#I’m sure there are people who think that on tik tok etc

[mickeym4ndy]

GODDDD I hate when shameless fans police the show and act like you’re not allowed to dislike the fact that Mickey was written out and how dirty his character was done throughout the seasons when he was gone and take any criticism of it as an attack on Ian. Yes many of those storylines were important for Ian and that’s good but Jesus people are allowed to miss their favourite character, they’re not evil for that and it doesn’t mean they’re dismissing the entire Mickey-less portion of the show.

[sturniololoco]

Shy pt 2

pt 1 pt 3 pt 4

Sturniolo Little sister (SLS) x The Sturniolo Triplets

SLS x Nathan Doe

Warnings: cussing, etc? Still fluff!

SLS/N’s POV

I was not going to sleep any time soon, especially after what just happens in the kitchen.

And what didn’t help, is that Nick knows.

Speaking of Nick, I hear a soft tap on my door, then it was being opened to reveal my older brother. He quickly shut the door behind him and scrambled to my bed and sat next to me.

He looked at me, a smirk on his lips and a mischievous look in his eye. My face was pink again.

“Damn sis, I don’t even know what to say…other than I fucking knew it!” He said, jumping up and down slightly.

I quickly shushed him with a punch to the arm.

“Fine. You were right. But you cannot tell a soul. It was probably nothing anyways, he’ll forget about it by morning.” I said, kinda feeling sad.

“Girl, I may not know a lot, but I do know that that was not nothing.” He told me, grabbing my hand.

I rolled my eyes and laughed sarcastically.

“I’m serious SLS/N! He drank out of your cup for fucks sake! He obsessed with you! He was staring at you the whole time we were golfing too!” He said, shaking me a little.

I sighed, not knowing what to do. Yes, I have always had a thing for Nate, but if Matt, or especially Chris, knew, they would flip out!

“But what if it really was nothing and I’m just overthinking everything?” I ask Nick, a few tears welling up in my eyes. I don’t know why I’m upset about something that was never even there.

“oh c’mere.” Nick said, pulling me to him and hugging me close. We stayed like this for a little while before he spoke again,

“I’ll tell you what, I’ll help you find out if Nate is really into you, how ‘bout that?” He said.

“Really?” I said, giving him a disbelieving look. He nodded and I hugged him again, knocking him back onto the bed.

he pulled the covers over us and shut off my bed side lamp, saying,

“Get some rest, in the morning, we’ve got work to do.”

-

Nate’s POV

“I felt bad about leaving SLS/N standing there in the kitchen like that, but I had to before Chris got suspicious and came out of his room.

I also felt bad about not telling Chris, my best friend since forever, about me liking her. But she’s his sister, and he’d probably hate me.

I walked into his room, and tossed him a Pepsi. He was layed back on his bed with his shirt off, phone in hand.

I thought about just telling him then and there, just being straight up with him. But I couldn’t bring my self to say the words.

Hey Chris, I think your sisters bad af and I really like her a lot, hope that’s okay-

“Nate, you good man?” He asked me, breaking me back out of my trance. “oh-yeah man I’m great!” I replied, pulling my shirt off and climbing into bed. I turned off the light and pulled out my own phone, and started scrolling.

Chris and I layed like that for about another hour, him casually showing me some tik toks he thought were funny. I would let out a forced laugh, not being able to stop thinking about what I just did in the kitchen.

With that, I rolled onto my side, put my phone down, and decided to get some sleep.

-

SLS/N’s POV

I woke up really early the next day to Chris, who scared the absolute shit out of me.

you see, Chris will usually run in and jump on my bed, forcing me awake, but this time was different.

This time, he crouched down next to my bed and shook me awake, softly calling my name.

My first thought was Oh shit he knows!

But no. Instead he asked me to help him make breakfast.

“I need your help making blueberry pancakes, there Nates favorite.” He said.

At this, I sighed in relief, standing up and heading to the bathroom. I quickly brushed my teeth and hair before pulling on a hoodie, making sure I look somewhat presentable compared to yesterday morning.

-

Chris and I were the only people awake so far, and the pancake batter was finished. I began cooking them as Chris threw some bacon in the air fryer.

“Nick texted me this morning, said we were gunna do something fun today. You have any idea what it is?” Chris asked me, now helping me scoop batter into the pan.

My eyes widened at this, wondering what on earth Nick had in plan after last nights events. Before I could reply, someone walked into the kitchen.

“Something smells good in here!” Nate said, walking into the kitchen. He had no shirt on with plaid pajamas pants.

If my eyes could go any wider they would.

I looked down at his toned stomach before looking up at his face.

Eye contact.

I quickly looked down, back at what I was doing. Thankfully, my brother broke the silence.

“I had SLS/N wake up early ‘cause she makes them the best!” Chris said, ruffing my hair.

I swatted his hand away, my cheeks turning pink again.

-

Pretty soon after, Nick and Matt came down to the kitchen, Matt looking tired, Nick looking at me with devilish eyes. I glared right back at him.

I passed plates of pancakes and bacon out everyone, and we all sat at the table and began eating.

“So Nick, what do you have in store for us today?” Matt asked.

He must have gotten the same text as Chris. Nate looked up, intrigued at what we were doing today.

“I thought we could go over to the warehouse and go swimming.” Nick said nonchalantly stabbing at a piece of pancake in his plate.

Everyone nodded in agreement and got excited. I Nick look over at me, with a your welcome kind of look.

I gave him a satisfied smirk and ate the rest of my pancakes, thinking.

[decafgrace]

Let’s not shame movie fans.

A rant

I’ve been seeing lots of new fans of Dune watching the movies for the first time, and talking about the twists or honestly just how much they enjoyed the movie, or like “wow I didn’t expect xyz to happen!”. And then the comment section will be like “*sigh* how did you not see that coming, the book’s been out since 1965. You must be stupid, pick up a book you idiot” and things similar to that. (Tbh I’ve seen this more on twt and tik tok than here but I’m too scared to rant about it there rn so).

As someone who read the books BEFORE both movies were out, how about instead of *shaming* people who haven’t read the books yet, we *encourage* people to read them? I understand taking book fans “more seriously” and joking about movie fans (that isn’t unique to the Dune fandom at all and has been happening for years) but some of these comments are actually so mean about it. How about instead of commenting “book’s been out since 1965” (especially to young people. Like I read it back in 2018 when I was a teen, sorry I wasn’t a fan pre-conception when the book was first released 🤪) we say “If you like the movie, the book is ever better! You should read it!”.

I know that Dune has always been revered in the sci fi world. I think us sci-fi fans forget though that Dune pre-new movies was still a relatively niche thing in terms of mainstream recognition (especially in comparison to Star Wars or Star Trek and things like that). I’m also sure that there are movies that YOU claim to like that you haven’t read the books for until the movies too (if you read the book at all). Howl’s Moving Castle, Goodfellas, Jaws, Schindler’s List, etc are all movies that were actually based on books that I’m sure people claim to be fans of despite not being an “og fan of the books” or even having read the source material ever.

Again, it’s fine to pressure people to read the book like every fandom does! But we don’t have to be a jerk about it or shame people for “discovering Dune for the first time”. Let’s get more people reading Dune!

I have lots of other thoughts about the Dune fandom that I’ve been holding in for a looooong time that are bubbling up again because of the pt. 2 release but I’ll save that for another time -

Rant over.

TLDR;

New fans: READ DUNE

Old fans: Let’s actually encourage reading :)

[my-shields-are-down]

Hello friend!

