#i don't even hate the ship itself it's the fans who take scenes out of context and depth from the characters to make the narrative fit

[torgawl]

unpopular opinion but a ship being queer coded doesn't make it compelling

[angels-heap]

we get it, you hate hlvrai. how about instead of being bitter you let people enjoy things. fr whats the point of gatekeeping a 20 year old game?

Look, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you didn't live through the 2020 fandom bullshit, because if you'd witnessed it, even peripherally, you would not have felt compelled to send this ask. So, a few things you should know:

I don't actually hate hlvrai! I genuinely enjoyed the series and still quote it regularly. I even used to enjoy some of the fan content, before the fandom exploded in popularity and there was a huge influx of mostly of very young fans (fine, but not my scene) who wanted me and most of my friends to die (bad; see below).

I'm not dreading more hlvrai content; I'm dreading the potential fallout within the fandom. Canon tags flooded with unrelated content. Wildly OOC characterizations of canon characters based on similar characters in an unrelated series. Endless racism discourse that somehow manages to affect everyone except the tiny fraction of fans who are actually being intentionally racist. Pushback against mature content for an M-rated game because "there are kids here now!!" Ship discourse. Death threats and endless harassment related to the ship discourse. Being accused of being a child predator and threatened with doxxing for shipping two grown adults in a different fandom.

A lot of really lovely people were driven out of the canon HL fandom because of bullshit instigated by hlvrai fans who either didn't know anything about the canon series, didn't care, or were learning incorrect information through "fandom telephone" and decided to take it upon themselves to rid the internet of anyone who didn't ship canon Gordon with their benrey-fied version of Barney "the right way." Can you really blame anyone for not wanting that to happen again?

Honestly, as long as the new content doesn't include too much conflicting lore/characterization related to canon HL characters and the fandom manages to behave itself, I'm excited to see more people get into Half Life. A lot of my current favorite HL artists and writers got into HL through hlvrai. This doesn't have to be a shitshow, but I don't think it's unreasonable to worry that it might become one.

TL;DR: Nobody really wants to "gatekeep" a 20 year old game series. We just want to be able to continue talking about the series and creating fanworks without being bombarded with unrelated content, death and doxxing threats, and baseless accusations that could ruin our actual, offline lives.

[that-left-turn]

Long time no see. Hope you're fine and enjoying time with your loved ones.

The fandom has been really quite lately. The excitement has been gone since S2 dropped and S3 doesn't look that much promising either.

How could it be? Not only are DZ and GN not Caryl fans but NR one of the biggest hater, of Carylers and the ship. He literally said, that he played Daryl like a kid during the Terminus reunion and at Carol's house near the kingdom, "He (Daryl) was like a child who asked his mother why did she leave". As opposed to saying he played Daryl romantically during the Beth scene.

So the Caryl spin off was scrapped because Caryl was never supposed to happen but they brought Carol back because of the fans and low numbers? They're gonna drag us along but never give us what we want because they simply don't want to. Why bring Carol back when they know there will be more critic than positive reactions at all?

Thanks anon, I hope your holiday season is festive and bright 🎄🎊🍾

For the longest time, Norman has wanted to work his way out from the shadow which Melissa's acting casts, so it's not so much that he hates the ship itself as that he resents being defined by Caryl. With poor Emily, he was the stronger actor, but he'll never be the one earning the accolades vis-à-vis Melissa. It's also been eyecatchingly frightful since the early seasons that Norman spouts a lot of nonsense in regards to character motivation and arcs. (He has deplorable story instincts and shouldn't be allowed to have creative control.) Everything he says is to grab attention as Norman, cool dude—not to benefit Daryl's character development or any kind of narrative integrity.

In other words, there are different agendas at work. The stooges want to tell conventional stories about heroic white dudes with interchangeable side piece love interests who perish the moment they no longer service the male main character's arc. A segment of AMC execs favor these white tales or are trying to keep the noise down by keeping Reedus happy. Some of the studio execs do understand that the show needed Melissa/Carol, but they also seem to have hoped that bringing her back would be enough. That they could have their cake and eat it too.

Without a new showrunner—someone who cares about the inherited characters and who knows how to plot—nothing will change. Caryl fans will get dragged along because AMC will market to you, but they won't give you the payoff they tease. Zabel owes Norman (and Nicotero) for the opportunity and won't want a power struggle he doesn't have the clout to win. He hasn't worked for years prior to this gig, so he has no capital to leverage with the studio and he doesn't have the skill to pull off a mature romance worthy of these two characters, even if he did try to write it.

I know everyone's sick to death of hearing me say this, but Zabel is both a bad writer and a horrible showrunner. The amount of time it takes for this production to shoot six episodes is something that would give me night terrors and an ulcer if I was involved. The very vocal fanbase would have any showrunner worth their salt reevaluating their priorities. An aversion to a ship isn't a hill a showrunner wants their career to die on. Done right, Caryl canon could produce enough noise in the right circles that the writer would get invited to pitch other projects.

[skaruresonic]

I really don't like how the description of the promo image of the full Dark Beginnings has to specify that they're reaching for one another "like long lost siblings".

What is the difference between reaching for one another platonically and romantically? What makes that drawing different from the nearly identical scene of Sonic and Blaze in Rush, used as Sonaze fodder since the game came out? How is a blind person, the target audience, supposed to imagine the difference? And why does it matter?

It breaks the flow of the description and it feels... cowardly. Whoever wrote that description likely knows that a growing portion of the fanbase, especially on Twitter, thinks shipping Shadria is immoral, so they put their hands forward and shouted "THEY'RE SIBLINGS YOUR HONOR" to appease them.

Yes, I know the manuals have described their bond as sibling-like since the beginning, or at least ShTH. But was there any need to specify it here? Especially when Dark Beginnings itself just added more Shadria fuel (yeah it's very sibling-y to caress your brother's chest hair lol)?

I am not invested in Shadria but I don't understand the hate for it. It's cute. Shadow and Maria care for each other and are important to each other. There is no need to pigeon-hole their bond in a convenient label. There is no need to give an arm to the uptight fans who wrap their ship war (because let's face it, I'm sure many of those anti-Shadria people ship Sonadow lmao) in a morality question.

