#and how the fandom landscape around it has changed over the years

[lilyginnyblackv2]

Just some thoughts about my own personal experience with fanfiction and how my relationship with it has changed over the years.

But I also dislike that people speak about fanfiction writers like they are a monolith nowadays and that they all want non-critical reviews. And I just think that the idea of engaging with fandom through fanfic discussion/criticism/etc. has largely stagnated in a way, likely because there isn't really a need for it anymore with social media, which functions differently from traditional online forums did back in the day.

I used to be really involved in fanfic writing. I used to write a lot of reviews too. But nowadays I barely write fanfic anymore because there is no dialogue between reader and writer. The whole idea of leaving reviews that are completely devoid of any constructive criticism has discouraged a lot of people from reviewing, imo.

I think it has made people too afraid to write a review in fear that they say something that could be taken as potentially negative and they don't want to cause problems, etc. This has killed discussion and reviewing as an idea and concept. I can remember having huge long discussions over on FFNet back in the day. I would create great bonds and relationships with the reviewers and really get to grow from it all. I know that not everyone writes for growth, I get that and I think it is great that there are people that are stating their boundaries clearly with things like that. I liked critical reviews, but I never liked flames, those were always pointless and cruel, and I totally understand people that want to avoid getting those. Flames are never welcomed.

This post isn't to anger or to knock on anyone for their particular preference in regards to all this, just some thoughts I've had on this topic for a long while. Watching how fandom spaces, like fanfiction, grow and change over the years is to be expected. It's just interesting to think about and reflect on. There's a feeling to those FFNet days that were very unique and that I can't quite explain or put into words. It's just a fascinating thing to think on and this is more so just rambling. I just wanted to get these thoughts out and written down. Feel free to comment!

[who-is-page]

I've seen (typically older) therians talking about how they feel that their subculture as animal-people and nonhumans is slowly disappearing. This is a point that, in all honesty, I'm inclined to agree with-- although I think I'd perhaps frame it less as "disappearing" and more as just "changing."

Because let's be honest with ourselves here: is the subculture actually vanishing, or is it just evolving into radical new dimensions as excited newbies join and find different focal points for their nonhumanity? As they express themselves in whole new dimensions and ways, as they explore a digital landscape that didn't exist ten, twenty years ago? As the older members lose touch with the newer members, and no one bridges that gap between the two?

I think I'm also extra frustrated because when I see these discussions go down, a lot of the time they're either 1) self-pitying, or 2) finger-pointing.

It's not bad or wrong to look around and realize that the community you found comfort in has changed in ways you could have never predicted and which leave you feeling off-kilter. But approaching these changes with a complete lack of curiosity, with an absolute woe-is-me sort of perspective, where you drag your feet and glare bitter daggers at everyone else, isn't the way to do anything.

And going around trying to pin blame on whoever happens to be at hand is an even worse way to approach it. "It's the furry fandom's faults!" "It's the alterhumans' faults!" "It's the humans' faults!" Who does this approach realistically help? What does this do, beyond ostracize people and make whoever is saying it feel temporarily vindicated in their solitude, in a vicious cycle where they never step out of their ivory tower and always use how alone they are as "proof" that they're right?

I think having discussions about the ways the subculture has changed is extremely worthwhile. But I think that they're at their best when enthusiasm over sharing takes a main, central point. When you see people excitedly telling others about Werecards for the first time, or when you get to introduce someone to the concept of personal websites and webrings, or when you link someone who's only just starting to learn that there's others like them to old and new groups and forums alike. These are the ways you keep those traditions alive, these are they ways you get people both informed of and really excited about them.

And like, maybe I'm just cheesy and optimistic, but building bridges is way more fun than building walls! And more than that, I also think it's fundamentally something that's significantly more helpful and productive. I'm always so hype when I see community projects taking off that involve connecting many different people, especially if they're centered on a specific group or identity, but I also think that those sorts of things are how we keep a community healthy and moving, how we avoid things getting stagnant and rotting away.

I've said it before in past essays I've published and I'll say it again: alterhuman communities survive through their internal momentum. We're still around and kicking because we're a bunch of opinionated, passionate animals and objects and entities and people and concepts and and and-- this is what we are! This is how we all, both together and individually as separate groups, continue to be around. We write. We argue. We dance. We leave tracks. And then others see all those things, months or years down the line, and they know they're not alone. They know that it's okay to join in around the campfire, and they end up leaving their own tracks, and the cycle repeats.

So I guess what I'm saying here is that I'm not just beseeching people to create, but I'm asking you to create with others. To extend that paw towards the people around you in your immediate community spaces and wider, and to realize that yeah, the digital grains of sand and time might erode and change the landscapes we're all in, but we can still have a damn good time exploring the new nooks and crannies around us and showing others our old hidey-holes and favorite spots to watch the sun set.

[canichangemyblogname]

@trans-buckleyy (this is my main), I got into watching 911 ~September 2022 and looking back through some of my old message/posts about it I was talking about how the gifs I'd seen on tumblr made me think buddie were together. So yeah I definitely got 'baited'/misled by the fans (I didn't start watching for buddie specifically, they just came up on my dash the most) - I commented at the time that a lot of the posts on tumblr about 911 felt like they were only through the lens of buddie shippers so I can see how so many people were misled, fortunately for me the illusion shattered as soon as I actually started watching the show. Though there's been a massive shift in attitude, when I first joined the fandom most people were happy shipping buddie and not believing it would ever become canon, now it seems like everyone has convinced themselves it will. Imo they're kind of setting themselves up for disappointment.

I’m sure I’ve said this before on my blog: capitalism combined with the white supremacist suppression, homogenization, or sterilization of cultures & traditions leads people to make consumption and products part of their identity. Fiction and fandom fill a need to belong that often replace real support systems and community (this is why so many in fandom feel lonely). Rather than a hobby, fandom is part of some people’s identity. So, pushback against popular fan interpretations— or fanon— can feel like a personal attack.

It seems to me that the blogs that just do fandom things to do fandom things—like shipping, that are happy to delineate between canon and fanon, and that understand that fanon is fanon and will likely never go canon are also the same blogs that love things like “rare-pairs” and “multi-shipping.” They seem to approach it from a “it’s never that serious” mentality and really just seem to want to have fun with it. It’s a hobby, not part of how they define themselves. Hobbies and interests are welcome to change, whereas people see identity as fixed and deterministic (it’s not, but that’s a whole other discussion).

There’s been a massive shift in attitude because the landscape has changed. Many of the most hard-core fans have staked their group belonging and (fandom) worldview around buddie. It was *the* singular 9-1-1 fanon relationship (the rest are all canon). It brought them together with people, people who they now see celebrating more on-screen queer representation. They feel spurned. Videos are surfacing of some of the most hard-core sobbing over Buck being confirmed as bi, but not getting buddie. They're telling their audience/followers that if buddie never goes canon, their quality of life will decrease, and they’re repeating many of the same things you (and many other fans) mention: they were led to believe this was a done deal, a foregone conclusion. How does one admit they’re likely wrong about “endgame” when they’ve spent the better part of 6 years supporting this and believing in it? They’re having far more difficulty accepting this than you did. Unlike you, actually watching the show did not set their expectations for what canon will likely be.

I also think there has been a massive shift in the way fandoms approach shipping since the end of Supernatural. A good chunk of the SPN fandom simply stopped watching the show, but continued creating for it. The fandom still dominates on fan-driven sites despite the show now being off-air for 4 years. Many SPN fans had largely given up on canon, preferring fanon, and admitted as such. Until “Destiel” went “canon.” (It didn’t, not really and not technically.) People shifted to this idea that they— the fans— could pressure networks and producers to canonize their ship (they can’t) or make decisions the fandom, a very niche part of an audience, would prefer (they can't). After Buck was confirmed bi, some of the most popular takes were, “This is revolutionary! Just 4 years ago, Supernatural was queerbaiting us all to superhell, and now we have 9-1-1 making a character bi 7 seasons in."

Ultimately, this idea they can pressure shows into making fanon a reality reveals that they have no concept of how television shows are made and produced or how decisions are made at the production and network levels. They are not going to persuade a network plus every writer, every producer, and every showrunner involved to agree to do what they want. But we still see fans in fandom believe they can get all these people to make decisions for the sake of fandom. Just look at the Our Flag Means Death fandom and their billboard fiascos.

Because buddie is part of how this subset of 9-1-1 fans define their sense of belonging, if Buck is in a relationship with anyone other than Eddie, this threatens their community and their relationship with the media itself. Tommy is to these 9-1-1 fans what Eddie was to Buck in 02x01: competition. This is why this same group treated the actresses who played former love interests like shit, too, including death threats and attempts to doxx or "cancel" them. Everything that challenges their (fandom) worldview must be removed. They can't and won't get the network to budge, so maybe they can try to get the actors themselves to quit or the producers to budge. After all, they have "direct" access to these individuals (they don't).

