#writing and fandom opinion so bad i defend a character i don't care about

[countlessofvoids]

Post-HTTYD 1 Hiccup is not a character I particularly care about but I will not stand for is the shit he gets for his choices in THW. Everything he does is with good intentions yet he's treated by both the characters and narrative as if he's a selfish moron. Everyone in the movie (& the writing staff) act like he's the worst person alive. They constantly tell him that Toothless does not care about him now and won't be coming back, then it's presented as Hiccup being unreasonable for feeling that insecurity. Honestly he's handling everything quite well considering his situation. Berk got burned to the ground, there's three entire armies after him and his tribe is in danger, the same one that has little interest in respecting him.

The audicity of writers making Astrid say "Look at you embracing change, I'm impressed!" (something along those lines). Out of every possible person to tell it to, it's the boy who was the first to fight for peace between humans dragons (you might say it was actually Valka, but not really. She chose the dragons' side, while Hiccup chooses both). It's very contradicting even if any of that didn't happen - in the same film this dialogue is said, Hiccup is the one to make the decision to leave their decades old home. Doesn't really sound like "not embracing change".

[bougiebutchbinch]

EDITED TO ADD: yes, I 'know what abuse looks like'. Yes, I have personal experience. I can't believe I have to shake my Trauma Credentials in front of Certain Rabid Ed Stans so they won't make weird unbiased claims about my personal life and experience.

Take a good, long, hard look at yourself. Is that really the person you want to be? Is that really supportive of other survivors, to make them dredge up their own trauma to defend a freaking fandom opinion?

ANYWAY.

I think the whole 'Ed isn't REALLY an abuser tho, because [extremely convoluted reason that victim blames and glosses over abuse]' thing from certain Ed fans is melting my mind a little. I say, as an Ed fan.

You can like a character who has done shitty things! You can like a character who does not take any actions to try and become a less shitty person! I certainly do! I love Ed! He's the reason I started watching the show, and he was my fave character all the way through Season 1 and for some of Season 2! He's great fun to write and I am so eternally fascinated by him. That love is why I'm so annoyed about what they did with his character.

But y'know what? Even if you hate exploring the mere possibility that Ed is, canonically, an abuser, it's possible to create a wholly different fanon if you wanna!! No one is forcing you to accept canon within your fanworks! That's what fanworks are for, and why I'm writing Season 2 fix-its, lmao.

But maybe don't deny what is very clear text within canon itself, just because you stan a character? Just... take a step back???

Like...... I ship Cross Guild. Clean Cut Clown Abuse in canon (if you know anything about One Piece). I choose to ship it as a consensual and fun silly BDSM relationship, rather than the Very Fucked Up Work Situationship it is in canon, because I think Buggy deserves 3 Big Hott Boyfriends (Yes, They All Smoke Weed).

But I'm not.... gonna deny...... that in canon he's in an extremely shitty abusive situation that's played for Comedy Purposes...... just because I love Crocodile and Mihawk.....? I'm not gonna say that people who really, really don't like the ship because of the abusive overtones are 'making stuff up' or 'just don't understand literary devices', or (heaven forbid) that 'it's okay actually because Buggy is a villain and therefore he deserves it'?

Hell, I love the Joker as a character (in certain franchises). But I'm not gonna pretend he isn't an extremely abusive, fucked-up and dangerous guy?

Obviously these are very different characters in very different tonal settings, but just -

You guys realise you can like characters who would be inexcusable IRL, right?? You guys realise that it doesn't make you a bad person, so long as you don't start claiming their victims 'deserved' it, or that these actions would be acceptable in real life?? When a show clearly shows Your Favourite Blorbo abusing people and acknowledges that the survivors are badly mentally affected by this trauma, then does not show your blorbo putting any meaningful work into changing... You can accept that this will make other people dislike his character, while still personally caring for him, yeah??? We've all accepted those basic principles as a fandom, right???????

.....Right?

[remusawoooo]

anon here, excited to read the essay! i asked you because i really like your takes and i see people in the more canon-adjacent parts of the marauders fanbase to complain about the extremes of the fanon one, though personally ive never really seen anything Too extreme, tho thats probably just tantamount to how well i curate my spaces i suppose (ive seen people say that fanon makes remus really “alpha” or makes sirius “bimbofied” and while ive seen hints of those extremes here and there, mostly it looks like it varies from person to person. ive just seen remus be more assertive than he probably is in canon, or sirius being more dramatic and “fem” than he probably is in canon). from what i know people like exaggerating events (the prank, etc.) or shifting some personality traits, but i dont really think thats a bad thing - i personally enjoy it. as long as they dont completely turn characters into stereotypes (though its a pitfall of every fandom, i fear), then whatever its just camp.

people are allowed to criticize stuff like that though, not taking that away from anyone, i personally just dont really care enough to be totally accurate esp since this hyperfix is kind of the bottom of the barrel for me LMAO. but i ask mostly bc im just curious to see what other peoples opinions are, and bc i think - especially in a fanbase like this - that its incredibly important to be at least a little critical with your media experience and reflect on it. saying “oh fuck canon we’re just having fun” is fine and all, i dont think anyone is stopping you, i think the personalities people have made up for characters that have zero screen time are super fun and the little ships are not everyones tea but like its fine. but even still, people should be way more aware of what characters theyre dealing with and from what franchise, and like reflect on any biases you may have. if youre making shit up for a random DE character, or retconning some sutff, okay, whatever, but be sure to not defend or like suddenly turn to really weird rhetoric. idk i think its the bare minimum in a fanbase like this

i definitely rambled way too much here, super sorry op! i hope this doesnt bother you, feel free to reply or feel free to not. i just really like hearing peoples thoughts on things, and i like your takes and your blog so i hope i didnt catch you by surprise. i really am just an outsider trying to look in LOL

hello anon, I'm sorry I lost your ask. I was writing on my laptop and saved the draft (but apparently had to press on alt, and didn't do it) so I basically lost your question and half of my initial response. Ty for sending in another ask!! Not a bother at all, i find this very lovely :D 

I was mortified to find that someone who isn't really a part of the fandom was perceiving me while I was complaining about fictional characters ahahaha. still, thank you for validating me and asking my thoughts on the mischaracterization of marauders!! I do talk about it daily, unfortunately, and without any prompt too. I'll try to gather all my thoughts here. I don't necessarily come across fanon as much as I did when I reentered the fandom and honestly, I can not be more with you about curating your space !! at the end of the day, I am just here to have fun, and really, pointing out these issues is not a good time at all! But I do post a lot about these, I can't be bothered to bottle up any thoughts lol.

