#lmao i feel this is controversial but i've always wanted to write this
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no, Matty's not TTPD's muse - and neither is Joe
okay so in my previous post i said that i believe that taylor has a secret muse (or muses) she's been writing about and in this masterpost i'll further explain why.
alright so as many of you may have noticed, there are a few main themes in most of taylor's work: forbidden romances, being in love with your best friend - or someone so controversial that the world wouldn't accept, your parents wouldn't accept, you and your love being against the world, religious guilt - you know the stuff. i've always wondered why? because Taylor Swift the gorgeous gorgeous billionaire who's always been dating famous single men who's around her age (we're leaving Jack and John out here) - like why would her relationships would be so forbidden and unheard of and the world just turn against her if they knew? the obvious theory is, yeah because she's gay or at least bisexual. i think everyone has heard enough of this theory (and i think this is the theory that has the most evidence) but in this post i'm going to keep in neutral and try to explore it in a more broad way.
with the drop of TTPD, she put a face to this forbidden love - turns out it was Matty Healy all long. it was Matty whom she secretly dreamt about and it was Matty whom would make her fall from grace just to touch his face etcetera. i mean yeah, it could be - but honestly i feel like this doesn't hold enough evidence considering she had been writing about the same person before they even met (2014). that's why I think Matty is a red-herring (a clue or piece of information that is, or is intended to be, misleading or distracting). it holds even more evidence when she is the one who's been telling us that she lies and withholds informations from us if you've ever listened to her carefully. anyways i'm not good at summarising stuff, so i'll just share the examples (the files, if you will) and it's up to you to decide.
so Taylor wrote about forbidden love both in Fearless (Love Story) and Speak Now (Ours), but we won't get into much detail here considering she was still a kid so yep it makes sense her parents wouldn't let her date who she wants lmao.
file I. Red
"Put your lips close to mine
As long as they don't touch"
i think the entirety of Treacherous is pretty self-explanatory. this was like 2-3 years before she met Matty.
file ii. 1989
"And you took a Polaroid of us
Then discovered (Then discovered)
The rest of the world was black and white
But we were in screaming color"
the entirety of Out of the Woods explores the same old theme of your love being doomed from the beginning and it's you and your love against the world. this is supposed to about Harry Styles because of the bridge (Remember when you hit the brakes too soon?) (which I believe is an other red-herring) but I honestly do not understand why dating Harry Styles would feel like that lmao. "Baby, like we stood a chance / Two paper airplanes flying" i mean i don't know.
"Haven't you heard what becomes of curious minds?
Ooh, didn't it all seem new and exciting?"
"Too in love to think straight
All alone, or so it seemed
But there were strangers watching
And whispers turned to talking
And talking turned to screams, oh"
the same theme in Wonderland (which i believe sounds extremely queer, but like i said it's for you to decide)
"I cannot be your friend, so I pay the price of what I lost"
"Truth is, I can't pretend it's
Platonic, it's just ended, so"
"One night, he wakes, strange look on his face
Pauses, then says, "You're my best friend"
And you knew what it was, he is in love"
themes of being in love with your best friend. i think it's self-explanatory.
"I had the fantasy that maybe our mismatched star signs
Would surprise the whole school"
"When you told me we'd get back together"
"You don't knock anymore, and my whole life's ruined"
another theme is high school lovers. which is interesting because none of Taylor's exes that we know about weren't in the same school with her, or neither were her childhood friends. this theme will make a huge comeback in later albums.
file iii. reputation
this album is FUCKED. okay,
"Something happened for the first time
In the darkest little paradise
Shaking, pacing, I just need you"
"For you
I would cross the line
I would waste my time
I would lose my mind
They say, "She's gone too far this time."
"Halo, hiding my obsession
I once was poison ivy, but now I'm your daisy"
reputation is mostly supposed to be about Joe Alwyn and again, i don't know what is it about Joe that would make her questions her faith like that.
"Your love is a secret I'm hoping, dreaming, dying to keep"
?
"I, I loved you in secret
First sight, yeah, we love without reason"
"Picture of your face in an invisible locket
You said there was nothing in the world that could stop it
I had a bad feeling"
"I, I loved you in spite of
Deep fears that the world would divide us
So, baby, can we dance
Oh, through an avalanche?"
"I'd kiss you as the lights went out
Swaying as the room burned down
I'd hold you as the water rushes in"
again i really don't remember her and Joe ever being this secret and forbidden and the public wouldn't let them be together if they ever knew but, okay.
"Our secret moments in a crowded room
They got no idea about me and you"
"All of this silence and patience, pining and anticipation
My hands are shaking from holding back from you"
"I don't want you like a best friend"
"Inescapable, I'm not even gonna try
And if I get burned, at least we were electrified"
"Everyone thinks that they know us
But they know nothing about—"
TAYLOR WHAT'S GOING ON. alright we're moving on
file iv. Lover
"I don't wanna keep secrets just to keep you
And I snuck in through the garden gate
Every night that summer just to seal my fate (Oh)
And I scream, "For whatever it's worth
I love you, ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?"
again there's this romance that is so forbidden and not meant to happen but she can't help it etcetera. doesn't scream Joe Alwyn to me.
"We were crazy to think
Crazy to think that this could work
Remember how I said I'd die for you?
We were stupid to jump
In the ocean separating us
Remember how I'd fly to you?"
"They all warned us about times like this
They say the road gets hard and you get lost
When you're led by blind faith, blind faith"
"But we might just get away with it
Religion's in your lips
Even if it's a false god
We'd still worship
We might just get away with it
The altar is my hips
Even if it's a false god"
"I know heaven's a thing
I go there when you touch me, honey"
"Make confessions and we're begging for forgiveness"
again what's going on that would make her question her faith like that.
"School bell rings, walk me home"
"20 questions, we tell the truth
You've been stressed out lately, yeah, me too
Something gave you the nerve
To touch my hand"
"Church bells ring, carry me home
Rice on the ground looks like snow
Call my bluff, call you "Babe"
Have my back, yeah, every day
Feels like home, stay in bed
The whole weekend"
again being in love with your best friend and they get married at the end. honestly i just believe this is gay.
file v. Folklore
"I persist and resist the temptation to ask you
If one thing had been different
Would everything be different today?"
"In my defense, I have none
For digging up the grave another time"
the entirety of The One is just about still thinking about your ex love. this theme will make a huge comeback in TTPD.
"I knew you
Tried to change the ending
Peter losing Wendy"
again she's reminiscing about her ex love. keep the Peter & Wendy theme in the back of your mind.
"You know I didn't want to
Have to haunt you
But what a ghostly scene
You wear the same jewels
That I gave you
As you bury me"
another theme is ghosts, death and burials. also keep this one in mind.
"I still got love for you
Your braids like a pattern
Love you to the moon and to Saturn
Passed down like folk songs
The love lasts so long"
another childhood love song. it could be interpreted as platonic, but it sounds romantic to me. idk.
"Back when we were still changing for the better
Wanting was enough
For me, it was enough
To live for the hope of it all"
"Cause you weren't mine to lose
You weren't mine to lose"
she's still reminiscing about "The One" but here it also overlaps with the high school love muse. this is going to make more sense in Evermore.
"And that's the thing about illicit affairs
And clandestine meetings
And longing stares
It's born from just one single glance
But it dies and it dies and it dies"
i mean i don't think an explanation for Illicit Affairs is needed. here comes a new theme, the one whom she's having a forbidden affair turns out to be married.
"You showed me colors you know I can't see with anyone else"
"You taught me a secret language I can't speak with anyone else"
kinda screams Out of the Woods to me.
"My twisted knife
My sleepless night
My winless fight
This has frozen my ground"
"You know I left a part of me back in New York
You knew the hero died, so what's the movie for"
"You knew you won, so what's the point of keeping score?"
again this is supposed to be about Joe (the references to "blue", him being a pisces and having mental issues) but it really doesn't sound like it - i mean not in the narrative we know about.
"Take me to the Lakes where all the poets went to die
I don't belong and, my beloved, neither do you"
"While I bathe in cliffside pools
With my calamitous love and insurmountable grief"
again the feeling of being misunderstood by the whole public and she defines Joe as her "calamitous" (catastrophic) love. hmm.
file vi. evermore
"Every bait-and-switch was a work of art"
bait-and-switch in literature is explained as: "This occurs when the author guides and encourages readers to invest their attention in some suspenseful situation but then is substitute for a payoff that has little to do with what occurred before."
"So we could call it even
You could call me "babe" for the weekend
'Tis the damn season, write this down
I'm staying at my parents' house
And the road not taken looks real good now
And it always leads to you and my hometown"
"I parked my car
Right between the Methodist and the school that used to be ours"
"So I'll go back to LA
And the so-called friends who'll write books about me if I ever make it
And wonder about the only soul who can tell which smiles I'm faking"
again the high school love.
