#fandom is not immune from prejudice

[badaziraphaletakes]

The Starmaker: A whole essay apparently

I don’t necessarily think the anti-Aziraphale hate is, for the most part, people projecting - at least not more than would be the case for any other character in any fandom.

I think it is primarily due to anti-Autistic bias, and here's another reason why:

Because the moment the fandom most dislike in Crowley - namely, the moment when they say “Nice to meet you” and go right back to being excited about their stars instead of adhering to social pleasantries - is their most Autistic moment. And happened during the period of time that overall they were acting at their most autism-esque.

So many people have said that moment was them being arrogant and superior and self-absorbed. Autistic people get called that constantly. (I’m ashamed to admit that I too fell into the trap for awhile of thinking that moment was them being arrogant, too. I’m not immune to this kind of bias. Anti-Autistic prejudice is so pervasive in our society that we can’t get away from it.)

People have said Crowley was a better person after they fell (despite the fact that we’ve seen that their defining moral trait, their tendency to question injustice, was already in place before then). Given that post-fall Crowley acts FAR less like an Autistic person, that take gives major “they were acting really Autistic before but then they had a super traumatic experience and that fixed them” vibes, and I REEEEALLY don’t like it. (I also have extremely mixed feelings about the “trauma makes you a better person” idea to begin with, but that’s another conversation).

People are even saying Crowley had to fall in order to become someone who could love Aziraphale and be loved by him… WHAT?!!! I’m going to be doing some thinking about what that implies, but I can tell you right now it’s not good.

Our beautiful, excitable, joyful, Autistic-esque Starmaker was just as worthy of Aziraphale as Crowley is. There was NOTHING bad in what we saw of them as opposed to post-fall Crowley, nothing that suggests they “needed to fall to learn a lesson” or anything like that, and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise.

#good omens #aziraphale #goodomens #good omens 2 #badaziraphaletakes #goodomens2 #crowley #BadCrowleyTakes I guess?

[breadandblankets]

no one asked for my advice but I'm giving it anyway: when you write or make headcanons for a character that is from a different racial or ethnic group to you, you should never ever go with your gut, that way lies racism (or assorted associated prejudice)

if you ever think "idk this just seems right" I would advise you to ask yourself Why you think it just fits

I'll give some examples and they're gonna be batcantric cause that's what I have seen recently:

I saw someone say that they didn't know much about duke but assumed his handwriting to be unreadable chicken scratch

you have to think about what handwriting says about a person and what assumptions someone is making about a person based on their handwriting, what values does society place on handwriting?

or I saw someone headcanons Tim as Jewish, I have seen people say that he was made Jewish in a couple comics that I haven't read but the point stands

what does that headcanon say about what Kind of people are assumed to be Jewish? Why didn't op decide that Jason or Cass or Duke was Jewish instead?

point is you are not immune to fandom racism and neither am I, by pointing this out we can work together to ah u know the meme

#bread talk #this is mostly for white people #and its probably gonna piss someone off #idk tell me if im off the mark #fandom racism

[buckttommy]

I think the fundamental problem a lot of people in this fandom are facing is that both biphobia and homophobia are so deeply ingrained in social spaces (of which fandom is one) that identifying them becomes so, so dicey and complicated for some people to grasp. Ordinarily, I am not someone who gravitates toward labels, but in the case of identifying prejudices, it's important to use as specific a label as is available. One of the reasons white leftists, for example, think they cannot be racist is because many of them treat black people as equals. But when those same white leftists lobby racist jokes at Asians, for example, and are subsequently called out on it, they will swear that they most assuredly are not, and cannot, be racist. This is because AAPI racism is different from BIPOC racism, and thus manifests itself differently.

Similarly, homophobia (directed towards gay men) is different from lesbophobia (directed towards gay women), in the same way that aphobia (directed towards asexual people) is different from biphobia (directed towards bisexual people), and so on, even though there are places where all these phobias intersect, i.e. corrective rape, use of slurs, domestic abuse, etc. When people talk about homo/bi/a/lesbophobia in fandom, very rarely are they talking about blanket instances of homophobia that we can all relate to (things like being ostracized, abused, treated differently, etc). In most instances, people are talking about specific and targeted treatment and responses that people who do not fall under those categories might not pick up on.

So when I say that the response to Buck possibly being queer is both homophobic and biphobic, what I mean is that regarding his love for Eddie as something innocent and pure, while simultaneously regarding his sex / sex drive / any future gay fling he might have as something sleazy, uncomfortable, embarrassing, or gross, is wrong. When I say that making snide remarks about Tommy's age is both homophobic and biphobic (with a little bit of bodyshaming and ageism thrown in there too), what I mean is that that idea that he's "too old" or "weird" or "creepy" for potentially having a thing for Buck calls back to the age-old stereotype that gay men / sex between men is inherently predatory, dirty, shameful, and illegal. When I say that going to bisexual fans and shaming them for their sex / sex drives or implying that bisexual sex or sexual/romantic relationships are somehow inherently shameful, dirty, or promiscuous—well, this should hopefully speak for itself, but this too, is also biphoic and also very, very harmful and wrong.

Aside from the last point (which can only be interpreted one way), I'm almost certain that no one in this fandom intends for their words or actions to come across as harmful because, as I mentioned last night, at the end of the day, we are all still here because of the love between two men. But similar to the aforementioned hypothetical white leftist at the top of this post, being "okay" with one group of people, or, in this instance, one iteration of a group of people (i.e. happy, monogamous queer/gay men) does not automatically mean you are okay with all of them (i.e. salacious, promiscuous, non-monogamous gay men), nor does it mean you are immune to internalizing and subsequently regurgitating harmful ideals.

We are all living in an era now where queer stories are both more accessible, and more under fire than ever. So it's important, as queer people in a largely queer fandom, to be conscious about checking our biases at the door and being open to learning when someone rings you up about something. It's not comfortable. It's deeply unpleasant, and the instinctive response is to be defensive because none of us want to be faced with the fact that we still have work to do. None of us want to be "that guy," nor do we want to be "problematic." But we are problematic, we wouldn't be human if we weren't, and we all have work that needs to be done on ourselves so that we can be the best versions of ourselves, for our sakes and for the sakes of others.

Only once that's been taken care of can we discourse about ships and different character readings all day long. But we must first do the work and look within ourselves to make sure we are engaging with each other, and each other's sexualities, through a core of mutual understanding and respect for each other as human beings and how we identify. Otherwise we are, unironically and quite literally, doing society's work for them and letting prejudice invade a space it does not belong.

So. Yeah. That's all I have to say. Shutting up now.

#jack.txt #umm. is this something #i don't know #okay now i'm done

[princeescaluswords]

My Ground Rules

Let me put this out there:

When I am discussing racism (in fandom or in the culture at large), and I am talking with someone who is a Person of Color, this means that they have insight into the situation that I do not have and that I will never have. This means I must listen and consider what they have to say, and I will. It does not mean that they are always right and it does not mean they get to determine the duration of my interest or the boundaries of my thinking.

When I am discussing misogyny (in fandom or in the culture at large), and I am talking with someone who is a woman, this means that they have insight into the situation that I do not have and that I will never have. This means I must listen and consider what they have to say, and I will. It does not mean that they are always right and it does not mean they get to determine the duration of my interest or the boundaries of my thinking.

When I am discussing homophobia (in fandom or in the culture at large), I am aware that my being gay gives me insight into some situations but not others. This means I must listen to other queer people and straight people and consider what they have to say, and I will. It does not mean that they are always right and it does not mean they get to determine the duration of my interest or the boundaries of my thinking.

And so on.

Being a potential target of racism, misogyny, homophobia or any other form of prejudice does not render an individual immune to participating in racism, misogyny, homophobia or any other form of prejudice. Cultural influence is profound. I also know from personal experience that it is entirely possible to indulge in a self-damaging prejudice. I struggled with internalized homophobia for decades even while I was an activist.

That leads to my age. I am 55. I am actually quite proud of that fact considering some of the boneheaded things I did when I was younger. My being older doesn't mean I am always right, but it also means I am not always wrong. I am allowed to be interested in what I am interested in. My desire to engage and explore has not faded with time, and that's a good thing which I very much hope everyone younger than me gets to experience. Bringing my age up as a negative is not the trump card some people think it is.

