#this is why i don't have a fun time in fandom

[fevers-and-emeto-oh-my]

Throwing my hat in the ring here bc I've honestly weighed in on far more volatile discourse and i also feel like yammering about this.

Coming into 9-1-1, almost everyone I spoke to and everything I saw told me I would NOT like Tommy. He was rude, he was terrible to Buck, he called Buck "Evan," he walked out on a date, he made mean comments, etc.

I did take this with a grain of salt, because I rarely conform to fandom consensus on characters, pairings, plot lines, etc. (Destiel was my NOTP in SPN and I do not like Ada at all in RE, for example). I'm perfectly happy to have opinions that don't line up with everyone else's because I'm here to have fun for myself, not for anyone else. (Putting this under a cut because it got LONGGGG)

Then I get to 7x03 and see Tommy again for the first time since s2. and he is a BLAST. He's grown, he's not posturing or repressing himself. He oozes confidence off the bat and is INCREDIBLY fun (the MOUTH STATIC??? HELLO???). He has this dry wit that I fall in love with immediately ("well, unless you feel like swimming back, that's all we've got." "because we're flying into a hurricane. probably all gonna die anyway.") i am EXCITED. i am also reallyyyy confused, because THIS Tommy would have to do a complete 180 in personality or how he treats Buck for me to suddenly have the vitriol for him that's so common across the fandom.

7x04. I am smitten with how Tommy acts through the tour of Harbor--leaning reallyyyyyy close to Buck, the charming teasing lilt to his voice, his little smile. Eddie shows up and Eddie and Tommy become besties. I love this too--they would absolutely get along like a house on fire, and there's INSANE chemistry between Tommy and Eddie immediately. I don't personally like them taking a chopper to Vegas (my Eddie would never set foot in a helicopter willingly unless it was for someone he loved, like Bobby and Athena the episode prior) BUT they 110% fucked on that trip and I will not hear any arguments otherwise.

We're skipping over the buddie of it all bc this post is about Tommy. The kiss???? The fingers under Buck's chin???? (THANKS LOU) The SOFT look on his face the entire time???? I'm immediately sold. Bucktommy is immediately a new fave and I'm excited to see if I like Tommy more than or just as much as I liked Taylor.

7x05! The date. AKA instant desire to douse myself in bleach from second-hand embarrassment. I know this is where a lot of people soured on Tommy, but when I reached the end of the episode I honestly couldn't understand WHY it soured people so intensely and immediately. That date was a DISASTER for multiple reasons, but I don't think Tommy was WRONG for leaving. Buck was nervous the entire way through (implied by Tommy's line assuring him nobody was looking at them) and it's his first date with a guy, so who can blame him? His line about being an ally was uh. Yikes. But they had already eaten and were getting the check, so obviously dinner as a whole went pretty well considering the scene opens with them both content and joking around a little bit. Obviously Buck couldn't have foreseen Eddie showing up. And I don't BLAME Buck for losing his head and overcompensating--he's not even out to Eddie yet, not even sure what his sexuality means for him himself yet, it's totally in character for him to panic and stick his foot in his mouth.

I don't blame Buck, really, I have empathy for him. BUT I also don't blame Tommy. Tommy is comfortably out, we don't know what his last relationship was like, and no matter how much he UNDERSTANDS what Buck did, it still had to hurt to be there and basically be outright friendzoned in an effort to be hidden. I don't care how you spin it, the situation absolutely sucked for both of them. People get really really mad about the closet comment, and it's not a moment I particularly enjoy from Tommy, but I understand why he said it. That kind of dry poking is in character, and I truly don't think he MEANS to OUT Buck, I think he's just hurt and lashing out a little bit (which, for what it's worth, we have seen EVERY character lash out WORSE than that). If I was Tommy, I would have left after dinner instead of going to the movies too.

People get really mad about Tommy leaving Buck alone on the street. When I first heard that he did that and how MAD people were about it, I was picturing Tommy pulling over in the middle of nowhere somewhere and leaving Buck stranded. That would have also made ME mad, so it was what made sense to me as what had to have happened.

And then.....Tommy just.....got his own Uber? And left Buck on the well-lit, populated street literally in front of the doors to the restaurant? After being really honest with Buck that he likes him, but he's not sure Buck's ready to be out with a guy yet. People also didn't like that but I thought it was fair? It wasn't Tommy telling Buck Buck's feelings. It came across more to me as Tommy looking out for Buck and speaking from a place of experience as a gay man much further along into his own journey. He doesn't say it but from what he said about being under Gerrard and coming out when he went to Harbor, I'm sure TOMMY had his own growing pains just like that.

Honestly, I think a lot of the anger about leaving Buck on the street comes from the fanbase having a lot of women. If Buck was a woman and Tommy left him there, then yes, I would not trust Tommy as a love interest at all because it would mean he wasn't at all concerned for fem!Buck's safety. But if I take me being a woman out of how I look at it, it's not really an issue? Buck is a cis white male, he's broad, he's 6'2". It's not impossible for him to get attacked, of course, but it's significantly less likely, and he's standing on the sidewalk directly in front of the restaurant doors. Buck's also a perfectly capable adult; it was their first date. Tommy had truthfully no obligation to take care of Buck, and Buck has a phone and his own agency. He can get himself his own Uber.

At this point, I'm more intrigued than anything by fandom's gung-ho hatred of him, because Tommy hasn't done anything black-and-white undeniably egregious. I watch the rest of season 7 and I love him the whole time. He genuinely cares for Buck and while I had anticipated hating that he called Buck "Evan," I actually loved it. Lou gave it such an affectionate inflection that it's very endearing, and his use of "Evan" feels natural and sweet, not the forced-intimacy awkward that I was expecting considering that's how it felt with Ana calling Eddie "Edmundo."

I get to 7x09/7x10. People don't like the "enjoy it while it lasts" comment at the awards ceremony. I get to the dinner scene where they talk about fathers and the 118 as a family and Tommy says "god, I hope so" to the idea of Buck having daddy issues. Both of these things have been pointed out to me as horrible moments.

Neither line makes me hate Tommy. The daddy issues one I find exceptionally fun. At this point, and as I watch s8, I am more or less convinced that fandom hates Tommy for three different reasons: he's not Eddie, they don't understand his sense of humor, and they don't trust Buck to look out for himself.

