#and also fandom unity i suppose

[the-everqueen]

my major problem with fanon Hob is that he's treated as universal. which a) is impossible, nothing is actually universal, there is no singular Human Experience, and b) the text (show and comix) doesn't consider him a universal. he's an anomaly in his irrepressible desire to live. he's a foil for Dream. he's one of an unspecified number of immortals who occasionally cross paths with the Endless. he's not an Everyman, he's very much the product of the world around him (which changes with time but also doesn't - a white man in an established British empire holds a certain degree of power/liberty across centuries). why does whiteness = universality? why does whiteness = Human?

[ladyelainehilfur]

Literally insane to me how small the general webtoon fandom is outside of the webtoon app itself (and maybe reddit??)

I've talked to multiple people irl who LOVE reading webtoon, but the online community is borderline threadbare ! Most people on Tumblr have no IDEA who our blorbos are! I've checked tags for some fairly popular webtoon and it was like visiting that Tatooine town in the Mandalorian where there are 5 citizens total, but only if you also count the Mayor, the sheriff, and the deputy.

Lore Olympus is the most popular webtoon and has under 2,000 fics on AO3. Lookism has roughly 1,000. Unordinary, THEE legacy webtoon, only has 600, and it's been running for almost 7 years now. It has nearly 6M subscribers and still gets 50K+ likes each week. It's not dead by any means.

I guess it doesn't help that each webtoon is its own micro ecosystem and once a webtoon ends, that ecosystem typically fades with it. But webtoons can go on runs longer than most shows on streaming services, and those fandoms burn hot and bright even if only for the first month of a new season drop.

By comparison, webtoon fans are largely casual about their enthusiasm, even if they're highly invested in the story or characters. From my experience, only the most passionate try to connect with other fans online. But when you're passionate about one webtoon, I suppose it's hard to show constant excitement about the 20+ other stories one might keep up with. Still, between the 85 million monthly readers, you'd think each major webtoon would at least have a dedicated fan base (meaning people who regularly post theories, thoughts, fics, and fanart) of mere thousands outside of the app.

One exception for this is that Batman webtoon? It actually trends on Tumblr every now and again. But it doesn't count, because Batman has a built in fandom who'll eat up and yell in the streets about any content where he's a decent dad.

People who read romance webtoon all tend to read the same comics, and actively understand the references to other popular romance comics (Trashta, Team Seojun, SLS), so you'd think there'd be a greater sense of unity. More people actively searching out others to discuss with and posting their thoughts online and not just in that webtoon's comment section.

I mean, C'MON girls!!! Millions of people log into that app like everyday!!! WHERE is the community?? WHERE is the fanart?? WHERE is the fanfic?? WHY does Odd Girl Out only have 7 fanfics?? WHY are there like 2 people on Twitter posting about Weak Hero?? Head in hands fr

[kylieswift31]

My. Space.

"Cooler in theory,

but not if you force it to be"

‘Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno’ is a phrase more commonly known as ‘all for one and one for all’. It has long been associated with the tale of the three musketeers and is the unofficial motto of Switzerland.

This concept epitomises the sense of solidarity that can be reached when the individual acts in favour of the group and the group acts in favour of the individuals.

While this sounds promising in theory for the majority, in reality it can create a trap of self enforced conformity for the minority.

Most of us in this minority inherently drift apart from the majority due to a deeply rooted feeling that we don’t belong in some way. Often times learning ways to hide the parts of ourselves that are frowned upon by the collective as we float around on the periphery.

And it can take years to discover the correct language to use that accurately describes our experiences. What comes next is often not within our control as we’re forced to coexist with those who disapprove of our truth and lack of conformity.

“Maybe I'm losing my mind, but it feels like the whole world revolves around me somehow.” -Truman

In the Truman show ‘unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno’ is proudly displayed as the motto for the town of Seahaven, but it’s really just an ever-present subliminal message to reinforce Truman’s contribution to benefit the collective.

The director of the show was clouded by his desire to create something good to share with the world. Yet this inspirational message was never supposed to be used as a threat or an excuse for one person to carry the weight of the collective all alone.

That turns into ‘one for all’. Full stop. It was the realisation that the pressure to conform by giving more and more of himself to entertain the masses was a never ending cycle that ultimately became Truman’s tipping point and what finally motivated him to leave.

“So tell me everything is not about me. Butwhat if it is?” -Taylor

This experience is not unique to Truman’s fictional character. It’s actually a fine line that many of us face in our own ways. And it’s this prior experience that allows so many of us to see the same type of pain in Taylor being reflected back at us.

The key to overcoming this imbalance between the ‘all for one and one for all’ is rediscovering community. We often begin with a jumble of stories collected along the way that morph into a label. And it’s this label that allows us to find our people, to find where we belong.

The evolution of the internet and social media created online spaces that allowed many of us to coexist in communities where the minority suddenly became the majority. MySpace in particular encouraged everyone to personalise their page to create a reflection of themselves.

With the rise of other platforms, conformity gradually took over and individuality was slowly left behind. Regardless of how big or small a group becomes, uniformity amongst the majority seems to be the goal.

The Taylor Swift fandom isn’t immune to this either. We’ve all centred Taylor in our own versions of ‘all for one and one for all’ but have branched out to create varying subsections that fall under the swiftie or gaylor umbrella.

When all of these variations overlap and mingle together it creates a never ending Venn diagram, and it’s that same overlap that feels both communal and isolating all at once. The sweet spot lies with finding a balance between valuing unity and individuality.

I myself fall into the gaylor, idgaflor, performanceartlor and thetrumanshowlor communities. I also view Taylor’s story through a female, queer, neurodivergent and chronic illness lens. The combination of these facets is what makes my interpretations unique.

I’d love to invite you to consider where you fit into the community. What makes your point of view unique? The more we can recognise and celebrate the diversity within the gaylor community, the more united we will all feel in preparation for the turbulent times ahead.

When Taylor invited us to go down the rabbit hole with her I never expected to discover, let alone join in with, this amazing community. I love each and every one of you for being here. Wether you’ve inspired thoughtful conversations, made me laugh or just liked my posts, thank you 🫶🏼

‘Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno’

A tortured poet,

Kylie x

[edream93]

I think it's time...(WLTF Outline)

So, for my Descendants folks, I'm sorry to say that I think it's time to call it. Though I know exactly how I want the story to go, I've unfortunately lost a lot of motivation for "We'll Light the Fuse" and most of my other unfinished Descendants stories.

Post D2, being part of the fandom, especially the Huma/Sea Three Side of things was so inspiring. I vibed with a great group of mutuals and for the first time I engaged in a fandom outside of just being an observer. I'm not sure exactly what I'm trying to say, but I just want to thank my readers and other Descendants mutuals. Y'all unknowingly go me through a pretty rough time in my life. I hope you're all doing well ❤️

Anyway, I said I would give an outline of how I wanted WLTF to go. If you use any substantial bits, please reference me and also let me know! I'm not doing much writing but I'm still reading!

Neverland Arc/Hooked Intermission Arc:

Uma, Mal, and the others run into Tiger Peony and the remaining Lost Children who have hidden in an underground bunker away from Pan. Tiger Peony let them know that the spell that kept Pan asleep was broken due to the blood of Hook.

--- Long story short (and this would have been told throughout the arc, not just in one scene), Neverland always needs AT LEAST a Pan and a Hook to keep the island alive and thriving. The Pan (and technically the Captain Hook) that we see in this story is just the latest one. It's kind of one of those things where technically each Pan is unique in their own way but in the end all of their collective memories and experiences come together. When King Adam and the rest of the heroes got rid of/reduced the use of magic, it caused a magical blockage for Neverland as one of the few sources of pure magic in Auradon. It also was causing the current Pan to lose himself in thoughts and memories, like he would just space out. Sometimes he would forget entire conversations or days. It was shortly after Tiger Lily became leader of Neverland that people started noticing changes in Pan. Playing less. Spending time alone. Voice getting deeper...the Boy Who is Never Supposed to Grow Up getting...older... Around that time, the island was dying and the fairies were dying out. The Isle is Pan and Pan is the Isle. The Council of Magic (more on them soon) decided it was best to put Pan to sleep to halt his aging and to also naturally unblock some of the magical build up that he was unintentionally causing due to his unexplained growth.

---Not everyone was happy with it, especially those of Neverland but it was a time where unity was needed and Neverland, a historical site was dying (due to King Adam's decision to get rid of magic but no one really wanted to talk about that) so it was an agreed upon decision. Pan was put to sleep by the Council of Magic led by Fairy Godmother and Yen Sid, his loyal and faithful fairy Tinker Bell sealed away because they feared that she would find some way to wake him up. All very humane...Not.

