#and why I stopped using the fandom tag because people who frequent that tag will really make it their business

[alikuarso]

To answer your question about Fresh: Fresh is actually a parasite! He dresses in his 90's-themed clothes and speaks in a silly way so that others underestimate him. His main and utmost goal is to Survive, and the way he does that is by infecting other people with his parasites and draining the life from their souls. Being seen as harmless lets him get closer to them and gives him easier access for possession. He hopes to eventually take over the multiverse, spreading his parasites in every corner of it and having absolute control.

He also has no emotions. He is capable of them, but for whatever reason he is unable to feel much, besides the rare instance of anger. He does frequently feel fear, though.

He is a bit sadistic, and he likes seeing others suffer. This is because when he takes over someone he drains their soul of life, which causes them pain. And to him, taking someone's body means safety, it means he can survive a bit longer as long as he's snatched their body. So he's come to associate the pain of others as something good.

And he's also aware of the creators/viewers, thanks to an event called the Loveball, which is canon to his character.

Going to copy and paste my own words for this [I was talking to a friend about Loveball]:

"So, like seven years ago there was a fandom-wide event called the Loveball, where people gathered their OCs and had them all attend an UTMV dancing ball. Fresh went, of course. There, he met a Frisk called Pacifrisk. Even knowing who he really was [90's parasite], they still believed he could be good. Before this, he hadn't ever really felt a connection to anyone, or even positive emotions in general. But Pacifrisk's faith in him made him feel positively towards them. This freaked him out. [No Fr@ns though, don't worry. That wasn't the intention for this plot.]

As a result, not only did he try to kill them, but he also went through with his plans: the Fresh Takeover [I forget what it's actually called]. His true reason for attending the ball. OCs were either possessed by the parasites or tried to fight against them. Apparently, some people used alcohol to ward the virus off, as Fresh hates substances such as that.

Fresh wanted to take over the multiverse, with this Loveball being the first step for his total domination.

But then right in the middle of things, a Sans AU [which I totally forget the name of X,D] grabbed Fresh and basically yeeted him into an alternate state of being. One where he could see the creators, all staring at him. An audience.

The Sans revealed the nature of Fresh's existence: That he was simply a character in a story. And if the creators got bored of him, he could easily be written aside and forgotten. Erased. His conquest didn't matter, in the end.

Predictably, this gave him an existential crisis. I'm not sure what happened after, but he stopped invading and went somewhere to contemplate his existence in a depressed state.

Afterwards, he had a new goal: To entertain. To convince the creators that he was worth keeping around. Similar to his previous goal of survival, but now with more dire stakes."

His creator @loverofpiggies has some posts about the Loveball, tagged under either the 'fresh sans' tag or the 'loveball' tag, which I recommend you check out! ^^

But yeah, to answer your question: The reason Fresh fought Ink was probably 1: because he saw it as a good way to keep himself alive and 2: So that he could be relevant and interesting to the viewers.

Hope this answered any questions you might have about him! ^w^

THANK YOU BECAUSE THERE'S NO WAY I WOULD HAVE FOUND ABOUT ANY OF THIS OTHERWISE😭😭😭 THAT'S A LOT

Now I want to draw fresh existential crisis mood, That's something I never would have imagined existed

Im still a bit confused about fresh not having emotions¿ but I think I got the idea, but still, why does he feel fear?

I think fresh is becoming my favorite now, help, error do something

(Thank you again for your time✨️)

[mihai-florescu]

...are u a proshipper?

I post about my opinions on shipping culture every other week so im going to share one of the latest ones, but tldr is i find both terms of pro and antishipping reductive and meaningless in the grand scheme of media analysis outside fandom infighting, which in itself is not very meaningful either. Sorry if this is an annoying or pretentious take but it's been my opinion for a long time. I find it a fascinating topic how fiction can affect reality through the messages and ideas inbedded by the author but not only, also the power of the fans who can change the perception of the work. I'll try to get back on track to the original question... there can be patterns indicative of an individual's personality and morals through the media they frequently engage with and by extension ships they like, and if you mainly engage with loli incest because you consider it hot then like. Thats offputting and i will be avoiding that personally. But i dont agree with policing what type of media can exist and which relationships are okay to explore and push to get an interesting character or story, or what certain relationships can mean to individuals. I will never stop people from engaging with things in a way i dont personally agree with, so nowadays i subscribe to the age old "dont like dont look" mindset, but i also question why im uncomfortable with certain depictions when i encounter them to better understand myself and maybe even the other person.

I hope this made sense? It's a topic i think there can be a lot said and im afraid i cant give a yes/no answer when i find both sides are limiting compared to my actual beliefs about engaging with media (i hate calling it media, i wish to call it art, but i fear thatll make me sound more pretentious if i refer to the games or shows i like as art considering their reputation...) I end up making fun of the labels especially when theyre used as character descriptors when theyre very situational... i dont think someone in a fantasy world would have the same mental framework about relationships as an internet user engaged in shipping wars. Thats what my post was about, since i think this ask was a result of that tag, just poking fun at fandom culture as i tend to do^_^

[agent-calivide]

I'm tired. Call this a rant or a vent post, but I'm so tired.

I'm not going to call anyone in specific out, but please for the love of god if you hate a character, STOP putting hate in their character tag. More specifically, if you hate people for how they choose to like a character, please, block and move on.

