#its really more of a description of a fan reaction than a character not that you would know from how its used now

[tac-the-unseen]

What the Lost boys think about vampire related media

Fluff, x reader but just barely

•While making conversation with your four Vampire lovers you were suddenly plagued with a question.

“How do you guys feel about vampire related media?”

-That question was an immediate head turner. The cave goes dead quite before Dwayne speaks up, “Well…vampires are in hiding so…”

-This sparks a conversation about how media representation of vampires may not be accurate, but that's a good thing. “If a book or movie comes out and it is shockingly accurate to what being a vampire is really like, the creator isn't going to last long.” David explained

-That's because there's a set of rules vampires have to follow and one of those rules is to never publicly reveal your double life identity

-”If something like that comes out, that means a vampire has broken that rule OR somebody knows vampires very closely and is creating media they know shouldn't exist.”

-Turns out if a vampire breaks that rule it's basically open season to kill and destroy their creations.

•You turn the conversation and begin to ask how they, specifically, feel about certain vampire representation

•Bram Stoker's Dracula

-Dwayne is the first to buy in his opinion.

-Dwayne feels that while it is a cult classic and well written, The characters are exceedingly dumb.

-”Johnathan spends a ridiculous amount of time talking about other characters ‘Breasts’ and trying to figure out why his host climbs walls ‘like a lizard's.”

-David is the next one to speak up

-David thinks it's not really worth the read

-”Unless you're trying to brag to people there's no point in reading it.”

-”Also why was Mina talking to that old sailor so much?”

-Paul laughs as he remembers “how fucking crazy he wrote Dracula to be”

-”I'm pretty sure the real Dracula thinks it's a heinous crime against him”

-Paul hasn't read it but have heard enough about it to know even the more obscure references

-Marko comments on the graceful writing style and the beautiful descriptions

-”I've only read it because Dwayne thought I would like it"

-Marko also loves how oblivious Jonathan and most of the other characters are

-All of them think the movie adaptation is hilarious and love the shitty special effects

•Interview with a vampire

-Paul chimes in immediately

-”God it's so homo erotic it hurts…in a good way.”

-Paul thinks its a nice horror novel mixed with a weird cozy atmosphere

-Dwayne thinks it's another well written classic and He actually begins to rave about all the themes involved within Anne Rice’s work

-”It's a beautiful Gothic thriller with a deep, sadly comedic energy.”

-He even offers to read it too you sometime

-Marko chimes in quickly about “Claudia’s rebellious behavior and persona”

-”imagine watching your family choose somebody else over you. It's so deeply upsetting but to an understandable level.”

-”I would have hated to turn so young. I look like a teenager and other people can respect that to a certain point. But being five years old with the mind of an adult, No one would respect you.”

-Marko relates to Claudia on an internal level and loves unraveling her character. When you ask why he quickly responds "Some people call me a cherub... You think I enjoy that?"

-David says he doesn't have much to say other than it was a decent read (That's his version of a compliments)

•Twilight

-All of them agree that it's laughably horrendous

-Almost immediately at the same time they say “This is the skin of a killer Bella”

-This leads to banshee like laughter

David speaks up immediately

-”Why do you humans want us to sparkle so bad?”

-”I personally hate the idea of being a walking disco ball, but to each their own.”

-Marko chimes in quickly

-”Would you like it if we sparkled?” He asked while leans on you affectionately

-Marko thinks the only reason to read it is to have a nice laugh

-”Why did Edward have such a violent reaction of Bella standing by a fan? That makes no sense…like I have mates and I enjoy the smell of you guys but…I'm not nearly clawing off my face at your smell”

-”Yeah yeah, I get he's trying not to overreact but running out of class to get away is crazy.”

-Paul even adds that even thought it's very dumb even he can appreciate the message it's trying to said.

-”something something, coming over adversary, something something, love wins, something something..”

-”Also that Jacob imprinting on Bella's infant daughter is super fucking creepy.”

-when you asked Dwayne about his feels he scoffed and said It's insulting at best and borderline sexual harassment at worst.

-He refused to go into depth

•You thank them for humoring you and they tell you that it's no problem

-David kisses the side of your head in an uncharacteristically soft way “We don't ever mind answering your vampire related question.” He tells you

-Marko turns to you “But seriously do you want us to sparkle?”

-”I think I have some roll on body glitter somewhere..” Paul says while getting up to look for it

Thanks for reading <3

[the-blossica-fan]

Blossica and A Nightmare At Green Lake

An analysis made by THE Blossica fan

Why do I love Blossica? Why is it so important for A Nightmare At Green Lake? Would the story be the same without it?

In this long rant I call "Analysis", I will tell you my thoughts, the reasons and MY opinion on this ship and its importance to the entire event.

It can not be yours, and I'll gladly listen to your thoughts and reasons, but here's why it is so important and the story wouldn't be the same without it.

It has been edited, there might be some more changes if I see any inconsistencies.

Let's start by what most people call this ship, Childhood friends to lovers. I've seen a lot of people call it that, and while it's not wrong, it's also not right.

The better term Is "Childhood crush", as Blonney (Jennifer) is Jessica's childhood crush.

Must take into account that Blonney never knew of Jessica's existence, the OG Jessica was Blonney's imaginary friend, Changeling/Jessica just happened to hear it and thought it was Blonney giving her a name.

Why childhood crush? Well, it's pretty easy to know that Jessica's infatuation that persisted through the years is far more than just friendship. From things like reviving all the stories she told, retelling them and even exhausting them for everyone else.

It's also not a secret that she has probably been looking for someone to replace Blonney's space in her heart, which is why no one has ever seen as interesting in her eyes.

In Vertin's words "What happened to those people that accepted to stay with you? When you ran out of available games, they were no longer adored by you. I can stay longer than them, but with no exceptions. I'll become boring one day." These words are a hint to something.

No one can replace Blonney's place in Jessica's heart.

And, what about Blonney?

Blonney is definitely a lesbian, but this is no headcanon, in fact, I'd argue this is definitely canon. From design hints like those hair clips (this is Bluepoch, they pay heavy detail to their models, this is definitely not a coincidence), to even more hidden hints in her stories.

Since a child, Blonney has been writing in her diary stories, but you know what's interesting? Blonney describes the women as beautiful, like in the story about the dead bride.

A bride that looks for other happy brides? Mmm, doesn't it sound weird?

Blonney also describes Anne/Anna in extra detail, as if she had some sort of fixation with her. Let's remember that this description of characters is not only a script, but Blonney's own thoughts written on paper. When she criticizes herself, saying she'll pay for her doings one day, it feels crude and out of place because that is what she thinks about herself: That she'll pay for being a liar and mean (an arcanist and a lesbian)

The event itself also tells us enough for it to not be speculation, but absolutely straight up in your face.

Blonney's denial of her arcanist self (she punched Jason and yelled that she was not an arcanist, for those with internalized homophobia, this is a common reaction. Anger), the iconic couch scene and later on, her discussion with Jessica.

"How many times do I have to tell you how much I hate being called an arcanist", this is similar to a reaction I had before, denial and anger. In this case, and during the entire event, "arcanist" is used as an allegory.

For fuck's sake, Blonney was CUDDLING with Anne right BEFORE the iconic couch scene. Jessica/Anne is the one that made Blonney start to accept that side of herself, alongside with Tooth fairy's guidance; a professional lesbian.

"You seem to really like me. You would jump off a car to rescue me, you protect me, praise me. You would even be happy because I was happy." "Because I've never seen anyone as pretty as you are. You're special, you're different to the rest of us"

Oh God do you see that? This is flirting.

And while some might say Jessica doesn't know what romance and what liking romantically means, I'd argue otherwise.

Jessica does know what romance is

Let me tell you quickly. Jessica said in "The nightmare of green lake", she has met a couple of people who have different relationships with each other. She has even interacted with them, as in, she HAS talked to them. She has 6 people (excluding Michael, Jason and Freddy) in a cave, she knows some stuff.

When she says "I like you", she knows what she means. Her desperation to get Blonney to stay is not only because she doesn't want to be alone, but because she wants Blonney and ONLY Blonney to stay.

It's possible she's not sure she's in love, but she knows her feelings go far more deep than just a normal friendship. Plus, she has lived with Blonney's childhood stories, and those horror stories do have romance (The pathetic bride includes romance, Jessica is the one behind the pathetic bride, she knows). She's not oblivious nor stupid, she's just inexperienced. She knows she likes Blonney more than a common friend (based on how she treats others), and I think she would never like anyone that's not Blonney.

And what about their relationship?

People think they're master and pet, owner and pet, and I don't think they realize how deep that goes. Blonney is definitely in need of a person like Jessica, who fully supports her and her unique ideas. Jessica loves Blonney unconditionally, there's no reason to not think so. Their relationship is perfectly healthy, Jessica loves being adored and treated as a pet by Blonney, and Blonney is happy to see her happy.

That line of dialogue about a collar, despite how sexual it might be, is made out of innocence. They're not just master and pet, they're girlfriends and, don't we all have weird relationships with each other? They're happy, they're good for each other and are what the other needs.

So... What's their importance to the event? Are they really that important?

Yes.

The event wouldn't exist without that crush and romance. If Jessica didn't think romantically of Blonney, the event would be different, she wouldn't try hard enough to just keep Blonney and much less plan to get rid of everyone around Blonney so it's just the two of them.

If Blonney wasn't in denial of her homosexuality (and arcanum?), the event wouldn't be about accepting yourself as you are, it wouldn't be a story about coming out and the morals wouldn't be as impactful.

It would be a lackluster event.

Their relationship with each other is of heavy importance because it's that crush and denial that make up the entire story. The horror is just a side dish, the murderer and all of it, because this is not a horror story.

It's a love story

"I don't care whether my parents allow it or not!"

"I will quickly reveal this true look of mine, and everyone will look at me as if I've done something wrong"

Huh? Are we still talking about arcanists?

These lines are out of place for a 'friendship', or a discussion about staying or not. This is romantic, and especially in the homosexual way.

