#not exactly ship art but consider it what you will

[floydsg]

dude i just noticed that red pixel after i was done im so mad right now its insane

[notherpuppet]

Is there any particular reason you use ship names with qpr relationships? (Like using a / or radioapple for examples) It makes it a little hard to tell what's meant to be romantic and platonic in fandoms sometimes, no shame for using them obvi and not pushing you to change your tagging or anything. Just wondering

Well the QPR I'm depicting is pretty affectionate (I mean mostly just xo's, not xxx hahaha) so even if it's NOT romantic, it probably may still be perceived as a ship between characters. I'm purposefully displaying a bond that is affectionate and loving, albeit platonic. So I still consider it a ship and that's why I tag it as such.

So with QPRs like radioapple, radiorose, almimzy, radiostatic, etc. etc. (alastor ships pretty much lol) I just figure that if people don't like to see characters in this ship, they're able to just block the tag. There are ships that I don't particularly like, but I just scroll away. It doesn't really bother me, but yknow; we get to cater a lot of our own social media experiences. There's the block and mute options for a reason.

As for ascertaining whether a ship art is QPR or not, I think someone can inquire or just do a little more legwork to figure that out themselves tbh. Some things may not have been written to be QPR, but may fit inside that idea for someone engaging in the artwork/fanfic. Some things may be intentionally written to be QPR and not coincide with a fan's taste or personal ideas. For example, someone may depict a QPR that includes sex. These are valid QPR experiences. On the flip side, someone may not be depicting a QPR and they include nothing explicit or affectionate, but it still fits into someone else's idea of what a QPR can look like. It's not black and white. There is nuance.

We should individually do the work of assessing if a fanart is something that we appreciate or not. AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL AN ARTIST IF YOU DON'T LIKE HOW THEY DO SOMETHING BTW. Just saying. Pretty RUDE ACTUALLY so yknow I would advocate for NOT doing that. I also don't think we need to put it on the artists to define exactly what they're depicting, since it can be a pretty difficult relationship to pin down. Affection and friendship can look very different for lots of people. And I don't think it's necessary for an artist or writer to spell out their intentions for us. Art is a means to express oneself and to have fun. If we choose to engage in an artwork, then we can also interpret it and come to conclusions of our own.

TLDR; I'm gonna go ahead and tag QPRs as their fandom ship names and I think it's up to us as users to cater social media to our tastes individually.

[talxns]

Academic Articles that Analyze Queer Readings of Batman and Robin (Brudick)

There actually exist multiple!…but the ones I want to introduce right now talk specifically about how the creation of the batfamily was DC’s attempt to dissuade brudick readings. and that it can be argued that DC is still doing the same thing today.

The first article is called “All in the Family: Homophobia and Batman Comics in the 1950s”, published in the International Journal of Comics Art in Fall 2000 by Chris York. It was not available for free online, but I bought a digital copy of the volume it was published in and provided screenshots because it’s been 24 years and I hate the fact that academics are behind paywalls so I’m sharing.

This article was actually infamous because DC refused to grant permission for the use of their panels in this article.

Click for better quality.

Notable Quotes:

“National [Periodical Publications]’s biggest step, however, was the introduction of other members of the Bat-family, which would give them permanent female counterparts and solidify their heterosexual status.”

“It is clear that, although Batman and Robin remain partners, their interests are no longer as the Dynamic Duo, but as a Bat-family.”

“Taking the focus of the comic away from Batman and Robin was exactly what these superfluous characters were designed to do.”

The second article, published in the Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies in 2005, is called "Domesticity, Homosociality, and Male Power in Superhero Comics of the 1950s" by Mark Best.

Good news! This article is available online for free and it’s a great read.

Notable Quotes:

“In contrast to the Marvel family, however, the Batman and Superman families were modeled more after the familial relations of the nuclear family and the gender expectations of the domestic ideology.”

“One way the genre attempted to contain any “subversive” potential, including the possibility of homosexual readings of the comics, was through the narrative device of the “super­ hero family.””

Here is more academic reading with the themes of Batman and homophobia, written in 1991. This article is referenced in the former piece.

In summary:

(lest we forget) Batman has had queer readings since its inception, specifically between Bruce and Dick.

The creation of the batfamily served to curtail those brudick readings

It seems pretty obvious that the same attempts are STILL being made by DC, now with the exaggerated push for explicit familial titles like “father” and “son”. And are still working if you see any discourse online from fans who strictly oppose brudick on the basis of their “father/son” relationship (which seems to me a more modern emphasis compared to in the past, maybe i’ll make a different post about that later.) They are unknowingly parroting Freddy Wertham’s concerns and eating up DC’s new strategy of distancing Bruce and Dick, just under an accusation harder to argue against nowadays. It’s gauche to criticize queerness nowadays, but consider it incest and suddenly it’s acceptable to bash again.

I just find it incredibly fascinating that brudick had been discussed and analyzed in multiple academic articles! And reading some comments I saw lately of people exclaiming “I can’t believe Brudick is this popular!/Who on earth is shipping Brudick!?!” made me sigh and really want to pull these out. Brudick has been a thing before all of us were born. DC’s propaganda/internet purity culture has been doing too good of a job lately. We have to remember our roots.

[howtofightwrite]

Speaking of martial competence, do you have any examples of characters that are actually written with this in mind?

Loads. Some actually even make good on that.

So, there's different kinds of martial competence. There are characters who are proficient in combat directly, there are well written strategists, there are characters who excel at military leadership, and when they're written well, you can actuallylearn some things from them.

I'm going to give some examples, and at least one cautionary example.

For, just, raw combat prowess, I still go back to Robert E. Howard's Conan short stories. It's easy to meme on the character, especially 90 years after the fact, with the cultural persona that's grown around him, but Howard's original writing is excellent. The character would not have survived Howard's early (and, frankly, tragic) death if it was just the one note gag you might expect, if your only exposure to the character was through cultural osmosis and the films.

Howard's fight scenes were shockingly well written. To the point that it is still absolutely worth reading if you want to write a fantasy fighter.

For strategists, three characters come to mind, but only two are literary, and all are Science Fiction.

Grand Admiral Thrawn is probably one of the best villains Star Wars has ever produced, it's part of why he's one of the few characters that's migrated from the original EU to the Disney era. My personal take is, as a character, he's lost a lot over the years, but the original incarnation from the early 90s novels is a very solid model for a strategist. Particularly in how he takes time to understand his opponents while looking for potential weak points to exploit.

His practice of studying a culture's art to understand their psychology might sound a bit goofy, but the concept does have a real basis. (At least, until it metastasized into a superpower, in later adaptations of the character.) Being able to psychologically assess your foe is an incredibly valuable element of strategy, and one that you probably want to consider when you're writing a character who is supposed to be a “strategic genius.”

