#when i compare the comments i used to get on my fanfics vs the comments i get now

[kakushigotofanclub]

Hey has anyone else noticed a drastic shift in internet culture as a whole over the last couple of years where the frequency of people interacting with each other online has just taken a nosedive and nobody really talks to each other anymore or leaves comments on fanfic or sends asks or anything and fandom spaces feel less welcoming or is that just me lol

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/751011464262860800?source=share

Seeing the numbers compared, I realized that you are right, anon. It's a privilege to be able to write long fics, regardless of them thinking they're unable to write short fics because short fics are mostly scenes so it's not that long fic writers are incapable of writing short stories, deep down, they don't want to. Maybe it feels wrong for them since they've made an impression they always write long fics, maybe they find short fics less impressive, or believe that people won't give the same feedback as when they post something longer.

But I would like to argue that longer doesn't mean it has a plot. I've read 80k words of a character getting tortured with no chance of figuring things out or getting out of that situation and ended quite the same as the start. I've read 25k fic of characters just hogging. These fics have no stakes, no crisis, no buildup, no development, nothing just series of the same scene over and over with different sets or different positions.

Fanfic is free and that is why you encounter things that are, in a way, out of the box and technically are not allowed in the publishing world. But that's the beauty of it. Is it really that big of a gap for people who can write long fics vs people who can only write short fics? Because of how free fanfiction is, most things are okay to do, including only being able to write plotless or short.

One reason why I get jealous of other authors who manage to write longer fics than me is because I was too busy at the time. I found a good system for myself (dedicating a certain time to finish a chapter and then uploading them as I edit and so on) and you can build your own. I think with the right system, anyone can do it.

Pantsers, plotters, and hybrids are equal to me and it's true because how do you know that a person didn't just recycle the same plot they use from their previous fics, thus being able to write different versions of that story? We've seen the viral meme abt fic writers recycling the same thing and a lot of people admit to doing it. Does this mean they're mediocre or bad writers? It's not like that's against the TOS or illegal. Nobody paid us to keep making fresh new ground-breaking stories. The quality of a fanfic is decided from how you treat it. Do you still like it even after five years? Do you think about it sometimes? Do you feel so ashamed you'd rather put it in an anon collection or close your acc completely and orphan it? Do you wish for it gone to the point you delete every trace of it?

It's not from the amount of kudos, hits, or comments, tho yes it is easier to find good ones if you filter by kudos but there are lots of underrated ones and I've DNF a lot of fics that are not to my liking but have high-kudos because people keep rec-ing it. I want underrated fics to be more popular but not because it needs to be popular but because I hope to be in a community with more like-minded people. Fanfic has no publisher, we can't earn from it so traffic is merely informative so it's the community that matters the most.

In fact, to tell you the truth, after 17 years of being in ao3, I've curated my tag very specifically and stopped using the fandom tag and went straight to the ship tag. I also mostly rely on bookmarks, private collections, word from mouth of people I trust or believe to have the same writing style and taste as me. So it was very niche and limited.

Lots of stories have plots but not all must be in your favor so you gotta figure what you like to start. Are you team canon divergence or AU? what trope do you like? Telling someone to stop comparing is ineffective. We always compare because that's how we communicate. But people feel inferior because they don't feel worthy of themselves. If you start to know what you want, it's easier for you to write more. Whether you're still stuck on making 1k-2k, etc, at least you don't waste your time feeling sad or down and you keep writing. That'll help stimulate your brain and you will improve.

(Also maybe just don't listen to authors who you think are humblebragging. Mute or block them if you need to because I know, to some people who are in the same fandom, these types of attitude have more context to it. Idk abt anon, but in some cases maybe they were moots or the account was owned by another fan they've encountered on tumblr or other social media often, a BNF maybe, or just a popular author that other fans praise or talk about often, and things could get personal. Shit can go south quickly in the community tbh)

--

There's definitely an art to condensing one's thoughts into only a few words.

[honeyhotteoks]

First off: you're my absolute favorite fanfic author! The way you write the characters and their emotions and dialog is just beautiful! Into the Aurora and This Night Together inspired me to actually give my writing a fighting chance!!!

With that said...how did you start posting your work? I really want to, but I'm sooooooo nervous!! What if no likes it? What if everyone hates it? And is there a certain way to format the post? I'm fairly new to ✨️actually✨️ posting on tumblr and have no clue what I'm doing 😬

oh my gosh, thank you so much!! i’m so honored to know that i helped inspire you to write fic 😭

this is a great question!! i have lots of advice for you, check under the cut~

okay so as far as how i started posting, this is probably not the post helpful answer. i’ve actually been writing fanfic since i was probably like 14 for various fandoms, i used to post on ff.net then on ao3 and now here, and it’s just been years of publicly posting fandom works online. that being said…… at some point you will just want to rip the bandaid off and when you do, i have some advice

there are going to be people who don’t like what you write, it doesn’t matter what you write or how you write. you like my work and i have a lot of followers, but i’ve had people give pretty negative feedback about aurora, tnt, and some of my one-shots. or reviews that aren’t “mean” necessarily but are “constructive”…. however, i’m a big believer that in the world of fan fiction, unsolicited constructive criticism doesn’t belong in comments when the author is posting their hobby for free. all i’m saying is that it’s gonna happen at some point, but you have to remember that the people doing that aren’t writing fic, and i genuinely do not care about the critical opinions of someone who’s never put themselves out there creatively before.

something that hurt when i started posting was the lack of engagement, and i know this is something a lot of writers still struggle with, especially on tumblr. there are fics i have written that are like deeply dear to me and i’m really proud of but have so few notes compared to other fics and that used to really bum me out. what i’ve learned is this:

people actually aren’t perpetually online they just seem it, so if you post something once and never mention it again, people with busy lives are going to miss it

the time you post doesn’t have to matter… but if you���re trying to drum up engagement, then consider the time of day you’re posting. tumblr has good analytics to tell you blog engagement stats and stuff like that, i find that can help with knowing most of your followers are from XYZ time zone and they probably will not see something you post at 2 PM during the work/school day vs. 7 PM or something like that

try not to be sad if you get a majority of likes and not reblogs. i personally like tons of work that i intend to read later, i treat my likes like bookmarks, that doesn’t mean someone didn’t like your work enough to reblog it, it means they use their likes differently OR potentially they have a blog where they don’t feel comfortable reblogging fanfic, especially nsfw fic.

if you’re posting anywhere, know your tags. don’t post something with two hashtags and assume it’ll find its way. unfortunately it won’t, so make sure you tag everything appropriately so it lands in people’s suggested feeds

if you do all of that and then your fic gets some notes but not that many….. and you’re wondering….. why didn’t more people like it? well part of that might just be that it’s not showing up at the top of people’s feeds anymore. if you want to establish yourself in the writing space, engaging with readers is important. if you get a really nice review in a reblog, don’t be afraid to reblog it back. if you get a certain number of notes, don’t be afraid to reblog your own fic and say thank you for 100 notes etc., just to push it up on people’s feeds.

if you’re posting on AO3, just make sure that you’re filling out all the tags, warnings, pairings, etc. AO3 has been around a while and is a well oiled machine, and i know a ton of readers on there use the filters to find the exact niche of fic they want to read. i cannot tell you how many fics i pass by that don’t have tags, are missing a good description, etc.

okay now as far as formatting goes…… here are my thoughts after a lot of trial and error:

before you decide on anything formatting wise, just remember that readers engage with fic on tumblr in a variety of ways. some people are on desktop, some people are on your actual blog web address, and some people are just on mobile. before you teach yourself html coding for fancy lettering in ombré colors…… are your readers going to be able to see it in dark mode? if not, maybe don’t invest the time, because the first thing i do when i see a post like that is scroll because it’s taking me too long to know what’s going on

so yeah, are there rules to format? yes and no. content “yes”, visual “no” but people do follow a particular trend. what i like to do is keep it simple to avoid the formatting issues i mentioned above, but i also invested a little time in figuring out a “look” for my posts so when people are scrolling they might see my layout and know it’s me. details below->

1. a header image or header images, it’s the quickest way for people to get a vibe and it might capture an aesthetic. some authors have a header made for them as an author, some do a custom one per fic, but i typically just make an aesthetic black and white collage and go with that because it looks cool but i don’t have to learn photoshop to do it. go with what you know on this one

2. a title and a SHORT description, i think ‘untitled’ is tough…. people won’t read or remember your fic. no description means people are guessing and might not click, and too long means people might scroll. my rule of thumb is a couple sentences.

3. content tags, and this is VERY important — people need warnings or clarity on what the fic is about. most people skim the tags to find out if they want to read it over a description, especially when we’re talking very short form fic or smut. that’s why tags might be funny or informal, but it’s also really important to tag anything that might be triggering in a variety of ways. something i always make sure i include is every sex act or kink (i never know what triggers one person and not another), and anything related to: violence, abuse, self harm, mental health, physical injury, death, food/diet content, and body descriptors of reader. if you’re writing self insert and you’re describing the reader a particular way, that’s fine but you should disclose it. some of my fics are specifically written for ‘curvy’ reader in mind and its tagged that way vs. like …. ‘short/small/size-kink’ reader. Gender is also important here, i always tag fem!reader because i feel like that works, but i often see more trans inclusive terms like afab!reader etc., so it’s up to you! but we definitely want to be mindful of readers who could feel dysphoric if surprised by pronouns/body-parts/etc.

