#fandom can definitely feel a bit wild west at times with all the extremes and opposite takes fans can wind up having

[kitkatt0430]

I'm guessing you havent been exposed to a huge part of the Spike/Spuffy fandom that like to portray Spike as the innocent victim of the relationship in s6 and Buffy as the monster (just go on Elysian Fields where there are countless stories 'punishing' Buffy for how she treated Spike), I've even seen some that do blame Buffy for the SA in Seeing Red and there was a lot of vitriol towards Buffy from fans at the time of airing, I also think it's worth remembering that the show itself blames Buffy for how toxic the relationship got in S7 and completely sidesteps her trauma in favour of Spike's redemption arc

So we're gonna have to agree to disagree about how S7 dealt with the fallout of the S6 relationship, as I read it as the show blaming them both but the characters themselves differing on a person by person basis who gets blamed the most. Though I agree Buffy herself just kind of ignores her own trauma (which is, unfortunately, how she's been taught to deal with her trauma since season 1), which brings the cleanup of S6's loose threads to an unsatisfying conclusion in order to make room for all the new S7 story arcs. (Not just Spike's redemption arc, though as the ensemble dark horse there was definitely audience pandering going on where he was concerned.)

Though the behind the scenes information about Spike related arcs is really fascinating to me, just because it's wild to me just how much Joss Whedon apparently hated this character who so popular with the fans.

And I have run into the 'Spike is perfect, Buffy was the sole abuser' narrative from fans before, but on a whole that's always seemed like a smaller and less vocal portion of the fandom than the 'Buffy is blameless, Spike was the sole abuser' portion. But whether that's actually true or not... *shrugs* it all boils down to where I had my fandom experiences and how I've curated those experiences over the years. I've mainly read BtVS/Ats fic on FFnet, Twisting the Hellmouth, and Ao3 - though I've been slowly getting more into the fandom here on tumblr too. My experiences with Elysian Fields are pretty small, so if that's where the majority of the anti-Buffy, pro-Spike Spuffy fandom overwhelmingly wound up, then its no surprise I ran into the other side of the equation more often. (By the time I stumbled across Elysian Fields, I was already spoiled by Ao3 and more interested in other fandoms.) Especially as the anti-Spike, pro-Buffy side seems to be more likely to held by people who aren't Spuffy fans at all, so it pops up a lot regardless of whether it's a Spuffy fic or not.

(The perils of multi-shipping; running across the demonization of characters I like because their ship 'stands in the way' of other ships that I also like.)

I've actually gotten pretty good at curating my fanfic experience to either avoid fics that place the blamely solely on one or the other or at least stick to fics where the blame game is mild and moved on from quickly, but that's on fanfic sites. Here on tumblr I've run into a number of anti-Spike and/or Spuffy posts lately. And after having a particularly uncomfortable 'Buffy did no wrong, Spike is the worst thing ever' type takes cross my dash... I just kind of needed to vent a bit without derailing someone else's post. I definitely need to keep working to curate my experiences here on tumblr, but I'll get there.

[ghosthan]

hello!! i saw that you made a lot of stuff for 1872 and i was wondering if 1872 tony is similar to regular comics tony?? i know mcu and comics tony are different and i want to get into 616, but if 1872 comics are more easy to read i might try those first! 😅

Hello, hello! 

Thank you for asking, and sorry it took me so long to get back to you! I wanted to think about it and put together a thoughtful response because I am desperately trying to convert MCU fans to 1872. Or comics fans who just haven’t gotten into 1872.

This post will contain some 1872 spoilers, but not the Big Spoiler that you probably already know about anyways. 

Anyways, let’s get into it. Yeehaw.

What is 1872? It’s Steve/Tony in the wild west.

1872 comics are very easy to read, very short, and you need absolutely no prior knowledge to get into them; I highly recommend these as a start point for MCU fans who are curious about dipping their toes into some of the other Steve/Tony universes. And 1872 is, indeed, a Steve/Tony universe. It’s really gay, (and dramatic.) Uh. So gay, in fact, that one of the comic artists who drew pages even occasionally shares Steve/Tony shipping memes. So.

Marvel 1872 is a four issue series released as a part of the Secret Wars event; you really do not need to know anything about this to enjoy 1872, because it is a self-contained alternate universe in a “pocket dimension”, meaning it’s totally separate from the 616 cannon but technically exists in the expanse of the multiverse!

Here’s the summary:

In the Battleworld zone of 1872, Sheriff Steve Rogers faces corruption and fear in the boom town of Timely. Can Anthony Stark pull Rogers' fat from the fire? Probably not, since the only thing he seems capable of pulling is a cork from a bottle. Things in Timely are bad, and getting worse — and when a stranger arrives in town, Timely will be changed forever.

Now, to compare “regular comics Tony”, or 616 Tony, with 1872 Tony.

The main difference? 616 Tony wears this sexy little under suit (or nothing) under his armor, like this:

And 1872 Tony wears dirty, stinky one-piece pajamas under his armor (not sexy):

He’s so gross, he’s a mess. I love him. You’ll love him, too. 

No, okay. Being serious.

 616!Tony’s backstory is a lot more complicated just due to how long the character has existed, and the decades of cannon (much of it self-contradictory at points.) Like MCU Tony, 616 Tony used to manufacture weapons, experiences something life-changing, and becomes who he is as a result of this as a catalyst. 616 Tony’s backstory has been rebooted a few times, and I’m definitely not the definitive source on Iron Man lore compared to people who have read all of his comics, but I’ll try to touch on the basics.

