#knowing perfectly well how his idiotic fanbase behaves

[russellius]

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[janiedean]

I feel that the sudden explosion of discourse is (partly) j*hn boyega's fault. Did he really needed to go on a rampage against sw fans? Really??? And not against the racism in the fandom (which would have been completely fair) but a /ship/???

… honestly, I kept my mouth shut about this until now bc I was out and I didn’t wanna get into discourse, but… as someone who does like the guy I’m incredibly disappointed in his behavior and in how people are reacting to it. like. first of all the entire drama could have been solved by him saying ‘I was joking but I understand why you think it’s crass sorry about it’ and leaving it there and instead he kept on… harping on fans specifically and not as a general declaration, then he went and diverted the attention going after the r/eylo crowd which whether he likes it or not has actually supported him and his attitude has opened the floodgates and like… it’s been three days, I’ve seen people wishing a minor who also brought KMT her fanbook to kill herself and tweet to her father that they hope he finds her corpse in the bathroom (???) and various other amenities and like… that’s not okay. period. he should say something already to at least distance himself from this bullshit and I’m very disappointed he’s not doing that, because whatever the fuck he was thinking, justifying going after any fans is wrong and opening the floodgates for the antis to do that because hey he did it so who cares let’s be even worse people is……. just…… yikes. very much yikes.

on top of that…. I can’t with people comparing what oscar said to what he did because oscar went off at disney during press releases and voiced his dissatisfaction with his arc and the story decisions (CONSIDERING THAT THEY MADE POE A FORMER SPACE DRUG RUNNER HE SHOULD DAMN WELL BE PISSED OFF) but he hasn’t once went off at the fans or dismissed part of the fanbase or attack specific people, while john basically… went off at single fans who were saying perfectly worded/polite criticism which means they’re put on target too, never mind again opening the floodgates re bullying a part of the fandom that has been bullied since 2015 guys let’s be fucking real, never mind that 90% of the criticism he got was from fanboys who couldn’t handle having a black lead, not from freaking rey/kylo shippers. and that’s another thing.

but the rest… I mean. people are cheering for that? going like ‘oh wow he’s such a king baby go ahead end them’?? guys that’s not being a king, he’s not even going after actual racist idiots, that’s being wildly unprofessional and making sure to piss people off. like. as much as people like it or not, re/ylo shippers paid money to see his movies and a lot of them actually like his character/support his work. the moment you sign on to sw who has one of the most toxic fandoms in existence - I mean not touching the luke vs han shit in the eighties, people basically bullied that poor kid who played anakin in episode one to the point that he quit acting and he ended up in a psychiatric facility and surely the fan reaction to that movie didn’t help not ruining his life completely and that’s not even the beginning - you know you’re in for being roasted by a bunch of assholes. and like… sorry but you sign on for that, you actually handle it pretty nicely for four years which I 100% commended him for and now he goes off on a part of fandom that wasn’t behind most of his harassing like this and I have to buy that hey bullying fans is fine? like I had to read ‘john started the year bullying assholes in this fandom how great I hope he keeps on doing it’? do we all realize what the fuck does this mean? like ffs people tore martin freeman to shreds for having been vocally angry about john/lock fans sending death threats to his wife and kids and he hadn’t exactly put the single people on spot nor made the names (and tbh he was 100% right, at that point you have all the rights to be crass) but now this behavior is okay because… it’s people shipping something you don’t like…?

sorry but a fucking fictional ship is no basis to bully anyone. idc what fucking fictional ship is it because the nature of r/eylo is not the point nor its canon status. and people cheering like this on someone for behaving unprofessionally af is… really… concerning me. because he basically went off on fans. singularly. who had… like…. done nothing specific to him because those people criticized his not exactly stellar joke on instagram, they didn’t go off on him out of nothing.

like. sorry but if you’re a public figure you should be able to handle this shit better than that. and the fact that he made… those… really bad taste comments about KMT deleting herself from social media (AND IT WAS BOTH FANBOYS AND ANTIS MAKING HER DO IT not r/eylos let’s get that straight) while KMT got the shaft in tros more than he did and got the shaft by disney as much as him if not worse is really not looking well. the fact that KMT has been dealing with this entire mess way more graciously and professionally than he’s doing also says a lot about what’s happening.

