#Anyway this is my first outing into the md fandom

[jazz-beans]

*glares at you in Russian*

[magmythedevil]

TW: mention of grooming & sexual assault Please dont read If this topic makes your uncomfortable

Quite of a long test ahead. Sorry

Listen, i dont want to sound rude or anything, but everytime someone on the murder drone fandom (twt specifically) gets outed as a groomer, sexual predator, or Just someone who has caused harm to other people in general MD fans on twitter always turn these types of situation into a:

"LMFAO murder drone fandom suck ass!! I hate you all!!!!!! im out of here for real!!!!!"

"i love murder drones But i hate this fandom"

And ...no... Please....dont.

I know these guys are all just teenegers just like me and may or not may have good intentions when they say this, But i have an awful truth about to say about these situations;

Those groomers and sexual predators are not on the fandom bc they are interested on the show and just happen to be groomers just because. They are on the fandom bc they know murder drones Its the type of show that attracts vulnerable teenegers and kids

Stop making these type of situations into a fandom thing, bc Its something serious. These groomers are not genuine fans of the show (most of the time) theyre here to make victims

And yes, these groomers are capable o spending months building their murder drones fandom accounts just to befriends the minors on the fandom, even If theyre not even acctually interested on the show.

Im tired of seeing groomers in the fandom getting outed and then some minutes after some corny;

"lmfao, in out here, im just gonna be a normal account now lolll"

"muted all the words related to murder drones <33333"

"wait??? Thad the cool guy is a groomer??? Cant this fandom be normal for once???"

tweets pop up taking the focus away from the real problem.

Some predators using the show to make their victims doesn't automatically turns the fandom into "an awful place full of disgusting people" and its because of that generalization that these events keep repeating themselfs.

Theres some assholes and toxic people on the fandom? Yes totally. I saw toxic envy shippers trying to turn nuzi into a """pedo coded"""" ship in real time.

But, this is difference, a groomer disguising themselfs as a fandom member is not a fandom problem or drama, and doesn't automatically makes the an entire group of people bad.

If the fandom knew how to handle these types of situations Instead of making;

"block this disgusting murder drones fan!!!!!!! Loll im so tired of this fandom, in out"

posts, people should make;

"therese another predator out there, Please everyone be carefull and block all of their accounts and i feel so sorry for all the victims"

(they do make these posts, but get quickly overshadowed by the fandom focused corny ones)

Things would be so much better.

Remember the murder drones strike thing? The fandom could make a campaingh similiar to that but focused on spreading awareness about predators that use murder drones to attract kids. Its a sad truth, But only facing reality is a way to make things better

Maybe that happens bc MD is the first fandom these people have ever been at, so they don't know how to react to these type of things but trust me i have seen fandoms that are much worst who have had terrible things happening out there.

Anyways, this is all i had to say, sorry if Its kinda confusing, english is not my first language, but i hope i made a clear point here a least

[dorkynerd23]

My Problem With Vanitymoth/My Thoughts.

Hello guys!! Hope you're all doing good and well and you've been having a good and wonderful day/night. Now, this will sorta be a mixture of a critical/rant post, as this is someone I've been wanting to talk about as they're someone who's been criticized and talked about (mostly negatively) In regardless to the Murder Drones Community and I wanted to give my thoughts and opinions on this dude, as I don't think he's a very good cartoon reviewer but before I start PLEASE DON'T SEND ANY HATE!! This isn't meant for me to bash and send hate towards this dude, please don't do that shit as it's not worth it and doesn't make you any better, I just wanted to give my thoughts and criticisms about Vanity and his content, your allowed to critique him but don't send any hate. Anyways, the one I'm gonna be talking about is Vanitymoth and if you're not familiar and haven't heard of him, Vanity is basically a cartoon reviewer with about 12.8K subscribers and his first video which was uploaded back in 2022 (around the same year his channel was created) and was about Panty And Stocking and his channel wasn't as popular when he first started out and I discovered him around this time and thought his videos were decent and fine enough at the time, especially as he had a small following around the time but I honestly think it wasn't until he made his first MD video is when he really started to get more popular and I subscribed to him once he started making MD reviews as I was a huge fan around the time.

In the beginning I thought Vanity was a fine and decent enough reviewer and he seemed valid and gave some interesting points in his videos, but I started to notice some changes once he started putting out some more negative videos with one of the ones being his trashfire of a review on Lackadaisy and most of the time for his review he's just complaining and nitpicking as some stuff, (even though I do think in some aspects he can be valid) being negative most of the time, the only thing he really praises in Lackadaisy is the animation but doesn't bother really giving any more positive thoughts even though there is so much to adore and love about Lackadaisy, even if you aren't 100% familiar with the source material I think you'd still be able to follow along fine and enjoy the Pilot. But with Vanitymoth, it seems just didn't seem to understand and get the Pilot or what even the concept of a Pilot Is..the whole point of a Pilot Is to introduced you to the world, the setting where the story is taking place in and introduce the characters we'll be following along, and although Lackadaisy isn't perfect at all, no piece of media is, but I think they did a good job. Another thing Vanitymoth is that in his reviews for most of the time he thinks his opinions are the definitive answers to the direction the show is going and bashes people who actually know to have fun with the show and sees his opinions as definite facts.

He also constantly whined and complains about TADC getting more attention than MD, like he's complained about it a lot, he mentions it at some points in his "The Slow Death Of Murder Drones Fandom" and it seems he had an issue of another Glitch having another show going on that was more popular, like...you don't have to enjoy and like TADC but you don't need to put one show down to praise the other, why not enjoy both shows?? Also, the thing about the MD fanbase dying after the show ends, which I don't think will happen as the fandom has gotten bigger and popular since the Pilot's release and the show will still be rewatched and beloved by fans and others even now the show's over and just because a fandom doesn't interact 24/7 doesn't mean it's dead, that's like saying the Gravity Falls fandom died after the show ended..like the show is still popular and the fandom is still huge even years after the show's finale, besides Glitch has expressed that they wanna do more with MD in the future so we'll probably be seeing more of these characters in the near future, so that doesn't make sense and it seems Vanity only wants Glitch to favor MD only and it's just frustrating.

Now, let's discuss his MD reviews..alright so first let me started off my saying that I'm fine with being critical and being criticism and there's many things you can critique about MD as it's NOT a perfect show but as I said the thing with Vanity is that he seems so damn negative in almost all his MD reviews even though some points can be valid, but most of the time to me..his criticisms just seems in bad faith, not valid and just him pulling stuff and random theories out of nowhere to fit his own narrative. Let's point out and start on how he just doesn't understand and gets the characters in the slightest, he doesn't shy away or even try to hide in the slightest that he's got hatred for both N and Uzi, Nuzi especially as a couple..but is totally fine and ships Cyn and N together and then got pissed at the fanbase and acted like a baby because nobody liked the ship, like jesus dude..