This all seems fantastical just writing about it. The logic doesn't logic, but logic isn't going to logic when social media creates parasocial relationships. Social media makes it seem like we plebians are closer to the patrician class because of how we're exposed to personal aspects of their lives. Repeated exposure to a media persona causes a media user to develop illusions of intimacy, friendship, and identification, and the more prevalent social media is in the media user's life, the more parasocial the online relationship becomes. So if your belonging and part of your sense-of-self identify with being a buddie shipper, then so, too, does the media persona, leading to people like Oliver Stark or Tim Minear being "number one buddie defenders" (they don’t care, y'all, I promise).

Now, add to this the way that m/m shipping has been constructed as inherently subversive (despite the reductive and sometimes regressive tropes that slash-fic uses) and as a form of activism, and you now have people not just identifying with shipping and staking their well-being on a ship, but also believing it is a morally righteous cause to campaign for. To them, they're fighting for representation and the expansion of queer stories. So, when the network and show expand queer representation without them or their ship, they're confronted with the reality that what they're doing doesn't do a damn bit of help. They're forced to ask themselves if their feverish promotion of and support for this ship may not have been about representation. I've seen some of them conclude that 1.) being forced to look critically at shipping is just misogyny because the majority of people in these fandom spaces are women, 2.) they're a queer woman, so, of course, it was about representation, they support and care about queer men and are an m/m ally (yet reblog posts about shooting us if we flirt with men in ways they don't like with the excuse "I'm a woman, I'm allowed to hate men"), 3.) actually, the buddie ship is "superior" representation because it is culturally diverse because Eddie's Latino (yea tokenization!!).

This all plays a large part in why they aren't taking it well when called out for homophobia and the xenophobic hypersexualization of Latino men because, to them, shipping culturally diverse m/m relationships is inherently "progressive" and "subversive" (again, despite the reductive and regressive tropes they use in their writing). They don't need to look critically at what they're saying or how they're hurting marginalized men because they believe they are putting moral pressure on the networks to be more progressive or subversive. Meanwhile, they're drawing rhetoric and ideas from existing queerphobic worldviews and legal structures (like echoing the rhetoric similar to gay panic, a US legal strategy to excuse crimes such as murder and assault on the grounds that the victim being queer led the perp to violence - a.k.a shooting a man for the way he flirted with another man) to tear down canon queer representation, just as they previously used misogynistic tropes to tear down Ana or Taylor or Ali or Marisol.

TL;DR— Many factors have contributed to the wide meltdown and "fandom schism" we've witnessed, not just the fact that some people explicitly started watching for buddie and have skipped whole swaths of the show to fit a "buddie interpretation."

[courtney-deserved-better]

seeing as it’s now been one year since the last chapter of slippery slopes was posted, i decided to make a big sappy post talking about what this fic has meant to me over the last two and a half years

i started writing slippery slopes after a bolt of inspiration struck me on this post. i’d tried writing my fair share of long fics prior, most of them remaining unpublished and all of them unfinished. i’m not quite sure what made me think i could write slippery slopes other than a strong desire to write the alenoah fic i wanted to read but that didn’t exist at the time. slippery slopes was the 30th fic posted in the alenoah tag, which didn’t have any finished long fics at the time. i think if you told 2021 pj that in two years there would be over 600 alenoah fics, many of them tdwt rewrites, their head would explode.

i honestly had no idea what i was jumping into when i started writing slippery slopes. looking back, i was very insecure about my writing. i’d actually forgotten about that until i was reading some posts i’d made while i was still writing it, where i wondered if i was going to be able to pull off the miscommunication plotline and the unplanned alecourtney friendship. almost every announcement of a chapter draft being completed included me saying i felt weird about it, or thought it was bad. i felt incredibly uncomfortable writing serious angst and when that started playing an important role in the fic at around chapter seven i feared that my writing was awful and other people would dislike it the way i had. i genuinely don’t think it hit me that slippery slopes was a popular fic until a few months before it became the most kudosed fic on ao3.

back then, i was able to understand why other people liked slippery slopes, but i couldn’t read it without cringing. i’m not sure when exactly the switch flipped—probably after i finally finished it and was able to distance myself from the writing process—but it became a fic that i’m incredibly proud of. i can reread it now and enjoy it without cringing in the slightest. i was able to see my writing as good, and well-crafted. i will always appreciate slippery slopes as a fic where i grew incredibly as a writer. i understand how to plan out long fics while still allowing for spontaneity. i can comfortably write angst. i feel strong in my choices for characterization and friendship even if it may seem unconventional. i have so much more confidence in my writing now, and a lot of that is thanks to you all.

other than desperately wanting an alenoah tdwt rewrite fic, a huge part of why i wrote slippery slopes was because i felt lonely in the td fandom and was hoping that this fic could connect me with more people out there. and boy oh boy it sure has. and not just the plethora of alenoah shippers—way more than i expected—but there were also people who didn’t ship alenoah, but still stayed for the story, and people who had never considered alenoah but gave my fic a chance and ended up shipping it anyway. when i didn’t believe my writing was good, there were many, many kind commenters who showed my fic love and encouraged me to keep going with it. and even now, there are commenters whose fresh excitement make me feel like all the time i spent on this fic was so, so worth it. and they all inspire me to keep writing. 

i may be a good writer, but i don’t think i can ever fully express what everyone’s support has done for me. i still struggle to wrap my mind around the fact that there are dozens of drawings of my fic that you all have made! that’s crazy! i am so, so lucky to have such wonderful readers, and i hope you all know how incredibly grateful i am. slippery slopes would not exist without you. this was a joint effort. it’s amazing to me how a spontaneously started fic for a crackship ended up changing the total drama fandom landscape the way it did. who would’ve guessed that a simple whim to write an alenoah fic could become quite the slippery slope.

[amememightywarrior]

Phases of growth of an internet user in fandom, circa 2024

0-10 yrs - if you're on the internet it's either your parent(s) posting pics of you to facebook or you're watching youtube kids with less supervision than you actually need 'cos there are some weird as shit channels out there labeled 'for kids'. 11-12 - somehow they gave you a smartphone but you're very busy watching minecraft or roblox youtube channels and video-chatting your friends and you're probably into Pokemon. 13-16 - You are convinced only fellow teens your age belong on the internet sharing memes, because this is literally where ALL your peers are. What do you MEAN there are older people here on [social media site] that you can actually interact with?? Ew! 17-18 - The weight of IRL expectations is slowly crushing your creative spirit but you persevere. Time to apply to college. 19-20 - The end of your life is nigh. Also you're in college now trying to be an adult. What is happening?? You can vote now???? 21-24 - College, graduation, and discovering the wonderful surprises awaiting you in the economy earlier generations have left you (right now? it's shit. sorry.) You're still here doing what you enjoy. But are you letting your life slip away between your fingers? 25-29 - The 13-16 yr olds react like they're amazed at you for being on the internet but this is where you have your audience/friends/ways to talk about your favorite shows, which you STILL HAVE THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Your biggest fear is hitting 30 and having nothing to show for it but you've been making a lot of adulting mistakes and learning from those mistakes in a big way. It really stings when teenagers scream in astonishment that you're over 25. 30-39 - Now the gap between you and the 13-16 yr olds is bigger than ever but you look at them and see your past self and oof...but they deserve that chance to learn and grow just like you. And now you also know they will experience what you have: the neverending weird looks from whoever is currently 13-16. Such is the curse of aging. You may have a kid or two yourself by now, too. It doesn't bother you as much when you see polls asking about what age you are as a fanfic writer. Your twenties were miserable but it's getting better now that you kinda know what you're doing. The only drawback is the random aches and pains. Hey you! Quit shrimping! I see that! You're gonna regret it! 40+ (and I do mean the plus) - You were here before all these damn kids. How dare they try to cite the Deep Magic at you, you were there when it was written (the Deep Magic: the first Star Trek fanfic ever posted on the internet). You witness the very real loss of knowledge and wisdom of the internet that seemed like it had been around just ten years ago, as no one knows to even look for the history of anything. The landscape has really changed, but you're still here doing what you enjoy. Only difference is you can see the big picture now. When someone pulls out the famous 'do you know what this old tech is' pop quiz, you get excited when you see something familiar.

[tiofrean]

Oh boy... OH BOY... I was reading through comments and tags under that Flint vs. Stede post (and before that in Silver vs. Oluwande post) and OH BOY RANT INCOMING

Feel free to ignore. No, I'm prickly about this.

I LOVE how people are like "Black Sails fans are so mean why are they like that T.T ?" in the tags and comments.

LET ME TELL YOU.

So we have this show that has been marginalized and has been pushed to the side for years. A show that has excellent plot, wonderful intrigue, magnificent representation and well-written, 3D characters that are complex and relatable. You get your edgy queer men (whether you want to characterize Flint as gay or bi, doesn't change the fact that he likes dick whichever way), you get your edgy queer girls (Anne), you get your flamboyant whatever-the-fuck-Jack-Rackham-is (<3), you get sweet gays (Thomas), you get confused bisexuals (Eleanor, Silver), you get straight sweets (Miranda) and straight angery dicks (Woodes Rogers), and competent, edgy straights (Vane). Oh! A competent, master-of-the-house lesbian? Check (Max). You even have asexuals, or that is what I shall forever classify Billy as. You have a f/f sex scene in the first damn episode, ffs. You get threesomes (sexual, romantic), you get couples, you even have Silver in a brothel orgy.

