#have one semi problematic teenager

[chalkrevelations]

if you don't want to talk about this further, just ignore this of course, but have you seen pond's fucking instagram post about build? (without saying his name of course) i know automatic translations can be wonky, but overall, he is making it all about himself and his feelings, STILL "both sides" the whole thing, and throws in a "watch the new ep of our show" (you know... the one they took away from build) at the end. the audacity that man has is just beyond comprehension. i truly hope karma will do its thing and ruin the company and that man's life.

Hi, Anon. I. Hm.

I went back and forth a couple of times on whether I actually did want to respond to this. I have a lot of feelings and opinions about Pond and about BOC under his direction that I’ve rarely spoken about so publicly (although I have some suspicions, for Reasons, that some things I’ve said in semi-private spaces have been spread further than those spaces). I'm very aware that I'm at a cultural and linguistic disadvantage when I try to evaluate anything about Pond or BOC and that I'm therefore working with limited information. But I don’t think it’s a big secret I’m not a fan of Pond’s. From what I’ve seen, I think his behavior has been deeply problematic and unethical, and not just in relationship to Build’s situation - although the way he’s tried to portray himself as peacemaker during this whole debacle with Poi has certainly only exacerbated my negative impression. The best I can give him is that maybe he’s unaware of his own unctuous self-centeredness? So, while it would be gross and skeevy that he would 1) make something as serious as this all about himself and his own feelings, and 2) use it as a mercenary chance to flog his latest BOC property despite the fact that property no longer has anything to do with Build, I wouldn't be surprised by it.

Personally, I'm sorry that I gave him and his company the benefit of the doubt for as long as I did. Like many other people, I bought into the “big happy family” fan service for a while, before eventually accepting that it was just as much fan service as any branded pair, so, mea culpa on that front, right? But I think too many people didn’t and haven’t realized or accepted that, and that Build in particular has paid an out-sized price for it - including when people have put the blame on him for the cracks in the facade, especially in misplaced anger and outrage over the “leaked” DMs that threatened the happy found-family narrative BOC was selling and that fans want(ed) to believe.

I think Pond and BOC have been very good at manipulating fan sentiment into believing their self-imposed Hero Edit and self-promotion as industry disrupter, despite evidence to the contrary that goes back as far as the filming of KPTS, when Poi and Yok got away with sexually and otherwise harassing multiple cast members, including a teenaged Barcode. It extends through leveraging Barcode’s and other cast members' emotional response to Jeff’s departure to provide a show for a live concert audience, and forward to a reality show in which a bunch of young wannabe actors were pressured into exposing their worst moments, on television, for prurient viewer interest. Setting up Apo, of all people, to hawk skin lightener was a terrible thing to do and makes everyone involved a worse human being.

So, no, I wouldn't find this latest skeevy behavior surprising. I don’t know what Build’s hopes and plans are, as far as regaining a domestic career, and he's always seemed, publicly at least, to be far more forgiving of Pond than I would be in his position. I don't know if that's personal, cultural, or professionally rooted. But I personally hope Build has enough resources to allow him to avoid getting involved with Pond again, given the way Pond and BOC have treated him – from folding to a ginned-up harassment campaign so that Build was kept out of the public eye precisely when VP was airing/trending (funny, that), through leaving him to twist in the wind from the time of Poi’s first salvo of plagiarism accusations - which BOC apparently couldn’t be bothered to respond to, even though it was one of their properties at issue - to Pond standing around for a year and a half with his hands in the air like a bystander while Nong Poi publicly curbstomped someone who Pond claimed was a friend and part of his work "family," before sad-facing for the press about how hurtful it was that Build decided to leave the “family” that had publicly damnatio memoriae’d him.

Anyway, that's really more time and emotional spoons than I want to spend on Pond or his company - tbqh, they're one reason I'm semi-hiatusing at this point - so I'm likely done talking about them after this. But as usual, once I start, I talk forever, so here this is.

[cookie-run-ships]

Okay I know I wanted this specific blog to be more objective when it comes to ships, but this is ship related and I need to actually use this blog more

Anyways, on to the topic, there's something I've noticed when it comes to two particular Dark Choco ships

So most of us know about the whole darkmilk age debate that goes on, or at least that it was a thing. I may not personally ship it, but I think by this point I can acknowledge that it doesn't hold as much water as a problem as I initially thought

Yes, when the first two met, as shown in at least CRK, Milk was a child, while Dark Choco was at best a teenager, and those are two very different age groups. However, it has also been stated that the two have not met, at least not in any sort of meaningful way, since then, and currently, the two are adults. By this point in their lives, their age difference isn't really a problem, especially because at the only point where it potentially could be, they only met once. It was profound for Milk at least, and Dark Choco does remember it, but there is no issue of their potential romance starting there. Admittedly it might be a little weird, particularly since they semi-remember each other, but it isn't wildly problematic

But do you know what Dark Choco ship this argument actually would stand a genuine problem for? Carachoco

This really may not be a big deal since the ship isn't super popular, as the far more common headcanon is to make them siblings/family, but it is still a ship I've seen at least one or two people ship

But getting back to the point, we have been told multiple times that Dark Choco was the one to teach Caramel Arrow to use a bow. We also know that Cookies of the Dark Cacao Kingdom start learning to wield weapons as children due to their harsh environment, meaning that Carrow would have likely been a child, or at least a young teenager by this point. And if Dark Choco was made to be her mentor, he was presumably old enough, and older than her, so that he was considered qualified to do so, being a teenager at best. So for them, there is again, a noticeable age gap at the time they would have first met

But unlike darkmilk, whom only would have met that one time, Carrow and Dark Choco would have met many more times than just that one. Not to mention, Carrow is a Watcher at the Black Citadel Dark Choco lived in, and would presumably be training to do so at this time. So, these two would have extended time to get to know each other, and wouldn't have much reason to be apart for extended periods of time, at least until Dark Choco's banishment, and we don't know how old either party was at that time, other than Dark Choco presumably ranging from teenager-young adult (and likely the latter). And quite honestly, even if you make it after his banishment, it's still awfully sketchy for Dark Choco to fall in love with his former student

Carachoco actually does have the age difference problem darkmilk supposedly has, it's just that it isn't as noticeable since Caramel Arrow's age difference with Dark Choco isn't really stated, just implied on occasion

I realize that this is probably unnecessary, especially since carachoco isn't a popular ship and the darkmilk discourse does seem to be mostly behind us, and maybe this is just dredging up things best left to rest. But this is something I remembered, and I just wanted to share this info with you so more people know

Not necessarily to bash people who ship carachoco, but because I must share my knowledge with all, whether you want it or not

[ramblesbiab]

hazbin hotel is so weird to me.