That piece has some real "Chihiro and Kohaku falling out the sky" energy going on tbh. Very kawaii and kakwáhyę. <3

Managed to find a few based tweets amidst the sea of Shadria antis popping champagne bottles, lol:

Based and Maekawa-pilled.

I do find it a tad sus how hard people cling to the ShTH manual as "proof" of pair's sibling relationship when the game proper never has Shadow or Maria describe it as such. The omission becomes even more salient when you recall that the Commander described Maria as being "like a sister" to him and "the only familly" he knew. Why does a Donut Steel nobody gives a shit about use those words, but not Shadow?

You mean to tell me in all 326 routes of Shadow The Hedgehog, Shadow does not take a single opportunity to say "I miss my sister Maria"? Wow, it's almost like ST left their dynamic open to interpretation for a reason. :v

Besides, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. If the ShTH manual is watertight proof that shipping Shadria is incest, then I reserve the right to say that Sonic was forced into a date with Amy under duress in Unleashed because Black Knight's manual describes him as awaiting a "stressful encounter."

---

(yeah it's very sibling-y to caress your brother's chest hair lol)?

...I don't think the antis realize that just makes it even hotter. what are you doing, step sis

Yeah, Maria has some... brow-raisingly romance anime-coded behaviors in these shorts. She's, uh... notably touchy-feely with Shadow.

Also, one last grenade to lob into the water, because fuck it, we're waking up and choosing violence today lmao:

[katyspersonal]

Sigh..

Soooo yeah.. I am genuinely surprised by how hard Tumblr is trying to destroy itself. Tumblr THRIVES on random reblog chains getting progressively cursed, someone making a random post about their fandom, a lot of personal interactions, people osmos'ing unfamiliar fandoms and characters through mutuals-in-law and other stuff like this. Like.. there are 0 reasons to make it another Amino.

Not to mention how much it nurtures things that RUIN fandoms, like "fandom leaders", "cool kids" groups, fandom trends, gospel headcanons etc. So, imagine if like, a cunt that hates your ship or your headcanons on a character or anything like that 'claims' the fandom community first! So now everyone that dares to have different tastes and interpretations from them will be excluded from active discussions because many users, instead of checking fandom tag and 'wild' dashboard will hang out in community bubbles instead and not see the takes which that bitchy control freak admin dislikes! People that disagree with that community's admin will be left with no choice but to create their own space, and either 1) Tumblr will disapprove multiple spaces for the same theme 2) their community will be less active since most fans WILL naturally prefer the one that came first or 3) in general, fandoms will suck more because of large amount of "us vs them" moods.

Nothing is worse for a fandom than giving someone power to decide who "belongs" in it and who doesn't. And there is NO way to prevent the situation where it is specifically a control freak that will exclude people with "wrong" ships or "wrong" headcanons that claims community. Like, yeah, different 'sides' of the discourse-torn fandom (so, ANY fandom lol) having to fight for audience because this audience can't be active in every community, even neutral ones that'd like to see any ships and any headcanons!

Did Tumblr staff not THINK about what this could mean? Like, do they want dens of scumbags proliferating behind the scenes? And don't even get me started on the morality of sanitising the posts into 'OnLy ReLeVanT cOnTeNt uwu' when so-called "meaningful connections" are formed EXACTLY when a blogger breaks the fandomry-posting routine to get personal or political, to show more of themselves! People don't need a new space where they can "escape" "uncomfortable" topics or news (cough cough), because they already have this space. This space is called 'their friends'! Once again, proves how corporations have NO idea now actual humans work.

[allthedamnlove]

https://x.com/rafiacomfort/status/1858494671829323876?s=46

sharing this because i know you love rofia and i could talk about them for hours😣💕💕

the parallels between them are like woah… and ppl expect me to believe their not endgame?? PLEASE🙂‍↔️

*Pulls up a chair*

I literally liked that tweet first HELP.

This is a very unpopular opinion but drew and fiona this season had more chemistry than rudy and madison LIKE I AM SORRY BUT I GOTTA BE HONEST WITH YALL

But I love jj as a character and I know jj as a character loved kie to death and kie will probably take a LONG TIME to forget jj. It is impractical for the pogues and rafe to go to Kildare cuz they are OUT FOR BLOOD and will go to lisbon for revenge so kie literally jumping to rafe is NAWT HAPPENING regardless of sofia. So the point I'm saying is, RIARA STOP HATING ON SOFIA YOU FREAKS

Buttt yeses OMG THE PARALLEL. Throughout s3 and s4 there are soo many dialogues and plot lines that can be explored further abt rafe and sofias relationship. The dialogue in the tweet "you are a good girl, how did that happen" itself is very cryptic. Her family which was there yet not mentioned in the story at all. The fact that both were betrayed by themselves (sofia by pushing rafe with hollis and rafe by being a bitch *YES HE IS A BITCH* and shit talking about a person who will literally give up everything for her love by saying she's a pogue behind her back) are insane parallels.

I know KNOW that drew is going to insane levels of fame and heights in acting AS HE FUCKING SHOULD but i would love a small spinoff movie abt how rafe and sofia met. The fact that they didn't even showed how they met yet throwing a proposal (WHICH I AM A OK WITH BTW, it was my favourite scene of the ENTIRE SERIES LEMME TELL U) makes "rafe" fans really weirded out and I kinda agree with them. But I say that it's the writers fault.

Drew and fiona, again and again I will say HAVE INSANE CHEMISTRY. I hate that their dynamics I'd not explored more. Rafe is very very intense and complex and the relationship between a very soft spoken normal girl and a borderline psycho murderer has so much more potential than just being a filler storyline. Rafe has been not loved truly by anyone in his life and the fact that sofia loves him truly even with the amount of minimal screentime shows that these actors are not to be made uses in scarcity

Weirdly with jjs death rafe will probably become one of the centers of the story arc butt again they will be going to Lisbon I don't know how sofia and rafes relationship will be explored. But I know that this is not the end of rofia. I hope to god thar they end up together and we see a montage of them getting married and having kids.

Butt there lies the entire shoupe deal too so im also scared abt that. But I have started praying and there's a year left so atp we can only hope that rafe and sofia end up together.

