#i already have enough of it irl i don't need it in my fictional fantasy world

[soujux]

I really don't trust previews in MSP. I especially wish not to trust this preview for EP12 because I refuse to believe that Tinn and Gun got outed. I will burn the whole world down if that happens.

[besttropeveershowdown]

The Most Annoying Trope Showdown: Round 1, Poll 10

Really Royal Reveal

This occurs when a character who was previously thought to be relatively ordinary turns out to actually be descended from someone important and powerful, and therefore have access to that status themselves. Although this trope most commonly uses royalty, it can apply to any hereditary position of power in-universe. This trope applies when the character's true heritage was previously unknown to both the audience and the character themselves.

No propaganda was submitted.

Babies Ever After

Ending trope in which to show a couple is happy, it timeskips to them with children

Propaganda:

Trope voted most likely to be approved by the leader of the Mormon church. The most banal seeping of patriarchal standards into otherwise benign media. No matter what the characters have achieved, no matter what their lives have been like, getting married and reproducing must mean they're happy and their lives are fulfilled, right? Please don't ask about their friends or careers. Extra points for when the characters in question have never expressed a fondness for children or a desire for a family, which is often.

To be fair, my main ire is when it happens to like ALl of the cast but also like. Can we not equate having babies with something you need to be happy. That's already a mindset pushed way too damn much on women irl and I don't fucking want it in my fiction. Let me at least imagine some of my faves also woudl be happy without kids.

It's twee. It's aggressively heteronormative. And it invites terrible sequels about the next generation learning the exact same lessons their parents did but less interesting.

not always the worst but it can be annoying esp on a grand scale that everyone's happy ending is only the happiest with some babies

It's cowardice. It's getting scared of your own story and running back to the safe and easy option of nuclear families. Plus as someone who always knew I didn't want to be pregnant, seeing so many stories end this way just never sat right with me, also because I'm gay and these are almost always done by pairing off characters in neat straight relationships. I'm also going to acknowledge that a lot of my favourite media is fantasy/supernatural stuff, so it feels more ridiculous when it's set in a different world

[piduai]

Pidu , your detachment (in a enlightened way ) about the enjoyment of a fictional work despise disagreeing with the author is what I want to achieve.

We don't think enough about why we first want to consume fiction , it's to "escape" irl life that is already too burdensome.

Honestly I want to know nothing about people , let me just enjoy the art but it's like the gifted curse is pretty frequent.

They always end up being corrupted. ( Iam too , I do not share my meals , I kill bugs in my room because they scare me )

I wish the most corrupted things we learn is news taxes , like the author of kusuriya no Hitorigoto who didn't pay their taxes well.

That's the kind of evil I get behind. Like just pay your taxes correctly next time 🥳 with one of your assistants if you need help.

Also nobody is perfect ofc but that's the reason why we expect correctness after being sold fantasy by someone. Even If it's literally someone like berserk author. Not wise but yes.

i think that expecting moral goodness as what you perceive as good and decent from people you don't know, just because you happen to enjoy their creative work, is a losing game. they are human too and have their own lives, experiences, morals, opinions; some of that will not align with yours. they are not your friends or family or even your coworkers, you don't have to put up with them as individuals, so who cares what they privately think?

like i don't need to know anything about miura's personal life or political opinions to know that he was a misogynist, or be aware of anything sorachi does in his private time to know that he dislikes foreigners, it's obvious because of how they express these values they hold in their commercial work. but as i said before, selling your art to audiences comes with a price. as public figures authors aren't typically allowed to be politically vocal, because it might hurt their income. a certain level of political correctness is expected of them if they want to sell their shit and put bread on the table. so it's normal to scrutinize them if they don't adhere to their end of the deal. it's also normal to have reservations about supporting them if you're a paying consumer.

but if not... who cares? i need to stress again that it's really a matter of personal choice and how much you're willing to put up with. as you said fiction is mostly used for escapism, but it's up to the individual if they're willing to compartmenalize what they take it. i enjoy the yakuza games because they're stupid and funny, i like the aesthetic, i like the gameplay. it also treats women horribly, and is written for an audience that is definitely not me. i have fun with the aspects i like and either ignore or put up with the ones i don't. if i were to worry about the politics the dozens of people who created this franchise have i wouldn't be able to enjoy anything at all. but other people might be unable to tolerate the bitter taste in their mouths either when they're presented with the bigoted views of the authors when they're integrated in the narrative or when they know that the author believes or supports xyz. they don't feel comfortable with that. which is also perfectly understandable.

[user-needs-new-hyperfixation]

From a like, "what if this relationship existed irl?" perspective, Wangxian and Hualian both have Concerning Elements.™ But, I mean, most of my fave ships do. Fiction is fiction, yada yada yada. However, for my tastes, Hualian's Concerning Elements are SO much more my jam (at least thus far, as of being halfway through the 6th official English volume.)

TW for mentions of Wangxian sex antics below the cut. (ie CNC at best, rape at worst.)

This is very subjective, but I think the problem I ended up having with Wangxian once I got to the sex was that while the book did a good job convincing me that Wei Wuxian is into everything Lan Wangji does to him, it didn't do a good job convincing me that Lan Wangji knows that for sure, or is in control of himself, or would stop if Wei Wuxian didn't like something. I can see the bits that could be interpreted differently and suggest that it is all clearly consensual, but it just...wasn't quite enough for me. I'd pretty thoroughly spoiled myself and I thought I'd just be kinda meh about the incense burner bits, but when I actually got to that first one I was just stuck like 😬😬 the whole time. I don't think I will ever be comfortable with blood in that context. Just...yikes. (And yes that's complicated by it being a dream and whatnot, but it did still give me the ick, alas.)

Hualian are so different because the bottom is literally the god the top worships. (Which, y'know, again; if that scenario were somehow translated to real life would be A Problem lmao.) I know there aren't any full-on sex scenes between them, but whatever shenanigans they're implied to get up to, I'm already coming at it from the perspective of trusting entirely that Hua Cheng would never even dream of hurting Xie Lian in any way unless it was 250% consensual. If Hua Cheng has darker fantasies, they're probably of Xie Lian using him...and then he beats himself up for 50 years just for daring to besmirch Xie Lian's goodness in his head like that or something.

And again, this is subjective. This isn't some anti rant where I suggest everyone else should dislike something just because I did. Though I did relate to him in some ways, I don't feel like I bonded as much with Lan Wangji as a character as I did with Wei Wuxian, Hua Cheng, and Xie Lian. Maybe I just don't understand what's going on in his head enough. But my personal comfort level is always gonna be: rough sex needs the top/dom to be very much in control and checking in with the bottom/sub regularly. And in the end, that wasn't how Wangxian felt to me. Which is kind of a bummer.

But Hualian are just...ARGH they're so much, and the obsessive worship and centuries of yearning are so unhealthy is such delightful ways.

