Tag: rant

I really like your Year With The Moon ficlets! The protagonist is pretty unique in getting a sandshrew, and the dissociation in her life before starting in the Pokemon journey felt very realistic.

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Really? I’m honestly surprised. I appreciate it, but I’m bewildered. Like… I admit, with most of my series, I don’t really have much of a plan, but A Year With The Moon especially I have no idea what I’m doing.

Part of me doesn’t want to derail completely from canon considering Ember wouldn’t actively do that in order to make sure Ash develops similar enough to canon that he can be in those key points to save the world (much like how Shikako is particularly hands off with Naruto in comparison to Sasuke). But that does mean that I would have to go the Dreaming of Sunshine route of somehow reiterating canon material while elevating it and I honestly do not think I have the writing chops for that.

Because. Wow. Dreaming of Sunshine is fantastic. It is just. I mean, obviously, I wouldn’t write so much recursive fanfic of it if I didn’t love it so much. But it is way above my skill level. Just. Wow. SQ’s ability to world build within a set world, the way they not just use fillers but turn filler episodes into emotionally charged arcs, I’m just. O_O

Ideally, A Year With The Moon would by like that. Actually, ideally, a lot of my series would be like that (I also have Into Thin Air which is FFVII Cloud’s twin Windy, I have Counterpoise and B*tch Please which is Naruto and Akamaru’s twin respectively, I have a couple of other SI!OCs or just regular OCs who aren’t twins in various fandoms…)

But, like I said, I don’t have the writing chops for that. Part of it is, I’ll admit, commitment. SQ puts in a lot of time and effort of researching and outlining for DoS which I do not do with A Year With The Moon–could I? Probably, yes. If I put other things to the wayside and focused solely on this series. Will I? Probably not any time soon.

A lot of this blog is me expelling ideas that come to me during the day–I move between fandoms and writing styles fairly frequently. Maybe one day I’ll be able to hone in on one series and go to town on it, but for now A Year With The Moon will have to suffer from being my last second, “oh god I need to put a post up, let me get a word prompt, hm okay Pokemon?”

Sorry, to-someplace-else, I didn’t mean to rant at you. I appreciate that you like the series, and A Year With The Moon does have a surprising soft spot in my heart too (my very first fandom was Pokemon), but unfortunately I don’t think I can do the series justice any time soon and give it the attention it deserves :/

I love your writing! What are your favorite soulmate AUs, if you have any? Or what other AUs are you weak for ;)

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Thanks, anon! I’m glad you like my writing 🙂

Hm let’s see soulmate AUs I’m fond of…

I actually only recently learned of the “whatever is written on your soulmate shows up on your skin as well”!AU (aka the Protean Charm Soulmates!AU as I call it for brevity) but I really like how adaptable it is. Like, each relationship is different and this method of soulmate AU can reflect each unique relationship in turn.

Like, even without having other people involved, do the soulmates write to each other? If so, how often? Who writes more? Or, if not, why not? Is there a language/literacy barrier? Is one just naturally more reticent than others?

Other than that I’m also fond of the “first words”!AU and the “sting of fate”!AU for opposing reasons:

“First words”!AU just has a very strong sense of attention and fleeting–you and your soulmate WILL meet and this WILL be their first words to you, but you also have no idea who or when that will be so you always have to pay attention. For some people, the phrase will be something innocuous, for others it’ll be wild.

I also kind of want to explore the idea of blanks in this universe. Are they people without soulmates? Are they people who have soulmates but won’t meet them for reasons (perhaps they’re fated to die before they meet)? Are they people whose soulmates can’t speak? (And, for that matter, how is mutism/muteness treated in this universe?… though I’d be hesitant to broach this topic since I myself am not mute and wouldn’t want to appropriate a disability and no doubt misrepresent it for a fic)

Conversely in “string of fate”!AU, I like the solidity of it. Whether you go with the “everyone can see your string” or “only soulmates can see the string” versions of it. You have a string? You have a soulmate. No string? No soulmate. Very flat out.

