Disclaimer that by saying this I by no means mean to insult or exclude non-writers, but: Scum Villain really is a story for storytellers, huh

It's so incredibly meta - so much of it is about the way stories are told, the structures of plot and narrative logic, the way that plot drives character and character drives plot, examination of story devices that make sense in-world and how strange they look when divorced from narrative context, exploring the limits of the suspension of disbelief and the backlash when readers hit those limits and recoil, even without getting into the meditation on external pressures and the warping effect of deadlines and money on a storyteller's craft.

in scum villain the story tools (tropes, framing, character arcs, licensing) are the plot, and the plot is a tool in the story, and the author's problems are Airplane's problems and his problems are the author's problems and the main character is the reader and he brings the reader's eye into the story and his meta-knowledge becomes his greatest asset and also his greatest blindness, just the way that a self-aware reader can get more out of a story but can also by their very cynical meta-awareness block themselves from unabashed enjoyment of it

I think it's not a coincidence that so many people who have spent years writing get so hung up on this series.

#sometimes i cant believe it was mxtx’s first work

It CANNOT be her first work. It can only be her first work published to this platform/under this pseudonym. I'm convinced of it.

I definitely think she was writing before, but I would not be surprised if SVSSS was her first actual finished work - it has this raw, kind of unfiltered energy to it that calms down progressively as she polishes her craft across writing MDZS and TGCF. Anyway, truly a galaxy brain author, and if she ever publishes that fourth book about grim reapers (or let’s be real, any book), I will leap on it like a ravenous beast

Binghehe!!🥰

With the Reddit 3rd party app crackdown and the ongoing horseshit Elon Musk is pulling with "X", I realize a lot of people here might be pretty new. So I put together a quick and easy guide for using Tumblr for anyone new who might need it.

*choking gurgling blood dripping from my nose choking and gurlging on the blood pouring out of my nose*

Reviews are in! Reviews are glowingly positive! Reviews are glowing like the cloud we All Hail.

someone I follow on the bird app just announced they're starting a very exclusive private fic server because they and a bunch of other people want to talk about how much they love the fics they're reading, and as an author can I just say that a really great place to talk about a fic you love is in the comments for that fic

I understand that people are trying to create safe spaces, but as the number of comments that I get on my fics dwindles with each passing year, knowing these spaces exist where my fics are being discussed, places that I am excluded from, makes me want to write fic LESS

I mean I guess who cares, right, because if I stop writing, there's 10,000 other people that will continue...but if you participate in a fic "book club" server and you say nice things there about a fic you loved, maybe copy and paste that into a comment on AO3?

the only thing fanfic writers are asking for in return for hours of hard work is attention. please don't rob us of the one thing that we hope for when we hit "post"

-op I understand your feelings, but some things you might want to consider:

-readers need spaces away from authors - the author is going to dominate a discussion about their text while they’re in the room

-in my experience giving readers spaces away is more likely to drive comments and interaction, by keeping fandoms alive. I could sometimes tell I’d been recced somewhere, when I’d get a sudden burst of comments!

-not all authors are gonna want to host book club in their comments - comments are a place chiefly to talk the author. They really aren’t set up very well for reader to reader interaction on AO3.

i just want him to be happy and be with all of the dogs

Welp looks like I am always gonna be a die-hard fangirl of Sephiroth subsisting on crumbs of characterisation of him pre-godhood, but this is more food than I’ve gotten in a while! -Glad to see rebirth Sephiroth is still slicing and dicing dragons like an absolutely overpowered badass -don’t even ship Sephiroth/Zack but wow, some fodder was seeded in the Sephiroth as super indulgent superior officer interactions

-Hm, really like that the character models emphasise just how much taller he is than everyone else 😂 literally head and shoulders -and the sheer length of his hair

A performance review, sir???

