#in defense of fanworks

[sirmacintosh]

"The Horror will grow mild, this Darkness, light."

Idk I really love Sinner Adam, but also how Luci almost certainly has some complicated feelings towards him

Also I dont make comics or render like this I kind of enjoyed the challenge

[s2pdoktopus]

Gintoki is here as Takasugi's vertical support, Zura is here as Gintoki's moral support!

Anyway, to answer Gintoki's question:

Takasugi used Pay Day!

It's super effective!

[lokiinmediasideblog]

There's a certain kind of cutesiness and wholesomeness that will piss me off. I have to tell myself not to be a bitch. It's harmless.

[animecreator3000]

Every time I rewatch some episode of Boueibu HK I wonder again how the staff even planned this season. Like. Almost nothing meaningful happens with the characters

TLDR the characters with the most developement in HK are the monsters

Kyoutarou is there as a complete contrast to Yumoto while keeping the battle speeches so his characterization doesn't make much sense. Nanao is mere fujoshi bait. Taiju and Taishi have random bits of dialogue that hint at possible arcs for s2 but not enough to tell us what it really is. Maasa has an unfinished arc in his episode, where supposedly he's putting fatty butter in his cookies to make everyone else overweight because he resents Ichiro not defending him when they were little, but then his friends tell him it's fine and then he can move on??? This would work with Ichiro's theme of not wanting to be immature or dense anymore, except they only ever used this theme as a gag (misunderstanding the meaning of whatever the others have said) or to straight up humilliate him (ep4) and continue treating him like a stupid baby. At the end of the season Maasa and him have made peace somehow and that's it. Ata gets in my opinion the closest thing to a complete arc, even if it's just staring angrily at Kyoutarou for ten episodes, then explaining his problem while fighting him and finally getting his apology and reconcilliation. At least it's something. And poor Ryouma is just there to be the butt of a few jokes about how he lets Nanao and Kyoutarou use him, be in a couple of cute shippy scenes, and also for Ata to completely dismiss him from the flashbacks to the point where if they had first met in high school nothing would've changed.

The relationships barely have developement either. Love had anime episodes and manga chapters dedicated to the different close friendships solving their conflicts and becoming closer. There were also many instances of seeing how close the Hakone brothers-defense club and Beppu brothers' relationships were, and even though they didn't have any conflict between themselves, they made them strong sides for the final fight. Yumoto didn't get a character arc but through the entire anime he was revealed to be strong, considerate, forgiving and mature, willing to kindly befriend the Beppu twins for his brother but not let them walk all over him; contrary to how he was presented in the first episodes, like a stereotypical magical girl protagonist. Anyway in HK there's no meaningful conflict between any of them besides Kyoutarou and Ata. Taishi and Ichiro argue constantly but don't show to genuinely like each other after all like IoRyuu or EnAtsu did. Ichiro and Maasa never make any progress to be together again, Maasa hints once at liking Taishi and nothing comes from it, and Nanao and Taiju have the most artificial friendship in the cast that I just do not understand. They just ran an ice cream shop once with again unexplained success and make sassy remarks at each other ever since. And I guess Karurusu and Furanui had a bit of developement thanks to Kyou and Ata in ep12. Idk about the aliens, this time it's like they didn't do it completely well but also not as bad as with the rest of the cast. Maybe bc they didn't appear as much as the humans in most of the episodes

I'm realizing now that a few of these complaints are related to Nanao acting weird

Idk where to put this but I'd like to point out Kinshiro's principles of halting the fight with the Battle Lovers as soon as he finds out that the s1 conflict was set up for a reality show and actively defending them from an attack because they're Binan students, despite still not having received his apology from Atsushi. Ata might've done the same if the HK finale's events had gone in the same order (travelling to Honyalaland to fight Wao, then Kyoutarou apologizing to Ata), but he doesn't feel as a character as deep as Kinshiro in that sense bc they didn't really show him to be in other ways.

Love feels more like an actual group of people while HK feels like they were filling in friendship group roles or something

[brokenorbornthatway]

🔥

I've got something to say to antis:

I have seen with my own two eyes some of y'all saying that it's wrong to "abuse" characters in fanworks. I've seen y'all saying "this character would NEVER do that!", "This character doesn't deserve to be shipped in this way!"

Y'all realize that not only are there no real people being hurt in fiction, but none of your precious characters are being hurt in fanworks either? (I mean of course you don't, otherwise you'd all shut the fuck up forever.)

But seriously fanfiction and fanart are transformative, as in they are distinctly NOT the originals. As in when someone writes or draws a character, it is no longer the original character. They are inspired by, modeled after, and share the name of the original characters, but they are not and never will be the original by definition. They are the artists' interpretation/depiction of the character, not the original characters themselves. They are separate entities from the original characters.

The original characters you care so much about don't need your defenses. A) they aren't fucking real oh my god please stop treating fictional characters like real people with real feelings. B) fanworks depicting whatever you'd consider abusing your favorite character don't affect the original in anyway whatsoever because THEY'RE TRANSFORMATIVE.

Only the original artist has the power to put the original character in abusive situations, so stop getting so butthurt over artists depicting characters in ways you find "icky".

[somerunner]

[Image ID: An online news headline, which reads as follows:

The Internet Archive Loses Its Appeal of a Major Copyright Case

Hachette v. Internet Archive was brought by book publishers objecting to the archive's digital lending library.

/End ID]

I'd also add that fanworks are possibly a big part of how a fandom maintains interest in an IP between new releases, how they get other people to become interested in the IP, and overall are a massive driving force behind the demand for an ongoing (or completed) IP. I think it's pretty rare that fanworks have ever reduced demand of an IP; even piracy can be very beneficial for an IP (only when the IP is mostly or entirely unreachable without it, though).

