#being honest about what it felt like to be a creative person in this fandom

[mediawhorefics]

hello marie, hope ur okay! so, there’s this girl on Wattpad who’s claiming that she finally got your permission to translate tts, is that true or… she’s just lying ?!

https://www.wattpad.com/1318890612

why can't these people just leave me alone?

#in case y'all were wondering this is a big part of why i don't write hl anymore #i know it's not fair to the majority of people who are so lovely and encouraging and respectful and supportive #but this kind of disrespectful shit started in the early pandemic when i was really depressed and uninspired and i was started to feel less #interested in 1d cos nothing was happening #and i can't even begin to tell you how it felt... to already feel so low in personal life and then to see the way my work was treated...... #it really changed my relationship to this fandom. in bad ways. #and ik im prob. gonna get some anon saying im annoying for complaining/that theyre glad im gone or whatever mean shit i always get when im #being honest about what it felt like to be a creative person in this fandom #but whatever this is my blog and some of the people who steal others' stories should know how it feels #and it feels like shit #about me #i have like... a message from that person from like... last friday ?? asking permission #and i didnt reply cos i simply did not see it #cos i dont open wattpad #unless someone sends me a link to a stolen copy of my fic #idk when they started posting maybe they did ask first #but still #its written in my ao3 profile #its written in the tts author's note #its fucking written on my twt profile #i dont know how much clearler i can make myself #idk maybe im a bad person their message says theres a revolution in iran and thats why i should say yes... idk

[xxbimbobunnyxx]

I little ramble/announcement:

When I'm in a better headspace I will still be reading Stranger Things fics again eventually. But, I’m done writing for this fandom. I feel like it's just been proven to me over and over again that this is a negative, generally unsupportive, entitled, competitive space. I often wish I stayed a reader. I miss when I didn't know about all the drama. I’m not going to put my time and creativity into something just to put it out into such a toxic space. It’s not worth it to me.

I truly wish I could just get the entire ST fandom in a room and give us all the Mean Girls gym scene treatment. Like "who here has felt personally victimized by this fandom?" Because I bet it would be just like that scene, everyone would raise their hands. I have been belittled, bullied, called racist and homophobic slurs. I've had insults thrown at me that I haven't heard since l was in highschool. I've watched my friends be treated the same way. I've watched the fandom divide and then divide again. The cliquey bullshit, the pointing fingers, the accusations of "copying". It's all so fucking pointless, if I'm being honest. We are all here for the same reason more or less. We all love the same characters.

This fandom has completely forgotten what FANDOM is about. Community, creativity, a safe space to share your art and your love for something with people who love it too. I wish so badly that we could all go back to that. To when it felt like an actual safe space, an actual community. But I just want to say thank you to anyone who's ever taken the time to read my work, become my friend, or even just been kind to me on this app. I'm thankful for each and every one of you.

I've always said I wouldn't let people chase me off or ruin my love for this fandom but at this point, I'm done. I'll still be around, l'm NOT deleting my blog, I still love Eddie and Steve very much but I absolutely need to take a step back from them before my love for them is ruined entirely. I am multifandom now and I will still be writing but for other characters. So if you don't want to see that I understand if you decide to unfollow me. I won’t hold it against you. I wasn’t even going to make a post, because honestly? No one is entitled to an explanation from me but I felt that the people who have actually been kind and made being here worth while deserved to know.

-Xoxodolly

#mic drop #I’m outtttttt

[meowmansion]

My Newly Proposed Pro-ship Flag!

PS: Sorry if the image ID is bad. I don't write them much... /lh

This flag is called the "deviate flag," or "deviant [proship] flag."

A new emoji code I have made to fit this flag is 🌤️🦋.

More below the cut ^^ (Warning: long post!)

I made these flags because, to be honest, I don't connect with any other proship flags. I do like quite a lot of the flags, but I could never find one with a message I connected to the point I'd use the flag.

The meanings of the colours on the flag are as follows:

Dark green = Maturity & responsibility

Green = Creativity

Light green = Anti-abuse

Cream = The proship community as whole

Light brown = Respect for trauma survivors and those who use dark tropes in fiction to cope

Brown = Respect for artists in minorites

Dark brown = Respect for fandom history

I also chose natural colours because I thought it was a nice change of pace from all the cutesy-coloured flags! (Nothing wrong with cute, bright, colorful flags, though! I just don't personally prefer them.)

The emoji code (🌤️🦋) itself doesn't have a real meaning, I just thought it was cute.

However, over time, I've started to interpret it as this:

The sun and cloud (🌤️) represents how something so important could be hidden by something, but still exist. This is relevant because it's become apparent that modern fandom has been forgetting about early fandom culture and rules, even though these things haven't died in any way.

The butterfly (🦋) represents how one could start off as something sometimes seen as "weird" (referencing the caterpillar) only to turn into something seen as beautiful. This is relevant because I personally like to see it as how, in a lot of stories I've heard, many proshippers felt much happier and safer when they joined proship spaces (and left antiship spaces, if applicable).

The reason I chose to call it the "deviant (proship) flag" is because when I think of someone who is proship, I think of someone who is "deviant" (positive connotations) in what content they consume and create. I also think of someone who is responsible in the actions they take to share their art and interests, and has a maturity that is earned through being this sort of "deviant."

However, this flag recognizes not every proship person consumes "taboo" or "dark" content.

I have no real rules regarding this flag, just use it like you would a normal flag. Edits of this flag are allowed, and credit is appreciated but not necessary.

Feedback from fellow "proshippers" is encouraged ^^

[Image ID: A rectangular box with vibrant pink and purple colours with flower and paw print patterns in the background. White text at the top reads: "Anyone can use our terms, recoining is not necessary." White text at the bottom reads: "Flags may not be used by radqueers, sysmeds, T.R.A.S.H., or anyone whose beliefs go against the flag's general purpose." End ID]

(Edit Oct 29, 2023: Added the box thingie bc I forgot it!! Lol)

#🐾 | Flags » #🐾 | Misc. » #proship #proship please interact #antis dni #proshipper safe #proship flag #flag making #proship safe #proship friendly #radqueer dni #i am a proshipper #I am a comshipper #comship #anti anti #comship safe #comship please interact #pro fiction #profic #deviant proship flag

[megidoreyn]

Heyyy it's about the art questions

I would like to know your answer in 18 (the purpose) and 22 (artspiration).

I would also ask 3 but I'd completely understand if you prefer not to answer

The rest are already answered

Hope you have a great month. ;D

Hey there! Thanks for the questions!

⭐️3. Show us your oldest piece of art you have on hand

→ It was a real trip down memory lane to look back on some of these, but here's a sample of some old things from 2021-early 2022! (Prior to posting on social media in Aug 2022) Back then, I didn't have any real incentive to improve my art outside of drawing quick sketches like the pictures above. I had issues being cleanly (due to lack of motivation), committing to learning character details, and more LOL. →Fun fact, I drew on a very tiny 11 inch screen 4GB RAM laptop with horrible color calibration for about 3 years until finally getting something better in early 2022 too LOL. It might be noticeable in some of the above pictures with the color choices being a little too light or too saturated, LOL.

→As also seen at the bottom of this post, It might come as a surprise that I also draw fanart for my favorite assorted fandoms outside of megaten too, LOL. I just never post it in public since they're meant as warm-up doodles!