This true "look" of mine, doesn't it mean love? People do look at same-sex couples as if they've done something wrong, and while Jessica is talking about her changing abilities, we all knows this is about her crush on Blonney and how society would look at her wrongly.

Because, if she truly didn't know about her crush on Blonney which is the basic of all; everyone knows about crushes and romance, then how would she know people would look at her wrongly?

"I don't care whether my parents allow this or not"? Is a line said in ROMANCE. All romance stories with a 'secret romance' have this sort of line, whether straight or gay, this is a basic must-have in this sort of relationships.

She's not only talking about Jessica's changing abilities and arcanum, she's talking about her own blossoming love.

Especially when Jessica asks if Blonney liked her story, she's seeking approval and a hint Blonney will stay by her side, this is a confession. Which is why she gets so down when she gets a "yes, I like it very much". That's not a yes, it's a dismissal, a 'not so important' thing. This is a rejection of her feelings, even if on accident.

And, why does Vertin intervene? Why does she have the talk to Jessica about staying?

Because Vertin more than anyone knows what it's like to let go of a lover, she knows about not being able to confess in time and she knows that if she doesn't intervene, this will be like her and Schneider all over again. Regrets. She's being supportive, she's trying to do what she couldn't do. She's playing cupid.

A place where no one would judge Jessica for her looks, also known as the homosexual suitcase. We all know that no one in Reverse is straight, or at least, 99% aren't. We all know no one would bat an eye if a deer girl was kissing an 80's horror movie girl in the middle of the wilderness.

This is the perfect place for both, Blonney and Jessica, a place where they can be together while not being judged.

And what about Horropedia, Sonetto and Tooth Fairy? What part do they play in this Horror story?

Oh, they're very important as well. In fact, all of them are.

Horropedia, despite interrupting the girls RIGHT BEFORE KISSING, is the reason they're there. Without him, this would be a psychological horror story. And Blonney and him are the wlw and mlm hostility, they're so hating on each other but they do care. Sonetto has helped Blonney in silent ways, not only by helping her become more herself and supporting her fully, something she needed, but she's also an example of someone who's tied down. They've become good friends because they both used to be in similar situations mentally and emotionally.

But out of the two, Tooth Fairy is definitely the most important. She has gone through the same experiences as Blonney. Arcanist living in human society and a lesbian. She knows what Blonney is going through so she's helping, in her own way. She's the one who makes Blonney start to accept herself, to accept the fact that she is the only one Jessica wants and the one who understands her the most. Blonney softens because of both, Jessica and Tooth Fairy.

Tooth Fairy was the key to Blonney's acceptance, and it's because of her talk to Tooth Fairy that Blonney treats Anne better, that she's willing to share more of herself, that she's more physical. It's not a coincidence that after slowly accepting the fact she's an arcanist (lesbian) that she gets more flirty and physical with Anne/Jessica.

This entire event was a way to talk about coming out, and I've watched this event so many times I wrote this out of memory. It feels this way because it's INTENDED to be that way. It's real, it's crude. It's so direct because that's what it is.

A coming out story, a horror story

A love story

[boatemlag]

was gonna add this in the tags of a post but it got really long and i was like ok lemme just make a separate post to be pretentious on. but i think the urge to separate character action from cc action in mcyt fanwork is the kneejerk reaction to "what if this is rpf"... its a taboo to talk about rpf or write rpf (in general but especially in mcyt fan space) so we in fandom tend to be very stringent about, like, fuck, i dunno. the platonic ideal of OOC vs IC. im not going to make broad claims about the historic relationship of mcyt fanwork to rpf because well its really late at night and thats the sort of conjecture reserved for annoying my friends in dms. but it seems apparent to me that the birth of even the terms c! and cc! were due to wanting to distinguish ethical fanwork from non-ethical fanwork.

theres a few layers and axises to consider the ethicality of fanwork (of which i will consider fanfic in this post because i am foremost a fanfic writer). a good example to start, when we discard the c! vs cc! labels, and start to look objectively at work, is the level at which a fanwork becomes unethical. we look at the surroundings of the fic --

are they in minecraft? does the work make reference to them doing minecraft things? how is, say, movement or inventory or block shape and placement described how realistic is the minecraft world when compared to our real world? does it seem like a general fantasy setting?

is it acceptable to put the subjects into a fantasy setting? a high sci fi setting? a superhero au? what about an au which elaborates on existing political structures alluded to in canon?

what about a modern au, no powers? does, for example, the description of mumbo having a mustache or tango having hair suffice as distinction enough? what about modern aus where they live in real life cities? what about historic aus? is 1800s london more acceptable than 2020s london?

what about names? generally it is agreed that grian should not be called charles in a fic for it to be considered referring to the character, and not the CC. is that distinction meaningful when we are interacting with the simulacra of grian? what about jimmy? is it enough of a distinction to call him jimmy solidarity? what about calling philza phil? is that acceptable?

what should be considered canon to that setting? does "off camera" count as in character? (this is where i think the lines start to blur a bit for people) what if characteristics that are exclusive to the "real person" are given to the subject of fiction (ie. scar's wheelchair or other aids) (this is the point where i'm lamenting the lack of ability to add footnotes to a tumblr post)

what is the breaking point for all of these ethical considerations? this is something that must be present when considering fanwork from the model of c/cc divide. if one were to question the necessity of the existence of that divide, what changes (negative or positive) does that bring to the community? in art, fic, meta, crit, etc.? do we value the artist's opinion, their intent, over the art itself? i said i wasnt gonna bring up barthes in a tumblr post but the invention of the author as supreme truth maker can only hurt the growth of art. i think that's double edged here. the artist both has the autonomy to decide what is ethical to create but the audience also has the freedom to decide what is ethical in.... fandom. i just had to stop myself writing society, and write fandom. but yeah. food for thought. i dont really have a good way to end this uh heres a picture of my cats

[not-poignant]

Everyone can feel however they want about any character etc etc obligatory disclaimer... that said, I do wonder how people would feel about Temsen if he was white. It's the same thing I wondered when I saw some comment reactions to Kadek back when he was introduced in FFS.

I'm a big fan of Temsen, btw. The way he talked about both Efneisen and Gary's abusive actions was really responsible and useful, and I love characters who have both an upright moral core and the smarts to be able to take actions effectively.

Hi anon!

Yeah I do...sometimes have these moments as well. I also have the self-reflective 'am I writing POC too often as assholes' and then think about Eran and Leo and some of the other characters I've written and it's like okay, I don't think it's necessarily that specifically (though there's always room for improvement) and I really really do like writing hot assholes dsfjkaf

I also love Temsen, I love characters who are just really complicated but ultimately still doing their version of their best. And that anon might not have been thinking of the race factor at all, but it is something that also occasionally plays in the back of my mind because after 10 years of writing, there is a certain kind of 'he just rubs me the wrong way' that characters like Eran, Kadek, and Temsen have gotten just a little bit more than some of the other characters (and on the flipside, the 'oh I didn't know they were POC' which is...a whole...*sighs* - probably at its most painful when it's fanart so you know someone's put a lot of effort into something but also blanked the description of a character's skin colour and features at the same time) - I guess there's just an awareness? Also an awareness of my role in what I'm perpetuating as a white person because realistically I will unfortunately fuck it up too.

I am team 'give anon the benefit of the doubt' because I do canonically write Temsen to be unnerving and intimidating and I do think some readers will be a lot more receptive to / sensitive to that than others. But yeah, I also think this is a really understandable thing to wonder? It's a crunchy space to be in, because I also think Temsen's hitting the mark if he is unnerving some people as a character, just like Gary does. A sort of 'I like it when disabled / POC / queer people can all be hot assholes' lol

But in this instance like, in addition, Temsen has been one of the least directly harmful characters in the entire cast in terms of his actions and I do think about that a lot.

I think until society gets better about racism and decolonisation gets way way way way further it's just a normal thing to wonder about tbh.

(And on an aside, I am glad that the sentiment largely swung towards very positive towards Kadek by the end of FFS. He's one of my favourite side characters that I've written in a while, and I'm hoping to write more with him in side stories one day).

Also re: the talk he gave Efnisien, that has honestly helped Efnisien so much. Him stepping into his strength and consciously thinking about it has directly led to so much of the positive growth he's experienced in the last like 10 chapters. It was so needed, even if the timing wasn't great, Temsen really delivered on that front.

[paragonrobits]

yesterday i was watching a bunch of Borderlands reaction videos because I like Amara a lot and I wanted to see people's reactions to her when they don't know about the game otherwise, and it was fine but one comment in particular bothered me; something like "the only good borderlands games were the first one and borderlands 2, all the others were mistakes"

and this annoys me. This annoys me a LOT, because its specifically related to the extreme nostalgia for Borderlands 2 that is mostly coming from diehard fans who really hate Borderlands 3 for... well, existing. the ones who sing 2's praise nonstop but rarely say anything about the game's actual gameplay or story, and 1 being considered to be better than 3 or Presequel REALLY bothers me a lot, since its been a consistent opinion that Borderlands 1 is the weakest game in the series, as it took a while for it to establish its own identity.

Compared to later entries, the skill trees are extremely straightforward and each character has an incredibly focused play style, while in later games you could play together with other people using the exact same character and they would ALL play very differently due to just how weird and different those skill focuses could make them. The RNG guns will always be Borderlands' biggest draw along with his irreverant, dark humor, but 1 has the most boring versions of them. It wasn't until 2 that the different weapon manufacterers took on a distinct personality with wildly different gun behaviors, visual aesthetics and performances, which was further dialed up in 3 to the point that even 2's take on the concept feels 'okay but not as cool as it is in 3'

Even the signature humor and writing of Borderlands 1 took a bit to get going. The interactions with NPCs is rather barebones compared to later games, with most of the comedy coming in quirky mission descriptions and quest resolutions. It doesn't become as wired into the actual world as much until the DLCs, which arguably show the series firmly settling into its true identity as a darkly comic and unashamedly ridiculous setting.

