#we as a fandom need to talk about that music video more often it's so stupid but also amazing at the same time

[wiredalienvampire]

ive been thinking about the rayman sex bomb reanimated collab and it makes me wish that oddworld was more popular because i want there to be a use ur imagination reanimated collab.

I wanna see a popular Twitter animator lovingly animate munch break dancing to the most aggressively 2000s song known to man!!! I'd be willing to sell a kidney to see something like that!!

[letteredlettered]

feedback and fic in fandom (3 f's of our own)

This conversation about feedback on fic says everything I’ve been wanting to say better than I could say it. But I’ll go ahead and try anyway.

Over the last five years or so there have been some great discussions around the rise of commodification of fanworks and decline of fandom community. This commodification looks a bit like enshittification of the internet: a cool site exists; its popularity makes someone realize they can get money from it; it has more and more ads; the site adds features to drive engagement, including The Algorithm; the things that made the site cool start to fall away. The site exists now as a vehicle purely to get clicks, and the people on it are on it solely to get clicks—to make money, to be successful, for some kind of social cachet.

AO3 doesn’t have advertisements. It’s not making money. But what is happening to fandom is proof of concept that enshittification changes the way we as humans engage. A cool website in 2004 was often a community space where you could meet people, have conversations, find cool things, and make cool things. A cool website in 2024 is either a content farm that will continually feed you enough content to hold your attention, or a social media site where your participation will come with stats to show you whether you are holding the attention of others.

AO3 wasn’t built to be a community space. It doesn’t have great functions for meeting people and having conversations. The idea was that, because fandom community spaces already existed, AO3 would serve the part of that community where you can find the cool things and store the cool things you made. It was meant to be a library in a city, not the whole city itself.

But it was also never meant to be a website in 2024, a content farm constantly generating content solely for your clicks and eyeballs and ad revenue, or a social media site where the content creators themselves vie for your clicks and eyeballs.

The most common talking point when people discuss the enshittification of fandom is the folks out there who are treating AO3 as that first kind of enshittified website: the content farm. This discussion is about how people treat fanfic as a product for consumption.

The post that kicked off the discussion on @sitp-recs’s blog was about someone who wasn’t getting very many kudos or comments on their fic, and was feeling pretty demoralized about it, then joined a discord server and found an entire channel dedicated to people loving their fic. But those on that server had never come to share that love with the author, which the author found really discouraging.

There are more and more stories like this. Someone on tiktok pulls a quote from a fic on AO3 and makes a 10-second video with them staring at a wall, the quote pasted at the bottom, music playing over it. It has 100,000 hearts, and 100 comments with people gushing over the fic, which has 80 kudos on AO3. Overall, people notice more and more hits on their fics, but fewer and fewer comments or even kudos. Fewer and fewer people seem to feel the need to interact with the author, instead treating the fic like a product to be used and discarded—which the enshittified internet (a stunning feature of late-stage capitalism!) encourages. The fandom community is dying, these stories conclude.

I agree. 100%. Both of the stories above have happened to me—viral tiktoks about my fic, secret discord channels to follow and discuss my fic—and let me tell you, it fucking sucks.

But from these observations about fandom enshittification, the discussion continues in a very odd direction. The solution to the death of fandom community is our favorite enshittification buzzword: engagement. We should engage the authors. They’re producing these products for free. We consume them at no cost. We must demonstrate our gratitude by paying them back.

It’s as though the capitalist consumption that the enshittified web encourages is so ingrained within us that we must think in terms of payment, in terms of exchange, transaction. Or as though, by forgoing payment, authors are some kind of martyrs defying capitalism, and the only way to honor their great sacrifice is comments and kudos.

Indeed, the discourse around this sometimes does veer away from capitalist rhetoric into something that smells almost religious in desperation. Authors are gods who bestow us mere mortals with the fruits of their labor benevolently, through love; the least we can do is worship them. Meanwhile the authors adopt the groveling sentiment of starving artists: I produce great art; I only humbly ask that you feed me in return.

These kinds of entreaties make my skin crawl for a number of reasons. I’m not a god. I’m not writing because I love you. I don’t expect your worship or even your praise.

I think the thing that disturbs me the most about it is that it suggests that authors (or, if the OP is feeling generous fan work creators) are the most important people in fandom. I’ve even seen posts stating that without creators, fandom wouldn’t exist—as though readers aren’t just as important. As though conversations where people discuss characterizations and plot points and randomly spin out interpretations and ideas and thoughts related to canon are meaningless. I’ve even seen people scramble to include folks having these discussions as “creators,” as though realizing that these people are necessary and integral to fandom communities but unable to drop the idea that the producers are the ones who are important. As though that person who just lurks can never count.

Is this what community is? When you join the queer community, are you expected to produce a product of your queerness? If not, must you actively participate and give back to the queer community in order to be considered a part of it? Or is it enough that you are queer, that you exist as a queer person and want to be around others who are queer, you want to be a part of something? What is community, anyway?

The problem with people raising the authors above everyone else in the community and demanding that tribute be paid is that they are decrying the “content farm” style of 2024 website out of one side of their mouth, but out of the other side are instead demanding that AO3 become a 2024-style social media website. Authors are influencers. “Engagement” and clicks are the things that really matter. They are in fact suggesting that the way to solve the commodification of fanfic is by “paying authors back” with stats.

Before anyone comes at me with the idea that comments aren’t just “stats,” I will clarify what I mean. There are literally hundreds of posts on tumblr alone claiming that any comment “helps” the author. Someone replies that they are shy to comment. Someone else replies that incoherent keyboard smashes, a single emoji, or the comment “kudos” are all that is required to satisfy the author, all that is required as tribute—all that is required as payment to keep this economy healthy.

I’m not condemning the comments that are keyboard smashes or emojis or a single kind word. I receive them. They make me happy. If anyone wants to leave such a comment on my fics, I’m really grateful for it. But this is not community-building. This is a transaction. In @yiiiiiiiikes25’s excellent response in the post linked at the beginning, they point out that “you have a cool hat” is something that is “perfectly nice” to hear from someone—and it is! We all want to be told we have a cool hat! But as they go on to say, what builds community is interactions that are deep and specific, interactions that are rich in quality, not in quantity. A kudos or a comment that says only ❤️are lovely things to receive, but they don’t build community.

My reaction, when I see people begging for kudos and comments as the only means by which to keep fandom community alive, is very close to @eleadore's. I want to say, “No. Readers do not need to comment or kudos. Believe not these hucksters who claim to know the appropriate method of fandom participation. Participate as you feel able, or not at all; nothing is required of you.”

I’ve been told before (several times) that I’m not qualified to participate in such discussions because I am an established author who has some fics with very high stats. It doesn’t matter that I have also been a new writer with almost no one reading my fics. It doesn’t matter that I still write in new fandoms where no one in that fandom knows me. It doesn’t matter that I, like any human being, still care about receiving recognition and attention and praise.

And maybe that’s correct. I personally don’t think that billionaires have a place in deciding the direction of the economy, and--if we're really going to consider fandom an economy--in fandom terms, if I’m not a billionaire, or even a millionaire, I’m definitely in the infamous “one percent.” So, just as no one wants to hear Elon Musk say “money isn’t everything,” maybe it’s not my place to say “kudos isn’t required, actually.”

That said, I’m not the only one who has a problem with the stats-based discourse around fandom community. However, the main counter-response to this discussion I see goes something like this: you shouldn’t be writing fic for validation. If you’re writing for attention, you’re doing it for the wrong reason. Authors should write fic because they love it without any expectation of return.

This is, in my opinion, missing the point of what is meant by fandom community.

I wrote fanfic before I knew that fanfic, as a concept, existed. I read books; I wanted them to be different; I wrote little stories for myself with new endings, with self-inserts, with cross-overs, with alternate universes. I did it for myself in the 90s. It never occurred to me that anyone else would do this, much less that people would share.

