#and i think if fandom becomes about hating the stuff you hate

[hyperfixingfr]

I think it's really stupid to be mad when people criticize the way you draw/your lack of drawing fat people. You're allowed to be sad, because to be fair, I would be with any criticism, too. But otherwise, there's a great deal of people in this fandom who slim down every single fat person they touch, intentionally or not. If we can't tell they're supposed to be fat or you're underestimating their fat (ex making a character like HOAGIE have the amount of body fat that WALLY has) we have every right to be upset. And no, no one with a brain is going to take the "just my headcanons" excuse. First off, a headcanon is not, "completely going against established stuff". I have no problem with people changing canon when the canon material is problematic but that one is not it and you know it. Second off, you know damn well you don't have to change it. There is no logical reason to desire changing the body of ANY of the 3 fat characters that people talk about. Especially because for Hoagie, we can clearly tell by looking at his family that he will NEVER have a slimmer body type, even just chubby, unless he were severely unhealthy. The only time I endorse making a fat character slimmer like that is in cases like @kommandonuovidiavoli , who has a great plot involving Tommy and his battle with health issues causing him to become skinnier and "more appealing", despite the fact that his fat was a sign of health. It's the same reason that we don't change the ability of characters who already have canon disabilities, or change the sexuality of characters who already have a canonly established sexuality (yes, this only applies to characters who outright say "I am _" or creators who specifically state they are something). If you cannot tell the difference between fat bodies and skinny bodies in your style without having to really look, do something about it. It can really hurt for fat people, to see their body type butchered and misrepresented constantly. It's why I bring it up so much. I've gotten sent plenty of hate mail for this, and at some point, an entire discord server of grown adults was shit talking me for asserting that it's wrong to do that. But I stand by the fact that you lose NOTHING by keeping this specific aspect as is. There are millions upon millions of headcanons that exist out there for you to explore and I have no problem with them. The fact that I openly express and explain why removing fat from a character is bad, and then get called "controlling" for it, should say plenty about you and nothing about me. There is no gain for removing representation. Please pick something else. No one's gonna be "whining" if you just pick normal headcanons to have instead of choosing specifically the ones that are just removing a character's canon and well established minority group, whatever it may be. If it's REALLY that hard, there's charts to figure out what's minority and what's majority. For anyone who may be slimming people down unintentionally, well... Practice. Please. I really can't emphasize how much some need it.

[s0ulslasher]

When people moan about the epilouges and how bad they wrote their favourite character LIKE?? ARE YOU READING THE EPILOUGES WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED?? Your favourite character is acting out of character because dirk,despite not being good at understanding others,thinks this is the best outcome for them,thus letting/making them be the person they become in the epilouges.Hes the one controlling the narrative of epilouges,he lets all those things happen."Its like a shitty fanfic" They were stuck at home now they are stuck in a shitty fanfiction thats the whole point.Also I get really mad when someone says that homestuck 2 has bad plot,then I ask them if they even read the epilouges and the answer is usually no.Like yeah you cant understand hs2 if you didn't read the epilouges dumbass.I hate this fandom and how they "hate the epilouges for mischaracterising their favourite characters" while its irony on how they themselves are constantly doing it.I hate how this fandom doesnt even make theories anymore,its all about ships.Which dont get me wrong I am not pissed about ships I am pissed about how we do not do anything else other than ship content while homestuck 2 is finally giving us stuff to theorise.

[picnokinesis]

DOCTOR WHO POSITIVITY DRIVE

Hello everyone! 

Alright, so I recently got the chance to go to Gallifrey One, which was absolutely incredible, but what struck me the most was just how positive the atmosphere was. I went there worrying that there would be a big, obvious divide between people who liked one era and people who liked another - but there wasn’t at all. Everyone was so friendly and nice, and it was such a celebration of the entire show, old and new. And it’s only really hit me now that I’ve come back to the online fandom after that experience that the reason I felt that way was because recently a lot of people seem to be either focusing on the parts of the show that they hate, or hating on other parts of the show to say why the part they like it good. And I’m tired of it - this is a show that tells us to see wonder in the universe and be kind to one another! - and after talking to a few people, I think a lot of folks are. And so I came up with this idea - a positivity drive! 

Here’s how it works: if you want to, make a post about any part of Doctor Who that you like! Maybe it’s a specific era, or a specific character, or maybe multiple different things or just the show as a whole. Whatever you like - and then encourage other people to do the same! It can be as short or as long as you like. There are just a couple of rules:

Rule 1: Don’t be negative about any part of the show in order to say something positive about another part. This is about celebration, remember. 

Rule 2: If someone else posts something for the positivity drive that you disagree with or that you actually really hate about the show - leave them be. Of course, if you want to make your own critical post, I’m not going to stop you, but the last thing I want is for people to start arguments on posts that are meant to be about celebrating the show. We’re all a community of people with different opinions and tastes, and so we like different things! And that’s okay! 