You may not meet, but you have one and you even know in what vague direction they are. Maybe some people will be more proactive and search for their soulmate, follow the string. Maybe some people will let fate decide. Maybe some people can’t leave and find comfort in knowing their soulmate is out there, somewhere. Maybe some people don’t care.

As for other AUs… like… I’m assuming not established media such that it would be a crossover/fusion (which I’ve already gone over in length here)…

For epic fantasy/sci-fi worlds, I really like putting the characters into non-powered!AUs, especially. Well, actually, I guess technically this is established media, but a Notting Hill!AU? I encountered the AU in fandom before the realizing it was an actual movie, but basically it’s about a famous actor and a bookstore owner meeting and falling in love and the whole disparity between their worlds.

I once read a fic which expanded the movie further to include more characters in more roles, so it’s this balance between who is the actor, who is the bookstore owner, which characters fall on either side of the divide for the intents of the AU. For example, with a Shikako/Gaara version, that one’s pretty obvious–Gaara as the actor, Shikako as the bookstore owner, and the respective village lines falling into place. But for a Shikako/Sasuke version?

I mean, Shikako would still be the bookstore owner (because stage fright) but which characters are part of “Sasuke’s world” and which are part of Shikako’s. Where does Naruto go? Kakashi-sensei?

I’m also pretty fond of modern royalty!AU for the same celebrity vs common person disparity.

I also enjoy stuffing super powered people into office spaces–general corporate workers, or lawyers, or minor government positions (a la Parks and Rec)–because inter-office drama is hilarious when it’s fictional. As the apparent success of either versions of The Office can attest to. And, sure, you can set things on fire in your original world but not here, friend, not here.

Conversely “real world” criminals is kind of nice, but with less emphasis on the crime and more on the team building (a la Leverage).

Ooh, okay, last one anon because I realize how rambly I’ve gotten: The florist and tattoo artist!AU, but the version where you swap the “obvious” designations. That one is so fantastic! I mean, I know not very much about either occupations, but I’ve read some fantastic iterations and they’re just the best. The best. Can replace florist for baker, but yes. Excellent. 🙂

re: the election… same. my girlfriend cried herself to sleep in my arms on tuesday night, and i pulled an all-nighter out of numb terror. i’m not blindsided by the results, but i am heartbroken. young, mentally ill, disabled, trans, queer person of color. i’m considering chopping my brilliantly dyed hair, because every white person i pass on the street makes me flinch. i’m scared, but i’m just repeating “we’re stronger together, we’ll make it” in my head. it’s keeping me going. *offers hugs*

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*gratefully takes offered hug*

I’m sorry, my friend, stay safe. Already I’m beginning to dress more conservatively than before–scared to go outside in the bright, provocative colors and patterns of someone without fear. I’m far more hesitant than I was before. I walk now with shoulders hunched, head ducked down, just counting the seconds until I can get to the safety of my car or my home.

I just found out the UPS truck driver that makes deliveries in my office building voted for Trump. I also, with shuddering disgust and fear, found out that he thinks I’m sexually attractive and has said as much to my one of my coworkers. Thankfully, said coworker is a man of color and has basically shut that down, but still. What the fuck.

How the fuck does the UPS guy think that’s going to work out? What was he expecting from my coworker much less from myself? What the absolute fuck.

No more shorts or sleeveless tops or skirts–autumn weather, thankfully, makes jeans and long sleeves and shape-obscuring jackets acceptable. But still. When the weather changes back, will I feel safe enough to return to that? My hair is cut short, enough that people notice–a statement style, asymmetric and shorn on one side. Will I have to grow that out? I’m not currently dating anyone, but I always liked having the possibility–will that still be something I can look forward to one day? Or will I have to hide my sexuality, tucked away like skin beneath layers of cloth.