I will talk about what I want to talk about on my blog, and I will react how I wish to react on other people's posts. I will strive to be polite, but I won't be silent in the face of what I see as injustice. It's the least I can do in gratitude for the life I have lived.

#racism #misogyny #fandom racism #fandom misogyny #ageism #fandom ageism #don't try to shut me up

[look-how-they-massacred-them]

Wanted to chime in on the Jon Sims poll really quick because while I get where those people are coming from, I honestly think most of the fandom at large these days are missing the point. They're viewing The Magnus Archives from a lenses of "this is a horror story and in horror stories the protagonist is supposed to survive and win against the horror". Because honestly, that's what we've kind of been conditioned to think with modern horror media.

But that's not what The Magnus Archives is. From the beginning, Rusty Quill were explicitly up front that this series was not just a horror. But that it's a tragedy. The tragedy of The Magnus Archives is that Jon, no matter what he tried, was stuck in a cycle of abuse, manipulation, and prejudice. It didn't matter what he did to try and fix things. He's a traumatized, queer, introverted man living in a society that will chew him up and spit him out into the trash, throwing him under the bus if it means that they'll get what they want, regardless of his agency. We see it with his boss. We saw it with the hunters. We even saw glimpses of this with those he considered friends or allies. Even the people he loves most and who truly love him aren't absolutely immune to this kind of behavior, because that's what they've been raised on and been exposed to.

It hurt watching Jon's story end the way it did. But at the same time, I understood it. The Tragedy of Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist, and the Eye's Chosen Avatar, is that no matter what he did, things ended the way that we saw. And I truly think that, despite of it all, despite the unfairness, Jon's story was handled with more care than most of his contemporaries are given.

So I'm okay with how Jon was handled. Even if I don't agree with all of the choices.

.

#the magnus archives #the magnus archives jon #jonathan sims

[solahsaavan]

The more I age, the more my urge to stay away from fandom culture (social media in general to be honest) grows. The news of Song Joong-ki's relationship just once again confirmed my belief that being chronically online makes you a bitter loser. And as I am not entirely immune to internet culture either, I will be participating in this unnecessary conversation as well.

I will start by saying it was lovely to see a Korean celeb (male) not going to the extremes to hide their relationship. Also unexpected considering how publicised his last relationship was. Unsurpsingly, the entire conversation once again head back to his divorce a few years back. I agree with the sentiment that Song Hye-kyo was indeed the victim of misogyny by Sjk's rabid fanbase, the general public and the media during that brief period. I also believe the reaction of k-netz and media would have been much nastier if it was Shk dating a foreigner. What no one seems to be talking about is the thinly-vield misogynist comments thrown at his current girlfriend (because everyone is an active participant in this).

And this vile behavior was not exhibited by the 'culturally conservative' Korean general public but the progressive and enlightened international side of k-drama community(both his fans and non-fans included). I went to see the reaction of stan twitter once the news broke and it was largely negative and deranged to my unsurprise. Everyone kept expressing their disgust because he was dating a 'white woman'. Comments talking about how they wished he had dated a 'poc black/brown queen' or wanting to see 'poc representation' in the dating lives of Korean male celebs. This bizarre pattern of wanting non-black/brown men to date black/brown woman isn't just limited to the k-community. I have noticed white male celebs being put on a pedestal everytime they date a black/brown woman. This reeks of internal insecurity (and racism) that can only be healed if men outside your own race find you attractive. Why do you need Korean oppas to date your race for your existence and beauty to be validated anyway? And this comes all the way back to the 'y/n' part of fandom culture. If Sjk has dated a poc woman, this would have given (wishful)validation to his poc fans that they might have a chance too. And this has manifested in his fangirls by putting themselves against her. The same old misogynist tantrums thrown by fangirls in a parasocial relationship with their oppa: but this time under the more sophisticated banner of 'hating on a white woman'. To his 'GROWN' International female fans: beyond pathetic that you are unconsciously acting as the same whiny Korean 'oppa is mine' fans that start acting like immature teenagers everytime their oppa is spotted next to a woman (and that you so condemn a lot). To the others on stan twitter commenting about how 'Sjk degraded from THE Song Hye-kyo to a white woman': how very feminist of you to defend Shk from misogyny by indulging in more misogny. All of this is a consequence of hive mentality and echo chambers that come with being terminally online. These people are so deluded by the anonymity of social media, it doesn't even occur to them that the words they put on the internet can be a reflection of their deeply-held prejudices.

Might as well share some more random thoughts while I'm at it. His girlfriend is apparently half-Columbian and has more melanin in her skin than all his previous (korean)co-stars combined. This leads me to think some of the bitterness expressed by stan twitter is due to Sjk not dating one of their fave unnies(talking about delusional shippers here). And that woman is a gorgeous one and no less deserving of their oppa than a Korean beauty. Dismissing her appearance as bland and white because she is white doesn't take away from the fact you are still degrading a woman to uphold a man. Some of the commenters talking about this giving hope to middle-aged white Koreaboos need a bit of self-reflection. Having a fetish for Korean men isn't just limited to white women. Non-East Asian are very much Koreaboos. Ask anyone on the street and they might say the one with a social media account dedicated to a Korean male celeb is more appropriate for the term 'Koreaboo'. And not the woman who has no previous history with Korea or Korean men. Might I also add she is only a year older than Sjk so calling her middle-aged implying an older woman /younger man relationship is very weird and ageist.

All of this aside, the entire discourse around the experience of POC women has always seemed shallow and exhausting to me. The blanket term 'POC' itself is very vague and doesn't even remotely come close to describing non-white women. My experience as a South-Asian brown woman would be as alien to a black/East-Asian woman as it would be to a white woman. I have never felt represented by the depiction of black/East-Asian women in global mainstream culture.

#song joong ki #reborn rich #vincenzo #kdrama #kpop #fandom #fangirl #fandom culture #stan twitter #stan twt #misogny #poc women

[avarindigenous]

I’m sort of peripheral to silm fandom- I’ve read it enjoyed and I like that people make things about it but I don’t remember enough about the characters to really engage, I just hang out. Also I’m white. When I first found the silm fandom on tumblr one of the things that seemed really exciting about it was the racial diversity in fan works (HEllo Black Galadriel) but I also agree that I’ve noticed a decrease in the diversity of characters in the fanart I’ve seen recently. I wonder if it has anything to do with the new show? I wasn’t in the good omens fandom before the show was made but the impression I’ve gotten is that the characters were much more regularly portrayed an non-white before white actors played them. I wonder if fan artists/writers who were not particularly dedicated to diversity in arda are seeing the predominantly white cast (except for random ocs? What’s up with that?) of a Silmarillion-adjacent show and going oop! guess they were white all along! I don’t know if that’s what’s happening, but I’ve wondered what the effect of the show is going to be on fandom and this might be one of the first things we see. I’m glad to have found your blog and I hope that the trend doesn’t continue.

I think there are a lot of factors at play when it comes to the question of why this has happened, and the frustrating part is that most of it has very little to do with conscious racism.

as I mentioned in other reblog chains of the post you’re referring to, there’s been a downgrade in general fandom activity the past two years or so. the Silmarillion fandom tends to have a “cycle” of three to six years when people are most active - a new blog comes in and starts posting about a particular topic, it attracts attention and other like-minded blogs join in the conversation, the same points get rediscovered and newly discussed and litigated by each group of people, and then eventually people cease actively posting as much, either by leaving the fandom, leaving the site for somewhere else like Twitter, or by simply being less present online. because the conversation can get very toxic and political (from an intracommunity perspective) those of us who do manage to pay attention for years, even by lurking, usually refrain after a while from taking part in discussions and focus on content creation or on appreciating others’ art and fanfiction.

