#I'm so glad I have my own little corner of the fandom where we all agree that Seto Kaiba Has Some Issues

[skyrislunaflower]

I Love Us

Honestly, I'm so, so very glad AvA is the first fandom I've actually been an active participant in.

LONG RANT INCOMING

Throughout the years, I have "been in fandoms", but I never felt like posting my own art or works, commenting on vids (i didn't have a youtube account back then, still don't), or being anything other than a silent observer.

Back in March, when I came home from that math competition, and found AvMath in my recommendeds, and just clicked on it, I did not expect to get dragged into a fandom about stick figures, of all things. I remember watching AvPhysics directly after, then finding "Wanted", and watching it with no context. I remember going to the wiki, seeing all of the content that was made, and and binging AvM and the actual shorts and literally everything else.

And most of all, I remember thinking, "I wish I could just erase all of this from my mind and experience the magic all over again."

-

In May, I took a chance and went to Ao3. I knew it was a site to post fanfiction, but it had never been something I was interested in. But I was just curious, to see if fanfiction about this amazing fandom really existed. I didn't have an account, no; I think I just wanted to see.

There were about 1600-1700 fics on there about AvA, during that time. I didn't know how hits worked or kudos worked, but I just remember scrolling down until I could find something that looked like a lot of people had liked it.

And even then, I clearly remember the first fic I touched. "Identity", by LeenaFreeBird (I'll link it at the bottom). I absolutely loved it. I spent the rest of the month simply reading, and consuming all of the cool hcs, learning what fan terms meant, having an idea for my own fic that I thought, back then, I could never write.

Because I didn't.

I never made an account or wrote. I never left comments because part of me though people without an account wouldn't be able to, and that was just habit, at this point.

And even though I stepped slightly away from there in the months of June and July (we were in the process of moving halfway across the country, I had just watched the new Demon Slayer season, and upon recommendation had binged all of Haikyuu in a week), I always made sure to keep updated on whatever new AvA/M videos had been posted.

In August, I went back on Ao3.

SO MANY AMAZING FICS HAD BEEN WRITTEN IN THE SPAN I WAS AWAY.

I remember binging all of them for the month. I sat alone at lunch (as I was new I didn't have any friends), just reading them on my phone and getting sucked back into there.

In September AvI began. On a whim I logged back into my tumblr account that I had made like 5 years ago in 4th grade to post random rambling stuff about my life (I tagged nothing but my username wth), and redid my entire blog. I was sooo happy when one of my posts reached 100 notes.

I felt way stronger, and way braver. I joined the invite queue for Ao3, because I decided I DID want an account, and I DID want to post my own fics.

And everyone was (and is) SO NICE about it. They love my fics and posts (which I still consider really crappy, btw) to pieces, and always give me good comments. Even my bad fanart (another thing I got the courage to post during this time). Shipping wars never happen here (if they did, I wouldn't know about it). Rarepairs are appreciated, and we unanimously know the ships that should be completely illegal (not naming ship names here).

Everything and everyone is loved, and this is like the one little corner of the Internet where mostly all is safe and your opinion is valued. Sure, your fan theory may be wrong, but people here don't go and tell you "that's so stupid lol, no way that's true". They'll give you actual feedback, explain the evidence that falsifies it, or add to it because they like it.

Even on YouTube, if someone posts a yellue ship video, for example, they'll get hate, or "the color quad are just siblings lol", or "they r stickmen why are u shipping them". If someone HCs Blue as a girl (ik that's been debunked where we are at rn), they'll get a comment saying "it's stickman for a reason".

Like, let people have their opinions. Alan has never confirmed the color quad as siblings, or their origin story. I know he has said that he would like to avoid romance by not making female characters, but it's not like the people who ship yellue or grapeduo barge up to his door and demand he makes it canon. They're just peaceful, and everything that you're saying is fanon. For all we know, four different animators could have collabed on the sticksfight website and each animated a different character (not saying that's true, but we don't know).

And even with hollowhead pairs. Alan created them, yes, but how does Creator transfer to father in this scenario? We don't know, because he hasn't confirmed the hollowheads as siblings either. They still get hate on YouTube.

But Tumblr just loves everyone. The AvA community, for example, will always make you feel like you posted something good. They lift you up, not put you down. They appreciate your headcanons because it provides a new way of looking at things.

They appreciate you.

I feel so much better about putting myself out there, and I know I will do so more in the future. I now cannot comprehend how someone can see all of this content and think "they are just stick figures". No they aren't. They are stick figures with trauma, feelings, pain, heroic qualities, fatal flaws.

You, tumblr, makes me feel this way.

Thank you so much.

(I did not expect to rant about my entire journey when I was supposed to be talking about how amazing the AvA tumblr fandom is, but now that I have I'll just keep it. Here's the fic I was talking about)

[mrhrns]

Astarion issue

Consider this post as another meaningless shitpost from me. After it I'm going back to my endless work. I was silent about this for gods know how much time, and now I can't hold it inside. Not anymore. Important note: I do realise that I am nobody and my word has no power and blahblahblah, yet I think it is significant, at least for my own self, and who knows, maybe I'll find people with same thoughts. There is... a reason I would like to stay out from BG3 community and fandom. I do wish to contribute my own art someday, however, because my love for this game, its characters and Larian st is huge, but getting inside of fandom, searching for things here and there? ...I don't think I want it. And yeah, that bloodsucker bastard is a main reason for it. Not him directly, but how people perceive him. What they think about him. What they feel. What they show, draw, tell and discuss with everyone else about him. And mostly all of it is... Well... I have complicated feelings about it. None of them are pleasant. Disturbance, disgust, disappointment, and many more similar to it. Why? Here where I realise that mostly the problem is myself. "It's just a fictional character, just some pixels on your screen with voice, why care?" I do. If only anybody knew how much he means to me. I don't have light and easy life, I am in a constant state of survival, I have a list of many different traumas, and holding him in my little silly head helps getting through that shit. Pure shit. Believe me. Because, hell, surviving all he had in his undead life and still managing to be that charismatic (even if it's just a mask), that willing to move forward (even with mood "well, we are doomed")? An icon. Imperfect and by doing so relatable in almost everything for me. And that is why my brain can't help it but feel about him everything like he is alive. Existent. Just somewhere else, far away with no chance of meeting him. And that is why whenever I see porn arts with him, thirsty commentaries, erotic merch like statues, discussions whether he will drink the menstrual blood or not (and even getting his main scenarist involved in that crap) and god damn, that full-sized sex-doll? A bitter irony that his whole point as of fictional character was also showing him as a person with sex-trauma, who was always perceived as a pretty toy-thing for a night against his will with no care for his actual personality in his world, and it is exactly what people do in real life. Here I am glad he isn't real. All of it isn't surprising, though, considering that steam achievements have shown that only a half of players got through the first act.They don't know and they don't want to know. Am I going to tell people what to do and how they should enjoy these fictional things? Of course not. But I would be damn glad if people were digging just a bit more under the surface, but it's a whole other problem that goes with everything else in our world. I just really needed to pull this all out from my brains and put it somewhere, sitting in my dark corner and grumbling at people, just like always. And in the end - yes, I do understand that not all of his fans are like that. Doesn't really help with going frustration.

