#-I'm not a fan of people/fandoms having a fav character be a part of a gay ship and hc-ing their other half being afab

[shuploc]

thoughts on transmasc Miguel? 👀

YESS, YESSSSS!! slams fists on table, rips shirt open, screams, bangs on chest. Transmasc Miguel is so huge, it's literally the best headcanon I've ever heard. I'm so so so on board.

I won't lie though, I have many things to say about these kinds of headcanons in general, but I'm just gonna keep it short for now and say thumbs up, transmasc miggy is a YES from me 🥰

[getsuuna]

I can't stress enough how this Fandom can be fxcking stupid so I'll take advantage of it to make a brief analysis

TikTok is back at it with being extremely gullible

people seriously believe this is Koyoharu Gotōge's official account. a quick glance would debunk it immediately, but if we wanna look into details there are mainly 3 things that are really obvious and they all piss me off SO bad:

1) they posted fanart. literal fanart, without consent, of course, and without any credits, badly cropped and filtered too. I couldn't see signatures in most of them, but I recognized some art styles and overall it's easy to spot non-official art when you also follow Ufotable's official account. from which, by the way, this fake account takes all of the content they post, then they write a silly and pseudo-cool caption and that's literally it. what's the point? one of the captions said something that quite fucking literally made me want to scream, joking about Shinobu possibly being Tengen's 4th wife because there was a pic in which their VAs were standing close....what. Gotōge would never say that???

2) they reply to fans, which isn't bad per se but let's be SO fr...and it's not even the worst part.

3) said replies include misinformation. saw them saying Masachika would be reincarnated as Sanemi's son or stepson (what the fuck) AND that Sanemi and Kanae would've been canon if Kanae didn't die, which, I'm sorry, is the fakest fucking thing I've ever read despite being a common misbelief.

I don't want to digress too much into this but imagine you're an author, you have the power over your characters and you decide to add a couple that will be doomed inevitably...you would make it canon, if it was supposed to be. you would AT LEAST make said crush remotely relevant in AT LEAST one of the two characters' arc...which it isn't. in ANY of the canon universes. the Academy is right there, the Timeskip is right there, both had Kanae alive and both don't make SaneKana canon, not even remotely. HEAVY ON THE TIMESKIP in which ObaMitsu are married, but they're canon in all the verses...Mitsuri had an actual impact on Obanai's character and even when there's silly trivia about him in databooks or even in the manga it always somehow involves Mitsuri, something that we did NOT see with Sanemi and Kanae.

now, as much as I would talk *endlessly* about this, I don't want to sound hateful to shippers, but it pisses me off that a Gotōge-wannabe is reinforcing the toxic shippers' delusions.

I would've lost my shit even if they said the same thing about my fav fanon ships, because it's FAKE.

if the author wanted them canon, they would be. there's no "if" nor "but", there was no excuse.

they clearly and luckily wanted to leave it to open interpretation

as an OC creator if I want a couple canon I simply write them in a way in which would make them canon in at least one AU 😭🙏🏻 tf

this being said please don't fall for such weird ass stuff 💔

[disinherited-dornishman]

This bullshit has been sitting in my chest since season 2 ended, so...

...can someone please, please, please explain to me why Aegon uses a real life islamophobic slur - "Goatfuckers" - famously used by US occupiers in the Middle-East against its muslim and brown population? In what fucking world does this shit make sense or is in any way okay?

THE EXPOSURE OF WESTEROS TO ESSOS IS DOMINATED BY THE CULTURAL AND COMMERCIAL IMPORTS FROM THE FREE CITIES, EACH ONE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE ADVANCED THAN WESTEROS. WHY WOULD HE EVER FUCKING ASSOCIATE THE ESSOSI WITH GOATS TO BE USING A FAMOUSLY ANTI-MUSLIM SLUR AGAINST THEM???

I'll fucking tell you why, and it's not because they're trying to make Aegon out to be an even bigger piece of shit after that hamfisted, biased fucking addition of making him a rapist. Oh no, this show doesn't get to use that cop-out. It doesn't think it's an islamophobic slur, that's the truth of this shit. The sad truth, with how normalized islamophobia has become in the west. As far as most fans and the writers themselves are concerned, he used an anti-goatherder slur (and the fact that the pluralistic people he used it against are largely brown is a coincidence, I'm sure).

I'd be surprised if they even knew the existence of Qohor or it's state religion (the Black Goat), but even if they did (be for fucking real, please) it's literally the easternmost Free City with arguably the least influence/exposure possible in Westeros.

You may ask: how do I know it's islamophobia? Why, what else could it be, dear reader, when we have esteemed writers such as Sara "we based Girlboss Rhaenys on girlboss (read: war-criminal who should be shot) Hillary Clinton" Hess on the team?

The fact is, the white-as-rice valeman are infinitely more likelier to be called goatfuckers than any brown people Westeros at large are exposed to on the regular, but the writers's own racist asses don't know that, despite having the braincells to make an actually fitting insult in season 1 by Daemon regarding his own wife from the Vale, but this would be the smallest inconsistency between the season these "professional" writers are guilty of.

I consider the worst part of all this shit to be that the fandom at large barely registers this issue, not even the show's critics it seems, relative to its other flaws. The last time I saw mention of this was at the end of season 2, and just silence after.

But really, should it be a surprise, after how disgustingly lauded Gwayne's classist and racist behavior against Criston Cole was, arguably the principal brown character in the show, and how he became an unapologetically instant fav of Team Black for it?

[demaparbat-hp]

I’m sorry, but don’t you feel bad for your fav ship cuz’ like, a lotta Zutara fans are obnoxious and hate Aang and Mai for no reason. It just, kinda ruins your ship and makes it one of most hated ships in the fandom cuz’ of them. You’re the one of the few sane Zutara fans and I’m proud of you. Stay this way through your entire journey.

