#total fanon right there i just think that would be interesting tbh

[sir-arlieosaurus-lung-struggler]

I am of the firm stance of Bill having an unrequited thing for Ford till proven otherwise-

But that being said MAN seeing the spike in billford content after Book of Bill I may be proven otherwise 💀

(No spoilers I haven't read Book of Bill ;> also plz read tags)

[utilitycaster]

the whole “copy paste” thing has also led to some really weird ooc angst with orym. like, if you want a story about struggling with self worth and the heavy weight of responsibility, we already have ashton! if you want angst about feeling indebted to the people you love, post resurrection laudna is right there! i feel like i’m in the twilight zone every time people talk about orym and how messed up and broken he secretly is. especially when liam seems to be playing him as someone who’s mostly worked through his trauma and grief and is looking for that final bit of closure

Right! Like...there's several reasons I dislike it. One is that it's such a disservice to the other characters who do struggle with loss of control, or, as you say, struggle with responsibility or self-worth or indebtedness. The second is that I know I'm hard on Orym, but Liam is doing something that he cares about deeply and is very deliberate, and even if it's not always my particular cup of tea I have to respect it. He built a character who is here as a level-headed protector. Orym doesn't struggle with responsibility - this is his entire life. He both still feels grief and anger over the deaths of Will and Derrig, but he also has to an extent made his peace provided he can continue to carry their legacy, and that's also very interesting, since Caleb at the start of the story very much hadn't, and Vax I feel thought he had but also hadn't.

My favorite moments with Orym, honestly, have been moments of him being that protector and mediating the group; moments of silliness and joy (particularly when he got his sword); and the actual moment of angst when he thought he had died without that closure. Like...I think it's fine to have headcanons, I do, but there's a point where, when you prefer what isn't there to what is, I have to wonder what you're watching for.

This is also tbh a thing that happens with Liam's characters with the fandom (ie, not his fault). Liam does very specifically engage with tragedy (though the degree of tragedy we see with Vax isn't actually what was originally intended, which doesn't lessen its impact; it's just to say that I think the fandom would treat his later characters drastically differently if Vax were alive and Keyleth's husband but otherwise unchanged in characterization and if Caleb and Orym were completely unchanged). But I feel like it means that people will place angst on his characters beyond the tragedy that is already there, which I think waters it down (less is more, etc) and often sideline other characters for that copy-paste, and for what. Like...everyone in this cast can do tragedy and we've seen it. You only stand to lose by pretending only one can. This isn't a phenomenon unique to Liam, either, in which people take their favorite character (who is sometimes their favorite for reasons that seem more obligatory and tied to a skewed view of the actor than anything actually having to do with the character, but I digress) and grab whatever cool shit other characters have, but it always seems like such a loss, to watch someone look at an ensemble and try to strip-mine the good and consolidate it into a shitty frankenstein.

(Also, people claim they want angst but then get squeamish about The Vorb, which kind of furthers my point here; the thing about headcanon and fanon is that you are totally in control of them and can stop them before they get out of your safe little comfort zone, which is why I find them boring most of the time. The catharsis of tragedy, in my opinion, comes from the fact that it is out of your control. Like, you made yourself sad? K. Call me when you're able to let down your walls enough to let someone else make you sad.)

[nalyra-dreaming]

yeah, when i said 'written into a corner' i just meant they've made choices that will almost inevitably shape future events on the show! probably bad wording there on my part lol. not actually a diss to the show tho, i don't think their choices were bad, as long as they have a clear vision in mind & execute it well. & the relationships were interesting in themselves, they just weren't structured in a way that makes me think "polyamory" (as in…polyamory as the general audience would define it) is part of their long-term plan for loustat. it's more an observation than a complaint on my part! i fully agree that the book characters' relationships defy human definitions. the show seems to be framing them in slightly more explicit & recognizably 'human' terms. i get why tho - some of the vc relationships were p vague & tv audiences tend to expect more clarity & structure (i think rolin said this at some point). i know the orginal context but i still haven't given up hope of the cuck chair! a girl can dream lol. i just meant that the relationship is a bit more 'up for grabs' right now as we know so little about it on the show, but don't worry i'm fully managing my expectations. tbh i will just be happy to see dm portrayed in p much any form! it will be interesting to see what loustat's dynamic is like in the present. it's bound to be a bit different if only bc they've both been through a lot & learned some lessons, tho i don't expect the mutual jealousy & possessiveness to be gone w/out a trace either, more that it'll be less of an issue moving forward. time will tell!

Three very different opinions, and I hope you don't mind me putting them together, but this reflects the different expectations angles a bit, I think. :)

I think a key point is in the first ask: "polyamory as the general audience would define it".

What... is the general audience and what is the definition?^^ On the previous post @actual-changeling commented "as an aromantic polyam person, it's not about romantic relationships it's about relationships period, whatever that might mean for the people involved. having sex with someone who isn't the person you have a committed relationship with very much falls under polyamory."[...] And that I kinda disagree with (no offense!!!), but, since polyamory is an umbrella term with definition very much in flux and prone to personal interpretation.

However, Season 1 of the show put a heavy emphasis on jealousy and cheating. I doubt Louis or even Lestat would have defined the affair with Antoinette as polyamory though, even if it came down to being non-monogamic (on Lestat's part, on Louis' depending if you want to count Jonah or not). [Not counting feeding flings here.] But for me (myself and I) the cue aspect here is that this was not done on level agreement - if anything the "of course" scene made clear that this was not something they both truly agreed on. And if we trust Antoinette's comments at the ball... then she was not 100% behind this either.

Of course this is very much focused on Loustat here, but I think it is exemplary for the books. Not excluding polyamory in total! I think if I remember Sevraine's home with Gabrielle, and Allessandra there... then there might be something there, indeed :) For example.

But Armand and Louis and Lestat do not hook up that way. Not like that. And neither do Armand, Louis and Daniel - that we know of, so far. There might have been something in the past there, I could see that, easily. We'll see.

I think the fanon idea of them is very cool, and I hope everyone has fun with them^^. I doubt the show will add David into it (like Anne tried to), at least I hope Rolin will not^^.

As per Loumandstat? I had really, really hoped for a DreamStat-Loumand-triple 😅. I wanted that *exaggerated sniff* But I... don't think we'll get it on the show now. I think the way they spun Loumand... that Louis will be very pissed with Armand for the foreseeable future. To put it mildly.

The cuck chair may still happen - or has happened, in the past, maybe^^.

So yeah, I don't know. I think there are expectations, and the books, and while a lot of vampires do live together in a big castle at the end... it's not one big polyamory relationship. It's a net of history and previous and current relationships. I just don't necessarily see that as the same.

And the modern day show elements will likely put a different light on the tale we got wrt this as well.

[kindofsortofmaybe]

Gustholomule with 002 for the ask game!!

hi anon i'm so sorry i meant to answer this ages ago but i was swamped with finals all week! finally free though :)

when i started shipping it: pretty early in my watch through! i remember watching something ventured, someone framed and thinking hmmm... these bitches gay ?? and then once i got into the fandom and saw there was a following for it i really started shipping it! actually my first toh fanart was gustho haha

my thoughts: i don't think dana & co ever meant for us to ship them tbh, so even though i was disappointed that they didn't interact in the finale, i wasn't super surprised. but i think they have such an interesting dynamic!! gus is so cool and matt is not but also theyre both SO lame in the best way and they both have trust issues and also theyre like 12 and like... they are just so special to me

what makes me happy about them: how goofy they are. while i do think there's so much potential for their dynamic, i also think they're just two silly guys who hang out and i like the simplicity of that

what makes me sad about them: their lack of screen time :( (together and separately)

things done in fanfic that annoy me: hmmm tbh i've only read gustho fanfics that i've really enjoyed... i've never really had a negative experience with a gustho fic! all our writers are so talented! but i guess something that sometimes bothers me in fanon is when the hexsquad is rude to matt/don't give him a chance. i see why they might be wary, but Luz is the king of Befriending Everyone, willow is naturally very compassionate, and hunter/amity have both had their fair share of second chances! so even if they wouldn't get along right off the bat, i'm not a fan of scenarios where they just never warm up to him/consistently dislike him

things i look for in fanfic: i love when gustho fics have them just hanging out being teenagers. thats the vibe i think fits them best!

