#this video was edited by someone who is no longer part of the fandom

[herejusttosufferalong]

I've been a Lukola shipper since last year, and I've been reading all the male POVs. So, I decided to ask the dudes in my life about this whole situation. I talked to some of my male BFFs and my brother. I'll start with what my brother, who's 15 (I'm 19), had to say.

Over the past three days, I showed him most of the interviews, especially the unhinged ones, all the hand-holding clips, Tif's edits, etc. Then I introduced him to the GF and gave him a brief rundown of all the antics - Instyle, NY and London premieres, Deuxmoi, pool pics, Milan, GQ.

Here’s what he thinks:

Luke and Nic LOVE each other. Luke probably loves her more, or maybe she's just better at hiding it. Nic is affectionate towards everyone, so it’s not as apparent. My brother thinks Nic is really funny and obviously beautiful, especially after watching her solo interviews like "9 Things I've Never Tried Before," ASMR, and accents.

Luke is being hot and cold. After I told him about the break after Brasil, he said that makes sense. It seems like whenever Luke goes back to his friends, he comes back acting like a dick. I showed him Luke's hot boy summer phase and the NYE video of them dancing. He said Luke acts like a dick when he's with his friends, especially Rory, who seems like the leader. He even noticed Tom and said Luke should hang out with him more. When I mentioned Rory breaking up with his GF and now dating Sienna (who's 23), he immediately clocked it and said, “Wow, Lukey did the same.” In a very not impressed tone. I couldn't stop laughing.

Nothing happened in Brasil. My brother thinks Nic would never do anything shady. The interviewers and overall vibes of Brasil were super chill, so Luke let himself loose a bit. However Nic seemed the same, maybe a little more giggly.

NY and London premieres:

NY: They looked fine, but Luke seemed pissed for some reason. The hand moment was insane. He thinks the GF blindsided Nic and set up the videos of them hugging, because why aren’t there videos of others?

London: Nic seemed a little wary, and Luke looked downbad. Luke T and Nic either need to work together or date, or both, because they're cute. Simone is definitely a shipper. He also thinks Golda might be a shipper, but she seems to have clocked Luke’s shit and is side-eyeing, which he is too. The Deuxmoi stunt was dumb and embarrassing.

About A, R, and S:

Rory: Luke hangs onto Rory’s every word, so the GF might not be going anywhere as long as she's in the friend group. My brother hates Rory and thinks he's Luke’s constant during the hot boy summer phase. Rory wasn't seen much before that. Other Anons, is this true?

A: A is in the relationship for the perks. The Hailey Bieber cosplay is gross. My brother almost puked when I showed him the thread comparing A and HB’s outfits. A is obviously trolling the fans, which is boring.

S: He doesn’t think there’s anything nefarious going on with S, and it’s good for her that she’s going to Jack M's classes, but it’s weird that it's only happening now.

In conclusion, my brother thinks this whole thing is going to drag on for a lot longer, but that’s a huge maybe since Luke and Nic are coming back for S4. If Luke's friend group manages to infiltrate the sets, it won't matter much because everyone adores Nic and seems protective of her. A is going to stay as long as she can. Right now, my brother hates Luke and thinks he screwed up royally, even as a friend. It’s a bigger deal if there are non-platonic feelings involved. He wants to see Luke make a thank you post for S3, because that's the least he can do. Luke needs to figure his stuff out, and it seems like whenever he's on vacation, things just get worse. Basically, he needs to GET A JOB and things will sort themselves out.

Wow, that was a lot. Never thought my brother would be so mature!

Also can someone clarify if R was still such a huge part of L's life before his HBS?

Damn the 15 yo is smarter than some grown ass folk in the fandom lmao

LOVE x

[touyubesposts]

Can I ask for your opinion on people comparing sanders sides to iris/Jacksepticeye’s egos when it comes to the wait time and how the stories have been handled? I’ve seen some discussion on people comparing both from that angle, and would be curious to know if you have any thoughts on that.

Btw I understand if you choose to ignore this ask since it does involve criticism stuff. Just would like to get perspective on this from someone who knows both a lot better (I am not super familiar with jse myself but I have been in the tss fandom for a while).

Hope you have a good day regardless!

Thank you, I hope you have a good day as well!

And yeah, I’ll talk about this a bit. As long as this is coming from a view to discuss and think reasonably and rationally and not a view of pure, burning, blind rage just cause. (Also, this is going to be long because I have a lot to say)

Personally, I have no problem with the wait from either creator. I can consume other forms of media for the time being. I enjoy their content greatly, and I dabble in artworks and fanfictions while I wait, but I’m not reliant. And it's not like these people are creating nothing. They still have other stuff for us to enjoy. Like Jack’s gaming content or Thomas’s shorts or videos with Sleep or the star signs or the planets. Hell, Thomas is working on a video for Picani right now!

Also, people don’t realize that these things take a long time. They both have to go to places, set up equipment, record multiple takes, and repeat since both of them deal with multiple characters. And then the whole thing has to be spliced together and edited to make a coherent story. And of course, Thomas is going to take longer because he’s doing more. Yes, Jack has to add glitchy effects to his editing, but Thomas is literally making music for us to consume and enjoy. Do you know how long it takes to make music? That adds more writing, more editing, background music production, and more recording on top of the stuff he already has to do.

And both come from small teams of people with a lot of things to do, so it's going to be expected when things take a while to come out.

The stories, on the other hand, I find a weird thing to compare (if they are being compared, I haven’t seen anything since I blocked the tag.) They are completely different genres after all. Thomas’s series is supposed to be more feel-good mental health help, with a hint of drama. (That, naturally, is gonna take more research.) Jack is making an analog horror. Things are going to be different. Also, Jack is just starting his series! He had to pause production because of COVID and just finished his video with Chase that he wanted to finish in 2019! We shouldn’t compare apples to oranges, but we definitely shouldn’t compare when one of the fruit isn’t even ripe yet.

Lastly, I find it weird to compare these people at all. Why? Because they’re people. It's like not going to college and then your mom going “Your brother went to college, you know.” We shouldn’t compare Thomas to Sean because Thomas isn’t Sean. People go at things at their own pace. People have their own personal struggles to deal with. And these people are people, not a content farm for you to throw your rotten tomatoes at whenever you feel.

And I’m not saying you have to like these people, I just think other factors go into both series that people don’t consider. Like personal struggles or where they live. (Not to get political, but Florida is kinda a shithole right now. Stay safe if you live in that part ❤️)

But yeah, sorry if this was long, these are my feelings on the matter.

(Also, if you want to compare, Markiplier made a movie, so 🤷 /j)

[umbraticstickerz]

I don't like making callouts but This should be called out

Its not really a secret this fandom has a huge issue with reposts but we really shouldn't just accept that it happens

This person, Reagan(They/Them), has been reposting a lot of spooky month artwork and animations relating to Sweettooth/Candybats. Sometimes they will Credit the artists but other times they literally won't or will repost peoples art even when the artist does not want their shit reposted.(one example is that they reposted one of my buds, _crazydumbass_ on Instagram, artwork for a M.A.P[Multi Animator Project] announcement when CD does not like reposts of his content and explicitly states as such.)

Just some examples of them reposting peoples stuff, there's a lot of artists here like chocowhomp and little-k-1412 along with many others some of which I don't know. I don't know how many have credits or don't and who does and doesn't like reposts here, I haven't checked all the videos this is just me showing they do indeed repost others content.(most of the time they're sharing artwork on their community tab without credits but Tumblr has a image limit so yeah.)

Me dming them about the thing with my friend they blocked me straight after I got them to respond. (Ignore my spelling and grammer errors). Note the M.A.P. post was taken down recently because people were commenting about how they needed to credit CD and about how CD doesn't like reposts, CD even commenting that he does not like reposts of his artwork.

(The "you credit a lot of artists" part was before I looked fully through their community tab and saw how a ton of art there didn't have credit or had reposts of artists work that don't like reposts, some of which they the got artwork signed by people who worked on Spooky Month.)

As you can see in this I also mention them reposting Vodka/Dammit_dude's artwork which they would do a lot on their community tab. Vodka/Dammit_dude being one of the artists I called out because he drew multiple images of Streber being s/a'd by Bob.(if someone mentions his apology im going to scream because "i wasn't thinking" isn't a valid excuse for drawing s/a at all especially when it was fully finished and shaded drawings)

Along with the fact they're 18 years old and simp for Ross who is around 13 or 14.

Their Instagram account also has a lot of traced artwork and even more reposts which I can no longer get screenshots of because they blocked me

Literally is on their community tab(I had to take a picture of my computer because I cant view the community tab on my device since its so old.)

I'm sick and tired of this fandom and reposting peoples artwork. This shouldn't be accepted and should be called out when nessacary. I get anxious about posting artwork and edits because people have even reposted some of mine without credit.

[bryhaven]

I'm planning to and I may deactivate both my Twitter and Tumblr accounts soon. Not sure if I'm going to keep my IG. But I will definitely remain on YouTube and DeviantArt, mainly for posting, no longer interacting. I've survived in my previous fandom with using just those two.

Due to personal reasons.

I am not posting this for attention or sympathy. This is just to inform you, particularly those I follow, that if ever you notice that you lost one follower, that is likely me being gone.

There have been lots of times that I wanted to quit, that I felt everything was too much, that I felt that I wasn't enough, that I felt like I'm not meeting the standards of creations already out there whether they be arts, edits, fics, videos, etc. I felt I wasn't connecting enough to those people I want to reach. I felt like my works are only good for likes, and not worthy of follows or follow backs. I felt insufficient when I couldn't post content similar to what others do such as merch and other fandom related stuff. Or when I couldn't post more personal and life related things like others do. I felt insecure and felt like some folks just interact with me because they have no choice, since most veterans in the fandom are still on hiatus.

Things happened, also in my personal life. And when my thread finally snapped, I unintentionally hurt someone dear to me.

This was kind of a wake up call, that maybe, there are some things that I may not really be cut out for. That maybe there are things that I shouldn't push for no matter how much I want to be part of it. That I really suck at communicating myself.

This corner of the fandom has been lovely, and it was good while it lasted. Not sure when I'll deactivate. But I will take this opportunity now to thank everyone who supported and encouraged me, appreciated me and my works, and saw the value of me being here. Even if I'm just a small content creator. It has been a pleasure meeting and being with all of you.

