#because when i left fandom years ago we just hated all of them for different reasons lmao

[heavenlymorals]

Arthur Morgan's Depression

(Warning: Spoilers for RDR2 and mental health issues)

Arthur Morgan is depressed. Yes, I know the writers haven't exactly come out and said that he is depressed, but it does not take a genius to see that Arthur Morgan is a man who deals with many demons and monsters. Arthur Morgan has some sort of functional depression, and it is shown in many ways. In many missions, he seems downtrodden and sad, but he goes along with it anyway because what else can you do? He talks about himself in such a degrading manner in the mirror, and not just in a way that we all do sometimes, but in a way that invokes actual hatred of himself.

He thinks he's ugly when he's a conventionally attractive man. He thinks he's dumb when he's very witty and smart. He gets knocked down for his intelligence a lot by both Dutch and Hosea (we, as a fandom, need to stop pretending that Hosea is perfect because he really isn't). I know that dudes generally joke like that a lot, but those two aren't his “friends”; they are quite literally his father figures. It's different. His journal is filled with self-doubt, pain, and a general apathetic outlook on life.

But as I was playing “A Quiet Time,” one interaction between Lenny and Arthur stood out to me.

“Why ain't you never married?”

“'Cause no one will have me.”

In the context of this mission, I think this was written as an “oh damn” kinda joke, something out of left field to make the player laugh. But after thinking about it more, I realized something.

If you guys follow my posts, then you probably know that I love to interpret things from a sociocultural perspective—so let's do that.

Now, this is an obvious reference to Mary and how she rejected him in the end for Barry Linton to keep her family satisfied. It might also allude to Eliza or other female love interests that Arthur might've had at some point.

But it may also be a nod to the culture of 19th century America and what it entailed for men.

Arthur isn't married at 36 years old. Men were expected to be married generally by their twenties. He has no children or legacy—the only one he did have died years ago. He doesn't have property or a home—he's always on the move with the gang (given how defensive he got with that woman he picks up to go to Lagras, it's probably a point of insecurity). He has no respectable profession—he should've had an honest career by now.

He hopes that Dutch will get his shit together and have them put their outlaw ways behind them, but Dutch literally cannot, and Arthur is the one feeling the burn for it. He has missed so many milestones that he “should've” reached by this point, yet he is still doing the same thing he was doing since he was a young teen.

He can't bring himself to leave Dutch either, as he feels like he has a debt to pay to the man (“I gotta try! I owe him that, at least.”) that can never be paid.

And that has to fucking hurt. You already hate yourself on the outside by thinking you're hideous. You hate yourself on the inside because you think you're dumb. You feel unaccomplished, like a damn loser. And on top of all of that? You can't bring yourself to let go of all the factors that make you feel that way because “they're family” and “they need you.”

You're trapped, and everything feels awful. I'd be depressed too.

It might also be another reason why Arthur is jealous and angry at John. He has a wife, he has a child, he doesn't feel particularly obligated to the gang (hence leaving for a year), he has a chance to do better, and he just doesn't care. He's reached so many milestones that Arthur misses not because he wants them, but out of pure luck, and I'm sure Arthur feels bitter about it.

It's just sad, man.

[ironladders]

zaterran/saurian lore masterpost (all games)

these are mostly meant to be notes for myself so i don't have to constantly check the fandom wiki because i hate using that website, but anyone can use this post as a guide or reference point. there is only so much information about zaterra and its people, but i tried to compile and summarize everything we do have.

if i missed anything, or got something wrong, let me know.

note: i will be referring to them as only zaterrans just to make this easier. midway couldn't decide on a name, and nrs was stuck on that for a while too—but now that mk1 has seemingly settled this, i refuse to go back and forth between them all.

history

original & alternate timelines:

millions of years ago, zaterrans lived on earthrealm, being a bipedal people descended from dinosaurs. unlike their dinosaur ancestors, they had evolved more intelligent brains and were able to thrive as a proper society. however, when shinnok turned against his fellow elder gods and came into conflict with raiden, the following battle was so disastrous that it triggered the K-T event on earthrealm that wiped out the dinosaurs and almost all life on earthrealm. the surviving zaterrans fled the disaster and were split into two: some of them left earthrealm to reside in a realm called zaterra ("new earth") in hopes of rebuilding their culture, and the rest took refuge underground in hollow earth.

for the zaterrans that were displaced, things were fine for a while, until shao kahn came along to conquer their realm. the zaterrans lost the effort against the emperor, and following the trend of other realms that have been conquered by shao — such as edenia, vaeturnus, osh-tekk, and arnyek — zaterra was absorbed into outworld. after this, the zaterrans left were taken into slavery and driven to near extinction. it's not known exactly when shao took zaterra, or how long it took for the zaterrans to start dying out out, but syzoth's mortal kombat 2 bio mentions that his race was believed to be extinct "millions of years ago." in addition, the few remaining zaterrans alive don't actually remember these events happening.

as for the zaterrans that fled to hollow earth, they managed to endure and thrive underground without any interference. there is not much information on their history or what they experienced in hollow earth, other than that they went undetected and are ruled over by a matriarch.

the new era:

in liu kang's new era, zaterra is part of outworld, making zaterrans now native to outworld instead of residing in the realm as a result of conquest. adding to this, there's now more than one species: instead of being different terms to refer to the same group, "zaterran" and "saurian" are now two separate species from one another. the difference between them has not been elaborated on yet. syzoth's mk1 bio calls zaterrans "one of the reptiloid races which lives on outworld's fringes", so whether there are more reptiloid groups outside of zaterrans and saurians is also up to debate.

zaterrans are no longer a near-extinct race, but they still face hardship and are heavily discriminated against. the full history of zaterran-outworld relations in the new era is unknown, but several of syzoth's intros indicate that they once thrived above ground in outworld, before being herded underground by "warmbloods"/non-reptilians. they, along with saurians, now reside in outworld's subterranean areas. why exactly they were driven underground has not been explained yet, but the history there has resulted in both groups hating one another; outworlders are openly bigoted to zaterrans such as syzoth, while warmbloods are generally unwelcome in zaterra.

zikandur has been brought up in some lines, most likely being an area in zaterra where lots of outworld’s reptilian people currently live. its history is unexplored, aside from mentioned past events like the zikandurian floods. it is apparently at risk of being invaded by the kytinn, though why the latter are doing that is also unknown.

at some point in time, a policy was passed in the zaterran government to kill all zaterran shapeshifters. the reasoning behind this and how long ago it started is unknown but considering that syzoth was bullied relentlessly for his shapeshifting mutation, knowledge of zaterran shapeshifters must have faded from the general public after this order was first carried out. in general, zaterra's government is implied to be extremely corrupt.

many zaterrans are dissatisfied with the royal family, either attempting to start or joining rebellion efforts. after his bloody escape from lei chen prison, general shao has been recruiting these dissatisfied zaterrans to join his rebel army in outworld, with the goal of overthrowing mileena's rule.

biology

original & alternate timelines:

the design of zaterrans changed over the games, but they were generally depicted as green (though this also varies, i.e in the case of khameleon) bipedal humanoids with scales, claws, and lizard-shaped heads. they are also close to size of the average human as well. similar to chameleons and frogs, zaterrans have tongues that can extend far beyond their body to catch prey. zaterrran saliva is acidic, able to be used in kombat as a attack/defense mechanism and possibly to help digest food. this acid is very strong, able to melt right through flesh. for some reason, their blood is green.

a zaterran's diet differs from the average human one, mainly consisting of live bugs/insects/worms, but raw meat (including humans) is also on the table. zaterrans are able to make themselves and others around them invisible.

in the first two timelines, all zaterrans possessed the ability to shapeshift between their true forms and more human-like appearances. there is a catch to this, though: their society is matriarchal, and any zaterran who spends too long away from a matriarch & her influence will devolve, losing their ability to maintain a human disguise. this will also negatively impact the mental state of the affected zateerran. however, if they make their way back to the matriarch, the ability to look human and general sanity will return.

alongside all of this, there is a card in mortal kombat mobile that confirms they can regenerate their limbs.

the new era:

in the new era, zaterran biology is generally similar to how it was in the previous timelines, but with some changes.

for starters, these new zaterrans are bigger and more animalistic-looking than their old versions. they are still able to walk on two legs, but one of the moves syzoth's boss has in his invasions season confirms that they can also run around on all four legs. the previous games flip-flopped on whether or not to give zaterrans tails, but in mortal kombat 1 they have tails again—these are used by zaterrans to grab and move things, essentially like a fifth limb.

i have no clue if their actual limbs can still regenerate or not.

outside of these small changes, there is one very significant one in the new era: the average zaterran is no longer able to shapeshift. there are some zaterrans who are able to shapeshift between a human form and reptiloid form, but those who hatch with this mutation are not accepted by their people and often bullied, run out of their homes, or killed. they also don't seem to be matriarchal anymore.