I think the major issue I have with current interpretations is the underlying bigotry that comes along with it. There is a lot of unchecked problematic content that doesn't sit right with me.

Flanderizing characters in fandom interpretations is not limited to marauders fandom obviously. any popular media will face this because so many of us want to interact with one character so their traits are simplified for easier consumption and to find a common ground. this is also not limited to new marauders fandom. even in the older era, leather jacket-wearing, motorbike-driving quintessential bad boy siruis was a thing. so I won't nitpick on silly simplifications.

I just want to say that this isn't about me wanting everyone to have the same interpretations as I do about the canon. I follow so many lovely people and I don't agree with all of their posts. But, we all just simply share the love for these characters in the text and form an imaginary community. So, if we were to remove all the issues I will mention, it is still very well possible to have different personal takes.

Here are some of my issues:

Queerness, Gender roles, and misogyny:

My biggest problem is the representations of queer relationships. the fandom packages these couples in a strange and obvious heteronormative mold where the individuals fit into male and female gender roles. mlm and wlw are now an “f/m”* stereotype and characterization gets affected by the ships. Heterosexual relationships shouldn't have these limitations either, anyway. There is no one way to be a woman or a man. With queer relationships in particular, we have reclaimed the word queer now but it was used to describe the unconventional weirdness in the relationship. We didn't fit into the normal portrayal of a loving relationship. So, it really bothers me, even in fiction, that queer ships are popularly consumed in a way that represents a traditional template. (*this is not about gender itself but the gender roles! f/m can very well be queer!). 

Let's take the biggest victim in this fandom: sirius.

Sirius’ portrayal concerning his gender and sexuality has heavily changed his characterization in the fanon. We have a character who is popularly headcanonned as trans and is it a coincidence that all their traits have changed from the og material? Sirius is suddenly vain, whiny, and dumb. Canon doesn't suggest this interpretation, it has to have stemmed from somewhere. It's the implicit bias. Sirius becomes a caricature of what a woman “should be”. When we focus on sexuality, there is the suddenly short twink sirius who has the same new traits- proving the point of fulfilling gender roles. These characteristics are a stand-in for the “female” role of the traditional relationship and it becomes more clear in the example of new age wolfstar. Remus is now the big alpha stoic manly man- the obvious stand-in for the “male” role. I could go on, it is apparent in the way you can see remus becomes a caretaker and sirius is taken care of.

The point I am trying to make is not to discourage gender/sexuality hc. I love them, keep them coming. But, why is female sirius not tall suddenly? It is not inherently bad at all to have a feminine and masculine pairing! But why do we need to change the constitutions of these characters to consume their relationship?

I'll keep dropping disclaimers because I hate being misinterpreted: I don't obviously mean every single person is doing this or that doing one of the things means doing the other too. 

Race:

It is related to the point above. I was personally so excited to see the popular desi james hc. Even in fanon, I have never seen such a prevalent and encouraged brown rep, it was quite sweet to come back to that. But the problem is the change of characteristics that comes with race hc. Desi james is also a manly dude who is big and buff as opposed to the white petite and delicate regulus within jegulus ship. The melanin is directly proportional to the manliness here. 

This is a propagation of race stereotypes. Maybe jegulus was a bad example because usually there are seen as blank templates. I will raise the argument that this can't be all we can come up with for blank canvases then. Either way, my point about race still stands when you repeatedly design interracial queer relationships so they fall into heteronormative roles. Anyway, same issue with wolfstar when there is a brown remus.

Canon, JKR, and hypocrisy:

Refusing to engage with source material is funny when we are picking characters out of it. the interpretations of the characters will be from their book. otherwise, they are just original characters with the same name. you can add onto the traits and a lot of the time fandom comes to a consensus regarding a few things! This is common in every fandom but I don't think I have seen such reluctance to not only critically engage with media but also shame others who do. We are surely in special circumstances with this fandom but I really do think jkr and how we navigate the fanon should be two different things.

Most of us don't condone jkr or even remotely agree with any nonsense she spews on the daily. Most of us can see the problematic nature of even consuming this media and staying in this fandom. It is one of the reasons I even left the fandom. Most of us are simply doing our best to engage carefully while distancing ourselves from her. So, it is quite laughable when some love to take the moral high ground for rejecting canon while still engaging with the same characters. (the rejection of canon in question being sirius’ height, lol)

(Sirius' height is quite a polarising fact apparently. Unfortunately, the point about height is also discussed so disingenuously. When I talk about sirius’ height, it is not really about him being 6 or 7 feet. It will not really impact my life. It is about what it represents. He is bimbofied as he becomes short. It's an issue of "WHY" again.)

Of course, this isn't an accusation of intentional bigotry from everyone here. The problem with this fandom is that the people in it tell themselves that it is progressive and to run away from the problematic creator as much as possible. We are not progressive if all we do is co-opt queer and racially diverse identities on such a superficial level. The bias manifests in subtle forms. I just wish we check ourselves from time to time, that's all. 

There is a lot of hostility when we try to discuss issues in the fanon. Things are interpreted in the most misguided way to just win the argument. Like I said in the beginning, we all just want to have a good time. That also means creating a welcoming space for vulnerable groups (especially when the same identities are used to pat yourselves on the backs for inclusivity points). I didn't even cover everything btw, I just wrote about the issues that concern me. queer and poc also partake in biased representations, I also probably have some biases that I didn't identify yet. I just think it would be super neat if everyone tried to make an effort to unlearn and engage with media without hurting anyone. 

