#i'm literally on my knees begging you

[bukvarsbitch]

attn folks interested in preserving fanfiction + digital fan history

alright so uh... the us is going through some shit right now.

as someone who's currently pursing graduate education with a substantial focus in fan studies, i am especially concerned about preserving the amount of works fans have created over the last however many years we've been fucking around on the internet. in particular, i'm really worried about ao3 and (even though i look at it like a cousin i'm not fond of) wattpad. these sites have immense cultural value and history that is worth preserving, and i'm not gonna lie: i'm a little worried about their standing come january.

so this is where we as a collective come in. i don't know how many followers i have on this silly hellsite, but i'm going to ask folks this: please, please, please— start archiving the fanfics and fanart and fan-everything of the fandoms you're in, you care about, or you have been in. put it on an external harddrive. make back ups. you'll want it if things go south, and scholars like me will want it so we can preserve fan history.

if you're interested in doing this, rb or message me or leave a comment or something and i'd love to work together on making a massive, cloud and external, database of fandoms we all care about. we have time to do this, and other folks have done and are doing this, but we need to do it.

to spread this around some, i've tagged this with fandoms i'm most active with here, but share wild and far. even if you don't want to do this with me, do it with your friends. please <3

tldr: i, and many other fan studies folks/fans writ large, are worried about what happens to fanfiction come january and trump's presidency. if you also care about this, let's work together to start putting together a database of fics we care about.

p.s. and if you do it i'll even give you a little shoutout in the acknowledgements of my master's thesis if you want idk (is this anything????)

[paranormaljones]

Okay media consumers, I'm gonna ask you to follow some lines of logic with me.

For good stories to exist, there needs to be conflict.

For conflict to happen, one or more characters will almost always need to make bad choices.

Just because a character makes one or a few bad choices does not automatically earn them the label of "toxic".

Just because said character does not experience immediate consequences due to their bad choices does not mean that they never will (especially if their story is not yet finished), nor does it mean that their creator is romanticizing or portraying their bad choices in a good light.

I mean, come on. You guys love a good slow burn romance. The least you can do is get used to the idea of slow burn conflict.

Edit:

DO NOT INTERPRET THIS POST AS ME SAYING THAT YOU SHOULDN'T DISAGREE WITH ANY CHARACTER'S ACTIONS EVER. DO NOT DO THAT.

I can tell some of you are already thinking about doing that.

Don't.

Please.

I don't have the energy for that.

[profounddefendorcrusade-blog]

I feel bad for Starlo.

Star has a point, idk what the four were ticked off about, there is like 99% chance everyone willingly participated in the trolley problem, based on what we've seen of his behavior thus far it's not like Starlo to be that big of a jerk/drag them by force/yell at them to do it. Ed's words:

he does it because Star asks NICELY

clearly jealous

It genuinely seemed like a fun time/fun roleplay, especially since every day is the same. Like, the five are supposed to be a rowdy and adventures bunch, what exactly did Starlo do wrong, I'm genuinely confused and curious. Except taking a big liking in Clover (his posse should know that this is a big moment for him, according to Blackjack they've known each other since high school and had the same liking for westerns. So they were basically a nerd gang.) Starlo was kind, patient and considerate towards Clover the whole time, even warned Mooch about them not being bandits, taught Clover gun safety, wanted to bring his posse along for a fun time, thanked Ace for telling him about getting Clover a new hat...

Sure, at first he only liked Clover for being a human, but as Ceroba says, that changed and he grew to genuinely care about them, plus I can't help but think Star saw himself in Clover and that's part of the reason he was so proud of them all the time even when they messed up (I'll talk more about this at some point)

What exactly made Ace want to leave the gang? He even said how he doesn't mind "getting run over by the fake train"

he's so nice. says sorry for forgetting the safety goggles even when he was scatterbrained due to his excitement. I love him so much

The only real "faults" (I'll call them temporary faults) I saw in Star during the Wild East section was that he was even more enthusiastic and more proud than usual. But how couldn't he be when he met a member of the species that he has admired for so long because they have real cowboys and sheriffs on the surface (who are seen as brave heroes who deliver justice, while Star canonically feels like a nobody farmer). His posse should have realized Clover wouldn't be there forever and just let their boss enjoy himself with his "deputy who'd have to leave sooner or later anyway"(or be more patient with him/ask him why he feels this strongly towards Clover/if there's a deeper reason for that). His friends including Ceroba just turn their back on him so quickly instead. The moment he's gotten the chance to feel valued for once and put himself first and not have to take care of this whole town and everyone in it and live his dream of meeting a real human, suddenly "his personality is damaged?"

Star's literally built this whole town, organised everything, he worries about everyone, Ceroba (plus was the one to give her emotional strength before and after Clover's sacrifice), Kanako, the monsters, his family, struggles with feelings of worthlessness yet never wipes that smile off his face, always does his best to be hopeful and optimistic and make others laugh, gave his posse a nap time so they don't become exhausted, gave Ceroba a free home, didn't act upon his feelings towards her and was a 110% supportive, caring friend instead. THAT'S who he is. He's the papa bear of this friend group, the glue holding everyone together.