all known members

original & alternate timelines:

SYZOTH/REPTILE:

a long-lasting franchise staple and the most well-known zaterran in the series, syzoth — better known as his codename "reptile" — lived a long life of servitude. original timeline: syzoth was one of the last surviving members of his species, desperate to find a way to bring back his people. syzoth loyally served shang tsung and shao kahn, who kept his loyalty with the promises of restoring the zaterran race. ironically, shao was the one who caused the extermination of his people, but syzoth did not know about this. after shao was murdered by the deadly alliance, syzoth wandered around before he turned to serving nitara (who he'd ran into previously and gotten his kirehashi blade from), as he did not know how to live without serving a master. nitara accepted him, but unbeknownst to syzoth, she too was deceiving him. the vaeternian manipulated syzoth into battling cyrax, damaging the cyborg, which in turn would help with nitara's goal of getting the portal sphere. when syzoth eventually realized he was being used, he was enraged and chased after nitara and cyrax to the lava shrine, but arrived too late. the only thing there was the egg of onaga. it hatched, shining a beam of light onto syzoth, making his body become a vessel for the dragon king. much later, when shujinko defeated onaga and his soul was bound to the netherrealm by nightwolf, syzoth was once again able to have free will and gain control of his own body. he was seen in the red dragon's lair for unknown reasons (most likely trying to create hybrids that would restore his race), and joined the forces of darkness at the battle of armageddeon. he was killed at the battle, along with the majority of the other fighters. alternate timeline: thanks to the reset by raiden, syzoth was back to serving shao kahn and shang tsung, fighting against the earthrealmers in the tournament and later battles. after losing the tournament, syzoth knew that shao kahn would not take kindly to this failure and kept his guard up. he was proven right when the osh-tekk warrior kotal was sent to assassinate him in his sleep; however, to syzoth's surprise, kotal spared his life and didn't go through with killing him. the following morning, shao kahn formally introduced the two, saying that kotal had hand-picked syzoth to serve under his command. from there, kotal earned syzoth's genuine loyalty. when shao died and mileena seized the throne, kotal declared a coup against her. syzoth was at his side during this, taking a blow for him, and continued to loyally serve afterwards. understanding that kotal saw value in him where shao did not, syzoth was committed to serving the new ruler of outworld as a close follower and friend. his whereabouts and status after the events of mortal kombat X are unknown, outside of a few mentions in intros and a small appearance in the krypt from mortal kombat 11.

KHAMELEON:

debuting in mortal kombat trilogy as a secret character, khameleon was the last known female member of her race. unlike syzoth, khameleon actually knew the truth of their people's history. however, because she chose to fight for earthrealm and wished to slay shao, this meant the last surviving members of the zaterran race were mortal enemies. at some point, khameleon set out to search for syzoth. she spent a long time looking for him, wishing to inform him that shao kahn was responsible for their race's extinction, and try to start a new generation of zaterrans. once she found him and reveal the truth, syzoth initially agreed to help her kill the emperor—only for him to fall under shao's influence once again, turning against khameleon. she escaped and wandered the realms until she heard of a battle that would happen in edenia, with the victor being given the prize of ultimate power. khameleon knew that shao kahn getting this would be disastrous and joined the forces of light in the battle of armageddon. along with the rest of the fighters, khameleon died at the pyramid. while she was referenced a few times and even made a brief cameo in the background of mortal kombat 9, khameleon's whereabouts and history after raiden's timeline reset are unknown.

CHAMELEON (unconfirmed):

debuting in the same game khameleon did as a fellow secret fighter, ch-ameleon never actually got a storyline or arcade ending in mortal kombat trilogy, unlike his female counterpart. the only information about chameleon at the time was that he was mentioned to be "one of shao kahn's deadliest warriors." it took until chameleon's next appearance to finally get a (extremely vague) backstory: supposedly, he was present at every major event in the games dating back to liu kang's victory in the tournament, but constantly kept himself hidden and watched everything unfold while waiting for "his moment" to arrive. he fought with the forces of darkness at the battle of armageddon, dying at the pyramid with everyone else. chameleon's presence in the alternate timeline is also miniscule. in mortal kombat x, one of syzoth's mirror match intros will have him question if the counterpart in front of him is chameleon, implying the two know each other. in addition, chameleon falls to his death in mortal kombat 11's krypt, but the canon status of the krypt is debatable. other than this, there's no information on him. the reason that chameleon's status as a zaterran is marked as "unconfirmed" is because.... uh, it has never been outright stated he is one in any game. considering he shares traits with khameleon, who is a zaterran, chameleon being one himself would make sense. there is also the fact that syzoth mistakes his mirror match for chameleon, further alluding to him being a fellow reptilian. in addition, mortal kombat co-creator john tobias has said that his original intention was for chameleon to be a fellow zaterran, but this information just didn't make it into any of the games for some reason. at the same time, if chameleon was a member of the zaterran race, this would directly contradict established information about syzoth being the last living male zaterran. i don't know, man, the devs do not care about this guy and it shows.

QUEEN SYTHOLIN:

presumably the former ruler of zaterra, before shao kahn conquered the realm. no information about her exists, but sytholin's blade — one of the few remaining zaterran relics — can be found inside of goro's treasure chamber in the mortal kombat 11 krypt; according to its description, the wielder can control the minds of smaller reptilians and have them obey the user's will.

the new era:

SYZOTH/REPTILE:

unlike his previous iterations, mortal kombat 1's syzoth is not in a desperate cycle of trying to restore his race. however, he was run out of his homeland of zaterra after being relentlessly bullied for his shapeshifting mutation. up until his arcade ending, syzoth believed he was the only one of his kind who possessed this ability. syzoth joined a traveling carnival to profit on his shapeshifting skill, even marrying an unnamed woman with whom he had a son with. him and shang tsung crossed paths, and when the latter asked to experiment on him, syzoth denied the offer. but shang tsung took syzoth's family hostage anyways, using them to keep him obedient in being a slave; from there, he was experimented on and aided in shang's inhumane experiments on others, all for the sake of his family. that went on for months, before the earthrealmers and baraka were captured and fought their way out of shang tsung's laboratory. syzoth tried to stop them, knowing that if he didn't his family would be killed, but lost the battle to baraka. after this, syzoth learned the truth: his wife and son had already been killed devastated by this, but also understanding that there was nothing keeping him under shang tsung's thumb anymore, syzoth escaped into the living forest with the other men. from there they met ashrah, attempted to stop the sorcerer quan chi from activating his soul stealer in the living forest—but despite failing at that the group still captured him with the intention of bringing him to earthrealm for questioning. to help his companions escape, syzoth disrupted the shivai ranatai festival in sun do and fought off several other characters, providing enough of a diversion for everyone to flee the realm (without quan chi, who managed to get away). it's not known what syzoth did for the remainder of the main story after arriving in earthrealm, but in his tower ending it's revealed that mileena appointed him as her emissary as thanks for helping unveil the truth behind shao and shang's plans. with his renewed political status protecting him, syzoth journeyed home to zaterra, where he discovered the conspiracy by the zaterran government to exterminate all shapeshifters. at some point after the main story's events, syzoth entered a romantic relationship with ashrah, but the details of how this began are (sadly) currently unknown. (more info TBA if khaos reigns gives me anything else)

KHAMELEON:

in the new era, khameleon is no longer the last female zaterran alive. in fact, khameleon isn't even the same species as syzoth anymore. an intro with takeda reveals that khameleon is a saurian, which is said to be distinct from zaterrans. the details of khameleon's life are largely unknown, but she is a member of the umgadi, a group of warrior priestesses. umgadi members are selected from firstborn women in outworld, taken as infants to be raised as one and train to protect outworld's royal family. khameleon was seen throughout the main story assisting tanya in fights against percieved threats to the royal family. she is probably a fellow reptilian shapeshifter, but unlike syzoth she keeps strictly to a human form. (more info TBA if khaos reigns gives me anything else)

ARCHDUKE MAHAZZEM:

only being mentioned once in a syzoth/sindel intro, mahazzem is one of zaterra's many archdukes. the only known details about mahazzem is that sindel considered him to be a friend, but this "friendship" was a mask. in truth, he secretly plotted to betray sindel and rebel against her rule. (more info TBA if any intros or even KR, while unlikely, gives me anything else)

OTHER POSSIBLE MEMBERS: erlac dicharr, nareb nevets, hatigo mesgo, sever nahhan, sykin foh

these are names from syzoth's gear that could be of other reptiloids, as they don't really sound like locations or events, and i don't think they're references to real-life things as nothing comes up when i google them. but at the same time i'm not entirely sure, so take this last bit with a very large grain of salt

k thats all for now byeeeee

[thewinter22]

hi, since you asked genuine questions here's a few explanations:

on oct 7th, hamas broke into israel and murdered, tortured, raped, and kidnapped over a thousand people. it wasn't just a little event. it was the largest slaughter of jews since the holocaust. and it wasn't just jews that were killed, it was arab israelis and bedouins. if you want to learn more, I recommend watching "screams before silence" it's free on youtube BUT huge trigger warning for graphic descriptions of rape and torture. there aren't actual pictures/videos of the rapes in the documentary but there are many eyewitnesses and victims who share their stories.

