#but seriously fandom is an addition to the enjoyment of media it should not be the lens through which it is experienced

[redbuddi]

While I do believe it can be difficult if not impossible to separate art from artist, especially when the artist is still alive and their success leads to actual institutional change, I think it is absolutely imperative to remove art from fandom. No matter how annoying a fandom is the art can still be good, and no matter how seemingly kind and accepting a fandom is the art can still be harmful. But most of all it's important to come to your own conclusions about a piece before engaging in discourse about it, or else no proper analysis will ever be able to be had.

[boinin]

Twitter is a mess. People in the English-speaking bllk fandom have been commenting on one of Nomura-san's posts that the anime is bad. Like...?

I shouldn't have to explain how not cool that is. What do people get from bringing their discontent to the mangaka's attention? I'm astounded by the entitlement and lack of basic etiquette.

Things are better here, despite the disappointment in how S2 looks so far. It's fine to voice disappointment. It's less fine, in my opinion, to write everything off, trash the whole thing and only focus on the negatives. Particularly in spaces where people are trying to engage positively with the anime. Particularly when your choice of soapbox is in a creator's notifications.

I shitposted about this already, but I'll elaborate seriously for what it's worth. Here's the tl;dr:

Media doesn't have to be objectively good to be enjoyed.

Does the manga deserve a more considerate adaptation? Of course it does. This post is not an apology for what appears to be the result of a rushed production schedule.

Is the anime a complete write off, unwatchable, without merit, a failure that we should all condemn?

No.

If you disagree, please go watch the full first episode of Ex Arm and come back to this post.

That's a rough time, right? The animation has close to no redeeming factors. Yet it's funny for the mishaps alone. It has less than three stars on MAL and only a single work on AO3, but, y'know. The crappiness provokes something. It's been meme'd. Would I willingly watch more of it? No. But there's some enjoyment to be derived from Ex Arm, even if it's a car crash of an anime.

Blue Lock is not unwatchable. At worst, it's an average production. It's not going to win any awards for animation quality, but it's still got plenty to offer. Here's a quick list of merits:

The voice acting.

The music.

As manga fans, seeing everything in full colour.

The anime-original content and Additional Times.

The insane levels of fanservice, particularly for those who ship characters.

The dodgy PowerPoint slideshows and the CGI running scenes.

No, the last one isn't a joke. I complain about them myself. But they're also hilarious. When watching, slip-ups like that often get the biggest laughs from me. The panning shots of PNGs? The dumb stink clouds in season 1? Chigiri's CGI run in s2e2? The bit where lil Nanase was superimposed on top of the football? No, it's not great animation, and it's a shame that the studio didn't get more time to bring the manga to life. But laugh, and roll your eyes, and move on.

This perspective on media—acknowledging the flaws, while embracing the good things on offer—is balanced. There's no ban on being disappointed, and sharing thoughts to that effect. But, if you can't say anything positive about a show and want to vent, fine, share criticism—but to a smaller audience and not within a main fandom space (e.g. the main bllk tag). That's good etiquette.

But if nothing else, then please. Please please please don't dogpile a mangaka or writer or artist with Opinions on something they have a peripheral at best involvement in.

[articulate-and-annoying]

Okay final thoughts.

Overall this was very cathartic. I almost felt like I got a bit of closure about my dramatic breakup with the show after season 4 aired. Just taking it all start to finish, now with professional writing and editing experience under my belt, and a deep love for other pieces of Sherlock media, it feels like finally putting this little piece of my teenage self to rest.

The one good thing consistently in the show that I will always love, is the actors. Jesus Christ, they were perfectly cast, and put their whole chest into every terribly written cheesy line, and for that I will give them credit. My favorite parts about the earlier seasons are all just because the actors and their chemistry are just phenomenal.

Another thing I've realized about why I like the earlier seasons a little more, is that they're more campy. They don't take themselves as seriously or try to be dramatic, pearl clutching, edge of your seat television. It was a buddy comedy where they flounced around London and got shot at. I contribute the decline in my enjoyment in the later seasons directly to how seriously the show is taking itself. It's still funny at times, but just, too earnest in it's attempts to be cool and dramatic. It fell into the teen drama show trap of just constantly upping the ante and needing to one up the previous arc, and eventually it just lost it's momentum.

Mainly, I see this in the way the show writes it's villains after Moriarity. I firmly believe they brought him in too soon, or at the very least killed him off too soon. They jumped the shark for their antagonists after Andrew Scott, and because he was such a phenomenal actor and came off as such a threat, the new villains needed to get bigger and better. But they all felt derivative of Moriarity, to the point they needed to bring him back in Seasons 3 and 4 to keep people interested. Maganussen is just Moriarity with less inflection and a mind palace. Smith is just Mangussen but replace the blackmail with bloodlust.

The other thing that will never stop making me want to rewrite the show, is how Irene, Molly and Mary are treated. The writers do NOT know how to write women.

The issue with Irene Adler has already been discussed at length in the fandom so I won't go too far into it since I don't have much new to add. I will say that Irene's protrayal as a love interest in Sherlock stories will always bother me. She serves as a lesson to be learned, Irene is memorable because she reminds Sherlock never to underestimate anyone, regardless of sex. He made a mistake with her, and got bested in his own game. He keeps a photo of her for the same reason he asks John to tell him "Norbury" if he ever gets too full of himself. Irene humbled him, she wasn't a love interest.

Molly should have never existed as a character. I love her actor, and think she did a phenomenal job with what she was given. But Molly always felt shoehorned into the plot, like they needed to hand her a purpose that otherwise could have been given to another character, just to keep her around. I so desperately wanted there to have been a proper arc for her, but with TFP, the last we get of her on screen is Sherlock emotionally devastating her. Justice for Molly.

And then there's Mary. God I love her, even more so on this most recent watch. The TEH and TSoT are her at her best in many ways. Her dynamic with John and Sherlock is fantastic, she's able to be helpful and works wonderfully as a genuine long term addition to the cast. And even further than that, I'm in love with the idea of making her an assassin. There's so much you could do there, especially when it comes to bringing her into cases more and making her a part of the team. The only issue is that the writers fumble the ball on how they handle her and her backstory.

They introduce AGRA in 3.3, to kill her off and end the plot in 4.1. she gets 2 episodes to be a badass, and half of that time she's pregnant. Her story didn't go anywhere besides giving us the completely wasted plot of Sherlock and John fighting since it lasted an episode. Mary deserved so much better, and in a better universe got more time to be fleshed out.

Which is actually a great segue into my next major issue with the show: it had too many ideas to fit into 90 minutes, especially seasons 3 & 4. You can tell the writers had massive ideas for everything they wanted to squeeze into the season but didn't have time to really flesh out everything. So we got a lot of quick ideas in a long long episode. Season 4 reminds me of workshopoing short stories that have gotten too big for their restricted word count, and having the author refuse to cut anything to make the plot more cohesive. There should have been better editing done to ensure the flow and consistency of the narrative, but instead it ended up a jumbled, oddly paced, mess by the end.

Overall, I don't hate this show. There are a lot of things I am desperate to fix, and honestly might try my hand at someday. I think so show is just filled to the brim with wasted potential, all it really needs is some polish and a good editor and it can be a passably interesting show! I'm glad I rewatched it to put a rest to the anger I felt towards how it ended, but I don't think I'll watch it all through again.

TL;DR: BBC Sherlock is a mess. The show is poorly paced, cannot write a decent female character, and needs some serious script editing to make the narrative more cohesive, but god I still have a soft spot for the first couple seasons. Make Sherlock camp again 2023.

I'm rewatching/forcing my roommate to watch Sherlock for the 1st time. I haven't watched that show since 4.3 aired and 17 year old me swore on all that's holy I'd never watch it again.

I am, however, cursed with being hyperfixated on Sherlock in general and my roomie wanted to know what was so terrible about it. So back into the depths we go.

I'm going to update as we go for my own entertainment

[tht-lesbian-fangirl]

so in your own opinion, is supercorp queerbaiting? it seems a mess right now and idk

Let me preface my response by saying that I’m usually very hesitant to call something queerbait, as I believe that overuse of a word significantly diminishes its weight and power. I reserve its use for examples where the show and PR are involved (such as Pitch Perfect to the extreme case of Clexa). True queerbaiting is deliberate and seriously betrays fans. So is Supercorp queerbaiting?

Pre-Episode 5x11: Personally, I would not consider it as queerbait. The romantic coding ramped up and became blatant enough that non-shippers talked about it in reviews and social media. The Supercorp-centric discussions at SDCC19 and cast/producer interviews seemed well in line with where the show was headed. As a past director of the show said, this season is the closest to canon Supercorp we’ve ever been (x). As fans, we didn’t know what was going on behind the scenes with higher ups (CW itself, DC, etc.), so perhaps the writers/producers were giving us as much as they were allowed to. Whether Supercorp became officially canon or not, neither Kara nor Lena were tied to a set love interest– leaving the option open, letting the tension build between the pair, and fueling enthusiasm and interpretation in the fandom. Before the episode, overall we were having fun and enjoying our interpreted slow burn.

