I’m not lazy it’s the ppls that only write female readers and gn reader are lazy

ah yes the people writing hundreds of thousands of words of tropes they enjoy for zero pay or compensation are lazy, yes, that's right, the hundreds of hours they pour into their work are the product of laziness, it can't possibly be that they just have

✨DIFFERENT TASTES THAN YOU DO✨

YOU SELF ABSORBED FUCKWIT LMFAOOOOOOOOO

honk honk honk how those shoes fitting btw? 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

End OTW Racism Link Round-Up: Week 1!

We are now in week two of our action demanding that OTW live up to its commitments to address racist harassment & abuse, which ends May 31st! There was a lot of great discussion during the first week, so we wanted to post a round-up of some of the longer-form discussion/analysis that people have been sharing (we're going with posts on Tumblr, Dreamwidth, and other sites, as well as Twitter threads that are longer than three tweets). These are posts that we think would be helpful to consider as fandom engages in the necessary conversations about these issues.

If we've missed something you've written, we'll be doing another round-up of week two, so it's not too late! You can either submit it on tumblr, tweet at us, or email us at endotwracism [at] gmail [dot] com. We do reserve the right to only share posts that are in line with the intent of the campaign and that we believe are adding to the conversation.

Tumblr

beatrice-otter: Why AO3 needs to be accountable for reducing fandom racism in its internal culture and the archive [link]

pretty-weird-ideas: End OTW Racism and the “Fed” Accusations [link]

aretethegreattelleroftales: You don’t understand what EndOTWRacism is asking for here, and because you clearly do not understand it, you should have known better than to speak on it. [link]

vex-verlain: In response to the reactions I’ve seen to #EndOTWRacism [link]

unrealromance: I don’t really understand how people don’t know the difference between ‘whoops I’ve fallen into a racist trope’ and 'I am literally writing hate speech that is unveiled, mask off’. [link]

pretty-weird-ideas: Codification of a Living Document as a solution to Harassment on OTW [link]

indifferentvincent: RE: End OTW Racism Derailment [link]

elumish: In light of some of the backlash to the End OTW Racism protest, and particularly the concern that an anti-harassment policy would lead to abuse of reporting mechanisms or censorship of unpopular authors/ships… [link]

seepunkrun: How to Find and Attend OTW Board Meetings [link]

indifferentvincent: The people who use the excuse of saying ao3 is an ‘archive’ and so 'must preserve’ the most vile, intentionally racist fics just sound like the most privileged motherfuckers on the planet to me. [link]

spacebeyonce & pretty-weird-ideas: wow this is such a normal and rational thing to say about having a diversity consultant to help ao3 fix their bullshit. [link]

indifferentvincent: I have to assume this is in regards to my promotion of the end-otw-racism call to action, because I don’t know what else it could be referencing. [link]

princeescaluswords: Writing Doesn’t Happen in a Void [link]

mousieta: There is a place, a magic place, a giant, ever growing park filled with sandboxes of every color and shape imaginable. [link]

Twitter

spacebeyonceart: alright so I want to talk about this post I made two years ago now that the #EndOTWRacism ball is finally rolling. [link]

generalfrings: This shit makes me so goddamn angry, yall. [link]

eruthosish: One of the calls of #EndOTWRacism is to improve the AO3's Terms of Service and how the AO3 deals with fanworks that are part of an offsite harassment campaign, so I wanted to share a story about the only time I have ever reported offsite harassment and had Abuse agree with me. [link]

buttonthemdown: They've proven they can move quickly *when they want to*, but the fact the OTW hasn't made an official statement acknowledging their lack of action and pledging to do better sends a signal they don't care about their POC fans. [link] 

Clonehub7567 Seeing the reactionary dismissals of #EndOTWRacism from white fans who pretend to care about racism is reminding me of the backlash i/we got for #UnwhitewashTBB. [link]

hydrochaeris3: ppl who are worried that not participating in the call to action will get them labeled racist..... first of all once again yall are showing that you care more about what others might label you than putting forth tangible effort into caring for a community [link]

m_sketchyart: If you think that #EndOTWRacism is censoring your escapism, here’s a thought to chew on: why is being anti-racist a threat to your escapism? Is true escapism not also leaving racism, antiBlackness, fatphobia, abeism, misogyny, etc out of your escapism? /rh  [link]

lunedraws: Have you wanted to walk the walk and not just talk the talk, re: racism, in one or more of your fandom spaces? This is a concise and timely line of actions we can take. [link]

aliasmarionette: One thing I see a lot in #EndOTWRacism comments which are in favour of the status quo is assumptions about who we mean by fandom, and about the user base of the Archive. [link]

SapphicScholar: New profile photo while participating in the important fan-led campaign to demand that OTW make good on the promises it has already made to address issues it has already acknowledged as problems in the archive—that is, instances of extreme racist harassment and abuse [link]

Fansplaining: Since the endotwracism campaign has begun, we wanted to highlight the timeline they've put together about the OTW's communications re: hiring a diversity consultant since their initial statement of commitment in the summer of 2020. [link]

gwenpendrcgon: ive seen so much backlash over #EndOTWRacism which shouldnt surprise me (also majority of this comes from tumblr is also to be expected) but most if not all backlash received by this event is done is such bad faith and complete wilful ignorance [link]

fiercynonym: so op of the #EndOTWRacism post on reddit dm-ed me and the situation is even more fucked up than i originally knew???  [link]

kitschlet: seeing a lot of people confused about what the OTW can do to address racism [link]

generalfrings: poor AO3 maintaining a 'absurdly heavy site'. all that text! [link]

RukminiPande: Fan scholars should be paying attn to #EndOTWracism. [link]

Saathi1013: The thing to notice about all the assertions that people know who's behind EOTWR is like... Okay, there are a few things, actually [link]

buttonthemdown: If you think that victims of racism need to "develop a thicker skin" you're a fucking racist [link]

mousieta: if i could have people understand one thing abt #endotwracism right now is that This issue matters not because racism makes you feel bad, or uncomfy, or squicky but because racism is actively harming Real Living Breathing Fans right now. [link]

fiercynonym: okay so…you know how OTW has been saying, when asked at meetings, that they have a budget surplus of about USD $1 million? well…manogirl & i did some digging, and it might actually be more than TWO AND A HALF MILLION USD. [link]

runpunkrun: Speaking of OTW Board meetings, if you're interested in attending, here's what you need to know [link] 

Dreamwidth

satsuma: A Chronic Habit of Avoiding Responsibility? #EndOTWRacism [link]

bcgphoenix: I have a lot of feelings about OTW and End OTW Racism as a book conservator/general preservation person, most of which verge into tl;dr territory. [link]

killabeez: Looking at past archive policies [link]

nyctanthes: End OTW Racism (Fannish Fifty #47) [link]

chestnut_pod: Be more democratic, be more autocratic, OTW [link]

Other sites

Lady’s Weblog: End Racism in the OTW [link]

The Rec Center: #384 Final Thoughts [link]

Stitch’s Media Mix: I’m Supporting #EndOTWRacism [link]

Hey bro i heard you like 🔥 so c'maaan gimmie your salt maaaan

Send me a “ 🔥 “ for an unpopular opinion.

(( gonna preface this by saying - if any of my moot moots are one side or the other, or consider themselves such - i got no beef with you. you're my homies, my real ones, my ride or dies; im open-minded to hearing your opinions. jus' dont send me any anon nastiness, ill cry REAL tears ))

honestly? i can't stand the black and white thinking in the rpc & fanfic communities as a whole. the whole pro-shipper/anti-shipper debate is extremely tiresome to apparently anyone who believes in nuance & grey situations.

like, on one side - you have people who will and do persecute people for the fucked up ships that they write. on the other, you have people who preach fiction is fiction and will willingly ignore the genuinly problematic people who take advantage of the notion of 'pro-shipping' in order to write their extreme fetishes ( ala, pedophilia / beastiality ).

i have always been anti-censorship. i always will be. i watch extreme cinema and read extreme manga / comics. nothing phases me. there are films that disturb me ( salo will /always/ make my uncomfy ) and obviously things i wont touch with a ten foot barge pole ( anything with kids / animals ) but for the most part, i'm very chill when it comes to what people want to write. i believe people should be honest about their kinks, preferences and things they wish to write.

if your partner is willing, it's consensual and tagged or under a read more. i have zero issues with it. but -

i have gotten sent hate before from 'pro-shippers' for stating my stance on anybody who wants to write smut with kids. literal hate for stating i'm against pedophilia. ( and im not talking about a 17 yr old being sexually active, im talking, like - literal children being sexualised ) like, what? i've been called purity police and all kinds of shit. like, me? purity police???? the bitch whose favourite comic is crossed and favourite manga, ichi the killer. LOL

my whole issue with the debate and the censorship / arguments in the rpc is that, it feels as though you HAVE to be one side or the other. you can't have a nuanced opinion, you can't understand that sometimes - there is a place for certain content, despite how extreme it is.