When writing fiction, you want to consider all of your characters as if they were people, rather than as hollow, plastic toys. And, yes, the obnoxious villain who knows exactly what your heroes will do because of authorial fiat is going to be a more compelling character than the ambulatory goldfish villain who exists as a prelude for your heroes showing off how badass you think they are.

Granted, even in Heir to the EmpireThrawn was already drawing strategic insights that strained credibility, but understanding your foe is an element of strategic thinking that is often forgotten in literature. So, even as a villain in a tie-in novel (we're not done with tie-in fiction yet), he is worth looking at. At least when written by Timothy Zhan, Thrawn was a well written character, and even if he bordered on a Mary Sue at times, he escaped a lot of that stigma by justifying his competence.

It's also probably worth mentioning in passing that he's one of the few Imperial leaders in Star Wars who isn't also criminally incompetent.

The non-literary example of a strategist would be John Sheridan from Babylon 5. Unlike Thrawn, Sheridan's main strategic focus is on situational exploitation. A little of that comes from his knowledge of enemy procedures and psychology, but at lot of it comes from a rather ruthless approach to technical limitations. An alien race is using technology that blocks human targeting systems? Set up a nuclear mine and then send out a fake distress single to lure them in. Need to deal with a significantly larger, more dangerous ship? Lure them into a gas giant and and let the planet's gravity well drag them past crush depth. Bruce Boxleitner's performance helped sell the character, but Sheridan is a really solid science fiction strategist, who really exemplifies how technical limitations can have enormous strategic considerations.

I'm not citing Sheridan as an excellent example of a leader per se,it's certainly there, but it is harder to unpack from Boxleitner's performance. It does have some good payoffs much later in the series when he starts making some orders that cause his subordinates to sit up and stop what they're doing. And that is a consistent theme even back to his introduction, but, it's a tangible consequence to an intangible cause.

The last example is a negative example, both for strategy and leadership. And, as much as it pains me to say this, at least Orson Scott Card understood that Ender was a bad leader. At least in the original novel. To be blunt, Ender is a mediocre strategist at best. His highlights in the book involve, “inventing armor,” and creative movement in micrograv. That's setting the bar exceptionally low, and while it is reasonably within the range of what you could expect from a pre-teen, that's not much of a justification.

Again, I'm not a fan of Card, and I'm reallynot recommending Ender's Gameto anyone. However, if I didn't mention it, you know there'd be a reblog going for twelve hundred words about how Andrew Wiggin is the best strategist in literature, which, yeah, no.

Do you want a goofy, tie-in fiction, literary suggestion for the best leader in sci-fi? Too bad, because I'm pretty sure Ciaphas Cain is not that person. The Ciaphas Cain novels by Sandy Mitchell are unusual as leadership recommendations, because of how much Cain internally processes the social manipulation involved in military leadership. He's not a great leader, but he is exceptionallygood at explaining to the reader how he's creating that illusion to motivate the soldiers around him. In fairness, some of that is an intrinsic character flaw, he is incredibly insecure, and desperately trying to hide that fact. And the difference between being a great leader, and effectively creating a comprehensive illusion of a great leader is: There is no difference. As a serious complement, it is one of the few times I've seen an author treat leadership as an actual skill, and not simply an extension of a character's charisma. Which is why I'm singling this one out. It might sound like a joke inclusion initially, and the books are quite funny in a Warhammer 40k kind of way, but there is quite a bit of  value to be had.

-Starke

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[drawnfamiliarfaces]

As someone who has always loved siblings dynamics in fiction, I find it funny that almost every single member of the HoM team has siblings. Kim has two little brothers, Danny has an older sister, Jake has a little sister, Jenny has eight robot sisters, June has an older and a younger brother, Rex has an older brother, and Zak has three cryptid siblings. Ben and Randy are the only ones who are technically only children but Ben still at least has a cousin who he has a sibling dynamic with. I don't think Randy had anyone like that. (Although it's one of the few shows here that I didn't watch so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) Any way, now Only Child Cunningham is being treated like the little brother by all of these experienced siblings and has no clue what to do and I find that funny.

(P.s. sorry about the long comment. This thought wouldn't leave me alone so I thought i should share it)

(P.p.s I love your HoM au and your art. Thank you for sharing it!)

Please, don't be sorry, this is like, one of my favorite asks about HoMies I ever got! And also thank you for your kind words! <3<3<3

I also adore sibling dynamics in fiction! It's one of the main reasons I don't want to put much focus on ships in this AU, like I mentioned before, there would be like one canon couple with one of HoMies, but otherwise everyone are sort of floating in nebulous single area, so I could focus better on their complicated friendships with a dash of found family/siblings dynamics!

(And your ask reminded me of a fanart I did a long time ago about Randy being the only child in Secret Trio. xD same brain anon!)

Also one can argue that Howard, Randy's best friend, could be considered sort of like a brother to him (they became friends at a very young age), but I personally view them more as Bros. (does it make sense, lol?)

But even if we count Howard, their dynamic would be more equal in older-younger sibling scale, while Randy indeed would be mostly treated as a younger sibling amongst HoMies and it would probably drive him insane!

Being the youngest and newest in their friend circle, he is like a new baby brother or a co-worker/young kohai (ye, cringe wording but terminology vibe aint wrong! xD) that others are prepared to protect and help, impart their wisdom on, but also tease! (and perhaps learn something from him in return! )

But Randy Only Child Cunningham, as an already seasoned, if a bit overconfident, hero would hate (just a little bit) being considered as less experienced (even if he technically is) than others, no matter how much he absolutely adores being in presence of all those cool people! At times it would feel condescending, but in reality others just want to support him the more they learn about how he came to be the Ninja.

After all they know what it felt like being that young, having that responsibility trust upon your shoulders and going through so much. Especially considering that among them, Randy perhaps had the least stable support during his hero-ing career. Sure, all of them had to go through some things alone, but there were family and friends that were there to help when it came to it. And, no offense to Howard, who does sometimes manages to get through for Randy, he is not the best at being the type of support Randy needs at times. And, Ninjanomicon? While incredibly useful for teaching moral lessons and art of being Ninja - is not exactly the most er, physically able in supporting Randy at time of crisis, being an inanimate object and all that, lol.

So yes, Randy-Only Child-Lone Ninja Hero-Cunningham sometimes doesn't know what to do with all those people who appeared in his life and treat him like a little bro! But sometimes, he enjoys it. ;)

(a little bit of random rambling beneath, feel free to ignore! haha)

Also random, and its not very obvious at all, but there is slightest differences amongst HoMies on how they view/regard him and behave with/around him, depending on their own experiences:

Kim and Jake, as older siblings through and through, tend to see him as a younger bro, like their own siblings who can be a handful and overzealous little hellions at times.

Danny, Rex, Jenny and Zak are a bit complicated. They all have siblings that are older than them, but they are also kind of younger in some sense (or in Danny's case an adopted younger sibling).

Danny and Rex would tend to be overprotective a little bit, as people who didnt have a younger sibling before (I mean, Danny does but she is so independant! Danny doesnt get to exercise his overprotectiveness on Danielle xD) so its a bit new to them. But they are also kind of dicks, and thats just the younger siblings in them talking, lol.