That's all my own opinion and completely unsourced. Take what I said here with a big grain of salt until you see a real study backing it up, and even then retain some doubt.

i am pro-copyright infringement. anybody who does fanfiction or fanart or anything should be pro-copyright infringement and obviously we are on the Fanart Website. why this is not a more popular stance among people who spend all their time doing transformative works is beyond me

[nighthaunting]

This deserves a more in-depth post but I’ve been thinking about Morgott again and just off the cuff it IS very funny in terms of symmetry that Marika imprisoned Morgott in the Shunning Grounds to the point that he was shackled to keep him there and now Morgott is doing such a good job defending the Erdtree to keep the Tarnished from burning his city down that he’s incidentally keeping Marika imprisoned in her Elden Ring Breaker’s Time Out Crucifixion Evergaol

How the turn tables type situation honestly

Morgott’s devotion to the Erdtree is continually framed as him being overly invested in the Golden Order’s dogma by fandom which is I think a misread of his situation, as I’ve said before, but Morgott’s devotion to defending the Erdtree has also kept Marika imprisoned for ???? years so he’s also honestly doing more than any other demigod to directly pay her back for his terrible childhood, and its entirely unwitting which is the funniest part

I have seen a lot of fanworks belaboring Morgott’s imagined mommy issues and religious issues but I think we need to lean in more on the fact that Morgott was also directly keeping anyone from breaking the Erdtree open like a piñata to find out what happened to Marika for the length of An Age

The Veiled Monarch running Leyndell like its the fucking Navy and whenever anyone asks him what happened to the God Queen he’s like ‘its fine don’t worry about it also under no circumstances should anyone approach the Erdtree Sanctuary no reason she just needs her privacy’

Did he occasionally hear muffled clanging coming from inside as Radagon tried to fix the Elden Ring and ignore it because it’s none of his business?

IDK I just think this is very funny Morgott successfully jailed his Godly parent for like a thousand years by accident by being extremely good at siege defense strategy and also hunting Tarnished for sport

[tippenfunkaport]

FYI, I have also locked all my fanfics down to registered users only because of the AI scraping on AO3. I'm one of many fan creators doing this right now and I know it stinks for users without an AO3 account, but it's the only option writers have available to us at the moment to stop our work from being scraped and stolen.

If this makes you mad, the Federal Register is currently open to comments on AI accountability until June 12th, 2023.

It only takes a second to leave a comment to ask for legislation that works used in AI creations or training MUST secure the express consent of the original creator before they can be used. If we can get protections for artists, writers, musicians and everyone who creates that their work cannot be used in AI without their permission, we can go back to making fanworks freely available without fear of them being misused. Until then, we're stuck playing defense until the courts catch up.

(If you're a fan creator looking to do this as well, AO3 has a tool to let you do all your fics at the same time in seconds. On your dashboard, go to Edit Works and you'll be able to change the status on everything at once.)

If you missed the context, AO3 recently found that the archive was scraped for use in AI services like ChatGPT and Sudowrite. While they put in protections in December 2022 to try to stop it from happening in the future, it's not foolproof and there is nothing they can do about works already swiped prior to that date. The archive is recommending fan creators restrict their works to registered users only to prevent against additional large scale scraping in the future.

[destinationtoast]

I know this is the least of our problems right now but do you think the US election results will impact ao3?

I am not a lawyer, nor a founder of AO3, nor a volunteer there, nor a fandom journalist or historian, so I'm pretty far from the best person to ask. I encourage any and all of the above to please chime in with more knowledgeable answers.

That said, I don't think the next few years will probably directly limit AO3 or its umbrella org, the OTW.* But that depends in part on members voting for board members who will uphold the organization's current principles. (Vote! Become a member if you're not already, and vote! Vote in ALL the elections you are eligible for and will be affected by!) And that doesn't mean a bunch of works won't become private, orphaned, or deleted.**

*A couple reasons for my cautious optimism: The OTW was formed with the preservation and maximalist defense of fanworks in mind. So the shifting US cultural norms and increasing purity culture can't easily change the OTW from within (as we've already been seeing in past years when some fans have disliked some content). And in spite of everything scary happening externally (and there is a whole fucking lot), the US still has far more constitutionally enshrined freedom of speech protections than most places in the world. It will take a long time to tear all that down. Some states and locales are doing a lot to try to challenge free speech, especially queer content and sexual content, and there will be more challenges. But many of those challenges will be defeated because of the First Amendment, and it'll take a lot of time and effort to push through any constitutional changes. You can donate to organizations like the ACLU and the EFF to help protect against the erosions of rights, in addition to supporting the OTW and the Internet Archive who work to preserve free speech rights and online rights. (Other suggestions of where to donate or volunteer are welcome in the notes!) Also, perhaps best of all, the OTW is a non-profit who owns their own servers, which makes it MUCH harder to change what they choose to host than if they relied on any external hosting services and/or had advertisers.

**The archive already has had a whole lot of fanworks shift from public to private due to external events, including the AO3 ban in China, and recent AI scraping of web content. I'm sure more AO3 users will choose to make their content private over the next few years out of a fear of potential personal risks of them being found, and/or due to new attempts to ban content. (Some users will also delete their works for similar reasons, though I urge people to consider orphaning them instead!) Downloading for personal use any fanworks you love is always a good idea, and even moreso at a time of great heartbreak and panic, like now.

*hugs* Hang in there, all, and continue to take comfort from AO3 & OTW as you survive the upcoming hard times.

[beatleskinkmeme]

Summer of Love Fanworks-a-thon Master Post

Please check out these fanworks and leave a comment!

Grateful for him by @johangeorghohman

5 + 1 things, 5 times George wished that Paul never met John (because George has a big fat schoolboy crush on Paul) + 1 time he was grateful that they did met

everything to be discovered by @backbenttulips

John and Paul exploring a romantic relationship with each other during the 2000s-2010s, and navigating life as famous old people and grandparents.

the size of a loneliness by @backbenttulips

Brian survives his overdose in 1967. John and Paul come stay to make sure he gets better, taking care of him in their own emotionally inept way.

Knocking at Your Door by @eveepe

5+1 fic. When they’re kids George learns that an easy way to calm Paul down when he’s getting the horrors is to give him a quick little kiss on the mouth. It becomes his go to method to soothe Paul when he needs to.

