#But the *reblog or you are bad person ruining fandom* is more likely to have opposite effect?

[nonbinaryeye]

Without reblogging I give like to a post telling me to stop liking stuff and start reblogging them. It's not a bad message but the comical hypocrisy of doing so was just too tempting.

[daincrediblegg]

no you know what I'm going to scream about the stuff I talked about in the tags of this post publicly

I'm tired of the well-meaning "don't feel bad if your work only gets 20 notes your genius is what counts and do it for you!" bullshit. I've had a good handful of friends who have straight up DEACTIVATED in recent months because their work was not getting reblogged AT ALL. No, it wasn't from lack of not being well-liked, no it wasn't from lack of trying to make sure it was getting out there to the people they knew would engage with it. It was because no matter how much they were praised privately for their work, when push came to shove, absolutely NOBODY reblogged it and gave it the audience that it was due, and I'm tired of people shoving the "unsung genius" narrative as an excuse for it. Nothing excuses that. And the boop event really proved that.

because I know given the opportunity, indiscriminately pressing a button (sometimes 10 thousand times, as I did) is not beyond this website's capability. y'all loved doing that. and look at what it wrought. nothing but love and affection and happiness. just from a couple of quick clicks of a little paw button. sure. nobody knew who you booped but the other person (which is how likes used to work on this website, btw). there was an element of anonymity to it. but that is kind of the core of this website that no other social media platform still has: the ability to be anonymous. and hyper-curating a blog on here like you might on twitter or instagram to project an image is simply not viable. and hey. you wanna know a secret: literally nobody cares what you post or whether it goes with the "theme" of your blog or not. yeah. I know. CRAZY concept in this day and age. but literally. I myself have reblogged things that have had nothing to do with whatever I am currently fixated by and you know what happened to my follower count? not a damn thing. in fact, I actively try to reblog things specifically BECAUSE it's my friends who made them (even though I'm not always good at KEEPING UP WITH HOW MUCH THEY POST @prismatica-the-strange will NEVER GO UNRECOGNIZED by me).

And you know what fucking sucks? I have to deal with this too. surprise right? you ever wonder why I reblog fics or art I post like 20 times the day that I post them? do you ever wonder why I ask about tag lists and beg for asks all the time? IT'S BECAUSE EVEN I GET LIKE. 5 LIKES ON THE THINGS I POST. AND THE REST OF THE REBLOGS ARE MINE SO I CAN MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE WHO WANT TO SEE WHAT I MAKE GET TO SEE IT. and I say that knowing that I'm certainly not an unpopular blog, or an unpopular writer. I know that people love the stories that I create. Hell, half of the people that I've talked to about lady terror have told me that they consider her to be canon (AND EVEN SOME!! THOUGHT SHE WAS!!! WITHOUT EVEN HAVING WATCHED THE SHOW! WHICH IS STILL SO SO WILD TO ME!!!) But especially in the last 4 years (which really dates this phenomenon), my posts, no matter how well received they've been amongst people I've talked to about them directly, I still go into the notes and at least half (often more than half) are MY reblogs to make sure people saw what I posted. and it happens every single time, and I can't tell you how much it crushes me considering that it used to be that I would be able to post it only once, and people would reblog it sometimes even HUNDREDS of times.

It's not about popularity. it never has been. it's not about anxiety. or shifting website cultures. even if you lurk, the simple fact is, that if you want people to keep making what you love. you have to reblog. your theme won't suffer because you reblogged a fanfiction that you really admire. your posting won't be ruined because you reblogged some fanart from someone in a different fandom. really. I promise. and if people do unfollow you for that? who needs em. followers come and go but you should NEVER have to cater to them. on this website it has ALWAYS been the other way around. lean into it. make it yours. put stuff you ACTUALLY WANT to be seen and that you love and appreciate on your blog. no matter how old it is, how new it is, no matter how niche or off-theme it is.

so please. if you really want to show your appreciation for someone's work? you reblog. it's really as easy as that. check the tags. add some when you reblog if you like. but please for the love of god reblog. it's as easy as booping and even more rewarding for the people who you reblog from. if you want to let someone know that their work is genius and appreciate it? show it. reblog. then DM them if you're too nervous to say what you want to say but not in a public forum. but for christ's sake. REBLOG.

[hideawaysis]

hello. absolutely hate involving myself in fandom drama, but ifeel this is an important post to make as i have seen a lot of people taking a certain post at face value and believing it.

im referring to this one, made by @/realultimatehater

now, before i say these things, i feel the need to preface this by saying that i do not personally wish to align myself in this fandom debate. i am a tax-paying adult and do not have any energy or time to put into arguing about a tv show on the internet. nonetheless, i have seen people blindly spreading this post around and i feel this needs to be addressed.

this person is lying.

it feels like it should be obvious with the levels of "down with cis bus" energy pulsating off of this, but it's a huge fucking lie.

this person is a known harasser and has targeted children in the past. they will do anything, and i mean ANYTHING to rack up attention and internet points. they have made bold claims like this with little to no evidence in the past all so they can garner more hatred for certain fandoms on the internet. testimonies here and here, and some pretty damning screenshots here.

i advise you all to stop reblogging the post ive shown. it's disinformation, a story fabricated to direct more vitriol towards a fandom with little to no proof that it can somehow make people like this or attract people like this. this person is either a troll or just plain deranged. please stop believing what they say.

tags added for reach.

edit: i received an anonymous ask giving me extra information on this topic, apparently this person is in fact an internet troll who has gone under countless aliases and will often fake identities in order to ruin the reputations of others. more information here and here.

edit 2: another anon ask gave me a preserved version of a post from realultimatehater's first account, showing how they'd crop screenshots of dms in order to make it look like they were being harassed for simply having a negative opinion on hazbin hotel. here's the post, though do know the reblog is from a supporter of them, make of that what you will. here's another version of the post ifound showing how they'd bait people into saying these kinds of things in order to make them look bad. and here's another one! wow!

i also found a few asks showing how this person would literally approach hazbin fans and just blatantly insult them, rather than blocking them. because yeah, when you detest a fandom, you clearly must stir up conflict! that'll keep them away from you! said asks can be viewed here and here

edit 3: the anon i received telling me realultimatehater was an internet troll who'd been trolling people for years apparently was not being truthful, this does not discredit the other evidence ive listed but id really appreciate if people would stop spreading that ask around. ive removed the link to the ask, sincere apologies to anyone affected by that

[runnning-outof-time]

K!! Super congrats on your 3.5k babe - so well deserved 🙌🏼 Thank you for being a beacon of loveliness and positivity in our little fandom ♥️

I’d love to play your blurb game so how about: Forget I ever said that? With Tommy (obvs 🤭). Feels like it could be teasing or angsty but dealers choice, you decide how the spirit moves you, xx

Thanks for sending this in and for your kind words, Alex! I’m sorry it took me a bit to get to it! I hope this is what you were envisioning and that it makes sense. Enjoy! :)

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! - YOUR COMMENTS & REBLOGS HELP ME WRITE!

Part of my 3.5k Celebration — find more stories here!

A Contingency Plan

Tommy Shelby x Reader

Warnings: smoking

Word Count: 878

Summary: (Y/N) lets Tommy know her thoughts on how he’s decided to operate now.

“So…” Tommy Shelby trailed off, tapping the ash off of the cigarette that was perched between his fingers without breaking eye contant, “what will it be?”