who i'd be comfortable them ending up with if not each other: hmmm i don't really have other ships for either of them! there's no one that comes to mind but i think if either of them were implied in the finale to be in a relationship with a hexside student we've met, i'd be like 🤷‍♀️ sure ig

my happily ever after for them: they continue to get close and become besties throughout high school, move in together after grad, and are so close that eventually they realize they've basically been dating for years and just kinda shrug like kay guess we're a couple and then theyre in love forever <33

who is the big spoon/little spoon: i think it depends! the both fill both roles at different times. though i do think that depending on when they get together, matty would totally be like "I'M the big spoon cause i'm MANLY" and gus is like "okay manly man" and makes him the little spoon anyway and he actually loves it

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: i'll bfr they're sex-neutral aces to me anyway so <3 (i don't really think about their feelings about sex since they're like 12 for most of the show, i just love to project my identity onto blorbos) so ANYWAY to actually answer the question, i headcanon that they LOVE to game together. video games and board games both - they just both get so competitive and have a lot of fun with it. their game nights are VERY loud and high-energy

thank you sm for the ask! i love thinking about these losers :)

[elisedonut]

fic author interview

Thank you for the tag @mirrorofliterature I'm tagging whoever feels like doing it!

How many works do you have on AO3?

33.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

42,741 words.

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Raspberry Muffin Flintley - 139 

at least we're trying Flintley - 104

Rhododendrons and False Indigo Harry/George - 102 (why its only been up a week wtf)

Anyone But You Draco/Percy - 98 

Storytime Naps Perciver - 96 

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yeah! unless it's just asking me to make more then i tend to get annoyed and ignore it but i don't get very many at the moment so i tend to stay on top of it pretty well

5. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Deceased. i guess? it's really the only one I got

i don't write angsty stuff much

6. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

most of what i write barely even has AN ending I do a lot of open endings

i think the closest I've gotten to a complete story story have been A Shell for a Mate and Camera Cutie and they both end pretty happy

7. Do you write a cross-overs?

I have not as of yet! if I ever do it's probably going to be an isekai type scenario because it seems like the most fun to me

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I still have not shockingly

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Sometimes im not very good at it and am still learning on that front most of it tends to cut before smut really happens or is just jacking off

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

12. Have you co-written a fic before?

Also no.

13. What's your all time favourite ship?

I'm a big multi shipper so don't really even have one within one single fandom and you want an overall??

right now 99% of what i think about is Percy ships

14. What's a WIP that you want to finish but think you never will?

hmm if i say all of them do i lose my writer card?

jkjk

but i do have alot of things I've started because the mood hit that i just can't see myself going back to like i have 3k for an amnesia memories au that has just been gathering dust since that original sprint of inspo hit

15. What are your writing strengths?

??? i come up with fun concepts i think? or at least they're fun to me

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

the writing part really I come up with far more ideas then I would ever be able to write hence why I still post alot on here but also like making the idea an actual story story and not just a small slice of a story

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in fic?

I'm too lazy for it overall.

18. What's the first fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter so far it's the only fandom I've written for

19. What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

I'm not sure i ofc have a list of Percy ships i want to try which is currently

Dudley, Seamus, Justin and then ofc the two that constantly give me trouble when i try to pair them with Percy, Remus and Harry

but like outside of Percy ??

i have fandoms but most are dormant as of now like i love Idolmaster and stay caught up on the music but the idea of writing fics for it is like eh if anything it would be Makio/Soichiro tbh i miss them

I finished rwrb and enjoyed it a ton but with the firstprince being canon my brain just doesn't care that much to even seek out content for it because that's how my brain works

its canon so i don't feel the need to read (or by extension write) like 1000 different scenario's for them to get together

like people who stay fully invested in canon couples are powerful because my interest in them in a fanon sense goes out the window every time

i feel like if i ever did do something with rwrb it be an isekai since they are both into HP so it be a very typical get transported into your favorite series story i think that would be fun

i will never do it but fun idea

the ships i like for Danganronpa would probably get me killed/j

like i am with Percy now i was a big Chihiro multi shipper in my DR days before settling on ChiMaru as my favorite for them

20. What's your favourite fic that you've written?

controversial pick but Secret Fantasy 

i put so much work into it KNOWING no one was going to care about it because it's incest but i care about it damn it!! its the longest fic ive written as of now and i had so much fun with it and still think about it alot

less controversial pick is Camera Cutie  because I'm Colin kick at the moment though it is a bit more like messy since it was a pretty early one

[autisticcassandracain]

3, 7 & 13 seem juicy

3 is answered!

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

JASON FUCKING TODD

fuck this guy but fuck his fans more. Some Jason fans are like, reasonable and just think he's an interesting character. I disagree but that's mostly because I think we just don't need any more characters challenging Batman's no kill rule specifically, I just think they're boring. Jason has a bit of a leg up in that he does have interesting family Baggage, but ultimately his writing (at least preboot) was so incredibly inconsistent that nothing outside of what they did in Under The Red Hood really came of it. I don't know much about post-flashpoint Jason but frankly he seems to have gotten all unique attributes sucked out of him over the years so he's not all that appealing to me there either. That said I really don't necessarily hate Jason in canon, I mostly just find him boring.

That said the subsection of Jason fans who think he's Right, Actually single-handedly made him my least favourite comic book character outside of the Joker. It's positively infuriating to see a bunch of people argue that Jason's completely nonsensical 'ideology' is Right, Actually, with the justification that yeah, we SHOULD totally just kill criminals! Not that kind, no, only like, the Really Bad Ones, like rapists, you know? And Bad Drug Dealers. How do we filter the Really Bad Criminals from the Poor Misunderstood Criminals? By vibes or something idk their arguments usually don't get that far because they're reactionary and don't think beyond their base instinct of 'I Want Bad Person Dead'. Also, 'Batman SHOULD kill the Joker he's just that bad!' a) the Joker's not gonna stay dead, death is about as effective as fucking Arkham, there's no point, and b) the Joker is not materially worse than most other supervillains. Most other supervillains have done shit that's on par with the Joker. Yes, the Joker is often portrayed as Uniquely Bad, but this is mostly a combination of narrative framing and Personal Baggage Batman has towards him than anything objective. If Batman kills the Joker there's literally no reason for him not to kill, say, Zsasz. And a Batman who kills freely is, frankly, a boring fucking character, because it does away with almost all the idealism and, yes, optimism that makes his character compelling. Shut up forever.

Anyway Jason Todd was wrong on every possible level, and you're all annoying and I hate your fave now.

13. worst blorboficiation

Honestly I'm not sure what 'blorbofication' means, I'm assuming it's like, fanon-ifying/woobifying? This is a bit difficult to answer tbh bc I tend to get invested in characters that are less popular in fandom (this is deliberate btw), so while there's plenty of characters who had all their interesting traits sucked out in the name of making them Blorbo From My Tropes, MY faves usually get stuck getting all their character traits sucked out due to a terminal case of fandom not giving a shit about them. That said if I can nominate Stephcass as a duo, Stephcass. They have an incredibly interesting, multi-dimensional dynamic, or at least they HAD until the post-flashpoint continuity was allowed to actually use them and realized that queerbaiting was lucrative. Not that fandom was less boring about them before then but at least it wasn't actually canon. Anyway in fandom they're annoying as fuck bc everyone is dead scared to give their f/f ships any conflict at all and it makes me want to chew drywall. Fluffy fics are fine the one (1) stephcass thing I wrote was fluff too so like, stones, glass houses, I know, but would it seriously kill people to stop reducing them to the Sunny One/Stoic One combo.

Oh wait, also Damian. He Would Not Fucking Say That.

