#i also have this complex of “is my fanwork bad because it's too dark? Am i overdoing it?”

[lokiinmediasideblog]

There's a certain kind of cutesiness and wholesomeness that will piss me off. I have to tell myself not to be a bitch. It's harmless.

[no-shxme]

Hi I saw you have TalEz on your won'ts for your commissions. Just curious can you explain why?

hi anon yEAH i can explain but like, to preface this, if you happen to like talez you're totally valid and dont feel like you have to dislike it or anything bc im gonna be a lil hater. people like what they like (and dislike what they dislike) and thats totally okay. this is just my own personal opinion. i wish i liked talez more bc its probably the most popular talon ship and im often starving, but i just dont and there's a couple reasons why.

i dont like the way its usually portrayed

im not the biggest ezreal fan.

imo there's better fits for both of them.

ugh this is going to be long so ill put it under the cut.

tbf, you dont NEED some complex reason to dislike a ship/character. like reason 2 is already enough for me to open and shut smth, but i do have complex thoughts about talez. and i am totally going to do a little hating below.

i think talez is so fucking anime that it lacks so much complexity. i dont really like anime. (i know thats a broad, loaded statement i just hate 99% of the tropes that pop up. not saying ive never enjoyed a shitty/tropy anime, but just--no) i think talez is broadly boiled down and portrayed by most fan-creators as 'edgy dark cloud + ball of sunshine' and i think thats so boring and lame for both of them. imo it reduces them to a really basic ship trope and there's nothing inherently WRONG with it, i just think its so boring. i look at popular fanworks and personally find it super reductive for both of them. it feels like talez happened bc at it's inception league needed an anime character ship. to be fair, you can reduce ANY ship to smth basic. talsett is just 'tall x short' but in comparison i think talsett has so much more complexity in theming. same with like, rhaayn for example. to me there's a lot more depth. i think the most depth you can get out of talez is related to ez's loss of family and talon's too + themes of belonging, but god. its not good enough.

talez is also usually portrayed romantically and i'm turbo aromantic and mostly romance repulsed and also hc talon as the same, so this already cuts out so much talez fanwork for me. :')

ALSO while we're at it, talon is such a bottom to me. even when he tops. and i hate him being portrayed as this like, idk, grim edgy SUPER TALL??? domineering top when he's like, as tall as katarina in the comic and was prolly malnourished bc he lived on the streets for years. tbh i would automatically like talez more if they were BOTH shortasses and switches as god intended. but noooo. i think if i literally just saw/read more ez topping talon then i'd be automatically more on board. but id also need an aromantic angle so its literally never happening.

i think when ezreal gets paired with talon both of their personalities get so fucked. his ass is not cuddling. ezreal is not some weak damsel or master of seduction either. i think a problem that not just talez creators but like, creators in general suffer from is erasing bad traits that characters have, unless they're 'cute.' talon has some cute bad traits, but he also has some seriously bad traits that loving or being loved wont fix. and ezreal is just reduced SO bad. so talez feels inherently ooc to me. fandom has done a number on him. there's nothin left in the pot. i think being with talon (in canon) is such an uphill battle and most of the time i dont see ezreal equipped to handle it in comparison to other people.

i dont really like ezreal. i think i've already made that clear before. he's fun to play and i like him on a surface level and ive got friends that really like him and thats totally fine but idk he's just not my blorbo. the only time i really like him is when he's with aphelios, where somehow my dislike of both characters cancel out. maybe i dont have room for him because i like talon too much, who knows. either way, often times when talez fanworks are created the focus is actually just on ezreal, and that annoys me as an ezreal disliker. (fanwork creators can create whatever the fuck they want ofc, godspeed do what makes you happy)

and my third point: there's better fits for both of them. i like ezphel and ezkayn more than talez. i think in canon there's a good chance talon might genuinely kill him. or ezreal might really overwhelm him and drive him away with his outward facing personality. and frankly there's a good chance ezreal also goes away bc talon is bad news and also doesn't have the charisma to keep him there. and ofc for talon i think talsett is the ultimate fit, or even talshan is right there.

THAT BEING SAID. i don't mind talez AS much if there's a third, though we still run into some of the same issues as above. like ive written talezsett before. thats nice! talezlux is okay too even if,, completely unfeasible... (i have strong opinions im sorry. as a crack ship its fun i think)

blah blah. i think i could like talez but i would have to write it myself. thats what it boils down to. there are ideas/concepts i like about them. ive juggled the idea of putting a talez fic on my to do list but i just dont think i'll write it in any way that actual talez fans would like, which means there's no point in writing it at all. i've plotted several, long and short, but i think everyone would hate it. talez isn't a strict 'won't write.' iirc it specifically says like: 'unless the idea goes hard' but no ones tried me pfppf, and im fine with it i guess.

there's more i can say but like, i dont want this to be too long.

the important thing to remember is that if you like talez... GOOD. im happy for you!! keep loving it, godspeed. these are just my personal reasons it doesnt click with me.

