#it is extremely common for people to come to fandom as a hobby space to keep their sanity; lick their wounds; and rest

[genderqueerdykes]

okay i’ve been wondering about this for a while. i’ve seen a lot of fandom discourse that headcanoning a character who’s commonly accepted as transfem in fandom as a genderweird trans in all directions nb person is transfem erasure. is this true? i haven’t really thought so‚ but i might just be biased as a nb transmasc myself. (common examples include john egbert)

hello there, thanks for stopping by!

i am definitely the wrong person to ask about this, i am very sorry. i do not participate in fandom at all, i don't engage with much fiction and when i do, i don't get into it that much. my brain doesn't really latch on to fiction like it did when i was a kid. i still play games and watch anime here and there but i don't interact with fandoms, so i apologize for that. i find them to be genuinely uncomfortable and unsafe environments to be in due to being intersex and biracial. fandom spaces unfortunately tend to be extremely racist & intersexist. i had friends who were heavily involved in fandom as a teenager and i felt very unsafe due to the sheer amount of fetishiziation of intersex bodies that goes on in fandom spaces.

this is simply an outsider's perspective, but i don't really see fandoms as "representation" that can be "erased" because it's all conjecture and everyone has such wildly different opinions on what a character is or is not. it's not representation if it's not confirmed. if it's just a headcanon it's not representation, as it was not confirmed and thus is conjecture and speculation. i might be wildly off base as an outsider, but i always kinda thought the point of fandom was for everyone to express how they interact with that piece of media uniquely, and spread and share their thoughts and opinions? why are people trying to control how other people interact with a piece of fiction that they did not make...?

that seems antithetical to the idea of fandom. i thought it was supposed to be a fun hobby? again maybe i just *don't* get it as an outsider, but it makes no sense to me to try to control someone else's internal opinion on something that quite literally is not real. like at the end of the day none of these people are real, you can't hurt their feelings you're not 'erasing' anyone here, they're literally not real, and if it's only a headcanon that that person is transfem... then you're not. erasing. a transfem character, it's just conjecture. it doesn't matter what gender or sexuality you see them as because you're free to think and feel those ways in your head. you're allowed to engage in those thought experiments because that person quite literally is not real so it's okay to speculate on their identity. it's not okay to do this to another live person but if they're fictional who... cares?

this may sound really harsh but i need to stress to people that fictional characters are not real human beings, and stressing out over their genders or sexuality does nothing to help you. you can't hurt their feelings. you can't erase a transfem that isn't confirmed to be transfem. a headcanon is just that: a personal opinion. it shouldn't come to the point where it causes distress and fighting. this is a hobby, it is not one's entire life. i would recommend just blocking and not engaging with people who try to police how you interact with leisure behaviors. i don't think there's one true way to be "Right" about these kinds of things because it's literally all conjecture

also sorry, i have no idea who that character is! i don't know very many fictional characters by name so i can't lend any input there, apologies. for the future, if anyone is curious about my feelings on these sorts of things about other characters, i unfortunately cannot help you as there's a near 100% chance i am not familiar with them and can't lend any input

how can an opinion be right or wrong ... ? that just doesn't make sense to me. it's all opinion. it's not worth hurting other people over or yelling at each other. i'm sorry that i can't give you a more informed opinion, but i thought maybe an outsider's perspective could help somewhat. i hope this is somewhat informative or helpful to you at all- i honestly don't think it's right for people to try to control each others' headcanons because that is quite literally thought policing and i am not here for that. anyway, take care of yourself! thanks for stopping by :)

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

me raising my voice over the sound of my clown shoes squeaking on the floor: i'll just write up a quick post alluding to my thoughts about DNIs, and how i feel like people both for and against them are erasing important nuance here. i'll try not to get into the details too much on it though, because it's a Long Post Subject and it Will balloon into that longpost if i don't keep it as simple as possible

me an hour later, 4k words into the post and still writing: AH LADS,

me: i'll just write up a quick post about a couple simple things you could change about sdmi to fix the worst of the talking animal stuff. maybe a little disclaimer at the beginning about the Utopia Problem

me an hour later, 3k words into the post and still writing: ah lads not again

[valyrfia]

People don't hate ferrarihive (thearchercore) because she vanishes what haha. they hate her ass because her posts are cringe as fuck and make Charles look like an idiot that everything he achieves is ONLY because of Max or only has to do with Max. Or she treats him like this fictional dude that only manages to do things because and for Max only and it's I fear common sense some lecfosi are gonna find that awkward and not, that cool? maybe. which like you said, they're free to block and move on. But you know, twitter is the place for haterism so if it gets negative opinions, well there's freedom on that too. Im not saying she deserves the hate but she can't possibly act shocked or confused about why the hate is coming. Like do you guys read yourselves? Almost 90% things posted make Charles look like an idiot which is not that deep since you're not exactly in charge of the pr and image of the guy (thank god for that). But you know, that will get fans with some sort of need to defend him, because that's almost the point of being a fan, defend and support, you know?

You asked me if I was reading my own posts, well I have to say, are you listening to yourself? Not only do you think the place to discuss this is in askboxes of two people who consider her a close friend, but what has she does to offend you? Exactly?

As far as I can see, all she does is make silly little edits that she has loads of fun making (for FREE mind you), and posts it on the internet. She's not at all like her two evil triplets @tsarinablogs and I who actively engage in discourse, she's literally just having fun with her fandom space by ONLY posting on two sites and then curating her community beyond belief here because (not to doxx her but) she's an extremely intelligent, extremely hardworking, and extremely employed woman with a job and a full adult life and THIS is her hobby to relax and have fun! Are you REALLY going to bitch and moan about it because....other people happen to like this content that she's making? Which is ultimately a tiny fraction of the F1 related content churned out daily? And is produced for her own enjoyment and anyone else's happiness is an unexpected bonus? It's reductive, it's pointless, and I'm actually going to fully point my finger at you and say it's mean. J'accuse.

"twitter is the place for haterism" no it's the place for awful insane groupthink which gains traction because it's the kind of content which keeps you on that screen selling your precious time and energy to advertisers and El*n M*sk. Also, I'm going to be blunt, love Charles, that's my driver and my blorbo and Forza Ferrari and he is the second coming and all the rest, but that multi-millionaire rich white man with extremely questionable morals does not need you defending his honour and integrity past "his driving on track is hot" and "he said what he said about the opposing team". THAT is defending and supporting as a fan. It is NOT choosing to bitch about people just doing their own thing for their own enjoyment on the internet! Please, I say this with all the care I can muster, touch some grass.

[graylinesspam]

I guess I feel like stirring the pot tonight but I'm gonna actually put my two cents into this "tiktokification of autism" debate for a second. I'm gonna need everyone on this, the "we piss on the poor", website to take a fuckin breath.

In psychology there's this pretty simply concept they teach you in the 'intro to' class which is that when it comes to hereditary mental conditions if you carry the genes for a condition it's probably going to affect you a little bit, even if it is not a diagnose-able amount.

As a personal example My own great grandfather has Bipolar disorder and has been medicated for it for longer than I have been alive. As a result all of his children were very familiar with the symptoms and were quick to point out when each other was displaying or describing symptoms of that disorder in their own live. That stuck around for my mothers generation and now my own as well. None of his children have been diagnosed with the condition because they do not display these symptoms with a consistency or extreme that hinders their ability to live their day to day life. A couple of aunts have chosen to go on mood stabilizers because it makes their lives more enjoyable to live without the riding the emotional ups and downs. Which yes, many of us experience hormonal based emotional roller coasters that dictate whether or not we're capable of experiencing positive or negative emotions but those symptoms are so mild that they are not considered diagnose-able.

Where as pawpaw (who was diagnosed) had huge mood swings that would leave him so manic he destroyed the brick divider wall in their kitchen to open the space up one random day, followed by a week where he wouldn't even sit up in bed to take a sip of water. His children's experiences were more periods of increased confidence followed by periods of malaise.

The criteria for having a condition diagnosed is that it has to cause persistent and significant interference with your ability to live your life.

Now if you've followed me through that rant then listen to this one. Tiktok (and i am not advocating for that app lets keep it neutral) by it's very nature is an app that relies on quick reading and comprehension. Those videos aren't going to hold you're hand through explaining what they mean, you just need to figure it the fuck out using things like common sense.

