#i think i'll do it like this? so it doesn't clog up tags of characters with small speaking roles

[asordinaryppl]

A3! Main Story: Part 4 - Act 13: Budding Spring - Episode 3: One Step Up

Kumon: We’re back~!

Juza: We’re back.

Taichi: I’m so hungry~

Tenma: Seems like it’s Omi-san’s turn today.

Tsuzuru: Kinda smells like demi-glace sauce…

Omi: The beef stew will be done soon.

Kumon: Yay~! I wanted to eat meat~!

Kazunari: Seems like the fairy boys have suddenly increased in energy~

Muku: Even though it’s actually just Kyu-chan that joined them.

Yuki: He counts enough for two or three more people.

Tsumugi: How’s uni life, Kumon-kun?

Kumon: Super fun! Unlike the classes in high school, I don't feel like I gotta cram like crazy.

Kumon: Also, I’m with Nii-chan!

Banri: I thought you’d decide immediately based on that, but you took your time pickin’.

Kumon: I had a lot to think about, y’know.

Kumon: I had to carefully think about which university to attend, not only based on where Nii-chan is.

Azami: The growth of the Bro-con.

Yuki: Though in the end, they ended up in the same university.

Kumon: I mean, Nii-chan and Tenma-san make it seem like it’s lots of fun!

Tenma: I can guarantee that much.

Juza: I’m glad you got accepted.

Taichi: He worked hard on the essay and when preparing for the interview~

Kumon: Hehe, it’s thanks to everything Nii-chan and Tenma-san and Taichi-san taught me!

Chikage: Seeing Tenma take on the tutor’s role was deeply moving.

Tenma: Thanks for that.

Kazunari: *Yawn*~...

Tsuzuru: You seem sleepy, Miyoshi-san.

Kazunari: I had some urgent job due yesterday, so I didn’t get much sleep~

Tsuzuru: Good work.

Muku: Kazu-kun seems like he became an adult in a blink.

Kazunari: What I’m doing is pretty much an extension of what I did as a student, but I guess my mindset’s changed a little since graduating.

Omi: I get it. The work increases as the responsibilities do, but it’s also quite fun.

Tsuzuru: Is that so…

Kazunari: You might understand come next year, Tsuzurun~

Izumi: Omi-kun was like that, too, but your image changed after you graduated.

Azuma: I look forward to these changes every spring.

Homare: Well, there are groups of people that have not changed much at all.

Azuma: Thanks to everyone, I can properly feel spring’s arrival.

Tasuku: I mean, the changes might not be big, but haven’t you guys also gotten busier?

Guy: You also seem to be getting more requests to appear as a guest.

Sakuya: Ah, actually, I think I might also get an offer to appear on a rather big stage—

Tsumugi: Really? I’m so happy for you.

Tasuku: This is the result of the experience you’ve gained so far. It’s proof of how far you’ve come as an actor

Sakuya: Thank you very much!

Citron: I have also had to do arts and culture-related jobs here and there~

Itaru: I’ve also started being treated like I can carry the company on my shoulders, it’s a pain…

Chikage: It’s your fifth year, of course you are.

Guy: That reminds me, the work I can leave to Mikage has also increased.

Hisoka: I can make some snacks now…

Tasuku: Like roasted marshmallows and marshmallow pizza?

Hisoka: Those too, but other stuff too.

Homare: To think you can make dishes unrelated to marshmallows… What remarkable progress!

Misumi: Speaking of new things, my friend Mii-chan gave birth to a kitten~

Muku: Congratulations to her!

Yuki: Doesn’t that have nothing to do with you, though?

Izumi: Just as everyone is moving forward and changing, the theater company is also changing.

Izumi: Speaking of which, the kid we met today also said he started high school this spring.

Kumon: Heeh~, what kinda kid was he?

Tsuzuru: He was a pretty interesting kid.

Masumi: Rather than interesting, he was just a pain.

Itaru: He was a passionate Masumi fan.

Izumi: He used to live in the countryside, and supported us through streaming.

Sakyo: So that’s MIZUNO Ent’s power…

Sakyo: As we expected, we’ll require continued efforts to reach as many people as possible.

Izumi: He also said he can’t wait to see a live performance.

Tasuku: Watching plays live has its benefits, after all.

Sakuya: That’s true. Since he said he’s looking forward to it, I thought we’ll have to do our best not to disappoint.

Izumi: Ah, that’s right! I had this idea after talking to the kid–

Izumi: What do you think about holding a workshop for beginners as our next event?

Izumi: Learning that there are people who became interested in theater because of MANKAI Company made me realize, we should do more activities that are about spreading theater to others.

Izumi: I think sharing the joy of acting together will be a beneficial experience for us as well. 

Sakuya: That does sound good!

Citron: That sounds fun!

Chikage: But if it’s about teaching, rather than the Spring Troupe, wouldn’t members with more experience, like Tenma, or Tasuku and Tsumugi, be more suited for it?

Tsuzuru: True, we’re all novice actors, and a few years ago we were amateurs, will it really be okay for us to do it?

Masumi: I can do it.

Itaru: Not the guy least qualified to teach.

Izumi: That’s exactly why. You all remember what it felt like when you first stood on the stage a few years ago.

Izumi: You’re the most suited to convey theater from a beginner’s point of view.

Izumi: It won’t be a workshop for actors, or a workshop like Yuzo-san’s focused solely on teaching…

Izumi: I think just enjoying acting together and looking back on your old selves would be good.

Izumi: It can also be an opportunity to expand our fanbase…

Izumi: I think trying to get people to learn more about theater is something all of you can do at your current state.

Sakuya: I see… You’re right. Up till now, we’ve only focused on improving ourselves, but now…

Itaru: That’s true. We can probably have fun together.

Chikage: And it can also be a source of inspiration.

Tsuzuru: We might get a hint for our next performance.

Citron: Everything’s a challenge!

Izumi: Alright, it’s decided!

Izumi: Once we settle on a date, can I leave the design to you, Kazunari-kun?

Kazunari: Ofc!

Izumi: I’ll do the printing and distribution.

Masumi: I’ll help.

Itaru: We also need to announce it on social media. I can do that.

Chikage: Wouldn’t it also be good to announce it on the theater bulletin board?

Izumi: Then, I’ll leave the announcements to you two… Sakuya-kun, Citron-kun, can I ask you two to come up with the outline for the workshop?

Sakuya: Yes!

Citron: Let’s think of a chilling workshop for everyone~!

Manager: Ah, everyone, it’s almost time~!

Kumon: I’ll turn on the TV!

previous episode | masterpost | next episode

[numberoneanika]

Honestly the roleplay blogs are stronger than I am because if I saw a post where people were saying my blog was annoying and calling me corny I would jump in a large pit and rot away

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Obligatory, I don't think I'm technically wrong, but I know I could be an asshole, I think I'm justified, I wanna know what other ppl think, etc,

This is mult. fandom related and I'm 25 and have been on Tumblr for approx 10 years so I'm not speaking as someone new to either Tumblr or fandom spaces

AITA for reporting art and fic as spam when it's tagged as something else in a tag I'm searching for?

This applies to many fandoms I'm in not just one so I feel no need to list them since it's not like personal beef or fandom specific drama but basically as I'm sure many people do when I want to see fan art or even the occasional fic for my favorite character I'll go into their character tag via Tumblr search, it's one of the few things I enjoy about this website is it's semi functional tagging and search system. But more often and usually lately I've been finding a lot of stuff in say character A tag that doesn't have character A in it, it's a drawing of character B that's been tagged with the main fandom tag, B, and every other main character. I know its so the art or fic gets more views but it's annoying ESPECIALLY if it's fic because not to generalize but fics tagged like that usually dont have a read more either so I have to scroll past this massive block of text that's not only a fic I'm not interested in, but one that's incorrectly tagged for a character I'm trying to find content of so they're the ones I tend to report as spam the most over art which is easier to scroll past ill admit

Even on ao3 it's a feux pas to tag characters that just "appear" if they're not central to the fic so they already shouldn't be tagging any character mentioned in their fic

This USUALLY tends to happen with people's oc posts as well and nothing against OCs they're just not my thing and if I were in the main tag I'd happily scroll by since I recognize their place but just like the other two I'll notice it's just a drawing of someone's oc or their OC's profile and it's tagged with the full main cast, thus showing up in the character I'm looking for's tag

Or character x readers and character A (and C, D, E, F, etc) will be tagged on a B x reader fic, obviously I have no interest in reading a fic like that especially when again the entire cast has been tagged not because they appear in the fic but for engagement

Also I'm not dumb I filter for fandoms so like if the tag I'm in is just "Steve" obviously I know it'll apply to multiple fandoms like Minecraft or avengers since that's a super nonspecific name/tag I'm talking about deliberate tagging within the same fandom

I also don't report the post if they're like "this is my OC his name is James Bond" obviously that's gonna show up in like the James Bond tag which while more specific would not count as spam since that's still a proper tag that would apply, it's the OC's name that just happens to be the name of another character

So, while I don't feel bad because I find these people annoying since they're obviously tagging things like I mentioned on purpose for attention but on the other hand I feel a little guilty because fan art and fan fic is important to any fandom but just, that is one of the definitions of a spam post is something improperly tagged on purpose

TLDR: I report posts in my favorite character's tag as spam when they don't have my favorite character but are tagged with them because they clog up the actual tag with garbage

[narcoticwriter]

We Need to Talk about Arnheid.