[antiracist-tolkien]

Apologies anon, I accidentally hit post on your ask too early and had to delete the post.

Anon asked:

It’s exhausting to be a POC AND hate the token diversity Amazon uses AND feel like RoP is actually genuinely failing to either not be racist the way Tolkien was racist or not be racist in ways contemporary projects are racist AND be super invested in diverse fanworks and diverse perspectives AND not care what white people think, like, *I* am never going to think the show is good because it doesn’t address the racism in the text in a way I find fulfilling but I also hate every white person using this as an excuse to be racist to other fans of color who have a different opinion than I do. It means I can’t actually talk about my criticisms of the show because white fans see it as me agreeing with them and fans of color see it as me betraying them.

Yeah I feel you. As POC there's a pressure to watch our words at all times because someone will purposefully misinterpret them. And God forbid we have different perspectives, because someone will try to weaponise our words and opinions against other POC.

TRoP is particularly difficult to navigate because of how complex the situation is and how many seemingly contradicting points there are.

It's made by Amazon, a genocidal hypercapitalistic company built off the exploitation of POC

It's the first mainstream Tolkien adaption to feature a diverse cast

All of the canonical characters are white, except Tar Miriel, who as I've talked about before is yet another example of Black women & girls being marked for death by the narrative

It features dark-skinned Black characters, including a dark-skinned Black women, who traditionally get even less representation than their light-skinned counterparts

The script was written by white men and it shows

Some of the diverse characters get significant screentime

Aspects of their storyline are handled poorly and with what can at best be described as racial insensitivity

It's more than any other major adaptation has done

It deserves criticism

The series has been relentlessly attacked by white supremacists, which creates a pressure to defend the show and its diverse casting

I personally wish that Amazon had never got their blood-stained hands on lotr, but if it's cancelled now then the white supremacists will take that as a victory and the diverse casting will likely take the blame.

All of these things are true and all of them are important. Which ones are most important to you are going to vary from person to person.

That's the crux of it, I think. When we talk about racism in Tolkien there are many issues that are clear cut. Tolkien was racist. The way that the Haradrim are written is Orientalist. But not every topic has a clear answer. There's grey areas and room for debate.

TROP is one of those areas. I think we as POC need to be kind to each other and understand that this is an emotionally fraught topic. We get attacked on all sides regardless of what opinion we express. The least we can do is defend each other's rights to talk about our experiences, even when we don't agree. Disagreement doesn't have to be betrayal if we still support and listen to each other.

It's too much, it's too complicated for there to be a right answer.

I also hate every white person using this as an excuse to be racist to other fans of color who have a different opinion than I do. It means I can’t actually talk about my criticisms of the show

I've been there and it hurts. It's infuriating and painful. It feels like being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Ultimately, you're not responsible for bad faith interpretations of your words and racists are going to be racist no matter what you do or say. If they weren't taking advantage of your words, they'd be taking advantage of others or spilling their own vile hate. You're not enabling them or giving an excuse to be racist, because they never needed enabling or an excuse. They'd do it anyway.

If you feel comfortable to, I think you should talk about your criticisms. They're valuable. The white supremacists are going to be white supremacists, but that shouldn't stop us from having important conversations that enrich our own corners of the fandom.

[mandaloriandy]

Fic Writer Interview

I suppose I should... actually get around to doing this.

I was tagged by @maderilien, @stormwarnings, and @willowcrowned! (that’s what I get for putting off doing this, I get ganged up on.) (I’m just joking, I am very touched that you all thought of me)

How many works do you have on AO3?

49

What's your total AO3 word count?