Originally, 616 Tony Stark is shaped by his experience in the Vietnam War. This is later rebooted and changed to war in the middle East (we see this in the MCU when Tony is held captive in Afghanistan.) In both circumstances, he is taken captive after being in the air for war technology, and then he creates the suit to save his own life (losing a beloved mentor in the process, the guilt of which stays with him after.)

Tales of Suspense #39

In 1872, Tony’s formative event is the Civil War in some ways, but in other ways, this is only half of it, because this is not the event which causes him to build armor or set him onto his “become a better person” trajectory, like in the other comics. Mainly, the Civil War functions to cause Tony to stop weapons manufacturing and throw his life away down a bottle.

We get a flashback of Tony in the year 1862 with his female companion, picnicking and about to watch a battle, (rich people from the North did this in real life. If you’re interested, read more here!) We don’t get much of his past, but we discover that he is a rifle manufacturer and that he has created something called the ‘Stark Repeating Rifle’, and it seems that he has done so with the hope of encouraging a cease-fire, more than a slaughter.

Well. We don’t always get what we ask for.

Tony vows to actually never touch a weapon ever again, and this personal oath means so much to him that he gets creative at times during 1872 when he’s being chased by baddies:

Witnessing the extreme bloodshed of the Civil War, and feeling responsible for a huge amount of deaths, Tony turns to drinking, (and presumably moves to the west to escape the Pain of his Past, but this is not shown explicitly on panel; I have assumed, though, that Tony’s weapons manufacturing company was in the East, probably Boston or New York, since he comes from family money and because the American West was still “young” at this point in time so it would be unlikely that an established business would be supplying a war from lawless territory with little infrastructure.)

In 616, it’s worth noting that Tony builds the armor to save himself from danger in a war scenario; this is not the case in 1872, things unfold a bit differently. The Civil War certainly sets in motion the chain of events that eventually lead to the creation of Tony’s armor, but he’s not in physical danger or physically traumatized by the war in this verse as he is in other verses, and 616 Tony seems to have a stronger sense of duty than 1872 Tony, but this might be a complication of the depression/apathy related to the alcoholism.

What I mean by this is that both iterations of Tony struggle with alcoholism, but differently. Mainly, while 616 Tony has several alcohol themed arcs, and hits rock bottom with his alcoholism to cope with his trauma, he is sober more than he is drunk in the comics. His drinking almost kills him, and he almost loses everything because of the drink. It’s a source of enormous shame for him.

In fact, during this time in 616, I think Tony at his lowest reminds me a lot of 1872 Tony; 616 Tony is not an apathetic person and he holds himself accountable for an obscene amount of responsibility, but during what is referred to in fandom as The Second Drinking Arc, Tony basically gives up. This is the most “like” 1872 Tony, at least at the start of his arc. Rhodey takes over the mantle of Iron Man, and 616 Tony spirals, not caring whether he lives or dies, not hero-ing certainly.

We see both versions of Tony express similar sentiments, a certain cavalier attitude about their lives (and outright suicidality at other points) with nothing left but the drink.

Iron Man Vol. 1 #182

Compare with:

And you can certainly see a resemblance between this set of panels from IM v.1 #176 and in 1872:

Iron Man Vol. 1 #176 and Marvel 1872 #1

It’s a little different in 1872, where his drinking really is purely a result of his existing despair, and it doesn’t cause enormous problems for him, (minor problems, sure. He spends a lot of time drunkenly singing to Sheriff Rogers, or bothering him from the inside of a jail cell.) But this Tony lives at rock bottom, whereas 616 Tony only stays at rock bottom long enough to get his life back together (as many times as it takes.)

This Tony really doesn’t show any outward shame about his drinking; presumably, the people he knows in Timely have only ever known Tony as a drunk, and none of the people from his old life are here to see him like this. 

This is a Tony who has essentially given up on himself and has moved out West to hide from his shame and his past; this is not a Tony who is scared of letting down his friends by drinking, or scared of shirking his “duty”, because this Tony has moved away from all of his friends and has given himself no duties. He’s a bit more apathetic, but I would argue that this is not because he inherently is a less moral version of Tony, but because in this verse, he was drinking for a very long time and circumstances unfolded differently so it took him a longer time to find that sense of purpose and responsibility (beyond just shutting down manufacturing guns,) which is awakened in him by Steve Rogers. 

616 Tony’s sobriety is a major part of his character, and a conscious choice that he makes, even during some lowest points:

Civil War: The Confession

He takes some amount of pride in his sobriety, and when he does fall off the wagon at times (or magic makes everyone think he did,) it absolutely tears him up because 616 Tony cares very, very much about his sobriety and does not like who he is when he’s drinking. We do not know if 1872 Tony’s father had been a drunk or not, but we know 616 Tony’s father was, and that the drink lead to him treating Tony abusively.

Iron Man Vol. 1 #285 

Avengers Disassembled #1 (This was when ~magic~ made Tony drunk and it wrecked him breaking sobriety without ever having actually drank. Oof.)

616 Tony’s long struggle with alcoholism is a major part of his character and he has had relapses over the years and throughout the reboots, but in general, he does not drink.