"There'll be happiness after you
But there was happiness because of you"
reminiscing The One again.
"Hey Dorothea
Do you ever stop and think about me?
When we were younger
Down in the park
Honey, making a lark of the misery"
this is the childhood friend muse we've seen before in It's Nice to Have a Friend and Seven (even in Mary's Song).
"And I'm sitting on a bench in Coney Island wondering where did my baby go?
The fast times, the bright lights, the merry go"
"Will you forgive my soul
When you're too wise to trust me and too old to care?
'Cause we were like the mall before the Internet
It was the one place to be
The mischief, the gift wrapped suburban dreams"
this kind of sounds to me like the muse in 'tis the Damn Season. it is clear that this was someone from her teenage years, could be the high school love. also a reference to Suburban Legends.
"Oh, goddamn
My pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand
Taking mine, but it's been promised to another"
the married muse.
"And the old widow goes to the stone every day
But I don't, I just sit here and wait
Grieving for the living"
"I wish to know
The fatal flaw that makes you long to be
Magnificently cursed"
the same cemetery and being haunted theme.
"It's been a long time
And seeing the shape of your name
Still spells out pain"
"I know I'm just a
Wrinkle in your new life
Staying "friends"
Would iron it out so nice"
she's still reminiscing about her ex love and also a reference to being friends.
"Help, I'm still at the restaurant
Still sitting in a corner I haunt"
right where you left me is like the song that has all the theories combined lmao. there's not getting over The One, there's her love getting married to someone else (Glass shattere on the white cloth / I'm sure that you got a wife out there / Kids and Christmas but I'm unaware cause I'm right where you left me), there's being haunted, there's queerness (Hairpin drop) - there's literally everything.
file vii. Midnights
"Laughing with my feet in your lap
Like you were my closest friend"
the best friend theme and honestly i think this is just gay.
"'Cause I don't remember who I was before you
Painted all my nights
A color I have searched for since"
feels like a direct reference to Out of the Woods and, illicit affairs maybe?
"Oh, my, love is a lie
Shit my friends say to get me by
It hits different
It hits different this time"
another breakup song that was written when she was with Joe.
"I used to switch out these Kens, I'd just ghost"
the Kens will make a comeback in TTPD.
"I find the artifacts, cried over a hat
Cursed the space that I needed
I trace the evidence, make it make some sense"
"artifacts" and "evidence" will also make a come back later.
"Bet I could still melt your world
Argumentative, antithetical dream girl"
honestly i think this is just gay.
"Is it okay? Is it you?
Or have they come to take me away?
To take me away"
another reference to being locked up in an asylum lmao.
"We can plant a memory garden
Say a solemn prayer
Place a poppy in my hair"
another reference to graveyards and also battles, which comes back in You're Losing Me.
"Privacy sign on the door
And on my page and on the whole world
Romance is not dead if you keep it just yours"
keeping your love hidden which she didn't lmao
"I wanna transport you
To somewhere the culture's clever
Confess my truth
In swooping, sloping, cursive letters"
she needs to take her love to somewhere the culture's clever so they could be... understood? i mean i wonder why... why would she need to confess her truth about Joe
"High infidelity
Put on your records and regret me"
"Do you really want to know where I was April 29th?
Do I really have to chart the constellations in his eyes?"
she's just cheating
"I'd pay, if you'd just know me"
another reference to taylor feeling like she's not being understood
"We were supposed to be just friends
You don't live in my part of town but maybe I'll see you out some weekend"
friends alert
"Dear reader, if it feels like a trap
You're already in one"
"Dear reader, burn all the files
Desert all your past lives
And if you don't recognize yourself
That means you did it right"
"Never take advice from someone who's falling apart"
"Dear reader, you don't have to answer
Just 'cause they asked you"
"Dear reader, the greatest of luxuries is your secrets"
i think Dear Reader is the song that made the making of TTPD possible because this is like the first song she directly confesses that her life is not what it seems and she keeps things hidden
"I prefer hiding in plain sight"
"Spilling out to you for free
But darling, darling, please
You wouldn't take my word for it if you knew who was talking
If you knew where I was walking
To a house, not a home, all alone 'cause nobody's there"
she's basically saying YOU WOULDN'T EVEN BELIEVE ME IF I TOLD YOU THE TRUTH. it cannot get more obvious.
"You should find another guiding light, guiding light
But I shine so bright"
she knows that despite her efforts to tell us about her life and how it's very different from the narrative she tells us the public won't believe it cause she shines so bright
file viii. THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT
"I was supposed to be sent away, but they forgot to come and get me
I was a functioning alcoholic till nobody noticed my new aesthetic"
she shockingly confesses to not actually being what she seemed to be - she's depressed and she's an alcoholic and the reference to being locked up in the psych ward (Hits Difference) (also Fortnight mv)
"You're in self-sabotage mode, throwing spikes down on the road"
"But you awaken with dread, pounding nails in your head"
kind of reminds me of the muse of Peace (if your cascade ocean blue waves come) and Hoax
"He was my best friend
Down at the sandlot
I felt more when we played pretend
Than with all the Kens"
the best friend theme and the Kens?
"Did you take all my old clothes?
Just to leave me here naked and alone
In a field in my same old town"
"Down bad like I lost my twin"
honestly it sounds like she's singing about a woman here. (Karlie)
"I'll build you a fort on some planet
Where they can all understand it"
the reference to Paris and all the other songs where she feels like her love cannot be understood
"I just learned these people only raise you to cage you
Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best
Clutching their pearls, sighing, "What a mess"
I just learned these people try and save you
'Cause they hate you"
i won't write the whole lyrics but the entirety of But Daddy I Love him is about forbidden love (like Love Story), not being understood, the whole world judging your love etc.
"Now, pretty baby, I'm runnin' back home to you
Fresh out the slammer, I know who my first call will be to"
"Gray and blue and fights and tunnels
Handcuffed to the spell I was under
For just one hour of sunshine"
"My friends tried but I wouldn't hear it
Watched me daily disappearing
For just one glimpse of his smile"
i feel like Frest Out the Slammer is a direct reference to illicit affairs muse (Make sure nobody sees you leave / Hood over your head keeps your eyes down / Tell them you're out for a run / You'll be flushed when you return)
"At the park where we used to sit on children's swings
Wearing imaginary rings"
again it sounds like the muse is somebody whom she's known since she was way younger
"Without ever touching his skin
How can I be guilty as sin?"
yeah she wants to cheat so bad lmao. i think this is pre-illicit affairs.
"I keep these longings locked
In lowercase, inside a vault
Someone told me there's no such thing as bad thoughts
Only your actions talk"
again religious guilt and keeping your desires hidden.
"What if I roll the stone away?
They're gonna crucify me anyway
What if the way you hold me is actually what's holy?
If long-suffering propriety is what they want from me
They don't know how you've haunted me so stunningly
I choose you and me religiously"
wow. once again she's haunted.
"They shake their heads, saying, "God help her" when I
Tell 'em he's my man
But your good Lord doesn't need to lift a finger
I can fix him, no really I can"
you know what i honestly believe this is the same muse from cowboy like me lmao. another dangerous forbidden love.
"Who's gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames
If we know the steps anyway?
We embroidered the memories of the time I was away
Stitching, "We were just kids, babe"
I said, "I don't mind, it takes time""
here comes the muse from the 1, the old flame. again the childhood / high school lovers trope.
"Still alive, killing time at the cemetery
Never quite buried"
cemeteries again?
"It was unnecessary, should've let it stay buried"
i think this is after-the 1. (If one thing had been different / Would everything be different today?) i think they tried again but it didn't work.
"I can read your mind
"She's having the time of her life"
There in her glittering prime
The lights refract sequin stars
Off her silhouette every night
I can show you lies"
i don't think i need to explain I Can Do it With a Broken Heart.
"And I don't even want you back, I just want to know
If rusting my sparkling summer was the goal"
there's something about The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived that makes me think about it's related to August. i feel like it was written from August' POV.
"'Cause it wasn't sexy once it wasn't forbidden"
self-explanatory, huh?
"Now I want to sell my house and set fire to all my clothes
And hire a priest to come and exorcise my demons"
again she's haunted but i think The Black Dog is honestly about Joe.
"I'm the albatross
I swept in at the rescue
The devil that you know
Looks now more like an angel"
again more religious imagery that i'm too tired to explain right now lmao but you know the drill
"You turned me into an idea of sorts"
she's talking about the public's perception of her
"Say it once again with feeling
How the death rattle breathing
Silenced as the soul was leaving
The deflation of our dreaming
Leaving me bereft and reeling
My beloved ghost and me
Sitting in a tree
D-Y-I-N-G"
?