I am right there with you about rage posting for 48 hours afterwards. What they did was a huge slap in the face to the fans.

I also have to say I agree with you about not trusting Alexi he said oh they will not go backwards, oh we are moving their relationship forward to the next step. This is not moving their relationship forward our to the next step.

I took know they will not be together at the end of this season. Where I have to say we agree to disagree is that there is always still a chance slightly be it a small chance that they will get back together. It would be dumb for them not do it financially it would be stupid, ABC and the rookie would lose so much money because people would stop watching. There are so many fans that only watch for Chenford. Also it would be dumb because if you really isolate and piss off a fan base people will never want to watch anything you do ever again. The ratings have already fallen big time since last week.

You are right though Alexi has been very quiet. I think he knows what he did but he is to much of a coward to face the music. He is to scared to talk because he knows the wrath that will be thrown down on him.

I do think we might get a season 7 but if we do I see it being the last. I personally never had IG, Twitter, Tik Tok, cameos at all so I am glad I am not missing much. So I have missed out on the all posts from the actors etc...

I just want to hang on to that little bit of hope that they will get back together. I do. I can't imagine them with anyone else. They really do love each other. I know love is not enough. But I would like to think this can't be the end. I am still mad and will be for awhile. If they don't get back together then I am pretty sure that Chenford will be my last ship. I have dealt with enough break ups and make ups that I am worn and beaten down. Another reason why I think they will be together in the end is because this usually how the formula works. Be it not usually on the Rookie but it is they break up the beloved couple they go through crap and get back together. They know it brings in viewers and it works. I can't really think of a show where they broke up a couple and didn't put them back together in some way.

But I am one of those people who stops watching a show when .y favorite couple breaks up and I will not watch again until they get back together. I am not watching the rest of this season until the finale cause I want to see what Melissa and Eric teased about that will make Chenford fans happy. I have a feeling it will probably be something that worth it anyway. But we will see. I just want to believe that there is still a small amount of hope. If we get a season 7 and I feel that we are not getting them back I will call it quits on this show.

++++

Hello friend! 🌼

I don’t think they’ll be romantically back together at the end of the season, but likely will have some kind of conversation to clear the air and acknowledge they were not communicating effectively, that they both have issues to resolve within themselves, that it was wrong for Tim to not give Lucy a say… that kind of thing.

The show will likely get renewed.

If I’m still watching next fall, my hope is that any will they/won’t they moments are not dragged out and whatever decision they make in that singular moment is final. No hemming and hawing.

But of course - they are already dangling that carrot of hope that maybe one day they’ll circle back around to each other in front of us to keep us invested and sitting on the edge of our seats. Because Chenford is so important to the show and makes them money, they’ll drag it out as long as possible. And I’m not down with sitting through that extended remix of a dance again. ( I love extended remixes of New Wave music)

And I will leave the instant one of them dates someone else. I’m just not interested in watching more Chris and Ashley relationships. THAT aspect of their romance does not ever need to be repeated. But again, I can definitely see that happening again as well. I just won’t be around to watch it.

I still want Lucy’s cover to be blown on a UC opp. And I want Tim to suffer a bit from his demotion and to keep that softness that Lucy revealed in him and share it with everyone he loves.

Time to rest.

Andrea

[azrielgreen]

I just came from your tik tok about ao3 etiquette and enjoyed your commentary about kink shaming and rating systems and why it’s not a good thing for fandom. How it drives creators away or forces them to delete work because they don’t want to be judged and witch hunted… Thank you for using your platform to bring attention to those matters. 💚

I was wondering what your take is on another fandom matter: comments people leave that sort of perpetuate a fandom hierarchy and dig at other writers to lift other writers up. Like “this creator carries the fandom on their back” or “you’ve ruined me for all other writers”. Stuff like that. I’ve seen it across multiple fandoms and always felt a little stung by it because what it says to me is that everybody’s work in fandom as a collective isn’t appreciated. I feel comments like those turn fandom into a popularity contest where select writers are skyrocketed to fame and small time creators are drowned out. I’m not sure if that’s just me taking it personally, or if those comments are actually rude.

Obviously I’m not unaware that you’re popular and rightfully so. I’m not trying to come off as bitter, or guilt trip you for your success. I apologize for my question if it seems this way. I tried to word it carefully, but I’m not sure if i communicated my thoughts accurately.

I know you’ve been part of smaller fandoms/ships before and often orphan your work, etc. because you write for yourself, and you never expected to blow up. So I guess I’m just curious to know your perspective since you know both sides of being smalltime and being famous, and if your standing in the Steddie fandom has changed anything for you or given you a new outlook. If it’s a lot of pressure to be so looked up to. If you ever miss being more of an unknown creator so it could give you more freedom. If it ever makes you feel uncomfortable to be popular.

Thank you in advance if you respond to this. I know it’s an odd message. 💚💚

Hi, firstly thank for you this question. It's a really important one actually and being mindful of the fandom in which we share space/interact with one another is, in my opinion, essential.

So, looking at your question - the elevation of one author above others in terms of praise - it's definitely not ideal language being used in the examples you gave and there is always, I think, a way we can express ourselves with total authenticity and honesty, but also not stepping on people. Now, this is not saying that anyone who comments things like that IS stepping on anyone and I have to be clear that 99.9% of all my positive fandom interactions here have been expressed beautifully.

However, our language can always be shifted to something more inclusive. Because ultimately, this fandom is MASSIVE and there are a stunning amount of beautiful, meaningful works that due to its size don't get anywhere near the recognition by comparison that they deserve. No single creator carries anything on their backs, a fandom is a community and it should be a mutually beneficial/supportive one.

In terms of a popularity content, I think that happens in all large fandom spaces to a certain degree. This phenomenon has both positives and negatives, but overall, I try to stay out of the "contest" as much as possible. Cliques are deeply unappealing to me and having been bullied out of several fandoms in the past, I can confidently say I would never want to be in one. I have good friends, writers and readers alike, in this fandom and I dare believe that no one I am close friends with would ever treat people poorly.

In terms of my own experience, I do still regularly orphan works. Orphaning my work keeps me humble to a degree and I love creating just for sake of it, with no audience in mind. I personally don't feel any pressure to be looked up to as I will always write for myself, even on main, and if people don't like it, there are 16k other fics out there to read (and counting). It does make a little uncomfortable to be considered popular, or well known more accurately. It's strange to scroll Twitter (something I rarely do these days) and see my name and my fic being very casually discussed. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. I miss feeling invisible, that's true, but it'll never stop me from writing what I want and whoever enjoys it along the way, that's a wonderful added bonus.

In terms of "fandom heirarchy" - a strange system that mostly operates on word of mouth, sometimes the hits/kudos numbers on AO3 - I think it's important to remember that a lot of the reason behind this structure is that some of us were the first people writing Steddie back in June 2022 and so those numbers/familiarity are naturally inflated due to legacy. I definitely always try to keep that in mind and I will gas ANYONE up whose work I love, always, while trying to pay tribute to all authors and creators in this space however I can.

I have to say I do dislike the elevation of one author above others on general principal and I see people getting competitive, hostile and even sometimes resorting to bullying. The SteddieBigBang Discord server disaster (which I heard about from my friend) is a solid example of that and an excellent reminder of why I value my space and autonomy so dearly.

Operating in this fandom has absolutely opened my eyes to the pitfalls of such mainstream interaction but it's also allowed me to reach such a wide audience of people who've shared with me their own experiences, which I treasure. I've healed a lot of my own personal trauma in writing what I have and I'm incredibly grateful to have a place here. I will always advocate to elevate all authors within the fandom because everyone's work is important, beautiful and essential. I will always defend everyone's right to consume and create whatever they want in a safe, encouraging space.