@storiesconsumemysoul

OP, I apologize for tagging you, but I saw this post and I was compelled to talk about it. I also didn't want to clog up your post with my own reblogging, and I thought this fit as it's own standalone post.

As someone who's recently watched this, I will say that I was decidedly on the fence about all of this until I took the time to think about it.

I don't necessarily see Gardar as an antagonist as much as a product of the setting he was in, as I view all of the characters in this sense. I'd like to give my own two cents on the matter if you don't mind.

If anyone would like to chime in, please by all means go ahead! Just be respectful and aware of the seriousness of some of the subject matter. Please treat it with the respect it deserves.

Everything and more, under the cut.

In the opening scene where we are introduced to Gardar for the first time, there are things to note and highlight who Gardar is even if he doesn't say all that much:

In the house, Gardar did not lay a single hand on the woman or her babe, only killing the male members of the household

It is heavily implied that he was grossly abused and mistreated by his slave master to the point where he was driven to do this in the first place

This shows that in his heart of hearts, it is implied that Gardar was not a man naturally inclined towards violence, only getting to that point due to what he already went through.

Now, I'll touch on Snake who, whether we like it or not, is upholding the status quo. He is a hired mercenary of sorts who is responsible for the safety of the farm and the goods within it. Gardar to him was considered a 'good' and was to be treated as such, but to be frank, so are all of the other slaves. So why do people think that Snake's hand was 'forced' in comparison?

I will admit that at first glance, I did wonder out loud why they were all helping out Gardar when he had cut down so many men, but then I realized something. Something that a lot of people conveniently forgot.

Most people were probably more focused on Thorfinn, Einar, and Arnheid as well as Sverkel and their entire dynamic with Snake, which lulled them into the sense that Gardar was kind of 'interrupting' that. What they (and myself at first) all failed to recognize was that it wasn't as much of an interruption as it was waking up from a nice dream: the reality of the world they are in is much more grim than that.

And most importantly, they forget one specific facet on which all of this hinged: Arnheid.

Now, I'm about to bring up some stuff that will make people uncomfortable, but I believe that it is important that I say these things with the gravity and significance they deserve. Any attempt to censor the words themselves would defeat the purpose of it, so I will be putting this under the cut.

For those of you who have watched it, you know what to expect, but for those who don't, this discussion will include slavery, physical abuse, rape, child murder, extreme violence, and death.

Treat this as a barrier. This is where I go into the meat of the matter in full.

Arnheid's story is one of a person who was genuinely trying to make the best of things that had happened to her, and even with that, it was not going to be enough for her to live. It never could be.

The author wrote out one of the most devastatingly bleak and emotional depictions of why 'Vinland' exists as a concept of 'paradise' and the symbol of freedom... by making Arnheid's experience the reason why people have it in the first place.

The Beginning

Let us go to the beginning of where she was in her village:

Arnheid married Gardar in an arranged marriage set up by their parents, but in a stroke of luck, they genuinely seemed to love each other and were happily raising their son Hjalti together.

The men of the village (including Gardar) decide to go to war over some resources and iron.

Arnheid and the other women in the village were not enthusiastic about this decision, as the village had more than enough iron already.

While the men were away, raiders came to the village and looted them as well as took the younger women as slaves.

Arnheid also has her son Hjalti taken from her and killed as unmarried women fetch a higher price.

This section serves as the cornerstone of everything that happens later in her story and already establishes more than a couple of key points for the entirety of Vinland Saga:

People will go to war for resources that they don't need.

People will raid villages for things that they don't need.

People will be enslaved because they are not seen as people.

People will be killed because they are not seen as people.

Arnheid at this point is viewed through the lenses of the lamenting wife, the grieving mother, and 'refurbished property'.

I use the last term because a mother with a baby likely would not have been 'sold' in the sense that their 'value' would have been perceived, so the raiders took care of that 'problem'.

So with that being said, this is the defining instance of Arnheid's identity of being a wife, a mother, and a person promptly stripped away. She, quite literally, was left with nothing.

The Enslavement

Now with that being said, let us explore what she experienced on Ketil's farm. I will preface this by saying that people really like to gloss over the severity of what her enslavement entailed. I will not be one of those today, so this is not for the faint of heart.

In her enslavement, Arnheid was bought for one specific purpose. Yes, she can be a maidservant to the master and his wife, she can help out with domestic duties, and she can be a caretaker for those who need it. But throughout the entirety of the anime, it is glaringly obvious for anyone with eyes:

She was bought for the purpose of the master's sexual gratification and satisfaction.

It is also worth pointing out one major difference between her and the rest of the slaves we focus on:

Pater was able to work to attain his freedom and did so. Einar and Thorfinn are granted the same opportunity to do the same.

Arnheid is not able to work her way out of bondage and was never offered the opportunity to do that.

My reasonings for this are quite simple, actually, and given the setting, it should come simple for you too: she is, for all intents and purposes, a woman. If Arnheid was a man, I guarantee you that she would have been able to work for her freedom because men are supposed to work.

She says it herself in multiple instances while she laments how she got here in the first place. Men decided to go to war, men enslaved her and killed her child, and a man bought her to use for his own wishes.

For people who want to debate this, there are multiple instances that we see, such as Ketil and her in his chambers, how Ketil talks about her, and how his wife treats her. It can be said that Ketil treats her relatively well compared to the others, but it doesn't change the fact that she's an unwilling participant.

Even if she abhors this treatment, how on earth is she going to call them out on it? Can she say no to Ketil? No. So she doesn't have a choice in the matter, and that alone constitutes rape.

Let me say this again. Arnheid was consistently raped.

With that being said, this also points out another batch of realities in her world:

People will be used for their master's own satisfaction and benefits because they are property.

People will be made to do things that they would not do themselves because they are property.

People will be abused, hurt, and violated because they are property.

Even in this bleak reality, it is to Arnheid's credit that she is taking it all quite well despite everything she has gone through up to this point. She could have broken down and she would be completely justified in doing so, but the strength of her spirit, character, and compassion have carried her through even to the uttermost.

This, however, would not be enough for what was to come.

The Reuniting

At this point, despite her endurance, Arnheid has been worn down to almost the barebones. Her husband is gone, her child is dead, and she is simply trying to make it work. Hell, she even finds some companionship with Thorfinn, Einar, and Sverkal. This moment of brief bliss of happiness and (dare I say) contentment is brought to an end by Gardar riding in with only one goal in mind: to find her and go home.

Here is why I think she reacted the way she did initially:

She was living with the mindset of making do with what she had.

She did not believe that a piece of her past, which she considers beyond her, was alive.

She was absolutely terrified of the man that she saw in the state that he was in.

Not only is her son with Gardar dead, she is pregnant with another man's child.

For the last point, the reason I single this one out is in those days, if a woman was thought to have committed such a thing (no matter the circumstance, really), Gardar would have been fully justified in cutting her down. This is just the state of the world she is living in.

She has already gone through so much, and now this instance presents itself and she has to deal with it. This moment was a turning point because it gave her something that she hadn't had for a while: a single kernel of hope. She acts on this, going to help him clean his wounds and perhaps escape.

However, I will also make the point that was touched on in the midst of the original post: Gardar's extreme violence was a product of his treatment. You cannot expect someone who had gone through what he had to be in a normal state of mind. In fact, I would be more surprised if he was intact.

This leads into the scene where Arnheid is tending to Gardar's wounds:

Gardar begs Arnheid to forgive her for leaving with the men in the village all those years ago

Arnheid begs Gardar to forgive her through tears, presumably for the pregnancy and Hjalti, but he's just confused

In the midst of this, Gardar is trying to reassure her that once they both escape, they can go back to how things were

True to this, Gardar kills a man with his teeth in his throat and Arnheid uses the knife from the dead man to cut his ropes

These are two very traumatized and very broken people. I can say this because their mutual experiences have turned them into people that have become so violent and so numb to their own selves. But the hope that they could leave... that is now what will fuel them both, Arnheid especially.

Now, Thorfinn, Einar, and Sverkal participate in her bid to run away with her husband as they too recognize the sorry state of the lot she's been dealt and are loathe to participate in it any longer despite their personal issues. There is also a worldliness about them that offers up how they know that the world they live in is truly wicked, which is why they help in the first place.