everybody is allowed a preference. you're allowed to be upset, offended, afraid, disgusted by or whatever else from x subject. every single individual is different and it's what makes us all beautiful. and i feel people need to really understand this. you can write extreme content but don't expect people to like it. on the other hand, if you don't like x content - don't attack someone for writing that content.

i just feel that there's wrong on both sides and i wish people would actually talk about the subject instead of throwing around attacks at each other. ultimately, whether anybody likes it or not - what you're writing is a footnote in the grand scheme of literature. you're writing on tumblr with your buddies and you're here to have fun.

if you wanna write an extreme sex scene with your consenting friends, go for it. if you don't want to write smut or you can't stand a certain ship, that is totally fine, too.

it's okay! both sides can be right without being aggressive or nasty.

like said, i would never label myself 'pro-ship' or any of that shit because i don't agree with that stance. i believe that there is a place for all content in all media in some, way, shape or form. i believe that rp is a slippery slope because it's a hobby that involves partners and is sociable. you have to please those around you and must understand that you can't wave around fetishes without a potential backlash. i agree people should write what they want, but i don't agree that there is a place for ( for example ) smut involving kids or animals. especially in the rpc. i've seen people 'joke' before about writing a pedo purely for exploration & to get a reaction. i can't imagine a more unenjoyable, questionable, horrific kind of thing to write in rp ( hell, even in media...that sort of character burns out and leaves creators depressed a/f).

i just wish people would talk, understand, and be open-minded. and - think about the bigger picture, too.

is this thing going to ride with you when you're offline?

probably not. so be respectful, have fun and just chill~

I'm going to try this character ask. Do I have to go for one or can I go for like two? If so Stan Marsh from South Park and/or Steven Universe.

Yeah I'm happy to do two!

Stan:

favourite thing about him: I love how he's permanently done with everyone else's bullshit, it's always really funny and kinda relatable to me

least favourite thing about him: when he says or does stupid shit because he doesn't know better and gives me second-hand embarrassment. Either that or T&M constantly making him suffer working on Randy's farm lately.

favourite line: 'Can't you just, kind of, fuck off?'

BrOTP: Style and lately cause of s25 Stolkien

OTP: Stendyle

NOTP: haven't really got one, I don't really do NOTPs for the most part besides obviously gross shit like abuse, incest, paedophilia etc.

Random headcanon: he eventually stops hating weed so much thanks to hanging out with Tolkien and just hates Tegridy Weed specifically

Unpopular opinion: I still kinda like the idea of stoner Stan even if Randy pretty much killed it, idk quite how he'd stop hating it but I'd like to imagine it

Song I associate with him: 1x1 by Bring Me The Horizon, a lot of BMTH songs give me a stan vibe tbh lol

Favourite picture of him: this one, or as I like to call it, the definitive Stendyle screenshot

Steven:

favourite thing about him: how he always tries so hard to see the best in people even when they're so unbelievably hostile to him

least favourite thing about him: seeing him push everyone away and bottle up his feelings as the show goes on, writing wise I think it's good but it's painful to watch. Poor kiddo needs therapy 😭

favourite line: 'I'm me! I've always been me.'

BrOTP: him and Lapis and Peridot

OTP: Connverse, probably a real shock to hear that one lol

NOTP: anything between Steven and gems, there's like a multiple thousands of years age gap so yeah I'll pass

Random headcanon: he probably loves to call Connie after she goes to college and just let her ramble about her degree or stuff she's up to

Unpopular opinion: I don't mind that we didn’t see his therapy, it's more important we got to see the people close to him look after him rather than introducing some random new character

Song I associate with him: for some reason Can I Call You Tonight by Dayglow has a real him vibe to me, mostly Future him trying to get support from his friends

Favourite picture of him: this one from the movie, he just looks grown up and happy it's so sweet

Thanks for asking!

Really unpopular opinion but i don't think Nancy cheated on Steve.

Honestly I think it might depend on how you look at the events of season 2. (Also not certain why I was sent this but I’ll give my two cents.)

Nancy’s having a crisis over everything because she keeps forcing herself to attend those dinners with Barb’s parents where they think Barb is alive and she knows that she’s dead. Literally causing herself and Steve emotional distress because the whole thing was just really fucking awkward and if that’s how it was that time I can only imagine how it’s been since the first invite.

Steve is right that they can’t talk about anything that happened especially in the very public library that she starts ranting to him in (even if they went to a private room, spying governments won’t care about your discretion on shit they’re trying to cover up.) and he makes it clear that he knows she’s frustrated but he’s unwilling to die for this. I can’t say I blame him for that one because her plans after that were honestly? Fucking stupid. Getting captured by the people responsible for the death of your best friend in hopes they spill the military secret beans was one of the most idiotic things in the world and I’m 10000% sure the only reason they lived is because she brought Jonathan instead of Steve. Cuz if Jonathan went missing Joyce would’ve been on the fucking warpath.

And the only reason I think you might be a little bit right is because of Nancy’s little drunken outburst and Steve’s response to it the next time they see each other. Yes, Nancy, Steve is trying to pretend shit is normal instead of going the espionage route because he’s a teenage boy who doesn’t wanna die or watch the girl he’s in love with die. Does that make him bullshit? Apparently. You know what else is kinda bullshit? Stringing someone along when you know you don’t have real feelings for them. Steve makes it pretty clear that he’s pissed she can’t even say “I love you” BUT neither of them say “I think we should break up.” He simply returns the sentiment saying maybe she’s the one who’s bullshit.

This could be seen as the breakup point but then we get to Steve coming to apologize, clearly trying to fix things even though I really don’t think that shit was his fault. But Nancy is already MIA with Jonathan and they’re on their way to Murray’s. Murray who listens to Nancy’s woes over Steve and goes “we like Steve but we don’t love Steve.” And Nancy tries to dispute that but can’t. Even she makes it known that her relationship with Steve technically isn’t over yet. And then she proceeds to fuck Jonathan later that night while Steve is helping Dustin and lamenting about what went wrong.

And I think the Dufflebags tried writing Steve giving bad flirting advice because they’re showing he hasn’t matured yet and trying to give Nancy a pass but it just kinda comes across as “how did the guy become known as a panty dropper when he’s that bad at flirting already and only gets worse in season 3 but supposedly is back on game in season 4?”

Speaking of season 4, we have Nancy in another spot where she can’t seem to pick a man because we have her seeming to be pining over Steve while being with Jonathan just because Jonathan has been distant. Which is because Jonathan wanted to stay close to his family for college and didn’t know how to break that to her because they had a plan to go to the same college.

And don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate Nancy. I think she’s made some objectively idiotic choices and she’s been a bit flippant over other people’s issues in the past, for example Jonathan not wanting to lose the job at the paper because his family is kinda poor and he needs the job. Yes she was being discriminated against because she was a teenage girl in a male dominated field. What the fuck was her also teenage boyfriend supposed to do about that? Go off the handle and have them both get fired? Well that happened anyway after the stunts she pulled with Jonathan so maybe. But again, I don’t hate her.

All of this to say that whether or not she cheated is disputed. I have no access to any interview by the Dufflebags stating one way or another but personally. Factoring in no actual moment of saying they’re broken up, the fact that Steve was on his way to apologize (when it wasn’t his fault), and Nancy straight up trying to lie to Murray that she was in love with Steve? It sounds like cheating to me to do that and then fuck the other guy.

.

Ok, I’ve tried and tried and tried to write this fic because I see it so clearly in my mind but it’s just not going no matter what I do. But I don’t want the idea to die with me. The closest this came to being written was exile which was an attempt to bleed out some of the energy of this au.

Anyway, so it starts off vaguely similar to canon only more aggressive. There had been underlying tension between ghosts and humans for a while, the dead jealous/angry at the living for disrespecting them. The successful creation of the Fenton ghost portal (and another halfa) was considered an act of war and so the ghosts responded in kind. So basically all of S1 occurs fairly close to canon except ghost attacks are more violent and have increasingly more consequences as time passes. Also the attacks aren’t just in Amity Park with ghosts becoming a worldwide issue but Amity is a focal point. Regular people know the ghosts hate them though they don’t know why. Phantom is very much a controversial figure as he is a ghost but also clearly is fighting off the more violent ghosts. 

One day, not long after the events of Control Freaks, Amity Park wakes up to find three of their own are gone. Danny Fenton, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley are nowhere to be found. There’s a massive manhunt, the parents go on TV and beg for information but they cannot be found. Curiously enough, town hero Phantom was also missing. There’s some evidence they left of their own volition so the Mansons and Foleys eventually relent that the kids fled on their own. The Fentons are 100% certain the kids were stolen/killed by ghosts as a statement. And the fact that Phantom went missing around the same time means he was the one who killed them. Jazz knows Danny was Phantom but had no idea what was going on and knew her parents wouldn’t listen she just, kept quiet and privately tried to piece together what happened. 

