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xerith-42 · 3 months

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Stop blaming characters for bad writers

Seriously, stop fucking doing this. While this is a post that could certainly be applicable to MANY fandoms, I'm mainly directing this whole rant at my target audience which is mentally ill minecraft obsessed freaks.

If a character is written badly, gets badly fumbled by the creator, or has the ball dropped in regards to their arc in some way, a lot of people will blame the character, as if they're a real conscious person making these decisions. When they aren't. They're a block man literally being controlled by two people who just aren't very good writers and one or both of them are incredibly sexist, kind of racist, ableist, and just bad writers in general.

Yeah, Laurance does some pretty shitty things through out Season 2 of MCD, actively crossing lines he wouldn't have previously crossed. We as fans can cope by saying something something calling, or just saying Laurance is a bad abusive person, but the reality is that the writers wanted to force the series to fit a specific vision and as a result were willing to do anything to get the series to that point. In order to make Aaron the most favorable suitor for Aphmau, her previous suitors need to be out of the picture, or clearly inferior options.

Garroth suffered the out of the picture, being mostly absent outside of a few cutscenes here and there until episode 81 of season 2, but episode 81 is the culmination of the writers goals to make Aarmau happen. By the time Garroth has returned to the series, the damage has already been done. He's not getting the life he wants. And Laurance is written out of the picture as well, but only after being shown to be inferior because Jesson were pushing an agenda.

Laurance didn't deteriorate as a person due to neglect of his physical and mental well being after a severely traumatic experience. He deteriorated as a character because the writers stopped giving as much of a shit about him and instead were using the series as self indulgent fanfiction of alternate versions of themselves. That's not Laurance's fault.

And this applies to any character who was completely fumbled in MyStreet due to this similar focus on wish fulfillment from the writers. Jess has stated that the relationship between Aphmau and Aaron in Phoenix Drop High is reflective of her relationship with Jason, we all know this. This means that any characters who come off as total fucking creeps in that series (namely Gene), are not actually acting on the whims of their own autonomy or desires as characters. They are acting in service of telling a predetermined story that they are retroactively being added into for author fulfillment.

In this regard I fully support fandom cope and say that you should rewrite your little guys to your hearts content. But if you're going to criticize these characters for their actions, don't criticize them. They didn't do anything wrong. All characters are just puppets in service of the story or themes a writer is trying to push. If a character acts in an objectively terrible way, especially a way that isn't in line with their previous characterizations, that is a failing of the writers, not the character.

And I feel like largely a lot of us can and frequently do this. We're actively criticizing Jesson for being terrible low-key bigoted writers all the god damn time, it's like half of the content here. But when we get into character discourse I feel like some people cling onto bad actions of the canon too closely and I've seen more than a few posts presume some pretty terrible interpretations of characters based on these actions. Obviously Laurance is a character I and a lot of others are fixated on so a lot of discourse revolves around him, and it was seeing some... interesting takes on him that prompted me to start writing this post.

But this happens to everyone. Quite personally based on the character I was shown in MyStreet, it feels really weird that Garroth would make an insensitive comment about his brother's weight. Yeah siblings poke fun at each other and often cross lines, but if that was something Zane was seriously insecure about (which it seems like he might be) then it does make Garroth come off as a really insensitive brother, which just doesn't gel with how hard he tries to bond with Zane despite their tense relationship. And I don't think Garroth should be criticized for making those comments.

Whoever wrote those lines (Jess and/or Jason) should be criticized for writing a scene where a character is mocked by their older sibling over a physical insecurity even if said sibling would not normally do that. It's not Travis' fault that Jesson never decided to give him more of a character beyond "funny pervy guy" that's not funny in every anime they've watched until Season 5 of MyStreet. It's unfair to try and say Travis should be scrutinized for his borderline sexual harassment of some characters when it's not his fault that happened, he was written by writers who don't think this sort of behavior isn't all that bad if they make it out for comedy and punch him in the face.

And god dammit it's not Laurance's fault that his jealousy became the most prevalent emotion he felt. Laurance has always been a character to give into his vices and yet fight against them at the same time, it's what makes him compelling. If they were going to pull on those vices in order to make him a less appealing love interest, he never had a chance to really be his own character after a certain point. Because at a certain point in Season 2, Jesson stopped caring about the character they had been writing for over a hundred episodes at that point. They just wanted to canonize their self insert ship and were willing to do anything to get it.

Laurance isn't an abusive angry person who would have killed Aphmau if they got together. He's a flawed character being handled by incredibly flawed writers who are prone to making some of the worst decisions you have ever seen a creator make in regards to their character writing. He was caught in the crossfire of the adoration he received from a very dedicated fanbase, and the creator who would rather pretend he and his previous arc didn't exist for the sake of her fun. It's not Laurance's fault his arc was stilted, jerked around, and ultimately ended with him completely face planting. And yet still reliably dragging his bloodied body up at just the slightest glimmer of hope (Void Paradox).

It's deeply poetic and tragic that I can describe his character in universe and in the meta-textual sense that way, but we should never blame Laurance, or Aaron, or any other characters for things being like this.

They didn't write the show. Jess and Jason did.

#minecraft diaries #text post #aphblr #aphverse #laurance zvahl #garroth ro'meave #minecraft diaries laurance #mystreet #mystreet garroth #mystreet travis #bad writing #fandom discourse #fandom discussion #character discussion #character discourse

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everyforkedroad · 2 years

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KP twitter drama - a hot take 🔥

I don't know if I'm going to get myself blocked or whatever for this diatribe but I have to get this off my chest.

If you are not aware (lucky you), KP Twitter is up in arms over Be on Cloud's alleged refusal to send Mile and Apo to accept the Mekhala Awards, citing scheduling conflicts. Granted, fans worked hard to make sure MileApo won that award.

In addition, many accuse BoC of holding MileApo back, of keeping content from fans, and not promoting them properly, taking their spotlight and putting on the other cast members instead.

Honestly, I don't know what to think of those accusations, but the behavior that I'm seeing is beginning to smack of a disturbing sort of entitlement.

MileApo and the KP cast just performed a two-day concert for which they rehearsed non-stop for ten days. Some of the cast were recovering from Covid and, in the case of Apo, performing despite symptoms and having to quarantine afterward.

MileApo are also doing preproduction for their historical movie, coming out next year, and are preparing for multiple concert dates between now and Sept, all the while fulfilling their sponsorship duties towards contracted companies.

What troubles me is that these are the same folks who worry about MileApo being exploited by BoC, but then turn around and demand that they do fanservice events and produce content when they are already so busy. This also smacks of exploitation, this time by fans.

Maybe it's a cultural thing and I'm missing the point by a Mile. If so, I apologize for my ignorance.

I just wish people would calm down and not jump on every last outrage. It's always the same people stirring up trouble and they do it for the engagement, not because they actually care about the actors or the series. Worse, they don't see the actors as human beings because if they did, they wouldn't be so obnoxious about demanding things that is beyond what they owe their fans.

Twitter is not the end-all/be-all of celebrity promotion. MileApo's career success isn't going to depend on the cute pictures they post or silly videos where they talk ad nauseum about how much they love each other. Their success will depend on the quality of their projects, the excellence of their performances, and the number of people who consume their commercial projects, the majority of whom are not picketing on Twitter.

And finally, not to be a corporate apologist, but BoC did issue a statement discouraging fans from participating in pay-for-vote contests. If fans chose to do it anyway, they can't turn around and get angry when BoC refuses to play along. They want their actors to be treated as professionals. Professionals wait for awards that acknowledge their work and their art. Not their popularity.

I am just as thirsty for MileApo content as everyone else and I like going on Twitter (and IG) because it's where MileApo can be found. But folks doing these hate campaigns have to realize that actors have been known to abandon social media for just this reason. Someone like Mile (or his SM manager), who is so generous with his SM posting, might be inclined to change the way he interacts, while I could see Apo ditching altogether. So maybe people should calm down and appreciate the work they do instead of demanding things they are not entitled to, or expecting the company to do things they have already clarified that they are not doing.

Rant over

#hot take #my opinion #it will probably get me banished from this internet #but if you are someone who really loves MileAp #this shi*t is taxing and kills the joy #kinnporshe the series #kinnporsche twitter #drama #mileapo #be on cloud

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oz-me · 1 year

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I have to do this. More posts to come about this, but this is a quick post from my twitter about everything that happened with Sad Milk.: This context is entirely from twitter, with the expectation Blair will see it.

I think it’s time that I actually speak out on the current twitter threads regarding Sad Milk. I cannot express how scared I am to do this, the fear I have in my gut to even speak out. However, I do feel it’s important to say my peace on this subject matter.

Yeah, it’s a mess, but the tweet threads posted by wonder and Click, and what they have stated about Sad Milk is the truth. I will be adding those threads below.

The whole project was a mess. From start to finish. I really wish I didn’t need to do this, but with the flurry of Dm’s I’ve been getting, I don’t have a choice but to speak out.

Blair, I’m sorry, but you have hurt me. I need to speak without being told by you “Oh I’m just the villain? I’m always in the wrong?” or something along those lines. Words I have heard from you consistently. I want to be heard for once. I need to clear my mind and conscious after holding this in for 2 years. Forgive me, but it's what needs to be done. When looking at the whole of the project, it was mostly controlled and run by Blair.

Her main worry was that because of her, in her words, "Lack of Personality" she felt as though her contribution to sadmilk needed to be the managerial bureaucracy behind the scenes to justify her presence. This led to a defensive approach when anyone would attempt to assist with the nitty gritty behind the scenes. (Despite her claiming that no one wanted to help her. One of the factors she claims to be the final nail in the coffin of Sad Milk). Blair was indeed the aggressor. She always has been. As an example of this behavior, look at the legal eagle situation. Blair has the habit of starting fights, but will almost never publicly apologize if proven wrong.

She will instead hide behind a private apology probably, and from my perspective, act as though this makes everything better. Afterall, she would express to me that admitting error would only make her look stupid and weak.

This will be followed by her blocking people on twitter, silencing her detractors through youtube channel bans, deleting comments, and putting her accounts on the downlow to prevent interaction. For example, on Sad Milk, she would blacklist former collaborators from being mentioned, but manually approve hateful comments towards them, which in my opinion, were specifically ones which instead praised her or the remaining members. Including me. This is her MO. It has been for the 4 years that I’ve known her. It actually perfectly ties into how we first met and began to be on speaking terms in April of 2019. Sadmilk was very much like this. At the first sign of dissonance, her response was to have me confront OT and Click with this list of talking points in an attempt to show them just how wrong they were. Which I accepted. This brings me to, well. Me. What is missing from both Click and Wonders threads, is that fact that I acted as Blairs front runner. Anything Blair needed to say went through me first. Essentially act as a spokesman. This was actually a common factor in our relationship.

I would always act as a filter to keep her out of drama or from saying things which would be seen as offensive or kindle for a larger fire. I stopped doing this in January. This does not excuse me from protecting her for this long, but it is the truth. I could take the approach and say I was manipulated. Which, perhaps I was, but I still knew what I was doing was wrong. I always did, and it always hurt. It left a huge blackmark on my spirit and my ability to feel comfortable in my own skin. I had moved to Colorado, got a house, and lived with her at the time. She was in my life every day and I would hear these theories and villainous explanations directed at anyone who “wronged” her. It was hard to avoid, let alone not fall for them. I believed it was my responsibility to protect my friend from something that, in my view, was clearly hurting her, something that I felt was eating at her and making her daily life worse. Things which in hindsight, could have been solved with a conversation she was unwilling to have. Instead the conspiring, backstabbing, and rumor machine were put into full swing. I, much as wonder and Salty, were forced by Blair to choose between her or Click and OT. Of course I chose the person I lived with. What was I going to do? Move again? I mean I could have.. Once I chose my side, I was met with praise and adoration from her and her modstaff. It, at the time, felt like I was making the right decision. Fuck man. Boy was I wrong. I’ve lost so many friends, isolated myself, been at her side despite feeling like my connections to the world were being severed. I always acted as her talking piece, from yelling at One Topic, to berating click, and other things I did in service of someone who at the time, I believed every word of. I trusted Blair to hell and back and thought I was doing good. I have learned since then, through both self reflection and conversations with old friends, just how much I was (unintentionally, hopefully) used.

There, of course, is more. Much more. More than I could ever hope to cram into this stupid fucking twitter thread that I know I’m going to get angry DMs and phone calls over.

Blair. I need you to know that YOU hurt me. More than you realize. I know you’re scanning this and having your team read over it. Maybe even looking at sending me a legal threat as you parade around to do so. But I want you to apologize for once in your life and take accountability. Please. Blair, you would rather paint the world red than admit you have fault.