But sexual representation is not ALL! You get goofy pirates (Jack Rackham), you get serious pirates (Blackbeard), you get balls of rage (Flint), you get chill, laid-back sea dogs (Gates), you get competent little weasels (Silver), you get incompetent rats (Dufrense). You also have marvelous extras and side characters (Beauclerc the marksman, Captain Fruit-Fruit, Idelle... OHMYGOD IDELLE <3333).

There's the political plot that's historically accurate, the story's plot that's Flint's big gay rage, there's the sociological context of being painted as a monster, there's the gold hunt, there are ships correctly operated by crews of more than five fucking people, there are guns, blood and realistic injuries. You get quotations and allusions to Shakespeare, Cervantes, Julius Caesar, Marcus Fucking Aurelius, a metric ton of other classical writers. You get so many tropes done right it's astonishing and too effing long to list them all here.

On top of that, there is the picturesque landscape, absolutely gorgeous ships and very accurate portrayal of how life looked back then.

We had to defend that show when it first came out, the actors had to fucking fight homophobic assholes upon the airing of season two (IMAGINE THAT), people who loved it had a hard time going around, although admittedly it's a "fandom" hard time, not a "real life" hard time. We persisted, we persevered, and now we're here, clinging to what's left of our fandom, because we are admittedly all over the place and we don't have "troops" on any one social media, which makes our numbers small in comparison to other fandoms, and makes fandom interactions very limited.

Now imagine that there aired a show... a pirate show promising a lot. And then the show turned out to be an office-type comedy with no lesbian/bi women representation (I may be wrong, but I did watch it out of curiosity, didn't see any, just guys). A show that the whole plot of is just a rendition of the Beauty and the Beast for pirate times with so many historical inaccuracies (couching your crew like a bunch of office workers? Plz. The way they speak and the concepts they talk of that weren't there? It's like they were sitting around a fire, holding hands and singing kumbaya). And don't get me wrong, there's place for those shows as well, and maybe it works for you (and great for you too!).

We tried to ignore it, really we did. We basically gave it the eyebrow-raise-huff-ignore thing that you do on the internet when you want someone to enjoy their stuff and are not interested in it yourself.

But you know what happened? Suddenly there were people on twitter tagging everyone and their dog from Black Sails with renditions of Flint/Izzy (Izzy who comes across as an extreme asshole at best and a homophobic shit at worst and you can't fault people for reading it like this). Let that sink in - our fandom babe Flint, who had his whole life ruined due to homophobia and homophobic assholes is suddenly being shipped with a guy who suspiciously fits the description a bit too much for our tastes. Wouldn't you get angry? Of course you would, we're all very protective of our babes. We are, you are, everyone is. We asked you not to do this, and while I admit that hurling curses your way might not have been the most polite way of asking you to stop, the message was clear enough. What does OFMD fandom do? They all double down. Double fucking down on fanfiction and tagging everything in BS again, pairing Flint and Izzy together, writing things way out of the realm of any possibilities because most of the writers didn't watch BS (I did read their comments on that. They weren't even sorry). If you take such character and throw him into a work of art that can and will be seen as controversial, you should at least have the decency to do your homework on the original work he comes from. Otherwise, to our eyes, you're taking the most wronged man from our beloved show, wronged due to his sexuality, and throw him together with a literal asshole just to see them fuck because they would look pretty (and that's an actual comment from one of the artists, I shit you not). Wouldn't you feel a bit angry about that? I bet you would.

What's worse, people loving Black Sails and not liking OFMD usually point out how narrow the representation is, how improbable the show is and how they're not remotely invested in the plot. It's a cheesy show for your average Sunday afternoon, don't make it into something it's not. It's not a political statement any more than Guess The Tune is.

What's more, when I've seen attempts at people pointing out the obvious flaws in plot, in logic (how many people crew that ship exactly? How is he not dead after being stabbed clean through with a sword?), all we've gotten was "Oh it's not that type of show, OBVIOUSLY", "it's just a comedy, duh" and my personal favorite "you just DON'T UNDERSTAND IT BOOMER". (I'm a late Millennial, thx). Every attempt was chucked out the window. What got me most, tho, was the high praise of OFMD IS THE FIRST SHOW TO [insert whatever queer thing it did supposedly]. No, it's not. There was even a post on twitter that debunked all those claims one by one. I get it, you're happy that you got your gay pirates, good for you. But give credit where credit's due, otherwise you're gonna piss off a lot of people. People who watched our show struggle and crawl so that your show can run today and be fine and accepted widely.

And personally, I felt disappointed watching it because of the lack of representation. Disappointed that Ed turned out to be just as rainbowy as Stede. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against rainbowy, ultra-sweet characters that are big softies. I love them. But not everyone in the lgbtq community is like that. Actually, it's the minority. There are your sweets, there are your glittery rainbows, but the majority is on the more... inconspicuous part of the scale. And there are edgy people (like myself) who don't like glitter, pink, feathers, fluff and a shitton of other things this show had in abundance. You know what made me wince while watching? When I realized that the only person who I could remotely like for the way they weren't so glittery-rainbowy-sweet was Izzy, and I hated him because he was an asshole. Even Jim got the fluffy af oranges arch. So not my (and others') cup of tea.

So yeah, our recent anger and rabidity is not based solely on one post about an insignificant poll (that you're winning only because our fandom is significantly smaller and most people are dispersed between different sites). It's all those things combined and it's the result of them.

And no, I'm not going to finish it with a "please forgive us if we seem a bit angery, we're coping". Flint wouldn't.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Hi BPP,

I'm convinced Billboard has a spilt personality for real because how do you write an article about it being difficult to produce big stars right now, turm around a do a hit job on K-pop and Jimin specifically in order to quash his chances for any American noms and awards

***

Hi @ejassy

Lol Billboard doesn't have a split personality, you're just not really listening to all they're saying.

(Brian is something of a twat sometimes but even he has his moments)

Billboard's problem is not that it's difficult to produce big stars right now, it's that (1) the big stars that are being produced are doing so outside the legacy framework and direct influence of the American rainmakers - the American labels and middlemen who would demand their cut, and instead it's fans of various artists who can influence which artists rise to the top; and (2) that the big artists that are being produced (by fan engagement) are increasingly non-white, non-American, and non-English-speaking.

That's their conundrum.

It's a problem they've had since 2018 when BTS out of nowhere showed up in the top 10 on the Hot 100 with Fake Love after it not just went viral, but was sustained on the charts driven by demand from American pop listeners (this was the time many members of the Bey hive joined the ARMY fandom and BTS caught on with the pop-listener 'gp' in huge numbers). Since then, every award-season article Billboard has published (since 2019) has had the same tone as the one published yesterday, with each year Billboard getting more overt in their disdain, and the quiet part of what they actually mean to say, getting louder.

I've been writing on this blog for over a year about BTS, k-pop, fandoms, and the music industry, and if there's one thing I suggest people take from it, it's this: it's important to understand that everything about BTS represents a world in which the industry gatekeepers as they're currently structured, are rendered obsolete.

It's why the Korean music establishment had a similar reaction to BTS from 2013 - 2017. BTS should not have been as successful as they became, they didn't come from a Big 3 company with all their industry connections as most successful groups did, they didn't have the backing of an American conglomerate as more recent breakout groups like Fifty Fifty did, they didn't have the typical visuals, sound, vocals, styling, etc that the most popular and successful groups did.

All they had was their hunger, their talent, their hopes, and their pride, with Bang PD using every bit of streetsmarts he had to navigate the cutthroat competitive environment in the industry. And the fandom quickly realized, as early as 2014, that they could not possibly operate like every other k-pop fandom if they wanted BTS to ever have a fair chance.

It wasn't until BTS became too big to ignore both inside and outside Korea, that the Korean music establishment start giving them their dues. Personally, I expect the same pattern for Western recognition. BTS was well on pace to deliver on that promise in 2020 with their MOTS tour - it was planned to be bigger than Taylor Swift's tour is today, back then. It was rumoured to be bigger than anything anyone, even Beyonce, had done till that point.

...but we all know what happened. Dynamite was a huge hit but in comparison to what could've been, it was a pitiable substitute.

Cue the English trilogy and Grammy attempts, snubs, and hiatus. Now there's a vacuum left by BTS, that most k-pop groups are trying to use to establish themselves with the same toolbox ARMYs and Western stans are using, while leveraging BTS's reputation, and the American middlemen are watching to see which groups are most compatible for them to partner with so they too can get in on the action and not get left behind.

Because the reality is that the landscape has changed. Fan engagement is not going away and will have to become a key consideration for creating 'big stars'. Everybody recognizes this. Not everybody likes it, not everybody accepts it, but everyone understands that this is now how the cookie crumbles, and that BTS and ARMY are a big reason this is now the status quo.

And the fact is this has earned the group and fandom, more enemies than friends.

Jimin, by virtue of being a BTS member, is not exempt.

