#this fandom is so naive sometimes

[beechu-beechu]

As someone who has been a fandom artist for a long time I have to say that everyone always thinks that theyre in the worst fandom but the truth is that anything w wide appeal will attract in all sorts of odd characters— the kinds of people that you just dont want to deal with. Thats why fandom is truly just best enjoyed if its u brain rotting in a corner with people who u like and showing appreciation to the people who create the stuff you like seeing n reading

Bc I frequent several socmed platforms to share my art, it really is just a Twitter™️ thing sometimes. The default mood there is being tense n wanting to bite ppl who mildly annoy u and fandom twt isnt exempt from that

[fluffy-cloudz]

my mom is reading ACOMAF rn (or i guess listening to it) and we were talking about what she’s read so far (she’s almost to the end) and after like 15 mins she hit me with the “do you even like these books?”

PFFFFFT clocked my ass tbh

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

It just bugs me when the fandom treats Tails as a baby who has sonic as his daddy. Tails may be younger than sonic, but that doesn't make him a helpless diaper baby that needs sonic to wipe his ass. Tails was living on his own even before he met sonic..he has multiple workshops and creates glorious inventions and kicks badniks ass.

So sick of the infantilization of Tails.

I don't have much to say other than

100%

I'm not really broken up about people making fanon aus or whatever. But the amount of times there's like a new Tailstube or whatever and someone goes "OMG see! This is the proof that Tails is a 5 year old baby boy that Sonic is actively teaching to read and is practically parenting! All sega needs to do now is make him stay home and go to school and act more like Sonic's kid brother!!🥰" while Sonic and Tails are chilling in one of Tails multiple homes that Tails owns and allows Sonic to crash at

Or the amount of animations/comics that give him Cream's speech patterns, make him naive af and oblivious to "adult" things like *checks notes*...kissing(?), a gremlin baby child who can't stand losing games to Sonic, actively say "it's basically canon that Sonic actually owns Tails' shit", claim (incorrectly) that classic Tails was an infant child that Sonic picked up and started raising, etc, meanwhile everyone glazes up op talking about how so super canon that is and how that stuff basically canonically happened...

It's just kind of staggering. To me it could not be more clear of a case of people needing their fanon to be "basically canon" so they can feel like they're justified for liking it and so they can justify alienating people who don't share the same headcanons as their illusionary majority

[ajastu]

still THE funniest veilguard take ive seen is. like. 'rook is worse than solas, morally speaking, and therefore them taking the moral high ground with him makes them a hypocrite'

like. coughing baby vs hydrogen bomb moment but the competition category is war crimes

[hauntingofhouses]

guys cmon. be ffr please. akemi did Not love taigen. the only reason why she was desperate to search for him to the point of putting herself in danger is because she didn't want to get married to an abusive man (which she believed at the time that takayoshi was). when seki tried to dissuade her from running off, her reason was not "but i love taigen and wanna be with him 🥺" it was because she refused to be controlled and have her autonomy taken from her; she literally says "i won't be locked away in edo married to a stranger." and when seki still tries to argue that getting married to the heir of the shogun would be better than getting caught by brigands, she then says "that kind of man"—referring to takayoshi—"treats women like animals. they say he's a tyrant." and when seki chuckles and says "what man isn't?" her response is "you." she doesn't even talk about taigen. she is using him as much as he was using her. they both see—or, well, saw—each other as means to an end. for taigen he saw that marrying into the tokunobu clan would elevate his status and wealth. for akemi she wanted the right to choose who she married, and she wanted that person to be someone kind. that's it! neither of them loved each other. but since they were courting of course they acted sweet to each other, and they do still care for one another, especially due to their romantic history. but let's be real! akemi is a boss bitch who dropped taigen and forgot all about his ass as soon as she saw takayoshi was a nice guy. because duh? not only is takayoshi a better lover (it's implied their lovemaking lasted a long time) but he's also kinder towards her and presents her with an opportunity to claim power and freedom, which she would not have if she had married taigen, as she would have still been stuck under her father's thumb. so literally why should she settle for taigen's stupid ass! she may be a little naive at times but she's still incredibly intelligent. she would not do something stupid for the sake of "love." you know who would though? taigen.

[blood-starved-beast]

Wish ppl would stop watering Melinoe down to simply a "goodie two-shoes" as a way to like idk contrast Zagreus. Cause that's simplifying her character a lot.

Melinoe fights Typhon cause she wants to. Hecate gets angry at her face for it, and Mel isn't even perturbed. She goads Promethus implying he's here (fighting Mel) cause he wants to get thrashed by a witch (herself). If Mel defeats Chronos early enough, she mocks Nem, and after a number of runs she's like "oh it's hard I knoow" at her. She's not at all put down by Nem's insults, only mad at the womb comment, that Nem herself takes back in the end. She jokes with Dora about sticking Eris's corpse in a trash can. She raises fear and subjects the land to it cause she can. Like she's devious af and simply saying she's some goodie goodie isn't actually how the story portrays her.

She's driven, self-rightoeus to the point of arrogance. She's knowledgeable, biased, and open to listen when she wants to, cause she's pig-headed like that. She's sometimes confrontational for no reason (even Nem is baffled that she has beef with a musical group; Mel tells Chronos to Fuck Off essentially upon meeting him). She's hardworking and single-minded the way Hades is. Like this is a core part of her character. All and while managed the working of the Crossroads (she hires Dora to restore it when she cannot do it herself) and is often compared to a Royal at work.

She's not defined by being a child or student. She's not like naive the way Zagreus was at the start of h1. Like Zagreus knew so little guys he asked ppl things cause he does not know; whereas Mel always comes to a conversation with an opinion of her own, or prods for knowledge to reaffirm her own biases.

