#not saying people have to write fanfic and fanart non stop for these characters

[koskela-knights]

At this point, with the Night Springs DLC having come out and how i've felt about Jesse's chapter and Coffee World and the overall (under) usage of named NPCs from the AW2 canon, I keep thinking....

I feel the Cult of the Tree lost all its narrative purpose and emotional impact due to FBC involvement. The Cult and the Koskelas might have well been some random unnamed NPC Cult Leaders or heck, they might as well have been replaced by a sentient lamp and their relevance and impact and the outcome would've been the same. It could've been some other random murder case that would've attracted Saga and Casey's attention to BF for how little pay-off we got for the Cult arc. The final 'wrap-up' if you will, is totally missable and optional. At this point, nobody even cares anymore that the Cult were actual the good guys all along.

Even Remedy seems to have forgotten about the whole Cult arc and the Koskelas as characters and I feel the fandom even mirrors that in some waysthere

[the-fab-fox]

Okay. So Imma just come out and say it.

Y'all who read fanfic. You. Need. To. Start. Commenting. On. Fics.

I have been told I'm a great writer. I've been told I'm spot-on with characterization. I've been told I'm great at making readers feel and experience what the characters are feeling and experiencing. Been told it's like the reader is in the room as everything plays out.

However, when I see that my fics have upwards of 1K hits and maybe 100-300 comments and maybe 40-100 kudos and not even hitting triple digits in the bookmarks/subscriptions to a fic... Well, what would you think in my shoes?

Most likely, if you're like me, you're thinking all kinds of negative things (especially if you have mental illness/ADHD/neurodivergency of some kind). Stuff like... Oh, those other people are just being nice (not fair to them so I try not to think this way but negative self talk doesn't play nice with me).

Or I think... Okay so they checked it out. They had to click on the fic for it to even register the hit, right? So why don't I at the very least have more kudos? That's the easiest option on there (though it's like a like on here; if you are gonna leave kudos please also leave a comment), right? So what was wrong with my fic that I don't have more kudos at least.

But then I get on here and see so many comments and reblogs on FANART (still not enough for them either though lbr). THE POINT IS... If you read a fic. If you read it and liked it, you all really need to start commenting.

It doesn't even have to be long paragraphs or quoting or any of the ✨ big comments ✨ stuff. You could leave an emoji that be showing me what my fic or update got you feeling. You can do keyboard smash. If the author asks for it, you can leave constructive criticism (but only if the author has actively asked for it; if they haven't or given you permission, then don't). You can absolutely do big comment things too.

One of my favorite type of comments to get are the quoting ones. You just copy/paste and then say what you liked about it or what it made you feel or your reaction to it. Things like that. I love when my readers tell me their fave parts in an update. Or quote a line and tell me their thoughts and feels. Just yes.

We are far too advanced in this day and age and fanfiction and fandom are wholly more accepting than it used to be but for some reason, comments and reactions have become almost non-existent compared to when I was 15. And I was... Pretty cringy in my writing back then but I can admit that. But every chapter I'd get at least 8-10 comments. A chapter!

Even earlier in my Twst series I was getting A LOT more comments and with every fic it seems to have dropped significantly.

To me, to my brain, that tells me that my writing is suddenly sucky or I lost my talent or I'm not actually as great a writer as I was told because then why aren't more people commenting.

You might try to argue and say you're shy. Do you comment on order things? Do you tack onto a reblog to put out some addition to the original post? Do you chat with people in the fandom? Do you comment on fanart?

Then what makes a fanfic any different? (This is not including smut fics because I get but necessarily wanting it tied back to you. But if you open ao3 in a browser you aren't logged into ao3 on, you can (as long as the author has allowed it) post a comment anonymously. Yeah!)

You might say oh well I don't have time to comment right now. But you had time to read the fic? You had time to reblog that shit post? You had time to comment on the tags on a fanart you really loved? Thing is, unless you want to write a long one, comments do not take that long to leave. They really don't.

If you're worried the author doesn't want to hear from you—I'll stop you right there. The author ABSOLUTELY wants to hear from you.

So now is the time to stop making excuses to be lazy. You are reading really great fan literature for free. The least you can do as a thank you and to show support is to COMMENT. ON. THE. FIC.

And if you wanna really make an author's day and help support them and their work, REC the fic. REC the Author's work list. You can do that to friends you know would like it or even better, make a post about the fics and link your recs.

It's really not that hard and we should not have to beg. Realize the blessing you have that fics you would enjoy exist for free and do your part. COMMENT.

[wasabijean]

Why do people treat Thrax and Osmosis like That? A Discussion About Fandom and Antiblackness

Happy black history month!

I’ve been considering making this post for a long time, and I wasn’t sure when, but I think now is a good opportunity.

NOTE: Let me preface this by saying that with a movie with a predominantly black main cast, the fanspace has been predominantly white/non-black, and I feel that has effected the conversations surrounding this movie for a long time.

Fandom, in general, continues to have white voices and perspectives highlighted, while black and poc voices are drowned out. Compare 2014 to 2024, and it’s obvious that there’s been a shift in diversity among all fanspaces, and I’m so very glad.

I want to continue this shift, by giving my own perspective as a black person who loves this movie, and I’d like to highlight the way the OJ fandom has treated these black characters (and spoiler, it hasn’t been great.)

Firstly, too many people are comfortable with portraying Thrax as this sexual r*pey monster, and I need it to stop. ESPECIALLY when he’s explicitly a black coded character.

From what I’ve seen observing and participating in this fandom over the past few years, is that Thrax and Ozzy is a very popular pairing, and honestly, I’m not a fan. It’s onesided, there’s not that much chemistry on screen except the dynamic of Jones being afraid and Thrax trying to kill him. I can’t control what people ship, but I absolutely can condemn the way people have paired these two up. Because… As a black person, I don’t like seeing these black characters in (oftentimes if not always) inherently racist dynamics.

Let me explain:

CW // mentions of racism, rape, grooming

Both Jones and Thrax are black coded characters. They use AAVE, have black VA’s, and Thrax literally has locs While Mayor phlemming is very much racist towards Jones in the movie (ie refering to him as “incapable”, treating Ozzy badly why Drix is praised, there’s obviously racial coding there). So, I can say with certainty that these characters are black, because of how theyre treated and also the cultural motifs in their story and character.

With that said, in the pairing of Ozzy and Thrax, so many people depict Thrax as this sexy controlling or possessive boyfriend that’s monsterous and the “top”, while Jones is the submissive scared stupid and sensitive “bottom”. I’ve seen this in fanfic, fanart, etc. It’s a shame that these characters have been boiled down into something like this, especially when I love Thrax as a villain, and I think Jones does a great job standing his ground as a hero even when he’s scared.

Thrax has high kill count and he wants to keep the killing going, and it’s refreshing to see a unrelentless villain like that in kids Animation; That’s one of the reasons why he’s so popular. But, everytime I bring up this character to people, its either “he’s so hot i need him” or “he should fuck osmosis”. Pushing aside the good writing of black characters in order to satisfy sexual fantasies via a ship is Certainly a Odd Choice. But, it happens anyway in a lot of fanspaces, and Osmosis Jones is no exception.

This type of dynamic of Thrax in particular just continues to perpetuate stereotypes of black men that are inherently racist. (ex: black men are rapists, are hyper sexual monsters, etc). Like, Historically, this stereotype has been used to dehumanize and incarcerate black men, And the stereotype in its self began with American slavery and the practice of “breeding” the enslaved. So, why do so many people continue to project this type of behavior on Thrax (particularly with Jones)?

Is it because he’s hot? Or that he’s just sexual in nature? Or was it that “big daddy thrax” line in the movie? Regardless of how Thrax was written compared to how he has been protrayed in fandom spaces, at the end of the day, thats fanon. Thrax isn’t a sex monster, he’s a egotistical virus with the intent to kill and win!

Themes of R*pe come up a lot with Thrax fancontent, for some reason. Maybe it was the choking scene, because it has sexual themes, but is not consesual in the slightest. Majority ozzy and thrax fanfics on AO3 have tags for Non-c0n and explicit. Sometimes, instead of fanfic it’s digital art, and it isn’t always tagged.

I vividly remember scrolling on tumblr when I was 14, looking for Osmosis Jones art, only to be flashed by r*pe and explicit content of Thrax, Jones, Leah. I remember Leah, a black woman character, often being pushed to the side and demonized. Little black kid me got so, so scared of the fandom, because of the racism and graphic content.

So, I kept lurking, holding my breath as I scrolled, and never interacting or posting my art, sharing my ideas, nothing. I felt alienated from the fanspace of a animated movie meant for kids, a movie that I loved. Online fanspaces are a great way for people to find other’s who have the same interest, but that wasn’t the case for me. I was deprived of something I should’ve had fun with, especially as an autistic kid who had no one else to talk to about the things I liked. I hated it; being uncomfortable and scared, because of something I loved, but feared the things that could come with it.

I tried overcoming that fear and branching out but it ultimately got me groomed by people who liked the movie on different occasions, and now that I’m 18, older, and wiser, I don’t want repeats to happen to anyone else.

