#first contribution to the mash fandom

[koalasmashedoneucalyptus]

This has been sitting in my drafts

[mia-does-nonsense]

Mashle + Shit I find on pinterest

1 2 3 4 5

[broitsf-ckingfreezing]

Fandom vs. Dooku: Religious Affiliation

Okay, my first rant has been making the rounds, so I wanted to come back and do a more in-depth approach (WITH EVIDENCE). Last time I was rapidly keyboard mashing on my phone whilst simultaneously howling my grievances to the moon, so hopefully everything should be a smidge more... coherent in this one.

This is taking HOURS to type up, so everything will be split into different posts. Possibly, idk. Look I have opinions and ADHD. Gotta peel those layers back like a particularly rancid onion.

(thanks @eloquentmoon for the dividers!)

Something that Star Wars as a fandom often fails to realise is that Jedi Master Dooku (or Yan Dooku, I suppose, if that's your headcanon) and Sith Apprentice Darth Tyranus are not the same. Well, they are literally the same person, but that's not what I'm getting at. The point I am trying to make here is that a character can in fact be an inherently good guy and also a genocidal psychopath. In Star Wars, one is not born a Sith. You cannot just... be a Sith and nothing else. Much is the same with a Jedi. One is either born with the ability to reach/manipulate the Force or they aren't (Force-nulls, for sake of clarity), they are not born Jedi or Sith. Jedi and Sith are religious orders. Like Protestants and Catholics, Jedi and Sith follow the same faith but with different philosophies and restrictions (or complete lack thereof regarding the Sith; anything is game if it eventually means absolute power).

Let's take a look at the best established religious order of Star Wars in canon and Legends. Mandalorians.

(A GIF of the Armourer in The Mandalorian. The subtitles read: "According to Creed, one may only be redeemed in the living waters beneath the mines of Mandalore.")

In Legends, to be Mandalorian is to dedicate yourself to the Resol'nare or the Six Actions:

Wearing the armour

Speaking the language

Defense of oneself and one's family

Raising children as Mandalorian (this is the Way)

Contributing to the clan's welfare

Answering the call of the Mand'alor or Sole Ruler

Canonically, to go against the word of the Creed, such as removing your helmet to outsiders or non-clan, was to declare yourself dar'manda or No Longer Mandalorian (not stated explicitly in canon, but widely accepted in fanon/features in SW: The Old Republic). In Christian equivalent, this would be committing sin. As shown in the GIF above, one could be redeemed for "sinning" in Mandalore's living waters. Kind of like confession and repentance in Christianity.

And like the many differing dedications to the concept of God, like Jedi and Sith as you will soon see, Mandalorians have their thoughts on the Force. The only difference here is that where God is not provable beyond doubt, the Force is. Its existence cannot be denied. However, how the Force is/should be interpreted varies from person to person, from religion to religion.

The Jedi Code

Jedi and Sith also follow Creeds.

(An image of the Jedi mantra in Basic and Aurebesh. It reads: "There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the force.")

The Jedi Code places great emphasis on compassion and bettering one's self; particularly, maintaining control over your emotions and learning to let go. Here especially is where fans like to pick and choose their understanding of canon like rooting through a jar of lollipops at the doctor's to get the orange one. So, I'm gonna highlight my point here with some big ass text:

Jedi do not condemn emotion

(be warned: LOTS of italics incoming)

(An edit of a still of Anakin Skywalker from Attack of the Clones. The text reads: "Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is central to a Jedi's life.)

Sure, where Anakin is obviously not the prime example of what a Jedi should be, and he is clearly trying to butter up Padme to embrace his frankly awful flirting attempts, we must also remember that he had been living by the Jedi Code for almost (if not exactly) ten years at this point. AND. AND AND AND. We have IMPERICAL EVIDENCE from the Clone Wars that while not often stated outright (if at all; forgive me, I only just reached the Mortis Arc and believe me, I have OPINIONS), Jedi DO love unconditionally.

(A GIF from The Clone Wars of Mace Windu. The subtitle reads: "I'm going to do whatever I can to help these people.")

Often, their first instinct unless guided otherwise by alternate intel or the Force itself, is to have faith in those who would call upon them for help. There's literally an entire movie about Ahsoka and Anakin delivering the child of Jabba the Motherfucking HUTT back to him. They could've killed the child. Held him for ransom until Jabba conceded to a beneficial alliance. Instead, they hold to the hope that Jabba would hold to some kind of honour as a parent and allow an alliance negotiation on good faith. Jabba. A literal owner of SLAVES. Who planned, because of intel from a Sith Lord, to stab the Jedi in the back.

I bring your attention to this iconic line from my last post:

(A GIF of Ki-Adi Mundi from Attack of the Clones. The subtitle reads: "He is a political idealist, not a murderer)

He is talking about Dooku, ex-Jedi, now publicly politically aligned with and the leader of the Separatist movement: AKA the "let's leave the Republic because we believe them and, by extension, the Jedi, to be corrupt" crew. He is a mark of shame upon the order. One of the Lost Twenty--Legends lore, for those who don't understand, is that there have only been twenty Jedi (including Dooku) ever to leave the Order past achieving Master status)--and yet, they still honour him as one of their own, literally saying: "he was once one of us." If that isn't a sign of unconditional compassion, then I'll eat my lightsaber collection.

I now move on to this:

(A GIF from Attack of the Clones of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The subtitle reads: "Don't let your personal feelings get in the way!")

To be in control of yourself and your reactions isn't to abandon emotion entirely. That is literally impossible. In fact, emotions are valuable to Jedi. However, they are taught to be mindful of how emotions can affect their logical reasoning.

When Obi-Wan Kenobi is ordered to hunt down Darth Vader, whom has just sworn himself to the Sith Lord and literally murdered possibly hundreds of Jedi Masters, Knights, Padawans, and Initiates by his own hand, he actually abandons his logical reasoning and refuses to kill the man he raised and fought beside for the last 13 years.

(A GIF from Star Wars III: The Revenge of the Sith of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The subtitles read: "You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you.")

This is a direct parallel to Anakin's refusal to kill recently-revealed Sith Lord Palpatine, Darth Sidious. Both of these instances were done for entirely selfish reasons.

Anakin twists a tenet of the Code upon its head and refuses to kill Sidious because, at the time, he is without a weapon, and Jedi are sworn never to kill an unarmed opponent. Logically, we must reason that these rules do NOT apply to the Sith because A) they had been thought extinct and therefore didn't need exceptions written into the Code, B) it is literally proven within that very same scene that an unarmed Sith Lord is still extremely dangerous, and C) Jedi are sworn to uphold the balance of the Force within themselves and the galaxy, therefore the Sith must be destroyed. In this moment, Anakin has allowed his fear of his wife and unborn children dying to cloud his judgement, allowed the Lord to live, and subsequently doomed the galaxy.

Obi-Wan, canonically a far better Jedi than Anakin, allows his love for the man he raised to stop him from killing him. Even out of mercy as Anakin burns in the heat of Mustafar. Yes, he walks away, believing Anakin will certainly die, but again: an unarmed Sith (literally because ya boy has NO ARMS, lmao) is still extremely dangerous. Just as Maul survived from literally being sliced in half, so did Anakin survive Mustafar. Allowing love, grief, desperation to cloud his judgement, Obi-Wan has (although unknowingly until the Obi-Wan Kenobi series set ten years later) assisted in dooming the galaxy.

It is not Obi-Wan's love for his former-padawan that has done this. It is his refusal to let him go, his fear of being the one who has to kill Anakin, despite being the only one capable of doing so because of Anakin's incredible skill and power.

Despite these contradictions: Obi-Wan Kenobi is still a good guy, and Anakin Skywalker is a bad guy.

Obi-Wan would go on to repent for the rest of his life, cutting himself off from the Force to hide his presence and watch over Luke Skywalker on Tatooine, even though the Lars family do not welcome him at all. And he will go to great lengths, putting himself in constant danger, to save Leia Organa. When this is all over, he will face his student one last time and sacrifice himself to ensure the safety of the children, to give the darkened galaxy just one more chance at hope.

(And, as an aside, Obi-Wan's final sacrifice is also to teach Luke about the Jedi tenet of letting go and dedicating yourself to something greater than your own wants and physical being, just as Qui-Gon did for Obi-Wan decades before.)

