Got my Pillowfort
As per usual, Iâm carmineeyes over there, so gimme a poke if youâre over there.
Iâm logging out of tumblr now. Been fun, guys, hope to see you later.

pixel skylines
$LAYYYTER

blake kathryn
wallacepolsom
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
trying on a metaphor
cherry valley forever
Peter Solarz
Stranger Things
đȘŒ
Claire Keane

romaâ
macklin celebrini has autism

â
Three Goblin Art
we're not kids anymore.

if i look back, i am lost
hello vonnie

Andulka
AnasAbdin

seen from Spain
seen from Germany

seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from TĂŒrkiye

seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from Canada
seen from United States

seen from Mexico
seen from United States
seen from Ecuador

seen from India

seen from Denmark

seen from Estonia

seen from Germany
seen from Nepal
seen from United States
@carmineeyes
Got my Pillowfort
As per usual, Iâm carmineeyes over there, so gimme a poke if youâre over there.
Iâm logging out of tumblr now. Been fun, guys, hope to see you later.
THIS IS A PICTURE THAT SOMEONE TOOK WHO WORKS ON AN OIL RIG IN TEXAS. HE WANTED TO GET A SHOT OF THE LIGHTNING THAT WAS FLASHING BY. HE WAS UNAWARE OF THE TORNADO UNTIL THE LIGHTNING ILLUMINATED IT. This has been called a one-in-a-million photo; taken south of Ft. Stockton, Texas.
I really really wish I was a cat, Iâm not built for this capatalist society but I am built for sleeping 19 hours a day and knocking things over
i love cutthroat kitchen but bingewatching makes it really stand out how often alton brown refers to himself as âdaddyâ and makes contestants wear spreader bars
Iâm sorry what
you heard me
#I CANâT BELIEVE I NOW KNOW WHERE TO BUY THE EXACT FETISH GEAR THEY USE ON MY FAVORITE COOKING SHOW
@genericrevenge
OKAY BUT WHY THE FUCK ARE THEY USING SPREADER BARS ON A COOKING SHOW??!??! DOESNT THAT MAKE IT KINDA HARD TO COOK???!?
kinda, yeah
@datas-vibrating-robot-dong this seems like your speed
That logo looks familiar.
WHAT
OH MY GOD
We met Alton Brown at a show he did here - we paid the extra cash to meet him and get a blurry cellphone pic with him and have him sign a picture. He noticed my (male) companionâs pocket watch, and proceeded to order him to take it out of his pocket. It wasnât obnoxious, it was in a Dom tone that brooked no argument. So he complied. When he found out it wasnât wound, and so not working, he was deeply disappointed, and told him to do better next time.Â
If this guy isnât a Dom, Iâll eat that spreader bar.
This post just keeps going new places every reblog cycle.
RODRIGO NO
So Iâm currently enslaved employed by a cable company, and I can offer a few pointers:
Find a copy of the customer agreement online. Read it. Have the âbig cats in boxesâ YouTube video on standby so that you can renew your will to live periodically while reading it.
Focus on the sections about cancellation
Examine any terms regarding early termination fees, notice required, proration of the time between cancellation and the end of the billing period, and equipment return policies.
Send a letter requesting cancellation to your carrier via certified mail. Include the date you wish for it to be cancelled. If you are not the account holder but have power of attorney, or the account holder has died and you are managing their estate, send copies of the relevant documentation with the letter.Â
The day after, when it isnât cancelled, call back. Ask for âretentionâ or âloyaltyâ and when asked why, state that you wish to cancel.Â
Theyâll ask you why you want to cancel. Say âI donât want to discuss it, I just want to cancel my service.â (note: there are times when it pays to disclose your reasons; my company will waive all early termination fees and penalties if the account holder is being entering military deployment or a nursing home. Check their policies.)
Theyâll offer something nice. Bundles, discounts, free channels, etc. Say âas nice as that sounds, and as much as I appreciate the offer, I just need to cancel my service.â
When they deflect again, ask how to return any leased equipment. Theyâll launch into another spiel about that, thankful that you arenât making them process the cancellation. Write down the process â theyâll either tell you to bring the equipment to a local office, or theyâll state that they are sending recovery kits. If itâs the latter, ask for the address that the recovery kits return to and write it down (you want to use the recovery kit if you get one, since itâs prepaid, but if they arenât sent youâll want to be able to return the equipment yourself.)Â
After all of this has transpired, state âAs I stated in the letter sent via certified mail on [date], I am ending our contractual relationship and terminating this subscription. Has my cancellation order been processed?â
If the cancellation order has not been processed, tell them to process it. Listen to their spiel. Ask for the date that it will be terminated.
Hang up, wait thirty minutes. Call back, ask if your account is pending cancellation or not. If not, ask to be transferred to retention and ask for a supervisor. Demand that your cancellation be processed and advise them that a complaint will be filed with the FCC if it is not.Â