As @faiell points out—creating and sharing are two different things. I created fics for myself, but I decided to share them in the early 2000s because other people might like them, too. And of course, I wanted to hear whether other people liked them. How could I not? I might decorate my home just for me and not for anyone else’s preferences, but when people come over and say my house is nice, how can I not enjoy that? And if a lot of people think my house is nice, which encourages me to post pictures of it online, isn’t it understandable I might do so with the hope that more people will say my house is nice? And, honestly, if no one is appreciating my pictures, I probably won’t continue to go through the trouble of taking them and posting them. I’ll just enjoy my house that I decorated without sharing, the end.

When I found out there were whole fannish communities where people discussed canon and tossed ideas around about it, made theories and prompts and insights into the characters, fics they had written and recs for other fics and analyses of fics and art based on fics and fics based on art—I wanted to be a part of that, too. Now, sometimes, I write fic not out of an internal need to do so but out of a desire to participate in that community.

The idea that we write fic only for the love of it, then post it only because we possess it, is a process entirely centered on the self. It’s fandom in a vacuum. The idea that we share this thing, that we feel pleasure if someone likes it but feel nothing at all if no one says anything about it, that it’s completely okay to be ignored and unseen—that’s not what a community is either. That’s some weird sort of self-aggrandizement through self-effacement—because yes, there is often a weird kind of virtue-signaling in this kind of discourse.

I say this as someone who has virtue-signaled in that way: “some people write for stats, but I write for myself.” It’s bullshit. Sure, I write for myself, but why post it on the internet? Honestly, said virtue has a whiff of the capitalist machine, which would like you to produce for the sake of production, work for the sake of work. The noblest among us expect no recompense for that which they give!

The reason that I’m bringing this back around to capitalism is that capitalism actively works to dismantle community. The reason that folks are out here pleading for “engagement” in order to “pay back” authors for the products they give us “for free” is because people no longer even have the language to discuss how to participate in meaningful community. And frankly, how to build back fandom community, in the face of enshittification, is getting harder and harder to see.

But I do think that if we value fanfic and the fanfic community, it’s really, really not constructive to judge whether someone’s reasons for writing fanfic are valid. It’s also weird to me that it would be considered wrong that someone’s reason for sharing fanfic is because they would like to receive some recognition for it, when in fact that seems to be the most natural reason in the world for sharing something so private and vulnerable with the world.

Let’s go back to that idea of how hurtful it is to find out your fanfic is trending on tiktok without anyone from tiktok saying anything to you about your fic, or how it can be painful to find out there’s a secret discord channel dedicated to your fic. The people who respond to that with, “Ah, but you shouldn’t be writing to get attention!” are missing the point. The fic did get attention. It got lots. Attention obviously wasn't why the writer was writing--they were writing to participate, and they didn't get to. At all.

However, if your conclusion is that the author was upset because these particular stats were not accruing under this author’s profile, thereby preventing them from achieving the vaunted status of BNF and influencer—I don’t know, maybe you’re right. But I don’t think that’s why I, personally, have been hurt by these things, and I doubt it’s what hurt the people in these posts either. They’re hurt because they want to participate, and they have been systematically excluded by the very people they thought were part of the community they thought they could participate in.

Sure, if those folks from tiktok and the discord server all came and showered the author with kudos and comments that said “kudos,” the author might have felt satisfied enough with the quantity of this recognition that they would continue writing. But in the end, this still does nothing to address the problem of fandom community, in which the deep, meaningful recognition, interactions, and relationships in fandom are getting harder and harder to have and to build, as a result of how people now expect to engage in online spaces.

So, how to address the problem of fandom community? You probably read this long, long post hoping that I had an answer, and for that I must apologize. I don’t have solutions. My intent was to be descriptive, rather than prescriptive. I wished to outline the problems that I’m seeing in what was hopefully a slightly new or at least thought-provoking way, rather than offer solutions.

But, now that I’m talking about being prescriptive, maybe I can offer one suggestion, which is—maybe the solution to this isn’t about prescribing behavior. I do understand the irony in writing a prescription saying we shouldn’t prescribe people, but I’m going to write it anyway:

Maybe we shouldn’t be telling anyone the appropriate reasons for writing fanfic or for sharing it. Maybe we shouldn’t be telling readers they need to kudos or need to comment. If we’re going to go pointing fingers, we should be pointing at the institutions of capitalism that have made the internet what it is today—but I don’t think that’s going to solve the problem either.

But I do think that describing this problem, understanding what it actually is, not blaming readers for it and not blaming authors for it—I do think that helps. The discussion I linked at the beginning of this post is what I think of as the fandom I miss, the fandom that's now harder and harder to access, the fandom that is dying. That fandom was a social space where people had opinions and disagreed and went back and forth and gazed at their navels and then talked about Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In the words of @yiiiiiiiikes25, it was a fuckin’ discussion about hats. And we’re hungry for it.

[karereiko]

Hello, everyone from Yuumori fandom.

Guess what, because of Concert that will be held in July all parts of Moriarty the Patriot Musical (op1-op5) are available to rent and watch online. With my Morimu fanarts or other talks about it I often get asked where you can watch it, often my answer is that you have to buy DVD or Bluray to watch this wonderful adaptation of Moriarty the Patriot manga. I know it's a big cost and hard to get for some so Streaming like this is a great opportunity to watch Morimu.

Official twitter posted few days ago about this possibility and here is the post with all information about it:

1600 yen is great amount to check if you will like it and wach it because I think it's worth any money, director who made morimu clearly loves manga, he treats source material with care and even makes it batter at some times, there is also a lot less cuts than in anime, like a lot. May be little spoiler or not, but Baskerville arc is there and Durham date too, as well as many Sherlock and John stuff that was cut in anime, some things from Moran arc etc. this is already big selling factor, right?

Actors are amazing and they love and care for characters they play. I wasn't into any actor adaptations before Morimu, I was ok with musicals but not caring too much about them and Morimu sold me since first part and it only got better and better each part even if you think that's not possible. Songs are there to make emotions and moments deeper or to have real fun with plot they show, they are not there just for song to be there. So yes high recommendation for you all to check Morimu if you didn't saw it yet. The most amazing thing is that you don't need VPN to buy those streams.

I was going to write about this few days ago and was busy, good I didn't because I talked with friends in Yuumori fandom who knows morimu and we were troubled to recommend this stream to people who doesn't understand Japanese. Morimu is faithful adaptation so almost like 70% lines comes from manga and you should understand what's going on if you read manga. Still, with subs it's a lot easier.

Kana did amazing job in creating English translation for Morimu Op1-Op4 at this point, all who bought DVD/Bluray versions of Morimu are using those subs and if you decide to buy own copy after seeing stream then those subs works great with DVD/Bluray versions.

So we talked over the stream matter and from what we checked with this plugin to Chrome it's possible to play subs with Morimu stream after you rent it (It works only with Chrome but if you know other program like this you can try it on different browsers, we only checked Chrome and this plugin) :

The only matter is that Kana saved subtitles in .ass file format, but you can easily format them to .srt file format that this plugin plays with this site:

You just open subtitle file and save it as srt, and open it with plugin to your Morimu stream. If you will have any more problems with subs them write me a message and I will try to help as soon as work let's me.

I think this is the easiest option that creators gave us now to watch Morimu, it was never so easy to buy or rent it until now, you had to use crazy VPN programs and other stuff to just check on it. So this is best option since for sure it won't last forever. Such promotional streamings are only around when new part is coming up, currently Concert I mentioned.

So for other things I wanna to say. If you get your copy of Morimu then please don't share it, don't post it to any social sites. Company that makes Morimu is quite strict with that matter and they do search who uploads those musicals and strikes them down/ deletes files even on places like google drive. Even without it, it's a matter of love for Moriarty the patriot. As much as fandom wants more people to watch those musicals, any piracy might destroy our chances to get Op6, possibilities for future streams and other stuff. Currently with Op5 we reached end of Final Problem arc and there is hope that maybe one day New York arc will be done in op6. Any piracy, sharing and messy stuff might destroy such chance, so please if you hold dear MTP then respect those rules. Watching streams with your friends in closed groups after you buy it isn't bad but please hold from any public sharing (they would be taken down anyway, but it would still put us fans in very bad light).

