#and i would like to be active in this fandom

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

and like 99% of the time it’s like not even aimed at someone actively doing harm. it’s not at people who are currently trying to hurt people in some way (though it wouldn’t be productive even if it was- being cruel to people hurting others does nothing to stop them from hurting people) it’s at people who like. in the past did hurtful things. or who was doing a hurtful thing at the time but genuinely didn’t realise and would have stopped if told. and that hurtful thing can be anything from being dangerous to life and limb to being a bigot to having one badly phrased and weird take to like. weird fandom discourse. and like. i feel having the same response to serial abusers and people who participate in shipping discourse is counterproductive even when we're actually doing a response that like. could work productively under any circumstance.

the most disturbing trend in online leftism is outright hostility towards any kind of community building tools and forgiveness whatsoever.

[mmikmmik2]

I watched Danny Phantom not long after it originally aired and I thought some of the concepts and character dynamics were really fun, so I’m glad the fandom has had staying power. I still like checking in on AO3 every now and then and seeing what authors are up to.

The one thing that’s frustrating to me is that barely anyone else seems to really like the Danny + Sam + Tucker ghost hunting trio like I do. I think it’s fun for them to be a team in “case fic” contexts, those three clowns having adventures and night patrols together is a charming friendship dynamic, and some of the best moments in the original show were Sam and Tucker being field agents and active combatants. Remember when they jumped on top of a moving train? Remember when they hit Vlad with a car? Remember when they would come up with alibis by pretending to make out with Danny? Great stuff.

If Danny is getting the shit beaten out of him in ghost fights then I think Sam and Tucker should get beaten up too. Just imagine Sam taking a victory selfie sitting on a curb at 1 AM, proudly showing off a black eye, with Tucker and Danny in the background looking irritated with her as they bandage each other up. This is my beautiful vision.

[biancadoes1]

I know tif is cray. But is she really a stalker? It’s been months with no paps lukola are not in hiding so if she was a stalker she would have gotten a pic of them. And she never talks about the sensitive topic because a real stalker would even know Nic’s appointments.

Stalker might be a little too harsh.

But she crosses lines no one needs to be crossing and it borders on obsessive and invasive behavior.

Truth of the matter is this - she has normalized certain behaviors in this fandom that should never have been. Following family accounts, keeping track of their following. Sharing out things that shouldn't be. Admitting to things on her lives that make her look like a stalker (moving to Luke's neighborhood, her or her friend going to his apartment building allegedly).

She's a fucking problem. She can bitch and moan about how everyone is always making shit about her, but she's the one that created timelines for public consumption, recording every detail of Luke's social media activity (more extensive than Nicola's) and then injecting her own opinion to sway people as well as presenting things as fact when it's not the complete truth.

She's still peddling bullshit. She's still a manipulative bitch. She's smug when she really should be ashamed.

I don't give a single FUCK if she uses this in her discord to gain sympathy from her followers. You get what you give.

[sauerhundz]

Rafayel Rant

My man literally doomed his people for us. If that isn't dedication I don't know what is. He also seems the only (Love interest) that wants mc to actively remember their previous lives, constantly reminding us that we've 'forgotten' something.

And I think it might just be Western bias/stereotypes around men, but I hate how the fandom as whole represents him as a whiny brat when he is so much deeper than that. And yeah he can be annoying sometimes but wouldn't you also be irritated and mopey if the person you love has forgotten about you multiple times after everything you've been through.

Yes he's sassy and yes he's needy and dramatic at times. But he misses you and doesn't know any other way to express it.

Not to mention he's a romantic at heart. If you listen to any of his secret time audios you would know that he really does care about you. Hell, he lied about needing a bodyguard just to get you to be around him more. Even in his recent card [Intertidal Zone] you can see that sweet/caring nature come out. He sings a Lemurian love song to lull you to sleep at your request.

Not to mention he has a dark side.

1. If you look back at his interactions with anyone other than MC. He's only ever (ha) nice to you. Because outside of you Rafayel's kind of an asshole. (Chapter 8 *cough*) Not to mention his underlying hatred for humans

2. He has stalked mc

3. He has murdered and lied to your face about it

4. He's definitely done some criminal work. Did you see how effortlessly he blended in, in chapter 8. Not to mention he has, in his own words, ‘connections' to the underbelly of Linkon

——> You don’t have to like him, but don’t give him unnecessary hate, pls 🙏

Please give our fishy boi some justice. #JusticeforRaf 😔

[burr-ell]

God I desperately need someone who thinks that choosing NOT to go into Predathos's cage would be somehow "maintaining the status quo" to explain to me how anything after the Solstice is "status quo". Have these people not been listening for the last three years? Exandria is already changed for forever.

Right, like we literally all just found out about aliens!

It's also a bit silly for two reasons. One, none of the Hells actually care about that as a reason except Ashton; the rest of them just kind of shrug and nod along to the idea of having control over the situation as opposed to Ludinus. Two, once again, no one has managed to explain what exactly is a problem with the "status quo" that actually, genuinely necessitates freeing Predathos. Not Ludinus, not Ashton, not the fandom, no one has provided any reason for doing this that couldn't be solved by reforming systems that are almost entirely driven by mortals. (Y'know what was missing in that tantrum Ashton threw at the Accord in Vasselheim? Any mention of Hearthdell. Any attempt to elevate their voices. Tell me your activism is performative without telling me.)

That's what gets me about Ashton dunking on Ludinus last night—they're so close to getting it. They're so close to remembering that realization they had after shardgate, that looking for someone to blame and taking out all your anger on them isn't productive and doesn't change anything and just makes you whiny and self-centered. But instead they're like "well it's not bad when I do it!" and in the midst of it all they don't have even the slightest understanding of who the gods are or their history in the world. They just want to be angry and take it out on an authority figure like every other impotent punk who likes an aesthetic and wants to be angry but can't be bothered to learn how community organizing works. Get over it! Grow up!

