I Will Go Down with This Ship

40s, she/her, librarian by profession and by nature. I read a ridiculous amount of fanfic, and write a slightly less ridiculous amount. I'm about: Star Wars (especially Rogue One) A:tLA and the works of Jane Austen. Ships include Rebelcaptain and Zutara. I don't do ship wars or slap fights, go somehere else with that. My Fanfic Other People's Fic Other People's Art

[doramilaje]

EMOJI CHARACTER CHALLENGE

@zoesaldana sent: 😩🌧 ↳ Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

send me an emoji (or a set of emojis) and i’ll make a gifset of the character that reminds me the most of that emoji

[fictionadventurer]

Persuasion is a particularly comforting read, because it's a book where good things happen, not in spite of the bad things or as consolation for the bad things, but often because of the bad things.

Anne loses her family home, and her family moves to a city she hates instead of staying in the familiar countryside like she wanted, but being forced outside her comfort zone is good for her. She's useful to her nephews, she strengthens her friendship with the Musgroves, she makes new friends with the Harvilles and Captain Benwick. It allows Captain Wentworth to come back into her life, and that seems like a bad thing at first, but it allows her to move past the regret of the past and into a new relationship.

Louisa's injury is a terrible turn of events, but it brings Louisa and Benwick together, and allows Anne to show her true worth in a way that makes Wentworth admit his love for her.

Even Anne's great regret, her refusal of Wentworth that led to eight years of misery, turns out to be a good thing. Wentworth's disappointment made him throw himself into his career, and his lack of a wife gave him freedom to go on voyages and into battles without worrying about how it would affect a family that relied on him. Anne's rejection--his first taste of failure--gave him enough maturity to keep the money that he made, and he came home a rich man who could well support a wife. Instead of starting out married life with stress and worry over uncertain funds, they are able to wed as people who are financially stable and secure in their love for each other.

It's a deeper, richer message than just saying that good things come to those who wait, or that someday you might get enough good things in life to make up for the bad stuff. It's saying that your suffering might be the necessary step to bringing about a life that's better than you could have hoped for. And that's very comforting.

[kayartbants]

they are my favourites

i have to say, each year this fan war is brought up, it brings me closer and closer to actually shipping them

[bevsi]

something I’ve noticed in fandoms lately is a lack of… object permanence? perspective? Just reacting to each episode/chapter of something as if it’s final & whatever plot line they dislike is the status quo forever? like…… have a tiny bit of patience

I kinda understand because a lot of franchises lately have ended in shoddy and poorly thought out ways, but tbh either have some faith in your fav show or just write fanfic

[bevsi]

this combined with people reading a boatload of fanfic between seasons then coming back to the show & getting upset that their headcanons aren’t canon… disappointment is a normal feeling but I also feel like people put themselves through unnecessary stress watching shows they clearly do not like

[thenosyjournal]

Very thoughtfully wrought, and much appreciated. Maybe it's because I've been in various fandoms since the 1970s, so I'm used to a more opaque barrier between canon and fanon. It's long been a given that we fans--fen, back in the day--spent a lot more time thinking about our favorite books, movies, comics and shows. As a result, we have a different relationship to those stories and characters than the creators do. While the makers of our favorite things can have love and affection for their work, that work is a smaller part of their lives. They don't work solely on your beloved show for the rest of their careers, while it's not uncommon for a dedicated fan to be a Holmesian or a Trekkie for the rest of their LIVES. I highly recommend that fans make things. I think putting time and energy towards making comics, designing and making costumes, and so on can connect us to the stories and characters we love in a more personal and direct way, as well as to the creative process. I wish us all the best of luck and care. I've been through fandom heartbreak a number of times and understand how rough that can be. I also have met lots of people who have helped create the stories I love, and have worked alongside/for a few of them. When they're fortunate, they can still love what they made and think back on that time fondly, as part of a career. That's different than being a fan in fandom, no matter how much they love what they made.

[ilyzsue]

Zutara | First responders AU

[muffinlance]

@totally-titular bringing the tea:

#| take mild issue with this #because think katara should be the firefighter #a badass babe with a big ass hose putting fires out? #maybe because her mom died in a house fire caused by zuko's dad somehow? #and poor zuko #terrified of fire after being burned so horribly #inspired by the doctors who treated his burn #helped him regain his balance #l think he'd be the one Working as an EMT #saving up for nursing school #helping his uncle at the tea shop on the side

[skelotan]

Feel a little bad at such a sloppy comic, but it was SO busy Saturday and Sunday. What are y'all doing here

[comradekatara]

speaking of buff Zuko, my not so hot take on the movie is that whoever decided to design him that way doesn't understand the character AT ALL.

book 1 Zuko is constantly training and is ripped, and his redemption arc is reflected on his body not showing this exasperated muscularity anymore in book 3 (thinking of the dragon dance scene for example). this is in line with him getting further away from FN values - Ozai's statues show him to be (unrealistically?) muscular, and in general FN seems to put a cultural emphasis on muscularity as appearance too (so not only for strength but for show too). even Iroh doesn't escape that. so why, pray tell, does adult Zuko look like a dehydrated bodybuilder type. he IS a fighter so he's probably going to be muscular, yes, but not in the showy way they gave him. everyone is very generically thin in the adult designs (not that any important character - except Iroh - wasn't, but at least there was a little variety in bodies, that the adult designs kind of erase) but Zuko's case is simbolically egregious.

