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wolfwrenbrainrot · 7 months

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All the thoughts I ever had about SW ship wars from 2015 to 2023?? And why I ship Wolfwren I guess Idk

⚠️ DISCLAIMER ⚠️

I’ll be discussing the ship wars that are happening right now in the ahsoka fandom and compare it to how my perception about the fandom war that happened during the sequel era changed with the years). Oh, and I’m going to get into some tangencies that may not make much sense most of the time, so reading this to the end is on your own account. I ended up being a bit cynical too, but not in a mean way, I hope?

I usually give up everytime I start writing an opinion on tumblr, because most of the time I just think my opinion won’t change anything, but the ahsoka fandom got “revived” (not that it was dead, but, well, we haven’t had any new episodes and to an extent the most of us move on to others shows a little until we get new content, like it happened these last few days) and I’ve been thinking about this show all on my own for a while (my friends aren’t really into Star Wars stuff, so they can listen, but they’ll never GET IT like interacting with fans online will). I’m explaining myself too much, but all I mean by that is that by writing this, I don’t intend to add fuel to the fire. That’s why i won’t tag sab//ra, r//lo or mention the ships just because I don’t want to upset those of them that can have normal conversations about media nor trigger those that can’t (which, thankfully, doesn’t seem to apply to all sab//zras). So, if you don’t like Wolfwren, you’ll only see this if you are looking for a ship you don’t like or if you’re invested enough in not liking it to check the anti tag. I’m not judging, we all been there. In fact, I was there during the sequel era, with a ship that is pretty similar in dynamic to Wolfwren. It was also pretty similar to a ship I loved at the time, Catradora, from Netflix’s She’ra. So, yeah, I was a big hypocrite. I still kinda think sapphic enemies to lovers is the superior taste of the trope, but that’s because I’m so profoundly gay it would scare the gayest gay, so obviously the ships I’m more invested in are sapphic. It’s a given. But my point is, now I see the whole R//lo argument from a different angle, that you can disagree with, but I believe is more realistic:

I don’t ship it.

Although it is an illusion to believe our taste in fiction is not related to who we are as people (because blah blah blah capitalism blah blah blah I’m a commie), it is possible to distinguish what we want from two fiction characters and how we expect to meet our partners in real life lmao.

(This next part I’m a bit uncertain of how it’ll be perceived, but I hope it makes sense. Please, both R//los and antis that may or may not be reading this, be patient and try to understand what I’m trying to say.

Yes, Finn was casted aside by Lucasfilm. Yes, K//lo getting a more prominent role in the films played a part in this whole process. Yes, there was a part of the R//lo fandom that was racist to John Boyega. This is also true for the Star Wars fandom as a WHOLE, because there was plenty of shitty dudebros complaining about the same shit they’re complaining today, “woke culture” and all that crap, just because they decided to have a woman and a black man as the protagonists. A decision that most likely wasn’t made by those executives thinking: “Oh, wouldn’t it be so great if we made a few minorities feel seen in this universe many of them really love?”. But it did that.

The Force Awakens came out and, despite being, at the same time, a remake of A New Hope and a continuation of Return of the Jedi, its new characters had SO. MUCH. POTENTIAL. And, limitations imposed by mainstream products made by big corporations and set in galaxies far, far away from ours aside, black people and women felt represented. It is one of the many contradictions of symbolic effect of minorities groups being represented in media produced in the system that oppress them (commie, warned you). Does it change things? No, not really. Isn’t it usually done it a way full of limitations that sometimes reinforce certain ideas that are pretty harmful? Yeah… Kind of… But didn’t it feel great, after growing up frustrated that Leia wasn’t a Jedi in the old movies, to have Rey? Wasn’t it awesome that black people got Finn? This complex (at least, it started that way) defected stormtrooper turned rebel? That could, maybe, even be force sensitive…? Yes to all of those questions! Tricky, isn’t it? By the way, I do believe that (before TROS) Finn had the narrative placement of Han (reluctant hero), Poe had Leia’s (rebel leader that gets captured and literally puts important information in a droid lmao), Rey had Luke’s (lives a boring life but has a calling to the adventure blah blah blah becomes a hero, we all heard it so many times) and Kylo had Vader’s (villain that’ll eventually get redeemed by the hero). All basic, old hero’s journey. A story structure that, despite being critical of, I eat up every fucking time it envolves spaceships and lightsabers. Getting back to the point, representation has its limits but it matters and the Star Wars fandom is full of racist, sexist pieces of shit and there was a percentage of the R//lo fandom that were too. But shipping R//lo isn't, like, intrinsically racist. You can make an argument for the implications of Adam Driver being chosen as a romantic interest (both by many fans and by Lucasfilm) over John Boyega, but at the same time there is, to some degree a level of which trope (friends to lovers or enemies to lovers) attracts you more. For me, it depends. I was a Finnpoe with a soft spot for Finnrey and an anti R//lo. But I’m obsessed with Wolfwren. Guess I like non-menacing men and evil lesbians. Wonder why Ezra Bridger is my favorite Rebels character and I ship Wolfwren. 🤔

Going back to the “Opinion on R//lo checklist”:

Would I like to meet my future partner by being kidnaped? No, not really. Do R//lo shippers want that? I think it's pretty safe to say they don't, even if they joke about it as much as I do about wanting Shin Hati to stab me. Because, ohh, right, it's a fictional movie about spaceships, galatic wars and space wizards. Yeah, I totally forgot about that when I was younger.

So, shipping R//lo doesn't mean you condone abusive relationships or domestic violence or whatever. Same applies to Wolfwren. ‘Cause, like, they aren't in a relationship yet, they’re not even friends or allies… They're on opposite sides of a war. You’re supposed to try to kill each other. Some people are just intrigued by the tension/dynamic between two characters and some others are just attracted to the characters and want to read about them fucking, and if it upsets you enough that you need to try to annoy people into stop shipping it… you need to rethink your relationship with fiction. I’m saying this because I had to do it, too. I went on with the mob and statements I agree to this day got mixed up with a bunch of nonsense and I thought that by being anti R//ylo I was making a statement, I was fighting against the romanticization of toxic relationships. I wasn't. It’s like that Luca Guadagnino’s film, “Bones and all”. Canibalism as a metaphor for love has been explored in multiple ways, by multiple artists in paintings, films, novels… Does it mean all the people who produced and consumed those works want to eat human flesh?

There’s also different ways of shipping an ETL ship. I love Wolfwren, and, in fanon, I don't mind it getting super angsty and fucked up, Killing Eve style, but I also love it when it's a slowburn romance with them going from enemies to reluctant allies to slowly building a friendship and falling in love. Do you see the range? Shipping is also about imagination, about overanalyzing things, about wondering what could character x possibly bring to character y? If Wolfwren ever does become canon, my perfect scenario would be the slowburn one, though I’ll love every second of them fighting and stare into each other's eyes until then.

If you ship S/b/rza, it doesn't mean you're homophobic. Unless you, well, use homophobic rhetoric to hate on Wolfwren and/or its shippers. This homophobic rhetoric can also be an attempt of being (hate to use this word) “woker” than the person shipping a gay ship and saying the queer people shipping Shin and Sabine are actually reinforcing lesbian stereotypes. Triste me when this is not the hot take you seem to think it. Maybe try researching a bit about queer representation in media, queercoding and the hays code era. Or try to put yourself in our shoes. As I stated above, representation has its limits but it matters and increases our ability to connect to the pieces of fiction we're consuming. In my case, as much as I can enjoy it, there's always gonna be a degree of alienation when it comes to “straight people media”. That's why I headcanon characters as sapphic. Because I am. That's why autistic people headcanon characters as being autistic. Same goes for trans people and other minority groups that do the same. So, in the end, it doesn't really need to be canon and even after today I’m still not that hopeful, ‘cause, again, it's Disney. If anything, there's always a possibility that, if Shin lives, she ends up being paired up with a random dude just so people can't call her a lesbian (this has never, ever, stopped a lesbian before tho lol). I'm guessing whatever happens with Wolfwren won't affect what happens to S/b/rza. I may be proven wrong in the future but I think they closed that door in the show, at least for now. Filoni doesn't seem that interested in writing romance to me, especially this time around. We are yet to see physical or romantic attraction being even remotely alluded to in this show. (S/b/rzas interpretation of Sabine's motivation to find Ezra or my interpretation of the tension between Shin and Sabine doesn't change that). It's a pretty sexless show (and I’m not saying they should have explicit sex on a Star Wars show, but George Lucas didn't shy away from romance and showcasing attraction and romantic love). I believe that's why he made sure to “discard” S/b/rza, despiste knowing it was a relatively popular ship in the Rebels fandom (obviously it doesn't stop anyone from shipping it, but it is an indicative of how Filoni intended us to perceive their dynamic). You know what I mean? Wolfwren happening or not, being or not supported by the cast and crew, doesn't change anything for your ship. And to be really honest, it is kind of funny to me that some people feel threatened by Wolfwren. ‘Cause, like, even if Filoni wants to make it canon, in the end it will be up to Lucasfilm and Disney to allow it or not and the best they gave us so far is Velcinta in Andor. Do you truly believe we have a better chance at getting our endgame than you do? Come on, guys. Please. I don't think any of us will, just to be clear, but even if Wolfwrens “win” this ship war, it won't be like some injustice or disrespect towards the s/b/rza fandom. Same goes for s/b/rza, because unlike Poe x Zorrii that was a last minute, pulled of their ass straight romance that only existed to send the very clear message that Poe Dameron is a heterossexual man (lol, he isn't). Ezra and Sabine do have a history together that I see as platonic but can be interpreted as romantic. And you will still be able to ship it, even if Sabine ends up with Shin. That's why fanfiction exist. If she ends up with Ezra, I’ll keep reading my Wolfwren fanfics and be happy with it. At the end of the day, it's just fiction. I care enough about it to write a long ass Tumblr post, but not to make me actually upset over a relationship that isn't my own.

#wolfwren #anti wolfwren

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fozmeadows · 3 years

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race & culture in fandom

For the past decade, English language fanwriting culture post the days of LiveJournal and Strikethrough has been hugely shaped by a handful of megafandoms that exploded across AO3 and tumblr – I’m talking Supernatural, Teen Wolf, Dr Who, the MCU, Harry Potter, Star Wars, BBC Sherlock – which have all been overwhelmingly white. I don’t mean in terms of the fans themselves, although whiteness also figures prominently in said fandoms: I mean that the source materials themselves feature very few POC, and the ones who are there tended to be done dirty by the creators.

Periodically, this has led POC in fandom to point out, extremely reasonably, that even where non-white characters do get central roles in various media properties, they’re often overlooked by fandom at large, such that the popular focus stays primarily on the white characters. Sometimes this happened (it was argued) because the POC characters were secondary to begin with and as such attracted less fan devotion (although this has never stopped fandoms from picking a random white gremlin from the background cast and elevating them to the status of Fave); at other times, however, there has been a clear trend of sidelining POC leads in favour of white alternatives (as per Finn, Poe and Rose Tico being edged out in Star Wars shipping by Hux, Kylo and Rey). I mention this, not to demonize individuals whose preferred ships happen to involve white characters, but to point out the collective impact these trends can have on POC in fandom spaces: it’s not bad to ship what you ship, but that doesn’t mean there’s no utility in analysing what’s popular and why through a racial lens.