Rule 3: Tag your post with #dw positivity drive so people can find posts and share the love. It’ll also help me because I would like to reblog as many posts as I can! And if you feel like encouraging other folks to join in too, that would be really awesome! I want this to span across as many eras and aspects of the show as possible 

I’ll start everyone off by saying what I like about the show, but I’m going to put it under the cut because otherwise this will get too long. But if people are happy to reblog this and/or share it with folks in other ways, that would be really helpful! I just think it would be amazing if we could recreate that sense of love and joy that I felt at Gallifrey One - because isn’t this what fandom is all about? Sharing joy for the things that we love? I think it should be! 

Since I’ve been watching the show since 2005, I thought I’d say what I liked about each showrunner era, because I love the RTD, Moffat and Chibnall era for a bunch of different reasons. And to be clear, if I say something I like about one era, that doesn’t mean I think it’s bad or not done well in another era - it’s just a particular thing I like about that era! 

RTD ERA

I really love RTD’s characters - they’re always so vibrant and real, and he’s really good at establishing the characters quickly and giving us a really clear and consistent sense of who they are and what matters to them! It’s also really satisfying to watch the story arcs of these characters - I think of Donna in particularly, because I really love how she grows from a character with so little confidence in herself to someone who manages to save everything that she knows. And yes, I know she loses her memory too, but I lowkey love that - especially in the context of the recent series, with the Doctor suddenly discovering that their own memories have been erased - because the pain of it is so brutal and real, and it somehow feels even worse than if she’d died. I love angst and tragedy when it’s done well, and that’s another thing that RTD is excellent at! (Like the whole thing with the TIME WAR, guh, it’s such a good way to bring back a show that had been off the air for so long)

On that note!! He brought back the show!! And he did it with a wheelie bin burping what an ICON

RTD tends to put his themes and his message at the heart of the story he’s telling, and I really love that because it just resonates through the whole thing

Ok this is a silly thing but as a kid I always loved it when RTD would like...have a word or phrase that kept cropping up and you’d spot it in lots of episodes and it would suddenly become relevant in the climax? Like in s1 it was ‘bad wolf’, and then in s2 it was ‘torchwood’, and then less of a word/phrase but how in s4 they kept bringing up about the missing planets? It was just really cool and excellent storytelling to set up for what is coming for the end of the series 

There are so many stories that I love in this era - it’s one I’m very fond of because I grew up with it, and honestly I think it inspired me so much to like sci-fi as much as I do now

MOFFAT ERA

The episodes in this era are always so bombastic and spectacular! There’s such a cool sense of scale for the universe, and so many cool new monsters and worlds are brought in that I really enjoy (like the christmas episode with the flying sharks? HELLO? I’m absolutely obsessed with that). And yet we also get this really cool dichotomy with the home life of the characters too, and seeing how their relationship with the Doctor and how their lives at home don’t always work well together, and it’s such a cool theme to really dive into. 

Early Moffat era - especially s5 - has this really wonderful like...fairytale vibe, I guess? Just the themes of s5 are really nice, and I particularly love how we see them woven throughout the narrative and also just the style of the show and how the stories are told. It’s awesome

Moffat era has some absolutely CRACKING two-parters! I think one of my favourites are probably the crash of the Byzantium two-parter, but then the s10 finale is just absolutely BRUTAL but so, so well done. On that note, I absolutely ADORE s10 on the whole, like just Twelve, Bill and Nardole as a TARDIS team? And then everything between Twelve and Missy? I’m obsessed with it, it’s so so good. 

The Doctor speeches!! So many iconic lines!! 

Moffat has some REALLY awesome concepts that he delves into in his era - like the idea of a crack in time! The Pandorica! The confession dial! Aliens that make you forget you even saw them! Aliens from a two-dimension universe trying to invade ours! And then, of COURSE, the way he uses the black hole and time dilation in the s10 finale? Absolutely INCREDIBLE, it’s just SO cool! 

CHIBNALL ERA

I know I keep going on about themes but I absolutely LOVE the themes of Chibnall’s era, especially in s12-13 and the way it digs so much into identity. It’s something that I myself really love to write about, as well as being something that really resonates with me personally, and so it’s just been an absolute TREAT to see it get dived into in a show I love so much, and done so well! I also really love how it explore memory and trauma and how that ties to identity, which is another topic I find really fascinating. 

With Chibnall’s stories, I’ve really found that the more you dig into them and engage with them, and try and figure out how they tick, the more and more satisfying and enjoyable they become. It’s makes writing for and being in the fandom for this era in particular so wonderful, because even now, years after some episodes aired, I keep finding more connections and more things that I hadn’t realised about, and it’s AWESOME! I also really love how it’s all such a love letter to the show as a whole - the last episode in particular is a great example of that, but I really think the whole of this era is as well! There are so many references and connections back to both RTD and Moffatt’s era, but then also Classic Who as well! Like, for example, take the Timeless Child arc - the way it weaves threads that had been left hanging from previous seasons, taking inconsistencies that are natural for a show that has been airing for sixty years (!!) and make them fit in so beautifully into the tapestry of canon? It’s SO COOL!! And so satisfying! I think people sometimes say that Chibnall tore canon apart, but I actually think that’s the opposite of what he’s done - he took things like the Cartmel Masterplan and The Brains of Morbius and that one random scene in the Matrix from the Deadly Assassin...and he made them all FIT together! It’s amazing! And then in Flux too - I saw someone talk about how the Flux being created by Tecteun because of the Doctor actually makes the end of s5 make even more sense - because in the future, the universe is being destroyed because of the Doctor, and so all of Eleven’s enemies put him in the Pandorica! It’s brilliant. AND THEN bringing back Ace and Tegan for the centenary of the BBC!!! He finished off their story arcs DECADES after their last appearances, and it just the coolest thing 