So if you see a video where an autistic person is sharing the less irritating and sort of funny trait of their condition and it's something that "everybody experiences" or something that's totally "not" a symptoms of autism, maybe instead of immediately rolling your eyes at it why don't you take a minute to ask yourself if it actually is tho?

like sure not everyone who puts on music while they clean has autism, but ask yourself what if that trait did fit the diagnostic criteria, what would that look like? Because for me it meant that I literally got fired for a cleaning service job for smuggling my phone with me because despite being very competent at cleaning I physically could not do it without listening to music. I'm not talking about it was too boring or I just had a bad time at it. I mean I literally forgot how to clean a toilet and ended up having a crying meltdown at lunch after only getting through two rooms because I needed my music in order for my brain to function properly. I'd call that having a significant effect on my ability to live my life.

Maybe not everyone who has a specific hobby they keep up with for years is autistic, but the people whose hobbies consume them, leaving room for less of other experiences in their lives? the ones who buy too much merch and watch the content over and over and don't pick up new material? the ones who maladaptive daydream to the point of it interrupting their real life experiences, or have periods where they actually wish they could think about anything else? And also maybe the same kinds of fandoms attract those autistic people.

so next time you see a video about "if you were obsessed with these fandoms growing up then you might be autistic" maybe think about what the word obsessed might mean to an autistic person (whose has very literal and black and white thinking). Because assuming that they mean the most bland fucking vague horoscope version of a behavior or experience they're describing is exactly where you'll go wrong.

Btw, this is a good scale to use when wondering if you should get something mental or physical diagnosed.

[themoreyouknowz]

[W4] Digital Community and Fandom: Reality TV Case Study.

Digital Community and Fandom

A digital community is a group of people that communicate and connect with each other mainly through online platforms such as social media, forums, or specialized websites. These communities emerge from shared interests, hobbies, beliefs, or identities and can include a wide range of topics, from gaming or cooking to more esoteric interests such as certain TV shows or fandoms.

Fandom, on the other hand, is often defined as a subculture of fans who are extremely enthusiastic about a specific subject, such as a TV program, film, book series, or video game. Fandoms sometimes form around popular franchises or cultural phenomena, and they are characterized by their members' intense involvement with and loyalty to the subject of their fandom.

So, digital communities and fandoms are online groups centered around shared interests like TV shows or whatever. They interact online, share content, and influence popular culture. These spaces offer a sense of belonging and allow members to engage creatively with their passions.

The internet lets fans connect instantaneously across distance. This means they can build relationships across geographic boundaries and become centers of scenes regardless of their location. (Baym, 2007)

Reality TV creates Digital Publics

Reality TV

Reality TV refers to various entertainment programs based on real-life situations. (Wasko, 2005)

These shows often feature unscripted interactions among participants, offering viewers a glimpse into the lives, relationships, and challenges faced by real people. From competitive game shows to docuseries following the lives of celebrities or ordinary individuals, reality TV captivates audiences with its authenticity and relatability. Reality shows create a sense of community among viewers who share a common interest in the show's content and social media is a perfect place for those communities.

Social media provides a space for fans to share their thoughts, reactions, and opinions about the show, fostering a sense of camaraderie and belonging among participants. Through discussions, memes, fan art, and other forms of content creation, these digital communities enhance the viewing experience and create a vibrant online ecosystem centered around the shared enjoyment of the reality show.

Twitter (X) and TV show fandom.

Apparently, reality television appears to be one of the most popular topics on the platform, thousands of tweets can come in during the duration of a single show (Deller, 2019). Twitter (X) helps to increase audience involvement during live broadcasts of reality shows by displaying hashtags on screen and verbal prompts from presenters to encourage participation in discussions. These hashtags serve as conversation anchors, allowing viewers to easily find and join discussions about the show in real-time.

Twitter (X) enables real-time interaction between viewers, contestants, and hosts during live broadcasts. Viewers can share their thoughts, reactions, and predictions as the show unfolds, fostering a sense of community and excitement among fans.

In conclusion, Twitter and other social media platforms serve as virtual gathering places for fans of reality TV shows to connect, engage, and interact with each other. These communities improve the viewing experience by creating a thriving online ecosystem around their shared pleasure of the reality show through conversations, memes, fan art, and other types of content creation. This collaborative participation not only improves the viewing experience, but it also enhances the link between viewers, contributing to the show's overall popularity and durability.

References:

Baym, N.K. (2007). The new shape of online community: The example of Swedish independent music fandom. First Monday, 12(8). doi:https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v12i8.1978.

Deller, R.A. (2019). Reality Television in the Age of Social Media. In: Reality Television: The TV Phenomenon That Changed the World. Bingley, England: Emerald Publishing.

Wasko, J. (2005). A companion to television. Malden, Ma: Blackwell Pub.

[skiagraphe0]

I know exactly where it comes from: the idea all adults are evil predators who can only be in fandom spaces because they want to prey on kids. For years, people have been freaking out about adults being in the same Discord as a minor (gasp!) even though the server's topic is Animal Crossing, or been freaked out teenagers are on Reddit where adults are even though the only subreddits they have in common is r/watercolor. "Be afraid!" people scream, eyes wide in fear, "I heard a grown-up might be there and they'll unalive you or grap3 you!"

It used to be - and definitely was when I was growing up - that an adult speaking to a minor was not considered a massive risk. Adults were not seen as suspicious in hobby spaces, because it was understood that adulthood didn't mean giving up everything you'd ever liked. As the moral panic got worse, however, a sinister motive was assigned to pretty much everything. You're an adult, but you read books? Uh, books are sold at stores, and minors go to stores! You're an adult, but you play video games? Uh, minors also play games! You write fic and post it to the internet? Uh, don't you know minors are online? You're so scary!

There's also this idea a lot of Gen Z kids have that adulthood = the death of joy. When I got my master's degree, I was in classes with 18-24 year olds who were absolutely stunned that I still watch anime, play video games, read books, sew, draw, write fanfic, listen to pop music, etc. It was very odd, explaining to them that I just never thought of not doing things I like. I could tell this explanation was both confusing to them and made perfect sense. They had been told you become a husk at 30 and simply work, poop, sleep, and then one day die. They could also piece together that it wasn't logical for me to stop listening to music and drawing because I'd hit an age.

"But you're not weird about it, right?" was a question I got, often said with genuine anxiety. I would furrow my brow, confused, and ask, "I'm not sure what a 'weird' way to listen to music is? Or how to be weird about playing a game? I guess I don't, like, make room for Jesus when I make my Animal Crossing island or anything."

My dad is 84 and reads Star Trek fanfic/keeps up with the new shows.

My neighbor is 54 and loves Disney and is helping sew cosplays for her granddaughter/teaching her granddaughter how to sew.

The manager at my local Joann Fabrics is 60 and she just did her first cosplay.

Animator/artist/illustrator Tyrus Wong was still drawing and working on concept art for an idea to pitch when he died at 105.

The notion that adulthood means being miserable and sobbing in corner somewhere (if male) or tending to children (if female) and nothing else until you die is extremely recent. It's not supported by basically anything other than their own anxiety about anyone older than then being nearby. But the thing they don't seem to grasp is that their fear about someone posting someone or reading something isn't what anyone else is going to base their lives on.

If it scares you that someone has a hobby past the age you think that should be allowed, I'm sorry for you. That genuinely sounds like a lot of anxiety. Your life sounds really hard and really miserable.

But you're not my patient and I'm not a therapist. I can't help you. I can pray you get better, but that's it.

I'm not going anywhere. Neither are most people - if anything, fandom going more mainstream means we're going to see an increasingly higher number of adults getting into it, at the same time as kids into it age into being an adult.

If adults scare you, fandom isn't the hobby for you.

Fandom Problem #7211:

As someone who's almost 30, I legitimately do not understand why people on this site treat you like you're totally geriatric and incapable of having hobbies or interests. It's always "lol this person is THIRTY, they must have no life!!". I find age is weaponized most of all with censorship advocates who go, "imagine being 30 and still shipping characters on TUMBLR 💀".

[chibiseakraken]

Something I've noticed being on the sidelines of both the Our Flag Means Death and Good Omens fandoms...

While there does seem to be quite a lot of similarities, I find the differences interesting.