I’m scared, too, anon. It’s shitty. Keep what joys you can, but do what you must to stay safe. Find your allies, stick together. It’s as you said: we’re stronger together, we’ll make it.

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… I know this isn’t the content you’re here for. And I’ve been doing all of my USA election related posts on my other blog keeping that in mind. But I think, given some of my other posts on here that are far more personal, that you can indulge me a little.

I’m scared.

And, like, yeah okay. I know it’s not the end of the world. I know that tomorrow the sun will come up and I will still have a job and a roof over my head and enough money to buy what I need and some of what I want. I know there are people with way worse of situations.

But I’m still scared.

I’m a young queer female person of color and I just found out how much my country hates all or even just one aspect of my identity. I thought this was in the bag. I thought–there’s no way such an overtly awful person can win. I thought I’d be safe.

And, yes, I am to some extent. I live in California, so at least I know that the majority of people I pass in the streets don’t hate my existence. I am lucky enough to live in such a state. But there were still that 34% who voted for Trump–and yes, those are probably in counties that I have never been to and will never need to go to, but still. That’s one out of every three people.

I’m sitting here shaking, having trouble breathing. I’m scared.

I can’t imagine what it’d be like to live in one of the red states. Fuck, I have family in Florida–tomorrow they’ll have to walk around not knowing which half of the population hates their guts and which 5% couldn’t give a damn at how much shit is going to come their way.

It’s not… I can’t even hate them back. I’m not angry at nonvoters or third party voters, though I know a lot of people are. I don’t even know if I’m disappointed because I think I’m still in shock. I’m afraid. It just doesn’t make any sense to me. It’s just not logical.

I don’t understand.

I’m scared.

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simmonsized:

iemma-swan:

one of the saddest things is when a show you invested so much of your time into and became emotionally attached to seriously fucks up and you are no longer captivated by it whether it’s because of illogical plots with zero substance, ooc characters, sexist writing or because the show kills off and treats minorities horrendously, and all you have left is this bitterness at how things turned out because something that once made you happy now leaves you emotionally and mentally drained.

This may sound weird (or maybe it doesn’t considering this is tumblr) but you’re allowed to break up with your show.

I once had to explain what fandom was to a class full of people who had no idea what that term was or even the depths of what it meant to fans within it (as opposed to the more casual fans who like the thing but don’t engage with it outside of the original thing), and the easiest way I could get them to understand was that fandom is like a relationship.

There is the show and there are the fans and, for the most part, it’s a cycle of give and take. The show gives fans entertainment and ideas, the fans give the show support and transformative works, and as long as this balance remains then that’s fine.

But what happens when, as per OP’s example, the show seriously fucks up–awful writing, disgusting bigotry, etc? Well, then the show is no longer giving entertainment and ideas–or, at least, not any ideas the fans want a part of–and since they’re no longer holding up their end of the relationship, balance is lost.

It’s okay to break up with your show. It’s no longer making you happy, clearly, and you shouldn’t be expected to support something that only takes and takes and takes. Break up with your show before it’s too late, before all you can feel when you think of it is rage and disappointment and disgust, before all the current episodes taint the early ones that made you fall in love. Keep your good memories. Make your transformative works only seasons one through three compliant. That epilogue never happened for you? That’s okay.

You’re allowed to break up with your show.

So I’m a bit behind in descendants news, and I just looked up any news for Descendants 2 and saw the costume pics from September. Ben looks wicked in his Isle look, however I wish that the franchise would stick to the Villain children that they have. The books, Web series, and Movies all list Captain Hooks kid by a different name (admittedly he could have more then one…) and apparently the Gastons have been written out for “Gil”. It’s very confusing to keep track of…

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Ah, well, I haven’t been keeping track of Descendants news either, but I just looked up stuff after seeing your ask and all I can say is…

Well…

Ookay then Disney, you do you?