To be honest, 2020 thru late 2022 was a very low point in my life. I had given up on all creative endeavors at the time due to: My career, being diagnosed with a bodily issue of which the effects I still deal with even today, and other personal issues.

It truly wasn't until late 2022 (when I started posting online) that I truly felt confident picking up my tablet pen again and view art in a more positive light…!

NGL I had written out my entire life story here but ended up deleting it--it would have made this post terribly long regardless LOL💦 Perhaps it'll be a story for another time, though!!🙏 And it absolutely has to do with why the Samurai husbands mean lot to me!

⭐️18. What is your purpose for drawing?

→ That's a good question! For me, (especially due to my visual agnosia) it'd have to be the ability to draw whatever comes to mind with skill and precision. To not hold back and draw whatever comes into your mind's eye without fear or hesitation from others (or your own critical inner voice)… And to be able to properly convey the meaningful themes of your work as clearly as they come into your mind... That, to me, is true freedom.

➡️As for BL content: Despite not posting much of it in public (yet), my purpose in drawing BL (or OTP content in general) is to transmit feelings of love + warmth in my art! To depict tenderness, warmth, and love with affectionate, natural-looking body language to make it as believable + realistic as possible...That's always been my goal! →The world is a scary place out there. Though, if my OTP content can make someone feel a slight glimmer of peace, tranquility, or even hope to keep moving forward...then I'll be incredibly happy!🙏💕 It's always my intention to convey nothing but sweet wholesome vibes and warmth with my pictures, and I truly hope that feeling comes across too. ➡️I'll be super candid and say I actually really enjoy angst and raunchy content as much as everyone else! But drawing wholesome + sweet characters in love just comes much sooo much easier and naturally as breathing to me, LOL. Just because I don't post angst or raunchy things, doesn't mean I dislike it! ☝️

⭐️22. List at least one of your “artspirations.”

→ I tend to gravitate towards professional artists with thick painting (厚塗り) coloring styles, dynamic illustrations, and artists that have a strong grasp of anatomy, character design and storytelling! It's hard to pick just one, so here's a brief selection of ones that come up at the top of my head right now!

Thanks again for the questions! Have a wonderful January and rest of your 2024 as well!✨🌟

#askbox #walterjonathan #ワルヨナ #rare SMT1 waruo/yoshio content too LOL #trust me when I say that's only a mere fraction of what's locked away in the Vaults (tm) of old art #I will always be an old man who is always long winded and has a LOT to say about everything ever LOOOL #but I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this nonetheless! I hope everyone also has a great 2024!

[dreamhot]

the end of an era !

i don't think i'm necessarily in the space to put together the most cohesive post at the moment - as everyone can attest to, there's been a lot going on, and i feel as though there's only so much one can do to process everything in such a short span of time. for the time being, i felt it necessary to say something, at least:

regardless of how things shake out, i will never regret my involvement in the community. i've met so many kind, talented, incredible people, and either individually or as a group we have accomplished some amazing things. a fractured base doesn't undo the sheer unifying power of passion and creation, and nothing can take that from us. and i stand by the causes for which i've fought, because i still believe that, at its core, this community was built on love.

that being said, of course i'm hurt. i'm disappointed. how can you not be? whether or not the full extent of the allegations are true, there's still been a breach of trust, and it's not easy to heal from that sort of thing. it's a sense of mourning, in a very real way. some may be able to walk away from this situation without much baggage, and some may carry that pain for a long time. you're valid, regardless of which outcome awaits you. please just know that you're allowed to feel what you're feeling. just because it's online, involving someone you don't actually know, it doesn't mean it can't affect your emotions.

for that reason, i support and encourage anyone who needs to take a step back - or leave entirely. you need to take care of yourself first and foremost. the emotional toll may be real, but this doesn't have to consume your life either. focus on what brings you comfort and joy. this may have been a big part of that, but there will always be other things to love, to share, to get so damn excited about you don't even know what to do with yourself. a shock like this can't take that from you. and you are not lesser for having been involved to begin with. focus on the good memories, if you need to - but don't let this make you regret anything. no cc is worth that.

in the interest of full disclosure, i've not fully decided what i'm going to do yet. owing to certain circumstances, i am choosing to wait for more information. for the time being, this blog will remain up but inactive, and while i'll reopen my inbox for the day in case anyone needs to say anything, it will be closed after the fact. mutuals are free to ask for my discord, with the understanding that i've not forsaken the content entirely as of yet. i just wanted to be honest about that much.

no matter what happens, you guys were the best of it all, and i can't thank you enough for making my time in this fandom as exhilarating as it was. i've been pushed both creatively and emotionally, and i feel as though i can still walk out the other side feeling like a better person for it. be kind to yourselves and others. sometimes that's the most important thing, yknow?

love you all <3

[bangtanhoneys]

Grace Era

When it had first been discussed about taking a break, Grace had been completely all for it. The period from 2017 to 2021, felt to Grace, as one of the busiest periods. Even if they were resting, they were still working and not much actual time off had taken place, at least not for her. The month break before filming Bon Voyage: New Zealand had been filled with more work than she realised so this actual break had been a blessing. 

But then came the talks of military service, solo projects taking precedence over group projects and then living apart. They had all bought their own places a while back, using the dorm for work which meant they were still living together more than they were apart. The pandemic saw them quarantine together before they were allowed to separate, but even then they were still together. 

Grace, who had finally felt comfortable in her identity as the only female member of BTS and being the only female at Big Hit, suddenly felt lost. Without the boys, who was she? Without BTS by her side, who could she claim to be?

So she went into seclusion at her own apartment, appearing for schedules and work then going straight back home. 

The military service was something they all had to do, apart from Grace, and they had all been prepped for it. Seokjin had even wanted to go before Butter came along, but then the pandemic hit and before their Busan concert, he wanted to go but they told him to prolong it for ARMY and then go after the concert. Grace had felt guilty as she knew how much Jin wanted to go and just get it done so he could come back, all the boys had felt like that. 

But they also had felt excited about finally doing their own solo things. Grace didn’t. 

Bang called her into the office one day, alone and sat her down to have a good talk. To ask her how she was, what was going on in her head and how she was feeling about everything. And finally, she could be honest: she was going to be alone, she was going to be the only member of BTS left and when the boys came back, would they even want to be part of BTS again?

A fear of being alone, to be the only one standing on stage and proclaiming to be part of one of the biggest groups on earth. It scared her. 

So Bang put together a team: Sejin was recalled back to be her personal manager, she got her own make up team and stylist, then a team of bodyguards. Big HIt was going to start treating her like the female soloist that she could have been from the beginning. 

All of them began to plan Grace’s future career around the boy's solo career, allowing her to attend their schedules undercover while also working on her own. A massive contract with Alexander McQueen was signed with her to be the face of their fashion show in London, another contract was signed with Hyundai for Grace specifically and she signed another contract with Samsung. 

Another contract was signed with Louboutin for their famous red bottom heels, allowing her to be the new face of the company but they also signed up to do her heels for future performances. 

She managed to secure a deal with Balmain, meeting the creative director Olivier Rousteing in Paris, for designing future performance costumes alongside Big Hits styling team. 

Brands and companies were vying for Grace’s attention but she only selected a few, not wanting to interfere with other idols who had previously worked with certain brands or had current contracts with them. She felt like no one should overshadow the other and no fandom should play off the other. 