4. a clear identifier of the ships in the fic. i.e. put the ‘yunho x reader’ or ‘idol!yunho x fem!reader’ tag high up so people know who they’re reading

5. otherwise, i personally recommend keeping the top of the post short, putting in a cut, and then posting everything under the cut because a long post is just a lot to scroll through etc. i favor the small text for my fics headers and regular size text for the actual body of the fic just to keep it looking nice.

hopefully this helps! i’d be happy to talk through anything else too, i love getting into this stuff. my biggest recommendation would be to ask yourself what kind of work you want to post and invest some time in developing a style for your format etc. - even if it’s close to what other people are posting that’s okay! just keeping it consistent and looking good helps get readers to click, so search around and see what you like and then play with your posts in drafts before you do anything.

good luck!!!

[bardic-inspo]

Writer Interview

Playing some catch up on tags. Tagged by the wonderful @pursuitseternal, @marlowethebard, @nyx-knox, @honeybee-bard, @snowfolly,

and @paganwitchisis holy shit thank you all!!

Not sure who all in my circles has done this already, but gonna tag @wilteddreamsofbaldursgate, @astarionancuntnin, @pinkberrytea, @locallegume, @thedreamlessnights,

@ladymdc, and @carooosa if you see this and would like to do it! No worries if not!

When did you start writing?

Around 13/14 years old, doing warrior cats roleplay on proboards forums. Roleplay isn't really my speed anymore, but it eventually bridged me into more traditional narrative writing and then fanfic later. Fallout 4 was the first fandom I really wrote fanfic for.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I really love intricate long-running plots with slow-burn pay off, and used to write more in that vein, but got pretty burnt out on it. It felt like it would take so long to get to those big moments I pictured the whole time, by the time I arrived to them, they felt played out in my head. Trying to strike a happy medium now by writing (relatively) shorter and more focused fic/storylines that still pack a punch, but maybe have fewer branches.

Otherwise my genre/theme preferences are generally the same with writing vs. reading and are pretty broad.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

Not a writer, but I've been told at various times there is a poetical element in a lot of my writing, even in just the sentence structure or how I tend to pace my prose. That makes a lot of sense to me, since I wrote a lot of poetry before getting into writing a lot of prose.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

I used too many tricks on my brain to jump start creativity (yummy beverage, cozy blanket, favorite candle when writing) and now my brain often demands all of these things be in place to do any writing 😬I can sometimes get away without all of them. Usually, I'm writing in my office, which is a pretty blue color with some gold picture frames and often a soothing space. But, I do work from home in there at times, too, and on workdays I can't make myself do creative things in the same spot I sat in working all day. Then, I'll be at my dining table or sitting on my couch, usually with headphones because I have a hard time concentrating with other noise around me.

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Self care. I mean, making sure I've got sleep/food/hygiene etc. squared away where they should be, even if it means taking a break from the page. Most of the time when I'm trying hard to write and it's just not jiving, it's because I've neglected one of those things, and the words always come easier once I've addressed them.

Playing the game again. Listening to character music. Chatting with friends who love the character, too.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

Yes! A lot of them became apparent to me only after switching fandoms and realizing I was writing about a lot of similar themes. Grief is a big one. Characters who've experienced both a lack of love and a loss of it. Characters who fall in love again or in spite of that loss. The main ships I've written for all feature characters who either loved someone else first or, in Astarion's case, have gone through the forced motions of romance.

Battle couples is another big one. Bisexual battle couples. 🥰

What is your reason for writing?

It's always felt like something I needed to do to feel whole. Not necessarily the sharing the writing or posting it part, or getting a reaction about it, but doing it at all, even just a little. Even if it's just for me. I feel more me when writing is at least a small part of my life. More free. It's my creative outlet.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

I adore any comment. I'm borrowing this from someone else's interview post, but I too am a slut for praise. In all honesty though, just knowing I'm not writing into some void or vacuum can be so powerful. Even just a heart emoji comment makes my spirits soar.

The ones that go full red string and corkboard about the plot or characters, or quote what parts stick out to them always stick with me. It lets me know I'm hitting the mark with what I'm trying to convey.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

I want them to know I'm still good for it even if it takes me a long time.💜That's the biggest thing to me right now. I'm not able to pour it out so quickly as others can. But I hope they know it'll be a good time when I do eventually post.

And also that I'm just some lady. I'm just another human bean. Wanting to share and enjoy stories with other human beans, and connect with a sense of community through those stories.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Visceral/punchy action scenes, vivid descriptions, setting tone, and portraying character personalities.

How do you feel about your own writing?

My feelings about it change with the tides. Right now, I'm a bit glum, and I think that's because I haven't had much to share or post lately, even though I've been doing lots of writing that isn't ready to be shared yet. On the other hand, I'm having the most fun with it that I've had in a very long time, and that element feels great.

I'm grateful for what I've done, incredibly blessed to have made friends and found community through writing, and ever-striving to find the happy medium of productivity and creativity.

When you write, are you influenced by what others enjoy might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

It's mostly what I'd like hehe. And I'm happy about that. I am often inspired to try things based on what I see in fandom, but if I don't enjoy it, too, I won't pursue it further.

[bcbdrums]

🍄🍬🌿🧩 Truth or Dare!

"🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings"

uhmm... hmmm... hmmm... i don't think i can pick one pair, lol. i'm gonna pick. a few.

i'll preface this by saying i'm a canon purist 99% of the time, so when i have a headcanon, it's because i think i can defend it very well with evidence from the source material.

Star Trek - Jim and Spock share a mental link that was created by accident and allowed intermittent empathy/mild telepathy of both a conscious and subconscious nature. this is evidenced in several episodes, but a particular moment on the bridge in The Immunity Syndrome is my solid basis for this. (I promise I'll keep writing "Always Will"... Star Trek is the fandom of my heart. I'll come back to it. I promise.)

Kim Possible - (angst alert! tw: infant death. tw: child death. tw: miscarriage. i hope i did that right...) Drakken and Shego had twins that didn't survive. The event brought them closer together and made them re-think their priorities... This is post-canon when they were dealing with the good vs. evil issues already, and the only thing they knew for sure was they wanted to be together. This event also led them to realize...they want to be parents. (Yes, my fic "Rekindling" is in fact, headcanon...)

Soul Eater - I haven't posted a fic about this one yet so I'm leery to share it... But a story is already in the works. And I'll be very, very vague... Stein's "experiments" on Spirit were extremely mild and rapidly turned into something else... Something Stein was doing to cover for Spirit, to protect him from something else going on in his life... And that's where I'm leaving that because I want it to be a surprise when I post the story! But a couple people I've told might guess this, heheh. (No title for this story yet... Titles are my worst enemy.)

"🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character"

Spirit Albarn did not cheat on his wife. 😎 I'll die on this hill. In a diff post than the one I link, I compared him to Greg Universe (of Steven Universe). The authors present both as characters you want to hate, who you question, who look like lousy fathers. But slowly the story starts to unfold and you realize...there's more here than what was presented on the surface. And maybe the surface was a lie all along. I use that comparison because most people seem to get it with Greg. But only a few people get it with Spirit. That's fine. It's my headcanon; it doesn't have to be yours. And I enjoy other ppl's headcanons very much. But you did ask.

"🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity"

this is where the whole... 'write for yourself' thing, comes into play. i've actually seen a lot of tumblr discourse about this recently... write for yourself! people say. but, we share creations out because...we want people to see them. we are writing for ourselves, and then sharing them...

here's what i'm learning. my motivation to create has to be for myself, in the grand scheme. it's fine to create things here and there for others. and i personally love gifting fanfic. but if your goal when you go into creating is... 'i'm going to tailor this story so this person will like it,' or, 'i'm gonna post this and i can't wait till this person comments!' that's when you're in danger... you're not creating for yourself anymore. now your satisfaction is going to come from...what that person thinks, whether or not they comment, how deep is their comment...

your satisfaction has to come from responding to your own creative drive.... i suppose that's where the advice starts. make sure your motives are in the right place. and... hey, if the creativity is sated? allow yourself to rest! as i'm writing this (it's being queued so, not coming out near the same day it was asked), my writing well is a bit dry. you might want to create, and feel bad you're not doing so... but it's okay to rest! if your mind just wants to daydream but the hands don't want to write the story or draw the piece right then... just let yourself be. allow yourself that space. i think you'll find creativity is better for it in the long run.

'but i'm worried my followers will be disappointed?' now, there you're not creating for you again... if they're friends, they'll still be there. if they're just...a random number in your stats, then again... your motives aren't in the right place. i'm a firm believer in...don't base your self-worth on internet stats. it's just not something i can get onboard with. your value is not determined by number of views, comments, reblogs, etc...

"🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?"

ahhhh hmmm.... i haven't done any immediate clicks in awhile. i'd say if something squicks me pretty suddenly. but blessedly, with AO3 tagging, i can often avoid accidentally running into those things.

wanna be clear though, writing is in art itself and sometimes... well, i'll give an example. i read a fic not too long ago with a twist ending. it is the sort of thing i would not have read had i known. but, had they tagged for the twist it would have ruined the story. so i was not bothered by the lack. i personally would have done the same. am i haunted by what i read? yes. but storytelling is its own art and well...yeah. it's not like in picking up a physical book we're gonna get the tag warnings.

that was slightly off topic, uhhh... i think mostly just if one of my squicks shows up i'll click away. something that's not my thing. and depending on how good the fic is, i'll try to push past it. but if it keeps happening... like there was one long, long multi-chap where main char was kidnapped and tortured and my poor li'l happy-ending heart didn't realize until i was fairly deep in that the whole point of the fic was torture that just got worse and worse... closed that one, never finished.

oh okay but one thing... if a story is VERY out of character, then i'm not interested. like.... the whole point in fanfic is to see more of the character so if it doesn't read like them, then... yeah. that's actually probably the most immediate thing for me. i can handle poor grammar and formatting and english-second-language writers and new writers who are learning the craft... all of that is fine. long as the character is in character, i'm pretty game to read most things.

thanks for the ask!!!!

