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just-a-sleepy-idiot · 2 years

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I've read your stories about the grabber n I love them 😭 I was wondering if you could write something based off the scene where Finney (in this case, the reader) is running away from the grabber, and then he catches her and they lay against each other in the shrubs and he threatens her. After that he 'punishes' her sexually. If you're not comfortable writing it, that's no problem ❤️

I was thinking of that exact thing after watching the scene omg reminded me of how Bo Sinclair chases and pins Carly down in House of Wax

The Grabber Imagine: Catching you when you nearly escape and punishing you

Content/Warnings: Kidnapped Reader, Female Reader, Semi-public sex, DUBCON and ANGST, Pet names and Praise, Size kink

⚠️THIS IS FICTION PLEASE SEND YOUR DEATH THREATS TO PPL WHO LOVE ACTUAL SERIAL KILLERS INSTEAD OF HARASSING WRITERS, WE DO NOT CONDONE ACTIONS OF THE CHARACTERS WE WRITE FOR⚠️

You knew that he wouldn’t forget to lock the door on you, not after all he did to get you here in the first place. This was the third time he challenged you to battle the risk against the chances of escaping. It was a torture on its own even when you didn’t come upstairs, seeing your opportunity right in front of you like that but being no less trapped as if the door was locked.

But you knew that eventually he would come to expect that you wouldn’t come upstairs anymore because you didn’t do it before either. He would let his guard down and that was when you would escape.

You waited out the hours after his last visit, you waited for it to become dark outside so he would start becoming drowsy.

Then you actually put your handle on the door and opened it slowly, almost expecting him to stand behind it already. Your hands were cold and sweaty with fear when you put your palms on the wall, taking one stair at a time as you were afraid the creaky wood would give you away if you were too hasty.

You paused when you reached the end of the stairs, your breath hitched. He could be right around the corner now. If he was still awake.. if you didn’t wait long enough then that was it for you.

Your feet almost didn’t want to move, but you had to. When you looked around you saw him, sitting in a chair with his belt wrapped around his hands. But your eyes weren’t met- he was asleep! You were relieved and yet you felt tears well up at the overwhelming fear. You had a chance but.. you looked down at the belt, the consequences of trying would exceed what he had already planned for you.

Swallowing thickly you sneaked over to the lock, you didn’t have much time until he would wake up again. Your fingers slid over the numbers, growing desperate as you tried out every combination from the wall in the basement.

It was a gamble to rely on numbers you could only hope were your way out of here, but it was the only perspective you had left in here. But your risk was rewarded with a little click when the lock opened. You breathed in, smiling widely as you took the lock out of the door and clenched in in your hands. You did it, this waiting, this torture and the terror that would overcome you every night was eventually rewarded!

You opened the door a little too enthusiastically, but you didn’t care as you ran out into the cool night air. Finally, Finally!! You reclaimed your freedom, he had not yet harmed you and you were able to escape before he could!!

Thump the door swung so far open it hit the wall, making your smile fade and your pace pick up as you heard quick steps over the grass. No, No.. Nonono he heard you!! He heard you!!

You ran faster and looked over your shoulder, seeing the man buck after you so fast that he would quickly get a hold of you if you didn’t do something!! So you screamed- you yelled out into the quiet neighborhood as loud as you could

„HELP!! HELP ME PLEASE!!“

That was when he grabbed you from behind and you were thrown down down onto a patch of grass, one if his big hands coming up to press down on your mouth to muffle your screams as he landed right behind you.

„Mmhh!!“ You clung to the grass, trying to wrestle yourself free from his grip but he wrapped an arm around your waist and just pressed you further back into his chest. That was when a light turned on, and you both looked up.

„Now Darling..“ He whispered with a raspy voice, his breath fanning against your ear as he spoke, „You are gonna stay quiet or I will have to slice your pretty throat to make you shut up instead. Understood??“ You quickly nodded against his hand, feeling your breath hitch with tears rolling down your cheeks.

When the light eventually turned off you felt the freedom you had reclaimed die right there. „Good girl. See, you can behave if you want to.“ He said lowly, now whispering against your neck instead. You arched your back at that, accidentally pushing your backside against his groin which emitted a growly response.

„I will punish you right here and you’re going to stay quiet.“ He roughly yanked your shoulder down as he climbed on top of you, easily getting a hold of both of your wrists with his bigger hand and started to tie them together with the belt he still held in his hand with the other.

Your eyes widened as you watched him disarm you, making you utterly merciless underneath him even though you were outside- in the free were you yearned to finally escape him for weeks now. But even here you were now absolutely under his control, he had taken it from you as easily as the time he kidnapped you. It was like you were just so utterly weak that he had no effort putting you in place at all.

And to be reminded of that.. of how much stronger he was than you by hunting you down in a matter of seconds.. it aroused him and he would completely claim you as his now, right here were everybody could catch you.

You were such a little helpless thing right now, struggling against the belt he put around your wrist and looking so unaware of what he was going to do to you now.

He flipped over your skirt and yanked your panties down, making you squeal and and try to wrestle yourself free, but he used your struggling and kicking to slide the panties off your legs, firmly holding them apart now as you tried to press your thighs together at the exposure.

His thumb came up to caress your clit, making your breath hitch at the unexpected touch. You knees quivered, making him chuckle at how little he had to do for your body to react. You felt so soft to him that he had to have you despite only kidnapping boys before, you had something he wanted all for himself. Untainted by the world in basement where nobody but him could see you.

But now that you nearly escaped he couldn’t resist anymore to mark you as his, to completely claim his ownership over you.

And soon your body reacted so pleasantly to his touch too, your little pussy becoming all wet at his caressing. „Is my little bunny becoming excited hm?“ He mocked you, tilting his head at you in a way that was so playfully predatory. He was towering over you like a predator ready to devour it’s prey. Maybe it was the Adrenaline that mixed with the sensation of his touch, the fear mistakenly bordering at the edge of excitement but you felt your body reacting to what he was doing.

Now that you were wet enough he pistoled two fingers into you, groaning at how tight your walks were around him. It made you moan in surprise, to which he gave you a warning look. „You will need to stay quiet Dear, I’m not done with you..“ He said darkly, and started to unbuckle his pants.

That was when you became fully aware of what he was going to do now, what his punishment was going to entail. And you quivered when you saw his large cock spring free, already hard from overpowering you with such ease. Your cheeks reddened as he caught you staring, smirking under his mask at your reaction.

What a lovely little thing you were, and you were now going to be completely his.

He hiked one of your legs over his shoulder and slid his cock through your wet slit, drawing a trembling moan from you as you tried to hide your face by your shoulder.

Then he aligned himself with you and pushed himself in until his length was completely buried within you. He put his head back with a groan, you were so deliciously tight around him.

You squealed, but he put a hand on your mouth to quiet you. „Do you want the whole town to see how good your little pussy takes my cock hmm?“ Your cheeks reddened at that statement and your walls tightened as you couldn’t help but imagine that.

„Oh you would like that, have me claim you as mine in front of everybody so they know.“ He said in between shallow thrusts, pushing himself in and out of you with ease.

You were pressed into the grass with each of his thrusts, desperately keeping your mouth shut in an attempt not to moan at the way he kept hitting that spot within you when he thrusted in. Why did he feel so good? Why did it feel so good to be taken by your kidnapper, with no chance but to escape?

He started to become faster now, the only thing in the dark that could be heard being your muffled sounds and the wet sound of your pussy as he pushed himself inside of you relentlessly.

You were quivering and muffling your moans underneath him, so helpless as he claimed you roughly. There was nothing you could do, both against him and against the pleasure you were feeling.

You felt yourself coming closer to your release, tears welling up in your eyes again as you felt so overstimulated and only wanted release. „Mmh.. I can feel you’re close bunny, be a good girl and come for me.“

And soon your release washed over you, making you arch your back and throw back your head so beautifully as your juices spilled around him, pressing your tied wrists against the grass above. You felt so perfect, you looked so perfect that in this moment his own release caught up to him and he buried himself deep inside of you as he came undone.

He thrusted into you a few times more before letting you catch your breath, his shirtless chest heaving as he towered above you and proudly observed himself fully buried in you for a moment longer. He liked the look of it a lot.

„You were so perfect for me Darling.“ He bend over to hover over you and took your tied wrist in his free hand. „You took your punishment very well.. Let’s get you where you belong again.“

***

Heyyo, I hope you liked it!

#the grabber x reader smut #the grabber x reader

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heartfullofleeches · 2 years

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Yandere Followers x G.N God Writer Reader

Word Count: 2.3k

(Hope you don't mind I did a deity reader rather than just a monster. They're favorite and I haven't done one since a wip I need to finish)

"Hello, everyone. I want to thank you all for your support and for requesting a meet and greet. As much as I'd love to have one, there is a minor problem. I am a lesser God sent by my elders to judge humanity before they wake and decide the fate of your kind."

"...Will it take place anywhere near CA? Getting plane tickets is kinda hard during this season so I need to know if I have to drive out."

Billions of years have gone by since the dawn of time. Once a concept by beings beyond comprehension born to a new reality. Following its creation; the gods were laid to rest as they awaited their seeds to grow. Over time, one would awake with the dawn of a new millenia; to see how their garden has flourished. The youngest of the celestials; none other than you.

You wake for the thousandth time within the ruins of an old stone built structure. It obviously looked a bit better before you went to sleep, but time can bring many changes. As you stretch, you hear rummaging through the debris. A dozen mortals surround you within a flash; all looking upon you with varying degrees of emotion.

Some cowarded. Some pointed weapons at you. Some took pictures, but all shielded their eyes at the sight of your face. Somewhere within the small crowd, one of them stepped towards you. The leader of the group, from how he held himself and how matter-of-factly he pushed his glass up the bridge of his nose. Clearing his throat, he begins to speak.

"Good morning. You may not know me, but you have met an ancestor of mine in the past. My team and I have been searching for you for decades, and it seems we have found you right as you've woken up. I need you no harm, and wish to help you as you did him in the past."

You vaguely piece together his little speech. Most human languages had traces of your mother tongue, but were always a bit hard to translate at first. At the end of his rambling, he gestures for you to follow him; two members of his team hesitantly walking up to you and placing a blanket over your shoulder - having to stand on their toes in the process.

You follow along without complaint. The guns they had trained on you likely were for their own comfort, and they probably couldn't do much to you either. They could also help you begin the task at hand, since there were so many of them in one place.