With all boys signed up for the military, Grace was now clear to announce her own projects. BTS's twitter page was updated with black images, no details, other than the words: Here She Comes. A week later, a schedule was updated with the dates but nothing to suggest what those dates meant. Everything and everyone was tight-lipped, no one knew any ideas.

Finally, the big reveal came on Grace’s birthday when she went on V-LIVE to announce a new album was coming as well as a tour, having taken a leaf from Yoongi’s book. Ticket dates and the schedule would be announced soon but a music video would be coming in two weeks. 

Once the announcement was made, Big Hit changed their social media layouts to feature Grace. ARMY began their own countdowns, even celebrities were going on their own social media to show off their excitement. Teasers were posted through the coming days, and finally, on the big day, the video music of 7 Rings was posted. The video exploded over the internet, the reference to BTS in the video wasn’t missed and the seven dancers were also a key point. YouTubers reacted to the video with glowing reviews and by the time they had released their reaction videos, BigHit posted the tour dates and locations.

She would start in Seoul, then onto Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York then into Paris, two nights in London, and two nights in Manchester. She would then go on to do a few more dates in Europe before flying out to Asia, starting in China, the Philippines, then Japan then back to Seoul for the two final dates.

The tour sold out within minutes, with one more date added to Los Angeles and New York as well as Japan. Then the news came that there would be a BTS tribute concert, for a live audience and live streaming with the boys being able to watch in their military barracks. It happened to land smack in the middle of Grace’s tour, with BigHit refusing to say whether she would be in attendance or even performing though the likes of TXT, Seventeen, GOT7, and Stray Kids had already confirmed they were performing. 

When the night came and the concert opened to TXT performing a medley of BTS’ older hits, the opening chords to FIRE played and Grace rose from the middle of the stage. Not only did she perform FIRE, she did DOPE, BAEPSAE, BLACK SWAN, FAKE LOVE, BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS then ended the night with DIONYSUS, MIC DROP & IDOL. Her performance was the highlight of the evening and reviews came flooding in about how she managed to do eight parts perfectly, including rapping, and dance everyone’s parts with seven male dancers and still put on a performance. 

It became clear to everyone that whether she was performing solo or a BTS track, there would always be seven male or female dancers (sometimes both) and there would always be a hint of purple somewhere to signify her connection to ARMY. Grace had once again proved, despite her worries, that she was BTS through and through.

Her tour would conclude with the date of BTS' anniversary when all the boys would be finally released from their military enlistment and BTS would be complete again.

 

#bts 8th member #bts scenarios #bts fanfiction #bts additional member #bts headcanons #bts reactions #bts fic #bts eighth member #bts female member #bts fanfic

[unquietspiritao3]

Interrupting Your Irregularly-Scheduled Fic-Related Content with An Extremely Long Note on The Situation in British Comedy

Hi there. If you don’t want to read about my thoughts on everything happening in the British comedy scene at the moment, feel free to give this a skip. I totally understand needing to take a step away from such things. But I felt it was important to address, given some of the characters in my stories are based on the people involved/being criticized. I’m also going to link this post in the author’s note of my next chapter update, but feel free to share it before then with those who might not be on Tumblr.

CW: non-detailed mentions of transphobia, sexual assault, and childhood sexual abuse

Okay. I think to start, I need to explain a few of things about me.

First, as I alluded to in the opening author’s note for Should’ve been obvious, I am just an American with a moderate obsession with British panel shows and not enough time to keep up with the entire British comedy world. I jumped into writing in this fandom with huge gaps in my knowledge, which was possibly not wise.

Second, as a way to protect my own mental health and under the advice of my therapist, I’m what you might call ‘terminally offline.’ Before I reactivated this blog for the purpose of sharing fic inspo, I had not been on social media for over a year. I still don’t use it outside of Tumblr, where I follow a very narrow selection of blogs that mostly post Taskmaster gifs (love you all, btw). I don’t watch or read the news. I have systems in place with my friends and family to keep me informed when something really big happens, but outside of that, I am purposefully oblivious. The consequence of this is that I did not know about the two situations I’ll be discussing until I saw some stray posts this past weekend, and that’s why I didn’t address it before.

Third, I always (to a fault, my friends would say) give absolutely everyone the benefit of the doubt and see the best in people until they prove otherwise—and even then, even while holding them accountable and removing them from my life if need be, I try to be compassionate. That’s not going to change; it’s just who I am.

Now for the two situations, my thoughts on them, and their impact on my writing.

The Richard Ayoade Thing

I’ve said before that I’m genderqueer (she/they, equally happy with both, btw). I’m not down with transphobia. But I’ve read that Richard is a separate-the-art-from-the-artist kind of guy, so his personal views aren’t entirely clear to me. That said, the blurb he gave makes me uncomfortable because to me it seems to imply he does agree with the views in the book. I don’t know much about Richard and haven’t consumed much content with him other than Big Fat Quiz and some random clips of various shows, so please point me to anything that would confirm or refute this. For now, I’ll leave it there. In terms of my writing, this isn’t as big of a deal, since the Richard character isn’t central to anything and could be easily retconned out if I wanted to, but I’ll talk more about the writing at the end.

The Noel Fielding Thing re: Russell Brand

Like most Americans, I was introduced to Noel through GBBO. (Well, to be fully honest, I watched the Buzzcocks spanking clips long before then, because those get passed around in spanko circles, but I didn’t know, or care, who the guy in both of them was at the time. It took awhile for my crush on him to develop.) I’ve actually never seen The Mighty Boosh or much of Noel’s standup; he’s just a bit too surreal and nonsensical for me to enjoy when he’s in complete creative control. I’ve watched interviews going back to the time he was promoting Luxury Comedy, all his episodes of Big Fat Quiz, and some episodes of Buzzcocks, in addition to GBBO. I knew he and Russell Brand and had good on-screen chemistry, but I had no idea they were off-screen friends to some degree (at least, they were in the past; more on that below) until this weekend. I also didn’t know that Noel was ever accused of being in a relationship with a 16-year-old when he was in his 30s. I experienced sexual abuse throughout my childhood. Obviously, if that accusation is true, it’s completely unacceptable regardless of the legality in the UK and I will no longer be a fan of Noel.

But rather than try to break down all my complicated feelings on this situation regarding Noel, I’m just going to link to this post, which I agree with 100%, including the part about respecting people who feel differently. The two follow-up posts on the same blog give some good additional info/thoughts. I’m working on doing my own digging, trying to find anything relevant, including the source of the claim that the then-girl in the supposed relationship denied it too. No luck there so far, [EDIT: shared what I found here and it’s in Noel’s favor!] though I have discovered that she (now a woman in her 30s) and Noel currently follow each other on Instagram, and that Noel doesn’t follow Russell Brand (nor can I find a time Noel mentioned him after 2020, right about when it seems like Brand’s right-wing conspiracy-theory crap started). Make of that what you will. Personally, it makes me give Noel the benefit of the doubt unless and until further info is revealed.

Somewhat of a side note: It seems like people are most upset about the lack of a public statement from Noel, specifically. However, what I find odd overall is how there hasn’t been a real statement from any big-name British comic. Lou Sanders was basically strong-armed into saying some stuff in an interview that was supposed to be about her book. Katherine Ryan is very clear she doesn’t want to speak about it despite being the one that called him a predator on Roast Battle years ago. There’s this article about the problem in comedy more generally which several female comics are quoted in, and this one from 2020 including Fern Brady (highly recommend you read both if you can stomach it) but no specific quotes on Brand from names I recognize even there. Radio silence. UK people, can you tell me, is this normal because of the libel laws you all have? From what I understand, it’s much, much easier to be sued for defamation against a public figure and lose over there than over here. Should we expect to wait for an arrest or conviction (if that happens) before people feel safe commenting? Or what is going on?

