#those are just the takes i see more often due to content curation | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

konkonvt · 1 year

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So you're brand new to Tumblr: A primer for former Twitter users.

Note: This guide is aimed at users who have little to no experience with Tumblr, it was originally envisioned to help my vtuber friends but was written to be a general help for all users. It is not a comprehensive guide or tutorial, rather a tool to help familiarize yourself with the core features of tumblr, as well as the terms you’ll be encountering.

First and foremost let's get something out of the way, do not treat Tumblr like it's Twitter. It's not. Tricks you learned on Twitter may or may not work here but the audience and flow of your dashboard are going to be very different. Tumblr is primarily a slower site than Twitter. I don't necessarily mean that literally though that can be true, but in that posts get disseminated in a much slower way here, the average long term Tumblr user will not see your posts until someone they follow reblogs them, that's because while Tumblr does promote posts the user base has developed many a tool to curate the site to make their browsing experience better. We'll get to that later, but the point I'm trying to get at here is not to lose heart if your content doesn't get much engagement early on. That said sustainable growth is still possible here, but it's going to require some tweaks to how you do things.

Two real quick terms I will be using throughout this post, I will include more terms towards the end of this post but these two will be used throughout so we’ll define them here: Dashboard: Sometimes referred to as your Dash is the term for the front page of your tumblr. Basically your timeline, it is where all the content you receive will end up. Your dash is heavily influenced by who you follow, how many people you follow and how often they post. Most people’s dashes are in chronological order and when they follow new blogs the new blog’s posts will be added in order to their dash, meaning they may not see content from new blogs right away but they will be sprinkled into their dashboard as they scroll. Most people will have recommended, promoted etc. posts turned off and it’s honestly the recommended way to use tumblr at this point. Blogs: Each user’s page. In order to join tumblr you make a blog. How much each user treats their blog like an actual blog will depend on the user but it is the term used.

Alright let's start with the basics:

What is Tumblr's primary audience?

While like any site there will be people of all stripes here Tumblr largely functions as a gathering hub for Fandom and politics, in my experience the user base tends to skew left but it's certainly not just for leftists... Alas there is no utopia of that kind online. In general content that feeds into those broad demographics will have a higher chance of doing decently and due to Tumblr's tagging system acting more as a classification system you can get quite insular in the communities you make content for.

What type of content will do well here?

So aside from the above mentioned broad categories, due to the way content is shared on this site you want your content to, as much as possible, avoid being time sensitive. While it's absolutely possible to have time sensitive announcements and the like do decently on Tumblr, for long term sustainable growth you want at least some of your original content to be something that can be reblogged at a users leisure. Additionally I highly recommend reblogging other's works, embrace the Fandom nature of the site, users are more likely to follow someone who's interests align with theirs in what they're already using this site for. The more users following you directly the less steps it'll take to get eyes on your content since it'll show up on their dashboards from you directly, additionally they may reblog it from you disseminating it further. Find some shit you enjoy and follow some people who share it!

Any big fauxpas?

Reposting. That and art theft. If you were a good person on Twitter who hated those things already then you'll be good, but due to the nature of Tumblr's reblog system it's often seen as bad form to screenshot posts from around Tumblr to post them on your own blog. Due to the nature of replies being part of reblogs you can easily share an amusing exchange just by reblogging the last reply you want to share and the whole conversation will be boosted to your dash.

Note: Some blogs may post Screencaps of old no longer visible Tumblr posts for archival reasons, additionally there are some blogs that share art from outside sources with permission, these are generally viewed as totally fine so use context clues.

What about networking?

This is going to be the biggest difference between Twitter and Tumblr. While I will never claim Twitter was the perfect networking tool it is admittedly much better than Tumblr. Tumblr doesn't explicitly harm networking but frankly it just doesn't have the same audience for it as Twitter does and the tools for connecting with others are more rigid. That said you absolutely can network on Tumblr, just expect it'll probably be more awkward.

Okay let's get more granular and start breaking down several of the systems you'll want to familiarize yourself with here:

Reblogs:

Like retweets but with the ability to include your own commentary or not built into the same button. This is your primary way of sharing content already on tumblr. Use it at your leisure, be aware there is a daily post limit but unless you're retweeting everything that crosses your dash you likely won't hit it most days. It's considered bad form to remove the original posters commentary, which is possible with certain tools I'll recommend later. Don't do that, especially on art. You may also directly comment on something while sharing it using this system.

Blaze:

Blazing is a feature implemented after my initial time here that said it's basically paid promotional posts, you pay to have a post "blazed" onto people's dashboards and then they harass you about it. Based off of the culture on Tumblr I cannot say if doing this will or will not cause some people to harass you but posting literally anything will make someone harass you so do you.

Likes:

Unlike likes on Twitter likes on Tumblr are for you, and really only you. While there are features that may share your likes with others most users will have that turned off and I recommend turning it off as well. Likes are a good, not great, way to save content for later. Personally I use likes to save stuff I want to reblog for later so I can add them to my queue... Speaking of which...

Queue:

There is, as far as I am aware, no Twitter feature that mimics the Tumblr queue. While you can schedule posts for specific times, you'll find many users who use Tumblr consistently are using the queue function. The Tumblr queue can be set up to reblog a certain number of posts within a certain time frame. This way you can be reblogging content throughout the day without actually having to reblog things every hour. I suggest playing around with the amount of posts and timing until you have a queue you feel you can maintain so you're providing a constant drip feed of reblogs.

Archive:

Your archive is a built in feature for your blog. It’s a grid view of all your posts by month and year. Some users use a blog’s archive as a way to judge if they want to follow a blog. The only way to control it is by deleting/adding posts. You don’t really need to think about yours too much, just be aware you have one.

Tagging:

Unlike Twitter's tagging system tags on Tumblr are more similar to a filing system than an algorithm boosting one specifically. That said personally I find tags on Tumblr help boost a post to the right audience much better than Twitter ever has and was the biggest feature I missed. While there is a limit on tags it's a very generous one and allows users to make sure their content has accurate tags to help the right communities see them. Use tags to your advantage. Tag broad categories and niche ones. Ex. A piece of Pokémon fan art can include both the “video games” tag and the “Pokémon” one to help people who follow both those tags find it. You can get even more granular and tag the Pokémon in the art. Use tags to sort your own blog as well, make sure to include important ones for your own content or branding. For instance including "my art" helps a follower know something is yours but also means they can search your blog for that tag and find everything you've posted with it, making it easy to find and share it from your blog. You can also set up a tags page for easier navigation. (We'll talk about pages in a bit.) It's easy to make sure you're using the same tags consistently as once you've posted once using a tag it'll auto suggest it when you start typing it the next time when on desktop, though old and hardly used tags may not be suggested, and this will not apply to tags on who's first post is still in your queue. Figure out what tags work best for you but please also do not spam unrelated tags, Tumblr is much less forgiving with that. Tumblr also allows users to track or hide posts using certain tags. This is the second feature I missed the most. Hiding posts with specific tags means a user can tailor their saftey on tumblr without having to block or unfollow people. As such it is considered good form to use tags to tag common Trigger or Content warnings as well as to add tags users ask you to for their own safety, within reason. (There is an infamous post of someone asking a space blog to tag space related photos because it gave them anxiety.) Also remember tags can have spaces.

Asks:

This will be the primary way your followers will interact with you directly. Asks are not DMs, they have a character limit and you can set whether or not users can send you asks anonymously. When you are notified of an ask you will be prompted to respond, most asks will be published to your blog directly once you've responded, it is possible to set it to a private response so only the original asker will see it, but only if they did not send it anonymously. Asks can be a great tool to let your followers interact with you, not quite directly. However they can also be used to harass users, consider the levels of security you wish to have, you may want to turn off anonymous asks to avoid people hiding behind a grey icon when harassing you, conversely some followers may only send asks if anon is turned on. You may switch anon asks on or off at any point if you need to.

Chatting:

The closest thing to DMs on Tumblr. It works, I really don’t have much to say about it.

Replies:

A feature that will be hit or miss for users, it’s not new by any stretch of the imagination at this point but wasn’t part of tumblr for a long time and so some users will use reblogs or tags for this instead. Replies are public but unlike reblogs they do not share the original post, instead the OP (and any mentioned blog) will get the notification. You can also reply to replies.

Side blogs:

Pretty much what it says on the tin. Side blogs are additional blogs that are connected to your main blog. All side blogs share the same dashboard, they can also have multiple main blogs as admins. (Which main blog is posting/reblogging something to the side blog will be visible.) Side blogs also cannot send asks. Otherwise they can do most other things your main blog can, including being password protected, having their own themes etc. It is strictly against tumblr TOS to hoard sideblog urls. You may have many side blogs for any reason but there is a point where tumblr starts to get cranky about it so be aware. I personally use them for storing resources I do not wish to reblog to my main.

Themes:

Please please please set up a custom theme for your blog. If you are reading this on my blog itself then you’re looking at my theme. It’s the custom look of your blog, it lets you make your blog into a space that reflect you and what you want to share. There are tons of themes out there, some are available to be installed directly onto your blog while others will require you to edit the html of your blog. Search around, look up tumblr themes on google, check out blogs and if they have a theme you like they will probably have a theme credit somewhere. Make your own if you got the know how (but please do check what tumblr’s current guidelines on custom themes are before you start coding away.) Setting up a custom theme has two-fold benefits. 1. You get a blog that more directly represents you and what you’re putting out there. 2. It means there’s an actual landing page for your blog. It turns your blog url into a proper url. You go from your blog being visible only in a sub-par floating bubble that’s url reads as tumblr.com/[username] and turns it into it’s own web page with [username].tumblr.com. It looks better and usually people will prefer to scroll your actual blog page and not just the floating ill-formatted box. Some pre-created themes comes with built in pages, some don’t, so onto...

Pages:

Pages are extra well, pages, on your blog. They can be used to create any number of pages you want. Each page must have a unique name from other pages on your blog, as that will be used to make the url of the page. By default pages will use the same theme as your main blog but you can also edit their html to get custom page themes. This may be useful for certain page types, such as navigations or tag pages which may have a lot of information you’d rather not force people to scroll through. Similarly to themes you can find pre-made page themes through some simple searching. Be aware that the mobile app does not see pages natively you must set up a mobile nav link, if you wish to set up a mobile navigation I recommend checking out this guide.

Search:

This is the primary function by which most people who did not have your content posted to their Dash will find you. The search function is... Well it’s something of a running joke among the community. Many new features have been added to this function over the years and most users don’t like them, so many a tool has been used to change it around. All of which is to say it can be inconsistent. The best way to utilize it is to search for tags related to what you want to see, the first 20 tags show up in search. You can also follow tags, this is a feature which once you’ve searched for a tag will add it to a list of tracked tags that will notify you when something new is posted there, making this feature useful for keeping on a rare pair or a community you want to be involved in. The first 5 tags show up in tracked tags.

The Mobile App:

Pretty much what it says on the tin. There is a tumblr mobile app. It is okay at best. Up to you if you want to use it but it is not the ideal tool for posting original content. I personally mostly use it for browsing tumblr and liking things until I can get on desktop to start actually posting/reblogging content.

Xkit:

Xkit is an outside tool designed to make tumblr a better experience. Most users use some variation of it at this point either New Xkit or Xkit Rewritten, or both. It is recommended you use at least one as it drastically changes the tumblr expereince for the better as well as just generally adds some fun things if you wish. (Such as a dashboard version of the old neko desktop cat.) That said as it is a third party tool be aware the coders do have to update it semi-regularly whenever a core piece of an extension is broken. Be nice to these coders, they’re the biggest reason this site hasn’t collapsed under it’s own weight.

Some general tips, etiquette and other resources!

Tips:

Firstly, take your time. Tumblr is a slower paced site than twitter and you do not want to burn yourself out on it by spamming it all the time. Tumblr has it’s own very unique history and culture and it may take some time at first to get all the references. (I will not explain the shoelaces thing, I’m sorry I just can’t handle the level of embarrassment it gives me.)

Reblog yourself, a lot. If you’ve got work that you want to share reblog it! Since most people have built their tumblr experience to be sans algorithm you’re going to need to refresh your works on people’s dashes frequently. For a little more in depth about that and what content you should be reblogging read this.

Use tags freely but don’t spam, but do go wild with your tags. They are there for you to categorize things, and most old school tumblr users will also use them to comment on reblogs instead of adding their own comment in the reblog. There are very few rules about how to tag but please to check out this etiquette post to make sure you’re not gonna get anon hate for it. (You will anyways.)

Etiquette:

DNIs are used pretty freely and generally accepted within reason. That said unless you put a DNI in each post people will interact with it and you’re gonna have to live with that, if you spot a DNI that applies to you, do your best to respect it within reason. (Obviously some people are gonna be racist, sexist, ablest, homophobic, transphobic, acephobic etc. Those people are twats.)

When reblogging an ask meme you wish to participate in, it’s generally considered good form to send an ask to the blog you’re reblogging from first to insure they also get to participate in the meme.

I already said this, but don’t repost!

Don’t censor triggers in your tags, this is because censoring them means someone using a tag blocker will likely still see the trigger post as it will not be caught by the blocker.

Other resources:

Setting up your dash (Highly recommend doing this early)

How to customize your theme

Even more tips I don’t cover

#Vtuber Uprising #EN Vtuber #Tumblr Tips #ENVtuber #Resources #Konnie Writes

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nevergeneralize · 1 year

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Hi! This might seem a strange question but: what is so saddening about the twitter thing. To be honest in my country twitter never really became a thing so I mostly observed sometimes what happened there. But to me it didn't really seemed like a useful thing, or to be honest a safe thing. I heard that many got censored there or were doxxed for saying the not correct thing. So my question: why is it now saddening? Sorry for my english. I really like your yuumori posts! Thank you!

Hi! Not a strange question! It’s actually one that I have been giving a lot of thought to, because your negative impression from the outside is also true in some ways. (Standard disclaimer that since the platform is so big and the user base is diverse, I imagine there are many many different perspectives on / experiences of Twitter, so mine is particular and likely not very representative etc etc.) This turned out so so long I’m sorry if this is way more than you asked for! Also thank you for asking and I’m very glad you enjoy my yuumori posts that’s super nice to hear!! 💚 (also no need to apologize for your English you were quite clear!)

I’ve spent most of my time on Twitter specifically in fandom spaces, and I think it is/was a good platform for having certain kinds of interactions/experiences in those spaces, so I will miss it for that. ALSO I think it’s such a big, popular platform (and one of the few to allow/host NSFW!) that it’s just absorbed a lot of creators which might otherwise be elsewhere; maybe it will be good and healthy to find artists and writers and friends on different platforms, but maybe the (re)atomization will feel scattered and I will engage less due to inconvenience and that will be a genuine loss. Hard to say!

Things I do/did on Twitter that I might miss doing specifically on Twitter or at least have to adjust habits:

1. Browsing art and writing! I used Twitter Lists to curate my experience fairly well, and had found many wonderful accounts to follow. Obviously that’s available here, too, though I do worry specifically that many artists I follow on twitter who post adult content will have a hard time finding new spaces and I will miss them. Honestly the tagging system and the format of image posts on tumblr is just a straight up improvement to this experience but not all the artists/writers I love to see are here! Hopefully they will be somewhere!

2. Posting art and thoughts! Again I think tumblr is just as good if not better for this at a structural level BUT I do find myself often feeling like I need to meet a certain standard of quality before I want to post something; on the art side there’s much less of a culture of posting WIPs here, in my experience, so I usually only post finished art when a lot of what I produce is just neat little sketchies. I don’t Need to post all things I create or am in the midst of creating but I do love seeing other people’s half-baked sketches and casual underdeveloped ideas and artistic processes and it is sometimes fun to post more of mine, which I have generally felt more welcome to do on twitter. And similarly on the writing side I feel like having One Good Joke or a cute hot take about a thing I’m watching/reading/thinking about is exactly what twitter is in the market for, and I come here mostly when I have an entire essay in my heart yearning to be free. Can I adjust that attitude? Yes! I can liveblog the next anime I watch or the Grand Prix series or my [redacted]th rewatch of Yuumori, people definitely do post in that format here and also who cares! It’s easier to feel freer to have a half-finished and conversational thought rather than a Fully Developed Thesis on twitter but it’s not the only place for that, so I will adjust!