“What do you mean, Mr. Shelby?” (Y/N) (Y/L/N) asked, confused by the sudden proposition. She moved forward to sit at the edge of her seat, waiting on bated breath to hear what her boss had to say next.

He stared at her for a moment (which felt like eternity to her), sitting still as his cigarette sent a plume of smoke up to the ceiling. She wanted to melt under his gaze. The sounds coming from bar packed full of patrons were now miles away. It was now only him and her in this small room.

“You came in here to speak to me. Sought me out outside of business hours. Why?” he asked her, his voice making her bubble break and everything come flooding back in.

(Y/N) wrung her hands together under the table. She hoped he didn’t catch her nervous demeanor. She wanted to come across as confident, as the person who could finally cut through the cold exterior that Thomas Shelby had built up since the last woman he got involved with took off for New York. But being under his intense gaze now had her wondering if maybe she should abort her mission and just continue being his secretary.

“Well, Mr. Shelby, I’ve been thinking…” she started off, pausing as she tried to gather her words.

“Thinking about what?” his impatience was starting to show through his otherwise collected nature. He had a list of things on his mind at the moment, and if she wasn’t here to speak about what he was hoping she was, he didn’t have any time for it.

“What you said to me a few days ago…about what you saw in me,” she answered, her voice wavering as she uttered the second half of her statement. His eyes were still zeroed in on her, and she felt like she was going to crack under his gaze even more so now than before.

“Oh,” he titled his chin upwards slightly at her statement, showing his intrigue in the situation. “And what will it be?” he asked again, telling her that the final decision was still in her hands.

(Y/N) hated that he was doing this. For a man who so clearly knew what he wanted, and never shyed away from making it known, he sure was playing it close to the tape right now. “You don’t have anything you’d want to ask me?” she tried to flip the question back onto him; put the decision back in his hands.

“I’ve already laid everything out to you. The choice is yours,” he responded in a nonchalant manner, showing her that she wasn’t going to get even an inch of wiggle room in this situation.

His response irritated her. In an instant, all of her nervousness was swapped for frustration, and she was no longer worrying about her demeanor and how it’d make him think of her.

“You know I don’t like the man you’ve turned into,” she started, speaking in a resolute tone now. The switch made Tommy furrow his brows at her. “I don’t like what you’ve become, Tommy. Gra…” she paused, the thought of even speaking that woman’s name putting a bad taste in her mouth, “that woman, she ruined you. Completely, utterly ruined you. And maybe it’s for the better overall, but I can’t see it. Because it’s not better for me. You think you’re better for now giving me a choice on whether or not I’d want to warm your bed…like you’d be completely removed from the situation if it all blows up. That’s not what I want, that’s never what I wanted. I just wish you saw what you see in me now before she sauntered into your life. Because maybe then I wouldn’t feel like I’m just a contingency plan,” she paused then, taking a deep breath and holding it as she realized what she’d just said.

She’d been around the Shelby family since the beginning of Tommy’s push to make things legit. She helped in any way possible because she believed in him and what he was trying to do. His ambition was one of the many things that made him attractive in her eyes, but she tried so hard to keep her personal interests out of it and stick with the business. Now that he seemed to be interested in her the way she had always been interested in him, she just couldn’t will herself to go for it. This was not what she had been imagining…it was the complete opposite of how she wished it would go.

Tommy kept his eyes locked on her as he let her words settle into his mind. She was standing from her seat before he could even think of something to say in response.

“You know what…” she paused, a look that was somewhere between shocked and disgusted now present on her face, “forget I ever said that.” And with that, she turned and opened the door to the snug, exiting the small room and Tommy Shelby’s life at the same time.

**I’m trying to add the taglist in as a reblog in hopes that the notification will actually be sent out.

MASTERLIST

[themotherofhorses]

Hi guys, it's Vic! Also known as:

Round TWO at addressing the extreme racism in the CoD fandom!

So it’s both odd and funny that my Indigenous fem!OC has pissed off so many random people, especially with the fact that I created her to ship with Ghost.

(A fictional character that has NO canon love interest, FYI. Sorry to bust y'all's little bubble. Well, there's Mara and Urban Tracker....)

Anyways, I really don't care if this post sounds bitchy in nature. I really don't, not anymore. Some of y'all need a damn wakeup call. Several months ago, in December of 2023, I made a post (here) regarding the sudden influx of hate I began receiving following the posting of my OC, SilentDove Reyes. For around two weeks after that post, the hate died down, and I felt motivated to create more content involving Dove and Ghost.

Until the hate picked up again with every little thing I posted that related to my OC x Ghost.

However....this new hate incorporated the MMIW. A bold ass move, in my opinion.

If you are not aware, the MMIW stands for "Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women." Alternate spellings include the MMIWG & MMIWGTS (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirits). As of 2023, statistics indicate that Indigenous women face a 10x murder rate than any other race/ethnicity. I have made a previous post regarding the issue, seen here. The unfortunate truth is that young Indigenous girls are more likely to be SA'd and murdered than to attend college. Let that sink in for a moment.

Now, I am an Indigenous woman. That is no surprise there; I fashioned my OC to provide myself (and, by extension, others) with Native representation in a franchise I greatly enjoy. What IS surprising, however, is that me doing so has pissed off so many people. I'm very certain some of y'all must descend from Andrew Jackson, or John Wayne cause, christ on a bike driven by a pike.

Here is a screenshot of a hate anon I recently received:

Listen, I don't care who you ship Ghost with. I really don't. I've blocked numerous shipping tags, remained mindful of the content I'm interacting with, and surrounded myself with fellow mutuals who also have personal OCs. It is really that easy.

What I do care about is the fact that some of you CANNOT separate fanon headcanons from canon material.

Exhibit A:

So let’s clear some stuff up!

Soap x Ghost is NOT canon.

Ghost being queer is NOT canon.

And, most definitely, Ghost being a woman abuser who would harm/abuse/murder a woman (either physically, emotionally, psychologically) is NOT canon.

What IS canon is his and Soap's strong bond. In my eyes, that is a brotherly bond, reminding me of a big brother/little brother relationship; in my fanfiction, Soap is Ghost's children's uncle. In fact, his son (second-born child) is named after him.

You are, of course, free to view them as romantic; what you are not free to do is attack OC creators/non-shippers for not perceiving them like that.

That is just fucking weird and delusional behavior. Knock it off. You're giving your fellow normal shippers a bad name.

ALSO! Let’s clear things up!

1. I’m not straight — I’m bisexual and demisexual.

2. I’m only half white (Spanish, with Mexican heritage). I’m QUITE LITERALLY an enrolled Native, so I guess the best way to describe me is “biracial.”

3. It’s y’all ruining the canon gay representation by shipping Laswell—a GAY woman—with Price, despite the fact that she canonically has a wife.

4. My OC does not have a “dumb fucking name.” Her name is an Indigenous name with a specific backstory to it; it’ll be explored further in future fanfics once I find the motivation to return to writing.

Anyways, I highly doubt this will be the last post I create regarding this problem; apparently, a nice chunk of the fandom has this intense animosity towards fem!OCs, fem!Y/Ns, and BIPOC!OC creators. Alright. With that being said, I invite anyone who has similar experiences to share yours, either in the reblogs or in separate posts.

As sometimes we say during pow wows:

“The floor is all yours.”

