this is not a place of honor

the thing about having a job is i just don’t want to do it. Sorry

i would rather be doing literally anything else. to be honest and open with everyone

Wymack took two teenagers who were so afraid of coaches and older men they flinched at his presence and loved them so hard they think of him as a father

andrew and allison would’ve been too powerful if they had gotten along. they would go to the mall together and buy clothes for people who are not themselves that those people do not want and then get back to fox tower to give said people the clothes they do not want along with opinions that they also do not want. they know everyone’s business. they don’t care much about the emotional boundaries of others except yes they do. they’re mean in a way that’s fun if you fw them and very not fun if you don’t. they will be honest if you ask them if your club outfit is ugly. they will also be honest if you don’t ask them if your club outfit is ugly. they have very expensive cars in which they drive people around in silently. they are fueled by spite. they are blonde.

thinking once again about how the oft-presented idea that stories that are just okay prompt the most fanfiction isn't entirely inaccurate but fails to get at the real root cause, which is that stories that leave space in the narrative and/or the world prompt the most fanfiction (plot holes are a way to leave space, but not the only way to leave space)

in addition, i have a hypothesis that the biggest fandoms are usually based around stories that leave space in multiple ways. i think one of the most common (and most important to building a fandom) ways that space is left in a narrative is by releasing it serially. there's a reason that so many mega fandoms build up around stories where you can write what you think is going to happen next. you can see this with a lot of the huge tv fandoms but also with stuff like the mcu. another really common one is creating a huge world and/or huge cast of characters that'll never be fully explored (on purpose), leaving space for fanfiction writers to be like, that person who shows up in one scene. what's their deal?

some other ways i've thought of (not a comprehensive list, just me musing in the shower): limiting the story in setting (i.e. only see the characters at work) or time (i.e. only follow the characters through a few months of their lives) or framing device (i.e. tell the story entirely through letters or voicemail messages or conversations with one character's therapist), fail to wrap up loose ends due to cancellation, fail to wrap up loose ends due to the creator forgetting about them, plot holes and poorly developed ideas due to the creator not thinking them through, even arguably things ending in a way that doesn't make sense for the characters.

neil knowing that his distrust of wymack and his physical reactions to him are from the experiences he's had with his father but his inability to recognize the discomfort he feels around renee and betsy as something that could be connected to his mother...ive gotta put this boy in a lab for real...

Staring 😍

Art by @garnyarn on insta @yarn_garn on twitter

(note: this artist is not on tumblr but allows reposts with proper credit. visit them on insta or twitter their art is amazing!)

i love having the hubris to go 'sure i'll try that, how hard can it be' about every creative skill under the sun. jack of all trades master of shit fuck but who says you have to be a master??? maybe i want to sew a mediocre plushie and code a janky mod and write a bland song. im having fun. im in my lane. im learning and im thriving.

don’t cry okay? cheese tortellini ♥️

everyone who reblogs this i’m putting one (1) singular cheese tortellini in ur pocket

the thing about neil and jean is that i very much feel like their relationship is mirrored in andrew & aaron's relationship. the 'misplaced forever partner' vs. 'the brother who was given away.'

the way neil was abused but he was KEPT, he had a mother who gave her life to fight for him vs. jean who was sold and forgotten and abandoned, stripped of his own name and his language, who had to survive riko and the master and the complicated dynamics of being perfect court but also property, who had to navigate the nest and all its horrors and hierarchy completely alone.

aaron who was abused, who was beaten and strung along and neglected, but who his mother came back for vs. andrew who was left behind, who never had a last name, who said 'please' so much at seven he can't stand the sound of the word at 21, who was willing to carve pieces from himself for the promise of a scrap of family.

andrew and aaron made a deal and hated each other for it. jean and neil were each others partners - your failure is my failure, your success is my success. andrew, who killed aaron's mother when he found out she was beating him, to hold up his end of the deal. jean, who held neil down to be carved, but who patched him up again after.

aaron, who killed his brother's rapist. and neil who did the same

back to say that jean's "fuck what i deserve, what about what i want" is andrew's "doesn't mean i wouldn't blow you"

do you want to play substance abuse with me after work

Anyway if you see this you have to reblog and tag with a delight from ur day -- even the littlest thing counts

art will save you, being unreasonably passionate about something niche will save you, letting past sources of joy show you the way back to yourself will save you, earnestness over composure will save you, the natural world will save you, caring for something bigger than yourself will save you, daring to be seen will save you, kindness not as a whim but a principle will save you, appreciation as a practice will save you, daring to try something new will save you, grounding will save you, love will save you, one good nights sleep will save you