3. Discovering specific things!

3a. Zines! A good network of zine promotion had built up on twitter at least in the fandoms I was in. I don’t (yet) see that on tumblr but maybe it is or will be here, I don’t see why it couldn’t be. Same deal for ship weeks and big bangs and other fandom events but I do see more of those cross over to or be hosted on tumblr so maybe the zine universe will move. Improvise adapt overcome

3b. Merch! Similarly I am more often led to Things To Purchase on twitter than from anywhere else on social media, which maybe should go in the negatives column but I really like financially supporting fandom artists, small makers, etc and I am fortunate to have the capacity to do so! People that I follow there often find and boost delightful art sales, commissions, merch, apparel from small makers, etc, and this adds to my life; weirdly I am markedly more fashionable since spending more time on fandom-twitter the last few years. [[Side note seriously everybody my best life advice is to wear more anime merch or whatever it is that delights you, people who know what it is get a shock of joy and recognition seeing you in the world and people who don’t know what it is still like to say “wow cool design what is it” and having either of those interactions available to happen in my day causes more positive interactions with strangers and thus probably a very slightly kinder outlook on humanity. I’m so serious about this, choosing Weird and Particular/Personal Fashion is good for you and you will feel 1-3% more connected to your fellow human beings]] As with zines I don’t really know why that’s not also here on tumblr from a structural platform feature perspective but it has not been, in my experience, so I think it’s just a platform culture thing? If we’re mutuals know that I would love to see your and your friends’ merch/prints/commission openings appear on my dash, I’m an easy mark, a real rube

4. Social or parasocial relationships with actual human beings! This one is probably its own real long post so I won’t go too deep but I have found a specific model of distant but warm internet friendship available via the model of: actually type out my excited/complimentary internal response to a piece of creative work or contribute to a conversation about a fandom thing, repeat many times, also post my art or my media opinions with no one particular in mind, begin to recognize people who engage with me often, begin to value and take interest in that specific person’s opinions, form a model of them as a person and include them in my social brain/universe (having thoughts like “what would X think about this” / “X would really like this” / “I look forward to hearing from X” / “I hope X is doing well” / etc). I think twitter specifically contributes to a super low barrier to entry on actually responding to things; I sometimes find myself consuming tumblr like it’s an rss feed of Very Important And Thoughtful Bloggers who I could never be as interesting/funny/insightful as, and it’s just… not as easy to fall into that mindset and build up a wall of unapproachability on twitter, maybe because everything feels sort of ephemeral anyway? So I worry there will be something lost, there, but I’m trying to maintain the idea that talking to other people online (with kindness and consideration obviously) is mutually beneficial (everyone is constantly asking for more interaction, right??) and that I have the right to respond to things. This is also something I have a hard time doing on chat servers, which I have a much more tumultuous relationship to: I usually join, chat for a while, read and wish I were participating, feel embarrassed about dropping in and out, feel embarrassed about inserting myself into what feel more like personal conversations between people I always imagine to already be closer friends with each other than I ever will be, eventually stop engaging at all due to a weird and specific FOMO guilt. And twitter by contrast makes available an extremely easy model of maintaining casual connections based on mutual interest. Where a chat server or forum feels like a party at which I must enter or leave particular conversations, twitter interaction is more like seeing the same person over and over again at the game shop / coffee shop / ice rink and giving them a friendly nod or saying “hey rad sweater” or “how’s the novel going” or “wow your [specific skating move] looks really good!” I find this type of mutually-low-demand social “ping” to be really pleasant, personally, and it’s nice to have that available online and in fandom. (Again, lots of thoughts left to unpack on this topic. It’s also maybe less relevant than it has been the past few years after the return to physical spaces and the “social ping” being available offline again, but oh boy did I truly need this in the depths of the pandemic, and twitter was generally pretty good for it!)

Things that make me actually feel a sense of relief that this garbage fire platform is dying and we are all free at last:

1. The danger of doxxing and/or getting threatened! Real and true! I could post a Whole Thing about cancel culture and fancop behavior and ship wars or whatever and I will refrain here but my god, I worried about Thought Crimes constantly on Twitter, to the degree that I stopped really posting to the platform months ago. I was directly(ish) threatened with doxxing as a member of an AO3 committee during the email attacks earlier this year, so that made me extra vigilant, and I witnessed several instances of people getting harassed or threatened or otherwise yelled off the platform during my few years of fandom there. And the consistent visibility of conversations about fandom (and broader) politics promotes a low-grade paranoia about the whole thing at all times so I just thought about it constantly forever! Unsurprisingly this pervasive dulling toxic sludge of social hypervigilance feels real bad for the brain! Especially having chosen to be there and to spend my free time and energy in the fandom community.

2. The constant intrusion of content topics that I at best do not care about and at worst actively do not want to see! As much as I praised the Lists curation above, this is imperfect and twitter honestly has very few robust tools for filtering things, so I just scroll past a bunch of stuff that is at best tangential to my interests. And even beyond The Algorithm I think also there’s a sort of platform culture about needing to engage in Big Topics which means that specifically the worst most “engaging”/contentious political topics break through on a repeating basis, and every twitter session was always at risk of ending in exhaustion and hopelessness. Also not great for the brain!

I mentioned to an IRL friend that I was worrying a little bit about where to take my fandom activities and he said “I don’t know why everyone doesn’t use Reddit, it’s so much better for that,” and I thought “what a bonkers opinion to have” (I said out loud “Well your mind is very different from mine and I treasure your friendship for that. Also that’s a bonkers opinion to have.”). Every platform has a culture that grows organically from its available features/mechanics of social interaction and from its particular history, and I will mourn the specificity of twitter if it really dies, even though I have/had a very complicated and not wholly positive relationship to it. It’s something like losing a job or graduating from school, on a smaller scale: I may have hated it there sometimes and I might have had complicated feelings even about the existence of the institution itself, but the shape of my life and the way I spend my time will change due to this thing being over, and I think change itself may sometimes be cause for a feeling that is very like grief.

#asks #thank you for the ask <3 #i enjoyed writing this #apologies to anyone to enjoys Reddit fandom for the dig at Reddit fandom i just do not understand the culture there #but that’s a whole different post #and my point is merely that platform cultures are specific and may or may not be a good match for individual taste

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astriiformes · 2 years

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hello! i hope you are doing well (besides the knife wound, which sounds terrible and i hope heals well and soon!) i know you're big into scicomm, and i've been beginning to seriously consider it as something i should pursue for my future. do you have any tips/recommendations on how to get started?

I am doing fine* and appreciate the well-wishes!

*hanging in there, but also extremely bored since one hand is currently out of commission due to the knife wound, but it seems to be healing up as expected

Unfortunately I think I may be less "big into scicomm" than you think, it's my intended career field and I'm very passionate about it, and have at least done some work in or adjacent to it, but not much beyond that, so I'm not sure how much advice I have. I'll do my best though -- and also have some mutuals who are MUCH more professional science communicators than I am who might be interested in weighing in also.

First of all "science communication" is a super broad field, so I would definitely suggest thinking about the parts of it that interest you most and what kinds of opportunities you're actually looking for. Do you want to pitch articles to websites to publish? To work for a federal or state agency (like the National or State Parks systems, your state's BLM or Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA, etc)? For a university? For a non-profit, like a museum, conservation group, or etc? To create content for educational YouTube shows or podcasts? Additionally, what areas of science are you interested in focusing on? Some freelancers write about a large variety of fields, but there's often still a decent amount of specialization in scicomm jobs, especially ones for specific agencies. There are certain things you can do that would be helpful for all those career paths, of course, but there are also other that would be useful for specific ones -- like looking at universities that offer Master's degrees in Museum Studies or Science Writing -- so deciding if there's an area you'd like to focus on, even just at first to see where it takes you, is probably going to be a helpful first step. (Says the person who has no idea what he wants to do, actually, but my own aimlessness is exactly why I recommend thinking about this.)

I've mostly done scicomm in museums; I don't know if that's a direction you're interested in pursuing, but front-end museum jobs with an interpretive component can be a great entry-level science communication position. Same goes for similar jobs in local park districts also. They aren't necessarily jobs that pay well, unfortunately, but they can be a really solid starting point to connect to some of the institutions in the area and the work they do, as well as people who may have more significant connections to the local or even broader science communication world.

The other area I know a tiny bit about -- though I haven't really done much as a professional -- is freelance writing. I haven't done much pitching of my own, and what I have written has actually been for free (I know, I know...), but it is an area I have learned Approximately Some Things about. You might be interested in looking at The Open Notebook or Study Hall Media for more information on the pitching world (the former, it should be noted, specifically focuses on scicomm)

Additionally, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are probably going to want to make a Twitter account. There are a lot of prominent and/or active scicommers on the site that share opportunities/jobs/places to pitch to/etc there, and I have definitely found it is worth investing in, due to the number of people you can connect with there alone

(Admission time: I actually find Twitter less miserable to use than a lot of folks here seem to, but I also curate my feed heavily, so that may be a large part of it)

Some accounts you may want to follow if you do end up on there:

@ notsoscify - outreach educator, mostly shares UK scicomm opportunities, still great to follow even as an American

@ mtn_ash - director of @ biodiversifying (or Project Biodiversify), an initiative committed to epanding diversity & inclusivity in teaching biology

@ Sarah_Cosgriff - science education freelancer who is very vocal about ace inclusion in STEM

@ JoshLukeDavis - wildlife and conservation science writer/editor at the Natural History Museum in London

@ Paleopoems - account that finds and shares paleontology-related poems and biographies of their writers from throughout history, often alongside original artwork for each poem

@ chengela - author and editor at WIRED who does freelancer "office hours" for folks on the asexual and/or aromantic spectrum interested in getting advice about the freelance writing world (a lot of my advice on that front is courtesy of one of those meetings with her; she also suggested that it's worth browsing the #CallsForPitches hashtag for opportunities)

@ Laelaps - trans paleontology author & freelance science writer

(I am also entirely willing to hand out my own Twitter to any friends/mutuals/folks who have been following me a good while; I just don't directly advertise it since it is IN THEORY where I am trying to be a professional, even if I'm still posting cosplay photos and other nonsense there....)

Anyways, that's what I've got for now, I think. Like I said, there are definitely better folks to prod at than me, some of whom might hop on here with ideas as well, but hopefully that's at least a bit to get your gears turning/maybe even something a little more?

#scicomm tag

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spade-riddles · 3 years

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Submission: Adjusting expectations

Okay, guys. Wading in here where it’s possible no-one wants me, but … here goes.

We - Kaylors - are in a hard place right now. People feel hurt, they feel hopeless. They feel like they were led on by the likes of Spade. I’m not here to invalidate any of the feelings that come from seeing Karlie and Taylor play out this charade.

But I think we (collectively, as a fandom) need to take a breath and ask if any of this is really as bad or unfixable as we think it is. Because, for me, the recent stunting is hard to stomach but not truly surprising. On some level this is how I expected Karlie and Taylor to handle both the birth of the baby and the launch of the rerecorded albums. As much I wanted to believe in the idea of spring breaking loose and bringing with it a fervent revolution … I could see the pieces still in play on the board and I doubted it was coming.

I think the problem is that there was a split between the optimist and pragmatist sides of the fandom, over the last year or so. To be clear - I’m not judging the optimist side of the fandom. Not at all. Taylor has pulled wildcard moves before, and emotions run so high in all this, especially with a baby involved now, that I don’t blame people for wanting to believe the best. But it reached a stage where some of the things people were trying to talk themselves into were just wildly unrealistic. And when that happens, of course you’re going to get hurt. It’s inevitable.

But let’s really look at this for a second. We should have known that neither Karlie nor Taylor was going to be shaving her beard in March. Ditching Jerk right after or just before the birth would have been too soon for Karlie. It’s not unusual for a celeb marriage to fizzle out within a year of the birth, but before the baby even arrives? That would be weird, and would draw attention just when it seems Kaylor don’t want it. They just had a baby. That’s an adjustment in itself, and Karlie is suffering enough social media hate on top of that. I wouldn’t blame her for just wanting to take a break and lie low during this difficult time. And unfortunately, for Karlie, that means maintaining the status quo of the situation she put herself in with Jerk. She may be doing the bare minimum to maintain it, but if she wants to avoid attention, she has to make it seem like everything between her and her “husband” is normal. And that she’s trying to make it work, which I believe will be important later. Good people try to make it work, even in bad relationships.

Toe wasn’t going anywhere either. Taylor had relied on him so heavily during the promotion of Folklore, with the William Bowery narrative, that she was almost backed into a corner. She had to give some allusion to his air quotes “creative input” and their so-called happy relationship, or her failure to do so would have become the story and overshadowed her night. The headlines would have either been break-up speculation or complaints that she didn’t give him his due. We think the cutesy coverage after she named him in her acceptance speech was bad, but negative headlines have a far longer shelf life and can take on a life of their own. They would have been worse. Whatever we might think of Taylor’s actions, Folklore is one of her best albums and she deserved to have her night.

So, on to the announcement of the birth. This is a tricky one, and again, I completely understand why people reacted so badly against it. It was everything we as a fandom said we didn’t want. It was Jerk using the baby for personal good PR. But I have to be honest here. I always thought we were kidding ourselves believing he would NEVER be seen with the baby or implied to be the father. I do believe Karlie is doing her damnedest to minimize the digital footprint of his involvement and keep her actual baby out of it. But he was always going to get to bask in the glow of playing daddy for a while. It’s the trade off Kaylor made when they used him to shore up their closet.

This is also why I increasingly suspect the timing of the announcement got the green light from Kaylor too. If Jerk was always going to be assumed to be the father of Karlie’s baby, then there was always going to have to be a birth announcement that incorporated him somehow - unless the girls were ready to answer awkward questions, and it doesn’t seem like we’re there yet. So the best way to minimize the damage is to have his moment of glory overshadowed by a bigger win for Taylor. It worked pretty well actually. Even on Kaylor blogs the stunt was mostly buried by Taylor content.

I know a lot of fans feel gaslit by all the hints, but I do think there’s a possibility Taylor really didn’t grasp how hurt Kaylors would be. From her perspective, she “fed” fans three times over that night. She gave us a beautiful performance, a gorgeous red carpet moment, and a win to celebrate. I think it’s possible she really didn’t realize the double whammy of stunting that night would make it all feel worthless for many.

Taylor is in an awkward position. As a consequence of Kaylor retreating into the closet, the support base for them has shrunk. (When I use the words “Kaylor fandom”, I refer to this support base.) I would say Kaylor fandom consists of two parts. There is a silent portion, who observe events and comment anonymously, but don’t say anything “on main”. And then there are the small corps of true believers, who think Karlie and Taylor are still together and the baby is theirs. This latter group do most of the actual talking about Kaylor, but they tend to be pretty battle-hardened. They’ve been around for years, they never believe any of the stunts and their capacity to be hurt by them is, as a result, pretty limited. These Kaylors criticize sometimes, but they tend to fall back in line eventually and mostly adopt a “let’s wait and see how this all shakes out” approach. The problem is that I would say these “chilled” Kaylors are the minority. For their own sanity they curate their blog experience and often don’t post the more negative anons they get. Which is fine, but if you were looking at it from the outside, I could see how it might create an impression that the fandom as a whole can roll with the punches. And for a lot of the silent majority, that’s not the case.

But again, I can see how Taylor might not necessarily know that. She went quiet after the Grammys, when I might have expected more celebratory posts from her. If I had to guess, I’d say she didn’t expect the backlash. I’m especially noticing a backlash against her for allowing Karlie to take so many hits while her own reputation has never been better. And I can’t defend her on that one, except to say I hope she has a plan. But I understand where people are coming from when they say the songs aren’t enough and actions speak louder than words. It’s tough to watch.