On that note! So many ties back to Classic Who!! We love to see it!! I also really appreciate the fact that Flux enabled so much Lungbarrow clowning, which I think had to be intentional because why would it have been there otherwise, plus we KNOW that Chibnall knows about Lungbarrow - so yknow. It’s silly but I love it yknow

This era is just so GORGEOUS, it’s absolutely stunning? Not just the CGI but also just the lighting and the amount of detail and love that goes into the set design and the costumes! There are so many details to enjoy and I love that

I love all the characters so much, they’re absolutely wonderful! Again, a lot of the characterisation feels quite under the surface, but the more you let the episode sit with you and look at the details, the more you see, and it’s wonderful. I’m also particularly attached to Thirteen for a lot of personal reasons, because it’s the first time I’ve ever been able to see so much of myself in a character - and yet she’s still open to interpretation, so other people can see themselves in her as well. And especially when at Gally One someone asked Chibnall about Thirteen’s autistic traits, and he confirmed that they were intentional - that was just SO wonderful, because as someone who is autistic, I’ve always found a lot of the way I see the world mirrored in the Doctor’s character, but this was especially true with Thirteen (it’s one of the reasons why I really love how she was portrayed alongside Telsa in s12 ep4). So to hear it confirmed as intentional was just awesome

I also really love how there has clearly been an intent to include more diversity and be more inclusive, both in front of the camera and behind it! Whilst there have definitely been slip ups, I think the right intentions have definitely been there, and I’ve seen the tangible impact that it’s had on real people around me. For example, with Demons of the Punjab, there were so many people (myself included) who knew nothing about the Partition of India, because it’s just not taught about in schools here (which is absolutely shameful!). I actually worked on a creative project about the partition after this episode aired, and the amount of people who said they only found out about it because of Doctor Who was significant. And I think it’s really great and really important, because it’s leading Doctor Who to explore parts of history that we don’t normally see portrayed or talked about. And Chibnall has also clearly worked really hard to focus the historical episodes on important women in history, especially ones who many people might not have heard about, such as Noor Inayat Khan and Mary Seacole! (I remember my Indian friend being so cross that she’d never been taught about Noor at school after watching Spyfall Part 2 - someone just like her, and she was only finding out about it in 2020!). I also hugely appreciate the fact that he baked into the lore that the Doctor being a woman wasn’t a one-off by introducing Jo Martin’s Doctor, who was also absolutely wonderful, as well as all the Timeless Child regenerations that we see. And then at the same time! Establishing that the Doctor hasn’t always been white! Chibnall gave us our first Black Doctor, and then gave us even more with the Timeless Child - and that’s awesome. 

One of the things that has always struck me, but especially after going to Gally One, was how much love and joy there was for the show from Chibnall, Jodie, and everyone else involved in making it. They all talked about each other so positively, always praising and crediting other people for all the work that they did, and seemed to actively work towards making sure everyone on set felt welcome and included (even though Jodie claims that she was just nosy and wanted to talk to everyone haha - but regardless! The positive impact was so profound that every time people ask about how it was filming, every person mentions how wonderful Jodie is, unprompted). And Chibnall himself clearly cares so much about the show, and has so much of a passion for it - but is also just a really decent guy who just wants to encourage and enable other people, based on the interactions I had with him in person at Gally One. And I think that shows so much in his whole era 

RTD2

We haven’t had much yet but NCUTI GATWA!!! AHHHH I am SO excited! He looks amazing already and I cannot wait

DONNA NOBLE COMING BACK?? IN 2023?? I’m not ready at ALL I’m going to cry

YASMIN FINNEY!!! 

BEEP THE MEEP!! (but on that note!! How he’s bringing in obscure extended canon characters? Absolutely obsessed, I want more of it!)

The trailer just looks like so much fun and I’m hype

[satorugojoswiife]

idk sometimes seeing all the hate gege gets makes me sad. :( like I know alot of it is jokes/memes, but there are some people that are very serious and weird about it

[howlingdemon13]

If I had a nickel for every fandom I wandered into that has a toxic attitude towards adaptations of the source material, I'd have two nickles... And I don't even want one nickel at this point...

[kimbapisnotsushi]

i for real think bnha should be academically studied honestly

[always-a-joyful-note]

may I also bring this contribution as you wander down the enstars rabbit hole (it's enstars characters and their supposed crimes)

OP I appreciate you so much, but I fear that you are trying to kill me? Just -

Just a few questions.....