There is no reason a animated movie, that’s meant for children mind you, has had such a racist and explicit fanspace.

There is no reason to not properly tag your content, not just for organization purposes, but for safety.

There is no reason why the most popular ship in this fandom is the one that has so much underlying themes of racism and SA, canonically and in fanon.

This is just my opinion, because I think black voices are important in fandom especially when so often overlooked, and I’m willing to discuss this further or answer any questions. It’s just tiring as a black person to keep seeing this happen with black characters.

[thespianinthebackcorner]

I'm pretty sure Squid Sisters were already pretty popular back in the Splatoon 1-Splatoon 2 days. After all, their relationship, agent lives and family drama was the main focus of the plot (among saving the squid society). And even nowadays, people still love them. They're THE Splatoon icons. Have you forgotten how people went crazy over the Reporter Callie outfit? There were fanarts everywhere!

Off The Hook are also really interesting - they played a huge part in Octo Expansion (you know, the DLC with the biggest, darkest, most liked lore and aesthetic?) and in Side Order, we also know their backstories (especially Marina's backstory is pure fanfic material, people love the angsty deserter trope + she was a breath of fresh air and a mystery as a first important non-enemy octoling character ever). Not to mention that they're literal canon lesbians with healthy and interesting dynamics.

What do we know about Deep Cut?? They've got nothing going on. They were villains in the Splatoon 3 storymode but mind you, not even the main villains. They grew up together, they come from some prestigious families that aren't mentioned ANYWHERE outside of the Sunken Scrolls, we know nothing about them. They don't have backstories, they don't have interesting dynamics (they're just 3 random people and their bond isn't even shown to be that strong, of course people prefer the SS family drama or OTH lesbian romance). Deep Cut is boring, of course people don't care about them, don't blame us, blame Nintendo for neglecting them.

Also, stop acting like you're better than others because you don't care about the icky romance and give deserved equal attention to every poor idol that gets overshadowed by the lesbians. People DO care about other Splatoon characters. There are fanarts of the Agents (Agent 24 is problably the second most popular ship right after Pearlina), non-idol Splatbands, even Craig Cuttlefish and Octavio! Maybe you'll see all this content if you stop exclusively browsing only the pearlina tag. Also accept that Deep Cut is boring.

ooh, another one.

Okay, I don't have all the time to type up an entire essay (tbh I lowkey admire the effort of writing four paragraphs just to bitch on me for having an opinion), so I'm gonna summarise my result.

I don't follow the pearlina tags. The only Splatoon tags I follow are Splatoon and the promo kids tag. Used to follow more but I have my reasons for unfollowing the other ones. (They were mostly agent ships, for clarity.)

I know other people care about the others. I'm just saying that when stuff like this rolls around it's never seen because everyone talking about pearlina gets top spots on this site and no one gives attention to anything else, so everything else is hard to see. This is mostly a recent development with grandfest, but even so Pearlina overshadows a LOT. For me, the Callie suit was actually a rare case of the community not focusing on them.

i know the Squid Sisters were popular in their first games. That's the point. Y'all are sitting out here talking about the old idols and ignoring the ones we're supposed to be paying attention to.

So what if the deep cut members don't have much lore to their names? I'm in the promo kid fandom! They have literally only their names and people don't have a problem coming up with headcanons and engaging stories for them. Just be creative. That's what fandom is for.

Believe it or not, I know Pearl and Marina featured in side order and octo expansion. I know they have a healthy dynamic. Surprise surprise, I've played the games too. I have both DLCs and have completed both. I know. That's not my point.

i also know that there are poeople out there caring about other characters. Like I said, I'm in the promo kid fandom. It's just that whenever pearl and marina appear on screen, any trace of that is immediately overshadowed and made ten times harder to find. And I rarely have the time to go hunting through tags.

I'm not trying to act like I'm better. I'm not guilty of pearlina posting, but I'm not much better either. I'm just stating how I feel and how i see things. If you've got a problem with that, great, but don't insult me for my feelings. It's your choice how you react to things. If you've got nothing nice to say, don't say it.

[idledreams4]

in regards to the stupid discourse that's happening now:

Can I just remind everyone that PROSHIPPERS ARE NOT EVIL

We just don't give a fuck who y'all wanna ship

That's literally all??

"But [insert "problematic" ship] is problematic" in the real world, sure. Rape is bad. Incest is heavily frowned upon. Murder is illegal. Certain age gaps are illegal

Wanna know something crazy? Fiction is... *gasp* NOT REAL

Do I agree with every single ship out there? No. There are some people I just don't believe should be together, whether it's cannon or not. But other people think they make a great couple and that's fine.

But I'm not going to go tell people "you can't ship [insert here]" or "you can't write x" because it's "morally reprehensible"

You don't want to read any fanfics with non/con, that's perfectly fine.

You don't want to see fanart of characters with a problematic age gap? Cool.

You don't want to see posts shipping siblings? Whatever.

Block. The. Tags. And. Move. On. Hell block the poster idgaf

I'd rather have you block me than get harassed because "writing noncon is insensitive to rape/sa victims" or "incest is disgusting, stop talking about brothers fucking eachother" or "One of these characters is 12, that's illegal" or my personal favorite: "writing about a murderer is disrespectful to the victims" I'd actually be happy if you just blocked me.

(all real comments I've gotten from people btw. And the murderer in question was fictional.)

Not being able to finish a fic is only one of the reasons I don't post anything. The constant hate is the other one. Sure there is a lot of positive feedback from other people who share the ships, but otherwise I just get blatant harassment and I don't want to put up with that.

Edit

While I was showering I thought of another comment I've gotten that actually beats the murderer one:

"why the fuck are you writing incestuous necrophilia"

Its not even really a hate comment, I just think it's really funny I got someone to say those words in that order.

[thefirstknife]

so, i have a question regarding the whole "rat" discourse regarding Drifter and Eris. people keep saying it's racist of Eris, but... isn't Eris literally southeast Asian too? i'm struggling to find it but i could have sworn you had a post about her being Asian.

i definitely agree with your points that the nicknames have been handled badly and definitely should stop (especially being used by non-asian people in fandom), but i feel like it's not as black and white as people have been treating it when it comes to the actual interactions between Eris and Drifter (i say all this as a woc; i absolutely don't want to defend any of the potential bigotry behind it, but it seems like a lot of people are spinning the harshest bad faith takes on it when Eris is literally also Asian and the point of her calling him "rat" was really clearly supposed to be about the fact that he lives in the basement and is generally a shifty character.)

I'm not sure about Eris; it's really hard to tell. There are HCs that she might also be South East or East Asian, but we don't have any definitive proof. I definitely like HCing her as such but we can't really prove it, not to my knowledge at least. If there's conclusive evidence please drop it my way!

Either way, even if she is, I think the problem is still about how this is perceived by the players. A lot of players aren't comfortable with it, and wouldn't be comfortable even if Eris was Asian herself. There's also the issue of who wrote it at Bungie; white people writing Asian characters using slurs is kinda icky. But I don't know the identity of all people who are in charge of writing it so there's that. The issue still remains though, in how it's perceived by the players that are affected and also those that aren't.

Most claim it's not an issue at all, if they're even informed on it, so you have a lot of non-Asian fans just perpetuating it over and over in fanart, fanfics and elsewhere in the community which leads to Asian fans having to listen this term being used casually outside of the game. That's a bigger issue in my opinion, rather than the mechanics of Eris and Drifter using it in the game.

I think that current writers at Bungie are simply not informed about it (because after the initial usage in Arrivals, they stopped for 2 years) and don't understand the bigotry behind the term and are trying to use it for Drifter being a shifty character and Eris using that as an insult. I am very confused when they try to pass it off as a cutesy petname because Eris is clearly using it to annoy him and he doesn't like it. So I cannot for the life of me see the "cute" in it.

For what it's worth, I do genuinely believe it's just people at Bungie not knowing; I don't want to assume that someone is doing it on purpose to be anti-Asian. I think they possibly saw the stuff from Arrivals and wanted to emulate it and they personally see it as something cute without knowing that the term has nasty connotations against Asian people when used on Asian people. Even if used by other Asians; non-Asian people will certainly repeat it when they hear it. And ofc, in this case, Eris and Drifter have no agency of their own since they're characters, so they do and say things that their writers direct them to do and say. If those writers aren't Asian themselves, then whatever Eris is doesn't really matter.

I think that for the sake of safety, the best would be to just not use it. That includes Bungie as well, though I don't know if we can get them to do that. So the next best thing is that we as a fandom refrain from it. Not everyone minds it in the same way, but some are genuienly hurt and put off by it so it really costs us nothing to refrain.

[miraculouscontent]

Alright, so apparently certain love square shippers felt the need to go into the Lukanette tag to celebrate/mock that Lukanette is “over” (Marinette broke up with him to keep him safe but go off I guess) and that officially crosses all my lines of not dealing with the fandom’s garbage.