[zozo-01]

💕💕 self-love time! talk about which ones of YOUR creations (edits, artworks, fanfics) you like the most then send to other creators to do the same 💕💕

ahhhhhh, gingerrrr!!! thank you, thank you for this ask!!! i shall try to provide interesting commentary, but alas, w o r d s T-T

in honour of the quinn trilogyyy, why not bring back my quinn and darlin' fic??? well too bad, that's what we're talking about!!! You and Me, For Old Times Sake?

this fic was written shortly after sam's 2022 hbs video, where he mentions prepping skyside for the monarchal summit. as the fandom does, they all decided that quinn would crash it, and instead of rolling my eyes, i said, "wait, hold on. you're actually onto something." a conversation with @softredrobin and their gorgeous artwork later, boom!!! we got quinn and darlin' having their lovers to enemies moment.

of course, my version of quinn in this story is different than canon! quinn. for starters, my quinn genuinely loved darlin' at one point, all be it obsessively. he just wants them to be his and is willing to do everything to remind them who they belong too. he's only violent when darlin' challenges that notion of who "owns" them. we also don't know enough about canon! quinn to see if he loved darlin' or loved the idea of them.

anyone who knows about my darlin' characterization knows that i think of them as a bleeding heart. they hate quinn for what he's done to others, but they can't help but remember the good times once in a while. so when they dance with him, they can't help but try to see the good in him, in hopes that he's changed for the better. if they have to kill him, they will, but that doesn't mean they want to.

it also highlights darlin's habit of tanking (ha, see what i did there?) any kind of discomfort they may face. especially if it means protecting someone they love. "If they let his hands on their body, he won’t be close to Sam." in my mind, darlin' would do anything to have the attention on them and deal with those consequences alone, i.e. dancing with quinn so he doesn't focus on anyone else, until someone notices.

the hardest part of this fic was probably finding a balance between "darlin' reminiscing about the good times" and "darlin' still being in love with quinn". i think it really helped to start with darlin' hating quinn how they were thinking about all the ways they could kill him. (remember, this was back in july 2022 when none of us knew if the quinn plot would be brought back.) but again, darlin's a softie underneath the violence forced on them.

in terms of darlin' POV, me saying that they couldn't let go of quinn was more them wishing things they could have fixed their ending. i've mention that i write darlin's character as a south asian woman, meaning their outlook on life reflects on what south asian woman are taught.

one key and toxic idea that many of us are taught that it's our job to fix others issues. typical "elder daughter trauma" stuff. this includes blaming ourselves for toxic relationships and having things end badly. darlin' has spent countless nights combing through the last few days with quinn and wondering if they said something differently, it wouldn't be like this. of course, none of it was their fault, but at this time, they were pretty early in their healing era.

then we get to the end of the dance, where quinn zips off to do his own thing. (stalking darlin' even longer.) almost immediately, darlin runs back to see sam, which is kind of a growth moment for them. in the past, darlin' in these situations would have run off somewhere and self destruct on their own. but now, they have and can rely on sam being there for the. besides, i can't help but not bring back my favourite southern man, hehe.

the ending ending was a last minute decision to include. for most of this fic, we only see darlin's POV and feelings about quinn, but the final lines were kinda my way to give a lil insight on the other side. in my mind (at this time at least), quinn does love darlin', but is so wrapped up in creating his perfect world (one where they are by his side) that he's willing to hurt them to keep them obedient. he acknowledges he fucked up, but he doesn't care, he just wants them.

i was originally going to make a part two of this fic where we see quinn's POV, but alas, tis was never meant to beee.

as always, i always have to slip in darlin' with a city accent. <333 "‘I swear I’ve seen this man before. Fuck, he don’t look like he’s clan but still…’" honestly, writing city accents are the hardest thing because a) in terms of writing, it can easily be mistaken for a southern accent and b) writing a city accent out can seem awkward and stilted, these are phrases that are only said for a reason.

anywho, once againnn, thank you thank you for your ask ginger!!!!!

[drawnaghht]

OOOH!! 👀 *ZOOMS INTO THIS ARTICLE*

thank you for posting this and rambling more about it!! of course, it is more positive in a promotional sort of tone, but I love how long it is! I'm gonna be reading this again for weeks ^^ I also like how they mention how it's technically the 26th century for Usagi and his team, cuz I haven't seen that mentioned as much in either articles or fan posts! very awesome! ^^

longer reply under cut!

but ye, I agree that it's sorta strange that even this longer article messes up the names a bit occasionally but who knows, maybe they did have some insider info instead? In interviews for longer articles, I've noticed that sometimes very broad or specific info can get lost or changed up in the process of editing the article. I had done an interview for my own workplace (unrelated to fandom) and the interviewer actually mixed up a lot of topics and names from the original transcript, even though I had specifically linked to them ^^; So maybe something similar happened here? This focuses much more on the aspects of the comic which bring through japanese culture, which makes sense considering the magazine this is. I do like that they say how the series does well by the culture itself, taking the Edo period and imagining a futuristic japan from that and modern influences. I'm glad to read that because I've heard and read videos/articles which confidently state the reverse, without really delving into what Stan himself has said about the series or what went into producing it (so youtube reviewers for example, I won't get into it). So it's just cool to see a magazine article meant for the pacific islander readers actually get that aspect of the show. Like, with the previous interviews I've seen, I really feel like the show was also meant for viewers like these, both the japanese diaspora in the US and other asians who can appreciate the research effort put in (and going off on a tangent a bit, but altogether for me it left a feeling that the show had a very 70s aesthetic for some of its world design, but it also felt very unique in its attempt to depict a different futuristic japan, with more research behind it). Lol maybe I am thinking too much of it, but I think it's just nice to see someone write otherwise respectfully of the series and taking it just as-is (a cartoon for kids with Stan Sakai and crew putting japanese culture at the front).

With the names, there's also a distinct possibility that the author who wrote it was so much more focused on how "Usagi Yojimbo" is based on Miyamoto Musashi in large parts, so, because the "samurai trilogy" are such well-known films among japanese-americans, in their excitement the writer simply forgot x3 But also, the article gets so specific about a few other topics, this and the other name-mix-ups (I kinda feel like that's what some of those Usagi Yojimbos maybe were?) feel a bit surprising, as if they were nervous to write about it?

one of my favourite parts:

I am also honestly curious how the cartoon did among japanese audiences since I know the comic isn't that well-known there either. I'm surprised that they say it's only subtitled, because since I started watching the series in August, I've seen it in the japanese dub as well. It's quite good and has interesting translations for some of the lines depending on context.

One thing I'd like to point out though, is how the article is from july 2022. that means it was talking about season one, with season 2 airing in september. It could have also been written before the series aired in April the same year, but then, why mention the series having aired in april, or 10 more episodes at all? This begs the question though - the last paragraphs mention that the "next 10 episodes" [after season 1] are in post-production and will air later in 2022 or the next year. But that also that "after that" "we have something "big, really big plans." I wonder what this is actually hinting at? Could it be the now out-since-last-week new TMNT crossover? Or could it even be the Kagemusha anthology comics idea Stan mentioned in the CBCC podcast interview? (the one about having a team of creators all do tackling different, almost "otherworlds" Usagi stories) ...A very small part of me is hoping it's some sort of announcement on a season 3 for the Samurai Rabbit series 😂 or maybe even like, something related to that but more surprising?

Thanks again for sharing this, it was a really insightful read!

oooh, @freakova, I am curious now what interview this is? might just be that I've already read it and forgot, but I am curious to read it :D

Thank you for the compliments on my post, I'm glad it was helpful! lol I am just now having more time to reply to replies and comments, so I hope you don't mind this reply so late, 3 days later.

Now this has got me thinking that probably why they didn't go wiht Miyamoto Yuichi is because ye, it's to make him recognizable as Usagi - but also Miyamoto Yuichi seems to be a really common name combination in real life, so maybe they wanted to avoid making google searches confusing heheh xP (this is something I try to avoid with my own OCs and original stories for example haha)

[cookinguptales]

I’m so glad we will officially get the new episode tonight. The week between episode 6 & 7 was no fun at all. Usually I looove seeing all the fanart and reading all the different thoughts in between episodes. But this time I tried to stay away from everything in fear of getting spoiled. ☹️ Stupid leak.

Yeah. And the fact that we may or may not have had a leak of parts of 9&10 makes you worried to look anywhere. I wish I at least knew if there was a real leak or not so I'd know how careful to be.

It's so bizarre. I've never been in a fandom where the leaks were this bad. I've never experienced anything like it. It makes me feel so bad for the creators. I don't think a lot of people understand how psychologically taxing it is when your work leaks. Some of that is because it can materially affect your career... Like even if someone is gonna watch/rewatch later, those same-day numbers are crucial. If even one person puts off watching the official release for a day or two because there's less urgency, that's starting to fuck up numbers.

I mean, I work in publishing, not tv, but I've seen authors get royally screwed because their book release was fucked up. Leaks or booksellers putting it on the shelf too early or people from one country buying it from another country with a different release date... Often the consumption numbers are monitored during a very specific period and if superfans are obtaining the media outside of that period, it won't be counted. (See: tv ratings, first-day streaming numbers, social media engagement numbers during premieres, presales, bestseller lists, etc.) And then if those numbers aren't reflecting the reality of how much is being consumed, it doesn't really matter. Those are still the numbers that are going to be used for negotiating contracts in the future.

Plus, like... it's just emotionally taxing to see your work leaked. Maybe only part of it leaked and it makes your work look bad and you can't adequately defend it without spoiling everything or breaking an NDA. Maybe it's leaked in a form that isn't so great (like a low quality video, an unedited draft, etc.) and you hate that this will be people's crucial first impression. But really, the worst part is no longer knowing who to trust. I know a fairly big-time author who had a trusted friend read over one of her books to edit it... then found out her friend had passed that unedited draft around to a bunch of her friends. She realized that her friend didn't respect her or her livelihood and mostly just wanted bragging rights. Now she's extremely wary about making new friends or asking for help with her manuscripts, and it's honestly really sad.

I imagine it'd be even worse if you're working on a production with so many moving parts. Do you trust your fellow actors? Fellow writers? The editors? The people working in your office? The friends who come in your house? I can't imagine the kind of tension you'd be working under when you know that leaks just keep getting out and you don't know where they're coming from. : /

And then, y'know, people are like "well, if I watch it same-day as well, that's not hurting anything, right?" but people wouldn't post leaks if other people didn't watch them, and creating demand for that kind of thing is... bad.

