#mostly been seeing people say this on twitter but tumblr gets to join in on the discussion too

[queam]

How (SOME) people in the mouthwashing fandom sound

[west-haven]

So just curious. Care to share the story of how you coined chainshipping? That’s quite a claim to fame.

When I was fifteen, I made the Livejournal community named Chainshipping (seen above, linked here since it's still online atm) because I was a silly teen girl who just wanted men to kiss in all the media I ingested.

I vaguely remember actually deciding on the name, it was mostly being all "they are CHAINED to pipes. CHAINSHIPPING????" where the (blank)shipping name came from the fact I was still super big into Yugioh slash fiction, which used that kind of naming structure. Puzzleshipping, Prideshipping, Puppyshipping, etc. I do remember looking at the HUGE ass list of all the seemingly thousands of YGO ship names and when I saw Chainshipping was not one of them, I knew there wouldn’t be any cross-fandom confusion.

Years pass, I gave up ownership of the LJ comm (something I REALLY regret now), and I mostly just remember it all as something from high school. But within the last five years, I realize that people actually use the name still and it’s like ohhhhhh oh wow I didn’t realize it stuck like that.

For fun, here are some other historic(?) screenshots of me pimping out the community on one of the first Adam/Lawrence fics on fanfiction dot net, which did cause the first dozen or so members to join since the author then shared the community the very next chapter.

I constantly stalk the chainshipping tag both on Tumblr and Twitter, since I just adore seeing all the stuff about it (plus every time someone says it’s a dumb name I’m like well true 😂) and I’m hoping that I’ll get enough motivation to finish my WIP smut fic that I’ve been working on for mooooonthsssss. I’m trying to give back to the community with fanfics since my fic I tried to write back eighteen years ago is super bad 😂😂😂

Thanks for the ask, I love sharing my slice of fandom history!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for unfollowing someone on Twitter without warning?

Ok I know this is silly, it's low stakes but here goes.

I unexpectedly became fairly popular in a smallish fandom after some of my art was shared on Twitter. I don't like Twitter for fandom but it really boosted my audience so I joined up. I mostly stayed quiet over there because there was a lot of infighting and I just generally didn't feel "safe". It felt like if I expressed any opinions at all I'd run the risk of being cancelled. So I'd post my work and periodically engage but I didn't really make friends.

There was this one poster who had gotten pretty big in the fandom on Twitter. We interacted through DMs a few times. We were friendly but I wouldn't say we were friends. I didn't get very personal with them. I liked some of the things they made, but they were younger than me and I didn't really match their vibe.

This person was involved in some things that I personally found distasteful, but weren't exactly wrong. I won't go into specifics but it was fairly low stakes "rude" behavior that I just didn't like. I didn't feel like I should "call them out", first because we weren't really close and second because none of it was really that bad. I try to be a live and let live sort of person.

I've been on Tumblr for a long time and before the update that shows you in notifications if someone is your mutual, following/unfollowing wasn't that big a deal here. It was basically impossible to tell if a specific person had unfollowed you and me and most of the people I know here pretty much ignored Tumblr follow counts and never paid attention to who was coming and going.

This person on Twitter was starting to annoy me every time I saw their icon on my TL. again, they hadn't done anything "wrong", I just wasn't vibing.

So I unfollowed them. I just didn't want to see their stuff anymore.

They immediately noticed and posted about how nasty it was to unfollow someone without telling them why (Twitter showed me their posts about it bc someone else I follow was replying to them) and how I could have at least softblocked them and how it was a misuse of my influence as a BNF (which I never thought I was or claimed to be).

I didn't know what softblocking was I didn't know I could mute somebody. I thought it was just follow or unfollow and I thought they'd never notice.

I saw that they were upset but I felt going to their DMs to say that I unfollowed because I didn't like their vibe would be more upsetting than just leaving it alone. They clearly disagreed.

So AITA for unfollowing and not saying why?

What are these acronyms?

[beautifulpersonpeach]

I’ve been reading your blog for the better part of the year and it’s helped me rethink many things. This year was weird for me and I’ve been reflecting, I finally got courage to write this confession and I only feel comfortable sending it here. It’s okay if you post it. I think there are other people like me.

My Confession:

I’m an Orbit-Blink shooter who used to fight with an Army shooter daily until she died during the earthquakes in Turkey this year. I didn’t realize how much of my life and fan experience was tied to her until she died BPP. The way I got into shooting was through my Blink friend who introduced me to Loona when they debuted. At first I thought I was defending Loona and then defending Blackpink, but at some point shooting on its own for any reason became addicting. I would jump in on a ratio, throw insults and post gore and graphic images to people’s DMs for any small reason.

There was one Army shooter I hated because she was always there with screenshots or videos to drag Blackpink. Whenever there was a fanwar I knew I would see her there. And times when she wasn’t in the fight, I would use another account pretending to be an Army to tell her what was happening so I could rile her up to join the fight. I didn’t know it at the time but I loved fighting with her. She made me feel alive. The way she was passionate about BTS made me want to get some of that passion directed at me in any form.

Now, after months of reflecting, that’s what I realized. Because when the earthquake happened, I didn’t know she was dead. I kept checking her account for days, sending DMs from my fake Army profile, wondering why she was not replying. I even created a new scandal for Taehyung in our shooter group but she didn’t tweet. Then 2 weeks later her cousin tweeted from her account to say she died in the earthquake. BPP, it was like my whole life stopped. I became extremely depressed and dealt with extreme self loathing. I couldn’t look at any fandom fight without thinking about all the things I did to her. I hated myself and wanted to die. I went through that Armys profile and saw how her love for BTS was genuine. After months of therapy now I understand more why I acted like that, but it’s something I’ll forever be ashamed about.