All this being so, it feels increasingly salient that fanwriting culture as exists right now developed under the influence and in the shadow of these white-dominated fandoms – specifically, the taboo against criticizing or critiquing fics for any reason. Certainly, there’s a hell of a lot of value to Don’t Like, Don’t Read as a general policy, especially when it comes to the darker, kinkier side of ficwriting, and whether the context is professional or recreational, offering someone direct, unsolicited feedback on their writing style is a dick move. But on the flipside, the anti-criticism culture in fanwriting has consistently worked against fans of colour who speak out about racist tropes, fan ignorance and hurtful portrayals of living cultures. Voicing anything negative about works created for free is seen as violating a core rule of ficwriting culture – but as that culture has been foundationally shaped by white fandoms, white characters and, overwhelmingly, white ideas about what’s allowed and what isn’t, we ought to consider that all critical contexts are not created equal.

Right now, the rise of C-drama (and K-drama, and J-drama) fandoms is seeing a surge of white creators – myself included – writing fics for fandoms in which no white people exist, and where the cultural context which informs the canon is different to western norms. Which isn’t to say that no popular fandoms focused on POC have existed before now – K-pop RPF and anime fandoms, for example, have been big for a while. But with the success of The Untamed, more western fans are investing in stories whose plots, references, characterization and settings are so fundamentally rooted in real Chinese history and living Chinese culture that it’s not really possible to write around it. And yet, inevitably, too many in fandom are trying to do just that, treating respect for Chinese culture or an attempt to understand it as optional extras – because surely, fandom shouldn’t feel like work. If you’re writing something for free, on your own time, for your own pleasure, why should anyone else get to demand that you research the subject matter first?

Because it matters, is the short answer. Because race and culture are not made-up things like lightsabers and werewolves that you can alter, mock or misunderstand without the risk of hurting or marginalizing actual real people – and because, quite frankly, we already know that fandom is capable of drawing lines in the sand where it chooses. When Brony culture first reared its head (hah), the online fandom for My Little Pony – which, like the other fandoms we’re discussing here, is overwhelmingly female – was initially welcoming. It felt like progress, that so many straight men could identify with such a feminine show; a potential sign that maybe, we were finally leaving the era of mainstream hypermasculine fandom bullshit behind, at least in this one arena. And then, in pretty much the blink of an eye, things got overwhelmingly bad. Artists drawing hardcorn porn didn’t tag their works as adult, leading to those images flooding the public search results for a children’s show. Women were edged out of their own spaces. Bronies got aggressive, posting harsh, ugly criticism of artists whose gijinka interpretations of the Mane Six as humans were deemed insufficiently fuckable.

The resulting fandom conflict was deeply unpleasant, but in the end, the verdict was laid down loud and clear: if you cannot comport yourself like a decent fucking person – if your base mode of engagement within a fandom is to coopt it from the original audience and declare it newly cool only because you’re into it now; if you do not, at the very least, attempt to understand and respect the original context so as to engage appropriately (in this case, by acknowledging that the media you’re consuming was foundational to many women who were there before you and is still consumed by minors, and tagging your goddamn porn) – then the rest of fandom will treat you like a social biohazard, and rightly so.

Here’s the thing, fellow white people: when it comes to C-drama fandoms and other non-white, non-western properties? We are the Bronies.

Not, I hasten to add, in terms of toxic fuckery – though if we don’t get our collective shit together, I’m not taking that darkest timeline off the table. What I mean is that, by virtue of the whiteminding which, both consciously and unconsciously, has shaped current fan culture, particularly in terms of ficwriting conventions, we’re collectively acting as though we’re the primary audience for narratives that weren’t actually made with us in mind, being hostile dicks to Chinese and Chinese diaspora fans when they take the time to point out what we’re getting wrong. We’re bristling because we’ve conceived of ficwriting as a place wherein No Criticism Occurs without questioning how this culture, while valuable in some respects, also serves to uphold, excuse and perpetuate microaggresions and other forms of racism, lashing out or falling back on passive aggression when POC, quite understandably, talk about how they’re sick and tired of our bullshit.

An analogy: one of the most helpful and important tags on AO3 is the one for homophobia, not just because it allows readers to brace for or opt out of reading content they might find distressing, but because it lets the reader know that the writer knows what homophobia is, and is employing it deliberately. When this concept is tagged, I – like many others – often feel more able to read about it than I do when it crops up in untagged works of commercial fiction, film or TV, because I don’t have to worry that the author thinks what they’re depicting is okay. I can say definitively, “yes, the author knows this is messed up, but has elected to tell a messed up story, a fact that will be obvious to anyone who reads this,” instead of worrying that someone will see a fucked up story blind and think “oh, I guess that’s fine.” The contextual framing matters, is the point – which is why it’s so jarring and unpleasant on those rare occasions when I do stumble on a fic whose author has legitimately mistaken homophobic microaggressions for cute banter. This is why, in a ficwriting culture that otherwise aggressively dislikes criticism, the request to tag for a certain thing – while still sometimes fraught – is generally permitted: it helps everyone to have a good time and to curate their fan experience appropriately.

But when white and/or western fans fail to educate ourselves about race, culture and the history of other countries and proceed to deploy that ignorance in our writing, we’re not tagging for racism as a thing we’ve explored deliberately; we’re just being ignorant at best and hateful at worst, which means fans of colour don’t know to avoid or brace for the content of those works until they get hit in the face with microaggresions and/or outright racism. Instead, the burden is placed on them to navigate a minefield not of their creation: which fans can be trusted to write respectfully? Who, if they make an error, will listen and apologise if the error is explained? Who, if lived experience, personal translations or cultural insights are shared, can be counted on to acknowledge those contributions rather than taking sole credit? Too often, fans of colour are being made to feel like guests in their own house, while white fans act like a tone-policing HOA.

Point being: fandom and ficwriting cultures as they currently exist badly need to confront the implicit acceptance of racism and cultural bias that underlies a lot of community rules about engagement and criticism, and that needs to start with white and western fans. We don’t want to be the new Bronies, guys. We need to do better.

#race #racism #c-drama #fandom #fan wank #fandom wank #microaggresions #culture #the untamed #bronies #whiteness #ficwriting #fanwriting #cultural bias #discourse

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annetteblog · 3 years

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This is sort if in response to the fanfic anon. In my humble opinion one should not look to fiction (especially the fantasy driven faire that is most ff) to morally, socially or historically educate people. Fiction can have sociopolitical themes and bring contemporary issues to life, but it is also usually framed and governed by a specific narrative.

Take Jane Austen's works for example. (I, like many people around here, enjoy reading them so that is why I am using them as an example). So, reading Austen, you get swept up in the romance and tension of the narrative. You also get a bit of the reality of social stratification and wealth distribution of the regency era- keeping in mind that servants rarely have much more than one line speaking roles and most heroines (basically, the pov) are landed gentry living in comfortable circumstances and afforded a lot of leisure time in which to fall in love and read poetry. Reading her books, one can easily forget about contemporanious events like the Napoleonic Wars and the persistent horrors of the slave trade. In 'Mansfeild Park', the slave trade is directly mentioned for the first and only time in her canon. The context? The heroine's failed attempt to engage her uncle in conversation (said Uncle owns a plantation in Antigua). Fanny's Uncle, Aunt and cousins- one of whom she will marry by the end of the novel- owe their wealth to slavery. This is acknowledged, and a lot if scholars say that Austen was condemning the existence of slavery in her own subtle way, but then... you just kind of move on. The books continues. The food that is being eaten, the dresses worn, the houses and fripperies, everything material, is there because of the plantation overseas. And yet we are supposed- and most people do- continue on with the story and invest emotionally in the romance of the two romantic leads.

During Austen's lifetime, British ships were involved in transporting enslaved people from the eastern seaboard of Africa to the West Indies and the American South. The horror was profitable to the nation. Of the 74, 000 slaves being transported at the peak, 38, 000 would have travelled on British ships. Though Britain's involvement in the slave trade was abolished in 1807, it was not until 1833 that slavery was made illegal in Britain (32 years before the United States).

The reason I say all this is because even though Austen's works are beloved and considered classics, even though they are said by many to be steeped in a kind of proto feminism, and considered valuable and timeless, they do not portray EVERYTHING- namely the horrifying and the unspeakable- that was going on in their era- even that which affects the main characters. So is this a moral failure? Is this an artistic failure? Many people think not. Some think so. Applying current day social standards to historical works can be a minefield.

Maybe fanfics are a lower rent version of this. In a time when many LGBTQ+ people are being persecuted in parts of the world (and there is no legal protection of the human rights of sexual minorities in Jikook's own country), people still use the narrative of a same sex relationship as escapist fantasy. I can understand where some members of the lgbtq+ community might be unhappy with this. (I am lgbt and ok with it, but that's just a personal, subjective thing). Hopefully, people whose imaginations are captured by Jikook (or anyone else), can parlay that interest and support into educating themselves about the real life plight of lgbtq+people around the world. Having a parasocial or personal investment in the happiness of someone you think might* be a member of a marginalized minority hopefully leads people to read, learn and do more.

Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei once said that, 'if anything, art is... about morals, about our beleif in humanity. Without that, there simply is no art.'

Not all creative imput has to explicitly address injustice or politics. Not every lgbtq character has to be politicized. Figuring out what one personally considers to be 'harmless fun' and what may be misguided or hurtful can be very complicated. Listening to people, reading and learning certainly helps.

*Also, fiction is weird. It can be totally morally rotton and come from baaaaaaad people and still have certain objective artistic merits (???). You can read a novel from the pov of a twisted, evil person and find yourself weirdly empathizing. You can go on a journey through the eyes of an anti hero. You can commit crimes. You can explore eroticism that you wouldn't want to explore irl. You can read propaganda and be like 'hmm but it's fun tho'. Fiction is fascinating like that.

I love this. Anon, thank you 💜

___

“Applying current day social standards to historical works can be a minefield.”

A very big yes.

“Hopefully, people whose imaginations are captured by Jikook (or anyone else), can parlay that interest and support into educating themselves about the real life plight of lgbtq+people around the world”

I suppose this is exactly what happens sometimes. I obviously can’t speak on behalf of Koreans and how they perceive it, as well as I don’t fully understand how an average Western person (namely from an English-speaking country) sees them. But observing some Russian-speaking KM spaces I’ve seen people saying that they weren’t really engaged with the problems of LGBTQ+ before or even were low-key homophobic (which feels like a norm for an average person here), but after becoming familiar with KM and immersing themselves into the narrative, they started to see the bigger picture and changed their attitudes. The same works with other fandoms. Yuri on Ice dragged some people not only to the figure skating 😉 Art is really powerful.

Speaking on the escapism fantasy. I gotta be honest, sometimes I read these very cheesy fluffy unrealistic fics exactly because they are nothing like the reality I see every day. So what? I’m gay and I need some serotonin 😀

P.S. Having the POV of a twisted morally questionable character is amazing, and it works not only in books. Love this. And it’s not like after watching Joker I started killing people (or approving it).

#annetteasks #jikook #kookmin #fanfiction #fiction #writing

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luna-tiel · 4 years

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What Entrapdak Means to Me

On the eve of Entrapdak Positivity Month, I thought it was as good a time as any to share my rambling thoughts on a ship that’s affected me in a way I didn’t think was possible.

Entrapdak is the first ship I have ever been invested in. It’s such a new experience for me that it’s taken me the last few months to wrap my head around the whole thing. I may relate to the characters in a show, but when they form romantic attachments I view it with a degree of passive distance. I don’t understand what it’s like to have those sorts of feelings for someone (I am aromantic and ace as a brick), and, well, I’m honestly not curious enough to give the subject a thorough study. My mind tends to fixate on other things.

What does this have to do with Entrapdak, you ask? Long story short for people who don’t want to read my meandering essay -- I relate a lot to these characters, and the way they bonded together struck a deep chord in me that I can’t ignore.