Three years pass and finally it looks like the Ecto War is coming to a close. Young, naive ghosts attempted to raise Pariah Dark in a bid to win. It went disastrously but Phantom (who was periodically spotted around the world, deep in the worst battles of the war) and group of loyal allies subdued the king. By the law of ghosts, Phantom was named heir apparent and he declared that the fighting would stop. Humans and ghosts would have to negotiate and co-exist in peace. But he’s not king yet, no he needs to be crowned at the place where it began, Amity Park’s Fenton portal (”where it all began” has a double meaning of the beginning of the war but also symbolically where Phantom began as Kings assume the crown where their living life ended to show their abandonment of their first life and the commitment to their second). Amity is NOT happy to hear that their former hero is coming home.

Amity has been through the wringer, ghost attacks got pretty bad. The Fenton’s throw themselves into their work to cancel out the grief, they create a group of ghost hunters nicknamed the Reds (for their red blood, ghosts are nicknamed Greens) to control the threat. Valerie heads the young adult division and is considered one of the best, she drops out of school to devote herself to it full time. Oh also her dad is now the Mayor as most have died or didn’t want the job. There are still people who like Phantom and see him as a hero (a lot of Casper Kids) but it’s generally an unpopular opinion in town. Maddie and Jack are ready to obliterate the ghost that took their son’s life the moment he’s within city limits. It’s a powder keg ready to blow. It all comes to a head when Phantom and his entourage arrive.

First off, Phantom looks very different, much less human looking than when he left. He’s clearly aged like a normal teen but his eyes look much, much older.  His skin is dead white with a blue tinge to it from his ice core and his aura is super cold. His hair is longer and is very misty that kind of swirls around him and his has fangs and claws. When he’s deep in battle or his obsession, his sclera turn black and he looks scary af. His entourage is ghosts who have sworn loyalty to him, who he picked up along the way after battling beside them for 3 years. Fright Knight, Skulker and Frostbite are recognizable allies. They are not happy that their future King is back in Amity (secretly fearing they’ll lose him once more to his human life). J&M have a shot and are going for the kill when they see something that shocks them; Sam and Tucker are in Phantom’s entourage.

There had been whispers that Phantom interacted with humans, that humans were in his inner circle but this is something else together. And so are Sam and Tucker. Sam is Phantom’s General, she is talented and collected and half feral. She used to be a pacifist but the trials of war and understanding that peace sometimes needs to be fought for made her compromise. She’s covered in scars and an extremely talented fighter. She’s missing her right hand up to her forearm, she can form a ‘phantom limb’ (basically borrowing ectoplasm from her future ghost) to do some things with some powers. Tucker is the support, he uses human and ghost tech to organize, weaponize and generally keep things running. He’s covered in homemade tech (shields and weapons and computers) and he rarely removes. Both he and Sam have kinda forgotten how to interact with and really BE human after so long among the dead. They had attempted to conceal themselves but they had forgotten how strong parental love and recognition is. J&M want to know about Danny, the teens don’t know how to respond but assure them he’s alive. Phantom can’t bring himself to look at them.

This is where I start to lose track of things but there will be parallels of Valerie/Maddie vs Sam as female warriors on opposite sides who are willing to go behind, possibly compromising the things important to them, for victory. Tucker will be contrasted against Jack/Jazz as the one making weapons but also generally keeping the human parts of the team mentally/physically afloat. *Severe* PTSD for all three of them. They’re also unnaturally codependent on each other, get super anxious when one of the trio is out of sight and sleep in a big cuddle pile. They will fucking Kill You if you look at one of them wrong. Vlad will be involved, he had been jailed for war crimes but convinced Walker to stage a coup to overthrow Danny and take the crown before he’s actually declared King and is too powerful. Vlad is more unhinged here, more ghost than human (a hint on what could happen to Danny if he’s not careful). He is eventually defeated but he sacrifices his life for ghost power which, in the end, is what makes him able to be beaten.

 There’s lots of ideas on what it means to be live or dead and where the divide really is, is it a heartbeat or it is how you choose to use your existence. On how duty shouldn’t mean you need to give up everything. Because Jack and Maddie believe that Phantom killed their son and, in a way, they’re right. Before they left, the ghost war had gotten so bad and the rumors of Dark being resurrected were going around. Amity attacks were at an all time high, people in their school were being killed just because Danny went there. He realized he had to choose between Fenton or Phantom and he chose to protect the world. He abandoned his human identity and went off to fight in war. Tried to convince Sam and Tucker to stay but they followed him through hell and back. Because Danny spends so much time as Phantom, Fenton is severely neglected. His long hair is cool and floaty as Phantom but is unkempt and stringy, hanging in his face as Fenton. He’s wan and underweight and looks like a walking corpse. He knows his human half will give out soon if he doesn’t give it more attention but he just can’t there’s too much to do, too many people to save.

It would end with Danny being outed to the town, not the world, just the town. Jack and Maddie need to recon with the fact that their boy DID leave of his own choice but only because their failure to protect him (from both the portal and ghosts) made him feel he had to take all this responsibility on his shoulders. Danny also has to recognize that he (and Sam/Tuck) can’t do all this on their own and they can trust and rely on the people around him. Phantom is crowned King but he decides Amity will be his base. The trio eat more, sleep some, catches up on school all the while continuing their duties as King and court. The ghosts also see that Phantom’s humanity isn���t a weakness but a strength and will bring peace to the Earth/Zone so they also take some of the burdens off his shoulder. 

Basically I load up heavily with angst at the beginning and end with all the love and comfort imaginable. I just can’t fucking figure out the middle and my motivation will not let me write this shit out. But I can’t let this AU die bc it fucking keeps me up at night.

Favorite tropes/AUs list part 2 because it got a lot of notes

Thank you all for the attention on that post, here's part 2. Tag me if you ever write something that includes these, I'd love to read them.

Romance

- One character dying in the other's arms. I don't care how big of a cliche it is, I love it. Bonus point if the other kisses their forehead after they lose consciousness completely.

- The usually very composed, calm and strategic Character X losing their literal shit when Character Y gets hurt. I eat this up every damn time.

- This one is oddly specific. Character X is very good with a sword and everyone knows it. Cut to Character X teasing Character Y being useless with a sword. It's usual for them, but they take it too far this time so Y says pick up a sword. And X is like what? Y: I said pick up a sword. So they start combating, and Y is absolutely amazing at it. Everyone is shocked, including X, and by the end of it Y has X on their knees with a sword pointed to X's neck. The tension!! I love swords in fiction. (I actually wrote a fanfic similar to this, it's sitting in my drafts waiting to be edited.)

- VERY specific. A story set in an historical period. Character X kisses Character Y's hand. But here's the tricky part: as a gesture, the person offering their hand (having their hand kissed) was expected to be of the same social status or higher. Except Character X is in a position of wealth/nobility/power where Character Y is the complete opposite of that. And Y only learns how heavy of a meaning the gesture holds when someone else mentions it, does it etc. I already have a thing for hand kisses but this one in particular just. Gets me.

- Touch starved Character X and very tactile Character Y who doesn't even realize they're touching X in a way no one ever did like half the time. This is a really interesting dynamic to write for me, mostly because I love the concept of being touch starved actually having an impact on our physical well being as well and the direct connection of human interaction and the human psyche. I don't know. This trope probably serves hurt/comfort and angst better than most.

Character arcs & plot

- Inner conflict. Like, I want to see the character struggle with decisions, try to bury their feelings deep within themselves and failing, dealing with their guilt, their thought processes in the face of an ultimatum.

- A character learning how to wield their powers. Perhaps through a mentor/mentee bond, perhaps being taught by a peer or love interest, or even by themselves if the situation only allows them to do so alone. This is most likely for fantasy, like a character with magic or the gift of prophecies, but I love seeing how much a character has improved by the end of the plot. Bonus if they serve BAMF moments too.

- Betrayal. I'm not talking cheating on your partner or outing someone on purpose, at least not that kind of betrayal. This can be a hero betraying their own people because they're compromised and it's their only option, a person in an intimate relationship (romantic, platonic, QPR, you name it) revealing a secret that eventually brings out years worth of lies, or an antagonist betraying their cause and turning fully dark and set on personal revenge. This serves great angst and plot twists.

- A character questioning the things they had been taught religiously all through their lives. They can either be unlearning their hate, getting out of the boundaries created for them by others, or wondering if the cause they dedicated themselves to is actually where their morals point to anymore. I find the concept liberating and if it's a change for the worse, very tragic.

Some general things I like

- This is an unpopular one... Descriptive writing and symbolism. But it needs to be written extremely well. I'm not talking about lining up adjectives like red thick woolen cloak; I'm talking about colors being associated with emotions, the weather mirroring the main character's/the particular chapter's mood, feelings being wrapped up in metaphors and described as vivid things. Obviously this shouldn't be overdone, for example you can't read a 150K novel written fully like this. But when it is done to convey a certain tone/message it impresses me so much.

- The chapter/book titles being directly drawn from a key quote/event in the book. I seem to find that these kind of associations make the book really stick to my memory.