Jenny and Zak on the other hand, both have siblings that are very confusing from the age bracket view.

All ofJenny's siblings are older than her BUT their prototype AI and bodies make them behave younger than her, so she tends to view them as younger siblings. There is a constant argument amongst them about who is older-younger, but its all in good fun! (She also sometimes misses being the only child. xD)

Zak's siblings are all cryptids, and two of them are older than him in age (Fisk and Zon are definitily full grown and possibly more long-lived than humans, I still have questions about Komodo, but he is probably older than Zak in age just by a little bit), but their behaviour, as.... well, i don't want to say animals, because they are not mindless animals, but let's just say - their disregard to human behaviours and norms, as cryptids, make them behave in a way that could be considered irresponsible, thus making Zak often behave like a responsible older sibling, despite being younger than them.

So, Jenny and Zak tend to be as snooty and in 'charge' as an older sibling would, but also be mischevous little shits that is younger (sorta only) child behaviour.

Ben and Jun are sort of like the previous four, but they tend to view Randy on a more equal footing rather than just vacilate between older-younger types of behaviour.

Ben, is a single child, but he grew up pretty close to Gwen, since they were born on the same day. Sort of growing up twins but not kinda situation. They also have an older cousin/brother Ken, and they both adore him, but it is obvious that primarly those two grew up together and are equally annoyed with that, lol.

Jun is a middle child. (I kind of dont want to say anything else, because i feel like it explains everything. xD but-) She is independant, and is equally exasparated with her snooty older brother and her hellion of a younger brother. So, really, she just tends to be the most normal towards Randy in the end???

so, ye, of course in the end they treat him as just a new friend, this was just more of me trying to look into inner mind of sibling dynamics in a weird way haha

sorry about it, but if you got this far, hope you had an entertaining read! ;D

[pro-sipper]

I definitely agree with "fiction affects reality" in the sense it can introduce new ideas and concepts to an audience that never considered or heard of them. What I take issue from puritans drawing the conclusion of "oh so this means someone reading an incest fic will make them want to kiss their sister" is that they only ever think about how it can make someone do bad things but never positive things. In fact, if they think about how fiction can motivate someone to do good things, their argument would fall apart quickly when they realize how often this isn't the case in reality. There's so much popular fiction out there you can find radical, far-left themes inside of so if fiction really was this powerful mind control device that puritans act like it is, all the normies who watched stuff like Gundam or Squid Game or Chicken Run or Hunger Games would have become radicalized anti-war vegan anti-capitalists but they didn't. While there are people out there where that absolutely was the case, that was entirely on those peoples' own ability to see those themes and agree with them. You can also find bigots in fandoms for media with positively portrayed women, queer, and BIPOC characters. I could drag a raging homophobe into a movie theatre to see every action movie with a positively gay character in there, he's still going to walk out as a homophobe. The reality is, fiction can never make you learn something you refuse to learn.

...and people are absolutely not looking at ship art, reading AO3 smut, or playing morally bankrupt eroges with the intention to learn something, nor expect that these things were made with the purpose to educate.

Exactly!! Such a good point about how they only expect fiction to affect things on a 1:1 level if it's something negative.

I'm sure it's been said before but overall positive and light shows like My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic or Steven Universe have so many good messages that are delivered in an appropriate way for even kids to understand and yet their fandoms are notorious for being full of hate and arguing. If a show was all about the power of friendship and fiction affects reality so severely, surely their fandoms would be the happiest places on earth?? No? Maybe because that's not how things work...

Hopefully one days antis will understand. If they even want to at this point.

[lamialamia]

We have a problem: why am I watching this sex scene again?

Ah. Sex scenes. You wild wild beast. The crossroad of many discourses and analyses and opinions and essays and now, here I am, a mere casual ww2 rpf fan, throwing my own hat to the ring. In this blog post I'm going to talk once more about sex scenes -- two in particular -- and why the eff one of them matters, making the ww2 rpf more compelling and the other did not.

Disclaimer: Whether or not sex scenes are needed in media in general or the right way to implement them across the vast spectrum of art is not part of this discussion. Please keep in mind I'm trying to complain about the writing decision in the small scope of the HBO War shows.

I have discussed the problem with the Crosby/Sandra plot line in a previous analysis here. But I think the problem with it requires another (and maybe a third) write-up. Here, I want to talk about why the tiny sex scene between Crosby and Sandra in episode 7 is a waste of screen time.

So, we have the sex scene in MOTA episode 7. It is somewhat explicit and it was clear it is consensual and that the people who are fucking is very into it. In comparison to other sex scenes in HBO War fandom, it doesn't exactly stands out to me with just the imagery of the act (of course this is a personal opinion, whether or not I find a sex scene hot or bad or corny or lovely or [insert adjective here] is not universal).

However, my problem with this sex scene between Crosby and Sandra is that it doesn't matter to the story.

After getting it on with Sandra, and then after she left him, Crosby never talked about this affair in anyway. Not over the narration, expressing some kind of sentiment over it, not with Rosie or any other guy, so me, the audience, have no idea what he think about it or how he might be affected about it. We didn't know what Sandra think or feel about it either because her scenes are about her spy works and that's it.

You might say: well he doesn't have to tell us how he feel if the show can demonstrate to us the same thing.

Yet, MOTA never did that. Furthermore, the show never portray the sex between them matters to the characters beyond getting their rocks off. And then, the sex doesn't matter to the theme of the episode nor the overall theme of the show either. It's just something that happened.

(Sad to say that maybe this sub-plot distracts me from the rest of episode 7 and 8)

This might be consider 'realistic'. In real life, people can have sex just for the joy of it. Which is true, but in a drama mini-series, the choices to include or exclude details must take in consideration whether what is on screen is valuable to the story the show is trying to tell. Why are they including this sex scene instead of the hundred other real life details that don't make the cut? We don't have a training montage for the pilots, we never learn how Quinn and Bailey get back to base from Germany, we never have the D-Day invasion sequence,...

Let's have a comparison to another sex scene.

In The Pacific episode 3, Sidney Phillips met Gwen in Melbourne and started a romance with her that ended in them having sex before he got shipped back to Pavuvu. Personally for me, it wasn't an awesome sex scene either. Both Gwen and Sidney were awkward, they kissed and the entire thing ended with him kissing her bare shoulder.

But what truly matter happened latter. When Eugene arrived in Pavuvu and reunited with Sidney, he asked Sidney about what combat was like. And to answer this, Sidney mentioned him sleeping with Gwen not to brag about his sexual conquest but to make a comparison with the brutal battles he survived.

Despite the fact that the two of them grew up together, in just a small amount of times, Sidney have been through things and done things Eugene hadn't. All of that (both combat and his brief romance with Gwen) had changed Sidney to the point that Eugene could not longer connect with him. There was now a chasm between them. Eugene looked at his friend and tried to understand him but couldn't. There were things that must be experienced to be understood.

