#There is no right or wrong way to be in fandom

[chappellwrites]

Dick Grayson and His Cop Job

This isn't a fic, but this sort of like a rant? It's just something I've been seeing lately that has been upsetting me(not actually upsetting just annoying) where people say Duke hated Dick because he was a cop or that all his siblings trash on him because of his job as a cop. Dick wasn't a cop for the fun of it. He was a cop to try and reform the police force because he wanted to make it better. He was undercover. It was not an actual job. Not to mention, the person who wrote his arc as a police officer was Devin Grayson, who put him a position as a police officer when this was the SAME comic where he was written as Romani(albeit stereotypically). It was cop propaganda. Plus, the comic was written almost 20 years ago. Not only did Duke not even exist as a concept then, but Damian didn't either. Jason was still dead then since Devin wrote the comic in 2002, and Jason didn’t come back as Red Hood till 2005.

If you're going to make Duke hate Dick(which I'll dive deeper on in a moment), make him hate Dick for the fact the guy left him on a building(when Dick knew he had a fear of heights) and had him arrested. He knew Duke had a fear of heights and deliberately took him to a tall building so he couldn't get away. I feel like this was sort of crappy writing on Dicks part(since i feel like he would never do that), but at the same time it sort of does make sense because the reason he got Duke arrested was to keep Duke safe(even if he did it in a very wrong way.) Dick was very fond of Duke, and while Duke understood that Dick did what hw did, he had EVERY RIGHT to be pissed at the man who he considered an idol. Dick literally created Robin. Duke and his friends have every right to be mad at him since the man they looked up to(with the whole We Are Robin stuff) HAD THEM ARRESTED. The thing is, I think Duke and Dick could get along really well with how similar their characters are, but nobody ever has them interact. Duke either a) doesn't exist to them or b) they say Duke hates Dick and throws him off to the side. I'm just sort of sick of it because it sort of reminds me of the 'Jason is the mean Robin' or 'Tim is the genius Robin' stuff. I really want to see more interactions between the two in fics and whatnot. I want to see Dick apologize for what he did and see the two interact and get close. This is another reason I hate WFA. If you like it, that's fine. I just can't stand all the mischaracteriztion, especially of Duke. They make him seem shy and timid when that is the EXACT OPPOSITE OF HIS ACTUAL CHARACTER! Duke is not shy! He is loud and does not let people boss him around!

This is one of the reasons I can't stand most of the batfamily fandom. They mischaracterize everyone and stereotype them. They don't include the deep dynamics that they all have and instead water them down. I would love to write some Duke and Dick stuff, but I feel like I wouldn't do Duke justice since I don't know him that well as a character. I'd rather just leave him for someone who actually knows the depths of his character rather than take him, water him down, and just toss him into the Batfamily as a 'shy, timid new guy'.

[googlyeyes-blogs]

TW! Disturbing image, body horror and little bit of gore!

Y'all missed the point !!

(Trickster belongs to @boiling-potato )

Since a lot of people are already joining, just wanted to rant and point out something about Trickster. Cause this psychopath isn't just mommy material and a silly goofy character that just adopts troubled children for fun (Nothing wrong with thinking that's the case too of course, some people in the fandom like to think and do those kinds of things for entertainment and fun)

Anyway, back to her, so Trickster here is the one adopting troubled people to make family right? That's the whole plot of the Milkshake Mansion and yeah, I kinda agree with BP that she really isn't a good master.. I mean, she picks people who are in an all time low in a house full of murderers and leaves without seeing if the person survives or not, it just really goes to show that she's not really attached to anyone there and she's just an entity with no feelings. Take neo ( @dackychansworldofhoshino ) for example (I know it's just an oc in the mm! Universe but hear me out) The way BP talks about Trickster's interaction with her supposed first friend, leaving him to die and not feeling anything about it really highlights that she couldn't care less about what's happening in the house.

Not just that of course but also a few details like, her not knowing right and wrong, how she's trying so hard to have connections to her made up family, how she doesn't mind getting mentally and physically abused by them, sometimes even getting killed by them is absolutely mind boggling to think that people think she's just there as a ticket to enter or even maybe, just an attractive silly jester and nothing else!

So yeah, that's it, I think Trickster is just an interesting character that has a lot of meaning to her existence and I just feel the need to address this. I drew this too to remind you guys that Trickster already died many times inside that mansion because of her family (bet you guys forgot about that part huh?) and I can't even imagine how many lifeless bodies of hers are in there :>

(Maybe I'm just reading a lot onto this and it's not that complicated but I've been reading a lot of horror books that inspired me to make a character analysis and drawing about her. I'd like to think that she's like the AM from the book "I have no mouth and I must scream" but instead, she means well but doesn't realize she's still making the people she "saved" suffer)

[thesaintofaquarius]

See, the thing about Camus is that, he's not a Pretending to be Emotionless Hypocritical Thing that doesn't want people to feel anything ever and not be connected to those around them. There are actually a handful of canon examples that he finds merit in camaraderie and emotions that fuel people's will to fight and dedicate themselves to humanity and Athena.

He is, however, a firm believer of never letting his emotions get in the way of the decision he makes as a Saint. For him, letting your emotions dictate what you do and act, to the point of causing more conflict and strife is Bad. And he's real for that because he also doesn't really extend this mindset to anyone but his fellow saints, and even then, it's only when they're truly lashing Out. There are reasons he believes this — he is an Aquarius saint after all and they're SUPPOSED to be calm, cool and rational — and there are good reasons he's VERY strict about it with Hyoga.

The problem I keep seeing in this fandom is that his attitude as a Saint keeps getting translated as = you should never hold attachments with people or things and if you do you're Wrong, and that's just, not the case, at all? He just doesn't condone those attachments standing in the way of how you should act like a Saint, which includes people's pasts (because Saints are supposed to be warriors who protect the present and ensure the survival of the future for the next generation). You cannot let your emotions and attachments take your sight away from the bigger picture — ensuring that humanity survives.

Like, of course he cares about Hyoga. That's Practically His Son, but does he let that stop being from doing what he thinks is right? No. And yeah, you can argue that he was wrong to do so, but not on the fucking principle of what he believes in, because he WAS following what he preached! It just wasn't the correct decision in hindsight because there was no way for him (at that moment) to know that Hyoga would actually be able to awaken the 7th sense during the Sanctuary arc and survive a brutal death during then. There are also multiple examples of Camus being able to abandon, betray and go through extreme painful lengths to do what he thinks is right (and I will say it's BECAUSE he loves the world and Athena and his friends [1 Surt, I guess] that he does this), that's him acting and being true to what he preaches! And his whole "Hyoga you will remain here forever untouched in the freezing coffin" + the implication that he'll visit and he's crying in that moment it's so.... I don't know how to tell you this, but that's Literally His Son that he thought he killed, it's actually quite normal to tear up and cry and promise to visit someone's literal grave if they're that close to you.