I make new discoveries every day based off my own searches for content and gently advise others to do the same, rather than only ever relying on rec lists and "algorithm" style suggestions. If I published You're Divine today, out of nowhere, I doubt it would find any traction beyond the few people (like me) who tag-search for the very specific things they like.

Thank you for this question and for taking the time to relate your thoughts so the way you did. I appreciate you. 💜💜💜

[ashersbraincell]

Just had the most terrifying nightmare yet, one of those stereotypical ones that actually incorporate both real life events twisted into optimum trauma factor scare and topped off with a dusting of sugar(your traditional spooky stuff)

I will try to retell it, but first

TW: bodies, trauma, school trauma, second hand embarrassment, sleep paralysis, nightmares, night terrors(?), being chased, body horror, physical abuse, bullying, fear of the dark, fear of heights, hyperventilation, hyperventilating, false awakening, being stared at, being watched

Okay, so first thing I remember is that, for some reason, in this dream-universe it was required of all school graduates to complete a day of chaperoning the youngest(a year 7, I live in Britain). So I’m chaperoning this kid, I think his name was Liam? Something with an L I think. Looks, kinda familiar? I’m not sure now. I couldn’t recreate his face now if you asked me to imagine it clearly but in it was still much clearer than most dream characters.

Well anyway, we check in with the head of the school(who, again, looked familiar but I don’t think I actually knew her irl. Perhaps she was a mashup of all the female teachers I’ve known that had long-ish white blonde hair. Well anyway, she sets us off for the day. I find myself actually somewhat compassionate for the kid, which I guess was expected since, again, in the „dream universe” the reason this was required was to build compassion and kindness or something.

So there were two moments when my school trauma(bullying), particularly showed up. Once, just, seeing that familiar hallway. With the Nurses office and all(personal detail, won’t make sense but wanted to add it for myself). Then, later, there was a more elaborate moment. So it’s breaktime, and this kid meets up with his chubbier, glasses friend(/not negative just the two descriptors I particularly remember. He was also blonde like Liam but his hair was slightly more bowl-cut shaped).

Said friend has a bottle(for some reason, one shaped like those gas tanks? It was huge) of alcohol. Naturally, I caution them but I’m too timid to overstep my boundaries. Doesn’t matter though, since lessons start up again and. The crowd comes(another trauma, my school had major overcrowding to the point that it became dangerous oftentimes when breaks would end especially). I get lost in the sea of people, and start completely panicking/crying/hyperventilating when I feel some guy just, grab my hair and yank it continuously(didn’t happen specifically back then, but I had many other experiences of being physically abused in those crowds, shoving, shoving against walls/door-frames, kicking, etc).

It cuts to later when I’m apologising for just, blanking out like that but the aforementioned blonde haired lady is forgiving. Later, it is lunchtime and I loose the kid again, I assume among the masses of people though this time I don’t think it was any more scary than just being a crowd(don’t think any more physical abuse occurred). So I’m looking for him everywhere and eventually remembered that some kids would gather in classrooms to eat(this didn’t actually happen, again, dream-universe thing), and check until I find him and sit down.

They are, unsurprisingly drinking alcohol. At some point I HAD reported that so I wondered how they weren’t caught. Somehow, H(again, personal detail, stands for a name I OBVIOUSLY dont want to disclose) was another chaperone for some other kid there at the time, which is suprising how much of a general red flag he is as a person. But I try to put up face and just, make it to the end of the day. But, eventually we start watching cringey tik toks to make fun of them, and an old one of mine comes up(though I’ve had cringey tik tok accounts that I am mortified by, this one wasn’t an actual one I’ve had, again dream-universe thing. Not necessarily a trauma but it is a fear of mine that someone could find the ones that DO exist so another point for realism horror ig). Obviously I’m so distracted by this that we proceed to be 10 MINUTES late, and that’s apparently my last strike.

Now here is where I think my brain ran out of material to torture me with, because things get more, if not in an extremely bizarre way, „traditionally” nightmarish. As I take the walk of shame to the library, slowly transforming into a librarian, the kids’s, all the kids’s eyes have become nothing but bright red circles in a fashion that would almost the cartoonishly ridiculous would it not have had the immersiveness of the dream. All staring. And they’re droning, all in unison, something I don’t remember. I’m dream universe, I was aware of this being the consequences of failing my mission, being sentenced to working as the librarian at that school forever.

Later cuts to me in the car with my mom, talking about my „demotion”, ig. I mention the fact that the blonde haired teacher lady ACCUSED me of drinking the alcohol myself and that being the reason for my lateness, since I was much too embarrassed to admit to what actually happened. I, of course fervently denied the allegation as it was obviously something I’d never do. To which she patronisingly continued to not believe me, „reassuring” that it was „understandable” for someone my age. A statement, much to my disappointment and disbelief, my mother echoed. She would not believe me either. The whole thing had very „fallen Angel” vibes so I guess it had that going for it in the metaphorical department

Then, for some reason, we were walking through and out of an apartment complex, one of many in a line, though this one had a straight line on path towards a bridge…over a completely dark abyss. A huge one, too. Apparently, this was a normal occurrence of getting home every day(one could make out the end of the bridge, and it didn’t look particularly damaged, but it sure as hell wasn’t sturdy(it was one of those hanging rope ones). We start going through, and I just hear this bellowing howl from within the abyss. We begin to stagger back, obviously, but out of the corner of my eye, towards the edge of the abyss, on a sort of shore, I notice a…mass? No, a body. It’s really pale, white, like completely with a greyish hue, and curled up in such a way I can’t make out a head, but I wouldn’t be suprised if it was bald.

I am horrified, instinctually so. Like I just, KNOW that it will begin to chase us and something HORRIBLE will happen if it should get to us. As I begin to audibly go into hysterics(ie „oh god, oh god, what the fuck, oh god” etc) it begins to move, jerking in in-human ways, as I sprint for it. At first, my mom has the idea to try to duck behind and hide behind some of the apartment complex’s walls, (they were irregular, not lined up smoothly, with a section pertruding forward in the middle of each one) but I just knew it wouldn’t work. In hindsight, I thought my screaming had already set off it’s instincts and it was after us anyway. I eventually let go of my mom’s hand, and keep running. At this point, I was already like, half-dreaming, half-imagining it, as I was already gradually waking up so I kinda just had a „man, fuck this” moment and fully pulled myself out of the dream.

Had the sneaking feeling it COULD turn out to still be right behind me towering over my bed(I was turned towards the wall) l, so I did many a reality checks, a double-reality checks to make sure I was fully awake and wasn’t in for another round via false-awakening. I wasn’t.

Dude, when I tell you it was fucked up. One of those nightmares you wake up hyperventilating from. Eurghhh

[sunshinemarauders]

Sexist Experiences in the Marauders Fandom

These anonymous submissions come from a survey I published several weeks ago where I asked for fans in the Marauders fandom to share their experiences with me. I was overwhelmed with the results, and this is, in their own words, some of the submissions I was sent.

There was a situation on TikTok where a popular marauders creator told people who made transfem Sirius content to block him or comment so he can block them because it made him dysphoric, and while it wasn’t his intention, it made a space where people felt comfortable being wildly transmisogynistic towards the headcanon and creators

Lots of sexism towards female characters and I've been called misogynistic slurs like bitch and c****

Even in this form, there is explicit fetishization of MLM relationships over WLW. That is the biggest thing I have seen, besides people hating Lily because she is an AFAB character shipped with James at the height of Jegulus.