Anakin, in the meantime, Darth Vader by this point, is literally running around blowing up planets. Let me repeat that: BLOWING UP PLANETS. With billions if not trillions of lifeforms on them. And also murdering Jedi Purge survivors. And, you know, killing basically anyone that doesn't agree with the rule of the Empire. Also, enslaving a lot of people. Like, a lot of people. Including the clones he once thought brothers until he... idk, kills them all? They all die of rapid old age? I'm not exactly sure what happens to them.

Obi-Wan loved unconditionally. He was compassionate. As was in accordance with his Creed.

Anakin Skywalker was possessive. He loved only that which he wanted and that which loved him in return, but only if it was love to his standards. Obi-Wan, who surely loved him as a brother and a son, tried to stop him from taking the galaxy, therefore he had to destroy his former Master.

This is what attachment is.

Unwillingness to let go of something you can no longer have.

Do you pro-genocide fans think Obi-Wan wanted Qui-Gon Jinn to die? He literally cradles him in his arms and cries, for goodness' sake. And do you know what Qui-Gon does in his last moments? He does not fear for himself. He does not tell Obi-Wan everything will be okay. Because he knows it will. He knows Obi-Wan will be okay. Because his padawan will mourn, but he will also accept that it was Qui-Gon's time to pass into the Force. And he knows that Obi-Wan knows that he will always be with him in the Force. There is no death. There is the Force.

What he does instead is so loving and compassionate and so caring. All he wants in his final moments is to make sure that Anakin, the boy in his care, will be safe.

(A GIF from Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace of Qui-Gon Jinn comforting Obi-Wan Kenobi as he dies. He reaches up and brushes Obi-Wan's face with his fingertips)

Those who can see that GIF, look at it and tell me that it is not a highly emotional, beautifully intimate moment between a dying father and his son. Look me in the eyes and tell me that and I will call you a liar because your pants are on fire, mother fucker.

The Sith Code

We have a better understanding of the Jedi Code than we do the Sith, largely because Sith are chaotic pathological liars who constantly break their own rules.

(A GIF from Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace of Yoda and Mace Windu. The subtitles read: "Always two there are. No more, no less. A master and an apprentice.")

Only two, huh? Then tell me, Tyranus and Sidious:

WHO THE HELL IS THIS?!

(An image of Asajj Ventress from Star Wars: The Clone Wars wielding two red lightsabers)

Like Satanism to Christianity, the Sith Code stands as a direct and deliberate contradiction to the Jedi Code.

(An image of the Sith Code in Basic and Aurebesh. It reads: "Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion I gain strength. Through strength I gain power. Through power I gain victory. Through victory my chains are broken. The force shall free me.")

Let's take a quick look at the two Creeds side by side:

(An image of the Sith Code (left) and the Jedi Code (right). The one on the left reads: "Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion I gain strength. Through strength I gain power. Through power I gain victory. Through victory my chains are broken. The force shall free me." The one on the right reads: "There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the force.")

Pretty big differences there.

One of these Creeds is dedicated to learning, maintaining balance in the Force, and achieving personal betterment through peace of mind. The other is dedicated to becoming strong, powerful, and unbeatable by comparing putting the needs of the many before the wants of yourself to slavery.

I'll let you take a guess which one is which.

I mean, it is almost explicitly said that an important initiation process for becoming a Sith is to fucking murder a Jedi. In Tales of the Jedi, which is considered canon in the current state of the series (meaning should someone with authoritative control over Star Wars later retcon this, then it will no longer be canon), Dooku kills Master Yaddle as his official initiation after the death and funeral of Qui-Gon--don't forget, before this point Dooku may have been Fallen, but he was not Sith until Sidious loses Maul as an apprentice. Say what you will about Palps, but you gotta give him credit for abiding by the Sith Rule of Two, otherwise the galaxy would've been a lot more utterly fucked than it was. Until this was canon, anyone who was not versed in Legends lore (AKA me) generally headcanoned that Dooku murdered and assumed the identity of Sifo-Dyas for his Sith initiation.

Also, I feel it is imperative to note that the Sith Code was literally inspired by Mein Kampf. You know, ADOLF HITLER'S MANIFESTO. Need proof? Here, straight from the Star Wars Wookiepedia:

What's The Point?

I've been writing for almost 3 hours and I'm only JUST getting to the bit that's actually about Dooku. Let's take a breather and re-establish some points:

Jedi and Sith are religious Creeds

You are not born Jedi or Sith

To be Jedi or Sith is to make CHOICES that align with the tenets of the Creed

To be Jedi is to be compassionate, mindful, and a protector of those who are defenseless

Jedi have rules and regulations to protect their Order from corruption and abuse of power

To be Sith is to put your wants first, to become all-powerful, and to be victorious over all others

Sith do NOT have rules and regulations (that they actually follow faithfully aside from the Rule of Two, which is broken by Dooku multiple times anyway)

Got it?

Cool let's move on.

This is what I mean by the separation of Jedi Master Dooku and Darth Tyranus. On the matter of Dooku, the fandom largely seems to be divided between:

He was manipulated by the Sith! He was actually a good guy who knew the Senate was corrupt! He was just trying to save the galaxy!

And:

He was a shit Jedi and everyone should've known he was Darkside. He abused Qui-Gon. He abused padawans. He hated children. He didn't Fall because he was always evil.

My guys.

My dudes.

My homies.

Just... WHAT?

For point A, I present to you:

(A GIF from The Clone Wars of Dooku. The subtitle reads: "I would kill you both if I didn't have to drag your bodies.)

He literally just threatened murder. Actual murder. In another scene, season 1, if someone could find the GIF that would be fantastic, Dooku says he wants the death of the Jedi. All of the Jedi. He wants to slaughter children, the people he once considered family. In season 4, to Savage Oppress, he offers the galaxy. "We will rule the galaxy together." That is a dictatorship. These are not the signs of a healthy man doing what is best for the people. This is selfish desire. This is Sith Creed.

For point B:

(A GIF from TOTJ. Dooku stands before Qui-Gon's favourite tree on Coruscant). Look, I'm not great at image and GIF descriptors. If someone would like to fix this for me, please do. I worked real hard on this analysis and I want it to be accessible.

A man who did not love his padawan, his pseudo-son, would not have visited their favourite place on the entirety of Coruscant upon their death. This was inconvenient. Him visiting this tree when he shouldn't have because he'd just infiltrated the archives and deleted evidence of Kamino brings suspicion upon him that he could've avoided by simply staying away. But he couldn't. He had to go one last time.

He also, in Attack of the Clones, expresses regret at never meeting Obi-Wan before then. Qui-Gon always spoke very highly of him. Yes, because an abused child whose evil, evil master, again, abused him, would ever speak of his own child to said-abuser. Dooku may be a Sith of a decade by that point, but don't forget that Sith are entrenched in negative emotion. We have no idea what he was feeling meeting the son of his son for the first time. He could have easily murdered Obi-Wan before Anakin and all of the Jedi arrive. He later tries to multiple times. The first thing he does is offer an alliance. An apprenticeship. He even tells Obi-Wan the truth of Palpatine in the Senate, not that he (Obi) has any reason to believe him (Dooku).

Again, what's my point?

My point is that he is both a good guy and a bad guy.

He can be both.

He was once good. He Fell. He was not always one or the other. Because that is how Star Wars WORKS. His doubts over the Senate, his fears that the Order is falling to darkness, his utter grief at the death of his child; it crippled him. He could not overcome the Darkside. And so he Fell. Perhaps originally he had good intentions.

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions after all.

Eventually, the anger, the grief, the fear, corrupted him. As is how the Darkside works. Yes, it is a choice. It is a Creed he chooses to follow. But to walk back from the Darkside is also a journey that requires incredible strength.

In canon, only one achieves it. Anakin Skywalker.

Early on, perhaps Dooku could have been saved. But by the time of Attack of the Clones, he is utterly corrupt and evil and literally planning an absolute takeover of the galaxy. He is far beyond redemption.

Look, thanks for coming to my TED talk. If you enjoyed this post and would like to see more, please consider tipping! I am an unemployed chronically anxious and depressed sewer rat. I also accept love in reblogs and comments XD

I feel like @jedi-enthusiast and @antianakin will like this.