When I was an edgy, newly queer teenager and the pilot came out, it was literally fucking everything to me. I rewatched it on a near daily basis. I thought every joke landed, that the animation was amazing, and I had a weird sense of pride that a YouTuber could produce something as amazing as a 30 minute, high quality animation.

Then a few years passed as I watched Helluva Boss excitedly every time it came out. I thought it was great, for a while. Then over time, I was semi-conscious of a decline in quality, that finally set in around when season 2 came out. I stopped watching at that point because I was so bored of it, I missed what it could've been, what it used to be.

At that point, I started seeing more information about the actual Hazbin Hotel show coming soon. On it's own it would have been strange, the lack of excitement about what was my entire personality at one point. Then I started seeing how a lot of accounts on here who I respect and look up to talk about the show.

The true scope of the issues with the show really set in at that point. How unoriginal and childish the jokes were. How their was barely an audience anywhere for it because it didn't know what it was trying to be. It was clear to me that something I once idolized is a wreck.

Then, one of my closest friends with media opinions I heavily respect starts watching the show and talking about how great it is. It's hard to describe the level of whiplash I felt. It felt like I was missing something, y'know? Like there was an inside joke I didn't understand, how could anyone like the bad show. It's bad.

I... still haven't watched the show. I don't have means to watch it except pirating and I genuinely don't feel like putting in the effort to pirate it. Honestly, the greater point of this post is just like - how bad I am at forming my own opinions, because I feel a constant need to be with the crowd.

I know that's a problem. It shouldn't matter how people I respect feel about the show, because if I enjoy it and it's not genuinely problematic, then there's nothing wrong with that. So maybe I would like the show. Maybe I'm in the small audience which I've repeatedly seen referred to as dumb, overly edgy, etc. And maybe I don't want to admit that because I'm hoping I'm not in the minority.

Anyway, that's the end of this long post. Have a nice day.

[kittyflufi123]

Thoughts on Krel x douxie? Krel is one of my favorites but a lot of people find the ship problematic because Douxie is like, over 900. On the other hand a lot of people question how slowly Akaridions age, so fifteen Akiridion years (keltons) could possibly equate to some centuries in earth years.

This theory is also supported by Aja and Krels parents being literally hundreds of years old and never aging because Akaridion biology reasons??

I dunno I just wanted to bother you

Hellou!! Thank you for the ask!!

Sorry it took so long to respond... school problems ;-; but!!! I'm here and I'll tell you one thing: I ship Krel and Douxie more than Zoe and Douxie, that's due to an artist too... but because I think they're super cute together >v<

about ages... even though Douxie is 900 years old... he's still a teenager, he just ages slowly, it's like you're semi-mortal, you can die but not from old age. about the krel age.. and the same thing, there is a different galaxy or planet, where the years or decades must pass slower than ours, or faster too qwq

So he is also a teenager, in my opinion, the only difference is the age that his planet or galaxy gives him,I don't see a problem in shipping them... it's just an observation and my opinion.

I hope I cleared your doubt hahah! It's been fun answering your asks hihi, if you have any more questions... feel free to ask.

[prodbyton]

the shit he did wasnt even bad like….he was being a normal teenager…i fear if i was an idol theyd burn me at the stake for the shit i do as a teenager

first day on the job theyd have to stone my ass to death im too problematic sorry… one leaked screenshot of anything i’ve posted on my spam accounts from 2019 to now… and imagine i get canceled for drinking and smoking under 21… and my really weird/semi non existent dating history…. it would be over 😭

[onesourceofbadinformation]

ben linus for the headcanon meme!

sexuality headcanon: abstain. i can't even begin to parse what's going on with ben. gay man?? maybe??? but he did have a crush on juliet that one time (presumably the writers were setting up something with his dead wife—annie? idk she only existed in the writers' minds—but they forgor 💀 so "you look just like her" could only be about his dead mother, the literal only other important woman in ben's life. i'm not going to unpack all that). i dont think hes ever come close to a romantic relationship. i think he and john locke had an awful sexual encounter in jacob's cabin on december 25 2004

otp: benlocke. nobody is doing it like them. ben manipulates locke until he kills him. and then locke comes back from the dead (or does he?!) and manipulates ben until he kills jacob. and i think that's beautiful

brotp: ben and hurley <3 theyre so sweet... when hurley shares the apollo bar with him augh augh ough.... and then they TAKE CARE OF THE ISLAND TOGETHER... AND HURLEY IS SEMI-IMMORTAL BUT BEN ISN'T.... i can't even talk about it. they're besties. hugo reyes <3

notp: ben and juliet. stay away from her freak. ive never seen anyone ship this though

first headcanon that pops into my head: i think sometimes richard would bring CDs or records back from his trips off the island and share them with alex. so she would be in her room (teenager) listening to nine inch nails or radiohead or something and ben would knock on her door like "hey kiddo what are you listening to" and she would be like "UGH DAD. it's not STRAUSS you wouldn't LIKE IT." and he would be like "yeah you're probably right." and leave. father of the year

favorite line from this character: "i'm a pisces." he is a legend he is the moment he moment he is a liar <3

one way in which I relate to this character: oh i dont relate to him im normal <- lying

thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character: LITERALLY EVERYTHING but his crush on juliet is easily his most embarrassing moment. "you're mine" I will kill you. Freak. it was funny when he sent goodwin to his death because he was jealous though

cinnamon roll or problematic fave? hes killed quite a lot of people.