#SadMilk #Sad Milk #Oz Media #Oz #Click #One Topic #OT #Salty #wonderstruck

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forgottenluck · 1 year

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Once again, the Kie has to make an Angry Bean post. I’m honestly so tired of this now, but I don’t really have a choice in making a post about it this time, due to the nature of what I learned.

Obviously, the meat of this is under a read more, but a tldr; I’m not a terrible horrible person, and I don’t deserve to be put on a dni list above a person who is KNOWN to be a massive abuser/stalker.

So I’ll be honest. I’m a little late in making this post. I learned about this situation a few days ago (December 27 2022 ish), but I’m only writing about it now. I added a short version in a new pinned post I made before this, and my brain was kind of short circuited after that, but this is a post that needs to be done, so here I am doing it.

A few days ago, a concerned friend came to me and showed me a screenshot of a post made by star/usa. I will not say who it is, as I wish to protect them from Star’s White Knights, but they wanted to let me know I’d been put back onto a dni list by star. Normally this wouldn’t have been an issue for me. I don’t care about it enough to warrant a response if it was just an ordinary dni.

But it wasn’t.

The post was a dni in disguise. Worded to seem like it was just a psa. A “hey, I have urls blocked via tumblr and tumblr savior.”

{As I’m sure either Star’s White Knights, or Star herself will read this, here’s how you should have done it honey: “I want to let my followers know that i do have quite a few urls blocked and won’t see posts with them in it. If you suspect that I haven’t seen your post, please shoot me a message or resend it only tagging me.” That’s how you should have done it, but you’re a sucker for drama, aren’t ya?}

Instead of doing it the way I posted above, Star dropped the almost entire list of who she has blocked. She url dropped every single person on her blocked list. Which opens the door for all of those people to have a plethora of things happen to them. Some people HAVE had a lot of things happen to them because Star has url dropped them, I know of at least 3 people who have been harassed to the point of leaving tumblr because of her doing this.

Normally, as I said before, this wouldn’t have been an issue for me. I curate my space the way I want anyways, and don’t particularly care if someone has me on a dni list, or url drops me. I can take care of myself, and I won’t go easy on anyone who DOES try to bully/harass me in ims or anon. But this isn’t a normal situation. It’s far from that.

The way Star has her list on this post, my url is directly above a known abuser/stalker. My url is directly above Aku’s current url.

This is the reason why I’m making this post. The average person on tumblr knows about Aku, knows who they are, and why they’re bad/toxic. And the average person may browse Star’s blog, and see this post. That person, who knows who Aku is, and why they’re avoided, will look at the list that Star posted for the whole world to see, and say “I wonder why Forgottenluck is directly above Aku’s blog….Oh, they must be worse!” and either avoid me like the plague, or even attack me. They could also assume that I AM Aku, since Aku is known to url hop and blog hop.

This post is to clear up this misconception.

I would like to say I’ve never even been to Star’s blog. All my information comes from concerned friends, who have looked at this and gone “Kie should know whats going on since it includes her.”.

I have never said anything that couldn’t be backed up with proof.

I want to be clear; I haven’t even given a peep against Star since my last post. My last post was in OCTOBER. Months ago.

I am not a stalker, I am not an abuser. I stick to my own corner, and don’t bother anyone. Sure, I can be blunt sometimes, but I never mean any harm by it. That being said, I won’t hesitate to defend myself, which is the purpose of this post.

I am NOT Aku. I can provide proof of this if necessary.

I, in no way, deserved to be put on a list, above a known abuser, for making a few posts about a user I thought was toxic and should be avoided. All this has done is prove my reservations about Star even more. And I’m going to be honest, if i start to receive messages about people being concerned that I’m an abuser, or even accusing me of being Aku…

I will pursue legal action.

I do not use this threat lightly, as I normally would not have the funds to do so. However, this is defamation in it’s finest, and I have plenty of evidence to back this up. I also have people who will gladly join the lawsuit if necessary. I’m already in the middle of a lawsuit irl having to due with an injury i sustained a few years ago, I can easily ask my lawyer if I have grounds. I also have a family member who is a lawyer.

I legitimately haven’t said a thing since my last post on this issue. I’ve stayed in my corner, played my games, rp’d with those I trust. It’s been MONTHS. Why? Why could this not just stay quiet, stay down? Why must Star constantly, consistently, re-dredge drama up? Despite all her posts saying she wants to stop drama, she continuously brings things up, brings things back to the light, even after it’s been kicked to death.

This latest stunt has literally put me over the edge, and I’m done. This is your final warning, Star. I’m not going to take it anymore.

#outofluck #{Out of Luck} OOC #PSA #{Kie is pissed}

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noteworthyao3 · 6 months

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Hello there! I am a major fan of Neutral but if you don't mind, I have a serious question for you writing wise. If you ever did a rewrite of it, what would you want to change, and what would you want to keep the same?

Hi!! I'm glad you like it so much omg I don't think I would rewrite Neutral, because from what I've seen over my years reading fanfic, the second an author decides to rewrite their fic (especially before it's finished), both the rewrite and the OG are as good as dead. Writing a fic takes a LOT of time, planning, energy, effort, yadda yadda, and the process of doing that aaaaaaall over again for the same project can suck the life out of you and your joy for creating. Buuuuuuuuuuut I would be lying if I said there weren't certain parts of Neutral I wouldn't be upset about changing. Nothing major, but small things that irk me now that I have more experience. Naturally, longer chapters because the earlier ones feel like they're over a bit too soon, to me, but they got us where we are today so they ultimately served their purpose.

But with that, let's take a peek.

#1 - The Establishing Chapters: I loooove Clockwork and Messer's relationship, but establishing it took three separate chapters before we even get to present day (and there used to be more! but i edited those to merge with the current one now), and over time I've been able to collect statistics on Quotev, and that's where some new readers drop off. It just overstays its welcome. So I think I would merge those chapters together after editing them, and just have the events of chapter 2 and 3 together in one chapter. I don't think I would do that now, honestly though? Because that would set us back two chapters. Chapter 25 would become Chapter 23, and that just...feels weird for some reason.

#2 - My Brother's Keeper and Teacher of the Year Originality: Nothing huge about these two that bug me besides the fact they don't leave a huge impact. MBK sort of does, because it's Messer's pseudo-initiation, but I didn't do much new with it. Same goes for Teacher of the Year. While Sam and Messer bonding a bit was a necessary goal to achieve, and Morticia being an added bonus, I think I could have done more with it to make it feel less like a recap of an episode. I was actually hit with some major writer's block after MBK and I was testing to see just how much wiggle room I could get without overwhelming myself, and that resulted in writing I wasn't thrilled about posting, even right after I finished the chapters. That ultimately led to me going off the rails (haha) with Control Freaks. I found that I enjoyed writing and reading my own writing best when I took the reins instead of using each story beat of the episode as law. It takes more effort, time and creative energy, but I consider that a suitable trade.

#3 - End Note Questions: Kinda wish I thought to add them sooner. I just think they're fun! :3

There's not a whoooole lot about Neutral that I would want to change! Mainly just tweaks to improve and adjust to strengthen the story overall, but besides that, I'm very happy with where we are currently. As for keeping the same, pretty much everything else? Some things could be written with better quality, naturally, but enough people stuck out the writing of my early to mid teens long enough to get here lmao

#mail box #neutral

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quin-ns · 2 years

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My Safe Place (Is Next To You) (Peter Parker x Reader)

Word count: 4.4K

Summary: after being outed as spider-man, peter’s life has become a mess. he finds solace with you

Tags: nwh spoilers, tom!peter parker, panic attacks (poor peter :( ), hurt/comfort, angst, sharing a bed, cuddling, tension, love confessions, kissing, slight cheating (not on the reader, don’t worry), fluff

A/N: I love mj and peter together, but this idea hit me and I really wanted to write it. no offense to them or anyone who likes them, it’s just a fic :)

Cross-posted to ao3 • mcu masterlist • writing masterlist

Peter felt as if his entire life was falling apart. Maybe because it was. After everyone found out his identity, everything changed. The people he fought to protect now turned against him. Sure, not every single one of them, but a lot of them did. Enough to keep his heart racing every time he stepped outside.

At this point he didn’t know which drew more attention; him out on the street or him in the suit. The suit was easily recognizable, but at least he had his web-shooters so he could stay off the ground. When he was himself, Peter could blend into street traffic much easier, but when he was recognized there was no way out.

After weeks of only going from Happy’s to school then back to Happy’s and nowhere else, Peter felt restless. Cooped up. Imprisoned. On top of that he hasn’t slept in days because of the stress. He wished he could go back to how things were and just feel normal again.

That’s why he risked a walk around the block when it got dark and the streets cleared. Just to get some fresh air and be outside without getting berated by the public. He threw on gray sweatpants and one of his science t-shirts—the most unassuming outfit he could think of. He ended up adding a gray jacket for extra measure before he snuck out, wanting just a few moments to go unnoticed.

As it would turn out, that wasn’t enough. Peter quickly realized he was being followed about a block away from Happy’s. The person had spotted him from across the street and of course had to cross to be near Peter. They kept a slight distance from him, but the flash of their phone camera went off every once in a while. Peter kept his head down and put his hood up as he walked.

His heart started to pound as his steps quickened. Tears pricked in his eyes as the person—a man, based on his deep, intimidating voice—started screaming at him. Yelling his name, asking why he killed Mysterio, calling him a murderer.

The voice began to fade and that’s when Peter realized he was running on the sidewalk. His breathing grew faster, more panicked. It wasn’t just because he was running. Peter was sure if he stood still he would’ve been heaving all the same. He didn’t even know where he was running to, he just let his feet and instincts direct him.

Next thing he knew, as if he blacked out along the way, Peter was suddenly staring up at the window of his best friend’s room. He didn’t hesitate to stick to the wall and climb up it. Once he got to the second story window, he pushed it open from the outside. You were in bed already and the room was dark, but Peter hoped you weren’t asleep yet. He needed you.

“Peter?” you asked in confusion, clicking on your lamp in time to see him haul himself into your window. You got up from your bed and approached Peter quickly, noticing his heavy breathing and the shine of tears in his eyes. You snapped into worry in an instant. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

The second he opened his mouth, words spilled out a mile a minute. “I’ve been feeling trapped all day so I went outside and this guy he-he started following me and yelling at me so I started running and I just ended up here and-and I climbed your window and—oh god, I climbed through your window, I’m so sorry I should’ve called or something and—“

“Peter, slow down,” you interrupted him gently. You placed your hands on his shoulders to try and ground him, but instead Peter threw himself at you. His arms wrapped around your body and he buried his head into your neck. He clung to you tight, so tight you could feel his heart pounding out of his chest against your own. He sniffled and you felt a dampness form from his tears dripping onto your skin.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured into the crook of your neck, his voice shaky.

“It’s okay, Peter.” You rubbed your hand up and down his back in an attempt to soothe him as you hugged him back. “Just breathe,” you told him softly.

He didn’t reply to that, but you heard and felt him trying to calm himself by taking a few deep breaths.

You started to move as if you were going to break the hug, but Peter kept holding onto you. You let him, and he appreciated it. It had been so long since Peter had felt comforted like this and he didn’t want to let you go. He needed time to recollect himself and the safety of your arms around him helped him to do so.

When his heart rate slowed back to normal and the tears stopped, you pulled back again gently. Peter allowed you to this time. He could see the worry in your eyes when you were face to face and it made him feel guilty for just barging in.

“I-I’m okay now,” Peter lied. He offered a soft smile to try and reassure you, but it didn’t work.

“When’s the last time you slept?” you asked, sensing the stress that still radiated off of him.

Peter shrugged his shoulders. “A few days ago?” It came out as a question rather than an answer because at this point he wasn’t even sure.

A look—one similar to the look Aunt May gave him right before she was about to start scolding him out of worry—flashed across your face briefly. It disappeared after a second and one of pity replaced it.

“You wanna come lay down?” you offered kindly. “My bed is super comfy.” You went back to your bed, which was placed in the corner of your room, and sat on the edge. Peter followed you over and kicked off his shoes

“I don’t think I could sleep right now,” Peter admitted. The anxiety from earlier was still running through him, even if he managed to calm himself externally.

“You wanna tell me what happened then?” you suggested instead.

Peter sighed as he sat down on the edge beside you. He was exasperated, but not with you.

“Someone recognized me,” he started again, intelligible this time. You understood immediately, understanding his panicked state before and his mentally exhausted one now. “I went on a walk around the block. I just wanted to get outside, y’know?” Peter continued. “But then some guy started following me and yelling things at me.”

“What’d he say?” you inquired delicately.

Peter swallowed through the lump in his throat before looking at you. He found you facing him as well. “He called me a murderer.”