In the depths of my depression I deleted Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram. After some weeks of missing what’s happening, I got Tumblr and found your blog talking about fandom behavior. In so many ways you’ve saved my life BPP. The way I was shooting was more for other shooters than Loona or Blackpink or even myself. I realize now there’s a whole subculture of kpop shooters and I think what they have is an addiction. I notice the same things with how solo stans behave. They think they’re doing it for the idols but it’s for them and other stans they’re fighting. It creates destruction. Life is short. Why spend it on something destructive?

I’ve changed everything about how I behave online. Through therapy and reading your blog, I realize people use fandom to express themselves, and if that expression is mostly negative, there’s deeper problems with that person that needs solving. Now I curate my space and avoid shooters and fanwars completely. I now focus on what I enjoy which is good lore and good music (I still enjoy a good fight but I now satisfy this need by getting engaged in Munk Debates in my city). Loona’s lore was the reason I was interested in them, so after weeks of stalking that dead Army’s profile, I learned that BTS has lore too. I fell down the BTS rabbit hole and officially became an Army on Jimin’s birthday (after reading your blog I’m now Yoonminkook biased hehe)

I’m a very new Army but an ‘old’ kpop fan and reformed shooter. I’ve committed to live a life that’s critical and compassionate. Because of how I’ve become Army, some things I’m seeing in how fans of diff fandoms act has a different meaning to me. I still struggle with shame and sometimes when I see fanwars or see solos trending hashtags and things, I remember me from what feels like long ago. I remember that Army shooter who feels like someone I owe my life to. I remember how so much is going on in the world and we could do with more kindness but people use fandom to be awful assholes. I was one such person, attimes I still have to bite my tongue. But what I do now is log off, go do something physical and positive that makes me tired, or scroll through your blog archives.

There might be people like me trying to get away from the shooter mindset and struggling because it’s hard. It’s like an addiction. I want those people to know it’s doable. Recognizing the problem is the hardest part for real so if they are at that point, it gets easier from there.

Thank you for having this blog BPP. I hope you stay here in 2024 as well.

***

Happy to hear you’re in a better head space than earlier this year.

Take care of yourself. Really.

[blubushie]

It's bitching hour I see, don't mind if I join! A lot of the TF2 fandom (mostly just Tumblr/Twitter parts of it) seem to be huge pussies about shipping. There has been talk about straight Pauling ships already and this falls under it too. TF2 fans on here seem to just fear being slightly unconventional with ships, no age gap more than 5 years or so, only the three most popular ships or else eat dirt, no straight Pauling ships, what do you mean bi people exist? It's stupid. You like a ship that isn't fucking red Octoberfest? Starve! Nobody will write or draw anything for this pair for months! Like a ship that's slightly controversial within the fandom like basically any pairing with an age gap, classcest, M/F Pauling ship, anything with pyro in it (also dear god this fandom treats pyro like an uwu baby that doesn't know sex when the guys a full grown pyromaniac with a job! He's mentally ill not a fucking child!! Sorry for side tangent) will get your head stuck on a pike ffs. I remember when I joined I really liked the popular/non problematic ships too but the attitudes of some people smh. TF2 side of Tumblr please get a bit more open minded with what you ship or just leave the people who ship unconventional shit alone. I know there's a line that 90% of the fandom won't cross and it's for a good reason imo (talking about incest ships here) but a relationship with an age gap of more than 10 years is not on the other side of that line, have fun and explore silly relationships with these fictional characters for once!! Let me have my toxic yaoi and toxic yuri in peace :(

Also I'm sorry about putting this long thing in your ask box, this escalated quickly

Agreed fully and also I'm gonna say something that's gonna rustle a lot of feathers–

People love SniperSpy. It's generally accepted that Spy is somewhere in his 50s to 60s, judging off Scout's age alone, and with SniperSpy he's sleeping with someone three years older than his own son.

And there is a absolutely nothing wrong with this when both parties are consenting adults. What I have an issue with is that I've seen a lot of people who ship SniperSpy then get on the arse of MedicScout shippers because Scout is "too young" for Medic.

My question is why? Why is it ok to ship Sniper, at 30, with Spy, a man at least 20 years older than him, but it's not alright to do the same with Scout, who's 27, and Medic, who's probably about 20 years older than him? Why is that? Why do you have an issue with one and not the other?

And it comes down to two things:

1. People think Scout looks too young. Which, I'm sorry, but at someone who's 5'2" and looks about 16-18 at all times (depending on whether or not I shave) despite being 23, fuck you. You do not get to decide if someone's physical appearance is "mature enough" when that person is a fucking adult. Get fucked.

2. Ableism. Scout is notoriously immature and often acts like a teenage. HE IS ALMOST THIRTY YEARS OLD. Maturity/behaviour ≠ age and the funny part is that these are the same people who tell you not to infantilise autistic people for perceived immaturity but then go on and infantilise A MAN WHO IS ALMOST THIRTY because he acts immature. Practise what you preach or get fucked.

People NEVER do this with Sniper and I'm not sure if it's because Sniper looks like he's 40 or because he acts like he's 40. But I'm inclined to think it's the latter, because people often do this with Pyro too as Pyro also often acts childlike.

So hey, if you do this, check yourself. Cuz you're probably being ableist. Ask yourself why exactly you think an almost thirty year old man can't have a romantic or sexual relationship with a man older than him when they're both mercenaries on a team of hired killers who kill people and break things FOR A LIVING. Are you normal about neurodivergent people? No, are you really?