[hopeswriting]

i rewatched the first gen arc and it was unexpectedly sooo much fun!!! i really enjoyed myself a lot in front of it, and i especially liked gokudera's trial. g!gokudera was really super fun to see. and now don't get me wrong because i love gokudera just the way he is and i wouldn't change anything to him, but that soft expression g!gokudera had... that more poised and quiet voice he had... yeah i might have swooned a little at it, and what about it. (oh wait, i didn’t just like the episode because of g!gokudera lol. it was of course also nice to see the bond between gokudera and tsuna.)

on the other hand it sucks that clearly only mukuro was recognized worthy of the inheritance by daemon despite what tsuna told chrome, but are we surprised. (it was nice seeing the girls interact with each other and stand up for each other and stick up for each other tho!) and talking about daemon, he made some good points tbh, despite ultimately being wrong in, like, the way he acts on them i guess? or at the very least the way he wants to force his ideals on other people. but anyway, yeah, he had some really interesting exchanges with the 10th gen, and especially with tsuna.

i really enjoyed the little glimpses we got into the first gen's personalities too, into their dynamics and especially daemon & giotto dynamic, and what they used to be like back in their time. and also of course the little crumbs we got about their fallout with daemon.

omg yeah also!! giotto's voice??? idk who was the voice actor for him but goddamn. he just sounded soo nice, i loved it. but talking about giotto, i don't remember anymore the one i've seen it say it, but it is really weird he was kept in hyper dying will mode the whole time. like, is that really the form his will would have taken? and if it's really the case then there's something off to be said about it, but i can't put it in words lol.

well, to take tsuna as an example, it's like. idk, but like, i think we can all agree tsuna's hyper mode is mostly only a battle mode, right? like, 90% a battle mode more than the expression of his dying will. and of course it is that too, but tsuna always expresses his will at its strongest and most resolved in his normal state. and then he gets into (hyper) dying will mode to act on it. i mean, that's how the bullets work to begin with. if your dying will isn't strong enough when you're shot with them, you just die lol.

anyway, not sure if you got what i was trying to say here, but yeah, i agree it was weird to have giotto in hyper dying will mode the whole time.

now for a little word about skull, but he has much more of a pathetic silly little guy behavior (once again, absolutely affectionate) than he's made out to have in fanon, which is also a call out on myself. and it's just equally so hilarious and endearing, and i just have to say again i totally get why he was the one to test tsuna on his charisma, and i love him so much, but what else is new.

but also @cloudspark upon rewatching that arc, i stand corrected that skull's relationship with his men is a little less ride or die than previously believed. at least on skull's side, because turns out he has no qualms about escaping by himself when things get tough lmao. (he’s SHAMELESS i'm telling you!!!)

but it IS true he sees every one of his mission to the end no matter what, because instead of actually escaping in his little airplane, he actually came back for more and, naturally, ended up having his ass beat by hibari. press f in the chat for our self-proclaimed king no one else's willing to bow down to sjdksjsksks.

(TO BE FAIR THO, i think it's safe to say it was understood by everyone there that no one was going for actual harm, let alone for the kill. skull was going for blowing up namimori middle as collateral damage without a care because he's a dumbass, and the girls and kids ended up at risk of actually dying because, again, skull's a dumbass, but ultimately the INTENTIONS were all about making hibari take his inheritance trial, and skull's men got pretty much unscathed from the blowing up of their airship.)

anyway back to the point, but yeah, all around it was a really nice arc! i for one enjoyed the little reminder about the guardians' duties, and seeing how each of the 10th gen embodies their respective duty, and how they weren't all quite there yet, but they were all already still worthy of their duty as a guardian. and honestly i enjoyed both the arco trials arc and the first gen arc so much, i think i might just rewatch the anime too once i finish rereading the manga!

[subarus-gentle-butterfly]

what’s the best thing about shipping for you?

do you prefer fast plots, pre-enstablished relationships or slow burns?

what’s your NOTP when it comes to your muse?

1: mostly just getting to share all of my hopelessly romantic ideas and fantasies through my characters. And obviously getting to pair them up with existing/canon characters that I love and all that hehe.

2: I am a sucker for slow-burns, as long as they're not too slow or too burnt, hehe. I like a bit of everything, though, and I like to have an idea for an established relationship but be able to switch the timeline up a bit, so we can discuss when or where the relationship is for each interaction/ask. I already do that with @subaruwu my beloved. And I'd love to have the same interaction style with anyone who is interested in my characters!

3: it really depends on who I've interacted with, what au/fandom the oc is a part of, and what my character is like and how they would match with another character, either canon or another oc.

For Miu, someone who is overly perverted (like Laito, for example) or extremely cruel/sadistic (like Carla) would not be a good match. Azusa is a bit of a blurry line for shipping. Before I was definitely certain of Subaru and Miu being my personal canon ship for her, I thought of pairing her with Azusa(and shu, but that wasn't too big of a deal tbh). As of now, after finalizing and defining most of Miu's characteristics and background, Miu and Azusa would be very toxic if it came to my personal morals, but in certain AU's or certain routes, there's potential for them to be a good match. However, as of right now, I'd rather not have them be shipped yet.

For Momo, shipping her romantically with a cishet man(most if not all of canon dialovers boys, fanon is okay), homophobic/biphobic characters, and overly religious people are a definite no. Characters that have no sense of humour, sexual abusers/deliberately incestuous characters (like Cordelia, or in certain AUs, @fruit-of-infidelity 's Ryuuto) are also a big no. Sadistic characters or characters that are mostly dominant(like Carla, or Ayato kind of) are not good for her. Also, because Momo is like a sibling to the Mukami's, romantically shipping her with any of them is a definite no, and she's also not a good match for any of the Sakamaki's.

Saki is capable of getting with anyone, really. There a kind of few NOTPs for her. Romantically, Carla, Shu, Azusa(maybe), Laito, Kanato, Subaru, Kou, and any adult/parent in the Dialover's universe would generally be a big no. She is a switch leaning dominant, and she is a powerful vampire herself, so any super strictly dominant character would not be a good romantic match. @kindan-no-kanojo 's Rhiannon would not be a good romantic match for Saki. Maybe they could be friends/Allies, but romantically, no. Kou, Kanato, Shu, and Azusa all have their own separate reasons that you can totally ask me about whenever. Subaru is just for Miu in my head, but I think Saki and Subaru would be good friends in some AUs. Saki as a character also just doesn't like Carla that much on a personal level.

[scoopstrooptm]

okay so here is my thing about r*nance. what i honestly loathe about the way the dynamic gets treated in the fandom is about how few people actually explore the, in my opinion, REALLY interesting stuff about them — primarily that this isn't an easy relationship for anyone involved lmao. too often fanon just throws robin & nancy together without any explanation whatsoever ( in favour of exploring steve & eddie which is fine, totally cool, you do you. but honestly robin & nancy in itself as a dynamic has so much baggage and history that is textually there in the canon and by waving it all away so easily so many people just WASTE that compelling potential ). a lot of people also just assume that robin & nancy would fit together easily which, if there's anything to observe about the way they interact in s4, is simply not the case lmao. they may be friends by the end of the season, but only friends in the superficial saving the world sort of way. nancy doesn't know robin is a lesbian, nancy doesn't know that robin used to be bffs with barb ( which isn't canon to the show, i know, but is imo a really good way of actually pushing these two closer together ), nancy also arguably doesn't know she's queer herself either — and i would argue that she would have the hardest journey out of those four ( robin, eddie, steve & nancy ) towards embracing her queerness because of the way that her arc is surrounded by heteronormative relationships with steve and then jonathan. and, something easily forgotten by the fandom, but she lives in the midwest in the 80s. nancy may want to break out of the suburban trappings of her parents' relationship, but she is still arguably trapped by them despite those attempts.

but, at its core with this dynamic, you have nancy, who i love, but is not the easiest of individuals ( embrace her flaws >:(((( ) and has a lot of issues and trauma surrounding not just her romantic relationships with the boys, but also the way that barb haunts her entire narrative. you have robin, who isn't even canonically out to anyone but steve yet, and struggles to even talk to her canon crush, vickie, let alone self-reflect on the fact that she may have a crush on nancy wheeler ( which, unpopular opinion, but i don't think she does during the s4 timeline ), who is the it girl of the show but also her best friend's ex. and then you have steve, an integral third part of this dynamic that should not be ignored, who has absolutely every right to feel weird about the concept of his best friend dating his ex — the same ex who, regardless of who you feel is at fault in the breakdown of the steve & nancy dynamic, canonically broke his heart.

