#But sometimes I hate this fandom so much

[romanticatheartt]

Well f*cking done people. Keep this up and you'll chase away every single artist. Good job.

[blluespirit]

back on my 'zuko is aroace' agenda. if i have to see one more post arguing about shipping i am going to start biting people. he's actually a single dad and never marries thanks bye.

[theminecraftbee]

okay, so in a rare moment for me, there's a discourse thing i want to bring up, and that thing is. okay. so on iskall's stream there's this thing that can happen where someone brings up a criticism of his content or vault hunters. frequently it's self-evidently wrong, but sometimes it's not. and then iskall spends the next thirty minutes shadowboxing this guy, explaining himself, and completely derailed. and this is an iskall trait we all know and sigh bemusedly about, because he cares about the community and wants people to understand his intentions! he wants the community to understand his decisions!

however, it's not the community as a whole he's fighting; he is in fact, arguing with One Guy, who often doesn't represent the wider community, and who normally won't have their mind changed. hell, sometimes it's believable that they're satisfied having just managed to upset iskall, and they'll leave, no change to their mind, perfectly pleased that iskall's responding at all (that's what i firmly believe the people who poke at the 'you don't upload enough and that means you're falling off and a bad person' wound are trying to do, at least).

in the vault hunters community, we refer to this as iskall getting One Guyed, and it's typically viewed as bad, because it ends up focusing an entire moment on a single guy's negative opinion as opposed to on the larger picture. and it's an understandable thing to have happen! but it's frustrating to watch from the outside.

and so now i am looking at that cat poll. and the way everyone is still shadowboxing someone who has since apologized. and the way i would have never ever known about any of the negative comments about jellie if it weren't for fellow mcyt fans constantly putting them on my dash to dunk on them. and it's like. if you look through the notes most of them are just... normal? it's only a tiny few of people (and the pollrunner, who has since apologized) who were being dicks. it's a very, very ignorable demographic.

but. well. there was One Guy. and we had to correct them.

and folks, i don't know how to say that i almost never see "lol mcyt is cringe" type comments unless one of you puts it on my dash. both because i don't go looking through the notes of things that are likely to have them or go looking for reasons to be upset and because it's just... not that common! very frequently these days it is, in fact, One Guy!

i have almost never seen that poll on my dash without at least one instance of the One Guy. instead of being for fun, it's mostly become about explaining ourselves to someone who will not listen and will not change their minds, and treating this as a the whole of the Other Side of that poll, when most people are being... fine. they're fine! the majority of the people voting for the other side are doing it for perfectly normal reasons that don't require fighting about.

and man. let me tell you. after spending as long as i have watching vault hunters development? it can be just as frustrating to watch a fandom get One Guyed as it is to watch iskall.

[corwnvus]

If you hate/blame one of the black brothers for hurting the other, you have no media literacy or the ability to analyse interesting and complex dynamics.

(Or take away interesting flaws from characters. Let YOUR FAVES BE FLAWED AND INTRESTING AND HUMAN!!!)

And that's a you problem 😁

[lgbtlunaverse]

Most annoying NMJ or JC take is when someone that dislikes them is like "oh you're a fan of him? *scoff* Well obviously you've only seen cql, where he was super watered down. In the novel he's a dislikable asshole and that's the objectively superior canon I'm working from instead of your woobified fanfic." Meanwhile your main canon is novel canon and you genuinely find novel Jiang Cheng and Nie Mingjue complex sympathetic characters.

[smultronviol]

Ppl going "waaahh unpopular opinion but Alice is kind of annoying and obnoxious and I don't think I'd like be her friend irl" is so funny to me bc like.

God forbid a cast of characters be multifaceted and have actual flaws and unpleasant aspects other than "grr angsty hero" and "whoops i'm so clumsy". Sometimes character dynamics and arcs need to be prioritized above "who would i personally be niceys with irl"

2. bro just WAIT until you hear about season 1 jon lol

[assiraphales]

if usopp didnt have a conventionally goofy character design the sanuso ship would fly high bc they are soooo flirty

(even tho usopp is a cutie got the last laugh with the FINEST live action casting)

patiently waiting for live action sanji to get usopp's goggles back in alabasta to jumpstart a lil something something for them

[nevarroes]

‎

[oceanwithouthermoon]

sometimes i think about how the people who hate on my takes on here would talk to each other and its always phrased like the twitter fandom drama i see but completely irrational and it makes me giggle

"calling kusuke abusive just because he shot his brother with a lethal weapon, plotted his murder, planned to use their grandparents to assist in hurting/killing him, and tried for years to expose his secret to the entire world against his will and through knowingly hurtful means in order to destroy everything he cared about is so stupid! what a stretch!"