[arcticmist0324]

There was definitely a huge wave of fannish music, specifically “wizard rock” (called wrock) in the late 2000s and early 2010s. In 2014, there was a MASSIVE shock to the community as many prominent creators were accused of a number of abusive behaviors (towards both other fans and creators). It was a mess. I discuss it a bit more in the tags.

Hank Green (who is someone who was involved in this space and has a reputation for being a stand-up human and not a creep) even made a video in response. It’s still up on the Vlogbrothers YouTube channel. It’s titled “Sexual Abuse, Consent, and Culture.” He doesn’t delve into specifies, but it’s a good sense of the things being discussed at the time. (A lot of the creators who were accused were tied in with the Nerdfighter community).

Oh, and I remember this but I don’t think many other do, but there was also Hunger Games-themed music called Rockingjay. There was overlap with Wizard Rock (which might be a reason it didn’t really go anywhere because… well 2014 happened).

I'm meant to be writing so naturally my brain went into asking the real questions— why don't we have fandom music? We have all forms of expressive art, writing, drawing, editing. The more physical forms of art, sewing outfits, forging swords, acting, even audi narrating fics. So basically all art forms in order to further explore our blobros and yet— no music? Why is it? I am genuinely curious why songwriting and music-making is the one form of art that is not present in the daily fandom life? Yes there's music video edits, even people recreating music from shows on piano etc— but that's not what I mean, I mean honest to god making a real, proper, lyric and music and singing original song for your blobro. Why don't we have that?

[hxhbigbang25]

HxHBB is turning 10... Let's get into what a Big Bang is!

A Big Bang is a collaborative event between writers and artists where lots of new content for a particular series, theme, or ship is dropped all at once. BANG!!

Writers complete a longer story and artists will create at least one full work of art based on the fic they choose/are assigned. The goal is to upload new, complete works that will inspire and add to the fandom!

Our HxHBB will result in an influx of new works for the fandom to enjoy and be inspired by and hopefully will inspire continued collaboration between writers and artists as well as participation in other, smaller fandom events (such as the Yorknew Auction and Greed Island Server events!)

How do signups work?

Signups will open Friday, January 10, at 12 AM EST! All roles will be on the same form, so Writers, Artists, and Betas will all be able to begin signing up on the same day.

There is no skill requirement and you will not be asked to submit a portfolio, we welcome anyone to participate in this event!

How do I get into the server?

Once we have received your application, you will be sent an invitation to join our Discord server via DMs. All main communications will be conducted through Discord, so please have or be willing to create a Discord account for the duration of this event! Additionally, please ensure your Discord DMs are open, otherwise Shal won't be able to send you the invite!

As in previous years, the only pause between applying and joining the server would be in the event that we have a wildly uneven writer:artist ratio. If that's the case, writers will be placed on a waitlist and invited to the server as more artists join the event.

The server is a great place to meet like-minded creatives and share in the fun of HxHBB, even if you choose not to be super active in it. However it will be the only place we share important links and information, so be sure to pop in every now and again so you don't miss anything.

Roles

Writer

Writers are tasked with coming up with a new, unpublished story idea that will be between 5-50k words. While there is no theme or prompt to limit you, please be aware that NSFW or explicit content is not allowed! Once writers have their idea, they'll submit a summary with title, ratings, and tags included to inform artists for their selections. This is a completely blind event, so make it good!

Artist

Artists are tasked with creating at least one piece of art based on a scene or theme from their selected story. Once they have picked their blind match, they will receive the completed story from which they will choose to draw whatever they like. We are looking for at least one fully lined and colored illustration, but comics, physical crafts, or other media created for their assigned story are welcome!

Beta

Betas are tasked with reading over the first chapter or 5,000 words (whichever comes first) of their assigned story and providing feedback on spelling, grammar, and pacing. Stories that are in need of a beta will be up for grabs in the server. You can absolutely read more than the requirement if you choose, but we are only asking for the first 5,000 words.

Pinch Hitter

Pinch Hitters are the most valuable role we have in this event, they are in charge of swooping in to save the day in the event of an artist drop! They will be given extra time to complete their pieces as a thank you for stepping up to the plate.

Reveal Days

As in the past, our reveal days will be July 1 and July 8. The first reveal date will be for folks who do not need extensions, the second will be for folks who do and pinch hitters.

Please share your works to whatever social media or hosting site you prefer—AO3, ff.net, Twitter, etc.—and share a link here on Tumblr. This is the only account for HxHBB so be sure to tag it and use #hxhbb25 so we can reblog it!

Important Links

We realize this is a lot of information! All of this and more is included in our Guidebook, which is the most comprehensive compilation of all that is HxHBB information.

For quick reference, sweet countdowns, and other helpful links, check out our Carrd too!

As always, you can also send us an ask to this account or, once the server is up, we will have a dedicated ask-a-mod channel.

We can't wait to see where this year takes us! See you soon and Happy Hunting.

[jovialsongdefendor]

"Sonamy is canon and sega confirmed it! So sonadow will never be cannon!"

No. Sonamy is not canon. And this is not saying like a rage fan that doesnt like the ship. I sayed it because the people on the fandom spread so many wrong information that it becomes so annoying, specially on tik tok where you say that the earth is flat and everyone believes that. "Sonic sayed that he would like to share a umbrella with amy!" Ian, the writer of the game, sayed himself that he doesnt even remember or even write those lines for sonic. Most likely someone on the team pushed it so it can be in the code of the games. and why is in the games and it shows voicelines of it? Simple, because the game can be coded so some unused lines can be show on some scenes. And what makes it that those lines are likely just pushed into it like forcing a line that ian never ever write in the first place?

[It is strange that the lines doesnt even appear on the same scenes, just on differents ones?]