I know end of this post was not nice but it had to be told. I hope this possibility will help you see Morimu and fall in love with it like I did. I would recommend at least seeing OP1 and OP2, it should hook you and OP3 is where everything hits even more than op1-2, more hits from songs, more hits from sherliam stuff.

Hope to see you in Morimu cult :D... ehem... fandom. May you have "wind" (for some Great Detective) in your heart like William....

[cripplecharacters]

Mods

[large text: Mods]

Sasza

[Large Text: Sasza]

Hey! My name is Sasza and I use he/him pronouns. I am a disabled artist who loves to write and draw characters like me. I am autistic, (mildly) intellectually disabled and have several physical conditions including dyspraxia, severe hyperkyphosis, cranial nerve diseases (causing double vision, chronic pain and a facial difference among other things), and HSD. Sometimes I use a cane. I'm very passionate about accessibility and disability representation in all kinds of media - books, comics, video games, and any other kind of art that's out there.

Bert

[Large Text: Bert]

Hello! I'm Bert (previously Mason), and I use he/they pronouns. I am a writer who loves to write plays and fiction with characters like me and my friends. I am autistic and have ADHD, I have psychotic PTSD and a DID system. Physical health-wise I have migraines, fibromyalgia, and a lateral lisp. I love talking about representation and ways we can make a kinder and more inclusive space everywhere we go.

Sparrow

[large text: Sparrow]

Hi, I’m sparrow, they/he for me. I’m a disabled artist who makes a lot of disabled characters like myself and probably like a quarter of the world. I have autism and ADHD, among other brain things, as well as chronic pain in both my jaw and my knee and ankle. I also have POTS and some sort of sleep disorder. I am a sometimes cane user as well. I really enjoy research and thoughtful art that makes people feel seen. Aside from that, I am a huge fan of historical fiction and really enjoy fantasy as well.

Rot

[Large text: Rot]

My name is Rot, I use all pronouns including neo pronouns as well as any rot and insect themed nounself pronouns. I’m an artist who loves putting disability in my stories. I’m mostly undiagnosed due to medical neglect and have chronic fatigue, hypersomnia & chronic pain that ranges from mild to debilitating. My known disabilities are pots, ganglion cysts, nerve damage, autism (level unknown), asthma, GERD, anxiety and psychosis. I have a metal implant, use a cane and am mostly verbal and use aac infrequently. I have experience with temporary palsy, needing carers (family members who stepped up, not hired carers) and being in a wheelchair, though I currently don't have any of those.

Virus

[Large Text: Virus]

Hello! I go by Virus and I use She/Her but anyone can use any pronouns for me, have fun with it. I'm a writer—mostly fanfiction—who has been in fandom very long and used to be a classical musician. I have Hypermobile Ehler Danlos Syndrome along with it's fun co-morbidities (MCAS, POTS, Gastroparesis, Fibromyalgia, and Von Willebrandes). I also have Pan-Hypopituitarism which is the following: Adrenal Insufficiency, Hypothyroidism, Diabetes Insipidus, Precocious Puberty, Growth Hormone Deficiency, Hyperprolactinemia/galactorrhea, as well as High Estrogen and Testosterone issues. I have Pituitary Dwarfism/Proportional Dwarfism, Myoclonic Epilepsy, and a Speech Disorder. I used to have a Port-a-cath, Picc-Lines, and a feeding tube, amongst many other things. Phew, now that that's over. I love every art form with a favour towards music, writing and the fiber arts. I love seeing representation no matter how big or small especially in medias that rep is often glossed over!

Rock

[Large Text: Rock]

Hi! I am Rock; any pronouns are okay. I am a writer, mainly of sci-fi and fantasy, and I love adding all sorts of disabled characters. I am hard of hearing (mild-moderate bilateral hearing loss) and have profound auditory processing disorder. I have scoliosis, POTS, and lower-body muscle weakness so I am a full-time mobility aid user. I am also intersex; I have several hormone deficiencies among other conditions as a result of my intersex variation. I am excited to join the mod team!

Aaron

[Large Text: Aaron]

Hey, I'm Aaron, he/him. I'm a writer of fantasy, science fiction, dystopia, utopia, and historical, and I like writing incorporating casts of disabled characters into all of them and reworking magic, technology, and science to accommodate them. I have a TBI, a lot wrong with my speech, cognitive issues, slight developmental disability, myofascial pain syndrome, medium support needs autistic but fully verbal, OCD, multiple types of anxiety, PTSD, depression, severe ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, articulatory initiation anomia, medically significant migraines, a chronic headache, chronic pain, and chronic fatigue. I'm also visibly disabled (one of those people who looks autistic) and transmasc. And I can't wait to see what amazing things you guys come u with.

Zohar

[Large Text: Zohar]

Hello everyone! I'm a new mod, and you can call me Zohar. I'm a writer of fantasy and sci-fi for the most part, and definitely prioritize disability, LGBT, and Indigenous representation in my work. I am Blind with a form of Albinism/strabismus/ptosis, along with some hearing loss. I am intersex/transgender with mixed gonadal dysgenesis (XO/XY Turner Syndrome) that goes hand in hand with GHD/pituitary dwarfism and affects my skeletal and hormonal health. I also have POTS and complex DID caused by RAMCOA and am comfortable answering asks about that. He or She pronouns is fine with me. I can't wait to help out here!

Icarus

[Large Text: Icarus]

Hello all! My name is Icarus (He/Him). I'm a new mod here and a writer of original work (Primarily contemporary short fiction and cosmic horror) with some fanfiction on the side. I have been diagnosed with ADHD, autism, PTSD, Tourette's Syndrome along with several other mental and physical health conditions. I also had epilepsy, asthma, and a heart condition as a child but have since grown out of them. I am currently seeking a diagnosis for something causing a few different symptoms including chronic pain, mobility issues, sensitivity in my joints/bones, progressive vision loss (Currently to the point where I have very little to no peripheral vision), and dizziness/fainting episodes. I am a full time cane user at the advice of my physio. I am also a gay trans man and in full-time university studies.

Jess

[Large text: Jess]

Hey y'all! I'm Jess, and I use she/her. I'm 35, and I work full time behind the scenes in the grocery industry (in an office, designing shelf layouts!). I enjoy writing and reading slice-of-life stories mostly. I especially like exploring how certain magical elements can be parallels for disability. I also do art, including some 3D illusion chalk art. As for my disabilities: I have multiple sclerosis, and a few issues that have come from that, including severe permanent damage from optic neuritis. I was briefly 100% blind in my left eye, but a small amount of vision returned. The residual vision causes some hard-to-describe double vision, so I wear a completely opaque occlusive contact lens on my bad eye to help me see more clearly. I also had a period of time when I suffered from paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia, a rare movement disorder. I also have a body-focused repetitive behavior disorder (dermatillomania) and visible scars from that. I'm looking forward to being helpful!

[undergroundbillions]

I SEEN YOUR POST,,, AND I CAME!! i have a couple of questions abt some history with merchandise and whatever (unless you guys made a post abt the hallmark raggedies alread) ! :)

1. So do you guys have any history or insight of the Hallmark raggedies? If so id like to hear, im a big fan of the hallmark branch of the raggedies!!!

2. Do you guys have any fun hcs? If so what are they!

My example of one is: i hc Ann making dresses and skirts for her friends!! Or even Henny hating bugs but he collects them for his bug collection lol

3. Why do you guys even care about Rag Dolly in the first place? What made you guys want to find it AND want to revive it? Was it a personal project or better yet a fan project put up together by fans (aka the mods aka aka you guys, i think unless im wrong lol)

You guys are cool and im excited to hear any other updates on the revival of Rag Dolly, yall are so cool and talented,, can't wait to see what you guys do in the future!!! Keep it up guyss!