[thingsthatbleedfic]

Not sure if I'm supposed to keep this to just asking questions, but I needed to gush and I'm not good at ao3 comment etiquette.

I stumbled across TTB on complete accident after seeing this meme and picked it up just for the heck of it, and BOY WAS I IN FOR A HECK OF A RIDE(R. haha, get it?) OR WHAT? But I felt a little out of place and like an outsider because

I entered the Phandom for the first time exactly 31 days ago and my only knowledge comes from the >5 episodes I watched before I got bored and dropped it years ago (and promptly ejected from my brain), and then fanfiction I have been VIOLENTLY AND CONSISTANTLY CONSUMING LIKE A RABID VACUUM for the last month when I got interested in it again.

I had literally never heard of Alex Rider before this fic.

I like SCP, but all my knowledge comes from a podcast I listen to but they're going numerically and they've only gotten up to SCP-123, oh and and Markiplier.

THAT BEING SAID, I didn't need to worry because this is one of the best fics I've ever read. It has LITERALLY been keeping me up at night staring at the ceiling because I couldn't freaking stop thinking about it.

It stands out in a crowd, and out of the all MANY crossovers I've read in my time, TTB is one of, like, four fics that I can confidently say feel like their own original fiction, one cohesive world that's well blended, each media and character perfectly meshed and interacting with eachother and the lore like they always belonged together.

Deadass, I sent the fic to my sibling immediately after I finished it because I needed someone to scream about it to even though they understand even less of the source material than I, and we've decided to watch the Alex Rider show together and they told me "I'm going to be sad when we watch this and Danny isn't canon".

Fantastic work, massive kudos for making one of the best feels-like-it's-not-a-crossover crossovers. I was hooked by the first few paragraphs, so suspenseful, on the edge of my seat the entire time, and I lost so much sleep and sanity to this masterpiece. Y'all rock.

This ask is SO kind and amazing we all wanted to reply!!! Hope you don't mind!

KEI: omg!!!! this ask was such a delight to get. Ive read this over and over, youre so SO kind. I'm glad youve been able to enjoy TTB even not knowing things about AR or SCP. That was always our goal--we've even had people that know nothing about any of the fandoms read it and enjoy it! Dude. My MOM reads it and was upset when she caught up. I hope you don't still feel like an outsider bc we are SO happy youre here and clearly, anyone is welcome no matter where they're coming from as far as fandom knowledge goes <3 Thank you for reading and giving our niche as fuck crossover a shot !

KKACHI: i'm so glad chance brought you to our little corner of the internet! we're very proud we managed to conceive a seamless blend of the various canons. being sad that danny isn't canon is definitely an emotion we've also felt. please make sure you get enough sleep and we hope you enjoy the next update!!!

FIN: wahhhh!!! thank you so so much. i gotta ditto what the others have said - i'm so glad you can enjoy the fic no matter what. i'm also glad that it's inspired you to also check out some of this funky media very near and dear to our hearts (because of course it is because why else would we be this crazy if it wasn't)

also, i'm always honored and proud to write the kinda fics people lose sleep over KJDGFKJGS cuz god knows i love losing sleep over fics too <3

[actual-changeling]

Since you have been the first 'Crowley deserves to have his boundaries' person I have seen in the tags on weeks. What do you think about the talk in the fandom on how Crowley should have accepted going to Heaven 'to do good and stop the Apocalypse' and that 'he also rejected Aziraphale'? It personally gives me the creeps because the narrative makes clear that Heaven is a big white nightmare but the fandom seems to be taking the 'Aziraphale might jot be perfect' thing hard and therefore Heaven is fixable now...

Glad to know I am not alone in my little boundaries corner! I'm always here for discussions about it.

And, oh boy, do I have thoughts on that, let's see if I can get them to be somewhat coherent.

I am going to start this off with a metaphor of sorts and hopefully people will be able to follow along. I'm an older sibling and have a little sister, and we grew up in an incredibly abusive and neglectful household.

When I graduated high school, I moved out for university, which was literally the best thing to ever happen to me - I got away, I was/am free! Now I have to deal with the consequences of all that shit though.

If my sister asked me to come back so I can help her fix our mother (entirely theoretical btw she'd never lol) would it be the right thing to say yes? Should I give up my personal freedom, my life, the healing process I am right in the middle of, to go back to a household that broke me? So I can be trapped with a person that will never change again?

The answer is, of course, no. I feel bad for my sister and I am praying she will be able o move out soon, but me going back would not solve a single fucking thing. See where I'm going with this yet?

Crowley left heaven and landed on earth, which was ultimately good for him, but he has a lot to process and heal from; he's right in the middle of his own recovery.

Heaven will not change, it cannot be changed. The entire institution is working as intended, and the intention is to be abusive, manipulative, and have as much power over everyone as possible. You cannot fix that, you need to get rid of it.

Aziraphale has good intentions, but he is also still trapped in that abusive household because he never moved out, he is the sibling that stayed behind, just mentally instead of physically.

Hot take, but many people in this fandom are incapable of understanding that "Aziraphale is acting based on good intentions and is still actively being abused/traumatized" and "Aziraphale did bad and unhealthy things and his relationship with Crowley was co-dependent and toxic" are co-existing. Both are true.

Both. are. true.

He did messed up shit out of a trauma response, but he is still responsible for his actions, and at the same time he deserves a chance to heal and move on from it. Please, at this point I am begging people to understand that this is not a black and white issue.

Crowley did not reject Aziraphale, if anything, Aziraphale rejected him.

Crowley said no to returning to an abusive environment for an impossible task. Crowley said no to sacrificing his mental and physical health for something that he knows will not happen. Crowley, for the first time in his life, set a clear and final boundary and put himself and his life over Aziraphale's wishes.

That is a good thing. It is necessary.

Season 3 will not be about Aziraphale fixing heaven or preventing the second coming (if anything it'll be accidental just like in season 1). It's going to be about him finding his way out of his abusive household and into a healthy environment in which they're both free and can heal.

Apart AND together.

It's not happily ever after, it's not perfect romance, it's not "soul-mates" or anything. It is messy, it is real, it is complicated, and I am so fucking tired of seeing it reduced to "love conquers all".

[apprenticestanheight]

Home - Peter Strahm x gn! reader

OOOOOOKAY!! It's been a while yet since I wrote for anything in the saw fandom but I rewatched saw four today while working on a couple of things to sell via facebook marketplace and then this idea rose from the ashes that have been my saw obsession for the last few months, which, as it probably will every single spooky season from here on out, has come back in full fucking force.

Fic type - this is, for all intents and purposes, fluff!

