#I was still for sure an active OG member of the fandom and watched it grow from the beginning

[ask-artsy-oncie]

I’ve been seeing some really weird tags in my notifs for whatever reason and I just wanna say: If you’re going to jump on the “once-ler fandom was cringe” train and insist on making a ten-year-old fandom a lot of you didn’t even witness the butt of every joke you make about tumblr...

I have some very interesting news about the person you happen to be following.

[solarwynd]

There is no denying members like each other and are close to each other... But there are still these things they do that come off as rude there's no other way to see it. I already had a bitter feeling with "I did some lyrics" And "everyone is winning" comment right when jimin won something. But this time it's like there is no hiding for these ppl. I am side eyeing jin too at this moment. What's even more insane is that if rm really wanted to show how disappointed he is with the fandom that he didn't get billboard entry, he should have posted this when JK's never let go , a fan song debuted in hot 100 and not well promoted rm songs, but he decided to do it when jimin started breaking records. It's the same for seven release too, he had all good things to say about 7 when it was breaking records but "everyone is winning these days" when jimin won a music show. It's like when JK achieves something, it's inevitable and that's bound to happen, no questioning, but when it's jimin, starts guilt tripping the fandom lol. The translation tweets quotes are full of pity party as if armys don't usually do it whenever jimin songs do good, now members started adding fire to it.

“He did it on purpose, that man is active on every social network, he practically watches over them, it's obvious he knows what he can cause with his words, now I see how many are streaming out of pity, this harms him more than Jimin in my opinion. I don't think RM is bad, but he does feel envious of Jimin's achievements, I saw some asking why he doesn't do it when JK uploads something, but come on, what JK does is dirty unlike Jimin and that surely bothers him. I thought he was smarter, after all that Jimin did for him, he listens to him with the purest intentions and he pays him like this.” - #2 anon

I distinctinly remember him doing a live last year saying that he thought what JK was doing with his career was great (and this was after 7 dropped) Then again I don’t expect him to go on a rant condemning JK about the fraudulent activities surrounding his charting out loud so 🤷🏾‍♀️

But it is interesting how some of the members, armys and BH all have the same “chosen” view towards JK.

With him obviously going to Bang and demanding better promo and radio for RPWP, I’d say he just wants a chance at substantial commercial success and has blinders on for it. So Bang and Scooter gave him crumbs and he took it. And that’s why I don’t really think he cares about what’s “dirty” from what’s not or that he prizes Jimin’s means of success over JK’s. (Not that simple radio is in anyway dirty.) Now knowing that the image itself is from last year but he chose to post it now has me looking at him even more sideways though. Because he has consistently been online and the one time he posts during Jimin’s release is to moan about charting again. I don’t like that. And I’ve always said he’s justified in wanting his work to do well just like any other artist would, but again the timing was shitty. Cause armys are just using this to further their “Jimin is privileged” belief and to divert attention from his comeback to other members out of guilt and pity.

And the timing still would’ve been in bad taste had he done this post when NLG debuted on hot 100 though. Openly showing bitterness towards your team mates success like that especially when you’re the leader of the group would not be a good look at all.

Like OG anon there is love there and history, but with BTS there is such a frustrating lack of support and tact when it comes to certain things especially towards Jimin. It would take absolutely nothing out of any of them to write a simple “all the best” or w/e on weverse or a hype post on insta, but nothing. Even Jin gave the most indirect acknowledgment of MUSE with nothing else to follow. The only one who had any real type of well wishes was Hobi. And no one can tell me that Jimin asked them not to make a fuss cause he’s the type of person who loves praise and thoughtfulness from other people. It’s not about getting the validation either, like at bare minimum y’all are teammates. So the way the bulk of them act towards him just irks me.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

He Steph, Idk where else to ask this....

pretty sure everyone remember "in a Heartbeat" and the similarity with bbc johnlock, I mean SHERWIN AND JONATHAN kinda obvious but I remember that Beth (one of the creators), in think it was on her twitter (she deleted), that she commented that they actually were inspired by BBC Sherlock (I lost the print and many other files 😭) BUT I REMENDER THIS, and if this wasn't all a hallucination, I need to know if anyone has a screenshot or at least REMEMBER this happened

so pls pls if someone can help

love your blog 🩷

Hi Lovely!