- Why are Switch and the seniors of Ryuseitai and Wataru??? on kidnapping?? (wait, did he kidnap Hokuto is that it?) - Wait, what did Tetora and Sora DO? - Midori's in attempted murder?????? WHY??? - What's with forgery?? Why's that on there? Why am I questioning forgery when sexual harassment and murder are RIGHT there??? - Yeah, I still can't believe there's a literal idol duo who is also a mob group.... - "tried to break the windows with an iron pipe" what - of course Hokuto has the ultra specific one (I love him so much. Rich airhead princess to me, so far anyway). - Bullying for Subaru NO what have you DONE starshine boy??? - and at this point I've given up on getting mentally tortured by the others

I am eternally grateful for this list. Why did it have to exist? OP, come back here and let's just talk - actually. No, I desperately want to sit down with the writers and ask what they've experienced to do this.

[undead-potatoes]

Not loving this increasingly weird behavior in fandom where they'll look at a female character behaving in certain ways and go "ooooh that's so hashtag girlboss, feminism wins uwu", but then you look deeper into it and she's actually just behaving out of fear or deep rooted trauma

[imavikingo]

One thing I'm TIRED of is ppl tagging Stucky to simply shit on Steve. (This happens a lot in AO3)

Idk why they need to tag the ship if they HATE Steve or treat him like shit.

You can ship whatever you want but what's the need to tag that ship if you only want to bash one character? I could understand if the tag is "minor relationship/past relationship" or other variations. But they're not.

Same happens with some posts I've seen on here now. I'm tired of ppl hating on my favorite character and treating him like crap just because it's convenient now and because the writers didn't make the ship "canon" and assassinated his character and fucked up Buckys.

I try to block some tags (mostly of other ships bc you know... ppl try to justify their ships with the Steve slander) to stop seeing that kind of posts. But those types of posts keep appearing and I'm done. I actually don't feel comfortable anymore lmao.

[milfbrainrot]

.

this is hypocritical bc i also do nothing but complain about other people in fandom, but i do feel like fandom is... so much more complaining about other people these days than actually engaging or making things. or at least that's kinda where i've landed myself in a bad little cycle due to other people complaining first lol.

i have always had a sense of emotional paralysis with fanon creation that was able to be remedied by me having more time for it in the past to truly take as much care as possible. and now i really don't have that, be it to make sure i'm doing things in-character or not representing something badly. so i just don't make anything. and idk, i feel like it would be less difficult if there were less pressure from knowing all of these attitudes about what the fandom doesn't like more so than what it does like, since when a fandom DOES like something reblogs and comments are dismal.

a lot of times it's hard to think of things to say that aren't negative, which is why i think those posts happen so much. clearly i do this a lot. sometimes fandoms have more popular opinions on things and it feels inevitable to voice contrary opinions to make sure ur not insane, or idk to feel better at media analysis than the other people. and yeah lol sometimes popular fandom opinions are missing the point or you do not get the popular ship etc. it's good to have those discussions i think when done respectfully to try understanding why people think one thing, or pushing that hey something else also makes sense let's look there, etc, moreso collaboratively.

at the risk of romanticizing earlier fandom days, i guess there is something more general in the backlash now though? i imagine that on sites like livejournal, or i remember on deviantart, criticism was... kind of contained. your art might get one shitty comment or there might be deviantart stamps voicing Hot Takes you could then view the popularity of based on the comments/faves and how many people embedded it on their profiles. but there weren't mass reblogged posts with 120k notes about how boring an AU type is, or how stupid people are for shipping rather than worldbuilding, or how things that are genuinely skill issues more than malice are in fact malice so people aren't even allowed to explore and learn in their inherently amateur creations. it is easier to be hateful when a validated approved post is put on your dash affirming it or influencing that toward people and making it into a bigger deal than it needs to be to justify itself and all you need to do is hit a button to further the train.

like i just think there is such a higher expectation for perfect content tm catering to a mass appeal it would've been harder to measure and conform to before. every time i go on twitter the algorithm just gives me post after post of people going "i can't believe people think this character would do this" or "this headcanon pisses me off so much because___" or "ew how could people ship this?" ...all of which was absolutely present in fandoms before! like, i'm sure anonymous posting in particular saw a lot of these things get traction! but not in such a way where an opinion dragging something you do has 248 retweets putting it on ur feed and insinuating that ur mutuals will judge you next time you post a fic update with that thing. (and then ofc, as i do all the time, seeing people complaining = cue complaining about other people complaining.)

obviously we can just block people we don't like or whatever and it's up to us to not let contrary opinions get to us! i just guess this level of complaining has never before been so widespread and easy because you don't even have to say the thing yourself. you just have to hit reblog or retweet to voice something you otherwise would've kept to yourself with less care. and the numbers feel insane because of how much more popular online fandom is today than even 10 years ago, which... i think has brought on such a loss of etiquette in certain ways when fandom is less interactive and personal for like, tiktokers seeing a 30 second fancam and hitting like if op is lucky and scrolling by. algorithms making more personalized experiences make it so much easier to expect everything to cater to us so it's the end of the world when it doesn't. i could go off on a tangent about anti behavior but i won't. etc.