Ok! Here we go!

We don't know much specifically about Hallmark. At that point, Bobbs-Merrill was in charge of the licensing of Raggedy Ann images and books, while the family was still in charge of the dolls. Hallmark licensing began in 1969 and continued throughout the 70's. They published the cardbooks, which came with tiny dolls (which for licensing purposes don't actually count as dolls, but rather as other toys). And the pop-up-book records, stationary, and lots of random little things. Big company buys lucrative licensing and puts it on everything for a few years, that's the story!

Oh man when I ask for hc questions I mostly mean ones *about* headcanons, I'm bad at open ended questions like that lol. But here's a few I've been thinking about recently: I think Marcella has regular fainting spells when she gets exhausted. This doesn't really transfer to the dream but it happens in real life. Ann and Andy's seams and faces are all wobbly because Poppa's too often drunk to sew straight lines. This isn't a hc because technically it's canon to Gibson's writing but Poppa made Marcella a little toy boat from wood scraps and that's where the inspiration for the boat in her dreams comes from.

What got most of us interested in the musical was the video by CollinLooksBack going over what little was known about the show at that time (2019). At that point, we knew about the movie already. If you want to know more about the little details of the time before RARE specifically was founded, I've written up a timeline on our website! (And I plan on expanding it) Idk what the difference is between a personal project and a fan project in this case? We thought the show was interesting, and liked the music, so we decided to start looking for it! The organizers are all theater people, the majority of us went to school for theater and plan on working in it. We knew we had the background and resources to make an actual revival happen. Specifically the founder, Gwyn, who has certain legal and industry connections that are making things go a lot smoother. But really, we never thought we'd get this far, we weren't thinking this deeply about it. It was 2021, we all needed something to do and people to talk to. None of the organizers knew each other, though a few early members were mutuals from the 1977 movie and other fandoms. It just slowly got more serious and we continue to take it more and more seriously the farther we get. Most importantly, all of the main founders have deep personal connections to the story. We have all suffered illness and loss of loved ones. I mean I literally discovered the show like two months after my mom died I don't think you can get much more fated than that. We like the show, it means something to us, and we think it deserves a second chance in it's actual intended form and not as a huge broadway spectacle. It's literally still popular in Russia, why shouldn't it be popular here?

-𝕸𝖔𝖉 𝕲𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖗𝖆𝖑 𝕯.

[akookminsupporter]

Some people are truly losing the plot these days. And I think it's mainly because of the solo era. They went solo and they pulled in a lot of fans - casual and more hard-core fans, but the problem is that many of these people now don't know how to act. Or worse, they act like with a western celebrity. I constantly see people talking about not spreading a video or picture on my timeline and I'm so confused all the time because what is happening AGAIN? but it's also so fucking disappointing that it has been a daily occurrence for the past months. MONTHS.

And people always have a bullshit excuse : he was in public, the military made it public, I was just happen to be there, he didn't say anything so he was okay with it. And I feel like the more we are in solo era the more these people come: they don't give a fuck about respecting them, they don't give a fuck about them also having a life. And you know how people make thread of "block and report these accounts"? 80% will be tiktok users. They ESPECIALLY don't give a fuck. I've always hated tiktok for different reasons, but it's gotten so bad this year. It's making me feel so uneasy and disappointed and it's not even happening to me but I feel this way. I can't even imagine how they feel when it's been said multiple times not to do this, and people still stalk them, go to the airport, share military pictures... First of all I just want them to he safe. I want them to live their lives without constantly being stalked. And second of all, and this might make me selfish, it's really sad that we have to deal with this on a daily basis because it WILL reach them. And I know spreading private info happened in the past too but not that often like now. And I don't want them to be disappointed in us because there are so many normal fans who want them to live their lives and are trying to stop these pictures. But I'm scared of them thinking that we changed and we now allow or want that kind of content. And they can't even be comfortable with us because people constantly harass them. I don't understand why it's so hard just to leave them the fuck alone.

Musically and professionally this second chapter was great but as a fandom, it is definitely the worst thing that could have happened.

This second chapter showed the true colours of many people. This fandom loves competition more than anything else and before the competition was with other fandoms; the competition was internal and that competition has become nasty. Now it doesn't matter to attack a fan group or worse one of the members because they are defending another member. It's a crazy logic.

Now people don't care about anything as long as they have content from the members. The constant content that bts put out, be it bangtan bombs or episodes or DVDs like Memories was a kind of drug, it was enough to keep the connection with the members, Now that drug is not constant, they need to satiate that need anyway, that's why many don't mind sharing and spreading videos or pictures of the guys in their free time or their private life. It's always been done obviously but now it's more common. It is for this reason that these so-called accounts that have info about the kids have gone viral or why parts of songs of the kids that are leaked usually spread so fast.

The problem is also the fact that many in this fandom believed and preached that the members were perfect, and well, that image is being disproved more and more every day. That's why they attack, that's why they talk about feeling disappointed, about feeling betrayed. These people don't care about the members, they only care about how they are useful for their fantasies and even self-esteem. This is the problem with depending so much on a person you don't really know and who doesn't really know you. I don't doubt that bts loves their fans but they see us as a single entity. Remember how many of us always say that the fandom is not a monolith? well, the members do see us as one.

tiktok fans are a different breed altogether. There the stupidest lie spreads in a matter of seconds and the worst thing is that you read hundreds of comments from people who believe them. Fans on tiktok just want to go viral, they just want likes and followers and right now posting pictures or videos of the guys in their private lives almost guarantees all of that. On other social platforms, the same thing happens but it's a bit more controlled, Many refrain from doing it but on tiktok, there is no abstinence from anything. Not even from telling lies.

And yes, many use excuses to justify spreading photos and videos, many say that it was a public place or that they had to know that someone would see them and take pictures! It's not their fault - the people posting the photos - that they went there, it's obviously the fault of the members for wanting to lead a semi-normal and private life. Yesterday I read several people justifying the spreading of the photos and then the video of Jungkook (ha! he was smoking, I'm still surprised that someone would hold a cigarette like that) saying that he was in a popular place in LA that is always surrounded by paparazzi and…. that seemed so pathetic to me. I don't know if Jungkook or his crew knew that that place is a hot spot in LA or if they did know and didn't care but that's no excuse, to me not sharing pictures of their private life is having some decency and common sense.

I think the members know what the fandom is like today, I think Namjoon has made that very clear several times, although we can't know to what extent but they know.

[alarrytale]

Probably an unpopular opinion but whenever those hype accounts might be right about other artists but I do think they are shooting blind with hype around HS4 and they don´t have a real info.

You know, we all know HS4 is coming some time this year, it´s not a space science to predict it. The way they are shooting dates it became ridiculous because sure, Jan, at one point you will finally shoot it right after like previous 10 unsuccessful attempts. If not Q1 or Q2, then Q3. And if not Q3 than Q4. And if not 2025 that it´s definitely gonna be in 2026. And we know he will announce a world tour shortly after announcing new album - because that´s how most artists promote their new music and we know H loves to perform and being a workaholic as he is, it´s not a rocket science to predict he will spend another year or two on the road. We know he loves it and we know he wants to bring his music to most continents around the globe and make a hell lot of money from it and possibly break another record or two especially after TS´s tour.

And same goes with hype around H headlining this and that world famous festival - it´s nothing unpredictable to say "They want H to headline Glastonbury" or "H is in talk to perform at the Superbowl". Ofc he´s in talks because he´s popular and will draw a lot of attention and it will make a hell lot of money for both sides. Again, it´s not a space science.

Sorry for being such a moron but I was skeptical since they were shooting months and info last year like they are just keeping postponing it and getting people worked up. At this point you or me or literally anyone in this fandom can make a hype account and start pretending we have insider info and predicting dates and ofc we will be right at one point sooner or later. When HS4 will be coming, we will know it in advance - IMO hshq don´t need to secretely feed these hype accounts like other artists hqs do because all they need to do is to "oopsie" send one bts photo of H shooting new video to some of H´s UA and that will cause enough hype and excitement.