(I honestly think he shouldn't even be lean like get some fat on that man to continue with the body symbolism of him letting go of old FN values regarding the appearance a fighter should have - like, there are a lot of combat-trained athletes irl who have chub AND many of the Sun Warriors (!) are shown to have some fat! but I get that this is too advanced for most media)

oh 1000%. why is zuko a dehydrated bodybuilder why is he literally roided out ...this man is a sovereign leader so why does he look like he spends every hour of the day hitting the gym and eating nothing but protein powder..... i don't like that!! it's scary!! not my gay little prince!!! #NOTMYZUZU

the character design of laios in dungeon meshi comes to mind as a model for what a character who is clearly built but not in the scary dehydrated unhealthy bodybuilder way. it's sadly rare to see in animation, but the physically strongest people i know irl also eat a lot to maintain their caloric intake (they need energy!!!) and are far less concerned with having defined musculature than with having the strength and energy they need to perform impressive feats. there are some characters for whom a lean physique makes sense for them (sokka remaining sinewy makes sense for him, as does aang; i can't imagine mai ever developing visible muscles despite clearly being quite strong, etc.) but in the case of zuko, being strong but not horrifyingly buff is important symbolically to reflect his developing values. and i wish the same was true for how katara and toph's body types were reflected as well. katara should definitely be buff, but again, in the way an active woman in her 20s is buff, not in the way a bodybuilder is buff! she lives in a tundra she deserves a healthy layer of fat!!

but we live in an age where people cannot conceive of someone being attractive unless they are visibly starving themselves. and of course, the main priority for this movie is that the characters look "good" shirtless. a facade of "hype moments and aura" and "sexy" shirtless zuko belying an empty house, ransacked of all its treasures, boarded up and abandoned.

[sirwilliamlucasstanaccount]

Captain and Mrs Croft really are the Austen couple of all time. What do you mean they drive around recklessly in their carriage cackling as they capsize? What do you mean they stroll around Bath all day endlessly chatting and laughing and joking and gossiping? What do you mean Sophy loves a ship’s quarters over a grand hall because “as long as we could be together, nothing ever ailed me, and I never met with the smallest inconvenience”? What do you mean what do you meaaaaan?

[tokkibean]

i do not “delete sentences” when they start “hindering the plot” i COPY PASTE THEM into a SEPARATE DOC made just for keeping all my USELESS LINES that i will also NEVER USE so therefore i should JUST DELETE THEM but i DONT because id FEEL BAD if i did

[harpyharpyharpy]

You don't actually have to kill your darlings. You can just put them in the oubliette #myoubliette

[heatherfield]

[Emma] would have been too happy but for poor Harriet; but every blessing of her own seemed to involve and advance the sufferings of her friend… and it really was too much to hope even of Harriet, that she could be in love with more than three men in one year.

– Jane Austen, Emma, Volume III, Chapter XV

Bonus:

[sariahsue]

@sketchy-panda​

[carpisuns-archive]

[accinellistefanoart]

Character desing alternativo di Zuko Signore del fuoco e Katara da adulti

[astrocitosart-deactivated202304]

a very messy zutara sketch

[frederickchiltonsdivacup]

AO3 Writer Affirmations:

I do not have to reinvent the wheel every time I write fanfiction

I do not have to make every chapter's word count above 1,000 in order for it to be good

It is okay if some things don't make sense

I can write whatever I want

I am writing this shit for free

If people don't like my stuff, they can block me. If they're being mean about it, I can block them.

The most important part of writing fanfiction is having fun

Writing fanfiction is supposed to be fun

I do not have to appeal to people

This shit is fun

I am doing this all for free, and anyone who objects can go eat wet sand and worms from the sidewalk

[fictionadventurer]

Anne Elliot was living in an aristocratic world of stagnation, where everyone does things the way they've always been done. Then she had to leave that life and discovered a new, changing world, where you're not just defined by your family or your good looks but by your character and actions, and her stale, meaningless life gained color and worth and purpose. The old life is dying, but that's a good thing, because it means a new, better life can begin. That's true for both Anne Elliot and all of England--they need to let go of the old ways and embrace change so they can truly live.

That's an astonishing message to find in an author's last book. Not that Austen was very old, but people tend to be attached to the world of their youth, yet there's not a hint of lament for the lost old world in Persuasion. She saw the world changing and was excited by the new opportunities. It wasn't death, it was a chance for each individual to find a new life, and it makes me wish Austen could have had the chance to see it.

[thatscarletflycatcher]

I have been thinking a lot in recent times/years, about how often we look at Austen as a sort of monolith, but there are significant changes from novel to novel, new ideas she wants to work through, etc. Like, Mansfield Park is introspective and experimental in a way none of the other novels are! And I see Persuasion, even in its not-completely-polished form, as a novel that is both thematically and stylistically looking forward to the 20s and 30s.

[trojantoast]

"it was not a love song, it was something else more like surrendering to something and more like resting than running peace is coming" | And Love - Florence + the Machine |

it’s Zutara hours everyone!!!

(you can pry them from my cold, dead, hands)

[writingdose]

writers, instead of asking ai for help, you can always use your childhood trauma and repressed issues to help you with that fic