on that note, I don’t think it’s much of a secret that the Tolkien fandom is not a particularly chill or calm fandom space, even excluding questions of bigotry and prejudice. people get very attached to their interpretations of canon (myself included) and many will react very harshly to perceived bad takes or bad-faith engagement, or will take someone disagreeing with them over a characterization detail or a plot point as a personal slight. friendships have been ended, harassment campaigns have been launched, and groups of people have been bullied into lifelong trauma, all over questions of textual analysis. even if there’s no harassment present, a larger blog posting a “controversial” opinion is almost guaranteed to lose followers and receive anon hate or passive-aggressive DMs. you’ll note I’m not giving specific examples of what kinds of opinions trigger this behavior, and that’s because no one is immune to it. the reason I separate this from bigotry is because it truly is about scholarship. it’s the equivalent of giving a controversial talk at an academic conference and having all your friends cease to talk to you because they’ve decided you’re abrasive and rude simply for voicing your own opinions. why this is relevant in a conversation about diversity is that I need to make it clear that in order to be comfortable in this fandom space in the first place, you need to be comfortable with everyone in the world finding fault with your ideas and interpreting them in the most bad-faith way possible even if you’re white and you never talk about racism or diversity or LGBTQ+ issues at all. the people who endure this (which is anyone and everyone who develops some sort of large following on Tumblr and probably Twitter as well) and who decide to stay in the fandom will usually become extremely uninterested in anything but reblogging other people’s work and shitposting, or will else block everyone they never want to see their posts and threat monitor to avoid discourse and backlash.

fanartists, more than fanfic writers and editors and meta writers and analysts and even shitposters, are the backbone of the Tumblr Tolkien fandom. all of the other kinds of fanworks - including songs and fanvids! - are significantly less likely to get serious engagement. what the Silmarillion fandom “looks” like is crafted by the artists, and fandom activity lives and dies by fanart. graphics, fanfic, and other works get more engagement if there is an active fanart scene. the trouble here is that fanartists never stay in the fandom long, usually averaging two or three years. right now, almost all the fanartists regularly posting are drawing white characters, and there aren’t a lot of fanartists period. as a result, nothing is really getting noticed - @arwenindomiel mentioned trouble getting graphics to crack a hundred notes, and other friends of mine who aren’t white and make diverse edits have had trouble for years getting more than twenty or thirty people to like and more than five or six to reblog. even when they include white people, the situation isn’t much better.

as mentioned once more in other posts on the subject, being a POC and not having anyone engage with you is depressing. no asks, no fanfic prompts, no edit prompts, no interest in the creative work we do - even if we never face racism through direct slurs or criticism, the silence is exhausting and isolating. additionally, since several of us had a limited platform only a few years ago that now seems to have dried up entirely, we face the question of why we bother, why we create. this becomes even more frustrating if we love the canon and aren’t constantly angry about Tolkien, and want to reblog and talk about the things we like rather than assuaging white guilt, validating posts made by white allies about how they noticed something problematic (which also comes under assuaging white guilt; no one is helped by self-righteous “look, this thing in the text is bad!” posts because nothing in the text is mysterious or hidden, and fans of color have been aware of the problems for many years), or talking about how the text has problems. I genuinely like the story and the worldbuilding and it is my right to choose not to engage with the racism in ways dictated by an online fandom because I am always engaging with the racism in everything I do, but the posts that get noticed and that start conversations are posts about the problems in the text. this creates a space where fans of color are only allowed to be fans of Tolkien if we always hate him and hate being in these spaces, which is a negativity that takes a serious psychological toll and makes fandom feel like a duty. on top of this, we’re uniquely vulnerable to being singled out for bad takes as mentioned above, which makes wanting to speak out in the first place a daunting proposition. there’s very little room for error, or for opinions that go against the grain, and what little room there is is usually reserved for white fans.

the end result is where we are now - very little fanart, relatively little queer content, and almost everything featuring white faces. I’m unsure if I want to blame all of this on the show, as it’s a consequence of people cycling out and people being less proactive as well as general unexamined bigotry (it’s as if we reserve our vitriol for our fellow fans’ perceived bad takes and not actual structural problems in the community). it’s a frustrating problem that could be solved both by an attempt to be kinder to people we disagree with (and I am including myself, I am making a conscious effort to be as calm and as compassionate and as understanding as possible, but I’m certainly not perfect) and by resolving to champion diversity and diverse voices.

but this is a mess, all told, and I’m not sure how we can solve it.

#fandomconvo #replies #fandom racism #sort of

[septemberrie]

Trope Game

Thank you for the tag @junkshop-disco! I really liked reading your thoughts on your tastes and found out they are honestly a bit different than mine! Love that our fandom isn't just one thing.

Rules: How much do these tropes affect your decision to click on a fic?

-10 -> very dissuaded

0 -> don’t care either way

10 -> very enticed

nope -> if it’s a hard no and you’d never click on a fic with that tag or or you even have the tag blocked or you’d insta click out of the fic if it wasn’t tagged.

Bonus points for explaining the rating and whether it’s conditional

Age Gap: 2/10

Age gaps used to be one of my kinks, but then I got older and well… tastes change!

Codependency: 0/10

I think my answer for a lot of these is going to be, “‘yes’ for my angsty ships, ‘no’ for my healthy ships.” So… yeano?

Enemies to lovers: 10/10

Gimme dat shit. I love starting with interpersonal conflict and growing from there.

Enemies With Benefits: 3/10

I actually will eat up dubcon if it’s in a dark setting that calls for it, i.e. fantasy. I’ll avoid it in contemporary/modern settings bc the real world has enough of that.

Fake Dating/Relationship: 0/10

I’m not opposed to it, upon reflection my issue with it is that “I can't relate to this trope IRL" but I could say that about most of the tropes on this list so I can’t really explain my hesitance lol.

Found Family: 10/10

Who doesn’t love found family??? What in the tradwife

Friends To Lovers: 0/10

Only if there's lots of pining.

Friends With Benefits: 0/10

See: “fake dating” above.

Hurt/Comfort: 100/10

See JD’s comments, and if I may add my own: whump is my shortcut to emotions. I love forcibly removing society’s layers of hesitation and complexity and expectations, and stripping characters to their basest needs and seeing how they react. I feast.

Love Triangle: 0/10

Probably done better on ao3 than mass media but I’m still pretty meh.

Mistaken/Hidden Identity: 0/10

Is this like the Patrick Crawley/Gordon episode of Downton Abbey? Or like… a secret spy falls in love with the mark? No for the former, maybe for the latter; I can't think of any fics like this that have showed up in my browsing.

Monster Fu… Relationship: -5/10

I did read the Burned One x Rosalind fic and ummmm it's not for me. I am however not immune to paranormal romances (still unironically Team Jacob).

Obsession, Possessiveness, etc: -2/10

I mean… for my angsty, unhealthy ships, yes. But I've got to be in the mood for it obv.

Opposites (like grumpy×sunshine, etc): 0/10

…yes? I guess? In that I like reading about two people that aren’t carbon copies of each other. How do they navigate normal difficulties, etc. etc.

Poly: 0/10

Smut, 100%. Relationships? I’m wracking my brain trying to think of an example where I care about all three characters lol. Iron Widow, that worked!

Pregnancy: -10/10

It's a "nope" if the whole point of the fic is pregnancy. If it's part of a larger story/plot then maybe.

Second Chance: 10/10

Holy shit yes, I love the angst. Especially when it’s something out of their control that forced them apart. I don't think I've written this yet but I should add it to my list.

Sex To Feelings: 3/10

Yes, but after reflecting I think I’m more interested in the opposite: Feelings without sex because ~angst reasons~ prevent/preclude the sex. Until it all comes out in a fiery explosion of lust! I digress.

Slowburn: 9/10

The hand touch from Pride & Prejudice (2005) dir. Joe Wright is my middle name. I’m willing to negotiate on how slow is “slow” as long as it makes sense within the story.

Soulmates: 0/10

Only when it creates more angst! I still live in the world @shadowofnight proposed, where Saul and Andreas are “soulmates” with the matching mark or whatever but Saul chooses to be with Farah anyway.

Tagging: @astrid-v @whenshesayshush @theperfectrose @veritaserum07 no pressure ofc!

#ask games #tag games #me my opinions etc #writing tag

[1016anon]

Title: Random Vampire AU Author: 55anon Fandom: Bridgerton Pairing: Anthony Bridgerton/Kathani Sharma Summary: The Opera.

A/N -- For context: Camilla's attitude is similar to the disgusting prejudices people had about mixed race marriages.