Yes there is a disproportionate amount of fan content for John Juniper, no it's not just basic white boy syndrome, he was the only one with a character model that showed up for more than five seconds and had an actual appearance for literally years. Positive association is a thing. Yes, you can hate him, that's normal and to be expected, dare I say most John Juniper fans do. No, most of the fandom doesn't actually think he's coming back, it's a running joke/issue based on how Schell handled their own lore that was founded before IEYTD 3 when Schell was acting coy about his status only to rip the rug out from under us with an obituary out of nowhere. No, you don't have to like the fanfics or fanart of Phoenix or Handler with Juniper romantically, but if you don't like it please block, scroll, or- I don't know- take a screenshot and talk shit with your buddies in private or something. Complaining about how a small section of the fandom posts frequently rather than putting in the energy to post more of what you like wastes your time and hurts people who are, god forbid, having fun.

And, frankly, it's not even about Juniper at this point. It's so disheartening to CONSTANTLY see "hot take, I actually HATE the way you engage with this fandom. You should make more things that are closer to MY interests." You know how much it sucks to see people say you're liking your media the wrong way when you aren't doing anything harmful?

First, it was that I wasn't making Phoenix "right" because I made them more effeminate and had them use she/her pronouns in my personal fanfics and fanart. Then, it was that Juniper was so gay he'd NEVER like a woman, and that women were just innately revolting, so shipping him and my Phoenix was gross and wrong. Then, it was why are fem!phoenix's so popular, they're nonbinary, stop assigning them a gender when there were like five fem!phoenixes total. Then, FINALLY, people chilled out and were tolerant of the fem!phoenix and mellowed out a little, but now it's I don't like the way you write/present John Juniper. If I had a shot every time I saw "hot take, I HATE Juniper, I don't get why the fandom likes him." I'd be dead. It's not really a hot take, it's the one I see all the time, but rather than investing that energy into making something new this fandom would rather just take pot shots at the consistent creatives rather than make something themselves.

I feel like a lightning rod of hate, but I don't remember asking for it. And I know a good handful of other IEYTD creators feel similar. If you hate Juniper so much, block his tag. Block the creators. Something.

But it's not fair to the people who are passionate about this game to be used as the resident dunk-tank because you don't like their favorite character, or you don't like their writing, or whatever argument of the week you have. We're here to have fun at the end of the day, and I don't see how an ooc self indulgent fic is harmful enough to warrant the way some of the people in this fandom are treated.

[soullessjack]

ok so carried on from this post theres a specific tag i wanna elaborate on which says ‘[jack] isn’t a pacifist he actually has a very complicated relationship with violence’ in relation to how he’s usually (mis)characterized by the fandom.

so first, Jack isn’t a pacifist. pacifism is a total opposition to all war and violence, and a belief that it is never justifiable for any reason or circumstance. He might be averse to violence as a first response or reaction, and he’s frequently shown to want to help the person before anything else—especially people he finds sympathetic or similar to himself (ie Mia Vallens, Sylvia)—but he’s not averse to it altogether.

Jack seems to really only be against violence when it’s used against innocent or undeserving people, including himself. Like in S13, he has no problem using his power to force an angel to stab themself with their blade or going to war with Michael and killing thousands of angels in his army for roughly 6-8 months (and we must remember, it was an effective genocide before he decided, completely out of the original plan, to kill Michael and made it a war) but he still has a total meltdown over accidentally killing an innocent security guard and almost strangling someone who did nothing wrong like he’d assumed. In Ouroboros he states that anyone who could hurt/kill an innocent person is a monster, even if they’re human, which is probably the clearest establishment of his moral code the show could offer.

I think Jack’s particular aversion to violence or even general aggression/anger is also caused by the fact that he, at three days old, was told by Sam that he would need to be kept from hurting other people while his powers were still largely uncontrollable (and therefore, still making him a threat and “evil” if he couldn’t do that). He’s also seen for himself what his power/his overreaction inadvertently causes for other people–like throwing Sheriff Barker into the vending machine (which he apologizes for later)—and is blatantly scared of it at first, so I think it makes a lot of sense that he prefers nonviolent behavior as an initial or default response. However, pacifism is still defined by the belief that no circumstance or reason whatsoever can justify an act of violence, which directly goes against how Jack personally feels about and uses it.

Going back to Ouroboros, he personally defines a “monster” as anyone who would willingly harm or enjoy harming someone who doesn’t deserve it, even if they aren’t actually a particular species of monster. And going back to S13, he has no problem murdering Michael’s army or even torturing Michael himself (which he specifically does because Michael “hurt his friends, hurt his family.” Ergo, Jack does believe in using violence, so long as it’s only used as a justified defense, and I think that is also a part of why him torturing Nick so horrifically is meant to land on us as Something Ostensibly Wrong. Did Nick deserve it? Yes. Mary isn’t even upset about him being killed; she just halfheartedly tells Jack “not like that.” Nick deserved it, but he is still barely a threat to someone like Jack (which everybody knew)—and because he isn’t a veritable threat, none of what Jack does to him can actually qualify as a “defense.”

It’s violence for the sake of violence, with a personal grudge for motivation, and while it’s shown a lot throughout SPN, it hits a lot harder coming from Jack specifically because he, again, is generally averse to [ab]using his power like that—even against other enemies. He believes in necessary and defensive violence and acts accordingly, which makes the completely unnecessary violence he uses against Nick more disturbing; it’s not about defending his loved ones or even stopping a nefarious plot anymore (he literally banishes Lucifer within seconds of getting there). It’s just about making someone suffer and enjoying it. In Absence we also get the vague implication about Jack’s particular fears and insecurities: he’s afraid that he isn’t really loved or wanted for himself, but rather that he’s valued for being “the muscle to take out enemies,”—that he’s nothing more to the Winchesters than a pet monster and easily discardable if he’s no longer useful to them.