I have other issues but they are all just super subjective opinions and smth I can ignore when others do. ex: I really don't like giving tragic backstories to bigots in the story. Not every supremacist loser has a trauma that forced them into oppressing people! There is also "tropeyfication" of all major ships. Just an overall issue in the reading world I think, though.

Anon, I didn't mean to make it preachy in any way btw. You probably asked for a silly little rant and I went full lecture mode, so I apologize for the tone shift!! I mentioned these because every other issue can be brought down to these imo. Like you said, I also don't have any fixation on everything being canon-compliant. I only complain by asking about the thought process behind certain kinds of changes, if that makes sense! I hope this wasn't a drag really and you can see where I am coming from. If I misspoke anywhere, pls lmk. Thanks for sharing your opinions too!!

This is a long long rant, anyone who read everything, you are wonderful and patient. Thank you for taking the time. This huge post and the content can make you think, “who cares this much?” or “it's not that serious” and yaa it really isn't that serious. The characters aren't real but we all are. the identities projected are real. so, it does matter to talk about this.

Everything said this is a fun place to be once you find your own corner in the playground.

[inklessletter]

I've been coming across some posts on and off these past few months about people complaining of fandom behaviour, particularly what is right or wrong to write about a character or a story. And I want to clarify that this me giving an opinion, and I'm no one, I'm just expressing myself, but I kind of feel like I need to say this before it gets me mad enough to snap someday.

I'll start with saying that, to me, "fandom" is just a place for you to be yourself. You saw a piece of media that became your comfort place, and fandom is that place where you are allowed to experiment, bend, deconstruct, rebuild or tear apart that, because you are, ultimately, experimenting with your own feelings. This means that nobody in fandom writes to meet another people's expectations, but themselves'! There is no use other in pointing out "but that's not canon!" that making that person who just poured a bit of themselves into something they made feeling bad and ashamed, even for a second. Of course it's not canon. That's the point.

It is okay to take a canonically good, pure, heart of gold kind of guy and write him being a serial killer. It is okay to take a villain and turn him into the hero. It is okay to take a side character and make it all around them. It is okay. Seriously, what good can it make to say "he would not do that", "but that character is evil, that would not happen", "but the story is not about them, tho"?

Who cares about canon anyway? It is a good starting point but once you don't treat that piece of media as something meant to entertain you for the two hours that the movie's running, and start thinking about it, and analyzing it, and creating aus, and thinking about characters' motivations, you're making that story yours. And we do collectively join here, in fandom, to share. I find it so petty and mean just to point out, to even suggest to a certain someone without mentioning them that they're wrong when they defend their personal headcanon about something. It is so silly and funny to me, like, can you imagine taking a literature exam in college and they ask you to write about Jane Eyre's red room meaning and some ballsy student just writes down "well, the room was decorated mainly red and she hated it because it was a punishment place. If there is any religious meaning behind, it is not canon because Brontë didn't write about that specifically."

Let people analyze and make out what they need out of a character or a piece of media. Let them draw their own conclussions. What's it to you? Who are any of us to say that a certain depiction is wrong because it's not canon? What do you know about those people motivations anyway to write about a character that way?

Fandom is not government, it's a community. There are no rules, no laws. No headcanon is above another headcanon. No canon is above a headcanon!

So please, stop weaponizing canon and fanon. Either case, it's just people creating, saying what they need to say, one way or another. Just let them do their thing without making them feel bad for doing differently from you.

That's all I have to say, really.

[fandomwe1rd0]

The Rick and Morty fandom is insane. You've got some good parts and some bad parts, allow me to put them into groups! From the best to the worst! Feel free to reblog or comment with your own rankings!

MY FOLLOWERS Y'ALL ARE THE GREATEST! MWAH! MWAH!

2. Rick simps aka Rickfuckers, they are pretty chill tbh, I don't simp for Rick, but Rickfuckers are like one of the most chill, normal parts of the fandom, even though I question their taste in men, they cool.

3. People like meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee hi! I'm not exactly chill or normal- But yeah basically people who foam at the mouth over Rick not being a complete ass to Morty and who write fics, analysis, stuff like that.

4. Mostly normal people, they find moments of Rick caring about Morty sweet, but don't go insane over it like me, they make fics and anaysis and stuff like that, I follow these blogs a lot, they're cool. They are honestly probably tied with me, but some people may like them better since their energy is more subdued, meanwhile I excergate it for entertainment purposes.

5. Normal people, basically people just watching for the humor and don't really care about the emotional part or the character development which is fair, got no strong opinion on them tbh. So they are a great neutral point of the list, everyone else is above this is positive, and everyone below this is negative.

6. Ugh, dudebros. The people who get mad at Rick for changing and going to therapy, it's real ironic that they complain about this when Rick is literally pansexual and autistic, and the majority of the main cast is bisexual but whatever. Especially if they stopped watching due to Dan rightfully firing Justin Rolliland and if they defend Justin Rolliland, despite the fact that he talks to minors and beats his wife.

7. These people are less prevalent, but they are still there, the fans that claim haters of the show are not "smart enough" to get the show or that they are the only ones smart enough to get it, I feel like this one is self-explanatory

8. Rickortys shippers or Morty simps, clumping these two together because both of them disgust me <3 To make myself clear, I am talking about people simping for 14-YEAR-OLD Morty, I don't get a problem with people simping for adult Morty. But yeah, do I really gotta explain why they are dead last? I have encountered these people on Reddit AND on Tumblr, and neither was a pleasant experience. Some even reblogged my posts, and one followed me biefly, gave me a scare.

[fairykery]

The Vampire Diaries opinions people hate me for:

Forwood is actually a good ship and I wish it didn't have to go down like that, at the expense of Caroline's character.

I ship Klaroline; but Klaus was toxic. I could only ever see this ship becoming endgame if Klaus redeemed himself first.

Caroline had chemistry with everyone except Stefan.