[emilypemily]

i have a semi-commitment to not posting about discourse unless it's deeply unserious or only something i care about (gauntlet is the worst gladiators event and i'm sick of it's staying power) but i've been meaning to write about something minorly annoying to me for a while now, like i made a note on my phone in january about it and everything

which is basically about some reddit comment i read (always a bad start) about how this user thinks that people shouldn't read colleen hoover books because they are deeply problematic and could encourage bad behaviour or set bad expectations or cause harm to the reader due to it's bad messaging

and to be transparent, i haven't read any of her books because i find the covers uninspiring and whenever i've read the blurb of one (we get them in at work semi-often) they just don't sound that interesting to me, but i do feel the need to defend the 'right' (in quotes because who genuinely cares) to read like, bad or offensive books. like i just don't think that anyone has become uniquely maladjusted because they read a rubbish book.

like you're not morally wrong for reading or enjoying a book with problematic messaging and i think when we worry about that kind of thing you kind of mb down the reader's ability to recognise that a story is just a story. like most, dare i say all, people reading a book know it's just a book. which isn't to say that you can't criticise a book for being bad or offensive because art and literary criticism are important, and thinking about the things you consume is important and honestly just interesting, but to say 'i don't think anybody should read these books because it might affect the way they think' is just really silly to me.

i feel the same way about films. going 'you should never ever ever watch this film because it is offensive to xyz' just feels kind of too mary whitehouse to me. maybe a caveat might be 'don't pay to see it, just stream it illegally' but even then it's rarely that serious. your brain isn't going to rot just because you watched offensive films or read offensive books. i'm not saying that your particular media diet doesn't at all affect your thinking, like if you are purely watching gb news you certainly might come out stupider, but a reading a twilight or 50 shades or colleen hoover book isn't going to seriously damage the way your experience relationships.

maybe i'm differentiating here between fictional content and like, right wing commentary media diet, and i should just focus on fiction. my point is that again, pretty much everyone knows fiction is fiction, and saying 'don't watch this it's bad!!!!!!!' is honestly just kind of disrespectful to people's intelligence. and sometimes films and books are fun to consume because they are offensive and ridiculous, and watching and even enjoying something does not equal endorsing the behaviours of the characters within that thing, or even the filmmakers. or writers, in the case of a book. also you can check out at any time if you're not enjoying something. again, who cares. and i think there's a lot of worry about the way teenagers consume and internalise things and i think people always sort of forgot what it's like to be a teenager. i also think people sort of forget that you might in all honesty forget half the shit you read or watched or listened to as a teenager and that a lot of if does not make any sort of lasting impact.

i don't think i'm saying anything coherent or interesting and this probably all sucks but i just think there should be less worrying about what other people are consuming, and less calls for people to stop consuming it.

i suppose an objection is when money is repeatedly spent. like, if you enjoyed the harry potter books, i do not think it is Morally Wrong to rearead them, because if you enjoyed them in the first place you probably still already own copies of the books, so who cares if you reread them or not. but if you continue to give jk rowling your money i do think maybe you should stop doing that. but like, idk man buy the dvds or books in a charity shop or ebay and rewatch/read at your leisure, who is that hurting. but you probably don't need to keep funding jk rowling's bank account. same thing applies to boycotts. i am not saying 'who cares what you spend your money on', because money is power, and money speaks. but 'reading a bad book will not rot your brain' is the general point. 'people that read fiction books know that it is fiction' is the other point'. and perhaps the last point is 'sometimes things are enjoyable because they are offensive and bad'.

[mikuni14]

Yes, my thoughts right here :) For me, the show is consistent in portraying 2 characters: - Jeng - Put As for Jaab and Pat, I have no idea what's been going on for the last few episodes, so (among other things) the show, after a good start, lost a lot in my eyes.

I'll skip Jaab right away because his story (and what he actually wants) is a complete mystery 😶

And Pat IS a chaotically written character, full of glaring contradictions: - despite his young age, Pat HAS some serious experience in love, he had at least one serious relationship, one serious heartbreak from which he learned his lessons. Pat is not a shy, closeted gay, he openly discusses his love life with friends, goes on dates and semi-dates, openly crushes over handsome dudes, gets along easily with openly gay people, indicating that he doesn’t have any internalized homophobia, proving awareness of himself and his worth, also experience, education.. - Pat is socially active, meets people, is popular, makes friends easily, has traveled - this is not some poor, inexperienced, unsophisticated little country boy, experiencing world with a mouth open in awe and a litte bit of fear :) - Pat CAN recognize problematic situations, manipulations and is able to react immediately and stop them. He’s capable of just... idk, getting up up and runnig away from dinner when it's awkward:) when he decided his relationship with Put wasn't going to work out, he didn't prolong the relationship, he just ended it right away. He also had the correct reactions to Put's attempts at manipulation - AND THE SAME PAT acts like a teenager with his first crush, whose reactions and emotions are all over the place, suddenly has a low self esteem, behaves at times even cruelly, completely ignoring facts, words, atmosphere, something that he HANDLE VERY WELL in other scenes

That's why I'm afraid the show is doing what I previously suspected was doing: scenes are created not for plot, but for mood or a certain purpose. Like right now the series needed drama, needed a really heartbroken Jeng, so Pat had to be... cruel, and blind, and frankly stupid. It doesn't matter if it was consistent with his character in other scenes, he just had to act in a way, that would crush him. Pat couldn't gently reject him, couldn't even freak out, while leaving room for Jeng to do something, give him hope. No, it had to be full of drama and Pat had to do it, losing the character’s credibility and fans in the process 😁

(I might be wrong though, I admit freely, that I just don’t like Pat,and I have no idea what Jeng seees in him)

The last several weeks of Step by Step I’ve been more focused on Jeng and his emotional arc, which I have really been enjoying and which I think has consistently been the strongest part of the show. In today’s episode, as expected, Jeng got his heart (quite firmly!) broken, had a good hard cry about it, and then exited stage left for nearly the entirety of the episode, both in the story, as he took accountability for his actions by distancing himself from Pat and then resigning from his job, and on our screens.

Which put me in the awkward position of having to face what I’ve been trying to ignore for the last several weeks:

I am really struggling with Pat’s character

This isn’t a new issue. @waitmyturtles and @imminentinertia can attest that I’ve been in their DMs recently gnashing my teeth about it. Because y’all, I love this show a lot. I have so enjoyed watching it week to week with everyone, and most of the time, I am having a great time. But that part of my brain that demands coherent emotional arcs and crisp pacing and consistent narrative themes has been getting increasingly louder, and this episode it basically kicked down my mental wall and said stop ignoring me, girl. 

To start from a place of owning my shit, I will just say straight up: characters like Pat are difficult for me. I was never, for a single moment in my life, afforded the luxury of being a hot ass mess with zero emotional control. I find it hard to relate to, and can struggle to empathize with it. With that said, I actually enjoyed Pat’s side of the story just fine through about the end of the Put arc. I liked seeing Pat flail about when he first met Jeng and realized the tall hot man was his boss. I liked seeing him learn how to be competent at work. I liked seeing him put his slutty shirt on and distract himself with other men. I even liked most of the arc with Put (even though I cannot stand that manipulative ass of a man) for the opportunity it afforded Pat to grow up a little and start looking beyond Put to a more mature romantic option. And I thought that’s where the story was taking us - but in the last part of last week’s episode and all through this one, it felt like Pat’s character regressed. 

