#I want to believe the people saying it are ignorant rather than malicious

[teaandinanity]

Since apparently we've stopped saying it often enough to catch Today's Lucky 10,000 and a lot more than that now need to hear it:

People using websites COSTS those websites money. Users do not directly translate into revenue unless the users are the PRODUCT that the website is selling on to other parties via ads or data harvesting.

Which is to say, the reason AO3 has funding drives is because they're not selling your porn-reading habits on to interested third parties. Please stop saying 'they should just make money like other websites.' I am fairly sure you do not really want them to do that. I certainly don't want them to do that. It's a voluntary drive; if you don't want to give you do not have to. The AO3 IRS won't get you on tax evasion.

Also like. You can care about more than one thing at a time. Your outrage and energy and give-a-damn does not have to focus like a laser on whatever you've deemed The Most Important Current Thing.

[happy74827]

The Demon With A Heart

[Crowley x Female!Reader]

Synopsis: When Crowley saves your life, you can't help but think it was a little more than self-interest.

WC: 1858

Category: 99.9% Sexual Tension (lmfao), 0.01% Fluff + Angst? {TW: Mentions of Demons (obvi), Murder}

Crowley is too iconic not to have fics. I said what I said.

『••✎••』

You didn’t know how to react. It was as if your tongue was taken away, and you couldn’t talk, no matter how much you wanted to thank the man.

No, the demon.

You stood there with wide eyes, staring at the King of Hell, Crowley. He looked the same as before: a clean suit, a snarky comment, and a look of disgust on his face. But, instead of being on the opposite side, he was wiping the blood off of the angel blade he used to kill the angel that jumped you.

He just saved you—The King of Hell.

The very man who told Sam and Dean countless times that he doesn't do anything for free and doesn’t help people without getting something out of it. Yet, here he was, standing in front of you, not asking for a single thing.

The thought was a bit unsettling.

"Purely out of self-interest, darling," He says, breaking the silence and putting the stolen blade into his jacket. "Call it a favor that I plan to collect in the future."

He was about to leave, but you couldn’t let him go. Not without a thank you, at least. You didn't want him to think you didn’t appreciate what he did.

"Crowley."

The man turns back around, his hands in his pockets, his expression unreadable.

"Thank you."

The corner of his mouth turned upward, forming a small smirk. He didn’t say anything but rather kept his eyes on you for a second longer. He then disappeared, leaving you in the dark.

And it did leave you in the dark. For days, weeks, months. He never came for that favor, and he never brought up what happened. In fact, he barely talked to you at all. It was always towards the Winchesters.

You began to believe it was nothing but a dream. That Crowley somehow didn't save you. The angel was a fake, and this was all some sick joke. It felt like gaslighting.

But you knew what happened was real. You remembered the blood splatter and the dead corpse. The way his face contorted when he pierced the angel's heart.

It was all too real.

So, why was he ignoring you? Why did he pretend that it never happened? Was he going to hold it over your head? Or was it just the fact that the King of Hell did something nice for a human?

Was it because he… cared?

One night, you got your answer. It was a quiet night filled with books, tea, and soft music. At least, it was before those idiotic brothers decided to tear down the bunker in search of some book.

You couldn’t remember the exact reason they needed it, but you were too tired to argue. So, you stayed in your room and tried to fall asleep.

That is until the lights went out and the emergency lights kicked on. Okay, now you were annoyed. You got up, slipped on your shoes and a coat, and walked out of your room.

"Alright, what did you two-"

You paused mid-sentence, eyes falling onto the figure in the library. The man was facing the opposite way, but you knew exactly who it was. The familiar black suit and hair gave it away.

"Crowley…"

"Hello, Darling,” he replied, turning around and smiling at you. It was almost unnerving. He didn’t have a malicious aura or even an evil one. Just... a smile.

You looked behind him and noticed… well, nothing. You were expecting the Winchesters to be with him, and yet, it was just him.

"Where are the boys?"

"Moose and Squirrel? Ah, they're off somewhere, doing... well, you know. Something heroic, I suppose. Figured I’d stick around… enjoy the scenery."

That’s when you looked up and understood what he meant. He was stuck, quite literally. Those devil traps they put everywhere finally did something good.

You half-expected him to bring up that 'favor' he was talking about or maybe even just demand to get out of there, but he did neither. Instead, he looked at the ground and sighed.

At the moment, the King of Hell looked just like a caged puppy, sad and alone. If he wasn’t such a… demon, you might have even felt bad for him.

But, you left him in there, strolling along to the kitchen to find some kind of light. You were not giving up your two hours of reading due to power loss.

As you shuffled through the cabinets, looking for any form of match or lighter, the lights flickered back on.

So that’s where the Winchesters were.

You shrugged and turned back to your room but stopped at the entrance to the library. Crowley was still there, but this time, his face was twisted. He was clearly pissed.

"Why did you do it?" The burning question you wanted answered for months finally came out. Crowley stopped his little fit and turned towards you, a confused expression on his face.

He looked like he had no idea what you were talking about.

"I do a lot of things, Chipmunk. You'll have to be more specific."

You walked towards him, resting down the candles and book on a nearby table. You didn’t know why, but the need to confront him was growing.

"Save me all those months ago."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

You were getting closer, now only a few feet from him. Crowley, however, didn’t back away. Instead, he watched as you moved, his expression unchanging.

"That angel could’ve killed me, yet you came out of nowhere and stabbed him. I know you don't do anything out of kindness, so why did you do it? What do I offer that no one else does?"

Crowley stayed silent for a while, not giving any indication of answering your questions.

You thought it was just a lost cause until his expression changed. It was subtle, but you caught it. The corner of his mouth turned down, and his eyes widened, then narrowed.

He almost looked ashamed.

"It's just like I said. Self-interest." He spat out, his voice sounding like venom. You almost took a step back. It still sounded like the same old Crowley, but his tone was different.

You decided to call his bluff.

"I don't believe you."

Crowley raised an eyebrow, a smirk coming across his face. He was amused by the sudden attitude, but it didn’t last long.

"And what makes you say that?"

"I saw the way you looked at me after you saved me. Hesitancy, almost. Like you were unsure. As if..."

The King of Hell stared at you, waiting for the last part of your statement. He was eager but not for the answer. No, he knew what you were going to say.

He was just waiting to hear it come out of your mouth.

"You care."

Those words hung in the air, both of you processing it. Crowley continued to stare at you, the smirk disappearing, leaving his face neutral. He had a blank expression.

A silence grew, the atmosphere turning awkward. It wasn't until the demon let out a loud sigh and looked to the side that it was broken.

"You’re really pulling on the heartstrings, Chipmunk,” he muttered, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "If I had one, I'd say it was aching."

"Do you?"

You knew what you were implying. Crowley was the King of Hell, the ruler of the damned. He was the furthest thing from human, yet he could walk among them and, sometimes, be mistaken for one.

Was it possible for him to be human or even have emotions?

Crowley looked at you and frowned, clearly not liking the topic. But he didn't deny it. It was a strange sight—the King of Hell, frowning and silent.

It was almost adorable.

"I'm not asking for anything. I just… want an honest answer."

"Well, I am a demon, love,” He stated, his tone changing to a more playful one. “Honesty isn’t quite in the job description."

"Crowley."

You were starting to get impatient, and it showed. Your voice was firm, and your posture was tense. You wanted an answer, and you were determined to get it.

The demon in question let out another sigh and looked at the ceiling as if praying for a quick escape.

"You're a pain, you know that? It's exhausting." He grumbled, rolling his eyes. "But, I suppose, since you asked nicely..."

The man looked at you, his lips pursed. He was still hesitating, which only made you more curious.

"Yes, I care. About you. Happy?"

You blinked a few times, processing the information. Did the King of Hell, the person known for not giving a shit, just admit he cares?

"I-" You started, not knowing what to say. It was a surprise but not an unwelcome one. Crowley wasn't exactly a bad guy, well, a demon.

"Do you actually mean that?"

"Now that…" Crowley started, his voice low and deep. He leaned towards you, making you back up, but the wall soon prevented you from going any further.

He was inches away, his breath hitting your face. You could see his eyes staring into yours—a pretty brown, like a mocha latte.

"…Is the kind of question that will get you in trouble, love."

You weren’t sure what he was planning, but you didn't care. The way his eyes were looking at you, the smirk on his face, the closeness...

He was probably expecting you to back away, but he was wrong. You were an avid reader, obsessive even. This scene wasn't new, nor was it shocking.

The only shocking part was the fact that you were the one in it. And, well, the fact that you didn’t mind it.

"Unlike you,” you whispered, a small smirk on your face. "I don’t care."

Your response made him pause for a moment, squinting his eyes and giving you a confused look. It only lasted a few seconds, though. Soon, he understood, and a chuckle escaped his lips.

