#the 'you' at the end was to the fandom at large but don't worry anon i didn't take offence

[biasbuck]

BiAsBuck’s ficrec Fraturday

Hi everyone, how we holding up? I'm coping (ish) with a Ghost Whisperer watch through and an abundance of wonderful fic. Back with another fortnight of fic that I've read and loved recently, and wow there's been some amazing stories! As always you can find previous rec lists here.

14 December 2024

at this fork in the road (I want the path that leads me to you) by @polkadotk804 was recommended to me by an anon (thank you!), and has firmly cemented polkadot as a must read author! A sliding doors split narrative fic, in which in one strand Eddie asks Buck to come with him to El Paso, and in another strand he stays silent. Moving, emotional, full of small and large steps to reconciliation with Chris, Eddie as a brilliant Dad actually thank you very much, and the Diaz parents interfering, this is such a great read.

love letters written by someone else's hand by @moonsharky is so much fun!! After the 118's cameo on hotshots' midseason finale, buck finds himself hooked on the show and binge watches the entire series, quickly immersing himself in the fandom life. He's deep diving on reddit and stumbles across RPF of him and Eddie (aka Nurse 1 & 2) and curiosity strikes. Joyful, and brilliantly done.

beating the horse by @doitbuckley in which Eddie is moving to Texas, and looking back at his various 1.0 2.0 upgrades, Buck finally figures out what he wants. But of course first he has to spiral hard, whilst trying not to let on that that's just what he's doing. Oh this hurt so much, but was so good. Buck just absolutely ripping himself to shreds whilst Eddie quietly self combusts in the background. So so satisfying, and I loved the open endedness of it all. Wonderful work!

the sweetest possible lie by @wildehacked Chris’s fifteenth birthday falls on a Tuesday, and it couldn’t be more different from last year. Eddie and Buck take him to dinner to celebrate, and an assumption from the waitstaff leads Chris in a bout of teenage grandiosity to ask why Buck still denies being his father figure when people suggest it. This is short but packs a punch, and has such a clever and sympathetic eye on youthful wilfulness, as well as the balancing act that Buck and Eddie are on.

Somethings Said (to turn you inside out) by taegyungie absolutely KILLED ME with the sexual tension, my goodness, I kept having to pause to catch my breath. During the end scene in 8x08, Buck catches Eddie on Grindr, gets confirmation he's started sleeping with men...and now Buck can't stop thinking about it. Absolutely unable to stop his curiosity, he finds himself drawn to Eddie's profile, and soon casual chatting leads to more. Absolutely sizzling hot, and the voice and characterisation of their teasing friendship developing was so gorgeous.

bad luck to talk and the strangers by jaekyu both incredible! In BLTT, we get thee most miscommunicating dummies fic - in which buddie start having casual sex in the midst of season 8 but do not talk about it, just add it to the mix of their friendship. Eddie is convinced this means they are dating, Buck thinks it must be a case of fwb as Eddie can't love him. They both reexamine with the benefit of hindsight. It's hot, compelling, and full of aching romantic tension. In The Strangers, we have them coping with Eddie moving to El Paso by hooking up, and then Eddie running, with Buck later visiting, and the cycle repeating. It's so much connection and hope and pain, and beautiful, with some A+ Eddie thesis statements.

and i fell (like a dead body falls) by fearofgod oh my god this one near broke me 😭 Buck and Eddie are on their first date, when the ground literally drops out from beneath their feet in an explosion at the restaurant. Both badly injured, they rely on each other to help those they're trapped with, whilst life slowly drifts ever further away. I realised as I was reading that I hadn’t checked for a MCD tag and was genuinely like oh god what if they actually die? (Don't worry, there's a hope!) I really adored the characterisation of them both being already all in on their relationship, and the weight of their friendship and working partnership history coming to the fore in the crisis, and yet that they were still figuring things out and on the cusp of feelings actualisation. Literally an edge of your seat, heart in your mouth read and some absolutely stellar hurt/comfort fic.

I have had enough of crime by @lamardeuse will I ever get enough of Josh and Eddie gay yoda worsties? Not likely! The author sums this up brilliantly as 'Josh's view of Eddie's journey in 8A and beyond through the gay Olympic sport of competitive brunching.' Delightfully bitchy but also forging a solid foundation of quiet friendship and support, I loved this so much.

I should be pushing daisies by @exhuastedpigeon ooooh this was so healing. With Eddie leaving for Texas, Buck is still in LA and at the 118, and pining. He leans on the people around him, Bobby, Maddie and long calls with Eddie over facetime. All he needs now is a Christmas miracle. The perfect warm hug of a holiday fic.

That's all for now, see you soon for Christmas recs!

[squiddy-god]

Crashing Winds

venti x reader soulmate AU

Fjekekekeke more re-uploads (I'm going crazy) thankfully the 6 page nuvi smut is a light at the end of the tunnel (I know many of you where very excited for it lol) no beta, no prof 🎻🤏

♥︎REQUEST ARE OPEN♥︎ don't be shy, send request for any of the fandoms on my fandom list, you can even recommend shows/games if they aren't there. Or even if you just want to chat! Anon is also always open!

CW : bit of angst if you squint, fluff, soulmate timer AU

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Venti had long covered up his soulmate timer, thousands of years counting down yet he never cared. The anemo archon had never liked the concept of soulmates, sure someone destined to love you was sweet to most "but what is love if demanded by fate?" He thought to himself, words echoing in his head. 

It was a warm day, birds sang their songs of joy as the wind caught their wings; the sun filtered rays through the large tree that the Bard stood under. It was the first time in so long that he looked at the timer on his wrist- 00:00:00 written on his skin. His lips quirked upwards as his eyes shone brightly even in the shade, perhaps his joy made him cruel, but he had denied fate, escaping the chains that once bound him to another. "Ehe, finally~" He sang as he spun around "freedom" It came out like a whisper, a hopeful plee for this feeling to stay, to not drift off like dandelion seeds. 

The snap of a branch caught his attention as he peered over to the God statue sitting in front of the tree. And there you were, sat on your knees with your head hung low as if ashamed of something. "Lord Barbatos is there something wrong with me? " You muttered, venti's eyes widened as he listened in, curious about what was the matter. "Why don't I love them? No matter how long I stay I can't find the love I should feel" You gripped at the fabric on your legs, knuckles growing lighter as your grip persisted.  "Why can't I love my soulmate? " Eyes downcast and shoulders tense you sat there. 

"Now what's a bright traveler like you mopping here? " The Bard sang. You jolted back, landing on your butt as your arm flew up in front of you to grip your chest. "Ah! You startled me! " He only laughed, his airy voice ringing out. "Why don't you come drinking with me? Maybe the sweet taste of wine will help to lift your spirits~" He said wistfully as you stood up. 

Your hands fumbled with each other as your gaze shifted out to the vast fields of windrise. "I'm sorry but I've met my soulmate-" The way your beautiful eyes darkened in a veil of sadness when 'soulmate' left your lips made the bards heart sign in sadness. "No no! This is just a friendly drink between friends!" He said, whisking you away as flashing his soulmate timer. 

The drink was fun, jokes cracked by an enthusiastic bard as he plucked the strings of his lyre. It was the most fun you'd had in ages, all your worries drifting off as his music seemed to carry them. "Hey, Bard? What's your name? " A cheeky smile etched onto his face "venti! And you dear traveler?" You chuckled "y/n!" You stated, taking another sip from your glass. 