He was just *really* excited. Y'all know he's insecure and just wishes to escape who he is and yet y'all blame him for liking Clover so much. Yeah, the four are very clearly jealous. But why won't the four of you control your feelings for a while? As mentioned, Clover WILL HAVE TO LEAVE EVENTUALLY. They won't be Star's "deputy" forever (the kid who's just as into westerns as he is, who values justice just as much, who also values doing the right thing. Someone he clearly felt understood in the presence of, whom he loved; just look at the way he talks about Clove during Showdown). Star seems genuinely confused of what he did wrong poor guy just wanted to live his fantasy for once and feel important:

Even at the beginning Moray's like "oh no Martlet is upset" Mooch replies "don't be a buzzkill nothing exciting ever happens around here" and Ray's like "Yeah you've got a point"

If you all agreed to have a little fun with a human who will very soon leave forever why is Starlo's enthusiasm such a big problem? If the posse weren't into this after all (unless they were simply too jealous which could have been solved with a honest talk and a little patience) why are you doing this "rowdy" job with Star in the first place? Do you want your boring routine day to day life so much back? Or just for Clover to leave (which they will soon enough)? You, western enthusiasts, literally met a real human, A HUMAN FROM WESTERNS YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE PASSIONATELY INTO (clearly not as passionate as Star but passionate ENOUGH to understand where he's coming from).

... okay.

[gingermintpepper]

hi I love your tags so so much! they were so sweet and so interesting and creative and the whole Aphrodite type of beauty thing sounds really interesting do you have any articles and recommendations to read further into it??

-hogoflight

Hello my fine feathered (I am assuming possession of feathers if you are, indeed, capable of flight) @hogoflight! I'm always always happy to hear that people appreciate my frenzied rambling in the tags :D! I have a lot of articles and recommendations :D!! Ancient Greek notions of beauty and representations of it in their art and sculptures is a pretty well studied topic! There isn't any way for us now to know definitively what the beauty standard was (it varied widely from region to region and culture to culture after all) but here are a couple of my favourite reads about Aphrodite and what her representations tell us about idealised beauty!

Probably the most empirically extensive one I can list is Krönström's thesis which compares statues of Aphrodite and literary text referring to both the goddess and mortal women to determine physical ideals for women in five specific eras of Grecian antiquity. Including measurements of the statues there are many descriptions of Aphrodite as 'curvy' with a 'voluptuous figure' and with 'ample buttocks and bosom'.

"When the beauty traits are described in the texts, they are never extreme or anything that could not be found in normal people just that they are more beautiful in every aspect. Furthermore, the sculptures’ physical forms look healthy, they are tall and have distinct curves. Great examples of this are the Knida sculpture and de Milo (the Melian) sculpture."

Of course, these images are still idealised, and there was still a concept such as 'too fat' or 'too skinny' found in written records (and this thesis even includes analysis of pornographic writings and descriptions of the fashion and stylings of pubic hair of women from different regions!!) but from an interpretational standpoint? There is absolutely no reason why these can't refer to a fuller figure. Height was also a very important factor after all and over the course of many eras, it seems like being well proportioned in addition to the length and appearance of one's hair were the most important factors (and, like Apollo, greater beauty was given to those with curlier hair)

Mireille M. Lee's 'Other Ways of Seeing' essay which talks about the forgotten female viewers of Knidian Aphrodite which is also extremely illuminating on how Aphroditic sexuality and sensuality was perceived totally differently from the well documented male voyeuristic gaze (which was overly preoccupied with the statue's nakedness and therefore over-sensationalised the statue's physical appearance) vs women's perspective on the statue which is more centered on the beauty of simplicity in Aphrodite's garment and decoration and in her power and ability to captivate both in her finery and without it. I think it's especially useful in exploring the importance of finery, jewellry and adornment in representations of Aphroditic beauty.

"Some of the small-scale copies are heavily jeweled, especially those from the eastern Mediterranean, for example the Hellenistic gilded terracotta statuette in the Çanakkale Museum (Fig. 5) in which the goddess wears, in addition to the armband on her (right) arm, the following: a necklace with multiple pendants; cross-bands extending over both shoulders and hips, with a cascading pendant in the center; a coiled snake armband on the left arm and another snake on her left thigh, and a twisted anklet on her right leg. (The left leg has been restored, and might also have featured an anklet.)"

"Jewelry is especially associated with Aphrodite in Greek literature. As seen above, in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, the goddess adorns herself with gold jewelry, dress-pins, and earrings in the shape of flowers (162–3)..."

Finally, and to me, the most important one in the argument for an interpretation of Hyacinthus as fat, beautiful and fundamentally Aphroditic comes from Brilmayer's brilliant brilliant thesis done on Aphrodite's work and influence in Archaic Greek Poetry which does away with all of that masculine preoccupation with physical proportion, measurement and bodily ideals for a focus on a Sapphic Aphroditic ideal centered in clothing, ornamentation and, most importantly cunning as symbols of Aphrodite and ultimately a feminine idealised form of beauty. This paper also discusses Pandora and Helen in these terms and it is just kind of a wonderful read tbh.