[boombambaby]

respond to the following prompts out of character, then tag others you'd like to get to know a little bit better.

roleplayer name: Cas!

roleplayer pronouns: she/her -- though I usually go by character's name/gender or don't really care tbh.

muse name(s): Kuzco!

preferred communication: I'm pretty open everywhere. I'm off Weds/Thurs, and I work from 6am - 2pm EST. At work I have access to Tumblr so I can be reached in DM's, and on Discord on breaks. after work I'm usually here for DM's or on Discord all evening until about 10pm EST (though I should try to get to bed earlier tbh). I'm admittedly terrible at communicating, though. You can reply to me, and I'll open it up and read it and be doing something else, and think 'i'll get to it in a few minutes!' and then completely forget that it exists. On that same note, i'm also always worried I'm bothering someone, so I rarely reach out first for messages unless I have a specific question or something. I love to chat though, or discuss our characters or ideas or. . ANYTHING, honestly. I just sometimes need a nudge.

experience: I've been writing/roleplaying since 2005! Started with Myspace and AIM roleplay, moved from there to LiveJournal for a hot minute and then Facebook, Twitter, and eventually Roleplayer.me. Always said I'd NEVER join Tumblr, bc it seemed so confusing, but. Here we are!

preferred roleplay type: I'm a fan of all kinds. I LOVE banter or crack roleplay. It's my all time favorite, and I think it's the best tool for personality building a character you can have. Thinking on your feet in character can be a BLAST and it's just. So fun. Some of the best interactions come from that or prompts. I'm also a fan of sentence multi-para though I have a tendency (if you couldn't tell) to ramble and turn it into a novella pretty easily.

pet peeves & dealbreakers: I honestly don't have any dealbreakers. I've been doing this so long I've learned to roll with the punches, mostly. I'd have to really think about pet peeves, but I don't think I have any. I've had bad situations in the past, I'm sure everyone has. I don't like overly possessive writing partners. If we ship and we're single ship, that's fine. But don't try to dictate who I can and can't speak to or write with. It honestly takes a lot to upset me. Don't include me in drama, don't count me as a number and never interact or straight up ignore me, don't leave me hanging forever (I'm very lenient with replies, I will NEVER pressure you, but if it's been months I might start to question what's going on.) and we'll be cool. EDIT TO ADD; THOUGHT OF A PET PEEVE. RL issues and politics! I understand that the world is a WILD place right now, and there are controversial topics and that everyone has an opinion. That's all fine and good; BUT I ROLEPLAY SPECIFICALLY TO GET AWAY FROM REAL LIFE AND STRESS, and the very LAST thing I want to see on my timeline is a post endorsing a presidential candidate, or posts showing a war zone, or any of the other trending topics right now. Roleplay is a fictional world we create with other writers. It's not that I don't care about those issues, I just don't think they have any place here. and the black outs and things that roleplayers do for 'support' and all that, I just. I don't get it. I don't want to see it. Same with the asks to support x family from x war torn country. Just. please. Don't.

best time to write: Probably in the morning while I'm at work, other than that I can be pretty sporadic. I love to relax and banter and do goofy stuff at night. But honestly, I'm always up for something!

are you like your muse? Ahhhhh, I'm gonna go ahead and say no lol. I can be quick, teasing and sarcastic when I get to know someone, and I'm pretty extroverted like Kuzco with a lot of things; but the cocky arrogance, all about me, flaunting his wealth and tossing people out of windows bit? Total and complete opposite of who I am. Writing him is definitely a TON of fun, and a very welcome relief from the stresses of real life, and I love writing for him so, so much.

tagged by: @wintersovereign

tagging: @smartylina @musemelodies @emeraldofparis @gunslinginnhogtyin @hellsmayflower @keepmovinjunior @lcafman

[seraphirism]

Seeing the reaction of jp fans esp berrien and haures fans, they're squealing about the contents of their autumn card stories lol i wanna know so bad :((

This is why im reluctant to fully join akuneko bec ive been a fan for so long but i dont have ssr cards of my oshi (haures) ever since from the beginning so i dont know anything about him besides his past in episode 2 :")

Is there any site that has the translations of the card stories? I'm really begging atp

really? I need to read the event story and get up to date with what’s happening \(//∇//)\! i think i mentioned this before but i love the characters chosen for this event 💞

and i had the same issue, when i first got into aknk back when it’s 0.5 anniversary was going on! i was a huge fan of Berrien but i had nothing—no content of his whatsoever 😭 it was even worse back then and that’s how i lost interest.

i got back into it this year since there were quite a few translators (love them ����, hope their pillows are cold on both of its sides.).

now to answer your question.

there are card story raws and card story translations;

in case of translations, I’d say tumblr is your best bet. unlike most other games that have their translations on twitter (mostly), aknk has all its translations on tumblr. and the translators are the handful you see. (i’ve never seen translations on twitter, correct me if I’m wrong!)

[if you need some help finding the translations on tumblr, let me know! there are some aknk translators that still translate content now and some that did it a while back and have quit now.]

but about card story raws, now:

there is a certain website/app that has a certain part of the fandom post card story raws (videos) for literally almost every single event. for obvious reasons, I’m not naming it here.

I think most people know about it too but if you don’t, feel free to dm me and I’ll send the website to you and guide you about it 💗! (im not naming it since it might or might not implicate the people posting them 😭.).

also, (in case if you’re nervous about it), please always be free/casual about dm-ing me! i don’t bite lol ✨

[steddiebang]

Steddie Bigbang Weekly Round-up: October 8 - October 14

patron saint of lost causes (October 8) Author: genesisofrhythm (@ruthofrhythm) / Artist: Alex Callahan (@getlostlosingsleep) “Of course I know who you are, King Steve,” Eddie sneered, jumping out of his van and approaching him.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Former King Steve, if you will, kind peasant. I’m more of a knight these days.”

After Steve fails senior year, he’s forced to return to Hawkins High as a super senior in a last ditch attempt at graduating. The year picks up when he develops a crush on Eddie Munson but unfortunately for him, a bad first encounter leaves them at odds. Eddie is impossible to avoid now that the kids have all joined Hellfire so Steve just hopes he can get over this stupid crush before it becomes exceedingly obvious.

Or: The only thing worse than having to repeat 12th grade was falling in love with someone who hated you.

i sing the blues and you swallow them too (October 9) Author: @notesappwitch (tumblr) / NotesAppWitch (ao3) / Artist: @cuips-not-cute (tumblr) Eddie and his bandmates have been traveling from town to town, tavern to tavern, trying to make ends meet for who knows how long. Travelling and playing music for mostly uncaring people isn’t the way any of them want to live, but it’s their lot in life.