And then, Eugene himself went through life-changing events. The war changed him so much that when he returned to Mobile, he once again couldn't connect with Sidney

Or his brother (who was in the Army and was in the euro theatre) -- another person who had gone through the war himself.

Both Sidney and Eugene's older brother had returned home before him while Eugene had just came back, fresh off the board with his mental wounds, and it showed the chasm had formed between him and these two men who supposed to shared this brutal experience with Eugene.

In fact his brother specifically mentioned how Eugene is still a virgin, which highlight further how he was 'missing out' on that particular experience that both these men have.

And this all started when we were still following H company and witnessed Sidney and Gwen having sex. That small thing compounded over time. It snowballed into all these differences and distance that Sidney would have with Eugene, and then Eugene would be having against his own hometown, his brother, his family, and his best friend. It served to show how war had did its number on Eugene in many ways.

The sex scene between Sidney and Gwen mattered to the story, it served a narrative purpose eventually.

Crosby and Sandra's sex scene did not. And to include it meant there would be less screen time for any other story line, leaving not just the sub-plot of Crosby's arc weaker, but the other ones as well. Overall, this creative decision left MOTA a weaker show in term of its writing.

[lets-try-some-writing]

Okay, I was reading the Mr. Pax Teacher Au and this idea popped in my head. So basically Optimus is finishing up a work day and a staff member comes up saying someone is here claiming to be his ‘wife’. Optimus questions the staff for a bit and then they reveal they have “pink hair”. Optimus then goes outside to see someone patiently waiting for him with a smile. (I’m a sucker for OptimusxElita, sue me!) Also Elita going “Yeah, you would.” Cause she just knows him. Hope this idea is fun for you!

Well I can't NOT write a snippet for this thank you. I have exactly two ships that I will devour without hesitation and Optimus/Elita happens to be one of them.

━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙ ━━━━━━━━━━━━

Optimus's digits tapped on the desk along to the beat of a simple tune he hummed to himself as he looked over the day's papers. There were quite a few interesting pieces from his young archivists- students. His dear students. They showed such interest in the history he taught them. It was a joy to watch them grow and thrive under his tutelage.

"Abigail, you impress me yet again." He smiled as he looked over the girl's artwork. The assignment for the week had been to compose a model of something Cybertronian. Abigail, one of his more artistic students, had created quite the work of art. Despite having never seen any actual images of Optimus's fallen world, she managed to capture an admittedly quite accurate, if a tad abstract, vision of Uraya. It prompted his spark to flare in joy within his true frame.

"Mr. Pax, apologies for intruding." A feminine voice broke him from his work, prompting Optimus to place down his pile of paperwork and look up. Mrs. Glass, the school nurse, stood in the doorway nervously. She patted down her knitted sweater in what Optimus could only assume was anxiety considering the lack of any noticeable contaminant.

"Can I help you Mrs. Glass?" The nurse shifted uncomfortably before she nodded. Optimus stood up slowly, concern growing in his processors as he ran through the possible issues that might have arisen while he was working. Was the headmaster trying to tamper with affairs again?

"There is a woman outside who is claiming to be your wife." Optimus froze, his expression shifting as he tried to parse out what was happening. Arcee had already taken on the role of "aunt" for Jack. Being Optimus's wife would break her cover. It couldn't be June either for similar reasons.

Was he being stalked?

"Does she have any distinguishing features?" His expression settled into something firm as he readied himself to have to politely tell a confused woman that she had the wrong individual.

"She has pink hair and bright blue eyes. I think she might be wearing colored contacts." Whatever worry was settling into his spark halted the moment he got out the door and heard the nurse's explanation. Instead, faint hope grew steadily as he increased his pace and Mrs. Glass continued.

"She stated that her name was Ariel of Iacon. Although I am not sure where that city is-" Optimus stopped listening and broke into a sprint as he forced his holoform to go faster than it should have been able to according to human biology.

She couldn't be here.

He sent her away after the Allspark was taken from its place.

There was no way his Conjunx was on Earth after so many millennia apart.

"Being a teacher suites you." It was not the voice he knew, not entirely. There was none of the underlying glyphs or tones of their homeworld, but he knew her voice anywhere. He could never mistake her.

"Elita." He stepped out, his holoform momentarily flickering as Elita-One waited for him patiently, her arms crossed over her chest and a font smile on her face. He could almost see the mighty warrior that was his Conjunx through the veil of her disguise. He could hardly wait to wrap her in his arms properly as soon as they were away from prying optics.

"I missed you." She was the first to wrap her arms around him, organic as they were. Their forms melded in places as their holoforms struggled to maintain the illusion alongside their raging emotional states. However, Optimus found he didn't care as he looked into oh so human eyes and saw the spark of a Cybertronian hidden behind them.

She was here. He didn't know how or why, but Elita was here with him once more.

"I stopped by your base before I came here. I wanted it to be a surprise." She laughed as she nuzzled against his neck, searching for sensory lines that where not there. Optimus wrapped his limited EM field around her as he processed her presence and relished in it.

"It has been a most pleasant surprise to see you here after so long." Distantly, he noted Mrs. Glass watching from the school entrance. Optimus didn't bother looking back as he pulled away and took Elita's hands in his. The paperwork could be dealt with later. For now, there were bonds to be reforged, memories to share, and many long cycles apart to make up for.

"To base then?" Elita smiled up at him. Optimus could almost imagine her antennae perking up as he grinned in response.

"If that is what you want love."

[waterfire1848]

What do you imagine would happen if Zuko had been swept away by the current like in the comics and fire fans reactions? Like Ozai does canonically try and swim after him but Zuko just gets swept away.

Hello, @deadlyangelofpurity !!! (BTW love your art)

The fire family loved going to Ember Island every summer and they had never had a problem with the beach before so Ursa and Ozai don't really bat an eye when their three year old son run around on the beach and saves a turtle-crab. Ozai keeps an eye on him while Ursa is more focused on the one year old baby in front of her. When the giant waves comes up and washes Zuko away, Ozai darts into the water to save him and Ursa starts screaming for Zuko. Despite Ozai's best efforts the ocean claims the three year old before he can get to him. The guards arrive and look over as much of the ocean as they can, scanning the water for him, while others stay on land and look over the beaches. Ursa is inconsolable when they have to leave Ember Island without Zuko and holds Azula a little closer while Ozai is too stunned to speak. He could have sworn he was about to grab Zuko. How did he let his own son slip through his fingers? Ozai never made it a secret that he didn't like how weak Zuko's firebending was, but he was still his son. Ozai still cared for him and the thought that his own weakness is the reason his son is dead now is such a blow.

