#but as for fanworks and stuff...he just doesn't interest me a lot

[hunter-sylvester]

I'm honestly as surpised as you are, prev. While I'm kind of whatever about Clay personally, I know a LOT of people really like him. I thought he'd take the lead, for sure.

Edit to add: please tell me who you picked in the tags/replies!! I'm curious as fuck 👀

I know I left some characters out but I had to draw the line somewhere lol Short character descriptions + pictures below the cut:

Robbie: Hunter's friend who he greets in the halls and confides in after his fight with Kevin.

Clay Moss: The lead singer & guitarist of Mollycoddle who asks Kevin to fill in for Ray at his sister's wedding.

Ray: You know Ray. He's drummer from Mollycoddle. Anyway, he's...a good guy. He's in rehab with Hunter.

Troy Nix: One of Hunter's metal-musician idols who now works at Safe Passage Wellness Center. Aka rehab.

Alan Sylvester: Hunter's father. Alcoholic, divorcee, and plastic surgeon. (And ofc father of the year /s)

Skip Hoffman: Local jock and bully to Kevin & Hunter. Part time car defiler.

Kendall: Prospective love interest to Kevin. The girl Kevin talked to at Clay's party and made out with in the hot-tub.

Bass Guy: The only person who did what Satan would do and came to bass tryouts. He is legit just credited as bass guy.

Dean Swanson: The dean of Glenwood Lake High who Hunter asks if his post-death metal band can join the Battle Of The Bands.

Earl: Kevin's little brother who thinks drums are dumb.

[quixoticprince]

Yayyy!! Yippee!! I finally get to make one of these!! Art without the text under the cut and some long-winded elaborations:

How long I've been playing: well, it hasn't been a straight 11 years, rather off and on - but I have drawings of these guys dating back to when I was 14, so I'll give it to me. And man I had no business reading the fanfics I was reading back then It's also crazy how this was a super influential media for me in so many ways. It's the reason I ever made a tumblr, it changed the direction of my drawings for a long while, my broken sense of humor (gmod animation memes and yt poops were the brainrot back then), tf2 Sniper changed my god damned gender (rather, it was the inspiration for me to start socially transitioning at 15). This is part of my personal lore that I tend to not admit to 😓

Your main: I've always been completely ass at the game, and I can play flexibly, but I enjoy playing Sniper, and more recently as Heavy. Whenever I'm sitting around somewhere, occasionally throwing sandwiches and attracting Medics, I feel like this:

Favorite character: When I was younger it was definitely Medic, and I think you can tell that he's still up there based on how much I've drawn him! However, since getting back into it, I've felt quite a shift in focus towards Heavy, very strongly. It's unfortunate that he's side-lined in a lot of fanwork, and I think I'm also complicit in this so far - but for me it's cuz, how tf2 works is that it's going to prioritize humor over character and consistency haha, and Medic is just so loud and insane that he's really easy to make fun stuff with. Heavy is a more serious and grounded character, not to say that he's not funny or that he doesn't have his own cartoon slapstick moments! But that aspect of him is what is really really intriguing to me. I love his quiet, stoic, and intimidating character, I like how loud and boisterous he is when filled with bloodlust in contrast! I love his bird story and him getting into wrestling as a child from Poker Night. I love his back story setting, there's so much to extrapolate from a young boy in Russia growing up during WWII, what his parents must have been through before that from the aftermaths of the revolution, all the way to his fathers execution and his imprisonment. I love his strong relationship with his family, his role as an older brother, as a protector, as a man - the way that he performs these roles - and because I personally see him as bisexual - how his orientation intersects with all that! He is incredibly fascinating to me and I wish that he was played around with more to see a lot more corners and angles of these things that I listed! There's way more that I want to say here too but this is getting very long 😅

Character I relate to: It's so interesting that a lot of the characters have very strong, tho maybe dysfunctional, families. Heavy, Demo, and Sniper in particular really speak to me in that relation. From Heavy being an eldest brother (I am also an eldest sibling) the parentification that comes with that, especially with him probably being like 10 years older than his sisters from the looks of it. Demo and Sniper both struggle living up to their parents expectations (although there's a lot of love there from everyone), being disappointments in one way or another (not gonna deep dive into that lol), and the general alienation both of them feel. From Sniper not knowing why he's not like other Australians to Demo being "a black Scottish cyclops." And well, I'm Filipino, I'm queer, and mentally ill so - there's a lot to project there!

Class you want to play as: I find Medic incredibly stressful to play as but I find the idea of battle medics incredibly funny. However I usually find myself rushing around madly trying to cater to everyone, and I'd like to just not give a shit and just start stabbing people with a saw lol

Favorite ship: "I just like the dynamic" - The dynamic:

No but fr, they're really compelling to me, I'd probably need a longer more thought out post as to what I like about them and I was already going crazy up there ^ Overall tho I like that they're practically built for each other in terms of mechanics, really plays into my desire to spiral into intense codependency haha. I also think that Medic's drive to cheat death and hide behind meat shields plays really well into Heavy's desire to be a meat shield and a protector, and how nice it is in turn, that Medic can grant this man who's been around death, starvation, and war invulnerability. (He outsmart boolet, yknow?) They're also depicted together a lot and I like how much they enjoy each others company, and bring a lot of joy to each other. It's beautiful to me :'^)

Character you like to draw: What can I say! Medic is handsome! He is very fun to draw and easy to make memes and shit posts out of!

[electraslight]

heyo, its been a long time since i did an analysis!! this time on a more controversial subject: Rook Blonko. And how I think he was robbed.

When you actually look at the way Rook is written in omniverse, they dont give him very much to work with. like revvonaganders and their culture are cool, but rook feels so underdeveloped as a person outside of his culture. hes kind of a gwen in a way; hes got bare minimum flaws but he's treated like hes in the right when hes doing something actually flawed. hes never condemned for treating ben the way he does and he doesnt even have a consistent arc. he doesnt feel like a teenager, he doesnt feel like he has any sort of character progression, hes just kinda there, and his lack of depth in character-to-character situations is only amplified by the lack of holding him accountable for negative traits he possesses, instead punishing ben or ignoring the behavior. Instead of writing a scenario where Rook is in the right and ben is in the wrong, or showing rook behaving poorly and have him learn from his actions, i can hardly think of a time where rook was shown to be wrong for his treatment of ben.