It's mostly just fans ignoring/villainizing female characters in the fandom in order to elevate male characters. I haven't really seen sexism directed towards the fans, just the characters.

I was about to answer this question before again X) Anyway, there's some sort of misogyny I "experienced" indeed. Not directly as I said, but more because I write fanfiction, and so I see the misogyny in the fanfiction system (and I saw no one talking about it). When you want to tag for a fic with a wlw ship, the tags are... barely existent. The "[character] is a Little Shit", or "[character] needs a Hug" (you know, these types of tags), to quote the famous ones, they are sometimes not even a thing for the women. It really shows I think a lack of presence and development of the women characters. It is very hard to tag women in fanfictions (here I'm talking mostly about ao3, which has the most developed tagging system I believe). That's not it, but this is more subjective, maybe: the amount of hits are NOT the same. That's crazy. For an AU I wrote, a series of one shots, so the same universe, the same tags (it was a spy AU and basically, the one shot is like a slice of life, telling about a mission, it's a details but so you'll understand better), the same concept, the same things (more or less) happening, the same length... etc (you get it), well for all this, I'll have 1K hits for the boys, and barely 100 for the women. It's not even about the kudos, it's really ... how people are not really willing to click on fics with only women :/ I've seen this on a lot of fics about women (them having less visibility), and I'm sure some other writers could agree on this. (sorry I really ranted X) I wanted to give details).

People saying the girls being erased is okay Bc they’re girls

the treatment of wlw characters and ships in this fandom have been to ignore or hate on them and as a lesbian it quite annoys me.

I'm not sure if your question also applies towards characters, but if it does, yes. So many m/m fics (especially Jegulus) will villainize the women in the story to elevate the men and get them together.

i’ve never seen outright sexism but the female characters are really undervalued and some fans are happy to focus on only the male characters and openly hate on the female ones

A fan was saying "shut up nobody care about them" when a fan was complaining there are barely any headcanons about the girls in a certain tik tok account

I once read a post from an old marauder fan who was basically saying trash about the new generation of marauders fans, about the «new » characters like the girls, saying that the true original story was only about the 4 boys marauders fighting for the war and that the others were shit.

I’ve been aware of fans being sexist towards other fans but also tending to be like sexist when it comes to the girls in the marauders era and essentially ignoring or ‘bashing’ the sapphic/wlw ships

There’s a lot of hate towards Lily regarding Jegulus. I’m also not too sure if this is considered sexist or not but some view Tonks as simply a surrogate for Remus and Sirius.

I’ve seen some nasty comments about lily being a bad mother or like demonizing her for having other interests other than just raising Harry

General underrepresentation of women, blaming Lily for being “in the way” of Jegulus and having her as nothing but a surrogate to Harry

Just a preference to the male ships and hating on the female characters for no reason

People have a very hard time with the girls characters and giving them value outside of their relationships with the male characters ex: making likely out to be a villain when Jegulus started getting popular

I think a great example is people tearing down Lily to allow for Jegulus. Similarly, I've seen tons of stories that play into sexist and toxic stereotypes, like giving the Marauders toxic masculinity traits and glorifying them. The ever-present fat phobia (that is everywhere, not just HP or Marauders fandom) is heavily rooted in sexism as well.

[acourtofthought]

Hi! Do you think Sarah will be starting a new series after she wraps up CC? Since it was mentioned (I think in ACOSF) that there may be 25 alternate worlds and we only know of 3. I feel like I’m one of the few who’s actually excited about the crossover, haha.

But I really hope she’ll release ACOTAR 5 and 6 back to back.

After CC, I think SJM will pick back up with the ACOTAR series, releasing 5/6 back to back and this is why:

We know she's currently working on the next ACOTAR book but SJM has never made a formal announcement on IG or her website and there has not been a formal announcement made by Bloomsbury claiming that in order for us to understand the next ACOTAR book, you should begin reading the CC series.

She mentioned reading ACOTAR before CC3 as an offhand comment in a paid interview but it came across as more of a "why wouldn't you want to read acotar now that you met those characters in CC, I think you should!?" rather than a "you definitely need to read the ACOTAR series to understand. The release of CC3 is months away. Had reading ACOTAR truly been a requirement, she wouldn't have left people three months to finish 4.5 books before purchasing the next CC.

There's many of us in the fandom. However, there are just as many people who simply browse their E-Reader book selections or walk through a bookstore and pick up books that way. The fandom is large but I'm not sure we make up the majority percentage of her book sales (maybe someone has a way of figuring that out?). Even if we do though, there is still a good number of people who have never looked at SJM's website or the FB fangroups or Twitter / Tumblr / Tik Tok, etc. Some people have no interest in putting in the effort to do anything more than enjoy a book, put it down and move on to the next. They don't go wild like we do for any and all information and really just read books based off their Amazon recommendations or the NY Times Bestseller list.

If we try and forget what we know of the fandom and act like we're an ACOTAR only reader because Urban Fantasy isn't a preferred genre (I know someone personally who hasn't read CC), the crossover doesn't exist in our world. Bryce doesn't exist. Our SJM reading experience ended with SF and we're anxiously awaiting the next ACOTAR book having no clue what she said in an interview that we didn't pay to watch.

For readers like that, can SJM truly pick up the next ACOTAR book after Bryce's arrival? Can it start with the characters talking about what they learned in CC3?

That would make zero sense to anyone who finished Nesta's story wondering what's going on with Tamlin, Koschei, the other queens, Beron, etc. There are definitely crumbs in SF hinting at the possibility of other worlds, the hints that people may have once been trapped in the Stone, but I think it's jumping a bit to much to start off ACOTAR 5 talking about a modern fae female who had entered Prythian through a portal they didn't know existed and swapped history's with, things that occurred off page in a series they never read.

Therefore, if (as we in the fandom know) the crossover will eventually affect future ACOTAR books, SJM has to build up to the events of the crossover within the ACOTAR series itself. Whatever we learn in CC3 has to also be presented as new information for the reader in ACOTAR 5/6. Because again, ACOTAR readers who buy books at bookstores alone are going to be clueless that an outerspace traveler from a different series landed in the NC and clueless as to whatever secrets were revealed in CC.

Reading all the series will create a more complete picture however, it's impossible for that to be a requirement for the next ACOTAR book since it's never been marketed as such. From a publishing standpoint, if SJM has written three different series, the series do still need to stand on their own and any information from a crossover that occurred in series #3 that's important to the future of series #2 will have to be delivered independently in series #2, without having to know what happened in series #3. Starting ACOTAR 5 with the characters having knowledge of Bryce's visit just doesn't work without causing massive confusion to a large portion of readers and it's not cohesive to where things ended in SF.

To smoothly integrate everything I imagine she'll start the next one, picking up shortly after the events of SF and use the next two books to buildup to what happened in the crossover and possibly the events that follow after, leading in to whatever connected plot the two share.

After that, I do think SJM will be writing another CC book (since she signed that new 4 book deal) dealing with House of Many Waters as well as another ACOTAR book(s) where she builds to a major battle in Prythian that involves characters from Midgard (and possible TOG) entering portals and joining together to fight the remaining Asteri.

I'm not sure I see her starting a new series yet, I think there are too many stories she's still looking to tell with the characters from her current ones.

