#I dislike the mindset of making “content” and when I'm posting here I don't feel like I have to tailor my posts to be

[canisalbus]

Which is your favorite platform? (of the ones you have accounts to post things I mean. I can't imagine it being Instagram since you don't really post there which honestly fair)

Tumblr, Twitter (X?) bluesky? Something else?

I think I'm going to have to go with tumblr, and it's not just because we're here. Twitter and Bluesky are nice and my experiences on both are overwhelmingly positive. But tumblr has an atmosphere that encourages originality, sharing your creations and talking about things in depth.

[cupcraft]

I've been having some thoughts lately and decided to put it in a long post during my lunch break.

Cc's are not and never will be your friend. It's normal to engage and feel parasocial to a degree with cc's but it's important ccs and yourself create the boundary of "we don't know each other and thus are not friends/etc." This is important of the cc, because a responsible cc is aware of their impact, aware of the power dynamic, and sets healthy boundaries for themself. It's important for you in order to stay safe and engage with a fandom and cc with respect and to maintain a healthy mindset.

It is also normal for fandoms to defend their cc TO A DEGREE, especially when comments against the cc affect other people (this is a simple way to say it, theres a lot of nuance to this pt). But, you should never feel the need or actually try to parent or speak for a cc. For example, people being queerphobic to Ranboo is fair to speak up against particularly because the queerphobia affects other members of the fandom. However, feeling like you must speak on behalf of ranboo, be their parent, or protect them at all costs from "evil ccs and fans" is not only against their express wishes but just isn't a healthy or normal way to engage with a cc.

Because if you don't engage healthily besides breaking any cc boundaries, and hurting yourself and mental health, you really can hurt other people. If you're engaging in fandom and cc fandoms especially to a point in which you create yourself an echo chamber of toxicity that seeks to harm anyone in your path that is unhealthy behavior and you need srs help and I mean that genuinely like you need to talk to a trained professional or support group.

Like it's not normal to hate all ccs and people who are not explicitly positive about your cc at all times now and forever. It's not normal to make excuses for widely acceptable bad actions to the point you harm those affected by said bad actions. It's not normal to view holding a cc accountable as "just being an anti/hater/jealous" as you should always leave room to be critical of the content you consume especially if it's from a real person with real actions. It's not normal to dislike those that dislike ur cc so much (cc or fans) to the point you dedicate your social media presence to sending death threats, doxxing, harassment, gory images, etc as well as spending the majority of your blog screenshotting and vagueing and cyberbullying people. It's not normal to feel as though your cc is an infallible perfect idol figure that is in desperate need of an army protecting them at all times where you hang on their every word to dictate all actions, opinions, and morals to the point you will change your entire personality and ethics system just to maintain any ounce of being uncritical of someone. In simpler words, you might want to be aware the line of parasocialism and crossing over into being like a member of a cult (not to say it actually is a cult, this is an analogy)

And you might say to this post "this is a vague" but I'd rather argue that if you feel like this post applies to you regardless if you're mcyt or another cc/celebrity/real person based fandom you might want to realize that you need to do srs self reflection and understand how you got here, who you've hurt to stay there, and what things you've sacrificed for someone you don't even know. This isn't just an mcyt specific fandom problem.

Because why I'm making this post is I feel like something needs to be questioned when we throw away our kindness, empathy, ethics, and compassion towards people just because they are any ounce a tiny bit little bit critical of something a cc did. And it would be easy to say the people willing to suibait/send threats/harassment/slurs/etc toward someone over a cc and be happy about it and own it are people who "just don't care and won't change". But I'd like to think they got there somehow you know that they weren't always the kind of person to justify that. And that doesn't mean they deserve anyone's forgiveness, but it does mean I have concern for that person I hope they genuinely get help and feel the full weight of what they've done all for 1 person that doesn't know them.

As always with everything, please add on via rb if want, correct me on anything, and send asks if you wish. Stay kind out there though ❤️

[sotanghonn]

thoughts on returning

super long incoherent rambling lol

it's been five years since the last time i posted art on here. i joined so long ago that my blog contains posts from around a decade ago lol, there are definitely a lot of things on here that did not age well. it is fun seeing my interests and art change overtime though. it's also interesting to see how much the people i followed has changed from how i remember them.... you guys aren't drawing love live anymore smh...... (kidding)

looking back, i've definitely built most of my follower count from making persona content. to this day, they're still getting notes!! i do want to say that i appreciate these comments in my inbox that are probably too old to properly respond to now.