I Fancy Me Chances With You by @hootiepgh

Paul participates in a charity auction during the 70s. “Bid on a date with Paul McCartney” John pays an absurd amount of money to win. Paul is shocked. They go on the date and they’re both very awkward, neither are sure why John paid so much and what it entails.

I'll Never Do You No Harm by @hootiepgh

Aftermath of the "I want a divorce meeting," when Mal drives Paul home. Paul is broken and crying. Mal calls John and tells him how upset Paul is. John comes over. All the angst please!

But as the words are leaving his lips, a noise comes from behind by @hootiepgh

Mid-1969, Allen Klein and the Beatles are having a private meeting with Allen still trying to convince them to have him be their manager. He gets really frustrated and lashes out at one or all of them, and in an act of self defense Paul, Ringo, George, and John end up accidentally killing him. Afraid of what might happen if anyone finds out, they all agree to cover up their involvement in the crime. Their personal lives/ marriages start to crumble as they're forced to rely on each other as the only people they trust. Would like the inclusion of McLennon and George X Ringo

If I Needed Someone by @hootiepgh

Paul gets shot during the 1966 Memphis concert. John (doesn't) deals with the angst and the guilt.

Taking Trophies by @m1ssunderstanding

AU where John and Paul see each other sooner, forced into confrontation around 1971 when things were at their worst with John spewing his anger to the public and Paul taken aback by it. Of course this leads to some post-breakup, angsty, possessive sex.

Everybody Loves Somebody by @bewareofdarkness

Soulmark AU, the four of them are soulmates

invisible string by @scurator

McHarrison boat vibes on the Queen Mary for the Venus and Mars release party. Um, bonus points for George showing off that he won Bob Dylan in the divorce

deeper than oceans you run by @timrothencrantz

AU where they went through with doing Beatle island and establish their commune (?) or whatever the plan was. Polyamory ensues. This either fixes everything or makes everything worse (or somehow both)

yellow, orange, and blue, i love you by @menlove

Soulmates au where one sees colour for the first time when you touch your soulmate. I believe it would be fun to see how this would play out. This one could be a fic, a comic page or even an illustration where the boys realise what happened when they introduce themselves, whatever the artist prefers!

take it away by @monkberryfields

Younger John meets an older Paul at a record shop. Paul offers to teach John how to tune his guitar and play a few chords but at a price...

Posy by @ohjohnnysblog

Mclennon does a roleplay where they pretend John is a shy virgin groupie. Bottom! John

Banana Milkshakes and Armpit Hair by @crepesuzette2023

Will someone finally come on Paul's eyelashes?

I ain't no fool, and I don't take what I don't want by @crepesuzette2023

Mal and Paul make love al fresco during one of their trips. Paul wears nothing but the flimsy scarf he's seen wearing here.

all by design by @forthlin

the classic “john and paul do increasingly sexual things with each other while coming up with increasingly elaborate justifications for why it’s not gay” scenario, except they both DO know that it’s gay, they just each think they’re pulling a fast one by convincing the other one that this is normal guys-being-dudes behavior.

I've Just Seen a Face by @javelinbk

when John met Paul

Meeting on the Turret Stairs by @sleeper9

a John/Paul moment backstage (Hamburg/touring years/rooftop/artist's choice) based on the piece, Hellelil and Hildebrand, the Meeting on the Turret Stairs by Frederic William Burton.

Oh no, he's beautiful by @sleeper9

The first time John wears his glasses around Paul he finally gets to actually see Paul's face and oh no, he's beautiful

Run For Your Life by @pie-of-flames

A recut of any footage into some kind of Beatles horror movie trailer (maybe Paul is dead?)

**This will be updated as we get more fanworks!!

[ghost-husbands]

In Defense of Charles Rowland

Under the cut because this is gonna be a long one, folks.

I'm going to begin this by saying that I have recently joined this fandom and to be fair, don't have as much experience with writing meta and all that. However, I love reading and given that meta is

discussion of fanworks of all kinds, fan work in relation to the source text, fanfiction characters and their motivation and psychology, fan behavior, or fandom itself.

I have always thoroughly enjoyed reading and attempting to write it. Now I have finished watching all the episodes of the season we currently have, and when I finished watching 1x04, I had some pretty strong emotions about what happened in there.

What happened exactly?

Well before we get into that, I want to say that I was inspired to write this because of the original writing of @pippin-katz on the same subject.

So as we know, in 1x04, the ghost husbands have a confrontation with the Night Nurse--an immortal (I think she's immortal, no?) being in charge of the Afterlife's Lost and Found Department. Why is she after them? Because Charles and Edwin are two unaccounted for spirits who are wandering the world and not where they belong. They're both technically special cases. Edwin was dragged to hell by pure accident, the victim of a demon summoning. It says something that even the demon itself apologizes to him for the technicality before he's taken down to the inferno | Charles died after an attack, of hypothermia and his own injuries. He discovers he's dead when he sees his own body and once it hits him that Edwin's going to leave, he doesn't want to stay behind to wait for Death. Frankly, he isn't ready for Death, so he says. So he decides to flee Death, just as Edwin has been since his escape from Hell.

Aside from staying with Edwin for their foreseeable eternity, Charles' motivation for staying is, according to him, the purpose he still serves...the face that he is a Dead Boy Detective who's dedicated himself to helping spirits who still have unfinished business. He's doing good here with Edwin. They are helping people. Ah, let's not forget, I almost missed the fact that when the Night Nurse arrives, Charles almost immediately puts himself between the Night Nurse and Edwin.

He's protecting Edwin as he always has and always will. He's almost bristling with fury and you can see the strength of his will in the way he's standing there, refusing to go quietly. He will fight for his purpose here, he will fight for Edwin, and he will fight for his newly found friends (Niko and Crystal watching from the sidelines now).

The Night Nurse has her job, and she's convinced that it shouldn't be a problem to simply apprehend the boys and pop off. Perhaps if she had only just, then truly, there wouldn't have been a problem. The show would have ended there and that would have been a pretty fucking pathetic end, I'd say. But she resorted to force, and I here want to begin to make my point. The exact kind of force she used and how she used it was cruel, a low blow and makes her, to a certain degree at fault for what befalls her.