I will be the first to say i ADORE buddie. AND bucktommy. And buddietommy is the FIRST OT3 that has INSANE chemistry and subtextual backing in canon. Every scene where the three of them are together, the three-way chemistry is off the charts and they fall naturally into what really feels like a poly dynamic, PARTICULARLY in Masks where they're two boyfriends tag-teaming teasing and taking care of their third boyfriend, Buck.

But like I said, I think fandom's hatred of Tommy comes from the fact that he's NOT Eddie. Buck is bi in canon, hooray! Except....they give him a boyfriend that's not Eddie, disappointing buddie shippers. Buck has romantic scenes with someone that's not Eddie. Buck kisses someone that's not Eddie. Etc. To me, people hate Tommy so much the exact same that they hate Taylor and Ana (every love interest tbh, but Taylor, Ana, and Tommy get the most hate and bashing), because none of them are EDDIE.

I also think the fandom doesn't understand Tommy's sense of humor or how he shows affection. It's fanon that Tommy is Italian. I totally adopt that headcanon, because in MY Italian-American family (AND on my Irish/Scottish/French-Canadian/Portuguese family on my mom's side) do you know how we show love? We break each other's balls. We tease the shit out of each other. I tell my dad he's so full of shit his eyes are brown. There's a written list on the inside of the cabinet of the words I have pronounced horrifically wrong. My dad's cousins have the SAME dry, deadpan delivery that Tommy does.

My friends and I ALSO have this kind of humor. It's ALSO how we show love to one another. I have never read a single line of Tommy's as being malicious or rude or as him not liking Buck, because to me it's CLEAR that he's joking and being affectionate. (And also, the fandom puts words in his mouth....Tommy did NOT call Buck gross in Masks. Buck SAID he knew Tommy THOUGHT he was gross, and Tommy DENIED that and tried to explain himself. Also Buck's line "my own boyfriend won't even kiss me" is followed immediately by Tommy saying "that's not true.")

The dinner scene after Bobby's heart attack made sense to me. Tommy gave Buck space to say how he felt (and i think the "your dad is alive" line came more from a place of Tommy NOT having a parental figure in a captain. I don't think that was meant to be dismissive, I think that was a misunderstanding) and honestly, if MY boyfriend made a joke about daddy issues during that conversation I would have loved it. Sometimes humor is the best medicine.

That also rolls into my last point--people don't trust Buck to look out for himself. The fandom loves Buck, for good reason, but they also baby him. Buck is a grown man. Yes, he has abandonment issues and PTSD. He probably has anxiety and he definitely has ADHD. But...none of those things mean he can't speak up when people do things he doesn't like? People get so annoyed with the daddy issues line and with Tommy telling Buck to put the screen away like it's dismissive or infantilizing.

First of all, I have (undiagnosed) ADHD. Sometimes having someone outright tell you "okay that's enough of that, go [do a task or transition to something else]" is HELPFUL. Tommy was literally sleeping on that stupid most-uncomfortable-looking couch just to be downstairs with Buck, he clearly cares about him. When you care about people, sometimes it means a little tough love. It wasn't infantilizing when MY irl friends would be like "you've had enough to drink" or "i'm making you dinner." Sometimes we ALL need some of that decision-making taken away from us. And also? Buck doesn't listen to Tommy. In the morning they talk about Buck staying up too late. It's not like Tommy got mad and took the laptop and FORCED Buck to bed.

Second of all, with the daddy issues joke. I love Buck. I do. He's one of my favorites. And yes, Buck can successfully hide SOME of what he feels. But that man is an open book 90% of the time. His heart is on both sleeves and his pants legs. If you say or do something he doesn't like, he's NOT shy about showing it (which we just had confirmed AGAIN in 8x09). If the daddy issues joke BOTHERED BUCK, his face would have fallen. He would have gone quiet. He would have left the table. Even if he didn't say it to Tommy in the moment, there would have been some indication that HE PERSONALLY had an issue with what was said. Instead he's giving Tommy a little smirk and intense heart eyes the whole time.

Not to mention, BUCK BRINGS UP DADDY ISSUES. He STARTS IT by saying "So maybe we both have daddy issues," while one of his eyebrows quirks and he gives this little almost shit-eating grin. If you're going to be MAD at the daddy issues joke, you should be mad at BUCK if you're gonna be mad at anyone, because he STARTED IT.

I won't get into how I feel about the breakup bc it's not relevant to this post really, but yea. I personally love Tommy, Bucktommy was Buck's strongest relationship imo (only a touch stronger than Bucktaylor), and my personal belief is that Tommy gets far more hatred than he deserves. (Talking about his growth from the Begins episodes is also a different post, but he grows DURING those episodes and also is clearly a better person from what we see in s7/8)

[lemotmo]

Okay 911 fandom...

I feel like I've been very nice about this before and I always figured it would all just disappear after a while, but this insane Ryan Guzman hatred is getting out of hand. And frankly? It is pissing me off!

So, let's get something very clear here:

This whole concept some people have in their head that Ryan is the reason why Buddie won't ever go canon? IT IS WRONG!

The man has screamed Buddie from the beginning. He came up with the name for Christ's sake. Just because some of you only joined the fandom after 7x04, doesn't mean you get to shit on this guy. You don't know the lore or the history. So shut up!

This idea that Ryan is a bad actor and he is botching up his scenes with Oliver, because Oliver clearly plays Buck as in love with Eddie?

Again... WROOOONG!

Buck is sooo much further on the Buddie path than Eddie is. All he has time for right now is his son! Ryan is NOT going to play Eddie smitten with Buck, because he isn't there yet in the narrative. He obviously cares deeply for Buck though and we see it in everything Ryan puts into his acting. He is obviously a talented actor and artist. So again... SHUT UP!

If I see any of you threaten the man over a fucking fictional ship on a TV-show? I will report you on whichever platform you are on and I'll make sure that everyone knows who you are so they can block you accordingly. Are you insane?! You cannot threaten people for doing their job.

And NO! Nobody is going to recast Eddie because you have it in your stupid little ignorant dumb minds that the man is a misogynist, a sexist, a racist, a terrible father (ARE YOU CRAZY! YOU CANNOT CALL A MAN YOU DO NOT KNOW A BAD FATHER! WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN SMOKING!?) and a whole other slew of things that are simply made up in your own head!

