#it's not fan entitlement like shows get cancelled whatever

[dailymantra]

anyway netflix’s constant cancelling of shows with even a sniff of diversity and representation has me thinking about Lilly Wachowski’s tweets

and also how Dan Levy stressed that Schitt’s Creek only go to win so many awards and finish it’s run in its entirety cause CBC let it actually fucking breathe and find an audience.

like these shows (first kill, warrior nun, imperfects, tbsatdh, midnight club, etc) are important and i’m glad they get to exist but it does feel like a constant rug pull and lack of actual concern or care towards the shows themselves. it’s an exercise in futility. like what the fuck are we doing here?

[gunsatthaphan]

~ Monthly BL Breakdown: April 2024 ~ 

🌷 Happy May!!! ☀️

Disclaimer: ALL shows can be streamed here or here, as well as on Youtube and other platforms. For more info on where to watch what, check out this post! 

New breakdowns are coming at the end of every month - feel free to add stuff! -> previous breakdowns

What came out this month? (green = seen/currently watching)

🌟 Love is Like a Cat - April 1st (South Korea / Thailand) 

🌟 We Are - April 3rd (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Memory in the Letter - April 6th (Thailand) 

🌟 Living With Him - April 11th (Japan) 

🌟 Gray Shelter - April 11th (South Korea) 

🌟 Beating Again - April 13th (Thailand)

🌟 Blue Boys - April 15th (South Korea)

🌟 At 25:00 in Alasaka - April 18th (Japan)

🌟 GMMTV2024 Part 2 (lineup event) - April 23rd (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Boys Be Brave - April 25th (South Korea) 

🌟 CHANGE2561 2024 lineup event - April 25th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 My Stand-In - April 26th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 City Boy Log Vol. 3 - April 30th (South Korea)

New series & movie announcements

🎥 The Fridge - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Flavor of Us (starring Benjamin B., Dome W. & others) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Children's Day - Date TBA (Taiwan)

🎥 Blue Time - Date TBA (China, possibly censored)

🎥 Bad Guy My Boss - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Oriental Magician In The Ent. Circle - Date TBA (Taiwan)

🎥 Under the Oak Tree - Date TBA (Vietnam)

🎥 Invitation - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 The Love Matter - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 I Saw You in My Dream - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 I Wish You the Best - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Impression of Youth - Date TBA (Taiwan)

🎥 Meet You at the Blossom - Date TBA (Taiwan)

Other news from the BL world

❗️ The production company Studio WabiSabi announced that their actors Boun N., Prem W., Santa P., Sammy C., Yacht P. and Stamp P. have terminated their contracts and will no longer be artists under the company on April 15th. Shortly after, GMMTV announced the 6 of them as newly signed artists, along with the disclosure that BounPrem's upcoming BL Vampire Project is now being produced under GMMTV, who now also own all broadcasting rights; WabiSabi will function as a co-producer. New S. stated on Twitter that the decisions had been long in the making, as well as the fact that WabiSabi no longer functions as a management agency for actors and is now a mere production company. He also denied the rumors that the company is shutting down. Shortly after the transfer of the Wabi Sabi actors, actor Fluke Jeeratch (formerly Pongsakorn) joined GMMTV as well.

❗️ The Filipino BL Gameboys is getting a third season. An air date has not been confirmed.

❗️ P Ekkapop and Pan Jirachot, the lead actors from Kiseki Chapter 2, have announced a new project together. Details are unknown.

❗️ Actor Barcode Tinnasit has announced his departure from his agency Be On Cloud.

❗️ After some confusion, the Korean production company Studio X+U announced that their upcoming series Fragile - which was initially advertized as a Korean SKAM remake - is in fact not connected to the Norwegian web series and is instead a standalone series, which focuses on the life of a group of teenagers. According to ZUM News, there was supposed to be a Korean SKAM remake based on the Norwegian original, which was however cancelled due to unknown reasons. Fragile was created as a substitution.

❗️ GMMTV held their 2024 part 2 event on April 23rd. The following BL projects were announced:

The Heart Killers (starring FirstKhao & JoongDunk)

Perfect10 Liners (starring ForceBook, PerthChimon, JuniorMark)

Heart That Skips a Beat (starring EstWilliam)

Revamp (starring BounPrem, formerly known as Vampire Project)

Sweet Tooth, Good Dentist (starring MarkOhm)

The Ex-Morning (starring KristSingto)

❗️ The production company CHANGE2561 held their 2024 lineup event on April 25th. The following BL projects were announced:

This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans (starring SailubPon)

Goddess Bless You From Death (starring PavelPooh)

I’m The Most Beautiful Count (starring PingSupanut)

Pit Babe Season 2

Upcoming series & movies for May

👉🏻 You Made My Day (starring Tar A. and Bom T. from I Will Knock You) - May 3rd (Thailand)

👉🏻 Inverse Identity / Upside Down - Mary 3rd (China)

👉🏻 Wandee Goodday - May 4th (Thailand)

👉🏻 A Balloon's Landing - May 10th (Taiwan)

👉🏻 City of Stars: Special Episode - May 10th (Thailand, cinema release)

👉🏻 The Time of Fever (Unintentional Love Story spinoff) - May 15th (South Korea)

👉🏻 Blossom Campus - May 16th (South Korea)

👉🏻 OMG! Vampire - May 19th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Manji Reverse - May 24th (Japan)

👉🏻 My Biker 2 - May 28th (Thailand)

[peri-peri-sauce]

hi sorry if this is random but i noticed your recent tags and some other peoples posts about Jeres behaviour recently, so i wanted to ask what exactly happened, how did he change? because he seems the same to me and i cant recall anything happening, other than the NFT situation. the poor jokes have been around a while, hes made them on previous euro tour and nobody seemed to mind.

Before I state my opinion on this subject, I want to make it clear that it's totally okay not to agree with me.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I won't start any drama or arguments over this. Although you're free to leave your thoughts and opinions in my inbox or in this post's comments without any problems.

I don't really care much about the jokes. Yes, after hearing them a thousand times they do get tiring, and his limited knowledge of English is not an excuse to keep making the same jokes over and over. But they're just jokes, it's entertainment, and that's it. That's not what has been bothering me, and I wanted to make this clear from the start.

My issue is more with the other things he's done (or hasn't done) this year.

First the NFTs, which caused a lot of drama and divided the fandom between people who are against it and cancelled him and those who don't care. I'm not going to go into details because there's already been hundreds of posts about this.

On the other hand, there's the drama with the OF. Poor quality content for 40€, no schedule, no communication. Another mess I'm not going to get into, we've already discussed this.

Personally, I'm tired of everything being put behind a paywall. They do raffles, giveaways and post exclusive content only for people who can afford to pay. And what about the rest of us? Are those of us who don't want to pay just going to keep getting vacation photos and the occasional selfie? Mikke still hasn't uploaded anything about last year's Eurotour, and now they want to make this year's Eurotour paid content?

