#also this fandom needs to be bigger so I don't have to be bombarded with only TNBC or pr0nz posts

[franki-lew-yo]

James and the Giant Peach is still (mostly) for young children

Despite a single pre-metoo joke and it's uncanny-ish artstyle that's a serious make-or-break-you factor on if you like it, James and the Giant Peach is aggressively a movie for young children. I personally like it as I never find it a patronizing sit for little kids, like Don Bluth's movies from the 90s so often were, but that really is what I think alienates people; the intended audience may be a bit too scared of the visuals (NOT like how they are with TNBC, which kids go in expecting to be scary) where the adult audience who is here for the 'creepy stop-motion' feel like the movie is lacking for not being Nightmare or Coraline, which is unfair. It absolutely scared me as a little little kid but upon finally facing it at, like ten or whenever it was on Cartoon Network's movie show, I realized there was nothing to fear. And that, in turn, was exhilarating. It's such good symmetry that the film is about facing your fears and standing up for yourself because that's exactly what my relationship with it was. It's such a comfort film for me. My og Bluey. JatGP, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Ernest and Celestine = perfect comfort after I watch something serious and/or disturbing.

Half my reason for trying to pied-piper everyone else towards it as it's own merit is I think James and the Giant Peach would hit hard for lovers of weirdcore and dreamcore ala Jack Stauber or @samsketchbook's 'Welcome to Our Dimensional Party'.

That "looks unsettling/potentially disturbing but actually cute or gentle" vibe pairs perfectly with dreamcore aesthetic. We're coming up on it's 30 year anniversary I hope to see a genuine resurgence. If I had it my way and I was Dan Olson I'd make an hour-long look at the movie, the original book and Henry Selick's filmography as a surrealist the way Dan made an hour-lookback at Bakshi's Lord of the Rings. But I'm not. Cause I'm not Dan Olson and I can't build up the nerve to either show my face or figure out how to make videos in two years.

But anyway, about the title of this post (content warning: downer nsfl stuff; mentioning of real life child ab*se cases):

James' life with his aunts hits VERY different when you're an adult and you've watched too much true crime.

It's not intentional on the part of Dahl or Henry Selick. Selick had Mariam and Joanna ham up the screen and they clearly loved every minute of it and Dahl I think was just trying to tell an 'authentic' type fairytale story where the main character has to escape their evil family. Point being- Spiker and Sponge are supposed to be 'evil for the sake of evil' villains who could only exist as hammy caricatures in an already weird story. They aren't supposed to be like the parents in Matilda or the Twits who I'd argue are a little more 'realistic' depiction of awful people...except for the fact that legal guardians like Spiker and Sponge DO actually exist.

There's a heavy implication in the film that no one else in their county even knows James lives with Spiker and Sponge (literally the only people around to recognize James' existence are the bugs when they first meet him!). His aunts seem to make James work out of frustration for having to take him in, like he's a burden and they're making him pay for being one by being their slave. They actively don't feed him except for rotting fish and then shame him for not eating it. The Lane Smith picture book implies that James' parents weren't killed by a rhino but rather it's Spiker and Sponge who put that idea in James' head and use it to control him. And all that BEFORE the beatings which you know are happening off screen.

After the horrifying cases of Ruby Franke, Sylvia Likens and the Turpins, the "every child deserves a parent but not every parent deserves children" reality of it all makes you realize that James probably would have died if he lived with his aunts. Considering how they flip out on him in New York- that boy REALLY needed to escape, giant peach or no.

This is absolutely another reason for why JatGP is a comfort movie for grownups. You have this horrific childhood rescued by loving in-human parents who will kill everyone in the room and then themselves if you touch their human boy. It's like Opal but if Claire found a happier family. Of bugs. None of that was intentional, ftr, but it's what sticks out to me.

[archerofunspeakablelove]

i don't know if you still fw countryhumans but if you do could you share more of your sovame and/or westame thoughts /nf

ANON I NEED YOU UP KNOW THAT WHEN I SAW THIS I JUMPED AROUND THE HOUSE AND WHOOPED FOR LIKE A MINUTE I do indeed still fw the Countryhumans fandom!!! Don't participate much anymore but everything I write was derived from it. I'll get to that later. ngl my first reaction to this was "how did you know I ship WestAme" but then I realized it's. Literally in my blog title 😭

Long post incoming! Did not expect it to get this long but I'm a bit possessed rn

Okay so like, SovAme first because it has the dubious honor of being the first ch ship I was really really into. I see their dynamic as kinda like, they're lonely, you know, the top of the metaphorical mountain is lonely and they're the only two who understand each other, and they hate each other and would kill each other with no hesitation but also they've defined themselves exclusively in relation to each other. Like if you look at the modern day United States a lot of its policies are a hangover from the Cold War, you know, and that's how I see it. They grew on each other during WW2 but they always knew they couldn't get along after. I used to have much more thoughts on this but I haven't brainrotted over them in a while

Alright. WestAme. Hoooo boy. Where to start. What you have to understand is that I'm currently writing a novel with my bestie and that novel started its life as WestAme fanfiction. So that should tell you something. Oh and just to clarify I don't see these two ships as being viable in the same timeline

If I recall correctly, I got into it because I liked GerAme but it didn't have enough weird power dynamics for my taste. I did get the tag canonized on AO3 so you could always go read my three fics, but none of them have any context and the bigger picture is kinda essential to understand exactly what their relationship is like. So.

