#this is about a LOT of different characters and fandom responses to those same characters

[geiba]

i think that we as a fandom don't talk about the Skinner Demon Incident enough. it's a fascinating early insight into Shen Qingqiu's character, and more specifically, how he responds to trauma

honestly the entire plotline is undoubtedly traumatic. first Shen Qingqiu goes through the stress of having one of his disciples, children under his care, go missing, kidnapped by a demon. even though he knew it would happen, that's still stressful. then he gets knocked out and kidnapped too, and now he's in a life-or-death situation, with two children whose well-being is his responsibility, and he's half naked and being groped by a demon wearing a dead woman's skin. literally all parts of that are terrible. and that's on top of the fact that he died like barely a week or so earlier (or a month i could be misremembering my timeline here). that's a lot of extra stress to go through.

and as soon as he kills the demon, he starts justifying the action to himself in his head while outwardly remaining calm.

this fragment is of particular interest to me. no one blames him for killing the demon. if anything, almost every non-demon person in universe would say he did the morally correct thing. as Shen Yuan he also read thousands of words of brutal murder in the original PIDW. and yet, he feels the need to justify himself... to himself.

but. that... doesn't align with the first reason he lists. after all, if this was a book, his actions would be perfectly justified, exactly what plot demanded. he would have no reason to feel bad, all he would have killed was a character, not a real person.

and yet, he clearly feels horrible with himself, even though he is entirely correct, what he did was self-defence, and not only that he was defending others, too. and he needed to repeat to himself his reasons long enough that he could believe them. which... is awfully reminiscent of the moment before the Immortal Alliance Conference, when he asks Binghe if he'd want to go through immense suffering for the sake of power. look at him being self aware, knowing he's brainwashing himself

in fact, he even does this retroactively!

with that in mind, it's no wonder he never thought his Binghe would be different from the original post-abyss – his normal method of coping with any trauma he experiences in this world he's been transmitigated to, is to distance himself from those events by thinking of them as just a book. of course post-abyss Binghe would be the same as in PIDW – the moment he had to push Binghe in, he stopped thinking of him as a person, only a character, in an attempt to protect himself from the full impact his actions had on himself.

[mamawasatesttube]

can't sleep so im thinking about sb94 again, as one does. sometimes i see fans talk about reworking tana into a completely different and wholly inoffensive character in response to the fact that kesel [somehow, inadvertently?] made the only woc in the main cast a sexual predator to a white boy [because he seemingly didn't think women could prey on boys, i guess? but that's another post entirely] and i have to say... like, as a poc in fandom i understand the urge, but as a stickler for characterization i really don't care for those concepts, personally.

one of tana's core character traits is ambition. even if you cut out the entire romance plot (which, imo, changing this changes a lot about kon's early character arc), one of her most consistent traits is that she is focused on her career. when faced with the moral dilemma of knowing vinnie edge hired the stinger to attack kon for publicity, but also knowing that whistleblowing would cost her her job, she chose to keep silent. while this is an understandable choice in that she was 23 and new at her job and therefore not in a good position to negotiate while being essentially blackmailed about it, the fact that this plot gets dropped after rots makes it read like despite leaving wgbs, she chooses to never come forward about it. add that to the way she consistently uses kon as an easy source of stories she gets first access to, and that she justifies this to herself a lot, and, well, i think that makes for a much more interesting character beat than a more sanitized version of her. i think it's very possible to have a character who is selfish and ambitious and wants to protect herself first and foremost, while also wanting to believe she is a good person, and struggling with her denial and her ability to talk herself into things she thinks she might regret, who does genuinely bad things, without making her into an offensive stereotype, and i find that much more faithful to her existing characterization than rewriting her from the ground up to become someone who does nothing wrong. (i also don't think it's that easy to say tana fits the predatory woc stereotype as all, but that's also another post.)

the issue with her being the singular woc on the cast and also being a predator does exist, though, and my thought process is more like... okay. a woman of color can do anything a white man can do. that includes massively sucking as a person sometimes. i think that, re: tana, there's two things to say on that front:

1) fandom and the internet in general have a tendency to jump on the idea that someone who does something wrong and hurts someone else is a bad person forever and forever marred by it. i do not believe that this view coheres with ideas of restorative justice, which i personally feel strongly about. this includes crimes people find distasteful to think about, such as grooming: i think it is completely possible to have tana be a character who, by convincing herself that kon wants this relationship, and it's good for her career, so really she isn't doing anything wrong, ends up really hurting kon, AND at the same time to have her be a well-rounded individual who is capable of growing up a bit more, realizing she made mistakes and hurt someone she did genuinely care about, and grappling with what that means now. like, her being fridged prevented any story dealing with the ramifications of her and kon's relationship, but to me, the idea of her having to deal with her actions is something far more interesting to think about than if she never did them. whether or not she actually grows as a person and admits fault, or if she doubles down on denial, etc, could all be interesting character choices, and are also very human responses to guilt. a lot of people just have this kneejerk response to dehumanize any character (particularly woc) associated with sexual crimes, grooming, etc, but i think that really is dodging the uncomfortable truth that a) no crime, no matter how heinous, merits the dehumanization of the perpetrator, and also that b) in stories, a character can commit uncomfortable and horrifying acts and still have nuance and depth as a character.

which brings me to point 2): that the solution to offensive stereotypes is not to insist that no one of x demographic can ever do y thing; it's to provide more characters of x demographic, so that the onus of representing an entire group isn't just on one character. tana being an indigenous hawaiian woman who grooms a white boy wouldn't be nearly so offensive if there were other significant indigenous hawaiian women in the narrative, not doing any of that. if hillary got more of a role, for example, or if (and hear me out, because this is my magnum opus of niche-ass superboy 1994 opinions:) silver sword got brought on as a mentor figure to kon and also was a trans woman. frankly, the handling of silver sword's story was egregious and if anything deserves a good, less racist rewrite, imo, it's his whole arc. kon getting an indigenous mentor to actually teach him about hawaii and the issues with colonialism and tourism and their impact on everything could've been really good actually, and silver sword would've been perfect if they didn't write him off like that. ... or, should i say, write her off like that?

listen i just think silver sword could've been an awesome native hawaiian transfem professor and a recurring part of the kon squad in hawaii. do you see the vision

[irrevocablecondition]

i posted a tiktok about ralph fiennes (an avid jkr supporter) being hyped up by the marauders fandom and the responses were,,, intense. and it got me thinking about how Different your engagement is in this space if you're from a community that jkr has harmed.

and i don't just mean in terms of the things you read or write, or even really the conversations that you have (though there is definitely a Lot to say about the expectation to be an educator rather than an enjoyer) but more so just,,, every tiny action?

take fiennes for example: in my mind, it's common information. if you simply search his name you find articles, it's on his wikipedia page, it takes one quick "ralph fiennes jkr" search to find out. to me, that's common information, right? but the responses i got - very aggressive ones wow - show that actually it,,, isn't.

and it isn't that you should know off of the top of your head every single person who has defended her or not (although, yes, before you unnecessarily attach people to this fandom space and fics within it - don't do that. but if you're Going To - then dare i say the bare minimum is ensuring they aren't bigots before bringing them to a space with people harmed by said bigots?) but it really does put into perspective how different engagement is for those of us that have been harmed because,,, we Have to do that research.

to some, a "fuck jkr" in a bio is a staple, something that's simply Needed to "justify" engagement here so they chuck it in. for me? well, it's a big safety thing isn't it? lest i follow someone who doesn't actually detest her and her views. but then the issue arises where that isn't a good enough qualifier anymore because those with it in their bios can and do still have videos of themselves at the studios or doing merch hauls or talking about the reboot

to some, a "i hate fem sirius" is a headcanon preference and a lot of the time it simply IS a headcanon preference. but then you see how adamantly *some* people detest the idea of a fictional character presenting fem. you see the posts and the arts mocking it, you see people say things like "this man escaped AZKABAN! he would never wear a skirt" as though the clothing on his fictional body dictates his fictional strength. you see how people say it makes wolfstar "straight" and you, as a trans man, will look towards your cis boyfriend and wonder if people think the same about you. am i queer enough? am i in a straight relationship? do people think he's straight for being with me? because i wear makeup? because i'm not manly enough? Do They Really See Me As A Man?

to some, a celebrities comment sections filled with marauders references is a funny haha but to those of us that have been harmed? it's Terrifying to see this fandom space become so public without any education or understanding whatsoever, just "well, why not!" and then you watch as someone like ben barnes who is so renowned in this space says that he would take part in the HP reboot because "it would be a disservice to the millions of fans that have messaged [him]"

and so on and so forth. you have to suss out everything and everyone and every small comment and you have to wonder if the person you're interacting with is With you or Against you or, the secret third option, 'with' you for the badge and the tshirt that says they're an ally but they're unwilling to actually unpack what that means.

and yeah, if i learnt one thing from having all of these conversations on tiktok and trying to make it all make sense to people, it's that it just... doesn't. it just doesn't make sense. and to some extent i get that! because a lot of the time (and really, the times it matters because my discussions aren't aimed to fully fledged bigots) it's people who DO support trans rights and i understand how frustrating it must be to think you're getting called something you're not when someone points out another hidden way you Could Potentially be supporting jkr or spreading her rhetoric without realising.