[just-here-with-my-thoughts]

It’s so hard to pick from your WIP list!!! Can I hear more about nightmares, diamonds, and bdhb-fairground date? (And bdhb-smut if you wanna 😂)

It seems greedy to ask about FOUR options for the WIP game (that is more than a third of the options on offer!) but seeing as @probadbatch also asked about the Beach Days and Hair Braiding series, I shall indulge you :P

Nightmares is your own request anyway, so you know the premise! It's based off a throwaway line in "Forget I asked", and will eventually result in Hunter being there when Crosshair wakes from his nightmares, even if their own relationship is still rocky at the time. But you can't have Crosshair being comforted by Hunter without contrasting it with the time he has spent alone...

Crosshair woke with a flinch, arms instinctively coming up to shield his head. Protect his eyes. His enhancement made him useful, an asset. It was the only thing keeping him from decommissioning. No. Wait. This wasn't Kamino. Panting to full wakefulness as tremors of adrenaline shot through his limbs, Crosshair peeled himself up from the hard cot and steadied himself with a palm on the wall. The sleek rasp of durasteel scraped under his clawed fingers. Breathing through his mouth, he tasted the chemical tang of disinfectant in the recycled air. If he listened, he could hear the erratic night-cycle breathing of other prisoners in cells out of view of his own. Blinking away the last vestiges of the nightmare, his vision cleared enough to focus on the barred gate that sealed him in. He let his gaze track over the scuffs and pits he knew by heart, those small details intimately familiar to him. He’d had nothing to do all this time except stare at the wall, trying to stay sane even as despair eroded his will to do so.

TechPhee Diamonds is inspired by a conversation/challenge to find a way to feature my own Specialist Subject in a fanfic somehow! So what better way than to have Tech and Phee debating the merits of natural vs synthetic diamonds?

Of course Tech is arguing that chemically, physically, optically, a synthetic diamond is identical to its naturally occurring counterpart. Phee just doesn't see the romance in it - not compared to a natural treasure of the earth, grown millions of years ago under the ground, then brought to the surface in a volcanic eruption and weathered from it's host rock for some lucky person to find.

In the end, she promises that if he gets her a big enough diamond, she won't even ask where it came from :P

Beach Days series below the cut! (Cloneshipping here, don't like? Don't click!)

I mean firstly credit also goes to my co-creator @ninjadeathblade because you wouldn't have had this series at all without them!

I was asked about the BDHB series last time this game went round so you can find a bit more info Here :)

As for my current WIPs? We're half way through Fairground Date; the rest of the planned chapters are 5: Drop Tower, 6: Splashdown/Sideshow Games, 7: Tunnel of Love and 8: Fireworks. Sneak peek for upcoming chapter 'Drop Tower' below :P

“Remind you of waiting to drop into a combat zone?” the other clone asked, his voice a low rumble, Hunter could only pick his words out thanks to his enhanced senses – this was clearly a comment Crosshair was making for his ears alone, not as general conversation. He shivered as Cross’ long fingers skimmed across the skin of his palm, sensitive despite years of callouses. Despite how small the point of contact was, it set up a delicious feeling throughout his entire body. “That’s how I felt… waiting to come and see you today,” the sniper continued, lips barely moving. He was facing straight ahead, but the gentle action of his hand tracing Hunter’s told him he had his full attention. “How I’ve felt every time I thought about you since… that night.”

Interlude (505) and Laundry Day are officially in development as the next 2 stories after Fairground Date. It's probably going to be a while before any of the disparate snippets in the WIP doc currently titled 'BDHB smut' reach the story but I certainly don't plan for it to stay as cute hand-holding forever...

"Fuck." Hunter bit out the oath, tears welling and beading on his lashes as he scrunched his eyes closed. "Cross, it's too intense..." Crosshair stilled their bodies, waiting for a moment as Hunter gasped. "Do you want to stop?" "No," he whispered brokenly, pressing his forehead to Crosshair's. Fighting the urge to move, Crosshair stayed where he was, long fingers pressing divots into Hunter's hips but waiting for the signal to continue. After a moment Hunter hiccoughed something that sounded on the edge of a sob, and Crosshair drew his head back in soft horror. "You're crying," he rasped, voice curling with guilt. "Hunter, we don't have to do this-" "I want to." Hunter cut him off, a laugh shuddering through him as he lifted his arm from Cross' shoulder, swiping his forearm across his face to dry his tears. "I want you." There was a note of self-frustration as he shook his head. "It's just..." He trailed off, lifting his face to fix Crosshair with a gaze that glowed with devotion. "It's you. It's really you." After a moment Crosshair moved his hands on Hunter's sides, a soothing stroke. "You're okay. I've got you."

Listen smut is just a vehicle for two characters to have a really strong connection to each other, by the time they reach this point the boys have been through a lot together to get this far. I have been staring at this for far too long agonising over what to share from this wip; there's definitely *sexier* stuff than this but their eventual, emotional, long-awaited first-time seemed like the best option :)

[castlebyersafterdark]

Do you think the byler fandom being majority female was a part of the reason why there is such a large backlash to spicy bylerism? I feel like if there were more gay and bi dudes, there'd be more tolerance and understanding of male sexuality beyond the cute romantic side of things. Also, I don't know the makeup of straight girls vs. lesbians vs. bi girls on here, but I'd imagine some lesbians might be a bit uncomfy with explicit sexual topics related to byler

Hmmmm I wouldn't necessarily go with that as the reasoning. We have to acknowledge statistics and traditional fandom demographics - fandom spaces where things like fanart and fanfic are the focus have kind of always skewed female? Am I incorrect? But those are the things I sought out in fandom, the art and the writing, creative outlets (alongside fighting with people on reddit and twitter haha which I don't do anymore!!)

Look at Steddie for example. There are currently 28k fics out of 94k Stranger Things fics. Around 29% of the fics in the fandom are that pairing. And almost a third of those fics are rated E. Wow!! Compare Byler. 11.5k fics. Only a mere 6% of the fics are rated E. I'm going to assume that the Steddie fandom is predominantly female as well as the Byler fandom????

I think it's an age/generation thing to be honest. I could be very well wrong. Unsure why the Byler fandom does skew lower, and that's totally fine, but from my observations, the people I've seen the most vocally anti-sex in media and in fandom tend to be teens/early 20s. Even if I know a bunch of Byler fans are older, but the vocal ones have skewed younger. Could be just what I've personally witnessed, but anyone let me know if I'm off base here?

And also the silly mindset that also coincides with the age trending possibility - with Byler being younger characters and the current backlash against all of that which was never present in the past. Not to bring up a fandom we all probably want to forget, but the HP fandom was huuuge for years, right? Those were high school age characters, infamously with tons of E rated content, to excess. A personal note, I got into fandom stuff through my older sister, and HP and anime were her big things. I know some of the fandom lore haha.

I do think if there were more bi and gay dudes who were vocal and into fanart and fic (we are out here though!! we just may not announce it! I sometimes played neutral over the years!), that strong personal convictions might combat the anti-sex and spicy or E rated content contentious people. That's why I'm glad to have started over and started fresh and honest here. Because I'm gained a backbone in this fandom now? I'd love for some silly anti person to try to tell me about myself, using my own sexuality against me when they're supposedly propping up a gay couple as a hobby interest through a fandom, but judging those who are interested in authenticity and the full spectrum of what relationships and 'shipping' means in fandom. Like. How dare. Hahaha.

To be honest, I'd just delete the comment or ask and they wouldn't get a chance at attention.

[fazedlight]

20 questions game

Thank you @sssammich for the tag!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Eight

2. What’s your total AO3 words count?

Currently it's 123,510 words! It felt really cool to pass the 100k mark.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Supercorp

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

No One and Nothing

So I Kept Pretending

Synthesis

It's a Metallo Life

Even Though You're Kryptonian

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

I do! I respond to most of them now, because I like talking with my readers! I didn't do that at first... I was nervous that I might appear too desperate or something if I responded to everyone, but now I don't care 🤣 I love my readers and want them to know I see them.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

For now, I think that title belongs to Darkness in All Things. I wouldn't call it an angsty ending necessarily, but it's a bit more somber than most of my endings.

I think one of my one-shot WIPs may take this title (though I don't expect to finish it until early next year).

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I think all of my fics count as happy endings! The happiest might be Even Though You're Kryptonian, since our beloved idiots are preparing for their nuptials.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've gotten a few from a known troll, but generally no. This fandom has been very kind 💗

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

I wrote smut once, for Darkness in All Things. There's another fic I'm writing smut for, although it's not supercorp.

In general, writing smut terrifies me. I only did it in DIAT because the characters held that chapter hostage until I did, and now the characters for this other fic are as well. I am being bullied 😭

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Okay... so... technically I have.

When I was young (10-ish?), I read some Sailor Moon fanfiction. I stumbled across this Sailor Moon & Xena crossover, and was frustrated that it had one chapter left and hadn't seen an update in a long time (I don't remember what a "long time" would've been to me back then).

I reached out to the author and asked about it, and the author gave me the chance to finish it based on their outline. So... I did, and they posted it!

