#and I know it’s because it’s a fandom thing. like your more likely to interact with something you know about rather than something you have

[icyculturekingdompanda9989]

Attention all "Harry Potter" blogs:

There is a blog with the username, well, I can't say it because I don't want them finding this post and making with their usual shenanigans, but in numeric code it's 12 5 20 8 1 12 16 1 3 20 3 9 16 8 5 18 (handy online translator here). They really have it in for James Potter and want everyone else to share that opinion.

There's hating a character and expressing your opinion, and there's whatever Leonard Eddie Tommy Horatio Albert Lincoln Patrick Armando Chuck Terry Colton Iggy Paul Henry Ezra Ralph is doing. Even most James haters usually don't

Constantly post the same exact thing over and over

Resort to name-calling (e.g. "You're trash")

Accuse those not playing along of some really serious stuff ("you support sexual abusers or are one yourself")

Use loaded words like "fascist" or "abuser"

Act like their hatred of James (or love of Snape for that matter) is the most important thing in the universe

Shame and invalidate real SA victims

Go out of their way to reblog any positive posts about James and tack on ad hominem attacks

Tag their post with literally every James Potter related tag including all ships involving him and all characters associated with him like the other individual Marauders (which by the way is tag spam and should be reported)

React to all criticism with yet more repetitive ad hominems

I know it's tempting, but do not engage with Lisa Ellen Tamara Holly Allison Laura Patty Anita Carla Terri Connie Irene Pam Heather Edna Rachel whatsoever, even if they reblogged from you! Instead, just block them. As @myheadsgonenumb said:

It's always worth reminding everyone that they can curate their own fandom experience and it's fine to block any tags you don't like and any users - even if you've never interacted with them - if you see their takes and don't vibe with them. It's much nicer to just not see, rather than getting into fights in the reblogs.

Again, block lima echo tango hotel alfa lima papa alfa charlie tango charlie india papa hotel echo romeo (translator here in case the red letters weren't enough [use the second text box and look at the first]); however you personally may feel about James Potter, don't feed the troll. Also, report them for spam since tag spam is still spam; maybe harassment if they said anything directly to you via DM or reblog. ETA: Forgot to mention, but thanks to the way Tumblr is set up, you'll have to block this person on all your sideblogs (if applicable) individually. Oh yeah, make sure you have this person blocked before you reblog this PSA.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I’ve read your rules but please let me know if I missed anything. I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your character analyses and general conversations on the story/characterization of TWST. I’ve always felt that, while I like TWST, the story feels too surface level for what it wants to be. Which I would be more okay with if they were consistent with stakes/consequences but they aren’t. I don’t have any favourites and I like all the characters, so I’m always up for hearing how people feel about them in an objective sense because I’d like to write my own fic one day that tackles some of TWST’s writing flaws and your blog has given me a lot of perspectives on things I haven’t considered (haven’t gotten to all of it but I’d like to read more of your thoughts), which is very refreshing! So far I’ve read a few Malleus ones (and a bit of Leona). I like Malleus (mostly bc I love dragons) but I definitely think his characterization is very inconsistent which makes the story surrounding him poorly written (much like other characters). I tend to avoid interacting directly with the fandom (fandoms in general) because it’s really easy to see the extremes of two sides (hating or loving a character) which makes the experience less fun. TWST isn’t perfect but as long as I still have fun with it, I don’t see myself quitting anytime soon. But I just wanted to express my gratitude and that’s pretty much all I wanted to say!

Yaaay, I’m glad that you find my analyses and character discussions useful ^^ I feel like people are so anti-critique nowadays and assume if you criticize a product then you must be hating on it when that’s not the case. A lot of my critique comes from a place of love and wanting to see the story and characters I care about be better and get the attention they deserve. You don’t have to agree with me; I’m just here to present what I hope will help others develop a more well-rounded perspective.