Let’s start with the characters. I knew going in that Entrapta was neurodivergent-coded, but I took it with a grain of salt. When I actually watched the show, however, I found myself relating to her so deeply it shocked me. Never have I felt such a kinship with a fictional character! We don’t share every trait, but it was still like seeing my brain put to life on screen. I related to her enthusiasm over her special interests, her struggles to fit in, her desire to make friends who accept and understand her for who she is.

The fact Entrapta is completely herself is something I love about her. Over the years of growing up undiagnosed, I developed a lot of masking strategies. Human psychology is one of my special interests, and even with all that accumulated knowledge, masking isn’t easy. It’s extremely mentally taxing. Masking can certainly look easy -- I can, when I have the drive and energy, “pass” as neurotypical, and only people who know me extremely well can tell I’m dying inside. All that effort is taken for granted by a lot of NTs because that’s how people are “supposed to” act, and surely I can “do the bare minimum.” The accumulated stress of near constant masking has led me to the darkest moments I’ve had in my life.

Entrapta’s struggle with leaving Beast Island hit me hard. It threw me back to a time when my feelings of isolation and worthlessness got so bad that I lost the energy to do anything, even the creative pursuits that were the obsession of my life. I retreated so deeply into my inner world that I hardly interacted with anyone. That total apathy shocked my family into getting me professional help, which gave me my autism diagnosis, the coping skills to move forward, and a good start on the road to self-acceptance. It also opened a channel between my family and I, allowing me to feel heard and understood. (An important side note on mental health: if you or someone you love needs professional help, please seek it! Sometimes you have to try out several therapists -- it took me three to find a good fit -- but you are worth it!)

It took me longer to realize, but I also relate to Hordak in some ways. Mercifully I was not raised in an extremist cult environment. However, I know what it’s like to feel defective next to a sibling that seems perfect. I was constantly being compared to my younger brother, and in all areas but art, he was superior. He was smart, athletic, and above all, he fit in with everyone. I didn’t hate him for this -- I hated myself. Trying to measure up to his standard is what caused me to develop such strong masking strategies. Underneath it all, I felt the despair of knowing my peers would reject me as soon as the mask cracked. I also live with chronic joint pain, starting at around age seven. The jury is still out on what’s causing that (the worst of it was due to a previously unknown food allergy, but the pain still comes and goes, even though it’s a lot more manageable than it used to be). This cocktail of pain, stress, and sensory issues I had to deal with gave me a very short fuse at times.

As an aside, just because I sympathize with Hordak does not mean I am excusing his actions. He is still going to have to face the consequences of his choices, and work to adjust to life post-Prime. The series end gave him a new beginning, the opportunity to be redeemed, and I prefer this to a rushed redemption arc.

What I love most about Hordak and Entrapta’s relationship is how they accept each other as they are. Hordak gives Entrapta near free reign of his sanctum, he listens to her when she talks, and he respects her opinions. Even when he pushes her away, he still considers the logic of what she tells him, and sometimes ends up doing things her way despite his initial instincts. This is something I do in my own life; I am easily overwhelmed by new information, so my initial response to an idea/activity is almost always a firm (and sometimes rude) “no,” until I have time to properly process and think about it. Hordak is the first person in Entrapta’s life that truly listens to her. He still has things he needs to work on, but it’s a lot better than how most of the princesses are with Entrapta. The Alliance treats her as someone to be managed -- she is useful, but unreliable. Hordak, in contrast, trusts her to get things done in her own way.

On the other side, Entrapta is the first person in Hordak’s life to accept him without judgment. Hordak spends so much of his energy putting up a front of strength and intimidation, and Entrapta cuts right through that. She’s not frightened by his appearance, and even his outbursts have little effect on her until the two of them start to bond. Entrapta doesn’t come into their interactions with any preconceived ideas of what Hordak is like, or more importantly, what he should be like. This lack of expectation leaves her completely open to accepting whatever Hordak does and says, and it also relieves Hordak of the burden of needing to put on a front around her. When Entrapta sees him at his most vulnerable, she reaches out to him with compassion, something he has never felt before. Entrapta also does this in a way that doesn’t belittle Hordak. His imperfections are not something to pity, they are a valuable part of who he is.

I loved watching their friendship develop. Entrapta and Hordak’s shared time together evolved slowly into a bond that gave each of them a sense of belonging they had never experienced before with anyone else. It gave me the hope that, despite what an oddball mess I am, perhaps I could find someone who understands me too.

When a romance subplot inserts itself into a story, I tend to gloss over and ignore it (if I pick up on it at all). I’m even less interested in sex. Way back when I was first getting into fandom I was so excited to go online and meet fellow fans of the books and shows I liked, only to discover the spaces being dominated by arguments over character pairings. I was baffled. This is what people are most interested in? Oh well… back to the hermit cave I go!

I was late to the party with SPoP. I’d watched a few episodes, but the show didn’t really hook me. This was partially because all I ever heard people talk about online was Catradora, and if that was the main appeal of the show, I wasn’t sure I would enjoy it (sorry Catradora shippers, romance is not going to entice me to watch a show, even if it’s rep). Quarantine was the ultimate cause for me embracing my curiosity and diving headfirst into SPoP, binging the entire thing a few months before the release of season 5.

I vaguely knew about Entrapdak as a ship going into the show, and I admit, had I not been primed for it, I probably would have missed the romantic potential entirely. In no way did I expect to become invested. I was immediately intrigued by their dynamic, and as they got closer, I found myself thinking “oh, I see why people ship these two.” I didn’t understand this realization until months later. I was relating to the characters, and for the first time in my life, I was relating to their relationship.

I headcanon Entrapta and Hordak as an asexual couple. I’ll elaborate on this at a later time (asexuality is a spectrum with a lot of nuance, and this post is plenty long already), but at the core of it, I find joy in imagining these characters in a loving platonic relationship, something I hope to find myself one day. I hope this love comes across in my artwork and in my fanfictions <3

To those of you that read this far, wow, you must be patient! Have an imaginary cookie! I hope this ramble has provided a decent picture for why I, as an aro ace on the autism spectrum, have come to cherish Hordak and Entrapta’s relationship. It’s my first and only OTP… I’m still in shock thinking about that… I guess we’ll see where things go from here!

Take care of yourselves out there!

#entrapdak #entrapta/hordak #entrapta #hordak #autistic entrapta #autistic experiences #relatable characters #fandom ramblings #spop #spop headcanons #asexual headcanon

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glorytoukraine2022 · 3 years

Note

For salty ask list-elena of avalor-4,22,23

4. I have three, actually, and yes, one of them is a popular OTP. My three NoTP’s in this fandom are Carla x Alonso, Carzel and Eleteo. Given that I’m a Carteo shipper, this isn’t unsurprising. Even before I started shipping Carteo though, I never shipped Eleteo. I love Mateo and Elena’s relationship, but I’ve never seen it as something that could go beyond friendship.

Carzel though? With Eleteo I can at least understand where people are coming from. We’ve seen Mateo and Elena interact several times throughout the series. Enough times, that if they fell in love it wouldn’t be completely out of the blue.

A lot of times when people tend to ship a couple, their fondness of the ship and the dynamic of the couple is based on their on Screen interactions, even if romance was never intended. We’ve never seen Carla and Marzel interact even once. And all of a sudden people are expecting them to fall in love and have a future together? I cannot even understand where people are getting a dynamic from. I just don’t see the chemistry. At all.

While this pairing doesn’t seem to be shipped as often as the two I mentioned above, I’m also not a big fan of the Carla x Alonso pairing either. Alonso is somebody who would spend more time staring at his reflection than paying attention to his girlfriend. Carla doesn’t strike me as the type of person who would be attracted to somebody like that. Especially reformed Carla. I don’t think many people in the fandom understand just how deeply Carla has changed (expect a post on this in the future).

Post reformation Carla is a very kind, sweet, selfless and caring person. She would not want to be in a relationship with somebody that self absorbed. I would also like to issue out a friendly reminder that Carla saw the falling out of her own parents’ relationship firsthand. A big part of the reason for that falling out is because of Ash’s egotistical, self absorbed nature. So I would like to think that Carla would be weary of somebody who exhibits those traits.

Now, I’m not comparing Alonso to Ash by any means. He’s definitely a better person than she is by the end of the series. He’s learned to care for his people and others beyond himself. He has learned to be humble and take responsibility for his own actions. Yet as I mentioned above, he is still somewhat self absorbed, so I still do not think Carla would be attracted to him.

I think I understand why people ship this couple. I think it’s because people Carla as a girl that’s super focused on her looks and appearance. I understand why people get that impression from Carla, but I personally never did. Yes, she wears jewelry, but she never struck me as the type of girl who overly invested herself into her appearance.

She doesn’t wear makeup, and if she does, and I just never noticed it, she clearly doesnt wear much. Her yellow dress isn’t particularly fancy or gaudy either. So she never struck me as the type. It doesn’t seem to match her personality either.

22. I…..honestly can’t think of any! Any characters I hate, you’re supposed to hate because they are villain. Sure, there might be some characters who I’m not as enthusiastic about as other members of the fandom, but I would never say I hate them. I still enjoy them and what they contribute to the show, just like everyone else. For me, any flaws the characters in the show have only add to both the characters and their arcs, and I wouldn’t want them any other way.

23. Victor Delgado-he’s one of my favorite characters in the series. He’s such a fun, entertaining character, with a great sense of humor. He’s also the best father to Carla and I love their bond like nothing else. He’s the best father in the entire show in my opinion. He’s always there for Carla and knows exactly what she needs and when. I love him❤️

However, I feel like he always gets a lot of hate from this fandom, especially in comparison to Esteban. He is always seen as the ultimate bad guy, because he worked for Shuriki in season 2 and was a villain for the majority of the series. It also stems from his untrustworthy depiction ever since his debut in “King of the Carnival.” Whenever I read pre Shuriki fan fiction, Victor is ALWAYS depicted as the untrustworthy one, the power hungry one, and the most eager participant in their deal with Shuriki, if not the one to contact her. I also hear people insist that he was a bad father to Carla growing up because they lived a life of crime.

I’ll admit, hearing all of this frustrates and even angers me at times. Hearing and seeing all of this makes it clear to me that there is a huge bias against Victor in this fandom. It is unfair to assume that Victor is the one who first came into contact with Shuriki and put more “heart“ into the deal. Esteban too agreed and wanted the power that Shuriki offered. Victor and his family suffered just as much as Esteban’s when Shuriki took over. Him and his family were banished from Avalor.

Also, let’s not forget that Esteban was the one who joined up with Ash, whereas Victor refused to go with her. Even after what happened with Shuriki, it took Esteban over 41 years to stop trusting people who promised him power. Trusting those who “pretend to listen” as Cahu correctly said. First he trusted Shuriki, then Ash, and then the Shadows of the Night. It took all of this to happen just to make Esteban realize the mistake that he kept making over and over. Victor wanted power because he was bitter. He was genuinely treated with disrespect. Once he realized that this life of crime was endangering Carla, he didn’t hesitate to back out of it. I swear, I love Esteban and am not trying to hate on him. But he’s not exactly a Saint either, despite the fandom constantly trying to depict him as the better person.

Though the one thing that makes me the most angry, is when I see people say that Victor isn’t a good father to Carla. Hello? Where have you guys been Throughout the entire series? He’s always loved and cared for Carla. She means EVERYTHING to him. If you didn’t understand it in the beginning of the series, than it should have been hammered home to you by the second half of season 2 and the beginning of season 3. Victor stood up to Ash to protect Carla! Yet you’re all saying he isn’t a good father to her?!

