#-you think that. a fictional ship should not have such big control over your life. you dont have a healthy relationship with the media-

[fizzyjacuzzi]

delete later

edit: you know what i don't think i'm deleting this. putting this out there.

[imptwins]

ALRIGHT, no more messing around I suppose.

Over the last twelve months my close friend @kimberlyeab and myself have been the targets of sustained harassment by a series of "anti-ship" accounts, that may or may not be the same person, that I am not going to name up here because I do not want to give them any more traffic than necessary. This is over some of the content we make, 18+ fiction revolving around Undertale and Deltarune, and sometimes involving dark kinks. I'm going to ask you to put aside whether you think this is immoral for the moment.

Under the break below is what I wrote a few hours ago. Things have since escalated. Both myself and Kim have been targeted by email bombs on our business emails, services/bots that spam your email address with garbage signups, rendering your email address completely unusable. At worst, this can overwhelm your email service so much that your account is unable to process new emails and is eventually disabled by the provider. I'm still getting bursts of activity after over 200 emails, so I'm not sure if it's dying down, or if it's so backlogged that this is what's happening.

This is literally a crime, by the way. It's classified as cyber abuse.

On top of this, whoever has done this has access to personal information. A full legal name, first and last, was used in several of the signups, so they are either implicitly threatening to doxx us, or simply flexing that they could. Likewise a crime.

Additionally, this seems well coordinated, but there are no suspicious recent results for us in The Usual Places. This makes me believe this person is probably using some foul back-alley site like KF to organize this. I don't think the legal name in question could have been acquired by one person, it's extremely difficult to trace back.

tl;dr: whoever is doing this knows their way around the internet and is actively dangerous, they are severely impeding our lives and have the potential to become incredibly, incredibly dangerous.

Why am I posting this? Not really to get those accounts in trouble (although you should absolutely stay the hell away from them, and severely scrutinize anything they leave a mark on). I don't think they'll be punished, nor would it help since they constantly block evade, and at this point I don't think this recent online abuse crap is actually them, just someone attaching themself to their crusade. Though I'm not sure.

What I want to illustrate is how these kind of callout posts feed into targeted harassment of minorities. This is just another reason why things that make you uncomfortable should be dealt with by curating your experience using tags and blacklists and blocks, rather than trying to assign moral value to what people make. If my content makes you that uncomfortable I *actively encourage* you to block me.

It doesn't matter whether you personally dislike minorities or not, or whether you're subconsciously targeting them, or whatever. Someone else who does will latch on. That person who writes nothing but callout posts, yet they're always for small trans creators who make some 'icky stuff' and never for big-name bigots who parade their bigotry out in the open; is it because they're a sock puppet of an overt reactionary, or just because they want to feel some control over their life so they subconsciously focus on vulnerable people?

Simple: you can't know.

These people are the dangerous ones. Not people who just make content, properly tag it, and mind their own business. But these people, obsessed with ruining other people, with finding 'evil' in the world so that they can purge it? You can find their name below if you really want, and literally their entire blog is just constant callouts, broadcasting people doing callouts, trying to network with other people who do callouts. This is why these people were originally called 'antifans', their entire fandom presence is centered around tearing other people to shreds.

Do your due diligence and fact-check, before you broadcast that someone in your fandom did something awful. Make sure they actually hurt someone. I know mega-bastards will use 'you can't prove it' as an excuse, but actually analyze it a bit. It's almost always painfully obvious, I know, I spent years doing antifascism. And more than anything else, neither entertain, nor broadcast, nor embolden the kind of people who dedicate their entire existences on the internet to lateral abuse. Not just these particular ones, but ANYONE who dedicates their life to this online torch-waving garbage over fictional content. Whether they're a reactionary or just projecting trauma, whether they actually hate x y or z minority or they just happen to always go for the most vulnerable people, whether the person they're targeting makes content that makes you feel very icky and gross or not, these self-ordained Crusaders are consistently, unquestionably, dangerous.

That's one page out of 4. Also some of them have between 10 and 80 updates in the one email from the same address. There's about 300 emails all up. And there's zero reason they can't do this again.

===

Anyway. The accounts in question are @snowcollecter/@brieffamilycat/@krispy-chicken-shipping/@bonniehbunny. First two are definitely them, I highly suspect the latter two are their main, or at the very least someone who constantly signal boosts them. We have endured over 12 months of:

calling for brigades against us, and at least 4 other people

block dodging to constantly screenshot and reference our posts

literal libel by accusing us of grooming a child despite screenshots, as well as both statements and direct requests to stop by both the supposed groomed child and their actual friends who witnessed all interactions we had

spamming anon asks to literally every single person that they can find who we ever interact with

using tiktok cen)sor)ship nonsense to get past peoples' blacklists and force this stuff in front of them

using no less than 3 confirmed alts with about 5 more extremely suspicious accounts in attempts to artificially broadcast themself and again evade blocks (when the original account itself is transparently an alt too)

joining multiple random discords to try to shove this stuff in peoples' faces

now spamming Kim's business email at signup services

probably being behind the attempts to doxx and raid us last year on a certain hate-monger website, since the signup spam demonstrates they're cool with bog standard channer troll tactics

They also pretty tellingly refused to even talk to this minor we supposedly groomed, who attempted to tell them personally that we hadn't done the shit they claim we did. You'd think someone who is this caught up about the safety of minors in fandom spaces would jump at the chance to help this kid, to tell them not to talk to us and get them away from us, to convince them to stay away? No, they said 'I don't talk to minors' (this is demonstrably untrue: their discord accounts are in many all-ages spaces) and immediately blocked them.

Of course. Because this was never about the safety of minors. Flip a coin; if it's heads, they're a far-right sock puppet who just knows they can use the 'think of the children' angle to drive a wedge into queer communities. If it's tails, they're just a routine runt who's projecting their lack of ability to do anything about the ACTUAL assholes of this world onto other queer people, wailing and flailing and doing anything they can to have some influence despite getting 3 notes on almost everything they ever post. Hence the anon asks, and Discord spam, and blacklist/block evading. If they can't have a platform - because anyone who looks at their garbage for more than a month at most sees how absolutely deranged they are - they'll just force people to see it.

Do they ever attack actual transphobes, which this fandom is not at all short on? Well, sort of! They did one or two callout posts about a TERF who used to run in these spaces... But didn't say anything about the TERF shit. Just the porn. The porn constantly put behind age confirmations and thorough tags/content warnings. This person spouted generic 'all-powerful trans lobby' 'social contagion' 'please look at this study about desistance I found on a hard-right website' bullshit, but no, it was them drawing aged-up highschoolers (REMINDER: NOT EVEN CANONICALLY UNDERAGE, JUST VAGUE HIGHSCHOOLERS, *AND* THEY WERE EXPLICITLY OLDER IN THEIR CONTENT!) that was apparently the greater evil.

I'm not even really sharing this to call them specifically out or draw attention to them. Regardless of whether they're a chud in a mask or just someone who severely, *severely* needs psychological help about their obsession, they're not going to stop. They've made that plainly obvious. At this point I've basically just accepted I'm going to have this deranged stalker until I leave the fandom, which I don't plan to do anytime soon so buckle up I guess.

No, I just want people to see what these people are like. How they ignore the people they claim are victims. How they employ the same tactics as doxxing websites and old channer trolls, or even outright enlist them. How they only EVER put sustained effort into taking down queer people with small platforms because going after the in-plain-sight actual bigots and scumbags would just be too much effort, a reflection of how this is about feeling righteous and powerful, not actually making the world better. They create nothing, they contribute nothing, they bring nothing but arguing and drama and isolation to the spaces they inhabit.

These kind of people are blights on the fandoms they cling to. And any time you act like their *miserable* Hays Code, Jack Thompson With A Rainbow Flag, no kink at pride, BDSM is abuse, drag queens are indecent, cover those ankles *garbage* warrants any notice at all, you deal another blow to the fandom you are in, because nobody wants to be around these little goddamn nightmares. edit: I know how red-flag any grooming allegations are, if you want the full story to that I already addressed it here. tl;dr, no, we did not let a child look at our porn let alone show it to them, we in fact stopped them from doing so. We are not in some secret private 18+ server with them, we actively ensured they STOPPED making themself unsafe, and have strained extremely, extremely hard to keep our very limited interactions with them transparent, scrutinizable, and appropriate. The only reason we even stuck around was because it became rapidly apparent they were in an abusive living situation which we occasionally gave them advice to manage, eg helping them look up boarding options, unlike the torch-waving dipshits who did NOTHING to reach out to them or help them in any way. They're doing much better, both in their home life and in terms of not following or privately palling around with 18+ creators anymore, thanks to us, and at the expense of both our mental health and reputations. You're fucken' welcome.

[tenthcrowley]

Show: Doctor Who.

Character: Tenth Doctor.

Reader: GN reader / gender not specified.

Summary: It's been a couple of hours since the Doctor arrived and this whole time he was alone at his TARDIS trying to leave. He lets you in and finally you both start to think why he's here.

The Prologue. [...] | Chapter Three | Chapter Four.

DREAMING

Chapter Three

You were in the kitchen of your flat making a coffee and tea for you and the Doctor even though he didn't ask you for anything.

While waiting for the water to hot up you found yourself looking at the TARDIS. He was in there, the ship was definitely bigger on the inside and it could travel around space and time.

When you finished preparing the drinks you nervously walk towards the TARDIS. It was strange, it didn't feel like a dream anymore but it was hard to believe a show you watch is definitely real in another universe.

You sighed and looked down at your hands holding both cups.

"Damn" You couldn't knock the door. "Doctor!" You called out loud and waited a few seconds. "Doctor please, I made you some nice cup of tea I know it'll make you good" Silence.

The door opened by the Doctor without his iconic coat and you find it hard to not scream so you smile.

"Are you okay? You seem like you're trying to hide a stomach hurt or something like that" He says a bit confused by your attempt of smile and you stopped smiling. Boy you're embarrassed.

"Alright, rude. I made you tea" You hand him over the cup and he takes it.

"Sorry. Thank you" He looks at you with a shy smile. You watch him take a sip and open his eyes wide. "Amazing tea"

"Thank you! I make better coffee though" You let out a giggle and sigh then look inside the TARDIS. "How's it going?"

The Doctor looks up at you a bit confused (like he just didn't crash into another universe where his life is fictional) and then realize what you're talking about when he sees you looking inside.

"Oh, not very good. But I turned the power on, that's something. It's not letting me leave or put any coordinates really" He looks at you just the exact moment you take a sip of your coffee while looking down at the floor, frowning.

You are actually quite stressed, confused, sad and excited. Because this is real, he's there, the TARDIS there, you're spending time with him. You even made him a cup of tea! This is definitely the best time of your life. Your favourite character (and actor but you're still trying to make up your mind that he's not actually David) from your favourite show! You didn't want to leave this, you didn't want him to leave because you'd have to keep with your boring and routinely life.

"You can go in. If you like" You look up at him and a big smile appears in your face as he stands back.

You think for a few seconds if you should or not. Get in will change everything. Maybe you'll want to go with him an be his companion or not (being it is the most likely chance).

"Alright" Well, didn't take you much thinking apparently.

You stepped inside the TARDIS while taking a sip from the coffee to avoid biting your lip with excitement. You can feel the Doctor's gaze on you. It makes you feel nervous.

"Oh wow... it's..." Honestly? Speechless. It was everything you've been dreaming of, it looked so unbelievable, you really wanted to explore every corner of it.

Suddenly he walks to the control panel and starts touching some buttons. You felt a shiver down your back. Excitement, adrenaline. Oh, you really wanted him to take you somewhere to let you be his companion to have adventures together.

"Bigger on the inside?"