The sheer pettiness is astounding to me, to take joy in the end of what was a lot of people’s comfort ship (people don’t choose comfort ships, by the way) because of “toxic Luka/Lukanette stans,” essentially lumping chunks of the fandom together and letting the opinion of those fans shape their own opinion on a character/ship. The sheer sensitivity on display to have so much spite and disdain for a ship that appeared in less than 10% of all episodes in the show. The sheer vindictiveness to feel smug and self-righteous while also being panicked over a non-endgame ship that’s as temporary as their claim of positivity and condemning of salt until they’re presented with something they don’t like.

Goliath really be beating up on David over here because he's bigger and thinks his opinion is more valid. For the record, no, opinions are not more valid due to shipping an endgame ship or presenting oneself as a beacon of positivity.

And it just goes to show how ship-blind these people are, to care about nothing more than the fact that Lukanette has broken up. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’ve seen people who openly admit to caring more about the love square’s security than Marinette’s happiness, which is just part of the issue here.

These people did not care how Lukanette broke up, only that it happened. Marinette’s crush backpedaling (because of the show feeling the need to cater to these exact people, who are so worried about their obviously endgame ship being “in danger”) and Marinette ending the episode in literal tears because she wanted to date Luka but couldn’t are both things that didn’t matter to them because it’s all about their ship in the end. Marinette’s life has been made more and more miserable due to her crush on Adrien while straining her relationships with various characters (see: Alya’s claim of jealousy as a reason for why Marinette “must be lying” about Lila), but so long as these people feel secure in their endgame ship, that’s all that matters.

They didn’t care if it was a clean break where both sides came out satisfied (or at least content). If anything, they wanted Lukanette to end as shoddily/dirtily as possible with zero care into how it affected Marinette, whether because they just don’t like the ship or because they actively desire for the suffering of the people who found comfort/happiness in the ship. Adrien had literally nothing to do with the break-up itself and him being mentioned served nothing for the story, but it’ll be completely overlooked or outright praised because god forbid Marinette spend an episode not talking about Adrien since that would imply that her life doesn’t revolve around him and that would be an apparent detriment to the love square.

By the way, newsflash: Luka was not an obstacle to the love square. He sent Marinette away in “Frozer” to go talk to Adrien. He told her that there was no pressure and that he’d be happy for her no matter what. Had Luka not existed, the love square would still be as stagnant as it is now, and it’s pathetic to complain about Marinette liking/dating another boy when she’s not only allowed to do so, but when “Oblivio” and “Chat Blanc” both exist as little more than tools to hold the supposedly “starved” love square shippers over.

These are the same people who will say they dislike/hate Luka, then do a 180 and claim that they “just feel so bad for him” and how he “deserves better than Marinette” (the sudden sympathy of which conveniently serves to hate on a ship that interferes with their own, further proven by equally convenient and appreciation/liking of Luka when he’s not a “threat” to the love square) while simultaneously shipping her with their sunshine boy because Ladybug is who Adrien wants and what Adrien wants is what matters.

These are the same people who will say that Luka is unnecessary and unneeded, then use him as a prop and stepping stone for love square fanfics and fanart, or suggest that Kagami is fine because she makes Adrien feel good about himself (when Luka does the same for Marinette but sure).

These are the same people who say that “Marinette can’t date Luka because she’s busy with hero stuff” while making fics about the love square getting together mid-”hero stuff” and then giving complete radio silence during “Chat Blanc” outside of how good they thought the episode was.

These are the same people who will tell others not to denounce Adrien for “a few mistakes” and then preemptively denounce Luka’s behavior based on a written synopsis for an episode that hadn’t even come out yet (and also after complaining that Luka was “too perfect,” I might add).

These are the same people who will say that Luka/Lukanette makes them feel “uncomfortable” (usually without offering any tangible reasons or being vague about Luka giving off “bad vibes” when he’s done nothing less than support and respect Marinette's agency) while the show’s endgame ship features the “m’lady” hand kissing Chat Noir who Ladybug has pulled away from multiple times yet he keeps persisting (which is apparently considered okay because Adrien is Chat Noir as if that discredits her discomfort/disdain for the gestures).

These are the same people who will say that Luka is “barely there” or “hardly exists” and then complain about how much screentime is dedicated to Lukanette, the utter greed on display going right over their heads when they have the actual endgame ship.

These are the same people who will absolutely reach for anything about Luka to complain about (again, after saying that he’s “too perfect,” then claiming he “tricked” Marinette into kissing him, claiming that he tried to force her into telling him her secret, or criticizing him for teasing her for her stuttering despite him immediately apologizing) and then either defend or turn a blind eye to Chat Noir (who tried to kiss her mid-battle instead of helping, made Ladybug feel bad for keeping secrets that weren’t hers to tell plus threatening his kwami that he’d quit if he didn’t get let in on said secrets, and mocked her instead of apologizing when she told him to stop calling her by a nickname she doesn’t like and has told him before to stop calling her) at every opportunity.

These are the same people who will say that Lukanette is “forced,” then proceed to ship Luka (regardless of if they like him or not) with literally anyone else for the sake of taking him out of the romance equation (because he has to be taken out via already dating as they couldn’t come up with a legitimate reason for Marinette to not want him otherwise), and the only requirement for this person he’s shipped with is that they breathe and aren’t Marinette.

These are the same people who act bothered by Marinette “””treating Luka poorly””” because of her crush on Adrien (by the by, Adrien’s crush on Ladybug has hurt Kagami as well), inadvertently admitting that Marinette’s crush is a problem, then continue shipping her with Adrien in its canon form anyway.

These are the same people who will say that they hate salt fics (specifically ones that target Adrien) and how they “bash characters,” then write fanfics or draw fanart that intentionally make Luka out of character for the sake of having him look bad or giving Marinette an excuse to run to Adrien (because Luka apparently needs to be made worse so that Adrien can look good instead of Adrien being able to stand on his own merits as a good love interest for Marinette).

These are the same people who will slam Luka when he’s Marinette’s support, then go off and ship him with other characters so that he can support them instead (fun fact that this is usually either Adrien - thus leaving Marinette completely alone and miserable when Luka canonically likes her - or characters that Marinette is actively against, such as Chloe or Lila).

These are the same people who will complain about how salty the fandom is (even when the salt is for catharsis/getting out anger from an episode in a productive way) and then laugh when a simple side ship ends because they’ve been letting said ship live rent free in their heads and couldn’t stop anticipating the episode that declares them “over.”

These are the same people who tell or suggest that people should “just leave” if they don’t like the main ship, unapologetically implying that the main ship is either all the show is about, all that they personally care about (bringing us right back to that little “not caring how torn apart Marinette is about the break-up” thing), or that people aren’t allowed to watch/like the show for other reasons (like Marinette herself, the miraculouses, other characters who may appear intermittently but nevertheless bring them joy to see, etcetera).

These are the same people who get on other people’s case for being spiteful while they themselves ride their high horse into the sunset, playing victim when people call them out for intentionally provoking others or purposefully mistagging to avoid people’s blacklist (tagging is not for the comfort of the tagger so they can “””avoid the toxic stans,””” for the record; it’s for the comfort of the people who don’t want to see that content).

And these are the same people who will go on and on about the toxicity of the stans who ship something they don’t like and then either ignore or downplay the stans who ship what they do like because they personally don’t have to experience it. This isn’t even about ship wars, it’s about the hypocrisy and lack of self-awareness.

I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear about how cruel the Luka fans or Lukanette shippers are when these people are celebrating Marinette’s misery because it means the end of a ship that they don’t like and certain people find comfort in. I don’t want to hear about people cross-tagging/mistagging when the Luka/Lukanette tag has been flooded with people who talk trash about the ship without any additional tags to filter it away, getting so bad to the point where some Luka/Lukanette fans had to find workarounds and/or avoid the tag entirely. I don’t want to hear about how certain shippers are worse because [x] [y] [z] when everyone has different experiences, showing a severe case of close-mindedness or at least ignorance on these people’s parts.

And, with how this season is heading, if something bad happens to the love square by the end of Season 4, I most definitely do not want to hear these same people decry the people who will do the exact thing that they’re doing now.

[yeeiguess]

List of things I do that I can’t tell if they’re normal or if it’s ADHD/ADD/something else (very long, non-exhaustive list)

- If i take a pause in reading/watching something the emotional connection I get with it just disappear. I remeber i loved seeing it, but can’t feel it

- Can’t finish a movie unless I’m with something else. Can’t focus for that long ?