like seeing them all related to persona, ESPECIALLY p2 makes me SO happy ajsksjdk 🥺😭😭

i also saw some requests, probably from when i had them open maybe? they're such good ideas and i don't know if it's too late to get to those lol. unfortunately, i'm not into persona as much as i used to, though i still occasionally think about persona 2--tatsujun especially. i'll have to get back into the right mindset if i ever wanted to make content for it again. my friend recently got back to posting persona content here (esp 1 and 2) so i might just hand them to her hehe

anyway, i got tired of twitter forcing me to see content i dislike (like seriously... i need people to tag things). i would like to post here again and, while the content is unfortunately not as abundant as twitter's, i feel much safer browsing through people's work here. i don't know if i'll keep it consistent though, i might just post a few things and dip for a few years again 😅 and i feel like not wanting to upset myself has trained me to spend less time online. nevertheless i'll try my best.

i will still primarily post on twitter, so for those who would like to see my art without delay can head on over to @sotanghonn on twitter for fanart. i also post personal, oc art, and nsfw on @stnghnnn. of course, i don't blame you if you'd rather not go on twitter at all. so like i said, i'll try posting here whenever i can!

for people who are still around and following me, thank you for sticking by 🥹

[shadowcutie]

Ooooh actually... Dragon Age The Veilguard? Pretty decent so far, I'm not that far into it just a couple hours but it seems good.

edit post finishing the game: really enjoyed the game, more thoughts below

I don't know if it will make sense... but it feels like an in-the-same-universe continuation of just the Trespasser DLC specifically and not (yet) like a game in the Dragon Age series. I'm thinking that feeling will go away as I play more and get back into the Dragon Age mindset--it has been many many years since I last played the games.

Honestly I had a lot of pessimistic thoughts and feelings going in, but I think it's turning into optimism; though still some worry regarding the cameos and Solas stuff so I'm not completely lovestruck with the game just yet. I mean I haven't even met Lucanis or Emmrich yet.

I don't know if this is how I want my Rook to look just yet, but for now (and maybe forever since I do have a habit of sticking to the first design I pick) here she is, Mahris Mercar.

My main canon Inquisitior is Trevelyan romancing Cullen HOWEVER... I caved and picked Lavellan romancing Solas as my Inquisitior. I just wanted to jump straight into the angst.

-----

Edit with thoughts post finishing the game:::

I really liked the game! There were many issues (kinda preachy writing at times, overexplained and underexplained lore, sanitized world, Rook being talked at but not really being apart of any of the conversations with companions, etc) but frankly none of them came close to ruining the experience; the game on the whole feels like a fanfiction that went HEAVY on the headcanons to the point that a veteran would be confused and potentially disappointed by all the changes and new lore--but would enjoy so long as they got into the vibes. Which I did, so yay! I suspect a lot of questions would have been answered had I read the comics/books/non-game media but like... I hate when games do that--lore outside the confines of the games does not exist to me.

The combat is the best of the series, the graphics and artstyle (which looked ugly to me in the previews) were nice especially the hair, I've seen people say that the 'choices did not matter' and whatever sure I guess but I didn't actually mind I guess? I FELT like Rook was doing shit and even if that wasn't true it's good enough for me--I'm a lover not a hater (you could also say I'm uncritical and a surface deep enjoyer and you would be correct) - (anyways I kind of like the 'no wrong choices' for the companion quests thing going on so yaaay). 'The companions all like each other!' ok? Cool. Wouldn't you get bored of the companions all disliking each other every time? I think it's cool, one game where they’re all friends isn’t going to kill you the other games still exist with their tumultuous relationships, found family blah blah blah--my issue with this point is that Rook doesn't...feel apart of it really they're the observer and get to hear about the companions becoming friends but they never really get to join in the fun.

So far I've only played Lucanis' romance but it felt... underwhelming due to the severe lack of content. I often felt as if my flirting was met with nothing--and not in the shy and awkward sidestepping way but in the they didn't write/voice/code a response way. Which is a shame as Lucanis has like... one of the most romantic scenes ever?? lmao

I'm also very pissed off that -to my understanding- Lucanis is permanently locked out of romance if you don't save Treviso whereas Neve is only temporarily locked out if you don't save Minrathous; that alone is annoying but Lucanis ROMANCES NEVE (if you don't romance either of them)?????????????? BITCH Neve makes the same goddamn decision and yet you punish Rook alone for it?? It honestly feels as if Lucanis was only ever supposed to romance Neve, but at the last minute they decided to make him romanceable by Rook.

I found the cameo appearances inoffensive which is a big win, and happy that Fenris and Zevran didn't appear--they can avoid any potential ruination that way. Happy Solas/Lavellan ending yaaay I wish the Inquisitor played a bigger part, I don't see why they were so 'tied up with the happenings outside of Tevinter' as they--regardless of romance with Solas--should have been on his heels hunting him (they have more experience dealing with him over some randoms)... but whatever... Cried over Varric dying I honestly didn't see it coming though I was suspicious after he wasn't healing--but never questioned it I think I just assumed the writers forgot about him lol

Didn't expect to like the companions that much but I loved Lucanis, Bellara, Davrin, Emmrich, and Neve. I liked the very brief moments with Harding in DAI and I just... I didn't like her in DATV. And I have no words for Taash, add them to the pile of companions I dislike and never want to see ever ever again! Their storyline however to my dismay is kind of one of the more fleshed out ones.