He made one single mistake a loooong time ago. He admitted that he was in a very dark place around that time. He even talked about trying to take his own life at a certain point. How much more honesty do you need?

After that mistake he apologised and he has obviously worked really hard to become a better guy. We can hear that in every interview he does. Stop spreading the narrative that people can't be forgiven after they apologise. What age are you? Four??? Of course people can be forgiven. It's called growth. This insane cancel-culture that has been growing rampant for the last couple of years has gone to all of your heads. Wake up and SHUT UP!

Stop these ridiculous claims and please do everyone a favour! Move on to another fandom where miserable people like you are welcome.

For years now this fandom has been a great place to be in. I love it here! But I've had it with the insane hate-campaigns against a guy just doing his job.

I won't even go into the insane Eddie hate I have seen lately.

This has got to stop!

I am still not a Ryan stan, but I am a decent human being and admirer of his work. So whatever has been going on lately? It is NOT right and we should all shout that from the top of our lungs.

If anyone is reading this and recognises themselves in what I have written here? Please step outside, touch grass, look at the sky and if you are following me? Kindly unfollow me. Thank you.

If anyone is reading this and feels the same way? Feel free to follow. I promise that I don't often make posts like this. I try to spread the fandom positivity as much as I can. So expect lots of that here.

Can we now just go back to enjoying what is really important here? Buddie is about to go canon. Let's celebrate and have fun! We've been waiting years for this. This is our time.

[stump-not-found]

hellooo haiii :]

i saw a while ago that you said that you were fiddleford hater among lovers… do you mind speaking more on that? (sorry i really liek hearing ur views on stuff)

uhh yeah you know what i'll talk a lil about it . why not . i can share some analysis as a treat . will tuck my thoughts gently behind a readmore, so sweet and softlys

i think fiddleford is a fine character its just irritating when narratively he's treated as this very tragic figure when he's an adult man capable of making his own choices . this is a flaw with the books, to be clear - i do not think the actions of fiddleford align with the explicit narrative he has as a nice guy who had a terrible thing happen to him, which stanford must feel soul-crushing guilt over .

this is what bothers me about him: that he is intended to be read as just an all around good dude with tragic circumstances, rather than a messy guy who made shit-ass terrible decisions every step of the way

not even talking about fandom mischaracterization. that's a given in any collaborative fan space and i don't really hold it against people for doing that . fandom is fun, play with your dolls, do whatever - all that mostly means is im not gonna vibe w/ a lot of fanart, it's not going to impact my opinion of the character . i do think it's funny how the collective fanonization of him is simultaneously the wettest meow-meow, but also a total badass when . he's so fundamentally conflict adverse he destroys his own life and body over it .

my man fucks raccoons . i guess that's badass in it's own way . i guess

the thing that is compelling about fidds to me is he is a bit of a worm, and that worminess winds up destroying him from the inside out . he really embodies the entire concept of 'inaction is action', in a way that's deeply frustrating in both fun and not so fun ways

some of the fun things we know about fiddleford:

leveled the downtown area of palo alto

built a robot to try and kill his wife when she tried to divorce him

built robots to kill kids because his son wasnt paying attention to them

brain blasts people to get free labor out of them

started a cult to brain blast people

so horny for Cthulhu Columbo that he did not get his son a christmas present . not a single Tonking Truck . i know your brain is half melted at this point but cmon man

i don't really think the whole leaving his wife in the 70's is all that cute either . it's a one off joke, and there's something interesting about the fact that it's a one off joke . like what kind of financial freedom do people think a single mother is gonna have in this time period? why is that something that goes unchallenged?

and the fact he leaves them for a year is just like . that's also fucked man . i can personally attest to how fucked it is to have your dad just piss off for a year to do contractor work . what a wild subplot to be treated with such little narrative importance to his character . like . the fact that it holds so little importance to fidds is a narrative all on its own

it's just weird how the story treats him, man . he's not that endearing of a dude, which is what i like about him . i like that he makes bad decisions . i like that he doesn't respect when people say "no" . characters should make bad decisions and be bad people . i just really hate this presentation of his own actions being the fault of anyone other than fiddleford

oh also the research paper stint was insane . wild to me that that was presented in the story as like a cool or kind thing to do to someone . like that's a very reasonable boundary for stanford to be upset about being crossed, and its wild how that's presented as him being a jackass . there are MANY things that make ford a piece of shit . being upset about a guy doing something like that behind your back is not one of them

tho that's a whole other conversation about how ford as a character is defined by never having his boundaries respected, and this never being challenged, and in fact he should just be okay with it when it happens by the "right" sorts of people . once an object, always an object . love him

[iamhereinthebg]

Heya Anon! (I speedran this doodle because I got emotionnal)

I see the vision, I used to be insane about the possiblity of a Teru and Nene's friendship, they would be so so funny together :DD

I also like the idea of Teru needing a friend who is more.. chill ? Nene judges him a lot for random stuff in canon but it's really not the same as Akane or Aoi who are just 'this guy is truly insane ._.' (and good for them tbh love them a lot) And she still goes sparkly eyes for him sometimes even when he says the most insane things and I like that sm

(in french he says: "And well, I am the embodiment/personification of beauty" I find it wonderful either way)

And Nene having someone who could teach her stuff about the supernatural world while judging her hard af for how she acts around them sometimes would be a really funny dynamic too. None of them would have chill with the other but I think this is why it could be so good. And Teru would be overjoyed to teach her stuff (in the hope she would destroy Hanako, this is the true motivation)

They truly would be a no braincells duo

(an old doodle I still love a lot this guy is a disaster at handling people showing emotions in front of him)

And they do care for each other in canon , their teamup for the new timeline was really cute :DD

(I am just sad we didn't have much but lol I won't talk about the disappointement that this arc is for me :'))

I agree that they would watch random stuff together especially because Teru doesn't have much knowledges in that and Nene may have... too much. I truly think they could be great friends (and Nene has the patience of a saint have you seen her with Mitsuba or even Hanako? ToT She would be able to handle Teru)