"No, yeah. I knew that already" You let out a laugh and look back at him. "I mean it's real"

"I told you I am" You can see a very tiny little smile on his face that makes you ven happier. "I can't make this work" He sighs. "Doesn't seem it wants to leave but why? Why would it want to stay here? Why can't I leave?" He murmurs to himself as he looks around the TARDIS.

You decide to no speak maybe to not interrupt him or think about possibilities. Maybe both. Or maybe just zoned out.

"Why here? Why you?" He looks at you and instantly realizes you're not paying attention to him. Yeah, zoned out then.

"I was... in fact, thinking about you" After a few long seconds of just standing there with the coffee and tea going cold you finally connected dots.

He looked right at you and walked towards you. "What?" His eyebrows were up and his eyes open wild.

"I was, uh, sweeping while imagining you and the TARDIS and adventures.. all that" You say nervously.

Oh god, I might've caused this, you thought, it's all my fault, he's stuck here because of me.

"What were you thinking? Can't be, anyways. Well it could be, I just travelled where I'm just a simple show. You brought me here. How? Why?"

"I don't know!"

[beigetiger]

Discussing Valduggery and how it reflects disagreements in generalized fandom shipping ethics (I wrote this on a dare, thanks @vividvermilion)

Gonna preface this by saying that I do not ship Valduggery, nor do I necessarily approve of other people shipping it. I think that there’s some legitimately fascinating discussions that could be had surrounding it though, but any sort of nuance usually gets flattened and it’s pretty disappointing. So this essay is gonna sound a lot like me defending the ship, I’m not, but I was thinking about it.

Like I said earlier, nuance often gets cut out of the conversation, likely due to a variety of factors. One would be a knee-jerk disgust towards it (which I’m not saying is inherently bad) and another is probably that people really, really do not want their fandom to be known as the one that defends a borderline pedophilic ship (I say borderline because I’ve only ever seen Valdug stuff set when Valkyrie is an adult, but I’m also only on Tumblr and have no idea what’s going on in other forums). Again, not a bad thing to want, but outside social pressure is how a lot general fandom policing takes hold, which then makes the fandom more of a toxic space.

Now, this fandom in particular is pretty relaxed and I appreciate that, but getting into fights, bullying others over their ships, and just generally spreading vitriol against your fellow media enjoyers is never ok and it makes the fandom spaces so much less enjoyable for everybody. And since so many people on social media feel the need to insert themselves into everything regardless of whether or not they enjoy it, it’s always a good reminder that if you dislike or disapprove of something, keep your mouth shut and block it (I know this is a pretty general thing taught on Tumblr, but I’m still going to reinforce it here). This also means that experiencing some form of shaming from someone outside the fandom is very much within possibility, but the people who do that are stupid and you should internalize the idea that you shouldn’t take that seriously.

I’m also gonna point out, no matter how already-talked-about this point is, that none of these people are real people, or even based on real people. These guys are about as fictional as you are ever going to get. It’s a fair thing to point out that allowing yourself to become accustomed to this particular flavour of fictional abuse can allow you to become more accepting of it in real life, and that might be vaguely correct (don’t quote me on this, I’m not a psychologist), but the thing is is that if that were true, than that standard would have to be enforced on all types of fictional abuse.

And here is where I discuss the big double standard of abuse in fandom spaces. I’m gonna have to use some other fandoms as a reference for this, and I’m dead certain that everyone reading this can come up with a few of their own as well. Abuse is depicted in media pretty often, which means that the people who consume it are then desensitized to it (to a degree). But since some flavours of abuse are shown, discussed, and joked about more often, this leads to a sort of fandom dichotomy between “acceptable abuse”, which is abuse that is allowed to be drawn, enjoyed, and romanticized, as opposed to “bad” abuse, which will get you demonized for enjoying and sometimes even depicting. If any of you have seen Gravity Falls trending recently, Billford (the reason it’s trending) is an abusive ship, but it’s considered “acceptable” abuse. Bad abuse usually involves sexual assualt or pedophilia (and often other topics as well). It’s all abuse, but the fact that some forms of abuse will get you harassed and threatened while other forms are extremely popular signals to me that some amount of discussion regarding double-standards and basic self-control should probably be had in general fandom spaces.

Because if we were to enforce the idea that all types of abuse (romantic or otherwise) are Very Bad™️ and need to be demonized, none of us are actually allowed to enjoy Skulduggery Pleasant because it’s a series about a child soldier and the four-hundred-year-old guy she has a toxic codependency with. Again, I do not ship them romantically at all, but I really do enjoy thinking about and analyzing fucked up dynamics, so I’d much prefer to be able to enjoy this series without being shamed for it (and wish to extend that courtesy to others because if there’s anything I hate, it’s being a hypocrite).

But going back to shipping, shipping something abusive or generally fucked up (such as Valduggery) is not the same as endorsing it, even if the person does enjoy it. Enjoying/appreciating is not endorsing either. In fact, writing or depicting something that’s already messed up in the canon can be a creative way to analyze and then extend that abuse, which gives fans more food for thought and gives writers and artists good practice thinking about social implications.

For example, there’s probably an unholy number of variations of Valduggery ships (I’ve seen two here on Tumblr but I’d be shocked if there’s not more) due to there being so many variations of both Skulduggery and Valkyrie (four each, I believe). Each of these pairings have a slightly different dynamic and writing about those different dynamics is interesting! I have fun thinking about the different possible dynamics between the duos (hello, every SP au I have ever made) and doing that same analyzing but in a romantic sense isn’t inherently evil (sometimes it’s really funny). Fandoms are supposed to be places for creative self-expression, and policing what people are allowed to do with themselves (while also enforcing a double standard) isn’t good.

On a more general note and not necessarily tying into the SP fandom, sometimes people write or draw toxic ships (or other things that aren’t necessarily ships) as a way to work through and express trauma or other negative emotions. And these people don’t deserve to be harassed for doing that (again, self-expression). They also don’t have to defend themselves to you or specifically state that they’re doing what they’re doing to help themselves handle trauma, because that’s on par with asking for the medical history of a trans or disabled person and is a fucked up thing to do. Not that I’m blaming this fandom in particular for doing that, you guys are great. This is just my general ranting about fandom spaces with my limited experience handling fandom (especially toxic fandom).

Now, as I said earlier, I actually don’t interact with the SP fandom outside of Tumblr, so I could be wildly mischaracterizing Valduggery shippers in other spaces at the moment (I’ve heard horror stories about AO3 but I’m not on there so I have no opinions of my own). Intentionally making light of abuse is always bad, but again, please do not harass your fellow fans.

This was a REALLY long post and I’m sorry for bringing up something that I know is a bit of a touchy subject for this fandom. This idea started out as a lot more specifically about Valduggery but then I decided that so much I wanted to talk about regarding the ship is a trend reflected across nearly all fandoms, so I ended up talking in much more general terms.

If anyone has literally any thoughts please share them, because I’m slightly in disbelief that I actually wrote this out about this subject. I also want to know if I missed any important factors while writing this because I hate doing that. Thank you all for reading my soapbox rant.

[mzannthropy]

Sam Claflin as Romantic Hero (Linda's Version)

So I thought I'd do a post (posts?) on the topic of Sam playing romantic heroes, bc this is what I disagree with the entire planet most about.

What I mean by "romantic hero" here is someone who I see would make a good partner. Let's go. (Under a cut as got long, no major spoilers.)

William (Snow White and the Huntsman)

A son of a duke and childhood friend of Snow White. When Ravenna, the Evil Queen, takes over their kingdom, the duke and his young son escape to safety. William grows up believing Snow White to be dead. When he hears she is still alive, he doesn't waste a second and goes off to rescue her, as she is being held in prison by her stepmother. His father tries to persuade him not to go, the quest is full of perils and would lead him through the dark forest, but William is determined. He feels he let her down, even though he had no control over the events, being a child himself. He joins the band of Bad Guys, led by Queen Ravenna's brother (who has an unfortunate haircut, but that's for another day) so that he can get to Snow White--this is the "do you need a bowman" scene. Oh yes, William is very skilled with a bow and arrow!

William is loyal, dependable, honourable, a skilled archer and of noble blood, and doesn't hesitate to engage his darker side when necessary--and what is more romantic hero than that?

Philip (Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides)

Philip is a missionary, a sole survivor of a ship that got captured by Blackbeard. Blackbeard's daughter Angelica persuaded her father to spare the young priest, believing she could save Blackbeard's soul. Philip believes everyone's soul can be saved, even someone as cruel and bad as Blackbeard's. Philip is not afraid to stand up to Blackbeard and even calls him a 'coward'.

The pirates are on a hunt for a tear of a mermaid, on their quest to fin the Fountain of Youth. However, they soon discover mermaids are not to be mess around with. Philip manages to catch one (not realising this very same mermaid earlier saved him from falling debris by pulling him into the water). He stabs her tail with sword, but when their eyes meet and sees her, he instantly changes his mind. It's too late, though, the pirates turn up and capture her in a net. Philip regrets his action and spends the rest of the film doing his best to protect her. When she is being carried in a glass box, she starts choking bc she can't breathe, he insist they let some air in. When they don't listen, he grabs a sword from Blackbeard's quartermaster (who is a scary character), breaks the lock, pries the box open, and uses his Bible in to create an opening, so that the mermaid can have air. When the glass box breaks and she turns human on dry land (has legs instead of tail), she can't walk and Philip carries her. He takes off his shirt and wraps her in it, as she is exposed, after her scales turns to human skin. (This also means we get a shirtless Sam!) Philip and the mermaid, whom he names Syrena, talk and he finds out she saved his life, when Jack blew up a lighthouse. She could see he was different from the others, that he protects.

A clergyman might not be perhaps everyone's choice of a romantic hero, well not mine anyway (I grew up without religion), but it's incredible how brave Philip is. He is the only one who cares about Syrena's welfare and protects her. And he has unshakable faith. A man of principles--certainly a romantic hero to me!

Richard Sharp (Adrift)

Richard is based on a real life person, but for the purposes of this post, I will treat him as a fictional guy. Also I should add that Richard is a sailor and so your relationship would only be possible if you were also a sailor, or at least wanted to sail the seas. (I think those type of people drift together; lol a pun.) It's just a big part of who he is. But it is, of course, possible to imagine him in a different environment, of the same character.

Richard makes it known to Tami that he is interested in her, no fucking around, they have a date aboard his boat. He is certainly helped a lot by the gorgeous backdrop of Tahiti. When he gets an offer to sail his friends' yacht to San Diego, he immediately includes Tami in his plans. During their voyage, he proposes to her with a ring he made himself (he would buy an actual ring of precious stone once they landed). Skilled at what he does and committed to you--a good choice for a romantic hero, I'd say.

Henry Copper (Book of Love)

A point against Henry right from the start is that he is a rather unsuccessful writer. However, this is only bc the film has to be about something (so that he can team up with Maria), but it doesn't mean he is bad at writing.

Why I think he is a romantic hero is that he is most courteous to Maria, even after he finds out she changed his book while translating it. He agrees to work with her without complaining and takes her seriously. He asks what she's writing one night when they're staying at a hotel while on book tour, she tells him she wants to write her own book. She's a single mum and he does his best to bond with her son, attempting to speak Spanish. While they're out on a night walk, he has no problem admitting that he got scared when he heard a monkey scream--Maria remarks that none of the men she knows would ever admit to any such thing. When the book they're working on is ready for publishing, he makes sure her name, too, appears on the cover, so they share the credit. I also like the hot professor look Sam sports here.

There is some romcom-typical angst where he gets jealous of her ex-bf/baby daddy, but it doesn't last long. At the end, Maria publishes a book of her own, and Henry is backstage during an interview she does for a talk show, supporting her.

A man who respects you and takes you seriously and is your biggest supporter--easily spells a romantic hero to me!

[marierg]

Of Light and Darkness: Phantom in the Dark 2

Pairing: Obi Wan Kenobi X Reader

WARNINGS!:  DARTH MAUL (A warning in and of himself), Death, injuries, loss and sadness. AAANNNNGGGSSSTTT!!!!!  Ok we all know what’s coming but it’s still gonna hurt!

