#or say it is from fanfiction like it is a bad thing

[booksooks]

i havent even met sylus in game but some of yall seem to have him confused for your own oc because he would Not act Like That

typing using voice to text so I'm sorry if the formatting is weird, but from what my friend who has met sylus has told me: this man would not act the way some of you guys are insisting. like he would not be jealous to the point of being entirely unable to communicate. he would not try to kiss you as a way of making up, or as a way to stop you from being angry with him. that's just not something i see as feasibly anywhere near sylus as a character.

if you want to write a big daddy dom character who completely bulldozes over your feelings in lieu of 'fucking the jealousy out of you', then by all means go for it. but at that point, you are writing for an original character because that is wildly mischaracterizing someone who (again, according to my friend because i havent even come close to meeting sylus in the storyline) specifically makes room for you to be angry, to feel big emotions in a safe space and to be there for you.

the amount of fanfics i've seen that have sylus act in a way that is completely off base is insane. i'm aware that this is fanfiction, that people can write whatever they want and it's not harmful because at the end of the day: it's FAN FICTION and if you can't separate reality from fiction or whatever, you're not mature enough to be reading mature works or you simply don't have the media literacy skills to do so. but i've had a very long and emotionally draining week, and my temper is hanging on by a thread, and i'm allowed to be angry about a completely bullshit take on one of my favorite characters lmfao.

let me be clear, i'm not saying sylus cannot, will not, and has never been domineering, or protective, or that he doesn't have a fucking daddy kink or whatever. what i AM saying, is that the amount of fanfictions of sylus blowing the reader off or ghosting them or just simply not communicating and then expecting the reader to fall back into his arms after a kiss and a few well placed 'kitten's is astounding. even if he made the bad choice of being distant without explanation, he wouldn't expect the reader to instantly forgive him without an ELABORATE apology and an explanation. and honestly, i'm willing to put that bullshit of 'she forgives him because he's hot and he pulled her in close with his strong arms and hes so big daddy alpha dom' into the category of misogyny. because in what world does someone go from angry and hurt to forgiving and pliant just because he's a man and he kissed you. it is blatantly misogynistic to expect that.

i'm aware there is a lot of nuance within relationships, and that not everyone can be expected to be perfect at all times, HOWEVER this is fanfiction, and the authors i'm talking about have either explicitly stated that the reader and sylus have an established romantic relationship, or that they at the very least get along well and enjoy each other's company. so for sylus to then go ghost on the reader and expect them to instantly fall back into his arms at the end of the day then puts me in the position of 'simpering woman with no spine'. again, misogynistic.

at the end of the day, i'm aware this isn't an important issue and i'm aware that the misogyny in fanfiction doesn't necessarily have to transfer over to real life, especially because i do have critical thinking. but i have been ghosted before by an at-the-time boyfriend, and it sucked, so it's more of a personal issue from me.

i'm aware people can write whatever they want, and i have no obligation to read something i don't like. but that then eliminates what seems to be 50% of the fanfiction of sylus. i'm just saying please... consider writing literally anything else for sylus. for a man who has been made to love you specifically... y'all sure don't make him act like it.

if anyone wants me to elaborate or clarify some things, please send me an ask because the comments are not easy to navigate especially with multiple replies.

last but not least: i'm aware these are my personal feelings, and that i can write to make up for it should i so choose. but i hate having to scroll past 5 fics in a row with quite frankly stupid miscommunication issues from a man who is 28 and should damn well know better. thank you.

[artificialchaoscola]

Hello! I am so inspired by your fanfiction, it is amazing, great! I’m curiuse, what do you think about movie Sonic 3 and about Sonic and Shadow relationship there?? Maybe will you wtite something anout sonadow from Sonic 3? And what do you think about differece between movie Sonic/Shadow and comics Sonic/Shadow??

Thank you, I appreciate that!

Hm... That's a good question. I have seen the Sonic movies, and I do have thoughts on how the third handled their dynamic.