I am just gonna put the information that sonadow wiki done: "In bullet points:

These lines are cut-lines and they never made it to the final version for any platform

Ian, the writer for Sonic Frontiers, didn’t even write these lines to be in the game

Since the lines are in the database of the game (but does not occur in the final version of the game), the lines can be modded into the game to make it seem official or that it’s in the final version of the game

“Proofs” showing these lines to be in the game have faults within them, such as not occurring on the correct island or weather condition

There are several factors to consider when acknowledging these lines existence. One of the main factors is that these are cut-lines that never made it to the official and final version of Sonic Frontiers. This goes for both the English and Japanese version of the game. These lines can only be found through datamining the game, which means to look through files deep within the game that don’t make it to the surface. So, these lines will never be activated because there is nothing to activate it, therefore it is not official lines.

Another thing to know about is that Ian, the one who wrote the story and dialogue lines for Sonic Frontiers, was not even aware of these lines existing in the game because he never wrote them or had anything similar be made for these lines to exist. Therefore, it wasn’t even planned to have these lines in the game whatsoever. Someone else, other than Ian, snuck the lines in and had it go against what the original story was in the first place; they tried to have their own story or vision be put in the game aside from what Ian wrote or how it was originally conceived. This makes the lines even more unofficial and not real. Many already acknowledge that these lines are not official and are cut lines." https://youtu.be/vGnN6Q7yo5c "One more thing to consider is that even if people show “proof” of it existing in the games, these lines and even text can be easily modded into the game for it to seem like it exists in the final game. But just because it is modified in, doesn’t mean that it was there originally."

"As it can be seen through this individual who is able to make unused conversations be put into the game in some manner through modification, it is also possible to put unused conversations lines in the game in some manner. These lines towards Amy aren’t the only lines that are unused in the game. There are many lines that aren’t used and that are still in the database of the game, but that doesn’t mean that any of them made it to the final game for people to see through normal means.

Another thing to take note about is that these lines towards Amy (the “Umbrella” and “Making up his mind” lines), are lines that occur on Rhea or Ouranos Island, but the first pictures shown in this thread show that the lines were randomly said on Kronos Island, the first island you go to in the game. That shows that this person modified the lines to be said in the game and that they are not triggered under normal means. Another way to figure out that these lines are modified is that the “Umbrella” line is supposed to only be triggered while it’s raining, but the line is said randomly while it is only cloudy in the person’s “proof” of it existing in the game.

On a side note, datamining and modifying games tend to be illegal depending on what company the game comes from. For example, Nintendo has policies that say that if you are to play their games, you cannot modify their systems or games that are played on that console. So this practice of modifying and datamining is not encouraged by the majority of game companies and isn’t welcomed, therefore it should become a common practice to not to try to do these illegal activity towards any game."

"And what about this proof of sonamy being canon?"

Japanese version:

Putting again what sonadow wiki sayed:

"The Japanese is mistranslated in the English translation when talking about Sonic CD in Sonic and the Secret Rings. In English, it may call Amy Sonic’s love interest, but that was never stated in the original Japanese, therefore the English translators mistranslated it on purpose or are pushing their own personal interpretations in the mistranslated English. In Japanese it simply gives Amy a description before stating that she appears in the game. Sonic’s name is never mentioned in the original Japanese.

What it says in Japanese: “A brimming with vigor, love to fall in love girl, Amy, appears.”

Or for it to make more sense in English: “Amy, who is an energetic girl that loves falling in love, appears (in this game).”

The sentence in Japanese: “元気いっぱい 恋に恋する女の子 エミー登場”

If you take the sentence apart (which you can see on this website) you will see each word on it’s own to see the direct translation.

元気 = Energetic; Lively

元気 いっぱい = Brimming with Vigor; Brimming with Health; Full of Vitality

恋 = (Romantic) Love (which is more closer to having an attraction towards someone)

恋する = To Fall in Love (with); to love

女の子 = Girl; Young Woman; Daughter; Baby (girl)

エミー = Amy

登場 = Appears"

And about the ask and question of the characters when they sayed that sonic has feelings for amy and is official: welp, I guess tailor swift and etzio are cannon on the sonics universe, and maluma too

[lordofmelancholy]

Thoughts about Arcane Season2 and "bad writing" (Ramblings)

When you sit down and just think about it for a moment without people screaming in your ear

a lot of writing choices in Arcane make sense and works

Because they don't follow traditional tropes

they follow Real Life

Sometimes in life you dont talk to someone when you should Sometimes in life you dont make right decisions, or make right decisions people will think are wrong Sometimes in life bad people get away with things that you believe they shouldn't Sometimes in life people DIE in war you never expect Sometimes in life you dont NEED words to apologize, you need ACTIONS, especially in a world where words can be twisted and untrustworthy and not worth the dirt on your shoes.

I love Arcane SO MUCH because it does what no show really does anymore. It doesnt follow trope, it doesn't follow immediate reconciliation, or conversation or WHATEVER. It just lets these characters LIVE (and die) just like how the world turns.

No one is out of character because a person CAN NEVER BE out of character. You are never the same person day in and day out, your life REFUSES to allow you to do that because if it did you would NEVER adapt to change.