"And so I changed your name and any real defining clues
And one day
Your kid comes home singing
A song that only us two is gonna know is about you"
this is where the real deal comes in. in thanK you aIMee, it sounds like a direct reference to Kim Kardashian but she just throws this line here which makes you think... hmm. if she changed her name and any real defining clues how do we know it's about Kim? so maybe it isn't. i mean that's what she said anyways.
"I tried searching faces on streets
What are the chances you'd be
Downtown, downtown, downtown
Does it feel alright to not know me?
I'm addicted to the "if only"
feels like a reference to The One.
"I got cursed like Eve got bitten
Oh, was it punishment?"
"Please
I've been on my knees
Change the prophecy
Don't want money
Just someone who wants my company
Let it once be me"
"A greater woman stays cool
But I howl like a wolf at the moon"
"A greater woman has faith
But even statues crumble if they're made to wait
I'm so afraid I sealed my fate
No sign of soulmates"
another song where she feels doomed and cursed. honestly i think this is the saddest song from TTPD.
"You can mark my words that I said it first
In a mourning warning no one heard
No one heard
Not a single word was heard"
in Cassandra she once again sings about not being heard.
"Forgive me, Peter
My lost fearless leader
In closets like cedar
Preserved from when we were just kids"
"You said you were gonna grow up
Then you were gonna come find me"
in Peter she once again sings about the old flame, the 1, the childhood love. we're supposed to believe the muse in question is Matty. they were both 25 when they met so it's up to you to decide if this is the childhood love. idk.
"Started with a kiss
"Oh, we must stop meeting like this"
But it always ends up with a town car speeding
Out the drive one evening
Ended with the slam of a door
Then he'll call her a whore"
illicit affairs alert
so, to sum it up -
chapter "hiding in plain sight"
i. dear reader, ii. thank you aimee, iii. fortnight, iv. i can do it with a broken heart
chapter "forbidden love"
i. love story, ii. ours, iii. treacherous, iv. illicit affairs, v. cowboy like me, vi. but daddy i love him, vii. guilty as sin
chapter "i loved you in secret"
i. king of my heart, ii. dress, iii. don't blame me, iv. paris, v. glitch
chapter "the 1"
i. the 1, ii. 'tis the damn season, iii. coney island, iv. suburban legends, v. loml, so many more i'm so tired at the moment lmao let me wrap it up
chapter "passed down like folk songs"
this is the childhood best friend chapter btw
i. seven, ii. dorothea, iii. mary's song, iv. it's nice to have a friend
chapter "suburban legends"
this is the high school love chapter which could also overlap with the 1 chapter
i. 'tis the damn season, ii. coney island, iii. loml
chapter "best friend" (which could also overlap the childhood best friend and high school love chapter, i know it's so complicated)
i. maroon, ii. you are in love, iii. dress, iv. mary's song, v. it's nice to have a friend
alright so i've probably left some songs out cause i'm on my period and my mind is so foggy, like i said i'm so tired so please let me know there's anything missing.
to sum it up in a shorter way,
muse i. the best friend (which can both be the childhood best friend or the high school lovers, the one from her hometown, also can be the 1)
muse ii. illicit affairs, the one that got married, it can also overlap the prior muse idk
muse iii. this one is clearly a woman in my opinion.
IN CONCLUSION
in conclusion, there seems to be at least one hidden muse throughout taylor's discography. i feel like there's at least three. by the way - i couldn't care less whom taylor writes about. i'm just interested in the story she has to tell. and lately it's been feeling like she has been begging for us to understand her. i think she uses a lot of red herrings to hide the true muses of her songs. when you carefully listen to her whole discography there are a few stories that instantly connect to each other that is out of the narrative taylor explicitly chose to tell us about. and this is not to say that she never had a relationship with Harry or Joe or whatever - it's just that I believe there is someone else (or others) that we don't yet know about. i think the one she's known from her hometown is the most obvious one.
anyways, i'm curious to hear about your thoughts in this.
#taylor swift#red tv#1989 tv#folklore#evermore#reputation#lover#midnights#the tortured poets department#taylor swift theories#ttpd#music#lyrics#gaylor#not actually gaylor but kinda#it's complicated#ts
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not to stir the pot but i’ve seen some really shitty takes recently about arthur being gay and completely erasing gwen’s importance to him. what are your thoughts?
oof well that is in fact a loaded question but I genuinely feel your frustration so let's give this a shot lmao
the short of it, to quote a friend of mine: 2012 tumblr called and wants its shitty shipping discourse back (derogatory)
the slightly longer of it.... to start this off, no one has to ship anything. no one's saying that anyone has to ship anything, or headcanon characters a certain way, or that you're not "allowed" to say that you don't ship certain ships. that's just . not a thing that's happening, and I do wanna reiterate strongly that you don't have to ship anything.
that said, well. maybe if you find yourself with the urge to nail your 'why i don't ship this canon interracial couple' against the proverbial church doors, you should ask yourself.... why is it always the black characters you find "badly written." why is it always the black and the white character who have "no chemistry." why is it always the black character you find unrelatable, that you think would be soo much better suited dating another character of color, etc. etc. These things do not happen in a vacuum, and you don't need to hate or even dislike that character to play into tropes, stereotypes, and issues that very many people have very extensively explained to be less than stellar, to put it mildly.
And Imma come out and say this: fandom is not activism, you don't need to be a loud, outspoken activist and/or turn this into anything more than a hobby. if, even amongst the discussions had in the last years, you have never once stopped to ask yourself how you might deal with the internalized racism that we're all dealing with, how it might affect people in the spaces you share while doing your hobby, then, frankly, you gotta do better. fandom is not activism, but we all have some basic responsibility of not causing more harm than there already is going around. this should not be a controversial statement either.
you can ship merthur without invalidating and trampling all over the frankly brilliant fact that this show went and casted a black woman as queen guinevere. you can ship merthur without taking away scenes that are not about them - god knows there are enough. you can acknowledge that 75% of your shipping takes are subjective, that merthur isn't, wasn't, and was never going to be canon, and literally none of this takes away from the two generic white dudes whose faces you'd like to smash together. this entire fandom is and has been majorly about those two generic white guys, for well over a decade, and i'm saying all this as a white merthur shipper. like, this is the bare minimum. and yet, here we fucking are.
as for the arthur being gay thing - again, you don't need to headcanon anyone a certain way, but whenever i do see this specific headcanon it "somehow" always comes with an incredibly weird (to put this mildly also) understanding of sexuality, top/bottom discourse, and - you guessed it - takes on arwen, that are maybe something people might want to uhh. examine also.
this isn't a callout, or a call for a witchhunt, or or or. personally i block and move on, and I wouldn't have said anything more on this than a vague shitpost on my sideblog, but god knows i can never shut up and even less so when asked, and I do think that while, again, fandom is not activism and I'll stand by this, people should... try and aim to make some basic attempts at not causing harm. it's not even hard (although that should not be your measure but like, again. bare minimum). it really is as easy as not constantly invalidating and side-lining ships and/or characters, by doing basic research in how not to whitewash characters, why not to compare skintone to food when writing, etc.
On that note, none of these are things that I've come up with. A lot of people, especially fans of colour, have done a great deal of work to provide resources and education that are... incredibly easy to find if you can be fucked to make some effort. Imma link a bunch beneath too but like. Yeah I guess that's my take. You can ship whatever you want, genuinely, from the bottom of my heart. But 1. maybe sometimes take some time to consider what you're saying, 2. maybe take some time to do some basic self-education on some issues in general, and 3. writing posts on why you don't ship whatever ship has never accomplished anything beyond getting people who agree with you to stroke your ego, and step on the toes of people who don't. at best.
But also, last but not least, the block button is your friend and all that
Resources by people much better equipped to talk on these things than me:
How to stan the white guy with minimal contribution to fandom's racism problem
The racism in the Merlin fandom and towards Gwen specifically
Educating Merlin - a blog that's specifically tackling racism in this fandom
Fanlore on Fandom's Racism Problem(s) (use to find many links leading you to further discussions on it)
More Fanlore with further links
When white people talk about racism in fandom
Writing with Color - Resource blog for writing specifically, but honestly also covers so many topics that it's incredibly useful for doing some self-examination too
I'm not saying you need to agree with everything said in all of these sources, but also if your constant reaction to these discussions as a white person is to get defensive, to dismiss it, etc., I'm saying this in the nicest way possible: maybe sit with that for a bit. Ask yourself why requests like not constantly making fun of a ship gets you in such a huff. Etc. etc.