Like I don't like leaks from a spoiler standpoint, sure, but you start to gain a greater appreciation for how bad a leak can be when you're comforting an author crying at their kitchen table because their book release got fucked and they have contract negotiations this year...

tbh, I don't understand the mentality behind leaks at all. I have access to a lot of media often years before it comes out (between my editing work and also the paid tv/movie focus groups I often do) and I can't imagine leaking it. I guard the privacy of my clients pretty zealously. No saving unpublished manuscripts to the cloud, no offering identifying info while I'm working, etc. It's actually something I find kind of stressful, the idea that I could accidentally ruin someone else's livelihood if I'm not careful enough... The idea of doing it on purpose or through carelessness makes me cringe...

And then if I did do something by accident, like those WWDITS auditions saved with the wrong privacy settings, the idea of people finding that fuck-up and passing it around instead of letting me know so I could take it down... Like damn, when I think about the people who may never work in this industry again because people just wanted to find info on their favorite show faster... Genuinely kind of upsetting.

That said, the constant leaks, the way that no one secured the usernames for characters used onscreen (which allowed for the Colin's YT hoax), etc. have me like. Bro, who is in charge here? Y'all have a fandom now and you're still acting like a baby show on your first season. They really probably need to hire someone for this.

[vyeoh]

this is your chance: wax poetic about an Empires or DSMP character of your choice to a fan who is new to both. Explain why I should love them. I need guidance in this new and meme-populated land.

okok this is a lot of pressure haha. Spoilers for EmpiresSMP and DreamSMP below, obviously. I wrote a lot so prepare yourself, anon

I watch a lot of empires POVs but the ones I most anticipate every week are Scott and Sausage.

c!Scott (I'll call him Smajor for the sake of simplicity) starts off the series chilling, not really getting involved with the rest of the server, and staying aggressively neutral. After all, he's an elf. He has lived far longer than most of the other rulers already, and will most likely outlive them for many years. So, the best thing is to stick to his mountains and not get invested in the dealings of mortal affairs, maybe sometimes causing problems on purpose and dipping because what's life without a little spice right.

But then, this demon comes to the server, Xornoth. He's going around causing havoc and wants to send the world into an eternal winter, but he doesn't bother the kingdom of Rivendell much so Smajor stays tentatively cautious but ultimately unbothered. But then, the puzzle pieces start falling together. The first thing that the audience noticed was was Xornoth sounded like Smajor, but we mostly thought that this was just due to cc!Scott voicing both of them and there was nothing more to it. However, then, the people the demon starts possessing start chanting in elvish. The demon hates mortals, and the elves are conveniently one of the two confirmed not fully mortal races in Empires.

This culminates when Smajor stumbles across a cave that contains the backstory of the patron god of Rivendell, Aeor. Basically, there's two opposing forces, Aeor and Exor, and both have a champion. In a previous life, those champions were two brothers, where Aeor eventually prevailed and banished Exor. In this life though, the champions are - you guessed it - Smajor, and the demon Xornoth.

So now Smajor is like. Well fuck. It's my literal god-given destiny to be responsible for defeating this demon who is technically my brother, and if I fail the server gets plunged into an eternal winter. And I have no fucking clue what is happening because I've just been here on this mountain actively trying to stay out of the issues outside my kingdom. We watch him panic and teeter on the verge of spiraling for an entire episode, and when the followers of Xornoth go to the End to kill the dragon, releasing Xornoth's full powers, he fails to stop him. Smajor is a character who was used to being the smart one, the prepared one, the one who has the least deaths on the server. But he's also a character who runs away from his problems and ignores them. Before and during the dragon fight, we hear the desperation in his voice, as he's thrown into a situation he is wholly unprepared for, and it's bigger than him going to the Cod Empire to kill their king, or assisting in other people's plans to kill the codfather. He can't run from this. cc!Scott plays this scene so well as well, as I've said before, one of the best parts of Scott's acting is how he's never super dramatic, but he's so effective in the little things like inflection to make you feel, viscerally, the panic and dread.

So after the dragon fight, Smajor realizes, I can't do this on my own. I've tried and failed. So he gets allies. We watch him, someone who has so strongly been an isolationist, learn the benefits of allies and watch him learn to trust others and watch him learn how to get that trust in return.

My favorite thing about Smajor's characterization is that he's an incompetent protagonist, but not in the way of the "plucky young adventurer". He's capable skill-wise, and fairly jaded and very pessimistic. However, his issue is that up until recently, he did not care about the rest of the server at all, and by the time he learned to, it was way too late.

Also, in 3rd Life, cc!Scott and cc!Jimmy were canonically married and they reference it sometimes in Empires. Like, Scott goes over to the Cod Empire every so often both in and out of character to kill and/or flirt with Jimmy, the ruler of the Cod Empire, which may develop as a secondary plot into the future who knows. So ty Scott for giving the gays what they want o7

Now onto Sausage: his is a story of Icarus, his hubris and ambition being his downfall. He's one of the two followers of Xornoth, who promised him endless power in exchange for his servitude. He started the series being eccentric, but not outright unhinged, but slowly gets more and more extreme as the series progresses, as he gets brought more and more to Xornoth's side.

One of the best parts of Sausage's character, in my opinion, is how his gradual corruption affects the people around him. Initially, he got into a conflict with the Cod Empire and was allied with two other people in the Witherrose alliance. They were allies, but also close friends. The fandom liked to joke that the three had sibling energy, and I'm pretty sure the ccs played to that even more lol.

It was painful to watch the other two members, Gem and fWhip, watch Sausage get corrupted right in front of them, and see them desperately clinging on to this old idea of Sausage in their head because if they faced the truth, it would mean that their friend was gone. Eventually, they do finally cut him out of the alliance, leading him to fully commit to the side of the demon. Sausage felt very clearly betrayed by this, and declared the remaining two Witherrose alliance members to be enemies.

He gets more and more possessed, and we even see the other Empires, his enemies even, slowly realize that something is very wrong with the ruler of Mythland. He starts doing more and more evil things, like killing people more, making sacrifices to the demon, and eventually helping to kill the dragon to free Xornoth. So things are good for Sausage, for a bit. He won, and is more powerful than ever. Then he finds out: he's going to die. Xornoth's possession is slowly killing his soul, and eventually, his body going to be fully taken over and he himself is going to be trapped in the spirit realm. So how do you react to this? Over the next few episodes, we watch Sausage struggle between "the demon is literally killing me" and "the demon has given me so much, and I love it", all while Xornoth takes over more and more of him. We hear him exclaim that "don't worry!! I'm still about 15% there!" while trying to downplay every time Xornoth completely takes over his body. We watch him willingly oppose anyone who is trying to end the thing that is killing him.

My favorite thing about Sausage is that he is undoubtedly evil and proud of it, but he's also undoubtedly human. If you like to watch evil characters go absolutely feral, he's the guy for you. He makes the deal with Xornoth in the beginning, knowing and fully embracing the evilness of the demon, but at the same time he knows what he's doing is detrimental to both himself and everyone around him, but he's gotten in way too deep at this point, and to be fair the demon has held up its end fo the bargain, right?

Also, I would be damned if I don't talk about cc!Sausage's editing. Every one of his videos is like a movie. The way he does camera angles and uses music is so skillful- every lore scene feels like something out of a high fantasy action saga (think: LotR). Every big lore event I always wait in anticipation for Sausage's ep because his editing truly takes lore to another level.

I'm just generally very excited to see where this series goes. Empires is such a good mix of talented builders and good lore. Part of the reason why the series is so immersive for me, beyond any other lore smp, is that they have the settings to back it up. There is a certain charm to the DreamSMP's objectively terrible builds (with a few exceptions) but in Empires, the settings help sell the plot so much.

Another part of why I love EmpiresSMP is how much the ccs are involved with the fan community. I'm sure you've seen the memes about Scott being on tumblr, and Sausage regularly goes through the EmpiresSMP fanart tag on Twitter and likes art, even ones not related to Mythland. Most of the ccs, in fact, have brought up tumblr content on stream at some point or another. Like, several ccs have said that they read tumblr lore theories and hcs and stuff and sometimes take inspiration from them. Fun fact: Rivendell's church was inspired by my pinned drawing; confirmed by Scott Smajor himself. It's just such a good cycle of ccs and fans being excited about each other.

As for DreamSMP, I'm gonna be honest here, the only person I really am invested in in Technoblade. I started watching when he joined the server, and he's the only person whose lore I keep up to date with.

Techno's fun to watch because he's like the Deadpool of DreamSMP. Virtually unkillable, very skilled and scary, but consistently cracks jokes and breaks the 4th wall during plot. His POV is just fun. Like, he does wild plans and gives speeches and some of the stuff that happens to him should be called deus ex machine if it wasn't for the fact that Technoblade is the one who's doing it, and all the stuff is grounded in the fact that cc!Techno is just that good at the game.

However, the fact that he rarely takes anything seriously makes the few times Techno is 100% serious so much more impactful. His whole character has a basis in being perceived as inhuman and being treated as such, and therefore in return trying to hide his humanity. So, when he shows that humanity, whether that's fear, anger, or genuine love for his friends, it really makes you go "oh shit."

Techno's often said not to have character development, but I'd argue that while he remains steadfast in his moral code, he develops leaps and bounds as a person. Like, at the beginning, he's brought onto the server to help Wilbur and Tommy overthrow a government; them knowing he's 1) an anarchist and 2) very very powerful. His character was more of a plot device at that point and was treated as such in the canon. Wilbur and Tommy straight-up lie to him about their plans to establish another government after they overthrow the current one, while he was led on to believe that they were abolishing all governments in the area. But he isn't a plot device. He's a person, as much as he only shows the terrifying, blood god side of himself.

After the establishment of New Lmanburg (the new government its a long story), his friend Phil joins. And for the first time, we see him be fully human with someone and we see someone treat him like a human. Like, we saw glimpses before, with Wilbur and Tommy in Pogtopia, but Phil is the first person we noticeably see he trusts 100%. Then Doomsday happens, and Techno essentially retires to the tundra. During this time, we see Techno learn to be more human, first with Ranboo, then Niki when he establishes the Syndicate. In fact, the two of them, along with Phil, canonically throw him a birthday party, which is a far cry from his treatment in Pogtopia.