[submalevolentgrace]

I saw your post about prosthetics, and it got me wondering about settings with widespread use of magic items -- if your doctor can easily enchant you an animated glove that responds to your thoughts, enchant a boot that painlessly supports your leg, or you can pick up a headband that gives you minor telekinesis, how does that look from your perspective? I'm specifically wondering how to resolve the dilemma between (1/2)

(2/2) "if I'm writing an idyllic fantasy world, I'd rather write about social accommodation" and "I've already established that minor telekinesis is very easy to learn so it makes logical sense that some disabled people might use it".I may have answered my own question with "don't make anything universal", but I'm curious to hear your thoughts!

so, i sat on this for two months because i did want to say something, but my initial reaction was very emotionally charged so i took some time to roll it around in my head, and instead of another long essay talking at a hundred issues you didn't actually ask about, i've got some friendly simple advice:

if you have an idyllic wish fulfillment fantasy world with headbands of minor telekinesis, i think there's zero positive reason anyone would want or need an upper limb prosthesis, so i personally wouldn't even mention them, just how useful telekinesis is for many bodily disabilities!

the negative reasons an individual might want one all come down to; pressure from society and doctors to present a normative abled body, and internalised ableism or denial. aka the thesis of my original post regarding why i believe real world upper limb prostheses exist. i think magical enchantment only makes those negative pressures worse tbh...

enchanted boots for amputees are proooooobably okay and chill, based on how many lower-limb-different people feel positively about their prostheses? maybe ask someone with experience there if you wanna be super sure.

but whatever you do regarding disability, if you're making any reference at all to magical accommodations, i'd suggest put in cool magical wheelchairs. not enough cool (or even real-world useful) wheelchairs depicted in fictions, especially relative to how many people use them irl! and the more easily wheelchair friendly a society and infrastructure is, the less need there is for lower limb prostheses to be a thing

no group is a monolith so i'm sure there's differing opinion, but i've never heard a wheelchair user say they want to see less depictions of cool wheelchairs (just less sad hospital chairs and angry in-denial or pitiable characters)

hope that helps?

[misscrawfords]

12, 16, 38

12. Tell one book story or memory (what you were wearing when you were reading something, someone saw you cry in public, you threw a book across the room and broke a window, etc.)

Already answered, but here's another one. Well, I've been just thinking and I have lots of memories associated with particular books and moments but a lot feel poignant or sad in some way now, so for a simple but happy one - I remember reading Persuasion for the first time as a teenager in the back garden. I'd got my dad to leave a corner of the lawn unmown so I could live out my fantasies of lying in long grass reading books and I remember doing just that the first time I read Persuasion.

16. Rant about anything book related

I'm gonna weigh in on Ali Hazelwood. I'm not actually a big romance reader - I tend to get my fix from fanfic; I'm often disappointed by actual published romance novels. But I really like Hazelwood's books. She's totally derivative and has in many ways written the same book three times over which is starting to bother me but I like several things about her books: 1) the focus on academia and nerd loving characters - I'm not in STEM myself but I respect her commitment to some level of reality of what that world is like and that her characters (whatever else they may be) are academically intelligent and inhabit a world that feels quite familiar to me. 2) her heroines are often successful human beings (debatable) but with little romantic experience not because they're blushing virgins saving themselves for marriage but because they're just doing other things, Olive especially is pretty clearly demisexual- this is unusual rep and I love it and find it relatable. I find romance novel heroines really unrelatable because they are either pure and Christian (or Christian coded) or highly sexual. Yes, I know, I probably need to read different books but I do struggle to find ones where the subject matter and writing style both appeal. 3) They're easy to read - I don't mean that in a bad way - they're both easy page-turners AND I don't keep stopping because the writing irritates me and jarrs.

Why do I care enough to write about her specifically in this rant? Well, she's a published Reylo author and people who hate the fact that Reylo fanfic authors are currently doing very well in publishing and on booktok go out of the way to sneer and hate her specifically. I'm not trying to make out that her writing is greater or more profound than she is but I think it is so small-minded to resent someone's success because they have managed to capitalise on their writing talent and made the move from fanfic to traditional publishing, just because you don't like a ship. As people in fandom, we should be cheering her on and her fellow newly published and popular authors, no matter our feelings on Reylo.

(Not even going to weigh in on booktok. I have no idea; I don't have tiktok and I don't want to get it. If people are reading and sharing thoughts on books then that has to be good at least to some extent.)

38. What qualities do you find annoying in a character?

Prooooooobably similar to what I find annoying IRL: being completely self-obsessed and lacking self-awareness. At least IRL such people can't help it but I guess in fiction, it's particularly annoying if the author is also unaware of it. Obviously a self-obsessed character who lacks self-awareness can be a wonderful (comic?) character in the hands of a self-aware author, but I mean those protagonists that are meant to be relatable and sympathetic to the reader but the author doesn't realise they're actually a boring, narcissistic turd. So I guess ultimately what I find annoying is a character created by an author who doesn't fully interrogate the character and understand their flaws and then either have them work on those flaws or, in line with the tone of the novel, fail to work on the flaws.

[predictableshame]

I had a serious thinking moment trying to figure out which classic disney movies we're most likely to get events of; which is way harder than I thought it'd be. The stitch event indicates they don't care about adapting the characters into ikemens, and also that the main villain isn't necessarily the focus of the event. It's also hard to tell if they'd adapt a movie they already vaguely alluded to.?

Lost in the book of Peter Pan would make so much sense, but they already mentioned Captain Hook in twisted halloween, so perhaps not... An Emperor's new groove event would be hysterical, pretty sure it'll happen if this game gets to go on for a few more years. If we do end up visiting the land of red dragon then obviously Mulan, and mushu's already in the lore. Robin hood'd be weird unless Leona's there and the main running gag is having two lion royalties, bonus points if king richard gets the mickey/stitch treatment and is just an actual lion with a crown. Atlantis and Treasure planet'd be fun, but perhaps a bit too outlandish? Pocahontas's technically of the same kind that The hunchback of notre dame, but I don't see it working out, it has this very specific brand of not funny colonialism imagery. The Jungle book perhaps? Human vs beastmen controversy? If we get a Great mouse detective event we need Azul in it, and there has to be lots of sleazy capitalist douchebagery

Those I really can't picture happening would be Bambi, The fox and the hound, Dumbo, Tarzan, Lady and the tramp and all the old mickey/donald movies. Not enough personified villainy! Same for Mary Poppins and Winnie the pooh but I'm in denial and would like them very much please (Lost in the book of Winnie the Pooh, where we just get hugs and honey and naps in the meadow to take a vacation from the insanity of magical teenage hormones. And the whole cast has to be there, for tenderness exposure therapy)

The really hard cases are Fantasia and the Black Cauldron. They both have such good villains, lore and esthetics; but way too many things happen in Fantasia, space opera level of grandiose, and Mickey's there (thooough perhaps in the main story? my dream and delusions). And the Black Cauldron simply isn't a general public's favorite (and as much as I love the horned kind, creeper, and James Coleman's beautiful dark fantasy background pans, it is admittedly poorly written. And not that well animated...), but I also see it as something Yana'd like to work with