Like I said before, there are many types of people in fandom spaces and everyone has their own reasons for being here. Some trivial, some not. But anybody who actually considers themselves an ARMY should take the time to understand what it means to be a fan of BTS. In my opinion.

[tomorrowxtogether]

TOMORROW X TOGETHER got their summer back

A look at the documentary TOMORROW X TOGETHER: OUR LOST SUMMER

2023.08.02

TOMORROW X TOGETHER: OUR LOST SUMMER is a documentary that follows the group on the US leg of their ACT: LOVESICK world tour last year. The first stateside concert took place in Chicago on July 7 after which the tour continued on in New York, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco and Los Angeles before the boys returned to Chicago to play Lollapalooza on the 30th.

Twenty-three days isn’t a particularly long period of time to be on the road, but fans had been waiting close to three years for those few weeks to come. After TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s debut song, “CROWN,” came out on March 4, 2019, it already had over 100 million views just one year later. A bright new star had entered the sky. And then, right on the heels of their impressive debut and just as they were about to set out on their first world tour to see all their fans, the COVID-19 pandemic brought everything to a halt. Now the group couldn’t even go out to see fans in Korea, let alone around the world. The documentary’s subtitle, OUR LOST SUMMER, is a nod to TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s song “We Lost The Summer,” which itself is about how the group felt being isolated from fans and friends during the pandemic: “A day or two, a week, month, year / Walking alone in place, going nowhere.”

TOMORROW X TOGETHER: OUR LOST SUMMER documents the first emotional steps the group took out into the world after two long years of “walking … in place” through the pandemic as they set off on their ACT: LOVE SICK world tour. The documentary encapsulates their journey from debut to throughout the pandemic, highlighting how ACT : LOVE SICK serves as a significant milestone in the history of TOMORROW X TOGETHER. With the release of minisode 2: Thursday’s Child in 2022, in their fourth year, TOMORROW X TOGETHER became the fourth K-pop group to go platinum in the first week in Korea, and just ahead of their tour. But the tour they were embarking on came with unforeseen problems. For one, the group had amassed a huge catalog of albums during the pandemic; the set list for ACT: LOVE SICK was 22 songs long, not including the encore, and 11 of which were performed back to back. There was also Lollapalooza and the whole press junket in the US to contend with. The documentary also shows scenes from the US showcase they performed just as they were debuting. They were new to the scene and eager to promote themselves and the songs off their debut album back then, but by the time they reach US shores a second time, they come to find that everything’s changed.

HUENINGKAI suffers a nosebleed in the middle of singing “Frost” off their album The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE, but he keeps it hidden and makes his way through three songs to keep the audience from worrying about him. The group’s status had flourished during the pandemic—far more than they ever realized—and everything was more involved and bigger in scale than they expected, but they never had the opportunity to develop the know-how required to properly handle the changes. The show must go on, and their only recourse is to push through in much the way HUENINGKAI did. At one point, with their energy beginning to wane under the demand of putting on concert after concert, the members of the group begin to worry if they’ll lose concentration while on stage too. And while each of them has slightly differing opinions on how the concert should go, they ultimately come to an agreement, keep each other perked up and make sure that the show goes on. As the tour presses on, the TOMORROW X TOGETHER members are treated to brief glimpses of the American landscape outside the venues and grow ever more reflective about their work, like when SOOBIN muses on all the love they get from MOA, their fandom, and how “the relationship between idol singers and the fans is really interesting.” TOMORROW X TOGETHER: OUR LOST SUMMER stands as a record of how they prove themselves through their shows, demonstrating their ability to live up to all the attention and excitement that swelled during the pandemic.

Lollapalooza, TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s last stop in the US, was an event unto itself, and a milestone one at that, with sales of the group’s then-latest album increasing after the festival. Given the focus of the documentary is on the experience the boys undergo throughout their US tour, however, the significance of Lollapalooza goes beyond a mere driver of a bigger success. Their performance of minisode 2: Thursday’s Child’s lead single, “Good Boy Gone Bad,” isn’t just the highlight of their festival concert but also the whole documentary because it’s an explosive display of how much the boys grew and achieved as a group during their US tour. The TOMORROW X TOGETHER that emerges after their first world tour is completely different from the recently debuted group that was performing just before the pandemic struct. There’s a highly symbolic scene where j-hope—Lollapalooza’s headliner—and Jimin, there to support his fellow BTS member, both give words of encouragement to the members of TOMORROW X TOGETHER. BTS underwent a similar period of growth and development when they overcame the many unexpected challenges that faced them throughout their own world tour, as seen in the documentary Burn the Stage: The Movie. And what TOMORROW X TOGETHER gained on their first world tour wasn’t much different from what BTS did. Now, one year later, TOMORROW X TOGETHER is the one headlining Lollapalooza. Who knows what new things we’ll see from them as they’re walking out to take the stage this time?

[bluemoonperegrine]

Those Who Wander

Rated T | Chapter 1/? | 1865 words | ao3 link

Authors: @bluemoonperegrine and @vicarious-rebel

Fandoms: Moon Knight, Werewolf By Night

Tags: Marc Spector/Jack Russell, Marc Spector & Steven Grant & Jake Lockley, mentions of Khonshu, mentions of Layla El-Faouly, San Diego/Tijuana area, alternate universe, fluff, romance, silliness

Summary: The Moon Knight system, now living in San Diego, decides to get back to nature after a mission investigating a human trafficking ring. Hiking in a national park in the mountains east of San Diego doesn't go as planned.

Notes: This is such an alternate universe. Seriously. It doesn't get much AU-ier than this! It's somewhere around 2010, the system and Jack are in their late 20s, and we've done a number on their backstories. Fun! We'll update tags as the story progresses.

-----------------------

Chapter 1: Well-Met

Out of all of the criminals Marc Spector had hunted down in his twenty-six years, he despised human traffickers the most. Although they weren’t the most depraved of those who’d received Khonshu’s justice by his or Jake’s hand, their calculating opportunism made his blood boil. These lowlifes were modern-day slavers. Following Khonshu’s orders regarding them wasn’t a problem.

One such lowlife by the name of La Araña was the reason why Marc had moved from London to San Diego last month. One of the reasons, really. Somehow Khonshu had learned about an explosion in human trafficking in the San Diego/Tijuana area and ordered him and Jake to cease Araña’s operations by any means necessary. The bird had ordered Steven as well, but the Brit has managed to talk his way out of it for the most part. Steven was smarter than the skeletal blowhard, much to his annoyance and Marc’s, Jake’s, and Steven’s amusement.

Rather than embark on a long-term mission, the system had decided to move back to the States. Although a few months had passed after their mother’s death and the Harrow/Ammit mess, they still felt off-kilter. Moreso than usual, anyway. A change of scenery would do them good, Steven and Jake thought. 

Marc didn’t care either way. Life was pretty lousy no matter where you lived, so whatever. Their best friend Layla traveled constantly for archaeological or Taweret-related reasons, so they’d see her often. She and Frenchie were their—particularly Marc’s—rock. Thank god for cell phones.

Despite being at the top of a rocky ridge, Marc’s flip phone had no signal. He withheld a sigh as he swept his gaze around the arid, rugged landscape. He needed to get moving before the morning sun climbed higher in the sky. Somehow he’d forgotten to pack a hat in the small rucksack that Khonshu’s suit could absorb. Steven had wanted to experiment more to see exactly how much mass the moon god’s magic could manage. It sounded like a long and tedious process, so Marc vetoed it entirely. If it could fit in his Army rucksack, it would work. Simple.

After taking a long swig of water from his half-empty canteen, Marc stowed it, shouldered his pack, and started down the narrow animal trail that led down the steep, east-facing hillside and into the canyon below. They’d need water from the stream that had carved the deep, narrow valley by the time they got there. Water purification tablets would make it safe to drink.

A pulse of anxiety washed over him. This time Marc sighed. “What, Steven?”

Kinda steep, innit?

“Kinda. Jake and I hiked worse in the Army.”

Sure did, jefe.

Marc grinned; he hadn’t realized that Jake was awake. “You keeping an eye on things, Jake?”

He felt his headmate’s mental nod. Yup.

We’re not lost, Steven said as if reassuring himself. Marc said he knows where we are. I don’t see how, flying at night after our mission when there’s no moon and there’s hardly anything out here! How do pilots—

“Steven,” Jake and Marc said simultaneously. Marc continued, “Even if we were lost, which we’re not, it’s fine. We’re trained for this. Packed accordingly, and—”

You forgot a hat.

Jake chuckled as Marc grumbled under his breath. “I wanted a relaxing hike, Steven. This right now is the opposite of relaxing.”

Está bien, hermanito. We’ve got the suit, remember?

Steven chuckled. Right. One of you nudge me when we’re not on a cliff or if something interesting happens.

Marc grinned. “You got it, buddy.” He felt Steven retreat just in time for the first switchback. The footing was a bit dicey unless you were a mule deer. He’d manage, and if he didn’t the suit would save their ass again. The suit didn’t dull pain, so Marc focused on the rocky trail and enjoyed the wilderness stretching out in all directions.