Also, what happened to the album? Why does he keep releasing songs without properly announcing or promoting anything? We wouldn't have even had a date for the Sex = Money release if someone hadn’t posted that on socials yesterday after he casually mentioned it at the gig! The album was supposed to come out in the spring, but there are barely three months left in the year and we still don't have any dates or anything.

Recently, I feel like I'm following an influencer who posts vacation photos rather than an artist who makes shows and music. I want K to live his life and do whatever he wants, but he shouldn't forget that he's an artist, and while we keep giving him our money to go to concerts, get boring merch and see exclusive content, I don't feel like he's giving us something new in return. As a fan who is in love with him as an artist and his music, I feel really disappointed.

I feel like he's not putting in as much effort as he did last year. He doesn't bother to give us dates, to make a schedule for the OF posts or communicate with us what to expect before we subscribe, to provide us with new content (without having to pay), and he doesn't even bother to create good designs for his merch that isn't just the same photo he's been using everywhere for months.

With this, I want to clarify that I'm not canceling him, I'm just mad and disappointed, and for now, I'm not leaving the fandom. But if he doesn't have anything to offer me, then I won't have anything to give him in return either.

[bluecrocss]

And you know what's so crazy about the PJO fans that are up in arms over the changes in the show and have been having a fit over the castings?

ATLA is my favorite show in the entire world. It was my favorite as a kid and still my favorite now as an adult. I have re-watched that show start to finish, more than anything in my life and it's probably the one subject I am most knowledgeable about.

When they announced the live-action I had initially been ecstatic, but as I read more about the direction Netflix was taking it, learning the og creators left the project, and a few casting choices I didn't love, I realized it wasn't for me...

So you know what I did? I just didn't watch it.

I have not concerned myself with the live-action since. I don't stay up at night wishing the worst for the show, I don't hate watch it, I'm not in the comment sections of the cast members I didn't agree with harassing actors that simply auditioned for a part, I'm not on fan pages and fan posts for the show, lamenting all the things I don't like. I don't even interact with the live action fandom.

And it's not out of anger or spite, just pure indifference.

The existence of the live action, doesn't take away from the og show I watched. It hasn't burned it out of existence. I can still re-watch it and get exactly what I want out of it anytime I want.

The existence of the live-action fandom doesn't keep me up at night. Why would it bother me that there are people who enjoy the live action, when I don't? Why would I wish for the cancellation of a show that they enjoy? What difference would not making the rest of the seasons of the live action have towards my life?

Also for the cast, regardless of how I feel about the performances or which castings I liked, and which I didn't... all I can see is a whole host of young actors of color, getting a shot at roles that wouldn't have existed for them like 10 years ago. How can I look at that and be angry? over a fictional story?

Idk man... fandom spaces have been getting progressively more vile and toxic as of late (and this is coming from a fandom veteran). Whatever happened to the concept of "scroll if you don't like"?

It's like people feel this entitlement that every piece of media correlated to something that you liked as a kid, has to cater to YOU specifically (don't even get me started on the Star Wars fandom).

With the PJO show, it's already clear it won't be a 1:1 adaptation from the books, the casting won't follow the physical descriptions of the books... if that's too far for you, don't watch it. Why are you determined to torture yourself, and bring the people who actually did enjoy the adaptation and it's changes down with you?

As someone who read the books and loved them as a kid, and watched the adaptation and also enjoyed it for what it was (Not that I think the first season was flawless. And there are definitely somethings they need to fix going forwards), I just don't understand this behavior.

I've tried to empathize with the people that are still harassing the child actors, and making hour long videos on every detail that wasn't 100% book accurate, and launching think pieces on how Rick Riordan is now the devil incarnate apparently and I just think back to my relationship with the ATLA live action, and I wouldn't even have the energy or desire to do any of that shit. Like, what is driving y'all?

Also, I'm not gonna go into my rant about the new streaming format of 8 episodes, every 1-2 years and the effect that is having on the quality of the shows we are getting, cuz we'll be here all day, but something I have noticed is that shows aren't allowed to have bad seasons anymore.

Like, people will hype up a show before it comes out and if season 1 isn't perfect, they'll start praying for it's cancellation and claiming it's unsalvageable. That's not how showrunning works. Y'all realize if that was how they did things in the past, we wouldn't have shows like: the office, parks and rec, the simpsons, Star trek tng, etc.

Rather than review-bombing a show because the first season has flaws and pushing the networks/streaming platforms to cancel it, how about we encourage shows with good foundations so we don't miss out on the gems they can become in the future?

[iamnotawomanimagod]

can you explain whats going on with chappell roan and the backlash u posted abt? not to be like “i cant be bothered to google it” but id like some insight from smth thats not like, an article or whatever

For sure!

So basically it all kicked off when Chappell posted some TikToks asking people to stop bothering her in public. It's better to hear it in her own words, but basically she finds stan/superfan behavior super creepy and she doesn't want people asking for hugs, selfies, etc, when she's "off the clock" in public places. Fully understandable, and she's right about how weird it is that we've normalized harassing celebrities.

A lot of people said some really rude shit about this. Things like - she isn't even that famous, she isn't cut out to be a "pop girlie," she's being cruel to her fans, etc. She stood her ground by posting a statement on IG thanking people for listening to her perspective.

The most recent backlash involves her canceling two shows in Europe. Chappell explained that it was due to "scheduling conflicts." It's been speculated that she canceled so she can do rehearsals for the VMAs.

Many of her fans felt this wasn't a good enough reason, as people had paid for airfare, hotels, etc to go to those shows, and that's money most people will not get back. And it's understandable to be upset and disappointed about that, but I've seen a lot of fans treating her like she killed their dog or something.

The VMAs are a huge opportunity, especially for an up-and-coming artist. I don't blame her for wanting to put her energy there. She probably had no idea the VMAs were an option for her when she set those tour dates, because she's really only blown up in the past six months or so, at least on a mainstream level.

But basically - it feels like we're watching a speedrun of that typical cycle that pop stars, especially female pop stars, always seem to experience. They're the darling of the moment, everyone's favorite new thing!! Until they do something that's perceived as rude, or selfish, or entitled. Which usually really means just setting boundaries and putting their own well-being ahead of the satisfaction of their "fans."

It's tough to watch. :(

[virgo-dream]

Safety Net: A Bolt in the Blue Story

teen and up / dreamling / rock band au / mutual pining / 3,1k words

summary: Endless is in the middle of its first headline tour, and Dream has been doing his best to hold his own in the ever changing routine of touring. After one particularly intense concert, Dream finds himself extremely overwhelmed, and relies on the help of his trusted bass tech, Hob Gadling, to ground himself again. In the process, he finds that a few feelings have become impossible to ignore. this fic is set in the universe of @valeriianz's amazing rock band au, so if you haven't read that, this miiiight not make a lot of sense. I hope you like this Kris!! big thanks to literal love of my life @littledreamling for the superb beta work. this would be illegible without him. read here or on ao3

Endless were 6 shows into their first tour. Something that felt like a far off hope had become reality for the passion project Dream and Death had started in the garage of their father's home. They'd been signed onto a record label, released an album, and now had a proper fanbase to keep things moving. Their music was no longer a monologue echoed in their own rehearsals, but a continuous conversation with listeners, who felt seen by the lyrics, touched by the melodies and enthralled by the harmonies. They had, for all intents and purposes, made it. 