So to actually get to this episode, Pat wakes up from his drunken stupor with somewhat fuzzy memories of the night out with Jeng; remembers Jeng coming out to him; avoids Jeng until forced to interact; rejects Jeng, draws clear boundaries and expresses disbelief that Jeng actually likes him; gets upset at the idea that Jeng may be toying with him in his talk with Jane; then has a big old meltdown about… something while with his parents; then goes into depression mode and gets all wistful about Jeng. That is the order of events.    

In talking to friends @shortpplfedup and @wen-kexing-apologist (who have very different takes on this story - these are my complaints alone) we puzzled through what we think was happening here emotionally for Pat. @wen-kexing-apologist reminded me that Pat’s lack of emotional control and frequent emotional outbursts, as well as his instinctive distrust and ungenerous interpretations of Jeng’s actions, have been part of the story from the very beginning, and that he has recently been through Put’s emotionally manipulative wringer again and may be projecting some of his lingering upset with Put onto Jeng. @shortpplfedup posited that Pat took Jeng’s coming out after all this time not as an act of trust or leap of faith on Jeng’s part, but as a harsh realization that he doesn’t know Jeng at all and has been acting foolish in front of him, thus putting him back in a mindset to distrust him, and that both his anger and his upset in the scene with Jeng, and then his belief expressed in the following scene with Jane that Jeng is messing with him, stem from his disbelief that someone like Jeng would actually like someone like him. 

These are all great thoughts. I think they are about as accurate a read as anyone can get from what we’ve been given. However, my beef is that the show did not tell me any of this, it simply presented me with a series of scenes in which Pat’s emotions swung wildly from pole to pole, with no connective tissue to help me understand why Pat was all over the place. I love the show, don’t tell principle of writing, but you do need to actually externalize some of what is happening in a character’s head for their actions to make sense for the viewer, especially if what you’re trying to show me is that a character’s brain is an incoherent mess of illogical emotion and irrational thinking. The show has done a beautiful job of this with Jeng, but it has failed Pat on this front.

And if I may, for a moment, comment on how the show’s messy editing and pacing (which has been an ongoing issue the whole time, not just in this episode, though boy did the timeline go off the rails in this one) contributed to the issue - look at that sequence of events above again. If a couple of these scenes had their order swapped, would the flow of Pat’s emotions have made more sense in this episode? Say, if he talked with Jane and had the idea that Jeng is messing with him planted in his head before he talked to Jeng? Or if his breakdown with his parents came at the end of this very emotionally trying episode when he is clearly depressed and confused? I very much think so!

So that’s really the thing it comes down to for me: I think I understand, intellectually, what they are trying to do with Pat (or, we have it all wrong and understand nothing, never rule out absolute clownery). I can puzzle it out with the context we’ve been given, and the help of my very smart friends, and arrange it all in my head in a way that makes sense. But my main issue is I believe the show should be doing that work, not the audience. I don’t want to have to pause on a major scene and spend a bunch of time trying to connect the dots of the characters’ actions and emotions, I want to understand and feel it as I am watching. That is what makes a drama thrilling, when it can sweep you along on a smooth ride and let you feel the emotions of the story without your brain going - wait, I don’t get why he’s acting that way, or what, that doesn’t ring true, or hold up, something isn’t right here. This is where Step by Step is faltering for me, but I very much hope the final three episodes will recover and deliver a satisfying conclusion.

[ignobleknight2]

@solarsought plotted starter for Padme. 

Meeting her again, after ten painful years of separation, felt like a hot knife in his chest. She was the very picture of poise and elegance he remembered; more beautiful than any other being in the galaxy. Anakin had always imagined meeting Padme again would somehow be more… magical, but the sight of her, the electric energy of being near her, made his throat dry and his head empty. He stumbled over his words, quick to make his feeble efforts to hide the obvious flirting that came so easily when she was near. It left him feeling muddled and far too tense.

When both the Council and the Chancellor insisted on the Senator’s leaving, Anakin was deeply relieved, but similarly nervous. It was his first assignment on his own, and in spite of his long standing readiness for more responsibility, they could not have picked a more difficult task. It wasn’t in protecting her life that he had doubts, not at all. In his abilities with a saber, he had no such insecurities, but when it came to matters of the heart, his certainty crumbled. 

Fear and doubt hung in heavy clouds over his head, but his hopeful heart refused to give up on its fantastic delusions. He thought of all the time they would have together- alone. The possibilities spilled over in a wellspring of both meaningful and lustful. He swallowed a lump in his throat, doubtful of his imagination, but unable to completely cast aside these dubious thoughts. He did try to keep a level head, and entertained such fantasies as little as possible, but it was hard when all other paths seemed to lead only to pain. 

The nightmares, which plagued him for the better part of the month, were somehow getting worse. Each felt as real as anything in his waking hours, and took much time and meditation to convince himself they weren’t real, that his mother was alright, but part of him always doubted. This was his own error, his inability to trust Obi-Wan’s judgment unconditionally. It was arrogant that he should think he knew better than his master, but there were plenty of instances to prove he’d been right, at times. The Jedi way was a constant illusory presence in his life. It was rife with ideas that felt contradictory, or at times arbitrary, but he was devoted to learning. Forming his own understanding of the code was essential to his growth, but so was listening to the masters, who presumably knew best. 

All of it gave him a headache, and he much preferred to think about Padme. Even if some of these thoughts might lead him to places not suited to a Jedi, he couldn’t help himself. Being with her, he was both emboldened and empowered. When she laughed, his world was brighter. Once they reached her home on Naboo, things got easier. She was in her natural element and all the more radiant for it. She shone brighter than twin suns over a scorching desert. When she smiled at him, his heart leapt. How could she not know what she was doing to him?

“Let me help you with that,” Anakin offered, taking her heavy suitcase without waiting for an answer. His smile was warm, albeit arrogant. In his effort to appear normal, he projected far more self assurance than what he truly felt. He followed at her heels, equally nervous and excited to see her bedroom for the first time. There was a level of intimacy in the simple sharing of space, of letting someone else into your own world, that made him giddy and warm all over. It would almost be like their first meeting on Tatooine, except now he was not a child, nor enslaved. They were free to meet on more equal ground.

[magicalgirlypop]

i really do not get all the hatred sonamy fans get in the sonic fandom.

"but they're so toxic!!"

so are all other ship fandoms. i've had experience with toxic shippers of other ships. but you won’t see me generalizing the ship's fandom over them. every ship has its fair share of toxic fans. so why is it that only sonamy fans get all the heat for being toxic? i'm not denying that there are bad eggs in our fandom but i don't think its fair yo act like we're a special breed of toxic. i've seen fans of other ships with r*pe on amy yet people don't use them to generalize the whole ship's fandom.