https://www.screamsbeforesilence.com/

secondly, the term "zionism" doesn't mean what most non-jews think it means. it is a movement started by and for jews, and it is the belief that jews should have a nation in their ancestral homeland (israel). it doesn't mean that all palestinians should die, it doesn't mean that israel needs to solely be jewish (ethnostate). israel is extremely diverse with many different religions and ethnicities, it just has over 50% jews making it a jewish state in the same way that most countries are christian or muslim etc.

gaza, in contrast, has 0 jews since 2005 when israel left gaza.

hamas is a terrorist organization and has a very strict "education" system mostly consisting of teaching children how to become martyrs and shoot guns. palestinians learn from birth to hate jews and israel. hamas's entire ideology is built on jew hatred. for that reason, it is extremely hard to get a ceasefire because hamas keeps rejecting it. bibi netanyahu, who I don't personally like, has agreed to most ceasefire deals, but hamas hasn't. that's why the war is still going on. and let's not forget, hamas still holds many israeli hostages captive.

the reason jews don't feel safe in queer spaces is because currently leftist queers do not acknowledge these facts. they create "anti-zionist spaces" on campuses and in their own communities. 90% of jews are zionists, so when you're anti-zionist, you are inherently antisemitic. anti-zionists have vandalized synagogues, attacked synagogues, raped jews "for justice in palestine", stabbed random jews, and worse. people shout "globalize the intifada" which really just means "globalize genocide of jews".

the fact that so many queer people refuse to believe us when we say we are in danger, say we deserve it even, is why jews don't feel safe in queer spaces. most of us are fine with a state of palestine, but we don't want hamas as their leader because they are a terrorist organization with a goal of killing jews. jews have been a part of so many liberal movements (a black jew founded blm, many jews stood up for gays during the aids crisis, etc) and are still rejected because of backwards misinformation. our problem isn't with palestine or palestinians, our problem is with ignorance and hate that so many leftist spaces are now full of.

if you want to help jews feel safe in queer spaces, acknowledge their pain, acknowledge that hamas is bad, listen to jews when they talk about this conflict. so many queer and leftist ppl treat this conflict like a fandom, it's crazy and disgusting. most of them only learned about this conflict through social media a year ago. listen to jews and don't exclude us from your spaces just because you are too arrogant to look at the other side. that's literally all we're asking.

some instances of anti-zionism being violent and antisemitic:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67145473

https://www.france24.com/en/france/20240619-french-teens-charged-with-anti-semitic-rape-in-attack-condemned-by-political-leaders

https://www.jns.org/anti-zionism-is-just-antisemitism-misspelled/

https://www.axios.com/2024/01/10/antisemitic-incidents-hamas-israel-attack-2023-adl

thank you for asking, and thank you for reading.

Thank you for the answers. I was worried people were going to call me ignorant, which I admit I am up until now, and is exactly why I want to learn more about something I never really looked into more deeply because of the various opinions on all sides making it hard to decypher anything objective. It's hard to believe how terribly queer spaces are treating jewish people. Which is not to say I don't believe you. Quite the opposite. I am just shocked. Thank you again

[xplrvibes]

some people on twitter are getting really mad at colby for apparently ‘ditching’ shea for his new girl saying shit like oh he led shea on and now he’s pushed her away lol

they’re fully acting like he’s committed an awful crime like why are they cancelling him 😭

(side note - i’m actually, whole heartedly convinced that half of the fandom genuinely hates colby and everything he does fills them with rage lmfao)

This is going to be a one and done, on this topic. I don't like Shea, don't like what she's doing. Never did like her, as you all know, because she has been an absolutely awful and manipulative bully and generally trash person over the years and I don't want her taking up too much space on my blog because of it.

But I felt the need to just put this out there before I move on, so here we go, behind a cut for anyone who doesn't want to hear it lol.

You know, I find this whole "taking Shea on her word all of a sudden" thing interesting.

According to Shea, they had a 10 year (even though he was still living in Kansas 10 years ago) "on-again, off-again thing" that was "mostly just talking" and was "never official," although it was "almost dating, but not official" for 2 years (even though there hasn't been a 2 year period where Colby hasn't been at least seeing someone, if not hooking up).

She doesn't seem to know any of his friends and not a single one of them follow her on socials - in fact, most of them unfollowed her several years back. Of particular note is the fact that Sam, after all these years of her being Colby's future wife, still hasn't followed her back...but has followed several of the other girls Colby's been linked to over the years, including M.

She never seems to have a clue about what is going on in his life and has been promising (and not delivering) fans content with Colby for years now - including her telling everyone that her and Colby were going somewhere to film a documentary in January of this year when Colby had already told everyone on xplrclub that he and Sam were going to be in Vegas or in Texas filming in all of Jan and then in Australia for most of Feb. She promised to have him on one her streams on a day when he was actually in Hawaii, then another day when he was actually in Kansas visiting family.

She hasn't been invited to a single party or group gathering of theirs since 2019, save for one time when she visited Colby and Sam in Las Vegas - which came across as very awkward, given the above.

She complained about never getting invited to snc's Halloween parties - you know, the ones that have 500-1,000 invitees and snc have claimed include an invite to every single person they know and are friends with? Yet Colby's soul mate gets left on the list somehow, 6 years running?? (One year he had four different past flings there at once. But the future Mrs. Shea Brock just didn't make the cut somehow)

Oh, bonus: she once told a gc full of her fans that Colby asked her out, but she turned him down because she valued the friendship too much. Funny how those turns tabled.

Colby meanwhile, has never hidden that he considers himself single, does not think he's met "the one," uses Raya to find dates, hooks up and has flings....he's not just pretending to be single, he IS single.

So. to recap: They have had a 10 year friendship and emotional bond that Shea deluded herself into thinking was more. Colby comes around her again after having had a cancer that could've easily rendered him unable to have children, and her grand idea is to tell this guy she freely admits she was never even dating that she wants to cash in on some vague promise he may or may not have actually made to her about getting married and having CHILDREN???

I'd have left her ass, too.

But sure. He's the bad guy. By the way, to hear Shea tell it, Colby did the same thing to her that Sam did to Kat. But all the people trashing Colby were the first ones in line to defend Sam from big bad mean Kat and her hurtful words because "he wasn't ready" and wah wah wah. Isn't that funny...and on par.

So yes, lol. Most of the people pissed about this are using any excuse put in front of them to trash Colby cause that is the only enjoyment they get out of life. Trust me when I say they are backing the wrong horse with Shea. She's not the hero victim y/n sainted good girl she pretends to be.

[zannolin]

to be real with you i honestly hateeee getting into fandoms for media that's still actively coming out (not like, star trek or whatever that doesn't count; long-running stuff with different eras and installments is in a different class than, say, a single book series or netflix show) because i was there gandalf i was in the voltron fandom in 2018 when s8 aired and it felt like the entire fandom collapsed overnight. and it rebounded eventually (or like, i don't really know the extent and activity of the voltron fandom today, okay, it's been a LONG time for me, but i see stuff kicking around occasionally) though never to the same level of engagement and activity, and i hate that. i hate the looming feeling of "if they really drop the ball on this last season or canonize some ship people hate or don't canonize one people love, the entire fandom will just up and leave and chances are i'll be left behind all sad and still attached with no one to talk to." it's a bad feeling!! and it wasn't JUST voltron this happened to either. (not to mention so many shows these days just have like Bad Fuckign Endings man don't get me started on death of the ending in the name of franchise) and it keeps happening also because apparently nowadays a show has to be actively airing to have a fanbase but once it ends and the popular gay ship isn't canon god forbid we ever talk about it again. y'know. i hate the content culture and like planned obsolescence invading fandom these days. it wasn't always this way <- crochety grandma voice but like. it hasn't always been like this! surely not!

it's why i'm so much happier and secure writing for stuff like idk, national treasure. or beyonders which is a wildly niche series that came out over a decade ago and still has a dedicated little fanbase kicking around. or star wars. established franchises or niche media where you don't have to worry about the rug being pulled out from under you (either because of an established, dedicated fanbase, or because the fact that the rug never existed in the first place) are so much easier to hang around in. and i wish more current media could have that kind of fanbase more often. i wish things stayed in the current consciousness more than, like, a year without a new season every year or two to boost them. you know?

okay enough being existential. back to reblogging gifsets you can go home now.

[tirsynni]

Years ago (crazy to think about how many years, honestly), I started Sands of Time as writing practice to see if I could get into the practice of writing on a regular schedule (it failed). I had a bunny inspired by thinking too much about Ganondorf and his role in OoT and WW, decided it was as good as an excuse as any to work on writing regularly (failed so hard), and it ended up becoming a love letter to a game series which I've loved almost my entire life.