And he's also mischaracterized the characters like most in the fandom do unfortunately but he's done it the most to both N and Uzi especially, like I said he doesn't shy away that he hates them with a burning passion. He's shown his hatered for Uzi (not even surprised in the slightest as he commissioned some hate art of Uzi getting beat up by J) and mischaracterized her and saying how her whole character is only involved around N and is blaming her just like some haters of Uzi and it's just frustrating..like UZI DIDN'T do anything wrong at all and characters can be characters on their own and have a love interest, I'm really sick and tired of all the Uzi hate is annoying as hell and frustrating, even after the finale Uzi is still getting hated and it's just so unjustified, Vanity and others need to realize that Uzi has gone through something called..."CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!" ✨💜 Y'all seem to NOT understand and get it and just wanna say certain things to make characters look worse and awful and overall don't get these characters, oh and don't get me started on his video about N's character analysis..and similar to Uzi, he doesn't understand and get N and called him "obsessive" over Uzi and and killed "Tessa" without a second thought and seems to see N as some yandere or something. And he's doing this all because he hates Nuzi, like you don't have to like this ship but acting this way and getting this mad and acting the way you do over a FUCKING ship is childish as shit, and another thing is that he literally pulled something from non-canon and called it a "pattern" because of Liam Vickers or some stuff like that and reading Vanity's so-called theories and analysis just reminds me of "Analysis so bad you don't even know what it's talking about anymore" thread over on Twitter, his video and the way he analysis N's character by ignoring his feelings and trying to paint him as this savior lunatic that's so obsessed with Uzi that he'd sacrifice the universe and loved ones just to have her is just...mischaracterization is an understatement, a straight-up bastardization of his entire personality and arc, Vanity doesn't understand or get any of these characters and gives these bad takes to make them look worse.

He's currently working on his review on the finale and I'm not looking forward to it in the slightest like as I said, I'm all for giving criticisms and you're allowed to love and be a fan of show I'm the same way, and I'm sure others are the same and don't blindly praise whatever they like 24/7 and see them as perfect, you're allowed to feel how you feel and you're valid and allowed to not like the finale. But most of the time in Vanity's videos is that it's mostly negative and he complains about almost anything, even nitpicking the smallest things and he barely discusses the positives about he reviews and uses his opinions as definite facts. It sucks because I really did enjoy and liked Vanity as a reviewer in the beginning as he did bring up some valid points and was decent as a YouTuber but as he kept on putting out more videos, getting more popular he just seemed to get more and more negative and I saw a quality drop in his videos, he's barely positive in his videos and it just makes him unpleasant and boring to watch and hard to fully enjoy his stuff.

Really hope this little rant sounded fair and was okay, I don't really do these type of posts anymore and don't wanna be mean as the intension of this post was to give some opinions on this person. Once again, this isn't me trying to send any hate to Vanity and I'll say once more, please DON'T send any hate and bother him, I just wanted to give my thoughts and opinions about him and his content as I've had some issues with his content since 2023'ish and wish he could improve as an reviewer and just be more fairer when it comes to what he reviews, along with seeing that people are allowed to enjoy and love more than one show and just because one show is getting more popular doesn't make another show any lesser, both TADC and MD are great and incredible shows made by talented and amazing people, Meta Runner is also another good (very underrated, btw) show and I know Gaslight District will probably be a great too, nobody shouldn't be holding and putting these shows against each other, bashing and praising different shows, please support all shows and indie animation as a whole. ❤️

[privatehousesanatomy]

hi this is a very controversial topic in the house md fandom i feel like and i'm going to speak on it. feel free to agree or disagree in the comments and reblogs, but truthfully i don't think anything you can say can or will change my view point.

that being said - house was never the "bad guy". is he a great guy? absolutely not. he's deeply flawed and i can understand why a lot of people hate him. it's hard to like somebody when all you're seeing is what's on the surface. he's cold, abrasive, mean, and an entire list of other words i could use to describe house but that's not the point of this post.

i can guarantee that there is not a single person on this planet that could go through even a quarter of the shit that house has gone through and still say that they're not miserable. you cannot expect someone to go through hell and not come out of it a changed person, and you cannot get upset with a person who's gone through hell and is bitter because of it.

let's start with his childhood. it's always been kinda up in the air just how abusive house's father was - the only real instances we were ever given detailing the abuse was ice baths, being made to sleep in the yard, and being given the silent treatment, which are all absolutely horrible things to do to child, however his childhood wasn't something that was ever touched on a whole lot. house even admits that there were good times, and a lot of people overlook that fact. a lot of y'all aren't willing to accept that people can have good memories of their abusers - that's how they become abusers in the first place. especially in terms of abusive relationships - there had to be good memories before the bad ones could be made. we don't know how john house was in terms of how he spoke about his son to other people. he could have described his son as his pride and joy to the general public but behind closed doors shamed house for not being more like him. having a tainted relationship with a parental figure is damaging and it's really no wonder why house grew up with such a skewed perspective on the concept of unconditional love.

chronic pain is a whole other issue. he was forced into a medical procedure against his will and regardless of whether or not it saved his life, it was still a direct violation of his bodily autonomy and to make it worse, the person that did it to him ending up abandoning him when he became too much of a burden. chronic pain is already hard enough to deal with. i deal with it myself and i completely understand why house gets the way he gets when he's in pain. to the rest of the world, they watch him function and think that the pain can't be that bad, and it's the same shit i experience in my own daily life. the pain is incredibly overstimulating at times and despite how good we might be at pretending that it's not, we're suffering inside.

another thing that doesn't help is how many people remind house on a daily basis how horrible he is and how they're worse off for knowing him. do you honestly expect him to start acting like everything is all sunshine and rainbows when people are practically telling him he's better off dead? that the world would be a better place if he wasn't in it? he is the way he is because everything in his life has proven to him that for some god forsaken reason, the universe is working against him and the only way for it to not hurt him is for him to become an isolated, antisocial individual. can't get hurt if you don't let anyone in, right?

while i'm here, i'm also going to touch on instances in the show that he gets blamed for. amber's death and chase getting stabbed were not his fault. everyone wants to sit here and blame him but there's no blame to put on him. with amber, he specifically called looking for wilson. he told amber to find wilson and send him. amber came anyway. it wasn't her fault either. it was no one's fault but the guy that drove into the bus. house risked his life to try and save amber's, and yeah she died but it wasn't his fault.

and with chase getting stabbed, that wasn't house's fault either. house might have taken the blame for it because if the blame has to be pinned on someone, might as well be him, right? but you can't blame him for either situation.

idk maybe im yapping too much and maybe none of this makes sense but it makes sense to me

[all-pacas]

hi for the "love your fandom" asks can you answer 16 and 17 pls and thank you !!

for house medical doctor :))))

16. a tiny detail in canon that you want more people to appreciate

i guess this is immediately going to come off as vaguely Political but: i love how 99% of the show is like abortions for all! give people abortions! like this is truly a great Pro Choice show (incredible for the aptly named hate crimes md): women and pregnancy and abortion actually tends to be both well handled and taken seriously. i can think of just a whole bunch of examples:

sports medicine: the wife of the patient wants to abort because she wants to donate her liver to her husband and cannot while pregnant. she makes it clear this is a wanted pregnancy, but her husband's life matters more. he is against it; house however takes it for granted that if she wants to she should.