Thank you!

[wolfjackle-creates]

1000 Follower Celebration!

I'm blown away, honestly. The last time I had any notoriety in a fandom was back in, like 2007 or 2008 when I was on the Dibbuns Against Bedtime fan forums for Redwall. I was made the head of my dorm as the site started dying because I was the most active member in said dorm.

But you all? You're here because you like something I'm making? It's so wild to me. I appreciate every single one of you. Every like, every reblog, every comment. They warm me up.

I've been thinking over the last few days what I want to do. The obvious answers—prompt fills, polls to determine what I write, story snippets—I do all that with too much regularity. And I'm trying to avoid taking on more fics as I focus on the ones I've already got going.

So we're gonna do something a bit different this week.

Over the next week (From Wed 2/21 to Wed 2/28) send me the title of one of my WIPs (listed below) and I will respond with a few paragraphs. Not my usual 1.2-1.6k that I like to do for WIP Wednesday, but a few paragraphs. At the end of the week, I'll compile them all and post everything in a single post.

I won't be adding all the links like I usually do with each addition to a story until I post that final draft, but I'll tag everything with "[story name] 1000" so you can click that and follow along with the fic in some sort of order.

There are six WIPs eligible for the game! Please limit yourself to one fic per ask, but you may send in multiple asks. I will request that, for now, you limit yourself to one request per fic (aka a max of 6 requests per person). If I find that I'm able to keep up, I may waive that request in the upcoming days. But it will depend on how busy my inbox (and life) get.

Bring Me Home

Ghost!Robin

Answer My Call

I'll Carry Your Heart (Until I Find You Again)

Want to Hold On and Feel I Belong/Bad Reveal AU

Empathy!Verse

I totally forgot about the Empathy!Verse when I did my last ask game. Mostly because that has been entirely written on Tumblr and I...kinda forgot to transfer it to a Scrivener document. Ooops. 😅

Something to Feel isn't on this list because I want to dedicate my time to it today. I'm close to the end, I think, and already have one ask in my inbox about it that I totally meant to get to before now (if it's your ask, I promise I haven't forgotten you!).

Brief Story Summaries

Bring Me Home: Tim and Danny are online friends and know each other's secrets. Currently in the arc where the Young Justice and Team Phantom help Danny escape after a reveal gone wrong.

Ghost!Robin: Jason is haunted by the ghost of the Robin he used to be. Danny finds out when Jazz introduces him to Jason over a meet-the-in-laws dinner. Currently, Jason and Robin are meeting with Frostbite to learn what may have happened.

Answer My Call: Jazz is sending texts to Danny after he escaped a GIW facility and they can't talk. But it turns out Jason is the one who's actually been getting them.

Carry Your Heart: Jason and Danny meet in the Ghost Zone while Jason is dead. They become friends. But Jason runs to Desiree to wish for his life back. A wish she fulfills. Danny goes to visit him, only to find his core left behind in a lair that's in ruin.

Bad Reveal AU: Danny is living with the Waynes when he finds out they're also the Bats. He freaks out because he believes the bats are working with the government (aka the GIW). So he shoots Bruce and runs away. The bats are now trying to convince him it's safe to come home.

Empathy!Verse: Liminal!Jazz is studying in Gotham and feeling the lack of other liminals to interact with. After getting used to the undercurrent of emotion that follows all interactions with ghosts/liminals, humans just feel...flat. Then one day, she literally runs into another liminal as she's going to the library. Jason Todd. Only... he doesn't know what it means to be liminal. So Jazz is there to show him.

[blazinghotfoggynights]

Going through the 911 associated tags used to be fun.

Now it makes me sad, tense, and even angry.

It took less than two minutes of scrolling several different 911 related tags to see DOZENS of posts that were insulting other fandom groups, writers, actors or whoever, were seriously inflammatory, or, I'm going to be real about this, were just plain unhinged.

I've been in many different fandoms over many years. It was all about connecting, meeting cool people, and stoking the fires or creativity. Now it's ship wars and fighting. There are fandoms that are small and close-knit and, after decades, have never had any of this going on.

It's saddening to see how this fandom is devolving. A few people in every group are ruining the fandom for everyone else.

What is making it worse is that there are enablers defending them while accusing other groups in fandom of being "toxic" and "crazy".

Let's be rational about this:

1-Buddie and BuckTommy fandoms, both of you should be objective and honest. Both groups have members that are doing terrible things and making everyone look bad. If you are pointing the finger across the aisle but not at your fellow shippers who are behaving badly, you are not a part of the solution.

Only one person is going to choose what happens. No amount of fighting, whining, insults, namecalling, or whatever is going to get him to change his mind.

Can anyone who is brave look into HenRen, Madney, and Bathena posts and tell me if those tags are in chaos, too? Or are they safe havens for those who can enjoy all the different relationships? (Karen, Athena, and Maddie are badasses anyway. How can you not like them?)

2 Actor fandoms are involved wars?

Lou fandoms versus Ryan fandoms? Why are you arguing over two actors who are just doing what they are paid to do and that is say words in a script and play make-believe? Lou is not Tommy; Ryan is not Eddie. Tommy Kinard and Edmundo Diaz are not real and their actors are not necessarily anything like their characters.

Unless I know someone personally, there is no way I am defending anything they say or do. Why would I do that? I am going to take their actions at face value and move along. If it is especially ignorant or egregious, and I have a free moment, I call it out, say they are dumb, then be on my way. Why? Their personal and political beliefs don't influence me.

There is one member of the regular cast who said some very egregious and ignorant things as themselves and did some things that come across as antagonistic at best. The actions and statements were, imho, offensive and Indefensible, yet the attention on it vanished quickly and even the people who called them out are now friendly with them again. I probably would distance myself from that person permanently, but that's just me.

Now, there is a recurring character who said some things that has fandom riled. I have to look into it more.

But so? They are people, meaning they have some beliefs that are cool and some that suck. I just need them to bring the characters to life to get the story told then go home.

Actors engaging in questionable behavior is not the same as the character an actor portrays being a canonical douchebag. You have to blame the writers for what the characters do.

One is real; the other is just a figment of someone's imagination.

I used to scroll through the tags to get away from the stress and BS of the day real life brings. If I want a headache or stress, I can get that IRL in seconds.

It was nice to spend my down time looking at cool fanart, clips, fic excerpts, prompts, metas, or whatever. The responses and reblogs were full of hilarious quips and reactions. It was just fun.

Now?

Is it now impossible to have the fandom we knew and loved back?

[ace--of-all-trades]

Hey!

I’m Ace/Monday the Jester! Just a silly little guy trying my best.

(banners below were designed by @lgbtq-userboxes they have loads on their blog go check them out <3)

fun picrews for you as you found my page :3

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Fandoms:

Good Omens • The Sandman • Percy Jackson • BBC Ghosts • Sherlock • Jujitsu Kaisen • My Hero Academia • Bungou Stray Dogs • Sky Children of the Light • Cult of the Lamb • Legend of Zelda • Undertale • MCU • Pokemon

================================================

I have an side blog, @ace-of-poets

What I do there (and take prompts for):

art • creative writing • poetry • book recommendations • headcanons and lore dumps

I have many OCs that I would love to talk about if prompted, but I probably won’t make art of most of them. something something anxiety about ruining them for myself.

