought it was a good way to wrap up the series </3 I feel the same about B99 honestly,, like yes cop propaganda but also the poc + lgbtq+ rep makes my heart all warm and sighh phil dunphy just lowkey jake peralta as a suburban dad,, I feel like he’ll treat Mac in the same way Phil treats Luke <3 COMMUNITY IS AMAZING,, the way they just play around with so many genres and concepts is amazing like no other show could have pulled it off but them aaaa and yes tgp is just godtier television,, the way I audibly gasped at the s1 finale?? no other show will ever get that reaction from me

oooh I loved Andy so much, he and Hayley were great together... I don't mind her getting back together with Dylan as he did mature in the later seasons while still keeping that charm, I just wish they didn’t make her a mom bc there are better ways to show her growth...I wish we could've seen her thriving in fashion/business with Dylan eventually becoming a nurse ;-; I hope iksong does happen tho they’d be so so good together but I do understand the hesitance bc of their decades long friendship ;-; PLS I AM ALSO ASKING MYSELF WHY IM IN LOVE WITH TSUKKI AND DAICHI I CANT HELP U THERE </3 I think I’d support seijoh for my mans but also Karasuno bc I love a good underdog team,, wbu? yes oikawa does watch legally blonde on a weekly basis with iwa he told me so himself <3

ME ?? AWESOME ?? PRETTY ?? THESE WORDS CANT POSSIBLY EXIST IN THE SAME SENTENCE AAA BUT TY GO DO SOMETHING FUN TOO !! AND TAKE CARE <333

#💘 — love elle!#🎐 — <3anon! <3

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