That fic kept going and going and taught me so much about writing, both in general and fanfic-specific. It ended up being far longer than planned, more detailed than planned, and even when I was distracted and tired and side-eyeing this massive WIP, it reminded me of how much I loved the Zelda games and the many details, overt and subtle, in them. Writing was more than just putting words on paper: it was translating the things I was passionate about. Even if there are some definite issues in the fic due to the many distractions occurring during its creation and how sometimes I wrote less because I was passionate to write and more because I was just stubborn about seeing the fic through, it's still a fic I'm very proud of. It is also, without a shadow of a doubt, my most popular fic. It is a fic that someone refused to rec because they wanted to hit lesser known Zelda fics, and holy shit, I preened when I read that.

I have been struggling with fic and fandom in the last year for many reasons, including some serious RL stressors. The other big reasons have to do with the evolution of fandom itself. I'm not talking about the rise and fall of the popularity of certain things. For example, while I'm not a fan of "reader" fic, I feel like it's a fantastic example of the things that can be done with the fanfiction medium and also a way to explore how tropes/genres/random things in fanfiction reflect different cultural changes in the same way horror movies do. What I hate, though, is the rise of negative feelings and negative takes in fandom, transforming it from a fun, collaborative atmosphere into an arena full of witch hunts, deliberately bad takes, and people terrified to write because they are afraid of being attacked for their content, pairing, writing styles, grammar, etc. I love fandom as a love letter to canon, an exploration of canon, an exploration of self and writing styles, among other things. Now it feels like it's no longer that.

Back in the Old Days, people put disclaimers on fics because they didn't want to be sued. Now people put disclaimers on things assuring readers that of course they don't advocate these things, these things are bad, they know it, they aren't a criminal, they aren't a pedophile, they aren't a Bad Person. Now I see people skip summaries just to tell people to stop attacking them for their pairing and to just let them write what they like.

I see people indulging in deliberate bad takes of the original content, of the original creators, of other writers in fandom, of different tropes, of game mechanics... fucking everything. Sometimes it's just a nasty circle. Sometimes it's done to elevate something else, because we all know the only way to elevate something is to put something else down. I understand vent sessions. I understand going to a friend and going "Holy shit, did you see that summary??? Wow!" It should stop life as a quick vent. It shouldn't make up the person's entire personality. It shouldn't require a full online presence. Hate should never be detailed in the comments. Call-out posts should be left to actual nazis, terfs, etc., not to someone who wrote a "gross" or "unhealthy" or whatever pairing. Seriously. If you waste so much time on that, you need to look into some self-exploration and therapy. In all sincerity.

Fanfiction is not a published work. It should be fun. It is put online to be shared with fellow fans. It is something where someone gets excited about something or has an idea about something or wants to explore something or just wants to write some kinky porn and then share it with fellow fans. That's why writers post work and then sit eagerly .02 seconds later waiting for people to comment on it because they want to share their thoughts and love and happiness and excitement and sadness and grief and their general emotions with others and they want those others to respond and share their thoughts and reactions, too!

I just saw a post tearing into Moffat's Sherlock series because it lacked sincerity for the audience and source material and instead indulged in its arrogance, contempt, and self-righteousness. My immediate thoughts turned to the Lord of the Rings movies. If Sherlock is remembered, it will be purely in the critical sense, an example as to how a popular series was forgotten and dismissed. LotR remains loved. It is a classic. It is something people repeatedly marathon despite the lengthy watch time. LotR was a love letter to its source material. It wasn't just the writers and directors: everyone involved was sincerely, fiercely passionate about it, and it shows. It drags the watchers in, prompted people who had never read the original to pick up the books, inspired so much fanfiction. It was sincere and passionate and loving and, in turn, its fans are sincere and passionate and loving.

The LotR movies explored and loved the genre, the characters, the message. Even when characters faltered, it didn't make them terrible people. It made watchers hold their breath, it made watchers cheer them on, it made watchers hope. Check out people who do bad takes of Frodo and his struggle with the Ring and watch how many people come out of the woodwork to defend Frodo. There was no tongue-in-cheek humor mocking the source material. There was no critical analysis of "Well, you see, this is how the hero was actually stupid." No. It was sincere. It was loving. It still makes people cry and cheer and happy even when they're wiping away a sad tear or two.

I've read fanfics where the writers insist on the worst takes for the characters. It isn't done out of humor or a teasing love or an exploration into the characters/writing styles/etc. The writers want to drag the characters down, put themselves on a pedestal, and do it not through sincere analysis but by doing the worst possible takes on the situation. This usually relies on going into the source material with a negative mindset and desiring negativity in return, feeding primarily on the negative takes of others rather than looking into the source material or looking for positive takes, or just having a "bad faith" mindset. They go into it with an axe to grind and want to drag everyone else down with them. It isn't one or two fics: it's a growing, poisonous movement which is one of the things driving people out of fandom. It isn't a love letter to the source material. It is hate and disgust and contempt and Moffat writing Sherlock, patting himself on the back all the while and surrounding himself with people doing the same exact thing.

I'm a strong believer in people writing whatever they want to write. You want to write this character being evil? Sure! You hate this character and want to make them OOC to bash them even more? Go for it! I've written so many things testing how far I could go or feeling angsty and wanting others to feel angsty or even feeling happy and grinning like a feral gremlin as people wrote comments talking about how the angst in the story made them bawl. Want to write vore? Want to write character death? Whatever! It is fucking fiction, and it should be something you can enjoy doing. Hell, an asexual person can write two people fucking without wanting to get fucked. A lesbian can write two men fucking. A pacifist can write a murder mystery. It is fiction. Write whatever you want, and I hope that you feel better after doing so, even if it is only in the catharsis way of having a bad day and getting it out by making characters bleed.

Already, I can fucking hear people insisting that all of this makes you a bad person. No. No. If you truly believe that, it means you don't understand writing. You don't understand art. OR it's not a misunderstanding but a deliberate Bad Take, an extension of the poison I described above, because you want to attack someone and you want any opening. See: Republicans going after Drag Queens now, probably not actually believing that Drag Queens are harmful but recognizing vulnerability and knowing they can manipulate others through hatred. If you truly believed that, you would be wondering about Stephen King and other writers, but instead, you use conservative attacks and uncritically promote purity culture and are oblivious to the day when the leopard turns around to eat your face.

It's exhausting. It's a growing trend that is poisoning the water that is fandom and is not only playing a part in driving people out, but is keeping people from ever trying their hand in the first place. It is keeping people from enjoying what should be a fun thing. It is fucking poisoning minds, because this is a damned slippery slope. Hammer/nail and all that. It is seeing one thing as "problematic" and knocking over one tile and then seeing a full domino effect because they never bothered to analyze what "problematic" meant or why they found that "problematic." It is people grabbing a torch with the hope they won't find themselves on the stake.

Let people enjoy fandom. Try having positive takes. Let fanfiction and fanart and fanworks in general be something enjoyable again. Maybe some people use it as a way to vent current political issues. Maybe some people want to explore certain sexual kinks and writing these two (or three or five or seven) characters going at it is a great way to do it. Maybe they had a funny thought and want to share it via fanfiction. Whatever. We can't go online and bash people like Moffat and then casually do the same exact thing. We can't bitch about conservative politicians attacking people and then use the same exact thought processes and methods to attack others.

Let people be sincere in their enjoyment. If you don't like it, find something you do like. Maybe take some time with some tools and explore things which make you happy instead of indulging in deliberate bad takes to tear others down and use those takes to bind yourself to others and their bad takes like barbwire. Remember why things like LotR lives on and makes people so happy and why Moffat's works are going to be used in classes in the future as to what not to do.

[joyswonderland1108]

🙃

I know i said that my biases are Jimin and JK but i never said i wasn’t a big fan of 3J which means that if Hobi is being disrespected imma snap your head in half!

Every time i come here to talk about something nice there’s a whole mess going on that at this point my blog is turning to a rant blog ffs. When did this fandom become like this? When did the toxicity became huge to the point where you can’t go a day without something disgusting being spread online? 

So by now everybody knows that Hybe posted an announcement about Hobi’s upcoming enlistment that he started the procedure already, we saw that coming but it’s still upsetting of course, we still felt sad knowing how real it’s becoming that Hobi is leaving for MS too. So we’re trying to come to terms with it and another announcement only this time it’s a happier one:

We were also able to see our Sunshine live 

(Credits to Dalto on Twitter)

Now i believe you see where this is going right? So Hope on the street is a single set to be released on March 3rd, key word here : SINGLE. One song. But of course dickheads have a thing to say right? Saying how he is interfering with Jimin’s solo if he couldn’t release it before why choose now bla bla bla rat language.