[sunny-m00n]

Ok the AI stuff was fun at first but the more I look into it the more I understand where Ray Bradbury was going with some of his work-

But seriously I’m starting to get really worried about the state of creative endeavors. If we are replacing the heart and soul of fandoms (roleplay, vrchat impression shenanigans, fandubs with casts of actual people, fanficton, fanart, etc.) with AI generated nothing-meal, we are going to watch the spirit of creation out of love die. Seeing people make what they want to see, and what others may want to see, out of pure love for a piece of media is what makes fandom a unique aspect of internet culture. It feels like more and more we are handing over the magic of the internet to corporations to mash into bland goo for use to just see and forget. Please stop making AI art and please stop using AI to make actor’s voices. It ruins people who depend on this form of expression for one reason or another and it takes the magic of creativity and performance away. We are already loosing our old internet for more “modern” slop that is all the same nothing. If we don’t do something and stop using, or at the very least try to lower the amount of usage for this stuff, we will loose the magic of man-made entertainment and expression. I hope you read this and have at the very least limited the amount of AI usage you partake in. I know it’s hard with so many sites and everything using them to make things “easier”, but please try, for originally and what makes fans of a show or game or whatever have some contribution to our favorite media…

Have a wonderful day.

-Sunny F. Moon.

[zmediaoutlet]

twenty questions for fic writers

tagged to do the do by @prince-of-elsinore, ty ty for thinking of me

How many works do you have on ao3?

211 (and elsewhere, maybe a dozen we don't talk about, bc they suck, on livejournal; maybe a couple dozen short pieces here on tumblr that have never migrated to ao3)

What's your total ao3 word count?

1,515,103

What fandoms do you write for?

Almost all Supernatural, but also some video game fandoms (FF, DA, maybe BG3 soon), MCU, etc. usual suspects.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. oh so good, oh so fine -- 993 kudos 2. there will be better days -- 846 kudos 3. see things so much clearer -- 621 kudos 4. into the flood again -- 602 kudos 5. side two, track one -- 558 kudos maybe someday we'll break 1000, lol

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Absolutely I do, and would find it rude not to. I know other people have all kinds of reasons they don't respond but I don't have any of those reasons, especially since I'm pathetically grateful every time someone bothers to say they liked something, lol. If anyone's even a tiny bit encouraged to become a repeat reader by the writer responding, I want to encourage that as much as possible. Plus, every once in a while, you can get a dece conversation going in the comments! Find a like-minded fan! That's worth any effort to compose a few sentences of thanks. The only comments I don't respond to are emoji strings or cut-and-paste 'another kudos here' comments, because they're not actually comments. (I appreciate the thought, but... I don't want them.)

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I have had some beta friends who would argue about this one, lol. I guess the saddest is probably the hollow summer, since the whole plot is kind of hurt/no comfort. I don't believe in a successful boy king, let's say that.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

again, probably depends on how you define 'happy'. glory days is probably the most cheerful; for me, the happy comes better with more experience behind it, so the thirty-third yard would maybe be my personal choice.

Do you get hate on fics?

nope; worst I ever got was some twerp who actually responded to someone else's comment, bitching that I didn't put the right peepee in the right poopyhole. But only one of those, ever, and safely ignored. idk, I don't attract that much.

Do you write smut?

...yes.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

only one, and it only sort of counts -- i heard love was blind, which is Cordell Walker/Dean Winchester, but of course the point is that Dean's getting the body of his brother by other means. I like crossovers but I usually want there to be a point beyond 'let's mash these two faves together and see what happens'; I'm more inclined toward doing a whole-universe fusion, e.g. fully placing characters with what you can salvage of their key backstory elements into a universe not their own... which I guess would also count as a crossover, wouldn't it. so I also did that with putting the Winchesters into the Dragon Age 2 plot, in whatever we were before. definitely 'crazier' than the first one here, lol.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I think that's the kind of thing that happens on WattPad. Who cares.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes, a few.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I tried; it didn't work. Both people need to be contributing to the writing for it to really count as 'co-written'; nevertheless it's stuck with both author names on ao3 because I don't think there's a way to change that.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

I think from context this should be clear. Although will also forever hold many small candles for the little guys.

What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

the aforementioned "co-written" fic, which was meant to be a huge series. The first fic is finished because I brute-forced my way through it, but there was a full five-season arc we were going to try to get through. Alas. The first one is decent, though, and works as a complete fic on its own: In a Cursed Hour.

What are your writing strengths?

voice, pacing, naturalism; characterization, though that can be argued in a fan-space

What are your writing weaknesses?

plot -- I find it intensely boring. Avoidance of plot then tends to flatten stories into similar non-arcs; I don't mind that, but it's a skill to exercise.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I'll only do Spanish, and that's only because I studied it for eight years. Even then it's usually the wrong choice, unless it's a fully blended multilingual story (which most are not, and in the wrong hands it comes off as absurd); better to convey through the POV character either understanding it or not, and dealing with it in narrative instead of straight dialogue. Although a word or two here or there is nbd, clearly.

First fandom you wrote for?

Final Fantasy VIII

Favorite fic you've written?

well, questions, you got me, because I don't believe in favorites. at this moment in terms of writing skill I think the best might be asceticism, but in terms of one that sits in my head and fully just is canon, lol, it might be there will be better days, mentioned above. the only heaven fic I need. I guess that says something.

kind of interesting to look at the stats, if also stressful. let's get some other writers to be interested/stressed -- uhh @redmyeyes, @phynali, @hellhoundsprey, @stillwaterseas, @whiskeycherrypie

some shots in the dark :)

[problematicpunks]

Why the fuck are you so weird ‼️‼️

look from my perspective, y'all are the ones being little freaks right now. i'm doing literally nothing but posting on my blog, making gifs and sharing fan art lol. you guys are the ones coming onto my blog, sending me harassing hate mail and generally just being weird instead of simply blocking or blacklisting '6tn' to never see my content (or in the case of the tag, specifically the 🔞 content).

it is entirely within your control to never see me or the stuff i make again! easily! so just fucking do it or at least be less of a coward and come off anon so i can do it for you because this is just tiring and boring at this point.

i've been part of the fandom since the show first originally aired. i grew up with it and with these characters and i like their dynamics and setting and the show means something to me personally. frankly i find it more ridiculous to act like someone just finding the show now has more of a right to be in the fandom than someone who has been contributing to it for longer than you've existed lol. i'm just, also, you know, a functional person who knows all of this isn't real??? that it's fiction??? so i treat it like any fandom, which is to say, a playground where we're all just mashing ideas together and having fun and trying to keep this thing we love alive in whatever way we can. so long as people tag things clearly, and give options to block/blacklist/mute for those who don't want to engage with it, i see no problem, and will continue to see no problem.

i will not be answering an ask like this again.

[bornforastorm]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 🤍

oh gosh babe thank you. I have only within the past year or so become open about my fic writing and openly proud about it, so this is a nice ask to get 🥰🥰 This was hard to do because if I've posted it, I'm proud of it. So I'm actually basically very proud of everything I've published in the past 5 years, but here are some I'm extra pleased with

For the Birds Philip Marlowe/Terry Lennox, written in 2016!

I'm pretty proud of all my Marlowe fics, honestly, and really am tinkering at Marlowe/Terry fics all the time. Of the published ones, I like this one best. The slightly melancholic nature of it, the hazy romance, Marlowe looking at guys much younger than himself who aren't scared to be in love and opening up himself to try it too... I love writing in that period where Marlowe and Terry are having drinks and nothing has gone wrong yet, and this is one of those + fake relationship stuff (fun trope to write!)

And Back The Mummy 2017, Nick Morton/Chris Vail, written in 2017!

this fandom is small and niche but I (brag) do think I wrote the best fic in it. this movie was full of potential and I had a lot of fun unpacking some of the implications of that world. What if your boyfriend brought you back from the dead and now you're kinda fucked up and weird and he's VERY fucked up and weird but you're all you've got. The concepts.... 🤌🤌

Route 117 The Lost Boys/Stephen King's The Body, what if Ace Merrill was David, written 2017

This is just a concept and execution I'm really proud of, brought to you by Kiefer Sutherland being insane hot in the 80s, and me reading a lot of Stephen King and going... yes this disaffected, horrible boy who needs a dad could become a disaffected, horrible vampire boy with a dad

Crabapple Crabs MASH, Hawkeye/Trapper + Hawkeye/BJ, written 2022!

Undeniably proud of this one. Impossible not to be. My big contribution to MASHblr. This big fic that's really mean to BJ, is deeply HawkTrap Endgame, and is deeply steeped in MASH Goes to Maine. Ben Majorbaby, this one is for you and because of you and you made it better, and I'm very proud of the result. Someday I'll finish the prequel HawkTrap fic and that will be for you completely.

Hey Lover Won't You Treat Me Right Perry Mason/Pete Strickland/Hamilton Burger, written 2023!