339,898

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

oh fuck there's so many. uhhhh 32 apparently. big yikes. I'm just gonna copy-paste the list over, that'll be easiest. A lot of these are overlaps but alas such is life

1. Star Wars - All Media Types (24) 2. Star Wars Prequel Trilogy (18) 3. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types (7) 4. TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms (4) 5. Homestuck (4) 6. Doctor Who & Related Fandoms (3) 7. Avatar: Legend of Korra (3) 8. Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling (3) 9. Marvel Cinematic Universe (2) 10. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV) (2) 11. The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types (2) 12. Doctor Who (2) 13. Ender Series - Orson Scott Card (1) 14. Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) (1) 15. Iron Man (Movies) (1) 16. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (1) 17. Original Work (1) 18. Sherlock (TV) (1) 19. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) (1) 20. Big Hero 6 (2014) (1) 21. Emelan - Tamora Pierce (1) 22. The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien (1) 23. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga (1) 24. The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien (1) 25. Captain America (Movies) (1) 26. Paranatural (Webcomic) (1) 27. Torchwood (1) 28. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica (1) 29. Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types (1) 30. Star Wars: Rebels (1) 31. Doctor Who (2005) (1) 32. The Hobbit - All Media Types (1)

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

To nobody's surprise, my top 5 fics by kudos are (in order) the first 5 parts to the Jedi Shmi AU.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Oof. I used to. But I ended up spiralling pretty badly uhhhh a couple years ago and had to stop. I feel like I should reply to comments, especially those wonderful long ones, but even though I do this whole writing thing, I always have a really hard time, like, knowing what to say to them? Like "akjsdfk;jf thank you" always feels inadequate, but writing a well thought-out reply takes a stupidly large amount of brainpower, and I'll leave them marked as unread if I want to reply to them and then they just accumulate in my inbox and I end up spiralling again, since it just continues to exist as a mental load of something I have to do and the avoidance just gets bigger and bigger the longer I put it off and–

look, I just get into my own head too much about it. I respond to questions, usually. I love all the comments but I can't let myself overthink it, and the easiest way to do that is to not let myself reply.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I guess Obi-Wan’s Terrible Horrible No-Good Very Bad Life doesn’t count because it... doesn’t have an ending yet? and I don’t know how angsty that ending is going to be. Even Composing Hallelujah doesn’t count because it ends happier than in canon, even though it’s... y’know, not exactly happy-ending.

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you've written?

Hahaha I don't do crossovers often, but I have done them, and the craziest one I've actually written is probably my Sailor Moon/Puella Magi Madoka Magica fic. It’s especially crazy because I’ve only seen a few episodes of sailor moon lol

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

lmao YEP

There's this one, like Ender's Game/Doctor Who fic I wrote and posted on FFN back in middle school. And it got a ton of hate, as far as I can tell mostly from the same person, talking about like, how bad and non-canonical and whatever it was. And when I migrated over to AO3, I reposted it there too. This was in like 2012. The migration, at least, the fic was written in... idk, 2010?

And then. In 20-fucking-19.

I got a comment saying "Terrible. Makes zero sense. It’s like the author threw canon out the window and took a shit on it." like lmao what??????

(for reference: https://archiveofourown.org/works/361723?show_comments=true#comments and https://www.fanfiction.net/r/7621672/)

(like what the actual fuck was this person on)

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Not any that I've been brave enough to post. And… also… nothing that I've actually written more than a few paragraphs on… I keep chickening out. I did recently make a deal with a friend, though, so… we'll see. If I do, it’s probably going to be quite dark, because that’s the kind of smut I like to read.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I sincerely hope not.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes!! See how the blackbird walks into russian and just recently In all your wanderings into french!!!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I've tried. It's never gone… especially well? I don't think any of them ever actually ended up complete, they all just petered out after a while.

What's your all time favorite ship?

I don't really have an "all-time favorite" anything, let alone a ship. I'm a horrible multishipper and I'm going to cause problems on purpose

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

Sigh. Probably my intricate, 30-something-k unpublished Silmarillion Helcaraxë fic. It has so many moving pieces. I know where most of them end up but it's going to take so much effort to get there

What are your writing strengths?

writing

What are your writing weaknesses?

writing

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Hm. Given that I mostly write fic for SF/F, I don't run into the "real life languages" problem a lot. I end up working with conlangs of various complexity, for the most part, and for those… I'll sprinkle in a word or two if it makes sense, especially swear words and stuff. But for most of those conlangs, grammar is… less well-determined than vocabulary, so I almost never do phrases, let alone full sentences. I'll just put it in italics (if the POV character understands it) or say "and they said something unintelligible in [x language]" or the like.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I think………. let me check the dates on this. I think the actual first fanfiction I wrote was sometime in fifth or sixth grade, for this "Zenda" book series I read?? Either that or Harry Potter.

What's your favorite fic you've written?

A big shout-out goes to The Lichtenberg Figure, which I can’t believe is the only Tamora Pierce fanwork I’ve published, but for my favorite... it's gotta be Messenger. Like, looking back, there is a bunch about it that I am very not happy with, and a lot of things I think didn't come across the way I wanted, and things I would not write the same way now, years down the line, as I have very differently balanced understandings of… well, a lot of these same characters. But, fuck, I just can't let go of Mandalorian!Beru.