1872 Tony starts drinking in 1862 and doesn’t stop until the last pages of the story, so in terms of the cannon we have for him, he is a current drunk, rather than a former drunk. This isn’t to say he doesn’t stop; but since it’s in the last page or so, it sets the reader up to imagine his sober future, rather than exploring his sobriety as 616 does. (Calling all fanfic writers!)

Anyways, both Tony’s are excellent. Both are damaged and traumatized, both are Iron Man in their own ways, both (eventually) find sobriety, both have some cute, quippy dialogue (though 616 Tony tends to be more reserved/polite for sure, in general). 

The last thing I’ll point out, is that both Tonys’ narratives are intertwined with and influenced by their respective Steve Rogers. I’m not saying soulmates but I’m saying soulmates.

Anyways. Sorry this post got super long, and I apologize if any of it is confusing or redundant, I am not functioning at my highest capacity currently. Please read 1872. Let it rock your world. Create & consume the fanworks, I would love to see a boom of 1872 content (more than the fics and art I keep making!) And my ask-box is always open!

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Is It Really THAT Bad?

There really is only one way I could ever kick this series off: with the very movie that inspired it. Robot Monster is a B-movie with a reputation that precedes it by many miles. Even f you’ve never actually watched this, you might have heard that it is one of the worst films of all time, because as we all know, independent B-movies with no budget need to be held to the same standard as Hollywood blockbusters. These days most people have settled into calling it a prime example of “so bad it’s good” cinema, with folks like film historian Leonard Maltin calling it “one of the genuine legends of Hollywood - embarrassingly, hilariously awful.”

But even back in the day when it came out there was some claims this film wasn’t so bad. Variety, of all publications, said that “Robot Monster comes off surprisingly well, considering the extremely limited budget ($50,000) and schedule on which the film was shot." After years of hearing nothing but that this film is an utter travesty, it can be especially bizarre to hear that even in its day, there were people who understoof that maybe this film shouldn’t be held up to the same standards as something like Citizen Kane or a Hitchcock film. Maybe it should be judged… as a low-budget B-grade sci-fi film! GASP! What a concept!

THE GOOD

I think perhaps one of the genuinely greatest aspects of this film is the score, which was done by, of all people, Elmer Bernsetein. If you don’t recognize the name, you will almost certainly recognize the vats body of work he has, with his resume including composing work for The Magnificent Seven, The Ten Commandments, The Blues Brothers, Heavy Metal, Ghostbusters, The Black Cauldron, Wild Wild West, An American Werewolf in London, and even the music video for “Thriller.” This is one of his earlier works, and it is still absolutely fantastic, to the point where some (but not I) might feel it belongs in a better movie. It quite frankly uplifts the material onscreen and gives it a grander weight that a lesser composer might not have been able to accomplish.

Contrary to the popular concept of B-movies, most of them have pretty decent acting at least, and this one is no exception; most of the cast is relatively solid, with even the little boy actor managing to turn in a solid performance; he’s not overly remarkable, sure, but he is just as petulant as he needs to be, and he does contribute some genuinely good ideas at points. Of course, the real stars of the show here are the physical performance of Geroge Barrows and the astounding vocal performance of John Brown as the legendary B-movie monster Ro-Man. We never see his face, and yet the physical acting of this man in a gorilla suit and fishbowl combined with the powerful voice of Brown really comes together.

And speaking of Ro-Man, I’m just going to come out and say it: the cheapo monster design that has been so widely mocked for decades is something I find to be incredibly inspired, unique, and genuinely great. Yes, I’m sure when you hear the phrase “robot monster” the first thing that comes to your mind if you’ve never heard of the film would most likely not be “gorilla in a diving helmet.” But it has such a creative charm born from a lack of finances that it’s truly impossible to really hate the creature. It helps that Ro-Man has gone on to make various appearances in cameos in pop culture, as well as helping to inspire the design of the character Minion from the cinematic masterpiece Megamind.

And all that aside, are you really so stone-hearted you can bring yourself to hate this guy?

The Bad

There are a few issues that pop up within this, with one of the more major ones being with the story structure. While the plot itself isn’t super bad, with it being basic B-movie fluff and the short runtime gives it a decent pacing, there’s a weird amount of padding, most noticeable during a stretch of time where it just cuts back to Ro-Man walking up and down a hill as dramatic music plays. The use of weird stock footage from old dinosaur movies also comes off as a bit weird. Still, the strangest bit of all is Ro-Man’s sudden and inexplicable lust for the human woman, to the point where he almost screws up his entire mission because he’s suddenly become horny. It’s rather jarring and out of nowhere, though it at least leads to some good lines from Ro-Man.

Out of all of the actors, the little girl is probably the most annoying. She’s so annoying, in fact, that it almost comes across as a mercy when Ro-Man finally strangles her. And her death is kind of underplayed, especially by her brother, who doesn’t seem too shaken up by how his sister has been strangled and that the extremely low amount of people left on Earth has now gone down.

And speaking of the boy, the ending reveals that the entire film was just his dream, which is one of the absolute worst endings a work can go for. A last-second reveal shows that the prior events may have actually been some sort of prophetic dream, as it is implied that Ro-Man and his masters will invade the Earth after all, but it still is a bit of a cop out. It takes a really great work to pull off the “all just a dream” twist ending, and while this movie is certainly not awful, it’s definitely not The Wizard of Oz or Super Mario Bros. 2.

Is It Really THAT Bad?