Its how you adapt to that change that is important Take Cait and how she is in Season 2 for an example

I don’t think it’s bad writing Not entirely One of the reasons I like Arcane is cause NO ONE is truly good or bad

(Cept maybe the few like Loris, Ekko)

Everyone is just morally grey, believing their doing right, but going about it in ways that aren’t

When they do right, they do right

When they do wrong you know it, but in the end I love that cause no creature, let alone people are ever one dimensional

But the ISSUES I’m having with the Caitvi side of the fandom is their ERASING what makes them good characters which is that MORAL dilemma side. So often you see people try to brush their issues under the rug, or water them down

AND THATS NOT WHAT ARCANE IS ABOUT it never was

Cait was Cassandra’s daughter The one person whose been there for her

Her death was basically what Silco said

It was the undoing of her daughter DO I like Cait

Yes I do She’s the perfect blend of morally delayed character that I love. But I don’t like what the fandom is DOING to her

Cait didn’t even honor her mother correctly when she went about her revenge

It doesn’t MATTER if she gassed just the chembarons and left the civilians alone It doesn’t MATTER if she thought she was doing right

Because she did something that Piltover ACTIVELY PROMISED THEY WOULD NEVER DO

She USED the gas, she used GREY

Piltover may have been absolute SHIT to Zaun But they at least KNEW that even the gas was too much Knew that if they used it they would hurt more then just the people they were aiming for

GAS doesn’t discriminate

It’s why even in the deadliest of war’s only the most vicious or determined to win EVER reverted to chemical warfare

Cait did it on a whim

But in the same breathe YOU cant only blame her

Blame Ambessa too She took a vulnerable person. Knew how to twist the tragedy she went through and turn it into something with her advantage

But people also seem to forget that Cait STILL had a moral code and she was learning from her mistakes

She CLOSED and forbade the use of the cells that Vi was subject to during her prison time

She called out Ambessa for instigating fights

SHE WAS FIGHTING WITH AMBESSA, turning her back on her when things got to terrible It wasn’t just

oh vi stared at her once and called her a petname

NO she was actively LOOKING for a way out from under Ambessa

and she found it

And it’s because of that I have to agree media literacy is at a all time low

Because if you ACTIVELY WATCH THE SHOW you realize things are not as face value cut-dry as they looked

S1 Cait NEVER left

S1 Cait is still present in S2 Cait

But the issue is we are seeing a side of Cait that is loosing her way and aligning herself with people who MAY act like their doing her right but aren’t and now she’s stuck in this loop of hell after hell after hell

Until the ONE greatest thing in her life, something that’s been constant in its support and love but not afraid to fight back with her when she thinks she’s wrong

came back

Vi came back during a time where Cait was once again lost in not knowing how to fix what she did wrong because now she was turning on Ambessa and had no one at her side

Vi literally just said cupcake and cait’s eyes widened to the point SHE ACTIVELY CRIES shortly after Vi called her that. Her eyes legit water if you look closely at her turn her head away.

And the best part is is Vi didnt just jump back into being steady with Cait

She didn’t trust her

until Caitlyn showed her she could be

[sir--crow]

this!!!

I've seen a lot of hate on Tiktok towards fanfictions to the point where thousands of people in the comment section will be making hateful jokes about the fanfic.

I'm like... that's weird. it's mean. it's rude.

there's one particular fanfiction in general within this fandom that gets a lot of hate, and the author is active within the community so I know that they see it. it makes my heart hurt for them. because they wrote a 400k+ fanfic FOR FREE. it might be ooc, but so what? it's fanfiction. it doesn't matter. ITS FREE. so I don't care.

I feel like a lot of people forget how lucky we are to have Ao3 and other fanfiction websites because it's a whole library we can access for free, and the authors don't get a dime for the hard work they put into it.

you wanna know what I do whenever I dislike a fanfic? I close the tab. I don't leave a hateful comment. I don't leave a bookmark saying "bad" or "wouldn't read again" because guess what? Ao3 isn't goodreads. that author WILL SEE WHAT U WRITE. as someone who published on Ao3, let me say that we can see everything people write in their bookmarks, and it always makes me happy to see loving comments or praise.

I couldn't imagine seeing a bookmark hating on my fanfic. it would break my heart.

so this post really resonated with me. if you see hate on any social media about a fanfiction. ignore it, or call them out!

fanfiction is free and the authors take time out of their day to write for YOU. so don't laugh at them when their writing isn't the best or the characters are a bit ooc and then act all shocked when they take the fanfic down for hate. they have no obligations to keep writing, and yet they still do it.

finally, I also see people say that fanfic authors of more serious topics are problematic because of what they write. for example, dead dove is a popular problematic genre on tik Tok that people bash. I'm sorry but what? once again YOU DONT HAVE TO READ IT and just because they write about it doesn't mean that they are that way/do those things themselves. just because someone writes about cannibalism doesn't mean that they're a cannibal. just because someone writes about murder doesn't make them a murderer.

I don't get it. is it a lack of media literacy? I feel like people get disconnected from reality whenever they write stuff on social media as if the person they're writing about isn't an actual person with feelings.

so please, don't hate on fanfiction. and let me say this YOU'RE ALLOWED TO DISLIKE STUFF. you're allowed to dislike a fanfiction! I'm not saying that you can't. I'm just saying that it's wrong to post hate.

be kind.

thanks for the insightful post OP.

Please stop publicly hating on fanfics. PLEASE!! Especially in a comment section of a video that’s about the fic or the fandom, because whether you’re aware of it or not, the author could have a social media account on that platform and see the hate. The hate on something they did for fun, for free. If you want more content then you have to stop hating. these authors aren’t celebrities they don’t have pr teams or people dealing with hate for them, they’re participants in fandom, and they’re real people.

Fanfics are not books, yes some are amazing enough to be, but you do not buy them, they’re provided to you for free. A fanfiction being popular is not like a book you bought sitting on your shelf, you should not feel obligated to read it because you spent money on it. Because you didn’t. it’s free. Fanfics no matter how popular should not be treated and reviewed like books, you do not get to publicly criticise or say “how are people buying this?!” Because they’re not. It’s free. It doesn’t matter if you think it’s overrated, it’s something someone did for fun, and you don’t get to criticise that, especially because it’s public for you to read!! Don’t be mad that something’s overrated, be glad that it was even up in the first place, someone could have easily just left it as a draft and never posted it, but they did. They decided to share this piece of themselves, to the fandom for anyone to read and that is a gift.