On the flip side of that, he’s also canonically very happy to be wanted, needed and helpful to his family/friends—which is to say, again, he’s perfectly fine using violence as a justifiable defense that serves his family (which is also why he chooses to burn Nick to death after Sam indirectly wishes it on him, and why he’s happy to murder all of Dumah’s targets under the guise that it would make Sam and Dean happy). Once he realizes the truth and horror of his actions, however, he tells Dean that he is a monster, by his own definition. But how exactly is this complicated, you might ask? Well I’m glad you did, because I’m getting to it. Throughout his entire short-lived life, Jack has had to be painfully aware of the damage he can and does cause, and what it means for how he’s perceived and the ever present debate about his “true” nature.

I can’t find it now and probably won’t bother looking, but i had another post about how Jack inwardly perceives himself and wants to be perceived in return, particularly when he’s perceived as a threat. To summarize: because of his particular moral code, Jack inwardly knows he would never [want to] use his power against his family or friends, and is therefore not a threat to them, and therefore does not want to be perceived as one despite the danger he still poses with the potential alone. The eggshells that people walk around him are solely based on the fact that he has immense potential and capability to hurt them, all prevented by his simple continuous and impermanent choice to not hurt them.

The only thing standing between them and everything he’s ever done to their enemies is the fact that he considers them friends and has no reason to want to hurt them, and that’s exactly what Jack himself personally lives by. It’s the same blind trust that Sam and Dean have built with Cas; they know what he can do, and they know when he would or wouldn’t choose to do it. It’s a mutual understanding that “I know you can hurt me but I care about you enough to trust you not to do that,” and “I know I can hurt you but I care about you enough to not hurt you and Im glad you trust me to not do that.” I also mentioned it in the post that in Last Holiday, Jack doesn’t deny it when Mrs. Butters says that he’s insanely powerful; he does, however, deny her saying that Sam and Dean should be afraid of him, because “[he] would never hurt them.”

Insanely powerful? ✅

Potentially dangerous? ✅

A threat to be feared? ❌

(This is also what makes Mary’s death by Jack and Sam and Dean’s subsequent actions exceptionally tragic on both sides; their mutual trust is inadvertently, yet still effectively, broken. Jack has also effectively gone against his own morality by harming people he loves and people who don’t deserve it, and now in S15 is struggling with the loss of said trust and the need to earn it back).

That, my hypothetical audience member, is the complicated part. Having to find a middle ground between necessary, defensive, justifiable violence that his surrounding community would approve or appreciate, and the completely unnecessary abuse or misuse of power (ie violence) that would register him as an evil monster and/or a threat to be put down for the justifiable greater good. There’s also the additional middle ground between presenting and maintaining the image of himself as docile and non-threatening (the behavior of which is hugely infantilized by the fandom), while also still being able to defend others with the same violence that could easily lead to him being seen as a threat.

in conclusion (1): Jack is not a pacifist but he has an extremely complicated relationship with violence and the fluctuating justifications surrounding it which he must meet in order to continuously be perceived as safe and trustworthy in spite of his capabilities.

In conclusion (2): this is the truest of jack true forms:

thank you for coming to my yap session, don’t let the door hit you where the good lord split you on the way out 🫶

[ladykettlechips]

It's Not That Deep

Being kind is a choice. Sadly, so is being a dick.

I absolutely adore being part of a community where I can share my passion with others, be it as a writer of fanfic or simply a bystander. However, there are also downsides to being within a community, and sadly, it is other people who can ruin that joy and our experience of creating something for other fans, who want to devour content while a series is still being created, or has come to an end.

It seems like it is a frequent thing for a handful of people to ruin the fandom experience for others. They become anonymous or hide behind a name in order to actively go out of their way to harass creators within the community. There have been threats and vile accusations thrown about, and for what? To scare people off of AO3 and tumblr, just because you don't like something they created for a FICTIONAL character within a FICTIONAL setting?

Loves, it's not that deep.

Sadly, these kinds of people have run creators off of various apps and websites with their continued harassment. They have gone above and beyond to act horrible towards people they don't know, for a story or a piece of artwork they could have clicked the back button on. For something THEY can actively turn their back on and ignore.

If they had as much passion and energy for real world issues, their time would be much better spent. Instead, they have chosen to take a cowards route and harass other people online for something that is, in truth, insignificant to them. It is as if these people are consciously ignoring tags or warnings, because they WANT to start a fight and act in such a disgusting manner.

I can't understand it, really. Your time is much better spent doing things you enjoy, rather than coming after people who are doing the things that they enjoy.

Now, if the creators were actively promoting bad things, then yes, call them out on it or report them. Half the time though, these creators put disclaimers about how they don't promote certain things, but it is there for fictional purposes.

Our time and energy is precious, and for those taking time out of their hectic schedules to share their passion with us is a wonderful gift. Yet there are those who want to destroy that passion, and it is a sad thing when they win; sadly, cruelty often trumps kindness, and I have seen one too many creators fall to the whims of people who prefer to be dicks over being kind.

I would hope these people eventually see some sense and stop what they are doing, but trolls don't always see reason or see the light. I just hope that someday they get the hug they have been craving, or perhaps the talk they need to understand why they act like this. Until then:

It's not that deep.

It's not that serious.

It is FICTION, not reality.

Your favourites won't notice you regardless of how hostile you become.

You are not making the internet a better place with your harassment.

Have a hug, eat a snickers. I highly doubt you'd act like this in real life to people you know, or to someone else's face, so go have a nap and chill a bit. Don't make a mountain of a molehill, and remember that these fictional characters you are getting into a tizzy over are not real.

Thanks. Peace out.

Edit to add: I have yet to be harassed. I know it will happen one day, because it is inevitable at this point, but I am speaking out for my friends and fellow writers who have sadly experienced it.