Nothing about Hawkins is different from any other town they’ve been to, except one very handsome lord who keeps making eyes at Eddie across the tavern, and also the giant monster that’s apparently plaguing the village and ripping holes in their dimension and doing its best to kill them and everyone else.

Luckily for Eddie, the very handsome lord also has a slew of teenage adventurers, an ex with great aim, and a best friend that can turn into a wolf. There’s never an easy way into the (literal) lap of luxury, but despite it all, Eddie will get himself there one way or another, and maybe awaken something about himself in the process.

today is a new day to find you (October 12) Author: formosus_iniquis / formosusiniquis / Artist: sammichesnstuff /  sammichtastic / Artist: milkychai / milkychai Eddie is having the worst day known to man. It might qualify as a catastrophic event. Missing homework, lunch spilled on the cafeteria floor, broken strings at band practice, and that’s not even touching Steve Harrington.

Steve Harrington who keeps talking to him like they’re friends. Steve Harrington who has become a new person overnight. Steve Harrington who keeps making hypotheticals about time loops. Steve Harrington who is somehow the best and worst part of his day.

Tell Me Then Would You Lend A Hand (October 13) Author: funeralbeldam / Artist: rrrrraatt An exploration of Steve’s trauma. How it affects his everyday life, opens him up to Vecna, and sends him on a path of self discovery as the world is ending. His relationships with his friends - most notably one Eddie Munson - and how he views his own self worth. How one man will tear down Steve’s curtain to reveal the truth inside, through the power of music. Who says metalheads and jocks -turning-punks can’t get along?

First Face That I Saw (October 13) Author: Eddywow Eddie was used to seeing sad people. Sad families, sad parents, loved ones torn up over the ever-moving cycle of life.

Lost in Me, Lost in You (October 13) Author: hfcsteddie (twitter) / hfcsteddie (tumblr) / clinicofart (ao3) Author: tsmkeelerx (twitter) / steddieasxshegoes (tumblr) / tsmkeeler (ao3) / Artist: pinklunamoth (twitter) / Artist: goingsteddi3 (twitter) / goingsteddi3 (tumblr) It was the summer of 2019. Steve Harrington was being pawned off at summer camp instead of fending for himself. On the first day, he befriends a quiet musician who also happens to be his roommate. He’s not like Steve’s other friends. He’s… different. It’s different. It was a breath of fresh air from the life he left behind in Hawkins. But as the summer rolls on, Steve and Eddie grow closer. The distance that threatens their friendship becomes too much for their summer to handle. A few years after graduation, a promise tethers them back to that same summer camp that that brought them together in the first place. Is this a second chance at friendship or something more?

scheming on a thing (October 14) Author: greatunionic (ao3 / tumblr) / Artist: daysarestranger / singinginmay It’s 1994, and Eddie’s been a guest of Uncle Sam at Pelican Bay since it opened in ‘89, when his public defender stopped defending and he resigned himself to the sixth to life bag the Spring Break of ‘86 had left him holding. Sure, the series of frantic transfers that made Wayne and the party lose track of him (and cost him his unlikely prison penpal, Steve Harrington) truly were a bummer, but life’s actually not too bad, in the long run: he’d got three hots and a cot, ya know, and sometimes a few of the other inmates actually believe him when he tells them he’s innocent. Still — the new lawyer and paralegal shaped suspiciously like one Erica Sinclair is starting to give him pause, and make him wonder if the story’s not quite over yet…

Or: a story about seven letters, the worst love song ever written, and a heist.

The Last Song (October 14) Author: @henderdads / Artist: @hextotal Eddie Munson and his brother, Dustin, are sent off to Hawkins, a small coastal town in Georgia, to spend their summer with their uncle. Thanks to a church fire and sea turtles, Eddie reconnects with his uncle Wayne and falls in love with the local heartthrob, Steve Harrington. He rediscovers his love for music as hardships are placed before him and through all of it, learns to be a little bit kinder and love a little bit harder. 

9 upcoming projects to be posted next week (Oct 15 - 21).

*To keep up with all the Steddie Bigbang 2023 posting, be sure to follow us @steddiebang or track tags #steddiebang23 masterposts, #steddiebang23 project promo, or #steddiebang23 upcoming projects.

[meatcatt]

Hello!! I found some of your art on Pinterest so I went searching and I found your twitter which led me here! I reallllyyyy love your art!! It's so cute. Especially how you draw Shamura- They're just a little bean!!

I also adore your Redo AU! Especially how Narinder is getting babied by his siblings haha. Makes me wonder their reaction would be to Lambert (Who I feel so bad for. They did not deserve this, the poor bby)

First off I want to say thank you for liking my art work, it means the world to me that though I have left the cult of the lamb fandom behind (mostly) that my blog and the art I’ve made can still be enjoyed by fans new and old. Redo au is my baby, and I’m glad so many people enjoy it despite its lack luster writing haha…

I have struggled to answer this ask because I want to make it clear you aren’t the problem. But I also desperately need people to know.

The reason I left the cult of the lamb fandom, and for awhile tumblr as a whole, was because my art work was constantly being stolen and re uploaded despite my wishes. Even with credit. And the main culprit was Pinterest (though YouTube and Reddit didn’t help).

I want to say again that this person, or anyone who found me through Pinterest, is absolutely not the issue. I also understand that part of having popular art in fandom is that it’s inevitably going to get stolen. I understand that. But it’s just. It hurts. Every time.

I cannot describe to you the mood killer it is to scroll looking for fandom stuff and see your own art work flashed at you. No credit and sometimes your watermark purposely removed. And the fact that it’s plastered on every page I have “please don’t repost my artwork even with credit” it feels like even more a punch to the gut. Because of those I considered even credited work stolen, because it deliberately goes against my wishes.