Ao3 is an uncensored website for fanfics, you can write about literally anything. And yet I see “no don’t read that fic it’s problematic!!” In a comment section. Fanfiction is not censored, if you want morals and every character being perfect and making the ‘right’ choices, then get off ao3. Also reminder that an author can write characters making decisions that they don’t agree with, for depth of the story. Just because your favourite character, that you see as the pinnacle of righteousness, makes a bad decision or says something mean does not make the story bad or problematic. It also doesn’t make the author agree with that decision. All the time authors of published books write about morally grey characters or villains. But when an ao3 author does it all of a sudden they must have committed the war crimes that they wrote their villain to commit. Do you realise how stupid that sounds?? 😭

Also don’t post vague negative videos about something/someone even if you don’t say who or what it’s about, it leads the comment section to gossip about who they hate and that’s just not cool. And tagging the fandom that they’re in??? 90% of the time they’re going to see that.

Public hate is not cool, if you don’t like someone, talk to you friends about it if you’re craving other peoples validation so badly. You don’t need to post something publicly. And I know hate gets more popular then love in fandom, no matter if it’s headcanons or fics or creators, but that doesn’t make it good. I don’t know why people are so negative all the time, like I don’t care what headcanons you hate, why do you even spend that much time thinking about something you hate?? I want to hear what headcanons you like, I want to know you fav characters, your kins, literally anything.

Sorry this is so long, it just pisses me off to see a fun video about fandom and then I open the comments and it’s filled with hate. This is a fandom, have fun with it!!! Please. 😭

[twopoppies]

Hi! I’m newer to the fandom so I apologize if this is a dumb question- in the past, have there typically been signs when either L or H are about to have a stunt? I just haven’t been here long enough to have lived through one of their stunts and was curious what to prepare for

Thanks! ❤️

Hi love. With Taylor Russell, I don't recall any. We got a blurry long distance photo and then anons in our inboxes saying it was her (because no one knew who tf she was or could recognize her from that photo). Then the back of her head kept showing up in grainy photos with him. It was pretty clear at that point what was happening.

With Olivia, we only saw the signs after the fact, and there weren't many. I recall she wore the same t-shirt he was later seen wearing (or it could have been two t-shirts, but I'm sure it was meant to look like the same one), and there were pap photos of him standing outside her trailer talking to her. I don't remember anything else. But, at the time, we had no reason to think she was going to leave her children and partner of 9 years to pretend to be a groupie.

Camille was much more obvious. He did a radio interview with Nick Grimshaw (the famous heart monitor one) where, among other things, Nick showed Harry a photo of her, and H said he didn't know her. Antennas were up after that because it was just so obvious. Then pictures "taken by fans" of them both being at public events began to show up, etc.

All the randos from years past I honestly can't recall whether there were signs or not.

I honestly don't recall the lead-up to Danielle. With the return of Eleanor I remember she started being more active on her social media and posted some photo wearing a sweatshirt of Louis' (or one like it). And I think we got articles about "are they rekindling their relationship?" as well.

With Briana it was much more obvious. What I was told was that they went out together (with Oli and cousin Ashley), and the DJ at some club announced he was there so people would pay attention, and then he and Briana stood on a table and hugged or kissed or did something like that. Someone sent a photo to a few bloggers who decided not to post them. LOL! So they went out a second time, and I guess sent the photo to different people who DID post them. Then there was the famous "this one's for The Sun" pap walk. But this was all during the "party boy" Louis phase, so we didn't necessarily think anything different would come of it.

Anyone remember additional/different info about this topic?

[pigfartsviatardis]

Was discussing queerbaiting recently with a friend because we’re watching Once Upon A Time (trash, but shockingly well written trash in the first 3 seasons) and obs we both ship swan queen. I mean. Come on.

But we noticed that from the start of s3 onwards, there was noticeably less shippy stuff between these two. There’s still a bit here and there because a) lesbian mums and b) chemistryyyy… but it felt like the writers were intentionally backing off from that pairing and putting genuine effort into the male love interests for both characters.

You might think that becalming the swan queen ship would have annoyed or disappointed my friend and myself, the shippers. But tbh we both agreed that it was actually nice to see a writing team see a popular queer fandom ship, go ‘oh whoops that’s not endgame’, and actively NOT bait it.

Obviously everyone here is aware of the Golden Age Of Queerbaiting, the late 2000s/early 2010s; even if you’re too young to have actually battled through it, it’s deep tumblr lore. We all know the repeat and egregious offenders from that time - destiel, merthur, johnlock, whatever the main one was on teen wolf - and how gleefully these shows would dangle queer rep in front of our twitching little noses.

Recently, I’ve noticed a more insidious trend: the Male Friendship Scarcity Myth. The most glaring recent examples are nandermo (WWDITS) and jayvik (arcane), both of which were popular ships after the first season(s) of their shows aired and were subsequently given increased screen time and shippy scenes/storylines. In the case of nandermo, the romantic feelings (at least from Guillermo) were textual. Both pairings were given ambiguous endings where they were together, but not confirmed as, yknow, together.

And then both showrunners, after the shows ended, decided to step up to the mic and give a heartfelt little speech along the lines of ‘men are allowed to be friends without it being sexual, and it’s actually really important that we show this, because we need more representation of close platonic brotherly male friendship in media’.

Anyone who was around during the aforementioned Golden Age Of Queerbaiting, or in fact anyone who consumes popular media at all, knows that this is horseshit.

It’s only ever close platonic brotherly male friendship. Or at least, 95% of the time. Everywhere you look, from major fandom shows to mcu movies, platonic male relationships are often front and centre. That’s nearly always the canon. How often does a major mlm ship actually go canon??? Hardly ever. Even destiel didn’t; cas’s feelings were confirmed last minute, but the official canon dynamic between him and dean is still brotherly bffs.

Are these friendships often the subject of intense fandom shipping? Yes, as literally any close relationship between any two characters of any gender always will be. People like shipping! But the official canon, and the gospel truth held up by poorly disguised homophobes in fandom, is nearly always strictly platonic bros.