But it is in the instance where they are on the cart that there is a glimpse of the man Gardar really is: a man who loves his wife, his son, and the life he had made for himself. He even acknowledges that he won't let his son grow up into a warrior, noting precisely how terrible it —and the world— really is.

As he passes on from the wounds he sustained, she is caught, and this is where another thing should be noted about this:

Arnheid is a person.

Why do I say this? Because a person can hope. Property cannot. She, through this, had reclaimed her identity as a person and as someone who can hope. In the bleak darkness of circumstance, this is her brightest moment because it confirms her humanity.

But even then, it would be, like many others, snuffed out.

The Punishment

This part depressed me, fully and completely. It was unfair, it was unnecessary, and it was undeserved. You could use those words to describe everything that's happened to Arnheid thus far, and you would be correct to do so! Because it is! And that's the point.

So, here is the punishment in full:

She is tied up in a barn.

The guard that is watching her intends to rape her and says as much, making to do it then and there.

He also describes in excruciating detail how he and his comrades would have taken turns raping her for every life lost, highlighting the strangling and torture with sick glee while stating that he can't since she's the master's favorite.

This first section highlights and covers a few things, respective of the points in order:

An animal wouldn't have been treated like that.

Arnheid is not a person to this guard, she is an object.

The guard sees her as property, the master's property.

This brief exchange is unapologetic in how the world at large sees Arnheid outside of the meaningful interactions she has with others. She is not a person to them, but a means of feeling power and gaining their own satisfaction.

Before anything can happen, Ketil arrives with a stick and the guard scrambles away, but not before he poses a question: "Do you know who you belong to?"

He says that he won't forgive anyone who tries to steal his property, even if it's her.

This highlights how she is seen by the person who 'owns' her, stated within these specific points. He sees her as his property and he does not see her as a person. The latter point not only denies her as a person but layers it in the sense that her own personhood could put his property at risk.

She is then beaten with the stick, but in the midst of it, she begs for him to be gentle as she is pregnant with his child.

He beats her and kicks her regardless of this, calling her a liar and a thief.

Snake even stops Ketil from beating her anymore, saying that the crime befits the punishment of a beating, but to do more would kill her.

He also states that it is his right to kill her as she is his, but he ought to intend to do it.

One could attribute this to what Ketil is dealing with at the moment, but that is not the point here. The point is that Snake recognized that Ketil was beating her so much that she could die. While Snake is upholding the statement of her being property, he also takes into account the way that this ought to be handled and the intent of his master. There are no saints here, but I believe that even he knew that this was too much.

When Leif asks to purchase her, Ketil states that she is his and will not sell her.

I don't think I can make it any clearer, but this only goes to show that to the master, who bought her, she is nothing more than property.

Arnheid has been beaten so badly, she is unconscious and cannot be moved.

Pater states that he does not know if she will live as she is extremely injured.

Leif states that this would have eventually happened to her if she had stayed on the farm with Ketil.

This set of points is here to simply illustrate the inevitability of her end. Leif is right. Ketil could have been set off in any way if it was to do with the perceived ownership he had over her. Imagine if he had seen Einar getting too close to her. What then? Do you think he wouldn't have beaten her over that too?

As Arnheid is passing on, we see her with Gardar, Hjalti, and another baby in her arms on the cart.

This implies that even if she was able to make a full recovery from her injuries, either the miscarriage of the dead baby or the dead baby breaking down in her body would have killed her anyway. Just think about that for a minute as Ketil was so ticked off that his 'property' would lie.

The cart stops and Gardar says that she can take a moment to thank Thorfinn and Einar for their help.

She does, and while it is lamentable, her family is waiting for her... so she joins them.

This scene is sad, but it offers me a little happiness. It seems that Gardar wouldn't have killed Arnheid over the other baby. It seems that he would have taken them in as his own. You can say he forgave her, but I would say that I don't think he would have thought there was anything to forgive. They had both been through hell, after all.

Conclusion

Vinland, as a promised land, a slice of heaven, a refuge for those who seek shelter was a dream, an idea, a hope that people had. But for Arnheid, it would have been her salvation. With her death, this Vinland was crystalized and given form.

Would the promise of Vinland have saved Arnheid? We don't know. But we do know that her experience, her life after the fact, and her death would have been more than enough of a reason to wish Vinland into reality.

However, this does one more thing for her. It confirms that despite it all, she was, is, and always will be, a person.

And that people should never be treated like this.

She lived a life that was hard and quite bleak but even through it, she did her best and she was a person who deserved a world where:

You would not have to fight for resources, for there would be enough for all.

You would not have to worry about raids, because they could not reach you.

You would not have your child killed, because your child would grow up safe, happy, and taken care of.

You would not have your personhood stripped away, because no one would take it from you.

You would not be brutally raped and seen as an object of satisfaction, because no one would have that power over you.

You would not be beaten for acting out of line for property, because you would not be property.

You would be a person, a human being, because you would be free.

In a way, you could make the argument that through her story and her life, she is one of the most consequential and important characters in the entirety of this series.

Simply because she would have loved to live in a world like that.

[whatwouldeddiedo]

i'm sorry. this post is very discourse-heavy i guess. i'll tag it as discourse and not as any pairings or fandoms because i don't want it to end up in the main tags. you don't need to read. i just want to get this out.

the problem is i actually DO enjoy tommy for what he is in the show - just like i enjoy Taylor or Shannon (actually no, sorry, shannon is my beloved and actually is on another level and taylor is kind of pushing that line) or Ana or anyone they've dated, or really ANY character. I think this show has a lot of characters that on the base level are really great at existing within the canon of the show and, even though some of them need to be mentally fleshed out a little, that's fine. they aren't mains and that's pretty typical.

and, like, i initially DID shy away from the buddie part of fandom because i felt a lot of pressure NOT to like him or to not follow people who hated him by those very same people or to shut my mouth and not have an opinion bc i am not a woman (and these words were spoken and made me feel very very gross about myself and my place in fandom and actually trigger a lot of feelings for me re: being trans and feeling guilty for not being a cis woman but that's another post). and so i found a space that felt a little bit better for that and just kind of had fun there for a while. i made friends there, like people i really really thought could be friends and not just Fandom Friends.

but it did become increasingly hard to interact, especially after the bt break up, because so many of the posts were just...negative. the negativity was a bummer, and it made everything feel terrible. it made it feel like actually enjoying the show that i spend the majority of my time in an online fandom for is wrong. and then 8b started and i found that excitement again because i just stopped caring about looking stupid and expecting buddie to happen (or even just wanting it to so badly that i'll scream about it happening until the very end). i realized that part of fandom just wasn't fun for me anymore because that pairing wasn't the one that truly spoke to and inspired me and made me want to spend my time in fandom.

after the last episode the actual aggressive hatefulness i've felt has been tenfold, too. like it was pretty bad after 9 and 10, but 11 has been on another level, and i realized that as long as i'm following those blogs and reading what they have to say, i am just gonna feel shitty about myself. (and tbh i'm having a hard time not doing that anyway because being called delusional and being told the show runner and actors hate buddie fans is actually really hurtful! who would have thought!!!!!!) i'm going to feel, to a certain extent, like i have to act a certain way and like the show a certain way, so i'm really sad i've lost friends. i'm sad that people unfollowed me that i really really liked on a personal level, but at the end of the day they didn't like me or what i bring to the table and i'm too old to be sad about it, i guess. you have to curate your own space. we all do. so i hope they actually do find they enjoy their time more without me clogging up their feeds with my buddie nonsense or whatever.

and really, this is just my personal feelings. no one should feel A Way about that fandom because of how i'm perceiving my own experience because i'm also very mentally ill and sometimes my perception and reality don't necessarily mesh and i assume intent where there is none. i don't hate everyone i met there or resent them. but some of them did make me feel bad about myself and that doesn't feel mean to say. i hope the ones still around don't feel targeted by this because i do still like the friends i made through that part of fandom.

anyway, the point is, i struggle with the part of fandom that feels very 'choose your side or else', and i think that's what this whole mess with everything in the last 3 episodes has been. its started to feel very pick a side or else and at the end of the day i choose the side where i find the most joy, and i find the most joy in buddie. they are my true loves of the 911 universe and i would die for them, so that is where i will be spending the majority of my time.

and it all probably made me a bit overly aggressive in the way i've spoken about it, probably made me come across as angry or mean, and that was never my intent. i just want to curate my space like anyone, and right now that space is going to be filled with buddie (and my beautiful wonderful friends who love a multitude of pairings who i would die for and don't want to lose.)

[avatar-legends-confessionblog]

I've come to vent about my relationship with Rozin of all things. I must warn that this is NOT anti Rozin confession! There's literally nothing wrong with this ship, but...