- Rarely finishes any series, actually

- Constantly tired

- Taking Vitamin C to give me a boost of energy doesn’t seem to work

- If I’m doing something boring or difficult I can’t concentrate. Anything distracts me

- I’ve been eating my nails and the skin around them forever. Not because I’m stressed, I just do it. Tried to stop but it didn’t last long

- Have to write down what I have to do in a day or I forget

- Forgets appointments, names etc unless I write them down

- Often forget what I was going to say, and if we’re in a conversation and the other person is talking even more. I don’t want to interrupt so I keep it in and then I forget because I can’t focus on two things at the same time

- Can’t tell if i take a normal time to fall asleep or if it’s long (between 45 minutes and an hour+ depending on how early I go to bed and how tired I am)

- Mimicking people’s movements if they do it repeatedly

- No notion of space or time. I can remember point A and point B but the road between the two, I can’t. Can’t tell you how long ago I did this or that, what I ate yesterday, which month I did X thing

- numbers are difficult. I need precise, step by step explaination of how to resolve math problems, most of it doesn’t make sense and I have a hard time remember which numbers comes after the other + how to say it (around 60-100 because french decided 70s and 90s needed to be Said and Written the dumbest way ever). When resolving simple things like 7+6 I do 7+7=14 / 14-1=6. I know 7+7=14 so I start from there. My mom does the same kind of things but she has dyslexia/dyslcalculia etc

- I’m always early and if it’s a place I don’t know I’m always scared I got to the wrong place or ay the wrong time and I need to check multiple time if the person I’m meeting isn’t here yet

- I don’t think it’s hyperfocusing but I spend a lot of time just imagining stories in my head with my favourite characters. I act them out when I’m alone, and sometimes stop what I’m doing just to think. I read a LOT of fanfics (but can’t read a book) and do a lot of fanart

- Doesn’t happen that often but object permanence being like nope (aka looking for something I just put down for an awefully long time. Mostly my glasses. Which sucks because I CAN’T SEE WITHOUT THEM)

- sometimes I get Intense Brain Fog and to read a sentence I need to read every word multiple times one after the other, out loud, until I can get an image of what it means. Sucks when it happens in philosophy class and I have two pages to read oops

- I’m slow. Like slow walker, slow to understand... it makes me feel stupid sometimes

- I can’t get up right after eating, I need some time before I can clean my things, out the dishes in the dishwasher etc... especially at night

- If there’s music, I dance. If I know the lyrics, I mouth them. Wherever I am, whatever the music is, at any given moment.

- When I’m tired I get hyper and excited and I’m terribly annoying but I just. Makes sound and move a lot until I’m REALLY exhausted and every movements is difficult

- Bouncy leg has been here for forever. Sometimes it’s BOTH legs and stopping is hard

- I’m a mess but I like symmetrical things and putting things on their correct places in stores. Can’t see the color of my desk tho

- I fucked up my sleep schedule in middle school and now if I got to bed too early I wake up tired af

- I’m impulsive af but also if I have a project to do I like to know every important step so I don’t mess up

- « I know I have to do that but I have no energy right now » procrastinator forever

- Literally just forgot what I thought of

- Okay no I got it- sometimes I get Thoughts that just don’t go away. Often it’s me repeating the way someone misgendered me, or my birthname i just heard and I have to mentally scream to cover the thought. It sucks

- If i have a phone call, a meeting, an appointment during the day. I can’t do anything but wait for it. No matter how long it’ll be until it’s time to go or see the person i start things and I get nervous so I stop and I just. Wait.

- I used to tell myself I didn’t exist, sometimes. It was a comforting thing, because not existing meant I couldn’t hurt, couldn’t hate myself or struggle with things like gender and names and dad. I haven’t done it in months tho !

Édit : i can’t understand why so many people reblog this without giving me any answer or any question or anything ?? What’s the- why do you reblog this

[rivetingribbons]

✒️Writing Tips✒️

Here are some quick writing tips for you :>

Get a notebook, then write as many ideas as possible for your story in said notebook. It doesn t have to be neat, and once your done it never has to see the light of day again

Now get a stuffed animal, this will be your plot plushie. The plot plushie will sit next to you while your writing, and when you get stuck on a certain part of the story, you can stop to explain it to the plushie. Once you finally piece together the obvious answer, feel free to take your rage out on the plushie.

when writing don t listen to music with words, listen to lo fi or white noise. I normally listen to ambient mixer (its a website) or just some spooky lo fi.

Practice

You can save up that really big project you want to do once you get more skill, no ones shaming you for that.

Fanfics are a great way to practice, whether they re one shots or not. Its also a quick way to get an audience from that genre, though most will only what to see your fanart.

its okay to be inspired by a show you like. Make sure you aren t so inspired that you make a rip off of said show though.

If your going to write, you might as well read books to get inspiration for your writing.

Take. Good. And. Useful. Criticism. Only. You need to develop that skill if your going to do anything in this field.

Fanfics are also considered fiction too, your just as much as a writer if you write marvel fanfics compared to someone who writes high stakes romance novels.

Take. Breaks. When. You. Need. To. Take. Breaks.

Drink water when your writing. No inherient reason, just drink some water.

Grammarly is free. (Well, you need to pay a fee to get the lil bonus features, buuuut for general mistakes grammarly is free)

Speaking of apps, speechify is free. It reads your text to you. Or instead you can use google translate or any other text to speech app.

If your starting to think your writings predictable your wrong. Because you ve been reading it for the past five hours of course its predictable to you. If you seriously think you have this problem let someone else review your work and get their opinion on it.

Take some stretch breaks. Often.

Don t let mean comments hurt you. In fact don t even read the comments if your so sensitive to those things. Unless they re telling you to kill yourself or being racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/extremely extremely bigotted (don t use that term so loosely, because fatphobia don t really exist. Yes there are healthy fat people, but theres a limit. When your so fat you can t sit in a armchair without being squashed thats a you problem.) then the report button is right there sweetie. And its free.

Don t use all of your research when your writing fictional stuff. For example, if your writing about a character with DID (dissociative identity disorder) then try to explain it in non-scientific terms, like how a normal person would try to describe it to another normal person, especially through dialouge.

On the flip side ACTUALLY RESEARCH THE TOPICS YOUR WRITING ABOUT. Especially if it involves mental health, diseases, any actual real life things, races, historical time periods (if your story takes place in a different time period, or they time travel) or anything else i m forgetting. Research is EXTREMELY important. If your writing about going to a japanese school and your in america, those school systems are VERY different. For example the infamous sailor uniform in japanese schools is mostly used for middle schoolers, and the school lunch in japan is cooked by the students and looks so much better than american school lunches. And i think 99% of the time they re free (don t quote me on that, i forgot exactly if they are or not.)

Instead of avoiding stereotypes, add your own twist to them. For example, instead of the pretty dumb popular girl, it can be an ugly nerd girl whos popular because she thinks she the smartest person in school. Or if we re writing a thriller or mystery novel instead of the quiet kid being the killer PICK LITERALLY ANYONE ELSE.

You don t have to make the reader LIKE the villians actions, just make them somewhat understandable.

Wanna make that death scene more impactful? Make a toddler (about 4-8) try to wake up the dead persons corpse (see full metal alchemists matt huges death scene, where he s getting buried. NOT BROTHERHOOD.) You can make the kid say things like "[name here], your leaking?!" or "WAKE UP PLEASE?! YOU PROMISED MOMMY YOU D COME BACK?!" Or anything to make the toughest readers cry like babies.

No more basic white dudes with no personality for main characters please? Make the main character at least a little likeable.

See those big boobie anime characters? No more of that shit unless your gonna make their ass complain about back pain.

When writing about deja vu write that crap twice but slightly different. Like slightly different wording or something

Be unique!

Don t worry about numbers.

have fun!

[absynthe--minded]

please may I hear about The Wife... no judgement at all I just love hearing what everyone thinks

Okay. So.

(obligatory disclaimer: all headcanons are valid, and all fanworks are valid, and my opinions are my own and based on what I see in fandom around me, which is not the full breadth and depth of Tolkien fandom and is only a tiny piece of the greater puzzle. this is salty, and somewhat bitter, and very frustrated, but it’s not aimed at any specific person and it’s not just my negative feelings due to being a Russingon shipper. I’d actually really like to continue conversation about this, with people on all sides of The Wife Debate - I enjoy talking with people!)

the tl;dr is that I really cannot stand how the fandom treats the potentially-existing character of Fingon’s wife.

first off, it’s basically up in the air as to whether or not she exists - we have reference in the published Silmarillion to Gil-galad as Fingon’s son with Christopher Tolkien saying later that he was acting in error in confirming GIl’s parentage that way, and we have a line from The Mariner’s Wife that’s the beginning of a letter sent to Tar-Meneldur (Ereinion Gil-galad son of Fingon to Tar-Meneldur of the line of Eärendil, greeting: the Valar keep you and may no shadow fall upon the Isle of Kings.) in which Fingon’s parentage is claimed by the then-High King, but we also have writing from The Shibboleth of Fëanor that Fingon had no wife upon departure from Valinor and no biological children at that time.

For a long time it was assumed that Fingon’s wife was a Sindarin woman named Meril, but ‘Meril’ is the name of Finrod’s wife as recorded in The War of the Jewels and in this draft Gil-galad is Arafinwëan. The confusion there is easy to understand, as Gil-galad’s departure to the Falas and early life spent with Círdan is present in both the published Silmarillion and the unpublished footnotes of WotJ, but ultimately the canon holds two things to be more or less plausible: first, Gil-galad is Fingon’s son; second, he has no stated wife.

of course the absence of a recorded wife doesn’t mean there was no wife - we only need look at Orodreth’s child/children, or Elros’s, or Isildur’s, to see that Tolkien has a habit of giving men biological offspring without recording the names of the women in their lives who must have birthed and helped raise those offspring - but this actually brings me to the first issue I have with how fandom treats this particular quasi-character (let’s call her Nís, for this little ramble - it’s easier than dancing around the fact that she has no name of her own): she’s assumed to be necessary for the existence of Gil-galad the Nolofinwëan.

