#idk these were just all the variables plaguing me while i was thinking this out these past few weeks

[ramblingsonic]

I'll be honest, I'd found the relationship stuff alright so far. That said, it seemed almost out of nowhere for Julie-Su to be acting like her and Knuckles were a thing (unless the idea was that he was supposed to just know, which is stupid- fuckin' communicate), aside from that one kiss that clearly left Knuckles confused.

Vector being kinda a shit head and "wantin' to hit on babes" and the like "without ever gettin' weighed down by a ball and chain [Marriage]" fits well enough with the character they established for him at least, and frankly, I was fine seeing that plot play out- hopefully ending with the whole thing as a lesson to Vector to be less of a sexist dick or something, IDK- character growth, or maybe some karma.

Now, this comic is NOT new to relationship drama- that's why Geoffrey was first introduced, and I've been variably tolerant of it. But ultimately, the best relationship elements of the story, in my opinion, have been those built around genuine care between characters, and how they communicate their care and navigate their relationships with each other.

Like, Geoffrey and Sonic fighting over Sally fuckin' sucks (for SO many reasons, but let's ignore the accidental pedophilia issues in this case- still so many problems). Meanwhile, having Sonic get a bit insecure over Knuckles and Sally, ending in him asking Sally a question that leaves them both thinking "Ahh, haha, he/she cares :3" is great. The first is plagued by inconsistent writing (it seems like half the writers want Sally and Sonic to be very loosely a thing, while the other half want them committed to each other), Geoffrey never seemingly having respect for anyone EXCEPT the girl he wants to bone (coincidentally the princess), and there never being a proper scene of Geoffrey really respecting Sally beyond a surface level it feels like. Meanwhile, we have been learning the history (slowly) of Knuckles and Sally, and we see a clear respect they have for each other- meanwhile, Sonic and Sally bounce off each other constantly, having genuine issues and some fights between them, but also often resolving them one way or another; we have scenes where they just talk, where Sally confides in Sonic and he supports her; Sally mourns the death of Sonic AND Knuckles when they get nuked in Robotopolis, and Sonic is horrified to see a roboticized Sally- hell, the BEST scene that ever happened involving the Geoffrey/Sonic/Sally love triangle was when Sally was "dead" and Geoffrey and Sonic screamed at each other "You killed the woman I loved" "You only love yourself, I'm the one who loved her" because it was all built on genuine heart and emotion.

I don't know. I'm not a romance person- romcoms and love stories and (generally) romantic will they/wont they sitcom type shit just doesn't do it for me. I love The Night Circus (go read it, the love story is generic but the fantastical imagery IS SO GOOD!!!!!!!), and I can bear a romantic subplot just fine enough- The Seven Realms is a series with romance and some love triangle esq stuff at it's core, and I still love those books (the dance and proposal in book 4 is SO good- but I have personal reasons to love that).

Still, I'm not an active fan of this space of tropes. I just... want genuine affection and character insight and to see what happens when two characters are put together- some ships are fun in the same way a car crash can be, just watching as two characters interact like water and oil under the heat of romance, while other times these stories are great because of how they humanize the characters and help draw out deep down pieces of them.

All this ranting... the reason I started typing this is: I absolutely hate the trope their setting up in the included panel, I hate it so much, whyyyy?????????? I was having a decent time...

To my understanding, this isn't the end of relationship drama in the comic, it might get worse, and... oh boy. I know there's bad art we've yet to see, and quite likely some stories that'll be worse than what came before. To be honest, I've found most of the comic to be, at worst, low quality and/or convoluted; plenty of it has been enjoyable, with some fantastic art, some really cool and wild ideas, and some great character stuff and all around good execution- not all of it certainly, it started off as nothing Loony Toons bits and even later hasn't been consistently good at all, but more and more it's been getting better in my eyes.

But I worry that, what's to come, might be the bad stuff people attribute to Penders. It feels like everyone makes fun of or complains about Knuckles The Jesus and how convoluted everything is and Geoffrey St. Pedo, as well as the art, but I've yet to see that horrible Vector dancing image, or stick-thin-limb Sonic in need of a haircut, and I worry that the genuinely bad quality writing is yet to come...