"Touché"

You truly believed you were about to lose your chance with the man upstairs, but loud footsteps interrupted you.

"Crowley, you slimy son of a bitch! If you’re not here, we are going to-"

Dean stopped talking as he rounded the corner, seeing you and Crowley close. His expression was shocked, almost comical.

"The hell is going on here?"

You and Crowley both turned to look at Dean, a look of annoyance on the King of Hell's face. Sam came around the corner as well, sharing the same look of confusion.

Crowley gave you one last glance, a bit of disappointment in his eyes, before taking a step back. His attention moved on to the two hunters, his usual smile returning.

And despite the annoyance in the air and the confusion, the only thing that came across your mind was another question that you were sure would take control of your sleep schedule once again.

"Hello, boys," He purred, his arms moving to his side. He was back to his old self, not showing a single sign of what happened moments ago.

Had the beauty thawed the beast?

[highfantasy-soul]

Again, just so many props to The Acolyte for talking about this stuff with NUANCE!! They aren't preaching at us, they aren't saying 'x group is completely evil, no redemption, you need to hate them' and 'y group is completely perfect and beautiful and has never done anything mean in their entire lives, love them uncritically'.

They straight up show how the Jedi are invaders, colonizers, and white saviors while still showing how they believe they're doing what's right. They genuinely think they're saving the twins and protecting them from some evil. They're wrong, of course, but they aren't acting with malice.

But that intention doesn't matter - they still broke into an oppressed group's home and demanded to take their children and assumed everything they did must be evil because they didn't understand it. Ignorance rather than malicious intent is what caused all that harm and I think that's an incredible story to tell.

Pointing the finger at YOU the audience. YOU might think you're acting as a savior to those you think are being harmed - but YOU might be acting out of ignorance, harming people who are already oppressed. That doesn't make you evil. It makes you human - and you HAVE to recognize that in yourself if you ever want to ACTUALLY help people.

[damnfandomproblems]

respond to a reply on this post: https://www.tumblr.com/damnfandomproblems/758279107941466112/fandom-problem-5461-cishet-being-used-to?source=share

"are you seriously equating making fun of a marginalized group to making fun of like, idk gender reveal parties or whatever people in your fandom make fun of cishets for doing? Like I don't mock people based on their sexuality but tell me that you do understand the difference between someone making fun of a marginalized group with a high suicide rate and someone poking fun at straight people.(Also, for the folks making racism comparisons: I'm white and when people make white people jokes about like, white people love avocado toast! White people love yoga and saying buddy! or whatever, 1) I don't mind 2) that's much different than a white person making fun of say, Black people.)"

As a poc, and specifically a queer (cisbi) native american (tlingit) who grew up around cishet white people, when it comes to online and fannish spaces I have noticed that people tend to cross the line from making harmless fun to just straight up expressing and encouraging hatred

While this is definitely a minority of people who believe and act out on these beliefs, there is a problem of people truly believing that cishet white people are all genuinely evil and inherently evil at that, and that the only way to "fix" (cleanse) the world of all problems would to be committed genocide in fandom spaces. They immediately assume the worse and dehumanize and rejected similarities they may share with cishet white people. It's absolutely prejudice and need to not only be called out, but utterly tossed in the bin

I get feeling uncomfortable or even wary of people who appart of the same kind of people who have oppressed you because you are not sure if they too have been indoctrinated into the bigotry, but we live in the modern era, more often then not you'll find that most cishet white people just don't care about poc and queer stuff

Cishet whites aren't responsible for crimes they weren't even alive for, that their ancestors committed. They are far more often ignorant because the education system is shit and has a lot racism/ableism/etc baked into foundation ontop of not really being how to do own research, then they are intentionally malicious and bigoted, and the best way to prevent them from being indoctrinated into bigotry is to just, expose them queers and poc who are chill with them and are willing to educate. Insulting them and assuming they want to hurt minorities just because they're cishet whites is the best way to push them into radical hands that will instead pain queers and poc as the ones who just want to hurt others for being cishet whites, because "obviously" why else would they immediately assume you want hurt them unless they want to hurt you?

Hating anyone for things they cannot control (race, gender, sexuality, etcetera) only breeds more hate. Yeah, don't tolerating bigots, but if genuinely can't stand a certain demographic of people ignore them rather then going out of your way to hate them. Educate if you can, or shut up when talking to people who haven't don't anything to you beyond offend your sensibly for committing the crime of being born a certain way, because otherwise you're just feeding into the genuinely malicious and bigoted peoples hands and making it easier for them to take the ignorant and make them malicious too

Hatred at the end of the day is hatred, sure, it might not be the racist or homophobic flavor of hatred, but it's still hatered. And no one should hate anyone, at least not for the things they can't control (because fuck pedos/rape-philies in general and murders and genuine racists of course, they can all go get shot, don't get me wrong and twist my words like I know some of y'all are just dying to do)

Posting as a response to a previous problem.

[eddiediazismyhusband]

i’m probably gonna get hate for this, but i think the argument that eddie having a mustache is a “clear sign that he is being confirmed queer” and saying that mustaches are “a clear symbol of queerness” in a show about firefighters is willfully ignorant, especially considering the fact that multiple non-queer characters on the show have had mustaches…

and when you take away the apparent “freddie mercury symbolism” (which i have yet to see from any of the photos we’ve gotten- he looks more like a corrupt cop than anything) then there is really nothing appealing about it. especially when the only other two ‘major’ characters who have had mustaches have been abusive and violent figures (not saying that this is the route they are taking eddie) but to look at the circumstances surrounding it in the context of previous characters with the same style of mustache, as well as the fact that mustaches aren’t automatically an inherent symbol of queerness as so many people for some reason choose to believe is (imo) a willfully foolish way to go into this season, as you are creating expectations around something that in every realm of possibility could be something reiterating his straightness and macho personality, just as much as it could be a symbol of his queerness.

im not saying that it won’t be a symbol of queerness, but to act like that is the only possible outcome of him having this mustache is just willfully setting yourself up for disappointment for choosing to put stock in something that has just as much chance of being an objectively awful stylistic choice (sorry not sorry to those who love it for some reason… it does not suit ryan/eddie at all and it gives me a massive ick every time i see it) especially when this show has not shown any sings of striving to infuse easter eggs like that into the narrative before, it seems rather naive to convince yourself that they are suddenly going to start doing that now.

there’s theorizing, and then there’s being willfully delusional (and i don’t mean in the lighthearted fandom sense). i know that we love to toss around the phrase “delulu” when we toss around theories of varying narrative possibility, but even then it is done with a certain level of acknowledgment that things could very well not go the direction they seem to be (as we have seen time and time and time again).

however, when you start tossing around theories and assumptions based on limited information as if it is 100% gospel truth that it means something, you are willingly setting yourself up to be disappointed by the narrative when they once again decide to back out in the 11th hour like they’ve done time and time again. it is baffling to me how often this show has gone the unconventional (to put it nicely) route over what makes sense narratively, just for everyone to then act like overnight tim has become this predictable writer who loves giving the fans what they want when in reality, he has given us mostly the exact opposite of what we have been begging for for years.

i see people saying “oh they would NEVER do ____, that wouldn’t make any sense! it’d be too crazy for them to risk that” only for the show to do exactly that, and the audience/fandom- instead of holding these writers accountable and being vocal about how we are actively being baited and dragged along- continue to ignorantly say every season“oh, well, it’s gonna happen THIS time…”

there’s a difference between optimism and bliny putting faith in something that has not earned it and unfortunately most of what i am seeing coming from the fandom right now is the latter and it makes me dread what the state of the fandom will he by the end of s8 if- in all likelihood- tim does what the show has always done and back out of committing to buddie canon at the last second

i don’t say any if this maliciously, or as a verbal attack on anyone… (hell even i am guilty of this to sole extent in certain situations) i say this to hopefully bring people down to earth for a moment, so that they can breathe and then look at things with s little more of a level head rather than setting themselves up for disappointment. i was the same in s7 and it wrecked my mental state and overall enjoyment around the show/fandom, and i don’t want to see that happen to other people when they- like i have- reach a point where enough is enough and they are too tired to deal with it anymore.

[sinnersandoverlords]

I originally did not want to engage in any of this nonsense because I honestly believe that taking sides in a toxic relationship where both parties have repeatedly used each other for their own gain and have a lot of ongoing misunderstandings and miscommunication is pretty stupid. 

So I am gonna preface this with saying that I am neither „Team Blitz“ nor „Team Stolas“ and I do not hate any of them. Both Blitz and Stolas are inherently good people with flaws and issues due to their trauma, and that impacts all of their relationships. I think the narrative has been very clear on that, so idk where people get the idea from that one is the victim and one is the abuser in this situation.

They both are not innocent. Painting one as the abuser and one as the victim is disingenuous as they have both done objectively morally questionable shit.