---What people didn't realize, except for maybe Tiger Lily and her people is that Neverland is not inherently a Good place. It's also not inherently a Bad place. It's neutral, and with everything in life, has its good and bad. With Pan being asleep and Hook held prisoner under the barrier, there were no filters for the magic to go through and though it may have seemed like the magic was once again settling, it was actually building up dangerously. As stated before, Neverland always has a Pan and it always has a Hook. Even with Pan asleep, the delicate balance was skewed and magic will always find a way to get balance back, whether its outcomes are liked or not.

Anyway, back in the current timeline, Tiger Peony tells the Auradon gang that Neverland is forcing balance once again but unfortunately, the years of being asleep as well with his deteriorating mind has warped Pan. He has killed her mother and has put most of the island under his control. Tiger Peony was able to get most of the Lost Children (the kids who live in Neverland) into the underground bunkers under the hollowed old tree of Pixie Hollow the no longer spills out pixie dust. Since the Neverland fairies have long ago disappeared (around the same time Pan was put to sleep and Tinker Bell was sealed away) beneath Pixie Hollow has been turned into a disaster station.

Tiger Peony is grieving her mother and her home and angry for ever trusting CJ and thinking that she could be better than her father. She tells Mal that she did her duty and got High King Ben and Royal Counselor Evie back. Uma quickly notices that Harry, Carlos, Sammy Smee, and Big Murph are not present. Tiger Peony's make shift lieutenants (who were supposed to be heavily implied to to be either be the descendants of or were actually the three kids from the Nightmare Before Christmas - more of a world building addition/head nod than actual important part of the story) report that they thought the remaining boys were the few Lost Children under Pan's control.

Obviously Uma and Mal are not happy.

Across the Isle, Pan is not happy. He woke up to find Evie gone (there's a reason he's so obsessed with her) and CJ lost the Boy King (Ben). Thankfully he still has his Hook (Harry.

CJ is slowly starting to realize that maybe she isn't on the same page as Pan. She wants to be great and make a name for herself but Pan seems to be ordering her around worst than her siblings did on the Isle.

Harry tries to talk sense into her one last time but Pan (because he's connected to the island) realizes that the Auradon gang are now on the Isle and that causes CJ to get angry again at the thought of Uma and Mal coming in to ruin her fun and glory again.

Eventually, Uma, Mal, and the others find Pan. Pan tries to control Harry and make him his new Hook but Harry is so freaking devoted to Uma that despite having the blood of Hook (which basically means he's more susceptible to Neverland's influence), he easily breaks free of Pan's control like swatting a fly. (The power of simping compels him and all that jazz. I mean, there's an actual reason that'll be explained but that's what it comes down to basically, Harry's loyalty and devotion to Uma and vise versa.)

---"Why follow yer scrawny ass, when I have a goddess as a Captain?"

Obviously Pan is not happy and basically throws the world's biggest tantrum. The sky darkens, the waves rise high and crash violently against the shore as a storm begins to brew. Decides that if he can't have Harry as his Hook then he'll takeaway his thimble (aka kill Uma)

Back at Auradon, Audrey, Jane, and the left behind isle kids try to cover up for the others but Fairy Godmother and Mickey soon realize where they've gone.

Back in Neverland, though Pan may seem out-numbered, he has the Neverland mermaids and the Lost Children that he does have under his control. Basically a fight starts. Uma is trying to make sure she gets Harry, Gil, and the rest of the isle kids under her protection off this damn island but is struggling with her instincts which is to just destroy everything and take Harry and Gil away, somewhere safe.

In the midst of all of this chaos, Evie suddenly "knows" what to do to put Pan back to sleep and tells CJ that she's the only person who can help them do that.

At some point Mal turns into a dragon and goes rawr, flames, rawr trying to stop Pan.

Uma, while fighting Pan gets pushed into the water where all the Neverland mermaids are waiting to tear her to shreds. They pull her down into the murkey water and soon all that's seen is blood, rising from the depths.

The others try to fight Pan but he's too powerful.

Harry gets hurt. Like bad. Like might lose a hand bad.

Evie uses magic (her magic that smells likes roses - IT'S A CLUE that I've been sprinkling all throughout the written story so far as to what's going on with Evie and who Pan thinks she is), telling CJ that she's the only one who can stop Pan.

CJ blinks and suddenly she's alone and surrounded by darkness. With a far off light ahead. She walks and finds a fairy which she eventually realizes is Tinker Bell. -below is a scene I had typed up years ago because I loved it so much-

Silently, CJ watched Tinker Bell stroke the rusted surface of the thimble. 

“He was perfect. Made all up of starlight kisses and the wind’s laughter. Unwavering belief and the feeling of warm sand between your toes,” Tinker Bell smiled brokenly, her none-bent wing fluttering slightly. “My boy. My Peter Pan. Mine. My starlight asked me, so I gave him my heart.”

“The acorn,” CJ thought, heart lead in her chest.

She sank down to her knees before the fairy. She bit her lip, unsure of what to say. 

“But was it worth it? Was it worth the years stuck here? Broken? Trapped? How could you stand to be in a place like this all alone?”

A lone tear fell down the fairy’s cheek, but her smile never wavered. “Because he is my greatest happy thought. Even if he didn’t have my heart, I would shred my wings for him if it meant he would be happy.” Tinker Bell’s beautiful fae face twisted into something simultaneously cruel and longing. “That Wendy girl would never do that. Only me. Only Tink.” Her features smoothed out, and she looked at CJ with sudden new wonderment. “You understand...don’t you?”

The shadows around them shrieked and clawed, and CJ swore as the already small circle of light that surrounded them grew smaller. 

“Tinker Bell,” she desperately clasped the fairy’s hands, careful not to touch the almost tarnished thimble held so tenderly in Tink’s hands. “If you don’t help me, there won’t be a happy thought left of your darling Pan. And my brother-” CJ bit her lip, trying to hold back the sob that was threatening to claw itself from her throat. 

She was a pirate, dammit! No time for tears! 

“I’m not good at this mushy feeling crap,” she chuckled wetly, thinking back to Harry, her idiotic, brash, overprotective, heart on his patched-sleeve brother. She wondered if she would ever see him again. If he would ever forgive her...“Probably should be the last person to talk about this, but,” CJ gripped Tink’s hands tighter, willing what little warmth was left in her into her hands, “holding out like this, keeping him in this limbo instead of letting him pass along, you’re not helping him. You’re hurting what little is left of your boy.” 

“NO!” Tinker Bell shook her head vehemently, trying to pull her hands away from CJ’s firm grip with little luck. “No. No. No. No. Nonononono. He’s mine. He’s mine! My Pan. My Peter. My-”

Tink froze in shock as CJ’s arms wrapped around her, careful of her broken wing, in an awkward but firm embrace. “It’s okay to let him go,” CJ whispered softly. “It doesn’t mean you stopped loving him. Doesn’t mean you failed. But sometimes...letting go is the best thing...because holding on tight, no matter what you intended...it’s just hurting him.”

The withering shadows and breathing darkness pressed further against the perimeter of the circle and CJ could nearly taste the smell of decay and rot and death at their backs.

“CJ?” Tink murmured, leaning into her embrace. “I’m...I’m so tired, CJ. So so tired…”

“Then sleep,” CJ whispered, holding the broken fairy in her arms. “Sleep and dream of your boy, made up of starlight and laughter and belief and the feeling of warm sand between your toes. Sleep, and when you wake up, it’ll be a whole new adventure waiting for you.”

The darkness was now licking at her skin, threatening to consume her until nothing was left. She would embrace it. It was what she deserved. 

Slowly, so slowly that CJ didn’t even notice as the darkness crept higher until the only light that remained was the dull thrum coming from the rusted thimble as Tinker Bell turned over her hand, letting the small item fall into CJ’s. 

“Laugh always. Have many adventures. Cry just as much in laughter than in fear. And...cherish your happy thoughts...even when you grow too big for them,” Tink blessed as she pressed a kiss, as soft as fluttering butterfly wings on CJ’s forehead, just as they and the darkness shattered, until all that was left was faith, trust, and pixie dust.

(Note: ) Somewhere in all of this chaos, I would explain, drop hints that CJ's mother (because the Hook siblings all have different mothers) was Zarina, a fairy like Tinker Bell that fell in love with Captain Hook and when all the villains were forced onto the Isle, she gave up her wings and became human to be with him. Obviously did not end up well for her. Hook was horrible to her and around the time she had CJ she was deathly ill. Not sure if all of that was going to be explained in the story or not but basically my idea was that even though Zarina looked like a human, she was still a Neverland fairy, and unlike other fairies like Maleficent, Neverland fairies have such a strong, almost symbiotic relationship with Neverland. Essentially she died because she was cut away from magic.