For a long time I thought it was the only genuinely good and interesting ship out of all ATLA and LOK ships. Despite having little to no screen time, I was nevertheless hooked by Roku's and Sozin's dynamic. And how could I not? Childhood friends turned into bitter enemies with all the angst and heartbreak it entails? *chief kiss* Rozin just had that kick that other ships didn't have to me. I mean it in the nicest way possible, but everything just felt bland and boring in comparison. Most likely because I'm a drama queen who loves screwed up stuff. In my head and private notes, I would make Rozin WORSE, I would add things that didn't happen in canon, that would NEVER happen in canon, that would plunge those two into a new dark abyss I made just for them. In my head and private notes, I would make Rozin BETTER, I would give Roku and Sozin a chance to reconcile, to learn from one another, to finally have a relationship they couldn't have in canon. I would come up with crazy AUs, one of them even became a baseline for my main crossover story.

I mean it genuinely that this ship was IT for me. And it was like that for 5 years...

Until it just... Wasn't anymore.

The overall ATLA fandom, unfortunately, doesn't share my sentiment. The arts and fics and hell even meta posts that would examine Roku and Sozin's relationship was extremely rare. All those things I did with Rozin privately ? That was basically all that I had. I kid you not, Rozin felt more like a fandom joke, than an actual ship. The ship tag was clogged with the same repetitive "haha, Roku and Sozin were exes" "haha, Roku and Sozin were gay" shit. A joke that was repeated over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. With no changes, no new punchline. It was funny the first couple of times, then it lost the punch, then it became annoying and then... those jokes became enraging. I was becoming SICK of them.

I would much rather have there be no new Rozin posts, than the ship tag being cluttered with. the. same. shitty. unfunny. repetitive. joke. At least the lack of content would motivate me to actually share the AUs and hcs I made in private. It would be a challenge, a drive. But, the fandom is dead set on seeing them as "just angsty exes, lol".

Oh, but that's not why I decided to write here. You know what I'm about to say. The upcoming Roku centric book, that, of course has scenes that are almost hand-crafted to pander to Rozin shippers.

I know I should be excited. I should be happy. My ship is finally getting attention! Getting official interaction since, what? Over a decade of NOTHING?

But, I felt nothing.

At first.

Then, when I realized that I felt nothing I felt... rage? Sadness? Despair?

I used to LOVE Rozin. What happened? I should be excited. Why am I not?

It has been 5 years of that. Of Rozin being worse than nothing. Not even a ship, but an inside joke among ATLA fans. I would've been fine if the book interactions contradicted my hcs, I would just make new ones or change the old ones a little. But, I got tired. At this point, I feel nothing for the ship. Maybe annoyance. I definitely think I don't like it now. And it's sad. It's almost tragic.

I love Roku and Sozin as characters. And I used to love shipping them, as another way to explore and study them as characters. But now, I think, I will just block Rozin tag and dismiss any ship context if I do happen to start posting my ATLA fan art again and people would ask of I shipped them or not. I don't. Not anymore. If you really want a ship content with them, well, I suppose I have my OC x Roku ship, but, I'm certain no one would be interested in that, so I'll just keep it to myself.

Sorry for the long rant. Sorry that it sounds so dramatic or pathetic. But, I feel better after writing everything here. Maybe I can finally leave this all behind.

X

[lost-in-lamentation]

thank you for 500; an event!

hi friends (´ω｀)

me when i said i was going to do a __ follower event except i'm going getting around to it now ahahah anyways! welcome to the event! i'll be posting the list of prompts a little bit later, this'll just be the instruction post so that the event masterlist doesn't get too clogged.

it'll be a series of emojis that correspond to story elements that you can ask for! you're allowed to combine up to 3 emojis too, so you can mix and match the stories heheh so basically, ask for a character + whatever emoji combo you would like me to conjure up!

note: characters you can request are the brothers and dateables. no luke (unless you plaster all over your request that it's platonic and you would like to adopt him), and no raphael, mephisto and thirteen, unfortunately. my writing cannot extend to their characters just yet.

requests are now closed, thank you everyone who participated!! see you on the finished fics ♡

all the stories will be tagged under #aris hits 500 🐈‍⬛

i think that's all! feel free to drop into my inbox if you wanna clarify something!

oh, and thank you for being here. consider this event my handwritten love letters to all of you from myself (´ω｀) ♡

prompt list is here.

masterlist is here.

as always, reblogs are really appreciated (´ω｀) ♡

[gonzo-rella]

Just so this post isn't useless and doesn't clog the tag without giving good places for you to donate your money to, I'll list the charities I've donated to so far:

MAP (Medical Aid for Palesinians)

PCRF (Palestine Children's Relief Fund)

Anera

So, I want to see if I'd be able to do something to raise money for Palestinian people who are suffering right now (specifically charities like Anera, PCRF, and any reputable charities that you suggest that can be vetted), and I was thinking that I could do fic commissions via Ko-fi where any money made from it will be donated to Palestinian charities.

I tried setting up some rules for commissions not long ago but I wasn't really happy with it and no one seemed that interested, so I decided to delete it.

That said, if anyone would be interested, let me know. I was thinking of charging £2 or more (i.e. minimum £2, but donate as much as you want) for headcanons and ficlets, and £5 or more (i.e. minimum £5, but donate as much as you want) for one-shots that are over 1k words. I'd be offering to write reader-insert fics or fics just with canon characters.

Full disclosure, I have no experience with commissions or selling services via Ko-fi. For example, I'm not sure if I'm legally allowed to sell fanfic as a product in my Ko-fi shop, or if I should just use Ko-fi as a way to have money sent to me. So, if anyone with more experience would be willing to help me, please send me a DM!

(Also, let me know whether or not this is an actually good idea lol)

[sunriseverse]

complaint time? complaint time! let's talk about my annoyance relating to sapphic, especially lesbian, characters, relationships, and mxtx! because apparently, i love kicking hornet's nests these days (this isn't new, i just usually confine it to dms). this got long, my apologies, so it's going below the cut.

first off, i'd like to clarify that i am not talking about fanfic that makes mxtx characters sapphic/lesbians. i think that's great. i love rule 63. if you want to write these men in an au where they are sapphic, i have been there and support you wholly. this isn't what that's about, though—this is specifically about mxtx.

i've seen the same sentiment over and over trying to go through the chinese gl tag (baihe): people wishing mxtx would write about sapphic characters, wishing that mxtx would write sapphic novels, etc. and honestly, this pisses me off for a few reasons: my thoughts on how mxtx handles lgbt characters generally, the way that these posts clog the tag, and, finally, the way people going "wish mxtx wrote sapphic novels :( too bad she didn't, i guess there's no sapphic cnovels!" cheapens the extant, vibrant baihe field.

one: my thoughts on how mxtx handles lgbt characters

first of all, i'd like to preface this by saying this is only going off of what i know about mxtx, and mxtx works. as far as i'm aware, mxtx is a straight woman, writing about same-sex male relationships. she's the author of svsss, mdzs, and tgcf. i don't know if she's written anything else, but for this post, that doesn't really matter. let's go over these, shall we? mdzs' main couple has a rape kink, svsss' main couple is a teacher-student relationship, and tgcf's main couple is a man who saved a young child who later grew up to worship him. this isn't a judgement—i am a tgcf fan, so i'll be upfront about that; i think the way that specific scenario is handled in canon makes sense, and isn't objectionable to me specifically because of the way it's handled. i haven't finished svsss, and i haven't read mdzs, so i can't make commentaries there. i simply say this to point out the fact that, generally, mxtx couples play into a number of uncomfortable stereotypes about gay men, especially that their sex lives must be particularly "freakish", or that they must be older men pursuing younger men, especially those who idolise them. whether or not this is the message intended in these works, and whatever the characters themselves may think about these situations, they are not their own, real people; they are characters created specifically to be the way they are, by an author who is not a gay man. you can probably see why i, as a lesbian, do not want her writing lesbian characters specifically, and sapphic characters generally.

point two: posts like these clog the tags

any time i scroll the baihe tag, i inevitably run into at least one post where people wish that mxtx would write sapphic characters. while i understand wanting your favourite author to write about characters you feel better represented by, the truth of the matter is that when people make these often-one line posts that aren't actually related to baihe content in any way, and then tag them as #baihe, this leads to the clogging of a tag meant to be specifically filled with content about and surrounding baihe works.

point three: these posts draw attention away from extant baihe (chinese sapphic) works

as surprising as it may be, sapphic cnovels exist! there's actually a decent number of them, in fact. not many are fully translated, but there's a few big ones that are—and, i would say, the quality of the ones that have been translated are at least as good as extant mxtx fantranslations. baihe suffers from being ignored by the mainstream and official english-language publishing/translation houses, for a number of reasons that would take an entire post to even begin to try and unpick, but it does exist. however, when there's a bunch of people acting like no baihe exists and wishing their favourite danmei author would write baihe so it would exist, it creates the false illusion that baihe doesn't exist, drawing attention away from extant baihe—and thus perpetuating the tendency of those in fandom spaces to only ever talk about and promote male-centric works, and erase or marginalise female-centric works, as well as sapphic fans themselves.

in conclusion: i don't have a solution to this. i'm just frustrated by the tendency to act like mxtx is the paragon of lgbt fiction in cnovel spaces, and the way that, rather than looking for extant sapphic cnovels and characters, people seem far more willing to wish that mxtx would write sapphic novels, something that i, as an individual lesbian, think is a foolish idea, and just a generally annoying sentiment.