For example in a scenario where Ben is keeping personal information from Ben, and rook wants to know it for the sake of their partnership, instead of portraying Ben in the wrong properly by showing his keeping of said information being harmful to the public or his friendship to rook, or have the information be personally important to rook making Ben's keeping of it harmful, instead rook has scoured Ben's file for all information and is asking about something that is of no matter to him entirely because he doesn't know it. He pesters Ben incessantly even when Ben has told him firmly no. Tjis is a recurring issue, where it seems like the story wants rook to be right but is ignoring context and the way he goes about it.

This would be an aggravating issue but ignorable if rook had anything resembling a consistent arc, but he doesn't. the conflict of rook idolizing ben and meeting him and realizing hes not what rook thought he was is interesting, but its always treated as if bens in the wrong for not living up to rooks expectations. rook overstepping his boundaries with ben due to being a huge fan and maybe cultural differences is interesting, but its never portrayed as a flaw on rooks end, more like bens fault for keeping the information. his struggle with his culture and staying connected with it, his conflict with his father about his career path, his relationships to his siblings, him slowly watching revvonah be plundered for its resources as the series goes on, i love that, thats genuinely interesting. but they never talk about it outside of those episodes. rook is in the wrong often and it brings up a lot of interesting questions about him as a person, but they dont talk about that in favor of treating him as bens babysitter, or setting up a joke where ben is the punchline.

It's disappointing to me that rook was never given the attention he deserved. Like i said, there's a lot of good stuff in his framework that's just begging to be explored, but his lack of an arc makes him feel so one note after a while and really dampens his relationship with ben. Since rook is not a character on the same level as ben, he feels less like an equal like they tried to illustrate and more of a plot device. They even threw away the most interesting conflict between ben and rook; rook being book smart and ben being street smart, experience over training. Ben and Rook hardly ever have issues based on this other than rook misunderstanding a joke. This is why rook and ben feel like such a flat relationship to me.

all of this to say: rook fans. Please, for the love of god, work your magic. He's got all the pieces there, and i am certain you can do something special in fanworks about him. Don't let the show being lackluster hold you down.

[prismatoxic]

a lot of posts defending non-canon ships tend to take the road of "fuck canon, canon doesn't matter", and while i do agree on a very basic level (you can do whatever you want forever), canon actually does matter to me.

shipping is my favorite way to engage with fandom. i enjoy doing it a lot. that said, it's not something i seek out in canon, with very few exceptions. when a romance i don't care for is canon, i generally work around it in fanwork, like finding a way to break them up or doing an AU; when it's optional or never canonized to begin with, i feel more comfortable disregarding it entirely. so in that sense, i absolutely agree with canon having no control over what i ship. 99% of the things i ship aren't canon, and i like it that way. i like making a relationship out of what i understand of the characters involved.

and that leads me the biggest part of canon that matters to me: characterization.

i will always defend people's right to do whatever they want, but i also don't engage with fanwork that veers too heavily into OOC territory. i need a character to be recognizable, because that's why i'm here: i already like this guy. i cannot be sold on just an interesting dynamic or idea with characterization disregarded. i'm more than happy to dip into OCs if i wanna see guys i don't already know do stuff.

i love changing things about a character's body or life or even the setting they're native to, and then making that work by utilizing their canon personality to sell the idea. that's the fun of AUs for me, and often the fun of fanwork in general: putting guys in new situations and making it believable by having them act accordingly. that's what i built pretty much all of my fanfics on. it's a core pillar of what fanfic is.

and when it comes to wanting to make a character do something that, devoid of context, would be OOC, there are still plenty of ways to make it work. it's as that one post said: instead of he would not fucking say that, ask yourself... what would it take to make him say that? what would it take for this character we all know to act in a way that would be unusual for them?

"in character" isn't strict canon compliance. it's informed by canon, but the point is to take their personality and mannerisms to new places. you can even have characters grow and change and have it be so believable that people still leave comments about how IC everything is. this is what's fun about fanwork for me, and it's why i'm never going to enjoy instances of my faves being portrayed like they're entirely different people. that's just... not what i'm here for.

[decepti-thots]

❤️💛

Which character do you think is the most egregiously mischaracterized by the fandom?

I'm gonna pick someone other than the usual subjects that get pointed at for this: I think a lot of Swerve stuff in fanworks is really determined not to engage with his arc as it actually exists on the page, but with a kind of idealized version of it they can project onto uncomplicatedly. A lot of Swerve's arc is, yes, coming to terms with his issues and loneliness and awkwardness and isolation, but large parts of that include things like 'which, at times, has made him mean spirited and even callous' (seriously, The Ten Thing), for example. I feel like I rarely see that element to his character and growth acknowledged, the uglier side of its impact on him which means sometimes he is a mildly bitter dick and has to grow beyond that. Also, like. The whole point of the Blurr thing and the TV thing and so on being that this is all a fundamentally negative over-reliance on something insincere and unsustainable in lieu of making actual connections. (The Blurr thing isn't cute! It's very sad! It's not about being a fun fanboy guy, it's about him not having a healthy way to deal with struggling to make actual social connections!)

What is a popular ship you just can't get behind, and why?

I have never had the slightest investment in Brainstorm/Percy. Sorry folks. I genuinely often forget this ship even exists until I see fanart or something. Perceptor is a very tertiary character in the grand scheme of things, and it just has a feel of 'pair the spares' that bores me, tbh. Brainstorm is too emotionally dense a character for me to be interested in pairing him up with 'the guy there's a running joke he wants to impress'. I like that gag, it's fun and funny and has a nice little payoff. Doesn't mean I need more than that though tbh. (I'm just... so much more invested in Brainstorm than Perceptor.)

[starlight-eclipsed]

Interesting, based on priority ranking it seems like Blue is more inclined to listen to Red more than Green or Vio but he tends to fall in line with Green’s reasoning more so.

