#major wank

[holding-out-for-hea]

Alright. I’m gonna lose… like every follower, but I just don’t care.

Women were just raped, stripped of their clothes, paraded through cities, spit on, murdered and mutilated.

I understand the complication and the nuances of EVERYTHING in that area- more than you know- but if you’re not even acknowledging this horror, when we all claim to be feminists who want equality and safety of women from evil and sadistic men, then you hold false values.

Women and children are not tools of war, revenge, righteous punishment or anything else! There is no dignity in rape. There is no dignity in brutal humiliation of women’s minds, souls, and bodies. There is no dignity in evil.

Come at me all yah want, I don’t even care. Wanna scream about the other side? I know! I’ll bet my ass I’m older than you and actually lived while other atrocities happened and I don’t care who’s doing it, what color of the person is doing it, what religion the person who is doing it is- if you kidnap and rape and murder women YOU’RE THE BAD GUY and I’ll call you out.

Gosh fucking damnit

[zenkindoflove]

I have a new hypothesis about why the ACOTAR fandom is so weird.

And I think it's because there is a difference between the people who enter this fandom as shippers and the people who enter because they like the romance genre*.

I think many life long shippers enjoy romance. Maybe they don't always seek out the genre but they see romance in whatever media they are engaging with and they take those characters and put romance spins on them even if those characters aren't from a romance story. You ship because of a feeling. You see a dynamic or maybe you think about what a dynamic could be and then suddenly you're pulled in. Like falling in love. But you're falling in love with the idea of a couple. How that couple ends up becoming in canon is independent about how thinking about them together makes you feel.

I think romance readers aren't necessarily shippers*. They enjoy reading romance in a romance canon but they don't necessarily ship in the way shippers do with obsession and devotion regardless of what the canon says. They ship because they see that this couple is good together and it does make them feel squishy inside. Similar to a shipper. But they weren't necessarily going to see that until the canon actually played it out. To me that is responding to a romance plot as the author intended.

And maybe that is something different than shipping. I know for myself, I can read and watch romance and feel pulled in by the love I see but I don't "ship" them in the way I have shipped my OTPs with the level of obsession and devotion and need to construct my own head canons and fanon.

And I think that is a big issue when people from different backgrounds try to talk about shipping and the ship war in ACOTAR if they aren't coming from a similar experience. As I discuss a lot on this blog, there is history and culture behind shipping. And shippers have developed a common language to discuss shipping in a way that respects others shipping habits while also maintaining your devotion to your own ship.

It seems like those who are in this fandom because they enjoy canonical depictions of romance only are often confused by people who are taking characters into their own fanons and playing around with them or are devoted to them regardless of what the canon validates or not.

If you are used to shipping generally it seems very weird for people to say things like "I ship this because they're end game" or "I'll stop shipping if they don't end up together". Because shippers tend to not ship because of end game. They would LIKE end game because having canon validation is great. But it is not necessary (I also am tempted to make a whole post defining the differences between canon vs. fanon vs. end game ships because I frequently see the ACOTAR fandom using these terms incorrectly).

I think sometimes we are talking across each other and not to each other because we don't share a common cultural understanding of fandom or approach to shipping.

*obviously people can be both. Maybe the first couple you shipped is because you got into a romance series. But the point is that shipping at its heart comes from a feeling. How thinking about these characters together makes you feel squishy inside. And that can exist with or without canon. Shipping canon couples does come with many rewards, and canon can validate and be positive feedback on your shipping feelings, but you don't ship because they're end game. You would ship them regardless because you saw something special in their dynamic and whether the canon gets it or not isn't going to stop you. I like reading romance but I find romance in any genre because my shipping brain never stops.

[every-dayiwakeup]

If Billy Hargrove is your idea of evil, you’re a life virgin. Seriously, you must live in a hell of a security bubble.

 An abused teenager who spent the majority of his screen time in tears and being taken advantage of repeatedly isn’t evil. Labeling stuff you don’t understand as evil or problematic... do y’all ever get tired?? 

Being exposed to “the other side” is literally a part of life, and it’s not a bad thing. It can be good for you, actually. 

[asmo-cosmetics]

"but you've gotta condemn lucio's actions though" not until y'all condemn nadia for being complicit in literally every decision he made while they were married or asra for violating mc's bodily autonomy or muriel for killing people or julian for not doing anything to stop valdemar killing people or

"but they did that because of their trauma" looks at you. looks at you. looks at y

[saltbind]

i'll b real if cas had been played by anyone other than misha i probably would have really liked his character and i don't think even unrequited destiel would have gotten as far as it did.