tldr: yes I agree and if he wanted to complain about racist assholes (which is 100% his right to) he had a thousand better and more professional ways to do it than this. he’s a public figure in one of the biggest franchises in existence known for its toxic fandom. this behavior is 100% not okay. and like he could have gone off on any faction in this fandom I’d stick with my opinion, it’s not just bc I like r/eylo. creators/actors should never advocate for this behavior ever and if they have issues with some fans they should just have the studio backing them up for suing which is a thing I 100% would endorse, but they shouldn’t… do this. like… sorry, but he fucked up. I like his acting, I like(d) him until three days ago, I love his character, but this was fucked up and he needs to own up to it because if we actually normalize this behavior from media creators and actors we’re fucked. like, 100% fucked. it’s nowhere near acceptable to insult like that people who don’t have your influence, who aren’t famous and who didn’t do shit to you except criticizing you for a thing that wasn’t exactly the most refined joke in existence.

(that said, if he hadn’t said it specifically re that character or if he said it with his friends messing around I wouldn’t gaf, but the way he did it was just… bad pr. very bad pr.)

ADDENDUM: as stated, i don’t agree with actors taking fans’ abuse on social media - they should absolutely feel free to block someone or press charges if it becomes bad and as stated the studio SHOULD back them up (I mean… if I had been the voltron actors/writers I’d have sued 80% of that fandom long before S5) but they shouldn’t downright go and do… this. it’s unprofessional. and if you’re a public figure you should like….. have some damned responsibility for your actions. he’s an actor in a multi-million dollars franchise, those people are no one or sure as hell they don’t have his influence or fame. it’s just nowhere near okay to do that and I’m dying on this hill. peace.

[kimnamjooonz]

Blank Space  - Episode 7

Shake It Off

Songs that inspired this Episode: 

Shake It Off - Taylor Swift

''Cause the players gonna play, the haters gonna hate, baby, I'm just gonna shake it off. Heartbreakers gonna break, fakers gonna fake, baby, I'm just gonna shake it off.''

It was the fist day of filming and everything had gone pretty smoothly considering what had happened the previous day. Yes, Sebastian and Morgan weren't on speaking terms but at least no one had shouted at anyone. Maybe it was thanks to Damien that had decided to start shooting the first scene between Morgan and Joe. She had to share with Sebastian only half an hour at the end of the evening. ''You were awesome. All of you'' Damien told them. ''You look just like how I imagined you in my dreams. You can leave.'' Everyone was in a happy mood, Joe and Michael were talking about some basketball match and Emily and Sebastian talking about an scene that they had shared. Morgan just hurried away to her trailer to change her clothes. She had a lot of the evening ahead and she wanted to treat herself with a Broadway show. She took off her character's signature 80's leather jacket for her normal clothes. She kept the make up because it was similar to what she wore everyday. The make up department had loved the exclusive shade of red lipstick that Chanel had made for her and decided to use it for Meredith Hathaway. Morgan had loved the idea. She was slowly making her exit and she had even reached the parking lot when she noticed Sebastian walking behind her, not in a very long distance. She wanted to run in order to avoid him but her phone rang in the exact time. Thanks to Taylor that was calling she had the perfect excuse not to give crap about him. He seemed to be avoiding her as he was also looking at his phone. ''What happened?'' she answered a bit harshly. ''Stop sounding so angry, Morgan. Don't be insufferable.'' damn Taylor that seemed to be in a mocking mood. ''Business calls. I need you to meet me at the Starbucks that's near the apartment.'' ''Taylor, if you want coffee, get it and then we talk in the apartment.'' ''Just do it. It's important. See you in twenty minutes'' then she hung up. Morgan was quite confused but she did exactly what Taylor said and without glancing at Sebastian she left the place.