"they think their ship is canon!!"

in the 2000s-2010s, maybe we did have a lot of fans who thoight that way. but nowadays whenever sonamy fans claim its canon, its always done in a joking way. its what fans lf literally every other ship do. i've seen people jokingly say "x ship is canon" because character a looked at character b funny. but no one ever attacks them for it. so why is it that only we get attacked when a lot of the time we aren't even serious?? we KNOW our ship will never actually be canon. we KNOW sega has no intention of changing their dynamic as of now. we're just having fun with the moments we're given. especially in recent media. why do y'all froth at the mouth over that. don't like it? just ignore and block.

and to be honest? as sonamy is now, it can be considered semi canon. like, give me a platonic explanation of the "amy, i should've made up my mind sooner" line in frontiers. IF sega decides to make them a couple, their dynamic still won't change. it'll still be very subtle except they're actually a couple now and you won't even notice it. and even then no one's stopping you from liking other ships. and if they are, well the block button exists for a reason.

"but the fanfics-"

i have my beef with old sonamy fanfics. but i have a feeling the people who made them were young kids and teenagers. i'll bet a lot of them have grown up now and have better things to do in life. now i hardly see any sonamy fanfic that villainizes sally or makes sonic an asshole for the sake of angst. the more extreme shippers from the 2000s-early 2010s should not be used to judge shippers today.

imagine if i used the sonadow shippers i encountered in 2014 deviantart, who were mostly allocishet girls who shipped them because they fetishized gay men, made both of them extremely ooc (anyone remember the terms seme and uke?), and of course hated amy for getting in the way of their ship, to judge the sonadow shippers of today who are now mostly mellow and enjoy their ship in peace, it wouldn't be fair now would it?

"the age gap is problematic!!"

most of the ages in sonic make no sense! there's a line in sonic forces where infinite claims sonic has defeated eggman for decades, and sonic's only supposed to be 15. granted using sonic forces may not be the best example but it shows how little sega cares about the ages. and now they've even been renoved from sonic channel. AND even ian flynn himself has said not to worry about pairings like sonamy and knuxouge because there's nothing wrong with them.

and i KNOW people are gonna take this to mean "so shipping things like s0nt@ils is okay now??" no, because tails is still coded as a little kid. sonic and most of the cast are coded as teenagers.

there's people who ship tails and fiona, and that's an actual toxic ship with an actual problematic age gap. but they don't get half the heat that sonamy shippers get.

"sonamy is a ship for the cishets"

really now? i guess my lgbt cars has expired guys. maybe that's a good thing because i was born and raised in a country where its illegal to be lgbt and my parents are kinda religious. and even the country where i'm originally from is pretty homophobic despite gay marriage being decriminalized. who knew all it took to solve those problems was to ship sonamy?? thanks guys.

do you see how stupid that logic is? a fucking ship doesn't determine your sexuality. i don't want to kiss women any less because i ship sonamy.

[bambazzle]

LGBT+ Fantasy/Fiction Books and TWs

-In the case that a book on the list is the first of a series, TWs will include warnings for the entire series-

IDNS means “I Do Not Support the Author”- reasons will be listed and linked! if you are interested in this author’s book, try to buy second hand!

I have removed some books that were on here, I know! I removed them specifically for problematic content- this book list was not just books I loved, but books I had yet to read and hoped to love. Books that misrepresent or fetishize our community don’t deserve to be supported and spread even more. I have replaced these books with ones that don’t perpetuate harmful stereotypes, so we can all enjoy our escapes! 

1. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (Trilogy)-

(Fantasy, Witches, Vampires, kind of Harry Potter-y, MLM Romance, TW for suicidal ideation, self-destructiveness, abandonment, foster care, neglect, bullying, major character death, racism, murder and attempted murder, violence, gun violence and relationship issues. It has some heavy topics but is written in a pretty light tone.)

(DNS author: Racism/stereotyping/fetishization of Asian community)

2. Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston-

(MLM “Enemies” to lovers, about the son of the President and the Prince of England getting into a fight, they have to fake a friendship to fix their PR situation, TW for being publicly outed, semi-graphic sex scenes, politically charged discussions, addiction, underage alcohol use, blackmail, parental death (mentioned), homophobia, panic attacks, sexual abuse/harrassment (mentioned), racism, parental neglect )

3. Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller-

(MLM but not explicitly romance, Ancient Greece, demigods, exile, TW for abduction, abandonment, war, violence, ableism, child abuse, death, human sacrifice, human trafficking, murder, plague (mentioned), sexual assault (mentioned), self-harm, slavery, torture)

4. The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic (Trilogy)-

(MLM, very slow burn. Demisexual MC. Mafia mixed with kids with broken homes mixed with a kid who has a dream of being a pro at a fictional sport. The focus is NOT on the relationship, it is the subplot. TW for ableism, verbal and physical abuse, abuse within a psychiatric facility, alcoholism, underage alcohol use, physical assault, sexual assault, conversion therapy (mention), death of an animal, parental death, drug abuse, drug use, drug overdose, drug misrepresentation, violence, gun violence, knife violence, homophobia, hate crime, murder, panic attacks, rehab, self harm, suicide (mentioned), graphic torture, manipulation, police intervention, organized crime/mafia, graphic description of burns. It is a great series but it has heavy content and is not light reading if you go in unprepared.)

5. The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune -

(MLM (WLW side characters), fantasy, found family, heartwarming romance, magical creatures, TW for abuse(mentioned), trauma-related anxiety, bigotry, body shaming, bullying, child abuse (backstory), internalized fatphobia, homophobia, microaggresions, violence, violence against children)

6. Heartstopper by Alice Oseman (Series)-

(MLM, graphic novel, slow burn, coming out, TW for emotionally abusive relationship, anorexia, self harm, suicidal ideation, bullying(mentioned), psychiatric facility, trauma discussion, homophobia)

7. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (Series)-

(MLM, Fantasy, about a secret private school, slow burn, found family, TW for underage alcohol use, drug use, suicide(mentioned), homophobia, domestic abuse, child abuse(mentioned), murder and attempted murder, burglary, car crash, fire related death(non-graphic), kidnapping, terminal illness, sick parent, ritual sacrifice, suicide, violence, gore, gun violence, knife violence, panic attack, PTSD, workplace harrassment)