Oh! Thanks! I, uh, I'm glad you believe me sane 🤭

Honestly, there are terrible people in every fandom, but those are just a loud, small minority. Most of us are just here to share our love for these characters and their world.

The ZK fandom is, sadly, very well versed in ship wars and fandom hate and...well, we all know about it.

That being said—I don't let fandom wars or toxic behaviour from fans on any "side" dictate how I enjoy the og series or ZK.

People have vastly different takes on ATLA. Some may not like Aang as a character, or Mai, or Katara, or Zuko, or Sokka—and that's okay! We all have our own ideas and our own ways to interact with canon and the Fandom.

But things get out of hand when someone sends you death threats using anonymous asks, or calls you horrible slurs, simply because you enjoy something (I am talking through personal experience here).

I support discourse. I support metas and takes and headcanons. I support those who say "Well, I understand why you like this couple/character, and I respect that, but I don't like them because..."

And that's the thing that's sometimes missing—respect.

I know what my stance is regarding ZK, and Kataang, and Maiko, and this senseless hostility. And I will always defend it, but that doesn't mean baseless insults need to be part of my vocabulary.

I can't tell anyone how to engage with fandom—and I'm not trying to! These are my own personal views on this matter, and I hope everyone understands the intention and meaning behind them.

[songjay-ay]

Yk i saw one of your posts a while ago that was like "theres a clear difference between jay fans and kai/cole ones" or Something like that and im kinds curious what u meant

U asked this so long ago but I forgot to respond better late than never tho🥲

It was about Kai and Jay fans (Cole fans are kind of in the middle of the spectrum)

Lots of Kai fans are super adamant about their fav being unproblematic from what I’ve seen. They don't like when you call him selfish, like they think he could never do anything wrong. But he has good AND bad traits. He is self centered and immature and I love that about him, he's so bland without his anger and his desire to be the best. I'd just like to see more people acknowledge this part of him, rather than focusing only on how caring he is or how protective he is. Nothing about that is interesting to me without his unhealthy traits that balance him out.

Jay fans are the complete opposite (at least the fans that don't prefer later seasons Jay, but that's an entirely different topic that I also have way too many thoughts about). They're pretty loud & proud about Jay's flaws. A lot of Jay fans (including me) are upset that wildbrain era took away his most prominent issues. His arrogance and selfishness are his appeal, and tbh I think a big part of Jay fans' enjoyment of his worst traits comes from the fact that they were taken away from him. We miss the bitchy, morally questionable Jay, back when he was actually a unique and complicated character. We want him to be who he used to be; the witty, sarcastic, and pessimistic guy that we miss so gosh dang much.

Not that it doesn't go both ways buuuut this is just what I've noticed. Actually Kai and Jay as characters are fairly similar in my opinion, regarding their flaws. It's weird how differently the fandom treats them. But I could go on and on and on so I have to force myself to stop it here😭😭 moral of the story, Kai fans highlight his positive traits, while Jay fans highlight his negative.

But also anyone can see them however they'd like and I'm not tryna force anyone to view the characters only how I view them. Idgaf really but it's just an observation

5 page essay dropping soon guys

[karenandhenwilson]

I think I figured out, at least for myself, why the 9-1-1 fandom and part of the Buddie-or-Bust side of it feels so much more toxic than ever before when I know for a fact, those demanding Buddie has to become canon and who are looking for any tiny clue to be able to say it will become canon have always been this toxic. (I mean, with the exception of some people who came into the show because with Buck being bi the show was suddenly not queerbaiting anymore--lol, it hurts even just writing this as if it were really true--and then became die-hard Buddie fans or at least pretend to be to garner enough followers and clicks to make money out of fandom. But I'm not talking about them here.)

Before Bucktommy, there was no real opposition for them in the fandom. Buck and Eddie both had other LI and those had their fans (I know for a fact there are still people now shipping Buck with Taylor or Buck with Marisol or Eddie with Shannon). But those were very few fans and they created their own little spaces in fandom places and were barely noticeable. So the Buddie-or-Bust fans were able to mostly ignore them. And there have of course also been some small fanon ships for Eddie and Buck with other people, but those are barely noticed either.

But Bucktommy? That got huge in practically an instant. Because so many people were excited for bi story line with an established character and one in Buck's circumstances (not even Buck himself). And the Bucktommy fans were loud about their support of this new canon ship. So Buddie-or-Bust fans suddenly felt threatened and became much louder in their hate for anything not Buddie. Because now, for some reason, the fans of the other ship seem to be a threat to them. And also, for the first time for any of the LI of Eddie or Buck, they made an honest effort to set up Tommy and the relationship with him as something long-term. Which the Buddie-or-Bust fans recognize just as much as the Bucktommy fans, and so they try even harder to find fault in every single thing.

And that did change something in the behavior of the die-hard Buddie fans. At times, I've been neck-deep in Ana bashing, in Shannon bashing, in Taylor bashing, in Chimney bashing, in Abby bashing, in Maddie bashing. Because I enjoy a good bashing at times. It can be very cathartic. But you know what I've never seen there? I've never seen any of those characters being called derogatory names. Or their fans being called derogatory names and, in most cases, their fans didn't retaliate to the bashing either. (Though, at least for Chimney fans they sometimes very viciously go against people even just mentioning they don't like him and it came up a couple of times that Chimney fans found derogatory names for those bashing Chimney because that group of fans also seems to be unable to avoid content bashing their fav and instead sought it out deliberately to complaint about it.)

I can't even count anymore how many derogatory names I've seen for Tommy or Bucktommy or Bucktommy fans. They seem to come up with a new name every other day. And they enjoy trumping each other in their creations and using those names to get around the boundaries others try to set for themselves by filtering out the already known names.