It was an enormous surprise when she got off her Porsche in the front of the Starbucks and the first thing she saw was Sebastian getting off his Jaguar. In his defence he was as surprised as she was. ''Are you following me?'' she asked with sarcasm, forgetting that they weren't on speaking terms. ''Yeah, because I have absolutely nothing better to do with my time'' he answered back. Even Morgan admired his sarcasm. She didn't say anything and just went into the shop looking for Taylor and mentally cursing her for not talking at the apartment, like any normal person would do. She had no intentions to learn about Sebastian business there. She finally spotted Taylor, sitting on a remote table with a woman she hadn't seen before. She was heading there when she noticed Sebastian following her. ''Really mate, this is getting creepy. Go and get another table, this place is enormous.'' ''Sorry Llewellyn but I can't. I'm meeting my agent and she's sitting right next to yours if I'm not mistaken.'' Sebastian enjoyed the way that Morgan's face chanced. ''I dare to say, princess, that we're in trouble.'' Damn, he was right. And she hated to admit it. ''What is this Taylor?'' she asked, still with a harsh voice. ''Emily, what is the meaning of this madness?'' Sebastian asked his agent. It seemed that for once, Morgan and Sebastian agreed on something: this whole reunion stuff was useless. ''Hello to you too, Sebastian.'' Sebastian didn't say anything. He was giving a fair share of angry glances to everyone there. Morgan was doing exactly the same with a very similar expression. The likeness between the two of them was noticeable. Their personalities were pretty much alike, even though they were never going to see it. ''Look, Emily, Morgan and I fought yesterday, but is okay now, isn't it Morgan?'' It wasn't. But the easiest way out of that situation was to agree with Sebastian, shake his hand, get the hell out of there and go straight to Broadway. ''Yes, he's right. Who told you of this, Taylor?'' Morgan was making a mental list of people who could have told their managers about the fight. She immediately discarded Lucas, that young man was loyal to her from head to toe. ''Damien'' ''Damn it'' Morgan and Sebastian said at the same time. They couldn't do anything against Damien. ''He just wants peace in the set'' said Emily. ''And he doesn't want the media to learn about your fight'' said Taylor. ''In the eyes of the world you two are perfect friends. Understood?'' Both of them nodded. Apparently there was an easy way out of the situation. Damien just wanted to put some sense into their heads. ''Okay. What do you want us to do?'' Sebastian asked. ''Like each other picture's on Instagram? Comment nice things? Praise each other? There's so much love between us... yay!'' ''Do you think is going to be that easy?'' Emily almost laugh at him. ''If you make us date, I swear I'm out'' said an angry Morgan. Sebastian was furiously nodding. ''No one here is going to date anyone'' Taylor was quickly to calm Morgan down. ''We just want you two to be friends. Or make people believe that you are. And it starts today.'' Both of them groaned. They just wanted peace and quiet and be as far away from each other as possible. ''What are you making us do?'' asked Sebastian, sensing defeat. ''You two are going to the basketball match at the Madison Square Garden with the rest of the cast'' said Emily. Well, it wasn't that bad after all. It ruined her Broadway night but at least it was a bearable option. ''Together'' added Taylor. ''What?'' Morgan and Sebastian asked at the same time. ''It's just a show of fraternal love. You just have to put a nice show to the media. Improvise. You two are actors.'' Sebastian and Morgan weren't at all happy with the agreement. ''I have a girlfriend'' said Sebastian, as if it was some valuable excuse. Morgan just wanted to punch him in the face. ''Do you understand the meaning of fraternal?'' Emily teased him. ''Look, Sebastian, not Damien or the studio care that you have a girlfriend. They care about you and Morgan getting on well off screen. You two are going to Madison Square together and stop complaining please.'' For the second time that evening, Morgan and Sebastian were agreeing on something else: they were not going to give up without a fight. ''But I had a date'' Sebastian complained. ''You cancel it!'' Emily was losing her chill. ''I don't care! No one cares! You're going.'' Morgan let Sebastian fight her battle. Maybe he could convince his agent and free himself from a night alongside Morgan. And she'd be free from him. Maybe her Broadway night wasn't ruined yet. ''And at least can I go with Florence?'' he asked. So Florence was her name. Interesting... Taylor was checking on Morgan's facial expression but it never changed. It remained stony and a little indifferent. ''For the love of God, no. You can't. In which language do I have to tell you? Let me put it simply: no one cares about your girlfriend. The only thing you'd get out of this is to anger your fanbase. You'd get nasty comments on social media and I don't need that nor does the studio. On the other hand, people know Morgan and they like her.'' Sebastian knew that Emily was right. Morgan was the new darling of the media and the Internet loved her. She was the beautiful lovely damsel that came from a fairytale town to conquer Hollywood on her astounding strength of character. A modern heroine. ''You two are going together. That's our last word.'' ''Anything to say?'' Taylor asked Morgan who had been in silence for a longer time that it was usual on her. At least she wasn't making things difficult. Then Taylor realised that it was a cunning strategy. She was making Sebastian look like the whiny idiot while she was being the obedient good girl. Smart. Taylor had to admire her. ''No. I understand this is for the best.'' she shot a look at Sebastian that clearly meant 'Unlike others'. ''Pick me up at eight.'' she said to Sebastian. ''Don't be late'' her voice was soft but it made clear that this was an order. With a nod of her head she said goodbye to everybody and left. ''This is how I expected you to behave, Sebastian'' Emily was reprimanding him as if he were a misbehaving child. ''She's ten years younger that you but she is more mature.'' It was really hard for Taylor not to laugh. Morgan, mature? She was the prime example of immaturity and not acting her age. But she had an especial ability at deluding people. ''What? Emily! She was as outraged at this idea as much as I was. That she didn't say anything doesn't mean that...'' ''That makes her smarter that you. She didn't start whining about having a date. That was you'' Emily was really pretty pissed with him. ''Now leave. Make sure not to be late and ruin things even more.''