Favorite AUs for my fanfic writers

- I love the 5 + 1 things so much! You can alter the number according to what you're planning, but for me 5 or 4 is the way to go.

- Fake dating. This could also apply to the romance part, but I think it works better in fanfiction no matter how romantic/platonic the duo's dynamic may be. This serves such good humor and banter, but also angst too— imagine mutually pining idiots who thinks their love is unrequited, and are in pain during the whole deal. See how you can use it however you want? Yeah.

Do you ever think about the fact that the ninth runs the Seireitei Bulletin, like I just imagine Kuna and Shuuhei going around trying to journalist. Maybe they drag Kensei along and he just stands in the background staring disapprovingly.

Yes, of course. I think about Shuuhei running that damn newspaper constantly.

The Seireitei Bulletin might be my favorite world-buildy thing about Bleach. I love it. I love that nearly all the captains write columns for it, and half of them are extremely unpopular and the other half are batshit insane (You will never convince me that Unohana's Every Nook and Cranny is not a sex column). I love that the special Ryouka Invasion Issue claimed that Orihime's "offenses are odious" and that Captain Zaraki "fell victim to her poison fangs." I love that there was a filler episode where Shuuhei tried to drum up drama at a Kite Festival for the purposes of getting a juicy story. I love the shitty promotions they are constantly running to try and get people to read it (free sake-flavored rice cakes?? I guess I would take a newspaper if it came with a dessert?)

I do have a little difficulty picturing Kensei running this thing in the TBTP era, so here's my personal headcanon regarding the Bulletin. Please note that I have not and will never read CFYOW, and also I am not a hard-core 9th aficionado, so I am probably wrong about this, but I don't really care.

The Bulletin has allegedly been around for over 1000 years, but I like to think that it used to be a smaller operation, probably run under the 1st Division, and that it was basically just a Gotei propaganda machine. I can definitely see Tousen, upon becoming captain, deciding that he wants to take it over so that he can shed an impartial light on the happenings inside the Seireitei. It’s also possible that Aizen came up with the idea, because it helps him control public knowledge/opinion, but I really prefer the idea that this was Tousen’s brainchild, it seems Very Tousen to me.

Fun fact! Tousen used to write a column called The Path of Justice, which everyone hated, but he refused to cancel. He eventually turned it into a cooking column which was beloved by many female shinigami. Personally, I like to believe that Tousen is also the one who taught Hisagi to cook.

I think Tousen was, in general, too hardcore for most people. He had principles and he stuck to them, and many people found this very tiring, but it’s actually a Big Chief Editor Mood. Like, Len Downie, the legendary Editor-in-Chief of the Washington Post refused to vote, because he felt like he needed to remain so unbiased that it would be immoral for him to pick a candidate.

However, I think that Hisagi both admired Tousen’s attitude as Editor-in-Chief, but also loved the Bulletin as an entity. I think the two of them built this thing into an embodiment of their twin visions: hard-hitting investigative journalism, Truth Above All Else, but also, we gotta fund this baby, so let’s throw in some ads for sunglasses and an Agony Aunt column.

By the time Kensei arrives, it’s there. It’s an institution. I actually wrote a bit in a fanfic where he finds out that his division runs a newspaper from Kenpachi of all people, during the shit-shooting that precedes a Captain’s Meeting, and he is horrified because he thought Hisagi was trying to have one over on him. 

So, while I think that if you had asked him up front, Kensei would have categorically refused to publish a newspaper under the auspices of his division, the fact is, it’s already happening. They’ve already got all this staff, they got printing presses, and Hisagi takes care of 99% of it anyway, so he just lets it... keep going. After all, he’s got two lieutenants, one can run the newspaper and the other can...do... whatever it is Mashiro does. Of course, what Mashiro does is nothing, so Kensei is constantly forced to hear about the newspaper from his functional lieutenant and he gets kinda fond of it. I feel like Kensei is the sort of guy who tries to avoid taking things on, but once he has accepted a task, he wants to do it well. He doesn’t micromanage the Bulletin the way Tousen used to, but he gives Hisagi the resources he needs, and will use his clout as a captain to protect his reporters or to get access to information. He takes over Tousen’s cooking column and there’s a picture of him in a little apron. It is, once again, extremely popular with the female shinigami.

Mashiro can’t be depended on for anything, but she will sometimes throw a bunch of handwritten copy on Hisagi’s desk and then walk away. It might be a shocking expose on the illicit activities of one of the Noble Houses or it might be a ten-page review of a vegetable stand down in the Market District. It takes at least three copy-editors working together to turn her work into something readable, but Hisagi prints everything she has ever written.

Bonus: Here’s the fanfic I wrote once where Rose and Kira write a restaurant review column.

HMM since someone covered a mondstadt character, your choice between Childe or Scaramouche (or both I suppose)! Fatui hours (and two characters i’m not sure if I super know your opinion on?)

thank you!!! I think I'll go with Childe just because we know a bit more about him so I feel like I can answer more of the questions

how I feel about this character

no but seriously, I think childe is a really fascinating character, particularly from a fandom perspective, because there's just something so flexible about how you can interpret him. depending on who you ask, childe is a callous jerk who completely lacks empathy, he's a traumatised young man who uses his blasé attitude to deflect, he's a guy who's trapped in a horrific position and just wants to protect those he cares about, or he's something else entirely. childe's writing is light enough that you really can do whatever you want with him. I think that aspect of his character definitely shapes how I think of him, because I imagine childe as a boiling mass of contradictions. I think he doesn't really have a clue who he is and what he wants, and mostly that doesn't bother him at all (until it does, occasionally, and then it doesn't again)

gameplay wise, he's probably my most wanted character at the moment because he has to have one of the most interesting kits in genshin. I have massive hopium for another rerun, even though I already know I will lose the 50/50 because that's just the permanent state of my luck

All the people I ship romantically with this character

zhongli for sure, though I feel like nobody (including me!! I already feel like my chili fics are the wrong vibe) can ever represent their dynamic quite the way I want. owing to how nebulous childe's character is, it's really difficult to say what the state of their relationship is. I just feel like they would be on completely different wavelengths, even if they're mutually fascinated with one another. both of them are just passing the time in each other's company, but not in a callous, unfeeling way. even calling it a relationship doesn't feel right.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

this is a tough one, because I feel like childe just like. doesn't really have proper friends. I would like to know much more about his relationship with his family, though, given how fiercely protective he is of them.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I don't know if I really have an unpopular opinion? I'm not really a fan of fic that portrays childe as too soft or vulnerable, or too introspective. sometimes I think the fandom makes him way, way too nice. but he is a ridiculously difficult character to portray, so I'm not exactly surprised that his personality varies so much

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon

I desperately want to see more interaction between him and the other harbingers, especially as none of them seem to like him much. I would kill for a scene with scaramouche and childe because I want to see bastard on bastard violence

my OTP

I'm not sure I could even call chili an otp because the whole vibe of it just feels so unlike a classic ship, but it's definitely the dynamic I'm most interested in

a headcanon fact

i have several:

he constantly buys drinks for strangers. it's his go-to activity whenever he's bored, though he doesn't always drink that much himself

no small talk capabilities. he just dives right into asking you about wild shit, which is part of why zhongli likes him.

very good listener and an unsettlingly good memory.

he sometimes thinks that the real ajax died in the abyss and that he's actually some kind of changeling. the idea doesn't rattle him as much as he feels it should

There’s a sad lack of fanfic and art for famous musician Semi, which is a tragedy, and I can’t really write or draw for shit so I can’t help BUT I can write headcanons for it!! This will also be partially centered around Semishira

- i imagine his general sound would be somewhere in between Bear Ghost and Will Wood and The Tapeworms vibes

- His fan base was originally composed of alt/punk people but a lot of other people got into it after he got more popular

- He’s openly bi, but he does not ever say that he’s taken, only that he’s not looking for a partner. (Mainly bc Shirabu does not want to be in the spotlight)

- Part of the reason he blew up was because of an offhand remark Ushijima made regarding a good friend of his who made music in an interview. Naturally, Ushijima fans looked into it and found Semi Eita, and decided that his music slapped

- His fans don’t realize that the reason Ushijima and him were so close was bc they played volleyball together at first, but when they did, they had a field day with it. They found old recordings of shiratorizawa games and simped over his serves

- Semi likes his fans, but is not scared to scold them if they do things like make fun of someone for not liking him, or harass other celebrities who’ve said rude things abt him

- Another big reason he got popular was a clip that got passed around of him calling out an interviewer on a homophobic comment they made toward a famous lesbian (idk take your pick so long as it’s not Ellen DeGeneres)

- He’s known to be outspoken abt human rights and social injustices, which gets him a lot of backlash from certain media outlets

- Semi has two Twitter accounts, one public and the other private. One day he accidentally posted something abt Shirabu that was meant to go on his private account to his public one, which obviously did not go well. It did not say Shirabu’s name, but it did refer to him as Semi’s boyfriend so despite Semi deleting the post one minute after he made it once he realized his mistake, the world knew he was not single

- His fans went crazy with this information, trying to find out who his boyfriend was. The first places they looked was his band, but those theories were quickly dispelled as everyone else was already openly taken.

