#do i want to bother with a ton of fandom tags. not really

[ink-and-dagger]

Hi Legacy, thank you for your comment and for your compliment about my writing. Unfortunately, Tumblr wouldn’t let me leave this response to your comment under the fic, so I am having to add it onto your reblog. Something I really, genuinely, did not want to have to do.

I hear what you are saying, and am in full agreement with you - tags play a vital role in reader protection, and there’s nothing more frustrating (and in some cases dangerous) than people misusing them.

However, a few words now in my own defence.

I am not new here. I have been writing and posting Silco fics since Arcane first aired back in 2021. It seems more likely in this case that you are new if not to the Arcane fandom then to my blog/writing specifically - so allow me to provide a bit of context which may help, because I don’t believe this case is as cut-and-dry as you believe it to be. I began posting my multi-chapter Silco x Reader fic Drink With Me in January 2022, and updated regularly until its completion in July of that same year. I was extremely lucky in that my story gained a lot of traction and interaction within the fandom throughout that time. People became extremely invested in the Reader character, and would ask me all sorts of questions about her. That’s how Astrid was born. She became a point of reference outside the fic for those who wanted someone to visualise, whilst the fic itself remained strictly a Reader Insert. In the few years since this story wrapped up, my followers have remained invested in the ‘Drink With Me’ universe (again, I’m incredibly lucky and thankful for this), and to this day I receive tons of requests for bonus content set within this universe that I try to fulfil whenever I can. Despite these ficlets being connected to a main multi-chapter fic, most of them can easily be read as a standalone and do not require the context or any prior knowledge of the main fic to make sense. Additionally, as I did with the main fic, they are always written in 2nd person, the character is never referred to by name, and I never use any physical descriptors beyond anatomical ones during smut. If you were to take away any and all tags and look purely at the text alone, it reads as a traditional reader insert, which is why I tag it as such. I include the ‘Astrid’ and ‘OC’ tags for those people who are familiar with the DWM fic and universe and who specifically follow me for this reason, so that they know in their minds that the ficlet relates to the world/timeline of Drink With Me in some way shape or form. I think the point I’m trying to make is that those who are familiar with me and my work will see the ‘Astrid/OC’ tag and go “Ah cool it’s this universe”. Whereas for everyone else I add the ‘can be read as gen!reader insert’ note at the top so that they can go “Ah cool, let me just ignore that character tag then” and happily read it as a general reader insert fic perfectly fine. I hope that makes a bit more sense as to why I tag this way, why I’ve always tagged this way, and why I will continue to tag this way for my Drink With Me adjacent works. If I ever were to write something in 1st or 3rd person or that described the MC in a very specific way, then I would of course not tag that as a reader fic.

Now, so long as we’re here discussing fandom etiquette, I’d like to politely point out that adding your grievance onto the reblog of a specific fic is not a ‘gentle reminder’ - it’s a full-frontal attack on the author who wrote that fic. It would have been far better for you to create your own, separate post addressing the fandom as a whole, or to send me a quiet, private comment/DM on the side.

As I’ve already said, I empathise with your point of view, and I hope you are able to empathise with mine. If the way I choose to tag my work bothers you, then please feel free to block my account so that I don’t show up whilst you are searching for content. At the end of the day we are all individual humans - you cannot expect everyone to interpret/measure/categorise everything in the same way you would, and it’s imperative to take some measure of responsibility for cultivating your own online space, instead of relying on others to do it for you.

What if Astrid find a pic of young Silco by accident hehhehehehhehehehehhe

Snapshot

A Drink With Me ficlet

870 words || Established relationship || Silco x Astrid (but can be read as gen f!reader) || SFW but suggestive || MDNI

“Oh my Gods.”

“What?”

“Oh. My Gods.”

Time has stripped the photograph between your fingers of its glossy sheen and has left the edges blunt and frayed, but you would recognise those features anywhere; no less sharp nor striking through the faded sepia.

“This is you.”

It had slipped from between two ledgers as you’d perused Silco’s bookshelves – an activity more to entertain your idle hands than a genuine search for reading material. The image itself is simple and candid: A young man, seemingly oblivious to the fact his portrait is being taken, sat at a familiar bar, with eyes downcast toward a spread of papers.

That same man looks up at you now from a very similar spread of papers. “What is?”

“This.” You drift over to his desk and perch on its edge, all the while unable to tear your gaze from the photo in your hands. The pitch dark hair swept back into a low bun. The familiar strays – the same ones that even now will always be the first to escape any styling under the combing of agitated fingers – falling forward into his face, only far longer and thicker than you’re used to. His skin, unblemished and smooth, save for the chronic furrow between his brows – etched there long before time and tragedy ravaged the rest.

Silco hums absently; an indication that he acknowledges your discovery but finds little interest in it. You can imagine the man in the photograph making the exact same noise, were someone to distract him from his paperwork for a reason he deemed benign. You flip the photo over. No date.

“How old are you here?”

Silco exhales through his nose, places his pen down with a pointed clack, and extends his hand wordlessly toward you.

“Hah! Do you think I’m wet behind the ears?” you hold the photograph out of his reach, “You can tell just fine from over there thank you very much.”

He cuts you a scathing glance, before leaning forward in his chair with a foreboding creak to peer more closely at the image. His scarred lips purse slightly in thought.

“Mid–late twenties. I can’t say for certain.”

“You were hot.”

“Were?”

“Were and are,” you coo, reclining backwards over the desk into his space, one elbow pitched on his paperwork to hold your weight whilst you flap the photograph in front of his face, “Can I keep this?”

“For what reason?”

“Dirty ones.”

“Hardly necessary,” Silco says, the very corner of his mouth creasing upwards as he catches your wrist to halt your photo-flapping, “You have access to the real thing.”

“True, true, and you can be sure I’ll continue taking advantage of that.” You grin, shoving your captured, photo-wielding arm a little closer to him in emphasis, “But right now I’m talking about some alone time with this guy.”