I don't know how "well" it did. I think this was on ff.net in the very early days, so there were no kudos, and I don't think I ever got a comment about it.

I'd love to find that again, but haven't been able to. I remember nothing about it other than Rei was extremely snarky. I stopped reading Sailor Moon fanfic soon after, and generally didn't read fanfiction again until my 2021 obsession with Rizzles began.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Technically yes, see #10.

I don't think I'll do it again. I'm far too chaotic in my writing approach, and far too possessive of my stories, to effectively cowrite with someone 🤣

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

Xena/Gabrielle!! They were my first ship. I never read fic of them (other than the Sailor Moon crossover I mentioned above, since I did read a lot of Sailor Moon fic). For me, their story was perfect, and the show gave us everything I could ever want.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I don't think I have any of these at the moment. And I'd never say never anyway, you never know what a brain will latch onto.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I have some good plot ideas and decent characterization. But ultimately this question is up to the readers, not me.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I think my greatest weakness is not letting a scene evolve - I'm impatient by nature. I think this is something I'm slowly getting better at, in that my first fics are far less developed compared to my most recent fics.

But there's always a gap from the scene that's in my head vs. what ultimately makes it to the page. Sometimes I don't know if I've written enough for the readers to know what the characters are feeling and doing.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Oh I'd get lots of help here.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Technically Xena and Sailor Moon in a crossover 🤣 That was a single chapter for someone else's story with someone else's outline over two decades ago. So I think saying Supercorp is still accurate.

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Oh gosh, it's hard to choose. I think I have a recency bias thing here where I want to say Darkness in All Things. I do think my writing style has improved greatly over time, so I think my stories have gotten better in that sense.

No pressure tags! @luthordamnvers @rustingcat @jadedloverart @tinyvariations @trashpandato @appropriatelystupid

[vergess]

Re: The "Fandom teaches people to analyse media a specific way" Thread, fucking thank you!! I've come across that thread multiple times now, and every time I see it, always with all these brand new, nuanced additions to boot, I can never get through it without being majorly frustrated despite how fascinating the topic actually is, because nobody points out the elephant in the room of, hey, actually, fandom is very huge and very diverse, to the point that the phrase "fandom culture" is highly inaccurate. There are fandom *cultures*. Multiple cultures, not just for every fandom, but also, if the fandom in question is big enough, multiple cultures in a *single* fandom. This goes double for practically any and all international works. 

I mean, come on, as a single example, the Japanese Pokémon fandom and the USAmerican Pokémon fandom are absolutely *not* the same, and in many ways aren't comparable. I speak from personal experience. But also, the USAmerican Pokémon fanartist community and the USAmerican Pokémon fanfic writer community are very different as well. Again, from personal experience. And while the Japanese and USAmerican Poké fandoms, and the USAmerican Poké artist and fanficcer communities can and regularly do intersect, they are still their own different sects of the same fandom(s), not to mention all the sub-communities within them all as well. *And* I am only referencing online communities, specifically, here. (Not even going to get into the cluster-fuck that is the Pokémon Anime Fandom vs the *Other* Pokémon Anime Fandom vs the Pokémon Main Games Fandom vs the Pokémon Side Games *Fandoms* vs the Pokéspe Fandom vs the *Other* Pokémon Manga Fandom lol)

What you wrote about this point-of-view coming from encounters with a select few mostly young, mostly monolingual native English speaking USAmericans in (some) online transformative fandoms, and then this being pushed onto the entirety of fandom, as an international phenomenon, hit really close to home. Like, I don't know, as a young non-native English speaking non-USAmerican who is in both transformative and archival fandoms, and who first got into fandom not online but offline, together with a close friend who is currently studying English Language and Literature on a university level, no actually, I don't think this flat, monolithic idea of fandom "taught" me this specific type of analysis and *only* this type of analysis. Personally, I already knew this type of analysis and many others way before I joined fandom spaces, and then when I did I was and am able to use my prior knowledge to develop transformative works, and to also socialise with other fandomgoers, including ones more knowledgeable than me such as my friend, through meta. Your Experiences Are Not Universal, and all that.

Anyways, as you can probably tell from the username, I (mostly) use this account to lurk, so I'd never go and write all of this down in the actual thread. So, again, thank you for expressing my own grievances with your addition.

Yeah, I'm glad I could help!

Your comment on pokeani actually reminds me of a more... robust culture gap.

One that happened when fans of Korean and American cinema tried to analyze the other school of film.

A gap that has unfortunately persisted academically for decades, in spite of the efforts of pretty much anyone familiar with both.

Oh yeah, and in spite of S Korea's government spending the largest percent of their GDP of any country on earth, for decades, doing cultural outreach that is broadly recognized as the most advanced in the world.

A gap which was, unironically, closed in the last years by everyone's "most hated" fandom. The very essence of ~self-obsessed fandoms that go too far.~

Teenage American K-pop fans.

Because the willingness to enjoy Korean cinema on its own terms by that group created a body of tools and vocabulary for explaining it to other Americans that had never and could never exist without them.

How? Why??

Two factors.

First, Korean cinema is relatively younger than American and thus is intimately influenced by it, leading to the use of similar body direction, set design, and camera language.

And second, Korean literary traditions are far older and culturally completely different.

This led, inevitably, to the same circle of American and Korean publics seeing very technically adept films with writing that was unavoidably alienating and directing that seemed to completely disagree with the rest of the film.

For YEARS we were stuck with Americans calling Korean film beautiful, evocative, and boring. Koreans calling American film visually stunning, fast paced... and boring. Imports of S Korean film and TV to the US, when they existed at all, tended to have weak receptions by US audiences.

Enter: K-pop girlies.

Their motives ranged from "learn the language" to "watch the hotties" and all manner of other things.

But their actual ACTIONS were to ravenously consume Korean film and TV across every genre and era.

And then to talk about it. Constantly. To play with the cinematic language until they were so fluent they created a new genre of micro film. To make friendships with S Korean music and film fans, artists, and writers and learn from them.

To network and rework with a scale and passion never before seen from US citizens over Korean art.

Until they developed a whole suite of easily understood English vocabulary for studying Korean art and literary history that did not exist in English before then.

Let me be clear: all the shitty things you've heard about US kpop fans are true and probably even worse IRL.

But, even so?

K-pop fans created an entire system of film translation and localization between the US and Korea that not only didn't exist, but that academics, studios, and entire governments had been trying to make for decades.

Once the framework was there, American film studios, writers, etc had the tools and data to actually determine which Korean films would be INTERESTING to American audiences. Which ones would land correctly. How to translate important lines or scenes into film language US audience's understand.

And now, US cinema is a foreign film renaissance. I mean holy shit, Americans are going to see subtitled Korean films in theaters.

But, of course, the fact that an only somewhat related fandom managed to thrust international film criticism and as a result international cinematic cooperation forward by DECADES?

Doesn't matter. Not when one American woman so proud of her ignorance calls fandom a closed audience of calvinists.

And that was done by the exact type of young, American fan she was actively mocking as ~incapable of critical interpretation due to closed minds and ignorance.~

The irony abounds.

[thedistantdusk]

Hello! Hope you're doing good! I'm a huuuuge fan of your works! You're really brilliant istg! Just wanted to ask if you're working on any Harry Potter fics currently.... I understand if you don't want to answer this. It's absolutely fine if you're on a break or something. Hope you are happy and having fun! Take care, lots of love!

Hello!

Thank you, that’s very kind.

It’s… interesting to me that this ask arrived in my inbox late last night (when this old lady was dead asleep! 😴) because this is a topic I’ve struggled with for some time. I suppose now is as good a time as any to discuss it.

After immersing myself in original content for over a year, I’ve come to the realization that I’m better suited to original publication.

I can already hear the follow-up question (“Why?”)… and yikes, I’m hesitant to answer, because my reasoning is the sort of thing that’s often misconstrued/taken personally on Tumblr.

Please know that what I’m about to say does not describe a single person or event, and it’s absolutely not intended as a personal attack. However, since I’ve been wrestling with this for some time (and since I get frequent asks about it), I’d like to think my feelings are valid enough to explain myself.

So! Here’s an explanation, in the form of a story.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a writing conference and got the opportunity to chat with an author who’s been doing this gig for ages, with a number of professional accolades to her name. She also started out writing Harry Potter fanfic, so we got to talking about the transition from fic to OC. She no longer writes fic (and didn’t write canon pairings, so had no overlap with my experiences in that regard) but she offered a sage piece of wisdom that has stuck with me since.

I’m paraphrasing, but the gist of what she offered is that in most cases, when comparing big-name fanfic authors to big-name OC authors, the standard of content quality is almost exactly the same— but the accepted standard of professionalism couldn’t be more different.

And maybe this statement is obvious to you, but it really threw me for a loop! 😅 To clarify, she wasn’t saying that this statement is necessarily anyone’s fault, or that individual fic writers are to blame for the overall culture of some (not all!) fandoms. She also wasn’t saying that any author— or any person, in general— deserves disrespect.

She was simply commenting on the difference of what’s considered “part of the job” when comparing reader interactions between fanfic vs OC communities. She wasn’t even speaking about Harry Potter in particular, so if you’ve had a different experience, I believe you! This was her feedback, and hers alone 😄.

Unfortunately, though, it did ring extremely true for me. Imo, when “professional” authors (and yes, I hate using that term, because all authors are valid) engage in objectively outlandish/unkind behavior, they often face consequences— at least in the court of public opinion.

However, I simply can’t say the same is true for fandom. Imo, there are few other venues where folks who actually want readers/followers are publicly supported in behavior that, in my opinion, should receive a call-out instead of a round of applause.