The heart works in mysterious ways, yet still you wondered if you could even love. "Am I broken?" You asked yourself looking into the mirror, eyes stained red from your tears and worry. They were kind, a gentle person who seemed to love you fully, yet every touch from your soulmate sent no sparks through your heart. 

Three years of love not returned, you wondered if your heart could feel- "how can my heart work if it can't love the one person it's destined to? " You wondered. 

You saw others walk through the mondstat streets hand in hand with love and fate. Yet it left no bitter feeling in your mouth, only a sad longing. Can one really learn to love if their heart dines them so? 00:00:00 scrawled on your wrist in neat writing was a constant reminder of how cruel fate could be. 

For how can fate lead if the heart does not follow? 

Yet the bard's words caused you worry, "what is love if demanded by fate?" He had sung, the tune of his lyre clearing your mind as his words echoed through it. 

Why did your heart love another? The silly Bard and his damned lyre! The calm when your shoulders slumped and your brow relaxed! Damn the feeling of your racing heart and pounding veins! 

So enticing was the feeling he gave, the bubbly sensation in your chest and the feeling of wind against your face. You felt free! Like a bird soaring through wind and snow, or the soft petals of Cecilias swayed by cool breezes. It was an addicting feeling that he gave, but one you said you couldn't have 

Oh how he loved your voice, the way you laughed so freely as his teasing, or the look of wonder while he played his lyre. How angelic could a mortal really look? More angelic then he, he thought as you stood on top ruins with the wind blowing against you. 

And the warm feeling you gave him, as if you snatched his worries like stars from the sky and tossed them into the rivers below. 

He grappled with these feelings for only a few days before they took hold of him. His eyes went soft when they gazed at you, his songs always drifting to love when he sang to you, and the feeling of freedom that you gave him made it feel as if the wind was under his wings. 

It was conflicting, to gaze into the eyes of your promised one and only be able to think that it doesn't feel right. But as they stood in the home of your parents, a ring in their hand- you felt the constricting pressure of eyes burning your skin. The light seemed hazy as if the world had been shrouded in grey. Walls closing in and the floor seeming so much closer than before. You said yes. Could you really say no? With the peering eyes and excited chatter the words acted on their own, flowing like water from your mouth. 

Avoiding the jovial Bard was hard but you knew that you would have to. Yet his music always drifted in the winds, Harmony's of his lyre caught like dandelion seeds in the breeze. You knew you couldn't handle it if you saw him now, so as much as hit hurt you avoided him. 

Barbatos rang in his head, he had always heard when his name was said, but this was different. The sound of your voice echoed in his mind, his teal eyes going wide when you said wedding, how you didn't want to get married but- he knew what he had to do. 

The gentle tunes of the lyre outside were familiar, yet in the hazy state of your head you couldn't recognize it. You began to walk out and down the aisle, the music was too loud in your head- almost loud enough to drown out your beating heart. 

A flash of bright teals and greens caught your eye as you walked, sparkling pleading eyes that begged you to run as nimble fingers strumbed the astral iron strings of his lyre. Your thoughts raced as you almost frantically glanced between the Bard and altar. You didn't hear anything until your name was called, "do you take them to be lawfully wedded?" You snapped out of your haze and glanced at the Bard, the realization hit you like a brick, your throat felt dry as you took a deep breath before speaking. "N-no" Your voice was barely above a whisper but the winds carried it far, the winds also decided to carry the table cloths. Billowing and blowing sheets of white around the venue as a joyous laugh rang in the air, while all were distracted by gusts of winds and sheets wreaking havoc the Bard grabbed your hands. 

You ran, legs carrying you as you weaved through the crowd, venti takeing in your smile he found so radiant- no longer overshadowed by melancholy in your eyes. "Y/n, I don't care much for fate, I want to be free with you" He said, turning back as he slowed to a stop. Gazing down at the 00:00:00 on your wrist and smiled. "I want to be free with you to venti- besides, who needs a soulmate anyways? " You laughed as the Bard tackled you in a hug. "Thank you venti" You kissed him on the cheek and he flashed you a cheeky smile. "Awww~ just a kiss on the cheek? Is that any reward for your Savior?" Shaking your head you rolled your eyes- how you loved this annoying Bard was the archons best guess, but you relented. Lips pressing against his, a kiss all too short for his liking as his cheeky grin widened. "Ehe~ much better" 

The Bard, once ancient archon of wind was right, what is freedom if asked of you by a god, and what is love if demanded by fate? Nothing but silver shackles doomed to break. 

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[spirk-trek]

Hey so, it's me. The debbie-downer vaguing you in the spirk tag. I didn't mention you directly because my post wasn't directed at you, although it was made in response to checking some of your posts because I do have Unification in my filtered list (content and tag), so those fanworks? Behind a button, so my choice to look is all my own. (I didn't send the anon, though. That was someone else, sorry to say.) It sucks that that's how tumblr's system works but yay content filtering! Tumblr didn't always have that.

I didn't make that post to start drama, and I'm not the sort to get my kicks by being a contrarian for opposition's sake (like. I'm a Shatner fan. In a lot of online Star Trek spaces, I might as well say I hate K/S or Leonard Nimoy or kick puppies in my spare time, you know?), but I did make it in anger and for that I apologize. I should have waited longer on it to phrase things better or simply have deleted it from my drafts after typing it out. (But it's out there now and I'll live with it.)

I do understand where the joy of connecting the past to the present comes from (as a lot of your posts do with connecting old and new fanworks together), and that a lot of people are celebrating the Unification short as a culmination of 50+ years of K/S despite their initial separation according to the initial story, but for me (personally! I want to stress that. It's just me and my own opinion here), I keep seeing it as a valuing of what a company is finally offering fans rather than the celebration of fans who saw where K/S's story ended at the time, rejected that ending that was offered by the corporation, and made their own ending for K/S, without looking towards any official channels as a guide for their visions. That's what my post was about, where my anger was from, those questions--what becomes lost in fandom if we accept canon from the corporation that holds the copyright? What does it say if we look towards that same canon as being above what fandom has already envisioned? In a fandom as old as Star Trek's, one that laid so much groundwork that we take for granted, to overlook that worries me.

I suppose the biggest issue here is it's too similar, like a reflection in a mirror: on one side, Unification stands as the canonization of what the fandom has envisioned all along. It culminates. On the other, Unification appears as a bone tossed to finally appease fans who have seen K/S from the start and it feels too little, too late. Ironically enough, the short has seemingly managed to divide people, but it's too early to tell how lasting such a division could be.

Hopefully I've cleared the air by this. Unification clearly is not my cup of tea and I'm honestly not trying to ruin anyone's fun (most of my posts have gone untagged for a reason but I forget tumblr still parses for post content to index. Yikes. That post was tagged, though, because it was a snap decision made in anger and I wanted my thoughts to be seen). One could argue the short wasn't even made for me as I've long wondered if I will watch Generations because I've read the summary and didn't like it. But that's the joy of fandom and transformative works. We can look at the story and pick our favorite parts and rewrite the ones we don't like. If we didn't do that, fandom wouldn't exist, or it would but it wouldn't be as much fun.