YES!! At least one of the creators was an active member of the Sherlock fandom (I believe they were a VERY popular artist, which is very similar to the style in the final In A Heartbeat, started with a "D" I think?) though I cannot for the life of me remember their OG username, LOL. I believe they still lurk around, but can't really be public about it. But this is all speculation, of course :P

I just vaguely remember that timeframe, honestly <3 Still watch the short from time to time, make my heart so happy. <3

[beautifulhigh]

I have a question for you that I really hope you'll answer. But if you think it might start discourse you'd rather avoid, I understand if you ignore this.

So I love both OG and LS and I follow a bunch of popular blogs in both fandoms. but so many of those folks watch only one of the two shows and are pretty rude about the other one, by insulting cast members and making fun of even the popular well-received storylines. often they don't tag such posts in any particular way so there's no way to filter those out. I sent a few of them asks requesting if they'd tag such posts. Some agreed to but they haven't actually done it. I've seen you interact in a pretty friendly way with some of those accounts and I'm wondering, how do you do it? Everyone always says to unfollow but I genuinely don't want to miss out on the other posts these ppl share. I enjoy those other posts. It's just these particular posts that diss the shows that I want to avoid but can't. I've tried ignoring it, I've tried laughing it off, but I don't think I'm very good at managing my emotions because I always still end up feeling low and negative when I see such posts. How do you manage to interact with people with opinions you clearly don't share? I'd really appreciate any tips. I really don't want to withdraw from these two fandoms but I don't know how to remain while also maintaining a healthy emotional state.

Firstly, I'm sorry this has happened to you. I really am. And I want to stress that this reply is 100% around my experience and the way I have curated my fandom experience, and YMMV. I hope that it doesn't vary too much but this is how I deal with it. I'm going to tag a few people in this, people who I have on my dash, purely to illustrate the diversity and how you can approach things.

I'm also going to pre-empt things and say that if you read a line and you get mad at me for that one line, I want you to do two things. Firstly, I want you to go outside and touch grass. Secondly, I want you to maybe read the full thing and engage some level of critical thinking before you start yelling at me that I'm being inconsiderate because you have a grass allergy so how DARE I tell you to go touch grass?

Also, because I want this to have a bit of a reach and I know people do curate their dashes, I'm going to be a bit sneaky with how I refer to things to actively circumvent any filters. Should make sense what I'm actually referring to but if you're not sure then please ask.

Step one

Curate your experience. I mean this. One of the few joys of this hellsite is that you are in control over your dash. You can't control who people on your dash reblog but you can start with who is on your dash. If you don't want to block anyone then you can filter by blog names and install add ons like Tumblr Savior.

Step two

Remember why you're on this hellsite in the first place. Chances are it's for fandom purposes. And, given the premise of your ask, I'm going to focus on the TV element of it. So you're here because you like one or both of the weewoo shows and you want to share thoughts and ideas and reblogs of gif sets of people who are WAY too pretty to just be out there like normal people. And because we're hardwired that way, we want to seek connections with people. So we follow blogs and we talk to people and we have our mutuals and we message then and chat with them and we develop relationships with them because we all watch the same TV show.

But – and this is the point that I think a lot of fandom forgets. It's a fucking TV show. That's it. A silly little show which is 99% designed for entertainment and distraction. I am not ignoring the fact that there will be parts of both shows which have impact above and beyond the show, but Ryan Murphy et al did not set out to make shows with the primary goals of changing people's lives.

It is a TV show. It isn't actually life or death. So the first thing you need to ask yourself I have represented in a nice little flow chart with ALT text:

Negative and hateful ideas

Yes, it's a TV show. But that doesn't stop shitty people saying shitty things. I love that both OG and LS have a diverse cast. I love that both of them explore difficult issues such as addiction and a sense of self-worth. I love that both of them have characters who are tragedy magnets and are both dealing with an entire back story of guilt and grief and a sense of failure and so we are rooting for them to find the self-worth that we know they deserve. Is this Evan? Tyler Kennedy? Both of them? Maybe Eduado, or Carlos? Both captains have their tragedy stories.