[sepublic]

It may be just us being involved in different fandom circles but I feel like you run into the stuff you complain about way more than I do. It always makes me surprised to hear some of the things you hear about (sorry you get exposed to so much of it btw that sounds pretty frustrating)

It’s because I used to frequent the Belos circles and enjoyed some of the popular blogs, but when the finale came around soooo many people went mask off when they realized the finale wasn’t going to give them what they wanted. And so that part of fandom became unbearable overnight, as I realized that a lot of people I thought were chill or assumed had a basic understanding of the narrative or even storytelling… didn’t.

It’s really disappointing, as someone who was a fan of Belos well before anyone else, since the fifth episode (something others might’ve noticed); Is it too much to want fandom to discuss a character as he is onscreen, recognize his role in the larger story, and appreciate how he contributes to other characters’ meaningful arcs???? Most “fans” are fake, they don’t even like Belos and need to sanitize and mischaracterize him.

It’s disheartening realizing people don’t care for the main characters at all, and how this all ties into this fandom’s larger White Guy favoritism; Because even white women are being ignored in favor of this specific colonial family (which includes Hunter)!

I dunno how anyone can be so brainrotted by the Wittebane obsession that they can’t appreciate at all how S3 was a love letter to Luz and her relationship with her family, some can’t even find solace in it… I guess none of it counts if there isn’t a dedicated section to those white guys! People love to take their anger out on Luz’s character by disparaging her arc and making “Fix-it” stuff about her being there for Belos, because they hate the finale said she doesn’t owe him a damn thing and doesn’t want to.

Plus, I often look through #The Owl House tag a lot, especially the Recent section. So I’ll see a lot of stuff regardless of whether I’m looking for that specific character, because all of the characters fall under that umbrella tag, naturally. And I can’t just filter Belos because sometimes there’s actual good stuff using that tag.

Overall, there’s a reason why I now avoid Belos-centric blogs, because so often there’s a dedicated tag to complaining about how their white guy fave got done dirty and how the entire show is retroactively bad, often reblogging a lot of those aforementioned blogs’ bad takes… I was all for the “We can enjoy him critically!!!” crowd until I realized they don’t actually enjoy him critically, they just stop at the “He shouldn’t commit genocide” bit. Which is not even the bare minimum, it’s just part of it.

I see PoC be harassed by waves of anons for criticizing how people discuss Belos on their own blogs. Meanwhile the top Belos blogs are so openly, blindingly white, and infantilize themselves in a White Fragility way; Esp when it comes to acknowledging their fave is racist, or that their writing and fanart has issues. Belos fans love to prove everything we criticize about them, huh?

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for skipping RP prompts I don't like and apparently pissing people off?

I can't believe I'm asking this but its happened a few times now so I'm honestly starting to doubt my whole existence. So I've been sick for a while, nothing terminal but its sticking to my ass like shit to a shoe, so to pass the time I roleplay with people.

I used to use Omegle, that went down the pan, now I use RoleChat. Most people who do fandom roleplays gravitated to RoleChat from Omegle, so it hasn't slipped my mind that it might actually be the same people and not different ones.

Anyway. I rarely have a prompt of my own, I tend to surf and look at other people's prompts. If I don't like what they've sent, I just disconnect. Currently RoleChat's userbase is pretty small, so I'm also aware I'm frequently connecting to the same people.

However several times now I've been insulted for disconnecting?

Comments include:

"What the fuck are you even on here for lmao." "Stop wasting my time you fucking bitch log off if you aren't gonna do shit." "You're so fucking annoying I stg."

And similar sentiments.

It happened again the other week because someone kept sending M/F and F/F prompts in the Chanlix tag, which is an M/M pairing. They were the ones who sent the first reply and then I'm pretty sure they blocked me.

I feel insane because surely its better I just disconnect rather than trying to force myself into an RP I don't want to do? Like why would you want to RP with someone who clearly isn't into the prompt? What do they expect me to do, write out an apology before disconnecting?

I'm genuinely confused and like. Need an outside opinion on this because its happened across several different tags, and I wanna know if its normal to be so angry that someone just isn't vibing with your prompt?

What are these acronyms?

[swanyras]

I really wonder where you got the idea that the greens consider Aegon a worthy king. No one thinks of him as such, including his family lol. Even he himself says that he does not want the throne and is not born to rule. People support the greens because: 1. They just like these characters more. 2. They believe that the greens in general would be better rulers than the blacks in general. 3. They believe that the greens have usurped the throne to protect themselves. In neither case is it a question of Aegon being a good king. Stop attributing thoughts to people that they didn't express.

i’m going to need y’all to read my post front to back at least three times, and then back to front thrice more. no where in the fucking post did i put down that the greens consider aegon to be worthy to the iron throne. the whole worthy statement literally goes “…aegon did nothing to prove he was worthy of being named heir, let alone being king.” the key words are ‘did nothing to prove’, HE did nothing. no where in the post did i mention the team green fandom, minus putting the tag ‘anti team green’. you’re nitpicking because otherwise you wouldn’t have something to whine about. i get that media comprehension can be tough, but really? is this the best you all can come up with? i understand all of the ‘reasons’ why people support the greens over the blacks. that’s why i’m not team green. it’s a comparison. how many times have you and your buddies haha-ed over rhaenyra being a privileged brat who did nothing to secure her claim? i’m guessing quite frequently, considering i still see the same dumbass talking points despite blocking the tags. your precious uwu aegon and his stans can handle having one of your arguments pointed out as sexist, right? you can’t come after rhaenyra for one thing and then give aegon a pass for the exact same reason. it’s hypocritical and contradictory to do so. use your brain. i PROMISE *pinky promise at that* it’s not that difficult to do.