We don’t know enough about Victor and Carla’s past beyond the fact that they were mistreated. Victor was never evil, yet the fandom always tries to frame him as being the more “evil” of the two because they assume, that because he’s Carla’s father, that he must have been using and influencing her this entire time! In “The Lightning Warrior“, it is shown that Victor and Carla weren’t always criminals and for a moment, Carla’s childhood was quite peaceful. But at some point, Victor and Carla clearly fell on hard times. Did any of you consider that Victor was a single parent, who had to provide for himself and his daughter after his wife left them? Did you think that was easy and wouldn’t be stressful or challenging in any ways? He had to provide for himself and Carla. How do you know that necessity had nothing to do with Victor and Carla’s life of crime?

#elena of avalor #eoa #eleteo #carzel #Carla x Alonso #elena castillo flores #queen elena #mateo de alva #prince alonso #marzel #Carla Delgado #Victor Delgado #Salt Asks #ask answered

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ryuichirou · 3 years

Note

I saw one very stupid post on my dash about how snk is OBVIOUSLY nazi propaganda and trying to convert all of us into imperialists and white supremacists. tbh it’s not the first time I’ve seen that kind of stuff and probably won't be the last, but for some reason this time it gave me a lot of anxiety (I got wordy, I'mma need to send another ask, sorry)

(part 2) It's been more than half and hour and I still feel this awful sensation in my chest. It's just overall pretty fucked how to have something you hold dear being misinterpreted in the worst way possible, and I was just wondering what are your thoughts on this situation or how you deal with people claiming all sorts of awful shit.

(part 3) I imagine that as an artist some people probably direct their issues with snk towards you, 'cause I don't even post that much fanart and I've gotten anons "trying to educate me" on why this series is so wrong, after posting drawings. Of course, you don't have to reply, maybe the topic makes you anxious too and I don't want to bother you, so sorry for the depressing topic (｡•́︿•̀｡)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tiiish, I want to hug you, I’m really sorry that this happened to you. I hope you’re feeling a little bit better now.

Like we already mentioned a while ago, when we were talking about that darn article, after we read through it and did a little fact checking (and I mean it when I say a little, because there weren’t many facts to check), we stopped caring about it. It’s not research at all, just a manipulatively written speculation on Yam’s motives and worldview, but sadly, people easily believe these accusations because they hate SnK and want to find a valid reason to hate it and shit on its fanbase. Because “I hate it because it’s nazi propaganda” sounds much cooler than “I hate it because it’s popular”, doesn’t it?

It’s easier to ignore the article itself though, and it’s much harder not to think about tumblr posts or those Twitter threads that get very popular (although there are a lot of bots on twitter, trust me…), and it’s especially difficult to ignore it when it’s specifically directed at you. But the only thing that these people deserve is a good ol’ block and (if they’re getting too offensive and abusive) a report for harassment. The thing is, their opinion doesn’t matter: it won’t change SnK’s story, it won’t affect its success and popularity, it doesn’t affect anything other than our mood (temporarily lol). Because they aren’t critics who actually give a flying fuck about the subject matter, they’re just random assholes with a hateboner for SnK, who sit in their echochamber and discuss the same shit over and over again. And if they’re “fans” of the SnK, it’s just them “consuming it critically” 🙄 such a convenient phrase and so easy to abuse.

If we think about these accusations again… they’re so damn nonsensical, it’s almost amazing. I’m not going to reread it or to make a proper counterpoint article out of this ask, so this is just based on how we remember these accusations.

Like, what part of SnK approves and pushes the idea of imperialism in any way? When the entire idea of the story is that war is bad? When people like Onyankopon, whose homeland was invaded by Marley, exist? And it’s never portrayed as a good thing? Having only one country dominating the world’s situation is literally the main reason why everyone’s suffering??

And come to think of it, Isayama is one of the few manga artists to kind of sort of openly critique Japan: he literally drew Kiyomi losing her cool and drooling while thinking about all the profit and wealth she would get from the deal with Paradis. Why do people never talk about that? What is it, if not a critique of greedy and two-faced nature of people from Azumabito clan, who are heavily implied to represent Japan? I don’t read a lot of manga in general, but do you know how many mangakas I’ve seen who directly talked shit about Japan while being Japanese? Two. Excluding Isayama.

Isayama is clearly invested in the Western culture and he understands the World’s History. He understands that political relationships are complex and that there are no “bad” or “good” countries. I don’t want to make assumptions about how much perspective of the world’s relationships the average person from Japan has, but I still feel like Yams has a pretty good understanding of it. He did his research for the subject matter, and while it’s obviously not perfect, it’s clearly there.

These people also claim that SnK is anti-Korean and anti-Semitic, but if Hetalia had taught me anything, it is that if the story has or used to have any anti-Korean undertones, the Korean readers wouldn’t want to have anything to do with it. They would be the first people to ditch the manga, they would be the first people to critique SnK, and rightfully so. They burnt Uniqlo clothes, their overall domestic policy is pretty anti-Japanese, so there’re literally zero reasons for them not to destroy SnK if they see it as anti-Korean. But the size of the Korean SnK fandom suggests otherwise, doesn’t it.

And the “big noses = Jewish caricature” argument, seriously? How anti-Semitic can you get? Who the fuck looks at people and goes “oh, those have big noses, bet they’re caricature of Jews”?? Sorry I’m getting heated lol The argument about “Asian artists portray Westerners with prominent noses because that’s what we look like to them” has been done a lot of times, I’m not going to go over than again.

And god forbid Isayama to use Germany and Europe to draw a story where his characters are (approximately) Germans and Europeans! Let’s go fetch our pitchforks to punish Isayama for using their aesthetic to make his story look more believable and authentic, right? “Oh, those areas where they hold Eldians resemble places from real life”, like no shit???? Ofc they would??? That’s what references for making the story more grounded are used for??? If I were to write a story about a fictional place based on a real one that I don’t live in, I’d use some visual references to help me to make it more believable??? Why do I even need to explain that?

In my previous post I talked about the armbands and ghetto and stuff, but I’ll reiterate: even if there are thematic similarities, it doesn’t mean that the story mirrors our history. And it doesn’t mean that there is an analogy, since Eldian’s situation is quiiiite different than what Jewish people had to go through. It’s just thematic similarities. And it still doesn’t plant any specific idea in the reader’s head, other than “having people shoved into ghettos with 0 civil rights is a horrible thing”, and I can’t comprehend what’s anti-Semitic or imperialistic about it. Also I’m sorry, but nazis are not the only people who genocided a bunch of people, breaking news. Nor did they invent armbands. Same goes for Japan in WWII.

And now for my favourite argument: Erwin is nazi because his name is Erwin and he was born on the same day than some nazi guy died… I won’t even talk about why this idea is hilariously stupid, I just want to appreciate the level of nitpicking that’s going on here.

So… yeah. People who have nothing else to do but to complain about the show they hate don’t matter. And people who consider themselves a part of the SnK fandom and still say this bs (yep, there are people who do that) are huge hypocrites. The heck are they doing in this fandom then?? Of course, any story is up to interpretation, but this is so backwards?

Sorry for rambling so much… anyways. We’re happy enough not to encounter any hate related to this topic, but we think it’s because we ship Ereri and people already hate us for that, so the majority of shit we get is related to that, I guess we’re a lost cause for them. We’ll see if anything happens after this post though.

But once again, I’m very sorry that you had to go through this. Please remember that this isn’t personal at all, and people who harass strangers on the internet just want to flex their high moral ground while acting like complete assholes. You don’t have to explain anything to them, you don’t have to talk to them, you don’t have to listen to them or give them any attention. I hope you’ll never stumble upon anything like this; but if you ever do, please block them, don’t even bother reading their attempts at “educate” you. Isn’t worth it.

Please have a good day, Tish. And everyone who’s reading this reply.

#replies

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alia-turin · 3 years

Note

Do you think Eredin is based off Feanor?

Hi nonnie, I hope you are ready for what is to come below because I can talk about both Feanor and Eredin all day and I won’t be even half way trough.

Short answer is no, I don’t think so. I do think there are a lot of similarities between the two characters but I can think of at least 2 other Silmarillion characters that could be compared to Eredin and many more from other fictional works.

The long answer:

Now first and foremost we need to understand that Eredin as a character is not very detailed sketched, both in book and in game. There are some things we know about him for certain, but there is a lot missing - his actual background, his actual motivation, his real ambition (especially in book context). We do know he cares about his people, he is charming, arrogant and if you add to that the game context and beyond - ruthless and calculating.

I do have a lot of HC about Eredin, however the thing about HC is that they are mine own and even if they are shared by some other people in the fandom that does not necessarily mean this is who the writer intended him to be. Ironically however my HC put him a bit further from Feanor.

As of similarities between the two of them - they are both leaders among their people - Feanor is a prince of the Noldors and later becomes a king, while Eredin even in book context is obviously someone very important very influential and adding later media - king himself. Both of them have certain arrogance and both of them have that great power to make people listen to them and follow them (I’m really mixing here game and book canon because I’m grabbing for straws). They all have good intentions (in their mind) but as we know in both of their cases the road to hell is paved with them. I strongly believe that Feanor was not just pissed at the Valars he truly believes under all that anger and bravado that they are bad for the Noldors. Obviously there is no evidence that Eredin would do something like the Kinslaying or even burning the ships to prevent people from crossing, however given that Feanor’s strategy is desperate times require desperate measures - that does strike me as Eredin.

That’s for me however where the similarities kind of end.

Feanor is all of the above but also very impulsive. Feanor never saw a problem where he thought ‘let me think for a second’, on the other end Eredin is way more controlled and calculating. Ironically I do see them reaching to very similar conclusions in similar situations I think think the path they would use is very different. Eredin will plot and plan while Feanor will go ‘Fvck it’ and get himself killed. There is also warmth in Feanor that I don’t think we necessary see in Eredin - Feanor loves Nerdanel, and even if they fall apart eventually, his family and his people are important for him. He loves his sons (even if he is the reason for all of them to have massive daddy issues), Eredin on the other hand does share the love (more like care in his case) for his people but he is not really affectionate. I just cannot see Eredin being as dedicated to a woman as Feanor was (I’m going in HC territory here) or putting the emotional investment Feanor does with his sons.

In any case, before I go any further onto that, thanks for the ask nonnie, they are both super cool and I love both of them, but no, I don’t think Eredin is based off Feanor, just two similar (but also very different) characters.

#eredin breacc glas #feanor #the witcher #silmarillion

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redxblueihateloveyou · 3 years

Note

THANK YOU for saying all of that about the sk8 fandom. I think it's mainly because it's a young fandom with a lot of young people, but yeah, they have zero chill. It gets kinda annoying when you actually stop and think about the show and realize that a lot of things are just,,, not the way they think they are/should be

Also, I have compared some Reki and Langa scenes to rinharu scenes, but it's mostly because I see them and think "nice reference Utsumi" because they remind me of them so much, but to say RL are in the same level as them, or any other couple they've compared then to is kind of a stretch. Reki and Langa are, at best, a very very tame version of any of those, and while is see why they would focus a lot more on the puppy love thing they have it really pales in comparison (although they don't really compare it to free! because they're so hellbent in calling it queerbait as though half of the scenes they claim are so romantic did not also happen in there before, because they really don't understand how romantic coding works in anime).

Anyway, your blog is amazing :)) You always come off as a very smart person who is also just so done with people's stupidity and I'm 100% here for that haha

Haha no problem, needed to get it out of my system anyways. It’s true, but also once again being young shouldn’t always mean you’re that stupid, let’s be real here. And if you are that stupid, they need to know about it at least, so next time they’ll maybe think twice before saying stuff they say.