kids: the child (!) is pregnant. she has an abortion. it isn't even discussed like "should she maybe not" nope they get rid of that fetus real fast.

lucky thirteen: the patient is pregnant, and that might be making her sick. house is like ok let's get rid of it, but 13 argues they should check if the patient wants the baby or not. the patient does not.

babies and bathwater/fetal position: not truly abortion episodes; both concern very high risk pregnancies and the struggle to keep both mother and baby alive. in both, house comes down pretty strongly on "the mother's life is more important, let's deliver that baby now." in fetal position, cuddy takes on a role of "the mom wants to try and carry the pregnancy longer to maximize her baby's changes." in neither case is abortion or carrying to term vilified, both mothers are treated sympathetically. see! the show doesn't just want to kill babies!

one day one room: a rape victim is pregnant. initially, she is firmly anti-abortion. by the end of the episode, she comes around and has one. i'd argue this is the weakest example on my little list, because the episode doesn't really make clear if she's doubling down on religion out of trauma or what changed her mind. still, the idea that getting an abortion is considered a victory. the fact that it is discussed using those words. no convenient miscarriages here! they use the word! they get rid of those fetuses!

imagine a tv show nowadays just presenting "get an abortion" not just as a positive solution but as a basic one. of the cast, cameron is actually the only one to ever express pro-life views and even she doesn't interfere with the many abortions the show handles (and she's called out for being ridiculous by house). it's so good. it's so weirdly of its time. anyway house md says abortions for all. what was i talking about

17. the thing in canon that everyone loves and that you also love

is it a cop-out to say music? like, passing afternoon has been in my head for a decade as The sad song, the Only sad song, and it wasn't until i got into the show again and saw wilson's heart that i realized why. Delicate is another one that's been on my sad vibes playlist forever, i definitely heard it first on house. Happiness???? literally my entire sad song fanfic playlist is from this damn show. that's not even mentioning how incredible you can't always get what you want / as tears go by / rolling stones in general are. like man does this show have an incredible early 2000s soundtrack. absolutely flawless.

[realbeefman]

Your tags remind me of my most personal issue about House and how contradictory it is, namely that half of the time it really understands both chronic pain along with addiction while other times it has zero clue. I became disabled with chronic pain in the middle of season six (I distinctly remember trailers for that season lmao), and on the one hand you get the regret and the anger of disaster dominoes that led to the illness in the first place and the running away from pain even emotional, but on the other you have everyone psychoanalysing that the pain didn’t change who House was when it couldn’t not, slapstick falls and this cop mentality with addiction. Anyway! That was a ramble you didn’t need! Sorry!

sticking my response under a readmore because i've responded to your ramble with a longer ramble of my own

i've been trying for ages to find a much more eloquent post someone else made about how house's cop mentality ties into his character but i can't find it. it's simply lost forever to time.

my (much less coherent) take of house's cop mentality is that his attitudes towards addiction and the way he chooses to manage his own pain can be explained in-universe as an internalization of ableist rhetoric, capitalist "i'm worthless if i can't work" mentality (5x04 birthmarks "[house's dad] saw his work as some sort of... sacred calling), and as an act of self-harm (eg. purposefully using the wrong hand for his cane, even though it's established in canon that he does experience more pain when using his cane this way and still actively chooses to do so) which is an interpretation of house that i think makes the show a lot easier to engage with in fandom/ from a character analysis pov.

but i do have to agree because the overall message the show sends on chronic pain is contradictory at best and actively ableist at worst. i really really hate that the show frames house going into withdrawl as proof that he's using vicodin to get high as if. withdrawl is not just. What Happens when you stop taking the medication you've been taking every day for years cold turkey. the s6 pain management with ibuprofen arc is my most behated arc in any medical drama possibly ever.

i think the characters psychoanalyzing away house's pain as psychosomatic is particularly insidious because ultimately i think the message the average person is going to take from it is that house's pain isn't reasonable BECAUSE it's partially psychosomatic. as if pain's origin matters? as if house isn't entitled to proper medical treatment just because his pain has a psychological component?

i know deep in my soul that at the end of the day House MD is a medical drama that is ultimately going to reflect attitudes prominent within the medical community and discuss social issues that the culture is actively discussing at the time, which is why house is constantly psychoanalyzed and the question of whether he is a "real addict" comes up over and over again. but i think the conclusions that the show comes to from there are overall very poorly thought out. surely a show that had this large of a budget could've and should've done better!

[limeinaltime]

This is in response to the recent drama that arose in the fandom recently. For context, here's the post and the response (had to borrow it from another blog because the poster has me blocked). Please read through all of it for context.

I don't usually do this, but I want to state my case on the matter. Note that I will be addressing both callout posts in this, and my contact with both ProjectAnomaly and the unnamed person who sent the DMs was limited. Putting this under a cut because I have some things to say.

Do I support the things mentioned in this post? No. Never. Not in a million years. But this is something that happened two years ago, and I never wanted to be involved in it to begin with.

For starters, let's cover the people I am in contact with.

River (now going as Lizzy) is a friend of mine and someone I've talked to ever since MD's first episode aired, and I can say for a fact that this conversation of adoption and letting them move in with them has played out. At the time, I felt hopeless and wanted to help as well, but Lizzy doesn't owe me anything. A then-13 year old doesn't owe me anything, especially if it's for something like basic empathy. That mindset is a pretty fucked-up thing to have, especially when someone comes to you for comfort. I don't think Juno's intentions were bad, but their reaction to Lizzy cutting ties was.

"I was never that close with them anyway" is a very flippant thing to say about someone you seemingly cared for enough to try and offer help.

Waayix and Belle, I didn't get into proper contact with until after this had passed, but I was aware of what was going on through what Juno and the unnamed person told me. Waayix, I had been contacted by a few times due to similar interests. Do I agree with what they did in the past? No, I don't, but I'll get to that later. I also don't think a minor should go poking around in 18+ spaces, either.

And saying that Waayix was "covering their tracks" when they deleted their own account once all of this started happening recently feels kind of hypocritical. This is a very "what were YOU doing at the devil's sacrament" kind of situation"

Waayix doesn't even say she likes it. She says she stays away from it at the point of those messages being sent. I am not defending past actions, but if someone's trying to fix a mistake, you don't just say "Yeah, they're just doing it to cover their tracks" you don't come out and admit stuff if you're trying to cover your tracks. The account was taken down, it doesn't exist anymore, Waayix expressed that they regretted it and it doesn't need to be a whole thing. There was no need to make this a thing.

I was 19 when this happened, and not active on the server where this took place, so my contact with Juno was pretty limited. I had no idea what was going on, and what I said in the post was based solely on what I knew from what I was told by the people I was messaging. I said what I thought based on what I knew and wanted nothing of it. I won't take it back, but I wish I handled it more maturely. When I learned about what happened, I was shocked and blocked Waayix and Belle for a while. I took everything Juno and the other person mentioned here said as fact, and solely based my reactions around that.