Borderlands 2 is a great game. But hailing it as an apex of writing and gameplay requires a LOT of nostalgia to take entirely seriously, and Borderlands 3 is much better on a purely mechanical level; each character has way more potential gameplay diversity with very little encouraging them to slot into one specific role or another (which while lessened in 2 and Presequel, ARE still present), the manufacterers all have very distinctive character without some of the more annoying elements of 2 and Presequel's gimmicks (such as Dahl ALWAYS have a burst first when zoomed in, making their sniper rifles difficult to use), and the general gameplay improvements are so pronounced, playing 2 and Presequel after it just feels janky.

Additionally, dismissing Presequel feels disingenious. It's very much built on 2's mechanics, to the point that it arguably feels like a DLC for that game in some ways. If you like 2, there's no real reason I think you should dislike Presequel on a gameplay level.

The other part is the constant praising of Handsome Jack over the Calypso twins. I don't find the twins to be that bad as antagonists; they're annoying bad guys, you want to shoot them, and they keep picking fights with you. BOOM, you want to shoot them! That is Borderlands! I think part of it is that the constant praise of Handsome Jack as some kind of apex of antagonist has gotten extremely annoying after years of people constantly complaning 'x villain isn't as good as Handsome Jack' or insisting he's a deeply complex villain, and he really isn't.

Handsome Jack, as a character, is very straightforward. He's an asshole CEO with a sadistic and cruel streak a mile wide who intends to kill everyone on Pandora and replace its brutal savagry with a corrupt company town where he'll have people killed on sight for swearing in public and rule by his completely arbitrary whims. His biggest character detail is his hypocrisy, as he constantly insists he is the hero of the story despite regularly having people killed in gruesome ways for a laugh, arguably his establishing character moment is murdering a woman in cold blood while laughing at her facial deformities and laughing hysterically as he has his main henchman murder a train-ful of women and children...

Handsome Jack is a very straightforward character. He's a lot of things! He's well-written, genuinely funny, extremely well acted, but he's not the actual true hero of the story like a lot of internet thinkpieces suggest. He talks about killing bandits, and he's ALSO extremely clear that he considers everyone on Pandora to be a bandit. He revels in sadistic cruelty for its own sake as arguably his most defining character trait.

Considering him an absolute apex of characterization or insisting the series needs to bring him back to have any real draw is completely missing the point, and its a big part the nostalgia surrounding the Borderlands' earlier entries and the constant hostility towards 3 for not being 2 has gotten real fuckin' old, let me tell you!

[skeren]

Okay folks, time for someone who has been in fandom for decades to give some history and vocabulary, because I woke up thinking about a post that tells me you all do not actually know it!

We'll start off with some simple history! First, disclaimers on fanfiction used to be vital because creators of source material could and would sue fanwriters and artists for using their work. We have largely gotten protections from this because AO3 does not allow monetization. They cannot protect you if you try to make money off your fanfiction. Fanartists, I know you have it harder, and I wish you luck, as you have more leeway, though not as much as many presume. Suffice to say, disclaimers were vital, and should be respected for the history they represent instead of being mocked.

Next up! Tagging! Tagging is a courtesy that you, as a creator, do for your fans. To not tag is a choice, and it means that your readers are taking the risk that they might see something they do not like. If you are choosing not to use tags, and there is dark content in your story, properly use the 'author chose not to use warnings' tag on AO3, or, if you are elsewhere, simply give a blanket warning for dark themes as I'm aware there is no rating system on a site like this one you can use for the same. Readers, if you see these tags, do not get angry at the author for seeing something you didn't want to see! These tags don't mean that the fic had nothing to warn for, it means the goal was to keep plot points a surprise!

Vocabulary Old and New.

Squick This was the word that inspired this post. The historical origin of this word comes from a fetish which is, as one might expect, kind of horrifying and, well, squicky. Initially used to describe the kink of, brace yourselves, eyefucking, it made its way into common usage in fandom to indicate anything that made a reader uncomfortable, regardless of how benign it might be. People can have a pregnancy squick. People might be squicked by reading about hand holding and cheek kisses between characters who are underage. People might find gory battle descriptions squicky. Or, alternatively, someone might not really be squicked by anything, and can consume any media without concern. You do not know, and there is no judgement implied in the word squick. There is no such thing as something that is squick-free.

Squick means 'I don't like this and wish to not engage' and that is considered more than acceptable. No one has to interact with things that make them uncomfortable in fandom.

---

Cringe The new kid on the block, a term that people presume means the same thing as squick, and thus new kiddies who haven't seen or heard the term squick might be irritated about. They are right and they are wrong. Cringe, as one might be aware, is in fact what someone does when they are squicked by something. Physically. However, cringe in modern culture has connotations. People in the modern day use cringe to indicate judgement.

When someone is being cringe, the person making that call is saying the other person is doing something that, socially, is embarrassing to them and that they shouldn't be. They are indicating that that other person should cease because it makes them uncomfortable.

Cringe means 'You are doing something I don't like and you should stop because I don't like it'. This is not up to you. Other people get to live their fandom lives without judgement. I advise if you find yourself thinking 'cringe' at something, you should navigate away instead of interacting or expecting them to stop.

---

Trigger Okay, this one is a very clear line. This is not about something that makes you uncomfortable, regardless of if you are doing a judgement on it or not. This is something that directly reaches in and gives you a visceral reaction which you cannot control. Triggers are physical, unpleasant, and can cause severe reactions in the person who are affected by them.

Triggers are not 'oh, I'm mildly uncomfortable with this content' as sometimes it is used. Triggers are 'oh god, I'm being hit right in the chest and I need to make it stop right now'. There is a difference. Please, everyone. If someone says they're triggered, do not assume that they have a choice or that they should just get over it. It is not a judgement on you or them.

Triggers should be respected as the serious thing they are.

---

Yaoi/ Yuri/ Slash Okay, so these are all words that indicate homosexual+ relationships. Yaoi and Yuri are from Japan, with Yaoi being the old male/male term which was a series of words in Japanese that, sadly, I've largely forgotten the meaning of, but I do know that it ends in 'no resolution'. Because in Japan, especially at that time, homosexual relationships were considered to be the sort that would go nowhere and end in nothing. Yuri, in contrast, is the name of a flower and means Lily.

Slash is the more modern term to indicate a relationship between two or more people of the same gender, and the name came about because of the way pairings have often been written. Name/Name.

---

Lemon/ Lime/ Citrus This used to be the old way of indicating explicit content that would keep authors from getting their work taken off of websites for having explicit content. Sometimes people labeled fics with these even if there was nothing particularly objectionable because they would get targeted by unpleasant folks or get caught up in website sweeps trying to 'clean up' a website.

A Lemon is a very explicit sexy scene. A Lime is a scene with heavy petting and implications of more. Citrus means that something about the scene is intended to be spicy.

---

Math Pairings/ Name Smooshing/ Pairing Titles Math names were a thing that came about because a lot of fandoms earlier on in internet fandom had character names that could be turned into numbers. Gundam Wing was notorious as they had characters numbered 1-15 in different languages, and so you saw a lot of 1x2x5 or 3x4+1xR/D <-both of these are pairing tags I saw on fics. Saiyuki was another fandom with math for pairings, though I cannot think of any off the top of my head as I was never in that one.

Name Smooshing is older than internet fandom. Spirk comes to mind as Spock/Kirk from Star Trek, and that brings us all the way to the modern version of this with Bingqiu and Cumplane from the Scum Villain's Self Saving System or Hashimada from Naruto. If you're in those fandoms, you know who I mean. The most unfortunate version of this I ever saw was back in FFVII before Aerith's name was Aerith and was instead Aeris. The ship was Clotiris. It was a threesome.

Pairing Titles are a thing I've only seen in a couple fandoms, and none I was specifically active in, but, and I know everyone is up in arms because of the author, but fandom history is fandom history. Harry Potter had titles like the Pumpkin Pie ship, among others. I know other fandoms have had them, I've seen them, but they don't stick in my mind the way the other two types of ship usage do.

---

ABO The Alpha Beta Omega phenomenon was started, very initially, by a guy doing a study about wolves. He made a mistake and ended up looking at a family unit with parents and a bunch of kids, which skewed all his data, and the guy has since admitted his mistake. The legacy of said mistake, however, will live in fandom forever.

The ABO trope in fandom is one which involves normal characters in their normal world having some hermaphroditic (or intersex, whichever you prefer to use) tendencies, as well as more predominant animalistic ones. This trope involves people having heats, ruts, heightened senses of smell, the affect of hormones on a person, and both men and women having dicks (or not) while otherwise being as canon painted them, as well as other wild variations.

You must tread carefully when reading ABO! Some ABO fics are cute nesting fics with lots of cuddles and everyone keeps a brain in their head. Some ABO fics are non-con charnel houses where everyone is all instinct all the time. Some ABO is well thought out, and other ABO is not. You will find as vast of an array of ABO as you'll find of any other genre of fic like Hurt/comfort, sci-fi, time travel, or genderflip. It's not a narrow field, and it's got both amazingly innovative interpretations as well as awful ones.

Don't judge all ABO on the works of one author, or you'll probably be unpleasantly surprised. However, if you don't like Mpreg this is almost 100% not for you. That is, in fact, a feature and not a bug.

---

Mpreg Males who are pregnant. Doesn't matter how, but that's what this is. That man is pregnant. That's the fic, that's the tag. Now you know.

---

Genderbend/Genderflip/Genderfuck/Always Another Gender This is actually two categories of story, though the terms are often used interchangeably in tags aside from the last one. The first two are often used to mean the third, however, so watch out just in case!

Basically, the premise of stories with these tags is exploring what a world would be like if a character were another gender, because much as we all might not like it, gender plays a huge role in how people, or in this case characters, are reacted to. That can radically change a story. However, the first three have also been used to indicate a character whose gender is changed in the story. Genderfuck, in my experience, has almost always been used exclusively for an in-story gender change of some kind, though, as these things go, not always.