But what I'm talking about here is people making comments that are, no matter your views or stances, way out of line. Be them about the characters or the actors, you know exactly the kind that I mean. Commenting on the ethnicity, gender, sexuality of characters/actors. Making statements about race or religion. The Big Stuff that most of us know is way out of line.

So if someone is hating on "Buddy" because one of them is of Latinex descent? Screw you, step on a Lego. If you're hating on "Tarlus" because both of the actors are queer? You can fuck right off now. If you dislike Hen's storylines because she's a proud, queer black woman? Sit on a spike. If you want Paul to shut up and go away because he's trans? Walk off a short pier.

If you wish Owen had less seggsy and screen time? You'll find friends in both camps! But that's about the character and the storytelling.

A good rule of thumb is: can it be changed? If no, don't be a bitch about it. Oliver can't change his birthmark, Alisha can't change her skin colour, Rafael can't change his sexuality, Brian can't change his gender identity.

But they could write "Buddy" as queer. They could write Owen not drooling over some woman. And so we are going to have and express opinions over this.

We know where those lines are and those are the ones we have to draw. We have to shut down those voices and make it clear that they are not welcome because a) we need to make sure there are more safe spaces than there aren't, and b) we need to send the message that this kind of hate isn't OK.

Now where fandom seems to have an issue is where it comes to different opinions. This is because we equate what we like with who we are, and for many people fandom is a part of their identity as a person. There are so many reasons for this – good and otherwise. You see yourself represented in the show, the characters. The storylines resonate with you. It got you through the worst time in your life. You met amazing people because of it. Fandom is a good thing, it truly is, and it exists BECAUSE people take shows and characters and storylines to heart.

So if you come at the fandom then it feels like you're under attack. But you're not. Have another flow chart, also with alt text.

And I'm going to tag my wonderful friend @capseycartwright in this because she hates LS with a passion. I would go so far as to say it's probably visceral? Still follow her, still love her, and I still read her "Buddy" fics because she's an amazing writer. And the reason for this is because there isn't a single comment she makes about LS that is personal or hateful or spiteful. She just doesn't like it.

Now even if she did make a post saying "anyone who watches LS is dumb" I'll still follow her. Because if I follow my flow chart, even though I would call her a friend and maybe say I know her? She's not someone I'm related to and I don't have to deal with her on the day to day. Also she's not saying "Jen is dumb for liking LS". Even if she was, still not related so whatevs.

I'm also going to tag @paperstorm who isn't an OG fan, doesn't watch it at all, isn't at all shy in expressing her opinions on anything. If OG stuff crosses her dash she doesn’t engage. [Edited to clarify]

Now when @capseycartwright makes a post about LS, one of two things happen. Most of the time I just keep on scrolling. She's expressing her opinion about a show she doesn't watch, doesn't like, and has picked up on something that she's commenting on. She's not saying anything awful that would be picked up on the first flow chart so why do I care? I'm not going to get her to change her mind and honestly? It doesn't matter if she does or she doesn't.

I may comment – like I did on her wedding post – if I feel I can offer something to help explain something. She posted about "Tarlus" not cancelling the wedding so, as someone who has watched the episodes and had the information, I pointed out that they were absolutely going to do that but even the grieving widow was all for them having it go ahead.

The trick here is to be respectful. If I come at her with "well ACTUALLY" then it's not going to work. I just dropped in, said my bit, then left. People are still going to think the wedding shouldn't have happened - hell, there's people in the LS fandom who feel like that.

Could it have been written differently? Yes. So opinions get to be had and respected so long as they're respectful, as per the first flow chart.

We can debate if they should have gotten married in the episode. I'm not debating their right to get married.

When @paperstorm responds to an OG ask about something, same principle. Is she being hateful? No. Can I add anything to help explain/clarify? If yes, do it then move on. [Edited for clarity]

Be the change etc etc

If I wanted to start a fight, I could drop into the tags "OMG Buddy/Tarlus is awful and the characters deserve so much better". And people who have made fandom a huge part of who they are will take that a lot more to heart than people who haven't. Only you know where you fall on that spectrum.

