#im not saying jrr was autistic

[incorrectsmashbrosquotes]

Link: "Autism ddidn't exist before the 90's." Okay Karen, then I assume J.R.R. Tolkien, who invented multiple languages and spent thirty minutes talking about every tree he came across on nature walks was as neurotypical as can be.

[greed-the-dorkalicious]

because-im-freaking-greed replied to your post: Yknow I really think a lot of people care more...

I might agree. Elaborate please?

Basically people complain about lack of good fiction, but don’t actually bother looking for anything they haven’t heard someone else talk about. When people say “I wish there were a book where...”, really what they mean is they wish 200 fics for that book along with metas and moodboards would spring up fully formed, because chances are A Book Like That already exists and literally all they have to do is google it. But they don’t, because they don’t want the story that badly, they want something with a fandom.

People in fandoms also COMPLETELY fail to support original fiction, treating the concept of having “”””OCs”””” as cringey, and not bothering to read it whenever anyone shares their original works- despite the flaming hypocrisy evident in the fact that, you know, EVERY CHARACTER OUT THERE IS SOMEONE’S OC. JRR TOLKIEN HAD OCS, KAREN. HIROMU ARAKAWA HAS OCS. STAN LEE HAD 800 OCS. WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM

In other words, to sum it up

The internet: Ugh, I wish there were more good stories to read. I haven’t had anything good to read since (insert trendy series here) ended. And I wish there were more diversity in media Someone: Hey, I’m writing a fantasy novel about a black autistic lesbian and a nonbinary amputee who- The internet: Wow, you have OCs? :/ I mean I guess that’s ok but like, I’m not really interested :/ The RP community is so cringe, I can’t believe anyone still has OCs :/// Amazon: Hey, here’s a TV adaptation of a 19-year-old book that’s fairly well known, featuring an ambiguous relationship that is never fully defined, written by two straight cis white men who are quite well known in the writing community The internet: OMG FINALLY SOMETHING GOOD!!! THIS IS THE GAYEST THING EVER, LITERATURE IS SAVED, YESSSSS

And I’m not saying this to shit on Good Omens at all, or be all “I knew about Good Omens before it was cool” or whatever. I could have picked any number of examples. My point is basically just, people in fandom communities tend to only care about things that are already published and well promoted, and don’t even just simply overlook less established works/authors, but actually actively put them down, when there’s really not any reason why one of them should be inherently better or worse than the other. Everyone wants (insert story element here), but nobody wants to give anything a chance unless it already has a fanbase, pretty much

[whirligig-girl]

Me again. Odd question. What started your interest in trains? I’m not talking shit, I admire your passion for trains (and spaceships), Im assuming they’re like your special interests (as I’ve said I’m autistic too, my own special interests are history (hence why I’m studying it) and the works of JRR Tolkien)? But how did it start? If it’s okay for me to ask. (I’m sorry if this question is a little too personal.)

my interest in trains goes back so far that I could practically say "I've always loved trains." But it's actually a bit of a funny story how it happened. Most of this story is relayed from hearing about it much later from my mom's perspective.

When I was very young, I had a book my mom would read to me often, called Zoom City Zoom. I'm not sure if that book created my early car obsession or if it was bought because of it, but either way it helped cement little Luna's love of cars and other vehicles.

When I was, probably, two and a half or thereabouts, my Mom and Dad brought me to my grandma's house to stay over the weekend because they were going on some trip. They were taking an Amtrak train, and when they left, I had said, through teary eyes at my departing loved ones, "I like trains too!" : (

When they returned from their vacation, they brought a VHS of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends which included a wooden railway toy of Bertie the Bus, and I think also a Thomas the Tank Engine toy.

From then on I was obsessed with trains, particularly Thomas the Tank Engine, and because the Thomas tv series was made (originally) not to talk down to children, and the book series had a lot of lore (some of which was documented online and shown to me by my dad), it's something I just... never grew out of. There were long hiatuses between when I would pay attention to Thomas, and I think in Middle School and High School my interest in Thomas seemed almost to be a sort of regression or coping mechanism during particularly stressful times; since becoming an adult and seeing the activity in the fandom (particularly on twitter--it's not so active on tumblr) it has become a stable special interest.

I will say though that I don't like generic trains that much. My appreciation for trains is pretty much linked to my appreciation of Thomas, meaning I know way more about British railway history than about American trains, and even then for the most part I only know the history relevant to the fictional Sodor. I love steam engines (railway or otherwise) but don't care much for diesels. I appreciate any train, but my special interest is focused on funni talking train show.

Also trains are really important to me, politically speaking. Like, we need fully automated luxury gay railway communism sustainable transit infrastructure, and highways are just not it. Also, to do the opposite of bringing the story full circle: fuck cars.