-5-

The opera was always quite popular among the members of the coven, for obvious reasons. Benedict and Eloise begged off that night, Daphne and Simon decided to attend, as did (unfortunately) Violet. Colin always relished an opportunity to mingle among society without the threat of being singed; even Francesca, with a bit of clever make-up, jewelry, a strategically placed tiara, could attend without raised eyebrows regarding her (perceived) age. Those among the intellectual and artistic set also enjoyed attending.

It was most convenient; otherwise Anthony would have had to hold monthly meetings disguised as dinner parties or somesuch nonsense to attend to the more mundane responsibilities as Head of Coven. The Bridgerton box at the opera acted as a place for Anthony to essentially hold court, adjudicate disputes, &tc.

When they had first moved to England, there had been all sorts of conflicts which required intervention. Anthony had to establish basic rules (one would have thought "do not eat the staff" was obvious, but they all came from different backgrounds and were used to different norms), inform coven members of English quirks ("no Catholicism, Juliette, you cannot wear a rosary," "Ibrahim, please refrain from mentioning Cromwell," "yes, the tea is terrible, Zhao Mei, but stop making it a talking point"), generally fish them out of trouble with the locals. Now that one hundred years had passed, things had for the most part settled into an easy rhythm.

That was not to say that the move to England was without violence. There were native English vampires who did not take kindly to a moderately sized, collectively ancient, monetarily wealthy, well organized foreign coven inserting themselves into the highest echelons of English society and establishing themselves as the dominant group of vampires in London.

Anthony himself didn't care about the internal scuffles between the various English covens, which all had an extremely stratified, inflexible hierarchical organization; nor did he pay attention to territorial politics and notions about duty to crown and country. Island or not, boundaries of nations and empires always changed. As far as Anthony was concerned, so long as the English didn't make trouble or go on some kind of conversion spree in an attempt to drive his coven out, they could do whatever they wanted.

There blood enough to spare for everyone; Simon had made sure of it before they left the Continent. In Benedict's lackadaisical estimation, the population could probably use some culling; the cities were teeming with humans.

Daphne, ever the diplomat (and irrepressible optimist), encouraged Anthony to make some overtures to the groups as a sign of good faith. Which he did. Reluctantly. But he was polite. He'd even ironed out his English accent to get rid of the French lilt.

They responded by trying to assassinate him. So he killed the assassins by dismembering them and leaving them to turn to dust in the sun. And that was that.

He did not retaliate. Retaliation always prolonged conflict until it was an all out, rather pointless war which inevitably drew the attention of humans and larger covens overseas; it simply wasn't worth the time, effort, and resources. The assassination attempt had been unsuccessful; there was no reason to escalate by going after whichever hapless English coven's leaders.

There was one attempt by the locals to go on the aforementioned conversion spree to provoke the aforementioned war; it was quashed quickly enough.

This was the advantage of having the collective age possibly longer than the existence of the human species: immunity to sunlight and experience so vast there was very little in life at least one member had not seen or done. Anthony, Simon, and Daphne never bothered to give their coven a name, but the English took to calling them the Ancients. Which... was better than the alternative (Those Bloody Foreign Normans Pansies).

("But the Normans conquered--"

"Ibrahim, I don't think they're thinking about the finer points of English history. It's supposed to be an insult. They barely know how to write their own names."

"I know that, Dvorah.")

The name had an interesting effect; it gave the impression there was an age requirement to join the coven. Anthony (and the rest of the coven) did nothing to disabuse the English of that notion; young vampires were often so erratic in their appetites and still struggling with self control. It was tiresome. The rather arbitrary age minimum was apparently set at half a millennium. Which... Francesca was only three hundred twenty-six years of age, but that was decidedly not Anthony's problem.

It was in this context that Anthony had found himself escorting Kathani to the opera. Anthony, in his love-drunk haze, had completely forgotten about this particular duty, only looking forward to watching Kathani's reactions; she had confessed to loving opera.

However, instead of settling comfortably in his box sharing private, intimate conversation with his love before the opera began, he was subjected to a revolving door of coven members who all seemed to very conveniently have problems which, actually, they couldn't recall what it was about anymore, it wasn't that important, but would Anthony provide an introduction to the beautiful young lady on his arm?

Whilst Anthony's frustration mounted, Kathani's amusement grew. She had (rightly) surmised that these were others of Anthony's kind and teased him that he'd failed to mention he was some sort of vampiric royalty. Anthony took extreme offense to this.

"Are you implying I am a petty old man sitting in a damp castle wearing a ridiculous brass hat hatching plans with no understanding of military maneuvers to squabble over a sliver of land with no strategic value?"

She blinked.

"That is very specific, my Lord."

"I am a Roman, Kathani," he said, as though this explained everything.

She laughed at him outright-- the sound was so bright and lovely that he did not mind and almost forgot to glare at the next vampire who tried to kiss Kathani's hand. She had become quite adept at maneuvering around them.

They were deliberately pushing at the boundaries of English etiquette and Anthony bloody hated it. At least she was wearing gloves, though in his opinion, they were still much too thin. Did no one think of propriety these days?!

He was distantly aware that they did this precisely because Anthony reacted so strongly and they found it hilarious. To see their Head of Coven so discomfited was truly a sight to behold. This was their one chance to tease him; everyone assumed he and Miss Sharma would complete the bond, she would be turned, and after that no one would dare (or be able to) take such liberties-- not if they wanted to keep all their limbs.

When one lived for centuries, one had to seize upon what amusements crossed one's path, lest the malaise of boredom set in and one did something foolish like walk into the sun because one thought it would be a novel experience (until one's last thought before death was regret for one's own stupidity).

Anthony didn't necessarily blame them for taking advantage of the opportunity. Most, if not all, of the coven members knew some variation of his story; he himself would have been curious to meet the human in question if it had been another vampire. Seeing a flame pair was not terribly uncommon; seeing a vampire-human pair was somewhat uncommon, though not so rare as to warrant this level of interest.

Seeing a vampire-human pair where the human had been killed with Prometheus Fire and then reborn was literally the stuff of legend; it was like witnessing an albino python with seven pearls on its head protecting a nest of sleeping songbirds.

It was his own fault for forgetting what Going to the Opera entailed for him as Head of Coven. Still, he supposed this was as good a time as any to introduce Kathani to the coven; with their curiosity satisfied, he now had justification for beating them off with a sixty foot iron bar.

What surprised Anthony was how unsurprised Kathani was.

"Lady Danbury informed me this might happen."

"She did?"

"I didn't expect this many people would seek an introduction, but she did say your kind would regard me as a sort of novelty."

Right. This confirmed Anthony suspicion: Danbury wanted a favor. It must be something very big, for her to go to such lengths. Anthony grimaced at the thought.

The last time Danbury asked for a favor, it brought him a little too close to Camilla for his comfort; Anthony preferred at least three degrees of separation.

"You're not a novelty, darling."

"Your friends are certainly treating me as one."

Anthony was about to slam the door to his box in the face of the next person in the queue (good god, there was a queue), but Kathani took his arm and smiled.

"I do not mind," she said. "Truly, Anthony. In many ways I'm quite flattered by the attention. Some of your friends have made it a point to tell me they have not ventured out of their home for the past seventy years."

"Are you certain? Because I will bar them at intermission."

"Yes, I am quite all right. Besides, the opera will begin soon."

Unfortunately, Anthony was not able to pay attention to Kathani in the manner he'd originally intended; he'd planned on driving her to distraction until she became aroused (and annoyed-- it was delightful to provoke that reaction from her). However, having been mobbed by the coven, he could not help but think on who Kathani would be once they were bound to each other; or rather, what role she would have to play.

Because Anthony was now Head of Coven; obviously he had responsibilities, but Kathani would also gain responsibilities simply by virtue of being his wife.

Four hundred years ago, he had been beholden to no one. He'd managed, with Simon's help, to disappear with Kathani and they had lived for five years in marital bliss. He'd known-- but hadn't understood-- what he was risking by going to ground; Anthony to this day didn't know how Berbrooke found them. He had been so careful with their scents, their identities, his feeding habits.

He'd known Camilla thought vampire-human flames to be unnatural; he'd known she'd thought children born of a hybrid union were disgusting. It was why he'd hidden himself and Kathani away; Camilla had significant reach, resources, and was more than willing to use them. Anthony took the measures he did because he needed to protect his family.