I used to be obsessed with the Survivor quartet as I call them (Akane, Nene, Teru and Kou) and I have a tag for them #survivorquartet with random doodles/hcs if you need more stuff :DD (most are really old so some of my opinion has changed izvkdvd)

Little comic I did of them that I still love a lot, help this poor girl she needs it

And don't be ashamed to post if you want to, I am sure you're not the only one liking this friendship :DD Especially since you're talking about a fic! This means others people like it too! (and even if that wasn't the case, be free Anon this is honestly how you can have the most fun in a fandom, my main metaphor is the sandbox in a corner doing whatever and sometimes some people go to talk with you, this is the funniest part of being in a fandom for me :))

And if you're bothered about the ship you can just say in the tags that it's platonic. That's something I did once and most people respected to not tag it with the ship name ^^ Fandom and posting are supposed to be fun so you shouldn't feel pressured by it but I understand if you're scared/don't know if you wanna post, take your time :))) I believe in youuuu

I hope you have a great day Anon and thanks for the ask it made me happy to retalk about them :DD

[exploring-the-cosmos]

Okay so I'll just say it because I've been thinking it for a while, but the weird dislike or sometimes even hatred for Eddie Diaz (and Ryan Guzman) that is present in this fandom feels (at times) incredibly forced at best and downright racist at worst. And he's already a pretty white-washed character as it is. This is not in any way meant as a call-out to any one person in particular, and certainly not me saying he's a perfect character above critique, but my god, I need people to inject a little bit of nuance into their views of these characters. I love Buck as much as the next 9-1-1 fan, but he is not this perfect angel who can do no wrong like some people act like he is. Likewise, Eddie has made a lot of mistakes and done a lot of shitty things (some of which Buck himself has done, too). But at the end of the day, I think he is a very complex character who is doing the best he can with what he has and means well. I don't know why some of you are in this fandom if you dislike these characters as much as it appears you do.

And the SHIPPING WARS MY GOD STOP IT. I usually stay out of shipping discourse because I think it's ridiculous and unnecessary most of the time. Ship and let ship is always an option, and I think most people would benefit from choosing it. And listen, I will admit my bias and say I am primarily a Buddie shipper. But I have no issue with Bucktommy shippers as a whole nor the ship itself being popular. Do I ship it? No. I don't even particularly like Tommy as a character, but I don't care if other people like him and the ship. What I do have an issue with, however, is the way some of y'all act with such vitriol towards Buddie shippers, Buddie as a ship, and, specifically, Eddie Diaz as a potential love interest for Buck. This is where I think some people's underlying racial bias really becomes apparent, and no, I'm not talking about all BuckTommy shippers, only those that are explicitly anti-Buddie because they don't like Eddie. Because why, WHY are you so insistent on seeing these two white men together, who have had so little time together on screen and, in my opinion, have been shown to have very little in common with each other other than the fact that they care about and are interested in each other romantically, but so against Buck potentially being in a relationship with a different man who he has been best friends with for the better part of a decade, who wrote him into his will, cares deeply about him and who he cares about just as much, spends a lot of his free time with, and who also happens to not be white? Look, I'm not gonna sit here and say every single one of you is a raging racist or anything. I don't know you. But I think a lot of y'all would benefit from a little bit of introspection as to why you feel the way that you do about some of these characters and ships. Also, yes, Buddie shippers can be toxic and racist, too. I am not saying Buddie shippers are above those behaviors as well, only making an observation specific to some people's anti-Buddie and anti-Eddie sentiment.

Also, this is an aside, but the way fandom and shipping culture in general has gravitated towards strict adherence to canon content is.... weird. Like, why are some of y'all so allergic to engaging with or creating content outside of the confines of what the canon material has offered you? Have fun, be creative, go wild, and also be respectful to the folks around you who see things differently. We all share this space, and we should all care about making it as positive and welcoming of an experience as possible.

[nemo-draco]

More fun thoughts, especially for the AUs where Doey’s one person and can't split, you think he ever gets annoyed with himself and addresses those behaviors as the kids? Finds himself getting annoyed or irritated and goes something like "Kevin, calm down." Or feels like he's getting too giddy or exuberant and it's like "Jack, Jack, wait, this isn't a good time-!". Or feels anxious from the pressures around Safe Haven, and just quietly goes to himself, "Matthew, we, we can't do anything else, okay?".

He's not even sure if this is a case of him seeing connections where there aren't any, and maybe he just looks crazy for doing it, but sometimes it helps? Or, feels helpful? Maybe makes him feel a little less awful over his whole situation. But, much like the Fandom, can see Doey having the most 'talks' with 'Kevin', given that I can definitely see the temper from him mixing horribly with other frayed nerves. Doey snapping or withdrawing from a moment with the others because it stamped on some trigger he barely remembers the context for, but he immediately assumes it's from Kevin. And goes on a bit of a frustrated tirade, trying to stay quiet so as not to worry anyone but still growing more and more upset as he rambles "I don't know what happened to you, but we can't keep doing this! Not everyone trying to hug you is gonna hurt you, they can't even hurt me, they're tiny! ...Why are you always doing this, Kevin?! It's not fair! I don't wanna be angry, I don't want people looking at me like I'm gonna hurt them! I don't want this to be Susan and George all over again, Kevin! So just STOP, okay?!"

For extra poignancy, Doey turns enough that he's facing some sort of a reflective surface, it hammering in at that moment that there is no one else here. No Kevin. Kevin can no longer respond, if he ever could, and Doey’s just basically had this whole yelling match with himself. At a more metaphorical than real child who did not ask for this to happen to them.

Can imagine he has to sit with that realization for a good, long while.

[gveret-fic]

Your Elphaba soul post got me thinking about just how different bookverse Elphie is vs movieverse Elphie. I don't think movie!Elphie would ever say she doesn't have a soul! I think it would be utterly offensive to her. Maybe I'm just not in the right fandom circles, but it seems like no one talks about how, dare-i-say woobified movie!Elphie is. I would love to hear your take. I've seen Cynthia saying they wanted to give Elphaba some innocence to lose so that her character arc would mean something, but it also just kind of seems like the easy way out to me? I know the musical and the book are two very different animals, but I think even in the musical Elphaba is a lot more Daria-esque than movie!Elphie is.