Techno's development is one of a god learning to be human, and I just think he <3

[jlf23tumble]

howard asking fans about their sexual fantasies with harry was…not cool though. the conveyor belt thing was way off too and the way he kept playing the getting yourself wet line over and over..…i don’t think sex talk is the problem, it’s just how invasive and obnoxious he is you know what i mean? but i’ll say, i think harry came prepared definitely and he dealt with everything wonderfully. there were a bunch really interesting bits that i enjoyed a lot, just like the last one. i just don’t like howard stern and imo thats not childish or unwarranted, he’s just always made me extremely uncomfortable.

If you don't like Howard, that's cool, I get it--no worries! But then that probably means you didn't listen to it, you just read some outraged edited quotes from someone else, which also means you missed a LOT (if not all) of the context, which is on par for the One Direction fandom course. I just listened to the rest of the show because the sexual fantasy part you referenced in your ask isn't even in the interview, it's something that was part of multiple calls that happened before Harry showed up (it was actually a fairly funny juxtaposition with the other calls that was very telling in its own way). The getting yourself wet line was actually written by Harry Styles, not Howard Stern (who didn't, in fact, play that line "over and over," he played it in the background of a longer convo where he said this song was speakin' his language, and if he (Howard) had the power to write that kind of music for his wife, he'd never stop doing it. (I missed the conveyer belt part entirely, and I'll look for it in the video version, but I doubt it's gonna enrage me). This is Harry's second time on this show, and he was game for everything that happened during it--he's a rich, nearly 30YO celeb who knows the score, and the score in this case is a Howard Stern interview. I get that he's not everyone's cup of tea, but that's okay? There's a very strange need for a significant chunk of Harry's fandom to only see interactions they approve of and to mischaracterize the ones they don't--makes no cents to me, especially when this was nowhere near as invasive or obnoxious as it could have been (in fact, you could argue so many recent ones that were far worse, but they don't have the stern stigma).

[tradgothcowboy]

Issues With Carry On/Eleanor & Park

[EDIT: upon rereading this, I’ve edited it due to grammar mistakes and phrasing. I don’t think these edits will be included in people’s reblogs, however, so keep that in mind!]

So, I’ve been a fan of Carry On for about 3 years now. These books and characters have changed my life immensely and I’m forever grateful for that. However, we, as a fandom, can’t ignore Rainbow Rowell’s harmful behaviour and portrayals of specific marginalised groups. She hasn’t acknowledged nor apologised for these things and, as a result, I’ve lost respect for her as a writer.

Before I start, I’d like to emphasise that you should be listening to the opinions of BIPOC on most of the points discussed below. I’m white, so my views don’t matter compared to theirs. I’ve linked many articles and videos below, almost all of which were created by BIPOC, sharing their opinions on the subject of Eleanor & Park. This isn’t meant to speak above BIPOC, rather share the issues in these books and bring more attention to them.

Problems with Carry On:

Baz is Egyptian yet portrayed as extremely pale. I understand that vampires are often depicted as pale and “dead-looking”. This is fiction, though. Vampires don’t exist. There aren’t any rules of what vampires should look like. Therefore, they could have any skin colour and Rainbow Rowell chose to make Baz look white. On both book covers for Carry On and Wayward Son, his skin is paler than Simon’s! This is whitewashing.

UPDATE: I no longer agree with the original point about Simon. This part will remain on reblogs but I have removed it from this original version. This post was made a very long time ago, and I have since corrected myself. While I personally felt weird about Rowell’s hesitation to label Simon, as someone who is bisexual, I realise that Simon’s lack of labelling can be representative of people who don’t want a label or haven’t figured themselves out yet. My feelings do not matter compared to the bigger picture. That being said, my points about Rowell’s racism still stand and if anything is wrong, please correct me. Thank you.

Problems with Eleanor & Park:

Eleanor & Park is an extremely racist book. Park’s character (who is Korean) is fetishised and his brother is portrayed as more attractive than Park because he “looks more white”. Eleanor says something racist about Park’s eyes, which is provided below. Rainbow was called out for this racism (rightfully so), turned off the comments on her instagram and simply ignored everyone until people stopped talking about it. Now they’re making a movie adaptation. Here are some specific quotes:

“Park’s eyes got wide. Well, sort of wide. Sometimes she wondered if the shape of his eyes affected how he saw things.”

“Only Park’s DNA had missed the memo. Maybe the Korean genes scrambled everything. That didn’t explain Josh’s hugeness though. Josh looked like the Korean genes had skipped him altogether. His hair was brown and his eyes were just barely almondy — almond-flavoured.”

Park’s mother is also referred to as dainty, being described as “doll-like”. This perpetuates the stereotype that Asian women are submissive and weak, almost child-like, whilst fetishising them and reducing them to their appearance. This is also comparing Park’s mother to an inanimate object.

Furthermore, the only Black characters in Eleanor & Park are stereotypical and far from positive representation. They are two teenage girls who are portrayed as aggressive and sassy. These are really harmful stereotypes of Black women which need to be addressed but, of course, Rainbow hasn’t done that. Moreover, the girls’ dialogue was heavily written with AAVE. There is nothing inherently wrong with Black characters using AAVE, but it was used heavily and further contributed to the stereotypes of Black people.

Subjects like these in books must be challenged. In Eleanor & Park, no one defies Eleanor’s fetishisation of Asian people. It’s accepted.

If I’ve missed anything out or made a mistake somewhere, please let me know so I can edit this! It’s important for me to get this right, as these are sensitive subjects, most of which I haven’t experienced. If something IS inaccurate, please know that it was an accident and correct me immediately. Thank you!

Links

Ellen Oh’s statement on Eleanor & Park: https://elloellenoh.tumblr.com/post/83411304305/whats-your-opinion-on-eleanor-park

Ellen Oh’s Twitter thread on the depiction of Asian stereotypes within literature (of which Eleanor & Park is included): https://mobile.twitter.com/ElloEllenOh/status/1378728312051273732

An article explaining some problematic aspects of the book, with tweets: https://bookstacked.com/book-to-film/eleanor-and-park-racist-movie/

A review by parkourdeer, an Asian-American on LiveJournal, explaining their thoughts on the novel: https://nyoomimnida.livejournal.com/683.html

Read With Sarah’s review of Eleanor & Park: https://youtu.be/Q8KHxuu5nqA

Nish B discussing Eleanor & Park and how white authors write POC: https://youtu.be/UvO4RQjef78

[tamabbyboi]

All is Fair in Love and War

Chapter 5- He's like a giant angry puppy

series masterlist

main masterlist

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Don't forget to read the fun facts at the bottom!

Taglist form or you can send me an ask or pm!

A/N: I like this chapter a lot solely because of the conversation between y/n and Bakugou I have been waiting to write that this whole time lmao it was one of the first ideas for this smau that I had. Also sorry that this took a little longer than usual, ADHD brain go brr. Also I made a lot of edits to the masterlist post cause I kinda hated the banner for it before and now it's colorful! N e wayz as always I really hope that you enjoy this chapter!

Series Summary: l/n y/n is a variety youtuber and streamer who makes all kinds of content ranging from makeup tutorials to baking videos to commentary. They are a part of the wildly popular streamer house/squad UA. What happens when UA merges with their long-time friends the Bakusquad and gains 6 new members? What happens when a certain angry pomeranian is roomed next to someone with no concept of self preservation who finds joy in provoking said angry pomeranian? Love, probably.

Warnings: cursing

Fun Facts:

The memes used in the conversation between y/n and Bakugou are recycled from when I made them to annoy my friends and actually spoke to them only using those memes for a full 24 hours, if you ever wonder where I get the ideas for this shit it's from me being just as annoying in real life

When Bakugou read the texts saying to ask out and kiss y/n he was blushing like a mad man

Bakugou secretly likes being annoyed by y/n, he secretly likes the attention

Most people in the house are trying to avoid this situation as much as possible, not wanting to be involved with anything that could set off Bakugou

I am about to make a few posts with all the reaction memes I've used so far so that y'all can download them. I've only seen a few people do this with their smau's and as a reaction meme collector I wish more did. They'll be linked in the masterlist

Also please ignore the like, retweet, and comment counts they aren't important I kinda just keyboard smashed to get them, dates aren't important either

Download reaction memes used in this chapter here and the 80s memes here

Taglist: @random-ass-shit-reblogged @fucktheworlddude @zyxys1 @tati-the-fangirl @insomniacwreck @sorrowfulfragmentation @the-fandoms-georgie @daydaydayz @lunamoonbby @captaincyberqueen @tanakasprayer

[twopoppies]

What’s it like when a mutual or someone who was a huge part of the fandom becomes an anti? Is it awkward? Is it a sudden moment of realization where you stop giving them the benefit of the doubt or smth expected, like there were several signs and you saw it coming? I don’t mean to be annoying, it’s just bc I heard that an infamous anti was once one of us, and it was really weird, like what?? I’m not sure if I’d be sad, or a bit resentful, perhaps “wtf, you’re not making any sense, love” and if I’m not abusing your kindness, what was it like in the old days compared to nowadays?

Well, if you’re talking about E*mie, she went from being a big part of fandom and making tons of proof posts and timelines proving Larry, to many people recognizing that she was a bully and unfollowing/blocking her, to being pretty obvious that she only cared about Harry and was obsessed with him. Then one day she made a long-winded statement about how she was renouncing her ways and being a Larrie was bad and she deleted everything on her blog that had to do with Louis and Larry. Now she’s a solo harrie.

If you’re talking about S*a, she went from being a big part of fandom and making tons of song analysis posts and absolutely adoring Harry and being certain about Larry, to saying that maybe they’d broken up but still respected and loved each other, to they definitely broke up but still cared about each other, to Harry has been orchestrating his takeover of the music industry since 2013 and is the evil overseer of Louis’ suffering and she deleted everything from her blog pertaining to Harry and Larry. Now she’s a rad louie.

Really, just two sides of the same coin. There’s generally a pattern if you pay attention.

But there are also people who just decide that they’re more interested in one or the other of them, or think they broke up and just become solo stans. It’s sad sometimes, because they were nice to have as mutuals or just because I liked the content they created around Larry, but if you’re not being a dick about Harry or Louis (or Larries), then that’s just the way it goes. No big deal. I still have mutuals who no longer are Larries. But they’re still nice people. Not every former Larrie is an “ex-larrie”.