I know some people say “it doesn’t matter because you’re getting free exposure”. And they are right. This asker is exact proof of that. But! I post art work online for likes, comments, and reblogs. I know that might seem shallow but it’s true. I want to see people like my art, I want to see what people think about it. If I don’t I just keep it to myself or just show my friends which happens to be the majority of my work. Most of my stuff has never been posted publicly anywhere! And those likes and comments drive me, they make me want to create because people like my stuff! It makes me happy. And I can’t get that if someone steals it and takes it off site.

I left tumblr for a bit after discovering my entire tumblr had essentially been re-uploaded to Pinterest by a single user (most of the time it’s only a few of my most popular posts taken). Credit removed. I doom scrolled it for hours. I had to stop when I saw someone commented on my artwork saying “I love this art but who’s the artist, I can’t seem to find them anywhere?” I don’t know. It hurt.

I joined in stars and time fandom hesitantly, and after scrolling on YouTube got recommended a video that had my art work stolen in it. Not credit. And I’m heart broken. Maybe this shouldn’t hurt me so much. But it does.

[zo1nkss]

ok so you made a post abt the canyon and ive been trying to figure it out so i figured id ask you- what does that actually mean. like ik its a term for izzy fans but do you know where it came from?

I don't mean to sound put off by you specifically at all, but this is actually the 3rd ask I've got abt what "the canyon" is and it's getting hard to keep answering. I totally get the confusion and I'll still answer, but I'm just putting this out there for other ppl mostly. Might make a faq or something with some of the questions I get asked a lot lol

Okay so "The canyon" is shorthand for "The Izzy Canyon". They call themselves that, afaik it started on Twitter bc when I joined tumblr no one had heard of them before - and most people here generally don't know the term.

It was largely born out of a group of (mostly) yt OFMD fans who were accusing myself and some friends and others I wasn't in circles with of harassment etc bc we talked privately about our feelings regarding how they talked about Izzy in relation to characters of color.

When I talk about "The Canyon" I am mostly refering to that group. Since that time, they have grown and expanded to include people who do not act that way and more ppl who aren't yt and more nuance has been aded to the topic, but ultimately that is where it started and what I mean when I criticize them.

A big part of why its hard for me to talk about is bc I was in multiple call-out posts made public and targeted multiple times by the ppl who started this whole concept. It hurt a lot, I lost a lot of followers and sometimes friends who I thought valued and respected me. And when they shared proof, none of it actually held up.

I'm not trying to say I was always and only ever a victim, there was a lot of toxicity back and forth at times. Twitter is a hard place to discuss complex topics because things get twisted, on both ends, and then its easy to feel defensive. All of us at times made mistakes. But this largely started with yt people targeting BIPOC for our opinions that we were not even asking them to agree with or validate. Only sharing privately, or on our own pages.

It sucked. My friends and I dealt with a lot of actual real time bullying because of it. So I generally don't like talking about or explaining where the term came from, which is why I won't be answering asks about it anymore. I apprecoate that everyone wants to understand what I mean and will see abt a general faq including it, but this will hopefully serve as an easy response I can link to later.

[atlasdoe]

would u like to go on a rant about how much u hate marauderstok so that i can give it a like and reblog it cos u are very very right in ur opinions about it

Don't worry i didn't read it that way and yes i would love to go on a rant

i try to give the tiktok fandom grace because it's a fairly new way to be in a fandom as tiktok hasn't been around for as long as other apps such as tumblr, instagram and twitter. I have my own tiktok account and accounts that i follow and love so it's not the entire fandom that i have a problem with but more so just throw attitude of a large amount.

I think it's because a big majority of the fandom from there joined through reading atyd and while i won't go into my own thoughts on the fic itself i really dislike how people have treated the fic and how it has effected how they treat others

One fic blew up and "everyone agreed that it's cannon" (everyone did not) so now suddenly i get the vibe that everyone on tiktok (and twitter tbh) have this idea that we all have to think the same and they all want to be the person to give out an idea that sticks.

It's like this whole Darryl Crouch thing that's going off on there currently and how every now and then you see a tiktok saying "i came up with this ship" "i convinced everyone to read this fic" "i came up with this headcannon" like anyone cares.

It's another reason why i dislike all of the fanfilms that the tiktok fandom love to start but never finish. There's like five of them and all of them are asking people for money to fund their film that they havnt even written a script for and then they interview their own cast as if they're celebrities. I love a fanfilm as much as the next guy but all of those popular ones on youtube did just fine on their own without an entire tiktok account dedicated to promoting it.

And then you have how they treat each other as if they're all celebrities. They'll be shipping cosplayers together and making tiktoks talking about other people while using their first names and nothing more as if I know who tf that person is.

Idk. Idk if i just don't get tiktok but i've been in fandoms since I was 12 years old which was 9 years ago and never have i been in a fandom that so big headed as the marauders fandom on tiktok and a big part of that is the vibe that they're all hoping that WB calls them up and offers them a job working for a new marauders era project based off their tiktoks. Like it doesn't feel like it's just for fun it feels like everyone is an inspiring actor or writer and they're all in competition to see who will get a big job. idk i just hate it so i try to stay out of it while also keeping the part that i like around which are mostly just the edits

that was fucking long and unedited. im sorry to anyone who had to read all of that

[howitendsstudio]

Is this how it ends? Not with a bang, but a whimper?

If so, thank you for the memories. If not, know that there is at least one person still waiting with peeled ears.

Whatever the case, may the gravel crunch well beneath your boots and the hoot-owls sing fearful heralds of your coming. May your feet be ever fleet as you trek through the tangled forest of life, while those who would harm you find themselves hemmed in by briars and spiteful trees.

Y'all made a cool thing and I hope you know that <3

Hello, and thanks for your question, kind wishes, and for saying you're excited about our story and want it to continue. I thought about how to respond to this, and instead of only replying that we're working on it and it's coming soon, I wanted to write a more personal response. 