Like that's the thing. Mel's arc isn't like Zag. It's not about her learning the world is more complex than it is. It's about her being challenged in her beliefs that she herself holds. In order for her to be challenged, she has her own knowledge, biases, etc. She's grown and established. She's the Goddess of Nightmares (in-game acknowledged and she does not fret or contest) and has a life in order. This job is shaking that. But unlike Zag who starts out not knowing where he is and thus trying to make something of himself with this one goal, Mel is already set. She's even got her lovers (plural, past) whom she took out to the woods to enjoy. Eris even acts like her ex. The story therefore, complicates an already established woman.

Anyways this is my rant complaining about the almost infantilization around Mel's character. The permanent "baby sister" a portion of fandom puts her in.

[nikethestatue]

I wrote an ask to you several weeks ago with some thoughts, as someone working in publishing with marketing/PR. I see Elriels are still being harassed for simply picking up what SJM/BB put down and it saddens me. Sometimes it feels like this fandom needs adult supervision. I'm in my mid-30s and never feel as old as whenever I venture into this fandom.

This might be really long but since you are one of the biggest Elriel accounts I hope it would be alright if I provide some very general knowledge about media-publisher relations that I think a lot of people would benefit from knowing. I am absolutely no ACOTAR insider. Everything I say, I only say as someone who has worked within publishing/PR for a long time (never with anything ACOTAR related!) and who has been following this upcoming release closely out of an interest in the publishing side of things.

In general, this is all you need to know:

What the publishers back = what reputable media outlets mention.

This is simply standard industry practice. It is no secret. Every single thing about a high profile book release is carefully coordinated between publishers and media outlets. It serves them both. Publishers manage expectations by shaping the narrative surrounding their releases, all to maximise sales and foster a positive reception of the release. Reputable media outlets maintain their credibility with readers and their relationships with publishers by not publishing random nonsense.

Fandoms often seem to lack self-awareness about their importance amd influence on publishing decisions. While publishers certainly keep an eye on fandom discussions, their primary focus is not on fandom-driven narratives (fanon) and preferences but on the massive casual readership, which drives the majority of book sales (and SJM is HUGE).

Fandoms are disproportionately populated by readers who were dissatisfied with canon, who seek alternate narrratives or ships. This is what makes fandom spaces so dynamic, but it doesn't reflect the general readership. Fandom is a tiny fraction of it. Publishers are very aware of this. So fandom theories and fanon ships will never be acknowledged by a publisher unless it serves a strategic purpose. Why? Bevause every PR and marketing decision is made to guide expectations in a way that maximizes book sales. Acknowledging fanon doesn’t serve that goal. It only risks confusing casual readers, weakening pre-orders, or generating negative buzz.

In fact, media-publisher relations can work to "combat" spiraling fandom narratives ahead of major releases by adjusting expectations rather than fueling speculation. This is, I think, why BB has never entertained the ship wars: because the only narrative they care about is the one in the books. They want the general readership to have appropriate expectations, not to confuse them.

So (and here is simply how I judge these events), why has an Az-Gwyn-Elain love triangle never been mentioned anywhere reputable, despite it dominating fandom discourse? Well, you guessed it. Because it doesn't exist to BB. It is a fandom creation. A gwynriel ship is simply not part of BB's narrative surrounding the upcoming release, as seen in the past year's media coverage. It's Elain and Azriel all the way. Even Lucien barely receives an honorary mention. We're talking the credible, reputable sources here (like TIME, E! News, etc). The only sensible conclusion is that BB wants the casual readership to focus on Elriel. Becasue, again, the last thing a publisher wants is confusion ahead of one of the biggest releases of the last decade.

To the Elriels that feel harassed and tired: You are not delusional. You’re picking up exactly what SJM and BB are putting down. Don’t let anyone bully you into thinking otherwise. When people call you insecure for being excited about Elriel's media attention, it is a deeply naive view. There’s no “winning” the ship wars because there was never a competition, at least not from the publisher’s perspective. There is one narrative, one endgame couple, and no other ship was ever a real contender. Fandom discourse may create the illusion of an open-ended outcome, but publishing doesn’t work that way. Writing is not the throw of a dice. Writing and producing a book of this scale is a years-long process involving immense financial investment and coordination betweem multiple large actors. The story’s direction is set long before fandom discourse begins, and no publisher would gamble that investment on shifting fandom opinions that reflect neither the general readership nor, and most importantly, the author's vision (which is what they have invested their money in).

Sorry for coming to you on anon to say all this. I just feel for Elriels and want them to know this. I'm sick of seeing them gaslit and ridiculed and questioning their own perception of reality. I'm not active in this fandom and don't really want its attention directed at me (I've seen too much over the years) so I prefer being anonymous.

I say this is standard industry practice but of course, always take what I or anyone else say with a grain of salt. Especially someone who anonymously claims to have credentials of some sort. None of this information about the industry should be difficult to confirm with a little bit of research (and please do look into this, double check what I've said, because the more you know about publishing, the less susceptible you will be to gaslighting!).

Thank you so much for this!

Everyone: PLEASE READ -- super interesting. But also kind of confirms what we've been saying all along. Nothing is accidental and of course everything in terms of publicity runs through BB and from them.

And you are so right about fandom usually being against canon and making up alternative options for their fave characters. I see it even with couples outside of Elriel/GA. Look at Nessian, and the stans who weren't happy with Cassian, and moved on to Eris (as if he is a better choice?! WTF). Same with Bryceriels, who weren't happy with Hunt, and now made up Azriel and Bryce connection. The anti Rhys campaign, and pro Tamlin one, because 'Tamlin is sad' and therefore Rhys is the devil. Many such examples.

This is really informative and I think would bring some calm to Elriels who've been hassled like hell in the past few weeks.

[olderthannetfic]

Question. Possibly naive question at that. So I totally understand and respect why ao3 doesn’t allow any mentions of monetization of fanwork. But I am wondering — how do we feel about fanfic commissions as a concept? Obviously I would never dare mention it on Ao3, 99% bc of the TOS and 1% cuz it seems gimmicky, but also, like, it’s very much a thing I do. . . Are fandoms opposed to fanfic commissions? Or is it more of a “legally I can’t endorse this but you do you”?