I’ve mentioned in my previous post that even one song can take a while let alone many, some artists spent 2 3 years on one song, it’s called perfectioning it, working on every possible flaw so that the end result is something that lets the artist feel satisfied with the hard work he put in it. So to answer the “why didn’t he release it before?” simply because he couldn’t “why won’t he release it later?” simply because he can’t. 

Now saying that he’s interfering with Jimin’s solo.. There are 20 days between March 3rd and March 24th (not including both dates) and again am going back to the key word, it’s a SINGLE it’s only one song how tf is that interfering with Jimin’s solo? There’s enough time to give attention to Hope on the street and also be ready for FACE.

It’s actually funny to see people try to make it a competition between none other than Jihope like.. Be so fr right fucking now! It’s not like y’all are legally blind to not notice how close those two are, they’re besties, and more than anything they are happy for each other so for a bunch of low-life strangers trying to put their 2 useless cents of thoughts on the matter.. y’all just shut the fuck up

Now if Hobi just decided to enlist without dropping anything, people would be saying how he’s not appreciating Army he just left like that or why did he wait all that time to enlist if he doesn’t have more work to do or or or.. Of course there’s always something to complain about, this fandom is never satisfied and would you look at that, the boys still think about this stupid fandom and dedicate their work to them. 

Honestly there should be a whole separate new fandom for our boys, a private one that is, Vip or whatever you wanna call it, like you can’t get into that fandom unless you pass the morals test, the personality test, etc.. Army be fighting with that other fandom (not mentioning the name but y’all already know who, no hate to the girlies they’re cool, can’t say the same thing about their fandom tho) when they’re no better, creating shit INSIDE the fandom to begin with. 

It’s seriously getting tiring and sickening how people were just allowed to become this hateful, it’s like they forget that they got into this fandom that was started because of BTS like.. THE WHOLE BAND! Yes these 7 men are all different and unique but they’re also part of the same band whether you like it or not and if they wanted to go solo like many of y’all are dying for it to happen they would’ve done it a while ago it’s not the first time idols leave their band to go on a solo journey. If y’all have no respect for these boys as a band at least have respect towards your favs and what they want, what they wish for and the people they love. 

[utilitycaster]

The Beaujester/Widojest stuff actually reminds me of why I almost wasn't on board with Fjord/Jester at first - I really don't like ships where it feels like one party has to wear down the other, and at first, I thought that was the vibe. So I get really stumped on why people are pushing for closure here. It reminds me of that wild d&d court case. Why would they needlessly burden their friend (Jester) with this information? What do fans think would happen after???

Hi anon,

You are 100% right in that I also think of that D&D Court Case (for those wondering, it's the one that starts here and basically, a couple is playing in a D&D game together and the DM some time ago confessed drunkenly to the player who is writing in that he has feelings for the player's girlfriend...and is now romancing her in-game as an NPC). Like, for real, keep that to yourself! It's so awkward and for what! Tell your therapist! Tell other friends outside this social circle! Do some weird art about it! Have weird feelings! But do not say that to the actual couple involved, holy fuck.

It would require someone with far more knowledge of fandom history to back up my hunch here, so I am presenting it as just a hunch, but it feels like there has been a very heavy drive in the past maybe five or six years towards, rather than "oh man, I wish this ship had happened instead, and here are my AUs and fics in which it did" to "here's why the story is BAD and UNRESOLVED and WRONG." And I don't quite know how it came to be, since internet forums have been around for quite some time, and maybe I'm just clueless because I have come relatively late to every social media ever and it was always like this and the volume has just increased. My personal theory is that people saw all those quirky letter writing campaigns of the 2000s and didn't realize that mailing potato chips or whatever to an NBC exec who was cutting the show because it wasn't getting enough viewers by metrics that were well behind current technology and who would see this and say "oh, shit, this has fans, maybe we can make money off it" is very different than writing hate mail to actual creators, but I could be totally wrong.

But anyway, it is pretty apparent that Uk'otoa was left unresolved! Travis actually had laid the groundwork in-character as Fjord (the bounty hunter hire for Sabian, telling Jester in 2x117 he wanted to deal with Uk'otoa before other things) to return, but it made sense for the show to end after Aeor. Meanwhile, it's not unresolved for someone to quietly nurse a crush, and I'd argue, actually, that both Beau and Caleb's feelings were largely resolved in show. Beau outright told Fjord that she'd had a crush on Jester, but her feelings for Yasha were deeper and more real (and in general this tracks with Beau's repeated self-sabotage when things felt too good to be true). And if you take off the Widojest shipping goggles, it's hard to see Caleb's actions following the party's return from Rumblecusp as anything but quietly admitting that this is not going to happen, as he pushes Jester to dance with Fjord and finally tells her about his past. The goal post of "resolved" secretly means "the preferred ship happens instead."

And then no one ever has an answer for what happens after. Does Beau break up with Yasha? Does the entire scene in Aeor with Essek in 141 - absolutely pivotal, despite coming so late, to Caleb's arc - just not happen, because you really cannot read that as anything but romantic? Does Jester break up with Fjord? How do we reconcile that Jester does not wish to live in Rexxentrum as a housewife, and does want to continue to see the world and be able to regularly spend lots of time in Nicodranas? Do Caleb or Beau make even the slightest concession to Jester's wants and needs, in this fantasy?

I guess I'll wrap this up with this thought: I think that Beau and Caleb's romantic feelings for Jester and how they deal with them are very well played by Marisha and Liam and are incredibly important - indeed, crucial - to understanding their respective character development. But that's the thing in the end. The romantic feelings are deeply important to the stories of Beau and Caleb. They are a footnote on the story of the Mighty Nein. And they are utterly irrelevant to the story of Jester.

[azriona]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @paula-in-dreamland.

1. how many works do you have on AO3?

178.

2. what's your total AO3 word count?

1.3 million

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Currently the only fandom I’m writing in is MCU. It’s weird, I’ve almost always been a one-fandom-at-a-time person; I rarely, rarely write for more than one at once.

4. top five fics by kudos:

Timing, Those Three Words, Mise en Place, What I Forgot to Tell You, and The Next Level. What’s particularly crazy about that list (to me) is that Timing has five times as many kudos as it does words. (TNL is the longest thing I’ve ever written, and will probably never have as many kudos as it does words.)

5. do you respond to comments?

I used to do this all the time; I dropped off about six years ago. I’m trying to pick it back up again.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh man. I try not to write angsty endings. But probably 3:07 a.m. That’s the one with the most “omg what have you done to me” comments, anyway.

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Like, absolutely drowning in fluff and happiness and sheer joy? Probably The Next Level. The current sex pollen accidental pregnancy fic is definitely up there, too.

8. do you get hate on fics?

Not generally. I do get some… questionable comments sometimes, but for the most part I ignore them.

9. do you write smut?

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA yes.

10. craziest crossover?

Oh man. The Broadway Musicals were absolutely the craziest of the crazy, back in my HP days. But those were more parodies than crossovers.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yeah, I remember someone on ff.net stole one of my fics once. Bunch of my regular readers spotted it, left tons of reviews along the lines of “This was great when AZRIONA POSTED IT A YEAR AGO. Thief.” We got it taken down in pretty short order.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, several times, in multiple languages. Always a thrill. 😊

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

The first fanfic I wrote/posted was co-written with my friend Noel. HP, though, so no longer accessible.

14. all time favorite ship?

…all of them?

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I would have loved to finish Fiddle in the Band, but when I knew I couldn’t, I posted a wrap-up with incomplete scenes and where I thought I would have gone. But the other big one is probably the Medieval Omegaverse series (Fornicatio Autem); I can’t even do that much for it because I only had the sketchiest of plans for it.

16. what are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and writing kids, or so I’m told. 😊

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Starting sentences with “But” and “And”. Also overuse of ellipses and dashes.

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I have done this before! I have definite preferences, and I’ve done this scores of times in different ways. Currently, I don’t mind if dialogue is in a different language, but if I’m supposed to know what’s being said, I want to know immediately, I don’t want to have to wait until the end of the chapter for a translation. If the character knows what’s being said, I want to know what’s being said, otherwise I get thrown out of a story very quickly. These days, I don’t really bother with translation for full sentences; I’ll say they’re speaking in French or Italian or whatever, and then write in English as normal. Unless I don’t want the reader to know what’s being said, then it’s in the language and you don’t get a translation. I’m reading a series now where the author did exactly this for Bucky’s early Winter Soldier years – he doesn’t understand the Russian, therefore we’re meant to be just as confused as he is. In that context, no translation makes total sense, and I wasn’t thrown out at all.

19. first fandom you wrote in?

Phantom of the Opera back when I was 13. It’s not online because this was before the internet really existed (or when I had access to it).

20. favorite fic you've written?