Most people are not going to change their minds. I'm not going to be able to convince @capseycartwright that Tarlus are endgame and get her signed up to the "Peaches and Cherries" crew. I'm not going to convince @paperstorm that the OG crew are a wonderful example of how the love of your found family can help you rebuild and find strength with your blood family. And neither of them are going to convince me to bail on the other show!

Fandom doesn't recruit through arguments. Fandom recruits through gif sets and fics and metas and all of the good stuff that comes out of enjoying a show. Fandom grows through people sharing their love of a show and the characters involved in it. It doesn't recruit and it doesn't grow through arguments.

So if people are saying stuff you don't agree with, so long as they are not hurting anyone? Let them. Why are you ruining your peace and your enjoyment yelling into the wind? If you don't follow them and you're only coming across them because they are tagging their hate so it shows in the tags, then realise they're doing it to get the reaction from you. I'm not letting that petty win so I will keep on scrolling. And if it's on my dash? Well then I will just check that they've not decided to indulge in some -ism statements, and then I will keep on scrolling.

Because fandom is supposed to be fun. It's supposed to be uplifting. And there is enough shit out there in the world right now without yucking someone else's yum. Even if you don't understand it. (I don't understand how anyone can eat mushrooms, but I'm not running around a restaurant knocking them off people's plates.)

We like different things. We like what others dislike. And there are so many ways for you to find room and balance those things in your life if you want to. If they don't want to then that's their issue, not yours. Think about the friends you have IRL – do you share every single interest with them? Some of my closest friends are huge Drag Race fans, but not once have I had an issue with them discussing it in our group chat or making plans which exclude me for them to go and see shows.

I don't care that @capseycartwright is a huge Buddy fan. She loves them, it brings her joy, and so I love that for her. I love that she has something in this world which brings her enjoyment, even if I don't share it.

I don't care that @paperstorm doesn't like OG, and I'm pretty certain she doesn't care that I do.

What I do care about is whether it matters in the grand scheme of things. And honestly? More of fandom doesn't matter in the Big Picture than does. It matters when we use it to do great things. It matters when it helps people feel seen and heard and represented. It doesn't matter when your ship isn't canon/gets married.

tl;dr – if people are being deliberately shitty then the block button is your friend. Otherwise, why does it matter if someone has a different opinion to you?

I know this has gotten stupid long, but I wanted to do it justice because you seem to be struggling with it. And if you ever want to talk to me off anon then please do.

[flower-zombie-rob]

@archivefullofyoutubers Did a thing and I keep seeing people filling this out for new community members so I thought I would do one too just for the hell of it

Preferred name: either robbie or flower. Neither are my real name because i value my internet privacy, but most default to robbie so im comfy with either :)

Preferred pronouns: i dont really care

When did you start watching JSE?: I started around 2016, but 2017 was when I really got into the fandom and started watching the whole channel addictively on the regular.

Why did you start watching JSE?: I had a (really toxic) ex friend who liked it and at the time I wasn't that fussed so i watched a few vids, fell in love with his personality, went down the ego rabbithole and ended up getting so connected with it that im still here to this day and its been a really positive thing for me. I don't think she's involved with the community anymore, but I still am and will be for the foreseeable future.

Favourite thing about the channel?: its between the sweet personality of the man running the channel and the wonderful community of amazing people who inhabit the fandom. I love the whole ego thing because I am a sucker for weird characters who are played by the same person. I love the amazingly kind community and the charity work that we help sean to do. I adore all of the spectacular people and friends that I've met along the way in this community and the absolute talent that lines every part of our niche intrests. I just love JSE as a whole.