--

In the kind of LJ culture that built AO3, people did that for charity, like Fandom Trumps Hate now. Making actual money from your fic just wasn't done in those circles. In older zine circles, people "covered costs" only, but sometimes, those "costs" included a hell of a lot more than other fans approved of. On one end, it meant the literal printer's bill; on the other, it meant some pay for the editor's time and the gas to get to a con on top of the table fee, registration, and hotel room. In the 2020s, different parts of fandom are all over the place in attitudes towards selling fic in various ways.

Personally, I find it weird and distasteful. If I needed to earn money fast, I'd do original fetish commissions. If I want to write for money overall, I'll do what I do now: original novels with some of the same vibe my fanfic has.

When too much profit motive enters hobby spaces, the social atmosphere changes. A knitting meetup at a yarn store works okay, but someone trying to sell their hand dyed yarn at a meetup in the park tends to mess with the vibes. Someone else's dinner party is not an appropriate place for mlm shit. etc. etc.

Fanfic spaces are even more vulnerable to having the social scene ruined. There is already, inherently, a certain amount of pressure to write what is popular. Adding a direct profit motive exaggerates that even more.

[sodapopper]

I have something to say about Soda, and y’all are not going to like it. But I have to speak my truth.

I absolutely love that as a fandom we’re starting to humanize him and recognize his character for more than just a comedic bystander. But sometimes it feels like the pendulum now swings too far in the other direction, and some of these takes have turned him into a completely different character.

Yes, Soda is more than just his sweetness. He’s got anger and recklessness and grief, too. But exploring and developing that hidden depth shouldn’t be at the expense of his compassion and good-nature, which are still fundamental parts of his character. The sweetness doesn’t stop existing just because he’s also capable of darkness. They can and should coexist: that’s the entire point of complexity.

I keep seeing posts that use Ponyboy’s unreliable narration to argue away Soda’s sweetness, and I’ll be honest, it irritates me. Ponyboy is misguided, but he’s not outright wrong about what he observes. Darry is hard and cold. Johnny is frightened and nervous. Dally is tough and mean. And Soda is reckless and compassionate. Ponyboy might miss the subtlety of motivation (Darry is harsh, but not because he hates his brother) but he’s truthful about what’s externally obvious.

And yes, Ponyboy idolizes Soda, but the cause of his hero worship is rooted in Soda’s kindness towards him. If Darry were more emotionally present, Ponyboy would likely idolize him, too. But Ponyboy’s hero worship doesn’t cause him to erase Soda’s flaws. In fact, he calls them out on multiple occasions—Soda’s recklessness, his academic failures, his inability to take anything seriously. Pony is even embarrassed by Soda when Cherry asks about him dropping out.

Similarly important to note is that Ponyboy isn't the only one who puts Soda on a golden pedestal. Darry is equally guilty of idealizing his brother, and it's because of the emotional labor Soda does for his family; not because Ponyboy has crafted a completely different version of his brother for the readers.

The fandom wants a complex Soda, and so do I. But complexity doesn’t equate darkness! His core traits don't need to be erased to prop up a version of the character that’s unrecognizably gritty and twisted. Soda is interesting because he’s kind. He’s interesting because he’s emotionally intelligent. He’s interesting because he listens. These things don’t make him perfect! They’re both his strength and his weakness.

Soda who lets himself be walked over. Soda who keeps the peace at the expense of voicing his honest opinion. Soda who hides pain with a manic glimmer in his eyes. Soda who holds it in until he can’t. Soda who explodes in grief or anger when pushed to his breaking point. Soda who can’t sit still. Soda who embraces his “stupidity” like a badge of honor to hide how much it hurts. Soda who nobody really knows, because he protects himself by focusing on others. Soda with a fear of abandonment. Glass child Sodapop. Beautiful and invisible. Slowly being killed by the pressure of a role he’s not strong enough to perform.

And yes, he's also angry. He's also reckless. He's also easily distracted and can't sit still and likes to fight. But good characterization happens when you explore these traits within the context of the other ones. The gentleness and roughness are not mutually exclusive; they can and should go hand in hand.

Instead of “oh I bet Ponyboy is lying, Soda probably yells at him all the time,” consider: what in Soda’s life would be hurtful enough to push him to yell at Ponyboy? Instead of “Ponyboy’s naive, I bet Soda drinks like crazy,” consider: what deeper motivation might keep Soda from drinking?

That's complexity.

Of course everyone has a right to interpret the character differently. And I'm not arguing against headcanons and aus—I just wish we could recognize them as headcanons, instead of trying to twist canon into supporting our own personal characterization. The dark takes are certainly interesting, and fun to toss around. But please, don't discredit the rich depth of his canon characterization as "not gritty enough;" Soda doesn't have to drink, scream, or be Dally to be interesting.

Make him go feral, please—but consider doing it in a way that makes sense for his character, and expands on who he is, instead of erasing it.

[elvenscout]

The himbofication of Jayce in the Jayvik community is honestly so frustrating to see.

It feels like the fandom took the idea of Jayce being a big ol' puppy for Viktor (& Mel) too far and removed his canonical intelligence.

This man can be an idiot sometimes, but hes not some big, dumb uwu himbo. He's only an "idiot" bc of his naivity and his ignorance, of which he tries to learn from time and time again.

Throughout season 1 he constantly makes the wrong decision bc of ignorance, or from naively trusting the wrong people because he believed in the good in others.

And while Jayce drops everything for Viktor, this is only up until the point he believes the Viktor he knew is gone, and is now committing atrocities that his Viktor never would have done.

He's a man trying to do his best and constantly failing, but never giving up even amidst all his failures. He's someone who loves science and found understanding and an equal for the first time in his life with Viktor, and never imagined he would lose that.