The way I see it, after the war West was forcibly separated from his sister, right, who was pretty much the only person he had left, and the western Allies were predominantly Not Very Friendly to him due to honestly valid reasons regarding his father (that seems to be a running theme in this family huh). Except America, because he wasn't really affected by the war, so he was nice to West but at first it was mostly politically motivated (containment policy, yk, Truman doctrine, Marshall plan). West never really got paternal affection very much and also he's currently in a desperately lonely position, yk, so he immediately latches onto the older man being nice to him, and America never felt appreciated by anyone before the way West appreciates (revers, practically worships) him, and because he has an ego the size of the earth and no self esteem at all he gets attached to West so it's like this horrible codependent situation where West fuels America's god complex and America ensures West never ever learns to be independent.

Anyways as I mentioned I'm writing a novel which is essentially an AU of them but it's kinda detracted from history proper and my thoughts on THAT are much more coherent so like if you wanna hear me rant about them periodically just shoot me a DM saying "hey this is the WestAme anon tell me about the god novel" and I'll surely bombard you with it for the indefinite future

But regardless yeah I think in both cases I see trust (or some twisted equivalent thereof) and loneliness are a central aspect of their relationships

[0poole]

People being normal about my TADC fanart

Spoilers: This shit ain't normal ya'll need help

Let's start with the one obviously made to garner the bigger reaction

Like, the joke is pretty obvious, right? Everyone wants to either sex the rabbit or have someone else sex the rabbit, so since it's physically impossible for them to actually do it I wanted to make a joke about that.

Meanwhile, people on Instagram are treating this like it's straight up-porn.

Are you kidding me? If I actually drew straight-up porn of them, I could at least get the "fandom sucks" comments but mentally ill?

A YEAR? A fucking YEAR? Are these two people like eons old and only see a year as a tiny blip of time in their lives? Do they have any idea how long a year is? I could get it if they meant like a week or maybe even a month, but a year is actually just absurd. Do they really think it normally takes anything close to that long for people to realize they're attracted to a character, and make art of it? Most people can produce a piece of art in a few hours, maybe a day if they really put the effort into it.

Anyway here's a perfectly normal reply to the post. I want to believe this person made this photoshop specifically just to reply to my post, because I would love that even more.

Next up we actually have the opposite problem. Take a look at this one

The first TADC art I wanted to make, mostly because I had a really cool idea of putting Pomni in a 3D background, and later thought to actually animate it and make it spin. Obviously I wanted to stylize her a bit differently than in the official animation because I'm basically a sucker for poofy pants/sleeves/shoulderpads whatever, so I just made them bigger, as well as her jester hat cuz obviously.

And to be fair, many more people are normal about this one, but still:

Do they think they're just like, funny or something? While some people nowadays are like "all horny thoughts of fictional characters are sin" others are like "haha sexo funni" and I guess make that their personality. It's just as dumb and annoying. If you want to fuck a character, just fucking admit it. You look even stupider if you're like "haha I wanna fuck her but I don't want people to think I'm actually serious"

This kind of thing happened with a comment on Newgrounds of a sketch of NiGHTS I did a while back. What do they think she looks like under there? It sounds like they think I gave her stick legs but also the fattest ass on the planet, like she was some candied apple on a stick or something. Personally if it were even possible to remove her clothes, my headcanon would basically be that her body looks like Finn from Adventure Time

But yeah there are more passively dumb ones but these comments are specific enough to form thoughts out of. Obviously can't keep this up but hey, just let me dish out my feelings for my first bombardment of attention on the internet lol

Strangely enough, I don't actually want to have sexual relations with the clown. I got enough other characters to form horny thoughts of. Just lay off it, man.

[acourtofthought]

As a former Elriel, I can admit they are worried Az and Gwyn could be mates, they are not as ignorant as the rest of the fandom makes them out to be. But many will not publicly admit it, especially those with bigger accounts and follwers.