Do you have a fav ego?: Its no secret that I among the very rare few whose favorite ego is Robbie the zombie(second place is marvin). He is non-cannon and was a community creation that came about after a thumbnail was made with him in it. From there, the creatives took him and made him a great custom character who is fully up to everyone's interpretation and usually he is the sweetest little cinnamon roll boi that I have ever seen. He also has an incredibly strong connection to me personally and my blogs branding throughout the years, and I could never forget how much, as a character, he has contributed to my persona online. And hes just as cute as a muffin, i wanna hug him and squish his cheeks and pat his head and hes my little blorbo now id die for him.

What kind of community member are you?: I am a very active member of the community and thoughni dont think my art is comendable i have to condsider myself(due to others perceptions) to be a community artist. I am not a theorist because I do not have the brains for that, but I do like to entertain theories and read them. I like to get very interactive with other members of the community and according to someone on a jse discord server I am a tumblr OG of this community (though I'm not sure how true that is...)

What else do you enjoy?: In terms of content: I like sander sides, I like markiplier, I like the owl house, im obsessed with all things neil gaiman, im head over heels for good omens and the sandman, i love my own ocs even if i rarely draw them, and id like to dabble and try out cosplay because its an intrest of mine among other things. As most people do, I like music and films and I am actually a grade 3 vocalist doing a filmaking course(no way! I have a life outside tumblr!?😱)

Are you open to nice messages and new friends?: Oh yeah, 100%. Please! I absolutely love interacting with people and I get so many really kind and supportive people interacting with me! I love all of you so much!!! In terms of making online friends, I don't tend to give away much about myself personally or my information outside of what I share on my blog (like my age or my real name or my face most of the time or anything), but i have been branching out more with that, having met some of you at comic con this year. So sure! im open to friendships that dont push my boundaries :)

Thanks to the og creator for the questions and I'm glad to introduce myself to some new members of this community or migrators from Twitter

💜

[onlyonekenobi]

Hi there 🐝💕 Firstly, thank you so much for your amazing blog.

Secondly, I was a fan of SPN many years ago and fell out of it for a while, only having gotten sucked back in after 15×18 (surprise). Back when I was into it before, there was a lot of discussion about Jensen being potentially homophobic, and now I'm noticing that there's been some..... less than awesome stuff said by Misha, too, in terms of the queerbaiting on the show and having only acted Castiel as in love with Dean this past season.

Obviously the content of the show itself proves this wrong, but it still troubles me, and I couldn't find much about it online other than a few posts by people and one con transcript. Do you have any feedback on this, and would you mind sharing it?

(Thank you so much, and no worries if you don't wanna answer, just keep being awesome!)

Hi!

I’ll do my best here, and I’ll try to track down some sources. also, idk if you sent this question to anyone else as well, but if you did, i’m interested to see what they say. if not, i am flattered to be your Trusted Source.

so, first: jensen re homophobia

I could be wrong, but I don’t remember him ever making any kind of “homophobic” comments OUTSIDE OF things regarding destiel that were construed that way by some fans (if i’m wrong, please let me know). I do remember him shutting down destiel comments, etc, and the infamous “?? no” which has since been debunked by the OP as having been taken out of context. (i can’t find the debunking post on my blog but if anyone has it please link!) with the shutting down destiel comments, he was definitely brash at times! but, I do think it’s also important to note that he and misha were explicitly told not to talk about it. and we know that jensen is (or at least especially used to be) a pretty shy guy, and I think destiel questions/comments being shoved in his face in a public setting- when addressing it could get him in trouble with his job- made him nervous and upset.

however, he took a noticeable shift re: destiel in recent years. for one, we know that he gave his blessing for the canon textual confession (again, I can’t find an og post in my absolute mess of late stage supernatural tags, but if anyone has the receipts, please drop them). I could add more of my own personal spec about how jensen shifted his acting choices in light of this information, but I’ll just move on. we know that he was excited about the confession scene. here’s a second post about that.

and re: general homophobia, here’s a post of jackles with pride flags, as well as a 2019 post from his aunt, who is gay. also, this is largely a shitpost, but I saw it in my jackles tag while looking for the above, and it feels relevant, so i’m including it. a little levity before we move on.

now, misha.