Dream had taken surprisingly well to touring life. The constant change of scenery was becoming less disorienting with every new city they visited, and travel was becoming a pattern he was slowly adapting to. He'd settled into his own personal rhythm, creating a routine to guide himself by for the duration of the tour. As long as he was able to find an anchor, Dream knew he could perform to the best of his ability. Performing a 90 minute set was akin to running a marathon, and Dream was as disciplined as any athlete would  be. And so, his new routine became a ritual, a multiple step plan to successfully get through every moment before and after going on stage, then repeating it all for the next concert. 

He'd broken down his pre-show routine in ten steps: Endless would arrive at their stop maybe one or two days before a show. Dream would get settled into his hotel room and have some time to decompress properly. They'd go around town, maybe eat at a local restaurant. The day of the concert, Dream would arrive at the venue and get acquainted with the layout of the backstage area. He'd then do soundcheck, making sure to know what to expect during the show. Once he'd done everything in his usual ritual, he'd retreat back to the greenroom, finding somewhere comfortable to sit. He'd  then review the setlist, taking notes in his journal, and finally, with his noise cancelling headphones on, Dream would listen to their songs on loop, grounding himself as much as possible before going on stage. The moment he got on stage, everything else was nonexistent.

Still, no matter how diligent Dream was in doing his part, the further they got into the tour, the more unpredictable things were becoming. When they went out to go sightseeing or simply grab a meal, fans would stop them for videos and photos. They'd given interviews to local news a couple of times now, and the amount of invites to events happening in town before or right after their shows was becoming more and more difficult for Dream to avoid. While Desire and Delirium were more than happy to go to whatever after-party they'd gotten invited to, and Death was terrific at interviews and dealing with the public, Dream was steadily growing in popularity with their fans. People had questions for him, wanted his autograph, to see him at the after parties. It was getting harder and harder to turn down every single invite, and even though his mysterious persona was what had drawn people to him in the first place, now, as any up and coming artist was bound to experience, people felt entitled to his privacy. It wasn't enough to be mysterious: he was now required to perform mystery rather than live it. Needless to say, Dream did not take well to that. 

One by one, all of Dream's fixed points became unpredictable, his anxiety rising every time they arrived somewhere new. All of them but one: Hob Gadling.

The longer the tour went on, the more grateful Dream was to have Hob around. He seemed to be able to read Dream's minuscule shifts in expression better than even Death could. Hob was hired as Dream's bass tech, but at that point he was performing multiple functions; He'd fetch Dream whatever he needed to self-regulate. Hob knew where Dream kept his journal, and what pens to bring him to take notes with. He knew that Dream needed his headphones close by if he got too overwhelmed, and was constantly bringing him snacks to make sure Dream wasn't working on an empty stomach. Sometimes, Hob would even act as his bodyguard. When fans started swarming them when they were about to leave the venues they'd just played, Hob wouldn't let anyone touch him or put cameras in Dream's face. 

Hob was slowly becoming the one person that brought Dream comfort, and the realisation sometimes felt too overwhelming to face. It was good having someone look out for him, and the more demands Dream had, the more did Hob pick up the things that Dream couldn't focus on anymore. It had become second nature for Dream to look at Hob right before the concerts started, or to hold onto Hob's arm as he stepped off stage, oftentimes shaking and slightly dizzy from the rush of adrenaline. Dream knew that if he reached out, Hob would know exactly what to bring him, even if it was just the reassurance that he was close by. 

They didn't talk about it. Dream didn't know how to bring it up, the tightening in his chest whenever he looked around and didn't immediately spot Hob's gentle brown eyes, the comfort of feeling the strong muscles of his arm when Hob helped him off stage. The first thing Dream would think of when feeling nervous was how Hob wrapped his scarf around his neck outside the New Inn, even though Hob clearly felt much colder than Dream did. How Hob would listen to him for hours on end as he explained music theory to him. How he'd heard Hob try a few shy cords on his bass during lunch breaks, and Dream surprised himself by feeling an enormous sense of pride and fondness, instead of being angry at Hob for even touching his bass outside of what was required. 

They would not talk about it. It was easier to not mention it. Easier to just let things flow, to let them improvise the next few bars of this easy duet between the two of them. They'd fallen into a comfortable synchronicity, one that brought Dream comfort unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. He did not want to ruin that.

–––––––

Endless was halfway into the last song of their set. The crowd had been particularly warm towards them, with Desire being able to banter with fans and get big reactions, and singing along to all of their songs. It was a bit of a surreal feeling for Dream, hearing people sing his own words back at him, sing with him, because now he too sang in their shows. The feeling was infectious, as if Dream had become all powerful during the 90 minutes of their performance. The lights were bright and the people were loud, but he was in control of it all: he and Despair dictated the pace of the entire show, bass and drums guiding the heartbeats of band members and audience alike. On stage, Dream was in control. 

The spell only broke when the song ended. As the sound of the audience cheering became louder than the instruments on stage and they took their last bow, the atmosphere shifted dramatically, like the volatile pressure on a plane getting ready to land. Dream's rational mind began to make its way back to him, the roaring applause nearly a shock to his ears. It felt like time was dilating around him, stretching the last second into eternity. Actually leaving the stage happened on autopilot. One moment, he was watching the crowd chant their names; the next, he was nearly tumbling down the stairs to exit the stage.

"Careful–" Hob's voice was the only sound Dream could identify in the large sonorous mass that dampened his hearing. Everything else was hard to pick apart, but Hob's voice was very present, as were the strong muscles on his arm as he bracketed Dream's fall, helping him lean against Hob's side. Dream could feel as Hob let his arm wrap around his back, and as his feet found  balance again, all he could do was look at Hob. 

"Dream, you here with me?"

Dream blinked a few times, and while he could tell Death and Desire were around too, he couldn't particularly focus on what they were saying. Dream focused on Hob's voice, now directed at them, somehow cutting through the noise while remaining calm. "We just need to get him out of here– I'm going to take him straight to the van, we'll wait for the rest of you there. Leta, can you grab the duffel bag under the vanity in the greenroom? Dessi, a couple of water bottles would be fantastic, hand it all over to Mazikeen. She'll know what to do."

Desire was a little freaked out by the whole situation, and seemed to break out of their usual persona into a more vulnerable one, brows furrowing in worry as they looked at Dream for a moment. "Yes sir!" was all they managed to say, while Death grabbed them by the arm so they could do as Hob had instructed.

Dream raised his hands to his ears, trying to muffle the increasing loudness of their surroundings. Hob was quick to notice his discomfort, readjusting his arm around Dream's back. The only thing that made sense was Hob, and the entire world seemed to be crashing around him. "...loud." 