I should start with this and be upfront: I dislike the movies. There are things that they do well, and overall they exist to just be fun, but they also make changes to characterization and events that I don't appreciate. If being negative about these movies upsets anyone, I wanted to put this warning first so they can scroll on! (Also I'm sure half of this makes no sense so tolerate me, I am sleep-deprived!)

So first off, the differences between comic/game and movie Sonic and Shadow are substantial.

Let's start with Sonic:

Sonic in the games is meant to be much simpler. He is an anomaly of nature with an origin unknown. His carefree spirit, his love of the wind and adventure, his desire to help others... It's all simply who he is. In the same way Eggman's desires are straightforward in their cruelty, Sonic's are straightforward in their compassion. He doesn't care if he's seen as the bad guy and he doesn't care about being "the Hero". He will do what is right because it is right. He enters conflict one way and will leave said conflict in the same exact way, instead influencing the characters around him to change for the better. In the games since Sonic Colors, he has been more... snarky (?) over the more whimsical and "I say weird poetic shit that makes people think deep teehee~" dialogue the older games had, but overall this stuff has remained fairly consistent. That's about as easy as I can put it.

Online, you will see plenty of discourse over who Sonic is as a character. Now, I'm not a stickler regarding this kind of thing. I don't mind spin-off material changing up aspects of Sonic to better suit the story, even if they're not my favorite thing. Sonic Boom making him more egotistical and dry made sense for the comedy. Older cartoons like SatAM and Underground being written to follow how American cartoons approached characterization and humor also made sense, and in turn, it made sense why Archie Sonic was written in the way he was. In general, I like that these things exist on paper, even if they're not my cup of tea.

That all being said, Movie Sonic makes a lot of changes I just don't really like. While his exact origins are unknown, they've shaped his morality and desires off of the influence of Longclaw, his deceased mother figure. He struggles with doing "the right thing" because he wants to be a hero, but he's just a kid learning responsibilities. He's learning about the world around him and being taught through his relationships with Tom and Maddie. I guess, in a way, he is "learning" to be like the Sonic in the games. I think he's written like this so younger audiences have a character they can project onto. This makes perfect sense, as a lot of the nuances of Sonic's character from the games might be lost when translated into a movie format. People didn't really understand a lot of the qualities of Sonic X's Sonic for a long time, and the movies are much shorter than a show, so it all makes sense...

I just find it really boring.

Sonic as a character is very unique and multifaceted. Mysterious in so many ways, yet gives you a sense of hope in the darkest of moments. His influence on others, his worldview, his dynamics... They all feel so fascinating in the games. He appears simple, but beneath the surface, there is much to understand. Movie Sonic is basically a completely different character at his core with surface-level attributes of Game Sonic -- fast, quippy, might have ADHD but we haven't had the talk, "good", will always do "the right thing" in the end. And again, that's fine. I don't want to yuck anyone's yum! It's just not for me.

Now for Shadow:

Movie Shadow did NOT have enough screen time, so this is susceptible to change in the future, but personality-wise he seemed fairly consistent with his SA2 appearance which I appreciate. He is quiet, mourning, a bit sassy when he needs to be, lost in his pursuit of vengeance. They kept the theme of Shadow's loss of autonomy due to Gerald's influence, they highlighted the impact Maria had on his life enough for viewers to understand why he cared so deeply (while also correlating it to Sonic's relationship with both Tails and Tom in subtle ways, which is neat), they weren't afraid of making him appear sad. They even nodded to his insecurities about his alien DNA, an understated aspect of Shadow's character overall. Not to mention the "revenge = suicide" theme they didn't shy away from, which was a pleasant surprise.

However... I've tweeted about this before, but Maria's depiction in this movie and how it in turn changes parts of Shadow's character REALLY... REAAALLLLLLY aggravates me.