Lastly: if people would like to add onto this with more resources, that's highly welcome. That said, anyone clowning/harassing/being a bitch on this post will be blocked.
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This might be my Last Post regarding Vivziepop
I'm just going to say this as a longtime fan since 2019 I was extremely disappointed, before all of this I started following her since 2019 and watched Hazbin Hotel and I thought it was good alongside Helluva Boss which I rewatched in the past of my Youtube Downloads bec the PLDT internet during the Coronavirus that started in 2020 was not great. I used to listen to her different music genres of her speedraws while I'm drawing and I also watch her speedraws and was amazed by the process on how her artworks was made. I even made a fanart about her for my college project
This is my fav Die Young music video that I made fanart for
Artwork I Made for Technicals in History of Graphics Subject in First Year College for my favorite artist and animator Vivziepop.
Although despite Vivziepop's success as an Indie animator and for running Spindlehorse, I cannot deny she's a very controversial person to any video or tweets about her is always related to her past controversies, while I do see that there are unfair accusations thrown against her I still wish she addressed her other controversial stuff that she didn't addressed whether she's aware of what she did or not and I'm not going to mention any names bec I do not want to be involve deeper in the drama bec I've seen there are other tumblr and twitter posts calling her out, not to mention the fanbase is divided with diehard fans, neutral fans, haters, stalkers and critical fans. Also the reason why I'm really dissapointed with her bec any controversy that is meant to call out her attention she blocks people on Twitter whether the person is criticizing her show and her actions and not to mention she started becoming unprofessional lately. I can understand if blocking is meant to avoid harassment, if that's the case, but when it comes to criticism she was acting unprofessional and not to mention not addressing in a professional manner can make people go unprofessional against the creator, if I'm being honest she needs a PR Manager or Assistant to guide her. At the end I'm disappointed, I expected better from her, being a longtime fan since 2019 deeply hurts me, for me this might be my last post including the tumblr fanart works I liked related to the show. I just hope she won't get the worst Cancellation that might make her leave the internet and cancel Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss and her other projects, bec that is the worst thing to happen and I wish she needs to step up her game and try to improve her behavior including the writing of her shows. Only time will tell until she realizes this, and I don't follow Viviziepop or Ayy Lmao anymore, and I'm all for valid criticisms for Vivziepop just as long as the people were not harassing her or sending death threats and also making false accusations against her and just because you may not like her as a person does not give it a free pass to make up false accusations and lies against her and is not acceptable, the fandom should do better. Until then, goodbye Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss fandom, I used to be a fan of the show but I cannot support Vivziepop anymore, and it's time for me to leave.
BTW the art that I made for college will not be removed despite my mixed feelings about Vivziepop it would be a shame for me to delete it with all the hardwork I made it. So it will not be deleted from my Deviantart and my tumblr post including my other Hazbin Hotel redesign edits and Beelzebub redesign edits in my Deviantart account if you guys also want to check out my work there.
If Charlie Morningstar the Princess of Hell will redeem sinners by making Hazbin Hotel a place to rehabilitate sinners and make them become better people, then I hope Vivienne Medrano who uses her creativity through her artworks and being an indie animator to inspire her fans and artists like me, but she needs to grow up and become a better person.
#helluva boss#hazbin hotel#die young#vivziepop#vivziepop critical#vivziepop criticism#helluva boss critical#helluva boss criticism#spindlehorse critical#spindlehorse criticism
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Things I Would Like to Know About My Fellow Writers
I've been tagged by @angelosearch. Thank you!
Tagging anyone else who wants to play!
Last book I read: Okay, the last book I finished was The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. It was incredibly inspiring and nothing else I’ve picked up in the past year has even come close.
Greatest literary inspirations: Honestly, The Goldfinch still influences me a LOT. Also I keep trying to make my longfic the next East of Eden because that book has a grip on my soul.
Things in my current fandom I want to read but I don't want to write: I want to read the backstory of Julia Heartilly and Fury Caraway stuff for ff8, Alex Mullner stuff for Stardew Valley!
Things in my current fandoms I want to write but I think nobody would be interested in them but me: I always feel like no one but me is interested in anything I write lmao.
You can recognize my writing by: Romantic love, mental illness, and personal growth all feature heavily, I think.
My most controversial take (current fandom): I don’t think I have any controversial takes! As @angelosearch recently told me, I see ff8 as a giant sandbox and I want to see alllll the ideas.
Top three favorite tropes: 1. Slowburn, 2. Slowburn, and 3. Slowburn. Lol jk (kind of). I also enjoy found family stuff, and I recently discovered the deliciousness of hurt/comfort. Though I will read almost anything if it sounds interesting!
What’s your current writing mood (10 – super motivated and churning out words like crazy, 0 – in a complete rut): I’m at a solid 6. I would be writing right now but I’m stuck at a very specific scene and it’s starting to drive me a little crazy. I’m probably going to finish this tag game and then attempt a very bad version of the scene just so I can move past it lol
Share a fandom frustration: None! I often hear about people complaining about fandoms and it honestly just confuses me. I’ve only ever had pleasant interactions with ff8 people. And the SV fandom is too big so I don’t interact with it. I just like to look at cute pictures of Harvey and Elliott and Alex <3
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Questions for Writers
I was tagged by @corpocyborg! Thank you, bb!! ♡
Last book I read:
I still haven't finished There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job Kikuko Tsumura I started back in January, lmao. Not for any reason other than I just haven't been in the right headspace to sit down and read for the past few months--What I have read of it is great, so hopefully, I can make the time to pick it up again.
Greatest literary inspirations:
I like the female protags in Karin Slaughter novels, and I love Tanya Huff's Torin Kerr from her Confederation series--I'm sure they've inspired me on some level. Oh, and Phedre from Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel books, too, although it's been ages since I read those.
But I think most of my inspiration actually comes from other forms of media. I love the action babes of the late 90s/early 00s: Lara Croft is the number one inspo here, and pretty much all of Michael Turner's comic girls but especially Sara from Witchblade. And I think Better Call Saul is easily one of the best-written shows ever made--That's one I always go back to when I feel like I need to refill the inspo well.
Things in my current fandoms I want to read but I don't want to write:
I have a confession: I usually only read a ton of fic when I first get into a fandom and I can't get enough and I just want to soak it all up, but after a certain point, I just don't have a lot of headspace for other people's stories. 😬 I feel bad about it sometimes, and it's not like I never read anything after that point, but 90% of the time, what I wanna write is what I wanna read. It's kind of a closed loop, I guess.
Things in my current fandoms I want to write but I think nobody would be interested in them but me:
Well, I'm not at all deterred by being the only person interested in something I write, haha. One of my favorite one-shots I've ever written is between my Cousland and Hawke meeting briefly at Ostagar, and it's probably my least popular fic on AO3 by a big margin. But I do like deep-diving into my own OCs, and it generally is harder to get an audience for fic that doesn't have canon characters. Ain't gonna stop me, though!
You can recognize my writing by:
Lots of pining and banter; obvious thesaurus abuse
My most controversial take (current fandom):
Yeah, no, not gonna be sharing my actual most controversial takes, lmao.
But I do also love the Devil ending! I don't think there's one objectively "best" ending--What's good for one V isn't necessarily good for another--But for my Valerie, it suited her story the best. I love the poetry of her going back to Arasaka after getting fired by them, I love storming Arasaka Tower with Goro, I love the conflict with Johnny, I love making Goro confront how fucked up the Arasakas are, I love the possibilities of Mikoshi--The only way it would have been better for me is if this nixed idea had actually been put into action.
And I wish we could roleplay a V that is actually more "pro"-corpo in the game, especially if we had the corpo lifepath. Sticking it to the man is sexy and all, but I just love delving into characters that align themselves with shitty institutions and exploring different motivations (I personally like cynical pragmatism/self-preservation and delusional idealism) that lead a person there.
Top three favorite tropes:
1) Rivals to friends to lovers
2) Mutual pining
3) Forced proximity
What’s your current writing mood (10 – super motivated and churning out words like crazy, 0 – in a complete rut):
Like, 0.5, lmao. I've been rereading and organizing my WIPS, so there's some effort being put in there, but I'm very much in one of my "ummmm, how do I even write fiction?" phases.
Share a random frustration:
I have ZERO discipline when it comes to writing. I need to be in a fully feral, totally isolated from distractions place or I just can't get shit done. When I'm in the zone, I'm in the fuckin' zone, but I get like 3 months of that every 5 years, lmao.