Their main problem these days is their herd feeling, it’s like one says smth stupid, others, having no brain of their own, repeat it and here’s what we have at the end. A whole field of a damn cicadas meaninglessly shrilling.

It would be much more entertaining if they’d have enough brains to at least not put sticks in their own wheels, but they sadly don’t, so taking them down isn’t even satisfying. Not to mention the fact that you don’t even have to do anything, sooner or later they’ll embarrass themselves, cause the combination like “a sense of self-importance we have, but real life experience and brains we don’t have” leads to a disaster. Tiktok won’t help you with everything and half of them don’t even know what they’re talking about in most cases, they only love throwing loud words trying to scare easily impressionable ppl these days, cause everyone is like “I don’t wanna be cancelled so I won’t say anything” lol.

They just do not get that when you start smth like this, same as with a good lies, you gotta be smart. Like ok, they don’t distinguish real life from fiction, fine, but they can’t even check the age of the characters of their other ships before yelling “pedo” about others, so idk what to say here really. I just truly feel bad sometimes about even saying smth, bc like maybe just let them be, imagine the embarrassment of being this stupid? Who even puts them in charge of other ppl’s money idk.

Yeah, I understand I compared the scenes, too, it’s inevitable, cause they’re all there haha. I was like “our” and thats also “ours” lmao. What I do not get is why would you compare them as if they have the same relationship depth (like high schoolers who have known each other for a month and a couple who knew each other for 7+ years and who planned their future together) or say that the reasonings behind the character’s behavior are same, when they’re entirely and I mean ENTIRELY different. It’s like not even anywhere near same. Like the comparartion of their break up with 13 year old Rin just hit me too hard, I was like.. let’s just not, not pls haha I’ll write a damn essay, but pls it hurts my soul seeing this. And comparing their fist bumb (ai, excuuuse me, eternity sign) to victuuri exchanging rings, I was just on the floor seriously. I just can’t handle the fandom of this pairing, it’s too weird for me. Logic left the chat on their tag and holy shit they’re blind to everything. I’m even glad I’m not into this pairing, cause I feel kinda sad for normal ppl who are into it, bc its like entering a kindergarden. Llike an absolute zero connection to reality, reading too much into things and all the chastity belts in one place, I was like... oh damn I’m too old for this shit and even if I was invested I’d probably still run away haha.

I’m really happy that you enjoy the blog! Thank you so much <3 Haha I have zero tolerance for stupidity, true. It’s such a bad quality tho, I sometimes suffer a lot just by seeing smth and be like “I can’t, I just have to say smth, I just have to, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to sleep, it’s that stupid” lmao.

And sometimes part of me goes like “you know it’s pointless, it’s like talking to a tree”, but other part of me is like “no, it talks, and it means I can shut them up” lol. But I truly don’t get why ppl listen to this and indulge them seriously. Like I know stupid ppl prevail in this world in general, but like in fandoms they’re pretty easy to dethrone, if you bring up the right arguments. And I know in rare occasions, when you really cut them deep, they tend to attack in large groups like locusts, but it’s not like they can eat me through a computer screen, so idk. If I’ll get invested in that one ship after s12 I just might poke them a bit more out of spite lmao.

But also they are kids really, I mean, you can scroll through the tag and know for sure that like “yeah, that’s kid’s perspective”. Most of them didn’t even reach the age of the characters they’re watching things about, but like to pretend that they know stuff and most these days don’t have enough additional knowlenge to be smarter than their age, cause they are too busy well, tweeting about the stuff they know nothing about, so it’s kinda not really enjoyable to talk to them since I’d rather discuss it with someone who at least was in high school already and you know, not extra lol.

I’m just kinda upset that it turns out to be a kids fandom, that’s all. Cause like chats and dms and sisters are great, but like I want the tag to look hella different, seriously. Bc I’m interested in characters and relationships complexity, not pink vomit. Well, you know the enjoyment of a great fandom. It’s a bliss. I have those thankfully haha.

#answered #anonymous #anime

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princewarmachine · 4 years

Note

starscream for the character thing?? :3c

Don’t mind if I do

Favorite thing about them?

This is difficult to say. I love, like, everything about him. He's just been a huge part of my childhood and I mean, I loved him ever since I laid eyes on him. Sounds crazy, but it's like we have a strange bond. I guess I love how he can be super complicated, and even in the G1 series you watch how he acts and how he interacts with the world and think, "How did he get to this point?". Something about how he always seems to die, and be resurrected sticks with me. And just every time I see him, I feel so excited. It really breaks my heart when his character is written poorly or treated poorly with no rhyme or reason. There is more to say on the subject, but I have no idea how to put it into words. I love him, dearly.

Least Favorite thing about them?

It's really hard for me to dislike things about characters because I feel that most of the time, in a story, every element and character adds something and is in its place, even if it seems useless. So, really, I don't ever feel anger at a character. But I mean, I am highly empathetic when I invest into fictional worlds. I would say, I dislike how dead end or cut off his storylines seem most of the time. I'm also really tired of the trope of him being abused and getting no sympathy in the writing. Or no redemption arc, when he is clearly set up to have one. I guess I'm saying, the thing I least like about him is his wasted potential.

Favorite Line?

He has a lot of really good lines, a lot of them stuck with me as a child. I would say that a line of his that stuck with me that hardest was this scene in G1 , where he is screaming "I'm stupid! I'm stupid!". It really disturbed me as a child how Megatron was treating him, and the way Starscream was so scared made me really upset. I could never understand why people found it funny. Now I realize that it's probably because the scene and the way he begs mirrored the abusive situation I was watching my parents go through. Weird, right? Otherwise, I'd say my favorite line is "Wanna bet?" :). It's the first time on screen we see Starscream TRULY betray Megatron, and I think it's just fucking crazy.

BroTP?

Sounds weird, but Grimlock and Starscream. This is pretty self indulgent, because Grimlock is my sibling's favorite transformer, and Starscream is my favorite. Also, probably Alexis and Starscream from Transformers: Armada. It really showed an intense friendship, and Armada is just so fucking good. One of the best versions of Starscream I've seen, and Alexis is just such a sweetheart to him and he really becomes soft in their friendship.

OTP?

Well, since I mostly ship G1 characters, there are endless possibilities. The thing with G1 characters is that, anything seems to go. It'll most likely be cute either way. Sooo... most of my ships are crack ships. That being said, Shrapnel/Starscream and Optimus/Starscream. But also, I will probably find most other ships with him in them cute. :)

nOTP?

I'm not a big fan of Megatron/Starscream, unless it's in Shattered Glass. Which is sad, there is so little series where they have a GOOD and healthy friendship, or even dynamic. I'd love to see that change.

Random Headcanon?

Hmm, I always like to imagine that he was a very decent person before the war. He had friends, he had a career in science, he seemed content. Then, with war, he became a much, much different situation.

Unpopular Opinion?

Haha, well I probably don't have a lot of unpopular opinions. Probably the one that fits the most in there is that I don't think of him as having bad intentions/being evil at the start of the war. I very much like to think that he is a very groomed individual, but I think that applies to all the transformers, Autobots and Decepticons. When you look at how all the characters act after knowing what a fucked up situation the military is, especially the US military, it puts it in a bit more perspective how absolutely brainwashed everyone is. Though, I do think that since most of the characters, especially Starscream, did not leave the war, and he especially craved the power the war gave him, the Cybertronian war just consumed their being. I suppose what I'm trying to say is, I cannot sit here and positively feel good about my analysis of his character by just thinking "He's evil and a bitch". Though, I am adding a bit too much personal stuff on him, I will admit. Though, here's the thing! If you want to get a better idea on what I'm talking about with the corrupt military and such, you should listen to the podcast Eyes Left. It's two veterans who talk about their experience with being in the military, and why they became dishonorably discharged. For more perspective on how damaging being in the military is, I'd recommend listening to Jacob George's album 'Soldier's Heart'.

Song I associate with them?

There are a lot of songs, but I the first one that popped into my head was A Conversation with Death by Khemmis. I think it really captures some of my strange feelings to his deaths and reincarnations.

Favorite Picture of them?

Hard to choose, but here’s a funny meme @sasukes-divorce-lawyer made a while ago that I love to bits. I just giggle when I see it.

#starscream #transformers #thanks for the ask!

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minaminokyoko · 4 years

Text

Farewell, Dresden Files

“Everyone I know goes away in the end

And you could have it all

My empire of dirt

I will let you down

I will make you hurt

If I could start again a million miles away

I would keep myself

I would find a way.”

I never wanted to be here, and yet I am anyway.

I am walking away from The Dresden Files.

“No more.”

One major spoiler for Battle Ground below. You’ve been warned.

Some of you will already have heard the news if you follow my Harry/Murphy collection on AO3, Landfill Heaven, but I thought I should get my feelings out here as well since I know the fandom still has a presence left on Tumblr. I wanted to talk a bit more about why I’m exiting the series after Battle Ground.

Disclaimer: I did not read Battle Ground. I was going to, but I was moving out of my house into an apartment and was too busy to read it the day it released. However, my friend was reading it and so I told her to flag me down for certain things because if they happened, then there would be no point for me to spend $16 on something I would refuse to read.

And he fucking did it.

Jim fucking Butcher killed Karrin Murphy.

Any of you who know me know that I’ve said a thousand times that killing either Murphy or Thomas before the last book in the series would be my breaking point.

And I broke.

I screamed. I cried. I punched my punching bag while screaming and crying. Karrin Murphy and Harry Dresden are my OTP. They are my favorite goddamn couple aside from Castle and Beckett, for God’s sake. Maybe that’s it. It’s fate. Castle and Beckett were written incompetently towards the end of the show, so maybe this was just fucking inevitable.

And you know what? I’d have hated reading Karrin Murphy dying in the last books in the series, but if Butcher hadn’t utterly abandoned her fucking character arc and treated her like dirt after the hiatus and had written her romance with Harry with all the shit we BEGGED him for after Skin Game, I’d have accepted it. I’d have accepted it if Karrin and Harry went out hand in hand defeating the ultimate evil or she went first and he met her in heaven and that was their happy ending even with the darkness of him having to die.

But this shit?

I do not accept this shit.

Fuck you, Jim.

Fuck you for the years and years of slow building trust and friendship and true love only for you to throw the entire goddamn fucking thing in the fucking bin like it doesn’t matter.

Fuck you for the disrespect of making us invest completely in her and Harry and then not showing a goddamn fucking thing about the romantic relationship that we wanted to see.

Fuck you for shortchanging the faithful fans for whatever the fuck are your personal goddamn reasons for forcing her to exit the series when you have that many books left before the end.

Fuck you for killing the love of Harry’s life only five books after you did it the first fucking time because you can’t think of anything better to do and you truly think that’s the way to “keep it interesting” or because you just wanted to make everyone angry and sad or because you just decided now you hate Murphy.

Fuck you for listening to any of the toxic anti Murphy crowd.

I don’t care if you had reasons. I don’t care about context. I don’t care about anything you thought was justification for doing this to such a powerfully written character. I don’t care about your endgame. I don’t care about your plan.

Do you know what I did care about?

Karrin fucking Murphy and Harry fucking Dresden.

And do you know why I quit after years of loyal service to this series? The real reason is not just because I ship it and it’s my OTP. The real reason is that Harry Dresden became this beloved character to me directly because of Karrin Murphy. Her constant love, friendship, emotional support, and literal fucking ass-kicking is exactly why Harry developed into such an incredible man who is thoughtful and kind and strong and layered and funny and charming. Murphy saved Harry. He would not be that man without her at his side along his journey, and Murphy would not be the fucking badass yet loving woman that she is without Harry’s support as well. They are each other’s yin and yang. They are each other’s safe place. I don’t know what made you ignore that fact or forget it or change your mind, but that’s the way you fucking wrote it. I understand that people change and I don’t have to like what you write, but this is one of the only times in my life where I will look an author dead in the fucking eye and say it:

You were fucking wrong.