And I already see people coming at me with "Oh, but Bucktommy fans started it by calling us BoBs." and just: No. Once more, you get an F in reading comprehension. It's always been made very clear that BoBs stood for Buddie-or-Bust and I personally don't see anything derogatory here but also, it's always been made very clear it's a specific subset of Buddie fans who behave poorly to separate them from the Buddie fans who don't care about Bucktommy. Because those people using that term are very well aware that there are really just a couple of very loud bad apples in the Buddie side of fandom and the rest of the Buddie fans don't deserve to be lumped in with them. While, on the other hand, all Bucktommy fans are always called names as a whole.

And I think their biggest problem is not even necessarily the "threat" they perceive Bucktommy to be to their own ship, though that's clearly a big part still. Otherwise, they wouldn't come after authors and artists and other fans who once shipped and created for Buddie and are now creating for Bucktommy. And otherwise, they wouldn't tag so many Buddie fics as Bucktommy, too, in some kind of strange hope to convince Bucktommy fans to ship Buddie again. (Without noticing that all they are accomplishing is to make everyone annoyed at them. And yes, that includes those Buddie fans who don't care for Bucktommy at all because they need to curate the Buddie tag very carefully now, too.)

I think their biggest problem is this belief that their ship is only valid if it's canon.

Which is so strange. Fandom has always mostly been about ships that are very much not canon. And no one ever expected their ships to become canon in the past, as far as I know. (Except if it was promoted and then didn't happen. Looking at Sterek here.) Canon ships barely get any attention. I mean, look at all the 9-1-1 ships that are canon, including Tarlos, and how little content there is for any of them, and also how little engagement there is for this content compared to Buddie. That's always been a trend in fandom, that's not new with 9-1-1.

It's not only strange, I also think it's honestly sad for these fans. Because they have deliberately set themselves up to be disappointed and dig that hole of disappointment ever deeper. Even if Buddie should ever go canon, which I honestly don't think will happen, it won't be at all what they expect. And they'll either leave the fandom or turn on the ship they were so toxically addicted to before.

[buddiebeginz]

I had started to write something about this the other day that I never finished but in light of recent events with Lou and that part of fandom I wanted to share some thoughts.

I've been seeing B/T stans repeatedly using stuff Ryan said in the past as a way to hate on him, Buddie, Eddie, and our fandom. I personally haven't seen any Buddie fans defending Ryan's previous behavior though I find all of this rather hypocritical especially in light of the recent cameo from Lou.

Lou talks about T*mmy and his earlier eps on 911 and he totally downplayed T*mmy's bullying, racism, and homophobia. He called his behavior "teasing" and B/T stans have been vehemently defending him over it.

The thing is no one has to like Ryan or forgive him for things he's said in the past but I personally believe that people can grow and change. We shouldn't always hold past mistakes over people's heads if they take responsibility for them and prove they're willing to change. Ryan has apologized for what he said:

He's also clearly made amends with the cast because there was a time when they were all at odds with him likely over this incident. Since then though Ryan has been at Aisha's wedding and they've all hang out many times outside of work. I also think that Ryan's previous relationship played some role in how he acted in the past. I'm not saying it's an excuse just that it was a factor because if you were around in fandom then you'd know he seems very different now that he's no longer with her.

I get why some people can't ever look at Ryan the same after that happened. But for me knowing that the people who work with Ryan especially people like Aisha, Kenny, and Oliver are able to move past what he did that they clearly believe he's changed that's proof enough for me. I don't believe for one second that Oliver or Aisha would be hanging out with Ryan if they believed he was racist. That and Ryan's apology is enough for me to feel like I can still be a fan of him and his work.

But back to the B/T fandom I'm really just tired of the hate some of you all keep sending our way. You don't have to like Ryan or Buddie or Eddie (since I know some of you are harping on about the cheating storyline now) but you don't get to hate on us if we do. You like a morally grey character with an actor who is getting paid like $200 a pop to make videos where he defends some really messed up behavior of said character. Stop acting like Lou and T*mmy are perfect. Ryan isn't perfect and no one ever said he was but stop acting like you all have some morally superior high ground over there because oh T*mmy isn't a cheater and Lou isn't a racist (because you've branded Ryan as racist). Like I'm sorry but you all need to look a little closer at your favs because they've fucked up too and for as much as you accuse us of defending ours you're just as guilty if not more so in some ways.

[k-s-morgan]

TGSTLTH related

Ok so I decided to do it here cuz I don't know will AO3 allow me to write essay hahahahah 😂😂😂

I don't even know how to start this. I've been reading fics for 13 years straight, like I don't remember the period of my life where I didn't read them cuz I always have some ship active and I'm crazy BL fan. Only a small number of them can make me crazy to the point I don't wanna sleep, eat, skipping my obligations, killing the pain and your sebaciel did everything. I haven't felt like this reading fic..,maybe ever? This is totally another level of me being fascinated by some writer.

I adore sebaciel, I'm in fandom since 2016 but the biggest problem I had with their fics is that - either people go too much OOC with them orr they rush up the things between them, going quickly with sex and feelings. It bothered me so much so I was crawling for good SC fics as crazy!!

After some break with SC, I came back to ao3 and saw your long fic. I started reading it but I dropped it after 3 chapters, I got bored cuz I thought you are gonna just re-type manga and do classic thing which another people do. Quickly, I got disappointed with another one and idk how but I decided to give your fic one more chance and dear lord......that was one of the best thing I have ever read. Maybe even the best.