The similarities are likely commonalities between most fandoms. I have to assume the similarities are rather consistent. I'm rather new to all of this, even though I've been around these spaces since Firefly was a huge thing.

What amuses me is that during the period after OFMD came out I observed and found myself drawing more and more. I delved more into art. Not just art in general but learning and striving to be better at specific mediums. With Good Omens I found myself looking up historical and literary references, going back to the Good Omens book, reading and rereading other peoples research on topics surrounding symbolism and literature. I also wrote more in general.

I am already a hobby artist, but I neglect my practices. This being said, I noticed several other people reacting to OFMD in the same way. I feel like this is the influence of people involved in the show. There are some notably outward artistic and creative individuals on the show and behind the show.

Most shows have people like this, but with ofmd, the cast and crew seemed to be the driving force behind creativity in the fans. One of the stars, director, and producers is a visual artist who promotes visual art. The creator himself is more of a visual artist in that he draws inspiration more from movies and television than the written word.

With Good Omens, there seemed to be a draw more towards indepth analysis of plot and character; a focus on critical thinking. This was reinforced by much more thoughtful writing overall. Note that I'm not saying better. Both shows have extremely creative writers writing fan fiction. Good Omens seems to have more literary influence backed by extensive research and psychoanalysis. The original having been a satire based on biblical characters and themes might be the key here. What I found most interesting is, that while I write a lot more, I have not published any of the writing for others to read. I keep reworking it as if it were entirely a fiction story of my own creation. I want to get it right. My writing for OFMD was more fun, silly, and angsty.

I do want to point out I noticed a fair amount of people in the OFMD looking at the visual symbolism in the show itself. I found that interesting. It is indeed a similarity to Good Omens, but I feel the flavor is slightly different. OFMD symbolism is mostly visual as in color choice, flowers, scenery, props, costuming, and visual cues. This goes in line with my visual artist focus for this show.

Both fandoms lean greatly into music. I suppose this makes sense, because, a. many creative people use music as an outlet, and b. both shows have creators who use music heavily as a theme in their works. Good Omens would not be the same without Queen, Buddy Holly, great classical and romatic era music, and a mention of the Velvet Underground. OFMD would also not be the same without the song The Chain, Cat Stevens, Eric Satie, Moondog, Leonard Cohen, and Lou Reed.

This being said, I personally felt more freedom to play with music and make playlists for OFMD. I'm a musician and this is a long standing hobby of mine. Good Omens did not inspire me to make playlists as much as I saw others doing it. I was either too focused on critical thinking and history research or I felt that the song selection was less of an inspiration to add more of my own and more a solid fact. These are the songs, find their significance. For me this is part of the difference between the two shows.

What it really comes down to, for me, is that one show made me feel like I was a part of something, a crew working together and the goal was creativity and celebrating queerness in many forms. The other show helped me understand or rather question an individual's place in the world. Who are we, as humans, and why do we make life so darned difficult for each other. But also, it is possible to enjoy life more fully if we allow ourselves the freedom.

Extra: I loved how a certain faction of OFMD fandom/cast brought their own personalities into the fandom. Two great examples are the famous orange cake recipe and the cryptid inspired ARG based on a similar but fictional show.

[roxannarambles]

This blog is a safe space for Goldenlight/Huntceda/Lunter shippers.

Canon still does NOT support the popular fandom headcanon that Luz and Hunter have a relationship that is akin to a blood relative. Luz telling Hunter he is “like family” is a phrase that is an intentionally vague term and it is extremely common for romantic partners, friends, or any close bonds to be called “like family.”

Zeno briefly changing his Twitter name to “Hunter Noceda” and then explaining to people he was just trying to come up with a cute account name based off the latest episode is also NOT canonical support for Goldenlight haters. VA’s headcanons and preferences are not canon. What’s more, I do not believe he ever intended to express disapproval of any ship with that action; he is aware of the wide range of Hunter ships in the fandom and has always seemed very chill about that fact. He simply was trying to do something cute for the character, a flight of fancy, and folks were blowing it out of proportion (as fandom, of course, is wont to do)

All that said, I DO acknowledge that it is definitely possible that in the future final two episodes, Luz and Hunter’s relationship may be explicitly taken in the direction that popular fanon is very vocal about wanting. Quite frankly, considering their fanatical, rabid outcries, I would not be surprised if the show creators gave in to their demands.

However, until that happens, there still is zero support for their claims that it MUST be that way in canon. Hunter and Luz’s relationship is still open to interpretation, period.

And even if that day comes . . . I have this to ask the haters: Are you really ‘winning’? Is anyone truly winning if you’ve spent so much time and effort to witch-hunt, doxx, bully and harass people who enjoyed a harmless, wholesome and adorable ship in their spare time?

Shipping’s not a competition. It’s not a thing anybody wins. It’s just a silly hobby we do to escape from some of the stress in our lives and make our days just a little bit brighter.

So maybe try to focus on that instead, yeah?

EDITED TO ADD: The show has ended. The “siblings” headcanon is still just that; a headcanon. Anybody making claims that Goldenlight is “problematic” is full of shit and they’ll be blocked on sight. Farewell~

[flying-elliska]

Headcanons for ADHD characters Masterlist

I was asked for this a while ago and I feel this is a good discussion subject because the canon representation for ADHD is kind of abysmal and is often a caricature or a joke.

usual disclaimer, I'm not a therapist, this is not a diagnosis tool, just for fun, etc etc...basing this on my own experience/knowledge with ADHD and meeting a lot of ADHD people IRL. I'm going off the main symptoms first (inattention and/or hyperactivity, restlessness, impulsivity, problems with emotional/focus regulation, daydreaming, messiness, hyper-focus, fidgeting etc) and then looking at character traits that are not a necessary symptom but often associated (substance abuse and addiction, need to please, sensitivity to rejection, compassionate and creative, thrill seeking, very imaginative, charming and witty or withdrawn and shy or angry and irritable, whimsical and fun and a bit child-like, out of the box thinker, self esteem issues, unstable life, comorbidity with anxiety and depression, very intense feelings, functions better with adrenaline/in an emergency, disregard for rules and problems with authority OR extreme compliance, codependency, perceived as weird, clever in an atypical way, problems in school, extremely good at one specific thing, etc)

Also I found this list with actual canonical representation

BOOKS :

The 'fits to a T so I'm seeing it as my personal canon' list :

note : doesn't mean that the authors actually meant to create representation but it's very likely they at least got inspired by people who did have ADHD (even when the diagnosis itself did not exist) and explained it with 'it's just their personality' OR the story happens in a setting where the label doesn't exist as such. also not meant to be exhaustive.

- Helen Burns (from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë) One of Jane's school friends from the start of the novel, fits the inattentive type to a T : she can't seem to focus or learn her lessons, is constantly daydreaming, describes herself as messy and careless, forgets rules, and is easily distracted. She talks constantly about her own 'defective nature' and seems very sensitive to criticism but incapable of changing. She doesn't defend herself against the nuns' harsh punishments as she thinks she deserves them. She's presented as kind-hearted and compassionate, almost too good for this world, and hyperfocuses on her faith. Apparently sb even wrote an academic article on this. She dies so it's not super fun representation but it is interesting to see in an older book, to push back against the idea that ADHD was invented yesterday by Big Pharma lol.

- Grantaire (from Les Miserables, Victor Hugo) Part of the student revolutionary group Les Amis de l'ABC and resident skeptic, does not believe in the cause but is fixated on the group's idealistic leader (and yeah it sounds very gay, they die holding hands, there is a lot of Symbolism). He spends his time ranting about things that are only vaguely connected, is described as brilliant but incapable of sticking to any one profession or hobby, is an alcoholic, has a creative streak (was a painter at some point), likes wandering around the city, has massive self-esteem issues and is a general mess but does seem to care about his friends. This is not a very flattering portrayal as Grantaire is described as morally deficient but again, interesting in an old book. ADHD!Grantaire is a popular take in the modern fandom (i was in it before I was diagnosed it brought up a lot of Things) and it's very cathartic to see him get actual therapy in fic lmao.