"the saiki k fandom is so damn sensitive. i shoot my brother with massive guns all the time and its not abusive because he just blocks it!" HELPEKSJJSJSKSKKS

[thefrogdalorian]

I think on this fine Saturday afternoon it's a good opportunity to take a breather and remember that there are really no ethical paparazzi pictures. Every single one is inherently exploitative.

Just because photos were taken on a movie set, when someone is 'working,' does not make the practice any less invasive and creepy. Imagine just going about your day, doing your job and having some weirdo snapping pictures of you to sell without your consent for others to endlessly repost online.

There are thousands of pictures of your favourite actor online already. Plenty taken with his knowledge and consent. I'd really like to see more of them on my dash, rather than the creeper shots.

And don't get me started how disseminating these pictures directly leads to people going to said sets. What starts off as admiring how good someone looks has real world implications.

No, hanging around a movie set and disrupting people doing their jobs is not harmless fun or a way to show your appreciation.

If you hang around a movie set, you are a stalker.

Don't tell me that it's okay to take your online admiration for someone offline. You may admire him but he does not, and will never, personally know you. He will never be your friend/boyfriend/daddy. He is a stranger.

The only way meeting your favourite actor is going to happen is at a convention or maaaaaybe a movie premiere if you're incredibly fortunate. You know, places they appear specifically to meet fans (or not in the case of premieres, where the purpose is to promote a movie. Which is also completely understandable if actors don't stop. You are not owed an interaction).

Of course, you cannot help it if you randomly run into someone you admire in the wild. Even then, consider that they probably won't be all too thrilled to be approached in public by a complete stranger. It's up to you to gauge the situation, but remember there is a person at the heart of all of this.

Boundaries and respect are a kindness which deserves to be extended to each and every human being regardless of their looks/talent/fame/wealth.

Fandoms blur those lines a little too often for my liking and I think just scrutinising what you're interacting with, or what behaviour you could be possibly falling down that slippery slope towards is nice to do every once in a while.

I mean no malice with this post and it is not directed at anyone in particular. It's something I cannot help but feel strongly about because I've seen this destructive cycle time and again in fandoms over the years. It's not healthy and it makes us all a little bit more disconnected from our humanity for it...

[bandtrees]

one of the most infuriating things i’ve realized about fandom spaces lately to me has been some people’s inability to just trust a story and engage with its premise and what it’s trying to express. “canon sucks i can do it better lol!!!” is one of the most annoying attitudes to me and i do kinda hate how prevalent it’s gotten (in actually good polished media that isn’t to be engaged with like that)

like between people who read things in as bad a faith as possible and ceaselessly criticize things they supposedly like, and people who only care about media for the sake of making cookie cutter self-indulgent fandom content, it feels sometimes like the most controversial thing you can do in a fandom is “actually liking the source material for what it is”

[sketchy-tour]

Getting emails from tiktok sometimes feels like it's an ex partner begging me to come back. Tempting me with names of people I had followed during the short time I used the app.

Sorry tiktok but never again lmao. It was great for when I was new to WH and could see a lot of cool art and videos. Not so cool when I started drowning in drama videos.

I'll stick to just using tumblr 🥰 Much more control over what I wanna look at.

[lizablackthorn]

my favorite friendships/duos in f1 history pt.2 <3

[pens-personal]

Listen I'm a big shipper and you can ship pretty much whoever you want imo but if you insist on shipping a canonically aromantic character I do not fucking trust you

[lnkedmyheart]

I don't know, I think its weird that so many people are trying to blame soukoku shippers for imaginary problems and acting like skk shippers have a gun to their head forcing them to do things.

Like I dont understand how Hoshikawa drawing 15 is a bad thing just because the same artist made beast just because YOU made up some headcanon in your head. I dont understand why any exploration of Dazai and Chuuya's dynamic in the past gets written off as Asagiri being forced to pander to the "yaoi loving fetishizing" skk shippers as if those two aren't major parts of each other's past and don't have a complex and deep bond. I get being overwhelmed by too much skk content when you dont like it. But to actively make up lies so it can justify your hateful narrative against a bunch of people just trying to enjoy content through made up non existent scenarios is weird as hell to me.

And it just rubs me really weird that skk shippers get written off as yaoi fangirls like many of us aren't queer people interacting with a queer ship. Or is yaoi fetishizing only limited to skk or other popular ships and not whatever ship the anti fixates on?