Not my favorite of the series, but also maybe is (in some aspects)? I mean that's how I feel about every Dragon Age game since I like them all so much. I think for a direct sequel this many years later it was probably the best we could have hoped for (in comparison to Baldur's Gate 1/2 + Baldur's Gate 3 and Mass Effect 1/2/3 + Mass Effect Andromeda which were same universe sequels not direct sequels - which really only had to live up to having the same setting rather than the continuation of the same storylines) and did not ruin Dragon Age for me like I had worried might happen thank god. I have to worry about the Executors nonsense for any future games now though... I was hoping that any future DA game would be more of a same universe different plot scenario but I guess not lmao SIGH... let's hope we don't beat the dead horse too badly.

[marblemoovt]

Rambling anon here with more to say haha…

Exactly! If only we could get rid of the eclipse altogether 🙃 I love happy endings and working scenarios out in my head as much as I can to ensure they come about.

Yes! You phrased that so nicely. I think it’s completely normal to have this mindset when it comes to Griffith. I say this because he’s such a schemer; and, although he appears well mannered and gentlemanly, we know it’s all manipulation to get what he wants. Griffith’s demeanor makes you want to believe that there’s actually good underneath his carefully crafted façade.

Even though Sadie came about accidentally, she’s still a fave ❤️ you gotta love her relationship with the princess. Also, Sadie definitely helps flesh out the princess’s character—I’d say without Sadie, the reader doesn’t really get to see the princess’s vulnerable side. And although she’s besties with Charlotte, she can never truly let her guard down around her because people are always listening to their conversations. I too love Sadie’s obsession with kneecap breaking 😂

Also…in this world where Guts either doesn’t exist or doesn’t leave the band, it makes it riskier for Griffith to have feelings for the princess, if that makes sense. He’s forced to figure out if this forbidden love is worth potentially jeopardizing his dream. But if you ask me, I’m convinced Griffith is already whipped for the princess (lol) so I think he’s already in the mindset of reconciling what he feels for her with what he wants to accomplish.

So well said. It’s clear that Griffith is conflicted about his feelings for the princess, which seems to be a move in the right direction. I’d say Griffith is even starting to believe in unconditional love towards the end when he admits that he’s trying to figure out how the princess could exist in the “dreadful world” they live in. Griffith learned early that the only way to attain his goals is through manipulation. Clearly, he feels the need to wear a “mask” in order to get what he wants. I love that you explore his innocent side (or, one could say, what’s left of his innocence), because even though he’s calculating, indifferent, selfish, he still maintains a little bit of a childlike sense of wonder.

I agree, this is such a neat trope!! And of course the perfect one to explore using someone like Griffith who is so bent on attaining his dream. I am so excited for if/when you do continue this story to see where this road may lead.

Side note: every time these two kissed I was low key freaking out hoping they wouldn’t get caught or else Griffith gets arrested for it lol 😶

Side side note: Do you think Griffith would get arrested and tortured if the princess’s parents found out about them? She mentions they wouldn’t be happy about her letting Griffith call her by her name. I’m inclined to think that, if someone caught them acting in love, running around together in secret, kissing, etc., then the princess’s parents would likely punish Griffith in some way.

Thank you for keeping my inbox alive, anon. If you ever want to be mutuals, my DMs are open.

One of my toxic traits will forever be thinking that Griffith can be good even if I don't completely believe it myself. Honestly, eclipse and post-eclipse Beserk will remain shrouded in darkness in my memories. I'm content with pretending that everyone is happy and fine. I'm the type of person who dislikes it when a lot of people have to die--which is why I can barely watch my partner play the walking dead lmao.

There's definitely a timeline where the princess runs away with Sadie. I think it would be fun to explore because I love a good royalty -> adventurer story as much as the next person. Though I don't think there's anyone competent enough to take over the throne with them gone. And while I imagine Charlotte to have been their best friend since childhood, she grows up in a much more restricted environment and their personalities differ as a result.

I wanted Charlotte to be the textbook perfect princess, basically what the princess's parents wanted. Funnily enough, they both have what the other lacks. The princess has more freedom while Charlotte has more control. But I think this is what makes them good friends since they can balance each other out. However, I don't think Charlotte would ever truly understand her friend. It's been a while since I've seen Berserk but Charlotte gives me sheltered vibes. Probably because of her dad. Can a bird really know what freedom feels like if it's lived inside a cage its entire life?