Hi, anon!

We tecnically don't have confirmation that HS4 is coming this year. We don’t even have confirmation he's re-signed with Columbia. There are also lots of things that can postpone an album launch. Label not being happy with the songs, timing not being right because of competing artists, personal events (Liam's death), world events (L.A fires made the Weeknd postpone), fandom engagement not being where it should be (Shawn M) and wanting to time the launch to an award eligibility period. So i don't think it's far fetched that H has worked on this album for a while to perfect it, and that they're going for that number one.

I think the hype accounts are fed some info, but i also think they have their own connections. Most of these hype accounts are latam accounts and they have more info about things regarding latam. Venues/festivals are often booked well in advance, so these hype accounts might have info from them based on bookings.

I love the hype accounts, but i don't take their word as gospel. Hype accounts can get fed the wrong information, or the artists plans change, albums get scrapped, or launches get postponed. We'll just have to wait and see, and if the hype accounts are right, then we knew about it a bit ahead of everyone else. It's just a bit of fun to get fans excited, and anticipation and engagement up. If H's team wasn't happy with it, they'd say something. We've seen teams of other artists correct the hype accounts before to not get people too hyped if plans change.

And no, you and me couldn’t start a hype account, because we have no credible info that can pan out. These hype accounts are label and PR supported, it's not guesswork.

If you don’t want to believe in these hype accounts at all, and want to wait for official confirmation, you can.

[dearweirdme]

Hi Rain!

So I have been an army since 2017 and I started shipping in like 2018-ish and I have an army twt and everything. But on my army twt I only have my army friends who believe shipping is for deranged ppl lol. I have had discussions with them about shipping and they hate shippers because they believe shippers objectify the members in a way. And almost all times I agree, especially when I see fans of other ships like jkk or larry or even jklisa. When I look at these ships, I definitely think that they only look at these ppl as a tool to satisfy their own void. Analysing every single behaviour is psychotic and they need to touch grass honestly.

BUT

I just cannot bring myself to think the same about tk. I like to believe I am definitely a sane tkkr (I know there are tons of delusional tkkrs). I am queer and most of my army friends are queer as well so we do joke about the members being gay and we do joke about tk as well but I will never be able to tell them I like tk (that I ship them). I do think there is something between them. I know I could be wrong and they could just be really close friends. The point is that my shipping has always been a secret in a way. I have never told any of my army friends this. If I did they would definitely think I am total weirdo since I have seen how they view shippers. I don't really have a twt for tk just bts as a whole so I have never really had any tkkr friends as well, I have just lurked here and there.

I wanna ask you do your irls or army friends (who are not tkkrs) know about your shipping? And how do you recognise delusional behaviour in other ships vs when it comes to tk? Cuz for me I could easily spot it other ships but sometimes I am afraid I am delulu when it comes to tk😭

Hi anon!

Well, I think there’s a difference between shipping and believing two persons are together. We use the term shipping/shippers for both those things, but it’s not the same although there can be some overlap. To me shipping is something like: enjoying the idea of two people together or thinking two people would be well suited. It does not directly mean that you think those people are actually together though. Believing without shipping is also possible. Personally, I am not a shipper in essence (though i do think Jk and Tae fit together well). When I came into this fandom it was for music, I love to see BTS perform… I still go through performance videos often. When I started to look at more other footage Tae became my bias.. but I wasn’t looking for someone to ship him with.. I rarely do that.. even in my life outside of fandom, I never connect two persons that way. But something about Tae and Jk just started to stand out to me. It was only after that, that I started to look into them more.. and well here I am believing that they might be a couple.

I think the only way to figure out if a ship is real or not is to look into it. Sometimes it’s very easy (the Liskook stuff for instance) and sometimes it takes a few more looks (Jkk, though I have little difficulty with that as well). But the difference between a ship and and a real relationship will always lie in the actual connection between two people. Most of the easily debunkable ships lack in the real connection part. It’s narrated by fans using similar clothes and jewelry for instance.. and other situational stuff. That is also why for some Jkk is harder to debunk, because it is clear that Jk and Jm do have a real close bond. So imo really looking into it (as a whole, within the context of everything around them) is necessary to understand if it’s real or not.

Now this is where you will lose all faith in me 😂 (it’s been good having you around anon!) because I do believe Harry and Louis were once together. I understand if you base your thoughts on that on Larry fandom these days that it all seems very farfetched and crazy. But, during 1d Louis and Harry imo did have that real connection I talked about before. In a way to me that is even more clear than Tae and Jk (their culture is similar to mine, and they were quite obvious). I do not believe they are together now though and probably haven’t been for a while.

We could be wrong about Tae and Jk. I could be wrong about Larry. We all deal with just tiny bit of information about their lives. But I also think it’s kinda crazy to think that two members of the same band cannot fall in love. Why couldn’t they? It is a unique situation for sure, but then again that is kinda why we are all here… we think we’ve spotted something special.

I don’t really speak to my irl friends about this. I’m 41 and for some reason people already find it weird that at this age I’d be a fan of BTS.. so I don’t really wanna let them steal my joy in Tkk. I have some Tkk friends around here who I talk to. And for me that is enough. I think.. that a reason why some of us don’t feel like we can share this is because we are made to feel ashamed of our thoughts. But believing in the love two people have for each other isn’t something we should have to be ashamed of. If anything.. Tae and Jk do love each other.. no matter to what extend that might go.

[cryptid-crafted]

oh lawd, the cryptid's craftin'

Hey-ho, writeblr! After some life upheaval and major goal/process restructuring, I'm back (if the profile picture looks familiar, you've got good eyes - I used to be @/goinggremlin).

The Basics:

Alex (he/they)

Late 20s, Midwest USA

Trans man, aroace, AuDHD

On Writing:

My genres: fantasy, horror, sci-fi, occasional contemporary fiction

My influences: Tamsyn Muir, Mark Lawrence, Joe Abercrombie, Robin Hobb, Martha Wells, Yasuhiro Nightow

My favorite themes/tropes/topics/etc: death and rebirth; found family and queerness; "this shit sucks but we stay silly"; body horror; characters with guard dog vibes; "it's rotten work" / "not to me. not if it's you"; banter and witty comedy, esp. as a juxtaposition to The Horrors; trauma and its cycles; shitty people doing shitty things; grumpy (with a heart of gold) x sunshine (with a soul black as night); 2nd person POV

About Me:

I am NOT a writer with any formal training - I'm self-taught, but always interested in learning.

I've been writing consistently for nearly seven years now. I started with fanfiction and over the last year and a half have begun transitioning to more original work.

I'm really bad at interacting consistently, as most of my limited energy goes toward writing. I love sharing resources and prompts, however, and will more often participate in ask games than tag games ❤️ Community is important but I'm most often found on the fringes.

I won't post large chunks of WIP often, because I am slow (but also like privacy during drafting). I will post fun snippets of dialogue or description because I crave validation and am unashamed about admitting that.

I love swapping tips and tricks, or just generally talking about the writing process!

You can also find me on my more fan-focused blog, @thechaoscryptid! I'm a firm believer that transformative work is a valid (even necessary) part of the creative world. You may (will) hear about some of my fanwork on this blog in the context of craft or process.

Published works:

Wintersong (Many Hands, Duck Prints Press, 2024)

It Watches (Cryptid Carols To Sing In the Dark, Memento Vivere Press, 2024 - upcoming)

WIPs:

in that bright and bitter dawn (fantasy novel)

Behind the Blog:

In addition to writing, you'll also hear about cooking and knitting and cat parenting, oh my! I've been passionate about food since I could pick up a knife; knitting is a recent but rewarding hobby I pick at when I need something to do with my hands.

I have three cats (Shino, Rorschach, and Chaos) and two snakes (Jormungandr and Oda).

I work third shift (at a book warehouse!) and am usually pretty brain/pain foggy, so if I space on an ask or tag game...it's not you, it's me.

