#This is a big factor in why I don't really interact with it too many of these kind of people

[tentajack]

Cool cool just saw some earlier posts from some ongoing 'fandom drama' and it started with 'omg they're proshippers ew'

The later posts about it go into detail that the persons in question are manipulative and really shitty overall to people they interact with, with very little mention about the proshipping thing.

WHY WAS THE ACTUAL WRONGDOING CONSIDERED LESS IMPORTANT???????

Can we PLEASE retire these useless ass terms? In the wide range of definitions proship and antiship has, I can be considered both! It tells me less than nothing about the actual issues people have, forces me to look into each person who brings it up to figure out what fucking definition they're using, and at this point has worked to distract learning about the ACTUAL PROBLEM that was going on!!!

Fucking hell

[mac-ann-cheese]

Some 19th century rusameamerus hcs!! (⁠゜⁠o⁠゜⁠;) and a little comic (⁠◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕⁠✿⁠)

Today, I will skip over the entire revolutionary war+whatever happened in the world in 1812, and we are nearing the 1820s. Um, no, actually over 1825... Cause in 1822 there is Monroe's doctrine with the whole "you don't mess with my stuff, I don't mess with yours,” a hands-off policy in South America, as a reaction to plans of the Holy Alliance (Austria, Prussia, Russia) to discuss matters at the Congress of Verona on the Spanish question. Like they wanted to restore Spanish rule over Latin American colonies that had declared their independence. AnOpinions of the former 13 colonies were not asked. The USA might have plans for LatAme, how could they??????!!!!!

Okay, I'll stop with the historical stuff. I got sidetracked. Sometimes I start to act like Philomena Cunk…

The portraits are in the appropriate style of grand manner for 18/19 century. Highly referenced Joshua Reynolds. They're unfinished cause I got bored. Sorry! (⁠˘⁠･⁠_⁠･⁠˘⁠)

Anywho

Al and Ivan knew each other in the first half of the 19th century. They met and interacted; some points of friendship were gained. This is established, at least in my interpretation. After many times of proving his independence, Alfred is still being isolated by the Old World. Like they're aware of his existence and literally don't give a fuck about it. Many other things are happening on the continent; no time for new acquaintances. However, America wants to be included and to have friends!! So he is still stuck with his "sort of not fully an ally in independence war cause yknow we don't want the british to consider us as enemies too, so here are two ships if the shit hits the fan - use them" Ivan. A close neighbour from the north who started doing... something? in the icy part of the land (expansion, colonial adventure in Alaska). A BIG imperial monarchy with a good position in the Concert of Europe. Someone who probably knows a lot about diplomacy and other things on how to exist as a whole country. On the other hand, Russia isn't reluctant to have a nosy and too energetic creature around; of course, he is excited about a new friend. They see benefits in each other—"the whole world will open for me/I won't feel so lonely with him". Almost compatible with problems. This was probably curiosity at first sight. Major "why is that with him this way and not the other?" factor.

A hot new bombshell has entered the villa

The next bit might come across as too metaphorical and OOC. You've been warned.

Ivan sees Alfred (at least until the 1850s) as too nice, too innocent, and an overall pure being. A boy is so full of wonder and love for everything that it feels almost impossible. Ivan doesn't want that to change and is actually afraid of it happening, he tries to hold back Alfred from seeing the other harsh side of reality; nevertheless, Al wants to experience all - dirt, bliss, the world as whole. He doesn't want to be brought back to life, isolated from others.

After the 1850s, the situation changed. Ivan really appreciated Alfred's benevolent neutrality with the mess the Crimean War was; there is no secret in that. As a way of showing gratitude for it, he started inviting Alfred more frequently to his place. For tea, for hunts or even without a proper reason [yeah, it takes like a month to sail from one continent to another, inconvenient!]. And Alfred crushed. Real hard (regular oh, italicized oh). No other nation was treating him like that—"humanly". Everyone wanted something from him and wished for him to somehow change in a direction that was more beneficial for them. For Ivan, Alfred, as he was, was more than enough. America knew that he appreciated Ivan way before, but didn't give much thought to his feelings. He was capable of some sort of controlling it. However, now [as in the second half of the 19th century] Alfred cannot. He sighs too loud, looks too long, and smiles too much. Everything feels too much for him to handle. He tries to distract himself and pays attention to making new friends (cough the opening of Japan in 1853-1855 cough), but is still drawn to Ivan. However, the latter doesn't understand why America is suddenly more jumpy, more uneasy with him, and why his laughs are more strained. Although Alfred insists that everything is just peachy (he doesn't want to ruin this friendship with his weird feelings), Ivan's suspicion grows. He wants to know why but can't come up with a solution.

Their already interesting liaison transforms into more confusion.

And I consider hetamyu canon (cause musicals fill in all the missing plot points in manga, for me at least), sooo according to the second one, there was something peculiar between them (the infamous kiss scene).

Although I headcanon, at least for half of the 19th century, their friendship was childlike and mostly naïve. Ivan and Alfred are tall kids in diff ways. And I can absolutely imagine them playing tag or hide and seek. Though, this could have happened in any century.

In 1861-1865 they couldn't physically see each other (Alfred had to crawl in trenches), so their usual correspondence intensified (that sort of "absolutely not gay in any way" messages, like "my heart aches at the thought of your suffering, my dearest friend")...

Except for the late autumn of 1863 [the visit of the Russian fleet during the fall-winter of 1863-1864*]. Ivan paid for the first time in a while for a visit to New York (I like to think that Alfred stayed a lot of times in Saint Petersburg; however, Ivan wasn't that fond of travelling). Alfred was tired and pretty much beaten from fighting with himself; however, some obsessed excitement brought back his optimism for one night. At the ball they, as expected, danced a bit, and escaped to a more enclosed space from people and noise. Not much talking happened there; soothing silence at that time was needed. Of course Alfred was stressed because your own family literally wants to dismember you (don't know if I need to put a historical reference, but still—at the outset of the war, England and France supported the South. Napoleon III, with colonial designs on Mexico [Second Franco-Mexican War, 1861-1867], looked longingly on a divided United States, and British shipping interests were seriously affected by Lincoln's blockade of southern US ports, which led to the recognition of the Confederate states as belligerents. Russia supported the Union).

*I wanted to add here an actual fun historical fact! This “gesture” was interpreted by Americans as sympathetical move and overall a sign of “secret agreement” and Russia's protection of US Government (you can read about it further here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25156012)

Not long after that, Ivan started viewing Alfred as more mature than he was before (Ame literally got torn apart in the Civil War, of course he boosted in character development).

I'll stop here (⁠◡⁠ ⁠ω⁠ ⁠◡⁠)

(They were literally bros before hoes....................)

I'll think about making other additions to this long list of headcanons about the start of the 19th century and, of course, the whole selling Alaska event.

For finishing reading this scientific paper-sized post, you'll get old sketches of Al (and Matt!!! Woah!!) in Victorian clothing.

trench coat buttoned to the TOP.

[utilitycaster]

(I’m sure you’re getting a lot of asks right now, so if this isn’t a fun avenue for you, feel free to pass on over.)

So, the Vax of it all.