What he'd sorely underestimated Camilla's willingness to eliminate Kathani and their child. He hadn't known Camilla's beliefs with regards to human flames were those of an absolute fanatic and murderous zealot. Most of her attitudes towards humans were commonplace, but when it came to twin flames-- they were extreme.

Camilla was... interesting.

Young, ambitious, and ruthless, she was an excellent coven leader. He and Simon had come into her coven's orbit because of Daphne; Simon joined the coven for obvious reasons and where Simon went, Anthony followed, and vice versa. One was never far from the other.

However, Anthony had never committed-- as he'd reminded Daphne-- he'd never taken the oaths which Camilla had required of her coven. He sort of came and went as he pleased, toyed with the idea of joining, then decided he liked his freedom too much to give it up for her coven's not inconsiderable protection.

Berbrooke had said he was one of her favorites, but he was a favorite in the sense that he was part of a matched set: Simon and Anthony had, over the centuries, gained a reputation and having them both in her coven would have been, Anthony gathered, something of a coup.

At the time, Anthony hadn't paid attention to whatever power plays were going on. Perhaps having them both as oath-bound members of her coven would have bolstered her reputation; or made the coven more powerful; or been the prize of her collection-- who knew. She did seem to collect vampires and had a good number individuals well over a thousand years old (e.g. Benedict and Eloise).

The point was, she was determined to have the matched set and offered all sorts of things to Anthony if he joined the coven: high rank, great wealth, an endless supply of virgin blood for all she cared (Anthony never understood this preference for virgin blood. In his opinion, it tasted like underripe fruit).

Then Anthony had met Kathani and shortly thereafter, disappeared.

Camilla was not stupid; she was frighteningly sharp and intelligent. Anthony would not have taken the care to disappear so completely and carefully for a temporary liaison, nor would he have felt the need to hide if the individual in question was a vampire. The conclusion was obvious: he had found his twin flame, and that flame was human.

Now, Camilla did not hate humans any more than humans could hate cattle. She did not have fond memories of being human, but that did not signify. Humans did not indiscriminately kill all their cattle because one bull trampled a boy; nor did they kill the bull. What was the boy doing, standing in the path of a bull? Obviously something stupid.

But for a vampire to be twinned with a human? To complete the bond while the other half was still human?

Humans were good for food and good for fucks, but they were not flames. Zeus might have fallen in love with Io, a mortal, but he certainly did not fall in love with the heifer.

Anthony had disappeared, twinned to a flame who was human, bond consummated, and he had not turned her. There were very, very few reasons why he may not have turned her; humans were usually ecstatic to be offered eternal life with their twin flame.

The first possible reason: his flame was a sun-worshipper.

The second: his flame was part of a death cult.

The third: his flame was vain and wanted to gamble that they would be reborn, then would meet and be turned when they were younger (this was never worked, but people always tried).

The fourth: his flame was the ruler of an empire and turning them would destabilize the region and lead to a hundred years of warfare.

None of these reasons precluded an introduction to the coven.

Moreover, the first two were easily solved: turn the flame against their will. After a few hundred years, they got over it.

The third was simply an extended deferral of the flame becoming a vampire.

The fourth could be resolved with careful management of the regime's transition to its next ruler. The situation was not unprecedented.

There was no need to disappear in any of these scenarios.

So there was the fifth: they planned on having a child.

And this, Camilla would not abide.

The human had to go.

She sent Berbrooke, supplied him with Prometheus Fire because it was the only way to eliminate the abomination. And if Anthony had turned her into a vampire, then Prometheus Fire wouldn't harm her. It was the ideal solution.

After the human was taken care of, Camilla would have forgiven the trespass. She would have let the entire affair disappear in the annals of apocrypha, even after Anthony had killed Berbrooke and all those newly turned vampires.

But then, it became personal.

Anthony left, taking Simon and Daphne with him, along with several members of her coven.

All for the bestial, unnatural union with a human.

Or so Camilla claimed.

Later, Benedict noted there had been several civilizations and cultures where vampire-human children had been quite common, even among non-flame pairings, and the children produced were accepted with open arms. Anthony had never heard of such civilizations or cultures; he suspected Benedict had either invented it in a misguided attempt to comfort Anthony, or he'd read about it in one of Eloise's books regarding utopias.

However, it was true that vampire-human children were not the abominations Camilla considered them to be. The very existence of a spell, the fact it was common knowledge, and the ease with which Anthony had found it, was proof of this. And while Benedict may have exaggerated regarding frolicking fields of children from hybrid unions, Anthony did recall that in Rome, they had not been forbidden.

Then again, many things which had been permitted in Rome were now considered unnatural in the current day and age.

Despite the coven's ogling of Kathani, they did not consider her a novelty; they considered her a legend. The strength of character for a soul to survive that sickening fire, then to return only four hundred years later (truly, sometimes it took far longer for souls to decide they wanted to brave the mystical horror show of human existence again), and fall in love without her memories-- Benedict could squeeze at least four epic poems, seventy-two myths, and start a religion out of their tale.

Anthony decided, watching her smile as the curtain rose for the second act of the opera, that all the considerations regarding her role in the coven could be put off for later.

Right now, his only duty to anyone was to make Kathani fall in love with him, and to make himself fall that much more in love with her.

He brushed his nose against the nape of her neck and inhaled slowly, taking comfort from the warmth of her presence.

The rest of the night was not dedicated to distraction, but soft, gentle, thorough exploration of her exposed back, shoulder blades, spine. When she turned to look at him, all she saw was reverence-- a profound sense of wonder for the miracle of her existence.

How could she not fall in love, touch by touch, kiss by kiss, when he looked at her as though she was his world?

#bridgerton #kathony #fanfiction #vampire au

[lotus-start]

ok but putting “dni if you’re racist/queerphobic/bigot/etc.” in your carrd isn’t going to work. same with specific fandoms. it’s just putting your triggers out there and going to invite trolls.

like I’ve seen this so much but no neonazi is gonna look at the dni and go “oh I guess I won’t touch :(“ no. they will. the best you can do is block and do your best to educate yourself, and make it clear your online space is not a place of hate. and if u mess up? learn from it and move on. keep on learning and blocking. report posts. actually act/educate yourself and don’t let hate speech grow online.

also these dnis just feel like virtue signaling. you aren’t immune to bigoted propaganda just because you are queer, bipoc, or anything else. you are not immune to being prejudiced and ignorant because these biases are ingrained in us since birth.

I have have seen orientalism en masse in queer fandoms, especially with botw and various game/anime fandoms.

ppl with huge dnis about how they’re against bigotry did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to listen to other folks criticizing links gerudo outfit in its orientalist/fetishizing nature of Arabs. instead, people were too busy making fan art and fanfic and going “but I enjoy it 🥺” to listen. just because you are queer doesn’t make you immune to bigoted ideals. no one is immune to prejudice.

it’s Puritanism. online lgbtq fandoms have cultivated a culture of obsessing over not being problematic and proving to others that they’re Not a Bigot that we have completely forgotten what it means to. actually try and do the right thing.

good isn’t a thing you are. it’s a thing you do. you can put all the dnis in your carrd. but does it even matter if you’re not going to try and educate yourself and figure out how mutual aid works? or how to help your friends?

fandom shouldn’t be the primary space for activism. there’s plenty of spaces online for that. search there. just. just learn to listen to others. that’s all I’m asking.

#legend of zelda #fandoms #purity culture #cancel culture #carrds #tumblr #tek rambles #bro I’m tired

[mega-ringsandthings-world]

Idk if you’ve talked about this before, so I’m sorry if you have, but do you have any sexuality headcanons for any Hunger Games characters? I have . . . a lot.

My biggest one is that I definitely think Katniss is ace and not straight. I personally think she’s an ace lesbian, though that’s entirely projection on my end. A lot of the scenes in the first book especially read as someone who doesn’t like men, or who’s aro. Like. I know these are all Katniss not liking Peeta right away, but the way she explains not knowing what she’s doing with the romance and not feeling anything when she kisses him? It read as someone who doesn’t like men. The way she explains not being able to provide the love that leads to a family? I know that was just her not wanting to have kids due to the Games, but the way it was described really read as someone who hadn’t quite come to terms with their sexuality. Anyway sorry for this rant on Katniss but ace lesbian Katniss is a hill I will die on.