so i get it. i do really get it. i get it so much and i wish people Got It the other way around because it's never people being nitpicky or overbearing. it's never being over the top or dramatic or making a mountain out of a mole hill. it's just,,, trained survival i guess. years of assessing threats and years of being an Educator and years of knowing the warning signs of harm.

it's not over the top to point out things that harm us, you simply don't see the harm that those who jkr has targetted in every aspect do. and that's okay, that's why we talk and why we persist and why we post about it.

i just wish that being educated and understanding came from a place of care rather than frustration.

i think the best way i've been able to put this is "the trans discussions in this space are built around us, not for us". people build a fence around trans people within this space and call us protected, but when we point out holes in the perimeter or ask them to monitor the fence gate a little bit more? well, how dramatic of us. how overbearing. how aggressive of us.

you have Got to become accustomed to having conversations without feeling called out or shamed. you have Got to get used to being told that maybe something you're doing isn't the best without taking that as "so you think i'm a massive transphobe?!". you have GOT to get okay about listening to POCs, asexuals, trans people, people with disabilities etc etc etc when we tell you what is not supporting and how you can do better because otherwise,,, what's the point? what's the point of any of it.

like genuinely, what's the point of any of this if you aren't willing to listening and protect those this space claims to??? it's okay to Listen. it doesn't mean you were explicitly wrong, it just means you need a bit more education of the subtler ways you could be causing harm, and that's SO understandable if you do not live as someone that she has harmed and therefore don't have to assess risk in this space in the same ways that we do. it just means you might need another perspective sometimes, and is fandom not all about other people's perspectives??

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

skully j. graves halfway checkpoint

Consider this part 2 of my evolving opinion on Skully! My initial impressions of him can be found here. Now that we’re at part 3 (presumably out of 5) of the event, I wanted to check in with updates on my feelings!

A lot of the points in my first impressions post still stand. However, what I’ll say is that Skully’s… villainous side… has definitely come out very strongly, especially in 3-20. A lot of my friends were squealing and getting super excited over this part. I feel like a lot of his popularity comes from 2 factors: 1) his overt flintiness (since much of the Twst fandom seems to long for this kind of (yume) content) and 2) Skully is one of the few characters who consistently acknowledges Yuu and asks for their opinions on stuff. The latter is very in demand, especially for the western fandom, which is very individualistic and often views Yuu or their Yuusonas as an integral character. And that’s valid! It’s just that this alone isn’t enough to satisfy me.

I’m… admittedly less thrilled about the direction Skully’s taking, and it’s completely for reasons related to my personal tastes 😂 I had mentioned in my original post that Skully reads to me as a Halloween-flavored Idia due to his otaku-like obsession with Halloween and how negatively he reacts when people express dissent toward his opinion. It feels very elitist and gate-keepy, which are aspects of fandom culture I find distasteful. (This is also a large part of why I didn’t like Idia at first.)

Edit (noticed this later and decided to tack it on): Another thing that really bothered me was that Skully keeps asking Yuu for their opinion. It SEEMS polite to consider them, but his intentions are way less selfless than they appear. Skully is often asking Yuu for their thoughts AFTER some other character has disagreed with him. So he is literally only consulting Yuu because he wants someone on HIS side. If you ever pick the dialogue option where you disagree with him, Skully insists there must be a misunderstanding and he will explain it to you no matter how long it takes. Don’t you see??? He doesn’t want to know what Yuu truly thinks; he wants validation in his own way of thinking. That’s NOT actually being considerate. The same shit happens when Skully tries to kiss Grim again. Grim dodges but Skully sneaks behind him and kisses him anyway because I guess that’s what gentlemen do according to him. Bro has demonstrated time and time again he does not value consent nor what others’ thoughts are on anything that differs from his own thoughts.

Those aspects of Skully get even more prominent in part 3. Throughout this section, Skully keeps reassuring himself that while he’s going along with the group’s plans for a boisterous and exciting Halloween, he’s certain that Jack-sama will surprise everyone with a Halloween that is more in line with a solitary, depressing one Skully envisions. Once Skully learns that Jack has no such intentions, he is disappointed and proceeds with a series of crimes 💀 Skully:

Tricks the Pumpkin King into drinking a sleeping poison

Does the good ol’ crazed villain laugh

Pulls a serious of expressions not even a loving mother would excuse

Curses and shouts

Assumes control of the Halloween plans

PUMPKINS GRIM when Grim and Yuu walk in on the scene of his crime (even when Grim gives zero indication that he thinks Skully is responsible for the poisoning)

Stuffs pumpkin!Grim into a sack

Colludes with Lock, Shock, and Barrel (for what yet, I don’t know)

Casually decides to show Yuu the best Halloween ever AFTER ALL THAT (it’s still not clear at this point if Yuu also got Pumpkin’d or not); the phrasing is still quite romantic but this is still a hostage situation, no??????

Like, wow, that’s… 😭 I’m not necessarily upset that Skully does bad things in the first place (lots of the Twst characters do questionable things), I’m just not sure if I’m following his reasoning for doing all of this. It seems like a LOT to me. Like, very niche and highly targeted anger.

He seems fixated on his own idea of Halloween—the Halloween he grew up with and was taught about in his village. For whatever reason, he is very sensitive to people challenging this version of the holiday or doing anything new. In fact, he becomes IRATE about it and drops the gentlemanly facade (which also seems to be something he is concerned about maintaining??). Skully is very frustrated that people don’t understand him, and that now his Halloween idol is also letting him down. Notably, his politeness deteriorates when he speaks about those who disregard his opinions on Halloween. He either becomes very gloomy or very mad (usually the latter), venting about worthless idiots who don’t understand his vision. Very strangely, he also mentions vaguely spiritual terms like atonement and his purpose in this world. Skully’s obsession with Halloween is so intense that it is evident even in his UM.

I get that his hometown was into this stuff, but even then, it seems pretty excessive??? Why is he so… insecure about this? Why does he react so violently? It really makes me wonder what the backstory will be for this massive Halloween fixation. Surely it’s not just being bullied by peers for his special interests (though that might play a role in it)? It sems to go far deeper than that. I would like to know, but I won’t be setting my expectations too high in case i end up being disappointed 💦 Historically, backstory reveals haven’t always made me like characters more.

I also feel like he’s not as crafty as previous Halloween villains were. Rollo ran on spite and constructed an elaborate plan to entrap the NRC students, Fellow relied on his UM and smooth talk… Skully is somewhat tricky in that he poisons Jack, but then he automatically gives himself away by pumpkin-ing Grim??? Why didn’t he just pretend he visited Jack and found him already poisoned? It would be so easy for him to play innocent and Grim and Yuu would believe him because he’s been mostly nice and even agreed to follow along with the Halloween plans even if he disagreed with them. He literally could have blamed Boogie’s Boys or Oogie Boogie himself, ANYONE. And how exactly does Skully plan on taking over Halloween after all of this??? He doesn’t exactly command power. Skully just seems a little short sighted and disorganized, and I don’t know if I enjoy this kind of a character.

Skully’s controlling, angry otaku energy is unfortunately NOT appealing to me whatsoever… Again, it feels like the worst aspects of Idia OTL But!! i’m really happy for all the people who really like this about him and I’m of course staying open minded for where this event will take us. Who knows, maybe parts 4 and 5 will completely turn him around for me, maybe once we get the backstory. (This sort of happened with me and Idia?? He’s still not my favorite guy but I definitely empathized with him a lot more after seeing the post-OB flashback.) We’ll see!

P.S. I wonder if the R cards this event will be the first to be pumpkin’d similar to how R cards in Playful Land were the first to be puppet’d?? That would certainly get the biggest threat to Skully’s plans, Malleus, out of the picture quickly. First it was Tamago-sama… Now it’s Kabocha-sama…

P. P. S. Slightly morbid to think about how those skewered pumpkins Jamil was stroking could have been pumpkin’d people 💀

[princessofghosts-posts]

I found out this Tik Tok a couple of minutes ago (censored out the girl for privacy reasons) and I'm BEEFING with this.

I think it's time to address something I barely talked about but that I hitted pretty much in some posts,especially the one about Hazel and Nico sibling relationship: I hate Bianca di Angelo with all my heart.

Yes,I have posted a couple of hc about her when someone asked for a Maria di Angelo/Di Angelo family hc but that's because she is part of the family. I know she is the first real and importan victim we had,and is important to Nico and his development but I hate her so much and I will never stay silent about it.

The fandom always talk about how much of a good older sister she is,but she never was and I'm going to explain why and why this Tik Tok is completely bullshit.

The start–TTC.

The fandom typical view of Bianca di Angelo is the fact that she got parentified and was Nico's only responsable figure around,and she took care of him like a mother figure.

That's bullshit.

In TTC Bianca herself revealed that while they were in the Lotus,they were visited by a lawyer a couple of times that checked on them. The lawyer as we all know was Alecto,one of Hades's most trusted servant,that made sure they were safe. In TLT Percy specified that the Lotus had a lot of staff that wes taking care of everything/everyone. And we all know how times flies faster in there,so rather than 70 years for Bianca and Nico were only a couple of months,and they didn't had the memories about their life before coming there yet. So Alecto was there to make sure they were safe,and in case something happened,and the staff could help them in whatever request they had since it's their whole deal: making sure people stay there by making the Casinò extremely appealing,while the time passed without the people realizing it. There were a lot of accomoditations too inside,other than the infinite credit cards and all of those games,so no,Bianca wasn't parentified and barely had to look out for Nico herself,since they were both safe and entertained inside there.