Silco scoffs under his breath and releases your wrist. You twist onto your front, weight propped on both elbows as you admire the photograph in your grip. You trace a finger down the slender throat of the man in the photo, over the generous wedge of chest exposed by his open crimson collar.

“D’you think he’d notice me? If I came into that bar?”

“Oh I’m certain he would.”

“Yeah?” You lift your gaze from the man in the photo to the one before you – as equally breathtaking. More so. You catch your lower lip between your teeth. “What line would he use?”

Silco hums, low and thoughtful, leaning forward in his chair, closing in on your space. He picks up his abandoned pen, briefly twirling the implement until it’s poised between his elegant fingers like a cigarette. Nib safely facing his own palm.

“After downing the dregs of his drink for courage... he would have approached you.”

With sensual tenderness, he brushes the barrel of his pen along your cheek, warmed metal against warmer skin. Catching at the curve of your jawline, and tracing over your pulse in a way that makes it fumble a beat.

“Cast his gaze over each of your pretty, pretty features. One by one,” he murmurs, slowly drawing the end of the pen down your jugular, down the slope of your collar bone, to leisurely trail through the cut of your cleavage. The corner of your mouth hooks up. The warmth low in your belly coils a little tighter.

“He would have leaned in close,” Silco whispers, demonstrating just so, “Close enough that you’d almost taste the whiskey on his breath.”

Blunt metal drags a purposeful line up your throat, and your lips part softly as he tilts your face toward his with the barrel of his pen flat and firm beneath your chin.

“And asked you – very nicely – to stop leaning on his paperwork.”

You press your tongue against the inside of your cheek while Silco’s dual eyes sizzle with smug mirth. It’d be unthinkable, really – to forfeit either one for the sake of a matching pair.

You straighten and push off his desk, hips swaying as you saunter over to the bedroom with the photograph in hand.

“Well,” you say, pausing in the threshold and turning to him with a smirk, “If you need us, you know where we’ll be.”

[spinchs-field]

“If I die, you die too!” and other hilarious jokes you can tell yourself

unshaded version plus a version without the text

[olderthannetfic]

Genuine question: what's the point of writing fanfic? As in, what's the purpose? No one in the fandom I'm in comments on fics and I even got told off by one person for doing so, as it "encourages bad writers and makes them think they're good". So it seems that it's a lot like book writing, where people work hard and are creative, but instead of getting paid and getting comments on the work, you just sit there silently hoping someone will press the kudos button and make a number go up. I feel like that time and work could be better spent on making something you might get some kind of profit off of. Don't get me wrong, I love doodling fanart, but I don't post it, as I'm aware that there's no point to doing so, and while it's a nice way to fill the time on a commute, it's not something that takes me as much time and effort as fanfic does. So... why do people bother? Sometimes I describe ideas I have and people I know in my fandom will tell me I should write it, but I don't see why. I get more interaction from just saying "imagine if [thing here]" than I would by sitting down, writing for hours, editing and posting [thing here], so what would the point be? I'm not punching down or going "haha women and their fanfic lol!", I genuinely do not get what the point is and this blog feels like it might have someone reading who knows the answer.

--

Do you make art for profit? Genuine question.

There's nothing inherently wrong with being motivated primarily by external factors, but it's not actually why a lot of people create things, whether it's books or recipes or doodles in a notepad.

I enjoy the actual process of writing.

I think many people lose sight of that aspect in an era where tons of <500-word fics that are mostly outlines and "Imagine if..." posts get disproportionate attention for being easy to consume. But the satisfaction of doing a bigger art piece and doing it right is real and motivates a hell of a lot of creation.

I suppose you might be thinking "Okay, but why not just write it alone and never post?", but I like sharing. Showing off my finished creation is part of the joy, and sharing with other people like me is too. But those aren't quite the same thing as worrying about kudos. It's like dressing nicely when you leave the house because you feel great when you know you look good vs. needing another person to tell you you look good.

To be honest, though, this type of feeling has grown in me the better I've gotten at a craft. The closer my finished projects get to the vision in my head, the easier it is to find them fulfilling and to be excited to share them. When I fall short of my own ambitions, it's discouraging no matter how much attention I might get from others.

I feel like it's time for my regular reblog of Adam Westbrook's video essay series The Long Game.

The third and least known in the series is all about this idea of who you're making art for if you're not getting material rewards in the short term. It talks a lot about autotelicity—being internally driven instead of externally.

--

But if you really just want clicks, anon, start a blog that accepts anon asks and posts about wanky stuff. Actually tag things, unlike me, so people can find you.

No, writing for attention isn't worth it.

The time investment is too great and your brain will always fixate on the times people didn't respond instead of the times they did.

But that's not actually why most people write.

[stinalotte]

So. Basingstoke Comic Con.

This is going to be a rant. I'm German, so I have a PhD in a) complaining and b) being blunt. Perfect combination for this post. It's going to be long, so buckle up.

I give explicit permission to repost, reblog, screenshot and post to other websites, comment, tag, and add to this in any way you see fit. Feel free to write your own experiences and criticism.

It's a modified version of the feedback email I sent them. Since then, they have put out a statement which directly contradicts some of the stuff other people have told us (and have evidence for) and which blames everyone from attendees to guests to staff to the weather.

First of all, despite all the mess with the actual con, I had a ton of fun. I hadn't seen some of these people in 20 years. I hadn't met some of y'all before, and I talked to so many people this weekend. I don't regret a single meeting, hug, smile, or laugh. I do wish however for the organizers to step on legos for the rest of their lives.

Frankly, they had a huge business opportunity and they blew it. They could have established themselves as THE Stargate convention in Europe. People were taking 15-hour flights to be there. We were willing to spend hundreds, in some cases thousands of pounds. With that lineup, they blew every other current convention out of the water. If they had done this right, this would have been a huge success and an absolute no-brainer for years to come. They could have been one of those cons that sell out in minutes. 