“Oh, Peter,” you said sadly, a frown instantly forming on your face. A stray tear fell from his sad brown eyes down his cheek before he could stop it, but you were quick to wipe it away with your thumb. “It’s gonna be okay.”

“Will it be?” Peter asked, staring into your eyes. He wanted so desperately to believe you, he wished he could, but from the look on your face he wasn’t sure if you even believed your own words.

You fell silent at the question. Peter felt bad, he knew you just wanted to help him. And you were. You made him feel safe. That’s why he went to you, thinking—knowing—you could bring him some peace of mind, even if all his problems couldn’t suddenly be solved.

Peter had known you since before he was ever Spider-Man, and you were always able to comfort him through hard times. Even when he became Spider-Man you were still there for him. You knew before anyone else because out of everyone, you were the one Peter relied on most.

As if you had some insight to his thoughts, you spoke up. “Can I ask you something?” you asked, moving on your bed until you were laying down on your side. Peter mindlessly followed your actions, laying down on his side and facing you.

“Anything,” he replied. Your bed wasn’t all that big, but the both of you fit. There was a few inches of space between you, but Peter could hear the slight shift in your breathing before you asked your question.

“Why are you here?”

Your words were unexpected and he instantly began to worry. “Do…do you not want me to be?” he asked, brows furrowing slightly in curiosity, hurt heavy in his voice. He couldn’t control it, couldn’t stop it from intertwining in his words.

“That’s not what I meant,” you were quick to clarify, picking up on the sadness that crossed his face. “You’re my best friend and I love having you here, you know that,” you told him reassuringly. “It’s just…why didn’t you go to MJ? She’s your girlfriend after all.”

There was something in your tone aside from simple wondering that Peter couldn’t quite interpret. Maybe because the question took him off guard. He went quiet for a moment, asking himself the same question. You were right—MJ was his girlfriend. The person he was supposed to be closest to, and yet when he was thinking of where he felt safest it wasn’t with her. It was with you.

“I don’t know,” Peter confessed, admitting his own confusion with himself now that you had brought it to his attention. “I was panicking and when I was trying to get away, I was thinking of where I’d feel safe…and I thought of you without registering it. I didn’t second guess it, it was like an instinct,” he continued honestly.

You were touched by the sentiment and couldn’t help but smile softly. “That’s really sweet of you to think of me.”

“I always think of you.” It slipped out in a soft whisper before Peter could stop himself. He realized what he said when a subtle look of surprise appeared on your face. An expression to mirror it came to his own and he looked away shyly. He couldn’t meet your eyes and neither of you could think of what to say.

“I’m sorry,” Peter finally said. He rolled on to his back and stared up at the ceiling. His face felt warm as he avoided looking at you. “I-I made things awkward. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, it’s okay,” you decided. “I guess I just wasn’t expecting you to say that. It’s still sweet.”

“So, how was your day?” Peter wondered. He tried to play it off as a casual change of subject, and you decided to let him.

You copied him, laying flat on your back to look up as well. “I had a pop quiz, so I think mine was worse than yours,” you teased without thought. You immediately wished you could take it back given how hard of a time Peter was having. It wasn’t the scenario for joking. “Sorry, that’s not funny,” you apologized.

“It’s okay,” Peter assured quickly. “I miss people being normal with me. I wish everyone would stop treating me like I’m made of glass—or like a pariah. I don’t like either.”

“Because you’re neither. You’re a strong, brave hero with a good heart.”

Peter turned his head to look at you. A grin appeared on his face—you saw it out of the corner of your eye. “You really think I’m a hero?”

“Of course I do.” It was the truth.

“It means a lot to hear you say that,” Peter said with full sincerity. He realized you weren’t going to meet his gaze, so he turned it back to the ceiling. Still, he felt…giddy? Was that right? You thought he was a hero and he felt a sense of pride he had lost before. He knew you supported him as Spider-Man, you made that clear, but you’d never used the word hero before.

You didn’t know what to say after that, so you thought of something to maybe lighten the mood. “Hey, you wanna watch Star Wars?” you asked Peter. You looked over to Peter when you heard him break out into laughter. “What?”

“You don’t even like Star Wars,” Peter told you when his laughter died down. It was nice to see that a smile still lingered when he turned to face you.

“Hey! I didn’t say I didn’t like it, I just said it—”

“You called it boring when I tried to show you the new movie! And that was after you fell asleep on me,” Peter argued back playfully.

That caused you to smile and relent. “Okay, fine. But I know you like it and you seem like you could use a distraction.”

You turned over to reach for your laptop. You grabbed it and rolled back over onto your back and placed it on your stomach to balance it. Peter moved into his back and scooter closer to you as you pulled up a streaming site.

Then he started laughing to himself again. He didn’t wait for you to ask, he was quick to explain. “If someone had told me a few years ago that I’d be in Y/N Y/L/N’s bed and she wanted to watch Star Wars with me, I probably would’ve had a heart attack.”

It was your turn to laugh. “You’re a dork,” you teased.

“I’m serious!” he argued back, amusement in his tone. With himself, with you, you weren’t sure. You thought it was all a big joke until he continued. “I had the biggest crush on you and—”

“What?” you cut him off to ask. He had said it so carefree and playfully, but in response to the confusion on your face his eyes widened.

“You didn’t know?” Peter asked sheepishly, his casual mood fading. Heat filled his cheeks and he was sure that if it was any brighter you would’ve seen how pink they had turned.

“No,” you replied with the slightest shake of your head. “How come you didn’t tell me?”

Peter opened his mouth to speak, but the words caught in his throat. The way you were looking at him made him feel nervous. Like you had caught him in a lie that he never told. “I was scared,” slipped out first. It was true, not just an excuse. “And after a few years I thought you figured it out and just didn’t say anything.” That was more embarrassing to admit, but it was the truth as well nonetheless.

“Well, I didn’t know,” you told him. “If I did then… never mind,” you trailed off, causing Peter to wonder.

“What is it?” he asked, pressing for you to continue.

You have a small shake of your head. “It’s nothing.” You deflected attention back to him then. “How could you not tell me? I thought you told me everything. I’m your best friend.” You tried to not pout but it slipped into your tone.

“Exactly!” Peter exclaimed. “I didn’t want to ruin everything. I thought if I actually told you myself and you didn’t feel the same, it would get weird and awkward between us,” he confided. “I just assumed you knew and didn’t feel the same, so I started dating MJ and thought I’d just get over you.”

That last bit took you off guard, surprised by the fact that Peter liked you so recently.

“Did you?” you asked him vaguely, but Peter knew what you meant. You didn’t have to explain.

Peter swallowed, not expecting your curiosity. It was fair, though. He just dropped all this information on you so you had a right to wonder.

“Yeah,” Peter said, but it was off. If you could see inside Peter’s thoughts, you would see that he wasn’t only trying to convince you but himself as well. However, since you couldn’t see the fact that he doubted his own words, you accepted his response.

“So,” you shifted topics, dragging out the single word. You looked back to your laptop. “Which movie?”

“Uhh, New Hope,” Peter decided, pointing at which one it was. You selected it and it began to play.

You and Peter both fell silent as your attention turned from one another to the movie. You made it through the majority of it before you started to feel tired. Your head rested on Peter’s shoulder without thought. Peter didn’t mind at all. A soft smile graced his face at the contact, but he didn’t say anything.

When you couldn’t fight back a yawn, Peter finally spoke up. “If you’re ready to go to sleep, I can leave,” Peter offered politely, but you could hear the uneasiness and disappointment in his voice.

“I thought you were gonna stay the night,” you said casually through another yawn.

Peter seemed a little surprised yet relieved at your assumption. “It’s okay if I do?” He really didn’t want to go back to Happy’s, or back out on the street to get there. He felt comforted and safe with you. Peter didn’t want that to end.

“Yeah, I don’t mind. It’s nice having you here,” you promised him. “I haven’t gotten to see you that much since… everything.”

Peter was confined to the back and forth from Happy’s to school, and his getaway on the roof was mostly just for himself. MJ tagged along more than once because of the pressure on her as well, but you (and Ned) were left out of the spotlight so there was less of a need for an escape. Sure you’d been up there a few times and had stopped by Happy’s, but Spider-Man’s girlfriend was more interesting to the press than Spider-Man’s best friend, you assumed.

A part of you was relieved about that, sure. But another part wanted to be right there with Peter, going through it with him so you could be there for him to let him know he wasn’t alone. You ignored the sour feeling that overcame you knowing that MJ was that person for Peter, not you.

Peter, on the other hand, finally had stopped thinking about his hectic life. He was content with you. He felt guilty that he hadn’t seen you as much as he wanted to, and even worse that you felt upset about it.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized quietly.

“It’s okay,” you said, yawning yet again. “You don’t need to apologize.”

“Should I turn the movie off?” Peter wondered, noting how tired you were.

“Can you leave it running? Or put something else on? I can’t fall asleep if it’s too quiet,” you admitted after your request.

“How about I put on Friends? I know you like that show and you watched Star Wars with me after all,” Peter suggested

“Sounds good.”

Peter pulled up the show on your laptop then leaned over you to set it on the table on your side. You burst out into laughter but it was stifled slightly.

“You’re crushing me!” you giggled out.

Peter realized that he was and he flopped down back onto his side of the bed. “Oh god, I’m sorry,” he apologized.

“It’s okay,” you hummed, making yourself comfortable. You nuzzled your head into the pillow and wiggled under the covers until you were content. “Goodnight Peter.”

Peter stripped off his jacket quickly, then followed your lead and settled into bed. “Goodnight,” he responded softly. He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. He gave it a few minutes of silence, aside from the soft sound of the show in the background, before he opened his eyes again.

He glanced over to you and saw you were still with your eyes closed. Your breathing was steady and you looked so peaceful. Still, Peter couldn’t help but ask, “hey Y/N?” wondering if you were awake.

“Yes, Peter?” you ask, sleepiness heavy in your voice.

He wasn’t sure what else to say, so he decided to express his appreciation. “Thanks for letting me stay,” Peter said.

“Of course,” you mumbled. “You should try to sleep.”

Peter nodded at your groggy suggestion, but you hadn’t opened your eyes so you likely couldn’t tell. He closed his eyes again and tried his hardest to fall asleep. Although, it became apparent that trying to sleep was overworking his mind instead of relaxing it. Forcing sleep was no solution and it wouldn’t come naturally, so Peter just laid in your bed and listened to your gentle breathing and the faded laugh track from the laptop.

An amount of time that Peter didn’t keep track of passed and he hadn’t fallen asleep. It seems you had, because in your sleep you twisted and turned until somehow you ended up tucked at Peter’s side. Your head was nuzzled into his shoulder and you were curled against him. To be comfortable and allow you to be as well, he put an arm around you.

It was nice and for the first time in a while Peter felt at ease. “Hey, Y/N?” Peter asked again. This time you didn’t answer. He even waited a few minutes before repeating himself. No response.

He looked over to you and saw how peaceful you were. It brought a smile to his face, seeing you snuggled against him. Sleep had found you and Peter hoped the same would happen for him.

He sighed before closing his eyes again. Finally, he was able to drift into slumber.

Unfortunately, Peter’s unconsciousness was plagued with nightmares about Mysterio trying to kill him, then dying in front of him, and of course how he ruined Peter’s life. He could hear the yells and screams of people calling him a killer—as if he didn’t get enough of that when he was awake.

Peter jolted awake with a gasp, eyes snapping open. It took him a moment to remember where he was. Peter very quickly realized he was at your house in your bed. After becoming aware of his surroundings, he became aware of the fact that his arms were around you.

Somehow while the two of you slept, you ended up on your side and Peter ended up spooning you from behind. He made sure not to move to avoid waking you. His heart began to race at the intimate position. Peter could push the thoughts he kept hidden about you aside when you two were hanging out and talking as friends—he’d learned how to keep his feelings a secret for years—but like this… well, it reminded him that he did still have those feelings.

“Hey, Y/N?” Peter whispered. His head was right behind yours, so he couldn’t see if you were awake.

You didn’t respond so Peter assumed you were asleep. Knowing that, he couldn’t help but hold you tighter. Guilt panged in his chest, knowing he still had feelings with you despite being with MJ. But he never felt this close to her and he couldn’t just force his feelings away. He had kept it all to himself for years and earlier in the night when he admitted he had a crush on you, while it wasn’t the full truth, made him feel better. Like a weight off his chest. That got him thinking even more.