No pressure tags!! @apaladinagain @determamfidd @faeymouse @lumateranlibrarian (apologies if you’ve already done this one and I haven’t seen it!)

[mr-kamiyama]

Quick thoughts about Digimon:

I tuned in one morning I wasn't working, which was rare at that job I was at at the time, caught 02 ep 10, and was hooked. I later realised the writer of all the Dark Ocean content was Konaka Chiaki, whose work I generally like, so no surprise there.

I gotta say, they probably should've just gone with 「相棒」 for partner. This word is usually a partner in context of a business partner or police partner--in fact, a show called just that has been running for the entire 21st century about detective partners (and it's a pretty good show. I've seen it be sympathetic to the plight of undocumented immigrants, for one)

Using "partner" the English loanword...well, the context I really hear it in is same-gender partner.

Now, mind you, I only figured things out as an adult, and native Japanese speakers here are and always have been treated pretty miserably. (Which is why "exotic Japanese garnish for my human default English" is very, very much rubbing your priveledge in our faces, incredibly offensive, but hey, y'all also repost Japanese fanworks without permission to the point many delete their accounts and give up because y'all are so married to the idea we're not people, which frankly, y'all's treatment of queer men in fandom is equally garbage)

But the reason that point is mentioned is that we're so sidelined, it's hard to even find and connect with each other (e.g. SF Japantown only has Japanese speaking clerks on one floor of Kinokuniya where the books in Japanese for us are kept. It's now "look Asian for the tourists") so a lot of us end up having trouble accessing random words in our own language because we're so used to either no one around us speaking it or bad consequences when we break our English with Japanese.

So, as I've never experienced queer life in Japan, and Japanese immigrants commonly end up yoyoing back to English, I'm not entirely sure "partner" the loanword is the only way to express same-gender partner as opposed to just the only one I've heard.

It does stand that it is *a* way. (Well, obviously, you could still use terms like "boyfriend" or "wife" but think the same as English speakers use it)

When watching 02, it's pretty easy to not go there because they're so young, and interact with the digimon during downtime like siblings, as the digimon are children as well (and you can't tell me that Wormmon isn't spot on for a younger brother in an abuse situation caring for an older brother)

Tailmon isa bit different, and obviously more mature, but ep 10 was the only Hikari-centric episode, and I never really had the desire to go back and watch Adventure. I don't feel like it had something for older viewers like I got out of 02-Frontier (Savers was intentionally about older viewers, and it was like a Doogie Howser/Men in Black/Digimon crossover, and I love it. And it had adults and even an elderly character with Digimon partners! Yay for useful adults!) so I admittedly can't decisively say about Tailmon.

But the rest do seem like siblings to their human children. And they're pointedly all children.

But just now, I was watching the new short, To Sora.

I have to say, as Piyomon has an adult voice, and Sora is an adult, my mind definitely went to "maybe the nomenclature could be better."

I do also have to say that I'm rather disappointed that they're ending this with "adults can't be Chosen anymore." At least there'll always be Savers, and maybe someday, I'll have enough of my massive dual-prong Digimon and Bleach project up that I can call it "extant" (I'm having a handful of the Bleach gang become Chosen as well as Osamu put into a gigai, and if you know Bleach, just imagine Coyote Starrk getting a new friend. Of course, he still has Lillynette and also adopts most of the Arrancar as his own children, but yes, Coyote gets a Digimon friend, too. And they're specifically trying calling adults because the kids keep getting too traumatised)

Ah, things run away from me.

But yes, especially with adult chosen and digimon, "partner" the loanword with no qualifier (i.e. "partner digimon") sounds like something else entirely to my queer mind www

And also "boo" for usefulness having an age limit. I wouldn't be saying this if this weren't specifically being aimed at fans who grew up with Adventure, and, while younger than me, are still well into adulthood. Cross Wars or the reboot have no reason to concern themselves with adult viewership, but Kizuna is being made for adults. So "end of childhood=end of your ability to be a hero" seems kinda... Even if they're just trying to end the original Adventure franchise, seems like a...they can do it better.

While no, Ken's and Daisuke's parents and Jun really *don't* deserve love, just... I dunno, there's just a deluge of teen heroes with powers and some immortal hero stories, but there's not a whole lot of the kind of adults you see in Savers. Yeah, they're side characters, but I'll take what I can get. Kizuna's approach is more common, which is a shame now that the average fan is roughly 29.