---

Dead Dove Do Not Eat Originating from a scene in a TV show, where a character took a bag labeled like this and looked inside, hoping for a bagged lunch, and then wondered why they were surprised they got exactly what it said, this term is used in fandom to indicate that the author did their best to warn you, now it's up to you. If you look at that point, it's not like they didn't tell you what was inside, and they have no idea what to do about it now. Often, this term is slapped on fics where there are a lot of warnings, usually after an author has had people get upset at their work for having exactly what their warnings indicate in the past. If you see it, tread carefully.

---

YKINMK(ATO) Your Kink is Not My Kink (And That's Okay!)

This used to be the running anthem of many fandoms and went hand in hand with squick. You could like whatever you liked in your fandom experience, and that was that. You liked what you liked and no one judged you for that. If you liked reading gory horrific angst, or incest slice of life, or just stories about people building puzzles, there was nothing weird about it.

What you like to read and interact with in fandom is not, after all, any indication of what you agree with or approve of people doing in real life. That's just a fact. Fandom is not your hopes and wishes for yourself. Fandom is a fantasy, and you can explore whatever you want in a fantasy. You're allowed to feel safe doing so.

Do not judge others just because something squicks you. That was what this meant, and means even now. It's fine if your friend likes something you don't, they're still your friend. That's okay, and that's fandom.

---

I hope that this post has been helpful, and if any of you have questions about other fandom terms or what they mean, I would be happy to help you understand! Be happy, have fun, and don't let the world get you down. You control your fandom experience, and don't let anyone else tell you different!

[pom0dorini]

spamano fic recs

some time ago i posted about wanting to make a list of spamano fic recommendations and quite a few people seemed interested, so here it is! these are some fics that i personally really liked, i also added a brief comment for every fic as well as eventual warnings. enjoy and support the authors!

Morning Glory by AroAceMess

Ludwig has something very important to ask Romano, if only he remembered that not everyone woke at the ass crack of dawn like him

He batts around blindly at the bedside table while Antonio continues to grumble into his ear, when he finds the screaming device he squints at the screen in disgust before answering it and bringing it too his ear. The too bright display had read 5:30 am and assured him that it definitely wasn’t someone he liked enough to warrant this disturbance of the peace.

chapters: 1/1 

if you’re in the mood for something fluffy and domestic this is the fic for you. it manages to be sweet and funny while still dealing with more angsty themes, and the feeling of domestic warmth is portrayed perfectly

Captain’s Log by LadyLisa

After months at sea, Antonio finally returns home to Romano.

chapters: 1/1

the writing and descriptions are simply wonderful. i feel like rather than the plot, the most enjoyable part of this fic is the way it perfectly captures romano’s feelings and the sense of yearning. definitely worth checking out (just like every single one of this author’s works)

Humors

chapters: 3/3 (bloodplay, underage, dubcon)

one of my all time favorites. the spain in this fic is absolutely unhinged, which is something i’m a huge fan of, and this side of his character is handled extremely well, although it may not be everyone’s cup of tea 

and maybe next time we can hold hands by lillialyce

“Their mouths move with desperation, but they are somehow elegant, a tragic dance before an impending, horrible end." Nations are forbidden from having relationships.

chapters: 1/1 (sexual content)

this is an angsty one but i really love the concept of nations’ actions directly affecting their country and how that translates to not being able to love each other 

Twisted With You 

chapters: 4/4 (smut)

i usually don’t love fics written in 2nd person pov, but this one stuck with me. there’s just something so sweet and intimate about it and i love the trope used here

Age Quod Agis 

Teacher!Romano x Student!Spain

chapters: 3/3 (smut)

spamano with bottom!spain is one of my guilty pleasures and i just love how cocky spain is in this one 

Door to Door by Canadino

Do not open the door. It could be a zombie, an unwanted boyfriend of your brother's, or a persistant salesman by the name Antonio Carriedo.

chapters: 1/1 

short but very funny, i often come back to this one

The only light in this darkness by SheenaWilde

Lovino, unwilling heir of a rich noble family, is forced to attend his grandfather’s every ball. But this night, a mysterious stranger captures his interest.

chapters: 1/1

i’m extremely weak for vampire!spain. this fic may be a bit on the “twilight” side but it’s worth a read if you enjoy stereotypical vampire romances (and i sure do)

Scars by The Cilantro Family

One year ago Lovino Vargas killed himself. Now, by some strange turn of events, he's returned

chapters: 1/1 (self harm) 

i don’t know what it is with this fic, but everytime i read it it leaves me with a lingering sense of desolation. it’s still really good and i personally think its themes are portrayed well 

Fever by Romanoma 

Romano discovers the electricity and excitement of World Cup 2010 causes all kinds of interesting reactions…

chapters: 1/1 (smut)

don’t have much to say aside from “great smut and writing” and “sweaty football player spain is a blessing” (every work by this author is worth checking out)

Spirito Di Punto by starshards

After Romano's driving skills send another car to super-car heaven, his boss decides that it's time for him to have something much more modest. Luckily for Romano, Spain's there to help him learn how to appreciate it.

chapters: 1/1 (smut)

i just really love everything about this one. hilarious, great smut and bottom!spain, what more could you ask for?

Liar by starshards

Spain cannot resist Romano, even though he hates himself for it.

chapters: 1/1 (smut)

i'm putting another work from this author simply because this one is up in my top spamano fics. this isn’t something i would recommend to anyone, but if you enjoy a darker take on spamano’s relationship it's a must

How to Care for Your Spain by AlexOfCoffee

A guide written and published by Romano Italia.

chapters: 1/1

highly recommended if you want something short and extremely fluffy/domestic

Esp by Soe_Mame

Il momento arriverà.

Continua ad aspettare, continua ad aspettare che arrivi.

Continua a sperare, continua a sperare che arrivi.

[1649-1738: È bastato meno di un secolo per cambiare tante cose tra il Sud Italia e la Spagna.]

chapters: 9/9 

i left the best for last. i can’t even begin to describe how much i love this fic. it’s in italian but if you have a way to translate it do yourself a favor and read it. the historical details, the characterisations, the tension, every single thing about it is amazing and it’s surely not my favorite spamano fic for nothing. 

[unleashthegoats]

Hey y'all! Loved the new episode, and wanted to chip in on one of the later points - videogames, especially in relation to the "Grey" Jedi concept. Knights of the Old Republic II really did some irreversible damage in that regard, as much as I love the game (though I prefer the first one). Kreia is one of the most central characters in regard to shifting morality debates in Star Wars (in universe and from fans alike) imo, and I'd honestly be super interested in hearing you three cover either or both of the games in the podcast, although I understand that's highly unlikely since none of you have played them. But she is extremely relevant to this topic because she preaches about neutrality and that there's more than just ~dogmatic thinkings of light and dark~, and your relationship with her suffers if you are kind and altruistic and get too rooted in the light side and she's like...one of *the* characters that kind of gets credited with developing a "grey" philosophy in-universe? But people always bring her up as if she's this great point of sensible consideration and not actually, as it turns out, a master manipulator trying to purge the Force from the galaxy (or something like that at least? It's been a while since my last playthrough lol) that lies to you all the time to get you to do what she wants (because she was so crazy bananas both the Jedi and the Sith said "no thank u :)" - well, with a bit more nuance but you get the gist). Really, it's a bit like people falling for Palpatine's anti-Jedi points all over how they talk about her philosophic arguments without bringing that up. But yeah, I thought you might be interested in that. Also, I think KotOR might be what people meant with being able to unlock Dark Side powers as a Light sider but you are absolutely correct that it's a mechanics vs story issue (especially since some powers are indeed alignment-locked AND making dark side choices does impact the character (apart from story, ending and relationships to your party members). It's a bit of a simplistic gimmick, of course, but the further you get into the Dark Side on the alignment, the more it's visible - sickly skin colour, cracks in the skin and flesh, your eyes change...stuff like that. I don't think using Dark Side powers actually pushes you further down the alignment, but the intent is obviously not for Light Siders to mix and match however they like).

Anyway, I'm so sorry for rambling on for so long, but I thought you (or someone, at least :D ) might appreciate that additional info. Keep up the good podcasting! :)

OUR FIRST ASK! I'm so glad you're enjoying the podcast, thank-you so much for listening to us ramble on for an hour once a month!

This is all really interesting! I've read a few metas about the Star Wars video games and the characters within them which is partly why I chose to briefly include them in the episode (and also because I am familiar with Jedi: Survivor which has its own "dark side" mechanic for the main character that was relevant to the discussion). Aside from Jedi: Survivor, I wasn't necessarily referencing any one specific video game, I assume it's probably a thing that's come up more than once.

As far as my reaction to Kreia goes, just based on your description of her, the idea of there being "too much light" just isn't how Lucas's own worldbuilding worked. It's clearly trying to hit on the idea of "balance" being equal amounts of light and dark usage, as opposed to balance being acknowledging darkness EXISTS (in yourself and in the universe) in order to keep yourself from acting on it. There just isn't a way to be "too light" or something like that, there's never "too much" kindness and compassion and selflessness in the world. In this sense, the video games are just going to fall into the same category as the rest of legends and EU stuff, in that they often just do their own thing based on their own interpretations of Star Wars, but it doesn't mean it actually fits with what Lucas himself was trying to get across about the philosophy of the Force and the Jedi in his own stories, and that's primarily what we're using as a base to discuss Star Wars from.

If any of us ends up playing KOTOR, we can certainly try to bring it up more often. I don't think we have any plans of doing more video game stuff currently, but if the KOTOR remake ever comes to pass, maybe I will!