I guess that makes sense since strength is categorized by the desire to protect which falls in line with duty so I can understand how Green can mostly get Blue to agree with his plans.

It honestly just makes me curious about the dynamic the Colors have between each other. You’ve explained a bit with the idea fragments for Blue and Red: Red’s the only one emotional aware of how Blue takes failure/defeat and how he works to ensure Blue’s wellbeing. I can see how a Blue and Green dynamic would play out and same for Green and Vio dynamic. I guess the ones I’m uncertain on are Green and Red, Red and Vio, and Blue and Vio.

Based solely on priorities, Blue and Vio are going to argue a lot. Vio doesn’t place a lot of emphasis on Strength or Heart with Heart being in last. So I can see how that leads to him ignoring Red the most. Red has Duty as a last priority so I’m pretty curious about how Green and Red would interact.

I figured that Blue would have slipped up if they continued the confrontation of Wild given how Legato is Four’s friend and injured which falls nicely in his priorities of protection.

I am curious to know how badly Vio’s plan would have been though! I’m sure someone would have noticed eventually that Four was being cold to Wild and Hyrule eventually or either of them would have confronted him before getting Twilight to deal with Wild. But outside of that I can’t imagine just how bad of a situation it would be. This one was already pretty bad but you telling me that it could have been worse is making me really pity Wild.

Also that fragment on how Green is the most insecure broke my heart! Like the explanation on how the town can’t really tell he’s different from original Link and mainly like him because of it is just sad. It’s being shoved in his face that he’s treated more like an imitation of who they used to be rather than as a person. And he is still Four but people change regardless of magical artifacts and it’s like some people can’t accept that. I dunno, Green is just giving me feelings.

AND THE SHADOW STUFF! Being fully conscious in Link’s shadow is messing with me. So close and yet so far from the person you’ve known for your entire life. Yeah, absolutely makes sense that a person who wasn’t able to interact with the world physically would enjoy physical contact. It’s new! He can actually affect and interact with the world now! Love that the cats get to peak into shadows! They’re supernaturally associated animals so them being able to notice Shadow is a nice touch! Please talk to the cats Four (and don’t get hit by them).

Thanks!

I'd say that Green and Vio mostly see Red as someone that needs to be looked after, and Red lets them--everyone expects him to be silly and emotional. Which works for him since he really doesn't have to worry about duty (the parallels are strong in this one).

Onto the not so fun part: Vio's plan. It would've gradually escalated so that most (if not all) of the Chain would've gotten involved. Like a bad game of telephone, each hero would have heard a slightly different version of what went down and reacted accordingly. Which is just...Yikes.

(The whole thing would get resolved when Wind decides to go and ask Legato directly about what happened, and the two of them work together to come up with a brilliant plan to fix things: Legato has to talk to Wild and Hyrule about it. Legato does not like this plan, but likes the thought of everyone being upset with each other even less.)

Yeah, the manga (and as an extension, a lot of fanwork) doesn't really characterize Green much beyond "hero", so I like doubling down on that and making it a problem. Love all the issues that come from him being treated as the default--all the others have their own gimmick in addition to being heroes, but Green is just extra dedicated to it.

Shadow...just Shadow <3

[toydrill]

my entry for the our wonderland fanwork contest! i wanted to draw them in my personal fashion headcanons for them, which you can read below... if you want JLGDJKGFDJG

+ bonus drawing

iggy: i dont think he really cares about fashion he doesnt seem like that kind of guy but he would probably feel most comfortable in more preppy academia type clothes? sweatervests, cardigans, stuff like that. he prioritizes comfort over style

genzou: i think he enjoyed fashion or at least took pride in his outfits a lot prior to becoming blind so he enlists the help of iggy and ample screen readers to make sure his outfits are still somewhat cohesive when he wants to dress up. he mostly just dresses in dark desaturated clothes now for ease of coordination but i think if he was able to choose something he liked to wear it would be highly layered with lots of fun textures :) this outfit in particular is based off of a look from a dsquared2 runway!

orlam: orlam has never had a lot of self confidence and likely didnt have much confidence in dressing as a teenager (and even as an adult now-- what does he have to dress up for?) but i think he probably really likes alt kind of eccentric fashion. he also strikes me as the kind of guy who looooveeessss listening to music and being a little pretentious about it so he would probably have an ample amount of band tee shirts of varying levels of obscurity

gidget: as someone who went to school for fashion (even if they didn't necessarily want to do that as their first choice), gidget is a fashionable guy who keeps up with trends pretty easily. smart choices in fabrics colors and cuts and has probably sewn their own clothes before (or at least altered them). now that they've transitioned they are probably more interested in dressing up other people for fun as opposed to worrying about their appearance though

bucks: fully comfort and practicality over style, but the fact she actually likes how sportswear and athleisure looks is a plus. she's not particularly good at coordinating outfits but she doesn't really seem to mind. she loves masculine/androgynous wear and playing with gender presentation when she does dress up though (with the help of hunar and gidget)

[epickiya722]

Your recent posts about Gojo... It's literally why I interact less and less in fandom. People see hot characters and project stereotypes on them without a care of what they are

It can sound petty especially with how it doesn't matter in the long run but it's like seeing people saying that in a no curse au Sukuna would be a playboy... Like yeah it's an au, he will be a bit different (like not being a mass murderer cannibal) but that is just... Seem so ooc to me, even in an au.

But well yeah. They just change them into male lead of romance novels. They don't matter in another context to them which is why you'll see me blow up about how vain it all feel like

Another example is how interesting Jogo is but nobody care about him because they don't want to fuck him. Like his last fight with Sukuna? The fact that he's the first person Sukuna ever praised for being strong in the story? A "stand proud. You are strong." Like? When I game to this moment I was zo shocked because it's not expected on Sukuna at all. And how Jogo mourned the death of Hanami and Dagon too?!

Yeah you know I just know now that outside of fanworks it's better to just ignore fellow fans because they have nothing to say beside how hot a character is

It really does suck that when it comes to liking a character some people just stop at their appearance and that's it. Nothing else intrigues them and they go as far as to misinterpret them -> leading into misinterpreting the story and having terrible ass cold takes that just feels like they need something to say to make them sound "logical".

