#and then the stone wolf

[fitzbelovedhangover]

The Fool: And we will live happily ever after?

Fitz: That is my intention.

Hobb:

Me:

[tossawary]

This is petty fandom salt, BUT... I've been chewing on this phenomenon that I've been calling "Fandom's Darling". It is related to things like "Author's Darling" and "Mary Sue / Gary Stu" and "Protagonist Halo" and all that jazz, where one character gains a peculiar narrative weight in a story.

"Author's Darling" is when a writer has a favorite character, and the world and all other characters sort of get... warped to put the Darling in the spotlight. It's most noticeable in TV shows with multiple writers, when a character you personally like suddenly has their previous characterization destroyed to make another character look good somehow. Every other character might become weirdly incompetent. The Darling's feelings are treated as The Most Important Feelings in any given situation. The logic of the fictional world seems broken past suspension of disbelief in order to validate this one character's beliefs or skillset or some other fantasy. And so on.

"Fandom's Darling" is what I've been calling the pattern where a fandom essentially crowns a New Protagonist for their fanfiction stories (it's often a side character rather than the original protagonist, but it can also happen to protagonists). This character becomes the self-insert for all sorts of indulgent fantasies, gaining special powers or backstories, and/or becoming the focus of extreme whump, and/or hooking up with all the various hotties, starring in all sorts of tropey AUs, and so on. They're not always an obvious Mary Sue version of themselves, but the character's original personality and interpersonal relationships tend to get warped or dropped completely, and other characters tend to become a little flat around them. I call it "Fandom's Darling" because it's not just one self-indulgent fantasy fic (you do you! Have fun!) with characterization choices that I don't vibe with (I have neither the time nor the desire nor the authority to police anything, I am just venting), but rather a prolific mini-fandom of sorts revolving around this empty doll / fanon version of the chosen vessel character, so it becomes a little unavoidable.

I am salty about this (mildly frustrated) (imagine a soft sigh of disappointment before I just go do something else) because you are FUCKED if you actually liked the canonical version of this character and their interpersonal relationships. It's almost worse than liking an obscure character that no one cares about. There's about a thousand fics starring your fave, but maybe only about a dozen of them are actually rooted in any kind of recognisable canon.

[mochiwei]

Day 11: Music

Print available here!

[thesilicontribesman]

The Pictish Wolf Stone, Stittenham, Ardross, Inverness Museum and Gallery, Scotland

[felissole]

finished painting, just one more firing and his ready!and will be up for sale :)

upd. thank you for all the love!

[classical-bluess]

Wolftaro on main

[cakebird-art]

Ships as requested by Twitter 🫡 hope I did them justice!

[hymnoeides]

Mayhaps we have some Autolycus art? I love your design for Odysseus and I’m curious how you envision his thieving grandpappy

Grandpappy… this guy def teases younger ones like ‘Got ur nose!!!’

[aroaessidhe]

aro & ace books: aroace boys/men

in some of these it's explored significantly, in others it's only vaguely/briefly implied!

Sailing By Orion’s Star - historical trilogy, 3 aroace MCs

The Stones Stay Silent - high fantasy

Fallen Thorns - urban fantasy/paranormal

The Wolf Among The Wild Hunt - dark fantasy

The Siren The Song and The Spy - YA fantasy, one of various MCs (in book 2)

Wander The Night - urban fantasy

Lord of the Empty Isles - scifi/fantasy

Sinners - dark fantasy duology

The Dragon of Ynys - fantasy

Royal Rescue - high fantasy

City of Exile - high fantasy series, one of many MCs (other aspec chars too)

The Loudest Silence - YA contemporary, 1 of 2 MCs

See also: Rick, The Rhythm of My Soul, Party of Fools, The Chronicles of Nerezia

#aspec books / aspec database / tumblr masterpost

[finelythreadedsky]

i LOVE that we're at a point with retellings of myth and adaptations of ancient literature where i genuinely don't know, when i read or watch a new version of medea, whether she's actually going to kill her kids. so sometimes i get to be surprised and shocked when the author departs from established tradition, like euripides' audience in 431 bce. and sometimes i get to be truly surprised and shocked when she does it, like euripides' audience in 431 bce.

[wolfsteax]

Pine Bark Stone Wolf

[thetheatreofvampires]

this man is never beating the possessed by lestat allegations

[wwemcumuscleslover]

The Male beauty of Dick Wolfverse

[thesilicontribesman]

Inscribed Pictish Wolf Symbol Stone, Inverness Museum and Gallery, Inverness, Scotland

[commsroom]

honestly one of the funniest and most charming things about eiffel is how normal his opinions are. his big star wars rants are "han shot first" and how much he hates the prequels + digital remasters. most of his favorite movies and bands are exactly what you'd expect for his demographic. he's a "controversial opinion: pineapple goes on pizza" dating app guy and he takes that seriously. you could set him loose in any store full of nostalgia bait guy memorabilia - a real old-playboy-magazines-and-license-plates type of place - and he'd lose his mind.

[heyitsrink]

It's late and I'm having Fool's Errand Thoughts. Specifically, I'm thinking about the astronomical amount of times in that book when it seemed like Fitz and Beloved were going to kiss but then let the moment fade–or–a conveniently abrupt distraction would shatter the tension (I'm looking at you: care to dance we already do scene, mirror scene, etc.).

I'd bet that Fitz really and truly wanted to kiss Beloved in those moments but held back out of the fear that allowing a kiss from him would result in His Fool leaving again. I wonder if, in the height of these romantically charged moments, Fitz would experience a flashback to the kiss in the mountains and then the image of the Fool flying off on Girl-on-a-Dragon.

Fast forward to the end of Fool's Fate when Beloved kisses Fitz and makes him whole again - The Fool doesn't run off (at least not right away), allowing Fitz to hope that this time might be different.

Not a chance in this tragic hell.

I wonder then, after Fitz emerges from the Skill Pillar, only to find that the Fool is gone, if he couldn't help but remember the kiss as just another omen of His Fool leaving him again. I wonder if he thought about the trade-off of being forged forever if it meant the Fool stayed. I wonder if Fitz would absently touch his lips and then the mark-free spot on his wrist.

So in conclusion: no wonder Fitz was so fucking weird about Kissing Beloved in the final trilogy ("panting into his mouth" - be so for real right now dude).