Impact on My Writing and Final Thoughts

I’ve been having a hard time mental-health-wise, these past few days, reconciling the human need to connect to art with the fact that all art is created by imperfect humans and you simply cannot know what is in someone else’s head or past. That includes my own art. I want it to be an escape for you all, for you to feel safe reading it, but like everyone else, I’m imperfect, and part of that imperfection is not knowing what to do.

At least for now, I’m going to be focused on More than that, and Noel and Richard have never been in the plan to appear in this fic. As for the future, I’m undecided. I feel like I need more info, but I also recognize that we might not ever get real answers.

The sad truth is that writing fanfic always comes with the risk that the thing you’ve been inspired by is later revealed to be problematic. Even if not with these two, something could come to light at any time about any of these people we base our characters on. That last Guardian article I linked should give everyone chills.

I think the best I can do with the info I have today is to say I’m writing about a fictional universe populated with fictional characters, and my use of real people to inspire those characters does not mean I endorse their actions or beliefs; past, present, or future; known or unknown to me at this time. I also want to say, though, that I respect anyone who feels they can’t engage with certain fandoms or fics. Trust me, I do understand.

Take care of yourselves. I care about you so much, internet strangers. 💜

edit: linked the wrong article quoting fern, so added that

#meta #to a degree i guess?

[lunar-years]

I think that's a stupid direction to take if that's how the writers decide to bring roy and keeley back together. They don't need to show how a different relationship is worse for her, why not make her realize she just wasn't ready for something new so soon. Why demonize jack. I know the pairing is beloved, but their circumstances didn't change, just shoving them back together, because another relationship was horrible is boring. I hope they are more creative than that

& I think those are totally valid opinions to have!

For me several things are true (and sorry in advance because I know this is going to be a long one):

Narratively, Jack was always set up as Keeley's rebound. To be 100% honest I never once expected this relationship--which started with a kiss .5 seconds after Keeley admitted her last breakup was both really hard and that she isn't over it, and oh by the way, she also has complicated feelings now about her breakup BEFORE that--was going to end in forever.

I also don't think Keeley was rushing into something she wasn't ready for! Keeley was looking to have fun and see where it could take her with a cool and really fit woman. Good for her!

I know a lot of people are preaching the "why can't a woman ever be single on these shows" discourse and I think that's another topic where it's complicated and it's always going to come down to the personal opinions and experiences of the viewer. For me (& for what it’s worth, I am a very single woman who is completely content to be very single) Keeley having three separate relationships in 3 seasons doesn't bother me a lick. Reason being: Keeley has never felt like a caricature portrayal of a woman; she's just a complex character who makes mistakes and good & bad choices and also happens to enjoy being in relationships and having sex!

I do not think the show is demonizing Jack. Now, the fandom may be; these "Jack is Keeley's Rupert" takes are frankly ridiculous, but that was not the argument the show was making. Rebecca was respectfully noting red flags according to her experiences, not saying "Jack is exactly like my piece of shit ex-husband" (the two are incomparable, because Jack and Keeley have been dating for what, a couple months? Rebecca was emotionally abused for years in a marriage. These are very different experiences, people.)

a person can have "red flag" traits and make manipulative choices (possibly without even realizing it) without automatically be a horrible abuser. it means the relationship likely isn't going to work out, and the person (in this case Jack) certainly has some things to work through, but it doesn't mean they're setting her up to be a Rupert-type villain.

If we want to talk seriously about female characters the show has butchered by needlessly demonizing, let's go back to Shandy, because yikes.

It's too early to know what they are doing with it, but I do not think the point of Jack was just to prompt Keeley to run right back to Roy. If it turns out that way, anon, I'll bite my words.

I don't think the writers are making jack/keeley a terrible toxic relationship, either. They worked through the love-bombing thing with solid communication, and next episode it seems like it will be an outside force who wrecks havoc on them, not Jack's actions (or at least not her actions alone).

The narrative point of Jack/Keeley (to me) was as a way of portraying Keeley making messy decisions to deal with her emotions and how it is only turning her life messier instead of allowing her to heal. It's about how she isn't letting herself process her feelings, while also demonstrating that she's still allowed to have fun and try to move on with someone new.

There isn't really any indication that they are going to throw Roy/Keeley back together? I agree that would be a weird angle, as they haven't (yet. I do fully believe the reckoning is coming) addressed any of their problems or the actual reason they broke it off (and I LOVE that they broke up, by the way. I'm so so glad it happened! Those two needed time to grow separately.)

What I will say is that Roy's arc this season has definitely been written better than Keeley's. I think the writers have made many more questionable choices with Keeley's storyline than anyone else's this season, and I wish several things had been better about it. There have been good concepts there, but unfortunately wavering execution. However, the Jack/Keeley part has been one of the elements to it that I haven't minded at all.

If this is truly the final season, at this point I am expecting Roy & Keeley (& Jamie) to all reconcile and end single as friends (personal preference-wise I'd be thrived with this. I do ship Roy/Keeley, but very specifically in the Roy/Keeley/Jamie way, lol). If this is not the final season, then it opens them up to a lot more re: putting Keeley & Roy back together in future. The season will still end with them all single, but as more of a setup for next season. I'm cool with it either way!

#sorry this is so ranty lol #kind of just a thought dump as I was thinking it through as I typed it #ted lasso #keeley jones #ted lasso spoilers #jack danvers #roy kent #asks

[prettyboykatsuki]

hi fang!!

i apologise if this is something u get asked often, but ur writing is most definitely my favourite to consume and ive never felt feelings the way i do when i read anything you've written, and was wondering if you have (or have already posted) any writing tips that u could give me?

reading your creations for so long has honestly really inspired me to write too but i have no idea where to start in terms of anything. i've never attempted to write before, i've always been more of a reader, but if i could make anything even close to what you do for beloved characters and fandoms then it would make me so so so happy.

if you need me to be more specific about what i'm having trouble with i could try and narrow it down but honestly everything is pretty accurate T-T

anyways thank u for posting everything u do, i am eternally grateful! at this point im conditioned to get excited every time im scrolling on dash and see the green katsuki pfp <3 hope ur 8 hours wherever u are isnt too perilous >:(

this made my lower lip tremble how could u think so highly of lil ol me.... im very glad my writing could invoke such feelings you!! enough so to even inspire like how huge is that... im a very unpolished and messy writer by nature so im extra moved when people are kind to me about this kind of thing. like.. ough. i have moved u... what a world...

i dont know if i have any good writing advice to give you!! im very clumsy in my own writing. here is some advice i have given people before

my biggest piece of writing advice is stop worrying about it and do everything lightly. i think there is a lot of pressure and expectation on people who are trying their hand at any creative thing to hit a point of being objectively good. im a huge perfectionist in my normal life - but because of that, i always miss out things i could actually do. being that caught up on the details made it so that i never actually tried at anything

a lot of my writing has typing errors and things i could do better but i have to intentionally allow myself that grace because if i don't - i would've never finished a piece of writing in the first place. i only get better if i write and i only write if im not so caught up on the details. there is always going to be a learning curve. im always going to look back at old writing and wince a little at all the things i can do better.