They bring you on to a helicopter; you marveling at the metal bird. Society had developed alot since your last trip. That was a good sign. As you head off to the next location, the director tries to make conversation, but your eyes remain on the seat beside him - a familiar item nestled upon it. Noticing this, he smiles a bit.

"Are you looking at my book? Do you like to read?"

Books - that's right. You often forget the exact name for smaller things. Books were very helpful to your mission. Records of humankind and their achievements. Actual historical pieces, or just scraps of a diary all had their importance. You even found interest in the fictional stories as they were a nice way to pass the time.

The man hands the book to you. It had a little boy on a planet on its cover. "It's my favorite book. Read it all the time. I can get you as many as you'd like."

True to his word, the human supplied you with hundreds. Xavier Carter, as you'd come to know. Within the little glass prison made for you, the layout of a small apartment had been built. Tapping on the thick glass was amusing, especially since you could walk straight through. A bed, table, and various activities for you to do were placed inside; your most favorite being your own little personal library.

It was made of five ceiling shelves, positioned to circle around a chair in the middle. A large assortment of literature was laid out for you. From fairytales to books on psychics. You read through them all in record time, enjoying each more than the last.

The fictitious tales become your favorites. You loved the creativity of the human mind, and the worlds they built. In a way, it reminded you of what you and your kin had done in the first place. As you finished the last book, you craved more, but from a different perspective. You wanted to be the one to write your own story, curious as to where your mind would go in the process. Upon your next meeting with Xavier, you asked him for a notebook.

"These are amazing, Y/n!"

Xavier sat in a folding chair across from you, your latest story in his hand. He hardly treated you like a research subject, and more like a friend. Visiting you at late hours of the day for a random chat; bring you whatever you asked.

A group of soldiers stood at the door of the room, their weapons at their hips and uv glasses over their eyes. Everyone in the compound had the understanding you could do great harm at the snap of your fingers, but knew of your passiveness and curiosity as well.

"We should start you a blog page."

"..A blog?"

"Yea, a blog." Xavier repeats. "You know, post them online. Your stories are too great to be kept in this dreary place. I'm sure the world would love you!... In regardless to your stories of course."

A soldier speaks up. "Sir, are you sure that's a wise decision?"

"Oh, hush. I'm sure nobody will figure out a thing. This is all on you of course, Y/n."

You think for a moment; your answer already in mind. The idea of others reading what you work had you feeling like never before. You wondered if you could inspire others, like that had to you. The room rose in heat as you gave your best impression of a smile.

"Yes."

You write more and more over time; Xavier taking every one and copying them online. You didn't hear much about it at first, but the thrill of finishing a new story was all you needed. One day, Xavier entered the room with a smile wider than usual. He set a few papers on your desk, pointing for you to read.

"This was really good! Excited to see what you write about in the future, Q."

You look up at Xavier, who nearly stomped his feet in excitement.

"This is from your first fan! I mean, you have more as you'll see, but I thought the first one might be special. I'm so happy for you!"

You sort through the pages, finding more words of praise to follow.

"I love your usage of words."

"I felt like I was right in the middle of the story."

"When will you write your next post?"

Page after page of similar adoration. You didn't know the proper word for it, but it was such a feeling of refreshment. Outside of your goal, you didn't spend much time for yourself; something you've only acknowledged as of recently. It was an exciting new world to explore, one you'd explore through the use of a paper and pen.

Xavier brings you more comments to read. You even start responding to a couple. They're all so nice; especially that Q person that pops up on occasion. A few of the guards even read your stories, and would mention them as they walked by. Eventually, Xavier decided enough is enough and brought you a laptop in protest of the head of the facility; his very own father. The old man gave in as he had a soft spot for his only son, and the deity that was the inspiration for the building in the first place all those years ago.

It's nice to be able to respond to your followers yourself; almost, more personal in a way. They're happy to hear from you, and read your stories; building a small community around it. Q and a few others even helped you make your own website as they had experience in the field. You always expected a nasty comment somewhere along the line, but never got a single one; the mortals seemingly coming together to form a peaceful space around the one they admired.

It didn't take long before they began to ask for a meet and greet, or at least something else about you. Where you grew up; what was your favorite thing to eat. You weren't exactly born per se. One moment you didn't exist, and the next you did; a wandering star in the reality created by your elders. You also didn't have a mouth, so you couldn't answer their other question.

With good reason, you feared telling them who you truly were. There was a possibility they wouldn't believe you and laugh, and on the rare chance they did, what would their responses be? You grew a little recluse at this time; sad you couldn't give them what they wanted when they would give you their all. As you wallowed in self doubt, you received a message from your first fan one late night.

"Hey, I noticed you haven't been that active recently. Is everything alright? Is there anything I can do? We're all here for you, and understand if you need a break. Love you, Q."

You reread the last part of their message multiple times. Your fans had declared their love for you many times, quite often as of recently, but this one felt different; truly genuine. You knew they all were, but this was the one to make you realize that. Swallowing your fears, you make an announcement the next morning."

"Hello, everyone. You all know me as Stargazer88, or Y/n as I've mentioned in the past. I want to thank you all for the support you've given me the following months. It's come to my attention that a few of you wish for a meet and greet, and as much as I'd like to give you one - there is a small issue. I am one of the lesser gods of your realm, sent to monitor your kind as a messenger for when they wake. I'm also locked in what I think to be a government prison for extraterrestrials. I realize how odd this sounds - but it is my truth."

You sit back in your chair, waiting for your first reply. Anxiety fills your stomach. You wonder if you should just delete the post. As you thumb the mousepad, a message pops up.

"That's so cool."

More flood in.

"That's okay! We love you either way!"

"That one story you wrote about a lonely comet felt personal in some way. Was it about you?"

"I fucking knew it. You're too charming to be from here."

"So will the meet and greet happen or not, but plane tickets are hard to get, and I prefer car travel anyway.'

You're quick to respond, surprised they seem to believe you or not.

"This is not a joke. I really am a deity."

"Who said you were lying, lol."

"You were always a God in my eyes anyway."

Out of belief they were fooling with you, you turn on your webcamera to take a photo. One thing that had yet to be mentioned, was that in place of a normal face you instead had the image of a literal star. It was too hot for humans to withstand if they got too close, and looking at it without protection was the same as looking at the sun on a smaller scale.

As one might expect, your picture came out about the same as taking one of that ball of glass. Your hand held up in a peace sign was barely visible, and the whole thing was blurry from the bright light of your face. Regardless, you posted it.

"Cute!"

"Do you need a better camera? I'll send you one"

"Can't wait to see you in person."

More love kept pouring in. Whether people believed you or not was still a question on your mind, but in the end they all still cared for you. Your loyal fans, willing to do anything for you.

Eric panted heavily within his closet hideout; hand clamped tightly over his mouth to quiet himself. His phone screen lit up with the pop up of a new notification, a panicked yelp leaving him as he swiped it away to continue reading the message on the board.

"Holy shit, did somebody actually find that guy's address - frogmagician"

"Yup. I posted it a few times in the chat already. Had some people go check his house out too. - the_little_prince"

"It's what he deserves for questioning them, but we should go too far just yet. - plaguemellow34"

"Did anyone ever ban his account by the way? - Q"

Eric let out a muffled sob. Like many would, he saw your message as a joke, and called you out on it. All he did was tell you to cut the shit, but the second he sent it, the reply had been erased. He received a few emails telling him not to question you; strange as he didn't even use his main to send the message. From that moment, he had felt that people had watching him - waiting. He couldn’t even go outside anymore without feeling like eyes were on his back, his internet life no different. It was when he went on your fanpage that he found out what was going on.

A knock on his door sent chills down his spine, and a silent prayer to the gods.

#yandere #yandere x reader #yandere scenarios #yandere imagines #yandere oc #yandere x you #male yandere #yandere insert #multiple yanderes #yandere harem #tw yandere #yandere works #yandere fic #yandere writing #yandere oneshot

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galaxygolfergirl · 6 months

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I'm kind of worried about you guys

Recently I've been revisiting the Frozen franchise after taking somewhat of a sabbatical from it for the longest time, rewatching the movies and shorts, and I am currently going through the Frozen 2 documentary. This was mainly for nostalgia, but I wanted to try and understand the franchise from a more critical, technical perspective, and I've come to some insights that I think are worth sharing.

I already voiced my opinions on the frozen fandom in another post, especially in regards to helsa, but since I've been revisiting the old stomping grounds and reading recent posts, it's been concerning to me the level of emotional distress people were having over the treatment of Hans's character.

Now, from what I've gathered from the "text" itself (the movies and shorts, and the frozen heart novel), and from the documentary, I don't really get the sense that the writers and producers at Walt Disney animation have this vendetta against a single character. I don't think it's that deep. Despite the fact that our corner of the fandom believes that the character of Hans has potential, I can assume that the creative team doesn't really consider him to be anything more than a typical Disney villain.

Now I can't really say anything about the potential "hints" at his future redemption or a possible relationship with Elsa, but from what I understand what goes into the creative process during production, I don't think there is a guiding decree that declares that all Disney merchandising material have these hints. Most likely it is an accumulation of random chance and personal decisions down the production pipeline that have nothing to do with orders from the chain of command.

As much as it was exciting to me to read into stuff like this when I was younger, like the Hans and Elsa dolls getting paired together, for example, I think the logic still stands that currently his character is meant to be perceived negatively. And I don't think that's meant as a personal slight against our side of the fandom, that's just what the text says and what the general audience currently accepts.

I don't know if the creative team or Jennifer Lee has seen all of our posts or discussions, I don't know how they personally feel, but as a writer and an artist I feel that the vocal angry callout posts, fandom infighting, and actual petitions to get people fired over how a story should be written, ones that they might have seen, are especially harmful to the creative process. It's not up to fans how a story should be written, and as much as fans may not agree with certain creative decisions, it is ultimately up to the creators themselves whether they take that input or not.

Like I've said, PLEASE DON'T TAKE THIS STUFF SO SERIOUSLY! It's two PG animated musicals that are marketed to little girls! There's a frozen-themed waffle maker! Canon doesn't mean shit! You can play with these ideas and adapt them through other means! Just because it doesn't have the Disney logo slapped on it or has professional CGI animation doesn't mean that your fan fiction or fan art is any less valid or cheapened. And listen, I understand having these feelings; I was disappointed when Hans wasn't in Frozen 2, I was disappointed about how the movie ended, or that Helsa probably wasn't going to become a thing, but eventually I grew to understand that that wasn't up to me. We are not entitled to make the creators do what we want.