I keep coming to share my ramblings with you, sorry, I got no weebs among my irl friends and twst has come to occupy way too big a portion of my brain to not just get it out hyperfixations are socially unhealthy >: (

nooo I love talking about this stuff

the absence of peter pan in twst is really interesting to me, like glomas I choose to believe that they'll have some really important plot-relevant event in the future. and I have a lot of thoughts because... well, there's a lot of potential in peter pan that the other films mentioned just don't have. considering that yuu is symbolically alice, could there be another, older yuu who is symbolically wendy darling? perhaps one that never made it back home and grew older in twst? I have many many thoughts on this, verging into oc territory

I really hope we get an emperor's new groove event. we need twisted yzma beefing with vil okay. robin hood with a twisted prince john (as leona's distant cousin) would be the most fun. ever? tarzan I can actually imagine. clayton would be a fun antag to adapt

I really doubt there'll be a pocahontas event for the same reason I doubt there'll be a live action pocahontas movie; it's just so outdated. it was outdated in 1995. there's no real way to salvage that, whereas the hunchback of notre dame is A) A FICTIONAL MADE UP STORY NOT BASED ON REAL LIFE EVENTS and B) disney's adaptation, while outdated, is far less racist than the original book, thus easier to adapt

I would give anything for a great mouse detective event ;-; it's such a good movie and ratigan has such a memorable character

the black cauldron my problematic fave. ugh. if there's anything redeeming about it, it's the villains. and the aesthetic and the lore!! yana could work with that imo but we'll see

[pocketsonny]

i muse about this a lot, specially considering how every other day it gets revealed a very well known author / creator/ etc turned out to be an abuser or generally a terrible person.... and naturally people are shocked or betrayed because that person's creations (or the message of them) often completely goes against their horrible actions

and yes, it is terrible every time it happens, and people have a right to be upset about it but it just convinces me more of this (and it's been proven over and over):

horrible people can make beautiful and inspiring things, "wholesome" things, just as incredibly kind and well meaning people can write about "fucked up shit" (and get called freaks for it, which is just wrong)

thinking that you can understand a person or their morals solely by the kind of fiction they consume or create is a fall-trap. it's bound to fail 90% of the time

yes, people's biases influence their creations (this is an inevitability and it affects how they interact with others and several aspects of their lives and choices) but you cannot make a 100% accurate profile of a person based on what they create or enjoy in a fictional context, even if what they like is super weird or fucked up (to you) (subjective!). people aren't merely this or that, there's many greys in the middle (again this is a very general statement, often you gotta look at these things case by case)

there's also this thing with associating "what i consider weird=what is bad" and just bc you dislike something or think it's weird doesn't mean it's harmful. i think foot fetishes or pregnancy kinks are weird because i don't like them and they make me uncomfortable, but ppl who like that stuff aren't harming anybody for liking that and i won't judge someone cause they tell me they like that (i will simply do what i always did, mute the tag) (like wow you can CHOOSE to NOT engage with what you don't like!!!!)

like overall, my tastes are pretty tame(? imo, i don't like 99% of dead-dove, and i won't engage with it, but i know people who do and while i can't understand WHY they enjoy it, i don't immediately assume they are secretly abusers or fucked in the head for liking that. i think that at the end of the day, people need fiction to escape reality, which CAN be very fucked up! and horrible!, so if in their spare time they wanna read idk cannibalism fantasy and let their mind float for a while before having to return to dealing with bills and rent or impending doom in the horizon...who am i to judge.

reality can be stressful enough already. we all deal with that differently and w/ different types of fiction; that's why some prefer horror or others romance but at the end of the day both are fantasies. real romance doesn't work like in books, at least not down to a T. heck, i love to read romance but i want little to nothing to do with it in real life: my taste in fiction doesn't define what i'd enjoy in real life. i love to read abt my faves getting fucked but irl i couldn't care less for that. fiction can be its own contained universe, with its own laws, and that's what's FUN and interesting about creating. once you close the book/game/etc you leave that universe and come back to reality's laws; you don't need a piece of fiction to tell you what's right or wrong in real life, that's not it's job (but yes a piece of fiction can inspire you and leave you with a beautiful message! not mutually exclusive! IT'S COMPLEX!!! ) (fiction can also be realistic but it doesn't mean it's = reality)

but well all that nuance gets more and more lost as time goes by and i'm tired and this was just me rambling

[lewdladylily]

Em gave Sarah and me a challenge. Em clearly wants me to be paranoid because now Sarah is hiding behind corners or jumping me randomly. She gets a point if she can make me come, I get a point if I can hold out and resist. So far the score is 32-0 in her favor. Even comes for me at 4am! x_x -Anna

Free use? I'm free use at home, any of our friends can use me however they want when they visit. It's quite fun and I get to make people feel goood :D -Anna still at 0 points Oi don't you dare apologize for having a life and a family >:| Update then, Em announced that the competition is going until 100 points. Sarah has been on 99 for 2 days now and I'm super paranoid, she's planning something I know it! I'm still at 0 :( Sleep is god, go worship! -Anna

So first off, I had some big depression going on, so people know why I wasn't answering asks. Doing better now, so I am going to go through my back log!

Also, thank you for the asks :)

Your game with Sarah sounds fun. Though it sounds like you need some motivation to resist if she is always winning. I mean, are you even really trying if you can't manage a single point? I would say a reward if you win, but sounds like you are already getting an excess of orgasms out of the arrangement, so maybe a punishment if you don't manage to get at least a point or two. How about forced over stimulation? I know you have ridiculous endurance, but there has to be some combination stimulation that will overload you.

The game is probably over by now though, of course. Maybe you can have a round 2 :P

Now, for kink rating! Free use

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know

Absolutely love it, both in fiction and, when practical, IRL.

It sounds like you have a pretty arrangement for that. My experience is people are always really hesitant to take advantage of any sort of free use situation until they've tested the waters, so it is hard to do even limited free use at parties. There isn't enough time for people to get comfortable with it. The most successful one I've seen at a party was a woman tied up in a cage and you were encouraged to grope her through the bars.

But having an ongoing free use arrangement at home seems like it would work quite well. Anyone who comes over regularly would have plenty of time for the adjustment, and then once one person is used to it they can encourage others. Any fun details you are willing to share about how that's turned out? Stories, maybe, if you don't mind sharing?

So a personal fantasy about free use, back some years ago I was a regular at a TTRPG group of several of my friends and a couple of their friends. Literally everyone in the group was hot. I cannot tell you how many times I fantasized about being a free use slut to this group.

Side note, one of the guys was so my type that he was actually the man that made me realize I am bisexual. His sister also came to the group and was even more hot. I was really into her. I almost managed to domme her once, but covid happened as we were trying to arrange it. We did do some long distance stuff a few times. She had zero sexual experience at the time but apparently had been secretly into bdsm porn for forever, so I got to walk her through her first few submissive experiences and had her masturbate for me. Very fun. Maybe I should contact her again.

[louwhose]

Tag Game to Better Know You!