What did the Night Nurse do?

Put simply, as pippin-katz points out, she made Charles relive some of his worst memories.

That's being beaten by his father.

That's being stoned by his friends and pushed into the lake where he caught hypothermia.

That's dying freezing and miserable in the attic until Edwin shows up.

If you want a thorough analysis of her actions, go look at what pippin-katz wrote, I'm going to focus on Charles here.

She twisted the knife (and we know that it is a very, very deep wound in Charles, the anger and abuse of his father--he's emotional enough over it to get caught in the murder loop at the Devlin House and it's one of the points of his breakdown in 1x04) when she showed him these moments and basically asks him, "What's the point of staying here, this is what happened to you. That's what people here do to you. You wanted to stay for this? You can't make things better (this was during his father's beating)..It didn't get better, you died. That's the point."

Please, let's not forget how much this affects Charles, the fact that his father beat him and so we might suppose, was always disappointed in him. With Crystal, Charles admits that he looks in on his parents every now and then because yes, he misses them (this coming from a 16 year old boy who despite suffering at his own father's hand obviously had, at least before he died, still the desire to please that man, and perhaps some degree of love for him) but also to be sure that his father will not hurt his mother the way the old man hurt him. He wants to protect his mother. So all of that, reliving that, is going to be very painful.

What did Charles do in this moment?

He's angry. We know that he's very physical, and we can see the way that he puts himself between Edwin and the NN as he refuses to 'come quietly' to the Afterlife. He's visibly shaken by the ordeal and rattled after he recovers from whatever the NN did to him when she made him relive his memories. She flicks her hand and basically does something that makes him collapse, and he's trying to pull himself to his feet after that.

He's so very angry, hurt.

"If you wanted me crushed, devastated, I am. I'm also bloody angry."

Looking around a bit, I asked around to get an idea of how exactly what he did could be taken in a shocking, jarring way. I'm not here to disprove anything or knock other's opinions, I just wanted to compare both sides of it. That being said, two points.

He hit a woman with that big metal device.

It's not like him to be so violent.

Those, in a nutshell, are a very brief, concise idea of why people might look at what Charles did and think, "Hm that was a bit too much. Maybe he shouldn't have done that, not in that way."

I answer with the fact that, as pippin-katz also pointed out, the Night Nurse looks like a small, older woman, otherwise defenseless (Granted, she didn't have anything to defend herself when Charles attacked). Apparently in Doom Patrol (I've never seen it and don't plan to) she looks a little less like a woman and a little more monstrous. So she's not entirely innocent here. I personally disapprove of what she chose to use against Charles (and Edwin, given that she threatened to bring up the same painful memories in Edwin's mind). I don't condone the idea of violence against a woman, that's not okay, and it was a little jarring to see. I guess I'm trying to say....I believe that Charles was right to defend against the attack initiated by the Night Nurse.

Was it laudable that he reacted so violently to her? Perhaps not, I don't think so.

Was he to blame for choosing to fight? I certainly think not.

To the second point, I can't say very much because I haven't read the comics nor do I know extensively his personality and what he would or wouldn't do. But I've gathered that, from seeing the series, he's never quite been the one to attack first, or to strike just for the hell of it. I've only ever seen him react, not initiate. I think it's understandable that he would react strongly to what has happened, and I hold that he isn't to blame for wanting to protect Edwin and their loved ones.

How did his friends react to all of this?

Edwin

Charles reels from what happened, and you can hear that he's shaken by it. You can hear it in his voice when he asks Edwin and the girls, "Why are you all looking at me like that?" Edwin steps forward and tells him it was extreme. That kind of tipped it for Charles, then, I think.

"Was it too extreme, Edwin? So was me dying at 16, mate! I don't wanna be dead. I hate it. Yet every day I'm fucking smiling 'cause who else is going to be the one holding it together, keeping spirits up? You? Are you gonna do that, huh? And for what? What good am I even doing? I couldn't stop Devlin from murdering his family over and over. I can't stop Crystal from hurting. I can't stop whatever it is that's going on with you. I can't stop anything. I sure as hell couldn't stop my dad from beating the shit out of me. No matter how good I was."

Honestly, this part broke my heart. Because Charles, earlier, said that he did this for them, to protect them. He's admitting here that he IS the one trying to hold everyone together but that (wake up call everyone) he's actually hurting too underneath all of it. But as someone pointed out to me, Charles never brought that up to Edwin because he might have considered that Edwin has spent 70 years in hell and would not have wanted to burden his friend with his own problems.

We see that Charles is falling apart here. He's questioning the good that he does, because in his eyes he sees only how he's failed "to stop" all those things, and you can note how his voice rises and breaks towards the end.

Niko and Crystal say nothing in this moment, but either later that episode or in the next one, Crystal snaps at Charles.

"You’re a sweet guy with a rage problem. You walk around acting like the sun always shines, and then you lost your shit while beating the Night Nurse. Edwin and I are walking on eggshells around you instead of just saying 'what the actual fuck?'”

That was definitely something that caught my attention because didn't she hear what Charles said up above? It just popped out at me because Charles explained why he's the one acting like the sun always shines (he needs to try and keep everyone's spirits up because if he breaks down, and Edwin were to break down because of all the shit he's been through, that coupled with Crystal's own problems with David and her personal struggles...there would be no one to pull everyone out of their darkness)

Anyway, I'm not here to bash anyone either. Back to Charles.

So in the end, he breaks down and we can see that the catalyst here (probably) is not only reliving those memories and dragging up the pain he's been carrying from all of that but also the reaction of his friends. In his mind, he did it for them. He immediately steps between the NN and Edwin, to defend Edwin. He's left questioning the good that he's doing here, the point of all of that.

To the final question of was it wrong for Charles to do what he did?

I believe he wasn't wrong. He was defending against an attack. He might have responded with too much violence but he's reacting to something that wounded him just as deeply.