Post-Episode 5x11 AND assuming Supergirl is really going the William/Kara route: Yes. The coy teasing isn’t fun anymore. Disregarding the complete lack of buildup with William compared to the tropes, parallels, and buildup of Lena within the show, I want to focus on just the promotion of the show (since that’s how I previously defined queerbaiting). In addition to all the press/promo I discussed in the Pre-episode section, I’m going to point out how they were asked about romantic Supercorp multiple times, at least once directly including “kissing.” If the producers knew they had no intention of ever making Supercorp a romantic pairing and were working towards William/Kara, they should have bluntly said no to those types of questions. Yes, it would have been disappointing, but it would’ve been honest. They knew they’d receive backlash either back then or now once the 5x12 promo aired, so I can only think of one reason for continuing to answer Supercorp questions so ambiguously: to keep the fans hooked even under false pretense. To keep getting our views and our enthusiasm, even if the second half of the season would crush us.

And it’s even worse when you consider how this new relationship shafts the canon LGBT characters on the show. The forced character of William takes away what could’ve been a plot for Nia, their trans superhero/reporter who spent all last season building an enjoyable mentee-friendship with Kara. Additionally, a shifted focus to a random new love story takes even more time away from Dansen, the healthy interracial lesbian couple that barely has scenes and has Alex— the apparent #2 character of the show who’s been seriously lacking cohesive plot lines. So it’s a big “screw you” to all the LGBT fans of Supergirl whether they ship Supercorp or not.

There are always going to be ships on TV shows, whether they make sense or not. But producers and writers are aware of the big, popular ones and can choose how they feed into these ships. We know their choices are deliberate and if it’s led to a William/Kara relationship then it’s undoubtedly betraying the fans. Therefore, yeah. It’s queerbaiting.

[slusheeduck]

Geeking IN: How Online Fans Are the Future of Media and Media Marketing

           Once dismissed as socially inept nerds, fans are taking the lead as this generation’s most successful creators. While there has always been the odd story of fans who end up taking the helm of favorite TV shows or adapting their favorite work into a movie, many new faces in the entertainment industry are using their knowledge from years of participating in online communities to market to the global internet audience, as well as keeping their own fandoms somewhat in line.

           Recent years have seen a boom in the acceptance of “fandom,” that is, a community of fans. Comic conventions have gone from a punchline to mega-events that require a lottery just to get in, there are countless articles on sites like Buzzfeed about “How wrecked were you during the Game of Thrones finale?” and “Seven ways to tell you’re a Cumberbitch.” Even something once as obscure as “fanfiction” has practically become a household term.

So how did we get to this point? Where in the scope of the past decade has it become acceptable to “geek out”? The main answer to this is, naturally, the internet. When the world wide web was still the great unknown to the general public, many fans saw it as a way to gather, creating their own websites or posting their fanwork on sites like Livejournal and DeviantArt. As the internet became more and more accessible, so too did joining in the fun of fandom. That leads us to today: now, many fans who have more or less grown up in these online spaces and seen the shifts in fan communities and interaction, are coming of age and producing their own content with a keen sense of how these communities work.

Perhaps the most public example of this comes in the form of best-seller book Fifty Shades of Grey. Regardless of what your opinion on the raunchy romance is, London-based author E.L. James has been completely upfront with the fact that it began as a Twilight fanfiction. While it is already rare for a fanfiction writer to “make it big,” much less into a novel that has sold over 100 million copies worldwide[1] and spawned a movie series and sex toy line, it’s even rarer for them to actually admit that it began as a fanfic. And yet James has no qualms mentioning it.

“Well, it all started way back in the day when I saw ‘Twilight,’ the film, and I loved those books — I could not put [them] down, absolutely avidly read the books,” E.L. James said in an interview on “Katie,” Katie Couric’s talk show. “This switch was flipped. I had to write — started writing, wrote a novel, then I discovered fan fiction…[I] wrote about Edward and Bella and then decided to write about Christian and Anastasia. I took the fan [fiction], and a friend of mine re-wrote it and I thought — if he could do it, so could I, and now I am here.”[2]

James even goes so far as to put this backstory up on her personal website. Regardless of individual opinions of the book, her success and openness about her past in writing has opened up a new wave of potential writers (and agents) who can see their fanfiction transforming into original works.

In addition to Fifty Shades and other books such as Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, the once heavily maligned group of fanfiction writers are shaping up to be the popular, original novelists of the next ten years rather than merely running fan magazines or writing something for a company-approved spin-off novel.

However, while the internet is just beginning to be seen as a source for new talent, it’s more importantly become a place to take seriously when it comes to marketing. Many fans who grew up in the age of internet fandoms have a keen sense of the international aspect of the web; it’s now nothing special to discuss the latest Star Wars movie with someone in Bangladesh from your home in Seattle with a dissenter from Norway. As a result of this global recognition, they are able to market their work for the internet community at large rather than simply the demographic of a set area.

With entertainment and media becoming more and more global rather than regional, this is an invaluable skill to have. It’s not enough to appeal to a target audience, but to instead be ready to market it, however indirectly, to the world. One of the most notable, recent examples of this comes from the show “Gravity Falls,” created by Alex Hirsch. While intended for an American audience of 8-12 year olds, “Gravity Falls” has reached worldwide audiences—its series finale, aired earlier this month, clocked in 2.9 million views in the US alone, and the series as a whole has become number one in total views on record for a children’s show[3]. While the show itself was enjoyable to fans, what gave it the extra punch into worldwide success comes from its use of “easter eggs” (special nods to previous episodes as well as other shows) and secret codes hidden in the show.

“I’ve always been a fan of shows that gave little hints to regular watchers, and I wanted to do the same thing with Gravity Falls,” Hirsch said. “But I never expected [the fans] to go so far with it! So I made things harder, and within an hour, they would find the answers to what I’d hidden.”

This mutual understanding of the fans wanting to find things and the creator wanting fans to work hard made it possible for fans to connect even more with Gravity Falls, as well as helped to create a tighter community. With these interactive elements, online communities began to form around the show, and soon enough people from all over the world were discussing and, more importantly, watching the show.

As if this wasn’t enough, Hirsch took his involvement with fan communities a step farther. He has done two Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions on the message board site, Reddit: one as himself and another surprise visit as the main antagonist of Gravity Falls, Bill Cipher. Both of these AMAs gave more dedicated viewers a deeper look into the world of Gravity Falls as well as behind the scenes information straight from the source. Additionally, Hirsh regularly held contests related to “Gravity Falls” on Twitter, offering prizes of personalized messages from the characters (of whom he voices four of the mains) and often displaying all entries on his page, ushering in a sense of community with the creator of the show himself.

As lines begin to blur between social media and entertainment media, online fans are becoming a more crucial demographic than ever to reach out to. And as their numbers increase, more and more communities can spot the difference between pandering and “hype��. As we can see, fame can pop up merely because of involvement with a fandom or because of deliberate marketing based on understanding the current “fandom” market. An example of this comes from game developing newcomer Toby Fox, whose game UNDERTALE became an overnight success. Before UNDERTALE, he was very active in a few different online fandoms. In an interview with The Existential Gamer, he discusses the importance of the Nintendo game Earthbound in his past, because he “was part of an Earthbound fan community and it was a cornerstone of my life.”[4]  In addition to being in the Earthbound community, Fox was well-known in the fandom for the webcomic “Homestuck,” going so far as to have his music included in the series. With the knowledge of fandom mentality and what people look for in independent media, he was able to successfully fund a Kickstarter and produce the game, which itself is full of online and fandom in-jokes, endearing it to those “in the know”. And, given the fact that it’s sold over 1.2 million copies[5] and won “Best PC game” from both IGN and Destructoid—two prominent gaming magazines/sites—as well as numerous other awards during the 2015 gaming award season, the amount of those “in the know” is much more than most would assume.

With the acceptance of fandoms and sheer amount of people participating in these types of fan communities, it’s more important than ever for businesses and entertainment networks to begin studying the trends of these demographics and seeing fans as potential employees as well. The latter particularly seems to be the direction entertainment-focused businesses should consider; not only are fans notoriously creative and attentive to detail, but they know precisely what online audiences will be looking for in way of content as well as advertising. And, as was shown by “Gravity Falls”, a show with a savvy team can create a feeling of community with the fans of their product, letting them know that yes, they’re also fans! They understand the frustration of waiting through hiatuses and know what kind of in-jokes to make for those who look for deeper meaning in their media.