What happened was wrong and I won't take back my initial feelings. I was upset and confused because while I didn't know Belle, Waayix was someone who I had admired for their art a while, having only talked to them on sparse occasions. I blocked them because I wanted nothing to do with something I genuinely had nothing to do with. I blocked the unnamed person to tried to contact me because I didn't respond well to sudden mentions of conflict, something I regret in the present. I wish I had made myself more clear, and I wish I had told them. The reason I cut contact was because I wanted nothing to do with this, and I don't want to be connected to someone who reacts in this manner to conflict.

Time passed. The people owned up to it and I decided to give these people a second chance because I wanted to trust that this was a mistake instead of malice. If they did it again, I would've cut ties and left it behind without a second thought, accident or not. But they didn't. The incidents mentioned here never happened again. The choice I made was a conscious one, and one I made long after the incident itself died down.

You can form your own opinions on what this makes me in your eyes, but I want to put how I feel out here before everyone takes what I said in the post as the only way I feel.

I was upset at the time. I'm not anymore, and I don't like that I was used as evidence. The thoughts I had then do not line up with the thoughts I have now. I am not a good source of proof, and I don't want to be proof. I let my own opinions on them form, and I consider them friends that I can trust as of now.

I believe that people should be held accountable for their actions and that all mistakes have consequences. That's how we learn and grow as people. I believe that people are capable of remorse and changing their minds. A bad person feels no pain of their actions and an apology is just words, a good person makes active attempts to be better and push towards amends. If someone says sorry and does good on it with active attempts to be better and rectify what went wrong, then I will forgive them with time. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. But the words I said two years ago do not reflect the words I would've said now, nor should they have been used in this manner. These people have admitted to what happened, owned up to it, and have changed from who they were back then, and for that, I am willing to move on as well.

TL;DR (and I say this to both parties involved): I was upset, and said those things, but I'm not anymore and have forgiven these people and gave them a second chance. No one's obligated to do what I'm doing, but don't put these people on blast, either. Accept that people change and grow, mistakes are admitted but will not always be forgiven, and go on living.

[daily-media-ll2046]

HIII! I'M LUCILUCK!

What makes you wonder around those dark corners of Tumblr?

What makes you scroll mindlessly on this cursed app?

Well, this account is made for you to be able to find out about OTHER media than just Tumblr and YouTube and whatever other apps you use :3

And I'm talking:

Movies!

Series!

Games!

Books!

Comics! (Fancomics included)

Activities!

Music!

And very rarely, Fanfics. Mostly because I almost never read them, I mostly write. No, there won't be any advertising on my books if you don't want to read anything, but my writing blog is @luciluck2046-writing.

What makes me a trustful source?

Well I have too much free time. At least had. Now I mostly spend my time drawing, writing or talking. But that doesn't mean I don't want to share my good times with you!

I like doing anything!(Haha Serial Designation N's line) and I have relatively good tastes! I like a lot of media, though lately you might see more darker media. BUT ANYWAY.

I'll post daily a description of a specific media, since I will probably not run out of what to talk about for the next year...

There might be some media I'd talk about more often. Mostly because I am an ADHD mess possibly high on the Autism Spectrum.

FEEL FREE TO RECOMMEND ME ANYTHING! ASKS ARE ALWAYS OPEN

Some info about me:

Things such as fandoms I'm in, things I wanna get into and things I want to see out of my face.

Fandoms I'm in:

-Murder Drones (main hyperfixation)

-The Coffin Of Andy and LeyLey

-Undertale/Deltarune (secondary hyperfixation)

-Slay The Princess

-Team Fortress 2

-Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts

-Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (I only watched the anime, I still need to read the manga/comics)

-Genshin Impact

-Nimona

-Miraculous (I AM SO MUCH BEHIND. I think I watched the first 2 seasons. Fully. Several times)

-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003 (until episode 72 - all I watched as a kid)

-DC COMICS

-Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss

-TADC (NOT AS IN BRAINROT, IT'S ACTUALLY KINDA SIMILAR TO MD)

-SMG4 Community

-Disney Movies in general

-Warrior Cats (read everything from book 1-9/10. Books 1-6 were reread 3 times, I know everything at MY SOUL)

-Epic: The Musical

-The Owl House

Pending Media (things I wanna play/watch/do)

-Mouthwashing

-Arcane: League of Legends

-Gravity Falls

-Amphibia

-Hunger Games

-Steven Universe (started, never finished)

-My Little Pony (started, never finished)

Things I will probably never get into

-FNAF: the lore is too much for me to catch up on 💀💀💀

-Gacha Animation Community: I actually was part of it back in the day, but I'm never putting a step back in there. There ARE some great people in there BUT sadly it's all only 18+ stuff made by 7 years old like wtf.

[hopepaigeturner]

An Offer from an Avid Reader: Benedict, Women and the Mistress Question...

Post dedicated to @polarmarie's ask! I hope you find it interesting!

*~*~*~*~*

Something I’ve noticed while engaging within the Bridgerton fandom is the question about whether Benedict should ask the mistress question. Or how the show is going to reconcile ShowBenedict and BookBenedict’s character arcs due to their differences.

So, let’s have a look shall we?

This post is primarily about Benedict’s relationships with woman in the show and how this might mean a couple tweaks to how the plot of AOFAG is adapted. (Other aspects of his arc/journey will be addressed in another post).

The necessity for these tweaks? It is because the show has portrayed Benedict as a man who respect women regardless of their gender or station, and delights when they rebel against societal expectations rather than being intimidated or offended. Most significantly��Benedict handles rejection well.

Let’s start with women Benedict does not engage romantically with:

Eloise:

We consistently see Benedict supporting Eloise and her pursuits.

In S1 at the swings he states that she will have his “nothing but my full support and adoration” if she was Lady Whistledown. Throughout their ‘swing talks’ he does not ridicule her aspirations but listens and empathises—even in S2E8.

Then is S2 E6 when Eloise says she is attending a lecture on flower arranging and we have this lovely exchange.

Benedict 100% knows she is lying through her teeth. But does he rat her out? No, because Benedict understands that Eloise needs the space to explore herself.

Kate.

I think this is highly underappreciated within the fandom--Benedict adores Kate’s fiery nature.

Exhibit 1: Pall Mall.

Exhibit 2: Hunting scene.

Look at that glee!

This does not include his impressed expression when told that Kate shoots.

And maybe one could argue that he is delighted because Kate is dragging Anthony, but then later in the hunting scene Kate drags all the men and he is still delighted.

I want—no need—to see these two interact in S3.

Anyway. As seen with Kate and Eloise, Benedict is shown to appreciate and stan women who speak their mind and wish to be more than the societal expectations of the time.

And that does not even cover Benedict’s treatment of his previous love interests…

Madame Delacroix

Already in S1 we see how Benedict sees Madame Delacroix as more than her societal status and showing her respect and worth. When Eloise raises her suspicions about Madame Delacroix, Benedict is very quick to defend her.