[funtxmequeen]

Rules

I am on mobile, so my tags are very minimal.

Do not reblog threads you are not apart of. This also applies to my headcanons, but I'm confident that the only people who reblog those are ppl who find it and don't realize this is an RP blog.

I'm lenient about this, but do not reblog art or memes from here, as it clogs up my feed.

Don't poop on the floor

Foxy is transfem. While I do not mind IN CHARACTER transph*bia for the sake of conflict and angst, I have an absolute ZERO TOLERANCE for ACTUAL transphobia. As such, anons who do not make it clear if the transph*bia is real or fake will be ip blocked immediately. (Ideally, send in an emoji of some sort so I can identify you, or if you're a mutual trying to stir up some drama, dm me ahead of time so we're on the same page.) Hate towards me or my muse will not be tolerated whatsoever.

IC transph*bia posts will be tagged "Transphobia," as a catch all, but if I need to make a specific tag, please tell me. I want the drama, but in no way do I want to make this blog unsafe for you. Any actual tr*nsphobic content I receive will not be posted.

If, even after all my efforts, this blog still does not feel safe to you, but you still would like to interact with me (not Foxy), DO NOT SOFT BLOCK ME! Some of you already know this, but this is not my only blog. Instead, please inform me that this blog makes you uncomfortable and you don't want to follow it. I will gladly reach out to you on my hub blog, and direct you to my other fnaf rp blogs. Your safety is more important than our hobby.

You never know what you're going to get with me. You may get a multipara starter/reply, you may get a few sentences. I don't expect you to match my length, especially if I've written a behemoth of a starter... but I do ask that you try to match my effort. If I'm writing a huge reply and you respond with something that doesn't match the setting or context, (and do this consistently,) I'm more than likely doing to drop threads, and if this keeps happening, I'll just soft block you. Yes I do this for fun, but I put abouts and rules and everything you need to know for a reason, and if you can't be bothered to put in the effort to read it, or properly read my responses, then don't even bother.

I am a mobile user. Maybe once in a while, I'll pop onto a computer at the library to fine tune posts like this, but it's hard, if not impossible for me to use the site to its full extent. As such, icons will not be used, tags will be scarce, and trimming posts will not be done the way I like.

Trimming posts are a strange area. I have adhd and autism, so the best way for a thread to be trimmed is with the last response still attached. This way I can remember what's going on in the thread, which will lead to an overall better rp experience. If posts don't get trimmed, I'll just have to make the reply and hit that big red X button that deletes everything before my response, so take that as a warning.

RESPECT MY FUCKING BOUNDARIES. I've had some issues with one individual who sucked me into this Fandom, they refused to take no for an answer, and forced me to rp an incest ship. This has scared me away from the rpc for years. If I say no, it does not mean "convince me," it means no. I have a three strikes your out policy.

I have a full-time job as a daycare teacher. I am not always online. Do not pester me for replies.

I like to talk in the DMs!! Please don't think that this is a passive aggressive attempt to get you to reply, as eager as I get, this is a hobby, and I will not rush you intentionally!! Please tell me politely if I make you feel rushed or don't want to talk via dms. (I personally just think that writing is more fun when you know your partners.) That being said, I do not want you feeling like you are responsible for my personal feelings, and vice versa. You are allowed to say no, I am allowed to say no. If you try and guilt trip me, that will count against your three strikes. (And I will warn you dw.)

In addition to this, if you do NOT like communicating via dms, please tell me, and I will stop. If you just ignore me or ghost me, I'm either going to continue to try and reach out, thinking you forgot or didn't get notified, or I'll become intimidated, and think I did something wrong. We're all adults here, we can use our words. You don't have to follow me if you don't want to interact.

I have kept up with the lore moderately well, but if I don't know something, or have forgotten something, do not bully me. I have zero tolerance for it. You respect me, and I respect you.

If you want to let me know you've read these, go ahead and like it, but it's not required, I use an honor system anyway.

[twoiesfnafocs]

Rules

I am on mobile, so my tags are very minimal.

Do not reblog threads you are not apart of. This also applies to my headcanons.

I'm lenient about this, but do not reblog art or memes from here, as it clogs up my feed.

Don't poop on the floor

Obviously: this is an oc blog. I am oc friendly. However, if you don't have a rules or about for your blog, I'm probably not going to interact.

You never know what you're going to get with me. You may get a multipara starter/reply, you may get a few sentences. I don't expect you to match my length, especially if I've written a behemoth of a starter... but I do ask that you try to match my effort. If I'm writing a huge reply and you respond with something that doesn't match the setting or context, (and do this consistently,) I'm more than likely going to drop threads, and if this keeps happening, I'll just soft block you. Yes I do this for fun, but I put abouts and rules and everything you need to know for a reason, and if you can't be bothered to put in the effort to read it, or properly read my responses, then don't even bother. This sounds harsh, and I don't mean to be mean, but it is incredibly frustrating and quite frankly, it comes off as insulting, and at the end of the day, it's not worth the anger.

Don't always try to fix a conflict immediately? Especially if this is a common theme of the blog. My characters have flaws, sometimes they have physical issues. It wouldn't be fun or interesting if I took that away from them. I like tension sometimes, so don't take away a threat or conflict within the first three replies if you can help it!

I am a mobile user. My brother did give me his laptop, but at the end of my work day, I'm usually out of spoons to write unless a thread has me in a choke hold. Maybe once in a while, I'll pop onto my laptop to fine-tune posts like this, but it's hard, if not impossible for me to use the site to its full extent on the normal. As such, icons will not be used and trimming posts will not be done the way I like.

Trimming posts are a strange area. I have adhd and autism, so the best way for a thread to be trimmed is with the last response still attached. This way I can remember what's going on in the thread, which will lead to an overall better rp experience. If posts don't get trimmed, I'll just have to make the reply and hit that big red X button that deletes everything before my response, so take that as a warning.

RESPECT MY FUCKING BOUNDARIES. I've had some issues with one individual who sucked me into this Fandom, they refused to take no for an answer and forced me to rp an incest ship. This has scared me away from this rpc for years. If I say no, it does not mean "convince me," it means no. I have a three-strikes-your-out policy.

Speaking of boundaries, this blog in particular deals with themes of child abuse, racism, and possibly more dark themes. I will tag as needed, but I may also forget, so if you are easily triggered by this stuff, do not follow this specific blog. I can also be found at @reactivatedrockstar, but I can only be dmed here.

I have a full-time job as a daycare teacher. I am not always online. Do not pester me for replies unless it's been several days. Maybe a notif bugged out, or maybe I thought I replied but didn't. General rule of thumb, if it's been less than a day, then don't pester me.

Due to a lack of interest across my FNaF blogs, asks and threads are now put into my queue and will take a few days to get to it. Every morning I put ten posts into my queue, except on Fridays, where I do thirty. If you reply to me on Saturday, it may not post a response until Monday or Wednesday, depending on on which blog it's on. I'm no longer giving threads a priority in my queue, they just get put in.

I like to talk in the DMs!! Please don't think that this is a passive-aggressive attempt to get you to reply, as eager as I get, this is a hobby, and I will not rush you intentionally!! Please tell me politely if I make you feel rushed or don't want to talk via dms. (I personally just think that writing is more fun when you know your partners.) That being said, I do not want you feeling like you are responsible for my personal feelings, and vice versa. You are allowed to say no, I am allowed to say no. If you try and guilt trip me, that will count against your three strikes. (And I will warn you dw.)

In addition to this, if you do NOT like communicating via dms, please tell me, and I will stop. If you just ignore me or ghost me, I'm either going to continue to try and reach out, thinking you forgot or didn't get notified, or I'll become intimidated, and think I did something wrong. We're all adults here, we can use our words. You don't have to follow me if you don't want to interact.

I have kept up with the lore moderately well, but if I don't know something, or have forgotten something, do not bully me. I have zero tolerance for it. You respect me, and I respect you.

If you want to let me know you've read these, go ahead and like it, but it's not required, I use an honor system anyway.