This movie really did not live up to its reputation at all. I went in expecting some hilarious disaster of a film, and instead what I got is a flawed yet charming B-movie that managed to be extremely creative despite its low budget and features a lot of good elements. While I don’t think it all comes together perfectly, and I’ve definitely seen far better cheesy B-movies, this is certainly not the bottom of the barrel as its legendary infamy would have you believe.

Its solid 3 on IMDB I feel is a bit too harsh; while certainly no masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, it definitely feels like a three is a bit two low when there’s actually quite a bit good going for it. Realistically, I think a score in the mid-to-low fives would be a much better score for the film. As for its status as a “so bad it’s good film,” I think it is at least somewhat fair in this case, as the story itself is rather wonky, but I don’t think the film is bad for its quirky creativity, such as Ro-Man or the bubble machine; unique little quirks of the film I feel are genuinely good and help set it apart from other B-movies from the time and give it a unique identity that not many movies can match.

I think this film is most comparable to something like fellow B-movie The Giant Claw, where most of its more ironic fandom comes from the goofy monster than anything. I think that is warranted, as Ro-Man is just such a wonderfully iconic B-movie villain; maybe we should get Guillermo del Toro on the phone and see if he wants to do a sexy reimagining of this movie next. It’s what he deserves.

[tainbocuailnge]

The fandom you're in looks really awesome, and the reason I followed you is it the cooler that comes with it, but I have no idea what it's about or what the actual game is? Is there a place I can go to kind of find out and maybe play myself? (You're so passionate about it that I'm starting to get really curious but google is my enemy)

I’m GUESSING you mean fate series cause that’s my number one thing I do not shut up about. it’s uhh kind of a spiraling mess of a series but most installments are standalone enough for it to not be a complete hell to get into, but also I’m glad you asked because getting in without help is definitely hell

fate started with the visual novel fate/stay night, written by kinoko nasu and released in 2004. as such that’s the best starting point in my opinion, because it features all the detailed worldbuilding groundwork that later installments kind of gloss over so it can be hard to go back to if you already know all that from other installments. the plot is that seven magi summon legendary heroes to fight for them in a ritual war, with the prize being the holy grail which can grant any wish. leading themes are what it means to be a hero and save someone, the way history repeats itself, and forming your own identity in the wake of trauma. it has three routes, the last of which especially has really heavy themes of physical emotional and sexual abuse so if you need detailed content warnings pm me and I’ll do my best

fsn has several releases, the original vn features infamously bad erotica but there’s a rerelease called fate/stay night [realta nua] which replaced those scenes with pg-15 content and also tightened the visuals up a bit. I’ve got downloads for both versions here. it’s like 80 hours of vn so that’s quite the investment but there’s also the anime fate/stay night [unlimited blade works] featuring the second route, and the third route is getting a series of movies the first of which is out too, called heaven’s feel - presage flower. fate route (the first route) sort of got an anime in 2006 and unlimited blade works a movie in 2010 but those are really really bad so look for the 2014 anime and 2017 movie. imo the ubw anime did a decent job and heaven’s feel is doing pretty good too so far so they’re good for seeing if you like what the series has to offer before you dive into a long ass vn.

the prequel to fate/stay night is fate/zero, a light novel series written by gen urobuchi in collaboration with nasu. as such it’s notably darker than the rest of the series but by nature of being a prequel it makes for an equally decent starting point as stay night, since both will spoil things for the other. fate/zero has an anime too. 

imo stay night and zero are the ‘standard’ fate installments, if someone says they like fate you can safely assume they’ve consumed at least one of those - is what I used to say but apparently it’s been so long that even this isn’t a reasonable assumption anymore. oh how times have changed. anyway please do start with zero or stay night cause like I said those are earlier installments so they’re at high risk of falling flat if you already know the deep lore from later stuff.

the biggest most booming fate installment is fate/grand order, a mobile game featuring characters from all other fates as well as a lot of newcomers. it’s pretty newbie friendly in terms of lore I think but you’ll get more out of it if you do know the background for all these characters since character development tends to carry over between installments. it’s infamously story heavy for a mobile game, especially in the later chapters when nasu got the hang of writing for mobage. the tone is also notably different from fsn and fz in that it’s more…. grandiose and theatrical, and obviously it waifs everyone up a bit so they can get you to spend money. still good tho. still love it. it’s got two anime specials, first order and moonlight lostroom, but first order makes no damn sense if you don’t know anything of stay night and lostroom takes place after the events of the first fgo arc. there’s anime projects of two of the chapters in progress too.

you thought that was all? you’re a fool this isn’t even half of it but I’ll briefly go over the rest under a cut cause those 3 are the big players.

carnival phantasm is a comedy OVA series featuring skits about several works from the same author. about half of it is about fate and the other about tsukihime, an earlier visual novel. watching order is after stay night. today’s menu for the emiya family is the canon domestic fsn au manga and anime where everyone’s just chilling eating dinner together instead of killing each other. 

fate/hollow ataraxia is another visual novel. it’s a direct sequel to fate/stay night and a personal favourite. it takes place half a year after stay night and features much of the same themes, but from a pair of characters who lost the war in fsn before it even started.