But recently I have seen people shitting on Stolas so much and painting him as this awful abuser, even going so far as to call him the abusive party and the show adressing any faults Blitz has in this relationship as „victim blaming“.

Bruh.

So I really felt the need to adress this.

First of all:

„Sexual harassment“ – Please do look at the context of S2 ep 1. We are precisely told why Stolas acts the way he does. He believes that Blitz is into him behaving like a kinky bottom, and that Blitz wants him that way. That is why he acts the way he does.

Does that make it right?

No, but it is a matter of miscommunication rather than Stolas purposefully overstepping boundaries.

Once the Ozzie’s ep happens and Blitz confronts him about „Stolas only wanting him for sex“, his approach changes and he tones his aggressive flirting down a lot, as well as any pet names etc.

Yes, Stolas did things wrong.

He actively tried to mend things and do better.

Idk why people ignore that or call context and character development we have been given as „retcon“.

Then I have also seen some awful takes recently on how Stolas expected a relationship from Blitz and tried to manipulate him by offering him the Asmodean crystal.

Dude.

Are we watching the same show, guys?

He gave him that Asmodean crystal WITHOUT EXPECTING ANYTHING in return precisely because he wanted to form a relationship free of any obligations/transactions where Blitz could make a choice to be with him or not.

The power imbalance. Yeah, the power imbalance with the whole Grimoire situation and also just in general have always been a problem, but that is what Stolas tried to better by giving Blitz the Asmodean crystal so that their relationship would not involve the livelihood of Blitz in any shape or form anymore.

Also I am a bit annoyed by people ignoring that the whole relationship started because Blitz tried to manipulate Stolas to steal from him. Doesn’t make the transactional relationship ok, but Blitz never started out as a completely innocent party in this whole deal either.

Could have Stolas communicated his reasoning to Blitz better and asked him if he even wanted the crystal in the first place? Sure, I am not saying that Stolas handled everything 100% perfectly.

But some people here go out of their way so much to paint Stolas as this malicious sexual abuser, ignoring context, how both parties share blame on the situation derailing like that due to miscommunication and misunderstandings.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[ahappydnp]

im also latam and honestly im not sure we can blame dnp for not saying anything about it yet when the tour was leaked and they had to speed announce it, they probably haven't had time to address everything yet and we don't even know if they'll try and add more dates later. i totally understand being upset and the heartbreak is valid but I personally would rather be patient and assume they have good reasons for not including some places (yet?) and not talking about it (yet), they're the same person who just gave away $200k for charity, im sure they don't have mean intentions

i don't want to speak for the people who are actually affected by this, but i do assume that it would greatly help morale if they at least let people know they're trying (without promising anything) as opposed to what dan did for wad and ignore the massive elephant in the room.

i wholeheartedly believe it's not an intentional or malicious oversight and it is just a logistical issue, but how you communicate that is so critical. hopefully they ARE still trying and can announce some good news soon. and i totally understand how awful they felt with the mexico tbc dates for ii because people did ask every single day and it clearly stressed them out, but ignoring the hundreds of people asking seems worse.

also yes they are incredibly generous and kind people who do things like host charity livestreams (and i'm sure give privately often); however, they can also still be white british men who struggle to see things outside their own perspective and bubble

like i said, i don't think there's a drop of malicious intent from them, but their communication skills have always been less than desirable when it comes to hard/not fun conversations

[stiffyck]

Hey Stiff,

@scittiesenjoyer here (why won’t Tumblr let me ask from a side blog)

I kinda went off in the tags of two anonymous asks you got implying you were racist for giving Scar a big nose in your art

I’m here to double down

Because I love your art and seeing you in the community and it makes my blood boil to think that some dickhead accusing you of something you didn’t do will make you feel less welcome here (honestly I wanna be a lot meaner to that anon, but I’m choosing to believe that they were coming from a good place and are just ignorant rather than malicious)

Anon has taken a very real issue and over applied it to the point of almost parody. I would like to make it clear that I am white myself and was raised Christian (agnostic now not that it really matters), so by no means an expert on the issues faced by others. But I do listen to Jewish people and have read into the topic of harmful Jewish stereotypes seemingly more than anon. Prepare for me to give you two whole sources more than that anon

Yes overly large noses (often also hooked) are used in caricatures of Jewish people, but never in complete isolation. Here’s a post on Jew-coding, the practice of applying character traits that make you think of Jewish people. Which can be good or bad, depending on what is making you think of Jewish people

https://www.tumblr.com/roach-works/703234602671751168/on-jew-coding

It doesn’t touch on large noses, though it is often brought up in discussions around art and animation. Especially as villains are often negatively Jew-coded. Think big hooked noses, curly hair, bankers/moneylenders (or otherwise tight with money), and of course stealing or harming blond haired, blue eyed children. Here’s an article that goes more into that for Disney especially

https://www.heyalma.com/why-do-so-many-disney-villains-look-like-me/

I think something important about most of what you will read on this topic is that it’s never a single trait in isolation. It’s the layering of bad Jew-coding that makes something racist. A college student being frugal is not a racist stereotype. But if that college student also had curly hair, was cowardly, antagonised others, and had a thick New York accent then we’d need to be concerned

You giving a character with no illusions to being Jewish a big nose is not racist. You’re not making him the villain, or greedy, or part of some shadow council or otherwise applying any negative (or positive for that matter) Jew-coding to him. You are just drawing a guy and having fun with your art style

I know nothing I can say will take away how you’ve been feeling about that initial anon, it feels horrible to be accused of something like this. Especially when it comes out of nowhere, and in this case is quite unfounded. I know I would have been scrambling trying to figure out where I went wrong. I hope knowing some of the context helps alleviate any distress you’ve been feeling

Please keep playing with proportions and your art style. There is nothing wrong with exaggerating only select features while leaving the rest proportional, the implication that there could be baffles me. I totally understand you wanting to take a break from posting art for a bit. This would be a massive blow to anyone’s confidence. But I think it’s important that you not let this steal away your joy in creating the art you want to

I’m happy to talk more on this or anything else if you wanna reach out, sending love and artistic inspiration

Hi, thanks for the ask!

I think I can see where the anon is coming from when it comes to some of the stuff I drew but I genuinely never thought it would come off as anything bad? Like to me my design just sorta looks like a character you'd see in a cartoon, which is why the ask took me so off guard.

I also feel that since I'm white and I can't really talk about this because I'm not really well educated when it comes to this sorta stuff? Like I don't want to argue with someone or try to defend myself when I don't know enough.

I've been meaning to read up on some stuff but adhd has been making it hard to do literally anything tbh. I need to get medicated so I can read non-fandom related stuff and in general actually do more productive stuff (more art, other stuff i enjoy I haven't been able to do because executive dysfunction) but I'm getting off track here dkvfkdjge

Ive been real anxious lately and that ask really got to me so I don't know about any art for now. I just need some time I guess for the anxiety to ease up idk.

Basically. What I'm trying to say.

I dont know enough about this and in no way would I ever want to do something that's bad or comes off as a racist stereotype or something.

Thanks for the sources and thanks for the nice words

[redysetdare]

I hate those posts like "this is about aromanticism, don't tag as ace or aroace!" as if aroaces aren't aro enough because of our asexuality, and non-SAM aces relating to aros is somehow a bad thing. Also some of the aroallo accounts are so quick to regurgitate ace discourse talking points because they think aces are erasing and oppressing aros, I hate that so much

Yeah, to an extent I can completely understand where people are coming from when asking this. I have similar issues with people tagging autism posts as ADHD because they show up in my feed because of the ADHD tag even though the post only mentions Autism. It can be frustrating to be looking for posts and get something completely different. But on the other hand...it feels like some people are taking the idea of these tags way too seriously. Tagging is a minimal issue in the grand scheme of things. Tagging does not actually derail a post as much as people act like it does. Tagging a post you reblogged does not make that post show up in the main tags. I understand that AroAllos do not want to have their personal experiences conflated as Asexuality because it can feel like erasure when you write a personal experience about you identity only to have it tagged as something that is not you identity. But also I don't think people realize how much overlap a lot of aromantic and asexual experiences have. Acting like they are so incredibly different and can't have any overlap is willful ignorance at best and malicious separatism at worse. And it's incredibly disheartening as an AroAce to see how many Aro people seem to have gotten comfortable and even feel justified in the low-key bigoted things they've said against aces and aroaces.

Some of the absolutely wild takes I've seen can range from "AroAces shouldn't post in the aromantic tag" to "Don't tag your post as aromantic if it doesn't mention aromanticism [aka doesn't mention an experience in which the viewer deems as an aromantic experience]" to literal straight up acephobia or aroacephobia and it's absolutely wild because as someone who exists in both tags I've seen this happening basically solely in aromantic tags.