Three hours later the sun was directly overhead and felt searing due to the thinner atmosphere at this elevation. Marc was halfway through his canteen of safe but gross-tasting purified stream water. He’d stripped off his T-shirt an hour earlier to act as an improvised headwrap/scarf to protect his scalp and the back of his neck. It was working, but allowing his rucksack straps to chafe on his shoulders. Most worryingly, the canyon floor was now sloping uphill. He’d been walking southwest as planned. Barrett Junction should be a half mile ahead and downhill.

Steven did the mental equivalent of a stretch and a yawn. We there yet, bruv?

“Getting close,” Marc hedged.

Jake chuckled softly.

Wot? Steven asked.

We’re—

“Do not, Jake.”

We’re what?

Marc sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Taking the scenic route.”

Jake laughed and soon was joined by Steven. It’s all scenic, mate!

Hold up, Jake said, and Marc halted. Despite sharing the same body, somehow Jake picked up on things before he and Steven did. 

Marc looked and listened intently. Nothing was moving other than a few birds high overhead, but he heard something, just barely.

Jake stated, Vehicle. East.

Brilliant! Steven enthused as Marc darted behind a stand of pine-tree-like shrubs. What’re you doing? We can get a ride to civilization!

Gotta make sure he’s not a hostile.

Marc felt Steven virtually roll his eyes. You lot are paranoid. ‘E’s—or she, could be a woman, you know—prob’ly just out enjoying nature, but not lost like—

“WE’RE NOT LOST!”

The sound of the approaching engine quieted. “Hey!” a male voice called from the southeast. Maybe the canyon branched that way. “You need a hand? ¿Necesitas ayuda?” 

Yes! Steven replied as if the guy could hear him. 

Marc shushed his headmate so he could continue observing. Footsteps crunched on sand and gravel. Soon a slender man in a park ranger’s uniform stepped through an opening in the canyon wall and into view. His wide-brimmed hat shaded his face.

Feeling foolish, Marc shifted his weight to his other foot and debated waiting the ranger out. Maybe he should just summon the suit and fly off after all. He’d be a lot less sunburned that way.

The park ranger seemed to look right at Marc despite the evergreen shrubs hiding him. He started jogging toward him, calling “¿Estás herido? Are you hurt? I have a first aid kit in the jeep.” His English had a light Mexican accent.

Busted, Jake chortled as Steven snickered.

Wishing he’d never attempted a relaxing post-mission hike, Marc strode around the edge of the shrubby trees. “I’m okay, just…”

The ranger had halted about ten feet from him, close enough to make out his features despite the shade from his hat. He was drop-dead handsome, clean-shaven with tan skin and short dark hair. Seemed to be about Marc’s age and height.

Blimey, Steven murmured. Those eyes!

I thought you liked Layla, Jake said.

I do, Steven returned, but she doesn’t like any of us like that—

¡Gracias a Dios!

—and that’s fine, and I dunno, I’m still figuring things out so—

Shut. Up. Marc managed to say silently, if through gritted teeth. Mercifully, they listened.

The ranger—Russell per his name tag—tilted his head and frowned. “You’re sweating. That’s good.” He resumed walking toward him.

“Good?” Marc echoed, acutely aware that he was shirtless. Why did he care? He’d been in the army for crying out loud!

Russell smiled broadly. “You don’t have heat stroke. Do you have water?” Marc nodded. “Good.” He stretched one arm in the direction he’d come from and reached the other toward Marc’s shoulder but didn’t touch him. “Let me give you a ride back to wherever you’d parked. Was it the main lot, or one of the others?”

Marc found himself walking with the young man. “I, uh, was dropped off.”

Jake snorted.

Russell looked at him askance, then shrugged. “We’ll go to the station. It’s air-conditioned. You can rest, then go from there.” Marc nodded agreement.

They walked uphill along a short, narrow gap in the canyon wall heading east. Marc spotted the ranger’s dusty jeep parked near its mouth.

“Got a name?” Russell asked.

“Marc,” he replied.

Russell grinned. “Nice to meet you, Marc.” He put one hand on his stomach. “Jack.”

Steven chuckled, which made Marc frown. What? he asked.

“Yes, like the dog,” Jack said with a brilliant smile. “It wasn’t intentional.” He stopped walking, so Marc followed suit, abruptly realizing they’d reached the jeep. His situational awareness had gone to shit for some reason. 

Jack’s brow furrowed again. He motioned at the passenger side of the jeep. “Go ahead, get in. It’s a half hour drive on rough roads to the station, so be sure to drink some water. I’ve got jerky and trail mix if you need something to eat.”

Marc nodded again and did so, putting on his shirt after setting his rucksack in the back seat. Jack steered the jeep further east, then turned north on a rutted jeep trail. They were headed in the opposite direction he’d intended to go, not that it mattered. He caught Jack’s eye and waved southwest. “How much further was Barrett Junction?”

Jack’s eyebrows shot up as smile crept across his face. “That’s where you were headed?”

“Yeah.” Marc felt his headmates’ amusement loud and clear.

“I’m glad I found you,” Jack said, now serious. “Eight miles as the crow flies, but with this terrain? No offense, but I don’t think you’re prepared for it. And there’s no backcountry permits issued for this area right now. You shouldn’t be here.”

“Oh.” Marc faced forward, stared out the windshield, and tried to ignore Steven’s and Jake’s laughter. “I’ll be sure to get a permit in the future.”

Jack nodded, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. “They’re for safety more than anything. It’s not good to do this stuff alone. I love it out here, but have to admit it can be dangerous. There are predators.”

“Yeah,” Marc agreed, his thoughts returning to La Araña. With the border only a few miles to the south, the trafficker may have routes nearby. For a moment Marc considered asking Jack if he’d heard of Araña, but decided otherwise. If anything he might seem suspicious, being in a remote area of the park near the border without a permit. So he drank more of the bitter-tasting water from his canteen, and waited to return to civilization.

Look at ‘im, bruv.

Marc didn’t on general principle and to not be weird; Jack was navigating a tooth-rattlingly rough section of road. Why?

‘Cos I want to see him. He’s cute!

Dios, Jake moaned. It’s Layla all over again.

Would that be so bad? Steven countered. She’s brilliant! A good mate.

Marc sighed. Enough. It’s not like we’ll be out this way again. 

Unless we want to go on another relaxing hike, Steven said. I’d say this is the perfect place to go!

Jake drawled, Try not to get lost, jefe.

Marc tried to lean the back of his head against the headrest, but the lurching jeep made that impossible. I hate you guys.

You don’t, Steven returned, affection clear in his words.

Marc returned it, smiling. I don’t.

[dojae-huh]

Being noisy

If you want to forgive SM a tiny bit for the simple albums 127 gets, look at Le Sserafim's album covers...

I wish I got good money for barely doing anything...

In 2023 we had "Hybe vs SM&Kakao", in 2024 we have a new season of the drama titled "Hybe vs MHJ". I'm observing the ongoing fandom war (LSF vs NJ, Army vs NJ, IllIT vs NJ) with pop-corn at hand, and trying to wrap my mind around this obsession with companies and untalented members.

Got curious, decided to look at the source material itself. I do check most new k-pop clips when they come out to know the landscape and in searh for new groups that can interest me, but seldom finish or rewatch MVs again. I am no multistan, so I know other groups on surface level.

So, LSF. The group peaked in 2023 with album sales, but started to go down afterwards. 800k is still good for a gg (latest album numbers), however, so far they have had only one small tour with venues ~10k. Not bad for a 2 year old group, but not a Tokyo Dome with the 3d row opened as New Jeans did.

NJ also peaked in 2023, but their latest album still sold over 1mln.

They never had a tour though, lots of award shows and kcons instead. Interesting... so MHJ wanted to build the demand and go huge arenas right away in 2025.

I've watched all LSFs titles in a row. At first the group had a clear concept. A mix of singing trousers and girl crush, very americanised. Commercial, fake and soulless, but I can see the appeal for younger audience. However, there was a U-turn with Perfect Night and Easy towards, am I surprised?, NJ style. And then another weird decision that was Smart. Was reminded of g-idle summer songs. Finally, LSF cameback to its own concept with Crazy. Was there a change of creative producers in the middle of the road? Why the original concept that brought the group to fame was abandoned?

When Crazy came out my first thought was "oh, they really want to return popularity to the group'' (after the encore and can't sing label attached to the group). It was an evident high budget attempt at damage repair, someone was invited specially for that, tricks were used.

Wiki told me Sakura got 2nd place on Produce 101 2, that's why she was taken into the group. Why she got so popiular buffles me as she is a weak dancer and has zero stage appeal and a sour face. (Why people like to stan mediocrity? What's with this champeoning of nobodies just because they got famous.) And the producers of the group realise it. In all MVs up to Crazy (where she got the limelight to spite the haters) she is on the backrow and is shown as little as possible. Kazuha ex-ballerina and the shortest chipmunk girl (bob haircut in the first MV) mostly carry the group as faces, although the other two girls are decent as well.

