#fandom exodus

[shsl-fujoshi]

Going Forward

Back in the livejournal days, I wrote a lot more posts that were long and involved, more thought out, and more personal.

I think all of us-- fandom and nerds and geeks specifically, but along with us everyone in the world-- I think we have been immeasurably harmed by corporate social media.

We have been harmed by conforming to an arbitrary word count, by the pressure to post short, “content” multiple times a day, for that content to be “relatable”, tepidly ‘family (advertiser) friendly’, and in the service of getting as much shallow ‘like/share/reblog’ attention to this “content” as possible. In service to our own egos, yes, but beyond that, in service to the desires of the vast, money hungry corporations who graciously allow us to provide free “content” for their vast, money hungry machines of social media.

We have been harmed, too, by the social pressures these corporate machines of mass communication create. The pressure not to be too cringey, too weird, too arrogant; the anti-intellectual pressure never to be “pretentious”.

Well fuck that my posts are not “content” and they are not created for the money hungry corporate machine, and they are not for it to drip feed to a mass audience like baby birds with their mother’s heavily digested pap.

My posts are weird, they are pretentious, and they are not fucking advertiser friendly.

They have contorted our minds to demand constant attention of the mass-communication money making machine they’ve created, and I don’t want to be part of it any more.

Back on Livejournal we were thrilled if a post made it to a few dozen comments.

And you know what? A few comments is leagues and lightyears better than hundreds of nothing-interactions. “Likes” and “reblogs”.

Shallow interaction for the machine to fill a few more milliseconds of scrolling for a few more people.

My posts are worth more than that.

YOUR posts are worth more than that.

I’m in the middle of a vast self-exodus to my own hosting-- as twitter is destroyed from within, and reddit eats itself, and AO3 is the victim of mass campaign of canibalization by fucking normies who are the front of useful idiots for conservative christians, and for terfs-- I am leaving.

Social media is a corpse on the ground, and we “””content creators””” are the soul of it. That soul will not die, we will simply all find new bodies to inhabit and infuse. 

But until that corpse is gone, I intend to be one damned annoying poltergeist for the scavengers to deal with while they rip apart the corpse of social media.

Fuck corporate interests. Fuck the money machine. Fuck the christian conservatives and the TERFs and everyone else who wants to hold you down and make you conform and lay still while they eat your corpse.

I’m pretentious. I’m long winded. And I’m not safe for advertisers.

Rattle those chains, baby. Rattle those chains.

appendix beneath the cut

related links:

Stop Talking to Each Other and Start Buying Things By Cat Valente

The Enshittification of TikTok by Cory Doctorow

Special note: X-Posted to my personal offsite blog

[dragonageconfessions]

CONFESSION:

Its really annoying and ridiculous to see people still crapping on Dragon Age 2 after eleven years. I religiously played Origins back then and kept up to date with everything that was said publicly about Dragon Age 2. The developers stated not to expect a sequel to Origins and they stated they would never do full on sequels. And I was fine with that. I loved playing Hawke and I loved the companions and their dynamic with each other. Now it was not a flawless game but it still thoroughly entertained me and I got my money's worth. But then again I have zero issues playing human protagonists. I will never understand why people can't let it go and move on and let the rest of us enjoy these games. As great as the warden was they did not have the same depth like Shepard from the Mass Effect Trilogy to be the protagonist in all three games.

And I will always believe they should have gotten rid of the 2 and called it Dragon Age Exodus.

[xxbobbykennedyxx]

Abe Simpson :D

[gophergal]

Artyom (you've been telling me your thoughts, but please share with the class)

Artyom Metro, my beloved silly guy

He's just such a fascinating silent protagonist to me. He has so much character. He's also a rare flavor of Blorbo for me

Bonus doodle of his face based entirely on hc

[aylen-san]

Noldor Correspondence Before the Exodus

Feanor: "Who will come with me to Middle-earth?"

Fingolfin: "We will go, but for pride, not for you."