- Shiratorizawa was the next place Semi’s fans looked, and they rewatched the shiratorizawa tapes and noticed that he was particularly close with Tendou and had weird tension with Shirabu.

- Shirabu’s social media presence was a resounding zero, so fans weren’t really able to get any more information on him other than his name and age, but Tendou was very outspoken on his -previously unpopular- Twitter abt his friendship with Eita so theories of them dating were the most popular

- Eventually Semi made a statement along the lines of, “Yes, I’m dating someone. I did not tell you bc we want our relationship to be private. Respect that.”

- TenSemi theories were going strong until Ushijima publicly came out and introduced Tendou as his partner. Fans decided to revisit the semishira theory, and were somehow able to find an old video of Shirabu complaining abt medschool while tucked under one of Semi’s arms.

- Semi did not appreciate his fans’ intruding into his personal life, and especially did not appreciate the frequent questions he would get from interviewers abt his mystery boyfriend

- After a while, rumors died down and everyone besides hardcore fans dropped it, until a photo of Semi and Shirabu holding hands at someone’s wedding is leaked (take your pick of whose wedding it is)

- The questions from fans and interviewers come back twice as strong, and eventually Shirabu gives Semi permission to tell people that they are together bc it’s a hassle for both of them to hide it at this point

- Semi decides that the best way to approach this is a post on Twitter, so he just says, “Kenjirou and I are together, stop asking about it.” Along with a picture of Semi kissing Shirabu’s forehead

That’s it! Please lmk if there’s some kind of au you’d like headcanons for and I’ll probably write them for you! I need something to do with my time

Character: Bianca Davri

I’m sorry I took FOREVER to do these. <3 I hope it was worth the wait!

Break their Ass Down: Bianca Davri

How I feel about this character

I like and respect her. We don’t know a lot about her, but what we DO know is kind of badass. She’s probably about Varric’s age (40ish), and we can assume the bulk of her work has been completed in about 20 years (from her 20s through to the present day) and in that time she’s completed MULTIPLE life changing inventions that are honestly pulling Thedas into the industrial revolution if you look at OUR world history and compare what happened when similar inventions were created that revolutionized the backbreaking labor of agriculture and manufacturing. 

She is absolutely a genius, and she knows it. That confidence and her reputation/skill makes her sexy and powerful. But there’s hints that she didn’t have the power she has now in former years. I think if she had met Varric now, when she’s older and more established, their romance wouldn’t be such a tragedy. But there’s something undeniably compelling about a brilliant young woman who runs away from at least one wedding to take off with a dashing rogue before she realizes she has to do what everyone wants her to do. 

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Varric - up to a point and in canon-divergent AUs. I think their tragic romance is really beautiful when they’re young, but I think by the time it reaches DAI it’s clearly toxic for bother characters (is Bianca holding onto the one thing she ever really picked for herself to spite her family? is Varric so caught up in a story he can’t handle reality?) However - I think they’d work really well together in a universe where they don’t meet until they’re older and it doesn’t go sideways quite so badly. 

Bogdan - we know absolutely nothing about him except that he was stood up at the altar at least once and that he helps Bianca with selling her inventions. In my writing, I’ve never been able to nail down what exactly I want his character to be. I wrote him as kind of an idiot in my first Varric/Cadash fic, set him up to be a minor antagonist in GwtAT (in both fics he’s quite possibly emotionally abusive or at the very least neglectful), but I’ve always written him as forgiving and loving. I very much love the idea of a man who also wasn’t sold on marrying a woman clealy in love with someone else, but they work it out and form a strong, solid partnership. I would ship that version of Bogdan with Bianca in a heartbeat. 

Dagna - this is a crack pair I am super invested in emotionally and has been gifted to me by @jarakrisafis once. I love the rivals-to-lovers aspect of it. Two brilliant women in competition before the sexual tension escalates and then they form a brilliant partnership? sign me the fuck up. 

Nobody - I said it. In both my first Cadash/Varric fic and in GwtAT, Bianca ends up alone and free. I think that’s quite a happy ending for her - she doesn’t need a romantic interest, she lives a happy and fulfilled life making the world better free of the drama. 

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Varric - Post DAI I really like the idea of old lovers becoming friends and realizing they’re better that way. I don’t think anyone knows either of them as well as the other one does, and I find it hard to imagine that Varric ever quite leaves Bianca’s life even if it’s platonic. 

Dagna - they should be friends. that’s it that’s all. 

My unpopular opinion about this character

Bianca isn’t an asshole, fandom is just mean to complicated female characters. 

Bianca does some shady shit during DAI. That red lyrium thing was CLEARLY a mistake, and she knows it, but I don’t blame her for not admitting it right away. She’s a genius - so her mistakes are correspondingly huge as well - she doesn’t play for small stakes. She didn’t double cross Varric as much as go around him to try and help him - a thing Varric is VERY guilty of doing for his friends as well but nobody ever calls him out on it (paying off the gangs to leave Anders alone even though Anders says not to? Trying to get Fenris a job he doesn’t want? Annoying Merrill to go outside until she’s ABSOLUTELY aggravated with him?) 

Bianca’s mistake was made with good intentions, and while she may have helped Corypheus, I’m pretty sure he’d have found a way without her. In fact, it’s a little known fact Bianca actually shows up at that keep in Emprise du Lion to help clean up the red lyrium as an NPC. Check out this post by @pikapeppa to see the dialogue (thank you for compiling this by the way I’ve used it as a resource a hundred times)  

Yeah. She fucking stays with the Inquisition to clean up a mess she helped cause. The most brilliant woman in Thedas, literally two votes away from being a surfacer Paragon, stays in the worst fucking place in Thedas to help the Inquisitor.

Nobody ever takes that into consideration when bashing her. 

What I think people really don’t like is Bianca threatening to rip out your Inquisitor’s eyeballs if they get Varric hurt and using them to clean up her mistake. And you know what, fair, you don’t have to like your OC getting threatened or used. 

But Varric arguably uses the Inquisition to clean up Hawke’s mess, and if he would have threatened your OC for Hawke, I don’t think anyone would have cared. 

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

A lot of the information about Varric and Bianca’s relationship seems almost...optional to find? And it’s so many throwaway lines. We see Varric and Bianca at one of the worst moments in their relationship, but we don’t see how they got there. And because the moment is caused by Bianca’s mistake, she comes out looking worse than Varric, but I don’t think that’s true either. 

I truly believe that Varric and Bianca’s relationship is/should be over by the time DAI ends, it’s run it’s course, but I don’t think either of them are the SOLE cause for it being over. They both contributed to an increasingly untenable relationship and Varric got off way too easy for his part of it in game, leaving Bianca to take the hit. It’s unfair. 

I’ll still take these break the characters down asks! I’m working my way through them, but here’s who I have on deck:

Maria Cadash

Varric Tethras

And who I’ve done: 

Velanna

Bianca Davri 

For the salty ask 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 14, 16, 20, 22, 23 and 26 for cobra kai pretty please

My answers are so long, so I am putting this under the cut @wonderwolfballoon! Also I just noticed your Daniel icon I SWEAR I’M NOT DRAGGING HIM TO BE MEAN!!!

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?* My biggest IDGI ships for CK are probably Elimetri or Kiaz. I’m not here to yuck other people’s yums or anything, but I do think there is something to the idea that Migueli isn’t popular because it’s a ship predicated on mutual respect for one another. Kiaz has the obvious enemies to lovers vibe and I just generally don’t sail those ships. Elimetri has... its problems, IMO, most especially around the idea that Demetri has to like... save Hawk from himself? Idk. I just like romances that I feel are based on love and mutual respect and not ...tropes.

 I am also not a Lawrusso shipper although I have a lot of those on my dash and you all are great! Again, not yucking yums! Daniel just makes me want to head butt him too much to pair him romantically with anyone 😂 I don’t even want his wife with him. He needs to self reflect~ 

4. Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?* 

I once saw someone ship Amanda and Anoush and I noped out of that so fucking fast I almost tripped over myself. I’m not sure if they’re popular. I just think some people feel the need to get Amanda out of the way to sail their ship and stuck her with Anoush which... no. Just no. Let Amanda be a messy single queen with a martini hobby, thanks! 

5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?* 

Not in CK. I’m lucky because I pretty much stick to my little Migueli bubble and I’m okay with that? Lmao lord knows the Squad on my dash is all about the DISCOURSE™️ so idk if I just don’t feel the need to get sucked into the wider ship wars because we have good healthy debates, but so far, so good. 

6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?* 

I never hated it... I just didn’t have many feelings on shipping with this show in general at first. Then I was in the CK tag one day and I saw Migueli fan art. Then I discovered @afurioushawk‘s falconry series and it was all over for me after that! So fandom DID make me love a ship, just not one I hated.