8. They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera-

(MLM, Bisexual Latino characters, whole story takes place in 24 hours because at about midnight- aka the start of the book- they get a phone call saying they’re going to die, TW for death, animal death, child death, drowning, violence, gang violence, gun violence, homophobia, panic attack, parental suicide, suicidal ideation, sick parent, police intervention, and foster care)

9. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (Series)-

(Queer characters, but no romance in the first book, fantasy, found family, slow burn, TW for graphic depictions of violence, addiction, genocide/fantasy racism, gambling, drug use, withdrawal, ableism, abuse(mentioned), sexual slavery(mentioned/backstory), sexual assault(mentioned/backstory), imprisonment, murder and attempted murder, death, death threats, loss of loved one, prosecution, torture, violence, gore)

10. The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee- 

(MLM Historical Fiction Romance, Travel/Journey, Best Friends to lovers, TW for abuse, homophobia, adoption, alcoholism, breakups, death(mentioned), epilepsy/seizures, prison, robbery)

(DNS author: transphobia/biphobia)

11. In Deeper Waters by FT Lukens-

(MLM, High fantasy, “A young prince must rely on a mysterious stranger to save him when he is kidnapped during his coming of age tour”, TW for kidnapping, violence, abuse, war(mentioned))

12. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (Duology)-

(MLM Latino coming of age story, TW for violence, surgery, transmisogyny, sexism, homophobia, hate crime, PTSD, hospitalization, alcohol use, drug use, animal death, car crash, death(non-graphic))

14. We Contain Multitudes by Sarah Henstra-

(MLM, coming of age, friendship and romance, TW for bullying, homophobia, abuse, underage alcohol use, drug use)

15. Beneath the Citadel by Destiny Soria-

(Asexual/Bisexual representation, fantasy, ragtag team goes on a quest, TW for death, abduction/kidnapping, blackmail, branding, child abuse(mentioned), coma, amnesia, execution, murder, addiction, violence)

16. More Happy than Not by Adam Silvera-

(MLM main character, YA, “it's about a boy who is considering a memory-alteration procedure to forget he's gay because leading a life as a straight teen would probably be way easier for him. It's about science versus nature, friendship, sexuality, and a quest for happiness.” About the happy ending and how even bad moments lead to good. Hopeful but despairing. TW for attempted suicide, suicide, domestic abuse, medical procedure to erase sexuality, internalized homophobia, homophobia, depression)

17. I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver-

(Nonbinary main character, nonbinary muslim side character, romance/love and building a family out of people you care about. About finding your voice. TW for bad coming out, misgendering, transphobia, family rejection/struggle, anxiety(detailed), child abuse, gender dysphoria, homophobia, disownment, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, suicidal ideation, underage alcohol use)

18. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour-

(WLW, moving out and coming of age, self-discovery and childhood romance, TW for loss of a loved one, depression, loneliness(detailed), chronic illness, death, drowning(mentioned), suicide)

19. The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness-

(Contemporary, about the normal people’s lives while living among Chosen Ones. Family/coming of age/acceptance story. TW for monsters, apocalypse, violence/explosions, death, anorexia, relapse, panic attacks, anxiety attacks, unrequited romance)

20. Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz-

(Dystopian story about a teenager struggling with their gender identity, TW for abandonment, oppressive government, outlawed homosexuality, hate crime, homophobia, transphobia, violence)

[theneverfadinglands]

Yes, very whitewashed, very colonial.

There is obvious Doylist explanation of genre. CC started to write the story as a fanfiction, then it gre to be its own thing, yet the main plot of the books is always romance. Romance and relationships of teenagers are the most important thing, the fantasy is the background. The story is not shaped around the world, but the world is shaped around the story as is convinient. CC many times wrote something that did not make sense (ehm.. sex scene in demon realm, water purifying rune in a pond in HELL. Or the ascension at the end of the training. Why? Like you sacrifice all the resources to train these people, clothe them, feed them, house them so they can die before they kill one (1) demon in their life..) because she wanted to write a particular scene and needed to bend the world for the scene to happen.

I might say that is not a good storytelling tactics in the long run as your series progress. At the beginning you can get away with this, but at some point nothing make sense anymore. CC is oriented towards aesthetics, what she knows, what she wants to write. These stories are what she wants to tell.

However, I think the Watsonian reasons for this world have the potential to be fascinating. I mentioned portals in some of my old posts. It is just not possible for a undorm governing body to exist before the portal invention. Do you want to tell me that all these people travel from all over the world for weeks and months just to attend some Clave meeting?

I think in history, there were autonomous and semi-autonomous territories of the world, up until the invention of Portal, when really the collonisation took off. I think this all happened under the rule of Charlotte Fairchild, but CC would never write this of course. I love Charlotte for what she might have been – great talented ruler, but not exactly moral from the modern point of view, more a gray figure of history, that shaped the world after portal. The mother of Clave. (There is only a brief mention of "factions" and the troubles Charlotte is experiencing with them..)

Even today, I think there are territories, more or less self-governing (in my story I call them Rectorates, which are consisted of smaller Conclaves). Not just because of history, but also because to rule the entire world... that is too much work. The nephilim society is in constant warfare, logically everything comes after that. The society must still function if one wheel of the machine breaks..

Nudity... there is so much about nudity. In ancient Rome (and even more in Greece), nudity was not something inherently shameful, especially in the context of bathing in public bath houses. The shame is really mostly a product of prude Victorians. There is a question with no answer and that is; how much is nephilim culture affected by the morales of mundane society? Which might change over time of course. The answer may be very different in 14th century and 19th century..

Headcanon time.

I think male nudity was probably always accepted, living together in Institutes and Academy (barracks..), training. Why not. But female nudity might be more problematic. I like to think it was proper (at least for some part of the history) for women to be covered up, which might changed as they gained more rights (a part later revised by CC, in early TMI women were said to not have much rights in history, but later in TID everything was different..).

I honestly like the instance of "women should not mark their bodies with runes, only arms and legs, because men do not like a scarred body." I think that was mentioned by Sebastian at some point? It really shows how the society thought of women. I like my characters to take pride in their rune scars, the women might find prode in nudity too.. now they are equal to men at least in front of law and civil duties. The opinions regarding female nudity may differ a lot in Idris in particular as I can imagine, for Idris is the cradle of nephilim culture. But the reality may be completelly different in China, India, Brazil... or anywhere else.

In canon, there is this strong tendency to force nephilim culture on people. Newly ascended nephilim must leave their life behind (I can see that originating in religious practice deep in the history.. leaving wordly possesions behind and being reborn), they really seems to force this unifying perspective of one and only nephilim culture and that is the Idrisian.