So this ended up being more of an exposition of Charles and his emotional state, but I tried to make a defense of his actions. It's not perfect, and I'm not out to prove any sort of point, just expressing thoughts because I too had a strong reaction to that episode.

Nonetheless Charles remains my favorite.

[radioapplerevue]

I really don’t mind if people hate Alastor ships. I don’t. It’s totally fine, we all have different tastes and preferences — fandom would be less fun if we didn’t. But I’m starting to see a trend of people being… kind of shitty about the identities of those shippers in a way that can be really invalidating.

Look, we aro/ace people are not a monolith. Our experiences differ, and so do our opinions. There are aro/ace people who — like me — really enjoy shipping Alastor and seeing how people explore his sexuality in fanworks. Then there are people who are uncomfortable with that and would prefer Alastor not be involved in ships at all, and that’s cool too. I understand that. There are few characters out there that are allowed to be disinterested and detached from sex and romance. I don’t blame anyone for preferring that —- and honestly, that’s what’s going to happen in the show! Alastor isn’t going to end up in a relationship with anybody. What we ship in fandom isn’t going to change that at all — and most of us prefer it that way!

What bothers me is when people start to claim either that the aro/ace people who ship Alastor are not truly aro/ace — or worse, betraying their own identities. I’m too old and have been told too many times in my life that I’m not being queer the right way to be willing to listen to that here. Or they mock their identities, implying that those identities are made up or frivolous, perhaps to justify their shipping. (You never have to justify your ships, okay? You just don’t.) This to me just feels like invalidating the identities of real people in defense of the identity of a fictional one.

And you know, some people are learning about themselves through this! I’ve seen a bunch of discussions and comments both here and on AO3 of people who are starting to understand their own sexuality better because of how many, many fics explore Alastor’s. For me it’s validating to read those, because I’ve never been in a fandom where so much attention was paid to my sexuality. I can’t always relate to the way people choose to write it, but it’s still interesting to see the forms it can take. And if people choose not to explore it, that’s allowed — I am, after all, not required to engage with it. If someone plays with our toys in a way I don’t like, I can just find another set of toys.

Basically what I’m trying to say is — I get it if shipping Alastor makes you uncomfortable. You’re valid to feel that way. But other aro/ace people are also valid if they enjoy it. And at the end of the day, I would just hope that we respect actual people more than a fictional one.

[dufferpuffer]

honestly I don't even blame the intense Marauders fans for making the boys barely seem like friends.

How many lines are there (that wasn't said to each other) where teenage Sirius and James were not being absolute pricks...? They're such insensitive assholes. In their heads it really was James & Sirius and then everyone else in the world. Remus and Peter are included but constantly disrespected.

And like of course they were friends, and had each others backs - but there's a power dynamic in that friend group, and its James and Sirius are kings and Remus and Peter are useful for entertainment. Toxic lil teenagers. Dumb asshole kids.

But that's exactly the point, right? Every time we see a memory of the past, its to show the opposite of what Harry thinks: - James and Sirius were actually quite nasty - Remus wasn't a role model, - Peter was a bit of a victim, - Severus is honest - and straight up correct most of the time

I think the unfortunate thing in fanworks on this era is how they treat this dynamic as golden. As fine. They were the bestest and tightest of friends, the toxic shit was all stable and normal and good... and the only way to have that make sense is to twist who the characters are.

- James has to be a labrador who barely knows what he is saying. - Sirius has to be a drama queen to say insensitive things. - Remus has to be a grumpy badass to be so quietly defensive. - Peter... well they just ignore Peter. When he is there they have the others love-bomb him to make up for the abuse. - Severus has to be the worst otherwise the marauders look bad. But its more interesting that it wasn't like that! That the group fell apart! Remus separated after school, there was a rift between him and Sirius - Peter was such a fourth wheel he wasn't loyal at all - Sirius was almost TOO loyal and reliant on James, too dedicated - and while James loved Lily he was still irresponsible and selfish.

IDK its 4am and I'm rambling. I guess seeing so much stuff of pallid, pale, sickly Remus as a butch tanned teen scowling at people... it gets to you at 4am. I think, if you wanted a more assertive Remus to have hot sex with Sirius (if teenage sex can ever be hot...?) leaning into their characters would be cooler. That's my 2 cents.

“I’m bored,” said Sirius. “Wish it was full moon.” “You might,” said Lupin darkly from behind his book.

There's fire in that. There's dissatisfaction and annoyance and bite - alongside Remus' general meekness. There's disregard from Sirius. Idk. Feels like that's a cool angle to work with.

[hbyrde36]

Burnin' For You

(Pt 1 of 2) AO3

Written for the Spicy Six Winter Fanworks Challenge

Hosted by @thefreakandthehair!

Dialog Prompt: “Who sets the fire alarm off at 3am in December?” / “Who runs outside without a coat at 3am in December?”

Ever since Steve's ex broke up with him and walked out on their life together he hasn't been able to sleep in their apartment on his own. For months now he's taken refuge in the space under his desk, in his /thankfully/ privacy office on the 8th floor of a high-rise on the edge of the business district. It was all going fine, really, until the night the fire alarm went off.

WC: 2,557 | Rating: E (for smut in pt. 2!)

The ear-piercingly loud siren of the building’s fire alarm jerked Steve out of an already fitful sleep. He startled awake, tried to sit up, and wound up banging his head against the underside of his desk hard enough to see stars. 

Great.

Just what he needed, another knock to the head. As if the two concussions he’d picked up playing sports back in high school hadn’t been enough.

He laid there like an idiot for a moment or two, hoping it was a mistake and the grating sound would stop on its own, but the wailing of the alarm only seemed to grow louder the longer he was awake. 

Shit.

What was he supposed to do now? 

The obvious answer was to follow protocol and go outside to wait for the fire department to arrive, which he really, really, didn’t want to have to do. In his defense there was no smell of smoke or anything but seeing as it was the middle of the night and everything, there was basically zero chance that this was a drill.