While we like Griffith, we all know the man ain't good at genuine feelings. I wanted to have at least one person who could tell the princess that everything will be ok because everyone needs someone like that. And in came Sadie, a person completely unrelated to the other characters. Someone who could see the princess as a person and provide emotional support.

I wanna say that Guts exists because he and Casca are absolutely adorable together. At this point he has not left, I honestly haven't decided if he would. But if he did, it would be after meeting the princess so things could end differently. My whole plan with Griffith is that he realizes there are other ways to accomplish his goal. And so does he continue on the path he knows and is sure will work? Or does he deviate into the unknown that plagues him with foreign feelings but a considerably tempting outcome? Because he can still have a kingdom either way.

Honestly, I'm not sure what his original plan was, probably to gain support, usurp the throne, and marry Charlotte. But there's never any indication that he reciprocates Charlotte's feelings, and I believe all his interactions with her were with the sole purpose of winning her over. So when he's offered an easier alternative, it makes him feel suspicious. Like when you feel that something is too good to be true.

We all know Griffith didn't have the best childhood. He probably learned at a young age that it's necessary to lie and steal to get what you want. He can analyze the situation and don the appropriate mask, which also coincides with how he's good at planning. He's gotten used to fooling people, to burying his feelings deep inside. I want to see the pure panic he experiences when someone manages to see the chips and cracks in his facade--and to care for once. Because Griffith would normally brush the other person off, but when it's someone he potentially likes? That's when things start to get interesting. Someone who can see he's pretending because they don't put him on a pedestal where faults don't exist. Someone who makes it incredibly difficult for him to view as 'beneath him.' Someone who is smart and powerful but still retains kindness, and--holy shit does he like this person???

I feel like everyone has that inner child, some more so than others. I think people who didn't have a good childhood or believe they didn't will always lean on the stronger side. Because there's that urge to have the childhood you wished you had, to not have grown up as quickly as you did. There are just some things you miss out on as a kid because circumstances forced you to mature, and so there's this undeniable pleasure and curiosity that appears when the opportunity arises.

End goal is definitely that Griffith marries the princess and people are happy. Griffith will learn that the path towards his goal is not a single path where the road is narrow and everyone is but a stepping stone. I do want to write a scene where he destroys the behelit with his own hands as a big fuck you to the gods. I want some character development for the princess as well but I haven't come up with anything yet.

Honestly, I can definitely see the princess teasing Griffith with discreet kisses in public, pushing the boundaries to see how much they can get away with. I think it would be funny to have Griffith be totally out of his depth for once. Griffith, in a situation where he has no control whatsoever? Preposterous!

Because the princess's parents are much nicer than Charlotte's, I don't think the punishment would be too harsh. In fact, I think the parents would be ecstatic that their child has finally shown romantic interest in someone for once. That betrothal meeting that ended poorly wasn't the first. While Griffith is a Viscount, I don't think the parents would be shallow enough to fault him for his status. Tbh, the princess is the heir, and so Griffith would kinda be a trophy husband lmao. The way I envisioned the kingdom when creating it was that the princess would take the throne and hold complete power regardless of marriage. So the amount of power Griffith would have solely relies on how much the princess is willing to give him. At most they would both rule the kingdom; Griffith would never have full reign.

I think that would be enough for him, especially if he doesn't hate his queen. With the way things are going in that oneshot, it implies Griffith is fine ruling side by side with someone if he deems them an equal.

As for the name part, I wrote that meaning the parents would disapprove of letting someone of lower status speak casually. I'm not super knowledgeable on nobles and etiquette, but I believe it's deemed rude to not treat those above you with respect/manners. So it's purely a social etiquette thing, especially since Griffith is a man to whom she is not related nor engaged.

There aren't that many people who are on the same level or higher than royalty. Griffith is asking for permission to address the princess informally, and we all know he didn't ask with pure intentions. Because of all the titles, I feel like there's something intimate about dropping them and just calling people by their names. It's especially present when the majority of the kingdom has to address a person by their title but he gets to say their name.

So while I don't think anything as bad as torture would happen, I do see the possibility of banning Griffith from their kingdom. Which would then call for an "Oh crap you really like him, don't you?" arc. And now that I'm writing this I'm sorely tempted to incorporate it.

Now I'm devastated that this novel lives in my head and will probably not transition onto paper anytime soon.

[thecoolerliauditore]

Appreciate the heads up re: tone.

When i say taking fanon into canon, im talking about how fanon content e.g. fanart and fanfic have an unspoken layer of protection around them as a celebration of something and thus criticism of fanon is more petty than anything else. Obviously that happens anyway all the time but fanon is very personal and someone saying they disliked your fic or art Is personal.