Yes he would do anything for Viktor, but not at the expense of the world. He surrenders himself in the end bc he failed and he can only hope that he alone will be enough to change Viktors mind. Even if this means he has to die to change his mind. He wants to save Viktor, because he knows this is not him. Because he wanted his Viktor back.

And anyways, he was initially labeled a "puppy" toward his romantic interests in the sense of puppy love: pure and innocent and naive love. He has heart eyes for those he cares about, and trusts them completely, because in his mind, why shouldn't he? He's someone who just wants the best for everyone, and can't imagine how others don't think that way. He has to unlearn this in the cave, when he's forced to reflect on how everything went so wrong.

Jayce can at many times be naive and ignorant, but he is not a himbo.

He's an intelligent, compassionate and flawed individual who wants to believe in the best in others, and has to learn that's just not how the world works.

[silverthehedgehogexplained]

Explaining Silver the Hedgehog's Backstory

One of the most confusing subjects in the Sonic fandom is Silver’s backstory, the chronology of Sonic 06 and how it affects the characters. So in this post I’ll go over what we know about Silver’s backstory, its effects on his character, his involvement with Blaze and how the ending of Sonic 06 affects them.

Silver was born 200 years into a devastated future ravaged by the Flames of Disaster Iblis. The sky was always dark and the world was filled with endless wastelands ravaged by constant disasters and hostile Iblis spawn. The people are exhausted and live without hope. Iblis rampages and burns everything in its path. Silver has fought against Iblis for most of his life and tried to find the source of the disaster for just as long but no one could tell him how the world came to ruin.

This backstory informs Silver's character in the following ways:

Silver is a warrior. He is proficient in and enjoys fighting, has very aggressive determined expressions with constant fists and is a noted fighter(Shadow describes him as a fighter in Team Sonic Racing) whose power is respected by Sonic and Shadow. Silver is extremely powerful and capable of defeating small armies of enemies and giant monsters by himself. This stems from his apocalyptic background in the hostile future filled with Iblis minions and disasters such as flame tornadoes that he had to battle constantly. When you surprise him in Generations he is instantly ready to fight and angrily looks around, he comes from a world where all manner of Iblis spawn could attack at any given moment. It is explained in Silver's introduction story on Sonic Channel that Silver fought and struggled for half his lifetime, indicating that Silver fought against Iblis and its forces from a very early age.

Silver is naive, he has a black and white perspective and tackles things bluntly. He expects people to believe and cooperate with him when he says he’s from the future or explains outlandish things about his mission. He is earnest, he has no filter and acts unrefined when talking to people(which in Japanese is signified by his use of the informal "Ore" and "Anta" to address himself and others when he speaks). He sometimes takes things literally, misinterprets things or doesn't get jokes. He can also be unfamiliar with things in Sonic's time period. We don't know how people lived in the apocalyptic future or what they did and didn't have access to but it seems to be very rudimentary, destitute and even militarized as one of the glimpses into Silver's future from Sonic Pict shows him eating calorie bar rations that are described as apple flavored. Related to the above, Silver likely spent the majority of his time fighting.

Silver is also very pragmatic. He has a straight to the point mindset and hates distractions, frivolous details or just things getting in his way. As a survivor there is no room for pointless things for him.

On the flip side of that however, Silver is also wide-eyed. He loves challenges and experiencing fun new things he never had access to and is said to engage in cheerful activities following the historical change of 06.

Silver is incredibly optimistic and hopeful. He was able to fight through the hopeless ruined future world because he had the hope for a blue sky and the determination to keep fighting when everyone else had given into despair.

Most importantly of all however is Silver's deep love and drive for peace and prosperity. Silver is a very empathetic person that cares deeply for the state of the world and people around him. Note the beginning of his story in 06 where he expresses outrage at the state of his future with dark skies, endless wastelands and people that live in despair then contrast that with his later dialogue throughout the series where he expresses love for blue skies, beautiful vistas or just places where people live happily. Something as simple as a desert is beautiful to him simply because there is no destruction and the people are happy. Silver particularly loves and desires to protect smiles and blue skies because he came from a world that is stated to be filled with darkness and despair according to Sonic Team's Sonic Channel stories. Silver fights for peace and prosperity for the world and its people because he has experienced quite literal hellish suffering and devastation.

I also want to emphasize that Blaze isn't part of Silver's backstory and he didn't have her in his life in the apocalyptic future. Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka confirmed that Silver and Eggman Nega originate from the future while Blaze originates from her dimension and writer Ian Flynn has confirmed that Sonic Rush takes place before Sonic 06 with these answers on his podcast.

"I can't get too much into it because this is kind of internal stuff that has not been clarified publicly but Sonic Rush comes first, the Blaze of 06 is the Blaze of Rush and she doesn't die, she turns into Burning Blaze and warps back to her own dimension and forgets the events of 06."

"I don't know how much I can get into it without being given the official go-ahead, but Blaze is not from Silver's post-apocalyptic future. She is from her own dimension and it's extremely nuancey, but she doesn't really see or interact with Sonic until like the very very end of Silver's campaign. It's...an incredibly narrow loophole but she doesn't necessarily know that it's Sonic they're after. Again I'm sure someone can tear that apart very easily but suffice to say, I believe the intention is that she doesn't know that Silver is targeting Sonic specifically and she has no interaction with him or really anybody else in the main cast for that reason."

Meaning that Silver and Blaze only met shortly before the events of 06 and Silver faced the ruined future on his own before that point.

Things are gonna get a bit complicated here but Blaze only temporarily appearing in the future before being ripped away from Silver actually ties into their Tanabata parallel. In the story of Tanabata, Orihime(the princess) only descends to the world of Hikoboshi(the cow herder) for a short while before they are separated for neglecting their duties. At the end of Silver's story, Silver neglects his duty by refusing to seal Blaze away and so they are separated, only to ever meet again when crossing paths in Sonic's world.

When arriving in Wave Ocean, Blaze notes the world of the past. This is because Blaze seems to actually have amnesia.