And,at the start of TTC,when Grover brought Percy,Thalia and Annabeth to help him taking Bianca and Nico at camp,he talks about how the Military school had different dorms for boys and girls. Alecto got them out of the Lotus and they attended the school for a little before Grover found them and started to interact with them. So again they were never truly alone for a lot of time,and Bianca and Nico couldn't see each other much because the dorms were different,they probably also had different lessons because of the age difference. He left them only to get Percy,Annabeth and Thalia to help him,after he made sure they were demigods and realizing they were powerful ones.

The first time we see them interact,Nico is yapping about his card game while Bianca is listening to him but not in an exciting way,she was more bored/annoyed. That's fine. It can get boring when someone is always talking non-stop about the same thing. I don't fault her for this.

We finally get to know them after the Manticore's attack,when they get to know they are demigods and gods and mythological beings are real. Which was exciting for Nico (wait a couple more of 230 pages-) but I'm pretty sure Bianca wasn't. That's extremely valid and probably the realest reaction to the dangers of this world. But then she said "fuck my brother,let's go with the hunters".

I know the fandom talk mostly about this scene when they are explaining why she is so controversional as a character,and I also hate it but it's not the first of my list.

Bianca herself said it was a selfish choice so she was aware of what she was doing,but Artemis and Zoë had their fault in this. I also don't vibe well with the Hunters,and Thalia is the only expection,because they are just so fucking annoying about their "man-hating" culture (the Amazons are worst than them tho-) and how Zoë treated Percy in this. Like yes girls,mans can be scumbag and male greek heroes/gods are certificated scumbag but not everyone is like this,don't stereotype every man in the world in only one fucking category. And they way they should be the rappresentation of the "aro-ace" part of the LGBT+ community is so fucked up. And I say this as an aroace myself. Anyway back to the topic-

Bianca didn't even looked back or asked herself if it was a good idea or not. Like,not even for Nico but for herself too. Thalia and Annabeth didn't straight up went to them,they took their decisions with time since it was extremely important. Bianca? Nah. Decided on the spot to abbandon her brother,fully aware he couldn't come with her,and every other romantics involvement she could have in the future. She had the same age of Percy here and didn't even know herself. That's not really a good choice,maybe in the future it could be something she could think about or wanted,but here she just went with it. She joined complete strangers,in a world she just found out being part of,who the fuck does that???

Then she went to Percy and is like "I can't be with my little brother for everything Percy. I can't take care of him forever,I want my life too". Girl be for fucking real,when did you even took care of him? They might not remember her because of the Lethe,but before the Lotus they were under their mother care. And for them the Lotus was what? 2/3 months? Where she didn't had to do almost anything because the staff took care of their needs and Alecto was there? And during the time at their school they probably barely interacted during classes? Only good thing about this conversation is the fact that Nico never heard it otherwise I would have a worst crash out (wait for BotL,that is a crash out). And of course the whole "she didn't even know if Camp was safe for Nico before joining the Hunters and left him with strangers". That's totally valid and I agree every bit with this. Most people like to think that she trusted Percy to take him there and stay with him,but they just met him and Bianca's respect for him grow during their quest. Here,he is a stranger that saved them and,until one hour ago,she thought he was a psycho. What a good trust y'all.

Bianca di Angelo was selfish for her choice and she herself know about it. She still went with it and the consequences. You can't defend that for the feeling of independence she wanted,when she barely had to look out for Nico. Hades had people for that and Grover was with them at that school. She was selfish.

Then we have the whole quest. Nico didn't even had time to settle in a little at camp that his sister was leaving for a quest. Which I hated. Bianca is inexperienced,she just got into all of this and doesn't even know how to use a weapon (like Piper at the start of HoO),let alone how to shot a target and staying alive against monsters. She should had stayed back and trained or whatever. But no,Zoë decided that she was perfect for this and it was a good way of "proving herself". She is their latinerant,fully aware of how dangerous the mythological creatures are and knew how Bianca wasn't good enough for this,but still got her on the boat while other more experienced hunters could go and be more useful. In the books Percy said she looked like she was working out so at least that's something,but her working out was only of a couple of days,probably not even 3 and Zoë still wished she could go with them. Like,why???

The thing I actually didn't like about this is Bianca attitude. She just become an hunter,without having a fucking clue of this world or how things work,and decided she apparently knew better of a Percy that was already fully familiar and into it. Girl go sit down that your delusion is stronger than mine when I overanalyze Nico's role as a prince. And that's something since 80% of my posts either talk about it or mention it.

Anyway,we got to our quest and look who is the first one to die,after doing something that shouldn't have done with all the warnings in the world? Oh look,it's Bianca. How unpredictable right? Right? And it's an extremely sad dead to–let's be fucking real now.

She knew what she was doing (again). Percy and Zoë told her to not touch anything since those "piece of junks" were still things of a god's. And even if she didn't listen to Percy because he is a man and all of that,Zoë is her boss right now so she should had listened to her. She didn't and she paid the price for it. At least she had a good brain to understand it was her fault and to fix the situation. I don't care that she died and I also don't care that Zoë died. The story goes on even without them after all. What I hated was that she died in that stupid way because she wanted to give Nico the last figure he didn't had for his collection. By doing this she showed that she "cared",maybe a little too late and it was probably the guilt about abandoning him that made her doing what she did,but her dead caused Nico half of his problems.

Yes you all: Bianca di Angelo is half of the reason Nico di Angelo,the brother that loved her dearly,is traumatized. And this piss me off,because the fandom act like Bianca and Nico were inseparable when she caused him more problem than anything else. That's why Hazel is a better sister to him and I will die on that fucking hill,no matter how many people will try to convince me otherwise. The Di Angelo siblings were never that close and Nico adoration for her was the only thing that saved their dynamic,until she decided to go with Artemis that's it.

The trauma–BotL.

This is the book that consolidated my hate for her in any possible way and without any form of redemption. I had a fucking crash our reading BotL that it wasn't even funny.

BotL started with Bianca's message (don't ask how can a ghost do that because I don't fucking know-) to Percy about Nico's whereabouts (also why Percy thought he was homeless but he wasn't). But like...you knew all of this time and didn't do shit? You know he was trying to kill himself so you could get back to live?? Was with a fucking manipulative ghost that convinced him to murder someone??? And decided to ask Percy to do the job of an older sibling or just someone that cared for him????? And the "she is dead,she can't do anything" is stupid because look at Minos,he can do the fuck he want. Bianca is Hades's daughter so the same privileges Nico has,she has too (not much for my joy but she is still his daughter and I need to acknowledge that). Doesn't matter alive or a ghost,Bianca has privileges and it's more powerful than him by default. She still didn't do shit and made Percy do the work. What a good sister isn't she? (By the end of this section I'm gonna have another crash out,trust me-)

When Nico mentioned that he couldn't summon his sister's soul to Percy I totally lost it. That's the main reason I hate her. Nico was grieving,completely alone in that Labyrinth for days and only with Minos's company (and we all know how that went),CHB rejected him for his nature and was trying to hunt down Daedalus to take his soul. His mind wasn't in a good place and it's from here that his trauma start and he lost the value of his life. Again,thank you Bianca for that. Gotta love her for that. What. The. Fucking. Hell? Girl you ok? You can search for all the independence you want but your brother is actively trying to kill himself,and murder someone for you,and you don't do shit and not even respond to his desperate cries? Were you even his older sister?? Apparently no because this is extremely fucked up from any point you see it. And that's something I will never forgive her for.

But then– then she fucking answered for Percy,not her little brother that wanted just to see her one last time,and was becoming insane for it. Not the little brother she "died" for (that's why I said it was more of a guilt thing that caring). And not the little brother she "took care of" (again,bullshit but apparently she think she did something in his growth) and believe me,I say this as an older sister to a little brother,that's not how you act if you say you are a caring sibling. And she addressed Percy first,and Nico later. She. ignored. Nico. In. Favor. Of. Talking. With. Percy. First. While. He. Was. In. Pain. In. Front. Of. Her. (Currently crying for this but I will finish this post-). And Nico? Nico was so fucking devasted for that and I don't even want to think about what he was feeling. He deserves better than Bianca as sister (W Hazel because she is the sister he deserves) because she just...doesn't fucking care? Or doesn't care enough to do something.

And the only thing she said to him is to let go of his fatal flaw otherwise it wasn't going to end up well for him,and her death wasn't Percy fault. And......That's it? Nothing else? And if I remember correctly she also asked him to not try to summor her anymore? (I could be wrong for this because I don't remember well their conversation) Seriously??? Bianca di Angelo they will never make me love you. And the bittersweet of this situation is the fact that Nico did let go of his grudge,following her instructions. And I also have issues with this because this isn't how it fucking work,and I say this as a person that hold grudges too. You will never see me in the same room with the girl that stole my barbie doll in kindergarten,no matter how many years pass. (Yes I am a very resentful person-). But Nico just let go of it so...easy? But it's Riordan fault this time because apparently he doesn't know how grudges works (if it was so easy to let go of then I wouldn't have so many people on my hate list-). But he did so because Bianca asked him to. His love for her is truly something that will be never reciprocated and it's so sad that I want to cry.