We have to have a sense of emotional maturity and media literacy here, not just for this little microcosm of fandom, but for investing in all media in general. There is so much more that goes into the creative production pipeline. It takes a team full of people, hundreds, thousands, that make stories like this work. Scouring the internet for story crumbs and hints and theories is only going to frustrate you more and taking that frustration out on the creative team online isn't going to make your case or help anything. If anything, you're only coming across as kind of intimidating and aggressive, and creators don't really react well to that.

Now listen: I am not trying to police how anyone reacts to a piece of media, I'm not trying to come across as somebody on any sort of moral high ground. I only encourage those who have been disappointed and frustrated to put things into a larger perspective. This is a Disney animated film series marketed at little girls. If they want to bring his character back, that would be great! If they don't, who needs 'em? Please just enjoy what you are able to do with these characters and this story. You certainly don't need validation from the house of mouse.

#frozen #frozen 2 #helsa #prince hans #queen elsa #iceburns #disney #fandom #fandom culture #media literacy

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checkoutmybookshelf · 2 months

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Sometimes the Adaptation is the Book, Actually...

So, as I'm sure more than a few of you did, I enjoyed the heck out of Jill Bearup's fantasy heroin YouTube shorts series. And as I'm sure many of us have experienced, YouTuber books can be...distinctly hit-or-miss in terms of quality. So when Bearup announced that she was adapting the shorts series into an actual book, I was willing to give it a shot when it came out. So in Bearup's own tier list terms, I'd give this book a pretty good. Strong concept, a lot to like...but the TYPESETTING, my god. Let's talk Just Stab Me Now.

This is your spoiler warning for a book that has been EXTREMELY hyped on YouTube, and one who's story has already been told on YouTube. Here there be Spoilers.

So normally I like to start with the things I like about a book, but since I liked so much about this book and the one thing that I didn't like could have stopped me cold, we're going to start with the one thing that I think was actually bad. The typesetting.

To be clear: Bearup was extremely clear that using different fonts and margins to delineate between Caroline's world, the fantasy world, and Caroline's mind where she interacts with the fantasy characters was a considered, intentional choice. That's valid, and there is nothing inherently wrong with making that choice. It's also well done in the book, like it's consistent and well put together.

That said: Oh my god you guys, I hated it. It took me the first fifty-odd pages to get used to it, and even then, it AGGRESSIVELY snapped my editor brain's bra strap. I seriously considered putting the book down because of the typesetting, which would have been a crying shame because I really enjoyed the book overall. This might not bother some readers, but it was nearly a dealbreaker for me, so I wanted to mention it as a "your mileage may vary" kind of thing.

Other than that though, I think this book did a pretty solid job of adapting the fantasy heroine shorts into a full-blown novel.

Caroline Lindley is very much helicopter parenting her fictional characters, and the fact that they are by turns bemused and cranky about this is very fun throughout the novel. I also like that we get a lot more of Caroline in the novel than we did in the shorts series. Her story was just as compelling as Rosamund and Leo's, and I quite enjoyed having the extraordinarily modern cybersecurity subplot to balance the fantasy setting as well. I wasn't expecting that to work as well as it did, but thematically it resonated quite well, and I like the acknowledgement that while we don't use swords and political marriages so much these days, it's not like we've STOPPED having enemies and needing to protect ourselves, our homes, and our families. The relationship between modernity and "no particular historical era" in terms of thematic connections was really well done.

The general added depth to all the characters was also excellent, since we had time and space for characterization that the shorts series had to skim over for time. We really felt Rosamund's grief in the book, Leo had way more personality (and I loved that) and some of the plot stuff was smoothed and fleshed out in some really interesting ways. The caladrius was actually an inspired touch, and it tied together a bunch of slightly odd things in the series in a really elegant way. It also gave Baron Mabry and George an interesting parallel too, since they were both screwing over people for financial gain. The methods might be different, but the heart of the crimes and the harm they do are fairly universal.

As a writer, I also ADORED the conceit of Caroline being absolutely out of control in her process. She was trying SO HARD to write a standard enemies-to-lovers romantasy and literally nothing could get her plot or characters there. Every writer has been there, every writer has had little breakdowns over the story just not freaking doing what you tell it to, and there was something deeply vindicating about it. I loved the personification of the writing process.

This book also had a little bit of that Princess Bride feel where it is both a send-up of romance tropes and a deeply respectful nod to them. I don't know that pastiche is the right word here, but neither does parody seem to be, and I think we need a word for this writing mood, where you're both deconstructing and reiterating a series of tropes. I don't have a word for it, but this is a thing that pops up periodically (periodic because it's genuinely hard to do well; lean too far to one side or the other and it flops catastrophically) and we should name it.

Overall, for a book from a YouTuber--especially one who rather famously discovered halfway through the process that she does not enjoy writing fiction--I was pleasantly surprised by this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Bearup has told us not to expect a sequel, so I won't...but if one materialized in the future, I'd read it!

#just stab me now #jill bearup #books and reading #books #books and novels #books & libraries #book recommendations

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1863-project · 2 months

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The lack of media literacy and critical thinking in my friend group is really starting to worry me. I'm not acting like I'm immune here, but aside from our weekly library visits, is there anything I can do to help out?

Hi, anon! Sorry for the late reply, I've been settling into a new job.

One of the things I like to do is when I hear something, I try to verify it from multiple sources. If I can do that, great, and if I can get multiple viewpoints on it, even better! Generally, if someone is sharing information, if it sounds like it's designed to get you angry, it probably is - outrage gets clicks. But to avoid spreading misinformation, you have to look beyond that:

What is the intent in spreading this information?

Is the goal to help or hurt people? Is it supportive, is it neutral, or is it inflammatory?

Does the writer display any biases that might affect their opinions?

And so on.

People are prone to kneejerk reactions, especially because we're human and we're emotional, and a lot of writing is designed to get that reaction out of people before they stop and think. So with news in mind, definitely always keep that in the back of your mind when you're reading - and you'll likely start noticing patterns and biases.

With regards to reading and critically engaging with fiction, it's a little different, but the most important thing is to look at how things are portrayed, not just that they are portrayed. For example, if a story utilizes an ableist trope that leans heavily into harmful stereotypes, it's not the same as a story that portrays ableism as bad and as something that has shaped a character. There's a lot of nuance and grey area, of course, and the example I gave here was very black and white, but the more you practice and flex those muscles the better you'll get at recognizing these things.

Really, the best thing you can do is practice. Practice, practice, practice. And if you're not sure, ask a librarian! They're trained to do this!

#replies

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scarlet--wiccan · 1 year

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Idk if you know anything about Ice from dc, but I believe she is also a Romani character? Since you’ve shared thoughts on Dick Grayson and Zatanna, I was wondering if you had any on her.

I do have thoughts, and they're not kind. With DC Comics, it seems like Romani identity is something that is only ever applied retroactively to validate a character's exoticness, mysticism, or sexualization-- sometimes a combination of all three. I'm not going to say that Marvel is necessarily better, but their inclusion of Romani characters is definitely founded on a better understanding of our realities, particularly in the Silver and Bronze Age. When you look at characters like the Maximoffs or von Dooms, you get a sympathetic portrait of European Romani history that actually makes valid and helpful points, in spite of the problematic imagery. Characters like Ice, Zatanna, and Nightwing generally only make shallow references to a gypsy heritage that confirms certain stereotypes about their upbringing, but has no bearing on their adult lives.

DC also has a stronger tendency to portray portray Romani groups as organized crime families, as we see in Ice's revised backstory, first told in Justice League: Generation Lost #12. In my mind, this is a much more dangerous stereotype than the usual witches and fortunetellers. Romani communities are heavily impacted by racial profiling and over-policing, in Europe and in America. It's one thing for media to present gypsies as a fictional race of fairy-tale spellcasters; it's quite another thing to validate very real state violence against a very real people by parroting racist propaganda.

Anyways, Tora Olafsdotter, formerly known as "Icemaiden", now known as simply "Ice," was originally depicted as a member of a reclusive tribe of magic wielders from Norway. I don't know how overt this is in the original material, but I would hazard that she is actually based on stereotypes about the Sámi people. "Fixing" this backstory by making her Romani-- just in time to maker her family into overt villains-- is very similar to what happened with Magneto in the 90s.

The Romanifolket are a real Romani group, based primarily in Norway and Sweden. DC gets points for naming an actual vitsa-- most Romani characters don't have one at all, or if they do, it's fictional, like Doom's "Zefiro clan." The name "Is Bygd" is made-up, though, as are the clan politics of Tora's family. DC loses what little credibility they'd earned by representing the Romanifolket as an extensive crime ring who uphold scamming and thievery as a cultural practice. That's completely fallacious, and extremely harmful.

In her revised origin, Tora is a metahuman, meaning her powers are a genetic quirk, similar to that of X-Men's mutants. Her fanatical forebears believe that she is a reincarnated goddess, and they wish to use her powers to, you guessed it, do more crimes. This reinforces the narrative that Romani people are ruled by their arcane superstitions and pagan beliefs, as well as the pervasive notion that we abuse children and force them into early labor and/or marriage for profit. Sound familiar? Everyone's favorite X-Factor writer loves that one. [x]

Ultimately, Tora denounces her entire community as "very bad people." Generation Lost frames her Romani upbringing as a traumatic experience Tora wishes to distance herself from, and Romani culture as an inherent evil for which she seeks redemption. In that regard, she's not unlike Marvel's Amanda Sefton, but unlike Amanda, Tora's story is told without an ounce of nuance, and it was written recently. In the age of digital research, there's no excuse for this level of ignorance. The story of Ice is probably the worst Romani narrative I have ever witnessed in a superhero comic.

#tora olafsdotter #ice #ice dc #dc comics #dcposting

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tinycoded360 · 2 months

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G/T favorite/rec list from Deviantart part 1

So I made a favorite list of all the g/t-themed stories I have found and enjoyed over the years. I've been meaning to organize it into a list for some time now, so it's easier for me to find them again. (they get lost in my favorite folder, just a pain to go through it all.) So below is a list of all the stories written by different authors, I hope someone finds one they haven't read before and gives the writer some love.

(I tried to put a description with each one because not all of them came with summaries, so I apologize if the story is poorly described, I'm pretty bad at making summaries.)