As for what was it like in “the old days”, I’m assuming you mean in the fandom in general? When the band was active, it was amazing. So much constant content and so much inspiration so there was great art and manips and edits and gifs and videos (RIP FIMQ) and fics all the time. Fandom was united and powerful. There were antis and neutrals, but most of the time we didn’t care much about them because the Larrie fandom was constantly fed. The rainbow bears lit us on fire, concerts were like an online party. We had things like project no control and rainbow direction. It was a lot of fun.

On the negative end, there were definitely cliques who did a lot of gatekeeping, and tons of indirecting posts if someone didn’t ascribe to the current accepted head canon. And always there was homophobia from antis. And there was bullying (a lot of the main nasty people are gone, but there are still a few around). Zayn leaving, babygate, and hiatus were the nails in the coffin. Prior to that, maybe I wasn’t aware of it because I was a new fan, but overall things just seemed fun.

[fa-by]

Hi babies and dear Anons 👋🏼🤗 Back with a new 'Q&A' post. Enjoy 🙃

Hello to you too, dear Anon 👋🏼😄 and yes, I did. You can find it here, dear: https://fa-by.tumblr.com/post/648192029691691008/camren-timeline-tittle-edited.

Yes, I heard about that rumor, dear Anon, and veeery false.

I knoooow 😍😍😍 Let's cry in joy and queerness 🥺😭🌈🏳‍🌈

Yep, dear Anon. And unfortunately for us, they will continue to do so for a veeeery long time 😒🙄😔

No, dear Anon, I highly doubt it's another duet. They'd be really, but really stupid if they do 🤦🏻‍♀‍

No, dear Anon, these are just people who want attention. People who have problems in their lives and talk shit about others to feel better. This is just the work of those people who believe in black magic and want to involve as many people as possible to think like them, and if they fail, they attack you because you didn't agree with them and you didn't go to their side. They can get so desperate they even get to the point of, oh I don't know, since you've blocked them, sending an anonymous ask to your girlfriend with a death wish for you:

The funny thing for me besides thinking that maybe this person believes they're a witch and imagining them with a voodoo doll with a needle in my stomach, is that I was kind to them the first time 🤷🏻‍♀‍ I tried to make them reason, I really tried to meet them halfway, but sometimes that's not enough with people like that.

But anyway. My point is that no, management has nothing to do with it. Thank you for your ask, dear 🤗

It's okay, dear Anon, don't worry 😄 In last time’s ask you wanted my opinion on the song, right? Well, Not Killin' It Today simply talks about how not every day is a good day. It can happen to all of us not to feel 100%, and Mila says just that. For us girls it can happen even more during or just before the red sea period, if you know what I mean, and indeed, she herself sings “I'm PMSing” = PMS: premenstrual syndrome. If that's why, I think she wrote this song precisely around that period 🤣

Hello to you too, dear Anon 👋🏼😄 Don't worry, dear, I can understand you, and if I hadn't, we would have found a way to do it. English is not my first language either.

1) Yes, I do think that.

2) (I knew all this) I know she did; she's been doing it for years if that's why because Taylor is one of Camila's mentors. Taylor is what can be defined as the celebrity master with PRs. She’s always done what she was asked to do and she’s always fulfilled her PRs duties of her contracts, and indeed, look where she is now, as well as being a great songwriter. So yeah, who better than her?

Hope you're great too, dear 🤗

Hello to you too, dear Anon 👋🏼😄 I'm sorry I'm bad with general questions like this 😅 I'm so much better when I'm asked a more specific question, and usually, when I have something in mind, I write it and create a post with my opinion about it. I'm not kidding about how bad I am at this, believe me. It’s the same thing as when I get the typical “tell me something about yourself” phrase. It's like my brain suddenly switches off 😅🤣 Can you take a look at all my posts from my archive to see which ones I’ve already responded to and maybe come back with a question? I'm really sorry, dear 😖🥺

I'm sorry but Camila can't stop anything, dear Anon. Not Camila, not Roger, and not even Shoo. I understand your frustration, believe me, I do, but you, and anyone else to which this is still not clear, need to understand that it's a contract. A contract called a relationship contract, and it's a legally binding document. I know it's hard, but the advice I can give you is to ignore the 12-year-old SS and their fantasies, and wait for it to finish without wasting your energy on the bullshit they say. Don't let them get to you and unleash your anger. You make them win this way. Rather, have a laugh at their ignorance.

Hey dear Anon, I'm good, thanks, and I hope you're doing well too 😊 They broke up for a little while, for about a month before, so more than a breakup I would call it a little break. And to answer the rest of your questions, dear, I'll sum it all up by telling you that when they're not together, or they're on a break, they have a different way of acting than when they're together. And I speak in general. It shows in the way they behave in general. Now it's much harder to see since they're no longer in the group and you could clearly see when it happened, and it’s also hard since the pandemic, but there are patterns. I’ve spent so much time analyzing them that they're quite predictable in my eyes 🤣 Forgive me if I'm not going into details, but these are personal observations that not everyone can agree on, you know? Maybe I'll do it in the future, who knows 🤷🏻‍♀‍ We'll see 😉 Have a good day/night too 😄

Hello to you too, dear Anon 👋🏼 and thank you very much 😄 and yes, of course. To answer the rest of your questions, I'll summarize everything by telling you that you have to take into account that I entered the fandom at the Work from Home's time, so they were all just rumors to me initially. Camren themselves were just a rumor to me. I had to search, analyze, and find the proofs on my own to prove to myself which ones were true or not. The first example that comes to mind and that I can give you is the kiss in the van in London that I recently explained in my ‘Inauguration’ post.

I'm sorry you think this way, dear Anon. I honestly think she doesn't even know. She has said many times that she tries to stay away from social media, and I really believe that. She did it before already, but I'm convinced that she does that even more since she was going through that bad time and she was about to give it all up. Besides, it's known that she doesn't manage her accounts, just as it's known that she doesn't even control how they’re used I would say 90% of the time. I don't know if she'll find out and eventually will say something about it. We don't even know if she has the freedom to do so. So, I'm really sorry you're making a decision based on something she didn't do.

Hey to you too, dear Anon 😄 Yeah, it's nothing new. I'd already debunked the whole Laucy story with my very first post (https://fa-by.tumblr.com/post/648191757219250176/there-is-a-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel), so as far as I'm concerned, she can say what she wants in future podcasts/interviews as well, but she'll never be able to convince me that she's not actually talking about Camila. This was simply a much more chill, fun, with no tears, and no mention of Camila repetition. The first podcast served to plant the seed. We know that Lucy is her main narrative and we know that she will continue to use her for a very long time. I mean, it’s convenient for her. It's the perfect cover for our Mila. But if people want to keep believing they (Laucy) were real, that's honestly their problem 🤣 Let them be convinced of their beliefs, dear, and have a laugh 😉

Hello to you too, dear Anon 👋🏼😄 Here's the thing……… Yes, to everything you said 🤣 but let me explain why.

1&2) Yes, Laur is like ‘part’ of their contract but for simple narrative, as you yourself said too. If that's why, so are 5H and all the rest of the people who are or have been involved with them. I'll give you an example. You know the bullshit they said about the Austin Mahone tour? That Sunsilk was always isolated in his bus playing guitar? That no one spoke to him outside of Camila when there are actually plenty of videos showing him spending time with the rest of 5H and the other people on the tour too? Certainly none of those people can call him out on that bullshit today and say it wasn't true. They'd blow his cover. They'd make him not credible in the general public's eyes. So everyone needs to be quiet for what they know (that's how it works in that world for every damn thing), and that's Lauren's involvement in their PR. Be quiet. Be quiet and go along with the game. Just as Camila had to during hers with Tymbal.

3) They have to, dear, or all the farces told so far would go to shit for the GP too. 4) 100%, dear Anon, 100% 😏😉 but it must also be said that they'll remain connected forever anyway because of the group.

Hello to you too, dear Anon 👋🏼😄 Welcome and thank you very much 🤗

1) Everything she's been doing lately leads us to think that the first single for the EP will arrive shortly. I think and hope it will arrive for the summer, but as far as the actual EP is concerned, it will depend on the release of the single. So if the single is out this summer, it's very likely that the EP will follow its course by arriving towards the beginning of autumn. We'll see, dear, we'll see 🤞🏼 🤞🏼 🤞🏼

2) I know that many people get upset and that they're disappointed, and while I too would like her to interact with us more, I also know and understand that it's not just up to her. Although she's much but much freer than before, she still has contracts, people, and patterns to follow.

Take it from someone who's waiting for Rihanna's new album for 5 years 😅🤣 It takes patience, and I have a lot of patience, dear. I fall into the category of those who don't mind waiting simply because I'll always support Lauren.

People forget this: we have to consider ourselves lucky that after what she went through, she decided to pursue with music.

If you love her, if you stan her, then be patient. Stay metaphorically speaking by her side no matter what. That’s what I think, dear Anon.

Do you mean the first breakup they had that lasted from late November 2014 to late December/very first days of January 2015, or do you mean the bad one that took place in October 2015? But in any case, both of your questions rejoin only one event, dear Anon: the real breakup of the group that happened in mid-October 2015. But answering you more specifically:

1) You can see with your own eyes the videos of the interviews of that period by starting with this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WqOb9qBQ_M&t=11s.

2) Camila’s unofficial departure from the group at the time was the icing on the cake, but you have to consider a lot of things, dear. The fact that they were young. The fact that they were in the spotlight and were being monitored by both fans and management. The fact that they had those same people controlling them and telling them what to do all the time. The fact that they were constantly under pressure. The fact that they couldn't be together freely as a couple. The fact that they were forced to pretend they didn't love each other. The fact that they were forced to do PRs, despite being much lighter than now. I could go on with the list, dear Anon, but I think you get the point. It's a lot of stress and a lot to digest, especially considering how young they were and the environment around them.

Have a nice day too, dear 😄

Of course I can answer you, dear Anon 😊 So, in my opinion, and always keep in mind that I could be wrong, she told every person in her clique at different times. I think Mila knew about her attraction to girls back in school, but she didn't say anything to anyone because she didn't have a reason to. In the sense that she hasn't had the opportunity to approach another girl and therefore have a reason to tell someone about her queerness. After her first kiss with Lauren on New Year's Eve, I'm willing to bet that the first person she came out to was her mom. Camila's number one best friend is and always has been Sinu, so I can feel it in my bones that she was the first one to know. Oh and, we're in early 2013 here, so Mila was still 15.