The Fire Nation mourns for the loss of the young prince. Azulon, who didn't care too much for Zuko, uses the opportunity to yell at Ozai and Ursa for failing to watch their son and letting him die. For a moment, he briefly considers removing Azula from their care but Ursa begs him not to and he decides against it. It's not said, but the family seems to understand that Ozai and Ursa aren't going to try and have another child. Ursa because she couldn't bear the thought of losing another child and Ozai because he doesn't want to risk failing a second child. Ursa grows more and more attached to Azula, her baby is now her only child and she showers her with as much affection as a mother possibly could. Ozai trains relentlessly, never letting himself be satisfied with his results. Another unspoken understanding is that they are never returning to Ember Island again. Ursa gives up her love for the Ember Island players and Ozai orders their family beach house torn down and everything sent to them at the palace. It's a very sad time for the family.

Meanwhile, Zuko's not doing so good. He get's swept out to see and survival---amazingly---by the skin of his teeth. While he's out at sea, a familiar group of pirates notice him and pick him up. They help him warm up and give him some food. Zuko's only three at the time, so they have no real reason or want to hurt him. On the ship, Zuko thinks the pirate life is amazing (Zuko: What's that? Captain: Our sail. It's the heart of any good ship. Zuko: What's that? Captain: Crow's nest. It allows us to see what's further out on the ocean. Zuko: Can I see? Captain, laughing: You sure you won't get scared. Zuko: I won't! I promise! Captain: Alright). That being said, the crew does try to ask the boy where he's from and when he says the Fire Nation palace, they come to an issue. On the one hand, they don't want to keep a three year old from his family. On the other hand, they will probably die or be locked up the second they step foot on Fire Nation soil. (Pirate: So we're keeping him. Captain: Of course we're keeping him. Pirate: What about when he asks about his family? Captain: He's three. Give him some time and he'll forget all about them. He'll make a fine pirate.) That's exactly what they do. They train Zuko do be a pirate and to use his bending to help them steal. Zuko becomes incredibly good at sneaking into nobles houses and stealing their stuff to bring back to the ship so the pirates can re-sell it. (Captain: Zuko! Where did you get that? Zuko, holding a ruby dragon statue: I stole it from some rich Earth Kingdom noble who said my outfit *the outfit the captain got for him* was disgusting. Never even knew I was in his house. Captain, shedding a tear: I have never been more proud of you!)

With Zuko "dead" and after Lu Ten dies, Ozai still makes the move to try and get Iroh's position because after Zuko died, Ozai has been pushing himself more and more into just about everything to make himself absolutely perfect (and make up for not saving Zuko that day). Azulon can't order Azula's death because he's running out of young heirs, so he sends Ozai into the war to actually experience what Iroh has gone through. Azula and Ursa remain at the palace where Azula starts her training as the crown princess but remains close to her mother's side (having grown up close to her and since Ursa is the only parent she has left). Azulon takes over Azula's training and puts her through intense sessions to try and make her into the perfect weapon. Ursa does what she can for her daughter, but she can't go against the Fire Lord....or can she? When Azula comes to Ursa one night, terrified because grandfather said he'd kill her if she didn't perfect her lightning strike by tomorrow and Azula doesn't know if she can, Ursa decides enough is enough and kills Azulon and, since no one else is around, she becomes the Fire Lady for the time being.

While that's going on, Ozai is in the war in the Earth Kingdom. He's not on the front lines, he's in the tents with the admirals and commanders but it's still a lot to witness after having grown up in the palace. One night, while some of the soldiers are staying in a coastal town, Ozai is woken up by the sound of someone messing around in one of the tents. Ozai goes to inspect it and, low and behold, it's Zuko (although Ozai doesn't recognize him). (Ozai: Who are you!? What you doing!? Zuko:...Would you believe I'm an inspector? Ozai, holding up fire: No. Zuko: Didn't think so. Catch me if you can, old man!) Ozai does catch him and is about to burn him until he sees Zuko's golden eyes and realizes who the thief is. Zuko is a teenager now so he doesn't really remember Ozai and runs away. Ozai, abandoning his soldiers, run after his son all the way back to the pirate ship. (Ozai: ZUKO! Zuko: I don't know who you think I am! But I'm not your son! Ozai: Yes, you are! Zuko: No! I'm not! I'm a pirate! My mom was some woman from the coastal towns and my dad passed away when I was little. I'm not- Captain: He's your father. Zuko: What? Captain: You....I think we have some explaining to do). Zuko listens to the captain's explanation and hears Ozai's side of the story. When all is said and done, the Captain believes that Zuko should go with his father back to the Fire Nation, so Zuko does (even if it is hard to leave the only family he really knows). Ozai and Zuko head off as soon as they can to return to a palace where Ursa is in charge and Azulon is dead.

[mcspirkevents]

The McSpirk Events Gift Exchange is now live!

This exchange will be a bit different from others!

In fact this gift exchange is about Response and Remix works.

What is a response?

Response works that are a fanwork created that were inspired by someone else's creation. (Kind of like how big bangs have art inspired by the fic, and reverse big bangs have fics inspired by art made).

What's a remix?

Remixes which are re-envisoned versions of someone else's fanwork. (As an example maybe you wrote/drew an alternate ending to an episode. Well as a gift to you someone would read that fic and then write, draw, or edit their own ending to that episode.)

Does it have to be Mcspirk?

Nope! While this is a Mcspirk blog, I wanted to host an event that would help everyone in the fandom celebrate each other's amazing talents and skills! So you can request, and share works for any star trek ship, or even non-ship material.

Where will it be hosted?

On Ao3! Just click here.

What are the rules?

Your gift has to meet these minimum requirements:

500 words for fics.

10 songs for playlists

30 seconds for a video edit

A sketch for fanart

A graphic edit

A GIF

2. If you are under 18 do not request an NSFW gift, and do not link any NSFW content you may have made.

3. Do NOT reveal who your making a gift. This is a surprise until reveals happen on August 22nd.

4. Turn in your gift by August 10th!

Are Treats allowed?

Of course! If you want treats please include in your request description that treats are okay.

For those who are unaware, treats are bonus gifts. You are not required to make any treats but you can if you want too.

So how does this work? (Step by step instructions with images to help are below the cut.)

Step 1 - Go to the event page on Ao3 here. (The collection was mistitled. I changed it to Mcspirk Gift Exchange 2024.)

Step 2 - Click Sign Up

Step 3 - You begin filling in your request. Please fill in the follow categories to best summarize the fanwork you want a gift made of. You can make up to 10 requests.

For fandom you'll want to put whatever fandom your piece is of. You'll do the same for characters and relationships.

For additional tags please put what types of gifts you'd like to receive as well as if you want a Response gift, a Remix gift, or you can select both to receive either or.

Please put the ratings that match your original source material and any warnings that apply.

Below is an example of one of my pieces, and how I would link it in the description of a request.

Step 4 - Fill in an offer! Please be sure to list all the ships & characters you'd be willing to make gifts for PLUS what kind of gifts you want to make.

This process works exactly like the requests side of things only instead you'll be putting in all the ships/shows/ratings you'd be willing to create for + what you'll make!