again i am hypocritical because i complain about other people in fandom endlessly (mostly... because of other people complaining about people like me first) and i am doing that here and i probs have reblogged lots of those things myself lol. obviously there are good convos to be had around how fandoms handle certain things! people are free to do that AND other people are free to post whatever kinds of creations they want AND people can block/mute/whatever any of the above! it's just... although fandom has always had its toxicity i do miss when it felt more fun and carefree and appreciative of imperfect contributions instead of... the balance we currently seem to have in a lot of cases.

it felt like we hit such a shift in ~2015 (anti stuff on the rise, representation convos around lexa dying, etc) that injected the expectations for mass media creators into literally anyone making anything at all for free and for fun. and as much as the ability to reblog/retweet/share around so easily can be beneficial for spreading good and building up fanon creators, i wonder if those critical convos wouldn't have gotten so intense and high-risk for anyone who didn't conform to some frankly impossible standards if it weren't for the intimidation of mutuals contributing to the 13k validating notes on a Hot Take. (and, in terms of anti issues, the ensuing callouts FOR making a mistake could get so much more traction than... telling people to Spread The Targeted Harassment Campaign Word by putting the effort into going and talking about it in their own journal.)

anyway, twitter bad and tumblr tags bad. and i really hope i can get to a point where i am less impeded by this sense of pressure keeping me from making things because it is honestly so hard now to take the limited time i have and pump out something that is either risky or out of character or inevitably imperfect and dare to post it. i am trying to do more with original works because of that, but i still love fandom! so it would be nice to engage with other fans through creating and sharing those joys more these days rather than only having the energy to engage with fandoms by seeing what other people are doing and then seeing these popularized takes and getting even further frozen about contributing lol. people are entitled to their opinions ofc and i need to just stay off twitter keep continually building up my ability to go "yeah that opinion is stupid / even if it's understandably contrary to my preferences i can still do what i want even though it feels more dangerous to know the amount of people who could conceivably ostracize me for it" as the sharing scale of Fandom Takes on too-influencing-friendly platforms continues to rise.

[usercelestial]

btw if you've ever sent me a message saying it's okay to time off of fandom bullshit and wishing me good things and peace of mind and ive never responded, it's because every time i look at them i get emotional and start crying so hard i can't see my keyboard

[kurominiiiz]

The amount of incest, noncon, and pedophilic jjk smut content is getting out of hand.

"Just scroll if you don't like it!" - this doesn't negate the fact they're posting disgusting scenarios. They're targeting an audience of people who should seek therapy. That kind of shit is not okay.

It's like saying "scroll part a zoophile account on Twitter if u don't like it." See how stupid it sounds?

This Fandom is slowly becoming one i regret being in because of just how disgusting people are becoming. Come on guys, do better.

It's okay to have kinks and fetishes, but that doesn't mean they're okay. It's not okay to sexualize minors, it's not okay to sexualizw little space, it's not okay to sexualize r//pe! I get dubcon, but noncon? That's literally just nonconsensual sex.

Anyways. Rant over. Do better, people.

---

Edit: I have MUCH more to say on this now that I've read some other inputs:

The problem isn't "block and move on" or "ur arguing for fiction..." it's the fact people are exposing minors and already mentally ill people to VERY REAL and DISGUSTING scenarios. It doesn't matter that they're fictional, what they're writing about is a real issue. Blocking tags doesn't work most of the time, so stop saying to shut up and just use that feature.

Another thing is that people are making these writings so normal that they are making others think it's okay. When I was younger, I had unsupervised internet access and was exposed to smut like this. It messed me up and got me institutionalized because I didn't know it wasn't okay to talk about. Minors nowadays are also very unsupervised and will come across your stuff. I'm worried for the next generation.

Last thing, the excuse "they're just fiction" is flawed because you're ignoring the PSA! You wouldn't say this if it was about something else, right? If someone was saying: "I love lolicon!" You wouldn't block and move on. You would call their asses out and comment bomb them. It's the same concept, except on a broader spectrum. You're enabling the behavior of these vile creatures that need serious help. You're not doing anyone any good by saying "this is so unnecessary" or "they're fictional..."

(Update: read this post about my asks if you plan on sending a hate message or threat lol)

[pa-pa-plasma]

okay, because I haven't seen any posts mentioning specifically where/when to put readmores:

if your writing is longer than 300 words, put a readmore after the first paragraph. please. i am begging you. they are more likely to be reblogged when we aren't worried about inflicting a wall of text onto our unsuspecting followers. the readmore option looks like

or

start a new paragraph & then click that. it will then look like

if you are on mobile you start a new paragraph & then type :readmore:. it will look like

thank you for coming to my readmore tedtalk or whatever. happy writing

[imsobadatnicknames2]

ok but i need the evrart claire essay

Okay just be warned that this is gonna be less of an "essay" and more of a loose collection of thoughts, and I don't know how fresh or novel any of these ideas are going to be when it pertains to popular Disco Elysium fan discourse because I don't really do fandom, you know?