By the end of BotL Nico accepted that his older sister was dead. As compared to TTC,this book had her in only a few scenes and as a plot device (like always but at least she got an use) to let Percy know what was Nico up to. Now,you think that Nico decided to let her go after their "conversation" (that was a straight up excuse of communication) and to leave the past in the past right? Wrong.

Acceptance (or not)–TLO.

I'll start this section by puting here 2 dialogue of Chapter Seven of TLO : My math teacher gives me a lift. (Yes,those dialogues).

"Father," Nico said. "I have done as you asked."

"Took you long enough," Hades grumbled. "Your sister would've done a better job."

Nico lowered his head. If I hadn't been so mad at the little creep,I might've felt sorry for him.

This is the first one and it happens when Nico took Percy to Hades,like he asked him to do. We all know how that went down. This isn't something that I show but I have a love-hate relationship with Hades because of this chapter,and what he said here and afterwards. I remember screaming at him while reading those parts,I was ready to throw hands with him for Nico and I'm not exaggerating.

Hades here states that Bianca would have done a better job and it's so fucking hilarious,because Bianca couldn't even survive a week in this world without doing something that resulted in her death. And she had people to teach her and look after her. Then we have Nico that stayed alone in the Labyrinth,with only Minos,and it's the only demigod to do so without turning insane from it. He banished King Minos,took his title as a Ghost King,and then brought Daedalus in the Underworld. The fuck did Bianca ever do,other than causing Nico's trauma? Why does Hades favor her so much when she never pulled something like this and died pretty early in the quest? What are you smoking Hades? (i'm starting to get triggered again-).

"Let him try. He'll be weakened. And my son here, Nico—" Hades looked at him with distaste. "Well,he's not much now,I'll grant you. It would've been better if Bianca had lived. But give him four more years of training. We can hold out that long,surely. Nico will turn sixteen,as the prophecy says,and then he will make the decision that will save the world. And I will be king of the gods."

This is what almost made me throw the fucking book to the wall and close everything. I'm not joking. This whole dialogue is something else and I'm never forgiving Hades for this shit.

Again,he favored Bianca when she never showed real feats compared to Nico. Nico taught himself how to fight,and he's able to use his powers like it's a second skin for him,Bianca couldn't. Heck,she turned to Artemis because other than wanting freedom (bullshit again),she was scared of dying. A daughter of Hades is scared of dying. That's why I believe she wouldn't have be happy about finding out who her father was when she was still alive: if you are scared of death,it wouldn't be a pleasant information to find out how close you really are to it. And that's also why I believe she wouldn't have a good familiarity with her powers and be the weakest child of the Big Three (technically she is already but oh well who cares),since she would lean more on her hunter's nature anyway.

So no Hades,she wouldn't be better than Nico for being the prophecy child. She didn't even want to be a demigod. The second she heard about what was happening she decided to go with Artemis,wanting to get the hell out of this mess. Leaving her brother in the meantime. And if it was Bianca alive,and not Nico,half of the Seven would be dead before even starting HoO,and the other half stuck because they wouldn't know how to bring the statue back (if they ever got to know about the statue),before it's too late. Nico is essential in so many way that Hades doesn't even acknowledge and I'll forever will be pissed about it.

Hades is a terrible father for saying all of this to Nico,while he was still trying to win over his approval and love,and wasn't in a good place (mentally speaking). Useless to say that those lines fucked up more his self-esteem and their relationship. But it's more about Hades favoritism than Bianca herself here,really.

My main issues with Bianca are specifically in BotL (TTC isn't far behind too-),but TLO is a whole level of family drama,like,not even Zeus could cause so much shit with only a vision and those quotes.

This time it's not even Bianca that he tries to summon,but Maria. Nico wanted to know what happened to their mother and the truth about their family's past,and what happened to his memory. Of course,Hades (the other 50% of his trauma) prohibited him from summoning his mother's soul. Nico still went out of his way because he wanted to met his mother since he couldn't remember anything about her.

While he tried to,Bianca answered him. Anticlimactic isn't it? In the last book she tried to not answer his calls when she could have helped him and spared us all of the time. But no. Gotta make the little brother suffer. Anyway,she explain to him that he can't summon their mother since their father forbidden him to do so,and then the whole flashback of their past is revealed.

That's it. This is her last appearance for the next 10 books,since she got brought back in TSATS.

We all know what happened next with the rest of the book so I won't talk about it,but I would like to point out what happened between TLO and HoO. And especially what this Tik Tok it's about.

So,I can't remember if it was during TLO or BotL,but Hades hid Bianca in his palace,far away from Nico,without let him know anything while he wallowed in sadness and trauma. Another pretty fucked up thing to add to the list about this wonderful family. What do you mean you hid your daughter from the son that it's slowly loosing himself to her death? Again,the bias here is heavily showed and I fucking hate this.

And then the re-birth happened and that's just another way for Bianca to say "fuck my brother,I'm going to reincarnate and not tell him untill he found out by himself". Bianca truly know how to put more emotional damage and trauma on Nico. No one does it better than her (Hades is a close second). Again,extremely fucked up,since Nico already accepted her death one book ago. She could have at least told him about it,but no,she went anyway because she had always been selfish. And Nico? Nico that thought his older sister would finally stay,even tho she is a ghost now? I don't want to know how the hell he was feeling about this and I'm glad that I don't. But again,she adds to Nico trauma because even tho she "cared" for him,he wasn't enough to make her stay. She abandoned him a third time again (1° is she joining the Hunters,2° is her death,3° is this one) because he wasn't enough.

At least he got Hazel now,and she stayed for him and went out her way to fight and get him out of a very dangerous situation (Bianca would never). She doesn't always understand him,and they need to work on their sibling bond,but she is by far the most amazing sister Nico ever had. Because Bianca left him at the first chance she got because she didn't cared enough for him,but Hazel fought for him because she cares enough to do so.

So no,Bianca di Angelo isn't a good sister and she didn't left Nico because she loved him,and wanted him to find his place. She left him because she was selfish.

The Tik Tok is completely wrong even for the other parts because Nico was never accepted until the end of HoO,and he and Will started dating during the time-skip,that's a lot of time since she reincarnated,and he still hasn't reached peace because he will never have that. He is doing better,of course,ut all of this it's not bacause of Bianca being a "caring" sibling,it's because Nico is finally healing from the trauma she (and Hades) gave him.

Bianca di Angelo was an horrible sister and I'm not going to change my mind about any of this.

[29daffodils]

and besides, who has ever shown him mercy?

i know the fandom has different takes on this man. and a lot of it is... unsavory, to me at least, who loves him best out of all the four characters. so this is just something that struck me really hard while watching.

in the moments before he jumps off the boat, kant waited. maybe for bison to show mercy, to take pity on him, to maybe show him some humanity and spare him this torture. kant had already told him before that he is afraid of the ocean, and in this scene he reiterates it. for all the lies he has told, he has never lied about himself (through omission : yes, directly : no). and maybe it's just his last resort, hoping that bison's love (or whatever of it was left there anyway) would soften him a little and make him take back those words.

he waits and hopes, and the moment he realises this too is just a card he has been dealt that can't be changed, he makes his choice and jumps.

now let's flashback a little.

we have a boy, in the middle of the ocean, presumably having lost his parents. he grows up with the responsibility of an older brother — but that's in name only, because he has to be a father, a mother and a sibling, all at the same time. for babe to have grown up kind and empathetic and sorted the way we see him to be, all the credit goes to kant. kant is 29 and babe is in highschool, so he must be what, 18 at best? now imagine an 11 year old orphan having to shoulder the responsibilities of not only himself, but his newborn brother as well (i am assuming the drowning accident happened around this timeline from how young baby kant seems to be in the flashback).

to nurture a child into teenage while juggling work, schooling, whatever else. kant probably didn't exist in any of those moments. maybe the little bits of him that bloomed into existence happened when he was with bison. when he fell head over heels for a man who could snuff out his life in the blink of an eye.

throughout the show we see him put himself last. stealing cars because he needs to feed his brother, getting landed in a suicide mission because if he is out of the picture, his brother won't survive. falling for a man he can't be with, whose actions he cannot predict because they come from different parts of life.

and what if kant had thought chris was right about bison? he didn't get shot dead, but he sure got kidnapped, his trauma made into a mockery. and even here, as he waits for bison to change his mind, he understands him. not once do we see kant defend himself besides saying, “i was forced to”, and ultimately, none of it matters. because he knows he hurt the one he claimed to love. he knows the nature of a hitman. he knew he'd end up at death's door but he went in hoping it won't come down to that, because the alternative was his brother suffering. and he makes peace with the card he's been dealt once again.

and through all this, who was there for him? who showed him mercy? who nurtured his heart?

so like he has done every single time, kant takes a breath, shuts his eyes tight, and takes a plunge.

read more :

extra #1 | ---

[fellshish]

I have a question, and my name is Sal.

I grew up watching Coraline as a kid. It was my jam. I loved that movie, and I will forever say Henry Selick deserved more attention for making it.

I like the Dresden Dolls and Evelyn Evelyn (Amanda Palmer projects) I still have the songs stuck in my head. You know where this is going.