(Doesn't it also mess up the whole making the epilogue make any sense, what with everyone being with their digimon in that?)

(And for that matter, I would've loved 02 parents to have names, and maybe they could've gone into Miyako's more. She seems like she has a solid family. We see Ken explaining the digimon, and his parents exploited him until he had a breakdown. Heck, his dad continues to jump down his throat over things. Why couldn't Miyako's get some love? Why can't we see Miyako explaining digimon to her family and stay up all night with her older siblings hanging on her every word? Which considering how much real life kids get sorta discounted when two adults are talking (which I'll often just walk past and wave to the kid, so they know someone sees them) might have actually been an empowering fantasy for viewers. And a really great balance to Daisuke and Ken's home lives. (The kids with unpleasant families feel represented and empowered because they can still be heroes, but kids can also have the empowerment of watching Miyako's whole family, of which she is the baby, hanging on her words

(Also, why can't we see how someone from that family could enjoy the company of someone who slaps her kid brother around? And has some kind of stalker complex? Sure, it's stuff I can make answers for myself in my project, just like the initial reason to cross them was explaining the Dark Ocean, but I really would've loved something in canon about them)

Typically, adults in any kind of action hero story--let's look at Star Wars. The people who raised Luke are non-combatants. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda (an older Muppet, but older still stands) are just there as mentors, like Urahara in Bleach. It's really on Luke's shoulders. Han Solo is as old as a hero gets, and he's pretty young himself. (I've seen the original trilogy, and it was forever ago, so if Luke Skywalker is actually a teenager, forgive the error)

You don't see anyone between 20 year old hero and 60 year old mentor doing much of anything. Buddy cops are the only exception to this.

Shame that digimon is gonna follow that pattern instead of buck the trend, especially now that their fanbase is getting older. I dunno how much of a letdown the apparent Kizuna narrative is for a 29 year old as opposed to someone who wasn't even a kid when it was new, but I'm sure it's there. Even if I am decidedly older than that, I can't be the only one disappointed by it. If I thought I was, I wouldn't make this post.

And it kinda messes up using this to make the epilogue make any sense. When it was first revealed that Yamato suddenly became an astronaut, Gabumon was there with him on Mars. So on and so forth, and all humans had partners. Which naturally includes all the people over 23.

I guess we'll always have Satuma and Kudamon. (Miki and Megumi are nice too, and are also teetering on the edge of canon ship, which it's nice to see queer female fans get that, but they do seem like they're in their early to mid 20s, which arguably puts them at the end of typical "useful age range")

I'd love to already have an alternative up, but for now, I only have a few Bleach prequel one shots posted and over 800 pages of bullet point notes.

[misdre]

i said a few days ago i could just write a post about my rei/max headcanons and why i ship it and such, and i just really love rambling about these two, so here is my little reimax brainstorming post that i spontaneously felt like writing. (this is all based on animeverse, obviously.)

☆ well, first i'll say that despite whatever headcanons and interpretations, i first and foremost ship characters just because it's fun, so basically It's Not That Deep and i never claim anything as canon at all, i can literally list my first reason for shipping them as rei and max being so nicely complementary characters design-wise (long dark & short fair hair, light & dark eyes, different skin tones, purple-red & yellow-green, white & black, my self-imposed cat & dog and moon & sun allegories all that kinda stuff that just works out nicely) that's all i need to enjoy a ship honestly. i don’t like the practice of undermining other possible pairings because yours is “correct”.

☆ rei and max both basically come to japan as foreigners pre-series (max speaks the language with an accent so i take it he's not too adapted to the country yet, even if he got some of the culture from his dad’s side) which i like to think brings them together early on, since they have a shared experience of not quite belonging. i like thinking of it as a sort of over-arching feature of their friendship that sets them apart from the rest of the team. (on the other hand though, there's the obvious clash of max being a rich kid from new york and rei from the backwoods of china..... i haven’t explored that much, other than rei being completely clueless about technology and max eventually forcing him to get a cell phone because he cant keep writing letters forever for cucks sake)

☆ really obvious from my art and all but i headcanon rei as sensitive and easily flustered, based on his gentle personality and how he tends to be swayed by emotions (and lack of self confidence which isn't exactly ever laid out i think, but that's how i read him losing his way so easily), and his arrogance especially at the beginning is just him putting up a front and looking down on people at first out of wanting to feel superior himself. i actually headcanon rei to underestimate and brush max off big time at first over his favour for takao whom rei is totally amazed with at first - i mean, is ever since, but in s1 takao is still New and Exciting. max on the other hand is seen impressed with rei's strength from the start, and he isn't fazed by his arrogant attitude, nor does max ever particularly put himself on a pedestal so he doesn't mind the one-sided sentiment. max is also really patient, and i like to think that his smarts and personality gradually draw rei in, especially because rei wants to think of himself as rational and mature and a big brother of sorts -- since he’s got so much experience travelling, and has had the big brother-like role in china (i headcanon him as a bit older than the rest of BBA, i mean how else would he ever have had the time to travel) but, as said, he’s easily swayed by emotions instead. the fact that max seems so childish but has this surprising depth to him gradually makes rei acknowledge him as a blader too.