Taking those fanon creators and putting them into the series is what I was referring to when I mentioned taking them into canon. The work is still coming from a place of love, but it is a part of the series now and people are naturally going to judge it as that first and foremost. You're taking these fandom people and spotlighting them for the judgments of not only the fandom but also the audience outside of it. That's a massive jump in the amount of eyes on you and your work, and alot more opinions that come flooding in.

TLDR it has nothing to do with the c/cc divide or lore stuff, maybe there were better or less confusing terms I could've used there but the language around this is kinda difficult to navigate since there's really very little stuff out there that's comparable. I didn't have an issue with the gimmick or the specific questions themselves I actually thought it was really fun.

The "meta" comment was also in reference to fandom meta, not life series meta. I talk about discourse alot on this blog but usually only in the context of the CCs, hence sharing my thoughts on my fellow fandom people is "too meta" for me.

As for specific examples of the "on edge" comment I'm referring to what I talked about in the replies. It's a very niche "on edge" but it certainly is "on edge". I could also provide the specific examples of that but again that feels. Too meta lol and I don't feel right publicly shaming them for posting out of emotion for what is again a situation I can't blame them for.

As for the actual confusion re: roleplay and the life series I think that's more or less irrelevant to what I'm talking about here and I can really offer my own thoughts on the matter but the rundown is: people like to take the events in the videos and interact with them as a narrative anyway regardless of CC intent. And sometimes the CCs do have more of a roleplay-orientated mindset than it appears (Pearl is a really good example and probably one of the more forward ones about her "character" being a different entity to herself). It's more or less just a fandom thing because writing with the mindset that THIS IS A REAL DEATH GAME THEY ARE ALL TRAPPED IN AAAAA is fun.

Thats the way I interact with it anyway and theres definitely some fun armchair psychology you could play with in figuring out how people approach things like the character and cc divide. But anyway it's not like you really have to think about any of it if it's a headache it's just fandom being fandom and I've been surprised in the past many times learning how many oomfs absolutely despise that system of thought lol.

In the end the feedback towards the gimmick was, as you said, overwhelmingly positive (which only makes the intense anti-crit agenda more annoying to me) so it's not like any of this will seriously impact the artimators or the series as a whole -- the series especially has gone through WAY worse hurdles. Hell one of them was like two episodes ago lmao

I wasn't the biggest fan of the gimmick tbh, but it wasn't too intrusive and I liked how it gave objects or curses instead of giving and taking lives, so it was not too bad I guess, but a bit too meta for my taste. Still worth it for Martyn fucking Littlewood going around, gaslighting everyone about the awnsers and the curses and also casually killing 4 people, he's such a weirdo and I aspire to be him actually

Oh yeah I have mixed feelings on this one cus on one hand. Good fun! Well designed! Funny! Gave us a lot of good moments and introspection on how the characters look back on specific events!

On the other hand it's 1. very much not my thang and 2. idk something deeper in here about this being probably the biggest involvement of fandom in the series itself and blurring the lines of "being nice to your fellow fandom members" and "people should be able to express how they feel about the series openly" a bit too much for me to feel totally at ease.

I've already seen some very. bad-faith responses to people just venting about disliking the gimmick and at least one person involved who seemed to have taken a negative reaction more personally. Not to mention the forums version of the quiz ending with "did you like our trivia" (and "'no" being an incorrect answer) and the ongoing already on-edge fandom within fandom relationship the artimator guys have with the masses.

I want to clarify and reiterate that I did have fun and liked the gimmick and don't fault the artimators at all for their reactions and certainly not for the direction the series has gone as a whole but I just think catapulting a group of fans from being well-known contributors to fanon to contributors to canon who may not be completely ready for that sort of transition is. Maybe not the greatest thing in the world is all. Like it's just yet another level of muddying the waters in terms of the "they're just having fun why are you so mad about people having fun" stuff that keeps popping up. Toxic positivity so on and so forth.

ANYWAY that aside yes I'm glad we all love Martyn what a fucking freak.

[netscapenavigaytor]

still was thinking abt that roblox thing and Why it bothered me so much when objectively there shouldnt be anything wrong with stuff being "better". and why i find myself gravitating towards old school internet culture and stuff lost and forgotten in the vestiges of the 'net. and like. i think i know now

everything is so clean and perfect and well made on the internet now that there isn't much of a place left for klutzy amateurish imperfect creations anymore. you have to be Really Good at creating things or you become an object of ridicule. it does not matter what effort or sincerity goes into something if it is poorly made. everything must be marketable forever.

and that is not to say that the internet used to be Nicer god knows it has never been "nice", "cringe culture" has existed for ages. but the bar has raised so high now. there are 14 year olds making beautiful art and animations i could NOT compare to even though i've practiced my whole life. and they Have To because you cant just make wonky ms paint cat drawings, those just dont cut it anymore.