Its no secret after that bonus chapter a lot of Elain and Azriel fans saw the writing on the wall. The ones still holding out hope will not go down easy. They are convinced Sarah won't let them down or want to lose them as readers/fans. Who do you think floods her team with emails of threats. They think numbers=power and it's why they continue to bombard her posts and create multiple accounts to harrass. I'm 27, that behavior is childish and petty. It's a shame because there are many Elriels who are kind, genuine and don't partake in the bullying and toxicity - which does goes both ways, but it's made this fandom less enjoyable for all. At the end of the day these are just fictional characters made up by a woman who loves romance and story telling. There is no reason to create such animosity amongst ourselves.

I've enjoyed your posts, it has helped me see the posssibilty of Elain with Lucien. I decided to do a re-read not too long ago and saw things from a new perspective after reading your theories and things clicked. I don't know yet if Elain will help with the spring court and stay or end up in day but I'm excited to read her journey.

I love this message, thank you so much!

And I'm glad to chat with another E/riel turned (or at least open to the possibility of) Elucien.

And you're right, they wouldn't be getting this aggressive unless they weren't nervous. There's no denying that what SJM wrote in that Bonus Chapter creates major issues for E/riel. Ending his scene where the thought of one female's joy brings him happiness is kind of soul crushing when you're a fan of the other female.

I was the same before SF came out. I had only read the series one time and it's not that I was super invested in E/riel but I thought, "hmmm, they could be cute" because it seemed like SJM might be heading in that direction. I liked Lucien but I was really into Feysand at the time and wasn't as invested in what happened with the other characters. Elain and Lucien as Mates was cool but Elain with a sexy bat boy wasn't a bad deal either.

After the SF Bonus Chapter, I was frustrated because I started seeing the anti Elain arguments in the fandom (FB at that time) and why there was no way she was ending up with Az. I wanted to prove those arguments wrong so I started looking back over the series. That didn't work out like I thought it would because I started to understand why E/riel wasn't well matched and why SJM went the direction she did in the POV chapter. After breaking things down, it was almost funny how much I missed during my first read, how clever SJM was at making a compliment sandwich but in reverse (weird analogy but bear with me).

With the compliment sandwich, you compliment, give the bad news, then compliment again. But with SJMs writing, she sneaks something into the book that you don't think much of but is contradictory to the upcoming "compliment". Then a few sentences later, she mentions this thing that readers fixate on. Then a bit later in the book, she mentions something else that decreases the compliment.

For example, the sneaky "negative" is that Cassian first offers Elain a weapon and we don't really pay attention to that.

But then, we have the big line where Azriel hands Elain TT.

This is what E/riels fixate on because it's a "sweet" moment for them.

But then they ignore the fact that after that moment, Elain didn't want to take it but only did after Feyre assured her she wouldn't need it. Also, Feyre tells us Az is ONLY sitting out of the battle because Mor begged him too. Rhys originally told him to stay out of the fight which Azriel refused but after Mor spoke with him, he relented, because of not wanting to upset her. (so would Az have even given it to Elain if we were heading into battle?).

Then we have another BIG moment. Where Rhys tells Feyre Az has never let anyone touch that blade. So romantic, right?

But later, SJM makes sure to tell us that Elain took the blade, the thing Az has never let anyone use, and she gave it back to him. Pressed it into his hands and "walked away without looking back".

That is such an SJM style of writing. Readers get blinded by those flashy moments (I did too) so it's very easy to miss when she slips those other moments around it which tells us "I'm tricking you!! I'm letting you think that was a big deal but if you pay attention, you'll see why it's not!"

And like you said, I think after the Bonus Chapter, people were really able to view E/riel in a different light and see why they might never happen. Which honestly does feel painful if you were hoping for a couple to happen. I still feel sadness when I read about Chaol and Celeana's relationship deteriorating. These characters are definitely not real but it can still cause you to have a real reaction.

But.... (and as you said), it's a major issue when you can't stop yourself from actually threatening and bullying others over it. Especially when at this point we KNOW this is an author who switches up relationships. We can be hopeful that our ship is endgame but it's foolish to assume that SJM can't pull the rug out from under us based on every single other book she's ever written. 😂. I truly think she's going with Elucien but even I realize that she can work her magic and still write E/riel as endgame if that's the vision she had. Those aren't the clues I'm picking up on but I'm not inside her mind so she could still surprise me.

It is such a compliment that you were able to see the possibility of Elucien more clearly during your reread!! I will be so excited if their book comes out and I managed to get at least something correct! 😂

[brucbannr]

Prev anon here

I also have a hard time with shipping non canon stuff for some reason. Idk it's really hard after s4 because I'm just bombarded with ships. My fav is Steve so every other blog I follow is all about St*ddie and I just don't see it and I feel low-key bad for not shipping it because majority of the fandom acts like this ship is canon. Same with Ronance, I can't go through the Nancy tag because 90% of the stuff there is about it, not even her now relationship is discussed.