Anyhow. I also watched some of the NJ MVS. And made a conclusion that LSF is indeed a vanity project for Bang. It can't bring in real money yet (their single mini concert tour earned less than 8mln USD and that's revenue, not profit). It's a successful group for now, but not enough to get rid of another gg that is doing better (whose comeback and tour were postponed for now).

Also, the approcah to NJ is completely different. Their image and concept is not just the songs. Looking at how Katseye follows LSF's formula, Hybe won't be able to handle NJ unless the old producing team stays. It's funny to read comments that NJ girls are so talented they should leave both MHJ and Hybe, they need noone to continue being a group. Lmao. The level of delusion of people who never created anything of scale on their own.

[gffa]

Oh my word, thank you for such a lovely, detailed reply to my ask about comics???? I was expecting to be redirected to some links or blogs, which is ofc great too, but thanks so much for taking the time to type out and formulate all that for me?? I’ve never actually read a comic before so your first paragraph was a bit mind blowing (I had no idea comics worked like that, I thought each comic was like a chapter in the same book ahaha). I also had NO idea about the different eras but it already makes so much of what I’ve seen from the fandom make so much more sense, so thank you for that! (It’s reminds me, like, where people in history never bothered to write down stuff they thought was obvious bc it was obvious to them and then people came along and went ???, so following with this metaphor, thank you for making me “???” lol)

Anyways, sorry, super rambly ask, but thank you so much for taking the time and effort to reply so succinctly and also thoroughly, and also explaining what pieces of media are significant and why so… like seriously, that was so nice of you and I’m??? Ajahwjehrh??? Thank you sssm, once my exams are over I’m definitely gonna have a new media obsession :)

Aww, you're very welcome! I'm glad that I could help ease the way for you! As someone who started with Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond as my first real understanding of these characters (cultural osmosis doesn't count!), it was kind of a hard leap into comics, trying to understand how all of this fit together. To be fair, I don't want to give the impression that there's no coherency in comics from one author to another--it's very clear that a lot of authors are big fans of other authors' runs or they're building on stuff that came before their own run, but I emphasize the lack of consistency between authors because you absolutely cannot rely on that consistency being there, even if it often happens. You cannot pick up a comic from 20 years ago and expect the story to be exactly the same, because it's constantly being retold--authors want to be able to tell flashback stories at multiple points in the timeline, like take Dick Grayson, that "Robin & Batman" series I recommended is a retelling of their early days, of how Dick came up with the Robin costume, and it changes things (like gave him pants this time around, which I'm fine with) and I love that we can get retellings, because now I get to choose if I want to read that one or one of the older ones! We get a lot of really fun new stories able to be told, updated versions that weren't written back in the 1940s with different social norms, and I think that helps keep the comics fresh and interesting! And you're not wrong that some comics are like a different chapter in a single book! That's what Star Wars comics are aiming to be (well, within their own three distinct continuities) or what a lot of non-mainline DC/Marvel comics are like. It's just the main shared world superhero comics are a constantly shifting landscape! (To be fair to fandom not talking about a lot of this, it's also because the different eras are HELLA complicated to talk about if you haven't been reading comics regularly and broadly for 20+ years, like I had a solid grip on things until I left, and now I've been back for five months and I'm STILL fuzzy on just what Dawn of DC even is. It's hard to talk about stuff when you have a fuzzy idea of something, enough to pick up a comic and read, but can't explain high level detail in a post that would take you an hour just to write out all the weird little connections that lead up to an event!) But also thank you for letting me know your level of familiarity with cultural osmosis and what you're interested in getting into! Often times it's hard to know, "Okay, do I have to explain the different Robins or has cultural osmosis taught you enough that we can skip straight to the finer details?" because I love writing out broader views of the characters, but I don't want to patronize someone who is just looking for recs for starting places when making the jump to comics! I want to drag you guys in, but sometimes that requires tailoring things a bit more to where a given person is at/how much they know/what they're specifically intrigued by! Give me more info and I won't shut up in trying to reel you in. :D

[itsgeecheebitch]

TITLE: Until Darkness Descends

CHAPTER: 19

RATING: Explicit

FANDOM: Final Fantasy XV

PAIRING: Ardyn Izunia x Reader

      “For the last time I can handle it.” You said. The puncture wound on your left shoulder throbbed and pulsed like a beating heart. But you gritted your teeth against the pain and continued to suck the poison out of your body with your healing energy. The product of your endeavor glistened on your forehead. 

       The poison surged through your body like a lightning bolt. Your vision doubled and your tongue felt like lead in your mouth. It was bad enough that you were losing focus, and fast, but your comrades insisted on bickering at you as though you had enough mental energy to spare. 

        Yellow liquid bubbled to the surface, but refused to escape your wound. You applied more energy to your palm, eyebrows creased together, and your limbs vibrating with the effort. 

         Gladiolus scoffed, “handle it, my ass. You just got hit by a scorpion, who knows how poisonous it is.”

        “Yeah, don’t you think you should see a doctor?” Prompto interjected.

          “Wouldn’t hurt to go.” Noctis agreed. 

           A stab of frustration zipped through your chest. Did they really think that lowly of your abilities? You’re a healer, bestowed with the ability to handle worse injuries than this, and yet they insisted on crowding around you like a bunch of worried hens. You bit down on the inside of your cheek, your stomach swirled with worry. If they regarded your powers this lowly now then what would happen in the near future? Would they not trust you with an even more critical situation?

           The thought soured your gums. You had to prove to them that you could handle anything. What was the point of being their designated healer if you didn’t have their trust? You powered through the fatigue that locked you in a tight embrace. The skin around your eyes felt tight against your skull and your fingertips burned from the exertion. 

           When they said something else, you sucked your teeth and grimaced. “I don’t need a doctor. I am more than capable of handling this on my own.”

          “We’re not questioning your capabilities, Aera.” Came Ignis’ satiny smooth voice, “only suggesting that you confer with someone who has more knowledge on this type of poison than you do.”

            “Iggy’s right, you shouldn’t take chances on something like this.” Gladiolus said.

            Their words fell on deaf ears. You fumbled the ball on your first real battle, you couldn’t risk giving up on your first real emergency. If you did then the boys would never trust you to look after them. 

            Air bubbles burst in your head. The orange landscape somersaulted as darkness devoured your vision. When you opened your eyes you were on the ground in your boyfriend’s arms. 

           “Aera!” Prompto cried. 

            “Are you alright?” Ignis asked. 

            Gladiolus frowned, “that’s it, I’m taking you to a hospital.” He said, the sharp edge in a voice left no room for debate. 

             Lifting you from the ground, Gladiolus began his trek back to Hammerhead with the boys in tow. You felt so stupid and useless. This was your one and only chance at proving your worth to your friends, proving you were worth the crown’s investment, and you blew it. Your hands vibrated like an angry rattlesnake in your lap.

            You thought you'd gotten stronger. All the time you’ve spent in the royal courts, all the training you’ve endured, all wasted in a blink of an eye and all because of that nasty migraine that tore through your skull. But you didn’t understand, you haven’t suffered from a migraine in two whole years, so why now?

       What had changed, what triggered it? The image of that enigmatic figure towering over the scene of the fight, plastered itself onto your brain. That person you thought you saw, was that really Ardyn or just a figment of your imagination? You swallowed. Hallucinations were never something you had to contend with before, but apparently you have to deal with them now since whatever you saw wasn’t truly there.  

      Your scalp squeezed your skull. A needle punctured your temple, bringing with it another piercing earth shattering throb. You groaned and became boneless in Gladiolus’ arms. The small town peeked through the desert haze. Before you knew it, you were back at Cid’s garage. 

        The man in question scowled upon seeing you and your friends. “Back so soon, huh?” He said. “Either yer tougher than you look or you botched the job, so which is it?”

          “Uh, neither?”, came Prompto’s perplexed reply. 

         Gladiolus took a step into the garage, along with the others. The line between your brows smoothed out the moment you were out of the sun’s glaring sight. But your skin was still sticky from the heat, the stifling dry air in the garage did nothing to abate the sweat that slid down your legs. 

           “We’re still on the job but my girl got hurt, know where the closest hospital is?” Gladiolus said. 

           The old man scoffed. “There ain’t no hospitals around these parts, that’s for city livin’”.

           “Then what should we do? Aera’s hurt!” Prompto cried, his blond brows pulled together in worry.

            “Calm down, we have a doctor,” was Cid’s vexed reply. “Leave her here and I’ll make a call.” His crotchety tone rolled over you in waves, you couldn’t believe he was a former acquaintance of the crown. How did king Regis, one of the most polite and kind people you knew, ever associate himself with someone as cantankerous as Cid?

            Gladiolus turned towards the others. “You guys go on ahead, I’ll stay here and make sure Aera’s good.”

         “In that case we’ll stay too.” Prompto chirped, he turned towards prince Noctis. “No teammates left behind right, Noct?”

          Before Noctis could reply, Cid said, “Don’t waste yer breath. Yer friend ain’t gonna keel over from a little scorpion poisoning.” Was it so obvious you were injured by a scorpion? You supposed that would be the most likely conclusion anyone would arrive at, given the gaping hole in your shoulder and the extermination contract in the prince’s hands. “Worse case she’ll be paralyzed in some places come noon. Y’all best run along, medical bills ain’t cheap.”