And I don’t draw smut but I will draw gore :)

================================================

My tags:

#ace writes - text posts or anything with text • #ace draws - any of my drawings • #ace answers - answering asks • #ace’s (bad) mental health - mental health • #jester approved - good posts to keep ya going

below is the closest I can get to me irl~

⬆️~image above is from adrisona maker~⬆️

⬆️~image above is from little guy maker~⬆️

⬆️~image above is from potato lord’s maker~⬆️

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Triggers (please do not mention around me):

tongues • veins • paper cuts • slugs • wrists • throats/necks

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DNI:

homophobia • transphobia • xenophobia • racism • sexism • porn

fuck jkr

free Palestine 🇵🇸

free Ukraine 🇺🇦

===============================================

Moots <3:

@loveisaseriousmentaldisease: my irl I love her very much

@tinksro: also my irl. Literally only reblogs and likes but I still love her

@paloma-ascends-into-hellfire: my silly Canadian bestie. Doesn’t know what a sleep schedule is. Love her

@cycloneseven: aussie. devoted. love you

@redmegarex: fucking freak (affectionate) a bit silly and the about really says it all

@allum3r: wonderful friend i met playing Sky, really nice and kind. posts incredible sky photos on her blog

@samijami: funny, probably needs a hug. love them very much :3

@distinctlyrevived: gorgeous poetry. wonderful blog.

@starry-eyed-darling: is probably gorgeous irl based off of vibes. lovely blog

@bookscorpion73: one of my oldest moots! dont interact much but they r very cool :)

@throatofdelusion12: jonathan sims. i dont know beyond that

@belabeya: me but emo. love u <3

@lobrac: has unfortunately destroyed Venezuela

@4chn: fabulous and amazing artist. Want to eat the art

@midnight-soulless-system: very polite peddler of souls. doesn’t give themselves enough credit (you guys are lovely)

[abyssleaves]

Why I'll Be Remaining in the Lurking For Love Community

Ok.

Honestly, I really don't want to make this.

I'm way too old for fandom drama, and I don't need to be making myself a target. My gut is telling me that it's a bad idea to get involved, and I'm inviting trouble for myself by posting this.

But the most recent post against Tom is just ridiculous and I can't not speak my piece.

I'm not linking to it or reblogging it because I don't want to send hate anyone's way, and honestly because I'm going to block them as soon as this is posted. You can read mine and theirs for yourself and decide what you think.

As far as the “anti-Latino” posts that Tom liked, I can't speak to whether they do damage, or what Tom’s views actually are. I am not Latino, and I'm not Tom. It's not my place. But I will say I was aware of those posts long before I saw that “callout” post, and it's because multiple Latino artists I follow liked and retweeted them. At the time, I was given to understand that they were satirizing the fact that both were styles of stereotypes, but one was acceptable while the other was not, despite both being bad. I can't say, based on just those tweets, that I see any anti-Latino sentiment in Tom. I'm willing to admit that my knowledge on that front isn't bomb-proof.

The second point, well... I'm sorry to the friend that feels used. They're entitled to be hurt. And I will readily admit that I'm only able to respond to the info within that post. Maybe there IS more to it.

But I don't think that Tom ceasing contact over the hormones is surprising at all, from a mental health standpoint. Put yourself in his shoes: you're a trans person in US, which is its own struggle, and you've reached your mid/early 20s without being able to attain gender-affirming care. Now someone years younger than you just got the thing you want more than anything else. Sure, you might be happy for them. But that is also going to hurt, horribly. You really have three options:

1) stay friends and smother the bitterness/possible resentment. That will either end up ruining your mental health, or coming out and ruining the friendship anyway.

2) Ask your friend not to tell you/post about their transition. That makes it about you and also ruins something that should make them happy.

3) Distance yourself.

Maybe he should have spoken more directly with you about his feelings, granted. But, Tom has not been shy about the fact that he struggles with his mental health. None of us handle every situation well. As far as his occasional venting, I would think, if you WERE his friend, you might have some compassion, and either cease contact if the friendship is not fulfilling, or accept his sincere, well-written apology (Which are the ONLY words straight from Tom’s mouth on the entire fucking post).

Instead, you got the apology from him, and then shared a bunch of gossip between you and another friend, and outed your interpretations of his vent sessions to the world. That's not exactly classy, posting about how he sought people he felt safe with during a time when a big chunk of the community he built is telling him to do horrible things to himself.

I want to make it clear that I don't agree with all of Tom’s views as expressed on his initial explanation post. Again, many of them are issues that I don't feel are my place to get involved in, and therefore I stayed quiet at the time.

I'm aware that the justified and intense hurt felt by people in those communities can mean that even differing opinions feel like a slap in the face. You have every right to see Tom’s views as hurtful and choose to leave, and/or make a separate community for support. I don't blame people who are in those communities for doing so. This post is aimed at the obsessed minority that won't leave the tag/remaining fans/Tom alone.

All of the above being said, the reaction to Tom’s post is the most “touch grass” thing I have ever seen.

Tom liking one or two comics from a dark-humor comic artist so widespread on the internet that I didn't even know he had an actual page, or anything about him as a person (something Tom also stated) = Tom is a Nazi sympathizer.

Tom saying “I don't care for neopronouns, but I won't attack you for using them and will respect what everyone wants to be called” = Tom is a monstrous bigot.

The racism accusation has me especially 💀. All because he liked a post about help from an unexpected source and that we should be kinder to each other.

How on earth are you going to tell a POC that he doesn't know what racism is because he’s NOT THE RIGHT KIND OF POC? Do you hear yourself?

(FWIW, I also don't agree with kink at pride. Sorry. LGBTQ+ people are not "narsty little freaks"--yeah I SAW that post--they're people. They can be kinky, they can be vanilla, whatever. Kink has nothing to do with your orientation, and therefore it isn't part of Pride. Also, my guys, if you're having public sex/being nude at pride for kink reasons, then you're not part of the healthy kink community: safe, sane, and CONSENSUAL. Nobody around you consented to that. Similarly, while I feel that sex education for minors should be normalized in order to give them better tools to tell when they're being groomed, seeing strangers with no pants on is NOT education, that's involving minors in your fetish. And that's fucking gross. )

The LGBTQ+ community in the US is in a lot of trouble right now, and we have a very bad habit of eating our own. We divide and subdivide and allow ourselves to be carved up by a united conservative front.

We do not allow for differing levels of leftist beliefs, and we constantly accuse each other of being not POC/leftists/queer enough, or being the wrong kind, or using a term for ourselves that some other individuals don't like. A great deal of the bullying leveled against him is justified by others saying that he's choosing to support a party that will turn on him and cause him and others like him harm.

Well, to be honest, the only community I see doing that right now is this one.

The amount of disingenuous “OMG, just FYI everyone to everyone hurt by [situation], I’M not transphobic/a bigot, you're all welcome here 😌” posts from people, who did not read his post, did not link to or quote his post. Disgusting. You know very well that nothing in his explanation or in his actions throughout his time in the community pointed to any abuse ON HIS PART towards trans people, non-binary people, people of the Jewish faith, or POC. You're virtue signaling, you're putting lambs blood above your door to keep the baying mob away.

This is insane. When did differing opinions turn into this? You don't have to agree with Tom’s views on anything. You're welcome to not follow his accounts, not like his art, not buy his game. If you feel that his opinions are too severely different from yours, you should be allowed to leave the fandom without people telling you that you should do bad things to yourself because your opinions don't match theirs (sound familiar?).