- Luna Lovegood (from the Harry Potter series) JKR sucks but this is probably the most high profile case of a possible inattentive ADHD character so I didn't want to leave it out. She's a daydreamer, she is a big space cadet and seems to live in her own world, she has a very out of the ordinary sense of style, she's bullied for being weird, but she's also very kind and perceptive and cares a lot about her friends, and good at coming up with out of the box solutions. I wouldn't call it good representation, she's described as a wacko whom a lot of characters find cringeworthy but she's also pretty heroic, so. And she does seem to hyperfocus on magical creatures. Plus her father could also have it (and it runs in families).

- Jasper Fahey (from Six of Crows duology, Leigh Bardugo) Part of a young group of thieves with a heart of gold, he's a charmer and a compulsive gambler who quits college and incurs debts so massive he stops talking to his father out of shame. He's also an extremely talented sharpshooter and the scenes where he describes how the whole world slows and the rush of adrenaline when he is shooting sound like hyperfocus to a T. He's a loyal friend but also quite dependent on Kaz, the leader of the group, to keep him in line. He's witty, messy and he likes danger. His boyfriend later in the series, Wylan, is dyslexic and the way they learn to accommodate each other's issues honestly makes them one of my favorite couples ever. I need to reread these books and I am so stoked for the series I hope they do Jasper justice.

- Julian Diaz (from Cemetary Boys, Aiden Thomas) Love interest of the book, introduced as the 'high school resident bad boy', energetic motormouth who can't sit still and actually very endearing, has issues in school and gets bored easily, main problem is that he's a ghost...sort of. The whole thing was very cute and I love that Julian's personality is described as fun and attractive instead of annoying (which is, if you haven't noticed already, a pattern).

- Evie O'Neill (from the Diviners series, Libba Bray) She's a flapper in 1920s New York who ran away from her boring little town to make a life for herself ; she's a party girl and an impulsive thrill-seeker who hates standing still and is always looking for excitement to 'fill the void'. She craves fame and attention and pretty things, she can be a loyal friend but is also frequently self-centered and forgetful, she's street smart, resourceful and very charming and witty. She's also grieving, drinks too much and is definitely depressed. She's obviously meant as an archetype of the era, caught between trauma and excess, but it does come over as very hyperactive ADHD as well. Her powers to read objects also really pinged me as a good metaphor for the ADHD tendency to be overwhelmed by details.

The 'bit more of a reach but there's a vibe' list :

- Emma Woodhouse (from Emma, Jane Austen) Frequently cited as a character with ADHD, I didn't come up with this one but she fits. She's daydreaming, easily bored, has flights of fancy and hyper-focuses on matchmaking, is a bit impulsive and thrill seeking, clever in an unconventional way, described as a bit immature, mix of caring and self-centered.

- Ronan Lynch (from the Raven Cycle, Maggie Stiefvater) Ronan just has Neuroatypical Vibes, even though it's not entirely clear what, and I've seen people label him all sorts of things which is very valid. As for ADHD, he's restless, impulsive, likes to Go Fast and do street racing, he has very strong emotions he doesn't know what to do with, and big self esteem issues esp. at the start, is very all or nothing with people, snarky, drops out of school to be a magic farmer, problems with authority, looks like a scary mean goth but is actually a big softie (but like, with a few people), pulls shit out of his dreams. Is kind of dependent on his best friend at the start too.

- Sherlock Holmes (from the eponymous series by Arthur Conan Doyle) Again a character who has been diagnosed with all sorts of things. The biggest ADHD vibe for me is 'my mind rebels at stagnation' and the way he needs drugs to function outside of the thrill of a case, and the way he hyper-focuses on information he needs to be a detective while completely ignoring common knowledge. Also sort of dependent on his best friend Watson and isn't great at social interactions. Doesn't care much about upholding social conventions either. The RDJ adaptation is the one that has the most ADHD vibes to me.

- Harley Quinn (DC Comics/Movies) Big codependency issues (that's arguably the thing she's most known for) and sadly people with ADHD are often prone to getting into abusive relationships. It depends on the story too but she's very energetic, zany, impulsive, she likes shiny things and bright clothes, she's fun and chaotic and likes to break the rules, she's a criminal but she does seem to have a heart, she's also frequently immature and rash, etc.

What are your headcanons ? I would love to hear if you have some so I can add them to the list. I'll make a TV/Movies list soon.

[fiore-rosewood9]

♫FrUk :D

Thank you for the ask, I will send a few songs that remind me of fruk, a whole playlist if you may, not only one song. I also touch a few of triggering topics as I explain the nations's personalities and relationships with one another so I apologize in advance if I upset/trigger someone and will put my trigger here - Warning - mentions of abuse, alcoholism, s*exual trauma. Under the explanation there is a playlist of songs that make me think of Ukfr/Fruk, so if anyone gets upset you can feel free to skip my general headcanons about fruk/ukfr relationship dynamics. There are too many songs that make me think of different characters or ships but I collected the ones that make me think the most of them.

I know the original song is by Lady gaga but this version is too sweet and cheesy for me so I chose the rock cover by the group Halestorm since I prefer it, it sounds more genuine and rough and kinda makes me think of the dynamic that ukfr/fruk has, that some people present is as just the enemies to lovers trope or them just fighting which is.....simply unhealthy????? Fruk is much more than that and I wish people would stop seeing it as a two dimensional thing, yeah they do argue on a lot of things and it is not the healthiest dynamic however it does work in my mind because they stick through thin and thick and that requires effort and true love since a lot of people nowdays do not take time to know the other person, they just jump into marriage and have a few divorces and just argue over everything and then separate, fruk is an off and on thing where they break and make. This kind of dedication is hard to find in today's couples. I know they're fictional characters and no one really cares but I practice my psychology skills and my knowledge of people around me, and I sometimes see people with similar or almost the same characters as fictional characters, they may not have all of their hobbies but they do act the same way. And certain pairs, no offence, just make me want to gag my self due to history with bad and toxic fans but if I look at it subjectivly and never encountered mean fans from a certain ship, I would say that they ship simply doesn't work. No ship bashing but as far as I know, people with this kind of personality from this ship that I dislike, and get upset when seeing fan art of, simply just do not get along and had a hard time divorcing, it is not only unhealthy and unbalanced, it is downright abusive because both partners seek control and to have the upper hand and this is not...what romance is about???? It is about two people taking care of each other, understanding personal space and boundaries, lifting each other up and yeah, they will argue a lot, sometimes for small things, sometimes for bigger things, but generally the point of romantic relationships is not someone using you, or abusing you financially and generally being better or bigger than you. This breeds insecurity and jealousy in the other partner and makes them feel inadequate. Usually such problems are not talked over and one of the partners acts passive agressive which is what ultimaltly leads to said divorce. So yeah, people can go away with their (BUT IT IS CUTE, IT IS SO FUCKING CUTE) pairing because real life pairings and how humans communicate and develop friendships and relationships isn't based on what your mind conciders and doesn't concider cute and there are lots of factors on whether relationship will ever happen like common interests, type personality, etc and just block me so I will never hear from them and their childish mindset ever again, which is why I blocked certain tumbrl fan art hetalia accounts who produce art of a pairing I (dislike) lowkey hate, for historical reasons, for manga reasons, for toxic fans who bullied me and made me go on 3 hiatuses reason and ultimatly in real life experience and psychology and how humans and the human mind works and what is healthy and unhealthy reason. Why should I support something where certain people have been hateful towards me and these same people that act like these characters and I know in my life are on bad terms in real life? Why shouldn't I just move on to something more realistic and more healthy, that I have seen that works with humans I know first hand? I am not a clinical psychologist and I have no power or saying in this but I had to write thesis and read books by psycholgists and analyze them in high school and my first year of Uni, in order to pass the year and I have also read reccomended books by a psychologist I went to because I wanted an advice on how to deal with my anxiety and talking to people, because my condition is extremely severe but I honestly feel stuck and try to improve but also feel confused, I sometimes feel like I am not doing enough to

self improve as a human. I sometimes come off as too cold or overly bitter and angry without intending to, and it sucks.

Francis is a really manipulative person and Matthew picked up that from him while part of Alfred's agression doesn't only come from confidence in his own abilities but the fact that England him self is an overly agressive person and is very dominant or at least used to be for a very long time, now he is more mild to keep his gentleman persona but he does suffer from severe anger issues which he hides while Alfred is prone to breaking things and screaming, Arthur is more prone to being rude, sarcastic and generally mean before he loses it. Matthew and Francis do not engage in fight if they can avoid it which is why sometimes people call them cowardly I think? And Matthew is a bit prone to being a codependent people pleaser as far as I see and he seems to have severe anxiety issues. Francis albeit charismatic and beautiful, is deep down in his core lonely.