[rollercoasterwords]

i always find the discourse about wlw rep in the fandom sk interesting. like. i’m not gonna lie and say that it isn’t something i haven’t agreed with and gone “yeahh i do want wlw” “yeah omg why is there an attention on mlm”. it’s frustrating sometimes. esp when i was younger i distinctly remember being freshly new out of the closet (and by that time i was alr reading mlm ff) and then going to look for wlw and being kind of. disappointed. being older now, and interacting with a lot of other ppl, and understanding things more i wholeheartedly agree with ur points abt this. it’s true. it makes sense. but i can see why it’s so hard for ppl to grasp. and i understand why ppl are always always bringing up this discourse. before i had someone point it out to me in that sense like “look ff is different than the main media we consume” i hadn’t rly made that connection, bc to me, it was just media. it was entertainment, it was a silly little story just like so many id read before. and like. obviouslyyy now i see how while it may feel like it’s all the same to me, it’s not and it warrants a different type of behavior and attitude almost. but it can be hard to get to that point, even after someone points it out. and it can hard to let go to that way of thinking even after you know it’s “wrong” (i say this in quotes bc i don’t rly think it’s wrong per so but like. uninformed. or ignorant almost). there is a very fine line between the mainstream media we consume and ff but that line is hidden under layers and layers of ideas and concepts we alr have (and it’s hole only dug deeper with things like tik tok, where you see multiple multiple videos telling you every day that “we should demand more wlw rep” etc and considering it’s an app that doesn’t encourage ppl to think critically at allll) so yeah idk where i was rly going with this, but it’s just always smth i think abt when i see this discrouse.

and like side note, that’s not to say that there isn’t wlw there are so so so many great fics out there, and like you said, if you want it so desperately just simply do it yourself etc etc, but in the context of this, i think ppl cling to the idea of wanting a mega popular everyone’s read it this is the fic™️ fic for wlw abd they want the same kind of discourse and tik tok popularity and attention that mlm fics get yk? that’s why a lot of the times, the need snd incessant screaming for that drowns out the voices alr there.

yeah i mean i understand where it's coming from when people say they wish there was more "wlw rep" in the fandom and i do think that the people who act as if they need to Crusade for more wlw fic are mostly coming from a place of ignorance re: the way fanfic functions as an inherently different form of media from books, movies, etc. and i'm sure that part of it is coming from a place of wanting to feel like u can make some Real Change in the media u consume. however i do think a large part of it is also coming from wanting to virtue signal for brownie points and also knowing that stirring up controversy and acting as if u are Crusading on behalf of a Good Cause will get u more likes and views. and at the end of the day regardless of where it's coming from it is all equally annoying and equally harmful in the way that it seeks to drag fanfiction into some sort of internet profit economy. so! it's like...do i think that many of these people are just misinformed? yes, absolutely. but i will be honest and say that personally i am running out of sympathy for people who are just soooooo sad because they want more wlw fics simply because. well me myself and i when we looked around the marauders fandom and thought "hmm this could use some more lesbians" we simply wrote fanfiction about lesbians. and it's like well yes i understand that me myself and i are an immortal being with godlike power who is better than everyone but these people could still at least TRY to get on my level like c'mon now....this is perhaps one of the only forms of media where u actually have direct control over what "representation" u can find. and complaining that "there's no good wlw fic" is insulting to everyong who writes good wlw fics. not very #feminist methinks!!!

also to ur sidenote--i think this is so true! in my little foray into the tiktok comments on all these discourse videos over the last like week or so i have seen over and over and over again people going "we need an atyd but for the girls!!!" and it's like....why. PAUSE for one second. rewind. think about why u feel that it is necessary for there to be One Big Viral Fic in order for a ship to Officially Have Representation. what does that say about the way you engage with fandom. what does that say about your definition of "representation." what does that say about the metrics u are using to like....assign value to fanfics. because personally to me it signals that u have been so sucked into this weird tiktokification of fanfiction that u only think fic is worth engaging with if it's reached a certain level of virality on tiktok, which is half of what's giving way to this whole "representation" issue in the first place, because the problem isn't that people aren't writing wlw fics, it's that you aren't seeing them because they aren't one of TikTok's Top 5 Most Popular Fanfictions and you refuse to venture outside that corner of the fandom. and the snake eats its own tail once again </3

[yonemurishiroku]

I think another thing to note is that a lot of the TSATS negativity stems mainly from users on tumblr. I’ve been on twitter & Tik tok and the reaction seems to be overwhelmingly positive. Like the first few days the book came out, seeing tumblr reactions versus other platforms was literally like night and day. I’ve even seen some ppl say they cried a lot or that it’s their fav PJO book! (Which is a surprising but whatever 😭) I have seen some criticisms on the other platforms, sometimes about the writing quality or OOC-ness or being underwhelming, but it still wasn’t all terribly negative. The only place I’ve seen VERY VERY harsh vitriol is on here, and I’m not sure why. personally I thought TSATS was okay and I have my own criticisms, but honestly I have that with every PJO-verse book. Imo some of the takes I’ve seen here are valid, but some are also really really mean and honestly a tad overdramatic, but idk why or what it is about tumblr. I think I’ll stay away from here for a while when chalice comes out.

This ask is from May 18th, I'm so sorry for the delayed replies. 😭😭😭 It got caught in a mess for quite a while aksdkdakj---

Ok. So.

You're saying that most of the negative reviews come from Tumblr whereas TikTok and Twitter give mostly good feedback. I think I can offer a few explanations about this.

Tl,dr:

Tumblr allows long posts, whereas Twitter and TikTok have a length-wise limit to their content.

Tumblr is more fandom-centered, a much more suitable place to rant in a book of a franchise.

Tumblr has a different approach, which enables different types of posts to come across you, unlike Twitter.

(Please keep in mind that I don't use TikTok, so most of this would be assumptions based on my limited knowledge about the platform. I have a Twitter account though)

Now. The first point is quite clear. Tumblr doesn't have any limitations to whatever you post on the site (or at least that limit exceeds normal people's capacity of writing/reading per post ajsdhakjdhak), which enables you to give long, complicated, detailed essays on a certain topic.

Which is the best fit if you want to criticize something.

Because unlike complimenting something, when you criticize it, you'd need to give a reason for how and why it is bad (in your opinion). To compliment something, you might just need to say simple things like "OMG I LOVE IT" "This is so adorable I might cry" etc...

Adding to that: sometimes it's just easier to list what you dislike, you know? 🤣🤣🤣 I mean. When you hate something, you'd find it very easy to focus on its flaws to dissect, which results in many rants. Whereas when you love something, you just... love it. Not mentioning sometimes you can find it hard to articulate said love.

In Twitter's case: Twitter has a character limit, which hinders people's need to rant. This appears unsuitable when you want to rant about st in dissatisfaction. Although, it'd be pretty good if you're overwhelmed with love and want to flood the complimenting post with memes.

Yes, there're people writing a whole long ass thread on Twitter. But again, with Tumblr alr providing a function, it's understandable which one would prefer.

TikTok, in addition to having a length cap on their videos - which acts roughly the same as Twitter's character limit, allows only video format. This is just a hypothesis, but I suspect people might be discouraged by the idea of making, filming, and editing a video about something they don't like - rather than just... writing it down. I find the second choice much easier.

Similar to the above, Tumblr is more fandom-centered. The app is literally advertised as for Fandoms and Creators.

When you want to share an opinion on a certain topic, you'd go for those who at least have a semblance of whatever you're talking about, right?

Tumblr is created for fandoms and has its own tag system. This makes it easier when you're targeting a certain group of enjoyers. I doubt that Twitter and TikTok, while having their own tagging systems, would be more effective than Tumblr. (Ppl on Twt rarely use tags when it comes to fandoms......)