Also I feel like they should have included fiona in the cast interviews. She is so sweet and bubbly and would have made a great addition to the fun and I WANT TO SEE FIONA AND DREW INTERACT TOGETHER. I hate that even Austin was in the press tour like gtfo.

So basically if rofias not endgame, I will personally b*mb jpates residency so that they don't ruin another ship.

Also thank you so much for sending an ask. Me @araybiaaa and @lostsyren are holding the Fort for rofia so talking about it is so cathartic and less lonely. Hope you have a great day.

[zanysmurf]

Sorry if this has been asked before but what is Zany's Smurf gimmick?

see, you think this would be an easy question to answer and by all means it should be! so get ready for a disjointed one. multiple, even. i just kind of say things here:

my original idea was that he'd have a gimmick similar to flighty (always doing various "zany" activities when he's not helping greedy) or jokey (annoying misc. mischief). "zany" is a word people use to describe like any cartoony nonsense, basically interchangable with "wacky", OR a noun to mean an eccentric person (which he was supposed to be) so it's hard to narrow that down. that was supposed to work to my advantage but at the same time it really didn't LOL

one of zany's activities is taking dares when he's bored and he'll do the dumbest things. jokey likes taking advantage of that and smurfs such as smurfette are like "oh for smurfs sake leave him alone. stop daring him to stick his head in dirt for hours" and greedy would say something like "you shouldn't do that type of stuff you need self control." [a smurf dares him to eat 30 cookies] "30???? i can do more than that"

the thing is: i created zany in 2019 for the sole purpose of interacting with my favorite smurfs / shipping him with greedy. i didn't want to use jokey for that stuff, i wanted something that felt more like me at the time. i was like. having a lot of trouble figuring all this out because i usually just wanted to focus on his dynamic with greedy. in older posts you might see him in scene gear with a patterned bandana because i was generally embracing my younger self back then and self-expression / having fun. he fell under 'smurfs if it was modern' or 'what if a modern day smurf was in the show's canon like a time traveler' au imaginings whenever i wasn't picturing him in the show canon, but i think i've drifted away from that (though i still completely get the appeal of the scene zany design)

speaking of him and jokey, i figured maybe they'd pull pranks together or something and when i learned the historical definition of a zany i was like *JAWDROP*

anyway: i'd say zany's gimmick was meant to be unpredictable by nature, but he could also be a vehicle for lighthearted poking at the show itself. ie. he'd be in a cage and notice the bars are tall and wide enough apart so he'd just slip right out. greedy/another smurf would say "how did you do that". and he'd shrug. that's more self-aware than i usually go for but if i was making a joke like that i'd want it to be silly

overall zany is a lot of things the show wouldn't allow: peyo hated when hb made new smurfs so a bunch of them never made it into the show / only lasted a while. his design is very simple but says nothing about his gimmick in a way that i feel would piss off both hb AND peyo. (which tbh i was thinking about redesigning him in some way at some point). there was also a bit of dissonance in terms of "i want this character to be more fleshed out than the show would allow, but i treat the other characters a similar way so it's fine" and making jokes like he's just some minor smurf who by all means shouldn't exist in-universe, ie. "omg remember zany he was in scampering smurfs in the background at 5:06". at one point he had a backstory and stuff that really honed in on the latter idea of "he's too different/not supposed to be here" ie. he used to be something other than a smurf or created artificially but i don't think i even like those ideas anymore

in comparison to fan characters/sonas i've made recently, zany is not one i'm particularly proud of. i love him and greedy but everything was suuuuch a mess. as the above demonstrates, i had far too many conflicting ideas. maybe that's part of the joke of who zany is. or maybe one of these days i'll try and give him something more cohesive. we'll see

[autistictaylorhebert]

See, if wildbow did join tumblr (and was active here) i don't think he'd get "bullied off" the platform, but I also don't think he'd "win" and get the interaction he wanted out of the community. No one would win, and no one would change anyone's opinion.

The most likely possibility by far is that he would just create dividing lines within the fanbase on tumblr, and/or intensify the dividing lines that were already there.

He'd get into arguments, people would make fun of him and defend him, people would block each other, and he'd probably end up with a group of blogs he could have Neil Gaiman-esque interactions with. A bunch of other people would go on with him blocked/ignored, and a good chunk of people would deactivate or just stop posting.

But crucially, fundamentally, this wouldn't give wildbow what he wants. He would still get takes on his dashboard that he hates, as well as art he doesn't like. There would be well meaning fans who ask questions or interact with him in ways he isn't comfortable with. There would continually be new controversies and clumsy fan interactions, especially with new blogs who had just discovered his writing.

I know this, because this is how /r/parahumans already works.

There's the main subreddit/community, and then there are offshoot groups that have been somewhat alienated and separated. Examples of this include the spacebattles fanfiction scene, wormblr itself, and to a lesser extent places like /r/wormmemes, /r/occultmagiconline, and various discords.

These places obviously aren't monolithic and or divided from each other in a meaningful sense, but there are big differences in prevailing sentiment and opinion from place to place.

This is kind of deliberate on wildbow's part, he has made a deliberate effort to moderate the subreddit and limit specific things people want to talk about there.

The thing is, again, this doesn't work out how he wants it to:

For one thing, over time, those differences in sentiment between websites have become more extreme and fermented, as a direct result of the fact those sentiments and ideas were limited in the platforms wildbow moderates. You can't really talk about fanfiction on /r/parahumans, so /r/wormfanfic and spacebattles became more insular. Criticisms of representation and similar are looked down upon in the subreddit, so parts of wormblr got more focussed on this criticism (even if this is often balanced by other, more positive posts).

Additionally, wildbow isn't able to consistently keep those sentiments (or ways of responding to his writing) away from the subreddit. There's still bleed over (it's just more extreme than it otherwise would have been), and there are always new fans who haven't really read the room yet.

You still get posts from fanfiction readers asking about jumpchain or quests or shipping. You still get people trying to talk about the bad gay representation (or just wholesale linking tumblr posts without the bloggers' permission). You still get people on the subreddit surprised about ward!Amy and similar things...

...and it results in continuous, intermittent discourse.