As a person who really loved Vax’s portrayal and his arc, the end of C1 was powerful and poignant. Dalen’s Closet was the perfect cherry on top of a truly bittersweet ending - a really touching way to give the characters some final interactions and show that he didn’t feel trapped or tortured by his duties as a champion. It gave a lovely sense of closure - with the button put on it that Scanlan couldn’t even cast the spell again, so it really reinforced the idea that magic had natural rules and consequences to big asks.

And then C3.

Obviously Vax was always going to factor into this campaign (one of the cast described this as their Avengers Assemble plot, after all), but with the way Matt had him appear and knowing how the rest of the cast was going to react to it, it really seemed like this ending was inevitable.

Considering that she was the bait in the first place, Keyleth was always going to realize where Vax was, always going to draw in the de Rolos to save him, and being familiar with Matt’s DM style (as well as any of us can be) I have a hard time believing he was going to do all that and then steer them towards an ending that would just have left Vax back as a champion - or even dead. Possible, but seemed pretty unlikely. (forgive my ignorance, I’m sure this is exactly what people were saying about Molly’s resurrection too, I wasn’t in the fandom then, but that at least was a DICE roll that concluded on camera, no way around that)

But now I’m just… so confused by so many choices. When did Matt decide this? Did Liam agree? If this was going to be the ending, why did he have the Raven Queen explicitly say ���you have one more night on Exand-- JK, hang out as long as you like, go look up that girlfriend of yours!” Was it JUST so the Vaxleth reunion would be the last scene of the campaign? W h y a n y o f t h i s ? But-- none of those are things we can really know the answers to, of course.

So my REAL question is, how would you have liked to have seen Vax brought into this story? A defender of the Raven Queen, going as far as to oppose Bell’s Hells (gods, can you imagine what the fandom would have done)? Would you have liked him to appear at all?

Btw, I’ve loved following your blog through this campaign - these last handful of episodes, I’ve been checking in daily like it’s my morning paper. Even on the rare occasion I do find my opinion differs, I find your analysis so thorough, so thoughtful and always entertaining. Excited (and maybe a little wary…) to see what we’ll get in C4! I, uh... sorry for the ask-wall-of-text.

So I will admit, I thought, until early in the finale when it became clear this was just the equivalent of the flavorless pure sugar drink they give pregnant people to test glucose tolerance, that Vax would be freed from his duties and laid to rest. The part with champions serving as protectors of the gods' realms honestly hadn't occurred to me but you could have done it with Morrighan (still physically alive) taking on the mantle and Vax passing on to the afterlife. Because the thing was, Vax was dead, the Raven Queen said "you can be alive temporarily as a revenant," and then once his mission was over, he died. He was literally already dead. I also maintain it was not an inevitability from the Orb situation; obviously I have no fucking idea what Matt had in mind, clearly, but in a case where Predathos remains sealed, then the Vax situation remains as it was; and in a case where Predathos is freed and devours the gods I think he dies more horribly vs. a gentle and kind passing (or perhaps some hail Mary scenario where after Predathos has glutted itself and left, he can perform the rites of ascension himself).

I guess the short answer is I really don't think this was inevitable because I think the vast majority of the finale and no small part of the campaign was again just. things happening because they needed to happen to get to the ending where Bells Hells were ostensibly happy (it's not very fulfilling to have everything given to you without it meaning anything), but I can think of a number of ways to run any final scenario re: Predathos and the Raven Queen where Vax doesn't come back. That was a very specific choice, and it was, as many of us have pointed, an immensely stupid one that was utterly unnecessary.

[sunderwight]

Thinking some more about why Old Man Viktor would want hextech to be invented, or to specifically be invented by Jayce, such that his meddling involves giving Jayce the rune that he uses to kickstart his innovations, when a simpler way to prevent catastrophe in any given timeline would but to just... not invent hextech at all?

And I've got another theory!

I think Old Man Viktor is actually looking for a way to unfuck his own timeline.

If it was just about saving others, that doesn't seem like it would be all that complicated, and, unless he's failed every prior time (possible) it should probably have a set routine by now. Also, why would there need to be so many attempts? Is he doing this for every single timeline, or is he deliberately creating new timelines and experimenting with the results?

I think it's the latter, given that we see him provide young Jayce with different runes, and that he's presumably used different methods of persuasion and involved other different factors in the process. Again, it's possible -- given Ekko and the reversal rune -- that this is the first time it's worked at all, but I think that Viktor's comment that in all timelines, only Jayce can show him the futility of his actions would in fact imply otherwise. There have been other timelines where Jayce has successfully compelled Viktor out of his plan, or else I think Old Man Viktor would have phrased it more like "only you might show me this in some version of events" rather than "in all timelines, only you can show me this".

So, probably, there have been other timelines where the world is saved by Jayce's intervention.

Which is great, and Old Man Viktor takes it as a win, but I think why he keeps on doing it and what he's ultimately after is the right formula for a means to sort of unbake his cake, if you will. Old Man Viktor's own timeline has already been doomed. He's the only one left, trapped in his "perfect" outcome that has become a prison of (in his own words) dreamless solitude. He can't escape what he's done and he can't rest, and outside of his scant interactions with the Jayces of other timelines, he's alone. His Jayce is gone, everyone is gone. Like the ingredients baked into a cake, the people that he bound together into his ascension cannot be alchemized back into the individuals that they once were.

Or can they?

After all, this is magic we're dealing with. Magic, technology, and the same genius that created the problems in the first place. If there's a way to undo it, who else could figure it out? I think the main cast of the show comprises the people who might and the people who are most likely to influence and inspire them -- Jayce and Viktor, who started the problem. Mel, an incredibly powerful mage. Singed, who taught Viktor and helped engineer his transcendence. Jinx and Ekko, two of the only other people in either city to actually figure out hextech on their own. Heimderdinger, Jayce's teacher. Even Ambessa brings along the Black Rose, who might feasibly contribute something to the undoing of Viktor's calamity.

Viktor is very stubborn, and he doesn't abandon his causes easily. I think that once he realized the folly of what he'd done, and accepted the reality that he had destroyed the world instead of saving it, his next course of action would be to either finally die or else fix it. If he can't die (probable) then that just leaves fixing it. Fixing it for other timelines is great, but ultimately, knowing Viktor and what he's like, I don't think he would be satisfied with that. He'd accept it as a consolation prize and ultimately if that's his limit, he'll find out one day. But if he has infinite space time to play around in, why not aim big? Why not try for the ideal outcome?

So that's what I think he is really waiting for. A lead into the method to truly undo what he did, and restore everyone to themselves. Not just in other timelines but in his own too.

[illmoraineakoi]

Do you guys think that if Chosen ever learned of the 'deal' Orange made with Alan in AvA4, he'd automatically see it as Alan using it to indenture Orange to him and blow a gasket?

Especially if Orange recounted the deal incorrectly, or perhaps even if Orange himself misinterpreted or misunderstood it.

Because the original wording of the deal was "If you help me animate, I'll let you free so long as you don't wreck my computer."

Alan likely meant this to mean that so long as Orange didn't mess up the computer and helped him animate, Orange would be allowed to live on the computer. Which is already a little questionable, placing a stipulation on having a place to live. A very 'earn your keep' sort of vibe.

But the original deal makes no mention of RGBY or their role in everything. Honestly, it seems like they just kinda moved onto the desktop at some point between 2015-2017. But like most things with Orange, things tend to revolve more around them than himself, when it comes to his priorities.

So I don't think it's too out of the question to think that Orange automatically pooled them in with himself in this deal, and they became another factor of it when they originally weren't involved at all.