It was met with Hob's usual kind and calm eyes, and a feeling of absolute trust and safety seemed to wash over Dream, like he could give up control now. Hob had him.  "–hey, we're getting out of here. I'm gonna get you out of here, okay? Leta is getting your headphones." He raised his free hand to cover Dream's ear, helping him to rest his head on Hob's shoulder as they walked.

Hob was careful as he guided Dream through the backstage area of the venue. As they walked past corridors lit with neon lights and filled with smoke from both the fog machines used on stage and a few cigarettes now resting on ashtrays, he made sure to cover Dream's eyes when needed, quickly walking past anyone who so much as thought of stopping them. Dream was thankful for Hob's care: he could see how gentle Hob was whenever he deliberately had to touch Dream, or how relentless he was as they walked through a large group of fans waiting outside the backdoor, heading directly into the van the venue had provided to transport the band back to the hotel. 

When they finally made it into the van, Mazikeen was right behind them with the duffel bag and the water bottles. Hob helped Dream sit down on the last row of seats at the back of the van, closing the door behind them. They would only have to wait for the other band members to arrive, and then they'd head to the hotel. For now, it was good that they were alone.

Dream's body fell limp as Hob sat him down. He was still out of it, trying to find his way back. Hob was quick to grab the noise cancelling headphones from the bag, placing them over Dream's ears carefully. The relief Dream felt from the silence was nearly as overwhelming as the noise had been. All emotions felt awfully big now. Still, this was just one small part of everything that he needed to get grounded. Thankfully for him, Hob was quicker than he was, unscrewing the lid on the plastic bottle and taking it to Dream's lips, holding it there for him until Dream was ready to hold the bottle on his own. He nearly downed the entire bottle in one go, taking in a big gulp of air as he finished drinking, then letting all the air out in one long, relieved sigh.

"Hey. Good to have you back." Hob's muffled voice commanded Dream's attention, who now looked at him as if Hob had hung the moon and personally selected the placement of every star in the night sky. "How are you feeling?"

Dream took a moment to consider. Words still felt a little difficult, but he knew he had to try, not to rush his recovery, but to not give in to the lethargy threatening to take over his very exhausted mind. "...better. Um. It was. A lot."

"I know, I've never seen a crowd like that. You held your own really well." How Hob always knew the right things to say was beyond Dream's understanding. Maybe it was because he didn't, really. But he cared to try, and that was already all Dream could possibly ask for. "If I were in your shoes I don't think I would have made it past the intro."

Hob's words made Dream let out a chuckle, unable to hide the tiny smile forming in his lips. Somehow, the silences between them were comfortable. It was safe to let loose, even if just a little. "I must admit I was taken aback. When they sang along to "The Fates". It was… the words evade me."

"Yeah, that was really something. But I gotta admit, I was a little jealous."

Something shot to the centre of Dream's heart, making it skip a beat as his chest tightened. He tilted his head to the side slightly, and his breath catched for a moment. "...whatever for?"

Hob looked away for a moment, lifting a hand to tug at his earlobe. He did that often when they talked, and Dream found it incredibly endearing. "Well, that's my favourite song off the album. Now a bunch of other people are gonna claim it's their favourite too. I feel like one of those grumpy hipsters saying "I knew about it first."

"Your regard for it means more to me than theirs." 

Dream was caught by surprise at his own words, but not as much as Hob seemed to be. When he smiled, it was so big and bright that his eyes crinkled at the corners. It felt like looking directly into the sun. "I bet you say that to all the bass techs."

Hob's words gave Dream the urge to explain himself. It was a known fact that he didn't have a nice working relationship with his last tech. Then, it dawned on him that Hob’s words must have been a joke, and he was relieved to understand  it quickly enough that he didn't go on a tangent explaining why that didn't make any sense. He decided to try a joke of his own in return. "...only the ones I'm unable to make quit the job."

When Hob laughed, it made him want to write music to the melody of it. To break down every note his voice travelled through, to play it over and over again. To know how to tell jokes that will always make him laugh. It made Dream's chest tighten again, and it must’ve shown in his face, because Hob immediately looked at him with worried eyes again. "Everything okay there?"

It took Dream a while to be able to come up with an answer. He was lost in Hob's expression for a moment, in how quickly it switched from joy to worry, all because Dream didn't seem well. "Ah, yes. I'm just. Tired." It was all he could think to say, blinking a couple of times, as if basic bodily functions had become too tiresome to perform.

"It's a bit of a long drive back to the hotel. Plenty of time to take a good nap." Hob smiled again, now a more reserved, small smile. It was beautiful all the same. He stood from his seat, and Dream was overcome by a feeling of profound loss. "I'm gonna let you lay down here–"

"Stay here." Dream's body acted faster than his mind could prevent, and he grabbed him by the arm. His heart felt like it was beating in his throat. Hob blinked, surprised, and sat next to Dream again. "...someone else might sit here. I wouldn't want to have to. Talk. If they did."

"Oh, got it. Don't worry."

Hob didn’t even question him. Didn’t make him explain, nor judged him for his needs. Of course he didn’t want someone else to sit next to him. That was okay. As Hob settled next to him, Dream rested his head on Hob's shoulder, closing his eyes. Once again, Hob didn’t question him. Allowed him to take whatever he wanted or needed. In the silence provided by Hob's care, Dream let the exhaustion take over, and fell asleep almost instantly.

–––––––

When Dream woke up again, he was laying down in his hotel room bed. He blinked his eyes open a few times, taking a moment to take in his surroundings. He didn’t remember getting there, but he could tell he’d changed into his pyjamas. Dream panicked for a moment, sitting up to look at the clock on the bedside table. 5:27am. Then, he noticed a note on the first page of the small hotel notepad. 

You seemed really tired so I didn't wake you.  Don't worry, Leta changed your clothes. I only brought you up to bed. I hope you're feeling better. If you need anything, send a raven. I feel like you would know how to. ;-) - Hob (your favourite bass tech)

Dream looked at the note in awe. How could there be so much poetry contained in so little words? How could Hob be so kind? How was that even possible? He set the notepad back on the table, and took a moment to process everything that was going through his head. It was a lot. Definitely a lot more than he'd ever dealt with before. The urge to reach for his journal to write about it was immense, but the wave of sleepiness that hit him was even more so, and he was forced to lay back down again. 

He let his hand slide under his pillow, and was relieved to find the scarf was still hidden under there. The scarf Hob had given him that night before Christmas at the New Inn. He pulled the scarf from under the pillow, bringing it up to his face to take in the scent of it. He could still smell Hob in it, even if just faintly. Dream closed his eyes, and imagined he was still sitting on the van with his head resting on Hob's shoulder.

He fell asleep nearly instantly.