According to Ian Flynn, the reason why Blaze was kept away from the cast besides Silver in 06 is as a narrow loophole to keep her from realizing it was Sonic they were after. In a 2012 Q&A for the Sonic Boom convention, Sonic Team Creative Officer Takashi Iizuka stated that the characters in 06 had amnesia and at the end of the Metal Virus arc in IDW we learn that rough inter-dimensional travel can cause amnesia which happens to Sonic when he crashes into Blaze's dimension. Blaze then reawakens Sonic's memories by reminding him of his super form, something that Blaze was kept from in 06.

What happens with Blaze in 06 as I understand it is that at some point prior to the events of the game Blaze was transported to the future where she developed amnesia upon arrival before joining Silver in his war against Iblis. They are deceived by Mephiles into trying to assassinate Sonic before Silver learns the truth and returns to the future to seal Iblis away, he is unable to do so however due to not being a compatible vessel and Blaze seals Iblis and herself away instead. Following the defeat of Solaris and the subsequent historical change, Blaze warps back to her Dimension and forgets the events of 06(according to Ian Flynn).

Silver also warps back to the future and forgets the events of 06 but not his apocalyptic life under the devastation of Iblis, only the events of 06 itself and his original partnership with Blaze which was clarified in his Fast Friends Forever profile that states he can't remember how his future was restored(as in the events of 06). 

So yes, the ending of Sonic 06 doesn't change Silver or Blaze's backstories. Silver is still the apocalyptic warrior from Sonic 06 and Blaze is still the imperial princess from Sonic Rush before and after the events of 06.

The endings of both Silver’s Story and the Last Story of 06 tie into the game’s themes of duty, sacrifice and exchange.

“Do we have to sacrifice something in order to gain something?”

To gain something you have to lose something, to become a hero you must be willing to make sacrifices. Blaze sacrifices herself to save the future and in exchange for the peaceful happy future he always wanted, Silver, alongside everyone else, loses their memories of the events of 06.

But Silver's duty doesn't end there. He continues to protect the peace of the future as new disasters and changes in the timeline occur, and just like with Iblis, Silver will continue fighting them for a peaceful world.

[dereks-unrelenting-heart]

Top 10 SFTH Characters

I told y'all it was coming, and here it is; my Top 10 favorite characters in the SFTH universe

10. Peter (The Milkman)

This kid knows how to twist a fucking knife, huh? He doesn’t even know what’s going on and somehow he manages to metaphorically stab David 37 times in the chest /ref. Peter is also my favorite example of Tom playing a traumatized child, he just does it so well here. I genuinely love the scene where David tells him his mom's not happy and he immediately apologizes and wants to go Go-Karting with her. Idk how Tom can portray that kind of character that well, but I'm glad we get to see it so frequently- Plus it was iconic of him to sing 'Tomorrow' twice, once while he was running for his life.

9. Mario the Sheep (The Lighthouse)

Everyone’s favorite inbred, part-human, cocaine using sheep that loses his mind (alongside Sam) throughout the storyline. There's not much to say about it other than the fact I love comic relief characters and who's more comic relief than this guy? It was also fun to watch Sam slowly die inside once the sheep was made a main character, that was great-

8. Marty (The Evil Make-A-Wish Kid)

Another instance of Sam’s portrayal and delivery making his character memorable as hell. The smirk and the voice he chose to use for all of his lines make Marty one of my favorite villains in their plays (OLM doesn’t count, I see her as more morally grey than anything). He's a great combination of being played for laughs and genuinely doing evil things. This kid lights his mom on fire and all he has to say about it is "I'm gonna miss games when I'm dead." It might be my favorite line in that play tbh, along with "Congratulations. You killed the kid"

7. Andrew (All Eyes On Nigel)

Along with the Janae type nerds (spoiler for later 🤫), I also have a soft spot for the naive/inexperienced characters, especially when they get a little fucked up by the end of their storyline. Andrew is a prime example of this in the SFTH universe, being all excited about his job as an officer, before being taken hostage and being given drugs starting to sound like a favorite character of mine from a different fandom...

6. Donnie (The Detective v The Christmas Tree Bandits)

THE ADHD icon. He’s far from the only SFTH character with diagnosed ADHD and idk about you but he’s the representation I wanted fr- and now he’s dead :( Even if his death wasn't as emotional of a scene as y'all made it out to be, it still makes me sad and I will be living in denial about it with the rest of you for while.

5. Janae (The Neighbor's Under The Bed)

Janae is the textbook definition of the ‘character way too smart for their age to an unrealistic level’, therefore she has to make an appearance on my favorites list. She also has the line "My Seismogram IS TRUE" which is such a good quotable line, I'm never getting over that-

4. Jimmy (Toby’s Secret Pocket)

Ah, the Fan Favorite Tom character who can’t get through a door if his life depended on it. Who can blame the audience for latching onto him? "I was just gonna say it's the racism" "I get lonely sometimes" "STOP IN THE NAME OF THE LAW" I mean, how can we be expected to not love him?

3. Old Lady Marjorie (The Unrelenting Aubergine)

I think everyone knows why she’s here. 1) She's another villain/morally grey character from Sam, 2) At least half of her witchery is just drugs, and 3) She slaps AJ- I mean James- 3 times, causing Sam- I mean Marjorie- to turn bright red from laughter. Absolute Cinema.

2. Amanda (Clarissa's DIY Wedding)

Tom’s other hopeless romantic gay character, I’m sensing a pattern in my favs- I've mentioned how much I love that Tom went straight for 'yearning lesbian' with this one in my other post, but I'm gonna talk about it in more detail because I can. She loves Clarissa so so much, but because she doesn't think the feelings are reciprocated (true or not-) she will make sure Clarissa and Mark have their wedding and that, above all, Clarissa is happy. This fact makes me love her more, but also makes me so very sad..