A common interpretation I've seen is Orange misunderstanding the deal, and thinking that if he helps Alan animate, his friends get to stay too. IE: If he doesn't, Alan reserved the right to kick them off or bar access to the computer from them. Placing a stipulation not just on Orange's own ability to have a place to live, but on his ability to see and have access to his friends. Turning it into a privilege earned by fulfilling the responsibilities expected of him.

Orange undoubtedly likes to animate with Alan, that's not an issue, but perhaps he still thinks that he has a responsibility to do it in order to maintain the status quo of not just his life, but all of their lives. Maybe he sees it as a sort of 'payment', in a way. Perhaps he doesn't even really believe that Alan would be mean enough to revoke those things from him, to do what is his right to by the terms of their deal, but there's a part of him that's secretly unwilling to chance it.

Or perhaps he doesn't even think the deal is active anymore. It's been so many years, after all, and they've ruined Alan's files multiple times (unintentionally) and nothing's happened. It could've long since become null and void.

But from Chosen's perspective, it would likely seem a lot worse than Orange ever thought it was. Perhaps even worse than ALAN realized it was.

Because Alan has put a price tag on Orange's right to even have a place to live. A price tag (potentially) on his ability to see and interact with his friends. A price tag on his nice, happy life. Maybe even a price tag on his very life.

And I think Chosen would be very upset about that. And perhaps even more upset when Orange seems confused about why he's upset about it, when Orange doesn't understand how predatory it looked from Chosen's perspective.

After all, it's not even a very big price tag. It's just a little animating. It's not that bad, and Orange likes doing it anyway, so what's the problem?

But at the end of the day, it is still little more than a ball and chain made of words and letters, binding him to doing what Alan wants him to do with the potential threat of ruthless punishment should he disobey or rebel of cause harm to the computer.

And really, what difference is there, between using a stick figure as a pop up blocker and using one as an animating assistant? Does the fact that he enjoys it really outweigh or justify the fact that you've placed a condition on his very livelihood since the day of his creation?

Yeah. Chosen would not be happy.

[thatoneluckybee]

Okay, so lemme ramble about the Wild Hunt for a sec, given the new episode, because I am certain there is/will be symbolism at play

Essentially, the Wild Hunt is this germanic (though there's many similar ones around the world) myth. It's this horde of spirits/ghosts that travels through the night on an eternal hunt. Crossing their path is generally seen as a big no-no and a good way to become part of the horde of hallowed dead stuck in the eternal hunt. The same goes for copying their sounds of howling wind (and sometimes barking dogs). However, either of these can be rewarded (usually with something that seems worthless and usually turns out to be gold)

Now, for that sweet symbolism. First of all, the Wild Hunt usually consisted of the hallowed dead. They didn't get to pass onto the afterlife, instead bring swept up by the hunt. In the story this more than likely is replaced by those floating eyeball thingies - the souls of those who got stuck in this world before the afterlife

What I'm more curious/concerned about though is who leads it. It's most certainly someone's Phantom, given the little card with abilities. But who could it be? Let's use some clues from both the episode and the myth

First, the episode. There's 3 main things to consider here. 1) this phantom was outside the gate (and thus also unlikely to be a dean or student). 2) your phantom has to do with how you die (this also ties in with the myths). 3) looking at it's abilities, it has something called 'overclock', and while this could be some sort of rage mode, I think it'd make more sense if it means that this Phantom form can stay up either for a long-ass time, or straight up indefinitely

Now, for the myths. The figure who leads the Hunt actually changes a lot depending on the specific telling, and it's been both men and woman. A largely common factor though is that they get stuck in the Hunt after exclaiming their love for hunting, and something along the lines of wishing they could do it forever (potentially specifically instead of an actual afterlife). Given the thing I said before, I think it's a fairly safe bet the person who's Phantom it is died hunting, or at the very least pursuing something

The person who leads the hunt also seems to be searching for Lenore specifically, which is interesting to me. The Wild Hunt generally hunts animals, not people. So I propose 2 possibilities:

1, mythological: The Wild Hunt, like I said, should generally not be interacted with according to most myths. A possibility is that Lenore or on of her predecessors did do that in some way, shape, or form. Maybe in the real world, but Phantoms can't really be there I think? Maybe someone else like her brother or parent were also in this between dimension and messed with it, though I don't believe that's how it generally works. But maybe that thing at the start of the story, where they got noticed by those monsters, was actually them getting noticed by the Hunt, which is why it's now after her (and likely Annabel too in that case)

2, relationship driven: Essentially, my other idea is that the Phantom that is the Hunt is going after Lenore specifically because of who she is. Maybe her father died or something? But in that case I think her brother is way more likely. Think about it, Theo was first looking for (pursuing?) Lenore. The tree got knocked down by lightning (one of the Phantom's abilities). And he was riding his horse when he was killed. Just saying, it could be possible

Also, interestingly enough, both Lenore and Annabel have a certain degree of connection to the Night Hunt? Lenore has already denounced the 'natural' way passing onto the afterlife is supposed to go in favour of having herself and all her friends coming back to life, somewhat reminiscend of the leaders of the hunt commonly rejecting the afterlife in favour of their hunt. And the woman that led the Hunt in some stories likely all stem from the same figure, the supposed Old Mother Frost (and what, if I may ask you, is Annabel's ability?)

No matter who it is though, I'm hoping they touch on that idea of someone who crosses the Wild Hunt (and shows cleverness/boldness) sometimes gets rewarded. And while is generally looks useless at first, it often turns out to be valuable. Who knows, this endeavor just might be the key to escaping...

...well, that or I'm looking way too deep into it and the writer just chose the Wild Hunt because it looks/sounds cool and vaguely fitting of spirits of the night coming to get you. I mean, most thing I just said are honestly closest to incoherent rambling with vague connections, but who knows...

This is nevermore, you’re NEVER looking too deep into it

IM MAIN TAGGING THIS THIS IS AMAZING

I think it could be Theo? We know SOMETHING happened to him as he was at the top of his class. Was he reincarnated? I doubt it. Theo is also connected with deer and hunting. Would also explain why the Wild Hunt (which Lenore thinks is her curse) seems to be targeting her and her family.

[dragonotaku-justineverything]

Annon-Guy:

Smash or Pass Runthrough

Yuuki Konno (Sword Art Online)

Lina Inverse (The Slayers)

Rebecca "Revy" Lee (Black Lagoon)

Frieren (Frieren: Beyond Journey's End)

P.S. Are there certain rules to this? I'm keeping in mind about what you've said so far. Is age a major factor or is this just going off appearances and personalities?

Yuuki Konno (Sword Art Online)

PASS...

Dude... why did you make me think of this poor girl again? One, she has AIDS and just... no. Way too pure...

Lina Inverse (The Slayers)

Smash probably. I like her hair. That's all I can really say about her... Never seen "The Slayers", not even clips or highlights, so I can't go off anything else really.

Rebecca "Revy" Lee (Black Lagoon)

Smash I guess. She's pretty, but I don't know how I would fair against someone that has over a 1000 years experience being alive and however many sexual interactions that she would have. Also, I haven't seen "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End" yet but the clips I have seen show me she's really strong and also cute.