I would say that now, we’re living in the time of the super-fan, and that should be something that is embraced in media circles, from a marketing and hiring standpoint. The more media legitimizes their super-fans, particularly the large number of those online, the more they can begin a symbiotic relationship to gain both views and profits.

 [1] http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/feb/27/fifty-shades-of-grey-book-100m-sales

[2] http://www.examiner.com/article/e-l-james-discusses-twilight-influence-fifty-shades-of-grey

[3] http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/gravity-falls-series-finale-disney-xd-ratings-records-1201711939/

[4] http://existentialgamer.com/interview-toby-fox-undertale

[5] http://steamspy.com/app/391540

[schtroumpf-a-lunettes]

under cut because long!!! this is roughly a discussion of like, children’s media (or something propped up as children’s media/parodying a kid’s show) being depicted with grimdark and/or mature content or w/e. I both agree that these ideas are often completely unoriginal and boring and stuff and bad. but also it can be done right and have plenty of merits. and in saying that, that’s not what my fic is trying to do as well though

I think I’m edging (relatively) closer to looking like a little bit of a hypocrite if I agree with the notion that portraying characters from children’s media in dark situations tends to be boring/unoriginal/edgy and I don’t know how to, fully express how much that I... well for one thing that’s not.. what I ever really want to go for. many of those kinds of portrayals are generally irreverent, wildly OOC, edgy for the sake of being edgy, purely for shock value. Sometimes the person doing it doesn’t rly know anything about the source material beyond the most basic surface level, and it furthermore can be boring if it doesn’t offer any meaningful commentary. ofc those things don’t usually intend to offer meaningful commentary, they just want the shock value of something like “haha the SMURFS but VIOLENCE/ADULT CONTENT, wild right???”, and they achieve that very basic goal, and it can be boring. it doesn’t tell us anything, it’s just, shock value and that’s it.

Ok I mean... it DEPENDS, sometimes (plenty of times) I actually find the Subverted Kids Show trope incredibly enjoyable, but like, hm. some ways of going about it are more tasteful than others. I guess part of that is personal preference though I do think there is a small amount of objective guidelines involved too

and you can still make insightful commentary on a text aimed at children through a Subverted Kids Show Format while having the characters be ooc! Robot Chicken smurfs (which I will discuss more in other posts) for me oscillates between making a surprisingly good commentary sometimes and mindless (but fun(ny)) scenes to, very tasteless/bad scenes that don’t do much imo. well its goal is to be funny and that’s it I guess, and it hits that goal some of the time

I guess the exact opposite of the surface-level shock value joke can also be super boring though. a text/theory that takes itself super seriously and tries to explain to you how Actually This Kid’s Show Dark! can possibly be even worse. e.g. “characters in kids show are just trapped in purgatory/it’s all a coma fantasy!!” or whatever. But I think, part of what would make a thing like that Bad is a fundamental misunderstanding of core parts of the canon and/or a... lack of regard for canon in the sense that you’re really willing to sit here and write of everything that the characters have ever been through as being Meaningless because it was all just one character’s dying memories? that completely robs the text of its power. Like saying Homer’s been in a coma since like season 5 of the simpsons. As a certain podcaster that won’t be named said because I have, a lot of bones to pick with them lol - there’s something so redundant and pointless about saying “everything that’s happening in this fictional show isn’t real”. what does it realistically.. add, kinda thing.

But I don’t think there’s cause to be automatically dismissive of anything that tries to.. approach children’s media from an angle where you can construct it as being just a little bit more sombre than it looks like on the surface or something? idk. because there can be worthwhile things to explore that make interesting commentary on the text, where you NEED to introduce less-than-happy concepts to derive them. (Sometimes the kind of commentary that deconstructions try to make is, not so good and misses the mark, although it’s not always the case.) there’s one argument against this which is like, Why can’t you just let kids have things? It’s not that deep. You’re trying to put a sinister spin on something when... it’s just not necessary. Why add to the darkness of the world. let people, especially kids, just have this bright and pure thing.

And I completely agree with that sentiment, honestly. The smurfs are good, happy, innocent, that’s the way they are and should be, don’t try to take that away from kids or people. Like 80%-90% of my enjoyment of the smurfs is all about that, I’m in full agreement, I just want happy little innocent elf society adventures and I’ll be happy. Although. It’s not like smurfs was always happy. there are plenty of tearjerker moments in the show, plenty of disasters and bad things happen to them (that they readily overcome by the end of the episode). and here I guess you also have to avoid patronising kids in thinking that only happy and nice stuff can be for them. as in, the smurfs does have really sad and upsetting moments but that Obviously doesn’t make it Not For Kids.

I think that in addition to that, slightly darker themes can be explored and exposed under certain extreme circumstances if smurf society was subject to it. And I think this in no way invalidates their tranquil, happy status quo and good nature as a society as we know it. Also it just so happens that my inspiration for fic happened to revolve around negative ideas instead of positive despite me, in fandom, just enjoying the positive/light-hearted usually (I think?). whoops. but these kinds of outside-of-canon things don’t do anything to the canon, canon stands as it is. I try my best to stick as close to canon as possible kind of, as a kind of canon purist, haha, in terms of characters and realistic reactions.

another thing is, for a positive kid show like smurfs, to have something really bad happen might seem off, but, one of the things I want(ed) to explore is “if x thing happened, how would the characters deal with it?” (I think this point will be, more pertinent to the next smurfs fic I have lined up once I finish the current one I’m working on. heh, heh, heh.)

I mean really bad stuff happened in the cartoon but it was never too extreme and it was resolved by the end of the episode normally. so for something long-term... yeah.

I also think occasionally I’ve done like. stupid smurf stuff that is kinda ooc over the years. and part of why is I think something happened where I was so anti-doing that that it kind of looped back around to the point where I Did it because, of course, I acknowledge how far-removed from canon it is that it therefore doesn’t mean anything, or something like that. and It Amused Me. and sometimes shock value smurfs at least done Somewhat tastefully is amusing to me too for that same reason because (if) it’s harmless fun or something

now this whole thing I’ve written up is mostly general thoughts and not actually much related to my fic. just, writing the fic has got me thinking about this kind of stuff so some of it is vaguely related. But fundamentally I don’t want my fic to be super dark. in fact, there are many very dark storyline paths that I could have taken which I actively chose not to, because those paths were not what I wanted this story to do. I just want it to be a fic where the smurfs experience a lot of hardship that they struggle to overcome, and I want to keep it very closely aligned to canon where I can, while other stuff changes, with.. time. Like yea there are definitely some dark elements though haha. But I’ve read some dark smurfs fic and haha.. don’t think mine really shapes up.

Like this whole post might sound like me being defensive or something, but it’s not because the premise of my fic isn’t “Edgy Grimdark Smurfs” or anything like that, and therefore that’s not a concept that I need to defend for my fic. and I don’t need to be on any kind of defense because nothing anyone else has said has prompted this post, haha. I didn’t set out to write Dark smurfs fic, I set out with an idea of some challenges the village could face and followed through with how I thought the village and its inhabitants would/could react to them, or some of the possible ways the village could react to them. And IF the results turn less-than-smurfy, I still follow up on them if I think it is realistic to the canon for it to happen and an interesting path to explore. Like I’m not really taking the world and adding/forcing dark elements in, I’m bringing out underlying currents that I already saw present when observing the society in the cartoon. Maybe I added some stuff to flesh things out, but the core ideas I bring out have basis in the cartoon imo. Anyway yeah like 70% of this post isn’t related to my fic, just kinda general thoughts type thing as I said lol.

Oh yeah also it’s like - I want my fic to still remain mostly in-tune with the show, I want to do my best with that. I don’t want darkness-induced apathy or for it to feel like it’s too far out of line from what is plausible. in-tune with the universe and the characters, but exploring stuff you wouldn’t necessarily pitch to young children at the same time type thing. And I’m not going out of my way to do that, moreso I’m not imposing that restriction on myself in terms of what I write. I’m tryin’ my best, haha. like, setting out to write grimdark fic is fine, but it possibly requires a different audience and authorial approach compared to what I feel is the approach I want to encourage for my fic. both approaches and writing styles are valid, just different type thing. I’d hate to turn people away if they’re not into grimdark stuff when it’s not what I was going for or w/e

[youreallyshouldtalkmore]

How to enjoy a Fanfic that does not include you...

....Because apparently we still need to have this conversation.

Seriously, it's 2018 and four months since Black Panther has come out and I still see posts about the lack of other BP/Readers so I thought, being the kind soul that I am, I would try to help you out.

(Though I think this can apply to any fandom....it’s just for the sake of this piece I will use Black Panther because it’s what prompted this blog...) 