There's a key difference between Hyoga's and Camus's situation here, though. Camus has proven time and time again that he will not let his past attachments stop him from what he believes a true Aquarius Saint needs to act like and he's not endangering anyone by the act of repeated obsession (he's not capable of that obsession anyway) and visits, and his convictions hold true when he's forced to betray Athena. Which ultimately contributed to all of the Hades saga happening the way it did.

Tldr: he is not a cold heartless bastard who thinks human connection is a farce while also having emotions and connections himself. Camus is actually a Big friendship is magic (and being a saint of Athena in a very emotional and dedicated way) believer if you look at him properly, but of course, media literacy where when the blorbo they like better is pitted against you, I guess.

[greenqueenhightower]

why do you think traditional feminine women get more hate in AsoIaF fandom. is it just bigotry or more? there are varied examples: elia, sansa, alicent, catelyn, even helaena all of them are hated or disliked even by the women in the fandom who ought to atleast try to understand it was not easy for them. they were also trying to survive and navigate this world. they were not flaw-less, they fumbled, they made mistakes, they were selfish, ruthless, vindictive ect but most of the times they were trying to survive.

also the argument that they perpetuate patriarchy is so tone deaf in AsoIaF context?? every woman in-universe perpetuated patriarchy in some way or other because they were raised that way and had little choice. women like visenya, alyssa, even alysanne, rhaenyra, cersei, lyanna perpetuated the existing westerosi norms knowingly or unknowingly, and sometimes went beyond.

not every woman can wield sword and fight or WANT TO wield a sword, wear pants or fight. if women like sansa are interested in feminine pursuits what is wrong with that? if women like alicent are inclined to be female politicians without lifting a weapon, whats wrong with that? if women like catelyn can verbally and physically defend their family and still be soft and motherly whats wrong in that? if women like elia do their duties with diligence and delicacy, and expect loyalty and protection in return, whats wrong with that? if women like naerys and rhaella were sexually abused by their husbands IS THE FAULT WITH THEM?? it was not easy being a feminine woman in this world either. as the lady of a house, they had hundreds of things to oversee. to undermine that as women because they didnt rebel for the sake of it, is so wrong on so many levels.

Hi anon💚

You are right, traditional feminine women in media seldom get any recognition or sympathy and understanding from the viewers. I think it has to do with the prevalence of "girlboss" characters in media who at times stretch the norms to an unrealistic degree. There's nothing wrong with girlboss characters, as there shouldn't be anything wrong with traditional feminine women. Representation matters, context matters, how well a character is built and developed also matters.

I have a personal theory as to why women like Alicent are often misunderstood and either victimized or villainized by viewers, without being allowed any space to just be. Sadly, it's very difficult for a lot of "modern" minds to shake away the misogyny that's shaped their worldviews growing up. Such misogyny dictates that traditional women are "dumb" because they like girly stuff for example, or they suck at male fields because they like to do their hair and nails every month, or because they menstruate. What I'm saying is, a lot of negative stereotypes about traditionally feminine women still exist, and unfortunately they still influence and predispose the viewers' opinions when a character who fits those stereotypes appears on screen. It's easier to call a woman a "whore," a "terrible mother," a "monster," a "villain," a "witch," "evil," "dumb," a "horrible driver," a "horrible person," "blonde=stupid," etc and you don't get the same insults hurled at men, because the whole world, irrespective of culture or time period, has been calling women as such. Women have been accused of all sorts of failings regardless of whether they were traditional, feminine, pretty, ugly, or not. It's a fact that women are more easily to put the blame on than men, and have proven to historically accept that blame more easily than men, since they had limited freedom and power to choose otherwise.

It makes sense, therefore, for a female character who defies all norms to be celebrated and praised when she appears in media, like Rhaenyra. She stands against her society's conventions, she exercises free will, bends the rules, and acts like a man would in that society. Such behavior is unexpected and therefore it attracts attention and admiration. What often happens, though, is that viewers get so fixated on the "uniqueness" and "badassery" of her character that don't question anything else. Her motivations, her personality, the way she exercises her authority, her female mind. In the end, without realizing it, they can easily get caught up in celebrating a behavior that would be rather off-putting if it was coming from a man within that same society.

And in so doing, the "other woman," the more traditionally feminine one, is again neglected. Sidelined and marginalized, subjected to the same treatment that the viewers are so averse towards when it comes to female representation. By not acknowledging her struggles, the social conventions she has to abide by, the motivations and fears behind her actions, by again not being able to appreciate her female mind, they become her oppressors—just like the men who historically policed female bodies and hated and abused women by their exercise of authority and control over them.

So what I'm saying is, sadly, in every fandom women are never loved for being just women. This will hurt a lot of Rhaenyra's fans to hear (women included), but Rhaenyra is more loved and celebrated for closely resembling a man rather than challenging stereotypes of womanhood, and Alicent is hated and villainized just because she closely resembles a traditional woman.

[emmerrr]

A hug to keep you warm

[fandom: aftg] [characters: neil and andrew]

The last game before winter break had ended on a win for the Foxes, but thanks to a mechanical issue with the bus delaying their departure by two hours and counting, morale was understandably low.

“What time is it?” Allison asked, frustration lacing her tone.

“It’s 2:45am,” Kevin said dryly. “Ten minutes later than the last time you asked. And fifteen minutes later than the time before that.”

“Don’t sass me, I’m tired,” she snapped. And she certainly wasn’t the only one; Aaron had his duffel on the seat beside him and was half slumped on it, out for the count. Nicky, in turn, was leaning on Aaron, who was clearly only allowing this because he was already asleep.

The rest of the Foxes were still awake, but most of them were grumpy. If the problem wasn’t fixed soon, they’d have to find accommodation elsewhere, an option none of them were keen on. They always felt better back on home-ground.

Neil was trying to keep his mind occupied by playing card games with Dan and Matt, but he lifted his head and scanned for Andrew. He was still sitting with Renee, talking quietly amongst themselves, but as if he sensed Neil’s gaze, he looked up. He cocked his head at Neil, a question in it, but Neil just shook his head. Nothing’s wrong. Just checking in.

“—Neil?”

His attention snapped back; Dan was talking to him. “Sorry. What?”

“You got any 3s?”

He scanned his cards. “Go fish.”

But before she could, Wymack and Abby returned. Sleeping Foxes were nudged awake — Aaron unceremoniously shoved Nicky off of him — and everyone’s faces immediately turned towards their coach.

“Alright, kids, good news and bad news,” Wymack started in his usual gruff way. “Good news is the bus is running.”

A small cheer went up throughout, but Wymack quickly held his hands up to shut them up. “Bad news is the heat is out and would take longer to fix. So either we stop somewhere for the night and get it fixed in the morning, or we go home now and I’ll get it fixed when we get back.”

It was December, so it was cold, but it wasn’t yet freezing. Consensus was that everybody just wanted to get the hell out of there, and Neil definitely agreed. He’d always rather sleep in his bed back at Fox Tower. And an uncomfortable nap on the familiar bus was always preferable to an uneasy sleep in a strange place.