Instead, they let greed and poor organization guide them. They severely underestimated the size of the Stargate fandom. They didn't bother to learn about what the fans wanted and who the guests actually were.

A few things stood out for me:

Health and safety at the venue. No a/c, running heaters (!!) in some rooms, not enough opportunities to get water, way too many people for this size hotel. We are lucky there wasn't a panic or more severe injuries. Crowd control was non existent.

An impossible, ever-changing schedule. You can't put talks back to back, or meet&greets, or photo ops. Everybody knows you will run overtime and then the whole thing collapses. Changes were not communicated. Nobody knew what was going on.

Poorly trained staff. No staff meetings beforehand. Staff had no way to communicate with each other. Seriously, give them radios! Some of them didn't now the names of the guests or in which autograph group they were.

People could not get the things they paid for. Out of all the autographs included in my pass, I only got one, and only because a friend got it for me. [Marion, you're a fucking rockstar] I don't even want to know how many people will be attempting chargebacks on their credit cards in the coming days.

And the most important thing, the one that makes everyone I talked to the angriest: The way they treated the guests was appalling. They are such generous, hard-working people, and BCC shamelessly took advantage of that. Richard Dean Anderson was signing until after 1 am. A 74-year-old man who just wants to make his fans happy.

[BCC are now saying they were told he was a „slow signer“, aka someone who actually takes their time by talking to fans when signing autographs. Oh really? Then why did you continue to sell autographs well into Sunday when it was clear that there was no way he could get through them all in a reasonable time??]

David Blue was setting up his own autograph table. Several Atlantis actors went and got more of their headshots (by taking pictures in the photo room and printing them) because they ran out. Joe Flanigan tried to bring some order to the chaos more than once. He went full John Sheppard in the photo op room and took charge. We are lucky they're such sweet souls and didn't raise hell then and there. Nobody would have blamed them.

Staff were amazing and tried to make the best with what little support they were given. Kathleen, Finn and Nick (with the Stick!) especially, and so many others whose names I sadly didn't get. They worked so hard, never lost their humor, and tried to help as much as they could.

This disaster is entirely on management. It's a failure of leadership and an example of what not to do when you're running an event.

If you want to put on a convention, you need to go to people who have experience and listen to them. You need to attend several cons before even thinking about doing one yourself. And before, during and after, you need to take care of your people. You need to take care of your staff, of your guests, of the fans. You need to adjust the size of the event to the size of the venue, or vice versa. You need to actually be interested in this event beyond the money it will earn you. You need to know when you bit off more than you can chew.

I'm not hoping for a better one next year, because all of us said we won't be back. What I do hope is that hey sincerely apologize to the guests and at least double what money was raised for charity.

[kiwiana-writes]

Six(ish) Sentence Sunday

Don't forget, Fandom Trumps Hate bidding opens 8am EST on March 5th! Details of my offerings are here, and a roundup of all the RWRB offers can be found here.

Remember a couple days ago when I said thanks to the people who tagged me in the WIP ask game but my list had just hit 62 and I couldn't be bothered writing them all out? Well, welcome to #62. I watched a film, realised how many fics I've read based on it across a ton of fandoms in the last couple of decades, entered some sort of weird fugue state, and then there was a Google Doc open. As usual.

2019 Outside Kensington Palace, with the car waiting to take him back to the royals’ private airstrip, Alex seriously considers taking Henry’s phone out of his hand and plugging in his phone number. It’s the same tug in his gut that led him across a Buckingham Palace ballroom to poke and prod at Henry’s perfect princely veneer; the one that dragged him across the room to introduce himself at Rio; the one that used to pull him out of his bedroom and into June’s to open a magazine.  But that’s not what’s happening here. They’re not friends, even if Alex did see a glimmer of something resembling a personality while lying elbow to elbow with Henry on the dusty floor of a cupboard. It’s a PR stunt, nothing more, and they both have people who are literally employed to make sure they both come out of this looking good. No point in complicating it. In the end, Alex only reaches out when it’s time to shake Henry’s hand in farewell, and then he climbs into the back of the car and ignores the nagging sensation of something left unfinished. 2029 Alex rolls out the crick in his neck as he steps off the plane in Austin, his shoulders relaxing with every step into the familiar terminal. A couple of months into his second congressional term, he’s only just starting to feel like he really has a handle on the House schedule and the punishing weekly commute back and forth between Texas and DC—but just because he doesn’t have a spouse and kids to come home to like many of his colleagues on the Hill, it doesn’t mean he’s not still spending as much time in his district as he possibly can. Even if it does mean he has an even heavier reliance on caffeine than he did during college and more frequent flyer miles than he’ll ever know what to do with.

Tagging @agame-writes @affectionatelyrs @anchoredarchangel @anincompletelist @celaestis1 @celeritas2997 @cha-melodius @clottedcreamfudge @cricketnationrise @cultofsappho @daisymae-12 @dumbpeachjuice @firenati0n @getmehighonmagic @happiness-of-the-pursuit @heybuddy-drabbles @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @indestructibleheart @indomitable-love @inexplicablymine @leaves-of-laurelin @littlemisskittentoes @lizzie-bennetdarcy @magicandarchery @matherines @myheartalivewrites @ninzied @nocoastposts @notspecialbabe @orchidscript @rmd-writes @sherryvalli @ships-to-sail @smc-27 @sparklepocalypse @ssmtskw @stereopticons @three-drink-amy @tintagel-or-cockleshells @welcometololaland @whimsymanaged and, as always, anyone who wants to play! (If you take the open tag please tag me so I can see!!)

[anbaisai]

About the Blog

Commissions: [OPEN]

Hey there! ✨

You can call me Syder (pronounced like “cider”). This is my art blog where I post my art for quite literally anything - OCs, fanart, doodles, etc. It may seem centered around certain fandoms if I’m into that at the moment, but really it’s just a miscellaneous art blog.