Still, we’re in a position we should realistically have been able to see coming. We should have known Jerk wasn’t going to be out of the picture immediately after the birth. This is one of those things nobody likes, but maybe we all just have to be patient on. I don’t see Karlie busting out of the closet to admit her marriage was a fake, or testifying to the FBI. I think she’ll just let her marriage quietly fall apart, as many real marriages did during the pandemic. And for that to work, she needs to make it look like didn’t throw away a family unit lightly. Hence the “I tried” post, the social media break, and the suggestions of spending time with Jerk’s family. All of this can be spun later into a narrative of Karlie having tried to make it work, only to never really be accepted. The hate online affected her mental health and she gradually realized how unhappy she’d become and decided she needed to break free and find her old self again for her baby’s sake. This is the most likely narrative for Karlie’s freedom and it’s one that could work - but it’s going to take time to unfold. Personally, I’m giving it a year. If we don’t see a separation by then, and definitive moves to a reunited Kaylor, I’ll be bowing out. I’ll still know what I believe the truth to be, but I won’t see the need to devote my energy to defending it. ,

Meanwhile, the masters rerecords are about to be released, and Taylor has invested a lot in their success. Because of this, I can’t envision her coming out until at least the big three (Fearless, 1989, and Red) have dropped. She might drop hints, but I don’t expect anything earth-shattering. Even the order of the album releases seems to confirm this. She’s breaking out the big guns first.

I’ve seen people speculate that because Rep can’t be rerecorded until 2022, Taylor will hold off on any coming out until then. And I’m not so sure of that. Yes, people listening to the album for clues would give Scott and Scooter money, but if we’re being honest, a fair amount of people are probably listening to those albums already, regardless of the drama. Those sleazeballs are profiting from Rep, full stop. But if Taylor profits more, from her bigger albums, she still wins. And she can still put out a Taylor’s version of Rep with vault tracks and collabs, to seduce people away from the Big Machine version in early 2022. Honestly, I think there’s a good chance Taylor would consider this is a worthwhile trade-off anyway, if it meant she got to live a more open life with Karlie - and most crucially, begin to repair Karlie’s reputation. As children get older and the world begins to leave the pandemic behind, it becomes harder to live behind closed doors. I guess we’ll find out how Taylor finds the reality of such a life, and what she considers worth sacrificing to step away from it.

All this to say: I can’t predict the future more than anyone else, but I don’t think the situation we’re in now is irreparable, and if we’re being really objective, I don’t think it’s even surprising. I do think Taylor should give us something, if she wants to keep us around. No-one can live on a complete absence of hope, and as I’ve stated, letting the fandom dwindle to this extent has its own dangers. But I think we also need to keep our time frames realistic, even if it means rejecting lifelines like the Spade riddles. We shouldn’t expect Karlie to be free of Jerk for around a year, and we shouldn’t expect Taylor to do anything much beyond general music promo until at least the big three have dropped. Sucks to say it, I know. But at least this way we won’t be disappointed, and if Kaylor do pull a wild card and move towards freedom, we can be pleasantly surprised.

Just my two cents.

___________________

Well written and fair arguments on our reactions and expectations. I had typed up more, but I will let others post their comments before I chime in.

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runephoenix6769 · 3 years

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“What is with the Blake / Yang hate this week? Folks seem particularly fired up.” I asked this question on a forum because of something I’ve noticed the last few days on discussions about Blake and Yang/Bumbleby/shipping in general. I keep seeing the same answers. “It ruins the team’s dynamic.”

Welp, I’m pretty certain none of those people would say that Raven/Tai and Tai/Summer ruined the team’s dynamic. Or that Ren and Nora are currently ruining the team’s dynamic. What is this holy than thou crusading to protect the sanctity of the team dynamic? Rwby has always been first and foremost about interpersonal relationships. It’s what drives the actual plot. Character growth, failing relationships/friendships. How they change over time, either to grow or crumble.

“It’s being shoehorned in, for fanwank.” How? How is it being shoehorned in? Give me a narrative breakdown as to where/how/when this occurs? Compare it to the Sun/Blake narrative and show me the glaring differences between the Yang/Blake narrative to prove that bumbleby was never planned yet blacksun was? (Sidenote. Anyone that has been asked to do this on the forum has yet to do it.)

“Yang showed interest in boys.”“ Yes, yes she passed comment once. In vol 1 episode 1. 8 VOLUMES AGO. She has shown not a lick of interest in guys since. Its almost as if she’s like any normal 17 year old girl who is growing into adulthood and figuring herself out, who might be realising her interest in Blake isn’t strictly platonic and is trying to navigate that whilst also grappling with what that means with regards to their friendship. And dealing with an over arching situation that is, ya know, potentially the end of the world as they know it. It’s about two years in universe, right? Which is about right of an amount of time for what its happening between them to play out. It only feels like longer to the audience because, well, its taken 8/9 years to tell the story up until that point.

“The Fans are too loud/vocal/come on too strong.” Ok, this one I agree with, we are loud and vocal and that might come across as coming on strong (here’s a huge) BUT, there is actually a genuine explanation for why it seems that way. If you really think about it, objectively.

Hear me out. Fans are excited about the potential representation we don't otherwise usually get in media. I mean, if you have 10,000 pieces of media and only ONE of them represents lgbtq people, of course we’re gonna be excited and talk about the ONE quite a bit with others who are like us. This might also be the first time we’ve seen anything like this, or seen ourselves represented in a somewhat positive light. It stands to reason that the other 9999 pieces aren't going to hold our attention as much, esp if its the same hetero romance played out a bajillion times before, right? I mean, if you have a group of people who are constantly represented in the 9999 other shows, their voices are going to spread thinner, right? They aren’t going to be gathered all on one place, talking about the same thing because there are 9999 other choices to connect them to other people. They aren’t going to care as much if their straight ship happens/doesnt happen

“Hey, I can move onto another piece of media that is churned out by the status quo. No big deal.”

Hetero romances are ten a penny. Flick through netflix, hulu, crunchy roll etc. Where as if you have a group of people who are only represented in ONE show out of the 10,000 those people are going to gather in one place to connect with others and its only going to seem like they are louder due to the densely packed space. These same people have been majority silent about the other 9999 pieces of media as their voice isn't usually represented in a positive light - being queer characters are usually brutally murdered or sidelined. (Thankyou Hays Code.)- or not even represented at all. (Bury Your Gays is a trope for a reason, folks.) And we are NEVER the titular characters. We’ve been living on crumbs and subtext for decades! Not to mention showrunners who actively queerbait the hell out of us for ratings and viewership. The almighty Pink Pound as its often referred to in business. “But why do they have to make them gay?” You’re not made gay, you’re born gay. It just takes longer for some people to realise than others. It can be a gradual realisation. And this is quite possibly the case with Yang/Blake, slowly coming to realise their own burgeoning sexualities and attraction to each other.

”Why do they have to be gay?” They don't need a reason to be queer! They just are! Queerness is only a part of a person, not their everything. It’s actually quite refreshing to see Yang/Blake being portrayed as much more than their potential sexuality. Ask yourself, ‘Why does a character have to be straight? And why doesn’t a straight character have to constantly reaffirm their sexuality? Why is ‘straightness’ assumed by default?’ Heteronormativity, is something that has been perpetuated by decades of media. (helped by the Hays Code with its out of date moral code. To be other is to be punished within the narrative.) That straight is the default setting. It’s not! We exist! Everywhere! We always have and we are going to talk to each other about it when we see a glimpse of ourselves represented in what has been a relative Sahara Desert when it comes to queer content were we are not villainised. “The romance is detracting from the plot.” Two seconds ago, people were claiming that the romance was none existent. Which is it? But Nora and Ren’s romance that is being held up as a mirror to bumbleby is fine? That Jaune relentlessly pursuing Weiss was perfectly ok. Neptune openly hitting on female characters is fine.

“I don’t have a problem with LGBT. I just don’t want it forced down my throat.” Again, out of 10,000 pieces of media, this is just ONE show. Nobody is forcing anyone to watch it or participate. Queer people have had to stomach literal 100′s of years of straight media forced upon them. Since the very conception of the written word and narrative storytelling. In plays, theatre, art, music, tv, film, on billboards, advertising, in places of education and learning etc etc. Queer people are bombarded with it whilst also being surrounded by negativity towards queerness.

“They are shoving it down my throat!” part two Is hand holding, compassion and expressing concern for another person and comforting them somehow offensive? Renora kissed, not a problem. Arkos kissed, not a problem. Show me in the sand where the line is drawn. What is the difference? Please explain this to me? Why is the expression of queerness somehow offensive? Is this because decades of media have perpetuated the false idea that all queer people are sex crazed perverts? That you’ve been groomed into thinking that queer sexuality is only based in the act of sex itself? That queer sexuality couldn’t possibly be similar to heterosexuality in its expression?

That it couldn’t possibly be about attraction, emotional, mental and maybe one day blossom into physical between two consenting adults, a pure expression of love the exact same as heterosexuality.

That some how queer love stems from some sort of deviancy or mental health issue. That queer people are some how bad or evil, and therefore their expression of affection is wrong? Oh, I wonder where those beliefs have possibly stemmed from? “Why are they in my face?” part three. 50% of of the titular cast are potentially queer. Blake and Yang. But if you look at the overall cast ensemble that runs at minimum 16 any given volume, that’s a measly 12.5% (prolly a lot smaller if you actually counted the whole cast that appears in rotation each volume) Also, someone did the math. Blake - a titular character- actually has less spoken lines that Jaune. ffs. B&Y spent neatly a whole two volumes of 8 apart. 25% of the narrative as it stands on entirely different continents.

I fail to see how it being in someone’s face could be the case.

“I just don't see it!”

That’s ok and perfectly valid But listen when people who have lived this experience are telling you that their experience is being portrayed on the screen. That they see themselves being represented. OK, This completely got away from me. In conclusion. They are more straight people than queer people and media often reflects that. We are usually the silent minority, we are sick of it but we are used to it and we are very excited that things seem to be finally changing.

It’s two characters in an large cast in ONE show out of 10,000. Its a piece of media that, for a change, hasn’t been 100% curated for straight people. We are often not allowed to play in the sand box and if we are, we’re told to play with the broken toys, be grateful and quiet. So when we are given a sandbox to play in with new unbroken toys, we are gonna dog pile in there and make a ruckas, calling our friends over. What I’m trying to say is, it’s gonna get rowdy. and here’s something to think about. “When you are used to privilege, equality feels like deprivation.”

#rwby #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #bumbleby

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who-is-page · 2 years

Text

Digitalized Natural Selection: The Importance of the Internet, Literature, and Art in Alterhuman Communities

Author: Page

Type: Essay

Words: 1,164

Summary: The roles the Internet, literature (or rather, discourse), and art play in the alterhuman communities.

Author's Note: Writing this was like pulling teeth, but I just kept reminding myself that it's a first draft and I can edit it in December to make it more coherent and flow better. No one look at me, though, it's hideous.

[Part of the Sol System's Alterhuman Writing Project for NaNoWriMo 2021. If you don't want to see these posts, block the tag #inkedpaws]

The alterhuman communities are largely digital in their current iterations. They rely heavily on content created, cultivated, and curated through the Internet: from essays, to comics, to personal websites, to digital Howls (in spaces like Second Life, VRChat, Discord, etc.), most of the foundation for creation and communication within these communities relies on this unique feature.

But it’s no surprise that the alterhuman communities are so reliant on the Internet for keeping in contact with one another: in-person meetings that don’t coincide with other large-scale groups congregating, like at furry conventions, are fairly uncommon or even downright rare, both because of how scattered we tend to be, and how we tend to not be geographically-focused in where our communities are divided, instead being more mindful towards the interpretation or details of experience and identity. Even when there may be a high concentration of alterhumans in a single area, they may not intermingle due to difference in identity or experience—such as therians not welcoming fictionkin at their gatherings, or otherkin not welcoming copinglinkers.

Internet netiquette has also just evolved to become a large part of our spaces and how we orient ourselves with one another: We tend to not go barging into one another’s spaces with the intent of causing havoc or wrecking house, even when those spaces are wholly digital, in the form of Discords, Skypes, or even tags. While anonymous hate mail and harassment campaigns aren’t nonexistent, it certainly feels like more often people will back up commentary or arguments because of differences with others with their community face and history. We also “talk with our feet” insofar as we tend to show our support of positions and politics within spaces through follows, reblogs, and likes primarily, and with re-writing and publishing our own perspectives and how we agree or disagree with the most popular or extreme opinions on the matter. It’s a balancing give-and-take act, with members constantly shifting and changing the playing field through their own contributions.

It’s easy to wonder if the alterhuman communities would look anywhere near the same if they have stayed in or migrated to largely physical spaces, and to that question I believe the answer would solidly be no. Because of the way the Internet forces the alterhuman communities to evolve through discussion and debate, we’ve evolved into ways that prioritize individuals who can best convey their ideas in understandable, easily dissected ways: doublespeak and pseudointellectualism isn’t well-received, and the regular use of it usually relegates someone into being pushed out of many alterhuman circles due to an inability to clearly communicate and the tendency that such language has to start fights. (For a real-life example of such, it’s easy to see the ways in which even a long-standing and once-popular forum, Therian Guide, has been relegated to the darker corners of alterhuman community space and memory due to its leadership’s tendency towards ambiguous and obscure language alongside its poor moderation.)

Partially through this prioritization of language, we see individuals who can eloquently explain their thoughts, feelings, and experiences particularly respected within nonhuman and alterhuman spaces: but these specific types of creators and debaters aren’t justprized for their abilities on these fronts. Their works of art and the records of their discussion serve important primary purposes in the community regarding representation and memory.

Because of the nonphysicality and constant changing of online spaces, it can be difficult to pinpoint and track aspects of the alterhuman community’s history. Websites are constantly in flux, and what one person may have taken for granted as a necessary community resource or classic community experience may be all but forgotten ten years later, with little to no trace of it findable in any way beyond word-of-mouth. This ability for our community to almost lose time in a way, where important, pivotal moments may be entirely loss to the abyss of Internet 404 pages, is something that has functioned almost in the same way that a predator affects a prey animal in specific environments: it forces it to adapt or die out. “Survival of the fittest,” or more accurately survival of that which is most adapted and continues to grow and change further.

I propose that the alterhuman communities especially appreciate and respect their creators and discoursers because, in part of, a form of digitalized natural selection: online communities which survive over the course of several decades and which don’t have some form of unifying, existing foundation that exists physically outside of these spaces—such as fandoms and religions do—rely wholly on not only online creations and discussions, but also on how well such is tracked and recorded. Without a form of community memory, you either end up with the group dissipating entirely or it getting continuously resurrected and subsequentially dying off over and over again in different iterations that end up recycling the same beginning dialogues and topics. A dead community or zombie community isn’t a successful community, by almost all standards.

Contributions and creators on the artistic front, especially, also function as important representation within alterhuman communities, for alterhumans. While some popularized fiction may have themes which are reminiscent of these identities—especially fiction surrounding were-creatures and other transformation-based works—there’s just the fact that if someone wants to see their experiences and aspects of their life accurately portrayed, no one is going to do them right outside of other individuals within the alterhuman communities. Otherwise you end up with mockumentaries like I Think I’m an Animal! where alterhumans are meant to be the butt of the joke, or films like Wolf, that center around species dysphoria and portray it in an incredibly questionable light.

The art of the community also serves a secondary purpose in forming something of a community mythology. From the community memory you have connections and pinpoints of facts, but from the art and emotional economies you can trace and experience yourself that is interlaced in the tapestry of this history, you get legends, stories, and cherished art pieces. It’s where the Theri Theres are carried on from generation to generation, where legends of “this one otherkin, who…” get shared around the bonfires of Howls. It’s where the rising theta delta meets the falling elven star in a night sky of a hundred different comics, podcasts, short stories, plays, microfictions, poems, novels, games, and zines.

While it’s easy to reduce the communities to their bare-bones quantitative components, these emotional aspects are just as important. It’s the spark of life that makes alterhumanity and the communities centered around it so engaging to interact with and vibrant overall. Without the combination of the effects of a primarily digital atmosphere, and a community which survives through such a harsh environment by recording where it’s been and what it’s doing or otherwise leaving their mark, there’s a well chance that the alterhuman communities would exist in an entirely unrecognizable form without these factors.