Whichever one I’m working on at the moment. 😊

Tagging whichever writers want to play along. :)

[chevelleneech]

https://www.tumblr.com/chevelleneech/760748078531788800/confession?source=share

Mileapo the same actors from kinn Porsche right? I haven't watched the show but I'm aware of it since before it's release as i had watched one edit before it's release and i liked the chemistry, acting right away but i haven't watched cause i don't watch dramas/series/movies anything lol.

U know this reminded me of the other Thai bl drama actors their ship the brightwin....some 2-3 months ago one of them started dating and that causes distress in their shipping Fandom. All big accts left nd all that typical things happened and funny thing was the girl who bright is dating was another actor from their show right? She was frnds with both ig. Again haven't watched but got to know some things thr ppl on my tl who watched their drama when it aired.

This again made me realise how sometimes shippers just don't have the bigger picture in their mind you know. if i have to take jkk's example then we see them mostly with members so we usually just can compare how they behave with e/o to other members but there's soo many ppl outside that which we don't see so we don't have any idea how they treat other ppl. E.g. when those pictures of jk with mijoo were leaked it again caused havoc in Fandom cause ppl thought him back hugging is too much for friendship or what not. Again shippers cause so much over back hugs when jk seems pretty comfortable doing it with ppl he's close to doens't have to know them for years long u know. Armys for yrs has portrayed as jk hates woman when reality says otherwise.

We think jm treats jk in a certain way or vice versa when off cam there might be other people whom they treat more differently than that. I always think jungkook treats jm as his close frnds and jm does the same. When ppl were making big deal out of that jk bucking up at jm over sausage many said alot of things about jk when it's actually very normal in friends. I still don't think that's something jk would do to his actual partner but that's just my thoughts. People said jk not knowing jm's schedules nd not even going to any of jm's music shows despite being free ain't a big deal it happens in couples when i feel jk would be the first person to support when he's partner doing some projects as solo(if we assume jk is dating another artist).

Do i think jkk are close? Yes. Do i think they're more than friends? Yes. Do i think they flirt? Yes. Do i think they feel attraction towards one another? Maybe. Do i think they're dating? No. There are some rs that go beyond just friendship but it stops right before crossing the line between friends and romantic rs. I feel jkk's rs is there somewhere.

Feels one day fans gonna find them with their respective partners exactly like other ships.

Sorry it's just kinda rant

I’m not exactly 100% on what you’re comparing, because Mile and Apo were shipped, but not because of how much time they actually spent together. They were shipped for the same reasons as many BL actors, which is because they starred in a production together, and have major chemistry.

What added to the shipping is them having history outside the show, seeing as they went to the same college and crossed paths enough times, but weren’t friends. Then Mile talked about how he always thought Apo was good looking, back when Apo came up as an actor. And Apo thought Mile was handsome from when he saw him in their college gym working out. On top of that, Mike basically created the production company Kinnporsche was released under, because he wanted Apo to have the opportunity to shine. So they are or were really good friends, and Apo teased Mile a lot about being his sugar daddy because Mile is really rich, as he grew up in a wealthy business family. But outside of extremely specific lines, shipping them wasn’t because of how they acted around each other, because they spent a lot of time together, or because they appeared to want to be together.

So all that said, while people obviously shipped and still ship them, they aren’t really comparable to JM and JK, because Jimin and Jungkook aren’t being shipped just for being friends and coworkers during one project. They have a decade of history and are very questionable together, and as AYS shows, they were intentional about making time to spend together. Mile and Apo flirt and have fun, and are also private about their friendship for the most part, but anyone shipping them beyond the “I think they’d look good together.” we’re doing so knowing they likely weren’t a couple. Their chemistry is real, and I definitely thought they would remain visibly close as friends, but things change. Also, Mile is apparently dating a woman he has been rumored to have gotten with like two years ago, when he and Apo were still visibly close. So again, people were shipping knowing they weren’t together.

Yes, Jimin and Jungkook’s friendship might change after enlistment as well, we don’t know, but the context and circumstances are very different.

[icharchivist]

@haru-desune submitted:

Hello my semi annual "wth is gbf" ask But in all seriousness y'all look you're having fun 😁

DFKJDFMLFD HEY!!! Tee hee!

we are having a tone of fun over here yeah!! this year is the 10th anniversary of the game with new Triple A game coming out, so it's going to be a busy year and we've all been buzzing quite a bit. Though the way i ended up attracting a hive of anons discussing gbf is a mystery -- in the end the main game itself remains pretty niche -- but we're having a lot of fun bouncing out of each others.

Though to answer "what is gbf".... *looks at my blog* you will have to be more specific about what you want to know, because we don't even talk about the main story on here all that much---

Ok so for the fast crash course:

Granblue Fantasy is a browser game which can be played on any Chromium based browser at http://game.granbluefantasy.jp/ . It has a Japanese and an English version, running at the same time (it's not different servers, we get content at the same time as the Japanese fandom does)

It also has a Fighting Game called Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising, and will soon have a Action RPG coming out in February called Granblue Fantasy Relink. Those games are set in the lore of Granblue, though gbvs is slightly in another timeline/universe -- still those stories are stand alones meant to be different steps on the characters journeys

The gameplay is mostly Turn-by-turn RPG for the gameplay, and Visual Novel for the story -- and gacha to get the characters you get to use and meet. (note that today we just got 200 free pulls, and the opportunity to use those pulls will disappear in less than 2 hours, so if you want to play the game today is a good day for that)

For a crashcourse on the basic lore to know about + some vague Main Story Characters and spoilers information, you can go there to learn more about it!

but the long story short is that the world of gbf is a world of floating islands and magic, ruled by the absent God of Rebirth and Destruction known as Bahamut. (all the homies hate Bahamut.) Once upon a time Bahamut split into two, splitting the world as we know, and overseeing two types of people: The People of the Skies (The Skydwellers) who are mortals, and the People of the Stars (the Astrals) who are immortal. The Astrals tried to invade the Skyrealms centuries ago, but where pushed back -- but behind them they left Primal Beasts, immortal creatures who works as semi gods, dedicated to a purpose programed inside of them.

Our Protagonist, Gran if you play as a guy, Djeeta as a girl (you can switch gender anytime tho), was abandonned by their father when they were young as he went on a quest to find Eustalucia, the island of the Astrals -- and after years of radio silence, MC finally gets a letter about their father's whereabouts, and decides to go on a journey to find back their fathers -- travelling the skies and all of its perils.

accompanying them are Vyrn, the red dragon who raised us, who's memories have mysteriously been locked away, and Lyria, the Girl in Blue (well, with blue hair, but shh), a young girl who was held prisoner by the local Empire for her power to be able to control the Primal Beasts. As she attempted to escape thanks to Katalina, an ex soldier of the Empire who was so saddened by Lyria's situation she freed her and swore loyalty to her instead, she met our MC... and near death circumstances brought Lyria to connect her life to our own, connecting us together.

Both Lyria and Vyrn end up accompanying MC out of devotion and love, but also out of seeking answers about their own existence as well.

And on their way to Eustalucia, our MC becomes the Captain of a Crew, going from island to island, adding more and more people to their crew as it goes.

The Main Story follows mainly their struggle to go to Eustalucia, facing the Empire at the time, Primal Beasts going Bersek, and much more others problems.

But every months the game unleash an event story, which will pretty much be "a story on another island that isn't related to the main plot". Those events then disappear for a time before being added to the side stories.

And those events have their own casts. The overall lore builds to the main lore, of course, but each event stories will follow their own themes for instance. Sometimes the casts of those events crossover and spend time together.

On here we talk a lot about What Makes The Sky Blue: A Three Parter story about the first primal beast of creations and their quests to reexamine their purpose, their free will, and their connection with Bahamut as their creators turns out to be heavily linked to him.

wmtsb is also the doomed love story of Sandalphon and Lucifer, as Sandalphon was driven to madness and unleashed his anger on Lucifer, leading to strife when Lucifer tried to make things right no matter what. They're. so much.

(longer version with translation)

it's also the story that has Belial as a secondary antagonist, and it's the guy we talk about soooo fucking much on here because we're so unwise about him. the polar opposite of Lucifer, who yet was so dedicated to his creator he triggered various apocalypses and brought various issues to our protagonists to selfishly reunite with the man he loved.

Oh and, like, i'm not actually like, any type of hyperbolism about the LGBT+ stuff btw. Belial's feelings are explicitly romantic, and later Lucifer mirrors Belial's explicit words to address his feelings for Sandalphon for instance.

We also have various Trans rep (Ladiva and Cagliostro are openly trans women, Balurga is a trans man, Orologia is a genderfluid dragon who literally shift gender from one screen to the next and who use they/them, and the characters who, as a group, are named the 6 dragons, are openly nonbinary. There's also two others characters (Morilynn and Morgan) who use they/them pronouns. And also i'll include him but Lamorak who said he refused to be limitated to gender.)

We also have a lot of wlw and mlm, including a canon wlw kiss (but for that i direct you to my current pinned post, i love them so much they're so unwell) and a wlw engagement party. We're doing fine here.