Like, how smart are you? What's your IQ? Your manage to explain me some things about Kuro plot which I haven't udnerstand by myself. And the way you write Sebaciel relationship. That's everything I have ever wanted. Everything. They have normal conversation and that's it, that's all I need cuz there is everything. I feel electric every time when they talk, fight, do things together, goood the little touches svbjhsdjvbvbvbvbvbsdjvhbdf. I was tense whole fic. I read it for like 10 days, abandon everything until I finished it and now I feel sad ahahhaahha. But you are really something special, cuz I always used to say that manga itself is the best fiction cuz Yana knows the best how to create good Sebaciel energy. You, next to Yana, did the best job. You kept them as they are, never broke the character, and that's what I am most grateful. Slow burn, with drama and angst, love and attention, all misunderstanding, you put all necessary spices for 5 star meal. My fav part is when Ciel told Sebastian to add slamming doors to his most dramatic moments of his life ahahahahahahhaha 😂😂 I laughed like crazy, they are so precious♥ And I really wanted kiss to happen when Ciel lied Sebastian about another demon, that was sooo svbjhsvjhjhvbdf. But okay, you know the best, I trust you fully with this♥

The fact that they are ready to kill each other before they have normal conversation about their feeling is my fetish. I am in love with toxic things. Ciel ready to throw all game just to prove Sebastian that his value is not only his soul, right after he told himself for 1000 times he needs to stay on distance..... I LOVE ITTTT!!! I also need to say that you find PERFECT balance for good plot and romance. Your games and their cases...I just don't know, deep bow for you queen🔥💯After all, you didn't retype drama ahahaha but you manage to keep it canon without changing anything but still adding your spices so it's not ordinary Kuro plot we see every day....

I just have one question. From time to time, I was like a Bard ahahhaha, so sick of their games and my head hurting me, but on a good way. I am clear about Ciel but what about Sebastian and his disgust for Ciel's nicer, soft, emotional side? I know Ciel doesn't have it a lot, but would Sebastian still be grossed out about it as he was at the beginning of a contract or not? Keeping in mind that he is more and more obsessed with a boy?

So, that's all. I don't know how to use Patreon/PayPal, but for you I'll try cuz I only have credit card and that's all I know ahhahaha, I like to keep money in my hands😂 I'm sad about the situation in your country and all under - war countries. It's not bringing any good for anyone, specially for civilians. I hope you are okay and I wish you alll the best, the good karma must hit you really quickly cuz you made one person really, really happy here♥

Looking forward how will you finish this story, have a nice day❤

PS - this is the longest comment for fic I have ever left ahhaha, it's crazy how you got me sooo hyped up bjcvsdghvbds.

Hi! Ooh, thank you so much for your amazing, wonderful essay! I can't tell you how happy it made me! I think the electricity was already started being cut off when I got it, so I could see I have some really lengthy ask, but it wouldn't load. It was the torture of the most delicious kind :D

Like you, I've been reading fics for ages now, and the moments where I find some fantastic story that won't let me sleep or work or even blink are always the happiest and the brightest spots I remember. So it's extremely flattering to know that my story has become something similar to other people.

I love writing about smart characters, but most of them are definitely smarter than me! The benefit is that since I'm writing, I can think and plan everything in advance. In real life, I only wish I were as quick-witted and inventive. Alas, the best ideas and arguments come to me when they are no longer needed.

I love slow burns, and I love characters who abhor the idea of expressing their feelings, so Ciel and Sebastian have the most perfect dynamic in my eyes. I feel like I could spend the eternity just enjoying their Gothic world with their games, arguments, plots, and so on. Them antagonizing each other only to instantly team up against the common enemy is my most favorite thing in the world.

As for your question, right now, Sebastian would be thrilled if Ciel were to show a softer and more vulnerable side - at least in relation to him. Well, a part of him would feel the automatic need to mock him for it anyway, some habits don't die easily, but Sebastian's feelings have evolved a lot, plus Ciel is cold more often than he is not. So Sebastian treasures every word of praise, every hint of appreciation and need because they are so rare - he's come to crave them, and he has memorized all known cases of them by heart.

And no worries about supporting me! I really appreciate you taking your time to leave such a fantastic review, it made my day!

[orangepanic]

I'm probably going to regret this later.

I had a good friend say to me recently that she's not reading any more books by white men. Clearly she was looking for congratulations. Instead, all I could feel was sadness.

To me, the point of pushing for diversity and representation in media is exactly that. Diversity, and not just to put points on a scoreboard or get kudos from your socially-minded friends but because you actually care about broadening your mind. For too long, too few people's perspectives and experiences have been overrepresented in history and popular culture, which limits our thinking and perpetuates the kinds of marginalization and discrimination that hurt society as a whole. We need to actively, aggressively correct that. But to me that means a process that is additive, not subtractive.

Add books to your reading list by people from different backgrounds and cultures, or that center characters who aren't like you. And "aren't like you" should be broad. Read a different genre than you'd normally pick up. Read about somebody older or younger than you, someone whose brain works differently, or someone who grew up in a different part of the country, even if they might look like you on the outside. Do this, but don't only do this to the point that reading becomes a chore or a performative action, or to the point where you're now cutting out other perspectives entirely. I hear so many sad stories these days about how little people read, and I think part of that is because there's been a push for reading as a requirement, as education, and that only certain kinds of books are okay to read because they contribute to this goal. That's such crap. Read what you want because it is fun! But then also add to that experience with new, different books. You never know what else you might like (looking at you, native Hawaiian vampire story). Growing your reading pie isn't about "no more of this" but "yes, more of that."

And the same can be said for fandom. Fandom has always been as space for people to explore different kinds of characterizations and relationships that aren't heavily reflected in popular culture. That's largely why we have transformative works. But lately I see this almost puritanical push in fandom for everything to check certain boxes when the whole point of fandom and fan creations is to make shit up. Don't see enough hairy-chested mlm werewolves on screen? Draw your favs as hairy gay werewolves who kiss! And if you've never thought about your OTP as werewolves, be open-minded enough to explore it, or to read someone else exploring it just to see how it is and stretch your brain a bit. Maybe you'll like it, or learn about werewolves. Maybe you'll hate it. Either way, support each other.