But…please. Can we stop with this awful parasocial obsession with his personal page? You can't lie to yourself and call it anything other than literal stalking. It's creepy as hell, and it reflects more on you than on him, in the long run. People might agree with your outrage, but deep down, they're afraid of being the next target, and they stay quiet out of fear that you'll stalk them next and send a mob hurling abuse their way.

To Tom, I'm sorry that this happened to you. You didn't deserve anything even close to this level of vitriol and abuse. You started from scratch and created a character and story that I feel was something truly unique. You reached an incredible number of people's hearts with Lurking for Love and Jacob, and no matter what happens from here with both of them, you deserve to feel proud of that. I hope that you are ok. Being a public figure on the internet doesn't mean you don't have a right to private opinions or even just general privacy.

I'm not tagging any characters in this. I'm only tagging the game because I hope other fans get to see that they're not alone. I don't believe the tags should be polluted this way. If you have to discuss a creator, it should be in his tag and not in a fandom space.

I'm aware that there will be deliberate bad-faith readings of this, or nitpicking of things I didn't cover. Whoever wants to, go ahead and respond, but I've said what I came to say, and I have nothing more to add. My inbox is closed and I love the block button.

[utilitycaster]

Whoaaaa holy shit something just snapped into place reading you mention the concept of creating a shape of negative space bc i've been thinking so long abt the "unspoken things/quiet part" of characters. I've often had this feeling that fandom will go a million and nine yards to red string board an ocean of depth for their favorite blorbo over.... what comes down to what's technically extrapolating based off of xyz canon, but said canon will be like "this character fidgets once, half his dialogue is quoting an in-universe play he tries to recreate (by ruining ppl's lives), and he doesn't understand why someone wouldn't want to be called a monster, therefore he is AUTISTIC and that drives his logic," or "this character has xyz vague background and is TRAUMATIZED because of WAR" inventing an entire character and it's like. Oh boy. This might be a matter of not being invested enough in these characters to TRY and delve so "deep" but I keep thinking that none of this is actually. written or feels purposeful in the context of How Storytelling Works/the Narrative to MAKE me invest or think that it's worth doing so. I always wonder how many people are trying so hard to project a better story onto something without understanding that the story actually needs to BE THERE and ADDRESSED, even subtly, and token moments aren't enough. But then that gets me thinking about how Thereness needs to exist for something to be subtle but written as opposed to Conspiracy off loose projection.

I was kinda thinking abt Laudna and how to use her as an example, because she's one of those characters for whom like, yeah I as a person totally understand the cycle of being upbeat and normal and everything and then having a random spiral of Bad Upstairs before being normal again, but narratively how do you portray that and why does everyone do it so much better than her. With equal screentime, everyone feels like they have so much more meat to their motivations and psychology despite some being significantly less fraught backstory wise. What's happening here because things just feel like they come out of nowhere with her with "oh so that matters all of a sudden?"

Hi anon,

Yes to all of this! With regards to your first paragraph - I feel that a lot too. It's a tricky situation because I think it's completely valid to project things onto characters and imagine them to have specific qualities that either you have or simply that you wish to see in fiction. It only becomes difficult in a fandom sphere when people insist that this is a fully evidence-based endeavor and not a personal interpretation (especially because a lot of that evidence is, as you say, either very much open to interpretation, or else totally spurious. The number of times I've had to shoo people off my posts for talking extensively about how an immensely self-absorbed character who never thinks about others unless forced to clearly has ADHD...but I digress). And as for the conspiracy element, especially when works aren't as good - absolutely. If you haven't read this, which I reblogged a few weeks ago (has Good Omens 2 spoilers) I highly recommend you do because what you're saying resonates a lot with OP's post, both in terms of our need as fans to project or find similarities with characters, and the fact that when people are disappointed by a work sometimes they try to create a better one, but instead of just writing fanfiction and calling it fanfiction they go full conspiracy theorist and assume there's some secret twist, and fall so hard into that all-crumbs-no-schnitzel (to borrow a metaphor from that post) fanon echo chamber they forget it is, in fact, only fanon.

Which brings us to Laudna. Before I go deeper I want to cover three things. First: for me at least, this criticism comes because I know Marisha is capable of doing this negative space work. It didn't come up much with Keyleth since we kind of knew her whole deal very early (which, to be clear, is valid; not every character needs this), but it's present with both Beau (her relationship to her father is masterfully done; the hallmark of good negative space work is that when the reveal comes you say oh of course) and to a lesser extent Patia, who, like all the Calamity characters, conveys a story much greater than the one that unfolds over a single night. Second: I think part of why a number of us in the fandom are so frustrated is that we have been doing that work of generously interpreting Laudna since the beginning, but nothing ever sticks, so it's becoming less and less worth the effort.

I'd have to go back through my archives pretty extensively, but early on, the going expectation for Laudna was that she would explore the idea of being one of the bystanders in a larger story as someone killed simply because of a passing resemblance to someone the Briarwoods wished to send a message to; that we'd get insight into Whitestone during the occupation from someone who wasn't freed by Vox Machina but rather killed, indirectly, because of them. However, not only have we not gotten that, but she also was chosen for being special: Delilah chose her as a vessel because of her inherent sorcery. So then it was perhaps about that tension between finding power in her sorcery vs. warlock levels - Pâté seemed like a clear setup for Pact of the Chain, after all - but then Marisha admitted she had no intention of taking that third warlock level, and always just planned to play Laudna as exclusively leveling in sorcerer, until FCG attacked. And meanwhile, there's no exploration of those sorcery powers, either.

Speaking only for myself, I've been interrogating "hey, why is her backstory that she was chased out of everywhere but for the most part everyone is mostly fine with her?" and "in 30 years she did nothing about Delilah? Really?" for quite some time. There's a number of questions that are not just unanswered, but lack the hints that this negative space work would provide. And to be clear there are ways to explain those things! This meta does a good job of talking through why she may have been chased out, and I've floated, in the past, that even Delilah's unwelcome presence was better than the absolute silence of being truly alone. But the work to support these fandom theories, again, is not really being done at the table, and moreover, even if it starts being done...it's episode 70. It should have come up in some capacity.

Marisha said (to be clear, somewhat jokingly) in the 2022 ComicCon panel that "Yeah. I don't want to think anymore. I'm tired," re: Laudna but the thing is...honestly, in my opinion? A character with Laudna's premise requires far more work than Beau or Keyleth to do well. Not only is she tied into one of the most famous events and entwined with one of the most famous villains of Campaign 1, but she's got 50 years of backstory! Beau and Keyleth are in their early 20s! (I could make a whole other post about this but character intelligence does not equal how hard they are to play; Imogen is an immensely tough concept that Laura's doing a good job with and she's lower INT than Laudna. I'd rather play a wizard than a character like Grog any day of the week because I genuinely believe that the acting burden for making a character like Grog sympathetic and believable without going into cheap mockery and parody is immense).