Warnings - the reader is a crocheter!! if that counts?? also this unedited because I wanted to post before getting some other writing stuff done oops

Peter smiles softly as he turns the key in the lock and opens the front door to his home. If there is to be any guarantee in recent, it's that he'll come home to you at the end of the day. It's nice for that to be a guarantee in at least some respect, the one on his mind that week being that the Jigsaw case can finally be put to rest.

It's been a long road of twists and turns, near deaths and too many near misses to count, but it's worth it, he decides. Almost dying but making it out, making it home to you, is more worth it than not. It has to be.

His grin widens as he pushes his shoes off his feet, takes off his coat and walks down the hall. He takes a right and ends up in the living room, wants to be surprised to find you where he does but is completely and totally the opposite.

"Have you moved at all today?" He asks, unable to stop the fondness in his tone. "I swear, you were sitting in that exact spot when I left for work this morning."

You laugh a little bit, shaking your head. Peter is unsurprised to see you in the same corner of the couch you'd been in when he left that morning, working away on the blanket you'd been commissioned for two weeks prior.

"I've moved at least a few inches," you murmur. "You know how I get when I get focused."

Peter nods, moving to sit next to you on the couch. "When you're focused, you become both an unstoppable force and an immovable object," he says. "I love that about you. Have since before we were married."

"I'm glad for that," you murmur. "Almost as glad as I am to be done with this blanket--the customer asked me to use cotton yarn and I hate the way it feels on my hook."

"Why'd you accept the commission, then?"

"Because eighty hours of work paid at a living new jersey wage, plus yarn cost and the cost of my time to put this together has made me a grand total of five hundred fuckin' dollars," you smile softly. "I love that this can be my job. I love you, Peter Strahm, so fucking much."

"Because the FBI pays me a good bit, or just generally?" You'd owned the house the two of you were living in, had no mortgage payments or anything as you'd inherited the house from an aunt who'd died of old age the decade previous, and Peter was happy to take on most of the expenses after working for two and a half decades in nursing had burned you out to a point of near nonrecognition.

It had been six months since you'd decided to go with early retirement and so many days were just like that one, where you'd get up early and brew the both of you coffee while Peter made the both of you breakfast and the two of you talked about your days to come. Crochet had always wormed it's way into yours and Peter would always grumble about work, but you knew that things had finally started to get easier as the jigsaw stuff died down.

"Both," You answer. "My love for you is simultaneously full of merit and completely absent of it. I just wake up most days knowing that marrying you is the best decision I've ever made."

Peter smiles at your comment, and you let him kiss you sweetly, savoring the feeling of his lips against your own.

Your quiet life is a good one, one you wouldn't trade for a damn thing.

[thefrogdalorian]

I was gonna follow your blog b/c you post good content but then I saw you're one of them aka the worst aka Dinbo shippers...... seriously after everything that happened recently lmaooo dead ship💀 so no follow

If that is what you have to do to keep your peace of mind online I bear you no ill will and wish you all the best! I'm glad you enjoy my content and thank you for the compliment, but I do question why you felt the need to tell me this anonymously.

I mean, if you were expecting it would make me alter what's on my own blog then... no. I post for myself, for no one else and sure it's really nice when people interact with my posts!! But this is my little corner of the internet where I can enjoy what I want. I personally would not have fun if I felt as though I was creating content with a certain audience in mind. So, if my blog contains occasional Dinbo posts including my own fics (which I'm very proud of) then that's what I'll do!

I truly am not interested in ship wars, in analysing what actors do or don't say or saying why or what people should/shouldn't ship something. I just look at what's onscreen. If you see it... great! If you don't see it... also great! I don't personally understand why people ship Din with certain characters, but I also don't go around telling people who post about them that... or try to drag anyone into ship wars by calling their ship dead or whatever.

I very much live by ship and let ship (I even ship Din and Bo with other characters myself) but if it's such a huge squick for you then I honestly will not lose sleep over you not following me.

Also... I understand disliking certain groups of shippers for what can sometimes be very understandable reasons but tarnishing everyone who enjoys a ship with the same brush, like calling them "the worst" or just flat out saying a ship is dead because maybe you personally can't see the romantic elements is veering into toxic fandom territory. I know frustration can boil over sometimes and I get it after recent events... but I remember when shipping was fun on tumblr, not a competition or a reason to actively spread hate to others.

I really wish we could get back to that and for my part, I promise to always do my best to keep a positive space on this blog that welcomes all Din and Mandalorian ships and headcanons, regardless of whether I personally share them. And reminder that I am no more responsible for the actions of anyone else who happens to ship the same thing as I do, just as you are not responsible for the actions of people who ship the same things that you do :)

[borreloadsavagedragon]

8 and 12 for the ask meme 👀

oh my god I reblogged that ask game knowing I am not a mean person AT ALL, so this is gonna push me to my LIMITS

(if you stand by anything in here, you’re cool as hell and I'm glad you interact with media, I am simply over sharing about fictional card game nerds like always!!!)

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

I had to sit and stare at this one forever to come up with one because I am just so in my own little corner that I never really notice other people's interpretations of characters, like I have my bachelors and ph.d. in the ones that matter and I write my silly little fanfics using my deranged thinking, that's it, roll credits

BUT there is one thing I've seen a few times now across a couple of months in random liveblogs or opinion pieces that I kind of wanna touch on it

And that's that Kaito wasn't held accountable in Zexal.

I think a topic like accountability and atonement in fiction is going to differ very strongly between person to person and what they feel is the proper amount of justice to someone given their crimes, I understand that, but I just want to throw my own hat in the ring for why I disagree respectfully but wholeheartedly

Here's where I write about it in my analysis(WHICH IS 8K+ RN AND STILL GOING, GOD HELP ME)

"This is one I’ve seen a few times and I wanted to make an entire separate point for it because I do think it's a very interesting conversation to have in regards to the moral playground that a lot of the YuGiOh rivals in general have(with Ryoken Kogami from YuGiOh Vrains sitting as the reigning king in the topic of questionable ethics by some fans, but he’s another character study for another day), but the focus isn’t where I think it should be. I think it’s more fascinating that Kaito’s the character I see called out the most for his work as a Number Hunter compared to other fan favorites in the cast, especially when all we saw from Kaito since his actions in "The Seized Emperor's Key! Showdown, Kaito vs Shark" was his own form of accountability. We’ve known since the very scene following his introduction as the primary antagonist for the first half of Zexal I, Kaito despises the job and his employers based on how he can’t even look Mr. Heartland in the eye when he reports his progress and how his eyes drop to the floor when the premise of taking souls is brought up. He has a special distaste for those with Numbers because of what he was led to believe since we also learn later on he’s been fed almost nothing but lies about the Numbers so the times Kaito might have become far more conflicted with his circumstances sooner were always ripped away from him. In his mind, he's trapped and following orders is his best option right now, but if it means the only thing that matters most to him, his little brother, is ok, then he'll be the worst person in the world. And that's just the explanation for why he did it all. Because even with the truth, he doesn't excuse it.