a fundamental truth about this dynamic is that robin will not date nancy or act upon any hypothetical feelings unless steve is okay with it, and steve is fully entitled to not feel okay about it or at least have Something to say about it ( i hate when fanon just brushes over that tbh, stop invalidating steve's feelings, especially by using girl power as an excuse, i fucking hate it ) — at least at first. this is why i fully endorse the idea that the robin / nancy / steve trio should be about robin bringing steve & nancy together to a point where the two of them can resolve their issues and work towards a friendship, as that definitely needs to happen first before robin & nancy can even begin. robin will prioritise steve over everything, to her detriment or not — i do think the fandom's hesitance to explore things that would challenge robin & steve's friendship is a shame, because as with any sort of relationship, a friendship, even one as strong as theirs, is not a fixed thing. it will bend, it will encounter struggles, it will change and mature as the two of them get older. they will always be best friends, but the way they define themselves as best friends in middle of nowhere, indiana, location of their trauma where they only have each other for support, will be entirely different to how they define themselves as best friends 20 years down the line when they are living their best lives, both in relationships, steve with kids.

but back to the point: r*nance is arguably about steve & nancy figuring out their shit first. steve has to come to terms with nancy & robin being friends first — which admittedly he already was working towards in s4, his comment to nancy that it's cool that she and robin are friends now and that they should all hang out when jonathan comes to visit was cute!! and a step in the right direction!! i hate that the show then suddenly shifted gears and started pushing romantic st*ncy. but nancy also has a part to play, since i fully believe that if she were to ditch jonathan and then immediately jump in with robin, she will just end up in the same cycle that she was in when she left steve. before robin, nancy needs some time on her own to figure some stuff out. she needs an arc equivalent to steve's in s2 and 3 where she can figure out what is actually important to her — and part of that is having a friendship with robin, another girl her own age who she can have fun with and who can help her with her barb trauma. the friendship part is vitally important!!!! only then would she be ready for another romantic relationship imo, but then that can only happen after robin comes out to her as a lesbian. and, considering that to robin's eyes, nancy is probably one of the straightest girls out there lmao, that's also not gonna be an easy thing either.

so anyway my tl;dr; about this is just. robin & nancy as a romantic pairing won't be canon anyway, but even if there was the tiniest sliver of a chance that it will happen in s5, i wouldn't want it. because there is SO MUCH that could be ruined for all three characterisations here and considering the duffers reputation for writing romantic relationships ( is there a single canon romantic relationship in this show that i am invested in ? aside from joyce & hop idk jury's out. i'm even sceptical on robin & vickie ), i don't trust that it would be handled in the right way. this dynamic is difficult!!! it challenges everyone involved!! which doesn't make it bad — it actually makes it really compelling, imo, but fanon just throwing nancy & robin together because girls or because they've paired the boys off and need something to do with the girls without any real thought given to it is just.... i'm not a fan ( it's why i'm also not the biggest fan of the fruity four as a concept, another unpopular opinion lmao ).

[nexfarious]

hi! i finished binging dq recently and i wanted to share some of my thoughts bc the brainrot it has given me is literally insane like. You dont understand. i didnt want to put this probably gigantic block of text in the ao3 comments so i figured id send it here so you can decide if you want it posted or not!

back to the topic i need to put thief in a blender (said with as much affection as possible btw). theyre soo painfully realistic and have a very unique perspective on the killing game which isnt rlly explored in fanfics so im eating it up! their talent is so cool and i cant wait to see them use it more later on. i also love how despite their paranoia and distrust they are still. Kind. Like they still reached out to ryouma and it literally saved his life!!!!! btw i think not killing him off in ch2 was a really good writing choice bc i think him dying after That scene with thief would just destroy them entirely -but on the topic of ryouma! im very glad you decided to give more spotlight to characters that werent given much of it in canon (or fanon ngl). him and tsumugi are characters that im rlly interested in but the game straight up gave them next to nothing, which i guess is very usual for danganronpa but yknow. Its still disappointing

thief and saiharas relationship makes me want to use both of them as a chew toy bc theyre so. So!!!!! im literally obsessed w them. we are still pretty early in the killing game but so many of their moments are already rotating in my mind At All Times. from the detective/criminal dynamic, to how much they care abt each other (thief obviously having a soft spot for shu despite not trusting people is soooo cute i need them gone). though that one scene in ch19 (i think?) where its said that their situation wld be considered romantic if it thief didnt have a knife at his throat is Life Changing and ive been thinking abt it so much -the contrast is just so good and the scene itself is so sad. also "Maybe this really was truly Shuichi, another side reflected to all of you, gleaming in the light like shards of a prism. Maybe you couldn’t see all of the sides right now, in this moment, but what you could see was so wonderful, spots danced in the back of your eyes." is such a beautifully written paragraph but the fact that thief thought this in the middle of a trial is so hilarious to me but i still support them. sometimes you really need to admire your Friend in a life or death situation to be able to push through. I get it

ok enough of those two. i love how you take the time to explore thief's relationships w other people as well. the break up scene between them and tsumugi had me blankly staring at my screen for good 30 seconds i think. the brief thief/ouma collab was great as well. i already mentioned ryouma but he is so dear to me head in hands.......cant wait for ch3 to physically beat the shit out of me

i have more thoughts but i also think this is too long already so ill stop it here. anyways i love your writing so much and im looking forward to more of dq! take care of yourself and have a nice day/night!

hi umm . this ask destroyed me emotionally, threw me out the window and then stole my lunch money /pos

this is genuinely so so lovely to read, i can’t believe you would take the time out of your day to come and tell me what you think of my fic,,, that’s so sweet <3

thief is my little freak whom i need to microwave at the highest temperatures. i think a lot of people should be more selfish in the killing game tbh, there’s a lot of characters who are ready to throw away everything for each other, i mean even a lot of the killers have selfless motives (kirumi, kaede) which is totally fine but!!! where my selfish bitches at where are the guys who just want to survive. despite all their paranoia though, they are a good person at heart which is something i’ve always found compelling in writing them.

WHY DIDN’T RYOMA LIVE IN CANON!!! you’re telling me a major theme of the game is overcoming yourself and pushing through despite hopelessness and then you just . kill off the other guy who’s canonically suicidal? it kinda left a bad taste in my mouth tbh. “oh you have nothing left to live for? die” i love ryoma i love mugi (obviously) and they deserve better than what the game gave them

they haven’t had much time for each other because we’re not even halfway through the game but UGH thiefhara means so much to me . thief wants to keep everyone at arm’s length but is actually way too soft to go through with it because there’s a detective with pretty eyes (which is so real btw) . i cant tell you anything about the plot but let it be known that chapter three is gonna have quite a few important moments in their relationship!!!

tbh the knife scene was something i just came up with as i was writing and thought “yeah okay that would be funny” and now people seem to love it,,, good thing i love it too

thief’s friends are so incredibly important to me btw . tsumugi who just wanted to be their friend but was rejected and has turned to angie and tenko, ryoma who still doesn’t have a reason to keep going but wants to try because there is someone who cares enough to reach out, kokichi (derogatory/with love), kaede who betrayed them in thief’s mind and still haunts them - someone who broke their trust after they went out on a line for someone, kaito whom i need thief to spend more time with because honestly he deserves more scenes

i hope chapter three slam dunks you into another dimension anon (said with so much sincerity and love), we got major canon divergence incoming ^-^

ANYWAY !!! don’t ever apologise for sending me your thoughts it’s actively encouraged and motivates me to write!! if you ever have anything more to say you are more than welcome to leave a comment or another ask i promise it makes me giggle and do a little spin in my chair of evil . hope you’re doing well too anon