The scalpel chapter 1 by gtypewriter

it’s about a borrower named Hanna baker, she is apart of an organization that pairs borrowers with human agents. The organization is called Cloak and Dagger, an organization dedicated to the continued secrecy of borrowers and the neutralization of those who go against that directive.

Found (New earth saga) by Ladymadonna99. (they are also on wattpad)

This story’s main character is a human teenager named River; she has to navigate being human in her new family of giants. (She found out that her human mother had kidnapped/illegally adopted her, her giant family is her legal family) There are other stories in this universe, which can be found in the author's gallery.

Silver Ash by Bittykimmy13

Summary: Raiden is this year’s Offering to the forest, but he’s not going down without a fight. He searches desperately for a way to free himself from his binds, but time is not on his side. Something in the forest is looking for him. Something that towers higher than any beast he could dream of.

also on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43396059/chapters/109089948

Do No Harm by gtypewriter

Some scifi g/t fiction. A giant alien crash lands on earth.

Little Captive by GT-Kathryn

This is supernatural and borrower fiction. This story is about a borrower girl who gets picked up by a human child, and she gets help from a surprising source.

Detective Dad by prodigywithapen

This story is about a teenager that is shrunk by a mad man, and she is found by a detective that is on the case, she is put in his protective care.

(This one is one of my top favorites, I re-read it a lot, one of my comfort reads.)

Thrown together by littlelorraine

"Shoemaker and the Elves" fairy tale, but with a bit of a twist. Bisnymph are small, tailed humanoid beings that live alongside humans (Clerks or Customers to them), but only in businesses, not homes. Their way of life is similarly built around their trades, which are the lifeblood of their communities. ( I just took some of the authors summary to describe this one, it’s a good read!)

The demon of talbot woods by thebrideedawrites

A human girl finds herself in a giant world and is caught by a giant man, they mistake her at first for a little demon. (this is one of my top favorites and a comfort read for me and it is complete!)

The flower petals did not fade by batterysavermode

This is a sherlock g/t work of fiction with a borrower girl and another small species that the author created.

#g/t #g/t writing #giant/tiny #g/t writing community #g/t community #g/t writers #rec list #gtwac

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bluedalahorse · 1 year

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Philosophies of Justice and Narrative Catharsis in Young Royals

Do you ever just have… conversations with yourself at 2 am?

Me: Wow. August did some bad shit. I want him to get therapy and help, but I also want him to face some kinda legal punishment.

Also me: Oh, self. You don’t trust cops or judges or prisons. The legal system would be way harsher on Simon about the drugs. Doesn’t that give you anxiety?

A third me, thousands of words in and possessed by a hyperfocus demon: Well fuck. We might be doing a meta about it. It’s okay, this can just be building blocks for our graduate school thesis on YA literature. Ahaha it’s fine.

The following meta looks at philosophies of justice, both retributive and restorative, as they appear in the worldbuilding Young Royals. This is a monster of a meta, like ~6500 words long, so be aware of that going in. Content note for discussion of all the usual crime topics in YR, as well as the injustices present in real world legal systems.

Intro: Shifting the Focus

Fandom loves discussing—and disagreeing about—the redemption arc. Who can blame us? As human beings, we’re wired to notice novelty, and redemption arcs involve a character experiencing some sort of dramatic transformation. This transformation could be gradually built up to for a series of chapters or seasons, or it could be sudden and jarring. It could involve one big dramatic gesture or a series of small changes. Whatever happens, fans end up debating what they see onscreen.

Now, I love a good discussion. I also love stories that poke beyond simple notions of good and evil, where characters are capable of change in multiple directions, And yet, as someone who has spent years in fandom, I increasingly find the discussion of redemption arcs unsatisfying and even boring. Everyone seems to have their own definition of what constitutes “enough” good deeds for a character’s redemption, and even their own opinions of who is worthy of redemption in the first place. It seems we can’t entirely agree on what the term means, and everyone gets bogged down in discourse.

At first, my dissatisfaction prompted me to ask what I considered a well-written redemption arc. Well, no, that’s not accurate. There was a little arrogant voice inside me telling me that I, the great bluedalahorse, who has devoted many hours of academic study to various literary texts and even made complicated spreadsheets to track ideas in my favorite books, could use my genius analytical skills to find out what a perfect redemption arc is supposed to look like and develop a formula for it. And then I stepped back and laughed at myself. Since when did good writing ever follow a formula? All the best writers know how and when to break the rules. Also, I am not as much of a genius as I think I am. I’m literally just hanging out here and overthinking my fictional faves like the rest of fandom.

A lightbulb moment switched on when I attended a workshop focused on restorative justice in schools, back in the summer of 2022. As I listened and processed the things I was learning, my storyteller brain kept poking me. Hey, it was saying to me. Heyyyy can we use restorative justice principles to write better character arcs? Particularly redemption arcs? I talked to my MFA adviser about this as we began to workshop ideas for a critical thesis in Young Adult literature. We started to explore the ways that restorative justice principles showed up in books like Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay and All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. I got a little further along in my theories, identifying techniques authors used to show characters confronting their privilege, unlearning old behaviors, and making amends for harm that they caused others. Still, something was missing. I just wasn’t getting where I wanted to with my analysis.

A few weeks ago I had a second lightbulb: what if we stop looking at justice in relationship to character arcs alone, and start looking at worldbuilding?

That clicked. Oh, boy, did it click! You really can’t talk about characters without understanding their world. Once I attended a panel on writing villains, and one of the panelists asserted that you can’t develop your villain as a character until you’ve developed your world. (Whether villains are outcasts hellbent on revenge, or oppressive tyrants at the top of their society, their world plays a role in shaping them.) Since what we call redemption arcs so often involves taking a character out of a villainous space and into a more heroic one, naturally worldbuilding has to be a factor in that kind of story. I also realized that the framing of the “redemption arc” frustrates me because on some level, it’s still tied to the Western Christian idea of individual salvation. I didn’t want to necessarily focus on what what one character does or doesn’t do individually without also focusing on that character’s relationship to other characters and their communities.

So I decided to experiment with shifting the focus of my thesis research. There were only two things left to do: come up with a framework for exploring my ideas, and test those questions out on Young Royals. Because it’s my favorite show, and it has a lot to say about justice. That said, a lot of what I say here and the methods I use could be applied to other shows as well. I’m curious to hear what it might have to say about your other favorite works of fiction!

The Framework

After some drafting during early morning bus commutes, I came up with three questions I wanted to explore when looking at Young Royals and other texts. These questions are:

What is the authorial philosophy of justice? What principles of justice are at play in how the author constructs the characters, world, and storylines?

How is justice enacted (or not) through the legal system(s) in this story’s setting? To what extent do the ideals of that legal system match up with its reality? To what extent should they?

What are the individual characters’ experiences of justice in their day to day life? What social norms do they end up creating in their smaller communities to enforce their ideas of justice?

What I like about this series of questions is that it allows a text to speak in multiple voices. There has been a lot of fandom discourse over the last ten years (and even longer, honestly, this shit goes back at least to Plato’s dialogues) about authorial intent and whether depiction equals endorsement and so on. I don’t think I’m going to end those debates today. Still, I do think it’s worth pointing out that a TV show or a book or a movie is able to tell a story and make a point in a different way than an essay or campaign speech does. You can have different characters own different parts of the truth. A particular setting can be positive for one character and negative for another. Fiction is really good at exploring paradoxes, contradictions, and tensions. I created these questions because they force me to tease out the tensions in a narrative and where there might be meaning in them.

Come on, Blue! you say. We know Young Royals has a lot of tension in it. When are you gonna start talking about your fandom? Okay. Fine. I’ll get to the sad teenagers now. Put on your school uniforms, everyone. We’re going to Hillerska!

No Good or Bad People, Only Good or Bad Actions

The title for this section comes from me paraphrasing Omar paraphrasing Lisa in an interview.

Two questions you may have about this section are: 1. What makes authorial philosophy (a term I am pretty sure I just made up for the purposes of this meta) different than authorial intent? 2. What’s the relationship between the author’s philosophy and their worldbuilding?

To answer question 1, I am defining authorial philosophy for the purposes of this meta as what the author intends + how effectively they convey that through their storytelling and craft. So like, authorial intent, but we’re also holding the author somewhat accountable for how their message comes across. Generally I read Lisa and the rest of the team as pretty intentional in how they craft their stories, and I can see how their ideas play out in practice, so I am more likely to give credence to authorial intent. I might not do that for other authors. As someone who reads heavily in the YA novel field, I’ve seen plenty of books with surface progressivism that end up being kinda reactionary when you scrape beneath that surface. Usually it’s a craft issue or the author not being intentional enogh. Young Royals, so far, has not been that kind of text.

As for question 2, authors can use their worldbuilding to reinforce their authorial philosophy, whether that’s through having characters in the story espouse said philosophy, or by using the story’s plot and character arcs to test their story, or by some combination of the two. Lisa is a writer who affords her characters a lot of grace, but I also see her as willing to test that grace and our her personal philosophy on trial. She’s very aware that ideals don’t always match up with reality, and those tensions are part of what she explores so well in her writing.

Now that we’ve addressed those questions, let’s address the authorial philosophy of Young Royal.

Young Royals stands out from other school dramas because it handles nuance so well. But how do Lisa and her team achieve that nuance? Part of it is the way their approach to characters resonates with the philosophy of restorative justice.

Restorative justice can be defined as “a system of criminal justice which focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large.” This website has some additional information about what restorative justice looks like in theory and practice. (Plenty of other websites do as well.) Restorative justice is really hard to pull of IRL, but philosophically it does ask us to think about the ways in which more retributive and punitive justice systems are failing people.

Now, before I get too far into my explanation, I don’t know if Lisa chose a restorative justice approach to her writing on purpose, or how much she’s read about the subject. But a lot of what she prioritizes as a writer lines up with certain RJ principles anyway. For example, RJ practitioners believe that every human being has worth and dignity, and that leaning too far into a retributive justice model (more on that in the next section) can be dehumanizing for both victims and offenders. In Lisa’s writing, each character is humanized, there are no characters who are caricatures. Everyone in Young Royals has their own reasons for behaving why they behave—even when they make choices that harm others. There aren’t excuses, but there are explanations.

Two other important ideas in RJ are accountability and dialogue. Season 2 of YR deals a lot with the question of accountability. Wilhelm’s positive growth is signaled by his willingness to be accountable for his actions; August’s more tragic arc is characterized by his baby steps toward accountability followed by his dramatic backflip away from it.

