sophie @sophie-the-duchess - Tumblr Blog

I didn't feel it was appropriate for me to add to that last post but it's related so - Please, for the love of God, learn to manage your own emotional responses to media on your own.

Maybe it's because I started reading horror at a young age, but I learned pretty quickly that if a book is too heavy or graphic or whatever for you, it's alright to recognise those feelings, and either stop reading it entirely, or take a break. Do something that helps you calm down. Re-engage with comfort media. Give your pets a lil kiss.

It's not a moral failing on the author for a book to upset you. It's not a moral failing for you to be upset. It's just a fact of life we all have to learn to cope with.

madfishmonger

If you don’t know how to handle discomfort in a book you’re not going to enjoy Life™.

Maybe this sounds dismissive to you but stop for a moment and think about it. If you’re losing your mind at a minor inconvenience, a serious incident will destroy you. I had to learn to triage my emotions by severity, and it made my anxiety far more manageable and given the pile of shit life has handed me lately and I’m still here it seems to have worked.

rederiswrites

I don't know yet how to clearly express this but this is something I think about from a different angle: young children. Who, obviously, become adults, so it's still directly related.

So many parents I've encountered, when discussing what media they show their children, have this standard: if it upsets the child, they weren't ready for it. Ah, they cried watching the Lion King, so I should have waited until they were older. It's SO STRANGE to me and I'm at a loss to know when we got like this. You are supposed to cry watching the Lion King. I do.

One Crazy Summer is supposed to upset you and challenge you, shock you and make you angry. When we were reading it, and the kids needed extra time to process something, we'd just pause and either discuss it or just wait until we could all collect ourselves again, and then continue. My son struggled with the subject of anti-black racism for weeks afterwards. I took that as a sign that he HAD been old enough to grapple with the themes of the book, and connected well.

I think the cultural tendency to shield children from any painful emotion a piece of media might create leads pretty obviously and directly to the stuff discussed above. The ability to process, discuss, and analyze media, or just to sit with your pain and then collect yourself and move past it, is a skill and must be practiced.

justlookatthosesausages

Ah, yes, it's all coming together

benthelastskywalker

1. People are allowed to like whatever ships they want. Liking a problematic fictional relationship isn’t going to hurt anyone in real life.

2. People like these types of ships because there’s something appealing about someone seeing you at your absolute worst and still loving you anyway.

3. Giving a villain a sympathetic back ground isn’t about justifying their actions but about making the audience sympathize with them and realize how easily we all could turn into those people if we had lived under the same circumstances.

4. Tag your posts properly! Would you want to see a reylo post pop up in the anti-Reylo tag? No? Then afford us the same curtesy!

daggerlove

one of my absolute favorite things about Loki and Sylvie is how they meet and then they just - can’t stop touching each other at any given moment

it doesn’t matter whether the touch is initiated by Loki

or whether it’s Sylvie who initiates it

these two are always, always finding a way to touch one another

when they’re saving each other

or not. for example after alioth had been tamed and they still strolled towards the citadel holding hands.

or how they scooted closer and closer to each other under the blanket. not to mention the gentle shoulder bumps that made Sylvie’s entire face light up

or the kiss and the lingering hand caress down to his chest

and the tender neck touch during her enchantment attempt, even though she didn’t have to touch him like that

it’s a long list, but one of my favorites is probably this “yeah we’re gonna die but at least we’re gonna die looking into each other’s eyes and holding hands so I’m fine with that” moment. for them, in that very moment, even death was okay because they had each other and that was all that mattered.

no wonder “if you love me (really love me)” is their song

my favorite couple of touch starved gods who are completely mad for each other. can’t wait for season 2, these two legit won’t be able to keep their hands off each other

lluvguts

writing rant about smut lol you've been warned

not to bash on the regular tropes in fanfiction, especially the smut writers out there, but where's the reality?? I'm kinda tired of seeing characters fuck and somehow the whole experience just works out?

yes it's common to have a balance of communication and, you know, have your characters enjoy the experience or whatever, but I need to see that nitty gritty. some angsty miscommunication, the awe shit this isn't gonna work, the sheer awkwardness of two bodies in proximity though living two entirely separate lives and functions. Where's the I only decided to sleep with you because I'm horny but oh shit this person has some serious problems; Or "I can fix him" but with a good fuck instead. I'll go grab a cigarette and leave right after. Like, that's pretty messed up, right? But it's reality.

Does this make sense??? Or is this just a niche in the fanfic writing community I'm just not seeing?? Can character development really expose itself in those vulnerable situations with our characters, or do we just wanna see them fuck and be happy or something?

I guess it comes down to the writer, and what you're using the fic for.

I think the goldfinch fandom did a pretty good job at addressing how real life is, ie. knowing Boris would probably never see Theo again, and after their fanon few good fucks post-amsterdam, it's off to kitsey and new york.

And I've read some dabihawks fics that are pure filth but, it's poetic in its own twisted way. Which makes sense when you bring together two such tortured characters and expect them to be able to connect on a level so intimate.

I've only read a handful of fics (I won't tag them unless they wanted me to lol) where the authors really addressed their characters issues and, yeah, fuck, they DONT love each other enough to make the experience worthwhile, and it's all beautiful because it's fucked up.

I'm done- I'm done for now. If this didn't make sense yes it did.