Five minutes before eight he was waiting at the hall of Morgan's apartment building. Emily had texted him the address and she had got it through Taylor as he still didn't have Morgan's number. Exactly thirty seconds before eight, the elevator's doors opened and Morgan made her appearance. Sebastian couldn't help staring at her. She was hands down, the most beautiful person he'd ever been around. After all, the more beautiful a snake was, the more dangerous and venomous. Morgan seemed to go by those rules. She was dressed simply, with ripped black skinny jeans, ankle high heeled boots, a long sleeved top with the word 'Rep' in gothic letters (that Sebastian had absolutely no idea that she had bought at the Taylor Swift merch store) and a leather jacket. She was wearing her black hair in perfectly careless waves and of course that she was wearing her signature red lipstick. She looked fierce and gorgeous. She snapped her fingers in front of his face, taking him out of his daze. ''Let's get going.'' He just followed her. Morgan wondered why she couldn't go alone, in her own car. More than anything she just wanted to avoid getting in a closed space with Sebastian Stan. Also, running him over with her Porsche was tempting. He unlocked his car and Morgan immediately went and opened the door herself, not giving him a chance to be a gentleman. Two months ago, the perspective of getting into a car with Sebastian Stan was part of her wildest dreams. Now, she just wanted to be anywhere else, specially at Broadway, seeing Daniel Radcliffe's new play. ''Look, I know we're not on the best of terms but...'' he started. ''Just save it. None of us want to be here, okay? Just make it easier for both of us and don't say a thing. I don't really want to hear your voice right now.'' she put her headphones on and started listening to something that Sebastian thought it was electronic music. She was actually listening to Ed Sheeran. His voice was the only thing that soothed her enough not to open the door and jump out of the moving car. Maybe with a little bit of luck she was left stranded near Broadway. Sebastian had had many uncomfortable encounters with women before but this was one of the worse (if not the absolute worst) he could remember. Morgan was there, with her beautiful face totally expressionless, listening to music and probably thinking about all the places rather be than with him. Morgan's rejection hurt him a little. Maybe it was just his pride screaming for attention or... maybe he just wanted to know her better. It was a relief for both of them when they reached their destination. Madison Square Garden was as spectacular as always with bright lights everywhere, full of people and the atmosphere of utter enthusiasm. Someone else would be blinded by the place but not Morgan and Sebastian. They were made for this kind of environments. Morgan took her headphones off and looked at him. There was something different in her gaze. Not dislike or indifference but complicity. It was as if he could read her thoughts. She was inviting him to make the performances of their lives not only to make the world believe that they were friends but that they were a team to be wary of. ''Ready to shine?'' she asked. ''Completely.'' It was as if for a moment everything was perfect between them. Sebastian wished that it was always like that. They got off the car at the same time. The parking lot was empty but once they reached the doors, it was full of people, most of them photographers. They knew exactly what they needed to do: just talk, with sincere smiles on their faces and their body language should tell that they were having a great time. They were pulling this off to perfection. Flashes were surrounded them but they just acted as if they were invisible and kept talking. Their topic of conversation was the weather. Morgan had decided to play it safe. Any other kind of topic could spark a disagreement that was going to end in a fight, probably. They ended their conversation when they were finally guided into the VIP section. ''A question'' he stopped her in her tracks. ''Do we have to keep this sham in front of the others too?'' ''Of course. We're the real life versions of Sponge Bob and Patrick, okay?'' Of all the best friends duos she had to choose this one. ''Okay, Llewellyn, but we both know that Bob and Patrick were more than friends.'' Of all the things he could have said, or not said at all, this was his best comment. Shocking. ''Okay, so Sponge Bob and Sandy, happy? Now shut up and smile.'' This was probably the first civilized conversation he had had with Morgan Llewellyn. And it was about Sponge Bob. Well played, Sebastian, well played. Morgan spotted the rest of her cast mates who were looking at them with the weirdest glances ever. ''What the hell is this?'' Joe asked to Michael and Emily. ''Yesterday they wanted to decapitate each other and now they are all smiley and friendly. What the hell happened here?'' ''Ask them yourself because I really don't know.'' Emily couldn't believe her eyes. ''Hello, people!'' a happy Morgan greeted them. Sebastian was standing beside her, smiling. ''Hi'' Michael's eyes went from Morgan to Sebastian. ''Are you two friends now?'' he was the only one who was brave enough to ask that to them directly. ''Yes.'' it was Sebastian who answered. ''We had just a silly misunderstanding.'' he placed his hand between Morgan's shoulders. ''I was missing on an very special person.'' he looked at Morgan with a smile. ''Friends will be friends'' she said, shooting him a nice smile. Sebastian would have loved that this version of Morgan were her real self. She was adorable. It was sad to know that it was just an act. But he also knew that if the real Morgan had been like that, he'd have fallen in love with her in two seconds after meeting her. It was her personality that stood in the way. She had some intriguing vibes that had attracted Sebastian since the first minute and she was enigmatic. Without counting that she was absolutely gorgeous. She was a mess, but the kind of mess he liked. No one said much more because the match was about to start. He was wondering what Morgan was doing to him. ''Wait a second'' he stopped her again. ''How do we proceed?'' ''We just comment the match between us, react to it and cheer a little. Remember that you're supposed to be having the time of your