Anyway, I think the most obvious factet of Evrart's character is how he very intentionally calls to mind a caricature of corrupt union leaders, the image of a sleazy mobster who only cares about his own personal gain but pays lip service to leftist politics and pretends to care about the interests of workers as a way to obtain and maintain his power. And I think a lot of people straightforwardly read him as such, because that's the way he carries himself and the type of character the game is riffing on. There's also the question of how much of Evrart's manipulative, duplicitous attitude is just how he normally acts and how much of it is him specifically acting that way towards Harry and Kim specifically, it's important to have in mind that your main character is a cop and that would definitely play a role in making Evrart go out of his way to be a bit more of a bastard and toy with you a bit before he decides to actually do anything helpful.

However, once you dig a little deeper into his characterization, it becomes clear that he's pulling a very interesting double bluff, because it becomes apparent that the shady mobster who only cares about his personal gain is an act he's putting on. He's very self-aware about the fact that he's playing the villain, he seems to actively revel in it, but ultimately, it seems like he does it because playing the villain is the way he gets shit done.

This is not to say he's not actually corrupt, or that he's not ALSO involved in all sorts of shady stuff and taking advantage of his position of power, but the game does make it apparent that on some level he DOES have the interests of the people of Martinaise at heart.

For example, it is textually stated that the harbor doesn't need a night watchman, and Evrart created the position specifically to provide a source of income for René. He knows the pension Rene gets is not enough for him to live on, but he's also aware that René is the sort of right-wing guy who would rather starve to death than take a handout (especially from those dirty union commies), so Evrart created a job position which pretty much involves doing nothing for a few hours every night so he could help him with his economic troubles in a way he wouldn't refuse out of principle. René hates his guts, ideologically stands against everything his organization represents, and is generally an unlikeable asshole and a fascist prick, but he's also a disadvantaged member of the community and that seems to matter more.

Even when he asks you to get the signatures to build the community center, which is definitely one of the most morally questionable things he does during the events of the game (as it will improve the community, but at the same time displace the people from the fishing village), his intentions seem to be ultimately good. Due to the very nature of his character and the act he puts on, it's purposefully hard to tell when he's being sincere and when he's being manipulative. However, if Harry's drama and empathy skills are high enough when he's confronted about it, you'll be able to tell that he's not lying about his motives for wanting to build a community center or about the fact that he intends to provide better housing for the people displaced by the project, and that he feels genuine rage about their current living conditions. It can still be said that he's ignoring their self-determination and essentially forcing these people out of their current homes, but he does seem to have good intentions and think he's doing a good thing for them in the long run, even if his methods are morally questionable at best.

In that way, the Union is an extension of him in this regard too. They're pretty unapologetic about the fact that they're openly operating as a crime syndicate, but the game doesn't give you any reasons to believe they're lying when they say they're doing it as a way to muslce out all the more dangerous gangs and crime organizations out of Martinaise, or that their involvement in the drug trade is at least partially motivated by a desire to make sure it's not controlled by more dangerous and violent crime organizations. Again, they're playing the villain as a way to fill that power vacuum and make sure more dangerous people don't fill that role (but of course, that doesn't erase the fact that, noble as their intentions may be, they're still involved in all these shady activities and turning a pretty substantial profit from them too)

Of course, on the other hand, just because the game seems to hint at the fact that Evrart and the Union are, deep down, a force for good, doesn't erase the fact that he's done plenty of bad shit to further his interests, and the game doesn't shy away from this. He's still extremely corrupt, his long-term plan to wrestle control of the harbor away from the company and turn it into a worker-owned operation (which *would* massively improve the material conditions of the dockworkers if succesful) involves endangering the lives of a lot of his own workers, he and his brother Edgar pass the position of union foreman back and forth between each other to circumvent the term limit and keep themselves in power indefinitely, and if you explore all dialogue options with the Deserter it's all but explicitly stated that they rose to power by getting him to assassinate the previous Union forewoman.

These are things that Evrart himself would probably rationalize as sacrifices that need to be made for the greater good. After all, it is implied that the previous union forewoman was also corrupt, except in favor of the company's interests, and might have even been a company plant. However, this doesn't make those things morally right. Good intentions nonwithstanding, it's clear that the Claire brothers are very "the ends justify the means" kind of people, they probably see getting the previous Union leader killed or endangering the lives of the dockworkers to overthrow the company that exploits them as "pulling the lever" in the trolley problem, which is extremely callous at best.

Here's where we get a little more into "disjointed thoughts" territory, but Evrart can also be seen as a critique of the limits of trade unionism and social democrat politics. Something that I completely missed in my first playthrough but was able to catch on during my second is that the people of the fishing village refuse to unionize, and as a result they don't get the same level of support and protection that the union provides to the people of the more urban section of Martinaise. This is apparently widely known enough for characters other than Evrart to comment on (I forget what character I learned this from, but it was definitely not Evrart). So it's clear that Evrart and the Union put their interests of the members of their own organization over those of other working class people, which is one criticism that can be leveraged against the way a lot of leftists seem to treat unions as the ultimate tool for worker class liberation.