Instead of the description box being used for links to works, you can instead use it for extra information. (Stuff that myself as a mod will consider in case I have to switch any matches around.)

Here is the full schedule:

Sign-ups begin: May 22nd Sign-ups end: May 30th Matches are sent out: May 31st Assignments are due: August 10th Assignments are revealed: August 18th Creators are revealed: August 22nd

[goo-berz]

Talking about Vivziepops' weird art of minors

I've never been the biggest fan of Vivziepop, I've always knew about their weird behavior (since like 2018 ~ 2019) before they were as popular as they are now.

She has done a lot of weird stuff but the thing I mainly wanna focus on in this post is their character Addison. Addison is a 17 year old gay effeminate fox humanoid from Zoophobia, he's in a relationship with a 19 year old Teacher's assistant named Gustav. Many people get confused by this but Addison has been CONFIRMED to be 17 years old by Vivziepop. Someone had changed Addison's Fandom Wiki page back in 2019 to say they're 18, when this is not true, Vivzie has confirmed they're 17. I did go back and change the age to 17 on the Wiki with the correct age in hopes that people stop believing incorrect information.

Vivzie confirming their age: https://twitter.com/vivziepop/status/1128064633166712832

The tags in this post brings up the fact that Addison is nearly 18 - not 18 yet - They're still 17.

Edit: Oh yeah, I want to add on context to this tag: "I should mention the characters canon ages are higher then when I first made them because as I wrote the story any big age gaps were uncomfy"

I've heard multiple older fans of Vivziepop say that Addison was originally meant to be 14-15 years old, and I've heard that Gustav was originally meant to be in his 30s.

Addison was created 2010, She began shipping Gustav with Addison in 2011, and Zoophobia began in 2012. So the fact she shipped a 14-15 year old character with a 30 year old one to begin with, and encouraged her friend to draw intense NSFW art of them together is so.. weird.

Anyways, Vivzie also hints at Addison being a minor, using wording indicating how young they are in age in their Blogpost introducing the character

"I finally created a few concepts, but the one I have been toying with the most is a young character much like Gale. An albino boy, with an identical albino sister"

If you need more proof, Addison is also preyed on by Mirage, a character that SPECIFICALLY goes after minors... that's basically her main personality trait, that she's a p3d0. She goes after Addison because he's a young submissive boy and easy to manipulate.

Anyways, back on topic. I personally I don't see anything wrong with the age gap of 17 & 19, however I do think it's weird to have this relationship between Addison and Gustav.. he's not exactly a teacher, but he still holds power over Addison due to the fact he's the voluntary teacher's assistant. Back when Zoophobia was popular there were people who found this dynamic weird & creepy considering the fact that Addison is basically a student under Gustav. Also, I just wanna bring this up because I find this weird, Gustav was originally under the impression that Addison was a year one student and much younger than he actually is, yet he still tried to flirt with him.. erm..? Yeah..

Anyways, that isn't the main point. The point is that Vivzie DREW NSFW OF HER 17 YEAR OLD CHARACTER AND HIS 19 YEAR OLD TEACHER... erm.. holy cracker balls? Literally how can anyone excuse these?

Vivzie also drew Gore of Addison too, but I won't post it here cus it's very graphic and weird and idk why she drew it!!

And .. possibly the worst drawing of them all.. Holy titties what is this... If you're wondering, the stuff under the censors is ACTUAL NSFW. It's not suggestive, or implied s3x, It's their ACTUAL WEE WEEs.

These accounts are poorly archived, so it's hard to find the original post and what it originally said. However after some digging I was able to find out the original text said

“ dollcreep: “ i can only see ‘dark-Günter’ exposing him and addi to a public area like so…so. yeah. Günter says; merry Christmas. god this question is super old. vivz reminded me about it"

So, I'm assuming that Dollcreep drew this, not Vivzie. However I was also able to find out from the limited resources there is that Vivzie reposted this to her accounts Vivzie-zp (unarchived) and ZPanswers, which are also now deleted, but if you view the accounts tumblr archives over the Wayback machine you can see that she did indeed repost this. http://web.archive.org/web/20120801182958/http://zpanswers.tumblr.com/archive

If you don't know, Dollcreep and Vivzie used to be best friends, however aren't anymore. Dollcreep originally designed Gustav, originally named Gunter, and Vivzie bought the design from them. Vivzie designed Addison back around 2010, and taking into account the old caption, this means that Vivzie.. allowed Dollcreep to draw NSFW art of their underaged character ;-; oh my gawd!!! Whatthe heck guys... like I said at this time Addison was still 14 - 15 and Gustav (Gunter) was in his 30s.

Also I want to mention that this drawing was from 2011, so that means Vivzie had this pedophilic ship with Dollcreeps OC for years, & after she bought the rights to the character she decided to.. keep the pedophilic ship and write it into Zoophobia by making him Addisons teacher. That's crazy..?

Anyways, because I brought up Mirage. Mirage is written pretty bad. She was a character meant to be in.. or scrapped from Zoophobia, she was meant to be a villain who preyed on the kids, mainly Addison. Her main trait is that she likes kids

Vivzie's made a bunch of drawings of Mirage preying on kids which I think is pretty weird, especially considering how poorly some of them represent it and make it seem like a joke instead.

and yeah, we all know about this infamous drawing she made of Mirage preying on Kestrel, a 14 year old. Pretty weird

Also when I looked at the web archive of Vivzie's ZPanswers blog (a Zoophobia ask blog) she accepted many weird asks about Kestrel, 14, and Addison, 17, like an ask asking if Kestrel had ever been fucked by a horse & how Kestrel, Addison & others would act when they were drunk. Which is also pretty weird to me I won't lie

Anyways that's all for now. Sorry if this is all over the place its 4am and I just wanted to get my thoughts out that vivziepop is kinda a weirdo

[chubs-deuce]

Haaard agree on anti-Chaggie post (so sorry Chaggie shippers. We love you)

Alastor is known to steal the attention of people whenever he is on screen. But when he is with Charlie it makes it more interesting! They bounce off of each other in an entertaining way. Even if you don't ship them they are funny. Alastor is getting a kick out of just talking to Charlie. He finds her amusing (probably in a mean way lol). And Charlie while thinks he is an asshole, (cus he is!) she sees he tries to help her even with an obvious hidden ulterior motive.

They don't see eye to eye in their goals but at least they are both real characters with their own motivations and that makes them very dynamic with each other. Also they are both goofs, love 'em

Chaggie has fans within people that just want cute and non-dramatic relationships. Or just a queer couple that is wholesome without any dramatics. Valid!

It's just awkward that Vaggie is all about Charlie. This one thing puts me off. Considering my previous experience with it was in Steven Universe (Rose and Pearl, anyone?). But it's just personal thing. Sometimes things like that are funny like "they are obsessed with this person lololo" or "they are... Uncomfortably obsessed with this person"

[I think it depends on if the other person is on the same level? Charlie seemed somehow dismissive of Vaggie but it can be explained that the plot was just more focused on hotel than them (ugh 8eps. waiting for S2 to have fillers).]