Together, the Foxes all gathered their things and filed out into the parking lot. Andrew gravitated to Neil’s side as they walked, and they were the last two onto the bus, bypassing everyone to sit in their usual spots at the back. Neil would usually sit in the row right in front of Andrew’s at the very back, but tonight he chose to sit beside Andrew instead.

At Andrew’s look, he shrugged. “What? You want me to move?”

Andrew didn’t quite sigh, but it was a near thing. “You can do whatever you want.”

Neil smiled; Andrew was good at saying what he didn’t want, but sometimes still talked around the things he did want. This was as good as an invitation.

Abby got them moving, and they all settled in for the four hour drive back home. There was quiet chatter initially, but it soon died down as everyone gave into the allure of a nap.

The number of bodies on the bus certainly kept it from feeling as cold as it might have done, but there was a distinctive chill in the air, even for Neil, who tended to run pretty warm.

Neil glanced to the side to see if Andrew was asleep yet. He was not; he’d pulled the sleeves of his hoodie down to cover his hands, and was huddled lower in his seat. Every so often, he gave off a little shiver.

Andrew didn’t do so well in the cold. Andrew didn’t do so well in the heat, for that matter, but the cold was certainly the more pressing issue at the moment.

Neil peered out down the aisle of the bus. Other than Abby — at least Neil hoped she was awake, as she was driving — everyone was asleep, the only sounds the occasional rustling as someone shifted positions. There was no one looking at them, no one to incur Andrew’s ire, no one who cared at all if Neil and Andrew offered each other small comforts in the back of the bus.

“Andrew,” Neil whispered, and he opened his arm when Andrew looked his way.

As ever, it was a toss-up as to whether or not Andrew would allow this, or if he’d instead decide to remain stubbornly uncomfortable the whole way there.

But he moved without hesitation, tucking himself into Neil’s side. Neil lowered his arm so it was around Andrew’s shoulders, and then closed the other around him so that he had Andrew nicely encircled.

He drowsily rubbed Andrew’s arm, generating some gentle warmth, and soon enough, Andrew relaxed further, resting his head against Neil’s chest.

It didn’t take long for him to stop shivering entirely, and Neil felt Andrew yawn against him.

“You can sleep,” he murmured. “I’ve got you.”

Andrew mumbled something incoherently back, clearly exhausted. Neil thought that he might not be able to sleep like this and half expected him to move away, but to his surprise, Andrew instead huddled closer, his fist clutching in Neil’s hoodie.

His breathing evened out, and ten minutes later, Neil knew he had a sleeping Andrew on his hands.

He leaned his head against Andrew’s, as gently as he could. Tired as he was, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep like this, too conscious of not wanting to jostle Andrew.

He felt a little glow in his chest that he was granted this trust, this privilege of keeping Andrew warm, and he didn’t mind staying awake. Rest could come later.

There were far worse ways to spend a bus journey; Neil would take this any day of the week.

Andrew slept soundly the whole way home.

[datrb]

Oh... Oh-hoh-ho... Okay, here are some hot takes and NOT just about the series, it's also in part about the fandom at large.

1) Spiders as Dark's motif are overrated as fuck. He doesn't need to have a motif to be cool looking and also the virabot project was explicitly shown to be a suprise to Chosen. Aka hidden for quite some time.

2) None of the charcaters have genders, guys. You can make Mitsi a dude for all Alan cares. It's beauty of characters being literally faceless, voiceless and nameless stickfigures. Making Mitsi a dude doesn't change her influence on the story. All it does is make her a dude. That goes to every single character with an obvious exception of c!Alan.

3) Victim's sob story doesn't make him any less of a dougebag that he is in present time. He's still an unforgivable asshole. The only difference now is that we know WHY he became that way. That doesn't make him any better of a person.

4) There are generally no "good" people in the whole story. Chosen is still a terrorist. Dark is still a maniac. Victim is still a manipulative dougebag. Agent is still an enabling bitch. Mitsi still leveraged Victim's insecurities for profit. Green is a somewhat selfish perfectionist. Red has anger issues. Second has EVEN WORSE anger issues and thinks he's responcible for everyone around him... DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN!?

5) It's not that deep, guys. It's just not.

Okay now lets speedball a few gripes i have with the whole narrative...

Purple's backstory is the same backstory every other emo Deviantart OC had back in 2012. It was old even then and now it doesn't get any better.

King's arc was rushed as all hell. 15 minutes and a flashback is NOT enough for a full redemption.

As such, CG forgiving King is bullshit.

If AvA continues after AvAs3 i will be genuinely upset, because i don't think the story will need a continuation after we're done with Victim. A good portion of building a great story is knowing when to stop and i am afraid that Alan doesn't have that stop button.

Filler AvM episodes are boring.

Mitsi shouldn't have existed.

Dark should stay dead.

Victim doesn't deserve a redemtion.

Chosen's too late to his own character arc.

Writing character motivations AS YOU'RE WRITING THE PLOT is a bullshit tactic and Alan should do better.

King and Victim's arcs are the same arc, which is why i am afraid that Victim will get redeemed. He shouldn't.

Mitsi should stay dead.

Gold should stay dead.

Chosen's "redemption" is rushed as fuck. I am starting to see a trend with Alan's writing.

Alans writing is mid.

Influencer arc was pretty forgettable.

*Sigh*

Okay, those are FAR from the only gripes i have with AvA/M, its fandom AND Alan as a writer, but those are the ones that came to mind.

And before i leave (again) i just wanna say this: None of this really matters. It's a youtube cartoon about stickfigures. I already said that it's not that deep and it really isn't. Just relax, have fun, enjoy some silly sitcks and let other people enjoy them as well. It's as simple as that. If you don't like how someone enjoys the thing - ignore or block and move on. Not everything is about who's right or wrong. People can enjoy the same thing in different ways. That doesn't make anyone better or worse. Lets not fight over bullshit. There are way more important things in this world than online drama.

Lets just all be friends. I'm tired of constant bickering.

saw it going around on twt so ill ask it here myself for reasons

what are your 🫵 ava/m hot takes

[arizonaconservativegal]

nytimes.com/2025/07/13/opinion/family-politics-arguments-right-wing.html

Okay look I am 1000% in favor of not snubbing friends and family over political differences and I guess I'll applaud this guy for finally figuring out that it doesn't work but mostly I'm just amazed by how much continued arrogance can fit into a 1200 word op-ed about how you were wrong and also an asshole.

Full op-ed pasted below the cut

Not too long ago, I felt a civic duty to be rude to my wife’s younger brother.

I met Matt Kappler in 2012, and it was immediately clear we had nothing in common. He lifted weights to death metal; I jogged to Sondheim. I was one of President Barack Obama’s speechwriters and had an Ivy League degree; he was a huge Joe Rogan fan and went on to get his electrician’s license. My early memories of Matt are hazy — I was mostly trying to impress his parents. Still we got along, chatting amiably on holidays and at family events.

