#but it is the reason i'm not super active in the fandom 😔

[sun-marie]

i'm very... complicated-ly excited for Avowed, bc by all accounts it looks so good (SO GOOD), but i'm not exaggerating when i say that the first time i played PoE1 it kinda scared the shit outta me and broke my heart, kinda irreparably.

So i've come to accept the plain truth that no matter how good Avowed is, if it's too depressing or existential or existentially-depressing i simply cannot play it 😔

[starryjkoo]

interesting how calling out jm anti "jkkers" gets someone labeled a jk anti and suddenly a bunch of "reasonable" jkkers rally behind them (the jm anti) because "they were defending jk 😔"...

while i'm all for defending jk, it seems too many jkkers have taken "caring about and defending jk more" as "shitting on and dragging jm more or just as much" when answering these same "insecure jkkers" that have weird or downright disrespectful asks/rants about jkk.

*this isn't about you btw 😭

(lol thank you for clarifying this wasn’t about me 😭)

I honestly just think it goes both ways. Unfortunately the fandom-wide diet-solo epidemic didn’t spare jkkrs so you will find them on both sides shading or being weird towards one or the other (and I consider the people who do what you're describing to be diet-solos, so I'll just refer to them that way). Somehow they still retain their platforms because diet-solos are always protected by their buddies & because a lot of people just aren’t active enough to catch their weird posts/tweets so they get away with it.

I’m not super active in jkk spaces so I couldn’t say if it seems to happen to one of them more than the other, but I can at least say that I’ve seen it happen to both at various points & yeah it’s super annoying and frustrating. Both sides are convinced that only their bias is treated unfairly by the fandom, and only their bias is never defended by the fandom either (and obviously both claims are untrue) and it even leads to this weird and obvious resentment despite them still considering themselves jkkrs. For JM specifically I remember some serious weird treatment around the beginning of CH2 (ARMYs & shippers both can be very weird & resentful towards the members when they act in ways they don’t like).

I will toss out that no one is perfect and I feel like we could all treat each other with a little more patience and kindness while navigating the mess that is CH2. I mean people thought that my post was throwing JM under the bus 😭 so I get how easy it is to have your words twisted or misconstrued, or how sometimes we might not think through everything we post and how it could come off, or even how easy it is to let our emotions run and say things we don't mean and later regret. I try to take that into consideration when I stumble across a post that rubs me the wrong way because it's honestly just really sad how many genuinely good ARMYs have been run off (not meaning this towards you or anything, just rambling a bit in general).

Anyways (not that you need it!) but my totally unsolicited advice around diet-solos (as someone who has wasted too much time & energy getting worked up about them) is that it really is just best to block and ignore them. Like unless they’re actively trying to start a hate train or something, most of them are just wasting their energy being weird and manipulative in a way that has no actual impact on any of the members (even the hate trains don’t really accomplish much tbh, only thing I hate is when they run good people off). This applies even more so to jkkrs because they probably have the least amount of power in the whole fandom lmao 😭

The hypocrisy is extra annoying from personal standpoint but I stopped wasting energy on it. If I don’t like someone I just block or mute them. I’ve kind of accepted that people are just going to keep being weird as hell going forward and the diet-soloness has gotten entirely out of control, even within jkk spaces, so it is what it is. I think that jkkr diets do a lot less damage too because, while jkkrs aren't perfect, most aren't cool with one or the other being openly shaded or mistreated imo. On the other hand, diet-solos have manged to do so much genuine damage to ARMY spaces that it's insane and depressing. Well, maybe I'm wrong about the jkk community, but that's how I see it at least.

Also I remind myself to touch a lot of grass lol, a lot of this fandom stuff is kind of petty and dumb when you take a step back, but I get way too wrapped up in it sometimes myself (sometimes I honestly just enjoy complaining lol). But jkk are both so insanely loved and supported at the end of the day and nothing these people do can take away from that, even if the injustice/hypocrisy has me clenching my fists and shaking in rage like the Arthur fist meme. It's also a situation where it's really only like a handful of bad apples imo and I need to remind myself they're not representative of the wider fandom sometimes.

Also just want to state for the record there’s a huge difference between having a bias (even being heavily biased) and being a diet-solo, I think that distinction needs to be made more often but I’ve rambled way too long so I’ll leave it at that lol. Sorry this answer was all over the place 😭

[adriancatrin]

9 people you'd like to get to know better

Got a few of these & each one has slightly different questions, I'm just gonna combine them here haha. Thanks @erisenyo @chiptrillino and @isaac !