Shipping is all about preferences and that's okay! My friend is a Chaggie shipper and I am a Charlastor shipper. I asked her to explain to me the appeal and she explained it as "a cute couple that has no conflict whatsoever. People like that exist and it's more common than very dramatic or action-driven couples". And I just like a bit fucked up dynamics where I watch someone in that dynamic go through some emotional turmoil (mostly Alastor<3) and also co-workers/housemates dynamic (when I need something cute and simple)

Some people just prefer down to earth things, especially if their life is a rollercoaster. What's important is to respect each other!

Sorry for a lil essay. I just think sometimes it's important to say "these are prefrences. We don't hate you for not liking your thing and the same goes in vice versa"

All fandoms have a group of people that is.... A bit too devoted to something. Respect others even if they don't like the same thing you do. Instead ask them to explain to you why they like it in a non-hostile manner or don't interact at all.

We're all tired of shipping wars, especially when some companies add oil to this fire to monetize more. I just want to get back to old fandom days when you both would be shopping different things and then end up in a make out session /j

Sorry for an essay again. Love your art, especially when you draw unhinged or going insane Alastor because Charlie makes him "feel". Thanks for all the content<3

This!!! So much this!!!

I hardly even need to add anything to this tbh, you already said everything that needs to be said perfectly!

I often like to think of shipping as the more adult version of playing with dolls, and that different people will play with their dolls differently! Some may prefer to follow the instructions on the packaging, playing with the toys exactly as intended, whereas others might find that boring and instead prefer to mix things up and do their own thing!

How I play with my set of dolls should have absolutely no impact on how you play with your own.

Thank you so much for writing out this ask, I'm honestly really glad to see that common sense and critical thinking skills within fandoms haven't completely died out yet lmfao

[prodigal-explorer]

i dont exactly consider myself a pro-shipper but i am VERY anti-censorship. i hate all censorship. absolutely nothing in media should be censored whatsoever, the only exception being media that is marketed towards children because it should be up to parents/guardians/trusted adults to decide what media children are ready to consume.

but when it comes to adults? hell no.

“but but but it’s a problematic ship!!! 🥺”

there are problematic romances in real life. there are abusive relationships and sexual assaults in real life. we cope with these things by reading and writing about them and realizing that we are not alone, we are not crazy, we are going through something real. media is meant to connect people, and with the influx of social media, people don’t connect with each other anymore and censoring stories about sensitive topics purely because they’re problematic is severing that connection even more.

“but but but it’s pedophilia! 🥺”

i am a victim of pedophilia. i know many people who are also victims. again, if we don’t tell these stories, then there will be kids who have nothing to connect to who think that what they’re going through is normal or that it’s something only they will understand. it doesn’t normalize anything. if you read about pedophilia and your first thought is “okay great, now i can be a pedo because i read about pedophilia!” then it’s not the story or the author’s fault. it’s the pedo’s fault because they’ve always been a pedo. they were just looking for something to twist into justifying their actions.

and also the example i just described is something that absolutely NEVER happens. it’s something that antis made up so they could spread their censorship bullshit.

we should read stuff we disagree with. we should read stuff that is disgusting and messy and horrible if we want to. because those are all stories about the human experience. and if we censor one thing, what’s to stop people from censoring everything?

do you antis know about the wales padlock act? in america in the 1920’s until i believe the 50’s or 60’s, there was a LAW that stated that people could be ARRESTED if the media they created had any form of “obscenity” in it including nudity, pedophilia, and oh, you know what else? homosexuality. transgender characters. in fact, a play called god of vengeance by sholem asch was forcibly closed down and all actors and producers were arrested for “obscenity” because it described a beautiful and loving homosexual relationship between two young women.

do you see now? do you get why censorship sucks? you can’t just have some censorship. anybody can view anything as obscenity. bigots will turn ANYTHING into obscenity and lump it in with all the “problematic” stuff y’all want to censor. lgbtq+, interracial romance, etc. it could all be lumped in there and censored too.

i would rather have a few stories in the world that i disagree with or a few stories that make me uncomfortable than absolutely no stories that depict the human experience in a raw, unfiltered, uncensored way because when you censor art, it immediately severs all human connection that could have been formed from it.

so yeah. antis get the fuck off my page unless you want to change. i hate you and all the censorship bullshit you stand for.

[00belle00lovely00]

Can you pls do Craftycorn x Dogday? I'm STARVING for craftyday content 🙏

OH MAH GAWD IM GETTING SO MANY BY AMOUNTS- I AM-

OK OK OK OK OK I GOT PLENTY FOR THIS ONE

☀️🎨☀️🎨☀️🎨☀️🎨☀️🎨☀️🎨☀️🎨☀️🎨☀️🎨☀️🎨☀️🎨

I'm sticking with this one ship called "Sunshine and Rainbows."

He calls her Pretty Lady regularly.

We all know how Craftycorn is very much soft-spoken, in my head, she always played out as not exactly a shy girl but rather someone very intimate with herself you know? WHILE DOGDAY? NAH. HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT PERSONAL SPACE, HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT NOT WANTING TO MAKE FRIENDS IS LIKE, THIS MAN IS THE EMBODIMENT OF EXTROVERTS.

I think the biggest headcanon we all agreed to is that one scenario where Crafty gets all nervous to show people her art, while Dogday says: "LETMESEELETMESEELETMESEELETMESEELETMESEELETMESEELETMESEELETMESEELETMESEELETMESEELETMESEELETMESEELETMESEELETMESEELETMESEELETME-" on poor Crafty.

Okay, underrated headcanon. INSTEAD of Craftycorn liking Dogday and being such a nervous mess about it. WHAT IF DOGDAY WAS THE ONE WHO HAD A CRUSH ON HER- WHAT IF YALL, WHAT IFFFFF!

Can't we all just equally agree Dogday sucks at drawing so we got Crafty as his art teacher? PLEASE-

I've said it so many times. Live laugh love Craftycorn girl failure.

DOGDAY👏GIVING👏CRAFTYCORN👏PRINCESS👏TREATMENT👏>>>>>>>>>>

Dogday, although sunny and joyful, can obviously get VERY stressed regularly. As if in case any of his friends get into a small fight, he gets to stay up all night trying to figure out a way to reconcile the group back together. Telling himself that "it's what the leader has to do". Of course, Craftycorn gets worried by how Dogday's house lights are still on. And decides to go check up on him. She's not as good as Catnap in helping people go to sleep, but she is non less a good company to stick around. So if Dogday declines to get to sleep right away when Crafty asks him about it, she considers perhaps doing some arts and crafts to at least ease his mind. Hopefully, him falling asleep at the desk to then be tucked him with a blanket.

They gotta absolutely LOVE cartoons.