Oh they're wildly wildly different. It's the first thing I noticed when I watched the movie, and at first it put me off Cynthia Erivo's performance. Her Elphie is sweet and quiet and gentle where book Elphie is abrasive and rude and loud; poised and dignified and intensely feminine vs off-putting and strange and gender non-conforming (and intersex); open and vulnerable and easily lovable vs provocative and difficult with defense mechanisms for miles. It's basically a completely different character who's unfortunately found herself in similar circumstances.

It took a second watch to let go of my expectations for the character and just let myself fall in love with this version of her on her own terms. Of course, she's much more easily digestible, with more broad audience appeal, and this inevitably removes some of her complexity. Woobified is a good term for it; she really is just the most huggable sweetie pie put through hell through no fault of her own. But Erivo really portrays her with so much pathos and genuine heart and charisma that you just can't not love her. I am not immune to big puppy dog eyes and a bright gap-toothed smile and a warm little chuckle at Galinda's antics lol.

I'd say the musical characterization is equally simplified/homogenized for broad appeal. Maybe she's a little more generally sarcastic and standoffish in the musical, but I kinda like this more genuine version, I think Erivo's Elphaba seems more heartfelt, especially in her relationship with Galinda. You can see this particularly in Popular; in both versions this is the comic relief song, but in the musical Elphie is generally long-suffering and uninterested while in the movie she's an active participant and genuinely seems to be having fun playing along, mimicking Galinda and giggling like a school girl. It's really cute.

Also there's the issue of race. In the musical there hasn't been a full-time Black Elphaba until now with Lencia Kebede, who was of course cast only after Erivo. I think it's easy to see why they'd choose to make the first major depiction of Elphaba by a Black actress more unimpeachably lovable. Of course they shouldn't have to, but that in itself is a commentary on its own.

Unrelated but a major improvement of the movie over the musical is the handling of Nessa and her disability, which was just atrocious in the musical. In the movie they make it a point that pushing a wheelchair without permission is a serious violation, and in general give Nessa a bit more personhood and genuine chemistry with Elphie.

It's never gonna be as interesting and complex and political as the book, but for what it is I think the movie did a fantastic job and had a lot of love and care obviously put into it. Bookverse Elphie is still my number 1 though.

[the-harvest-system]

excuse us being a mega hater lately

but

PEOPLE SAYING ANTI-ENDOS DON'T HURT PEOPLE IRL??? ARE SO FUCKING WRONG

Okay rest of post under the cut bc it has some triggering topics (sh) and might come across as vent-ish (it really is a rage filled tirade) but this is why ANTI ENDOS AND SYSMEDS ARE HARMFUL!!! BC OF COURSE THEY FUCKING ARE!!!

Okay so:

We started having suspicions of us being a system around April 2023. At that point, most of our interactions with systems were via systok, and sys-inclusive fandom servers. Now, before that time we experienced things that we now, looking back, know were definitely because of our plurality. But we only started finally NOTICING those behaviors around April. The thought that it could be plurality floated around in our head for a bit, but we stopped thinking about it until July. That's when the current host started hearing bits of conversations in headspace, and even replied sometimes. 2023 was a rough year for us (as all years from 2019 - 2023 were) but during that time, a long period of traumatic experiences from 2022 were still fresh in our minds. That's why, when the aforementioned host went on a DID research rabbit hole, due to said rough patch, when they stumbled upon tons of sysmeds saying that the experiences required to become a system had to be SO traumatic, you couldn't even function after them, and other such misinformation, the host decided that, no, we definitely aren't a system, because we're not FUCKING CATATONIC OR SOMETHING after our trauma (they forgot about the 2 week period after getting out of said traumatic experiences that we spent in bed, barely moving and talking).

So the host then had a mental breakdown, because they decided if we're not a system then we're "delusional and going insane" (direct-ish quote, we were stupid about mental health back then). I'm not going into details, bc the breakdown was NOT FUN!! We still have the scars, healed as they are.

Anyway this caused us to have really bad mental health the entire rest of 2023 and and not realize we actually ARE a system until early January 2024. (Also hey, syscovery anniversary!! Can't believe it's already been a year!! :D)

Yeah so next time I hear someone say that sysmeds and anti endos aren't harmful I'm gonna spit on that persons face (virtually) (or maybe irl if i meet someone like that irl) (I'm only slightly exaggerating) (only slightly)

[echoflowerwhispers]

Hihihihihihihihi vin can’t stop me from showing up /silly >:D

so uhhh hiiiiiiiiiii haven’t send you an ask in a hot minute….hmmmmmmmmmmmm least favorite portrayal of a character in fanon and why-? (If that makes sense—)

omg hihihihhihhi!!!!

I have SO MANY least fav portrayals!!!! I hate these bitches frfr

rant below cuz it's deff gonna become a rant lmao

Ok, the most obvious one is Blue's fanon portrayal because.... yeah....

The fandom has gotten a lot better at not babying him in the last few years, but still, that is a grown man and should be treated as such. Like yeah he can be hyper and fun and stuff but let him say fuck like damn. I honestly think Blue wouldn't even be that hyper. Yeah, he is high energy, but after everything he's gone through, I also think he'd be exhausted both mentally and emotionally. He's not a god like Dream or Ink, and that makes it harder for him to keep up to them in a way. Like Dream has been through so much shit he's just learned to block it out and power through until it's safe to be vulnerable and it only works so well because he is a god and he's had hundreds of years to learn how to tune things out. Blue doesn't have hundreds of years to learn how to manage himself perfectly, and on top of his own problems, he has to deal with Dream when he inevitably crashes and with Ink's general carelessness. Not to mention he has to be the one to intervene when Dream and Ink have another fight. Blue, in my opinion, needs a fucking break. To me, he is a tired person who does his best to be cheery for the sake of the people around him. He's definitely spent nights at the end of a bottle and he's definitely not as innocent as most of the fandom seems to think. If the Bad Guys would propose a truce, Blue would be the most skeptical about it too. Anyway this paragraph is fucking huge so we're moving on to the next one!!!