but at the time, i had the confidence to put that out into the world. now that its out, i can look at myself critically. posting for me is a way of holding myself accountable if that makes sense. everyones already seen the flawed version, so there's no longer any reason to not improve or be embarrassed. its also why i dont delete fics even when i hate them later. there was one person who liked the cringe worthy sincere aspect of me. how nice would it be if i could make something even better than that.

writing can be anything you want. it can be the most important thing you've ever done or the thing you do on the bus ride home. it can change your life or you can forget about it the very next day. its yours. your voice is always all yours.

but you it can never be anything to you if you don't just give it your most honest try. do everything very lightly. pick an idea, map out a beginning middle and end, and write a story.

more practically - it will help immensely for you to observe the way other people write first. try to read critically instead of for enjoyment and see what you like. what inspires you? a persons flow, diction, dialogue? and emulate that in your own way. when you start your voice will not be much more than a mish-mash of all the things you love and that's okay. that's what all writers with very distinct voice tend to do anyways.

i know it seems counter intuitive and pointless to stress but really - the best thing you can do for yourself when it comes to writing is just sitting down and giving it a try. pick any idea, plot out a simple 3 point beginning middle and end, and just see what you can do. you can be critical and edit as much as you want after. just get it down on paper first the best you can and don't worry yourself sick over each sentence or nothing will ever get written

i can try and give you more practical advice if you let me know what you need!! ive given writing advice before but im very under qualified for that i fear. even so i hope it helps you a little to give it a shot. i know it sucks to hear u just have to try and see but it rlly is true

#return to sender #writing advice #hall of fame #you praise me much too highly sjhkfdkj

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

On toxic positivity and my attitude towards my writing

If there is one thing you will never see me engage in, it’s toxic positivity. I’m an honest person. I can’t fake being happy about something when all I want is to hug myself in the shower and cry. When I talk about my struggles as a writer, it’s not an attempt at coaxing people into reading my works; I am open about these things because I can’t bring myself to hide behind a mask of toxic positivity. It’s not being “cute” or “attention-seeking”. When you genuinely feel that you’re a shit writer, coaxing people into reading your stories by conducting what’s widely considered as negative publicity is the least thing you want. It doesn’t switch your perspective. Any praise resulting from that would feel undeserved and insincere. In the worst case, the guilt of having manipulated someone through your pain crushes you even more.

Sometimes, certain corners of the internet feel like a clusterfuck of toxic positivity, and I don’t support that. “Fake it until you make it” might work for some people. I’m not one of those people. That’s why you will never see me advertising my works like it’s the most awesome shit that deserves the Nobel Prize for literature. The only thing that would accomplish besides internalising my struggles, which is a foolproof way to get severe mental health issues, is coming across as arrogant and feeling like a liar. And I don’t want that either.

I’m abysmal at self-promo, but even I know that being negative is the wrong approach. That’s why when I promote my works, I try to be neutral about them at least (which is already hard when I’m convinced that people are going to hate that new chapter or the new one-shot). I don’t want people to read my works out of pity, and I don’t want them to read them because I advertised them as something they’re not, either. Believe it or not, I have self-worth.

When I’m being open about how I feel about my writing, a part of me hopes to connect with other artists who feel the same. I don’t have this kind of people in my life. Most people I know aren’t creative and the few that are, don’t get it because unlike me they have confidence or just don't care how their art is received. There’s something deeply validating about knowing that you’re not the only one in the world. So, in a way, I’m doing it for attention, but it’s not the kind of attention you think it is.

I find more comfort and validation in talking to people who are facing similar struggles than in people who try to police me about how I should feel or talk about my works. In fact, the latter does nothing but makes me feel more isolated and alone, which is the last thing someone feeling already isolated needs. I don’t care if my honesty makes you uncomfortable, your rose-coloured online experience is not my responsibility. 

There was a time when I believed in my writing. Not always, but for most of the time. Back then, I made the experience that a piece of writing I loved and that I found good was loved by my audience. Over the last two years, this belief deteriorated. My experience was inverted to the more I loved something I had written, the less my readers liked it. At some point, they stopped enjoying my stories although I felt that my writing had improved, and I never found out why which haunts me until today. There’s no point in sharing my writing when the audience dislikes it or isn’t even interested in reading it—in fact, sharing it despite that holds the power to destroy the joy of writing for me. I was in such a place when I already had revised my first work for my current fandom and, after I had recovered a little from that blow, I decided to give it a try and start anew. But moving on in such a situation to a fandom where I was no one, was detrimental to my already depleted confidence. I had a rough start. By now, things are no longer as dire as one year ago, but I’m keenly aware that most writers do much better than I do and that I'm not the kind of writer whose stories people gush about, no matter how much work I put into them. I'm not the kind of writer who has the power to touch their readers' hearts that deeply. And I can’t help thinking that I’m doing something fundamentally wrong, that either I've lost some fundamental skill or that I never really had it in me. I wish I knew what to do about that.

I’ve stopped counting how often I contemplated quitting writing completely during those last two years—before and after the move. Not just stopping sharing my works once they’re finished, but stopping writing altogether because finding joy in your passion in such a situation is nigh-impossible. Even this year, I thought about it a lot.

I wish I could believe in my writing again. I wish I could believe that my writing is decent at least and worth to be shared with the world. I don’t know if I will ever regain this belief.

I've been in worse shape, I don't feel as bad about my writing right now as I used to, but I don't feel great about it either. I wrote this post not because I want to cry in public but because of an encounter after which I felt I had to put this straight.

One last thing (and this isn't directed at my readers): Please don’t write nice things about my works just to cheer me up. If you consider reading my works, please only do so because they appeal to you. If you consider commenting on my work, please do so because you want to and be honest for better or worse. But please don’t do it out of charity.

#my writing #toxic positivity #writer struggles #my yoi fic #I refuse to call it impostor syndrome because it would force me to acknowledge that my writing is indeed good #which would make me feel arrogant #I'm not joking when I say I have less confidence than Yuuri Katsuki #but at least Yuuri IS freaking good #jen's mind vomit

[ewanmitchellcrumbs]

✨✨✨✨✨ANGEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! ✨✨✨✨✨

Okay hiii ~~ I’m dumping all these thoughts on you so be prepared 🤭

So like I said in my last message, I’ve been a very dark place recently where everything seems like it’s constantly hitting, but after asking for your advice, I took it to heart and really followed if, finding it really did help taking it one tiny step at a time with the simplest things. Life is still throwing every little shit it can find at me, but I’m dealing with it much much better, and I feel like I owe you some thanks to that, so again, I don’t think I can ever tell you how much I appreciate you and enjoy your presence!! I never got to respond to it, but I read your post recently and felt like this was more important to respond first.