CJ appears back - now with wings and more fae like features - in Neverland with the thimble Tinker Bell gave her that basically would put Pan back to sleep. (Essentially, Tinker Bell gave Pan her heart to try to fight against the deterioration of his mind due to the magic restriction. It ties into the bigger idea of magic is not something you can control and in its own way is kind of it's own entity, but essentially the magic of Neverland fed off of that exchange in a toxic way.)

Around the same time, Uma emerges from the water in her giant Sea Witch form looking like a goddess, the bodies of the dead Neverland mermaids turning into sickly foam around her.

The wind picks up, thunder and lightning pick up, and with CJ, Mal, and Uma (and Mickey though they don't know it) working together they are able to beat Pan and put him back to sleep.

Mickey arrives on a slightly newer boat than the steamboat they stole from them, basically giving the Auradon gang a ride back to the dorms. He also has Baymax with him who Harry who is slightly woozing from blood loss is surprisingly happy to see.

CJ apologizes for all the trouble she caused and asks Tiger Peony if she can stay to help restore the island. With Pan back to sleep, she wants to make sure that the magic of the island is actually balanced and as someone with the blood of Hook, she can influence that balance more now that she's aware of it and now that Pan is back asleep. Though still grieving her mother, Tiger Peony agrees.

The arc ends with Uma, Mal and the others returning back to school, hoping that's the end of all the weirdness.

Other things that were supposed to happen in this arc that I couldn't figure out where to put in the above:

Sammy Smee and Big Murph die under Pan's control which though she wasn't close to them, causes a lot more greif than Uma initially expected because 1.) she was supposed to keep them safe and 2.) she sees how it impacts Hadie and Diego

Carlos is fine but he's left with feelings of helplessness. He felt like such a damsel in distress all throughout this experience and that's going to have impact later on in the story.

Jay starts displaying more latent magic.

I hadn't decided when exactly it was going to happen but either in this arc or towards the beginning of the next arc, it would be revealed that Evie is the Sorceress (also known as Circe) from Beauty and the Beast reincarnated. She reincarnates every few years to make sure she's always experiencing new things and not getting stuck in her ways like other people. coughcoughFairyGodmothercoughcough.

Also, the remaining parts of this arc would have probably been another 3 or 4 chapter depending on how I broke things up with one of the chapters being a last Hooked Intermission. This was supposed to be happening during the same time the others were fighting Pan.

---Basically a riot happens on the Isle starting over by the docks but quickly spreading. Right before that though, Harriet runs into Anthony's mother, Anastasia, who warns her she should go somewhere safe to protect the baby. Though she appreciates the concern from the only adult who seems to genuinely care about her (despite her being her ex's mom) Harriet, with the help of Gil's brothers, Jonas, and surprisingly Sophie (Yen Sid's assistant) - who is back on the main part of the isle after checking the generators that partially help maintain the barrier - try to stop it. Harriet quickly realizes that the riot was started by Hook who is acting strange, even for him, almost possessed. They sword fight on the Jolly Roger. Harriet gets hurt but before Hook can deal the final blow, Anthony pushes her out the way and takes the fatal blow. Anthony gets a line out about how he was never good for her before dying. Some has lit the gunpowder that's on the ship and Sophie pushes Harriet into the water before jumping in herself before the Jolly Roger explodes. It's unclear who survives but it's implied that briefly the barrier was down.

---Back at Hades's place, while all this happens, the god of the underworld is paid a visit. He seems to expect it, going to his hidden stash and asking the uninvited vistor if he would like some wine. He doesn't get a response back so decides to drain the bottle himself pittering around his home wistfully murmuring: "'She will be a child of the sea; Chained to fae land, godly blood made mortal. Death’s attendant will be kind to her, protect her before his last breath. A coat of blood red will follow in her wake. And when the second star has risen. Then the realm of the dead and the sea shall be hers . And then the throne of Zeus will be hers, bringing upon a pantheon anew.' Or something like that, right sweetheart?"

---Hades says a few more things, basically implying that even though he knows the person with him in the room is going to kill him, that he'll come back again in another form. Death always needs attending to after all and death is one of the few things that humans still fear, still give power to. The person kills him, and just before he dies, Hades smiles, pressing a trembling kiss to Peresephone's lips as she pulls the dagger from the place where his heart would be if he were truly mortal.

And...that's how the Neverland arc would end! I'll come back and write the outline for the final arc if that's something folks are interested in.

Sorry again that I can't actually commit to writing this all out but I do have some scenes here and there written out that I had been saving.

Let me know your thoughts! Did this arc go the way you expect it to?

Also, remember, you can use some of these ideas, just give me credit and share so I can read and give you all the likes and kudos!

Eternally grateful for all the support ❤️

[restlesshush]

The use of Chuck as a tool of analysis in fandom is genuinely so frustrating, because fundamentally it encourages people not to engage with spn as a piece of media made by real life flawed human writers, which is what it is!! Like, Cas’s inadvertent structural protagonist status at various points has nothing to do with ~him vs Chuck~ or whatever, but due to specific oversights by the writers such that his actions are the ones driving the plot rather than salmondean’s. ‘Chuck’ isn’t trying to ~keep him out of the story~, that doesn’t really mean anything (and if it wasn’t for that one line in Unity, no one would necessarily even think it) – it’s that the writers, trying to keep him off screen, gave him more interesting and more impact-having things to do than they gave salmondean with their much larger amount of screen time. Like I get the Chuck explanation being enjoyable, but we already have a real life explanation, and it’s pretty fun in itself imo! Gamble very much did arguably make Cas the structural protagonist partially as a direct result of trying to kill him off, which is kind of hysterical.

Also the thing is like, Chuck as the authorgodvillain was such a late addition that pretty much nothing is designed around him being the most satisfactory explanation – and it’s incredibly nebulous what viewing earlier events in that light of his intervention is even supposed to entail. If the writers had the courage of their convictions a little more, we could have been invited to recontextualise various really out of left field events in this light, eg @autisticandroids has talked about this re godstiel and the way the leviathans came out of nowhere, and me and them have also discussed it re gadreel being set up to be the “perfect deantransgression” (as @themauvesoul has pointed out) – it would make sense for a villainous author trying to create drama (and undermine Cas) to have contrivedly brought those things about specifically to that end. It is absolutely the case that there are places where it can be fun to say “it would make sense for Chuck to have made this happen for x/y/z reasons”, and it would have been very brave and sexy for the writers to be like “oh yeah lol this thing we wrote would have made more sense of it was Chuck”, but it would be very silly to say “oh the leviathans coming out of nowhere wasn’t actually bad writing because that was Chuck” y’know? Chuck as the authorgodvillain is a concept you can play with if you like, but he’s not a tool of analysis. In the show’s protagonist-powers-deconstruction episode the writers aren’t even brave enough to attack the most egregious writing conveniences facilitating the story, so extending the Chuck lens anywhere else in a way that lets them off the hook is extremely generous, as well as just pretty meaningless.

Fundamentally , the main function that Chuck as the authorgod really serves is a way to handwave away the bad writing (or any other disliked things) in spn when 1) the bad writing is interesting and 2) do we really want to give the writers that get out of jail free card?

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

https://www.tumblr.com/reflections-in-a-critical-eye/752192695524589568/so-hybe-treats-fan-songs-also-differently?source=share

May i know what you think of this difference in treatment? I have seen solos talk about it but you know they can go to extreme with their biasness but i have never seen jkkrs talk much about the difference. They only say the comapny hates jm and nothing more than that is addressed. They never say jm is competition or any kinda assume but just comapny hates it so idk what ppl that love both jm and jk thinks of this difference in treatment.

Also did you notice that they put jk's solo logo on that song. I mean why put the logo for a song that's supposed to be for armys and festa.... isn't it his solo logo or it's different..

I think I've talked about differences in treatment of both of them in terms of label management. Perhaps last year, around the Seven release. I would have linked the posts, but I apologize once again for this website not being helpful at all.

Jimin and Jungkook have proven that they are the only two members of BTS with an actual succesful solo career in terms of popularity. I'm mentioning this criteria because it's the one brought to the front in every single debate/insult/you name it. So from that perspective, they are both doing well. The difference is that Jungkook's solo path was a BH project in collaboration with Hybe America, whilst Jimin's was not and took a more traditional k-pop direction. Which does make him a competition because his achievements have had close to zero label support. Does it sound absurd? Yes. But if Bang Si Hyuk wasn't happy with NJ and obviously prefered Le Sserafim, even though the success of both groups made him a richer man, then I believe anything is possible. It may be more subtle in the case with BH and the BTS members, maybe there's nuances there on a personal level, I don't know. I'd expand more on it if other text messages would be leaked. Until then, shall I say that it remains a bit vague.