Yeah, I always feel like Twst is held back by being a mobile gacha title 🙂‍↕️ We need more expansive explorations of the world and its characters, stakes and consequences that amount to more than a slap on the wrist (not necessarily jail, but more like social repercussions), just… more in general. Twst being reliant on banner sales (and thus appealing to the self-insert player) also means some scenarios aren’t natural or don’t make sense. This happens primarily with Malleus; we get a lot of contradictory writing about how Yuu is his special friend and the only one who invites him to events even though there are countless exceptions in the main cast of students who aren’t afraid of him, try to socialize with him, or do invite him to functions. The format of the game REALLY holds it back from reaching its full potential. I find a lot of Twst’s best character writing actually comes through in the mundane interactions with one another, because that’s at least relatively consistent and not overtly overly pandering to the players.

Fandom will do what it does; characters tend to become polarized fanon versions of themselves because simplification makes them easier to handle in a larger community. There’s also bound to be extreme opinions, and I don’t think those are necessarily bad??? I often look to those extremes to try and get an understanding for where they’re coming from. However, I realize that’s not for everyone and can kill the hype for some so just do whatever makes you the most comfortable! As long as you’re having fun, that’s all that matters ^^

P.S. You should read more of my Leona analyses :))

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week’s writer spotlight feature is: @mojowitchcraft! weird_witchcraft has 36 fics posted to AO3 in the Stranger Things fandom and 34 of them are in the Steddie tag!

ArgentumCivitas recommends the following works by @mojowitchcraft:

Acta, Non Verba

Late Bloomers

Living In A Lunar Spell

Must Hate Mondays

Night Drives

You're The Ultimate

It's A Match!

Strawberries & Cigarettes

"Amy is a shining light of the Steddie fandom! She's always there to hype you up, make a joke, or give you the support you need. And her work is awesome! It's so varied and interesting and all of it is great. Although she likes working across genres, the one constant is that Steve and Eddie will always end up together - which is so lovely to see." -- ArgentumCivitas

Below the cut, weird_witchcraft answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie? 

They hijacked my brain like they hijacked the Winnebago! I was a long time fanfic reader and never thought I’d write anything, but I just started getting ideas and ran with them. I’m honestly amazed that I’ve written so much and for three whole years now! They have such a fun dynamic and I have a great time exploring how they interact in different situations and universes. 

What’s your favorite trope to READ? 

I loooove the classics: fake dating, one bed, soulmates, vampires/werewolves, time travel/time loops. I can never pick one fave hahaha. 

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

Oh god I don’t know… I tend to write a lot of canon divergence and I love a modern au! 

What’s your favorite Steddie fic? 

Definitely “i come back to the place you are” by pizzabones (@glitterfang on tumblr) I love it so much, and I went from gushing about loving it to Becca to beta reading the last half of the fic, it’s the reason her and I became friends 🥲💕 I also adore Wabisabipapi’s “Boys of Summer” series, Ari (@arimakes on tumblr) is a master at creating rich alternate universes with detailed worldbuilding. I want to live in the lake town it’s such a special place. I could shout out a million other fics too, we have been blessed with so many gems in the Steddie community! 

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet? 

I’m working on a werewolf Steve fic right now and I’ve always loved werewolf lore so I’m excited about that one! I’ve also thought about writing something with time travel too or soulmates because there are so many possibilities. 

What is your writing process like? 

A bit chaotic, honestly!! Most of the time i do bullet points to jot down ideas and then just run with it. With some of my more recent fics I’ve been plotting things out in more detail. I find this helps me not get lost along my way, especially since I’ve been struggling to write for the past year or so. It’s just not flowing out of me the same way that it used to!! Ari has taught me a lot and is so good at outlining and plotting. Their process is really awesome, and they talked about it in their spotlight. I can’t quite do it their way, but I’ve learnt from writing with them and beta reading their fics. I used to just write and see where it took me haha. I still do sometimes, I either get an idea for a scene or dialogue and expand from there. I also tend to have main things I want to have happen in a scene but I’m not always super concerned with how I get there. I need to be “in” the scene to figure out how I want the characters to talk or move or interact with one another. 

Do you have any writing quirks? 

I love—em dashes—and overuse them hahaha uhhh I wonder what else would be considered a quirk other than repeating the same word multiple times in a scene and Ari calling me out for it when they’re beta reading 😅 

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule? 