[electric-friend]

fanon takes a lot of stede’s character tbh. in fairness i think it’d probably be pretty hard to get stede’s bizarre balance of insecurity and shamelessness quite right. maybe as hard as it would be to get his odd balance of manners and lack thereof right, or his weird selective/inconsistent empathy. a lot of people make stede really nice, and like… i think that’s kinda weird because he’s well-meaning, most of the time, but he’s also not actually that thoughtful, even when he wants to be nice. which often i don’t think he cares that much about, actually. stede’s first and foremost a hypocrite, i think. i love him, but when he says talk it through, he not only doesn’t do that himself but also, except when it comes to ed, doesn’t really have any interest in listening to anyone who wants to talk about their feelings. he also has a lot of confidence that seems to come from naïveté and lack of social awareness but he’s also like deeply internally insecure and they’re kinda a confusing mix sometimes. he’s also batshit insane lmao. like izzy said no to rhino horn but you know who would’ve said yes? stede bonnet, without hesitation.

like, i can ABSOLUTELY see stede being a bit shy or uncertain when it comes to sex because it’s Very intimate and i imagine mary didn’t really like his performance, so he might be a little bit anxious he’s not very good at it? or if he had some weird interests he might be a little embarrassed of them? i don’t think stede is entirely without shame and embarrassment. though most of that seems trauma-related. but i do think that once he was a little more comfortable with it, he’d be a lot more exploratory. him and ed would be getting up to the weirdest kinks and hijinks. he’d be excited to try all sorts of positions and sex acts, shamelessly. the thing is, i can totally see stede being insecure about sex, but i also think it makes a lot of sense for him to approach it with the same shameless curiosity as he approaches piracy in general? it’s just that… this is a lot more emotionally intimate for him than that, i think. so like he totally might be a little nervous about it. he also might simply not be. but you know… anything would be fair game. probably.

but also like yeah what is up with making stede really polite and everything? he’s absolutely not. he’s a bitch, actually? he’s not his own masking techniques lmao

Honestly probably my number one pet peeves when it comes to how Stede is written and characterized in fics are when he's written like he's some innocent baby who doesn't know what sex is and would never say a swear.

And part of that ties into how he's written a lot like a sanded-down Aziraphale so often, just this sort of generic posh British voice. But Stede's voice is so much closer to Ed's than it is to that; if he stubs his toe he's more likely to say "oh shit" than "good heavens," y'know? Mr. Oh-Fuuuhuuuuck-Off!! over here is not shy about cursing.

Like, yeah, I'll buy that Stede has never had mutually enjoyable sex before. But when has lack of experience ever stopped this man before? You KNOW he's going up to Ed with all his little sexy ideas like "you ever tried fisting? Do you want to?" and Ed's just along for the ride. And if Ed approaches him about some kink he's never heard of before, Stede's reaction isn't going to be scandalized, it's going to be "oh, is that something you'd like to try? No time like the present :D"

I get so sad whenever fanon makes my guy into someone that doesn't fuck. He fucks. Let him fuck 😞

[army-of-mai-lovers]

in which I get progressively angrier at the various tropes of atla fandom misogyny

tbh I think it would serve all of us to have a larger conversation about the specific ways misogyny manifests in this fandom, because I’ve seen a lot of people who characterize themselves as feminists, many of whom are women themselves, discuss the female characters of atla/lok in misogynistic ways, and people don’t talk about it enough. 

disclaimer before I start: I’m not a woman, I’m an afab nonbinary person who is semi-closeted and thus often read as a woman. I’m speaking to things that I’ve seen that have made me uncomfy, but if any women (esp women existing along other axes of oppression, e.g. trans women, women of color, disabled women, etc) want to add onto this post, please do!

“This female character is a total badass but I’m not even a little bit interested in exploring her as a human being.” 

I’ve seen a lot of people say of various female characters in atla/lok, “I love her! She’s such a badass!” now, this statement on its own isn’t misogynistic, but it represents a pretty pervasive form of misogyny that I’ve seen leveled in large part toward the canon female love interests of one or both of the members of a popular gay ship (*cough* zukka *cough*) I’m going to use Suki as an example of this because I see it with her most often, but it can honestly be applied to nearly every female character in atla/lok. Basically, people will say that they stan Suki, but when it comes time to engage with her as an actual character, they refuse to do it. I’ve seen meta after meta about Zuko’s redemption arc, but I so rarely see people engage with Suki on any level beyond “look at this cool fight scene!” and yeah, I love a cool Suki fight scene as much as anybody else, but I’m also interested in meta and headcanons and fics about who she is as a person, when she isn’t an accessory to Sokka’s development or doing something cool. of course, the material for this kind of engagement with Suki is scant considering she doesn’t have a canon backstory (yet) (don’t let me down Faith Erin Hicks counting on you girl) but with the way I’ve seen people in this fandom expand upon canon to flesh out male characters, I know y’all have it in you to do more with Suki, and with all the female characters, than you currently do. frankly, the most engagement I’ve seen with Suki in mainstream fandom is justifying either zukki (which again, is characterizing her in relation to male characters, one of whom she barely interacts with in canon) or one of the Suki wlw pairings. which brings me to--

“I conveniently ship this female character whose canon love interest is one of the members of my favorite non-canon ship with another female character! gay rights!” 

now, I will admit, two of my favorite atla ships are yueki and mailee, and so I totally understand being interested in these characters’ dynamics, even if, as is the case with yueki, they’ve never interacted canonically. however, it becomes a problem for me when these ships are always in the background of a zukka fic. at some point, it becomes obvious that you like this ship because it gets either Zuko or Sokka’s female love interests out of the way, not because you actually think the characters would mesh well together. It’s bad form to dislike a female character because she gets in the way of your gay ship, so instead, you find another girl to pair her off with and call it a day. to be clear, I’m not saying that everybody who ships either mailee or yueki (or tysuki or maisuki or yumai or whatever other wlw rarepair involving Zuko or Sokka’s canon love interests) is nefariously trying to sideline a female character while acting publicly as if she’s is one of their faves--far from it--but it is noteworthy to me how difficult it is to find content that centers wlw ships, while it’s incredibly easy to find content that centers zukka in which mailee and/or yueki plays a background role. 

also, notice how little traction wlw Katara ships gain in this fandom. when’s the last time you saw yuetara on your dash? there’s no reason for wlw Katara ships to gain traction in a fandom that is so focused on Zuko and Sokka getting together, bc she doesn’t present an immediate obstacle to that goal (at least, not an obstacle that can be overcome by pairing her up with a woman). if you are primarily interested in Zuko and Sokka’s relationship, and your queer readings of other female characters are motivated by a desire to get them out of the way for zukka, then Katara’s canon m/f relationship isn’t a threat to you, and thus, there’s no reason to read her as potentially queer. Or even, really, to think about her at all. 

“Katara’s here but she’s not actually going to do anything, because deep down, I’m not interested in her as a person.” 

the show has an enormous amount of textual evidence to support the claim that Sokka and Katara are integral parts of each other’s lives. so, she typically makes some kind of appearance in zukka content. sometimes, her presence in the story is as an actual character with layers and nuance, someone whom Sokka cares about and who cares about Sokka in return, but also has her own life and goals outside of her brother (or other male characters, for that matter.) sometimes, however, she’s just there because halfway through writing the author remembered that Sokka actually has a sister who’s a huge part of the show they’re writing fanfiction for, and then they proceed to show her having a meetcute with Aang or helping Sokka through an emotional problem, without expressing wants or desires outside of those characters. I’m honestly really surprised that I haven’t seen more people calling out the fact that so much of Katara’s personality in fanon revolves around her connections to men? she’s Aang’s girlfriend, she’s Sokka’s sister, she’s Zuko’s bestie. never mind that in canon she spends an enormous amount of time fighting against (anachronistic, Westernized) sexism to establish herself as a person in her own right, outside of these connections. and that in canon she has such interesting complex relationships with other female characters (e.g. Toph, Kanna, Hama, Korra if you want to write lok content) or that there are a plethora of characters with whom she could have interesting relationships with in fanon (Mai, Suki, Ty Lee, Yue, Smellerbee, and if you want to write lok content, Kya II, Lin, Asami, Senna, etc). to me, the lack of fandom material exploring Katara’s relationships with other women or with herself speak to a profound indifference to Katara as a character. I’m not saying you have to like Katara or include her in everything you write, but I am asking you to consider why you don’t find her interesting outside of her relationships with men.