The number of times I have seen the mildest interaction between skk be written off as cheap fanservice and pandering to the skk shippers is insane. Chuuya appears and doesn't talk about Dazai? Cheap fanservice. Chuuya shows up for a plot relevant role? Cheap pandering. Dazai has a nice moment with any other character? Character development. Dazai is nice to Chuuya? Cheap fanservice. And the moment we got light novels and side manga adaptations of said novels for skk everyone just started raging at and bashing skk shippers and Chuuya stans like we were personally offending people that Asagiri decided that 1 of his many bsd pet projects happened to be about the past of a character who is a major part of Dazai, one of the main character's past. As if stormbringer, fifteen, dead apple and the dragon head prologue parts didn't add anything to Dazai's established character.

I am so tired of skk haters acting like they are the victims of neglect by Asagiri or acting like Asagiri, Hoshikawa and Harukawa are sobbing in a locked room and only getting slices of dry bread when they pledge allegiance to skk nation or some shit.

[cienie-isengardu]

Tomas brought that mean talk Bi-Han gave him on himself. Bi-Han only said he's tired of waiting and Tomas went on a speech why that's disrespectful to their dad. Tomas was out of line. Bi-Han should have been even harsher.

Mortal Kombat 1 made it clear that Bi-Han was not at his best mental state. Kuai Liang himself admitted to be aware that his brother’s frustration ran deeply while at the same time apparently neither Scorpion nor Smoke figured out it was their own behavior and treatment of Bi-Han that fueled the frustration in the first place. The one thing the game consequently showed is that whatever Bi-Han will say, be it an opinion about Lin Kuei’s future or just angry complain, all his brothers have to say back to him is father this, tradition that and I think even the most patient person at some point would reach the breaking point. And Bi-Han did reach his, otherwise I doubt he would openly confront Kuai Liang about their father’s death. 

So as much as it is understandable (human) that whenever Tomas or Kuai Liang mentioned father or the tradition Sub-Zero lashed out in frustration, anger alone is a poor excuse for saying mean things - unless in that scene Bi-Han did in fact speak his mind about not considering Smoke to be a true Lin Kuei. Which I doubt is the case, as they were called for the first big job in a while, and looking how

Liu Kang did not recognize Tomas through the whole story mode

Bi-Han had a final say in who is accompanying him, as he rejected aid of Raiden (Fire Lord’s current Champion) and Kung Lao and Liu Kang did not try to impose them on him

I think if Grandmaster truly had an objection to Smoke performing Lin Kuei duty or not deserving being one, he wouldn’t take Tomas on the top priority mission ordered by a very concerned Liu Kang when there were plenty of other more experienced warriors to pick up. Frankly, even if Bi-Han had a doubt about his younger brother’s skills, it wasn’t a baseless assumption, as the infiltration of the enemy's fortress proved Tomas lacks battle experience in that regard. As was seen during his fall after Nitara’s attack - instead of using his powers that literally allowed him to fly, he screamed in panic and using a knife to stop the fall was his second option after instinctively grabbing the wall with his hands failed. Which proves Bi-Han’s point but it didn’t override the decision to include Tomas into Lin Kuei duties. 

But I digress, so let’s come back to the awaiting scene alone. 

Bi-Han: “How long are we expected to linger?" Kuai Liang: “Patience, Bi-Han. There are many demands on Liu Kang's attention." Tomas: "Were he here, Father would advise us to wait without protest."

For one, Tomas did not say anything about Bi-Han being disrespectful to their father nor even to Liu Kang, only that the man would advise them - mind you, them, not Bi-Han alone - to wait as long as needed without a protest. Considering the real possibility that up to his death, their father was the final authority whose words settled any dispute between brothers, Smoke brought an argument to support Kuai Liang’s Patience, Bi-Han. There are many demands on Liu Kang's attention. He simply said what father would do himself in their situation. Something he and Kuai Liang take comfort in, as they held father’s teaching in high regard, while Bi-Han did not recognize the man’s authority any longer - what the younger brothers may know already but still ignore due to their own grief, or Bi-Han up to this moment managed to keep down his frustration under more or less effective control.

This exchange led the discussion away from Liu Kang’s treatment of high-ranked Lin Kuei to the more dangerous subject of father’s teaching and tradition:

Tomas: "Were he here, Father would advise us to wait without protest." Bi-Han: "But now he is gone and I am Grandmaster." Kuai Liang: “His teaching did not pass with him. They should still guide us." Bi-Han: "Guide us, yes. Shackle us, no." Tomas: “We can't abandon tradition." Bi-Han: "Mind your place, Tomas. Father may have taken you in, made you one of us... but your blood will never be Lin Kuei."

For me, Bi-Han’s response was harsher than Tomas’ words deserved, especially as the “your blood will never be Lin Kuei” has nothing to do with the main course of the argument - i.e., following father’s teachings and upholding tradition. If Bi-Han wanted to point out that Tomas is not in position to decide the course of the clan's politics, as it was Grandmaster’s choice alone, he could have said so instead of bringing Tomas’ past. However, at the same time, Sub-Zero’s words could be much harsher and hurtful, for example to deny him the brotherhood or right to consider himself one of Grandmaster's sons. 