Sorry for the essay in your inbox and for causing any confusion and hurt. I hope you've had a great day 💛

i'm not going to lie, it does hurt a little. i wasn't going to answer this publicly but i don't have the time today to have a private convo and i don't want you to think i deleted it or ignored it, so here we are.

i don't think unification made spirk any more canon than tmp did. i don't think the short was made with k/s in mind at all, even as a bone to toss starving shippers. star trek at large was never intended as a love story between them, but people have always seen it anyway. 

i'm conflicted about the use of nimoy's likeness too. despite that, i think that they did it as respectfully as they could have and involved the right people. it was a goodbye, not using him for a cheap cameo or advertising purposes (yes i know it was an "ad" like everything is, but it's not like spock holds up a coke at the end). you can disagree with me, and i understand your point of view. that's why i said i understood where that anon was coming from. 

what i see is william shatner and others taking a story that ended in a way that was disrespectful to both characters, one of which he himself has been playing for the majority of his life, and trying to fix that. it doesn't mean there's no corporate greed involved. both can be true. at least they posted it on youtube, they didn't premiere it or put it behind a paywall. it was just eight minutes, and less than a quarter of that had nimoy's face in it. my favorite part of the whole thing was seeing tos kirk meet his future selves. i love that even though they both die out of their times, they find each other in the end. 

i don't want to be an activist or defend or endorse anything, i just... 

those zines i tagged were 1) a poem by della van hise that was so accurate to the short that others were already reblogging it (i posted it weeks ago). i found it super interesting that she wrote a poem about them meeting again in death before tmp/wok even came out, let alone this short. 2) i was gushing about unification in the tags. 3) another poem about being side by side, which again, i found incredibly relevant. the other one i posted was because it went well with the others visually. it has nothing to do with unification other than the fact that spock is laying down. 

this has just made me sad tbh. i'm not angry and i love your analysis/fan work so much, so :( idk, i don't want anything i post to be divisive or disrespectful. i wasn't even worried about that before. i just really needed a win and maybe i clung to that a little too hard :/

[sleepingdeath-light]

wally + getting pegged hcs ; 18+

requested by ; shy anon (02/07/23)

fandom(s) ; welcome home

fandom masterlist(s) ; sfw | nsfw

character(s) ; wally darling

outline ; “Hello, I'm an adult (22-years-old) and would like to make a request for NSFW headcanons about pegging wally darling with a gn! Reader 👉���👈🏼

If this is something that might make you uncomfortable or you simply don't feel like writing, that is completely fine!!👍🏼

-shy anon (if nobody's taken that yet)”

warning(s) ; sexually explicit content, anal fingering, pegging, anal sex

note ; most of this is focused on context and lead up but the smut is definitely still there don’t worry

minors and ageless blogs will be blocked

pegging isn’t really something would have even known about let alone considered exploring with you — hell he knew very little about standard vanilla sex before you met so anything beyond that would be completely new to him

you’d have been the one to propose it, laying in bed on evening with your body moulded against his whilst he buries his face in a book that frank had lent him — something about entomology and the differences in butterfly and moth anatomy — when you randomly asked him about it

you were casual enough about it, your words slightly slurred in that way that tiredness tends to cause and muffled from the way your face was buried in the crook of your boyfriend’s neck

‘have you ever thought about pegging?’

your question gave him pause for a moment and you could hear him pause midway through turning the page as he asked you in that calm, deceptively innocent, voice of his

‘hm? no. i don’t think so… what is pegging?’

how he could sound so innocent despite everything you’ve done together never failed to shock you, but still you were far too tired for the conversation and just promised to explain it in the morning when you were more alive

and your wally, understanding as ever, nodded and kissed you on the head before placing the book to one side and moving to snuggle in beside you properly

seemingly just as exhausted as you were as he drifted off minutes later — the two of you falling into a peaceful, restful slumber

and the next day, whilst you were sat in your back garden with cups of steaming tea/coffee in hand and plates of breakfast balanced haphazardly on your laps, he does ask you about it

tone low and question so blunt that you choke on your drink as you try and get your jaw off of the floor — mind running a mile a minute as you try to explain what pegging is as honestly and thoroughly as possible

it was a long conversation had over pastries and hot drinks in the late morning sun — wally listening intently and interjecting with his own questions every so often but mostly just listening to your explanations

then came silence for a few minutes as he considered what had been said, brows furrowed in contemplation as he almost hid behind the comically large rim of his ‘dog’s best friend’ mug (a gift from barnaby, of course)

and then he startled you with a simple and blunt statement that left you momentarily speechless

‘okay.’

‘okay?’

‘i think i’d like to try that.’

and after a few minutes of establishing boundaries and making sure that he was actually okay with getting pegged, you started to make the necessary arrangements for it to happen

(which we’ll skip over for the purposes of getting into the smut)

you start off by helping wally find a position where he’s comfortable — one where he won’t feel the need to squirm or wince or contort himself in any weird way — which ends up having him laying on his back

then you have him spread his legs, instructing him to grasp at his thighs and tug them up towards himself — making sure that he’s comfortable every step of the way

once he’s comfortable, you start to prep his ass — spreading lube along your fingers and slowly massaging and scissoring your way further and further into his ass, taking your time and being as gentle and as careful as possible as to let him adjust to the new feeling

every crook and thrust and scissor and massage of your fingers and thumb coaxed new sounds from the base of his throat: whimpers and moans and groans that were damn near pornographic as they reached your ears

but for as much as he was enjoying himself — which was quite a bit given how much his cock was leaking and throbbing by this point — you both knew that this wasn’t the main event of the evening and, with great reluctance, you eventually had to withdraw your fingers from his ass (which earned you a frankly slutty whimper from your pink-faced and panting lover)

though his disappointment was only short lived as you quickly replaced your hand with something much larger — more intimidating even

the toy he’d specifically help you pick out for the occasion

deep purple in its colour with plenty of veins sprawling along the silicon phallus like rivers on a map — thicker at the base but not too long or girthy that it looked completely unmanageable

it looked bigger than it had in the store, perhaps made even worse by the unnatural sheen the generous layer of lube had given it, and you saw his eyes widen by a fraction when he noticed it’s presence between your legs

but, always willing to try something once, wally responded to your hesitance with plenty of reassurances and promised that he’d let you know if he genuinely felt threatened or uncomfortable

and so you continued on:,placing your non dominant hand on his hip, steadying yourself whilst you used the other to guide the heavy toy to his prepped hole — asking once again if he was sure and slowly pushing your way in once he assured you once again that he was willing to try

inch by inch you edged your way into him — watching intently as he flushed and whimpered and gasped and threw his head back against the pillows, looking for any sign of discomfort as you slowly pushed further and further in

flicking your gaze between the bulge of the strap as it goes deeper and deeper into his ass (pressing your fingertips gently against the bulge and admiring how stretched out he’s become) and his face — taking in every moan and groan and gasp that slips from those pretty lips of his until you finally bottom out and fall still

giving him all the time in the world — all the time that he needs — to adjust to the foreign pain of being filled to the brim

drowning him in praise and gentle touches until he was ready for you to start moving

calling him ‘good boy’, ‘pretty boy’, ‘my darling’ whilst you pepper kisses all over his face and neck and chest

repeating that he’s doing so well and taking everything so well and that you’re so proud of him whilst you brush messy strands of blue hair away from his sweaty forehead and entwine your free hand with one of his

rubbing comforting circles on the back of his hand and bringing it up to your lips — kissing each of his fingertips and knuckles as you wait for him to give you the go ahead and smiling when as he whimpered and panted beneath you

then, once he was finally ready and gave you the go ahead, you started to move — slowly at first, to let him adjust, before you started to experiment and find a pace that suited him better

alternating between harder and softer thrusts, shallow and quick vs deep and slow, angling your hips upwards vs downwards, and so on

watching him fall apart beneath you with nothing but love in your eyes, trying to ignore your own needs in favour of tending to him