A/N: I don’t own any rights to the story or characters in Cannon Star Wars.  There are a few portions of the dialogue within this chapter.  This is a Loving tribute and work of Fan fiction, with a few tweaks and twists of my own!  If you haven’t ever read the novelization there’s a few things that I tossed in there, highly recommend the read.  As a kid I thought that the Baddies were more greedy than evil, but after reading a little and watching clone wars I tweaked this to fit more how I thought it should go.  Hope you all enjoy! 

PS- This is gonna be VERY picture heavy, because I'm not always confident in my ability to write without giving a visual. Sorry....

Picture Credit: Pinterest/ Lucasfilm LTD

Word Count: 4700

MASTERLIST Next Part (3)

Upon jumping out of hyperspace it became apparent that the blockade was over with only one control ship remaining in orbit.  None the less your craft was surely detected and time was precious.  That the Nubian cruiser landed on the planet in one piece completely solidified your opinion that this was indeed a trap.  Queen Amidala seemed to have a plan in mind to garner support and possibly an army from the neighboring Gungans.  Enlisting the help of the exuberant Jar Jar Binks your small force was to make their way to the underwater capitol Otoh Gunga.  Having found the city deserted Jar Jar surmised that the Gungan populace had probably sought refuge in their sacred temple. 

You made plainly clear that you didn’t like the idea of dragging a child into a warzone to Master Qui Gon.  Unfortunately, there really wasn’t anywhere safe to put Anakin till this blew over.  He was a spitfire though. Having reunited with his friend Padme he insisted that he could help her protect the Queen.  Not wanting to give away the surprise you kept your big mouth shut and smirking. 

It was during the negotiations with the Gungan leadership that Queen Padme Amidala finally dropped her façade.  You and the men knew of course, but you still had to give credit where it was due.  Padme had managed to avoid capture and assassination from this well played deception.  Not only was she resourceful, but humble and brave. 

She made an impassioned speech before Boss Nass and his council, stating that though the two did not always see eye to eye the two groups would always be united by the planet they called home.  Humbling herself before them, Queen Padme begged the Gungans help to save her people and their shared planet.  It was this act of faith that sealed the pact with the Gungans, even though it was likely that many of them would be killed in this little war. 

After the recon team returned from Theed and the last of the strategy had been completed you stepped away to clear your head.  Obi Wan was needed to help work with the pilots, but you needed to think away from the cacophony of preparation.  Taking a stroll into the woods a ways, you found a clearing.  Naboo was a beautiful, vibrant world so teeming with life.  You sat meditating for a long while, til small footsteps approached you.  “Miss Y/n?”

“Yes Anakin?”  you kept your eyes closed, not moving.

“Um … can I sit with you for a while?” His voice seemed tired for a youngling.  

Opening your eyes, you studied him.  It was clear that he was anxious, but about what was the question.  Patting the grass next to you, he took the offered spot.  Looking at how you sat he tried his best to imitate.  You had to straighten him out a little though.

“Here, chin up. Head tall, no slouching.  Master Windu always says that the better the posture the sharper the mind.  Just breathe and listen to what’s around you.”

“All I here are speeders and animals dragging things?”  Anakin's small face was scrunched in concentration.

Laughing a little, knowing that you were going directly against your own Master’s directive, you thought how best to put it.  “Try…filtering it?  Listen beyond to what’s going on in the woods.  Then hold onto that and just breathe, kind of let go of everything?”

Obi Wan had finally apologized to Master Qui Gon about his attitude of late towards the boy.  You had caught him earlier doing a slight of hand trick causing Anakin to laugh.  Once he had gotten past his initial dislike and territorialism Obi Wan had actually found that Anakin wasn’t so bad as he thought.  The boy couldn’t help that he had gotten attached to Qui Gon, or that the Master had become fond of the boy as well.  Anakin was a sweet kid and very easy to like.    

“Now feel for something warm like…a blanket on a cold night.”  Looking at Anakin’s face again you could see the calm settle over it.  “Good job buddy.  Why don’t you keep practicing, I’ll send Master Qui Gon over, Huh?”

Peeking one eye open, he smiled, “Ok!  Thank you, Miss Y/N!”

“You can just call me Y/N, Ok Ani-Man?”  The boy smiled brightly and you set off to find the Master in question.  As it would happen he wasn’t too far off.

                Qui Gon Jinn had been a Jedi Master and instructor for many cycles and had the opportunity to watch others as they taught.  Some had patience, some were strict, and some were just naturally in tune with children.  His own apprentice he could see one day being a wise and patient master.  You he saw as more of a guide, working with students and letting them lead, but also letting them learn from failure.  Both you and Obi Wan complimented each other in those respects. 

Qui Gon did worry about the bond that the two young Jedi had with each other.  Not for a second did he believe that either of you wouldn’t uphold the spirit of your vows as Jedi or let it interfere with your duties.  No, his concern was that one of you may be lost one day, and that the other would face what he had.  Together though you and Obi Wan were perfectly paired.  He never told Obi Wan that he knew about the relationship, giving that small piece of privacy.  He suspected that Mace was unaware, or the two of you would have been separated immediately.  Stepping out of the shadows he called out.  “Y/n, have you seen Anakin?”

“Oh Master Qui Gon!  Yeah, he’s meditating over by the pond.  Did you need something?”  You were not expecting him to pop out of the blue, normally being able to sense those around you far sooner.

“Actually, I hoping for a word with you.  I’m sorry that you got pulled into all this.”  Qui Gon looked sadly at you.  There were days that your youth was dimmed and the toll of life was evident within your eyes.  Today he could well see the map of every battle in your past and felt the apprehension within you, it well matched his own. 

“I feel that it’s less anything you did and more Master Windu testing me yet again.” Your eyes rolled, but there was no spite in the statement. Disagree though you often did, you cared deeply for your Master.

“Just the same.  I did want to ask, do you believe this to be a foolish venture?” Qui Gon folded his arms leaning against the nearest tree.

“Freeing a people from oppression and pain is never foolish.” You said with ease and confidence.  “I do however feel that going into occupied territory, in broad daylight, in large numbers… that might be a little foolhardy.”

Qui Gon chuckled a little under his breath.  “Well, I can’t argue that wisdom.  Unfortunately, time is not on our side this time my young friend.”

“Is it ever?” You sighed gazing out as if to see a portent of the events to come. 

“No, I suppose it’s not.”  Smiling he turned towards Anakin, who by now was fast asleep having meditated too deeply.  The boy’s future was in the air as much as any of theirs.  While Qui Gon knew that Obi Wan was now more amicable towards Anakin, you had developed a small friendship with him as well.  “Y/n?”

“Yes Master Qui Gon?” you quirked your brow up, turning to face the older Jedi better.

  There was an odd tone in his voice, one you weren’t used too.  Cocking your head to the side you looked at Master Qui Gon, really studying him.  He seemed far too tired; stressed from the mission and the Council’s decision regarding Anakin’s training.  In a way he appeared to have aged rapidly in the last few days.

“I need you to promise me something.”  He saw you nod in acknowledgement, though he also saw the suspicious look in your eyes.  Smiling a bit to himself he thought about what Melri would have thought of all this, knowing that this was similar in action to the path she had put he and Mace on years ago.  “Keep an eye on them for me.”

“Two, if I can.”  You winked at him.  Your face grew serious then. "Is everything alright Master?”

                He tried to relax his expression, smiling confidently at you despite his own wariness.  He knew that you too sensed something was amiss.  “Everything will be fine.  I think Obi Wan was looking for you though.”

Again, you had kept your expression a schooled neutral, though Qui Gon noticed a very small blip in your signature.  He often wondered if maybe he noticed these small nuances because he had spent so much time with you and perhaps Mace hadn’t?  Taking a few steps forward he gave you a genuine smile and your shoulder a gentle nudge in the direction he knew you wanted to follow.    Perhaps you and Obi Wan would avoid the pain of loss.

               

The two small assault forces infiltrated the capitol of Theed with little trouble.  While the second group, led by Captain Panaka, distracted the plaza guards the other went for the main hanger.  That’s where all farking hell broke loose between a platoon of droids raining blaster fire down on you and trying to get the pilots to their ships and away.  As the fight intensified you had seen Anakin duck into one of the fighters.  As the joint assault force finally took out the last of the droids, the hanger seemed secure for the moment.

“Your Highness are you alright.” You asked the young woman from across the bay.

“Yes, thank you.  My guess is that the Viceroy is in the throne room.”  She straightened an errand hair, checking her blaster.

“I agree,” Master Qui Gon was already scanning the bay for anything out of place.  Seeing Anakin trying to get out of the fighter eager to rejoin you all he raised a hand.  “No Ani, you stay there, stay right where you are.”

“But I…” Anakin was cut short.

“Stay in that cockpit.”  Qui Gon’s voice was firm, it was the end of the discussion.

“Don’t worry Ani-Man, we’ll be back in no time.  But keep your head low, Ok?” You shouted to the young man before making your way to the end of the bay, giving him a small smile.  He’d be ok, you hoped.  If nothing else the ship provided ample cover and concealment.

Your lightsaber was tucked into your boot, out of sight but within reach.  You had opted instead to use a blaster like the others so as to not look out of place.  Suddenly you felt something, something cold.  It was as if you had been dropped in a vat of liquid nitrogen, the hairs on your neck stood straight up.  Grabbing young Padme, you pulled her back… from what you weren’t sure.  She looked at you startled, “Y/n what are you…”

The bay doors opened revealing not a man, but a monster of legend.  The dark figure dropped his cloak, revealing a head of black and red markings crowned by jaundiced horns.  The eyes of the creature though, they glowed yellow like the fires from the depths of Perdition.  Like many others as a youngling you’d heard the stories of the Sith, had a few nightmares about them too.  But none of that compared to the sight in front of you.  Stepping between Padme and this creature your first instinct was to grab for your blade.

“We’ll handle this,” Master Qui Gon and Obi Wan had already moved to engage.  Nodding to them you understood that your job was now to stay with the Queen and end the fighting on the planet.  Giving both of them a glance you sent them a final wish.  “May the Force be with you.”

Padme had already switched gears, “We’ll take the long way.”

                Heading through the maze of hallways and up a grand staircase the group was soon overtaken by a squad of battle droids.  Split down the middle of the hall you were all taking heavy fire.  Looking around there wasn’t any real cover, just exposed tall windows.  You looked to the Captain, “Any way we can bypass those stairs?”

Panaka nodded his head then blasted the window closest. “One.”   

A six-flight ascent by grappling, and yet another blasted window later you were within reach of the objective.  However, a detachment of destroyer droids and the Viceroy had other plans.  After being captured you were brought before Viceroy Nute Gunray and his second in command Rune Haako in the throne room.  Haako sneered at the Queen, raising a hand to strike her.  Knowing there was no time to block the blow properly you moved between the two, taking the hit instead.  It was made with enough force that you were knocked back onto the floor. 

Haako laughed, smiling at his own cruelty, “You should teach your handmaid some restraint.”

“Rune there will be time for that later.  Your little insurrection is at an end your Highness.  Time for you to sign the treaty and end this pointless debate in the Senate.”  Gunray was pacing on the opposite side of the ring of chairs.  Haako was still towering over both you and Padme.

“Maybe we shouldn’t kill them after all.  Both would bring a fair price on the slave markets.”  He ran a lascivious finger down the young Queen’s arm.  To Padme’s credit if looks could kill, Haako would have been an ashen pile on the floor.    

The Nemoidian was already counting his credits, judging by the look he was giving all of you.  Captain Panaka had helped you back to your feet, offering you a sleeve to wipe the blood from your lip.  The droids had taken all the blasters but had failed to find your saber.  Placing yourself again between the Queen and harm, you swatted away Haako’s hand.  He raised his arm once more to strike you, but was interrupted by a commotion in the hall.    