It's genuinely wild to me how we even got to this point in the aspec community where people are arguing over tagging to the point of trying to exclude certain aros from the aro tag completely because they feel less seen as compared to others and act like it's the fault of those other aspecs that they are being oppressed.

I was someone who was around when the Aro and Ace communities were mostly a united force. Because when the entire world was against us we at least had each others back. half the problems people mentioned when it came to the reason to split the community so drastically were not problems I ever actually saw. Hell they still aren't problems I see. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen but I personally have not seen anyone assuming or saying that if you're aro you must also be ace, which makes me thing it's not actually as big of an issue as people seem to think it is. the aro and ace communities being united didn't mean that aromantic was a subsection of asexual, though I believe it'd be lying to ignore the split attractions model in the creation of the aromantic identity and how both the Aro and Ace identities as we know them today kind of emerged from that model.

As I said not too long ago: the separation of the aro and ace communities has done more harm than it's done help. We are making it easier for people to target us by splitting up the way we have. By making enemies out of fellow aspec people you give aphobes the space and comfort they need to start pushing us out again.

We are literally in the same boat. if that makes you upset then you can get on your own raft but you can't then demand everyone else get on their own rafts too or try to sink the ship that everyone else is on.

the tag discourse is stupid. there are more pressing issues to be upset about rather than tumblrs shit tagging system. This helps no one. If aroaces posting in the GENERAL AROMANTIC TAG upsets you THAT MUCH then you can literally go into the aroallo tag to find the content you want to see or better yet MAKE THE CONTENT YOU WANT TO SEE. If an asexual tagging a post they relate too with ace bugs you that much then fucking block them. it's not erasure when someone of a different sexuality feels represented by your post. If an aroace tagging a post as aromantic when you feel it is only about asexuality makes you that mad then you can literally block them. You cannot decide how someone should tag their posts because you personally do not know their experience. Grow the fuck up.

I'm rose repulsed. there are barely any spaces and posts about rose repulsed people in the main aspec tags. You want to know what I did? I made my own fucking space. i went to the romance and sex repulsed tags and posted there. I made posts about being repulsed. I have a fucking blog and a discord server centered around repulsed people. Yes it sucks when other people don't make content you like but that's when you have to accept you need to make it your damn self and not throw a fit over tags on tumblr dot com.

apologies for a long rant, If this ask was bait then congrats you got a rant out of me but also I think if people really want to block me over this instead of having a conversation like adults then so be it. Those who think this sort of exclusion is justified and correct are not people i want to be interacting with in the community. they are not people I want following me. I support AroAllos. I support all aromantic people. I understand where they are coming from in their pain. I do agree that they deserve more recognition because they often moralized to be morally bad for their existence and as a repulsed person NO IDENTITY should be viewed as inherently bad. I have no ill will towards AroAllos making posts about ther experience, they deserve to have their experience shared. But the way some people have been acting in the aromantic community is not acceptable and should be called out because at this rate some people are really toeing the line of the ace discourse that happened in like 2016 and as someone who went through that I REALLY don't want to see it repeat itself.

[howlingdemon13]

Something that I think we don't talk about enough is Beetlejuice and all the cartoonish sound effects that follow him.

This is rambly, but I'm making this surface-level analysis/speculation/headcanon everyone else's problem. >:3c

Ignoring the cartoon (since that's expected in the soundscape of an animated show aimed at younger audiences), Beetlejuice himself is accompanied by over-the-top sound effects in the film and musical that just aren't really present for other characters (at least not in the same way they are for him). While it's obviously to make his scenes funnier, I love the idea of them being an extension of his magic. Either he finds it funny for his actions to be accompanied by goofy sounds and times them himself for comedic effect, or they're a totally subconscious thing/he doesn't even need to think about doing it.

Especially in the context of moviejuice being more malicious than his counterparts, it's an unsettling dichotomy of this centuries-old conartist/manipulator being accompanied by goofy noises. And, if he chooses to actively magic these sounds into exiestence when he's interacting with the people he's tormenting, it implies that he enjoys the victims' suffering and finds it funny enough to go the extra mile to make it humiliating. They do seem to be tied more to when his magic is being used rather than happening in response to what he's physically doing.

I feel like the idea of intentional sound effects is true of musicaljuice, too. Yeah, he's meant to be more sympathetic while still being manipulative and selfish, so I feel like he does it to make himself goofier since he's so painfully lonely and lacks social skills (literally being invisible will do that). It could also be because of some anxiety, but I don't want to project too hard. I'd even go so far as to say that he thinks the sound effects make him less-intimidating.

There's some evidence to suggest that the sound effects are intentionally done since musicaljuice breaks the fourth wall in multiple instances across slight variations of the show (DC, Broadway, tour). Whether it's putting on a show to intentionally mislead the Maitlands/Deetzs (and by extension the audience), or trying to come off as funny in the hopes that it'll make up for his more obvious flaws, it's anyone's guess. Personally, with how desperate he is for friends and for someone to break his curse (we know he's not above manipulating people), I'm more inclined to believe it's a little bit of both.

That said, I also like the idea of them being a result of how Beetlejuice (musicaljuice specifically) interacts with the material world. He's an anomally (half-ghost-half-demon) at best and an abomination at worst. There's a part of me that wonders if the physical world outside of the Netherworld cannot handle his very existence without an assortment of "glitches" happening as a result of his mere presence (like the stretching sound that happens when he phases through walls and tables for example).

And, to really stick to my wishy washy thoughts on the whole thing, the toony sound effects are a bit of both. A reminder that the world of the living can't really handle his existence, but he's embraced it and made it his own. It's now a part of his shtick. It defines him as different, but he owns it and has as much fun with it as he can, or manipulates the ability when he sees fit.

And you know I will be abusing the toony sound effects thing in anything I end up writing.

[gleamingtempest]

Arturo Giles & Levi Fontana - Narrative Foil Trait Compilation #7

How does this series work?

This is my narrative foil disection series for Danganronpa Despair Time based on my post Danganronpa: Depsair Time foils theory. The presented theory is that the CH1 recap shows off all narrative foils in DR:DT based on how the pairings in said recap video are paired. This series will go through all 8(?) of these foil pairings and disect the dichotomy present in them in a more in depth manner. I will do this primarily by comparing and contrasting Backstory, Motive, Flaws & Character Arc. (Credit to Barbieronpa for that compliation of concepts.) All of these posts will contain heavy spoilers and will be updated as the series goes on and more information on the characters is presented. If you are interested in the those updates please return to each of these posts after the end of an episode batch. This will only look at presented content within the series;outside of the foil theory itself it will not take into account theories & speculation.

Backstory

Arturo: -> Left family to pursue career. Had a shy younger sister named Felicity. -> Felicity took her own life at some point after he left. Levi: -> Was disowned for family wherein he had at least 2 other brothers & two parents. -> Levi says that this family was a 'bad influence' on him. -> Levi is 'a very different person' than he used to be -> Levi has only taken up his personal stylist career recently. Compare/Contrast: -> Both seem to be on bad terms with family -> Both chose to pursue cosmetic talents

Personality

Arturo: -> Haughty -> Obsessive -> Callous -> Vain Levi: -> Humble -> Apathetic -> Helpful -> Earnest

Motive

Arturo: -> Arturo is motivated by a desire to 'serve beautiful people'. He dedicates himself to celebrities and actors who he considers 'truly beautiful'. -> Arturo wears a mask to 'avoid breathing the same air as the hideous people around him. -> Arturo is in some form of denial about his sister's death or his role in his sister's death;he feels extreme guilt for it. Levi: -> Levi is motivated by his desire to protect those around him. -> He works to prevent threats to the group, like when he watched over Ace because he started a fight with everyone he met, and is willing to put himself in harms way if it means protecting someone -> He actively wants to do what he can to help those around him and beats himself up when he makes Ace mad at him -> He has some underlying anger issues which have caused him to take drastic action -> He has a hard time understanding how to grieve on his own and just does what others do when he doesn't know what else to do;in his own words his own way of grieving is to not grieve at all. Compare/Contrast: -> Both seem unable to process or acknowledge their grief for two very different reasons. -> Both dedicate themselves to the lives of others. Arturo does this only for a select few while Levi does this for everyone who he believes he is obligated to help. -> Both have had some type of mishap with a family member/members in the past which they would rather not dwell on.

Flaws

Arturo: -> Arturo is actively malicious towards those he considers beneath him -> Arturo reacts violently when faced with his past -> Arturo actively ignores and rejects direct critique Levi: -> Levi passively accepts abuse he receives without processing his personal feelings on it until those feelings blow up in negative ways -> Levi doesn't have enough regard for his own wellbeing -> Levi doesn't share his grievances with others/Levi doesn't consider himself an equal to those around him Compare/Contrast: -> Both Levi and Arturo consider themselves a servant to something else. This causes Arturo to act haughty and arrogant while for Levi it maeks him humble and passive. -> Neither seem to be able to process or acknowledge the suffering they go through internally due to their pasts. They ignore it until it ends up blowing up in their face in ways which hurt them more.