It would be wrong not to include my big Perry Mason threeway fic. I do not really feel confident writing smut, so this was a big leap for me and I'm very proud of how it turned out! Perry Mason is everything to me and I am proud to have written the first threeway fic for our little fandom 🙏🙏

[usamamoweek]

Meet the Creators - Wishwars

What username(s) and platform(s) can folx find you on? (Please include links!)

@wishwars- can find stories on AO3 or FFN (links in platform names)

(Fun Fact) What is your favorite kind of potato?

Garlic mashed <3

How long have you been creating works in fandom spaces? How long have you been active in the SM fandom?

I started reading SM fanfiction in 2014 and writing it in 2016. How time flies!

What type(s) of creative works do you usually make? (fanfics, digital art, cosplay)

I write fanfic (while being in awe of those who also create things with their hands)

What do you enjoy about creating for the SM fandom?

This was the very first fandom I was ever a part of, and I'm still just so amazed not only by the creativity of its fans, but also their generosity. There is also just something about the enduring message of love that exists in SM that makes me feel so happy and full inside when I get the chance to contribute in some way to the world it created!

Are you strictly UsaMamo or do you create for other pairings as well?

While I write other side relationships, UsaMamo is my OTP, so I always feature them at the center of my stories.

What inspires you to create works for Usagi and Mamoru?

Their relationship and the tropes it supports have followed me into many of my other fandoms--a sunny personality that actually also has a lot of trauma to work through and the seemingly dark, brooding personality that secretly has a big heart--and I can't get enough of it! They just fit so well together!

Do you tend to work on multiple projects (WIPs) simultaneously or try to finish one at a time?

I have a lot of WIPs in folders on my computer that I never publish... in part because I have fics I have published that I want to actually finish and if I start too many, I won't finish any...

Do you prefer large projects (chaptered fics, webtoons/zines, highly detailed art) or small projects (one-shots or simple art)?

I love to read one-shots and while I have written a few, I often get drawn more to chaptered fics, which give me more space to tell the stories I want to.

Are there any common themes, situations, tropes, or mediums in your work?

I basically always write non-senshi fics, and I'm not actually sure why... I think I just really like focusing in on the emotional aspect of their characterizations in AUs without having to also keep up with the added details of their other lives. I also quite enjoy writing fics where they aren't already in a relationship--it's the pining angst that really gets me!

Is there anything you haven’t explored artistically and would like to try?

Maybe someday I could try writing a fic that does have them as senshi. I've read so many that I love, and it could be a fun challenge!

[gontagokuhara]

OKAY I FORGOR💀 TO MENTION THIS actually idk if I already said this but I LOVE the way you write kokichi? Like kokichi's jesterism clowncore energy is not talked about enough in this fandom, he's not just a lying troll, he can also be a corny little canned-bit filled jokester! He can be your angle! Or yuor devil! But he and Kaede give off such an "annoying little brother"/"exhausted oldest sister" vibe in pointy objects it never fails to make me laugh and also feel feelings!

Also ngl writing my lil (literally >2k) review gave me the energy to do my writing assignment so thank you for indirectly but also directly contributing to me not failing my class LMFAO

hi hello!! first of all thank u again for ur very sweet comments i keep rereading them . actively working on the next chapter and i reread them like an hour ago <3 also you are so me re: the writing thing literally i am writing this long ass response out as a warm up to getting started on the chapter again I SEE U. solidarity u got this class

as always below the cut because i like to yap (no spoilers butttttttt call it a small hint of what's to come next chapter)

ANYWAY !!! im glad people like that choice <3 his general silliness tends to get lost in canon in the midst of such a heavy fraught situation (where his dumbass is instigating fights constantly......) and so i feel it more natural to have it bleed into him in pointy objects you know? his backpack also offers just unreal opportunities for clownery and i can't help myself. i have issues with a lot of canon/fanon portrayals of kokichi so with him (as i do miu, and kiyo, and kaito, etc) i like to do the classic mogul move yoink & twist. i take character that needs fixer-uppering, mash 'em around like playdoh, and make them mostly the same but......better in my humble opinion. i feel like i do that pretty well with kokichi, and hearing those choices are appreciated makes me very happy <3

in that vein the kaede/kokichi dynamic is SOOOO important its one of my favorites ive worked into pointy objects i think. justice for my real protag kaede BUT her biting the dust so early both robbed canon content of what a friendship between them could look like. but it also gives me LOTS of room to pick up their barbie dolls and make them have good moments together. speaking of pointy objects canon, they arrived at camp within about a year of each other, before a lot of the other mainstay demigods began living there full time. gonta, miu, kaede, maki, and kokichi spent a lot of time as the only ones at camp; kids like kirumi/tenko/himiko/angie/kiyo are all summer-only, and full-timers ryoma, kaito, and kiibo came later (ages 14, 16, and within a few months of sonia giving them a soul [roughly the same stretch of time as ryoma's arrival], respectively).

all that lore TO say: kaede and kokichi grew up together in a lot of really important ways, and the dynamic that developed over the years very much is that exhausted older sister/exhausting little brother who are fiercely and kind of unexpectedly protective over one another. i could go on about all of the early full-time campers' dynamics because there's a lot within those five especially that i've like. developed in my brain? but havent fit into the 170k words 💀 the mind palace of spiderwebbing character relationships is very vast for how much has actually made it into the fic.....but wink wonk we WILL see a taste of it this next chapter

and finally, re edits: i did my one BIG edit fest back in may, and since then there haven't been any major changes. that said, i do reread the prior chapters quite often (checking details to make sure new writing doesn't have any discrepancies, getting myself back in the headspace to write shuuichi's voice, etc) and do occasionally find typos or phrasing or sentence flow i like changed, so i do fix those as i see them. that said, i DO know what you're talking about with chapter 3; that was a chapter i did pretty majorly redo in may, and there was definitely some redundant word use and odd sentence structure i went back and corrected. but i haven't made any changes that drastically alter the contents of the story; not more so than i did back in may, at least!

ok this as always got very long but it was as always very fun to answer!!!! thank you again for all your support MWAH MWAH and im sure we'll make contact again soon enough!!

[majorbaby]

you're right about the overwhelming whiteness in mash fandom; somebody made a post about soon-lee (an on-screen woc) not receiving as much content and attention compared to peg and there were people who seemed to a) brush it off, b) actually be bothered by it, or c) equate their experiences??? like ???? and don't even mention how much of the racism toward klinger is brushed off

exactly. i think you explained it well but lemme unpack further:

peg appears on screen twice but never in corporal form next to any of the other characters. and her appearances are marred by the fact that she exists in the narrative only in relation to BJ. as his life-line and a source of his pain. that is not my interpretation of what she should be, it's how she was written. i'm not saying she's not important or that BJ does not love her and I'm not commenting even on the state of their marriage right now, i'm just saying peg as a human person with thoughts, feelings, ambitions is not something that the narrative focuses on. where there is Peg, there is always BJ somewhere - either having a meltdown because he misses his life back home or reminding us that he loves his wife and child.

i never did publish my fridging essay because it was long and it became about dc comics rather than MASH but... the suggestion that the peg character is 'fridged' or otherwise 'ignored' by the fandom is funny to me because, well, the show did it first. if you want something to rally against, why not start with the dudes who actually wrote her as being a phantom limb of BJ's and then i can maybe listen to you make the connection between that and how and why fandom is the way that it is about women characters. provided you expand that argument to at least include margaret because i don't i could be convinced using just peg as an example.

i could go on and on about peg's portrayal as being the real being affront to stereotypes of 50s women on MASH as compared to like, the various nurse ables or even Margaret but that would be touching the s1-3 vs 4-11 mess for the second time today so let's move on.

soon-lee is a strong, though not perfect, departure from that. like. really strong, imo. she's got 2 hours to make an impression on us and she does. she does not exist in association to klinger. she's had a life before klinger and though she expresses her sadness around it, she's willing to give up a life with him if she has to in order to find her family. and that one line in no way does justice to soon-lee's footprint on the show, but that's another post that i will write eventually.

basically, soon-lee is the heavylift for the show wrt women AND race, which isn't exactly fair to her to have to do but i'm still grateful for soon-lee. she seems to be an intentional contribution to the western tv canon of varied representations of racialized women and they did that in 1982. we haven't done much better since then on shows that primarily center white experiences, so that's why i think she's of note.

it does both women a disservice to equate their experiences in the narrative and also their treatment in the fandom - both are uneven. peg has way less agency in the narrative than soon-lee, yet soon-lee is nowhere near as present in fanwork as peg.

why is that? lots of reasons i think: peg being closely associated to BJ and BJ being the most popular character in fandom (next to hawkeye but i'm starting to wonder if he actually eclipses hawkeye) gets peg some points. people feeling out of their depth with what exactly to do with klinger and soon-lee's relationship bc it's pretty well resolved by the end - there are absolutely opportunities for future conflict with them being like, a mixed korean-lebanese couple in post-police-action korea but i admit even for me, someone who might be interested in writing something about that, i'd feel a certain responsibility to do my homework.

then again i've seen (and done) all manner and depth of academic research conducted by fanartists to write slowburn white m/m slash or even m/f fic so i'm not taking the race out of the picture completely. and that's the last, important, uncomfortable difference between peg and soon-lee - peg is white and soon-lee is not. i respect and appreciate the goal of any call to diversify the space (provided it doesn't come with any sort of weird guilt trip, which is a line i try to toe all the time) but we have to be careful that in doing that we're not denying racialized people their experiences. or at least acknowledging that there are different ways to move through the world.