          “But-”.

            Noctis sighed, cutting off his blond friend’s response. “Let’s just get this over with.” He said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He addressed you next. “We’ll be back, Aera.”

            Gladiolus sat you down in the back of the garage where the fluorescent lights didn’t reach. His strong calloused hand brushed the hair away from your face. “We won’t be long, babe.” He promised and kissed you on your forehead. 

           Something shattered in your chest at the sight of friends disappearing through the sepia haze. You should be there with them. This wasn’t supposed to happen, you weren’t supposed to get injured. Entering the Lucian courts, from day one, it was drilled into you to never get hurt. Keep your distance while your comrades are engaged in combat. You understood the importance of your role as your friends’ healer. If anything were to happen to you, it could equal doom for anyone who depended upon your skills. 

            As if you haven’t learned the lesson before, you went and committed the biggest error you could’ve possibly made. You slouched in your chair. Anything could happen to Noctis and the others out there and here you were, sitting inside a swelteringly hot garage with an injured shoulder. The attack was avoidable. If only you didn’t get distracted, you would still be out there fighting alongside your comrades. You wonder what they must think of you now.

           ‘Do you really believe they would keep you in their little boys’ club the moment you become an inconvenience’? The memory of your dream filled your heart with lead. If they begin to view you as a liability what would that mean for you? Your place by their side, your purpose? Marching fiery ants stomped through your chest. Would they even view you as their friend anymore?

          The minutes ticked by at a mind-numbingly slow pace. By the time the town’s doctor visited you your arm was completely numb. After injecting you with an antidote he told you you should gradually regain feeling and mobility in your left arm over the next seven days, meaning you were completely useless until then. 

          A boulder dropped into the pit of your stomach. You couldn’t afford to be away from the action for that long. If anything were to happen to the prince, or Gladiolus, or anyone else you would never forgive yourself. Your throat constricted as though it was being stitched closed from the inside. 

          It’ll be fine. You told yourself, taking a large inhale before exhaling the stale air. Nothing bad would happen. Your friends would be fine, your arm would be completely healed by the beginning of next week, and you’ll be back in action better than ever. 

          The muscles in your throat relaxed and you sighed. By seven p.m tomorrow, you and the boys would be onboard the ferry heading for Altissa. Everything should be smooth sailing from there. Sure, it would suck having a dangling useless arm at your side during the wedding, but everything should go smoothly nonetheless. At least you hoped it would. 

[djs-horny-blog-lmao]

do you have any hypno writers you really like? either for TSS or just in general. your writing is great so I feel like you'd have good taste in recs

- 👽

first off, 🥺 that's really sweet thank you

second off, i don't think im going to have a very good answer for you. legitimately, i used to trawl the nsfs/nsfw tags the most,,, back in about 2019?? and the landscape of who's writing and how much is being written has changed a surprising amount, and I can't remember for the life of me who i used to read.

the sanders stuff? fuck dude i dont remember anyone other than @/tulipanthousa in specific, but i remember reading good stuff. God. i remember tss kinktober 2019 was really good but i cannot rely on tumblr ever being able to take me back that far.

when it comes to just hypnokink blogs? again a lot of the stuff i initially microdosed on is actually gone (i joined tumblr first for porn but also like,,,, ten months before the porn ban)

But i am still gonna list a whole bunch of blogs i find inspiring / hot. tho tbh you might have guessed some of these already based on my rb history

(im also not tagging ANYONE bc im just some rando fandom smut blog and that'd be mortifying >.<)

@/of-mutts-and-men just hits that monsterfucker vibe perfectly. a lot of werewolf vibes and ive been so into that lately. also a healthy dose of mind-fuckery.

@/aspiring-house-husband has really good hypno story posts (and non hypno) but just. clenches fist. the eroticism is off the charts. their posts are So inspiring. and so fucking hot. drives me crazy insane.

@/erogenousmind also is top notch and im pretty sure, from memory, has some really good hypno scripts? im picky w/ scripts, i dont like ones that try bait you into reblogging at the end >.< and a lot of them dont necessarily pace well, but i remember this person's stuff being Good

@/yoyomindloops is v much the same as above. they have that erotic hypno dnd series. good shit.

and tho im p sure theyre not on tumblr anymore actively, the blog is still up, and @/lewd-zko's art is just. such internet hypnokink classic.

im also gonna cite 2 like,,, 'makes hypno porn video content' things that i find really inspiring/hot too (tho i will admit, ive never bought their things, i dont exactly have the privacy to do so nor the funds)

@/the-hedge-hypnotist was a guy i remember has been around for ages and has been like,,, solidly one of the Ethical Hypno Content Guys? there's been... a fair amount of drama over the years, it seems, but yeah. he always super cites the models he works with and even the teasers for what they make is super top notch and really erotic. i remember one i was obsessed w/ was super eldritch horror... and i didnt even think i was into that

and lastly, a site that's been driving me insane and im actually gonna link it directly, is Mesmerotic. their people are hot, theyre hypno is hot and real and genuine, and even tho like,,, i can't buy their stuff yet, their teasers/snippets are insanely good. and they do some versatile things!

the other major idea spinner, other than my own brain, is actually DM's with a bestie ^-^' it's no more than plotting erotic fics together (it's actually for a different fandom, i reuse the ideas and she doesn't mind) but got ae have some good kinky ideas. the superhero stuff? that was aem.

...i dont know if this is quite what you meant, but... yeah! fdkgjfdg

[tetsuwan-atom]

So after yesterday I feel like I should have a bit of real talk with y’all.

While I have not made any concrete decision, I’m contemplating about my future on Tumblr.

I’m not exactly a new spring chicken. I’ve been on this platform for over 10 years. That’s... a bloody long time. The amount of fun I’ve had with so, so many people is phenomenal. Roleplaying and writing on this platform in all the different scenarios and stories not only allowed me to develop my writing skills to levels I wouldn’t have considered when I started, but also allowed me to explore my imagination and create a story that not only I’m proud of, but something which has intrinsically become a part of me.

I’m pretty sure I’ve said before about back in the early days there was rarely any drama at all. There were moments here and there, some of those people left the platform ages ago. I’d say things really got bad from 2020 onwards. A lot of bad decisions, mostly trying to seek closure, getting ‘the last word’, things which on reflection are pretty pointless. Getting sidelined because of favoritism, along with one particular event which, six months or so later, eventually brought down an entire fandom and the joy that came with it, it’s kind of surprising that I’m still here to be honest, after everything that I’ve gone through and, well, after everything I’ve put others through.

Nowadays it’s hard to say whether the landscape has changed or if I’ve changed. Maybe it’s both. When I first came to Tumblr in 2012 I was unemployed with a lot of time up my sleeve. I could be active every day and get so much writing done. In 2015 I had my first proper experience of a job which lasted 8 months and even then, I still had time to roleplay.

In 2019 I ended up in the job which, after a change of company, I’m still carrying now. 2 days per week, but around 2021 I began to carry extra responsibilities in life. Every weekend is dedicated to something. Time on replies began to wane and I think there were quite a few instances where replies would be like.. a month or more late. I didn’t think about it as much as I do now that, my lack of activity may have affected my relevancy on this platform.

And as of 2022 I’ve taken on a project which, if I’m going to be honest, has taken priority over Tumblr. Roleplaying takes second fiddle to it. This project is giving me more joy than Tumblr right now. That is saying something.

But what is it saying? Is it saying that all the drama I’ve been though has affected how I feel about the place? Is it saying I’ve replaced Tumblr with something new and exciting?

I sometimes feel that the longer I’m inactive the less I feel relevant. I miss out on things, I don’t know what’s going on and catching up can be... hard, if not sometimes impossible. I really have become the definition of low activity, a snails pace on everything.

And in addition it’s like... the drive to write in this canon, to roleplay on this platform. It’s diminishing. For months I feel like I’m reaching the end of this chapter in my life, the end of this part of the story. I used to say I’ll quit tumblr when I turn 30. I’ve made it one year on, but now for different reasons I wonder if there’s much point to continue further.

The anger I felt yesterday at that group of people who, well, pretty much tossed me out like trash 2 years ago. It took me back to this dark place, this vindictive place that just made me want to get up on some theoretical podium and chant to the nines about how bad they are and how much they’ve hurt me. That this drama even years on just... hasn’t stopped, the thought that people really hate me so much they’ll tell others to avoid or block me just to make them feel safe. It might not even be the truth at all, but at the time it’s how I felt.

It made me think, just do it, you’re not really here anymore, you’ve got nothing to lose if you expose them for who you perceive them to be.

And yet, that’s not true, is it?

It was the post of someone I was keen to interact with who had seen that post that brought me back to reality, that indeed, you can potentially lose. An aggressive post about threatening a group of people not to fuck with you is a pretty shithouse impression, isn’t it? Despite the situation at hand, from an outsider’s perspective, I think even if I was looking in to someone else doing that, it’d make me think further on whether or not to interact.

Probably because I’ve been through it too much.