“VICEROY!!!” 

Gunray and Haako looked down the hallway shocked at seeing what appeared to be the Queen in her full garb, armed guards in tow.

“YOUR REIGN OF TERROR IS AT AN END!”  Sabe blasted a few of the droids for effect. Her group then dashed down an opposite hall.

Viceroy Gunray wasn’t silent for long, gesturing wildly. “AFTER HER!  This one’s a decoy!”

As some of the droids marched out Padme used the distraction to perfection.  Retrieving a set of small blasters hidden in her throne, she tossed one to the good captain.  Running forward you went into a slide under the remaining droids as they tried to blast you.  Rising with your blade in hand you sliced through the clattering machines.  You turned again, pressing the control panel on the wall bringing down the doors, effectively locking everyone in.  The Nemoidians were stunned, but weren’t about to surrender yet.  Padme turned to the two jaw set, “And now Viceroy, we will discuss a new treaty.  This is the end of your occupation here.”

Gunray scoffed haughtily, “Don’t be absurd.  There are too few of you, even with a Jedi.  It won’t be long before hundreds of destroyer droids break into this room and rescue us.”

At that moment you doubled over in agony, the feeling one you had only experienced once before.  It wasn’t an injury to you, but as if someone dear to you had been.  It was soon followed by another wave of both sorrow and anger.  The Force itself was rippling from the shockwaves.  You recovered as quickly as you could, knowing that the enemy would look for any opening to make an escape attempt.  Re leveling your saber at the Viceroy and his man you glared and stood your ground. 

Haako sneered, “Our Lord's plaything has finished your friends, and soon he will finish you all.”

Maker but what if he were right?  What if Master Qui Gon & Obi Wan were gone?  No, you had to focus.  The first priority had to be the mission and the people in the room.  You lowered your blade infinitesimally, narrowing your eyes.  Haako was far too over confident for the situation he was in.  Even Viceroy Gunray had begun to sweat a little.  So what was the other Nemoidian playing at?

You stared down, or up as the case was, the Trade Federation Skughole. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

     Captain Panaka must have had a suspicion of his own, slowly coming to stand nearly in front of the Queen on her throne.  The moment happened so fast though, thinking back on it.  You saw Haako pull a knife from below his robes and leapt towards Padme.  Panaka kicked him, sending Haako back but not disarming him.  Sprinting the second the initial threat had appeared you moved again to face the Nemoidian.  His red eyes boring into yours with abject hate.  “I’m not waiting for Maul to come.  I’ll finish you both myself for the trouble you’ve caused!”

                Raising his arm he swung the knife to land a blow that would end you.  Master Windu often said that it was never about rising to the occasion, but falling back to the level of your training.  Simply put you didn’t think about the actions as you took them.  Spinning quickly into Haako to close the distance you grabbed the arm with the knife.  Twisting and with a great pull you flipped him forward. But as the Nemoidian fell his cloak twisted around, causing him to fall at an awkward angle.  This pulled you forward to roll with him. as you both landed Haako slashed your arm and kicked the saber across the room.  

Haako had regained the upper hand, kneeling over you.  He simultaneously kept a stranglehold on your throat and with his other hand was trying to jam the blade into your chest.  It was enough of a struggle that you were barely preventing the blade from doing more than superficial damage.  Padme raised her weapon to fire but Captain Panaka stayed her hand, “No! you might hit the girl.” 

You were struggling against his superior physical strength and loosing air rapidly.  Closing your eyes you focused on using the Force bringing one of the throne room chairs flying across the floor.  Like a bug in front of a speeder the chair careened into Haako, and then into the marble wall.  Both landed with a deafening thud.  Padme kept her blaster leveled at Gunray, “Don’t even think about it.”

Sitting up you coughed, throat finally able to pull in air once more.  Something was wrong though, you could sense it.  Moving cautiously to where your opponent had fallen you looked down in horror.  The knife that had almost ended you was now embedded into Rune Haakos chest.  He must have died on impact, near instantaneous.  Not even the sacred crystals in the Halls of Healing could have brought him back.  Bile rose in your throat, stumbling back you wretched your guts upon the floor. 

Your mind reeled,  “What have I done?”  

“What you had to do.”  Captain Panaka had come to stand behind you.  He pulled you up by your arm and handed your lightsaber back to you.  “It was him or you.  Make no mistake he wouldn’t have regretted killing any of us.”

Your mind became a torrent, not wanting to accept that your hands were now stained with this Nemoidian's blood.  What kind of Healer…what kind of Jedi were you?  The logical part of yourself knew that the Captain was right of course.  That is had you not acted then you and or Padme would be dead.  Staring at the body one last time you asked Panaka to ensure that Haako’s family be given the body for burial. He may have been a fallen enemy, but you could at least ensure that courtesy.  There were no tears to shed, only the feeling of hollowness and cold.   

The word came down that the control station destroyed and the war over.  The reports from the field were still counting the Gungan injured and dead, casualties mercifully still less than initially expected.  After securing the Viceroy and his remaining staff you went in search of your friends.  Tracing your way back to the hangar you found Anakin who, as asked hadn’t left the cockpit of the spacecraft.  He had however flown said craft straight into the dogfight above and been the one to blow up the control ship.  You had crushed the boy to you upon finding him, relieved at his safety.  That was one accounted for at least.

Placing him in the care of the other pilots you continued your search.  The power station below the capitol was deep and winding.  You had to reach with the Force to find an exact location, focusing with all that you had left.  The signatures weren’t distinct initially and one faded as you were making the descent, snuffed out of the world like a flame in the wind.  When you came at last to the pit, you were both relieved and saddened. 

Obi Wan cried out like a wounded animal, cradling the body of his fallen Master.  There was no sign of the Sith.  Making your way to them you had to fight the bile rising in your stomach again.  Slowly you knelt next to Obi Wan, not wanting to jolt or startle him.  You tried to reach your signature to his,  whispering to him, moving cautiously. “Obi?”

He didn’t hear you, so again you called to him, placing a gentle hand to his arm.  “Obi Wan, are you hurt?  Is that thing still here?”

Tear-stained eyes looked at you, so lost and in pain that it tore your heart to absolute shreads.  His signature finally flickered against yours, wrapping tightly.  “Y/n?”

 “I’m here, I’m Here.” You voice cracked.    

Your hand moved to rest on his cheek turning him to look at you, thumb swiping away the tears.  Looking down at Master Qui Gon you could see the evidence of what had befallen him.  The tears you were holding back threatened to break loose and join Obi Wans.  Master Qui Gon had to have felt something within the Force, that was the only explanation you had for all of his odd behavior leading up to this.  Falling back to your training once more, you reached out to see if Obi Wan was indeed uninjured.  His gaze was far away, tolerating your examination with little acknowledgement.  His gaze passed from Qui Gon to the Pit, then finally back to you.  “I killed him.”

Your hands paused their work, looking into his bleak eyes.  “Who did you kill Obi Wan?”

“That thing, I killed him.”  His voice cracked. 

Obi Wan finally blinked, coming back to himself.   It was as if he was finally seeing you; that until then you had only been a part of the ether.  Obi Wan glanced to your face, then to your neck.  The bruising was starting to form dark purple marks, the cut on your lip very apparent.   Anger rose within him again, threatening to set loose on whomever had done this to his woman.  Raising his hands he turned your chin, seeing the full extent of what had happened.  Then he noticed the cuts on your chest where your dress had been blood soaked from the struggle with the knife.  Rage crossed his features, no longer only from the loss of his Master and mentor. 

"Who did this?" Obi Wan's voice took on a distinctive growl. "Who?!"

“Obi I’m alright.  I promise I’m alright.”  You had never seen him like this, it frightened you.  Reaching further you felt something terrible within his signature, trying to get out.  No, you wouldn’t lose him, not to the darkness... not like this! 

"I'll kill the bastards..."

“Obi Wan look at me…  Its over, it’s over!  Please, let it stay over.” Your pleas high pitched but soft spoken. Stroking his face you prayed to whichever higher being was present to aid you.   “Obi please…  Stay with me love? Please stay please....”

                Obi Wan saw the tears in your eyes finally fall, twin trails marking your battered face.  He felt your signature calling for his own to be calm, to find peace.  Was it not enough that his Master had been killed this day, was it not enough that he was now responsible for a young man’s future?  Was the Universe itself trying to beat him down, crushing him beneath its weight?!  But Obi Wan knew that he could not give into these feelings of fear, of anger, of despair.  No, he would not abandon the light, not abandon all that Master Qui Gon had taught him.  Most of all he would not abandon you.

You saw it, the minute that it was over for him.  When the light returned to his eyes and he pulled you into his arms, kissing your forehead gently.  Obi Wan held you tightly, as if you too would disappear.  You clutched him just as tightly, crying like you hadn’t in years for the losses of this day, true wracking sobs.  The tension within you began to uncoil, you gazed into his clear blue eyes again. 

“I’m so sorry Obi Wan.  I’m so very sorry...”

“I know love,” pressing his forehead to yours, pressing a ghost of a kiss to your lips, “I know.”

The two of you brought the body of Qui Gon Jinn back to the hanger, from there the pilots took him to their chapel nearby.  A gesture of kindness and respect.  Anakin was with Padme, having insisted that he protect her until your return.  As he saw you and Obi Wan enter the room his young face fell in sorrow, Padme held him as his tears fell. 

Obi Wan wasn’t sure how to comfort Anakin, but he had made a promise to his Master and it would be done.  He moved to kneel in front of Anakin, Padme and her escorts let you three have the room, she informed you that both the new Chancellor and members of the Jedi Council would arrive soon. There was a river of unwept tears behind the Queens eyes, for her people and the Gungans and for the Jedi. In the years following Padme would observe the anniversary of the victory in the Naboo Temple, deep in prayer for the souls of who gave all their tomorrows for the peace of today.  

Using the sleeve of his robes Obi Wan tried wiping the tears away, giving a sad smile.  At first he though what would Qui Gon do, but there was still too much pain there for an answer.  So, Obi Wan looked at you, now kneeling next to him and thought what would Y/n do?  That answer came more readily, he pulled both of you to him in a hug.  It was brief but it seemed to help you all, a little balm on such a large wound. 

“It’s alright to feel sad Anakin, we miss him too.”  Your own eyes threatened to cloud over again.

“Why…Why did he have to die?”  Anakin’s eyes held just a touch of anger behind them. 

Obi Wan swallowed thickly, “Qui Gon was a protector of the light, at times that means making a great sacrifice so others may carry on.”

 “I’m sorry mister Obi Wan, for your loss.  You don’t have to worry about me.”  Anakin stared at the floor, trying to figure out what he would do from there.  “Maybe… Maybe I could stay here instead?  Or one of the pilots could bring me back to my mom?” 

“Anakin, look at me.”  Obi Wan was firm but still used a soft tone with the boy, not wanting to upset him further.  “I promise we will talk with the Jedi Council, you need not worry.”

  “Ok.”  It was a soft, small reply.  The young man looked from Obi Wan to you.  “Do you promise?”

It was not an easy question to answer.  From experience you knew that it was never a good idea to make a promise that you may not be able to keep.  Once given your word was your bond, but it would seem that you were already bound to these two men.  Extending your hand Anakin took it.  “You have my word, Anakin Skywalker, we will see this done.”

[sniperserpent]

Games I’ve designed

It has come to my attention that I should promote my game design work more here.  I have two game stores- sniperserpent.itch.io, where i post most of my work, and meleeserpent.itch.io, where i post nsfw games- generally kinky horror games.