[crobones]

real ones know it was Scanlan Shorthalt who got the final blow on what was initially a Pit Fiend by trying to keep his promise to his daughter while also commiting an act of true bravery to stay behind; that he saved Vox Machina from the wrath of what was also initially The City of Brass by casting the most clutch use of Modify Memory in existence; that Vox Machina saved two Aasimar children while in the City of Brass, with Scanlan leading the negotiations; that he cast a spell above his ability using a Gate Scroll to summon Yenk to fight Vorugal, and that he cast Dominate Monster to make Yenk fight Vorugal when the demon was at first going after the party.

also, real ones know the Hells are occupied by devils, not demons which is a nothing detail but irked me nonetheless

[cabeswaterdrowned]

Pynch are at their best to me when they’re 1) being judgmental cunts together and 2) being protective of Gansey / their love for him is very present in their dynamic as a duo. And especially this scene where they’re being judgmental loving cunts about Gansey “only learns enough to be superficially competent” “loser” is solid and good. So it says something that td3 Pynch flopped.. for multiple reasons but it getting rid of both the cunt4cunt swag in their interactions and the importance of Gansey in their dynamic really did limit how compelling it could be in that series….

[inchidentally]

for any new followers, bl 'wank adjacent' to not see me respond to tricky asks <3 I always keep them beneath a cut but yk <3

straight up anon I was wondering why the gossip pages suddenly had this insaaaaane influx of Rebecca hate anons when she hasn't done anything of gossipy note with Carlos for a while and then I'm like ahhhh yes either Carlos or Lando decided to pull the carland0 hashtag out. this year's been esp egreeeegious:

_Carlos needs an image boost while he looks for the best seat

_Lando's dad wants in on the ship name hashtag to promote his scooters

_Carlos complains that Netflix has always given him unfavorable treatment so he gets Caco to liaise with them at races, he looks for the Netflix boom to create 'moments' with Lando/McLaren and Kym confirms they prepped Netflix thinking he'd podium at Barca and get to announce his new seat

_Lando needs image rehab and wants ppl off the topic of him and Max fighting

_Carlos is rumored to have lost potential seats due to delaying and might end up having none at all and needs to boost a reminder of the popularity he brings as a driver

and like I always say, yes there is a genuine if not quite the way they portray it friendship between Lando and Carlos! it's the same as Lando has with other drivers but rpf girlies just don't find them as yaoi or they aren't as hot for those guys. and I enjoy all their interaction in the not-insane privacy of my own head where rpf and reality have nice solid lines alsfsljafg. but it also reminds me how much I love that Lando and Oscar never went for any of this PR bullshit and have actually wanted to develop a genuine relationship without fan/McLaren/Netflix/TV network involvement. at no point does Lando turn to gimmicks with Oscar when he needs a PR boost even tho he could easily do so with McLaren's help and Oscar is a solidly safe bet bc he's considered so inoffensive and loved now.

but they won't jump on their ship name, they won't play gay for attention and engagement, they don't create any memes or soundbites, and the sweet and fun things they do aren't buzzworthy or contrived into a bromance format that fans are cultivated to recognize. some fans know Oscar helps Lando's brain sometimes, they get on the same wavelength and have nonverbal communication, they respect and support each other even when there's a huge disparity of outcome in a weekend, and they both genuinely love making the other laugh. like, none of that is something you can stick on a sm graphic and guarantee the kinds of numbers the bromances get. Netflix even made a joke about how they couldn't create a narrative around them even when they openly begged to make it happen salfgsaljfgla.

nobody in PR is at all intrigued by these two guys cautiously getting to know each other and cultivating a unique and unlikely positive and healthy team atmosphere together. there's no handy orchestrated narrative there. McLaren social media occasionally roll with the 'twinning' thing but even that isn't gimmicky enough and it's more about them being on the same wavelength than them actually being identical in any way. even the Oscar nickname thing has been unconsciously taken from fans by Lando bc he only said it the first time without thinking and from there he's kept it as something that just makes them both smile AND has even changed it up when fans started co-opting it too much. and neither of them pull it out in random interviews to try and create a buzz about it.

and whenever we get a dry spot in landoscar content or for the millionth time hear about them hanging out and not posting it - it's worth remembering that we're also not getting the 1D/BTS rpf truther pipeline fans showing up and that no one will try and conspiracy theory Lily into a beard/fake/bitch/leech or even decide to dislike her !! and we don't have to realize ah, they're only hanging out or talking about each other to manipulate fan engagement for a double purpose. they're either together or mentioning each other bc of their job and otherwise it's bc they genuinely like each other.