Bamon had potential (and it was literally in the books). If they had come up with a "I had my humanity off" plotline it would have made the ship work🤷🏻‍♀️

Bonezo is a good ship and is clearly less toxic than Bamon; but it only happened to please racist dullena fans that complained about Bamon's romantic implications(even if it happened in the books)

Caroline, Katherine, Bonnie, & Stefan are the most interesting characters of TVD

Jeremy & Anna were cute IDK🤷🏻‍♀️

Matt did not deserve the hate. His feelings were valid. All his friends were killers and he was an abandoned, heartbroken boy, whose mom was a drunk and pedophile, and his only sister & family was killed by the boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend who he loved alot, just cause he decided he was bored. He remained loyal & brave to his friends and they didn't account for their murders and killings & stopped caring for the innocent.

Alaric was not a bad father and teacher. Even if he had his slip-ups he was actually an interesting & good character.

Damon is way too defended In this fandom. People should like the character and not defend the wrongs?! Just how many women has he compelled to sleep with him and to let him drink their blood? And what about what he did to Aaron whitmore? He slaughtered entire families of Innocents even while dating Elena. So all that "sHe mAkEs hiM bEtTeR" crap, is not valid. You can like Ian's acting and the smugness of his character, & like the character for those reasons, without defending the terrible acts of the character.

Delena was a horrible ship. The only reason it's popular is due to the shallow fact that people see Ian as more handsome than Paul. The ship only has good chemistry and looks. Beyond that, there is nothing.

Stefan is still the better man. (Fried humanity/off humanity Stefan don't count just as it goes for all the other vampires) Gaslighting writing through the other characters won't change that(Nice try, Julie P)🤷🏻‍♀️

Alaric and Jo were really cute together. I don't care. They made epic twins together.

Elena is overloved; but overhated at the same time. It's annoying. Just love the kind human girl that she used to be and hate the vicious, selfish girl she became, without hating her for breathing. That simple.

Klelijah(Katherine x Elijah) is not a good ship. Katherine loved stefan. She was only using Elijah to survive, and back then she only pitied him. Elijah also only was with her because of what he did to Tatia

Katherine did deserve better though, even if she did bad things. Making her the biggest/& ultimate devil and pretending there wasn't any good in her was incredibly misogynistic. Like Damon & Klaus did worse things and they get happy lives and good character ends? Like No! Horrible! Katherine's core was a scared little girl who wanted to live a normal human life while still being powerful and beautiful. She was chased for 500 years, had to see her entire family slaughtered, lost a baby because of misogynistic expectations, found her again, just to see her last family die again. Did she do horrible things? Yes; all to survive. But she also saved Jeremy, Damon, Stefan, encouraged Elena to be honest about what she felt for Damon even when she didn't have to.

Caroline did annoying things; but overall she was an interesting character. And she was way too smart and strong as a vampire. I loved seeing it.

Bonnie deserved so much more than the show gave her. I hope she gets her own show one day. A show about witches would be pretty lit.

Rebecca could have tried harder to be kinder and less evil. I get she had centuries of habits she needed to break but still. (Elena stabbing her in the back was still shit though)

Klaus was evil to his default and was an abuser to his family. I'm glad he changed/died for hope; but still I would have been nice if there were other factors to this action.

They shouldn't have thrown away the good of Elijah Mikalson. He didn't deserve that. The way they also tried to pull a Stefan on him.

Haylijah was a cute ship🤷🏻‍♀️

Esther wasn't wrong about her children being evil as vampires. And what she wanted to do with them was have them live as humans.

What the originals did to Marcel was fucked up

What the originals did to Davina was cruel

I wish we could have seen more of the witch that played "the hollow".

Glamorizing Hope's evil side is not "a flex". Again, like the character & actor art; but not the vicious actions.

Hosie should have been canon

That random new original sister was so unnecessary.

Kolvina is the most interesting ship of the entire TVDverse I wish there was more of them

All TVD ships were good I just find: Steroline, Delena, & Klamille to be cringe. Steroline only happened to compensate Forwood/& Klaroline and justify Delena. And Delena only happened because of looks and the love story was trash. Klamille was also a compensation ship to Klaroline so yeah, cringe.

TVD writing, lore, acting, cinematography,. directing is all a 10. The only thing that is trash is the ending and all the romantic entanglement the show had.

Warning: This isn't to start an agree to disagree party. This post is just so that those that agree with me can high-five with me. If you disagree, don't even bother commenting on this post. Everything is a matter of perception & perspective. I'm just sharing mine, while venting. By jumping on this post to fight with me you are immediately self-labeling yourself as entitled. Everyone has their own opinions bestie so don't even.

[meraki-yao]

Be careful though, about the post that njwoman posted on Twitter about Nick.

Almost every time someone tries to defend Nick, they'll ALWAYS reply with 'They're being racist towards Taylor'.

I meant to say on the post that it's okay if you don't put the whole anonymous post. You can just answer it.

That's the thing I kind of have with this societal phenomenon: chucking everything to discrimination.

Does Taylor face racism? Yes! Definitely! But this isn't a case where racism is involved.

Side tangent that also illustrate my point: my speculation for the reason Disney started casting POC actresses like Halle Bailey and Rachel Zegler for live action Disney princesses that were originally white is to use this mindset as a shield. If the movie is bad, any genuine criticism of the movie as movie, whether that be the writing, the singing, the effects, the acting etc, will all be accused and excused as "racism". I'm all for representation but the best way to do that is to make more original, new POC characters!

I think that people who ended up accusing people with opinions that don't actually involve racism do that because they don't actually have a good argument, so they run to the "answers everything" option. Use that mindset to view situations like this, and the accusers are gonna start looking real pathetic.

To reiterate, I am absolutely not saying POC like Taylor don't face racism, they do. This is just not a case where racism is involved.

I hope you're OK with me posting the ask, because I got this one after I already started an essay for the previous one and that required context of the question. It's also an issue I want to raise to more people in the fandom so it's working for me anyways.