There aren't really any rules for the Smash or Pass stuff I think. Age isn't too big of a factor, but at least make them reasonable though please. Like... 18 years old at least please... The character's looks are probably the main factor if I haven't seen the character before, which is quite likely since I honestly don't know too many fandoms.

Smash I guess. She's pretty, but I don't know how I would fair against someone that has over a 1000 years experience being alive and however many sexual interactions that she would have. Also, I haven't seen "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End" yet but the clips I have seen show me that she is really strong and also cute.

There aren't really any rules for the Smash or Pass stuff I think. Age isn't too big of a factor, but at least make them reasonable though please. Like... 18 years old at least please... The character's looks are probably the main factor if I haven't seen the character before, which is quite likely since I honestly don't know too many fandoms.

[edensrose]

˚◞❀˳ a proper farewell

god that title sounds dramatic as fuck so let me just clear things up immediately: no, I'm not leaving tumblr, I will still be very manageable to reach and interact. what I am drifting away from is the tolkien fandom — and since this place, despite my hardships, has meant so much to me - I decided to give it a proper little farewell, to the people who made everything count. along with a little explanation for my decision while shedding light on my experience. ( I'll try to be brief )

I joined the tolkien fandom while writing for thranduil, it's here I gained my following in the fanbase and things went quite smoothly. however, upon beginning to write for mairon, then melkor and then later the ainur — I saw an increase in hate anons. something I have experienced before, natural of a multi fandom blog, but never to this degree. initially I assumed it was because I was simply growing larger as a blog, and perhaps that is the reason — but from what I noticed, I was battling with a bunch of chronically online people who simply could not handle my love for. . . "problematic characters"

I never understood it, really. I never saw other ainur blogs getting the hate I did - I guess I'll truly never know. had I done something? was my writing just not good enough? were my vibes off? over the time I've been called things like two faced, fake, a romanticiser of abuse, lazy for not filing out requests, been told I shouldn't write reader inserts, told to kms and other graphic incidents ( such as people sending death threats and actual gore to my inbox ). this branched from burner accounts to anons, and I could just never understand why me. a quick gander at the #clownon tag and you'll find some of the instances in which I've been harassed.

I genuinely thought my writing was the issue.

which demotivated me from writing for quite some time. could I have turned anon off? sure, but that would have meant that the anons I'd frequently interact with would most likely not come around anymore. it meant a decline in requests, it meant just a crippling factor to my blog in general, so I chose to ignore. but it got hard to eventually. I was bullied for liking a god with big wings just because for crying out loud.

I've tried to fake being okay. fake being strong and unwavering about the hate, but I just couldn't anymore. and that's okay.

it wasn't all tears and hardships though. I have made very good friends through the tolkien fandom, many of which I consider close. from @bluezenzennie to @kiatheinsomniac — @a-contemplation-upon-flowers , @cilil , @someoneinthestars and so so many more. it'd take me forever to tag and honestly my heart is squeezing so much listing these few down already. they made fandom fun, whether it was our silly little play fights or collabs or you name it. those of you that have spent time to tell me about your day on anon or send in the nicest of things. I haven't forgotten them, and I cherish them, but it's time for me to go

am I sad? fucking of course. a part of me found so much comfort here and in these characters. I've spent hours on end developing lore for aus or designing aesthetics for writing — just writing and pumping out content or blogs, everything and anything I could do. and while I don't regret those times - the way I've been treated in response hurts. which is why I've made this decision.

I'm growing as a person too. I'm writing a book now, I've got an oc blog to promote that book that I'm working hard on ( @valentine-cafe ) , things are looking good. does this mean I'm just gonna disappear? of course not. I plan on staying around, getting back into request writing ( for other fandoms ) and still interacting and supporting my tolkien moots and friends. will I be writing or creating content for tolkien? probably not. at least not in the foreseeable future. the characters I once loved and cherished have now been ruined for me. I've been made to feel embarrassed for loving manwe and namo to the degree that I have, and I don't see myself being able to write for ainur without thinking of all the shit I've gotten for doing so.

regardless, I'll be here still. and while I might not be your local valarfucker anymore, I hope to be your rose still 🩷 thank you so much for two and a half years, I love you all dearly

[goldbiz]

🔥 my hot take about the roleplaying community ⭐️ my roleplay pet peeves 🌸 the blog/s that most inspires me

prompt: my experience in the roleplaying community, @hexweaver

🔥 my hot take about the roleplaying community

people do really need to chill out when it comes to policing people. and i'm not saying this to advocate for things that will make someone's dash suddenly not a safe space. i am talking specifically about the vague posting and the anon hate because somebody was using a fc that was problematic or engaging with a fandom that's been blacklisted. i have some stuff blacklisted in my rules too but look, not everybody is aware of what goes on hollywood or when it comes to fandom culture, people sometimes like or do things with blind ignorance???? there are stuff close to my heart i myself have parted ways with / have since educated myself on but also to just be respectful to everyone here coming from different backgrounds and walks of life.

this frankly especially is in regards to fcs, i'm understanding why so many characters who have the option to just use 'comic icons' or the animated alt are staying that way because of the list of blacklisted celebs is ever so growing. for me personally fcs are something i personally rely on so it's becoming rather stressful making sure somebody i am using isn't going to outright offend someone. once again, i am not advocating for the use of problematic fcs, all i'm saying is that we are all human here and all these accusations over why one person is associating with this or that needs to be handled with a more empathetic approach as opposed to immediately going straight to a callout. anon is turned off on my end because i prefer direct confrontation as opposed to just hiding behind something to get my response. not saying this to cramp on anyone's style, you do you. block, blacklist anything or anyone that makes you uncomfortable but lets all try and get along.

⭐️ my roleplay pet peeves

purple prose?? writing that is not even readable because you are trying to craft some long shakespearian essay that wouldn't even work for some of the characters you are writing. like i do use the fancy word or two to see what flows, but when your whole writing is just a bunch of garbled nonsense then what are we doing here??? sometimes you don't have to make everything on your end look so pretty, y'know?

how the anon feature is used. it's become easy to tell when someone is just sending themselves anon hate / anon praise to garner some attention. it's okay, not a big deal but it's a main factor that from my end as to why anon just stays off. anyone have anything to say to me can directly send me a dm.

people who constantly blog hop. like you have made a blog for this character and you just abandon it a few days afterwards. i have been guilty of the same thing in the past which is why if i ever take on another solo muse, it has to be for a character i am going to invest time in. having a multi-muse is so great, there's just no hassle over how many characters i can write / have muse for at the same time.

the overall sigma against multi-muse blogs. and the bigger judgement for people who will be really strict on how 'orderly' your multi-muse blogs have to be. like shut up??? i didn't make this blog for you. i made it for me and i will tailor it to the way i see fit, also you are an instant red flag to me if you will drop any multi-muse based interactions because a solo blog of that character comes around like the shiny new toy.

taking the dupe anxiety to a whole other level where you see the other blog as your literal enemy. they are not and are probably just as insecure, anxious as you. i wish i could embrace my dupes because i personally suffer from this a lot / am always scared of being replaced and there will always be things like oh this person is stealing my headcanons / or this person is copying my aesthetics / using the same fcs. (i have a section abt this in my rules) and yeah, it may be annoying but we all have to chill out and people who follow many portrayals also need to be more mindful about how they are making people who play the same character feel which is why moving forward: i am going to become extremely selective on blogs whose characters have amassed a large following (rn that is a lot of bucky barnes, matt murdocks ect.) and that is not to say your portrayal is bad, it's just because i already have certain 'loyalty' to specific versions here.

main calls when you have only had your blog for a couple of days. already discussed this with big and i understand wanting those connections right away, but to me main calls have started to just feel like collecting, not to cramp on anyone's style but if you want affiliates, mains, exclusives or whatever, forge those connections with your fellow writers ooc. ask for their discords, engage with them. i am starting to get slowly better at that and for the first time being here in the tumblr rpc community, there is some... stability on my end?? i have found people who actually want to write and engage with me.