Now I'm going to disclaimer this:  If you are a bit sensitive, you are free not to read this post. I am trying my hardest to be as nice and kind as I can be but, given this topic, people will want to come for me no matter what I say. But we gonna have this conversation anyway because apparently we still need to. Try to read this as me HELPING you rather than me trying to hurt your feelings.  Then perhaps this won't sound as harsh or bad to you.

This is a guide on how to enjoy a fanfic (or other media) where the reader (or character) does not look like you. There are those of us who have been doing this for years and upon further reflection maybe it's a difficult concept to grasp. So I will attempt to break it down and hopefully demystify this concept.

I briefly mentioned this in my other blog post, " Black Panther Fandom Inclusivity aka Where’s the Spotlight?"  so I will use that as a jump off point:

" Since the dawn of Hollywood, we African-Americans have been dealing with the same problem: "white people are excluding us and are being mean" but we couldn't do anything about it.

So, here is the art that minorities have mastered and have been doing when reading fanfic that does not default to them...make up an alternative persona. In your case, as a white person, make up a black persona in your mind and engage in the fanfic in that way."

I will now take the time to further break down exactly what I mean by this.

I'm African American....

When I read a fanfic....let's say Legolas/Reader I do not imagine myself as an African American woman reader. I actually imagine myself as a white woman reader.  Just on default, if I read a Legolas/Reader, I automatically assume the reader is white. If they mention descriptions then I add those to my "white female persona"

Sounds simple, yeah?

I personally don't find the concept to be hard but let's look at it further.

This would apply to everything in my life that I have had to enjoy that was not defaulted African.

Count with me exactly how many personas I actually have.

I love K-dramas. Sometimes I like to imagine that I'm in a K-drama but I'm African American.  So what do I do?  I imagine myself as a Korean woman who is in the drama. Hence I have a "Korean" persona.

I love Wuxias and other Chinese dramas. For example, I love watching Eternal Love (the web drama) and I have often imagined myself in the relationship with Mo Lian Cheng.  So, I put myself into the body of Qu Tan Er to enjoy it. Sometimes I even change or alternate plot points just so that I can get my own story idea in there.  Hence, I have a "Chinese" persona.

I love Bollywood. There goes an "East Indian" persona.

On occasion, J-dramas crop up. So, I have a "Japanese" Persona.

When I watch the movie Apcalypto, I take on an "Aztecan" persona.

I'm sure I have a "Native American" persona as well.

How many is that? That is 6 personas that I imagine myself as; and that is just off the top of my head.  Now let's try not to read this as stereotyping; I know that someone will want to go there.  Let's try to stick to the point I'm trying to make here.  This is not about trying to be another race; this is just a mind thing...pretend, if you will... in an effort to find a way to enjoy something that is not of your own culture.

Whenever I wanted to enjoy a story I made a persona for myself that fit into it. I have done that since the beginning of my time. Shoot!!  At one time I had an anime version of myself because I loved anime!  I had a cartoon version of myself because I loved... I don't know....X-Men Evolution!  We can get really "silly" here. I'm sure I had a lion version of myself because I wanted to enjoy the world of Lion King! I loved Kovu so I would imagine myself as Kiara!  

You see where I'm going, don't you? You get it?

Now, that being said.....I admit that in the last couple of years I have felt this "weight"; especially in the last year.  As much as loved my K-dramas and C-dramas, there were times when I could not watch them because even with my personas I still did not feel included. I wanted to be there. I wanted to be cool. I wanted to fly. I wanted to wear the cool clothes. It was becoming a bit burdensome to have to interact within a persona in order to enjoy some media.  What I wanted was to be able to enjoy it while still being myself!  But did I complain?  No!!  There was nothing I could do to change what was on my screen.

But now we have Black Panther and it has opened and closed so many doors in my head until it's not even funny!!!... but that's another post.

So...Honestly?  I have no sympathy for you because you now have to do the same things we had to do for so long.  You (white people, in this instance) have had a looooong time to enjoy being yourself in every type of media.  Now, here we have one movie to come out that is not all about you and already you are ti'ed?  Please!!!  Talk to me after you have had to deal with this for decades...or close to a century!

In addition, do you even understand what we feel when see our BP husbands with white lovers and, therefore, why we aren't going to interact with those fanfics? This is not those 1930's movies where the white woman comes to the jungles of Africa and all the Africans think she's a goddess.  (And don't talk to me about Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra, either!) 

But we don't even have to go that far....let's just stick with Black Panther. Because in fanfic we usually ignore the pairings in the movie for the sake of our personal enjoyment.  So if we take M'baku's words seriously, he's already married,  if you heard or watched the deleted scene you’ll know about W’Kabi and TChalla/Nakia is my movie ship, ya'll!  But in fanfic....we’re the Nakia, thank you;  but I digress...

That being said, if you will, allow your mind to fathom these hypothetical situations and work with me here:

Let's assume a white woman gets into Wakanda and let's say T'Challa meets and marries her.  Since T'Challa works with the Avengers, perhaps this could happen.  (Though personally, I have no interest in the other Avengers; never have.  So in my fanfics I don't even deal with T'Challa as an “avenger”...)  So, T'Challa's white wife becomes Queen.....of Wakanda!   A white woman as Queen over all these black people? That doesn't strike you as.....hmm....? Well,.....okay....!

Let's assume that a white female could meet M'Baku. Let's ignore, for a few minutes, the fact that he's a traditionalist.  He's back up in Jabari Land and to get there she'd first have to get into Wakanda.   So, ok... let's just say she managed to get there and they meet and get married.  Ahh, but we'd have the same problem....M'Baku's wife would be Queen/Lady/Mother/Chieftess of the Jabari Tribe.  And here we are.... back again to that 1930's trope of white woman having rule over those black African people....people who see her as a goddess!

It seems now that every eye is on Erik Stevens, aka Killmonger, waiting to see what kind of lady he will choose.  So, you say that surely he'd could have a white lover...okay....but let's think about this.  Erik lost his family and he cares enough about his own people to want to free them from their oppressors.   I think he's quite a bit concerned with how colonization has swept across the world. And who exactly did the colonizing....? Yeah..... 

And somehow as a white woman you would be okay with Erik?  

Frankly, he scares me and I'm an African American woman... but okay. He's hot. I get it. The brotha is finnnnne! Now, personally I do feel some kinship with him. We'd be able to talk about identity and many other things.  We could go to museums and explore African culture.  Shoot, I've done head cannons and fanfics about that. But I digress....

Now, W'Kabi isn't my husband. I see him as more a big brother figure to me but let's think about him. He seems to be the leader of the Border Tribe or at least he carries some weight there.  So, his wife would have some weight too.  And if she is a white woman.... again over all these black people.....?

Please understand the general reaction of the African and African diaspora every time we see this is:

And you seriously cannot see why we won't have it? A white woman with all this power over a black nation?

Now, don't whine....I can hear your protest now:  But it's just our imagination!!

It's YOUR imagination!  And the rest of us don't have to hear it or interact with it if we don't want to. You are not entitled to come to us and tell us what we should or shouldn’t write in our fanfic. You have eyes and hands....if it bothers you look away and click off of it. It’s that simple. 

I think that no matter which angle you come from you are going to have problems writing any of the BP men with white women.  But, hey, we aren't saying not to write your fanfic.  We are just saying that we don't want to interact with them. 

The rare times I saw an T’Challa/WhiteReader fanfic.....what’d I do? 

I politely scrolled on past. 

The author didn’t hear a peep from me. 

Which reminds me...answer me this.  What are you having problems with? Is it the fact that you ask us to write a T'Challa/WhiteFemaleReader and we won't do it? Or the fact that when you write a white female reader you don't feel like enough people are reading it? Or you don't get enough likes on it? Or is it that you don't feel like people are interacting enough with yours because of all the above mentioned stuff?  I'm just curious, actually.

So I would suggest that you learn to master the concept of enjoying fanfic with the alternative persona of your choosing; because we aren't going to let go of our black kings and queens.  Us sistas aren't going to stop writing our Black Reader fanfics.  

I already have fanfics coming out. I don't label them as Black Reader until the subject requires me to do so.  But I think when you read it, the Black female reader will be obvious.  

And if you think that Black Panther is the beginning and end of phenomenal stories from and about Africa and the African Diaspora.....you're sadly mistaken.

So recap....

You're white.  Imagine yourself as a black woman and then read that T'Challa/Reader fanfic .

You're Latino. Great.  Imagine yourself as a black woman and read that Erik/Reader fanfic.  

That being said, let me quickly speak to the other POC's of the world.  I'm a little disappointed with the posts I've seen from some of ya'll with complaints that you feel excluded as well. I would expect that you would understand the need and desire for a nation to have its own oasis. I understand you haven't gotten yours yet.

We want you to have your own Wakanda.  It's not that we don't, so don't go there. We want you to have what we of the African Diaspora are feeling now.  