Another story i'm particuliarly found of personally is the Dragon Knights saga, but it's a 10 parters so it's like. A Lot. But it's basically about four knights who once served the country of Feendrache together, working together to uncover the sins of Feendrache's past and make sure the current country is willing to atone for their crimes, as they're trying to rebuild a proper future, while avoiding the threat of Merlin, a victim of one of said crimes who have been planning Feendrache's destruction ever since.

Or the story Marionette Stars, about people suddenly getting wrapped into a conspiracy as they are being led to connect with powerful weapons connected to the Horoscope, leading them in the web of an organization who is making sure conditions are met for them to awaken their weapons to lead to nefarious intentions.... it's where the kissing lesbians are from for instance, but also fair warning this is the gorest of the saga so far and it has a lot of unsettling stuff going on in it.

And there's so much more characters and stories and anything for the eyes to see. All with gorgeous arts, and a lot of recent stories have very deep themes which really are interesting to sit through, though keeping in mind that the game has a lot of disturbing content and doesn't hesitate to have you sit through extremely disturbing and gore scenes. #SurvivorOfTikohFE

here's some arts samples of various saga to give you an overview of some goodies here and there

and if you want to get into it because of Seiyuu? you're in luck! there's so many characters in granblue that your favorite seiyuu can POSSIBLY be in it!

like i did a list of a3 seiyuus in it for example:

and some of them have songs! as pictured above with Sandalphon's (Suzumura Ken'ichi) song, but also like, the Dragon Knights (Seiyuu: Eguchi Takuya, Ono Yuuki, Ryota Osaka, Kazuhiko Inoue) or Grimnir's song (by legendary seiyuu Megumi Ogata)

or also absolutely bonkers songs as OST, like the infamous Parade's Lust, Paradise Lost, Zero, Existence, Peace and Quiet, The Watershed Moment, or a personal fav with For You.

So strap in, give it a shot, and if you want clarification on literally anything, don't hesitate ;D

[yippee-boi09]

This is a vent and (actually) my last post on this subject (the following links are for context)

Post 1

Post 2

I know I've said in two different posts now (and a whole few asks) that I'm leaving the fandom and I'm tired of it but I've never specified why nor have I left it alone. These two posts from a while ago are a few examples of the red flags I've seen with yfm and RWJ. Post 1 talks about a theory that Ray faked his "first drawings" of Puff and DeeJay. Yeah. Pretty crazy, right? I looked through it but it made points too good to ignore, the papers shown in video are in too good of a condition to look like 12-14 year old drawings, and then the same video shows the drawing altered to have DeeJay next to him??? Weird...

This really didn't surprise me when I saw it, Ray's been extremely disingenuous with what he says bout yfm, he said Puff is a separate character and that animators got it wrong when in reality he was always meant to be a representation of him until yfm entered gen 1.5

Specified in one of his =3 videos (couldn't find it), Ray himself says (That Puff) it's him, the yfm channel (if you go back) even lists a RWJ collab as yfm and it's crazy as shit... he's been a liar this whole time about these things...

Another thing is the fact he striked down a whole YouTube channel (in post 2) and I can only assume it was because it had clips of yfm lost media and the one Dispensary girl fan animation. Oh yeah that got striken down a long time ago. I had to use the wayback machine to watch it and it's so awesome. Ray also took down a buncha lost media (announcement vids, mentions of the canceled album, just stuff that isn't on the channel) and somehow gets everyone to hush about it.

Ray also collaborated with Dhar Mann. We all ignored it for some reason but he spent time and effort, collaborating with the same man who makes his actors take up 70 different roles in daily videos end up barely affording rent and making their work space a living hell. And the ONLY REASON HE STOPPED, was because he managed to make the internet talk about him in a bad way.

Along with collaborating with shady people, he also... doesn't take criticism well... he deletes any comments on his vids about how he should improve and ignores any criticism. And it's not just on the yfm channel or his... it's EVERYWHERE. I don't think he didn't see the criticism received for gen 2 (I don't mind it but I hate how Axel got the Knuckles treatment) hell, he actively JOKES about the fandom freaking out about art style changes. He KNOWS the criticism he received but he never took it to face value... he laughed in our face and distracted us with Puff's relationship issues because it's the most character we've received in 12 years.

The fandom creates the characters for Ray at this point. They put in the effort to make the characters and give them quirks while Ray just plops him next to Wax and makes them rap about money or something...

Idk I've been on a tangent, I made this post because I found out not a lot of people know this stuff (it was one convo but I decided to just share the info I know to more people)

[tr1ck5]

(Part II of II) I do like how, in more recent years, more people are coming to Rinoa's defense, and more people are looking at her more positively. I think it really started when she became playable in Opera Omnia and Dissidia NT (both in 2018), because she's a Game Breaker in both games (and she's actually a Game Breaker in FF8 if you know how to use Angel Wing properly), and when she didn't reunite with Squall in Dissidia NT, so many people were pissed. So many people still want them to reunite in Kingdom Hearts. And almost every YouTube video I've watched of Opera Omnia where Squinoa interacted and were cute with each other, pretty much all of the comments have been positive AF

I admit, I myself wasn't the biggest fan of Rinoa or Squinoa when I first played FF8 20 years ago, even though I did use her in the active party as much as possible and tried to make Squinoa's optional interactions positive. I wouldn't say I was an anti back then, but I just didn't care for her nor their relationship. But now, after revisiting and replaying it 20 years later, Rinoa and Squinoa have grown on me. I can't really explain how my views changed; maybe it's just me maturing in the last 2 decades and understanding Rinoa's characterization and backstory and Squinoa's relationship, as well as having access to some of the few officially-translated Ultimanias, a lot better now than I did when I was 12 🤷🏻‍♀️

Certainly, for a lot of things in life, what you thought or believed in when you were 12 is gonna be way different when you're 32 👀

Sorry for the split Asks, it ended up becoming so long that I had to send 2 Asks 🤪

Oh I also absolutely agree that there is more, WAY more to Rinoa's character than being made to be saved all the time. But there IS a bit of that though, especially in the beginning... and that's completely reasonable to me considering she is essentially a civilian; she wasn't brought up in a military way and hasn't had the training that the others have had! And what I love is that it is something that she notices and brings up to the group herself: Rinoa: "I guess...I'm just scared. Sometimes...when I'm with all of you...I... feel like we're on the same wavelength......you know? But when the battles start happening, it's different. Everyone's tempo seems to pick up and... ...I get left behind. I try to catch up, but it's no use... How far is everyone going? I can't hear anyone... Once I catch up, I wonder... Is everyone safe? Will they welcome me with open arms? ......Is everyone ok? Will we all make it back together? When I start thinking like that..."

But she eventually makes up for it, because she is resourceful and smart and stubborn! And that is something I like to bring up in my own fanfic (warning: total headcanon territory); Squall himself sometimes forgets she hasn't had the same training they all did. She's a quick learner!

I also agree that by the time the game ends, with everything that's happened between them, yeah, the Seifer crush is definitely dead. What I like to think though is that Rinoa still hurts over the good memories she's had with him; grieves over the Seifer she knew pre-war crimes lol. There's a beautiful bittersweetness to it that I think is worth exploring a little, at least.

I think the 'don't interact, block and move on' strategy is always the way to go for much of online discourse. And I don't mean that when talking about stuff like politics, economy or philosophy etc; debating can and does have its place (when done in good faith of course) but there's... nothing to debate when it comes to personal tastes. No one's gonna convince you to like guacamole if you don't and you're not going to convince someone who loves it to suddenly hate it. That's how I see fandom preferences. Life is too short. Eat or don't eat the guac. Love or don't love the Rinoa. It's aight. It doesn't matter lol!

I think we definitely all collectively aged up and matured for sure! I do remember that back then people seemed more critical of Rinoa's character in general; maybe it was because we were teenagers ourselves back then? And now as adults we're more forgiving of what we couldn't realize back then was 'typical teenager behaviors'?? Haha I'm armchair-theorizing around, here. 😛

Add to that the fact that a lot of stuff like character growth and themes in FFVIII is subtle af. You kind of have to dig through a lot of optional dialogues and read between the lines on a lot of things to really 'get' the whole picture. I know 10 year-old me definitely did not have that attention span back then haha!

[dojae-huh]

as we all know, doyoung get chosen as prosperity burger brand ambassador next year (afaik, the burger only available until 24th jan) and the twitter reaction is so.. harsh. i get the sentiment bc mcdonalds has been listed to the boycott list but ppl has been calling him 'names' and purposely using this as the gotcha moment to hate him instead of spreading more awareness abt the boycott. i feel disappointed with him too but knowing he loves the burger so much and the deal has been made since months ago.. idk how to feel. i still want to support him but it will seen like i'm defending him (while in fact, i dont). what do u think about this? i need to talk with someone with rational thinking process so i can sort things out ;-; tysm

Urgh, I wanted to avoid this topic, but you asked so nicely...