Different approaches.

Tumblr, as far as I know, filters content by tag. Which means that if you look into the The sun and the star tag, you'd see everything related to it. If you like something from it, chances are you'd get recommended another post in said tag, regardless of what it is about. Including conflicting opinions.

On Twitter, on the other hand, if you want to see a certain topic, chances are you'd need to:

1/ Follow someone who's active on said topic. Generally, you would go for someone you like/ share some of your sentiments/ you vibe with to follow right? Hence, chances are they would share the same view as you.

2/ Search for the tag. But I doubt people would use tag for this book.

3/ Search for any other keywords. This runs the risk of missing content, which might or might not include the criticizing post.

Of course: This^^ relies heavily on my predictions and assumptions of your engagement. It might not apply that well.

All in all, it all comes down to whether and where people choose to express themselves. I have a Twitter and a Tumblr, and I choose to deliver most of my PJO content on Tumblr. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ You don't see me criticizing on Twt, but I'm def there.

About Chalice though, I don't think you need to worry lol. TSATS has its problems because it focuses on already controversial topics and is put on a pedestal before release, so people tend to be more extreme. Chalice, on the other hand, afaik, is about another average quest by Percy? It's not that... extreme, I mean, and there's hardly and complicated plot. I think of it more as a side story, really. So maybe you don't have to worry that much? lol i do hope so. 😂😂

[miru667]

hi there, miru ! it’s surely been awhile since i’ve visited your blog , and i was always shy to directly interact with you, but this time, i want to say a lot of things, and i hope you’ll find some time to read.

i remember how i stumbled across your account when i was 8 or so, around the time when you just started posting about the lorax and the fandom was growing up. at first, i simply checked your blog out of boredom as a kid since you were the only person i followed here, but later on, i really got interested and often would go back home from school and run to read your new posts, no matter what was it, just because i liked them, and i guess my little mind wanted to explore more about the fandom in general. (: i grew up wishing i was as “cool” as you, and really wanted to talk to you, but guess the unknownness made me nervous enough so i always brushed it off. and no matter how cheesy it sounds ,just going through your blog at least once a day helped me with most of my sad days. you were a huge affect to my childhood, and going through your page again after so long made me feel such a bittersweet nostalgia , i nearly cried catching up with things haha. you were the reason i found out about the lorax in general and joined the fandom , as well as inspired me to try drawing ( i remember using your art as a base when i was 12 ,,, but shhh, let’s keep it a secret (; )

it’s been so long since then, and sometimes it’s hard to believe how much i’ve grown up, as well as you did too. i’ll never forget these days when being a young kid i would try to redraw your onceler fan art , or make a small silly slideshows with your drawings to some goofy songs, LMAO. (i still have them, by the way… eugh. cringeee) and getting to spend my growing up surrounded by such an amazing fandom and amazing people like you has truly built me up as a person, and i couldn’t be more grateful i’ve found out about you back then, because i don’t know who i would be right now if i never did. thank you so much miru, keep going, be happy, and no matter how time passes by , you’ll always be one of my biggest inspirations, and i’ll continue looking up to you. <3

•

now , ending the cheesy paragraph above, i’m a little curious about some things, feel free not to answer them if you’re uncomfortable! i’m not pressuring you.

1 ; i’ll start off with a simple one. how are you doing, how’s life in general? (:

2 ; did you know that your small onceler height headcannon you’ve made back in 2013 is showing up on google as an actual height of his , making a lot of people (especially on tik tok. boy, they’re going feral over that fact…) believe it’s his canon height ? they’re actually saying it’s his actual confirmed height and etc. , so i was always wondering how does it feel to have your headcannon being considered by the whole onceler fandom as canon, haha. :D

3 ; speaking about tik tok, you mentioned you don’t have it at all. why don’t you try to get it, and post your art in there? trust me, a lot of people absolutely adore your work in here and considering the fact onceler fandom is apparently biggering again , that could be a nice idea , since personally i think you’re really underrated and deserve some more recognition (:

4 ; what’s your actual opinion on oncest? because honestly , i remember how people drooled over this ship to death back in 10s, however i was never really fond of it and,, you know what i meaannn, it simply didn’t feel right for me at all. (,: did you immediately start liking it since you have some art about it , and what are your thoughts about it now ?

5 ; how old were you when you joined the whole lorax fandom?

6; you obviously have a lot of good memories with the Onceler fandom , as i do too, but there is also some bad memories for me, and some that i wish i could completely erase from my mind haha. how is it for you? like, were there perhaps some situations that happened to you in the fandom that make you shiver in a pleasedon’tremindme way? i’d love to listen if there is some!

7 ; and , the last one. i literally have been a huge fan of your for awhile now , and i was wondering if you’d ever want to maybe ,, talk, y’know? and become friends , perhaps? ;;;;; i feel like i’m being too pushy atp ,but i’m still a little nervous so i’m sorry if i act weird,, (,: but either way, remember you’re amazing, and i hope you have a good day/night !!

thank you for reading my non-sense to the end, lol. i hope i didn’t take off much time <33

Omg,,,Q_Q?? Thank you for sending this message, I wouldn't have known otherwise that I've made such an impact on someone's life, like...it's truly humbling. You were 8?? 😭 And I was really the only blog you followed?? 😭 Back then I did not think about how others might've been using my blog; I myself had always been the one looking up to others, and here you were all that time looking up to me...I guess it's really magical, the way we don't know who in the world might be thinking about us. I hope you're doing well. Your slideshows are not cringe. Or rather, you were cringe and free, and I think that's wonderful.

For your questions then:

I guess I'm doing okay. I have friends who care about me, and I'm able to support myself with my job, so with those two things alone, I'm already very lucky.

If you mean this post: [link] I didn't make this headcanon! As you can see on the post, tumblr user torikabori made it, and I simply reblogged it. I think there's been a few fandom headcanons that have mistakenly been posted on wikis and tvtropes as canon, and I really wish it didn't happen that way, because I don't like misinformation being spread. I've said this before but if it's not in the Lorax DVD, or in any official interviews, or in any concept art, then it's NOT canon. Do not trust google, wiki, tvtropes, or word of mouth.

I,,, reallllllyyyy don't see myself getting into tiktok ;w; Having to be a slave to algorithms and numbers really turns me off, and I can barely keep up with posting on social media anymore. I've almost completely abandoned my instagram, and I'm half a year behind in posting my art to tumblr haha. So I wouldn't be able to keep up with tiktok anyway. Thank you for thinking I deserve more recognition though! 🥺

I think in the early years of the fandom I drew it because it was popular, but since then I've been more true to myself and I only draw what my heart desires now. So now I can say that I've never shipped oncest, though I've shipped onceler askblogs together before. And I'll always be a fan of 7212, though that's not the classic oncest we're referring to here. But I still support whoever does ship it, I think that's totally cool!

I was a young adult!

You are not alone, so many of us from 2012 have gone through bad times in the fandom at least once. For me specifically, it's been 11 years that I've been here, so do you think I could have avoided every single possible bad situation? ;) I won't be sharing any stories, but the onceler fandom would not be what it is today without both the good AND bad, I guarantee you that.

You can feel free to message me anytime you like! I'm not much of a talker since I'm often busy, and I rarely ever message first, but I'll always be courteous to anyone who messages me. As for friendship, I think it should just happen naturally, if it happens!