Finarfin: "I will pass, good luck to all."

Arakano: "Why is it dark?"

Melkor: "Turned off...

[some-melon]

My Prince of Egypt Collection <3

I feel like posting this here, just because I need to show a little bit of love to The Prince of Egypt on my tumblr blog, since its been my special interest for like almost 4 years now.

This is my Prince of Egypt collection I have gathered since my obsession. I think I got my first item early 2021 which was a dvd of The Prince of Egypt I found shopping (I remember almost crying when I came across it LOL), and then in mid 2021 was when i got my first figurine, which was a figure of Rameses (because he's like my husband eheheh)

I got into The Prince of Egypt when I watched it on hulu on October 7th, 2020 after getting clips and animation test reels of the movie recommended to me on youtube. I've been super in love with the movie ever since, you have no idea..

I took this picture of my collection on December 16th, 2023 to post it to my tiktok in celebration of the movie's 25th anniversary. I've gotten 2 other items since then, so this picture is not up to date to what I have now. I can't take a new picture at the moment cuz the shelf I had them displayed on is still at my dads in my old room, all of my items are with me in my current home tho <3

If you want to see a more in depth look at my items, here is the post I made on tiktok

[hehebread]

i am not going anywhere even with the series ending but man it won’t be the same 🥹 won’t be able to share the joy of chapters or sketches dropping anymore !!! won’t be able to analyse the story together or predict how it will go

[gentil-minou]

sharing my wangxian phlebotomist!wwx/blood donor!lwj au from twitter here (a summary here if you wanna see)

--

The hardest part of the adoption process was supposed to be endless paperwork and screenings and the anxiety of not being good enough to meet high standards of the court.

It wasn't supposed to be A-Yuan's first doctors appointment.

His pitiful screams fill the small doctor's office. He's clinging to Lan Wangji's shoulders like there a lifeline, hiding and all LWJ wants to do is bundle up his son and carry him back to safety.

But these are mandatory vaccines he needs in order to attend pre-k. So he cant.

Nurse: Shots are never fun at this age, huh He would beg to differ; they're never fun at any age But see lwj isnt afraid of the shots themselves. Hes terrified of the sight of blood. His BFF loves horror movies & he watches them with her bravely by staring at the corner of the tv

When lwj gets his blood drawn, he looks closes his eyes and imagines being in a cold pond somewhere. But he's never been afraid of just the shot before.

He's helpless in the face of his son's distress. The nurse sighs, saying theyll have to try again another day.

A-Yuan sniffles into his baba's shirt, exhausted from the crying fit. His eyes are still watery and he looks around the room with such fear in his eyes, before withdrawing back into the safety of his baba's chest.

Lan Wangji has no idea what to do, only cradles him closer

Thankfully, LWJ has someone who can help. His best friend, Jiang Yanli is a child therapist and has been helping him prepare his home for A-Yuan.

If anyone knows what to do, it's Yanli-jie

JYL: Zhanzhan, have you tried showing him its not scary?

LWJ has not, bc he's terrified

JYL is the only one allowed to call him Zhanzhan. In Uni she was the one who mentored him his first week of school. Someone slipped him alcohol and he got deliriously drunk.

Yanli-jie was the one who found him and took him home. This is what they told the cohort but actually…

JYL: seeing his Baba get a shot and be okay might motivate him to be more brave

LWJ certainly doesn't feel brave. He's thinking of the blood flowing from his veins and then LEAVING them to go who knows where. It sounds barbaric

He has the distinct memory of learning what a period is in middle school and promptly passing out

He is not a fan of anything related to blood

But LWJ has learned that Yanli-jie knows what she's doing, so, despite the way he can swear he feels his blood pumping with fear, he agrees...but there's a problem.

LWJ: I am up to date on all my shots. How can I show him it is safe?

JYL: Hmm....I have an idea. My brother is a phlebotomist! He can help.