Three ships: zukka (ofc), andriel (lol), and... idek, i guess marichat (unfortunate)

First ever ship: first ship i remember getting into was spuffy (btvs) (i think i was like. 5) but first one i got involved in fandom for was frerard

Last song: "Common People" by William Shatner lolll. as much as that song is bizarre for existing (william by covering that song you became exactly the kind of person it's about), it's a real fuckin jam my god. the way it accelerates and the two voices get increasingly intertwined as it goes on is mesmerizing to me

Last film: I think Paranormal Activity a few weeks ago? I've been on a haunting kick. if anyone has good ghost/possession/etc recommendations i'd love them

Currently reading: went through a few more stories from Gothic Fantasy's Asian Ghost Short Stories collection, I've been reading it for ages but it's always a good time. of the ones I read recently my fave was "The Magnanimous Girl" by Pu Songling. it's super short but i loved the girl lol

Currently watching: just finished the Plagiarism and You(tube) video by hbomberguy (highly recommend), but more generally i've been watching a lot of Phasmophobia gameplay vids and streams (again, I'm fr on a haunting kick)

Currently consuming: just some black tea

Currently craving: shrimp lo mein mmmm

Sweet/spicy/savory: savory and spicy! over the years my tolerance for sweet stuff has gone way down

Last thing I googled: "excellerate spelling" 😔 the worst part is that i know this will happen again

Favorite color: my answer changes every time depending on what context a color is in, but most of the clothes in my wardrobe are dusty reds/merlots so i guess that's an indication it's my favorite? also an indication i'm fire nation

Relationship status: single

Currently working on: a zukka ghost story which, given my recent track record for finishing fics, probably won't see the light of day. also been doing a bunch of drawing studies of people kissing, for reasons. what i really should be doing is getting a job, but that feels like walking off a cliff, so I'm avoiding it

This is so long lol sorry!! I'm sure a lot of people have already answered one or many of these, idkkk @fanfic-gremlin-ft-trauma @ozais-lobotomist @transboyzuko @odorumeruhentokei @yayee-prsp @honeyedsunlight @somethingfoamy @haroldtea @sulkybender

anyone else who sees this pls feel free to take it! and tag me, i wanna see

[ageless-aislynn]

Tagged by the ever lovely and awesome @swiftzeldas Thanks, hon! 🤗💖

How many works do you have on AO3? 148

What’s your total AO3 word count? 290,660 😵‍💫

What fandoms do you write for? Actively writing for Halo now, but still have some for the Flash to finish up. I've previously also written for Doctor Who.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? "Five Times Oliver Held Felicity (And The One Time She Held Him)" (Olicity, Arrow) "15 Minutes" (John-117/Reader, Halo the series) "Balancing Act" (NSFW) (Tenth Doctor/Donna Noble, Doctor Who) "Side Effect" (NSFW) (John-117/Kai-125, Halo the series) "No Time" (John-117/gender neutral Reader, Halo the series)

Do you respond to comments? I always do and if for some reason I didn't, you can be sure I either didn't see it or something interfered with me in replying and now I've thought I did. That, er, happens more than I wish it would these days. *swiss cheese brain is swiss cheese* 😔🫥🙄

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I very rarely write angsty endings, so they're kinda notable when they happen: "Cold" (Eobard Thawne/Killer Frost, The Flash) (Very short but I've been told it packs a punch. 🥰😉) "Dark/Light" (chapter 1) (Harry Wells/Caitlin Snow, The Flash) (An experimental fic where the dialogue is exactly the same in ch1 and 2 but they tell vastly different stories. 😉) Honorable mention to "Gray Sunflowers" (Caitlin Snow/Hunter Zolomon, The Flash) as a rare one where the entire fic is a metaphor for depression and even though the ending isn't super angsty by any means, it also isn't particularly hopeful either. It's still one of my favorites, though, because I felt like it has a distinctive voice.