Again, this is just my experience, and I’m not describing everyone. Many fanfic writers (including the ones I beta for 🥰) behave as true professionals. And if you’re reading this and completely disagree with me, that’s totally okay! Nothing I’m saying should be intended to take away from anything you’ve experienced. I’m simply describing my own personal feelings/the feelings of a peer with whom I discussed the transition from fandom to original culture.

So… will I write fic again? Given the circumstances I’ve described, this will be a challenge. I love organizing fic exchanges and festivals, working on the subreddit, and supporting the creation of new content. But after witnessing, first-hand, the way that OC authors engage with the public, my experiences in fandom culture feel unnecessarily toxic by comparison.

Which leads me to my point: After quite a bit of introspection, I’ve had to accept that there were many times over the past few years when I should’ve been kinder in my public handling of reader interactions/Tumblr asks.

I, myself, fell into the “fandom trap” of responding to innocent questions in a way that embarrasses me now. I take full responsibility, but I can’t change the past. The most I can do is apologize and offer a greater degree of kindness in the future.

So! I know that’s a long-winded explanation, but the transition to OC has really opened my eyes. I wholeheartedly support anyone who continues to write fic/produce for fandoms; this, again, is literally just my experience. I’ll always be around discord for a chat and conversation, but I’m not sure if writing fic is for me anymore.

In closing, it saddens me that this post (which is literally about kindness/professionalism) will probably inspire passive-aggressive reblogs and hashtags, but this will only be a prime example of why HP content creation may no longer be for me 😅.

In short, this indefinite break will probably continue, but I truly appreciate your support ❤️.

Take care!

[highfantasy-soul]

I think it's interesting how some fandoms are super open to adaptations and re-interpretations of og work into new stuff (mainly tv/movie adaptations) and other fandoms are....not.

Like, the Grishaverse has explicit stories in the books with characters doing/meeting at specific times but the Netflix adaptation changes that a good deal - acknowledging that this isn't a 1-1 recreation of the books, and it's received really well.

Rings of Power on the other hand.... people are shitting themselves over an adaptation set during an age Tolkien didn't even write much on and his writings on what happened then change and morphed over the years of his life as he fleshed out Arda. But certain segments of the fans claim anything other than a 1-1 recreation is bad and wrong and the writers must just be bad.

I felt the writing for Rings of Power and Shadow and Bone were comparable - both pretty good but with room for improvement. there were some things I wasn't thrilled with, but didn't feel like they ruined the story. And there were some changes/additions to lore I absolutely LOVED.

Idk, maybe it's the age range of the fanbase or what they're used to (ie I feel like a larger chunk of Shadow and Bone fans might be more used to fanfic than Lord of the Rings fans are? Obvi not saying there's no LotR fanfic, but generally speaking in the fandom I've seen, it's more common for the Grishaverse) or maybe it's high fantasy vs. YA fantasy, I really don't know but I do find it interesting.

Same with race bending characters from the og to the adaptation or changing hair/eye colors - people lost their minds that some of the elves had short hair but I have heard no one complain that the actor playing Wylan doesn't have reddish gold curls. In tons of comic adaptations, I see fans talking about 'red head erasure (lol)' but I haven't seen that kind of nonsense from other fandoms. [And I'm not even going to touch on the racism that comes out when actors of color are cast because that's a whole different level of fucked up that deserves it's own set of essays]

Just something I've noticed and its interesting to see. Because heaven forbid I make a comment loving on changes from one franchise like I would another and get eaten alive because I accidentally dipped my toe in the water of a fandom who hates any changes whatsoever.

[olderthannetfic]

https://olderthannetfic.tumblr.com/post/739335177994747904/httpswwwtumblrcomolderthannetfic739061849135#notes

I'm the anon on this post. I fully get the point here in this person's reblog and your addition, and I can see how my ask came across as gatekeeping, but I think what I meant more was in response to the previous anon (that Il inked) seeming to think that a LOT of hetero men needed to enter fandom for F/F to become more popular. As I said, there is some good F/F content written by men; I encountered that even in the brony fandom. (That said, that was a fandom where I very strongly was NOT interested in smut, which is not the case with most of my other F/F fandoms, so that's probably part of what influenced my preferences there.) Like, there was a lot of garbage, but there was so much content that there happened to be a decent amount of good stuff as well even following Sturgeon's Law.

I think what I meant more was disagreeing with the idea that the "solution" to lack of F/F is to have fanfiction become a *much* dudier space. I was trying to give my experience of having been in a fandom like that to suggest that it's a very fundamentally different experience than the generally less-dudey places that fanfiction fandom is in most fandoms, and I don't know that that's necessarily better just because we get more F/F, because in effect it still ends up marginalizing lesbian and bi women F/F fans because so much of the content is not only not for us, but often even hostile to us. (In a very different way from the arguments that are made about women writing M/M, where a lot of it is just stuff that isn't what gay/bi men are looking for. I'm sure any lesbian or bi woman who has had to deal with the kind of men who have lesbian fetishes irl, on dating sites, etc. can relate, but I really hate when people compare those things because it is truly apples and oranges.)

I hope I'm being clear, but I just think there's a distinction to be made between "I do not want F/F fanfiction fandom to become a *primarily* male space, and I think there are some big downsides that people who've never been in a fandom like that haven't seen" vs. "We need to gatekeep F/F so it's exclusively queer women writing it." I'm fine with some guys doing it, of course, but I don't think the fact that fanfiction is a primarily female and queer and nonbinary space is a "problem" to be "fixed" even if it means less F/F. I think that's a big part of the draw, in fact. That's what I was trying to say, but maybe not very well.

--

I think the point of the other comment isn't so much that anyone wants fic fandom to become dude-y... It's that for f/f numbers to look like m/m numbers, you'd have to have the reverse situation.

Whether that's desirable is another question, but it puts the endless focus on stats and numbers into perspective.

I don't think we really disagree all that much. They were just putting it provocatively to get people to think about why they waste their time yelling about AO3's overall stats "looking bad" and what the so-called solution to that would be.

It's pretty much bait is what I'm saying.

--

Obviously, as a woman, I only rarely encounter women who are mega annoying about gay men and reasonably often encounter those pestilential men in bars who think "bisexual" means "porn star who wants a threesome". I certainly think they're more of an actual problem IRL... but I'm still not convinced it is entirely apples to oranges when we're discussing online fanfic spaces or... like... stories with plots more complex than "I'm here to fix your plumbing".

Ranma fandom was full of dudes writing f/f that was a little anatomically suspect but reasonably in-character and that sounded like other fanfic with the usual "I like this blorbo and want more content about them" motivations. I haven't seen many fandoms like this, but I run across one now and then. (I agree MLP is fairly distinctive even out of these.)

--

I think the basic thing here is that a lot of (hostile, loud) people do see the absolute f/f numbers as the problem to be fixed.

And you are right and they are wrong.

There is no real fix if people keep looking at it from this "Winning at AO3 numbers" perspective. The cure would be worse than the disease for many of the people complaining.

Better to focus on the usual "How do I get my specific blorbo to have more content by encouraging authors and writing it myself?" strategies and let someone else worry about the global AO3 numbers.

[mayihavethisdanse]

“What is this, the Dark Ages?”

Or, Arthurian themes and allusions in the Brotherhood of Steel mythos as seen in Fallout 4. (But that’s a lot of words.)

Yep. We're doing this. 

First, some obligatory caveats: there is no single Arthurian canon, just 1500 years of assorted fanfic based on the whims of whoever was writing at the time. For this extremely highbrow Tumblr meta, I have ignored most of it and drawn on my favorites. Also Wikipedia.

Also, I am not an expert in Arthurian literature (or Fallout lore, come to that), and I preemptively beg the pardon of anyone who is.

Finally, in no way am I claiming that all these parallels and thematic echoes are deliberate or even significant. In fact, I'd break it down into:

Clearly deliberate allusions, whether in or out of universe;

Probably coincidence, but could be someone deliberately capitalizing on a coincidental similarity;

Almost certainly coincidence, but fun to speculate about; annnnd

Blatant Monty Python references. (Because of course there are.)

I'll start with the big one.

Arthur Maxson, boy king and unifier

(source)

So across all the retellings and variations of King Arthur’s life story, there are a few consistent elements, particularly in his early life and rise to power. Some of these threads are echoed in the Fallout universe, specifically (and unsurprisingly) in the person of Arthur Maxson.

Both the legendary King Arthur and Arthur Maxson were born with a claim to power lying in their ancestry, both were fostered away from their families, and both proved themselves in combat at a young age. 

King Arthur united the warring kingdoms of Britain into a single entity, making them stronger against outsiders and receiving general admiration and acclaim. Arthur Maxson united the divided factions of the BoS after the events of Fallout 3 and is held in similarly high regard by his men.

The name Prydwen is a reference to the ship of the original King Arthur. Presumably, Arthur Maxson (or someone in the BoS who anticipated his promotion) christened the airship in a deliberate homage to the Arthurian myth.

King Arthur is associated with his legendary sword. I think it’s notable that Maxson’s legend is associated with a bladed weapon, too. ("He killed a DEATHCLAW with a COMBAT KNIFE!”)

Probably coincidence, but fun: the historical emperor Magnus Maximus, who pops up a lot in early Arthurian legend, was known in Welsh as... Macsen. (⌐■_■)

Round Table, but make it dieselpunk

(Continued under the cut.)