And it's people like that who are the loudest. So when others want to engage in the story and they check out meta posts and reviews for it, they'll see that trash first and run with it.

When JJK first came out, I did see it was quite popular but at most I saw fanart for it and kind of just ignored everything else. I went ahead with watching the anime and then went to see what people were saying and honestly? What the hell?

Gojo is a character that has a bad case of "likeable character, unlikeable fans".

I truly do believe that some of his fans only take to him for being attractive and powerful. When it comes to his story? "Eh, what's that?"

Look, I'm all for finding characters attractive. I, myself, find some characters attractive. But I don't see the thrill of stopping there when that character also has a whole story you can explore.

I know Gojo fans are mad, but... his pretty ass is in a story that is meant to be written tragically. People will say "he should be the MC, that's my MC". Well, guess what? He's part of the main cast, so his ass is getting that full experience.

I like Gojo a lot, too, I do. But watching the first season, something deep in my soul told me "oh, he's a sad one", so I guess a part of me was already prepared for something like 236.

This is going to sound harsh, but when he said "I would win" way back in the beginning? I clocked in that he, in fact, wouldn't. That fight against Sukuna was going to be a lost battle. Oh, I believed in Gojo and I wanted him to win. But whenever a nearly, seemingly invincible character say they are going to win... most likely they're going to lose.

And again, it's JJK. There's going to be loses and agony. It also doesn't matter sense for Gojo to win when YUJI STILL EXISTS!!! Like, sometimes, I feel like some of the fandom just wants Gojo to take the frontlines just so Yuji can't do anything.

I didn't expect for him to die, no. Still hurts. But... come on... the manga wasn't ending that soon.

The fanon interpretations I see of him (Gojo) is just... if you asked me to pick one I hate the most it is the "Gojo is a womanizer/playboy" interpretation. Same case for Sukuna, I do not see it. Especially, when in canon this guy just does not care for all of that. But it's fanon stuff and since I don't like it, I just steer clear of it.

And good point about Jogo. I'll be honest, I find that the Disaster Curses were interesting antagonists of the beginning of JJK. They were the first real threats for our cast. They were challenges.

They were curses made from humanity's fear of disasters and other humans. And yet, even with being curses, they showed "human" qualities. They were able to talk, a rare case for curse spirits, and feel other emotions. Mahito often displayed joy, example. Dagon and Jogo displayed sadness. They were a group that did hold some care for each other.

And yeah, I would say because of their physical appearances they're often ignored. (Unimportant, but I actually loved Hanami's design, that's my favorite design right there.)

[mr-bisk]

Fukkkkkk I want to spoil the surprises of my fics but i don't want to ruin them for who follows me on tumblr.... I guess fuk-ich, idk how to format a post, but it cant be that hard, am I Right!?

Spoilers and HC's under the cut:

Also TW: i can't continue w/o advising: if u got a cringe allergy, ingestion might block your throat. I don't want to kill anybody(yet) so maybe skip this one.

CW: Spoilers for the chapter amouts and last chapter; Transphobes DNI lol, I made all of them Queer and I'll die on this lane; Little Vents(more than one, kinda?); Mention of Fan-Childs.

First of all: The ending. The fanwork just will get 4 chaps cuz i can't drag stuff yet. To spoil the ending, Bill will have a panic attack upon not being able to avoid feeling queer at Josh's presence, gets a hold of his mother's whisky, drunkly and pathetically call Josh to come to his house and out of pity he will attend. They end up alone in Bill's room and end up kissing. It doesn't stop Josh from going to college, much for the opposite effect as he gets scared and confused, but plans to come back to Eltingville soon with a clearer mind.

Pete HC: 🅱️ete is transmasc, stealth-trans. His parents saw it coming from a young age and are actually supportive. They help him hide away his deadname and other stuff that would direct hate towards him. His dad loves having a male son that is interested in helping him with brute shit, although he doesn't endorse his interest in horror and nerd stuff, it is the exception.(also Jer knows his deadname as they are childhood frens.)

Jerry HC('s, theres A LOT of stuff): 1st, Jerry is transfem. 2nd, PeteJer is real. 3rd: I made BillJer virtually impossible timeline-wise bc Bill assumes himself as gay a little after Jer's Egg-Hatchin', also he has the fastest but most oblivios gaydar(maybe queer-dar, idk??) and never felt attracted to Jer.(also yeah, i hold a grudge for the flood of billjer we had when eltingville blew up. Like, Frrr? the whitest, most bland ship u cold think off got popular!?! No hate if u like it, theres loads of gr8 stuff under the umbrella, I'm just not kin.)

Vent: I still love eltingville, don't see the end off the brainstorm/interest flood on the horizon yet- ....Buuuuuut I can't hold myself from feeling like I'm making a disservice to the BillJosh tag. I just begun to write again and posted it on AO3 to prevent me from quitting, and The Damn™️, I feel like my work is meh at best. I'm a perfecctionist, and there are plans of it being re-written, so if u like it, hop in the future when i got enough EXP. and writing turned into a pleasure again.

Bacc to the fanfic. There will be at least 3 more projs. after I conclude this one: A continuation where Josh comes back to Eltingville to see Bill and ends up dragging him to Boston; A PeteJer bittersweet tale with two parts in which(as it is in my brain rn, change might come) mirrors the BillJosh plot, you'll have to wait to see; And a Jane-centered story BECAUSE I 💜 HER!!1!!

I.... Okay.... Last one. The cringiest and most personal yet: There will need to be a Miracle, a fucking change of heart of me to not put Fan-Childs at some point.... yeah. Look, I myself plan of becoming a Father/Ba irl and it pours in the way i see relationships. If thats a big ass No-Hell-No! to u, Maybe do not hop into the fishing line of my fanworks, because it is a big factor in the way i view it's development.