It's a pattern that we've seen happen over and over again, and it would probably play out the same way on here as well.

Finally, recently, wildbow has been making these kind of lamenting comments about how the fandom was toxic to him, or how someone crossed boundaries, or someone made fanart he didn't like, etc.

On one level I think he's telling the truth about some of the more toxic or parasocial instances he talks about, and those things are a real shame.

But at the same time, I think there's this undercurrent of wildbow having all these expectations about how much he can control or direct the response to his work, and then getting frustrated when he comes up against the fact these expectations are largely unrealistic.

[quillkiller]

for the hot takes thing:

idk if they are hot takes on this blog tbh because the tumblr fandom has messed up my perception of what is popular and what is not but anyway here they are

i do not give a fuck about dorlene. i cant see it. it very often seems like forced lesbian representation to me. like, oh, lets throw them in here so that people dont say maybe i should have some sapphic women in my art if im trying to write about the queer experience. i read only one fic in my entire life that made them interesting and fleshed out characters. usually they are incredibly boring and i dont like it

marauderstok makes me a gatekeeper. i hate gatekeeping but then i see someone on tiktok talking about bartylily or sunkiller or moonrose or peter x barty and i just cant deal with that. they dont get them!!!! i dont even like most of these ships that much but i have moots that do and im overly protective of their blorbos. those people on tiktok dont understand bartylily!!! they are just into it cause it seems weird and unusual!! they dont see the vision of the pure hatred between barty and james that turns into sexual tension! they dont understand why barty would fall in love with peter and they try to make all of these ships into sketches!!! they are not!! those are my children youre talking about!!!

i am not a james fan tbh. probably because of how long ive hated him for. when i was a child and read hp for the first time the scenes with snape made me despise the guy. i spent years trying to explain to people that yes maybe he changed but he was still a terrible bully and nothing can ever excuse that. it got so bad my mom banned me from talking about james potter in our house because ive just said the same things over and over. 9yearold me was very determined. i know that all the marauders were involved but somehow it only affects my relationship with james. i know it unlogical but i just dont like him

on the topic of marauders and sev. i HATE the way fandom acts about it. acknowledge that your favorite characters were flawed! they weren't good people! what the fuck do you mean "i'm proud of james for bullying snape! someone had to do it. snape was just so bullyable"?? snape was a 11year old kid who was incredibly abused at home!!

again on the topic of severus. if i see one more joke made about his hair i'm going to go insane. are you guys aware that sometimes children are neglected so bad that their parents don't teach them things that are obvious to most of us, like how to wash your hair? have you heard about this concept of people not caring about their child and not buying them hygiene products? have your heard about poverty? have you heard about not having enough money to provide your child with all the things they need, including shampoo?

sorry for all that about sev. i am just very passionate about the way he's treated in this fandom. on the topic of characters being treated poorly by the fandom - dumbledore. some people truly believe that it's all his fault which is just so weird to me. he's obviously a deeply flawed man who made a lot of mistakes and i don't necesserily like him but i think we can all acknowledge that he's not the one who killed lily and james? like. he should've fought harder for sirius, obviously, but he didn't murder dorcas. he's not the ultimate villain that people make him out to be

i realise this is more about the fandom than the characters itself and i apologize it's just what's currently on my mind

whew lets get into it……

agreed. they often feel like the token lesbians that are just. already there. so might aswell just throw them into the story lmao and they wont have to flesh them out. i like my own version of dorlene, but yeah :/ people just aren’t interested in lesbians but what else is new

PEOPLE ON TIKTOK ARE TALKING ABOUT BARTLILY ????? jesus…………..

honestly i respect this so much... your mom banning you from talking about james made me laugh out loud…… Mad Respect

honestly. im very grey in this area. i like making fun of his hair unfortunately, but in other contexts i also think sevs greasy hair has a swaggy seductive lesbian flair. depends on how he’s being characterized. i saw a post today that was like ’cant help but laugh at people being angry about people objectifying fictional characters when they’re fundamentally dependant on being objects’ which i fully agree with. it’s part of litterature and film making that the (im gonna talk in film terms bc im a film student) that the mise-en-scene is an active choice, meaning that the way characters are dressed and presented is meant to, on purpose, reveal things about said characters. and often its driven by stereotypes that the audience has. severus is meant to look like a loser because he’s portrayed like a loser / and as someone who will be the victim of bullying. its simply the way his characters is canonically written and portrayed, and writers and viewers pick up on that. also im unfortunately one of the people who think bullying fictional characters is funny. it’s fictional and fandom, and never once have i stumbled upon a person who can’t balance the made-up fandom rules regarding fictional characters and their actuail real life morals. not saying these people don’t exist, but i certainly don’t kiki with them. fandom just doesnt affect real life issues in way some people sometimes seem to think. im personally a severus Lover and his biggest hater depending on the setting/hc’s/etc

i love albus, but i love him because i genuinely think he’s despicable. im not interested in his supposed reedming qualities and i personally dont think he has any….. he allowed teenagers to fight his wars and canonically didnt deny that he doesnt care for harry / and that he raised him like a pig for slaughter. its what makes him interesting. his childhood and early adult years make him one of the most fascinating characters in the fandom.. like i have so many feelings about him. he breaks my heart, he’s awful, he believes he’s good because he has good intentions, he yearns after grindelwald all his life and it was a 2 month summer romance, he killed his sister, his brother barely speaks to him. he’s a tragedy, but still despicable…… but i respect your opinion so much king thank you for sharing

MWAH loved these, thank you…. 🤍🤍

[theroundbartable]

You said to ask you about your takes about Merlin, and I always find it interesting to find out which angle people approach an ot3 of, so which edge of the triangle arthur/merlin/gwen was the first you shipped? Or was it the full ot3 right away? 👀

Ah, yes. When I started watching Merlin back in 2019, the very first thing I shipped was Merthur.

I usually don't start shipping right away, I start looking at the different dynamics and wait where it may take me. And the very first episode left all dynamics open. So, I wasn't an instant Merthur fan but I could tell that this was where I was heading.

Even though I wanted to ship Merlin x Gwen first because Gwen had a crush on Merlin and Merlin was oblivious and Arthur was an arse in season 1. I still knew I would end up a Merthur main.