It’s put this whole talk to the forefront, really. If I left I wouldn’t even say things ended too early. I’ve had a bloody good run on this site. I’ve seen many good friends disappear on this platform, some without a trace. Tumblr nowadays is nowhere near the same platform as it was when I joined. Some things don’t change, like the problems with canon RP communities (this is widespread throughout many fandoms!), but the atmosphere as a whole, it just.... doesn’t feel the same.

I sometimes parrot on that nobody deserves to be left out or left behind but, in my inactivity and absence from this platform I’ve done that to myself.

Even after this wall of text it’s hard to put feelings into words. Back in the days there were grand plots, stories that I reckon could attest to the ages, threads that made me feel like I was writing at the peak of Tetsuwan ATOM. Now in this phase I feel like those days might have gone, without chance of return. In some ways it’s the lack of the drive, the absence of the big, multiverse-jeopardising plots that brought an actual story to the fold, once a landscape of so many plots and ideas, now all really just thoughts and memories.

I could make the decision now to retire Tetsuwan ATOM and leave Tumblr for good. Rolescape has been in alpha for a while and who knows when that would come online. Even then, would I have the drive to move over? With my baggage in this form, is it really a fresh start for this series? Some last glimmer of hope that everything will be okay, this struggle of holding out, for grass that may seem greener, but will it be by the time I come to plant?

I wonder if I’ve reached the end of this chapter.

Yet, not everything is finished.

There are plots and threads currently ongoing that I am very keen to see through and finish. Hell, even future threads with mutuals I’m looking forward to. Building more bonds, ships, reaching grand events, some I just feel like I’m on the cusp of, that years of plotting and writing are leading up to some incredible moments. Ideas for ships that I want to explore, some more radical than others.

I can’t be done with this platform while things are not finished. I’m not ready to let everything die just yet.

The decision to quit, while not ruled out completely, is not something I can consider without the input of others. I wouldn’t spring this on my friends, my mutuals, who have been with me over the years. If I were to quit, it would really just be quitting roleplaying on all internet platforms, like Tumblr, Rolescape, etc. In this event I’ll be switching to full time roleplays on Discord, which has greater benefits over Tumblr in many ways.

There is the thought of a hiatus, but for how long? How long is a piece of string? Is it even really worth going on a hiatus when nothing’s going to change IRL with projects, commitments and work? I’m inactive as is, it’s like accidental hiatuses every other week with the odd day of getting replies done.

There is also the thought of cutting back. No, I don’t mean dropping threads or partners or anything like that, but it’d be more that I won’t be seeking future partners myself. If anyone finds me and wants to follow me, I’ll still consider them like I do now, but I won’t be personally looking and dash-checking. In fact, in this option I might be considering ignoring my dashboard as a whole and focussing entirely on my activity feed, like I used to do in my early days of Tumblr. Downsides here are I may stop posting ask memes and I’d probably lose sight of everyone else posting ask memes, but it would allow me to focus entirely on my stuff with those I write with. In some ways going back to the bubble of just my threads, asks etc with others.

At this point in time I haven’t made any concrete decision about the future, but there is a lot to think about. Do I still have a place here? Would it be better to take everything I have with my moots to Discord? Would they all even follow me over? Despite the drive to retire I still want to finish things, build things, rekindle some old ships and the like. I can’t see myself as being done yet.

Could this be some sort of ‘Tumblr Existential Crisis’? I don’t know.

All I know is I don’t know what the future holds and if it’s best for me to stay here or go...

[fxirybun]

i swear we never had this much issue honestly 90s was the only last moderately "normal" times bc its just been nuts even from observing kpop and other things from afar

and whats dishartening as well is that the groups u do want to succeed cannot do so bc of knetz not supporting them enough and u know the moment u faves get into dating or whatever that all hell will break loose online again i just cant be fcking with that unhealthy type of attachment / behaviour. then whenever u go to idols personal contrnt on youtube or other platforms like toktoq or tiktok it always seems the comment section eventually winds up being out of hand or immature so it makes it hard to get a genuine compliment or message across to them bc their audiences is largely young folk nowadays even the groups i used to like are still around but the audience is different or more unhinged than it was when i left them lmao. its like i thought fan bases were usually extreme but its ramped up much more in current times

somenoe my age aint going to want to associate with that sort of behaviour same for going to the airport and stalking out their hotels or other private moments seem childish or silly. and the way folk overreact to idols doing things required of them like military service if anything i think its nice for them to get a break from idol activities they buff up a bit too but its smth else that their hard core fans take to heart and make a scene abt anything to do with idols these days. be it their slight weight change or their idfk something activity they did online that sparked chaos blah blah u get the picture lol. i think u can inly really casually enjoy these groups in ur own way than following the rest of their younger fans. plus its actually crazy to me how different it all become yet time aint stopping for nobody. rlly it feels bizzare like anyone got a functioning tardis yet? i also think these unhealthy obsessions ppl have to idols is bc before u could just put the hobbies down and do smth else now its like everyones online all the time everything anyone popular does is also online its kind of a making of their own doing at the same time.

well you got a point 'cause the landscape of fandom in kpop has shifted significantly over the years. the 90s and early 2000s definitely felt like a more balanced time in terms of fan behavior and celebrity culture , both in the west and internationally. though these days the intensity of fan culture has ramped up to a point where some fans seem to feel entitled to every aspect of idols' lives , and how the influence of social media brings more fire to this behavior.

it can be exhausting for fans who simply just want to enjoy their songs and support their fave groups without getting involved in all the chaos and drama that often unfolds online. again , the unhealthy attachments fans form , particularly with younger audiences make it even harder for idols to live normal lives. when issues like dating , military service , or even minor personal changes become seen as massive scandals. the internet allows all users for constant access due to its versatility and how other platforms like tiktok , twitter , and youtube can turn some innocent content into a battleground that is filled with negative comments.

for long-time fans like yourself it can be annoying to watch these behaviors which is making it harder to engage with idols or fandoms in a meaningful way without being dragged into some petty drama.

if you're going to ask me , enjoying kpop or any form of entertainment without getting sucked into the extreme parts of the fandom culture seems like the healthiest route , as everything has become so hyperconnected and fast-paced. with the constant flow of online content and real-time updates , it’s easy to see why fans feel more intense about their idols , but it’s also important to create boundaries.

and yes , things have changed drastically and while it's bizarre to watch it unfold , there's also comfort in enjoying these groups from a distance and focusing on what truly matters: the music and the concept behind those songs , rather than the havoc surrounding it.

[somerocky-dork]

If Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog was cancelled by issue fifty and was years later replaced by the Sonic X comic book before that too would be replaced by another Sonic comic title, that being the Sonic Boom comic, how different could the landscape of comicdom (comic fandom) be with Archie Sonic ending it's run in 1997? And what if the 48 page Sonic Super Specials were canned too back in '97?

I think there would be a big difference actually ! At that point- if it ended by issue 50, a LOT of characters wouldn’t really exist, unless they were come up with by other artists but even then they’d be different characters because they’d be by someone else. A gap between 1997 and 2014 is a BIG gap and honestly I don’t know if they would’ve even been able to successfully send out a Boom comic, the super specials were a good way to get kids to get the rest of the comics I’d argue, my first one was a super special mini book that had issues from different arcs and it made me wanna read the rest (it had SU issue 4 I think ! Oh and the BunniAntione wedding one from STH) 🤷‍♀️ so it made me go out of my way to find those issues

Also we wouldn’t have any of the Ken Penders drama and it wouldn’t be as interesting to watch, LMAO now Penders did end up doing a lot of writing and art for Archie at this time but he wasn’t super controversial yet though it was a bit sus with the characters that did exist already at this point, plus if they did end back in ‘97 not only would the series not be the longest running video game series as a comic but ALSO I think that the advertising for some games wouldn’t have been as effective, considering in the early 2000s they did stories based around the games at the time like SA1/2, Shadow the Hedgehog, and 06 partially, which helped give them a little boost. If they wanted to pick up with another publishing company I think they would’ve had to have made a Post Super Genesis wave arc anyway to get rid of any characters that couldn’t be there (in this case: Ken’s writing )

The story over Ken is a wild one and there’s a good video essay i listened to one time cause I didn’t feel like reading, it’s a wild story!

Granted,, there are some Archie comics I did like, even before they had to drastically change the time line back in 2012, I much prefer IDW now-a-days as the writing for that has been top notch and I have yet to have a comic issue or character I strongly dislike or makes me uneasy.

imo I think that IDW Sonic’s character is written WAYYY better than Archie was as he’s based more around his game counterpart, along with other characters feeling you know- IN CHARACTER whereas Archie to me a lot of the time felt like an official glorified fan fiction hell (which is so fucking funny )

Though for me personally, I probably would’ve gotten deep into Sonic way later if it wasn’t for the Archie comics! When I was younger I really liked these comics and my bestie and I would read them and go back and fourth all the time and I admit a lot of my older writing came from Archie Shadow which,, wasn’t good, but ANYWAY I think I wouldn’t be where I am now without them- as bizarre as they are

Tha me for the ask!! I hope this wasn’t too much ahsgdhd,