and i think thats what people are really nostalgic for, not the sparkledogs and cascada songs themselves but what they REPRESENTED. the idea that you didnt need so much polish, that you could just Have Fun and people would have fun with you. and messy and wonky and childish and "bad" stuff still exists and is being made with genuine heart, but its easier to think theres something special and Different about the stuff youre nostalgic for so you can feel like youre Above the "new cringe." (i don't even think i'm totally beyond this mindset, myself, as much as i'd like to think i am)

and i don't know really who there is to blame, if there is a fair culprit. advertisers of course is the easy answer but that's not all of it, no one's really capitalizing on warrior cats amvs or whatever like that. i think maybe there's no one truly at fault, the classic internet grew up and honed their skills and no one MEANT to chase out the amateurs and children, they just continued to make the things they loved but were better at it now and could set their ambitions higher, so much better that in order to keep up everyone else had to jump straight into creating at a professional level.

i don't think i really have an ultimate point to this post. i'm just kind of rambling my thoughts here and i dont know if there's really a "solution" because in the end it feels ridiculous to say "polished content is the problem" especially because i DONT dislike stuff thats Well Made by any means and myself generally aspire to make stuff that's "good".

but the internet has definitely shifted in a way that does not really feel like "home" to me anymore, even if it's foolish to say it was EVER home to begin with

[bookofmirth]

It still baffles me that there are full adults with working lives that send hate online to other users because they don’t like the same fictional character or they don’t like the same fictional couple. It’s almost like a mark of maturity rather than just logic if a person just does not engage someone with opposing opinions. Which, to me, is unusual because should it not already be the standard to simply ignore that which enrages/bothers you? (Actually if you’re enraged by fictional characters, you’ve got another issue altogether lol)

I’m in multiple fandoms some of which have children or teenagers. And there’s random strife like any other fandom. However, many of these anon haters are often kids. But in the ACOTAR fandom/universe (the Maas Multiverse, maybe?) most readers are older. And they engage in sending online hate. It’s just unimaginable how telling someone to fuck off or writing 20+ reasons why they’re wrong gives any sense of satisfaction. Is it not more satisfying to cultivate an atmosphere of peace by surrounding your online self with content you ACTUALLY enjoy seeing? This applies to any social media realm honestly. People just be crazy man smh

(This is promoted just by seeing a post you made about blocking in the fandom. And I agree, it’s satisfying to know you’ve made someone so irate that they stalk you even though you’ve blocked them lol)

I'd be lying if I said I didn't understand it, because I do. Not the sending people hate thing, but the obsession with being right and having the last word. Totally get it. I do. Especially when you're in it up to the eyeballs and someone is saying things that are flagrantly untrue, it's really hard to just walk away, especially when things start to get personal. Especially when you have proof that the person is full of shit because screenshots of Discord conversations exist. And ya know. Canon exists too. 😌

But also - why are we here? Just speaking for myself, I'm not in this fandom to get into fights with people. I joined because I really enjoyed ToG, I was waiting for EoS, and I wanted more rowaelin. I wanted fan art, I wanted to read fanfic because the books weren't enough, and I wanted to find people who had the same feelings I did! I wanted people to scream happily with! That's why I joined, and that's why I'm still here. It wasn't like this pre-acosf, and I am just waiting for the next book to be announced because all of this seems oddly more related to being right than actually... liking the thing they supposedly like (although I do lowkey worry that the fandom culture has irrevocably changed.) So once people find out how wrong or right they were, hopefully there will be a huge shift and people will realize that ultimately, SJM is going to do what the fuck she wants to do, and fandom exists for us to do what we want to do.

It’s almost like a mark of maturity rather than just logic if a person just does not engage someone with opposing opinions.

This is an interesting point. It should be logic. It should be just completely normal to back away from things we don't like and move on with our lives, but at this point it is also, to me, a huge sign of how mature someone is.

In no way does it make sense to me to keep consuming media either 1) that I dislike, or 2) in a way that bothers me. That's partly why I dislike anti culture, but it's like that mindset has infiltrated the regular fandom, too.

That's why I said last week that people are slamming their thumbs with hammers and looking up with tears in their eyes trying to get sympathy. You searched those tags, logged out to find those blogs you hate who have you blocked, and went into the toxic communities, bestie. No one made you consume that. You did it. You saw it, maybe unintentionally the first time, but at this point it's been 15 months since acosf came out so I can only assume you're choosing to see it and stare at it, and now you want sympathy? lol, no.

So yeah, what does it mean that people keep repeatedly, intentionally, knowingly engaging with content they hate and then cry about it as a way to gain sympathy and clout? It's neither mature, nor logical.