“I hate Katara because she talks about her mother dying too often.” 

this is something I’ve seen addressed by people far more qualified than I to address it, but I want to mention it here in part because when I asked people which fandom tropes they wanted me to talk about, this came up often, but also because I find it really disgusting that this is a thing that needs to be addressed at all. Y’all see a little girl who watched her mother be killed by the forces of an imperialist nation and say that she talks about it too much??? That is a formational, foundational event in a child’s life. Of course she’s going to talk about it. I’ve seen people say that she doesn’t talk about it that often, or that she only talks about it to connect with other victims of fn imperialism e.g. Jet and Haru, but frankly, she could speak about it every episode for no plot-significant reason whatsoever and I would still be angry to see people say she talks about it too much. And before you even bring up the Sokka comparison, people deal with grief in different ways. Sokka  repressed a lot of his grief/channeled it into being the “man” of his village because he knew that they would come for Katara next if he gave them the opportunity. he probably would talk about his mother more if a) he didn’t feel massive guilt at not being able to remember what she looked like, and b) he was allowed to be a child processing the loss of his mother instead of having to become a tiny adult when Hakoda had to leave to help fight the fn. And this gets into an intersection with fandom racism, in that white fans (esp white American fans) are incapable of relating to the structural trauma that both Sokka and Katara experience and thus can’t see the ways in which structural trauma colors every single aspect of both of their characters, leading them to flatten nuance and to have some really bad takes. And you know what, speaking of bad fandom takes--   

“Shitting on Mai because she gets in the way of my favorite Zuko ship is actually totally okay because she’s ~abusive~” 

y’all WHAT. 

ok listen, I get not liking maiko. I didn’t like it when I first got into fandom, and later I realized that while bryke cannot write romance to save their lives, fans who like maiko sure can, so I changed my tune. but if you still don’t like it, that’s fine. no skin off my back. 

what IS skin off my back is taking instances in which Mai had justified anger toward Zuko, and turning it into “Mai abused Zuko.” do you not realize how ridiculous you sound? this is another thing where I get so angry about it that I don’t know how useful my analysis is actually going to be, but I’ll do my best. numerous people have noted how analysis of Mai and Zuko’s breakup in “The Beach” or Mai being justifiably angry with him at Boiling Rock or her asking for FUCKING FRUIT in “Nightmares and Daydreams” that says that all of these events were her trying to gain control over him is....ahhh...lacking in reading comprehension, but I’d like to go a step further and talk about why y’all are so intent on taking down a girl who doesn’t show emotion in normative ways. obviously, there’s a “Zuko can do no wrong” aspect to Mai criticism (which is super weird considering how his whole arc is about how he can do lots of wrong and he has to atone for the wrong that he’s done--but that’s a separate post.) But I also see slandering Mai for not expressing her emotions normatively and not putting up with Zuko’s shit and slandering Katara for “talking about her mother too often” as two sides of the same coin. In both cases, a female character expresses emotions that make you, the viewer, uncomfortable, and so instead of attempting to understand where those emotions may have come from and why they might be manifesting the way they are, y’all just throw the whole character away. this is another instance of people in the fandom being fundamentally disinterested in engaging with the female characters of atla in a real way, except instead of shallowly “stanning” Mai, y’all hate her. so we get to this point where female characters are flattened into one of two things: perfect queens who can do no wrong, or bitches. and that’s not who they are. that’s not who anyone is. but while we as a fandom are pretty good at understanding b1 Zuko’s actions as layered and multifaceted even though he’s essentially an asshole then, few are willing to lend the same grace to any female character, least of all Mai. 

and what’s funny is sometimes this trope will intersect with “I conveniently ship this female character whose canon love interest is one of the members of my favorite non-canon ship with another female character! gay rights!”, so you’ll have someone actively calling Mai toxic/problematic/abusive, and at the same time ship her with Ty Lee? make it make sense! but then again, maybe that’s happening because y’all are fundamentally disinterested in Ty Lee as a character too. 

“I love Ty Lee so much that I’m going to treat her like an infantilized hypersexual airhead!” 

there are so many things happening in y’alls characterization of Ty Lee that I struggled to synthesize it into one quippy section header. on one hand, you have the hypersexualization, and on the other hand, you have the infantilization, which just makes the hypersexualization that much worse. 

(of course, sexualizing or hypersexualizing ANY atla character is really not the move, considering that these are child characters in a children’s show, but then again, that’s a separate post.) 

now, I understand how, from a very, very surface reading of the text, you could come to the conclusion that Ty Lee is an uncomplicated bimbo. if you grew up on Western media the way I did, you’ll know that Ty Lee has a lot of the character traits we associate with bimbos: the form-fitting pink crop top, the general conventional attractiveness, the ditzy dialogue. but if you think about it for more than three seconds, you’ll understand that Ty Lee has spent her whole life walking a tightrope, trying to please Azula and the rest of the royal family while also staying true to herself. Ty Lee and Azula’s relationship is a really complex and interesting topic that I don’t really have time to explore at the moment given how long this post is, but I’d argue that Ty Lee’s constant, vocal  adulation is at least partially a product of learning to survive at court at an early age. Like Mai, she has been forced to regulate her emotions as a member of fn nobility, but unlike Mai, she also has six sisters who look exactly like her, so she has a motivation to be more peppy and more affectionate to stand out. 

fandom does not do the work to understand Ty Lee. as is a theme with this post, fandom is actively disinterested in investigating female characters beyond a very surface level reading of them. Thus, fandom takes Ty Lee’s surface level qualities--her love of the color pink, her revealing standard outfit, and the fact that once she found a boy attractive and also once a lot of boys found her attractive--and they stretch this into “Ty Lee is basically Karen Smith from Mean Girls.” thus, Ty Lee is painted as a bimbo, or more specifically, as not smart, uncritically adoring of Azula (did y’all forget all the non-zukka bits of Boiling Rock?), and attractive to the point of hypersexualization. I saw somebody make a post that was like “I wish mailee was more popular but I’m also glad it isn’t because otherwise people would write it as Mai having to put up with her dumb gf” and honestly I have to agree!! this is one instance in which I’m glad that fandom doesn’t discuss one of my favorite characters that often because I hate the fanon interpretation of Ty Lee, I think it’s rooted in misogyny (particularly misogyny against East Asian women, which often takes the form of fetishizing them and viewing them only through a Western white male gaze)  

(side note: here at army-of-mai-lovers, we stan bimbos. bimbos are fucking awesome. I personally don’t read Ty Lee as a bimbo, but if that’s you, that’s fucking awesome. keep doing what you’re doing, queen <3 or king or monarch, it’s 2021, anyone can be a bimbo, bitches <3)

“Toph can and will destroy everyone here with her bare hands because she’s a meathead who likes to murder people and that’s it!”  

Toph is, and always has been, one of my favorite ATLA characters. My very first fic in fandom was about her, and she appears prominently in a lot of my other work as well. One thing that I am always struck by with Toph is how big a heart she has. She’s independent, yes, snarky, yes, but she cares about people--even the family that forced her to make herself smaller because they didn’t believe that their blind daughter could be powerful and strong. Her storyline is powerful and emotionally resonant, her bending is cool precisely because it’s based in a “wait and listen” approach instead of just smashing things indiscriminately, she’s great disabled rep, and overall one of the best characters in the show. 

And in fandom, she gets flattened into “snarky murder child.” 

So where does this come from? Well, as we all know, Toph was originally conceived of as a male character, and retained a lot of androgyny (or as the kids call it, Gender) when she was rewritten as a female character. There are a lot of cultural ideas about androgynous/butch women being violent, and people in fandom seem to connect that larger cultural narrative with some of Toph’s more violent moments in the show to create the meathead murder child trope, erasing her canon emotionality, softness, heart, and femininity in the process. 