My main blog is over at @part-sadist, so if you see a follow or interaction from that account, that’s me. I can’t follow via this side blog and unfortunately tumblr doesn’t seem to allow me to swap this one to my main 💦

I am an adult, and while this blog is not 18+, I may sometimes talk about or draw content with more mature themes. Please do not follow if that bothers you.

Other stuff

Pronouns: both she/her and they/them are fine

EN/中文/日本語 OK

Asks are welcome! Mentions are okay, but please only send DMs for business inquiries (i.e. commissions) unless we're mutuals

DO NOT repost my art or use it for AI learning

Current main fandom is Twisted Wonderland, but a few other things I like include: FFXIV, Splatoon, Chainsaw Man, Dandadan, Ace Attorney, otome games, Vocaloid, etc.

Please also note that this blog is not spoiler-free ⚠ I do tag spoilers but sometimes I may forget to, so proceed with caution!

Tags guide, masterlists, & FAQ under the cut!

Tags Guide

#my art - All artwork, click this one if you want to see just my art

#oc - Art featuring my own OCs

#others ocs - Art featuring other people's OCs

#twst or #twisted wonderland - All Twisted Wonderland related art

#shiokawa mayu - My Twisted Wonderland OC/Yuusona

#jamimayu - Jamil x Yuu content

#syder txt - Miscellaneous text posts

Masterlists

Twisted Wonderland

[To be continuously updated...]

FAQ

Do you take commissions?

Commissions are currently OPEN, please see this post for more information!

Can you draw [insert idea/prompt here]?

I do take suggestions, but please understand that I can’t guarantee that I’ll get to it.

Can I draw your OC?

Alone or with canon characters (if they’re part of pre-existing media), yes. If it’s with your own OC or a character I don’t know, please ask me first.

Can you draw my OC?

Only if I’m hosting an OC interaction or request event, otherwise I prefer to focus on my own projects & ideas first, sorry!

Can I use your art for a profile picture/banner/etc.?

If it's fanart, yes, as long as you credit me properly! However, please do not use any of my OCs as they are very personal to me 💦 All commissions are also intended for the commissioner's use only.

What do you use to draw?

Clip Studio Paint (PC). I can’t tell you what brushes I use because I downloaded tons and just pick one randomly based on whatever I feel like using that day, but if you ask me specifically about a piece I may be able to recall which one I used 😭

[donnerpartyofone]

I'm sure @staff has kind of a lot on their plate right now but while I'm thinking of it, this would be nice to have:

Add a Fandom community label. Or a dedicated universal tag, or a box you can check during post creation, or just anything that has the ultimate effect of allowing users to filter fan content.

This could at-least-slightly ameliorate problems with the search.

I have come into acceptance of the fact that fixing the notoriously dysfunctional search, even on individual blogs, is just way, way, way out of scope for some reason. Tumblr must know that a functional search would radically increase engagement, so I assume that the persistence of this glaring problem means that there is simply no way to fix it. I tell myself that "search" really just means "give me a handful of related suggestions" and not "show me every instance of X". I am learning to live with this.

What compounds this issue is that there is no way to separate fan content from content directly related to your search terms.

EXAMPLE: I search for a popular movie, and the results are so overburdened with people's personal stories and drawings that it's impossible for me to find anything actually related to the film. I give up quickly and Tumblr loses engagement from both me and the people who post screencaps/gifs/music/production info/etc.

EXAMPLE: I'm searching for something--anything--but my commonplace search term happens to be related to a very specific fandom. Perhaps I have never even heard of this fandom. But after scrolling through yards and yards of fan fiction, I have to give up, and Tumblr loses engagement from me and also whoever is posting about the actual thing I wanted.

OTHER NEGATIVE EFFECTS:

1. I stopped tracking ALL tags because they were constantly serving me fan content. I haven't bothered with tags for years because of this.

2. I blocked tons of innocent users because I couldn't avoid seeing their fan content; in order to stop seeing it, I have to sacrifice our entire ability to interact. I'm not alone there, sometimes I even see a note about this in someone's header ("Sorry you're blocked, it's probably because Tumblr won't stop showing me your fan art").

All of these scenarios happen to me and other users all the time and we have been vocally complaining about this. And I know Tumblr has rebranded itself as the fandom app in recent years, but I would say that even a fandom person still wants to see i.e. actual movie & TV show stuff and not just other people's drawings and stories.

So basically Tumblr has two big, related problems: Search doesn't really work AND is clogged with fan content that drowns out everything else.

BUT what if we could just have ONE problem? What if the search had a toggle that includes or excludes fan content. Then even if the search only gives me limited results, I can improve those results by making sure they are ONLY related directly to the thing I want. This would make the Tumblr search instantly, hugely more useful and I would do way more with it, way more often.

Maybe it could even work both ways, like I can choose to ONLY see fan content for a given search term, fandom folks would probably have a use for that. But the main thing for me is that even if search functionality is unfixably limited, I could refine the limited results and get only the most relevant stuff by excluding one common piece of metadata. Problem not-solved, but significantly reduced!

[nausikaaa]

Ten Questions for Writers

thanks for tagging me @larkral!

How many works do you have on AO3? 43

What’s your total AO3 word count? 151,263

What fandoms do you write for? currently Carry On and Ancient Greek Religion and Lore, though a few older fics are the for MCU, and i used to write tons for Percy Jackson.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes, unless it's just an emoji, in which case I don't really know what to say in response. But otherwise, yes, because I always like it when my comments recieve a reply!

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Some of my old, atrocious wattpad fics were posted on some dodgy fanfic site but i don't think anyone even used that site, so it didn't really bother me.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? I've written a few with irl friends, and one with some Carry On mutuals.

What’s your all-time favourite ship? You can't make me choose! Snowbaz is my longest-lasting, but I'll never commit. I also really love Pyrrhus and Hermione from the Trojan War cycle, which is such a rare ship even Ovid hated it.