Fingon adopting a child, or taking an heir for legal purposes, or fostering someone else’s son, are perspectives on family life that are more or less entirely gone from the fan conversation surrounding this interpretation of Ereinion’s parentage, as is the idea that Fingon might have wanted or had a child without the help of a woman. (and like - not to bring prejudices into this, because I don’t think they’re entirely the motivating factor here, but... sex-repulsed people exist? ace and aro people who don’t want conventional romantic relationships exist? I’m 100% on the “Fingon is grey-ace and 100% gay and only wants Maedhros” train but aspec/arospec, single Fingon is also a valid headcanon and assuming he had to have a wife for the sake of having a child uh. bothers me because of its implications?) and all of this comes down to my larger point of frustration which -

Nobody really cares about this character in her own right. Nobody looks at Nís, or the gap left by her in the text, and becomes invested in her and in what happens to her without some external factor making her a necessity. She’s Gil-galad’s mother so she has to be there, or she’s Fingon’s wife and therefore something that isn’t Russingon so she has to be there. She’s not a personality that anybody gives a damn about outside of what she can do for the men in the narrative, and that pisses me off like nothing else and is the main reason why she’s basically the only woman in the Legendarium I can’t stand. I love Tolkien’s women! I think they’re all great! I’m a lesbian and I’d love to see more ladies hanging around! But she doesn’t matter, in my experience, outside of propping up really narrow-minded ideas of family and giving weight to homophobia.

I would at least be able to grudgingly tolerate and understand and even respect her presence in the fandom if people liked her and respected her and treated her like her own person with weight and import! But she’s not in any of the textual ghost fanworks, she’s never given a shoutout in fanart, she barely registers on anyone’s radar. There are twenty fanfics on AO3 tagged with her relationship to Fingon in them, and eleven of those left when you filter out fics that also include Russingon in some capacity. “Fingon/OFC” yields ten stories total. Out of over sixteen thousand. Nobody - and I mean that seriously - treats her like she matters, even people who believe she exists. She’s not a fundamental part of serious headcanons - I’ve seen more love given to OC wives for Maedhros than this woman who a large subset of the fandom seems to think must have been real in some capacity!

(Just for fun: we have 40 works tagged for Orodreth’s wife, 40 works for Caranthir’s wife, 18 works for Elros’s wife, and 112 works for Maglor’s wife. Branching out into ‘named but with very little known about them’ we have 35 for Eldalótë, 135 for Amarië, and 199 for Elenwë. Everyone else in this story matters more than Nís does. It’s a little absurd.)

basically I’m done taking claims of loving this character or caring about her seriously. I’ve had to fight people using her like a bludgeon for so long that I cannot stomach her; my personal opinion is “I don’t want to see content made for this character who Tolkien himself said didn’t exist” but I’m a firm believer in ship and let ship and in the idea that all fanworks have a place and a purpose so like. people interested, y’all can do what you want if you stop resenting the hell out of Russingon shippers for no reason and keep things cordial? but in the meantime stop pretending you care about Nís for literally any other reason but ulterior motives, you clearly don’t! she’s a convenient person-shaped battering ram and literally nothing else.

(Also, I want to know what exactly Russingon shippers have done that makes us so worthy of everyone who doesn’t ship it hating our guts, you know? Homophobia is obviously part of it in some circles but what the hell happened that makes non-homophobes so damn resentful of us? please do give thoughts on that if you have them I want to know and that is even more salt.)

[nocturna-iv]

001: descendants, 002: Bumarry, 003: Ben for the ask game please ❤️

Hi luv!

About this ask:

And of course!

001: Descendants

Favorite character: Uma

Least Favorite character: Mal

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

Harry Hook x Uma

Ben x Uma

Harriet Hook x Ginny Gothel 

Jay x Lonnie

Jay x Uma

5 Favorite polyships (canon or non-canon):

Ben x Harry Hook x Uma (Ben x Gil x Harry Hook x Uma)

Audrey x Harry Hook x Gil x Uma (Audrey x Ben x Harry Hook x Gil x Uma)

Carlos de Vil x Jay x Lonnie

Chad x Jay x Gil x Harry Hook 

Gil x Harry Hook x Jay x Uma

Character I find most attractive: Harry Hook

Character I would marry: Ben, Harry, Lonnie & Uma

Character I would be best friends with: Ben, Carlos, Jane & Jay

A random thought: Because it’s Disney, Descendants doesn’t touch on prostitution, human trafficking, and violent sexuality and at a very early age that the VK had to live, as happens in the real world in invasions, guerrillas (child soldiers), street children or centers penitentiaries not properly regulated (such as the Isle of the Lost, a prison without guards and any law). But I don’t touch on the subject because it’s something very real and strong to expose it like that with the fandom but due to my profession and work, it’s something that my brain always remembers. Also, I don't like it when people treat these topics just for shock value.

An unpopular opinion: It's visibly awkward that ships and popular characters are mostly white. And I mean in the content of the fandom. Although we talk about the racism that exists in the canon, very few people seek to balance the numbers with new contributions  (whether with content with canon characters, OCs, or y/n). I don't know if it makes sense. But it seems that it is easy to talk about racism but not do something actively to include BIPOC characters (This is why I get excited when I find people drawing Audrey, Jay, Evie, Uma, and others without lightening their skin tone or writing fics with BIPOC y/n or creating things with the BIPOC canon characters as their main characters)

My canon OTP: Harry Hook x Uma

Non-canon OTP: Jay x Lonnie

Most badass character: Uma

Pairing I am not a fan of: Any ship with Mal. Especially Mal canon. And I HATE Mal x Uma, Audrey x Mal and Ben x Mal. Because of the toxic and abusive environment.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): 

Chad Charming.  From the start, Chad, Cinderella's son was turned into... a terrible character. Well, in the beginning, he is intelligent and manipulative, who knows how to use his charm against others. Brilliant. Cool. I can work with that. He may have an arc about learning about his wrongdoing and using his privileges to help others who don't. But no, the character just went downhill and became everyone's joke. 

Also, Ben, obviously. The movies wouldn't exist without him and he became an accessory to Mal. Disney can only write hero and damsel in distress, it seems. Because they do that to Ben. A tool to move the plot. My poor golden boy.

Favourite friendship: Jay and Lonnie. Give me two best friends who constantly joke around, kick each other's butt, compete in even the most ridiculous things, are affectionate with each other and even if they don't plan on it, they spend time together (I'm seeing you Jay and "I'm not going to invite no one to the ball but I'm going to dance with Lonnie all night ")

Character I want to adopt or be adopted by: I'm going to adopt Celia and no one will be able to stop me!

002: Bumarry,

When of if I started shipping it: Technically I answered this here. Also, from looking for Huma and Buma fics, I ended up finding my first Bumarry and... Oh, I got hooked on the idea.

My thoughts: They are my OTPoly (One True Polyship). I love them. Because they allow me to mix the variables and create new scenarios. After all the damage Ben has gone through, I inevitably want to give him the best and the best is Huma. What else can I say? It’s absolute logic.

What makes me happy about them: The devotion, affection, and strength they would have. Ben and Uma are very different leaders who complement each other very well and I could only trust Harry to take care of the two of them and give them the freedom they deserve. Ben is incredibly loving and that's something both Harry and Uma deserve to feel, Uma is incredibly protective and Ben needs that backing to rule and Harry needs that to stay alive every 5 seconds. Harry's loyalty is unprecedented, he would see to not only that everything is up to Ben and Uma's standards, but he would personally see that their dreams come true.

What makes me sad about them: 

Harry Hook/Uma:

Ben/Harry Hook:

Ben/Uma:

Ben/Harry Hook/Uma:

There isn't much of them... And they're mostly fics of mine. I want more content, you know? I want to read fics, drabbles, see fanarts... Buh.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: It’s not in Bumarry itself. Actually, it's in Ben/Harry Hook, they usually play dirty with Uma. And it annoys me. They make her mean, jealous, cruel, or things like that to Ben and Harry. And this I came across once: They make Harry gay and that his relationship/dynamic with Uma is pure appearance. I had no problem with Harry being gay, but the justification for his sexual tension with Uma was all... Fake? No, it didn't fit in well with me. I think that's why when you ask me to write Ben/Harry Hook, Uma is there to give support. Don't play dirty with my queen.

Things I look for in fanfic: Uma dom! Uma top! Those are my favorite tags.

My kinks: With this polyship? Okay... BDSM all the way. 

Ben:  Caring dom, cuckolding, cupping, degradee (especially with actions), experimentalists, little one, masochist, pet, hunter (primal), praise kink, prey (primal), rope bunny, submissive, suspension, switch, tentacle fetich, voyeur,  wax play

Harry Hook: Alpha sub, brat, breath play, biting fetich, choking, cupping, dom, degrader, exhibitionist, knife play (hook play?), owner, pet, praise kink, prey (primal), rigger, sadistic, slave, submissive,  switch, tentacle fetich

Uma:  Brat tamer, biting fetich, Dom, electrostimulation (electro-wand, feel like a little sting), exhibitionist, Immobilization, masochist, mistress, owner, hunter (primal),  orgasm control, sensation play, scratching, 

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Ben/Uma, Ben/Harry Hook, Harry Hook/Uma, with Gil, Evie or Jay. 