There were a few characters that didn't quite make it to the Top 10, so before we go to Number 1, here's a few:

Honorable Mentions

Scottish Robin (The Midnight Mystery) He would've been #10 but I had to add Janae so he got demoted

Aside from the general chaos he is, I love Robin from a meta standpoint, because it’s one of those moments that shows that Luke and Sam have the same exact sense of humor. Luke 100% did the “WE’RE GOING DOWN TO CHIPPY” bit purely to make Sam laugh, and boy did it work. Also the joy in Robin/Luke screaming “BATMAN” at the top of his lungs is great, he is in his element lmao

Caravan Brothers (No, I Always Loved That Caravan!)

Before I realized they’re called the Caravan Brothers in the fandom, I fully just called them the incest brothers because I think that gets the vibe across. Technically, I think the O’Hands Brothers would also be accurate. Weirdest fucking brothers I’ve ever seen, but in an iconic way. Besides, I always love another chance for Luke to go gremlin mode for a character.

Big Hans (Oh My God, Is This A Joke?)

So he might've made it to the main list, but something about putting a nazi character in the top 10 wasn't sitting right with me, so he’s in the honorable mentions instead (At least it's not Xavier-) To be clear I just like how he was immediately introduced as a 'pocket-sized aryan' that was absolutely fucking Ze Blackberry, then in his next scene his vibe had shifted and he was oddly fond of the French accent/language for some reason?? “Don’t make friends with them!” “Why not? :(” Bro was literally just happy to be there.

1. Derek (The Unrelenting Aubergine)

Surprising no one, Derek Gangles is everything to me. I have no idea what makes me like him more than any of their other romantic characters, there’s just something about how Tom plays him that makes him so endearing. I think part of it is how he seems to be constantly in awe and admiration of Titch, loving him in such a (relatively) innocent way. “Are we gonna have kids?” I can hear the puppy eyes in his voice, are you kidding me??

[scholarinbookland]

Jimin as a Method Actor

As a nerd, when I write a think-piece or analysis, I have to define my terms and goals for this piece to start out. My post is about how I think, while not trained in the Method, Jimin really embodies method acting in music videos and on stage.

Method Acting: Common to popular misconception, Method acting is not about being “in character” throughout the course of an acting project. Instead, an actor who uses “the Method” draws upon either past emotional memories or a deep analysis of a character’s motivations to embody the truths of the role that they are playing.

The Jimin quote that gave me this impression was when he told WeVerse Magazine in the interview dated 7/31/2021, “I never noticed before but the songs do sound different depending on what I’m wearing. Sometimes I danced all excitedly when I wore casual clothes, but when I wore a suit, something about the song sounded sexy. There’s a different vibe when I dance alone versus when I dance as part of a group, so I visualize how I should dress to make my dancing look cooler every time.” This response tells me that he uses costuming to get into character on stage, and it’s always a slightly different character that still fits with the theme of the story. There are several videos on YouTube comparing how he changes the vibe of GoGo, Boy With Love, and Dynamite among others depending on the styling. It’s a sort of “obvious in hindsight” thing that made me watch a lot of Jimin fancams and really look at the subtle differences he incorporates.

The whole interview is really interesting, especially coming from the puff-piece prone in-house magazine, because Jimin is very open about his process. He mentions earlier in the interview that he had to modify his process for the English trilogy, and that it was more difficult for him to dance to concept-less songs.

I’m paraphrasing, but he described the Butter dance as difficult to execute at first before he had to find the groove through amalgamating the approaches of other members to the song. The way he contrasted the two song groupings was interesting: previous songs and albums were “a concept” where he “wanted to show off something about myself in that context”; the English trilogy was based in “following the feeling of conveying the feelings I want to share with others”. In short, he struggled without enough storytelling in the dance to develop a character to embody on stage. In my book, that’s Method acting.

You even see it in RunBTS episodes. I think the production team of that show is aware of it, because he’s way more prone to acting whiny/silly and doing aegyo when he’s been styled really young or cutesy, and much more adult in his playfulness/mischief when dressed his age. It’s all in the way he holds himself, in my opinion. It also makes him a great model, because he can sell any outfit concept.

I think it’s also why his parts are generally the most-replayed in Music Videos, despite not being one of the two fandom-designated actors. Every time you see him in a music video, even if it’s a short part, he is firmly in character, defined by the song concept, album concept and the outfit in that scene. Look at LY:Her for example. There’s a clear difference between the Intro: Serendipity Jimin and the DNA Jimin, despite them being on the same album and sharing a common theme of idealistic, naive love. Serendipity is about the dreaminess of first love, expressed through the character of the Little Prince. In DNA his character is still dreamy at times, but overall resolving to convince a partner of your commitment and he is much more naturalistic (by which I mean less ethereal) in his portrayal of the DNA character.

He stars in Intro:Serendipity, playing a character that apparently Koreans compared to the Little Prince. It’s a French science fantasy novella (I read it as a pre-teen) about a child prince who learned life lessons as he travels across planets, eventually ending up on Earth and sharing his experiences with the narrator. The whole music video seems to be based upon that character and novella, and Jimin does a really good job of portraying a dreamy, slightly otherworldly feeling in that performance, including staying composed and calm while doing stunt work. Instead of relying on dance and costuming, here he is actually acting wordlessly as he lip-syncs to the camera, and he made an iconic piece of art. I love this music video.

In DNA he is one of the seven member cast, with four outfit changes and choreography to set the tone for the performance. He is almost entirely a supporting character in this music video, so I’m judging the four character variants purely on split-second vibes. Anyone reading this has seen the music video, so I’m calling the outfits sparkly jacket, white sweater with red stripe, yellow jacket, and navy heart shirt. In the sparkly jacket he has a slightly untouchable, suave vibe, in the white sweater he smirks a little, in the yellow jacket he’s dancing playfully and is a little bro-y in the non dancing couch scene, and in the heart shirt he’s back to a dreamy character like Serendipity but with an extra edge. I don’t even know if the differences are intentional or subconscious, but it’s deeply impressive and makes him a phenomenal dancer to watch on screen. I’m a ballet fan, so wordless character embodiment is a favorite medium of acting to watch.