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I'm resisting the urge to put "Side Effect" and the, er, multiple "happy endings" that occur in it here, lol! 🤣🤣🤣 Honestly, basically all of my other fics have a happy ending. I might go with "The Thousand and the First" (NSFW)(Eobard Thawne/Caitlin Snow, The Flash) because I wanted it to carry through a complete redemption arc for Eobard and I think it succeeded. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯😉

Do you get hate on fics? So far, no. On vids... oh yeah. 😑

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Um, yep. Lots. I tend to write smut with a funny tone. I've very rarely done a conventional "romance novel" type scene. "Balancing Act" (Ten/Donna, linked above) was one of the first I'd did with that quasi-realistic/funny tone to it.

Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I've only written one so far: "Cold Hands" (Caitlin Snow/Jordan Mahkent, The Flash/Stargirl), which also has a vid, "Gasoline."

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of. Again, a vid? Yes.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Not as far as I know.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? I don't work well with a co-writer, simply because my muse is so resistant to writing to an outline.

What’s your all time favorite ship? To write? Any variation of Eobard Thawne/Caitlin Snow and the Wells dopplegangers/Caitlin or Killer Frost, The Flash, John-117/Kai-125 and John-117/Reader.

What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? "Try" (both versions of Eobard Thawne/Caitlin Snow, The Flash). I have 3 chapters completed and it's definitely the fic with the most world-building in it and it would also be the first full-fledged poly fic I've done. But my inspiration for the Flash just got smushed by the show so repeatedly I doubt I'll ever get enough oomph to finish it.

What are your writing strengths? Funny smut? Taking fandoms that are very not domestic and writing domestic fics in them? (I'm looking at you, Halo. Apologies to all of the Halo fans out there who absolutely hate people like me. 🫣I know you're out there but I appreciate you only vague-posting about me/people like me and not calling me out by name.)

What are your writing weaknesses? I don't write plotty fic very well, nor do I stick to canon very often. Worst thing is how easily I can sabotage myself and get convinced that everybody hates what I write. I've had SO many wonderful comments telling me otherwise but mannnnnn, my Evil Inner Editor can make me feel like the worst imposter ever. 😔

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I've written for Sherloque Wells a handful of times, most notably "Unrequited" (Sherloque/Caitlin, The Flash) but I had help from a genuine French speaker to make sure it was saying what I thought it was saying, lol! It's not something I would want to do a lot, though, because I don't have a good enough grasp on any other language to feel comfortable with it. I greatly admire those who can, though!

First fandom you wrote for? Lord of the Rings, though it's no longer online anywhere. Doctor Who was my official entrance in the awesome world of fanfic after that!

Favorite fic you’ve written? Well, ask me my favorite child, why don't you? 😮🤣 How about I pick one two that haven't been mentioned so far that I'd love to see get more attention? "Phase Two" (Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Doctor Who) is a sentimental fav and "Offer" (Eobard Thawne/Killer Frost, The Flash) is honestly a world I would've loved to have written more in because I found it so interesting.

Tagging any of my writer friends who see this and would like to do it! *boops your nose politely*

(Boop paw GIF kindly made by @theredtours) 😉

[fff777]

I was going to put my comments in the tags but it got super long so I shall write it under the cut.

I think Exo's Tumblr fandom slowing down is due to a number of reasons.

Exo as a group is not releasing as much music and videos as they used to, and definitely not as much as the rest of the kpop industry, so there's not as many current events to drive discussion. Part of it is due to branching into solo work and part of it is enlistment.

As Exo branches out into solo activities, some fans may only have time to follow their faves (myself included 😔).

People move on. I got into Exo near the beginning of the pandemic and admittedly my interest in them has fizzled a bit. I used to be heavily interested in reading and writing fic, but I've kind of exhausted my thoughts on them, and in relation to #1, there hasn't been anything new (content or discussion) to challenge my thoughts or to get my brain juices flowing. (And I must admit that my attention has recently been taken by more active groups that are constantly bombarding us with content 😔) Nowadays, my participation in Exo fandom is mostly just checking out the music, checking out the update blogs on Tumblr, and sometimes watching their video content. Side note: I do appreciate the update blogs immensely because life gets busy and I don't have time to check out multiple sources...so I really do appreciate the aggregator blogs.

I suspect some other fans might have followed the same timeline as me, where I got into Exo near the beginning of the pandemic and was hit with a whole new world of music to listen to and stuff to watch. Now that it's been a few years, I've kind of caught up with most things so there's only new stuff to catch up on and back to #1, it's not so often now.