Back in 2019 I was still working through a lot of stuff when it comes to relationships, sexuality, identity, trauma, etc, It sounds weird but what I needed at the time, was characters that I couldn't "be" and that also couldn't be attracted to me. The reason for that is too personal to post here but that's why I distanced myself from female characters in ships at the time. That's why I knew Mergwen wouldn't be where I'd end up. I didn't hate them, I just couldn't deal with certain things.

And then came the Elena episode in which Merlin tells Arthur that he will be a better king with a woman by his side whom he loves. I was already lowkey shipping Merthur by then, but THAT scene burned itself into my DNA and changed me forever. I LOVE that scene! If I ever had any doubts until then, they were gone the moment Merlin hands Arthur the sword and says: " I think you're mad."

I knew from the beginning that Merthur wouldn't end up canon, and that without looking at spoilers. The show is from 2012, I just knew. In fact, I was delighted with how FAR they took it despite that!

And I absolutely loved how the canon ship actually made sense. And Ioved how it was a learning curve for me too, to see them grow to make sense. In the beginning it felt a bit sudden but when I watched the show again, I realized just how many moments they actually had.

Plus, Gwen wasn't a mere love interest, she was a real character. Basically, she passed the bechdel test, lmao. I love that she's a blacksmith, that she had her own story arc, her own tragedies and losses, a full family that we SEE in the show, etc. And I loved her dynamic with Arthur growing from awkward to genuine. I always thought that relationshipwise, they were one of the best portrayals of lovebirds I've seen in a series in a long time. And BBC merlin is PG so that was a bonus. And they always had space for Arthur's friendship with Merlin. (This is very important to me, as an ace person who used to think they would lose their friends due to their relationships)

And well... years have passed and I slowly got over my trauma through writing fanfiction and some mild confrontation therapy. There was one fic especially, that paved the way for Mergwenthur. I think that one was Wired... (2021) in which time is a circle and Merlin lives long enough to see Arthur be born again. In that one I tried to be as close to canon as I could, while also writing a Merthur story. Originally, Arthur was meant to choose Merlin, but during the darkest hour, in which the story begins, he's already head over heels for Gwen. And the more I tried to grasp Arthur's feelings after the magic reveal, the less possible it was for me to not see Mergwenthur.

As Arthur starts realizing his fellings for Merlin, his feelings for Gwen don't change, because why would they? The feelings were different but they were both of love. And when I tried to characterize Gwen, I ended up thinking of their three person date in season 4(?) in which Arthur says:" Isn't it nice to be here? Just the two of us?" And it's GWEN who says: "you mean, the THREE of us. " When I thought of that, I just couldn't imagine that Gwen didn't already know and accept Arthur's feelings. And I couldn't imagine Merlin wanting Arthur to choose him over Gwen. While at the time, Mergwen wasn't really on my mind, I thought this was where the story was naturally progressing, so I let it.

I've always been a multishipper. But this dynamic is important to me. I've analized their relationship a couple of times and come to the conclusion that Gwen is the better Queen (some people like to call Merlin Arthur's queen). Because her relationship with Arthur is build on mutual goals and their future vision of Camelot. Their relationship is reasonable and healthy. I think their love is very soft but strong. While Merthur is just unhinged soul bond, ready to sacrifice everything for each other, including Camelot. Merlin would be a terrible Queen, like, seriously. Camelot would be destroyed the moment Arthur gets abducted once. Their love is intense and fickle in the sense that they can't live without the other. And Mergwen should have had more moments. Gwen was always the one person picking up that some things about Merlin were a bit odd, like the Lamia episode, or servant of two masters, etc.. I feel like Mergwen is a ship that's friendship first and can be both wholesome and completely mad, depending on which of the two indicates the action.

So, it was a bit of a curve for me. I ship them individually, I ship them together, apart, with other characters, everything. But the more I look into the show, the more sense Mergwenthur makes to me. Regardless of whether they are platonic or not, I can't unsee them. And why would I? they are fun.

Haha, this answer was very long, but I hope it answers your question :D

[narhinafan]

Honestly SP seems to make me hate ships that I normally would not hate because they're in the realm of fanfiction and fan art and I think that's harmless. Not taking the toxic fandoms into account it was SP that made me hate NaruSaku and Ichiruki.

I'll make this brief. Why do I now hate Ichiruki? I didn't always hate it. I was actually more of a fan of Ichiruki than Ichihime until I reread the bleach Manga last year and then watch the anime as well and I grew annoyed every time there was an Ichiruki moment. Not only does it break the pacing of scenes it makes characters acting out of character Ichigo and rukia especially. I don't mind non-canon crack ships as long as it's kept in the realm of fan art and fanfiction and not inserting it into what is supposed to be Canon moments in the story and at the expense of other characters.

What could have been an amazing movie where we explored a mirror universe instead we had NaruSaku the movie where Naruto and Sakura are acting both out of character and it kind of feels like there were two movies in one and the version that Kishimoto wrote was mostly cut from the cutting room floor.

There was a huge opportunity to explore a different aspect of Hinata and Sasuke's characters. Instead we got some stupid ship movie with NaruSaku. I mean there was so much potential with road to ninja Hinata and Sasuke and it was wasted. I mean the exact opposite of who these characters are in personality. I mean there's so much you could have explored. The best scenes of that movie arguably were like 5% of the film if even that and when you compare it to the likes of One piece strong world which came out a few years before actually respected The source material and the author you could tell the difference is night and day hell Naruto the last felt like a genuine story by Kishimoto and you can tell the difference between that film and road to ninja.

I argue that the tie into the movie was better than the movie itself because it actually explored Ino and explored the road to ninja version of Sakura who arguably was more likable than her canon counterpart. It's rare that you get to explore near universe versions of characters concepts are usually explored in science fiction and the very fact that SP wasted a cool concept was tossed aside for a freaking ship that had no chance in hell ever being Canon will never not piss me off.