Following Zexal I, Kaito continues to involve himself with the struggle against the Barians, and while most of it is with the understanding he's avenging the damage done to his family, it’s also in part avenging the damage he did to Yuma, Ryouga, and the many other people he’s laid a hand on. The idea that a character or a person needs to wear their guilt and redemption on their sleeve at every second is unreasonable. I also think it’s important to recognize that atonement isn’t just justice or forgiveness; Kaito, for example, never once asks for forgiveness, nor apologizes verbally. Instead, he shows up. He's there when he has to be and does exactly what he needs to do, because his actions are going to be worth more than his words are going to be. Kaito has always been and is always going to be someone who is going to act, not speak. Zexal I Kaito isn’t showing up to help handle the gang in the first few episodes of Zexal II. Zexal I Kaito isn’t taking Yuma’s place against Mizael in the duel in the sphere field. While Kaito continues to have alternate and additional motivation for his own newfound focus, he does not do these things for his ambition’s sake only.  Anytime accountability and Kaito’s treatment of his allies is brought up, I think it’s also very telling when some things are excluded, like how he pivots the entire project with Chris in the Arctic into getting Yuma sent to Astral World instead of them in order to reunite with Astral is largely overlooked. Another example is his complete turnaround behavior towards Gauche and Droite both in Spartan City, going as far to recognize how strong of a duelist and person Droite is when Gauche is possessed by Alito and that Droite is the only person suited for that duel despite him being seemingly such an asshole towards her in Zexal I. Hell, Kaito’s treatment of Ryouga is far different in one half to another, he goes from reducing Ryouga down to a waste of his time and just another punk who wants a piece of him to respecting him in his own weird little way where he has to pick a fight with him. We've all seen Zexal I, we've seen how Kaito truly treats people he doesn't like. --- I like to look at Kaito through the lens of rejection because loneliness is such a key portion of his character. I feel like focusing on those wrongs doubles down on the theme that’s in place. Kaito has hurt people. But he recognizes that, verbalizes it when he calls himself hell bound even, so he will continue to do better by those people."

THIS IS WHY IM HIS BIGGEST APOLOGIST

I just think he's so interesting, I wanna talk about him being a piece of shit because he IS, how mean he was to Yuma in I says a lot, but he's not THAT much of a piece of shit by the end, his development isn't overwhelmingly apparent, much like most rivals in the franchise, but it's VERY there

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

SPECTRE!!!!! I LITERALLY HAVE PIECES FOR HIS WIG AND HAVE HAD THEM FOR A YEAR NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

I was AMAZED once to find out that people didn’t like Spectre because Spectre is so standout and fascinating. I HATE how he's boiled down to being creepy or "what happened to Aoi in their duel"-

Before it plummeted to hell, I got a tweet on my Twitter fyp from an rp acct that was like “like this if you hate spectre” and it had ~35 likes so I had to be cheeky and tweeted "what's it like to have bad taste" gjdsakldgskajg My one time with a mean streak..........

Genuinely though, what’s it like to not have taste, he's a freak, it's on purpose, I'd die for Spec

[lumau]

(fandom update and appreciation)

Hello, I'm back!

These past months daily life has taken over and lead me into a fandom hiatus. After the end of twitter as we knew it I kinda lost connection and tbh it has been refreshing. While I've always kept to my own corner and away from big drama, just being in fandom on social media these days has pulled me down and I probably burned myself out over it (again).

During my break I rediscovered that I can actually enjoy things casually (I'm still playing Pokémon and started watching Winter Begonia), and that I can both consume and create things just for myself to enjoy without the constant internal pressure of seeking engagement dopamine. 

But now I'm at a point where I'm starting to miss all the good fandom stuff (meaning YOU guys out there!). I miss seeing your Xie'er hcs, your Sleuth memes and the JGY protection squad, and I'm glad that fandom always perseveres and I can simply come back after a break and y'all are still doing what you're doing. ❤️

So, what's new? Well, after intentionally ignoring it for the past years, I'm getting sucked into TGCF right now. I watched the 2nd donghua season as it aired and wanted to know more, so I finally continued reading it. I'm also doing that very slowly and am currently in the middle of the 3rd book. 

I've been reading some fic, watching videos and I know myself enough by now to see the pattern of falling into a new thing. It's both enticing and scary to once more get into something with a big following. I really love the experience of being in small, committed fandoms, but there's also something really cool about the sense that there's an infinite amount of fan content out there waiting for you. Also, the specific danger of being tempted by MERCH I can buy in an actual STORE where I live!?! Haven't had that in over 20 years. (Yes, MDZS has merch here, too, but none that I care about 😅).

For now I'm still trying to be casual about it and avoid spoilers (I know the vague plot lines, that shit will only keep going downhill, and who's behind BWX - I guess that's hard not to learn by fandom osmosis- but I'm looking the other way whenever any details come up.) 

Maybe I'll start posting some reactions as I keep going through the novels, but I don't want to feel like I'm reading it for content. Probably I'll feel the urge to write fic in the future, and my prediction is that I'll find myself in the Junlian corner (Unhealthy, one-sided obsession with a power imbalance? When have I ever resisted that!).

I've also been doing some casual doodling, which has been fun. Here's a tiny little XL for anyone who read through all of this:

Oh, and on the note of doing things very slowly - Yes, I still have plans to finish the Jia Kui/Wang Zhi/Ding Rong fic I started writing... ehm, a year ago? 🙃 I'm just beginning to feel motivated again, and it's almost done, so there's hope. 我还在!

All of that to say - old and future fandom friends, I appreciate you! Do come talk to me, here or on discord, about TGCF or Winter Begonia or any of my previous fandoms. I'm looking forward to seeing what all of y'all have been up to!

[perfectpaperbluebirds]

Sicktember #1

Prompt: Hopelessly Bad at Self-Care

Fandom/OCs: Hannibal (TV) (Will and Hannibal)

Words: 680

Sicknario inspo: Friend taking charge from this post.