There have been long gaps in between seasons before this one. And the honest truth about that is because we're are two people (with a contracted amazing team of VAs) who have families, chronic illnesses, jobs (and job instability), and day-to-day stuff that sometimes hinders the amount of time and money we can dedicate towards How it Ends Studio. We are fully self-financed, save for the generous support we get from Patrons. 

That said, despite those long gaps, we always come back. And we always will. This story will be seen through to its end. Even then, there are countless other stories we dream up all the time that we hope to tell in the future. So, thank you for your continued enthusiasm and support of our show. We love making it for you and anyone else who stumbles across it.

We are excited to announce that we are working on Season 4. We just finished up recording the first five episodes of the season, which will then go into the editing process while Stephanie and I continue writing. 

We have mostly posted about it on our feed on the ever-dying social media platform that was Twitter. It used to be where we could reach our audience the best. But since its rapid decline, reaching our listeners has been incredibly difficult. Many people (rightfully so) abandoned Twitter, and besides our other established accounts, we genuinely don't know where we can reach folks like you. 

We have a Patreon. Sign up for a free account, and when we post announcements, they go to everyone, including Free tier members. We have been communicating regularly with our followers there. We also have an email newsletter, but we are sparing about how many emails we send, so Patreon is more active.

Join our Discord Community. It's quiet since we are between seasons, but even then, we check in when we can. The truth is that there are so many places we'd like to reach folks, current listeners, and new ones, but we only have so much energy and time to manage a few social media platforms. So, we want you all to tell us where you are so we can reach you! Is it Tumblr? Email? Online communities? Blue Sky? TikTok? Instagram? Patreon? Discord? 

At the end of the day, we have to pick and choose where we spend our energy, and most of the time, we end up brushing socials aside not because we don't want to engage with our community but because we need to spend the time producing the show you love listening to and we love to make. 

Please consider this a request for information, guidance, etc. How can we stay in touch with you? What do you want to see from us when we're in production and not actively airing episodes? What would encourage you (the collective "you", not singling you out @bookshopsbizarreblog) to keep up with us during off season? We genuinely want to know so we can improve this aspect of show-making. 

Anyway, thank you again for reaching out. I appreciate the space to answer you outside of the traditional 140 characters. I hope you can appreciate my honesty about our process! But... Stay tuned ;). Season 4 is coming, and it's going to surprise you. We promise. -m.

[andypantsx3]

This is going to sound weird, but do you have any tips on how to gain traction as a fanfic writer? I've been trying for years and I get next to no interaction on my writing. I know I shouldn't care because I should be writing for myself, but it's still frustrating to see other writers get thousands of notes, and reblogs and asks praising their fics and I get maybe 20 likes. I've been looking into discord fandom groups but a lot of them don't allow people over 30, and I don't do well with busy groups anyway. I try to be active on my blog, and interact with other people and make myself approachable, but I'm getting so incredibly tired of talking to an empty space. Sorry, I think I ended up venting instead >_<

WARNING: DISCOURSE AHEAD

Omg hello my love!! First of all, I'm so sorry you feel this way! I have so many conflicting thoughts on this, let me try to get them in order for you!!

I guess, let me first start with some tips that I think actually answer your question, and then I'll just monologue about the ways I've been thinking about fandom recently, and you can skip that part if you wanna!

Part 1: Actual Thoughts on Your Question (lol)

I am possibly not in the best position to ask about this because I mostly happened to be in the right place at the right time, publishing my fics in the early part of the pandemic when people were more actively engaging in the fandom. But in my experience, outside of discord groups, other good ways to meet people and get your work out there are joining zines & collabs.

I'm not completely up-to-date with what the accounts are now that track these things, but there are several tumblrs and twitter accounts like BNHA Zines that exist to retweet & publicize zine posts. Look for zines that are in the interest check & application stages!! You can apply during the application phase and the good thing is that most zines will ask for an application piece and will judge you on your work rather than your follower count!!

Collabs are usually even easier because many of them are just open to whoever wants to join! I've only participated in server collabs but I've seen several posts cross my dash that are open to anyone. I'd probably monitor the collaboration and x reader tags on tumblr and join in on anything that looks fun!!

Another thing that I've noticed people do a lot is self-reblog their fics a couple times just to maximize their circulation. I've seen a lot of moots trying to make sure they hit good hours for different time zones and different days of the week to ensure their followers are at least aware that they've posted something if they don't have notifs on (I don't have notifs on so I'm grateful for these because otherwise I miss a lot!!). Even I have srb'd a time or two if I'm particularly proud of something lol.

And I think, if I also wanted to be a shark about things, I would try to get in on the ground floor of a fandom in its early stages!! For example, the second season of JJK is coming out soon and it's sure to bring a wave of new readers to the JJK fandom, especially for the characters like Gojo and Getou who look like they're gonna be the main focus of the season.

I think if you wanted to be extra sharp about things, you might time a fic release with some of the first couple episodes of a new season where you can be sure more people than usual will be poking around in the tags!! And if your fic is published during the early stages of a fandom, it's going to have more eyes on it overall than a fic published towards the conclusion of the series.

Anyway this is what I could think of. I hope this advice is practical and useful!! Now onto me blathering.

Part 2: Resisting Influencer Culture in Fandom Spaces

This part might be kind of controversial. I want to first acknowledge how easy it is for me to think and say these sorts of things when I'm already more than pleased with the amount of engagement I get. And I want to recognize that it is so, so deeply human to want recognition, community, and support for the things that we write.

I think it is so completely natural that you want interaction on your writing. All of us totally do, otherwise we wouldn't be publishing it publicly. If our work was truly, singularly for us and us alone, we'd keep it in the drafts lol. We put it out there hoping for praise and appreciation and connection, and in my opinion there is no shame in that.

So, admission time: I also definitely compare myself to other writers, and I have several times thought about transitioning more towards the type of content that drives higher note counts on tumblr: smuttier one-shots usually under 10k! I can see a huge difference in terms of just my own work on how my one-shots typically do in comparison to chaptered fics. And I definitely see how fast smutty imagines shoot up there in terms of note count.