fate/apocrypha is another series of light novels. in terms of reading order i’d put it after stay night and zero. it features a cast twice as big as those two and basically approaches the same themes from a different angle. it’s got a finished anime and an ongoing manga but the anime kinda butchered pretty much everything about it. unfortunately one of the light novels is still not translated so the anime is still the most accessible way to get approximately the whole story. the manga IS very good though so once that’s finished I’d probably tell people to read that one if they want to apocrypha

fate/EXTRA is a psp game it’s like 10 bucks in the ps store iirc. for reading order I’d put it after stay night but not necessarily after zero. in this one the ritual for the holy grail is held in a simulation on the moon, which is a supercomputer, and it’s an organised tournament with 128 participants instead of a 7 man free for all. it’s about forging meaningful bonds in a system designed to drive people apart and finding the drive to keep going even if nothing is certain. the gameplay isn’t great but the story is $$$ it’s my other personal favourite. it’s sequel is called fate/EXTRA CCC, it’s on psp too but never got a western release, but there’s a translation of one route out there and some madmen are working on a translation patch that’ll be done in time for my grandchildren I hope. CCC is the wildest ride of my life i love it a lot but it’s very horny so not really for everyone. fate/extra CCC fox tail is a manga which follows an alternate CCC route and i hear it’s cool. the sequel to CCC is fate/EXTELLA which did come to the west and is on several platforms, and somewhere next year fate/EXTELLA link should get localised. extella is very rushed and mostly expands the extraverse world but if you can grab it on sale after you decided you like extra it’s not a bad buy just don’t pay full price. fate/EXTRA last encore is an anime which. sort of comes after extra? it’s very trippy arthouse bullshit and I ate that shit up but it’s definitely not for everyone. the last 3 episodes are missing on netflix so make sure you don’t miss those if you decide to watch.

fate/kaleid liner PRISMA ☆ ILLYA is a magical girl spinoff manga & anime which sounds great in theory until you see it’s mostly pedobait, but extremely unfortunately for us sometimes it does something legitimately cool so we all suffer. don’t get into prillya it’s bad for your health. 

fate/strange fake WAS an aprils fools story but this series has no limits so now it’s a full on light novel spinoff and also manga I think? I don’t keep up with it but it throws some wild ass lore our way sometimes. you’ll probably want to be up to date with apocrypha and everything before it before you try this one.

fate/prototype was just the original concept for fsn extrapolated a bit upon but again this series has no limits. prototype has an animated feature and some material books, and then the light novels fate/prototype fragments of blue and silver are the prequel to prototype, but it’s weird cause we never got a proper prototype so I don’t know what’s up with that. fate/labyrinth is a side story to fragments which I know even less about. I actually never see anyone talk about prototype so there’s probably no translations lol

lord el melloi II case files is even more light novels. I’m pretty sure you need to have gone over stay night, zero, hollow ataraxia, apocrypha, and strange fake before this one starts to make sense. there might be translations? i don’t know a fucking thing my guy

[margoslxix]

Why Everyone Should Join the New Albion Fandom

Alright, so I know some of my followers already know about New Albion. I’ve definitely been posting about it a lot lately. But not only is it a great work, but so far, the fandom is shaping up to be something absolutely special and unique, something worth keeping an eye on for those of us interested in fandom history and culture. It’s still a small fandom, but it seems to be growing fairly quickly, and I think this is as good of a time as any to make a post like this.

What is New Albion?

Good question! The short answer is, it’s a series of operas. Specifically, retro-futuristic science fiction operas. That sounds niche as hell, because it is. But the music is incredible, and the stories are extremely well-written. There’s also a good deal of LGBT representation, which is always a plus.

You can find the entire series here. As you can see, that looks extremely intimidating, but here’s a simple guide to getting into the series:

You should start with Dolls of New Albion. It’s the first in the main trilogy, and the most well-known. You can find a few actual performances on Youtube, which is a nice bonus. If you’re extremely into jazz, you can also safely start with The New Albion Radio Hour, but I don’t think it’s quite as satisfying without having Dolls as a basis. Dolls of New Albion is an epic, with each act following a different cast of characters in the same family line, and how all of their actions cause the downfall of a great city. The aesthetic is Steampunk, probably accounting for the popularity of this one in particular.

The New Albion Radio Hour is the direct sequel. It’s a much more compact, action-oriented piece. It’s Dieselpunk, so prepare for a lot of noire goodness. It follows a single family on a single night, and while the plot is completely separate from Dolls, it definitely does build on the lore.

Finishing out the trilogy is The New Albion Guide to Analogue Consciousness, a wild Atompunk ride. It’s a bit less linear than its predecessors, with Act 2 being a massive flashback that helps to explain the plot. It has a reputation of being the hardest of the three to follow plot-wise, so you definitely don’t want to start with this one, although it’s also very, very good. It also ties the plots and characters of the other two together in an extremely unexpected and interesting way, so it’s absolutely a great “end” to an amazing trilogy.

Once you’ve finished the main trilogy, your next destination should be The Room Beneath New Albion. It was written as a sort of love letter to the fans, and an epilogue for the series. Taking place during the third act of Dolls, it delivers on a plot point left hanging at the end of the trilogy.

All of this takes less than 6 hours, so this is not a fandom that will take you hours and hours to get caught up. If you were a latecomer to anything like Homestuck or The Adventure Zone, New Albion is incredibly accessible.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

You may have noticed that there are more than four albums on the Bandcamp page. Don’t worry. Just because the main trilogy is over doesn’t mean that New Albion is finished. Now is actually an excellent time to get into the fandom, as we’re all waiting at the edge of our seats for the third act of The Ballad of Lost Hollow. 