☆ the thing about their friendship is that it's very stable and sort of subtly constantly on the background. i don't even headcanon there to be any dramatic turning point of them suddenly becoming closer or anything, they're just naturally drawn to each other and end up spending time together a lot. i think of them as the observant half of the BBA team, and they work amazingly well as a team early on (synchronised moves already in s1 like wow) as something that just comes very naturally to them from thinking alike and being together. (during the domestic bits of s2 they are basically always together, like just sitting in the dojo by the two of them tuning their beys together, it’s actually really cute) there isn't the sort of dramatic element in their relationship that there is between them and takao, and kai to an extent, because they never consider each other rivals but rather are always on the same side. half of g-revolution is them banding together (in spirit) to position themselves as takao’s rivals and they work for a shared objective (which they, by the way, apparently agree on just between the two of them and meet up at like death o'clock in the morning without telling anybody else before leaving together in the beginning of g-rev. and then they return to the same place later in a dramatic sunset to reminisce about that morning, i've always wanted to write a fic about how gay that actually looks) ANYWAY point being...... what was my point. that rei and max are just forever low-key together, even when they physically aren’t.

☆ basically my canon-compliant reimax includes a lengthy friends-to-lovers mutual pining of them making the perfect pair for a really long while and being close to the point of others probably thinking they're already dating when they themselves haven't even discovered or admitted they have romantic feelings yet and everyone’s just "what".

☆ back to headcanon land, also pretty obvious from my fanworks, but i hc max as the more assertive one by a mile, and my usual depiction is that he actually is aware of his feelings for rei (starting from wherever i choose that to start. “forever” is a good pick) and probably knows that rei feels the same, but max just loves teasing the hell out of him for it because rei's reactions are so emotion-based (against his own will. he'd want to be a calm and rational adult so bad) and he takes himself so seriously. max sees through rei's tough act pretty much from the start and only finds it endearing. and max is the kind to perpetually surprise everyone else, either on purpose or just by the virtue of being so much more than he seems to be, so in turn rei is infatuated with the complexity of max's character (and also just his cuteness but you know) but somehow repeatedly finds himself fooled by max anyway, e.g. rei would sure as hell think max is all innocent and cute and would probably think it scandalous if max ever found out he's having such INAPPROPRIATE thoughts about him, but then it's max making the first move by casually throwing some pick-up line at rei (....or slapping his ass or whatever) which max isn't ashamed of doing in the least. that's the sort of dynamic i headcanon them to have.......when it's not just a smooth sailing of them easily moving from friends to boyfriends, anyway, which i can also more canon-compliantly imagine. like one day they just end up making out and go "oh" and it makes perfect sense to both. that also works. which do i like better?? i love all of it. (alternatively, they're just both too dense to make the first move and the girls, hiromi and mao usually, wind up being their wingwomen who have to spell their obvious feelings out to them. girls because they are so much smoother at this stuff than guys. also, it's somehow a running thing in my imagined settings that kai is the only other BBA member who knows of them, just because he's the only one actually sitting there quietly observing everyone. and he is groaning internally all the time because these idiots just don't get it. like i could literally write a fic like this from kai’s POV. actually i have a zillion different settings for how reimax could happen and this post isn't supposed to be a masterlist of them, but that's a couple of thoughts)

☆ not a surprise but i have like a compulsive need to depict max being crazy about rei’s beautiful hair, and also his build in general (the tips of rei's ears are an erogenous zone by the way) -- i guess i headcanon max to be much more actively *attracted* to people (pan max is my way of max) and it’s very natural for him to find rei’s characteristics attractive, while at rei's end it's more of a "i have no idea why i feel this way about him what is this we're both guys it shouldn't be like this ohmygod did i just think he was cute for a second no it can't be oh no." i also think that rei would have a harder time dating another guy and dealing with what other people would think about it and all, being from the boonies as opposed to max being from a big american city. which then could also contribute to rei addressing his feelings much more slowly or being alien to the whole concept altogether. but i don't care to address real world issues in my 100% fictional noncanon fanworks, so i don't think about that aspect much.

this is probably enough rambling for one post, tl;dr i sure am attached to an imaginary relationship of a couple of cartoon boys

[anneapocalypse]

[tone of genuine curiosity, as clarified in an elcor-esque fashion because the internet renders all emotion an uncertain factor] You're welcome to skip this ask if you ain't up for it, but re: the perpetual debate over Problematic Subjects In Media, I've seen you in the past write many a critique on how fandom writes/treats women / BDSM / etc. Does this not fall under the idea that the writer has a responsibility in how they handle / frame certain issues in their writing?