As for other characters. I like to think a lot of the Victors were queer in some way. Johanna? A lesbian. Finnick and Annie? Both bi. Enobaria and Cashmere? They’re girlfriends, actually. I feel like it adds some level of nuance but that depends on how accepting you think Panem is (I think it’s definitely not great but that’s a conversation for a different day).

I have a lot more headcanons for other characters (the Careers, Madge) but I’d love to hear yours! Especially for Gale, since I have no idea for him.

Glad you asked! I'll start by saying that I don't think of a lot of the THG characters as straight, with a few exceptions. I’m on the roof about Peeta, but I feel Mrs. Everdeen is bi, perhaps her and Madge’s mother had a thing when they were younger. Tigris is definitely a lesbian. I do see Katniss as either ace/demisexual, and then as either bisexual/pansexual. She does feel physical desire, and she's not immune to noting when someone is beautiful/attractive (she constantly remarks on the handsomeness/beauty of Gale/Finnick/Cashmere/so on) but rarely if ever feels that physical pull, unless she is very emotionally close to the person. Which def screams ace/demi and bi/pan. It does fit with the way she approaches relationships and such in general. So it makes me uncomfortable to see her over-sexualization by the fandom. She prefers camaraderie/classifying affection as an emotional bond and expressing of affection through actions, and seems unsure/uncomfortable labeling her relationships, even those that would seem romantic from another perspective.I see it as her not so much having a sexuality crisis, as her just being ace, and preferring to just take her sweet time about picking and choosing what to do that’s normal in a relationship. She just doesn’t like labels. Or pressure. Given time and no unfortunate interruptions, I hold that she would have eventually entered into a relationship with Gale of her own accord. Although it's not my personal headcanon that Katniss is a lesbian, I do see her in potential relationships with women. Such as her and Johanna, and in a special AU of mine, her and Cashmere.  But I do agree that a lot of the characters are queer, (yes to Finnick being bi) and canonically Panem is "accepting" in terms of sexuality, in the books, the gender of Finnick's Capitol lovers are never confirmed, and in Tbosas, there's two instances of same-sex couples. In a place as “exotic” as the Capitol, acceptance would be more more mainstream, as convoluted as that is. Funnily enough, the Districts might be less accepting, as each district holds it’s own customs and prejudices, and the people of the districts are not as “carefree” and “pleasure-seeking” as the Capitol, to put it mildly. Gale is bi. He had a thing with either Thom or Bristle once, and he is a very reserved person relationship-wise, prefers to hold back until he’s sure of his feelings. I don’t buy the bullshit of him being a player in District 12, that was a mess to add in, but I think he’s not above using his physical beauty to his advantage. He wouldn’t label himself either, to him it is what it is.

#thg #the hunger games #thg meta #katniss everdeen #thg fandom #catching fire #mockingjay #tbosas

[historiavn]

AGATHA MORRIBLE

THE SORCERESS’ DAUGHTER

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀UNIVERSE :     Wicked / Wizard of Oz

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀CLASSIFICATION  :    Original Character

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀CASTED WITH  :      Anya Taylor Joy

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀AVAILABLE CROSSOVERS :      This muse can be written in any fandom, universe, or time period!

━━━━┅━━     001. ⠀ ⠀BASIC FACTS

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀ NAME  :      Agatha Morrible

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀ ALIAS(ES)  :      _

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀TITLE(S)  :      Teaching Assistant

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀PRONOUNS  :      She / Her / Hers.

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀SEXUALITY  :      Panromantic Pansexual

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀HOMETOWN  :      Emerald City

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀RESIDENCE  :      Shiz University

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀ LANGUAGE(S)  :      English

━━━━┅━━ ⠀ ⠀ 002. ⠀ ⠀ DEMEANOR

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀MYERS-BRIGGS    :      ENFJ

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀TRAIT KEYWORDS  :     Charismatic, Gentle, Outgoing, Curious, Naïve, and Energetic. Although she enjoys all forms of learning, her sheltered childhood means that she is prone to seeming a bit condescending while explaining things that she is passionate about.

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀MOST SIMILAR TO  :    Allison Hamilton (The Notebook), Effie Trinket (The Hunger Games), Amy March (Little Women), Caroline Forbes (The Vampire Diaries), Fleur Delacour (Harry Potter), Rarity (My Little Pony).

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀HOBBIES  :      Witchcraft, Singing, Chess, Gardening, Piano, Fashion Design, Socializing.

╭      ⁞ ❏. ⠀INTERESTS  :   Sorcery, History, Music, Art, Nature, Fashion.

━━━━┅━━ ⠀ ⠀ 003. ⠀ ⠀ BACKGROUND

→ ⠀ AGATHA MORRIBLE is the only daughter of MADAME MORRIBLE. A sorceress just like her mother, Agatha has the gifts of ELEMENTAL MANIPULATION — Fire, Water, Ice, and Earth — and WEATHER MANIPULATION. She is also capable of CLAIRVOYANCE, and may occasionally receive messages about the future through vauge dreams and daytime visions.

→ ⠀ She is currently attending Shiz University for graduate level education in Sorcery and Art.

━━━━┅━━ ⠀ ⠀ 004. ⠀ ⠀ HEADCANONS

→ ⠀ ⠀ Despite the Wizard’s proximity to Agatha as a close family friend, she does not know that he has no real power. Whenever Agatha witnesses what she believes to be the wizard’s magic, it is really just her mother’s magic at work.

→ ⠀ ⠀ Agatha is the only student at Shiz whose popularity rivals G(a)linda’s, but she does not view Glinda as a rival at all. However, Agatha’s genuine friendships are actually few and far between; most individuals befriend her solely to gain the favor of Madame Morrible. As such, even though she can be considered popular, Agatha still occasionally feels outcasted.

→ ⠀ ⠀Once she became her mother’s teaching assistant and proved herself adept enough at her weather manipulation magicks, Agatha was given the duty of determining the daily weather forecast for Shiz University’s sprawling campus.

→ ⠀ ⠀ Although she has spent her entire life around animals due to being raised on Shiz University’s campus, Agatha is not immune to anti-animal prejudice. Madame Morrible — an expert at emotional manipulation — has ensured that Agatha, from a very young age, was subtly molded into sharing her mother’s prejudices. This is an unfortunate element of her psyche which she must learn to reject throughout the course of her narrative arc.

━━━━┅━━ ⠀ ⠀ 005. ⠀ ⠀ UNIVERSES

WICKED ⠀ ⠀(Canonical Timeline)

→ ⠀ ⠀ Agatha is a graduate student at Shiz University and works as a Teaching Assistant to her mother, Headmistress Morrible, for her sorcery classes.

WIZARDING WORLD ⠀ ⠀(Crossover Timeline)

→ ⠀ ⠀In a universe where Oz is a wizarding realm completely hidden from no-maj eyes by a carefully guarded veil of magic, Shiz University is invited by the British Ministry for Magic to compete in the Triwizard Tournament instead of Durmstrang. Agatha travels to Hogwarts alongside Madame Morrible with the intention of entering herself into the Goblet of Fire as a potential contender for the Triwizard Tournament.

#╭ ⁞ ❏. mobile muse profiles.

[aroacesigma]

Actually I wanna reword what I said don't mind me. I think it's incredibly obvious now because of that scene Aira being racist is intentional but it's not the writer projecting because Aira immediately gets told it's discrimination. I think akira is trying to address that people like Aira who are ethnic in some way (mixed japanese and french) can experience racism or discrimination but it doesn't make them immune from prejudiced thoughts. Sadly as good as this message is the Aira fans aren't having it and are trying to baby him and blame akira and say he's projecting. Aira isn't black and white, he isn't an innocent baby or a demon, he's a 15 year old mixed race boy who needs to unlearn the prejudice he has of his unit member(s) and their indigenous backgrounds.

-spring

oh geez, fandom babying is the worst 😔 if its being super upsetting maybe ignore the fandom for a bit ?