I fandom hop SO much, largely around the anime scene (Trigun, Naruto, SK8: the Infinity, BNHA, Bungou Stray Dogs...so many more...). I'm also a huge BG3 and FE:3H enthusiast, even though video games aren't usually my go-to.

This year I've been plowing through a lot of fantasy and sci-fi books that I hope to be able to sit down and write down my thoughts about!

I'm also a huge music enthusiast, and listen to a lot of metal and folk music. Favorite bands include (but are definitely not limited to) Sabaton, Fish In A Birdcage, Autoheart, Faun, Delain, and Port Sulphur Band.

That's about it! My ask box is always open (my DMs are not, unless specifically invited please), and I'm looking forward to dipping my toes into the writeblr waters once again.

[erstwhilesparrow]

I just saw that post you reblogged about archiving MCYT stuff - is there a particular reason stuff disappears so often? (That's very cool people are putting in so much effort to preserve it, though; big respect to that tbh)

reyni! :D okay i should be clear upfront that some of my information may be incomplete here because (1) i don't have twitter and (2) i'm not directly involved in any mcyt archival efforts. also putting this under a cut because it's long and i do need to reference recent events involving abuse and sexual assault:

despite mcyt = minecraft youtube(r), a lot of stuff relevant to mcyt happens like. exclusively on stream? really, really ~plot-critical or deeply characterizing stuff happens on stream sometimes and never makes it into a youtube video! and on twitch at least, unless you explicitly set it to save your vods, twitch will just delete them after a certain number of days. i don't know exactly how this works if you stream on youtube but also my impression is that a significant majority of people are not streaming on youtube anyway. since fairly early in my time in mcyt fandoms, there's been concern about creators not saving their own vods, and on top of that, sometimes you save a vod and it gets taken down anyway for copyright infringement (playing copyrighted music, the creator themself asked for it to be removed, etc). so like. as baseline, there's a sense of inherent ephemerality to the medium. that post i reblogged is explicitly pushing back against the description of mcyt vods as "a constantly burning library of alexandria," and in light of the evidence that follows i agree (and also am a little weepy about the efforts people make to save these things), but that sense doesn't come from nowhere, you know?

speaking of that post though, i suspect this archival stuff is coming up More now because it's been a rough couple of weeks in mcyt fandom. several really influential creators in the space were recently outed as being abusive or predatory in a way that's caught a lot of attention, and many people in response have been (understandably!) deleting their fanworks or otherwise distancing or removing themselves from mcyt fandom. i want to be clear, i know stuff gets deleted all the time in fanspaces -- the internet is kind of just Like That in terms of how easy it is to lose things -- and it's incredibly fair to go "no, even if there was a strong distinction between character and creator this leaves a sour taste in my mouth and i'm not doing this anymore." i don't want to pretend that no one has ever deleted a fanwork outside of mcyt spaces, and i don't want to insinuate that it's bad to vocally revoke your support of those creators -- those people have done awful things and generally failed to meaningfully apologize or take accountability, and it is worth remembering and saying so. but to give you a sense of numbers: antimony-medusa does monthly stats on mcyt fic on ao3, and dsmp, which even after it's kind of died off has seen monthly increases in the range of hundreds of new fic per month, saw a decrease of roughly 800 fics. other fandoms have similarly seen decreases, and video blogging rpf, which ao3 treats as an umbrella for basically all mcyt stuff, saw an increase of 51, as compared to last month's increase of (approximately) 3500. and that's just fic -- there's also a rich trove of animatics, fanvids, fanart, etc that i don't have any numbers for, but i've seen people talking about deleting those, too, you know? you see how people might be worried about what we are losing.

at this point i think your question is answered, but if you'll forgive some baseless speculation here, i wonder to what extent mcyt is also. complicated by how closely character and creator can sit? i don't know how other people feel, but there is a difference to me between "i've written fic about This Person Specifically (or, arguably, their streamer persona which may be somewhat divorced from the Real Life Human Being Behind The Screen)" and "i've written fic about a character this person plays." i dunno, there's a sense to me of the flimsiness of the line between creator and character and then also of the line between creator and fandom that i think makes it harder to be like "okay, i am doing my own thing, separate from the creator, so i'm going to keep my stuff public even if i don't stand by it 100% anymore." i remember when i first joined mcyt fandom, there was a period of time people were really worried that the creators were actively on ao3, or that fans would try to send their fanfic directly to the creators. i thought to myself, "well, if anyone Tries Shit with my work, i will simply delete all my relevant accounts and disappear." that's... not really a back-up plan that i feel good about these days, but. you know. it's been a thing, if not always for the same reasons, and i do understand the impulse.

[netflixonyourcouch]

So, since I can't sleep and I have time, I'm gonna go through this and unpack it the best way I can. And in order for me to do this subject the most justice, I feel like we have to start from the last slide.

Men too often grill women in what can be considered niche/nerdy or otherwise male-dominated interests such as video gaming, metal and hardcore, and men's sports. There's an expectation for women to prove themselves, they get subject to questions about their knowledge and their credibility is called into question. I fully understand this and its role in this situation, with perhaps the ease in which the heckler dove into the comments to disparage her.

This situation does have more angles to explore, so I'll put a "Read More" here:

Now let's address her chief complaint, which is being a public influencer and being subject to harsh criticism. The way I feel is that if you are a creator, in the very broad sense of the word, like anywhere from being a content creator to a music or visual artist, or even a creator of products or creator of cuisine - If you have *ANY* product that others consume, there will always be haters, and there will always be critics. Period. I think that's inevitable and I think you have to say fuck the haters and accept the critics.

Anthony Fantano faces similar backlash on his music reviews. His supporters often say, "But how are you upset? It's just his OPINION!" not realizing that his OPINION is also his PRODUCT, his BRAND. He's not simply doing this in a vacuum and neither is Kelsey. I think she is learning what it feels like to be scrutinized as a public figure, but I also think, like most other public figures, she should avoid reading the comments or she'll continue to find herself getting hurt by disparaging comments.

This doesn't contradict the first point I made. She definitely is coming under fire for being a woman and giving her opinion on Beloved Male Band #342 or whatever (I'm not even sure what band they're talking about, but it doesn't really matter as it could be any band really). I would hate to see these haters tear her passion away, and if she thinks these type of call outs will help filter her fandom out, then who am I to stop her? I'm just saying, if I started going viral for music opinions and I started getting racist microaggressions and overtones in my comments, I don't want to take time out of my day to address them. BUT I'm not saying she's wrong for doing so. EYE am just saying I have a difference of opinion in how I'd react to haters in my comments.

FINALLY. One last thing to say, and again, I need to work this as carefully as I can.

As a music critic, which Kelsey doesn't think she is (and we'll discuss that too), you have a certain duty of how you approach music that is revered in music culture. Now, this is perhaps not agreed upon except for the most hardcore music purists, many of them pretentious as fuck. But as a recovering pretentious music snob (I promise I've gotten better over the years!) there is a salient point to be made here.

I have older white friends who didn't really "get" Kendrick Lamar and their chief complain was that they didn't really like his music because it heavily features "the n-word." Imagine that. Pulitzer Kenny! He won the fucking Pulitzer Prize, but your perception of his art completely reduced to "oh, he uses the n-word."

It's not valid criticism. It's your opinion, one that I can't take away from them or try to argue differently but it is in fact REDUCTIVE of Kendrick Lamar and his accomplishments as an artist.

So there's always gonna be artists and artists' works you need to approach with a certain reverence and "show your work" so to speak that you tried to consume their art completely. Like if my white friends did that, they'd realize there are several phenomenonally written Kendrick songs that have a substantial amount of depth beyond the fact that he (as a fucking black artist, mind you) uses nigga in his songs.