[bytedykes]

Hewwo! Yue Qingyuan seems to be a special guy to you, so him for the ask game ✌️

Sexuality Headcanon: gay but i think he's too depressed to date. he has emotional erectile dysfunction

Gender Headcanon: cis man 😔 ive thought about transfem yqy before too but i dont really see him going anywhere with it. he doesnt have time for self exploration he has a sect to run and also all this unspeakable misery

A ship I have with said character: hehe... mqf/yqy... i like them... its really niche but @pathos-logical and i initially thought of it as a joke but it's so serious now. doctor sexy x worst patient EVERRR !! i dont have anything concrete to say about this ship they just eat my brain

A BROTP I have with said character: i actually really like his canon relationship with sqq, even though we only ever really see how sqq thinks of him. yqy reminds sqq of his own older brother which i think is really sweet and also sad :( i also think yqy would like sqq as his own person, if it ever came out that sqq isnt sj. i mean he already likes him but like independently of shen jiu i do think they could have a good relationship

A NOTP I have with said character: QI/JIU. i don't ship them. words cannot communicate how much i don't ship them. i knowww that they're in a danmei fitting all the bl tropes but like i don't want it and i don't see it and i just do not ship it. i find them much much more compelling as a platonic relationship. fandom has also highkey ruined any warm feelings i might have had toward romantic yqy/sj because of the way people popularly portray them - i think the way a lot of people write qi/jiu is very sj-centric and often not very in line with what i think is accurate yqy characterization (also i don't like sj for similar fandom mischaracterization reasons but w/e). but that's just my opinion !

A random headcanon: i think he would be sooo good with babies i think it would be awesome to put a baby in that man's arms and have him hold it for a while. also a mandated beach vacation wouldn't fix him but it would greatly benefit him. also i think he has chronic pain from xs + the qi deviation and his spirit veins are all fucked up and who does he talk about this with? no one <3 <3 <3 #1 sufferer in silence

General Opinion over said character: i fucking love this mankjghilsadhkads IM SUCH A SUCKER for fucked up tragic characters who are stuck in a pit of eternal misery ok i eat that shit uppp. i really like how yqy's narrative is that ultimately he did his best and tried so hard and failed anyway and then could never bring himself to defend himself despite it not being his fault and that's the tragedy. he blames himself so so bad and he will never say anything because he doesnt feel he deserves to!!! the decades long miscommunication with the person who matters most to him is also soooo. ugh. he makes me crazyyy!!! i really like how he's a very flawed, complex person, who is kind and caring but also the #1 enabler on this goddamn mountain. his indirect treatment of lbh is really interesting to me too. i love yqy he sucks so bad <333

ty for the ask!!! you're right he IS a special guy to me and i love him soo much <3

[rookflower]

How do you feel about the ASC protags? I see a lot of split opinions on them

mixed feelings!

frostpaw is definitely my favourite. i feel like her personality could be stronger and it annoys me how quickly the erins rushed past any sense of denial or complex emotional response with the curlfeather reveal into a more straightforward "oh she manipulated me ok she sucks now". the drama of it could have been so much tastier!! but i like her a lot overall, i feel invested in her struggles, i enjoy reading her chapters, she is fun to rotate in my head, and i hope her arc concludes nicely. also whistlefrost is real.

nightheart... i do not like. i think his arc is stupid if i take it too literally and frustrating and sexist if i read too much into it. the way the female characters around him were written (and the fandom response to him) around early asc left a bad taste in my mouth and i don't find his personality engaging enough to redeem him from that. i don't like that he is continually rewarded by the narrative in a way that wc does in a very gendered pattern. i think he and sunbeam should have broken up in thunder and i would like him considerably more if they did. im glad my friends and mutuals who like him are able to get something out of him though and i appreciate that his arc has touched a lot of people on a personal level. he's just really not for me.

sunbeam i feel is at her best when she's away from nightheart- i enjoyed her petty shitty friend drama in the first two books (which i will defend lightleap from btw. lightleap ily) and her fitting into thunderclan in thunder. it's just that i don't enjoy the way the erins write romance, and like with bristleroot, when two protagonists are in love it turns the books into 2/3 mediocre romance. like i mentioned with nightheart, it annoys me immensely that she immediately forgave him for abandoning her twice in a row. it feels messy and rushed and i feel it undercuts the earlier, better done characterisation where she was explicitly hesitant after he moved into her clan to be with her without warning or consent. the transition between these two states of betrayal from someone she cares about feels... unearned? unrealistic? nonexistent? i don't dislike that nightheart is a bad/inconsistent partner to her in that regard, i dislike that the books treat him like he isn't and it keeps coming back to sexist trends in the series. she's a genuinely pretty enjoyable character on her own though, like with frostpaw i feel like she is a little too generic but is fun enough to read about that i can look past it.

[zorilleerrant]

For the ask game, ship you’ve unwilling come around to!

Oh, I have so many NoTPs in every fandom, and, unfortunately, a ton of them tend to be canon or popular in fandom! The ones that bother me so much I had to block the tags are Dick/Babs, Tim/Kon, and Spike/Buffy. I think those are the only ships I currently have blocked, but some of that is just because the other ships are less popular (or fewer people I follow care one way or the other).

With Dick/Babs, it's that I love their dynamic as childhood friends or as young superhero friends, and if they have romantic entanglements on top of that it feels like it's invalidating the friendship. There's a lot of 'this boy and girl are friends so they have to date' (see also: these two queer boys/girls are friends so they have to date) and it gets its ick on ships, even though generally I do enjoy a friends-to-lovers arc. It's also a little creepy to me that Babs was originally Bruce's love interest, and then infantilized to be Dick's love interest - the same reason that Kori/Jason and Raven/Damian bother me so much. Also, Babs is a lesbian. I really just prefer them as mlm/wlw solidarity and not in a bi4bi way.