“Such a puppy,” Rebirth writers, please

Welp looks like I am always gonna be a die-hard fangirl of Sephiroth subsisting on crumbs of characterisation of him pre-godhood, but this is more food than I’ve gotten in a while! -Glad to see rebirth Sephiroth is still slicing and dicing dragons like an absolutely overpowered badass -don’t even ship Sephiroth/Zack but wow, some fodder was seeded in the Sephiroth as super indulgent superior officer interactions

-Hm, really like that the character models emphasise just how much taller he is than everyone else 😂 literally head and shoulders -and the sheer length of his hair

A performance review, sir???

Welp looks like I am always gonna be a die-hard fangirl of Sephiroth subsisting on crumbs of characterisation of him pre-godhood, but this is more food than I’ve gotten in a while! -Glad to see rebirth Sephiroth is still slicing and dicing dragons like an absolutely overpowered badass -don’t even ship Sephiroth/Zack but wow, some fodder was seeded in the Sephiroth as super indulgent superior officer interactions

-Hm, really like that the character models emphasise just how much taller he is than everyone else 😂 literally head and shoulders -and the sheer length of his hair

I'm finally mustering up the bravery needed to ask why Mat/Rand? In all sincerity. Is it the events of EOTW where they stay by each other's side no matter what? Is it the general appeal of both characters? Why Mat/Rand instead of Rand/Perrin? Like from the moment Mat learns Rand can channel he is actively fighting against his role in the pattern and trying to run far away from Rand. Meanwhile Perrin feels the pull toward Rand and accepts it. Like Dumai's Wells!! Perrin doesn't give a fuck what the Aiel or Dobraine says, he is going after Rand even if he must go alone!! Like?? Why not Perrin/Rand??

I like exploring all types of relationships, so I’m not very picky with ships or the like lol however I’m quite partial to Cauthor and while a lot of it is that Mat is my favorite so he sees a lot more of my focus which in turn makes me look at his relationships a lot more than say Perrin whom while I love, I don’t click with the way I do Mat or Rand.

On their relationship dynamic specifically, a lot of it did stem from eye of the world, funnily enough up until the Camlyn road-trip i was super fond of Mat/Perrin cause they bicker like an old married couple, and that’s a big part of the draw of Cauthor for me as well. They both obviously care about the other but both are really stubborn about their individual concepts of what’s best for themselves and others which adds a lot of Drama which is always fun. What really sold me on them however was The Great Hunt and Shadow Rising, Rand risking himself for Mat’s safety, vouching for him, trusting Mat to make his own decisions like entering Rhuidian, fully accepting whatever reaction Mat has to him for that moment and of course CPR is a Classic fanfic trope lol. On Mat’s end we see how much he values Rand’s friendship, if he didn’t things like Rand insulting him in Shainar or disappearing on the hunt after swearing to help find the dagger wouldn’t bother him as much as it does, and well, the two of them are just really fun together in a platonic way already, even when they aren’t getting along their banter is hilarious. Mat also just kinda gives off jilted girlfriend vibes in those books, giving Rand the silent treatment, very purposefully moving his bedding away from Rand’s, getting upset when Rand doesn’t try and stop him from living etc. and his relationship with Rand’s girlfriends are good too especially Elayne.

I’m a multishipper at heart so to say, but of the non canon MLM ships in Wot, Cauthor definitely has the most fanfic potential in a similar way that Avilayne has the most for non canon WLW ships in wot. Not to say that it’s any better as a romantic relationship than a platonic one I’m quite happy with either, but I understand a romantic reading of it though I think Mat and Talmanes are woefully underrepresented lmao

Yeah, for me it's: the Caemlyn road, Rhuidian cpr moment, etc, and also a tragic fucking shortage of fic for most other m/m ships involving Rand.

This is a canon and character that is into polyamory, so I counter with Rand/Matt/Perrin, the most woefully rare, including in canon despite being teased constantly 😭 the pattern needs all three ta’veren together to win, folks!