Brace yourself to wait out the unleash of anti-comments Doyoung is getting. Antis are using the opportunity, and many fans are confused, shaken by emotions. It will be OK, it will pass soon enough.

McDac's promotion is aimed at SK and it is a charity. Doyoung donated 50mln won for children around Christmas. He participated in the ad for charity as well. Doubting him or blaming him speaks more about a fan's weak sense of morale and integrity than his. These advertisement companies are planned beforehand, moreover, they are created by absolutely different people in different parts of the world. US branch of MD and Korean branch of MD are not the same. Local businessmen buy the right to use the brand name, it's a franchise.

Korea is Korea, it's a country half-globe away from the conflict in question. K-pop has nothing to do with it. There are multiple conflicts and disasters all over the world that happen at the same time. However, people pay attention mostly only to those that are covered by the media. I haven't seen any k-pop fan talking about Armenia-Azerbaijan (and Armenian people experienced a genocide in the past), zero talks about what happens in Haiti, and it's been ages since I saw mention of Ukraine. And Russia-Ukraine war continues with thousands of people being killed on both sides. And it won't stop as long as Putin is in power. Noone is cancelling him in the fandom, for some reason. US is abuzz about the migrant crisis, but the rest of the world is blissfully unaware. How many people die in those jungles?

I can give you an example of fans only following the guidance of a laser pointer. You should be aware of regular "controversies" over t-shirts, headwear, hair styles, stage design. Doyoung was given a shirt with themes of Moscow (the cathedral) and Orthodoxy (Mary with Jesus, they way it is portrayed on Russian icons). Has anyone sounded concerns that Russia is on the black list, that Doyoung is a non-Orthodox Christian, that using religious imagery for fashion on a "see-thorough" shirt can be offensive for believers/cultural appropriation? (Russia has laws nowadays, plays like "Jesus Christ Superstar" can't be played). Or that such tattoos are actually prison culture, like with yakuza? Noone batted an eye. And rightfully so, because it's just a silly shirt from a fashion collection.

4. I understand fans want to do good, but what they are doing is mostly virtue-signalling. Their online actions don't help.

When Russia attacked Ukraine many companies left Russia. Either on their own or being pressured to do so. The results:

Common people lost their secure jobs with good salaries. Companies like IKEA brought with them their corporate culture of taking care of their employees, what can't be said about Russian workplaces. Russia is a very hard market to enter due to local corruption and no real protection by law. I know IKEA spent like 10 years to do so. The fruits of labour of those middle level executives were just scratched off like that.

The foreign companies were either seized or sold cheaply to Putin's cronies. As a result, he gained more of their support, because he gave them "feudal lands", conpensated for their losses due to the war and sanctions.

The state started propaganda "domestic replacement" campaign (to calm down the people, "we don't need the West or anybody!"). Money were given to any shady bussenesmen who promised to invent "Russian alternative". In reality, those money were taken and no product developed. Or a label with a Russian company name plastered on a Chinese product like a tractor. Again, another scheme for people in power, from "the elite", to fill their pockets with money and to not mind the war started by Putin.

Apple, Coca-Cola and other products are still present in the shops. They are just imported/smuggled via neighbouring countries and sold for higher price. Commoners suffer because of the prices, businessmen and the brands stay OK. And taxes still go to the state.

Many freelancers and artists either lost completely the opportunity to earn money with their craft or needed a long time to readjust and are earning less. There is little demand for art on the domestic market, so the artists need other countries. PayPal left the country, so no Etsy for them. No direct payments thorough Visa/Mastercard as they don't work with Russians banks anymore either. My own shop were I was selling my watercolours was closed by Etsy. I have to ask foreign friends to get money for me or buy me bus tickets as I can't use Wise or Paypal or WesterUnion. Politicians and businessmen? They are doing just fine. They simply opened accounts for a high price (like two montly salary of a commoner) in neighouring countries and use those credit cards. I can't shift to working for foreign publishing companies and not paying taxes to my government because I don't have a credit card to receive payment. I earn twice as less due to currency exchange as well.

In the end. Yes, Russian commoners suffer. The regime doesn't. We are talking oil, gas and natural resourses like minerals. Russia is still paid loads of money for them. Those companies leaving Russia did nothing to help to stop the war. The majority of people haven't even used those companies living far away from the capital in poverty to begin with. McDac is for spoiled brats in Moscow, not for workers on factories.

People feel a negative emotion and want a quick and easy solution to it. If I donate following this demanding action ad, I will help. If I re-twit this black list, I will do something for the good.

It doesn't work like that. There is no easy A to B. It's a giant multilayered problem, and more often than not you are being used in an informational war by one side or the other. Hamas terrorists steal the trucks with foreign aid for themselves. And who knows how many fake donation schemes there are. Israel won't listen to the opinion of college students because it's a question of survival as a country for them. The wars in the Middle East won't end as long as their is oil and gas. McDac will lose some money now in one country and earn them back in another by lowering the quality of its products or the conditions for cows raised for burgers or the salaries of its workers in developing countries.

If you really want to do good. Do it in your neighbourhood. And do it smartly, after a thorough reserch. And in the area you want, and not what others pressure you to do. This way you can both control how your contribution is used and see the positive results with your own eyes.

And the cheapest way to do some good? Is to stop being the source of negativity and to stop judging and cancelling other people.

[imaginexhobbit]

Hi IxH admins,

I just wanted to let you know what a huge part this blog played in my fanfiction “career” and how much your support meant to me. You’ll always be my favorite imagine blog.

I hope you all are well. Will you publish any more imagines and drabbles? If so, great! If not, please take it to heart that this blog has provided a lot inspiration, creativity, and even healing to so many.

Blessings,

Averil

I'm not crying, you are.

My dear Averil, how kind your words are. I'm literally almost brought to tears, because this fandom and this community has been so important for me, as well. And I have loved your writings for years.

I remember all those years ago (I think it's close to 10 now?) when I was asked to be an Admin for this page. I thought right, let me just tell them how important Tolkien's universe has been for me.

And I am so so glad I could be one of the persons who shared other people's ideas and imagines with others. I truly enjoyed it and I am utterly sorry for not keeping this as up to date as I wish.

I'm sure you understand that life from an 18/19-year old is a lot different than that of an almost 28-year old. I'm the only admin left on this page (not including the original creator), and I really want to try breathing life in to this page again.

A sidenote on that: as you are all aware, Rings of Power came out a few months ago. Now, I know some of you don't like it, and some of you did. I have received some imagines in my ask box regarding characters from that series, including ones who have been created for the series.

If I return to making images, I'll include those characters. I want this to remain and gentle and kind community, they will be tagged with both the tag 'Rings of Power' and the characters name. If you don't like it, please just block those tags. Fair is fair, since we also accept Tauriel imagines on here, and she's not in Tolkien's works either.

I have seen so much hate towards Tolkien-based productions (whether it be The Hobbit trilogy or The Rings of Power). I will NOT have that here.

That's the beautiful thing about Tolkien, it's an escape and healing space for so many, and I want it to keep that way here, for everyone.

Love Admin Kim

[emotionalcadaver]

Ngl seeing your post about reader interaction made me think about how I used to write for a different fandom years ago. I used to get quite a bit of readers but then I noticed a massive change long before covid...where people would be demanding me to write for certain characters like I was some kind of robot that just spit out words and had no feelings. I ended up losing so many readers and being ignored because I didn't want to, that I left that fandom and deleted my blog. I also wrote on quotev (anyone remember when that was the spot?) and had to change my username because I was worried that people would connect the names.

I don't get a lot of interaction for the fandoms I write for now and I'm always worried that I'm going to end up the same way, because I had stopped posting fanfiction for like 5 years? before I finally came back a few years ago. I write for myself sure but knowing that somebody took the time to like it? That makes my day. I know I'm not obligated to somebody's likes or kudos or reblogs or whatever but I myself try to like or reblog sometimes!

But I totally agree, there is definitely a new group of readers that are acting like they can either demand stuff or if they do like it they just scroll on by because it's cringy and again like no obligation but I would feel awful if I treated a writer like that because I know that being in that situation sucks!

Anyway, sorry for the rant, reading what you posted made me have a flashback. Feed your writers people, Please! we write because we want community.

I'm about to go raid your AO3 page now though...you're descriptions hooked me in!

I agree with all of this! I didn't start really posting any of my writing until late 2022, but I've been reading and interacting with fandoms since long before that. There has definitely been some sort of shift in the way readers view writers in recent years. I am so sorry that you got ignored and ended up deleting your blog! That's awful! I'm glad that you're still writing!

The entitlement that some show when it comes to fanfic writers really makes me mad sometimes...there's a trend online that I really hate where people seem to think that every piece of media that they consume has to cater to them, including fanfic. It's infuriating.

And oh, thank you, sweetheart! I hope that you enjoy my fics! 🖤🖤🖤