Hi Silt! I’m up for it, but buckle in, because this is gonna get long. :)

Okay so the thing is, this is a broad topic and these days I try to resist treating it as a zero-sum game with “No Critique Allowed” on one side and “Relentlessly Harass People Who Make Bad Content According to Our Arbitrary But Obviously Correct Standard” on the other. 

Let me state clearly for the record: both of those options are terrible. Fortunately, it’s not all or nothing, and those aren’t the only horses in the race.

The way that female characters, characters of color, disabled characters, and other representations of marginalized groups are treated in media remains very much of interest to me. That hasn’t changed. My approach has changed somewhat over the years (as I’d hope it would, if I’m continuing to grow as a person), largely due to understanding that some rhetorical styles are more effective than others when you actually want to reach people or change something.

If I gave the impression that I want to absolve creators of all responsibility, that was never my intent. In fact, I mentioned critique and growth as part of the process in one of my recent posts. I do critique the media I regularly consume, and in fact the more heavily I am immersed in something, the more in-depth my criticism, because we’re best able to examine the things we know best.

What I do feel is that creators need room to grow, and fandom can be a great test bed for exploration, where creators work with elements of established media to explore different ideas and techniques. I’m not saying fandom is only a test bed, or like, a trial run for original work, because I don’t think that; I think fanworks are worthwhile in their own right, written for enjoyment and personal indulgence. But the fact is that many of us do or will create original work, and for many of us, creating fanworks helps us build a skillset we’ll use for original work too. 

That said, the cultural impact of fandom is more limited than that of popular media. I’m not saying it has no impact–and indeed, in a time when we have multiple known works of popular published fiction that are retooled from fanfics, when TV writers are on twitter regularly interacting with their fanbases, it’s probably safe to say fandom has more impact on popular media than it ever has before, but neverthelesss, its impact is still limited. The average piece of fanfiction does not reach an audience on the scale of a piece of popular media, that’s just a fact.

Does that mean we shouldn’t bother looking at patterns in fandom and fanworks? Hell no! Fandom is a microcosm–the patterns we see in fandom do absolutely reflect wider social patterns and in fact for very immersed fans it can make those patterns more apparent. And I think it’s good for us to discuss them, address them, become more aware of how we play into them–especially if we’re creating or planning to create original work.

Because these kind of discussions, when they are actually discussions, do work. I talk about the season 10 climate in the RvB fandom a lot, but even back then, I saw people change their minds about Carolina, not because they were accused of internalized misogyny or told to feel guilty for not liking her (shockingly, shaming people for their taste doesn’t have a high success rate in changing their minds), but because someone presented them with a compelling case for a more nuanced reading of her character. My experiences in past years led to me almost checking my watch to see fans turn on RvB’s newest female character this season, and you know what? It hasn’t happened. Things do change, and I don’t think fandom turnover is the sole reason. I would love to see some shifts in other patterns as well. For example, I would love to see trauma in female characters given as much weight as it is given in male characters. I would love to see more artists willing to draw Tucker with brown eyes. Those will be discussions, and we’ll continue to have them.

What I’ve seen happening in recent years, though, is a turn toward a certain ideal of purity in fanworks. It’s not an ideal of working toward more complex and thoughtful portrayals of characters; rather, it’s an all or nothing attitude that says some characters and ships and topics are Good and worthy to be explored in fanworks, while other characters, ships, and topics are Bad and anyone who touches them or likes them is Bad, and also fair game for targeted harassment.

I keep drawing comparisons between fanworks and original work for a reason–the attitudes that I find most unsupportable in fandom are the same ones I find untenable when it comes to original work, and when you apply them to the latter, their limitations are far more obvious. 

One example: the idea that it’s wrong to find any reasons to sympathize with an antagonist, or to look for an interesting and complex backstory, one that might make sense of (not even to say justify) their actions. That’s all well and good when you’re engaging purely from a fan perspective I guess, but what happens when you want to write a novel? If it’s morally wrong to find complexity and interest in villains, are you morally obligated to make your antagonist as bland and cartoonish as possible, to be sure no one could possibly relate to them? Is that good writing? Is that what we want?