“I need to tell you something,” Peter confessed softly, knowing you were asleep and not wanting to wake you. Maybe if he told you the truth, even if you couldn’t hear it, it would make him feel better. “I lied,” he continued. “I still have feelings for you… and I can’t make them go away. I tried really hard but…” Peter drifted off with a sigh. “I know you don’t feel that way about me, and I know I have MJ, but… I just… these past few weeks have been a nightmare, but being here with you made it all disappear. You make me feel happy and safe… and I wish I wasn’t scared to say this when you’re awake. I guess I’m not as brave as you think I am. So… I still love you. I never stopped. Not just in a friend way, but you know what I mean.” Peter paused to chuckle slightly humorlessly to himself gently, realizing the irony of his words. “I guess not though, because you’re asleep.”

There was a beat of silence before Peter heard two words whispered softly that made his heart stop. “I’m not.”

Peter felt frozen, in both shock and embarrassment as you turned in his arms to face him. He didn’t know what to do or say when he met your eyes. The look on your face was one of many emotions and Peter couldn’t quite place the dominating one. “Y/N, I—”

As your eyes searched Peter’s panicked face, you decided to do something impulsive. You leaned in and quickly pressed your lips to Peter’s. He froze so you pulled back, cheeks warm.

You had been wanting to do that for a while. Maybe not as long as Peter apparently had wanted to—and still wanted to as he just admitted—but hearing Peter say all those things made you feel loved and confident enough to make the move he had been wanting to.

“You kissed me?” Peter said, although it came out as a question. Like he couldn’t believe it. Because he couldn’t believe it. He spent so many years thinking about kissing you—wanting to, how to, what it would feel like, how’d you react, how happy it would make him if you kissed back—only for you to kiss him. He had wanted it more than anything and now that Peter had felt your lips against his, he never wanted to stop feeling it.

“I did,” you said sheepishly. You didn’t get a chance to explain yourself because Peter snapped out of his thoughts to close the gap between the two of you. His lips captured yours in a gentle yet passionate kiss. Your lips moved together in perfect sync, filled with longing and love.

When you both parted, you wore matching smiles. You spoke first. “I wish you had told me sooner.”

Peter blushed a little and was grateful you couldn’t see due to the dark. “I do too.”

A path of guilt struck through you, knowing Peter was still with MJ. But… here he was with you. He kissed you. He said he’d wanted to for a long time and you couldn’t deny you shared that desire. He wanted you and you wanted him. There is nothing wrong with having what you both want…

Peter pulled you into his arms to cuddle you and thoughts that weren’t about him disappeared.

“I wish we could live in this moment forever,” Peter mumbled contently. You closed your eyes and let out a happy sigh.

"Me too." You could worry about everything later, but right now you wanted to enjoy Peter's closeness and the comfort that being with him gave. Turns out you needed it just as much as he did, and you weren't about to give it up.

#quin-ns writing #my writing #peter parker x reader #peter parker x you #peter parker x y/n #spider man x reader #spider man: no way home #peter parker #spider man x you #spider man x y/n #spiderman nwh #sm nwh #nwh spoilers #tom holland #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n

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recurring-polynya · 3 years

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Do I mind if I ask how you approach writing longer fic? I've always struggled to write anything more than maybe two chapters long and I'm curious if you have a particular method to how you approach such stories.

Thank you so much for this ask! I absolutely love it when people ask me for writing advice because it makes me feel like a Smart Person Who Knows Things.

Before we start, here is one grain of salt to take all of this with: I have a naturally long-form brain. It is very hard for me to write something less than 1k. Short fiction is great, and there is nothing wrong with sticking to short things if that's what your brain likes to do.

So. You have decided to write a story. This is going to focus on "stories". Some people write fic that's more freeform or whatever, I am not going to cover that. What I mean by a story is this:

It starts

Some stuff happens

It ends

It is highly probable that your story contains a change of state, which could be that a villain is defeated, or a goal is reached, but it could also be that character falls in love with another, or someone learns to like broccoli.

I like to start out by completing the sentence, "This is a story where _______". This is basically like coming up with a summary for an ao3 post, except that it doesn't need to be catchy. Lots of different kinds of things could go in that blank! It could literally be what happens: This is a story where Ichigo goes back in time and punches young Aizen in the nose. It could be about what you want to explore: This is a story where Hitsugaya gets a better understanding of his zanpakutou. It could be about the vibe you want to achieve: This is an AU where everyone is in a punk rock band and has cool hair and outfits. The idea of this is to clearly define what you, the author, is interested in writing. Make sure it feels right! Maybe you pick the first one, but when you say it out loud, you say, "You know, I really just want Ichigo to go back in time so he can horse around with young Renji and Rukia and punching Aizen in the nose is just an excuse for that." That may sound dumb, but it's fine, actually! Most people don't read stories strictly for the plot, they read stories for the implications of those plots! Will my favorite two characters kiss? Will there be funny interactions between these two groups of characters? Will there be sick fights? Stories are excuses to have scenes. Sometimes, you will have a story where the interesting sequence of events is the draw, but the point is to know what you're about.

Once you feel happy with your "mission statement", you need to decide the bounds of your story: where it starts and where it ends. It may be easier to start with the end. In some cases, it may be obvious from your mission statement: everyone gets home, a villain is defeated, Kenpachi realizes the meaning of friendship. On the other hand, let's look at that punk rock AU. You've picked a vibe, but you don't really have a natural story arc. It has to have a destination, though, otherwise, it's not really a story, it's a recipe for 3 chapters of an abandoned fanfic. So brainstorm a little: Maybe they get a record deal? Maybe they win a Battle of the Bands? Maybe Byakuya accepts that the band is actually good and tells Rukia he is proud of her. Do not settle for a plot just because it works. Pick something that makes you excited! You're the one who is gonna have to write it!

I said that we needed to pick a beginning point, too, but I'm actually going to skip that for now. The next thing I do is think of all the Big Scenes I want to write, the ones you are hype to write, the ones that pop in your head as you think about the premise. Make a bullet list. They don't need to be in order. The descriptions don't need to be super detailed, but write down anything about it that is important to you. If there's a mood or a snippet of dialogue or a joke you want to make, go ahead and jot that down so you don't forget it later. What you're doing now is putting broad blotches of color on a canvas, filling in space and leaving the detail for later.

Once you are pretty happy with what you have down, try to arrange it in chronological order. Put your end at the end (if it wasn't one of your big scenes, add it now). The next task is figuring out how to traverse your scenes. You've already picked out where you want to spend the majority of your energy. The rest, I regret to tell you, is your slog writing. Now, it often happens that you will find joy in some of these scenes and your best writing may occur there, but that's serendipity. These are the scenes that you are gonna have to make yourself sit down and write, so you honestly want to limit them to just the ones you need.

So how do we do this? Look at the first thing on the list. Can you start there? If so, congrats, that's your beginning. If you can't, what needs to happen to get to there? Where can you start so that you can get to your first fun scene as soon as possible? There. That’s it. You’ve picked your beginning, good job! Now, go through the rest of your list, and add in things that must happen, even if you don’t particularly look forward to writing them. The characters need to travel from geographic point A to point B. Shuuhei needs to say something that Izuru hears and misinterprets. The Central 46 makes a new law. If you have a good idea of how these things happen, go ahead and write them down, but it’s okay if you don’t know yet. Fill in all the blanks so that if you think of each bullet list as a scene, you could read it as a story, start to end. Once you get writing, you might add more scenes, or move things around or whatever, but you should have a thing that functions as a story.

If you struggle with this, an alternative is a story with a very strong structure that is going to guide you though what you have to write.Here are two examples from my own stories Hold On, Hold On (which is only one chapter, but the principle is the same) is structured around the 5 stages of grief. Not Broken, Just Bent takes place over roughly a week, and I just decided what happened every day of the week. See You on the Other Side takes place in the middle of a bunch of canon events, which worked at mile markers.

Congratulations. You’ve just made a rough outline!

Special note for avoiding burnout!: I am a slogger. I will drag myself through the broken glass of an interminable plot to get to a single thirsty scene. That's why, at this stage, I try to look at the ratio of what I want to write to what I must write. It's gonna vary for everyone, but this is a hobby, and if looking at this proto-outline makes you feel deeply tired, maybe this isn't a good story to be devoting your time to! Can you carve it down? Can you chuck two scenes you really want to write and get rid of 80% of the slog? Or maybe you can't! In that case, just write that thirsty scene as a standalone drabble! Or just go work on something else! Maybe in the future, this one will come back to you and you’ll have a fresh idea or a renewed enthusiasm for it.

Another thing I sometimes like to do at this point is to write out some notes about my characters and their motivations and moods. Character A is homesick. Character B is so determined to defeat the enemy that they are having a hard time being sympathetic to Character A. Character C cares for both A and B and is trying to support them both. This is sort of background info that you want to keep in your head as you are writing. Depending on the type of story you are writing, this might actually be the main plot, or it might be happening subtly, but adding to the emotional impact of the story. It’s very easy for me to write these sorts of emotional arcs, but if you struggle with that, you may wish to go ahead and made a more detailed outline for that, too.

Now, it’s time to start writing! I am great at beginnings-- it is very often the case for me that the opening scene was one of my Big Tentpole Scenes. (Before you hate me too much, I make up for this by being double horrible at endings; just let me have this) Usually, I will start at the beginning and write linearly for as long as I can until I get stuck. Then, I will look forward on my outline and do the next chronological scene that I feel like writing. In general, if I sit down to write and there is something I have an urge to write, that trumps everything else. Inspiration is a precious commodity, and you should embrace it when it hits! You can slog any day. I will occasionally hold off writing a scene that I really want to, because I am saving it, like a prize for myself for getting that far. This is a very personal process of figuring out what motivates your brain and then giving your brain what it needs to be its most productive.

Eventually, you will run out of things you are excited to write, but the good news is, you’ve got a bunch of story now! Odds are that what’s left is going to be a lot of those connective tissue scenes, and you’re just going to have to do them, except that now, because you’re connecting two concrete points instead of two abstract points, it will be a lot easier. You can continue running jokes you’ve started. Maybe you invented a cafe in an earlier scene where your characters hang out and you can have them return there. Try to think of ways to make these scenes more fun, both for yourself to write and for your reader to read.

Around this time, I like to start refining that rough strokes outline into what I will call an “as-built” outline. (This is an engineering term where you update your plans or models for something to reflect any changes that had to be made along the way). This is a great activity to do at times when you feel like you have writers block. I write down every scene I have written as a 2-3 word blurb, in order. I break the scenes into what I think makes logical chapters, and I will do a word count on those prospective chapters and write it down. As you do this, you will realize that maybe you can move a scene from here to there, which will make it 1000% easier to write. Things may be happening too much, or you’ve got the characters eating three times in the same chapter. If you have subplots and dangling threads, this is where you make sure they get closure. I know this sounds very headache-y, but you are so far along in the story at this point that it’s really not-- it’s a way to look at the problems you have left. Use some sort of formatting (I like to bold things I haven’t done and sometimes I put them in red) and it gives you a very visual to-do list.

You specifically mentioned multi-chapter fanfics and I admit that I don’t tend to think in chapters, I tend to think of the story as a whole and just break it up where it feels natural. The as-built outlining I described is very helpful in making sure that my chapters feel balanced. They don’t necessarily need to be the same length, but I like them to have the same amount of stuff in them. One chapter may basically contain one long scene, and other may contain many short ones. I don’t tend to, but you can certainly have a fanfic that varies between short and long chapters, that can actually be an interesting effect. But like I said, I always like to know what I am doing, and so having it mapped out, you can say “welp, this is what I’ve done, how do I feel about that?”

Polynya, you may be saying at this point, do you write the whole fanfic before you post any of it? and I regret to inform you, the answer is yes. A lot of people write as they go, and I have made one attempt at this and I didn’t like it. I don’t like locking myself in, I just need to be able write out of order and go back and change things. Here is the story of a little in love: someone gave me an AU prompt and I got mildly obsessed with it, and wrote 5 snapshots drabbles in that universe, ending with a slight cliffhanger ending. I probably should have stopped there, but I decided to keep going. I wrote out an outline of 5 acts where the first act was detailed to the degree of each chapter being specified. The chapters here were much smaller than I usually make chapters: 1-2k. I wrote act i and ii and it was actually great, and then I hit act iii which required a lot of set up for misunderstandings and a mini romance arc. I couldn’t wing it, but nor could I figure it all out with outlining. I write dialogue in almost sort of an improv “Yes, and...?” style, so until I do it, I don’t know what’s going to happen. So, what I did was treat the second half of act iii as a complete story in the process I describe above, wrote the entire rest of it, and then posted it. One might notice that the chapter lengths grew to 3-5k each. I have two more acts to go, and I haven’t decided how I am going to do them yet, but I suspect I will treat each of them as their own mini-stories.

(I will admit that in Heart is a Muscle, I tend toward chapters that are about 10k long, and this is honestly too long, someone should smack me. If you like punchy chapters, 1-2k is good. I think 3-6k is probably an ideal chapter length. Is this how long the chapters are in my latest fanfic? Absolutely not.)