seeing the way his back arched upwards and his unoccupied hand flew from the back of his thigh to grasp at the bedsheets beside his head — his other tightly squeezing your own as he lost himself to the pleasure

the way his legs, now unimpeded, wrapped around your hips and pulled you taut against him — forcing you to thrust deeper into his ass and coaxing a startling laugh from your throat in the process as you stabilised yourself once again

the way his hair, tangled and knotted, fanned out around his head like a halo that shook and messed up further with every thrust

the way his lips, wet with saliva and kiss bruised, parted into a beautifully perfect ‘o’ to let out a string of moans, whimpers, groans, gasps and cries of your name — occasionally broken up by something that might have been a plea

the way his hooded eyes, pupils perfectly round and dilated with need, stared up at you — unfocused yet still somehow brimming with adoration even now as you ravished his body

the way that his cock, slender and throbbing and terribly neglected, jumped and leaked with every thrust and the way he let out the most shameless moan when you leaned down and pressed your stomach down against it

the way he took you so willingly despite his inexperience because he loved you and trusted you — because he knew you’d never do anything to cause him harm

with such an amazing sight in front of you, it was the least you could do to keep praising him through his climax

assuring him that he was doing so well, that he’s taking everything like an expert

that he looks so pretty, so handsome, so beautiful, even, like this

that you love him, that you’re proud of him

encouraging him to be louder, to let go, to let you take care of him

and, with a well placed kiss on the underside of his jaw and a perfectly angled thrust straight into his sweet spot, you finally got to see him fall apart

he was a mess: all arching backs and parted moaning lips and a cock spurting so much that it covered your stomach and his

sweaty and panting and drooling and trembling

and, despite it all or because of it, so very beautiful because he was wally — your wally — and he was never anything less

he was the absolute most and you were thankful that he trusted you enough to do something like this — and you fully intended to reward him in kind with aftercare and whatever would follow

[blehblarghblah]

Hello, I recently read your Magic Between the Moon & Sky series, and I really like the college AU series. It's really wonderful. I want to know if there will be an opportunity to update in the future. If you don't mind, I would like to know why you Not a fan of TDP anymoreFinally, I wish you well. The novels you wrote really bring me great joy.

Ahh, it means a lot to know that you enjoyed my work! I really enjoyed writing Rayllum immensely and I loved to see that a lot of people liked it as much as I did (if not more, apparently 😅). The reason for why I dropped off TDP is kinda... strange to explain. My second oldest sister and I were big fans of the show, and as you can obviously tell from my blog, I was excited about it for a time!

But when Season 4 of The Dragon Prince was announced I was really excited about it! But at the time, my sister and I had others shows we were watching. I was also busy writing for The Most Undoing Thing at the time and didn't want to be too sidetracked with other fandoms. And then, as time went on, it kinda got away from us but we were shocked to hear that Season 5 was announced later in 2023 summer.

Now I know Season 2 and 3 had a similar time gap, for us, we were kinda worried about hearing such an immediate follow up when it felt like Season 4 just came out. Apprehensively, I looked at some reviews and such. I won't say that I haven't been influenced by what I heard, but I also know that there was good reviews and legitimate excitement too! I already read a small amount of the comic materials and books that came out in the break between Season 3 and 4, so I knew a lot of the changes to come.

And the time skip.

So, seeing a bit of a divide, my sister and I slowly just thought, "Well, we'll get around to it." But evidently, it just became something we kind of lost interest in. Season 3 was good, but there were some pacing things we weren't a fan of. For me, I enjoyed the heart of the story and the characters throughout. In the end, I was also aware of the rushed aspects of the narrative too at times.

All in all, I started to have less attachment to really wanting to watch or enjoy the media I was into, and just started focusing on MBTMS itself. Because I still liked Rayllum, and people still liked what I wrote. Though, it became an issue for me, because now I was essentially writing for a fandom I was losing interest in, which meant motivation was hard to muster.

I just felt like I was obligating myself to writing something I wasn't invested in, which made me worry that it would reflect in my writing. And the last thing I wanted, was to write something and put it out when I wasn't even happy with it. With that aside, time just kept moving on and suddenly there's 6 Seasons of this series, and I felt like it was just a lot.

The pacing of TDP has always been... strange. I understand that it's been separated into sagas as well. For MBTMS, I genuinely do wish to finish it someday. But the issue with most of MBTMS, is that it's largely set in an AU stories. And AU or not, I do my best to emulate the canon characters in their personalities and behaviours. So it's hard to do that when you haven't looked at canon material for so long nor if you're just not all too keen on getting back into it.

TL;DR: After putting it off for awhile, it got away from me and my interest slowly waned based on the overall pacing and output of the show. From the reviews and responses, I just felt less inclined to get back into it which affected my motivation to writing for MBTMS. I don't think I'll return to MBTMS, but I wish to someday.

Thanks for the ask, Anon. Sorry to disappoint, but I'm glad and pleased to know you enjoyed my stories for the time you shared with them.

Until next ask,

- Bleh

[bonesandthebees]

Hi again Bee.

Thank you for lending an ear to listen even if I just kinda showed up. I really appreciate it. I've actually been reading through some of your other stories and they're very good (I adore the fae works!).

When it comes to Wilbur, I'm just. Very disappointed and upset. Of course I support Shubble and am glad she spoke out, it's very important and I'm glad that it's encouraged others to come forward with their own stories of abuse at the hands of large creators. At the same time though part of me wishes she hadn't said anything, so I could have continued as I was, in blissful ignorance, even if I feel really guilty for thinking like that.

It just saddens me that someone I looked up to so much ended up being this horrible person. It makes me worried that I too am bad, that somehow he has imprinted his awfulness unto me. I used to be horrible too. I like to think I've grown as a person, I was only a kid, but have I? Or was being drawn to Wilbur a sign? Like attracting like?

Y'know, I used to say that my hair style goals were how Wilbur's hair is, and recently I got a haircut. When I took a shower earlier it ended up floofing up in a similar way to his. I don't know how to feel about that. Maybe I should style it differently, even though I like the floof. I don't want to be even a little reminiscent of an abuser.

I am reminiscent of him though, in ways I can't change. I used to feel so seen by him, we're both song writers, and hypochondriacs, and I wanted to be him so badly I would cry. I would cry because he was everything I desperately craved to be as an insecure transmasc, an attractive guy with a beautiful voice and an amazing life. And now he's horrible, and probably always has been, and all of my memories of him are tainted.

I hate that I can't listen to Lovejoy anymore. It feels unfair to the other band members. It isn't their fault Wilbur is awful, and yet I'm taking away a source of their income. I know I'm taking away from Wilbur too, but he's only one person out of the group. Maybe that's just me giving an excuse so that I won't have to stop enjoying their music. It doesn't matter, I can't stomach listening to them anymore anyways.

I keep getting songs from YCGMA stuck in my head. It's like now that I can't listen to it anymore my brain has decided to fuck with me by making me listen to it anyways. I can't even justify listening to that album, that's just Wilbur's music. I was going to cover a song from that album for fun. Now I can't.

Is it bad I still find comfort in Wilbur as a character? C!Tommy is my favorite, but C!Wilbur is almost always a huge part of any C!Tommy story and I love C!Wilbur stories too. I know C! ≠ CC! but I just. It's complicated.

Idek why I'm this upset. I haven't been an avid watcher of anyone in the DSMP in at least over a year. If anything this whole thing has brought me back into the fandom more than I have been in ages. I feel bad about that, but also this situation has introduced me to people like Aimsey, whose content I'm seeing more of and I find myself enjoying.