I crave that dopamine hit of posting and seeing the kudos and comments come in, so I usually post right after something’s finished and beta read hahahaha  I really want to finish things first and post on a schedule, but I can never quite keep it up. I’m hoping that with the werewolf fic I can do just that. I wanted to do it with Acta Non Verba, my frat boy Steve fic, as I’d been working on it in the background for over a year and had three chapters finished and lots of scenes written but I got caught up to that and haven’t been able to write fast enough to update it regularly. 

Which fic are you most proud of? 

I’m proud of all of them in different ways! “We Part To Meet Again”, and “The Ritual” spring to mind first. “We Part To Meet Again” because it was something I wrote on a whim and then came back to a year later and had a lot of fun finishing. And “The Ritual” because I had so much fun writing Sapphic Steddie / a vampire fic.

How did you get the idea for Acta, Non Verba? 

It was a combination of a few things! Way back in December 2022 I was seeing people talking about Frat Boy Steve, along with photos of Joe Keery in a backwards hat, as well as seeing a viral tweet that said:  “I can’t stop thinking about the dude that made me cum 4 times in one sitting and called me a good girl every time and then completely ghosted me. I was ready to be a wife” I shared it with a friend saying that it was Steddie with Eddie leaving in the middle of the night thinking that king Steve just wanted a one night stand and Steve being like “where’d he go I am in love” Then I saw Savi’s ‘YUCK’ art which also inspired me to jot down some ideas!  I found myself continuously inspired by music as well and kept throwing songs on a playlist (which is now 17+ hours long) which gave me brainworms and finally lead to me writing the damn thing. I smushed everything together and kept it percolating for a couple of years while I worked on other things 😂

When writing Must Hate Mondays, what was something you didn’t expect? 

It’s probably the goofiest thing I have written! I had such fun crafting a story around all the Steddie Garfield art I could find.

What inspired Living In A Lunar Spell? 

Old school “character turned into creature/animal” fics! I read a few back in the day and I thought it would be fun to put my own spin on it with Eddie turning into a fuzzy little vampire bat.  Shout out to @stevieschrodinger’s Chiroptera series, where Eddie turns into a demobat, there’s so many funny moments in that one.

What was your favorite part to write from Night Drives?

There’s so many great moments in the series that I had fun writing, I loved collaborating with Becca on some art for it as well. I just really love inserting Eddie into the earlier canon events, so writing him coming into Scoops and flirting with Steve is a ton of fun. 

How did you feel writing You’re The Ultimate? 

I had so much fun playing with the bodyswap trope. I wrote that in pretty early days, before I had many fandom friends. I kept dragging my friend Melissa ( @justcourbeau on tumblr) along, trying to tempt her with the Steddie hyperfixation. Talking with her gave me the idea to write a bodyswap and I loved being able to bounce ideas with her throughout. 

What was the most difficult part of writing Strawberries & Cigarettes?

The end for sure!! It was the first fic I’d ever written and I had no clue what I was doing, nothing planned other than a couple plot points. I also started writing other things after I began it so circling back and finishing it was hard but so worth it! It’s certainly not my best fic but there’s lots of fun things in it and I’m glad I took a leap and started writing. 

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics? 

This bit from “Power to Charm” - Part 9 of Night Drives is the first thing that sprung to mind: Eddie throws himself on the floor, crying out, “He’s done it! He’s dealt a killing blow! Here lies Edward Munson, viciously murdered by his own flesh and blood!” Wayne chuckles, trying to cover it with a cough as he pokes Eddie’s with his foot, “Do me a favor and wriggle around s’more while you’re down there, floor needs cleanin’.” Amazingly, I think some of the funnest moments I’ve written are Wayne & Eddie scenes or maybe Stobin scenes. I love Steddie but I also love exploring their relationships with other people. 

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote? 

By the time this gets shared I hope I’ll have “Acta, Non Verba” complete and be posting my Werewolf Steve fic, “Back To The Meaning”, but who knows! I appreciate anyone taking the time to read any of my fics 🥰

Outside of these questions, is there anything YOU would like to add? 