Regarding dialogue, Wilhelm’s growth is fostered by important and vulnerable conversations with others. Sometimes these conversations are with the people he harmed or impacted in a negative way. He and Felice have to talk their way through the weirdness of that kiss, while he and Simon have to talk about… well, everything. TBH they’re not done talking yet. But they’ve started, and that’s where the progress and catharsis is happening. Other times, Wilhelm’s conversations with other members of the Hillerska community—Nils and Boris come to mind—help him to see things in a new light and clarify his ideals. When we cheer on Wilhelm as he comes to better understand his privilege in the world and the weight that his actions have, we’ve been enlisted by Lisa to support restorative justice philosophy.

No one character represents Lisa’s philosophy entirely, because she’s so committed to all characters being fallible in their own ways, but I would say that of the main cast, the Eriksson siblings and Felice are the most likely to express different parts of restorative justice philosophy. All of them strive to look for people’s human side instead of relying on stereotypes. They want the people close to them to be accountable for their actions. They talk things through. They recognize the needs of multiple people in a situation. This doesn’t happen all the time, with every person, in every instance. They get distracted and led astray. There may be times where it would benefit them to get outside help and they don’t. Sometimes their efforts blow up in their face. But they’re trying, and I think Wilhelm has definitely joined them by the end of season 2.

So sure, all the characters in Young Royals might brush up against the principles of restorative justice, but they still “live in a society” as we may or may not still say on the internet. In order to understand more, let’s talk about the legal system as it’s presented in the show.

Call Your Lawyer Stepdad

As a writer, Lisa may believe in restorative justice principles, and this likely guides how she depicts the characters in her story. The legal systems she depicts in her work, however, are not restorative. What’s more, they are applied unequally based on the identity of the person who breaks laws or rules. Young Royals is very clear about the distinction between the ideals of the law and how the law actually gets enforced.

Obligatory disclaimer: I’m not a law student or someone who’s studied much comparative politics, so I can’t say for sure whether Sweden’s legal system leans more retributive or more rehabilitative. I also can’t say whether the ideals of its legal system match its reality, but I am making a safe guess that they don’t entirely. (Sweden, my ancestral homeland, I love kanelbullar and ABBA, but your current right wing government and your response to the COVID pandemic and your history of colonization, among other things, shows that you are just as capable of bullshit as any other nation. Forgive me if I approach your legal system with caution. If anyone from Sweden or another Nordic country has more info and can weigh in, feel free to weigh in.) It’s also worth mentioning my own preconceived notions here. I live in a country with a massive mass incarceration problem and a legal system that was specifically created to reinforce white supremacy, so my trust in law enforcement and courts and the like is… not high.

What I can say about the legal system in Young Royals is this: the writing of the show primarily focuses on the retributive aspects of the legal system. In a retributive justice system, those who break the law are criminals, and they are punished for their crimes. Punishment is seen as a way of deterring crime and keeping it from happening in the future.

We see the impact of a system like that when legal consequences motivate characters and the choices they make. Simon is afraid of getting caught and prosecuted for bringing drugs into school, while August fears being put on trial and imprisoned for leaking the video. What’s interesting to me, though, is that it isn’t just that both characters fear punishment. They also fear the stigma that comes with being publicly convicted of a crime. Simon doesn’t want to be stereotyped as the poor kid who comes into school and pushes drugs on the rich kids. He knows how dangerous drug addiction can be from witnessing his dad, and he brings the drugs into school out of financial desperation. August, meanwhile, wants to think of himself as an untouchable elite who is discreet about secrets, and probably (more sympathetically) also wants to think of himself as a relatively helpful guy who showed Wilhelm around school and took care of him the way Erik would have wanted. I think it’s very clever how Lisa had Simon and August each break the law in ways that betray their respective core values, because it brings this issue with a retributive justice system to light. Once someone has committed a crime, how do they move past that stigma and make themself into the sort of person who doesn’t do a crime again?

This leads to another issue with retributive justice. We often equate legality with morality subconsciously, but these two ideas are not the same thing. In August’s case, leaking the video is easy enough for us to label—it is both illegal because it is against the law and immoral because it violates Simon and Wilhelm’s right to sexual privacy. Simon bringing in his dad’s drugs—that’s against the law, sure. But is it immoral? Simon is up against a corrupt teacher who rewards students who can pay more with better grades. He needs to pay for tutoring if he want to succeed. He’s at a disadvantage because of his socioeconomic status, and he also probably hasn’t had time to process trauma around his dad’s addiction. From the point of view of a Hillerska parent, however, they’re just going to see Simon as a threat to their kid’s well-being.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Simon’s reasons for breaking the law are absolutely more sympathetic than August’s reasons. I cannot stress this enough. We see the way the system screws Simon over, and how it drives him to do what he does. Simon gets drugs to students who consent to take them, but when August films him and Wilhelm it’s without their consent. Moreover, August is complicit in Simon’s lawbreaking because he ends up being the guy who sells drugs on Simon’s behalf. (Jesus, August, sell a painting or something.) But who is the legal system in the YR universe more likely to give grace to? August. Who is it more likely to come down hard on? Simon. Simon does not have the wealth to afford a trial. He doesn’t have a lawyer stepdad on speed dial. He doesn’t have an in with the media like the royal family does, so he can’t control the public narrative of his life the same way that they can.

On a purely literal level, August dangling the threat of the pill bottle in front of everyone is the most textbook example of August being a little shit. On the thematic, level, however, this reminds us who the justice system really serves. It’s a caution against relying on the justice system—or at least relying on the justice system alone—for narrative catharsis in this story. Instead, we should be looking for narrative catharsis elsewhere. And, we should definitely be looking at more than one character arc if that is the case.

The Only Person You Can Truly Control Is Yourself

While season 2 includes the retributive justice of the legal system as part of its worldbuilding, we also see Wilhelm embody the philosophy of retributive justice through his actions. Wilhelm starts his arc in a place where he wants to punish August for what he’s done by taking away everything he cares about. He justifies this by pointing out the problems with the legal system—rich kids never actually face the consequences of their actions. While Wilhelm is correct to call that out, he ends up transforming himself into a more extreme agent of the retributive philosophy in order to pursue what he sees as justice.

Now, this is a writing gambit that could have failed spectacularly. We’ve all seen versions of the “if we are awful to our enemies, we’re just as bad as them” story that end up reinforcing an icky status quo. But that’s not exactly what happens in Young Royals. The first thing to notice is that Wilhelm’s approach works… initially. August has lost a lot at the beginning of season 2, part of it due to Wilhelm’s efforts, and that’s made him more willing to reflect and be vulnerable and listen to Sara when she tells him he can preserve his self-respect by turning himself in. I actually don’t think Sara’s being entirely naive when she points out that January August would have turned himself over. The problem is that as January August becomes February And March August and starts to gain new things to protect (an in with the palace, a new relationship with Sara) he becomes afraid of losing everything again, and starts to go back to his old ways.

The other thing to notice is that Wilhelm mostly acts alone. Felice is his confidant, but she’s not working alongside Wilhelm, suggesting they swap out August’s hair products with toothpaste. (I kinda wish she would have, though.) In spite of the fact that the video probably hurt Simon even more than it did Wilhelm (reminder: Wilhelm has access to a press team and hired security that let him walk away at first) Wilhelm doesn’t center Simon in the process of doling out punishment. He does it with the best of intentions—he doesn’t want Simon getting hurt—but that moment where Simon’s like “You did ALL THIS TO HIM when we could have reported him together???” Yeah. That’s extremely valid. And it hints at one of the central ideas of s2—yes, dealing with August is important, but priority number one for Wilhelm is Wilhelm taking accountability for his own actions (denying that it was him in the video) and making things right with Simon in that way. With that relationship restored (see what I did there? restorative justice?) they can lean on one another as they slay their next monster. At the end of the day, the person who Wilhelm has the most control over is himself. That’s why we end season 2 on him making the speech and publicly acknowledging his relationship with Simon, not with the arrival of cop cars at Hillerska.

Speaking of the choices Wilhelm decided to make, I invite Young Royals fans to consider how Wilhelm’s role as crown prince give his actions symbolic weight. The royal family may not have real lawmaking power, but they’re still supposed to represent Swedish values and traditions to the general public. If Wilhelm starts pursuing a kind of justice, then he’s making a statement about what justice looks like in Sweden whether he wants to or not. If he had shot August in the field, that would have been more than a murder—symbolically that would have been an execution, in a country that banned capital punishment in the 1970s. (Then again, Stella and Fredrika would probably be okay with that.)

I want to make one more point here as I transition into the next section. I don’t think Lisa is necessarily saying that August shouldn’t be punished or face consequences for his crime. But I do think she’s being very clear that a retributive justice philosophy is going to hit marginalized people without the resources to defend themselves—people like Simon—a lot harder. And that opens up the question of where we’re supposed to find catharsis. Can we really exhale at the image of jail cell doors clanging shut, knowing that this same legal system can come for Simon using the same tools? If Simon somehow manages to evade prosecution, can he ever really find relief? How long will that last? What’s to say the system won’t screw him over in other ways, and what’s to say that other rich kids won’t get away with what August did, or worse?

It would be one thing if a crime only harmed the individuals involved, but restorative justice philosophy reminds us that this harm also impacts communities and involves communities. So, without further ado, it’s time to zoom in and examine how justice plays out (or fails to) in the Hillerska community.

Snitches, Stitches, and Scapegoats

In the microcosm of Hillerska, students have organized their own justice system in miniature. Conformity gets rewarded, while open nonconformity gets ostracized. While there is some understanding among the students that individuals will deviate from heterosexual, traditionalist, rich kid norms, this deviation is generally only tolerated when students do it in secret. In this climate, Hillerska students do a lot of self-policing. Stella and Nils cover up their sexualities in ways that may not work for them long term. Felice frets about her physical appearance and how people will perceive her if she pursues boys a certain way. You get the picture.

Because of the pressure to maintain a pristine image of the school (gotta make those admissions brochures look sparkly clean!) the student body as a whole sweeps crime and “deviant” behavior under the rug by closing ranks and agreeing not to snitch on one another. The elite status of Hillerska students allows them to get away with a lot their public school peers would not. While gossip flourishes within Hillerska’s walls, woe betide anyone who lets it escape into the outer world.