The Ballad of Lost Hollow is a 3-act opera being released one act at a time, and Act 2 (”Uncle Raven’s Super Happy Funtime Carnival”) was released very recently. While it was a massive plot twist at the time, it is no longer a secret that this opera, while seemingly unrelated to New Albion, is actually the fourth full installment in the series, and seems to be heading in a Cyberpunk direction. Still, it’s taken a lot of detours through Weird West and a Carnival aesthetic, so it’s got a little something for everyone.

In addition, if you want to hear more, most of the albums on the composer’s Bandcamp do take place in the same universe! If you want to get additional lore, feel free to give a listen to nearly everything. Fairy Tales for the Lost and Wandering in particular actually includes a track called “New Albion 7,” an important side-story linking Radio Hour to Analogue Consciousness. If you liked that, there’s also Fairy Tales for Homeless Fairies, another album of fairy tales, but one with a more connected plot.

For more background on Uncle Raven, formally introduced to the New Albion series in Act 2 of Lost Hollow and quickly becoming the most popular character in the series, check out The Fallen and Shadows and Flames, both of which feature him pretty heavily. (He’s actually a very old OC of the creator, so there is official lore for him dating back to the 90s.)

If you want something a little different (and not necessarily canon), check out The Slenderman Musical or Cthulhu The Funksical, both incredibly weird and unique takes on pre-existing stories.

And if you’ve listened to everything and you’re still hungry for more New Albion, the composer’s blog contains a bunch of short fiction and character backgrounds for the series, providing additional context and lore notes.

How is this Fandom Unique?

This one’s kind of a long story.

You see, we have this Discord server (which I can give you a link to, if you’re interested). A lot of fandoms do. It was started by @sludge-bot, and I don’t think he expected it to get as big as it did.

Well, sure enough, it sort of exploded. Meanwhile, cryptic messages on Paul Shapera’s blog seemed to suggest that he was a member of the Discord himself, lurking and incognito. He promised that he would reveal himself in a Q&A session over voice chat.

And he did. Sonmi451, a person who had been a member of the server for a long time, turned out to be Paul Shapera himself. Turns out, he’s not just an amazing composer, he’s also a really cool dude. The Q&A went wonderfully, but we were all a little unsure of how things would go after that.

And here’s where things start to get wild:

Paul stayed. 

We continued to behave as a normal fandom, producing fics and art and headcanons. We’re pretty active for a small fandom, partially because we’re a tight-knit community. We’re always welcoming of new members, but for the time being, this is a fandom where just about everyone knows everyone else.

Except that the content creator, The Guy Who Controls the Canon, is among us.

He frequently shows up to randomly declare people’s headcanons canon, or comment on our art and fics. The atmosphere is casual and friendly, and he frequently jokes about our shenanigans. 

He’s also written the Discord server into the official lore, as an organization of mad historians and scholars (the New Albion Discordian Society, or NADS). In addition, he has named several characters after members of the group, and said that he will continue to do so.

The official support from the composer has made the New Albion Fandom Discord into more-or-less an “Official, Authorized Fan Club.” We also may or may not have our hands on some exclusive content, some of which may or may not be total game-changers for the lore.

Anyway, Paul Shapera is a really cool dude, and his engagement with his loving fandom has created a totally unique atmosphere with regards to how things like headcanons work, as well as answering questions and expanding our understanding of the lore.

That was long. Why should we join the New Albion fandom?

To summarize: Do you like amazing music? Do you like great stories? Listen to the New Albion series. It’s shorter to get into than a lot of other popular Tumblr fandoms, but it also gives you more depending on how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go. For this reason, it’s a totally customization fandom experience. Join the Discord server, and you’ll make a ton of cool friends, and have an already-established community to geek out about the series with.

I could see this potentially blooming into a large fandom, and I’m not entirely sure how that will change the current culture and dynamic. But honestly? It’s exciting, and I’m willing to find out. (Plus, Paul deserves a lot of love and attention, because his music is AMAZING.)

[saharasnowfall]

Regarding Birdie Gate

My BTS Asks posts, specifically the question regarding BigHit, come at an interesting time so I want to drop in some of my personal thoughts.

Background:

BTS were about to release a Japanese album, in which one of the songs, Bird, was penned by Akimoto Yasushi, a Japanese lyricist who is perceived to be a misogynistic, right-wing extremist.  

Considering the sensitive socio-political history between Korea and Japan, the Korean side of fandom strongly voiced their concerns to BigHit and demanded that all collaborations with Akimoto be terminated immediately.  When K-ARMY did not receive any response, they, understandably, reached out to I-ARMY for help.  It should be noted that K-ARMY have disregard J-ARMY opinion on the matter, despite the facts that Akimoto collaboration is specifically intended for the Japanese fans.

Most I-ARMY tried to stay out of it or watched from afar with a neutral perspective while gathering more information, until K-ARMY started spamming twitter, fancafe, public forum, and vandalizing BH building with hostile notes. At one point, Jimin logged into fancafe and saw all the hateful comments left by K-ARMY.  This pissed off a lot of I-ARMY who considered the fancafe to be safest place for BTS.

I-ARMY criticized K-ARMY for their poor handling of the situation, even accused them of running wild with dubious claims. K-ARMY offended by I-ARMY’s skepticism and being condescending toward I-ARMY for their ignorance of the issue and blind trust in BigHit.

It’s only been a couple of days since this controversy started but the situation has already spiraled into a huge ugly mess.  