Thank you to the people who nominated me 🥺 💕 And thank you to all the people out there still loving on Steddie content, we’re in it for the long haul. I know I’ve slowed down, but I don’t think I’ll ever quite be free of them. Here’s hoping we’re all still creating next year ❤️

[anticidic]

Hi just want to say that I saw your bsd zines idea post and I’m 👀👀 especially about the flower language and gothic/horror/spooky season ones! I haven’t been really active interacting with the fandom in years but been recently looking into doing zines for things I like, would definitely want to join or at the very least support!

hey there, anon!! 👀 that's so sweet of you! if you ended up being interested in joining as a participant, we absolutely would not hold it against you or anyone for not interacting in the fandom, we'd just be looking for contributors passionate about bsd as a whole and interested in making something related to the topic!

I got together with several others who were all interested and had been pitching zine ideas, and I think we're closing in on a flower/flower language zine! we have other ideas as well, but this is one we were most eager to get running and take it from there.

we're definitely not doing anything right now, and we want to avoid the upcoming holidays for those who celebrate or are simply busy, but we're looking at putting out an interest check for the flower zine around late October-November and taking it from there! it'll have various questions on it like, do people want it to be a free, digital zine or a digital zine for charity? and so on.

I consulted some people already who are experienced in running zines and in other positions and aiming for early 2026-mid 2026 for start to finish seems like the best bet!

we're already super excited about this idea, ngl. I already came up with examples of lighthearted, fluffy ideas and angsty ones for the flowers with more sadder meanings 🥺 for instance:

Lippmann joining the other Flags fashionably late because he got held up and has a bouquet of flowers behind his back he needed for an undercover mission (is he lying? who knows) and asks to play a game with the others where they all pick a flower out of his bouquet at random, Chuuya included. The bouquet is full of various flowers for long lasting friendship. Chuuya getting held down so Lippmann can thread a flower in his hair and he's annoyed and grumbly about it

or:

Post-Stormbringer Chuuya waking up after corruption and saving Yokohama and there are flowers on his nightstand and a neatly written note from Dazai, and the flowers are forget-me-nots for all the suffering Chuuya's done and all the people he's lost

but yeah, thank you again! there'll be more to come for sure, keep on the lookout 🫶

[that-damn-fouth-chaosemerald]

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫? ♡

—❢—

×A/N×

i'm also planning to write this for tfp characters-

for context: the bots received a lovely letter about deep feelings, which you wrote them, but decided to send it without showing any kind of clue of your identity :3

×❢ About my work ❢×

sfw, romantic headcanons, they/them pronouns used for the reader, no gender mentioned for the reader, meant to be bot x human! reader, might has some spelling mistakes

Fandom: Transformers: Rescue Bots

Character(s): The Reader | You | (Y/N), Chase, Heatwave, Kade (mentioned), Cody, Frankie (mentioned), Blades, Dani, Boulder, Graham, Salvage, Blurr, Quickshadow, High Tide, Optimus Prime (mentioned)

Ship(s): The Rescue Bots x human! reader

Form: Headcanons

[All GIFs belong to their rightful owners!!]

—❢—

Chase

— Flattered, but also confused at first why you wanted to keep your identity secret

— "I don't understand..." Chase admitted as he read trough the letter again. "Why would this lovely person be afraid of my reaction? There are no reasons for this person to feel scared of me..."

"Some people are just too shy first when it comes to confessing something." Cody explained him with a soft smile. "Don't worry, Chase, maybe they get enough courage and you can talk with them in person!"

"Or..." Blades were thinking for a moment before he looked up, a determined shine rested in his optics. "Maybe you already talked with them in person? Oh, what if you met them before at the previous rescues?" Blades questioned it, trying to figure out who was the mysterious writer...

— Now that Chase knows that you're not a fan of attention, he silently looks out for you everytime when he's in public. He tries to notice everyone and anything. Analizes reactions, body language, vocal sounds, face expressions, everything. Sooner or later, he will find you.

— Not because he wants to expose you, but more likely because he just can't look at that letter that made him feel slightly flustered without knowing who you are

— Goes trough your letter many times, he has it almost memorised at this point. Studying your handwriting, your wording, your sentences. The quality of the writing doesn't really matter at this point. You probably felt really embarassed while writing this, poor thing. Still, it makes his spark pulse and his whole body warm like nothing and no one ever before.

— Gets a lot of teasing because of it and it makes him feel all woozy

Heatwave

— Keeps it as a secret, since he doesn't want to receive any teasing because of it (especially from Kade)

— Annoyed because you keep your identity hidden from him. Heatwave also tries to figure out who you might be, but his attempt is unsuccessful.