“Do you think just because she [MD] has a paid occupation… that she is different, or somehow less worthy of my attention because she is not what society deems appropriate”

His obvious disappointment that Eloise would view Madame Delacroix as lesser due to her status, reflects how he values her beyond that status as well. His affection would be unwavering whether she be a Lady or a working-class woman, he sees her as more than the restrictive denominations that society has put upon her.

S1 also introduces us to a little detail—Benedict likes being bossed around. At Granville’s party he is more than happy to be led like a puppy with Madame Delacroix to Lucy Granville.

Tessa:

(a couple points overlaps with my Benedict Bridgerton emotional support animal post)

Initially, Benedict seems to be attracted to Tessa’s beauty, but upon their first meeting his first comment is about her talent not her appearance; “I must say that [her sketch] is rather good”. And when Tessa highlights his tone—“I am skilled at more than just posing naked”—he quickly restates his sincerity, (“I do not doubt it”) then continues to find out more about her not her body. (“So you work as a model to listen in on the lectures…ingenious”). As I have said before, this highlights how Benedict is empathising with Tessa, taking the time to understand her viewpoint. Thus, he views Tessa’s view as being worthy of consideration rather than dismissal. He views Tessa not as a woman, or a common worker, but as an artist just like him.

Even more so, we see Benedict respecting Tessa’s boundaries. As @ladyjenevia pointed out in her “Benedict Bridgerton is the BEST Bridgerton” video, Benedict takes his shirt off then pauses before undoing his breeches. It is not until Tessa nods, (showing her assent), that he starts unbuttoning his breeches. Benedict respects Tessa as an individual and respects her boundaries.

And as with Madame Delacroix, Benedict does not mind being controlled by Tessa. In their sex scene, Tessa pushes Benedict onto the bed and he seems utterly eager as she climbs on top of him.

So, overall, Benedict respects women, supports and even enjoys when they break societal expectation. Further, he treats/views women from a different class with equal respect and empathy, regardless of their status. And to top it off he respects a woman's consent.

 FURTHERMORE, HE ACCEPTS REJECTION.

In S2 we see the little dalliance between Madame Delacroix and Benedict cease. Benedict offers, lounging against a doorframe with a devilish smirk, to continue their dalliance. But as soon as Madame Delacroix politely rejects him, he straightens up into a more respectable position, as if they were not lovers but merely passers-by. He nods and leaves her be.

Yes, he is a little stung so snaps at Anthony, (speaking the truth all viewers are thinking), but overall, we do not see ugly words, a temper tantrum or vocal denial that is seen so often in media. And why would we? The writers have written Benedict as respecting working-class women, therefore if he respects women, he must respect their decisions.

So, is it any wonder why we have all fallen in love with him? And is this not great character building for when Benedict meets a certain woman from the working class, who goes toe to toe with him and challenges him?

BOOK 3 SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

The Mistress Question:

And this is where a slight conundrum is happening. Because if Benedict is a man who respects women’s boundaries and can swallow rejection—what happens to the character development shown in the book? How does one reconcile showBenedict with BookBenedict who literally grabs Sophie’s ankle when she wishes to exit the conversation; who is spiteful when she rejects his mistress offer; who continually approaches and harasses Sophie even though she asks him to respect her space?

Personally, I detest a man who does not respect a woman’s boundaries. And due to #MeToo, I am sure a lot of others might share the sentiment.

Perhaps then, we should get rid of the mistress plot completely?

I’m not so sure…

One could argue that unlike Tessa and Madame Delacroix, his relationship with Sophie is deeper, richer and therefore he would not let it go so easily when rejected.

And perhaps we can see a theme throughout his interactions with women--Benedict is very passive. Unlike Eloise who seeks out new experiences or knowledge, stuff happens to Benedict. Madame Delacroix approaches him. While obviously interested, it is Tessa who suggests he get naked, thus taking the next step in their dalliance. He enjoys Kate fiery temper but does not actively encourage it, and yes, he supports Eloise, but he does not necessarily encourage her.

And this is what Benedict needs to learn. He needs to understand that what he has with Sophie is greater than that between previous women. He must fight for their relationship rather than coasting along as he always has done. (More on that in my next post)

So what now?

I do not think the whole ‘mistress’ plot should be scrapped but it should be changed to fit in with the portrayal of Benedict on the show.

A couple things need to go, like Benedict pulling Sophie;s ankle, the blackmail, how condescending Benedict. But also…

Benedict asks Sophie to be his mistress once. This would be at the lake scene (one I shall detail more about in another post).

Sophie rejects him and he does fight for her but focuses on the emotional connection between them. The writers need to establish that this is not just a physical attraction—this will be helped with the fact that the period at My Cottage has gone on for weeks rather than days. (More details in another post). While not ideal, I think this would make the viewer feel a little more charitable because it is not all about sex.

(What could help this is if, according to viewers, we do not know Sophie’s past yet, so we do not know why she is so vehemently opposed to the offer).

Then after that initial rejection scene by the lake—Benedict stops asking her to be his mistress.

More importantly every decision eh makes about Sophie is because he wants to keep her safe—not because he is plotting to make her his mistress. Therefore he is repsecting her decision.

AKA: Ok, so you don’t want to be my mistress but I care about you, and I want you to be safe so why not work for my mother? So, you do not wish to work in London why not work in the country at Aubrey Hall?

Then to fix the whole harrassing thing that goes on, in London, Benedict seeks Sophie out at No.5 not to convince her to become his mistress, but because he wants to support her. For example, Queen Bee Helene being a nightmare? Benedict slips a little note that makes Sophie smile. These little or big moments that show that Benedict cares more fr Sophie’s wellbeing than his comfort by having her as a mistress.

So to suit the views of 2020s, and honour the character work already built—Benedict should only ask Sophie to be his mistress once. Then he respects her decision, shifting his focus to ensuring Sophie’s wellbeing even if that thwarts his plans for her to become his mistress.

Because we modern viewers deserve a man who repsects women, their boundaries AND speaks beautiful poetry off the cuff. Why not? This is Bridgerton after all.

*~*~*~*~*

What do you guys think? I’d love to hear your opinions/suggestions.

In my next post about Benedict’s character growth/arc I build on the idea that Benedict needs to shift from passivity to engagement, the catalyst for this being his love for Sophie.

*~*~*~*~*

There are other posts I’ve posted/have ideas for S4 check them out:

To see a list of them--click here.

To see a summary of the main plot points of my prospective S4 --click here.

[lesslie-sass]

Here's my advice

Stop being sexist against your own sex, and go get some therapy for several things

No rational human being wants you dead

But you do really like to be terrible and make yourself the victim

But I don't condone people telling you to off yourself

Grow a spine and realize when you're insulting people like me that have to deal with mental dissorders too. You're not the only one

Or perhaps simply move communities so you don't have to deal with people that have proper media literacy and a want to respect people with mental disorders. Either works

Again, obviously no rational human being wants you to die and no one should ever tell you to. But we don't want to deal with your shit if you're being sexist and ableist. Stop being an absolute hypocrite

Jeez, put your hate boner away, I can feel it from another continent

First of all, just because I don't wanna excuse female character's terrible behavior doesn't suddenly make me a "women hater" like you want to see me as, I don't care what gender Uzi is and still would've thought she's annoying brat. For the "ableistic" shit, as again, mental problems doesn't excuse terrible behavior, acting out only makes situation worse and people around either annoyed or creeped out (like Uzi's classmates but I guess their feelings don't matter near your gothic waifu) and for your "she's heavily implied to have BPD, PTSD, autism, etc." I have one small question - did Liam or Glitch officially state that Uzi has any of those? No? Then shut up about your headcannons, or rather delusions and projections, that has no ground to be used as argument.