Anyway. All this to say, I’ve been disillusioned recently seeing this myth pop up in every comments section on any jayvik-related content, that we have a lack of male friendship in media (we don’t, we have a lack of male friendship that isn’t queer coded to super turbo gay hell and back in media). I was even more disillusioned seeing the exact same rhetoric being spewed by those involved with WWDITS, which is ironically a show jam packed full of close male friendships THAT INVOLVE CASUAL SEX. The call was truly coming from inside the coffin on that one.

So, unexpectedly and somewhat depressingly, swan queen and OUAT have been a balm for the soul in the midst of all this. No queerbaiting (at least not where I’m up to), just good old fashioned straightwashing. At least it’s honest 🤷‍♀️

[beatcroc]

#real shit. i have an unfathomable disdain for shipping caricatures that declaw the characters in question#not limited to just rivalries either; it's all over the place ranging from characters where one's a stoic to deeper dynamics#like ones where theres deeper conflict at play#people are just allergic to writing ships under a lens that doesn't fall under amatonormative standards#to invoke the ancient words it often comes down to 'they wouldn't fucking say that'#I think this is also what spawned the phenomenon of people assuming shipping worsens the media comprehension of people#which to an extent is true since shipping tends to be the main focus in fandom#and when shipping is where the perception of said characters gets completely dumbed down to aspects that were never part of them-#i dont exactly blame people for thinking so#though i do think its possible to have a healthy grasp on the source material whilst shipping#it's just harrowing to see people not take into account how a relationship between two characters would actually function and play out#does it seriously not get boring to you people to rewrite the same fluffy headcanon shit for every pairing you come across?#not every relationship ends up being a perfect honeymoon. where is the grit#where is their loudly implied personality flaws that would endlessly clash#you can give characters meaningful connections without having them play tonsil hockey. often times it makes writing them more interesting#since in the end that's just how some characters ARE.#it's also very telling on how people tend to view friendships as inherently lesser than romantic entanglements#which is a seperate can of worms#but it does play into the issue on how it makes people hyper-romanticise relationships when mushy shit isn't always the best--#or most realistic dynamic for characters#it ends up looking like you don't care for the gritty parts of their personality that are the bricks for their identity#relationships aren't a flaw fix and it most certainly isnt the height of intimacy#but at the end of the day it's fandom and people can write what caters to them. its not real anyways#im just tired and bored of it lol

ok i made this post as a personal little bitching thing about something specific but go off

i just dont think they'd kiss.

[slightly-sigilant]

I feel like the thing that the Fallen London fandom knows me for is Correspondence, and indeed, I love the squiggles. But in truth, the part of the setting I think about most is Parabola, the world behind the mirror. The land of the Is-Not; the realm of dreams.

I've had some flavor of chronic fatigue throughout my life. Without getting into the gruesome details, no doctor in a decade-plus of searching has been able to diagnose or treat it. At this point, I've more or less moved on to trying to accept it, work around it, and not linger on the looming dread I feel whenever I think about being disabled in This Society We Live In. I'm fortunate enough to have a remote job, one that mostly tolerates me working weird hours and sneaking off now and then to nap, so my days are something like a patchwork. Irregular swaths are cut from my life for sleep, and for lying in bed trying to muster up my energy, with the things that I need to do packed into the periods in-between, the precious moments where I feel well and truly awake.

At some point, I decided that if sleep was going to take up over half my life, I might as well make the most of it. I wouldn't call myself an expert on dreams - I've read Some websites on lucid dreaming, and One (1) book. But I do have vivid dreams on the regular, and I try to engage with them with my own particular means.

(It looks something like this: I let myself sink, and then, at a place between waking and dreaming, I float. I focus on my childhood room - a place my dreams have taken me, again and again, as of late. I brush my fingers along the walls, asking them to keep the terrors out, rather than trap me within. I speak to the ghosts that haunt this memory-place, inviting them to truce, to rest. I remember my present - of being an adult in a household that respects and cares for me - and breathe it into my past. With luck, the next time my dreams take me here, this place will be a sanctuary, not a prison.

Or like this: holding still, careful and quiet, in the moments before a dream dissipates. This one had been suffused with a powerful, yet curious melancholy. I hold onto the feeling as best as I can, studying the curves of its sorrow, the angles of its longing. I realize that it is a feeling I have taught myself to no longer feel in the waking world. The realization cuts, like a scalpel.)

It started as a necessity. A tendency to have nightmares doesn't mesh well with a life riddled with opportunities to have them. But it also became a quiet passion. Small wonder that it would be Parabola that would be my hook into Fallen London's world. While I only became an active player a year ago, I spent much longer than that reading the wiki. I remember combing through Wikidot for every scrap that I could on the mirror-realm and its inhabitants. I remember being elated to find out that you could become a Silverer (or "Glassman," as they were once called) and that you could set up a Parabolan Base-Camp of your very own. When I made Lukas, my current main, I planned for him to become a Silverer. His character arc took him down the path of a Correspondent, but Rafael would take up the cosmogone spectacles instead.

My readings are not the only valid ones, of course. But it never appealed to me to treat Parabola as just a wacky otherworld, and the Fingerkings as just sinister. My personal experience has been that dream logic is logic, something to work with rather than against, shown respect rather than bullied into submission. It is reciprocal - in order to shape my dreams, I allow myself to be shaped in return. They yearn and I yearn; I feed them and they feed me; we move together in ever-shifting dance.

This is the kind of perspective I try to weave into my interpretations of Parabola. I would like them to live somewhere other than just in my head, and I've thought at some point of creating some kind of compendium of My Personal Parabolan Headcanons. But that format doesn't really sit right with me - it's a vibe, not a set of rules. I think I would like to write some kind of playable fan-Exceptional Story, but it's really hard to beat the feeling that It Has To Be Perfect. The perils of writing about something that you're passionate about, I guess.