What are your writing strengths? I've been told I write dialogue well, which is good because it's what I mostly structure my writing around as I find it easy. But then I've also been told that I'm good at descriptions, which is the exact opposite- I feel like I'm crap at it so I put way more effort in to it, and I guess that pays off?

What are your writing weaknesses? I know I'm absolutely rubbish at anything that requires blocking, which includes both sex scenes and fight scenes. Also anything sappy makes me cringe just to write it.

First fandom you wrote for? Percy Jackson! Solangelo still has a special place in my heart.

i tag @shrekgogurt @aristocratic-otter @ic3-que3n @forabeatofadrum @artsyunderstudy @j-nipper-95 @that-disabled-princess @hushed-chorus @cutestkilla @ileadacharmedlife but if you're not tagged and want to do this, go ahead and say i tagged you!

[saturn-sends-hugs]

ok, this has been burning a hole in my notes app and i’m just gonna send it out there:

Why (i think) the Finale was Like That:

to preface, if you liked the finale, good for you!! that’s totally valid and i’m not trying to bash that. but i know a lot of people were left wanting more, and i’m one of them. anyway, to my point:

as silly as it sounds, this show is not written for us.

we’re fans. the producers already know we’re gonna watch the show. they don’t need to convince us to give them our attention, they already have it. why waste time digging into random side characters in the larger Star Wars saga when the average person doesn’t even know who that is?

their real job is to convince outsiders to watch. to get hooked. to see an element they like, probably from the main movies, and tune in, even for one episode. if they can get them hooked with fennec or ventress or hell even rex, that’s a win for them.

the plot lines wrap up in such an unsatisfying way because honestly? they cant waste time focusing more on these characters than they have to. the people writing and designing the show might love them and want to include more meaningful resolutions, but that takes too long and costs too much money. you know what’s cheaper and will satisfy the average viewer? kill the mystery clones, cut off the “trauma hand”, and wrap it all up in a nice little “look, she’s joining the rebellion, guys!” moment because the more bland and broad the ending, the more people will understand it.

i mean, remember the Fives mention? Echo didn’t react, he didn’t even stutter, he literally moved the conversation along like they were talking about where to go for dinner like HELLO. we already know they cannot be bothered to show real important emotional scenes because that would take too much spotlight away from the whole star wars politics plot or whatever were supposed to care about. (honestly, who is watching bad batch for the og trilogy implications? woah tarkin and a couple other empire dudes are talking about project stardust definitely gimme more of that and not any meaningful connection between these characters i love)

it’s scummy, it sucks, it especially kills me that the story is basically lost to corporate greed but let’s be honest, this is Disney’s Star Wars. i could literally just leave it there. meaningful moments will always be sacrificed for shock value and character cameos because the random guy seeing an ad is only gonna watch the show if he thinks “oh cool, tarkin, i didn’t know he was in that show, maybe i should see what that’s about.”

and yes, i know, there absolutely is a ton of love and care poured into this show. i appreciate the effort that went into it. i’m just sad they didn’t have full creative freedom under Disney to give us the story we wanted.

but you know who won’t sacrifice story for money? you know who’s guaranteed to have the fans’ interests in mind? you know who does have full creative freedom and is equally pissed about bad show moments and want to do them better? FANFIC AUTHORS. Fan artists, theorists, even roleplay accounts and every other type of dedicated fandom blog is here for that shit and will reshape things however they want a million different ways because that’s the point. the show simply cannot give us what we want, but we can make it ourselves.

your support, your creativity, and your determination to give these characters what they deserve is how we can solve the problem.

i didn’t really mean to turn all “we’re all in this together” here lol but yknow what i really do mean that. i think supporting the community around you is the best option we have for truly enjoying all of this show’s potential.

tagging a few people cause i value your input!! and let’s be honest i’m probably leaving a few things out that you might be able to expand on: @the-bi-space-ace @inkstainedhandswithrings @phantom-of-the-501st

[pendragaryen]

Merry christmas, my dear friends, mutuals and followers and all the best wishes for the upcoming new year! 🧡🫶🏻🧡🫶🏻🧡🫶🏻🧡

The last bit of 2022 and the whole of 2023 have not been very kind to my family - and so I'm standing here today, looking back at the past 13 months and finding myself almost back and stuck in the emotional state that I had been in after the separation from my long time boyfriend/life partner in 2009... That was a very dark time. I was trying to live and breathe with a constant black hole in my chest and soul for a couple of years then... I felt so empty and lost. I had a very similar feeling for the span of a couple of months after I had been kicked out of my job in 2017. But nothing, and I mean it, nothing has the rug under my feet pulled away and made me hit rock bottom like the cancer illness of my sister, the death of my grandma and now the fact that my mum is diagnosed with a tumor in her spine, all in the span of just 13 months... Please, we all need some rest in my family so desperately. But now we're all very anxious bc of the surgery my mum has to go through at the 12th of january. It's a difficult surgery. No-one knows for sure at this point what kind of a tumor it is. It causes her legs getting more and more numb and if they don't do anything, the risk of her ending up using a wheelchair rather sooner than later seems very likely. If the tumor should be malignant (please, god, no, NO!) the consequences would be even worse bc it could've spread already... But the fact that the doctors pushed for a fast surgery likely speaks for the possibility that the tumor is benign and seated in just one place... Well you see, this really keeps me busy... We all hope desperately that she will get better after the surgery, and not worse... We have plans! We want to travel together again! To the Netherlands next! Or to Danmark!

Don't get me wrong, there HAD been good things that happened in the last year, not at least the fact that my sister is now considered as cured. We're all so relieved and thankful, I have no words for it! But then... the death of our grandma... and now the tumor and surgery of my mother... I feel like i'm trapped in a constant state of emotional stress, like standing in the dark and screaming into the void with nobody being able to hear me... I can't even begin to imagine how my sister must've felt or how my mum is feeling now. Sometimes I think I'm too empathetic, the way I suffer with and for my beloved ones... that can't be healthy. I'm so tired.