I know you said that fans of works should still enjoy the work even if the creator sucks. And I can do that with Kubrick and Aaron Fechter, but that’s because Kubrick is dead, and most of Aaron Fechter’s IP got ripped away from him and is gladly in the hands of the public (despite how much he likes to sue).

Gaiman (and Palmer) are still alive and/or profiting off their stuff. Not to mention, I want to bring attention to the situation and help bring justice to the victims. Yet everytime I post about it or reblog what someone else put into words what I think, I feel like I’m virtue signalling.

How do I handle it and is it bad that I keep thinking of the art that influenced me by them instead of what they did (in a way to soften the blow to how horribly they abused these women)?

(You can respond to this publicly, as I am sure people are thinking the same thing somewhere. I am sorry for dumping all this on you.)

hi sal!

sorry, this got long. your ask was so genuine and i was afraid of getting it wrong. 

i want to start this off by saying i am not the boss of anyone’s fandom experience. everyone gets to decide for themselves how they proceed after learning about the numerous women who have come forward against neil gaiman.

the things you mention are things i’ve struggled with too — last year when i first learned about it, when i listened to the podcasts and recently again reading even more detailed (and horrifying) news reporting.

these are also struggles shared by many fans in many fandoms of creators who were accused and/or controversial and/or convicted. for example many (trans) people i know have grown up loving harry potter, and have had to deal with their favourite writer waging a vendetta against trans lives. some still participate in the hp fandom without supporting her. they can’t help their hyperfixation and still find a lot of good and a lot of friends in the fandom. 

because yes, i do believe that someone can stay in such a fandom as ethically as possible. as in: i try the best that i can to make sure no further financial gains go to the creator. that means i avoid watching official streams, buying official merch, going to official cons, going to plays based on his work etc. i also amplify the women’s voices by spreading the article. 

the thing to keep in mind is: there is a difference and a distance between a creator and a fandom of what they created. a huge wall even. fandom is about community, friendships, creativity, … i am on a playground playing with the characters with my friends. sharing art and fics and gifs etc. and what those characters and stories mean to me are positive things. 

the core is this: if you have to live your life only consuming art by morally pure people (and who determines that?!) then you will have very little left to enjoy. 

and of course i understand the urge to want to help the victims, and the guilt/worry about virtue signaling. i’m going to break those down separately.

i think the idea of ‘helping bring justice to the victims’ is good but it also puts an unreasonable amount of responsibility on your young shoulders. here’s what’s already happened: the women’s voices have been heard, there is now more widespread media covering, he has lost his reputation, hasn’t been on his platforms since last summer, he’s losing (film) projects of his work, … what else consequences are yet to come, legally or otherwise, we’ll have to see. the responsibility for that lies not with you as one single fan but with lawyers etc. and you might find it important to keep vigilant that the story doesn’t get buried (again). in that case reblogging isn’t virtue signalling but useful.

but it’s also unreasonable to expect someone to continually do that for days and days. that’s a quick ticket to depression. ultimately tumblr is, to many, a fandom space. some people use it only for pleasant fandom activities. and what if they do? you can’t know a person’s whole life: maybe they are survivors who are too triggered to participate, maybe they’ve donated to causes that help survivors, maybe they have shared the story on other platforms etc

you asked “is it bad that I keep thinking of the art that influenced me by them instead of what they did”, and i found that the most heartbreaking part of your ask. it isn’t helpful to you or to anyone to keep torturing yourself with guilt. you’re aware of the allegations, and that’s good. but don’t burn yourself out trying to live up to the impossible standard of a morally pure activist that doesn’t exist. please stop being your own thought police. 

i think the fact you struggle so deeply, shows what a beautiful person you are.

now you’re going to be reading a lot of opinions. some very different from mine. am i right in continuing in fandom? i don’t know. this is my first time living life too. but i AM right that you’re a good person.

that said: protect your heart. block freely and curate a fandom space that makes you happy. avoid engaging in endless internet discourse that is bad for your mental health. step away for a while if that is what you need.

these are some intense days but i promise it gets better. the kid who loved coraline can still love coraline, but is just more informed now. 

the main rule of fandom is: does it spark joy? if yes, embrace it, because that’s a wonderful and rare thing to have.

[emblemxeno]

Hot Take Time!

I think the breakthrough revelation that the Sonic fanbase had about the series' reception during the 2010's, where full-force sincerity in its stories was mocked for being cringe and willingness to stand out in both a gameplay and artistic sense resulted in beloved games being panned retroactively, can be easily applied to FE Engage.

Engage is the most fucking sincere plot the series has had in over a decade. Yes, despite being the guy whose fav FE game is Fates, I think that game was still bogged down by the prospect of following up the blowout success of a game like Awakening and had too many instances of putting in a lot of ideas to see what worked rather than putting the full weight behind a select few core elements.

SoV had the baggage of being a remake while still needing a modern appeal, and ended up with a lot of contradictory aspects. And 3H doesn't know what it wants to be and never did from the ground up.

Engage is different. It wanted to be a grand celebration of 30 years of this great series. It wanted pizazz. It wanted spectacle. It wanted to say "we fucking love this series and we love the fans who supported us."

The characters are flashy and striking to make you remember them. The music is bombastic, with a wide variety of styles so anyone can find a favorite track. The presentation is beautiful, with great visuals and phenomenal sound design. New uber powerful mechanics balanced out by incredible map design, supberb flow, and responsive game feel.

But the sincerity shines brightest with its narrative. The core messages are well written!

Sometimes knowing when to retreat is better than foolhardy bravery. It's always worth considering someone's background and feelings before casting them away. There's never a single easy solution to your problems, and if you think there is, you'll end up repeating the same mistakes. You can find family with anyone, and are not bound solely by those who you're born to. To live authentically as yourself is beautiful and should be celebrated.

The game believes all of those things to a degree which really hasn't been seen since the series was on the brink of death.

But that sincerity was treated as unpalatable, cringe, and plain awful.

The fandom for a series that routinely and infamously has terrible armor designs now suddenly throws a fit because "flower girl has silly dress" or "these characters have face paint/tattoos."

The single laziest form of criticism for FE casts that has permeated the community since Awakening released, that being "the cast is one note tropes that have no personality or development outside of them", came back in full fucking force with Engage.

And it's pretty damn sad. In my opinion, sincerity shouldn't be mocked. Sometimes, you should take a minute and ask yourself "Is it bad, or is it just not my thing? Am I writing off an entire cast's writing because I don't like some character designs? Do I have personal preferences that aren't being met in this instance, and should I learn to grapple with saying that instead of just writing off the product as fundamentally terrible or, at best, half-assed?"

At some point, looking inward and considering community wide commonalities has to be recognized as a factor for why products are received the way they are, rather than just laying blame at the devs' feet for "not making a good product that people wanted." After all, word of mouth is the reason why FE even got this far, considering FE1 was effectively a sleeper hit because people who played it spread the word despite mixed reviews.

TL-DR, Engage isn't cringe, YOU ARE!!!

[fight-nights-at-freddys]

the difference in yaelokre vs wrong organ’s responses to seeing proshippers in their fandom is staggering

FRRRR, the worst part is that you see a lot of ppl disagree with Wrong Organ and a lot of ppl agreeing with Keath and it's just. it makes me so mad.

what do you MEAN you play/watch a game that has problematic themes, you play as a RAPIST. and you get mad when ppl who like those things like that part of the game.

i cannot speak on what Yaelokre's about, i have little-to-no interest personally, but its shocking to me that all ppl take out of it as "well people shouldn't be drawing nsfw of those characters anyways!" negating the point that even a simple headcanon can get you a cease and desist.

Obviously Yaelokre's situation is worse, but I also hate how much fandom has became less about fun. the only way to have "fun" is to make the "safe" jokes, or to never focus on what ppl consider to be disgusting (or alternatively, change the "bad" to be "good". I.E Nice Jimmy, or everyone lives, except for Jimmy)

I respect Wrong Organ a lot, and the fact that everyone's take away is "ew they support proshippers" is so aggravating, same with ppl's response to others abt Yaelokre

ig at the end of the day, antis consume fandom, even if they aren't a majority, they are VERY vocal and its annoying and awful

[burningcheese-merchant]

It's so cool to see CRK getting popular again, it feels so refreshing like so much new quality fan content dropping that we couldn't even DREAM about a couple of months ago, but it hurts my very soul seeing new players being interested in beast x ancient ships, in their dynamics, asking is it okay to ship it and getting slapped in the face with another "IT'S ABUSER X VICTIM IT'S A PROSHIP IT'S A DARKSHIP" (which is just not true) killing off all the fun, bc apparently enemies to lovers, AUs and what-ifs doesn't exist anymore and everything that isn't pure fluff is illegal now. "IT'S NOT ENEMIES TO LOVERS, BEASTS ABUSED AND TORTURED THEM" yeah THAT'S WHAT ENEMIES DO??? What else do you expect from a villain honestly??? Like in ANY media??? Beasts still got their ass beat in the end as they totally deserve BECAUSE ANCIENTS ARE NOT SOFT INNOCENT SMALL BABIES THAT NEED TO BE PROTECTED, they're grown ass IMMORTAL ADULTS with huge responsibilities, they rule kingdoms, they hold a huge power in their hands, they're imperfect and not innocent. They can stand for themselves, they can fight, they can destroy, they can lie and they WILL if they need to.