Playing the victim, huh? Oh sorry, how dare I be openly upset about getting dogpiled and hated for my opinion that others, you as well, could've easily ignore. That people got butthurt I wasn't backing down and destroyed my reputation in return, blocking me, spreading how terrible I am, how wrong and toxic I am, encouraged others to do the same. You didn't need to do this, but you did and encouraged it anyway, not carring that I have problems, that I may not be doing great irl, that I actually might've had something to do with myself, only because you couldn't just move on. Just because fictional character and ship getting shitted on was more important in your eyes, compared to me who didn't harrass or insult anyone directly, you have fucked up priorities.

I had every right to get you all to fuck off, when you didn't wanna listen to any of my points AND ignored Lizard literally wishing me to die, or even someone close to me to die. You just want to have some kind of "enemy" of the fandom, target those who's vocal about their negative opinion about MD and make fandom bring them down and tier them apart, to feel better that you "defeated" them and saved the fandom from such "toxic" individual.

And who the hell are you to tell me or anyone else if they should leave the fandom? That "you" don’t wanna deal with my shit, when it's not even directed at anyone directly? Or is it more like "we accept you the way you are, cringe and free! ...until you have different opinion than we do"? Like the same thing with VanityMoth, with people like you invalidating his opinion that happened to be the one you don't agree with and making him this big asshole who's terrible and should just shut up for good. (I use him as example for how this isn't one time accident with me, I may not agree with every point he makes or his behavior, which might as well got worse because of huge hate he got, I speak here only for myself and how this kind of situation was towards me) It's not that people think you can't handle criticism, it's that you clearly show you can't.

AND...

Why I should ask anything from this person, who was all to happy to add fuel to the situation and clearly doesn't like me either? Heck no, they're in my block where they belong.

And therapy is expensive btw and with your creepy ass obsession towards me you need it more, perhaps in good place like Mount Massive Asylum OR perhaps listen to your own advice and leave me alone

[haventacluewhatimdoing]

So. Introduction posts are a thing, right?

Anyway. I've never bothered to do one of these but hi! I'm Merlyn. I'm painfully British (yes I love tea, yes I watch rugby, yes I complain about the weather daily). I go through hyperfixations like they're going out of fashion. Anything queer or history based and I'm in! Big fan of sitcoms and Britcom in general. I'm also a musician, so random crap related to that will appear from time to time.

Current fandoms include, but are not limited to:

- BBC Ghosts (and Six Idiots in general)

- Doctor Who (and related shows)

- Good Omens

- Merlin

- Our Flag Means Death

- Mischief Theatre

- The Thick Of It

- House MD

- Jeeves and Wooster

- Dad's Army

- Red Dwarf

I have no tagging system, but I do always tag spoilers when a show is new, for about a month afterwards. Currently I am not tagging anything with spoilers! I also don't queue anything ever, so there will be a sporadic flurry of posts and then nothing for days, that's just how it rolls round here.

I am watching Doctor Who from the beginning for the first time! All posts are tagged with #merlyn watches classic who if you're interested in my semi-coherent thoughts.

I also write fanfics! You can find me over on AO3 at haventacluewhatimdoing as well.

I think that's it? Anyway, feel free to drop by and say hi, send an ask, scream about any of these fandoms, I promise I'm not scary :)

[majorbaby]

I have lots to say about S07E23 Preventative Medicine but my document was swelling with analysis of this one line from Hawkeye, and I want to write a whole post about it for a very particular reason.

I've often expressed my frustration at the show being wishy-washy with its anti-army messaging in the later years or not doing right by the Hawkeye character by either softening his opposition to the army or making him say straight up OOC shit. And I've talked broadly about the show doing the same thing in general, saying stuff that I think is OOC for MASH - it's hard to give specific examples because they're so numerous and dispersed.

So when I stumbled upon this one example of I think, very good characterization of Hawkeye that is particularly rich yet distilled nicely in a single line of his dialogue and then masterfully camouflaged by the show's tone and Alan Alda's comedic acting chops, I wanted to point it out. I realized, this- this is why I get so cagey about the poor, inconsistent writing on the show in the later years, because when it is good, it is so fucking good. And Hawkeye is so, so, so fucking good:

Hawkeye: Colonel, you left out a lot of good stuff. What about "Into the Valley of Death" or "Remember the Alamo" or the ever-popular "Damn the Torpedos!" Lacey: Doctor, why do you just take care of these brave men? Hawkeye: "I have not yet begun to fight!"

Just before this, BJ does call Lacey's speech "disgusting" which is gutsy, for BJ. I have to say "for BJ" because to be fair to him, anyone will have a hard time looking gutsy next to Hawkeye (with the exception of Klinger, more on that someday)

Anyway, Hawkeye elevates it from the obvious and situates Lacey’s actions within a broader system of military incompetence leading to senseless death. He makes no less than four historical references:

“Into the Valley of death” From Alfred Tennyson’s poem about the Crimean War, which similarly glorifies the high death toll rather than condemns it. Important to note that Tennyson’s poem is in the same spirit as Lacey’s speech and both Hawkeye and the writers of this episode know that. An aside regarding the poem: Because I am so continually gutted and angered by any positive framing and re-framing of Rudyard Kipling, in the world, but particularly in this fandom, I will be the first to point out that Kipling later wrote “The Last of the Light Brigade” in conversation with Tennyson’s poem. It's not that difficult to find out. Yes, Kipling's "transformative" poem is about the hardships faced by veterans (a departure from Tennyson's poem) and no I don’t think that’s enough to see past Kipling’s extraordinary racism and white-supremacist artistic accompaniment to the brutality of British Colonialism waged upon my ancestors and millions of other people's ancestors - the effects of which are still felt deeply to this day by us as individuals, our communities and are imbued in the systems that oppress us. That should always be at the forefront of Rudyard Kipling's legacy, regardless of context.

“Remember the Alamo” - a similar “last stand” often framed and re-framed as being a brave sacrifice. A favourite war story of the American canon.

“Damn the Torpedos!” you don’t have to live like a refugehhh both Hawkeye and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers are referencing a quote attributed to US Navy commander, Admiral David Farragut, although it’s doubtful he actually said it, the meaning of the quote remains: charge forward even if you’re likely to die in your attempt. Farragut was a decorated career army man who fought in multiple wars and after his death in the late 1800s became a mascot for the US Navy and his likeness was used on WWI and WWII propaganda posters, urging citizens to sign up. I think Hawkeye and the writers are aware of this too.