Send this to people you’d like to know better!

Thanks for the tag @playinggalaga and @tired-twili! And @aheavenscorner so I actually remember to do this lol

What book are you currently reading? Rereading Mistborn. Yes, the Final Empire, because I have been procrastinating for months but hope I can get the Lost Metal and I desperately need the refresher on everything.

What’s your favorite movie you saw in theaters this year? Lightyear is the only one I saw in theatres this year.

What do you usually wear? Jeans and a t-shirt

How tall are you? 5'6"

What’s your Star Sign? Do you share a birthday with a celebrity or a historical event? Gemini and I don't know anything cool about my birthday beyond it's my birthday

Do you go by your name or a nick-name? most people call me by my name but I have a couple of sisters that usually call me "lou"

Did you grow up to become what you wanted to be when you were a child? uncertain of what I wanted to be as a kid. but considering that I'm not some fantasy wizard or dragon or something... no?

Are you in a relationship? If not, who is your crush if you have one? u m. no. and no specific crush (irl- if we're talking fictional that's a whole nother ball park) at the moment beyond thinking approximately half the people I ever meet are cute

What’s something you’re good at vs. something you’re bad at? being extremely weird with people I know vs. any form of socializing at all with strangers

Dogs or cats? CATS. no question.

If you draw/write, or create in any way, what’s your favorite picture/favorite line/favorite etc. from something you created this year?

still unashamedly most proud of this:

and pfft as if I remember what I write but I dug through stuff real quick and found this

He turned to see what it was. And there, leaning against the wall, in a loving embrace around each other, were two bodies that had finally given out after lasting far too long. It was a tragedy, but also not. They had fulfilled their destiny, and now they were truly free, and their souls were now bound to nothing but their own desires.

What’s something you would like to create content for? Dwight In Shining Armor. I do create content for it but not enough. Not enough.

What’s something you’re currently obsessed with? Zelink duh.

What’s something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year? lots irl but that's a little too personal. um, I guess I'll go with miraculous ladybug. just the fact that this is the year I lost interest in it says something about my feelings on it.

What’s a hidden talent of yours? not sure what to say so something that people on here might not know that I can do is play the piano. not hugely talented with it and certainly don't practice enough but I can do it

Are you religious? yes. christian

What’s something you wish to have at this moment? an attention span.

Tagging no pressure and sorry if you've already been tagged but @deiliamedlini @farore-or-less @pastelsandpining and @whogirl2011

[besttropeveershowdown]

The Most Annoying Trope Showdown: Round 2, Poll 5

All Just a Dream

The reveal that a certain plotline was all a dream.

Propaganda:

It immediately kills all stakes, breaks audience immersion, and basically makes the case 'you should never have been invested in that plotline'. An incredibly unsatisfying ending.

It's just so lazy and makes everything pointless! What changed? Everyone is exactly the same as before the story. Not to mention that's not how dreams work, unless you immediately write it down you're gonna forget the vast majority of the dream really quick, if you even remember it at all. And dreams are messy and don't make sense, they jump from location to location and don't follow a coherent plot. If a character is dreaming, it should be very obvious because they're so different from reality.

Babies Ever After

Ending trope in which to show a couple is happy, it timeskips to them with children

Propaganda:

Trope voted most likely to be approved by the leader of the Mormon church. The most banal seeping of patriarchal standards into otherwise benign media. No matter what the characters have achieved, no matter what their lives have been like, getting married and reproducing must mean they're happy and their lives are fulfilled, right? Please don't ask about their friends or careers. Extra points for when the characters in question have never expressed a fondness for children or a desire for a family, which is often.

To be fair, my main ire is when it happens to like ALl of the cast but also like. Can we not equate having babies with something you need to be happy. That's already a mindset pushed way too damn much on women irl and I don't fucking want it in my fiction. Let me at least imagine some of my faves also woudl be happy without kids.

It's twee. It's aggressively heteronormative. And it invites terrible sequels about the next generation learning the exact same lessons their parents did but less interesting.

not always the worst but it can be annoying esp on a grand scale that everyone's happy ending is only the happiest with some babies

It's cowardice. It's getting scared of your own story and running back to the safe and easy option of nuclear families. Plus as someone who always knew I didn't want to be pregnant, seeing so many stories end this way just never sat right with me, also because I'm gay and these are almost always done by pairing off characters in neat straight relationships. I'm also going to acknowledge that a lot of my favourite media is fantasy/supernatural stuff, so it feels more ridiculous when it's set in a different world

[codenamesazanka]

@grippingtraverse Hello! Thanks for these wonderful asks!

Simplified, short answer: I don't think so! Not really. The framework and coherency of 'Person/Character of color' collapses when applied to Dabi (a fictional Japanese character in fictional sci-fiJapan, as written by a irl Japanese author and published in irl Japan) in context of the work, within the story and outside of it. There’s maybe something to be said about how Japanese manga characters are seen in America and how they’re treated by Americans, whether it’s believing them to be “white because they don’t look Japanese” or as part of treating a foreign work with Orientalist lenses in general, so I can understand a bit of the sentiment; but I was focusing on the in-universe context of the story, a watsonian perspective.

Plus, by those standards, Spinner is a 'character of color' as well. I'm not so much relating to him because he's a 'lizard/furry/scalie', I'm relating to him because he's also a 'character of color' - esp. because of how his hikkikomori/depression is portrayed in a way that I feel is different from American depictions - who's being further discriminated against for another trait. Of course, that's all my personal projection and reading; but I think I'm allowed that?

You've nailed it though! All you said about as far as the fantasy story is concerned, Dabi at the very least isn't discrimination against for an all-body animal mutant quirk. Maybe people think he's still a heteromorph of sorts because of his burns - I wouldn't be surprised! - but that's not an experience of his that's been shown, and the most someone had described him is someone with a 'patchwork face'.

As for Japanese fandom...! From what I've seen on twitter, they see what Spinner has experienced as discrimination, and have likened it to the racism that exist in our world, but *insert disclaimer about it being fictional*. As I do, when I call Dabi a *fantasy*-racist.

Not so much about the interaction between Dabi and Spinner, but related: What has been most surprising to me is the significance some in the Japanese fandom get from Chapter 302's Touya being on the computer, and the things he says. I hate to reveal it like this and not in a proper meta post, but that chapter gives them vibes that 13-year-old Touya, lacking parental attention, has been on the internet a bit too much looking for answers, and have wandered into a few questionable message boards.

Apparently the stuff Touya says about modern heroes and enlightenment books sound like repetitions of stuff he's read online which has a sort of 2ch/4ch feel to them lol. "Words of a 13-year-old who has surfed the net." There's one tweet that jokes he's been on woman-bashing threads; another that says Touya reminds them of a 'net-uyo' phase; yet another that wonders if things had gotten worse, he would've joined the CRC. This is, of course, their interpretations as well; but we can't all be making shit up when there's implications in the story that gets a bunch of people thinking this. These were the vibes I got well, though from a different angle.