And like the books, this process should be additive. Push yourself to be open to more ships and interpretations of characters and canon. Also, curate your fandom experience, and if you explore something and it isn't for you, that's okay. It's for somebody else. And the fact that it contains no werewolves doesn't make it wrong, or boring, or toxic, or anti-werewolf, or something you need to tell the creator not to make anymore because you want to be seen in online spaces as coming out against what is unpopular so that you, by reflection, will look popular. If you do this you're looking for the fandom equivalent of kudos for saying you'll never read a book by a white man, leaving everything from Neil Gaiman to Tolkien on the table and thinking that makes you look progressive instead of sad and small and like you're trying desperately to sit at the right table in middle school. In short, fandom isn't a zero sum game any more than reading is. And real diversity in fandom means adding in the content and perspectives and characters we're missing, both on and off-screen, (and not just the ones you like, but the ones you might not) as well as not weeding out the ones that we already have. We can have more together, not less.

[lets-try-some-writing]

Ohhh, salty asks? I'll dabble with 9, 14, and 19.

Most disliked character(s)? Why?

Sari, Russel & his Dad, and Elita-One.

I haaaaaaate Sari so much. I don't even like TFA that much, but I would have enjoyed it more if this little girl weren't present. She annoys me on a spiritual level. She does have a few moments where I vibe with her, but the annoyance overrides the comradery. I know some people will die on her hill, but I am not one of them and even her fascinating lore can't drag me from my hole in the ground.

Russel and his Dad are just annoying and it's not even their fault. They were part of a garbage show that disregarded and danced on the grave of TFP before spitting on it for good measure. It isn't THEM that bothers me necessarily, it's their characterization that murders me. I just can't enjoy them or their presence when they are treated as jokes or just get in the way.

As for Elita-One? I am genuinly sad I don't like her. I generally enjoy her in fandom and I LOVE G1 Elita with every fiber of my being. I can even appreciate Skybound Elita a great deal. But other canon versions of Elita? It's just painful. She's NEVER written well. Generally being too arrogant and stuck up for her own good (TFOne), not particularly notable (TFE), lowkey evil and not in a way I find appealing (IDW comics), or not even Elita (TFA). I just can't vibe with her even though I really really really want to.

Unpopular opinions about your fandom(s)?

This fandom is unreasonably sexual. Look, I totally get it. You love your blorbo. I love my blorbos too and I know that sexual themes/art/ideas have their place. Heck, I use the concept for comedic and angst purposes all the bloody time. But for heavens sake yall, we've got SO MUCH LORE and half the fandom is sitting over here drooling. When I use such themes, I tie it in with either a good story or unique lore. But the fandom just kinda... throws it around for funsies? Idk it just bothers me as a person who cares very deeply about things having meaning and design. Feels a lot like chugging a pixie stick when there's a ton of such themes getting thrown around. I would much prefer a more delicately devised art piece, personally.

The robots are hot, I KNOW. But goodness we've got so much else to play with here people. (Not saying this to rain on anyone's parade. Just my thoughts).

What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

Well, I suppose what I hate most would be the strange unspoken division in the fandom. Transformers, thank the stars, is a very unified fandom on almost every front. You might never run into the people I'm about to talk about. But there is a noticeable divide between two rather undefined factions. For the sake of this, I shall dub them the lore purists and the rabid fans. The lore purists get SO mad at everyone who doesn't agree with their takes, those who mess with the lore, or otherwise have views that don't match with canon content. On the opposite side of things, the rabid fans can be kind of unhinged and not in a good way at times. They can become quite vicious when it comes to other people's headcanons and preferences. Both sides fight each other and amongst themselves.

It's not particularly noticeable to newcomers, but I've seen more than a few people trying to fight each other over the net for being sympathetic toward a certain character or for having ideas and aus with 'problematic' content. Even I've been on the receiving end of the unhinged a few times for having sympathy for my fav war criminal. With that said, honestly its easy to avoid getting involved in these two sides to the fandom. Just do your thing and be polite and huzzah, everyone is really really nice.

[bg3-bitching]

"You're just bitter no one is talking about your fav."

Yeah, cuz Astarion fans won't. Let. Us.

Like, I'm on tiktok. The "Me but with Astarion" "But Astarion" "I only romance Astarion" "Oh, this is cute but I can't leave Astarion!" "Astarion loves this that the other thing" "This is so Astarion coded"

I'm shocked I haven't seen comments on random recipes that are just "Oh gosh, Astarion would've loved this potatoe soup when he was alive...now food tastes like ash in his mouth 🥺"

Then feed him an ashtray and Let Us Live.

AND WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT ANY OTHER CHARACTER THEY DERAIL YOU TO TALK ABOUT HIM!!!

Like FUCK man there's already minimal fan works for anyone besides him, you're gonna jump on my non-Ass post and make it about your fave white boy?

Listen, fandom is supposed to be collaborative. Everyone should be able to jump in and have a good time. However, there's "collaborative" and then there's "every conversation involving this piece of media MUST include the fandom's fave or else I will MAKE IT about him".

Also, they never actually collaborate. They center the focus on Ass instead of the character you were talking about. THEN when you ask them to interact with literally anything else and not make it about him, when you ask them to actually collaborate with the media they claim to be a fan of, suddenly they don't wanna talk anymore.

I have seen MULTIPLE people start BG3 and go for Ass first, only to then go "wait this dude is nothing like you said he was". Nasties are always like "he warms up to you :)", yeah because he wants you as his shield. Sure he has the potential to actually care for you, but if you just believe everything he says he never actually develops feelings for you.