#inkedpaws #alterhuman #otherkin #queue is page #first draft squad

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jokertrap-ran · 3 years

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(未定事件簿) EVENT! 「眷然恋影」 [Tears of Themis] EVENT: Zuo Ran Birthday 2021- Days to Re-Live Forever (4.18: Volunteer Application)

*Tears of Themis Masterlist / Mobile Masterlist *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Will also be filed under Zuo Ran’s tag #Tears of a Lawyer *The tracking tag for ALL Event Stories will go under: #Tears of an Event

4.18 / 4.20 / 4.22 / 4.24 / 4.26 Messages / Investigations / Call

Location: Cinema's Lounge Area

MC: …All in all, while this isn't considered a bad movie, it's also quite far from being a "Sci-fi Masterpiece".

Zuo Ran: Agreed.

Zuo Ran and I were both down at the Cinema’s Lounge, discussing the movie that we'd just finished watching.

The Stellis Film Festival had just started, and the movie that we'd sought to watch for how famous it was, was one of the most highly rated Sci-Fi movies.

But unfortunately, the content of the movie itself wasn't quite as interesting as we'd expected.

Zuo Ran: But "Time Travel" is considered one of the more classic Sci-fi themes, so it's not all that easy to come up with something new and exciting.

Hearing him say that, I suddenly remembered another movie with the exact same running theme.

MC: There are also many Time Travel themed Masterpieces out there. Take the film “About Time” for example; it’s an old film dating more than ten years ago.

MC: But it’s about slice of life, so you probably never watched it.

That’s right, although this movie was labelled a work of Science Fiction, it was also undeniably something that fell into the category of warm, healing, fluffiness.

It’s a movie about the story of the male protagonist, Tim, who wanted to use his Time-travelling ability to find himself a girlfriend; and eventually winning over the heroine, Mary’s, heart.

Additionally, it also depicts Tim’s family history. Generally speaking, it was an award-winning movie that had won over the emotions of many.

I recall that Zuo Ran preferred to watch Sci-fi Films, rarely watching anything emotional. Still, I wanted to try giving him a suggestion.

Zuo Ran: I’ve seen it before. It was pretty good.

His reply was a little unexpected.

MC: Huh? But even though the male protagonist is capable of Time Travel, there are still far fewer Sci-fi elements to this movie than there are elements of daily life.

MC: I thought that you don’t often watch these kinds of films...

Zuo Ran: You’re right, but this one’s an exception.

Zuo Ran: Rather than calling it a Sci-fi movie, I think it’ll be more appropriate to call it a movie about “Superpowers”, since its main purpose is to power the plot.

Zuo Ran: Although it’s a slice of life, the director of this film has a good grasp of rhythm and mood, capable of making people feel a strong sense of empathy.

Zuo Ran: Of course, I also personally agree with the idea it is trying to convey.

Zuo Ran analysed the movie with utter seriousness, and I could see that he had an extremely deep understanding about it.

Capable of extracting that many praises from him, it seems like this movie holds an extraordinary place in his heart.

MC: Sounds like you really do like this “About Time” film.

Zuo Ran: Yes, I do.

Zuo Ran: I suppose it can be considered… Among the ones I like best.

After getting an affirmative from him, I couldn’t help but to jump for joy.

MC: (Now I know how to celebrate his birthday!)

Zuo Ran’s birthday was the 26th of April; a day that was coming up soon.

I’d only heard about this date back when I was making small talk with Sister Zhai Xing. She’d even told me to put more emphasis on it, since I was his partner.

Zuo Ran has been taking good care of me ever since I joined the Law Firm, but I’d have been way prepared to celebrate his birthday for him, even if Sister Zhai Xing didn’t mention it.

But I didn’t really know what I should do, till now; the conversation I just had with Zuo Ran finally gave me a hint.

MC: (Recreating the classic scenes of movies and celebrating his birthday there will definitely make it an unforgettable experience for the Mr. Robin, the well-known film critic! )

A plan gradually started to take shape within the confines of my mind.

Zuo Ran: What’s on your mind? Why are you daydreaming?

MC: N-Nothing! I was just thinking about...

MC: My favourite movie! I was just thinking how brilliant it was that you also happen to like it!

Birthday surprises are something that’s meant to be kept secret till the very last moment, so I can’t afford to give the game away now.

Zuo Ran: It makes you that happy?

His expression appeared no different from usual, seemingly having accepted what I’d just said.

MC: Yup, of course it does! Sharing the same favourite movie as you goes to show that we’re well suited to be partners!

Zuo Ran: We do coordinate well together.

MC: Let’s talk more about this film, Lawyer Zuo.

Zuo Ran: Sure.

He probably wouldn’t have any idea about just what I had planned to celebrate his birthday with.

MC: (I’m suddenly really looking forward to seeing how he’ll react to this surprise. I’m sure he’ll be way different from how he usually is!)

☆⋅⋆…⋅─────────── ⋆⋅✾⋅⋆ ───────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Location: The Film Museum

A few days later, at the Film Museum.

Staff: My apologies, miss. But the Museum's Live-action Studio is temporarily unavailable for loan for the duration of the Film Festival.

MC: I’d originally wanted to rent the Film Museum’s Live-action Studio to recreate the classic scenes of the movie “About Time” for Zuo Ran, to celebrate his birthday.

But how unfortunate...

MC: But I’m really in need of it; isn’t there any other way?

Staff: If you’re truly in urgent need of the Studio. Then you can try becoming a volunteer for this Film Festival.

MC: Oh?

Staff: The Museum requires a large amount of volunteers to help out during the Film Festival, and volunteer points can be earned through completing volunteer work.

She took out a brochure, handing it to me.

Staff: Take a look at this. Volunteer points can be redeemed for the rights to use the Live-action Studio in addition to some special props provided by the Museum itself.

Staff: You must be shooting on the set itself if you’re trying to rent the Studio, so I’m sure these props will come in handy.

The staff member pointed out the “special props” listed on the brochure to me.

They came as large as classic retro cars, furniture such as tables and chairs, old-fashioned suitcases… They were all classic props from classic movies.

MC: Are all these props the original ones?

I’d thought that it’d take a good lot of points to redeem rights to the Studio, but I’d never expected it to actually be the easiest to attain.

Although, that being said, most of those special props were pretty “point pricy”.

Staff: A small portion of them are, but the rest are replicated on a 1:1 scale from the original.

MC: Oh! There’s even the window display mural from “About Time”!?

Staff: That’s right. Although this one’s a replication, it is no different from the original one.

MC: (Not only can you rent the venue, but you can also change up the place to be furnished with decorations of your own choice. This can’t get any better!)

Thinking up till this point, I agreed without a moment’s hesitation.

MC: Okay, I’ll sign up! What do you do as a volunteer, though?

Staff: Welcome to the Volunteer Team. Your job this time is to simply hand out questionnaires.

Staff: As the organizer of this Film Festival, we plan to create a review column after the event; hence, why we have to collect information on the audience’s option.

Staff: The content of this survey includes, but is not limited to, their evaluation of the movies released this Film Festival, and their views on well-known film-critics, etc.

Staff: What needs to be specifically explained to them is that, due to the curator's request, this survey will take the form of an offline interview and a physical questionnaire to fill.

Staff: He believes that it is only by interacting face-to-face with the audience, can we then understand their true wishes; and that doing so will also reflect the utmost sincerity of the Museum itself.

She handed me yet another list.

Staff: The information of the willing participants of the survey are recorded here. So please carry out the surveys according to the name list here.

Staff: Your final amount of points obtained will be calculated based on the number of questionnaires you've managed to get filled, and their degree of completion.

I confidently took the list from her.

MC: Understood! You can leave it to me!

Staff: Volunteer Points can be redeemed at any time. I wish you the best of luck, and hope that you can exchange it for the rights to the Live-action Studio as soon as possible.

☆⋅⋆…⋅─────────── ⋆⋅✾⋅⋆ ───────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Next Part: (4.20: Questionnaire Filling)

#Tears of Themis #Zuo Ran #左然 #Translations #Otome #Mihoyo #未定事件簿 #眷然恋影 #Days to ReLive forever #Zuo Ran 2021 Birthday #Tears of a Lawyer #Tears of an Event #weiding shijian bu #tears of themis translations

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thestargroove · 3 years

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Doping off Lo-fi: An Album Review of Yot Club’s “Bipolar”

Yot Club’s lo-fi melodies represent the widespread sentiment in youth of trying to just feel okay as social media makes self-love and positive mental health a challenge.

Yot Club is the lo-fi band of Ryan Kaiser, who made the TikTok popular song “YKWIM?”

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This song is part of Yot Club’s 2019 album, Bipolar, that includes 6 songs. However, none of the other songs from the album have reached the popularity of “YKWIM?” with over 87 million streams on Spotify.

Lo-fi music is more popular than ever before, as a pacification for those living in our increasingly dynamic and stressful world. The lo-fi genre started in the 1950s as a term for low-fidelity as young musicians with lower quality equipment created songs. As social media has led to an epidemic of body dysmorphia and spiraling mental states, lo-fi music, like “YKWIM?” has reached unprecedented levels of popularity, and rightfully so.

The joy in Yot Club is that his music is relatively simple- no crazy beat drops, no changes in melody mid-song- and all of the songs have the same mix of instruments. His songs favor a guitar paving the melody, whether it be a plucking surfer rock or a lazy synth dream, with drums offering a clean beat that wonderfully complement his signature distorted vocals that blur into echoing techno. The exploration of these same instruments brings continuity between the tracks and albums and allows for the listener to relax, and just accept the songs as they are. To peacefully coexist and flow with the melody and beat, rather than to strain for meaning or importance. His lyrics follow this ideology, as he brings relatable feelings of melancholy into light but offers easy-going wisdom, effectively both addressing the problem and solution, to leave you in a sated state.

Now while I say that his music is simple, I mean that the songs won’t particularly trap you in its emotions. The music lets you flit between subdued melancholy and contentedness, and to just accept that that is how you feel in the moment, and then to move on. These kind-hearted melodies settle you in comfortably neutral emotion, while being constant enough to make focus on work easy. As a lo-fi band, Yot Club excels at making songs to release your dopamine, which improves focus and happiness. Due to this lo-fi-effect, many go to this type of music for studying or doing work. In this sense, Yot Club’s PG lyrics are perfect for anyone, of any age, to listen to when trying to get their focus on.

The first song in “Bipolar” is “Landlord,” which narrates an insomniac who is dreaming getting sleep.

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This song features many of the elements of “YKWIM?,” with the dreamy melody and imagery. The song is something that definitely fits the lo-fi archetype, as the consistent instrumentation makes it easy to listen to the song, but to not actually listen too hard to it. It is inoffensively bland and a solid start to any study session. I find it charming how even the person writing up the lyrics did not know what he was saying at one part, which shows how cathartic the song can be, as you will not be trying super hard to figure out the lyrics, as the slurring dreamy vocals will lull you into dopamine dreamland.

The next song, “Go Slow,” features a higher tempo than “Landlord”, which is ironic considering the title is literally “Go Slow.” This song offers the lots of wisdom I previously mentioned, with delightfully affirming lyrics such as: “Just take your time, you're doin fine.” Today’s digital world can often make people feel inadequate, like they are not working hard enough, or are not as good as others, after seeing the posts of others enjoying their “perfect” bodies or luxury items. According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook even has documents showing that social media platform, Instagram, is toxic for teens. As teens, growing pains and finding your sense of “you” is a struggle that is exacerbated when seeing only the successes or picture perfect images of the highly curated content of influencers. I think this song speaks to the journey of an individual, that cannot be measured against others as everyone is different. Sometimes just hearing that everything will workout can help soothe anxiety about worldly issues.

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The third song is - drum roll please- “YKWIM?” and I’ll be honest, I am a sucker for this song. Something about it definitely releases my dopamine. I love the dreamy downcast vibes and I think it acts as a very good counterbalance to the rest of the album, which has more upbeat, techno songs.

The overall flow of the album is very enjoyable, letting you dabble in different emotions, but not to the extent of being overwhelmed. An album of low-key pop melodies, all perfectly not distracting, is unique to Yot Club. Other lo-fi artists that aim to mix in other types of music, such as Joji, have songs in their albums that have more extreme melodies, which break your concentration. Instead of focusing on your work, you are now listening to the music. Joji’s album “BALLADS 1″ has the non-distracting lo-fi songs, such as “YEA RIGHT” but also has “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK,” his most popular song that has more contrast between the versus and the choruses, that makes you listen to the music.

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nightswithkookmin · 4 years

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Jikook and Taekook in The Soop: Ep 06 Analysis

PREFACE

This discussion is a continuation of my opinion piece on Soop episode 06. I explained in that post, how I think Soop was initiated by BigHit and BTS to repair and replenish the dwindling bond of the group as prior to Soop, there had been some friction between some of the members which could be traced as far back as November last year and had only increased exponentially through to March this year.

Now I said this without prejudice, and knowing full well there are a ton of content withheld from us in the present day likely to be released years from now that may reveal a moment, a behind scenes, that to others may seemingly counter this perception of mine.

But like my theory on the Jikook break up moments, I stay my ground. I don't draw my conclusions based on a single moment of tension happening in isolation because they are human- a jet lag here and a muscle pain there could lead to an unnecessary outburst here or there. That's not it.

I look for patterns, take into consideration their personalities, note how a moment impacts or is likely to impact those established values and patterns of behavior that BTS themselves consciously contribute to to influence their public image and reputation- I take this delulu business pretty seriously you know? Lol.

For instance, when I say Jikook broke up it's mostly because I've noticed that over a period of time, certain things that make Jikook a couple to me are no longer present between them, in the way they interact, rather than that there was a few seconds tension between them in random moment on screen.

And I am well aware, that when some people say they feel Jikook are broke up that they are basing their conclusions off of their own insecurities about them rather than that they have seen enough, thought through enough about those observations to reasonably draw such conclusions.

For example, because to them Jikook interactions is their evidence of a romantic relationship, then Jikook not interacting in a random moment would indicate to them that something is wrong and that they are broke up- basic delulus.

I employ a different metric. Not better, just different. For example, I used them not knowing certain things about themselves within certain periods as an indication something is off.

This is not a hard rule. It could be random but when the information they are in the dark about came into existence within a period I suspected they weren't a couple due to other things I had noticed within said period, then that becomes a confirmation of that period for me. Feel free to disagree.

Jikook know everything about eachother, EVERYTHING. Or at least, they act like they know or should know everything about eachother.

They love to be the ones to know eachother the most and love to show off their knowledge about eachother like in the recent Bangtan Bomb when JK said he knew Jimin could touch his toe when he stretched.

'See, I told you he could touch his toe.' he says with pride. Then the bit about Jimin and beans, Jimin and the convenience store underwear etc.

So when JK suddenly doesn't know Jimin took pop dancing or when Jimin acts surprised that JK had gimbap it raises an eye brow. No?

What's more concerning to me is their reaction to news like this. JK zoned out for a bit and Jimin looked confused out of his wits in those instances. You could tell its something that really bothered them.

And while this may be an isolated incident for most, it's usually not for me or even surprising to me. Because, as explained, usually moments like these fit into an established pattern of inconsistent behaviours identified within those specific timelines prior to such moments, from my observation.

And I see most people also don't know how Jikook looks like when they are not 'together.' Which is also part of the problem.

To most people, a Jikook break up would look like the apocalypse up in BTS- it's not.

I've said several times in my blogs, if you believe Jikook are real then pay attention to what they are and not what you expect them to be. Their relationship parameters are set by them not us and our ideosyncracies.

To me and the way I see them, a Jikook break up is and would always be a return to friendship.

When Jikook break up they revert back to being friends. Friendship is their default, in the group setting anyway.

And as I've said, they lose or strive away the qualities that make them a couple during break ups but at a bare minimum their friendship will be there- for the harmony of the group.

And I think this is why some Jikookers theorize that Jikook knew the consequences their relationship was going to have on the group before entering into their relationship.

While I disagree they thought things through before deciding to commit to a romantic relationship, I agree that they know and have considered the impact their relationship can have on their group.