[nexsys]

WELCOME TO THE CHAOS NEXUS!

We are a proxy, fictive-heavy, recently awakened system and it’s great to meet anyone and everyone!

WE ARE NOT A BOT (unless you count our Murder Drones fictives LMFAO), our profile photo is currently default because we want something that fits all of us, not just one, and haven’t found anything quite right yet.

Just so you know who we are we’re tagging a couple moots/systems/system members we’re friendly with! Please let us know if you’d rather not be tagged and we’ll refrain in future

@codeheart17 @spud-sys @childhoodgoldiecollective

Anarch @anarchaos110 writes the intros for everyone as the main host and speaker for the most part!

WE ARE AN ENDO-FRIENDLY BLOG. ANTI ENDOS KINDLY GET TF OUT PLS. (Not actually sure whether we fall under endogenic or not yet so bear with us on that but we welcome all!)

Now for the intros! Each member only talks in a certain color to make it easier for everyone to tell who we are!

Anarch (She/They) Hey there! I’m Anarch, and I’m better known for my other blog and socials, but I’m not comfortable sharing my status as a system with the world yet (not because I’m ashamed but I’m scared of being judged for it. I’ve gone through quite enough of that thanks). That’s why this blog exists; to let the others run freely without risk of losing anyone. Cowardly of me maybe. Sorry about that.

Uzi (She/Her): Idk what exactly I’m supposed to say but DUMB THINGS ARE COOL and idk. Bite me. Not really I don’t hate you that much. I’m the third most frequently fronting one rn!

Nexus (They/Them): Hey, I’m Nexus! I’m a willo member (Anarch: we don’t know if that’s the right term sorry) created by Anarch to cope with the half-splitting of herself and Uzi before she even knew what a system was or that willos are a thing! (Anarch: yeah I was extremely confused and having identity crisis and that.) I used to be a persona for deliberately putting on when Anarch didn’t want to deal with co fronting, but now I’m my own person. Epic to meet you, and don’t mind if I’m a little sardonic, I’ll stop at any genuine request not to ^^ Also, I’m the second most frequent fronter, so be prepared to be stuck with me!

Beez (She/Her): hello there everyone! I’m the voice of reason with this lot I’m sure, I’m always the one who has to tell Anarch to let the body go to sleep. I love everybody, like to sing and dance, and look forward to having a great time with y’all! Peace out

N (He/Him) :there isn’t a yellow color :( I’ll have to go green instead! I’m the newest guy here and everyone seems so nice (if a little overwhelming haha….)

Alastor (He/Him/It/Its): Is currently dormant, will update as soon as he wants to say something, which might be a while. He was the first one of us to split from Anarch! Not that she knew it at the time. He’s never spoken aloud however, been more of an entity channeled through Anarch as she hadn’t fully split yet.

V (She/Her): is also dormant. We know she’s in here somewhere but she hasn’t deemed us worthy of conversation yet lol. Will update when she changes her mind

And that’s everybody!

BLOG BOUNDARIES

-no bigotry, EVER. This extends to endogenic systems.

-DNI if you’re: pedofiles, zoophiles, radfems etc. Yall are the worst.

-If you do engage purely to troll or upset us, be prepared for up to seven people fighting you. It won’t be pretty.

You can ask us anything! AS LONG AS IT IS KIND AND UNDERSTANDING. We do not tolerate harassment of any kind.

Predominant Favorite Fandoms:

Basically anything made by glitch, and well as Helluva Boss, Hazbin Hotel, The Owl House, Gravity Falls, Adventure Time

[kangals]

way back in 2014, probably a few weeks or months after you posted that picture of boone with the stick on his head, i checked your blog out and so dearly enjoyed all the dogposting that i followed. i think you were the first dogblr blog i actually followed at the time, but it's been ages and my memory is bad, so i'm not fully sure. it wasn't long before then--2012 i think?--that i had gotten a new dog of my own, a border collie. iirc he and boone were just about the same age.

in 2018 i lost that blog i'd followed you with, and a lot of connections with it. i didn't return until 2021, and when i did, i didn't refollow most of the old blogs; i don't think i even really went looking for them. it took me a while to get back into the swing of using tumblr.

last september, my border collie had a sharp health decline, and i had to say goodbye. it's not the first time i've had to put a pet down, but i think it was the hardest. i'm still not over it. even just typing this now, i feel raw.

then in march or so, i made a new fandom friend who knows you, and i enthusiastically recalled following you before and how much i enjoyed it. i didn't even know about stellina, and now there's kep too! but... i also didn't know you'd lost boone. i followed because i still really enjoy your blog, and i love your collies too. and butters!!! so glad she's still here!

idk what made me look tonight... maybe because i talked about my old border collie with someone today. i went looking for the posts immediately around when you lost boone, because i guess some part of me wanted to know what happened. i spent the better part of an hour (maybe longer?) reading posts from the weeks before the decline, and then the loss, and then the deluge of old boone pictures after, and i've been crying pretty much the whole time just reading your posts and tags about him.

and this is a long and windy way to get to saying thank you. i'm glad you shared your grief, though that seems like a weird thing to say. there's something cathartic about crying over someone else's dog when you still hurt about your own, and knowing you're not alone in that kind of sorrow. boone was such a beautiful boy. i'll never forget that silly post that made me check your blog out in the first place, or the years of posts i stuck around for after. i wish i'd remembered to follow sooner, but the archive is still there, and it's so fun looking through all those old posts about him and his quirks and antics. he was amazing.

sorry for the length of this, i just... really wanted you to know that he touched yet another life, i guess. and i've been so deeply enjoying your posts about stellina and kep. i know it'll be a year soon... i hope there's some peace in how things have gone since he passed, and i hope the anniversary isn't too hard on you. thank you for sharing him with us.