The whole bicker was avoidable or at least could be toned down much better if Tomas did not bring their father into discussion. Considering that Kuai Liang was aware his older brother’s patience is a thin ice due to deep frustration, we can assume Tomas knew that too. I feel like if they acknowledged Bi-Han’s complaint or at least allowed him to vent his anger in peace, none of the following arguments would follow. 

I mean, Liu Kang called Grandmaster for top important mission (capturing Shang Tsung and destroying soulstellers), so we can assume Bi-Han and his brothers drop whatever they were doing at that moment and came ASAP only to be forced to wait for unknown to us period of time - that could be a ten minutes or hours, so Bi-Han’s complaint is not baseless. 

At the same time, I feel it is unfair to accuse Tomas of stepping out of line, as that was no formal meeting and he did not undermine the authority of the Grandmaster and older brother before outsiders. The scene was solely about them and their relationship and if Bi-Han felt comfortable to break out of his Grandmaster’s role to vent his frustration to younger brothers when they were all alone, Tomas had the same right to feel comfortable enough to state his opinion in the following discussion. This is them being brothers not the leader and subordinates, the way they were during the war meeting with Liu Kang.

Please, note, Bi-Han  as Grandmaster is singled out and to whom Fire Lord addresses only, while Smoke and Scorpion stood in their place in silence and won’t speak until the meeting is officially over, i.e. after Sub-Zero’s final decision (“We will leave immediately”). If Tomas spoke during that meeting anything contradictoring Sub-Zero’s words, even if his words were correct, then yes, that would be stepping out of line and deserves any lecture the Grandmaster would consider fitting or even dealing with Tomas’ behavior once they returned to home. 

But during the moment between brothers alone from any outsiders? It is different situation, different power balance to begin with (and really, if they didn’t feel comfortable in each company and didn’t consider waiting together as the quiet moment between just them as brothers, outside the clan politics, I doubt Tomas and Kuai Liang would sit while Bi-Han, their leader, was standing).

Did Smoke really need to bring their father into discussion, especially if he knew the late Grandmaster was a sensitive topic around Bi-Han? It could be easier to just avoid that topic however if we can acknowledge Sub-Zero’s frustration as the reason for his harsh behavior and lashing out in anger, I feel we should also acknowledge that Tomas, the same as Kuai Liang, was a son mourning the loss of father. As Smoke and Scorpion had no idea about Bi-Han’s (passive) role in their father’s death, and we don’t have an idea how long time passed since that incident, so there is a chance it was still recent occurrence and the brothers tried - and failed - to find a common ground between Sub-Zero’s ambitions and Smoke & Kuai Liang’s mourning.

Maybe Tomas was so wrapped up in his grief, he didn’t care or didn’t notice he was provoking Bi-Han? Maybe he on purpose kept bringing the late Grandmaster (tradition) into discussion to force his brother to talk about their father, because grieving people sometimes avoid talking about the dead and he did not want repeat what happened to him not speaking about mother and sister, as intro dialogue implied he did not talk about his biological family after their death (Scorpion: You never speak of your mother and sister.)

For me personally, this scene is not about who stepped out the line and who should be lectured, but rather a needed indication from the narration point that the brothers are drifting apart after their father’s death. Both sides have said things that rubbed the other in the wrong way (hearing non stop about father and tradition adds fuel to Bi-Han’s frustration, Tomas’s hearing no matter how hard he will try, he will never be a true Lin Kuei hits into his sense of self-worth), but even the closest siblings sometimes argue and it happened here.

The argument should not even happen in the first place, and maybe would not happen in any normal circumstances  but since Bi-Han and Tomas and Kuai Liang are affected by things outside their control - frustration and mourning respectively - it is understandable the heavy emotions led them to clashed over relatively small things. 

If there is one thing to say for sure, they have some serious communication problems and that is only partially about Bi-Han not saving their father and lying about that. The story mode showed us Bi-Han trying to explain his reasoning - and as much as game keeps his arguments as vague as possible, he still openly states what he wants for Lin Kuei and himself, while his brothers cling to "tradition" and "father said so" but won't present any countrarguments why those things should matters. Which is a major problem, as both sides want different things and can't find a common ground to agree on.

So no, I don't think Tomas was at fault in this scene, at least not in the sense he wanted to hurt Bi-Han by bringing father into discussion, the same as I don't think Bi-Han should be harsher. What they should have done was to talk about the issue in peace and work out the solution, but alas they weren't given a time nor opportunity until it was too late.