It is why they revert and will revert to being friends during times like that so their break up and conflicts doesn't affect the dynamics of the group.

I think this is one thing they both very much understand and commit to, to make sure their shenanigans doesn't impact the dynamics of the group- they owe their bandmates that much.

It is also this understanding that allows them to thrive and hide within the group.

What all this means is that, in times of a break up, the skinship will very much be there, the wearing the same attire will be there, the wearing the same bracelets will be there, they will still ride together if they have to- because none of these is what make them a couple!

And a fight is not a breakup, mind you. Often when they fight, I find they may not want to be around each other among other things but they don't lose the qualities that make them a couple.

You can still see their couple aura in such times. Whereas in the case of a breakup those couple qualities disappear entirely. In my opinion.

Perhaps I should make a blog post on what I feel makes Jikook a couple and how those qualities disappear around the times they break up? I'll think about it.

I have stated over and over that, skinship, car sharing etc are all not in any way indicative of a romantic relationship, not to me anyway. And honestly, if you can't tell between Jikook as friends and jikook as a couple- do you even deserve rights? Consider your delulu membership revoked. Lol

And if you aren't observant, shy away from angst, see them as a fantasy rather than actual human beings in an actual romantic relationship- subject to change, subject to growth, susceptible to temptations; if you mistake things that make them friends for things that make them a couple you would not spot their break ups when they happen. Or worse, you'd dismiss and overlook them when they do happen.

Deadass, you could be very much looking at the end of Jikook but still screaming power couple extraordinaire-

Isn't that where we are with Taekook? People mistaking all the things that make them friends for a romantic couple?

People dismissing all the questionable moments that's happened between them over the years- like Tae saying he couldn't even tell JK had been given a mission to ignore him because Jk ignores him anyway behind cameras, Tae's passive aggressiveness towards JK like in the VLive he exposed Jikook, the missing birthday wishes on Twitter etc- and not reflecting on them enough to critically examine their impact and what it says of the state and nature of their relationship?

Taekook in the Soop is an indictment of the shipping community. But I am not here to police anyone's delusions- freedom of belief, speech and all that jazz.

What I am here to do today, my dear delulu colleagues, is to examine Taekook in the soop and share my thoughts on the infamous conversation they had in that episode.

I will also be pointing out a few observations I made about Jikook in that episode that I feel will help shed more lights on the current dynamics between Jikook which further proofs Jikook is real.

TAEKOOK IN THE SOOP

Taekook's conversation in Soop 06 is shaping out to be one of the most controversial moments in the history of BTS ships.

To some it was a doze of reality, a game changer, if you will and had some people questioning their sanity while others jumped off the Taekook bandwagon all together.

But some die hard fans of the ship were quick to come up with a theory to explain away what had transpired that night as big bad BigHit curating that entire scene in order to bamboozle them and absolve themselves of all guilt for having previously separated Taekook and forced them to hide their relationship- scammers never die. Lol

Why would Taekook have that conversation on camera if it was that serious, they ask.

If they aren't close why did JK put his hands around Tae here? Why did he look at Tae there? They fist bumped in the background of this MV, surely they are a couple- y'all know how I feel about skinship being used as a determinant of romantic relationships so I'm just gonna roll my eyes here and keep it pushing-

This is what happens when you whimsically and randamly label a ship as real without due diligence, without conducting the necessary tests that allows you to reasonably assume that that ship is or could be real.

A ship is not real until it's breached the fourth way into alternative shipping and I'm sorry, Taekook has not breached that fourth wall. No other ship in BTS has breached that wall except Jikook. I have explained this over and over again.

How can Taekook breach the fourth wall when half of the moments, half of the content needed to establish it's piercing moment exists in the imagination of people?

By claiming BigHit hides, and cuts Taekook moments or any other ships moment, by claiming Taekook's interactions are mostly off camera, these shippers are shooting themselves in the foot and fooling no one.

Because what they are indirectly saying basically is there aren't enough moments to analyze upon whose findings we can draw such conclusions that Taekook is real.

I have a hard time believing Jesus is real and I'm a Christian. You think I'm about to buy that Taekook is real, based on faith??? Y'all tripping.

And no. The skinship don't count either. I mean people were running around the corners of the internet swearing up and down Jimin and Mina were dating based on their skinship until it was revealed Jimin had been abusing Mina all those years.

Skinship is performative and not a reflection of true intimacy or true bond.

That being said, yes I see Taekook's relationship. I see their dynamics. They are beautiful and as a multishipper- I really dig their bond. I do.

I have called them the evil power duo of BTS. I have said they don't have much intimate interactions between them on camera but when they activate their evil powers, lord do they set my insides on fire.

WHY FILM THAT BIT ON CAMERA?

For quality entertainment purposes. Lol.

Soop is a quasi self produced production by BTS. As such they themselves created the content, concept, decided where they were going to be, what they were going to do at what time and most importantly who they were going to be with or hang out with.

Everything was pre determined by BTS and the schedule was presented to BigHit- the camera crew and staff, beforehand so the staff knew where to place cameras, what equipment they were going to use and what props they are going to have to provide for BTS for effective filming.

Unlike run or Bon V where BTS have little creative control, BTS played a major role in the production of SOOP. So if that bit was staged then it wasn't staged by BigHit, but by BTS themselves- including Tae and JK.

I explained in my previous post, how I felt Soop is business but also BigHit's way of shutting BTS in a room and forcing them to settle whatever differences had crept up between them that had been affecting the dynamics of the group and threatening the longevity of their group around that period.

I said it was no different from Rookie King where they had an episode where BTS was allowed to shout their grievances off the top of a roof to foster unity among the members.

It's also no different from the missions they've are given from time to time or the love letters they have been asked to write to eachother. The objective of such projects have always been to bring the members closer, to build intimacy and to foster unity amongst them. Soop follows suit.

What's of interest to me and what you should be pondering over is what had led them all- BTS and BigHit, to embark on a project of this nature this time around.

BigHit is a business and can only stay on top of the game for so long if BTS is in the game. Them disbanding impromptu due to petty conflicts and misunderstandings amongst them will be a huge loss to BigHit.

And if you think petty issues aren't enough to bring down their empire- you are in the wrong delulu industry. Lol.

Kpop is wrought with stories of these nature. There are a lot of bands that debuted with and around the time of BTS's debut that are disbanded now due to the least misunderstandings- google it. I dare you to.

BTS do have issues from time to time that does threaten their band. How often have we heard them talk about almost disbanding? Remember 2018? Remember when JK cried because Hobi almost left the group? Remember when JK almost left the group to pursue a career in dancing?

The Kpop industry is hectic and brutal and bands within this sphere are fragile. it's easy to jump ship than to keep sailing. I mean, there's a reason Korean interviewers keep asking BTS their secret to staying together and for this long.

As RM puts it in the recent KBS interview, they are seven boys from different backgrounds in the same boat headed in different directions. That can create a lot of clashes here and there. So when tensions arise that they can help it, they take initiatives like Soop to help nip it and replenish their bond.

They don't allow issues to fester on to the point they want to go their separate ways. BigHit loves this about them and encourages that among them.

Do y'all see why I side eye people who claim BigHit is not happy with any pair within the group because they are real and wants to hide and suppress them?

Left to BigHit alone, BTS would be in one big happy gay polyamorous relationship with eachother if that meant the success and longevity of their business- they are depending on it. They would rather BTS keep the love in the barn than spread it elsewhere, if you know what I mean.

How are BTS portrayed in Tiny Tan? The bond you see in that animation is not just a reflection of BTS's actual bond but also a reflection of BigHits vision of their bond.

Jimin is portrayed as that hyung who is always watching over JK because he loves him so much. Tae is also portrayed as the one hyung who will dive to save JK. Tiny Tan is BigHit's ideal intimacy goal for the boys.

Again, BT21, how are their friendships portrayed in there?

It's absurd thus to think, believe or even assume that if there is an actual real intimate relationship between any of the boys, that Bighit's objective would be to hide and suppress it or even to kill it.

BTS's intimacy is a currency BigHit transacts with. But that doesn't mean BTS doesn't bank on it too. They are proud of their bond, often flaunt it. They know it makes them stand out of the lot and it's what has led to them staying together for this long in the business. They have a pretty strong bond.

They wouldn't have agreed to do this project Soop if they didn't want to or didn't think they needed it. They really love eachother as a team, as a band; they love working together and care about their careers unlike other bands we know. Cough, cough.

They are the blueprint and they know it. The last thing they want is for something as trivial as a misunderstanding to break them apart- Hobi said in his recent YouTube live how BE is their voice and an expression of their feelings and I can't wait to hear all the songs on the Album to understand what they've been through these past few months.

If building intimacy is the objective of Soop, then conversations like that of Taekook really shouldn't be shocking. It's to be expected.

If they felt the need to talk it's because they felt they was something they both needed to get off their chest.

Is a content of that nature good for ratings? Absolutely. Does that mean they performed it? No. Not at all.

It's similar to what Jimin did with JK in Rookie King in order to get closer to each other. They were friends. You think he couldn't have just approached JK off camera and told him how his actions hurt him?

How often have we heard RM or Tae ask if the cameras were they to capture a moment where the members have claimed to have cried and consoled each other?

See this is why people think Jikook is fake. They just don't understand that these boys choose to share certain intimate moments with the us out of love, out of a need to connect and have people share in their moments.

It's no different from BTS filming themselves screaming when they heard of that BB news. They share their joy, their pain and their conflicts with us as a way to connect with us.

How often have we wished the VMin dumpling fight was recorded, or that the rain fight was recorded? But when such similar moment is recorded y'all want to question the intention behind it.

Besides, having conversations like these on camera is the perfect cover for them to be vulnerable with eachother without feeling too vulnerable or feel like they are exposing themselves too much.

It's similar to how people choose to text or be vulnerable with others through letters and texts rather than in person. Its the fear of vulnerability. Being vulnerable like that in person can be extremely scary for them too. They are human too and sometimes they find their confidence and their voice when they turn on the cameras.

It's ridiculous to think a moment is staged simply because it is or feels like an intimate moment- Y'all claim BigHit hides Taekook's intimate moments and when they show it to us and it's fake? Chileeee!

If that moment was staged, then Jin apologising to Tae after their fight is fake, the fight itself was staged, V's letters were staged, V crying when reading those letters was staged- y'all see where I'm going with this?

None of it was real and we've all been bamboozled- Let's pack our bags!

Seriously though, we can't sit behind our screens and pick and choose which content is real and which is not simply because it doesn't align with our delusional theories. It doesn't work that way.

Especially not when everything we see is captured by the same lenses, edited by the same people and distributed by the same company.

Besides, Tae said the reason he did that was just to spend time with JK- which was the objective of Soop, wasn't it? For all of them to spend time together and bond?

How then is Taekook bonding by having a meal together any different from Hobi spending time with NamJoon in the mountains? Or Tae riding around the country side with Hobi? Or RM and Kook painting?

I'm yet to figure out the sequence that the entire project was shot in as I still haven't seen the full episodes. But I'll bet if there were any Taekook bonding moments, they were shot after their heart to heart moment, not before it. Tae wouldn't have been shy to invite JK had it been so. But who knows, I could be wrong.

TAEKOOK vs JIKOOK DYNAMICS

On Taekook's dynamics, I stated during our discussion on their love language that I don't see Taekook as emotionally compatible or emotionally dependent on each other even much less that they speak each other's love languages. They don't.

It's no secret Taekook have always lacked a certain level of mutual emotional dependency and vulnerability within their dynamics. To me anyways.

Rarely would you see them being emotionally vulnerable with eachother the way Tae is with Jimin or Jk is with JM. The only time I have seen them close to being emotionally vulnerable with eachother was at an award show when Tae cried and JK comforted him. But even that felt impersonal-

again the thigh slapping, cheek squishing, pegs on the cheeks, cuddling in bed etc doesn't count. That's skinship and you know how I feel about skinship or what I think of it.

When I say emotional vulnerability and dependency, I'm talking about instances such as when Tae said he missed Jimin, when he had to drag Jk away so he could ride with Jimin, all the things he said about Jimin in his letters, the way he talks about Jimin in his solo Vlives, writing songs inspired by Jimin, when he said Jimin was the one member who had been there for him during his grandmother's passing etc.

Jk expresses his emotional dependency on Jimin through his actions more so than his words- that need he has to constantly be around Jimin. You see this in moments where he subconsciously finds his way to Jimin like the 2018 comeback VLIVE where he and jimin were put in separate teams but after picking their groups mission he headed for Jimin's team instead of his.

You see this in the way he talks about Jimin when Jimin is not around. He would find a way to chip Jimin into any conversation- I dare you; Talk about heaven and it would remind him of Angel Jimin, talk about hell and he will burst out laughing because of Jimin's devil may care attitude that one time.

You see it in moments when he sulks and yap, whines and complains in a submissive tone when he interacts with Jimin at certain times.

Like when he talked about Jimin not waking him up in that interview, or even the New Jersey Live where he whined and pouted like a broke hearted seven year old and Jimin ended up doing- whatever that was to placate him... that VLIVE still makes me uncomfortable to watch to this day.

You just don't see that level of emotional attachment in Taekook. Their interactions are just that- interactions. Frankly, this moment in Soop is the only meaningful conversation I've heard between them in years.

It is this lack of emotional intimacy between Taekook that disqualifies them from being anywhere near real in my books.

While I acknowledge this lack of emotion amongst them, I wouldn't go as far as to say there's been a cataclysmic decline of their bond or friendship. They are still very much friends, just not intimate friends. Skinship wise, sure. But there is no depth to skinship as I've said.

So if skinship isn't what binds them, what does? Personality, for starters. And I know JK saying he and Tae had different personalities sounded confusing to most.

Jk had called Tae his commonality- this Festa was it? He's described Tae in his profiles over years and in recent times as someone he shares the most personality traits with within the group. He is not wrong.

Personally, I see him as very similar to Tae, Suga and RM in different aspects of their personalities.

I think what he meant by his statement about Tae becoming reserved since their trainee days was that he doesn't find Tae relatable.

You can share the same personality trait with people and still not find them relatable. And I contrast this with his interview with Jimin where JM said he and JK were similar in that they are both sleepy heads and hate to lose.

Jk quickly noted that they both were studying Japanese as well. He acknowledged the similarities between him and Jimin here also. Does it mean he found Jimin relatable?

No.

Jimin said after they both acknowledged their similarities that in spite of this Jungkook didn't seem to like him. Clearly. he too like Tae was feeling a barrier in his relationship with JK.

Jk futher admitted he liked Jimin. So if he liked Jimin and had a lot in common with him what was the problem? Relatability. Jk could relate to JM just as he feels he can't relate with Tae now.

In that interview he described how JM was pretty serious minded who liked to focus on one thing at a time- a trait he said was different and as such perhaps he couldn't relate with.

Isn't it the same song he is singing about Tae now? That Tae is reserved and too serious like Jimin was?

The difference between Tae and Jimin is, over the years and especially in recent times the members have talked about how Jimin seems less serious behind camera. Suga even went ahead to give him an award for this- lol, Suga.

Jimin has changed over the years. He's become more goofy and to JK- more relatable.

Have we all not seen Tae gradually close himself off within the group dynamics? How is it hard to see that that could be something that's impacted his dynamics with JK?

I've already mentioned how Tae has been through a lot trauma enough to shut him off emotionally to anyone but Jimin.

Seeing his two besties coupled up too mustn't be easy either. Exclusivity is one of JK's values and love wants. Jimin's love language dictates you treat him exclusively, differently from others- while this is complementary for them, it very much often leaves them with a tendency for to isolate and exclude others- how do you feel watching them from home? Think that but twice Tae and these other members.

That exclusivity Jikook exudes can make anyone emotionally dependent and attached to any one of them feel left out. And for Tae, I see how he would then want JK to treat him as a friend- as he treats Jimin perhaps. He didn't want to feel left out. Similar to how I said Jimin partaked in the culture of the group in early days because he didn't want to feel like the outsider being the last to join the group.

Jikook's exclusivity tendencies have a way to make him feel further isolated and disconnected from the group.