They worst part is most of the time this reaction is from people who are black. They get told how great Ass is, only to meet a white man that threatens and harasses you from the get go. The cherry on top is I've also seen a few start the game not even knowing Wyll was an option. Wyll is discussed and appreciated so little they didn't even know there was a black companion.

I cannot imagine how that must feel, to have the fandom say "this evil white guy who is cruel to you is the only companion worth your time, he's more appealing than the literal Prince Charming companion who's black".

Something something "whiteness is seen as inherently attractive, innocent, and valuable" something something "blackness is seen as unattractive, corrupt, and disposable"

[desertfangs]

I haven't yet read the books (there's so many!) I've only watched the iwtv movie and TV show and I love Claudia in both but I've had people tell me in the books she's awful and considered to be one of the series villains. Idc about spoilers I just wanna know how true that is bc I dunno if I'd want to read that lol

Hi anon! I was excited to see your ask this morning because I'm gonna tell you something: Claudia was one of my first favorite characters in the series and her death devastated me. Louis was my first fav (understandable, he's literally the protagonist of the first book, we're meant to sympathize with him!) and when he lost Claudia and became numb in his grief, I related. I hated Armand for what happened to Claudia and I held a grudge for a long time.

Anyhow, I can't speak to the show so much as I've only seen season 1, but if you like the 94 movie, you will probably like the novel Interview with the Vampire. It's a pretty close adaptation.

To get to the heart of your question, no, Claudia not an awful villain. Anymore than Louis or Lestat are. If anyone is a villain in IwtV, it's Armand, and even he is not a mustache-twirling evil guy.* Everyone in this series in morally gray and does terrible stuff. I emphasize that because I've been in this fandom for a long time and I've seen all kinds of arguments about who is evil and who is not, and the fact is, all of our vampires do questionable things. That's sort of the point. So it's arguable how much there even is a villain in IwtV outside of Louis' own depression and grief, but Armand probably gets that honor.

Claudia in the books was turned around the age of 5. She is a very small, doll-like child who doesn't seem to retain much, if any, memory of her human life. She is more purely a vampire than Louis or Lestat can really fathom because she lacks that humanity and a connection to humans. She's a natural hunter and killer.

She doesn't understand Louis' sentimentality for humans, and resents Lestat for withholding information she knows he has about their kind. She is a complex and fascinating woman trapped in the body of a small child to the point where even Louis, who loves her dearly, cannot really see her as an adult and struggles to accept her agency. She does manipulate both her parents, in part because they don't often see her as a capable equal, which she very much is.

She does eventually rise up to kill to Lestat out of desperation. She believes he will not let Louis go and knows she can't travel around alone, given her appearance. Lestat himself is devastated by this and by her loss, and even says later he understands why she did it. That he probably deserved it for what he'd done to her, which was trap her forever in the body of a very young child, something he admits was selfish. (And something Marius had actually warned him against doing beforehand, LOL!!)

Like in the movie and the show, she does die at the Theatre des Vampires, and Armand is more responsible for that than I've heard he is on the show (he tells Louis he couldn't have stopped it, only to later reveal he orchestrated it, which Louis knew the whole time).

She appears later in The Tale of the Body Thief mocking Lestat and acting as a sort of voice for his subconscious, but she is just his hallucination in he book. He's dealing with a lot of trauma and grief and that manifests itself as Claudia's ghost.

Where you might be hearing she's a villain is from Merrick, where both her diary and spirit appear and are... not very nice. I gotta say, I am not convinced that is actually the spirit of Claudia that gets conjured, and even if it is, it's possible she's been warped somehow. But I also haven't read that book in decades and often tend to ignore it, so I am not an expert on that score.

I hope this helps! I'm always happy to answer questions about the books! (They are my special interest, if you cannot tell.)

But I do want to say that if you are a fan of the show and curious about the books--which are very different!--I highly recommend you read at least the first few yourself. The best way to judge if you'll like the book versions of the characters and story is to experience it yourself. There's a lot of misinformation that gets passed along about the books, and a lot of misinterpretation due to that because people just repeat what they've heard without having read them. And hey, they still may not be your cup of tea, and that's totally fine! But you won't know if you don't try, you know?

Anyhow, thank you so much for the ask! 💖 Claudia is awesome and deserves more love in the book fandom, but because she dies so early on, she doesn't get as much attention sadly.

*And even when he is, we love him.

[sirenjose]

So I've been really into your analysis lately and I'm a huge fan now, wanted to ask some questions, feel free to not answer any

1- what was your favourite idv story/event to analyze?

2- your least fav of the latter?

3- are you into anything else besides idv?

4-how do you find the motivation to analyze stuff? I've tried before and it was very draining :')

Thanks for your time, hope you have a lovely day

I'm very happy to hear you're enjoying yourself despite my own low opinion about much of what I put out. I'll do my best to answer!

Hmm I always dislike picking favorites because I'm bad at picking eheh... But the ones I liked most... I honestly enjoy T&I and COA (1-5) even more than the main story. So I think I might pick... Atropos' Ropes for T&I and for COA, thats harder... 3-5 are my faves but I might pick 4 just because of how it felt it had the most story/details given than all the rest. Even the *SONG* had story. I loved it.

Least fave, eh... Orfeo and Zinaida immediately come to mind, though Orfeo I'd say was worse... COA 1 is another primarily because of how DIFFICULT it was for me to figure it out enough to put together an analysis. And I had to rewrite that thing at LEAST 3 times to the point I'm just hoping it's good enough and leaving it alone. Time of Reunion I think is another that comes to mind, mainly because I didn't appreciate how they treated Norton in there, especially in the videos (but at least those aren't canon like the in-game event was). So based on all that, I might say Orfeo if I really had to pick 1. Then rank ToR 2nd and Zinaida/COA1 3rd.