Shadow's entire character surrounded itself with the idea of identity and choice for years. Was he a weapon? Was he a cure? His creation in a lab for the "betterment" of humanity, a weapon for G.U.N. + the Black Arms, and as a cure for Maria... The core aspect of his own game was his realizing he had the potential to be ALL of these things, but it was up to him to decide. Not only about choice, but the fact that he himself should be the one to make said choice. That he cannot let others influence him in his choices. This is a huge part of the tragedy of his "death" in SA2. Maria's wish for him and Gerald's meddling with his mind symbolically kill him. His game is about reclaiming the loss of his personhood and putting the past behind him.

Movie Shadow's origins make him a being from space. He is not made in a lab, so he has no insecurities about curing Maria despite being supposedly "perfect." He is not on the ARK, detached from the world and planet his sister loved dearly, unable to fundamentally understand even a fraction of the normal life that was robbed from her (and him too, subtly). He is not a weapon for G.U.N., so he has no reason to be confused over the dichotomy of humanity's love and cruelty. He is not ALL of him, they've only made a fraction of him. He is fundamentally a weaker character because of this change.

(Also, just... writing Maria as not sick is a huge blow. Shadow Generations gave us a huge insight into how her illness affects her, how it pains both Gerald and Shadow to witness... Such powerful representation, only to remove it entirely from the movie. And then you go online seeing people praising Movie Maria over Game one because she got to have a montage where she played with Shadow... like that's not the WHOLE POINT of her character... that she can't BE a "normal" kid... There are kids out there playing these games who felt seen by her depiction in the games... One day I might go REALLY into this because it just offends me personally, but yeah, don't like it!)

Oh also I hated Gerald this movie. Everything about that. It's not Shadow related and I'm not as passionately angry about it as I am with Maria but I just needed to get that out there lmfao

Now for both Sonic and Shadow together:

For the few moments they had, they were cute! Shadow was depicted as a similar age to Sonic, which is great! They had Sonic trying to reach out to him constantly because he could see he was hurting, also great! Sonic having a moment of rage and nearly killing Shadow is... interesting BUT for the plot they set up, it made sense. I think Sonic going on a quest for revenge at the expense of his friends is like... incredibly generic and possibly the most boring route to take for him. Like for so many other protagonists this wouldn't be an issue, but this is such a not-Sonic thing to do in this way I couldn't help but laugh a bit when he and Knuckles were beefing. I understand what they were doing. It's just... That's Sonic talking to Knuckles. For movieverse, it makes sense don't get me wrong... I just laughed a little.

The scene they had on the moon was my favorite. Not only because relating Shadow to stars propaganda was going strong in my head, but I like that Sonic was the one to make him see that revenge wasn't the answer. In the games it's Amy in a different way, and I would never change that about the games, but for the Movieverse I like this. Very cute. It worked well for the changes they made to each character. It was also a great message on grief, even if it isn't how Sonic would convey this message in the games. I do want to write about this scene one day and why I liked it for the movies, but I want to rewatch the movie before I do so.

But yeah overall... Sonic movies are meh to me.

To answer your second question: I will likely not write a fanfic within the movieverse since I don't find it compelling. If inspiration ever strikes though then I'd be open to it, I'm just not really a fan and don't have any plans to do so as of now. Hopefully that all made sense!

[hehehereliesmysanity]

Smart of Wille to wear sunglasses because Simon’s smile is so blinding. ☀️

[theevilcactus]

What's the origin of your blog title?

I was an angsty teenager who liked cacti and I needed a blog title. There was really no deeper meaning behind it, but I'm attached now.

OTP(s) Shipname:

I don't really have one specific OTP right now, but a couple of my top ships historically have been Whouffle (when I was in high school) and Hannigram (in the first couple years of college). I'm currently very much enjoying James/Alyssa (the end of the fucking world) and Polypalooza (from PIBE), but I wouldn't call either of those my OTP.

Favourite colour:

Green! I like all shades, but I'm especially fond of overly bright lime green. Eyesore levels of green.