What it then comes down to between Taekook is the difference in their values and their understanding of intimacy. I think.

I have said, JK is one person emotionally closed off within the group. He used to be physically closed of too and took a minute for him to come to terms with even skinship.

These boys may be from the same cultural backgrounds but they have different beliefs and values and upbringing.

I explained how JK had had to suppress himself, his values and his beliefs especially in the early days in order to be the Maknae of the group and how he's been on a journey to slowly yet drastically grow out of that role and image.

I have explained that even though he does not have a problem with Skinship, he believes couples aren't supposed to cross certain boundaries with others which I said is what jeonlous is mostly about.

So when he said during that conversation, he preferred to keep a certain level of distance from people because he felt that level of proximity could end up ruining relationships, I understood perfectly what he meant. I have always suspected and speculated that about him.

No one BangPD script writer-nim put that in his mouth.

Tae is the opposite of JK in that regard. While Jk is emotionally closed off, Tae is emotionally lose and latches on to people quite easily- aka his attachment to Jimin.

He is among the members of BTS who I think lack emotional boundaries in the group.

Being emotionally close to people and receiving that emotional nourishment is one of Tae's love languages as I've explained in the past. And so I smiled when I heard him talk about how he wanted to feel loved by Army.

Tae lowkey has an anxious insecure attachment style brought upon him by no fault of his in my opinion and I've always felt a similarity between his and jimin's attachment styles in that sense- that constant need for reassurance for one.

While I feel Jimin's anxiousness and need for reassurance is often performative and as such is often exaggerated as part of his idol persona- Jimin does not in reality need reassurace of love from his love interest.

He may appear clingy to some and a bit insecure about his looks, but he doesn't trade his looks for love.

His looks I feel are important to him as long as his career goes. And he tries to look a certain way and obsesses about the way he looks because his looks is a means to longevity and fruitfulness of his career.

His love language is more towards wanting certainty and stability and making him feel like he is the only one.

On the other hand, Tae's need for reassurance sits at the core of him. I don't think it is an exaggeration or a persona at all. In my opinion.

His need for reassurance is born out of an innate fear of losing a connection, a fear of not being loved and a fear of losing love- not to psychoanalyze him or anything. It's just theory.

I've said Tae strikes me as a very melancholic person.

Remember when he faked being an Army to see if an Army was a Solo stan who just loved one member or him also as well- that bit was unsettling and uncalled for. Then during his conversation with JK he talked about how he needed that constant reassurance of love from Army- y'all still think he boo-ed up in there? Alright then.

Loneliness is a bitch. And I understand how he would be driven by an emotional void to connect and attach to people. He really was attached to his Grandmother and having a love connection like that yanked away from him without warning, without proper closure can leave a void behind.

So I see often while he craves to connect he often self sabotages that connection- he does this with Jimin at times, boy can he work Jimin's nerves!

It takes a big heart and a lot of patience to love a person of this nature- and there's only one Jimin in that VMinKook dynamics.

Jk is not good at emotions, can barely work his way through his own much less nurture someone with complex emotions such as that of Tae.

Tae has been working through a lot. Trying to be better. Taekook is just a casualty of Jikook...

I keep saying these boys are human and ought to be viewed, thought of and treated as such. If you want to ship them as characters within the Kpop verse then do that. But don't breach the fourth wall and still think of them as fictional beings.

If any ship is real, then their real lives are bound to affect their dynamics, their desires and influence their needs. It's crazy to turn a blind eye to all of that while uWu-ing your ass off at every cute moment edited and shared to you.

Comparing Tae to JK, JK to me barely expresses a need for emotional attachment to anyone. He is similar to Suga in that sense. It's easier to see who he is emotionally attached to and attracted to than to see his overt expressions emotions.

When you look at all seven you see who JK is emotionally attached to based on how he act around and towards that person. He shows, he doesn't tell. In my opinion.

Tae asking JK to treat him as a friend rather than as a hyung thus to me was his way of asking to JK to connect emotionally. That doesn't mean they weren't close. They were, just not as close as Tae wanted to be.

This is what I meant when I said both him and jimin had tried to break down JK's walls in their early dynamics around debut.

Jimin's approach was to breach JK's physical boundaries but in so doing he had accidentally breached Jk's emotional walls as I've explained in previous posts.

I stated how I felt, perhaps, JM coveted that physical connection between Tae and JK at the time he joined BTS, but it's occurring to me Tae equally perhaps coveted Jikooks emotional connection; asking JK to treat him as a friend- as he treats Jimin?

Now I don't know if that conversation was had before Jimin joined BTS or after so I won't push it.

Regardless, it seems JK putting up those emotional walls with him had led to Tar harboring resentments towards JK- typical of people with passive aggressive tendencies.

Sort of explains all those weird TaegiKook dynamics in the early days of Tae trying so hard to do things to make JK jealous- Do y'all see why I disregard anything that happened between all the members before 2016?

I feel because Tae was young at the time, he didn't have the emotional maturity at the time to deal with a situation like that and coupled with his passive aggressive personality, resentment was bound to build up between them.

This resentment showed itself through his passive aggressive attitudes towards JK- Jimin wants to come, JK is stopping him, then that slight head tilt. Oh, you were given a mission to ignore me? I didn't notice, you ignore me off cam anyway followed by that attitude whatever it was.

In turn, I feel JK along the way started to build similar resentments towards Tae too as response to Tae's coldness and I see how to him Tae would be the problem- to him Tae is the one who had changed and grown distant, reserved in their dynamic- unrelatable.

I feel JK's grudge against Tae leading up to Soop however was because he felt his partner in crime had stabbed him in the back- get out of your imagination. That's not what I'm referring to. Lol. I'll explain in a bit.

But yes, this resentment I feel they were both harboring could probably had further complicated their dynamic and got in their way of achieving true intimacy beyond the skinship- when I tell you skinship is not an indication of intimacy.

You could see this in the way they both were very defensive in their conversation. Whatever had happened, JK had extended an olive branch to have Tae to sit and have drinks with him but Tae had brushed it off.

After this, he's shy to approach Jk to ask him to have a meal with him- Where did it all go wrong, they asked- twelve year olds, that's what they are. Lol.

There was a certain degree of lack of vulnerability in the way they expressed themselves with each other especially on JK's part which I feel leads people to conclude that their conversation was somewhat coerced- It wasn't in my opinion.

I have explained when I was talking about their love languages how I feel Tae in general is very headstrong, almost as strong headed as JK which I feel it's one of the things that gets in their way of achieving true intimacy and I feel that is what we were seeing in that moment during conversation.

I've explained intimacy, true intimacy requires a crucification of pride and a sacrifice of ego without which any intimacy would be superficial. I used VMin's dumpling fight as an example, where I said it took 2 days to two weeks for them to resolve their issue because they were both being strong headed.

It took Jimin's vulnerability and a sacrifice of his ego to reach through to Tae and even that took how long? And this is Jimin, the half blood Hufflepuff, president of the kumbaya fanclub we're talking about-

Y'all think Mr. Let it burn, I'll rather be dead than cool is about to let shit go? - Get some education. It's not in his vocabulary. It's not in either of them's vocabulary. Lol.

While I see these two as both unwilling to bow and submit to eachother, I've see them willfully submit emotionally to Jimin. Where they both fail to be vulnerable with eachother they both eagerly let themselves be vulnerable in this way with Jimin.

So it's not as if they are incapable of being vulnerable with eachother. If Tae's narration of his offer of friendship to JK is anything to go by, it seems he at one point was willing to take the steps to build that level of intimacy needed for their friendship to thrive but JK had barred him.

Tae in wanting to be close with JK the way he(Tae) is close with JM spoke volumes about Vmin dynamics as well. It tell me he doesn't see his bond with Jimin as exclusive. Special, but not exclusive- and we know how both Jimin and JK feel about exclusivity.

Which brings me to JK's perception about VMin.

I don't think JK see's Vmin's friendship as problematic. He just see's their lack of emotional boundaries as problematic and so often you see him try to put up boundaries for Jimin in their dynamic.

To Tae emotional connection is important and an indication of intimacy. That's his love language, that's his value. But how is JK going to open himself up like that to Tae when he sees what Tae and JM have as problematic? When he values and believes emotional connection has to be reserved for an intimate partner?

As explained earlier, exclusivity is a huge deal to JK.

He believes somethings ought to be reserved and exclusive to love relationships. He believed it then, he believes it now and he has consistently lived that belief through his actions throughout the years.

And if this is his values, then imagine his frustration at seeing people cross all sorts of boundaries with his man everywhere he turns- its enough to give anyone a complex, seriously.

When Tae explained that JK refusing to treat him casually as a friend was part of the reason they couldn't be as intimate, JK was quick to point out why he made that decision all those years and from the looks of it he ain't changing his mind anytime soon.

Dude literally said- I said what I said.

JK believes to make his intimate relationship special and to protect the sanctity of it, he ought to put up walls not further indulge in and perpetuate the lack of emotional boundaries within the group.

In this regard, Taekook is a casualty of Jikook, nothing personal. I've said, a real relationship involving JK or Jimin within the group is mutually exclusive to any other ship involving those two. As such all those other ships involving those two are bound to be casualties of Jikook.

In as much as BTS have thrived as a group on the lack of boundaries between them, this lack of boundaries was also ruining some of the members' joy especially JK who believes a certain level of boundary is necessary for a healthy relationship- Soop was very much neccessary.

And I see some Jikookers are claiming, Taekook settled their differences and had that conversation perhaps for Jimin's sake? Chileee- it makes sense if you are looking at things in isolation? But...

I mean Jikook have been dating a long time- six years now, for Taekook to be only now considering the effect of their dynamics on Jimin. If Jimin is whom they were concerned about they would have nipped it in the bud a long time ago especially around the time Jimin was having a tough time in his life. In my opinion.

I acknowledge the role Jimin played in bringing those two together and even believe he is the one that influenced them to take the initiatives they both took separately but no. I don't think they did this for Jimin. They did this for themselves first of all and for the sake of the sake of their careers, and the group.

[Image below. Check end of post if it's missing. Tumblr, Sigh]

I know some people have theorized that JK posted this on Weverse after his live because he was eager to do his next live with Jimin- true, but not only that.

The tension in that live was there but it wasn't there because he was uncomfortable with Tae per se. He has had a live with Tae in the past, has filmed with staff around and so Jeon Jungkook really had no excuse now did he?

Then the shade he threw, I shouldn't try to make anything next time- then proceeds to make gimbap with Jimin in their live while cheesing through it.

I feel his statement about making things was a Jab at BigHit. I told you previously how I felt he didn't want to do the live. That neither he nor Tar wanted to do the live hence BigHit's results to coercion. In my opinion.

BigHit at the time, it seems, was making them do these weird PG13 arts and craft thingy during their heavily monitored lives- it was weird as fuck especially for the audience that have grown used their VLives being a way for them to have intimate moments and conversations with BTS- I dipped out of most of those VLives. Deuces.

Homeboy was protesting because he just wanted to, first of all, have a Vlive alone with Jimin because they hadn't had one in a while- he deadass wanted to sit and stare into JM's soul while the rest of us watched on in silent discomfort and miserable loneliness while we thirdwheeled- This man, I swear to God!

But he also wanted to fight for their right to as a group to do whatever they wanted with little control and interference from BigHit- Independence really is recurring theme in JK's dramas. Lol.

After JK posted those rebellious tweets to out BigHit, Tae followed those tweets with a tweet akin to hold your peace followed by the shush emoji.

On its own it doesn't mean much. But read together with JK's post and the background I've given, it takes on a whole new meaning.

This moment to me was one of those evil twin power activation moments. Tae seemed to be with JK on that, in his own passive aggressive manner.

I talked about how social media was one of the tools they use to fight back against BigHit. Especially, by withholding their presence on social media platforms.

The company needs them to be online, interacting with fans and growing their fanbase. I hear some Idols, not BTs, are allegedly forced to appear on VLives even and social media even.

Yet BTS do that pro bono. So when they feel the company is tripping they exercise their rights to remain off the internet.

So imagine my surprise when Tae was suddenly popping up on Weverse, Vlive, YouTube live left right left!

I was surprised not because it was unusual of him, but because I felt that was contrary to the move he had made in support of JK earlier.

Do I think it is probably one of the immediate causes of the heat between Taekook that they needed to address? Probably.

I mean why else would Tae bring up him spending so much time online in his conversation with JK? How is that a way to bond with JK? Unless, perhaps JK had been pissed he did that and so Tae felt he needed to explain why he did that? Don't mind me. I'm delusional- but deadass.

Now a chunk of that conversation was voiced over so we will never know everything about that moment. And I hope, in the future they both talk about this and give us more details about this.

Both Jk and Tae have had issues with BigHit in the past and when they do they aren't afraid to come at BigHit with direct or passive aggressiveness.

Did y'all see ILand? How Tae took a jab at Bang PD over chicken breasts? How in Rookie King he expressed his resentment at BangPD for not knowing his name?

They are both expressive, assertive and less of a pushover in that way, I feel. They will put up the you can force the horse to the river side but can't force it to drink attitude if pushed against their will.

OTHER THINGS I NOTICED IN SOOP

I mentioned in my previous post how Jikook have been asserting themselves against eachother.

By that I meant, JK has been pushing JM to put up boundaries, treat their relationship with the same level of seriousness he does and not act like an ass kisser within the group all the time- bless him.

Jk used to be that guy who tried to please everyone. He would sacrifice his own happiness if that meant the happiness and harmony of the group. He is very Kumbaya in that way.

While this is noble, often he ended up stepping on JK's happiness because sacrificing his happiness is sacrificing Jk's happiness.

Him being the decision maker in their dynamics, that often means he ends up sacrificing JK's happiness without JK's permission.

To JK, JM would always come first. But Jimin is a bit of a people pleaser. He would consider the effect putting JK first would have on the group before placing him first- lately that has changed.

I feel Jk has been pushing him to careless about people's opinions of him and their relationship- please listen to the lyrics of GCF Helsinki to see what I mean especially whenever Jimin comes on the screen for the longest bar.

Just as much as JK has been pushing JM, JM has equally been pushing JK to be mindful of his possessiveness. While I see Jimin as someone who likes to belong, I don't think he wants to be owned.

So you see him pushing Jk to be social, to spend time with others- fix his issues with Tae for example, read books etc.

I hinted at this dynamic when I talked about Jikook shading eachother. Please check it out.

JK's always asserted himself and wanted to assert himself in the group dynamics and he has always expected that of Jimin as well.

It's no surprising then to see Jimin say no to Tae when Tae asked him to go on a car ride with him and Hobi in Soop episode 06. Old Jimin would have run along, no questions asked.

Jikook have changed. Their relationship dynamic has changed, their individual personalities have changed- are changing and they are changing eachother as well.

It explains why to JK Jimin feels more relatable as we've talked about above. They are changing but are also changing for eachother.

Some of these changes are glaringly obvious, others are subtle and easy to miss if you blink.

For example, Vmin's interaction mentioned above. Notice how Jimin is the outdoor kind of guy but in this instance he chose to stay indoors? Outdoors activities are his thing, indoors activities are JK's thing.

Do you see how Jk is influencing him?

He not only chose the indoors, he also chose an indoors activity that had JK written all over. How should I put this, painting, craft, drawing- those are ravenclaw traits not halfbood hufflepuffs' traits. Know what I mean?

True, Jimin loves these activities too but when you think of him traveling all over the world during their vacation- something I said was a cause of misunderstanding between them in August last year, you'd understand what I mean by JK asserting himself against Jimin.

They are compromising, they are negotiating, they are each embracing aspects of their personalities and accommodating it- you call it domesticity, I call it the aftermath of a trail period in Jikook's journey.

There are a lot other observations I made but this is all the length Tumblr can permit. Love Jikook and Support them.

Signed,

GOLDY

#Jikook #jikook analysis #jikook theories #kookmin #kookmintheories #jikooktheories #kookmin analysis #Goldy #nightswithkookmin #Soop episode 06 analysis #jikook dynamics #jikook is real #support Jikook #jikook lovers #bts ships #bts ship analysis

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babyybitchhh · 3 years

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Announcement

Alrighty, then. This post has been a long time coming so lets get right into it.