The fanbase is older. I think another comment mentioned that this age demographic may have other priorities and admittedly that's why I've slowed down too. I used to do more reaction posts but I've kind of stopped because they do take a bit of time 😅 It is a bit tiresome to constantly pause and screencap/react when watching, when I can just watch their videos once through and not have to pause and break up the pace.

I don't think Tumblr is as popular of a platform as it used to be. A few years ago, many fans left for Twitter, but since the decline of Twitter, I don't think a lot of people are coming back to Tumblr. But even if they are, I think people haven't gotten used to how to communicate with each other on Tumblr (different interface, different communication culture, etc). And I think people are definitely a bit shier now to send asks or DMs to other blogs here.

Unfortunately I'm not the kind of person who normally participates in fan fests so I can't really shed light on whether that would boost life into the fandom. (But it could definitely work! I do know some people who are more active on Twitter who still regularly sign up for events and such.)

I do think that conversations is the best way to boost activity and engagement though. It's way more fun talking to a person about fandom than just reacting to a photo.

I think another comment mentioned the Tumblr Community function. I'm not super familiar with how to use it yet but I think it functions a bit like Livejournal communities where you post directly to a board that is focused on a topic. I think that would be a great way to encourage people to discuss :3

To OP, I appreciate you putting out this message. Even when I started getting into Exo fandom, the Tumblr community wasn't too active (because most people had already moved on to Twitter) and I was often sifting through posts that were years old. But hopefully some ideas will be floated out there and this will encourage people to not be afraid to reach out to other fans.

So I can't be the only one who's noticed the decline in fanmade exo content here on Tumblr. We've gone from a fandom who's new posts could be measured in hours to a fandom who's posts have days....to weeks....to months....to even years for some specific tags.

We have had 6 solo album comebacks this year, 3 fancon tours, 2 solo concert tours, a myriad of festival concert appearances, youtube videos, magazine shoots, instalives, etc. Yet if you go to the exo tag it's mainly populated by archive blogs. And the nude bots, which....that's a whole other problem on its own. I digress. My point being, the tags, at least from what I've seen (I admit I haven't looked into the shipping tags) are being filled by the same handful of blogs yet given the high amount of source material, no one seems to be doing anything with it beyond archiving it.

Again this could just be because I didn't delve too deep or too far back, but it does have me wondering if part of the reason participation this year was down was simply because there's hardly anyone left.

There's been instances in the past where others have attempted to inject new life into the fandom so to speak, with....varying...level of success. The exo revival project being the first and most successful that comes to mind. I'm wondering what everyone else's thoughts are on the matter and if holding new fandom events might be a way to involve more people year round because I really do want to continue holding this event next year but if things keep going the way they have been there won't be anyone signing up.

Let me know what you think, ideas you might have, reblog this and tag your mutuals to get them involved in the discussion. I have a few ideas that I've pilfered from other fandoms, watch alongs. Fic bingo. Theres valentines exchanges. Fandom sleepovers. Heck I'd set up a Tumblr based scavenger hunt if I thought people would play. Like....we dont have to be monoliths in a placid sea of we don't want to. Fandom can be fun. It should be fun.

[tuiyla]

yes sorry I meant in general 😔 but your answer is very interesting. I'd like to read about the show's obsession with being the underdog. are you sure about the "season six being actually good" thing though? you gonna need to be pretty convincing. good luck

I totally get what you mean about finn and will. I'd also include becky and sue in this

and I guess I didn't word it totally right. there's many friendships I'm indifferent about/think are a little hyped up but not actively dislike it

Lmao well I have my reasons for liking season 6, we shall see if I ever get to that point in my rewatch and write about it.

In general, gotcha. In that case, it would be other fandoms of course, primarily Avatar and some Adventure Time. In terms of topics that interest me, that'd be stories of transgression, how characters heal from trauma, and I've written lots and lots on (mostly queer) representation. I used to do reviews but not into that anymore. I just like character analysis I guess, and finding those juicy themes that connect the story as a whole. Does that answer the question?

You know I considered including Sue and Becky but I think they are different to Will and Finn, if not for anything else than the fact that they're much less prominent. What other friendships would you say then? I guess there are ones I just don't, like, get but I really have no issues at all. I think Finn and Puck is one of those told not shown friendships (when were they ever best buds?) for example so while I don't dislike them I just wish there was more there. And this might change if I rewatch the later seasons but I don't super get Blamtina either. They're cool, maybe just not my cup of tea? But again there's nothing I dislike about them and I will pay more attention upon rewatch.