Sorry to bother you with all this. I'm not around here that often anymore. Sadly I have to say I lost joy in many things I once loved or loved to do over the course of the last years. I'm unmotivated most of the time. But now... I have to function, I have to be there for my mum. It'll take half a year at least for her to recover from her surgery (if everything goes well - fingers crossed please!!!) and so I have to be strong - and I WILL be strong! For her! For my family! I hope my sister will support me then... The relationship of her and our mom is a little difficult... Sadly. But she's working on it..

I said I lost the joy in many things I loved once, but one thing I'll never get tired of is, on the rare occasions I visit this site, to read you all at our weekly BFSN, to see the 100 fam still being so creative and devoted, so that our favorite show never really gets forgotten. Thank you so much for that! And please keep tagging me in things! I read you, look at your photos, and I smile, even though I may not answer. This little corner of our fandom is so dear to me, it's almost a little like homecoming when I log in here. A comfort place.

Thank you all for your kind, empathetic, couraging, and motivational words at the last BFSN. I appreciate each and every one of it.

I hope the year has been kind to y'all and that these christmas holidays and the new year will be filled with tons of health, luck and love for you and all of us! Here's to a well deserved rest for us all!

And may we meet again. Here and in words. Maybe one day in person? Who knows?

Always.

Anne

@sunflowerkru: @togetherkru @carrieeve @ninappon @roguetwelve @bellamyblake @jeanie205 @geekyogicheese @natassakar @heartbellamy @okmcintyre @immortalpramheda @igotbellarkeforthat @infp-with-all-the-feelings @isweartobreathe @kizo2703 @travllingbunny @bookwormforalways @lee-em-dee @julibernardo @broashwhat @its-tea-time-darling @delicatebluebirdruins (and each and everyone else I maybe forgot, please excuse me)

[zorilleerrant]

For the ask game, ship you’ve unwilling come around to!

Oh, I have so many NoTPs in every fandom, and, unfortunately, a ton of them tend to be canon or popular in fandom! The ones that bother me so much I had to block the tags are Dick/Babs, Tim/Kon, and Spike/Buffy. I think those are the only ships I currently have blocked, but some of that is just because the other ships are less popular (or fewer people I follow care one way or the other).

With Dick/Babs, it's that I love their dynamic as childhood friends or as young superhero friends, and if they have romantic entanglements on top of that it feels like it's invalidating the friendship. There's a lot of 'this boy and girl are friends so they have to date' (see also: these two queer boys/girls are friends so they have to date) and it gets its ick on ships, even though generally I do enjoy a friends-to-lovers arc. It's also a little creepy to me that Babs was originally Bruce's love interest, and then infantilized to be Dick's love interest - the same reason that Kori/Jason and Raven/Damian bother me so much. Also, Babs is a lesbian. I really just prefer them as mlm/wlw solidarity and not in a bi4bi way.

Tim/Kon and Spike/Buffy are more a problem with the fans than any of the canon material. (Which is why I ship Tim/Kon in the HBO Titans universe, which I haven't seen many people being mean about.) I see a lot of Tim/Kon fans hating on Bernard and Tim/Bernard and also hating on DC in a way that honestly feels pretty homophobic. I don't think that's their intention but it really sounds like the same arguments people who just don't want canon queer characters at all make. I also see them hating on Steph and Tim/Steph sometimes in ways that are pretty misogynistic (and also biphobic) and I just don't like it.

Spike/Buffy is like... I enjoyed the dynamic on the show, where they were both unhealthily codependent and toxic to each other. Two people who think they're in love or have the potential to be in love because they won't address their own problems is my jam! Of course, most of the shippers seem to want to treat it like a real (or especially a healthy) relationship instead of a toxic situationship. There's also the problem that, like, they keep defending why Spike 'deserves' to still be in a relationship with Buffy after assaulting her, sometimes with pages long essays, and never once mention how Buffy might feel about that. Completely ignoring Buffy's opinion on the whole thing feels, to me, even more nonconsensual than the original incident (which I was willing to chalk up to bad writing and ignore). So now the merest mention gives me the creepy crawlies. This is most canon ships on BtVS, tho.

Most ships I'm open to, tho! I especially enjoy hearing about rarepairs and anything that couldn't happen in canon (crossover ships, etc.) because I can roll it around in my head until I understand it. Which is why even stuff that squicks me at first I'm willing to give a chance if the story sounds interesting enough.

[limitlessscion]

SHIPPING INFO // ANSWER THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR MUSES SO PEOPLE KNOW HOW SHIPPING WORKS ON YOUR BLOG.

WHAT IS YOUR OTP FOR YOUR CHARACTER(S)?

I don't have any romantically for Satoru as a default from canon. However I am obsessed with platonic satosugu and platonic sashisu, and an extremely specific form of QPR sukugo (primary love language: trying to kill each other).

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?

I don't ship enough to have really developed a sense for any specific boundaries on the matter. In romance-like relationships I tend to stick to characters within a similar age bracket for younger muses, but anything goes when they're fully mature adults.

But this is just for my own writing, I'm not here to judge what other people want to do with their fictional characters.

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY ARE CONSIDERED NSFT?

At the point where I get confused I guess LOL. I don't write smut not because I'm uncomfortable, but I just don't know how to and I don't have a great interest in doing so.

I do not mind my partners writing spicier things involving the muses and sharing thoughts with me though! I just struggle to reciprocate with details

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?

In terms of traditional shipping as people think of it, yeah. I write Satoru as aroace and also just a generally abrasive person who is genuinely bad at connecting with other human beings. It requires a ton of work to build up a positive bond with him, with a lot of understanding from my partner and their muse, and I don't compromise on this part of my portrayal.

I try to find some kind of meaningful relationship of some sort with every muse I write with though!

WHO ARE OTHER CHARACTERS YOU SHIP YOUR CHARACTER WITH?

