the problem with ahok xiyao is that they really are fuckin in love, and great for each other, but they got into this bad position and that position only got worse over time. but if they’d just figured it out at 25 they would’ve been partners for over a decade already

there’s a lot of talk in fandom about how most conflict in fanfic could be solved by having an honest conversation and how that can make the drama in a fic feel manufactured and unnecessary... but i also think communicating is really, really hard

particularly because in order to communicate your wants and needs to others, you have to be able to communicate them to yourself. and if you’re not at peace with who you are and what you want then that’s not going to happen.

which is a problem both of them have in that fic and, to me, is a problem a lot of people have in real life

i think some of this discourse around miscommunication in narrative has less to do with not liking miscommunication as a plot device, but needing the emotional receipts to back up why the misperceptions are happening and why they’re so deep-seated

i write a lot about people who are in conversation with themselves about what they want, and communicating what you want to others in that situation is a moving target... so yeah. miscommunications happen and they hurt and they’re not... lazy writing