I am aware of misha saying two upsetting things in regards to “the confession wasn’t bury your gays, why are you so angry” Again, if there’s more that i’m forgetting, please let me know. The first was in this panel talk (start at 35:50) from November 22. Here is a relevant post about that moment (I also watched the whole panel live and agree with this post.) The second is this video on twitter, and the following thread, from Nov. 25. However, after several fans replied to him explaining why we were so upset, he issued this apology on Nov. 26. I wanted to give you the original link there, but I’m also including a screenshot with a thoughtful and important addition here. And here is a tweet about Misha finding out about The Castiel Project.

i’ve never heard anything about misha only acting cas as in love for the last season exclusively, so I don’t have any posts to expressly debunk it, but I do firmly believe that to be untrue, just based on things misha has let slip over the years

and for both of them, it’s worth noting that whenever they were asked direct questions about the show, they could only do their best to talk around things like queerbaiting, etc, because they obviously couldn’t actively speak out against the show or the network (like this). for example, we know that misha got a couple phone calls from producers on occasions where he toed the line a little too closely, and he commented how you unfortunately have to listen to the people who have the power to kill off your character (immediately following previous clip)

in conclusion

neither of them are homophobic. to the best of my knowledge, neither of them have ever made an outright homophobic comment. and in cases regarding destiel (again, to the best of my knowledge) they have both either changed course or apologized since making any unsavory comments.

there are also WAY more posts on all this that I didn’t include here. if you search the jensen or misha tags on my blog, or probably the blog of just about anyone i follow, you could look into it more

all that said, it’s also important to note that i am Just Some Guy. i did my best to compile this information in a relevant and meaningful way, but i have oversaturated-sponge-adhd-brain that has been actively following this fandom for a decade, and i’m sure some things got lost in there. so to anyone reading this, if i forgot anything critical, please don’t yell at me, i am but a simple internet jester, just like you.

and while we’re here, I’ll say that- while I do think it’s important to keep a critical eye trained everywhere- if we were going to criticize any spn cast members for unsavory comments, these two are certainly not where i would start

tl;dr, ultimately myself and jensen and misha are all Just Some Guy, and none of us know them, but as far as I can figure, they are both genuinely kind and thoughtful people who care about and respect the lgbt community, including their respective characters’ involvement in it and the real world consequences that has

[likeabxrdinflight]

I’ve alluded to this earlier but I’ve definitely spent some time thinking about aspects of fruits basket that did not age well and...I have to wonder how the younger, newer fans who are getting into it because of the anime reboot are going to react. Because as far as I can tell, there is no sign that the reboot is going to update anything from the manga. It looks like it’s going to be a pretty straight adaptation and that’s it. 

Which is fine!! The manga deserves the good, faithful adaptation it never got. The OG anime was...not great, and though it was faithful up until a point, it was not the full story and it changed several key things in it’s final couple episodes that...well, let’s put it this way. If you only ever watched the OG anime and never read the manga, you’re gonna be very confused when the reboot makes a few key reveals down the line.

So yes, this reboot 100% should exist and I’m really glad it does. But...there are still some things that didn’t age well. And I think people watching the show should be aware of that. So let’s maybe dive into it a bit. I’m going to try to avoid any specific, significant spoilers past the ending of the OG anime, but I will make speaking in broad, vague terms about some things to come so be warned.

So I think the first thing to get out of the way is Shigure. A lot of the humor in Shigure’s character has not aged well in the #MeToo era. He makes jokes about high school girls, he (at least in part) writes smutty novels for a living, and occasionally makes pervy jokes towards members of the female cast. This is all meant in good humor, but...it’s not as funny in the current sociopolitical climate as it might have been in 1999. It’s worth noting Shigure is not to be taken seriously in any of this, but also worth noting that the perv jokes, most of the time, fall pretty flat. Jokes about grown ass men ogling high school girls stopped being funny ages ago. 

(Shigure’s still a great character though don’t get me wrong.)

Second, there’s a lot of...underlying queerness in Fruits Basket that gets very watered down in heteronormativity. Characters like Hatsuharu, who openly declares Yuki as his first love right when we meet him on screen. And then there’s Shigure and Ayame, who constantly joke about dating and sleeping with each other. Hell, just Ayame’s whole presentation, generally, reads as a gay man. Ayame is extremely queer coded. There’s also Ritsu, and I want to avoid spoilers with him, but it’s very easy to read Ritsu as a trans woman or some kind of genderqueer. 