Which I see as a direct consequence of the colonial expansion in the after-portal world.

Women and their position fascinate me. In real world the role of women was shaped by the biological reality of child-bearing and control of inheritance aka the man needs to be sure the child is his. In nephilim culture we see this fascinating trend; the family names are recycled and can be picked by any candidate. Which is interesting.

Then the blatnant reality – it is cheaper to produce soldiers with the Cup, than to birth them. It is more efficient, less expensive, you do not risk losing the woman during child birth for a baby that may not survive. The society is in total warfare situation, they can't be fancy about the rules. The war effectivity is the first priority. Then I need to wonder how that affected gender roles.

In Mexico (and I assume other spanish colonies) the families are matrilineal at least..

I hope you won't take any offence, if I answer you in this post as well @thevagabondexpress

But yes, I am quite obssesed with the idea of this bath house as a place of culture. History was written in these pools while the important nephilim of their time drinked, talked and laughed together, making bussiness..

The Academy should have a bath house as well for the students, might mirror the big one in Alicante. I am quite intrigued by their culture. It musn't be forgotten that these people are fighting in eternal war, there is no winning of this war either, it is hopeless. They were born into it and they'll probably die in it and never knew what real peace is. Maintaining morale is of upmost importance in such case, the Clave should really do a lot to make people happy. Games, theatre, music, pubs, bath houses, vacations... it is so important if you want such a society to function in these conditions.

I really wonder what is the most realistic approach to death in this culture..

I am quite sad CC did not try to explain the writing choices in a more Watsonian way. Gold eyes may be a sign of angelic blood, therefore nephilim find it subconciously beautiful and attractive. Secondary sexual trait, which explains why everybody loves to describe Jace's eyes in every sentence.

The hairstyles of nephilim may have some special meaning, which would explain why CC describe the character's hair in every other sentence...

The TID has an in-world author and that is why it is so biased, colonial and whitewashed... (I am runing with the "TID has an in-world author" for my own fic, because the history of Lament for the Fallen universe differs in some important ways, which the author of TID omitted..)

Any explanation would do at this point! End of rant.

I wonder if Institutes might have, or maybe once had, or do have but only in places where this is a thing among the mundanes, bathhouses in them. It seems like a thing that'd make sense for people who are constantly coming home covered in muck and sore from fighting. Especially since Institutes are already kind of catch-all public service drop-in centres anyway.

[demonicxrocker]

current inbox status: anon + non-anon requests are on. feel free to request stuff, just don't be a fucking cunt ty

current number of request(s) in inbox: 9

last updated: oct 30, 2024

hey hey— the name's mod corey. they/them pronouns, very aroace, and local edit maker

main blog is @coreys-riffin . im also mod blaze in the @pr0ject-chaos group editing acc as well

top and bottom graphics are made by me— headers are linked here and here

please stop asking me why i don't like spam-liking or spam-reblogs, i swear to god. /srs

[more info is under the cut :thumbs up grinning emoji lol:]

🔥 || content

icons

pride icons

reply icons

gif icons

matching icons

playlists

care kits/clothing kits (is that what they're called?)

stimboards

moodboards

wallpapers (very selective bc it's been a bit)

layouts

name sets

pronoun sets (selective xp)

color picked pride flags

transparents (will be posted onto my transparents account and reblogged here)

probably more things im not thinking about atm tbh lol

🎸 || sources

(favorites are in bold)

canadian cartoons (grojband, looped, yin yang yo, camp lakebottom are the ones that pop up in my head first, but im down for editing almost all of them)

sonic (somewhat selective since im not that heavily into the franchise)

pokemon + pokemon media (ie the starters series by movieunleashers, etc)

any generation of my little pony, littlest pet shop, strawberry shortcake, care bears

any show that aired on qubo in it's lifetime (ie. pecola, sitting ducks, babar, sandra the fairytale detective, sally bollywood, etc etc)

disney animated shows (amphibia, gravity falls, wander over yander, the owl house, etc) (semi-selective)

SOME nickelodeon animated shows/nicktoons (making fiends, danny phantom, fairly oddparents, my life as a teenage robot, etc etc)

rise of the tmnt (friends/mutuals can request other tmnt series)

cookie run (ovenbreak + other games, mainly. will do kingdom but it's VERY fucking selective)

super phantom cat games, spoon pets / neko atsume, postknight 1 + 2, etc (mobile games, basically)

super cat bros / super cat tales games

browser games like heart star, double panda, and etc. their mobile game counterparts are allowed too

cartoon network shows (adventure time, regular show, over the garden wall, etc etc) (semi-selective)

lego shows (ninjago, monkie kid, nexo knights, etc etc) (selective)

sanrio (aggrestuko included)

little witch academia. and also any of the monster collecting animes (digimon, bakugan, yugioh, yokai watch, etc)

minecraft, minecraft story mode, and mcyt in general (hermitcraft, last life series, empires, etc etc.)

dude, that's my ghost!

webshows (group 5, dick figures, happy tree friends, bravest warriors, jumpcut!, and etc) (semi-selective)

webcomics (ie. sparklecare, ghost eyes, it hurts, serendipity, deathsitter, etc etc) (semi-selective)

🧨 || unfamiliar sources but will still edit for

pretty much anything, to be honest. just make sure i haven't said outright that i won't do it. ocs also fall into this category most of the time

💢 || sources i absolutely WILL NOT edit for

any horror media (creepypastas, horror games, horror series, horror args.. you get the idea)

anime in general lol

irl people in general (this also includes youtubers + vtubers)

total drama series, 6teen, and clone high

anything too problematic (if you have to ask yourself if it is or not, then that means it probably counts)

anything else, just ask me atp. a lot of things have changed over the years— and also i can't be asked to add all of em

⛓️ | blacklist / general things i will not edit for

weirdcore, traumacore, "sanriocore" (*actual* sanriocore is fine, im talking about the kind that's essentially just traumacore but with sanrio characters whatnot)

fetish-y type shit (i am NOT explaining this one.)

laney + corney (grojband character n grojband ship)

ectofeature

lloyd, harumi, or garmadon (ninjago characters)

lloyd x anyone ships

extreme body horror / gore

agere, babycore, angelcore— stuff like that (not against it by any means but it's just not my personal thing tbh)