[destinyc1020]

https://www.vox.com/culture/355242/hollywood-it-boy-diversity-problem-barry-keoghan-jacob-elordi-jeremy-allen-white

Interesting article, I wish me MOC were spotlighted lik a lot of these "white boys of the months"who can do 1 project and suddently are everywhere.

This was a VERY well-written article Anon! I enjoyed reading it! 😊 It really gave food for thought.

First off, I just wanna say that the Michael B. Jordan erasure is just.... 🥴 Seriously?? How are you all gonna act like this man doesn't exist??

Anyway...

I really do think that there are a lot of factors that play into 1) why there are so few "movie stars" of the younger generation these days, and 2) why there's such a lack of diversity.

Chiiiiiile....You're gonna need to take a seat, cuz I's got THANGS to say on this one! It's gonna be a long one lol. 🤣

RE: Movie Stars....

I think the reasons are:

We are living in a different age from the 90s. People need to keep in mind that "the 90s" was at least 30 years ago. Things have changed. People have changed.

The invention of social media, more online "presence" (something that wasn't around much in the 90s) has also played a role

Actors these days aren't living in the age of Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Denzel, or even Leo DiCaprio were when they were making it big. I don't think you can even really compare them.

I also feel like Hollywood is more so about IPs and less about nurturing movie stars. We're living in a post-Marvel world, and for a LONG time it's been the IP (not the ACTOR) that is selling these films. I blame Hollywood for placing emphasis on nostalgic films, "reboots", and IP-heavy films in order to guarantee a sure success at the box office, as opposed to nurturing actors to become movie stars. Tom Cruise didn't become an A-List movie star overnight. None of those A-list actors did. I think people tend to forget that! You have to give many of these younger actors some TIME.

Did I mention social media?? To me, social media has sort of taken away the aspect of "mystery" and "unattainability" that a lot of movie stars and A-List actors had back in the day. Now days, fans have their favorite actors at their fingertips, and they can even comment and interact w/them on social media. That was NOT a thing 30 years ago.

Being more "relatable" to fans is more of a thing than it was 30 years ago. If you're so "relatable" to fans now days, fans start to see you on THEIR level, and it might be hard to view you as a "movie star" when you're so down to earth and "relatable" Lol. 😅 Idk...just saying. You almost need an air of snobbery lol. 😅

RE: Lack of Diversity....

First of all, let's be honest, Hollywood has ALWAYS struggled in this department. 😒🙄 The article is right though, for a while there, it seemed like HW was making a turn for the better.... With films coming out staring actors like Mahershala Ali, Daniel Kaluuya, Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, etc.

What happened?? Well, let's see shall we? Umm...First of all, Chadwick Boseman DIED. 😭 I actually saw him getting to the level of Will Smith if he had stayed alive, because he was just so darn likeable, and a VERY good actor.

Ummm....Jonathan Majors had assault charges... 😭 Yet ANOTHER talented Black male actor who was starting to get a lot of hype and attention, and was even starting to gain the label from women as "hot", even though he has a Butter Face lol. 😅🤣 But charges of assaulting your gf don't seem to go over too well when you're trying to make it "big" in Hollywood. 🥴

Rege Jean Page was another one who was labeled HOT (and he IS!) after Bridgerton aired. I was excited for him too, but then, his career seemed to take a turn for the worst after he no longer was on "Bridgerton". He still has a chance though to turn this around lol... But yea....

Kelvin Harrison Jr. is super talented imo, but I feel like he needs some more bigger films (he wasn't really the main focus in "Elvis" ) under his belt in order to get more girls to notice him. I remember that he was supposed to be in Euphoria (which could have gotten him more exposure) but then he dropped out all of a sudden (maybe due to filming conflicts w/another project).

My pick to lead the way is still Michael B. Jordan. Women LOVE him! 🥰 He's hot as idk what, he's charming, and he's been in large films, and even made his directorial debut with "Creed 3"! 😁

Daniel Kaluuya is also a great pick as well... But do women really "sweat" him like that?? Idk lol... 👀 You kinda need someone who has some sex appeal. I'm sorry, but when I see Daniel, I see a good actor, but for some reason, he kinda lacks that "something" that makes me say: "Ooooo yeaaa.... I wanna get with him for one night" lol. 🤣 I'm sorry, but that is probably what is lacking lol....for ME anyway. He's a good actor though!

Another thing...Do young black women go ga-ga over actors like that? Serious question. 🤔 I always feel like as a community, we as black women tend to go HAM for the musical artists. I remember growing up I always felt like I was kind of like an anomaly cuz I always loved and crushed on the ACTORS way more than I crushed on male music artists lol. 😅 I feel like it's kinda rare in the black community for us as women (or young girls) to be crushing on male actors like that. I always felt kind of alone in that regard. Thank goodness I had a small group of other black friends around my age who felt the same way I did and shared my love of film. 🥰 (I might make a poll out of this to see what others think)

I kind of feel like SOME sectors of the population (i.e. white girls) tend to be more of the obsessive types when it comes to "internet boyfriends" lol. There are some who just fangirl over guys more than others it seems. 🤷🏾‍♀️ Some segments of the population tend to be way more obsessive with the fangirling and the fanfic writing, the going-to-see-a-movie-10x-because-so-and-so-is-in-it.

I also feel like Hollywood tends to push certain actors with a certain look, and that look very rarely includes black (or moc) men.

I think Dev Patel is promising.... So are Henry Golding, Charles Melton, and Anthony Ramos. I also think that what makes a "movie star" isn't always just the movie, but also what you push them into doing. Tom Holland didn't become a movie star JUST because he played Spiderman. I mean, that certainly HELPED (don't get me wrong lol), but he also became a movie star because he was pushed into various different avenues of promotion for the film when it came out. Lip Sync Battle, radio interviews, TONS Of ComicCon appearances and Meet and Greets. I feel like Hollywood doesn't really NURTURE black male actors like this in order to become movie stars. You kind of have to be EVERYWHERE for a little while so that people will come to know you. THAT is how you become a movie star. It's not just the movie, it's all of the other little things that go along with it. And I don't see Hollywood doing that for black male actors. Some black films aren't even given HALF the amount of global press tour that white films are given. Just saying...

It's interesting that Pedro Pascal was mentioned, cuz a lot of women sweat him and he's well into his 40s. Very interesting (and good) point!

Sorry for this lengthy discourse (if you've even made it down this far ROTFL). 😅

TL;DR Version: I think there are a LOT of factors that play into why there has been a "movie star" drought in Hollywood lately, and why MOC aren't pushed as much to the forefront.

[entomolog-t]

Hey! I’ve been a fan of G/T content for quite a while, but I’ve mostly stuck to Deviantart&Wattpad. Pretty recently I decided to create a Tumblr account in an attempt to find more content, and I’ve been amazed by how interactive the community is here! However, I noticed something that I find pretty weird, and just wanted to get an opinion from someone who seems to be a pretty active member of the community, at least from what I’ve seen.