Okay, so there’s one more step, which is quality control. I am habitual re-reader-- I read my fanfics-in-progress over and over and over while I am working on them. I understand that not everyone does this, but I am usually the primary audience for my own writing, and this is the actual fun part for me. Nevertheless, you should re-read your work at least once, to make sure it hangs together.

This is purely optional, but I recommend it: get a writing friend (if you don’t like re-reading your work, I recommend this even more strongly). If you can get a full-service beta reader, that’s great, but if you can’t find someone, or if receiving that level of critique stresses you out, it’s perfectly valid to just find a friend who will read your stuff and a) shower you with compliments, b) reassure you about parts you aren’t sure about (or suggest ways to help) and c) point out any huge problems you missed. When I am writing a long fanfic, it is a huge motivational factor for me to be able to send my beta chapters as I finish them. If you are already an established writer, and you have people who consistently comment on your fic, they might be overjoyed to get a sneak peak at your work.

And that’s it! That’s the way I do it, anyway! Some people are able to sit down and write a very detailed outline and the write it start-to-finish. Good for them, I say! I have tried this and it doesn’t work great for me. I will admit that some of my fics (especially my early ones) I just sat down and banged out whole-cloth like an insane person and they are generally better than the ones I actually plan out, but that’s not a reproducible process.

As one final mechanical note, I usually write in Google Docs, which I can access on multiple devices (I used to write a lot on my phone), has convenient sharing functionality, and I use the ao3 html formatting script add-in. I generally have two documents for a single story-- one is the outline, and any other notes I want to have handy. I’ll usually put a trashcan space at the bottom for scenes that got cut but I don’t want to lose. The other is the fanfic itself.

I hope this is helpful! Please feel free to follow up with other questions and good luck with your writing!

#writing advice #longform writing

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plan-d-to-i · 2 years

Note

At this point in regards to character interpretations, fans might as well remember the phrase "let's agree to disagree" and not fight anymore. Saves a lot of mental energy. Disregarding the portion that relies too much in fanon (and the ones that think abuse in literature is a love language), readers will have different interpretations. It what makes things fun! A little variation is good and too much uniformity is bland; fics and character interpretation should be about having fun in dissecting the character and wondering how this character would do if you place them in a different situation.

Now it's just, who has the most "accurate" meta or take and tbh, we wouldn't be as accurate as MXTX in terms of writing the characters. It gets frustrating when people try to enforce their interpretation on others, moreso when it's based on their own bland fanon than canon. It ends up being a Frankenstein abomination and I'm not sure if the one who made the fanon has child support for it.

This instead makes MDZS into some bland, poorly written novel when taken at a surface level— which actually happened to me btw! I had a PDF of the novel sitting in my file for months because I thought it would just be another trashy novel Tumblr glittered on to be great. The fandom made me think that it was some weird FSOG reimagining with bad sibling relationships. I was so, so, so glad I was wrong. It's one of the best novels I have read that deals with societal issues we see today— and I'm kinda annoyed the fans gloss it over to focus on some! Bland fanon take of a bad character! Like, dude, you get to read about the consequences of being pushed into a corner because you're the only one who voiced out the bad thing in a group and the lesson of it on how things can go bad than good when you want to stand up for what's right— it's both a cautionary tale of what happens if you're all alone in facing a giant problem and the ills of a society who doesn't want to change for the better, and a lesson on what happens if you have the right support and tenacity to face the same problem head-on and maintaining goodness and patience no matter what happens in life because it's you who gets to live it, not others. There's even more if you unpack the novel again when rereading it.

Rant of what you can learn from MDZS aside, sorry about that, some takes in the fandom end up making MDZS into some weird puppet monstrosity stitched together by bad writing (when it's the opposite). The ones who try to disprove them sometimes end up committing the same mistakes. Fans should learn from WWX and let things go and move on because you're the only one getting hurt from it.

"Only when people don't hold so much in their hearts would they finally feel free (Ch 113)".

Anon, love and light but :

We obviously all wish we could bake a rainbow smile cake, but it's not gonna happen. Nothing this shitshow fandom will come up with will ever carry the value of the canon work, as you yourself observed forming an opinion prior to reading it. Naturally, I do hope in the interest of your ardent desire to moderate via the medium of metaphors you sent this to every single account that's posting discourse yeah? Otherwise you're just trying to manage what I'm personally posting in my personal space, whilst not posting anything in anyone else's personal space, but instead quite industriously blocking the shit out of them so that never our paths may meet; With an added side of ~your own take on canon~. And that's not really very agree to disagree of you. No hard feelings. xx

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dourpeep · 3 years

Note

OKAY time for a college au!!

You 3 know each other from before college

You and kazuha were seating next to each other during your first year of high school you became close enough to greet each other whenever you guys pass by each other

And you and Xiao were best friends from kindergarten to 2 grade but unfortunately you had to move suddenly you two tried to keep contact but the two of you made new friends and kinda lost contact with each other

So when you go to college you meet kazuha at the front desk when you're trying to get your schedule and yall are like "omg I'm so happy to see someone that I know here!" and when you guys check your schedules it turns out that the two of you have the same class during the first period

And you're like "we've got 30 minutes wanna go grab a cup of coffee and get lost together?" and kazu knows that you playfully flirt with your friends so he jokingly says "are you asking me out for a date? Because if you are then I accept!" and you guys talk on the way to class and the two of you barely make it on time

Class ends and you're sad to say goodbye to the only person you know on campus but then all of a sudden he hits you with a "by the way can I have your number?" so you two exchange numbers

Later you're going to your last class and it turns out that this class doesn't have many people you go sit in the back and someone comes up to you and is like "can I sit next to you? " you say yes obviously

But the thing is... there is something very familiar about this guy and you just can't put your finger on it so you kind of stare at him without realizing it

Of course he noticed how hard you've been staring at him and turns around and is like "what? Is there something on my face?" that's when it finally clicks

And you're just like "XIAO??! IS THAT REALLY YOU?!!" but the teacher comes in so you two can't really talk

But the moment class ends you tell him who you are and take a few minutes to catch up

Though I say catch up it was mostly you teasing him saying shit like "I can't believe the shy kid who used to tear up whenever his turn on the swing was taken would grow up to be this handsome!" (he's starting to think that maybe he should have sat somewhere else)

So you're like "hey how we go actually catch up I've got some coupons for this café I went to this morning with a friend"

He doesn't have a reason to say no so he just accepts the invitation

When you guys get there who do you meet? KAZUHA! This man actually works there!

When you see him you're like "kazuha why didn't you tell me that you work here?" but he pretends not to know you and is like "oh? Well who might this fine customer be?" you can tell he's joking by the way he's trying not to laugh so you decide to play along

Poor Xiao is starting to regret coming with you (but don't worry he got 2 plates of almond tofu as an apology)

-no primogems (I'll make another part later where you 3 become roommates)

YES I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS-

dhfaeiahe I realize now that I should've just posted this as is since I wasn't planning on adding to this but might as well add in some thoughts I've had about this lovely trio eh??? tbh I didn't add much I just slipped in a few little things hehe

Can you guess the roomates?? Also the bio professor is Albedo ehe

Anyway!!

Considering it's the first semester of college, you haven't yet decided on your major. Luckily, you have quite a few general education classes to take, so you register all in one night.

You'll have the time to figure it all out as time goes by, no?

The rest of summer is spent juggling moving into the campus' dorms, working, and keeping up with some friends from high school. While you've kept contact with a few friends, you definitely kicked yourself in the ass for forgetting to ask Kazuha for his number...how could you forget one of your best friends?

But, you suppose that he's far off in a whole other city with his wish to experience more. You can't help but wonder what he's up to.

Then, the first day of classes starts.

How did you not figure out where everything is first? Instead of moping, you trudge to the administrative building early to ask for directions and, even better, a map of the large campus.

Instead, you find a familiar head of cream-colored hair.

Immediately, you gasp and he turns around in confusion, only for a soft smile to spread over his features. It's only been a summer but it's a relief to see that you know another person. Comparing schedules, he points out that you both have Communications 1301 together.

For once, you're glad you have to take these mandatory courses...

But with an abundance of time (as Kazuha just so happens to know where the class is), he accepts your jokingly firtatious proposal to head to the cafe just across campus to grab a morning drink.

It's hardly been long since you've last spoken to him, but there's still so much to talk about! It turns out he opted to rent out a small studio apartment just a few blocks away from campus! Naturally, he invites you over sometime.

He's also admitted that he decided to major in English--something you're not surprised to hear. After all, Kazuha's a natural at the subject, exceeding the assignments and always so eloquent.

If you recall correctly, he used to tote around a little notebook full of little musings and poetry during high school. You wonder if he still does that.

You talk about how you've just moved into the dorms a week ago, how you're lucky to be rooming with two musically inclined (if not a bit rowdy) people. You're sure that he'd take a liking to them once everything is calmed down a bit. Kazuha just raises a brow in half-doubt.

Before you know it, it's been an hours and, to your horror, your first class starts in five minutes. Not to mention that it was back closer to the admin building and you were on the opposite side of campus.

But it's still fun, Kazuha laughing as you jolt up and tug him to stand, the two of you running to get to class on time. With heaving breaths and flushed faces, you make it just a few minutes late. Luckily, your professor didn't mind because it was the first day...

Following class, you have to make your way to Bio 1301, Kazuha having a major-specific English course to get to. Before you can speak, though, he offers his phone to you. It's newer than his old flip phone you'd tease him about all the time, the screen clean save for a few stray fingerprints.

After you put in your number, he beams and quickly sends you a call so you can have his too.

"Call me after you're done with classes, alright?"

You promise to and the two of you set off.

Biology proves to be uneventful, a full hour and a half of the (rather attractive) professor going over what to expect as well as passing out lab waiver forms. A necessary precaution, he said with a reserved sigh. You wonder what happened.

When the hour ends, you have some time before World History, followed by a Trigonometry course.

By the time you find your trig class, most of the seats are already taken, making that feeling of dread fill the pit of your stomach. Nothing is worse than being forced to take whatever seat is left. But, noticing a seat by the windows, it's not so bad.

You're in the back, though, settling your bag beneath your chair and picking out a pen and schedule book.

At some point, someone walks in and asks if the seat in front of you is taken. You don't bother to look up long as you fish out a notebook, letting him know it's free.

As class goes on, you realize that the guy in front of you most likely hasn't been paying attention. Considering that the professor has been rehashing stuff from Algebra...you're not surprised. But something about his dark hair catches your eye. Not to mention his striking gold eyes...hm.

It's not until you catch his profile as he stares out the window that it clicks.

"Xiao."

His eyes dart to look at you, a confused look washing over his face. You repeat his name.

"Yes?"

Part of him is just about ready to leave as recognition floods your expression, smile wide. How could you possibly---

"I can't believe the shy kid who used to tear up whenever his turn on the swing was taken would grow up to be this handsome!"

The tips of his ears turn red fast, something that you remember very well about him, and his gaze quickly flicks over to the professor still dragging on. When gold settles back on you, they're practically begging for you to lower your voice.

"It's been forever--I can't believe that you-"

"If you're going to talk, do it outside of class."

Ah. Oopsie.

Time seems to drag on while you buzz in your seat, excited to see your childhood friend after loosing contact. You've missed him over the years, always wondering what happened to him, how he's been. And finally, when class ends, he gets up and waits for you.

Naturally, you want to catch up, so you invite him to go to the cafe with you for a late lunch.

"You still like almond tofu right? It's all you used to eat when we were little." Laughing, you nudge his shoulder and the color returns to his cheeks as he mumbles a yes.

When you step into the cafe, a familiar voice greets you.

"If I knew a cute customer would be coming, I would've gone on break."

Kazuha leans on the counter, mirth in his eyes and you gasp. It makes sense now, why he's so well acquainted with the campus and why he'd already known what to order when you arrived for drinks-

"What can I get for you today?"

"Your number."

Xiao's face pales at the blatant flirting, wondering if he should've just declined the invitation to the cafe until the two of you burst into laughter. Though, it's hardly better.

"Sorry, sorry- This is Kazuha, one of my friends from high school. Kazuha, this is my childhood best friend Xiao."

With a day so filled with nice coincidences, you doubt that life can get any better than this.

Oh, how wrong you'd be.

#anon asks #no primogems anon #kazuha x xiao x reader #xiao and his two lovely dumb s/o's #college au #polycule #polyamory #meet cute #xiao #kazuha #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact drabbles #genshin impact fics #genshin impact

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bookofmirth · 3 years

Note

I saw your recent response to an anon where you mentioned the drama that occurred the other day based around bookprofessor’s post. Obviously you don’t have to respond to this or publish it if you do not wish but I just wanted to bring up that while it is important to focus on the real life issues at hand, the OP was hypocritical in her post which is why people were getting upset. She was preaching against ableism while simultaneously flaunting her IQ and degree which is a form of ableism. She was speaking out against racism while ending her post using the racial slur “cracker” when talking about the possibly Caucasian Twitter elriels.