life.'' They sat side by side, the others were still waiting for one of them to snap and start a fight in the middle of Madison Square Garden. But that moment was not going to come any time soon. ''Can you see how pretty they look when they're not fighting?'' Emily asked. ''They're an absolutely gorgeous pair.'' Michael was looking at them. Sebastian was showing something to Morgan on his phone and she was laughing. When the match started they did exactly what Morgan had said. Sebastian was commenting stuff from to her time to time and mostly talking to Morgan. It didn't look like a night out of a whole group but more like Sebastian and Morgan on a date. They were also cheering on the team, high fiving each other and pulling the stunt to perfection. Only they knew that this supposed friendship was fake. But even if none of them was ever going to admit it, they were having a really good time. At some point Morgan was filming some videos and sending them to Clint. She was in Madison Square Garden watching the New York Knicks with Sebastian Stan. This was Morgan's 2013 dream come true. Clint needed to know about this. Sebastian was shooting furtive glances to Morgan's phone to see who she was texting to. He was quite shocked to see that she was texting to a gorgeous dark haired man. So shocked that he spoke before thinking. ''Who is him?'' Morgan was going to answer with a snarky 'that's none of your business' but they were in public. And it was just Clint, it was no problem to reveal who he was. ''This is my brother, Clint.'' she zoomed on Clint's profile pic so Sebastian could see him better. He wanted to punch himself on the face. He could totally see the resemblance between the siblings: the same black hair, the same condescending smile and the same facial structure, as if them both were carved by the angels themselves. The only difference was in the eyes as Clint lacked Morgan's electrifying dark blue ones. ''Wow'' he mumbled. ''Is he a model?'' ''No. He's a rugby player.'' ''Where do people like you two come from? You two are just on another level of gorgeous.'' he was still speaking without thinking. ''Thank you'' she said, this time without sarcasm. She knew that Sebastian was being honest and she was quick at accepting praise, from whoever it came from. ''And we are from Wales.'' She left Sebastian processing something she didn't know and concentrated in a text from her brother. ''MSG may be cool and everything but tell me tomorrow. New season of Doctor Who just started. It has Sheffield, Jodie Whittaker, kebab being thrown, a new sonic screwdriver... damn, sis, I'm crying.'' ''Oh my God'' she mumbled. She couldn't believe that her favourite show has premiered and she wasn't watching it. ''Are you OK?'' Sebastian asked with concern. He may not be in the best terms with his co-star but if she felt bad or if she was uncomfortable he was going to do the impossible to help her. ''No, I mean yes but I missed the Doctor Who's season premiere.'' ''What is that?'' She was so shocked at missing the episode that she even forgot to accuse Sebastian as an uncultured swine for not knowing Doctor Who. ''A show that means a lot to me.'' So, Morgan Llewellyn was a geek, or something close to that. Interesting, he wouldn't have imagined that from her. It was entertaining to find little things about her. They watched the last quarter in silence but at the eyes of the world they seemed interested in the match. But they were lost in their thoughts. Morgan was cursing herself. How could she had forgotten about Doctor Who? And even if she had remembered, there was nothing that she could have done to watch it because she'd have had to be stuck there with Sebastian, one way or another. Sebastian's thoughts were completely different. He was thinking about Morgan. He still haven't made up her mind about her and it was a much deeper thing that simply liking or disliking her. When he had seen her for the first time it was like love and hate at first sight. Morgan was special in all the ways, good and bad. He knew that there was more about her than what he had seen, who she really was behind that superstar mask. Somehow, and he didn't have a reasonable explanation to this, he felt a connection with her. He wanted her out of his life as soon as possible but at the same time he wanted to keep her near him forever. Sometimes he wished he'd never met her but at the same time he felt that meeting her was the biggest blessing of his life. It was like meeting his soulmate but with a sinister twist. She was everything he ever wanted but the last thing he needed. But what was he doing thinking about soulmates when he already had a girlfriend? But he was pretty sure that no matter how hard he tried, Florence wasn't his soulmate. He was more confused than ever. On one side he had the prospect of a peaceful life with Florence. It was nice and everyone would be more than pleased to have something like this in their lives. But on the other side there was Morgan who was the embodiment of endless excitement. She was someone that could never be domesticated, never, in a million years, of that Sebastian was sure. Just getting Morgan to like him was a challenge, he couldn't begin to imagine how hard would be to convince her to date him one day. It was like choosing with his heart or with his brain. If the next three months he'd had the chance of making that choice, he had the answer clear. He'd go with his heart and jump straight into Morgan Llewellyn's chaotic web. He didn't know how much time he had spent thinking all this stuff and staring at Morgan's perfect side profile but the rest of the cast had noticed and were even mumbling the words of Alicia Keys' song Fallin' as a joke. Thankfully Morgan was too concentrated in the game to notice. ''Should we take a selfie to proclaim to the world our undying friendship?'' she asked with a voice full of sarcasm. ''Of course. Nothing would make me happier'' he had the same level of sarcasm in his voice as hers. They looked so happy in the picture that no one would have guessed that their emotions were fake as hell. When the game ended, the only thing they wanted was to leave. Sebastian was finally shaking those weird thoughts off his mind and just wanted to be away from Morgan. But at the same time he was disappointed that the night had ended so quickly. Damn his contradicting mind.