Moving away from obvious allusions and into some looser parallels:

Like the Round Table, the Brotherhood is an exclusive knightly order with its leader being the one able to open it up to his chosen few.

Like the Round Table, the BoS sees itself as defending human civilization against forces of chaos. (I’ll touch on their tech-hoarding tendencies when I get to the Grail stuff.) This idea of civilization in the face of chaos goes back to the BoS’s founding, even though the level of isolationism we see in most of the Fallout franchise is not exactly what founder Roger Maxson had in mind: “Notably, Maxson's ultimate intention was to establish the Brotherhood as an organization that works closely with people outside of the Brotherhood, as guardians of civilizations, not its gatekeepers.” (source) In a lot of ways, Arthur Maxson represents a return to his ancestor’s original ideals.

Renegade knights? Internal politics? Traitors within? We gotchu.

In both the medieval legends and in all chapters of the BoS we’ve seen, there’s a big focus on bloodlines (ew). Ironically, it’s probably Arthur Maxson’s unquestionable ancestry that allows him to be more progressive than either of his East Coast predecessors when it comes to boosting Brotherhood numbers by recruitment (even though you can still see a clear division between “born Brotherhood” and recruited soldiers, but that’s a topic for another day). Maxson sees himself as an Elder who "cares for the people"—however misguided and patronizing that attitude might be—and whatever else you might say about the guy, you can't say he doesn't believe he has a duty. Which brings us to…

Know Your Enemy: Danse as Gawain

Before I start this section, an acknowledgement of authorial bias:

Gawain, as portrayed in the Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, is my very favorite of King Arthur’s knights. (Other stories aren't always as flattering, but like I said at the outset: I'm sticking to the ones I like.)

That poem is my very favorite piece of medieval Arthurian literature. In this section, I'll refer to the modern English translation by Simon Armitage.

...that’s it, I have no other biases to disclose. 

What? 👀

(Art: Clive Hicks-Jenkins)

All right. So in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, you’ve got this himbo loyal knight of Arthur’s who finds himself caught up in... you know what, let me just paste in the Wikipedia summary. (The Toast, RIP, also did a pretty entertaining and more-or-less accurate recap.)

It describes how Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table, accepts a challenge from a mysterious "Green Knight" who dares any knight to strike him with his axe if he will take a return blow in a year and a day. Gawain accepts and beheads him with his blow, at which the Green Knight stands up, picks up his head and reminds Gawain of the appointed time. In his struggles to keep his bargain, Gawain demonstrates chivalry and loyalty until his honour is called into question by a test involving the lord and the lady of the castle where he is a guest.

Don’t worry too much about the plot details, though; for this post, I’m more interested in the thematic parallels. The Green Knight story is full of contrasts: order vs. chaos, civilization vs. wilderness, mortal man vs. Other... but let’s start with Gawain himself. 

Some stuff to know about Gawain:

He was "as good as the purest gold, devoid of vices but virtuous and loyal". Gawain took his principles more seriously even than the rest of Arthur’s knights, not out of pride but out of humility: "I would rather drop dead than default from duty," he says. 

He’s faithful and honorable and never even tempted to betray an oath, even when offered every variety of seduction and riches, except for a single moment of weakness in a desperate desire not to be executed for random shit by powerful forces for reasons he doesn't understand.  

Even though he doesn’t really understand why he needs to die, he sticks to his oath. Gawain's one weakness is a moment of desperate, private, human desire for survival. He'll submit to the headsman’s axe if he has to, but he'd still rather live. 

Above all, Gawain is the ideal of a human man: he might be the bravest and loyal man there is, but he’s still fundamentally human.

You can probably see where I'm going with this.

A few more fun facts about Gawain that resonate with Paladin Danse’s story:

He’s got a bunch of really shitty brothers. (No comment.)

Gawain (SPOILERS!) doesn't actually end up beheaded, but he does willingly kneel for his execution and gets a cut on the throat as a reminder of his sin. And, uh, Danse can also get his throat cut! It doesn’t end as nicely but it’s, you know, a thing that can happen.

Gawain might be a really good guy, and he tries really hard to be one, but in the end he’s nothing more than that: there’s nothing supernatural about him, he has no special powers beyond his own principles and devotion. He’s just a dude doing his Best. 

Wait, why not Danselot?

Oh, that guy? Here’s the thing.

Lancelot personifies the continental ideals of courtly love that became popular in the High Middle Ages. Central to his story is the prioritization of personal relationships and romantic feelings in a way that you don’t really see in Gawain's, at least in the Green Knight tale. (Later stories hook Gawain up with an extremely delightful lady, but even that is a different flavor of romance than Lancelot's and has more to do with Gawain honoring his word and his egalitarian treatment of women (hell yeah). In the poem, Gawain is impressed by Bertilak's wife but resists her temptation; in fact, the biggest risk is not that he'll yield to her advances but that he'll be discourteous to her, i.e., violate his principles and cause dishonor to his king and his host.)

Lancelot is driven by passions over principles in a way that Gawain never really is (at least in the stories I’m talking about; later writers have committed character assassination to various degrees). Yes, you could argue that both Gawain and Lancelot betray their oaths, but Lancelot’s betrayal is never, um, blind. He knows what he’s doing and makes a deliberate choice to prioritize his love for the queen over his love for the king. It doesn’t make him a bad guy—he too is an ideal knight with one fatal flaw—but his character isn’t as comparable to Paladin Danse. 

Yeah, Gawain is (in most stories) a prince and a kinsman of Arthur’s, but he’s ultimately a native boy who doesn’t break the mold of a Knight of the Round Table. Likewise, Danse is portrayed as competent and valuable to the BoS, but not exceptional or breaking the mold of what a BoS soldier should be: he simply represents the ideal. Meanwhile, Lancelot is a foreign prince who was marked from childhood as special and fancy, and his storyline goes alllll over the place. (Much like this post.)

For example, Lancelot goes to absolutely absurd extremes to prove his devotion for no other reason than to prove it. (“I’ll do any useless humiliating thing you want. I’ll betray every oath except the one I made to you. That’s what love is!”) Gawain would never. Danse would never.

Ultimately, Gawain's tests are of his character and not of his love. And like Gawain, Danse’s devotion is to service and his principles, not to another person—even Arthur Maxson.

All that said, there are some similarities: both are beloved by Arthur, both are held up as the ideal of what a knight should be. And even if their fatal flaws are different, both make the point that no matter how good and brave and loyal they might be, no human being can be perfect. 

(Except Galahad. Who is, as a result, very boring.) 

I’ll conclude this section with a quote from someone else’s take on the Greek Knight poem:

I like Gawain. He’s not perfect, but he’s trying his best which is all any of us can do. He’s not like the other knights in the Arthurian legends who occasionally ‘accidentally’ kill women on their little adventures and then feel hard done by when they have to deal with the consequences of that. Gawain holds himself to a high standard – higher, it seems, than Arthur and his knights hold him to considering how hard they laugh when Gawain tells them how bad he feels about the whole thing.

I think Gawain is very relatable in this story. We all want to be better than we actually are.

And that, more than anything else, is Danse.

The Grail myth

What’s that? Lost relics of power? Better send some large armed men after ‘em!

The parallels to the BoS’s tech-hoarding ways are obvious enough that the games themselves lampshade them (albeit by way of Monty Python). But it also ties into the larger themes of “purity” versus “corruption” and the BoS’s self-image as a bastion between civilization and chaos. (See Maxson's line in response to the Sole Survivor’s quip about the Dark Ages: “Judging from the state of the world, it wouldn't be a stretch to say we're living in that era again.”)

But the ultimate futility of the Grail mission is also worthy of note. The BoS might want the power of prewar tech on their side, but they’re no more to be trusted with it than any other group of human beings. No matter how they try, the “corruption” of humanity can’t be overcome as long as they’re striving to harness power for their own ends. You can only achieve power by surrendering control of it.

The death of Arthur

The nature of gameplay being what it is, it's not guaranteed that the Arthur figure will be fatally betrayed, bringing Camelot down with him—but it's not unlikely, either.

Awkward.

Some final spitballing:

Outside the Brotherhood, there are some fun parallels of the Arthur myth with the rest of Fallout 4. Betrayal by one’s own son, for example.

The key difference between the BoS and the legendary Round Table: King Arthur’s knights, for all their flaws and human weaknesses, are usually presented as unambiguous Good Guys. The BoS is... a little more ambiguous...

...but damn if they don’t think they're the good guys. 

A-ad victoriam, fellas!

[masterhandss]

I’m sorry you have to receive so much Geordo-hate asks!

I mean, we know he is not a perfect character and has many flaws, but that’s precisely that what makes him interesting, as it’s been shown that he himself wishes to change for the better for Katarina sake’s

And even if we are few, I am also team Geordo ✨! So I’d be delighted if you could share more headcanons about his relationship with the King and Queen? I personally find his family life very interesting, as his “fake” personality may be a result of being kind of ignored in comparison with his other brothers

Thank you :D -🐢

Haha, I think this question was sent around S2 EP3 or EP4, and episode 5 pretty much answers this question for me so I feel really bad for getting to this one so late into the series qwq I'm really sorry!! Don't worry about the hate-asks, I either just ignore or delete them these days anyways, and people have been favoring Geordo recently so it's really slowed down!! :DD

As Episode 5 shows us, it's true that his "perfect prince facade" is the outcome of not receiving much love and attention from his parents, especially when compared to Alan. He realized that wanting something or having expectations only leads to pain and suffering, so he decided to close off his emotions and just do what everyone tells him to do so that he wouldn't be faced with disappointments. He becomes all smiles and charm, the perfect guy who can do pretty much anything, since that is what is desired and expected of him. To some extent, maybe using all of his time honing himself and studying is a way for him to forget any desire and disappointments that he feels in the moment. He basically planned on turning himself into a robot or machine who can do anything and can read people easily so he would know their intentions immediately without forming any expectations of them. Maybe his "sadistic" side in Fortune Lover is the outcome of him wanting to see pain and disappointment in other people's faces, since it is something he loathe and fear of feeling himself (maybe, idk).