[heystephen]

i have this theory that doja genuinely does not want to be famous anymore and is trying to just burn it all down. like she wants the money and to go to fashion shows or whatever, but she doesnt want to sing or actually like... earn her status. its the only reason i can think of for her behavior. she wants to get 'cancelled' by people for being rude and entitled so people stop being fans but she'll still be popular enough to go places... she hates her own music and doesnt wanna sing it anymore, and mocks people who do like it so she seems to just wanna throw that all away

i can see that. she definitely got ~famous~ and realized that it wasn’t for her (which is fair) but can’t quit now cuz she doesn’t want to give up the lifestyle . it’s just such a weird move imo and i’m rly sad for the fans of hers that feel hurt rn

[vaicomcas]

I interact with a lot of blogs that ship destiel and that means I see a lot posts about that ship. I did filter it, but then since even Cas only content is sometimes tagged “destiel”, I had to remove my filters.

We know for the fandom destiel is about Dean and Dean only. I mean I have seen Cas comforts Dean after 14x20 fics. I don’t want to disrespect any writer but that had me seething.

Destiel is “Cas gives up his powers, his faith, his family, basically everything thing. Dean treats him like shit, yells at him” and the inference is OMG see how much Dean loves Cas and poor Cas can’t understand it. It’s the same, may it be in the fic or posts anout the show.

Like fans are so desperate, they cancel everything Cas did, they cancel his relationship with Jack, they cancel his wishes, they cancel his identity. They prefer Cas to be the plot device that is there to comfort dean and provide him whatever they feel like dean needs.

It makes navigating the fandom so hard, like I love these blogs, but I see these destiel posts, more often than I would like and its just makes me want to leave this place.

I do brush it off because everyone is entitled to their opinions and interpretation but my mental health is in such a dark place that I can’t do it right now. Which is why I am ranting here forgive me for that.

Feel free to rant. I know how it feels like. I can't take it either.

I think what makes it hard despite this understanding that "there is no right and wrong just other people craving different things than me" is just that destiel is so overwhelmingly majority that it feels like the default of how to experience SPN universe. Even someone as hardened as myself feel the need to constantly put disclaimers on my posts -- not exactly apologizing but warning people as if my opinion is toxic or something. But we are constantly exposed to what's toxic to us and just have to live with it. Goes with being a minority opinion, I guess.

It's kind of like going to an all-you-can eat buffet and it's the only place I can get food. I am surrounded by an ocean of people who are gorging themselves with trays of moldy cheese and delirious with tears of joy. I find moldy cheese disgusting, and have to hold my breath constantly to avoid the odor, but I understand that moldy cheese is a valued delicacy in some cultures, and these people are the main customers of this business. Still needing to eat, I scrounge up some berries and nuts in the corners, not all in great condition, but I eagerly pile them into my plate. Yet it's hard to enjoy them with the constant stench of cheese in the air.

But then I meet one or two fellow diners in search of berries and nuts, whose scowls on their faces I recognize. And they listen to me rant about the cheese. And they tell me about the other corner where they found some honey that would go so well with the berries. And they drew me a picture of some imaginary berries that are fresh and ripe and so delicious looking. And I think maybe I'll stay in this place a little longer.

[dreamscape-popstar]

I’m sorry I get defensive you hurt my friend and she won’t stand up for herself she loves your blog and sends a lot of asks to it I’d just hope that you would appreciate that a bit more. Everyone has problems.

Aw dude, I completely get where you're coming from. And I'm extremely sorry to your friend, wholeheartedly. Again, not my intention to be rude or mean, I'm just trying to establish what's within our capabilities and we can only handle so much at a time, and like. There is an insecurity with us that our headcanons aren't as good or unique or whatever, because, like. I mean. Everyone else has better ones PLUS we're just not good with coming up with them on the spot.

And, I think we've said this before but we so heavily and deeply appreciate the asks, anon you're our number one fan and we love you fr. I'm glad you like our silly thoughts about a talking animal show that got cancelled in the late 2010's.

And yeah, we all have problems. But, please understand here Friend Anon, starting fights and being hostile, mean, or like. Over reactionary to my request of "no more headcanons" just kinda sours the whole ordeal, and makes us feel like we're seen as people who Make Content and not real people with lives and things to do and stuff. Especially feeling entitled to our time and calling us names and assuming the worst, you gotta know how badly that hurts, right? If you wouldn't like it said to you, why say it to someone else?

And I did make a preposition like, don't just ask for "[character] headcanons", but something more specific. Like. Shit. Ask us "What was Vinnie doing on April 13th 2009" or something like that.

We value the asks, we just want asks with a bit more substance, otherwise, we might get frustrated and sound a little standoffish. Which is on us, that I'll accept, but we're only capable of so much at a time and eventually that stress builds on us and we must just Splode.

[the1975attheirverybest]

oml people are really losing it today, huh?? Matty has been talking about this show FOREVER. there are hundreds of quotes and whole interviews of him explaining what he’s doing/ what his motivations are etc. Are people being ignorant/ daft on purpose? How could anyone think he’s just being an idiot/ doesn’t think about or plan what he’s doing?? He’s CLEARLY making a show about cancel culture/ fake woke virtue signaling on social media/ discussing how none of this is actually serving us… This man is incredibly smart. I’m really starting to get offended/ embarrassed by people claiming otherwise…

Idk, man? Anon is entitled to their opinion. They’re being respectful about it (aside from the claim that he and Lucy aren’t friends or whatever). So, even though I think it’s kind of weird to say that Matty would do this as a silly little joke, like if people wanna think that, that’s their choice.

But yeah, in my opinion, it kinda sucks that after all that he has done, the pains he has taken to set the context up for us, people think he’s just thoughtless. As if Matty has even been known to make any moves regarding his work or persona without putting in effort. Even before this show, like his albums make so many self-reflexive references and he always talks about how fans do deep dives and he loves it. And if people think that he’d just say whatever, especially controversial stuff, without thinking kinda makes me sad. But, like I said, that’s their opinion and they’re allowed to have it as long as everyone’s being chill.

[sophsun1]

Ooofff, I went through those con recaps because to put it in a nice way: I’m a slut for any type of qaf info especially from cons since they’re so rare. And it’s always fun reading about what the actors are/were like. But like reading the recaps about 2012 Cologne, it reminded me that I love this cast so much but Hal I’m ehhh about. Like there was a part where he in M&G discussed how he thinks Mikey was also in some way bashed or something similar to Justin which okay, whatever, i have my opinions on that and he has his which is cool. But like reading about how he spoke over his costars/Randy at a panel and answered a question that was literally targeted at the gay actors about being gay and he talked about his gay friends. Then I’m suddenly kinda happy that I missed SOME conventions because that made my secondhand embarrassment go through the roof. But them reading other con recaps makes me hope that they somehow bring a convention back to life.

Give me Randy and Gale!! And give me Peter because he’s always the life of a party! And now after hearing how Randy is on his podcast, I feel like now he would be completely different at a con (to some degree).

Hey anon!