It's clear that Jungkook's solo career in 2023 has been crafted folowing a very specific model, hence all the promotions and label involvement have been in accordance to that model. I would also want to mention that a concept such as fairness or equal treatment is non existent in such an industry. Perhaps the fandom at large was led to believe that based on the BTS idea of togetherness and unity and whatever meaning they have went for. Solo careers are obviously a very different thing in which a lot of factors are at play. From individual preferences, to financial aspects, to what is worth investing in based on possible returns, to perhaps more malicious reasons. Jimin appears to have gotten the short end of the stick with his first solo album, but nevertheless, has had quite a lot of impact. That's a remarkable achievement, especially when compared to a debut fully backed by the label. I don't know what the treatment of Jimin's second album will be like or even after he returns, but I do know that as a fan, it can be frustrating and as much as I still have some hope left, there hasn't been any indication yet that the situation will change. (Sometimes I wish I had been a casual fan, with no access to details or more insight, so I could just enjoy his music and that's it).

As to your last point, I did notice the logo. Regardless of its use or not, the song is for his fans and army, both words used in the announcement (the same as when Jimin released Closer to You, so I find theories on this subject a waste of time).

That logo is part of his brand, which is now under a trademark. If I recall, there was an application for this right before he enlisted. It is a direction he chose for his solo career and I personally don't have an issue with it. He is a BTS member and a solo artist and those two sides can be interchanged and/or used at the same time. To me, it looks like Jungkook chose to create his own brand in connection to his music career. At the same time, Jimin has done something similar. His dad is making sure of that with the ZMillenial brand, but in a slightly different direction. So far, I believe they are the only members of BTS who have done it and perhaps it's nothing but a smart business decision.

[jakexneytiri]

I saw the unpleasant asks you got for talking about how wrong those "rp accounts" were acting. I'm sorry about that. I was one of the people who interacted with them and to be honest, I had a bad feeling from the start but I was like "Ok let's see what this is about" but soon enough they started to show very disrespectful behaviours towards me and other girls, stuff so icky I don't even wanna describe but it's out there to be seen anways, so I decided to stop interacting. I was like "maybe it's just my trust issues" but no. Thank u for your post because you validated my feelings and intuition and I realized that yes, unfortunately, many people online are so in so much need of love and attention that they don't care or don't even see that account was *beyond* just a "darker" version of Neteyam - I hated how cocky that person portrayed Teyam as, from the beginning, if I'm being honest. I just chose to not listen to my reason which was stupid lol. I wanted to post something like eywaite did (I think that's the username. I apologize if it's the wrong person. My memory sucks.) but I didn't wanna maybe be misunderstood by people n accidentally start any more chaos in a fandom that was once so wonderful n magical n now its just honestly a very heavy place to be in :( I might not agree with everyone here and that's completely normal, it's the human experience, and there might be many people here who do not agree with me on many things BUT all I want for this fandom is peace and unity, for us to become a nice community to be in, again, if possible. People have free will and it takes almost everyone to cooperate for that to happen. Anyways. Thank you again for standing up for the right thing. I hope you have a good day/night 🤍

it’s all good! i just think people need to use their judgement on a platform like this, especially since we didn’t/still don’t really know anything about the people behind the accounts. if your happiness is being dictated by conversing with a stranger pretending to be a fictional character, you need to go and find something that makes you happy irl. that shouldn’t be the case. rp is supposed to be between someone you know and trust. if you want to do it but don’t know someone personally, there’s a shit ton of bots out there! have at it!

i get people are trying to hold on to neteyam, but at what point will we look ourselves in the mirror and realise he’s not coming back. maybe in flashbacks but for real, when will we realise it’s time to move on.

and for the people complaining about the fandom not being “active”, it very much is. you’re just not looking in the right places if you think that’s the case. and if you’re concerned about the fandom dying, then be sure to reach out to your favourite writers/artists and just check in!! tell them how much you love ___ ! send them an inbox! keep the interactions going. if you simply like someone’s post and don’t interact with it, and then you wonder why that person doesn’t post as much anymore, you have your answer.

i hope you also have a good day/night ☀️🌙

[thelavendercatalogue]

LJS Ship Lore: Jigen x Queen Malta

The moment you create a ship so unknown in the fandom it doesnt even have FANART

Yep, say hello to one of the ships in my Lavender Jacket Series AND my Fantasy AU.

As Ive stated before Jigens Gravestone is canon in my Ljs series because it's premise is suppose to stick as the final trust exercise between Jigen and Lupin after their reunion in the Pyramid to cement their partnership to the highest form it could be. The final nail in the coffin so to speak, solidifying their old and new partnership so to speak. Putting each others life and trust in one another where uncertainty grows.

However, in the background of Gravestone, a small relationship had been growing

You see, the Malta x Jigen ship is canon for both RoA. . . .

(Ill explain their relationship in RoA on my other blog @roads-of-arkael)

. . . .and LJS, however sadly in LJS she still dies following Gravestones plot line.

However, in the time frame of Gravestone, loosing Malta actually did bother Jigen greatly

After the shit that Cicciolina had pulled on him, Malta was essentially breath of fresh air compared to the people he knew from the past.

Dedicated, headstrong, maybe not as fearless as he may have been, but dutiful, loving, caring, all things Jigen forgot people could be.

As a result, the two had surprisingly become friends in a way quite quickly, both seeing eye-to-eye about how they each believed the world worked and coming to an understand each other's points of view on it. And it wasn't any surprise why the two ended up hooking up, far out of the spotlight, their relationship kept private from prying camera's and peeping paparazzi.

But no amount of tip toeing and hush-hush could have ever prepared Jigen for the night of her death

Loosing Malta absolutely fucking sucked for Jigen, because she was one of the few, besides Lupin to show him people could be selfless, caring without motive other then the good for the people they cared about.

Jigen loved few people, Malta loved a whole country and thought unity was the best thing and she got killed for it cause other's didn't support the view.

He never did move on from her death. It still stung even years later. Which is why for one of the head canons i have for LJS, one of the things Jigen has left to remember her by is her music. What she was famous for. What she hoped would bring the two countries together.

He ended up buying the CD's she produced shortly after her death, and once in a while you might actually catch him listening to them when he's relaxing. Both because he likes the music, but also because its the remembrance

He's thrilled to find out his sister likes her music too because she has records and albums he hasn't been lucky enough to find,

They're constantly playing in the apartment when Jigen's alone. . . .

He doesn't talk about her much. Preferring instead to keep the memories he has of her private and close-kept. Just little memories he can keep that he doesn't have to share.

Just like how their relationship was kept secret. . .all to themselves. . .nobody else. . .

[nikethestatue]

Why do you think the fandom has become so divided? I mean I’m it it for elriel but if elucian happened I wouldn’t be devastated or anything and I’d still read the book. I don’t get how all this name calling, lack of reading comprehension my ship is better because of x y z even came about? Was it around before the 3rd ship entered the race or do you think it has more to do with the amount of time people have had to get so fully invested in a ship theyve lost all sense of civility. The thing with reading comprehension when it comes to yet to be written narratives is that it’s somewhat retrospective. Meaning if it turns out you were right u comprehended the txt correctly but if your wrong you didn’t. But this isn’t black and white because an author can drop storyline’s, change original storyline’s, retcon already canon events, have continuity errors etc and you interpreted it right but the author decided to take the storyline away from the original plan. But at present as far as I can tell the only things we know for certain because it was stated in actual canon is A) that elain and Lucian have a mate bond (wether this turns out to be a true mate bond or the work of a corrupt cauldron or something is yet to be determined) B) that elain is uncomfortable around lucian and isn’t open to the bond at present (altho obviously this could change if sjm wants to write that story) C) elains and azriels characters have a lot of interactions and there on page storyline’s are entwined with each other (he’s protective of her, her seeks her out, he didn’t hesitate to rescue her, truth teller all the stuff that came up in the bonus chapter etc etc etc) and this means something and D) Elain and Azriel are indeed attracted to each, but it was not stated in canon that he only thinks of her sexually, contrary to what some people say, there wasn’t enough on page information to make concrete claims like that (wether any of this will go on to mean something more is also yet to be determined) That’s why theories and txt analysis is suppose to be fun but it also needs to lean into canon, which is completely different than a headcanon which brings me to Gwynriel. There is absolutely and I can’t state this enough no canon evidence of gwynriel (wether they go on to be a canon couple once again is yet to be determined) but at the moment all “evidence” of this ship is based of of individual interpretation that has no actual canon backing. Thinking 2 people would be better together doesn’t make something canon, so this ship to me is a crack ship. I will say I think part of the reason the gwynriel ship is so present in social media is because the elucians decided to support that ship because it suited their narrative not because they actually think or care if they become a couple or not so it’s like 2 ships against one. If you took all the eluciens out of the equation I think the gwynriel ship fandom would be a lot smaller.