Finally, BigHit issued statement with the decision of removing Bird from BTS Japanese album.

  Response to K-ARMY’s actions and their justifications:

1. BigHit and BTS are separate entities.  K-ARMY are questioning BH and Bang PD’s decision as an effort to protect BTS. BTS is not to blame for the situation.   

Eh I don’t think it works like that.  Bird is promoted as BTS song in a BTS album. Also, it is well-known that BigHit give BTS a lot of creative freedom and control over their works.  If BTS don’t want to work with Akimoto, there would not be any collaboration.  If the collaboration is problematic, then BTS are right smack in the middle of the scandal, no matter how K-ARMY spin this.

2. K-ARMY spamming fancafe, which is considered to be BTS’ safe space. Jimin probably freaked out when he logged in and saw those hateful notes.

Aside from the hateful notes, which I can’t verify because I can’t read Korean so I’m not going to comment on that, I’m actually okay with K-ARMY spamming fancafe.  

Fancafe was created as a channel of communication between BTS and ARMY.  This communication channel works both way.  ARMY should be able to utilize it, in a respectful manner, of course, to freely communicate their concerns and voice their criticisms.

So what if Jimin sees those comments? Jimin is my baby, okay.  I call him baby because he is so damn cute.  But he is a fucking adult.  Let’s treat him like one.  

Don’t baby him or the rest of Bangtan for that matter.  Shower them with praises and love as you see fit.  But also let them hear criticism when the situation warrants it.  

There is no such thing as a safe space in the entertainment industry. If Jimin and the rest of BTS cannot handle criticisms, they are in the wrong business.

And I rather have BigHit, BTS, K-ARMY and I-ARMY duke it out in the fancafe and have their fights contained in private settings, even if the fights get ugly, than air them out in public.  Which brings me to point # 3:

3. K-ARMY spamming twitter, public forums, Naver articles, etc.

K-AMRY say they want to protect BTS from public backlash, yet they’re bringing the issue directly to the public eye. 

They’re pretty much screaming: “HEY GENERAL PUBLIC, GUESS WHAT.  BTS IS GOING TO DO SOMETHING TERRIBLE THAT YOU’RE NOT GOING TO LIKE. TERRIBLE TERRIBLE THINGS.  OH YOU WILL NOT LIKE IT AND YOU WILL BE VERY VERY ANGRY. BAD BAD BTS.”  

The goal and the method to achieve that goal are not aligning. *sigh*

4. K-ARMY vandalizing BigHit’s building.

What the hell.   Bad bad K-ARMY.

5. Akimoto is a misogynist that writes questionable lyrics.  BTS should not associate themselves with someone like that.

Yeah, I read those lyrics.  Definitely disgusting and misogynistic.  

However, K-ARMY seemed stubbornly stuck on the lyrics of problematic songs, while ignoring his other songs where he writes about life struggles, self-acceptance, fighting against social ideals, you know, ideas that are very similar to BTS’ message.  

Have we forgotten about War of Hormones, Expensive Girl, or Boy in Luv music video?  It’s like judging BTS’ entire discography solely based on War of Hormones and completely ignore everything else they have done, including how much they have changed and grown. Is that how we want others to judge BTS? Because that is certainly how we judge Akimoto.

Okay, say that we can’t look past Akimoto’s misogynistic views and we make a stand that we don’t tolerate BTS working with anyone with questionable morals.  Understandable.  It is actually a good stand.  May be a bit impractical in a business sense, but still a good, socially responsible stand.

Is K-ARMY going to demand for the immediate termination of all Supreme Boi’s works with BTS? Supreme Boi has been working closely with BTS for several years now and has probably produced some of your favorite BTS songs.  Where is your outrage?  

What about Chainsmokers?  Nicki Minaj? What about Kanye West or Chris Brown, other other problematic artists that BTS have expressed interest in?  Where is your concern?

K-ARMY not accepting Akimoto because he is a misogynistic individual or because he is a misogynistic Japanese individual?

I’m not saying that we don’t criticize BTS/BigHit for their association with questionable individuals, we should. But K-ARMY's selective judgement and inconsistent, even hypocritical, behaviors imply that there are other factors at play.  That this is not just a case of ARMY “protecting” BTS.  This is my main point.

6. Akimoto is a right-wing extremist.  Considered the sensitive socio-political relation between Korean and Japan, BTS should not associate themselves with someone like that.

My issue is that K-ARMY have not provide any concrete evidence to support this claim.  We can’t go around and accuse people of being a Nazi, a very serious accusation, without solid proof. I’m not sure about others, but I’m a big believer of the whole innocent-until-proven-guilty concept.  

Actually, even some K-ARMY admits that this is more about “perception” rather than solid evidence.  Which brings me to my next point:

7. “Whether he is actually a right wing or not, the general public PERCEIVES him that way, not just k-armys. Please understand that that is the point. The korean PERCEPTION of him is enough for them to rise in arms against the boys. That's what we don't want.”  

Yes, negative perception, whether true or not, can have detrimental effect on BTS.  But I don’t want to take the stand that false perception is more important than the truth.  If the general public have some false perception of BTS, we can try to educate the public and correct that perception.  

Sure, we might lose some support initially, but news flash, ARMY have been carrying BTS on their backs without general public’s support for years.  Don’t forget, we have been through scandals before. We got through all of them and came out even stronger. We should not be afraid of false claims. The truth will prevail.