I've also found more great DSMP fics lately in my quest to binge read them before the mass deletions start. Is it bad to find good things in a bad situation?

I'm sorry for the lack of put togetherness and the length of this ask. I promise I'm usually more coherent and to the point.

-Tech (just call me Tech like a name, "tech anon" feels weird heh)

hey tech, sorry for a bit of a late reply I've been busy the past few days

(sorry about the 'tech anon' thing, it's just a habit since that's how I refer to most of my anons. I'm going to still tag your ask as tech anon though just for my tagging system if that's okay)

I'm so glad you like the fae stories!! I'm still so proud of both of those looking back on them

anyway, yeah, I get that. I get the guilty wish that none of this had ever come out so you could just continue to go on in blissful ignorance. when someone learns something very upsetting, it's only natural to feel like you wish you never learned that. you don't need to feel guilty for that. you're not a bad person for your emotional reactions to things. your actions are what matters.

also, you are in no way a bad person because you were drawn to wilbur's content. the persona wilbur put on for the internet was not representative of who he actually was. you were drawn to the facade. an illusion of the person wilbur could've been, if he actually practiced the things he preached. you said you used to be a bad person, but you've changed. the fact that you are worried at all that you might still be bad shows a level of self-awareness and concern that wilbur apparently did not have. because wilbur was aware he was a bad person and treated the people around him terribly, but he didn't care to try and be better. as long as you're trying to be better, you're already leagues ahead of him.

also, regarding the hair, the floofy fringe is an incredibly common haircut. that is not exclusive to wilbur soot. you do not look like him if your hair does the floof similarly to his, it just makes you look like thousands of other dudes with fluffy fringe.

the day after shelby first streamed I had an MSR song stuck in my head and I hated it so much. it really sucks. you just have to try and drown it out with other music

it's not hypocritical at all to still find comfort in c!wilbur. I know it's complicated, and there's so much discussion I could get into as to why it's so complicated, but we can all separate the guy and the character in our heads. there's no reason to feel guilty about that. and there's also nothing bad about finding good in this situation. I think it's really sweet that you've found so many great fics in this time and I'm so glad you've been getting comfort from them. you're appreciating the authors hard work and that's a good thing! you don't need to feel bad about that

I hope you're doing okay tech

[ifyouknowmenahyoudontt]

I try to maintain the "protect my peace" mindset in this fandom but like it's getting so hard that I can't stand so much going on in this fandom, I don't want to be in this fandom anymore atp, like the racism, sexism, oversexualization, flanderization and more just make me so mad especially cuz it's coming from a fandom that claims to be so diverse and inclusive??? Being inclusive isn't always this great heroic thing if you're including to LOOK inclusive not BE inclusive. Bipoc people aren't these like exotic specimens that spice up your already OOC characters. You cant take our titles and nationalities, post them on you character and call it a day and not include culture differences or anything. You have to do research and be mindful or else you'll end up pushing harmful stereotypes!!!1 Mental illnesses arent meant to spice up a character, if you don't have that illness and dont know first hand what its like, PLEASE DON'T just paste it and a hc??? This should be common sense. The fetishization of the characters is a whole nother thing that I think prev anon touched upon well enough for me not to mention. Misogyny in this fandom which has a large female population is baffling to me, and this fandom feels like the marauders has turned into like euphoria or smth (not derogatory to euphoria, yes derogatory to this fandom) it's just abt horny teens in a school building. Let them be teens?? Let them focus in classes, let them have more platonic relations not everything has to be romantic, let people be mean, not everyone at school are besties??? Let there fights and drama??? Idk just let it be something other than hookup high where everyone finds there soulmate before they even turn 17??? Cuz at this point this isnt British school hogwarts Harry Potter earlier generation, its American ship focused gen z highschool drama. Dont even get me started on the flanderization of most characters and my boy Sirius...Sry for the rant I just feel so strongly abt this all 😞

i love the rant no worries

[moltensmusings]

"It's become so popular to cyberbully people in this fandom, especially if they hold any opinion outside the extremely limited and strictly enforced one-way-only 'acceptable' opinion."

This. Fucking this. I haven't experienced anon hate ir any sort of harrassment, but hearing the hate people can get boogles my mind.

You like Adam or dislike how things ended for him? You feel uncomfortable how fndm treats him? You're an abuse apologist. (because the only villains you're allowed to like are the ones WE decide you can like.)

You like Ironwood or dislike how things ended for him? You dislike how his villain arc got writen? You feel uncomfortable how fndm treats his paranoia and prosthetics? You're a terrible person who supports facism, because you dared to do some critical thinking and don't agree with the group by daring to have different opinions (how ironic)

You ship Blacksun instead of Bumbleby? You're a hompohobe, 'cause Yang and Sun are totally the same people so you should be shipping BB too. (Lets ignore how I water down Yang and Sun to 1 surface level trait and that both have different plotlines with Blake)

And now shipping FB is bad? I thought this fandom cared about f/f ships? Guess, not and only care about keeping everyone in line. For god's sake, you're telling me people got shitted on for theorizing that Qrow is Ruby's dad?? Sheez, with this pathern of behavior I can safely assume I would get accused of being a military bootlicker who supports bombing cities because I like Harriet.

For my time in this fandom I learned the only way I can enjoy RWBY, without mentally blocking out the toxic part of Fndm or getting mentally tired in the Rwde side and without getting frustrated by the canon...is to stay in my corner. No matter how friendly Rwby positive blog looks like - I'm staying in my corner. Quick look at their posts about Rwde, Ironwood etc. and I'm taking a distance.

And what sucks more, I do want to talk about RWBY with people. I want to talk without bringing up it's flaws. Once I brought up RWBY to a mutual of mine and they hadn't heard of it before, but said they would check it out.

I was happy because I would have someone to talk about RWBY, but then later I remembered about how Fndm can be, about the war with criticism they have. I would get worried them getting harrassed if they talk about the flaws. What if Fndms toxicity influences them? Maybe, I did the bad thing for mentioning RWBY to them??

I get, Fndm not wanting constant critcism in their dash. Trying to enjoy a show with many pointing out the cracks can be draining. But all this? All these rules of what to think, like and ship? This isn't ok.

I agree that RWBY haters can drive off new fans of the show. but there are times where fandoms are too responsible for this. Congrats Fndm, I'm tired.

Largely since my re-entry into the fandom I've been incredibly careful about separating positive posts from critical ones. I'll tag things as rwde/rwby critical liberally because I don't want to chance a post I make finding someone who thinks it's too negative. I tend to be more critical this days or think a lot about alterations I'd make to canon to enjoy myself more and I'm having fun doing that in my corner of the internet.

I think mainly the part that threw me was to see a harmless post get someone upset, and then a request for people to manage their internet space only caused this to worsen. Last time I posted freezerburn content (2016 I believe) it was treated as normal and not subject to controversy. It felt a bit like getting a bucket of ice water dumped on me because I wasn't ready for a completely angry response to positivity.

The fandoms response to my recent posts about this situation has been overall more positive in all honesty with a lot of support and mutual aggrevation (like this) at how many rwby fans can often live in an echo chamber where canon is law and anyone who ignores said law is out to destroy RWBY regardless of how much they might enjoy the show.

This defensive nature might stem from fans getting incredibly protective of the series because there was a point when it would get a lot of unnecessary hate in the early days for dumb things (animation and episode length when budget was clearly an issue). But even so they now begin to lump everyone enjoying the show differently together and assume the worst which is what isolates so may people.