Author’s comments/background: I only write Hannigram for Sicktember anymore really, but this fandom will always have a special place in my heart. This takes place in my post-canon AU for them where they have a little cottage in the middle of nowhere and spend happily ever after as a couple living their best life, doing mysterious Murder HusbandTM things. 

~~~***~~~

Will was out ice fishing when Hannibal returned from his latest absence. It had been a long one this time, almost a month, and Will had started to feel the weight of loneliness. Trudging back from the river with his string of fish, a rush of happiness flooded him when he saw the stream of smoke coming out of their chimney. 

Hannibal had been watching for him, because the doctor opened the door and was waiting in the entryway as Will approached. The younger man took a breath to greet his partner, but a gust of dry, cold air made him cough instead. 

Hannibal's welcoming smile turned into a frown at the sound. "Come in, come in, out of the cold." 

Will let himself be ushered inside. The house was very warm compared to the outdoors. His nose began to run and his face flushed. He immediately began to disrobe, pulling off his boots and unzipping his coat, which Hannibal gently helped him out of. Yet this further exertion made Will cough again. Hannibal recognized the hoarse sound of a long-lasting cough, and the inherent weariness and soreness underneath it, and he frowned again.

"How long have you had that cough?" the doctor asked, gentle and concerned, but taking charge as a physician nonetheless. 

"About a week. Maybe more," Will croaked. "Had a chest cold first. Now it's just the cough."

"Yet you were still out fishing all day?"

Will shrugged. "It's too quiet inside by myself. At least when I'm outside I can think."

"How is it you always manage to get yourself ill while I'm away?" Hannibal chuckled softly. "Evidently you are hopelessly bad at self care. So I suppose that means the blame falls on me for leaving you alone."

By this time Will had removed all his outerwear and donned a sweater and robe. The pair now moved to the kitchen, and Hannibal pulled out the kettle and began to prepare tea. 

"We will get you warmed up, then it's straight to bed," Hannibal said paternally. "That cough is worrisome."

Will stood at his side, so close their shoulders almost touched, just soaking in the taller man's presence that filled the house like nothing else could. Yet being so close, Will could do some scrutiny of his own, and he didn't like what he saw. 

Hannibal had lost some weight, and his cheekbones and jawline were even more pronounced than usual. The shadows under his eyes, vivid bruises, were deep and hollow. His hands, with their long, delicate fingers and perfect nails, shook faintly as he poured the tea and stirred. 

"When was the last time you ate, Hannibal?" Will asked softly. 

"This morning," he replied, too quickly. 

"And before that?" Will prodded.

Hannibal smiled wanly as he handed Will a mug of tea. "It may have been a while."

"You haven't been sleeping, either," Will said. A question rather than a statement.

"Not as much as I might like," Hannibal admitted. 

"So it seems we're both hopelessly bad at self care when we're apart," said Will, with a hint of smugness. 

The corners of Hannibal's eyes crinkled in a smile. "I suppose that might be true."

"Then if I'm going straight to bed after tea, you are too."

"But that was my plan all along, of course," Hannibal said. "There is no other place I'd rather be." 

"Good. I'm glad we're on the same page," Will said, perching on a stool with his drink. 

Hannibal only smiled, seating himself as well. 

"... I'm glad you're back, Hannibal," Will said after a moment, barely audible. The unspoken subtext of the statement hung in the silence, warming it. 

"I am very glad to be here," Hannibal nodded, also leaving the rest unsaid. 

The pair sat and sipped as the silence and shadows stretched. Yet there was no discomfort, no coldness, even in spite of Will's chest cold. They were warmed by the tea and the company, each knowing they were exactly where they needed to be. 

[my-artblog-is-ssjumi]

god I hate fandom’s Seto Kaiba fanon :,)

[anechomirrored]

Fandom: Undertale, swapfell

Rating: T

Prompt(s):"I don't think this is your problem."

Warnings: none

Your arrival to the coffee shop that morning was heralded, as always, by the chime of the little silver bell hanging just above the door. You walked up to the counter, greeted Rus as usual and ordered the beverage that suited you today.

Tea, coffee, cocoa; you cycled through your favorites on the regular. Today you went with a hot cup of coffee made just to your liking by one of your favorite monsters.

He gave you his usual lopsided smile. The sunlight caught his golden fang giving him an impish look.

"m'bro's at the back o' the shop."

"He beat me here?" you asked, a bit surprised.

You usually had time to settle in and get a chapter or two of reading done before your usual coffeeshop companion arrived.

Rus let out little laugh, the corners of his sockets crinkling in that familiar yet illogical way all expressions that graced your boney friends' skulls seemed to.

"Good luck, sweet." he rasped turning back to the cash as he prepared the next person's order.

You made your way to the back to where another familiar and much shorter skeleton sat clutching his overly large mug like a life line.

Unlike his brother, Sans did not naturally thrive in the early morning.

"Good morning, Captain. What has you here before ten?"

Sans gave you a weary smile. There were shadows under his eyesockets.

"Good morning...It has been a long week." He took another long sip from his mug.

The softness of his voice, the way his usually proud shoulders hunched and the way his eyelights appeared dull in his sockets told you that this was an understatement.

"Do you have the weekend, at least?" You asked, settling into the chair opposite his.

"I will have tomorrow. I'll be running errands and the next day I offered to assist with-"

"You need to rest, Sans."

"I am quite capable of keeping my prior engagements." He insisted.

You tested the side of your mug with a finger and finding it safe, you laid your palm fully against it. The heat felt good on your chilled hand.

"Well, yes but you look exhausted and really think a day in might be a good idea."

Sans shook his head. He was smiling in that soft way that he reserved for a select few.

"I don't think this is your problem. Though I do appreciate your concern."

"But, Sans..." You paused as Sans reached across the table to take your free hand.

"Did you forget your gloves?" He asked.

His brow furrowed as he brushed his own gloved thumb over your chilled skin.

Your hands were well worked and in this colder weather they got dry and cracked.

" You should be kinder to your hands, dearest."

"Are you really going to worry about my hands and still insist me worrying over your sleep schedule is not my problem?" You reached up with your hand warmed by the mug and traced his brow before coming to cup his blush lit cheek lightly.

"...I..." he cleared his non existant throat and tried again, "It's just that the Buns are expecting and we are short for patrols..."

You smiled and let it reach your eyes. It was easy to do around him.

"You are always doing so much for everyone else." You brushed a thumb along the top of his cheekbone and let out a sigh, "If I make an effort to wear my gloves , will you at least spend half the day relaxing?"

Sans had sucessfully reached a new shade of violet. He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again.

Feeling a bit impish you leaned a bit closer, the smile on your lips turning coy as his eyelights noticably shifted down towards them.

"I-I suppose those are reasonable terms, Angel." His voice was almost impossibly quiet for him.

"Good." You whispered back before deciding mercy was the correct choice.

The kiss was chaste, filled with a care that neither of you chose to offer up lightly.

Drawing back slowly your smile was unsupressable.

"Glad we could come to an agreement."

A single look at that smug smile had Sans laughing.

"I'm sure, now perhaps we should return to more publicly appropriate pastimes? Perhaps you can tell me about your newest reading endeavor?"

You nodded.

Stubborn as he was, you knew Sans would keep his side of the deal. So for the rest of your time together you found yourself strategizing on how to not forget your gloves.

[nehswritesstuffs]