SHE BETTER BE SCRATCHING THIS PUPPY'S EARS- IF IT'S NOT HER. I AM. WE ALL ARE.

Dogday ultimate good boy hehehhehehehheeheh.

Bobby is listening to the whole tea the moment she finds out about this.

Here's a nice headcanon nobody thought about

Craftycorn when typing: " (*^▽^*)\(@^0^@)/(●'◡'●)(✿◕‿◕✿)¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ╰(*°▽°*)╯(^///^)(❁´◡`❁)☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆（￣︶￣）↗　( •̀ ω •́ )✧(～￣▽￣)～(✿◡‿◡)（*＾-＾*）(≧∇≦)ﾉ(^・ω・^ )(^._.^)ﾉ╰（‵□′）╯(°ロ°)(⊙_⊙)？ "

Meanwhile Dogday typing: "😊👍"

AM I RIGHT?????

Crafty would make him so many matching bracelets that at this point he had to put them up on the walls as decorations. Yes, she gets embarrassed asf every time they have a slumber party with the group.

Crafty is known to be a very quiet and collected gal, BUT. HERE'S THE SITUATION- IF SHE EVER SNAPPED AT SOMEONE SHE SNAPS ALRIGHT? And BECAUSE she gets so pissed, she attempts to shut her mouth instantly, rush to the nearest room she can find and look herself inside. Guilt and embarrassment eat her alive. Yet, of course, we got Dogday to walk in as an optimistic reassurance.

OOOOOH, WHAT IF DOGDAY WAS BRAIDING HER HAIR AND TAIL- G A S P...... OH MY LORD, I GOTTA SEE ART OF THAT-

ONTOP OF THAT, LET CRAFTYCORN PUT MAKEUP ON HIM, AAAAHHHH!!!!

Between the two of them, Craftycorn is much smarter than him.

PDA?... oh man, have you seen how Dogday is? Of course, there's gonna be a PDA. What you'd expect?

[wispscribbles]

hi i just discovered your beautiful art so i obviously needed to scroll down your whole blog to catch up on everything you posted haha

i just wanted to say that i got way too emotional after reading that post of yours regarding mw3 and your mental health… on one hand i’m so sorry that you felt that way, but on the other i feel it with my whole heart

ghoap content especially for me helped me these past few months with my mental health in ways i would never have expected, it was my solace and inspiration, i started working out too and got back into drawing, got a lot better at it as well!

but unfortunately i get way too fixated on fictional stuff and there comes a time that my brain switches up and connects the things i liked and comforted me with things that make me extremely uncomfortable and stressed out, especially if i fall down a fandom rabbit hole that i would never have searched up, beacuse i know myself, i know my limits and triggers but i feel like i’m not a part of the fandom if i don’t like and interact with every single headcanon, art and ship

these past days i was really down because of that, and the things i read (why did i do that???) and now when i think of ghoap i think of that stuff and im scared that i alienated myself from the one thing that made me happy

but discovering your art and with that your post reminded me that im not alone in these feelings, even if it’s not the same exactly, and i wanted to thank you, for sharing your thoughts that time i guess haha <33

((sorry for rambling))

Long reply under 'keep reading' !! CW: talk of triggers and MCD

Always feel free to ramble my way!!! How nice you could find some comfort in my art and ghoap stuff. Especially in my mw3 post. I've been considering deleting it a few times, but hearing it maybe helped to read in some way makes me happy I left it up.

I get where you're coming from - I very much use these fictional characters as a safe space, but ppl view them very differently. There's room for it all, "don't like, don't interact" is very much a policy I agree with. It's important to mute words and be aware of your own triggers as you browse stuff in this fandom, because there's such a wide variety of stuff out there. You do NOT have to interact and agree with every thought people have on this ship, that's impossible and super stressful. There's plenty of stuff and headcanons I don't vibe with. There are no 'requirements' that you have to meet in order to enjoy fiction.

It's part of why I enjoy ghoap - that their dynamic resonates and has sparked so much creativity and outlets for so many - but it also means there's gonna be a lot of stuff u don't necessarily agree with or feel comfortable with. For example, a lot of folks use the MCD in mw3 as a way to explore grief, which I think is really cool, but on a bad day that could potentially get my brain in a bad headspace, so I only check out that art and those fics when I feel okay. There's also a bunch of stuff I'd never want to interact with, and that’s fine !!

I'm personally quite vanilla and a sucker for exploring the softer, more domestic aspects of these characters. It's what brings me joy. I know there are parts of this fandom who don’t vibe with what I make at all, and would call it untrue to the characters. Some creators enjoy exploring the more violent or toxic sides to the source material. That's just how it is, we all need different things from fiction. As long as we're capable of chilling in our respective sandboxes, then all's good.

But if you're like me, and enjoy the softer things, then definitely be aware and careful while exploring this ship and fandom. I've seen takes on these characters that are so far removed from how I view them, that they're basically the complete opposite, and it can leave a very bad taste, especially if you're the type to hinge your safe space on fiction.

Just... be mindful of yourself and your potential triggers, be respectful and don't interact with things that make you uncomfortable to the point of feeling unsafe. Shape your own online experience to your best ability.

Hope you're doing okay and still find joy in ghoap <3

[coffeelomort]

On using the #Fragari_Art tag on Twitter

It seems that a few JP users on Twitter have been getting irritated by the use of the #Fragari_Art tag on Twitter by mostly fans from outside JP.

They're not against fans outside JP posting fanart, of course, but in the JP fanbase, there's generally rules that are followed when it comes to using main tags. Generally, the criteria is:

OK to use tag:

Fanart of the Fragaria Memories characters

Fanart of the knights and their lords together (as long as it isn't shipping art)

Manga/comics of the characters (as long as it isn't shipping)

Joke fanart

Duo/trio/group fanart (as long as it isn't shipping)

Not OK to use tag:

Shipping fanart (this includes both canon/canon and canon/OC, anything even hinting at shipping is generally avoided from being tagged it seems)

Fanart of OCs (including yume characters)

Fanart of girls (probably? I'm not quite sure what the tweet I'm referencing means by this, but considering it's a joseimuke at heart it's probably exactly what it says)

These rules are generally followed across each fanbase on JP Twitter, by the way, it's not just a Fragaria Memories thing. I know that artists just want their art to be seen by as many people as possible, which is completely fair. But it's just the way that JP users curate their experience in the fanbase. You see this a lot on Pixiv; shipping art won't be tagged with the series they're from.

Also notably, the #Fragari_Art tag is an official tag that was created by the company itself, so it seems like some users are worried that the company may even prohibit the creation of fan content altogether if people keep misusing the tag. I'm not sure how based in reality this worry it, but considering how trigger-happy the company is with lawsuits, I don't doubt it.

Edit: People aren't asking people to delete their art if they've used the tag or anything, it's more just a plea to be more mindful of using the tag in the future. (Nor is this aimed at anyone in particular, since there are quite a few fans outside of JP that do follow the rules.)