On occasion, there are crimes that can’t be covered up, and it may be that more than one student is involved. We’ve seen what happens in this case. Hillerska students do not collectively assume responsibility, but instead agree upon a narrative about what happened and choose a scapegoat to pin the problem on. We see this most clearly in episode 1.5, when Alexander is found with the drugs that the Society used for their party. August suggests they pin the drugs on Simon, while Wilhelm breaks with tradition and says Alexander should take the fall, because Alexander can easily bounce back from an accusation like this. Sure enough, Alexander is back at Hillerska next season, far less innocent than before and far more likely to engage in political intrigue. Wilhelm’s considerations about how Alexander can more easily absorb the blame for the drugs are well thought out and in some ways compassionate—and we’re happy to cheer him on for defending Simon and to some extent we should. However, Wilhelm’s willingness to participate in the scapegoating system backfires on him nonetheless, and also entrenches him in one of the most toxic parts of Hillerska culture. He’s cut off one hydra head and two new ones have sprung up to take it’s place.

One obvious danger of scapegoating is that innocent people are often blamed for things they have nothing to do with. We’ve seen this negatively impact Simon on the rowing team and elsewhere. Vincent makes Simon the scapegoat for the rowing team’s loss in episode 2.3 and uses it as an excuse to bully him. Simon doesn’t get to sing his solo because people will recognize him from the video and that will affect the school’s image and the royal family’s image. Simon is innocent in these areas, but he’s being made to take on blame for situations that are a lot bigger than him. Of all the individual students at Hillerska, Simon’s probably getting the shortest end of the stick, and that’s directly related to the fact that he lacks privilege.

Feeding the Myths

There’s other ways to make people symbols of crime or deviance, however, that can damage the fabric of social groups in other ways. Since scapegoat isn’t quite the right term here, because it tends to presume innocence rather than superlative guilt, I’m going to borrow some season 2 language and refer to this as the Worst Person in the World Phenomenon. Now, this is where I’m going to go out on a limb a bit and ask a question the show might not engage with in season 3. They might do it. They might not. It may be beyond the scope of the story Lisa feels she is able to tell. I’m going to ask this question all the same:

If August faces public consequences and punishment for leaking the video, what impact will that actually have on the culture of Hillerska students? Will it prevent such a thing from ever happening again? Will it at least encourage self-reflection?

You could argue that a high profile case like August’s could deter his classmates from engaging in harmful behaviors. He may affect some students that way. I mean, what he did is Very Bad on the Bad scale. You might even call him… the Worst Person In The World. Who would want to be like the Worst Person In The World?

The flip side of the Worst Person In The World phenomenon is that can actually discourage people from taking responsibility and holding themselves accountable. Because gosh, what I did isn’t that bad. It’s not serial killer bad, or Vladimir Putin bad. Do we realistically believe that other students at Hillerska aren’t doing problematic things? That the rowing team has zero boys who will show a topless photo of their girlfriend (without her consent) to some of his bros while they chuckle over it? That some of the girl groups aren’t spreading wildly inappropriate and homophobic rumors about classmates that seriously damage reputations? That kids aren’t paying one another for test answers or putting pressure on one another to unsafely experiment with alcohol and drugs, even when students express boundaries and don’t want to? That kids don’t collectively work to bully teachers at times? And generally the kids aren’t getting in trouble because they’re the children of rich, elite parents, who will grow to be the rich people who run the systems and structures in society for the next generation.

Now, none of the Hillerska kids (that we know of) are doing bad things on the scale that August did when he leaked the video. This is important to stress. But it’s also important to stress that this “getting away with bad behavior” culture of Hillerska and rich people in general is part of what made August who he is. Are the other participants in that culture willing to reflect on that and actively work to change the culture in question?

Again, this does not mean that August shouldn’t face consequences or punishment, or that he shouldn’t go to prison and undergo some sort of rehabilitation. There are excellent reasons for him to face consequences. He did revenge porn FFS. But I think it’s worth acknowledging that the punishment of a very obvious, high profile offender can feed the myth that the legal system is finally working toward justice when in fact the system is continuing to perpetuate injustice. We can see how this works when only a few select predator men were convicted to placate the #MeToo movement, we can see how this works with corrupt cops when only a few who kill are ever convicted but most get away with it, and we can see how this works with political parties taking advantage of the fact that other political parties are, well, worse.

And yes, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good, no ethical consumption under capitalism, etc etc. I think we can keep that in mind while also keeping in mind that we still bear a responsibility to Do The Work in whatever way we are able. This is wandering off of Young Royals a bit. But I’ve given a lot of thought to the way we point at glaringly bad examples of human behavior and say “at least I’m not that guy” while not really doing the reflective work about what we can do to be better and how we can change our culture and systems. This kind of rhetoric is what allows people, especially people like the Hillerska kids who are at the top of society and the peak of privilege, to sleep at night. And maybe they shouldn’t be sleeping so well.

I think a lot about how the scene with Sara warning August that Simon is going to call the police (which is about Sara giving August one more chance to embrace accountability) is followed by a scene of Henry showing up to his group project meeting with no work done. Henry might not have done his work on a literal level, but as a symbol, he’s doing a lot of work. Not only is Henry foreshadowing that August isn’t going to do the right thing and turn himself in, he’s also lampshading the broader culture of Hillerska itself. For all the fancy plaques about responsibility, the students use their privilege and power to avoid doing what’s right and keep the status quo going. This is who they are. This is what they are going to have to overcome to be ethical humans who make their world better.

Working for Catharsis and Healing (A personal opinion section)

I don’t make predictions. The idea of making predictions for season 3 is in fact pretty stressful for me. But what this intellectual exercise has opened up for me is a question of where I would find catharsis and healing in the narrative. It’s not in the sound of police sirens. Maybe that’s different for you. That’s okay. I think we can learn a lot from the discussion in question.

Let’s start with the obvious jerkface himself and the question of him facing punishment. I think it’s worth separating August from other people for a time, to prevent him from doing additional harm to others. If we’re going to call that prison, then sure, let’s call it that. But let’s unpack what that separation looks like. In order for Wilhelm and Simon (and Sara and Felice for that matter) to heal, they’re going to need to be away from him. They should not be the ones responsible for his rehabilitation. As a restorative justice nerd deep down (at least, mostly, but fictional teenagers are well within the broad spectrum of people I’ll offer grace to) I still think he deserves a chance to heal from at least his drug addiction and his eating disorder and his trauma over his dad’s suicide. I also think he needs to understand accountability and the impact his actions have on others, and needs to learn to act in ways that repair the harm he’s done and prevent future harm. This is what he owes the world. There’s not time enough for us to see that whole journey, but I feel like the writers could show us the first few steps.

I’ve seen some people try to argue that August can’t change because he didn’t respond enough to Sara treating him like a person. I can see their point, and I can see the show using the Sara subplot as a shorthand for the idea that August can’t change. Writers often have to use that kind of shorthand to make a point about a character. (The relationship between redemption arcs and romantic love is one of my ongoing problems with redemption arcs in fiction, just for the record.) The way I see it, though, Sara is just one neurodivergent girl with a family history of abuse experiencing her first romantic love. She’s not a team of trained mental health professionals and social workers and other help-minded adults who’ve studied up on how to de-program systemic nonsense. After all, we can accept that although Simon loves Wilhelm very much, Simon’s efforts alone weren’t enough to fully dislodge Wilhelm from his place of privilege. Wilhelm needed Boris and therapy, and a mom who made him go to therapy (Kristina often does more harm than good, but her making Wilhelm go to therapy is the broken clock being right twice a day), and Felice as a friend and confidant, and Nils as a different sort of confidant, and a literature teacher like Fröken Ramirez who’s assigning him books with queer representation. Wilhelm’s journey is still ongoing. Romantic love may be transformative, but individuals in love don’t change people on their own. Communities change people. I am an aromantic relationship anarchist and I will die on this hill.

Speaking of the Eriksson siblings, I want Sara and Simon to have a chance to repair their relationship and build it anew. This would be another point of catharsis for me. I’ve seen a lot of people saying “Sara needs to do xyz tasks…” like we’re in a confession booth and a certain number of Hail Marys will save the day, but step one is that Sara and Simon just need to start communicating again, and communicating honestly. I think it’s easy to point to August as being the root of their relationship struggles, but there were a lot of unspoken tensions between the Eriksson siblings long before he entered the chat. They would have had some other falling out even without Hillerska. Simon’s been led to believe he should parent his sister, and Sara’s been convinced she’s a burden to her brother forever. They both are still reeling from trauma related to their dad, and it may need that they need different things to heal from that. Even without all that, they’re both maturing and defining their values and exploring romance for the first time, and Sara’s getting friendships of her own without always tagging along with Simon and Rosh and Ayub. Simon and Sara are getting to the age where they may not always be the most important people in each other’s lives, and they need to learn to grow up without growing apart. That doesn’t always happen automatically; it takes self-reflection and commitment and listening. I don’t think we’ll ever be back to the innocent days of Sara teasing Simon about his fairy tale prince. But I do think they can move their relationship forward in a new direction, and bounce back stronger.

I also think both Eriksson siblings need to come to terms with the fact that they violated their own values. Sara didn’t do anything illegal, but she did do something that violated her own morals, and you can tell that she feels pretty awful about that when she’s alone on the bus and driving away from school in 2.6. As for Simon, I don’t know if he’s fully gotten a chance to sit with the fact that he violated his own values when he brought his dad’s drugs to school. Again, I don’t want Simon to have to go through legal trouble, or deal with the prison system. The legal system is stacked against Simon in ways that are not fair. But Simon values accountability, and Wilhelm basically rescued him from being held accountable in season 1. I imagine that’s caused cognitive dissonance for Simon he’s still sorting through. I wonder what that’s going to be like for him.

On Wilhelm’s end, I’d like him to continue growing in the ways he’s grown in season 2. He’s learned not to be a symbol of extreme retributive justice. What would it look like for him to model restorative justice practices instead? (Note: this doesn’t mean that he personally has to forgive August. That’s entirely up to Wilhelm.) How can he encourage his community to act differently?

For Felice—well, one of my few issues with season 2 was how they handled Felice, and how they made her ancillary to others’ arcs instead of having her own, but that’s a post for another time. All the same, I think Felice is learning to trust her instincts, push past her biases, and take a unique point of view on things. She’s able to look at the video and see the broken pixels rather than the scandalous gossip scene everyone’s talking about. She can sense Sara’s hiding a secret from her and knows Sara needs to talk. Even if the conversation they end up having is deeply upsetting for her, it brings truths to light that need to be shared. Felice doesn’t have every tool in the toolbox yet, but what she observes and how she interacts with people can be helpful in delivering justice.