Sniperserpent games:

https://sniperserpent.itch.io/anomaly

Anomaly is my biggest and most successful game. It’s a game about a sinister agency investigating the supernatural, in the style of SCP, Control, warehouse 13. There’s also Anomaly Containment Breach and Anomaly Investigation clubs, two hacks of it.

https://sniperserpent.itch.io/centuries-outside-history

Centuries Outside History is a game about life on a colony ship moving between two planets that will take generations to arrive. It’s a melancholy game about the failures of neoliberalism played via discord bot. I’m very proud of it and basically nobody has played it! get on it, people

Outpost Alpha

A game about a space station on the borders between galactic powers over multiple years. Inspired by babylon 5 and DS9

https://sniperserpent.itch.io/schism-a-history

Schism is a game about building the history of a fictional religion solely through schisms and splinter groups that have appeared throughout its history.

https://sniperserpent.itch.io/roll-to-death

Roll to death is a game where you play people who are all going to die a la final destination. Build up their relationships to make it hit harder as they all eventually drop.

https://sniperserpent.itch.io/the-kingdom-must-divide

The Kingdom must divide is a game about a kingdom who’s monarch has died and now a buncha motherfuckers are vying for the throne.

https://sniperserpent.itch.io/misery-loves-company

Misery loves company is a game of social combat where a bunch of people are using eachother and the people around them to accomplish schemes and destroy eachother.

https://sniperserpent.itch.io/ego-deathlife

Ego Death//life is a game about someone who has experienced the death of their personality rebuilding themselves afterwards. 2 players, one plays the person before ego death one after.

https://sniperserpent.itch.io/best-served-red

Best Served Red is a gruesome revenge fantasy game. Someone has been wronged and they are going to destroy the people who wronged them. Messily.

https://sniperserpent.itch.io/death-rolls-at-midnight

Death rolls at midnight is a game about serial murder stories, based on roll to death.

https://sniperserpent.itch.io/cold-comfort

Cold comfort is a game in which the whole table plays a single assassin beginning to question if their killings are justified.

https://sniperserpent.itch.io/studio-isekai

Studio Isekai is a game about a cyberpunk dystopia sending people into a fantasy world to go on big adventures and kill people for entertainment.

https://sniperserpent.itch.io/hunter-hunted

Hunter hunted is a game about a killer and someone hunting them and their close relationship. Think Hannibal or Killing Eve.

https://sniperserpent.itch.io/rule-of-two

Rule of two is a game where you play some Sith building schemes and betraying eachother.

https://sniperserpent.itch.io/cheat

Cheat is a game where you play a buncha criminals after the same prize doing hijinx on eachother to compete for it

Meleeserpent games (18+)

https://meleeserpent.itch.io/lady-in-waiting

Lady in waiting is a game about a maid serving a noble lady who she discovers to be a serial killer. Romance and murder ensue.

https://meleeserpent.itch.io/the-meat-craves-the-butcher

The Meat Craves the butcher is a game about killing and eating your romantic partner.

https://meleeserpent.itch.io/a-piece-of-your-mind

A piece of your mind is a game about an unhealthy romantic relationship between a robot and a human who can reprogram their mind and personality at will.

[lemonhemlock]

Team Black is certainly more united but it's also because they're much more numerous so any fights they're having with each other aren't as bad or as intense as the ones on Team Green. There aren't many ship wars either on that side which helps a lot I guess since fandom fights tend to revolve around shipping. Other than that, it's true that they're certainly not afraid endorsing each other's bad behavior which, like you said, it's not a good thing necessarily. Like, I've seen some of them telling greens to k word themselves for liking Aegon yet no one on their side called this out. Why should we replicate this kind of behavior? Does anyone think it's normal to wish for others to die because they disagree with us over fictional things? As for Team Green, why should I be united with people who are (or are mutuals with others who are doing it) suicide baiting people and calling incest shippers freaks insinuating they likely commit the same thing in real life? Meanwhile, many of these very people are either shipping or defending incestuous ships such as Helaegon or very toxic ones like Alysmond. I don't think it's imperative that every person who for example likes Aegon or ships Alysmond should call out every BS someone says or does since no individual can control or is responsible for what others are doing simply because they're liking the same thing, but the big accounts who've certainly witnessed said behavior and chose to stay silent instead of calling it out because their friends were involved or they agreed with it, then yes, I don't think I should be united with such people because Team Black are doing it as well with their own bad apples and, frankly, I don't think they want to be united with the ones they've been labeling freaks or incest lovers either. They also shouldn't be defended when Team Black stans decide to be obvious hypocrites and come after them. Yeah, some innocents are going to be unfairly dragged into this but they didn't care either about harassing other fans who were just as innocent when they were the ones doing it. Basically, I simply think antis are plague to every fandom out there and it's a pity there are SO MANY on the green side. It's not hard to see why some of us don't want to be involved with them even if it results in Team Green being more fractured than it should be.

Anon, you seem to be a level-headed fandom veteran and I definitely agree with your frustration. I don't really know what the solution to all of this is. In truth, neither team is a monolith and we shouldn't be expecting people to join in on flame wars or defense squads just because they like the same fictional things. This is supposed to be something we do for fun, not the Battle of Somme. Team Green or Team Black "not being united" isn't really of consequence, as the point shouldn't be for us to become even more tribalistic and be at each others' throats. The point should be to promote proper fandom etiquette and decent behaviour.

There's not a rule book that details the proper way to engage in fandom, but it's good to maintain a sense of perspective in all this. Like you said, it's not normal to wish for other people to die because you disagree over literary/media opinions. As to how we can achieve this, I'm not sure myself. The priority here should be for us to refrain from getting too carried away. Some amount of shitposting can definitely be fun, there's a certain satisfaction in levelling a well-placed retort in an internet fight that has no stake, but if you find that's all you do all day every day - insulting other people and getting into fights - it's advisable to take a step back.

On the other hand, I totally get how it would be exhausting to act like the fandom moralizer & constantly call people out for acting like dickweasels. I personally can't keep track with who is beefing with whom and how many sub-factions and sub-sub-factions there are. If I see something that bothers me, I will point it out, but I can't promise I'll have the energy to do that with every ridiculous new fixation, because it's a commitment I cannot keep for the sake of my own peace of mind. So I wouldn't necessarily gear people towards the "X didn't call out their friend Y for Z problematic behaviour, ergo X is also an enabler" line of reasoning. I don't know. Sometimes I agree myself, other times I really don't have the energy to bother. Sometimes I think it could be a problem, but other times people could simply just not have the mental headspace to get involved in that drama. We shouldn't be painting everyone with the same brush. That's not to say you should associate with people you're not comfortable with either. I actually suspect a lot of lurkers would love to engage, but they find all the petty squabbles draining and just don't want any part in that.

At the end of the day, I know I'm not actively out there causing harm to others, because, at most, I just vent on my own blog and that's maybe the most useful metric you can use. I feel like as long as people just keep to a few principles of common sense, the experience would be much improved for everybody. So basically stay out of hate campaigns, don't send nasty messages on anon, don't go spamming other people's posts or fics. Try to debate in good faith if you can. Beefing with people online is inevitable and even tantalizing sometimes (being petty is human!), but don't overdue it either. Fandom feuds should remain silly, not turn into full-blown carpet-bombing sessions.

It's also helpful to remember that fandom degeneracy is very rarely about a character or a ship or a plotline. Fandom unfortunately comprises spaces where behavioural issues can thrive because the very nature of the internet renders users anonymous. So it attracts people that get a power kick out of sending a kys message or attention-seekers or teacher's pets who want a pat on the back for consuming media "the proper way". These typologies exist in every fandom; when these people get bored of this content, they'll migrate to another community and act in the same way.

[acourtofthought]

If el/riels are as confident as they say they are, why do they bully and harass anyone with a big following for favoring another ship or try and blackmail SJM and Bloomsbury?

Not sure if you were around when HOSAB spoilers were leaked but El/riels were spamming and tweeting things like, "unless Bloomsbury confirms Elain and Az are endgame, I'll keep sharing spoilers."

Bullying the author to make your ship endgame... really? How classy.

If I were Sarah, I'd never have Az and Elain interact ever again to spite them for how horrible they've been not only to her, but her publisher, her team, and friends.

I think there's a bit of a fear based response happening with E/riels because there are way too many things that now put their ship at risk. Sure E/riel could still (but not likely) be a possibility but it's definitely not a certainty.

I think it's valid to be attached to fictional characters and suffer from disappointment when the story doesn't go the direction you were hoping.

It's like professional sports teams. We have no control over the manager of the team, no control over the coaches, we don't pick the players and we don't call the plays. Yet when someone's team looses, people get mad or sad or really moody.

So yes, it's not that I don't understand how people get attached, even to something like book characters. It's not that I don't understand feeling a very real physical response and the arguments that "our team is the best!"

But if someone's solution to those emotions is death threats, bullying, and harassment, it speaks volumes to the kind of person someone is in real life. I'm old now and the mean girl routine is something I associate with the mental maturity of a high schooler.

Unfortunately, I know nothing we say will change the actions of the people that are posting those sorts of things but I do hope that the victims of those that bully can learn that the word of someone like that truly means nothing. Instead of being chased out of the fandom because of the way a bully made them feel, I hope they realize how much they deserve to stay. That anyone who resorts to threats or extremely harmful language is not a person they should EVER be paying any mind to. Especially when that person honestly thinks that threatening an author or her publishing company is going to end in anything but a possible restraining order and loss of employment 🤦

[you-can-be-what-you-want-to-be]

Are you proship?

Ok I hope this doesn’t sound pretentious but I don’t really like the term proship.

There are certainly a lot of ships I don’t like. I barely ship to start with bc I’m aro so most ships I’m like they’re qpr or friends and I can’t do anything with incest.

But I don’t think we should hurt real life people over fictional characters. And I’m not crazy about real life fiction (note: I’m talking about real people not played personas where they forgot to change their name for the character. Like I’m not going to get mad at someone for rpf about the character John Malkovich from the movie being John Malkovich as played by John Malkovich or Jonathan sims as played by Jonny sims) but I think at worst the person it’s about could sue them for defamation or something like that. 

And I don’t trust people to say what’s good or not for the same reason I’m against the death penalty. There are genuinely stories out there that are bad, and there are genuinely vile people who might deserve to die. But the question isn’t what they deserve, the question is who makes the call? Who deserves that power and can be trusted by it? My mom thinks anything with gay people is depraved. I’ve seen people say that mentioning racism exists in a work is racist. I’ve seen people who miss the point of fight club as satire and think it’s about how cool fighting is and not a critique of capitalism and toxic masculinity. If people have the power to censor things that actually have bad things, how can I trust their judgement of bad is the same as my own? How can I trust all stories that talk about taboo real life relevant struggles and issues won’t be erased? How do I know it’s not people like my mother making that choice? They’re trying to ban books from schools all over the country right now, it isn’t that different, it’s just the person who’s controlling what’s banned. And I don’t think it’ll ever be anyone but allocishet white conservatives who in the big real life world, will be in control of that.

And a lot of those stories about “depraved” things are good and amazing and make life better! If I had read Lolita when I was like fifteen there’s a lot of bad stuff I could’ve avoided. Stories about complex morality make you question yourself and your situation. “Am I in that situation” or “am I treating people like that.” It wasn’t until I listened to welcome to nightvale that I realized that gay people are just people and started moving away from the way I had been raised. We NEED fiction about taboo subjects, and we NEED for it to be nuanced so people can learn from it.

I don’t want to get into a lot, but if I had seen depictions of horrible things happening from sympathetic characters my life would’ve been a lot better. It would’ve been easier to go “oh this is bad even if I sometimes get treated good or care about the person doing this. It’s bad behavior even if the he is incredibly nice and giving in every other aspect but this abuse.” Because some people are and in some ways and good in others! One of the most amazing giving people I know who’s almost gone bankrupt from how much he helps others was shitty. He was neglectful and propitiated emotional incest and said horrible things like that women were happier when they couldn’t vote and are all crazy, ugly, or trans, which was the biggest abomination he could think of.