[valoisfulcanellideux]

Points of interest from today's Pix stream

See behind the cut for some points of interest transcribed from Pix's Empires stream today (fWhip joins in, in chat, too). Included:

endings for the season and fan expectations

fanworks and headcanons, how Pix wanted to structure his S2 to enable fans to run with their own ideas, and how his S1 ending the way it did also enabled that

what Pix would like to do if there's an Empires S3 [speculative only; not concrete plans]

Behind the cut with you!

This led out of a conversation wherein Pix discussed having seen many fans' opinions of S2 ending 'suddenly'/'too soon' and 'unsatisfactorily' and not to their liking, and how the endings could have been better/loose ends tied up more, etc etc (we've probably all seen those opinions and posts repeatedly by now, so I'm not going to belabour them anymore).

First off, Pix very briefly mentions his season end plans:

fWhip (in chat): A lot of people seem to have taken my video as the end.. not realizing everyone will upload their own finale. I didn't do any real lore this season so having a full lore based ending felt wrong

Pix: I've got an ending planned, but it's going to be very much like my ending. And, again, I'm somebody who doesn't have any story to my stuff, really. Like… I became a ghost. Nothing's really happening with that. It's just a fact of my existence now.

fWhip (in chat): I finished building gobland to where I was happy with it, so that was a natural end for me as a creator

Pix: Yeah, like, "Guess what? I'm done building. Series over!" [pause, then mutters] I wish I was done building [laughs]

[discussion continues for a while around fan expectations]

fWhip (in chat): also I think some fans don't realize not all of our audiences love the heavy lore, and if our videos don't get views we can't really keep making videos lol

Pix: Yeah, that's the thing. There's always going to be the most activity around stuff that people really feel like they can get behind as a community. But the communities tend to isolate themselves with other people who enjoy the same stuff they do, right? So, like, folks on Tumblr or Reddit, for example, might get really behind certain creators' approach to lore.

[short discussion about browsing the Empires subreddit and seeing so many posts about Jimmy being a toy, including polls worded in such a way that they're biased from the outset. also how - when fans latch on to certain ideas like that - it can be stifling to a creator, as in 'once you've exhausted that thing but people still want it from you, where do you go from there?']

This next part was what I really loved about this stream discussion: Pix's views on fanworks:

Viewer: Tumblr will come up with lore even if there isn't any tbh

Pix: And that's what I wanted to do with this season. I really wanted to just create whatever I wanted to create, and have it be something that people could speculate about all they wanted to, and any answer would be the right answer. That's one of the things I liked about… [pause] Even though I felt bad having left Empires Season One when I did, and everyone else was very kind in pointing out, like, "You said you were going to leave then anyway, so it's not you kind of left us in the lurch, or whatever"… [pause]

One of the things about the ending of Season One not really being there was that people come up with their own theories about what happens to the Copper King after all of that. And I'm, like, "All of those are correct!" [laughs]. Whatever you think happened, happened. Because that's the fun of using your imagination for stuff like this, right? That's sort of the approach I want to encourage people taking when we do projects like this, is your interpretation is just as valid as ours. And if you want to imagine that stuff, don't always expect us to act on it.

Finally, someone in chat asks what Pix would like to do if Empires S3 takes place. [NOTE: This should not be taken as gospel and what Pix plans to do. He appeared to just be spitballing and chatting casually here, so this isn't a concrete plan, nor is it confirmation that there will be a season 3. I'm just adding this as another point of interest from the stream.]

Viewer: I know you said that you're not sure about Empires season 3 but what would you do if it did happen?

Pix: That's the thing: I really don't know, and that's part of the reason we're not doing a season 3 immediately, if at all. I don't know what ideas would work, I don't know what ideas would be compatible with other people's ideas. Like, I would love to do something that feels a bit more modern, because I don't challenge myself often enough to build in a modern style. I would love to do something that felt a little bit more cyberpunk, in… like a System Shock kind of way. But I don't know for certain if that would be at all compatible with anything else, because Empires in general skews a bit more, like, D&D fantasy, which tends to be more medieval fantasy; European medieval, specifically. And, y'know, there's a few exceptions to that, but I think a lot of the time - because Minecraft itself feels like more of a fantasy world… y'know, there's cobblestone and wood everywhere, and bookshelves, and enchantment setups, and brewing and that kind of thing. It all feels a lot more medieval fantasy than anything else. I just think it's kind of difficult to sell the idea of there being, like, a cyberpunk kind of modern setup in the middle of all these other people who are still playing, like, straight-up D&D. It feels anachronistic, and not in a good way.

[brief discussion about how 'modern empires' could also mean business empires, but that would then mean creators having to build whole cities, which are a pretty hefty undertaking]

[tallaxia]

(For the ask game) - 5, 8, 12, 22 & 23, for jack, scott AND lon suder >:)

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Jack: Army of Lovers - Obsession

The lyrics, the unhinged video, the 90s trash...it's perfect.

Scott: The Prodigy - We live forever (and a lot of other 90s Prodigy Tracks like Firestarter, No Good or Timezone Bomb )

It reminds me strongly of the chase scene. Could be a perfect alternate music video imo!

Unfortunately, I can't think of anything at all for Suder... any suggestions?

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Considering how little fanwork there is, it's hard to say. I really haven't read anything yet that I really despise.

Jack: Maybe Jack taking hard drugs? He's the only one of all the characters who doesn't smoke, neither weed nor cigarettes. He certainly wouldn't have a problem getting his hands on all kinds of pills, but I rather see him eating sweets and junk food all day long. (he should try weed though, dude needs to chill)

Scott: I totally go along with Scott being closeted gay or maybe bi, that fits SO well! But I absolutely can't picture him with Raimi or anyone from the Humanist Alliance. It's a fun crackship tho XD

Lon: Somehow I can't picture him in a former relationship. He gave up his place in civilized life and we know that even among outcasts, the Maquis, he's the odd quiet outsider. He's so off and consumed by his compulsions that he isolates himself and therefore can barely build a real relationship with anyone.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Jack's signet/logo on his shirt he sprayed everywhere looks very similar to the character in the cartoon loop at the beginning. His drawings, which are scattered all over the place, are quite scruffy, but his technical drawings of Warbeast were very clean and accurate, which means he can actually draw well. Maybe the loops are his own animations? So the mad cartoon scientist is basically his OC. Scott: Scott is quite young for a chief executive (I mean, Richard was 29...) He climbed the career ladder way too quickly and got power and a lot of money very fast. Maybe he didn't always have such a big ego and only became jaded by the industry and became such an asshole. When he's alone, insecurities and worries certainly come through, but he wouldn't show them to anyone.