Favourite game:

If we're talking video games, it's easily The Sims 4. If we're talking physical games, like board or card games, probably Fluxx. (Star Fluxx if you want to be specific.)

Song stuck in your head:

Dead Girl Walking (Reprise)

Weirdest habit/trait?

I can't stand having the volume on an odd number. It needs to be even. No matter what. Even is 10 is too quiet and 12 is too loud, I will not put the sound on 11. I will put up with any level of inconvenience from the even numbers if it means avoiding having to put it on an odd one.

I don't know if that's actually that weird, but my mom seems to think i is.

Hobbies:

Reading & writing fanfiction, making a bunch of characters in the sims that I'm never actually gonna play, occasionally hiking.

If you work, what's your profession?

Unemployed, unfortunately. In the process of looking for a new job.

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be?

Writing novels. It's a damn hard field to break into, though, if you want to actually make enough money to live on. Even harder if you're like me and seemingly unable to actually finish writing a novel.

Something you're good at:

Writing. I'd better be good at it, I've been writing fics since I was 8 and I literally majored in creative writing in school.

Something you're bad at:

Being social, responding to texts within a timely manner

Something you love:

My silly little shows. Also, my cat.

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff:

Pretty much any of the shows/books/movies I've ever been super into (I tend to get very obsessive about them and rewatch the same episodes constantly). Or Greek mythology.

Something you hate:

The texture of the inside of a tomato.

Something you collect:

I guess you could say I collect books, but that's less of a deliberate collection and more of an accident. Earrings maybe?

Something you forget:

Pretty much everything, I'm very forgetful.

What's your love language?

Does parallel play count? Just existing in the same space as each other but each doing our own thing

Favourite movie/show:

My #1 favorite movie is Fear Street: 1978, closely followed by the Harley Quinn Birds of Prey movie. My favorite show is probably either Gotham or Survivor.

Favorite food:

Bread. I could eat a good loaf of bread all damn day, especially if there's herbed oil or butter or something to dip it in. Also, the specific combination of brie & blackberries & honeycrisp apple slices.

Favorite Animal:

Cats, maybe? I'm also currently very fond of toucans and orchid bees.

What were you like as a child?

Shy and anxious and very annoying about Warriors cats. And smart.

Favourite subject at school?

English/literature.

Least favourite subject:

Chemistry specifically, but other science classes were ok. Math if we want to be more general.

What's your best character trait?

My creativity

What's your worst character trait?

I'm a bit of a coward

If you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be?

I'd have enough moneyyyyyyy to never need to work again

If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet?

I'd be more interested in various places/eras than specific famous historical people. I'd want to see ancient Greece or maybe some dinosaurs.

tagging @alpacasandravens @poolboyvmprmansion @cherrych4 @panic-wizard-sex-walrus @empir2 @cosmicoceanfic and @ anybody else who wants to do it

Get to know your mutuals!!!

cheers @stevie-marigold for tagging me!

What's the origin of your blog title?

doccy who! plus me mum always used to say i have telescopic arms. personally i think they're a normal length

OTP(s) Shipname:

johnlock, i will forever be a johnlocker no matter which version of those freaks we're talking about

Favourite colour:

orange <3

Favourite game:

factorio! i greatly enjoy the spagetti of it

Song stuck in your head:

antmusic by adam and the ants

Weirdest habit/trait?

darling everything i do is deeply weird, couldn't do something normal if i tried

Hobbies:

writing, reading, nuisance making, music enjoying, getting in the way, and various wool-related crafts

If you work, what's your profession?

im the imp who sits in your camera and paints the pictures for you (im out of blue btw)

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be?

id invent hexopostcards, which are hexagonal postcards and only have pictures of six sided things on. if a thing has more than six sides than you've got to have the seventh+ side(s) off the edge of the postcard. if it has less than six you have to draw where the rest of the sides could feasibly be. then id retire