My happily ever after for them: 

Ben and Uma reigning Auradon and the Isle of the Lost together, Harry Hook taking care of them so they don't get exhausted and are protected from any attack. 

Ben on the run with Harry and Uma to live a pirate life and reclaiming Auradon in a rebellion.

003 Ben

How I feel about this character: I love him! He has good intentions. Ben knows that he is in a position of power and struggles to take advantage of his privileges to change things. He is rebellious, the second he is going to take the throne he begins to dismantle the system. Ben has a good heart and wants to help other people. Besides, I love that he has his survival instinct broken.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Uma, Harry Hook, Evie, Gil, Jay, Audrey and Chad

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Jane, Lonnie, Chad, Audrey, Evie, Uma, Harry Hook, Evie, Gil, Jay hahaha

My unpopular opinion about this character: Because he's a guy, the fandom downplays the horrible things he's been through.

One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon: He has maintained his friendship with Audrey and Chad. It breaks my heart to know that he is completely alone in that department since D1 and is perpetuated throughout the following films. I also wanted him to end up with Mal.

My het ship: Ben/Uma & Audrey/Ben

My fem/slash ship: Ben/Harry Hook, Ben/Gil, Ben/Chad

My OTP: Ben/Uma

My OT3: Ben/Harry Hook/Uma

My cross over ship: *thinking* Oh... Ben/Leo Valdez (PJO) And! And! Ben/Reggie (JATP)

My kink: Caring dom, cuckolding, cupping, degradee (especially with actions), experimentalists, little one, masochist, pet, hunter (primal), praise kink, prey (primal), rope bunny, submissive, suspension, switch, tentacle fetich, voyeur,  wax play

A HC fact: He likes to constantly question himself. About his sexual orientation, about his gender identity, about his ability to love, about his pleasure, above all. He likes to explore. Ben is queer.

My gender bend: Technically I already have it. In Meanwhile. Bee, she loos like her. I LOVE the idea of Bee shieldmaiden.

I love responding this! Thank you!!!!!!!

[tossawary]

(LMY anon) Ahh I just saw your character notes for LMY. Thank you, that's very helpful! You're right that it feels insulting to LQQ to make LMY too emotionally intelligent, esp considering we have canonical evidence that she's also a weirdo. Even if it's a non-transmigrator AU, I feel like the only way I can even begin to understand her character is through the lens of a fangirl. The concept of writing RPF for a teacher+an ex-classmate who actually tried to end the world is a new level for me

I don’t even understand or like RPF on the normal level, personally. I mean, RPF fans, you do you! I vaguely comprehend the concept of treating celebrities presented/public personalities as characters, but I’m not personally comfortable with it. So that was one of my biggest obstacles when writing Liu Mingyan, like... this woman is in-a-different-universe-to-me-brained. 

This was more or less my thought process, like, how I personally worked out better understanding Liu Mingyan’s situation: 

(TL;DR: It’s easier to think of Liu Mingyan as a bard.) 

So that was one of my biggest obstacles when writing Liu Mingyan, like... this woman is in-a-different-universe-to-me-brained.

But, at the same time, I don’t get the same squick with fiction surrounding historical figures. I mean, I do sometimes, but the distance of time makes it easier. I’m also fine (most of the time) with stories inspired by a true story. A lot of fiction is based on real events! Authors draw from real life! I don’t really watch Hollywood movies based on modern events and human interest stories which go viral, but they’re definitely a thing and they’re basically RPF. People like Real Person Fiction and Real Person Non-Fiction. 

And, like, okay, this world doesn’t have the same overwhelming variety of content that our modern world has. Unclear on whether or not there’s widespread literacy or printing presses, but it sounds like most stories are going to come from storytellers and singers and other performers. Many of these performances are going to draw on historical and recent events, especially because it’s unclear how news might be otherwise spread. Look at what a huge industry just plain gossip is in our modern world! People need to be entertained and singing for your supper is an okay gig. 

I need to stop thinking in terms of Modern RPF as I know it on AO3 and start thinking more in terms of bards.* Liu Mingyan is perhaps more like an artist meeting a journalist (or a publicist or a historian) than a modern fanfiction writer. Or like any playwright writing an embellished history for a ruler (except she did it on her own). Is a bard or storyteller hired to write something putting history in a specific light not essentially a historical paid publicist? 

Except Liu Mingyan is doing it for her own benefit. And I would still personally call it fanfiction even if in this case it’s a for-profit adaptation. 

*(I should probably better research Chinese historical forms of performance and spreading news, but SVSSS allows me to be lazy and hand-wavey about it. Thanks, Airplane.) 

So, for me, I’m picturing Liu Mingyan and her friends are just a step to the left of historical reenactment meeting gossip meeting music/poetry/songwriting practice that got really out of hand. Friends can be terrible enablers sometimes, right? Then, bam! Real Person Fiction that people found compelling and spread like wildfire. All of the people involves are celebrities / political figures whose movements matter to the common people, and they don’t have news sites or social media sites for Keepin’ Up with the Cultivators. 

I mean, it’s funny to think about it in terms of RPF and fanfiction as we know it, so I absolutely do. I think she’s a bit of a fangirl, yes! I relate to that! (But am I reducing her to “just a Modern BL fangirl” because she’s a woman writing romance and I’m looking at it from a modern fanfic author’s lens and not taking the situational context into account? She’s a BL fangirl with potentially significant societal impact. She’s not out of place in the world she lives in.) 

Adaptation is pervasive throughout society and goes beyond fanfiction and fanart as we know it in what we call “Fandom”. Journalism is arguably non-fiction adaptation! Historians adapt the world around them to record it for future generations. Music can be an adaptation of people’s life’s experiences! People put on plays about other people’s stories they’ve witnessed. There are places in the world (our world) were the line between fiction and non-fiction blurs. And truly being objective is impossible when people’s creations are filtered through the lens of their own perspective, whether they’re writing a news article or a novel. So, like, there are types of adaptational fiction that society is willing to slap a “official” label on and this is one of those cases. 

I mean, it’s still weird behavior in my eyes! It’s invasive! Liu Mingyan didn’t do this as journalist or a historian; she did this for her own entertainment and maybe for any potential money, and I would still totally call it fanfiction. Shen Yuan is reasonably mortified that someone has made something of his life! And misinformation can be extremely damaging to someone’s personal life and dangerous politically and I don’t know if she took that into account!  

But, yeah. Liu Mingyan = on a similar boat to Jaskier from The Witcher. (Who is, I say affectionately, also a weirdo and could be called a fanboy.) Except she’s also a bit more repressed like Liu Qingge. It’s easier for me personally to understand the RPF angle if I attempt to understand the potential for RPF as it exists in her world, not as it exists in mine. 

[shizzlinghotbrason]

ok so nearly everyone in the fandom is doing this and as sad as it is that we need to remind these simple things to people, I feel the need to talk about this too.

I won't make this too painfully long because I know y'all most likely already know this and I just wanna put out a basic list of shit you should always follow in the fandom. But for those who don't, a lot of fan content creators, be it artists or writers or just general fans trying to enjoy their time, have been leaving/quitting the fandom.

Why are they leaving, you ask? Toxicity. Toxicity nearly everywhere. People can't hold respectful debates or discourses on interesting topics regarding characters/the books/ships anymore without someone toxicly stating that only their opinion is correct, and going off on anyone who has different opinions carried with a lot of aggressive, rude and shallow behaviour. Fanartists have gotten death threats and are scared of drawing art for the Riordanverse without getting anxious af.

Now the thing is, having done those (eXcepT for the death threats) doesn't automatically make u an entirely shitty person. Maybe you made a mistake and came off as rude without rlly meaning to. That's okay. Here's how to identify if u ever did so, and to change that behaviour. Again, it's okay to make mistakes, but we rn as a fandom srsly need to try to turn things around.

Some basic shit you should remember being a part of the fandom:

• NO NSFW STUFF WITH MINORS!!! That means fanarts, fanfics etc. But here's the shocking thing- when someone does this, you can actually hold them accountable WITHOUT SENDING DEATH THREATS AND CROSSING THE BOUNDARIES! Cuz doing that only makes YOU stoop just as low. Pl e a s e remember that always and be respectful whatever you do.

• That being said, ppl are allowed to write nsfw stuff IF said characters are aged up, aka 18+. Ofc, it's a must that they put a content warning beforehand because many people may not want to read that. BUT, if you don't want to read it and if they've aged up the characters so nothing's morally wrong or gross, then please do NOT hate the author in the comments, do NOT report their post/account. Seriously dude, they gave warnings, if you don't want to read it just scroll past it's not that hard. Unless it's with minors, you shouldn't be reporting innocent ppl's accounts like that.