Lon: I think he was born the way he is. Not necessarily that violent to that extent, but without any telepathic abilities. This cut him off from much communication with other Betazoids and he was also an open book to everyone else. Children his age could read his thoughts, but he couldn't read theirs, and that made him an outsider and despicable weirdo from the start.

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?

Jack: His past and probably many years in CHAANKS basement are always an interesting theme to explore, but tbh...just put this weirdo in situations and I'll feel entertained. The strange mixture of a silly cute goofball, dangerous creep and lonely socially awkward genius is what makes him interesting to me and I just like these "wtf is wrong with him?"-moments. Besides that I see him as a switch and obviously kinky AF. He can be really mean and his kink for all kinds of weapons, preferably lethal, is so obvious, but deep down he's also a sub with a mommy kink. I really love him on both sides, but have a slight preference for needy sub-jack.

Scott: He is a slimy asshole with way too much ego and I love it when someone makes him shut up. Verbally, maybe literally. He definitely needs a lesson and I just love the scenes where he's really scared: not a trace of his arrogant attitude left. A bit of backstory and stuff that happened at Chaank pre-canon is also always appreciated!

Lon: Probably the character with the most lost potential. I particularly like stories where he survives and tries to fight his demons. His death was an easy way out of a moral dilemma and I love to read about a possible future on the ship. And of course I like the twisted psychosexual dynamic with Tuvok. I don't see them in a classic romantic relationship, but they both have a very strong fascination for each other and Suder definitely has a crush. After the meld he would do literally -anything- for him. And I'm sure Tuvok is always there to help him control his remaining violent tendencies.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

It's a pity that there are no really good official pictures of any of the three... all potato quality ;_; so some nice screenshots instead~

[random-thought-depository]

I've developed a kind of weird relationship with HDG cause it's sufficiently conceptually interesting to me to motivate me to, like, read some of the stories and post about it a little, and it it is adjacent to stuff I find hot and that's part of why it's interesting to me, but it mostly really doesn't actually do much for me as erotica; so far Core Carving is the only HDG fic I've found that's really hot to me.

The HDG fanwork I'd be interested in doing if I had way more resources and skills and more passion for the idea than I actually do wouldn't be anything erotic or kinky, it'd be something like Farya Firaji's ancient/Medieval battle themed symphonies but for a Compact vs. Accord battle or three. So, like, a video like one of these but for a battle in the domestication campaign against the Terrans:

Some ideas:

The song the Nineveh video uses for introducing Heraclius would just straight-up be a very appropriate introductory song for the Terran Accord: "Our father who art in Heaven / Lord, have mercy / ... / Thy kingdom come / Lord, have mercy / ... / Lord, save the kings / and listen to our plight..." Also, make it a Pyrrhic Terran tactical victory, and... Have the Terran lyrics for the part about the most intense and hopeless for the Terrans part of the battle being a sung recitation of Psalm 23 (the "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." thing) sung by a chorus with people dropping out of the chorus as the song goes on and repeats once or twice, representing human casualties. Then have the turning point of the battle being the heavy hitter ship of the Affini task force getting a firewall malfunction, and there's a short part of the symphony devoted to that crucial turning point and the Terran half of the lyrics in that part is just the "Give thanks unto the Lord for he is good, alleluiah / To him who alone does great wonders" thing from the Nineveh video sung once. It'd have layers!

Alternate Accord intro idea: something like "Soil of my world... / seas of my world..." with the narrator talking about how their world has been battered and depleted and much has been taken from it but ending it with saying it's theirs so it's dear to them and they will defend it.

Also, Battle Hymn of the Republic or John Brown's Body or something like that showing up as part of the Terran songs.

I don't have many firm ideas what the content of the Affini side would be. I think in terms of Farya Faraji's stuff some of it might be closest in spirit to their intro for Xerxes, like I could see the Affini intro being about the greatness of the Compact and how long they have been its managers and guardians and missionaries. I could also see a lot of the Affini side being expressions of grief for their enemies. I think the "vocals" would be an excellent opportunity to make the Affini seem like actual aliens! Like, make Affini speech sound about as alien as whale song; make the Affini equivalent of songs/poems in the symphony something a human might be able to appreciate without the subtitles in the sense that it'd sound kind of like pretty music to us but it make it not sound at all like a human language.

OK, one possible exception to the "if I ever actually did this project it wouldn't touch much on the erotic/kinky side of the setting" thing:

"...Romanos himself was captured in battle and presented to Alp Arslan. ... Romanos remained unrepentant, asserting that he had merely done what was "possible for a man, and which kings are bound to do, and I have fallen short in nothing. But God has fulfilled his will. And now, do what you wish..." ... ...Alp Arslan asked Romanos what he would do if their situation were reversed and Arslan was imprisoned by the Byzantines. Romanos bluntly answered "The worst!""

Imagine a floret who relates to their Affini like this! I might be interested by a fic about that! Realistically I'm probably not interested enough in the idea to write one, but, like, it's now on my list of premises to potentially use if I ever do write a HDG fic.

[svartalfhild]

Hopefully you're not sick of elf lore asks yet, but do you have an opinion on whether half-elves can have elven souls/spirits? I was going to romance SH with an elf but got stumped because he got sad about the whole different afterlives thing. (And I'm disappointed that it doesn't seem like you can discuss any elfy stuff with Astarion or SH as an elf).

Oh, not to worry. I will take practically any opportunity to talk about a special interest, and elves are very much one of them.

The short answer is yes, if by "elven soul" you mean a soul capable of having an afterlife with the elven gods.