In all the posts I’ve seen, I’ve never seen VR mentioned even once. I might just not be looking in the right place, but I just found it weird. I’ve been an avid VRChat player for a while, and having spent a large amount of time there I noticed the potential it holds for genres like G/T. I was expecting to find at least a single mention of it somewhere here, but I never have. I see lots of posts from both sides of G/T that mention something like, “I really wish I could just hold/be held by someone, etc.” and, well, I’ve had experiences like that. I’ve fallen asleep and woken up in a friend’s hands before. I’ve had friends sitting/standing on my shoulder. They don’t even know this community exists, these interactions just happen naturally. 

I just want to share some of the experiences I’ve had, and when I went looking, nobody here seemed to know it was even possible. So yeah, that’s what finally motivated me to interact directly with the community. To at least let someone know that it is possible, and far more accessible than most seem to realize.

I’ll also make a standard post, but considering the fact that I’m a very new account I don’t expect many to see it. Thus why I messaged directly. I know this was a bit of a ramble, I'm still a little nervous about finally interacting with something I've only passively watched for quite a long time. So thanks for taking the time to read through, and I’d love to hear your opinion on why it isn’t mentioned, or anything else you wanna say! Take care out there!

OH! This is quite the interesting ask!! I may not be the best person to answer as I am far from techie.

First off, that sounds incredibly fun! I've only ever tried VR with an escape room - which oddly enough had a silly sizey experience; There was an issue with the calibration or something on one of the headsets and a friend who's just a little over 5ft had their in game avatar show up ballpark around 7ft tall.

I love that g/t seems to happen naturally with your interactions too! I'd love to hear more!

Now for the meat of the question- why isn't this mentioned? Again, keep in mind, I'm no techie or avid gamer so this is really biased towards myself. In no particular order,

Age

Price point

Tech Difficulty

Privacy

Missing sensations

My first guest would be age. I myself am in my mid/late twenties, and just never really grew up with that kind of tech, so theres just a lack of knowledge and not more than a passing interest in it. I think with age there also comes issues with free time, though I'll speak on that more with privacy. I think in general there tends to be a perception that VR chat rooms have a lot of minors (whether this is true or not, I have no clue, but as an adult that is a concern).

My second guess would be price point. Now, again, I am not a tech wiz, so I really don't know too well what would be a good headset (if any ol' cheap one would work, or if the oculus is the way to go), but I know the well known headsets are not at all cheap, and do also require a something to run them on (from my understanding thats just a good enough gaming pc? I have no clue.) Basically, there is a monetary component at play.

Thirdly would be tech difficulty. Some people are just bad at technology, and don't want to learn a new form of it.

Now privacy is what I would think is a big factor- and not online privacy. Roommates, siblings, spouses, family- if someone lives with another person they may not be comfortable being seen interacting on VRchat (especially with how paranoid some of us get with g/t), and then finding alone time is just an absolute pain with work, school, clubs, responsibilities etc.

Lastly, I think some people are hesitant about the missing sensations. Essentially, "who cares if all I can do is see it, I want to feel it." I think for some people it may have the opposite effect, and the degree of realism mixed with the very obviously "not real" cues could be more upsetting- being so close to having something you fantasize about but being reminded its not actually real.

Those are just my thoughts- and I hope others will add some of their own! This is quite the interesting topic and I'd love to hear more about it! As I mentioned earlier, I have very limited experience with VR, but from what little experience I did have it was a ton of fun! I feel like VRchat could be something a lot of people in the community could enjoy if they knew more/had access to it.

[mikkeneko]

Tagged for the 'fic writer interview' by @veliseraptor!

I feel like I may have seen this meme going around before? Some of these questions strike me as familiar, particularly the 'thoughts on foreign language dialogue?' one, since I'm puzzled as to what this question is asking and I remember being stymied by it before. I think that I want to fill this one out with any answers that have changed since last time and any questions I like to talk about, and skip the questions that don't have interesting answers.

Fic Writer Interview

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

207 as of current!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

2,939,672. Getting close to the 3million mark there -- possibly, as with Lise's case, this year's MDZS big bang may put me over the top. (If not, that + other current project probably will.)

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Without even looking I'm pretty sure that the top two spaces will be Loki fics and the third will be Ceru's fic, lmao. *checks*

Close! Loki fics take up first, third, and fifth place, and Ceru's fic is in second. However *yakety sax arrangement for guqin and xiao* has crept into the top five, at place 4, making it the first of my Untamed fics to do so. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, usually. There are some factors that may lead me to not respond including 1) too short or had no content for me to reply to (i.e. a string of emojis), 2) it's on a fic from a fandom I don't really consider myself part of any more, or 3) too negative, such as when people for some reason have chosen to use the comment box as a space to rant about how much they hate a character, oftentimes with little to no connection to what I actually wrote.

On the other hand, I will almost always reply to a comment that poses a direct question, also incl. requests for permission to translate or podfic. I love when people ask questions. It used to be an ongoing source of angst to me when people would leave comments with questions on Fanfic.net, but without any way for me to reply. ╯︿╰

5. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Probably Rise From Ash, a downer ending Loki fic where Loki got caught in a timeloop trying to prevent Ragnarok from happening. More recently, probably nostrum. In both cases though the Bad Ending is simply a reversion to canon mean, so it probably could have been worse.

6. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

I do love happy endings! There's usually at least some element of melancholy or bittersweetness, but the ones I'd say are most happiness-loaded with that regard would probably be either One Elegant Solution (which was literally written for the purposes of giving the characters the happiest possible ending) or the coda ending of the refrain series (where I literally spell out at the end what I think the ideal ending for each character would look like.)

7. Do you write crossovers?

Not in the old-school understanding of the term crossovers, where the characters and settings of series A and series B literally meet and interact, but I write a lot of fusions, where characters of series A are placed in setting of series B or are otherwise remixed together. Modern fandom seems to have largely elided the distinction.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

A few times. I'd put these into three buckets: 1) people who didn't like what I was doing with the character/story and told me so, but were civil about it and merely stated they were not going to continue reading; 2) people who write unprompted character hate in my comments, usually unrelated to whatever's going on in the text, which I don't enjoy but don't really take personally; and 3) people actually writing callouts or otherwise putting me 'on blast' for a specific fic. That last one has only happened once (that I know of) and while it wasn't particularly upsetting to me either then or now, it sure was A Trip. This is already a long post, so I won't elaborate here unless someone asks.

9. Do you write smut?

Occasionally. It's one of my less favorite things to write, but I'll do it if the story seems to call for it.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

This rings a very very faint bell, possibly sometime in the aughts I have a vague recollection of encountering one of my own stories on some geocities site under someone else's name, but I don't recall who it was or which fic. Not since then that I know of.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Enough times that I have lost track of all the specific instances, but I think maybe once or twice a year I'll get a request by someone to do a translation or podfic. I do not recall any instance where I said no, but I do prefer to be asked first.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! With @faux-fires, a Tsubasa Chronicle sci-fi AU, many years ago. Alas the currents of life took us in different directions before we could write the next part.

13. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Don't have an interesting answer for this.