You just can't have ours!

I'm sorry if that sounds harsh but it's true. And before you say, "Well, you just don't care about us either", let me say this: 

Let's be honest, if you had gotten your Wakanda before we did, I'm sure you'd feel the same way. At least don't lie to yourself.  You'd want others(whites and other POCs included) to interact silently and let you have your paradise.  

So if your soul answered a resounding "YES!!", as it should, why then are you having this problem and why am I having to do a PSA to POC here as well?

Now, I personally want to get my own ideas out one day and build an Oprah like empire. Not just for kicks and giggles but because after I've said what I wanted to say, I want to help other people say what they want to say.

God as my witness, if I had an Oprah Empire right now, I would hand you money and get the devil out of your way and let you go make your own Wakanda. (Provided that it doesn't go against my morals because sista has a reputation to maintain; like when you think of Disney there is an image behind that brand....hmm?)

So before you think that I'm being mean, I'm not.

But I am disappointed that even POC's don't get it.

I'm annoyed that I even have to write this blog post because we are still having this conversation.

I get it. Black Panther ushered in a new concept of blackness. Reality has been bent to an angle of indefinable proportions and we did not see it coming. We all have to get use to this new reality. 

It’s just this is taking longer for some of us than others, it seems.

So again, I write this out of love.

And I hope you receive this in love.

Thank you and as always Wakanda Forever!!

[village-skeptic]

Favorite Riverdale blogs? Need new ones to follow!

Lovely anon! Thanks for the ask. Below is an extremely incomplete list of people who keep me coming back to this blue hellsite, in part because of their Riverdale posts; in part because they post other stuff in which I am interested; and in part because they’re just fun, clever, excellent people.

I suspect that if you are following me, you’re already following @stillscape, @nimmieamee, and @onceuponamirror. But if for some reason, you’re not - you should be. They pop to mind as a triad simply because they’re the three blogs I’m most likely to check on mobile when I have a hot second. Fic, meta, quick commentary on other people’s work, hilarious and thought-provoking insights, tons of original content, and just…really enjoyable and interesting people. @raptorlily and @jandjsalmon are, in addition to being amazing creatives in their own right, the two people who leap first to mind when I think about digital community building in this fandom. Some of that is their length of time in the fandom, but it’s also their warm and welcoming personalities. @imreallyloveleee, @flwrpotts, @yavannies, @itsindiansummer13, @jerepars, @myrmidonofmelodrama, @mistressofmalplaquet, @heavy-lies-the-crown, and of course @lessoleilscouchants and @sylwrites all bless us with excellent fic and commentary on a regular basis, in addition to being just incredibly pleasant people on top of that!I very much enjoy the Parentdale antics of @fredheads and @halcooper. There is LITERALLY NO ONE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH who loves Fred Andrews more than @fredheads, and her fic runs the gamut from zany high-school antics to heartbreaking meditations on family, community, and the threads that keep us tied to places and people. @halcooper will murder you - with excellent parent fic! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) Plus, I like to point to our mutual follows as an example of how people who passionately ship diametrically opposite things can co-exist and not be dicks to each other. And a few particular mentions:@soylent-greene (the former @soyforramen) is my costuming and set-dressing oriented buddy, with a keen eye and a sharp wit - and extensive tag commentary, which is always worth a read.@pantsaretherealheroes has such AMAZING TASTE in media - which doesn’t explain why we both watch Riverdale. But seriously, her recs and reblogs are golden (as are her fics - I am enjoying her ongoing band!fic so much!)@wolfofansbach does the neatest stuff with historical AUs - and cracks me up on a regular basis.@stillhidden serves up my kind of politics alongside the Riverdale stuff, and I love it. @moggett is such a great commenter, both here and on AO3!@ziggory and @relenaclub are both my source and my audience for all Andrams-related content, bless them. In addition to making me laugh, think, and say “oooh” with her Riverdale content and clever tags, @sullypants makes my dash more beautiful with her encyclopedic knowledge of fine art.Finally, @stirringsofconsciousness and I have known each other longer than some of you callow youth have been on this planet, and so I will close with recommending her as a blog follow and as an exceptional human being. 

[welovekpopscenarios]

Fortune Teller (Minghao x Reader)

Admin: Candi Request/Idea: What happens when someone asks you about their soulmate but it turns out you’re the one? Fandom: Seventeen Member/reader: Minghao x Reader Genre: Fluff Warnings: Language, mention of abuse Words: 3.1k Authors note: The second addition to my Halloween series! It’s a a fluffy fic this time, saving the smut for last so y’all are well fed for Halloween ;)

Every year before Halloween you seemed to get the most customers, people seemed to think that October had some sort of special powers when it came to fortune telling but in reality, it didn’t. Every month was just as special as the last but you understood the appeal in going to a fortune teller during October. You were prepared for all sorts of customers, you couldn’t say most of them were nice because your job was to know them and you knew all the dark secrets lurking in their souls. A lot of people didn’t take it seriously, some made fun of you and then there were people who were terrified because their fortune wasn’t what they expected but in the end, it was you who was getting paid so you just put up with it for the month of Halloween.

It’s funny how this turned into a job, your family history was filled with witches and gifted people. Your own mom was a psychic and when you were born she knew you held the same gift as her but it was so much more powerful. Since you can remember you were always told how special you were and that you can’t let this gift go to waste. You were always able to tell when the phone would ring, who was outside the door before they even came into the house. The gift was especially useful when it came to dating, or maybe it was a curse? You knew the intentions of everyone who ever tried to get close to you and you knew none of them were meant for you even if they had a heart of gold. Dating seemed pointless to you, it wasn’t as enjoyable as everyone said it was only because you knew that the people who were interested in you had nothing to offer and it wouldn’t go anywhere. It didn’t really bother you though, you were patient and you enjoyed being alone, you were always quite independent.

The perk about your job was that you always started late, no one wanted to see a fortune teller at 9am, that was unheard of. You usually started around 4pm so sleeping in happened more often than it should. You woke up at 12pm and decided to take it slow.

“Something feels different.” You say you yourself but you brush it off and continue with your morning noon. You weren’t expecting a lot of people today and no one called you to make an appointment so you presumed it was going to be a slow day. Once you were done with brushing your teeth and your hair and dressing yourself you looked at your bed lovingly and decided you can lie down for a few more minutes. You went on your phone and scrolled through all of your social media, read a few articles and felt yourself dozing off.

You shot up from your bed and checked the time, it was 3:48pm.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, shit!” You cursed and quickly ran out the door. You decided to ditch your car and make a run for it, it seemed safer than speeding. Getting to work seemed easier than usual even though you thought you’d be late but to your surprise, you arrived right on time. Everything was in your favour so far and the day felt odd, you knew something was going to happen today but you weren’t exactly sure what which threw you off guard since you were always able to sense it.

You went into your room, lit some candles and incense and began performing your ritual. Every fortune teller should have their own ritual they do before they begin to read for someone. After you were done you went outside and asked the first customer to come in. They sat down, got comfortable and waited for you to start.

“So, how can I help you today? What do you want to know?” You ask.

“I want to be rich so…”

“Uh, will I do a career reading?”

“I guess.”

“Perfect.” You sighed, the person had no idea what was going on or what they wanted to know so this made your job so much harder. You pulled out your deck of tarot cards and shuffled them, you laid them out of the table and asked the person to pick three cards, one representing the present, the other representing and past and finally the last card stood for the future. You revealed the first card which ended up being The Hermit.

“Okay well you seem to have big dreams but for now this card says that you shouldn’t go ahead with any plans. You need to think them over and think of the consequences, are you able to do it? Are your goals achievable? Basically, ask yourself those questions and just don’t do anything for now, go with the flow until you’re 100% sure that it will work out.” You continued to reveal the past card which was The Magician.

“The Magician underscores a surge of displaying your talents and getting far in the world based on accomplishments. Perhaps you were resting comfortably on a foundation established during that time. Or you may miss the days when you could seemingly put it all together with a snap of your fingers. The Magician in the past position shows you have achieved something in the past, whether you feel the achievement or not doesn’t matter, but you are still benefiting from it. This makes sense if you put it next to the hermit, you’re still benefitting from what you did in the past so why fix something if it’s not broken?” The customer nodded and hummed in agreement, they seemed to take it more seriously now and the dumbfounded look when they came in first was now wiped off their face.

“Are you ready for the future card? Please remember that everything can be changed, even if this card is bad it’s not set in stone. Tarot cards are here to guide you, not tell you what is going to happen so don’t freak out if it’s a bad card.” You smile at them.

“Oh okay, yeah I’m ready.”

The most feared cards were always death, the devil, the tower and the hanged man but even though they weren’t the most pleasant cards they still offered guidance and they give you a second chance to change your path. You show the card to the person and it turns out to be the devil, their eyes widen and you feel the aura in the room change.