After much deliberation, I've decided not to push the self destruct button. I thought about it. Oh, when I say I was SO damn close to deleting this entire blog and all my fics right along with it. I'm frustrated and angry with myself, and I can't exactly say I'm doing well atm, but I know when things start to get better I'll want to write again, in earnest, and then I'd have to start over from scratch. Egg all over my face. Clown shit. We don't know her.

BUT. I think its clear to any and all that this is not working. It's just not. I expect too much of myself, for starters. And when it feels like others expect a certain level of performance from me that I just can't nail consistently due to my own ineptitude, my brain powers off. Is it some kind of executive dysfunction? Is it a fear of failing? A fear of success? Plain old anxiety? Who knows! I certainly don't. Whatever it is, it's hanging over my head like a guillotine. I'm beyond stressed and barely staying afloat irl, but then when I turn towards what should be a fun and therapeutic outlet all I see are expectations.

"When will you post the next chapter" on works that I WANT to finish but yet fear putting out a subpar product for and disappointing people.

"Will you write a follow up piece" for works that I WANT to expand on but don't know how to in a way that will make everyone else happy, let alone myself.

"Are you working on my request" for WIPs I have partially drafted and yet no way of knowing if that person - or anyone! - will even enjoy it.

I honestly feel guilty working on my own ideas instead of the multiple prompts in my inbox. I'm pretty sure that's part of my malfunction with my Ogun fic and others like it that are close to being done but remain unfinished simply because I'm thinking about what everyone else wants. It'd be one thing if I could just churn out content without a second thought but I can't. Like, it genuinely upsets me thinking that people are stuck in limbo waiting because I'm too chicken shit to just go with the flow instead of obsessing over every single line of text to the point of nausea, all for the sake of putting out "quality" content. I feel bad. I want to enjoy the writing process again, just like I did when I first got back into it with OsoSan. I shouldn't have started taking requests if I wasn't going to deliver, I know, and I sincerely apologize for my lack of foresight but it is what it is. I can't change the past. But what I CAN do is start fresh. So, long story short, there are going to be some changes coming to this blog.

A total revamp. I'm going to do an overhaul on the whole thing so don't be surprised when it starts to look different. I'm going to work primarily on navigation and organization, and try to tidy up a bit.

I'm turning off anon. Both because people looking to have a go with writers aren't so brave when that's no longer an option and also because I want to get as far away from those expectations as possible. I wont be reading or responding to comments on AO3 anymore for that same reason. I love you guys, and you're more than welcome to talk to me in DM's if you're more comfortable that way, but the long list of asks wanting to know wtf I'm doing in my spare time if not writing this or that is doing more harm than good.

I'm getting rid of the requests page and also purging any that I haven't already started working on - hopefully once I get into a better groove I'll actually be able to finish them, because I genuinely would like to. I really am sorry to everyone who's been waiting for their request to be fulfilled but I'm clearly not talented or confident enough to juggle my own ideas with someone else's. Maybe at some point in the future, when I'm a better writer, I'll start taking them again and we can all be happy.

And finally, I'm going to start experimenting with my writing method. As in, you're probably going to see shorter, less obsessively curated pieces popping up on my page that may not always be sexual in nature. I just really need to buckle down and work on this - all of it - and I'm determined to improve my skills even if it kills me. I have the urge to write every single day but it's hard when I'm the way I am and I've backed myself into a corner like this. I need to learn how to stop overthinking everything and just DO it. I know my productivity would increase and, with it, so would the overall quality of my work so I'm going to be focusing on different areas that need improvement. Not everything I put out will be good but that's part of the process, right? Right.

I totally understand if I lose followers for any of the above reasons, or even just personal ones, so don't hesitate to do so if you feel like you can't jive with this blog anymore. I appreciate you taking the time to read all this and I hope you understand my reasons for needing to do a reset on this page. This is exactly why I didn't want to start taking commissions and I would once again like to apologize to anyone I've let down.

P.S. I've had this distinct feeling that certain people in the writing community are not happy with me for a while now and although I'm not entirely sure what I've done wrong, I would still like to issue a formal apology for any toes I might have stepped on. That was never my intention. I can't claim to be a saint by any stretch of the imagination, but I have no ill will towards anyone. If its about the patreon I subscribed to and then left a month later, it had nothing to do with the author in question. I just belatedly realized I had more money coming out of my account than I could handle at the time and yes that weighs heavy on my shoulders. If its about the way I suddenly disappear in private chats, that's also something that shouldn't be taken personally. I genuinely have a hard time keeping up conversations with people, and I feel like a bother more often than not. If it's about the discords I join and then never participate in, see the above. If its about the way I fangirl or enthusiastically support some writers but not others, I never meant any harm by it. I just can't conceivably read everything that comes across my dash and, yes, my favorites are prioritized. Either way, whatever the grievances may be, anon will remain on until I start the revamp process some time tomorrow night so if whoever wants to air out their problems go for it. I probably wont post them but I will read them and try to learn from them, so have at it.

#small text so as to not take up so much room on people's dashes #personal #dumb bitch shit #I've already added a carrd to my bio so its easier to locate my age and such #I'd like to do a bit more with it but its late so : /#anyway I hope everyone's having a fine evening

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thelordofdarkreunion · 3 years

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Magnificent Scoundrels- The Shadowed Lords

I know I keep throwing new characters and places at you. Sorry. Scoundrel shenanigans will return next story. However, this is important for the story progression, and, to be blunt, these are some of my personal favorite characters I wrote in here. Enjoy the story, and if you are interesting in it, please read the end note.

“Nine heroes and their colleagues.

Six Shadowed Lords and the assets they bring:

One Ghost.

One god.

One collector.

One Man

One Cypher.

One Leader.

Six Stones.

One Weapon.

One Crucible.

One Ring.

Seven Lords:

One Lion

One Phoenix

One Warhawk

One Wolf

One Son

One Salamander

One Raven

And a little luck.” -A List of Items Required

Titanfall Galaxy

The Outlands

Hammond Robotics Lab 365-772

It was night out, and Dr. Lisa Wiltalker sat in the same chair, in the same office, as she did every night. But this time, she didn’t really mind. It was a wonderful night outside, crisp and clear, with the stars shining through the window, creating an ambient atmosphere of peace. Though, in reality, it was actually due to her work that she didn’t mind staying late.

She was the head of the facility, one of the most important ones in the Outlands region of space, and it was her duty to advance the Hammond company by any means necessary. And, by God, the opportunities that presented themselves now! Eight new universes that had just materialized from nowhere. Eight! The circumstances that presented themselves for Hammond and herself were...endless.

She was currently studying everything she could about these new galaxies, trying to learn anything and everything she could…

She looked up sharply. Could have sworn something was moving in the shadows… No. She had been here for...fifteen hours, was it? It was nighttime, and it was a lonely, empty office building, so no wonder her senses were playing tricks on her sleep deprived mind. She stood up, stretched, grabbed a coffee from the machine in the room, and sipped it while looking out the window and the stars. Feeling better, or at least more caffeinated, she returned to the task at hand.

Eight new galaxies. Endless opportunities to sell the products of Hammond. Spectre robots, the latest and greatest in infantry fighting machines, faster, stronger, and tougher than a man; explosive Ticks, small drones that seeked out enemies and detonated; and, of course, Titans. She didn’t think that any of the other galaxies had technology like that, and where better to add to their arsenals but from the Hammond Corporation? Made perfect sense…

She snapped around sharply. She swore she could have heard something moving, swore she could see something just inside her peripheral vision… She shook her head again. The office was massively secure, with guards, both of bolt and steel, and flesh and blood stationed throughout it. When in a sleep deprived and lonely situation, everyone started seeing the boogeyman hiding in the corners. She shook her head ruefully and turned on more lights.

Where was she? Ah, yes. Opportunities. Who to sell to? Everyone, if possible. Who could turn down six meter tall war machines, implemented with the finest in A.I. technology, programmed in the art of death and destruction? Well, probably a few of the more dense and/or peaceful of the governments out there. She leafed through a dossier.

The Galactic Assembly? No. Has only had two major wars in the last century, both of which had ended within the year. The United Federation of Planets? Also no. Too regulatory, too jealous of their own technology. The Galactic Empire? This one looked promising. A pro-human empire that had been fractured and on the losing side of a major war in recent years, desperate for anything to turn the tide. Yes, this-

A cold, metallic hand gripped her throat, preventing any sound from getting out, and a horribly deep, rasping, grating voice sounded in her ear.

“You ever get the feeling you’re not alone in the room? It’s because you’re not.”

The extremely tall, spindly...thing stood over the corpse of Dr. Wiltalker. The body had a massive, jagged, yet precise hole ripped through the torso, directly where the heart was, and currently lay deep in a pool of its own clotting blood. The thing, made of cold steel yet looking oddly humanoid, stood above it, watching, savoring the sensation.

“One more off the list,” it said in the same rasping voice. It made a move to turn, to exit the room, but stopped. It stared at the desk. At the dossier. “Interesting,” it muttered. It picked it up. “Very interesting indeed.” It leafed through it. The machine turned.

It had once been he. He had once been living. He had been turned into this… synthetic nightmare by Hammond, against his will or knowledge. He snarled and suppressed a shudder of rage. Once the greatest hitman the Syndicate, Hammond, or anyone else had ever known, at some unknown point his mind had been altered, his body destroyed and replaced with… this. He snarled again.

He had been having his revenge against everyone and everything associated with the company… but this new knowledge. This changed things. So many possibilities. So many skinsuits. So little time. He was the boogeyman. He was the Revenant. And he would have his vengeance.

Warhammer 40k Galaxy

Solemnace, Necron Tomb World

The hallways were jet black, cut from a strange stone that seemed to absorb all light around it. The only illumination came from strange runes and lighting fixtures that seemed to blend into the halls and ceilings. The light was a pale, bright green, and cast strange shadows on the halls and objects residing within. It swirled throughout the space, as if it didn’t quite understand what exactly it was supposed to be illuminating. A human would have found the long halls exceptionally strange. Disconcerting. Creepy, even, if one were less eloquent. It seemed like something from a horror movie, with mad creatures waiting to leap from the shadows on the unaware.

Even more strange and disconcerting were the objects located within the halls. Strange devices, artifacts, and objects littered the space. Each one almost unrecognizable; completely unknown except to the most knowledgeable of galactic historians, and, of course, the curator. For this place, this entire planet, in fact, was so much more than strange alien hallways and lighting that did not agree with the human ocular system. Above all else, itt was a place that preserved history.

The massive galleries, for that is what they were, contained a great many strange, horrifying, and wondrous things. Everything, from inactive artifacts of history to living beings had their place here. Each was protected, frozen in status by eldritch technologies. A massive man in baroque power armor. Tens of thousands of Imperial Guardsmen, from many different worlds, (including some lost) scattered throughout different exhibits. Huge war machines, from almost every race to bestride the stars. A large, beautifully embellished bell. Korks, the ancient and ferocious genetic predecessors of orks. The ossified husk of some strange, jellyfish-like being. The preserved head of an Imperial Saint. The graceful Eldar of the last high council of the destroyed Craftworld Idharae. Space Marines, from almost every chapter and legion imaginable. Several Inquisitors that had been just a bit too nosy. A Custodian. Stange, undocumented blue crab-like aliens. Members of species thought to be long dead by the rest of the galaxy. The total list would probably take hours, if not days or weeks, to describe.

The long galleries were patrolled by odd beings, bipedal silver robots with elongated skulls, wielding strange spears. They seemed to be mindless, uncaring of the weariness that would affect any other beings by the constant patrolling.

On one of the wings of the planet-sized museum, an individual studied a huge sculptured head. It was old and grimy, its original and secondary colors lost to time. The figure was lost in it, its bulk taking up a huge display gallery. Once upon a time the head had been part a a figure called the Statue of Liberty, and had resided in the human hive city of Nuva York on the Throneworld of mankind. 38,000 years ago. It was a huge monument to human accomplishment. 38,000 years ago. It was a historical relic, a testament to mankind’s history. 30,000 years ago. It disappeared, never to be seen again, a missing piece of history. 24,000 years ago. Now it resided here. It mattered nothing to the individual. He was older than the statue. Older than the human race itself.

His body was similar to those of the gallery guardians, but much more ornamented and higher quality. Made of silvery metal, his legs were long but powerful. A metallic rib cage, with a strange symbol etched in the breastbone attached, the legs to similarly structured arms. His metallic skull had a largely elongated jaw, with a permanent mouth etched in the metal. A cloak made of interlocking metallic plates was thrown across his back, and in his hands was a strange staff, made of the same metal as he was.

A sigh of contentment, strangely synthesized, escaped his lips (or what passed for them). While he did often travel the galaxy, looking for artifacts and individuals to add to his ever-growing collection, it was nice to look at his gains. He turned and strode out of the gallery hall.

A vast open room stretched before him, much better lit than his galleries. Ornamented skeletal warriors, weapons at the ready, stood on guard. They were there not only to protect him (not that he needed it, mind you, there were plenty of tricks up his sleeve), but the massive museum itself. He surmounted the steps to his throne, ornamental carved from the black rock, and surveyed his domain. He was not here simply to oversee his galleries. No. A voice broke him out of his thoughts.

“My lord?” asked another metallic servant, this one bearing heavier limbs and more decoration than its fellows. The seated figure looked up. A huge holographic map, made of eerie green light, sprung to life, taking up the majority of the colossal room. It showed not one, but nine different galaxies. Each a treasure trove. Each begging to be explored.

Trazyn the Infinite, Phaeron of the Nihilakh Dynasty, Archaeovist of Solemnace, curator of the Prismatic Galleries, and collector extraordinaire turned his head to the map. Eight new galaxies. Eight new sets of history. So little time. So much to collect.

Marvel Galaxy

Within the passages between worlds

There were ways. Passages between realms and planets, known to only a few. Some might call them ‘wormholes’, some ‘slip spaces’, others just plain ‘magic’. They were small, strange, holes in time and space. While naturally occurring, and while able to be explained by science, few ever found them. Fewer still ever used them.

Loki of Asgard, God of Mischief, was not among those few. He was with the tiny minority, the smallest percentage of all beings: he knew where they were, knew how they worked, and used them frequently. They were so incredibly useful; too hard to pass up. Not even Heimdall, all-seeing guardian of the Nine Realms, could not peer into them. Poor Heimdall. The man was a tedious bore, but he really didn’t deserve to die like he did.

Loki died that day too, choked to death at the hands of the Mad Titan, Thanos. Or did he? Was this the original Loki, cheating death yet again? Was this another Loki from the same universe, the same timeline, transported here? Maybe. Or was this a Loki from somewhere else entirely; the same individual from a different universe? It was possible. One never really knew with the God of Lies.

Loki wasn’t truly evil. He had a habit for causing mass death and destruction, but those killed were mortals, were they not? A few years taken off their miserably short lives wouldn't really affect anything. He liked power, enjoyed it, would use force to get it, but, at heart, he wasn’t malevolent.

But now, out there, seen in the spaces between time and space, there were new things. Things that truly were malevolent. Evil. Things that would enslave all sentients, destroy all life, rend reality asunder.

He was no hero. But things like this...they needed to be stopped. So, unfortunately, he would probably end up fighting on the side of heroes. However, that didn’t mean he still couldn’t find time for mischief...

Mass Effect Galaxy

Cronos Station, Headquarters of Cerberus

The room was bare, with only an ergonomic chair standing alone in the center. A huge window, sleek and curved, with no obstructions, gave view to a massive fiery star. Tendrils of fire, both red and yellow, spun into space, guaranteed to take any viewer’s breath away. The floor was black and polished, reflecting the star’s burning light. Sitting in the chair in the center of the room, surrounded by orange and blue holograms, was a single human.

He was wearing an extremely expensive, well-tailored suit, the edges perfectly cut to fit his frame. His brown hair was neatly styled, and his eyes glowed blue, replaced long ago with prosthetics. He stood, glass of incredibly expensive liquor in hand, the glowing tip of a cigarette sticking from the edge of his mouth, staring at the holograms. Somehow, he contrived to make the vices look incredibly elegant and classy, like a movie star of old.