9. Most disliked character(s)? Why? Oh boy. How much time do you have? In some instances, it’s a good thing season 3 happened because otherwise, this would be a multi-page essay on the problems with race and class privilege as it pertains to Sam LaRusso and just some... generally not nice comments about Demetri that I’m conflicted about because I’m not sure if the writers are intentionally trying to write him a specific way and it’s just not translating to me or what. But season 3 revamped both of their images with me a lot. I’m way more flexible in terms of Demetri, but lmao I was the number one Sam LaRusso hater for a minute there (or maybe number 2, I can think of at least 1 other person who was in that boat with me back in like... August/September, but I won’t call them out because I don’t want them to get hate...) However, I have grown a bit in my opinions of Sam, and even though I still think she’s responsible  for a lot of shit she NEVER gets held accountable for, I also think that’s a reflection of the adults around her too, and this includes my otherwise unproblematic queen, Amanda.

But honestly, my most hated character (other than the obvious villain that is Kreese) is Daniel. No matter how handsome Ralph Macchio looks in cable-knits, because Daniel has always been a sanctimonious, shit starting drama king and I say that about KK Daniel too. I’m not saying Daniel was the ~true villain~ or anything, or that Johnny was innocent -- I can only drink so much Red and Yellow Kool-Aid -- but Daniel’s always been annoying to me as a protagonist, and turning him into a smarmy wealthy car salesman who is also a class traitor did not do him any favors in my book. I will say, I also like Daniel more in season 3 than I have in previous season, but since he is the adult, I will be mad at him longer than I will be at the kids, ya feel?

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

 Johnny’s entire season 3 storyline. The sheer level of REGRESSION at every turn drives me bonkers. It’s like watching him go through all of the stumbling blocks of season 1 all over again, but without the “he’s learning! He’s going to make mistakes!” free pass that I was willing to give him the first time around. He regularly jeopardizes Miguel’s recovery and it’s played for laughs. He fucks up on every level with Robby. He spends most of his time running away when things get hard or too real. He drops the ball completely with Hawk, and like, not to put too fine a point on it, but a lot of Hawk’s issues are because Johnny put Hawk on this ‘flip the script and be a badass’ path and then offered him no guidance for how to walk that path and instead left him in the hands of Kreese. And then he has the nerve to go to Hawk and basically be like “I made you what you are!” lmao yeah Johnny, you sure did, that’s why he’s breaking peoples arms, hoss. And then all of the nonsense with Ali and Carmen, like... if you were planning on teasing KK fans with Ali and him getting back together, why write her as married in the first place? Why even tease the idea of Carmen and Johnny until after you were sure what you were going to do with Ali as a character? Instead, they do what they did in season 3 and it makes him look like a colossal jerk. So yeah. Literally every choice they made with Johnny this season, I hated.

14. Unpopular opinion about your fandom? People who hate Tory are not valid, sorry not sorry.

16. If you could change anything in the show, what would you change? I would have kept Miguel entirely out of Tory and Sam’s beef. Or at least not directly inserted him into it like he was with the kiss. I know the writers thought it was necessary to push Tory to the point of inciting a fight at school, but I am just so exhausted over girls being unable to fight about anything but boys. Also I would bring Aisha back.

20. What is the purest ship in the fandom? 

I am probably biased, but I still maintain it’s Migueli. Look, Miguel stood up to Kyler for Eli and Demetri both. Hawk joined CK because he saw what it could do for some skinny nerd who was getting his ass kicked. And he took to CK, really took to it! Even flourished before he started getting mixed messages. And he and Miguel were pretty much inseparable after that. They coordinated their wardrobes ffs. Hawk dubbed him El Serpiente and no one else calls him that — it’s Hawk’s nickname for him. Miguel confides in Hawk only secondary to Johnny, who is like a father to him. The entire Coyote Creek exchange shows they can fight and disagree but... well, to use the cliche, they don’t go to bed angry, you know? They’re square the very next day. Hawk is the first person at Miguel’s side when he gets kicked over the balcony and the LOOK he gives the second floor where Robby is? That boy is out for blood immediately to avenge Miguel. So much of his s3 behavior is fueled by that need for vengeance because MD is wholly responsible for what happened to Miguel. And Miguel is so confused and betrayed by Hawk’s shift in behavior, and yet still holds out hope that Hawk will see through Kreese’s BS and come with him to The Dojo I Refuse to Name. And when Hawk does make that deflection finally, he shows up at MD with Miguel. There’s so much more that I know I’m missing but whether someone ships them or not, that is a tried and true love and respect for one another, a willingness to fight for and defend one another that you don’t often see in TV friendships... or even in most tv relationships. And I just think that’s the best ❤️

22. Popular character you hate?

 Daniel, hands down. I mean... I don’t even necessarily hate Daniel, you know? I just think it’s really, pardon the pun, rich that a guy of immense wealth and privilege can’t get a therapist or turn to his far too patient wife for help with his existential crisis over his high school bully opening up a karate dojo to make some money and help a kid who is getting the crap kicked out of him. I get that Daniel’s narrative is necessary for the rivalry, but it does nothing to make him sympathetic as a character.

23. Unpopular character you love?

 Tory, definitely! Everyone hates her and then there’s me and the Squad over here banging away on our Coors Banquet cans yelling TORY RIGHTS! Seriously she catches so much flack for a teenage girl who is... the sole income provider for her family? At 17? While caring for a sick mom and a little brother? And fending off a creepy landlord? Tory has it so rough and then she meets a cool girl at her dojo who asks her to hang out at some fancy ass country club which is probably the nicest place Tory has ever been in, and then she gets talked down to and accused of being a thief and has another girl lay hands on her, only to find out that same girl is her new boyfriend’s ex and... ugh. I HATE that Tory gets shit all over when Tory and Sam wouldn’t even have beef if Sam had apologized to Tory as she SHOULD have. Tory isn’t innocent, but damn, I’d be pressed too.

 My other unpopular character I love? Nathaniel. Seriously that kid is THE best. He’s a literal child but is out there like I WILL FUCK YOU UP, even though he’s MD. Honestly, his Cobra Kai energy is so ferocious I won’t be surprised if he moves back to CK eventually. Anyway, I love him.


26. Most shippable character?

 Miguel, hands down. It’s because he’s so affable and sweet overall. And because his hair is so fluffy and pettable that no one can resist touching it. I like to imagine that one day he and Hawk are talking about their hair and Hawk makes a joke about how Miguel’s mane is getting so long that it’s going to be bigger than his own, and then he reaches out to ruffle it and internally has a bisexual meltdown because oh no IT’S SO SOFT AND NICE. But uh... anyway, yes. Definitely Miguel.

Question, which ship do you personally find the most cannon, ZoLu, ZoSan or ZoLaw? To expand on the question which ship for you has the most potential to possibly become cannon, I personally love all the ships, but I was wondering your thoughts on it? Ps reallyyyy love your AO3 works especially the ZoLaw! And the headcanon about them being trained by Rayleigh in the Modern AU!!!

Short Answer:

Zoro x Luffy is obviously the ship that makes the most sense and has the most examples you can point to in the canon while saying, "see that, that is love."

Long Answer No One Cares About:

This question awoke something dark inside of me, and I apologize for the overly long answer.

So, here's the thing: I don't really like 99% of "crack" ships which I would personally define as characters who have never met, whose personalities clash with one another's, and who share no common traits or grounds on which they might potentially relate to one another. Pretty much, if you have to invent a secret, noncanon background that totally changes a character's personality so that they can hook up with another character, I'm probably not going to ship it. Though, hey, if that's your thing you fly that flag high and proud. Shippers should support other shippers, regardless of cargo.

Buuuut.... At the same time, I also do not give a fuck about my ships being canon. Not only because, hey, it's my imagination and I'll do what I want with it, thank you very much, but also being a canon ship doesn't mean shit. Just because a creator decided two characters should hook up doesn't mean that it's logical or sound or feasible or healthy or somehow more "correct" than other pairings. In fact, what it usually means is that one character is a man, the other is a woman, and they are both attractive. Which, you know, is a pretty bullshit reason to start a relationship. If you've ever gone out with someone solely because they're attractive and the opposite gender of yourself than either:

Congratulations on what I hope was some truly amazing sex

So sorry about that awkward sexual encounter

You likely have first hand experience on how unstable and unsustainable such relationships can be.

So being a canon ship does not necessarily give you a pass in my books. For starters, most of my ship's be gay as fuck, and as someone who grow up without a lot of gay representation in media, I have learned not to expect anything despite how OBVIOUSLY DEEPLY CONNECTED characters might be.

[Side Note: And, yes, it's mostly male characters, because throughout the history of entertainment culture the vast majority was created by people men who had total faith in their ability to write realistic female characters despite all evidence pointing to the fact that they never once talked to an actual real life woman. I mean, how hard could it be? All women have basically the same personalty traits (boobs) and everyone knows female are monolithic group whose sole purpose in life is finding the most protagonistic male out there and immediately become his love interest. Which is why I just don't even bother with folks who look down on fans of slash/yaoi/gay ass ships because in a frankly sad amount of media, these pairings often make more practical sense as well as being more appealing to those of us who want romantic relationships based on personality, shared interests, or just between two well developed characters rather than one fully realized character and one cardboard cut out of Generic Attractive Female Person.]