I think that part of his pervertedness, shocking people with his s*xual humour and all of this sex obsession comes from trauma in his childhood and dressing like a girl. I wouldn't explain what the trauma in question was since it is not canon but I do headcanon that he had s*xual trauma and it is partly why Hungary dressed like a guy. I don't know if this is legit, it is bias from reading too much japanese fan comics relating to hetalia or just general history of humans and how they treated consent and what is moral today, wasn't amoral or against the law a few centuries ago, but I have seen artists touch on it. I think both Arthur and Francis suffer from neglect and they weren't particularly good fathers, in fact no country is, the whole FACE family is dysfunctional and while I love all of them, I kinda pity them. I think Rome was a bit discriminatory mostly towards France and never towards his other children while Arthur had to constantly prove him self and was bullied by his brothers. While other nations have suffered from trauma too (I headcanon that Prussia was burnt on stake and people threw rocks at him due to his albinism and being left handed) something similar happened to Arthur, who I headcanon that he was burnt for being a witch and Francis went a few times through the guillotine, or Arthur still having a bullet scar on his arm from the American revolution or Francis having nightmares from that day where Jeanne was burnt and waking up in his own sweat. Arthur also must suffer from workholism and alcoholism, judging by how much he works and goes to pubs to drink. Everyone chooses their own poison and how to cope with life and many use unhealthy coping mechanisms, hell, even I used unhealthy coping mechanisms a lot in the past and I am not proud of them, in fact, I try to improve.

I can talk about their history and how it relates to their mental health and what scars they have for hours but I would bore you. You came for a song and I am probably boring you so I apologize for writting a lot of words, in advance. I basically think that fruk/ukfr is the ultimate ship for many reasons because they click, I do ship spuk/engita/asakiku and many other things but fruk/ukfr is kinda like butter and bread, it is a great combination. I never said it is 100 percent healthy, however their relationship makes psychological sense and their personalities click. I know people like to present arthur as this dumb tsundere man that blushes and says baka, or he is this garbage rat dad that no one likes or francis is presented or at least used to be this perverted sex machine that touched other countries inappropriatly or at least the 2012-2015 fans saw him this way and while he still has the reputation of a pervert, what many young people in the fandom see as disgusting, I just see as an overly lonely man that just happens to have high libido and copes with it by having casual sex and just has a sex humour, the same way some people have fart jokes humour or darker, more cursed humour, I am really glad that fans mostly left off this whole - Francis is a r**ist and will grope you, in the past, because honestly r**e is not joke and as a character he clearly understands consent and boundaries and I don't think someone like him would do such a thing. Also Greece and Turkey have even higher libido than him and sleep around more, yet he is the ''pervert'', I don't get it??????????? but fruk is just so much more than opposites attract, they have a lot in common so I can't say they're full opposites, no one is truly. I have heard people ask why does anyone ship fruk when it is just opposites attract/enemies to lovers trope and I am honestly confused, because that is extremely rough generalization to say the least, it is like saying - All men/women are the same, it is simply wrong/uncorrect. I think they ''married'' five times - The Treaty of Paris (1657) formed an alliance against Spain. The Anglo-French Alliance (1716–31) formed another alliance against Spain. The Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata (1845-1850). The Anglo-French joint invasion of Qing Dynasty (1856–1860). And the last one which is their official marriage The Entente Cordiale (1904) fought together in both World Wars. As far as I remember Francis tried to marry Arthur but he refused and why he refused is up for subjective opinion but I must write a whole thesis on why Fruk/ukfr works so well and people are not here for that, they're here for the music and I will provide. I also always saw Francis as the more gentle and more submissive partner, I just love to see him drawn in frilly beautiful dresses with bows and stuff and Arthur as the more dominant, I mean as a country he was a powerhouse during the 1600s-1800s and used to be a punkrocker, usually rockers are mentally tough and that man is extremely cunning and witty so...people drawing him as this useless baka uwu overly feminine anorexic boy that looks more like a tween rather than a 23 year old guy just assasinated his character in my opinion and it disturbs me but I am just some awkward human on the internet and no one values my opinion anyway because this is the internet and many people nowdays love to have hot takes and try to gain followers through clickbait stuff which sometimes goes out of control and everything just seems more fake and shallow to me, the more old I get.Okay that was my silly rant no one asked about but I feel really passionate about hetalia and Fruk/Ukfr. Anyway, I apologize again for my long rant and going all over the place, please enjoy this playlist

PLAYLIST WITH SONGS THAT REMIND ME OF FRUK/UKFR

1 - Halestorm - Bad romance - rock cover https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll4NJs3NBIU

2 - Queen - Somebody to love - lyrics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj69iA_goIk

3 - ABBA - Voulez vous - (I know everyone chooses Waterloo and while waterloo is a fruk theme, I think Voulez vous works too) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwcgMVXuBJc

4 - London beat - I've been thinking about you - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixBryyQSrD8

5 - Santana - Smooth - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Whgn_iE5uc

6 - George Michael - Careless whisper - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izGwDsrQ1eQ

7 - Robbie Williams - Feel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy4mXZN1Zzk

8 - Michael Buble - Feeling good - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edwsf-8F3sI

9 - Edith Piaf - La vie en rose - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFzViYkZAz4

10 - Chopin - Marriage d'amour (Spring waltz) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFJ7kDva7JE

11 - Vanessa Carlton - A thousand miles - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERw2LuU6Jj8

[blackwoolncrown]

How is fandom any different from any other hobby? If you go to a knitting club that's the thing that ties you together initially, your enjoyment of knitting and THEN you get to talk to people about other things that you might have in common.

Because if you have a knitting club it meets once or twice monthly. You come together to talk about knitting and to knit mainly, and were it not for knitting you would not be socializing with those people. Then you all disperse and go about your regular lives, having interactions w other people without being about knitting, and knitting without making it a central deal. You can meet some people through a knitting club that you may get along with outside of knitting, but if you go to a knitting club (or a book club or a baking club etc) expecting that everyone you interact with there is going to be your friend rather than a friendly acquaintance just bc you share a hobby, that would be an immature and mistaken idea.

A knitting club takes place somewhere, it starts and it ends.

However, fandoms are a largely online phenomenon these days, and the issue with the internet as it functions these days is that people are ‘always on’. You find a new thing? Oh that means you have to follow blogs/twitters etc allll about it so that you have a constant stream of it in your awareness at all times. You watch/play/read the thing in your personal life, but you also stay talking about it/consuming it whenever you are online which is statistically several hours of the day. Meanwhile fandom is touted as a familial community where people seek to find meaningfu belonging and friendship, which is why so many people in fandom become hyperattached and extremely defensive of their favorite media no matter how problematic it may be or no matter the fact that it is normal that many people may have criticisms of it; ppl get like this because unlike with the stereotypical concept of a knitting club, online ever-present fandom again becomes so much of a person’s life that they start to identify with it, and thus any attack on its central media is an attack on them.

Beyond that it’s just not healthy for the main thing you interact with and through mentally to be some consumptive media. It can be a hobby if yu’re a creative in the fandom (though even that can have its downsides) but for the most part ‘fandom’ is not in and of itself the same thing as hobby so don’t compare them this way.

Brainrot is real, I swear to you and it’s not particularly healthy (though of course sometimes ppl are coping and while that’s not a great long term thing  I’m not moralizing whether this is good or bad) to be so fixated on some show or game or whatever; especially when it gets to the point that people become averse to interacting with people outside of the fandom, or struggle to do so without some media as a go-between.

Insular communities are not your friends, and there’s a certain distance one should keep- in a sense you need to have a center, know where it is and be able to stay connected with it instead of dumping a huge amount of your attention into what is actually a fleeting source of interest and sometimes, sadly, and addictive replaacement for interaction that begins to make people more and more reliant on the spaces it creates in order for them to relate.

The key point here is that passively consuming and obsessing over media isn’t a hobby like knitting is (art creation can be of course! But that would be having a hobby within a fandom- being a fan isn’t a hobby and it’s not an identity though many people sadly treat it like it is) and our ‘always online’ culture makes it very difficult for people to maintain healthy boundaries, limits and perspectives on just how much they are letting something consume them as they consume this.