I think ACOSF happened.

It was a divisive book, needlessly so. It pitted the IC against Nesta and then Nesta with her 'found family' formed almost this separate narrative and a separate unit of girlbosses. And instead of unity, you have division in the fandom. Half of the fandom are older, Feysand-centric readers and then the rest are newer, Nesta-centric readers, who can pin all their hopes and dreams on Gwyn, who is single, straight, pretty and spunky. She is not some vision-seeing weirdo who likes flowers and cream buns. No! Gwyn is your generic, uncomplicated, easily digestible Miss Awesome. Nesta is mated and odd and too tormented, while Emerie would've been okayish, but now she seems to be no longer straight and she's got those ungainly clipped wings. (Let's not kid ourselves, there is plenty of misogyny and racism in this fandom). SO that leaves Gwyn and the last available batboy, who also had a monster cock apparently, the ubiquitous shadows and who is handsome and mysterious.

The relationship between the sisters isnt really resolved at the end of the book. It's fashionable to hate Elain even harder, because she was 'mean to Nesta' and because she is 'mean to Lucien'. So obviously such a revolting character cannot be paired with the handsome Azriel. But who can? Gwyn! Uncomplicated Gwyn, whom you are not allowed to critique in any fashion because .... SA!

And from there on, I think it just grew and grew.

Yes, there is no basis for the Gwynriel ship. But you dont need a basis, you just need access to others via social media, do a lot of posturing as an 'expert', highlight some random passages from the books, creating vague connections. and BOOM! you got a ship. And yes, the viciousness came with Gwynriels, who began acting like they were experts themselves and who descended on anyone who argued like a swarm of bees. They hounded numerous artists off platforms, others refused to even entertain the idea of painting Elriel art, they attacked people on every platform, they doxxed, they berated and insulted. 2021 was a crazy year.

Now they are all gone because they don't give a shit anymore. Other things came about that are more interesting.

The newer Gwynriels arent as psychotic or nasty. They'll argue, which is their right, but like they won't set your grandma on fire over Gwynriel. First Gen Gwynriels were something else. But so many people left the fandom in 21-22 because of the negativity, older fans, who were not into all of this.

There were a ton of Elriels, I remember, in 21-22 on here. Now, there is like me. And a few others, newer ones. From the OG group, there might be 10 left? Sad really, but it is what it is.

[kommikoira]

2024_10_22 // glossolalia and i

i think quite a bit. it's probably the thing i do the most of anything at all, and in doing so i find myself solving and defining lots of things in their own special ways to me. this has notoriously resulted in people referring to me as intentionally vague or cryptic, when in most circumstances i just genuinely don't know how to put something without a metric FUCK TON of context; so here is that context, i suppose! i'm going to be going over some of the main facets of my personal morality and guiding principles and such that may need clarification for the sake of making future communication more effective and streamlined in the future as well as provide any important cultural or historical context to the lexicon. think of this as a glossary of sorts, one that i may or may not add to/edit in the future as i continue to grow forever and ever and ever and ever.

starting off with one of the biggest ones, PLUR or PLURR is an acronym originating in classic rave culture as a sort of rule set one would be expected to follow when at a rave and when encouraged to apply to day-to-day life. it stands for Peace Love Unity and Respect (with Responsibility added in iterations including a second R). it has recently in the last few years found traction in parts of the furry fandom, considering the large crossover demographic between the two and even more recently been contorted into a sort of badge to define a particular esthetic and idea an individual wants to put up about themselves. considering this, i tend to classify any modern example of of the phrase into one of three different categories: classical, esthetic, and co-opted. note that there is an overlap present in almost every iteration of it.

classical plur is when it's displayed in the context that it originally would have been intended: a display of an individual using PLUR(R) as a principle to live by or a ruleset to follow. esthetic is when it is displayed as a representation of somebody's esthetic (often times rave or scene inspired) and as a sort of standard to rally others with the same esthetic interest. finally, co-opted plur is the most recent evolution of the usage which has predominantly come out of individuals who desire to fit themselves into the scene, rave, or 'sparkledog' esthetic and community without actually embodying what these communities and terms are really about, therefore their PLURs (often presented without a second 'R') are given exceptions or recontextualized to fit their rigid institutions of morality and missing the entire fucking point. esthetic PLUR(R) is seen in both instances, as one using it would undoubtedly be aware of the communities surrounding it, but in general fits the MO of PLUR co-opters rather than people using it classically.

now, with all of that being said, i use PLURR in the classical sense before all, and to the extreme, trying to apply ideals of peace, love, unity, respect, and responsibility to all things i do in life, seeing the acronym as one of my guiding principles in all things. of course, there is an esthetic usage to it as well, considering that i am a raver and all, but even if i became your run-of-the-mill blue fox furry and never listened to another rave track again or attended a rave, it would never not be my guiding principle.

"At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality." - Che Guevara

now, the next term is more of a phase, and it also comes sort of hand in hand with the next ones. This is "retoriikkaa ja rakkautta."

this may immediately catch your eyes if you follow my private twitter and now if this is your first time seeing my blog, as it is my display name. retoriikkaa ja rakkautta is finnish and directly translates to "rhetoric and love," but there is another level to this. in finnish, using the word 'rakkautta' is not something to be taken lightly, as it is generally considered a very strong word to describe your love for something. this is intentional in this phrase, as retoriikkaa ja rakkautta is another guiding sort of set of principles to me. they exist in a yin and yang state in my mind, being technically opposed but containing one another. retoriikkaa refers to my political devotions, specifically to communism. rakkautta refers to my expansive love for all that is in this world. the two go hand in hand, as without this love for all that is, i wouldn't be a communist. and, should i not be a communist of some sort, than that love worthy of the term "rakkautta" surely would not exist. this is the philosophy behind another phrase i have used before to describe my work in this world: "kommunismin rakentaminen, rakkauden lisääminen," which translates to "building communism, increasing love." there are motifs that fit the two in my mind, such as paper, left, and the color red being retoriikkaa and plants, right, and the color green being rakkautta.

tying into the previous entry, i would like to define the abstracts and motifs of red and green as i have used them before. red is effectively an embodiment of retoriikkaa, as well as acting as a compartmentalizing tool for specific things and concepts, academics and time being great examples of something i would classify as 100% red in nature. green, as you might expect then, is the embodiment of rakkautta, and is used in the same way. plant life and imagery would be green to me. and then there are things that fit somewhere between the two, such as computers, language, and music falling between the two.

tilakkhana is one that i have seldom used actively, but tend to keep as a permanent fixture (i.e on my private twitter account's bio). this is a term used in buddhism to refer to the three marks of existence which are three characteristics present within all living things. the three marks are impermanence, suffering/unsatisfactory imperfection in all things, and what i will simply describe as the concept of the transient nature of the human experience. i reconcile the use of this term in my own life effectively as a descriptor for a state of great gratitude and resignation. Gratitude for the life that I live and the world I live in and the fact it may change, and resignation to the fact that this is the only life i can live, and so i will be grateful for all things within it as to not be affected by dissatisfaction and maintain humility. it's a recognition of the tao in many ways as well.

the last one is a term i don't use often anymore, but a fundamental descriptor for how i live my life every single day. and that is sharpness. now, this term is originally coined by june strings (who you can find here and on twitter and bluesky). the best way i have come to learn to describe it is radical self-care. it is being specific, being direct, and being honest regarding your own needs. it is making a true effort to say what you want when you want it to yourself and everybody around you. it's also making sure, with bleeding dedication, that you make it clear you cannot give what you do not have, and attempting to do so or hiding that you cannot is only a path to resentment, bitterness, and misunderstanding. you remove assumption from the equation and save as much of yourself for yourself as you need.

i'm sure scrolling june's twitter would give you a better understanding on a deeper level, but this is what it is to me, and it continuously serves its purpose as such, so i think my understanding is more than adequate.

anyway, i hope that was illuminating to any degree or enjoyable. i really like talking about my strange processes so i will always take the liberty to do so when given the opportunity. hope you have a good rest of your night or day and got something out of this, since i think you really could get a lot out of this stuff. god knows i certainly have. lots of love from all of us :)

[tetsunabouquet]

Momoi’s Secret Love for Water (Headcanon)

-Alright, Momoi's love for water (and what it means in KNB), is definitely a hidden element in the series, but it's there. -First of all, just take a look at her favourite green vest, and the way she wears blue at the swimming pool. Blue and green, like the sea? -Second of all, the fact we even meet her for the first time in an aquatic related setting. -Thirdly, who collects bath powders as a hobby, other then people who really love water and relaxing in it? (low-key, same. I have some bath bombs stocked even though I don't own a bath tub LMAO).