This is not only a bad call; this is the worst call you’ve ever made, and that’s saying something. I’ve defended this series a dozen times, but I will not defend this decision. It was not made with the intention of enhancing anything in the story and not for developing the remaining characters. Maybe you’ve already said why you did it or maybe you will in some future interview or podcast, but whatever the reason, fuck you, Jim. Fuck your soul to hell for doing this to such an incredible couple of characters.

And if this is all part of your trollface, “haha, I did this just to upset the fans” bullshit that you’re always on, then double fuck you for being so immature that you caused this entire section of the fandom to feel utterly fucking betrayed.

I loved Karrin. I loved Harry. And it is through sheer perseverance and spite that I will someday journey back to writing fics about them that take place prior to Battle Ground. If one thing is certain, I refuse to let Jim Butcher take them away from me. It’s the reverse. I am taking them away from Jim. I am going to separate the characters and give them the fucking writing they deserve and I don’t even care that I’m not technically allowed to do it. I don’t care because they deserve better. This fandom deserves better. This series deserves better.

I know writing this post doesn’t matter. I know no one cares about me having an emotional breakdown that my anchor characters have been taken away from me. I know that there are some toxic fans who will mock me for getting this angry and emotional over it. But I just want it said aloud that what Jim Butcher did to Karrin Murphy was unacceptable for the sake of my own soul. I am letting this series go for good and I am going to try my best to move past it without letting its ruination remove the last bit of good fiction I’ve experienced in the last ten years. I could go straight into denial and forget it ever happened and forget how much I loved the series, but I refuse. I refuse to let Jim’s selfish bullshit sudden personal vendetta against Murphy take away years of enjoyment and of meeting awesome, thoughtful, creative fans. I refuse because he doesn’t deserve that victory over me. I’m sure he knew part of the Harry/Murphy fandom would leave and he was satisfied with that, either because he thinks we’re worthless or because he knows it shouldn’t affect his bottom line enough to be significant. Well, joke’s on you. Harry and Murphy aren’t the only stubborn ones. I’m plenty goddamn stubborn. So everything after this point that I write for the two of them will be in spite of all that Butcher’s done to screw me and the other HarriKarri fans over and I hope someday that karma gets him back for it all.

To all the angry and hurt HarriKarri fans out there, you’re not alone. I once crowned myself as Queen of the HarriKarri trashpile, so trust me when I say that it truly hurts me to write these things, but they need to be said for my own sake and to share with you that I’m still here for all of you if you need it. And if you drop the series like I did, then know I’m happy that I met you and I wish you well.

This is the end.

Farewell.

Karrin Murphy fucking deserved better.

And so did we.

-Kyoko, a former Dresden Files fan

#The Dresden Files #Dresden Files #Harry Dresden #Karrin Murphy #Jim Butcher #Battle Ground #rant #spoilers #spoiler alert

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micia-posts-stuff · 4 years

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Hi, Micia! Just wanted to say you're my one safe blog to follow on here. I've been having a hard time in the AoT fandom. I've always liked Levi, and I ship him with Hanji, and I remember how happy I was that our community did not react to the Serumbowl like the Eru/ri fans. They thought it was better for Levi to just die after it. But now a lot of people in Levi/Han are saying exactly the same thing after Hanji's death. (1/4)

It's a triggering issue for me because I lost both parents right out of high school and attempted suicide. Seeing all these people advocate for "he's depressed and Yams should just let him die, " or worse," Levi wants to die," when he never expressed anything even close to that desire, is like saying the doctors who saved me were wrong. (2/4) They should have just let me die back then too because I lost the two people closest to me. But they didn't, and I'm so happy now. I have a partner and a career, and I think the same goes for Levi. He never had a canon love interest, barring hints with Petra and maybe Hanji, so he could still find someone he will love in the future, and he could start a family with kids and a tea shop. And he has the 104. Why take that away from him? (3/4)It makes me so sad because I can't look at Levi/Han the same way again after those comments. Anyway, thank you for listening, and thank you for being that one wonderful blog I can always find comfort in. (4/4)

Oh dear don't take those comments on a personal level! There's the major difference that Levi is a fictional character and you're not! People are afraid Isayama is not gonna give Levi a happy ending and he's just gonna leave him miserable, because he's a fictional character, he can't build a life on his own, it all depends on the decisions of a mangaka that is known for giving pain to his characters. Other people might just want an excuse to have an afterlife reunion with the people they ship, but of course this way of thinking doesn't apply irl.

What I'm trying to say is none of these people would ever think the doctors who saved you were wrong. And I understand that those comments you read may hurt you anyway, that's valid and if you need to take a break from the fandom that's totally fine, you should always prioritize your mental health over some fandom stuff, but next time you accidentally stumble across one of those comments, remember that it's just people invested over a fictional character, that has no control over his own actions, not a real person that is so incredible like you are!

I hope I explained myself well, please forgive me if I said something wrong and if you need to talk about about some hurtful comment you can message me any time you want.

I'm really proud of you anon, you went through such a difficult time and you were able to overcome it, here's a hug for you!

#ask #again I'm very sorry if I said something wrong #tw: suicide

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thejustmaiden · 4 years

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Oh no, I’m not the same anon from the VA! 😅 I also dislike that they tell antis not to watch it or to blacklist it. Why should I have to blacklist something that I enjoyed as a child just because I disagree with them? Why should I listen to them and not watch it? It irks me how they have the audacity to say that just because we don’t like their ship. I don’t think they understand how harmful this could be for people.

Oh then, my bad!! Hi again anyway! 🤗

You said it, nonnie. I can't tell you how many times I've seen certain Sessrin supporters tell us "if you don't like it, then stop watching." Hmmm I can't help but wonder if the tables were turned how they'd like it if fans were telling them the same. I mean, Sessrin may very well not go canon and I doubt some will take kindly to it.

I recently brought this same issue up in another answered ask of mine (maybe your last one? I'm losing track! lol), because it also irks me beyond belief. Why aren't we as viewers allowed to be critical of our entertainment? Take movie critics for example. They may give a movie they're reviewing an overall positive rating, but that doesn't mean that all of them enjoyed every single minute of the film. It's their job to praise the parts they liked, but it's also their job to discuss the parts they didn't like as much and point out areas that could be improved.

A lot of us fans who identify as anti-Sessrin are obviously invested in Inuyasha as much as the next fan. For many of us, it was our first-ever anime or maybe it's just that it brings back some really fond childhood memories. Whatever the case may be, it's clear that Inuyasha isn't just some show. It means a great deal to many of us in this fandom, and a lot of us (antis at least) feel that it would be a completely out of character move for Sessrin to go canon. It just wouldn't make one ounce of sense.

Even Sessrin shippers themselves will claim that there wasn't any foreshadowing while Rin was young, which is why you'd think they'd understand why we're so perplexed by the sheer possibility of a romantic future between the two. Then again I've seen conflicting reports, because there are times I'm not so sure I can take some of those shippers' word for it. That is when they make comments like "props to Rin for bagging the most handsome and powerful demon just by flashing a smile" because then it really makes you wonder. Granted, that's not verbatim but you get the gist. The takeaway message here is that she was just a girl and they're making inappropriate comments to imply Sessrin in fact started a lot earlier than they themselves claim would've been allowed.

Nowhere should Sesshomaru's opinion of Rin as a child factor into this ship's potential for going canon. What I think is happening is that they want us to think they don't believe there are any hints at a romantic future already planted in Rin's childhood, but it's evident that's not true at all. Admitting to that out loud would of course prove them wrong and they just can't have that, hence why you'll rarely see them make these kind of remarks in an openly public space. That's the case for Tumblr, at least, however Twitter and Reddit are a whole other kind of beast.

These stories we invest so much time and energy into are more than capable of impacting real people, believe it or not. I'm not gonna lie, since this sequel was announced I've been on Inuyasha mode pretty much every damn day. It's like I've gone back in time and I'm 13 all over again! Except this time around I'm not able to fully embrace it as I once did. That reason being because I'm an adult now who can understand the profound and far-reaching effects fiction can have on our lives. Why else do you think so many of us on here are as passionate and involved as we are? Our fictional stories are important to us because they reflect our real life stories. That's how they resonate with us!

So it really kills to me see that actual adult fans still don't seem to understand by now the strong links between real life and fiction. They will refuse to accept the truth even if it slapped them in the face.

In case some of you reading misinterpret my words and suggest I'm telling you shipping Sessrin is wrong, you're mistaken. I'm not sure how many more times I need to repeat myself, but I suppose once more wouldn't hurt? (Here we go- wish me luck!):

LIKE SOME OF YOUR VERY OWN SHIPPERS HAVE ADMITTED THEMSELVES, Sessrin wouldn't be appropriate in a real life situation. Because of that reason alone, it shouldn't be appropriate on a show aimed at a young audience either. That's it, that's literally it! Ship away if it pleases you, but just agree that it'd be safer to keep a ship with this particular dynamic to mature and/or adult-themed entertainment AKA not Inuyasha. So can we shake on that? Fist pump?? Blood oath?! (Too far? Lol)

Alrighty, nonnie, appreciate you stopping by again. Hoping I answered your ask the way you wanted and that this finds you well, dear!

#inuyasha #hanyo no yashahime #anti sessrin #anonymous asks #answered ask

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p-and-p-admin · 3 years

Photo

Interview given to The Severus Snape and Hermione Granger Shipping Fan Group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/199718373383293/

Hello Lariope and welcome to Behind the Quill, it is a pleasure to talk with you.

Many of our group’s members requested you as an interview subject, but amongst more than a dozen stories in the HP universe you are probably best known for Killing Time, Second Life, and Advanced Contemporary Potion Making.

Okay, let’s jump right in. What's the story behind your pen name?

So, there's a really common plant in my area called Monkey Grass. Most people use it as landscaping filler. I thought it was pretty and asked someone who had some what it was called. She told me that it's technical name is Liriope, which I heard as Lariope. This was around the time that book 6 was released, and it struck me as a very witchy name, particularly as JKR likes flower names. Which Harry Potter character do you identify with the most? Wow. Probably Neville. I'm certainly not as brainy or as confident as Hermione, not as out-there as Luna, not as athletic as Ginny. I'm less angsty than Harry and less apt to charge off in my own direction. And I am certainly not as thoughtless as Ron, not as strict as McGonagall, not as dark as Snape. And if you've read Second Life, you know my feelings about Dumbledore! But I was someone who took some time to come into my own. Often bumbling or nervous, but when my back is to the wall, brave and honorable. So I'm going with Neville. Do you have a favourite genre to read? (not in fic, just in general)

I love fiction, but honestly, other than Harry Potter, I don't read fantasy! I tend to like "domestic" fiction, as in Anne Tyler, and literary fiction. I also really love Stephen King, oddly enough. Do you have a favourite "classic" novel?

By classic do you mean like, the literary canon, or just not fanfiction? My top five favorite novels are, in no particular order, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, It by Stephen King, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, The Temple of Gold by William Goldman, and The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I'm not big into the classics, which is weird for an English major to say. At what age did you start writing?

I've been writing all my life. The first time I saw Stand by Me at 11 years old, I rewrote it with a new ending because I could not bear the death of Chris Chambers. I think I've always been interested in working with other people's texts. How did you get into writing fanfiction?