This can apply to anything really, from book series’, shows, social justice communities, lifestyles etc. ‘Online communities’ have very nebulous boundaries (or lack thereof, again, bc one tends to just consume and exist in a never-ending data stream of their chosen content) and don’t actually fulfill many of the things RL community can and that really should be kept in mind. Not to mention the effects of insularity (aka brainrot).

Beyond this, even the idea of ‘fandom’ as an actual thing is false. It’s a kind of false solidarity. One says “Oh I;m in the x fandom” but that isn’t actually a real community. There are just a bunch of people who like a thing and think that unites them but the reality is all fandoms are full of infighting and drama and that happens BECAUSE people are acting like they are supposed to have solidarity. They identify with their favorite show and think it has x,yz, meanings and when other people don’t feel the same, because actually everyone likes things for different reasons, they flip shit because they feel betrayed- again because of the notion that a fandom is an actual community of likeminded people. it’s not.

[lunarity2013]

🥀 ❓☀️ o-o

(NOTE: THIS IS MY FIFTH TIME TRYING TO POST THIS, PLEASE DEAR GOD LET THIS WORK THIS TIME! At least I had all this stuff copied into a note app to post easier just in case this happened)

Real quick, @taurrigan - THANK YOU for being so patient! Hopefully this one works!

So for reference, my HPHM oc is named Lucy Stone (that’s her in my icon, but I use my actual name in the game bc it’s just easier for me). I’m also going to use my main D&D character, a lesbian half-elf Rogue 8/Bard 1 named Naeris.

🥀 Has your OC ever been hurt by someone they love? Ever been betrayed? Abused? Attacked? Give me the angst! (if you’d like, write a short drabble about it!)

LUCY — After everything that happens trying to find her brother (Nathan, not Jacob bc I’m so original and decided this literally just now), Lucy feels extremely let down and betrayed by her only brother. She didn’t ever actually think she’d find him in the vaults, really only searching to gain some sort of closure for herself and their muggle parents. Finding him, however, and seeing how consumed he was by this pursuit really just broke her heart. It was like she truly did lose her brother after all. 

NAERIS — Naeris grew up with her human mother, with very little money to support them both, so she’s always felt abandoned by her elven father and his family. After her mother passed away and she was forced to move to the Feywild with him, she was still very resentful of his lack of presence in her childhood. On top of that, when she finally left to return to the material plane, only to find the busted remains of the village she once called home after apparently 60+ years had passed, she had never felt more alone than in that moment. Even now, she still can’t find where her mother was once buried, even the headstone turned to dust.

❓ A random fact or short drabble! Or make up your own question to ask the OC!

LUCY — (a drabble, for you. Also, please check out the ficlet @hogwartsmysterystory wrote for me a while back — it really helped me get inspired to write this!)

As “riveting” as the history of magic should have been, Lucy found that Binns’ monotone droning took much of the “magic”, as it were, out of what should have been her favorite subject in this school. Really, a whole history of magical learning and events, and all they did was read out of a textbook while their transparent professor bored them near to death as he clearly once did to himself many years before.

So it wasn’t any wonder, really, that she often spent this hour gazing dreamily out the window, thoughts drifting from one daydream to the next. Today was one of those days, brown eyes staring vacantly through large-framed glasses and out to the thick raindrops splattering the window outside. And it wouldn’t have surprised her friends to know what she often saw in these sleepless dreams of hers.

Gone were the days of endless worrying of Nathan and his disappearance from her life. He still came up, of course, but now more seemed more the image of a long-dead relative or yet-unsolved mystery than as pressing a concern as he was in her first year at Hogwarts. No, these days, a different face occupied her deepest thoughts and desires, once with the kindest eyes and a smile, one reserved just for her.

She wondered if he was taking her advice to heart, now; his concerns and her suggestions at his learning difficulties may not have saved him from their last test, but they, combined with constant care and practice, may just be his saving grace come finals. And if they managed to inform their professors, and get all their friends to help out, maybe Barnaby could show everyone who had ever doubted him just what he was capable of.

Lucy had always known he was smarter than people gave him credit for. Since she first met him, confused and vaguely threatening in the potions classroom years ago, she knew there was more to the Slytherin than met the eye. And as she watched the skies clear and the sun begin to peak out, she knew that she would do whatever it took to help everyone else know it, too.

NAERIS — (a question, provided by my sister for you) — What’s the dumbest thing your OC has ever done?

The dumbest thing Naeris ever did was, in our old campaign after multi-classing as a bard, she began using prestidigitation to prank her party members, specifically the halfling ranger (Phae) and half-orc barbarian (Oz).

Specifically, this one incident had Naeris hiding under Oz’s bed in an inn, and making loud sounds outside the door with the cantrip. This caused Oz to storm out into the Hall to figure out wtf happened, and with one failed stealth save, he found her and broke open a window to toss her out into the snow, 2 stories down. She was fine, but I couldn’t breath, and my best friend’s character (tiefling warlock Nerium, Naeris’ girlfriend) almost dumped her ass for her stupidity.

☀️ What makes your OC genuinely happy? A person, an item, their hobby? Where is the place they’re happiest, or most at home? What is the happiest they’ve ever been?

LUCY — The happiest Lucy has been in a while was at the Celestial Ball. No responsibilities, no cursed vaults, and no losing house points. Just her friends and getting to go on her first (unofficial) date with Barnaby — they both were so bad pining after each other after it that even Charlie was almost willing to swear off dragons if it got them to just shut up and kiss already… Almost…

Beyond that, she loves to read in the quiet of the Hufflepuff common room (her favorite spot at Hogwarts — if she could bake, it would be the kitchens, which is currently favorite spot number 2). She still remembers some of the music and dance lessons she took as a child, but almost never uses them outside of the ball and frog choir. She’d like to play quidditch, but feels she already has too much on her plate, and is content to cheer on her friends when they play (especially Barnaby, who makes one hell of a beater lol).

NAERIS — Naeris feels most at home in the comfort of her own room, in the place her party has built in Phandalin. She hasn’t had a place to really call her own since her mother died, and even then she shared one room with her mom, so having a room just for her plus extra space for poison-making, archery practice, and learning new spells and instruments is a real luxury to her.

As for favorite people, she’s still getting used to Phae and Oz. She likes them, and trusts them, but their combined antics are a force to be reckoned with, and she often has to play tough parent-fun parent with Nerium to get them to keep from drinking too much or running headfirst into the fray. But sometimes she gets to be a bit of a good herself, just like she always tried to cheer her mother up when she was I’ll, and seeing her newfound family smile (even at her own expense) was always worth it.

Plus, Nerium is a gorgeous tiefling babe with scary Raven Queen magic who not only willingly puts up with her less-than-ideal quirks, but chooses to love her in return. That’s always hella dope.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed! If anyone has any more questions, or would just like to know more about my OCs/D&D characters, feel free to send me an ask in my box! I’m happy to answer your questions! 😊

(If y'all want a list of all my OCs and what fandoms, let me know, and I’ll post one for y'all)

(EDIT: fixed an inconsistency with Lucy's skills, as surprise! She actually can't bake worth a shit, and is only marginally better at actual cooking, so she just sneaks into the kitchens for snacks).

[twitchesandstitches]

There are several main AUs I do on this blog, and they are very broad in scope, encompassing a wide variety of potential settings and scenario set ups. They can encompass my OCs, redesigns, fandom stuff, and all that in a single package, and that includes ‘non-canon’ one shots that have no connection to the AU besides setting.

While it’s incredibly unlikely that, at this point, any of my followers didn’t already follow me on my previous writing blog, there is nonetheless a possibility that I might get some new people here eventually. And then, they’re likely gonna be real confused when  I start talking about my AUs without context. And even if you do know all my ramblings about my AUs pretty well, it’s useful to have refreshers in case you forget stuff or want some info now and then. So real quick, I’m writing up some refreshers on my main AUs.

Firstly, Crossthicc AU. It is a massive crossover in the vein on Kingdom Hearts, or to be more specific, it is a kink-centric reworking of a more SFW fanfic I’m planning on doing eventually, with elements of this being reused in that. It takes place in a sprawling space opera type of sci fi with fantasy elements, and an epic adventure tone; mighty wars are decided by duels between champions, cities construct massive structures to harness the forces of magic or the psychic energy of living beings as a power source, giant mech suits and power armor exoskeletons are ubiquitous, and so forth.