• one thing that I've seen a lack of in the fandom are trigger warnings. I've seen several fics whose covers are literally of blood. And entire chapters were written with intricate graphic descriptions yet with no trigger warnings or a tw wayyy down in the caption. you never know what may be triggering to someone if a lot of ppl see ur content but the least u can do is put trigger warnings on the most common stuff. I get that it may look aesthetically matching if it's a murder mystery sorta fic but isn't the well being of people more important?

• look I'm not saying you're not allowed to have opinions, but the problem is when you start treating your opinions like facts. I can't count the times I've seen someone state their opinion like it's facts and then trash on other's for having a different opinion. PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE DIFFERENT OPINIONS. Stop attacking people for liking Jason more than Percy or vice versa, there's no rule that you absolutely have to like one or the other, ppl can like who they want. When you're stating UR opinion, it would be nice if you used stuff like "I personally think that..." or "... that's just my opinion" because again, Ur opinion is just that, not a fact.

• if you can't have discourses or discussions about certain topics respectfully and nicely then don't have them. if someone's done nothing wrong but state their opinions and you don't like it, don't go attacking them. if you don't have anything good to say, shut up and just scroll past. it's not that hard. we don't need any more negativity in the fandom. If you feel like you're about to snap, mute or block the account you don't like and move on with life. But for the love of GOD don't go out of your way to be agresive or hateful to ppl. They have feelings too and run fan accounts for fun, not to get upset and hurt.

• when a fan account owner has made a post saying what they think of a certain topic, and you comment saying you think they're wrong and they reply that you didn't get the point of their post, then chances are you most probably actually did not understand what they were saying. when this happens, pls don't go on forcing ur opinion onto them as if you got what they meant when you didn't. Maybe next time when someone says you didn't get what they were saying, ask them nicely to explain it to you instead of going off like that?

• firstly, shame on you if you've ever run a hate account. just why? how much more negativity do you want to add? if you come across a hate account please please report it and block it and tell your friends to do the same. if you're targeted in a hate post, I'm so sorry, please know that they're shallow ppl just trying to make you feel shitty, you're dont have a trashy fan account; what they say is false and done purely to spite. report and block them.

• I know Rick has written a lot of racist bullcrap and hasn't batted an eye when we complained about them, but that still doesn't give you the right to send him death threats. Again, no death threats to anyone, yikes.

• don't use fanart that's racist. don't repost them either. Piper has feathers in it? don't repost it. also if you can't exactly and properly credit artists, don't repost their art saying "credits to the artist". I've done that before too but now I understand that's not right.

• also, while we're at it, can we all please universally agree on non-racist fanon stuff and get rid of racist canon stuff? like Piper and feathers, and piper & hazel with colourful and golden eyes, Piper's stupid not like other girls behaviour, and all the other bullshit Rick has put into the books. We as a fandom don't accept it and pretend they do not exist, no racism in this place 🥰‼️

• ppl are allowed to have their own headcannons, it doesn't matter what's cannon. Don't go "but in the books it's.." because in the books there's a lot of shit, and besides, if someone wants to headcannon Percy as brown? black? totally alright! they're allowed to do so! don't go bUt pErCy iSnT pOc iN tHe bOoKs. same goes with sexualities and etc headcannons. as long as they're not erasing the already representation of a minority, it's okay to have headcannons of your own. Like Hazel is canonically black and we should respect that and bring out the best of that, yk what I mean?

That's all I have to say for now. I'm usually a very light-hearted cursed meme account on here but things are getting out of hand. I was wanting to make my 8 yr old brother get into the Riordanverse fandom but seeing the situation of the fandom rn scares me. We need to think about the kids in the future who'll be in this fandom, whose lives will be changed and shaped by these books. Surely, the older people in the fandom before us would be utterly disappointed at what it's become and it's our job to constantly look out for the fandom.

If you're leaving/have left the fandom, I'm so sorry that it got to that point, but ur wellbeing comes first, do what you feel is necessary to feel better, all of us send lots of positive vibes towards your way! and to the peeps who've still decided to stay in the fandom and use their account to talk about this issue, I cannot express how thankful I am of you for doing such an important thing right now. And to everyone - as Harry Styles once said - treat people with kindness.

[izzyspussy]

Where, besides Tumblr, can people find you doing fannish things? (Obviously only mention sites and usernames you actually want to be found at. Don’t expose your secret identities on my account.)

What other names have you gone by on these platforms, including Tumblr, if any?

When did you join the IT fandom? And what got you into fandom, to begin with?

What are your favorite ships, or characters, if any, and why? What do they mean to you?

In what ways do you participate in fandom? (ex. Posting memes, reblogging/commenting on content, writing fanfic, making fanart, creating fanmixes, etc.)

Do you have any in-fandom inspirations? Other members of the community that drive you? (And if you have the time/energy, in what ways do they inspire you?)

Name and link some of your favorite works, please!

Do you have any works of your own that you feel particularly proud of, or wish more people would’ve consumed? Please provide links if possible.

Have you ever participated in a fannish event (ie. IT Week, a fic Big Bang) or applied to be a part of a fanzine? If so, which ones, and can you please link them?

Without any form of bashing or lashing out, what is something you feel this fandom is missing?

I'm calicofiction everywhere, I don't have any secret identities lol. For fannish stuff specifically I really only use this account and AO3.

I've had sooooo many tumblr urls adjkjcs. The only other non-referential name I had was penlex, though.

I saw ITch1 in theaters (incidentally I also lived by a river and had bright orange hair at the time, which was.......... An Experience), but I didn't really enter The Fandom™ until setting ITch2a a few months ago. I didn't... know this would happen to me. (It was only a clown, how did it end up like this. it was only a clown...)

I started in fandom by talking to my older sister about how I thought Ginny Weasley should have been in Slytherin, and she hooked me up with ye olden fan sites.

The one character that I can always come back to is Bruce Wayne, but the character I identify with the most of all time is Taako from The Adventure Zone: Balance. I've even considered writing to Justin to tell him how deeply Taako affected me and made me kind of stop feeling like my personality was an unfortunate consequence of my circumstances lmfao.

I'm a Jack of all Trades (*jeb bush voice* please laugh). I do fic, moodboards/aesthetics, traditional art, mixes/playlists, headcanons/shitposts... Mostly fic though.

I'm loving Milo @clownjizz's kink content right now, Kels @lethimrunsonia is a sweetheart and one of my best friends, (other fandoms now), Nathaniel @transbucky and Jess @sequencefairy keep me motivated to make Good Stuff (theirs highly recommended if you like MCU, SPN, BFU), and Rachel @dykerory keeps me from taking It All too seriously lmao (DCTV, Star Wars).

I have 500+ Bookmarks on AO3! I also reblog fics I like here under the tag /fic-rec, and I make a new recommendation every Thursday on my /interlude post.

I'm on mobile so I don't wanna do a lot of linking and formatting BUT you can find all my fic on my AO3 or in my /fic tag. I've done a few fic themed answers that highlight some particular works.

I participated in kink memes and gift exchanges during my LiveJournal days. I'm sorry to say those pages are lost to time.

I don't necessarily feel like the IT fandom is missing anything... but I do think fandom in general, including this one, adheres way too much to normative ideals when attempting to represent queer relationships. Not only is there so often an uncomfortable replication of heterosexual gender roles in every rating level, but there is also the prevalence of cohabitation, legal marriage, and kids as the ultimate happy ending for a couple. It's just plain not the case, and I long to see more relationships like the ones I participate in and witness as a queer person (and especially as a queer man) in real life represented in fanfic that purports itself to be About Us.

[thosemintcookies]

Hey just a reminder that you can write about whatever content you like. Dark topics and breaking down trauma literally is a good way to expand people's sense of empathy and also a way for victims to feel seen.

I will say that there is a problem sometimes with the attitude with which people write things. The presence of violence and sexual assault in certain creative circles on its face isn't a problem if tagged correctly and honestly might be a good indicator that some people find freedom in writing about such topics.

The attitude behind these things tho is where it gets problematic for me. There's the prevalence of eroticizing of non consent (which again in individual cases might be okay depending), the normalization of and sexualizing of manipulative people, the normalization of pedophilia and incest etc.

Again, I am anti censorship. You can't have a robust and healthy critique of racism without expressly stating the harms it inflicts on people. However. You also can't have a robust critique of racism if you're excusing or fetishizing it. It's not the content or the existence of underage sexuality as depicted in media I have a problem with because let's be honest, underage people do have libidos. But to be voyeuristic of it? To present it as titillating for an adult audience? It gets dicey. There's a difference between writing awkward teens fumbling with getting dates vs. Showing 16 year old characters played by 20 year old actors in their underwear.

A lot of my frustration with mainstream fan creation people is this conflating and strawmanning. It's not me saying certain ships shouldn't exist or that certain themes should be purged. But to treat the realm of fanfic and fanart as a free-for-all where you're allowed to find everything sexy is wrong.

There are laws protecting people and their bodily autonomy. We have these boundaries in larger society for reasons. If you get off on the dual toxic dynamic of a queer person being abused/a queer person being a SuperPredator maybe think about why. I'm not even asking you to stop. Just like. Why is it so important that you protect your ability to write about things that in real life would make you uncomfortable? Why are you more dismissive of something if it happens to people you can't immediately physically identify with? Are any of these perceptions filtering into your treatment of marginalized people in the real world?