Two, I’m so saddened to hear you’re feeling a bit lost about the writing and fandom. I haven’t been on much trying to focus on my self so I don’t know much, but when I do check in every now and then, it does seem… quiet? I hope and think it’ll liven up the closer it comes to June. But regardless of that—

I ADORE YOUR WRITING. Your writing is some of the most thought-provoking, emotional pieces I’ve read, and it truly shows and reflects just how much heart and soul you put into it. I’ll be honest, there’s some times when I can’t read certain fics of yours because I’m not mentally in the right headspace for some, but— to me— it just reflects on how great and impactful your writing is!!! Idk if u remember, and this was when I newly started following you so I was like extra super nervous and shy lol, but the person that requested the jealous Ettore was me. I think I remember sending an anon back and thanking you bc I was impressed and thankful you accepted it, but also I was so shy my hands were shaking the entire time so it was a bit blurry lol. I remember literally fangirling and gushing to my two friends (one who doesn’t even care about Ewan lmao) about how I was so impressed and blown away by it!! Your Ettore series had me hooked (AND IM STILL NOT OVER HOW IT ENDED— I WILL NEVER RECOVER. I will sue you for my emotional damages 🥺)! The Aemond one where after a toxic relationship, the reader tries to escape and he doesn’t let her literally made me want to wallow in the despair. And the Michael Gavey one where I basically wrote an essay of how much I loved it is still one I think about way too much for it to be healthy— plus it’s given me some really crazy dreams 🤭 Those are just my top three! Much to say, I adore your writing. I adore the commitment and dedication you give and feed us. And most importantly, I adore you. Although selfishly I hope you continue, I hope you know no matter what you ever decide to do, I’ll always support and follow. I am a la loyal after all 🤭😂

In all seriousness, I hope life is treating you well, and i hope you’re being kind to yourself. I’m sending all my love and support!! Please stay safe and healthy. Much much much love to you, Ange 🩶🩶🩶

-Hannah Montana anon.

Post Scriptum:: this was insanely long and completely manic-produced, I am so so sorry !! ✨

I am so glad that my advice has helped a little and things are starting to improve for you. I hope they continue to get better!

I had no idea your were my jealous Ettore anon! I had so much fun writing that, thank you for sending it! And thank you for the kind words, they truly mean a lot. You have never been anything but kind and supportive to me, and I hope you realise how appreciated it is!

I've no plans to deactivate this blog. I enjoy reading other people's fics, and looking at all the pretty gifs. I just need to do something for myself that makes me feel better about my own creative output. I've no idea what that is yet, but I will figure it out!

Thank you for taking the time to check in. I hope the rest of your week is a good one. Sending so much love to you! xoxo

#asked and answered #hannah montana anon

[ferociouslycreativemystery]

Dead dove, do not eat: Detailed show negativity below cut, keep scrolling to keep up the good vibes 😇

This is only halfway coherent since I don't have the energy to edit it thoroughly, but thought it worth sharing anyway. Lots of unfinished thoughts, but I hope I still manage to get something of my feelings across. Here goes:

The pirate show really isn't working for me. In season one it was mainly the editing that bothered me, that it wasn't quite tight enough to set a good pace for the humour, but the story and characters were intriguing enough to keep me engaged. It was immensely thrilling to see the love story develop the way it did, especially as it coincided with some of my own queer identity conundrums. It genuinely helped untangle and rewire something crucial in me, and I'll always be grateful to it for that.

But I've only barely managed to make it through the first two episodes of this new season, and to be completely honest I was bored and fretting all the way through. I agree with those I watched it with that it felt somehow darker compared to the first season. Which, fair enough given the direction of the story, but the translation fumbled what appeal the first season still held for me.

The thing about this show is that it's always felt like it's aiming to appeal to certain very fandom-specific sensibilities, particularly the sensibilities that I never really got the hang of. It feels like it was entirely built around the phenomenon of fannon. The thing about fannon is it is highly normative (if not typically heteronormative, then built around certain understandings of life, queerness and ethics, many of which I don't appreciate being made 'defaults'). Fannon mostly isn't as cohesive as your typical canon story either. It consists of lots of disparate elements, a smörgåsbord of generic and normative tropes for you to pick and choose what you personally like the best while being free to discard the others mostly without consequence, allowing you to assemble your own creation from your chosen legos. The allow for some creativity, but only within the frame of how those pieces are predisposed to fit; a curated playpen.

But I like digging deep, not casting my net wide.

What I like about having a particular canon is that it doesn't just have those generically cross-compatible fannon pieces, it carefully crafts its own ones and assembles them in very particular ways. You can strum one thread and find it resonating somewhere else completely unexpectedly. It's exciting to explore how everything is connected in this one-of-a-kind web of meaning, and with each discovery come to love and appreciate its intricacies even more. There are a million paths to walk if you keep adjusting your aim.

Having that solid framework allows for a specific and unique perspective on humanity, emotion, and the world, which takes me out of myself to see familiar things in a different light. Seeing the world through different eyes also generates sympathy, which heightens my emotional engagement. That is what I find so fascinating and rewarding about this particular way of fandom.

In relation to this, I almost always need ships to be explicit to the point of 'the creators definitely made intentional romantic insinuations in this relationship' to see the appeal of it. It needs to tie into the story as it is being told. My romantic imagination beyond that point is basically non-existent. I'm not good at picking up scraps and filling in the gaps; I'm an explorer, not a conductor.

With the pirates, I see the ideas it puts on the table, the pieces to play with, and could see how they might eventually be made appealing to me, but then it just leaves them there and expects me to do most of the actual development. It feels stale and lifeless, with little room for exploration without first constructing the thing to explore, which defeats the whole purpose.

A lot of the language used also reminds me too much of online discourse for me to disappear into it; it drips with the anxious phrasing habits of someone aware and overthinking all the ways this statement will be taken out of context and how its original meaning must be understood or at least not taken as something Bad when that will happen. This is another aspect where the show feels like it was made to be consumed online, being torn apart into pieces which must each individually contain all their context. There is rampant lamp-shading and making subtext full text, leaving nothing to the shadows. It becomes almost like an academic presentation of a story, which demands that you as the viewer can already bring your own pre-prepared web of understanding and interest, that is ready for the pieces to fit into. But if every part of the story is resolved in itself, then what's even the point of telling the rest of the story then?

In fandom, the pervasive focus on shipping or creation of fannon and headcanons never intrigued me as much as the dissection and exploration of actual canon. "Fuck canon" is a valid take (we're here to play!) but it is entirely antithetical to my personal enjoyment.

It tastes like all the sugar without the bitter almond to balance it out.

I'm not saying this is an illegitimate or bad way to tell a story, because I don't believe that such a thing exists. This show definitely has its place in the landscape of TV; there is very clearly an audience for it, and I'm glad that they're getting what they want from it. I'm not part of that audience though.

#maddie debrief

[bokutosbiceps]

[here for the matchup trade!'

fandoms i would like: same as yours, bsd and demon slayer. no preference as long as they arent too young!

prominent personality traits: passionate, levelheaded, contemplative, opinionated, honest (heart on my sleeve). realistic but optimistic about it. individualistic. i am an ambivert. sometimes my mouth runs and i trip up over what i am going to say, and i'm blunt. sx/sp. im a big person on wanting improvement and having ambition (mostly for myself, but i will encourage others).

hobbies/talents: i like to read and write and listen to music and taking walks. i draw too. i'm really good at explaining things in a very cohesive manner. my logic is really good, so my persuasion is extremely good too. im very efficient and creative, which i apply to many things in real life. i also have very good intuition.