For now, I daydream and I doodle and sometimes I inflict my thoughts on my friends via Discord. But someday! Someday.

[queezleish]

The character of Alana Bloom: a not that coheorant ramble :3

I’ve always had a soft spot for Alana since my first watch for Hannibal. I think when I first watched I didn’t really think about her character but now after a view rewatches I’m entirely hooked by her character. Especially on the different ways you can view her when she’s “helping” people.

On the one hand all she wanted to do was help and she tried so hard to do so-- while rewatching season 1/2 u can see just how much she cares, especially as opposed to season 3 where u can see how getting caught up with these ppl and in hannibals life toughened her, turning her into the more ruthless and cold character we end the show with. And it's so tragic. It's SO tragic. This girl wanted to HELP PEOPLE but by the end she's so completely changed, so much that we see her actively seeking out to hurt and or kill different people more than once (to her credit those ppl were also murders but my point stands) .

BUT ON THE OTHER HANDDD

…..... Back in season 1, did she want to help those ppl for them or for herself?

Ive started to look back and view Alana's season 1 actions, specifically towards Will, with distain because It has always read weird to me. And I'm starting to think it's because even from the beginning she's been a very selfish person- I think she did care for Will but I think it can be read as more out of a selfish desire to help/fix/mother someone in a sense

Like that is a grown ass man babe……… idk especially considering the closeness or lack there of between will and Alana I think you can totally read Alana’s actions towards him stemming from a selfish desire to “fix”. (not saying being selfish is bad, sometimes that’s just how it be…(honestly I can make a whole another rant on the selfishness of Alana))

I don’t know if this is a hot take or not but, I feel like the two “sides” I’ve touched upon with her character are what her character gets boiled down to and I’m here to say…. Let’s not????

I understand not liking her for xyz reasons (which is so valid and me too) but I truly believe she’s so complex from a character standpoint and i think we should acknowledge this more as a fandom as opposed to boiling her down to one or two defining moments (this is especially important bc the few women of Hannibal are already given the short end of the stick and not explored upon enough as is…..but that is an entirely different rant)

While rambling about this I'm at the conclusion that maybe Alana Bloom is just a flawed character; she could’ve really wanted to help Will and Jack and with that came along the feelings of fixing/saving. And through this you can see that “fixing/helping" makes her personally feel good and that probably contributes to why she does what she does as well. Even if she doesn’t do it great either-- she definitely showed her subconscious biases and maybe ended up hurting more than helping along the way in her desire to fix/help...but that doesn't mean she never actually cared...i think u can see that she did because why else would she be constantly trying to do good ??? (At least season 1/2)

I mean it's rlly up to personal interpretation- there's a billion ways to read media, but as I was ranting to my friends about some of my gripes with her actions, I realized as I was talking, I was saying too little. I felt like I was misrepresenting. Hence my rambles

UGHHH she can just be read as SUCH a complex character and I really do think it’s an injustice to boil her down to one or two defining characteristics and the way she helps ppl is sosososo interesting to ME!

[otomiyaa]

Round Three

Kabru & Laios

A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY @wertzunge! I wanted to surprise you with something and hope you'll like this fic of a fandom + pairing that just deserve more tickle content 🤭🎉

Summary: [SEQUEL to "Tickle Fight"] - It has been a while since Kabru's tickle fight with Laios, but for some reason Kabru can't stop thinking about it and it's bothering him! (Also on AO3)

Word Count: 1.6K

Time. Meditation. Slapping Laios in the face.

It all didn't work. Plenty of time had passed, but the memory did not even get a little blurry. Not one bit! Meditation to control his thoughts: didn't work. On the contrary - during meditating he ended up thinking even more of it.

Slapping Laios in the face seemed like a good outcome - as in, maybe it would make a perfect new memory. It could make him think of slapping him, instead of that. cursed. tickle. fight. everytime!!!

That didn't work either. Kabru quickly apologized and asked Laios to slap him back, but he did not do such a thing and made him feel guilty for even trying it. But aaah, he wasn't sure what else to do!

Kabru was sweating, just from reliving the memory and from all the thoughts it activated. He kept thinking about it and he wasn't sure why. It bothered him.

Laios hadn't tickled him ever since. The others wouldn't let him. It wasn't even that Kabru never wanted it to happen again. But it crossed his mind a little too much and it made him feel uneasy.

It was unhealthy to battle monsters while thinking of getting tickled by Laios. It was conflicting to feel some sort of disappointment whenever Marcille or Rin would jump to his defense as soon as Laios looked like he'd want to tickle Kabru again, to which Laios would cry out "I wasn't doing anything!" with his hands raised.

And it was even worse how he felt when Laios would tickle Chilchuck while everyone cheered him on. Kabru never wanted to admit it, but at this point it was driving him crazy to finally come to the conclusion: he wanted another tickle fight with Laios.

Just to see how he would do if eh, if he was better prepared. A third round. Yes. A real tickle fight.

Round 1 wasn't really a fair one. Laios pounced on Kabru and just wrecked him completely. Kabru didn't even have a chance to fight back. Round 2 wasn't fair either. Sure Kabru got that lovely revenge on him, but it was only thanks to Marcille and Rin who held Laios down.

He knew he still wasn't strong enough to handle Laios, but after all this time it was still on his mind multiple times a day. He wanted to try it!

"Can I have that?" Kabru was pulled out of his thoughts and looked at Laios who pointed at Kabru's unfinished... whatever monster dinner Senshi had brewed them. It wasn't necessarily bad but... Kabru sighed and gave it to him.

"One day you'll get used to it. So, so yummy," Laios said while he munched on Kabru's leftovers. Kabru stared at him in realization.

"Where.... Where are the others?" he asked. Looking around, Kabru thought it was very clear that it was just him and Laios here at their campsite.