Similarly, when Evrart tells you his long-term plans, it's clear that his ultimate goals don't involve complete worker liberation. As far as the game shows, he's a socdem who's still looking to work within the confines of capitalism. There are more radically left wing characters in Disco Elysium, but Evrart is the only one with any actual power to affect change, which kinda speaks to the lack of presence of more hardline leftist positions in mainstream politics. As someone living in Latin America, I kinda ended up seeing a bit of a lot of our currrent socdem politicians in him in that respect, I guess, but i'd need more time to articulate this thought properly, I guess.

Ultimately, I think Evrart is an amazingly crafted character. He evokes a well-known archetype of a shady, corrupt, power-hungry union leader, but he adds a lot of depth, self-awareness, and nuance to it and subverts that characterization in several ways. I think he atually serves an important role of ideologically challenging players who share the developers' and writers' political leanings. I think it would have been very self-congratulatory and autocomplacent to make the most influential leftist character in the game an unambiguously good paragon of workers' rights and working class liberation. By instead giving us someone who's an absolute callous bastard who definitely has a bit of blood on his hands, who's a socdem at best and a self-serving mob boss at worst, but can ultimately be interpreted as a force for good, and asking the players to decide what they think of him I think it brings interesting questions to the table of our commitment to material gains, what sorts of people we're willing to work with, and the sort of acts we're willing to tolerate, and makes the game a lot more thematically rich.

I also think a good analysis of Evrart is incomplete without an analysis of the ways in which he serves a a charater foil for Joyce, but I don't feel like getting into that rn.

[silusvesuius]

deux

this tree from my new drawing looking goated afffffff 👑👑

[gguk-n]

Your brother's Oscar Piastri? (Oscar Piastri x Reader)

I've had this idea in my head since I found out Oscar's sister is a K-Pop stan.

{Reader's POV}

Getting tickets to a K-Pop concert got exponentially more difficult as their popularity rose. It took so many attempts and almost losing the hair on my head before I got tickets to the TXT concert in town. I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as the confirmation email rolled in.

On the day of the concert, I might have gone all out and dressed up but everyone dresses up for the concert and it was the most exciting day I've had in a while. I love that I get to spend my adult money on stuff I enjoy. At the venue, I got to meet some people I had connected with online and made some new friends.

There was a girl next to me in the seating, who I ended up vibing with. We had a lot of fun as we sang along to all their songs; our voice went hoarse by the end of the night. As we walked out while talking about the concert, "Ugh, my mum won't answer my calls" the girl next to me, who I was introduced to as Hattie groaned. "Is there an issue?" I asked. "My mum's supposed to be my ride back and she won't answer my calls" she whined. "I could drop you" I suggested. "Oh, no. That would be too much to ask for" the girl shook her head to avoid causing any inconvenience . "It'll be fine. We're part of the same fandom so it makes us family" I laughed. She seemed to mull over my suggestion before nodding her head, "OK, but I'll pay for the petrol" she suggested. "Done. Let's go" I said pointing to my car.

The drive to her house was entertaining as we got to know each other better and sang along to the songs. We become concert buddies after that. I didn't really have many friends I could drag along to concerts anymore; having a friend made things much more exciting. She was a joy to have around and we shared the same bias for most groups we liked so it made stuff even more chaotic then they already were.

This went on for a couple more concerts until the latest one where I took the bus to the venue since my car broke down and a non-functioning vehicle was not about to stop me from seeing Enhypen. I met Hattie at the entrance who had been waiting for me. We hugged and grabbed some stuff from the stands outside and walked into the venue. The show was great, the fan service at K-Pop concerts was unmatched.

Hattie knew that my car had broken down and offered to drive me home as a pay back for the favour I had done at the start of our friendship. We were waiting outside for who I assumed was Hattie's mum but instead I was greeted by a tall pale Australian man, I knew more as Oscar Piastri, Formula One driver for McLaren. My jaw almost hit the floor before I caught myself and greeted the man before entering the car. "Hi, I'm Y/N." I said while climbing into the back seat while Hattie sat shot gun. "Hey, I'm Oscar" he said giving me a smile before he started the car.

Hattie kept looking back at me every time I sent a message. As soon as she read the last message, "Oscar, Y/N loves you" she laughed. Man, I hate the friends I have sometimes, I thought. Before my mind could react my body did, "No" I shouted. Oscar turned around to look at me, "no?" he asked. "I mean yes" I stammered. "yes?" he quizzed. "I mean, I love Formula One and since you're a Formula One driver that's why I asked her to ask if could get your autograph" I rambled. If the earth swallowed me whole, I don't think I would mind right now. I could hear Hattie snickering in the background.