He isn't perfect, but the series is definitely going out of it's way to show us that there's more going on in Geordo's head than just being possessive and overly-confident in himself. I guess that's why he's one of the more interesting characters in my opinion, his problems didn't end in his childhood, it's still something he's actively trying to fix until now. I really suggest reading this comment on Geordo's psyche based on Episode 5, it's such a cool read!!

Not really a headcanon at this point, but Geordo actively wants to experience parental love, especially from his mother. Most kids are closest to their mothers so that's no surprise. Queen Stuart doesn't seem like she can balance the duties of a queen and caring for her children, so she might have just put all her attention onto Alan since he's the youngest and is sick. I often hear stories from my dad about how his mom only really visibly cared for the youngest child even though there was so many of them in the family, so I'm shocked but not surprised by the Queen's behavior.

For the King, I'm sure he loves his sons a lot but given his role in the kingdom, he doesn't see them often. I feel like the relationship between the King and his sons is similar to that to most korean historical fantasy(/villainess) manhwas where he can't or feels like he doesn't need to be an overly affectionate father because that's just how it is in the royal family. Maintaining order and raising competent rulers is the priority, so being loving and affectionate wouldn't be in his list of things to do. He still loves his sons of course but as of right now we don't really have an indication that he actively seeks them out beyond social gatherings and important events.

Maybe the queen is the same, I'm not sure. What does a queen do anyways? I thought the priority of women in the middle ages was to raise and care for children almost exclusively. We don't really know if she still visits and cares for Alan a lot after he got better, and I don't think she had begun to give more attention to her other sons after that point either. It's almost like she became as goal-oriented as the King after Alan got better, which I don't like thinking about since she seemed like such a nice lady in Episode 5. Alternatively, I can imagine a scenario similar to Pryde's from The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen where upon the realization that his sons are living a happy childhood without her, the Queen started actively reaching out to the sons behind the curtains and tries to be a more active mother to them when they were getting older. Maybe it's that kind of thing that we don't really see but does happen, and could be another great differentiator to the relationships of the Stuart family in the prevent vs in fortune lover.

I headcanon that the more the Princes finally become involved with work and politics, they are actually able to bond with their dad more because they can finally be in the same room. Things like talking about their fiancés or making fun of idiotic and narcissistic vassals are the kind of things I can imagine them talking about.

I also like headcanons in fanfics where they make Geordo a momma's boy, who would call his parents "mummy and daddy" in private like in @/SixthOctavarium's Flip the Script. I think it's really cute because it shows how much Geordo loves and cares for his parents.

I hope we get more insight on the relationships between the royal family, it's content that I didn't know I needed to be honest haha. Sorry if I couldn't give a lot, most of the stuff I could save has been confirmed and deconfirmed by Episode 5, and I haven't read fanfiction recently enough to mirror how they write the King and Queen qwq Anyone is free to add more headcanons here if you guys want :DD

Thank you for the ask^^

[midethefangirl]

Captain America: Civil War - My Thoughts

I know this is like 5 years late but for this, I’d like to resurrect a barely dead discourse that succeeded in not just dividing the Avengers but also dividing the fandom. Before we start, content warning for spoilers and let’s dive into this mess.

So, basically, the entire conflict of civil war stemmed from General Thaddeus Ross (who is a hypocritical dick, btw) coming to lecture the Avengers on being destructive despite conducting destructive experiments (ahem, the Abomination and the Hulk) but I digress. Then, Ross presents the Sokovian Accords which is really lengthy and we see Steve reading like a few chapters(?). Now, let us note that the Accords were presented to the Avengers after a mission-gone-wrong killed about 11 people in Lagos (lay-gos, not lah-gos that pronunciation gave me headaches as a Nigerian).

So, the Sokovian Accords were written by 117 countries and vetted by the UN asking for the Avengers to be under oversight (which SHIELD would have done if HYDRA hadn’t infiltrated it in the first place but it is what it is). Somehow, Steve made it about “our right to choose” (how?! Cause I’m not understanding) and decided to not sign*.

*he later got back to sign, then backed out when he learnt that Tony had placed Wanda under house arrest (even though it was for her protection. I do believe Tony should have fully informed Wanda about keeping her in the Avengers’ Tower)

My issues with the plot of Civil War are:

1. The Sokovian Accords were not read out loud or placed on some kind of PowerPoint slide for the audience to understand why Team Cap is against the Accords. No, the fandom wiki is not a source because that one is from Agents of SHIELD and not a lot of MCU fans are familiar with that show (yours sincerely included). Assuming the contents were read out loud or discussed by the Avengers, I’d have understood why Team Cap refused to sign the accords but since none of that was given, I’d remain Team Iron Man for this one.

2. The Sokovian Accords is not the American Constitution. Then again, the MCU fandom tends to be American-centric and most Americans seem to have this belief that the world revolves around them (and it manifests itself in Civil War discourse).

3. Contrary to popular opinion, the Sokovian Accords were about 117 (mostly third-world) countries asserting their sovereignty and boundaries, not taking away rights from the Avengers. If we go by what the MCU wiki claims about the accords, yes, some parts are absurd (like asking for blood samples and using trackers, why are those necessary?). However, when 117 countries state that they want you to respect their boundaries, I think it is best to comply. Unfortunately, respecting boundaries is one thing the USA has a problem complying with and guess who happens to represent America?

4. The Accords affected only their hero lives, not their lives as a civilian. I doubt the UN would limit the Avengers’ movements as civilians

5. Let us not forget how Steve and Clint protect Wanda from accountability and responsibility. Wanda in the MCU is like y/n in many fanfics where everyone (except for the “big bad villain” who in this case is Tony and 117 countries) seems to love her and want to protect her from facing the consequences of her actions. Anyone *ahem Tony* who has a bit of problem with her is suddenly the enemy. Not to mention how Wanda seems to have a knack for causing destruction in African countries (Johannesburg, Lagos, Wakanda)

6. And fandom behaviour from the Team Cap stans

7. Also, why is Civil War not an Avengers part 3? It’s better than making it a Captain America trilogy and then trying to frame Steve as being right.

8. I do believe that the accords were sped up which left little time for the Avengers to discuss and compromise on certain issues. If they were given more time to discuss, compromise and negotiate, I think the movie would have ended better than it had.

9. In addition, I also agree with Team Cap stans on how the UN arbitrarily deciding to shoot Bucky on sight is a human right violation.

10. “The safest hands are our own” why does this sound like a white saviour talk point from Steve? The accords is about 117 countries wanting you to respect their boundaries and the best you can come up with to refute that is saying something a white saviour would say?

11. “Even if the whole world is telling you to move...” just shut the fuck up, this is no way comparable to 117 countries trying to assert their sovereignty.

12. Look if I have to choose between surrendering a few rights as a hero and just dismissing that of civilians as potential damage, I’d go with the former because the people whom I’m suppose to protect come first. For me to dismiss their deaths as “we can’t save em all” is just not it.

13. “She’s just a kid”, a few years later and I still hate that term. One, it’s infantilizing an adult white woman (something white men have historically done and we all know how that went) . Two, while Tony was obviously wrong for not informing Wanda about her house arrest, he was right to keep her in the Tower when they were people who would harm her with every chance they could find. **

** after watching WandaVision, some people might find every reason to want to harm her.

14. Let us also discuss the motivation of those in Team Iron Man vs Team Cap

Team Iron Man

Tony: feels guilty for the events of Age of Ultron, believes that he’s stepped out of line and the Avengers need oversight.

Natasha: believes that the Avengers should listen to the public and the UN after all, if they had one hand on the wheel, they can still steer.

Vision: believes that the Avengers as a whole bring challenge which brings conflict and then catastrophe.

Rhodey: a soldier; believes in following orders especially when it is from the UN and 117 countries.

T’Challa: dude is just there to kill Bucky. I’m sure if Bucky was on team Ironman, my guy would have joined team cap, lmao 😂.

Spider-Man: not really there for a reason except to bring in Steve to Ross. I do agree that Tony shouldn’t have dragged him to the fight without Peter making an informed decision.

Team Cap

Steve: didn’t want to sign because it takes away his “right to choose”. Idk what that means or how it is relevant to the Sokovian Accords but okay. However, I understand his mistrust considering a few movies ago, we found out HYDRA had infiltrated SHIELD and as much as I believe governments are corrupt and the UN is shit, you cannot just enter a country anyhow without warning ahead of time.

Bucky: was his motivation given? I mean, I believe he joined Steve’s side to stop Zeno from unleashing the other winter soldiers. Not that that’s a bad reason, it isn’t.

Sam: again, I don’t think the movie gave us a reason for him being against the Accords. Did he also believe it was taking away his “right to choose”?

Wanda: undecided as of moment of discussion. Joined team cap because Tony placed her on house arrest. While I agree that Tony should have informed her that he was putting her under house arrest and stated the reasons why, I believe it was for good reasons especially when some people might decide to carry out witch hunts (you get it, witch hunts? 😅)

Clint: only joined because Wanda was placed under house arrest. We aren’t given any reason why he would oppose the Accords.