Obviously she had some important points but it was completely overshadowed by her participation in the hate speech and prejudice that she was speaking out against.

This does not in any way justify the nasty messages she received but on the same hand, I do not blame anyone that called her out for her hypocrisy. I hope you can understand why her post was so negatively received and how flawed it was. My hope is that one day everyone can just ignore the negativity, report those who are being racist/prejudiced in any way, and block those who are just being loud and who you don’t wish to see content from. But unfortunately I do not see that happening any time soon.

There are a few things I want to address in this because I think it's a good moment for the fandom to step back and reflect on how we treat one another, how we react to such issues, and how we behave moving forward.

First off, thanks for explaining your point of view without being antagonistic. I do think that everyone's emotional reactions to the post were valid. I do NOT think their responses, in terms of words and actions, were valid. Now before I move forward, I want to clarify that when I use the word "you", I am referring to anyone who may have had the response I am describing - not you personally, anon. Also please don’t freak out about how long this is, as a majority of it is a response to the fandom in general, not you in particular.

What was - and wasn’t - said in the original post

In this post, there were completely valid criticisms of the way that people in this fandom behave, and it wasn’t “generalizing” a certain group, it was literal, actual proof of things that had been said, by multiple people. I’m not going to get too into what Alyssa argued because her critiques of those tweets was flawless. The original post had very valid criticisms of what was happening on Twitter. Alyssa exposed the actually racist, homophobic, and imperialistic underpinnings of those tweets.

However, a lot of people are stuck on the bits before and after those critiques. @bookprofessor apologized for different aspects of her post in a few different asks. There were perhaps better ways that some of those things could have been phrased, some things that could have been left out. And she apologized. People can accept that apology or not but we can’t act like it didn’t happen. Like she didn’t reflect and learn to do better.

However, the people she was calling out have not done the same thing, and if anything, comments that focus more on Alyssa’s tone than why she wrote the post in the first place lets those people off the hook.

On cracker - Using the word "cracker" is not racist in the same way that using racial slurs against POC is. Is it prejudiced? Yes. But you cannot say that it is the same thing when that is demonstrably untrue, given centuries of oppressive history. No one has been oppressed for being white. Those are not the same. Reverse racism is not a thing because a white person punching down on POC is NOT AT ALL the same thing as a POC punching up at white people. The actions look the same, but the impact is so unequal it’s not even funny.

Racism is a systemic, institutionalized problem. It is not defined by individual actions, though those actions can either support or challenge racism. When someone calls a white person a cracker, there isn’t centuries of oppression giving power to and reinforcing that statement. That is not a “gotcha” moment.

Saying “I have x IQ” or “I have X degrees” is not ableist. I’m sorry to whoever told you it was ableist (again, not you specifically anon but people who had read the “aw shucks guys” vagueblogs about it), but it’s not. Those are facts. I have no idea what my IQ is, but I have five degrees from institutions of higher education. Me saying that is in no way ableist.

Often, people mention those things to be elitist, yes. Sometimes, they can be used to say “hey I know more about this than you”. They can be used in a way that tries to make themselves feel superior. I suspect that this is the impression that a lot of people got of the post. However, there is a fine line between saying “hey that’s elitist” and professing anti intellectualism. Which is perhaps a side issue so I’ll let that go for now.

Another reason that people mention their degrees or qualifications is to establish their background knowledge and credibility. If I were to say “hey y’all I have two MA degrees” (which is true) I am not being ableist! It is a fact! It is factual! And I worked my ass off for those, I will be in student loan debt until I die for those, I have every right to mention them if I want to, and often I do so in order to establish my credibility, to explain the position I am coming from. And my prior knowledge of these topics is relevant when we are talking about literature since that’s what my degrees were on - literature and linguistics. That is why Alyssa mentioned her background, though she did pair it with comments about other people, for which she has apologized.

My final point about this is that I 1000% understand feeling insecure or less than because of educational attainment. I dropped out of high school. I had a complex about that for a long, long time. But I also know that if I took offense at someone else saying they had a PhD, then that offense is about me, not them. Someone else’s inferiority complex is not reason for people to pretend to be less than they are.

If those two comments are what overshadowed the bigger, more important issue for a lot of the readers of that post, then y’all allowed them to overshadow those more important issues. I am 99% sure that someone right now is reading this and thinking “but Leslie, it was the way that she said it!” Boy have I got some news for you!

How we react

This next section is not specific to this ask; instead, it is a discussion of how the fandom responded. If it were only one person who had said “but her tone” then I wouldn’t need to make this point. The fact that multiple people are exhibiting the behavior explained below is what makes this a cultural problem within the acotar fandom.

The main argument I saw on the post itself, and indeed any time I see people bring up how nasty Twitter can be, is that “it was a joke” and “that’s how stan Twitter works”.

No.

Those responses were quite useful for this post, though! So buckle up everyone, because I am going to talk about gaslighting, racism, respectability politics, and tone policing. While I understand that some people might have taken personal offense to what was said, there is a much bigger issue at stake that has nothing to do with individual feelings, and everything to do with ensuring that POC stay silenced and white supremacy is upheld.

Back to the “but it’s a joke” thing. Thanks for gaslighting! Great example of that, person I’m not going to tag! Gaslighting is when you make someone question their experiences, when you try to make them think “wait, did I really feel that way? Is my feeling about that valid? Do I need to re-evaluate my response to this?? Am I blowing this out of proportion???” And saying “it’s just a joke” is a perfect way to do that. Did I say something accidentally sexist? It’s just a joke, nbd! Now you’re the problem, because you didn’t understand my joke and laugh!!!

Saying “it’s a joke” or “oh they are old/young/ignorant, they will learn” is not a good response to... anything. It takes the responsibility off the people who are doing the harm, and putting it onto the people who were hurt. And in this case, anyone who read those tweets and found them harmful (which should be everyone?) is completely valid. You aren’t lesser for being angry or emotional or for seeing a problem where other people saw a joke. The people who see those things as acceptable jokes are the ones in the wrong.

This is a tactic that is used against women all the time. Any time a woman is sexually harassed at work or online, for example, and she gets upset about it, and someone chimes in with “oh they weren’t serious, can’t you take a joke?” So you can imagine what this is like for women of color.

It is a very, very common tactic for people of color to be silenced via tone policing and respectability politics. Tone policing and respectability politics are very closely related, especially in this context. The idea is that if Alyssa had just written that post in just the right way, it would have been more palatable to white people, and therefore okay to write. The idea that if she had tried to be “understanding” or “see it from their perspective” or understand that it’s “just a joke” are all ways to silence and de-legitimize any accurate, valid criticisms that were made of those tweets. It effectively re-routes the conversation away from the real issues, and to the person trying to bring them up. It’s essentially an ad hominem attack in disguise.

We see respectability politics in media when people of color who act or dress or speak like white people are afforded more respect. Or any time that a person of color is pulled over and people say, “well if they had just done what the police officer asked...” There is a pervasive idea that if people just “act” properly, aka if you act white, then the police won’t feel antagonized and try to kill arrest you. If we are nice enough, meek enough, smile enough, etc. then we will be accepted.

When we tone police, we refuse to allow marginalized people the right to be angry. We say that "hey, we can only have this discussion if you leave emotion, which you rightfully feel, at the door, and we can only continue this discussion if you behave in a way that makes me feel comfortable." But guess what? It isn’t about you! These discussions are often highly uncomfortable. There is no nice way to tell someone they are being racist. And yet somehow, that is the ever-moving goalpost. It seems reasonable, right? “Just be civil, be nice, don’t insult each other!” And there is that. But those criteria change constantly, to the point where anyone (white) at any time can say “WHOA WHOA THIS IS MAKE ME UNCOMFORTABLE???” Then we find ourselves at zero, and suddenly the focus of attention has shifted away from the actual problem.

Before we go further, I want to say this: people have a right to be angry. They do not need to make their anger palatable or tasteful for the consumption of others (read: white people).

We saw this last summer, and I’m not sure how the message didn’t get across. But people are rightfully angry about racism. They are angry about the murder of people of color by police, they are angry about lack of quality education, or clean water, of centuries of oppression that have led to this very moment when all of that ceases to matter because a white woman’s feelings got hurt one time.

And that is what pisses me off so much. There is no way in this world that we could criticize tweets like those that everyone would agree with, and that everyone would “approve” of, that would be “nice” enough and yet still be impactful and make the authors of those tweets understand the gravity of what they have done.

The least we can do is allow one another to express our anger, our outrage, because it’s highly likely that those people know exactly what the fuck they are doing, and they do not fucking care. By criticizing a woman of color for the way in which she chose to engage with this topic, we are avoiding the issue and letting the people in those tweets off the hook.

There were many responses to that post that were positive, that agreed with Alyssa. There are a ton of people who disagree with those tweets, who find them disgusting, who understand exactly how and why they are problematic. That should be what we are talking about. Getting to the core of the argument, on that post or any about racism or other problematic behavior in fandom, requires getting past our own egos. It requires us to be able to step back, say “hm this thing is frustrating but there is a bigger picture here��. It’s not easy, and I recognize that.

The fact that it is a common tactic though? To say “hey this hurt me personally and so I’m going to ignore any valid points you made?” That feeds directly into centuries of white supremacy because it, once again, silences POC and makes them try to play a losing game. And they will always lose, because no matter how hard they try to play the white game, the goalposts are constantly shifting. So you know what? Fuck the game, and fuck respectability politics, and fuck tone policing and “uwu be nice guys” because when it comes to things like racism and sexism, I don’t expect the people who deserve to be criticized to be nice. In fact, trying to be nice only serves to fuck POC over in the end.

Indeed, in response to that post, certain blogs have taken the opportunity to position themselves as “the nice ones” or “the ones who would never” or “uwu let’s be nice guys” while completely ignoring the fact that a woman of color was attacked for calling out racism. And yes - that was the point of her post. People getting hung up on mentions of her degree are (intentionally or not, it doesn’t matter) completely obfuscating the fact that that is not what her post was about, which was to call out disgusting behavior. idk how many words the post actually was, but essentially, people are focusing on 5% of it to the detriment of the 95% that was actually really important shit. These types of vagueblog posts about the issue fall into exactly what I am talking about - these are people who have decided to look at this issue, see how Alyssa (and anyone else who dares speak up) has approached it, and intentionally try to act like they are “better” because they can be “rational” and “kind”. Newsflash, if you don’t have something to be angry about, then being “nice” about racism isn’t that much of a flex. If it didn’t bother you, then congratulations. That doesn’t make you better than people it did bother. You just got lucky this time, and decided to use that to your advantage to look like the good guy.

I am not saying that all calls for peace are doing this. Obviously it’s what we all want. This is the worst I have seen this fandom in the 4+ years I’ve been here. But we cannot have that by ignoring the real problems and pretending that if we are all just nice to each other, then we will solve racism and sexism and all bullying in the fandom will stop.

So combining all of this - the gaslighting, the tone policing, and what do you get? You get a fandom that refuses to actually engage critically with its own problems and take accountability for them. You get a fandom that decides that it’s easier to be distracted by this one mean comment over here than it is to engage in the fact that you know what, the culture in this fandom has actually turned incredibly disgusting and a lot of people are just okay with it. You’ve got a fandom that is using the tools of white supremacy to avoid the discussions that should actually be taking place. Maybe people don’t realize that that’s what they are doing. But if someone still thinks that after reading this post, then godspeed my friend, I hope you enjoy Twitter.

Okay so my last thing I want to say is that I didn’t come to all of this knowledge fresh from the womb. I do a lot of work, in my personal life and my professional life, to be better. So here is a list of books that I have found particularly helpful:

How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America also by Ibram X. Kendi

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo (side note, I was kinda meh about this one but the chapter “White Women’s Tears” is particularly helpful)

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment by Patricia Hill Collins

I’m not going to talk specifically about Alyssa’s post anymore, but if anyone wants to continue talking about these broader issues going on in the fandom, I am game. (I really should be grading papers though, so it might take a bit.)

#cw racism #acotar #acosf #acotar fandom #fandom wank #fandom things #this is the long post i mentioned earlier #i will link it in my meta post

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perriwinklesblog · 3 years

Text

I feel a lot of people missed certain parts of the Tubbo and Quackity argument because theres a lot of “Tubbo was being aggressive” and “Tubbo refused to even compromise” going around.

So we’re going to go through many of the questions people have with the whole argument.