— Tries to shrug it off saying that this is just another fan letter for him (even though that he rarely receives any fan mails), but his mind can't stop wondering to the letter again.

— Heatwave really wants to know who you are. Yes, he understands that you feel shy about showing your identity, but at the same time he wants to know who you are.

— Maybe telling you how flattered (and weirdly weak at the same time) he feels by earning your deep admiration and receiving such kindness and honesty from you. Telling you how these kind of 'interactions' make his day and help him keep doing his job - even though he doesn't really likes talking about feelings and stuff. He thinks it's cheesy.

— Keeps the letter afterwards, but he hides it from everyone and doesn't speak about it.

Blades

— OH he's all crazy and dumbfounded about it!!

— "Wow, what do you got there, Blades?" Dani asked, smiling how cheerful his rescue partner seemed.

"I have a secret admirer!" He excitedly showed the small paper to her.

Dani read it, although it was difficult, since Blades' servos couldn't stay still while he was eagerly talking about the letter.

"Wow," Dani said it in a surprised tone. "yeah, you do." She softly laughed. She found it sweet how hyped up her partner was.

"Omg, I cannot believe it- I mean, I can, but-"

— Feels more and more excited everytime he rereads your letter

— This bot won't (and probably can't) keep it as a secret. He tells everyone about it, but not because he's smug about it, he just wants to show his teammates what got him all jumpy.

— Feels sad why you kept your identity secret :c

He really wishes if he could meet you in person, maybe sit down and talk to you and get to know you more

— "You don't even know them." Dani laughed as she was trying to calm down her teammate.

"They can't be a bad person if they like me." Blades smirked. "And they wrote so many kind things about me. I bet we have a lot of shared interest!"

— Oh boy, he's completely lost by your letter...

Not going to lie, it's adorable.

Boulder

— This bot feels utterly touched by your words (oh god, he feels like he's blushing... is he blushing?)

— Wonders about how you look, what you like, how you felt while writing this letter. Were you this flushed and flustered aswell as him now?

— Graham finds the whole situation adorable

"Calm down, buddy." Graham smiles, as he casually adjusts his glasses.

"I just can't help but think about what they're like." Boulder spoke with a hint of excitement in his tone. But he was definitely happy by receiving such a deep admiration from a - probably lovely - person. "Do you think they like painting too?"

"I don't know, but hey, maybe someday they get enough courage to approach you and tell you all of this in person."

— Deep inside he hopes you don't feel so uneasy by him in reality. He prays you aren't scared of him, just a little shy when it comes to confessions and feelings.

— Boulder acts like he's calm and easy about it, but deep down, his mind is reeling and drowning in questions, eager to get to know you in person. He really hopes that one day he'll have a chance for that.

Salvage

(I wish I would have yellow color :c)

— He's still getting to know humans better, and he isn't fully done with the emotions and feelings

— Immadiately asks Cody about it, when he looks up at him with an excited smile, explaining that this is a so called 'love letter', he gets all blushed and warm from it

— And since Blurr heard the conversation, he keeps teasing him, playfully of course. And now he just never shuts up about it lol

— Confused about why you choose to keep your identity secret. Tries to find out who you are with Cody's and Frankie's help, but their attempt fails unfortunately :c

— One time he wrote a response to your letter, but then remembered that you're anonymous :(

— Just like Boulder, he really wants to meet you in person, and deeply hopes that someday he will

Blurr

— Once he understands what love letters are, at first he's all loud and proud about it

— "Guess who has a secret admirer!"

— Can't shut up about it

— Takes some time before he seriously understands what's your whole letter all about. And after he finally gets it, oh boy...

— His head is reeling, his metal skin is hot, he's perplexed and puzzled at the same time, lost in your words. Blurr needs to take a loong break before his next training.

— Gets all flustered when people try to tease him about it.

— "Soo, any news about your 'secret admirer', love bird?"

"Shut up! >:("

— Gets a lil mad because you keep your identity hidden from him >:(

Quickshadow

— It doesn't take her long to recognise the letter's subject, she's a pretty smart bot :3

— "Oh- oh my..."