#asks #Anonymous

[hottakehoulihan]

Worm (audio) reread, Arc 3

Rambling. Musing without brevity; if you want a sound bite tl;dr, I suppose you can skip to the very end. OR move on I'm just a set of fingers at a keyboard and unless you want rambling about Worm/Wildbow... : ) I recently advertised Worm to an overseas friend and described it of course, with words to express that it is engaging and gritty young-adult writing and that the author was writing and rewriting it and creating his OC from middle school (this is why I wince at the folk deciding WB's prejudices based on what happened in Worm; you're literally using juvenalia that he wrote while he didn't even know what the Hayes Code was; kids aren't just not immune to propaganda, they don't even know it exists--even when they're soaking in it. Judge an author by their latest works not their first works.) and he wrote his story using dice (I'm expecting and sincerely hoping that dice are no longer involved; that's another thing that sounds great to an inexperienced storyteller and absolutely isn't.)

Also I had a long road trip and ran out of music but found I still had the audiobook ready at hand.

So.

Now I'm rereading Worm now via audiobook every day while running my errands. So much for picking up a fresh audiobook at the library. The readers are...clearly not professional, but they do surprisingly well, anyway, and when they miss the emphases that the sentences should have had I can fix it in my head.

Having just had a friend say they'd check it out on my urging, I'm cringing a bit at bits of the writing here and there (boob-size discussions. Taylor trying to throw a punch with a thumb wrapped inside her fist (a trope about geeky inexperienced fighters but an absurdly implausible one; has anyone ever in the history of humanity made a fist like that? It's uncomfortable even without punching anything!) and of course I hate dealing with all the long bullying bits although they're necessary and I wish Taylor was at least covertly tracking the bullies with her bugs so she could dodge the attacks it would make sense but she hasn't learned that yet.

But one of the big things, as of the end of Arc 3?

I really like Brian+Taylor; I'm struck by how the mutual attraction is very believable since they're both looking at the world similarly and, for each of them, being around the other is like breathing freely after taking off a too-tight piece of clothing.

I love all the Taylor fandom ships, of course. I'm playing Subnautica 2 right now and my seatruck is Pillbug (wow Amy is more of a jerk than I remembered) and of course my big robot is Punchbuggy and I miss my Smugbug and my big Wolfspider submarine and I can't remember what I named the rocket hmm.

But anyway.

Taylor notices Brian's physique, sure, but also she notices his kindness and understanding of her caution and most importantly him noticing HER and he's seeing how she

Takes a first-aid class on her own initiative once she realizes she'll be in combat, where he had to possibly-literally twist Alec's arm to get him to do it.

Runs to build her cardio.

Doesn't get overconfident, but instead plans and thinks and tries to prepare thoroughly for everything.

Doesn't think she knows everything, or even what she's researched, and is always ready to learn and investigate more.

In Arc 3 at some point Bryan says he thinks Rachel sees him as a friend. Rachel, of course, attacks Taylor when she sees her in the hideout. ...and snarls at her since then.

Meet hate? Nah.

Jealousy. Rachel knows she's "other." She knows Bryan doesn't want to be her mate, even if she doesn't know why and is not the sort to waste time thinking about it.

tl;dr: Bryan and Taylor have a foreshadowed and built-up romance that was never likely to last given the different trajectories their respective drives took them on, but their smooshing-together was as sweet and heady as anything fanon has ever imagined. And Bitch's initial bristling was partly explained by her dislike of an interloper getting between her and her closest friend and most plausible mate on the team.

#Wormblr #HHH.txt

[gaycey-sketchit]

(Gary anon) People finding an excuse to hate characters? A tale as old as time, unfortunately. Those these days, it feels like there's always morality and dangerous cases of policing attached to it. (Couldn't tell ya, honestly. Forums aren't immune to this, but there's a difference between those and upfront sites like Twitter and Youtube, where you're dodging landmines every week against your will. And that fact you directly message creators and directors? Ignoring works, but only so much)

.

(Part 2) (when death threats are being thrown in droves) A break and some time to enjoy other things in the meanwhile (Mhm, the thing I remember distinctly is Oak being the one that gave Blue [and his sister] their pendant; which actually saves Blue at one point. Also has a picture of his granddad inside. And Oak being rescued by his grandkid a few times and playing an authoritative role sometimes) Keeping his starter a secret was fine, there was a fun mystery to it.

(Part3) Problem was that they practically kept everything ELSE about Gary a secret too. So you're left with more questions surrounding him than answers; no matter how strong a presence his character was. (And Tyranitar redemption) As said, I'm not going hold my breath on it and need to see how the PWC and Project Mew are handled first before properly speculating on how Journeys ends. But I am 75% certain Ash will have something post-PWC that determines his next step.

(Part 4) (We know it's at least either Mega or Z-move for Leon. If it's Pika-Z there, it's looking like G-max Gengar for Steven. Especially when it just had a training episode) Cynthia, the only thing I'm sure on is Dragonite being the final to make up for losing to Paul. (Generally curious how they'll react to the Twerp potentially ending up the strongest trainer in the world. They've always been secret supporters)

Yeah, and unfortunately it's hard not to think people grasping for any reason to hate on a perfectly fine character comes from some kind of prejudice, considering the kinds of characters that tends to happen with (when it's not related to shipping, but that tends to fall into misogyny pretty often too). Which makes it interesting that sometimes people will try to come up with "moral" reasons to justify it, like reading a character's actions in the most bad-faith way possible. (Leon as an example, gets painted as a bad brother with surprising frequency despite how clearly he loves and cares about Hop?)

Yeah, it's really hard to say why people who are connected by their interest in a piece of media so wholesome can be so cruel. It happened with the Undertale fandom too, I remember--Undertale being a game where one of the major themes is how powerful kindness can be, yet. For a while its fanbase was notoriously toxic (and also super transphobic, pretty sure people are still misgendering the nonbinary characters to this day).

Back when the fandom was obsessively hating on SwSh I remember getting called a shill for... saying harassing the developers and whatever poor soul runs the Pokemon Twitter is not okay. In hindsight I wish I could laugh about how petty and childish grown adults were about the Dexit thing, but prioritizing a game over the well-being of real people is kind of a horrifying sense of priorities.

But uh. Putting that really unfortunate topic aside. Yeah, the break for Pokeani is for the best. Giving us all some time to settle down and focus on other things.

Oh, I remember that! Blue took a razor wind to the chest and it probably would've killed or at least seriously injured him were it not for that. Thank goodness for Adventures Oak's forethought. (And now I've grabbed and started flipping through my copy of volume 3 and been reminded the scene where Blue finds where Professor Oak is tied up and rescues him is so sweet? Blue's so concerned and with how cool and aloof Adventures Blue usually acts, it's adorable.)

(But I will read my manga later when I'm not in the middle of responding to messages.)

Yeah, waiting until the right time for a big reveal of Gary's starter was fine (and interestingly in hindsight, it was subtly hinted at by him making his second appearance very briefly (read: he opened a door in Ash's face and walked off without a word) in the Squirtle episode, which was a clever bit of foreshadowing on the writers' part) but uh. They kept so much about him hidden and mysterious and it's hard to say why.

Yes, and Tyranitar redemption!

Yeah, I guess at this point only time will tell how that plays out.

Should be interesting to see how all that goes! Exciting stuff!

Yeah, it'll be great to see how the TRio reacts to that! They usually end up rooting for him during these things.

#Andrew answers #Gary anon

[dictacontrion]

About the Draco/Harry Nazi AUs

In response to several asks and messages about this round and the last.

First, I want to summarize and center the takeaways that come at the end of this post: 

Complicity with, silence around, or diffuse support for bigotry matters. It is not neutral. 

This is not - it is never - about one or two people, but about how communities signal that they will or won’t tolerate bigotry. 

But do beware of people who are more interested in trying to garner sympathy than in taking responsibility 

This recurrence may be in part because popular members of this community have defended and protected people who were involved in propagating romanticized misinformation about Nazism in the past. Certainly, this community has not taken a zero-tolerance policy towards this content. 

This type of event is not isolated to two events or to antisemitism - see e.g. RaceFail 

If we want to make fandom a space that does not support bigotry, we must stand against it loudly and unequivocally

We must do this even - especially - when it involves holding our friends and community members accountable, and even if it is uncomfortable. 

If we are not willing to speak up and take action in defense of our principles, those principles mean nothing. 

That said: 

I’m not going to name names in this post – not because I don’t think there are good reasons for people to want to know who was involved, but because the naming of names was used to derail the conversation last time. All of these people are still active in fandom and on tumblr, and if you want to know who the main players are, I’ll tell you in a private message.