If more than an hour has been spent on the phone, file a complaint at FCC.gov. Forcing a customer to continue a service outside of the terms stipulated by the contract is illegal and the FCC hates it.Â
Majestic
the queer agenda, this is it, right here
When you write fan fiction for villains.
on fanfic & emotional continuity
Writing and reading fanfic is a masterclass in characterisation.Â
Consider: in order to successfully write two different âversionsâ of the same character - let alone ten, or fifty, or a hundred - you have to make an informed judgement about their core personality traits, distinguishing between the results of nature and nurture, and decide how best to replicate those conditions in a new narrative context. The character you produce has to be recognisably congruent with the canonical version, yet distinct enough to fit within a different - perhaps wildly so - story. And you physically canât accomplish this if the character in question is poorly understood, or viewed as a stereotype, or one-dimensional. Yes, you can still produce the fic, but chances are, if your interest in or knowledge of the character(s) is that shallow, youâre not going to bother in the first place.Â
Because ficwriters care about nuance, and they especially care about continuity - not just literal continuity, in the sense of corroborating established facts, but the far more important (and yet more frequently neglected) emotional continuity. Too often in film and TV canons in particular, emotional continuity is mistakenly viewed as a synonym for static characterisation, and therefore held anathema: if the character(s) donât change, then whereâs the story? But emotional continuity isnât anti-change; itâs pro-context. It means showing how the character gets from Point A to Point B as an actual journey, not just dumping them in a new location and yelling Because Reasons! while moving on to the next development. Emotional continuity requires a close reading, not just of the letter of the canon, but its spirit - the beats between the dialogue; the implications never overtly stated, but which must logically occur off-screen. As such, emotional continuity is often the first casualty of canonical forward momentum: when each new TV season demands the creation of a new challenge for the protagonists, regardless of where and how we left them last, then dealing with the consequences of whatâs already happened is automatically put on the backburner.
Fanfic does not do this.Â
Fanfic embraces the gaps in the narrative, the gracenotes in characterisation that the original story glosses, forgets or simply doesnât find time for. Thatâs not all it does, of course, but in the context of learning how to write characters, itâs vital, because it teaches ficwriters - and fic readers - the difference between rich and cardboard characters. A rich character is one whose original incarnation is detailed enough that, in order to put them in fanfic, the writer has to consider which elements of their personality are integral to their existence, which clash irreparably with the new setting, and which can be modified to fit, to say nothing of how this adapted version works with other similarly adapted characters. A cardboard character, by contrast, boasts so few original or distinct attributes that the ficwriter has to invent them almost out of whole cloth. Note, please, that attributes are not necessarily synonymous with details in this context: we might know a characterâs favourite song and their number of siblings, but if this information gives us no actual insight into them as a person, then itâs only window-dressing. By the same token, we might know very few concrete facts about a character, but still have an incredibly well-developed sense of their personhood on the basis of their actions.Â
The fact that ficwriters en masse - or even the same ficwriter in different AUs - can produce multiple contradictory yet still fundamentally believable incarnations of the same person is a testament to their understanding of characterisation, emotional continuity and narrative.Â
So I was reading this rumination on fanfic and I was thinking about something @involuntaryorange once talked to me about, about fanfic being its own genre, and something about this way of thinking really rocked my world? Because for a long time I have thought like a lawyer, and I have defined fanfiction as âfiction using characters that originated elsewhere,â or something like that. And now I feel likeâŠfanfiction has nothing to do with using other peopleâs characters, itâs just a character-driven *genre* that is so character-driven that it can be more effective to use other peopleâs characters because then we can really get the impact of the storytellerâs message but I feel like it could also be not using other peopleâs characters, just a more character-driven story. Like, I feel like my original stuffâthe novellas I have up on AO3, the draft I just finishedâare probably really fanfiction, even though theyâre original, because theyâre hitting fanfic beats. And my frustration with getting original stuff published has been, all along, that Iâm calling it a genre it really isnât.Â
And this is why many people who discover fic stop reading other stuff. Once you find the genre you prefer, you tend to read a lot in that genre. Some people love mysteries, some people love high-fantasy. Saying you love âficâ really means you love this character-driven genre.Â
