#guys you probably know this but

[tossawary]

This is petty fandom salt, BUT... I've been chewing on this phenomenon that I've been calling "Fandom's Darling". It is related to things like "Author's Darling" and "Mary Sue / Gary Stu" and "Protagonist Halo" and all that jazz, where one character gains a peculiar narrative weight in a story.

"Author's Darling" is when a writer has a favorite character, and the world and all other characters sort of get... warped to put the Darling in the spotlight. It's most noticeable in TV shows with multiple writers, when a character you personally like suddenly has their previous characterization destroyed to make another character look good somehow. Every other character might become weirdly incompetent. The Darling's feelings are treated as The Most Important Feelings in any given situation. The logic of the fictional world seems broken past suspension of disbelief in order to validate this one character's beliefs or skillset or some other fantasy. And so on.

"Fandom's Darling" is what I've been calling the pattern where a fandom essentially crowns a New Protagonist for their fanfiction stories (it's often a side character rather than the original protagonist, but it can also happen to protagonists). This character becomes the self-insert for all sorts of indulgent fantasies, gaining special powers or backstories, and/or becoming the focus of extreme whump, and/or hooking up with all the various hotties, starring in all sorts of tropey AUs, and so on. They're not always an obvious Mary Sue version of themselves, but the character's original personality and interpersonal relationships tend to get warped or dropped completely, and other characters tend to become a little flat around them. I call it "Fandom's Darling" because it's not just one self-indulgent fantasy fic (you do you! Have fun!) with characterization choices that I don't vibe with (I have neither the time nor the desire nor the authority to police anything, I am just venting), but rather a prolific mini-fandom of sorts revolving around this empty doll / fanon version of the chosen vessel character, so it becomes a little unavoidable.

I am salty about this (mildly frustrated) (imagine a soft sigh of disappointment before I just go do something else) because you are FUCKED if you actually liked the canonical version of this character and their interpersonal relationships. It's almost worse than liking an obscure character that no one cares about. There's about a thousand fics starring your fave, but maybe only about a dozen of them are actually rooted in any kind of recognisable canon.

[keferon]

Empurata!Prowl tries to actually communicate for the first time

What if he wants to say something but he can’t. What if he has no voice to speak, no face to emote, no hands to write. What if every attempt to communicate a message is essentially a puzzle of wit and creativity and yet, the first thing he goes through all these troubles for. Is to say “I love you”?

Don’t ask me how did they get in this room. I have no idea. They escaped the battlefield somehow haha

Next->

[chloesimaginationthings]

Vanessa's first impression on Mike in the FNAF movie

[egophiliac]

tsum events really are just the best, huh

[fluentisonus]

i've seen several variations on this meme with legolas & gimli but no one but me gets which way around it should be it should be like this:

[newtid]

had the urge to draw the butch werewolf again (mainly in thanks to punkitt's werewolf sona)

started making this a couple days ago and was planning on posting it tomorrow but i just learnt that woah!! it's butch appreciation day

anyway i made this gal nearly a year ago but she's still unnamed, so if you've got any ideas let me know

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I've never been more normal in my life.

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[icelogged]

[unhappy-sometimes]

bowling doodles

next thing you know, he’s got a custom jersey and ball, a shelf of bowling trophies, and is on a local team.

i know that loid is supposed to be good at everything, but just once i’d like to see him pathetically fail at something despite his earnest efforts. every time i go bowling i am consistently surprised at how difficult it is.

[demaparbat-hp]

Izumi (steambaby) sketches.

[kaylv18]

Pearl: Hey Geemm??

Gem: Yeah?

Pearl: You’re so wonderful, did you know?

Gem: Yeah, I did, I did know-

Pearl: You’re actually fantastic, you’re glorious, you’re beautiful, fantastic-

[shiverhohojiro]

the slightly unsettling realization that your ex-boss is also a person with wants and desires, and that those wants and desires are closer to your own than you might previously have imagined. aka "why does DJ Octavio get to be at the Grand Festival can you imagine how the octolings must feel about this"

Bonus doodle:

[chloesimaginationthings]

Mike and FNAF into the pit Jeff are the same guy…

[whumpbby]

You know, that bit about "If you offend someone, make sure it's not Yunmeng Jiang and not their Leader specifically!" is just so fascinating to me.

Because - what happened?

What the hell happened to solidify the Jiang as the "find out" of Jianghu??

Like, sure, Sandu Sengshou "killed Yiling Laozu" so you probably don't want to mess with the guy - but a whole sect?? "Don't mess with them or they'll clap back" is a bit of a different fame than "he's torturing demonic cultivators!" - that former is an experience-based life advice.

So, what happened? Did JC punch someone square in the face during a sect conference? Called Sect Leader Yao for a duel and kicked his ass? Fucked up a bunch of trade representatives when they tried to take advantage of the fledgeling Jiang sect??? Took Jin Guangyao's hat and held it out of his reach????

And exactly how trigger-happy are the Jiang disciples to be known as the people you don't fuck with???

I need to know what the hell happened!

[bacchuschucklefuck]

while teen while goblin while aroace while injured while doing your best

[rubydubydoo122]

I just realized that Jason wasn't alive during Dick's mullet phase. I thought he was because most fics have Jason making fun of Dick for his mullet, but only Tim got to see Dick's mullet in all of it's glory. I mean maybe Jason saw the beginings of it, when the mullet was just past the nape of his neck, but he definitely didn't see Dick's mane