(I'd link to the tweets, but given how I've apparently really pissed some people off with a mostly tongue-in-cheek 'headcanon' so much things got like this, I cannot trust people not to go harassing these twitter users, waking up one day to people yelling at them in a foreign language. I don't want to think it'll get that bad, but. Better not risk it.)

**I feel bad. I feel it's pretty low of me to use all this *vaguely gestures above* to try to fend off anime-fandom accusations that I'm racist, or I'm making shit up because I hate Dabi (I don't, actually) so much I need to, or that I'm a crazy shipper doing all this for fucking ship; but even if people won't listen, I don't think I can stand people thinking I'm weaponizing my real life identity that I already get stressed out over enough from navigating this absurd world, for character hate. I had to at least say my piece?

...This derailed towards the personal towards the end, and I apologize for that! But thanks again for the asks - they were super thought-provoking and I still had fun answering them, despite everything. Please have a good day! And Happy Halloween!

[suometar]

Power song of the day: Wake up by Smash into Pieces

You can not resist, like a moth to a flame -- You know it will burn, but sometimes you enjoy the pain

This is your favorite game -- But you're gonna be defeated -- And you're never gonna beat it -- Controls you like a slave -- But you gotta stop pretending -- You won't get a happy ending

(Chorus) Someday you're gonna wake up -- Gonna wake up -- From a life in fantasy -- Someday you're gonna wake up -- Gonna wake up -- And realize it's not meant to be -- You stumble in the dark cause you close your eyes -- Guided by the sweet talk lullaby -- But someday you will wake up -- You will wake up From a life in fantasy -- Wake up!

You try to cut everyone out of your life -- So no one can question how you can believe the lies

This is your favorite game -- But you're gonna be defeated -- And you're never gonna beat it -- Controls you like a slave -- But you gotta stop pretending -- You won't get a happy ending

(Chorus)

You're in the fire, what do you do? -- You wake up -- The final round is waiting for you

(Chorus)

Why? Well...

I'm coming down from mania.

Which sucks. And here's a glimpse into my 30 or so years experience of this nonsense.

But before I say more I want to say to everyone who I have been venting during the last month or so:

Please don't think that you have contributed in making my situation worse. You haven't. The fuel for all of it comes from within myself. I am nothing but crateful that I have had a chance to vent to someone because otherwise it all would've just clumped inside me and that would've made the situation worse.

And besides, not all venting has been caused just by mania. When I'm manic it doesn't remove the normal thoughts and feelings I have.

When you're stuck in a tar pit created by a certain person for who knows how many years in a row it's obvious it's not just the mania. I think you guys know what that's like :D

Coming down is like a really really really REALLY bad hangover

Except that you can remember every single thing you've done, the things you've felt, the things you've planned, what you thought of. EVERYTHING.

And you KNOW they're all just a result of the chemical imbalance of your own brain.

Coming down doesn't mean necessarily that I'm now depressed. It's just getting back to your normal state from mania.

But the bad hangover is real. If you've experienced that you know what it's like. Regrets after regrets.

What's mania like

That ecstacy of mania is an immense rush you don't really know unless you've experienced it yourself.

It's difficult to describe, but I think falling in love really hard and fast is the closest that describes it best. You have butterflies in your stomach all the time, you're hyperfixating on that one person and you feel invincible, like everything in your life is finally perfect and you're in control like never before.

Or even better: It's like being on speed, except without the drugs. Overstimulated 24-7-365.

Hyperfixation is typical for mania

In my case the hyperfixation can be basically anything from men (real or fictional, doesn't really matter lol) to any action, hobby or even work, totally depends on the situation.

What I do is I dedicate all my time to that one thing and one thing only even though I know it's not healthy.

Thank god I've learned to control it so that it won't take ALL of my time anymore, but it still is there. And I need to cater it to some extent or I won't be able to do anything.

It's like having a parasite you can't get rid of but you can make it behave if you give it some attention from time to time.

What's real and what's not? That is the question

When you're having mania it's sometimes super hard to differentiate what's a real thought and what is based on the illusion created by your own mind. And even though I am nowadays capable to tell the difference of my real thoughts/feelings and the ones fueled by mania the later ones do have an effect on me even though I try not to react to them.

The tricky thing is that your body can't tell the difference of a so called real/normal thought/feeling and one created inside my head fueled by mania.

A manic person wants nothing more than get more of the dopamine that fuels the ecstacy. Which easily can lead to a psychotic episode/period.

The saddest part is that manic person usually looks and behaves exactly like any normal person. You can't tell from outside if someone is having mania unless they choose to show it. Psychotic then usually is clearly psychotic and erratic and behaves totally out of character.

Triggers for mania

Anything can basically be a trigger for mania and they vary from person to person. For me it's usually one of the following:

an extreme negative change in life (such as death, divorce or other big things like that),

finding a new crush,

intensive concentration on some activity,

social media, or

as surprising as it might be: music. Especially any with a faster tempo.

Usually though I have already been somewhat hypomanic before the real mania hits. Hypomania though is very hard to notice because I'm somewhat easily excited and impulsive already by nature.

But I've lived with this so long that I know when it's going overboard. My manic mind just usually chooses to say it's nothing and I believe it like a fool - because it feels so good.

This time the trigger for me was intensive concentrating on writing. While the writing was crucial in easing my general anxiety this time it had this unfortunate side effect.

Nonetheless, I'm not quitting writing. Because the anxiety has eased significantly from when I started. I probably need to change the subject for a while and not to write daily or limit it just for 30 mins a day.

How a new crush can happen when you're married, you ask?

Oh, easily. See, with a manic mind a marriage is nothing but an obstacle. Nothing is but an obstacle that is designed to limit you. Because you're omnipotent. And obstacles - well, they're made to be conquered or plowed through.

In my case I've chosen to keep my crushes online and physically as far away from me as possible. I've made a mistake of crushing into someone irl and that was UGLY for all parties involved.

Thirsting over someone from afar online while remaining happily married is by far a better option.

How to control mania or turn it off

Yes, you can turn it off. The problem with that is that usually manic person doesn't

feel like something is wrong, and

doesn't want to get down from the high.

But there are things you can do to get it end sooner.

Log off from all social media. Seriously. Don't just turn notifications off - LOG OFF.

If that's not enough, remove all the social media apps from your phone. You can always install them again.

Turn off your phone if it's possible.

Don't use computer unless it is absolutely necessary - like for paying bills. You don't need to find out what age Barbara Streissand is at 2:30am - or, well, ever.

Social media is by far the biggest contributor for mania. The apps are designed to give us a dopamine rush each time we scroll down any feed and see a new post. That's how they keep us stuck on them.

When you already have an issue with the dopamine rush using social media just makes it worse.

You won't miss anything if you log off for two days or a week. SERIOUSLY. But it will improve your well-being tremendously.

The absolutely best thing you can do is to create as dull environment to yourself as possible. That there's nothing artificial you can drown yourself into. Best place to be in mania is in the middle of the woods without any mobile signal - trust me.

Take up an activity where you do something with your hands. Hands-on approach is crucial.