Tagging (with no pressure, as always) @ur-friendly-nbhd-cardassian, @dread-red-queen, @vorchagirl, and @aceghosts <333
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Lol I've seen people also say that there are complaints about geminifourth also stealing the show in moonlight chicken. I feel like this just means the show had a well rounded cast of actors/characters. This should be what more bls strive to do. Though I can see why earthmix fans would be salty. The general consensus seems to be that they had the weaker writing and if my fave ship was the main couple but people mainly wanted to focus on the other couples, I'd be salty too
I mean people are always gonna complain about something lmao but I can definitely see where they're coming from. GF & FK are the newbies in the bl lineup who have a following that's expanding rapidly while EM are the seniors who are on their 5th show lol so it's not strange that there's a general feeling of displacement. I get it.
I don't think JimWen had the weaker writing, they just had the less intense narrative lol. their story was more conventional and down to earth and if you put that into comparison to what the other characters were dealing with, it might seem a bit more bland. which is just nitpicking though as the storytelling for all of these characters + stories was evidently excellent. no arguing there.
but anyway I also see the fandom controversies as a sign that the cast was well rounded and I think everyone can see that lol. in the end it's all a matter of screentime, narration and reception 🤷🏼♀️
xxx
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What do you think about ZoSan. I love them but I don´t ship them. (hidding from the many ZoSan fans)
okay so my opinion here might be a bit controversial but i'm so cray cray i'm so brave i'm such a warrior in this fandom i'm just gonna say it:
i don't really like the zosan...
(btw i don't wanna spread hate but i'm too lazy to censor the ship name and tbh idk if it also shows up in the fyp if it's said in the ask??? i talk a bit negatively about it, so don't read it if you ship them in case it might bother you <3)
i love their dynamic and i've been saying they need to fuck since, like, the moment they started fighting on screen. the sexual tension is immaculate, please, just fuck already god- half of their problems would be solved asap if zoro pinned sanji against a wall already and fucked him so hard he spoke french.
i like the fact that although they're always arguing, they understand and trust each other when it comes to serious stuff. like yeah, we fight but we are not letting this affect the crew as a whole. they're just two very proud bastards who hate admitting they don't actually dislike each other that much. their whole dynamic is great in canon!!!! love to see them. i enjoy them a lot. they need to fuck already (saying this tho does not mean i ship them to an extreme extent. i just know gays when i see them).
however!!! i think my dislike towards the ship comes mainly from the fandom. because personally i enjoy them in canon and i like the content some people make of them (god knows i reblog zosan more than it looks like), but... the 90% of the content and shippers just make them so out of character they stress me tf out. i see a zosan shipper and i never know if they're the good kind or not and i start shaking with fear. and i'm a person that believes in "ship whatever tf you want bc everyone has different tastes and i'm not that crazy to fight over fictional characters and what other people like", but, y'know, bad experiences from my past idk.
they're not even in my top 10 op ships, but they exist. they're there. they're fun. they're cool, i guess. i feel very indifferent about them and if i see a cute/hot zosan thing i'll reblog it. but i don't seek content of them, y'know (unless i'm in a very sanji nsfw mood and the horniness takes over my original preferences. sometimes i just want sanji to be topped, i apologize).
but yeah, i'm very "meh" about them and the thing that makes me not really like them is the fandom, mostly. because there are some zosan shippers out there that just....................... they remind me of kiribaku shippers saying their ship is queerbait when it's very obviously NOT queerbait and claiming them to be canon when they're obviously not canon and etcetcetc. that, and the fact that a lot of people write/draw them extremely out of character. personally, for me soft zosan (i love soft zosan bc i'm a softie) could only work after a long-ass development and they'd still act like the idiots they are. that being said, nsfw zosan works every time in every universe bc, again, the sexual tension is tangible, man. and somehow people manage to do it out of character????? lmao.
people are SO obsessed with this ship bc it's easy to sexualize and easy to write because "haha boys fucking haha fighting haha" which is uhhhhhh not my thing, really. like i do love nsfw zosan but it also has to be written extremely in character and- idk i think that it's just on me.
basically, i'm indifferent about them and when i see people so so so hyped i just don't really get it. and then there's people that actively believe that they're queerbaiting and that instantly makes me angry, which translates into not liking the ship for a while. and when i go back to being indifferent and liking some stuff of them, i just don't really care much? and then i see someone writing them ooc and i dislike them again and- that over and over and over again.
and okay this whole thing seems stupid but i've had past experiences in fandoms and tbh saying that you don't like THE popular ship is like yelling at the shippers to attack you.
but, yeah, to summarize: i'm indifferent about them. i like them in very specific situations and content. most of the shippers and ooc content make me mad (which is like, most of them). but!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the thing is: when zosan is done well, zosan is great. but when it's done out of character??? i can't fucking stand it.
i'm kind of contradicting what i said about not liking them because i do like them?? i just don't like them THAT much or to that extent and it has to be a very specific flavor?? and the shippers and content make me so mad sometimes i just stop reading fics or looking for content idk. i guess what i'm trying to say is that:
-> canon zosan cool
-> fanon zosan makes me dislike them
-> i don't really care and since this fandom is literally FULL of that ship i just have to live with it idk they're fine ig
#i wrote this super quickly but yeah#i just don't really like them much#they're fine#and some people are very annoying and have very strong opinions about them and i just don't care#but sometimes i read ooc stuff and it makes me MAD#but that's life ig#i do think they need to fuck tho
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THINGS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT MY FELLOW WRITERS
I've been tagged by @angelosearch!! This looks neat! The fandom is absolutely FFVIII by the way (shocking!)
Last book I read: Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber, it's fucking great and everyone should read it!
Greatest literary inspirations: Neil Gaiman is probably on top of that list; he has an enchanting way of creating characters you deeply care about. Jason Pargin for his wit and humor. Andrzej Sapkowski for his worldbuilding and lore!
Things in my current fandom I want to read but I don't want to write: The whole orphanage gang + Rinoa all being in a polycule together. I do kinda want to write it but I'd rather read it because this would absolutely be a monster of a long long fic to make it minimally believable lmao
Things in my current fandom I want to write but I think nobody would be interested in them but me: Also the polycule thing?? LOL also maybe some kinkier things?
You can recognize my writing by: Ellipses... ellipses everywhere! And little fucks peppered here and there in dialogues⁓
My most controversial take (current fandom): I don't think I have any controversial headcanons really... Squall is demi, Irvine is bi, R absolutely does not equal U (but I love playing with Rinoa's fear of becoming like Ultimecia). Selphie should be given access to explosives, Cid is mostly an asshole BUT he did what he could with what he had... I think that's mostly it.
Top three favorite tropes: Definitely Soulbond!! Then uuh Porn WITH Plot, and hmmm yeah Slow Burn!
What’s your current writing mood (10 – super motivated and churning out words like crazy, 0 – in a complete rut): I'd say a confident 7 or 8- as always, it is TIME that eludes me. T^T
Share a fandom frustration: None!! I kinda wish our fandom was bigger but at the same time our little corner feels very cozy and we're all so dedicated!! 🥰
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Hey there! Do you have any tips on how to make combat encounters, especially Boss battles, more engaging? I struggle to find a balance between "make this encounter challenging to a group who have just had a long rest" and it taking 8 rounds ... One thing I've been trying is to give every fight an objective other than "kill the boss". I liked your critique of CR combat so I thought I'd ask you for advice. Thanks in advance!
okay so this might be all over the place, especially because i've got the makings of a migraine but am determined to write this anyway but here are some mechanical and story tips i guess:
make the encounter have meaning, this can be a huge boss fight or it can be a fight with stakes like rescuing innocents or chasing an enemy or being chased, etc. the results of the encounter should matter. i am someone who personally does not really believe in random encounters as they don't add much to the overall story in my opinion
that being said, if your party is having a big day, you can throw multiple fights at them without a long rest. from my perspective as a player, it isn't always fun to have to do constant resource management between rests but every now and again it can be a good time and feels good to classes that have short rest recharges.
here's a grab bag of primary encounter types + secondary objectives / challenges. mix and match:
combat types: big boss, chase, swarm, multiple factions, equal numbers
secondary challenges: a puzzle, someone to talk with/interact with, movement/terrain navigation, someone to save, a time crunch, etc.
if you've got a lot of moving pieces and complicated statblocks, write notes for yourself about what you want your bad guys to do. don't hold out on using their cool big abilities.
i preroll initiative and have a spreadsheet initiative tracker so that i can sort by highest to lowest initiative and let the computer do the math for me with hp
you know that thing where statblocks do 13 (2d6 + 5), sometimes, it saves time if you use the static damage. if you want a little bit of variety, add or subtract a d4.