[scararanara]

Hello! I’d like to talk about a sun and moon show fan who claims to not be a proshipper (someone who ships adults x children or family x family) that I’ve seen on tik tok that I haven’t heard anyone talk about. All of my proof of what they’ve done will be put on this post here. (I’ve never made any post on anywhere like this so if something is wrong please let me know!)

The user @random_sams_shipper who like I said claims to not be a proshipper is currently shipping lunar x moon, (the ship that got them popular) sun x eclipse, and earth x kill code. They’ve posted several videos of them shipping the ships I just listed and have only said why only one of their ships isn’t a proship, that proship is lunar x moon. They said that lunar and moon are not siblings and that lunar is not a minor because lunar is the same age as eclipse (he’s not) lunar is a couple of months younger than eclipse which doesn’t make him the same age as eclipse but also has the mind, appearance, and voice of a child. And although (old) moon and lunar aren’t brothers, both lunar and (old) moon see each other as brothers which does make it a proship since from what I’ve seen, they don’t have an head cannons besides lunar bot being a minor and moon not being his brother or seeing him as one. They’ve also made nsfw of lunar (which I will not post so it doesn’t spread) which is just really stomach wrenching. They’ve also made a ship video of sun x eclipse but they deleted the the videos of it and their reaction videos of people seeing it sadly (I posted where I found the information on the evidence post) They’ve also posted only one video of earth x kill code, I haven’t found any information about any posts or things they’ve said about earth x kill code so I might make a part two about them if I find more information. They have a Q&A attached to their account and the questions they have on there are stuff like “how am I a proshipper” “why do you think lunar x moon/ sun x eclipse is a proship.” This may not have anything to do with the proshipper but I saw that they are only following one person and from what it looks like, it looks like a main account that posts edits, of vids, etc. I’m not sure if that might be their main account but there is a low chance since from what I’ve seen the accounts seem to have very different things like the way they type, the way they show their tags, and the topic of their accounts. I think it might be the proshipper’s main account since they both have the topic of what they post about in their username for example “random_sams_shipper” (this account makes ships about sams) “wcue” (I didn’t put their full username just in case if they have nothing to do with the proshipper but it shows they post about wcue) I’m still not sure if this is the proshipper’s main or second account or not but like I said, I will make a part two if I get more information.

This is it for my post on @random_sams_shipper so if you have any info about them, please reblog this post or my evidence post so that I can talk more about them.

This is the end and thanks for reading this post, have a great day/night!

[astrolaurical]

Hey

It's the same girl who asked about your opinion on my 10 year old cousin thinking Jungkook will marry her

I just wanted to ask

Is it normal that Every ARMY(some non-ARMYs too) around me thinks that someone from BTS gonna marry them? Or is it just people around me???

Everyone are delulu omg😭

I have too many stories about these girls

I (forcefully) checked what they were talking about and checked your Tumblr and I was so thankful someone was normal. I almost thought Everyone were like that

And Yes I told her to stay in School

I think everyone has a secret fantasy about marrying their favorite celebrity. That’s why celebrities and idols exist and why boy bands are so successful. I’m really showing my age but omg the frenzy in the 90s and early 2000s around NYSNC and The Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears?? Unparalleled. Then in the late 2000s we saw it again with Justin Bieber and One Direction. The Josie and Pussycats film (SLAY) makes fun of the entertainment industry the entire movie by even parodying boyband obsession, product placements, and the trend cycles. The movie went over so many peoples’ heads when it was released so it bombed at the box office but it’s a cult classic for a reason. Highly recommend to watch!!! Also aging myself again by admitting I had both the dvd AND soundtrack as kid bc the songs are bangers. Honestly the 90s-2000s in general just rocked. This is the only meme I have of the film but see the product placement and the mockery of boy bands? Genius.

The 1D documentary is a perfect example of the boy band frenzy that JATP film was mocking bc they even had a small scene where they had a neuroscientist or someone similar in that profession (I haven’t seen the movie in a few years so I’m not 100% sure but I was a hardcore 1d stan and have the dvd bc their live vocals honestly slap. Their concert cover of teenage dirtbag in the movie?? Still waiting for the actual recording bc chefs kiss). Anyway the neuroscientist was saying that corporations/ music companies have these formulas to create the perfect idol down to a t after studying the phenomenons of rabid Beatles and Elvis fans in the 50/60s. It has to do with the happiness chemicals in the brain. Combine those with good looks and music? You can’t help but fall in love. The entertainment industry then purposely directs their carefully molded artists to vulnerable audiences (preteens, teens, women) because they will buy more products. Casey Aonso (another fellow 1d stan wassup girl) YouTube video describes their XFactor era HILARIOUSLY. War flashbacks. The clips about HOW BAD each individual one direction members auditions were but you could see the $$$ in the judges eyes bc the boys were good looking and you could tel the judges were plotting how to sell the boys good looks. And they did.

And boy do we know that formula works. Hybe overprices bts products on Weverse shop and y’all eat it up and sell it out every time. $200 for a REPACKAGED cd. Weren’t they selling like a $1000 product recently? But even Jin had to be like “nah for my Astronaut comeback yall not gonna be selling hella expensive pajama pants like last time tho. We don’t price gouge in this house”. All hail jin.

I’ve talked a lot about parasocial relationships and media training, etc. While I think it’s fine to have a secret fantasy about marrying *insert celebrity crush name here*, I think it’s important to realize it’s a FANTASY. Fun to think about and daydream to, but NOT REALISTIC when trying to plan a future around or with. Go play the childhood game of MASH or make a SIMS family with Jungkook as your husband. That’s fine and normal. But don’t be going around telling people he’s your boyfriend. That’s delusion. I’ve included a perfect real life example of healthy young fangirling in the tags.

EDIT JUNE 11 2023:

I happened to come across this tik tok video yesterday that also explains delusion and obsession. I think it applies to “fangirling” especially well. TW for trauma.

[saetoru]

Having lots of followers on Tumblr and not acknowledging your power is like having a bedroom full of plushies and not talking about it.

Like sure, you could say that you have them, but it doesn't really influence people's lives. Although you are very powerful, you stay humble and true to yourself.

i feel like i have room to speak on this seeing as i have a pretty large following and my family grew up from being relatively low on money from when i was a kid to being decently wealthy now so imma give my 2 cents

having a following in tumblr is nice. having money is a necessity. you literally cannot survive without at least some source of income like how would u live somewhere safe and eat and etc ?? it is simply nice to have a following on here, but it doesn’t contribute to ur quality of life. and i’ll be the first to admit that yeah, having a large following makes u influential in the community on here in a way that can negatively impact others if ur not careful what u say—sure, that’s a valid point. but having a tumblr following contributes next to nothing in my real life bc this isn’t a platform like tik tok or youtube or even instagram that having influence over large amounts of people equates monetary value. u can easily make money off of ur tik tok following, but the same can’t be said about tumblr unless it’s a few comms but even still that’s not a significantly large difference. so like while there is an influence a big blog on here holds, they’re still average people. there’s nothing unaverage about them. and that’s what that person was saying they were like when big blogs say “i’m just a random person who writes about 2d dick” it’s not true when…it literally is. like i am an average person a very normal person writing about 2d characters lol. idk they were making a valid point when they said that it’s different to be a big blog on here than a small one—that is true, but comparing it to the wealthy and the non wealthy was crazy bc a large blog on here can very much be financially struggling and a small blog on here could be filthy rich, and i think the large majority would choose being filthy rich + having a small blog instead of having a shit ton of followers on here + struggling to pay bills

[suckitsurveys]

What’s the most worthwhile thing you’ve done in the last year? I went to a bunch of comedy shows and concerts last year and honestly had one of the best summers I’ve had in a while.