BAsically, imagine a combination of Warhammer 40k, Eclipse Phase and a sci fi-themed version of Exalted, set against a multiverse cosmology based on Dungeons and Dragon’s Planescape. The technology levels, the general aesthetics and the overall feel flow from that, and then you Paragon the SHIT OUT OF IT. And that’s before the thicc-ness stuff comes in!

Taking place a great deal of time after a multiversal catastrophe that nearly spelled the end of existence itself and caused smaller reflections of such disaster across all the realms of existence, the AU proper focuses on a fleet of characters drawn from all across the fandoms I am personally familiar with or at least find interesting. This is an extremely small fleet, numbering from several hundred to a little under a thousand people depending on where in the timeline it takes place; their number of ships are undefined, but probably not very many, and are a mixture of the Quarian Migrant Fleet from Mass Effect and the Scum sub-culture of Eclipse Phase - which is likely also a thing in-universe. Their ships are mainly refurbished cargo barges, space buses and the occasional colony ship, mostly automated and run by summoned spirit friends to make up for their lack of numbers. This ships are all living machine-beings, vast AIs or networks of thinking machines, and can choose to transform into gigantic hyper curvy robot ladies in times of great need, but rarely do so.

The fleet came together from the survivors of many broken or damaged worlds, banding together for survival and growing closer, eventually stabilizing into a sort of weird family. Fiercely loyal to one another, coming to appreciate adventure and enjoying the relative stability, they have been journeying as cosmic nomads for several years now, having had many children together and growing in power, and over time they have noticed some things… off about the cosmos. There have been hints, in ruins and half-destroyed records dating back thousands of years, and they have come to the conclusion that the cataclysms that wrecked the multiverse was not random events but an active scheme.

And they are coming to the attention of whatever caused that disaster in the first place; they refer to this mysterious force as the conspiracy, but know little of who this conspiracy, their purpose or anything beside the horrors they have committed.

Over time, the fleet has become a strongly paragon-themed organization of heroes, champions of righteousness, seeking to be perfect heroes all the time… all while being extremely eccentric and quirky weirdos, as prone to flying off on rants about peanut butter when they were supposed to give a moving speech on heroism. In any conflict they will usually side towards which resolution does the least harm, and fighting tyrants is something of a hobby of theirs. That, and collecting incredibly pissed off conspiracies presumably unrelated to the Big One they are learning about.

The fleet - or specifically, their number one champion - is in possession of a powerful relic called the Eupeptic Gestat. It’s loosely based on the Keyblade, but is essentially a vore/hyper pregnancy themed artifact with powers based on Fullmetal Alchemist’s take on alchemy, with the ability to absorb almost anything and gain new powers based on what it absorbs, and allows the fleet to craft new powers from those, distilling them mostly into adorable Pokemon-like creatures that members of the crew can fuse with to gain their powers. By mixing and matching their abilities, the members of the crew can gain an enormous number of powers, as well as gain mutations to sculpt their bodies into whatever they please, though often with some unexpected frailties.

Note that this powers always involve some variety of physical mutation; get fire powers, your arms erupt into volcanic flame and your skin is living fire, your eyes burning like stars. These mutations are not subtle, they’re not pretty, and they’re usually pretty weird. Combining powers will get some very odd results, and likely induce additional frailties or limitations in exchange for greater potential.

The crew itself is highly diverse, with humans forming a distinct minority in it. Name a species from a fandom somewhere, they are probably present. Orcs of all kinds, elves and more. Dragons shapeshifting into more mundane forms, robots of every single conceivable function and form happy to be part of a group that welcomes them as family. Transformers - mostly Autobots - are giant guardians to their smaller kin. Gems of many castes, and plenty of them permanent fusions with one another. Asari, krogan and Geth from Mass Effect form a major contingent, as do a wide variety of monster girls and boys.

Whatever they are, though, the women of this crew - and the men, to a lesser degree - will get bigger.

As they grow more powerful and benefit from the powers granted to them, the women of the crew invariably grow more hyper curvaceous. Their breasts swell to enormous sizes and absurd milkiness (and this milk often has its own properties, based on the heroine’s other abilities or personality traits), they tend to become rather more fit, their hips expand to couch-destroying sizes with butts to match. This curve growth never really stops, though the precise extremes are an entirely personal decision; the biggest girls are generally the most powerful as well. They tend to grow much, much larger over time, inevitably becoming giantesses dozens of feet tall when they power up, and this too has no real limit.

Additionally, they gain a number of abilities related to pregnancy and other traits should they allow the Gestat to imbue them with its powers. It’s devouring-based abilities grant almost anyone the ability to consume other things, metaphorically or otherwise. THis can be absorbing energy or specific forms of matter and empowering yourself with them, or very literal; the power to swallow things whole and digest virtually anything. This is universal among most of the crew. But it expands their fertility, allowing them to do things such as give birth by materializing them in a spirit bubble, summoning powerful entities by gestating them within their bodies, absorbing allies and healing those allies within their own fertile wombs and possibly imbuing them with their own powers.

Additionally, they have no limitations on how many children they can have at once, gestating dozens at once without issue, and eventually even spontaneously generating them by just being around other people; no sex required or needed. They also act as living crucibles or cauldrons, distilling powers imbued into them within their bodies and refining them into a more complete form that can be used for other purposes, with the mother’s own quirks in it. And with every child they give birth to or other application of their powers, they become more powerful, so that the crew is largely dominated by absolutely massive, impossibly curvaceous, motherly heroines.

Becoming a MILFy, ravenous giantess is thus part of the package. Men can and do benefit from these abilities as well, often as support to their much more powerful counterparts; dad bods and buff bara types, as well as extreme femboys, are VERY common.

Finally, the crew constantly experiments with self-modification, using blends of magical ability, scientific procedures, cybernetic augmentation and biological trickery to create a variety of what they call ‘mods’, which can alter their bodies in specific ways. Using traits harnessed from the many species of the galaxy, along with specific aspects of the powers they have built, members of the crew can have almost any appearance or alteration that pleases them; exoskeletons, enhanced muscle fibers, horns, claws, gills, fangs, completely new morphologies and robot-ization are all examples of this.

Monster girl/boy/non-binary transformations are included in this, of any sort. By combining traits from many different species, you can get all kinds of monstrous forms even without using additional powers. Usually this is done for an edge in combat, but some just like being monstery.

They can also do mods that give other people hyper fertility, all manner of biological transformations or otherwise enable kink transformations of any kind, often tied to a power of some sort. One way they fund themselves is by selling these mods at worlds they visit.

(This means, yup, there are dispensing machines that sell mega-buff energy drinks, chocolate milk that makes you a curvaceous MILF who LITERALLY lactates liquid chocolate, and sodas that turn you into a liquid monster person.)

It should be noted these mods are permanent, and there is no resetting to a default state; in order to change back, you have to undertake procedures to transform you into something like your original state.

Now that the fun transformation stuff is clarified, what does the fleet actually do? Mostly they bounce around from world to world, racing through the tides of the spirit world and relying on their magically powerful navigators to guide them to new galaxies in this faster than light travel, searching for a new world to call home or a means to create their own homeworld. They get involved in archaeological mysteries, wind up in the middle of fight with warlords and empires, and if they don’t have at least one epic space battle a week, it's been a really slow week.

Among other things, they have a rival in a crew of space pirates, and it's a mostly friendly rivalry, a blackrom on an organizational scale, and they compete for resources, treasure, ancient lore and the secrets to great wealth or fame. This pirate crew likely outnumbers them, though the crew’s abilities are a potent force multiplier.

Less friendly is a resurgent military from the distant past, led by a fearsome general of a long-defunct empire, who has reclaimed a powerful gauntlet and seen the situation the universe is in, and intends to bring it to endless war and conflict to force it to become stronger and break the cycles of stagnancy. To this end, he has gathered together a vast legion of like-minded warriors, bloodthirsty warmongers, soldiers enamored with war as a solution, and others of that nature. The fleet and this legion constantly but heads, and while they do sometimes work together, their goals are completely opposite. Eventually, tensions will come to a head.