Tim/Kon and Spike/Buffy are more a problem with the fans than any of the canon material. (Which is why I ship Tim/Kon in the HBO Titans universe, which I haven't seen many people being mean about.) I see a lot of Tim/Kon fans hating on Bernard and Tim/Bernard and also hating on DC in a way that honestly feels pretty homophobic. I don't think that's their intention but it really sounds like the same arguments people who just don't want canon queer characters at all make. I also see them hating on Steph and Tim/Steph sometimes in ways that are pretty misogynistic (and also biphobic) and I just don't like it.

Spike/Buffy is like... I enjoyed the dynamic on the show, where they were both unhealthily codependent and toxic to each other. Two people who think they're in love or have the potential to be in love because they won't address their own problems is my jam! Of course, most of the shippers seem to want to treat it like a real (or especially a healthy) relationship instead of a toxic situationship. There's also the problem that, like, they keep defending why Spike 'deserves' to still be in a relationship with Buffy after assaulting her, sometimes with pages long essays, and never once mention how Buffy might feel about that. Completely ignoring Buffy's opinion on the whole thing feels, to me, even more nonconsensual than the original incident (which I was willing to chalk up to bad writing and ignore). So now the merest mention gives me the creepy crawlies. This is most canon ships on BtVS, tho.

Most ships I'm open to, tho! I especially enjoy hearing about rarepairs and anything that couldn't happen in canon (crossover ships, etc.) because I can roll it around in my head until I understand it. Which is why even stuff that squicks me at first I'm willing to give a chance if the story sounds interesting enough.

[cornfields-td-nonsense]

wanna know the mods most unpopular and controversial opinions... cmon give us the scoop!!!

alright, idk how controversial they are but here goes

While TDWT is very good, it's kind of overrated

TDPI is NOT that bad y'all are being dramatic

Cody is such a nothing character, it actually fascinates me how he's so popular. he's alright I guess? sometimes he is funny? idk I feel so little about him it's insane

on that note I don't rlly care for Noco (though that's becoming more of a common take)

More of a fandom take but people care way too much about what ships and characters other people do and don't like. whatever happened to like and let like, guys

While All-Stars is bad imo, it's still enjoyable for me. mostly because Mal is so ridiculous it's funny. also TDAS likers/defenders I salute you

Sky. Is. Not. Zoey. They are not the same. Like even slightly.

While it is true that TD is a parody, that doesn't mean it's exempt from things like shitty writing and character derailment

I would say something about Duncan here but my opinion of him changes so frequently that whatever I said would be outdated in like five minutes

okay that was a lot of negativity, let's have some more positive stuff

Max is the funniest character alive, like I do not agree with the idea of him being 'annoying'. he's such a gremlin and he ruined the word Wyoming for me /pos

Katie and Sadie deserve the world actually

Beth is my pick for canon winner of TDA

I have changed my mind about Sugar and Leonard, I love them actually I have been stupid this whole time

Nemma isn't my favourite but it does not deserve the hate, it's a fine ship

I LOVE the Zeke episode of TDAS (though I am very biased)

The reboot cast is probably my favourite TD cast, I like literally all of them

Tbf I don't?? think there's a single TD character I hate??

hope this doesn't disappoint, lol

[namtanlovesfilm]

Wanted to start this by saying that I usually agree with your opinions (or even when I don't, I can at least see where you're coming from) but that's not the case when it comes to your opinion on Only Friends because I completely disagree and just wanted to add my two cents. You said that it wasn't relatable to the queer community but I'm sorry, the queer community isn't a monolith, there isn't one universal way that every single queer friendship group functions. Just because it wasn't relatable to your experience, it doesn't mean that it wasn't relatable to many other queer people's experiences. For example, one of my friend groups consists of gay men and the stories they've told me (and some of which I witnessed with myself)? Not that far off from OF (aka everyone getting with everyone, behind people's backs as well, and most of them are still on friendly terms now). It's perfectly fine that you didn't personally relate but you can't say no queer person/community did.

I also saw depth to a lot of characters and I could relate to several of them in different ways and everything in the finale made sense to me for those characters. For me it achieved what it set out to do: entertain, while also make me connect/care about some of the characters. It didn't do that for everyone (you included) but please don't claim it's a "bad show" as a general statement just because you didn't get anything out of it because a lot of people did. (My friend who struggles with depression and is currently going through a depressive slump found comfort in seeing Ray progress to a point where he's much happier at the end of the series because it gives her hope that she can get to that point soon too.)

Is Only Friends a brilliant, amazing, showstopping, incredible show? No. But it's not bad, far from it. It certainly has its flaws but the sudden hate it's getting is not warranted imo.

hi, first of all, it's fine to disagree lol, though it's always a bit jarring to me when people feel the need to let me know they disagree with me bc clearly we simply have a different taste & opinion. when I share my opinion about a show, I do it on my blog but never go on others' blogs to either defend a show I liked or trash a show I didn't like, but anyways. I have NEVER, EVER said that the queer community is a monolith & that all queer representation needs to be relatable to ME. in fact, a lot of my favorite queer media are HIGHLY UN-relatable to me lol. I never implied that only friends' flaws comes from it being unrelatable or unrealistic? in fact I believe it to be realistic since it's made by queer men & has recurring topics that p'jojo especially has used in previous shows of his, especially since the story of only friends is inspired by real-life events. in fact I said that I WISH they'd have leaned into the queer community aspect of it even more bc it was the one point in which this show differentiates itself from friend zone, so yeah. don't really know where you got that notion from. secondly, like it or not, I can claim any shows I've watched are bad in my opinion. once again, media is subjective & I did not like only friends so for me it IS a bad show. is it the worst? no. did I HATE it? no. did I have a good time in front of it? also no. also from a writing standpoint I'm sorry it IS objectively bad and FAILED at what it set out to do, especially considering the show itself doesn't seem to know what it set out to do in the first place. moreover, sudden hate? I've been criticizing only friends since it started airing lol, I'm not jumping on any bandwagon, and in fact it's more so the fandom that's catching up to the fact that this show is not very good. now, I'm genuinely glad that this show helped you & your friend and that you liked it! that's great, of COURSE this show is gonna have its fans, and in fact it has a lot of them! however it seems to me as if you've taken my (justified) criticism of the show to heart for a reason that only you fully know, and I hope you can investigate why that is. I truly value you as a long time follower of mine & I hope you can agree to disagree with me on that one even though I must admit this ask seems a bit jarring & personal to me. wish you all the best :)

xxx

[flowerandblood]

Most of us on here have a common love for HOTD and the characters, I don't understand why a group of people would feel the need to do something like that. I honestly had no idea all of this was going on behind the scenes it make you fearful of who you talk too.