"Combining Homeric and Hesiodic elements with her own ideas, she [Sappho] alters the way female beauty is viewed. For example, the Homeric war chariot – a symbol of male, military prowess - comes to symbolise the totality of Aphrodite’s power uniting in itself male and female qualities. Having addressed the concept of beauty directly, Sappho then concludes that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. With the help of Helen of Troy and her beloved Anaktoria, Sappho sets out to reinvent the concept of female beauty as a godlike, subjective quality that may be expressed in many ways, yet remains inspired by Aphrodite."

The conclusion to all of this of course is that Aphroditic ideal beauty is much more fluid compared to its stricter Apolline masculine standard. The nuances and understandings of both are of course, constantly being studied, analysed and scrutinised but really, if Dionysus who was both bearded and clean shorn, effeminate, birthed and rebirthed (and twice gestated!) and strongly associated with vegetation can be popularly portrayed as fat and handsome, why can't Hyacinthus?!

[lucyvaleheart]

Psst ... you're cute 😉😉😘

I-!! H-hi!! I. I'm.... T-that, um-

T.... T-thank you, miss, um- I. I.... Y-you're extremely pretty yourself, um-!! I-

[daydreamerwonderkid]

Y'all I got 3 episodes to go and I'm so fucking scared 😭😭😭😭

I dunno how, but I'm 100000% convinced it's only going to get worse from here.

Iswtfg if Madoka ends up forming a contract with Kyubey DESPITE LITERALLY EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED I'm going to yeet myself out a window ashbfkcnklhf;jkaa

[camellcat]

I know we're all utterly in love with campbell bain and he's absolutely everything but I would also like to say I would lay down my life for rosalie my god

[yellowloid]

honey i don't know how to tell you but you were so not the target audience for this

[cloverskentwells]

thinking about serial killer's daughter clove again! can you imagine the vibes though like.

her dad was supposed to go into a hunger games but then didn't and he tried to live a relatively normal life with like a wife and kids and everything, had three sons on purpose and then an accident baby (clove) like ten years after the third son. one day he allegedly goes mad and kills a bunch of people at the quarry where he works in some vicious murder spree and peacekeepers chase him down and shoot him dead right in front of six year old clove.

her brothers are all grown adults/gone and the mom doesn't want to deal with a grieving traumatised child by herself so she sends clove off to the academy and then disappears to one of the other towns. clove's brothers have either relocated far away or just can't afford to take her in so she gets to live in the academy dorms. then clove spends years getting bullied and teased about her loser deadbeat serial killer dad who couldn't get into a games so she puts on this creepy image to protect herself and becomes so good at knife throwing that it gets her a highly coveted spot in the games.

she plays up the father's daughter image/her inherited sadism and it kind of stopped being an act somewhere along the way. she does obviously have emotions and feelings though, in fact one of the reasons clove grows fond of her district partner is because he deeply respects her and doesn't belittle/harass/tease her about her past or act like her father's actions define her, and he's terrified of her but in an admiring and sweet way instead of genuinely being repulsed by her like most of her peers were around her.

[every-sanji]

[lyril]

lumpus is a fascinating specimen glad theres other people also fond of him

HE SURE IS i will be honest i almost like him a Little Too Much because i Also live in my fantasy world of make believe where camp lazlo is a little more than a 6.4/10 show (I STILL LOVE YOU SWEETHEART!) and instead also includes all my insane 20k spiels of backstory stringing and talks about character writing but

(also. i do think it's funny how popular slinkman is in comparison, i love him just as much, but i actually see people mention really liking slinkman pretty frequently if someone happens to posts about camp lazlo which is GOOD because he DESERVES IT MAJORLY but the lumpus bug has Also caught me something awful even though i hate him and he sucks so i'm alone adrift in the world out here...)

edited this just for him

[miyamoratsumuu]

lowkey highkey praying the poll ends up with shinsou IMAGINE HIM IN A DORM WITH KAMINARI, SERO, AND TODOROKI OHHHH MY GOD

same, same, and same THE WAY MY SMILE WIDENED WHEN I READ THAT LAST PART AAAAAGH ELLE PLEASE I LEGIT NEED THAT TO HAPPEN????

[plaguedcupid]

finally published my vw hanahaki au ♪(´▽｀)

[lord-squiggletits]

IDW is hard to read at many points and I have sympathy for those who find it difficult to be motivated to read (given that I've also done a nearly full phase 2/3 reread and still had to skip some stuff), but if people continue to not read the comics and then comment/make fanon and headcanon on things they never read, I'm simply not going to take them seriously. I would think "you should read and enjoy the source material" isn't that unreasonable of an expectation for people who are supposed to be FANS but I suppose in today's fandom culture that just makes me a dirty dirty gatekeeper

[xanothersideblogx]

Chat what the Fuck

[danthropologie]

.