[thebreakfastgenie]

☯️💌

☯️how do you think engaging with each other through tumblr, twitter, comments, kudos, creates healthy fandom experiences? How do you deal with that if you're not a social person/experience social anxiety?

I think you can't have healthy fandom experiences without engagement, because then it's just people by themselves. So engagement is important! I think more interaction is the way. Comment more! Reply to comments more and reply to replies! Make threads! Engage on tumblr more! I hate the "tumblr etiquette" that discourages engagement. Don't use twitter because it sucks. I don't think guilt-tripping about comments and kudos is helpful. I'm sure it works this way for some people, but as a creator, the idea that more comments/kudos leads to more content feels like a lie. I love getting comments, I'm just as desperate for them as anyone else, but they don't make me write more. I hate treating fic as transactional and I don't think it's healthy fandom engagement! I also really despise the "they did this for free" argument. I did it for fun. I don't actually want your "I can't believe you gave us this story for free!!" adulation. I think treating fic like some sort of public service further separates writers from readers and contributes to making fandom more transactional and therefore worse. I think there is a big difference between not being a social person and experiencing social anxiety. If you're not a social person and you just want to read fic and look at at art and maybe write your own... do that? I don't see commenting as necessarily being social; if you responded to the work in some way, a comment can simply be that response. I am social and I like it when comments become social interactions, but that is optional. If you suffer from social anxiety, just remember that a ton of people in fandom are in the same boat and *Meat Loaf voice* someone's gotta draw first blood. A little comment or DM is incredibly non-invasive! They can choose not to continue the interaction! I'm an anxious person, but most of the time I do okay about this. You may have gotten a "you don't hate me right?" message when I was going through it if we're friends but it's unusual fo me.

💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

I am working on a MASH WIP from the POV of a patient and I'm excited about all of it but there's not much I can tell yet!

[ao3feed-mash]

To Have and to Hold

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/bASx1qY

by RemyFire

It's not that he wants to reject his masculinity. He doesn't catch himself wishing for a body unlike his own, for a life unlike the one he's lived. But he thinks he catches glimpses of kinship in Margaret from time to time, how she possesses so much softness, how she sometimes hungers for the hard edges of masculinity. She often looks like she's not sure if she wants to have it for herself or simply admire it in the men around her.

He gets it. He really fucking does. He's never knows if he's craving beautiful women or if he wants to put a little of their femininity on just to soften his edges. Nothing much. He wonders how his legs might look in a pair of stockings. If even just a hint of rouge or lipstick might...