Or take the idea that it’s morally wrong to ship unhealthy ships–and this attitude in fandom goes that shipping certain ships is wrong regardless of how or why, to the point that people will proudly identify themselves as “anti-[ship],” thus building a kind of identity around not shipping a Bad Ship (and giving rise to the umbrella term “antis” to refer to this attitude). Carry this into original work and… you’re not allowed to write unhealthy relationships? You’re not allowed to write any conflict into a relationship between two “good” characters lest it be perceived as “abusive” or “toxic?” 

Then there’s the idea that it’s morally wrong to write fic with dark subject matter, which is what my most recent posts were about. I’m never going to argue these things can’t be done badly but I’m absolutely going to push back against the idea that they can’t be done at all. And I could write paragraphs more about how incredibly reductive I find the whole idea that certain topics are just off-limits for fiction, that art isn’t allowed to be catharsis (especially in a tiny niche setting like fandom, for corn’s sake) but this post is long enough, so I think I’ll put a lid on it here. ;) But frankly, if someone’s going to write dark fiction insensitively, in bad taste, or just plain poorly, there are worse places for it to exist than on AO3 tagged with content warnings, where nobody’s paid a hot cent for it and the way out is just clicking the back button.

[iceice-baeby]

3, 6, 7, 12 and 18

FULL QUESTIONS PLEASE I DO NOT MEMORIZE THEM ALL Anyways. I guess its the controversy one? I didnt reblogged anything else. What do you consider a big No-No in the fandom? Demonizing characters in fanfiction or fanwork for a cheap plot device, reducing them to nothing else but “I am evil because.” They are very complex characters and I would actually love to see a fanficton where Russia has reasons to be evil, and an actual logic motivation and debth and isnt only… Well. “MUAHAHA I AM AN EVIL PSYCHO BECAUSE I CAN” always totally aware he hurts people and being a sadist even though ITS CANON he isnt aware of his cruelty. Wrong portrayel in general. That, and the HUGE Yandere thing, especially with the 2Ps, and just how its taken so lightly and how abuse and everything is treated with no respect or done properly with the resulting Trauma or warning or anything at all. ALSO. Complaining about whitewashing at every damn part while making even Germany dark skinned (I am german and I was in South Africa for three months once by the way. I didnt even tan. I was paler then before when I got back) and America dark so often. Like… You do know that you take away their nationality just as much and are being hypocritical? Italy is pale as fuck as well. Like… The only character I havent seen with unfitting dark skin yet is Latvia I think. Do you think the Nyos are offensive? …What? How!? Its literally the same concept. Just genderbend. Thoughts on controversial ships? As long as you dont accept incest in real life, I dont give a fuck. I know its fiction. And even though I HATE incest ships because of personal reasons, as long as you dont shove them down my throat I dont care too much. And yes. UsUk is incest. America grew up as Englands little brother. England never saw him as anything else. The only reason why he refused to be called big brother by him (IMPORTANT NOTE AMerica wanted to call him big brother) was because he had bad experiences with his previous siblings and dont wanted to be reminded of it. So he just went with England. He also had a “How to be a good brother” notebook he gave to New Zealand as tips to look over Australia. England wants to be a brother. Not to mention that I do not see any chemistry in the first place, and most fanfiction have to be HEAVILY OOC for the characters to force chemistry into it and let it have make sense. Not to mention England tried to kill him. Three times. There was an entire episode to that. He didnt even try that with France. How…? Anyhow. Spamano isnt my big thing either anymore, but Spain was always more of Romanos caretaker and reffered to as Boss. Not big brother. I guess thats the reason I dont see them as family or not like that. Thoughts on cosplayers dressing up as characters from another nationality (I refuse to use the word “race” since every European would punch an Americans face in for using it)? I dont really care there. Though you have enough options in any case and someone will probably fit your looks overall anyways! I mean you can still cosplay who you want. I aint police. Do you consider any ships abusive? No. That always depends on the portrayel. Even with Russia and the Baltics its more hinted at, and both Latvia and Estonia seems to be… Alright with him. More or less. Not friendly but could really be worse. In special with Estonia he seems to have a nearly friendly rivalry. Lithuania is a special case.Then again he seems to be a masochist, given that he went free willed on a date with Belarus and wasnt mad at all when she broke all his fingers. What was one of the most cruel things that was shown to be done to him. Not to mention, even he had some calm scenes with Russia, so…Even there it depends. How you portrait it its important.