P.S. Thanks to everyone that’s been reading and liking this stuff. It means a lot to me. I think we all want our life to be like Morgan, especially me at this exact moment. Sometimes I wonder why did I have to grow up and deal with this bullshit called life and I think that the last time I was truly happy was back in 2008 singing High School Musical songs with no worries in the world. But I have two options: curl into a ball and cry or grab life by the balls like Seb would do. I think I’m going for the second option. Well, I needed to get that out of my chest. And also writing this stories give me life and make me a lot happier so thanks for reading.;)

[ranting-red-mage-blog]

01. The Public Image

The main reason I turn to Tumblr to blog is because I find it rather disheartening and flat out aggravating that our only source of reference is either the official community forums or reddit.

Needless to say, neither of these places are appropriate for posting honest opinion, least you be subjected to the hivemind that jeers and boos at you while giving -666 thumbs down because you simply stated, “I disagree.”

Alright, maybe I’m exaggerating; it’s never just ‘I disagree’, but you get my point. It’s a bunch of emotionally insecure hyper defensive wall flowers that just want Andy Warhol’s long promised 5 minutes of fame. Every waking moment I spend on reddit trying to accept it’s otherworldly culture for the sake of being involved, the more I realize: fuck this shit.

The FFXIV reddit community is the equivalent of when someone refuses to shower for 2 weeks and then decides to bathe in french vanilla fragrance mist. It doesn’t work. Not only are people completely aware of the shit beneath the surface, but the sweet appeal you’ve thrown on is nauseating.

Reddit universally is disgusting, and normally I’d never even have reason to venture that close to it’s ilk — but the fact that it’s the only community outside the official forums almost forces it on you with each google search. Not only that, but so much of the information and the “theorycrafting” on there is flat out incorrect.