[angeletteofmusic]

Rules

I am on mobile, so my tags are very minimal.

Do not reblog threads you are not apart of.

I'm lenient about this, but do not reblog art or memes from here, as it clogs up my feed.

Obviously: this is an oc blog. I am oc friendly. However, if you don't have a rules or about for your blog, I'm probably not going to interact.

Angelette is not a self insert, nor is she 'a little bit of everyone for funsies!! :))' She is her own unique character, that has reasons behind her design, reasons for her actions, there's a reason she does acrobatics, but her deep lore is something to be unlocked and discovered. I have thought things out, do not assume she is a thoughtless character I rushed to get in on the hype of the show. There is something of a story to be told here.

Don't always try to fix a conflict immediately? Especially if this is a common theme of the blog. My characters have flaws, sometimes they have physical issues. It wouldn't be fun or interesting if I took that away from them. I like tension sometimes, so don't take away a threat or conflict within the first three replies if you can help it!

You never know what you're going to get with me. You may get a multipara starter/reply, you may get a few sentences. I don't expect you to match my length, especially if I've written a behemoth of a starter... but I do ask that you try to match my effort. If I'm writing a huge reply and you respond with something that doesn't match the setting or context, (and do this consistently,) I'm more than likely doing to drop threads, and if this keeps happening, I'll just soft block you. Yes I do this for fun, but I put abouts and rules and everything you need to know for a reason, and if you can't be bothered to put in the effort to read it, or properly read my responses, then don't even bother.

I am a mobile user. Maybe once in a while, I'll pop onto my laptop to fine tune posts like this, but it's hard, if not impossible for me to use the site to its full extent. As such, icons will not be used, tags will be scarce, and trimming posts will not be done the way I like.

Trimming posts are a strange area. I have adhd and autism, so the best way for a thread to be trimmed is with the last response still attached. This way I can remember what's going on in the thread, which will lead to an overall better rp experience. If posts don't get trimmed, I'll just have to make the reply and hit that big red X button that deletes everything before my response, so take that as a warning.

I am a shipping whore: but I ship chemistry, not aesthetics. Angelette is 24, and she is a lesbian. (This wasn't put into her bio bc I don't think it's a huge part of her character.) I am okay shipping with NPCs, but know in advance that there will be conflict and angst that comes with it. (Then again, I'm also a slut for angst, but I mean angst pertaining towards the relationship.)

RESPECT MY FUCKING BOUNDARIES. If I say no, it does not mean "convince me," it means no. I have a three strikes your out policy.

I have a full-time job as a daycare teacher. I am not always online. Do not pester me for replies.

I like to talk in the DMs!! Please don't think that this is a passive aggressive attempt to get you to reply, as eager as I get, this is a hobby, and I will not rush you intentionally!! Please tell me politely if I make you feel rushed or don't want to talk via dms. (I personally just think that writing is more fun when you know your partners.) That being said, I do not want you feeling like you are responsible for my personal feelings, and vice versa. You are allowed to say no, I am allowed to say no. If you try and guilt trip me, that will count against your three strikes. (And I will warn you dw.)

In addition to this, if you do NOT like communicating via dms, please tell me, and I will stop. If you just ignore me or ghost me, I'm either going to continue to try and reach out, thinking you forgot or didn't get notified, or I'll become intimidated, and think I did something wrong. We're all adults here, we can use our words. You don't have to follow me if you don't want to interact.

I use the source material, I don't operate under theories. Exceptions may pop up if one of my partners DOES write their muse or muses under such pretenses, but the bog standard for this blog is that Caine is an AI, Bubble is an NPC, and the main cast are all humans.

I have a childhood fear of dolls, very specifically Raggedy Anne dolls. This does not mean I hate Ragatha or think she's a bad character, nor does this mean I don't want to interact with her. However, I do ask that Ragatha icons are not used in our threads, ESPECIALLY if they're gifs. Her mouth movements make me uncomfortable, and that's about it, however I may not always be in the best mental space for it, so this is more of a safety net boundary.

If you want to let me know you've read these, go ahead and like it, but it's not required, I use an honor system anyway.

[frankys-wife]

THANK YOU KRUEGER FOR TAGGING ME <3

What animal does your f/o remind you of?

He'd canonically be a rhinoceros if he was an animal, but my horse hyperfixation brain says he reminds me of a male unicorn! I justify it like this:

Factually, horses and rhinoceros are distantly related because they're from the same group, Perissodactyls. They share a common ancestor millions of years ago, called the Cambaytherium. Basically, this means that Rhinos are horses with horns. And what is a horned horse? A unicorn. Also factually speaking, the horn on a unicorn's head used to be a metaphor for masculinity in medieval times, often because unicorns were depicted fighting and killing lions. It's why some national Coat of Arms symbols have the Lions and Unicorns on them. (Also because the horn on a Unicorn's head used to me a metaphor for a certain body part...) Another reason for this is because unicorns are rare. Franky is one-of-a-kind, both in his canon and our reality. There's no person or character comparable (in my opinion) to him or his abilities. He likes to stick out in a crowd and takes pride in being unique!

So I can happily say I think Franky is a very strong unicorn hehe <3

2. If you got your f/o a gift, what would you get them?

I would try to pick him up any kind of work materials he needs. I'd also make him all kinds of shirts: fun patterns, stupid slogans to make him laugh, anything that suits him! And, of course, his favourite cola!

3. What is your favourite hobby to think about doing with your f/o?

Anytime I get a random spurt of energy and put on some music, I think dancing with him would be the most fun thing ever! I also think he'd be chill with me putting on a fun action movie or playing some cards.

Also the occasional Mario Kart or Just Dance challenge. Franky would be so down to challenge me to Just Dance, we could do all of the cheesy couple's songs. I can see him getting frustrated when the Wii remote doesn't register his move XD

4. What chores would your f/o do around the house? Are there any they REALLY dislike?

He's chill with any kind of yard work, which isn't my thing. He doesn't mind vacuuming either, since the vacuum acting up would mean he gets to work on it a little. The nice thing about being married to an engineer/carpenter is that I've got an on-site handyman :) <3

He hates cleaning the bathrooms (honestly, who doesn't). I don't mind it as much as he does, so I usually take care of it. If things get clogged, though, it's a Franky job. He also doesn't care too much for laundry but is particular about how his speedos get washed so I take care of that without any issues.

5. Would you trust your f/o to drive a car?

Honestly, yeah. He's pretty calm and level-headed when driving for the most part. He steers the Thousand Sunny with no problems, so a car isn't that much different (though, he does tend to be a bit of a speed devil sometimes...). He might make impulsive decisions but he has the best intentions.

6. What kind of ringtone or notification sound would you have for your f/o?

Probably one of his favourite songs! Or I'll record him saying something silly I think hehe

7. Would your f/o fight someone online?

He might for a bit but then he might just hit them with the "L opinion + Ratio". He likes to fight in person anyways.

8. Does your f/o believe in soulmates?

He's not really a spiritual person per se- he believes what he sees and experiences, things he can justify. But he does think we're so natural together that, in his own words, it was meant to be if that makes sense!

F/O Ask Game!!

A list of questions to answer about your f/o!! You guys can just go down the list and answer them all (I'd love to see it!!!) in a reblog, orrr you can reblog and have others ask you these questions in your inbox! Have fun!! PR.OSHI.P, NOT FOR YOU!

What animal does your f/o remind you of?

If you got your f/o a gift, what would you get them? 

What is your favorite hobby to think about doing with your f/o?

What chores would your f/o do around the house? Are there any they REALLY dislike?

Would you trust your f/o to drive a car?

What kind of ringtone or notification sound would you have for your f/o?

Would your f/o fight someone online? 

Does your f/o believe in soulmates?

How would you introduce your f/o to your friends? How do you think that would go? 

What's the first scenario that comes to your head when you think of being with your f/o?

What dynamic would you use to describe you and your f/o? 

What color do you associate with your f/o? 

How would your f/o introduce you to those they care about? How do you think that would go?

What animal do you remind your f/o of?

What would your f/o get you for Valentine's day, if anything? 

What does your f/o call you in their head? What do they call you aloud/to others?

What does your f/o like doing with you the most? 

How does your f/o show their love best? 

What's your f/o's favorite feature of yours?

What're your f/o's favorite personality traits of yours?

If your f/o drew you, how would you describe the art piece?

Does your f/o share food with you?

What color would your f/o associate you with?

What?? Who's tagging their friends again?- not me... I just really wanna see yalls answers. Formal invitation lest you become worried I don't wanna see it. @jpeg-indulgence @starshakez @moxanji-real @frankys-wife @katsenbergs-soulmate @katanahusband @fl0ralsxgar @one-winged-dreams AND LITERALLY ANYONE WHO SEES THIS.