— The other autobots never saw her this puzzled and flustered before. And honestly, even she's not sure if she has ever felt this dazzled in her whole life-

— Feels dissapointed and down because she doesn't know who you might be, but she understands your choice

— She never felt this interested in humans before, but she would love to hear more about your feelings. Maybe additionally just seeing your expressions as your mind spinning searching for the right words.

— Quickshdow has never imagined that a simple paper with full of honest and loveful words gets her this bad... And she doesn't like to admit it, but look at that, she was wrong.

High Tide

— This old bot is soo confused in the beginning, he definitely asks for Optimus advice at first, but after he realizes that asking a human about this would be more useful, he asks for Cody's help.

— A love letter? For him? From a human? I mean, he never thought about being in a relationship with a human before, but know that he looks at the letter, he thinks about it more and more...

— He's totally not blushing while he reads your admiration towards him...

— Tries to act like it's nothing, he even thinks about throwing the letter away, but his mind is full with thoughts and his spark is heavy with several emotions that confuses him

He doesn't even know who you are!!

— Hight Tide never felt this helpless and lost before, and honestly it annoys him so much

if he thinks about it more, then he'll blow up /not srsly of course lol

— Dayumn you got this old bot bad...

[grim-maul-kin]

I'm having some trouble understanding this post, so I apologize if I misinterpret your points, but I do have an explanation of why past-life fictionkin are really possible. yeah, it feels weird to call my past "fictional" and myself a "character," but to this world, it is fiction — it did happen to me, but it didn't happen here. and I agree; I am a real person: I am Maul, and, more broadly, I am me (because as important as my past self is to me, it's not all I am anymore).

having our lives represented in fiction just kinda means the fictionkin community's terminology is wrapped up in the language of stories (canons, characters, etc), for better or worse. a lot of fictionfolk find themselves through fandom and fanfiction, which only blurs the lines further. interacting with a story as a work of fiction with themes and authors' worldviews and cultural context to analyze sure is a trip when you know someone who's represented in that story, I won't deny that. still, having somewhat awkward ways of describing our experiences doesn't mean those experiences are impossible.

I certainly agree that the fictionkin community has a problem with cultural appropriation, thoughtless racism, and overall being really white, but I think that's a problem with the alterhuman community as a whole that manifests differently in different parts of it (therians and otherkin appropriating indigenous traditions, white fictionkin going by japanese names and appropriating the lived experiences of other cultures and ethnicities, starseeds… well their whole thing… etc). I don't really understand what the problem is with fictionkind relating deeply to their kintype/self, unless you mean KFF who don't actually identify as their kintype. I can see how constantly trying to emulate one's past self can become a problem; it's important to have a way to express sides of oneself often hidden, but not to the exclusion of all else, and definitely not as a shield from living in the present. I don't really understand what OP meeting a lot of people who thought they were fictionkin but changed their minds when their mental health got better has to do with the rest of this tbh, so I got nothing to say there.

yeah, the fictionkin community was BRUTAL 5-10 years ago, I absolutely agree. for all I know, it still is, and I've just gotten lucky enough to not see it lately. we (as a community) gotta keep on top of that shit and promote being kind and accepting towards one another (or at the very least minding our own business).

honestly, at the end of the day, all anyone can do to defend their lived experiences as legitimate is go "nuh uh" "yuh huh" back and forth. I apologize if I come across as overly critical or defensive at any point in this post; tbh I was struggling to find a reading of the original post that wasn't fakeclaiming a large swath of the fictionkin community. if I understand correctly here, your main problem with past-life fictionkin is that of calling a past life fictional? I definitely get that. there's this weird double-meaning between folks using the word to mean that their past life is a story and it sounding like they're saying their past life is fake.

also, I sympathize with your feelings about hussie and being misinterpreted by people who claim to know you. personally I am throwing rocks at george lucas and dave filoni in my mind

I feel like people don’t really understand that fictionkin are pretty much like… therian, but with fictional characters. And that’s not bad! I just wish there was emphasis on this, especially since so many fictionkin people cite their reasoning for being fickin as reincarnation. But that doesn’t make any sense, considering the fact that if you’re you, and you lived life, that life isn’t fictional; you’re not a character, you’re a real person!