“Before you freak out think about what I said.” Your tone changed and you were trying to calm them down because people freaked out before and broke your stuff and you didn’t need that right now.

“In the future position, this card is a warning. You are setting up structures in your life that are attracting people who are users, takers and not good for what you hope to accomplish. The Devil in the future position looms as something that can be minimized or avoided if you work hard to spot the areas in your life in which you lie to yourself in order to just get by or get along. A rigorous self-examination is needed in order to move forward with confidence in the beauty and value of life. Overall, this all makes sense, your past was good and you’re still benefitting from it but the hermit said to not go ahead with plans and the devil revealed that it might be because there are people who are trying to use you.”

“What do you suggest I do?”

“I think you should cut toxic people out of your life, if you don’t know who they are it’ll be revealed soon. After you do that and you’re sure that you trust the people you want to work with you can go ahead with your plans.”

“Okay. Thank you so much. I wasn’t very sure about this and I thought it would be funny and inaccurate but you have proven yourself to be the best fortune teller I ever went to. Thank you.” They got up and left. You sat back in your chair and sighed out, the air was still different, everything felt off and you didn’t know how to clear the air. The day wasn’t as slow as you predicted.

“What is wrong with me today? I can’t predict anything that’s going to happen today, it’s so frustrating.” You mumble to yourself. The day was coming to an end and you felt a sense of relief flush over you, even though you loved your job you were so drained. The air was different, you weren’t yourself, you were ready to rejoin your bed.

“Y/N there’s one more customer and we all packed up already, would you mind doing it?” You co-worker asks and you smile at her and agree to do the last person. They open the door and you turn around to greet them, your eyes widen and the air suddenly became heavier and your mind was racing, you couldn’t read anything from him but you knew something was going on, you were always able to read people but it proved to be impossible with him.

“What’s your name?” You ask.

“I’m Xu Minghao.” He smiles at you and reaches out to shake your hand. The second your skin made contact with his it felt like there was a massive force pressing down on your chest, you couldn’t breathe and your vision was blurry.

Who is he? You thought to yourself.

“Would you mind if I just went out and got some air? You can get comfortable and relax. I’ve been stuck in this room all day and it feels like the walls are closing in on me.” You laugh and try to hide your feelings and the pain you were experiencing.

“Of course, take all the time you need.” He answered you and you stumbled to the door. Your co-workers were just leaving and noticed the state you were in.

“Do you need help Y/N?” One of them asks.

“No no, I’m fine, I’m just feeling weird. It’s probably because I’ve been here all day and it was very busy.” You laugh and try to not worry them.

“Will you be able to close up by yourself?”

“Of course! Go home and relax, we all need it.” You shoo them off so they can go home to their families. You go out the back and take deep breaths which seemed to help. You didn’t want Minghao to wait any longer for you since he probably has his own stuff to deal with so you took one last deep breath and went back inside. He was sat on the brown leather chair with his head down, looking at his phone. You heart was racing again and you didn’t know how to control it so you pretended to be okay.

“What can I do for you Minghao?” You ask and he looks at you with the nicest smile on his face, your palms got sweaty and you felt nervous around him.

“I’d like to know about my love life, what’s going on with it and what the hell is happening.” He laughed and looked at you lovingly. You weren’t able to laugh with him, you stared at him and admired his beauty. “Uhm, is that okay?” You snapped back to reality and realized you had no idea what he asked you to do.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so distracted. What did you want me to do again?”

“Love.” He smiled.

“Oh yes, alright, okay.” You grabbed your deck and shuffled it nervously with cards falling to the ground which you picked quite quickly. You calmed yourself down before placing them all out in front of him to let him pick the cards. You were just as curious about his reading as he was. He picked three cards and you put the rest of them away. You uncovered his present and it was Justice.

“In the present position, the Justice card represents a situation facing you that requires a decision. The card alone does not indicate the specific nature of the decision you are being moved to make. In this case it’s about your love life since you asked about it – it could be something epic in your life plan or something that appears to be a small decision in the scheme of things. The presence of the Justice card in your Tarot reading indicates that your coming decision is an irreversible one and that your free will in making it will be a force that pours a foundation on which the rest of your life may be setting.”

“I’m not sure I follow. I don’t think there’s any decision I have to make.”

“Are you seeing anyone?” You ask.

“No, not at all. I’m not even interested in anyone.”

“Hm, weird. Let’s uncover the rest of the cards and see if we can make sense out of this.” You smile.

The next card was his past, he seemed quite uncomfortable when you went to uncover it – turned out it was The Hanging Man, which isn’t good.

“Wow.” He says. “My past was pretty bad with relationships so I’m not really surprised I got this.”

“Do you know about tarot cards?”

“A little, I did some research before coming here, I wanted to know what’s the deal with them.”

“Well, The Hanged Man in the past position underscores that your current situation began with a letting go, a retreat, a foregoing of pleasure or reward in order to not be controlled by simple temptations. You are where you are now because of a decision to leave things behind or let them all settle themselves. Does that make sense to you?”

“Yeah, I am single after all. See, my past relationships always ended badly, I would give my heart to my partners but I’d get nothing in return, a lot of them cheated on me as well.” Your heart broke as he began to explain his situation. “I guess I came here to see if things will get better.” His smile didn’t feel as warm and loving as before, he started playing with his fingers and stopped making eye contact with you. Your heart ached and you knew it was really bad to project your feelings and hopes for the customer onto the tarot cards but you really hoped it would work out for him. After a longer silence he looked up at you with his fringe covering his eyes. You shook your head and got back to the reading.

“Okay with the present and past out of the way it’s time for the future.” You look at him for reassurance to go ahead with the reading.

“Go ahead.” He nods.

“Uhm, please don’t freak out if it’s a bad card. I had a few people break my things before even hearing what I had to say because they were scared. The cards offer guidance okay? They’re not here to set your life in stone.”

“I understand.” He fiddled with his fingers and once again didn’t make eye contact. You truly hoped it would be a pleasant card. You closed your eyes while you turned the card around and opened one of your eyes to look at it. Everything hit you at once, suddenly you were able to read him, the air wasn’t as heavy as before. You looked up and him with your mouth parted and your hands gripping the handles of the chair.

“It’s the lovers card.” It took everything you had in you to say it.

“Is that good?” He looked at your expression and wasn’t able to tell whether it’s good or bad. You looked at him and everything was clear, you saw yourself and him. All those years you tried looking for your soulmate came to an end once your mind was cleared and you uncovered his future card.

“Y/N?” He tries to get an answer out of you but how are you meant to tell him that you two are meant to be without sounding crazy?

“Uhhh.”

“Are you okay?” He stopped worrying about the cards and noticed something was off with you. “Please say something?”

“The Lovers card is the best card to get as a future outcome in relation to love. It basically means you are ready to date someone and it’ll be a person who’s perfect for you. You just need to be smart and not lose sight because they say love is blind. So, the present card makes sense, you have to make a move and decide.”

“But I’m not seeing anyone?”

How are you going to tell him you’re his soulmate? How do you approach this situation?

“Do you believe in soulmates?” You ask him.

“I think so, I think everyone has a person they’re meant to meet in their life that will make a huge impact on them, whether it’s friendship or relationship.”

“It’s me.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m the soulmate.”

Minghao furrows his eyebrows and sits back, your eyes are locked on the lover’s card and you avoid making eye contact with him. You didn’t know how he’d react to your announcement, whether he’d deny it or believe you. It was a lot to take in for someone, even for you. You never felt a connection with anyone, you tried to be with people regardless of your feelings but it never worked out. The fact that Minghao was the one meant for you was overwhelming and seemed to happen way too fast for you. The silence was overbearing but Minghao started laughing.

“I think you’re cute too, if you want to go on a date you could have just asked me.”

“Minghao I’m serious!”

“How could you possibly know you’re my soulmate?”

There it goes, time to prove yourself.

“Just like I know what happened with your last girlfriend.” You say quietly and he directs his attention to you. “I know she was abusive, you bought her a promise ring for your anniversary and she threw it in your face and admitted to cheating.” You closed your eyes as tight as you could and felt tears forming. Minghao didn’t say anything but you heard him stand up off his seat. You took a deep breath and looked at him, he was smiling, leaning over your desk, inches away from your face.

“So how about that date?”

[pinkrae]

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract [review]

So, me and my boyfriend watched the latest DC animated movie Teen Titans: The Judas Contract and I’d like to give my opinion on it. For those, who want to avoid spoilers, I’ll give a quick general opinion of the movie itself and will go in further detail under a read more.