scaling health! i always give monsters three thresholds: one that is a lowball, what i would use if everything is going wrong and i'm trying to give my players a more fair fight, a medium, usually the 'canon' number, and a highball aka what i'm going for if i'm getting thrashed. controversial take: sometimes you should just have an enemy die when it Makes Sense narratively. hit points are useful but if your rogue is fighting their backstory villain and lands a huge sneak attack and the bad guy is hanging on by 15 hp, give them that narrative moment.
know your player characters' mechanical strengths and weaknesses. it feels good to resist a damage type sometimes, it feels good to know that your save or suck spells are landing. at the same time, pushing your players out of their comfort zone and having them fight things that are strong against their typical strategy is not a bad thing. also just figure out what the average damage output for all of your pcs is lmao, it helps you figure out how many hit points you need to give things, know whether they've got higher or lower acs and how you need to scale attack modifiers and save dcs.
work smarter not harder, if you're wanting to homebrew something see if you can reflavor an existing statblock already.
legendary actions and legendary resistances, just give them to things. you don't need to give them tons of them but especially if you don't have the action economy advantage (boss battles hello) you want these so your boss doesn't get completely dunked on instantly
watch the rat crown fight from d20's unsleeping city season 1 everything i've said is on display here
unironically use these archetypes for your bosses:
no i'm not joking. im so not joking. these are different distinct and interesting archetypes that create separate tones for a fight and will make your combats feel distinct from each other (also grab bag does this) if you're familiar with soulsborne games this will probably make more sense and if not, i'll give a quick explanation:
guy in a room totally freakin out > straightforward in terms of strategy, morals, and ethics. get this guy dead. could be martial or could be caster, but they're Freakin Out. the complexity comes from how you deal with the threat not the additional factors usually
stomp jomperson > so many hit points, usually big, hits Real Good
the gang is back together and they hate you > i think this one is sort of self explanatory
bumpos palace of tricks > fights with a puzzle, gimmick, chases, wizards who are being tricksy and nasty, these fights should infuriate your players in a Positive Way aka. make things annoying enough that they Really Want To Win but not too frustrating. also there's no right answer of how to fix things, figure out what your players want to try and hey if it works, it's the Solution.
you interrupted my dinner/mourning and now you gotta die > these are some big narrative fights where you want the villain to have lore or to be sympathetic or not a guy in a room totally freaking out that you just wanna get gone
and these are my unrefined tips on how to make combat more engaging. my tips for making combat go faster are different but like. don't let your combat go to 8 rounds. just let the guys die lmao.
#1 tip, if combat stops feeling fun, regardless of whether it's life or death stakes or a goofy gimmick fight, that's when you start the process of resolving the encounter, whether the party wins or not.
its also of my personal opinion that there are usually more interesting stakes than character permadeath, especially if you don't know if your player would be okay with that, and that as a DM it ultimately your job to lose encounters so, i air on that when i'm unsure.
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I wanna hear some thoughts on my pathetic baby loser failson (beloved) five pebbles
oh hell yeah i love hate love this guy and i have SO many thoughts
so, some fun hcs for starters (only one and a half of which pertain to him in canon, the others are just vague sketches of what his vibe is like):
he would like tame impala but only partially in a male manipulator way
if he were a smoker i think he'd vape and then switch to menthols (something tells me he'd be the kind of guy to start smoking because he thinks it looks cool)
hes transmasc coded. real he/they energy
his construction suffered pretty extreme budget cuts due to the political controversy surrounding his placement over the Anointed Citadel (there was a defund five pebbles campaign led by the spiritual leaders there lmao) and thus he is noticeably smaller than the other iterators
he'd be a pretty great poet, and would make a killing in clout off posting poetry to instagram if that existed in rain world lmao (if his iterator comrades appreciated it, he'd post poetry to one of their global message boards, but not many of them care for artistic pursuits. he'd get a temp ban for wasting space)
if you dug through enough pearls in garbage wastes you'd find the equivalent of amateur tumblr poetry from 2012, all written (and some partially scrambled) by pebs himself. before moon's collapse, NSH made it a project to get their hands on some of it so they could make fun of him by reading it aloud in vc. that never panned out
pebs and NSH would've collabed to produce shitty soundcloud rap, but they'd have a falling out over the duo's artistic direction and they'd split up. pebs would try to produce his own backing tracks, fail at it, and give up, and NSH would go on to make insane 120 bpm hyperpop you could mosh to and open for 100 gecs
and now for some sad character analysis:
i think pebs has like, very big feelings and not a great grip on how to handle them. he isn't maliciously selfish but he experiences his own pain as so all consuming that he forgets that his actions affect other people and simply follows his impulses without much thought. this obviously doesn't excuse his actions - he's harmed his friends in some very real, tangible and painful ways and they should hold him accountable for that (were i to write a 5p recovery arc he would definitely get taken to task by the others, who are also Messy. it would perhaps be a very dramatic fight, but i think if their heads were clear enough and moon had some means of communicating with them you could get a good approximation of what restorative justice might look like for a bunch of alien supercomputers).
it's also implied that he's like the baby of the group, or is at least younger, and therefore has had less time to get to know everyone else and establish himself as part of the local group's regular social dynamic, so i would imagine he has insecurities about that which might fuel his impulse to isolate when he feels Bad. which was, of course, disastrous on one particular occasion. i think he feels deep guilt over that and it's eating him (like the rot), but he has no idea how to express his remorse, or that the person he killed has been revived and can be talked to directly (if only via slugcat messenger). i've always read moon as someone who, in pursuit of being the group big sister/mom friend, learned to repress her feelings in order to preserve group cohesion at all costs. i think a conversation between the two of them would either be really explosively messy (timeline where moon learns to let herself feel things and be angry) or it would have the longest silences you've ever heard (timeline where moon does not learn to stop repressing her emotions). either way it would take a while for them to make peace with each other, but i think they could pull it off. neither of them want to spend the rest of eternity lonely and bitter.
#rain world#rainworld#rain world game#rw five pebbles#five pebbles#rw iterators#iterator#sorry that took me like 5000 years to answer i've been in trapped in a hole filled with various papers i have to write#and also im incredibly burnt out lmao#thanks for sending me an ask btw!! i've missed drafting silly hcs abt rain world :)#wisdom of the sage
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Facts About Fellow Writers Tag Game
Thanks so much @graysparrowao3 for tagging me! This was a lot of fun to think about!
Last book I read: So it's been a very long time since I've read a physical book because books are very expensive these days, but the last one I've read was a book from the Olympian series by George O'Conner. I can't remember which one specifically, but I believe it was Hera or Ares?? I got the majority of the collection when I was younger because I loved Greek Mythology! I still do, honestly!
Greatest literary inspiration: It was the Maximum Ride series! They had it in my school library in graphic novel form, and I instantly was enthralled! I wanted so badly to make stories after that, to the point where I wrote my own book. (I don't have it anymore, but that's probably good since it was very terribly written lmao)
Things in my current fandom I want to read but I don't want to write: I would love more things on the tiefling refugees! I want to see an exploration on their perspectives on everything for sure!
Things in my current fandoms I want to write but I think nobody would be interested in them but me: Bex and Danis! I love those two so much, it makes me so happy seeing them both. I want to write a one shot but I doubt anyone would read it, so it would probably be something for myself hahaha!
You can recognize my writing by: I have no idea! I don't think there's a lot of specific things in my writing style. I've only recently written depressing things so maybe that? That sounds so bad haha!
My most controversial take (current fandom): Personally, I think Act 3 feels a bit incomplete? I think there was more that could be done to tie things together more. Because of that reason Act 3 is my least favorite Act out of the other 2.
Current writing mood (10 – super motivated and churning out words like crazy, 0 – in a complete rut): A solid 7 I think! I recently got swamped with projects and work, but when I have the time I'm always writing something out on my phone! Whether a small scene, some poetry, or random snippets to put in future chapter! Recently there's been lots of random scenes for Rolan and my Tav, Pyxis. Though with other fics I've been lagging behind because I've been so busy.
Top three favourite tropes: As much there is plenty of tropes I dislike, there's also plenty I love! It was so hard to pick just three!
Hurt/Comfort: An all time classic for me! I'm a sucker for hurt comfort always, it's usually what I filter first when getting into a new fandom! When my Rolan brainrot started, this tag is where I went first so I could see him get a hug.
Sharing a Bed: When done well, this trope can be pretty funny and/or sweet! It doesn't even have to lead into sex, my favorite is when the characters lay there and let themselves be vulnerable, possibly open up! There's so much you can do with this trope to make it unique!