What foods make you want to gag? Nothing, really. There’s a few things I don’t like but it doesn’t make me gag.

Do you consider yourself to be organized? Yes, I do.

Have you ever made out with someone? Yes.

What time do you get sleepy? Always.

What music do you listen to? A buncha different stuff.

How old were you when you started to walk? A little before 1yr.

Which member of your family do you get along with the best? My dad.

What cheers you up when you’re sad? Kitties, watching TV, my husband, food.

What do you sleep in? Tshirt and undies usually.

Have you ever tanned topless? Nope.

Wear jewelry? Yeah, earrings and my nose ring mostly. Sometimes chokers and necklaces and bracelets.

What’s something you’ve been told you’re good at? Planning stuff.

How much can you eat? A lot.

What’s the furthest away you’ve ever traveled? SLC I think?.

Are you a cat or dog person? Cat.

Have you ever done drugs? Just weed.

What does your room look like? It’s cozy and taken over by cat trees lol.

Recommend a really amazing book. Nah.

Recommend a really amazing song. I’m really into Olivia Rodrigo right now so anything by her.

Recommend a really amazing movie. Wet Hot American Summer.

Who’s your favorite actor/actress? Paul Rudd, Aubrey Plaza, Will Arnett.

Have you ever run away from home? No.

Do you exercise ever? I do. I’ve been going to the gym every day except Wednesdays when I do an in home work out.

Do you like your hair, the way it is and the colour? It needs to be dyed again already. I wanna do something dark again before I go to NYC.

Do you have any friends named Baloo? Or is he just in the Junglebook? I don’t know anyone named Baloo.

Are you a Disney movie fan? Sure, I have ones I like.

Do you eat seafood? Yes. I LOVE seafood.

When was the last time you cried? I think I got teary eyed over a tik tok the other day.

Do you have good working habits? Hahahahahah I’m literally doing this survey while I’m at work. And the other day I almost missed my time to clock out because I was talking to someone.

So where the hell do you want to go in life? I don’t know.

What are your boundaries? I have different ones for different situations/people.

What are some of the funniest things you can think of? certain SNL sketches or stand up comedian bits.

What are two quirky little things about you? I hate self-describing things as quirky.

Are you claustrophobic? Not really.

Do you like getting wasted? Not so much anymore.

List three things that you look for in a friend. Good sense of humor, similar values, ability to put up with my hyper-fixations hahahaha

Do you prefer Angels and Airwaves or Rhianna? Eh.

What religion are you, if any? I’m not.

If your house was on fire (and your family escaped), what would you save? My kitties, hands down.

Do you have any sash belts? No.

What do you have on right now? Include everything, nail polish, makeup, etc I don’t feel like listing everything.

Does caffeine make you hyper? I don’t think it does jack shit for me.

[ledenews]

Jermaine Lucious: Pointing at a Paradise Some Refuse to Provoke

Peak a boo, he’s looking at you. Well, maybe, but that just means he’s one of us, though. One of the observers. Just another set of eyes watching our lives because we place ourselves on display – and up for judgement – more so now than ever before.  But that’s where we are now, and that’s where Jermaine Lucious is, too. Not only does he work as a youth counselor, but he’s also a Karaoke host and a partner with Exit Zero Entertainment, a local business that books music and comedy. That’s right, he wants you to smile, maybe even laugh a little, too, but first and foremost, he’d love us all on the same page no matter of age, race, or religion. Why? Because it’s possible, that’s why. And Lucious sees it that simply, too, and he has no idea whatsoever why so many others refuse to even sneak a peak down a street that doesn’t lead to a land full of hate-filled deceit and discrimination. Lucious, though, always will point you down the path.   Lucious posts on social media a lot of reactions to what he experiences during his days. You observe a lot on social media and then you comment on what you see. Why the commentary? A few years back I saw one of my favorite directors, Kevin Smith, speak. He said the three things he believes drive people are to “Eat, Make Love (He used different terminology) and be heard.”  I think I just want to be heard like most. I want to make sure I have nothing left to say when it’s my time to go. Social media is a great form of entertainment. It keeps me aware and engaged in current events.  As long as I’m respectful and honest, and try not to harm others, I think I’m doing it right. Overall, what is it you see? I’ve seen good. I’ve witnessed people find understanding and acceptance. I’ve seen young people find their cultural “niche” earlier in life. Whether that be in music, movies, hobbies, fashion, etc. I’ve seen people network and find social groups they would have never been exposed to 20 years ago.I also believe it’s the biggest cause of division in this country.I think the media helps drive division by taking two or three tweets and publishing them as a story. On social media, we tend to take words like “conservative” and “liberal” and apply them to the most extreme comments we’ve seen. There isn’t much room for nuance. I think there is a whole generation of people who, for the first time, were told their views were seen as “backward” or their jokes as “offensive”. I think that has caused a bit of resentment. They lack an understanding of how social media has changed the views of the younger generation. A whole generation has had the opportunity to find humanity in a diverse group of people by listening to their stories.  People are looking toward school curriculums and blaming corporations like Disney or Budweiser when all along, it's Vloggers on YouTube and Tik-Tok.  In a recent series of statements on social media, you say meeting people in bars who were not alive on 9/11 make you uncomfortable. Please explain. My Father was a much older man when I was born. So, I’ve always measured historical dates after 1940 by how old he was and where he would have been on the planet. It’s kind of been my way of putting things into perspective. I’ve gone on to do that with other people. For 20 years, “Where were you on 9/11?” was a question I could ask people to get a better understanding of who they are and where they came from. Now that post-9/11 children are reaching adulthood, it signals a new era. These young people were raised in a much different world than I was. I’m nearing 40, and I’m feeling a generational disconnect, which I’m sure we all do if we’re around long enough. He wants you to smile and maybe even laugh as he is hosting Karaoke at Taqueria 304. As a Karaoke host, how have you learned to tell some people that they should never sing publicly again?  I’m sure the fine folks at Taqueria 304 wouldn’t want me even hinting to people that they shouldn’t come back and sing. Let’s be honest though, Karaoke singers aren’t usually known for their “Ticket to Hollywood” vocals.  I just don’t want you to be boring. We try to hype every single singer up when they take the mic in hopes they’ll let loose and entertain the crowd. I want to see you dance. Give me some soul. Play air guitar with one of the inflatables. Sing something borderline inappropriate. You left your home, came out on a Tuesday night, and build up the courage to sing in front of others. Just don’t stand there and read the lyrics to “Soak up the Sun.” What is the best story a cemetery has ever told you? I’ve recently enjoyed informing my nephew that his practice field on 16th Street used to be the site of a cemetery. There isn’t one single story I can point to. The cemeteries in town tell the story of the city. I came across a beautiful headstone at Peninsula Cemetery shaped to look like a tree trunk. A quick search of the library’s newspaper archives revealed the man was a gardener who lived on the Island and his funeral was held in his home in the 1890s.   You notice countless graves of affluent people whose names are plastered on the buildings in this city. You come across markers of people you have met. This weekend I noticed a section of Greenwood Cemetery that were mostly the graves of children. I hope to do some research to see if they were all from the same hospital or orphanage. It was nice to show them some attention and respect. You notice that some Cemeteries have fallen out of vogue in the city, and their mausoleums and headstones are reaching disrepair. Then you realize that’s guaranteed to be the fate of all cemeteries in time. It makes me want to enjoy life more.  Read the full article