One of the last whotubers who still had my respect lost my subscription today after they said that 12 and Clara would canonically make a bad paring but 10 and Clara would make a good pairing. Of course they had to use an awkward gif of 12 and Clara and the hand kissing gif of 10 and Clara from the 50th; as if there aren’t tons of romantic and affectionate gif moments of 12 and Clara. Also the implication comes across kind of ageist if you ask me. Sometimes I just can’t.

Greyscale, I hate to break it to you, but that's kind of what you get for trusting a Whotuber.

'Cause here's the breaks: a vast number of vocal people online don't understand the relationship between Twelve and Clara that you and I see. Some people can't see it for whatever reason (examples: the characters reminding them of two people decidedly not in love in their in-person lives; literally not having the comprehension levels to understand the relationship), while some people flat-out refuse to see it (examples: ageism; anti-Clara rhetoric, not watching the show (either any non-RTD or just Moffat's run)). There's a lot more vocal people in that latter category, which absolutely sucks. It's part of why I feel like although there's a significant portion of the actual fanbase who ship Whouffaldi, we're all off in our own little corners and not interacting with the main core of the base because we know they'll pull stupid stunts like that.

How is the Doctor worse for Clara as Twelve than Ten in canon? Is it the bland younger looks*? Is it the accent**? Is it the fact that Twelve allowed and encouraged her to grow her own character, for better or worse, which was apparently bad to some people***? Is it that under Ten, Clara could have not become as Doctor-like as she did, instead being in starry-eyed awe of him like Ten's other companions****? There is literally nothing that one can say that will make me agree that, as a whole, Clara is better off with Ten than with Twelve. Why would she settle for sandshoes and a piss-poor God-complex-Jesus-allegory when she can have a grouchy silver fox that just wants to be left alone with exception of his aggro ray of sunshine? Wose settled, and look where that got her. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Whouffaldi will for always and forever be a comfort ship for me, so I know I have a bias. That being said, I only ship Ten/Clara (Allonswin) pretty much to irritate Ten/Wose people*****, because at least those are two functioning adults within the context of the show's canon. I've shipped in other fandoms with less to go by, so this is nothing new to me, but yeah... if you think Allonswin is a better ship than Whouffaldi, then chances are you're ageist, or not a Peter Capaldi fan (how??? why???), or both. Or you're a Tennant fan to the point your shipping goggles have malfunctioned to ludicrous degrees******.

All in all, I'm so glad I'm not on YouTube, let alone a bunch of other sites where fandom congregates, because I wouldn't be able to handle it ahahahaha orz just let me exist in my curated existence here and on FFN/AO3/Twitter

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

*David Tennant is probably at his least attractive as Ten for me, so this is definitely a ymmv and that's okay we're allowed to disagree on this

**we're not allowed to disagree on this; David should have been allowed to be Scottish his entire run too, but in the absence of, I think, the only way it could have been more boring is if the accent he used was actual RP and not middle-of-the-road Estuary

***any growth Mickey, Martha, and Donna had was to spite Ten, not bc he encouraged anything, I'm not getting out of this chair

****actually, Clara wouldn't have any of Ten's shit and would just drag him for filth for days and, if she didn't get bored with him, she would have somehow been able to get Companions Past in on the action and it would be a veritable roast that Twelve would have admitted he deserved

*****honestly, I do things that irritate plenty of other people... like I ship Ten/Donna both as idkbffs and as a romantic couple, because they have a better, healthier relationship than Ten does with... certain others... almost in a Whouffaldi-esque vein since she doesn’t take a lot of his shit lol

******no shade here, honest, bc I do understand how that is when you enjoy a really talented actor's body of work, one who seems to have a lot of effortless chemistry with coworkers, and... just... yeah... (PCap is one of the sexiest parts of the 2014 Musketeers show, but that don't mean I ship his interpretation of the Cardinal Richelieu with anything other than The Good of France, yo)

[kiras-sunshine]

i know people do these traditionally when the year changes and i’m a couple of days late, but i just wanted to spread some kindness and i’m so incredibly grateful for all of my mutuals and everyone who is willing to put up with my mess of a tumblr, and this is not at all comprehensive list, but a list of people i admire, talk to and interact with the most and who have made my 2021 better and brighter and i have no doubt that the same one goes for 2022 too <3 and i'm so incredibly sorry if i have missed someone, it isn't personal <3 those who know me, know that i'm soft and sentimental, and this post is not an exception and i couldn't ask better people to be excited with about the new season and experience it all with you all <3

@delitefullychaotic

antania!! <3 we haven’t known for terribly long yet, but you’re so kind and sweet and so supportive and the tags you create for everyone are so delightful and imaginative and on top of being an amazing and lovely person, you’re also insanely talented??? absolutely unfair how awesome and wonderful you’re and all of your gifsets are like work of art!! you have very beautiful and specific style and I love it and I always recognise your gifsets when they pop up on my dash and that’s all because of your sheer talent and I’m in complete awe of you and your dedication and you definitely make this fandom a better place and I love talking to you <3

@marjansmarwani

jillian <3 I don’t know if I have ever told you this but your fics were one of the first one I read for lone star and I was absolutely blown away by your talent and the way you use words, it’s like magic and I’m captivated by your stories and every time!! incredibly good and each of your fics is a masterpiece <3 you were also one of the first people I interacted with in this fandom when I started posting my own fics and you were just incredibly kind and I definitely was in awe of you and looked up to you as a writer (both of those things are still true!!) and now I’ve gotten to know you little better and I’m so grateful for that because you’re amazing and sweet and just a joy to talk to and you’re wonderful and funny and you have made so many moments of 2021 better with your incredible fics and by being you <3

@iboatedhere

rae <3 oh boy I don’t even know where to start because I cannot decide if I should praise you or your talent first because there’s a lot of praise to say about both!! your writing is just phenomenal, I adore it and you’ve written so many of my all time favourite fics and I’m obsessed with the way you use words, you make it seem so effortless and the flow of your writing is a masterpiece of its own right!! absolutely incredible and your talent is immense <3 and you’re just as awesome, if not even more awesome than your writing!! you’re witty, funny, and lovely and amazing and I’m grateful we have wandered to the same corner of this fandom and that I get to know you and talk about this show with you and I love hearing your thoughts and theories <3

@morganaspendragonss

holly <3 you might be the only person who has ever made me read a major character death fic and I read it because your fics are always incredible and amazing and poignant and I loved it just as I’ve loved everything I’ve read from you!! it would be impossible for me not to love them because you definitely and absolutely have a talent for writing and I’m so glad I’ve found your fics and your history posts too!! they have brought a lot of joy into my life as have you and I’m glad we’ve talked more because you are awesome and lovely and it’s fun talking with you and I’m glad to know you!!

@sanderdriesen

emma <3 we have only known for a very short moment but you’re absolutely amazing, so kind and supportive, and your excitement is so lovely and contagious and just reading tags on any of your posts or your messages always puts the biggest smile on my face and I love how genuine you seem about everything and you’re so considerate and I cannot wait to talk more to you this year and get to know you more and you’re so damn talented too!! your gifs are amazing and awesome and only thing that comes close to your talent is just your kindness and I’m just lucky to know someone so amazing!!