-Mod Sugar

[feathers-little-nest]

This is becoming a series, so let's call it Piórko's fav moments

Piórko's fav moments presents: The Beauty's Blade

Ik that it's a very unpopular book but I loved it so idk maybe check out my reactions to the first few chapters to judge if you'd like it? Idk idk

Anyways I really loved this book, the intrigue was so well written, romance was heavily... touch driven? It was mostly expressed through actions, which was super cool. Two MCs are much deeper than the first few chapters show, you don't stop learning new things about them up untill the end :D

w każdym razie do brzegu

my fav moments under the cut (spoilers ofc)

TW: self harm, death

- chapter 1, OH SHE HAS A JADE THUMBRING DID YOU KNOW THAT IT ORIGINATED AS AN ARCHERS- *gets shot*,

- this book uses many smart words guys,

- Yu Shengyan from QQ and this Yu Shengyan have exactly the same name, like the same characters, it'll take some time to getting used to,

- Fu Wanqing is making tier list for the most unworthy of Yu Shengyan people lol,

- she's insanely possessive for someone who has never seen their crush,

- so she's like a fiery red rose, we need to remember that. there's no the beauty's blade's Wiki to save our ass during drawing fanarts,

- chapter 2, lol, Yu Shengyan is just so done,

- damn Fu Wanqing is a quick progresser. she really heard some stories about Yu Shengyan and went I WANT THIS ONE and here she is, on their first meeting, sitting on her lap. iconic,

- Fu Wanqing is a type of person who would bite a glass just to check out how it feels or jump over a bonfire until they fall into it. mood.

- “hersay” girl you DID throw a thousand gold away to win a woman,

- chapter 4, I think previous notes include chapter 3 as well, I'm just good at missing chapters in my notes,

- she uses silk to wipe off blood. fucking. silk. what a bourgeois,

- 👀👀👀

- chapter 5, pretty privilege at its finest huh,

- Zhong brothers' descriptions, important for fanart,

- chapter 6, those chapters are pretty short and I like it,

- A TRANS ICON??, also description of the Third Young Master,

- lol they're progressing quickly. also, is Yu Shengyan starting to show some teeth..?

- chapter 7, well that's some fun family dynamic huh,

- chapter 8, T^T THEY WENT ON A CUTE DATE

- OH MY GOD SHE MADE HER A FLUTE I'M CRYING THAT'S SO CUTE

- chapter 9, oh, interesting, so Yu Shengyan is godlike... now that is giving me ideas

- chapter 10, YU SHENGYAN SMILED!!

- shout-out to Chun Fengxiao for being a bi icon,

- but you couldn't charm Fu Wanqing, this girl fell HARD,

- I swear this translation is some kind of twisted vocabulary test. what the hell is trepidation.

- chapter 11, ok so the guy is wearing changshan. I'm trying to figure out in what clothing I should imagine them in,

- chapter 12, Hu Qing has a big ass scar across her face,

- I think I'll have to draw a map of connections between these people lol,

- PFFF SHE FOUND SOMETHING MORE INTERESTING UNDER HER LAPELS,

- chapter 13, ok the flute is now even cuter,

- I love Yang Wumin, she's just a girl with bpd who likes to beat people,

- chapter 14, uuu we have a beef with gays,

- Third Young Master slays yet again, they use a fan, they have to be my fav now. that's the law.

- chapter 16, ooh, I did not expect Fu Wanqing to be not fond of extravaganza,

- “Warm as jade, with clothes whiter than snow — the Junzi Sword, Shen Shengyi”,

- warm as Jade cold as Jade is there something that is not as Jade? /lh

- oo casanova,

- ok so he's also wearing jade pin-crown,

- chapter 17, I am so confused by the setting, they read Ming books, wear Qing clothing and wear jade pendants. I'm trying to mash it up together in my brain but it's harddd,

- chapter 18, Guo Ju just had an epic entrance, falling for the sky just to dirty Shen Shengyi's robe lol,

- I ship SSYxGJ,

- Guo Ju is so fucking fruity I can't,

- chapter 19, we have another new pal, Zhang Zongyi, an elderly monk in red robes,

- chapter 20, my fav chapter so far!!

- chapter 21, Guo Ju femboy confirmed,

- chapter 22, this awkward moment when you say a ton of nonsense and meet someone who actually replays to it lol; and suddenly you're the shy one,

- chapter 23, another name to remember, Yue Qingtian. So far I remember everyone, I'm getting better at names!

- chapter 24, Guo Ju is really my fav side character now, also I'm curious about that not acting like himself part,

- chapter 25, Yue Qingtan – blue clothes, “cloud-and-water sleeves”, looking like a lady from a rich family, but also a lone wonderer

- I don't think “shes better because she doesn't care about her eeviiiil disciples” is the argument you think it is man XDDD,

- Yang Wumin now wears a veil, noted. could've expected that,

- chapter 27, woah woah this suddenly got serious,

- GUO JU IS ALSO TRANS? T4T ROMANCE? IN MY BAIHE? OMG???

- “Wine… makes people drunk.” such an enlightened quote from Yu Shengyan,

- god Guo Ju is so cute, sitting all night next to the Third Young Master just to make sure that she's safe... even though the tavern is full of the Third Young Master's people... first sunrays falling on her chest is another thing I'd love to paint,

- ok so I think Guo Ju is more leaning into cis woman forced to be a man. still not sure about the Third Young Master tho, what kind of gender fuckery is happening here,

- chapter 29, I can't get over how much their flirting is physical. very often they don't say many loving things but kiss each other, hug, lay on each other, play together... it's all so cute and betrays their emotions in a way words never could,

- SHE FUCKING BIT HER LMFAOO I LOVE YOU FU WANQING

- chapter 30, woah woah Gu Yu got so roasted she turned into a tiny coal piece, that was a bit uncalled for,

- it's so funny to me that they all think that Yu Shengyan is a good person while she only cares for her moral code, not other people,

- LMFAO SHE JUST BULLSHITED WITH CONFIDENCE I LOVE YOU FU WANQING x2 but like true, why would you believe this asshole XDDDD

- chapter 32, well, Yang Wumin has some point about Fu Wanqing, she isn't exactly... an honorable person XD,

- I love this uncaring (chaos) x uncaring (peaceful) energy lol,

- chapter 33, can Yu Shengyan fucking stop destroying books please,

- chapter 35, it might sound dumb and I would usually hate this, but I love that in this book we just get new characters introduced all the time, even now, well over the half mark,

- Liu Zhishang has a rectangular face and bright eyes, noted,

- Guo Lingtian is mostly angry and has thick brows,

- Yang Yifei looks young, wears green and looks like a scholar,

- I can't, Liu Zhishang just heard his kid saying that he wants to marry Yue Qingtian and already treats her like his daughter, that's so damn cute,

- about Yue Qingtian: “She was akin to a plant without roots, having no sense of belonging wherever she went.”,

- chapter 36, ok, I like Wei Xian, the guy is just doing his best and is basically responsible for taking care of the whole Creed bcs ysy isn't interested in it and lkx is not the sharpest tool in the shed,

- chapter 38, so we get Yue Honghua of the Limitless Palace, she hates being called that tho, especially by her sister,

- also she called Third Young Master a Third Sister so is she Yue too? or is it just a title,

- I like that even when dumb things happen in this book, like poisoning of Yu Shengyan, there are exactly the type of dumb things these characters would do,

- chapter 39, and who the fuck is Fu Rong,

- Zhong Li Yu Xiu 钟灵毓秀, I like it,

- chapter 40, OHHH SHES ZHONG'S DAUGHTER LMFAO

- the moral of the story is clearly that the only competent people are women and you know what I can't disagree,

- new name!! the Ghost Doctor is Ye Xueqing, she's also blind btw,

- chapter 41, another new name! Jiang Huailuo, white-haired woman,

- ok I love Ye Xueqing and Jiang Huailuo's dynamic, amazing food for fanfics,

- that honestly read like the last chapter but there's still 9 to go lol,

- chapter 42, HEY WHERE'S MY SEX SCENE, I was in the mood today :( but more seriously, this book was teasing with all this touches and kisses to just skip a sex scene, I am a little bit disappointed,

- I wonder if Fu Hui is getting tired of being played by his daughter all the time lol,

- I love Guo Lintian so much omg he's so fucking sweet,

- chapter 43, ok so face of Yue Honghua is covered in a web of scars left by Yue Qingtian,

- ok I'm still not sure what is Yue Qingtian's part in all of this tho, am I missing something?

- chapter 44, and now we got some Zhang Zongyi, I think this is the last new person in the book tho,

- chapter 45, rip Yang Yifei,

- I love that Liu Wei is trying to get a divorce at a wedding, queen shit,

- chapter 46, bloodstains could also indicate that Fu Wanqing disappeared by herself because she is fucking mental,

- Yu Shengyan carrying Fu Wanqing in a bridal carry, while the latter is wearing torn bridal clothing... another cool thing to draw,

- chapter 47, I get that Fu Wanqing wanted to drive Yang Yifei mad but I'm so sad that she harmed so many people to achieve that, it matches her character but still :< I liked Liu Wei,

- god Yang Yifei also killed Madame Fu, what a shithead,

- ok but Yu Shengyan and Fu Wanqing being cute revenge wives, so adorable,

- chapter 48, ““You once showed me a lot of drawings at Goldmelt Grotto.” Yu Shengyan raised her brows, expression unchanged. “You want to try all of them out, Lady Fu?”” WHAT A QUOTE OMG

- chapter 50, AWWW?? SHE DOESN'T WANT TO DUEL ANYMORE BCS YU SHENGYAN DOESN'T LIKE IT. THIS WOMAN WHO NEVER GAVE UP ANYTHING FOR ANYONE WITHOUT A GRUDGE IS JUST. TRASHING ONE OF HER DEEPEST DREAMS. AWWW!!