14. What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

I do have lingering regrets over my abandoned WIPs from Critical Role fandom, Molly's Moving Castle and Fjord Mustang's YEEHAW! Fun and Pony Ranch, both of which fell victim to the march of canon and my eventual departure from the fandom. The latter fic in particular was going to go some wild places.

15. What are your writing strengths?

I think my pacing is excellent, my character voices are usually solid, I can do humor very well and action competently. I can spin a coherent plot and an exciting adventure. I both enjoy and am good at AU worldbuilding and can convey exposition without infodumping, and can do melodrama and angst that packs a solid punch.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Mostly those of career fanfic authors everywhere: I'm weak at developing original characters and largely unmotivated to write plots that don't shadow or mirror the original text in some way. I've also noticed a recurring and growing difficulty with romance; I like romance, but when trying to write a romantic story, often fail to move the romance arc convincingly forward. (See also above answer re: smut.)

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Don't have an interesting answer for this.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Gundam Wing, baby! I feel like there was a bit of a GW revival on tumblr recently? Man, now there was a fandom whose fanon vastly overshadowed its canon.

19. What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

Fandom - I have a half-written draft for an Encanto fanfic lying around somewhere, if you can believe it; I'd also like to do some ZhanChengXian work, but haven't figured out an approach for it yet. If a romance with two principals is hard for me, imagine how much harder adding a third participant must be!

20. What's your favorite fic you've written?

Not gonna pick one! I like some fics more than others, for various different reasons, but none of them stand out as an All Time Favorite.

And that's it! For tagging people... @cerusee, @faux-fires, perhaps @tavina-writes or @nyoomerr?

[send-noodles-not-nudes]

Ok but can we actually talk about a few of the things that I really love about the Krampus movie?

For starters, they actually hired a native German speaker to play German-speaking grandma. Idk why that makes me happy but it does

They also show a bunch of little bonding moments between the family members that are so pure and beautiful and I appreciate them more with every rewatch bc they're so easy to miss. Especially between the sisters, they really nailed the dynamic there

Also the fact that Omi speaks English, just prefers German bc that's her native language. I feel like so many Americans don't understand that so it's nice to see it happen in a movie like that. America is always pictured as this big cultural melting pot, but I personally view it as where culture comes to die. I'm a third generation American and I know nothing about my heritage bc my family was embarrassed about their culture bc they moved to America.

Anyway

I also love the blending of families since you have the dad and his mom, then the mom and her family. Some of the interactions between Omi and Aunt Dorothy are really interesting and show the cultural differences really well. I also love the interactions between brother and brother in-law and I feel like they were very well-written. Idk how to explain why but I just appreciate the writing for them.

And ofc I have to mention "Jesus was born in a barn!" bc I love it and it's lore accurate.

Casting Adam Scott as a dad bc it's just so perfect

Toni Colette in general bc she is AMAZING. I wanna watch Hereditary again but I don't have access to it on any of my streaming platforms :(( hopefully it comes back to one of them soon

Ofc I have to mention the overall design for the movie bc it's so well done. I LOVE horror movies that turn innocent things (gingerbread men, presents, snowmen, etc) into terrifying things. Best trope in horror. The sound design is also really neat and eerie, and I love that we never really get to clearly see Krampus' face for most of the movie until near the end. I love the quick, out-of-the-corner-of-your-eye appearances and they add to the creep factor of Krampus.

The animation they did for Omi's story is absolutely gorgeous, too!! They kept it relatively simple probably for budget and time concerns, but not so simple that it's not still beautiful and attention-grabbing.

Using Carol of the Bells in the soundtrack because it's such a perfect song for a Christmas horror movie, though I will say I think an a capella version would be creepier (it just doesn't fit with the soundtrack, so I get why they used instrumental) and having it in a German vocal would be badass

The dad's response to a giant child-eating jack in the box just being "oh, come on" and the uncle's response to bloodthirsty gingerbread men with a nail gun just being "we should have gone to my brother's" bc it's just so good. Also "bear!" "What?" "BEAR!!" *gets attacked by a giant living teddy bear*

The dog catching a murderous gingerbread man mid-air for a snack is absolutely something my dog would do and I love it

The overall vibe that this is like Nightmare Before Christmas but aimed at adults

The heartbreaking goodbyes and last words of each family member as they're picked off. They fight and hate that they have to see each other, but they still love each other at the end of the day and care about each other

Max's letter to Santa. This child is so pure.

It would have been so easy for them to end it with Max picking up the ripped letter and the bell but they didn't, and that makes me so happy. They would have totally wrecked his character if they ended it there so I'm glad they wrote more for it

THE FACT THAT KRAMPUS HAS GOAT EYES I've never noticed that before and I fucking love it

The costume design for Krampus and his minions is so good tho. Like it's pretty simple since it's largely just masks, horns, chains, and tattered clothes, but it's so effective

The ending is so perfect too bc initially it seems like no one but Max remembers the dream, until he unwraps the bell. No one says anything but they way they all look at each other,,, such good acting smh

[canmom]

Feel free to ignore considering it’s a very messy topic. Why do you think SFF communities (especially book communities) attracts so many bad faith actors?

my apologies anon, I took a minute to answer this one.

I think the most parsimonious answer is that they don't, especially, it's just that bad faith actors are basically everywhere. like, is it really true that there are more bad faith actors in SFF than in say, music? film? 'literary' fiction, or other genres like crime or erotica? i think if I was as immersed in any of those worlds as I am in SFF, I'd know about just as many stories of petty cruelty, exploitation, bizarre dramas...

still, some speculations about factors playing into it, that aren't necessarily specific to sci-fi.

the thing about SFF is that it's a subculture, and one that's pretty niche. not quite as niche as like, BASE jumping or something lol - most bookshops around here will have an SFF shelf, and obviously SFF films and games are almost as mainstream as entertainment gets - but for dedicated sci-fi fans it's seen as a sort of refuge of 'people like them' (generally some variety of autistic nerd archetype), and there is a lot of anxiety that comes with maintaining that.

this sort of attitude is commonly associated with the old guard of reactionary fandom - the infamous Puppies - but I think by now we've seen that the current overtly queer/progressive/whatever you wanna call it generation is just as capable of lashing out at perceived intruders. (for an obvious example, this kind of sentiment was a major factor in the Isabel Fall incident.)

besides that, what are people fighting for anyway? what are the 'stakes' of scifi/fantasy fandom? intuitively, they're tiny. but...

within any niche subculture, it is possible to achieve a certain degree of fame and influence. if you can play the rhetorical game, you can establish yourself as a microcelebrity/tastemaker, promote your friends and make a show of casting out the enemies, and set up the rules of the discourse... in your small bubble. until sooner or later the wind changes and you get knocked off the pedestal, anyway. so part of it is just people wanting to rule an insular little fiefdom.

but then there's also like... 'being an author'. SFF lit is not especially popular these days. you can't really make a living from short stories anymore (too few magazines that pay, too hard to get in, too little reward). however, if you get very, very lucky, make the right connections (probably at Clarion), you might just be able to get some novels published, and maaaybe they will find an audience and earn out their advances... and if everything goes perfectly, you might just manage to make a reasonable middle class sort of income.

and that's not nothing! especially if other forms of work are inaccessible. i have a friend whose circumstances were changed very dramatically when they got a big advance on their novel. but ultimately I don't think it's about that, nobody would sensibly try to become an author for the money, it's an obviously terrible gamble.