Scott: fan boy of Captain America, need I say more?

15. Also, to Team Cap stans blaming Tony Stark for Team Cap being imprisoned, grow the fuck up. The people in Team Cap are all adults who made their own decisions yet Tony is to blame for them breaking the law (because they did break the law), wtf.

16. “Are you capable of letting go of your ego for one damn second?” Like Steve’s ego didn’t play a part in all this too, lmao.

17. Okay, the final battle was intense and while I believe Bucky was also a victim, I can understand why Tony lashed out at him. The one to blame here is Steve because even if he had no clue Bucky was responsible for the Starks’ death, he still lied to Tony by not telling him who was responsible. It is more appalling to learn that Steve, in an attempt to “protect Tony and Bucky”, was actually covering for HYDRA!

Also, the way Steve stood emotionless while Tony watched a footage of his parents being killed. Yet, he could shield Wanda from watching the news because of how it affected her, okay.

“I can do this all day”, fuck you, Steve

18. Clint exploding at Tony is so fucking hilarious. Tony is right, Clint has a family yet he decided to fight in a war that didn’t concern him. Also, his comments about breaking backs is so tone deaf after Rhodey just broke his back!

19. If Sam was Captain America, I think Civil War wouldn’t have happened at all, from the dialogue in the Raft.

20. Overall, this movie is a fucking mess and I hate it for dividing both the Avengers and MCU fans.

Before I close with this, I want to add that I am not anti-Steve but Civil War really made me hate him. I get, Steve is supposed to be a Boy Scout and shit like that, but he’s a Gary Stu in the MCU, let’s be honest about it. Civil War should have been an Avengers movie, rather than a part of the Captain America trilogy. The Avengers should have been given more time than three days to discuss the Accords and make necessary amendments; after all that went down in Lagos, Wanda should have been made to sit out missions and maybe we could have had someone like Doctor Strange help in training her; Crossbones would have made a great villain but it is what it is; Peter’s introduction to the MCU could have been as him actually interning for the Stark Industries and forming a kind of acquaintance with Tony Stark before Tony finds out that he’s Spider-Man; Steve should have told Tony about HYDRA‘s hands in his parents’ deaths. Anyway, I’ll go read Civil War fix-it fanfics and fanfics where the Avengers are more like family. Fuck Civil War and I’m outta here.

Edit: okay this was a thought I had when I was trying to sleep but it was too good to ignore. Rhodey has a point about Steve arrogance (if that’s the correct term) in saying “the safest hands are our own” and here’s why:

Like he stated “this is not the World Security Council...neither is this SHIELD nor HYDRA” (paraphrased). This is the UN as well as 117 countries. Look, I am as anti-government as one can go and I don’t believe that the UN are reliable (plus, if we really want to go by the AoS version of the Accords, the Accords are flawed and they need amendments), however, given the US records on disrespecting boundaries in many third world countries, I can understand why 117 countries are wary about a bunch of superpowered Americans entering their country.

To us, the Avengers are saving the world. To these 117 countries and the people who have families who were killed in the crossfire (Zemo is a good example), the Avengers are a bunch of nuisances who leave destruction wherever they tread.

I am still neutral on the whole Accords as I don’t know exactly what it entails but for Steve to go “we are surrendering our rights to choose” (again, how is the Accords threatening the Avengers’ right to choose?) when asked to be under oversight is tone deaf.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

#4: There's totally character development, you guys! You just don't see it!

A common critique of Miraculous Ladybug is the lack of actual character growth and development in three seasons, a sentiment most of the fandom agrees with.

At the time of this post, Miraculous Ladybug has been through three seasons with 78 episodes, and nothing has really changed. Sure, by the third season, new villains were introduced, and the season finale shook up the status quo a little bit by exposing the identities of the temporary heroes as a result of Chloe's damnation arc that was obviously planned from the beginning, but despite one of the main plotlines being the relationship between the two, Marinette and Adrien are still at square one. She's still a stammering mess around him, he still doesn't get she has feelings for him, while Cat Noir still can't take a hint that Ladybug isn't into him.

Sure, you could make the argument that they're in relationships with other people now, but not even the show wants to acknowledge it, as a big part of the recent New York City special was about Marinette and Adrien's friends forcing the two to spend time together, even though Marinette said she was trying to move on from him. Even the synopsis for the fourth season says that Marinette still has feelings for Adrien, so now we're wasting even more time on this subplot that's starting to rival Ross and Rachel in terms of tediousness.

Honestly, a good representation of the writing process can easily be summarized like so:

But enough of my rant, what you're here for is what Astruc has said in response to this kind of criticism in this (now deleted) tweet.

Okay, first of all, who unironically uses the term “haterz” to describe someone who criticizes them? What is he, Taylor Swift?

Second, in order to properly analyze this tweet, I'm going to have to talk about Luka and Kagami first. They were introduced during the second season of Miraculous Ladybug to complicate the Love Square, sort of like Jackie and Tom during Star vs. the Forces of Evil. Their reception was... mixed, to say the least. Part of it had to do with how the show first portrayed them.

Now, I like both of these characters, as well as the ships associated with them, but I want to make things clear that this is based on fan interpretation of these characters. If you like Luka and Kagami, or the associated ships with them, that's fine. Same goes for the ships in the Love Square between Marinette and Adrien. While I will be criticizing the writing of the romantic subplots, I am not trying to start a ship war here. This is all about the way Astruc views the writing of Luka and Kagami. So let's please try to keep any comments here civil.

Luka first appeared in the episode “Captain Hardrock”, and was instantly infatuated with Marinette. Fans really didn't like the episode. In addition to the boring villain and horrible animation on display, some viewers simply found Luka to be a boring character. Don't get me wrong, there were still some fans who loved Luka in his first appearance, but for others, it took until his next appearance, “Frozer”, for them to warm up to Luka. The thing is that was because of how Adrien had been for some of the season.

See, mid-Season 2, people had started to question the way Adrien was being written. He had been much more assertive in his attempts to get Ladybug to fall for him, like setting up dates, offering flowers, and supporting the media shipping the two together, claiming they're “meant to be”.

This ties back into why people stated to like Luka more. Unlike Adrien, who was more intrusive of Ladybug's boundaries, Luka was much more calm and understanding of how conflicted Marinette was when she was caught between him and Adrien. By Season 3, a lot of fans found Adrien was only getting worse and basically abandoned ship (no pun intended) to start shipping Luka with Marinette.

While I believe there are some problems with the way Adrien is being written (which I will get into in a later entry), I don't think all hope is lost for the Love Square, as there are some generally cute moments between Marinette and Adrien, and there have been a lot of great fanfics featuring the two as a couple. So it's safe to say I don't think the Love Square is a lost cause.

At the same time, I can understand why people would start shipping Lukanette instead because of the way they viewed Adrien's behavior during Season 3. I also think they have some nice moments in the show, with one of the few good episodes in the garbage fire that is Season 3, “Silencer”, being all about Luka and Marinette growing closer.

Here's the thing. The way the fanbase perceived Luka? IT ISN'T CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.

A big reason fans started to ship Lukanette because of how poorly the other romantic subplot with Adrien was going. Hell, people started to ship Marinette with Damian Wayne because of how much they hated Adrien. Some fans have also cited how Marinette looks much more comfortable around Luka compared to when she’s an anxious mess around Adrien, allowing for better interactions with the former.

And Astruc is acting like the fact that more people are shipping Lukanette like it's all part of his brilliant plan. It's hard to explain how ridiculous this sounds without starting a ship war across Tumblr, so let's move onto what he said about Kagami.

Kagami's first appearance in the episode “Riposte” didn't really give the audience a good idea of what she was like, as she was the Akuma of that episode. All we really knew about her was that she was a fencer, her mom was incredibly strict towards her, and she hit it off with Adrien. It didn't help that she didn't have another appearance for almost an entire year.

Her next appearance, “Frozer”, really didn't portray her in a positive light. Because Kagami had a crush on Adrien, she was a lot more cold to Marinette (even though they hadn't met before and when Adrien told her about her at the end of “Riposte”, she sounded eager to meet her) and basically told her to move her ass or Adrien was hers. Oh, you think I'm paraphrasing? That is literally what Astruc said when someone asked the meaning of that line.

Because all girls do is fight over cute boys, right? Such a good message for a “girl power” show.

Her next appearance in “Animaestro ”made her out to be the threat in the first half of the episode for the crime of hanging out with Adrien. This motivates Marinette to team up with Chloe of all people to embarrass Kagami in front of Adrien, and neither of them are ever called out for it. Yes, Marinette and Chloe both have a crush on Adrien, but the show is demonizing Kagami for daring to spend time with him when Adrien honestly looks much more comfortable around her compared to when Chloe or Lila (another character I'll talk about later) force themselves onto him.

So here's a fun fact: If you write a character as a threat to the protagonist in a completely irrational way, all while perpetuating the cliche stereotype of girls fighting over boys, people aren't going to like that character.

It wasn't until the episode “Ikari Gozen” that Kagami and Marinette finally became friends, and people actually warmed up to her because the show stopped trying to portray her as a romantic rival on the same level as Chloe and Lila.

So while you could call Kagami becoming friends with Marinette character development, it just comes right out of left field, I don't really think it was planned out. But even if, congratulations Astruc. You finally wrote some character development for two supporting characters. Now if only you could do it for your main characters too.

(Sorry if this isn’t my best work, I’ve been focusing on another entry that tackles an... interesting example of how poorly Astruc can respond to criticism.)