Doing things with your hands will root you into the real world.

It doesn't matter what it is: cooking, cleaning, handcrafts, drawing or painting (NOT on a computer or ipad but with real pencils/crayons/paints/brushes/etc).

Remember not to do just that though. Go out (without your phone). Enjoy the nature. Listen to the sounds of the outside world. Don't close your senses with headphones. Read. Watch out of the window. Stare at the wall. Watch the paint dry.

LET YOURSELF GET BORED.

Just stay away from any electronic devices.

The hangover is horrible but it'll pass. And you will feel better afterwards when you're functional again.

------

It's not easy. None of us chose to live with bipolar. It's always inherited. But there are ways to work through it.

I hope this helps at least someone.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[cooloddball]

Hi I went through few cons and I actually got my heart broken a little bit. Every one of them had Jensen denying the idea of Destiel or Dean being anything but the American male fantasy.

Vancon 2012 J2 panel he avoids the fan who is screaming Destiel. I understand that because he was going through something Misha shaped during 2012. Destiel was the last thing he wanted in his life then.

The controversial NJCon 2013 where he pretty much rudely avoids the Bi Dean question. I mean come on there were so many ways to back down there but just giving into that crowd like that and shooting down that girl who asked the question? I know she actually explained what happened there but he is saying things to convey he is unhappy where that question is heading. JP who is considered the immature even is considering answering the question the girl is continuously apologising it is a horror show there while Jensen is just being plain rude.

Jib 2014 solo panel where he is asked if Dean will ever get his pie. And he denies Cas ever being there at the end of the line. And ironically at the end, he was only there with all kinds of pie but no Cas. Amazing how life worked out for him.

Jib 2015 solo panel where he again denies both CasDean and Destiel from Fan Fiction episode. JPad was not there and Jensen was in a bad mood so maybe it had something to do with that.

Chicon 2016 he again invalidates Cas when a question is asked about him Cas and Mary.

TorCon 2016 where both Js are denying Cas's importance saying there's no necessity for him.

JaxCon 2017 he pretty much shoots down Destiel by saying Destiel doesn't exist.

In JaxCon 2018 he wrote NO infront of Bi Dean research paper a fan showed him.

Jibcon 2019 he asks audience Where does Destiel exist. but I think he was much like teasing the audience there tbh. No major harm but it still hurts.

I just.. I truly believe he knows what he and Misha were doing in the Destiel implied scenes. And now the cat is pretty much out of the bag. But still Jensen is pretty much staying on his ground and it is nice he is now more open for interpretation but the strength this fandom should have to forgive him for all he did...

I believe in Karma. I think Karma got to Jensen eventually for all hurt he did by those words to the fandom. I don't hate Jensen in fact I really adore the guy. But it doesn't mean I am not upset by his words. How I think Karma worked here is that he never embraced what he was portraying as a character and Karma finally said "Okay Dude enough foreplay.. You want pie okay here's pie and your car now die and be in heaven and your character arc is in garbage but your brother gets to live. There goes your male fantasy.."

I understand if he had internalized sexuality issues of himself that he didn't feel like exposing by talking about Dean and Destiel but still there are much better ways to shoot down fan opinions without being so rude.

In 2014 he pretty much says that at the end of the series Dean might get all kinds of pie with no Castiel and...Geez Is it not what exactly happened? No Cas and Pie on his face. Accidental foreshadowing spoilers..

I think he got Karma for hurting so many fan hearts and denying something he evidently portrayed in his character. At the end he didn't get a happy ending he got robbed by his own show. While the shippers actually got something out of it Thanks to Misha.

I don't need Jensen to embrace Destiel in an open hug because not in any universe that's gonna happen. I actually hoped he would eventually be open to it. He actually might be, considering his reaction to episode 18. But there's no proof actually footage of him saying anything positive about Destiel. It just... is such a bummer.

I know Jensen is hurt for his own reasons by his own show which actually hurt him in ways no fan ever did. I hope he understands how fans feel now being betrayed by a show they love.

May be he had the Karma coming..

Wow. I-

Hmm. This was super long and I read each and every word of it. However, I feel like maybe you are a Jensen anti. Maybe you are not but that's the vibe I got as I read all this.

First of all I am a Dean girl since the pilot. I love Dean. I watched the show because of Dean. Even before I knew about Destiel, I loved Dean. When Cas showed up, I still loved Dean and to me, Cas was a part of Dean somehow, it just always felt that way.

Secondly. I love Jensen and Misha. I know some people don't like Jensen because of Destiel but I like him and I know he has said something's about the topic but truth is, I get why he did that.

Thirdly, I don't think Karma has anything to do with Dean's death. What they did to Dean was fucked up. Jensen doesn't write the show or control the direction that the show went. That is up to the network, the producers and the writers. Period. So, No. Karma had nothing to do with Dean's end. Jensen protested a lot about the ending. We all know why they did it. It's been talked about x10000000000.

Lastly, on the issue of Jensen and Destiel.

Jensen has on numerous occassions that he doesn't think Cas feels things the way human beings feel things. I believe Dean was on love with Cas but he wasn't sure whether Cas felt the same way because he's an angel.

Bi Dean. Not to discredit anyone but the notion that Jensen would deny that Dean was bi because of his own sexuality crisis irl feels like an insult to Jensen as an actor. I saw once an anti Cas/Misha person say that the way Dean hugged Cas in 12x09 was because Jensen hates Misha. Make it make sense. That is an insult to Jensen. There are directors and writers involved. Jensen doesn't get to decide how he wants to hug Cas or Sam. Yes, they have a right of input sometimes but it is very rarely. And thinking personal feelings would affect his acting or portrayal of Dean is truly a moot point. There are so many actors with feuds irl but when they are performing you would never know. Please let's not insult Jensen like that. He deserves an Emmy for playing Dean so well all these years.

Jensen denied Destiel and Bi Dean because it was never explicitly said he actually was bi or was in love with Cas. However, it is there in subtext. I could list all those instances but I'm guessing you already know all those instances from your research on various cons as indicated in the ask. I believe Jensen knew how he played Dean as bi and as in love with Cas. However, if he said "Yeah, Dean is bi and is in love with cas" then the show doesn't explicitly confirm it, then what. You would all start call him a liar and a panderer like many have called Misha. So he just said what was there. Do you remember Metatron's monologue in s9? What makes a story great, is it the text or the subtext? To me, it's both. To others it's the text while for others it's the subtext.

The network and producers. These are I believe the people who decide what the fans want and how to make money from the show. So if they believe textually confirming Destiel canon or bi Dean would've lined their pockets they would've done it. If watched the show, s12 was pretty gay. It's the gayest of all seasons followed by s15.

Anyway, I have a feeling that you might be an anti destiel or anti Jensen person trying to pose as destiel shipper. I honestly don't know. All I can tell you is that I am a Jensen Ackles apologist and I believe he did as much as the network would let him in terms of letting us see that Dean was in love with Cas.