So when I hear people be dismissive of fic I used to think, Are they just not reading the good fic? Maybe I need to put the good fic in front of them? But I think it turns out that fanfiction is a genre that is so entirely character-focused that it actually feels weird and different, because most of our fiction is not that character-focused.Â
It turns out, when I think about it, I am simply a character-based consumer of pop culture. I will read and watch almost anything but the stuff thatâs going to stick with me is because I fall for a particular character. This is why once a show falters and disagrees with my view of the character, I canât just, like, push past it, because the show *was* the character for me.Â
Right now my big thing is the Juno Steel stories, and I know that theyâre doing all this genre stuff and they have mysteries and thereâs sci-fi and meanwhile Iâm just like, âOkay, whatever, I donât care about that, JUNO STEEL IS THE BEST AND I WANT TO JUST ROLL AROUND IN HIS SARCASTIC, HILARIOUS, EMOTIONALLY PINING HEAD.â That is the fanfiction-genre fan in me coming out. Someone looking for sci-fi might not care about that, but Iâm the type of consumer (and I think most fic-people are) who will spend a week focusing on what one throwaway line might reveal about a characterâs state of mind. Thatâs why so many fics *focus* on those one throwaway lines. Thatâs what weâre thinking about.Â
And this is what makes coffee shop AUs so amazing. Like, you take some characters and you stick them in a coffee shop. Thatâs it. And yet I love every single one of them. Because the focus is entirely on the characters. There is no plot. The plot is they get coffee every day and fall in love. Thatâs the entire plot. And thatâs the perfect fanfic plot. Fanfic plots are almost always like that. Almost always references to other things that clue you in to where the story is going. Think of âfriends to loversâ or âenemies to loversâ or âfake relationship,â and youâre like, âYes. I love those. Give me those,â and you know itâs going to be the same plot, but thatâs okay, youâre not reading for the plot. Itâs like that Tumblr post that goes around thatâs like, âMe starting a fake relationship fic: Ooooh, do you think theyâll fall in love for real????â But youâre not reading for the suspense. Fic frees you up from having to spend effort thinking about the plot. Fic gives your brain space to focus entirely on the characters. And, especially in an age of plot-twist-heavy pop culture, that almost feels like a luxury. âCome in. Spend a little time in this characterâs head. SPEND HOURS OF YOUR LIFE READING SO MANY STORIES ABOUT THIS CHARACTERâS HEAD. Until you know them like a friend. Until you know them so well that you miss them when youâre not hanging out with them.âÂ
When that is your story, when the characters become like your friends, it makes sense that youâre freed from plot. Itâs like how many people donât really have a âplotâ to hanging out with their friends. Thereâs this huge obsession with plot, but lives donât have plots. Lives just happen. We try to shape them into plots later, but thatâs just this organizational fiction weâre imposing. Plot doesnât have to be the raison dâetre of all story-telling, and fic reminds us of that.Â
Idk, this was a lot of random rambling but Iâve been thinking about it a lot lately.Â
âfanfiction has nothing to do with using other peopleâs characters, itâs just a character-driven *genre* that is so character-driven that it can be more effective to use other peopleâs charactersâ
yes!!!! I feel like I knew this on some level but Iâve never explicitly thought about it that way. this feels right, yep. Mainstream fiction often seems very dry to me and I think this is why - it tends to skip right over stuff that would be a huge plot arc in a fanfic, if not an entire fanfic in itself. And Iâm like, âhey, wait, go back to that. Why are you skipping that? Whereâs the story?â But now I think maybe people who donât like fanfiction are going like, âwhy is there an entire fanfic about something that could have happened offscreen? Is anything interesting ever going to happen here? Whereâs the story?â
Yes! Exactly! This!!!
This crystallized for me when I taught my first class of fanfiction to non-fic-readers and they just kept being like, âBut nothing happens. Whatâs the plot?â and I was so confused, like, âWhat are you talking about? They fall in love. Thatâs the plot.â But we were, I think, talking past each other. They kept waiting for some big moment to happen, but for me the point was that the little moments were the big moments.Â
This is such an awesome conversation, but I think thereâs even another layer here that makes âficâ its own genre. And it is the plot.
Everyone whoâs experienced in reading fic has their little âtrope plotsâ we are willing to read or even prefer in order to spend time with our favorite characters. We know how itâs gonna end and we genuinely donât care, because the character is the whole point of why weâre reading. And that is unique. Thatâs just not how mainstream media publication does things.
But there are also hundreds of thousands of fics people might call âplot drivenâ and they have wonderful, intricate plots that thrill their readers.