@saiakv's suguru, as an intense friendship in their childhood, and a romance-like QPR in their adulthood

@strywoven's Kaen with an intense QPR

@antishaman's Suguru in their childhood, a romance-like QPR on Satoru's end

...do you see a trend. I also have strongly plotted platonic relationships I care about just as much, such as the ones with @drippingheart's suguru and megumi, and @vartouhix's jangmi !

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?

I do not mind other characters having a crush or other kinds of feelings about Satoru without asking my permission, I will not dictate your muse's feelings. Whether Satoru will reciprocate that or not will be up to me.

But of course, things will work out the best if we discuss it and plot it further! Without a strong foundation, it's likely for Satoru to agree to relationships and then ruin it soon after from incompatibility— although that can also be fun to write

ARE YOU SHIP-OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS?

I'm obsessed with building meaningful relationships and something you might see me bring up a lot of trying to find an "emotional core" for a relationship. I want to feel what exists between two characters enough that it can drive my writing, and it takes a lot of work to build up

But this is not necessarily for romantic ships. I like writing very strong, intense, human connections but I'm not bothered about it being specifically being a romantic one

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM?

I answered all the ones for Satoru already but I'm also very invested in the platonic modern trio of Nobara, Megumi, and Yuji

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU?

Just write with me. Plot. Exchange headcanons. We'll land on a relation"ship" of some sort eventually whether that's a more traditional ship, a friendship, mentor/mentee, or enemies, or some kind of situationship— whatever we develop I value it all equally

tagged by: @vartouhix

tagging: whoever wants to

[shannonsketches]

Can I just say I love how you can be somewhat critical about certain things about totk without completely and unnecessarily trashing it and even adding humor. I wish more people were like that.

Aw, thank you! I'm just trying to make sure folks feel safe to enjoy things here (as long as, yknow, the respect goes both ways).

I definitely used to be someone who would trash stuff unnecessarily, and I'll always credit a mutual (although I did forget their handle,,,I'm so sorry) I had at the time for just letting me go on a long rant about why something bothered me and went, "That sounds really personal, but that got nothing to do with this." And all at once I realized I'd been projecting my needs/wants/expectations onto other peoples work (commercial or otherwise), and holding strangers responsible for serving me, specifically! Which is an absurd thing to expect from anyone!!

And sometimes I still forget the world doesn't revolve around me, glorious me, and I have to go back and apologize and do my mental health homework to figure out why I reacted a certain way, and why I took something so personally. But it's been really helpful to try and do the homework first, or type that whole salty take up and delete it or draft and review it again in the morning, before you make a stranger (or a friend!) feel bad or unsafe with you for the crime of enjoying something you didn't (which I have done, many times, and feel very bad about).

Plus, I've learned that if you're someone who is always analyzing and critiquing things, those moments can be really good practice for (respectfully! privately! in your own space! not on that stranger's post! not in that poor dev's DMs!) considering what you might have done differently, assuming you had the same parameters and resources available. I find this is especially good practice if you plan on entering a creative field! I promise you get a lot more sympathetic with how things turn out when you force yourself to dream within a budget and a deadline.

(also being nice to professionals is good practice! Some of them are jerks, true, but 99% of devs artists designers directors etc are just doing their best under a ton of stress and pressure to make everyone happy, and they're usually really proud of what they're able to accomplish, and they are absolutely not getting paid enough to deal with the comment section)

Once you let go of that need to be Correct and have control over stuff that isn't about you, you end up having a lot more fun and a lot less limitations for playing in the sandbox, and with other creatives! Plus you learn about yourself, and what your priorities and tastes are. You become a better story teller and collaborator when you can not only find but actively look for the good in things you may have completely dismissed as a kneejerk reaction to not liking something about it.

And again, I'm definitely still an ass, a lot more often than I'd like to be. I still struggle with that need to be Correct and to have complete control over my sandbox. I still get defensive and have to navigate rejection sensitivity when someone's idea contradicts mine. I definitely understand the reactivity when something means a lot to us, and it takes practice to share when you're used to being protective! But it's so, so worth it.

You meet such amazing people and find such wonderful, supportive communities when you embrace two cake theory. I highly recommend making an effort to expand your perspective and be a part of that support.

Supportive Community Pro-Tips from a Fandom Old Guy:

You don't have to adopt a theory to enjoy or appreciate it!

If someone's takes upset you, just block them. It's okay.

Don't critique someone's work unless they ask for critique

Don't RB someone's work with negative/contradictory comments, just make your own post

DO freak out in the tags/comments/inbox if you like something

Obviously don't wish harm over ships/headcanons/etc, just block!

Remember someone else's work is not about you

Remember someone else's work is Not About You

Are they experiencing a thing? Are they sharing their experience with you? That's a gift! Treat it like one!

Elitism is a mind killer. Newer ≠ Lesser, Older ≠ Greater. We all have stuff to offer and we all have stuff to learn.

and if I may impart the most important thing I've ever learned in fandom:

BE NICE TO EACH OTHER, WE'RE ALL JUST MAKING STUFF UP!

Thank you for the lovely message and for letting me ramble I'm!! Sorry this got so long and preachy, haha

[olderthannetfic]

how did you end up with a blog like this one? Running something like this seems very fun! I post pan-fandom meta and history on occasion, but how do I increase my odds of getting cool anons like you get?

--

Well, the biggest factor is just having anon on in the first place. Most people don't, and you get a ton more asks if you do (for better and for worse).

I didn't set out to make my tumblr like this. I was just kind of half-assedly posting about my fandoms when I had a new one. I did post a bunch of fandom meta and history (tagged #fandom meta and #fandom history back then), but for years, it didn't really get picked up much.

And then I posted about the history of fandom deletions 2 weeks before Tumblr pulled the plug on porn. Holy instant virality, Batman!

It wasn't only that post, but I think a series of a few specific mega-viral posts tipped me from some level of seen where I wasn't reaching people outside of friends-of-friends to a level where I was. Things have been snowballing ever since.