Then the pandemic hit, and our preferences began to feel like more than differences in taste. We were on opposite sides of a cultural civil war. The deepest divide was vaccination. I wasn’t shocked when Matt didn’t get the Covid shot. But I was baffled. Turning down a vaccine during a pandemic seemed like a rejection of science and self-preservation. It felt like he was tearing up the social contract that, until that point, I’d imagined we shared.

Had Matt been a friend rather than a family member, I probably would have cut off contact completely. As it was, on the rare and always outdoor occasions when we saw each other, I spoke in disapproving snippets.

“Work’s been good?”

“Mhrmm.”

My frostiness wasn’t personal. It was strategic. Being unfriendly to people who turned down the vaccine felt like the right thing to do. How else could we motivate them to mend their ways?

I wasn’t the only one thinking this. A 2021 essay for USA Today declared, “It’s time to start shunning the ‘vaccine hesitant.’” An L.A. Times piece went further, arguing that to create “teachable moments,” it may be necessary to mock some anti-vaxxers’ deaths.

Shunning as a form of accountability goes back millenniums. In ancient Athens, a citizen deemed a threat to state stability could be “ostracized” — cast out of society for a decade. For much of history, banishment was considered so severe that it substituted for capital punishment. The whole point of Hester Prynne’s scarlet letter was to show she had violated norms — and to discourage others from doing so.

But that was before social media. We live in a world of online fandoms, choose-your-own-adventure information and parasocial relationships. Few people who lost friends over the vaccine changed their minds. They just got new friends. Those exiled from one version of society were quickly welcomed by another — an alternate universe full of grievance peddlers and conspiracy theorists who thrived on stories of victimized conservatives.

There has been a sorting into belief camps, algorithmically and in real life. It dictates whom we match with on dating apps and where we live. We block those we disagree with online, we leave the group chat, we don’t show up for Thanksgiving. Recent data suggests that today, one in five Americans is estranged from a family member over politics. More points of deep disagreement will surely arise: over Trump’s immigration crackdown and use of the military in domestic affairs, over Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA mandates, over antisemitism, over a megabill that takes health care from the poor while cutting taxes for the rich.

No one is required to spend time with people they don’t care for. But those of us who feel an obligation to shun strategically need to ask: What has all this banishing accomplished? It’s not just ineffective. It’s counterproductive.

These days, ostracism might just hurt the ostracizer more than the ostracizee.

I wish I could say I learned this through self-reflection and study. What actually happened is that I started surfing. After moving to the Jersey Shore in 2022, I signed up for lessons. Despite my advanced age of 35 and lack of natural talent, I got hooked. Matt was the only other surfer I knew. I put my principled unfriendliness aside.

From the moment we began paddling out together, I could tell my cold-shoulder strategy had backfired. I’d spent the peak of the pandemic in a cultural bubble, and he had done the same. Driving to a break or changing into our wet suits, he’d often express opinions — about the merits of vigilantism, or the health benefits of Mexican stem-cell injections — that I found slightly unhinged.

Where is this coming from? I wondered. The answer was nearly always “Joe Rogan’s podcast.”

I assumed our surf-buddy experiment would either fail spectacularly or bring Matt over to my side. Neither of those things occurred. Instead, the connections we found were tiny and unrelated to politics. We agree that “Shrimply Irresistible” is the perfect so-bad-it’s-good name for a seafood restaurant, and that Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” is a classic. Although I still wouldn’t call myself a Rogan fan, we share an appreciation for his interview with the surf legend Kelly Slater. Matt and I remain very different, yet we’ve reached what is, in today’s America, a radical conclusion: We don’t always approve of each other’s choices, but we like each other.

It helped that in the ocean, our places in the pecking order reversed. Matt’s a very good surfer — one might call him “an elite” — and I am not. According to surfing’s unwritten rules, he had the right to look down on me. But he never did. His generosity of spirit in the water made me rethink my own behavior on land.

Three years after my first surf lesson, Matt and I haven’t really changed each other’s minds on major national issues. But we have changed each other. His fearlessness in consequential surf made me more courageous. His ability to go “over the ledge,” launching himself off breaking lips, helped me curb my overthinking. Ostracizing him wouldn’t have altered his behavior — and it would have made my own life worse.

I suspect that’s true for Matt as well. While I’ve never asked if our friendship made him more open-minded — we’d find that embarrassing — I’m confident the answer is yes. Last year, when I briefly considered running for office, Matt said he’d vote for me. When I asked why, his answer had nothing to do with party or policy. “You’re a regular guy,” he told me. “You walk the dog.”

When I share stories about surfing with my brother-in-law, people often tell me about relationships in their own lives pushed to the brink by politics. Sometimes, they’re proud of ties they’ve severed. More often, they’re hoping for a way forward. How can we pierce bubbles of misinformation? Can friendships fractured in the Trump era be repaired?

My advice is always the same. Our differences are meaningful, but allowing them to mean everything is part of how we ended up here. When we cut off contacts, or let algorithms sort us into warring factions, we forget that not so long ago, we used to have things to talk about that didn’t involve politics. Shunning plays into the hands of demagogues, making it easier for them to divide us and even, in some cases, to incite violence.

There are, of course, some people so committed to odiousness that it defines them. If Stephen Miller wants a surf lesson, I’ll decline. But are most people like that? In an age when banishment backfires, keeping the door open to unlikely friendship isn’t a betrayal of principles — it’s an affirmation of them.

[marisandini-chu-blog]

You know what today is?

MO SHA'S ARC! MO SHA'S ARC! MO SHA'S ARC!

Last week's episode really rattled the fandom as the reveal of ALIENS drop into the setting. People immediate went into speculation mode of whether Hero X came with that ship — regardless if it's actually alien or from the future.

Personally, I still think Hero X is simply a civilian, just like us. Because that's the appeal of what made a lot of people drawn to him.

Don't get me started of ths Spotlight's leader. It would seem they don't know all the plans the Comission have involving Fear. But they do have their own research lab to make tools that take advantage of Fear like a versatile dopamine.

Ghostblade's arc would be a curious one because the possible connection with the plane crash and Johnny's father/Former X.

One of the things I've always been curious about the conflicts in TBHX is the type of heroes conflict that got so bad; it's nor strange for the Plane Crash be the reason of sabotage between heroes.

Like, I'm so confused about Liu Zhen's motive. He found out the Commission DID cover-up that the plane crash wasn't an acciddent and hid it so Cyan could live a normal life, BUT WHO'S CONNECTION DID YOU USE TO GET IT?! MICKEy?!

Anyway, time for one of the edgiest Hero's time to shine.

PAPA JOHNNY ALREADY?!

ALDBDKBDKEHRKFJDHDUDJFJJF

@subtextdecoder YOU WERE RIGHT! HE FUCKING KILL HIM! ON THE FIRST 30 SECOND TOO!!!!

BRUTAL!!!

Wait, huh, he has a large family?

The PV had him look like he was experimented on though... did I misremember it? Huh?!?!?

Okay, for someone who is silent he actually talks a lot in his head just to be a "cool" assassin

No fucking way he became popular as a silent butcher....