If you go through all their music videos and focus on Jimin, he’s always doing this. He’s got an idea in his head about what his character is, how it relates to himself (see the above quote about how he approaches concepts), how his character interacts and plays off of the other members, and how the styling influences the character’s presentation. Even more impressively, it’s all in micro expressions, not overacted or very noticeable at first glance. In other words, he quietly plays his character in the background when not in focus, but takes over the scene when it’s his part.

He definitely leaned into this tendency in his solo work. He kept the sets and abrupt scene changes fairly minimal in his four solo music videos, with 3/4 having one set and Like Crazy having 5 interrelated sets (dreamy blue intro, house, club, bathroom, black set with couple) that tell a story. The reason I think so many of his fans, especially the ones who got into BTS pre-English trilogy, love his music videos so much is because of the deeply well-thought out storylines that influence the sets, costuming, and scene changes. I’ll probably follow this post up with a Like Crazy storyline MV analysis of my own, through the lens of what his character is portraying as opposed to declaring what he’s trying to say, but this is a long enough ramble as it is. But overall, I think that Jimin’s method acting ability is a important contributor to his IT factor that many fans overlook when trying to explain his stage presence.

[thomas-jefferson-miku-binder]

I hate Mel Medarda discourse because she’s an insanely well-written character with a lot of depth, but people almost always have only two things to say about her: 1) evil girlboss or 2) never did anything wrong. both make me want to krill myself 🦐

In front of you, there’s a female character born of war who rejects the physical brutality of her family’s name and the regime she was born under. except said violence never really goes away because if it ever does leave, nothing else would remain

This character can and will reproduce the hatred she has always known, just in more palpable ways, ways where she’s allowed to look away — or even better, ways where she’s so distanced from the action itself that where she “looks” doesn’t even matter

It’s also so interesting to think that maybe Mel doesn’t dislike physical violence because it’s “bad” but simply because she does not excel at it The thought that if Mel was maybe stronger or a more skilled fighter, she would be just like her mother tickles my brain. yaaaas Although, to me, that's a more "what-if" scenario than the actual characterization Arcane deceipts

By the way, I do not think Mel is a monster. She clearly does try to be what she considers a "good" person, but the violence she’s always known sometimes escapes (just like in the Viktor scene above — she does not like to be disagreed with).

Sooo insane that she’s a diplomat/politician because yes. what other job in the world would allow her to exercise that repressed violence while also giving her the sense of duty—of goodness.

Mel is stuck at the scene of the execution form her childhood. All she does is repeat the same scenario in her head with different outcomes: sometimes one where she saves the prisoner, another where she doesn’t hesitate (that being the keyword here) to kill her

This reverberation of the violence she suffered is just her manner of coping with that traumatic scene. a way of lessening the pain without actually confronting its cause.

I feel like I need to clarify that no, I do not think Mel is “evil”. I don’t even think she is intentionally manipulative (most of the time), I think she handles people the only way she knows how to, which is probably one of the only reasons she survived Noxus at all (as, to how I see it, there's only a certain extent your House will guarantee your protection in Noxus).

I know the fandom talks a lot about Viktor and Jayce being idealistic, but I rarely see people mention how Mel is just as romantic. Jesus- that’s literally a huge source of conflict with her mother: Ambessa thinks Mel is naive, which to her means weakness, which to her is unacceptable.

I hate that Mel Medarda is forced to be subjected to fandom spaces, because, no, she is not a small bean. no, she’s not an evil girlboss.

Do I believe she is a good person? I think she tries to be (even if her notion of goodness is so heavily aligned with honor, too), and that tells me a lot more about her character than how successful she is at it

[ckret2]

Your fic has given me "sees Bill as an actual rounded character now" disease so all of the funny fanarts that reduce him to just the pathetic ex guy or to looser idiot triangle i found funny before annoy me slightly now and I'm blaming you

that's honestly hilarious because I'm having the opposite experience

I wasn't deep in Gravity Falls fandom during the peak Tumblr Sexyman Bill Cipher years—I watched the show one time and forgot about it for ~4 years—but I was close enough to see it happening on my dash. And the suave, sophisticated, infinitely in-control Bill characterization was ubiquitous throughout tumblr—the "tailor-made to dom in an x reader fic" characterization where 90% of the emotions he demonstrates are "smirking" and "brooding but in a cool way." (those are emotions now.) Some works would go as far as to say that Bill's mind was simply too alien to be relatable to a human. Most of the works featuring him with Ford depicted Ford as completely enthralled with Bill, naively worshiping the ground he floats over, while Bill was usually depicted as cool, distant, disinterested, at best faintly amused by his human toy. In fanworks like that, the idea that Bill could possibly have been distraught by losing hold of Ford was unthinkable.

And that was common enough—the cool, aloof villain—that it's jarring to go from absorbing that via osmosis for years to rewatching the show and remembering oh right, he's a bit of a dweeb that hollers at people through sock puppets and freaks out when the cops bust in on his red solo cup party.

By the time I started my fic in 2023 the sexyman Bill had died down enough that I found other folks exploring his goofy side, but it still seemed like any time I ducked in on ao3 looking for Bill-centric works, I still saw echoes of that old fanon characterization more often than not.

So for me? It's been great seeing fanworks depicting Bill as an emotionally devastated, blubbering mess over losing his favorite pawn. It's been great seeing fanworks that allow him to be a loser, a failure, a dork, sometimes bumbling or in over his head or sticking his foot in his mouth. Hell yeah! This is what I've been missing for years!

Maybe it'll get annoying eventually but right now it just feels like it's finally balancing him out.