(It should be noted, it’s very clear that I am current on summer hols from uni as I put too much time into this long ass post. You don’t need to read it, this is very self-indulgent. I am bored so I analysed.)

Here are the questions covered;

This Land is My Land, This Land is Your Land: Does Tubbo have the right to build there?

I See You For What You Truly Are, which is UGLY: Is Quackity in the right asking Tubbo to tear down his structure due to how it looks?

Cookie Outpost: Threat or Passive Player?

That’s Not Fair: Why wouldn’t Tubbo try and compromise?

You Started It So I’m Finishing It: Why did Tubbo instigate and threaten violence?

Conclusion: The World Is Wide Enough.

1. This Land is My Land, This Land is Your Land: Does Tubbo have the right to build there?

Short answer. Yes.

Many people are putting real-world logic into this RP world, and whilst in the real world, Tubbo wouldn't be in the right here. However, what Tubbo has done in this RP world is perfectly acceptable, even if it is annoying.

The rules of this world are different to that of our own.

We must accept this. Regardless of whether you find similar situations that mirror real-world events, the Dream SMP (DSMP) has different unspoken and spoken rules than our own.

With that in mind, looking at the planning of structures and claiming land, it is very different from what we would typically see in the real world. There is no local government with a planning committee to go to for structures you want to build. You do not need to get approval to build structures. If there is a free space with no claim to it, you can create what you like. (Within reason, as long as it's not offensive, minus a penis as it is clear that the majority of this world do not find the phallic symbol to be offensive)

Whilst there have been retail estate agents on the DSMP who sell land to others, they first had to mark and claim the land to prevent someone just building on it. Marking the land with either fenceposts or a sign or outlining it with blocks is usual to claim something on the DSMP. Another way to claim land you wish to build upon, is to tell people and/or your chat so that when someone else comes across the land and starts to build, they then warn that the land has been claimed. Making it is the safest option to go with as many streamers know that chats can, and will often, lie. So without markers, it is assumed that the land is free and therefore up for grabs to build on. First come, first served.

This is what Quackity had done with Las Nevadas. We've seen people come across Las Nevadas before structures were built. Quackity had marked out areas for each building and signed it, showing those who had come across that the land they were walking on was claimed and could not be built upon. However, Quackity did not claim outwith that area, which is why it was so easy for Wilbur to find a place so close to Las Nevadas. Wilbur could claim his rival city out of pettiness much easier as there were no clear cut borders. Quackity did not outline the areas in which he wanted to expand, and therefore it was free land. He hadn't staked a claim on it. Quackity had thought it out but had not staked an actual claim.

Now, you could argue that was his plan and that he hadn't had time to outline where he wished to expand next. But that's not how the server works. When it comes to land, it is a first-come, first-serve scenario. Unless you take proactive measures to protect the land you have plans for, someone else can and will build there.

Quackity had not said to anyone canonically before Tubbo's Outpost that he was expanding there. He hadn't made the boundaries clear of the land he wished to stake a claim on, and therefore it stayed as free land.

So whilst what's happened to Quackity with plans of expansion stalling, this wouldn't have been an issue if he had been more apparent with boundaries. But, annoyingly for him, the perimeters of the DSMP, Tubbo has every right to build there as it was still free land.

Now, this brings us onto the building itself,

2. I See You For What You Truly Are, Which Is UGLY: Is Quackity in the right asking Tubbo to tear down his structure due to how it looks?

Short answer, no.

Again this comes back to the DSMP rules being different to real-world ones.

Now in many parts of the world, there are systems and hurdles you have to go through to get planning permission for a structure you wish to build, even if you own the land it will be on. You have to get the architectural plan approved by a committee a lot of the time. Neighbours often are allowed to object to structures or whole communities being allowed to at least say their grievances before the committee passes on the plan. Sometimes the committee will agree with the project even if there are grievances. Everywhere is slightly different, but there are systems in place for these discussions at the end of the day.

But not in the DSMP.

People can build whatever structure they want, no matter how ugly, as long as it is on their land or free land. So if they claim a bit of land and go, "I want to build an ugly thing", then they are allowed, even if it ruins the look of the thing next to them.

Is it rude? Yes. But does that mean they're not allowed? No.

Tubbo's structure is imposing for Quackity mainly because of the walls. He wasn't happy with the design when he first saw it before this wall, but the wall pointing directly at his nation was too much for him. Quackity finds them imposing and threatening, but it was technically on free land, so Tubbo can build them. Quackity does not have a right in the rules of the DSMP to have Tubbo tear down his walls due to how he perceives them. Although emotionally, it'd be great to see those walls come down in all parties.

He can issue with them and grumble but technically, within the unspoken rules of the DSMP, Tubbo's allowed to have them there.

Is it a bit rude of Tubbo to not have gone, "Hey, by the way, I'm building these walls around my structure; this is as close as I'm planning on this wall getting to your area, is that fine"? Yes, it was rude. But is he therefore not allowed to do that? No. He's allowed to build what he wants on free land that he has claimed.

So again, whilst aggravating for Quackity, Tubbo is allowed to build those walls.

Now to focus on the incident itself. There are many things, bear with;

3. Cookie Outpost: Threat or Passive Player?

The underlying cause of this argument is more to do with the perception of the building, walls included, than the actual placement.

Quackity could have found ways to move around the Outpost, such as dig a road under a new patch of land, etc. There are solutions to the outpost problem. Technically, Wilbur's only claimed a tiny bit of ground to easily have focused on building around the small building Wilbur made etc. Unlike Tubbo, Wilbur hasn't made his intentions clear where his areas borders are, and therefore, Quackity could use the same logic as Tubbo and the same logic of how land claimant works in the SMP against Wilbur. But instead, he focuses on Tubbo and places more energy in engaging with Tubbo than with Wilbur or Tommy. He views Wilbur and Tommy as more of a nuisance whilst Tubbo poses as a threat. He views Tubbo as a threat well before the actual threat from Tubbo and the proper knowledge of the nukes.

We often forget to take into account that canonically the audience knows more than half the DSMP members.

Philza is the only one who indeed acknowledges and reminds us of this fact. Others dance around or ignore the idea as sometimes they like to use the chat in their role-play to gain knowledge. But whether they've used chat in the past or not, the audience will always know more. So we read up upon and about streams we've missed and watch more perspectives allowing us a greater insight that canonically no one else gets. Unfortunately, the only understanding we have yet to grasp is Dream, which is not relevant to this current scenario.

We have to note what Quackity and Tubbo know and what we know and separate it with this understanding.

From Tubbo's perspective;

Tubbo heard of Las Nevadas, saw many people leaving for Las Nevadas and wanted to investigate. One of his citizens had emigrated to Las Nevadas, so there was a natural curiosity of what they are doing that's attracting everyone. So he initially wanted to create a very secret hiding place to spy on Las Nevadas to see what they were doing, much like what he did with the Egg.

The main objective: to observe.

The last organised group of people on the DSMP was the Eggpire. They were a nuisance for some people and a threat for many others, including Tubbo. So a new nation and a new group would naturally have Tubbo a little wary and very curious. Not to mention that this new nation was an old friend's latest project.

Those who watch Tubbo know that whilst he managed to create a small place to observe the Egg from, Tubbo often makes or desires big builds. Canonically small himself in height but loves a big house. So very quickly, the building itself becomes noticeable and more prominent than intended. Tubbo also likes substantial structured buildings leading to quite a sturdy looking outpost.

The Outpost style fits very much with Snowchester's style and the environment it is in. (As a side, he may not conically say he's a goat hybrid, but he chose a very mountain goat place to settle here). Whilst he continues to build his Outpost, he decides to build walls around it as a defence if anyone tries to sneak in or attack. The walls are reminiscent of the ones he made around Snowchester, again adding to the similarities between the two places he's decided to put roots. And again, it fits very much within the environment he's created. He adds a lava door as another defence but then decorates the courtyard for visitors. The lava door and walls keep people he doesn't want inside out but not to keep everyone out indefinitely. Again, he's establishing what his area is.

Tubbo understands that his area is not very secret, and the main goal is still to observe everything that is happening in Las Nevadas but knows he needs a cover since people are also asking what he's doing. So a cookie shop becomes the cover. A cover he gets quite into with the help of Ranboo. So with that, he needs to expand and make room for a farm and expand further onto the free land available. So the wall which becomes the centre of the argument with Quackity is built. This wall extends towards Las Nevadas but does not cross the river. Where it stops when they are interrupted with the Las Nevadas retaliation was as far as Tubbo was going to build it. The plan from there was to have to go back. The walls had gone from being purely defensive of the outpost building itself to indicating boundaries and what was Tubbo's land and what was still free land.

Tubbo added the bridge to connect his Outpost to Quackity's land to make it easier for both parties to visit each other. Quackity responded by linking it up properly but creating a toll.

When watching Tubbo's perspective and hearing his plans for the Outpost, it comes across as very passive. It was designed to be a place where he could keep up to date with what was happening and see what was going on without directly involving himself. He wanted to observe, and with his militant wired brain, he also needed some defences just in case. An argument often backed by the fact that almost all his builds on the server have been blown up, burnt down, or destroyed somehow. A fact, Quackity knows and feels too.

So for Tubbo, Outpost = Passive Player.

For Quackity's Perspective;

Quackity built Las Nevadas as a place where he can belong without proving it to others or compromising with others. This place is his and his alone where his laws and his rules are the only ones. People have to bend to him. People have to answer to him. He presents it as a safe haven from the chaos and a place to find a home, find family, and be one together. However, it is always on his terms. He will take others ideas and wrap them so they fit his narrative and plan but make it, so the others believe he is listening to them.

A case in point is the whole torture thing with Dream and Sam. He had an idea, he had a plan and then used a narrative Sam bought into, then twisted Sam's thoughts into fitting with his plans. It's a little bit more complicated than that but boiled down to the basics, yeah.

Whilst Quackity is the antagonist in many plot points right now, the heart of it all is centred on having a home, a place where he belongs and doesn't feel the need to constantly fight for it, to feel it threatened by outside sources continually. He just wants somewhere safe... where he can scam people so he can be rich.

With all that in mind, when Wilbur shows up, and their interaction descends into pettiness, it puts him on edge. He knows that Wilbur is stubborn and that Tommy is also determined. So whilst Quackity has the upper hand over them, which is why they're not seen as a threat more of an annoyance, they still started to sow the seeds in Quackity's mind that Las Nevadas was not as safe of a home as he first thought.

Now we could go into all the illogical ideas about Las Nevadas, such as open to all but not, pay a toll to get here, free to live and leave but sign your soul to me, and we welcome everyone but omfg why are you all here leave my home alone. We could go into the tortured soul of Quackity, but the focus is right now on why Tubbo's Outpost and wall created a more extensive argument and reaction than Wilbur and Tommy's blatant threat ever did.

When Quackity first saw and mentioned the Outpost, the walls were not as long; they stayed pretty close to the building itself. However, even when he was told this place might've been a Cookie shop, he didn't fully believe it. His mind immediately went to threat and annoyance. This is probably due to the interaction with Wilbur. His reaction would probably have been the same if anyone had built it there. It is close to his land, and he doesn't know why it's there. When it's mentioned to be Tubbo's property, his worries are not immediately erased; instead, he almost doubles down in the idea that Tubbo is threatening him. He sees the bridge and is even more enraged by it. He builds a toll as a way to deter Tubbo from crossing into his land. Then Quackity, Slime and Fundy go to the Outpost to snoop, finding ordinary building materials along with gunpowder and two totems, leading to Quackity to double down in his fear that Tubbo wants to destroy this happiness he's cultivated. They then grief the place to threaten Tubbo and show Tubbo that they will not stand for threats.

Overall, from Quackity's perspective, Outpost = Threat

But at the end of the day, Quackity's knowledge of the Outpost is that it is a Cookie Shop. That has all that's been shown to him. That is all his character canonically knows, and even though it looks imposing to him, he shouldn't fear a cookie post. To him, Tubbo is a good kid, so why has he jumped and stuck to the narrative that the place is a threat, that the cookie shop will destroy his happiness?

Now Tubbo built the Outpost as a passive observation base. Therefore technically, the Cookie Outpost is passive, but Quackity places the idea that this place is a threat to the minds of Las Nevadas citizens and creates the idea that this building is a threat to their country. Regardless of whether it was a place for the Snowchester leader to spy, it was still a passive building where Tubbo did not want to attack anyone or anything. Spying does not equal threat. So again, Quackity is the one to impose the idea of a threat upon Las Nevadas, not Tubbo.

So now this Outpost exists in two states, and that's where the conflict is arising.

4. That's Not Fair: Why wouldn't Tubbo try and compromise?

Short answer, he did try.