The conspiracy, as stated above, is likely their biggest threat but none of them know much about this force besides that it does exist and is responsible, directly or otherwise, for the cataclysms that nearly ended reality as they know it. They have some apparent connection to the fiends of the realms of pure evil, a wide variety of strange and loathsome entities, and appear to be bankrolling a vast majority of destructive agencies across the multiverse. Why they are doing this is unknown, but they are a persistent thorn in the fleet’s side, presently too large to even notice the fleet as yet.

There are also a very wide variety of monsters and beasts the crew faces on an almost daily level. They range from kaiju-sized monsters that savagely attack everything in sight and seem to warp reality as a matter of just being there, to ethereal horrors that devour everything and constantly grow bigger until they can eat stars and swell up into spaceship-sized monsters that sail across space and devour planets, to destructive fiends that colease out of hatred and negative emotion to just make things worse on everyone. Most of these are the ‘take them out, guilt free’ kind of brutes just there for good action scenes, or acting as the minions of some other greater force.

[kateayoung-blog]

In defence of online gaming

Gamers get a bad rep. I’ll be the first to admit that I have long been a believer that gaming is a sign of laziness, an unhealthy escape from the pressures and expectations of the real world. Barely a week goes by without the media reassuring us that gaming leads to all kinds of grizzly ends, from opioid overdoses to obesity, school shootings, and parental neglect. There seems to be no in-between, only non-gamers or gaming addicts, destined to become baby-starving recluses with wasted lives. I honestly wasn’t expecting to have much to say on the topic. Games exist, people waste their time playing them, the end. I was wrong.

As I’m sure is evident, my gaming experience is extremely limited. I played Sims growing up, a bit of Mario Kart here and there, spent a solid month trying to play Call of Duty whilst living in a college dorm in the dead of winter, and had a very brief fling with Candy Crush. My interests and hobbies lay elsewhere, but for 14.5 million gamers in Australia alone (Liddy & Tilley 2018), it may well be the most common form of entertainment – and the most active users are not who you would think. The online gaming world is of epic proportions, with over half a million subscribers participating in the virtual massively multiplayer online world of EVE Online (de Zwart & Humphreys 2014, p.77), and an even more staggering 45 million player base logging into the current blockbuster, Fortnite (Romano 2018). Whilst on the outside appearing to be a lonesome existence, online games have become a place to form relationships, catch up with friends, and forge communities.

The most intriguing intersection of digital communities is apparent in the phenomenon of online game streaming. At face value, it makes no sense – why on earth would anybody want to watch other people play games?! But this game-lover’s spectacle has taken off at breakneck speed, and young gamers are spending an average of almost three and a half hours each week (that’s an hour more than is spent watching actual sports) watching their favourite streamers tap away at their computers for the simple reason that, like star athletes, they’re good at what they do. Comparable to what Instagram did for the millennial influencer, streaming platforms like Twitch (which I will admit, I had never heard of) have made career gaming a reality, drawing the attention of some hundred million visitors and their credit cards each month (Clark 2017). Indeed, a good portion of YouTube’s highest-earning users are gamers, some easily raking in six-figure salaries through subscriptions and sponsorship deals. Game streaming has generated a new form of digital community, one that borrows from the content creating like-minded fandoms of YouTube, whilst incorporating the real-time communication affordances of instant messaging and old-school chat rooms. A real sense of community has been crafted, and as a Twitch spokesperson states, “we’re essentially a social network for the gaming age” (Clark 2017).

As the worlds of social media and gaming collide, it begs the question of why we aren’t as quick to criticise the likes of professional bloggers or Instagram influencers, as we are career gamers. Their mission statements are, at their core, identical – to create content and navigate the attention driven economy of the online world for commercial gain. Like those trying to amass followers on other platforms, popular streamers face the same pressures of the “always on” cyberspace – their unnegotiable online presence and need to attract and maintain public attention. A far cry from lazy work, some streamers are broadcasting days long marathons, barely stopping to eat or even use the bathroom. There’s a demand (more people tune in to watch the League of Legends World Championships than the NBA finals), and if people are enjoying it, who are we to judge?

Like any hobby or career, online gaming has its drawbacks. There are definite health concerns that come with engaging in all night benders, but perhaps more heart attack than mental health-related, as the media would have you believe. The lack of regulation or an enforced code of conduct in the virtual world has repercussions, particularly surrounding cyberbullying and the treatment of female gamers. But, as long as gamers are not straying into the realm of addiction, committing hours to gaming is surely no more harmful to society than taking 1000 photos for a single Instagram post, or spending several mind-numbing hours in a Netflix black hole. I’ll be thinking twice before I jump on the gamer-hating bandwagon from now on.

References

Clark, T 2017, 'How to Get Rich Playing Video Games Online', The New Yorker, 20 Nov 2017, Available at <https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/11/20/how-to-get-rich-playing-video-games-online> (Accessed 3 June 2018).

de Zwart, M & Humphreys, S 2014, 'The Lawless Frontier of Deep Space: Code as Law in EVE Online', Cultural Studies Review, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 77-99.

Liddy, M & Tilley, C 2018, 'Chart of the day: Online gamers don’t fit the stereotype', ABC News, viewed 3 June 2018, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-29/chart-of-the-day-online-gamers/9784286>.

Images and video

‘How Do Twitch Streamers Make Money’ 2018 [video], Techquickie, viewed 4 June 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QeNwrVTCy4>.

‘Penny going downhill’ 2008 [image], The Big Bang Theory, viewed 3 June 2018, <http://bigbangtheory.wikia.com/wiki/The_Barbarian_Sublimation>.

‘This is FORTNITE - “This is America” Recreation’ 2018 [video], WiziBlimp, viewed 3 June 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhSFQXBVt1E>.

[thecottageinthedark]

#SDMItag#although this one actually isn't about sdmi specifically; it's more about generally applicable boundaries/burnout/etc stuff in fandom#and ended up taking a detour into Personal Life Philosophy and how that--surprise!--heavily ties into fandom#tl;dr i feel that the state of fandom these days is not just a radfem psyop to spread their beliefs in general#in a space where it's easy to radicalize people because fandom does not get taken seriously as a vector for this#which like a fucking massive amount of modern alt-right culture and ideology and the steam it gained fermented in nerd/gaming hobby spaces#get that shit outta here lmao#but the radfem movement in fandom is *incredibly fucking violent* because it is meant to hit people whose irl activism#comes with high rates of burnout; and is highly traumatizing even with support and a safe place to recharge; *in the places they recharge*#it is extremely common for people to come to fandom as a hobby space to keep their sanity; lick their wounds; and rest#if you can't do that then non-fandom activism will crush your soul and strip away your ability to keep contributing#radfems have cultivated the state of fandom to its current level of violence and inescapability to destroy activists' space to rest#you can't let your guard down; you are made paranoid and isolated; fandom becomes a place of stress and fear and trauma#you can't even cultivate that resting place by blocking and avoiding people because the violence will *sniff you out like a bloodhound*

#even if you isolate yourself to the extreme there is always always a high risk some fucking creep will come along#drooling for an excuse to start a years-long stalking campaign + post your address along with threats to show up at your house and rape you#and the entire community will cheer for them or join in or justify it or look the other way#these people will try to materially *get you killed* by cutting you off from housing and income that you need to live.#they have done it successfully! a number of times!#not only does this movement take away activists' opportunity to prevent burnout#but it seeks to socially; emotionally; psychologically; sometimes literally; beat them half or all the way to death#so they are removed from the playing field entirely; they are too thoroughly destroyed to do non-fandom activism again#.......which coincidentally means that the people who are inclined to engage in any kind of non-fandom activism; large or small#who (comparatively speaking; they are still by and large terrified lol) get the chance to recuperate in that space.......#..........are the ones who are going to go out there and spread radfem beliefs. who are going to carry water for terfs.#also i wish it was safer to talk to people in good faith about Kinda Shitty Opinions these days instead of Aggressive GET OFF MY LAWN#anyway if this is an incomplete tl;dr of one (1) aspect of the thing you see what i mean about the full post being Fucking Long lmao#antis cw#radfems cw#harassment cw

me: i'll just write up a quick post about a couple simple things you could change about sdmi to fix the worst of the talking animal stuff. maybe a little disclaimer at the beginning about the Utopia Problem

me an hour later, 3k words into the post and still writing: ah lads not again