This is not to say that you shouldn’t write or characterize Toph as being violent or snarky at all ever, because yeah, Toph definitely did do Earth Rumbles a lot before joining the gaang, and yeah, Toph is definitely a sarcastic person who makes fun of her friends a lot. What I am saying is that people take these traits, sans the emotional logic, marry them to their conception of androgynous/butch women as violent/unemotional/uncaring, and thus create a caricature of Toph that is not at all up to snuff. When I see Toph as a side character in a fic (because yeah, Toph never gets to be a main character, because why would a fandom obsessed with one male character in particular ever make Toph a protagonist in her own right?) she’s making fun of people, killing people, pranking people, etc, etc. She’s never talking to people about her emotions, or palling around with her found family, or showing that she cares about her friends. Everything about her relationship with her parents, her disability, her relationship to Gender, and her love of her friends is shoved aside to focus on a version of Toph that is mean and uncaring because people have gotten it into their heads that androgynous/butch women are mean and uncaring. 

again, we see a female character who does not emote normatively or in a way that makes you, the viewer, comfortable, and so you warp her character until she’s completely unrecognizable and flat. and for what? 

Azula

no, I didn’t come up with a snappy name for this section, mainly because fanon interpretations of Azula and my own feelings toward the character are...complicated. I know there were some people who wanted me to write about Azula and the intersection of misogyny and ableism in fanon interpretations of her character, but I don’t think I can deliver on that because I personally am in a period of transition with how I see Azula. that is to say, while I still like her and believe that she can be redeemed, there is a lot of merit to disliking her. the whole point of this post is that the female characters of ATLA are complex people whom the fandom flattens into stereotypes that don’t hold up to scrutiny, or dislike for reasons that don’t make sense. Azula, however, is a different case. the rise of Azula defenders and Azula stans has led to this sentiment that Azula is a 14 y/o abuse victim who shouldn’t be held accountable for her actions. it seems to me that people are reacting to a long, horrible legacy of male ATLA fans armchair diagnosing Azula with various personality disorders (and suggesting that people with those personality disorders are inherently monstrous and unlovable which ahhhh....yikes) and then saying that those personality disorders make her unlovable, which is quite obviously bad. and hey, I get loving a character that everyone else hates and maybe getting so swept up in that love that you forget that your fave is complicated and has made some unsavory choices. it sucks that fanon takes these well-written, complex villains/antiheroes and turns them into monsters with no critical thought whatsoever. but the attitude among Azula stans that her redemption shouldn’t be hard, that her being a child excuses all of the bad things that she’s done, that she is owed redemption....all of that rubs me the wrong way. I might make another post about this in the future that discusses this in more depth, but as it stands now: while I understand that there is a legacy of misogynistic, ableist, unnuanced takes on Azula, the backlash to that does not take into account the people she hurt or the fact that in ATLA she does not make the choice to pursue redemption. and yes, Zuko had help in making that choice that Azula didn’t, and yes, Azula is a victim of abuse, but in a show about children who have gone through untold horrors and still work to better the lives of the people around them, that is not enough for me to uncritically stan her. 

Conclusion    

misogyny in this fandom runs rampant. while there are some tropes of fandom misogyny that are well-documented and have been debunked numerous times, there are other, subtler forms of misogyny that as far as I know have gone completely unchecked. 

what I find so interesting about misogyny in atla fandom is that it’s clear that it’s perpetrated by people who are aware of fandom misogyny who are actively trying not to be misogynistic. when I first joined atla fandom last summer, memes about how zukka fandom was better than every other fandom because they didn’t hate the female characters who got in the way of their gay ship were extremely prevalent, and there was this sense that *this* fandom was going to model respectful, fun, feminist online fandom. not all of the topes I’ve outlined are exclusive to or even largely utilized in zukka fandom, but a lot of them are. I’ve been in and out of fandom since I was eleven years old, and most of the fandom spaces I’ve been in have been majority-female, and all of them have been incredibly misogynistic. and I always want to know why. why, in these communities created in large part by women, in large part for women, does misogyny run wild? what I realize now is that there’s never going to be a one-size fits all answer to that question. what’s true for 1D fandom on Wattpad in 2012 is absolutely not true for atla fandom on tumblr in 2021. the answers that I’ve cobbled together for previous fandoms don’t work here. 

so, why is atla fandom like this? why did the dream of a feminist fandom almost entirely focused on the romantic relationship between two male characters fall apart? honestly, I think the notion that zukka fandom ever was this way was horrifically ignorant to begin with. from my very first moment in the fandom, I was seeing racism, widespread sexualization of minors, and yes, misogyny. these aspects of the fandom weren’t talked about as much as the crocverse or other, much more fun aspects. further, atla (specifically zukka) fandom misogyny often doesn’t look like the fandom misogyny we’ve become familiar with from like, Sherlock fandom or what have you. for the most part, people don’t actively hate Suki, they just “stan” without actually caring about her. they hate Mai because they believe in treating male victims of abuse equally. they’re not characterizing Toph poorly, they’re writing her as a “strong woman.” in short, people are misogynistic, and then invoke a shallow, incomplete interpretation of feminist theory to shield themselves from accusations of misogyny. it’s not unlike the way some people will invoke a shallow, incomplete interpretation of critical race theory to shield themselves from accusations of racism, or how they’ll talk about “freedom of speech” and “the suppression of women’s sexuality” to justify sexualizing minors. the performance of feminism and antiracism is what’s important, not the actual practice. 

if you’ve made it this far, first off, hi, thanks so much for reading, I know this was a lot. second, I would seriously encourage you to be aware of these fandom tropes and to call them out when you see them. elevate the voices of fans who do the work of bringing the female characters of atla to life. invest in the wlw ships in this fandom. drop a kudos and a comment on a rangshi fic (please, drop a kudos and a comment on a rangshi fic). read some yuetara. let’s all be honest about where we are now, and try to do better in the future. I believe in us. 

[captainsway]

Star Wars fandom has a tendency to spread misunderstandings about Mandalorians to prop them up. It's getting old.

As a POC, I'm also confused by all the people going around claiming how diverse Mandalorians were when a vast majority of them in canon and legends were white, like what sources are they even checking?

Its their own headcanons. They see temuera as jango and the fact that Karen traviss appropriated maōri culture from tem to give to her (very often, like 100%, when they weren't jangoclones) white mandos and go 'my canon now' and try to add more poc to the mandalorians. The problem is that it's 1) not actually canon anywhere as of yet since 99% of mandos are still white and yes that includes death watch and most likely the true mandos, and 2) it's still playing into the 'poc are martial warriors' bullshit. Like you never see them racebend the new mandos but the other factions always get poc to ~diversify~ even tho more pacifists in history have been poc and it would be a much more interesting narrative lmao.

Like idk how they can see the fact that Ursa wren was the only poc in death watch and think 'ah yes the terrorists who oppose peace and want constant war and also an empire back are so diverse' and believe that to be a good thing?? Hell, even sabine in rebels opposed her designs being used for killing innocents, she trained under a jedi and adopted their views and beliefs, and only gave bo-katan the dark saber when she *admitted* satine was right to want peace. Like you can have poc who oppose violence, embrace pacifism, and don't??? Have an empire lmao????

Part of it is I believe also a power fantasy where the empire is run by poc? Or trying to equate mandos to indigenous people because of tem? And it's like.... this shit is just perpetuating violent stereotypes about poc, especially the maōri people who were stereotyped as violent, war like people lmao by the brits. And tbh it's super tiring that mandostans consistently use these head canons about the mandos to 1) glorify a jango led empire, and 2) bash the jedi for the exact same shit they love the mandos doing??? 'Oh nooo this padawan went to war when they were 14 but also our kids are trained as soldiers and can go to war at 14 bc technically they're adults uwu we are the better parents' and 'jedi steal kids from their biological families and disrupt the family life! We will steal their kids and give them loving families because it's totally not the same thing' lmaooo like make up your minds and stop bashing the jedi for shit you made up for a head canon you also made up LOL also please stop getting mad when people tell you that your head canons are just fanon lmao like they literally have no basis in canon and you don't need to be mad about it

[wri0thesley]

I found your work through jjk and just now after finishing part 5 of jjba I found out you post a lot of jojo stuff so I’ve been binge reading your content

Tbh, can I get your opinion on Melone? I know a lot of people are uncomfortable about him and I’m not a huge fan of his canon but the fanon content ??? He’s kind of adorable and I already know I’m down bad for guys who are into astrology and stuff or even psychology/studying humans in general they make me so soft I’m like omg .. can you analyse me ??? Here’s my whole birth chart sir please please please tell me we’re compatible I will go insane