- epilogue – how is it an epilogue and not chapter 51? the story isn't complete without this epilogue at all,

- god damn poor Shen Shengyi, this little white lamb, this revelation will so fuck him up lol,

- SHE WAS JUST LYING LMFAO WHY THESE PEOPLE JUST KEEP BELIEVING EVERYONE <- is not better,

- I hope that Guo Lintian didn't fuck up in the past :< I like him,

- Ok I really like this ending :3

- extra: IS GUO LINTIAN'S ONLY CONCLUSION FROM ALL THAT THAT HE WANTS TO RETIRE I really love this man omg,

- the Zhong brothers' arc is also quite wholesome

[pumpumdemsugah]

You're one of the best accounts I follow here so the fact that you watched Arcane and liked it is pretty cool, since I also love this series (hoping for you to do tons of spans of Arcane content lol)

About Mel, yeah, it's exactly what you said. People genuinely dislike complex characters despite the fact that they claim to love and want more of them. The things get worse when the characters are women, because the audience just seem to accept two types of female characters: the badass girl whose whole character is about how she can fight but she barely has plot importance, not even a personality. Or the waifu. Their only job is to like the main character and if the male character she's in love with is the one that male audience insert more, this waifu character is treated like the best women ever.

Regarding to Mel, I think she's also targeted by fujoshis since Jayce likes her and they have a relationship. Viktor/Jayce became a highly popular ship in the fandom. I think it isn't more popular than caitvi simply because a big part of Arcane fans are caitvi shippers and their relationship is a central part of the plot.

When people say they want complex characters they want a broody white man. That's it! God forbid you say...hmm idk because that was my reaction to her. She's clearly smart but like the other elite in the city, out of touch about anything beyond her world. Even before we learn more about her, she's presented in a way where it's obvious she's about the cerebral and connections, her backstory just clarifies she is the way she is because she hates violence and war so depends on everything else to her detriment.

What's crazy is it's very common for political characters to have other motivation but these fuckers were diagnosing her with a personality disorder. I've seen so many male characters that are evil and political from the get go of a story and people don't react like this. They don't need a tragic backstory to guess the person that keeps their cards to their chest has motivations that aren't obvious ?? Hello !

I saw a video going through the traits that make a character strong in Arcane is their weakness and hers was manipulation and not political savvy or even persuasiveness. Sorry but when women are called manipulative it makes my skin itch. I feel like male characters only get that treatment If they're slimy as well and are meant to be pathetic

Similar fictional men get praised for their intelligence and being able to read people when they're obviously devious and manipulative but those are woman descriptions

I've also noticed people don't seem to understand how a story works or what character development is. They want everything all at once. She's not the main character, why would we have her backstory before its plot necessary? It wasn't even that people didn't trust her straight away but the intensity of that distrust because did Jayce not jump all in with back room dealings when he realised he had to ? But is he manipulative for that or simply playing the game for the greater good of his technology?

I even saw someone saying they saw a black fan in bits about her. I really think something is wrong with certain types of black fandom people. The whites didn't like her so you're having a melt down? Get a grip.

[dongzhou3kingdoms]

Dynasty Killers Review

New book by Baptiste Pinson Wu, the third in the Liao Hua cycle.

As ever, good choice of poem to open. I suspect people new to the era will find the “whose who” at the start helpful, and Baptiste knows how to provide enough of a recap or sense of the world. But for those who have read the three books, there will also be little moments that pay off from the past as Liao Hua's world shifts.

A sense of things are happening in the elderly Liao Hua scenes, a good combination with Chen Shou while quickly building personalities of key figures around him. But the main focus is on the youngish man and his friends, the world around him changing. Each part has a big and entertaining battle at its centre, but not just the battle. It is the building up to it as pieces fall into place and people prepare, Liao Hua getting heavily involved with daring plans and actions and then dealing with the aftermath. As fun and varied as I find the battles, I am a bigger fan of the build ups and aftermath

Baptiste has a good touch for the little details about people and life at the time including geographical differences, good at quickly giving a sense of character and tweaking big historical (and novel) moments, so they feel fresh to read. It does go quite dark, particularly in part 2, so fair warning but it is balanced overall by a little bit of humour, kindness, crushes and love, and good bonds between characters even as events fray them.

It is also where we first really get Liu Bei and co as more than difficult opponents for an angry Liao Hua to face. There is always the worry that one gets either a Dynasty Warriors Liu Bei of vague motive and no brain, or a backlash Liu "the treacherous, dishonest failure" Bei. Here though is a Liu Bei I would be willing to serve, using the knack of seeing little acts of kindness and consideration, a sense of charisma about him to see why he pulls men together. I was really pleased with this version of Liu Bei.

Loved the ending.

More spoilery below

Part 1: It felt a little “scene by scene” as it moved Liao Hua around from place to place to meet figures before we get to Wan. I loved the scene with Liu Bei, a strong sense of personalities and use of passing history that mattered so much to Liao Hua. Having built up to a seeming cynical view of Liu Bei, instead we get one that feels like a charismatic well-meaning figure, one can see from the first scene why people might follow him.

Sun family scene, some good description works for Sun Ce's camp and people, I liked Lu Fan and Zhou Yu, will be interesting to see if we get more of them as time goes on. The adventure there was well done, and I liked the play on Liao Hua's love of older women with some reactions from his team.

The battle: nicely done on how Cao Cao messed up and the hinting that things will change for Cao Cao from there on out, which helps further build the sense of people changing. But also a sense of chaos and desperation from Liao Hua and others as things get desperate, which felt the right tone for that battle.

Part 2: Focus on Xiapi. Some good balancing of personalities within Cao Cao's army, allowing Liao Hua to build dynamics with various figures that he had met before. I love the Xiahou Ba connection past and future with the future events building a head of steam.

The famed scenes in that siege are done well and one still sees the sense of Lu Bu the powerful threat. But its most powerful moments are in the aftermath, it goes very dark and stuck in my head for a time afterwards (in the right way). There was one scene near that end I wasn't fond of but the general brutality in the aftermath scenes, both in the fighting and the disquieting celebrations was powerful.

Part 3: Guandu. We see a good mix of the brutal Cao Cao (dealing with the Girdle Decree comes to mind) that has Liao Hua considering his future. But also flashes of the old Cao Cao and, particularly as the campaign draws to a close, we see things knitting together from Liao Hua's time under Cao Cao. It does have an end-of-era in his life feel.

Yuan Shu's scene was sad and pathetic without feeling it punched down against the false Emperor, some sad goodbye moments in Liao Hua's life as we approached the end. I enjoyed Wuchao as a big culmination moment done with a bit of humour before the big fight. There was one goodbye that was particularly sad, and I really enjoyed the build-up to Guan Yu's journey, including building dynamics with new groups.

[readymades2002]

tumblr sexyman is not an archetype or a type of character at all it is a phenomenon. you can’t just call any character a tumblr sexyman you can’t just fill out a checklist and WOW its a new one how fun! its not something that you make its something that happens

[timur-pannonicus]

News from my mind, episode 1

So, since it's the name of my blog anyway I've decided to try to clump my most recent random musings together and just list them in somewhat random, somewhat planned order. I'll quote a statement and comment about it. Here it goes:

"Why are Azula fans so closed off from the greater fandom?"

Dunno, it could possibly, maybe have something to do with the inexplicable phenomenon that if people are treated like outcasts they will gravitate towards other outcasts and view the people hurling insults at them with wariness, perhaps even resentment. Question for the sociologists.

"Why do you hate Zuko and Iroh!?"

I personally don't hate them, I actually LIKE Zuko and nothing will ever change my enjoyment of reading reconciliation fics between him and his sister. I'm not too fond of Iroh since compared to actual Eastern wisdom his words feel like fortune cookies. Still, this isn't my main point. I know fellow fans who really do hate them but... if you feel ok with hating Azula for hurting and mistreating your favorites I don't see why it's such a mystery to you that someone who has her as their favorite could feel the same towards the people who treated her harshly, whether it was fair or not.

"Why are you so obsessed with the mirror scene and the beach?"

Because antis pretend these moments don't exist, are ooc, should be ignored or somehow confirm how purely evil she is even more.

"You are forgetting she did X and Y and also Z?"

Yet when it's an attack on her her good or human moments can be completely ignored and not acknowledged at all. As another favorite character of mine once said: The good doesn't wash out the bad, nor the bad the good. I'd be really happy if more people adopted this view since apparently in our modern age you can only be either a saint or a monster, ignoring human nature altogether.

"The comics prove that she's irredeemable!"

The comics DO prove something in abundance and it's that her biggest obstacle towards redemption is that SHE doesn't believe she's capable or deserving of it. She views herself as monster but has no idea how to be anything else. Yet even after everything Zuko's and "Ursa's" words of love in The Search were enough to deter her from attacking and she even dropped the letter that could discredit Zuko.

"Azula fans are Nazi apologists!"

I may need to make a poll but every other fan I ever talked to is either left leaning or a full on leftist. But since offense is better than defense I will say that advocating for someone to be put to death or imprisoned and tortured for life because their mental illness makes them too dangerous, now THAT'S a Nazi talking point.

"Redeeming her would be consistent with the themes and messages of the show and make most sense narratively."

True. But I give the antis this, it's perfectly possible to enjoy a piece of media while also disagreeing with its message. I love House M.D. and the message of the show is that people cannot change, ever, no matter how hard they try or how much they want it, something I obviously disagree with. Saying a show would be better if it contradicted the very theme it tries to promote is another thing though. Perhaps it's just my preference for consistency though.

"You cannot woobiefy Azula because she's such a jerk!"

Good thing that tv tropes has an entry called Jerkass Woobie and the description fits her to a T. Look, at least I personally have no problem whatsoever with people gushing over turtle duck Zuko. It's a perfectly normal reaction for someone you both feel for and think is hot. I just happen to have this feeling for his sister and I refuse to feel guilty about it.

"Azula fans are such hypocrites!"

Everyone is blind to their own faults to a degree or doesn't bring their train of thought to it's logical conclusion. Everyone should try to be better though. But you know what, no group is perfect, you just have to admit to yourself that you feel more comfortable with one over the other.

"Azula fans don't love the real her, only the image they have of her in their head."