[uselessheretic]

Harm Reduction in the OFMD Fandom: Izcourse Edition

I keep wanting to write something up about this, but getting stumped on how to even begin. Largely, because I already know exactly what bad faith arguments are going to be made off the bat, and I feel reluctant to clog down my writing trying to dispel every weird take about things I didn't say. So, it is what it is. If you have questions please ask politely and use a bit of critical thought beyond trying to find anything to grab hold on to contradict.

The Izzy fandom gets harassed. A lot. Nobody here understands why either. When referencing harassment, I'm most likely referring to either direct abusive messages such as anon hate through Tumblr, or talking about the OFMD through a holistic view that includes harassment through Twitter of common dogpiling, stalking, spreading of false rumors, the occasional doxxing, and other things. I'm including Twitter in this conversation because the world doesn't revolve around individuals on Tumblr, and for some of us, it's beneficial to talk about the greater context of fandom without assuming that we are blaming random Tumblr users for Twitter drama. That said, a lot of people use both platforms and the two of them are closely linked, especially since a lot of meta from Tumblr gets poorly replicated on Twitter.

So we're on the same page, the way I'm defining harassment is: The continuous or severe targeting of an individual or group through harmful behavior that includes physical threats, name-calling, impersonation, spreading malicious rumors, and encouraging others to harass a target. This is not an all-inclusive list, but I want to create a baseline for what I'm talking about. This also means things such as stating you dislike a character, responding to another's post to disagree, or speaking positively about a character. This also means that instances of conflict are not inherently harassment either, although this is murkier as we move through the gray area of "continuous or severe."

I'll also be using the terms "Izzy likers" and "Izzy crit" since those seem to be each respective sides more preferred terms and things like "Izzy stans" or "Izzy antis" can hold negative connotations. I'll also be referring to the anon hate received as from a singular person, unless noted otherwise, and as "L anon."

So, I guess let's dive into it?

I've seen the question posed a few times "Well, what do you want us to do about it?" when Izzy likers have brought up the topic of harassment or alluded to the fact that Izzy crits as a group contribute to this. It's true that our individual ability to stop harassment completely is an impossible task, however, there are actions that can be taken as a collective to reduce the amount of harm being done. I don't believe it's true that harassment is an aspect of fandom one must accept to be within it. I also don't think it's right to equate messages telling Black people to get lynched as the norm in fandom everyone has to deal with. I understand that anon hate is common throughout fandoms, but the vitriol and noticeable escalation of L anon is an anomaly that deserves to be taken seriously.

Actions I'm proposing (and will elaborate on) are for Izzy crits to STOP:

Minimizing the harassment of Izzy likers

Separating this harassment from greater conversations of misogyny, transphobia, racism, and antiblackness

Engaging with L anon unless it is to very clearly condemn him without caveats

Encouraging the association of liking Izzy as being an indicator that someone is racist, abusive, homophobic, etc

Using the #Izzy Hands tag as a place to post character hate, criticisms of Izzy likers, or to find meta focused on disliking him.

Minimizing harassment and distancing identity

This includes things such as suggesting that the harassment might not exist, that it isn't that bad, it's just a troll, turn off anon, everybody deals with this, and the idea that people are using discussions on harassment as an excuse. Minimizing harassment normalizes the behavior and continues a narrative that Izzy likers should expect to get harassed online. Downplaying the effects or severity dismisses the victims of it, and refusing to recognize that this is a form of passive endorsement.

I feel some type of way about this personally because I don't appreciate my experiences of racist harassment being treated as something I should just get over or normal in fandom. Like sorry to keep bringing it up I guess lol but like?

This isn't okay and it goes beyond "normal" fandom harassment and I feel like I'm going crazy having to argue that this isn't just something shitty that happens to everyone, but an awful, violent, and frightening message(s) to receive. It genuinely concerns me to see white people in fandom brush it off and make a choice to instead focus on the implications of shipping Izzy with his boss. It points towards a trend of dehumanization online where we no longer see people as people, but characters in our screen who have lesser value than our favorite blorbos. I cannot believe I have to say this.

Purposely separating L anon from identity is another way of passively justifying abuse. Whenever people brush off L anon, it's often in the context of anon hate happens to everyone and ignores the fact that more marginalized identities are getting the brunt of this which includes rape threats, suicide baiting, and overt antiblackness. It can often be followed with reminders that Izzy crits of color also receive racism. The thing is, saying that Izzy likers are receiving racist harassment, doesn't mean that other groups of fans do not. The harassment Izzy likers gets still matters, even if you don't view it as unique. It's concerning to hear white allies especially utilize this rhetoric as if they have a limited capacity of caring for poc.

Engaging with L anon

A lot of people do straight up delete L anon asks. On the Izzy likers side at least, there's been an uptick in people posting the hate they receive or collecting screencaps before blocking out of a necessity of proving that the hate exists. I think a lot of us would prefer to not have to do that!

It would help if Izzy crits made an effort to stop engaging with the anon unless it was to condemn his actions. Certain forms of engagement can be viewed as encouragement whether intentional or not, and it feels noticeable that in the last few weeks L anon has gotten increasingly violent.

You don't have to tell L anon that "I'm not even an Izzy stan so you have the wrong blog anyways" because this normalizes the idea that he should be focusing his attention on Izzy likers. You don't have to argue and justify to L anon that you actually dislike Izzy or prove that you're critical of him for the same reason.

You certainly don't need to tell L anon "I don't care if you harass Izzy stans" and it's insane to pretend like this is anything but a dick move.

Telling L anon "you act just like an Izzy stan!" or that they're "Izzy coded" reinforces to him that Izzy likers are abusers and racists, therefore affirming in his mind that they're acceptable targets.

Seriously, if your response is anything other than "sending these messages is fucked up and nobody in fandom deserves this for liking a character" then just block and delete the ask. Any amount of attention can be twisted into positive affirmation and adding on "harassment is bad" doesn't negate the impact of confirming to anon that you view Izzy likers as racist abusers.

Encouraging the association of liking Izzy as being an indicator that someone is racist, abusive, homophobic, etc

It sucks stop doing it. We can draw a difference between Izzy the character and Izzy likers. In the end, your interpretation of a character is yours and nobody can stop you from having it. Putting thought into how you frame meta, however, could help lessen this association.

Be careful with your language and ensure that you are referring to the character when discussing the show. "Izzy stans refuse to see that he's X" is an unnecessary statement when it can just be that "Izzy is X which you can see from scene Y." When there is a specific trend of harassment being justified via claiming a group of people is bigoted, it's worth the effort of minimizing feeding into that assumption.

Saying shit like "Izzy likers who are poc are desperate for white approval" is like for one really shitty lmao? But also feels bad in a climate where people are being called Candace Owens race traitors who should be killed.

There's a great article that touches on this and the way that even when someone isn't directly harassing a person, their separate posts in combination with others, reifies the idea that the victim in an appropriate target.

The author further elaborate in her research about third order or indirect harassment.

The examples she uses here are a bit more extreme, but this is the same framework she's utilizing in her article discussing harassment on the left and in queer communities.

When you answer L anon and say shit like:

or respond to concerns about racist targeting like this:

I am in fact going to feel some type of way about a week later seeing L anon increasingly escalate his behavior until I get six messages in my inbox calling me a race traitor bigoted cunt. It doesn't matter if you say "it's bad to be racist" when you're already confirming the idea that Izzy likers are the main exporters of racism in fandom which is explicitly L anon's justification for sending hate.

Tagging character hate

I still can't believe that this is an argument when it's a basic courtesy within fandom and has been for years. Tagging character hate doesn't constitute as harassment. However, it does exacerbate an already hostile climate between fans and allows for more conflict that could be easily avoided.

If a meta post is in the character tag then people are going to respond to it. It being tagged communicates that this is something people can respond, especially when you encourage people who agree with you to comment.

If you want less Izzy likers to respond to your Izzy meta then just stop tagging it as #Izzy Hands. It will greatly decrease the amount of interaction! Putting posts into the tag ends up baiting people into responding, continuing to draw out a conflict that nobody wants to be in.

If you don't like Izzy and you think he's too popular a character or his fandom is where you end up seeing the most toxicity come from please consider not going through his tag. If you instead look through tags of characters you like, you will be rewarded with content of that character. The character tag will not function adequately as a place to locate critical content for them, so just cut out the middle man, and stop using it because it's just pissing both sides off and "I have a right to be here!" is the dumbest hill to die on.

Using alternative tags for organization literally just makes things easier for everyone. Tagging things with #Izzy crit or something like #Dizzy Izzy allows you to have a space to locate similar posts without having to expose yourself to a group of people you don't like. It also provides an easy tag for people to block and avoid seeing on their dashboard. This is better than people just having mute the tag to filter out when going through his character tag, because it doesn't require an entire community to cater towards your need to post things in a tag on principle. People who are new to the fandom and just happen to like the character also don't have to be confused by seeing chara hate in the tag and going to argue with it.