"There's some water nearby where Senshi wanted to do the dishes. Everyone went to help him, but I think they just wanted to take a bath and a swim or something. No one likes doing the dishes that much. They asked if you were joining but you didn't respond," Laios explained while he kept eating.

Kabru sighed. See? This was what his awful chain of thoughts was doing to him. He would've loved a cold splash of water in his face. Instead he was here, alone with Laios and... He blinked. Alone.

"Laios?" he asked. He started speaking faster than planned and wasn't even sure how to handle this yet, but if he wanted that tickle fight, this was his chance now that they were finally alone.

"Yes?" Laios just finished the last of Kabru's food and looked at him. Kabru immediately felt himself blush.

"U-uh I was thinking... The other day...." Oof this wasn't going well. The tickle fight had already been some time ago.

"I mean... You remember o-our..." Say it. Say it, say it! Kabru closed his eyes and breathed out.

"Our tickle fight..." he finally mumbled shyly. Laios immediately grinned.

"Of course I do! That was fun."

Kabru eyed him shyly and continued: "Well, I thought it wasn't really a fair one. I mean, I'm not used to it so at first I kind of panicked."

"That was cute," Laios responded, making Kabru explode already.

"A-and then, well, I couldn't really fight back. The others helped me get my revenge in round 2, but it wasn't a real tickle fight," Kabru explained. He already regretted bringing this up, but Laios looked so pleased to hear it.

"You mean you want to try again? We can do it now!" he said cheerfully, and yes, that was something to be happy about, but Kabru immediately squeaked and brought his hands up to stop Laios from pouncing on him again.

"H-hold on wait! We have to establish some rules!" he cried before he was doomed to laugh himself to death again. This time there was no one to save him.

"Oh, sure. What rules?" Laios sat back and waited.

Kabru swallowed and hesitated for a moment. "We should have a safeword. In case it's getting too much."

"Sure! Let's pick 'dog', nice and short. What else?"

Well, that was random, but sure. "We count to three, before we start," Kabru suggested.

Laios nodded. "I can do that. Do we start on three, or after three?"

"On three. The first one to make the other call out the safeword wins the tickle fight," Kabru said.

"Alright! That's all? Let's do it." Laios got up and stood in position with his hands ready, almost looking as if he was going to wrestle. Kabru copied his stance and took a breath. He was not going to run this time. He knew how ticklish Laios actually was. He should be able to handle it, at least in a more dignified way than last time.

"One..." Laios started, and Kabru's heart started racing.

"Two......" Kabru already tingled in anticipation.

"THREE!" Both of them attacked the other. Laios immediately managed to grab both Kabru's sides, but Kabru wrapped his arms around Laios and started to tickle his ribs while caging him in.

Hilariously, both of their laughter was instantly heard as they tickled each other. Now that was a better start at least.

"I wohohon't lohohose!" Kabru laughed while he dug his fingers into Laios' ribs.

"O-ohoh y-you behehet!" Laios' excitement didn't scare Kabru this time. It riled him up.

He clawed at Laios' sides and ribs and tried to keep himself up while receiving some pretty bad tickles himself. Laios was attacking the exact same spot, and one of them was bound to give in to their weakness sooner than the other. Kabru didn't want it to be him.

But of course Laios wasn't Laios if he still wasn't champion at tickle fights while Kabru was a newbie in the field. The moment Laios' fingers buried themselves under Kabru's arms, Kabru found himself shake with more hysterical laughter and his legs started to lose strength. Oh no, the moment he'd be down, he would be done for.

"Dohohon't you dahahare! Not thehehere!" Kabru tried to tickle Laios' armpits too, but before he could try that, he did end up sliding to the ground. Well, he tried.

"Victory's gonna be mine!" Laios exclaimed, and he pinned Kabru down and started that merciless tickle attack on him again.

It made a difference that Kabru knew he was in control - if he'd call out the safeword, he would simply lose. But he didn't want to surrender yet. Not without trying a little more.

"I'll gehehet you bahahack!" Kabru threatened while Laios tickled his underarms as if his life depended on it. Getting tickled there made it harder to lift his arms to reach for any tickle spot on Laios, and even though he could brush his fingers against his tummy and make him laugh just slightly, Kabru ended up collapsing completely.

Laios got inspired by his attempt and switched to tickling Kabru's tummy, using all ten fingers to wiggle all over the ticklish area. Kabru squealed, shrieked and flailed helplessly.

"LAHAha-Lahahaios ahaha wahahait! Nohoho!" Kabru laughed.

Eep, Laios was really relentless. He was strong, skilled, and excited, and if he had a tail, it would totally be wagging now.

Kabru didn't see any other chances. He couldn't win this. He knew it before he even tried, but it was still a good feeling that he had a fair attempt.

"AHAHa-ahahalright Laahahaios! Dohohog!" Kabru cackled. To his surprise, Laios immediately stopped as soon as the safeword was said. Kabru would've expected the need to repeat it a few more times at least, but Laios stopped tickling him and threw his arms up.

"Hurray! I win," he cheered. Kabru caught his breath and watched him fondly. Maybe it was because he wasn't wrecked as much as last time, because he had definitely made Laios laugh too, or because no one was here to see this, but he didn't feel embarrassed at all for losing.

"Are you okay? I hope I didn't overdo it." Ah, he really did learn from last time. Kabru giggled.

"I'm fine. N-next time.... Next time I'll win for sure," he said. Laios looked very happy to hear there would be a next time, and he nodded.

"Of course! You're getting better at it. If you want, I can give you some tips."

It was crazy to get tips from the person Kabru actually wanted to defeat in a tickle fight, but he chuckled and nodded.

"I'm all ears. But let's save it for next time," he said, pointing in the distance. The others were coming back and waved at them.

"Look what we fouuuund!" They were carrying something that excited Laios so much he got up and ran towards them. Kabru watched him go with a smile. Finally, that tickle fight was no longer bothering him.