This is true to some extent but it's also a loaded question which clearly implies that the real Azula is only a crazed monster and nothing else. We love her in large part because we see the POTENTIAL in her but we try to base our speculations and headcanons on what can be seen or deducted from the show itself. If you can't follow the logic or disagree with the conclusions or just refuse to give the benefit of the doubt, that's your right. Also I'm fully aware and ok with admitting to myself that I sometimes believe things because I WANT to, like that Zuko does care about her at least deep down and that she's capable of being happy in a heterosexual relationship. This brings me to my last Azula related entry:

I like shipping her with Zirin from the comics due to mathematical reasons.

It's a known thing that adding minus and minus together results in plus. They are both mentally disturbed and immoral young women so adding them together can only result in positive things.

Also one plus one equals two. They are both hot and cute on their own so together is even better.

Anyway, thank you so much for getting to this point. I hope it was a ride. I will however NOT comment if this post turns into a heated discussion.

Also for all those concerned about my mental health, I DO think about things other than Azula but since most people are interested primarily in my comments about her I've decided to list my other brain spills in a separate post.

[echosbox]

Actually just installed the app for this review bit genuinely quiet enjoy it. For the book I am mad disappointed and actually a bit concerned as well. I primarily wanted to read the book because of the topics it was said to cover abortion etc., which it did, but it mostly covered her relationship with Damiano David. I hope those reviews don't stop anyone from writing about those topics. It is important to do so and hope to read more of that. I enjoyed a few of the poems especially the ones concerning abortion and endometriosis. What I couldn't get over and the reason for this rating are her poems about Damiano. It's not only the abstract description of their sex life or its weird language but it's generally the "toxicity" or really and I mean really concerning dependency. I felt physically sick reading some parts and had to take multiple breaks. It is obvious that almost everything is the book revolves about Damiano (Icaro) and not about those fighting moments she had in her life. I don't know what to hope for and took several days to actually process this and what I wanted to say because I have read the book the day it came out. I would hope that people would stop romantizing this. It is not weird to have a strong bond with your partner but they shouldn't be your sun, moon, and air to breath with which you can't live without. I would like people to really overthink those poems and think about its "healthiness". I would not hope for anyone to have to live from this kind of perspective in which there is only one person that actually in your world plays a bigger role than you.

Now for the book itself I was no fan of her metaphors etc. They did not make sense some on the time or were displaced. For example "Amore, sei Teseo o il Minotauro?" sounds nice but it so wrong. Theuses (Teseo) is not the good guy he just pretends to be so it's not a choice between the good guy and the monster but one about a monster and someone that may not appear but will disappoint you and leave you in the long run. And the Christian imageries were just no I have bo problem with the use of Christian imageries even in a pornographic context but it just did not elevate the poem it just made it weird even weirder than most of the poems were. I understand a bit Italian but also used a translator but the vocabulary was really not a broad one. I don't expect academic niveau but would have liked more adjectives that would better describe what she felt.

I wrote this here because I am scared of Twitter and also was really confused by how mixed the reactions were here and there.

I really appreciate her as an activist and want her to continue her work but I personally don't believe poetry is for her. I maybe would prefer an autobiography or a more prose text.

The other reviews are valid I could relate to a bunch of them so even though I am giving one star due its concerning character, again it is not a healthy relationship in my opinion, it has a few good poems.

To round up this review I will out up my favourite poems:

Il mio seno

è solo un iceberg.

Se pensi sia questo

a rendermi donna,

è solo perché non sai

quanto davvero

possa

And

tu Berlino est

io Berlino ovest

tiralo giù ’sto muro

tiralo giù.

And

Corona di spine

intorno al mio cuore

senza santità

solo inferno

[icbiwf]

20 Questions: Writer’s Edition

I was tagged by @endlessnightlock​

How many works do you have on AO3?

17

What’s your total AO3 word count?

261,571

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Just Hunger Games.

What are your top five fics by kudos?

1. Not All Of It 2. The Grass is Always Greener  3. The Other Choice 4. What's So Civil About War Anyway? 5. Dreams Come True

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Very rarely. For something like 99% of comments I wouldn't have anything to say anyway beyond “thanks for leaving a comment,” so that would get real tedious real fast. Plus I generally feel like comments are for readers to share their thoughts on a story, and as the author the best thing I can do to facilitate that is stay out of the way. If someone has a question I’ll answer it, and if someone makes a point I have actual thoughts on that aren’t already in the story then I might share them, but for the most part I stay out of the comments on my own fics.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I was going to say A Reaping, but if we’re really sharply defining our terms, that ending is more tragic than angsty. So I think the answer to this question is Where He Waits for Me - that fic slots into canon, and canon is far angstier than anything I would normally write.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

This is hard, because nearly everything I write has a happy ending. I’m going to go with Dreams Come True.

Do you write crossovers? If yes, what’s the craziest thing you’ve written?

Depends on what you mean by crossover. I don’t write stuff like “Katniss Everdeen, Tony Stark, and Captain Kirk all attend Hogwarts together.” But I do have a tendency to watch or read something and imagine replacing the main characters with Katniss and Peeta. I wrote one based on The Terminator for a PiP prompt years ago, and I currently have 16,000 words written of an AU based on the 1987 movie Summer School.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really. I got a few “Ew, nope,” reviews on my prosthetic dick story, but I don’t really consider that hate. I didn't even get any blowback for my abortion story, and I fully expected some there. The only really bad reaction I ever got was one person who thought I was “promoting discrimination” because I wrote about Panem having anti-LGBTQ policies in the districts. 

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

No, I do not. 

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I’m aware of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No. I’m not sure how I would feel about that, honestly. That’d be an awful lot of trust to put in someone who I don’t know and whose work I can’t verify.

Have you ever co-written a fic?

No. I don’t think I’d be very good at working collaboratively. 

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Everlark.

What’s a WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Probably the Terminator story. I know roughly how the rest of that story goes, I have since 2012, but it has The Terminator’s action finale, and I’m not good at writing action. 

What’s your writing strengths?

Dialogue and plot. 

What’s your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions. Descriptions of people, descriptions of rooms or buildings - I can picture it in my head, but its like as soon as I try to translate those images into words they evaporate into smoke. Descriptions of actions just come out feeling tedious and clunky.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in fic?

As a reader, I’m not a fan, unless the point of using another language is that the POV character (and thus, the audience) doesn’t understand what’s being said. As a writer, I tend to write stuff I would want to read. And as a practical matter, since I don’t speak any other languages, I necessarily can’t write in them.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

And actually published? THG.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Honestly, this answer changes by the day. Today, I’m going to go with The Grass is Always Greener. I really like how I was able to carry the theme through that whole story without it feeling overwhelming or forced. It’s also probably the kindest I’ve ever been to Gale in a fic.

[longitudinalwaveme]

DC Comics’ Portrayal of Mental Illness

 As you can probably ascertain from the general contents of this blog, I am a huge fan of DC comics (and, more specifically, of the Flash). I am also a psychology major who is on the autism spectrum and has struggled with Social Anxiety Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. As such, I have a...complicated relationship with comic books that discuss mental illness. 

Of course, of all the comics that deal with mental illness, Batman is undoubtedly the most prominent, and, as such, is the easiest target for criticism. The more a comic book talks about mental illness, the more opportunities it has to get stuff wrong. Since there are literally thousands of Batman comics out there and I don’t have the time to research them all, I will be using a 2001 Batman guidebook to give you a few examples of the things that it gets wrong about mental health (and psychology in general). 

To start, let’s talk about Arkham Asylum. Not only is its name anachronistic (virtually no mental heath facilities are called asylums anymore), but its depiction usually is as well: even a psychiatric hospital that doubled as a penal facility probably would not be located in an old Gothic-looking building that looks like it came straight out of a horror movie. It’s also worth noting that Arkham Asylum didn’t exist in the Batman mythos prior to 1974, and that originally, Two-Face and the Joker were the only two villains who went there. Prior to that point, everyone, even the Joker, just went to prison when they were caught (which, as we shall see, is actually probably more accurate for everyone except maaaybe modern Two-Face and the Mad Hatter). My suspicion is that it was introduced to capitalize on the popularity of the 1962 novel (and, once it was released, the 1975 movie) One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which was about a psychiatric institution, but there were probably other factors involved, such as the popularity of works by H.P. Lovecraft (which is where the name Arkham came from). Whatever the reason, though, Arkham Asylum is really only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the misrepresentation of mental illness and mental health in Batman fiction. 

The introduction of Arkham Asylum led, increasingly, to the idea that all Batman villains were mentally ill, which, in turn, led to some...um....very inaccurate portrayals and depictions of what mental illness is and how it works. 

For example, the 2001 guidebook I am using incorrectly describes the Joker as “certifiably psychotic”. He’s not. While there are individual exceptions (we are talking about comic books, after all), in most appearances, the Joker is not psychotic. He has no apparent hallucinations and does not seem to display signs of delusions, either. He is not out of touch with reality in any meaningful way, he’s just horrifically violent. Describing him as “certifiably psychopathic” would have been much more appropriate (although you can’t technically diagnose someone with psychopathy; the condition he would be diagnosed with would be Antisocial Personality Disorder). 

In the same book, Two-Face is described as “schizoid” and “schizophrenic”, both of which are not even remotely correct. What the modern Two-Face is supposed to suffer from is Dissociative Identity Disorder (what used to be called Multiple Personality Disorder), although it’s not always portrayed terribly accurately. Schizoid Personality Disorder is not DID, and it’s not Schizophrenia, either; it’s a personality disorder characterized by a lack of interest in social relationships-basically people who are extreme loners. Similarly, Schizophrenia is not DID. While it is hypothetically possible for the two conditions to be comorbid, they are not at all the same thing. Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions and hallucinations, which Two-Face almost never displays in fiction. DID is a dissociative disorder. Most people with DID do not experience delusions or hallucinations; their condition is typified by the presence of more than one personality and is thought to usually only occur as a reaction to severe childhood trauma. (Credit where credit is due: modern Two-Face is correctly shown as having experienced trauma as a child.) The fact that the term schizophrenia literally translates into “split mind” is probably the source of some of this confusion, but with schizophrenia, the split is between the mind and reality, not between the mind and itself. 