Mutual Pining: I've always been into pining tropes! There's so many creative ways to write it, and I also love writing it myself! The tension, the misunderstandings, the slowburn, all of it! Exploring
Share a random frustration: I can have the most beautiful sentence in my head, yet when I try to put it down in writing, it never comes out the way I want it! It's incredibly annoying and makes me feel like I'm a bad writer sometimes.
No pressure tags: @el-tur-el @underdark-dreams
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1, 2, 9, 11? (feel free to reduce the questions you want to answer lol)
munday questions !
1. how do you feel about reblog karma?
okay this is maybe controversial but i do not care. i understand why people do it and it's definitely annoying to be reblogged from a bunch and have nobody send in anything, but like. reblog from me all you want i genuinely do not mind !! i try my best to practice it because it's just basic kindness, or i just reblog from the source like others do, but if someone was to reblog memes from me i really would not care at all
i think nowadays it's even extended to like, generic musings posts and stuff ? people tend to reblog from the source rather than each other, and thats something i cant really wrap my head around kjfhfdkj tldr i'll do it for other people but i truly do not care if people do it for me, pls reblog memes and stuff from me all you want
2. is it hard for you to write with characters you don’t know/don’t know well?
um a bit? maybe? i think if i'm like completely unaware of the fandom then yeah, but if i have a general idea of what a character is like then i'm usually fine :3 i think ? maybe ? it is a little bit difficult just cause i'm not used to stepping out of my comfort zone, but obviously with an rp scene as small as mgs', you kinda have to branch out into other fandoms. like idk shit about final fantasy except like 5 characters max but i still like to interact with blogs from that fandom, even if idk much of um. anything about it. i find the characters themselves interesting :3
9. when you look at a new blog, what is it that makes you press the follow button? is it the muse, the aesthetics, the writing–?
HMM usually the muse themself, yeah, and the general attitude of the writer. i get shit scared of following people who are like, graphical geniuses or amazing writers because i feel like SO intimidated by them, but i wouldn't like. block someone or something just for being good at that stuff lmao. if you're a pretty chill person and i find your character interesting, that's enough for me !
ultimately i try to follow people who seem nice :3 i'm terrified of people who come off really stern or no nonsense ig, so i tend to gravitate towards people who are more. sociable and kind ? maybe that's naïve of me, but as someone who is very anxious all the time and very shy about interacting with new people, it helps a lot to know that the people i'm writing with won't like. spontaneously block me because i didn't post for a little bit yk
11. describe your ideal outcome/endgame for the muse you are currently writing. if you are a multimuse blog: do this for your current favorite muse, or the muse of the last reply you posted.
this is such a scary question am i fucking dying but i don't really have one ! i'd like to have a lot more rp partners and do a lot more writing in general, maybe get some mains and exclusives, that kinda thing. overall just character development through interactions !
as someone who was introduced to the rp scene through ask blogs and stuff, ig i've always been fond of like. having a narrative ? or connections with other blogs that influence how you write and what happens in your blog's "canon" ig. that's something that's always appealed to me :3 but i don't really have like an outcome or "endgame" ig because that sounds so ... final fjdhfjkhrg
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Writer Questions game!
Thanks so much to @vsnotresponding for the tag!
Tagging: @aritany, @jamieanovels, @isabellebissonrouthier @garthcelyn @wildswrites and anyone who wants to!
1. What is your absolute all-time favorite idea you've ever had?
Probably twtr! Just the idea of The Wolf, and the diving deep into exploring revenge and taking the original Red Riding Hood vibes of looking beyond what you see, that things aren't as they appear, was just a BLAST a write.
2. Is there a question you've been asked in the past that really stands out to you and you still think about sometimes?
Hmm not that I can think of off the top of my head
3. What is your favorite part of being a writer? What parts could you take or leave?
I love being able to read others' work and share my own. I love being able to explore myself and my ideas in a way that's private—that no one else has to see unless I want them to.
If I could leave behind the part where readers give unsolicited advice/feedback and also the struggle to logistically fix plot holes, I would lmao
4. What is your greatest motivation to write/create?
The self-exploration aspect, and sharing it with others.
5. What is the best piece of advice you've ever read or been given as a writer?
These!! From Neil <3
6. What do you wish you knew when you were first starting out writing?
That you're never going to please everyone, that betas will always have conflicting comments, and there are going to be people who take your writing in bad faith, regardless of what you change or what you say.
7. What is your favorite story you've written TO COMPLETION? Link it if you'd like and can!
You want me to pick???????? No. Here go look at both of them.
>>AVOF and TWTR<<
8. What is your favorite out-of-the-box quote?
Yeah, idk what this means either.
9. Which of your characters would you say has the most controversial mindset? Why do you say so and how do you personally feel about their ideals?
Hmm The Wolf, at least for most of TWTR. Also Danny's views are controversial from a Society™ standpoint, in that he's nonmanogamous and very fluid in all things sexuality and gender, and is also pretty anti-label in general.
10. If you when you first started writing met you now, what would younger you think?
Probably surprised that I've only finished 2 books RIP but also impressed at how queer they are and surprised by how hopeful and happy-ending they are lmaooo
#writeblr#writblr#writers on tumblr#writeblr community#writerblr#writer community#writing community#novel writing#writers of tumblr#writing#dark fantasy#wip#mj posts#about mj#my tag game#tag game#this was fun!
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Hello! I know it has been a while and that Far Cry 5 fandom is pretty much dead (D:), but I was wondering what your opinion was regarding The Collapse DLC :-). Because there has been a considerable blacklash about it on tumblr when it came out, but I really liked it & I think it actually showed some hidden depths of the Seed family that I've just been wondering about... till now. So I was just curious about your opinion of the portrayal of the Seeds :-)
Hi! :D I know fandom reception of the DLC was…less than favorable (on tumblr, anyway. I didn’t see backlash anywhere else). But personally? I loved it, and I vehemently disagree with the claims that it was out of character. It might have gone against preferred headcanons, but in terms of what actually ended up on screen in the FC5/New Dawn base games, the Collapse DLC was very much in line with how the characters were previously portrayed. I haven’t seen too much controversy about Jacob, so I’ll focus mainly on John, Joseph, and Faith.
John has always been portrayed as a man with a strong sadistic streak that was simultaneously weaponized and kept in check by Joseph’s presence; the “urges” speech might not be the most sophisticated writing, but the overall idea was just a reiteration of what we saw in FC5. He takes obvious glee in torturing Hudson and the Deputy and Nick and I did not find the story about the woman he killed to be shocking in the slightest. Maybe it’s because I’m not a John stan, but I find claims that he’s too violent in the DLC to be genuinely baffling. He’s always been portrayed as a sadist.
In regards to Faith’s portrayal, I felt extremely vindicated lmao. I wrote a long-ass essay about Faith and what I feel are the obvious conclusions about her character and relationship with Joseph that are often ignored or denied in fandom (despite the game’s writer literally confirming it): that Joseph views her as a twisted stand-in for his wife, and he abuses his power to engage in a sexual relationship with her. To provide some background, @intheforest-hides-a-light and myself began collaborating on the doc several months before the DLC was even released. We had 20 pages of content WITHOUT *any* of the blatant subtext from the DLC—and yes, “Faith being the wife’s name” was one of the conclusions we made before it was stated directly. While the hints from the DLC were eventually added into the essay, FC5 by itself provides more than enough evidence that supports that Faith was in an unhealthy dynamic with Joseph.
Joseph is a manipulator and an abuser. He also has a deep sincerity in his mission and genuinely wants the world to be a better place in the post-collapse world. These things are not contradictory, as is the idea that because Faith victimizes others, she can’t also be a victim. I feel like in a lot of discourse regarding his relationship with Faith, it gets broken down into this black-and-white way of thinking that does a disservice to both characters. Joseph is a complex, multifaceted person, and the Collapse DLC just makes him more interesting imo.
I’m not surprised that tumblr reception to the DLC has been frosty. This is a fandom that rejected Drew Holmes’ own words about the characters he created as being OOC, rejected New Dawn as fanfic despite the director saying it’s canon, and now rejects the DLC. Official content getting rejected in favor of headcanon is par for the course.
And in a way, that’s fine. The beauty of fandom allows for people to interpret the characters the way they want. There are plenty of fandoms where I downright ignore parts of canon too. But I always remember to separate headcanon from actual canon. And imo, the portrayals of the characters were consistent with their portrayals from FC5.
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k hear me out we NEED the directors cut for taking care of Jervis through his depression
It has already been a huuuge experiment with his character but maybe theres still smth left to say u know👀👉🏻👈🏻
HNNGGG *vibrating with elated joy* IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED ANON when I saw this ask game I was HOPING someone would ask about Love and Suds! Because I HAVE A LOT TO DISCUSS HNNGGG
Because of that there's a read more tab lmao
I'm so sorry I know its a lot but just please bear with me because I HAVE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS I need to express lol.