(This is why I hate vaguing, too. Even if it's about an idea, and not the person who had the idea, maybe either engage with that person directly, or stfu. I make a comment about Elain being kind and then someone makes a post two seconds later about how people who think Elain is kind are idiots? Dumb fucker 🤣 it's so transparent.)

I do love knowing that people I've had blocked for months just can't stop checking my blog, though. Every time I find out it's happened, I get this grin and I start laughing like a Disney villain. It's hilarious. I live in their minds rent free, and meanwhile idek who they are.

[karmas]

it's just rly hard for me to understand the mindset behind someone who says, "i hate everything abt xyz bc so-and-so r in it" but it's super tiring bc like... yo not everything you like is all gr8 & full of ppl who do the right things all the time. so it's disheartening to love hp, even tho i don't rlly like jk rowling anymore. i'm still gna reblog hp stuff bc i love it!! but how do you feel abt issues such as supporting content that is made by problematic ppl, or if they r in it (e.g. w. allen)

i agree with you. i think something that people easily forget is the fact that everything in this world is touched by something we hate. we cannot buy most shoes, clothes, phones, etc without somehow feeding into the “success” of sweat shops and labor abuse that make them. it’s near impossible to live a life that doesn’t indirectly influence bad people or bad practices. 

one of the tags i saw someone make when reblogging the text post i made was that, if i were to pay to see fbtcog i’d be monetarily supporting johnny depp & this project that he’s in, despite the fact that i said i don’t support him, and i have to draw the line somewhere. i never said i was watching the movie in theaters - i was only saying that my blog would contain fbtcog content. but a lot of times it seems people feel so righteous in their hatred for something that they jump to conclusions and easily mislabel anyone as a supporter.

anyways, my point is, yes, not everything you like is full of great people all the time. you shouldn’t be made to feel ashamed for liking a sort of content / media that contains a problematic actor. there’s a toxic mindset spreading that if you, say, like fantastic beasts, you’re condoning johnny’s actions. but this is not true. you can still enjoy something even if you dislike some element of it. it’s honestly appalling that people assume someone supports abuse because of a “reason” as thin as this. 

paying to see fb isn’t a bad thing - there’s other actors and actresses and film crew you’re “supporting” through it. one bad egg doesn’t ruin the bunch. if someone chooses to boycott a show or movie or whatever for some reason, more power to them. but when they cross the line and hate or attack others for not opposing the problematic thing the same way they are, then it becomes an issue. you’re only succeeding in pushing people away and filling them with ill will, not “recruiting” them to your cause. 

in actuality, being able to like something but still criticize it analytically is a mindset more people need. this idea of blind hatred is dumb. just stay woke and inform others of the issue, and encourage people to speak out against it, and other ways you can find to express disapproval for the problematic element. just be aware that the entertainment industry (and others) has shady people in it, but it doesn’t mean you need to be removed from it (this applies to your question about woody allen films). just proceed at your own risk.

i’m not here to tell people what to do, or preach to them like i’m a patron saint of ethics. just try not to let people shame you into doing something. at the end of the day it’s what you choose to do and not what you tell others (or others telling you) what to do. so see the movie. reblog the gifs. you are not trash or “tainted” because of it, and neither is that piece of media. this is the real world, and you are so much more than the content you consume.

tl;dr you can still enjoy watching movies / films whatnot even if you don’t support someone who is a part of it - it doesn’t make you a bad person or a supporter of bad things, and don’t let people shame you into doing something. enjoy what you enjoy. just stay woke and make informed choices and you’ll be fine.

[iamanartichoke]

Before I get into my reply (which might not be a reply so much as it is a tangent stemming from your starting point, but I am who I am) there's this:

Oh shit. I've really highjacked this post, haven't I, @iamanartichoke ? How can I make it up to you?

I need you to know that I had read this reblog, and then the next time I checked my notifs, I saw your “I have pot brownies!” comment and I was like, wow, that’s wildly random but certainly an effective way to make amends, lmao. It made much more sense once I actually saw the full conversation, but boy, for a minute there ...

Anyway, on-topic, I found your post really fascinating bc it put into words a mindset that I have been *aware* of but never really knew how to articulate. Mainly, this:

1st of all, most people seem uncomfortable with simply saying “I think/feel/believe ____” when expressing their opinion or observation. This comes from the erroneous belief that not only does everyone have a RIGHT to an opinion but that their opinion is also valid. It’s not. My opinion, their opinion, your opinion ISN’T VALID. And that’s hard for all of us to swallow.

I think that this hits the nail on the head – one’s opinion not being valid *is* a hard pill to swallow. Like, even reading this post I had to pause and be like, wait what do you mean by that? Don’t I have the right to my opinion? Isn’t my opinion valid if it aligns with the author’s intent, based on the source material?

