Posting My Writing Always Feels As If I Threw A Stone At Someone’s Window And Ran Away

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: The Musketeers (2014) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu/Milady Clarick de Winter, Aramis & Athos & Porthos Characters: Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, Milady Clarick de Winter, de Tréville (Jean-Armand du Peyrer), Athos, Aramis, Porthos Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Politics, Established Relationship, Treville is director of the secret service, Armand and Treville are frenemies, Milady and Athos weren’t married Series: Part 2 of Mr. & Mrs. Richelieu- Washington Elite Summary:

The Richelieus are targets of assassination threats.

I get so annoyed when other women act this way towards their men. My mom died when I was 6 years old, and I spent most of my childhood raised my dad and his two older brothers. My five older siblings were off either starting families, working, in college, or in the army (there’s a large age gap) but I’d spend weekends and stuff with them. And I had aunts, other uncles, and cousins who helped out too. But day-to-day, it was me and my three old guys. They were all in their fifties at the time. I couldn’t have asked for a better childhood. Yes the loss of my mom hurt like hell, but I was surrounded by so much love. My dad always made it clear I was his world, and I was my uncles’ baby.

And the men my sisters have married are all amazing men who are great husbands and fathers. They have daily routines with their children, such as reading to them before bed every night, and just are constantly involved in their lives. And never letting my sisters feel it all falls on them. Whether cooking dinner, doing dishes, or watching all the kids so my sisters can relax and read for a few hours.

When I was fourteen, my dad died, and one of my older sisters took me in because my uncles were in bad health. My brother-in-law Bobby, I’ve known him since I was two, was an awesome mix of brother-dad, and was always there for me. He filled in where my dad couldn’t but never tried to take his place.

My fiancé is great with kids, better than I am. He knows when we eventually have children, as their father he is as equally responsible for every aspect of their welfare as I am. We must be equal partners in everything. We have discussed this in-depth multiple times because it is something we both consider immensely important. Especially for me because it’s always in my mind what would happen if I died.

Sorry I feel really strongly about this because I always hear woman talk about their men like this but I wasn’t raised around men like that. I was raised to expect more and if they don’t live up then they’re boys pretending to be men. And boys pretending to be men are not worth my time unless they are willing to make an effort to be better.

I just left my husband alone with our two children for sixteen days. I was not worried about anything regarding the house, their food, or their wellbeing. I put all the appointments in the family calendar and my husband checked it and kept them. I literally did not worry about them. I missed them, and I was sad that they missed me, but I didn’t worry about them AT ALL. I need to impress upon you all that I missed their company, but was not worried for their welfare.

I also did no meal prep. I don’t even think I went shopping right before I left.

This is not about apples and oranges. This isn’t even about my husband. This is about the fact that this is apparently WEIRD.

Another mum at my daughter’s school is leaving for ten days. She’s taking her youngest (who is a very small baby) and leaving her husband with their two girls. She has been cooking for days preparing freezer meals. She’s panicking and deputizing her six year old to remind him how to make school lunches. AND I AM APPALLED.

A) He is definitely not helpless. (He’s a doctor or something.) What gendered bullshit. B) THAT LITTLE GIRL IS NOT OLD ENOUGH TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR HER AND HER SISTER’S WELLBEING. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. C) Why is she married to this person and creating children with him if he’s this big of an idiot?

While she was laughingly recounting this, the other mums were nodding and smiling sympathetically, like oh yes, I too have my caveman at home!! Such managing required! I was the only one who was like “Dude, he’ll be fine. Literally. He will be fine.” I said it a lot. She was not convinced. She kept bringing up her older daughter. She’ll be like a little mum!

NO.

NO NO NO NO.

NO.

Straight women, don’t do this shit. It’s gross. Don’t infantilize your husbands and then expect your daughters to pick up the slack. So fucking gross. So. So. GROSS.

Stede’s all “Look at my adorable Babygirl being all wanted, so adorable, so proud.”

Last night I was hanging out with some people and the fact that ao3 won a Hugo came up and there was a mild sense of eye-rolling. No one said anything outright, and one person said they had “softened on fanfiction” lately, so all I said was “I’m very proud of my fanfiction archive and our Hugo award, thank you very much” and the conversation moved on. But in that moment, it occurred to me just how goddamn passionate I am about fanfiction. I felt myself rallying my arguments, girding my loins, ready to go into battle for fanfiction. Because, look, not everyone who paints wants to sell their paintings. Some people just want to paint along with Bob Ross or splatter something abstract on a canvass just to express their creative urges, to *make something.* Not everyone who starts a garage band is going to be the next Jimi Hendrix. The most “success” they may have is playing their cousin’s wedding for the price of free food, but they can still find fulfillment in wailing on their guitars or whatever it is the kids play these days (melodica?), having fun together and *creating something.* It’s not about success and fame and fortune. It’s about community and creativity. But, look, writing is a lonely hobby. You might be lucky enough to find a writing group that is healthy and stable, bit you know how many of those I have seen in two decades of hobby writing? One. Singular. One. And the people weren’t my types. I didn’t have much in common with them. But in fandom, hoo boy. You already have something in common with these people, you like the same dumb show and the same two idiots falling in love over and over. So it gives you a starting point. A built-in audience. And yeah, it can be hard to find a toehold, especially in a big fandom like destiel, but there is always *somebody* who will read your work. That’s not always true of original fiction. It’s a much harder sell.

People have been telling stories about their favorite characters since the dawn of civilization. Why do you think we have such a plethora of tales about the Greek gods and heros? These were our campfire tales. Before literacy, before the printing press, *everybody* was a storyteller. It’s about connection and expression.

There’s this toxic idea that if we’re good at something, we should try to make money off it. I don’t want to make money off my writing. I don’t want that kind of pressure on it. Writing is my joy and my escape from this capitalist rat wheel, and if I can do it for a group of wonderful friends who share in that joy, then by gods I’m going to.

Long live Ao3. Long live fanfiction.

unpopular opinion but i think the film and tv industries should have better labor laws even if it makes it harder or impossible to depict certain things

I don’t care if your post is about a literal nuclear war, if it contains the phrase “and you better not scroll past this” or something to that effect, I’m zooming right by

Some thoughts on storytelling.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Musketeers (2014) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu/Milady Clarick de Winter Characters: Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, Milady Clarick de Winter Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Politics, Established Relationship Summary:

Armand is overworking himself yet again. Milady is there to sort him out.