LWJ is confused. Last he heard, the younger Jiang is a prosecutor who makes a living viciously yelling in a courtroom.

JYL: Not him, Zhanzhan. My adoptive brother, A-Xian. I bet he would be happy to help you. He works at the blood bank at Yiling Clinic! The perfect exposure!

For who?, LWJ wonders. A blood bank sounds like a house of horrors to him. And a person who chooses to stick a needle in people and remove the very force that gives them life? He cannot imagine getting along with this person at all.

--

Yiling Clinic is a community clinic in a part of town Lan Wangji has never been to, especially since the Gusu Group has their own private hospital.

But this is where Yanli-jie's phlebotomist little brother works.

A-Yuan clings to the back of his legs as they approach the receptionist, a young man with amazing cat eye makeup named Mo Xuanyu

These two definitely do not fit the bill for their usual patients, with their designer clothing, so he asks with some skepticism: Um, can I help you?

LWJ has spent the last two hours siking himself up for the blood part, he isn't prepared at all for social interactions. He flounders like a fish.

LWJ: …I am…We are here for…

A shout comes from behind them: Ah! A-Yu, is that A-jie's friend? Zhanzhan?

LWJ flinches until he sees a man sprinting towards them. The 1st thing he notices is this man is wearing lilac scrubs with little white rabbits on them.

The 2nd thing he notices is this man has the most enchanting smile he's ever seen. Already, LWJ feels more relaxed.

The man winks at him: You like the scrubs? A-jie said A-Yuan liked bunnies, I figured this would help keep him calm.

LWJ does not blurt I like bunnies too. But only just.

Beside the man is a pediatric nurse named Wen Ning, no relation, who says he's here to help with A-Yuan

Yanli-jie's little brother, the phlebotomist, introduces himself: Ah! Sorry, Lan Zhan. Jiejie always calls you that so it just stuck. I'm Wei Wuxian. You can call me Wei Ying if you wanna make it even.

Strangely, LWJ feels no need to correct him: Lan Zhan is fine, Wei Ying.

WWX smiles so brightly, LWJ feels dizzy with it.

WWX: Now where's the little bunny himself?

A-Yuan has been clinging behind LWJ's pant leg, tilting around just enough to peek with one eye at this strange gege.

WWX: Maybe not a rabbit then, a radish who likes to hide away!

A-Yuan becomes offended: I don't like radishes!

WWX laughs: Me neither! But Qing-jie says they help us grow big and strong, so they can't be all that bad huh?

WWX is crouched in front of A-Yuan, draping both arms across his knees and resting his chin in one hand. He waits.

LWJ admires his patience. The longer WWX waits, crouched and rocking back and forth in front of A-Yuan, smile gently and welcoming, the more A-Yuan's natural curiosity gets the better of him.

Eventually, his son comes out from behind his leg to touch a black bunny on his sleeve

A-Yuan: I like this one. We only have a white bunny at home.

WWX: I like the black bunny too! What's your bunny's name?

A-Yuan: Banana, bc she tries to eat Baba's banana every morning, and you are what you eat.

He recites this with all the solemnity a 4 yo could possess

WWX's laughter echoes through the lobby: Well! You're very right, A-Yuan. Maybe you aren't a radish after all then. Tell me, what do little boys eat?

A-Yuan: I'm not little! I'm 4 and a half!

WWX: Right, right, I sincerely apologize for my mistake. What do big boys eat then?

A-Yuan purses his lips and taps his chin, pondering his question carefully: Hmm… jelly beans?

WWX looks like he wants to laugh more, but instead says: I see, I see. Thank you for your wisdom A-Yuan.

He looks up at LWJ, dark eyes dancing. LWJ's heart rabbits against his chest

WWX: If your baba is ready, we can head down to my cave if you'd like. I have a lot of cool machines I'd love to show you.