Yeah, it was fun to read about people's experiences as it's not very realistic that any will take place nowadays, which is a shame :(

The fandom does seem to be less than enthused shall we say about Hal. From what I've seen he is very extroverted and likes to be the centre of attention and would play up to that in interviews, you do you, whereas Gale/Randy are notoriously private. He wasn't particularly close to them and has said some questionable things about the on set experiences and has quite strong opinions. I think he just wasn't a lot of qaf fans cup of tea.

Everyone has their faves, for me Randy is pure sunshine and wickedly funny. Gale is wonderfully strange, I wanna study him under a microscope, his thought process fascinates me no end.

I will say though I have no clue what he means when he says Michael was bashed as he literally never was??

I have suffered through watching a con or two to get Gale/Randy content and almost didn't make it out alive, I literally wanted to die at some of the questions. My god, they would never get away with asking those things these days, which is the plus side to if they ever held another because I would hope people would ask more intelligent, thoughtful ones. I think Gale and Randy struggled a lot because essentially they were the most popular characters on the show and their own personal opinions didn't always tie in with the fans interpretations so they would then get upset. Alongside the intense attention which was difficult to cope with. But I think they would definitely be more prepared and relaxed should they do it again. I personally loved Randy being blunt as fuck, as he's entitled to his opinion too and I don't take it as seriously as some fans do!

My dream lineup would be the one that got cancelled lmao as Gale, Scott, Peter and Randy all were close and got on off set, so it would've be a riot for sure!

[the-martyrfication-of-the-matron]

I see your actual problem with Klaus's writing is way beyond what I touched upon, and I'm not going to get into any more of that. Tons of people on this website who agree with you and tons who have better arguments than I do.

The only reason I bothered you with my mega response is that I'm so fucking tired, excuse my French, of this fandom and the constant bashing of the writing of the show as if it's an olympic sport. I barely see any content anymore because of the amount of blogs I've blocked over the years. It's a shame we can't just enjoy things the way they were written anymore, even if we don't agree with how some narratives play out. And I just hate the entitlement some people seem to have developed in recent years, where they think screenwriters owe them stories that exactly reflect the way they would have handled things. (And then wonder why things get cancelled left and right.) It's a bit hypocritical how we as a fandom, on the other hand, would never dare to criticise a fanfiction writer for their absolutely ridicuous headcanons and narratives. Screen writers are usually fans of the show they write for, too, you know.

Personally, if I have a problem with a show and its writing, I move on and find something that I actually enjoy instead. I understand that you're probably just frustrated because of the unrealised potential or whatever. What you do about that is entirely up to you. I'll curate my own experience accordingly.

Sorry for making you my breaking point and unloading this rant onto you.

Oh no, it’s chill, I totally understandable.

The only reason I feel comfortable posting about this stuff is because it’s kind of like… my funky little niche in a way (not very niche niche, but a niche none the less) for me to talk about my thoughts on shows writing and redoing the shows myself.

However I am, in fact, the kind of asshole to also judge people for their headcanons and how they write their fics lmao I’m just aware that they are actually allowed to cuss me out for it so I don’t.

[mommyclaws]

i have genuinely never heard of a bluestar-hate video, what video is that??? o_o like. i am certain i won’t agree with whatever takes they have, but now i’m curious

You don't??? The damage it did to the warrior cats fandom for years after is still so vivid to me, holy shitt....

Before I start, I am not trying to start drama. I'm actually a fan of the op. This isnt a cancel or callout post. The video is probably 6+ years old now. No clue if it or the related videos are still up, but I'm not gonna go fishing for them and if someone else finds them, I'd appreciate if you DO NOT link it on this post! Just to avoid any drama yknow yknow

So to sum it up the video was basically saying that Bluestar is a bad person for what she did to Brightheart/Lostface and went on to nickpick things about her, like interpreting her personality as entitled and I vaguely remember some implication that she was judging ThistleClaw unfairly. Which is... fine on it's own. You don't have to like the character or the things she did, but they also had a similar video "defending" Thistleclaw. Obviously not in a condoning his actions kind of way, but it was something along the lines of "You guys are hating him for the wrong reasons. You should hate him for being violent and a gr*0mer. But he was actually nice to Snowfur and loved her so stop making art/content where he's mean to Snowfur!"

And it probably didn't sit well with alot of people because... what difference does it make?

And god I could rant, I could rant, I could RANT about why showing Thistleclaw in any positive light when it is common knowledge that a majority of this fandom are in middle school was not a good idea. And besides that, he canonly calls Snowfur and their son weak after she died. Thistleclaw isn't and was never supposed to be a sympathetic character.

I genuinely dont care if you like him or headcanon him, blah blah whatever. I'm not here to police people over fake cats. Idc. but any Thistleclaw defense is completely uncalled for and has no purpose when his fucking character is a canon ped0 and gr*0mer who might put the age group this book is made for at risk. The things he does in Spottedleaf's Heart are bad, and the book just never acknowledged that the gr*0ming and age gap were the issue, rather just the fact that he was training in the Dark Forest. I think this could be very easily misinterpreted by children because it doesn't show the true weight of how bad Spottedpaw's situation is.

But anyways, after those videos, the backlash against Bluestar was intense and there was definitely a bigger Thistleclaw fan crowd for awhile. I mean this spread like wildfire. Any video, art posted, or mention of Bluestar would always have a ton of people making unnecessary side comments like "I hate her but-" "I don't like her but-" etc. I would even see people link the video if you mentioned liking her😭?? Which is just 1. rude to say on someone else work and 2. Blantantly parroting for the video just because the op was popular.

I don't blame this video specifically, and I know the fandom is mostly kids- even more so back then- but I do think it had a bit of a part to play in how the warriors fandom has long since blurred the line between "This character is bad" and "This character did a bad thing."

Yes, Bluestar did bad things, but the narrative VERY MUCH portrayed those things as bad. The reader knows what she did was bad. The characters know what she did was bad. That was the entire point. Completely opposite of characters like Bramblestar, who do bad things but are defended by the narrative and it's way more appropriate to bring negative attention.

Imo Bluestar was one of the best written and tragic characters in the series and before that video alot of people agreed, but for years after it she was reduced to "She did bad thing so I can't like her anymore". The whole Bluestar stuff has blown off since and I'm glad, but it's so frustrating how many characters get this treatment as well lately instead of being seen as narrative tools.

You can comment and reblog stuff but if anyone starts dropping names, URLs, or video links I'm turning reblogs off okay?

[thevindicativevordan]

Why isn't Nightwing a bigger deal? He has all of Batman's skills and Superman's faith in humanity and is arguably the most beloved hero in the DCU, but most people seem to know him either as the leader of the N̶o̶t̶ ̶J̶L̶ Teen Ttians or just Robin.

Thank you for asking me about Nightwing, I've been wanting to write a piece about him for a while now. The short version is that everyone who claims Dick becoming Nightwing was him "moving out of Batman's shadow and becoming his own man" is completely wrong.