The long answer is that, generally speaking, in the FR setting, anyone can have any kind of afterlife they want if they've lived the life to earn it. The way gods and the afterlife work in FR is that you pick a patron deity or group of patron deities and if you keep to their teachings enough in life and pay them at least a little homage, they'll probably take your soul off to hang out with them in their plane when you die. If you don't and no one speaks for you at your judgement, you end up on Kelemvor's wall of souls, getting slowly absorbed, or if you're really unlucky, grabbed by raiding demons passing by. I think that probably also happens if you worship Lord Ao, because he is, uh, not interested in your worship. Of course, if you've made a deal for your soul with, say, a devil, that kind of overrides the whole thing and you go straight to the Hells to hang out with them in whatever form they choose as one of the Damned. You also might get a nasty fate if you worship a god but do it very badly, like if you do a lot of stuff your patron does not like.

Anyway, all of that is to say that if you want an afterlife with Shadowheart, you can have it, regardless of what ancestry your character has, they just have to angle for it. That's my hot take on the lore as written, anyway. Shadowheart also does not follow an elven god, so she wouldn't be going to Arvandor when she dies anyway, but even if she did, it wouldn't necessarily make a difference to your Tav or Durge as long as they invested in the right patron. The elven reincarnation stuff is a bit uncertain, so I'd say go with whatever your heart finds most compelling there.

On a related note, there's an avariel (winged elf) mage/cleric companion in BG2 named Aerie who was taken in by a gnome cleric, so instead of worshipping the elven goddess Aerdrie Faenya, she worships the gnomish god Baervan Wildwanderer, so I imagine her soul would go to the Golden Hills instead of Arvandor.

Regarding elf and half-elf companions in BG3 not talking about Elf Things™, yeah, I find that disappointing too. My main Tav is a Drow Wild Sorcerer who romanced Halsin and I was like "you'd think he'd have something to say about any of that, but apparently not". Also, I'd kill for voice lines where the elves and half-elves speak Elvish, just like how we get to hear snippets of the lesser baatezu and greater baatezu forms of Infernal in the game. Larian please hire me; I've been untangling and expanding FR Elvish for years; I already have a basic grammar and I've been slowly building a proper dictionary. As such, I've had some fanworks percolating in my brain about it.

[hawkogurl]

Sometimes I feel like the 'did we watch the same movie' readings of Raimi!Norman (ignoring the mess that was NWH) could be tempered if people were willing to treat characters as narrative devices to tell a story and explore themes than like, a real person who is close to you and is need of their (moral) character and honour defended bc it would harm them otherwise, plus not making being likeable, relatable, and sympathetic (not to confused with being complex and character motivations making sense) as obligatory traits for a 'good' character - Norman is far more interesting and layered when he's a morally awful person who doesn't want people to know his true nature bc it would get in the way of his goals and a foil to Peter in terms of the power/responsibility and man behind the mask themes than if he was just some sad woobie who never did anything wrong and is genuinely a sweet and kind person.

And like, if you want to play around with sweet old man Norman in your fanworks, then go wild, but just embrace that's what you're doing and not act like it's canonical text or a well-supported possible reading of the film and then try to shove that into actual analytical critiques of the movies.

Totally agree. When I disagree with other peoples takes on especially platforms like tiktok or reddit, sites I generally hate where for these movies narrative analysis tends to be put on the back burner, I will often give more elaborate explanations why, from a storytelling angle, something is or isn’t true. And consistently I tend to get comments which are, in fairness to the commenters, very lighthearted saying that I’m providing college essay level stuff when I really don’t feel like I am. Due to the absolute plague of anti intellectualism and the far more natural reality that when it comes to mass media, people do not think about media in an intensely critical way. And I think that’s fine, it would be elitist of me to think that people can’t just like things to like things. But when you’re going to enter the territory where you’re making statements on the narrative fabric of something or start arguing in favor of something or against something or just for something with other people, you do have to start examining it critically.

And I completely agree with the concept you’re communicating. And I would be hypocritical to say I never do the same, I very much do, but when I’m trying to make storytelling or analytical points I do my damnedest to separate what I’m saying from my own more meta reasons for thinking a way I do, whether that be my attachment to a character or relating my analysis to some sort of metatextual fan reaction that isn’t totally relevant. There are certain points where I go against my instincts to defend characters like Harry or MJ whose general fan perception is unjustified because it doesn’t help or actively weakens my point with that sort of bias.

I also think people have developed this idea that to be a good villain, the villain must be sympathetic or morally gray. Especially in the face of people tending to moralize their own or other people’s personal preferences, people often feel the need to justify their most evil faves as sympathetic or tragic when they aren’t, at least not in the capacity they argue, rather than just accept that it’s not a reflection on them to like an evil character. It’s often worse to try and justify Norman. A lot of the time, in the process of trying to frame Norman as tragic or sympathetic, they make things worse from multiple forms of critical lense by both weakening the narrative and what it’s trying to say and also by unintentionally or subconsciously falling into some not so great tropes, such as implicitly belittling the actions against the child he abused or using Emily, Caroline Mulder or whoever it is that Harry’s mother was as a sort of scapegoat, blaming Norman’s negative traits on her as something she made him develop by betraying him however they decided she did or otherwise dragging her down to make him seem better. And in my perspective, the character assassination of a woman to justify or prop up the poor innocent man who only became cruel as a result will never not be misogynistic. It’s just a method of stripping the male character of responsibility for his actions by pinning them on his female counterpart. This happening with a woman who never even shows her face on screen is, for me, an example especially cartoonish in its egregiousness. I’m all for adding flaws and nuance to Emily or whoever’s character, but you’ll lose me when she’s portrayed as a bitch who’s at fault for any amount of Norman sucking. He is an adult man. He’s responsible for himself.