My advice? Read carefully what people write on their blogs. How they relate to others. Can they speak respectfully about people they don't like? Are they really "just defending themselves" or are they just bitching about others, pretending they're not having fun at all?

Honestly? Now they are trying to get back at Ange, pretend that she did the same thing as them. Even when we discussed the fandom privately, writing about our experiences, about others and what we didn't like, or when we expressed opposing opinions, neither she nor I ever made fun of or insulted anyone. She also never encouraged me to mock anyone or block anyone. In fact, when I received anon hate, she was afraid to tell me who it might be − she only said that she thought she knew who it was and that I should be careful and block these anonymous messages because the same people were harassing her.

This alone shows that Ange was never what they have been trying to describe her for months, so I simply believe her. She has proven to me many times that she can admit a mistake and understand others. Just like every human being, she has the right to be frustrated. Like me, she often felt exploited and deceived, but she never turned it into aggression. Never in my presence. Therefore, looking at this evidence of hatred that magically appeared a few days after the big bang, where screenshots were suddenly found of every person here who is close to Ange and Em, it amuses me a bit.

Where is the evidence of hate against me, I ask? I feel left out. Are you sure they didn't say anything bad about me? 😭😭😭

[unchataparis]

I gotta say, one of my most hated salt trope is when Gabriel or Audrey prefer Marinette over Adrien and Chloé. They see Marinette as the better child/the more talented/the more deserving and the entire fic's plot revolve around Adrien/Chloé's realisation and concluding devastation over that fact. :/

Salt has a questionable status in this fandom, as it does in most fandoms, but as I've come to unpleasantly realise, most people who are writing salt are, in fact, not twelve or thirteen year olds but full grown adult with jobs, career, even children of their own.

Sometimes, I see posts that are so overwhelmingly filled with hatred for certain characters, it's shocking to realise that you guys aren't being ironic, you're being for real. Your opinion is yours to have, and all of your emotions and feelings are valid. It's always good to be passionate rather than bland. I'm sure that if we were to meet on the streets, no one would be this zealous over their opinion of a children's cartoon show. But I feel like some of you are so sucked into this imaginary, badly-written, fan service-orientated world, you've forgotten your common sense and dedicated effort that this show does not deserve into defending your favourite, mistreated characters.

This show isn't well-written. It has questionable plots and characters. Thomas Astruc is a dubious man. These are all facts that no one is arguing against. But even with all these truths in the air, it still doesn't justify the sheer amount of unregulated hatred reserved for certain characters.

I'm speaking to the 'I live for salt' girlies who churns out Marinette Deserves Better wips on the daily. The people who are swearing at each other on the Internet over whether or not Chloé is a good person and deserves to be redeemed. I'm talking about those who accuse Lovesquare shippers of enabling toxic relationship and misogyny.

What are you talking about?

I don't think any of you truly believe that Miraculous is bad for children or that it's upholding the patriarchy, you're simply grasping onto whimsical straws of social justice in order to advance your own egocentric agenda.

Fandoms are meant to be a safe place to discuss your interests and find like-minded friends who aren't available in your local area. Not a feedback loop of aggrandising, disproportionate speculation.

If you hate the show so much, you're not even watching it anymore and following other people's social media AUs instead – nothing wrong with that, but you do realise that means you have no idea what you're talking about, right? If the show is so terrible and you don't even care about XXX or YYY, why not just leave? Place your time and effort into something that wouldn't make you so angry and dissatisfied?

I've been watching Miraculous for about six years now, and this show has a lot of impact on my artistic and internal psyche and it means a lot to me and I can see both the good and the faults in it. But at the end of the day, the characters of Miraculous are literally just characters. They're not real, they don't have opinions of their own, and they do what they do at the behest of the people writing them. You can't let yourself be consumed by their fictional plights.

Take this statement with a grain of salt and know that there is fluctuations to the fact of it, there are always exceptions, but: fandom arguments are ultimately pointless. There's better, more worthwhile things to do. There's always going to be annoying, infuriating people, you don't want to add yourself to the mix. Think about it, what's your endgame? That everyone will apologise to you and admit that you were right and follow all your opinions? That the writers of the show will change the story and rewrite everything according to your suggestions and 'corrections'? You're bitterly giving all your energy to something that will never reward you.

[chxna-cheeseycake]

Hi I once again forgot my Tumblr existed how silly of me 😙 Anyways, I was briefly out of my Aphmau phase but as with most fandoms, the Aphmau phase truly never leaves you. So I'm back in this bitch again and feel like talking about Dante more because he's the only Aphmau character I care about anymore <3 Jk but also Dante is my everything so whateves.