He sighed heavily and reluctantly got up, shoving his feet into a pair of slippers he kept in his office for late night trips to the bathroom, or sometimes to the coffee machine in the break room when he really couldn't sleep, and grabbed his cell phone off the charger. He didn’t bother stashing his pillow or rolling up the sleeping bag, still hopeful that it was a false alarm and he’d be back in no time to resume what was left of his night on the hard floor with its all too thin commercial carpeting.

He walked on autopilot to the elevator, remembering just as it dinged and opened that if there really was a fire or some other emergency, he should be taking the stairs. He shuddered as his mind conjured up high resolution images of being trapped in there as the building burned down around him. 

Thanks for that, brain.

He shook his head and quickly backtracked to the stairwell access door.

-

Steve shivered, wrapping his arms around himself as he crossed the street wearing nothing but red checkered flannel pajama bottoms and a white long sleeve t-shirt, his version of Christmas pajamas. Not that he felt very festive this year, but he was trying. At least he had something on his feet. He blamed sleep deprivation for the fact that he hadn’t thought to grab his coat off the rack on his way out.

He came to a stop next to the building that faced the one he’d just fled, chin tucked in tightly to his chest, slowly curling in on himself more and more as the cold seeped into his bones. It couldn't have been more than forty degrees outside. His teeth chattered and he wondered how long it would take for the fire department to arrive. Maybe he could just sneak back into the building for his coat. It wasn’t like there was anyone around to stop him.

The abrupt sound of a throat clearing loudly nearby made Steve nearly jump out of his skin. His head snapped up, locking eyes with a man who was leaning against the wall not five feet away from him. Steve knew with certainty that he’d never seen him before, even in passing. He would have remembered those deep brown eyes and gorgeous head full of long dark curls. He wasn’t sure how he’d missed noticing the stranger’s presence just now, his only excuse being that he hadn’t expected anyone else to be around at this time of night. 

“Oh, uh. Hi.” Steve stuttered out awkwardly. “Were you in there too?” 

“Yeah.” The man said, sounding a little nervous himself. Steve guessed he was also surprised to see another person.

“That’s odd.” Steve said, tilting his head to the side. “I didn’t hear anyone else in the stairwell.” And with the way his own footfalls had echoed on the steps he thought for sure he would have.

“Oh. I took the elevator.”

“That was pretty dumb, what if it got stuck?” It was a little tactless even for Steve, given that he’d almost done the same thing, but could he really be blamed for putting his foot in his mouth given the hour and the circumstances?

The stranger raised both eyebrows. “Wow, charming.”

“Wasn’t trying to be.” Steve grumbled.

“Okay, fine. If there was a fire it would have been stupid, but clearly… ” The other man trailed off, gesturing towards the building which sat whole, still, and very much not on fire in front of them, before grumpily pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket.

Steve swallowed hard. Smoking was a disgusting habit, or so he’d been trying to tell himself for the past six months since he decided to quit, but damn if this infuriatingly attractive stranger didn’t make it look hot. The way he raised one to his mouth and wrapped his plush lips around the end of it had warmth pooling in Steve’s gut despite the frigid temperature surrounding him.

Nope. He wasn’t going there. He needed to deflect, now. 

“But you couldn't have known that. Unless… '' Steve paused, a thought occurring to him. Suddenly it clicked and he was livid. “Oh you absolute fucking asshole!” 

It probably wasn’t completely fair, but it was easier to be pissed off at some jerk, cute or not, for being an idiot than it was to face the truth. He wouldn’t be in this situation if he could just sleep in his apartment like a normal person, but ever since Tommy left he couldn’t stand being there for any longer than it took to take a shower and change his clothes. It was supposed to be their home, their life that they were building together, until it all fell apart.

“What did I do?!” The other man squawked in reply.

Steve gave him an unimpressed look, gesturing to the cigarette in his hand and, more pointedly, to the smoke that was curling up and away from it. 

“Shit.” He cursed, throwing the cigarette to the ground and stubbing it out violently with the toe of his boot, as if getting rid of the evidence now would erase it from Steve’s mind. “It was an accident, okay? It’s never been a problem before, I just blow the smoke out the window and it’s all good, usually, but I guess the direction of the wind wasn’t on my side tonight.” 

Steve bristled. “Well thanks to your accident,” He began, using air quotes to highlight how ridiculous it sounded. “I'm stuck out here freezing my ass off. Who sets the fire alarm off at 3am in December?!”

The man smirked, an expression that somehow made his already stupidly pretty face that much more attractive, and crossed his arms over his chest as he spoke. “Who runs outside without a coat at 3am in December?”

Well, he had him there. 

Still Steve glowered, willing a scathing retort to form on his tongue. But, before he could manage it the doe-eyed stranger was shrugging out of his jacket and stepping up to drape it across his shoulders. The leather was worn soft and smelled vaguely of tobacco and some expensive brand of warm, spicy cologne. Steve breathed the scent in deep and felt the beginnings of a blush crawl up his neck to settle on his cheeks. 

“Better?” The stranger asked, voice gone soft in a way that sent shivers up Steve's spine that had nothing to do with the weather. 

“Yeah, uh, thanks… “

“Eddie.”

“Eddie.” Steve repeated, liking the way the other man’s name felt on his tongue. “Steve,” he said, introducing himself in return before adding, “but, won’t you be cold now?”

Eddie shrugged. “I’ll be fine, I run hot.”

You can say that again.

Steve looked Eddie up and down as subtly as he could manage, taking in the way his newly exposed t-shirt was stretched tight across his body, accentuating lightly toned arms and a thin waist. He bit down on his lip hard, trying to snap out of it. He couldn’t remember ever being this attracted to someone at first sight. 

“If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?” Steve asked.

“14th floor, Hellcheer studios. Do you know it?”

Steve nodded. He’d never visited that part of the building before, but he knew of the small yet successful startup production company that was housed above his own offices.

“I sneak in here a lot at night to record when inspiration strikes. I don’t like taking up time that could go to other artists. There's less pressure too, when no one else is around. Just me, my guitar, and a microphone.”