The rest of the car ride had me sweating. Oscar dropped me off in front of my building; I bolted out of the door. "Don't you want that autograph?" Oscar shouted. I stopped dead in my tracks with slumped shoulders; if I'm going to embarrass myself, let's leave no stone unturned at this point. "Yeah, sure. I have some merch in my house you could sign" I mumbled walking back to the car. "Maybe you would like to join me for some tea" I offered. Hattie nodded along from inside the car and the three of us headed up. My house, I must've forgotten was not clean enough to be seen by anyone but me; I had to literally stop them, throw everything in the nearest closet and then open the door. I ran a kettle for hot water and asked them to sit on the sofa while I grabbed the Oscar Piastri hat and shirt I had bought recently. He graciously signed it for me and I handed them the cup of tea. "Your house is lovely" Hattie commented while looking around, "I don't see any of the albums or merch" she continued. "they're in my room" I said. "Must be fun explaining to the guys who come over" she spoke more to herself. "It's hilarious watching their reaction" Hattie added at Oscar's quizzical expression. "If you guys are done, would it be harsh to ask you to leave, I have an early shift tomorrow" I asked nervously. "No, thank you for the tea. We'll be leaving" Oscar said while lifting Hattie up. "I'm not leaving yet. I haven't seen your room" Hattie whined trying to get free from Oscar. "You know where she lives, come over at a more acceptable time." Oscar told her and dragged his sister away, "Good night Y/N" he called out as I closed the door.

Thank god she didn't see my room, I don't know how I would explain the Oscar Piastri poster I had above my bed and in my closet. My life got interesting to say the least.

Hattie and I weren't able to meet after since there weren't any concerts for a while but there was a Formula One race in a week. Hattie called me asking if I would like to join her family. I was more than grateful to be going because I got to see the race for free. God knows my saving's are crying.

I got dressed for the race and met them at the venue. It was the race day and the hustle and bustle at the paddock had adrenaline pumping through me. Hattie greeted me and introduced me to her family, 2 sisters and her parents who were very kind and welcoming. "It's nice to finally meet the girl who's accompanying our daughter to concerts and the subject of my child's interest" Nicole chimed extending her arm out. "It's so nice to meet you too Mrs Piastri" I said while shaking her hand. "You make me sound old, call me Nicole" she said. "What did she mean by the subject of my child's interest?" I whispered to Hattie. "Nothing" Hattie answered quickly. We walked in to McLaren to be greeted by Oscar and Lando. Starstruck was an understatement. After exchanging pleasantries and me asking for Lando's autograph and a picture with him and then tripping over the wire on the floor almost discharging vital piece of equipment found my way back to everyone and decided to sit in place. Oscar did ask if I was okay but I couldn't really focus on that since I keep embarrassing myself in front of him, of all the people.

The race ended with a pretty decent finish for Oscar that had all of us cheering. He came back to meet everyone after all the formalities and celebration. After a while we started to pack up to leave; "you should help Oscar pack up" Hattie said while making a quick exit with the family. "What? Why?" I asked but was ignored while everyone left. "Hi" a small voice came. "Hey, Oscar. Great race" I said trying to making things less awkward. "Thanks for coming" Oscar said. "Hattie said you guys had extra tickets and plus I couldn't say no to a race" I rambled. "Umm" he scratched the back of his neck, "there were no extra tickets, Lando lent me one of his so I could invite you" he said. "What? I'm so sorry for the trouble" I apologised. "What? No I mean, I wanted you to come...so I asked Lando for the extra ticket" Oscar corrected me. "You wanted me to come" I repeated. "This is so stupid" he muttered to himself. "Let's go, or we'll be late for dinner" Oscar said packing his stuff. "What dinner?" I asked. I was so lost, what was going on? "We're going out for a family dinner" Oscar stated. "You're going on a family dinner, I'm going home. I'm sure they must be waiting for you in the garage." I said grabbing my stuff. "They're not" Oscar lamented running a hand through his hair.

"I could drop you there if you would like" I offered. "No, I...ugh" Oscar sounded frustrated. "Is something wrong? Maybe I can get help" I suggested. Oscar looked at me with the softest puppy eyes, "I got tickets for you, specifically even though I didn't have one, I was ready to not have one of my sisters attend so that you could have a ticket" he said now staring at me. "I don't" I began. "Fuck, Y/N IthinkIlikeyou" he mumbled. "Oscar, I don't know what you said" I said. Lando peeped in, "This is getting frustrating, I thought it would be fun to watch but it's not. That muppet means he likes you, go out with him." Lando chimed. "You like me?" I asked shocked. Oscar just nodded his head slowly. "Put the kid out of his misery and go out with him. I don't think I can take pining Oscar any more or watch him stalk your Instagram profile" Lando quipped. "Can you shut up Lando?" Oscar glared. "I would love to go out with you Oscar" I cut them off; "really?" Oscar asked. "Yeah, I mean you are my favourite driver on the grid" I stated. "Really" Oscar shouted making me and Lando jump. "Let's go now" Oscar said while holding my hand and dragging me out.