Descendants has a lot of content in different media formats which aren’t cohesive with each other so there are a lot of points of conflict. My fic writing philosophy for Descendants is very much so buffet style – in that, I’ll pick and choose what I like and leave what I don’t – so I was expecting to be jossed at some point or another.

Like, even my OC takes of the villain kids (Jemma Hook, for the most part) was done knowing that I’m directly contradicting some level of canon – whether alpha/beta canon or fanon…

I’ll watch Descendants 2, don’t get me wrong, but I’ll probably do so with a grain of salt (and, well, it’s not like I didn’t watch the first one without a bucket of salt, so).

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damianmcgintleman:

heatherings:

can we please stop making the only LGBT+ narrative we see “i always knew?”

like, i didn’t always know i liked girls too. i wasn’t having crushes on them or kissing them on the playground when i was five years old like you see on tv or read in books. i didn’t know for sure that i’m bi until literally this year (i’m 17 as of writing this). a former friend of mine is a trans girl. she didn’t always know. she didn’t realize she was trans until she was nearly eighteen years old. some people don’t realize it until they’re twenty, or forty, or sixty.

some people do always know. good for them! but can we please please please make it known that you don’t have to have always known for your identity to be valid? it makes it so difficult for people who are figuring themselves out later in life, because it feeds into this idea of “why didn’t i know it before? is this even real? if i haven’t known i’ve felt this way all along, how do i know i feel it now?” and that’s only making worse what’s already such a difficult time in life

give me eighty year old women who are just figuring out they’re lesbians. give me middle aged accountants who realize they’re actually trans. give me a guy who doesn’t know until he’s twenty-eight that he’s actually into dudes. god just please give us some other narrative, so we can be reassured that even if it took us a while to get there, our identity is no less valid than that of a person who’s known they’re LGBT+ since elementary school. stop telling LGBT+ people that that’s the only way they’re really LGBT+

what’s really sad is that people feel like it’s too late in their life to know if they’re LGBTQ, like there’s some sort of time limit on understanding your identity. and it’s heartbreaking. i knew i was gay when i was 8. my 31 year old cousin just discovered she’s bisexual because she finally explored her sexuality. i know trans girls who didn’t know they were trans until their 30s.

there is no right time to discover that you belong in our community. finding out your sexuality or gender later in life than others is not a bad thing, it’s not a wrong thing. please never feel like that somehow invalidates your belonging in the community, because it doesn’t.

and isn’t there a term like, compulsive heterosexuality or something, IIIRC? where some people, especially LBQ cis women, essentially convince themselves they’re heterosexual because that’s what’s expected to be the “normal”, and they just essentially brush aside any potential feelings they have for other genders? like, they’re pretty much just conditioned by society and/or their upbringing to not question themselves and to be dismissive over any romantic or sexual feelings towards ppl who don’t identify as men?

i could be completely wrong about the term or its definition, but i know there’s something out there like that. so what i’m trying to say is, you don’t have to place blame on yourself for finding out you’re LGBTQ later in life. even if that term doesn’t apply to you, there’s still NO reason to feel blame or shame. some people just discover themselves earlier than others, and some people discover themselves later than others, and it’s okay!! there’s no right or wrong time!!

we HAVE to welcome later-in-life LGBTQ people with open arms and make sure they are as welcomed in the community as people like myself who found out very early.

I didn’t know until three years ago that in high school I had a huge, obvious crush on a girl. My best friend had to tell me, when we were already in our second year of college, about something that had happened over two years before.

I honestly didn’t know.

In college I knew that, hey, maybe I’m not straight. I didn’t know this in high school because in high school I didn’t have the vocabulary for asexual and demiromantic and nonbinary. And even if I did, I still don’t think I would have been able to tell, wouldn’t have been able to form enough of an idea of what I wanted or didn’t want to say… yeah, I’m not this I’m that.