Dick Grayson is a fantastic character, someone who saved Bruce Wayne in-universe both by forcing Batman to grow up a bit, and the countless times he saved Batman's life as his partner whether as Robin or Nightwing. Dick saved Batman in the real world as well, hard to believe but Batman was actually in danger of being cancelled due to poor sales early on. Enter Robin, a young daredevil audience stand in the creators hoped would get kids interested in reading Batman. And it worked! Sales on Batman doubled once Robin showed up which is crazy to think about, but Dick Grayson has always been a popular character. Cartoons like Teen Titans, Batman: The Animated Series, and The Batman only helped grow his audience.

Character-wise, Dick Grayson really does fill a number of crucial roles in the DCU. For Batman, Dick is proof that Batman is a positive force. Meeting Batman helped change Dick for the better, helped him heal after his parents died. With Dick, Batman can take comfort in knowing that yes, he has made a difference in the world for at least one orphan boy, which is all he wanted when he lost his parents himself. To the wider DCU, Dick is a friendly face who convinces others that Batman is competent and not a complete asshole. He took this kid in, trained him to be one of the best heroes the DCU has seen, and did it all out of the kindness of his heart. That someone like Dick can confront the evils of Gotham and not break means there's still hope for that city. As Robin, Dick has led the Titans and is an icon in his own right as The Sidekick, the original, the one every other Robin is built around copying or contrasting. The one all other superhero sidekicks are drawing on as a basis. As Robin Dick Grayson is very much on Batman's level.

Just not as Nightwing. As Nightwing, Dick has been a second rate Daredevil which means he's a third rate Batman (fully prepared to get hate for this but I've read and enjoyed the Miller and Bendis DD runs so I feel entitled to my opinion). A typical Nightwing run tends to go like this: Moving to Bludhaven (which is Gotham... but WORSE!), Dick Grayson usually enrolls in a pointless job we don't care about in order to provide some meaningless soap opera drama that doesn't go anywhere. Patrolling the city as Nightwing, he fights a variety of bad guys who are usually rather lame and unthreatening, with his big bad being a Kingpin knockoff called Blockbuster. Villains are fought, long running plotlines are set up, then everything is abandoned because it's Batfamily event time, and Dick has to run back to Gotham in order to play sidekick again. Usually his involvement is completely superfluous and it would've been better if the writer had gotten to opt out. By the time we finally get back to Nightwing's solo plotlines, the audience has usually ceased to care and the run gets cut short.

That's how Nightwing has been since the New 52 at least. Anyone who thinks that's "becoming their own man" is out of their mind. Dick is so thoroughly in Batman's shadow that he got shot in the head and spent a longer time as "Ric" which everyone fucking hated and sold like shit, than he did as Agent Grayson which was extremely well-received. Reiterating: Ric went on longer than Grayson because of a fucking Batman plotpoint Tom King wanted where Bruce was sad and cut off from the Batfamily because of Dick getting shot. Not just calling out King either, how many times was Kyle Higgins Nightwing run derailed because of Scott Snyder's crossovers? Or how about that entire run getting dumped to the side because Johns wanted to out Dick during Forever Evil, a Justice League/Lex Luthor story? DC has repeatedly made their contempt for Nightwing clear, he's Batman's sidekick still in their eyes, and he serves whatever story role the Batman writer wants.

Hell his best stories tend to have been the ones where he's not Nightwing. He was Robin in a good chunk of the Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans run. Morrison really showcased his depth as a character when they wrote him as Batman, their time with Dick under the cowl was actually one of the first Batman runs I ever read, and no Nightwing run has ever matched it in terms of quality in my humble opinion. Scott Snyder's work with DickBats also was a high point for the character, showing Dick as competent and examining his relationship with Gotham and the Gordons. King and Seeley gave him one of the best comic runs with Grayson, a series where he wasn't even a "superhero" technically! When it comes to actual pre-New 52 Nightwing runs that are highly recommended where he *is* Nightwing, there's Chuck Dixon and uhhhhhhh... Tomasi's brief run before Dick became Batman? It's not exactly an overwhelming list.

Look there has been good work done with Nightwing, I'm not claiming there hasn't been. Tim Seeley wrote a great run with Nightwing Rebirth. Seeley fleshed out Dick's Rogues Gallery with cool new ones like Raptor, he brought back old foes like Dr. Hurt (why oh why couldn't you have brought back Flamingo too?), he gave Dick's world some character it solely needed. Bludhaven under Seeley is pretty much the only time I've really felt like it lived up to being Dick's city.

The problem with fictional cities is you have to put in the work to give them the character of real cities. You have to make the cities feel like characters in their own right. Gotham is the best example of this, it's a character all it's own, one that tells you a lot about Batman and his cast. In contrast Bludhaven is usually one of the worst. Any place that wants to claim to be worse than the city that is built over the gate to hell and gets wrecked every other month by the Arkham freaks has to really put in the work to compete. Simply put, Bludhaven typically fails utterly. There's nothing about it that makes you really buy it's worse than Gotham, I mean does anyone really think Nightwing's Rogues wouldn't get their lunches eaten by Batman's? No, no one genuinely buys that. When Bludhaven claims to be worse, it just comes across as tryhard, an attribute that does end up telling you about Nightwing in unintentional ways.

So Seeley didn't do that. Instead he created a city built for a hero like Dick Grayson. Someone who is bright and flashy, but does have an element of darkness to him. Someone who loves the spotlight, but often uses it to obscure. Seeley turned Bludhaven into Las Vegas, and that was the fucking best concept for Bludhaven I have ever seen, it makes so much sense. Las Vegas is the "Entertainment Capital of the World" and isn't that the perfect city for a hero who got their start working in the circus? Isn't the aesthetics of the gleaming casinos, the glamorous sex appeal of the performers, and the spectacle of the shows, all being used to cover up the seediness of mob bosses meeting backstage perfect for Nightwing? It's so utterly unlike New York City, yet Las Vegas is still dangerous, it's got a crime culture all it's own. Seeley used it to great effect, as did Humphries during his brief run, and I will always be pissed that DC didn't continue to use it. That should have stuck around and been the definitive look for Bludhaven.

How Seeley's take on Bludhaven was treated feels like a small scale version of how Nightwing in general gets treated. Whenever creators pitched ideas for him, if editorial thought there was potential to break big, they asked for those ideas to be repurposed for Batman instead. Anything big or good gets repurposed for Batman or tossed to the side so Nightwing can go back to his default: having irrelevant adventures in a city that is supposedly worse than Gotham but can't live up to it. Just like how Nightwing is supposedly better than Batman but never gets to show it. Goddamn it's so frustrating seeing his potential get wasted like that.

The Nightwing book should be one of DC's most ambitious books in terms of storytelling. You can go from traditional superhero stories, to romantic soap opera, to spy stories, to crime noir, to horror, to cosmic adventures, and ALL of them would fit because Nightwing is someone who has a foot in both Gotham and Metropolis. He's got friends everywhere on every team, and has been a hero longer than most Leaguers have at this point. No reason DC should still be afraid to let him loose and insisting on hewing close to what Dixon established almost over 30 years ago is only holding him back. At the very least get him some better Rogues, why the hell didn't he get to keep Professor Pyg? That's Dick's villain not Bruce's! Bullshit that they didn't let Dick keep him. Hopefully Flamingo comes back, with a slight revamp I think he'd make a great reoccurring Nightwing Rogue.