So Jervis is incredibly interesting to me lmao.
I've been in and out of the Batman/Rogue fandom going on about six years. I've always wanted to like Jervis (I loved Alice in Wonderland as a child shush I still do plus mind control?? Hell yeah) but given his controversy and everyone just sweeping him under the rug, aside from BTAS and Arkhamverse, I felt like I was slowly getting a grasp on him but never quite got there.
Now fast forward after a year and a half out of the fandom and thwarting myself back in I am here and I've met a couple genuine Jervis fans for like years, fans, shout out to @march-harrigan and @jervis-tetch-my-beloved and when I read their work and thoughts I was like...Okay so it's not just me that thinks this...it was very affirming to see others got the same read on him.
Because I say this with 0 hesitation, Jervis can be a tricky mad lad to write for. I mean extremely (Jon moreso for me lately, stoicism isn't my strong suit but I'm working on it) difficult.
A lot of people have a bad habit of infantilizing him or making him out to be weaker than he is. Yes he's a wee mad lad with a penchant for rhymes, hats, and tea.
But he's also a murderer, kidnapper, manipulator, and a neuroscientist...he's one of the smartest bastards in the room but because he acts playful, and whimsical people misjudge and underestimate him
Also, Jervis has shown the capability of remorse (again varying iterations but he does seem the usual suspect to feel any sort of guilt whenever he's finally lucid) because of that, I felt a compulsion to do something DC writers are fucking terrified to do....actually give a rogue hope. They tried to reform Eddie but that didn't last (mostly cause of his own compulsions that were never properly addressed...poor baby..)
Now I know for many, a lot of these characters are BEYOND redeemable, Jervis included (y'know kidnapping, murder, mind control...yeah) and they're not inherently good people, but some rogues were once before...
And I truly do think if Jervis had a positive consistent in his life that was able to make reality a Wonderland, he wouldn't need the fantasy, he wouldn't need the delusion.
That's where the idea for Love and Suds came from.
I've written for Jervis a couple times before Love and Suds and when I tell you I had to stop myself from literally doing a character deep dive for a smut prompted request...I had to reel back A BUNCH. I would be almost 1k words in and remember oohhh they're supposed to be fucking goddamnit and have to edit the shit out of it.
So I knew I had to do something just to prevent it from happening again. Slowly but surely the plot came to me, but I was hesitant. Again, I didn't want to infantilize him, but I did want the reader to take care of him. Hence why a lot of the time in the story Jervis is scoffing at himself because he's in reality and he's ultra aware of what's going on but like he's also selfish and isn't going to pass up a chance to finally be clean.
Which is something else I hope I made clear was that Jervis was very much in reality during the entirety of the story whilst in his depression...hence why he wasn't rhyming, he wasn't absolutely appalled by the state of his home (scattered saucers, dirty tea cups everyone some broken after being thrown at the wall, hats with broken seams and holes in them, things I didn't really get a chance to describe). I'm sure you've figured that out but just wanted to confirm it.
It's one of those fics I hold near and dear to my heart.
Because one it was one of those fics I had going around in my head that I finally put onto paper and it was exactly how I envisioned it (its only happened with two other stories)
And two... I didn't realize how much it was wanted/needed? I knew since it wasn't a request from anyone it wasn't going to be everyone's fancy...but like the amount of feedback I got exclaiming that this is exactly what they want to see for Jervis? This is how they see him? Like I didn't realize that was something that people were looking for!
As far as if there's anything more to the story...when I tell you I have thought of sequel ideas for Love and Suds I have thought about it immensely...
I have a couple scenarios were Jervis returns the favor to Reader, one where Jervis comes to properly court the reader but overhears a heated argument with Reader defending Jervis to Batman, like the possibilities are ENDLESS but I also don't want to like...ruin it either you know? Too many may spoil it or make it bad?
But yeah...so sorry this is so long lmao if you guys do want more content regarding the set up of Love and Suds let me know! I may still write a couple connected drabbles here and there for a comfort project for myself but it's also good to know if you guys would be into it too! If tumblr could let us all have polls I'd put it in a poll but nooooo
Thanks for reading all of this lmao and thank you for asking anon I am so glad to get this all off my chest lmao
#ri rambles#ri answers#ri rambles A LOT#here#i havent stopped thinking about this fic#since it posted#im really proud of it#and i want to hopefully do more with it
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I hate Will stans they think he’s better then mike and I hate it. mike isn’t the one constantly whining I like will but I don’t lOVE him. He’s got some flaws and his fans don’t look at his flaws they think he’s above everyone else. Their fav said with his own mouth mike is the heart of the party. If anything mike is better then will in some stuff but at least I’m not making anti will anons I’m just saying, the way they speak about him you would think he was el or something. Maybe they should speak and boast when he’s not being sidelined before they get all confident and bash mike WHO STARTED THE SHOW.
well now this does read hatery and anti Will fan
but based on what you're saying/describing it sounds like you're talking about the very weird breed of Will solo stans that only care about the show and characters through a Will lens and nothing else. because if that's what you meant i'd agree
i'm gonna say most Will fans like him because of his role in the story and his personality/character flaws/narrative, essentially the normal (or insane) way to care about a character. me included! Will is interesting! and my dash is almost exclusively filled with people that care about Will's actual canon character and the story of the show outside of Will, so they have an actual grasp of the greater narrative, including how Will plays into it and how Other characters are also important to it
but the extremely weird subset of Will-solo-fans (that apparently found their way into my askbox lmao) openly admit to only caring about Will and nothing else. which means that they also tend to have absolutely horrible takes on every character that isn't Will, the plot, and most of the times even Will himself. because you obviously can't interpret a character correctly if you, for example, vehemently hate his love interest to the point you can't even acknowledge the character depth of said love interest which includes their shared history
that's also the group of people on here i've actively seen try to compare Will's experiences and trauma to every other character and try to prove how Will is the best at everything and always in the right. an insane take to have on Any character, but especially if you're trying to use it to "prove" how they're an interesting or engaging character
most often that comparison hits Mike from what i've seen. that Mike's own issues or trauma are inferior to Will's, that his impact on the story or role in the narrative is nothing compared to Will's, that only Will's pov in byler is interesting and worthy to explore, and so on. but i've also seen it hit other characters, like people trying to weigh Will and El's trauma or people calling Max's s4 arc a rip off of Will and saying she'll never be him. still, Mike seems to get the worst of it, which IS a bit odd considering that he's Will's canonical love interest, so you'd think you'd at least Try to understand or tolerate his character if you are invested in Will's narrative. but also might make sense with Mike already being a controversial character in general since we don't get his pov during his most controversial moments. even casual audiences are very conflicted about him currently. at least i'm assuming that's why these people specifically try to pit Will against Mike a majority of the time
and like you say, it really doesn't work in practice. it's kind of hard to shit on Mike and try to pretend he's useless and everyone rightfully hates him when Will himself is there on screen calling him the heart and leader of the party while tearing up. which is probably why these people are so far removed from the actual show and plot, you have to try really hard to pretend some scenes and plot points don't exist if you want to feel justified in writing Mike off as a main character
i don't feel like i have to explain how their approach is obviously really bad, both for their general takes on the show as well as for their idea of Will. i've definitely seen some Will takes before trying increasingly hard to make him seem like a character without a flaws that's always in the right and by far the most capable character that... well if Will was canonically like some of these "fans" are trying to portray him... i would either not care about his character because he'd be boring or actually dislike his character because he'd be flat and annoying (thankfully that Will isn't canon lmao)
but tbh the Will solo stan phenomenon is pretty interesting, as annoying as it is. because i've really only seen it on tumblr. kind of the antithesis to the twitter El solo stans i guess. but it's also interesting because i haven't seen that happen with other characters yet (even the Eddie/Steve/Billy fans were always their own beast in their own fandom corner and basically talking about a completely different show and not caring about the main kids at all). i've never seen any people that really like Mike or Max or something turn around and say they don't care about any other characters and that their favourite is the only character Anyone should care about. this is also just observation rambling, no conclusion here it's just something interesting to see with the fandom. essentially how tumblr has it's own equivalent to the toxic El solos that are completely insane about their favourite character and then get mad at people for also caring about other characters
i've said it before but i think there's just a real disconnect going on in the fandom where some people can't really deal with people having different favourite characters to them or even, god forbid, Multiple favourite characters. or, in general, talking about elements of the story they themselves don't care about. and instead of doing the normal thing and looking away or blocking/muting they feel the need to police what other people's interests are. really just feels like a bunch of people don't know how fandoms work for a lack of better wording
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