“Couldn’t you get in trouble for that?

“No, it’s, uh, let’s just say I know the owners really well.” Eddie chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “What about you? And don’t say working.”

“How do you know I’m not here burning the midnight oil, same as you?”

Eddie laughed and shot him a truly wolfish grin. “Well, for one, no one really works between Christmas and New Years unless they absolutely have to, and for two, you’re wearing pajama bottoms, sweetheart.” 

“Oh, right.” 

Steve deflated a little. He’d completely forgotten the state he was in and was instantly embarrassed at the reminder. He didn’t even know what he was still doing here. He was so stupid, standing on a street corner waiting for the fire department when really he should just get over himself and go home, be normal. 

He slid his shoulders out of the leather jacket to try and give it back to its owner before he fled, but Eddie was having none of it. He wrapped it right back around him, only this time they were facing each other and Eddie had to move in extra close to swing it around his back. So close that Steve could feel the other man’s warm breath brush across his cheek as he spoke. 

“No, please keep it on.” Eddie began, rubbing his hands up and down Steve’s covered arms, warming him further. He kept his voice low and gentle and the whole thing was so undeniably intimate that Steve thought he might actually swoon. “I can't have you freezing to death when it’s my fault we’re stuck out here. I’m sorry if I said something to upset you. I didn’t mean anything by it, I swear. I was just…  teasing, I guess, and maybe a little curious?”

Steve was too tired to come up with a believable excuse, if there even was such a thing.

“I, um, I can’t sleep in my apartment anymore. Ever since my ex left I just… it doesn’t feel right to be there alone?” 

It was quite the admission to make to a perfect stranger on the sidewalk in the middle of the night, but despite his initial embarrassment, there was something about Eddie that made him want to open up. He felt strangely safe.

“I’m sorry, that must be rough. How long has it been?”

“A few months.”

“Oh, Steve.”

“And I know what you're going to say. I should be over it by now. That’s what everybody says.”

“Actually I was going to say, your poor back. I can only imagine how much it’s suffering sleeping on a cot or god forbid the horrible floors in that building.”

“Oh.” Steve said, looking away.

“Hey, you’ll get over it in your own time. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” Eddie said, reaching up to cup his cheek. The hand was so warm on his icy skin that Steve was helpless to stop himself from nuzzling into the touch. 

“Thank you.”

A beat of silence fell over the two men and by all rights it should have been uncomfortable, standing there wrapped up in someone he didn’t know, but Steve couldn't bring himself to care. Eventually the sound of sirens in the distance prompted him to speak again, knowing the fire department would be there soon. 

“I kinda am, y’know? Over it, I mean. My ex… looking back I’ve realized he wasn’t the best person. I don’t miss the relationship exactly, I think it’s more like I miss what could have been.”

Eddie hummed in agreement. “I get that.” He said, and paused before asking, “why haven't you moved?” 

“I think at first it was because I hoped he’d come back.” Steve answered, risking a glance into Eddie’s wide sympathetic eyes. “Pathetic, I know.” He murmured. 

“None of that Stevie, you’re not pathetic for holding out hope.”

“After a while I realized it was for the best. Tommy… I don’t think he was ever as committed to us as I was. I don’t think he even liked me by the end, let alone loved me.” Steve sighed, closing his eyes against the memories that flooded his mind.  “I was offered a promotion. It would have come with a huge pay raise but it also would have meant longer hours at the office and less time at home. I turned it down, there wasn’t any amount of money worth that, to me at least, and besides, I like my job. Tommy didn’t agree, he was furious.”

“I’m sorry, but the guy sounds like a dick.”

Steve laughed, cracking a smile for the first time in a long time. “Yeah, yeah I guess he was.”

A fire truck with flashing lights came barreling around the corner seconds later, coming to a stop directly in front of them. Eddie, to Steve's disappointment, let him go, explaining that he should be the one to talk to them since the whole thing was his fault, and stepped away to greet the handful of responders.

It was only a few minutes before Eddie came jogging back, a look of obvious concern pinching his face. 

“I tried to tell them it was my fault, that it was a mistake, but their chief said he has to clear the building anyway and it could take a while. I don’t think we’re getting back in there tonight. I guess we’ll both have to head home for the night.” Eddie sounded sad at the idea, as if he were as upset as Steve was that their time together was coming to an end. 

But maybe it didn’t have to.

“It’s alright, my apartment isn’t all that far from here.” Steve said, contemplating the best way to make his move. 

“I’m sorry,” Eddie said, grasping Steve’s hand and squeezing it. “I know you said you hate sleeping there alone.”

This man could not be real, Steve decided, he was far too fucking sweet. And something about that must have made him feel brave, because he looked Eddie right in the eyes and just went for it. 

“I was sort of hoping… maybe I wouldn't have to sleep alone?”

Eddie raised a single eyebrow, face breaking out into a tentative smile. “Are you sure?”

In reply, Steve tucked a finger into Eddie’s belt loop and tugged him forward, closing the distance between them as he crashed their mouths together. Eddie let out a pleased hum as he deepened the kiss, and Steve was pleasantly surprised to find that his lips were even softer then he could have possibly imagined

Part 2!

Thanks and love to @penny00dreadful for being the best cheerleader and beta reader a gal could ask for! 🥰

[kandisheek]

Cap-Ironman Rec Week 2024

Better Together Monday: July 22nd

Prompt: Tell us all about those fanworks where Tony and Steve are better teammates, are more competent, complete missions more efficiently and are just overall better for working and being together!

We all know that Steve and Tony are better together than apart, and this is the perfect time to celebrate it! Here are some of my favorite fics where teamwork makes the dream work:

-- Kludged Together by Veldeia

When he cut his morning jog short to join Tony Stark on a reconnaissance mission off the East Coast, Steve sure wasn’t expecting to end up stuck on a life raft in the middle of the ocean, his hand knuckle-deep in Stark's chest.