Narrative Arc

Arturo: -> Arturo starts off the story completely turned off from all of the cast, seeing himself as better than all of them. -> Veronica attaches herself to Arturo, forcing him to interact with another member of the cast instead of completely isolating. -> Arturo becomes obsessed with J after learning that she is part of the Rosales family. He stalks and harasses her without any regard for her own boundaries. -> Arturo threatens physical harm and death upon Eden after she respectfully asks whether or not he would like to share his secret because it forced him to content with his own buried past. -> Arturo is now regarded as a villain by all the group and his only vocal ally is the same person who forcibly attached themself to him earlier, this time causing him to fall even deeper into isolation. Levi: -> Levi starts off the story by trying to protect the group through physical violence and attacking MonoTV, immediately resulting in bodily harm on himself, which he immediately dismisses. -> Levi is tended to by Arturo in the infimary and enters a relationship with Ace where he makes Ace feel safe while Ace gives Levi something to protect. This is an unhealthy one in which neither respects the boundaries of the other. -> Levi fails to acknowledge that this is unhealthy and it ends up blowing up in his face during the trial when he snaps at Ace, severing their already shakey bond. -> Levi starts off chapter 2 feeling like 'a bad person' and confides in Eden about his struggles with this relationship. Eden affirms that Levi already is a good person and he feels encouraged to continue pursuing his 'relationship' with Ace. -> Ace completely rejects this pursuit, continuosly, until he comes to a boiling point of his own where he was almost murdered and completely disavowed any potential aid he could ever receive from Levi. -> This brings Levi to his lowpoint where he feels it is pointless for him to continue trying at all. -> Levi tells Eden during the trial that he will 'protect her from whoever is threatening her' (Arturo). Compare/Contrast: -> Arturo becomes the villain of the cast while Levi becomes the 'hero'. -> Arturo is constantly acting selfishly and in his own interest while Levi acts 'selflessly' for others. -> Levi and Arturo are both entered into a non-mutually respectful relationship with another participant which comes to a boiling point during chapter 2.

[aftonfamilyvalues]

I am terrified if men.

I mean my father did everything to me but rape me. And he’d assert dominance over me /threaten me because he didn’t want other guys to sleep with me, date me, didn’t want me to get married, etc.

I’m no contact and he knows better than to contact me because if he does I’ll take legal action. My mom died and she was the one protecting him.

I seek therapy because I want to heal and am repeatedly invalidated about my trauma and about the reality that most men are abusive, sexual predators.

I’ve expressed that I’m sad I didn’t experience ge t romantic love..

Which is only to say that I’m all about separatism and even though I’m not dating men cause I’m traumatized by them, I have this regret over not having been able to explore a healthy sexuality, and a fear of missing out.

The last therapist I had was malicious/emotional abusive. Would read and be on the computer during sessions and deny doing it. Claimed I talked to much, (bad luck with this super narcissistic, very misogynistic old woman, grandmother /in her 60’s,) she ignored me /was very devaluing, then perked up “it can happen at any age!” She either thought I was lying or l exaggerating about being abused, or/and definitely not listening because I’ve never expressed wanting a bf or a husband, ever. Of course I did as a teenager/child. It’s honestly so demoralizing when even a therapist views you as inferior and like your being single is a problem and thinks you’re talking too much and attention seeking.

I’ve never not had a female therapist downplay or invalidate my trauma and male violence. I wish there were more feminist based pyschotherapists / bare minimum, therapists who do not project their family values Bullshit. I’ve never not have had a therapist view me as the problem to all my experiences. I’ve therapists judge me and treat me as subhuman for being childfree and single.

I def need therapy as I’m so traumatized that I’m scared to sleep and not sleeping anymore and it’s impacting my health. I also can’t regulate my emotions well and I’m a fearful avoidant with ptsd, some folks say therapist isn’t necessary because most are bad. I’d honestly argue most therapists have very misogynistic beliefs…

Is there any way to ver that out. I get so gaslight I lost my sense of self/ I’ve had to recover from bad therapy but once out of therapy I start feeling less crazy… I do we’ll months on my own without talking to someone but then need therapi.

I’m legitimently scared of them at this point. I did give my last therapist feed back about her behavior, when I told her “I’m a person, and I don’t deserve this treatment” and then responded with “I don’t believe you” she raged and yelled at me, blaming me for her being distracted, telling me I talked too much.

I’m started to lose hope however that there are therapists who recognize patriarchy and oppression as a root cause to mental illness, rather than a partner as a cure for mental illness 🙄without claiming I’m the problem when I’m the one showing up to therapy for what happened to me. Therapists all just think their patients are mentally I’ll crazy women who can’t get a man. I feel insane when I go to therapy. Because I’m terrified of men and the focus is never on me as an individual, but (I shit you not, and tbh I even told her she was giving me harmful advice,) but tk shift the focus on my “distortion” of why I think I “can’t have that now.”

(I actually believe there are good therapists in just scared to open up now /be devalued/have a therapist not even treat seperatism as viable or even suggest it to me as an option. I don’t need a therapist to suggest it to me but I’d trust one much better who did. It sucks leaving a therapy session feeling worse because you don’t feel good enough.)

I really think most therapists are sexists because they have male bias

i think ive mentioned it before but therapy is more of a business nowadays. all these therapists arent people that actually want to help, very few of them do, most of them saw a growing industry and decided they could bank on it. they dont care to help and heal, they view therapy as a way to make someone (women) "normal" and fit in to society rather than working through trauma and have a healthy life, even if that life isnt the typical one. ive also seen a lot of therapists feed into bad behavior, validating the emotions and victim complexes of abusers all while teaching them a new progressive language to wield against their victims. i still think about how my friend went to therapy and the entire time going culminated into the conclusion of "your life sucks and theres nothing you can do about it" like what???? it seems like traumatized people come out of these sessions worse and i have no doubt that abusers are going into this field to extend their reach. i feel like the more people glamorize therapy the more this is going to happen.

[mdhwrites]

I believe the villains in Owl House got screwed over because Dana disliked writing them. Belos was stripped of his complexity, ignoring his lore, Kikimora was reduced to a joke, and the Collector was transformed from a malicious, cruel person to an innocent kid who only wanted friends. It feels like Dana doesn’t enjoy writing villains.

So I don't think it's that Dana hates villains. I think it's that the TOH writers had no interest in writing an adventure series. Because of how much time is wasted, even in S2B, purely on romance and schoolkids being schoolkids (Them's the Breaks still has no point to exist after all) and how the villains are barely there outside of something to beat at the end of an episode, it kind of feels like the crew just wanted to do a magical school show which makes the supposed claim that Hexide was Disney mandated hilarious.

This actually also goes for the characters too though. A real adventure show would care about its power levels, its tricks and tools and actually showing the growth of our characters as fighters, not just as people. TOH... doesn't. Willow's big gimmick when she's first introduced is that she is incredibly powerful but can't control it. Then THREE EPISODES LATER, in the first episode that has Willow in it for more than a minute, it's resolved. Period. Until fucking S3. At that point, she is all powerful. Luz is all powerful by the beginning of S2, literally three episodes after she got her last glyph. Arguably, by Young Blood, Old Souls because she kicks the shit out of the entire Conformatorium in that one.

Even before then, most villains show up, cause a slight problem and then are quickly defeated after the character moment that the show setup with the conflict is resolved because their purpose is not as villains, it's just for the sake of it being an adventure show. Even the creatures of the Isles are for this purpose. That's also why most villains in TOH get like MAYBE three minutes of screen time at most. This would actually be okay if interesting things were being done with the characters but... Well, Luz goes through the same lesson multiple times in S1 about not taking cheats for magic and listening to Eda, almost ALL of King's plotlines in S1 are just repetitions of "Maybe don't see people as disposable pawns?" until S2 it's all "FAMILY!" until he's unrecognizable from his S1 counterpart. Then Gus has shades of self confidence issues in ALL of his episodes and never anything else. Then in S2 we have Hunter who is just mostly there in his episodes and learning constantly, "Maybe... Maybe friends are nice?" rather than actually challenging his world views and making him grow that way. That's also why I claim the show actively ships him with every girl his age.

It ironically makes the fact that TOH is so split in its identity feel like a necessity for the writers to have had more than at best two season's worth of material. With how much they recycle plot points, characters, etc. like that, of course it wastes time because it has no idea what to do with the amount of time it had.

Ignoring Belos' lore though is a different problem that has to do with his role as the big bad clashing with this, because he can't just be a slight obstacle to be overcome or else he looks like a joke like Kikimora or the coven heads came off as, but also that... Well, the show was ending.