I don’t have meta space to consider every parent and adult on the show and things they can do differently. But I expect in season 3 we’ll start to see some adults (I don’t think it’s likely that we’ll see all of them) consider the roles they play in perpetuating systems and cycles. At least, I hope so. It shouldn’t be all on the young people to achieve change in society.

As for the Hillerska culture, it needs to change too. It’s worth asking if a place like Hillerska should even exist. Every secondary Hillerska student is going to act a little bit differently in response to the events of the plot, and I don’t know if I’d buy it if the show tried to tell us the Hillerska culture changed overnight in a magical ripple of self-consciousness. We might see individual students taking baby steps toward responsibility and liberation here or there. We might just see status quo as usual. I think of all the threads in this story, this is the one I would be okay with seeing Lisa Ambjörn leave things unresolved or in a place of tension, as long as that tension feels intentionally placed. Because changing the world is hard, and not everything changes all at once.

Young Royals doesn’t have to tie up every loose end by the last episode of season 3, but I do think it’s already raised a lot of questions about the relationship between justice and storytelling and where we find catharsis in fiction and our own lives. These questions are worth us considering, even if the answers point toward all the work that still needs to be done for the future.

#young royals #young royals meta #my meta #simon eriksson #wilhelm young royals #august young royals #sara eriksson #felice ehrencrona #long post #holy crap this is long thank you if you read it

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imperiuswrecked · 6 months

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How do you think Doom's dictatorship should be portrayed? I'm personally always very uncomfortable when writers try to go the "benevolent autocrat" route, and after making online friends with an F4 fan whose parents and extended family actually suffered under such a regime (and who is imo rightfully furious whenever writers try to depict Doom's rule as being actually good or "worth it"), in addition to everything going on in Eastern Europe right now and the alarming rise in nationalist and authoritarian-leaning politics/politicians/ parties/voters all over the world, I'm admittedly even more critical of that depiction. It just seems incredibly irresponsible, disingenuous to how real-life human hierarchies/economies/politics/psychology actually work, and disrespectful to the past, present, and future victims of these regimes. (Not to mention the fact that Lee/Kirby, two Jewish WWII vets, were pretty explicitly satirizing the very concept of "benevolent dictatorship" with Doom in their original F4 run, and being Doom's two daddies, they'd probably know best.)

But that's just my opinion, and I'm curious to what extent (if any) that you agree with me, as a fellow Doom connoisseur. Thanks, and I hope you and your loved ones have a safe and blessed rest of your week. <3

Thanks and I hope you and yours are healthy and safe as well ❤️

While I don't personally know the other F4 fans you speak of, or what the full context is around their feelings for Doom, I do understand why they and you might be uncomfortable with characters like this and that's fine since you don't have to like characters, and if they want to be mad at writers for portraying Doom that way then that's their right but I don't agree with them. I'd personally rather Doom be a benevolent autocrat than the writers try to inject hilter dictatorship into Doom's character/imagery. I find that very disturbing for a character like Victor to be subjected to, because Nazism isn't something I take lightly and definitely feel it's inappropriate for a character with Victor's background to ever be linked with.

I'm gonna put this really simply; it's fiction. Doom can be a benevolent autrocrat, be beloved by his people, have little children throwing flowers in his path, and be a villain to the Fantastic Four at the same time and be depicted as a good thing for the Latverian people because it's fiction.

There's a time and place for discussion when it comes to how fiction affects real life, but it doesn't work in Doom's case because showing Doom in this light does not mean any writer endorses an autocratic ruler nor will have an impact in Real Life because there is no such thing as a real life benevolent dictator who gives his country and people free healthcare, education, safety, security, prosperity, and the freedom to worship whom they please/live their lives in return for their complete obedience and being unable to critize Doom's rule. It's literally never happened in real life. There is no such thing as a good government in the entire world, because there will always be a time or government or leader who has harmed their people or other people in all manner of ways. There is not one single country in the whole world that gives equal rights to every citizen, doesn't harm people either physically or through their laws/government system, and provides everything every single person needs with justice and fairness.

You say it's disrespectful for writers to portray Victor in this way but disrespectful to whom? Disrespectful to people who suffered under real life dictatorships? They don't have to like the character or agree with the writer, but I've already established that a fictional character/story doesn't take precedence over real life suffering and I hope people understand there is a line of separation between enjoying fiction that has flaws/isn't good/has darker elements vs real life. As readers it's our responsibility to determine what we can and cannot handle in fiction.

Disrespectful to the characters? Latveria is fictional, the characters are all fictional, if we take into context the history of Latveria in the 616 and look at Victor through the eyes of the citizens of Latveria, both Romani and non Romani citzens, then to them Victor is a hero, he led a rebellion and resistance against the rich and powerful ruling royal class of Latveria who were absolutely horrible to their citizens.

If we are continuing in the context of the 616 universe, "how could Doom's people love him/look up to him even though he's set on world domination" then you have to acknowledge first that world domination isn't feasible in the real world at all, that's a non issue, and second that Doom wasn't created out of thin air, he didn't wake up one day and go "well I'm gonna take over my country and then the world" He was built from the oppression and crimes against himself and his people by the ruling class of Latveria. Kirby and Lee's origin for Victor isn't one of a tyrannical overlord deciding he's in charge, it's the story of a boy outcast from the main society because of his background, oppressed by the government/ruling class, orphaned as a child, and hellbent on gaining power because of his circumstances.

If you feel Victor is satire then that's your interpretation but I personally feel that silver age villainy is an era comic readers have outgrown and shouldn't apply to today's character, because by that logic then Magneto would still be seen as an allegory for mutant supremacy because that's how Kirby and Lee portrayed him, but instead over time he was transformed into a character who's past suffering had a righteous (if flawed at times) cause. Both Doom and Magneto were made in the same era but while Victor's past was laid out from day one, Erik's past was created so much later.

Just like the Mafia Boss with the Heart of Gold, who is a totally bad guy but he protects his people/loved ones is a fictional and very popular trope, it's unrealistic in the real world because Mafia/Mob/Crime bosses make their living doing things/crimes that hurt others.

Anyways I think it's a non-issue that Victor is portrayed as a benevolent autocrat. I think it's interesting to have him be portrayed as such because it fits into his characterization of him believing that all people who don't have his level of intelligence are beneath him and he must treated as children or sheep he must herd and care for. It fits with his ego being so large that he believes that him being in charge is the only path forward. It's a great way to study the character too because Victor is very fascinating to me.

#victor von doom #doctor doom #comic talk #imp answers

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good-beans · 5 months

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(Milgram self-insert oc masterpost hehe)

Name: For the sake of posting online I’ll call her Rose!

Color: #E7355B [the pink in the art]

Age: I guess she’d be 20 given when Milgram started huh. Gross.

Status: Milgram Staff, Machine Technician

Symbols/imagery: ballet, musical theater, potted plants, board games, various bugs

Song genre: very similar to Mahiru's, something upbeat and extra pop-y

Tentatively she's number 011? She's not really prisoner but she's also not free to come and go, so I'm not actually sure if she'd get a number

Story: I figured since the project is supposed to be realistic/present day, the mv machine would be brand new and unpredictable tech, so they’d want someone keeping up on maintenance and making sure the brain-invasive process won’t cause any harm to the prisoners. She was studying abroad in Japan working on some cool neuroscience tech (irl I know nothing about technology or brains but shh) and she stumbled upon the Milgram team’s machine/plans. Long story short she was dragged into the experiment to make sure things ran smoothly.

Writer's Reasoning: She’s really fun for me to play around with, as she allows me to work with a character who is simultaneously trapped in the prison but hasn’t committed any murder**, someone who has a tiny bit of pull over Es’ mindset in conversation but not the final decision (aka the voting system), and someone who would have a reason to see all the canon content.* I really enjoy the character interactions and dynamics Milgram has set up so far, so it’s been super fun seeing how things change for better and worse when someone not quite aligned with either Milgram/the prisoners is thrown into the mix!

*As much as I love dramatic irony in fiction, it would drive me crazy if I knew every detail of of the vds/mvs but Rose didn't – and every single Milgram character is The Worst Communicator Ever so I couldn’t justify that she’d hear it second hand from them...

**I’ll also add that I don’t believe I’m above murder lmao – the main thing stopping me from making her a prisoner was a) the reason above, and b) there’s no way I could have produced a full music video, and it would've driven me crazy if she didn't have one 😂 Still, I imagine she has to run some tests on the machine to make sure things are calibrated correctly, so she'd extract little things here and there (giving me the opportunity to think up lyric snippets and recurring symbols for her without worrying about full encompassing music videos :))

Story roles:

She’s a bit conflicted -- she’s officially Milgram staff and knows she should remain neutral on the prisoners, since she won’t be allowed to interfere with the process/executions. At the same time, her job description is literally “make sure they all are safe and healthy” and she's way too emotional to avoid getting hopelessly attached to everyone 😅

I really enjoy the theory that the machine extracts videos based off of priming, so one of Rose’s duties involves listening in on the interrogation and making sure there’s been enough material discussed/not too much time has passed overall (hence the ringing of the bell happening at different lengths for each vd). She then watches the mvs along with Es to make sure there are no machine glitches.

I'm not afraid to admit she falls into Mary Sue territory every so often by being everyone's friend, because it's less about "aw everyone likes her" and more about "canon is too painful rn and I need a fix-it tool to take care of these guys and give them hugs and tell them someone forgives them and cares about them and unfortunately these characters wouldn't let anyone less than a friend do that." Rest assured she's definitely not perfect and will fuck everything up on occasion :3

Miscellaneous: Whenever I play around with normal au ideas she's still working on the machine (but in a public, more ethical setting), and she's Mahiru's roommate :) Her character isn't super focused on love, but if I had to pick a cover song it'd be Stickybug II. It's very much my vibe, the lyrics fit well enough (better than most songs, at least lol) and it's one of my favorites of the unchosen songs!

So yeah, I hope she's not too boring without a cool crime to decipher, but I wanted to share since I was really proud of her! It took a bit of tinkering to find a way to fit her into a perfect secret-third-thing role that runs very smoothly with all of canon, so I was very excited!