The next person who I dislike the fanon interpretation of is Reaper. I do also like most of the fanon aspects of Reaper, and also don't know much about his canon. To me Reaper has lived a life of solitude since everything he touches dies (except his brother and Life). I really doubt he went "ooh yuh wassup big mama" when he first met Geno. Like, let's be real here, the only reason he and Geno ever met is that Reaper was supposed to kill him. They probably had a fight and Reaper came out victorious because he's a god. I think he'd try to give Geno a gentle end and not just slice him in half with his scythe and that's when he realises he can touch Geno. But even then he wouldn't immediately give up and start courting him instead, like come on. When his touch wouldn't work, he'd try the scythe and when that wouldn't work, he'd get upset. He'd be frustrated that he can't do his job because, of course, he'd be. His job is his purpose and if he can't do it, then what's the point of him? It would take a long time for Reaper and Geno to actually get along and it would take an even longer time for Reaper to try to touch Geno again. I feel like they'd both be shit at this too. They've both been alone for such a long time and they have no clue how to manage this new companionship. It would be a rocky road and Geno would definitely be the one to initiate any sort of romantic relationship. And once that first brick is placed, then Reaper would start to act more like in fanon. I don't think he'd be constantly flirting and trying to get laid but still.

The next and last one I'm gonna talk about is Dream. I fucking hate fanon Dream and canon Dream isn't much better either. He is always interpreted as the innocent and happy little cinnamon roll and he just isn't. Like come on, that man drinks himself to sleep every other night and probably goes through 2 packs of cigarettes in a week. He is absolutely wridden with guilt for what happened to his brother and he feels like an idiot for not trying harder to protect Nightmare. He puts on this happy, positive mask and he wears it constantly, especially when he's in public, because he is supposed to be the perfect golden child. But he isn't and he hates himself for it. While Nightmare was physically abused and bullied, Dream was emotionally manipulated. He keeps this broken mindset of "I need to be useful and perfect" even through adulthood and not even Blue can help him see how wrong it is, because Blue also feels like this to some degree. Even with this positive mask of his Dream still wouldn't be so naive and innocent as the fandom makes him be. He would not hesitate to beat the shit out of any of Nightmare's subordonates or any other person who'd hurt others. He'd still see the good in people but it would definitely be overshadowed by the wrongs they've done. He'd obviously want to help them, but the more he fights with Nightmare the more he learns that you can't help someone who doesn't want help.

Anyway, I've rambled oh so much and if I think about it, there are probably more characters I hate the fanon interpretation but it's mostly in certain contexts (like the killermare ship or Horror when he's separated from the Bad Guys). I can tell y'all more if you want but I think this post is getting wayyyy too long lol.

Thx for the ask!!! I always love when y'all show up cuz you always have the best questions and I get to rant about my blorbos :3

Have a great day and thx for stopping by!!!

[dandelion-wings]

That is a really interesting reading! And, indeed, very different from my own. XD

I outlined above why I disagree with the new lore being inconsistent with the old so I won't do it again, but I will note, because I didn't last time, that I do agree that Hoyo is probably deliberately foregrounding her softer side at the moment for various reasons--because she's going to show up, because soft family moments sell, because they don't actually care about Jean's arc and want to end it in one of said saleable moments, etc. (I have suspected that they were never going to give Jean a real and thoughtful arc since that first summertime event and convinced of it since the Weinlesefest. It's not marketable to their core audience the way, say, the Ragbros are. I resent that, but I am completely unsurprised.) And I tend to kind of mentally divide it out into the Doylist view of "Hoyo is going to prioritize their marketing and I cannot expect anything better of them" and the subsequent Watsonian view of "so that means it's my job to play with the lore without worrying about why it is the way it is," while I do think in retrospect you and OP are both leaning a lot more Doylist.

I still don't find "strict and controlling parent who softens after their child is a successful adult" contradictory because, well, I've seen it play out IRL multiple times over my life, but there's no actual question Hoyo is presenting her best side for their own reasons. It just happens to feed well into my own interpretations of her.

#some of my thoughts/feelings on frederica are also influenced by my family so idk some of my readings may be biased

Given the tags that's responding to, that's clearly true of both of us, and from what I can tell of everyone else in this thread. And that's really not surprising--everyone brings their own personal experiences to their interpretation of a character, and especially to family relationships. Which is going to lead to a whole bunch of varying interpretations that people disagree about, which in turn I think is the fun thing about fandom! I enjoy reading other people's interpretations even when I disagree with them, and discussing where they do and don't line up.

(But I do want to apologize to both you and OP about coming in hot in my first reblog, because I saw a few lines about my pet bugbear and immediately blew by the fact that the initial complaint was largely about Hoyo's writing choices. That part is on me.)

Really not digging the yassification of Frederica. It doesn't undo in the slightest the horrible upbringing Jean was put through but with every new feelgood story I suspect people will be less and less aware of it.

(I will absolutely die on this hill that Frederica was a horrible mother. I’ve thought hard and long about this for almost 3 years and you won’t change my mind on that anymore. I'm sorry.)

And I'm (only semi-) sorry (tbh) to be so negative on Jean's birthday but this kind of trivialising and sugarcoating of her family dynamic really doesn't do Jean's character justice, so it happening on her birthday out of all days (the day Frederica never let her celebrate btw lol) bothers me in particular.

She suffers so many (canonically documented but ironically even by the game never truly acknowledged) far-reaching psychological effects from her childhood and Frederica's way of raising her (and I always have the feeling if Jean was a male character people would be a lot more receptive/cognizant of this fact).

Keep in mind that Jean was not just raised with the pressure of putting her family first, or her clan or her village. No, she was raised since birth with the doctrine that she is responsible for the well-being of an entire *nation*. The psychological consequences (and the - even if unintended - emotional and moral blackmail that is inherent to this kind of teaching) on the mind of a *child* are so profound that I'm not sure most of us can even realistically imagine them.

So I'm really not here for Genshin's decision to treat this as some cute feelgood story and just use Jean's backstory for some "sacrificial maiden" aesthetic without the willingness to take its consequences for Jean's character seriously.

The more Frederica content we get the more evident it becomes that Jean will not get the honest and critical exploration of her upbringing she deserves and I'm honestly not gonna enjoy the "actually Frederica is totally cool, look she's so strong and graceful, what an icon, hero of Mondstadt" ride (and there's a good chance this will really put me off the last bit of Genshin lore I still care about because I don't like to see my favourite character being treated like that).