So because they had nothing to do in S3 to keep audience interest because S2 had wrapped up too much, they leaned hard into saying "We have a complex villain, we swear," to keep people theorizing and invested in the show until the third special came out and the show went "JK LOL! We need to wrap this shit already. BYE!" Like they KNEW they didn't have the time, it's ENTIRELY on them to have focused so hard on Belos and then pulled the rug out from under everyone but...

But that's also just the normal trick of TOH. Here's the golden guard. No wait, he's a sad but mad boy, let's wrap this up. Here's a bully character who has deep ties to wanting the status quote to stay and should have a dozen anxieties about liking Luz. Never mind, none of that mattered, she's actually a good girl and has no issues getting into love besides the basic question of 'will she say yes?' Here is the ex-coven head for the EC who got betrayed and hurt by Belos while trying to just be a good sister fi- ISN'T HER TRAUMA HILARIOUS!?

If Dana disliked writing the villains, frankly, that means she disliked writing 90% of the show because most parts of the show aren't actually any better than the villains. They just got more screentime.

========

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[oblivionbladetd]

The Unfortunate Implications of Pokemadhouse: The Big One.

Tldr: Lily's negligence leaves G the offender in multiple Rape Allegories. By extention, making a story about loving and forgiving a rapist.

I know for a lot of people that's already put a pit in your soul and got your guts doing flips, so if you want the proof in the year old moldy pudding, follow me under the cut.

Her insistence on calling it the "Mating Bond" really is the biggest, sturdiest nail in this particular coffin, for even for those lovey-dovey birds that do this forever mated dies without the other thing, it's still mostly a sex and survival thing. Which alone puts G in this weird place without diving deeper, It puts a connotation that G would fuck a child to not die. Which in a "gun to your head do this or something awful happens" sense? I mean, uneasy forgiveness, if any... but let's not unpack that quite yet because.

Lily was asleep... because if anything really enhances ignoring the age of consent, it's just dodging consent almost entirely. For G engages this mating bond by entering Lily's dreams and getting the consent while Lily isn't in the right state of mind. So allegorical statutory and date rape! I want to cry... how do you get this bad at blindness to your own implications? BUT HOLD ON BECAUSE IT STILL GETS WORSE!

Bonnie. As said before, she was made through sabotaged extinction prevention measures without Lily's knowledge prior to her popping into existence. At this is all I have to say is that it sure is fortunate that Lily just already had the funds to take care of a child allocated, and that Bonnie was created as a lol random but not annoying model child with zero downsides, AND is perfectly healthy despite being a Dumpster fire of genetic mixing between 2 species. Cause if that wasn't the case, then Bonnie being an allegorical rape baby would be really weird! Seriously though what the fuck, Lily?

Mix it all together with the rest of Madhouse, and we get a story where, despite numerous occasions of crossing lines both past and present, a rapist is forgiven and declared the spiritual sister of her victim! If I need to elaborate on why that's fucked dare I say it might be too late for you. To make it all worse is that Lily stands accused of having molested and raped her very own sister, Courtney. So if you believe Courtney at all, you need only shift your focus on G being the real self insert, it becomes twisted wish fulfillment, wishing that the Sister she assaulted would forgive her and become part of her life as a sister again. What makes this more insidious is that she knows that she's been breaching too far, having deleted and hastily replaced the original violate arc. Given how her real life writes a lot of the plot that isn't wordplay gags, I would be willing to take away the benefit of the doubt with it being anything other than wish fulfillment, but in the basic courtesy that I have to afford lest I become the thing I hate I will hold back from saying in a definitive way that Lily is thristy for incest.

What I will say is that the fact that this implication exists at all, in a work made by a Critic that has DAYS of content ripping into poor implications like what I have detailed today, is a legendarily bad look AT BEST. I do not expect the works of critics to be good, mind you, but that does not excuse the sheer blind incompetence on display. The absolute most charitable takeaway is that Lily has never suffered hearing herself speak or had the burden of a second thought weighing on her mind. Because if these implications are out of incompetence rather than purposeful inclusions, it speaks abyssally low of Lily's media literacy, and if it is intentional, then it's malicious if not stupid with the allegations surrounding her at time of writing.

[archiveikemen]

An opinion on the boys? ? I really like your blog 🩷

aww you're so sweet 🩷

hmm this might either get very long or be very short because i'm not good with words...

i've only read liam's route and a little of harrison's route at the moment so i may not have much of an opinion of some of the guys.

William

Visually, he's my kind of guy. He's smoking HOT and I have a thing for fictional men with white/silver hair???? Although, he's not really my type in the "oh I want to date this man" sense (yet). I don't actually know a lot about him since I haven't played his route, but while reading his event story I feel like... there's something very attractive about this man's character. The way he respects MC's feelings and wants? Love it. He's still morally gray to me for now, so I can't comment much on that. Oh I love his brain (I'm not a zombie), I like how it works. He's so smartbshfhshhfsb

Harrison

I'm still at I think Chapter 4 of his route UM my impression of him is formed mostly based on his role in Liam's route. He can deny it all he wants, but he's a very caring person. He cares deeply about the people around him, especially Liam and MC, he just expresses it in a rather roundabout manner. I won't say too much (to avoid spoiling Liam's route), but in the crazy love ending, Harrison could've acted out of anger because he was in fact FUMING and yet he chose to remain rational, and think about the impact his actions would have on Liam. Love him for that. As for the way he treats MC: He doesn't invalidate her feelings and opinions. He wants her to remain true to herself, and believes that her feelings are an important part of her she shouldn't ignore or try to change.

what am i even talking about... i feel like i'm just blabbering away at this point...

Liam

Oh Liam Evans my LOVE. He has a very cheerful personality, smiling most of the time. He also has the cutest sprites (totally not biased). I believe that Liam is a genuinely kind soul, albeit a little TOO kind — to the point it's biting him in the ass. Generally speaking, Liam is a mega people pleaser. He will do whatever others want him to do, without question. Anything to make them happy. Liam says that this is because he just doesn't want to hurt anyone or make them uncomfortable around him. But we know this is a result of the horrifying way he was raised by his parents (especially his father). Not going too deep into that to avoid spoiling his main story. All in all, he's a very well written character in my very personal opinion... could be because I see myself in him.

Elbert

I feel like I know almost nothing about this man apart from the way he's OBSESSED with beautiful stuff (which is perfect because his curse is the queen from snow white). He cares for MC in his own way, sometimes a pretty messed up way. Can't comment much about his character... but I'm very interested in him. I need his main story NOW.

Alfons

Another man I don't know much about and am very interested in. At the moment, I don't see any good in him but not in a negative way. My impression of him is that his moral compass is completely messed up 💀 I feel like he'd sell me for a single potato chip ...

Jude

Hot damn. Exactly my type of man HAHA my first love in IkeVil <3 This man has a soft spot for MC I just know it I can smell it I feel it in my bones ! Love that sharp tongue of his. Can't wait for more story events with his route and eventually his main story, so I can get to know him better.

Ellis

He gives me the creeps but not in a bad way. I like that, actually. His goofy smile is so so adorable. I'm very curious about his character, I want to know more about his curse and the role it has played in shaping him as a person. Love him 🥺

Roger

Hmm... I don't mean this in a malicious way, but I have yet to find anything attractive about Roger because I'm not into characters like him. I do have Roger to thank for saving Liam's life a billion times, though. I think he cares about Liam more than just in a "he's my lab rat he can't die" kind of way. Is he really egoistical? Yes, definitely. He's not a bad character, it's just that I've not seen him around in stories enough to form any solid opinion on him... I haven't read his event story either.

Victor

Oh my precious goofball. When I first looked at his appearance, I thought he'd be a cold guy. He turned out to be Crown's resident funny guy?? I'm in love with the way he cares for all the members of Crown as if they were his sons. He's like an overworked single parent of seven very problematic boys and William being the only "son" with braincells (I'm joking, please don't come at me)💀

His happy-go-lucky, fun, loving, caring etc. personality aside... I have a feeling he's the most cruel(?) member of Crown. I mean, there must be a reason why Crown calls him the Grim Reaper. If my memory serves me right, I believe MC has gotten the creeps from him before. Something is very fishy about this man and I NEED to know what's up with him. This bubbly side of him must be just a front and a disarming mechanism(??? rest in peace niki's english) because as the saying goes, no one plans a murder out loud.

[vergess]

Copying this to my main for the sake of my organization.

TLDR: some self-aggrandizing asshole decided to vomit some egregious levels of ignorance while pretending to be an authority on the sociology of fandom.

Anyway, to save us all some trouble, the point by point is going under a cut.

Not only because of pervasive issues of (especially anti-Black) racism, misogyny, transphobia/homophobia, and the like, but the particular way those things take shape within fandom.