It creeps in, the nerves. He can't call it shame, not really. He doesn't hate the curiosity in his chest. But he's not sure beauty is made for Hawkeye Pierce.

~~~

In a joint effort to lift up the man they love, Hawkeye and Peg make his first wedding anniversary in Korea something he can never forget. But while giving him a peek back home through a film of what their day could've been like was Hawk's idea, Peg's contribution is something a little silkier.

Words: 16981, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: MASH (TV)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, M/M

Characters: Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, B. J. Hunnicutt, Peg Hunnicutt

Relationships: B. J. Hunnicutt/Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, B. J. Hunnicutt/Peg Hunnicutt, Peg Hunnicutt & Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce

Additional Tags: Episode: s09e14 Oh How We Danced, GNC Hawkeye Pierce, Established Relationship, gender feels, Declarations Of Love, Oral Sex, Anal Sex

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/bASx1qY

[mashed4077]

🌃 intro post! 🌃

(bit late but i didn’t want a cluttered bio anymore so here’s this)

hiii im shay! i fixated on mash back in november and i officially finished it on march 22nd 2023!! im gonna rewatch soon tho

about this blog

this is a side-blog!

tags: i tag pretty extensively for the sake of categorization; here’s hoping my character tags prove fun to scroll through!

queue: as of the day i’m writing this, i have a very full queue, because i have a habit of liking literally every post i see related to a fixation, and then spam-queuing it later to clean my likes out. so i hope you enjoy all the content! lots of funny scenes and textposts, well-made gifsets, wonderful fanart, and insightful meta, if i do say so myself. mashblr is a talented bunch!

original posts/content: i don’t contribute much on my own, but i love to ramble and i hope some of my lengthy tags prove an interesting or at least entertaining read :) i do dabble in fanfic writing and i’ve got a few mash works in my drafts, but i’m not sure if they’ll ever see the light of day. i’m also fond of meta and character analysis, so if i ever work up the courage maybe ill put out some moderately thought-provoking posts in that realm.

some of my opinions relating to mash characters & ships can be found under the read more!

these are all subjective and i completely respect anyone who disagrees :) we’re all here to have fun!

summarized thoughts on the characters (kinda sorted by fav to least fav)

mulcahy has been driving me bonkers for months (and my jewish ass has been putting far too much thought into catholicism lately bc of him😒)

frank,,,, listen. i’m sorry. but listen, as baffled and/or disgusted as you are, i’m the mf stuck being the only one in this entire fandom who flails over frank burns. so how do you think i feel. ik he’s absolutely awful, but he’s just so damn pathetic, i can’t help but like him and find him fascinating

radar is a bubby to me, i dont rlly have complex thoughts on him hes kinda just a comfort character to me n ilhsm

charles... he snuck up on me. i didnt expect to like him, much less relate to him (-_-) i just exposed myself as a charles winchester kinnie how will my reputation recover

i love hawkeye a lot, as we all do <3

i love trapper john mcintyre!!!!!!!!!!

i love margaret!!! i love klinger!!! i love henry!!! 

im pretty neutral on potter and bj

in short: i love them all a lot but mulcahy and frank have each driven me particularly mad in different ways and radar with his animals has made me cry and charles would probably drive me nuts if i let him but i am keeping him at arm’s length.

summarized thoughts on ships (again, strongest first)

(yes i have frank ships. no i am not proud of it)

my mash otp is hawkahy. it’s been slowly draining the remainder of my sanity. i havent slept in months. send help

i am a sucker for enemies/rivals to lovers and hawnk kinda makes me a little nuts.

i know he’s not good for her but i think margaret x frank have a rlly interesting relationship and they can be cute sometimes, and i think about them more than i’d like to admit. i am not immune to het ships consisting of badass women with control issues and their toxic pathetic purse-dog boyfriends.

henry x klinger is literally canon idc

pierceintyre... ;-; hh

i love semi-niche trapper ships. trapcahy is a little bit 👀 and i really like trapper x margaret

hawkeye x henry... shh...

bonus trios i think about sometimes😳: hawkeye x margaret x frank, margaret x frank x flagg (SHH), hawkeye x trapper x mulcahy. do u see my evil vision

aaand some platonic dynamics i particularly enjoy

mulcahy & klinger are besties :)

mulcahy & margaret have a sibling dynamic that i absolutely adore, esp in the potter seasons, particularly the later ones.

charles & margaret are a fun duo. the ship tease they did a little was... idk how to feel about it, but i like them as buddies.

margaret & klinger... the girlies

hawkeye & klinger!!! the el jibbities are flocking together..

hawkeye & margaret :)

i do very much enjoy hawkeye & bj’s friendship

not friendship but charles & mulcahy’s animosity is sooo funny i will never tire of it

notps: klinger x charles, and hunnihawk. do not doxx me.

i think thats all for now. enjoy my nonsense!

.mobile header credit.

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[alligatorjesie]

So, just out of curiosity when you’re searching for reylo stuff are you on mobile or desktop? because i’m pretty sure on desktop to make sure it’s not going by keywords and lumping other posts in you have to search #reylo or at least that’s worked for me :)

I use both. 3, technically, as the ipad/apple is using it's own unique browser.

Anti reylo posts show up under the regular 'reylo' search perimeters regardless of which browser type you use. This isn't a browser issue anyways, just tumblr and it's uhhh... unique coding? The issue isn't how the phrasing in the tag works but how tumblr handles it's tags.

This: #reylo

isn't the same as this: reylo This: #reylo

is considered a 'tag' and searching it with the pound sign in front of it will in theory show you everything in that tag but exclude it if it's mashed into a run-on sentence of a tag thus lowering your odds of running into an anti post. However

That theory is fucking wrong. Since tumblr was coded by mortal humans who made lots of mistakes and at this point God only fucking knows why but sometimes when you search using only the #tag you'll miss shit. I've had to happen to me quite a few times. Hell I've had times were I've submitted things only to see they Never end up showing in the tag weeks later even though I tagged it what I assumed was correctly. If something isn't tagged just right and that is a very fucking broad definition of 'right' it simply wont show up. Sometimes all that takes is not insuring the most popular tags that might be searched for are the first 5 tags in your post as anything after that no longer shows up in the search via tags, a well known issue tumblr has in it's tagging system. Sometimes all you did wrong is not capitalize the tag when most people search for it capitalized or vice versa . Sometimes all you did wrong was tag something that had never been tagged before. The list of reasons why your tag wont show up in the tagging system is too fucking numerous but here's a few of them and by 'few' I mean a lot. There's many reasons why someone would choose to not search for the thing they like this way. I don't search for reylo via the built in tag system because I and many others have found searching using tumblr's system don't work as advertised most of the time.

However²

Just searching for the thing you wanna see like this: reylo shows everything all of the time. Even if you're dick at tagging your shit, the mere mention of the thing will cause it to show up in the search. Now unfortunately and paradoxically this also means everything shows up in your search. so if the tag is something long like: 'reylos eat shit and die' A real thing by the way

That will show up in your search.

Reylo is a little unique to a lot of other fandoms because of the sheer number of antis to this fandom you'd think it was something a lot worse than a real fucking vanilla enemies to lovers ship that is in fact canon and has been since Episode 7. Now most of us just block and move on or worse yet, some of us can't deal with the harassment in the open search and just use the reylo tag and deal with the fact they're not seeing half the content being posted to the tag do to tumblr's shortcomings. It cuts off major parts of this fandom from itself within it's own app. I think that's fucking stupid and I don't wanna do that. I want to see everything in this tag, good and bad. It's important to me and the health of this fandom overall that we all know who the assholes are in our spaces. It's so fucking important to see and acknowledge the bad actors here, within your fandom space and outside of it.

I'm an absolute prick in the reylo tag. I'm not the most well liked in this fandom space and that's unfortunate because I do love this fandom and the people in it. I try to make up for it by being helpful within the fandom contribute were I can but it doesn't change the fact I have burned some bridges with members of this fandom who I respect but don't respect me and they're in their right. I really hate that I have to be the bad guy so often and act like a heinous bitch for what feels like every other day in this tag but this shit has been unrelenting.

I'm a fucking furry and I feel more welcome in fandom spaces as a furry, known for being at the bottom of the social fandom tier to the point it's a meme, than I ever fucking have as a reylo in those same spaces and boy howdy let me tell you fucking what that shit is really fucking weird. Now on twitter and reddit what I regularly run into are alt-right manbabies who are just pissed their sister liked Star Wars and one director dared to make a movie that made them think, not really even that hard. Just harder than 'Good guy fight bad guy and win'. The Audacity. But on tumblr the most common breed of shithead I run into is Antis. Antis are people who are in opposition to the shit you're into. They normally have this high and mighty reason as to why your fandom is actually the devil and regularly have some pretty bad takes about fandom itself. In my experience they're all very young because no adult has the fucking time to do the shit they do but sometimes they're actual adults in which case My Fucking God's Name in Heaven. I don't think they got a fucking family. A pet. A goddamn houseplant. They have emitted such a repellent personality that not a single organic soul would be caught dead in their monkeysphere. This is why they have so much extra time on tumblr, fuck me. Either way an anti is going to find a reason to shit on your fandom and they're going to do it subtly in the tags. In the reylo fandom it is: A: Ben Solo is a nazi and the reylos sympathies with nazis and racists because they like the character. This is horseshit and has been disputed to the point of proven wrong because first off there are no nazis in fucking Star Wars and secondly Ben Solo didn't joint the First Order because he's racist, he joined because he thought his uncle tried to kill him. B: The ship excludes Finn as a romantic partner for Rey, therefore this is also racist as if polyamory just couldn't possibly exist in their blank fucking minds or something. C: The ship is incest. To which I say: I swear to fucking god I will take a huge wet Taco Bell shit on your grandmother's grave you ignorant fuckwits if you can't figure out how to fucking Google this topic Or D: The ship was not obvious and the kiss came out of nowhere at the end of EP9.

As if the literal Star Wars equivalent of Romeo and Juliet's love theme didn't show up in this scene in The Force Awakens, a really fucking weird choice of song if this pair was never intended to be romantic from John Williams, grandfather to the leitmotif. As if the entirety of The Last Jedi never fucking happened.

That's not an edit by the way, they are really standing that close to each other. Either way it's not your fucking job in a fandom to hold these people's hands through the main issue they're having. You could strap these pickled dicks to a chair Clockwork Orange style and try to brainwash them into understanding the proof right in front of them and you'd fail.