Something you're good at:

answering questions truthfully

Something you're bad at:

eating dog food

Something you love:

doing jigsaws

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff:

doccy who. i just do that anyway

Something you hate:

jigsaws that have too much sky so its all just blue (doesn't include my starry night puzzle)

Something you collect:

vinyls, posters, things ill use someday, names, ideas of things to write

Something you forget:

my best friends birthday. i have it written down and i still forget consistently

What's your love language?

circular gallifreyan

Favourite movie/show:

oh theres so many. doccy who and torchwood, sherlock, merlin (im really from a specific time going by those answers) loads of films too but, to say an obscure one to make me sound cool, mcfarland usa

Favourite food:

the souls of the damned. failing that pasta

Favourite animal:

@zelda-wheelz

What were you like as a child?

weird nervous about everything and a nerd

Favourite subject at school?

maths! don't ask me to remember a single thing from my alevels though

Least favourite subject:

drama. hated acting in front of all those eyes

What's your best character trait?

i like to think im quite nice

What's your worst character trait?

asking @zelda-wheelz the answers for half these questions

If you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be?

id move

If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet?

george michael, so long as i can bring my mum

tagging: @captainfairygodmother @b1uetrees @by-gray

[several-ravens]

i've had enough of martin getting bullied for no reason and i'm happy that jonathan is too preoccupied by gertrude's laptop to do so

[trickstersaint]

hey hi hello! first of all i'd like to say i took your patron saint uquiz and it. Changed my life unironically it's so good. i follow you now because every line in that quiz was a gut punch and i loved it. top tier hurt honestly

my question is this - i am a fanauthor. on the side i also write my own original fiction but i specialize in fanfic. Am I allowed to use your poetry for a reference folder? I wouldn't use your poetry in a fic without explicit permission and without linking back here of course, and I'd never use it for commercial work outside of maybe taking inspiration without copying, but I wanna have a ref folder of Things That Made Me Feel Things about a character. It's not planned to be public as of yet, it's just supposed to be a bunch of screenshots in my drafts, but I'd like to maybe one day make it public once the fic was complete. (I already have your blog linked in my drafts actually, so if it goes public I'm not gonna forget.) I just want to make sure you're comfortable with me using your poetry for fanfic of all things

It's cool if not and have a great day! I still think your poetry is great and evocative and all

hi, anon! you're all good, i prommy. so glad you like the quiz + the poetry, and i would always prefer people come and ask questions if they're uncertain! no trouble at all.

my general stance is that as long as it's clearly credited, i am totally cool with my work being used in personal projects. like you said, i've got a tag for the things that people make! i love to see what people create. if it's for a noncommercial creative project then i would say there's no need to ask beforehand (unless it would make you more comfortable to ask, in which case go ahead and i'll almost certainly say yes <3). my only thing is that if you post it, please tag me in it/send it to me so that i can reblog it here for people to see!

if there are any questions about using my work that anyone has, feel free to ask. i don't think i've got anything particular going on outside of common practice! same way you'd treat, like, a richard siken poem or smth: you wanna credit it so that people can find the source material, and make sure you're not using it for profit unless you have an understanding with that author. i trust you all to be decent about it <3 kiss kiss go out and make your cool little things so that i can be delighted and amazed with them

[yang4ever]

disappointed and surprised about taeil.

[keptoabysmal]

I have a friend who tells me about her friend who writes emotionally devastating cars fanfiction apparently. Anyways I’ve never met the cars fanfic author but a while back I learned she’s apparently the cousin of one of my longtime favorite ccs which is wild -

But anyways sometimes when I see something of that cc I get hit with this paralyzing wave of self awareness. Mortifying to read fanfic about someone’s cubito and then be struck with a reminder that I’ve seen like two of his family Christmas photos

[rollercoasterwords]

sorry but. i truly do not understand the "ai is stealing" stance when it comes to fanfiction like. am i missing something is ai like....copying and pasting or is it just. reading a bunch of fanfiction and then writing something that is based off/inspired by/drawn from it. feel like i keep seeing people getting very upset abt like. chatgpt fics bc ai is "stealing" but i don't understand how it's functionally different from like. a human reading a bunch of fanfic and then. writing something inspired or influenced by what they've read. creation doesn't happen in a void and all fanfiction is derivative art anyway but i thought we were all on board w that....like i thought using the Derivative Art Website means u think derivative art can be worthwhile and valuable so....confused abt how this logic plays out.