-> appearance-wise, i’m east asian, with a wispy middle part and shoulder length black hair! i look more cute-sque than hot or whatnot.

thank you for this matchup exchange!

the PRESSURE !! after you wrote me that fantastic match up, i am feeling the p r e s s u r e … 😅 but i’ve got some spicy snacks + the motivation so here we go!! i hope you love your matches 😁

bungou stray dogs

i match you with DAZAI OSAMU 🖤

you + dazai would just be two little peas in a pod. the thing he appreciates most about you is your appreciation for ambition, as well as how you can tell someone like it is! he hates people who beat around the bush, but he really revels in the fact that he’ll never have to worry about that with you. you guys rarely ever fight because every discussion is level headed + free of insults/trickery (on your part at least, we all know dazai can be a cunning man). dazai could sit + listen to you talk for h o u r s. he’ll be sitting there with his chin resting on his open palm, a small smirk on his lips as he listens to you talk about whatever you’re passionate about that day. after you’re done with your speech, he’ll just wrap his arms around your waist and give you a sweet smile and a kiss on the cheek.

getting to know dazai can be difficult, though, even if he loves you. he’s very closed off + protective of his feelings, so it takes a lot for him to be able to trust someone. when he met you, though, he could see that you were his twin flame. he felt as though you’d be able to understand the inner workings of his heart and mind, so he’d share them with you. you’re the one + only person he’d open up to like that, so be grateful! conversations with him can be so deep and provoking that you’ll both be left squinting at the sunlight streaming in through your windows, wrapped up in each other’s arms, after pulling an all-nighter just to talk.

dazai thinks you’re soooo intelligent, so he’ll often ask you for advice if there’s a situation at the detective agency that’s got him stumped. he’s so thankful to have you on his slide, because you truly can open his mind to perspectives he’s never seen. he also really admires the way you can bring things together to flow so smoothly, + he believes that this is truly a showing of just how smart you are! with that being said, dazai will constantly be trying to challenge your intelligence. whether that be with little riddles, pranks, games of chess/checkers, quizzes on random facts he’s picked up on—all of it, you gotta stay on your toes!

dazai’s favorite thing to do with you is to walks around downtown yokohama! he knows you love going for walks + he can identify with that, as walks usually help him clear his mind. you guys will stroll next to the river, in between the tall buildings, stopping at various food or knick knacks stalls just to see what there is to see. you guys pretty much have the entire city mapped out by heart from how many walks you go on. dazai tries to make it a nightly occurrence, only because he knows that work can keep him pretty busy, so being able to hear you, his favorite person, talk about your day while strolling around yokohama, his favorite city, is the best way he can think of to unwind after work.

demon slayer

i match you with RENGOKU KYOJURO 🧡

rengoku love love LOVES your passionate + optimistic self! its something he admires so deeply about you, like he really couldn’t have chosen a better person for himself. he wouldn’t be able to get along with someone who’s closed minded or negative, but he always tries his best to befriend most people! he doesn’t have to try with you, though, it’s extremely natural for him. he also really admires that you’re always striving for improvement + that you have great ambition, because he can definitely relate to that. he loves that your relationship consists of building each other up + encouraging each other to do your best + give your all no matter what you do.

a relationship w rengoku would being by his side at all times. he never wants to let you out of his sight! whether he’s training, reading, sleeping, eating, he’ll want you to be there! on a cozy night, one could find you + rengoku cuddled up under a kotatsu, reading or writing, often interrupting each other to show off something one of you found interesting in your book or to get opinions on your writing. he’s the biggest cuddle bug in the world, so he absolutely loves any sort of physical contact or affections from you. in his perfect world, you’d always be underneath that kotatsu in the winter, or splayed out on a futon in the summer, with your fingers running through his fiery locks while he just listens to whatever is on your mind.

another thing about rengoku is that he always wants to make sure you’re taken care of. it’s always “have you eaten?” or “did you sleep well?” or “do you need help with anything?” he’s your number one fan + he always wants to make sure that you’re content in life. if there’s anything that’s upsetting you, he will coax you into telling him + then immediately figure out a way to solve it. if it’s something that he has no control over, the empath in him will take over + he will also be upset. sometimes even more upset than you are. we love showings of solidarity in a partner.

rengoku also really wants you to be safe at all times, even though he’s almost always around to protect you, he worries for the day that he won’t be around when you need him. with this being said, you two will spend countless hours training. he’ll teach you the basics + teach you special ways in which you can protect yourself until he’s absolutely satisfied. it’s a dangerous world out there, but rengoku will be damned if his girl can’t protect herself!

a/n: idk how you managed to be matched w two of the hottest men in their respective franchises LOL it’s just what you deserve, what can i say 😉 anyways, i really hope you liked them !! thank you so much (again) for mine 😁

#match up #match #match trade #bsd #bungou stray dogs #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #kny #dazai #dazai osamu #rengoku kyojuro #rengoku

[namoamii]

New anon here!! I don't get to talk about my thoughts on V3 a lot but I think it's a pretty good discussion topic, I'd like to talk here if that's okay!!

Minor TW for mentions of self harm, discussing 'old' Danganronpa fandom.

I'll be very honest here, I like V3 significantly less then the original 2, I'm excluding UDG from that because I also just don't like it. I used to really hate it, but I've come to terms with it by now.

I think V3 had a lot of potential for good meta commentary, they could've used it to address how people can let themselves be consumed by the media they enjoy. At the time it came out the Danganronpa fandom was pretty close to it's heydey, and it was INFAMOUS for the eccentric, borderline obsessive fans. I think we like to forget that people In Real Life were harming themselves over these games, and for good reason. It's very upsetting to think about, and it gives other fans a "bad rap".

This might be in part what V3 was trying to address, the fans who took their love of the games too far, but to me it just didn't hit home. The overarching plot never really connects anything, it's also very loosely put together, and by the end of the game I'm not really asking "What's going on here?"

A big defense I see of this is that it's intentional. They made a game that felt more soulless as a type of commentary in itself, the death of creativity. I think that's a good interpretation to have! Let people think what they want, but it doesn't really sit well with me personally. Now this is all my opinion of course, it just bugs me a lot that most of the major praise for the game I see comes from very subjective interpretation. That's a bad way of putting it. I guess what I mean is that if that's what the developers intended, they could have and should have shown it more, given it more obvious story beats. You can write a vague story and leave things up to interpretation, a lot of really good stories are just that. There's a limit, though. Just implying most of the story doesn't make it a good writing.

Let your audience connect the dots, yes. Let them come to conclusions, but don't rely on them to completely decode the narrative.

There's also the lying mechanic. Not just in trials, but just the whole motif throughout the game. I really enjoyed that for the most part, it was a new and interesting dichotomy compared to the old Hope vs. Despair, which was running itself a little dry. It would've stayed good. If the ending wasn't such a, for lack of better term, dumpster fire. First of all, I don't think Tsumugi makes for a good mastermind. I understand that she was meant to blend in, be a background character, but even in previous games background characters had something. Tsumugi was just boring. A real corporate plant, which could've been a good twist if, again, there was better foreshadowing. Then the elephant in the room, "It was all fiction!" Very bold choice. I personally don't enjoy being reminded that the fiction I'm consuming is fiction. I use it for escapism, I think a lot of people do. Danganronpa especially works because, while it's dark and pretty gruesome, it never really... feels like the real world. Outside of THH, there's always a tangible level of absurdism. Even in THH, it's not as prominent as in other parts of the series, but it's there. I mean Mondo gets turned into BUTTER. That's fucking ridiculous. Point is, Danganronpa doesn't really feel like it's trying to take place in our world. It's a world like ours, but it's not.