And I was in that situation with that man for years, because he would wake up at 2am to answer a call and take an hour drive to scare off rapists. Shouldn’t have brought his two 14 year old kids but he was reliable for that kind of stuff. He would invite homeless people over to stay the night and would sleep on the couch so they had the bed. He would walk miles just to help someone with a flat tire.

And if I had something that said “abusers can love you and be the kindest person you ever met”, something most people call glorification? I could’ve gotten out 8 years earlier. So we need these stories, it’s hardly their fault that people can’t delve into what a story means, can’t see things like Lolita as more than a romance. Sometimes abusers are people you like and that’s important, because you need to be able to click that and leave anyway.

So while I don’t like the term proship, I am absolutely against censoring fiction, no matter what it’s about.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hello Steph 😊 Do you have any BAMF Molly or just some good fics that feature Molly? I need some Molly love at the moment because I just read a fic where she "turns to the drak side" so to speak, and my heart 😭😭😭

Hey Nonny!

Ah I did a few comm. recs lists recently with Molly, but here are what I can offer you from memory, LOL. PLEASE add your fave Molly fics, guys! PLEASE NOTE these are fics I’ve read, and please check the sub-headings for a TONNE of stuff I haven’t read!! Big title so I can find it later LOL.

MOLLY PLAYS A ROLE

See also:

COMM RECS: Coming Out To Molly

COMM RECS: Molly with Women

COMM RECS: Molly and Greg Push John and Sherlock Together

COMM RECS: Molly as a Villain

Santa Knows by Itsallfine (T, 1,719 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas Party, Love Confessions, First Kiss, Fluff, Matchmaking, POV Sherlock, Pining Sherlock) – Sherlock and John both get exactly what they want from the Yard's secret Santa exchange. Pure holiday fluff.

What John Doesn't Know (Won't Hurt Him) by blueink3 (NR [T], 4,392 w., 1 Ch, || S3 Fix It, Pining Sherlock, Snippets of Life, Hurt/Comfort, Scars, Fluff and Angst, Five and One, Hopeful Ending, POV Sherlock) – Five people who see Sherlock's scars before John Watson. But Sherlock's secrets were never something he could keep from his blogger for long.

Thirty Three Hours Without John Watson by Bookaholic, mybrotherharry (M, 6,232 w. || First Kiss / Time, Pining Idiots, BG Mystrade, Crackish) – Sherlock can SO TOTALLY survive without John Watson. It should be a piece of cake. AKA the time when Sherlock braved grocery store lines for milk, purchased and gave away a box of tampons and figured out what the X-Factor is. Greg and Mycroft didn’t sign up for this shit. Next time, they are going to the Bahamas.

Wonderful, Etcetera. by VictoryCandescence (T, 16,955 w., 3 Ch. || Wonderful Life AU || Alternate Timelines, Brotherhood, Homophobia, Suicidal Ideations, Mentions of Drug Use, Friendship, Different TRF, Sherlock’s Past, Victor Trevor is Past Boyfriend, Depression, Hallucination, Love Confessions, Christmas, First Kiss) – Sherlock thinks everyone would be better off if he had never existed, including and especially himself. When he finds himself in a world in which his wish has been granted, he begins to think perhaps even he could be wrong – but it takes an unlikely chaperone to make him not only observe, but understand.

Insanity in the Middle by DotyTakeThisDown (E, 28,010 w., 8 Ch. || Equestrian Sports AU || Alternate First Meeting, POV John, Pining John, Bottomlock, Clueless Sherlock, First Kiss/Time, Passionate Kisses, Hand Holding, Caught Making Out, Bed Sharing, Spooning, Blow Job) – John is a world-class eventing rider with a gold medal and several four-star wins to his credit, but he's never won at Rolex. Sherlock is an up-and-coming rider taking the sport by storm.

Love or What You Will by miss_frankenstein (T, 31,987 w., 11 Ch. || College/Uni AU || Professor John, Ph.D Student Sherlock, Pining John, Poetry, Falling in Love / Slow Burn, Light Angst, Happy Ending) – John is an English professor who specializes in War and Post-War Literature and Sherlock is the brilliant yet impossible Ph.D. student assigned to be his TA because no one in the Chemistry Department is willing to put up with him. And - somewhere between Waugh and Plath, e-mails and takeaway, novels and villanelles - they fall in love.

The Wrong Wagon by DancingGrimm (E, 35,663 w., 20 Ch. || Alternating POV, Molly/  John [Molly pines for John], Public Sex, Casual Sex, Obliviousness, BAMF!John, Awkwardness, Angst & Humour, First Time, Virgin Sherlock, Jealous Sherlock) – Molly sees John in a new light and realises that she may have hitched her horse to the wrong wagon...or something like that. John pines for Sherlock and worries what he will think if he ever finds out. And Sherlock doesn't know what Molly's up to...but he knows he doesn't like it.

The Pieces That Fall to Earth by Itsallfine (M, 49,513 w., 84 Ch. || S4 Fix-It, Epistolary, Love Confessions, Slow Burn, Parentlock, Past Abuse, Coming Out, Internalized Homophobia, Questioning Sexuality, Mental Health Issues / Therapy, Angst, Happy Ending) – John and Sherlock have hit rock bottom, but with all their armor stripped away, they can finally speak honestly, seek healing, and find the truths that matter most. An epistolary post-s4 fix-it fic. Now complete. (This fic is rated T except for one very clearly marked and easily skippable chapter, which is rated M.) Part 1 of The Pieces that Fall to Earth

floating through a dark blue sky by Lediona (M, 58,966 w., 15 Ch. || Notting Hill AU || POV John, Celebrity Sherlock, First Date / Time / Kiss, Past Drug Addiction, Angst with a Happy Ending) – Of course, I’d seen his films and always thought he was, well, brilliant -- but, you know, a million miles from the world I live in. Or, when John is the owner of a travel book shop and the famous Sherlock Holmes stops in one day.

This Thing All Things Devours by cypress_tree (E, 63,844 w., 15 Ch. || In Time AU || Science Fiction, Dystopian Universe, First Meetings, Action / Adventure, Romance) – In 2169, time is money—literally. Humans are genetically engineered to stop aging at 25, when the numbers on their arm start counting down from one year. When that time is up, they die. The only way to get more time is to earn it, borrow it, or steal it.John Watson lives day-to-day in the crowded slums of Zone 13. He never imagined living any differently—until he meets the practically-immortal Sherlock, and helps him on a case to track a local time-thief...

Northwest Passage by Kryptaria (E, 95,157 w., 27 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Canadian AU ||  BAMF!John, Canadian John, PTSD, Anal / Oral Sex, Rimming, Emotional Hurt / Comfort, Drug Rehab, Falling in Love, Pining Sherlock, Love Confessions, Sherlock’s Violin, Panic Attacks, Switching, Anxious / Protective Sherlock, Hugs for Comfort, Suicide Mentions, Healing Each Other) – Seven years ago, Captain John Watson of the Canadian Forces Medical Service withdrew from society, seeking a simple, isolated life in the distant northern wilderness of Canada. Though he survives from one day to the next, he doesn't truly live until someone from his dark past calls in a favor and turns his world upside-down with the introduction of Sherlock Holmes." Part 1 of Tales from the Northwest

The Stars Move Still by BeautifulFiction (E, 96,022 w., 5 Ch. || Magical Realism, Demons, Slash to Pre-Slash, AU, Happy Ending, Souls) – "What could I want so desperately that would make me sell my soul? What could possibly compel me to surrender the part of myself that makes me who I am: the source of my magic, my self-control, everything?”

Definitions by siennna (T, 101,528 w., 12 of ? Ch. || Dev. Rel., Pining, Fluff and Romance, First Kiss, Love Confessions, Fluff, Cuddles, Girl’s Night, Texting, Virgin Sherlock, Drunk Sherlock, Background Mollstrade, Hair Petting, Laying on Lap) – Sherlock’s journey in defining his flat mate and stumbling through the muddled world of emotion. {{This feels complete; the chapter count is listed as ? but I feel like it is done}}

between each beat are words unsaid by darcylindbergh, hudders-and-hiddles (T, 107,998 w., 215 Ch. || Epistolary, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Angst, Happy Ending) – On their wedding night, John and Sherlock gift each other with the things they each said when the other could not hear, the things they each put down where the other could not see: a collection of writings that illustrate the way their love for one another has grown over the years. Part 1 of between each beat

The Burning Heart by May_Shepard (M, 119,150 w., 21 Ch. || Canon Divergence, Post-TRF, John’s Sexuality, S3 Rewrite, Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, POV John Watson, John’s Gay) – When Sherlock dies, John Watson feels like his life is over too. He’s completely shut down, until Mark Morstan, a new nurse at John’s medical clinic, catches his attention, and helps him uncover the long buried truth of his attraction to men. Although he’s certain he’ll never get over Sherlock, John plans to move on, and build a new life with Mark, unaware that Sherlock is not quite as dead as he appears, and that Mark is hiding secrets of his own.

A Further Sea by i_ship_an_armada & ShinySherlock (E, 125,492 w., 23 Ch. || Historical Pirates AU || Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Doctor John / Pirate Captain Sherlock, Sailing, UST / RST, Masturbation, Action / Adventure, Mild Angst & Peril, Romance, Shaving, Molly/Janine, Bottomlock, Hand / Blow Jobs, Past Drug Use, Slow Burn, Mild Violence, Facial Shaving, Happy Ending) – Here be a tale of adventure for both body and soul, but beware if ye be not of stout heart, for this be piratelock, ya savvy? Luckless ship's surgeon John Watson takes a chance, and finds himself eye to eye with The Ghost, the scourge of the seven seas and a definite thorn in the side of the blaggard, James Moriarty. But when John finds there's more to this most cunning pirate than be meetin' the eye, he has to choose... is it a pirate's life for him?

The Horse and his Doctor by khorazir (T, 129,003 w., 13 Ch. || Horse / Vet AU || Magical Realism, Horses, Vet John, Horse Sherlock, Implied Alcoholism) – Invalided after a run in with a poacher in Siberia, veterinary surgeon John Watson finds it difficult to acclimatise to the mundanity of London life. Things change when a friend invites him along to a local animal shelter and he meets their latest acquisition, a trouble-making Frisian with the strangest eyes and even stranger quirks John has ever encountered in a horse.

Performance In a Leading Role by Mad_Lori (E, 156,714 w., 21 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Hollywood / Actor AU, Secret Relationship, Falling in Love, Slow Burn, Romance, Coming Out, Fluff and Angst, Pining) – Sherlock Holmes is an Oscar winner in the midst of a career slump. John Watson is an Everyman actor trapped in the rom-com ghetto. When they are cast as a gay couple in a new independent drama, will they surprise each other? Will their on-screen romance make its way into the real world? Part 1 of Performance in a Leading Role

Mise en Place by azriona (M, 161,004 w., 28 Ch. || Restaurant (Kitchen Nightmares) AU || Sherlock is Gordon Ramsay / Celebrity Sherlock, Restauranteur John, Harry Plays Prominent Role, Alternating POV, Mutual Pining, Cranky Sherlock, Bed Sharing, Slow Burn) – John Watson had no intentions of taking over the family business, but when he returns from Afghanistan, battered and bruised, and discovers that his sister Harry has run their restaurant into the ground, he doesn't have much choice. There's only one thing that can save the Empire from closing for good – the celebrity star of the BBC series Restaurant Reconstructed, Chef Sherlock Holmes. Part 1 of Mise en Place

[dylanobrienisbatman]

Omg give us ur rant abt hating d*rklina as a ship.. im petty

Okay Anon, so i saw this the other day and I wasn't in the right headspace to answer but i am now!