If someone is therian because they had a past life as a cat, for example, that makes total sense — “I identify the most with being a cat, that life made the most sense to me, I’m supposed to be a cat, etc.” But you wouldn’t say that past life is fictional!

I���m very very worried about the future of that little section of the community, because they kind of repeatedly deny any appropriation or microaggression that they commit, and most fickin I’ve come across either really heavily relate to a character and see themselves in said character (which is the point of most forms of created media and art anyways), or they’re pretty much LARPing as a character 24/7 because they they’re trying to cope. I’ve met soooo many people who say they’re fickin, and as soon as they start doing mentally better, they’re like “I was wrong, I wasn’t fickin.”

I’m not judging, I really do not give a shit what fickin people do, as long as they’re respectful, but they continue to be disrespectful. How am I supposed to just not say anything about that? Not to mention the countless acts of abuse I’ve beared witness to from fickin, but that’s a story for another day

[inkskinned]

you know, you know. no gods, no masters, no kings on pedestals. everyone is fallible. death of the author. you know! you are balanced about your intake of media - you allow the wiggle room, the grace, the gratitude, the skepticism. nobody above criticism.

but still. a weird gut-punch feeling, something akin to betrayal. you read the article. surprise! an author you love is actually: a serial fucking predator.

well, shit. what now. no, you knew he was a person (all people are), but now you're wondering - what have i overlooked by accident? what messages have i internalized that are strange and cruel? and also, like, what the fuck?

his actions lay a thick glaze on top of everything. like each place is now ruined, opaque in a new way. but okay, fine, you've done this before. you knew better, right? you've been betrayed by many a cherished childhood author.

still, this stickiness. fuck. can you pick up that book again. will you read it to your children. you've recommended it to others - will you ever do that again? and of course, of course, no parasocial relationships. you were theoretically above this kind of sentiment. but the artist informs the art, right.

so it's not something as clear-cut as feeling he owed you, specifically (a stranger) better behavior - just that you kind of, in a distant and odd way... sort of trusted him to do better. it's not like a real trust or something speakable, just the faint hope that the product (good books) was a thin representation of the soul. now it feels like the product (good? books?) was a mask. in some small or insignificant way, your previous support of this person lent them power. your money and your time and your laughter.

and the thing is - you have this terrible, echoing sensation. how many times will this happen? over and over. you find out that the singer you love is actually a predator. you learn over drinks that your favorite high school english teacher is in jail for what he did to her. you listen to the news idly and suddenly discover that a woman you used to idolize has been abusing her kids for an actual eon.

what can you touch without the static melting off. you can't even really complain about it too much (you were supposed to know better, and besides, you don't want the same re-split "it's not your fault, love what you love" basic advice), but now it's here. somehow, it feels like - you let him into your life.

it's not that things need to be pure or an artist has to be like, endlessly perfect, mindful. demure. it's more just this terrible truth that has been replayed through your veins so often it feels criminally vain. power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. did you want any one person to be worth that power?

it's just that he wrote books where he seemed to understand that. he seemed to know about hierarchies and unfair systems and bigotry and privilege. you thought they were books about what it means to struggle. you thought they were about having power and still using it for good rather than for control. he spooned you a narrative of being a good guy, a kind soul. you fucking bought what that fucking monster sold.

maybe that's why they were fantasies, after all.

[clancykisser]

i'm so happy the DE community is so big and fun for everyone. watching the fandom and selfship sides of both come together so harmoniously and supportively is what I want dating sims to always foster

[disdaidal]

Someone who constantly embarks on ship wars and fandom wank... doesn't sound too mentally stable. It's sad, really.

Dedicating all that energy and free time to arguing about fictional characters and their relationships, instead of channeling it into something more relaxing or creative, sounds destructive.

Seek help, please. Before it devours you completely.

[bloodied-dagger]

my “for you” page is fucked. Completely unusable

[literallyfault]

i have so many things to say but at the same time i am speechless. i've been sobbing and crying for the whole day straight. i have never thought a day would happen when i would feel this way because of a person i have never even known in real live the only regret i will have is that i didn't have a chance to meet him in person and just say "thank you. for inspiration. for dreams. for everything". i wish i did discover them much earlier but alas.