I can SMELL that a shit tonne of people in this fandom secretly enjoys beast x ancient as a guilty pleasure, a forbidden fruit, but they will never admit it just because they're afraid of being harassed and bullied and it's just sad how normalized it is to hurt actual people over shipping some mobile game characters, who are adults, doesn't have power imbalance between them and aren't related.

And allat coming from ME, who doesn't ship a single beast x ancient ship

It's sad lol. Sad for the Beast x Ancient community and honestly kind of pathetic for ardent detractors at this point. I've seen sooooo many Beast x Ancient fans get harassed and even sent death threats, it's not even funny (not that it ever was in the first place). Don't you have better things to do than get this mad about video games lol. Like a job or school or a hobby or something

You're right, the Ancients are not helpless widdle babies and I'm kind of sick of how often they're infantilized, in general and just for the sake of tearing down BxA. They're grown adults who are thousands of years old. Two of them are parents, whose children are grown adults themselves. 4 of 5 founded entire nations. 1 is an active ruler still (Cacao), one seeks to rule again (Golden). Let's not kid ourselves, they've probably all got blood on their hands (not to the degree the Beasts do, but still. You don't live that life without having to make tough choices). Stop treating them like porcelain dolls lol. Yes, the Beasts attacked them, but they're villains. That's what villains do. Go play Animal Crossing if you can't handle heroes and villains fighting each other lol

And then I get a laugh whenever those same people who screech about toxicity and abuse and yadda yadda turn around and ship H*llyt*ya or Sh*dowSp*ce. The former is BxA in a different costume. The latter... Man. You know. Because TWO deranged maniacs, who are fundamentally incompatible in every way and do not make sense at all and absolutely would hurt each other and bring each other down I hate that ship so damn much. Do not ask me abt it I WILL ramble and nobody needs that. Zero beef with fans though, we're coolio! Just a difference of opinion!, is such a better option, isn't it lol. Hypocrisy.

I'm sure you noticed that ep 7 + 8 brought out a whole lot of new ShadowVanilla fans. I agree w/ you, I can feel that there are a fuckton of BxA fans lurking in the darkness, waiting for an excuse to poke their heads out (like 7 + 8 lol), only hiding because they don't want to attract lunatics. Even YOU sent this ask anonymously. Most of my inbox is stuff from anons, and I look at them all and wonder, "how many of you are just afraid of backlash for expressing any joy in BurningCheese or any of the other BxA pairs?" It's ok, guys. Don't listen to them. Be you. I'm being me right now, as cringy as I am. I am Extremely Normal about BurningCheese and I'm not ashamed :) they're video game characters at the end of the day, just have fun. Why can't we all just be bros, man, what does any of this matter

[damnfandomproblems]

We received a handful of very similar submissions not too far apart from each other, so I've decided to break format a bit and include them all in one post together here to get them out of the way. Each will have their own Fandom Problem number but we will still be getting the same amount of posts today, this will just be one item in the queue.

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

Fandom Problem #6735:

I saw someone complain that Hatsune Miku drawn as an Israeli teenager is exactly the same as drawing Nazi Germany Miku!

This is an example of an antisemitic trope called Holocaust inversion - but that's actually beside the point.

I saw the same person post their own lovely fanart of an Egyptian Miku.

Look, I don't think random ass Egyptians nowadays are to blame for their government's or their ancestors misdeeds. Nor do I think Egyptian Miku somehow represents them.

But I find it hypocritical that they're implying Israeli civilians are just like the fucking Nazis when they're from a country where ~20 Jews live.

There are over 50 000 Egyptian Jews in the world! They had to leave Egypt because there they're were being murdered or having their houses firebombed. Most went to Israel because no other country would take them.

I guess by this person's logic they're just as bad as Nazis.

But since this is a fandom blog, let's bring Miku back into this:

Miku is Japanese.

Japan is a nation with an imperialist past. Japanese nationalism is still going strong. The Ainu people and Ryukyuan people had their homelands colonized, and were forcibly assimilated. To this day the Japanese government does not recognize them as minority ethnic groups.

The Wikipedia category page for Japanese war crimes has well over 50 entries, sorted by the nation they were committed in. Between them, hundreds of thousands were killed, and hundreds of thousands were raped or forced into sexual slavery. This is not a distant past, there are "comfort women" survivors still alive today. The Japanese government didn't apologize for any of this until the 1990s. Japan continues to not have any laws in place to prevent racial or ethnic based discrimination.

Does Miku represent imperialism, colonialism, mass murder, genocide, racism, and state sponsored mass sexual slavery, just because she is Japanese?

No, of course not. That would be dumb. We don't hold individual Japanese people, and certainly not random Japanese fictional characters, responsible for this. That would be both racist and pointless.

If you think that it's somehow different for a fanmade Israeli teenager Miku design,

🫵you are an antisemite🫵

Fandom Problem #6736:

'white people participating in the international hatsune miku trend is LITERALLY colonialism' isn't a take i expected to see and yet here we are!

I think it's time we all go outside!

Fandom Problem #6737:

I really don't want to be judgemental and I know that the whole Mikusona monday/personal Hatsune Miku design trends from a while ago were all about redesigns based on the artist's tastes.

But you know, sometimes the design is so far removed from the original that its just unrecognizable as Miku?

I mean if your character has a different silhouette than Miku, a different outfit than Miku, a different face than Miku, a different hairstyle than Miku, a different hair color than Miku, nothing that would thematically connect it to Miku, then that's not Hatsune Miku, that's your OC!

Fandom Problem #6738:

"I drew Palestinian Miku because Israeli Miku made me feel sick!"

Really? Seriously?!

You drew Palestinian Miku, not because you love Palestine, not because you love Palestinian culture, but because you wanted to stick it up to those pesky Israeli artists?

That's... I don't even know what to say. That's awful, and it reveals an awful lot about you.

You're not even Palestinian - you're appropriating Palestinian culture to fuel your hatred of Israeli citizens.

You aren't pro-peace. You aren't even pro-Palestine. You're just antisemitic.

Fandom Problem #6739:

Artist draws Chinese Hatsune Miku

People: 😍🥰🤗💗

Artist draws Iranian Hatsune Miku

People: 💖☺️😄🤩

Artist draws Afghan Hatsune Miku

People: 😊😻💞🥰

Artist draws Indonesian Hatsune Miku

People: 👏🤗💗🙂

Artist draws British Hatsune Miku

People: 😄♥️😽💕

Artist draws USAmerican Hatsune Miku

People: 🥰😍✨💝

Artist draws Israeli Hatsune Miku

People: I literally feel sick rn kill yourself you racist nationalist genocidal colonizer! How dare you touch Hatsune Miku! Your culture is fake and your art is ugly as shit!

...somehow, I feel that it isn't about genocide being bad 🤔

(and yes, I have actually seen people say each and every single word I wrote there. It's not an exaggeration.)

Fandom Problem #6740:

There's a trend going around of people drawing Hatsune Miku if she was from their own countries, which is really fun to see, but I gotta say,

If seeing someone's drawing of Israeli Miku makes you 'feel sick' (actual quote that I saw), or if you think someone drawing Israeli Miku means they support genocide,

I need you to step back and realize that this line of thought isn't normal, it is in fact really fucking racist.

Random citizens of Israel aren't to blame for their government's actions, if you can't realize that, you have been radicalized and not in a "cute" way!

People are not to blame for their government's actions. Random people sharing their culture and making a drawing fucking Hatsune Miku aren't showing approval for everything their country does.

If you can respect, say, Chinese, Russian, or Iranian artists (or anyone, really) in spite of their countries' rampant human rights violations - because it's not their goddamn fault - but you are unable to do the same for Israeli artists -

That is just racist, it's a double standard, and it reeks of antisemitism.

This sort of performative outrage, this performative disgust - it does JACK SHIT to help people in Gaza.

Please do better.

Fandom Problem #6741:

I can't help but to side eye people who draw their blorbos with Palestinian flags... OK, you drew Miku with a keffiyeh on her ass. Exactly how is that supposed to help? By creating awareness? You really think anyone on this site isn't aware by now?

It seems like performative activism at best.

If you really want to use your art to help people in Gaza, take charity commissions or something that'll help materially you know!

[azaharinflames]

I ask this with the bestest intentions because I think you're one of a few level headed member in the fandom: what's the difference between buddies complaining about Eddie not coming back and us leaving comments about wanting Tommy and Buck to get back together or the hashtags we did for Tommy/Lou? I understand that they left hate comments and review bombed the episode, but I think the comments asking for Eddie's return are valid. Aside of buddie of it all of course they want him back, to see him reconnect with the 118 dynamic. Shaming them for expressing that want doesn't seem fair imo. Because I see it a lot recently and it doesn't sit right with me.

First of all - thanks! I appreciate the compliment, Nonnie.

I think it all comes down to the context, to be honest.

Yes, asking for Eddie's return is more than fair. No one is saying it isn't. We all understand how it feels to have your favorite character (or one of your favorites) being taken away. Or, in their case, seeing him leave for another state and having the looming possibility of him not coming back. It is understandable that they don't want that to happen, and it is understandable and totally fair that they ask for that not to happen.