I do appreciate all of you for being supportive though and it's unfortunate that the fandom got into a state like this, I feel like it's one of the worst versions of this type of thing in fandom that I've seen. But when we get the fans who accept people are going to have differences of opinions and handle their online space to make sure they're having fun it makes enjoying the fandom easier!

[yinyuedijun]

Ao3 also heavily relies on tagging. Those multi-chap multi-fandom reader things have tons of tags. Unfortunately, if you're anything like me, once it comes time to tag... it's like someone asking your favorite song 😅. Like I was working through your ao3 a bit ago because I was worried old blog links wouldn't work well on mobile and ie I think you didn't have omega aventurine tag in night flower (sorry if I'm misremembering)? And technically that's a searchable tag that might have gotten you more hits because it's both searchable and relatively niche.

Just tagging is a huge help. There are tags for specific relationship dynamics, au's/Canon divergences that are popular, different nsft acts/positions/knks, tropes of course... however it can be hard to know which ones are searchable unless you're on ao3 enough. I wonder if anyone has ever made a guide? I also know for sure that tagging characters separately from the ship "/" tag helps.

And multi-chapter stuff does get more hits because you go to the top of the date sorted options more times. I have a lot of one-shots on my account (from cross-posting) and I'm pretty sure the reason any of them got over 1k is because I'm writing for rarer characters in a larger fandom or for a large fandom that still has surprisingly few fics (oh naruto). The only one I've got that has more is both complete and I restricted myself from posting all chapters at once even though I wanted to be done with it. And yeah, unfortunately, unless your fandom is so niche you end up on the last few pages of a search or the fic gets so popular you end up in the first few, fics tend to get buried after a few weeks.

Tl;dr more tags are better because it lets people find you from many different angles! But there is some fandom-characteristic stuff that tends to either help or hurt depending on where you are.

... and there's a lot of meh fics in the top spots of many fandoms 😅 just because of the numbers game (complete, multi-chap, popular fan ship etc). I read your piece! It's good and has that mao panache 🥰, I liked it even though world references go over my head since I've not seen the show. Don't let the numbers get you down 💜 you're a really great writer! It sucks when effort doesn't seem to reflect the reaction (also kudos are famously low, good-normal is about 10% of your hits and you *might* get 1-5% comments of kudos based on whether that fandom is chattier/ more social with each other) but I hope you know we still appreciate having fun with you 🤗

hi anon!!! omg thank you so much for that ao3 breakdown/guide haha it's quite useful! I have actually gotten this specific comment from ao3-only readers before - they always tell me to add more tags because it would have helped them find my fics sooner! I think I will take the advice to heart, but it may take a while because I'm quite resistant to over-tagging (I don't like spoilers in tags ALFJSKSSJK). once I get to the smut in this fic I will defs be tagging every single sex position though 🫡

it is funny how even on ao3 we run into the phenomenon where top interactions =/= top quality (speaking generally, ofc there's stellar fics out there with tons of interactions). I guess whether you are on social media or on an archive, it always becomes a metrics game in the end rip

and thanks for the encouragement on my current fic, I appreciate it a lot!!! 🥺 I also super appreciate you reading the fic despite not knowing the world, like that must be MEGA confusing for an asoiaf universe fic LMAO. "mao panache" made me giggle WAHAHHWFKJS I'm not sure what it is but I'm glad you enjoy it !!!

[shmowder]

What you said about Yulia makes so much sense!! "She'd act like the perfect Victorian era husband" I love it. Tbh at times I think I'm missing something essential about her by only knowing her P2 self because I've never gotten especially butch vibes from her; yeah maybe in comparison to many of the other women in town, but not as much as the fandom seemed to regard her as. I know that some people were dissatisfied with the redesign for that reason, so I know P1 will be another story. And you're right of course, it's important to consider what was "normal" for the time period too.

About the toxic relationship, my first reaction was Noooooo not the dishes 😱😱 But I think you're right about that too, unfortunately, haha.

-

I think I'm something of a P1 Haruspex Day 1 expert by now ;) Noo I'm joking, I bet there's a lot I'm still missing, but I've begun Day 1 three times now and maybe the third time's the charm. I just didn't use my time wisely the first time, and on the second I didn't do the Isidor's house side quest. At least Victor and Yulia's voice acting seems unobjectionable.

The wonkiness is starting to grow on me and the walking speed isn't as bad as I expected. It's more like a power walk sort of. I was just reminded of the old Pokemon games before the running shoes existed :o

As time goes on I wonder if I'll ultimately view P1 and P2 as two separate games or if I'll start blending them together, choosing what I like best from each one. 🤔

"Alexander Cuckburov for being a gaint tree branch wedged into my urethra" LOL that is. VIVID

-

Having a perfect vision of the end result and the struggle to get there and knowing it might be altogether impossible to produce what you've dreamed up in your head... I feel you big time on that :( I would hate for my request to be a source of stress for you, so if you want to post the snippets you have and do a bg3-style list for the remaining characters, I won't mind. Or I don't mind waiting longer if you want to pause on that request and pick it up again later. I'm sorry if I sound patronizing 😅 I don't mean to, I just want to say that I'm okay with whatever you're comfortable doing. You've given me so much already, and I'm grateful for all of your replies ♡

Here's a goofy little affirmation of the day: 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓃𝓉

🐿️ anon

I get it, I totally didn't get her being described as butch at all while playing P2. You'll meet her in the bachelor P1 route, and it will click eventually. She dresses and behaves more similarly to Daniil than to other women, and it's that era's equivalent to butch.

I like her P2 design, I just wish they kept her pixie cut instead of giving her a bun.

-

Pfjwojfjs me and you are the world leading experts on restarting the Haruspex day one. It's really The loaded everything bagel out of all the other routes, oh and don't worry!

The days somehow get even shorter + more loaded the more you progress. No rest for the wicked... or Menkhus it seems.

At one point I was literally restarting a whole day because I was a few minutes off from midnight in some bullshit quests, you'll absolutely hate Oyun this time around. No more mister pathetic soggy old cat, he is a cunt through and through and will make you almost tear your hair out from the debilitating quests he has.

But I'm happy you're enjoying it!! It's so beautiful and very fun. About the trashcans, there are actually more than P2, but they aren't conventional places alongside the streets this time around.

They're scattered through the town. Sometimes, they're grey trashcans that blend in with the gravel streets. Sometimes, they're large bins that blend in with the throw up colored streets.

A lot of times, they're wedged in between buildings or thrown into corners. You have to go out of your way to check the bins.

-

Thank you for your sweet words <3 It feels nice knowing someone relates to the experience too. It's never a source of stress I promise, I experience this with my original work too.

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

I think some PJMs are on a rampage today, though thinking this is a large-scale, planned deal is giving them too much credit, when it comes to deal with antis, strategic isn't a word that comes to mind. With this person's claim, while I haven't gone through your blog with a fine tooth comb, I've looked at a lot of your Jimin content and I have not seen any 'shady' comments ("shady" is just vague enough and I'm sure is partially based on 'vibes' that they can't provide real proof of these claims). Half the time when PJMs say stuff like this it isn't that you've been shady to Jimin, it's that you've been shady to PJMs, and, in their mind, that must mean you don't like anyone who supports him, thus, Jimin anti...(that's the best I can do getting into their thought process).

When the reality is there are plenty of antis they could be worried about, creating new ones helps no one.