SP makes it seem like every anime they seem to do a series of it makes it seem like that series is concerned with shipping and I don't think shipping is bad but it should never come at the expense of a Canon story written by the author. The author and only the author in my eyes in an official product should be able to dictate what ships happen and what ships don't for better or for worse we're not the people that choose who ends up with who the author does. This shipping bullshit kills the integrity in my opinion of these stories that we all enjoy because it seems like certain people are more concerned with the shipping aspect then the actual story

Honestly I was never a fan of Sakura, but it was more her fandom that made me hate her, SP's bias was just the icing on the cake that gave me more reason to dislike it.

I am more of an IchiRuki fan I watched the anime long before the manga hence all the scenes made me a fan though I have nothing against IchiHime and after reading the manga it was obvious why they happened and that SP was really bias towards IchiRuki through out the anime. Its no surprise the author had complaints and refused to let them do another season without his supervision.

Yes RTN was ruined by NaruSaku honestly considering it was set after Pain's confession and none canon it could have tied into Hinata's feelings for Naruto/Menma while exploring a different take. I really want to know why Menma ended up dark side considering he had a family and Hinata clearly loved him. It could have been a sweet story where Hinata toughened up to help Menma after people rejected him for the fox.

So true SP's shipping bias is so unprofessional and as you said ruins the integrity of the stories as they force a ship that contradicts canon and usually in ways that aren't believable.

[braemjeorn]

some scrambled thoughts post moving (2023)

i might need to watch the series again to catch some details so excuse me if I'm confused about the obvious. but spoiler alert, to those who haven't watched it.

me when the temporary teacher got stabbed: (blinks)... i mean I don't like you, not that I want you to die either. oh well.

so what was bang kisoo looking for loitering in the school like that? his files to better his report? the files of the ones with powers to verify things? maybe han byul's memory card too? to observe what had happened in the gym? to pick up a fight with kanghoon? man i lost somethings really...

...so kisso wasn't the one to sabotage that jumpboard?

it was that temp teacher/agent?

anyway what is wrong with that tempt teacher honestly - did he sabotage kisoo's ankle just to find out if he has power or just out of sheer distaste like...?

gosh i hate him now, but he died! we'd never know his motives!

(the way this drama have 20 ep but i still have questions)

(it's the flashbacks. too many flashbacks when we could've gotten new scenes. i always hate this abt kdramas)

on the good side, kisoo going soft and protective with han byul when he realized the NK agents aren't here to play

that was a really short and sudden ship but o ma gosh the potential

hyewon too deserved more screen time - like suddenly moving schools too?

like honestly a bummer that they're graduating college - bongseok, huisoo, hyewon, han byul, ganghoon and kisoo would have been such a good friend group (or pairing, if you want it that way. the potential is there, honestly)

anyway about kanghoon - takes-his-duty-seriously class president kanghoon

wanna see him working as an agent/civil servant in the NIS

working under that seagull guy? *rubs hand excitedly* is gonn be fun honestly, man we need a SEQUEL we really do!! the next gen of supers is gonn wreck some stuff, i can feel it!

i came to this show to see mihyun and doosik but ended up being such a fan of guryongpo

mr ryu was the topmost actor in the wikipedia page so i was like, oh he's the main main guy turns out!

he came to any scene and i was like "guryongpo! he's alive! huisoo appa! 희수 아빠 멋있다! 희수 아빠 화이팅!!"

best man, best partner, best husbando, best dad

i thought frank rolling over him with that truck again and again was bad but then he had 200 gang members breaking his bones with their cars like... you've been through a lot sir.

episodes abt his and jaehee's married life was either the cutest or the most heartbreaking like staph, my heart cannot heal itself

unconventional couples are the cutest i swear by it

huisoo >< jaehee: helps lost adult men on the roadsides

juwon >< jaeman: protective dads

on a more depressing note, that useless jo principal might have orchestrated jaehee's accident.

maybe just to see if huisoo has powers. the wife dies as consequence? not my problem, i'm just gonna wait in this car.

his death seemed excruciating. well deserved, i might say.

and Frank still didn't die either lol not even fire stops him

curious as to what he's gonna do next 0.0

(crack suggestion: he can work at the chicken shop and they can rename the shop as immortal chickens)

(i don't know how huisoo got yongdeuk to work at the shop but if she can persuade her dad to take in a defector, she can persuade him to take in an assassin that once wanted to kills him)

(that's jaehee's passion running through her)

is elias gonna be worse or what? also a korean native?...gotta see that episode again to look at the boys

another thing i feel robbed off: reunions.

moonsan and guryongpo needs to meet up I NEED TO SEE IT

code names?? f- that, name's kim doosik. you're my hyung now, let's work well together.

THEY WERE PARTNERS FOLKS, PARTNERS. DOOSIK LEFT JUWON HIS KNIFE GAH

THE KIMS AND THE JANGS NEED TO EAT DONKASS AND CHIKIN TOGETHER!!!

(imagine the conversation abt huisoo and bongseok relationship will go abt lol)

(JW: sunbae, i respect you a lot, i'm glad you're back, but that's my only daughter-- DS: hyung, i just got to know my son again this year-- MH (towards the kids): i knew it, you two are just the sweetest!)

you know, for someone who doesn't know if her husband is alive or dead for 13-14 year but constantly waits for his return by leaving hints, mihyun is very composed at seeing dusik just landing on her rooftop

i don't know if i should credit that to her training as a black agent or toughened up by being a single mum for that long

but she didn't even react at seeing jang juwon at the teacher's office although it's been like, 24 years and suddenly you're here coz your kid's in the same school as mine? coincidence? I think not! this institution is more slippery than fish!

mihyun's really cool like, she's still that sharp and quick even after doing office jobs, farming, single-parenting and managing a restaurant. what a role model. you really don't forget your training huh?

Yellow Man Bongseok - Bunggaeman being his inspiration is just--

oh i also really liked how that NK agent pulled the trigger like you wanna look inside my loose sleves. wepl, surprise bish! the mechanics and how it's shot is just *chef's kiss*

you know for some scenes that we were robbed off, it's a lovely drama

i like action movies a decent amount, and this hits the spot. korean style,especially.

really really REALLY looking forward to that sequel now, gosh just give it to me.

[tinylilvalery]

people are taking matthews quote from a recent interview out of context abt tomgreg (he said he didnt play it as romantic but thinks it's fun that the fans see it that way) and claiming it means tomgreg is dead and he hates it... i'm so frustrated with this goddamn fandom smh...