Luckily it does look somewhat like Nightwing fans have reason to be optimistic. While Taylor isn't to my taste, DC clearly views him as a "big" writer, and that they put him on Nightwing says a lot. Taylor has been selling well so far, so hopefully he gets to tell his story, hilarious that even he lampshaded having to write Dick running over to Gotham for another tie-in after Taylor's big opening arc was all about Dick committing himself and his money to Bludhaven. Scott Snyder is apparently working on a Black Label Nightwing book which will explore how he's a different detective than Bruce. The Gotham Knights video game has him as one of the main stars, and while Titans is... controversial, it's one of the most popular streaming shows and Dick is the main character. There's a lot of content coming that features him in the starring role, and that will only help his star rise further.

For the first time in, well, ever it feels like DC may be serious about elevating him. Time will tell if it pays off, but I for one choose to be optimistic that the 2020s will be a turning point for Dick Grayson where Nightwing becomes hugely popular in his own right. Not just as Batman's sidekick.

[stitchislovely]

I’m glad the tumblr fandom is finally seeing how toxic the Twitter fandom but it’s seriously so sad how much reaching they’re doing. Jeremy is getting his name dragged through the mud by entitled fans who are so obessed with the idea of him being a bad person that they twist every single thing he says or posts. What’s worse is that so many of these people have support because their following can’t be bothered to fact check and will take every cancel party as gospel. To be clear, an actor who is homophobic would not repeatedly audition and stay on shows with LGBTQ+ casts and characters. He shouldn’t be accused of queerbaiting when the writers are the ones making the final decisions, nor when he repeatedly states that he doesn’t like to comment on things because his words are often twisted to fit whatever narrative the fans have themselves. He shouldn’t be demonized for promoting his music instead of being an activist all day, everyday. Having a platform does not mean they have the knowledge to speak about things they either know nothing about or very little of. Him saying he should’ve waited to promote his song was most likely because launches are strategic, and he was too excited to wait for a plan. Even if he knew about it, genuine question are we supposed to put our lives on hold for every bad thing that happens? I wake up to 20 horrible headlines a day and if I let myself dwell on each of them I’d never be able to do anything in my life. If I donated or every campaign I’d be broke. If I signed every campaign(which I do try to) I’d also have to spend time researching it beforehand. There’s a thing called compassion fatigue and the harsh reality is that we can’t care about everything at once without sacrificing our own happiness. What’s he gonna do, tweet DT to stop the execution? That was the only thing could stop it and I’m confident in saying Jeremy doesn’t have that power. Also what’s up with the double standard, the rest of the cast said nothing but he’s the bad guy? He jokes with Owen about him “sounding horrible” and Owen laughs but fans get to decide to be offended on his behalf? He doesn’t play into the Luke/Reggie ship because it’s not canon and because being shipped with Charlie is funny to him means he’s homophobic? His wife and him “kind of look similar” (literally just because they’re white) and now it’s incest? He gets called ugly, untalented, amongst so many other things but he’s the bad guy? Why is bullying acceptable when it’s at the expense of him? Also fans can joke about Charlie’s height, Owen being dumb(he’s not), So many other things but he can’t joke with his friends. The difference is he knows them personally and the fans only know them on the surface level. I lost my point but these Twitter kids are pathetic and cruel and it’s weird that they’re proud of it.

[stomp-that-ho-regard]

I'm really not sure why anyone's surprised Im/odna wasn't The BeauJes Apology(TM) people were hoping for. Anything remotely resembling an apology would be an admission of the fuck-up and the cast has proven they're incapable of doing that. And Marisha is incapable of acting like an adult about queer characters.

Even if it does take a turn for the romantic, to harken back to another anon you got, there's no reason to trust them with it. Even a couple years after the fact, the BeauJes fiasco has only proven that they're all-too happy to throw a character-dynamic away the moment it's inconvenient to some unrelated 3rd party (whether they're at the table or not), no matter how good or fun it is.

and really, ships like im/odna or beaujes would do just fine in any fandom where the creators don't show such disdain for people who don't worship the canon, and said disdain gets carried into the fandom. Where you have an entire subset who have no qualms about going into the tags of a ship they don't like just to bully people. I've moved onto other fandoms that basic bit of fandom-etiquette is so much less common in so many other communities. They say "don't bully people" and their sycophants take it as "don't bully us :)))" (something something don't forget to love each other repeatedly gets turned into a blunt weapon to shut down criticism) cuz they've always actively mocked anyone who criticizes them, or doesn't uncritically eat up whatever story-beat they add, no matter how lazy it is. No wonder fanfic writers are made into a joke whenever they're mentioned: fanfic can and sometimes does challenge the canon of a given story.

“Marisha is incapable of acting like an adult about queer characters.” This very succinctly sums it up.

Though I will say, early on (from the confession and forward, pre-hiatus), she did a good job. There were tons of fans that identified with the way she was playing Beau in that moment; how scary it is to admit you have feelings for a (presumed straight) friend, having to keep that to yourself, the little bit of yearning mixed with anguish that comes with it, and how you wanna distance yourself but then if you do, your friend is gonna be really sad. (Like in ep88)

I genuinely think that she did actually play those aspects of it very well.

And I guess that’s also part of the disappointment over why Beaujester fell away and we got stuck with BY. Around the time of the confession, Beau had been growing as a person. She was less juvenile, more articulate, and in a sense, more genuine than she used to be. Of course she still had her goofy moments but it felt like she was maturing. Then post-hiatus reared it ugly head and she was back to acting like a horny teenager. It was like everybody reverted back to their original selves, devoid of growth. The shallowness was back, the one-liners were back, the “That’s hot.” “You’re so hot.” “Let’s make-out.” shit was back. That was all she had to contribute. It was ridiculous, bland, and try-hard.

Where the fuck did all the maturity go?

Pre-hiatus Beau and post-hiatus Beau really do feel like two different people.

I like that you said ‘worship the canon’. And, you’re right. I also think ships like Beaujester and Im/odna would be allowed to thrive in a fandom that didn’t worship canon. Problem is, I personally don’t know of any fandom that didn’t/doesn’t worship canon. Maybe Ag/ent Carter would be the only exception. But I think that’s only because it didn’t exist long enough for the fandom to devolve into a toxic space. The show was cancelled a few episodes into its second season lol

Other than that, every other fandom experience I’ve had (both on here and on twitter) has been pretty fucking horrendous. And it is mostly because of canon worship and just general shipper entitlement. (Mainly m/f shipper entitlement.)

I won’t go into that here though. I’ve already started writing up something about this and it’s gonna be very long. It needs to be its own post.