One of the more pernicious things that isn't even sexual is the tendency to characterize poc as being "better than" or "more sensible" than white counterparts and thereby excluding poc from the action. As an Asian person, who has been on the receiving end of "positive" stereotypes let me tell you that all stereotypes are dehumanizing heuristics and excuses not to think about people as entire and whole, able to be flawed, able to have ugly emotions and complex joys.

In the same way, treating all male ships as inherently softer or cuter for the consumption of a mostly nonqueer audience is very toxic. Some people actually do suffer abuse by their LGBT partners. Being marginalized doesn't save you from being a bad person. Are we wanting to engage in these things cpmplexly? Do we fully understand the mortifying vulnerability of truly loving another person, beyond blushy first dates and feverish sexual encounters?

I understand that some things are a matter of personal taste and yeah, not everything has to be that deep. There are plenty of published books I could pick up and read. There are non romantic books and media I can get into (and I do! I'm not going to pretend like one person writing for fun should be held to the same standard as people working with publishers, editors, sensitivity readers etc)

But at the end of the day, people are correct. Amateur works are where Wierdness can flourish. How many healthy depictions of polyamorous relationships can you name in popular media? How many works are passionate about depicting even the nuanced hardships of interracial, or even interfaith relationships? How many stories have far too much in the way of corporate propaganda? Where else can you find works with niche playful anachronistic dialogue for works written hundreds of years ago?

These things can legitimately prove to be good outlets for creativity.

I don't know how it got to be this way, but I do think there is something wrong when the primary target for queer relationships turns out not to be queer people.

You know in falsettos Marvin and Whizzer have this wicked intense, sometimes toxic and infuriating relationship which is also full of real love? You know in angels in America where queer death and identity amongst the backdrop of repressive and progressive religious themes is tragic and transcendent? You know in, fucking cloudburst? Big Eden? The lived-in intimacy. The wanting the best for each other. The queer joy in finding your Person. Your People. Why isn't that people are vehemently defending their rights to produce...

[smylealong]

I have long debated whether or not I should write this, but @rain-hat​ convinced me that I should. So here I am, penning this diss meta about The King: The Enternal Monarch. Starting off with the disclaimer that I love this show. This is the show that introduced me to the wonderful Woo Do Hwan and for that I can never be thankful enough. But I have issues with the show, and I will enumerate them here. Brace yourselves for a tirade.It’s long, so putting a “keep reading”.

 1)    Manpasikjeok: Let’s start with the basis of the series. The Manpasikjeok. The series never delves into what the Manpasikjeok is. It’s a flute, yes. But it doesn’t delve into the background of this all-powerful plot device. I understand that the Manpasikjeok is a part of the Korean folklore and thus, probably the makers did not feel the need to delve deeper. But for non-Korean viewers like me, it was very confusing. So, before I speak about the details of what exactly bothered me about the flute, I will present the story itself.

After the death of his father King Munnu, King Sinmun of the Silla Dynasty heard the rumors of an island floating toward the temple that he had built in the honor of his father. A fortuneteller told Sinmun that the late King had become a sea dragon and his loyal General, Kim Yu-shin, had become a heavenly god. The fortuneteller also said that if he were to visit the island, he would get an incredible gift. When Sinmun went in search of this floating island, it looked like it had a turtle’s head and a bamboo tree on its back. In the mornings, the bamboo looked to be split into two while at night, it would join. After braving through seven days of storm, the King reached the island. There the sea dragon told him to make a flute out of the bamboo tree. This flute was said to provide magical properties. When the flute was played, enemy forces would retreat, and diseases were cured. Also, the magic flute would bring rainfall if there was a drought and stop the rains in floods. Ever since then, the bamboo flute was called ‘Manpasikjeok,’ meaning a flute that calms down ten thousand waves and it became a national treasure. This is the folktale.

 If I am to nitpick, time travel and parallel universes are not mentioned in the folktale. But that is something I am willing to let slide, because you need something to make the story work and the makers chose a mythical object from the folklore. People do it all the time, so I am not going to penalize the makers for it. What I am going to diss them for is the way they spoke about the spirit of the flute. Was it a demon? A spirit? A god? What? Why did it not allow Lee Lim to age? If time passes differently for the owner of the flute as Lee Lim claims, why did Gon’s time seem normal for the most part? The only difference in time seemed to be when the portal was opened and time stopped. So, before Gon opened the portal, time did not stop for Lee Lim. Why then did he not age?

2)      Post series events (part I): Which brings me to the second problem I have with the series. Post-series events. I understand Ta Eul retaining her memories of the alternate timeline because, she was in the portal and thus, remained untouched by the effects of the changed timeline. Fair. I get Gon retaining memories, because he was the owner of the flute. Granted. Why did Jo Yeong retain the memories when everyone else forgot about it? The only explanation I have is that it was because he was in the past timeline when the timeline changed? But the show never bothers to give an explanation for it. Also, if the events in altered timeline happened almost exactly as they did in the original timeline, then Yeong came to Republic of Korea. If Yeong came to Republic of Korea, then he met Jo Eun Sup. As did Gon. Why then did Eun Sup not recognize Gon at the end? Why does Yeong say that Eun Sup will not remember him? Is it because Yeong retained memories from the altered timeline and hence believed Gon when he said that he was going to the other world? Then, it stands to reason that Yeong did not go to Republic of Korea. Then things changed! They did not go exactly the way it happened in the series. Ah! My head hurts.

 3)      Corea and Korea: They are parallel worlds. I get it. But at times, they were nigh indistinguishable. This is @rain-hat​’s input and I agree with it completely. Why are the people in Corea dressed like Westerners and why are we not seeing more Hanboks? Why are court ladies the only ones dressed in traditional garb? Also, what is the official religion of Corea?

 4)      The characters: This is going to be a long one, so brace yourselves. I have issues with the characters. I’m going for bullet points, because I have LOT TO SAY.

 ·       Kang Shin-jae: Other than messing with him in all possible ways, what was the purpose of this character. As my editor once said, you must ask yourself what purpose does a character serve to the overall story? The litmus test of it being, if the said character is removed from the equation, does it impact the overarching plot of the story in any significant way? And much as I love this character, I’m sorry to say, his removal would not have impacted the story in any way. Yes, I’m aware that even Meyong Seung-ah does not pass this litmus test, but she does not occupy nearly as much screen time as Shin-jae. I wish they had utilized the character more than just use him as a material to evoke emotions.

·       Koo Seo Ryeong: She is portrayed as a villain/b*tch. Why? Because she has political ambitions and is a woman who is not above playing the ruthless game that the men around her seem to be playing? She is a woman who has clawed her way to the top in a man’s world. Can we please stop demonizing women like this?

·       Jo Yeong: Yes. Surprise, I know. He is the reason I (and many others) kept watching the show. The man who stole the show, the one who carried the show. A startlingly pretty face backed by a phenomenal performance, Jo Yeong is a treat. BUT, for a character as spectacular as Yeong, he was not utilized enough. I wish the show had actually given him something to do when he was in Korea. They wasted a talent like Woo Do Hwan.

·       Jeong Ta-eul: I loved Ta-eul when she first came on screen. Badass, no nonsense, tough as nails cop in her thirties as out leading lady? HELL YEAH! But then she meets Lee Gon and all the things that I loved about her seemed to evaporate. She became a cry baby and I just could not handle that. K-dramas, can you please stop turning the badass female leads into a prop for the leading man’s “bravery and heroism”. (Fervently hoping Nine Tails doesn’t do that, because I love Jo Bo ah’s character there).

·       Lee Gon: Oh, I hate this character with a passion. TKEM gave me SLS like no other drama before or since. I sincerely want to ask Lee Min Ho; just how many versions of Gu Jun Pyo are we going to see from him? Rich, powerful, privileged man who does whatever he wants? I’m getting really tired of it. I like Lee Min Ho, but really, you need to branch out, dude.

5)      Post series events (part II): Speaking of Lee Gon, my man, you posses the all powerful tool to travel through parallel universes and time, and you use it to go on dates? WHAT THE F***? AAAHHGHHKSJJGFHVJHMDSYFHJVHKJNSKLJHG. Lee Lim was right. You’re WASTING it. Ugh. Personally, I felt as though the entire romance plot could have been done away with.

6)      JoGon: The series teased heavily about this relationship and the fandom lapped it up. Beautiful fanart and fanfics emerged. But, I have issues and no, it’s not because they’re a same sex couple. My issue comes from the power dynamics of the couple. It is skewed beyond belief. The dynamic works perfectly when it is a king-bodyguard relationship. But the second it becomes a romance, there’s problem. All the power in the relationship is with Gon and Yeong has almost no agency in the relationship. And I love Jo Yeong too much to subject him to a relationship like that.

7)      Product Placement: Yes, it was tough, but there was a series somewhere between all those product placements.

In closing, this series had the potential to be so much more. Yet, it failed. Spectacularly. I liked and enjoyed this series, but I have so many issues. SO MANY. Do you have any issues you would like to add? Please feel free.