-- Danger Mouse by isozyme

First step: get both Tony and the pieces of Tony’s suit into some kind of shelter. It’s not raining now, but it’s only a matter of time. The passenger bay of the jet is sitting at a thirty degree angle and pretty banged up, but the doors are accessible and, hey, it’s got a roof. Step two after shelter: make a fire. That’s wilderness 101. Steve pats around his belt pouches for his matches. He comes up with a pack of tissues (wet), a couple of business cards (wet), his guilty pack of cigarettes (also wet), and finally a book of matches. It’s wet.

-- If Through a Door by jibrailis

Tony is accused of murder on an alien planet; Steve marries him to bring him home.

MORE RECS BELOW THE CUT:

-- Symmetry Breaking by Annie D (scaramouche)

After the Battle of New York, Steve rode off on his motorbike. That's how it went the first time. This time he rides back, all the way to Stark Tower, where he asks Tony for help.

-- Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happy Hour by BladeoftheNebula

“What is your problem?” Steve finally asked, annoyed at the way Stark was acting like there was a storm cloud over his head. Stark reeled back. “My problem? My fucking problem? You walk around this place with a stick jammed so far up your ass I’m surprised you can even bend over to suture!” Steve’s jaw dropped. “At least my head isn’t so big it barely fits through the OR doors.” Dr Steve Rogers is finally assigned to work at the MASH 107 army hospital in Korea, just like he’s been wanting since he was drafted. Too bad the Chief Surgeon is such an ass.

-- Senseless by Scavenge4Dreams

Blinded, deafened, exhausted, injured and afraid, Tony raised himself up into a defensive position, the knife coming up just like Nat had taught him.  “That had better fucking be you, Steve Rogers- it had better be you. Fucking disarm me. If you let me kill you, I swear I will be very, very pissed.” Tony snarled, sure it was Steve approaching. Had to be. Had. To. Be.  What if it wasn’t?

-- Trust Fall by Sineala

Tony needs someone who cares about him, bandages, a jacket, ibuprofen, dinner, a lasting romantic relationship, a nice time in bed, and assistance committing federal crimes. He gets them. In that order.

-- Love among the Hydrothermal Vents by DevilDoll

In which Namor has a thing for Steve, an octopus has a thing for Tony, and Steve and Tony eventually have a thing for each other.

And two of my own fics:

-- Flipping Through Channels

When Loki hits Tony and Steve with an illusion spell during their fight, Tony is prepared for torture, nightmares, the whole shebang. What he's not prepared for is being trapped in a kitschy eighties rom-com with him and Steve as the protagonist and love interest. And why the hell does Loki want them to kiss so badly?

-- Some More Equal Than Others

Steve split from SHIELD years ago, but when Fury approaches him with a rescue mission that goes beyond anything they've ever done before, Steve knows that he can't turn a blind eye to it. Those animals need his help, and if he has to go undercover to save them, then he'll do it gladly. He never expects to find what he does, a tiger hybrid who seems to understand him and yet pretend to be an animal. Steve knows that even more than any of the other animals in this illegal zoo, this man was never meant to belong in a cage. No matter what, Steve won't rest until the man is free.

[corpsedisturbed]

im well aware there is a problem of racism within the zutara shipp community, i won't pretend to be dumb and say i don't notice how a lot of fanworks have katara abandon her culture in order to become fire lady or how zuko protects her from "the evil misogynist men from the water tribes" and how the fire nation is sm cooler than the southern water tribe, the whitewashing, etc. those are real things, it's disgusting and as a POC, it makes me feel insecure in the fandom. there is a problem w nsfw fanarts and fanfics of zutara as minors too

but all of this isn't limited to the zutara shippers and this isn't a defense but a plea for all of you to look closely with what and who u interact w. literally this week we saw a kataang shipper be exposed as a racist and a harasser. I'm on twitter again and her interactions w other kataang shippers are many but the warnings coming from other people come a long way too and i barely saw any ka addressing the situation. there was a exposed of a zk group chat some months ago who were actually proshippers and the exposed was created by a zutara shipper who was even harasseed by zk shippers (the ones in the gc and others too)

avatarfandompolice is another racist user who receives a lot of attention too. zvtara-was-never-canon is managed by a zucest shipper. hell there is a literal zionist lurking around both the zk and ka fandoms (starlight-bread-blog)

a lot of the anti zutara discourse i see the majority of time doesnt actually focus on the racism the fans have towards katara but go on to call it a toxic shipp and a colonizer/colonized shipp. funny thing is, these people praise zuko's arc and his friendship w the gaang. if u actually think zuko is a colonizer and he shouldnt be w katara romantically, he shouldnt have a friendship w any of the gaang either. they all suffered under the FN's imperialism but this discourse only appears when romance is brought up and specifically w zutara. as i said before, there is a problem of racism within the zk shippers but it isn't inherent to the shipp. a lot of times this anti discourse comes from a need to have moral high ground. but honestly, do u think u have moral high ground while stanning kuvira, a grown ass woman who put waterbenders and firebenders in concentration camps? do u think u have moral high ground when u insist zutara is ass but ship zukaang, a boy who is 12 and the other who is 16? do u think u have moral high ground when u ship azula and zuko, the siblings? do u think u have moral high ground while u shipp zukka and doesnt think it is colonized/colonizer bc "sokka doesnt care ab his culture"?

and it goes both ways btw. zk shippers, do u think u have moral high ground when u interact w racists fanworks and refuses to aknowledge their existence but at the same time say kataang is inherently misogynist and their shippers too? do u think u have moral high ground when u attack zukka by being homophobic? do u think u have moral high ground ignoring that by having a redemption's arc, zuko needs to have smth to redeem about and that something is his horrible fucking choices a lot of yall try to woobify? do u think u have moral high ground when u try to justify zuko being a bad and possessive boyfriend just bc u don't like mai?

there is a problem of racism, misogyny and homophobia in the fandom and im tired of everyone pretending their little bubble is perfect and never a part of the problem. i love avatar but anyone w half a brain knows the show is racist and stereotyping at times, just like the creators. yk, the two white men who appropriated a lot of things.

it was a long rant and i don't expect people to read it but I just needed to rant ab it anyway