OmG Mo Sha talks a lot about being a cool assassin and all I've seen is him being a total loser for being socially awkward

Not to mention he has such a childish view of right and wrong – or is that just him being in denial?

Mo Sha's Wife aaaaaaaaa!!!!

HE RESUED HER FROM BAGEL ALLEY?

NUONUO, GIRL. THE TRADITION IS STILL GOING STRONG!

176... wait aminute, wait a minute, that's roughly 6 months later... okay, not unrealistic to be freaking honest

No...

He did not....

He did not just...

IT WAS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT?!?!?!

MO SHA YOU ABSOLUTE LOSER!!!

The woman never once look up from her phone... mood

EVEN IN HER WEDDING?!?!?!

SHE REPLIED IN HER PHONE!!!

I... This is supposed to be the edgiest character in TBHX... but this ended up to be more like a comedy...

These two are match made in heaven, goddamn

Oooooooooh, okay.... so having a child made Zhang Lan put down her phone and actually become someone who has to speak up in order to be a proper mother

Which mean abandoning the part of herself that made Mo Sha's fall in love with her in the first place

Now, whether Mo Sha can change too in order to be a father would be a different question entire

Is Mo Sha... have some sort of condition that gets easily overwhelmed by loud noises???

Is he perhaps afraid he could dislike or have proper emotion for his own daughter?

MO SHA YOU ABSOLUTE LOSER!!!! YOU'RE AN ABSOLUTE DEADBEAT! I SWEAR I HOPE NUONUO FINDS OUT SO SHE COULD BEAT YOUR ASS!

The fact that Zhang Lan never remarried and always keeps in contact shows in a way she's still holding onto hope for Mo Sha, even if she has to make Nuonuo believe he's dead to keep her from holding onto the same hope

Bad influence? AHSHDJSHSJSHSH

I can't believe Luo Li and Mo Sha already have a one-sided beef before they officially meet

We're going to the crash site?! Fuck yeah!!!

I can't believe this is the hero put among the Top 10. What the fuck, Mo Sha does not deserve to be a top hero. He's too much of a loser to be one.

I can't even bring myself to call him Ghostblade. That name is too cool for him.

Though considering people know he's an assassin and still think of him as hero... in this universe Assassin aren't a questionable profession that someone could dream to be an Assassin and doesn't think it to be an outlier or anything.

EDIT: Hold on, I just realized something...

So the reason Mo Sha was so distressed at having to stop being a hero... was because he didn't want to go back being a butcher with his loud in-laws?!?!?

He could have still been a father if he just manage to communicate he wants to keep being a hero?!?!

Oh wait, no... he is silent because his followers believed him to be. He has to shed away his hero persona if he wants to change and be able to communicate with his family properly...

LEARN SIGN LANGUAGE THEN!!!

[damnfandomproblems]

Fandom Problem #9675:

Unhealthy discussions over gender and sexuality are not fun. Especially if that's not what canon is about at all. Calling your blorbo a genderfluid is valid and allowed (long live interpretations!), but taking away the right to call him a regular guy with regular pronouns when canon presents him that way is wrong.

[k1llerfr0sst]

Hey! I read through your analysis on Bruce and Jason’s and I loved it! I read through the entire thing and I have to agree even as a die hard fan girl of Bruce, both him and Jason’s methods of crimes solving are inherently emotional and thus inherently flawed. Personally I think that they both are right in some sense and terribly wrong in the other. I do think that everyone deserves another chance, but I think at some point they reach their limit. Like joker, someone who doesn’t want to change, knows they’re cruel and simply doesn’t care. That is one of the few scenarios where I don’t believe someone deserves to live. Tho I’m a bit curious on what u think of their actions outside of being Batman and Red Hood? From what I’ve seen Bruce is a philanthropist who donates and supports Gotham quite often and essentially pours money in the city. I’ve sometimes heard that Jason uses money from crime to help others but I’m not too sure if that’s accurate. Sorry for this being so long😅

Thank you so much for reading and for the question!

This question is where it gets rlly interesting, especially when you compare older/recent comics. Bruce has always been portrayed as a philanthropist, but earlier comics often treated that as a kind of throwaway justification like “see, he gives money, so it’s fine he beats up people at night.” He donates to hospitals, funds orphanages, and supports the GCPD, but it’s often disconnected from real systemic engagement.

More recent comics have tried to challenge that a bit, with writers seeing the limits of throwing money at a city like Gotham, Bruce’s philanthropy is no longer treated as a moral shield—it’s being interrogated.

Comics like Batman: Urban Legends or Detective Comics have started hinting at the idea that Bruce’s wealth n his refusal to dismantle the systems that created Gotham’s suffering make him complicit. There's more focus nowadays on how ineffective it is to donate to shelters or fund police tech while never investing in long-term housing, education, or community care. The comics are finally catching up to the idea that being a billionaire vigilante doesn't make Bruce a savior it makes him a symptom of Gotham's sickness.

Jason, on the other hand is harder to pin down because his characterization fluctuates wildly depending on the writer and era. In some versions (especially more modern stuff like some Rebirth-era / infinite frontier comics), he’s shown funding safehouses, clinics, and support for street-level communities (hinted in books like Task Force Z or alt-verses). In many others, he’s more of a lone wolf with a gun and a grudge, doing more punishing than protecting.

But the fandom has really run with that “community caretaker” angle, and I think it’s because it fills in the emotional / political gaps that the mainstream comics leave behind.

That said, even when Bruce donates and Jason gives back in his own way, it's not enough. Not because it’s bad—but because it’s still happening inside a broken system. Philanthropy doesn’t fix structural problems, and even Jason’s more radical actions often don’t dismantle anything. The more recent comics (and fanworks) are starting to acknowledge that, and that’s why we’re seeing such a shift: more people want characters who don’t just punch villains, but actually fix the rot of Gotham itself.

So yes they both do good, and they both mean well. But unless that goodness moves beyond emotional repair and becomes structural change, they’ll always be part of the problem they’re trying to solve.

I hope that answered your question!!! :))

[centaurianthropology]

First off, I want to thank you for being very respectful in how you phrased this. I was very worried, posting anything about this ship (as I'm sure a lot of folks on the Murderathin side of the fandom are) that I was about to be deluged by "you are a Bad Wrong Person for enjoying this" sorts of responses.

Now, first, there is something to be said for the fact that exploring fandom does NOT need to be fully enclosed by and defined by canon. If that's the way you enjoy exploring it, that's awesome. Others are going to find different paths to walk in fandom, and that's what makes it a rich experience. But from my reading of what you've said, I think you already know that. You have one experience and impression of these characters and their relationship, but you are aware that it is not the ONLY interpretation.

I am going to attempt to explain why I ship them. This isn't to win you over, as I don't care what people personally ship, so long as everyone is respectful and having a good time. I more want to do it for myself, to articulate why this pairing actually means a lot to me.