Yet none of those readings, with the exception of maybe Hatsuharu, are accurate. Shigure and Ayame’s bromance is only ever that. Ayame and Ritsu are not explicitly queer in any way, and if you make it to the end of the story thinking one or both of them will be revealed as gay or trans, you’ll be disappointed. Hatsuharu is probably bisexual, but you’d never know for sure. Without spoiling any specifics, the ending of the manga shoves all of its characters into ridiculously heteronormative endings that really undermines any of the queerness it seemed to be going for.

On a similar note, gender. There’s a lot of shit with gender in this story that has actively aged badly. Ritsu’s crossdressing to soothe his anxiety is ultimately portrayed as maladaptive, which is arguably transphobic. And there’s another character that gets fucky with gender, albeit in a much more complicated way. I won’t say more because it’s a major spoiler, but safe to say it’s entirely possible to find that storyline offensive and I wouldn’t necessarily disagree. It’s a compelling and interesting storyline. But I could certainly agree with people if they feel it’s transphobic. 

(I’m not trans, so I don’t have a lot to add on that score.)

Then there’s all the age gap ships, and there are many of them. I don’t have as much of a problem with these as some people might, but I completely anticipate people having an issue about them in the modern fandom climate. And at least one of those age gap ships would genuinely be pretty bad if it were real. It’s not real, so I could care less if people like that ship, but the romantic portrayal of it in the manga has, like many things, aged somewhat poorly. Mileage is going to vary on this one.

Finally, Fruits Basket was always quite a dark story, but there’s still a lot of violent humor that gets tossed around that some might find funny and others may not. Kagura’s treatment of Kyo comes to mind- I remember laughing at her when I was a kid, but now I find it a bit unsettling to watch. There’s a lot of abuse in Fruits Basket, and most of it is taken very seriously. In just about all instances, however, there is a lot of excusing of bad behavior. This typically comes from Tohru, though to be fair that’s kind of her whole deal. 

Now I love Tohru, and I love how she can see the good in people and can find good intentions behind bad behavior. She brings out the best in others and it’s a lovely theme throughout the manga. Still, she really has a tendency to overlook peoples’ behavior, honestly to a fault. And I can see new fans taking issue with how these things are handled by the end of the story. There’s ultimately a thesis statement attached to the way Tohru deals with some pretty nasty people, and for the most part I think that part of the story has aged just fine. But I envision some people disagreeing with me, primarily new fans unfamiliar with the original work.

tl;dr, some sexist humor, queercoding, and gender themes did not age well in Fruits Basket. There are some canon romantic relationships and themes of abuse throughout the story that your mileage may vary on, but may not be well received in current fandom climates. I anticipate there being more discourse surrounding Fruits Basket as the show continues. 

[killian-whump]

Is it bad that I wouldn't want a continuation? I'd be down for a reunion- like special, but not anything in-character, you know? I feel like a bad fan, but for so many reasons, I'm ready to let the show lie. 1, I like where we left things. More, even short lived, could screw that up. 2, as much as I dug season 7, I feel it muddied the waters of the story up enough already. 3, missing major characters again would feel wrong. 4, the fandom as finally chilled the F out. I don't want more crazy.

Oh, Nonny. Nonny, Nonny, Nonny.

That’s not bad at all. I mean, all of the things you mentioned are absolutely valid viewpoints and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you having them. I’m sure, if there’s any truth to these speculations, that a LOT of fans are going to agree with you on those points.

But, life being the way it is, there’s also going to be a LOT of people who don’t agree with them - or, like myself, agree that these are definitely valid issues, but also feel that the benefits outweigh them considerably.

To put it bluntly, I’ve become even more “Colin-centric” in my fandom of Once in the time since the show ended. When I was actively watching the show, I was invested in other characters and other plots and other ships and other cast members... but my focus has narrowed since then. My biggest OTP now is Colin’s Work x My Eyeballs, so as long as that happens, I’ll be happy as a pig in mud. Anything else, quite honestly, takes a backseat.