8. “This issue is important to the people of Korea.  That's what you guys don't understand. The GP, when it comes to issues with Japan, NEVER just listen. It's THAT sensitive.”

I agree that we, I-ARMY, cannot fully understand the sensitivity of this issue.  It is not our place to decide what is offensive or not to Koreans.  It is not right for I-ARMY to dismiss and belittle K-ARMY’s opinions/feelings on this matter. 

But K-ARMY did reach out to I-ARMY.  Some did acted rudely and insensitively, but most of us was try to understand the situation with an objective eye.  We asked for evidence, but were instead given lies and misinformation. 

Even if I-ARMY cannot fully understand the sensitivity of issue because we are not Korean, BigHit and BTS would.  

Have K-ARMY forgotten that BigHit and BTS are themselves Korean?   

They grew up in Korean. They are Korean citizens. They know Korean history and share the same Korean culture, beliefs and sentiments that K-ARMY and the Korean general public have.

Even if BigHit is some incompetent company that does reckless harmful things, do we think that RM, Suga, Jin, J-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, all seven of them, would be so ignorant that they don’t know, or that they do know but dumbly choose to be insensitive about something that is so important to the Korean general public?

I trust BTS’  intelligence, knowledge and judgement, especially RM and Suga.  They have shown to me that they are wise, mature and thoughtful adults. 

But hey, may be BTS are that dumb because K-ARMY are so adamant that BTS don’t know what is harmful to them.  K-ARMY clearly know better than BTS, than BigHit, than any of us!

BTS is not Akimoto’s first Kpop collaboration.  There were no huge backlash from the Korean general public at PD48, MNET or MAMA for their association with Akimoto that could not be settled/resolved.  I think that during one PD48 press conference, Korean media actually clarified the right wing controversy.

So K-ARMY, are you sure that you’re protecting BTS from credible threats? Concrete, significant, detrimental threats that would justify your extreme actions?  Are you sure you are not blowing the issue out of proportion?

I’m going copy these here:

Well, I guess we won't ever have to worry about the general public turning on BTS. ARMY will do that and more before the public ever gets a chance.  

What’s done is done.  

K-ARMY, you got what you want. Congrats.  But please handle yourself better in the future. Oh and the whole pathological willingness to manipulate news & spread lies in the name of "love and protection" thing, it is disturbing as hell.  Stop it.

J-ARMY, sorry.  :/   Hopefully BTS will find a new lyricist for Bird, re-record it and release it later under a different name for you.  

Response to BTS/BigHit’s actions:

I’m not one to have blind faith in anyone or anything.  Although I’m a big fan of BTS, I’m critical of their actions, as well as BigHit’s.

If BTS or BigHit do something questionable, ARMY should be able to voice our concerns.  In this situation, while there is a better way for K-ARMY to communicate such concerns, had BigHit acknowledged the issue right away, things probably would not have gotten so out of control. I swear sometimes they are so frustratingly inept.

Honestly, I don’t think BTS/BigHit should cave to ARMY’s demands, especially if the demands are irrational.  They should not reward all the bad behavior, the bullying, the harassment, the lies and manipulation. Today, we’re killing Birdie. Tomorrow, we’re kicking international playboy JungKook, or Jimin, or Taehyung out of BTS for dating because K-ARMY demand so. 

Fans controlling artist’s creative works and even personal life is not new in Kpop. But for so long, BTS have been talking and singing about rising against society’s unreasonable expectations, about being themselves, being able to do what they want without fear.  Look at IDOL’s lyrics:

Whatever the reason for your criticism is I know what I am I know what I want I never gon’ change I never gon’ trade

If BTS think that Akimoto is the best collaboration candidate for Bird and accusations against him are unfounded, then they should proudly release the song.  Whether or not I agree with their decision, whether or not there are grave consequences, I would respect them for being brave enough to do what they think is right, even if it’s unpopular.

With that said, I do understand BTS/BigHit’s decision.  Disappointed, but not surprised. 

Yeah, BTS are artists.  BTS are idols. They might know what they want, but they won’t be able to do what they want.  They’re gon’ change & they’re gon’ trade, for the K-ARMY that claim to love them.  It is fake love.  And that is the saddest part. :(

Contrary to popular beliefs,  I don’t think that it is BigHit is the one that rolled over. I think it’s BTS that caved in first.  They probably had a call to discuss. BigHit asking BTS for their thoughts. BTS wanted to give in.  BigHit agreed.

I’m not saying that BigHit would not have given into K-ARMY’s demands if it wasn’t for BTS.  I think BigHit would arrive at the same decision even without BTS input because it is the most prudent business action with the least damage and the quickest way to put an end to this whole mess.  

It’s just that BigHit would probably take longer time to consider various business implications (i.e. expansion to Japanese market for BTS AND their future groups, BigHit reputation to Japanese business partners, lost opportunities, lost profits, weighting pro & cons, etc.), while BTS’ first instinct is to stop the angry mob and make fans happy because they are the one that will come face to face with the fans. 

We know that BTS, certain members and as a whole, are super soft and sensitive to K-ARMY’s criticism & demands.    They would cave in first and trust that BigHit will deal with the other business fallouts later.  Jimin didn’t put out that happy tweet for no reasons.  

In the end, while I don’t complete agree with BTS/BigHit’s actions from a principle standpoint, I understand and respect their decision.  

Just please don’t ever kick Jungkookie, or any members, out of BTS, okay.