I find them fascinating because I see them both as people with incredibly complex boundaries and wants and impulses they have difficulty grasping even inside their own heads, and the notion of them trying to figure those things out with one another is appealing to me. As someone who has spent most of my own life trying and often failing to delineate what I myself want and don't want, what boundaries I need to keep solid and which I actually enjoy pushing against, how a romantic relationship might even look if I found one appealing, etc., I not only find myself sympathizing with these two, but I find that pairing appealing specifically because that furthers my own explorations of my own concepts of "romance" and "sexuality" through two people with equally complex and atypical relationships to those concepts.

I find that exploring those concepts through people who feel alienated to them is a genuinely joyful experience for me! What is romance to someone who cannot jive with the traditional forms of that concept? Is 'romance' the wrong word, or is it able to be refashioned into something appealing? Is a word even necessary? Same for sex. What about it is unappealing to a given individual? What could be appealing under specific circumstances? What would never be appealing? What is, surprisingly, always appealing? What even is sex? Again, exploring the very notions of sex and romance and, more importantly, INTIMACY, lies at the heart of why I love this pairing. Those are the stories I enjoy reading for them, the complex and sticky looks into the various facets of complex people through this specific lens. As someone who really doesn't enjoy the reductionism of labeling oneself, I like how nuanced so many explorations of these two I have read have been. A lot of asexual folks I know are incredibly kinky, and explore intimacy in really fun and refreshing ways that allow them to work outside of the parts of sexuality they find unappealing. And those with partners need to figure out how to do do that with two people! Murderathin is such a perfect vector for exploring that sort of thing through a fictional framework.

For me, I don't think that I would ever think of them as comfortable in a situation that would be traditionally romantic or traditionally sexual (but again, that's just me! I have enjoyed reading fics from people who were interested in exploring that!), but creating a Something for themselves that has and needs no labels? That is intensely intimate in wild, kinky, electronic, cybernetic ways? Where they spend and need a lot of time apart, but can pick right back up when they end up back together? I love it.

After the season I have to say how much I love Murderathin as a ship. There are so many fun, creative, kind people in this space who are fascinated by these two, and how they can explore the relationship we’ve been given through the show.

And there are so many vectors people can explore! We’ve got frenemies, we’ve got hate!sex, we’ve got two-people-who-are-the-same-person and can’t even bear to perceive one another, we’ve got perceiving one another on the sorts of levels only achievable by carrying one another’s brains inside themselves, we’ve got tender weird mind meld sex, we’ve got no-sex-ever-QPR vibes, we’ve got whatever-they’ve-got-is-more-intense-than-sex-ever-could-be mind-bending Situations.

And I love them all. Every single interpretation. There are infinite possibilities for these two fictional characters, only limited by that particular writer/artist/creator’s tastes. The writers, Alexander Skarsgard, and David Dastmalchian all gave us such a wonderfully complex, fucked-up, beautiful relationship to delve into, and I love seeing what people make of it, in whatever configuration most appeals to them. I love the gentle QPR stuff, I love the complex explorations of what precisely they both want and are comfortable with physically and emotionally, I love the ultra-intense explicit stuff that exists purely because someone enjoyed writing it, I love the stuff that could in no way be classified as sexual but feels even more explicit than that. I love so many people pushing at the boundaries of a relationship, what shape it might take, and how these two people might be able to figure out how they fit together somehow.

I just have so much love for this ship, and so much appreciation for the folks being creative and exploring it.

[chickenleafs-world]

Rare occasion of me coming out of my hidey hole because I’ve recently started playing Fields of Mistria (love it, by the way) and as fun as the game and fandom can be I have BEEF with certain fans. Not everyone just with certain trends I’ve been seeing from some very vocal fans.

Cuz here’s the thing. I like watching videos of games I like while I’m doing other busywork. So of course I’ve watched many Mistria videos. And like half the comments are just about how much people want Olric to be dateable. Which, fine, you can wish he was. People have been known to joke on occaision about Robin Stardew Valley being hot too. But it is getting OBNOXIOUS. Lads I have no problem with you being thirsty or being disappointed with your choice of love interests. Just maybe when a third of the top comments are already about how much people want to date Olric you can rest knowing the sentiment has been heard.

And like, part of my annoyance is how omnipresent it is. But part of it is also personal gripes as an aro/ace person. I know it’s a wish fulfillment game and Olric is a fictional character but the mindset reminds me of the ways a lot of allo people act and treat aro/ace people, and just people in general. People assume that just because a character is young, hot, and single, they should obviously be open to romance. To the point that people are coming up with “theories” about how they definitely intended him to be dateable but changed it to make March special. It’s reminiscent of how some people treat and dismiss attractive aro and/or ace people. Or people who just can’t take no for an answer. Like an attractive person does not have to be available to you just because they exist! It’s so weirdly pushy, like the devs have robbed people of their right to himbo.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m hyped as fuck that Mistria is adding Best Friend routes, since most farm sims only have complex heart events for romanceable NPCs and lock some of their hearts behind romance. That’s great. And they’ve done great with lots of other rep, including queer rep. They even have NPCs that flirt with other NPCs of the same gender, so the queerness isn’t just an opt-in for the player! A part of me just also wants Olric to be someone I can at least headcanon as aromantic because I relate to him in many ways and for once I want characters who can be young and hot and not destined for romance. I want one character to be the reverse of when I really want to befriend a character but the only way to max their hearts is to marry them. The community being so outspoken about how much they want him added worries me, because I don’t want the devs to feel like they have to change him to being dateable for the sake of the community.

I don’t want to be bitter but I have shaken off many a character I personally headcanon as aro/ace being shipped. I don’t mind if you selfship with Olric or whatever. But the constant insistence on it being added to the game proper irks me. It’s getting shoved in my face by just existing in some fan spaces while also making me dread that he is going to be made explicitly not aro/ace because the community couldn’t stop thirsting. You can always headcanon him as allo and do whatever you want on that end if he isn’t ever dateable, but as soon as he becomes dateable the range of aro/ace headcanons gets almost entirely decimated.

Olric thirsters you can keep going strong just please be chill and consider other perspectives! We all love Olric just maybe don’t make his romance status the only important thing.

[thesizeofyoursoul]

Louis-lacking marketing for the new season has been overall until now

I don't think the promo has been Louis-lacking? I feel like people think this because Jacob was absent from SDCC and then the April events because of his music?

Jacob couldn't be at SDCC last year because of his concerts. He did a video greeting, and they showed a short Lestat teaser (which doesn't seem unfair to me when, while Louis will be the co-lead and it is still Jacob and Sam's show, the next season is the first time Lestat will be the lead and they wanted to announce that in a big way)

According to Sam, Jacob couldn't be at those interview events he did in April. If he'd been able to be there, he would have been. Since it seemed like Jacob was working hard to finish his album before filming started in June (he posted pictures from the studio during that period and talked about his album being his focus for a bit), it seems like he put his music ahead of show promo, as he did with SDCC 2024. (Marketing-wise, the only thing I can think of here is that they put a big photo of Lestat on the stage, rather than Louis and Lestat. I would have done Louis and Lestat, and I understand that rubbing people the wrong way.)