@strandnreyes

jen <3 you’re one of the few people I have subscribed on ao3 and I do love getting the email notifications about your new fics because I always know there’s a new masterpiece waiting for to be read and I just love your writing so much!! it’s always spectacular and mesmerizing and incredible and I’m just lucky I get to read your fics because you are really making writing a form of art and you’re so damn talented and we are all blessed you want to share that talent with the rest of us!! we haven’t known for that long, but I do enjoy talking with you so much and I always love reading your insight on fandom stuff and you’re so kind and lovely and awesome and I hope we get to talk more this year and I’m grateful our paths have crossed!!

@carlosreyess

jess <3 I love your writing!! it’s simple as that, whether it’s your amazing fics or your beautiful and stunning poetry, but I always adore it and it’s delightful to read and you definitely have a talent for it and I’m so grateful and glad that you have decided to share with all of us <3 still think about your juddgrace pancake fic like weekly because I love it!! it’s always a joy to talk to you and hear how you’re doing and all of our ask and tag game interactions always bring happiness to my day and you’re so kind and friendly and awesome and supportive and I’m grateful for all of our interactions <3

@alkaysani

L <3 I know we haven’t talked that much, but I do appreciate you so much and you’re so incredibly sweet and kind and amazing and I’m so glad we have talked and your gif making skills are just out of this world, masterpieces after masterpieces, and all of your creations are just so stunning and I always take a moment just to look at them, and marvel at them, and your beautiful gifsets are definitely making me want to watch old guard too and you’re just so incredibly talented, I don’t even have enough words to describe it <3

@reyesstrand

maddie <3 you’re so kind and it’s always a joy and easy to talk to you and you are so lovely and funny and awesome and even if I didn’t have the privilege to talk to you, you would still be one of my fave lone star blogs on this site and I always love all of your posts about the show and I love reading your thoughts about it and they are always so spot on and you always spot and observe stuff and details that I haven’t even considered about and your liveblogging is always so delightful and I’m so glad we both love the same first responder show and get to be excited about it together <3

@tkstrandreyes

nick <3 I appreciate you so much and you’re always so kind and friendly and awesome and I’m so grateful we are in the same corner of this fandom and that we get to talk about it and be excited and share our thoughts and ideas!!

@sunshinestrand

paige <3 for the obvious reasons, I really strongly associate the colour yellow with you and I think it fits you perfectly because you’re bright and warm person and absolutely one of the sweetest and kindest people in this fandom and you honestly are so amazing and wonderful and I love talking to you and it’s always fun and you’re so caring <3 I love our talks and I’m very grateful that we are in the same corner of this fandom and I always love hearing your thoughts about the show and your fic writing skills are just out of this world !! you have written so many of my favourite aus and I’m just always so excited read your stories because I know I won’t be disappointed and I just adore your characterization and the flow of your writing and I’m always in awe and all of your fics are incredible <3

@justapoet

mary <3 you’re one of my fave fic writers, seriously. you’re so so talented and it goes beyond my comprehension and everytime I read something of yours I fall in love with the words, I’m floored with emotions and just in complete and utter awe!! it’s always so poetic, and stunning and beautiful and I always end up re-reading your stuff because it’s just that good and incredible and there are some lines in your fics that just get stuck in my head and I keep thinking them for months and I just love it!! we haven’t really talked that much yet, but you’re so kind and sweet and amazing!!

@sgirl18

we have known only for a short moment, but I love our excited convos about lone star and it’s always so much fun to talk to you and you’re so incredibly kind and supportive and sweet and awesome and I cannot wait to talk to you more and theorize about the new season!! <3

@rafael-silva

bones <3 your gifs of lone star were one of the first ones that I saw when I really joined the fandom and I absolutely adored your gifsets from the first moment and my first impression of you was that you’re so cool and talented (both of those things are correct) and then I found out that you write too, and that you write amazingly and incredibly well, and then I fell in love with your words too and I was lucky and grateful to enjoy and love your fics and gifs, both of those are always real and genuine masterpieces, and even the sky isn’t the limit for your talent, and on top of all of that, I got the chance to talk to you more, and I found out that you’re also one of the kindest and sweetest and the most caring people I’ve ever talked to and so lovely and funny and all around amazing person and talking to you is always a joy and I love talking to you and I’m so grateful and lucky to know you and talking to you always makes my days better <3

@zonnedauw

erica <3 I really don’t even know where to start, but you are definitely one of the loveliest and best people I’ve ever met on the internet and I’ve sometimes hard time believing that someone so kind and sweet and caring and lovely even exists <3 and someone who has such a good taste in books and shows on top of it and you know how much I look up to you and I love it when you try to teach me dutch phrases and words and I really love talking to you and I’m so glad we have started to talk more and you’re so amazing and awesome and supportive and wonderful and funny and I’m so incredibly lucky to know you and more than grateful that our paths crossed and that we have started to talk more because you are definitely making each day better <3

@actuallysara

sara <3 I guess you, better than anyone else, know how sappy and soft I can get because you usually end up in the receiving end of it and for a very good reason and I may have told you once or twice what I think of you and you should also know that I could never fit all the praise you deserve into one single tumblr post, and even with the combined amount of ten different languages understood between the two of us, I wouldn’t have enough words to describe how truly amazing and lovely and wonderful you’re but you can bet that I’ll keep trying to put all of it into words this year too !! but you really are one of my closest friends, I love talking to you so much, you always make my days better, no matter what we talk about, and it’s just a privilege to know you really because you’re funny, so talented, witty, smart, genuine, kind, sweet and caring and so awesome and I’m so grateful for you and that the convo we started back in June still hasn’t ended <3 and I really hope from the bottom of my heart that it isn’t ending any time soon because there’s no one else I would rather receive rocks and pictures of floor from and talk about anything and everything and dump my fic ideas to and complain with and have fun with <3 I love seeing you on my dash, we should talk more!!

[cheekbites-moved]

I was also wondering, if you could expand on Alice's arc more, what would you do? I feel like, in the wave of other characters & the need to finish their arcs, Alice herself (as in her own perspective) was mostly lost. I feel like there was a lot of interesting conversations she could have had with so much of the cast (like Oz had) that just didnt happen. Gilbert & Vincent who share her past, Break who made a promise to save her, Lottie who loved her uncle, there was so much that could have been

i think i accidentally deleted ur ozlice ask if ur the same anon who sent it ^^' but i agree w what you said!! im glad to have my content is drawing ozlice shippers in, ive felt v alone for most of this decade shipping them in my own corner lol and i saved the fic you mentioned to check out sometime later!

as far as what you're saying here, i'm assuming you mean the white alice? the fandom usually refers to her as alyss (alice + abyss), so i was a bit confused at first, but i get you lol

i do wish we got to see more of her, but i think the little we did get of her was very intentional. it very much adds to the somberness of her story. it's a very lonely tale. empty of connections. the story would change quite drastically if she did get to interact with the other characters, so i don't know if i would necessarily change it.