Possibly opening up a bit of a hornet's nest here, but I'm curious:

Cannot get over the amount of the impact Wei Wuxian had on the cultivation world as a scholar.

There’s obviously his inventions.

But also,

The fact that he created the criteria???

They use his ideas so much and so often, he had such a present and lasting impact on the world, and it makes the cultivation world’s hypocrisy even more glaring considering they curse his name to that day but he’s also their most trusted source for so many things.

i very much want there to be at least one scholarly treatise that includes the line and footnote “as defined in the criteria of ferocious ghosts set by Wei Wuxian(1), which stipulates…”

1. Better known for other work

i have repeatedly asked when he did this. how.

it has to have been after the Sunshot Campaign but before he was Yiling Patriarch, since that was the only time in his life he was an adult expert but not a social pariah, and it can’t have been accepted after his death because of the ‘still.’

meaning in that window he was publishing.

he published at least one work setting standardized definitions for different kinds of undead, and everyone read it and immediately incorporated it into their curriculae because he was The Undead Guy.

this tidbit is dropped really early in the book so at that point we don’t know how short his first life was and how brief his career as a cultivator actually ran, so it really builds him up as an expert in his field whom everyone listened to.

and then it’s like. wait. back up. you didn’t live to be 25 how the heck did you establish new professional standards for your entire society.

There is the possibility that his writings were published after his death, pariah-hood and all, simply because it was all too useful? Which hilariously means either Jiang Cheng or Jin Guangyao published his work, and made sure to give him credit.

How it feels like being a Jiang disciple. Probably...

MEME FULFILLED PROPHECY

Despite being a mass of potholes and quite repetitive, PIDW is very popular, popular enough to have a community of fans. This means not only having fanart, fics and even merchandise, but also an entire culture, with fandom lore and yes, even memes.

One of those was “When Mobei-Jun gets married” it was used to indicate something that would never happen, like “when hell will freeze over” or “when pigs will fly”. It was so popular that there were even some variants, like “it happen at Mobei-Jun’s wedding” or “when Airplane marries Mobei-Jun off”

Shen Yuan really liked this meme because it was supported by canon: there had been several scenes where after a fight, Luo Binghe would look over the spoils and let his right hand man pick a boon. Despite the ever-present trembling maidens, Mobei-Jun would always pick a weapon, or in an instance an ancient relic that had once belonged to his clan. So yeah, Shen Yuan used it pretty often, once he even let it slip out IRL, but luckily no one got the reference.

He even used it once in a thread that went viral: it was a pointless debate over OP’s incorrect interpretation of an arc. Shen Yuan was clearly right, he even had quoted several chapters to prove his point and so the other user had resorted to personal insults. OP had typed something like “You are ridiculous! When will you admit that you are actually a fan of the novel and not an hater?!” To which Shen Yuan had responded with “When Mobei-Jun gets married”

Now, this should have ended the discussion in Shen Yuan’s favor: the meme usually got lots of likes regardlessly of the context, and so he would have won the debate.

But OP for reason had decided to tag Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky himself.  “Great Master Airplane, would you marry Mobei-Jun if it means getting Peerless Cucumber admitting that he likes your story?”

To everyone’s surprise the author (sleep deprived an high on caffeine and energy drinks) actually did answer “Damn, I would marry Mobei-Jun for free”.

True to his writing style Airplane dropped the bomb to never addressed it again. That comment had started another meme, although less popular than the other about Mobei-Jun having been married the whole time to the author himself and the ship AirplaneXMobei became the most popular for the character. There few fans that had written crackfics had been insufferable about it, even resurrecting the ‘I shipped X before it was cool’ format just to flex.

After transmigrating into the scum villain and masterfully avoiding the original good’s fate, Shen Yuan one day receives an invitation to a wedding, accompanied by a mission by the System that just says ‘True to your word: User must respect the vow he once made’. Shen Yuan immediately understands what this is about: he would rather jump into the Endless Abyss than do that.