#waaahh posting before i chicken out #I've never posted about a self-insert so please be kind lmao 😅#i dont expect a ton of hype for her but if people have questions im always down to talk about her hehe #this is my only art -- i rarely draw oc stuff but i was really happy with how this came out #i definitely dont think shed get a number or those side rune straps by canon standards but the art wouldnt look right without them #im mad that the lab coat and gloves make her look a bit like shidous design :/ i definitely wanted more scientist vibes than doctor #dw she wears her PPE when she works on the machine 😤#yeah yeah theres some shipping aspects sue me -- but genuinely its mostly for fun character studying and fix-its #mkdr and neoneon also hold a special place in my heart but i didnt want to double up on covers #im so sad because she just. doesnt fit into LCSyS #the machine is fake in the au so shed have no opportunity to join the experiment #plus even if i made her generic staff shed just be on the receiving end of the lie with es... which is just canon until the very end adfsdf #WOO huge thank you to kyanako5972 and purgemarchlockdown for enabling me to be annoying once again >:3 #and thank you gunsli!! our chat was the first time i ever talked about her and it really gave me a lot of confidence :')#not maintagging but i will edit for organizational tags later #i also may put this on my writing blog at some point but we'll see #my art #rose posts #ocgram #milgram

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fieldofdaisiies · 2 months

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hey, how are you! hope youre doing well 🤗

i just wanted to let you know that a couple of people who interact with your posts that claim they are pro lucien and eris are also ic haters, and the are quite mean to people who like the ic and rhys. even unprovoked, they reblog pro ic and pro rhys posts and go on a rant on how rhys is a sexual abuser and how he sa'ed feyre and hate on these fictional characters who are not real.

just wanted to let you know to make sure you are safe on tumblr because, well, no one told me and the people i follow, and.... they reblogged our posts and literally wrote whole novels on how rhys is the worst with pics and screenshots from the acotar books.

and we dont even like rhys that much, we just dont hate any characters. so... yeah we were bullied relentlessly and talked shit about 🫠🫠🫠 i can smuggle you the names of them in private if you want.

be safe out here love 🫂

Hey Anon!

First of all, thank you so much for this message and for looking out for people in your fandom space.💛

Secondly, I am very sorry that you and your friends are experiencing hate and bullying, this is never easy and if you need someone to talk to or to encourage you keep going despite the hate, my inbox is always open.

Once again a huge wave of hate is crashing down on certain characters, on the fandom, on writers…I am so tired of it. As you said, they are fictional characters, and some people still dedicate their life to hating on them.

I made a post a few days ago, addressing exactly this. We are all one fandom, brought together by the love for a book series. If you don’t like a character or ship, just move on and ignore, don’t become hateful and destroy the fandom peace.

None of the characters are flawless - Rhys isn’t, Tamlin isn’t, Eris isn’t, Azriel isn’t. And it is okay to point out their flaws and not paint them absolutely perfect, but hate is useless, and can be extremely harmful especially when directed at people who write for these characters.

These males in the books are morally grey for a reason, but they are not real, these books aren’t real life, this is fantasy, this is literature.

But the moment you start hating on people, bullying them, it becomes real, and actual people are hurt. And that is when the fun really stops, because then actual people get hurt.

I joined this fandom to spend time with people who like the same things as I do, to share opinions, stories, art etc. and just to find a place to escape the "real" life and have joy. All I want is for my mutuals is to have joy as well, to enjoy being here and to feel safe.

Please, everyone, be a little more mindful and careful with what you say to other people on here (and in real life). Don't waste your time on hating, and rather just enjoy being here. Stay in your space, and ignore things that you don't like. It'll make life a lot easier for you as well.

I hope despite everything you are alright! Don’t let them discourage you💛

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letstalkwhump · 11 months

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Let's Talk Whump

Welcome to Let’s Talk Whump, a series of interviews that spotlight the amazing people in our whump community! I’m Malice and I’ll be your host today.

Today I’m talking whump with the amazing @studyofwhump!

Welcome to the show! Do you mind starting with a fact or two about yourself?

I’m Kay and I just turned 26 a few days ago! When not torturing my ocs, I am studying planetary geochemistry and having fun playing with spicy chemicals. I also really enjoy cooking, jewelry making and pen pal letters!

And what does whump mean to you?

I’ve often thought of whump as a facet of the hurt/comfort genre, with a greater focus on the physical, psychological, and emotional hurt and trauma inflicted on characters. Whump looks into not only characters experiencing intensely painful and overwhelming circumstances, but the hard road to recovery that comes afterward. There can be a lot of overlap with ‘angst’ in that regard, but it becomes whump when direct harm to the character’s well-being comes into play (for me that includes more of the physical harm).

How did you find the whump community? What made you want to join?

I followed the bad things happen bingo tumblr blog for a few years, writing down their prompts for my own story ideas as a little checklist. Then through that, I came across @whump-tr0pes Honor Bound series in its early stages and found the term ‘whump.’ Turns out, it was a concept I had enjoyed nearly all my life and had a flourishing online community! I decided to create a dedicated whump blog since a few irl friends followed my main and weren’t fans of fictional violence, and it’s been one of my favorite pastimes ever since!

That’s awesome as! Do you think your view on whump changed since you joined?

I started out mostly making generic prompts and reblogging whump art, not really sure about sharing my own fics since I barely shared my writing with anyone irl. I enjoyed fandom whump more, but as I started reading more original work from other whump writers, I grew a greater appreciation for it. Sharing more of my writings for my alien sci-fi series Titan Guard brought some positive feedback, and I’ve felt encouraged to open up my stories to a growing community as well.

And now everyone’s favourite question: Favourite whump tropes?

WHIPPING (favourite since I was a kid and whipped my Polly Pocket and Lego figures for the plot!), interrogation, used as bait, bound and gagged (again, tying up all my toys for the plot haha), manhandling, stress positions, slavery, POW situations, isolation, nightmares, forced to watch or choose, caretaker turned whumpee, whumpers who are cold and calculating and don’t hold back, and so many more!

Torturing your childhood dolls is such a universal whump experience! Would you mind sharing a favourite piece you've written?

Ooh that’s a hard one…

Alek’s First Whipping was one of the earliest scenes I had for Alek’s backstory in Titan Guard that I was really excited to share. It’s one of the first instances of Alek experiencing intense and body-altering pain that is public and degrading. It was a fic I had written several years prior to sharing it, and while some minor changes were made as I developed the story more, it’s still largely the same as the original which I really enjoy. And of course, it uses one of my all-time favorite tropes!

The explosion arc I’ve been writing has also been a favorite because I wanted to use the circumstances of that arc to show how dire the situation for the Pax Rebel group stranded on Earth is, essentially showing one of their lowest points. This arc also is the most effort I’ve dedicated to laying out more of the actual plot for Titan Guard and what it’s about. With this, I’ve also tried including some morally gray situations where there’s no clear answer to dealing with a friend’s impeding death, and opening it to readers to think on what they think is ‘right’ in just a scenario.

Public whipping is so good! And I loved Alek’s reaction, the poor guy. Do you mind sharing what your writing routine looks like?

I try to write 200 words a day in one form or another (although the past couple of weeks I’ve definitely fallen behind), and usually like to work on one WIP to fill that quota. I’m not a morning person at all, so I’m writing mainly in the afternoon or evening. I’ve found that if I’m able to sit outside while it’s nice and dark, that’s actually the most productive time for me!

Do you find that your ability to write varies between topics?

I have the most fun writing dialogue, both spoken between characters and internally, and especially if the two contradict each other. The dialogue for a scene is usually the first thing that comes to me, revealing an oc’s inner feeling and fears that guide their actions through the rest of the scene. I’ve been writing more arguments between characters recently, which has been really interesting sorting out group dynamics and complicating relationships.

I’ve also been told I’m good at delivering soul-crushing angst suddenly during an already whumpy moment!

And is there anything you're working on at the moment?

I’ve got a list of fics I’m trying to work on at the moment! Now that I’m over the hill on graduation and family stuff, I’ll hopefully have more time to get working on them. Alek and Lulan are in the line of fire right now, and the next few fics with them will be pretty pivotal! Some of their defining moments are coming up…

I’ve also tried to start focusing more on worldbuilding for my verse and the history of the main conflict leading up to the main story. Part of that is trying to get back into conlang, which is one of my favorite things!

Do you have a joke or pun you would like to share to spread some smiles today?

Of quartz I have good puns! As a geologist, I must never take puns for granite. And it’s always gneiss to spread smiles and laughter when schist happens and things get wacke. Not to get too sediment-al, but the whump community is like geology puns…

They rock.

I’m dying at that last line. That was awful but also very good! Is there any writing advice you’d like to share?

If you’re planning a larger project, let the ideas flow. I’m sometimes pretty rigid when it comes to sticking to the main canon of my own writing, but I still try to create alternate scenes for my own enjoyment and to help get through writer’s block. Even if you have a set plot or idea in mind for how you want the story to go, if a cool idea gets stuck in your head just write it out or take notes or do whatever even if it’s completely random! Write that AU, create alternate endings and any kind of ‘what if’ scenarios. You never know what random little ideas you’ve collected over time will become the answer to a writing block or a new idea you love.

Are there any blogs you’d like to shout out?

@whump-tr0pes @ashintheairlikesnow and @wildfaewhump for being the first few whump blogs whose original work I found captivating and inspiring as an introduction into the whump community!

@for-the-love-of-angst @noirineverysense @justplainwhump @aprilwaters @sableflynn @actress4him @tormentum-ab-intra @clockworknightmares @sweetwhumpandhellacomf @winedark-whump @straight-to-the-pain and @lektricwhump who are all amazing creators and lovely people I’ve gotten to know over the past couple of years. Go check out their work!

A special shout-out to @gritpyre, connoisseur of buff women and lycanthropic turmoil who I’ve commissioned artwork from in the past and is seriously talented! Frankie is truly amazing!

And while not whump specific, my two irl writing fiend friends @chaotic-tired-cat and @buggy-about-town who have enabled my whump obsession and found some connection to the genre as well! I love you both!!

And finally, anything you'd like to add? <

Just to say that the whump community has been there to help me get through some pretty tough times, and I am so, so grateful for it. I’ve met some truly kind and wonderful people here I can call friends, and I look forward to seeing what creations are coming in the future!

Thank you for joining us, @studyofwhump!

And to all you lovely folks at home, have a whump-derful day!

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