[asingularbee]

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[noir0neko]

sometimes i feel like ppl wanna pretend tumblr's writing standards doesnt exist but when someone actually talk about how trying to reach it tax them out, ppl go 'dont follow it!!! do you!!! be your original self!!' but end up not showing the same amount of support with the notes. and the writer ends up looking ridiculous and pathetic for voicing out their tiredness about the standards (double standards?) idk i've been thinking about this.

Hey there :) 

I think I understand what you’re trying to say! I’m going to voice my thoughts on this and if it’s not what you meant, please correct me! I’m glad you felt you could share your thoughts with me, I am always here to chat <3 

This is going to probably be a long post so the rest is below! 

This is something that has plagued me since I began this blog almost five years ago tbh. I was super attached to getting notes and gaining followers, especially when I first started posting my work. Which created this cycle where I was writing what my followers requested and only that, and became really upset when a piece didn’t do as well as I hoped. But then I wasn’t always writing what was in my heart and forcing myself to write when I wasn’t into it, which deteriorated my passion for it over time until I took a hiatus. 

As a whole, especially in fan fiction writing, and especially for BTS, there are specific AU’s and ideas that get more attention than others. Certain genres get more notes and attention, and so do stories that center around certain members. Unfortunately, that’s something that I think all fan fiction writers have to deal with, no matter the fandom or band or book series. 

That makes it really hard, especially when first starting out, to NOT fall into the algorithm of putting out works that only fit within that genre. And then it becomes a habit and then a chore and can become not fun anymore. I definitely did that and that was a huge reason why I ended up leaving for so long. 

I have put original works or pieces that I am passionate about, but not requested on this blog and generally, they never do as well as the more “by the book” fics. It sucks and I definitely agree with what you’re saying in many ways. While the sentiment is nice, of writing what I want and being original, that’s not what is typically successful on this platform. Not in my experience. 

I still have to remind myself when I post something original to not be depressed or upset that it didn’t get as much attention as I hoped. I still have to remind myself that when I see another writer with thousands of likes on a fic they posted a week ago that it doesn’t make me any less of a writer. I also have to remind myself that my note count and my follower count doesn’t matter. But I live in a culture, especially as a woman, where those things matter very much. People see others and their worth in terms of their social status, by followers, likes, comments, etc. That mindset is hard to escape, even here on Tumblr. 

I have lost a lot of followers since I came back and made my blog more diverse than just BTS. That sucks and it hurts, because this has been my baby, but if I continued to just be BTS, then I wouldn’t be able to share my diverse passions and other interests with people and would feel constricted and restrained. Before I left, I spent a long time answering ALL of my requests and putting half ass work out and I came to the conclusion during my hiatus that I would much rather put out works I felt SO proud of and have them do alright, then put out works I thought were crappy and have them do great. 

I know I am staying as true to myself as I want to be on here and that matters. 

As a reader and a writer, it’s always easy to encourage other people and not follow through. Sometimes certain topics or genres sing to one person and don’t for another, and that’s completely okay. I do understand what you’re saying and I feel that way, as well. I sometimes post little rants to try and engage with everyone here and to help you guys get to know me better and me get to know all of you. But most of them go ignored from what I can see on my end, and it does discourage me from posting anything personal at all. 

It can be really easy to fall into a cycle of negativity on this platform, especially if I start comparing myself to other people. But I know that a lot of what I would be getting upset over is largely left to chance: people may not see what I posted come up on their dash, I just came back from a two year hiatus, pretty much all of the people I knew here before have left, and I have opened my blog to include other fandoms that some of my former followers may not want to see. There are so many variables on a website, especially one like Tumblr. 

And despite feeling discouraged sometimes, like no one really reads my writing or will care about my next fic, I know I will feel proud of myself for finishing it and sticking with what I am passionate about, so I keep going! 

~Admin Eggplant