When female characters are written as stereotypes whose defining characteristics is "she's a girl!" then of course the male characters with fully realized personalities and complex characterization will appeal to most people, including those of us who prefers their romantic pairings to have an actual foundation outside of "penis + vagina = love" it makes sense to ship the male characters who we get to see build a relationship, share common interests/traits/goals, and just generally ) So I have accepted that canon couples often mean nothing, because when it comes to romance so many creators are stuck in some heteronormative mindset where they totally forget all the work they've done building the character and defining their personality and sticking them with the first person they meet that has tits.

Basically, I am an English major whose end game is to be a college professor. And I am all about Death Of The Author, but also Show Me Your Workings. I don't need a relationship to be canon, what I need is for there to be a reason behind it. Preferably one that is deeper than "Tarzan love Jane because man loves woman" or "but they're both so pretty!!!!"

Taking all that into account, Zoro and Luffy were my first ship for a reason. There are so many little moments between the two you can point at as proof of their devotion and love (romantic or platonic, however you prefer to see it) for one another. I don't just mean the way Zoro took all Luffy's pain. I'm talking about how Luffy will always say things like, "I hope Zoro and the others are okay" or "When we get there I want to have huge feast with Zoro and the others". How often do you designate one of your friends over all the rest, naming them apart from the group? Personally, I either name everyone or no one, the exception being if one of them is someone I'm dating and therefore actually in a separate category from my other friends.

It's the way Zoro has all this nonverbal dialogue with Luffy which allows him to implicitly trust in whatever mad scheme Luffy has cooked up. When more rational people (Nami and Usopp) object out if, you know, sanity, Zoro can always tell when Luffy's plans are just silly gun, when he's throwing out his first thought just to say something, and when he's statement is made with full, unyielding conviction. And Zoro believes in Luffy enough that, when his captain has that level of assuredness, Zoro has no reason to doubt in him. Zoro is a man of actions - while oaths and promises are important, they only meant anything if you always follow through with actions. Luffy never fails to turn his promises into deeds, and so in a way they speak the same language. They understand one another on a deeper level.

And again, it's small things. The way Luffy can get even post-time skip Zoro to smile, or how Luffy will offer to share his lunch with Zoro, the way at the coliseum in Dressrosa, Zoro gets upset about Luffy not informing him there was a fight and Luffy actually apologizing. They have all these little moments to show how deeply connected they are, how much they understand one another, and more importantly how much faith they have in one another so even when one of them might not fully understand the other's reasoning, they never fail to support one another or know the other will pull through.

In my opinion, that is the bases of a strong relationship. That support and understanding; the sense that even if one of them may fail (and almost get chopped in half as a result) or fuck up (see Luffy. Just... Luffy) that it doesn't lessen the other one's believe in them. If anything, they know these set backs mean the other will fight twice as hard to come back even stronger.

I could literally list a thousand moments when they have each other's backs, when the whole crew doubts one of the except for the other, when they offer support even if it's unpopular or seems crazy. And yet they still have little fights, they aren't "made for one another" the way shallow love interests often are, but when it comes to the important moments they trust one another implicitly and show unwavering acceptance without the other having to validate or explain their reasoning. Luffy trusts Zoro with the crew's life, the most important thing in Luffy's world, and Zoro... Well in many ways Luffy has become the most important thing in his world. You see it the moment Zoro kowtows in front of Mihawk - the man Zoro has sworn to defeat and who is at the center of Zoro's life goal - all because Luffy needs him to be stronger; for the crew, to achieve Luffy's dream.

Mihawk even thinks to himaelf, who is the man you are willing to set aside your pride for, because he knows men like Zoro and the only reason they would ask such a favour from a rival is out of loyalty to someone.

So, yeah, not that it matters, but I'm terms of canon, Mihawk basically says, "this kid is in love, only someone in love would be so willing to set aside their dreams and goals for those of someone else."

hi miss cat!!! i was wondering if you had any advice on asking mutuals to beta-read + making friendships here on tumblr? you and your mutuals always seem so close and like irl friends! i'm so sorry if this sounds out of the blue!

hi, honey bee!!! 💛 for asking mutuals to beta read, I just asked them shdjdjd I was like “hey do you wanna read my fic draft” and they were like “hell yeah” so then I just added them to my google doc! tk god (hyoseobie / eggyukhei) actually offered to read my drafts when I was having trouble and she gave me suggestions and whatnot, so she’s my go to for beta reading :’) I will throw every single ridiculous fic idea at her and she responds with 100% energy every time. the dumbing down of love and sweeter than honey wouldn’t have been completed without her !!!! for pussy blocked and august, I believe steph (aqiaquas), ti (m88n), lana (choerrypuffs), moon (wincore), and tk all had access to them. Except !!!! when I was debating on the ending for pussy blocked (aka jeno or jaemin), none of them knew who was endgame, except for moon 💓 she’s an absolute godsend and I heavily discussed everything with her for both august and pussy blocked, especially the ending 💕 so big shout out to her for really helping me out with both of them 🌸🌸

I made friends by either a) gushing about their writing in their ask box or dm’s because have you seen how talented they all are???? or b) they sent me a message! 🥰 I can go more into detail about my closest mutuals below:

tk god (hyoseobie / eggyukhei) — tk was my very first mutual on here and a big reason as to why I even started this blog :’) I found her nct blurbs and fell in love with them and I was like “I wanna write blurbs too!!” so I made this blog and then I sent her an ask and we just kept talking after that 💘 and we got close, and we were supposed to see nct together last june 🤧 nowadays, I just spam her with a lot of meme posts on insta and guilt trip her for dropping yukhei for jaemin and doyoung 😔 I’m sorry for clowning you so much tk

els (taeyongtime) — els is so freaking talented, and I read her tabula rasa fic way back in 2017 when I wasn’t even a fan of nct and didn’t know who each member was. All I knew was that this was the greatest fic I have ever read, and nothing will ever top it. anyway, someone asked me for fic recs, and I had tagged her in it because of course, I would recommend her superior fic 🤩 and then she reached out to me, and now we like to complain about work together lol and text everyday and I send her phyllis pictures and we even mail each other letters !! 💕 also !!!! She’s the closest to my age out of my close friends here, so I feel like it’s super easy to talk to her 💞

lana (choerrypuffs) — she reblogged my neptune’s atlantis fic, and I responded to her reblog and also her blog looked super aesthetic so I clicked on it and then read her fics and was like “wow god tier writing I need to send in some asks to scream about these fics because the TALENT 💓💓” and we talked but we didn’t get close until like a week later when I found this pjo meme and didn’t know who else liked pjo except for her so I randomly dm’ed it to her with some all caps screaming message LOL and now we enjoy shit talking about anything and everything because it’s a safe judge free zone for our unpopular opinions lmaooo and she bullies me for typing all my fics on my phone but it’s ok because at least I’m honest about my bias and I don’t burn toaster strudels in the oven

steph (aqiaquas) — I needed some jeno pictures to make his banner for my not clickbait series and posted a cry for help about it, and she responded !!! I believe she also left a comment earlier regarding my wips about bff renjun faking an aussie accent, but we didn’t talk to each other as much until the jeno pic thing! I dm’ed her for the help and we just continued to talk after that 💕 so thank you jeno I suppose lmaoo and we’re also pen pals now 🥰 big props to her for always giving the nicest advice and for always listening to me 🥺 i talk to her about work issues a lot and we text daily !! I tell her and ti more stuff about me than I do with any of my friends tbh 🤧 I also did a facetime with her and ti a few weeks ago and we got her to stay up past her early bedtime cndjjdjdjdjd she, ti, and i have a gc which she has named “JENO APPRECIATION SOCIETY” LMAO

ti (t-shrt / m88n) — ti left me the kindest words and most detailed asks regarding my fics, and I still cherish them so so much 🥺💗💗 from there, she sent me more asks and I started talking to her more until we began to dm each other! and my god, she just gets me 100% and I can talk to her about anything like even the scariest most personal stuff I don’t tell anyone else about myself, I feel comfy enough to tell her about it, and I hope she feels the same! We text each other everyday and are also pen pals, and I want to visit her and steph one day!!! 💖 honestly I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who has related to me so much before, and you know what? ti, if you’re reading this, I think this is the easy we were talking about before

moon (wincore) — can you believe that we’ve only been friends for 40 days??? I just checked and I am flabbergasted because it feels like so much longer than that. An anon messaged moon a cute ask about how she and I are both yunqis and write fics, and she had tagged me in it! So I sent her an ask, and we were also in the same almost collab, so I dm’ed her afterwards, and we started talking and now she sends me pictures of her doggos and I send pictures of phyllis and I can talk about anything with her and we like to bounce fic ideas off of each other (read: one of us tells the other about a wip and the other person screams and sends a bunch of capslock messages about it) jejdjdjd her only flaw is that she barks at her dogs and doesn’t see this as furry behavior 😔 also we have the same taste in men LOL legends only and I hope she’s having lots of fun in the club listening to t swift rn !!!!