-And now we have the obvious visual and trivia info about Momoi out of the way, let's focus on her love for Kuroko who's the very representation of water itself, which goes beyond the fact his hair and eyes are blue coloured or that gag where he passes a seashell or even that he's the guardian of the Zone. Let me touch on the symbolism of water, how Kuroko embodies it and how it is the underlying reason why Seirin defeated the GOM.

Ever heard of Puscifer - The Humbling River? If you don't want to check out the song, basically, the summary of the song is this; there's a mighty king who's pretty much defeated everyone and conquered everything, including representations of the elements like icy winds. Only this river, and the element of water, remain undefeated. He prays over and over to an angel, who eventually answers him that he should forget all of his previous victories, that water cannot be defeated with riches, guns, strength or words. To defeat the river, he must open his heart and hands to his people, and that together they would defeat the river. Essentially, he must humble himself and ask for help.

This speaks of the long time association and philosophy people have had about water. Go with the flow, actually refers to how in real life, you should go along with the flow of water if you do not wish to drown. The more you fight against a current, the faster you will drown. The various things we have invented to control the water and to travel upon it, are usually made by various people as well. It's the element that requires unity and humility.

See where I'm getting at?

That's exactly the secret to Kuroko's strength and why Momoi fell so hard for him. He's like a tidal master who controls the flow of the game completely with his sense of unity and humility. The GOM were destined to lose once he enrolled Seirin. Rakuzan especially, because 4 out of the 5 main players having a huge sense of pride? Please, unlike some people in the fandom, I don't think Rakuzan losing was unrealistic at all once you realize what Kuroko is meant to symbolize. He's supposed to be their exact anti-thesis, and he formed a team around that mentality. Their arrogance in their strength is what crushed them.

Think about the fact that when Shutoku and Seirin were tied, Shutoku had become almost the exact same team as Seirin, even having their own light and shadow in Midorima and Takao. To have a chance to beat Seirin, you gotta be like Seirin and go with the flow. The only reason Aomine once won is just his sheer talent speaking.

Momoi and Free!'s Haruka Nanase definitely consider Kuroko the dream.

-For this reason, if Kuroko doesn't ends up returning her feelings as they grow up, I can definitely see Momoi be into someone with a profession related to water. She'll have definitely dated a cute lifeguard in her college years. -I think swimmers would have an especially soft spot in her heart because they both love water, but also sports (I could even see Momoi being a Free! fangirl if it's not taking place in the same universe). I don't see her chasing after basketball players as an adult because I see Momoi as the type of girl who'd like to keep her work life and private life somewhat seperate as in no dating anyone she might work with in the future (Kuroko has some great power but he won't make it to the NBA realistically).

-If Kuroko and Kagami ever were to hang out on the beach, she'll crash the party for both Kuroko and a good, refreshing swim. -She'll also be a fan of beach dates, but unlike Kagami, her self-made snacks for those outings are better left 'accidentally' dropped in the sand. -So when she starts crying because of it, offer her to buy her favourite ice cream flavour. -The two of you will sit together at the edge of the water, your toes digging into the wet sand as the water occasionally floods over your feet as you eat your ice cream together.

-As an adult, she owns the most luxurious bathroom ever. Even Akashi would be impressed. It would be the most expensive room in her house, and probably worth half of the entire building. -This includes a closet filled with bath powders and bath bombs. -You're never going to want to leave her bathroom. -If she ever breaks up with you, you're definitely going to miss her bathroom the most about her home.

-Momoi is somewhat into the mermaid aesthetic. -Definitely has a few mermaid themed items. -Ariel is her favourite Disney princess -Aomine still has war flashbacks about the Little Mermaid because of how often Momoi made him watch it. -When I think about Momoi with fancy jewelry, Momoi with pearl earrrings is superior to Momoi with gemstone ones. She's definitely the type of girl who could wear pearls. ( tagging my fellow Momoi appreciator @vespersposts   ) 

[therealeagal]

I watched the pony show.

I watched the pony show and actually it was quite good.

You wanna fight about it?

Enter stage left...I wanna say Sunny? Sunny Starshine or some shit. Actually I forget her name already. Lemme look it up.

Ok, it was Starscout. I was close. It counts.

Anyway, she's a wee babboo and she's hanging out with her friends Hitch and Sprout, but Sprout is a douchebag, as children often are, and then middle middle, fast-forward however many years and everyone is an adult. Sunny is an activist.

Hitch...Trailblazer? Anyway, Hitch is the popo. The police. The pig. So naturally, he's the villain of the series, right? Wrong. Come on, man. This is a kid's show. The villain is actually his deputy, Sprout, whose resemblance to Trump is probably a coincidence. Probably.

Anyway, Sunny is an activist, who wants the three pony races to live in harmony, after they were split up in times long past by Twilight Sparkle for some reason or other and Hitch wants to stop her because...he's an asshole I guess? I mean he's not an asshole, because he's actually very nice and he's just trying to protect Sunny, but he's an asshole. You get me?

Anyway, Sunny et al are earth ponies, to be distinguished from pegasus and unicorns.

Then middle middle middle, Sunny meets Izzy Moonbow (a unicorn) and leaves town to find and unite the three pony races with Hitch hot on their trail because...it's illegal to leave town and unite the three pony races? I'm not too clear on what law Sunny was supposed to be breaking.

Anyway, while he's gone, Hitch leaves Sproutald Trump in charge, who within like, a minute, becomes a fascist dictator, with an admittedly quite catchy musical number.

Then Sunny and Izzy go to Zephyr Heights to meet the pegasus princesses whose names are...Pipp Petals and Zipp Storm. Which is weird because the other ponies with two names makes it seem like those are actual surnames and not just part of their given names and I can't imagine a queen would let her daughters have two different last names unless she was blatantly playing favorites about which one she wants to inherit the throne.

ANYWAY. The pegasus can't fly because flying is powered by magic but none of the ponies have magic because they're not united or some shit. Also, Pipp is that most worthless of creatures: a social media influencer! *scare chord*

But I won't hold it against her, because she's a good bean.

Anyway, middle middle middle, Sunny and Izzy and Pip and Zipp team up with Hitch, who's not a dick anymore, and they go to Bridlewood and play Prance Prance Revolution. Yes, really.

Oh, I forgot to mention that this is all in service to reuniting the Unity Crystals which will bring back all the magic.

Anyway middle middle middle, Sprout's totalitarian regime tries to kill Sunny but middle middle everyone lives happily ever after except not really because there is evil afoot but that's something to worry about another day.

Subject of discussion: Does being part of a fandom mean you are part of the fandom? Does being a fan of Star Trek make you a Trekkie?

Does liking Lord of the Rings make you...actually does the Lord of the Rings fandom have a cutsey nickname? I can't recall. Ringy? Lottery? Because Lotr? Lottery? Get it? Nothing? Not even a half-hearted chuckle? Ok.

Does a grown man finding value in the story and messages of My Little Pony automatically make him a "brony"?

For myself, I'd rather avoid the label, as I feel it has too much baggage, but it seems the two are inseparable either way. I don't terribly care one way or the other. If I was that bothered by what other people think I wouldn't do half the shit I do, so call me a brony if you must (although I'd rather you didn't), I'll keep watching the pony show either way.

Cheers!

[seldomscilence16]

Whumptober Day 5: 

"You better pray I don't get up this time round."

Debri | pinned down | "It's broken."

Fandom: Owl House (canon divergence)

Prompt used: Debri, Pinned, "Its broken."

So honestly, no idea where this one stands timeline wise, cause I moved so much around. So its just like… its own timeline, so please bare with me and go with the flow. It shouldn't be too confusing hopefully, but basically; after the portal was destroyed but before the day of Unity, however literally everything that happened before and in between is up in the air order wise lol. So enjoy some Luz angst  

Also, I guess as a PS: sorry for the spacing lol, after last year im writing everything in google then posting and fixing the spacing for the whole thing... meh. If people complain I'll try lol.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

…

The Isles, by normal human standards, were a terrifyingly dangerous place. Luz, despite her human title, was far from normal- no matter how much the world wanted her to be- and found the Isles both weird and positively fantastic! Even with all the mortal danger and stuff. 

She'd done a lot here, been through a lot, stuff no one at her old school would believe. Still, no matter how much she's seen and experienced, some things still surprised her. But this time… this time she was alone. And boy was she in trouble. 