But theyâre not at all âplot drivenâ in the same way as other mainstream genres.
The thing about âplotâ in fic is that it tends to ebb and flow naturally. Thereâs not the same high speed, race to the finish youâd get from a good action movie. Thereâs no stop and start of side plots you get in TV genre shows. The best fic plot slides from big event to restful evening to frantic activity to shared meals and squabbles and back, and it gives equal time and attention and detail to each of these things.
Like @earlgreytea68 said, âThereâs this huge obsession with plot, but lives donât have plots. Lives just happen. We try to shape them into plots later, but thatâs just this organizational fiction weâre imposing. Plot doesnât have to be the raison dâetre of all story-telling, and fic reminds us of that.â
Fic plot moves at a pace similar to the life of whatever character itâs about. Not the other way around. Thereâs a fundamental difference in prioritization in fic.
I think this only adds to the case of âficâ as its own, distinctive genre. Stylistic choices of writing that would never work in traditional, mainstream fiction novels work for novel-length fic. Fic adventures spend as much time fleshing out the little moments between romances and friendships as they do on that plot twist. The sleepy campground conversations are as important to the plot as the kidnapped princess, because thatâs how the characters are going to grow together by the end of the story. Itâs not a grace note, itâs not a side episode or an addition or a mention - itâs integral and equal.
Thatâs just accepted as fact by fic writers and readers. Itâs expected without any particular mention. And it gives a very unique flavor and pace to fic that makes a lot of mainstream stories feel like stale, off-brand wonderbread. They are missing something regular fic readers take for granted (and it isnât just the representational differences, because we all know thatâs a whole different conversation). Thereâs a fundamental difference in how âficâ is written, detailed, and paced that is built on its foundations as a âcharacter drivenâ genre. Â
And it isnât only action/adventure/mystery plots that have this difference in fic. Those âeverybodyâs human in todayâs worldâ AUs, those âfriends to loversâ slow burn stories have it too. They have a plot, but itâs the life - the grocery shopping, the dumb fights and sudden inescapable emotional blows, those moments of joy with that person you click with, managing work and family and seasons - thatâs the whole plot on its own.
And thatâs almost impossible to explain to someone who hasnât really experienced fic as a genre, whoâs used to traditional person A and person B work together/overcome differences/bond to accomplish X. In fic accomplishing X might be the beginning or the middle, not the end result of the story, and A & B continue to exist separate from X entirely. X is only relevant because of how it relates to A & B, not the other way around.
Fic is absolutely its own genre and it has a lot to do with plot. Iâve been calling this âorganic plotâ in my head for months, because I knew something felt different about writing this way, how long fic plot ebbs and grows seemingly on its own sometimes. âDual plotâ could be another option, maybe, though the character plot and life experience plots arenât really separate. Inverted plot? Hm. Iâm sure a good term will develop over time.
Excellent read, I love you all!! This also articulated extremely well for me the problems I have been having in my original writing, recently. Except now I can see it isnât a problem, Iâm just not writing in the genre I thought I ought to be writing in.Â
God, I love the âficâ genre and everyone who writes in it.
me as a writer: obsessed with being original, constantly worried that ill copy another artist by accident, i canât use that phrase i saw someone use it on may 12th, 2014 and
me as a reader: happily reads 2349460283 different versions of the exact same plot
Oh my god itâs true
Truer post does not exist.
There are two kinds of fic writers:
1. Fuck it, itâs fiction
2. Let me look up real estate listings, so I can plot out subway routes and schedules and see if this walk really is long enough for them to have this conversation.
Guess which kind I am.
3. People who are a weird mix of the above two.
Me: you know what I donât care if this doesnât quite make sense no one cares they will love it and this wonât be analysed itâs fanfic
Also me: I SWEAR if I canât find a TREE with this EXACT type of bark that Iâm imagining I WILL DIE
thatâs not what it means and you know it
Got my Pillowfort
As per usual, Iâm carmineeyes over there, so gimme a poke if youâre over there.
I donât want to say I called out of work to write fic. But I think I just called out of work to write fic
I feel like Fushigi Yuugi being popular before soulmate AUs were a thing means we lost out on a lot of interesting takes on the genre. Thereâs canonically eight people per god tied together by fate, theyâre already practically soulmates, I wanna see people play with that.
(images via axeriel)
shout out to the drag queen last night who started the show with âladies, gentlemen, and those of us who know betterâ