Going back to that statement, it really does feel as though every 4-Sided Dive episode or panel, when Marisha talks about Laudna, it's always just that she was envisioned as being over her trauma, and the premise was always just "make that creepy girl from her nightmare". And even then: it's fine if she'd done that - simply made a creepy character who was here to be creepy and cheerfully macabre - but through gameplay it's become clear that Laudna is not over that trauma (her arrested development being one of many options), and has acquired new traumas to boot, and for that matter never was really over it given that she displays intensely but they come up so inconsistently that there's never any follow-through. I agree with you completely that the idea of her often seeming fine and happy and then having spirals is believable and true to life, but one does need to actually follow through on the spirals - I think a lot of us finally threw up our hands when Laudna's believable, well-played, and justifiable anger and resentment after being thrown across the world away from half the party, essentially pushed into a fight that isn't her own, being betrayed by Bor'Dor, and feeling Delilah's return melted away without resolution. If you want to make a character who's over their trauma and go-with-the-flow, I feel as though step 1 is to not have an eternal reminder of one's trauma permanently stuck in one's head. "Warlock who dislikes their patron" is actually a premise that requires quite a lot of thinking and effort, and we are consistently not seeing it.

I think what's most telling is that the defense of Laudna for the weird freakout this past episode is both vehement, and in conflict with itself. Is Marisha just making a joke (that didn't really land with anyone at the table nor much of the fandom, and was taken at least semi-seriously by both)? Or is it actually great and good that Laudna is incredibly traumatized and clingy and we should all hope she becomes even more clingy and codependent? When even the people who are shielding Laudna from even a whisper of criticism can't agree what Marisha's doing, it's pretty dire, especially when that criticism is "this character feels directionless and incoherent."

So getting back to negative space: It's my hunch that there just...wasn't a lot of clarity to Laudna's motivations, and the questions in her backstory weren't answered. She's creepy and she's kooky, Sun Tree corpse, Delilah in her head, met Imogen two years ago, was friends with a little girl at some point (which we only know from 4-Sided Dive, which is, to be clear, bad that it's never come up in-game). We don't know how she feels about her sorcery powers other than a vague enjoyment of their creepiness...but she also sees them as a way out from Delilah...but she also barely engages with Delilah and hasn't done anything to get rid of her. We have no sense of how she got to "the worst thing that's happened to me already happened" because while it's completely fair to play her as feeling that way 30 years later, I highly doubt she felt that way as she cut herself down from the Sun Tree. So as a result, it's hard to pick a direction because that foundation is lacking.

The thing about that negative space is that to do it well, you really need to know what you're trying to convey. Which is also why, as you say, characters with much simpler backstories are fine; Fearne was basically hanging out at her grandmother's place until EXU and her parents left when she was very young; she is curious about her parents and loves her grandmother and is a chaotic fey entity who was sent into the Material Plane with the Weave Lens, and mostly she just wants to explore and have fun and hang out with her friends. Ashley just needs to...play Fearne like that, which she does with aplomb. The complex setup for Laudna demands a huge number of answers in the backstory, and my guess is that Marisha does not have them. I think the problem isn't with the acting (in fact, I'm fairly confident it isn't, because, again, I know from past characters Marisha can do this); it's that Laudna's concept prioritized the aesthetic, mechanics, and facts of the backstory, and didn't adequately fill in her beliefs and motivations, so she's just flailing. I also suspect from the most recent 4-Sided Dive and the most recent SDCC panel that Marisha is specifically looking for interparty conflict, and to be clear that's valid...but again, to do that believably and well, Laudna's philosophy and motivations and characterization need to be much more clearly established than they are.

[rogerzsteven]

Off My Chest

I don't know if you know (at this point I'd be surprised if you don't), but I've been living hell for the past 4 days.

Two big earthquakes hit ten cities of Turkey on 6th of Feb, 4.17 am (one city being the city I live in and one being my hometown + where my relatives and family friends live), and the aftermath is devastating to say the least.

I am hurt, I am tired, I am mentally exhausted, I am upset, I am scared and sad and always on edge in case something happens.

Some of my relatives lost their homes, some of my aquaintances, family members, friends lost their lives, and there are thousands, thousands of people still stuck under the rubble, either dead or waiting for someone to find them under the rubble.

If, they are able to be found.

My hometown is dust. The places I've spent my childhood no longer exist. Everything is wrecked.

The supplies aren't enough, the weather is freezing and help is too slow.

Death toll is more than 16,000 and rising, and at this point I can't help but to think I was just at the right place at the right time and it was luck.

When I first started reblogging those donation posts about Turkey, I had high expectations of the possible traction in general, but mainly of the fandom I'm currently in. I thought this fandom was in unity when I used to see blogs, many blogs reblogging the posts of the ones in rough condition asking for help, whether it's individual or for a good cause. Because that's what fandom means, right? A community to support and lift each other up on good and bad days. To show that we are there for each other even if it's through the screen.

I was wrong.

I was not expecting the immense lack of support from the fandom that is supposed to be big, helpful and full of 'activists'.

Not only have I barely seen donation/support posts appearing on my dash from people I follow or my mutuals, but the ones I've seen are reblogged from me by the same handful of people over and over again.

Don't get me wrong, no one is obligated to reblog or show support, life goes on and people move on, but isn't it hypocritical when the same blogs who are very much outspoken and active and even accuse others of staying disinterested when it comes to fandom discourse or situations that have direct impact on them in one way are now completely silent and act like nothing is happening when it comes to something like this?

My people are DYING. And you care about— what, polls? Fandom speculations?

Good for you.

Is it too much to reblog a few times so others can see it? Would your blog's aesthetic get ruined?

Or do you just not give a shit and only show your performative side when it gets you likes and followers?

I see all of you, and I will not forget this.

I don't think I will post donation posts as frequently as I did before from now on because I want to feel some sense of normalcy on tumblr but before I go, since there is a handful of mutuals/ online friends who kept reblogging my posts, I would like to thank them individually from the bottom of my heart.

@monsterrae1 @swiftiediaz @buddierights @prettyboybuckley : You guys. The support you guys have shown from day one. Every day. I love you. You pure souls.

@kananjarus : You. YOU. I have no words. I want to cry just thinking about what you've done. No words are enough.

@copyninjakura : You are a good hearted person. I love you. Thank you for your constant check ins and reblogs.

@rxdscarf : Not once you've let me down. 5+ years of friendship and I am so grateful. I am lucky.

@skyhighrollins911 : You've always been there to see how I am and how things are. Thank you, I love you so much.

@stagefoureds : Sabahın köründe beni telefonla aradın ya, sen muhteşem bir detaysın.

@bievanbuckley : The Greek to my Turk, ben seni sevdiğimi dünyalara bildirdim.

@ricoka : You're not in the fandom, but thank you my girl.

@spotsandsocks & @the-likesofus : Thank you for being concerned about me.

@buddiefication : We've been following each other for what— days? You don't even know me, and yet you kept reblogging each post from day one. I am so thankful. Thank you, friend.

@alyxmastershipper : Again, from day one, you kept reblogging each support post. THANK YOU.

@jobairdxx @swiftiebuckleys @mandzuking17 @thebestbooksaround @allysghostinthemachine @scifiromance7 @daughterofbuddie @maybeicanbesaved @colonoscopys @verylazyanimal : Thank you for reblogging many times.

[cupids-chamber]

PLEASE READ

LET'S TALK, I've done this rant before but it seems people can't take a hint. Thought I'm grateful to receive attention, I think people need to learn the, ever so shocking truth.. that writers are people?!