So to start off, I am firmly in the ship and let ship category. You like a ship, i don't care. That doesn't mean i won't rag on the ship itself but I don't send hate, I don't really engage with shippers from ships I don't like, and I am liberal with the block button and the blacklist feature. Cultivate your tumblr/online experience, y'all. You don't owe anyone on this hellsite (or any other) a damn thing.

However, I REALLY do hate d*rklina as a ship, and I have a big problem with the way the shippers talk about it, so I hope you were being serious about wanting a rant because here it goes.

As for the ship itself, i feel like the reasons I dislike it are pretty obvious and standard. It's abusive. He is her abuser. He manipulates her. He spends months grooming her and gaslighting her, intentionally trying to get her under his control so that when he literally enslaves her it will go over easier. He never actually loved her, he wanted to use her for her power. It's not complicated, it's not really 'up for debate', that is the way its written, and the author has explained that that was the intended interpretation of her work. I mean he literally sexually assaults her in the second book, and straight up tells her he's going to kill everyone she loves so that she has no choice but to fall to him because she is completely alone in the world. He threatens to skin her alive in the second book when they're on the boat, he has no problem torturing her to get Mal to do what he wants. That's not love. He does not love her. It's pretty black and white, its explicitly written as an abusive relationship. The point was to show how easily powerful men can manipulate and abuse young naive women who don't know any better and try to see the best in people. Alina 'fell' for the version of Darkles Sparkles that he intentionally created to try to control her. Nothing he told her was true, from his backstory, to them both being 'the only one like [each other]' (hello, baghra), to using Genya to convince Alina that Mal had abandoned her, everything he did was manipulation so that he could get her under his control. It is not a romance, it is not 'a ship war', d*rklina is not written as romantic. He is her abuser. Full stop.

There is also the point about him being just a generally horrible person all around. He's not morally grey. He just isn't. He sold an 11 year old into sex slavery, forced her to stay in that situation so he could use her, and then mutilated her when she defied him. He also groomed and abused Zoya, because he saw that she was exceptionally powerful and wanted to use her the way he wanted to use Alina. He enslaved Alina. He blinded and mutilated his own mother. He is a genocidal maniac. He shows no remorse, he doesn't care about anyone but himself and his own power. He is not the type of character that should be romantically shipped with anyone. If you like him, that's absolutely fine! One of my fave characters ever is Kai Parker from TVD. Dude was a straight up psychopath. He tried to kill multiple pairs of toddlers. He brutally murdered his pregnant sister AT HER WEDDING. He is a HORRIBLE person. But I think he's a brilliant character. But do I think he's a good guy, do I want him anywhere near any characters in that show in a romantic way (ehem b*nkai)? Absolutely fucking not. Being a fan of a villain character is fine, but fucking own that shit. Villains can be SUCH good characters, but they're still villains. Erasing the bad they've done so you can justify putting them in situations where they WILL harm the people around them because you can't level with yourself about the bad things they've done doesn't make you 'woke', it just makes you look like you don't understand the media you're consuming.

Which leads me to why I have such a problem with the way D*rklina shippers engage with the ship. They simultaneously wanna say "oh we know it's toxic/bad/abusive/etc., that's why we like it!" and then also they try to claim that it should be endgame, they romanticize scenes where he is abusing her (and by romanticize I mean they literally try to frame his abuse as romantic, not like "oh yeah my ship is interacting!!". those are different things. You can be excited about ship interactions without trying to say that things he is doing to her are actually romantic), they try to argue that he is morally grey/misunderstood/etc., and they straight up try to lie and say he's not her abuser.

If you wanna ship an abusive ship, own it. Be straight up about why you like it. It's okay to be into dark shit, y'all. It does NOT make you a bad person to be into dark shit. But this idea that fiction doesn't impact real life, and that people can't call the ship out for what it is is a problem is a very troubling trend in fandom. Nobody is saying you can't ship it, do what you want. But this idea that these people are 'oppressed' because fans of the show/book continue to point out the facts about the way the story was written and how the relationship is actually presented is fucking insane. Someone saying that D*rklina is abusive is not calling you out, they are stating a fact. It's the story as it was presented. You trying to say it's not makes it look like you have no reading comprehension. And this idea that 'well i'll be on the lookout for evil shadow wizards in real life lol' is such horse shit too. His shadow wizard powers aren't the issue. He is a powerful man who grooms and abuses young women. You're telling me you lived through the Me Too movement and you wanna act like thats not a real threat that young women face every day? You're telling me that you can't see that the actual real life connection you're supposed to be making here? Okay, well you should maybe deal with that and come back to me, because that's an issue.

Fiction is meant to teach us lessons. Darkles is meant to teach us something. He is meant to show us that sometimes, powerful men lie to, manipulate, groom, and abuse young women, and we should be aware of that. The story is about a young woman who is sucked into an abusive situation, and then she breaks free and in the end she is able to defeat her abuser. That is a really powerful story, and one that millions of real life women can relate too. To pretend that that story doesn't have real life connections makes you look insensitive and frankly, kind of cruel.

So basically, in the end, my biggest issue is that D*rklina shippers love to spout this nonsense about 'knowing' it's bad and that he's a villain, and 'that's why they like him', and then turn around and try to say that he's not actually the villain, he's not actually bad, and the things he does to Alina that are abuse are actually romantic and sweet. You wanna ship an abusive ship, you do you, but lets not pretend it's anything other than what it is, but romanticizing and normalizing abuse tactics so you can feel, what? morally superior? Cool? edgy and different? That has real life impacts. You are normalizing abuse. Real people will engage with that rhetoric, and it will make it difficult for them to see abuse when it happens to them or the people around them because they believe its romantic or normal to be treated that way.

You wanna be a villain stan? You wanna ship dark ships? Good on ya, but fucking own your shit, y'all.

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Re: Star Wars prequel novelizations - the Revenge of the Sith book is genuinely one of the best things I have ever read and changed my life.

THANK YOU, anon, for reminding me about the Revenge of the Sith novelization.  I just reread it, and my crops are watered, my skin is clear, and — I cannot overstate this — I actually remember why I love Star Wars.  That love has been for too long stolen by The Fandom Menace sucking the life out of those movies to invent a new definition of suffering while digesting them slowly over a thousand years.

Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover is one of the greatest works of adventure fiction I have ever read, and it continues to inspire the way I write action sequences and character conflicts.  It does so damn much to transform a movie that is, to be honest, just okay.  There are a couple of big additions from the novel that make the whole Skywalker saga richer, and there are about five hundred little tweaks that deepen the lore in a way that shows that Stover loves Star Wars to the core.

First big addition: having Obi-Wan tell Padmé that he’s in love with Anakin. This is great because yay, queer representation!  But within the specific context of RotS, it also sets up the super-important contrast between Obi-Wan and Anakin.  Obi-Wan, Stover’s novel makes clear, is the quiet and unassuming embodiment of everything a Jedi is supposed to be: he’s selfless, loving, hard-working, and incredibly skilled with the Force.  Obi-Wan falls in love with Anakin, realizes that Anakin doesn’t love him back in that way, and... lives with it.  He spends time with Anakin, supports Anakin, enjoys Anakin’s company, and doesn’t act like the world will end if Anakin isn’t his.

Anakin loves Obi-Wan, in a siblinglike way, and he loves Padmé.  But he’s got a nasty habit of expressing that love through possession and control, through going behind Padmé’s back to “fix” her life without her permission.  Anakin falls in love with Padmé and immediately concludes that he cannot possibly live like this: they must begin a secret relationship, and he must both marry her and remain a Jedi.  Later he destroys the Jedi and eventually Padmé herself because he sees himself as having no way out of that dilemma.

And all the while, Obi-Wan is there in the background.  Also in love with someone with whom he cannot have a relationship, and just… dealing with it like an adult.  Because millions of people are in love with people who don’t love them back, and that’s just how it is sometimes.  It’s selfish to obsess over “having” their love at all costs.  For Anakin, that obsession with saving Obi-Wan and Padmé eventually leads to him killing them both.

When Yoda tells Anakin that he must deal with his fear of losing Padmé through letting go, Anakin takes this to mean “let her die.”  But what Yoda means is not “let her die,” but rather “love her the way Obi-Wan loves you: quietly, selflessly, and with a willingness to do what’s best for her, whether or not that means you get to have her.”  And Anakin never understands that, because Anakin’s view of the world is so intensely egocentric.

Second big addition: updating the Force to explain the Dark Side. Revenge of the Sith, even more so than any other Star Wars, is all about the contrast between the Dark Side and the Light Side.  Here, Stover’s contribution is brilliant; he makes the Dark Side egocentric and the Light allocentric.

Terminology! “Egocentric” in psych refers to the perspective that focuses on how the world affects you and how you affect the world.  At the extreme, egocentric thinking can be believing that a baby is crying in a deliberate effort to annoy you, or that every person in a crowded cafeteria will remember what shirt you wore when you ate there a week ago.  “Allocentric” refers to the perspective that the self is one of several disparate elements buffered around by the world.  At the extreme, allocentric thinking can be failing to realize that others are reacting to your presence, or viewing your own life as one thing you can give to help others.

Stover doesn’t use those terms, but he does describe how Dooku “drew power into his innermost being until the Force itself existed only to serve his will” (p. 64).  Later, Obi-Wan “gave himself to the living Force… the Force moved him, let him collapse as though he’d suddenly fainted, then it brought his lightsaber from his belt to his hand” (p. 285).  Dooku ultimately loses his fight against Anakin because he focuses on how everyone is responding to him, and misses that Anakin and Palpatine are beginning to build an alternate alliance right under his nose.  Obi-Wan ultimately wins his fight against Anakin because he allows the Force to shove him around, and sets aside his concern with both his own life and that of his best friend while fighting for the greater goal of peace.

Not only that, but Obi-Wan’s understanding of the Force moves beyond that of most Jedi.  He compares “the will of the Force” to “the will of gravity,” in essence stating that simply because it is beyond human comprehension doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its own rules.  One can be a Jedi without needing to understand the Force in the same way one can be a pilot without needing to be a physicist.  In RotS, we see that his refrain of “search your feelings” is a way of calling on a Force user to be mindful enough to accept realities that are already evident, if one can only allow oneself to have that knowledge.

Stover also uses these competing perspectives — allocentric and egocentric — to explain why the Jedi Order falls.  The tight control the Order exerts over the Jedi moves them away from the will of the Force and toward the will of the Council.  Its insularity creates a sense of superiority, which is the reason so many Jedi fail to see their clone troopers as threats until it’s too late. Stover tweaks the Jedi Purge scene to emphasize that the only reason Obi-Wan and Yoda survive is because of their selflessness.  Obi-Wan takes the time to befriend his alien mount, repeatedly confirming her well-being, and then she shields him with her body when his troopers open fire.  Yoda respects the Wookie command and puts himself in a position to assist rather than lead the resistance movement on Kashyyyk, meaning that when a fight breaks out between him and his troopers the Wookies don’t hesitate to side with him.  Yoda and Obi-Wan are the only two Jedi who truly give themselves to the service of others, and thus they are the only two to survive the Purge.

...and the million little favors this book does for the movie.

During the opening battle, having Obi-Wan tell Anakin to “use the Force” to fly a narrow trench and having Anakin roll his eyes at such an obvious suggestion.  It’s a callback to A New Hope, but one that drives home how much more the Force is integrated in the lives of Old Republic Jedi than it is in the lives of Imperial kids like Luke.

Fixing the minor continuity error from Episode III to Episode IV — why would Admiral Motti dismiss Vader as following outdated superstitions if there were millions of Jedi within his lifetime? — by explicitly stating that the Sith are considered a dead culture.  Ergo, Vader’s “ancient religion” isn’t the Force in general; it’s specifically the Sith creed.

Making Palpatine scarier and more seductive than he is in the movie.  Stover’s rhetoric about killing even the Jedi children is frighteningly rational and coherent, and he uses it to give Palpatine some stomach-churning speeches while corrupting Anakin.