It is good to center your fandom experience on things you like instead of being set on asserting your right to be within a space you don't like! I promise!

[captainkirkk]

I think tags are used in two major ways that are sometimes at cross-purposes. For "Tagging-as-Warning", warn for shit from the get-go, so someone doesn't have to bail halfway because of a sudden appearance of [squick].

But there's also "Tagging-for-Seeking". If I search for a fic tagged with Nick Fury, it's because I want to read about Nick Fury. If I read eight chapters of a WIP that is tagged with Nick Fury, but does not yet contain Nick Fury, I'll get a little irritated.

I don't think there's a single set of guidelines for fic tags that can satisfy both general categories but I think it's an important thing to think about while tagging and then just use your best judgement, idk.

Good point. This is also a reason why some people advocate for less tags. If a character appears for 300 words out of your 50k fic and says maybe 5 lines of a dialogue, do you really need to tag them, or are you clogging up the search results?

But like you mentioned, tags as warning/triggers/squicks are pretty important.

[levithestripper]

Fanfic writer interview

Thank you sm for the tag Liza!! I'm gonna put it under the cut so I don't clog the dash :)

How many work do you have on AO3?

51!!

What's your total AO3 word count?

206,615. I fear I might have a problem lmao 😅

What are your top 5 stories by kudos/likes?

Slutty Seashell (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) (1,233 kudos). I wrote this in 2020 and I'm lowkey still proud of it.

Braids of Gold (The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)) (579 kudos). This was a really fun fic to write, I can't get enough bagginshield fluff in my life.

What A Needy Little Thing (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) (506 kudos). Another one I wrote in 2020!! The sidon/link brainrot went HARD that year.

Slutty Hero (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) (445 kudos). ANOTHER 2020 sidon/link smut fic lmao.

Press Your Lips Up Against Mine (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) (302 kudos). First non-smut sidon/link 2020 fic! I really like this one, I might rewrite it one day.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I love responding to comments!! I like it when authors reply to me when I comment, so I try to return the favor when I get comments! The only time I don't respond is when I really like the comment and want to hog the notification lmao.

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

I don't really write angst, so it's probably a tossup between Hello My Old Heart (Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan) and Like the Ones I Used to Know (Stranger Things (TV 2016)).

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

I'm not sure how to decide which has the "happiest" ending, since pretty much all of my fics end happily, but one of my favorite happy endings is You'll Always Be My Prince (House of the Dragon (TV)). Technically it's not finished yet, but I really enjoy writing the endings of the chapters so I guess that counts lmao.

Do you write crossovers?

No, I don't read them or write them.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Probably, but I don't remember what fic it was or what the hate was about. I don't let hate comments bother me all that much, I just delete them and move on.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Most of what I write is smut! I enjoy writing it, and it comes easily to me, so a lot of my writing ends up being dirty, nasty, and freaky lmao. I write a lot of M/M slash and character/reader smut!

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, not as far as I know!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, I've only ever received translation requests where my work would be uploaded to another site, so none have been translated. If it were a request where it'd be translated and uploaded to AO3, I'd like that!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I'd like to! It sounds like it'd be fun.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

Oh god, how dare you make me choose?!?!? It's a tossup between Athelnar (Ragnar Lothbrok/Athelstan) and Zelink (Link/Zelda). They both make me feel so violent and insane that I feel a little bit crazy. I've been a fan of Zelink since I was a kid, and Athelnar for maybe 2/3 years now I think? I need to write more for both of them immediately.

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

I have a 7k-long Athelnar fishing WIP that I really want to finish, but I'm stuck on a scene and I don't know if I'll ever get over that hump. I love the story I've created so far, so I hope one day I'll get to share it with you all.

What are your writing strengths?

Oh man, I'm not sure? I think I'm pretty good at writing scenery/describing backgrounds/where the characters are? I really enjoy writing them so I hope that conveys in the quality of my writing.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I will write maybe 100-300 words and call it a day. I can't seem to write anything of substance for long periods anymore, which really bothers me. I wish I could write at a faster speed than GRRM but alas, that doesn't seem possible lmao.

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

I don't mind it, as long as the author provides translations for it that are readily accessible. When I write dialogue in a different language, I'll either use the tone tag to tell the reader that it's in a different language, and then write the actual dialogue in English, or I'll write it as is in the other language and provide translations in the author's notes.

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

Definitely Leofric/Uhtred and Uhtred/Alfred! And I've been rewatching Ted Lasso, so possibly something for that as well! I want to write more for TLK and Vikings in general.

What's your favorite fic you've written?

I know I mentioned it previously, but probably You'll Always Be My Prince (House of the Dragon (TV))! It's my first longfic with an OC who is basically a self-insert at this point. I have so many ideas I want to write for this story that it feels like I'm gonna explode.

No pressure tags: @nxuvillette, @itsnathateasy, @bouncehousedemons, and @tinyluvs.

Fanfic writer interview

Thank you @thelettersfromnoone for the tag!! 💖

How many work do u have on AO3?

3, not your local AO3 girlie lmao

What's your total AO3 word count?

8 534

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes

I'll go with Tumblr ones, cause from my 3 AO3 works the biggest number I got is 31 lmao

Anyone but you (Legolas x f!reader)

Night watch (Legolas x Reader)

Well-deserved rest (Haldir x f!Reader)

One messy night (Boromir x f!Reader)

Transition (Haldir x f!Reader)

Honorable mention (since it's not fics but headcanons)

Green Council receiving a hot pic from you (HotD)

TLK men's reaction on being pet named

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always try to respond to comments! These little things are brightening up my day, so I wanna let the people know that they are my heroes hahaha

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

I really think it's Transition. All in all it's a pretty dark story, a bit depressing I think (I had these intentions while writing at least).

Otherwise, I don't think I have angsty endings fics?

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

New family members for sure!! Was thinking hard what to choose, cause I think all of my happy ending fics are on the pretty same level on a happy scale, but I remember that I have this gen, non romantic baby and I love it so much ❤️‍🩹 There's a little TLK OMC for y'all

Do you write crossovers?

I wanted to say I've never done this BUT THEN!!! My Assassin's Creed (Ezio) x LOTR little headcanon!!! My beloved child!!

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

No, not that I remember getting any hate on my fics

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do, tho not much and on rare occasions. I used to write a lot of smut when I was younger (a teen), then I stopped being comfortable with it for a wild few years (tho reading never made me uncomfortable lmao).

Now I started writing smut again, idk what kind? Don't really understand what does that mean lol F x M traditional sex? Pretty detailed? If so, then yes lmao

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't know 😂 Maybe, maybe not. I think rather not.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge, I don't think so.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

We tried with my friend a long long time ago. Didn't go well lmao It's hard and kinda stressing, cause you never know what the other person is gonna write (at least we had this SURPRISE system), so... You kinda have zero plot cause everything you want to write plot-wise can be ruined by the second person's plot lmao

What's your all-time favorite ship?

Athelnar?? Athelstan and Ragnar were my first ever OTP (quickly followed by Alfred and Uhtred). You could never beat that Athelnar shit out of my body lmao I've never written for them, but oh I do love them boys!

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

Now, that's the HARSH one lmao

I think I have at least 3 OC stories that I really wanna write (2 for TLK and one for LOTR), but I'm scared that I will never actually do it. I never was good with multi chaptered stories, and these are indeed not a one shots 🥲

What are your writing strengths?

Ugh... I don't know? I think I was pretty good with dialogues and descriptions of the surroundings to build the atmosphere. But... I guess it's not for me to decide but for the readers?

What are your writing weaknesses?

I rarely finish what I've started lmao I should write everything in one go or else I'll never finish it... Or will finish it in two months even if it's a 2k words one shot

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

I love them! I've only done it with my LOTR fics (with Sindarin) but I really love it. But I really love it when the language is different from the language of the settings? Like, if the story is happening in England and everyone is English, but you have two characters who can speak idk Dutch, let them have a Dutch language in their dialogue. I had a rant post about it not that long ago actually lmao You have to think about your in-universe language

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

Ahhh Bungou Stray Dogs! I love them, and I'd gladly try to write something for them. Not a character/character but reader my beloved.

And maybe Stephane Narcisse (reign) my beloved and a reader

What's your favorite fic you've written?

The blood on my hands (Eomer) and Peace (Finan) are definitely my fave ones I think. They are dark and both explore some trauma

No pressure tags: @whitedarkmoonflower @lord-aldhelm @holy3cake @gemini-mama @emilyhufflepufftlk @persephones-journey @solinarimoon @mrsalwayswrite @emmanuellececchi @bilbotargaryen @levithestripper @mrsarnasdelicious @paula-in-dreamland