The fight had been her fault. Despite what they'd all been through, there were still some things they just… didn't talk about. And when things are bottled up, they're bound to explode eventually. But it's no excuse, she shouldn't have said what she said, shouldn't have yelled, and shouldn't have run off. She loves her friends, her family in this place far from her mom, and yet she always manages to ruin everything. And now, she supposed she was getting what she deserved. 

They'd been on a little trip of sorts- Willow, Gus, Amity, Hunter and herself- Luz thinks it may have had something to do with the emperor but she'd been… distracted lately. When Luz had turned to run after their fight, she's pretty sure the others flew off- they had their staff's, Luz had caught a ride with Amity because Eda needed Owlbert, so Luz was stranded, she's so stupid… she deserved it- and it was a good thing too apparently. That meant they were out of danger, and that Luz would die the most anticlimactic death ever after all she'd been through. 

Well, she supposed what led up to it wasn't like… completely boring. But she's also mad at herself for letting this all happen after she started a stupid fight because she's terrible-

She'd run off, into forest-y darkness, eyes wet but cheeks dry- she refused to cry, she couldn't, she wouldn't stop if she started and she feared she didn't have enough, that she didn't deserve to cry- and hadn't stopped until she was forced to. The trees were dense here, but that wasn't what stopped her, no it was the demon's trap. A simple little snare shed stepped in, that dragged her up to a crude little house in the trees. 

The demon itself wasn't unlike Grometheus. A grotesque formless thing that seemed to peer into Luz's very soul, but unlike the Grom monster, this thing did not change into her deepest fears but rather ranted in a cliche crotchety voice about Luz and her fellow trespassers being its next meal. Then proceeded to- in great detail- describe the process of how it'd eat them. Luz got lost about 2 seconds in when the words failed to either translate or compute with her brain, but it sounded like a truly awful way to go out. (but at least it wouldn't have been a boring headstone.)

Luz would blame the blood rushing to her head for her delayed reaction of fighting back- because it was far better than the reality- but as soon as she registered that the demon was going to hunt her friends down, she pulled some glyphs out and fought back. And truly, this thing was far easier to fight than Grometheus, despite its quick reflexes, but Luz had not taken into account the house's whereabouts. One wrong ice pillar, one hit to the support holding this house up, one second to panic, before the whole place crumbled and Luz's world went dark.

Waking up had been met with pain, and a bit of surprise at waking at all. She'd thought for sure the fall would kill her one way or the other, but no, she woke to find the sky a darker color, the remnants of the house broken around her, and her inability to move. Between the debri of the house itself, and the branches of the trees that had come with it, Luz was truly and utterly pinned, trapped, and buried. And after that fight… and the fact that even she didn't know where she was, there was no way she'd be found any time soon. She would die here, from her injuries no doubt- she was in too much pain, she felt like a dog that's been hit by a semi- and sure she deserved it, but… she wished she had left on a better note. To tell her friends she hadnt meant any of it, that she was sorry, that it's all her fault. 

Something creaks, crashes, a dirt cloud fills the air and she cant help her cough, despite the agony that rips through her,

"It's broken." She had really hoped to never hear that voice again, "My home, you broke my home!" The screech is ear splitting, and Luz can barely see- is it blood, dust, or hair in her eye she cant tell- but she can feel the debri tremble as the Demon lumbers about, throwing things, rifling through the chaos-

Looking for Luz. 

Well… she supposed she might get a notable ending after all. 'Here lies Luz the Human, killed by her own stupidity, and an angry demon.' Hm, her mama will hurtle a chancla at Luz's spirit when she hears. 

Another screech fills the air and the weight on top of Luz gets impossibly heavier, despite herself she cant help the wet scream that rips from her throat as something moves that shouldn't. She wonders idly if a rib can bend enough to rip through her back, though she supposes she shouldn't be alive long to feel it if that's the case.

A silence rings after her scream, and she bites her lip hard enough to bleed in the hopes the Demon had not heard, or at least couldn't find the direction of it. Instead a cackle fills the air, the stuff around her trembles, and Luz knows she's been found. 

"There you are child, come, it's time for dinner!" The emphasis on dinner is not needed, but Luz can appreciate a bit, even a fatal one. 

As more and more debri is moved, she comes face to face-ish once again with the demon. Ironically, even if she wasn't quite literally pinned, she thinks that stare would do the same, there's a finality to it. 

She hopes everyone will be okay. She hopes King won't be too sad, that Eda won't blame herself, that Odalia will eat dirt before the others arrive back to town, she… hopes for so many things she has no time to hope about, because appendages are forming from the blob and she knows the process is about to begin- even if she doesn't even know what the dang process is!

"Step away from our friend!" 

Awe, they still call me fr-

Wait,

"Guys! What-" her shocked response to their arrival is cut off by another shriek, this close it has her ears ringing painfully and with no hands to cover them, she simply hopes her eardrums are okay. 

Willow and Amity take the lead, Gus taking up the rear, the demon stumbling backwards as they distract it from Hunter's arrival by Luz's side. 

"Titan… hold on, I'll figure out how to get this off you-" 

"You guys came." She mutters it, against her better wishes, but with teary eyes she stares up at Hunter as he looks at her in shock.

"Of course we did. Just cause we fought doesn't mean we would leave you here." He seems hurt by her words so she forces her voice to work.

"I deserved this, I was so mean, I didn't mean any of it, i'm sorry, I-" 

"You did not deserve this!" He takes a breath to calm himself, focusing again on trying to lift stuff, "We all said stupid things, and it's obvious there are underlying problems, we will talk it out later. But right now you need help, and I have no idea what's NOT broken." 

"I love you guys." 

"Yeah yeah" the blush on his face says what he can't and Luz lets a sense of safety wash over her. 

It'd be fine, even if it was broken, they'd fix what was broke.

[celebration88]

The fact we are all interconnected and I all made you feel and think special when I am supposed to help by giving without anything in return. I love the lives I have improved regardless of your tears, pain, struggles and ups and downs we have been through. I have always just wanted my friends to come together in harmony and unity. The fact each and everyone of my friends hold a new meaning of special and specific gifts. Think of the role you play in their lives despite betrayals, my depression creates magic for those to believe in themselves. I love each and every fandom been in each for 10-20-35 years. I just want to change the world to be better in your lives with this measure of creativity. Gratefully blessed and appreciate my people and soul tribe in and around me. No mental health and sadness is ever worth it to take from someone else. Unity and uniqueness is the way. Just give yourself a loving hug and pat on the back. It's like the pictures frames of life from each of our families reach of us play a role in. I wouldnt change friendships for anything. I love myself exactly as I am. Don't let anything happen to you that ain't meant for you. It's okay to embrace prayer and peace and also yourself when you cry because belief in prayer is our strengths.

[dextixer]

Jaune Arc being over-represented in the story is only a myth that needs correction if a person intentionally refuses to engage with the actual argument that many critics of the show have made.

Jaune Arc does not have more screenTIME than other characters. He is not overwhelming in what time he gets. The problem with Jaune Arc to many people is that he is more present in the story than he should be in their opinion and that he receives scenes that other characters should, but do not.

The perfect example of this is of course the death of Pyrrha. In her screentime most of the time she interacts with Jaune and when she dies, her death and its effects are centered on Jaune, by comparrison, Ruby, the PROTAGONIST of the show does not even have interactions with Pyrrha at all and has like two scenes where she is sad about Pyrrha.

In Volume 4 Jaune is made more into a protagonist than Ruby.

In Volume 5, he is the center of attention of Cinder. Cinder, the character that was set-up to be against Ruby in V4, now focuses on Jaune only. Not only that but Weiss is fridged for Jaune to unlock his semblance. You can dismiss that event all you wish, it doesnt change that it happened and is a problem.

Only in V6 does Ruby start taking back her role as a protagonist but even then, Jaune has constant involvement in places where other characters should be. Volume 9 is a capstone of this problem as Jaune had no REASON to be included in the Volume that should have been focused on team RWBY.

And yet, Jaune and Ruby are the main focuses of Volume 9 and characters like Weiss received a SINGLE scene being sad about her entire home city being destroyed.

Legit fans have noticed these things and your dismissal of them just because they dont share your opinion is shitty. They are not less fans just because they think there should be less of Jaune and more of RWBY in the show.

Dont talk about lies when you cant even honestly engage with the arguments presented and your entire post is not only full of condescension and arrogance but also refuses to even engage with the opponents point.

And also.

KEEP THE SUMMER OF RWBY TAGS OUT OF YOUR BULLSHIT!

I am getting seriously FUCKING annoyed with you RWBY Tumblr fans. Summer of RWBY event is supposed to promote unity, to promote fan-works and the fandom in general. As such those of us critical of the show are not criticizing the show with the Summer of RWBY tags, we promote and enjoy the works.