VVV SPOILER FREE [aka, short version] VVV

In general, I liked the movie. It was fun to watch and had good fight scenes that left you at the edge of the seat at times. Add a bit of dirty humor and character development in it and the movie is more than enjoyable, with a few minor Nope moments. But even those didn’t ruin the movie for me, as I am a big huge fan of Teen Titans and I just love seeing them finally getting proper treatment in contrast to that hellspawn of a crap show that is TTGO. Plus, we got to see some pretty awesome characters that need more screentime! 

Overall, I’d say that plot-wise DC stayed as true as possible to the source material, and any fan that loved the original Teen Titans series and the comic that the movie was based on would really like it. And not just that, I’m sure new fans that aren’t familiar with the Judas Contract would be into it as well, even if just to see the amazing assortment of characters they’ve put in. I know I loved it. A lot. But again, I just really love seeing my bbies on the screens again and I’d watch and love anything DC’s giving me. xD 

So, all in all, I recommend the movie, absolutely. But for a more in-depth comment, click below. BEWARE though, it’s super long. ;D

VVV SPOILERS AHEAD [aka, SUPER LONGASS version] VVV

First of all, a flashback of the sorta original team meeting Starfire at the very beginning of the movie. Even for a fan, who would kill to see every single one of the Teen Titans characters on screen, I sort of felt that this scene was just a tad unnecessary, as it had no real relation to the movie itself, other than to just show Starfire’s origin (as well as a shot of Kory’s butt and a DickKory kiss that they obviously couldn’t live without). On the other hand, however, I get what DC’s doing. If you’ve seen previous animated movies, such as Son of Batman and Justice League vs. Teen Titans, you already know the origin of Damian and Raven, which is a really cool sneak peek for those, who don’t read comics or are not familiar with these particular characters. And now in this movie we received a glimpse of Starfire’s origin, plus, as we later on see - flashes of Terra’s past as well. And Jaime’s family gets an appearance, too, so all we really need now is to look a bit into Gar’s past and we’re good. So for me, the first scene was a 50/50. On one hand, it felt rushed and non-relevant to the story, but on the other hand it’s cool to see DC providing a bit of character background to those, who may be new to this fandom.

Next up - Dick and Kory. Not my favorite ship in the world, but hey, it’s canon, what can you do. And DC finally revealed more than just throwing not-so-subtle hints as they did in the previous movie. Also, all the dirty jokes - priceless. Really good for a laugh, definitely. It was nice seeing them working as a team and building their relationship at the same time. And, well, it was nice to see Dick in general. I’m always excited to see him around.

Then the team itself. Damian. Always refreshing to see his butt kicked. xD Don’t get me wrong, I adore Damian and his snarky attitude, but I’m glad that the movie didn’t focus on him as much as in other movies featuring this batkid. He got beaten and removed from quite a big part of the movie, which was both kinda disappointing because it’s Damian, but at the same time I can’t entirely say I minded it.  Raven. We didn’t get to see a whole lot of her, which is kinda understandable since the movie was expected to focus on other characters, but hey, there’s no such thing for me as too much Raven screentime. c: What we did get to see, however, was sorta of an aftermath of the previous movie about how she gets along with her trapped father that she’s always carrying with her in the form of the gem on her forehead. That was a neat little nuance that I enjoyed a lot. Also, although it doesn’t seem so at first, it looks like her friendship with Damian is still going pretty strong, so the bond that they created in TT vs. JL wasn’t forgotten, which I have a lot of respect for.  Blue Beetle. As my boyfriend would say: “He’s not the jerk they made him out to be in the last movie”. xD And yeah, it was super cool to see a lot of character development specifically for Jaime (which is a tiny bit weird, since, again, the movie’s expected to focus on other characters). We get to meet his family (and, spoiler alert, at the end of the movie he gets to see them too~), his struggles and how he tries to deal with them. It was absolutely amazing. Beast Boy. As always, we got to see a lot of sides of this lil’ green bean. As the social butterfly that he is, it made a lot of sense that he’d be on social media, post pictures and count followers etc. Although I would’ve liked to have seen it in the previous movie as well (since, as we see in the flashback at the beginning, he’s been on social media for quite a while), it was a nice addition to his character here. And while he’s forever with a smile on his face, his interactions with Terra changed from humorous ‘trying-to-impress’ sort of style to a deep understanding of each other (even if Terra didn’t want to admit it and never would), creating a great character development for Gar, especially after her death. Terra. A part of me didn’t entirely like her.. behavior in the movie. Probably because of the influence of the Teen Titans series’ Terra, who was always bubbly and cheerful among the teen titans. This Terra was suspicious from the very beginning and she had already been on the team for a whole year. You’d think that a person would be able to show more genuine happiness over such a long course of time. But no. Not Terra. So that bothered me a little. But other than that - her design was closer to her comic counterpart and I loved that the most about her. 

NOPE moments:

Slade and Terra. Man. I know and I understand that it’s kinda a canon thing, but oh boy was it cringy to watch. I wish they hadn’t shown that, but I get it that it was her entire motivation to be on this mission in the first place. As creepy as it may be.  Terra’s look in the last parts of the movie?? Dafuq happened with her? Like, why the sudden change? I get that it was the end of her mission and she could return to Slade (*gags*) and everything, but why the fuck did she have to cut her short hair even shorter and pierce her ears?? Also the dark lipstick. Was that supposed to be like a rebel kind of thing? If so, it was really misplaced and out of the blue. So unnecessary. Just no. 

CONFUSION moments:

AKA - DC, are you sure you have your timelines in check??

So. The thing that me and my boyfriend spend too much time talking about is, first of all, the actual age of the teen titans. Because that has never ever been mentioned anywhere. At all. I’ve checked so many sources and come up with nothing. No information or whatsoever. That’s why a lot of things confused us. For example, if Gar was a Teen Titan 5 years ago already, how old is he really? How old is anyone, for that matter? Well, the eldest ones there are obviously Starfire and Dick, so technically Gar should be around that age as well, unless he was suuuper young when he started out in the TT.  But the biggest issue was the timeline itself, as pointed out by my boyfriend. Five years ago they met Starfire. And in the movie Terra celebrated her 1 year anniversary since joining the team, aka, it’s been 1 year since the previous movie. So that makes it that Starfire came to Earth 4 years before Justice League vs. Teen Titans. SO. What the fuck? xD This means that from then on out, in the span of only 4 years, Dick, first of all, went from Robin to Nightwing (which, we all know didin’t happen right after Star came to Earth), then they had to have gone through the Jason!Robin time and Tim!Robin time before they even got to Damian!Robin. And even if Jason and Tim weren’t part of the Teen Titans in this universe, they’re still there. They exist. And they didn’t come to be in just 4 years, that’s crazy. So it just makes me wonder - what the hell did DC do to Jason and Tim? Well, we have seen Jason in the 2010 Batman: Under the Red Hood, but they seem to have thrown Tim out of the equation all together and it just makes me really sad. And it’s confusing asf, too.

Well, to end this review on a positive note: YAY FOR DONNA AND JERICHO.

In the last scenes of the movie we see Donna Troy getting the hang of her flight ability and in the after credits scene we clearly see Jericho and that earned quite a few squeals from the both of us. :D I’m a little confused about Jericho’s age here, though, but hey, it’s all confusing when it comes to ages here >.> All I can hope for some RaeJeri bonding in the future~ C: This ending definitely left me wanting more. And I just can’t wait to see what comes next. I WANT MORE. Even despite all the confusion, I really love this DC animated universe. It needs to be more thought-through in terms of time, sure, but I still love it. I genuinely enjoy it and can’t get enough of it. And I wish we get many more Teen Titans movies because they deserve it! The Teen Titans deserve all the love and they definitely need more of it. Go watch the movies. All of them. Seriously.

[popularchips-blog]

How to Be Social Media's Most Influential Artist

New Post has been published on https://popularchips.com/dailies/how-to-be-social-medias-most-influential-artist/

How to Be Social Media's Most Influential Artist

Joining the likes of Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Rihanna and even Donald Trump and Barack Obama is K-Pop group BTS (Korean: 방탄소년단), the only Asians who made it onto US Weekly’s Most Influential Celebrities on Social Media. While their appearance may come as a surprise to some, particularly those familiar only with celebrities in the US media, BTS has established itself as a boy band with one of the strongest presences on social media since their debut in June 2013.

Success in Numbers

Let’s look at some numbers. To begin with, they have 9.4 million followers on Twitter, 6.1 million on Instagram, 5.3 million on Facebook and 4.6 million subscribers on YouTube. They also regularly receive over a million views on each of their videos on V Live, a Korean-based broadcasting app, known for working with other popular Korean celebrities in the entertainment scene such as BigBang, Exo, Twice, and IU. Unlike most celebrities in the West, they also have a presence on Chinese social media, with 1.1 million fans on microblogging website, Weibo.