They’re infatuated with the idea of theorycraft (they probably think the word just sounds cool) and have the god-awful tendency of confusing opinion with fact. Perhaps the biggest ringer for me is that roughly 2 - 3 days out of the week if you look at the top upvoted discussions, you’ll find a thread dedicated to what a lovely, beautiful, and welcoming community we have.

Or people reminding everyone to be polite because that’s who we are. It’s our brand. Let’s quote:

We're a community praised for our generosity and overall welcoming feel. Let's not ruin it. If you suspect someone used a Jump Potion and you're not on board with playing with them, then kindly leave the party, don't bring it to the subreddit in hopes of farming up karma and inflating you're own ego because you think it's okay to do so. It's not. We're better than this guys. C'mon.

Piss off.

I could make a huge comment on XI’s well renowned community and how ridiculous it is that people want to control everyone on a video game that’s not even theirs to moderate, but I could summarize this perfectly by just saying: reddit.

It really grinds my gears to see so many people trying to take over this game, like they own company shares because they pay a subscription fee; so they’re entitled to tell everyone how the game should be, or how the community should behave. Even so far as to tell the developers themselves! The balls on some people! Let’s quote off reddit again:

Give 20% back with aetherflow - Any heavy healing and mana goes poof. 1/3 for energy drain is typically enough, but it would help.

Have bio again just for an extra button to press No really, the dungeons are still not that heavy on healing and I picked ACN for dots to start with even SMN feels like I don't have enough dots. Spamming broil just isn't fun :/

An extra stack of aetherflow. Since we have so many abilities locked behind stacks but this might be OP.

Any one of these and I'd be happy.

Okay, so school is in session everyone. Yoshi-P is considered one of the most highly receptive developers when it comes to personal feedback regarding MMORPG and player satisfaction.

Does anyone know why?

At the start of FFXIV 1.0 alpha & beta, the moderators/administrators were completely unresponsive to the opinions and feedback of the testers. People grew furious as their feedback went into the dark abyss and bugs/known issues persistently appeared while SE promised everything was working as intended.

I’m 99.9% certain everyone has watched the coverage on A Realm Reborn, posted on youtube by NoClip titled “Rewriting History”. This is the first time, after 7 years, that SE has opened up and explained what was actually going on behind the scenes. It also explains why Naoki Yoshida was placed in the position he’s currently in. 

In 2.0 beta, Yoshida and his team (although met with much doubt and criticism that they would just do the same as the previous alpha/beta), made it their utmost top priority to take player feedback and apply it to the game. This is why Yoshida asks for feedback.

The community, who most likely have no idea about the history behind this since Legacy members left playing this game are few and far between, have completely taken advantage of it and ran out the door screaming.

Now, every time a change happens people are instantly flocking to the forums & reddit to complain about how the idiot dev team has ruined their entire life and they will never return to that job so long as they live because blahblahblah.

Holy shit, get over it. This isn’t WoW, where the changes made inflict a notable 50% negative DPS impact on the meters. At most you’re looking at a whopping 1% - 5% difference. You could even go as far to compare damage dealt by job on FF Logs to see that almost every class is a toe hairs length away from each other in DPS (except Samurai because it’s clearly broken, hence the patch coming up to fix it.. I’ll look forward to reading the whining demands all over).

I nearly didn’t return to the game for Stormblood, truth be told, because of how utterly put off I’ve become with everything. I know I’ve ranted about reddit this entire post, but it’s not just them. It’s on personal domains, tumblr, and fan blogs. Websites across the board with patreon pages dedicated to support their unique careers on XIV. Careers.

We try to keep our monthly operating expenses low to begin with, but we also want to gain enough to set aside for expanding what we do. At this point, we'll be able to cover all operating costs and set aside savings to be used for expanding what we do, prize pools and more! Thank you for bringing us life!

The above is quoted from the official A Stage Reborn patreon page. Let me clarify this perfectly here: these people are trying to profit off a Square Enix video game. They’re using the FFXIV models (character & object), and even the original screenplay of “I want to be your Canary” from Final Fantasy IX to bring in-game entertainment and have the gall to link a patreon for funding. 

The terms of agreement and privacy policy attached to this is enough to make my head spin. This game is not for you to profit off. This game isn’t a career. It’s a game. In all my years on XI, and even the rogue few I bounced to a few other MMO’s, I’ve never seen this shit.

When did people start trying to profit off being part of a fanbase instead of enjoying it? How did we get here? It seems like everyone is clawing at the gate trying to rip off a small piece of XIV for themselves