This is part of where V3 really falls apart for me. It really tries to keep the tangible absurdity, there's a (fully sapient??) robot, six talking robot bears, students trapped in a giant vivarium esc dome. None of this would happen in real life! Then, it flips a switch, "This is the real world! Danganronpa drove people crazy, made them do bad things!" And they're right, it did. In OUR world. In reality. Danganronpa is NOT reality, and trying to force that tangibility into V3 almost feels.. shameful. Like the team is judging you for enjoying the media THEY created.

But in the end, not even that matters. Because Tsumugi could be lying. None of what she says is provable. Most of what she says is deceitful at best and just. False at worst. The only proof she has that this takes place in another canon is a SKIN RASH that nobody alive was even there to see. Hell. We're shown a flashback that DIDN'T HAPPEN.

So in the end, what was the point? We're left with more questions than answers, an unsolved mystery, 80% of our cast dead, and an entire franchise almost in shambles (the game also came out on the tailend of DR3, which wasn't done well either, so double whammy in the badly executed department). If you take it at face value, then a beloved series that many people adored suddenly means something completely different (if anything at all) to those who adored it. Or, you love V3, and think it was a good meta commentary, in which case good for you I'm glad you enjoyed it!

If you DON'T take it at face value, then you really don't get any answers. Was Danganronpa fiction? Was it reality? Do the survivors go on to end the killing games? Were there more killing games to begin with? We don't know. We might not ever know.

Side tangent, I know I could just ignore all this. Choose to believe that Tsumugi was lying, or ignore the game altogether, you're absolutely right hypothetical protester. I'm just moderately insufferable about this. Danganronpa is all around not the best written but the first two games were very dear to me and shockingly got me through a lot? I was exposed to it young 😭 but I have media literacy now and enjoy picking the franchise apart and V3 is definitely one of the weaker links for me. Back to the main point.

I understand leaving things open, letting people come to their own conclusions, but you can only leave so many mysteries before people get upset. It's me, I'm people. If I had even a few more answers, something solid, I'd be happier. I won't get that though, because they predicated their game on a lie with no truth.

Bonus that none of this would've been an issue for me if V3 just didn't lean so heavily on world building for it's storytelling.

I'm sorry this was so long I just. I have so many thoughts on V3. I feel it's another case of "Danganronpa having an idea with very solid potential to tackle a serious and/or meaningful topic and woefully mishandling it."

I also have a lot to say about Kokichi but this is already a lot.

I hope you're having a wonderful day thank you for coming to my TED Talk shdhdb

(I asked people’s opinion about V3 a long while ago and this is one of the responses.)

I’m completely blown away by your response as it articulated my frustration with the game so very well. The last trial is indeed a completely non-statement. I think just as you said, and I’m simply rephrasing in my own way: the game mixes up the definitions of Truth, Lie, and Fiction. Fiction can sometimes contain Truth within its Lies, Fiction is so much more nuanced and complicated than just Truth and Lies, centuries of literatures have proved this fact to us (even trial one has taught this to us); the unrealistic and the realistic intermingle, making the critique doesn’t map onto the actual real world — we are not like the in-game audience, we know for sure that danganronpa is a work of fiction and the students are actually fake characters living their fictional lives — Kodaka here is making a straw-man argument by projecting his actual audience onto his fictional audience and calling the former dumb for believing too deeply into his fiction, which he not only created, but also is profiting out of. I might be ok with the former, but his lack of acknowledgement of the latter renders the entire scheme rather insincere and not as self-aware as it wants to be.

Tsumugi is a bad mastermind because she is not the mastermind. She is not Junko who single-handedly facilitated the Despairs and the killing game. She is indeed a corporate plant, a member of the crowd, the true mastermind is the in-game audience who facilitated this reality show.

This might be just my own personal cynicism, but I think the shifted direction might be a result of 1) the lead artist Komatsuzaki’s departure from the game (leaving Kodaka alone to design the characters might be a bad move) and 2) the writer Kodaka tries to be like Eva’s director Anno and show his cynicism to his audience. Of course this is just my personal guess.

Thank you for the response and sorry for the long time it took for me to get to show everyone’s thoughts. I want to respond to y’all as well, so allow me to take a bit more time.

#long post #komaedasks #spoilers

[hifumi-gigolo]

What is the hypmic community like overall? Like the people in it? Im new so im not really sure what to make of it ><

to be honest? I can´t tell you much about the community overall really. and I think most of my personal friends I could ask would say the same thing lol

every community has it´s bad sides....especially online fandom space.

My experience with the hypmic community is largely tumblr based and carefully curated by me (blocking people that give me bad vibes, making friends through this blog which obviously showcases what I like, etc.)

However when I came here I felt...very welcomed. It was the first time I made my own posts and I became pretty known for being Hifumi advocate no.1 over here lmao

I made lots of friends that came and went, and some who I talk to still today. It became pretty quiet on here once the anime wave of fans died down I think or people moved on to other things in 2022 specifically (including me tbh)

BUT UHM. OVERALL. I had and have tons of fun with hpmi peeps on here, I´m seeing lots of new hpmi blogs currently that appeared while I was gone so hiiii

also theres. SO many queer people here. and amazing fan content and so much creativity in art, writing, analysis (the amount of fan divisions is. wow) and love for the boys. I love so many of the people I´ve met and think of them to this day.

I am also pretty sure, just about every interaction on my posts or generally posts by other people have been NICE, people are so nice about art and memes and the takes other people have. I don´t remember someone specifically trying to be negative or mean in the notes of a post.

Idk how much this helps but I tried to be as genuine as possible :)

(very flattered that I was considered safe enough to ask this question to dkskqikw)

#if you do see someone acting maliciously the answer is simple i think #technically you can have fun in any fanbase as long as you don´t bend over backwards to appeal to people. block someone for disliking your #favorite or a character you hate it doesn´t matter #mel talks #ask #Most of all have fun and do what you want

[ariadynamics]

alright, buckle in, girl.

here‘s the thing. i of course found your fanfic first and i remember thinking right away; oh, this is someone who puts a lot of thought and effort into their writing. then, once we started talking a little, i felt a little starstruck tbh - there was this person (you) who was obviously very active in fandom, making GREAT contributions and they were talking to me?! voluntarily?! and so very nicely?! turns out i didn‘t even scrape the surface in my first impression of you, because here‘s what i‘ve learned since: you are a truly wonderful person - kind and caring and involved and incredibly creative and full of ideas. you put so much pressure on yourself and have very high expectations that you hold your contributions to fandom to. you have to deal with so, so, so very much and have had to deal with so, so, so very much for so long that i truly don‘t know how you do it and come out the other side still able to scream about silly brand managers and car boys and hockey boys with us. it‘s impressive and delightful and 100% lovely and i am so glad i get to share a fandom space with you. thanks for being you ❤️!

Oh my GOD, Nonny 😭. I made the mistake of reading this now during my town hall meeting, and I'm feverishly trying my best not to cry.

This is so lovely and kind and overwhelming in the nicest, best possible way.

It's been a tough last few months--tough last few years to be honest, ha--and I often feel like I keep dropping the ball on everything. And like, I probably am! But I'm grateful that you and so many amazing folks here continue to connect and share this space with me.

I have a couple of guesses on who you are, and anyway, love you and thank you for such lovely words.

#anon #aria answers #I'm going to save this for when I feel like everyone hates me