april (dropofgoldensun) — april ilysm okay so she always left the loveliest comments under my fics, and one day, I had this fic idea and was like “I want someone else’s opinion on this” but I wanted a fresh perspective on it, so I decided to dm her out of the blue and ask what she thought of it! And from there, we began to talk more and we also sent each other letters !!! in fact, I got hers last week and it made me 🥺🥺🥺💗💗 I have it pinned up to the corkboard in my room along with drawings by steph 💘

so all in all, I made friends by regularly sending them asks or shooting them a dm, or they sent me asks and continued to have a conversation with me 🥰 as an extrovert, I always love making new friends and never shy away from meeting new people, but I understand that it can be scary for some to reach out and take the first step 🤧 but if you do decide to, you might meet the most wonderful people 💞 I honestly can’t imagine what my life would be like without the friends I made on here now 🤧💖 but also, be careful of stranger danger and talk to those appropriate to your age! quite frankly, for instance, it doesn’t make sense for a 25 year old to want to be friends with a 14 year old. I can understand if the 14 year old wants to ask for advice or something, but having an equal friendship is nearly impossible when you’re at different stages of your life / maturity. Please stay safe! 💛 and omg no need to apologize, lovebug, I hope my answer made sense for you! let me know if you have any other questions 💟

Survey #463

“the siren sings a lonely song of all the wants & hungers  /  the lust of love, a brute desire”

Describe the person that you would like to be in three years. I want my mental health to be in great condition, I really want to be in much better physical shape, ideally be living with somebody in our own place, have a job I'm happy with, have an improved social life, my own license and car... Think back to when you first met your significant other (or ex). Was your first impression of them accurate? It's funny, I honestly don't remember what my first impression of Girt was. I don't even recall our first interaction. I'm sure it was most likely that he was friendly, because he is and always has been. What is your most noticeable personality trait? Probably that I'm really, really shy. What kind of natural disaster is most common where you live? Hurricanes. Which of your family members do you resemble the most? I guess one of my immediate sisters? People tend to say stuff like they can definitely tell we're related. Have you ever had an animal get into your attic? No. Who knows you better than anyone else? Hell, probably whoever reads these. When was the last time you started a “new chapter” of your life? I guess you could call dating Girt a "new chapter." I have a much, much stronger feeling of this attempt being more successful than the last now that I've been able to change my angle on how I see him. What’s the most expensive thing your car needed to get done? I don't have my own vehicle and never have. If you had a thousand dollars to spend on a pricey brand you like but can’t really afford (until now of course), which ONE brand would you choose? *shrug* Most products of highly expensive brands I find hideous anyway. Do you still talk to any of your old teachers? Yeah. One is a close family friend and actually our landlord. Does your family still use the home phone or are you all on cell phones now? We haven't had a landline is yeeeeaaarrrrsssss. Ever go to another school’s prom? No; my boyfriend went to the same school as me. Do you ever venture into the woods? What do you normally do there? No; we live in the city now. :/ When I DID live in the woods, I absolutely loved wandering around with my camera for stuff to take pics of. Does your significant other ever make you mix CDs? None ever have but omg I wish that would be adorable. How did you dress your freshman year of high school? I was one of them emo kids. Would you ever date your best friend of the opposite sex? WELP that's what I'm doing lol. Would you say you have a high sex drive or not so much? I'd call it normal? Higher sometimes, lower other times, but not to either extreme. Come with an unpopular opinion. Silent Hill: Homecoming is a great game and while there's a lot of fan service from the movie, it belongs in the series. It's actually my second (or third)-favorite installment. Most of the SH community absolutely hate that game. What’s the worst thing a friend has either done or said to you? A lot of shit Colleen would say if we got into arguments. She'd ridicule effects of my depression, said I'd never know what it's like to pay my own bills, stuff like that. She's hateful as fuck and everything cut deep. What’s fake about you? Like extensions, fake nails, botox etc. Nothing physical. If you got the chance, would you audition for a reality show? No. Have you ever gotten into a Facebook fight? More than once. What’s the cheesiest thing you’ve ever experienced irl? Hm, I'm unsure. Favorite flavor of jelly bean? Probably watermelon. Do you use Tinder? If yes, have you ever met up with someone you matched? No. You do you, but if I understand Tinder correctly, it just seems... really shallow to me. Like don't you JUST see their picture to decide if you're interested or not? It just enforces the false belief that appearance really matters in love. You just poured your heart out to your crush and all he/she does is respond “k”. What do you respond/do? Well, I don't have a crush anymore; my boyfriend and I literally exchanged "I love you"s last night. That's not a crush. But for the sake of the question, I'll imagine I was single and this happened, in which case I would be both hurt and annoyed. Like, either tell me you return the feelings or not. It's not hard. What's your favorite thing to order from McDonald’s? I usually get a quarter pounder w/ cheese or a McDouble, occasionally with a small or medium fry, depending on how hungry I am. When do you feel your sexiest? Never, hunny. What's your favorite emoji? I don't really have one? It just depends on what the situation calls for. What’s your skincare routine? I don't really have one... I just use a washcloth to clean my face. Who all out of your immediate family smokes? My dad and stepmom. Do you like incense or candles better? Incense, totally. Do you respect your parents? Yeah. What’s your bf/gf’s name? It's technically Donald Jr., but since high school, I've known him as Girt, a nickname I won't explain for his privacy. Do you wear glasses? Yeah. Do you like The Beatles? I honestly don't. Except "Hey, Jude." What was the last reason you got excited? Last night. When we were saying goodbye, I was scared to, but I told Girt I loved him, and he immediately said it back confidently. My heart did like five flips. I'm still over the moon about it. Yes, we just got back together, but we've been in each other's lives as a constant since HS, and after changing my angle of how I looked at him, it's not at all platonic anymore. Do you know anyone who drinks the pickle juice from the jar? Sara does alskdjfklwejrl;er Name something crazy that’s happened recently? Uhhhh... I dunno. My life is very uneventful to have something really "crazy" happen. Can you say for a fact that you’re happy right now? I'm happy about some things, but also nervous and self-doubtful. Have you ever zip lined? No, but they look fun. I'd just be really scared of losing my grip. If you broke your computer, would you be able to fix it on your own? Ha, no. Have you ever been on a boat and got sick? No, but the one time I was at the beach and on a boat riding to an island, I was TERRIFIED I was going to get sick because of the waves. I didn't, thankfully. Did you sleep well last night? For the most part. My new mask might just be working. Do your parents try and plan your life for you? Not at all. Do you have any pictures of you kissing someone? Yes. List two things about yourself that you find embarrassing. My weight and how dark my leg hair is. Do you like to cuddle with your pet when you are sad? Yes. Do you find piercing attractive or unattractive? h o t Do you have any secret hiding spots in your room? To put money, yes. Do you like parmesan cheese on your spaghetti? Ew, no. I don't like parmesan. Does your best girl friend have any talents that you don’t? Yeah. She can animate well, for one. And sing like a fucking champ. Do you have any video game systems in your room? Which one(s)? My Nintendo DS Lite is in here. Well, and my laptop is a gaming one. What color eyes does the last person you kissed have? ... Oh WOW I've known this man for a fuckin decade and somehow I'm not sure??? But I want to say light blue? Have you ever taken a ride in a helicopter? No. Have you ever visited hot springs? No. How slowly or quickly would you say you eat? I'm aware I eat too fast, because my mom will point it out almost without fail if we eat in sight of each other. I'm not a messy eater at all, just... fast. Chewing your food and swallowing isn't a complex task. I've made active efforts to slow down, I just haven't been able to succeed. It doesn't feel normal. That and I've come to discover that when I chew food TOO much, I don't like the mushy texture of it in my mouth. What did you do the last time you were with friends? Yesterday Girt and I planned to watch shitty Netflix anime for some laughs, but we wound up starting Attack on Titan, which I am officially pretty into. What kind of cologne/perfume do you like the opposite sex to wear? I don't care if they wear any or not, so long as they know how to clean themselves and therefore not actually smell bad. If you celebrate Christmas, do you get a real tree or an artificial tree? We always use a fake one. Is there someone who means a lot to you but they don’t know that? My sisters probably don't, really... Is money important to you? Live your whole life poor and I want to see you answer "no" to this. Have you ever watched a meteor shower? No. Do you like Slim Jims? LOOOOOOOVE them. Would you rather write a mystery or love story? Love story. Are you muscular? No. Working for it. Do you have one of those removable hand-held shower heads? Yes. Originally, this house didn't, but I hated it so much that Mom bought one. How many burners does your stove have? Four. Has your car ever been broken into? Mom's hasn't.