After Sinu, there were the girls (DNA) who obviously lived their story with them step by step and therefore I don't think it was a real coming out with them, and her best friends back at home, Sandra and Marielle Guzman (and maybe also Mariana Luna since she was the other one with whom she was very close immediately after the two sisters, but I'm not very convinced of it), and Jenny Runza, who despite being a little younger than Sinu, Mila has always regarded as one of her best friends.

In 2014, when Camren were official, there were more confirmations that led to her automatic coming out with the rest of her clique's friends since the word Camren had already spread around like wildfire for almost two years by then.

At the beginning of 2015, it was the moment when Laur came out to her family, so I strongly believe that that was also Alejandro's moment, although I'm convinced that like the Jaureguis, Ale knew about his daughter all along and that he was even more convinced at X-Factor. Sofi was last on the list simply for a matter of age and I'm talking about 2017. I can't tell you when she told her grandpas. I don't even know if she could have told Norberto because I don't know the kind of relationship she has with him, but Mercedes? Well, abuelita certainly knew this before 2018 because I laugh when I think about the way she looked and talked with Mattress during their PR.

It's not that simple, dear Anon. You're not considering the fact that they didn't communicate during that time. You're dwelling on only one thing and are not looking at the big picture of their relationship at the time. Okay. Let's do something. Picture a scenario that has nothing to do with Camren.

Picture a couple living together. A couple who often quarrel over even the most trivial things or who don't talk at all because they almost avoid each other. Their relationship is very unstable and they're basically at the end of it. Now picture a conversation between this couple in which the only exchanges spoken in a normal way are by then just daily information such as: “I'll be at work from 8 to 4” - “Okay. Will you come home right after?” - “Yeah, I think so” - and then that person comes home at 6 pm despite the worried calls and messages received.

They're so distant that the person who came home late didn't feel compelled to pick up the phone and tell them about the delay. Probably that person didn't even feel compelled to give an explanation and justify the delay once they got home because they're convinced that their partner doesn't really care and that they're just looking for yet another excuse to argue. That person will have felt even more trapped and suffocated by their partner who was really worried instead, but neither of them tells the other the truth because they're too busy arguing and blaming each other instead of meeting each other halfway and really talking about what they feel and makes them vulnerable. They will surely end up in bed with their backs to each other without saying a word to each other after the fight.

Now look at these phrases from the song itself and put Camren's faces in place of the couple in the example: “With no confrontation, I really wish we could talk about it instead” – “All I need from your side is for you to communicate”. Is it easier for you to understand the dynamic now, dear?

Hello to you too @camilalauren0327 👋🏼😄 [why can't I ever tag you in posts?]

No, no, no, dear. None of this happens. So. I'd like to start by saying that OCD begins when people misunderstand their own thoughts. We've all had unwelcome and intrusive thoughts at least once in our lives, right? Well, the importance of those thoughts becomes much more intense or sometimes even extreme for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Like, I'll give you a stupid example, okay?

Most of the time I park, I lock the car, and after I’ve taken a couple of steps, I ask myself: “Ma ho chiuso la macchina?” / “Did I lock the car?”. So, I turn around and lock it again with the keys' remote control even though I've already done it, but I do that anyway to be sure and because maybe I really didn't do it because it happened for real. Now. What would a person with OCD do? Most likely they would do like me, and after getting halfway, they would go back again to close it AGAIN. They would do it a couple of times, and most likely, they would do it a third time after they got home. They would leave the house to go lock the car they've already locked five times.

OCD can begin in adolescence, early adulthood, or even childhood. The onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder is typically gradual, but in some cases, it can begin suddenly. Symptoms vary in severity from time to time and this variation may be related to the occurrence of stressful events. Now. Doesn't all this rings a bell for you? No? Okay, let me explain. I'll copy a piece of my ‘Camren Timeline (Tittle edited)’ post for you: “Camila suffers from one of the variants of OCD since she was 8, and despite seeing a therapist since 2013, her OCD was diagnosed at the end of 2015. C also suffers from anxiety, panic attacks, mood disorders, and depression (all linked to her OCD).”

Why did she start suffering from it at the age of 8? Because little Mila moved back and forth between Havana and Mexico City until she was 5, almost 6, right? After that, she moved to Miami with her mom by leaving behind her family, her friends, basically everything she knew, and her dad. Her dad finally managed to rejoin them almost two years later when she was almost 8 years old. Although she had her family with her again, her little mind didn't relax. It didn’t bring peace to her. In fact, that sprang her first OCD symptoms, which gradually worsened and then fully erupted years later in the group.

What triggers OCD? Stressful life events.

Got it now? Were you able to put the pieces together, dear? I've also answered other questions on the same topic here if it may interest you: https://fa-by.tumblr.com/post/648194918161989633/%C9%9F.

Hello to you too, dear Anon 👋🏼😄 Don't worry, nobody’s asked me to do it yet.

So, as I think we all know, The Boy was originally titled Care About Me. Ed Sheeran wrote it and gave it to Mila for her self-titled album Camila. Mila almost completely rewrote it (Ed said 90% of it) and lastly discarded it because it didn't fit well with the rest of the songs on the album, and I totally understand that.

Intro:

“Yeah, he's messed up a couple times

But he's my glass of cherry wine

And I drink and I drink 'til I'm drunk off of him

I'm in love

(Ash:) He just hit me up to come over

He said what?”

So. The song begins with Mila trying to justify the boy by saying that even though he made mistakes, she's so into him to get past it. I know she used terms like drunk off of him and in love, but she doesn't mean that she's actually in love with him in this case. Just very into him. She's jokingly explaining the situation because she's talking to Ashlee, her friend, and I don't know about you, but my friends and I often use the term in love to make people laugh and to indicate interest in someone.

Like if we see someone for the first time and they're really hot, or if one of the celebrities we like posts like a selfie, we say “I'm in love”. Or, like, another kind of example: one of my best friends has been dating this guy for a few months, and last week he surprised her with some flowers (which he paid very much by the way) and with dinner just because. Hearing her happiness since she has always had only assholes so far, when she finished telling me everything, I made fun of her by laughing and saying: “Lost in love, huh?”. Not because she's actually in love with him, but because it was such a nice thing and she's into him.

So Mila used those phrases to indicate how much she liked him and not because she was actually in love. Also because if she had really been in love with him, she wouldn't have said she didn't care about him for the rest of the song.

Then ‘Ash’ receives the text, and this leads us to understand that the boy is a player and a cheater.

Verse 1:

“Momma said, ‘Always be kind, girl’ (Girl, what's on your mind?)

But I got something I should say (Say it, girl), uh

Boy, I'm sick and done and tired (There's something on my mind)

I'm not yours to manipulate, uh-huh (Tell him girl, tell hi)”

It explains itself quite well. She can't take it anymore.

Pre-Chorus:

“Oh boy, hold your tongue, I don't want no 'pology

‘Cause we both know you're thinking wit' was under your jeans”

Mila tells him not to waste his breath on justifications derived from his member because she doesn't need them. Tsk, Tsk. Typical male behavior. 80% of their thoughts are formulated based on how and where to put their tool in 🙄

“Sent your friends over to tell them you're missing me”

He even sends his friends to her to try to change her mind, but:

“But I don't care, so tell that boy that I am fine”

But she doesn't care. She doesn't care because she's fine this way. In fact, she's better off without him.

Chorus:

“I don't care about the day he decided to leave

I won't be there when he tells another lie so”

This makes us understand how many times she's had to forgive his bullshit.

“I'm gon' use all of my words for weapons”

We know how lethal words can be.

“'Cause the boy don't care about me, lemme say it again, now, babe

I don't care about the way he thinks it's so sweet (Ah)

All that sugar cone gon' be bad for me tomorrow (Ah)”

He can try to kiss her ass as much as he wants, but she won't change her mind. Talking sweet to try to win her back doesn't work because she doesn't want to deal with a player who lies to her and messes up every time.

“I'm gon' use all of my words for weapons

'Cause the boy don't care about me”

He doesn't really care about her, so it's even useless to her that he tries to fix it.

Verse 2:

“All my girls inside the place now (Say we don't need no man)

No wonder we switch sides sometimes (We got this)”

Camilita, Camilita, Camilita 😏 No wonder many girls prefer other girls, huh?

Switching sides can mean switching sides in the true sense of the word, that is for example going from one side of a room to the other. It can mean changing your mind about something or someone. And, most interesting of all in this case, it can mean switching sides in sexual orientation.

I've said many times that she's a fucking genius, and we know how sneaky she is with her songs. She was really smart at using this hidden meaning because a lot of people took it for granted that she meant the meaning of changing her mind since we girls have this nomination about often changing our minds about something.

“Wipe that good look off your face (Say we got better plans)

Ooh, you better not act surprised (For real)”

Exactly. What would be the point? A lot of guys do that 🙄

Bridge:

“Oh, oh, don't care about me

That's fine with me, babe

You don't care about me

And that's fine with me

Fine with me, fine with me (Don't care about)

It is what I need, oh (That's fine with)

Don't care about, care about

Care about, care about me, oh”

She's fine with it simply because she doesn't care about him either.

Outro:

(Ash:) “Girl, that's old, we're done with that”

Yep. She's definitely done with that/him.

And this is my interpretation, dear Anon 😄 In my opinion, if this song really ended up on the self-titled, it would've been used to give yet another proof of her light, old PR with Michael. People were supposed to remember her last, sure, Jan, flame before meeting the love guru Matrix. It was supposed to be like: “Hey, hey, guys, I'm straight, look! I was with a boy and now with another grandpa one!”.

It's just a different version of the Cinderella song for me: she doesn't need a guy in her life. Don't wrap your head around it too much, dear Anon. There's no deep meaning behind it at all. After all, this song was given to her by her idol, and she certainly couldn't refuse. She changed it in a sassy and fun way, she saw that she couldn't fit it with the others because it wouldn't have made sense, and she then discarded it. The end. She was like: it was funny, but I actually have a story to tell. Bye-bye.