And yet day in and day fucking out i have to see fucking dumbasses like you use the Summer of RWBY tags AND accounts just to promote your personal crusades against critics.

You dont like critics? Good for you.

KEEP THE SUMMER OF RWBY TAGS OUT OF IT!

I dont know why the FUCK you people cant help yourselves.

What we can learn from “The Jaune Arc Discourse” (TM).

Well, to start with, people are really resistant to being corrected on lies at worst or overstatements at best.

Like if nothing else, the Does RWBY Like Women poll was illuminating in how it showed me that a veeeeeery weird myth about Jaune Arc has persisted beyond its true relevancy.

Volume 1 of RWBY features Jaune Arc in the spotlight for… what? Four episodes? The minutes of each adding up to roughly twenty minutes, the length of an average TV episode?

While he was featured in the previous storyline where we are given an eight episode arc introducing us to our eight main protagonists, he was a lot more… ancillary as comic relief. A discount Lavernius Tucker with Felix’s voice if you will.

He's Vomit Boy in episode one. Episode two has him introduced more formally as somebody who helps up Ruby after a bad first impression on Weiss. He later appears more prominently pining over Weiss and catching Pyrrha's attention before falling to bracing himself in being catapulted into the Emerald Forest.

He's bailed out by Pyrrha and it's set up that he's in over his head by not knowing what Aura is or at least wanting to know how it works. An exposition sponge as I heard on fan call it. I could go on but the point is that all signs pointed to a Butt Monkey Ron Stoppable sort who was likely there for cheap laughs.

Amusing enough but I worried if that's all he'd be personally. Lord knows that some movies give the Comic Relief character too much comic relief and, well, not enough character. But after Ruby and Weiss have their leader/lance headbutting, the four episodes that followed reassured me that there'd be more to Jaune than meets the eyes.

But to circle back to the main thesis, it's actually fascinating that the myth of Jaune hijacking the narrative for himself is this pervasive when the offending story in question... is very much a self-contained character piece. It's way less about the wider story involving Ozpin, Roman Torchwick (at the time) and the White Fang.

It has relevance in how Pyrrha starts mentoring Jaune after he deals with Cardin and gets over himself (for now) which trickles down into future stories. Even then, the next story arc right back with Team RWBY with nary a sign of the everyman in question. A story arc that does deal with elements of the main plot, leading directly into Volume 2.

And in Volume 2, Jaune trying to woo Weiss and being ignorant to Pyyrha's advancements was just a subplot scattered in the first half of the story. It very much piggybacks off of Team RWBY's whole deal.

Volume 3 has what I consider to be a reversal of what's been known as Trinity Syndrome.

Namely the sort where a male character goes off the square off with the main villain mano-e-mano after shoving the female character/his love interest away so she won't get hurt. An egrigious example being when the love interest CAN FIGHT and back him up.

However, Pyyrha instead shoves Jaune out of the way after kissing him and goes off to face Cinder in a very fatal battle. It was honestly a brilliant (as much as the term may be disliked these days) subversion of the cliche.

And it’s Ruby who sees her death and gets the trauma induced power up. Jaune only has a scene of angst before that and was the one to call Ruby to have her try and back up the one he just realized he loved.

Jaune from that point on is an Everyman Protagonist who is forced to remember that he’s not THE protagonist. Yet the myth persistently proclaims that he hijacks the narrative from the titular Team RWBY despite only four episodes being wholly dedicated to him and his head space.

How did we get here?

Well… there’s the fact that not everyone finished Volume 1 and that not everybody, well, watched RWBY. And that would be fine on its own. You gave it a shot and it wasn’t your cuppa joe. You saw the trailer but clicked on something else.

I get it. That’s fine. Contrary to popular belief, nobody in the FNDM will really fault you for it. Less fine is when you spread faulty readings of RWBY and from those heavily biased against it no less.

It cannot be emphasized enough that tearing into RWBY is a cottage industry on YouTube. Hbomberguy might have the biggest platform but you’ll find multiple channels with lengthy series on “RWBY bad, here why.” And they are actually amongst the FNDM. They know how the YT Algorithm game is played, how it rewards engagement above all else. And sadly, negativity and rage pay more bills.

It’s why there are few positive videos or at least few that are pushed into the recommendations. Many often borrow the same points from each other born from the V1 days, namely that Jaune is allegedly given favoritism by the writers while we somehow “don’t know who the main girls are.”

From four episodes.

I also think it’s also to do with how it’s not that he actually did steal screentime… so much as many anticipated he would. A lot of shows and movies I grew up with would have strong female characters but any potential they had was hindered by the male lead and his hero’s journey. See the above Trinity Syndrome I referenced.

But Jaune didn’t do that. Even when he was central to an event like his semblance being awakened, it’s a healing/power boost that he gives to others. Weiss getting skewered might’ve brought it out but it lead to her getting back into the fray while he was largely to the sides.

Seems more like he shares screentime if anything.

People cling to these myths despite legit fans actually pointing out, “Hey, that’s not true actually and here’s why,” because that hate being told they are wrong more than being wrong. And because there are many around these who reinforce this “truth,” they feel content with it. No need to challenge it when it “feels” right.

So Jaune Arc stole screentime. Because that’s what “everyone else” is saying. By you need to question popular opinions. You need to realize that sometimes… a fan community is based on lies.

”Trust me, bro” is not the gotcha you think it is.

[somewhereapart]

So, I had the curiosity to go over your exchange with that weird anon trying to say that us, OQ fans, aren't ERs as well and... I don't get it at all. I understand someone not liking the thing I love. I understand the person loath the thing I love, but why in the world do people insist on pushing their visions on others? That's so gross! Not to mention claim things that were never part of the OQ dynamic like sexism and Regina being reduced to a LI. People really see what they want, it's amazing!

Everyone has their own interpretations, and I think that sometimes people lose sight of the fact that their interpretation isn’t the only valid one -- especially if their own interpretation is what they see echoed all around them in their spheres of social media.

This is really one of those things where I cannot stress enough the value of following people who don’t necessarily like what you like. Not necessarily people who hate it -- although I have done that, too. I have followed people who are very anti-OQ and anti-Sean, etc. and I usually end up unfollowing them eventually (or unfollowing for a while and then following again, most often -- I’ve unfollowed a lot of them right now bc Sean is coming back to the show for a while and I want to be able to enjoy it without people ripping on it), but for those times that I am following them, I get to see who they are as people, and what we do have in common, both inside the show and outside of it. And I feel like that really helps in seeing people as people not just as shippers. 

It’s a lot harder to assume all Hoodies have a low IQ if you regularly interact with smart, passionate Hoodies. It’s a lot harder to assume all of Swen are just angry lesbians if you’re regularly interacting with Swen who are kind and thoughtful and brave. It’s a lot harder to assume all CSers are children who think rape culture is just the bee’s knees when you’re regularly interacting with CSers who are parents, and advocates, and genuinely good people. 

And, look, I do a lot of scrolling past things I don’t particularly care about on my feed, but I do also have the opportunities to see what Rumbellers like about Rumbelle, how CSers interpret CS, how much personal value Swan Queen has for Swen. And I don’t always agree with what I see, but I find it’s a lot harder to be an asshole about ship-based stuff when I see all these shippers outside of the battle zones. 

It’s a lot harder to send hate over ships when you have names and faces and relationships with people in those ships. It’s a lot harder to say “all CSers” or “all Hoodies” or “all Dragon Queen shippers” or “all Swen” when you’ve seen that there is not actually a hive mind, but a collection of individuals who are each here for their own reasons, and who, by and large, are kind and respectful.

But when that’s not your sphere? When you’re surrounded by people who are constantly ripping on one ship or the other, who are constantly denigrating their shippers as all one thing, or all another, who have lost sight of them as individual people and not just a big group of wrongness, and whose interpretation is validated again and again by the people they interact with who share that interpretation -- well, then it’s really easy to believe you’re the only one who’s right. And I’d imagine it’s also really easy to believe that all those people who are wrong need to be told they’re wrong, and that your fandom experience would be better off without them. 

I disagree, wholeheartedly. 

I think my fandom experience is made infinitely richer by Swen, and CS, and DQ, and Rumbelle, and Snowing, and DOQ, and Red Queen, and Swanfire, and on and on. And as a result, anons like these don’t actually hurt me -- because I know that their opinions are not everyone’s. I know that their opinions are just that -- their opinions. I know that everyone has very different interpretations of the text, because I see it every day. I interact with it all the time. I have been seeing it for the three years I have been active in this fandom.

It’s much the same in fandom as it is in life -- broadening your social sphere to include people who don’t see the world they way you do helps you to learn about those people in a way you can’t from within your own bubble.

Anyway, this got long, but... there ya go.