Also Abbacchio and Doppio <33 I loved this part so much and now I’m out of media to consume and I’m so upset why did I have to hyperfixate on it right before I finished the finale, so now it’s taken over my every thought and if you feel like rambling about your faves I would read it because I’m desperate for other peoples hcs to add to my folder of brainrot daydream ideas

hello anon! i used to be a solely jojo blog so there is a LOT of jojo content to backread, people don't talk to me or request it quite as much from me these days ( :( ) but i still love it deeply and think of it a lot! <3

melone is one of the middling members of la squadra for me! i have no intense feelings about him really, i do enjoy writing him because his personality is so different from a lot of the other members (analytical but terribly forward); if you've only watched the anime, he's definitely a lot more lecherous in that then he's portrayed in the manga! i totally understand why people are uncomfortable about him; i'm one of those people who doesn't necessarily interpret what he does as rape in the 'traditional' sense, but he's still absolutely predatory and creepy in a sexual way (and it's definitely a metaphorical rape!). he's still a super interesting character to explore! i've posted before about my own thoughts/headcanons on his childhood and backstory here!

abbacchio is one of my fave jojo guys! i'm more of a diavolo person than a doppio person but he's also a very good choice fgbnjkfjnkg. please feel free to come drop in my inbox and talk about jojo at any time! <3

[amporella]

tumblr ate my ask but i wanted to say thanks for answering! i am also a fan of tall, soft, jock stan and didn't know people hate that. he literally owns two football lamps and john elway/denver broncos stuff in his room? how is he not a jock?? tbh i miss the era when that was more common in fanon versus the emo/goth stan these days

UGH YOU ARE SO RIGHT ANON... He is canonically a jock and I have no idea how people overlook it. He does have a variety of interests, but you could make a really solid case in that sports IS his main interest - it comes up equally as often as music does for him (and more than board games do). You don't realize how many times Stan makes a reference to John Elway or is shown with football themed merchandise per season until you start listening for it.

I find it really incredible how people will shame jock Stan relentlessly but worship emo/goth Stan, despite the fact that emo/goth Stan is far more of an overexaggeration of one aspect of his character than jock Stan is - Stan has been shown to be both very good at sports and very interested in them throughout the entirety of the show, and goth/emo Stan existed for one episode before never being called back to again. Also, it's okay to acknowledge Stan's depression in Ass Burgers and still make him a jock. Depressed people can have interests other than wearing black and listening to sad music. Stan can still be a sporty, athletic person while still holding true to that aspect of his character. I have nothing but respect for people who love goth/emo Stan (as long as they return the favor!) but I think the false connection people make between depressed Stan and goth/emo Stan makes him more popular than he otherwise would be.

Anyway, you're totally right. I love jock Stan. I think that trope fits him absolutely perfectly, and I find it really hard to imagine him without a passionate interest in football (or just sports in general!). I'm on Twitter now for those of you who don't know, and I have quite literally seen takes stating that Stan would never play a sport, lol. And if that's your headcanon when he's older, go for it! But the vitriol towards people who do like to imagine him as tall and jocky is so unnecessary. Not to mention that tall, jocky Stan has become a fandom rarity - it's not often that I'll come across an art piece or a fic that explicitly specifies his interest in football or depicts him as taller than Kyle, so it's hard for me to understand what the issue is? These ~15 people I've seen so far between Tumblr and Twitter that like their tall, jocky Stan aren't hurting anyone. People have gotten far too comfortable with being cruel to the faces of people they can't see!

Thank you for the ask, anon <3 I hope you're blessed with plenty of soft jock Stan content in your future.

[ngscoffeecupcommentary]

KHR - Chapter 1: The guy from Italy

Very first page and I already have questions that can only occur in retrospect.

Aside from laughing at the juxtaposition of a cutesy Reborn in this serious-looking setting :p, if I'm remembering right Tsuna's existence was supposed to be a secret? Am I mixing up fanon and canon? The two randos seem to know all about him and what Reborn taking a mission to Japan means. As though Tsuna is widely known and considered to be in the running for the position (without his knowledge of course). Interesting. Me mixing up fanon and canon? Retcon? Who knows :p Does it matter? Nope. Empathizing with Tsuna straight of the bat, 'lost because of him', yeah right, what a joke. There's no way that one player is that detrimental, especially if he's that disliked - they wouldn't put him in an important position. (granted the other team would totally aim for him, but that's on them lol) With the time Tsuna has at school and only a one-sided, distant crush to keep him afloat I don't blame him for skipping. 'If you keep skipping school...how do you expect to succeed in life?'  'I dunno…' Tsuna being relatable. Nana, in this economy school won't help him much lol - also bold talk from her, maybe Tsuna will marry rich like you? Tbh, her 'enjoy life' speech is cute - I like this early Nana, she seems more mischievous than the space-cadet we come to know her as later on - this one also seems to tease Tsuna more kindly...so far. Reborn just shows up, knocks Tsuna out (when he naturally freaks out at a strange child appearing in the room) and then assumedly talks to Nana whose child's just been beaten unconscious in front of her...and it goes...well? Nana…. Tsuna of course thinks he dreamed it up, who wouldn't. Treats the whole situation with natural disbelief. I don't blame Kyoko, hearing a toddler say he's in the mafia would be cute if it were an actual child. Reborn passing judgement on teen crushes really shows his age. All teen drama is probably so tiring to him. Omg, the slow motion panels and 'Reborn!' so dramatic and fun :D (interesting that he says it in english - but that's for the pun) Omg, I forgot the guy on the scooter and Tsuna falling through the trees...so when he asks Kyoko to be his girlfriend he's not only in his underwear, but he fell out of a tree, on top of Mochida and is covered in food, twigs, leaves and blood. Of course she ran away. I'm amazed she recognized him. Too bad they didn't keep 'sneezing out a bullet' throughout the manga, but understandable given the switch from comedy into more serious plot. (would have still been funny) How and why does Reborn have photos of Vongola Heirs' gruesome deaths? (the 'how' is probably Viper) 'The only one left is you' he says like a liar. 'Retired early' is that what they call it? Oof, poor Tsuna and Kyoko, this class is a true trial, peak school drama where people want to see a show. Tho it seems like it was Mochida who blabbed, Kyoko stayed mum? Their schoolmates sure are making a procession of it all, Kyoko looks super uncomfortable. 'God might forgive scum like you, but I Mochida will mot! I will punish you!' So dramatic. Some chuunibyou samurai fantasies there hm? Hm? Hana sure flipped a switch from 'boys have their own way of doing things' to 'pig' fast, granted he just called Kyoko a prize - shouted it publically at that - so understandable. This is the beginnings of our familiar harsh Hana. Kyoko has to be held back from attacking Mochida like a true Sasegawa. Wish she kept more of that fighting spirit later on, would have loved to see that AU (fanfic is there to save me!). Mochida has that superiority-inferiority complex - he's a Kendo captain, he shouldn't have to rig anything. The very fact that the competition is a kendo match on his turn with his team is already stacking the deck. How dramatic of him to over-plan lol, is he that threatened by Tusna? Tsuna escapes, of course. And, naturally, Reborn finds him to shoot him. Some of these panels make it seem like Tsuna is leaving his body behind Bleach style. Wow, Tsuna actually broke the shinai with his head and still head-butted Mochida - this is small potatoes in comparison to later arcs, but still, I'm loving it. Rips out his hair and roars '100 points!' (there's actually blood splatter in the panel) silence and then the school body is in stitches, Tsuna turns their expected show around. Really brings to mind 'Teenagers' by MCR 'they could care less as long as someone will bleed' XD Unfortunately for Mochida it took all of his hair to be worth one point. Lol Tusna, of course Kyoko thinks it was a joke - who wouldn't think you did it on a dare or for a bet or prank? With the way he looked he should be happy that's all she thought. Tsuna's grateful for Reborn's version of help for the first time and Reborn is smug...after that dramatic and cool close to a chapter we ofc need a a fun disaster ending so that's what we get because this is a comedy still <3

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Vol.1  . ch1 . ch2 . ch3 . ch4 . ch5 . ch6 . ch7 .  

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