Yes, we have done the same thing, and have asked for Tommy to come back. Only... is it the same?

Now, this is a bit of a generalisation, because the fact is that there are extremes on both ends, and people who genuinely don't mean harm and are only asking for a character on both ends. I'd be here for hours analysing both, so for the sake of timing and conciseness, I am generalising.

Whilst I am not saying there aren't any BT fans asking for Tommy's return randomly, most of what I have seen has been us:

Complaining/expressing our disappointment post-806. Which, in my opinion, was more than fair. We discussed the episode and how it made us feel in the posts about the episode.

Whenever 911 asked a general question (i.e. what do you want for blah blah blah), Tommy was mentioned, or a cute hashtag was created. This was in direct response to the show asking a question.

Post-811, discussing the episode and asking for Tommy to come back and for them to figure their stuff out.

It is easy to see whenever we do start asking for Tommy, or talk about Bucktommy in the comments, as it usally results in those posts having a much higher engagement than others. A mix between us and Buddies trying to drown us out, but. The evidence is there.

Now. Something we have not done:

Harass cast and crew and constantly ask them why Tommy isn't there.

Reply to an actor's comment (where he'd expressed his excitement for the episode) calling him a liar because Tommy wasn't in the ep.

Review bomb an episode because Tommy wasn't in it (even though we had hoped he could be in it).

Make the episode all about Tommy, instead of celebrating what was one of the best episodes of the series.

Yet - those are all things Bobs have done. In the last week, too.

So - I think asking for a character's comeback isn't bad at all. Do it. But be respectful. To do what they did in the posts post-814 is, firstly, annoying, and secondly, wildly out of place. It's not that they're asking for Eddie's return; it is that they are acting like entitled brats who didn't get their way, and so now they have to make it everyone's problem.

[legacygirlingreen]

A Larger Conversation,

Today marks two years to the day since I presented one of my master’s theses, and it still feels surreal. What began as a way to complete one of two overlapping master’s degrees (a path I highly do not recommend) ended up reigniting my engagement with fandom spaces in ways I never expected. Through that project, I came to deeply understand what participatory culture really is—and what it means for the communities that thrive within it.

I gained insight into the immense responsibility that weighs on creators, a burden I hadn’t fully appreciated before. I came to see just how ethically and emotionally damaging plagiarism and imitation can be in these spaces—plagiarism as outright theft, and imitation as anything from mildly annoying to intentionally harmful.

And all of this? I dove into before the widespread debates about AI began. I don’t have the bandwidth to unpack everything AI means for creatives right now, but I will say this: I worked in film long before the writers’ strikes of 2023, and the sense of collective defeat we felt on those picket lines—just waiting for assurance that human talent wouldn't be replaced by machines—was crushing. Trying to re-enter the industry at the height of that uncertainty was no easy feat.

There’s a common argument—especially on this platform—that passive engagement, such as liking a post, isn’t “enough” in participatory spaces. And I get it. As a writer, seeing comments and reblogs means a lot. But at the end of the day, I share my work because I genuinely enjoy it. Even if a piece goes largely unseen, that’s okay. We’re all engaging with the same texts and ideas, pulling out our own meanings, and generating our own interpretations. That’s the beauty of fandom: it’s a living, breathing form of participatory culture, and we all contribute in our own ways.

As for the arguments around plagiarism and imitation, I’ll admit: I used to turn a blind eye when it came to my own work. I held tightly to the idea that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” and convinced myself it wasn’t worth addressing. But over time, as I’ve come to fully embrace what it means to be a creator—someone who pours their limited free time into something they genuinely care about—that mindset has shifted. It’s disheartening to see elements of my work—my aesthetics, phrasing, even the structure of my posts—lifted, reworded, or repackaged without even the courtesy of acknowledgment or engagement. When that happens, especially by people who remain silent observers, it doesn’t feel flattering. It feels frustrating.

So, I’ll put it plainly: my style, my art, my characters, and the way I run this blog are not open-source material for replication through artificial means or otherwise. I may not own the canon characters of any franchise, but I do own my ideas, my time, and the years of education, training, and effort that go into crafting what I share here.

Fandom spaces operate under their own sets of ethics—self-regulating, ever-evolving, and often slightly different from one another. Yet, in all the fandoms I’ve been part of over the past 12 years, there’s a shared, unspoken agreement: knowingly passing off someone else’s work as your own is wrong. And beyond direct plagiarism, imitation without engagement—without even so much as a conversation or acknowledgment—is ethically murky.

When we observe what resonates with a creator and then replicate it without reflection or interaction, we shortchange not just them, but ourselves. Every creator on this platform learns—often slowly and through trial and error—what works for them. Skipping that process by mimicking someone else's approach might seem like a shortcut, but it ultimately stunts your own creative growth. The real value comes from finding your voice, not copying someone else’s.

My characters are manifestations of parts of myself—reflections of both the best and the most difficult aspects of who I am. They are deeply personal to me, and the stories I tell through them are crafted with a level of intentionality and care that some might consider excessive. But for me, every decision I make in storytelling is rooted in a complex understanding of canon, woven together with my own interpretations and emotional insight.

Take Rex, for example. I have extensive documents dedicated to tracking his personal growth throughout The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch, and Rebels—detailing his slow disillusionment with his programming and the profound selflessness that defines him. These notes have shaped the way I write him: as a man who struggles to believe he deserves kindness, especially from himself, when there’s always more work to be done. For him, learning that self-love isn’t selfish—that he is worthy of rest, of affection, of peace—is a story worth telling. And that’s just one example of how deeply I engage with the characters I write.

My participation in fandom isn’t about tossing content into the void and hoping it resonates. I approach it as a scholar first and foremost. That’s the lens through which I create—deliberate, structured, and grounded in both research and personal connection.

Of course, others may take a different approach, and I think that’s a beautiful thing. But the way I build my work—the structure, the presentation, even the aesthetics—is something I take immense pride in. It reflects not only my creativity, but my dedication to this craft.

All of this isn’t meant to shame or directly call out anyone I've seen imitate aspects of my work. I won’t go so far as to label it plagiarism—others might, but I’m not someone who throws around accusations or puts people on blast. Instead, I want to use today as an opportunity to reflect and invite others to do the same—to really think about what it means to be part of a fandom.

I’m a media scholar. I hold two master’s degrees, one of which is in Media Studies, and I spent over two and a half years immersed in the field of fandom studies. I’ve dedicated myself to understanding these spaces, not just as a participant, but as someone who studies them academically and critically.

And honestly, fandom can be such a beautiful, powerful thing. It’s a space that fosters community, creativity, and connection. It’s where I met my best friend in the entire world. It’s brought me into contact with incredible people I speak to every day. It’s shown me the resilience of fellow scholars and creators who continue to fight for their work and their right to be seen, respected, and valued.

I love this space—truly. So, if sharing this reflection helps me turn the frustration I’ve felt lately over uncredited imitation into something constructive, then I’m at peace with that. I just want us all to think more deeply about how we show up here, how we support one another, and how we can grow—not just as fans, but as creators, thinkers, and members of a larger community.

If you’re interested in exploring fandom from a scholarly perspective, here are a few readings I’d recommend:

Honestly, any and all work by Henry Jenkins is such a great starting point, but "Textual Poachers: Television Fans & Participatory Culture" is where I would for the writers and "Convergence Culture" for others.

"Understanding Fandom" by Mark Duffett

"Theorizing Fandom: Fans, Subculture, and Identity" by Harris, Cheryl, and Alison Alexander

"Fan Cultures" by Matt Hills

And to those amazing people who support me, inspire me, and just continue to be genuinely kind, thoughtful humans—I’m endlessly grateful. Thank you for sticking with me through what started as a reflection and turned into a bit of a mushy rant. I stay because of you.

@strawberrypinky @leenathegreengirl @heyitszev @writing-intheundercroft @crosshairs-dumb-pimp-gf @returnofthepineapple

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi, I’m the one who sent in the thing about Vil’s new card that you answered a bit earlier. I do actually like the card but I’ve seen people saying it’s like they dressed Vil in a trash bag. I understand that people are disappointed that he’s not dressed in robes like that meme or the colors aren’t purple(which I’m more iffy about because of Deuce is mainly featured in dark blue clothes dispit the fact he’s dorm color is red.) Apologies if this sounds rude I’m just confused why people are hating on it. Especially the hat because like you said earlier it helps the hair( something like that at least) Also sorry for the long ask.

[Referencing this post!; referencing this meme too.]

Hey, so 💦 I know this ask is about Vil and his new birthday card, but I’m going to speak much more generally in my response because this doesn’t pertain to only Vil. And just so we’re clear: this isn’t a dig at you at all, Anon. This is referring to fandom in general!

Recently I’ve noticed that people worry/care way too much about what other people think. We may not consciously believe that we put a lot of stock in others’ opinions, but it shows in our behaviors. For example, very few people outright say, “Does X approve of this?” but tons of people will say, “I don’t understand why you think this way” (implying that we are concerned about opinions that deviate from our own). But the thing is, this is faulty thinking because you are realistically NEVER going to have a thought or an idea that satisfies everyone. Trying to do so is a fruitless pursuit and will only leave you frustrated.