In addition, the group first made it to the top of the Billboard Social 50, a chart that measures an artist’s reach on social media, for two weeks from 29 October 2016, and has made regular reappearances there since. This was precluded by BTS being the most retweeted artist in March 2016.

Let’s look at a few more numbers. In comparison to BTS, Canadian singer and songwriter Justin Bieber, another regular on the Billboard Social 50, has 102 million followers on Twitter, 92.4 million on Instagram, 75.3 million on Facebook and 32 million subscribers on YouTube.

The social media race is, in part, a numbers game: the more followers and subscribers you have, the more likes, comments and views you receive. And numbers alone seem to suggest that Justin Bieber far outstrips BTS, with ten or more times the number of followers and subscribers on all the social media platforms where both artistes are available.

These numbers perhaps suggest why some people were so angered when the boy band won at the Billboard Music Awards in May, with some expressing their confusion as to who BTS was and others even going so far as use the opportunity as an outlet to denigrate and belittle the entire K-Pop industry.

kpop is still irrelevant, nobody in te states is gonna listen to a korean song just because bts won an award https://t.co/xTtKRVlGXK

— spøøky (@vioIation) May 22, 2017

So how did BTS win the Billboard Music Awards? How did they get onto US Weekly’s Most Influential Celebrities? And how did they reach the top of the Billboard Social 50, not just once, but (as of the time of writing) 54 times?

The Importance of Engagement on Social Media

What is engagement? In social media marketing, the term ‘engagement’ refers to the levels of interaction of one’s followers or subscribers on a given post on any social media platform. These interactions often take the forms of likes, views (applicable to videos) and comments.

What does this mean with regard to BTS and Bieber? Simply put, due to the sheer number of followers and subscribers Bieber has, he is likely to have more likes, views and comments on each post, as compared to BTS.

However, while the absolute volume of likes, views and comments is important, the number of such interactions as a percentage of the total number of followers or subscribers is perhaps even more crucial. This metric measures the percentage of your following who is actually interested in your content. In influencer marketing in particular, a higher rate of engagement suggests that the influencer produces content that is more relevant to their following. In other words, if the influencer were hired for a campaign, their campaign post is more likely to be taken note of by their followers.

Comparison chart generated with Popular Chips‘s analytics platform

According to the comparison chart presented here, the data suggests that while Bieber has more followers, likes, comments and views, BTS actually fares five times better in engagement, thanks to the number of likes and comments they receive on average (as a ratio of the number of followers they have) for each of their posts. While Bieber has a lower percentage of inactive followers, both accounts fall in the mid-range of inactive followers based on the global average. A large number of inactive followers suggests a lower potential reach, since these followers have a history of not interacting with posts on Instagram.

Social Media’s Most Influential Artist

So how does one become social media’s most influential artist? BTS’s acceptance speech at the Billboard Music Awards event gives us a hint to our answer.

Photo courtesy of Soompi

Leader of BTS and main rapper Rap Monster (Kim Namjoon) began his speech with the words, “ARMY, our fandom, thank you very much… this award belongs to all the people all around the world that shined their love and light on us by the millions” (translation by Koreaboo).

Indeed, BTS does have a lot to thank their fandom for. Known for their enthusiasm and zeal, the BTS ARMY interacts both with each other and with their artist on social media at an unprecedented rate. As of the time of writing, the hashtag #방탄소년단 (BTS’s group name in Korean), trends on Twitter with 434 000 tweets. Search @bts_twt (the group’s official account handle) and you will be prompted to reload the page every minute to see new tweets, of which there is no lack.

Where voting makes a difference to whether the artist wins an award, you can be sure that the BTS Army will vote. Fan accounts and fans alike will encourage other fans to take part in the voting process. Here’s an example from the recent Mnet Asian Music Awards.

Use #2017MAMA_BTS to spread voting info + help on voting @BTS_twt for MAMA! Let’s not fall back ARMY 🙏➡️🏆

— worldwideBTS 🌎 (@btsanalytics) October 22, 2017

I am Voting For @BTS_twt On #2017MAMA – ARMYs Please Keep Voting ! –#2017MAMA_BTS pic.twitter.com/O4ee2EXWsT

— 아미 Park Jimin WIFE (@ArmyBTS3656337) October 19, 2017

When voting is restricted and connected to social media accounts, fans sometimes create additional accounts in order to register their vote. While this behavior is certainly not unique to BTS fans, it is definitely still a testament to the passionate support those in the fandom have for their artist.

~~Tutorial Thread~~ Voting for BTS in MAMA infinitely by creating twitter accounts. *For pc and laptop users. **Use Chrome. #2017MAMA_BTS

— 🍒망개떡🍒 (@dna8army) October 23, 2017

When their artist does not make it to the top, fans take this very seriously and in some cases, personally.

The gap is really stressing me.

Pls vote BTS on MAMA. 🙏🏻

This is the biggest music award in SoKor so pls let’s do our best!#2017MAMA_BTS

— 박마리엘 (@btstar_) October 23, 2017

GUYS VOTE WE ARE LOSING IN EVERY CATEGORY!!!!! WE HAVE TO SHOW BTS WE CARE!!!#BTS_MAMA_VOTE #2017MAMA_BTS @BTS_twt pic.twitter.com/ih5xkk6OiE

— BTSObbsesed (@Btsobbsesed) October 20, 2017

Aside from voting, fans also stream music to support their group.

Wow already at 12.5M streams 😱 we are working so hard army 💪 lets hope the boys made it to hot100 ! #btsstreaming lets continue streaming!! pic.twitter.com/U5YN8JBPpi

— AJ아이데 💜 (@aidjimlop) September 23, 2017

They do so not only in enjoyment of the group’s music, but also as a strategy to keep the boy band on the charts.

having 80 naver music pass i let it played while i sleep :3 #btsstreaming pic.twitter.com/q6aoktDKJh

— 아리 (@kyamon101026) August 17, 2017

Instead of support mainly for the music that the group creates, there is a clear sense that fans support the members themselves. Fans see themselves as having a “duty” to these members, to ensure that they are constantly showing their love and support, whether this is through voting, streaming or purchasing merchandise.

Let’s keep streaming, we’re slacking off. #BTSStreaming https://t.co/O26XQfgjeU

— 킴벌리 (@bangtanlovely7) September 24, 2017

With such ardent supporters, it is no surprise then that BTS has been tweeted, voted and streamed to the top of various charts. What BTS has managed to do, then, is to create a sense of loyalty in their following through judicious use of social media.

Lessons for Social Media Marketers

ONE. Pick the Right Social Media Platform for Your Purposes Although BTS has accounts on various platforms as noted above, their platform of choice is Twitter. Why Twitter when the platform appears to be have more limitations than most others? 140 characters and a maximum of 4 photo or video attachments per tweet for example.

For one, Twitter’s system allows for a greater reach than most others, with retweeting or quoting another user’s tweet being an integral part of the user experience. This means that if any BTS member tweets something, it can be quickly retweeted and/or liked by fans and shared across the platform. BTS’s latest tweet, for an example, with one of the members thanking fans for attending their Taiwan concert, received 258 000 retweets and 598 000 likes in three days.

고마워요 여러분 다시 만날 날을 기다릴게요~#JIMIN pic.twitter.com/wVQlIXpKi6

— 방탄소년단 (@BTS_twt) October 22, 2017

Twitter is also a great way for fans in the fandom to keep updated on the latest news (in bites) and to communicate with each other. Notably, it is largely through retweets, quote and hashtags that fans encourage and remind each other to vote and to stream music.

Does this mean that social media marketers should all migrate their brands to Twitter? Certainly not. For many brands, especially those in the makeup and fashion industry, aesthetic appeal is still an important aspect of marketing. In such cases, Twitter is may not the best platform to use to advertise your product. However, marketing managers can still consider Twitter for other purposes, such as holding Q&A sessions with your target audience, disseminating press releases about your company or getting that hashtag about your new product trending.

It is important also to note that although Twitter is BTS’s main form of social media outreach, they have not neglected other platforms, such as Instagram or Weibo, making sure to post a few times a month in order to reach out to audiences who may prefer those platforms.

This is a strategy that business should also consider: don’t just stick to one platform. Use them in tandem to achieve an all round marketing solution.

TWO. Encourage Your Audience to Engage with You When BTS first debuted, they used their Twitter account to send personal replies to their fans.

@zelokiddo hi i am a man

— 방탄소년단 (@BTS_twt) February 21, 2013

Given that tweets are short and sweet by nature, this allows interaction to happen across the platform without pressure of having to ensure that everything is of top-notch quality. The casual nature of the replies also adds to the fan’s experience as it creates the impression (whether true or false) that these tweets are genuine interactions with their favorite boy band.

New and upcoming brands in particular should try as much as possible to engage your audience in conversation on social media. The higher the level of engagement, between you and your target consumer base, the more likely they are to be interested in you.