i've been on tumblr for 14 years and this is, genuinely, the nicest ask i think i've ever been sent.

thank you - sincerely. there's been a lot of times over the course of this blog that i've felt like i was oversharing, or talking about pointless things only i cared about. i still so frequently start typing out a post only to stop mid-sentence and delete it because i can't help but think "no one cares about this." possibly it's why i like to talk about my pets so much - they're not me, but i'm the one who knows them best, so i get to say "hey look at this" and ramble and have people say "i'm looking" back. when boone passed, i lost that filter and i poured my grief out into this blog because it was the closest outlet i had. and to have hundreds of people not only acknowledge this but to commiserate, to reassure, to share their own stories - that helped healed me more than i can put into words. it's exactly as you said: there's a catharsis in grieving together.

i am sorry you also had to say goodbye. i wish i could say it gets easier, but i think that would be defeating the point of grief. your grief is your love and damn it if there isn't any act more loving in the world than choosing to say goodbye to an old, loyal dog. you think of how dogs were domesticated tens of thousands of years ago, of how human society and dogs have developed intertwined, of how we have records of ancient greeks and romans carving loving epitaths on their dog's graves, of how a prehistoric dog's skull was found with a bone placed in it's mouth after death, and you wonder if grieving a dog isn't one of the most consistent experiences in the whole of human history that there is.

i'm glad to know that this could bring you some comfort, in some way. it's incredibly touching to know that you kept me and boone in your thoughts for all this time. i am doing ok - i've been reflecting a lot as we approach the one-year mark. i'm not sure if i'll be able to condense those thoughts down into coherent words, but i'll do my best. i hope that my silly little pets continue to bring you some happiness, and that you've found peace with your own grief.

thank you, again - this is extremely touching and means a hell of a lot to me.

[papercranesong]

Frequently Asked Questions for an AI-using Fanfic Writer

Since writing about my own use of AI, some people have shared their reflections and raised some really helpful points. I definitely learn better when I bounce ideas off others, so I thought I’d pull all my answers together into this FAQ-style post. (Also I like organising stuff). Some of the questions came from direct conversations, others from things I've seen people wondering more broadly about.

A quick word for context:

I use generative AI in my writing - often as a spell-checker, sometimes to help with story research or narrative experimentation (it’s really fun!), occasionally as a beta-reader. I don’t use AI to replace me or my words.

FAQ Heart questions

“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. - from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Does using AI in writing even count as proper writing?

Does it make you lazy as a writer?

Can you even call yourself a writer?

Yes, potentially, and yes. See my post Reflections of a Fanfic Writer: What I Think About When I Think About Writing

Isn’t writing with AI basically cheating? Or like taking a shortcut?

Good question! Read my AO3 post Of Marathons and Marinating: Is using generative AI cheating? (this essay grew out of a discussion after I posted Transparency in AI-use)

Are you being dishonest by using it?

I try not to be. Check out my post Transparency in AI-use within Fandom Culture (or: how to be upfront when you risk getting shot down)

Don't AI writers all just enter a prompt and spew out a story?

No. Look at this post for an in-depth look at How and Why I Use AI

Or listen to this thoughtful and intensely nuanced interview with Nicholas Thompson, CEO of the Atlantic here

Isn’t using AI massively uncreative?

That's subjective... Have a read of my answer to this ask

Or better yet, check out this awesome interview with Jenny Nicholson about Creatives and AI.

FAQ Ethical questions

Isn’t AI bad for the environment?

Isn’t current generative AI based on theft? How can you be okay with that?

Things are changing:

Mythbusting Generative AI: the Ethical ChatGPT is out there

But what to do in the meantime? - see my essay on AO3 Ethical AI, the Data Thief and the Environment (developed from a discussion in my initial Confessions of a Fanfic Writer Post)

Does AI stop you from developing your own writing style?

FAQ Practical questions

Why don’t you credit the AI when you tag your fics on AO3?

Because... have a read of my answer to this ask here.

What do you do instead of tagging your fics?

Find out in my post Transparency in AI-use within Fandom Culture (or: how to be upfront when you risk getting shot down)

How should we do AI Discourse well?

How to (Ai)-Discourse: Doing Better with “Do Better”

Closing thoughts

Even though these posts and discussions are fixed in time (or frozen in the Tumblr algorithm), they aren’t static. Let's give one another time and grace to listen, reflect and change our minds.

If you have a question that you think I haven’t covered yet, please feel free to leave me a comment, DM me or leave me an ask (the anon function is on for those who need it to be). Happy to have an open conversation. Thanks for reading🖖

[canonizzyhours]

Omg the anon who mentioned anti-Izzyarchive. I had to block that account because I was so sick of their shit on the Izzy tags and going around fandom. They kept asking why no one made an archive of Izzy fans harassing people and implying that without an archive it’s not true. Other Izzy fans harass people sometimes. Sometimes not in public, sometimes harassing other Izzy fans, or at least shunning and mocking people. I deal with it. If Izzy haters made a similar archive from the other side it would just be accused of being more harassment. I think it’s really fucking weird to make an account dedicated to criticizing people who don’t like your blorbo. I don’t care if someone doesn’t like Izzy. I don’t care if someone doesn’t like this show. Collecting screenshots of mild criticism to show how oppressed you are and starting fights while claiming you’re the one being harassed is weird and unhealthy. I thought that blog was a joke at first. The fact that they’re serious is embarrassing. I don’t want to say that we’re not all like that, but it’s true some of us aren’t. I wish they would stop insisting others make blog like theirs in order to prove that some people are jerks. Anyone can be a jerk. They are frequently a jerk. I don’t trust them and I don’t think their callouts are constructive for the fandom or for them as a person whoever they are. Izzy fandom would be better for all of us if it wasn’t constant negativity. I’m here to have a good time. I want to see blorbo art not archives of starting fights with people who don’t like blorbo. Who does that? Grow up.