Most online ads I saw for the show during the Emmy voting were that poster shot of Louis and Claudia. Sometimes it was Lestat in the background, but it was mostly Louis and Claudia. So, pretty Louis-centric marketing there.

They did a "rockstar Lestat" media package that they sent to some people. Last year they did a media package where it was a working replica of Louis' camera. This was promo for season 3, and just like I didn't think anything negative of the s2 package being solely about Louis, I don't think anything negative of s3's package being solely about Lestat. That didn't mean season 2 was solely about Louis, and it doesn't mean season 3 is solely about Lestat.

What other marketing has there even been? The writers room posted a little video that included Sam since he was working on music. They posted backstage photos that were mostly of Jacob and Assad (which makes sense). None of that feels like marketing, and it's pretty even anyway?

Look, this isn't meant to be insulting at all, and I'm genuinely just answering you without any shade, ok.

So, when I like or reblog things, it doesn't mean that I completely agree or enjoy the post. Sometimes, I agree with only 70% of it. Sometimes, I don't have an opinion on it, I just think it's interesting and worth the thought. Sometimes, I reblog a beautiful fanart of a fandom I know nothing about just because I thought OP did a great job and want to support their work. Sometimes it's only a way to save stuff to read later and on.

With that said, I don't completely agree with that post. For example, think Mark Johnson just made a stupid sarcastic joke. I don't consider that enough to claim he only credits Sam for the success of the show. For me it was just a joke that didn't lend right, but it's something that some people genuinely say out there, so it's annoying, you know? He should just be more careful.

Regarding how they were doing promo up until SDCC 2024, I think they were mostly doing it right. Sure, there were things I didn't like, but it wasn't anything major, and sometimes the problem wasn't even AMC itself. But things were mostly going like they go with any other show, maybe without the Netflix or HBO kind of money, but still very in line with everything else.

Sure, not everyone appears on all posters or events, sometimes some actors are missing for whatever reason etc. Before season 1, Assad was hidden for justiable plot reasons. Around the time the season 2 premiered, Assad did one panel alone with producers. Assad, Sam and Delainey went to Comic Con went Jacob and Eric couldn't (but they recorded videos, which was cool!). Some blog here seems to have counted the number of interviews each actor gave (I lost the post, if anyone has it, please send the link) and Jacob and Sam were leading, but Delainey, Assad and Eric still gave a lot of them too. All the five and Roxane, Luke, and a crew member (I think it was Carol?) gave long interviews to Autumn. I'm almost sure I saw one interview somewhere else with Ben and the actor who played Sam respectively, too, even if they didn't attend events. It wasn't equal, but it was balanced and in line with the relevance and screen time of the characters.

When SDCC 2024 happened, Assad was part of the panel, but they used Ben Daniels on posters instead of him. If it had been just the unholy family, fine, but Santiago before Armand made no sense, when Assad is part of the regular cast and he isn't. But, fine, one mistake, and it was still cool to see him there, we got new show material and Jacob and Eric videos, too. When Jacob, Assad and Eric didn't attend the CCAs, we were a little upset, but still enjoyed and celebrated Sam and Delainey representing the show. We were mostly happy.

Then, they started excluding actors from the FYC campaigns, when at first they were using all the cast. And interviews with only Sam came and using Lestat promotional photos only. For one or two months. I remember that it was at least a whole month, for sure. And again, I've been watching television for nearly two decades, and I've only seen that happen ONCE, with The Mandalorian (which indeed the only regular actor is Pedro Pascal and the rest are recurring/guest stars). It made no sense. And we saw that they didn't put/remove Assad's name of the website and took a while to fix it. The twitter account of the writers also spent a long time only posting about Sam. I give them the benefit of the doubt for that one, I believe they just did that because Sam was there recording music for season 2. But it didn't look good with all that was constantly happening. And I don't know if it was a coincidence or a damage control, but after a while of this (and backlash), they had Sam and Eric giving interviews together in person and Jacob and Delainey doing remote interviews. The only person they never used again after SDCC 2024 was Assad. They did remember to post old BTS pictures of him, but nothing that actually matters.

I get that season 3 is a Lestat-centric season and he will be the focus, and I get the video last year only had him because it was something they put together quickly to have something for Comic Con. But the thing is that they never used Jacob alone for events when Louis was the first protagonist for two seasons. Not before the premiere, not during hiatus and in-between seasons period that aren't as important. They always acknowledged everybody according to the relevance of their characters. Leading actors, supporting actors, recurring actors, even some crew members. And then it was Sam, Sam, Sam for a season that isn't even filmed, and they can barely talk about yet. And now they are slowly including everyone back, proving that they can do this, and it was probably just a choice. Because I wholeheartedly doubt it that Jacob, Delainey, Eric, and Assad were unavailable, and they couldn't have at least two cast members doing press. And the only person who is still missing and has been for almost a year now is Assad.

Again, I have no problems with Sam being at the center this season, but I just want other characters and actors to be included in the right proportion. I expect to get more Sam/Lestat now and I'm even excited for it (TVL is my top 2-3 of the books), I just don't want him to be used as the face of the show as if that's The Mandalorian, when that's unfair and things were pretty much balanced before. That's why I reblogged that post. I don't fully agree with it, but yes, I still do agree with most of it.

P.S.

I hope this is understandable because I'm a bit busy right now, I tried to express myself the best I could.

I couldn't add photos of all the photos I wanted because of Tumblr limits it to only 10 photos. Sorry.

[ducktracy]

One thing to add to your opinions on the fandom-y type treatment of the characters from people mostly familiar with just TLTS, specifically on your point of slotting the characters into fill-in-the-blanks "incorrect-quotes" type memes, is that TLTS itself is often a source of dialogue to give characters of other fandoms as well (topic was on my mind because there's an animation going around that takes audio from TLTS and has Deltarune characters saying the dialog)

THIS IS A GOOD POINT… and honestly that perfectly puts another point of criticism in my head: THAT SHOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE!!

i’d love for some of my international friends and followers to chime in (especially if you’re a fan of LT!), as you guys would know better than i do about this, but i’ve often heard that the original shorts aren’t as popular overseas as stuff like Tom and Jerry because the dialogue and writing in the original shorts is SO specific, a lot of very niche cultural references or botching of dialogue that i imagine probably isn’t too easy to translate (like Daffy saying indubitibubitibubly comes to mind, or Charlie Dog pronouncing Massachusetts as “Massatoochetts”). that’s not to say “LET’S KEEP IT THAT WAY!”, but the writing of these original shorts has a lot of specific factors to it. what separates LT from its golden age contemporaries is, largely, the wit in writing and dialogue, and the humanity and personality of the characters where applicable… which is because of the writing and dialogue! the writing is very specific. it can’t be swapped out interchangeably between characters. and this isn’t beyond the veneer of “because Daffy and Sylvester lisp and Porky stutters and Elmer has a speech impediment” etc—there’s a tendency to act like that’s the source of memorability for the writing, but you still have to write dialogue that fits these characters. Daffy speaks in a different cadence than Sylvester, who speaks in a different cadence than Porky, who speaks in a different cadence than Elmer, etc. there are a whole lot of specificities involved

this also gets me back to my point that i’ve been ragging on for awhile, in that these characters were also written for Mel Blanc (or Arthur Q Bryan) in mind. they were written for his abilities, how they knew he would read a line, and thusly accommodating that. and obviously Mel hasn’t been with us for close to 40 years now, but i feel like simply hoping the characters sound like him isn’t enough. you gotta write them with his cadence in mind! it makes such a difference! and i think that’s a big, big big contributor into modern incarnations feeling “off”/answers part of the question of what’s missing.