They don't wanna see it. They just want to hate. The point isn't the point to them, If you prove something wrong they simply wont acknowledge it or will change the reason why the hate it. They just want to hate something and unfortunately they picked your fandom to express it. What we can do in our fandoms is tell these assholes to leave when we see them.

Personally wouldn't want to do something like block the 'anti' tag because doing that would block most of my own posts and block any other reylo who is talking about antis in the fandom space. But most importantly blocking the tag would also remove the antis and I wanna see 'em. I see a lot of constantly regurgitated rhetoric from a lot of antis about all the proof they have of how racist this fandom is with all of these 'See? See these reylos being racist? This one told John Boyega TO DIE!' many year old tweets they keep posting by users who are no longer active in the fandom because the reylo community did their do fucking diligence and pushed those shithead out of this space.

I want to see the post by the person who saw one fan edit back in 2016 and shit themselves with rage over how racist it was because they cropped Ben on top of Finn in it. (I'll have that one out soon) I want to know who is just trying to start shit by posting receipts of users who are no longer active in the fandom or the platforms they've been screenshotted in. I wanna acknowledge the user who continually posts Hot Takes about a character they obviously hate in a tag they don't belong in.

I want to see the post by the user who thinks it's alright to send people threats of violence over a fucking fictional ship. Or worse yet, death. I want everyone to know who these people are and if I have to be the one who drags them on stage to shame them publicly I fucking will. This fandom has been through enough shit and I'm fuckin' tired of it man. I'll happily take one for the team if it means there's a few less antis being taken seriously in this fandom space. They hate us because they anus and they can just fuck off about it. We should a try and achieve this via our own means. Call out bad actors in your fandom spaces. You see someone being a prick? Tell them they're being a prick. And if they keep being a prick you send 'em my way. If they don't fucking like the thing, then they can stay the fuck out of the goddamn tags about it or understand they're going to have to deal with people like me.

[marciabrady]

I used to like Belle but after seeing how hard BatB staff tried to prompt her like "Not Like the Other Girls" her character soured to me. I just bought a book called The Disney Princess - A Celebration of Art and Creativity (which is beautiful! I recommend it!) and when I came to Belle's part, director Kirk Wise said something about how Belle was very protective of her father "unlike Ariel" (as if Ariel didn't attacked Ursula in RAGE when she turned Triton into a polyp. That was the first time in the film where we saw Ariel at her angriest.), and it reminded me so much of when Linda Woolverton would say that she created Belle to no be "another insipid heroine" and really, is cool they wanted Belle to be an intelligent and independent young woman but why the need to tear down the princesses that came before her? This mentality behind her creation which is also shown in the movie by showing Belle against the Bimbettes to prove how "she's different from the other girls" really made me lose interest on her :/

See, that's ALWAYS been the thing about Belle and the general discourse that's permeated every extension of her character's existence (whether you're talking about the universe her film exists in or her fandom or her creators) for as long as I can remember. It's not enough that Belle is smart- she has to be THE smartest, and all the other princesses have to be idiots. It's not enough that certain people believe she wasn't looking for her prince- she has to be THE first who's never looked for a prince while the other princesses are all passive wimps who wait for a man to rescue them. I think her character and her creators- of these Linda Woolverton and Paige O'hara have inflicted the most damage- have really began the trend of pitting the princesses against one another. I mean, at a panel where there were four princesses a few years ago, each was asked what their princess contributed to the lineup and Anika Noni Rose spoke to how important Tiana was as the first black princess. Paige promptly interrupted her to say that Belle was the first brown-eyed, brunette princess...since Snow White. Like, what?! ALSO. Nothing about Belle if you actually think about it is revolutionary? In many ways I think she's a step down for princesses.

For starters, she doesn't even have an actual song in her movie? I guess you can count the reprise as one, but it isn't even a full song, so when Paige sings for events, she has to mash together Be Our Guest and other songs because Belle doesn't even have her own. Which is insane to think about considering Ariel, whose LITERAL plotline for an act of her movie is that she doesn't have a voice, and Aurora, who everyone discourages for not having many lines, have their own respective songs and reprises. Meanwhile, Belle doesn't have her own song, and Jasmine after her only has a duet (which shows Belle's trend/negative influence). Furthermore, Belle was the first princess who got half-billing. The previous films were Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (not Snow White and the Prince, and many times it's shortened to 'Snow White'), Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and The Little Mermaid. Belle's film is Beauty AND THE BEAST. After this, the movie was literally ALADDIN and omitted Jasmine altogether, and now we have movies like 'Tangled' and 'Frozen', where the titles are purposely not "too girly" so as to attract wider audiences that would otherwise be turned off by names implying a more female heavy cast. Also to note, this is the Beast's world, with his castle, his character arc, and his journey that we're tracking, not Belle's. Snow White is the princess everyone drags in comparisons to Belle, but I actually think Snow White fares so much better from multiple plotpoints?

Belle's passion is reading, and many bring this up as if it's completely relevant and proves her character is super intelligent, but it literally never comes into play or impacts the plot in any way? Meanwhile Snow White is also clearly literate (she can read the Dwarfs names on the bed) and she demonstrates her intelligence by being able to take the names on the bed and attribute it to each dwarf accordingly without even knowing them. When it comes to struggle, they're not even comparable. Snow White is an orphan, forced servant, who's grown up under an abusive stepmother who practices magic and can kill her at any time. Belle is the daughter of a wealthy landowner with no responsibilities. It's fine she doesn't want to marry Gaston, but she also has no trade or way for supporting her father. We don't even see her tending to her barn. She literally just goes into town for a book- which she gets for free-and then later leaves her house in search of the Beast's castle. Like? Whereas Snow White is literally the victim of a HOMOCIDE attempt by the monarch of her country, Belle is welcomed into the Beast's kingdom (whereas her father was imprisoned) just by virtue of her being beautiful. Everyone fawns after Belle in her movie. She goes from the village where she's idolized (I refute the idea that she's an outsider and find it, frankly, RIDICULOUS. They sing about how beautiful she is and Gaston- who has the most social clout in the village- wants to marry her. The Bimbettes even mentioning wishing they were like her. This is hardly being an outcast) to a castle where she's equally idolized for being a beautiful woman that can potentially break the curse. She never has to work for anything and, at multiple times in the movie, just ends up leaving because things are too hard. On the other hand, Snow White, as previously mentioned, is raised by an abusive stepmother who forces her to be a servant, tries to kill her, and then, when Snow White begs the Dwarfs for sanctuary in their cottage, they initially deny her. They're not taking her in because she's beautiful like Belle- she literally has to convince them to let her stay by offering that she could cook and clean for them (these being the only marketable traits she knows as she's been forced into servitude by another woman since childhood).

Belle has no consequences either. Which leads me to address the point about her father.

For everyone who says she scarifies herself for her father and it's this deep thing, her actions in the film actually say otherwise? While she does say 'take me in his place instead' she's barely in the jail for like 10 minutes. She's immediately swept off to a private chamber with a magic wardrobe and teapot. She refuses to go to dinner because she doesn't want to see the Beast, but 10 minutes later, Be Our Guest happens where an entire enchanted castle is cooking anything she wants from her. Then, she's told she can do anything she wants but just not to go to one room. And what does she do? She goes to that room, and not only does she go to it, but she lifts the glass protector from the rose and tries to touch it. How is that not stupid but Snow White eating the apple is??? Also I might add, everyone views Snow White as an idiot for helping the old hag, but no one thinks twice about the fact that the Beast was cursed for NOT helping a similar character in his film...but I digress. When she's yelled at for trespassing, she forgets she exchanged her life for her father's a mere 20 minutes ago and runs away...seriously lol this is the woman everyone said is so strong for sacrificing herself. Like it's ridiculous! Also, not to mention, but she rejects Gaston's proposal in the end of the movie where he says he could say her father if she marries him, so it's not like Belle is totally there to save her father time and time again. She promised to take his place but broke that promise SO EARLY into the deal. Also, the woods she runs into after breaking that promise? She has to be saved by the Beast after wolves almost kill her. Meanwhile, I didn't notice a man saving Snow White from the woods she had to flee into after almost being murdered by a court-appointed huntsman but...that's none of my business💅

[theeeveetamer]

Okay, but now I gotta ask: what *were* the reasons why Dynasty Warriors 6 was considered a bad game by the fandom? Thanks and have a lovely day!

HAHA Yes someone took the bait

*Ahem*

Let me start by saying that I actually love Dynasty Warriors 6. It's an ugly duckling but it has a special place in my heart.

Anyway, there were actually a lot of reasons. I wouldn't say any one of them was like The Thing that killed this game in the eyes of a lot of DW fans, they all just kind of came together to leave a really bad impression.

#1) They slimmed down the cast

If you know Dynasty Warriors for anything, it's probably "Three Kingdoms, button mashing, huge cast". By Dynasty Warriors 5 the number of playable characters was approaching 50 playable characters, which is a lot when you're trying to make individualized movesets for each character. All of these characters were playable in the main story campaign, albeit in often less personalized ways. For example, in Dynasty Warriors 3 you would just pick a character, you would play the story for the faction that character was from, and there was only really slight variation in the cutscenes (inserting your officer into important moments and what not) and MAYBE the maps.

Dynasty Warriors 6 was supposed to be a bit of a soft reboot for the series, and so with that they decided to try and slim down the cast. The game started out with only ~40 playable characters, which doesn't seem like they took out that many, right? But, well, every character is someone's favorite, and they made a lot of very odd decisions with it (For instance, keeping Xiao Qiao but removing her sister, when the two of them always came as a pair in the past). Every previous Dynasty Warriors game also featured new playable characters, but DW6 did not introduce anyone new.