But I was listening to a podcast episode recently on trying to sort of transition away from a metrics-focused approach to fandom. In the podcast, they talk about how in trying to legitimize fanfic as a literary mechanism, we've also sort of accidentally subjected it to our capitalist-influencer-mindset, where we see fic as more legitimate the more kudos it gets or the more followers it nets you, because in traditional influencer spaces, those followers are potential capital.

I'm definitely not saying you or I see people as potential revenue streams, but I think probably neither of us are immune to the culture at large, and we both probably carry some of internalized sense of our own value based on metrics, reach, and influence. And that sucks!!!!

Fandom, of all things, is supposed to be a specifically anti-capitalist space. We can't make money off of fanfic or fanart (legally, anyway lol), and we're all not the owners of the franchises either so none of our takes are necessarily more "valid" or weightier than others!! We're all supposed to just be trading stories around a campfire with no thought to their literary merit or monetary value. We're just supposed to enjoy the stories.

So, I don't know what the right answer is about how to try to resist the influences of our capitalist culture at large; I'm hoping someone smarter than me will tell me. But I do know that in fanfic, the value of your story can absolutely never be determined by how much engagement you get. Because fandom is not about metrics, and there is no inherent value in metrics. There is only the fun you had creating the story, and the depth of the connection you made with someone over it--even if that's just one other person.

And so I personally am at least trying to resist the lure of transitioning to smutty one-shots even though I think a lot of people would like that. Because what I like doing is writing my little 30k multi-chaps; those are my fave kinds of stories to tell, I'm not letting my metrics tell me what I should be writing.

I hope, at the very least, you know that your worth and the value of your story is not defined by how many other people have read it. And if you ever wanna chat more about this let me know, I'm still figuring this all out myself and could use friends to explore it with!!

[likedbyuarmyhope]

I’ve been a BTS fan since 2015-2016 (I forget) I’m so thankful I left TWITTER (I refuse to ever call it by it’s new name) 3 years ago (I was thinking of leaving even a year before that) back then you could already see the utter shīt show it was becoming. It started becoming an embarrassment to call myself an Army (not because of BTS but the behavior of the fandom). Tumblr is a relatively smaller platform for the fandom mostly older fans so it was never that bad here. Unfortunately the cesspool Army is finding its way here and fūcking it up now. I’m hoping we can all collectively come together (the ones with actual brain cells and common sense) to get rid of these ašs hats. I’m not about to let them ruin it here too like they have literally EVERY SINGLE PLATFORM there is. Sadly the toxic ones are the loudest and ruin everything. Everything we spent YEARS putting together and requesting has gone up in flames because of them. And like you said they definitely do not care they don’t listen to the members, they don’t read things, they don’t watch actual things with them having serious conversations, it’s all superficial and shallow with them. Pardon my language but they’re all fake as fūck using BTS to just boost their egos to say OMG my group paved the way OMG MY group did this and that. They’re like hipsters (derogatory). I miss the early days those were more peaceful and real and easier to take down all the toxic fans. I feel like when BTS says Army they mean the non-toxic ones especially when they’ve spoken about how the Armies they love are respectful and don’t step over their boundaries and “fans” would know that if they actually paid attention to what the members themselves have said with their own mouths. One of them literally had a whole video on how they should behave and be kind and respectful and they didn’t f——ing listen! So disappointed but not surprised.

honestly yeah. pretty much all of this. like i said there's always been issues with certain factions of armys being bigots, at least ever since i joined the fandom in 2017, but i feel like around 2020-21 when there was a massive influx of new fans (who didn't know anything about kpop or the context surrounding bts's entire history, weren't there for some of the most pivotal moments in bts's career and who only know about what bts experienced in both the korean and western music industries through passed down stories from other people who weren't there) is when it all truly went to shit. since then you really can't escape it and the last few months with the insane backlash to the hybe boycott and really the entire fucking scooter braun situation have exposed the absolute ugliest sides of these people. but there definitely is a not-insignificant number of pre-2020 armys who are like this too, there's a ton of factors that have gone into the enabling of morally reprehensible behavior in this fandom over the years and it would take all day to list them out

[nikatyler]

𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟚

Time for a recap of the last twelve months! It's basically my tradition at this point. This year was a weird one. I'm not even gonna get into real life issues. It sure was something and I'm going into 2023 with no energy and zero expectations, lol. But with this mindset, I can only be pleasantly surprised, right? Or...the world will show me that when you think it can't get any worse, it will.

Anyway, simblr stuff! This is the year I started drifting away from tumblr. It makes me sad, but really, it just isn't the same as it was when I joined. The interaction is not what I wish to get so I'm simply moving to places where I feel like I'm actually heard and seen. Idk. I've tried a few times to "be the change I wanna see" but it's hard to change stuff around here. But oh well, to each their own. I'll probably stick around, even if I hang out more somewhere else and what you see are mostly queued posts. And, well, if twitter burns down, which I wouldn't be surprised if it did, you know I'll fully come back here. I love this hellsite. Genuinely. It makes me mad but I love it.

But I still love you guys. TS3 discord and a few other people who are not in that discord, I do seriously love you.

So, what was happening on this blog this year?

𝕛𝕒𝕟𝕦𝕒𝕣𝕪

I was still posting my previous BC! Well, I was finishing it. Vi became a parent and hadn't become a cheating jerk yet. 😅

𝕗𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕦𝕒𝕣𝕪

*this* is Vi's cheating jerk era. I still feel bad about how I resolved the whole thing, it was too rushed. I guess I was focusing more on the gameplay part and the NSB rules and less on whether their actions are logical? Prince shouldn't have come back to him, that's the hill I'll die on :D I know, I know, NSB rules and all, but he shouldn't have.

𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕙

We're slowly moving onto Bloom's very short generation, as well as gen 3 of my lepacy. It's Ginevra's time to shine, but first, we spent a lot of time with the winners of Axel and August's BC.