Wow, if that's one possible explanation, then I'm amazed at the logic. Anon, I'm sort of done with being understanding and accepting because time and time again I'm being proven that it's impossible to reason with radicalized people.

That big ass ot7 army was the damn blue print and every other fandom subsection is following the same pattern of cult radicalization. If I'm a fan of one member or two, I'm like 2 degress of separation of ending up in radicalized spaces. I tried that with Jimin biased people and pages on tumblr and all it's fine and next thing you know, they're reblogging the most insane conspiracy theory from their main thinkers. And I go back to my spot and give up. I'm not even trying with JJKs and never have because I'm not touching that group with a 10 feet pole when the majority of them are taekookers and/or really whinny and vile people just like KTHs. I'm not even gonna start about shipping spaces cause that's another mess.

Radicalized hardcore fans or solo stans are fanatics, ready to attack other people based on some imaginary wrong doing. Army and other solo stans have been continuously dehumanizing Jimin on a level that I didn't believe it was possible, but my posts about Jimin are a concern? I'm an anti that makes shady comments?

I don't give a fuck about fan groups, they can all rot. I'm not coming here to be concerned daily about idiots, I'm here to talk about an idol that I like, in this particular context. And I fucking hate how pjms are sometimes using Jimin and the way he's treated by the entire bts/kpop fandom as an excuse for them to be just as vile as any other solos. That is so fucking wrong. But if I criticize them, it means I hate people supporting Jimin and then by some logic twist, I am a Jimin anti. What's next for me because I'm saying this? Stoned in the public square and made an example of? Getting an avalanche of death threats? All stuff that I have received from army and the other solo stans and shippers. Nothing new under the sun.

I look through blogs (not just back alleys on twitter) with a big reach here and I have to run in the other direction because I see some of the most insane posts. And if I go and look through another solo member community, I see the same "arguments", only the names are different.

I can barely follow blogs here focused on someone I like. And I wish I could. But the landscape is fucking bleak because they take immense joy in perpetuating toxic narratives and being overall dicks. I'd rather have a one on one conversation through anon messages like this on my own blog because even if I might figure out what type of fan someone is, I only have to work with that one message and that's it. Easier to deal with.

[space-mist]

i don’t actually expect a response, thank you! oh no, i have a life outside of rp and i run two other blogs. i am playing someone from a not so popular 90s animanga series, that started off as a light novel. thank you for the insight ahhh its just that nobody within my fandom exist and i think that is the hardest part, people do not know my muse so at large, she is essentially an original character to them i suppose. i am sorry you had such a rough time within a group setting, i wouldn’t of expected it BUT i been in the tumblr rpc for a decade so it doesn’t surprise me tbh. i only play canons but i adore ocs and just judging by your sweet message would have loved to write with you. thank you once again for answering and as a thank you, tell me about your newest oc and how they are different from your oldest one :)

you're very kind mystery anon ;w; thanks for reaching out! i find it important to discuss these issues since i never see anyone else talking about it...i still have my old accounts from isola up, i don't quite have the heart to delete them...maybe one day when i have the time, i'll do something with them both.

i have a lot of ocs! one of which i sent to isola! but i'll tell you about one i'm currently retooling named Torrent. torrent was a gijinka of a minecraft guardian from a failed friend smp i made to be my player character, who was a proud guardian of an ocean monument who got sucked out of the sea during a hurricane. it dropped him off in a lake far inland, where he was stranded because he couldn't walk very well...he's very homesick and worried about the safety of his people, and he vows to protect anyone who can help him get home safely.

he's vastly different from my first oc, Mercury! mercury is a silly little slime kid who's here for a good time and a good snack. mercury was a jokey character made as a homestuck fankid believe it or not, so he's wildly different from the straight laced and loyal torrent. he ended up getting solid lore later, but he remains a bright eyed and fun loving kid versus this fishman who has seen the horrors of nature

[stormblessed95]

Hi! I’m the anon who asked about the ‘I’m sorry for my fault’ thing, thank you so much for your explanation! I’m hoping you don’t mind me asking another question, although this one is probably a bit more complicated. I’m still making my way through run bts and I’m noticing a lot of jokes (seem to come mostly from Jin but I might just not have a large enough sample size) about JM’s weight, and thinking about what I’ve recently learned about JM’s extreme dieting and overall body issues it’s left a very sour taste in my mouth. As an example, the run ep where they have to do that ‘I see’ game where they confess things to each other (I think ep 15 or so? I’ve been binging them sorry lol) and Jin tells jimin he looks like a pig, and then continues with the joke multiple times even after JM seems visibly upset to the point where Jin even apologizes after the game ends. But then he comes back again with another comment like that just a few mins later! Idk I know it’s meant to be taken as a joke but I just can’t understand why this seems to be a thing (that ep is not the only time I’ve noticed it) despite how much they all obviously love and care for each other, and how much the others were all worried during JM’s diets. Is this something you can offer some insight into, being in this fandom a lot longer than I have? Is this something I should expect to continue seeing throughout run? I’m not sure I want to see that, to be honest…. I appreciate anything you can tell me, thanks ❤️

Hi anon! I talked a bit about the issues of diet culture in this post here, in case you didn't see that the other day.

It's a very fair thing to have left a sour taste in your mouth. And it's not just Jin, it's all of them, even Jimin. Horrible jokes made at times even though it's also very clear they geniunely are worried AF for each other when someone takes it too far too. With the run episode you mentioned, I'm not a huge fan of the game they played. They played it before in other shows and it wasn't one I enjoyed then either. But the purpose of the game is to try and offend each other basically. And the longer the game goes, the worse it gets as each tries to win. Because you are wanting to make the other person react. So Jin hit below the belt there and won. And also pretty clearly wants to make sure Jimin is actually okay. It's not a game I'm a fan of. Lol

And I do think that's the worst of it with those jokes though honestly. Unless I don't remember, which is very possible. I could've blocked other jokes/comments out as I don't enjoy them. But mostly it's just lowkey comments and jokes about diets and shitty remarks to each other about calories at times too, but not in a mean way. Just in a... I'm worried about how entrenched they are in diet culture because of the industry they live in and how that affects their mental and physical health.

But there is also more often content of them making sure their other members eat. That they rest. That they feel loved and worthwhile. That they aren't too hard on themselves. That their jokes are never done in a mean spirited way and I do think that if a boundary was drawn, the members would've respected it and not made the jokes anymore. So I trust in their friendship there too. Encouring them to eat more sometimes and sharing food and feeding each other. And bringing them meals to eat together is one hadn't eaten In a while. But I fully understand that those jokes just don't hit well when they are made. So I get it.

I know that's probably not super helpful. Lol but it's what I've got. You are also free to DM me if you want to talk specifics more too. Thanks for the ask. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful and the reply took awhile.

[neonscandal]

So agree with your posts about Gojo. Yes, he's not perfect but that what made him what he is. And clearly from that anon ask, the blogger is anti-gojo, and even if it's painful for me, I also agree with that blogger about Gojo's characters.

But it's thanks to you Neon that I understand more about Gojo and Geto's characters and you made me into SatoSugu shipper....All the best wishes for you 🌻🌷💐

P.s

I'm surprised that BNHA not entered your fav media. (Because at first I know you from your BNHA posts)...