[inactiveshrine]

gonna be real bud if your fic relies so heavily on intense triggering themes and shock value that you're averse to putting warnings on it to "maintain surprise" and "avoid spoilers", then you act like you did nothing wrong when people are upset that you didn't make any effort to turn them away and allow them to protect themselves, while also telling them it's their fault that they read something that upset them when they could have never known it contained specific things that will upset them, i think you are a tar pit

[hopecomesbacktolife]

hey, just. friendly reminder that fanfiction is morally neutral.

yes, that includes smutty fics. yes, that includes self-insert fics. yes, that includes the fics you consider Problematic TM and the fics you don’t think are Smart or New. in fact that’s kind of why I’m writing this post.

I know we all love to talk about Themes And Narratives, but—and please listen to me very carefully here—you are not earning Good Place Points for only reading the kinds of fan fiction you feel are Smart or Only Focuses On The Important Things Like Themes.

fan fiction is morally neutral.

what I mean is this: no one is harming you, themselves, or anyone, by writing a fic about two characters having sex. (are you uncomfortable with the fact that I typed the word “sex”? hi, this post is about you. people have sex. and they write and talk about it. it’s seriously fine.)

no one is being harmed by self insert fics, by smutty fics, by anything not exclusively Smart TM about the fandom or analytically adding to it.

(and that’s not to say these two types of fics, that any type of fic, can’t have those elements— some of my favorite fic authors, my mutuals, my tumblr friends, write fic in these genres, and they also explore Themes and Emotions and analyze character traits and histories and write brilliant plots and incredible character arcs and yknow what, it’s amazing! it’s fantastic to examine what makes two characters react a certain way to x situation while also having them fuck nasty about it!) (and yes, I did just type ‘fuck nasty about it’ and I promise, that’s fine, too.)

what I’m saying, though, is that it doesn’t NEED that to, I dunno, somehow validate it into existing. it just Is. it just Exists. it doesn’t need an aspect you Approve Of TM in order to earn the right to be shared, to be written, to be published and commended and interacted with and read. it just. Is.

and I think a lot of especially younger, or newer, tumblr users especially get uncomfortable with that, and they unintentionally veer right (..ha) into self-censoring, puritanical behavior which is exactly what every person trying to ban books and generally kill art, wants. (and we’re not even going to examine in depth here, beyond mentioning it, the fact that policing, censuring, and banning art has historically and still today is being used to silence marginalized voices, so, I ask you to keep that in mind as you think on this, too, please.)

what I’m trying to say is this—if you personally don’t enjoy smut, don’t enjoy self insert fics, don’t enjoy a certain genre, that’s great, you do you! but, you must, must understand that this is not a moral stance. You are not objecting to a problematic practice, exploited workers, consent issues, labor crises… none of that applies, because no one in these stories is a real person. a story written about two Star Trek characters kissing on the bridge of the Enterprise is just that, a story. there is no actor for whose rights to fight, no wages to dispute fairness of, no ethical ramifications of scenes to discuss. these are Fictional People in Fictional Situations.

fan fiction is morally neutral.

and the moment you try to make yourself feel Better TM, More Correct TM, or—one of the ones I encounter the most—Smarter TM, by saying oh, I don’t read that kind of fic, I read the good kind, with thought in it—

you’re not only causing harm, you’re actively employing art censoring behavior. is that something that you want to do? I hope not. I certainly don’t.

next time you see a fic or a genre you don’t Approve Of TM, please remember the easiest way of exhibiting that— simply scrolling by or blocking a tag! If you’re on ao3, their system is incredible for niche content searches, and blocking a tag even here on tumblr will (most of the time) work.