There is no "particular way" racism "takes shape" in fandom. You're thinking of GENERAL SOCIETY, the supergroup that includes fandom.

Your ignorance of fandom specific and society-wide sociological information is already a screeching red flag, btw. This is why so many "intellectually incurious" people stopped listening at word one. People have been saying that the vulgar masses need to have our culture and art shaped by academic, political, or religious "trained thinkers" since the dawn of civilization. You're literally bringing up an argument OLDER THAN LITERATURE ITSELF and pretending that you have new insights. No wonder people fucking ollied out.

What I mean is that people almost invariably approach fandom at the level of character, often at the level of ship - your primary way of viewing a text is filtered through favourite characters and favourite relationships, as opposed to, say, favourite scenes, favourite themes, favourite conflicts.

Yes. You're literally providing a textbook definition of transformative fandom here. But you're presenting it disingenuously as fuck, by acting like that's the ONLY type of fandom that exists. Again, your ignorance is on display, and it's going to get bigger quick!

Because in the very next pgaragraph we find:

This is reinforced through the architecture of dominant platforms that host fan content, particularly AO3

And here we go. Because if you thnk AO3 is the major platform for fandom, you're WILLFULLY IGNORANT.

Youtube is the major platform for fandom. Next up is tiktok. After that comes other socials, like Reddit, FB, twitter and tumblr.

AO3 is AFTER all of that. It's a small, indie platform. Even in the scope of fanfic, FFN and Wattpad both are larger.

You picked a small site MADE SPECIFICALLY FOR HOSTING QUEER SHIPS FOUND UNACCEPTABLE TO HOMOPHOBES, and then looked around asking yourself, "wow, why are the people on the gay sex website so obsessed with gay sex."

I would like to believe you are simply ignorant, and inadvertantly malicious. But I do not think that is the case, as I will detail later.

Dead Dove: Do Not Eat,” which doesn’t indicate perspective or theme but rather that there is, broadly, some kind of “problematic content” contained therein - often of a sexual nature, frequently as a warning about “bad” ships.

You literally just made this up based on rumours you heard from antishippers. This has ZERO relation to reality.

Dead Dove contains everything from graphic violence to body horror to rape to surrealist meditations on the way the human mind cannot cope with the scale of the universe.

But you wouldn't know, because you're cheerfully ensconcing yourself in an enclave of people telling you what you want to hear, and pretending that's "decades of study and experience." You haven't been 'engaging for decades' you've been swimming in a tiny corner of a tiny pond and claiming the ocean doesn't exist.

Now this is not an inherent problem, as in, it is not inherently incorrect to approach a text and primarily derive pleasure from it by focusing on a given character or relationship,

The sheer HYPOCRISY on display. "Oh it's fine to do this, but don't do it on the websites you MADE SPECIFICALLY FOR DOING THIS ON, because I personally would like to see you do other things. What? Those things are available on dozens of much larger and more active platforms? No, no, I want to see YOU obey MY demands specifically."

It's "not incorrect" to do, it's just that the people doing it are incorrect, for magical mystery reasons that you'll never actually specify, because you can't. You cannot actually give a reason why any of the things you dislike are bad because they aren't. There is no harm being done. Your disliking something does not mean is is harmful to you.

If someone were FORCING you to engage with this disliked stuff, sure, thats actually horrific! Fucking beat the shit out of them!!

But as far as "I opened this fic and I didn't like it" goes, that's not harm, that's someone making a thing you didn't like. Just close the goddamned tab.

And I think a lot of mainstream media encourages (even requires) audiences to engage with their stories at these character- and ship-levels. […;] If you do not care about the familial drama […] because you think the institution of monogamous marriage and the nuclear family is stupid and violent and heternormative, then you will have a difficult time engaging with the show in general.

Okay, I'm going to give you the benefit of my doubt here. Either this is you saying fandom self selects for people who enjoy garbage, a shocking condescending and fundamentally untrue but at least plausible statement.

Or you're saying fandom is responsible for the actions of major media producers, violating basic concepts like linear time. Which would be absurd, but not wildly out of keeping with the rest of this essay.

Let's assume the former.

That's not just a thing we've studied to death and found to be untrue after decades of sociological research.

It's also just demonstrably, on the face of it, nonsensical.

Transformative fandom appeals to people who wanted MORE from a piece of media, not people who hated it enough to walk away. It's specifically about making an experience greater than it was when you first encountered it, by engaging with it communally. By ripping at the facade heteronormative white supremacy creates in art, and forcing diversity, sexuality, and liveliness into an otherwise sterile space.

Which you would know if you had engaged with or studied transformative fandom in any meaningful capacity whatsoever.

A standout example I recently encountered was browsing the fandom tags on tumblr for the movie Prey. […] It is a movie that makes the argument that, despite this alien monster running around killing people, the villains of the franchise are these occupying soldiers and settlers, an alien force who themselves have just as little regard for (indigenous) human life. And when browsing the tags on tumblr, what I found was dozens upon dozens of horny posts about how hot the predator monster was

And here's the crux of the issue revealed. You want other fans to enjoy art in a way YOU approve of specifically. Not any actual concern with addressing systemic issues of racial, sexual, etc violence. Just a desire for more of the fan content YOU like, and less of the hornyposting you dislike.

But you went on tumblr, the famously sexual mosterfucker website, and were confused to find a bunch of people want to fuck the monster!

Meanwhile, on youtube, the LARGEST FANDOM PLATFORM IN THE WORLD, searching "prey 2022 racism meta" provides dozens of hours of essays on that very subject.

And if this is your takeaway from an extremely straightforward film with a very clear message, this is not merely a failure to comprehend the content of a text, this is something beyond it

Oh the sheer vanity on display. The assumption that people cannot be hornyposting AND still have complex feelings about a racism narrative?

Man, the book about holocaust survivors who fantasize about fucking nazis is almost a century old. You're operating under DECADES AND DECADES of misinformation, and you're wallowing in it so gleefully. To the point that you act like anyone trying to provide you with even a single piece of legitimate information are worthy of mockery and derision for not Speaking High Academia Goodly Enough All The Time Forever.

I don't know how to explain this to you, but someone can find the monster sexually appealing in spite of, and indeed even because of, the colonial implications of its narrative. AND people can still be critical of colonial racism while being horny for a FICTIONAL MONSTER THAT I NEED TO EMPHASIZE IS NOT REAL AND IS NOT ACTUALLY KILLING OR COLONIZING ANYONE BECAUSE IT DOES NOT EXIST.

People can enjoy fiction without that meaning they want to fuck racists IRL. I'm sorry that you somehow believed that sexual interest in a fictional character makes you TOO STUPID TO EXIST, but fortunately, you're wrong.

a phenomenon wherein fans will move from one fandom to the next in search of two (usually white, usually skinny) guys to draw and write porn of, uncaring of any of the surrounding context of the stories they are embedded in, and consequently dominating a large sector of fandom discussion.

Again, the gays are not "dominating" fandom. The gays are dominating fandom websites made or popularized for being accessible and welcoming to gay sexuality.

Do you also go into the sexual studies aisle at the library to complain that THOSE are too sexually focused, while ignoring the whole rest of the library, too?

The actual dominant voices in fandom are Straight White Men Ages 18-40. Do you really think Star Wars was made with a bunch of teen and middle aged trans people in mind? Do you REALLY?

Because you keep SAYING that the dominant force in fandom is presumed young, presumed white, presumed female, presumed straight fans. But it isn't. It never has been.

Only in the rare enclaves of transformative fandom spaces made by and for people marginalized for their sex or gender is this "obsession" with sex and gender apparent.

Because we MADE SPACES for those subjects to be engaged with.

And now you march into these spaces, made for engaging with these subjects, and demand that instead we do things your way.

You are so ignorant you've looped back around to accusing transformative fandom of being a nasty gay hypersex conspiracy, literally no different from the latest Fox News "special guest scientist" who uses academic language incorrectly to create an illusion of authority, such that hopefully the audience will obey.

Your stance on engagement with fandom itself historically was (and still is) always first filtered through one of these two labels

YOU JUST! MADE THAT UP!!! AND PRETENDED LIKE NO ONE ELSE WOULD KNOW???? Do you think everyone else on this website was born after 2014, the year antishipping started?

Antishipping, proshipping, and even shipping itself have NEVER been the primary, central function EVEN of TRANSFORMATIVE fandom.

Let alone the archival and analytical fandoms you're looking for while claiming they TOTALLY don't exist.

But at least now we can say with authority that you're being a misinformational twat on purpose!! Because you want to REDUCE fandom to something you perceive as "drama" so you can shit on it and demand that it obey your whims and desires.

Meanwhile, just for the sake of pointing it out AGAIN: antishippers have literally killed people. Literally, no metaphor, people have been KILLED by antishippers. Dead.