That's why I also really, really hope Frederica *won't* become playable. Because as soon as a character becomes playable they have to become a marketable poster character. There is no room for any true conflict or tension. You can see this really well with Arlecchino. She was expected to be a morally highly questionable person but turned out to be a badass anti-hero (personally I don’t mind it with Arle but it’s clear she is not treated as morally grey by the game the way many hoped she’d be). Her actions, even wrt her orphans, are treated as mostly justified and truly benevolent (whether you agree is a different question, but that's how the game frames it).

She's now marketed as this tough but caring parental figure whose relationship with her children gives you warm and nice feelings (see her various comments, letters and voice lines about them).

So if Frederica ever becomes playable I have little hope that they'll ever hold her accountable to the level she deserves and look at her through a sufficiently critical lens. Unless they miraculously address all of this before she becomes playable. But looking at the tone she's already framed with it doesn't seem likely.

So honestly, I'm not looking forwards to the future of Jean's lore.

[lemotmo]

Oh my god PSA, please don't do that, EVER! Protect your identity! As for all the other asks, hahahaha, color me surprised.

Q. So they're not not cute. Whatever.

Q. I was told hating Eddie was necessary and easy but I was in that man's side the entire episode. I don't know what to do with myself. Seriously I'm a little stunned.

Q. I hate that I absolutely get it after that episode. Their chemistry is definitely tangible.

Q. Shit fine if I'm going to do this do I need season 1 or can I go straight to season 2 when Eddie arrives? Your blog makes it sound like I need to watch season 1.

Q. I get the hype. I think I might actually want to watch this unfold because their chemistry really is wild, but it will be difficult to break away from the Tommy stuff because they have my personal email and I get daily reminders to post something. I haven't posted anything since Thursday morning and I get nearly hourly emails telling me I'm behind and need to step up. I don't know what to do.

A. Okay I lumped these asks all together because I have many, many variations of all these currently sitting in my ask box. I'm honestly not surprised that many of you are finally aware, or willing to acknowledge, that their chemistry really is unlike anything else. It's okay to let yourself enjoy it. I promise it's better. If you are going to watch the entire series now then you cannot skip season 1. I know lots of people don't like Buck in season 1, I personally find that blasphemous because that is my lost baby and I would commit crimes for that himbo, but it also provides context for the Bobby, Athena, Chimney(!) and Hen. Season one is necessary. Go and enjoy it.

To the anon who sent the ask about the email. Change your email address and change it now. There is no one, NO ONE in charge of running a fandom. Your fandom experience is your own, and there is no fandom that has an executive branch setting laws everyone else must follow. Fandom is not a job, or a government. It's bullshit fun. And anyone who tries to make you believe it should be something else is lying to you. No matter what fandom spaces you choose to occupy in the future you keep anything about your real life identity out of those spaces. Period. If you make friends within that fandom and mutually choose to take that friendship into the real world then that's an entirely different thing, but don't EVER give anyone your personal information because that's not how fandoms work. And unfortunately the harassment will probably get worse. Yes it will be a pain in the ass to change your email address, you can of course try blocking but who knows how many people have that information now. At this point it's about protecting your peace of mind and your real life identity. There is no fandom experience worth your mental health or real life privacy. They're not your friends. Protect yourself and go. Please feel free to message me if you have anything else you would like to ask or discuss 🩷

Thank you Nonny! As always much appreciated.

Okay... yeah, once you open yourself up to see the Buddie chemistry, there is really no way back. I can understand that people who started watching during season 7, because of biBuck and BT, needed some time to adjust to the fact that BT was just a stepping stone for Buddie.

If you've never seen all the other seasons and only started in 7x04, you have no other context than BT. As soon as you see Buck and Eddie acting and reacting all naturally together it just hits you how the chemistry flows between them.

So trust me, if there's anyone reading this that started watching in 7x04 and 8x09 got you curious about Buddie? Please, start watching from season 1 on. It's like Ali said... there is a lot of important back story in season 1. And yes, I am one of these people who didn't like Buck at all in those first episodes of season 1 when I watched it for the first time.🫣 Sorry Ali! But I love him now though, because now I understand why he acted the way he did during that season.

As for the person who is being stalked through email. Follow Ali's advice IMMEDIATELY! Remember people, NEVER give a stranger on the Internet your real life information unless it's someone you have known for a long time and you know you can trust them 100%. I have been in fandom spaces for 25 years now and, for the most part, I've always kept my private life and my fandom life strictly seperated.

If you have to give someone your email address for something, just create a new one you can easily get rid of if necessary. Use that email address strictly for fandom stuff and nothing else. Make sure that your real name is nowhere to be found in the email name itself.

Also, people emailing you and telling you that you need to post and step it up? That is very concerning to me. It borders on cultish behaviour, definitely not fandom behaviour. It is NOT normal. In all of my years in fandom, I have never encountered this kind of stalkerish behaviour. Fandom is supposed to be fun, it isn't supposed to be a chore and give you anxiety like this.

Please get rid of that email address, create a new one, start over again and join us here in the Buddie fandom. I know that you were told a lot of lies about our fandom and how terrible we are, but I promise you that most of us here on Tumblr are actually really nice and a lot of the things that you were told by these cult people? They were blatant lies.

IMPORTANT! Please don't repost this ask and/or a link that leads straight to my Tumblr account on Twitter or any other social media. Thank you!

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[crystalkiseki]

shipping is fun until you act as if not dating anyone is miserable and pathetic

[frazzledsoul]

GoT season 8 didn't kill the fandom, but instead reoriented around hating D & D and theorizing how GRRM was going to fix everything when he wrote TWOW (good luck with that, guys). For years, I honestly wish former fans would shut up about "how no one talks about GoT anymore". (If you are saying that 24-7, you are by definition talking about it). Fans theorized for months about that Jon Snow spin-off that never went anywhere and even now there is constant clickbait articles about "GoT season 9". Let it die, guys. My point here is that even with most of the GoT sub fandoms dead people still seem to talk about that more than they do HOTD, a currently airing show that got very good ratings. I did not know that Tom was saying Sunfyre was dead until I read it on this post, for instance.