𝕒𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕝

Bambi and Candy are born, as well as the BC babies. Loads of baby cuteness in April on this blog. Oh and Ross flourishes in his babysitter era. Well, he's always been a babysitter to his descendants, but I feel like this is where he 100 % accepts it 😂

𝕞𝕒𝕪

Gins' era truly starts now (why do I keep saying era in this recap lmao). I had a lot of fun playing in Twinbrook again and Ginevra and Lori were so great. <3

𝕛𝕦𝕟𝕖

Alongside my lepacy (hi Elias & other gen 4 babies), I started posting the pink gen of NSB and also, my 100 Baby Challenge! I still can't believe I actually did that, and that I completed it in like two months only. Wow. What. I mean, yeah, I hyperfocused on it, but still. How did I do that.

𝕛𝕦𝕝𝕪

Again, gen 3 of lepacy and gen 7 of NSB, not much to say here. As for playing, I mostly just played the baby challenge. Oh! And Maeve's BC, of course.

Ohh, and July was the month when I decided to dive into the wonderful sims community on twitter. Probably one of my best decisions this year as I made many great friends there...🥰🥰

𝕒𝕦𝕘𝕦𝕤𝕥

Gen 3 ends and Sawyer is ready to take over Bridgeport but he has to wait for a bit. Pastel enters the blog and her bonding with Ross is seriously one of my most favourite things. I didn't think of this at first when I was playing, it only came to me later when I was posting the generation, but he definitely grew fond of her because she reminds him of Sunset so much ;-;

𝕤𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣

Good news: Bambi and Atsuko get married. Bad news: Ross and Caleb break up. *sigh* There's so much to unpack with their breakup storyline. Yes it makes sense that they'd hit a few bumps on the road, yes it makes sense that some of them would be bad, but...deep down, the breakup only happened because of my insecurities and lowkey being afraid of using a townie in my stories. At least I kinda got over that this fall (thank you twitter moots).

More good news: I'm finally posting the BC!!

𝕠𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕓𝕖𝕣

I finished posting the 100BC and...yeah this was Maeve's month. October was also very vampiric, but I'll probably mention that in a separate recap (if I do a separate recap haha), as this one only focuses on my regular daily content (legacies and such)

𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣

In November, we saw the funniest twist to ever happen in my BCs. Sorry River :D Aaand we also have the winner of Maeve's BC! I can't wait for you all to see them again in the legacy. Next year, hopefully.

𝕕𝕖𝕔𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣

Sawyer's time to shine has come. Well, not really, his siblings are constantly stealing it. Don't be surprised if he one day, you know, steals their organs and sells them.

Oh, and it's also TS3!Ross's time to shine. Because of course it is. I knew I needed to use his TS3 self somewhere, and all things considered, this felt like a perfect time for that.

December was also the month I started posting videos on youtube. I'm sorry if I'm annoying about that, but I just enjoy it so much. Never thought I'd say that. So, if you haven't yet, feel free to check it out (and subscribe maybe? 🥺). I'm hoping to do some fun stuff next year.

What's in store for 2023? I'll probably talk about that later, but to put it simply, I think this blog will be stuck with NSB and lepacy.

Thanks for sticking around with my grumpy self. Here's to a better 2023.

Happy new year, everyone!

[canmom]

Do you find Twitter or Tumblr better for general discussions?

kinda depends who you follow on both tbh?

personally I've pretty much stopped using twitter these days, but I never used it much to begin with. I am... evidently someone who struggles a bit with brevity ^^' twitter threads must be split into pithy chunks and that just didn't suit me at all.

that said, if you wanna talk sakuga or something like that, there's way more people engaged in that sphere on Twitter. only a few of us carrying that torch over here for whatever reason.

honestly, I don't think either site is great for it. both of them create a kind of branching tree structure that's awkward to navigate. to be kinda reductive, the three models you have are the forum model where all messages in a topic are presented linearly; the post + threaded comments model of LJ-derivatives, blogs and Reddit; and the tumblr/twitter reblog model where you copy a thread to your own timeline with additions.

All of these have tradeoffs. The forum thread model encourages longform back and forth, but it gets hard to navigate a long thread and it can quickly devolve into people stubbornly cutting up their interlocutor's message into bite sized chunks to rebut each one.

The threaded comments model creates a hierarchy; the original post has special status. Having branches allows multiple conversations to happen in parallel more easily, but each individual thread looks kind of like the forum. Navigation can still be an issue, since it usually hides comments below a certain depth unless you click, and there's either a sprawling mess if you load the whole tree in one page or a lot of backtracking. Still it's probably the best option in general.

The Tumblr/Twitter model is similar to the branching model but every time you reply you're also effectively inviting your followers to join in, encouraging 'containment break'.

Tumblr's version enables new kinds of expression - a particularly memorable exchange can be isolated without being burdened by all the other replies. But it also puts a limit on longform discussion because you have to post the entire history to your timeline and at some point that will annoy people. that is... arguably a feature? Finding other branches of the conversation in Tumblr is a real pain though - you can open the reblog list and get all the replies chronologically and the only way to figure out what anyone's responding to is to click on it. also, since it's hard to see other branches you get a lot of repetition on popular posts.

Twitter/Mastodon/etc. gives you the reply and the quote tweet. These actions both share a limited excerpt of the original thread to your timeline. You're limited in character count of course, though not as much anymore.

Mostly I just really don't like the prose style that Twitter encourages with a thread lol. Each statement having to stand alone. It's kinda grating when you just wanna say stuff to have to think about the tweet boundaries. And I mean, you see how I post on here, I'm not good at a brief passing thought lmao. So I've never really been able to get used to Twitter/Mastodon/Bluesky/etc. It also feels... somehow more panopticon-like on there. Hard to say why because it's not like people don't jump down your throat on here lmao. But ig it's a matter of demographics and scale.

In any case, on either site having interesting conversations is ofc a matter of finding people you find fun to talk to, and you can find that kinda connection on p much any website.