I had a huge, obvious crush on a girl. She played cello and was super smart and artistic and had beautiful hair and the cutest smile and I basically fell over myself to be able to do group projects with her or hang out with her or just be near her. I’d ask if I could braid her hair, I’d try to sit next to her whenever possible, and during assignments with even the slightest bit of connection to her I’d ask for her help never mind that we didn’t have very many classes together.

I didn’t realize this was me crushing on someone. I thought those fleeting appreciations of cute guys were crushes–those one or two week things where I’d blush whenever we met eyes, or I’d admire the line of his jaw and the length of his fingers. I’d never act on it because I didn’t want to act on it, I was content sitting and watching from afar, like a statue in a museum, look but don’t touch.

But with this girl? God, I wanted. Not anything sexual (because, well, ace) but I’d even go so far as to wonder how she’d cuddle. How holding her hand might feel. If kissing wouldn’t seem so weird if it were with her.

I didn’t know.

And the problem is, by the time my best friend pointed it out to me–she didn’t know she had to point it out to me, is the thing. She thought I knew. I was sitting there across the table, talking about, hey, I don’t think I’m straight and she’d snort and say, yeah I figured in junior year of high school, and I just stopped and stared and her–I no longer liked this girl. We had gone to separate colleges and it had been years since I thought about her, let alone spoke to her or saw her. It had faded into something I’ll look at a little fond and a little sheepish–my first real crush!–and it’s not like I was heartbroken…

But I didn’t know.

And I wonder… if I had known, then, would things be different? Would I even have been brave enough to come out, if I had known? Would I have risked our friendship (knowing how conservative my high school was/is) and her reputation to act on that knowledge?

I don’t know.

The people who graduate from my high school, they’re not all straight. But there’s no GSA or LGBTQ club, no way to gather us together and teach us and protect us and show us, hey, there’s more out there for us. So many people don’t come out until after high school–even the ones who did “always know”–because it’s not safe and… that’s fine. It’s not their job to come out and become martyrs–it’s the job of the school to make the option safe–but it’s still…

I didn’t know, and a part of me wonders if that’s for the best.

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oakydokey:

jacksgreysays:

toalwaysbeme:

toalwaysbeme:

is there honestly anything more confusing than homophobic soulmate aus

@hyacynthbaby @tedkordisanasshole

i mean those soulmate aus where a guy is all afraid about the name on his arm bc it’s a boy’s name. like if it’s a world where everyone knows your soulmate is written on your body, like why would they be bad to two boys who’s very skin says they are to be together?? you know who writes aus like that? straight people

This! There was always something that bugged me about these kinds of AUs and I could never articulate it, but this!

Like… unless the phenomenon of soulmate-names-on-wrists is a very recent one (which, unlikely, given the usual premises) then cultures evolved around this phenomenon not the other way around.

Which means instead of two boys being together being “unnatural” or “bad,” its people who date other people who don’t match their name who are “going against what fate/god(s)/nature intended.”

Like if you very obviously have Jeff on your arm but you’re going around trying to date Annas or Megans or whatever, then clearly you are doing something wrong.

Alternatively, cultures might have evolved so that names are kept a secret–so no one can judge a person for dating people who aren’t their name–or, possibly, having a name is meant to be a platonic soulmate thing where they’re meant to be a sibling of sorts and dating them would be akin to incest… but at that point the idea that the problem is sexual orientation and not whether your names match up is baffling.

I wonder if there would be homophobes in a world where you were born with skin that literally told you that you would end up with someone of the same sex (or at least knowing the popularity of gendered names). If this world was like ours and had a lot of people who believe in an all-powerful God who created us, surely He is the one writing the names of our soulmates on our skin? And how could His plan be imperfect?

I don’t think there would be homophobes–or rather, definitely not as many as the real world and they would be going against the grain of Names Above All Else when it comes to signs from God/fate/nature so they’d be more like bizarro extremists–but there would be a movement similar to it?