But really, it’s true, especially this part:

The validation of any opinion rests on objective facts. Not subjective interpretation.

This is such a simple concept, but it’s one that is largely forgotten. You mentioned the desire for validation – the need to feel validated in one’s opinion, in their interpretations (and by extension their critical thinking skills and overall intellect) and I think that really is what drives the most vicious wank. One person’s thorough analysis of this scene or that character ultimately doesn’t hold any more weight than another person’s completely opposite yet equally thorough analysis on the same scene or character. Which makes things tricky when both people want to be “right.”

I have often found that people want to defend liking something. That’s it. They have to Be Correct about their highly subjective opinion. So they will be so fucking weird and then vicious about defending it. See my above thought exercise on being validated. It’s why we come to the internet where we can find people far away geographically who still become close to us because of shared opinions and the ways those opinions are formed.

Yeah, and this is how we get a toxic fandom environment, where a good portion of the people who liked the thing can’t be content with just liking it – they feel their opinion (and intellect) is undermined by someone else’s take that rips the thing they like to shreds. And I've noticed that the more undermined they feel, the harder they try to make the opposition just go away ("if you don't like Loki anymore, just leave; no one wants you here, stop complaining, go find something else to enjoy" etc).

And, I mean, I'm just gonna link to my tagging post to support my point here - the "positive" people are going out of their way to read takes they don't agree with just so they have something to fight against. Or, at the very least, they're not doing anything to avoid said takes because they honestly believe that those takes shouldn't be there. They shouldn't have to block tags and skip posts. The #loki tag should only be filled with positive content for consumption, none of this "discourse" and "negativity." Etc.

If the only rebuttal to everything I say I dislike about a character is that I SHOULD like him/her based on identity politic points I’m going to tell you right now that you are grossly unprepared to have this conversation with me and I honestly don’t have to fight this battle again.

Agree, and it goes the opposite way, too, in that rebuttals to liking “problematic” ships and/or characters are basically “you SHOULDN’T like that,” based not on any objective facts but rather on an arbitrary moral code that’s ultimately rooted in archaic puritanical beliefs. And this mindset - you should or shouldn't like this thing bc I said so - is spreading through fandoms, applied to differences in opinion instead of morality. "I don't agree with your take, it's terrible and wrong and I shouldn't have to be forced to see it on the blog I purposefully visited or in the tag I didn't filter."

I think it's fair to say that having a subjective opinion is valid, but the opinion itself is not, and that's where a lot of the signals get crossed. "You can interpret the thing however you want to, but it doesn't mean you're right" is unacceptable in fandom, it seems like. And the more invalidated people feel, for whatever reasons, the more likely they are to lash out and contribute to a toxic fandom space instead of just taking a step back and agreeing to disagree.

Idk if I should even post this, but it’s my birthday and I’ll wank if I want to I don’t feel like letting this live rent-free in my head today?

That is, I was thinking about Mike Waldron’s terrible script and how much he, in general, just very much comes across as “that guy in your MFA program,” a stereotype that is so ubiquitious among grad students that someone actually created a satirical twitter account for it. I was thinking about how my program definitely had a couple of That Guys in it, and how insufferable they were -

- then from there I was like, ugh but I bet there’s still people in this hellfandom who think That Guy is so valid and would defend his dumpster fire of a script, like, I can literally see it: okay but you guys are missing the ~symbolism~ and ~complexity~ hidden in between lines like “that chick who shot up my house was crazy … but super hot … and [honest and heartfelt] kinda cool” and “I forgot I was naked” like for one thing, the kind of character Main Guy is isn’t going to come right out and admit he’s catching feelings, so from him, “super hot and cool” is as honest as he’s capable of being, so it works, and also, you really didn’t pick up on how that was representational of the struggle people face when opening themselves up and being vulnerable to others, especially when they’re not used to it? ‘I forgot I was naked’ literally, yes, but also she’s become so comfortable with Main Guy and is opening up to him and letting her defenses down without even realizing it, so she’s figuratively forgotten she’s naked, as well. She has to rein herself in and remember that her walls were built for a reason and good sex (and an honest heartfelt connection) is not a good enough reason to go tearing them down. It’s so layered, did we even read the same script?

And, just, ^^ you really can analyze yourself into believing just about anything, the curtains weren’t just fucking blue, etc, and it really speaks to the absolute subjectivity of how we respond to fiction and art, and really that’s as it should be, and yet somehow fandom spaces have gotten so bad as a result of said subjectivity that everyone is at each other’s throats about literally everything and why are we Like This?

Sooo. Yeah. Idk what to make of my train of thought, but as long as it’s on the tracks, I might as well let it roll.