I'm an atrocious tagger, as you can see, but if you want more reach, I'd start by figuring out what pan-fandom meta/history tags other people are using and making sure your general interest posts are tagged with them.

Unless you're asking how to get good anons instead of crappy ones, in which case, the answer is to delete the extra terrible stuff so people know not to bother. If they get a rise out of you, they'll come back, and too much negativity turns off the people who are more fun.

[feral-ass-raccoon]

making a new intro post bc i went to go update mine and it was fucking gone

hi welcome to the void (:

you can call me Feral or Raccoon

• i am aro/aceflux (:

• multi-fandom chaos. [i got tired of listing them all hjgjfjdg]

• if you follow me i will go look at your blog. Vibe Check

• asks are always open, feel free to scream at me

• seriously send me shit abt fandoms. questions, headcanons, doodle requests for a character (may not get some of em done but i will always try), au shit, fandom questions, even just silly little memes. i fuckin love asks

• this applies to OCs too!!! i have them!!! a few, at least, please feel free to send a fandom i'm in and i will tell you the OCs i have for it :D [aske me about the Guys. please. i beg of you.]

• sometimes i draw shit, the tag i use for it is #raccoon's art

• I CAN BE BOTHERED!!! DO NOT BE AFRAID OF "ANNOYING" ME I DO NOT CARE. EVEN IF I DON'T RESPOND RIGHT AWAY, I WILL TRY TO.

• i do like tag games and such!!! feel free to tag me if ya want

• i schedule a shit ton of posts but i'm not always online btw so if i'm posting regularly but it's at even times, they're probably scheduled lmao

•DNI LIST: tbh I don't really care as long as you aren't a dick. if i don't like you i'll jus block you lmao

[2n2n]

Hi, hi !

I've been getting back into tbhk lately and found your blog out of nowhere and wanted to say thank you for the great content. I've really been enjoying reading your posts !

So I wanted to ask, bc I saw you mention jp tbhk twitter, would you happen to have some twt acc recs/keywords for someone to search ? Since my hyperfixation seems to be back on tbhk/amatsuka, and I refuse to set a foot again in the cesspool pit that is the western fandom..... /shudders

Thanks if you do, but also thanks if you don't !

sure, I'll link most of the accounts I follow...!

from there, you can look at anyone's likes or retweets and find more branching artists and commentators to follow :3 a lot of people quiet down between things like chapter or volume releases. You'll see them explode the moment stuff is happening!!

I'll also suggest some other things to liven up your life and suckle at outside of twitter, and I hope that's useful. There is honestly so, so much out there, I don't think anyone needs to bother with most western engagements... it's enough to follow a couple of ramblers and helpful translators, a fangirl or two, and leave it at that.

there's also always a 5ch thread that updates... sometimes greatly amuses me

bilibili meanwhile is a chinese website similar to youtube (you won't be able to 'signup' for it though, as it requires an ID... if you want to save anything, you should just make a bookmarks folder in your browser. you can ignore notifications from bilibili to sign up and resume videos, so don't be intimidated. to turn off scrolling comments, click the little television symbol under the video) and there's tons of wonderful stuff there, like people doing vocal imitations of the twins and covering songs, animations to songs, AMVs, MMDs... there are some unique tags for certain trends, suchas MMD usually being tagged with 【地缚少年花子君MMD】 BUT not all videos bother, so you're best to just click around relevant things and plug in various terms and see what you get!

nicovideo also exists and you can use the tag 地縛少年花子くんMMD if you like MMD! I love this HanaNene one for Picture Perfect...

as for terms, here are various in different languages (with apologies that I can't provide all for all languages ... but it's a start!)

あまつか / 아마츠카 - amatsuka つかあま / 츠카아마 - tsukaama

普司 - amanetsukasa

司普 - tsukasaamane 柚木兄弟 - yugi kyoudai/yugi brothers 25日は柚木の日 - the 25th is yugi day 柚木の日 - yugi day 花寧々 / はなねね - hananene 普寧々 - amanenene あまねね / 아마네네 - amanene つか寧々 / つかねね / 츠카네네 - tsukanene 花寧々つか / はなねねつか - hananenetsuka 花寧々司 - hananenetsukasa

more likely what you would find on bilibili/CH fandom

under the cut here I'll link twitter accounts. Many periodically lock/private, especially while actively discussing spoilers for new events.

a note about a kind of cultural difference; western fandom often has a much, much stricter divide between things like hananene and amatsuka, with fans of one rarely tolerating the other. It's not often the case over yonders; often everyone will celebrate hananene illustrations and cute moments, or laugh about tsunene kiss and joke about them dating, even if the artist only draws the twins. That is to say that certain types of people won't survive in this environment!!!!!

https://twitter.com/ariarimap -- presently, mostly makes tsunene content, but likes the twins and hananene as well! https://twitter.com/bami_ko83 -- industrious twins stan. More of a tsukaama than amatsuka https://twitter.com/emotaro_0 -- twins stan! not very active right now but comes & goes! https://twitter.com/grcmk0 -- twins stan… https://twitter.com/bluehyke -- sadly not active anymore, but wonderful twins and some hananene https://twitter.com/chi1000ex -- atmospheric twins stan https://twitter.com/silawin1122 -- twins stan https://twitter.com/Wakame_21 -- mostly into the twins, dabbles in other things like tsumitsu lol, and engages in more fandoms than just JSHK https://twitter.com/Miiiiiihana -- a delightful tsukaama filled with hijinks. one of my favorites!! very funny tweeeets too when events GO DOWN!! https://twitter.com/1Shinru -- mostly a hananene! occasionally some flirty twins stuff hehe https://twitter.com/askrhnkkn -- amatsuka! my favorite reactions and responses to things..... my favorite amatsuka account! https://twitter.com/furagi_2585 -- tsunene!!!! https://twitter.com/appleteasoda22 -- hananene !