After Lacey tries to remind Dr. Pierce MD that he is in fact a doctor not a soldier (cries in the Hawkeye Pierce complex) Hawkeye exclaims “I’ve not yet begun to fight!" – that’s John Paul Jones during the American Revolution while appearing to have lost a battle at sea with the British. He succeeded, but it's worth noting that the ship he was in command of, the Bonhomme Richard, sustained such damage, it sunk.

That is a lot for barely 20 seconds of dialogue.

Hawkeye being anti-army isn’t just broadly true of him. It’s packed very densely into these kinds of lines (of which I'm sure there are many) and then dressed up in theatrics. Alan Alda hams it up here and I love it, because it highlights how vapid and fake military propaganda and nationalist refrains are.

If you’re not familiar with the references he’s making and the analysis of them that I've laid out here/other facts associated with them, then they might just land as a “haha, Hawkeye is such a funny guy” perhaps with some vague awareness that he doesn’t like Lacey.

It's very hard for me to accept anything less from this show, and from Hawkeye in particular, when you have examples of how concentrated and deep his rage and passion runs.

[hawkeyeslaughter]

A / T / U

thank you for the ask beloved mutual majorbaby !!! 🫶🫶🫶

— A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

— ugh , y’all know me i’m such a sucker for hawktrap but honestly i’m also down for the hawkeye/trapper/oliver agenda because i LOVE oliver and i miss him every single day of my life . and i always love a good klinger / henry moment ,, as far as friendships go as MUCH as i give bj a hard time i always love a sweet moment between him and margaret and i can’t wait to see that during my rewatch teehee !!

ships from other fandoms !! —

— mcspirk , broppy ( YES i watch trolls and it’s a better franchise than most of them out there do NOT come for me ) , hilson ( although i do think it’s 🤏 overhyped ) , chase/foreman ( bc why do they lowkey have more chemistry than chase/cameron )

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? 

— you know i do , but i’ll try to give y’all the just a few

— YES henry has dirty mags he keeps in his office for protection but he’s far more worried about keeping his fishing books and gear protected

— radar was one of those double jointed kids in elementary school who was always doing weird stuff with his joints to gross people out

— trapper worked a stint as a mechanic and is a car guy

— bj swears he loses a year off his life everytime someone asks him “ so how’s the weather up there ? “

— closest charles came to swinging at hawkeye was when hawk asked if he wanted his head polished

— hawkeye ate crayons as a kid

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

anyone who has seen any of my posts can infer henry is my favorite so we’re going with three DIFFERENT fandoms buckle up guys

— bones mccoy , star trek

i think bones was my first ever comfort character and it’s because he’s so real . like , he’s just not afraid to call people stupid and i respect him for that . i also like that he’s inherently someone who loves very deeply and wants to help people in every single way he can but it’s also very subtle … like he cares SO MUCH but it’s not in an over - the - top dramatic “ i would die for you “ way ( which he would , undoubtedly ) but more of a “ i love you and cherish you but you’re fucking stupid “ and that’s always been like ,, funny and sweet to me and shows that caring for someone isn’t always being nice to them sometimes you have to be a little cunty .

— elaine benes , seinfeld

— listen it was between her and lorelai gilmore and as much as i love and defend lorelai i love elaine more . y’all the amount of people who have said i’m literally elaine … and it’s a COMPLIMENT because i LOVE HER and you KNOW WHAT ??? i should’ve put her and george on the friends ship list because her and geroge are BESTIES . anyway i love elaine she’s so fucking funny ,, like be mean to jerry yes girl !!!! also she’s so cute i love that she’s so excited and over the top over everything all of the time i love her she’s my baby . is seinfeld even a fandom ? idk but you’re hearing ab it since we’re keeping the older show theme

— james wilson , house md

first of all the FUNNIEST MOTHERFUCKER TO EVER EXIST . second of all he’s MEEEE he’s literally me because i TOO just need people to stay and i also am on the nd meter and no one ever knows what the fuck i’m talking about so !!!!!! he also has the most beautiful big brown puppy eyes i’ve ever seen like okay gorgeous

— SHOUT OUT TO FRANK COLUMBO I LOVE YOU !!!! YOURE ON A GOD TIER YOURE MY FAVORITE EVER THAT JUST GOES WITHOUT SAYINF

[bloodywolfwings]

It's weird to think the year is almost over. I remember it beginning like it was last week. And yet it feels like so much has changed. I became a legal adult, I started work experience and I joined a new fandom that whilst chaotic at times and makes me worry for some at other times, is still one I love being in.

I wish I could've drawn something for the end of the year but I'm just going to ramble about Murder Drones instead because it became my nicotine.

I love Murder Drones, I joined the fandom back in late August of this year (if I remember correctly, Dead End was 2 weeks old).

I still remember how I got into it, it was because of a YouTuber call Sarcastic Chorus. I hadn't even heard of Murder Drones till he started to review it and I'll be honest, even though he did his first review of it back June, I still didn't watch the show proper till August.

Did this have an affect on my viewing experience when I watched it? Yes, yes it did. I'll be honest, I was rather indifferent to V because I already knew what happened in ep 6. Keep in mind that I didn't hate her, I just didn't care about her at the time, which is worse (this hurts to write now because I do care about her, I'd like to thank the fandom for helping me to see her as the cool and traumatised bad bitch that she is.)

Anyways, back on track, I remember after initially watching it I watched it again and again. Then I immediately went to go find fan content because I wanted more and wanted to see what the fans made (this resulted in my finding a particularly va channel that I won't be naming for reasons). This led to me going to find the MD fandom here on tumblr. That was want experience.

I remember when Matpat's MD film theory came out and people started to shit on it, it was fun to witness :3

Overall, joining this fandom was an awesome experience and got to see so many fun, colourful and beautiful pieces of art, fun and still headcannons and interesting theories that pointed out details that I didn't notice before. I love this fandom.

Let's see what 2024 will bring and let's all try and not breakdown when episode 7 and 8 come out. Who am I kidding, we're probably going to cry so let's try and be there for one another when it comes out because it's going to hit hard if the trailer suggest anything.

[thefanficwriterscraft]

Hi!! This is going to be very long-winded so I apologize in advance.

I just discovered you guys yesterday so I am catching up on episodes. Today I listened to the OC one and it really made me want to throw in my two cents about x reader/x you fanfic written in second person because as of this summer it was pretty much unknown to me and now it's all I write.

A little backstory on me -- I first started writing fanfiction at 13 for House MD believe it or not. Which tells you basically everything you need to know about me lmao. Actually, Jo, when I heard your username, pebblysand it actually triggered a deeply distant memory for me, like I had seen your name somewhere before. Then when you mentioned you also wrote for House MD I was sure that is where I had seen it. I was also in the Harry Potter fandom (moreso was there for Snape) but never wrote for HP.

Anyway, bringing us up to present day, in college I wrote for both Fable and Once Upon a Time, but after that I stopped writing fic for about 10 years. It wasn't until early June of last year that I fell in love with a certain metalhead that took the fandom world by storm -- Eddie Munson.