[bad268]

Heyy I love your Kimi fics so I decided to send you in a request. I wanted something simples of their life’s as teenagers with very different livings yk. Maybe compilation of different moments of them together such as: she is on school brake so goes to a race with him, he keeps her secret of course but as just an excuse to pass more time together. Or maybe a glimpse of their nightly routine when they get to be together, like ordering food because any of them trusts the other with the stove and then getting ready to bed and just cuddle. Or also like they want to pass time together but she has a test (they probably study in the same school but Kimi just doesn’t care anymore) and he is simply laid in her bed reviewing his data from racing while she is in her desk studying. I think you understood the idea, just some cute fluff of two teens in love. Use your amazing creativity as much as you want, I’ve read a lot of your fanfics and I trust you I’ll make justice to a cute fluff. I hope you enjoy my idea.

Just A Glimpse (Andrea Kimi Antonelli X Reader)

Fandom: RPF/F2/F3

Requested: Clearly (hehe this was fun to do)

Warnings: ADHD mentioned, talks about smacking pasta if that makes you uncomfortable (i guess)

POV: Second Person (You/your)

W.C. 1109

Summary: Just a glimpse into the life of Kimi and you.

As always, my requests are OPEN

MASTERLIST // HITLIST

~~(^Pinterest)

Your relationship started back when neither of you knew what love was. Back when you were naive 16-year-olds, you and Kimi connected because you were from the same area. Back then, Bologna, Italy was not the biggest area, and you two clung together like magnets. It became a running joke when he came back to racing after a midseason break, glued to his phone, that he found someone. 

That someone was you.

As your relationship progressed, you tried to be at as many races as possible, but when he first made the jump from FRECA to Formula 2, then Formula 1 at age 18, it wasn’t that easy. You were just starting in university, and it was already difficult to attend the 14 race weekends. Never mind the 25 they were making F1 drivers do. Still, you tried your best, and Kimi was always supportive of your ambitions.

He also tried his best to keep you hidden, Sure, he talked about you here and there, but he never named you and never posted you. He wanted you to have the privacy to do your school work in peace without being bombarded by fans. You two decided you would probably announce your relationship when you finished your degree. If you decided to continue higher after that, you’d either do it online or suffer with the newfound attention. Granted, your accounts were private, but you still knew the fans would spam you somehow.

One of your favorite things to do is hide away in Kimi’s driver’s room. It was a common occurrence that you would be studying while Kimi was preparing for a race. More often than not, you would be sat on the couch studying or working on assignments while Kimi is either reviewing data or stretching and getting ready for a session. On the rare chance Kimi had nothing to do, he would ask you a million and one questions about your work.

“What’s this essay about?” “That looks difficult.” “Didn’t you just finish a project for that class?” “That seems a bit much for a basic class.” Those were some of the things he would say whenever he looked over your shoulder as you skimmed anything on your computer. His interest always gave you new motivation to keep going.

Another favorite for you was the nights between races. The nights when neither of you had anything to do other than be with each other. Sometimes you would force Kimi to do face masks with you (skin care is essential!), sometimes you two would try to cook, sometimes you would just cuddle, and in the event you do all three, all hell breaks loose. 

“Stop moving so much,” You hissed annoyed that this boy could not sit still for the life of him and let you put the mask on. You had already struggled enough trying to get all of his curly hair back, but now he was flinching away every time you tried to put the product on his skin. “I swear, you have ADHD.”

“It’s cold, and I don’t like it. This one feels weird,” He groaned but stopped moving and let you do your thing. “Why do we need to do the slimy one? Can we just use the clay one again?”

“Your skin needs hydration, not help with the texture,” You explained as you laid the mask across his features. “Your face is inflamed and the clay mask will just make it worse. This one would actually benefit you.”

“I better get cuddles after this,” He mumbled as you finished up by washing your hands. Your mask had already been applied.

“After we make dinner, you can get all the cuddles you want,” You compromised, thinking dinner would not take too long to make. It was a new pasta recipe you got from Kimi’s nutritionist, and Kimi is Italian. What could go wrong? Those were your famous last words.

“Stop smacking the dough! The flour isn’t mixed right!” You shouted, but it was no use. Kimi walked straight up behind you and smacked the dough pile again just after you added more flour. This caused a cloud of flour to hit the two of you directly in the face. “ANDREA!”

“Oh no,” He muttered after he blew out the flour and went to wipe his face, but his hands got covered in the face mask he still had on. “Oh no.”

“‘Oh no’,” You mocked as you gaped at him. “What did I just say?”

“Stop smacking it,” He tried to sound serious and apologetic, but the smile on his face told that he was amused by the situation. 

“And what did you do?”

“Smacked it.”

“What did you learn?”

“Stop smacking pasta when you’re mixing it.”

That was it. You both couldn't help it as you both started laughing.

You made Kimi clean up the kitchen after you both washed off the floury face masks. You told him that since he got you into that mess, he could clean it up. While he did that, you called and ordered your favorite takeaway. You did not trust Kimi in the kitchen anymore. You went to pick it up, and when you came back, Kimi had cleaned the kitchen and set up a blanket fort in the common room. You chuckled to yourself as you walked up to the opening of the fort, but Kimi blocked you from entering. 

“What’s the password?” Kimi smirked as he only exposed his head and would not let you see inside.

“Is it Italian or English?” You countered.

“To make it easy, I’ll accept English,” Kimi teased as he watched you think.

“Hmm, the password has to be, ‘I bought dinner, and if you want to eat tonight, you better let me in.’ Is that right?”

“Actually, it was ‘I love you’ but I’ll take it.”

The inside of the fort was more than you expected. Kimi had moved the TV down, so it fit inside. There were pillows and blankets everywhere, and your favorite drinks were in an ice bucket to the side. You were impressed he was able to get this all done while you were picking up the food.

“How did you get this done? I wasn’t gone that long,” You asked skeptically as you sat down and looked around.

“You walk slow,” Kimi joked, but immediately after, the door slammed closed and someone texted Kimi.

“I better get credit for helping,” It read from Ollie. You looked over at Kimi who was smiling sheepishly at you.

“Want to comment on that?”

“No, not really.”

That’s just a little glimpse into the life of you and Kimi.

~~~~~

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