#197.

related posts: #193

[coffee-in-veins]

Hey, feel free to ignore, but I was just curious... In your tags for a post (about how showrunners cancel shows or "bully" fan-fav characters when their audience turns out to be mostly women), you mentioned that Bourassa initially killed off Reynauld, but then brought him back in the DLC due to demand/money. Where was the Reynault death mentioned? How was he supposed to die?

It's the first I've heard of it; then again, I don't keep up with the DD fandom that frequently haha

hello hello! thank you for the interesting ask, and no, i won't ignore it, don't worry ^^

Rey's death was looking like fridging, at least, to me. his disembodied helmet was all over the promotion material, for example:

or the art bourassa drew to congratulate people with... was it christmas? i think it was christmas

and the pattern continued. Rey's chopped off helmet was in backgrounds, dropped somewhere with corpses, and he wasn't one of the starting cast - *despite* the fact that crusader has the //most// backer heroes of any class in DD1, sitting at proud 64 (compared to maa who is in second place and only has 32). so... the demand for crusader was loud and clear.

but crusaders were all wiped out in dd2, suspiciously. at best, we have some shambling corpses (with neat designs, not denying that) but still. dd2 (unless they changed the voicelines) notes how crusaders were all killed off "long ago" (one of the reasons i saw dd2 as a spinoff or some what-if, since there is our boy Dis, and he canonically met at least one, so either Dis is still a vampire, or timeline doesn't make any sense... but i digress).

the last nail in the coffin for me personally was the fact that they put Rey's chopped off helmet as an obscured detail in the "and they lived happily ever after" epilogue:

again, it was placed where you wouldn't naturally look - because your eyes traced the light source and Junia having someone to hold hands with, and then follow the camera movement to Dis (unless you were reading subtitles, but then again, then you'd be focused on the words themselves, not on what was behind them).

to me, this was a loud and clear message: this is the most you'll get out of the crusader. his head, dropped somewhere on the wayside. he will not be back, stop pestering us.

but then, i guess, the game wasn't doing so hot monetarily, so... they got him and dragged him back, shoving him and his crusader plotline in a world which established that the crusaders "all were not seen for hundreds of years". which, again - how is Rey still alive, how the hell Dis knows him, what is the passage of time in this game-- okay, i stop, i already feel my blood pressure rising, sorry.

the reason why i bring the suspicion of the game not doing too well financially is a) ridiculous price of the DLC, based on the amount of content it provides, clearly geared to fleece people who wanted their reymas all along and b) RH got sold to Behaviour Interactive; pay-walling crusader looked like a way to grab cash while struggling to avoid acquisition, and their decision to now ship other characters from previous cast (using the same model of payment from the looks of it) tangentially supports this suspicion

sorry for lack of my usual links and sources, but i'm so disappointed with this game (and the fuckery RH pulled with their fanart contest) that i genuinely don't want to acknowledge its existence and to me personally it was tragically cancelled during development. this is the way i cope with the way RH butchered characters in dd2.

it doesn't mean i wouldn't want to talk about it if you have more questions ^^ but my attitude towards the thing is... not very positive, i'll be honest

[chainsawmascara]

Hi, hello, if you're a fan of astarion (which you are bc this is tagged solely with his name), consider familiarizing yourself with the words "sex worker" and "trafficking victim."

Because if i see one more post where astarion fans casually say prostitute and hooker like that's Still Cool to Say, I'm going to lose my goddamn mind. He says that about himself in a derogatory way. Why are you then referring to him and other characters in a derogatory way? What. What are you doing. Why are you doing that. Why do you think that's okay.

I've done various forms of sw. Never fssw, to be fair (also I've had multiple partners try to traffic me and this is a thing i, under any other circumstance, would NEVER bring up but mario voice here we GOOOOO) (fssw example: the drow twins), but boy howdy! Half the astarion fandom makes my skin crawl with how frequently and flippantly those terms are thrown around!

Pixels vs real people, etc, etc, yes, HOWEVER. Your use of these phrases are a direct reflection as to how you'd refer to Actual People in That Industry or Who Are Trafficking Victims irl given that's how Terminology Works.

They are. The least respectful words you can use. There are people in the bg3 fandom who have been trafficked and see you consider them hookers! Against their will! There are probably fssw in the fandom who see you saying hooker! Which is degrading and commonly regarded as an outdated and distasteful phrase! There are other swers who see that! Maybe stop calling people hookers and prostitutes and respect people! Even if they're pixels! Because basic human respect should be normalized! And self-loathing derogatory statements a trauma victim makes about himself should not be normalized as the Acceptable Terminology for People Experiencing These Things! Because language and culture are connected regardless of whether or not we're speaking about fictional characters! Fiction is, by its very nature, allegorical! These words have meaning! Maybe use the words that aren't awful!

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, I'm very excited for the extremely likely backlash I'll receive here!

[rainbowsky]

Hi Rainbow,

I just want to ask you something I've seen several times now since I joined the fandom. Is it true that XZ's big name fans openly call fans to rate other people's work (not just WYB's, because I know that happens a lot) 1 stars on Douban and other sites. I'm asking purely because I want to know the truth, and I'm worried how it'll negatively affect XZ in the industry, not because I want to put that blame on XZ. Please ignore this if this isn't something you want to post on your blog. Thank you

Hi Anon,

What's with all the asks lately about anti/toxic fan behavior? Every turtle who reads my blog should know by now that I think focusing on what those people say and do is pointless, and a very unproductive, negative approach to fandom.