Using the novel format for all it’s worth.  Stover skims over the physical-comedy elevator sequence in favor of having Dooku and Palpatine discussing their plans for the war.  He only tells us about Anakin’s conversation with Yoda after the fact, in scattered flashes as a panicking Anakin runs through the halls of the Jedi temple.  He gives us intense focus on Anakin’s mindset while trying to land the broken halves of Invisible Hand, less on what the ship itself is doing.  He cuts away from Anakin and Obi-Wan’s final battle, toward R2D2 and C3PO as they struggle to drag a dying Padmé into her ship out of a desperation to find some small way to help her.

Revealing that Palpatine spends the entire story trying to kill Obi-Wan.  This gets hinted at in the movie, but Stover includes several moments throughout Palpatine’s “rescue” from Dooku when Palpatine sets Obi-Wan up to die, and mentions like eight other attempts on Obi-Wan’s life as orchestrated by Palpatine.  It’s a great character addition, that Palpatine assumes he cannot get Anakin to fall unless he first eliminates Obi-Wan.

Expanding Padmé’s role in the movie (set dressing, and later refrigerator filling) by having her secretly organize and launch the Rebel Alliance right under Vader and Palpatine’s noses.

Those are just examples of how Stover clearly knows the Force, gets the Force, and strives to make the Force more internally coherent.  How he sometimes translates, sometimes preserves, and always improves the pacing and tone of the film.

I haven’t even touched on the FUCKING AMAZEBALLS imagery or introspection in the book yet, but this post is getting wicked long, so I’ll go ahead and leave it here for now.  Point is, all y’all should go out immediately and get a copy from your library and/or used bookstore, because Nonny is right and it’ll change your life.

[fratboykate]

I just wanna put out there the issue people have with equating a/roac/e to gayness is the lack of systematic oppression being faced by them. Not to say making a character a wlw is more important for rep than making them a/roac/e, because I genuinely do think both deserve their time to shine.

But there’s just these weird optics and feelings that come up when you see quite a big todo from a relatively safer minority getting this upset over the fact people hc an unidentified fictional character as gay. I can’t organize my thought correctly on this, but in some ways it does feel like people equating discrimination against white people to actual racism.

To continue the metaphor, I do think you have your struggles in how some people may treat you. XYZ person may have in fact been mean or rude to you, but you’re never going to be at risk in the same way as actual non white people because your discrimination is not actually tied into any system of govt itself. Idk this issue with Y/elena has gotten me started on my thoughts on some issues a lot of a/ce people don’t seem to understand that frustrates and hurts me…

And I’d like to think I do understand where they’re coming from with their own frustration and hurt in fandom itself. I remember being on the brink of a panic attack when people shipped Lexa with Bell. But I was younger and realized later that was 100% issues with my own sexuality I was having and was not at all a healthy reaction.

Idk, I genuinely think people having such large reactions need to get outside help (like I did) as it did end up making my online experiences and general life better.

I totally agree with you and I've mentioned it before several times. There's a massive difference between being part of a group that happens to be in the statistical minority in society vs. an oppressed minority. They are NOT the same and the problem is that because the internet has eliminated any and all nuance from the way people think these days a lot of them believe that because they are part of a group that is a statistical minority that equates to being oppressed. If there is no systemic oppression specifically designed to discriminate against you, if there are no laws created specifically against your minority, if there is no active persecution against you then you are NOT an oppressed minority. There is no "-phobia" against you. People may not like you. But there is no "-ism" or "-phobia" because that implies and entire system being in place to work against you. It's exactly why as you mention "racism against white people"/"reverse racism" isn't fucking real. Sure, some can be biased against white people but they can't be racist towards white people. Not a thing.

You can't be fired from a job for not feeling romantic or sexual attraction. You can't be denied housing. You can't be denied healthcare. You can't be denied service. There are no laws in place to actively classify people who identify as such as second class citizens or take their rights away. They aren't murdered on a daily basis. There is no systemic oppression. You perceiving someone being mean to you online does not a "-phobia" make.

No one at any point has said they don't deserve rep. No one. Everyone should have CANON and we'll written characters they can identify with. I'd be the first person rooting for them the day they get that and I've not seen a single person say otherwise. Anywhere. That is not the crux of this. At all. The two big issues for me are 1) this attempt at policing fandom spaces to the point of basically bullying people over a ship they don't like when fandom is not theirs to monitor and control and 2) the lowkey homophobic/lesbophobic nature of their rhetoric. It doesn't sit right with me.

It all boils down to a lot of people needing A LOT of therapy which is why it's better to not even confront them at this point. Let them rage by themselves. We know they're in the wrong and that's good enough for me.

[laufire]

🔥Ben/Devi (maybe it's just me but the new stills where she makes a pro&contra list for both boys feel a little bit too in Ben's favor ugh)

I hate it. HATE it lmao.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m tired, exhausted even, of stories that follow this pattern. If there was never again a show where the female lead’s priorities and tastes get trampled over in order to make her the prize to be won, turning her from subject to object, the balance would STILL be in that trend’s favour!

Because that is my issue, chief among them. Male leads don’t suffer this indignity, outside of what amounts to a handful of outlier cases. They get to have their cake and eat it too; they fulfill whatever professional goals they have, and they “get the girl”, and they get to control their narrative to sometimes an appalling degree. They get to be fucking Ted Mosby.

And what do so many female leads get? They might start out with goals, with preferences, with unattainable crushes of their own (that a male character would somehow manage to woo ofc), you name it. And then a dude that’s, in the most literal sense, below them -in the call sheet, wrt his role in the story, you name it- comes along and suddenly the story shifts focus. Suddenly it’s about what he wants out of life and how he will go about getting it. And one of those things he wants? Why, the female lead, of course. From subject to object.

That’s what Ben and Devi are for me. Even more than usual, because Devi is such a hurricane she should NEVER stop being the subject. She’s too good for that shit! Get a job, Ben! Stay away from her!

As a sidenote: if I’m tired of this trend, I’m simply over fandoms’ defence of it in the name of ~~female agency. I think I’ve made a good case of why it’s actually a violation and an invasion of their agency, in Doylist terms at the very least. Characters aren’t people. They’re not real, they don’t make decisions about who they want to date. Writers do it for them, and in cases like this, they establish a female character with a preference and then INSIST on making her feel in the wrong for it, when they would never do that to a male lead.

But on top of that, there’s usually Watsonian violations of agency to make this argument all the more spurious. I mean, one of the ships that gets this defence on the regular is FREAKING DELENA. A SHIP WITH CANON NON-CON/DUB-CON AT THE MINIMUM LMAO. And sure, maybe the comparison to Ben and Devi is a bit unfair, since Ben trying to kiss Devi TWICE and she backing out TWICE is obviously tamer than anything Damon pulled... but when you consider the lower stakes of NHIE vs. TVD, yes, I do think the two cases are in fact comparable.

So fuck your “female agency” arguments. Fans use those however they please to defend whatever ship they’re into now when a.) it’s not freaking necessary!! Who cares!! Shipping is not an ethical debate ffs; and b.) it’s a big fat lie. You don’t give a fuck about Devi’s/Elena’s/whoever’s agency. Not that I think you should, because again, these are all fictional constructs, they aren’t getting hurt by these relationships. But if you actually prioritized at all for these characters’ opinions, Ben or Damon or whoever would be the last person you’d want them to seriously end up with (maybe toy with the dynamic, maybe explore the possibilities. But not as a serious romantic proposition). These are ships you root for when you stan the guy, let’s all be a bit more honest about that.

[idreamtofmanderleyagain]

See, I was told if a character reminds a lot of people of their abusers, like Edward Cullen, then you should listen and think about what the narrative is saying. Look at most villain discourse and it's usually about white men like Loki or Kylo. And if a big trait of theirs is "manipulation", a word already with connotations of "abuser"? Then of course people will learn to see their abusers in them.

(I can't really tell if this ask is connected to the second one, but I think they aren't, so I'm going to just respond seperately, okay? Feel free to clarify yourself if needed.)

Alright, so.

There are actually quite a few characters who remind me of my abusers or remind me of specific experiences of abuse.

it's also always really notable to me that people pull out the "Edward Cullen/Kylo Ren/Loki /but that one shitty white dude!'" card every time this subject comes up, as if the people criticizing this shit aren't speaking in a much wider scope about characters who are female, POC, and/or LGBT, disabled, etc., as if the people who are fans of these kinds of characters aren't themselves often marginalized members of the community. Like, these popular white dudes (and their fans) are absolutely not the ones who get thrown under the bus the hardest, but people always seem to prop them up as a wholesale justification for this nonsense, always seem to sprinkle their names into conversations about totally different characters...and honestly? It's starting to really reek of bullshit to me. The more people pull that the more it feels like they are literally just utilizing them as convenient strawmen; a last resort/to save face/to claim a "not like other girls" badge.

Not that I think you intended any of this anon, I think you're talking about this because it's what you've absorbed from being aroun it, and you wanted to speak about that, so I get it. I don't blame you specifically for this problem.

(Also, Loki is now confirmed to be non-binary, he's not only ever male. He's a member of the LGBT community. But I digress... )

All that said I have a more important perspective to offer. Here's a connundrum for you:

Since my life and my trauma was directly impacted by being related to a terrifying violent serial criminal, how am I supposed to feel about the Hannibal fandom?

Should I be angry at them? Should I hate Hannibal/SOTL?

Should I assume that the Hannibal fandom condones the violence that occured in my family's life?

Have they personally transgressed against me in some way for enjoying and shipping Hannibal Lecter?

Do I now have the ultimate right to condemn and shame them?

The answer, anon, is no to all of the above.

Now, personally, I think Hannibal is a fun character, and he doesn't actually remind me of the monster in my life. They are very different individuals, one is very real and one is highly stylized fiction that resembles no real person that I can think of. But if I DID see a resemblance, I would have every right to that experience of the character. I would have every right to talk about it in my space.

But setting that aside, by the logic of the "rules" tumblr gave you above, my experience should definately count right? Somebody who is impacted by the most extreme form of violent criminal should count in the "who gets to dictate what this piece of fiction means" narrative, right?

The thing is, my experience of certain characters has NOTHING to do with other people's experience of a character. I absolutely have no right to demand anything of anybody, especially not to dictate to them what the right way to think and feel about art is.

My experience may be valuable, my voice may be valuable. I may have things to say that will feel relevant and compelling to others when I interperet a piece of fiction. But that is a vastly different thing than what tumblr/twitter means when they bring this up. Tumblr/twitter wants you to believe that there is a heirarchy on the truth when it comes to critical analysis, and that the most reactionary and bad-faith opinions deserve the loudest platform, and the most cowed obedience from others.

I fundamentally disagree.

Fictional characters, like Loki for example, can contain multitudes. Loki reminds me of my own experiences of abuse as the victim and not the abuser. That serial criminal I spoke about was my father. Loki's trauma stemming from the experience of having a "monster" as a father, of internalizing that horror? Of not being able to connect with his new emotionally abusive father, and the rest of his family? That was the first time I'd ever really seen something that fit my experience in that way.

But for someone else, Loki is going to remind them of their abuser. He's going to remind them of a toxic manipulator in their life.

And honestly, BOTH experiences are valid. BOTH experiences deserve a voice. But NEITHER of them wins anyone the right to be an domineering, controlling asshole to other people about it. NEITHER have the right to hurt and shame other people over it.

Art is fucking subjective, and it's time kids on social media actually fully absorbed that concept and what it means. It's time that they put down the ideological rhetoric for a while and just allowed themselves and other people to be fucking human.

If somebody who's literally related to a monster on par with someone like Hannibal can tell you that (the general you, not you specifically anon), then maybe it's time to re-evaluate your priorities, and time to assess just how beholden you feel to the emotionally toxic demands of strangers online.