I just., there’s so many better options out there for you than to… act like this. I believe you, we, all of us, can be better than this.

fanfiction. is. morally. neutral.

[mediaconsumeme]

Sorry to be late to the party but oh my god the Doctor and Donna reuniting and Donna having a daughter named Rose whos trans I CAN'T. I dislike the phrase "inner child" because I would strangle myself as a child if I could but MY INNER CHILD IS HEALING

[mishy-mashy]

Does anyone have Re:Zero fic recs? Not the ones with rewriting Subaru or exploring an AU but like- one with a reader or an OC or even a good crossover?

[mbat]

before i pass out for the night. since my brain is back on dan and phil as if its 2016 or something i need to put this out into the world. this isnt some sort of important life changing post, just a personal funny thing

so when i was 13 and fixating on dan and phil, i read a lot of fanfics. like, i guarantee that even after all these years that, if i had the statistics, that fandom was the one i read the most fanfics for and constantly. i couldnt tell you what nearly any of them were about, and i have a feeling that many of them are probably lost to time by now. i also dont know if i need to mention that yeah, a lot of them were shipping, and yes ive long grown out of that. (the dnp fandom is actually what made me grow out of that)

anyway all this to say that over the last 6 years after i stopped fixating on dan and phil, one fanfic stuck with me and i just. i think about it every once in a while. its been over half a decade. it wasnt a groundbreaking fic, i dont remember any quotes or specifics, just the premise as of at least the first few chapters. idk why it stuck with me

it was literally a fic about. if the world had gotten to a point where almost every child was born as like, a science baby instead of a natural baby, and phil was a science baby, but dan was a natural baby. and there was somehow this like, thing where the science babies would bully the natural babies for some reason idek, and this was a highschool setting and i think dan was a new kid in school. and what gets me about the fic is that dan was some small shy scared kid and phil was some mean jerk bully. and how wild that is compared to how they are in real life

this isnt me trying to find the fic or the person who wrote it or any of that, this is literally just. i remember this fic at least once every few months and i needed to get it out of my brain somewhere

[drolta]

"funny how feminization is only an issue when it happens to louis" There are people in this fandom who insist that Samstat is hypermasculine and reading him as anything other than a Stanley Kowalski pastiche is stupidity and projection. The same people who insist that female-coded Louis is the only right interpretation of the character, and they already imply that Assad's Armand is hypermasculine as well. It's the side of the same coin as the problem with a dainty, feminine Louis. They're not about subverting the gender norms, but upholding them in a twisted way

Gonna be honest, I can’t articulate a proper response to this because I just woke up and I’m about to go back to sleep because…no.

[amplexadversary]

I don't know how effective it would be for anyone else, but I think it's helpful to think of genre-requisite pacifists (you know, your Stevens, your Aangs, even your Doctors Who) as characters that, in-universe, just wouldn't be able to handle that kind of violence psychologically without becoming incapable of addressing the threat at all.

Hell, some shows do provide some amount of explanation along those lines. Pretty sure Avatar does (Aang is from a culture of pacifists, fucking with that would at least set off a trauma arc), and any part of Doctor Who where the Time War is relevant definitely has it as subtext.

This requires some amount of engaging in good faith, of course, but tying the pacifism thing into the idea that exists in any fiction where 'there are some things that a character is capable of and there are other things that they are definitely not capable of' can reduce that annoyance to a manageable degree.

i dont agree with a lot of the posturing against people who only watch kid's cartoons because it feels mean-spirited. like if you want to do that it's cool and i don't think you're committing some moral or intellectual sin--but it is very silly when people who do this forget that they're watching cartoons for children, not in a 'you can't expect children's media to be good' way or even a 'the politics of children's media aren't worth analyzing way' but in a 'you have to be realistic about genre expectations' way. because that's how you end up with arguments over whether steven universe should have killed people or not