Hello again, friend. 🌻💛

Buried wayyyy, way at the end of the post, the blogger from before admitted that Gojo has good characterization, that they enjoy it. I think the anti-sentiments at the beginning made it hard to concede when they make good points. So tone likely made the difference there, especially with a character that has inspired real life shrines and heart ache for fans 😅

In the interest of adding some additional perspective ✨ consider the fact that Gojo, who's been in like... MAYBE a fourth of the overall story (I'm likely being generous here), is marked by such complexity that he can be so polarizing. I find it a little entertaining that he is received in fandom largely as he's received in universe (and sometimes with the same level of misunderstanding). He can be a fan favorite and still shoulder the burden of everyone's criticism or disdain. Meanwhile, in the shadows, Mei Mei is an active child predator and opportunist but I don't see nearly enough slander out there on her. Gojo's flaws aren't unique within the parameter of the story but he'll still be the one to suffer the diatribes.

I talk a lot about how characters should be as messy as real people. Just as jagged, mercurial and evolving. The texture of a rich characterization is what gives fan artists and fanfic writers something to grab onto and gives a character life beyond the source material. So, honestly? All this makes me like him even more. 😉 I hope it does the same for you. As always, I'm glad you're here and apologize for the persisting angst of being a SatoSugu shipper hahaha And remember, my words nor anyone else's need to sway how you feel about your faves. Totally fine to consider other viewpoints, especially when trying to find nuance in the story, but what you like is what you like and that's perfectly fine.

Regarding the last ask about favorites, I tend to be a bit capricious when it comes to nailing down faves but I tried to diversify my picks! JJK and BNHA are not the same story by a long shot. Lately, I've been considering some themes or elements that cross over, sure, but aside from occupying similar real estate in my head, the comparison ends there. I only wanted to include one since anyone who's seen my blog can just... tell. ✨ I settled on JJK because I feel like we can somewhat see what the reasonable end might look like for BNHA but I am still regularly thrilled and stumped by what'll happen next in JJK.

Don't worry, anon, the love and brain rot are still there. 🧡💚

[paperstarwriters]

(you don't have to publish the ask but make sure it's anonymous) please please please don't worry about the anon I think it might be the same person who made a harrass discord group...of course it's good to acknowledge wrongdoings of creators but it doesn't make anyone obligated to stay away from fandom. If you don't support the racist mess that happened it's totally fine if you stay in arcana fandom. Don't worry.

of course, of course. I'm not feeling pressured to leave the fandom right now don't worry about that. I know seeing it can cause a bit of anxiety, and for a little while it did make me feel anxious, I recalled why I wanted to write a lot of the fanfics I make in the first place, I didn't like how they wrote Muriel's ending, and I didn't like how they represented him a lot, so I wanted to make something that fit the image I had of him instead.

Anyways, I was much more curious about the note they made about the problems with Julian being a bird or the various bird motifs and that being antisemitic. I was wondering how or why that was the case, as when I tried searching it up I wasn't really able to find any definite explanations, so I was wondering if they could point me to a resource or something on the topic. I've heard that a merge between an owl and a human can often be antisemitic especially when that owl is presented as an almost demon-like entity with feathers forming horns like that of a great horned owl, and their beak being presented as a large hooked nose. That much, I do understand, but I'm unclear if it applies to the wider range of birds as well, or not.

In my initial search I found a story called Jewbird written by Bernard Malamud, an American-jewish author, and while it serves as the allegory of antisemitism not only coming from outside but inside as well, the nature of the intelligent bird being representative of an older more traditional Jewish individual (according to another source who were likely more able to draw the parallel than I was), presents him as a human-merged with bird individual and the whole point of the text seems to present it as the pure opposite of being antisemitic.

Of course, I can see the possibility of it, that he was presented as a bird in order to subvert the initial expectations and stereotypes, in the same way that Maus by Art Spiegelman does, but I would still like to be better able to understand the bird-antisemitism connection. Does it apply to specific birds? What kind of bird-like representation causes issue? Would the image of birds flying freely over the sky be considered problematic imagery? Why and how? is it the caged bird that is problematic? Why and how? Is there any possible way that this birdlike imagery can spread into other spaces and cause issue? Should Julian never be given feathered wings, regardless if you're creating a bird image or not? is his bird familiar problematic as well??? this is like telling someone unfamiliar with racism against African-american individuals that cotton is not good to them without telling them about the whole history about slavery and cotton picking, leading them to believe that they just take issue with the material of shirts or something.

I know I probably sound kinda nit-pickey, but I am genuinely curious and would love to avoid making any antisemitic mistakes when including Julian and Portia in my works. I wish to avoid this all the time, of course, but most especially now, as discussion on Palestine has spurred a lot of antisemitism due to the cultural genocide from Israel. And while it's clear that what Israel is doing, it's also clear that not all Jewish individuals support that, even though some news groups or people talking about it frame it as if it is.

Of course I'm open and eager for discussion on the other LIs as well and the intricacies of their problematic representation and how that must be handled corrected or re-framed, especially since in the early more.... hostile days of this fandom, I tended to stick to Muriel's route since I hadn't played the other routes in a while/all the way through so I'm a little unaware of all the other characters' misrepresentations (so if you're mentioning Muriel I probably have heard about and considered that one before—this man does not leave my brain lmao)

I can see the possible issues on Nadia being constantly represented as domineering failing to recognize softness in her (which I belive, though correct me if I'm wroing, is about dark skinned women being seen as violent and tough instead of soft or kind), and Asra being represented through Orientalism (mystic, but lesser other with messy foreign traditionalistic magic that must be corrected through the western logic and science—this partly originated in ancient greece so not entirely western as in America)

But yeah, I'm just really curious about it, cause my initial search only brought up news articles about people apologizing for being antisemitic, or the history of antisemitism. Rather than some of the various possible forms of antisemitism or it's possible relation to birds.

[thenightisland]

Im the anon who asked about your current fandom, thanks for answering! I'll check it out, though I wanted to ask first how the LGBTQ rep is in the books is? I seem to recall posts about that author being homophobic. (I'll still give it a try but just want to know what to expect.)

oh you're probably thinking of the infamous Blog Post from back in the day lol (tl;dr overly defensive post related to criticisms about the ending of one of the books that was then taken down and imo the following books negate all of that more on that under the cut)

it's not as prominent in early books bc of the characters' ages/the stuff going on at the time, but a lot of groundwork is laid and the magic system itself is generally read by critics as a queer allegory (it is not subtle). the secondary protagonist of the series is canonically not straight or cis. gender and sexuality are some of the biggest recurring themes in the series. and depending on how okay you are with spoilers, there's some elaboration and reassurances of sorts under the cut:

so the thing with the book that triggered the blog post was largely about the fact that a character ends up in this heteronormative "happy" ending despite [gestures vaguely at the rest of the book] (the next book narrated by this character i think does a good job of showing why it wasn't the fairytale ending it's presented as on the surface). then she ended up writing the last trilogy of books where you've established your characters as canonical soulmates spending eternity together and using your magic system to give them a child so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i wouldn't call the author homophobic i think she's just pretty typical from other middle-of-the-road-liberals in her age bracket, but you know, she was writing an extremely nuanced and unapologetically genderfluid character in the 1990s as one of her protagonists and builds a lot of her fantasy politics around Tolerance and Acceptance of the Other and dedicates a surprising number of pages in these books to discussions of gender and sexuality and homophobia and the narrator's own internal struggles with all these things and how his own perceptions change throughout the years, all of which i think are handled pretty realistically. you don't have to worry about reading these books and getting hit with hatecrimes or anything like that.

ymmv these are very dense slow burn books but they're thematically very rich and come with a central message of unconditional love