12x23, 13x01-13x06,15x03,15x09,15x18. There's so much but I am neither a destiel meta writer or a film/tv critic so there's not much I can say. But please Jensen is a good man and I think people asking him over and over again about Destiel when he knew he couldn't give them the answers they wanted got to him and he had to shut it down. Maybe sometimes he was rude but he's only human.

[aresrl]

I hihi I am!!! A little nervous w/ doing this bc I've never done this b4 so please bear🐻 w// me💦 May I request a match up? A vision, a romantic partner and maybe a friend and/or enemy? If that's too much feel free to just assign me a vision + partner, ehe/// Preferably male for a romantic match-up, but either gender is fine with a friend and enemy match-up^^ I tried to be as detailed as possible but I think I ended up just ranting, so im v v sorry if it's long! I sort of fluctuate when it comes to being an introvert/extroverted. W// strangers and irl, I'm very introverted and shy!! Rarely speak and if I do it's just the usual "Hi how are you? That's good. I'm good too, thank you for asking:)" yeayea I'm not too. Keen on social interaction irl. But I always do my best to be very nice!! I never wanna come off as mean bc wow what a bad first impression that would be. But with friends / ppl ik online?? Whew I am very very friendly n chatty ^^ Either very high energy or very chill, there's rarely any inbetween. Sometimes I like to jokingly tease my friends but I'd never go too far / make them uncomfortable!! And if I do I always apologize right away!! I like to say that I'm affectionate?? My strongest love language is def physical affection, if not quality time. Idk man there's just something about vibing with someone or hugging them that just aaaaa/// Although I usually display affection w// words of affection bc. Literally most of my friends are online friends so I can't actually hug them, sad times. Idk if this is needed/important info but I just remembered: I'm 5'6 around??? Need glasses bc. Whew i am blind (near sighted), I'm poc (specifically black) anndd, hm. Actually I think thats it for this section, aha. As you can see I'm, not really all that organized. Also I don't have the best attention span - while writing this I'm circling between 4 different apps - and I'm a bit of a mess. And also a little stupid. Just a smidge dumb. But I have my moments - I solved like. 2 puzzles in Inazuma by myself so I think that counts for something. I also find that I tend to talk a whole lot when I have an idea or smthn to say abt a thing I'm super interested in!! That's info-dumping. I info dump. Yes. I also really like to listen to other people talk abt things they like!!!! Its so nice :) I'm protective over people I care about!! I've never done it but 100% would bark at someone who messed with someone close to be. Arf arf yaknow. I tend to he impulsive. I'll do something, and be all "YEAH>:D" and then regret it later. And then I'll do it all over again in a fun little cycle :) I consider myself an optimist, but quickly turn into a pessimist whenever it concerns myself. Fun funfun. Should probably mention that I am. A very insecure person w/ dangerously low self esteem, which is super fun esp when you mix that with the fact that I'm rarely ever motivated to improve. Yayayay Also sort of a pushover?? Like most often than not I'll be convinced to do something, even if I'm not too keen on doing it. Also afraid of confrontation when it comes to my friends and strangers (that is, if it's concerning me!! I'll order smthn for my friend but if I need to order for myself?? uhh stutter time aha). I'm also a mega simp ahah! Srsly though if I fall for someone/get infatuated with someone I. Will be so obvious abt it even though I try very hard not to be. Would gush over that person probably. I don't really like mean people tbh. Like yes I'll be nice and civil with them but!!! I cannot stand!!! Rude people!!! Esp when they're mean for no reason like sir??? maam??? homie??? chill pls ty<3 People who aren't necessarily mean, but moreso have bastard energy and are just really "hehe>:D" but playfully are p poggers tho!!! I think I get along with kids!! I have a little sister,, around like. Nine? And we get along really well!! I also try and match a kid's energy whenever I'm tasked with looking after them. I take pride in the fact that kids like me >:].... even if they sometimes scare me-- Ok, interest time!!

I like art!! Quite a bit!! Less of a realistic artist and more of a cartoonist!! Idk there's just something fun abt drawing cartoons, hehe. I also like self ships - I have quite a bit of them, actually ! Idk its comforting drawings your fictional crushes loving you idkidk. I like writing too! Both original stories, and one-shots or personal fics that are associated with already created media!! Writing character backstories and personalities and stuff is also fun too! I've even made my own fictional world with a full fledged backstory n everything! It's very fun to think about. I'm a day dreamer!!! Yea remember when I said I write stories? I day dream abt potential stories even more. Mmm daydream world so nice so warm so fun I read aswell!! Mostly fantasy books, or stories where animals are the protagonists. Think Warrior Cats. But my favorite book series has got to be Guardians of Ga'Hoole. Fantasy owl books, anyway! X Readers are also things I enjoy reading :) Again, s I m p Also gaming!!! Is something fun I do sometimes!!! Although it's usually Genshin Impact, or Wii Sports/Resort w// my little sister. Oh, also pokemon! I rlly like Primarina, Vaporeon, Sylveon and Vulpix/Ninetails! I absolutely adore sweet foods, and baking is smthn I'm def interested in! Don't like foods w// weird textures though, like beans or mashed potatoes. Also I. Love spice so much. Mmm love it when my mouth burns so bad. Don't have a favorite animal but I've had three cats in my lifetime (btw not important but my current cat is named Sylvester and. He's my baby boy) so I am. A very big cat fan. Probably not needed but I really like sword and claymore characters. Literally all of the characters I main are either sword or claymore users. Although I did get Diona, so I miiight start forcing myself to learn how to aimmm. I see that I tend to like people/characters that are a little more extroverted than me. Upbeat, happy type beat!!! Nice sunshine babies, :) I think thats it! I hope this was good enough? Again, first time doing this (at 2am nonetheless) so forgive me if I got too rambly or did anything wrong ^^ Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this! And I hope your day is good / you had a good day, depending on when you read this, ehe!

Hey! Sorry if the wait has been long! I also love Warrior Cats (I promise myself, one day I'll finish it.)

You received... A Pyro vision! Optimistic, enthusiastic, impulsive, reckless, and a lot of energy are the general characteristics held by the Pyro vision. • I hesitated between the Pyro and Hydro vision, but your energy distinguishes you from the Hydro vision. • You said you were impulsive, always doing something you might regret later but still doing it. • You react quickly: as you said, if somebody hurt someone you love, you won't think twice before barking. Your partner would be... Xingqiu! “This feeling was unexpected.” • At first, you were just friends, and Xingqiu really loved to tease you. Actually, you both teased each other. But eventually, a feeling of love towards you grew into Xingqiu. And that was reciprocated. • Your relationship is filled with teases, jokes, and good/funny moments where you mostly share what you commonly appreciate. • He also knows when to get serious: for example, he does everything to support you during your moments of struggle concerning your self-esteem. Your friend would be... Childe! “Luckily, I'm here!” • You two also share funny moments, especially during situations where your “stupidity” is overtaken by his insight. • Sometimes, he finds you cute. • He likes the fact that you get along well with kids. It leads you to great moments with him and his siblings. • You're quite the opposite in terms of self-esteem. I think it's a good thing because it makes you complementary. Your enemy would be... Albedo! A misunderstanding. • You wouldn't hate each other, but I think Albedo wouldn't like the way you use your energy, and when you're more in a chill mood (meaning you're more available for him to talk), he could get pissed at how much times he'd have to repeat himself for you to understand something. • He's very patient, but he understood quickly that his interests would maybe not be within your reach. • You would just be too different. Worth to mention • You and Venti are like drama queens in Mondstadt. You are good friends. But you both know that you can't be more, as it would eventually both drag you down (because of similar problems). • Klee is also your best friend: both of you share decisions that you definitely will regret later. Or maybe not. • Hu tao and you are kinds of silently competing over who's the best tease, and she beats you. My goal is definitely not achieved. I hope I can catch up tomorrow. And don't worry, it was surprisingly good for a first description!