FF14 and Honkai Star Rail especially I'm playing actively these days, but I honestly like a lot of stuff. Like Persona (espeially 4), 999 aka Zero Escape, and Star Ocean Til the End of Time. Least in terms of games.

Hmm... Maybe because the 1st reason I play a game is because of the story, and gameplay is always 2nd to me. If the story and characters are good, that gets me interested. Issue with IDV is we only get bits and pieces. Really need to look deeper to really understand some of the characters. I actually only started analyzing because I challenged myself (partially out of curiosity for the answer) to see if I could prove if Norton wasn't as evil as people thought (based on all the comments I saw when I 1st joined the fandom a long while ago). From there, there was Jose who I wanted to analyze because he honestly had so many plot holes I couldn't (and still can't completely) solve. So I get the most enjoyment analyzing something that doesn't have a clear answer. Which is why I don't always post for every letter. A big part of it is I enjoy history and culture and such, so it's fun for me to learn about different foods, or time periods, or how bad the environment was for miners or sailors back in the day, etc... I dont think I have an easy answer (I can see I'm rambling). Norton I actually only began to like because I was spending so long working on my 1st analysis for him (and my perfectionism made me analyze all of Norton's essences before i could call it finished). Jose was because I love Captain Hook, and then after because of the plot holes that bothered me. Then for others, I think I enjoy making analyses to... try to sometimes change people's opinoions/beliefs. Like with Margaretha or Vera. With Edgar was because I was more interested in his story and him as a character only once I put together all his lore. Sort of goes on from there. I could ramble on but I'm going to get even more guilty. I hope this helps somewhat, but let me know if it doesn't and I'll keep going. Maybe the simple is A) I like history/culture/research, B) I like to convince people that certain characters arent as evil as they think or change beliefs I think aren't quite accurate, C) I like solving puzzles and I love story, D) I already think too hard about literally everything, and combined with my perfectionism, we get analysis

[pessimisticpigeonsworld]

you guys are so pathetic talking about Olivia “she’s painting Alicent as a conflicted character instead the bad stepmother, she’s projecting!” fucking losers and pathetic, hotd fans stop being the most insane fandom challenge 🤡 team black stans only talk about alicent this, alicent that, invent lies in twitter just to talk shit about Olivia, give it a break, she’s not responsible of the writing of the show and you guys make it seems like she personally wrote alicent like that, most of you forgot how the asoiaf behaved towards Sophie (mind you when she was just a kid) and Lena for playing Cersei. Actors are entitled to defend themselves when crazy stans attack them and look for personal excuses to “hate” and dislike them that goes beyond of “I don’t like your character” just awful but what can we expect with targ stans tbh you all got so fucking cry babies after the end of GoT

I don't think you realize that you're actually agreeing with one of my points about Olivia Cooke. I've literally already talked about how toxic fandoms go after the actors and actresses of disliked characters wrongfully twice. It's a symptom of how people struggle with separating reality from media.

Accusing me of ignoring that when I literally talked about it in my original post is ridiculous. It shows how you're not actually fucking reading what I'm saying, like all Alicent/TG stans who interact with me. What I said in my post is how I disagree with Olivia's interpretation of her character and how it seems like her fear of the earlier issue is impacting how she wants to portray Alicent.

I know she didn't write Alicent and that she didn't have any influence on that. Do you know why I know she has no control over that? Because she outright contradicts the writing choices Condal and Hess made and talk about. The most obvious one is how she said she "refused to play Alicent as a woman for Trump" when that's how she was written and Condal literally said that's how she is. I'm criticizing how she clearly doesn't like how her character is written but still tries to constantly defend her by refusing to acknowledge the parts she doesn't like.

You literally just word vomited into my inbox, you don't make an actual argument. You don't want me to criticize your fav or the actress who plays her, but you're not trying to defend the points I make. It's ridiculous and pathetic.

Also I've literally never seen people complaining about Alicent being "conflicted". Our issue is actually how Alicent was written by Condal and Hess to be inconsistent, hypocritical, and a constant victim despite being one of the most powerful people in the show. If you look on my page, literally all of my complaints about the writing are focused on the actual writers. You're arguing with your imagination, which probably explains why you're not making any actual points other than "how dare you criticize her 😡".

You know, you're coming across as the "crybaby" in this scenario, since you're just crying in my inbox and ignoring what I'm saying. You complaining about Dany and Targaryen stans being upset with GOT is very ironic, since Alicent stans are the one of the most sensitive group in this fandom (case in point).

Olivia Cooke is a person, she's fallible and it's totally fair and allowable to criticize her. You're right, she shouldn't be hated and harassed, but that doesn't mean she's perfect and above messing up. You just hate anything connected to Alicent being criticized and it very much shows. Stop projecting your obsession onto TB stans, it's annoying and just plain wrong, you'd know this if you actually looked at what people actually say instead of living in your delusional world.

[esther-dot]

Yeah I think part of the reason why the fandom is so vehemently against Jonsa is because most of the Jonsa shippers (the one who makes predictions, theorizing, analysis, etc) also support other unpopular theories such as Dark D*ny and that T*rion and the Starks will be enemies and other things that goes against the popular theories and reading kf the series.