Each time I release a fic, which is practically every day, I get my asks filled with requests, which is bothersome already, but it quite upsets me because in my pinned, it says and clearly states that my requests are closed. Not to mention that, you can clearly see that people legitimately don't read my pinned or rules when they send these requests (Yes I can tell, it's not that hard) and or the requests come off demanding, so instead of a request it sounds like an order.

Now you may be thinking, "Cupid, can't you just delete the requests?" To that I answer, yes and I have but you fail to see how this impacts me. I'm actually online, almost always and I do see your asks when you send them, but these sort of requests have deflated me to the point where I legit cant write anymore and or have the energy to talk with anyone. If you were to check my tumblr status, it would always say I'm online right now however, because of this happening frequently, it's ruining my personal tumblr experience and I've been here for about an year and have dealt with quite difficult situations, but it has never made me feel this bad.

Because, this shows how much respect an average fanfic writer lacks, please be kind to your writers and be polite when you requests, where artists are praised for their talent (They deserve all of it, I'm serious my artist friends have hands of God I tell you) and meme's/incorrect quote posts are almost always at the top of the tags with quite little effort compared to writing (I'm using the term compared, specifying this since people always find a way to cause a scene) and praised for being funny. Writer's are quite on the shelf when you think about it.

When requesting an art piece that is free, people make sure to ask rather politely and most of the times, they have something nice to say to the artist, once again they deserve it but compared to a writer who keeps requests open, even if they do commissions. We still lack this sort of respect, were providing free content, but it's much less appreciated then other things.

Let me provide another point, from my most popular deuce fic is a crackfic of Deuce discovering chocolate milk, didn't come from brown cows and my latest one is this a yandere fic with a wordcount of 2k, crackfics which took little to no effort on my part, is much more popular than a fic which I spent serious time and effort on. (Both are x readers)

And if that wasn't enough, let's touch the aspect of reblogs a bit.. (Reblogs are what help get posts on the top of tags and or attention in general) I've seen multiple blogs, which reblogged incorrect quote's and maybe even art (Mostly just twst incorrect quotes), but they don't reblog other works, (I'm not attacking meme blogs, they're funny as hell) but If you like something you should reblog it! (Including art), please I've seen many many good writers, fall down hill just because they don't get that attention, since they're so new! Hell I have side blogs other then my spam, in which I reblog a lot of writers & artists works, sometimes I'll reblog a particular post 5 times!

Since I'm going the rabit hole of everything wrong with how writers are treated compared to other contributors in fandoms.. new writers have to deal with ass, I was a new writer at one point, and I've had many side blogs that I do not share on my main blog, and I do not connect the two together. AND LET ME TELL YOU.. You have not seen disrespect when it comes to requests and asks, unless you are a new writer in huge and medium sized fandoms, small ones give you least amount of attention but they appreciate you since well the fandoms so dry of content!

Also nsfw writers, let's talk about them. (I'm not a Nsfw writer but I'm friends with a lot of them, and no I do not read adult blogs content, I only read their fluff, I respect that mdni sign with all my heart) JUST BECAUSE THEY WRITE NSFW DOESNT MEAN THEY'RE A PEDO, just because A WRITER IS 18 AND LIKES A CHARACTER WHO'S 17 DOES NOT MAKE THEM A PEDO, It's fictional, someone I knew got called a Pedo all over for liking Azul as a 18 year old, and they only wrote fluff for him. And also, just because they write Nsfw is not a valid reason to attack them, now if they wrote shotacon and you know things that generally is wrong then there is a reasonable reason to call them out? But when you attack someone for writing nsfw in general, and or hate of them for that. It's stupid, I've seen so many users genuinely hurt by the hate, and others play it off, but it really shouldn't be played off! Also by doing this, it takes away from the actual impact of the word pedo, it's a sensitive topic don't throw it around. Also on that note, many Nsfw writers are actually asexual! (From blogs I've seen in the past, and people I've met) so.. keep that in mind.

I'm beginning to see how off topic I went in this rant, but it's been eating me alive not talking about it. So let's talk about it.. If your against me in any part of this, and have an actual valid argument please feel free to inbox me about it, I know I may be in the wrong, it's just what I've personally seen and want to say, but I'd be more than happy to correct it, if I'm in the wrong. If I do get hate for mentioning this then I'll ignore you. (Most likely, unless I feel the need to add onto something or provide input/context to your ask)

Happy reading, enjoy your night/day!

EDIT: Just found out quick reblogging exists, what is your excuse now, like I'm genuinely asking. If reblogging hurts your precious aesthetic (I say, as I'm a very aesthetic oriented person.. make a side blog!)

[stevebabey]

I just read your x reader post (and the anon response to it) and good Lord you are right. I read your whole rant and I felt it in my bones!!

I've been in this damn app for over 10 years, and written for almost as many fandoms, and I'll say that the x reader tag has NEVER been this bad. It's not just st, it's nearly all of the ones I've seen and it's just gone down hill. It's really so fucking sad.

I was huge in the SVU fandom, and there were So! Many! Writers! We all reblogged eachothers fics and not everything had to be about sex to get notes! We LOVED when reader kissed the character for the first time because we understood that it was the yearning, the 'Oh God finally I'm having you' and not all about just fucking! God now even the most hastly written, shitty smut gets thousands of notes just because it's smut. It's so fucking disheartening. I've written a few things for st (one of which is the piece I'm most proud of, ever) and it got like, 100 notes on here. That's it, but I swear some 'popular' writers get so much traction just because they write smut poorly.

And not to sound like a boomer (cause I'm not a SWEAR) but the tik tok-ification of fandom and fanfic is ruining it! The lack of reading comprehension, the fact that reader has to be as description-less as possible or else "its not realalistic, I'd never do that, etc etc" makes me wanna rip my skin off. Fanfic used to be an outlet for so many people but the way its treated now makes it near unbearable.

(I'm so sorry I went on a rant you don't have to post this but just know that I agree with you 110%)

RANT! RANT! RANT! i’m so happy to hear people’s rant, i talk about these issues a lot with friends in dms and it’s very vindicating to hear it’s something that has bugged and annoyed more people than just me !

yes omg the way x reader fics have shifted over the last 10 years is INSANE— hearing that it’s not just stranger things unfortunately doesn’t make me feel much better lmao

i’ve picked this fight before back when i was in the spidey fandom because of this EXACT reason — where i was like hey…… sometimes things that have more notes….. are worse - because people have this insane thing where they will judge a fic? based on? its notes? and its like buddy how do u think a fic gets ANY notes if you act like that. truly its the worst, writers that are already big just keep getting boosted (even if they just write characters nasty fucking which is! ur prerogative! but it shouldnt be SUCH a factor in being popular/getting your fics read)

i’m not pointing fingers but yes i know a couple blogs that get HYPED because they both A) write smut constantly and B) write fast. and isn’t that just such a kicker if you can’t and don’t want to do those things? like even though it means nothing, there is no correlation between writing slow = bad writing, this site reflects that SO much because they never give that shit the notes it deserves

tiktok-ification god ur so right. it’s the way the mindset has shifted from these being wips, writing, pieces that you develop into instead content. consumable content. there’s such a disconnect between people that read shit tons of fic and the realisation that it’s produced by a person. they just hit the like button and go on anon to ask for an update and it’s like buddy it can’t work that way! the same way u like to read fic, writers want validation and engagement and questions and motivation!!! talk about biting the hand that feeds you 😭

[grabs ur shoulders and presses our foreheads together] we’re not crazy. it used to be better and we can make it better in time <3