You're all free to do whatever you want, but I hope you can stop bringing these topics to me. It's not what I want to focus on, think about or talk about.

This truly is the last question of this type I'm taking. We should be focusing on GG and DD. When there is a lull like this, and things are slow, now is the perfect time to watch their projects. I highly doubt everyone's seen them all, but if you have then a rewatch is always worthwhile.

GG's movie is coming out early next year, why not also read the story it's based on? The Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong. FANTASTIC, FANTASTIC story. Absolutely gripping, exceptionally well told. I've been working my way through this series for the past several weeks and I can't recommend it enough.

As for your question, Anon, yes - that type of activity/behavior is a typical part of toxic fan culture, although GG's active fandom solos are known to be especially dedicated to this type of toxic fandom. It's a double-edged sword. On the one hand they are boosting his popularity and clout, and on the other hand they're really messing with his career and harming other fans and artists.

GG and DD's fans are especially horrible to each other and are constantly launching attacks on each other and on each other's idol. Some of the worst attacks against GG and DD were heavily pushed by XFX/MTJJ against each other's idol. The infamous 'desperate illiterate' attack against DD, for example, was largely pushed by XFX, who actually still frequently use it to this day.

My hope is that GG will gradually start to shed this type of fan, and I believe there's some evidence that he's intentionally, carefully shifting his image toward that goal. But in the meantime, this is just where things stand.

A GG solo posted an essay on Weibo a while back that was translated on Twitter, outlining some of their experience in that fandom. It was an interesting read and should give you some insight into how they operate. My thoughts on all of that can be found here and here.

I have also written a lot about similar topics in the past. Just a reminder that if you want to know my thoughts on most past/non-time-sensitive fandom subjects, you can always browse my masterlist post and explore the tags on my posts.*

*Just make sure you're doing so from my actual blog page, because if you access a tag from your timeline or from a reblog you'll get every post from all over Tumblr that has that tag, whereas if you access a tag from my blog you'll only get content from my blog that is tagged that way. You can also do a search on my blog for subjects you're interested in.

[omniblades-and-stars]

AO3 MEME

Tagged by @stormikins thanks!

Tagging: @sparatus, @thetrashbagswasteland, and @teamdilf

My AO3 is here, if you find yourself interested.

How many works do you have on AO3?

32

What's your total word count?

292,326 since like April 2023

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. The Way - Mass Effect Trilogy (Shakarian stuff, not my best work but people loved it)

2. Pass the Knife - Mass Effect Trilogy (OC centric adventure that everyone should go read please still in progress), I really shouldn't include this one because most of the kudos on this one were from a crazy bot attack and I got all but a handful of them in one night.

3. Tipping Point - Mass Effect Trilogy (Shakarian, part of a series of short little stories of Helen Shepard falling apart a little bit and leaning hard on Garrus)

4. Dyspnea - Mass Effect Trilogy (part of the same series as Tipping Point)

5. K.I.A. - Mass Effect Trilogy (oh man you guessed it! part of that same series featuring a Garrus POV)

Do you respond to comments? Why/Why not?

Yes, I do! I just love talking to people in general and I love interacting with people about my stories.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Oh that's going to be this one, hands down:

drowning

It's an installment in my Shrios assassin v. assassin AU which I still haven't decided if it's how things actually go. But goddamn, it is DARK.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Wow, uuuhhhmmm that I've posted on AO3?

How about my story about a krogan OC who had a real bad time but then found her truth and the will to thrive?

Left to Ashes

Do you write crossovers?

I haven't yet! That doesn't mean I won't ever, but I haven't had any ideas that scratch the brain real good.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really. One time someone did come in to correct my usage of an incorrect homophone (or homonym? I'm not fucking looking up what's what right now) and said literally nothing else, so that was cool. Didn't care for that.

Do you write smut?

Uuuuuuuhhh not really. I have in the past, but it's not one of my strengths. I get terribly embarrassed while I write it (hello religious trauma and shame I'm still unlearning). I do write things slightly to the left of smut pretty frequently.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have not. I think that would be fun, but I am a very off and on writer, so that could make working with another person difficult.

What's your all time favorite ship?

Oh isn't this just the most difficult question for me.

Obviously, we have Zaeed/Shepard, Tali/Shepard, Thane/Shepard, Blackwall/Inquisitor. I'll stop there because I will list so many because I love characters.

What's a WIP that you want to finish don't think you ever will?

I really want to finish Devil Like Me but I started over thinking it and now I've lost the plot. I probably just need to start over.

What are your writing strengths?

Character voice, dialogue, and very strong emotional beats through the use of descriptive metaphor, paced punctuation, and repetition. It's one of my most favorite things to write.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing.action.

Ug, I fucking hate it. I'm also terrible at planning and editing. Far too much ADHD for either of those things.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I have done it but I am mostly monolingual so it's not something I make a habit of it.

I will use phrases and words from in universe languages. I play around with elven and qunlat a lot.

What's the first fandom you wrote for?

That I posted? Dragon Age. But when I was like 11 or 12 I wrote some Lord of the Rings fic in a notebook and then I threw it away because I was embarrassed by it.

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet, but want to?

One day I will write a Tomb Raider adventure. No ships, I have opinions about Lara Croft ships.

What's your favorite fic you've ever written?

This is cheating, but I have three:

The Last Time (A Game of Cat and Mouse) - Shrios assassin v assassin AU.

Don't Forget the Rules (A Game of Charades) - part two of the above

blood & grenadine - a very fun Zaeed/Garrus fake dating romp. Please you have to read it, whether or not you're into that ship, it has the merits of being fucking hilarious.