Lives ended.

That's not touching on the constant spread of videos/photos showing real, actual child sexual abuse. Nor the dozens of admitted cases of raping shippers to punish them. Now the hundreds of adittmed carses of adults using the label "antiship" as a way to prey on and sexually abuse children.

No, setting all of that aside, because apparently you're the kind of Both Sides cunt that want to put random authors on the same level as CHILD RAPISTS?

THAT. ENTIRE.PHENMONON. ISN'T EVEN 10 YEARS OLD.

2014 was NOT EVEN A DECADE AGO. "Historically," my ass. NOTHING you just said there is true. Do you really think you can get away with lying that brazenly if you use the formal tone?

Because you cannot. Well informed, well educated fans who LIVED THROUGH AND STUDIED the events you're describing exist, and will continue existing. Or did you forget that many of us are "real" academics too? That this is our HOBBY where we engage with our INTEREST INFORMALLY.

Your claim that anyone who is involved in fandom is too fucking stupid to be ABLE to engage with a text in the way you want is based, wholecloth, on the assumption that there is a hard line between literary academia and fandom. Meanwhile, A LOT OF THE INFLUENTIAL FANS ARE ACADEMICS, AUTHORS, AND SOCIAL SCIENTISTS.

But, with classic vanity, you assume that anyone who disagrees is too stupid to listen to, and dig deeper into your cavern of joyous ignorance where something that started 9 years ago and that most people wouldn't even recognize the terminology of has always been a "defining" factor?

No.

That is a lie. Full fucking stop. You are a liar.

Nowhere in this binary is space to describe any other perspective you might take

You're just repeating yourself over and over. "Oh, why do the people on the gay sex website obsess over gay sex." "Oh, why do the people whose hobby is indie romance lit keep talking about indie romance lit on this, the indie romance lit website."

JUST! GO! TO! ANY! OTHER! FANDOM! THEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STOP DEMANDING THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THE GAY FUCKING WEBSITE REPURPOSE IT TO YOUR WHIMS YOU WEIRD PRESUMPTUOUS CUNT!!!!!

It’s not just that the pro/anti divide is juvenile and overly-simplistic

Bold words from the asshole still equating the child-raping death cult to people who read/write for fun, but I mean… we've established that this is a purposefully misleading shitstorm already so.

it is a declaration that all fan conflict must be read through the lens of shipping and shipping only

Do you think that the fandom meltdowns about the removal of Biologically Evil Races from D&D was about shipping????

Do you think that the backlash against the Black storm trooper in star wars was about SHIPPING?

You just throw out anything outside your blinders, huh. You just ignore EVERYTHING ELSE that ever happens, so you can claim it's 'all' about shipping.

My friend, fandom isn't obsessed with shipping, YOU are.

Which, again, I think is a fundamental error of methodology.

Okay, you keep saying "methodology" in a way that makes me think you don't actually know what it means. It's not a special magic term for "critical lens that will make you agree with me."

There isn't even "a" fandom methodology to speak of. Now, at the more precise level of AO3-centered, transformative, romance based fandom SPECIFICALLY, there are some methodoloGIES (PLURAL) that occur fairly frequently. And THOSE are, I assume, the things you have an issue with. But since you continue not to define what methodologies you disapprove of, it's meaningless filler word to make yourself sound smart.

And don't point to your paragraph about capitalism heteronormativity; that's not a fandom methodology and it's not even discussing a method at all, just contextualizing how a method might arise without actually specifying what the method is.

Don't point to your paragraph about Prey, either. You still didn't actually specify any methods, let alone full methodologies. You simply said, repeatedly, that you personally feel like people were missing the point. Nothing about how many times they read the original text; nothing about note taking; nothing about citation; nothing about research; nothing, nothing, notheng methodological whatsoever. Just your personal disgust that people might be horny in a way you think is "too white."

the thorny issues of representation not just as expressed through individual characters but entire worlds, narratives, settings, and themes

So you've just not been tracking the meltdown of the Harry Potter fandom over the last 5 years, either, yeah?

Because these days, that fandom is LOADED with people explaining in exquisite detail all the ways the world building is, itself, deeply racially, sexually flawed.

Or is that too cringe for you to talk about?

Because the Lord of The Rings fandom is also known for this trend. Star Wars too.

There's shitloads of this stuff out there, you simply refuse to leave the Gay Sex For Monster Fuckers website to find it. Instead, you lounge around here complaining about how the monsters are too fuckable and the gays too sexual.

You keep harping on about how this is a western individualism problem, but you're literally just refusing to acknowledge that other things exist. Do you think there are no shippers in Vietnam? Because buddy, there for sure are. I'm friends with some.

And this issue is best perhaps epitomised by reader insert fanfiction, circumventing any need for you to project onto a character by literally inserting yourself into fiction, primarily in order to write/read about a character you want to fuck

Ah, you see? You think the gay sex website has too much gay sex on it.

This then intersects in particularly disgusting ways with real world politics, such as reader insert fics about Pedro Pascal going with you to BLM protests.

Wow, you just really uniquely hate shippers, huh. You really went all in on the "people writing fanfiction are sex criminals" thing instead of "people forcing Mr Pascal to read porn on camera are sex criminals."

Do you also think that the guy who made the camera my rapist filmed me with as a child is the real sex criminal, not the rapist holding said camera?

Even if this is (incredibly over-generously) interpreted as a very poor attempt at being “progressive,” it still demonstrates that many (white) fans are often incapable of thinking about anything outside of a character-centric perspective, quite literally centring themselves in the process, and consequently they think it’s totally appropriate to do things like that

Again the assumption that any fan you dislike is white. No wonder you've convinced yourself no other POC are left to speak up: you call us white when we disagree.

The fact that this is also frequently a racist lens is not coincidental, because again, a chronic focus on (fictional) individuality prohibits any structural perspective from entering the discussion

"Why doesn't this character piece focus on systemic issues more!!!!!"

Mate, just go back to reading "real" literature until you've pulled your head out of your ass enough to answer that question.

To say nothing of the bold audacity displayed in the assumption that a character study cannot comment on social issues, because…. because what? Because it's written by a hobbyist? Because it's not in an 150 year old anthology?

Do you also think poetry is incapable of analyzing systemic issues because it has a narrow focus, too?

Your ego, ignorance, and anger have combined to render you absolutely abominable, yet you wonder why people aren't falling over themselves to fulfill your every wish??

Oh it must be because your sycophants are being excluded, not because you've gone off half-cocked and wholly ignorant, making the same stupid, unfounded arguments based on your own assumptions about other people's beliefs, values and actions.

where people come to the conclusion that the topic of police brutality is little more than a fun stage to enact whatever romantic shenanigans you want to get up to with a hot guy.

No, mate, YOU came to that conclusion. That's not "fandom" that's you. You did that. The writer's reasons for producing that fic are unknown to you. You decided all on your own that it was written by a white person for fun, and not by a person of colour who wanted to imagine that someone they idolize would hold similar moral values to them.

You didn't need any straight white fangirls to do it for you. YOU reduced it to sex all on your own.

But I think that this being the dominant mode of engagement

STILL not the dominant mode of fandom. No matter how many times you say that, it's still not true. It remains false and, at this point I feel confident in saying it is a willful lie.

inherently excludes and marginalises all other approaches, and creates a fandom space where the most valuable way to talk about media is to discuss which two characters you most enjoy imagining fucking each other

Finally, and in conclusion, your experiences are not universal. You surrounded yourself with people insisting that This Is The Only Thing Fandom Is, and then you ignore and deride anyone pointing out that you're wrong.

I can, right now, go on my dashboard and ask people to drop me their favourite meta and haedcanons and get dozens or hundreds of replies from people with the most beautifully complex, nuanced grasp of character, setting, causality, and more and be blown away by the connections they make to real world issues.

You, however, it seems can just go on your dashboard and be flooded with things you hate.

But here's the thing: YOU decide who you follow on here. YOU decide which fandom platforms you frequent. YOU, in this one TINY arena, get to have the actual final say.

Use. That. Power. Revel in it. God knows that as QTIPOC we're not given that kind of authority ANYWHERE ELSE in life.

Use it.

Make your fandom space look the way you want it to, instead of making up a bunch of gibberish.

PS: Some (just a small sample) fandoms active on tumblr you definitely forgot when you were pretending you have authoritative knowledge about how all fandom is about The kind Of Sex You Hate and not about engaging with art wholly and joyfully.

Shakespeare.

Dante.

Other renaissance lit, especially italiana.

Queen (band).

Dracula and assorted Victoriana.

Classical Chinese literature.

Classical Greek and Latin literature.

Poetry (western)

Poetry and calligraphy (eastern, incl middle eastern)

Botany (the science) (VERY popular on here)