I loved Harry Potter so intensely. I came to it as an adult at a particularly lonely time in my life. When book 6 was released I read it all in one gulp, and then felt kind of despondent when it was over. I thought of the good old rule of the internet, that if it exists, there is porn of it, so I went looking for what I called "Potterotica," figuring that it would give me an opportunity to read more about the characters I loved. I didn't yet have a concept of fanfiction, let alone fanfiction that wasn't erotica! As I read, I had the persistent feeling that I hadn't yet found exactly the story I was looking for. I kept feeling that I would do this or that differently. Then after the release of book 7, I was tormented by the fate of Snape. I really felt I needed to save him. That I couldn't relax until he'd had some love in his life before his death. I didn't have the sense yet that I could change his fate, only that I needed him to have happiness and love before he died. I have a Master's Degree in fiction writing, so I decided to just give it a try. My first story was terrible!!! It was called If Memory Serves and was archived only on the Restricted Section. But it definitely forced me to reawaken some skills, and whetted my appetite. What's the best theme you've ever come across in a fic? Is it a theme represented in your own works?

Hm. I'm not sure how to answer this question. I know that one of the things that I respond most strongly to in fic is a feeling of inevitability--that regardless of how or when, these characters had unfinished business with each other. I hate to use the word destined... but that feeling that there were many points in canon where something minor could have changed which would have changed everything and brought two characters together--and that that could have happened at any point, in any number of ways. I like very much when canon is reimagined or reinterpreted to make that relationship deeper--like reimagining the scene where Snape insults Hermione's teeth to have a totally different meaning in the context of their relationship. I think I am remembering Somigliana's The Traveller being particularly gratifying in that way. Obviously I play with canon a lot in my own work. I like for fanfiction to feel "real" as in, possible in a canonical context. What fandoms are you involved in other than Harry Potter?

Almost none! I've been fannish all my life, but Harry Potter was the first experience I ever had of "fandoms," that is to say, community built around a narrative. I usually just freaked out over things in private. After HP, I tried very hard to get into the Sherlock fandom, because I had a dear friend from the SS/HG community who was into it, but in the end, I could just never become invested in quite the way I had with Harry Potter. Subsequently, I had children, so I mostly support their fannishness now. If you could make one change to canon, what would it be? Do you have a favourite piece of fanon?

I wish Snape could live. I really do. He had a lot left to learn and a lot left to give to the world beyond the sacrifice of his own life to the cause. There are certain things I have ultimately accepted as head canon, as far as pieces of fanon are concerned. Honestly, they are so ingrained that I'm having trouble thinking of any! Sometimes when I watch the movies with my kids, I think, but wait, what about?... oh yeah, I forgot that wasn't canon. Do you listen to music when you write or do you prefer quiet?

I need dead silence to compose, because I hear the words in my head as I write and I can't be distracted from them. But I often pick pieces of music that I listen to obsessively in my downtime when I'm writing a story, that I think of as sort of like theme songs. Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova was one for Second Life. Table for Glasses by Jimmy Eat World still calls up Dark Santiago for me. What are your favourite fanfictions of all time?

Oooh. Ok. So I read a lot of Drarry, and I pretty much love everything that Sara's Girl has ever written. Somigliana's work--the Traveller was amazing. All the Best and Brightest Creatures by Wordstrings (Sherlock). I also really loved greywash's Sherlock fic. There was an SSHG that has been long since removed that was called Dear January--I still think of it. I loved all the epics of my particular time in the SSHG fandom. Mia Madwyn, Subversa, Loten. Are you a plotter or a pantser? How does that affect your writing process?

Definitely a plotter. I kept pages and pages of working notes and planning points as I was writing Second Life. I always began a chapter with a working document of where I thought the chapter was going, as well as a reread of that portion of canon. Points of discovery along the way still happened all the time--I'd be in the midst of something I had planned when all of a sudden I'd see some point of connection I hadn't even thought of, and something would open up bigger than I had thought it would be. I remember in particular the end of the Bathilda Bagshot chapter of Second Life, when Snape is running toward James and Lily's house and feeling like time is doubling back on itself--I didn't see that parallel until I was in it. I think you always have to have room to surprise yourself, even in the thick of your planning. That sense of discovery affects the reader's journey through your work. What is your writing genre of choice?

Haha, fanfiction is my writing genre of choice. No, I wrote short stories when I was pursuing my degree in fiction, which is kind of hilarious now, as I became sort of known for my long-windedness. Why say 100 words when 10,000 would do? I grew to love the novel during my time in fanfiction. It would be hard to imagine turning back to a shorter form now. But who knows. I always tell myself that once the children are grown I will get back to writing. I was beginning a sort of cross between fantasy and domestic fiction when I had children and I still think the idea has legs. Which of your stories are you most proud of? Why?

Oh, different ones for different reasons. I think Dark Santiago is the most structurally tight and sound thing I've ever done. Second Life is like a miracle that it even happened, that I was able to control such a behemoth and bring it home. I was terrified the whole way. And weirdly, there's a drabble series that is called The Sins of Severus Snape that I am still really proud of. I think of those like linked poems. A real exercise in being concise for someone who likes to sprawl all over the page. Did it unfold as you imagined it or did you find the unexpected cropped up as you wrote? What did you learn from writing it?

I think I've pretty much covered those questions in all my ramblings. I knew the general structure, I was happily surprised along the way, and I learned to write novels from writing fanfiction, Second Life in particular. How personal is the story to you, and do you think that made it harder or easier to write?

There's not a lot of personal parts of the story to me in Second Life. I mean, every character is drawn from me, in a way, just because they come into being informed with my way of looking at and understanding the world and other people. But there isn't a lot in there that echoes my experience. Advanced Contemporary Potion Making was personal, and I think you can feel that in the story. It takes the biggest step away from canon. It wasn't hard to write, but it was hard to live. And now, as I look back, I have a different perspective on my life and on the story itself than I did at the time that I wrote it. What books or authors have influenced you? How do you think that shows in your writing?

Oh man, Stephen King is all over my writing. I don't think I've ever written a sex scene that didn't have a grain of that scene in the sewers of It inside it. Not because of the child thing--I know that skeeves people out about that scene--but because in it, Beverly discovers the power of sex--sex as a force, a life-giving force, something with teeth. I think that idea shows up a lot in Second Life. I like fiction in which you are very much inside the character's heads, and I think that's apparent in my writing. I think I got that initially from Stephen King, who leaps around inside his different character's heads sometimes in the same paragraph! I also think the theme of unending loyalty, the power of friendship, the triumph of good over evil--those are very Kingian themes that I recognized in Potter and then carried into my own writing. Do people in your everyday life know you write fanfiction?

Yes. That wasn't always the case. During the time that I was active in the fandom, I was a young elementary school teacher, and I dreaded anyone finding out that I wrote sex scenes with children's book characters. I was very private about my fanfic then, and even a few of my closest real life people did not know. My parents still do not know. My children are teenagers now and into fanfiction in their own right; they know I wrote it, but they don't know my ship or my pen name. My husband has read most of Second Life. I recently started a new job, and during one of those "get to know you" games, I was asked to share something that other people wouldn't guess about me. I said that I had once been a fanfiction writer. How true for you is the notion of "writing for yourself"?

Mmm. I wrote the stories I wanted to read. Do you know what I mean? I wrote things because that's how I wanted to see them, how I wished they were, and I wrote to my own preferences. But writing in real time, for people who were actually reading and responding--that was crucial to the process. My biggest fear during the writing of Second Life was that I wouldn't finish it, or that I would lose control of it and it would become crap. "Breaking the story," I used to say, and I was terrified of breaking the story. But the fact that there were people experiencing it with me and waiting for it, reacting to it, and giving insightful feedback--that helped keep me very focused and motivated. I never wrote something because I thought it would be appealing to others, but I was so gratified that what I wrote did appeal to others. How important is it for you to interact with your audience? How do you engage with them? Just at the point of publishing? Through social media?

I had a LiveJournal and although I was not a frequent poster, I read my friends list every day during that time. I read what everyone else was reading and talked about the stories and themes that everyone else was talking about. I made a number very close friends during that time--other authors, people who were reading my stories and commenting. We talked on the phone frequently, and I had a team of beta readers. I went to conventions. I participated in the ss/hg exchange. A lot of those people were my audience, were reading my stories. And many of them became my good friends. I had a policy to answer all reviews when I was writing Second Life, and I did that until I was unable to do it anymore. When I had multiple stories it got much harder. That community changed a lot toward the end of my time in it. People were leaving LiveJournal, and Tumblr was on the rise, which felt like a much bigger pond. AO3 was replacing the smaller archives on which I had really grown as a writer. And once the movies were over and there was no more "fresh canon," people started to drift away. I do think that I might have lasted longer if that tight knit community had stayed in place. It played a big role in my commitment to my work and continued enthusiasm. As a side note, one of the friends I made in the SS/HG community is still my best friend. She is the "aunt" to my children, and we still talk on the phone weekly and visit at least yearly. What is the best advice you've received about writing?

If you want to write, then write. Make a routine. Write a certain number of words a day. Read them out loud to yourself. You'll hear your own bad habits and improve them.

What do you do when you hit writer's block?

If I'm already in a project, I will force myself to write a certain number of words per day. I will hold a scene that I'm longing to write out in front of myself like a carrot. Like, if you write this transition part that feels yucky and like you are stuck in it, then you can write the big reunion scene that you know is coming. If I'm not in a project... well, then I don't get through it. I just don't start a new project. If I need to write a story, as I did during graduate school or during the ss/hg exchange--I would do this thing one of my professors suggested--pick three headlines, words or ideas that have interested you over time and force them into the same story. Dark Santiago was that way. I had the prompt of fortune telling. I added an idea about the way magic works for muggleborns and the ocean town where I was living. Voila: Dark Santiago. Has anything in real life trickled down into your writing?

I'm sure it has in ways I can't even see. I remember once talking to a friend on the phone about Second Life as I was writing it, and she pointed out that the fact that I'm a Quaker was informing the story--like my own perspective on war and the horrors of violence were bleeding into the the kind of philosophy of Second Life. Do you have any stories in the works? Can you give us a teaser?

I don't. I wish I did! I often miss my time in fandom, the spirit of creativity and community, all those ideas just bubbling out in every direction. Any words of encouragement to other writers?

I don't believe that the end goal of fanfiction is to become a published writer, just as I don't think every guitarist has to have the goal of selling out a stadium, or every golfer has to want to compete in the Masters. I think you can love a thing without making it your livelihood. You become a "real" author the minute someone else reads a story that you wrote. Many of you reading this right now are people who made me an author. It is, as Stephen King once wrote, a kind of telepathy. I thought of something once, in 2008, in the southeast of the US, and you can read it right now wherever you are, and experience the thoughts and feelings I was dreaming up then. It's a wonderful gift, writing. And working among people who are dedicated to improving their craft and talking about stories and ideas--that is just the very best ground for making something that makes YOU proud. Thanks so much for giving us your time.

Thank you! I am really honored to be asked

#fanfiction #fanfic #ss/hg #snamione #writing

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nblenasabrewing · 4 years

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Hi. Recently, I decided to start writing my own fan fiction, and since your one of my favorite fan fiction authors, would you mind answering a few questions.How do you keep your attention on your work? How much time do you spend editing? How do you know when a story is finished? How do you write authentic relationships? How do you create the best emotions you can from your viewers? How do you really wrap it all together?

Hoo boy, okay! Let’s see if I can answer these in a good way...

How do you keep your attention on your work?