I feel the same about the varying executions of Ambrose Osborn. There are examples I like a lot more, like The Final Act on ao3 where he’s never used to excuse Norman’s actions. But most of the time, he ends up as an excuse. Cycle of abuse narratives only work if you still acknowledge the abused is not any less now an abuser for it. And going back to Harry, it contributes to this sort of mass belittlement for what happened there. Within fandoms, themes that feel real are always more worth hating someone for than vaguer, more distant concepts like mass murder and terrorism. Norman’s abuse of Harry is more egregious than his crimes as the goblin because it’s more real to people. It’s more of a condemnation because more people have been there. As a result, a lot of people seem to believe that to redeem Norman or to be allowed to like him, Norman can’t have been abusive towards Harry. You get a lot of things like Harry being treated as unreasonable, or Norman never having been abusive and just having been unable to express love properly (usually with a nice side of blaming Emily), or using Ambrose as an excuse, often trying to do the comics canon Harry breaking the cycle with Norman. Which both erases Norman’s abuse and never really executes that plotline in a way that works because it’s so tied into the ways Norman directed harm at Harry for traits in Harry he saw as weak. It doesn’t work with Norman and it’s still rather off putting to never acknowledge that Norman was awful. I don’t think people really realize that writing Norman as a good father in fanfic isn’t as much of a… I don’t know, support to abuse victims as they think it is. I’m not going to begrudge anyone who does so as a coping mechanism, I’m not here to dictate your trauma and you can do whatever feels right, but most of the time it comes off as thinking what Norman did wasn’t real abuse because he never hit him, or because he still loved him, rhetoric that’s directed against the experiences of real life victims quite a lot.

And all of that comes down to the fact that people implicitly treat characters like they’re people. Liking a character who did something has become the same as liking a person who did the same. But Norman isn’t a person. He’s a character. And while characters are obviously a lot more and making them feel like people improves most stories, at the end of the day characters are not people, they’re narrative devices. Within storytelling, while there’s a bit more nuance than what I’m saying here, at the end of the day good writing is writing that works. Norman doesn’t need to behave like a real person, ignoring that he pretty much does, because he is a character who, at the end of the day, only needs to act in a way that makes the story work.

This whole reply is disjointed so I’ll probably revisit this topic when I’m capable of intelligent thought. As always for anyone reading who disagrees, always willing to participate in good faith discussion.

[thetangibleghost]

sorry still thinking about this

quote from long, largely irrelevant, article that uses the above interview as a ref + the question it's referencing:

so his son seemed to be okay with it at least? I don't know what their exact relationship was but I know they worked together a little. his absence of stating Nemoys opinion probably means they never talked about it, he disagrees with his father's opinion because he thinks it was uninformed, he doesnt respect his father's opinion, or he just didn't really think about it because of his own personal view of death centers around the living. which is fair.

Nimoy never spoke publicly about it all from what I can find.if he did its buried somewhere in a format that I couldnt find in the like. 20 minute googling sesh lol.

I know he was really money oriented when it came to his likeness being used, like as long as he was getting fairly compensated and it didn't imply that he personally endorsed something? but also I get/got the sense (it's been forever since I deep dived into this stuff) that he didn't have much control anyways. and what he had was more of a comprise. So who really knows what he would've wanted if he did have complete control. The fact that he didn't for so long, and what the fandom became, with fanworks , his co-workers opinions. I'm sure all of this would have influenced not only his personal opinion but also his public one.

There's this idea around death that a lot of people have that the deads wishes are largely irrelevant to the conversation, that they can't wish for anything at all. you respect their wishes and values so far as their influence and that's all. I think most people think this way.

but I guess I've never really thought like that. maybe cause I'm a bit of a death obsessed emo. I'm not going to go into detail about what I think but I do think it matters, what Nimoy would've wanted.

it's not the end of the world or anything. theres worse things. this is either part of some greater plan for the TOS continuation as a hole, or some sort of effort to get people hyped.

I think I need to look more into 876854 and stuff I guess. there's doesn't seem to be a ton of info? it's definitely super high budget. or using a crazy about of slave labor. or both. which is sooooooooo cool. so it's interesting how like. low key its being kept almost? maybe I'm just out of the loop and jumping to conclusions.

basically. there's no way of knowing. but the vibes make me feel like someone knows.

and really star trek is so big now, esp since it got bought by Disney the movies and the shows are completely different projects with different directions and ideas.

[troutfur]

Do you have any favorite Warriors fanworks or rewrites? :O I know there’s a lot more cropping up recently, so I’m curious!

My good friend @bonefall does easily the best rewrite content I've ever seen. His command of the sprawling source material, his eye for weaving interesting conflicts, his meticulous worldbuilding, his admirable levels of research, all of it comes together to make him top the gold standard of the fandom.

It's a testament to his skill how much he's pulled me in considering his work leans really heavily on elements that I usually do not like very much in WC content and in storytelling generally. The way in which he anthropomorphises the cats is waaaaaaay past the point I myself usually like. And his work is extremely theme-driven and centered in arguing a specific thesis which usually makes me want to scream at the author "GO WRITE AN ESSAY!!!!!"

Other than that, let me drop some recs of stuff

saccharine tithes of love and glory by mallowstep was a very formative influence when I was first getting into the fandom and I think you can very clearly see its influence in many of my AU concepts dealing with the rules surrounding meddies. I really like the ways in which is explores the solitude of the position and the ways in which the different characters nagivate it. I know it's a bit of an unpopular opinion in my circles these days, and it may just be the growing up Catholic religious trauma speaking, but I do really love the idea of the meddie position as a curse and I wish it was explored with the full gravity of what it entails.

you wear your heart on a ripped unraveled sleeve by space_pilot3000 is one of the most delicious pieces of character-centric writing this whole fandom has to offer. You really get to understand very deeply the bundle of issues that the whole of the Po3 apprentice generation of WindClan is. This series is what got me really turned me from being moslty apathetic towards Breezepelt into really cementing his place as one of my absolute favorite secondary characters.

(I would die for you in secret) by KatieK101 is a newer one that I only came to after having spent a good bit of time in fandom and also one that doesn't originate within my circle of friends and acquaintances. All fics in the series just exude character and really embody the characteristics I value most in my favorite fics, namely the snappiness and conciseness that still manage to say so much about the characters portrayed.

And finally Uncle Jayfeather Chronicles by Dragon_Writes is just the cutest goddamn fic series out there and it has forever made me mentally unwell about Hollytuft, Sorrelstripe, and Fernsong. I have barely made it past the half-way point of AVoS but I'm attached to them a lot. My emotional support nothing characters. I should write about them some day.