Tubbo tried to compromise. Tubbo could see where Quackity was coming from; he understood and said to Quackity he understood and tried to explain that he wasn't attacking Las Nevadas. Tubbo said that was as close as he was going to get with the walls, but Quackity was the one who ignored him and didn't believe him.

Whilst the walls started as defensive, they were now mainly used to discern from what was Tubbo's land and what wasn't, which is why Tubbo didn't want to give up the new wall. So instead, he tried to mark out and defend his farm, in line with Cookie Outpost, which meant walls.

The solutions Quackity offers are all offers that benefited Las Nevadas and his plans, not his new neighbour Tubbo. Tubbo didn't understand why Quackity came in so aggressively so suddenly. The last they spoke, they at least left on civil terms, and both said they considered each other a friend, yet Quackity does not believe what Tubbo is telling him, doesn't believe that Tubbo doesn't want to harm him. Tubbo is also a bit annoyed by the fact that the solutions all take a hit to him when in his eyes, he didn't even build on Las Nevadas property and didn't even know of future plans Quackity supposedly had for Las Nevadas.

Eventually, Tubbo agrees to take down the wall if they come up with boundaries to the land to know what is his and what is Las Nevadas. He suggests the natural border of the river as that was what he was following anyway. He also offers it as it keeps the place looking nice since Quackity initially said the issue was how imposing the wall was to his nation.

This is a compromise. Tubbo and Quackity both get the things they want as the cost of the wall, the issue at hand. But Quackity and Las Nevadas say no to this proposal, and once again, they are running around in circles.

Other compromises were proposed, but again, most of them suited Quackity over Tubbo and therefore were more of a relinquish of power than a compromise. The solution Tubbo gave was one in which there wouldn't be a power imbalance between the two nations and would have left both on equal footing. But Quackity said no because he needs Tubbo below him power-wise.

Like Tubbo with his walls to protect what he loves, Quackity wishes to preserve his happiness and joy through control. He needs to control the situation, the environment and the people around him so that they do not say or do anything to jeopardise the life he has created. He cannot have Tubbo in an equal position to him, and therefore all solutions Quackity offers leave Tubbo below him.

So Tubbo did try and compromise, he just wasn't going to take a solution that didn't leave him, and Quackity equal, much like Quackity wasn't going to take a solution that didn't leave him above Tubbo.

5. You Started It So I Am Finishing It: Why did Tubbo instigate and threaten violence?

Short answer, he wasn't the instigator.

Whilst Tubbo was a bit rude and inconsiderate, the first instigation and threat of violence came from Quackity's side.

As mentioned before, upon first viewing Tubbo's place with Slime and Fundy, Quackity decides to send a message to Tubbo not to threaten them by essentially threatening Tubbo himself. They trash the site and leave it in ruin. This is the first act of aggression. There is also the fact that Quackity was willing to take things further by stealing Tubbo's totems, and if it had not been for Fundy suggesting that he was going too far, he probably would have taken them.

At this stage, Quackity and Tubbo have not spoken, have not adequately interacted for months. Quackity grief's the place without even asking Tubbo what he's doing, without talking things through with Tubbo. Quackity said he would ask him what was happening and whether this place was a threat but then proceeded to treat it as a threat and grief the place to send a message to Tubbo.

Ranboo then cleans the place up, placing signs to reinforce the idea that it's a cookie shop. This hides the altercation from Tubbo and ultimately makes Quackity's next more seem even more aggressive and over the top than before.

In Tubbo's eyes, this has come out of nowhere, whilst Quackity feels he is pre-empting an inevitable that he had no guarantee on.

It isn't until things start to get a bit heated that Quackity decides to try and talk things out with Tubbo. Until this moment, Tubbo had been working on the defensive. Even when he hadn't realised Quackity had threatened him before. Tubbo's Outpost and stance in this situation had always been defensive and passive until Quackity started to push at Tubbo.

Tubbo's threat of the nukes came after all the negotiations and arguing and directly responded to the energy Quackity was giving Tubbo. Tubbo wasn't the first to push, it was Quackity, and Tubbo just pushed back and essentially told Quackity, do not underestimate me.

Tubbo doesn't want to use the nukes; that was not the point of Snowchester's nukes. He doesn't want to destroy anything; it is just to make sure people do not destroy his things. Tubbo, although more feral than the feral boys, does not crave violence; like Quackity (or at least before Quackity enjoyed torturing Dream), he wishes for a peaceful place where he can work on his projects; his end goal isn't destruction.

Tubbo pulling the nuke card was not an attack, but a defensive response to everything Quackity had put on the table.

It felt like an extreme response, but Tubbo has seen how far Quackity goes with things and how hard Quackity is willing to fight for what he wants. So Tubbo needed to shock Quackity and remind Quackity that they are equals, they are equal in power and that should he forget, Tubbo will happily remind him.

Overall. Tubbo did not instigate but react.

Both parties threatened each other, but it was Quackity who threw the first punch.

6. Conclusion: The World Is Wide Enough.

The issue with Quackity and Tubbo is more about the relationship and their perception than the building itself.

In posts before, I talked about how one of the significant communicative issues between Tubbo and Quackity is their inability to understand how they view things differently, even after all their shared trauma.

Quackity and Tubbo went through Schlatt's administration together and in close quarters with Schlatt. They both left with similar, albeit not the same, trauma as a result. However, their experiences with Schlatt left them both with different outlooks on life. They approach things differently, want and desire other things in life, and, throughout the exile arc, constantly found themselves at odds in opinion. If you ever wanted a trope of friends to enemies through misunderstandings, much like Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, Quackity and Tubbo are your guys.

They both struggle with the idea that the world is big enough for them, especially Quackity. There is a constant struggle between Quackity and Tubbo with who takes the lead and who is in charge. Now that they aren't forced on the same team, they've again found themselves at this impasse. But this time, neither is backing down because neither has to. They don't have to put aside their differences for the good of a country anymore. This time they are fighting for each their nation and ideals.

Tubbo often let Quackity persuade him with passionate speeches. But, this time, Tubbo is not allowing Quackity to have his way, whilst Quackity is not used to Tubbo digging his heels in the ground so much. Quackity does not want to settle for less; he's done that in the past, but he has missed the compromises being offered in refusing to let a little go. His paranoia that his happiness and all he's created will crumble away, much like past projects have toe lead him to view everyone as a threat. And it's funny how the very same fear from Tubbo, building those walls to protect his happiness, broke the last straw for Quackity, causing this argument to spiral and ball.

Both are in the wrong, and both are in the right. Still, personally, Quackity's refusal in this new life for total control, which influenced the negotiating, probably had a more significant impact than just giving Tubbo the natural border. Quackity makes it out like he doesn't want complete control, but he rejected it and presented arguments that left Tubbo worse off when offered an equal footing solution. Quackity is someone who wants to stay above Tubbo and therefore hold more of the control. Suppose he continues to maintain that stance in his mind while negotiating. In that case, he will never find a solution other than obliterating the competition because Tubbo will not stand for less than equal.

The fractures in Tubbo and Quackity's relationship came long before this altercation, but it seems as though this might be the thing to pull them apart finally. Of course, the only viable solution is for both parties to leave on equal footing, but Quackity struggles with that idea, and Tubbo won't settle for less.

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nightswithkookmin · 3 years

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I love how this conversation is bringing out the homophobia in y'all's eyes😌

'Yall are scared Jimin will stop looking like a submissive gay man if he builds muscles'

So y'all think Jimin looks like a submissive gay man without his muscles????????

Huh????

Isn't this the very thing I'm ranting over in these posts? That people think he looks gay and a sub/bottom and that he doesn't look like a real man because of the way he looks??

Isn't that why they are fixing him to look more masculine in these ads????

Y'all think him building muscles will change his sexual orientation if he is in deed gay and a sub???

There is nothing wrong with being gay or sub or bottom or whatever any gay queer person might be into. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT! Omg!

Muscle building is not for men only.

This is Namjoon's cousin. What about her makes her less feminine??????????????

Should she get longer nails? Bigger hoops? May be a Brazilian butt lift? Botox? Fillers? In order to look more traditionally feminine?

If she decides to stop working out or drink stuff to lose muscles so she can be seen as more feminine do y'all not think that would be ??? because she is feminine regardless?

What about these women make them less feminine????? They build up too and they are women.

Jimin with or without muscles is still an androgynous man. Building muscles does not erase his androgynousity. That is Jimin.

He is an androgynous MAN not woman. Looking skinny is not what makes him androgynous. Putting on make up and wearing feminine clothes is not what makes him androgynous.

We've been calling him androgynous from day one when he debuted and it's not because he didn't have muscles. He had them in abundance. so I find it weird that you will think we gay people are worried he is leaning into his masculinity- when the question we are asking is WHAT AT ALL IS MASCULINITY?

Didn't he ask the same questions when he asked his band mates, man man man- what the heck is man- when they said men shouldn't wear rings on their pinkie?

That was an iconic moment and I wish I could write a dissertation on it. Super iconic.

Is he a sex icon? Absolutely. Is he a queer icon? Yes. But he is not a gay God. No body is looking up to him to liberate them from no damn queer oppression- love how you trivialize and make fun of LGBTQ issues.

Really sista? You had to go there? And you say you are a Jikook supporter?? Interesting.

I think Tae put it best when he said Jimin may look cute and pretty on the outside but when he takes off his clothes that's when you see he's more masculine. I think for some of us, we've always seen Jimin as very masculine in his expressions and very experimental in his expressions of femininity. I've always seen him as grounded in his masculinity than feminity- although he does suffer from toxic masculinity every now.

I'm simply saying this may be one of those times. Emphasis on may be. I'm over it. Just took note of it.

When it comes to exercising, the members have said he used to be the one who trained the hardest in dance rehearsals. Didn't RM say he and Jin used to look up to him and learn from him because he is well disciplined?

He's always exercised. Y'all think him flipping through the air and defying gravity comes from a lack of exercise?????

This is the few times he's talked about exercising as a social male bonding activity with his members and even encouraged Hobi to join them. If you think he will look more masculine climbing rocks and building muscles then you are part of the problem I am trying to address here.

Do y'all not watch Bon Voyage and Run and Winter package? Do y'all not see him "be manly" and "lean into his masculinity" in those contents? Did he not say he wanted to go do yoga with the others but chose instead to go to the brewery with Yoonkook?

Out of curiosity, let me ask- which is the two options was the least masculine activity? I'm genuinely curious.

And no, I am not uncomfortable seeing him lean into his masculinity. I am uncomfortable watching him straddle the line of toxic masculinity and it's not limited to him. I think I have expressed similar sentiments with regards to JK and RM and Suga and the rest.

And no. It's not toxic that he is exercising or wants to exercise. I question that he wants to build muscles and look a certain way as a man especially if that way is the only way he and y'all think a man should look like.

I don't know about you but this looks pretty masculine and feminine to me.

As does this. He can look like the incredible hulk and I'll still see him as androgynous.

Now don't get me started on his upper lips and BigHit constantly concealing his upper lips with make up. Don't get me started on that! 😡

They are always erasing and tweaking something when it comes to Jimin! Always! I HATE IT HERE.

Jimin is not the first androgynous man in Kpop nor is he the only androgynous man in kpop. He doesn't have to be gay or queer to participate in social discourse.

And I understand that queer and gender issues may not be of importance to y'all cis straight folks but it is important nonetheless and BTS have dabbled in the discussions and voiced out their opinions on it. They are advocates for the youth and that includes gay queer folks.

How many times have they talked about same love? That their BT21 characters are genderless, that clothing shouldn't be restricted to specific genders? Jk have said he hates oppression and Jimin talks about self love and acceptance for all- you think gay people are not included?

They don't have to be gay to be gay representatives and "Gay Gods." Heard of Allies?

And when you say BTS are human not representatives- you kidding right???

Have you seen BTS issue statements on Black lives matter, on Racism and Asian hate crimes etc?

Yes, they human beings.... who care about other human beings and their oppressions. Y'all praise these men for wearing unisex brands and genderless fashion and praise them for when they voice out on certain issues... except when it comes to gay issues? I see y'all's colors.

Also you ship Jikook but it pisses you off that we say Jimin is gay??? 👀

Jimin gay. Jungkook gay. Jikook gay. Does this annoy you? 👀

They are fucking eachother. Do you wanna block me? 👀

JK fucks Jimin. Jimin fucks JK. Are you dead yet? 👀 Do you wanna kill me? 👀

I don't see them as straight honestly. If I did and I thought they were facing straight issues I'd be talking about those too. I see them as gay dealing with gay issues that we all deal with and I talk about that.

Credit to the artist. I think that photo of Jimin from On MV is one of my favorites.

I might have to frame it and hang it on my wall.

Don't have any hard feelings against you but I thought I would address certain problematic statements you made.

Love,

GOLDY

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