That is the hardest thing for every writer. Ask anyone when the last time they touched one of their WIPs was and it could be anywhere from last week to six months ago. There isn’t a one-size-fits all answer, unfortunately. You have to find what’s best for you. When I really want to focus on my writing, I try to emulate what I always did in school -- turned on music or some kind of background noise, closed out everything else, and just... tried to focus. I also have multiple stories with different ideas, genres, universes, etc., so if I go to open one thing and I find I’m not interested in it, I try for something else.

Some people aren’t wired that way, though. Some people need to turn off everything and basically shut themselves in a silent room to focus. And that’s okay! It really depends on what kind of environment you work best in.

Being invested in the story is also good. Don’t force yourself to write something you don’t have any interest in. If nothing’s coming, step back and take a break. Also, motivation! Hype yourself for writing. I’ll usually talk to someone about it and my ideas and get excited before I go in to write. That’s helped stir up long-dead ideas as well.

If you listen to music while you work, have a writing playlist! Something soft that you enjoy, won’t distract you with sudden outbursts of singing, but also you won’t be stopping every other song to skip. That kind of thing really takes you out of the flow.

And mostly, don’t be mad at yourself if you don’t write “enough.” I’ve had days where I wrote 50 words and days where I wrote 3,000. Be kind to yourself. Every word is good.

How much time do you spend editing?

This is a tricky one, because I constantly go back and read what I’ve written before I finish (which isn’t something I recommend). So I kind of passively edit while I’m re-reading, which is one time through. Then when I finish I’ll leave it for a day or two, then go back and change up the doc somehow (background color or font type or font color) to make it different, and the change tricks your brain into paying more attention. Anyway, that’s a second pass-through. Then I’ll one more focused reading, and skim it as I’m uploading it to AO3. So I guess that’s 3-4 times, probably a couple hours all together. And I still miss typos, because I’m not exactly a professional editor, and also it’s hard to work with your own stuff. Some people get Betas (volunteer proofreaders) to help, but I’m very much of the opinion that it’s fanfiction, and it’s meant to be fun. Nothing is fun if you’re too worried about “what if someone judges me for missing commas?”

How do you know when a story is finished?

9 times out of 10, I start a story with a certain scene in mind that I want to write toward -- for example, when I started writing Pieces, it was with the goal of getting Lena’s memory back and her facing Magica. So I wrote with that in mind, and I knew once I hit it, I was going to lose momentum on it.

The times when I write with just an idea and no scenes in mind are... interesting. Those are usually the ideas I lose steam on pretty fast, and I’ll try to revisit later to see if I can find more inspiration.

tl;dr, have a loose guideline or certain points you want to hit, etc. Even if you just start with “I want to write to this one scene”, it’ll keep you going.

How do you write authentic relationships?

This is... a little harder. I don’t do anything special, I just write and try to imitate canon. Webby is a fluffy death machine, Lena is a wanna-cool-disaster-gay teenager, the triplets are basically the Three Scrooges, etc. Not... to brag or anything, but I’ve been told I have a pretty good ability to capture characters’ voices. It’s something that comes from a lot of practice and writing a lot of different characters over the years. Writing their relationships just goes from there.

Understanding the relationships also helps -- HDL and Webby have a very sibling dynamic, for example, so you’ll want to try and write them as siblings (one of the reasons shipping HDL/Webby just doesn’t work IMO, but anyway), or most of Lena’s relationships are lowkey antagonistic in some kind of way by nature of her personality -- she’s very sarcastic and likes to challenge things. One of my fave dynamics to write is her and Beakley because Lena is sarcastic, and Beakley is dead-ass Britishly dry, so writing the two of them seems like they should clash, but they actually fit together really well as long as you don’t make Lena too mean or Beakley too stiff. Understanding the characters and how they connect with each other really helps with writing their relationships with another.

Then, of course, there are the interactions that haven’t happened and most people wouldn’t think of like Lena and Della, and you can just do whatever the hell you want because there’s zero canon base to work off of. And again, it’s a matter of looking at the characters and understanding how they’ll react. Della is impulsive and a disaster, but she’s also extremely motherly and would probably take one look at Lena and go “this one’s mine now.” Lena, of course, has no interest in having someone “parent” her, but Della is a wildcard in that Lena has no history with her, and Della has no preconceived notions.

Does any of this make any sense?

How do you create the best emotions you can from your viewers?

Any emotions I invoke are completely accidental XD Word choice is always helpful, though - words and descriptions can really make a difference. I guess the best way to show that is with an example:

1) “I don’t understand you!” Webby yelled, frustrated. “Why can’t you just talk to me?!”

It’s okay, but not particularly IC -- Webby isn’t really the yelling type, and there isn’t much description. Compared to:

2) “I don’t understand you,” Webby said quietly. Her eyes were on the floor, fingers fiddling with her skirt. She almost sounded disappointed -- far worse than anything else Lena could have imagined. “Did I do something wrong? Why won’t you talk to me?”

More IC -- Webby is boisterous and happy, but she also has some deep insecurities, and Lena’s inability to talk about her feelings probably hits her hard because it seems like Lena doesn’t trust her. She wouldn’t be mad at Lena for that, though -- she’d blame herself.

Also, more scene. Show don’t tell and all that. You see Webby’s insecurities through the way she fidgets, and the way she’s looking at the floor. And you get Lena’s silent reaction -- she’s upset Webby, and she’s lowkey mad at herself for it because she never wants to upset Webby.

How do you really wrap it all together?

I definitely get ten million different ideas when I’m writing something -- like seeing ten million different futures and outcomes. One of my original ideas with Pieces, for example, was to hold off on Webby and Lena meeting and have Magica attack several times before they met. But it wasn’t a sustainable idea, and at the end of the day, it wasn’t what I wanted for the story. I was more going for the idea that Lena would always care for Webby no matter who or what she was -- semi-soulmate-ish except it’s more “Lena’s feelings are always there no matter how messed up her mind is.” So having them meet under more natural circumstances was better.

Basically, know the tone you’re going for with your story, and follow that idea path (instead of veering off and going into the waters of “well what if I did this or this or this or this”). And you can totally change ideas halfway through! Lord knows I have. Just find a way to tie your concepts together

I really hope this helps, and good luck with the writing!

#chaos at its finest #Sam Answers

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sometimesrosy · 5 years

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1. Maybe people want all of the kiss/confess of the media the producer’s done to shut down romantic Bellarke. I’m not in fandom and agree with your Bellarke analysis, but before I learned to stay away from his interviews, I did hear him say things like, “We like to call Clarke and Bellamy platonic soulmates,” and it’s stayed with me.

2. It makes me wonder if, despite what I SEE on screen, he’s trying to give them romantic tropes, but as besties, to be “different.” To show besties can have soulmate love without being IN love. Which if he was trying to do that, for the record, there’s a way to convey that, and Bellarke is not it. Admittedly stupidly, listening to that crap has made me not always trust what I see and analyze on screen. I love the idea of them being like P&P, but what if I’m wrong?

3/4. I’m so invested in this beautiful story within a story that’s been building for six seasons, and (not as much anymore) I do have moments where I have GoT flashbacks, and I’m like, “But what if the story I see and love never bears fruit?” It’s like I see the romance, but I fear a open end, if that makes sense? Like no resolution, maybe? It’s hard to explain. But, yes, I do let fear get me every now and then. And then tell myself to stfu because I love this show regardless. 🙂

This is why I stick to the text and only consider extra-textual comments to be interpretations... something to take into consideration, but if it doesn’t fit with canon, to discard.

Whether fans, reviewers or cast and crew are making commentary. I recognize that I cannot know their entire context or agenda for making their commentary, so if it doesn’t work? It’s set aside. JR has said a LOT of things, from “I see what you see” and “the road is long,” and “we’ll give romantic bellarke to you eventually,” and “the 100 is about Clarke and her relationship with Bellamy.” to they are non romantic partners and soulmates.” I’m not actually sure he’s EVER said they were platonic. Non romantic and platonic are two different things. But fandom keeps saying he said platonic. I wouldn’t trust fandom on that. JR has however refused to spoil the Bellarke story, which means he couldn’t possibly tell anyone that it wasn’t happening. Because that would be a spoiler. He’s done everything he can to make us wonder “will they or won’t they.” And most of it comes from social media, not canon.

I mean, do I trust JR? Not 100%. I won’t ever trust a tv show or movie franchise 100% because hollywood is a bitch. And it disappoints sometimes. And with tv shows, it almost never keeps the same excellence until the end. It almost always loses something you know? And that’s assuming that your OTP stays the center of the story. I mean. listen. There are a lot of shippers who are SUPER pissed at this show for NOT making their ship the center of the show. CL, Linctavia, Kabby is the most recent. At this point, we have Bellarke, Memori and Marper who have kind of won shipping. B/E is up in the air. But if I were them, I wouldn’t be happy with it since all Bellamy’s attention seems to be goign to clarke... which I’m NOT unhappy about.

How do you know when your interpretation of the show is the story they are telling???? Honestly, you just have to keep checking back with canon. And asking yourself honestly, “Does my interpretation still work? Is it following through? Is this the story they are telling?” and then when it fits, you keep going and when it doesn’t you let go and find a new focus. And then you also have to LET GO and give the creators some freedom to tell their own story, because a lot of bellarke fans are disappointed with the way it turned out in s5 and 6 despite it being SO bellarke focused? I’m not. I like it. I LOVE it. It’s gotten even better, and I like what they’re doing SO MUCH MORE than I would if it were just a simple “get together” kind of story.

TBH, I don’t think that the audience really got GOT wrong. I think D&D pulled that dumbass PLOT TWIST! trick and threw unearned story at us, because they got so full of themselves and let their success get to their heads and forgot that story was important. Also, I think they didn’t really UNDERSTAND the deeper level of GRRM’s story about what it was all ABOUT. So to them, it didn’t have the same meaning it did to much of the audience. I mean, too many people from far flung interpretations were appalled at how it turned out.

I don’t think JR will pull a D&D. The 100 is HIS story and he has intentions with it and has since the beginning. I think they’re working on an ending more like Mad Men, if you watched it. Not the particular MEANING of that story ending, but the craftedness of it. That it was all this kind of circular tale about the characters and the time and place, and it rounded everything out in a satisfying, if not particularly explicit ending. Open ended doesn’t mean unsatisfying.

With the addition of c/b/e and very romantic overtones, Bellarke has already entered the romantic zone, not platonic, I don’t think JR will leave BELLARKE open ended, as in, we’ll know that they are romantic and so will they, but I don’t know how life will be for them?

But what happens if, after all of this, we ARE wrong about the ending?

Not a damn thing.

If we’re wrong? We’re wrong. It doesn’t mean anything. There’s nothing wrong with being wrong. Certainly not about an interpretation of a tv show. It doesn’t ACTUALLY affect our lives or anyone’s lives. If we want to keep shipping Bellarke, we can do that. Fanfiction is great. Or rewatching. Or maybe we just find another show that hits our buttons better. Maybe we’re more careful in the future with how invested we get in tv shows.

It’s just a tv show. They aren’t real people. They’re fictional. Our attachment to them is what we make of it. If we are too torn apart by the story, then I honestly suggest we find something else to give our hearts to.

Listen. I love fiction. Movies, Books, tv shows. It has made my life richer in many ways. But if fiction hurts or damages you in any way, rather than making your life richer, then it’s time for a different way of engaging with it. It’s supposed to be SAFE. A safe way to engage with the world and emotions and thoughts.

i think i’m starting to babble now. i guess essentially the key is to stick to the text, keep checking on your interpretations to make sure they fit and adjust accordingly, don’t be so worried about being right, ignore the nonsense, don’t get too attached because no matter what Hollywood is a bitch, and maybe just enjoy the ride and relax into s7.

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