Like, people who date not their Names are probably seen as worse than how conservative people in the real world view pre-marital sex and adulterers. Even though the parties involved in the relationship know the other person isn’t their Name and this is agreed to be casual (in comparison to Name relationships which might lead to obligatory marriage)… That’s probably what the homophobes of this world would be against in that world…

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toalwaysbeme:

toalwaysbeme:

is there honestly anything more confusing than homophobic soulmate aus

@hyacynthbaby @tedkordisanasshole

i mean those soulmate aus where a guy is all afraid about the name on his arm bc it’s a boy’s name. like if it’s a world where everyone knows your soulmate is written on your body, like why would they be bad to two boys who’s very skin says they are to be together?? you know who writes aus like that? straight people

This! There was always something that bugged me about these kinds of AUs and I could never articulate it, but this!

Like… unless the phenomenon of soulmate-names-on-wrists is a very recent one (which, unlikely, given the usual premises) then cultures evolved around this phenomenon not the other way around.

Which means instead of two boys being together being “unnatural” or “bad,” its people who date other people who don’t match their name who are “going against what fate/god(s)/nature intended.”

Like if you very obviously have Jeff on your arm but you’re going around trying to date Annas or Megans or whatever, then clearly you are doing something wrong.

Alternatively, cultures might have evolved so that names are kept a secret–so no one can judge a person for dating people who aren’t their name–or, possibly, having a name is meant to be a platonic soulmate thing where they’re meant to be a sibling of sorts and dating them would be akin to incest… but at that point the idea that the problem is sexual orientation and not whether your names match up is baffling.

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transeldritch:

transeldritch:

transeldritch:

anyway jokes by straight / cis people that rely on expectations of violence towards gay / trans people are Bad Content. 

(example: cis person looks at a trans person, says “god that’s unacceptable”, and the punchline is them saying “THOSE shoes with THAT skirt?” or some shit like that)

like the entirety of the joke is “haha I’m homophobic / transphobic” & the entirety of the punchline is “oops! I can’t believe you thought I was actually homophobic/transphobic!” & it’s just like ??? the entire substance of the joke relies on the person telling the joke to have the power to act violently against the audience.

i mean i wanted to make this post like a month ago but I couldn’t find the words for it & I hope I can help other people have the words to explain it, because like, for example this:

(x)

This joke relies solely on the idea that we, the audience of the joke, would see the statement “This is inappropriate. At your age, you should know better. Some things are just plain unacceptable”, and associate the word “this” with “wearing a skirt” rather than “cleaning the skirt incorrectly”. 

The punchline of the joke isn’t so much “ha ! I’m not actually transphobic!” as it is “ha! simply being and existing is dangerous for you because of people that think in the way that I tricked you into believing that I think in!”

The joke is only effective as a “joke” at all because of the expectation of violence.

THIS. THIS IS IMPORTANT.

It’s like… when people laugh when they’re relieved. They’re not laughing because the situation they just got out of was funny, it’s because it could have ended horribly.

You know those old cartoon gags where one character points a gun at another and instead of a bullet coming out it’s just a little flag that says “BANG” on it? Or it turns out to be a water gun? It’s like that. There’s a reason why it’s no longer used in cartoons anymore and why it’s such an effective horror tool (a la the Joker from Batman).

Imagine if, in a show, a girl was walking home alone at night and it cuts between her and a guy following her. So she starts to run and he runs to keep up, and just before she can get to a safe place, the guy reaches her and grabs her shoulder and turns her around–and then he holds out, oh I don’t know, her wallet or a tube of lipgloss or a packet of tissues or something, anything, it doesn’t matter, and he says “Hey, you dropped this, I was trying to return it but you just kept running.” And then “Okay, have a nice night,” and then he leaves.

And then a laugh track comes on.

You see why that would be messed up, right?

Relief isn’t a punchline. Safety isn’t something that should be played around with.