He was the Illusive Man. One of the, if not the most powerful individuals in the galaxy. Creator of the pro-human terrorist organization Cerberus. He saw his duty plainly: humanity must become the most prominent race throughout the stars. He was not xenophobic. Far from it. He simply wanted his species to succeed, and if lesser individuals saw that as racist, saw him as a terrorist, then so be it. He cared nothing for the opinions of the weak. Those who were not willing to act were not worthy of inheriting the stars. But now...complications.

Eight new galaxies. He knew a great many things about them; far more than most. There were new threats. New problems. New factions and people of incredible power. But most importantly, humanity existed in all eight. His species.

Whether through the iron might of the Imperium of Man, or the peace and technological progress of the United Federation of Planets, humanity was in a prominent place in all of them. He would see them remain that rightful place. But now there were threats. Too many to handle alone. He would need help, and he would need it as quickly as possible if he were to succeed.

The holograms scrolled past, showing names. Faces. Dossiers. Heroes. Villains. Species.

The Illusive Man sat in his chair, cigarette dangling from his mouth as if forgotten. He was thinking. Planning. He needed more help, needed more people, needed more knowledge. Knowledge was power. Power was required to raise mankind to the top. Simple, but not easy. He thought some more.

Unknown Location

The faint light, cast by the glow of a nearby star, emanated from large floor to ceiling windows. The star was old, cold, but still let out a pure white light, enough to illuminate the room through the heavy, cathedral-like windows. It contrasted with the empty blackness of space, the only light beyond the star being faint pinpricks, barely enough to cast a second glance at. The room itself was dark. Nothing could be seen of it. Not its size, not its purpose, or any items within. The light only illuminated two figures standing side by side, staring out into the blackness of space.

The one on the right was the shorter of the two. It looked to be human, with two arms, two legs, and a head sticking out from a normal human frame. However, one couldn’t really tell what it was, for its face was hidden by an armored black mask and helmet. Two rectangular eye slits, glowing a dim red in the light of the star, looked out through the window. It wore black armor and gloves, stylized so as to allow the greatest range of motion possible. A heavy black coat, reinforced by some form of anti-ballistic material, reached down to the figure’s ankles. Holstered at its side was a large pistol, a human-made automatic of heavy calibre.

The figure on the left was massive. While the one in black was slightly taller than six feet, it towered a full eight feet tall. Its form was large and bulky, with joints of massive power armor poking through a plain white robe that hid the majority of its figure. A white hood covered its head, and while one might think this figure was some strange alien, the bottom of the face that could be seen through the hood and shadows was unmistakably human. It had a broad and chiseled face that fit the rest of its massive form, hinting that the bulkiness of its figure came not from the armor, but from the body beneath it. Two pistols were holstered at its side, both oversized to fit in the figure’s large armored gauntlets. One was blocky and black, and while heavily ornamented, seemed to be of the type that fired something akin to bullets. The other glowed a soft blue, coils replacing what would have been the slide on an automatic pistol.

An utterly massive sword was strapped to the figure’s back, and while beautifully adorned and seemingly crafted by a master, it was too large even for the tall man to wield it. Instead, it was kept in its place, resting on his back.

The taller man spoke. “You know what must be done, yes?” His voice was a deep baritone, rumbling with massive power and reverberating through the darkness.

“Yes.” The shorter figure’s voice was scarred and metallic, spoken through some sort of modulator in the mask it wore.

“Then we must move quickly.” The man on the left turned and stared down at the black-clad figure on the right. “There are those who would seek to stop this.”

“It is logical. I see no other way to make things right for everyone.”

“Good. Then it is necessary to do what must be done,” said the deep voice.

“The fate of the universe hangs on the shoulders of a few. But they have done it before. Proven their worth,” replied the black figure.

“This time there are forces outside of their control. Things they are not powerful enough to fight. This is why we must help them.” The red lenses tilted up towards the tall man’s face.

“Indeed. We have a mission, and for the good of all we must not fail.”

Hope you liked the story. I know that both Loki and the Illusive Man are kind of bad guys, and the the Illusive Man goes heavy off the deep end in ME 3, but that hasn’t happened yet, and I need all of these characters on the same side. Now, the message. If you have any ideas for stories you want me to write or any characters that fit in with the Shadowed Lords you want to include, please tell me and I will consider writing them if the fit in. If you have any comments, criticisms, concerns, or questions, don’t hesitate to ask! I hope you enjoyed the story, and I hope that you have a great day. Or night. Or whatever.

Edit: Also, Revenant is a sociopathic murderer, so he isn’t exactly a good guy either.

#magnificent scoundrels #story #writing #my writing #my story #fanfic #crossover story #mass effect #apex legends #warhammer 40k #marvel

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lillupon · 3 years

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So, I've got a very long rant/opinion here and Idk really know how to say this without coming off kinda bad but I'm gonna say it anyways. I agree with the fact that the seventeen tag has been kinda dry lately on most fanfic places, but it's really only in the smut area. It's the sane way with other groups too I feel like. All of the nice little innocent tags are boomin to this day and thats completely fine. I think the smut tag is dry tho bc lately I feel like a few social issues (like sexualizing people and disrespecting them and their identity) have crossed over into kpop and have been ?blown out of proportion? Lately there's been a rampage of people who like to say that writing smut about someone is disgusting and is dehumanizing because people want to assume that it would make the idols uncomfortable which could equate to some morality issues on how you are reducing someone only to their body without their consent and a bunch of stuff like that. It kind of pisses me off bc this is fiction. About grown adults. Clamping down on horny people who simp over hot asian men isn't going to solve the issues we face in real life. I think a shit ton is wrong with the world we currently live in, and deciding to come after something that isn't even real bothers me. Like what does that actually accomplish. But yeah, I think thats a reason why smut has been dying down. I mean, on youtube almost every video about unpopular opinions, or things they dont like about kpop will include something about shipping idols in fanfics. And then everyone in the comment section will talk about how its all fine and dandy in moderation, but once people start writing smut it's crossing the idols personal boundaries. It's something I've been seeing a lot more often and I think people who are interested in writing smut are being turned away from it bc we've gotten to a point where people are being called disgusting for having fantasies.

Hi Anon, thank you for sending in this Ask.

I want to preface this by saying: when I write or talk about Mingyu and Wonwoo fucking on my blog, it is a fantasy. I am not speculating about what the real Mingyu and Wonwoo might be like in bed. I am imagining the versions of Mingyu and Wonwoo that I have created in my head, that exist only in my stories. None of it is real. I understand that this can be a blurry boundary for some people. But for me, the separation between fantasy and reality is well-defined. Now, on to your Ask!

You’ve hit the nail on the head with this one. You’ve also touched on many of the issues I have been struggling with myself as of late. It’s difficult to argue about morals since everyone has a different set of values, as well as different comfort levels. Some people think real person fiction (RPF) is a gross invasion of privacy. Others are fine with it. And others don’t care one way or another. There is no single answer; I can only offer my answer. Which means, of course, people are welcome to disagree with it, or parts of it.

In this essay (LOL But forreal: this is an essay), I will be sharing my experience in the k-pop fanfic community from 2014 to present, the etiquette I personally abide by as a reader and writer of RPF, as well as my stance on RPF in general.

I started reading and posting fanfics back in 2014/2015 on a website called AsianFanfics (AFF). Obviously, no one on that site had a problem with RPF, since AFF is a platform made specifically for sharing stories about Asian celebrities. For many years, I read and enjoyed RPF with zero guilt. I scribbled away by myself in my own corner of fandom and curated my own content. I didn’t interact much with other fans, readers, or writers. I didn’t have a Twitter, and I only used tumblr to reblog memes. As a result, I’ve been able to avoid a lot of anti-shipping discourse, as well as purity and cancel culture. I had no idea there were so many negative opinions about RPF. It wasn’t until I became active on the subreddit r/Fanfiction last year that I learned about all the discourse surrounding RPF.

This newfound ‘awareness’ does make me feel guilty at times—but only because after mulling this over, I still don’t think this is something to feel guilty about.

Here’s what I remember, first and foremost, when I create and consume RPF: fanfics and my favourite ships are fictional, and fiction is fantasy. This is basic etiquette when it comes to RPF, and most people in the k-pop fandom understand this. Delusional fans exist, of course, but they are not representative of the entire k-pop community.

Another point of etiquette is to keep fanfics within fandom spaces. I would never push my fics into celebrities’ faces, or go around claiming that my fanfics are accurate representations of a k-idol’s life or personality, in any way, shape, or form. I would also discourage directing ship-related questions to official accounts, or bringing them up during fansigns or other face-to-face interactions; I believe that in these instances, shipping does have the potential to strain real-life relationships.

So with basic etiquette out of the way, let me share my approach to RPF in general.

As much as we like to think we know our favourite celebrities, we really don’t. All we see is their public persona. And this public persona is intentionally controlled, managed, and curated by a team of people: directors, tabloids, editors, makeup artists, publicists, etc. How “real” are these celebrities? We are so distanced from them that they may as well be fictional.

I draw from the public persona that idols project, and I work them into my own writing. But at the end of the day, these personalities are my own interpretation. My interpretation is probably nothing like an idol’s actual personality. I just use the “public persona/character” that idols portray as inspiration for my own stories, which are set in wildly different universes.

More than anything, I think of k-pop idols as “actors” in my fic. You know how when you write an original novel, you scroll through Google images, looking for the perfect person to portray your original character? RPF is literally that, except you might build upon pre-existing dynamics and personalities.

When it comes to explicit fanfiction, two main concerns are prevalent: one of consent, and one of sexualisation.

If we argue against explicit RPF due to lack of consent, we should be willing to apply the same lens to all explicit works. How do we know that the creator of a movie, book, series, etc., is okay with us using their characters in our stories, explicit or not? We don’t. Perhaps some creators encourage fanfiction, but don’t want their lovingly crafted characters engaging in sexual acts or experiencing trauma. We just don’t know. I feel this line is even more blurred when we talk about characters from movies or TV series.

Let’s take Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, as portrayed by Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan, from the Captain America movies as an example. I am willing to bet that when people consume and create explicit fanfiction about Steve and Bucky, they are imagining Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan in their heads. I doubt many people are imagining the 2D cartoon versions of Steve and Bucky, even though they’re technically the exact same characters. Why? Well, it could be because movies are more readily and easily consumed than comics, and so people are unfamiliar with comic book Steve and Bucky. But it might also be because fans find Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan attractive. Is this really any different from RPF, where fic authors make up everything about a celebrity’s life?

When readers and writers of fanfic talk about how hot Steve Rogers or Bucky Barnes is, those comments are about Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan’s bodies. When reading explicit stories, fans are going to picture Chris and Sebastian’s bodies in their head, doing sexual things. Can we say, “Well, it’s not really you, Chris/Sebastian”, when in a way, it is?

The reality is, people are going to thirst over celebrities, regardless of whether or not explicit fanfiction exists. They’re going to post thirst tweets on Twitter. They’re going to talk to friends and strangers online about how hot [insert celebrity name here] is. They’re going to fantasize about dating and having sex with their favourite celebrity. Or, as it is in my case, they’re going to make up stories in their heads about their favourite idols dating and banging each other. People are going to do all of this without ‘getting consent’ from the celebrity. Cracking down upon and shaming writers of RPF isn’t going to change any of that.

To be honest, I’m not sure why people think it is disgusting to imagine sexual scenarios about real people. It is okay and normal to have these kinds of fantasies. I suppose the alternative is to fantasise about having sex with cartoon characters instead? It’s a very binary way of thinking to say that if you imagine/write real people in explicit scenarios, you are immediately sexualising, dehumanising, or objectifying them. There is more to dehumanisation than writing smut about our favourite celebrities. For one thing, you can love someone and appreciate all parts of them, and still want to fuck their brains out. And generally, fanfics come from a place of love—love that is not only sexual in nature.

Is it the sharing aspect inherent to fanfiction? The possibility that a celebrity might stumble upon explicit works about them? The chances are very low, I think, of the k-pop idols I enjoy writing about coming across my English fics. But I also believe in curating your own content, and that applies to celebrities too. Perhaps a celebrity should not go searching for fanfics about themselves. And of course, people should not show celebrities their fanfics, unless invited.

Another argument I hear against (explicit) RPF is, “How would you feel if someone wrote fanfiction about you?” First off, I don’t like this argument because there’s a difference between someone who decides to be a public figure versus someone who decides to remain a regular private citizen. Celebrities should and do know what they’re getting into when they choose their occupation. (This is not to say, “They are celebrities; sexualise them all you want because that’s what they signed up for.” Here, I am only acknowledging that people might have sexual fantasies about celebrities they are attracted to. Presumably, celebrities are cognizant of this.)

If someone (whose existence I am not even aware of, mind you) decides they want to write explicit fanfiction of me in some tiny corner of the Internet, I wouldn’t care so long as: (1) they don’t shove it into my face, and (2) they don’t harass me and ask invasive questions about my personal life and relationships. It’s not hurting me or negatively affecting my life, so it wouldn’t even register as a blip on my radar. When fanfiction remains within its appropriate spaces, it is largely harmless.

Now, if a k-pop idol were to ask their fans to stop writing fanfiction about them, would I? Yes, I would. However, I can’t imagine that happening. Judging by the number of ‘sexy’ concepts, fanservice moments, and variety shows such as ‘We Got Married’, I am certain that k-pop idols realise they are the stars of many fantasies—some of which are explicit in nature. Considering the prevalence of shipping in the k-pop industry, I would argue that shipping is subtly encouraged.

It’s sad that so many talented writers are shamed out of fandom, or feel that k-pop cannot be the medium through which they tell their stories, or explore their sexuality, or cope with trauma, or simply have fun. Professional works and Hollywood love their RPF—readers and writers of fanfics should be able to, as well.

As you said Anon, “clamping down on horny people who simp over hot asian men isn't going to solve the issues we face in real life” (this is a lovely sentence, by the way). The kind of person who dehumanises another and reduces them to a sexual object will do so some other way, if not via fanfiction. I don’t think the issue of fetishisation can be fixed simply by telling people not to write explicit RPF. In my experience, people who read and write RPF are more respectful and thoughtful about these things than the general public. We’ve all seen the general public say highly sexual things about celebrities in the media and to their faces, or tag celebrities in their thirst tweets. Are these things less invasive than fanfiction? Personally, I don’t think so. And in my opinion, there are more pressing and damaging issues in stan culture than fanfic.

In conclusion, I don’t think there is anything wrong with creating and consuming RPF, both explicit and non-explicit so long as we:

Remember we are writing fiction

Keep RPF within its appropriate space, and

Do not harass celebrities about their personal lives and relationships

RPF is not for everyone. There may be people who enjoy RPF, but draw the line at explicit stories. This is fine. Everyone has their own personal preferences. What is not fine, however, is attacking people for creating things you don’t like. I’m not sure what kind of moral crusade people are on and what they hope to achieve by shaming writers of RPF, explicit or otherwise. Ultimately, fic authors are writing a fantasy. It’s not real; no one is being hurt. I think it’s important for people to curate their own content, and AO3 makes it very easy to filter out explicit works and unwanted tags.

Maybe this is me trying to justify my own participation in explicit RPF—I don’t know. What I do know is that I love k-pop, and fandom is an important part of my media and entertainment experience. I adore the k-pop idols I write about, and I just want to imagine them being happy and getting lots of love and orgasms. Let a bitch be horny, goddamn…

Some bonus fun facts!

At the time I am writing this, on AO3:

26.2% of Stray Kids fanfics are rated M or E

26.3% of Seventeen fanfics are rated M or E

29.0% of Merlin fanfics are rated M or E

34.9% of Captain America (Movies) fanfics are rated M or E

40.1% of BTS fanfics are rated M or E ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Coincidentally, I saw this post on Reddit this morning: Can we have a RPF positivity post?

#asks #my writing #fic & fandom #I keep coming back to fiddle and add things to this answer #but I think I've said all I wanted to now...

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