Art by Essi Välimäki
how odd, to watch the creative writing exercises of angry men in the comments of instagram. you noticed it first in the comments of conventionally attractive women - but then it started appearing everywhere else, too.
a young man talks about what lunch he's packing his wife. there is a little story under it, with 300 likes, fabricated from nothing. "this is pointless. if you treat her like this, she will take the lunch to her office and fuck her boss and divorce him and take all his money."
you scroll. a young woman talks about what lunch she's packing for her husband. it is always uglier when the subject of the video is a woman, you've noticed. "you sit on camera and you smile and you are cheating with the neighbor and then you're going to lie about being sexually assaulted by your husband and -"
you stop reading. it has 567 likes.
where did this even become a thing? people making up stories in their head, disgusting long-winded assumptions about intention and sexual disgrace. the evil twin of fanfiction.
like - it's just a lie. it's a lie that they are telling, baldfaced and assumptive. the undercurrent is of course misogyny, but the trouble is that they're so fucking certain. that's what makes the hairs on the back of your neck rise. there is this pervasive, inventive desire for them to be right. that they must be right. all women are cheating, lying, gold-digging bitches. no exceptions.
in the reverse, when women say i'd rather meet a bear in the woods than a strange man - men funnel in from the sides. they defend each other with a vibrance and capacity for empathy you wish applied to like, the other half of the population. a man could be saying i absolutely did kill her and these creatures in the comments would rise up with king shit. she made it happen. they love each other to the point of this sick strange self-gaslighting, a fervent and unhinged cognitive distortion. all men are good, wonderful people. all women are terrible, conniving, seditious, annoying.
and when did it become okay to just, like... say that kind of a thing? at one point, you find yourself typing out a witty and snappy retort. why are you spending so much time fantasizing about other people babe. but as you stare at the screen, some part of you pictures this man in public, saying these things to your face. his soapbox, high and mighty. his mirrored sunglasses and his empty life: tired and lonely.
what a sad and horrible loop he's locked in. he is terrible to women, so women don't talk to him, which he uses as an excuse to act more terribly. he blames this "failure" on women, rather than on his behavior. it cannot be that he is the problem (that the solution is to just put his ego down and accept women as equals) - he begins to invent a sculpture to replace the flesh frame of each person he sees.
it isn't just a woman posing on the beach. it is now a slut with a desperate need for each person to crave her body. it isn't just a woman yelping with surprise during something upsetting. it is a hysterical, unhelpful cretin who will probably make things worse instead of better. it isn't a person.
someone's very sweet wedding vows get moderate attention on instagram. in the comments, a man says good fucking luck you'll waste your life providing while behind your back she's absolutely fucking the best man. this will be so cringe in 2 months when she walks out on you.
you think - is that what you need to be true? is that what you need to happen, for the world to make sense to you?
So are we ready to admit the world is doomed yet <3
No cuz I'm not a little bitch
I've been going around asking my favorite writers for fics recs so now it's your turn: Got any fic recs?
I had to stare at this message for like a solid minute before it computed in my brain that you called me one of your favorite writers that’s so amazing oh my goodness thank you so much!
Here’s my first recommendation: Go to ao3 and just go into the miraculous ladybug tag and read whatever you find there. Seriously.
This fandom produces some amazing content and I can’t keep up with it all. Sometimes I just go into the tag and pick a random work and I love it almost every time. (The times I don’t love it are the times I pick angst and want to die, but there’s love there too. Just a pained love.)
Other than that, I’m just going to recommend any fic by any of these people (or all of them, really), but especially:
things left unsaid by @tei-gen (Ao3 profile)
Do you want your heart ripped out? Do you want to cry yourself to sleep every night? Read Tei’s stuff and despair. For such a nice person, the stories are incredibly cruel. (In the best way possible.)
weaving red strings and he’s not a siren by @miraculousturtle (Ao3 profile)
Ana has immaculate detail and beautiful descriptive prose, and also is just really really nice and I appreciate her existence. I picked two of the more fluffy pieces of hers (the second is a mermaid AU and is fantastic), but she will also rip your heart out and stomp on it, if you like that kind of thing.
Pickup Lines by @mirthalia (Ao3 profile)
First, Mirth is a delight. Second, this fic is everything I’ve ever wanted. Please read it. It’s short and sweet and perfect. Mirth hasn’t published anything else yet but you can bet it’ll be great when it comes.
I know you by @ladybugandblackcat (Ao3 profile)
John hates the attention but he really deserves it. Do you like disney songs? Do you like cute fluff? You’ll like this. (And in the future, he will kill you with angst. But not in this story. I’ve been promised.)
Tikki’s New Friend by @panda013 (Ao3 profile)
I died like 5 times reading this fic, it was so cute. Amanda is a super talented individual and it’s almost impossible to pick a favorite of her works. Everything is just gorgeous.
check yes juliet by @clairelutra (Ao3 profile)
This was the first fic I read in this fandom, I believe, and I regret nothing. I don’t know clairelutra as well as the rest of the people on this list but I’ve talked to her a few times and not only is she amazing, her writing is as well.
Secret Santa by @thelastpilot (ff.net profile)
If you’ve read any fics in this fandom you probably know Pilot, but just in case you don’t, read this and everything else Pilot has written. It’s fluffy and amazing and you will thank me.
The fact Rogue didn't push the button while kissing the Doctor. It would have been so easy. In character for what the Doctor might expect even. He's the Rogue after all, the classic morally dubious role.
I think with that quiet 'no' the Doctor was expecting him, maybe even asking him, to take the decision out of their hands. To press it for them. Then they'd both have the fresh pain of losing someone and could go on to travel together.
But the Rogue isn't into cosplay, he isn't playing a character. So instead he puts the Doctor's happiness with Ruby above his own life, and above a life with the Doctor. He pushes Ruby out of the way, taking the controller with him so the Doctor still doesn't have to choose. That sad, cheeky, rogue-ish grin as he does it. Its just so unbearably sweet
Millie Gibson as RUBY SUNDAY Doctor Who (2005—) | 14.06 "Rogue" Costume Appreciation for Anon
Has anyone done this yet?
on identity
ojibwe / noah kahan / richard siken / unknown / elliott smith / oamisoa / cameron awkward-rich
@mist-fire is usually where I reside, though it's mainly Doctor Who
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