Kelsey disagrees with this responsibility because she doesn't fashion herself as a critic. I agree somewhat. If she doesn't want the critic tag and she's purely making content for fun and engagement then so be it. *then why spend time getting angry at the trolls if you're not even trying to be what they are assuming you to be.* If your position is "hey, I'm not a critic, these are just my silly little opinions" then STAND ON BUSINESS THEN. If you listen to 8-10 minutes of Sgt. Pepper and you think it's too whimsical and too psychedelic, then if a hater blowing smoke in your comments about how you didn't listen to it long enough, STAND ON BUSINESS.

But even moreso than that is the philosophical question of *how* should one react to albums. My disposition is this: Critic or no critic, if you have a public platform where people are consuming your content, you have a duty of care to react in a way that says you understood the damn assignment. Once you reach a certain level, you simply can't hide behind "this is just me sharing my opinion" because it's not just your opinion. You are in a position of authority, like it or not. And Kelsey doesn't seem to really enjoy the position of being in authority. But I would argue that you better figure that out before you build out a viral platform, or you better stand on what you post and be able to back your shit up with the fact that you don't care to do it in a traditional way!!

It is my opinion that people who are spotlight music influencers give up their right to have opinions without consequences. In other words, you can say fuck everybody in the club, but you cannot then walk back to your car!!!

This sounds NUTS to someone who doesn't see music opinions as a big deal, and think opinions are just personal and "aren't that deep." Kelsey, you have hundreds of thousands of people following you. Like it or not, you're in showbiz now and your opinions hold weight. You are in the unique (best, very fortunate) position to inform the masses about a subject and have them actually LISTEN to you. You can't misuse your platform by saying (for example, she did NOT say this!!) that Joanna Newsom wasn't your cup of tea because you found her voice to be grating.

"BUT IT'S HER OPINION" you might say. "If she didn't like her voice, you can't force her to like it!" Yeah, and I understand that. I don't like Diamanda Galas because I think her voice is too intense. But I'm also NEVER gonna use my platform and say all that without also acknowledging Diamanda Galas being an important avant-garde artist and nobody should speak on Joanna Newsom if they don't address the complexity of her lyrics and music composition.

It's not just Kelsey. I don't think Gen Z values having a responsibility of holding a music opinion like older generations of music enthusiasts do. But it's ok. I think she'll be ok in the long run, but she's gonna have to shake the haters off and respond to criticism much differently than she's doing here. That's if she wants to keep her current approach of reacting to shit that people hold near and dear to their hearts with silly little videos (her words, not mine).

Like if I was starting a fun film platform, I'm not about to react to watching The Godfather and go, "Eh, not my cup of tea, it was too slow."

But that's just me. Some people would say that's a perfectly valid opinion to have, and I would say they are wrong. And though we might not agree on that, that vast difference of opinion is the entire purpose of this rant.

Also, it goes without saying that all of this would apply if she was a guy too. Like I said, Anthony Fantano faces similar backlash as your stereotypical white male music nerd.

[eve-e-jane]

Hi :>

I'm a little demonic gremlin that crawled out of my little hidey-hole for a moment.

Random question: what are your favorite fandoms? And also— how are you? I hope you're doing good 💚

Back to my little cave now :D

Omg hi!!! Thank you for asking!! I’m doing pretty great- I hope you’re well too!

Favorite fandoms is SOOOOOO hard to narrow down because A) I love so many, and B) I often times forget lots of them, even if I love them a whole bunch (cause you know- hyper fixation).

But ask and ye shall receive: here I go trying to name everything I like:

-Right now I have just started OUAT which has been really fun to watch with some friends. So- that.

-I love Dimension 20, but I only really know Fantasy High and Unsleeping City (cause those are all that are free and available on YouTube).

-The Magnus Archives (and Stellar Firma for that matter) are some of the only podcasts I’ve listened too and I’m thoroughly hooked! I just started my second listen thru of Season 2 of MAG and I am SO excited for TMP!!

-I am a big book person: my fav rn is Dracula but I constantly switch it up. I also love Frankenstein, Sherlock Holmes (need to re-read this one), A Tale of Two Cities, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Little Women, Macbeth, Hamlet, Jane Eyre, and a few other classics. I also love a bit of YA: Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, The Lunar Chronicles, ASOUE (if that is considered YA?), and recently I read Sorcery of Thorns!

-Another hobby of mine is watching crime shows!! I’m all caught up on NCIS, Blue Bloods (SO sad this is ending), Chuck, Monk, Psych, and a few others here and there. I also love Superman and Lois on CW (SO sad this is ending too.) I have a few other shows that I’m not CRAZY well versed in but I love the characters and talking about them! That’ll be Merlin, Supergirl, The Flash- I didn’t finish the last two in that list and Merlin,,,, ah Merlin.

-Video game wise I am so behind in things but I do love them! I love the new Spiderman games though I haven’t played the second one so no spoilers!!! I am almost finished with Hogwarts Legacy and I love it so far!! I also love Jedi: Fallen Order and I have finished it but I have yet to play the second one so no spoilers there either!!!

-I’m also big on musicals! Not all of them, of course, but ask and I’ll let you know!

Well, that was FAR more info than I’m sure you wanted to know but you DID ask. I sincerely hope you’re well, and I hope we can be super cool internet buddies!

[akookminsupporter]

There's so many compounding things and reasons I can think of for why we didn't see certain stuff before that I'm sure made sense at the time but have just passed their time of usefulness to them and have instead become stifling even if you don't want to do something or don't do it often knowing that people will crucify you for it and any other little thing becomes a trap and people don't talk enough about how their fame blew up during a pandemic after a canceled tour the bot allegations are annoying/amusing but we really are just text on a screen majority of the time and lately not even good text according to them they like to connect with us as humans and they're entitled to their privacy but they're literally making an effort to share more of their lives and themselves with us in an effort for us to recognize their humanity and it's not wrong if you learn more about someone and figure out you don't vibe with them but the shit yall whining over is wild like they're cursing out in the open more now I fully understand not liking to hear vulgar language so thats valid if you acknowledge its a personal preference and dont try to push it on them but they've also always said certain members curse a lot so it's not actually a new development or smoking or drinking which yall need to get a grip about because once again it's not new theyve been doing it for years we've seen them drink it's a normal adult activity and for smoking it's never been a secret yall act willfully obtuse on purpose and then act shocked relearning the same information years later and it's ridiculous because they don't smoke in front of us Yoongi smoked in a music video in a direct and explicit critique against the scrutiny they live under but him nor tae or jk are even lighting up on lives or anything else which again isn't to say it's a secret because ashtrays and vapes sitting around in things they post means they're not intentionally omitting it it's just not fucking important sometimes things just not important and you don't even think about sharing them until other people react idk this is long the only thing I can think of is JK and his gcfs where they started fun and ended up being work that didn't bring him joy anymore things just changing as is life and I don't think they mind losing fans if it means more space to exist how they want they don't want to lose us obviously they've talked about that which is why they tryna take us on this journey with them but they've weighed the options and decided they can afford to cut their losses because they've also talked about that how some fans will probably be mad but real ones gon stick around at the end if the day this is a fandom for musical artist not a hostage situation

"I don't think they mind losing fans if it means more space to exist how they want"

Opinions.

[alarrytale]

Hi Marte, I recently came across your blog. Since then, I have been reading your asks and opinions about industry, harry and louis, their brands, they really resonate with me. So first i just wanna say thanks for taking the time and sharing them because it is hard these days to find blogs in this fandom that, like i dont wanna be unfair to people but, still dig below the surface and “theorize” based on wildly accepted facts about industry rather than how their situation make us feel.

Anyway I see so many bloggers claiming that larries don’t have a vital part in Harry and Louis’ fandom in that apparently we are, now, smaller part of their respective fandoms and it doesn’t matter if we stay or not. But I’m having a hard time seeing that tbh, I think larries are more like core-fans of these two men, so I dont know why their teams would wanna get rid of us, i’m aware that their teams are still doing things that may look like to discourage larries but there seem to be also concerted effort in their parts to give larries vague enough content to keep us in the fandoms, just recently, two of harry’s music videos seemed really targeted to larries, especially music for a sushi restaurant, also their timing of releasing daylight where the story and imagery got larries going right before Harry went into another pr seemed intentionally in their part. So I was wondering what are your thoughts about larries’ places in their fandom nowadays? If you have a time and would like to talk about, I’d like to hear your thoughts about that , thank you 🙏🏻

Hi, anon, welcome!