i mostly just. enjoy imagining her being reincarnated alongside alice, the two of them getting to be reborn as twins again, having a proper childhood where they get to be together all the time.

& then, once alice and oz reunite with gil, she accompanies them in searching for everyone else's reincarnations. & gets to meet everyone proper, & she gets to have all the friends & love she's deserved all along <3

[septembersghost]

You may have gotten blocked in the “winc*st-adjacent” craze a few months back. Everyone who has ever reblogged a reblog of a reblog from a winc*st shipper got canceled. I have the tag blocked, and sometimes you post things that were at one point tagged as winc*st.

I absolutely understand that there are some people who need a bullet-proof boundary around things like that. That doesn’t make all the people who don’t need that hard boundary into predators. Purity culture is a mess.

I’m very sorry if those blocks hurt you, because you are the last person on earth to deserve it.

I hope you’re having a day almost as gorgeous as you are, dear one.

one of them blocked me almost from the moment i made this blog, it's more confusing than anything else (that little part of my brain that fears rejection and the larger part that is continually anxiety-ridden goes, but what did I do?! even though consciously i realize it's not a big deal in the scheme of things! it's just jarring when i go to reblog an edit from S1 or something and tumblr says, "no, you can't do that!" me: "i only want to appreciate the nice posts!" ;___;).

as far as i know, i didn't get caught in the great blocklist purge, but a few of my close friends/mutuals did, and that hurt me more than when i'm blocked myself because i love them and know what amazing people they are (mutuals i will be glad to be canceled with, they're burning all the witches even if you aren't one, but i will happily claim my witchery. <3 besides, if one must block me, at least block me for my gothic romanticism soul mate meta and my annoyingly effusive love/dean feelings posts 😌), and that list was nothing but a bizarre/ugly public shamefest (i block people for things i find upsetting, too, hence why half of dean cr*tical/anti fandom is on my list lol, but i have no intention of dragging them in a mass post, we are in completely separate circles and that's fine! the blacklist also exists to help us ignore topics we don't want to see for whatever reason, it's a very helpful feature and doesn't require drama...we all have the prerogative to make our own spaces as comfortable and enjoyable for ourselves as possible, but it doesn't need to be widely disseminated). some of the people on that list didn't even belong there, there was really no care or caution about who that might hurt - not that perceived (judgmental) "guilt" matters on an issue like this, because the puritanical outlook of doing that to people is so oppressive and disturbing in and of itself. self-protection is valid and important and always subjective. purity culture is...not interested in that, it's interested in thought policing and deriding people. it's like new wave mccarthyism, putting people on a list of sinners - "are you now or have you ever been [insert 'offense' here]." and i get that it started from a place of caring about real issues, which is a whole other important discussion, but applying that to transformative FICTIONAL fandom to the point where real people, who may potentially be vulnerable or sorting through difficulties of their own, are put on blast because they were seen dancing in the moonlight is one of my least favorite phenomenons in current fandom culture. (also, people tag things with ship names for various reasons all the time even when it's totally innocuous - there was a post on my dash the other day that was blacklisted, not even spn fandom, and i clicked on it out of curiosity and the post wasn't even about a ship, it was a quote, but someone along the way had probably tagged it for their own interests/blog and that's completely fine too!) there is also the aspect to consider that many corners of fandom are predominately women-created content, and women are chastened and judged so often for exploring and communicating and imagining that all we're doing is fueling more silencing of safe spaces for female expressionism.

tl;dr i'm sorry you didn't ask for an essay, but this has been on my mind SO much lately.

it makes me sad that we do have such stringent dividing lines and that fandom has become a bit of a minefield because i think it's stifling creativity and discussion in some ways since that divisiveness has fueled a lot of unfair bullying. we're supposed to be having fun! i love how passionate so many of us are! i wish we could have that without the toxicity, but i know every fandom has factions like this. this is very rambly, but in sum - purity culture is a mess - you're right.

thank you so much for your kind words and wishes, i hope you are having a beautiful day/evening too! 💕

[lily-the-leopard]

hermitcraft and thirdlife get a fandom tag and not dsmp bc dsmp fandom cant be trusted to fandom tag properly, like genuinely can’t be trusted with its massive scale and young users

(also dsmp fans need to stop puts dts to tag wranglers in the tags for “doxxing the creators”, maybe then they’d get a fandom tag)

"last anon was /lh kinda, but genuine reason why dsmp doesnt have a fandom tag bc it fits ao3’s pre existing conditions for rpf. plus the fandom specifically for dsmp? its fairly new and peaked during this time ao3 has been making big changes to the site, like they’re creating a blocking function + more things and that takes more than a couple of months to plan and roll out this versus hermitcraft having a tag, hermitcraft fandom has been established for multiple years with a decent size fanbase to warrant it"

Oh boy nonny, this was certainly a take to wake up to, I'll be honest. I'll take you at your word and assume you really meant this to be light-hearted, so instead of throwing out the whole suitcase, lets unpack some of this! I think it's a conversation that's a bit overdue in my little corner of the internet. I am gonna put it under a cut though, because I had a lot to say and it got kinda long.

Right, so here's the thing. I get where you're coming from. This fandom is pretty young, you don't trust them. But if you've been on dsmpblr at all, you'd know this fandom is actually pretty good about tagging things! Like- better than some other fandoms I've been in! And I think it's funny that you'd bring 3rd life into this, because from what I know they lost their tag when ao3 realized it was being used for minecraft rp, it redirects to RPF just like the "Dream SMP" tag now.

I know it's frustrating when people use posts in the archive to complain. I've actually sent a ticket about this, which is the proper way to get ahold of staff, but I'm so tired of seeing real names thrown into the Dream SMP. You don't tag MCU fanfic with "Steve Rogers | Chris Evans" do you?? No, there's separate tags for RPF on so3 because we understand that characters are not their actors.

And I don't think the DSMP qualifies as RPF personally! I think if anything Hermitcraft should. I'm glad they got their own tag, don't get me wrong, I'm an HC fan as well. But the DSMP has an ongoing plot with characters that are different than the people playing them, moreso than HC where they largely play themselves. (This isn't to discount someone like Xisuma btw I think his lore is great, but as a whole they tend to do smaller plots, if any).

Also, the DSMP fandom is huge! I've been in fandoms much smaller than DSMP who have fandom tags. You know what got a tag before it had a major online presence? The Mechanisms. Had like five whole fics and it got a fandom tag. That's a band, by the way, doesn't use the RPF tag either because it's cabaret and they're playing characters.

Not to bring mechs fandom into this (god I hope this doesn't crosspost into your tags, I apologize), but nonny why does a band and another mc server get a tag, but a mc server that has established storylines spanning over a year get shoved into RPF with character tags sharing the real names of creators who only go by an alias??

And lastly. I know we've got a lot of kids here. But I'm not a kid. I was one, back in the day, pre-ao3. And I love the archive! It has its problems, this being one of them, but as a whole I'm glad we have a corner of the internet for ourselves.

I just wish I could actually filter RPF because I don't personally read it, and I can't do that unless we have a fandom tag.