It's interesting that he said that (I haven't seen the interview) considering how he acted Tom, but also people gotta realise

1. It's shipping... You can ship things whether actors ship it themselves or not. Hell, William Shatner has said time and time again that Jim Kirk is heterosexual, and yet you can watch TOS and see how Jim interacts with Spock and like... I really don't need to explain, I'm sorry sksnsk. So I look at Tomgreg the same way if it's really true MattMac doesn't ship it (again, idk what he said, but if he did say that these are my thoughts on shipping even when an actor doesn't). I have very close friendships and I don't behave in the way Tom does with Greg, but that's just me 🤷‍♀️. To summarise I'd say, it's like death of the author actor, because the performance itself transcends the actor's comments on it after the fact.

2. Actors aren't solely responsible for the character and the characters relationships W others, therefore they can't really take full credit of the character. Yes they embody and bring them to life, but there's also the script (multiple writers), the showrunner, as well as editing and direction as all the other massive contenders as to who creates the characters and the relationships on screen. As a writer myself, I do find it really um,, like very irritating¿ that people keep anointing actors as the sole creator of a character. They interpret script and bring it to life with direction but they didn't write the character and so they didn't create it. Kieran Culkin's acting practice is that he doesn't like to know where his character is heading, so he lives in the present and episode to episode when acting Roman. What I mean by this, is regardless of Kieran, there was ALWAYS a set path for Roman as to where he was headed in each season, and it didn't matter what Kieran was up to, his plotline still existed despite not knowing it. Does that make sense? My point is, whether an actor knows it or not, things are written in by writers, and I consider Tomgreg VERY MUCH a part of the text and subtext of the show.

So to summarise, if MattMac really said he didn't play Tomgreg as romantic and doesn't see them that way he basically achieves Death of The Actor because his performance speaks louder to me than his comments about his approach to acting Tom. Tom looks at Greg with such adoration that I've never seen him look at another character, he speaks to him in tones that he doesn't speak to other characters in, so again, his acting transcends his post comments. And SECONDLY, MattMac's comments still aren't a ship killer to me because he didn't actually create Tom alone. He interpreted the character, brought him to life, and definitely would have had say + freedom in his performance considering what we know of Succ's production, but he didn't CREATE Tom. That credit is owed to the writers who literally wrote Tom, and wrote Tomgreg's scenes how they did. The credit is also owed massively to editors in how they edited all the many hours of footage to portray Tom and Greg's relationship as we saw it.

We all know Succession is an incredible show. There's so many undercurrents happening all at once that surface at various times in forms of parallels and callbacks. I think it's funny to think that despite the pedigree of Succession, something as massive as Tomgreg was some sort of shared hallucination. It wasn't. Tomgreg is part of the sauce, and they're an intentional ingredient.

[victorianpining]

20 questions for fic writers

I was tagged by @clueless-mp4 (thank you!!!) to answer some questions about my fic writing, this might get a little repetetive as I only currently have one published work, but it gives me a chance to talk a little bit about Vampire Fic which I am always excited to do.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Currently 2, soon to be 3!

2. What's your total A03 word count?

Currently 98k, soon to be 200k (approximately).

3. What fandoms do you write for? BBC Sherlock and its adjacents (Holmes canon and of course BBC Dracula)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

From a Drop of Water sweep by default!!!

Truly though I am still so touched by the response to that story, it has been beyond anything I ever expected and I am so grateful to have written something that resonated with so many people.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! I get so much joy out of going through my comments, and I try to take the time to respond to anyone who was kind enough to tell me that they enjoyed my writing.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I'm a big fan of angst with a happy ending. That said, if you've seen Dracula, you know to expect there to be something bittersweet about the ending of The Stories in Our Veins

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

From a Drop of Water was and is pure wish fulfillment on all accounts.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet *knock on wood* which has been a delightful change of pace.

9. Do you write smut?

The vampire fic has exactly one (1) sex scene.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I am currently! But does it really count as a crossover when two stories were meant to be connected? (Yeah I think so).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, From a Drop of Water has been translated into Mandarin and Russian which is so so cool to me.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not exactly, though when working on the early stages of From a Drop of Water, I solicited a lot of feedback from my beta readers, and I would say the feedback @novaviis offered in particular played a huge role in why that story turned out as well as it did! I definitely appreciated all the help while I was still so new to building a story.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Holmes and Watson forever and always, amen.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Thankfully none at this stage, though as you can imagine in a writing process as long as the one for The Stories in Our Veins has been there have been several points where I have despaired of it ever actually getting done.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think my strongest suit is planning out the subtextual language of a story and weaving in references that create interplay between my work and the source text. I've also gained a lot of structural practice with this current story and I think I'm getting pretty good at it! My most niche talent is the written montage, love connecting all the little clues together at the end!!!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Prose itself, particularly descriptions, though I'd say I'm getting better at both with practice. I also have certain words that I mix up with other words that I cannot for the life of me ever keep straight (homophones are the bane of my existence) so I have to be really careful to search those out, and even then my beta readers still find ones I miss!!!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I don't think I would do it unless I spoke the language myself, I'd be too worried about getting something wrong.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Actually, I did write one Alice centered one shot for the Twilight fandom back when I was like... 13. I don't think I ever deleted it so it probably still exists out on the internet somewhere, though I have no idea what I might have named that account so have no way of finding it.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Not to oversell it, but I really adore The Stories in Our Veins, and I'm very proud of how it's turning out. I think it's better than From a Drop of Water in just about every way, though I recognize that a crossover with a TV show that only 12 people care about is going to have a lot less of a broad appeal than a TJLC slanted re-imagining of series 4. If you do end up reading it anyway, know that you have my undying gratitude!

I'm tagging @novaviis, @minotaurmutual and @teledild0nix!