I pretty much agree with you. I think we larries are a large and integral part of both their fandoms. We're very vocal, knowledgeable, funny as fuck but always on our toes. But best of all we have the power to make the rest of the fandom do our bidding. For example make twitter trends, organise successful fan projects, charity donations and so forth. Larries made fitf uk no 1 happen. We promo the shit out of things on behalf of them and their teams. All the puzzles H and L have created for their album promo (eroda and the fitf word scrambles) would never have been solved that fast if not for larries. We're also always the ones to discover album and song leaks first, ever since the 1d days. We are on top of things, and if we want something bad enough we make it happen. We're a force to be reckoned with.

I think both their teams play both sides. I think they want to keep us here for a couple of reasons. Despite us vocally unmasking their showmance attempts, we also do a lot of promo and keep up fandom engagement. For Louis, us larries are large part of his fanbase, so he needs to cater to us. When it comes to both H and L i think they appreciate having fans who sees them, who understands them (their personalities, their lyrics, and when their lying or faking it) and who values them for who they are (as gay people). We are loyal and won't leave them when they come out. A lot of larries are also fellow queers so there is a sort of mutual recognition and understanding there. I think they genuinely care about us. But making money takes presedence most times and us larries often become casualties. We are the fandom black sheep(s), but we wear that label proudly. They'll never be rid of us, i don't think they ever could or would. So even though it might seem like they don't see us or care about us, they do.

[otomelavenderhaze]

Ahhhh I just love how this album keeps growing on everyone lol

It might be because I got used to Fortnight being the single pretty quickly, but compared to ttpd, it has a beat that probably works best for a music video. Then again 'begin again' got a video so perhaps I'm just biased by what I already know(?)

Agreed! I listened to the album with a friend and we heard bits of old songs in them and got to the conclusion that Taylor's gonna have so much fun doing mash-ups on tour hahah

And you got me to agree again about if we ever get something similar to the long pond sessions!! I would DIE DEAD

Anyway, it was so nice to talk about Taylor with someone! Have a nice day hon! 🤍

Not in everyone. Because it's a different album and because people cannot fandom that an album called The Tortured Poets Department isn't the beacon of modern and deep poetry, they're losing their minds.

Like, sure, Folkore and Evermore have more writing quality, they feel in their own right as really poetry and narrative driven albums and even without it, at least, they captured a very specific moment in human life a moment that doesn't come often in our story. Just for that I feel like those albums are masterpiece. They capture isolation, escapism, dreams, broken plans and introspection really well - and it all got even bigger when listen during a world wide pandemic.

I was never the type of person to just go out and appreciate the day. I live in a big city when the closest park to me is like a huge pod with a small piece of greenery around, there's sure something beautiful about it, but I never went there on my own. However, when everything shut down during the pandemic, I immediately got immersed into Stardew Valley and other games that bring me a sense of open natural places, with green and blue, and nature.

Folkore and Evermore have a lot of that but in music form, how melancholy and slow and introspective most of the songs are, and it was what I needed at that time to just not let all the despair settle in.

That's when music shows it's value, when we feel less lonely or understood even if for a slip of second, and honestly, it's easy to find in many artists, but it's so shitty seeing people missing that point, y'know??

Maybe Taylor Swift isn't a tortured poet, maybe she's just someone who feels things deeply, who's deeply insecure, who's weak and a people pleaser, however, it's not about taking it seriously or in the most truthful of the word you can be, it's all art, it's all show, it's all about presenting a narrative and, brodosvisky, don't we all do that in our daily basis?? Don't we all perform and exaggerate and feel raw and unseen???

That's why in a deep level people can connect with Taylor's songs, even in an album that isn't necessarily our favorite.

I do hope she sings the new songs in the acoustic and surprise song of the eras tour, the mash-up are my new favorite thing to listen to. In the end we all love our acoustic songs. We all basic like that and aight nothing wrong about it. Like acoustic songs are almost cultural to me cuz I grew up with my parents listening to MPB (POP brazilian music but not really pop like North American music). So much so that I used to have an acoustic guittar myself. I did classes and everything but I was never really good about or even capable of playing a whole song perfectly.

It is so nice to talk to someone about Taylor!!! It's fun too!! Your asks were a big reason to why I went back and properly listen to the album too, I am glad I gave it another chance. Bye!!! Have a good day!!! And see ya. Thank you so much about the asks!!

[dropintomanga]

Get That Bit of Chunibyo Inside You

"We must have a bit of 'chūnibyō' inside us. The fact is we like manga because of the moral within that could touch us emotionally, and we have to behave as we are taught from these media." -Chloe Lisa Kung, Organizer of Rainbow Gala 30, Source: Rainbow Gala 30 and the End of an Era: Hong Kong's Biggest Doujinshi Convention Set to Shutter

I stumbled across an Anime News Network article about a Hong Kong doujinshi event, Rainbow Gala, possibly not existing anymore after a long run in a convention center set to be demolished in the near future.

The organizer, Chloe Lisa Kung, was asked about the future and what led to the impending doom of her event. She spoke about how Hong Kong youth aren't allowed to thrive or chase creative pursuits. Kung lamented on how there's no breeding grounds for young artists to shine or inspiration for art in Hong Kong compared to almost 30 years ago when she started to draw at the age of 12 after seeing doujinshi art.

It does make me think about Hong Kong's anime culture today. I remember visiting Mong Kok Shopping Center back in 2009 and it felt like going to Akihabara in some ways. Every floor was filled with anime, manga, video games, artbooks, toys, etc. When I hear about Hong Kong now, I hear that it's "dead." And reading what Kung said now makes me hesitant to go back there in some way. I do feel that Hong Kong is a bit too commercialized at times. I never liked Canto-pop much and listened to counter-cultural Cantonese music. While anime has always been popular in Asia, it does feel like there's a very genuine communal vibe in that part of the world when it comes to anime/manga fandom and outside forces are slowly stripping that away as everyone wants to jump in on the fan convention train.

There's something that Kung says about the future of Rainbow Gala that makes me think about fans in general and the growing appeal of anime to doujin artists.

"Indeed, there are more consumers now than ever, but the most important lead still lies in the people inside drawing."

I think about the kids who draw manga after watching an episode of anime. I think about the various drawings I've seen over the years of their favorite characters. Sure, some adults will find it "cute" and suggest that it's just a "phase." But to me, the magic starts to happen there.

There's so many consumers, but not enough people to create stuff that can touch lives. It's hard to be creative. Creativity is often devalued due to a general obsession over measurable outcomes.

Kung's words about learning from manga also make me think about how much manga has meant to me. While I did write that I needed mahjong to save me, manga is still what I care about the most. A lot of my mannerisms and attitudes still come from manga. I try to incorporate my manga reading experiences into how I behave. Sometimes, I make blunders, but I still try.

I think about how most fans aren't like me and countless others who use their love to talk about manga on the internet (shout-outs to the bloggers, YouTubers, and podcasters that promote manga in their way). What drove us to start talking about our love to manga to people who don't know us in person? What drove us to become more than just consumers? How do we cultivate that mindset? Those are questions that I'm still trying to get the answers for.

I can only speak for myself in that my own personal mental health experiences combined with the environment I grew up in made me want to blog in the first place. I continue to do so because of how much manga has grown in the past few years. I know it's not just a phase for some youth.

Until then, I'm proud to say that I still got a bit of 8th grade syndrome in me. I'm proud to say that stuff that's mostly read by teens still gets me pumped to seize the day. I'm proud to be a fan that wishes for future creators and their youthful enthusiasm to be treasured as much as the mainstream works that inspired them.