however, within the subculture, being a published author is a still big deal. it's a sense that you've 'made it', people will look up to you, or resent you if they don't feel you deserve it. there is a strong divide between 'authors' and 'fans' that structures interactions between the two. I don't get the impression that this is actually very fun for the authors, but it's easy to see that from outside and think "I wish I was worthy of that kind of respect too".

much the same applies in other fields - for example animation. maybe it pays shit and demand insane hours with zero job security... but for the fans, you come to have immense admiration for the 'real animators' and want to feel you could be their equal one day. and people are willing to sacrifice a lot for the sake of that idea of accomplishment, even if it's still very unlikely.

so with all that in mind... science fiction authors are usually science fiction fans. there's not really any other reason you'd write it lmao. so could speculate that for the ones who have 'made it', the situation is still precarious, or seems like it. there's little guarantee you'll get published again if a book doesn't sell. and you depend on a good reputation to stay in the game. so you have a bit of power (enough to go to your head) and fear of losing that power and sense of accomplishment... that's probably sufficient to motivate a whole lot of horrendous behaviour that would seem incomprehensible from outside.

none of this is really specific to science fiction/fantasy. but then I don't think SFF is really all that unique.

[meimi-haneoka]

I’m sorry I said some unpleasant things to you earlier.

Your answer made me think about a lot of things I hadn’t thought before, both about CLAMP and Clear Card ? So thank you

I'm going to reply to this one immediately because I've been thinking for the past hour whether to reblog that post again and reply to your questions, or leave it be as I had said 😅

I'm sorry if I came across as irritated too, but the reason why I (and I think the other fan you reblogged from too) feel so over the edge about this topic is because it's been very difficult lately to interact with certain corners of the fandom without slipping into a puddle of negativity feeding on negativity, over matters that concretely no one of us can do anything about.

Sometimes I have the impression people see only the "artwork producing" side of Clamp and forget that they are human beings too, with their own wishes but most importantly, reasons and circumstances we know nothing about. And I have the impression the ease with how fans insult them might stem from (temporarily?) forgetting about that. It's so easy especially on the internet.

I don't know what perception you have of Clear Card and how much of what's been going on reaches other sides of the general Clamp fandom, but in 7 years and half many things changed, and I changed my perception too.

It might be absurd to think about that now, but there was a period early on when I also thought Clear Card could be here only as a commercial opportunity and I couldn't feel the love in the story. Turns out, I was probably influenced by external factors but most importantly, I hadn't reached the core of the story yet. I hadn't touched what was one of the biggest thematics they would talk about and I didn't understand yet what they were trying to do with this series, what risks they've taken to develop and portray properly those parts (like creating new characters that had importance and influence on the plot as much as the main character herself).

It's been 7 long, bumpy and difficult years of complaints in & out the CCS fandom, and the English official translation didn't help at all since it skewed most of the portrayal of the new characters. Now the last volume is out and I'm checking the comments of the Japanese fans, and lots of people who had dropped the series for the reasons I told you before are now satisfied with how the series ended.

A character in Clear Card says "when given the reason to change, no one can ever stay the same" and that's something we really need to remember more often. People, things, situations change. And what initially was discussed as just a one-shot to promote the start of the anime project, quickly changed into a full fledged and complex manga series. Ohkawa was probably struck with inspiration for a good story and thought it would've been a pity to develop it only through an anime, she wanted for them to tell that story with their own hands.

I also want to quickly address something you said in your reblog that I hadn't seen before.

For a lack of a better word, "fetish" to me means everything that encompasses your inclinations when you read a story. Those that make you go 😍 about it. It can be anything, big hands, wide shoulders, even kisses or the request for a wedding: I've seen over the years the most disparate complaints and even insults, sometimes, over those things. Like how Clamp didn't know how to draw anymore just because they didn't stay stuck in the past with their 90's shoulders and their art style is constantly changing depending on the themes of the story. It should be something to praise them for, because they're evolving and always keeping up to date with the trends, they're not stagnant.

I'm not saying we can't wish to see those things in their stories, what I said is that we can't expect them to live and work in the function of satisfying those requests for us. They should be free to write and draw what they really want to portray.

If I was able to make you see another side of the situation, I can only be glad about it! Thank you for your ask.

[myimaginarywonderland]

I love to read. I love stories.

I love books, games, movies, shows, anything that builds a genuine world, gives living characters, adds normal interactions etc.

So it always seemed obvious to me that as someone like that I would end up in fandoms and stuff like BookTok.

And I truly have to talk negatively about things because it hurts to sometimes admit flaws but as a storylover the last years of movies, TV Shows, books etc. have really started to feel so lack luster.

I could write essays about how storytelling, worldbuilding has become one of the lowest priorities when many projects nowadays start but I think there is also something to be said about the Fast Fashionisation of media because I am a victim of it just as I am a victim of brand buying sometimes.

The Fast Fashionisation of media is not only truly damaging stories in a lot of ways but I think people ignore how much off an effect all forms off media have on anyone, no matter their age but especially children.

Because I am someone of the "I learned languages through media" person and I feel like so much off the lose of knowledge, reduction of literacy, lose of interested in science etc. can be tracked directly back to the way media (most industries) have become a Fast Fashion brand and are essentially also using names.

What do I mean by this? We are getting movie after movie from big studies that seem like they have less and less effort put into them, baiting us by being part of x-franchise or in y-universe with z-big actor. Why do I hate this? Because a lot of movie feel like they aren't a story that is told but rather that one of these 3 bait factors was used to build a story around it. The story in itself is never a main focus of the movie, the worldbuilding is lacking because it is just expected that if it's x or y you will already know that "world" and if it's actor-bait, they just hope you are too busy ogling an actor (this isn't meant to shame because we all do sometimes!) to realise the complete lack of genuine story that is most movies.

When it comes to shows there is literally the Formula. Be a remake, a spinoff to some character, connect to some event of x-movie in y-universe, fit into the current in-categorie. Be based on some other past form of media, another season of some old show and that's it. I know people talk a lot about the homophobia because so many queer shows get cancelled but you will notice with these shows is that they don't fit into the "typical" TV Show formula and are actually trying something new so they will already be expected to be received worse and then if they don't at least met those expectations it's immediately over.

Booktok and smut/fanfiction has truly ruined the industry because 90% of books that will be promoted will just be promoted for sex scenes and romance when there is no substance in the entire story. You will have people throwing out this title and that and yet all the books are basically carbon copies with just slightly different featured main characters.

I think Games are the best of media genre right now because the scale of the others has not been reached yet. But I can already say, there is a noticeable bait with big franchise and remakes that will essentially be a carbon copy of the game before with genuinely no new features. I was so disappointed in Pokémon when I got my Switch because I adored Sword but hated the stupid Diamond remake. (Personal I know.) But I also think the gaming community is by far the biggest one influenced by fans which is why there is still many great stories out there. I think the main problem here is also that there isn't the promotion there used to be? Sure big Games from large companies will get ads but in my opinion many games used to rely on Let's Plays for attention especially from "bigger" creators. Since many creators have aged though and shifted their interests + are not uploading as frequently as before, there is less exposure to smaller games that are storybased and not mainstream.

I just think people don't understand the full effect this genuine fast fashion media will have on the population but especially the development of children and I could talk about this all day but yeah, I am going to cut myself off here to stop rambling.