[comradekatara]

if this comes off as a really weird and pretentious ask please just delete it but since iirc you've been in this fandom since 2019 or before 2019 i need to know . how do you deal with such in bad faith takes ??? i scroll & move on & filter tags as much as i can but it's astounding how anybody from any corner of this fandom will have piss poor takes whether they support canon or fanon

lmao not a bad question at all. some background context feels necessary: i’ve been very into atla since i was a kid, and before i used this blog i talked about it (and lok, because korrasami melted my brain) a lot on my primary blogs. in november 2018 i convinced my friend to start watching atla, and she got extremely into it. we talked about atla every day for months. eventually, my friend started this blog in summer of 2019 to talk about atla and invited me to join. it was mostly a repository for our inside jokes and for me to post the fanart i had been drawing on my phone. it was really just a space for our circle of mutuals to have some laffs.

the atla fandom was very small at the time so we were really one of the only blogs actively talking about the show. by complete accident, however, some of our posts got popular, and we accrued quite a bit of a following. we didn’t really know what to do with all the attention (some of it extremely negative and unhinged at that), and it would only get worse after “the atla renaissance.” we got more followers than we knew what to do with, at which we considered just abandoning the blog. my friend did, and handed over the reins to me.

for her, atla was a recent interest that had soured after the fandom became too much to handle, but for me it was an interest that had endured since childhood, and i found that despite all the negative attention, i still really enjoyed having a space where i could unpack my feelings towards this thing that felt like such a significant cultural touchstone, feelings towards characters i had been so deeply moved by for so long, and i enjoyed making art on a consistent basis for an actively receptive audience who praised my skills as an (extremely amateur) artist.

i’ve been drawing atla characters for a very long time, long before i had this blog, but it feels like the incentive to draw for an audience is what motivated me to improve my art over the years, so that’s genuinely been a really nice thing. and i enjoy analyzing art, literature, and media, so trying to pick apart one single text (or multiple connected texts if you wanna bring in lok, the comics, and the novels) for so long is very fun for me.

however, as much as i’ve tried to avoid engaging with bad faith takes, i am nonetheless aware that there is a not insignificant contingent of the fandom who viscerally hate my guts for whatever reason. it’s definitely less prevalent in my daily life now that the fandom is less active (cannot begin to emphasize enough how much the atlassaince ruined my life), but at the time a lot of people wanted to make their hatred of this blog known, loudly. which, especially when you’re in the middle of a lockdown and you cannot leave your room for fear of possibly dying, is not a great feeling.

that’s not really what you’re asking, but since i have had to deal with “bad faith takes” in the most personal possible way, my advice would simply be to try to shut it out. i follow maybe two or three atla blogs, and they are blogs that do not interact with the larger fandom. i do not seek out what other blogs have to say, and confine my scope to my friends and responding to my inbox.

for some reason, atla does seem to be a bad opinions factory, but actively seeking out those opinions is simply not conducive to one’s mental health or a productive use of time, which is why i keep to myself and try to mind my own business. i cannot control how i am perceived, which i am viscerally reminded of every time i see someone reblog an older post from this blog that i didn’t even make (and sometimes straight up do not agree with), but i try to remind myself that this literally has no bearing on my material existence whatsoever, and bad posts aren’t real they can’t hurt you <3

[fly-away-flynn]

Hi! I figured it was time to talk after a long time of being quiet. For a while I posted LoTF smut. I’m aware and I’m sure many of you are too! That’s fine. I can see the comments you make about me, you can @ me, it’s fine. However, I think talking about it and being completely transparent right now is the best thing I can do for myself and for other people.

My account was Co-Run by @ask-the-feral-boys. The other @ is @lord-of-the-reblog. He is my friend in real life. He got me into the fandom by forcing me onto Tumblr. I was completely content to stay on Archive of Our Own and post SFW content, actually. However, he normalized and told me the fandom was okay with smut. He created the account with me, and was given the password. It was stupid on my part. I do blame myself for that. I am a docile person. He made posts on my behalf calling the fandom “horrible” or “immature.” He made posts that I would never make. The one about camping, I live with my father and haven’t seen my mother in years. My parents are divorced, but it was things like that that he could lie about for me. I hate drama to be honest. I hate making this post. I have PTSD and anxiety because of things in my past and so I figured letting him have control would be helpful.

If you read the Fanfic that was posted under my name, it seemed inconsistent, I bet! Even my typing style is different now. There were two authors. He was one of them. It was one of very many awful things he did to ruin my life, but the fandom hating me is the better option than Mickey hating me Haha. I also didn’t know any better.

He clearly talked about me behind my back. Which was unclear to me until recently, I thought he was my friend because most of the time he told me he supported me on his blog and everyone who hated me hated me because they just didn’t understand what I was doing. The only chapter I solo posted was Chapter 1. That is why the writing gets so drastically stylized later on. It isn’t mine. I was an editor. I made the document, and he wrote it. But he didn’t want it attached to his name, so he had me publish it.

Mickey hated me because it made him look good. It made him look like the fandom hero to have a friend who was so morally wrong. He led me wrong and villianized me so that he could be the good guy, because he hates being the bad guy. He has made considerably more life ruining accusations against me that are lies, like that I tried to assault him (Which I never did. I have a girlfriend of 9 months and he was making the claims 3-4 months ago), or that I would force him to read what I wrote. I stopped writing because I lost joy in it. I don’t find joy in things that are wrong. I figured out it was wrong once people sent me hate mail, you get the message after a while. That is why my change was a suspicious 180. I was in the middle of change long before it went public. Getting Mickey out of my life was what was hard.

I don’t expect much from this. For what it’s worth, most of you think I’m an adult. I’m actually a minor. This is the surface of what is going on with me and Mickey, just this blog. He has been inactive because I stopped talking to him and our friends in real life isolated him for his behavior. I hope this explains some things. I hope you guys know that this was sort of forced out of me because you won’t stop talking about me. I would like to please be left alone now. Thank you.

[youngshinxjunghoo]

Get Asked game; List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! Get to know your mutuals and followers :]

aww this is fun tysm okay let’s see

1- a good tv show- i loooooooove tv so so much. I love you live action tv animated tv kids tv adult tv brilliantly written tv ridiculously stupid tv ALL OF IT!! there’s nothing I love more than creativity and writing and imagination and art so I love getting to watch a tv show and get attached to the characters and plots and think about the show 24/7 in my head like a totally sane person. i just loooove dissecting tv and good writing and I love watching like 10 different shows at once like I am rn because they all offer something so fun

2- a good fanfic- I truly LOVE fanfiction theyre so loveletters to tv and media and fictional characters and it makes me so happy esp when they put the sillies in situations that the og media for them wouldn’t dare to dream of. rn my ao3 rabbit hole is the white collar fandom

3- music- I ADORE YOU MUSIC. something about listening to a good song is just sooo <33 I love listening to new music and absorbing all the new music and genres I can because there’s truly so much out there. like seriously if anyone ever has song recs pls pls hit me up I will listen. I also love playing music and learning more about music <3

4- a good oboe reed- if I have a bad oboe reed my day is ruined. jk but also. oboe reeds are so finicky but having a good one is so satisfying like finally girlies I can actually play my instrument

5- walking/biking- there’s something about being and taking a calming bike ride or walk that’s just you and all your thoughts and ideas