Have a good day too, dear ❤️

Hello to you too, dear Anon 👋🏼😄 and yes of course I can do both, but for what purpose am I supposed to do All Again? I mean, I can give you my interpretation of that song without any problem, but it wasn't written by them. By none of them five. That's why I'm asking you for what purpose am I supposed to do that. And that should answer your second question as well. Like No Way and many other songs, the girls may have related to them, but they didn't write them. The only songs they wrote, and not alone but with other songwriters, are:

- Me & My Girls, Don't Wanna Dance Alone, and Who Are You for Better Together,

- All in My Head (Flex) for 7/27,

- and for the self-titled album we have Sauced Up: Arlen (+ other songwriters), Make You Mad: Normally (+ other songwriters), Lonely Night: Norminah (+ other songwriters), Messy: Normally (+ other songwriters), and Bridget: Alren (+ other songwriters).

It's like you ask me to give you my interpretation on for example Who Are You. I could do it without a problem, but that song was written by 8 different heads. With the exception of the bridge that we know Lauren wrote, I can't tell you who among Camila, Dinah, Normani, Ally, Julian Bunetta, PJ Bianco, and Nasri Atweh wrote which part. Analyzing a song sung by a single artist/songwriter is completely different because the idea and concept and feelings are based on a single person. The songwriters who co-write the song together with the artist adapt to them, or maybe the idea comes to one of them, but they modify the concept together with the artist based on their personal experience, as happened for example with Consequences.

Now that you know all this, do you still want me to analyze All Again? Let me know 😄

Let's move on to More Than That.

Lauren wrote four songs in 2016, two of them were meant to be for someone else, but one of them, as we all know well, she kept it to herself. She decided to keep More Than That to herself once she modified the original lyrics along with Prince Charlez and SoundzFire, aka Hue Wayne Strother.

Intro:

“M-M-M-Murda”

This small part of the initial effect intro we hear, is simply a shoutout to Murda Beatz, one of the two producers of the song.

Verse 1:

“I see you watching so I walked into your stare

'Cause I ain't in the position to be walking over there”

She's not in the position to go there simply because she's taken, but she likes to be watched. She likes the attention she's receiving, so she puts herself in plain sight so that this person can keep looking at her.

“I got a situation, I can tell you wanna know”

This guy must have wondered: ‘Why if she's looking back at me, then she won't approach me? Is she someone who likes playing hard to get? Is she a teasing sort? Is she waiting for me to go to her? Or maybe she's in a relationship?’ Typical questions you ask yourself in that situation, and Laur summarized them all in one simple sentence.

“How you can take an honest girl and turn her to a …

If I'ma take a gamble, then you better come correct

I need more than them diamonds that you got around your neck

Shit, anybody can flex, my baby do it best

If you come with somethin' better, then we might just take it there”

The stare, the fact that this guy has the money (diamond necklace), the physical appearance, are not enough for her to push her to cheat. Because if she has to take the risk of cheating, these are certainly not the things that would drive her to do it, but she could if he had something better to offer her. [And with that, please keep in mind that Lauren is a very loyal person and that she wouldn't have done it even if this guy had gone with something better]

Pre-Chrous:

“I know I ain't right for tempting you

But I just wanna see what you would do

If I gave you a taste of what I do

Just remember that I don't belong to you”

The fact that she returned his gaze, that she spoke to him and gave him just a little taste, doesn't mean that she’s no longer taken. As I said before, she likes the attention, and although she knows that it's wrong to instigate him, she does it anyway because she's playing with him. “It's kind of more like clowning him” as she said herself.

Chrous:

“You gon' have to come stronger than this liquor

Wanna take me home, better be more convincing

It'll take more than that to get to me

More than that to get your way

Boy, you better come stronger than this liquor

Wanna take me home, better be more convincing

It'll take more than that to get to me

More than that to get your way

I'm stronger than this liquor”

During the approach in which the guy tried to ‘take her home’ for the night, Lauren easily manages to reject him despite being drunk, because her loyalty is stronger than the attraction she may have felt for him and certainly stronger than what she was drinking.

Verse 2:

“If my man notice, there’ll be some issues”

🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

I'm sorry but every time I listen to this part I can literally picture Camila turning into the Incredible Hulk as we've seen many times. And shit, despite her being tiny, Mila can be scary when she's pissed off.

“But take my number down, I just might hit you

No, I'm just playing, I'm so deep in love

But the way you talkin' might just have me actin' up”

Drunken thoughts mixed with attraction/arousal blocked by common sense and loyalty.

“The way you looking at me, boy, I know what's up

I can feel how you feel without even a touch”

Let's not fool ourselves, guys. You too will have felt when a person is ready to jump your bones. To feel it in the air. To perceive it from the way they look at you, talk to you, and yes, even using excuses to innocently touch for example your arm even if the intentions are far from innocent. These kinds of things, whether you're in a relationship or not, whether you're loyal or not, and especially if you're attracted to the person in question, make you feel appreciated. They make you feel good. But:

“But don't think that's gon' make me give it up

Boy, your time is up”

But that doesn't mean, however, that you take action on it. It doesn't mean you give in to temptation. It was nice, but no thanks. Bye-bye.

Outro:

“It'll take more”

It takes more than good looks, money, and fake, shiny people from L.A.

And that's it, dear Anon 🙃 This is just a funny song about a situation that happened in a club, in which Lauren shows her flirtatious side but also her loyal side. It wasn't that good for her image, but I have an explanation for that as well.

Remember how I initially said that Lauren wrote this song to give it to someone else and then decided to keep it for herself after modifying the original lyrics? Well, in my opinion, she ‘decided to keep it’ and was even chosen as a single, simply for the narrative. It was chosen to go along with the fake love square cheating bullshit [Lauren and Ty who cheated on Lucy and Alycia to be together]. People should have believed even more that Lauren was a person capable of cheating, and this song served the purpose.

🤸🏻‍♀‍🤸🏻‍♀‍🤸🏻‍♀‍

Aaand I'm done 😜 I hope I was helpful in this case too 😄 Thank you all for your asks and as usual, know that I'm available for those who have questions, so feel free to ask 😊

Always remember to be kind, to others and to yourselves. Be a good example. Be patient. Be safe and take care of yourselves. Don't let our ship sink. Keep shipping them, but please respectfully 🙏🏼 Sending you virtual love and hugs 🤗🤗🤗 I love you, babies. Always with love, F ❤️

[lovesanmotion]

yandere!ateez fanboy series: seonghwa

When Seonghwa graduated high school, his parents asked him what he wanted as a graduation gift. Coming from a wealthy family, his parents could give him whatever he wanted. But he asked for a camera instead. His parents didn’t know why or what was a camera for, but they gave it to him without a doubt. 

And lo and behold, in Seonghwa’s hands, a Canon EOS 850D. 

He open his box of savings and bought more equipment such as lenses, speedlite, battery grip and ring mount adapter. Testing a couple of shots around his room, the flowers in his mother’s garden and the collection of his father’s wines before he was satisfied with his photos and he was set to set himself out. 

The night before Starlight’s debut, he opened his own website YNbyHwaLight.co.kr and made a profile tab for you provided by your company - VS Media. Ever since your reveal to the world that you are debuting in Starlight as the final member, Seonghwa couldn’t get his eyes off of you. He couldn’t wait for your debut as he camped on Youtube and Naver everyday by watching past videos of you - Introduction Video, Make Meringue Cookies with Y/N and your own choreography of Streets by Doja Cat. To which he proudly beat his cock every night to. 

When the sun came up the following day, Seonghwa adjusted his black face mask to perfectly conceal half of his face. He woke an all black clothing and had his equipment safely tucked inside his backpack. When he was done, he set off to the concert hall for your debut concert. 

Starlight kicks off 2021 US promotions 

Starlight’s Y/N tops January Brand Rankings 

Starlight’s Y/N hailed as No.1 Kpop Girl Group Member For 2021 

Jennie, Joy, Y/N and more: Korean Outlet Media Mentions Stars Who Sported Top Luxury Clothes For 2020 

Starlight’s Y/N Glowing As New Campaign Model For Nike Air Max 

Seonghwa chugged down the last of his coffee before throwing it in the bin. His third cup of coffee to be exact. 4:06 am he is still situated in his old study desk, editing your photos from yesterday’s joint concert. Adding his fansite name ‘HwaLight_Y/N’ before uploading them. 

After he graduated high school, he decluttered old items that he no longer needed and are now replaced with more equipment and the albums that Starlight released. On his walls that were once adorned with his favorite rock band posters, baseball banners and his high school basketball jersey were now replaced with your individual posters. His bookshelves before were filled with his textbooks and comic books which he gushed over with his old friend. He doesn’t have friends anymore. Now, they are filled with Starlight’s albums that comes with all the different versions, the photobooks that VS Media released, the latest 2021 Seasons Greetings and his selfmade own copy of ‘ With Love, Y/N ‘ photobook which he sold over 100,000 copies. Unusual for a fansite photobook to reach its mark compared to companies. 

Ever since the day Seonghwa stepped into the debut concert hall to see you, he made everyone turn their heads and stare at him. It was a fandom joke that Seonghwa made his own fangirls that day. Along the way, they would pluch up their courage and ask to go on a date with him, but Seonghwa would politely decline their offer. As he only has eyes for Y/N, who else? 

After Staright debuted, the fandom continued to increase. It brought irritation to Seonghwa how he felt like he had many competitors to compete for your attention. But that theory was tried and tested when Starlight was at Incheon Airport headed to Jeju. The girls were posing for the hundreds of cameras in front of them, Seonghwa positioned somewhere in the middle. 

Through his camera lens, he watched as Y/N stand in her tiptoes, looking through the crowd as if she was searching for someone. His blood began to boil on who could possibly stole your worthy attention that isn’t him. But he immediately soften when Y/N’s eyes landed on his camera, flashing a sweet smile before eagerly waving her hands at him. 

Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! 

His insides were instantly filled with warmth as Y/N had her eyes on his camera. Smiling cutely and making little hearts in his direction. From that day on, Seonghwa submitted himself to you wholeheartedly. The best part? Seonghwa is also a passenger with you to Jeju! Surely seeing Seonghwa before the gates is not the last time you’d see him. As he boarded the plane, he sat down on the seat two rows in front of you. Heart beating fast at the feeling. 

The hour flight to Jeju quickly came by and they all boarded down. Seonghwa noticed how you and the rest of the members took the back door. Two black vans parked at the back door rather than being parked at the main extrance and exit. Lifting the car he rented to place his equipment and backpack safely at the back before following the second van where you are. Heading to the same hotel your manager booked because that’s where he booked himself too. 