Coming back into fandom like this after being away for so many years was a bit of a shock for me. It took me a while to feel it out and find my place in it all, especially when it came to writing fanfic. Actually, this fandom was my first encounter with second person fic writing, in fact it is the most popular ship in the fandom -- Eddie x Reader. Even wildly more popular than Eddie x Steve (Steddie).

I immediately fell in love with this concept and thought it was actually quite brilliant because at the end of the day, that's what we want. To be able to insert ourselves into a story where Eddie falls in love with us. Not through some OC as was the norm before. But going further than that, what I really wanted to get into was that depending on the length of the story, these reader characters really are OCs. But because they are never given a physical description it is so much easier to insert yourself into their role in the story, which is why a lot of us read this kind of fic in the first place.

In the podcast, it seemed like the two of you didn't have a ton of experience reading this kind of fic, so I wanted to elaborate on the concept. In some cases, yes, people are writing based on request. Especially for oneshots and drabbles where characters can be a bit more vague. Physical descriptions are kept to a minimum as a standard, but in a lot of cases, people like myself do give their reader characters fully fleshed out backstories and room for character development just like any other leading character in a novel. The story I am writing at the moment is truly a novel with all the benchmarks of one, but written in second person.

You would think that this would defeat the purpose of x reader but quite the contrary, in my opinion. When reading second person it really allows you to immerse yourself into the story, for you to pretend to be someone else for a while. That's the real beauty of it for me, because I'm not constantly jarred by seeing someone else's name and picturing their OC as if I'm watching it from a 3rd person pov. It removes the barrier which typically turns me away from reading character x OC fic and allows me to really be immersed.

I adore this trend. I think it's the best thing to happen to fanfiction in recent years. It doesn't appeal to everyone, but it functions beautifully in storytelling.

I also adore this podcast that you've created together! It's a gift, thank you so much for it.

Thank you so much for this amazing message, this is so interesting. For anyone who needs context, our episode on OCs is here:

I (@pebblysand) will add my thoughts in here and I'll let @copper-dust reblog if she has anything to add.

Firstly, as a side note, the fact that you know my username from House is wild, thank you so much, I'm in awe that you remember me haha. Also, interestingly, one of my House fics (which only exists on ffn and is really bad) is actually from a second-person POV (though no reader insert). I haven't written second-person POV since but as I said on our POV episode, I really do like it when it's done well (which definitely wasn't the case in that fic, lol).

Regarding the reader-insert info you gave us, thank you so much, that is so interesting. As (I think) I said on the ep, the only fandom that I'm familiar with where I've seen this be quite an important trend is Peaky Blinders, though I have seen quite a few people talk about them on TikTok as well. I can imagine it being prominent in real people fandoms, I can see how it suits the appeal that you've described so well.

I think (IIRC) I was quite dismissive of this trend in the original episode, and for that I apologise. I think my struggle was very much rooted in what you're describing in your ask, which is that these reader-insert characters generally seem to be fully-fledged people! The ones I've skimmed through on Peaky Blinders seem to not only have a certain appearance but most importantly fully-fledged personalities. Thus, I've always struggled to see how a reader "inserts" themselves in them. To me, it feels like this is the complete opposite of a self-insert, it's like being asked to insert myself into someone who isn't all like me 😅. To give you an example, I'm someone who is quite loud IRL, so if I read a reader-insert that's like "you are small and quiet," I'm like, "well, no" 😆 and that kind of puts me off. But now that you've explained people use these to basically cosplay in the story as someone else, that makes a lot more sense. And, I can totally see how having a second-person narrative also helps with that because obviously, you're probably having an easier time including the character in the story.

I think I've also wondered at times if those reader-inserts aren't actually self-inserts on the part of the author, but I suppose that is just the same deep-rooted biases we all exhibit when it comes to assuming that there's a little bit of the author in every OC (which isn't true). And, also, as @incalculablepower said in their original ask, even if some OCs are self-inserts, there is nothing wrong with that, as long as they're well crafted.

So, yeah, thank you for reaching out and defending your trade, it really opened my eyes to some things. I don't think it's a trend I would particularly like to dive into - personally - but I can now totally see the appeal, and I definitely think that regardless of how you write them, creating OCs requires a lot of work and mastery of the craft, which is super commendable. This is making me want to do an episode on real people fandoms and reader-inserts now (lol), so if you'd like to come on to talk about that, give us a shout! I have so many questions haha.

[saltiestcoconut]

E, N, O, P, S, X, Z for vrains? 👀

Gosh thank you nonny for all these!!! ^^ let's goooooooooo vrains

E — Have you added anything cracky/ hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?

Hmmm other than my tags where I spazz out? There's that one fic where Ai poses as a writing A.I and writes smutty pm fics /wheeze and then a few more crack fics I haven't published dm for access :p (I am kidding tho do come talk to me if you wish)

N — Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

1. Silly Ryoken I love silly Ryoken give me more please!

2. Fem!aiyu

3. Textpost memes I don't care if there's a billion vrains textpost memes I love them so much give me more please!

O — Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

I hit shuffle and better off this way by a day to remember came up

In general: Ryoken

In delusion: I can make this song be about s3 Ai @ Yu I can!!!

P — Invent a random AU for any fandom

Invent a random au huh . . . I'm not that creative but I have been thinking about a potential dark fairy tale aiyu au so let's start there

Hmmm how about an au involving dreams and parallel dimensions? I've recently played through dream mirrors lore in MD solo mode and I'm lowkey obsessed with them (as I was when they first came out) and a Yusaku who rules over a kingdom of light (maybe not rules over but close enough) dreams about a kingdom cloaked in shadow and darkness and for some reason the ruler of the darkness seems very interested in him . . . Eventually coming to a point where Yusaku can't tell where he's supposed to belong in the shadows with ai? Or in the light with kusanagi? (Damn I just realized this probably isn't as dark as I wanted it to be but oh well I'm uncreative anyways ^^)

S — Show us an example of your personal headcon

Oh! I answered this already but eh have another one

I like to think that Yusaku has a drive to be heroic but to be interested in people (boys) they gotta save him in some shape way or form and also have a similar background as him (similar enough to understand his pain)

X — A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom.

I am such a sucker for someone who's willing to go to extremes for their beloved ones just a character who's extremely loyal to those they love I love that trope so much you have no idea qkdksjd

Z — Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go!

I've been thinking about how to me decode talker and firewall dragon look better when paired with yusaku instead of playmaker but their "evolved" forms darkfluid and accesscode talker match playmaker much better mostly because of darkfluids green on black design and accesscodes yellow on black sharp design (oh look there's purple on there too it seems like pm can't escape being paired with purple I wonder why . . . )

Also on the topic of monster cards I think it's neat how salamangreat is written in kanji just like how flames name is written!! It's very cute and if my memory serves me right there's just not a lot of vrains archetypes which do that (of course I could be wrong but I'll have to rewatch vrains to be certain) also fun fact "true" salamangreat monsters have kanji but salamangreat of fire is written purely in katakana possibly as a nod to its origins as an @ignister monster

Wait I just realized if this is what the question is asking? Oh well accept it please I love the card game as much as the anime so it's certainly fan-related 😂😂😂