I think S2 killed off all fan momentum for anything that wasn't Rhaenicent. As a Ewan/Aemond fan, I have little reason to keep watching. Something shifted between season 1 and season 2 and it seems Aemond became a one-note villain they seemed to hate to give screen time to because it was taking attention away from Daemon. I have no idea what they were doing with Aegon, because they seemed to write him very sympathetically but would also go out of their way to demean him. Alicent is ruined for me now and I don't think there can be any redemption for her now that the writers are trying to sell her attempting to murder her family as a virtuous act. What's the point in watching? I don't see much point for Team Black, either: Jace will be dead soon and his fans will be unhappy. I already see Daemyra fans upset at the Rhaenicent emphasis. All that's left is Rhaenicent truthers. Have fun, guys, I guess? This is why it's a bad idea to have a show revolve solely around a ship if it wasn't intended to be that way from the beginning.

Anyway, I think people may still watch, but I don't see the show setting off very much discussion amongst the fans.

The way hotd’s season 2 has completely obliterated this fandom is something that even the disaster of Got's season 8 couldn’t achieve and should be analyzed in a lab lol. How on earth is it possible that there was a cast reunion THIS very month, and yet not a single juicy tidbit emerged or was talked about after that panel meeting? That right there shows how much the fans don’t give a rat's ass about what the cast and these so-called writers have to say during the off-season. 😭 I don’t think I’ve ever been part of a more vibrant, hyped fandom before the trainwreck that was season 2’s premiere - everyone was on fire. The buzz after the first trailer was even crazier - and the promo season was just bananas… and then, poof, it all flatlined. I haven't witnessed a murder-suicide of this scale since Bran dropped his infamous bombshell: "why do you think I came all this way?" 💀

[showsandstuff]

Squid Game season 2 based for giving us both toxic old man Yaoi AND the gay jerks who only really have each other duo

[burningcheese-merchant]

It's so cool to see CRK getting popular again, it feels so refreshing like so much new quality fan content dropping that we couldn't even DREAM about a couple of months ago, but it hurts my very soul seeing new players being interested in beast x ancient ships, in their dynamics, asking is it okay to ship it and getting slapped in the face with another "IT'S ABUSER X VICTIM IT'S A PROSHIP IT'S A DARKSHIP" (which is just not true) killing off all the fun, bc apparently enemies to lovers, AUs and what-ifs doesn't exist anymore and everything that isn't pure fluff is illegal now. "IT'S NOT ENEMIES TO LOVERS, BEASTS ABUSED AND TORTURED THEM" yeah THAT'S WHAT ENEMIES DO??? What else do you expect from a villain honestly??? Like in ANY media??? Beasts still got their ass beat in the end as they totally deserve BECAUSE ANCIENTS ARE NOT SOFT INNOCENT SMALL BABIES THAT NEED TO BE PROTECTED, they're grown ass IMMORTAL ADULTS with huge responsibilities, they rule kingdoms, they hold a huge power in their hands, they're imperfect and not innocent. They can stand for themselves, they can fight, they can destroy, they can lie and they WILL if they need to.

I can SMELL that a shit tonne of people in this fandom secretly enjoys beast x ancient as a guilty pleasure, a forbidden fruit, but they will never admit it just because they're afraid of being harassed and bullied and it's just sad how normalized it is to hurt actual people over shipping some mobile game characters, who are adults, doesn't have power imbalance between them and aren't related.

And allat coming from ME, who doesn't ship a single beast x ancient ship

It's sad lol. Sad for the Beast x Ancient community and honestly kind of pathetic for ardent detractors at this point. I've seen sooooo many Beast x Ancient fans get harassed and even sent death threats, it's not even funny (not that it ever was in the first place). Don't you have better things to do than get this mad about video games lol. Like a job or school or a hobby or something

You're right, the Ancients are not helpless widdle babies and I'm kind of sick of how often they're infantilized, in general and just for the sake of tearing down BxA. They're grown adults who are thousands of years old. Two of them are parents, whose children are grown adults themselves. 4 of 5 founded entire nations. 1 is an active ruler still (Cacao), one seeks to rule again (Golden). Let's not kid ourselves, they've probably all got blood on their hands (not to the degree the Beasts do, but still. You don't live that life without having to make tough choices). Stop treating them like porcelain dolls lol. Yes, the Beasts attacked them, but they're villains. That's what villains do. Go play Animal Crossing if you can't handle heroes and villains fighting each other lol

And then I get a laugh whenever those same people who screech about toxicity and abuse and yadda yadda turn around and ship H*llyt*ya or Sh*dowSp*ce. The former is BxA in a different costume. The latter... Man. You know. Because TWO deranged maniacs, who are fundamentally incompatible in every way and do not make sense at all and absolutely would hurt each other and bring each other down I hate that ship so damn much. Do not ask me abt it I WILL ramble and nobody needs that. Zero beef with fans though, we're coolio! Just a difference of opinion!, is such a better option, isn't it lol. Hypocrisy.

I'm sure you noticed that ep 7 + 8 brought out a whole lot of new ShadowVanilla fans. I agree w/ you, I can feel that there are a fuckton of BxA fans lurking in the darkness, waiting for an excuse to poke their heads out (like 7 + 8 lol), only hiding because they don't want to attract lunatics. Even YOU sent this ask anonymously. Most of my inbox is stuff from anons, and I look at them all and wonder, "how many of you are just afraid of backlash for expressing any joy in BurningCheese or any of the other BxA pairs?" It's ok, guys. Don't listen to them. Be you. I'm being me right now, as cringy as I am. I am Extremely Normal about BurningCheese and I'm not ashamed :) they're video game characters at the end of the day, just have fun. Why can't we all just be bros, man, what does any of this matter

[littlebittyhollowbugs]

Hornet headcanon!

'Hornet' is not Hornet's true name.

I'm still torn between different reasonings for her having the name either

A- It was given to her as an honorary title, by Queen Vespa, during her training within the hive (or bestowed upon her after having finished her training as a symbol of her accomplishments.)

Or B- She gave the name to herself, after the fall of the kingdom, as a way to separate her current self from her past while still honoring some part of her past. (The part that is easiest for her to look back on.)

As for her birth name my sisters and I have decided on Arachnè. (The name is from a Greek myth, where the protagonist Arachnè challenges Athena to a weaving contest, wins, and is afterwards transformed into a spider.)