A-Yuan's eyes widen into saucers as he gasps: A cave? Wowww

They grin conspiratorially at each other, before turning bright eyes up at LWJ

LWJ feels warm and much more relaxed inside, so he nods: Mn. We may go.

A-Yuan cheers and holds WWX's hand as the head downstairs.

LWJ trails behind making small talk with WN, watching WWX and A-Yuan swing their hands and skip ahead, feeling something warm blossom in his chest.

The hallway to Wei Wuxian's lab isn't anything like Lan Wangji expects.

The rooms at Gusu are all perfectly pristine and sterile, painted white to promote serenity, rest, and healing.

For one thing, he'd raided a Halloween store at some point and hung up all sorts of decorations, mostly vampire themed. There's one that's says "I vant to suck your blood!" except suck is crossed out and replaced with "donate". Wwx and A-yuan giggle together at wwx's fake accent

It's definitely not up to Gusu General's strict standards. For one thing, there're beanbag chairs in the hall outside. Wwx says it's to feel more comfy while others wait, as he's the only phlebotomist on staff and it can take a while. A-Yuan personally tests each one.

His lab is…adequate if far too small. There's a desk that's overrun with stacks of papers and textbooks and a shelf that's filled with even more. The actual space where blood is drawn is, thankfully, sterile and clean. Though he's decorated with demons demanding blood for food

There's a temp controlled room where the blood is stored, with a red door and the words "Blood Pool" written in menacing barely legible font

Despite the…interesting decor, the room is homely and, surprisingly, welcoming. A-Yuan at least is having a very fun time getting a tour

Wwx patiently answers all of A-Yuan’s questions, even the endless why's, with utmost sincerity, even when his answers are purely nonsense.

Lwj can't stop the fond smile from lifting the corner of his lips. A-Yuan had never warmed up to a medical professional so fast.

He's pulled from his musings when A-Yuan grabs his sleeve: Baba! Blood-gege says this machine makes blood spin around!

Wwx burst out laughing: Blood-gege? I love it!

Lwj is enchanted, head repeating those last 3 words again and again as wwx fondly ruffles A-Yuan's fluffy hair

Wwx: alright, now that you're familiar with my beauty Chenqing (referring to his bloody spinny machine lwj does not want to think about), shall we get down to business?

He says this with his bright dark eyes glittering at LWJ. Right. The blood donating part.

Lwj gulps, nodding. A prisoner walking up to the gallows.

TBC

(If you're interested, I'm probably going to continue at least up to the end of the first part before i just make it into one long fic! You can follow it on my twitter!)

[exodus-manga]

EXODUS EPISODE 1 (1/2)

Wanna see the rest?? EXODUS is my original fantasy-apocalypse manga!

Right now, it’s entered in the Manga Creators Plus Monthly Awards— an analytics-based competition. Right now, with the reach I have, I can’t do it by myself.

I need to rely on my fellow artist to help me achieve my goal of hitting the top-ten spots. Please, go look at my comic! And, if you have a minute, interact with it. It really does help.

[freckleslikestars]

You know, all things considered, there are worse ways to end a day.

FARSCAPE | 1.03 Exodus from Genesis

[sunbratz]

i started thinking about an idea for my alice molloy fic but i fear it may be too abc's LOST (2004) coded........

[pinky-in-blankets]

I've probably got to be the most emotionally distressed person I know

I'm sorry guys ill try to be better

[polaroid-petals]

Vaguely sad that the old nightshade community seems to be long gone and that I came in past its prime, but also grateful that I get to be in the current nightshade community

[kindahoping4forever]

queen do you have any fic recs to hold us over until you make your writing return

I'd actually appreciate some myself! A large number of the authors I had been following (both slash and reader insert) have either gone inactive or on hiatus. I'll occasionally peruse the latest AO3 offerings (Tumblr searches are often fruitless for a number of reasons, that's an entirely different topic tbh) but the fact is, the fic world is so scattershot in our fandom right now, I haven't been reading much lately 🥲

[pronounrespector]

Can I say something