[almadaub]

istg tiktok is nothing but a shit hole of “queer” men promoting kinks to 14 years old, liberal feminist talking about how great and amazing is to be a sex worker at the age of nineteen and college girls convincing themselves that being a bimbo is empowering and cool

and when you think that you finally found someone with a little bit of rational thinking, finally some young woman who is not totally enchanted by porn and male validation they let you down by justifying themselves with the discourse of “FUCK TERFS !! transphobia bAd 🤢🤢 trans women are women 😍😍” after giving a semi-regular “problematic” take about sex work, gender, etc etc

like literally, the first screenshot it’s from a girl who calls herself a radfem but somehow managed to not be gender critical bc it’s so transphobic and wrong !!! and even then the whole comment section was bashing her for her “radical” feminism.

and the second video was one that absolutely amazed me when i watched it bc it said so many truths about how men profit of their relationship with women, even the platonic ones, and who they never stop seeing us a sexual objects to display for other men to see (even tho they know they’ll never get to fuck us). i was about to follow the second girl when i saw that in her bio said a very feminist “all terfs should be executed”

i loose hope every fucking day, the most controversial thing that these women let themselves say is “porn is bad” and “sex work positivity is predatory” and they STILL get attacked to the point that they have to clarify that they’re not the bad type of radfem !! and that they support trans rights !! it’s fucking insane.

in exchange men on tiktok get to hookup with minors without their careers being over, make rape jokes, attack every women that they see with a couple of extra pounds, laugh at their female partners and humiliate them and everything.is.ok

but you gotta be careful to have a fucking vagina and say something like hey !! 18 years old entering the porn industry it’s not okay bc people will come for you like there’s not tomorrow and wish you were dead

overall what makes me the most sad is the fact that these girls after seeing that people will get mad at every opinion that doesn’t involve glitter and shaking ass and being a teenager wearing fishnets and talking about neonpronouns, can’t dare themselves to just think outside the box, be problematic and loud and actually face social media’s mantras for once. no, they still decide to be “woke” and unproblematic and don’t go any way over line bc that will make them bad woman and that it’s just not aloud !

for god’s sake i just hope that there’s a brighter future for us young women when we stop being so afraid to speak and think

[everybody-loves-purdy]

Saw an anon mention Wings of Fire/Tui Sutherland and I agree. I don’t know how to put it into words but I guess I’m using this as an opportunity to rant and spread the word about the problematic aspects of this series because everyone in the fandom either doesn’t pick up on it bc they’re kids, is wilfully ignorant of it, or makes excuses for it. The thing is it’s pretty hard to tell this fandom is a mess at first glance bc many people pretend like it’s okay, and everyone else just hasn’t been notified of it yet.

Here’s a summary of the less than pleasant content this series has had (apologies to everyone in advance who’s sick of seeing me flooding this blog with massive posts on the weekly):

- abuse apologism and abuse victim-blaming with such inspirational messages such as “don’t be the monster they think you are… oh and also you have to forgive them for everything because they have a Sad Backstory™, and they actually do love you (kind of), and if you don’t that’s bad and you’re being petty”

- accidentally written abuse on several occasions that is portrayed as okay. In the case of the MudWing tribe having several child neglect and parentification, or the IceWings’ psychological abuse and pressuring expectations of their young, it’s semi excused for being just their culture but mostly mentioned once and never again

- racist stereotypes towards other tribes (what are essentially dragon ethnic groups) are never punished, debunked, or explained why they’re bad, but are often treated as a joke. Multiple times. All RainWings, minus about 3, follow the solitary stereotype of “stupid and lazy” to a T, implying those spreading racist propaganda about them were right

- victim-blames slaves and genocide survivors for daring to want revenge against the people who enslaved them/literally attempted to wipe them out, or even for wanting the people who wronged them to have actual consequences for their actions, like it’s an episode of My Little Pony where evil people get forgiven without having to work for it

- and the worst of all: borderline p*dophilia that a lot of fans leap to defend. It’s a long story, but basically, one character is seven which is under the “social age” so it implies she’s a minor, but also not really bc one book later contradicts that, but also yes really because Tui said seven year old dragons are equal to 14 to 16 year old humans, so she put what she sees as a teenager in a relationship with an adult and that’s really iffy… (I’m going to get so personally attacked just for bringing that up)

That’s just what I’ve been notified of or realised myself. I’m quite disappointed with the fandom being so willing to either ignore or cover all this up when this can definitely send some seriously bad messages to children. And I’ve already seen children negatively affected by this; shippers are defending child grooming, people are defending/genuinely agreeing with the actions of abusive characters, and more.

Oh wow yikes, yeah this sounds really awful, I’m surprised I haven’t seen this come up more given the general overlap between warriors and wof fans

[vaveyard]

I know that on tiktok people have been discussing you as 'problematic' lately (something about 'rants on reddit against critics', bad behavior with fans in general + towards Brazilian fans in particular? and videos - on IG an tiktok - where you come off as bragging and classist? maybe you talked about money or how much you spent on your house? idk but your house was mentioned I think, and many say they used to support and follow you until you became a "rich, white girl who thinks she's better than others because she wrote a boring, copy cat series and got published because of her connections, and is only in for the money" - semi direct quote)

Idk I'm not involved on booktok and I just stumbled upon this stuff. But it might explain the negativity you're getting.

Some of these things are quite bad so don't feel like you have to answer this and give it visibility.

Oh thanks for letting me know! TikTok makes it pretty hard to follow or see anything like this, but good to know what's being said. Even if it's frustrating and based on a lot of misconceptions.

I don't know what rants on Reddit refers to - my Reddit username is VictoriaAveyard and I pretty much only post in Bravo subreddits, lol.

I try my very best to be 100% for all readers at events, because I know how much meeting an author would have meant to me as a teenager. Of course, that's certainly not foolproof.

I have seen some criticism regarding my Brazilian tour because I don't allow people to physically touch me at signings. I started this practice at the advice of other authors, and I try to uphold it at all my signings. Largely for health and safety reasons, but also because international signings can sometimes be very long. It sounds strange, but being hugged many times gets painful, and I have a chronic back issue. I realize this is a cultural disconnect, and the Brazilian readers were so, so lovely, but I don't do hugs on tour anymore because my body simply can't handle it. And going forward after the pandemic, I doubt anyone will for a long time.

The classist thing is, again, a misunderstanding over a joke I made about my fiancé's IKEA furniture not matching my already furnished house when he moved in. But I see where things went awry there, and that's on me.

Again, thanks for letting me know, and for the polite message. One thing we seem to have lost in the social media atmosphere is the benefit of the doubt, or the good faith conversation. And that sucks for everyone!