Anyways so like I think about Dante and Gene's brother relationship a normal amount (wrong) and it just like??? Bothers me that we didn't get a more complicated relationship between them in Mystreet like we did in MCD. And maybe I'm just a slut for angst but I loved the brotherly angst between them. Also Gene's a big bitch and I firmly don't believe he should've gotten a redemption arc in Mystreet. Or at the very least it should've been done better cuz how are these people just okay with Gene so quickly after all that shit he did in highschool :/ Keep in mind I haven't finished watching Phoenix Drop High yet cuz I'm a lazy hoe but I still have a good idea about the stuff he's done to people as a Shadow Knight. Honestly, Zane and Aaron have a right to not like him and watching S3 of Mystreet I didn't really appreciate how they made Zane and Aaron out to be kinda bad just cuz they didn't want to besties with Gene like Aphmau. I don't know if that's actually what they were trying to go for but it just gave they kinda vibe off to me and I don't like it oof. This is like one of the few times I think I can see myself defending Aaron's ass cuz like shit I wouldn't forgive Gene that quick either regardless of how genuine his apology is. Cuz I know from personal experience that it's hard to just forgive someone after the shit they put you through :/

And also like, I think it's really stupid how Dante just doesn't know about the stuff that Gene did back in highschool. And I blame that on the fact that Mystreet as a series has a bad habit of dumbing down the MCD characters for no good reason. Garroth is a supreme example of this with his MS and MCD counterparts being almost unrecognizable from one another. It just really boggles me how Dante could just not have an inkling of what's going on especially when his own friends were being targeted by Gene and his wannabe mean girl posse. It's a fucking stupid writing decision in my opinion and only further proves how dirty they did Dante's character in Mystreet. God I might be taking this a little too seriously but as a Dante lover I can't help myself. I will be a hardcore Dante defender even in death broskis.

Now honestly here's what I personally would have done to really reflect the complex and strained brother relationship that Gene and Dante have in MCD into Mystreet. Gene is still a big bitch in highschool to everyone but Dante actually knows about this. He's not dumb to the fact that his older brother is pretty much part of a gang. And that's because Gene doesn't treat Dante the good at all either. Yet Gene would have the audacity to say and act like he's such a great big brother in front of other people cuz he's a dickhole like that. But Dante keeps claiming that Gene's a good brother and says he looks up to Gene anyways. Why would he even do that though? Because Dante could either just be saying that to stay on Gene's good side or he just genuinely thinks that Gene isn't hurting him at the very least because Gene is his big bro and big bros would never do anything to hurt their little bros, right? I mean just imagine for years that Dante knows Gene isn't a good person but is led to believe that at least Gene wouldn't be mean to him. Imagine Gene graduates from highschool and moves out of the house and Dante still is able to think highly of Gene. Imagine one day, Dante actually has a crisis regarding Gene caused unintentionally by his friends who thought that Dante didn't know about what Gene was doing as a Shadow Knight. They realize that's not the true issue at hand here and feel awful once they come to the truth faster than Dante himself. Imagine Dante having a hard time being convinced that Gene was treating him horribly because Dante doesn't want to believe that such a thing happened to him because then that would just be too much for him to process and accept. And then imagine the brothers seeing each other in S2 after not talking for years as at that point Dante understood that what Gene did to him wasn't right.

That's the type of conflict that I think Mystreet would've benefited from. And it would bring so much more depth to Dante and Gene because again, they were done dirty in Mystreet and I will always die mad about how their interesting and complicated dynamic was stolen from them in Mystreet. I have like so many other ideas like this not just for Dante and Gene but for the entirety of Mystreet as a whole. I literally have a whole Google Doc detailing so much shit I would rewrite to make Mystreet a better series which goes to show how stupidly passionate I am about this damn Minecraft roleplay from my childhood 💀 Anyways, that stuff in my Google Doc can be for another time cuz I don't feel like typing anything else right now lol.

[themoodyestj]

Question why do you automatically Think that if you ship destiel they are hellers? Majority of destiel shippers are j2m fans. So are they hellers as well ? J2m are the majority of fans and majority of them ship destiel. So maybe instead of saying only hellers ship destiel maybe look at their sm account before jumping to conclusions that they are hellers 🙄🤦‍♀️.

Also maybe learn to respect everyone even if they don’t deserve respect it’s called being a decent human being. And maybe don’t screenshot destiel shippers post when their posts are not even harmful and they are just having fun. You do know that there is nothing wrong with having fun with the fandom you are in. Destiel shippers do that majority of them time. Listen I am a heller and a destiel shipper and I really don’t care if you are pro ship or not. I don’t think that you are homophobic if you don’t ship destiel or ship at any characters at all. I am more easy going. Just don’t be homophobic, transphobic or racist than you are fine whether you are pro ship or not I do not care just don’t be homophobic, transphobic and racist than you are fine. I also don’t allow any w*ncests come near me because they are quite vile towards me for no reason.

Anon, I really want to answer your questions and I am open to discussion but please do me a favour. Next time you send an ask, can you please divide your arguments into bullet points? Your asks are incredibly hard to decipher for me as they are very dense and a bit confusing.

But i will try my best to answer, hoping you will read what I write, because I feel like at this point, I'm repeating myself a lot.

1 - I would consider a Heller a Destiel extremist. Someone who will - defend the ideal not considering other people's rights to an opinion, feeling entitled to attack personally someone for not having the same views. However, Im not very hung up of semantics. Most of all, I call out bad behavior, not ships. There are Destiel shippers that may not like Jared at all, but keep to themselves. It's the hate I criticize. Whose account should I be looking into, btw? Because 99% of the asks I get... are anon.

2 - Respecting someone who doesn't deserve respect is not being a decent human being, it's being spineless. I WILL NOT, under any circumstances, endorse or accept behavior that I find unacceptable. I will not allow bullying, death threats or accusations. It's because of this "forced acceptance of everything" that we have vile behavior in this fandom, and people feeling the right to do pretty much everything because we "need to accept them." I won't, don't count me on that. And honestly, neither should you. That's why you're in my inbox.

3- Please present the link of the post where I took screenshots of Hellers "having fun". I don't answer to vague accusations. But I'm very open to answer and assume what I write.

4 - Again, and I have been very vocal about it in my other posts, I don't assume the bad comes from just one side. Delulus exist everywhere. I have blocked Wincest blogs because, due to algorithm error, I had some very disturbing things appearing in my deadline (mostly fanart). I have blocked Hellers also and never mention them.

I live and let live, as long as these people stay on their lane.

Now you come here, talking about respect, and acceptance, and living and let live but... you're in my inbox. Are you one of those Hellers I criticize? Because if you're not, why are you not practicing what you preach?

Again, be brave, come at me with your handle, we can have a chat. Don't be a coward. If you are so cool and have nothing to hide... you shouldn't have any problems with that, would you?