side note it is always wild to me that I got sucked into F1 solely bc of carland0 PR and I don't normally mind the pandering - and I wouldn't mind it at all if carland0 as a fandom wasn't also responsible for the most repulsive, misogynist, maniacal campaign of hatred toward women and decides that either they're evil and fake/beards or they're brainless idiots with zero self-respect who serve as fake/beards. the fact that I got on f1blr and saw that ppl push that insanity and actually think carland0 could be or is actually a real gay relationship FULLY out in the open and with no shame to this very day... like shame on me for looking at gossip pages but genuinely I see it as much in normal fandom spaces as I do there which is insane. literally Lando decides to hit like on a post to generate the predictable response and the gossip pages go from every day shit to Rebecca back to being treated like a force of pure evil who urgently needs to be exposed and disposed of and who Carlos is paying for and doesn't even remotely like and is pure PR - even though apparently she's also terrible PR?? - and his family all want her destroyed and all the old photos and jobs fans dug up recirculating as "proof" that she is pure evil ??!!!! the woman hasn't even been publicly with Carlos since Barcelona and has done nothing but go horse riding and modeling but then someone sprays water on the carland0 hive and it's suddenly time to martial the fucking flotilla against her again as their only "obstacle" to carland0 finally being together aslsafglsjagflasfgljfag

I do have to laugh bc Carlos only growing in public affection for her and bringing her up when no one else does and him traveling with her to her modeling gigs when he's on break and leaving lovey comments on her content even tho she doesn't on his is already breaking ppls brains and making The Hatred Narratives change up every five seconds to try and de-legitimize them as a couple bffbfbf

[amplexadversary]

I should not be bitchy when my fandom is getting a new release.

Unfortunately I am an immense pessimist and get disproportionately resentful if I feel someone else's (wrong) preference is gets more or better attention than mine.

That said. I am probably going to be sorely tempted to set myself up for disappointment and put G's anniversary project into a dick measuring contest with Wing's.

If wing gets more dialogue, more art, OR I see more of it on my feed, I'm going to be unbearable to be around.

[lexidius]

not me STILL seeing OTHER JASON FANS posting about his death and STILL LEAVING EVERYTHING UNTAGGED??? it's one thing to make posts grieving about it and saying "he's still alive in my mind", or "here's how jasico can still win" or whatever, but don't drag the other jason fans down with you by constantly reminding them their favourite character is dead and never coming back. some of us are STILL trying to find ways to blacklist tags and posts to avoid seeing this. #jason death cw / #dead jason grace / #toa spoilers / #tbm spoilers / #the burning maze spoilers IS NOT THAT HARD TO TAG, PEOPLE. I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BLACKLIST "#JASON GRACE" JUST TO AVOID HEARING ABOUT HIS DEATH. THE ACTUAL TAG WITH JUST THE CHARACTER'S FUCKING N A M E IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SCROLL WITHOUT UNTAGGED DEATH MENTIONS. STOP IT. FUCKING STOP IT.

[arnold-layne]

ah, what an interesting video about hating on [80s rockstar] you have posted here, gen z tiktok user. did the virtue signaling feel good babe? was the harassment of [80s rockstar] fans fun? did the validation you got fill the void in your soul

[slingerapen]

im genuinely so sorry for everyone who has ever been negatively affected by it, but ofmd discourse is so entertaining

[politicalmamaduck]

I swear if Fave Diloni kills off Thrawn in either season 2 of Ahsoka or the Mandalorian movie I will finally be done with Star Wars.

[scholar-of-yemdresh]

Nothing pisses me off more than going into the tags of Canon queer characters/couples and finding it filled with fanon ships or hating the Canon queer rep and propping up headcanons/queer ships involving their favourite cishets. You wenches make me want to commit domestic terrorism.

[atopvisenyashill]

i love your post on the stark succession crisis/cousins situation so fucking much lol. it made me laugh, it's textually sound, it's dunking on twitter users and a 'BNF' everybody defers to, it's got everything. this tumblr post can fit so much win in it etc.

i wasn’t even trying to dunk on pq lmaoooo it was a random booktwit/politics guy who was dunking on pq’s super ridiculous answer and i was like yeah that Is something that happens in fiction but not this one!! do u kno how many lannisters and freys and hightowers and tyrells are!!! sometimes a family has a lot of daughters which is what happened to the starks!!!!! pls return to the text i beg like read The Whole Thing and not just bits and pieces for your increasingly spiraling meta 😭😭😭 i know we all want twow but return to the text.

[amplexadversary]

"Why can't they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble?"

Ohhhhh I like the way Lucy thinks.

I know this is only the second time we've seen her but I agree that she deserves three husbands XD