This approach also clearly did not work, because in DW7 they not only added back all the previously cut characters, but they expanded the roster further.

This was also compounded by...

2) Only some characters got story modes

Dynasty Warriors 6 is sort of an awkward middle child of the series.

In the earlier entries, you would have a generic Wei, Wu, or Shu campaign (and others, if you had some add ons, e.g. Lu Bu's campaign). It would start with you picking an officer affiliated with the faction, and it would usually end with your faction rather unhistorically unifying all of China under their banner. Like I said before, the huge playable cast was really only possible because these campaigns were generic, and all they had to do was occasionally insert your chosen officer into the cutscene.

It was also really historically inaccurate, given you could pick a character like Zhou Yu, who died relatively early in the timeline of the Three Kingdoms era, but he would of course be alive for all of it. And of course you would win battles that your chosen faction did not historically win just to get your happy ending (e.g. you would win Chi Bi, even if you were on Wei's side).

Dynasty Warriors 7 and 8 (and possibly 9, but I haven't played enough to say for sure) decided to go for more historical bent*.

In these games each faction has a campagin, but instead of picking a playable officer from the start and carrying them all the way through, the game makes you pick your playable character at the start of each map. You can play as Sun Jian in the first map of Wu's story, for example, but he dies at the end because... that's more or less where he dies in real life. Then the next three maps you might get to play Zhou Yu, then Sun Shangxiang, etc.

Most characters are only playable for a map or two, but they're all spread pretty evenly throughout the story, so you're always mixing up who you play as and each character gets unique moments to shine throughout as they all contribute to the overall story. It also allows characters to die and lose battles when they're supposed to, as the story will just pick up with the next character and the next major battle. Wei never wins Chi Bi in these games, unless there's a secret "hypothetical" route you've unlocked.

Dynasty Warriors 6 is... well, it kind of sort of tries to be both. It still wants those happy endings from the earlier games, but it wants to give more character focus like the later games.

The solution they came up with for 6 was to have individualized campaigns for each character. These are six stages strung together with cutscenes and narration that are all focused primarily on your chosen character.

Now, the problems with this approach.

2a) Only 17 characters got campaigns

Many of them were fan favorites, but yeah. It was Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Zhao Yun, Zhuge Liang [Shu], Cao Cao, Zhang Liao, Xiahou Dun, Dian Wei, Sima Yi [Wei], Sun Jian, Zhou Yu, Lu Xun, Sun Shangxiang, Gan Ning [Wu], Diao Chan, and Lu Bu [Others].

It also excluded many other fan favorites such as Ling Tong, Ma Chao, Cao Pi, Zhen Ji, etc.

Some of the excluded characters did get story modes later, but I'll cover that in a bit.

2b) These campaigns were repetitive as fuck

There are 10 characters who could have been present for Chang Ban. Seven of them have Chang Ban as one of their stages. Which means, in addition to being the absolute worst fucking stage in the entire game no matter which side you play and I still hate it to this day, you have to play it a minimum of seven times if you want to see all of the story content in the game. Don't even ask me how many times Chi Bi appears.

You also have a lot of characters who were present for a lot of the same stuff, which means their story modes are really similar. Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and Guan Yu often come as a triad, and as a result a lot of these three campaigns are similar to each other. Zhang Fei and Liu Bei share four of their six maps, for example.

2c) You had to play them a LOT if you wanted all the content in the game

Only nine of the 17 story modes are actually available at the start of the game, three for each of the main factions. In order to unlock all of the story modes, you have to play the story modes.

In addition, those other characters I mentioned? The ones without story modes? Most of them are also locked behind hitting battle goals in the story mode maps. Which means you will probably have to replay at least some of the maps in order to unlock everyone.

2d) If you're doing a campaign, you HAVE to use the campaign character for all six battles. Playing Lu Xun? You're playing six battles as Lu Xun, so I hope you like how he plays.

Unless you're playing two-player with a friend, that means every non-story mode character is used exclusively for free mode. Meaning you can't play any story content with them. So if your favorite character is Ling Tong? Too bad, if you wanna use him go grind some free mode chapters I guess. Or buy a second controller and stick Dian Wei in the corner while "player 2" does everything.

(Yes I did that. Screw trying to chase down Liu Bei with the slowest damn character in the game)

2e) These campaigns were actually pretty short.

If you know what you're doing, most of them can be completed in less than an hour. Which means you've only got about... 17 hours of story gameplay.

Now that's just the story mode and basic character stuff. Let's get into the gameplay.

3) They dumbed down Warriors gameplay. Somehow.

In every other Warriors game ever, you have the X button, and you have the Y button. You hit the X and the Y button, occasionally mixing them together to make combos, and things die. This is occasionally supplimented with an A button press.

In Dynasty Warriors 6, you still have your X and your Y button, but you also have something called the "Renbu system". The Renbu system is simple: the more hits you chain, the more flashy your X and Y button presses get. There's no combos though. Only Renbu. Which means you mash one button instead of two the whole time.

Which means that a series already pretty much known for being a basic button masher turned into an even basic-er button masher.

Renbu also decreases if you are not hitting things. The game often forces you to run around for long stretches facing no enemies as you go from base to base, which means you basically never had the highest Renbu all the time when doing a map.

You also didn't get nearly the variety of weapons or mounts you got in the previous games. For weapons you basically had "normal", "quick but does less damage", and "slow but does more damage".

3a) Most of those 40 characters are clones. Especially the ones who didn't get campaigns. In addition to this, they removed a lot of iconic weapons.

Sun Shangxiang, since her very first appearance, always used a weapon called the wheels. They were kind of her thing. Dynasty Warriors 6 decided to give her a bow instead, which she now shares with Yue Ying as a weapon. They play exactly the same.

Lemme tell you, people did NOT like that. I can take different weapons, but having so many clones meant there was basically no reason to play some of the characters (e.g. why would I ever play Yue Ying if I like Sun Shangxiang better and they play exactly the same?)

3b) Some of the fun side stuff you could do in previous games, like collecting characters' best weapons or getting the special horses, was completely removed

Less side content, less things to keep you going after you've beaten the paltry number of story modes, which meant people put it down a lot faster.

Now, remember how I mentioned some of these problems got somewhat fixed?

4) Some of these problems were addressed in a re-release of the game. That re-released happened on a completely different console. No, I'm not kidding.

So Dynasty Warriors 6 released on PS3 and Xbox 360. Then, after it came out, they actually re-released it. It had six more story mode campaigns, five new stages, the Renbu decreased faster so you could keep your combos, and some of the movesets were un-cloned in order to make characters more unique.

The problem? This re-release came out on PS2 and PSP. For some reason. Which meant the graphics and performance got a massive downgrade. Remember as well, the PS3 is not backwards compatible with the PS2. So, yeah, if you wanted to play this then I hope you kept your last gen console around instead of selling it to buy the new one or something.

5) Last point: soft reboot also meant some character re-writes.

Some characters really benefited from this. Cao Cao, for example, was frequently depicted rather cartoon villain-y, to sort of contrast Liu Bei's whole pure good man of the people thing, in the previous games. From 6 onward he was given a lot more nuance. Sima Yi also gets to really live his role as the precursor to the next dynasty instead of just being an evil laughing henchman to Cao Cao.

Then you have... the female characters. Sun Shangxiang was one of only two female characters with a playable campaign in the original release. Y'all. They butchered her. Long story short, historically she's one of the women we know the most about. She had an arranged marriage with Liu Bei to solidify an allyship between Wu and Shu, but from what we know it was purely political and she actually went home after a few years because the ally thing was just not doing it. This is more or less reflected in the pre-6 games.

Dynasty Warriors 6 basically turns her into the biggest Liu Bei simp. Like all of her dialogue is about how lovey dovey she is for her wonderful hubby wubby who is just the bestest person in the entire universe (gag). She even goes so far as to betray her family and fight against them in her campaign, something she has never done previously and, as far as we can tell, never did historically. Unfortunately, she never quite recovered. At least not in 7 and 8. Dynasty Warriors kind of always had an issue with making female characters all about their husbands, but 6 marks the point when they started making characters who were not originally all about their husbands all about their husbands too. Considering the cast of these games is like 4:1 male:female already, that blatant dev sexism mega sucks.

5... .5) Ok I lied about the last one being the last point. But this one is entirely up to taste. A lot of people hated the outfit designs for this game.

I think I'm kind of in the minority here because I actually kind of liked them lol. But yeah there were a lot of people who hated the direction they went. The earlier designs were a bit more grounded with a lot of armor and simple colors. DW had bright colors and feathers everywhere. Definitely bold. Still better than DW7, IMO, with their weirdly modern stewardess Qiao sisters and other nonsense.

Anyways now you might be wondering what I actually like about the game, since I said it has a special place in my heart. WELL!

#1) Nostalgia

It was the first Warriors game I really played for myself, sue me. I mean I've always had a lot of nostalgia for the series, since my brother played the heck out of DW3 when I was a kid, but I didn't really play 3 until much later.

2) It can actually be pretty challenging if you don't know what you're doing

DW7 and DW8, while great for what they do, kind of had the issue of being too hand-holdy. Because you need to follow a particular historical-ish sequence of events, the game constantly has to direct you around. You can't just Leeroy Jenkins Cao Cao at Chi Bi, for example, because you gotta change the wind, then set the ships on fire, then wait for Cao Cao to get off the ships so he can start escaping, etc.

DW6 DGAF about that. You wanna play Chi Bi by accidentally botching the fire attack and make your life about six thousand times harder? Have at it. Wanna run down Cao Cao within thirty seconds of the map starting? Have fun.

And then if you do want to hit the extra targets or actually strategize, you can do that! I've played with friends in two player and we would literally sit down before a map and have a little strategy session. It was fun!

The first time I played DW6 I got my ass kicked on the very first stage because I kept failing the mission for various reasons. It's definitely the last of the DW games that isn't super mega hand-holdy.

3) It's got a bangin' soundtrack. Probably my favorite of the games I've played

I mean you get to listen to this masterpiece after every map clear. Stunning.