Reita, my dearest, may you rest in peace 💔 you will rock forever 🔥

[habits-white-rabbit]

Every time I see someone use Purple Haze Feedback for 'UwU FuGio real!!' or paint Giorno as a coldhearted sadistic master manipulator I feel myself coming closer and closer to snapping

[i-will-physically-fight-you]

hiya just a small psa, first off--thank you for those who sent in writing asks, I'm going to answer them soon. also I am going to try and update Gibbous on Oct 12 (as a bday treat for myself) but if it doesnt happen, then I'll just post a small teaser on here of what I have so far of it. My mental health is still a work in progress, despite my post after Spoke No More (iykyk in terms of having a mental high followed by an immediate mental low haha) but if I go radio silent on this blog, it doesnt mean anything bad, it just means I need to take time to care for myself

[maester-of-spreadsheets]

One of the more annoying genre of posts on here is when someone posts a pic of a “as seen in booktok!” table at barnes & noble and it immediately gains like a thousand notes of people acting like the pic held a gun to their head and made them read the published reylo fic

I get that familiarity breeds contempt and I have a lot of things I feel scorn for just based on overexposure lol. But sometimes the reaction reads like “have I signaled that I dislike the #problematic thing yet today?”

[lurker-extraordinaire-657645]

people dont talk about the insane trauma bonding shit the exitors have to have going on enough. because i think about it constantly

[madlori]

On being an older fangirl

I was probably 10 years old when I first conceived of what was, looking back, fanfiction. Me and my best friend would lie in bed together on sleepovers and I'd make up stories about what happened after the end of our favorite book, "The Westing Game." She'd ask me for more stories, and I'd tell her more, inventing them as I went along. "Then what?" she'd say.

I was 14 when I went to my first convention. I had discovered Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was 1987, and my youth pastor was a huge Trekkie. He took me to a one-day crappy Creation con, but it was amazing to me. I met Nichelle Nichols. My dad showed me the Trek movies. He and I watched TNG together.

When I went to college in 1991, my dad used to videotape TNG episodes onto VHS tapes and mail them to me, so I could keep watching (I didn't have TV in my dorm room).

By the time I was a senior, we had Trek watching parties in the dorm lounge, where the TV had cable. Star Trek: Voyager had started up, and I wrote a column about it for the college newspaper. I joined a mailing list about it, with people in it that I still know today.

I got my first computer that could go online in 1995. I was on newsgroups. I discovered Doctor Who. I went to Trek conventions where we still passed around fanzines containing fic and art and smutty K/S fan creations.

Then it was Harry Potter. Then there were websites. Then there was Geocities, where we could all make our own little spots. We organized them into webrings. We talked on newsgroups and mailing lists. There were fanfic archives. Then there was fanfiction.net.

Then...there was LiveJournal. And we could interact in entirely new ways. We could form communities, and debate things, and fight over canon, and get into ship wars. On LiveJournal, I met my best friend of 22 years. I was in her wedding. She's my sister of the heart (which is what she calls me).

Then there was Tumblr. And Twitter. And now there's Discord. But it's all the same.

I am the same.

I am still that little girl who made up fanfiction in her head to entertain her best friend. I am still the one who was amazed to find communities on the internet - which was so new, so raw, so uncommodified - where others like me could meet. I found there people to meet in real life.

I am still that twentysomething going to her first major convention, being told that someone loved my fic, being asked about my writing process.

I am still that thirtysomething watching something I wrote blow up. Seeing friends from other fandoms find me in new ones, finding them there, too. Forgetting which fandom I know someone from, because I've known them for twenty years.

I still know some of the people who created those early websites, those mailing lists, those archives. I still meet people in new fandoms who say "Oh, I read your fic in [fandom] fifteen years ago!" There's no feeling quite like having someone remember something you wrote for that long. Or meeting someone whose fic meant a lot to YOU, or who you talked with on rec.arts.drwho.creative in 1997.

Aging in fandom is a gift. Being middle-aged in fandom is a joy. Having people who still read what I write and ask "Then what?" is a blessing.

It breaks my heart that so many people see it as something to be ashamed of, when it is one of my life's greatest gifts.