And just like I feel that way about Colin, there’s folks who feel that way about EACH cast member, character, ship, etc. Those whose faves are taking part will be thrilled, and those whose faves can’t or won’t take part will be disappointed. C’est la vie. I don’t think that any ONE character or actor is (or should be considered) SO important to the show that it (or content relating to it) cannot be done without them. There’s still plenty of stories and ships and characters to explore!

But what I DO think should be universally agreed to is that if/when a reunion or continuation or backstory special inevitably happens... what happened with S7 should NEVER be allowed to go on again. We ALL need to stand together and be firm on this, because it does seem like Jen is actively distancing herself from the show and her role in a way that implies she’s probably not open to revisiting either of them. And there is NO reason why she (or her fans) should stand in the way of those who DO want to revisit Once - be it behind the camera, in front of it, or enjoying the finished work, if we should be so lucky.

I do feel you, probably most strongly, on the concerns over them “ruining” what was considered “canon-compliant” with things left as they were. As a Wish Hooked Queen shipper, if Sean’s involved in whatever goes on, there’s a chance they’ll somehow resurrect OG Robin and reunite him with OG Regina - totally killing my ship (but thrilling OG OQ fans!). But then, there’s also the chance that they might have Sean in as Wish Robin, paired with the Evil Queen... and they might make Wish Hooked Queen canon! So I could win or I could lose - but really, that’s the risk with ANY ongoing show. I don’t think it should prevent any future visits to the Once world.

[thedeviousdevilxx]

I really dont know anymore how i discovered GNR and Slash, i think it must have been through Velvet Revolver. All i remember is that it was in 2004 before we got our Internet connection. So i basically relied on Magazines and MTV to get some stuff about them. I found a really nice penpal who helped me get all the old CDs and concert bootlegs.

After we had Internet, it was better. There was only MySpace (are you old enough to remember it?). Facebook was very new at that time but slowly but surely everyone left MySpace to go to Facebook. No Instagram yet, no Youtube yet, but i found this really cool, extremly detailed Fanmade Homepage about Slash, which helped me a lot getting deeper into the life and whereabouts of him. I was also a member in the GNR Forum but i didn't like it there.

And i was always a Slash Fan first and GNR Fan second. Wherever Slash went, i followed him. I was actually the happiest when he formed SMTC because it felt as if the band was meant to be together.

And Duff, while i was never an active Fan of him, always had a special place in my heart because i adored, and still adore his beautiful, cute friendship with Slash.

But i have to admit that i was not always an active Fan. I had months and years where i didn't really follow what Slash was doing, just wishing he was happy and healthy. Now i am in a more active Phase again. And glad that Meegan provides us with so many Slash pics and Videos because Slash mostly just posts shit. 😁

Yeah I didn't have internet until like 2003. For the LONGEST ass time I never had any concrete online presence, like I had MSN messenger, and like in 2007 created a profile on this super niche emo website whose name I forgot. I did have Limewire to download music and burn on CDs though! And I watched a lot of movies and shows on it was like Megafile, or something before it got shutdown, and the OG PirateBay. Mainly I just read fanfic, watched videos, and just was a nomad online. Shit I never even had LiveJournal, I read stuff on that site but never made my own profile. But I hardly ever participated in any fandom until 2008 when I created my own Tumblr and started to engage truly in social media, I had Facebook by then too.

Oh I kinda miss the old days of fan pages!

I find myself personally returning to fandoms or interests for a while then leaving, which I have joked about this in the past that I dunno when suddenly GnR, or rock bands will stop having any interest for me enough to continue making a lot of posts, or make gifs. I have a lot of phases, generally though the fandoms I continue to return to are; Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, Marvel (comics mainly), DC, again mainly the comics. I even briefly got intensely into some C-Dramas too which if you delve further back into this blog you can see! lol

Ah it's cool though you've been a Slash/GnR fan since forever. I am assuming you must be late 20s early 30s then? I'm 31!