[piduai]

Also your ship hate is so real. Keep your hater-head up queen. It's crazy how popular some of them are too (esp sugio n koitsuki) given the fact that it takes away from what made these characters interesting and unique in the first place entirely. Sugio is just your typical 700k-boyXboy-enemies-to-lovers but to make it work you have to completely obliterate both of these characters personalities/what they stand for (motive/writing wise) especially Ogata like c'mon now... His ass is NOT getting redeemed through the power of yaoiful sex. Poor Sugimoto, Shiraishi was right there too. At least this one had the 'EyeSuck' scene, but koitsuki? How would that even work without Tsurumi? Get real. I know the need arose from the fans wanting to give Tsukishima a ''happy end'' but honestly I would rather take years of dilf manupilation if it means I don't get to babysit a dumbass rich kid for the rest of my millitary life. Not that I hate Koito, I like him as a character but he definiatly had 'барчо́нок' mannerisms, like he deadass said Tsukishima was filthy and broke for not owning a handmirror... Sorry you're probably sick of reading about this way more than I am since you've been into GK much longer but I just had to say I'm with you on the GK pairs feeling fujoshibait/homophobic in nature and it's wild considering the content of the actual manga. You have people cvmming from getting their finger ate and yet... Then again I know this has more to do with the general anime/manga consumer mindset rather than GK itself so it is to be expected, I just care about this manga so goddamn much girl Satoru Noda messed up my brain in the best way fr. Sorry I got carried away but if you read it this far thank you again for your translations and I wish you the best!!

but i don't think any of them are fujoshibait/homophobic tho... the way noda wrote them (character dynamics) i mean, not the fujobait anime posters no self-respecting person cares about. like imo there's no need to grasp for straws and paint something you think is stupid and tasteless as problematic/bigoted/morally corrupt 🤷 just say you find it ugly and dumb and move on. none of the popular or unpopular fanon ships were written as romantic/sexual in canon anyway no matter what the coomers say, all that "tension" people keep yapping about is just complex human relationships or titillation/double entendre/play on classic tropes noda is super duper fond of but it all gets over girlies' heads because they lost the ability to see past fanfiction. sad! well nobody has time for this

otherwise i agree, all gk ships are stupid and have no substance but sugio/koitsuki are the dumbest because they're inescapable. with sugio it will NOT work out in any scenario (ever) unless one of them is wildly ooc and let's be honest sugimoto would never say or do that. there's a reason 98% of sugio shippers are ogatagirls, they compromise sugimoto's entire character to get that 700k boy x boy enemies to lovers hot and steamy yaoi because ogata as he is could never coexist with sugimoto as he is. so it just ends up being reductive and shallow and stripping both of them of what makes them interesting

with koitsuki i just don't understand it but it's mostly because i find tsukishima super boring so anything regarding him is a huge blind spot for me (since i simply do not look in his direction). i think koitsuki is one of the "safest" and most bland dynamics in gk (exact reason for which it's the most popular ship) but in fanon again both characters are stripped of their complexity and their canon relationship is severely modified to make it more yaoiful

which honestly i have no problem with... like if that's how people want to enjoy this series, sure. who cares, none of it is real.

i think there's like things to be said about how shipping culture and the popularization of fanfiction has gradually taken the shape of bile that poisons most attempts at interacting with other fans since all they know is sucking and fucking but honestly i'm a huge advocate for not engaging in unpleasant situations when you can. sure there's a lion share of people who can't see past the yaoi thus compromising everything else you and i love this series for but like... so what? i avoid those people, i don't befriend them, i don't read what they say. and i don't have a say in how strangers choose to engage with fiction... at the end of the day it all comes down to personal taste and what you seek from said fiction, if they're comfortable in this insufferable climate i'm happy for them and wish them the best. as for me i'll just stick to my peaceful yaoi-sparse corner

[omens-and-more]

If you want the guys back maybe idk is time to behave better as a fandom? the whole drama with the tshirt was so embarrassing and to BO and their crew was validation that it was a good decision to distance themself form us bc who wants to be interacting with people that seems to hate them and complain about everything they do we follow one of the most chill and low profile bands in the scene and for some reason the fans are always embarrassing them and creating the most stupid and frivolous drama when there's no need

(This is going to be a long response, I'm so sorry, but as an artist I'm very passionate about this)

I agree - except for when it comes to the t-shirt "drama." I personally don't care about the content of the design itself and think the backlash they got for the design was overdramatic and uncalled for, but the fact that they purchased and used a design that was created using AI... That is the problem. Especially since they are a band and company that prides themselves on prioritizing the artist.

Especially since they put this on their website:

"Our store is independent. Every step of the process from designing and printing to packing and shipping is handled or overseen by Bad Omens and the people we've loved working with since the earliest days of this band. We run our store this way not only to ensure the quality of our garments and your customer experience, but to retain and grow our autonomy as a band operating in an industry where the financial landscape is extremely complex, unbalanced and designed to work against the artist's favor."

Given this message on their website, them buying and using a design made using AI is incredibly hypocritical of them, tbh.

I don't expect the band members to know or be able to recognize that this design was created using AI because they're not visual artists (except for Ruffilo) and thus wouldn't really be able to tell the difference, but someone like Davis is. Any artist worth their salt would be able to tell you that the design on that shirt was created using AI. It's very blatantly obvious, no matter how much the "artist" they bought the design from tried to cover it up using textures, etc. I especially don't appreciate the gaslighting from Davis telling us it isn't AI.

I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe Davis wasn't aware that AI was used and maybe the "artist" they bought the design from lied to him and told him that he didn't use AI. But even if that were the case, instead of just shutting fans and artists down, they should've actually done their due diligence to fact check with the "artist" himself to ensure that AI wasn't used. Because if he didn't use AI, he would be able to show his work. This would be something very easy for them to verify.

At the end of the day, they can just tell the fans that they didn't use AI and everyone will just blindly believe them and defend them (like they already are) - even though artists are out here literally explaining how and why this design was generated using AI. But because a lot of the fans aren't artists and don't know themselves, they'll take the word of the band and their crew over smaller artists. 🤷‍♀️It is was it is, unfortunately.

I think the worst part is that because not everyone is an artist, they aren't directly impacted by generative AI so they won't care and will just brush this off as "stupid and frivolous drama." But for those of us smaller artists, this does not look good and the growing use of generative AI does actually impact us. And it definitely makes me lose trust in the band and their mission to uplift other artists. I'm still a fan of the band and I'll continue to support them, but I'm not going to lie... I'm very disappointed.

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