Sometime later after checking in to the hotel and fixing his camera, he listened to the footsteps of VS staffs and any Starlight member heading to the elevator and disappearing. Once the coast is clear, he left his room and welcomed himself to Room 1117 - the room you share with the leader of Starlight. 

With his camera in hand, he went over to the second bed as he noticed your luggage was placed on top of it. Slowly, he bent down and inhaled the mattress and cushion. Faint scent of apples and honey. Laying down on the spot whereyou layed down earlier, a soft sigh escapes his lips before turning his attention to your luggage. 

Slowly, he unzips it open and then turning it open. The first thing his eyes lands on is the red lingerie that was placed on top as if it was welcoming him. Slowly he took hold of your bra, touching and feeling the cups. Were your boobs always this big? Blood rushed into him as he brought the cups to his nose, inhaling the scent of your raw flesh. Seonghwa sets the bra down before lifting the underwear next. He closely examined the lacy underwear, grazing his fingertips before slowly bringing it to his face. Were underwears supposed to smell sweet? This was an unexplainable one before something clicked in his mind. 

You could have worn it. 

He brought your underwear more closer to his face while his free hand unzips his pants, freeing his cock and then beating it around his hand, imagining it was your sweet tight hole instead. Shamelessly, he came. 

Pocketing your underwear, he quickly set his plan. He placed small cameras inside the electricity extensions in the room and bathroom and on the lamp stands before exiting. Leaving in time before a VS staff came into the same floor they are at. Once he gets back in his hotel room, he took out your underwear in his pocket and decided to kill time by playing with this. 

“See! I told you, you must have dropped your underwear under the bed.” Yikyung, the leader of Starlight said. I brought the underwear up and noticed how it had a huge white stain. I shook my head, probably a discharge before placing it on a plastic bag filled with my other used clothes. 

“Also, Y/N please put some clothes on while you sleep! My eyes are burning everytime I see you walking around her naked!” Yikyung laughs before throwing a pillow at him. It became a habit of time to sleep and walk around the dorm naked. I felt comfortable around the other members and decided to slowly reveal my habits. As Yikyung and I cleaned up our room, I unplugged my phone from its charger. But the little red light is still beaming. 

“Is it always like this?” I asked, pointing at the socket as I faced Yikyung. 

“Well at least you know that this socket is working. C’mon, were already late. Manager Min is already expecting us.” She says, grabbing my hand as we ran out our room, ending our MV film shoot in Jeju. 

[olderthannetfic]

It's really surprising that you're so well versed in older fandoms and yet participate in new popular ones (that cdrama, kpop) is this by design? Im in my twenties and my interest turnover is already way slower than it used to be

You know, that’s a really interesting question. I wouldn’t say it’s by design exactly in that I do tend to just follow what strikes my fancy, and I can’t force myself to want to write fic for just anything. (I find it easier to like reading fic without serious involuntary emotional investment, but writing takes more. Vidding I can do on command most of the time, but I don’t usually bother unless I have a lot of feels or I’m fulfilling someone’s prompt.)

However, me getting into BTS was 100% due to me wanting to understand BTS enough to explain to people who weren’t very interested but wanted to know what was going on in fandom lately. Under normal circumstances, I run the dance party at Escapade, the oldest extant slash con. We borrowed vividcon’s thing of playing fanvids on the wall--all of them set to dance music--as the soundtrack for the dance party. This means I’m creating a 3-hour mixtape of fannishness, which has amazing potential to make people feel in the know about Fandom Today... and equal potential to make them feel alienated if nothing they care about shows up. Only about 100-150 people attend the con, so it really is possible to make a playlist that feels inclusive yet informative--it just takes a huge amount of work.

Every year, I do a lot of research on which fandoms are getting big and look for vids from vidders people won’t have heard of, so there is an element of consciously trying to keep up with things. Generally, I only get into these fandoms myself if I had no idea what they were and then suddenly, oops, they’re my kryptonite, like the buddy cop android plot in Detroit: Become Human, which sucked me in hard for like 6 months on the basis of a vid.

(So if you’re into cross-fandom meta and associated stuff as one of your fannish interests, you tend to have broader knowledge of different fandoms, old and new, than if you’re just looking for the next place you’ll read fic. It’s also easier to love vids for unfamiliar things than fic.)

But though I was only looking for a basic primer on BTS, BTS has 7 members with multiple names and no clear juggernaut pairing, not to mention that AU that runs through the music videos and lots of other context to explain. The barrier to understanding WTF was going on at all was high enough that to know enough to explain, I had to be thoroughly exposed... And once I was over that hurdle, oops, I had a fandom.

--

In terms of old vs. new, here’s the thing: kpop fandoms in English and c-drama fandoms in English right now feel a lot like anime fandom in English did in the early 00s. I had a Buddy Cops of the 70s phase in the middle, but my current fannishness is actually a return to my older fannishness in many ways.

What do I mean about them being similar?

Yes, I know some wanker will show up to say I think China, Korea, and Japan are indistinguishable, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the way that I used to routinely meet Italian and French and German fans, Argentinian and Mexican, Malaysian and Indonesian and Filipino too. English-language fandom of SPN or MCU may have all those fans from all those countries, but it feels very American most of the time. English-language fandom of a non-English-language canon is more overtly about using English as a lingua franca.

It also tends to attract people who as a sideline to their fannishness are getting into language learning and translation, which are my other passion in life after fanworks fandom. (I speak only English and Spanish and a bit of Japanese, but I’ve studied German, French, Russian, Mandarin, Old English, and now Korean.)

Nerds arguing about methods of language learning and which textbooks are good and why is my jam. This is all over the place in English-language fandoms of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean media. Those fandoms also tend to be full of speakers coming from a Germanic or Romance languages background who face similar hurdles in learning these languages. (In other words, if you’re a native Japanese speaker trying to learn Korean, the parts that will be hard for you are different than if you’re an English speaker, but you’re also usually not doing fandom in English.)

There’s also an element of scarcity and difficulty of access and a communal attempt to construct a canon (in the other sense) of stuff from that country that pertains to one’s fannishness. So, for example, a primer explaining the genre of xianxia is highly relevant to being a n00b Untamed fan, but just any old thing about China is not. A c-drama adapted from a danmei webnovel is perhaps part of the new pantheon of Chinese shit we’re all getting into, but just any old drama from decades ago is probably not... unless it’s a genre precursor to something else we care about. Another aspect here is that while Stuff I Can Access As A N00b Who Doesn’t Speak The Language may be relatively scarce, there’s a vast, vast wealth of stuff that exists.

This is what it felt like to be an anime fan in the US in 2000. As translation got more commercial and more crappy series were licensed and dumped onto an already glutted market, the vibe changed. No longer were fans desperately trying to learn enough of the language to translate or spending their time cataloguing what existed or making fanworks about a show they stuck with for a bit: the overall community focus turned to an endless race of consumption to keep up with all of the latest releases. That’s a perfectly valid way of being fannish, but if I wanted that, I’d binge US television 24/7.

Anime fandom got bigger, but what I liked about anime fandom in English died, and I moved on. (Okay, I first moved on to Onmyouji, which is a live action Japanese thing, but still.)

Hardcore weeaboos and now fans of Chinese and Korean stuff don’t stop at language: people get excited about cooking, my other other great passion. Times a thousand if the canon is something like The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, which is full of loving shots of food preparation. People get excited about history! Mandarin and Japanese may share almost nothing in terms of grammar or phonology, but all of East Asia has influence from specific Chinese power centers historically, and there are commonalities to historical architecture and clothing that I love.

I fell out of love with the popular anime art styles as they changed, and I’m not that into animation in general these days. (I still own a shitton of manga in art styles I like, like Okano Reiko’s Onmyouji series.) I’ve become a filmmaker over the last decade, and I’m very excited about beautiful cinematography and editing. With one thing and another, I’m probably not going to get back into anime fandom, but it’s lovely to revisit the cultural aspects I enjoyed about it via live-action media.

BTS surprised me too, to be honest. I really dislike that early 90s R&B ballad style that infests idol music (not just Korean--believe me, I resisted many rounds of “But Johnny’s Entertainment though!” back in the day). While I like some of the dance pop, I just don’t care. But OH NO, BTS turn out to be massive conscious hip hop fanboys, and their music sounds different. I have some tl;dr about my reactions in the meta I wrote about one of my fanvids, which you can find on Dreamwidth here.

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But back to your comment about turnover: I know fans from the 70s who’ve had one great fannish love and that’s it and more who were like that but eventually moved on to a second or third. They’re... really fannishly monogamous in a way I find hard to comprehend. It was the norm long ago, but even by the 90s when far more people were getting into fandom, it was seen as a little weird. By now, with exponentially more people in fandom, it’s almost unheard of. I think those fans still exist, even as new people joining, but we don’t notice them. They were always rare, but in the past, only people like that had the stamina to get over the barriers to entry and actually become the people who made zines or were willing to be visibly into fanfic in eras when that was seen as really weird. On top of that, there’s an element of me, us, judging the past by what’s left: only people with an intense and often single passion are visible because other people either drifted away or have seamlessly disappeared into some modern fandom. They don’t say they’re 80 or 60 or 40 instead of 20, so nobody knows.

In general, I’m a small fandoms and rare ships person. My brain will do its best to thwart me by liking whatever has no fic even in a big fic fandom... (Except BTS because there is literally fic for any combination of them, like even more than for the likes of MCU. Wow. Best fandom evar!) So I have an incentive to not get complacent and just stick with one fandom because I would very soon have no ability to be in fandom at all.

My appetite for Consuming All The Things has slowed way down, but it also goes in waves, and a lot of what I’m consuming is what I did back in 2000: journal articles and the limited range of English-language books on the history of m/m sex and romance in East Asia. It’s not so much that I have a million fandoms as that I’m watching a few shows as an expression of my interest in East Asian costume dramas and East Asian history generally.

I do like to sit with one thing and experience it deeply rather than moving on quickly, but the surface expression of this has changed depending on whether I’m more into writing fic or more into doing research or something else.

But yes, I do do a certain amount of trying to stay current, often as a part of research for fandom meta or to help other people know what’s going on. Having a sense of what’s big doesn’t automatically mean getting into all those things, but I think some fans who are older-in-fandom and/or older-in-years stop being open to even hearing what’s new. And if you’ve never heard of it, you’ll never know if you might have liked it.