Last January, an artist posted a picture that depicted Draco as a Nazi and Harry as a Nazi prisoner. The caption (with tags that will become relevant in a minute) read:

I - as a Jewish person, as a queer person, and as a member of this fannish community – found this disturbing for a number of reasons. The idea of a Nazi AU squicks me hard enough on its own. This piece also used anti-semitic language, suggested that a “Jew servant” would fall in love with a Nazi soldier and that it could be the case that “war brought them together” when the war was predicated on the genocide of Jewish people, Roma people, disabled people, and queer people. That last bit is important too; the piece ignored/erased the Third Reich’s internment and killing of queer people, and suggested that same-sex love could flourish in the Nazi regime. All of this adds up to misinformation that is – always, but especially in the current global political climate – dangerous.

A well-known author and blogger in the H/D fandom reblogged this piece, including the caption, with supportive tags, as pictured above. They were the first, and at that point only, person to reblog the piece, and without that reblog it's unlikely that it would have gained attention or been seen by many people. Several people pointed this out to them. They responded to private messages from me and several others and, iirc, to anons, saying that they hadn’t been aware, that they hadn’t seen the caption, that they hadn’t done anything wrong, that “the art by itself is lovely and it was for that very plain and simple reason that I reblogged it,” and that they shouldn’t have to and were not going to apologize or remove the art from their blog.

It would have been very, very easy at this point for the reblogger to apologize and remove the piece. They chose not to.

I contacted the artist and the reblogger privately before making any public statements. The artist defended their work unequivocally. The person who reblogged it continued to defend their reblog of and support for the work across several back-and-forths.

While this was going on, I made a very general post about it: "so some of y’all are starting 2018 by adding antisemitismn and ignorance of historical homophobia to the giant flaming pile of homophobic stereotypes in the tumblr drarry fandom, huh? not a good look, folks. "

A third person – also a well-known author and blogger – entered the fray at that point. They replied to that post, saying that I was "having fun vaguely calling people out" and "mak[ing] people paranoid."

In response to that comment and other ongoing conversation happening in the moment, I then reblogged and added on to my post. I named both the artist and the reblogger and said that that their actions, in creating the art and in giving it a large platform, were “moving into a territory of softening and downplaying the significance of horrific actions taken against, and ideologies that still endanger, queer and Jewish people. I don’t know about y’all, but I have less than zero tolerance for that.”

I stand by that statement.

Following that addition, along with several other bloggers’ posts about it and continued criticism from a number of people, the reblogger took down the art and apologized.

I had never engaged with either the artist or the reblogger before this encounter. I have not engaged with them since. I would have been content to leave it there.

However, the third person reblogged and commented on my expanded post. In that reblog, they defended the reblogger's actions, said that I was being unfair to the reblogger, that the reblogger was very upset at being attacked like this, that I wasn’t really concerned about the post but was using it as an excuse to attack the reblogger (who, again, I had not named prior to the third person's accusation that my vagueness was making people paranoid, and who I had never previously interacted with), and said that I should leave fandom.

The third person is someone I had engaged with beforehand, though have not engaged with since. I had not contacted them about this set of events; they initiated this exchange.

I will also note that they had left provocative comments on my posts prior to this, including telling me that I should leave fandom. I have heard through multiple grapevines that this, generally and in the specific instance of the debate around the Nazi AU, was intentional – that, because I wasn’t excited about their work (though also did not criticize it) and because I was critical of fannish trends their friends supported, they were trying to get me to do something that would give them reason to call me out, to make me look bad, to paint me as a bad actor. This is consistent with other interactions I had had with them – with they way they spoke to me about other people, and the way they had behaved towards me previously.

What that means, in this case, is that this person exploited the fact that I – as a queer person, as a Jewish person – was upset by and angry about antisemitic and homophobic art, to get a reaction that they could use towards their fannish political ends. 

This person used the vulnerabilities that are an unavoidable part of my life in the real world to provoke me so that they could malign me in fannish space.

This third person has since made a public statement, as well as a private one to me (which I have not responded to), about their actions. These statements have had several things in common. They have consistently painted themselves as in need of and deserving of sympathy. They have never named or apologized for the harm they caused. They never take responsibility - there is no “I’m sorry for defending the spread of misinformation about Nazism” or “I acknowledge that my actions may have signaled to white supremacists that they can spread their ideas in this space” or “I apologize for supporting an action that harmed people within my community” or “I was wrong to stand up in defense of the spread of the romanticization of the Third Reich." They have never, to my knowledge, come out and said that their defense of someone who gave antisemitic and homophobic art a platform was wrong. They have, however, talked about why this has been hard for them, about how difficult it is to hear other people tell them that they are wrong, about how it’s made them cry and how they feel so bad about it all.

It’s made me cry, too. It’s made me feel more uncomfortable and unwelcome and unsafe in fannish space than anything else ever has. It was and continues to be a reminder that the people who I am in community with may very well hate the things I am, and may have no reservations about using that against me. It’s made me withdraw from fannish spaces.

As all of this was happening, a number of other creators and bloggers seemed to get on side with the reblogger and the third person. A number of authors who I had known for some time and had respected and counted as friends or friendly acquaintances unfollowed me after this third person’s very vocal insistence that I was a bully (which, I'm told, extended beyond those public posts). Several people have told me that, following this, reccing my fic or referring to my posts became unofficially verboten in the Drarry Discord and other semi-public fannish spaces. The reblogger and the third person have a lot of sway in this community. They used it - used my reaction to antisemitic, homophobic work that glamorized Nazis - to provoke a reaction and use it isolate me from a space that had been a respite, to create an environment that felt so hostile and uncomfortable that, for a long time, I couldn’t stand to be here.

This whole string of events - the creation and promotion of bigoted works, the defense of that creation and promotion, the unwillingness to learn or hear criticism or take responsibility, the framing of people who are asked to reckon with their actions as victims, the framing of people who insist on naming and resisting bigotry as bullies or problems, the isolation and vilification of people who speak up - is not unique to me, or to this case. It happens over and over and over again, in spaces online and off. It will keep happening unless we stand in its way. 

I still do not regret my refusal to tolerate antisemitism and homophobia in this community. I would do the same again. I only hope I would - I perpetually aspire to - do it with just as much conviction and just as much willingness to take risk for those of you who are marginalized in other ways, and who also look to this community as something of a respite from that.

At the time, I was too upset to say any of this. I was panicked. I was hurt. I just needed to get out. But I’ve since wished that I had said more, so I am now, particularly as I see some dynamics of it playing out again.

Again, if there are takeaways worth taking away, it’s these:

Complicity matters. Silence matters. Support for people who give a platform to bigotry matters, even if you call it by another name. It is not neutral. I know that no one has the energy to respond to every thing at every time - but if you use the energy you do have to defend and excuse it, you are worse than complicit. 

This is not – it is never - about one or two people. There were quite a few people who supported and excused the artist’s work, the reblogger’s decision to give it a platform and initial refusal to apologize, and the third person’s defense of the reblogger.

But do beware of people who refuse to apologize, who paint themselves as victims instead of taking responsibility for what they’ve done.

If this is recurring, it may well be in part because popular members of this community defended and protected people who were involved in propagating romanticized misinformation about Nazism. It may well be because people have signaled that those who want to tell stories and spread ideas that glamorize Nazism will not only get away with it, but will be defended and protected.

This is not an isolated event. This pattern of behavior has recurred again and again in fandom. Especially if you are not already familiar with it, please see the fanlore entry on RaceFail.

If we want to keep fandom from being a space that does not support Nazism, white supremacy, racism, homophobia, antisemitism, ableism, and all other forms of bigotry, we must do what I still do not regret doing: we must stand against it loudly and unequivocally.

We must do this even – especially – when it involves holding our friends and members of our community accountable. We must do this even when it is uncomfortable.

If we are not willing to speak up and take action, if we are not willing to risk our comfort, risk our status, risk our ease in order to defend freedom and equality, than we are not defenders freedom and equality. If we are not willing to speak up and take action in defense of our principles, our principles mean nothing.  

#antisemitism #nazism #white supremacy #bigotry #drarry #fandom is not immune from prejudice #which is all the more reason to be aware of it and to reject it