It’s fine to be confused if someone doesn’t think the same way as you, but we also have to accept that others will hold different opinions than us. They don’t necessarily need a grand reason for feeling the way that they do. Liking or disliking something doesn’t have to be justified or explained. Understanding something (in this case, the practicality of Vil’s silk cap/bonnet) does not always mean someone will like it or compliment it. Those are entirely separate things. (For example, I have written a number of analyses on Vil, but that does not mean I personally like him as a character.)

At the end of the day, the discourse is not that deep. It really, really isn’t. This is two parties disagreeing on how they perceive the look of an outfit. That’s all. Are some people being louder and ruder about it than is necessary? Maybe. Should you let this bother you and influence your own enjoyment of the content? No. You can still like Vil’s pajamas, because whatever other people say about it should have zero baring on your opinion.

The fact of the matter is that social media is a lot meaner than it used to be. Websites benefit when users stay online for longer. That’s why their algorithms tend to promote posts that 1) are relevant to your interests but, more importantly, 2) will get you emotional enough to engage. This leads to the cultivation of insular communities where the snappiest, most extreme takes thrive and users feel like they need to match this energy in order to “survive” on those platforms. That’s why we see a lot of “hating”, criticism, and general negativity on socials now. Everyone wants to be the one saying a witty clapback, and that’s what social media is geared toward now, especially Twitter and Tiktok.

There’s no point in letting it get to us; it wouldn’t be productive. All it will do is make you confused or upset. We have to grow thick skin and turn the other cheek when we see whatever we deem as “hate”. Don’t worry about what other people are doing, just focus on yourself and how you choose to engage with the content.

[shadowsofdread]

inspired by the poll about theron shan's romantic chemistry with each of the origin classes, i wanna pose a somewhat similar question because i love thinking about it. it's a big thing in the swtor fandom that people tend to write relationships between their mains of each of the origin stories, and certain trends/combinations tend to be common - namely, sith warrior & jedi knight, jedi knight & jedi consular, sith warrior & sith inquisitor, etc.

so an open question i'm putting forward for anyone to reply to is what are your favorite pairings of classes - platonically, romantically, secret third thing, antagonistically, etc. you don't have to name an "underrated" one, but my question is based more on the chemistry between the classes, like, in general as opposed to specific iterations of that class. i.e., by all means use your OCs as an example of why you like that pairing, but like. i am talking more broadly about archetypes than specific characters. does this make sense. anyway, some of mine:

sith warrior & jedi knight

you knew this one was coming. i think the SW and JK are positioned pretty well to act as foils to one another, and there's something very interesting about how the transitions between Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 of each campaign mirror each other, with the finales of their respective campaigns leaving them on opposite sides of a current or future antagonist - with the SW ending up on that same side as the JK by ziost. i've interpreted this as a shared sense of personal responsibility - through their actions, one way or another, they make the most sense for being the emperor's number one enemy, which may lead to a sort of alliance between the two characters, depending how you spin it. or, hey, maybe your sith warrior is actually loyal to the emperor even still, at least until they are ultimately betrayed by valkorion. in which case, lifelong, bitter enemies. where maybe they should've had a common cause, maybe the pieces should've been there all along for them to fight together, but against all sanity and reason, the SW chooses again and again to stand by vitiate/valkorion.

sith warrior & imperial agent

next to SW&JK, this is the dynamic i keep coming back to over and over again - there's a reason why taizi's met most of @tiredassmage's agents. it's also the one i have the hardest time explaining why i like so much. there's the appeal of like ... hypercompetent pairing with vastly different skills but very good at those skills. it's kind of like a variation on what scratches my brain about SW & quinn in that there's a lot of toying around you can do with sith/imperial power dynamics - made even more interesting depending on the type of agent you're playing, and regardless an agent who has had their literal brain fucked with by the dark council, i.e. the castellan restraints.

sith warrior & jedi consular

listen. have i actually gotten to use this one much in the "playing blorbo barbies with my friends" sphere? not exactly. it's a very new one that i'm still rotating, and i don't know how to explain what it is i like about it but i really, really want to see more of it. i think it could be delicious, brent. please let your warriors and your consulars talk to each other more. one thing i will put forward is i think SW & JC scratches a similar itch to SW & JK to me, but in, like, a slightly different font? i dunno, man. i just wanna see it more.

honorable mentions:

jedi consular OR jedi knight & trooper: it's like jedi / clone trooper but without the ethical issues and cognitive dissonance! /lh

sith inquisitor & jedi consular: could be taken so many different ways, i just don't think enough about SI to do much with it

imperial agent & jedi knight: only really seen a few iterations - two of them being my own - but like. something in here's really fucking good.

[rejectedfables]

While the source material clearly intends Xue Yang to be read as an orphan (perhaps orphaned so young he has no memory of his parents), I think it’s underexplored in fandom that he never ACTUALLY SAYS that his parents DIED, but rather that he was a child without parents. 

"He had neither dad nor mom nor money" (via the official english translation)

I think there's something in here worth exploring about the possibility that Xue Yang was abandoned by his parents. 

Perhaps he remembers one or both of them and/or the event, perhaps he does not but just has a sense of it having happened, perhaps he has no memories of it at all but it still psychologically impacted his development. 

Just about every character in the story can be better understood by looking at how they were raised, and Xue Yang is CERTAINLY not an exception. 

There are myriad ways to interpret his childhood (though none of them stable, safe, or cared for), but I have been thinking a LOT lately about how being abandoned by his parents could have shaped him into who he later became.

His behavior in the Villainous Friends extra (wherein he, seemingly arbitrarily, breaks things and antagonizes people and then specifically challenges Jin Guangyao about paying for damages) COULD be interpreted as acting out in a way that's common for children and teens with a history of abandonment who are testing the waters of just how much their new guardian/s will tolerate. This sort of behavior can be a self fulfilling prophesy as well as an attempt to prove to themselves that their expectations of rejection or punishment are correct.

If Xue Yang has only ever known the world to be a painful place where people reject and abandon him, then that's how he expects the world to continue behaving. If suddenly someone defies this expectation, it is simultaneously a fascinating and wondrous thing, and also a threat to his worldview. After all, if THIS person can be kind and care for him, then why didn't anyone else?

If JGY, who at this point is essentially just his handler, can be unconditionally patient with him... then why couldn't others have been patient with him over much less? And why couldn't his own parents, who had considerably higher responsibility to him, be as patient as JGY?

It's much easier to push and push and push until you break the patience and prove your cynicism correct, than it is to grapple with those painful questions. And after all, Jin Guangyao had an exterior force (Jin Guangshan) requiring him to show patience. And once that force was removed, so was Xue Yang. This, perhaps, felt as much like validation as it did betrayal.

There might be a parallel to be made here, too, about how JGY was and felt betrayed/abandoned by his father. This in common might be something that they bonded over.

And of course, as always, there's Yi City.

Xue Yang expects Xiao Xingchen to abandon him, and his elaborate “revenge” was at least in part in preparation for that anticipated betrayal. He "knows" he will be betrayed and, perhaps unlike what happened with Jin Guangyao, he intends to be ready for it this time. Ready to punish Xiao Xingchen the MOMENT it happens, or ready to convince him not to betray him after all (what is "We're not so different, I'm not uniquely evil, you're ending our life together because you think you're better than me but look! Look! You and I are the same now" if not a deeply misguided and utterly desperate plea?).

At some point he starts hoping it just won't happen, and stops needing the “revenge” plot. When it starts unraveling before him, he tries for understanding first. What is "Hear my story, THEN decide--" if not begging to be understood?

Of course it doesn't work.

Xiao Xingchen doesn't even kill Xue Yang, either; he goes Away. Goes where Xue Yang can't. If Xue Yang is read as having this particular trigger, Xiao Xingchen's suicide may feel like abandonment all over again.

Perhaps Xiao Xingchen NOT killing Xue Yang becomes a parallel to Xue Yang's parents abandoning him to suffer alone instead of keeping him or killing him. Or else maybe Xue Yang's mother DID try to kill him (drown him or left him out in the cold) and he just managed to survive, in which case Xiao Xingchen NOT trying to kill Xue Yang puts him a cut above even Xue Yang's own mother/parents.

Final thought:

While I find Xue Yang's lack of familial connection to the rest of the cast compelling, I also find "what if" scenarios fascinating to explore, and "Xue Yang was abandoned by parents who might still be around during the story" does create some fascinating opportunities for fic.

Such as:

What if Xue Yang was yet another illegitimate son of Jin Guangshan? What if he knew but Jin Guangyao didn't? What if Jin Guangyao knew but Xue Yang didn't? What if Jin Guangshan himself knew? That would really put the insistent protections into a very weird light (is there a heart in there? Or did he think he could string Xue Yang along like he did Jin Guangyao? Or was Xue Yang blackmailing him?)

OR

What if Xue Yang was the illegitimate son of Chang Cian? It certainly puts a spin on that entire scenario. Little Xue Yang has another reason to want to please this man, and a further reason to feel betrayed by the abuse. Chang Cian not even recognizing him. Xue Yang taking revenge on the entire family because they ALL wronged him in a way he can't articulate. Because they got to live the life he could have if he'd been wanted.

Certainly none of this is canon, but it's not TERRIBLY far beyond the bounds of canon either, and makes for some juicy food for fic.