this is all so noticeable because LT had the best writers in the biz, too, and when they’re gone it makes a huge difference. the writing is a huge part of the LT identity, and much of that appeal comes from how utterly specific it is, both to the sensibilities of the directors and the characters themselves. you’re only going to get those specifics by watching those shorts. you should not be able to swap out these phrases and lines so easily, because they should be intwined with the identity of the characters and directors!

and so maybe that’s why the original shorts are harder to “fandomize”… which, maybe that’s actually a big benefit! iunno! but this is a very good point. and i’m thankful for you and the rest of my followers humoring me on this, i sincerely hope i don’t come off as a downer or a gatekeeper—at the end of the day i’m just some rando on the internet! do what makes you happy and what allows you to have fun, and don’t worry about a right or wrong way to do it. i’m sincerely happy for those who do that. your enjoyment and indulgence in your hobbies is always more worthwhile than my kvetching haha. my kvetching just comes out of a deep passion for the integrity of the series and the hands that made it, as well as a slight frustration in feeling so, like… ya gotta be the change you wanna see in the world, yknow? but man it’d be fun if more than 2 people were interested in the shorts and characters and history for the same reasons i am :’) feels like sometimes something is only worthwhile if it can be “fandomized” a certain way (putting on horse blinders and stripping something down to a very interchangeable, “safe”… something)

anyway! i don’t mean to complain, and if you Do do these things above, then i hope you have fun doing it! these are all just my opinions, and i’m wary as coming off as gatekeepy or like a downer.. but i appreciate people like yourself thinking of me and/or listening to me about this

[thequasarwinds]

Hey to my TMC, EPIC, and ATA moots

so so SO sorry if I seem pissy and extremely argumentative (and “🤓☝️erm actually”)

I genuinely don’t mean to! And please tell me if I do! I don’t wanna hurt anyone!

I’m just INCREDIBLY particular about how these characters are portrayed- as with these fandoms I’ve had EXTREMELY bad experiences with people demonizing, mischaracterizing, and just down right being sexist or racists to these characters. Especially as these fandoms are EXTREMELY important to me, along side being a character analyst

It’s just a bit disheartening and upsetting spending hours and hours analyzing these blorbos just to see everyone agree on some HC or idea of a character that is inaccurate or just down right harmful

ESPECIALLY when it comes to CHILD characters- but that’s an ENTIRE other thing that delves into more personal stuff

I am generally open to other interpretations! And trust me I am and try to be! I just get wary and mistrustful when it comes to these fandoms as I’ve just had so many bad experiences of people saying the most awful things, vile, ignorant, and harmful things about my comfort characters and hiding behind a guise of “it’s just my interpretation”

Major TW for mentions of SA (I want to give an example- Just because I’m afraid people won’t believe me? It will just call dramatic (since I’ve struggled with that before as well)

Just to give ONE example: I’ve seen people say a character was cheating on their wife for being SA’d- or saying the same character is evil for reasonably not liking they’re sexual abuser bc the abuser in question was “lonely”. (Talking about Ody from EPIC btw!)

Look I am a soul believer that there is no right way to portray a character- but I also believe that there is a wrong way to portray a character

like the example I gave above- or (to give some more) portraying the most sunshiny, optimistic character as emo, dark, and brooding (talking about Telemachus from EPIC) or a LITERAL CHILD- who is SCARED and simply has the FAWN RESPONSE- as being some evil malicious adult man (Talking about Wooly from ATA)

OF COURSE I understand canon divergent AUs! That portray a character like that for the sake of it (like evil AUs for an example)! I’m talking about how people are with just the CANON alone

tagging you guys so you see this! But I sincerely hope this doesn’t bother anyone!

@luckyducky15 @heavensgateheavensgate @bunnelain64

@curliiwurlii @maddy-k-reads-all-day @dannyatnightfall

@bleedinghearthypocrit

(Tell me if I missed anyone!)

[mangocheesecakes]

@robyn-on-hellsite @golbincat @liladoesfanfics @ccstiles

I have no time or energy to respond individually to you all in the replies of my other post. I was venting there about posts I have seen in the past few days from people who claim ALL Palestinian fundraisers on tumblr are bots and scams, that Palestinians couldn't possibly be creating tumblrs for the purpose of fundraising, and insist that we should ignore individual fundraisers and donate to UN charities instead.

I was venting about what I see as these tumblr users' selfish, self-centered desire to distance themselves from having to personally give their time and attention to people who are being annihilated and having to deal with the reality of what they are suffering, and instead just give all the responsibility to "official charities", expect these few groups of people to fix everything, and if they fail to do so, too bad, that's just how life is, let's get back to talking about fandom here on this super special website that's unlike other websites.

Nowhere in my post did I say that you should not be wary of scams, that you shouldn't check or double check whether the person you are donating to isn't a scammer.

I was one of the people who used to expose donation scammers. I am very much aware of how scams can take support away from genuine fundraisers. This is why longtime Palestinian users on here came up with a vetting system, and I will always encourage people to check whether fundraisers have been vetted before donating.

I understand wanting the assurance that official charities can give you, but when Gazans themselves are telling you that these charities are currently not able to give them what they need to survive on a daily basis, that donating to their fundraisers is the most effective way to help them, who the hell are we to tell them they are wrong???? Are we the ones experiencing what they are experiencing?? Are we all not witnessing the complete and utter collapse of aid systems in Gaza, that we can confidently say to Palestinian users' faces that actually, they shouldn't ask us for money, and they should ask the UN for help instead???

As for the general tone of my post and how it can be perceived as "putting a bad light on people who fundraise" because I'm "shaming people into donating", if there are people on here who decides on whether or not to donate depending on how they like the tone of the person asking them for money, then I want them to know that I think them incredibly shallow and vapid people, wrapped up in so much privilege that it makes my skin crawl. I imagine Palestinians having to hinge their survival on whether or not they can please people like these enough to make them donate, and it makes me heave. It makes me want to blow up the entire world. If you put people like this in front of me, I will spit on them.

"Love yourself first before thinking about giving" People are being killed and starved. Right at this moment. They don't have the luxury to wait for you to love yourself, my god.

Share my pinned post. The fundraisers on there are vetted, they have instagram and tiktok, and they constanty give plenty of evidence that they are genuine.