[shankhachil]

Late to the party, so I'm adding to this a bit, I'm so sorry if the points below have already been made.

A huge — and unfortunate — reason for this recent phenomenon is the mainstream-ization of fandom culture. Now before I say anything else, I'd like to note that this is not an attack on fandom in itself; that would be hypocritical of me since I am a fanfic writer myself.

To begin, we should look at why fandom has become even a little mainstream at all. Well, like all "niche" cultures, it started out as a hobby mainly enjoyed by queer people, neurodivergent people, and people of colour. I'm sure that even today, there are people you and I know that see fandom as "cringe" and "gay (in a derogatory tone)".

So what changed?

As with all things, fandom firstly slowly became exposed to modern social media. Which, of course, is part of the original point with BookTok and BookTube being (rightly) dragged through the mud. But, apart from becoming a victim of overconsumerism, what happened was that fandom slowly became something that more people were aware about. And do you know what that means?

It means that the proportion of white and cishet people in fandom increased exponentially, especially in the last five years.

Now, that's not a bad thing at all when taken on its own. The thing is that fandom, specifically, is seen as a place for wish-fulfilment, where you can read stories and write stories specifically tailored to your wants and fantasies. Think about it — on AO3, you can search for, say, a rating (Explicit), a ship (e.g. Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku) or a specific character or person (say, Shinsou Hitoshi) or a trope (such as Praise Kink). Once you've filtered to your satisfaction, you get hundreds upon thousands of stories with your beloved characters in finger-lickin' (whether literally or figuratively) situations. If you have the time and the energy, you can even write stories like that for other people (and yourself) to enjoy.

Which results in authors having written 78 stories for a particular fandom or ship or trope, and at this point, you have a lot of good food.

Now, a lot of people find this kind of fanfiction unsatisfactory — yes, the characters are interacting in the way they want them to, but they can't see themselves in the characters, and thus the experience is not as immersive as they would like.

Enter reader-insert fiction. Where you are the main character, free to see yourself in situations as far-fetched as having an anal-sex orgy with the brothers Hemsworth, or being sold to One Direction, or going on a date with Eraserhead from My Hero Academia. The thing with reader-insert fanfic is that requires a very specific sort of writing in order to be even remotely enjoyable. You need a reader-character that is generic enough that a large number of people can relate to them, and you need a (usually male) love interest that is extremely attractive and willing to bend to the reader's whims. Because, after all, reader-insert fanfic is supposed to cater to the reader's fantasies.

Now, the mainstream-ization (I don't know the actual word for it) of fandom culture means that you have cishet white people that are getting more and more interested in fanfiction and fanart. Which now means that they want this same content IRL.

Authors like Colleen Hoover, as well as the publishing houses that employ them, are capitulating on this opportunity. The point here is that the main target of romance novels by western authors is cishet white women. What kind of character would a cishet white woman see herself in? Another cishet white woman. And what kind of character would she be interested in? Of course, a cishet man.

Racism, colourism and every sort of -ism enter here, because the male love interests in these books are usually made to cater to the "conventional beauty" standards of white America — hence why user lithoerally's six-foot tall male love interest with abs who worships the female protagonist is usually also blond (or black-haired if you want him to be a Bad Boy TM) and blue- or green-eyed.

This also explains the overabundance of tropes in these books. It's the phenomenon where readers confuse fiction with original works; they want something "comforting" and "familiar" from everything they read. It's destroyed the ability to challenge oneself with new kinds of books, new kinds of literature, books by authors from other countries. Hell, even romance novels by POC are ignored because people are too scared to read books with love interests that are outside their white "conventional" beauty standards!

And the worst thing? If you take one of Colleen Hoover's books, and replace every non-dialogue use of "I" with "you" and the protagonist's name with "Y/N", it would read exactly the same as a 0-rupee original One Direction waala fanfic on Wattpad. Fucking disgusting.

When I grow up and have kids, if they bring Colleen Hoover's, or Emily Henry's, or SJM's stories home, I'm making them do a one-week fandom history research project.

what is your problem with tiktok or booktok and colleen hoover lmao its not that bad surely

the fact that it actively promotes overconsumerism, the way it sells books to you by just playing into already heavily milked out tropes with very specific character niches that are seen in every book nowadays and how the reading is just seen as something aesthetic or a part of the "it girl routine" maybe? if those are enough reasons for you?

does the fact that these books are the first things you see when you walk into a bookstore not bother you? when you ask someone for a book recommendation they'll follow it up with "its a romance slow burn enemies to lovers". it's always about the aesthetic of the book, how many lines can you take out of context and post as a compilation of your super cute romantic annotations page on instagram. no analyzing the book, no theories, no symbolism or meaningfulness at all. how people stand reading those kind of books and still feel any kind of emotions over these flat as hell books with no world or character building is genuinely baffling to me

no one seems to know about actual literature anymore, which not to sound like a boomer but i think its definitely true. there's always been trend cycles, i agree such as the harry potter craze from the 1990s to the 2000s and the dystopia hunger games/maze runner/divergent blast in the early 2010s but tiktok has just.. shortened these cycles so much. as a result, people like our darling colleen hoover whose written around 46 books since 2015 (according to google) try come up with as much fresh content as they can as quickly as possible for the readers (see overconsumption). the fact that this lady outsold the bible is not outstanding to me, its fucking concerning.

and after all that, the result is badly written books with characters who're about as dimensional as a piece of paper, overuse of tropes, read like they've been written by a toddler, toxic-ass relationships being romanticised, very unnecessary sex scenes and countless other things. seriously if i wanted to read about the kind of stories hoover tells i would just open a wattpad account.

this isn't to say that all booktok books are terrible. i'm trying to highlight some of the flaws i find in authors like colleen hoover, emily henry, taylor jenkins reid, ali hazelwood, sarah j maas and elena armas. some of their works are quite decent :) six of crows, thsoeh, tsoa, circe, daisy jones, where the crawdads sing etc are some books which i think everyone has heard of if theyre active online which were actually nice reads. also i am BEGGING u to reach out of your comfort zone and read something different like non-fiction or fantasy or one of the classics for once if you only read booktok like seriously it might be hard but just do it for the love of god!!