Also from this guidebook, the Riddler is, confusingly, described as having “an obsessive-compulsive desire for attention”, which, from a psychological perspective, is pretty much nonsense. Desire for attention is one thing; obsessive-compulsive disorder is another. The “obsessions” in OCD refer to intrusive, recurring thoughts, not to something that a person strongly desires and spends a lot of time pursuing. Additionally, the Riddler is described as “pondering the unsolvable riddle of his own psychosis”, which is not accurate. The Riddler consistently displays signs of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and less consistently displays signs of OCD, but neither one of these conditions is a psychotic disorder, as neither involves hallucinations or delusions. When the Riddler says he’s not psychotic, and that he’s perfectly sane, he’s completely right on both counts. He’s never displayed any evidence of a break from reality, so he’s not psychotic, and he’s almost always aware that what he’s doing is a crime, so he’s not insane, either. In fact, with the possible exceptions of the Mad Hatter, Man-Bat, and Two-Face, none of the Batman villains are insane, since they are all aware that what they’re doing is illegal when they do it. 

What makes the earlier mistakes in this particular guidebook even more mystifying to me is the fact that their description of Scarecrow, and, more impressively yet, Scarecrow’s fear toxin, is pretty much accurate. They don’t call him psychotic or label him with conditions he doesn’t have and they accurately identify his on-again off-again phobia of bats (Chiropteraphobia). It also describes his fear gas thusly: “a toxic mix of adreno-cortical secretions and strong hallucinogens...it prompts neuromuscular spasms, cardiac arrhythmia, and panic attacks”. This is an astonishingly accurate description of what his fear toxin would need to be made of and what it does to his victims’ bodies. I don’t know who wrote this section, but they deserve some serious credit for doing their homework! (It makes no sense to put the Scarecrow in Arkham. Not only is he neither psychotic nor insane, but putting an evil ex-psychologist in a psychiatric institution is a REALLY bad idea, as he has the know-how to easily manipulate both the doctors and the patients.) 

Also from the 2001 Guidebook: The Ventriloquist is described as having multiple personalities, and is NOT described as schizophrenic or schizoid. While the term Multiple Personality Disorder is no longer used by psychologists for diagnosis, it is at least describing the same condition as DID. Modern Firefly is described as a pyromaniac; this is accurate from what I know of the character. Mr. Zsasz is described as a “sociopath”; again, this is mostly accurate. 

I also decided to use a few other DC guidebooks and see if there were any other egregious mistakes: 

2015 Guidebook:

 Haha, “Lenny Snart”. (That has nothing to do with mental illness, I just thought it was funny.) 

 Dr. Polaris is described as suffering from “a split personality disorder”; they mean DID. It’s also worth noting that most people with DID do not have a “good” alter and an “evil” alter; having DID does not make you Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 

The Joker is described as “crazy” and “insane”; while the former is up for debate, I can say with confidence that the Joker meets no real-world definition of insanity that I know about. 

Riddler is not described as insane, yay!  

Two-Face is described as having Multiple Personality Disorder; this should be DID but is otherwise broadly correct. That being said, the idea that getting acid thrown in your face would cause you to develop a split personality, as this book seems to imply, is unlikely. DID doesn’t develop that suddenly. 

2016 Guidebook: 

While Doctor Polaris may very well have a personality disorder, the emergence of a second personality would indicate the development of DID, not  a personality disorder. An adult man couldn’t “develop’ a personality disorder anyway; they’re developed in childhood and are usually lifelong afflictions. 

Harley Quinn is a weird case; to call her psychotic isn’t completely inaccurate, as she has displayed signs of hallucinations and delusions in the past. That being said, the way her condition is depicted is inconsistent and confusing, and doesn’t seem to line up perfectly with any actual real-world condition. 

Modern Heat Wave is absolutely a pyromaniac; Johns in particular was surprisingly good at writing a realistic case of the condition. 

The Joker is not insane. Neither is the modern Joker’s daughter. Both understand what they’re doing is wrong. 

Lex Luthor is indeed a sociopath, as is the New 52 version of Mr. Freeze (BTAS Freeze is not). 

Two-Face’s condition should be described as DID, not MPD; otherwise things are about as accurate as one can expect from Two-Face. 

2008 Guidebook:

Calling Abra Kadabra narcissistic is accurate. 

The Black Manta autism thing is icky on multiple levels. Ewww.

The first Cheetah probably would not have suddenly developed a second personality as an adult. 

Dr. Polaris. You know the drill. Split personality should be DID. A “good” and “evil” alter are pretty unlikely. Usually DID would show up before adulthood. 

Firefly and Heat Wave do both seem to have pyromania. It’s also accurate to describe Heat Wave as cryophobic. 

The Joker cannot be “certifiably crazed”; crazed is not an official psychiatric term. And again, he isn’t insane, so he shouldn’t be in Arkham. 

Killer Croc has never displayed any noticeable signs of psychosis. 

Magenta having DID is actually more realistic than most of the other characters I’ve talked about; she’s got the necessary childhood trauma and her alters developed when she was still quite young. Furthermore, her more violent alter isn’t manically evil. 

Whoever wrote the Scarecrow piece in the 2001 Batman Guidebook must’ve also helped to write this one, since the shockingly-accurate fear gas description is the same. 

Professor Strange is not insane in the legal sense of the word. 

Arnold Wesker has DID; MPD is the condition’s original name but is no longer used by professional psychologists. 

Zoom (Hunter Zolomon, not Eobard)... I think there’s an argument to be made that Zolomon actually is psychotic. While he’s never displayed hallucinations, he is clearly delusional in the most literal sense and does seem to have lost touch with reality. As such, this book is not wholly inaccurate in calling him psychotic.

You get the idea....

Looking specifically at the Flash, things improve slightly simply because writers who don’t understand psychology aren’t constantly talking about it. That being said, that doesn’t mean it never gets brought up. 

Golden Glider was intended to receive a psychiatric evaluation in the late 1970s. It’s interesting that she actually protested this, pointing out that the male criminals never received psychological evaluations (and indeed, they always went to prison rather than to an institution). She was indeed motivated by something other than profit, and I can understand why they wanted to have her evaluated given her lack of earlier criminal activity, but I don’t know if she was actually mentally ill per se...and she definitely wasn’t insane. 

In the early 1980s during the twilight hours of Barry Allen’s first run on the Flash, it seemed that the writers were trying to take a page out of Batman’s book by arguing that Barry’s costumed criminals were insane (even though they usually didn’t display any behavior that would indicate this). As such, Barry stated to imply that his Rogues were mentally ill in some fashion despite the fact that their behavior really hadn’t changed appreciably since their earliest appearances. That being said, the Pied Piper did appear to suffer some sort of nervous breakdown during the “Trial of the Flash” arc; what exactly this was is difficult to explain, since we didn’t get to see a whole lot of him after this point, but he did go to an actual psychiatric hospital (that was referred to as such rather than being called an asylum) and he did recover, relapsed, then recovered again, making this one of the more accurate portrayals of how mental illness works despite the limited information we have about his actual condition. They even showed him slowly deteriorating over a period of time before the actual collapse!

Big Sir, who made his debut in the same storyline, was rather more poorly handled....but at least he was explicitly manipulated into villainy rather than becoming evil simply because of his condition. 

Wally West went to therapy early in his run; given the context I’d say it was reasonable that he was suffering from both anxiety and depression (his uncle had just died and he was really struggling to fill his shoes as the new Flash). Going to therapy did actually help him, which was nice to see, and his therapist did not become evil, which was also nice to see. (I’m not going to talk about Heroes in Crisis, as I prefer to pretend that that never happened.) Yay for protagonists discussing their mental health problems in productive ways! 

In the early-to-mid 1990s, Mark Waid wrote a story in which Lisa stated that she’d faked insanity in order to be sent to a psychiatric hospital rather than to prison, but the story seemed to be implying that she was actually insane. Not only is successfully being declared not guilty by reason of insanity incredibly difficult, but Lisa displayed no signs of not recognizing that her behavior was wrong, so she wasn’t insane. She was, however, displaying strong signs of paranoia, which could perhaps be attributed to a paranoid delusion of some sort. It’s especailly weird since this was never really a characteristic of hers before or since, and it just kind of came out of nowhere. 

The Trickster (specifically the first one, James Jesse) is often mistakenly believed to be mentally ill by casual fans. While he is indeed mentally ill, possibly even psychotic, in the DCAU,  and he’s a remorseless psychopath in both live-action Flash shows, in the comics themselves he displays no real signs of mental illness. That being said, I LOVE the interactions between DCAU Wally and DCAU Trickster. They’re made of adorable.

The Pied Piper went through a second bout of mental problems in the mid-to-late 2000s, being tricked into believing that he’d murdered his parents, going to prison, being beaten regularly by the warden, escaping from prison, going through the stress of fighting in the Rogue War, having his mind messed with by the Top, accidentally becoming involved in the murder of Bart Allen (another thing I like to pretend never happened), having to go on the run, watching the Trickster get shot in front of him, having to drag his corpse around a desert, almost dying, getting transported to Apocalypse, blowing it up with Queen music, and then being left basically all alone. He really went through a trauma conga line, so it’s not surprising that he was starting to display some odd behavior. Poor guy probably had PTSD. 

And then there’s the Top. Beyond the speculation of @gorogues that he’s on the autism spectrum (a  theory I find to be quite persuasive), I also think it’s likely that he suffers from another mental illness (most likely bipolar I disorder, also as suggested by @gorogues). He was clearly mentally ill for most of Geoff Johns’ run, and his behavior in his very first appearance was decidedly odd as well. Intense mania and depression can sometimes induce psychosis (as we seemed to see during Geoff Johns’ run), and his “threatening to blow up half the world to become its ruler while I’m somehow safe on the other side of the planet” plan from his first appearance, which he clearly expected to work perfectly, is so overconfident and over-the-top that it fits well as a particularly exaggerated manic episode. While it’s not conclusive by any means, I think it’s a distinct possibility.