I don't really have a solid opinion on how the story might go (besides that D*ny will never get the IT) but I think this all really shows that Jonsas in general just have a much different way of reading the series and understanding the themes and lessons GRRM put in the story than the rest of the fandom. They're the ones who GET what GRRM meant when he said he's a 'realistic romantic'. And they take GRRM's writing of punishing violence seriously and understand which characters will be the heroes in the end (hint: its not T*rion or the person who BURNED ALIVE A SLAVE IN THE FIRST BOOK)

This is why, regardless of how the story will end, I'll always support the Jonsa part of the fandom's theories, because they offer such a fresh and interesting look and insight into ASOIAF that you're not gonna get in the mainstream part of the fandom

(about this ask)

hint: its not T*rion or the person who BURNED ALIVE A SLAVE IN THE FIRST BOOK

Dany burning a rape survivor, a woman she took as a slave, alive, in calm, deliberate fashion really is a horrific scene. It says something awful about the fandom that if you conclude that’s saying something bad about Dany, you’re an outcast. I also think Dark Dany is much more obvious than King Bran which has been confirmed to be from Martin? So I truly do not understand the outrage at this point. I definitely think that's why many people hate Jonsas, but like, we didn't write that scene, we didn't make Dany use forced labor or make money from slavery, we didn't write her allowing the slaughter of teens, we didn't make her decide to conquer a continent. We're just saying it means something that Martin did!

From what I’ve seen, Tyrion was a huge favorite for book fans, Dany was far and away the most popular show character, Arya was popular with fans of both, so Sansa was just, kinda screwed by being at odds with them and for as long as I’ve been active, it’s an uphill battle for people to try to present a different reading on her. People wanted to vilify her to defend their fav and that means taking the worst perception of her rather than considering what is actually being said in her story, and Jonsas very much do take a totally different perspective on her. I find most, not all, but much of the hate comes from people who dislike her.

I'm with you though, despite what it means to be open about unpopular interpretations and theories, I prefer the Jonsa way of reading the story, our spec and fandom. I never would have gotten involved in fandom at all if it weren’t for Jonsas and their interpretations!

[slankyyy-revs-the-world]

While sifting through my dms with oomf, I found I shared my Gautier-Brainrot™ essay. Figured why not repost it on my new blog since my old one got nuked. This is going to be divided in two parts, this is Part 1 cus tumblr just??? wont let me post the entire essay for Some reason. Here's the sparknotes version of my 1k word ramble above the cut:

Miklan-Stans and Sylvain-Stans ironically share the same issue of blaming Matthias on everything just to woobify their fav Gautier-Man because it's cleans up the messy family of House Gautier into clean boxes.

I can't exactly fault Gautier-fanon for making Matthias into a really abusive terrible dad because in base Houses; he doesn't even have a name, Margrave Gautier is only a vague concept. Post-Hopes, Matthias was characterized and recontextualized—a lot of fans tend to ignore the nuances Hopes gave just to default him into abusive dad ever

Matthias is a deeply interesting character; he's a character so deeply defined by loss, yet who held such high ambitions as he believed in Lambert's future and legitimately tried brokering peace with Sreng. He cares deeply about his sons and grieves for them, but because of how jaded he's become, he's always failing to ever express that to them

Same criticism I have with Matthias fanon I have with Miklan. Disclaimer: Miklan had agency with his actions, I'm not pretending like he's a hapless victim—the two extremes around his character are extremes I dont like (Miklan was a total victim guys!!!! vs Miklan was a totally evil person guys!!!)

The more content Hopes gave us about the Gautier's is way more compelling than the scraps we got from Houses actually.

Addendum: with the Miklan-Stans and Sylvain- Stans, of fucking course most woobiefication always share the same take of 'Let's blame Matthias for everything because he is the sole root of my Gautier Blorbo's mental anguish hundred-fold!!!!'. Which that's just really boring honestly because it cleans up the very messy family situation of House Gautier into nice clean boxes; people say that they love messy and complex families in media but then immediately jump to make the one character the villain while everyone else was hapless victim of circumstance. I'm more lenient with fanon during the 3Houses era since at the time, the game didn't even give Margrave Gautier a name, he was at most a vague concept left up to fill the blanks. When Hopes came out and we got more Matthias characterization and context for the situation of Gautier-Sreng, sucks that people chucked it all out of the window to just make the flattest interpretations ever. Which sucks because I absolutely adore Matthias as well (how Gautier enjoyers look when I roll up loving ALL Gautiers that is not just Sylvain) and he gets cartoonishly flattened to be this horrible awful abusive father in a Post-Hopes fandom. Matthias is a man destroyed by loss; who believed in the same starry-eyed future that Lambert did, who tried to bring that future to fruition. Even after he lost not just the love of his life but his second unborn child in a violent raid by Sreng forces, Matthias still tried to broker peace with Sreng (methods of brokering peace were dubious since he brought home a child political hostage). He become cold and closed off after his first wife died, doing a complete 180 in his personality from being a talkative and friendly guy to the Margrave who's fixated on ensuring the border is secured. After Lambert's death—it's clear that he gave up on ever reaching that lofty future Lambert got him to believe in. This man is deeply good to his friends, he's loyal to his country and shares a close bond with Rodrigue—but for the life of him, he cannot ever express how he truly feels to the point where Sylvain says that his true emotions/thoughts could fill a whole library. Matthias has completely closed himself off from other people, being dubbed as the Wall of Ice because of how little he lets people see of him; all to the detriment of his sons. Yet Matthias grieves, my god does he grieve deeply for Miklan—despite putting up an exterior of indifference, he wishes to avenge his death in Azure Gleam, Rodrigue comments how he holds so much regret for how Miklan turned out. He is also very aware that he has not been the greatest father, yet he cares deeply for Sylvain as well and sees so much of his younger self in him; it literally talks Rodrigue chasing after the man to get him to apologize to Sylvain. Yes, this criticism against Matthias fanon applies to Miklan content as well, same thing I said about Matthias fanon pre-Hopes era also applies here too. I'd much rather explore how House Gautier was shaped by military necessity to defend a hostile border and Matthias's grief about losing his beloved wife had helped shaped Miklan for the worse rather than taking one of those two extremes.