Like you said I always think about the characters first and if that relationship makes sense for them (both in canon and fanon) and right now Ronance doesn't make sense because it wouldn't be good for Nancy, just like Stancy is crap for both parties involved. Nancy needs a friend not a romantic another partner, this going from relationship to relationship is not healthy.

I like Jancy for the reasons you mentioned, I can see them work through their issues together as soon as the two stop lying to each other. However a large part of me just wants Nancy to be single because after s4 she just confuses me as to what she truly wants and idk her finding herself will be better in the long run for further relationships. I can see Jancy taking a break but getting back together in the future, stronger than ever.

I don't think you should feel bad! It's all about personal opinions. If it makes you feel better, I don't ship it either, I just don't see it. I also have a friend who's a big Eddie fan who doesn't like it, so some people don't ship it. I'm kinda hoping in season 5 that romance in general isn't at the forefront of the plot. In a show like this, it's such a sub-sub plot to me. There are bigger things going on, you know?

Jancy seems endgame to me just because breaking them up in the last season makes no sense. Especially because Jonathan's whole character development is about him opening up to more people. He's learning how to have relationships because he's been secluded his entire life by choice. He's been learning to put himself first after sixteen years of putting everyone else before himself. If they break up because of this college fight, he will end up staying with his family and again, ends up putting his family before his own needs. As harsh as it sounds, they don't need him as much as they used to. Hopper is now in their family or will be since he's with Joyce. Will is in high school and he'll be independent soon. El has Joyce and Hopper and she's also getting older. He does not need to stay with his family as much as he thinks he does. My point is, if they break up because of this, then his character development goes out the window. If someone talks to him then he can understand that going to whatever college he wants is okay. His family will be okay if he goes. He needs to go to college and learn that it's okay to do things for himself. I just think Jonathan needs to go and be "selfish" for once in his life and Nancy can encourage him to do it.

There are so many other reasons why I believe it's endgame. In reality, taking a break makes sense or even breaking up. I don't want to put real-life expectations on a fictional couple though lmao. Jonathan is my favorite character so as long as he and Nancy are happy (together or separate) then I'll be happy.

[itsclydebitches]

I don't think it's as bad in my rp fandom as what you're describing in OFMD, but only because what you're describing is so extreme it's pretty bonkers. (Also the fandom is 2+ years old so some of the in-you-face hostility died down in favour of people staying in their communities and doing a whole lot of vagueing.)

I think it's something that got worse with time. The fandoms known as toxic during the mid 2010s were so much different than the current fandom culture (or maybe just internet culture) we have now. My experience then (so obviously it could be subjective) was that there were a few toxic elements that got emphasized but were relatively easy to avoid, but now the toxicity seems to be the default.

Idk, it seems to me like with every fandom I get into the last few years it feels more toxic than the last. And maybe it's just recency bias or something but it really doesn't feel that way when every time some new brand of toxicity turns up.

I definitely don't want to be that old man shaking his cane at the sky going, "Back in MY day fandom didn't have drama!" because of course we did, it just took on different shapes. We could write whole histories dictating the changes fandom has undergone through the zine era, early Internet, the turn of the century, and now, but whether each change is better or worse really comes down to what we'll personally tolerate + how much we experience it in our circles + how much the past is colored by our nostalgia. All that being said, it certainly feels like fandom toxicity is worse nowadays, though I wonder how much of that is due simply to the exponential growth of "fandom" as a concept. It used to be that fandom (or rather, transformative fandom. Sports fandom is a whole other conversation) was a pretty niche thing and websites devoted to it were themselves fairly isolated corners of the Internet. Now we've reached an age where the average person can at least give you a basic rundown on fanfic (I can remember a time not too long ago when everyone I met irl needed a definition), where actors and writers are encouraged to directly connect their work to the community's interests ("What's your opinion on x ship??"), and the websites where fans gather double as everyone's social media go-tos: Tik Tok, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, even Facebook. And as we've all probably experienced, the bigger the fandom, the more potential for drama. Now that we've reached a place where everyone is instantly connected and "everyone" is involved in fandom somehow, is it any wonder that the toxicity seems to have exploded? Or, even if it hasn't, we're in an age where it's so much easier to see it. Back in the day, you were kinda forced to better cultivate your online circle simply due to the limitations of technology. Now, alongside a hefty dose of algorithms, we're bombarded with more takes per hour than we ever would come across during the earlier days of social media. The forums of old really can't compete with the posting intensity of twitter, nor even the new-ish trend of creating enough content to keep pace with the canon. With shows dropping all their episodes at once and all but forcing fans to binge lest they encounter the dreaded spoiler, we've got intense responses where everyone is simultaneously voicing opinions about the entirety of the story minutes after cramming it all into their head over 10+ hours. That's one of the (many) reasons why I miss a weekly schedule: it allows fans to slow down, consider the content, discuss next week's potential, and generally not indulge in a crazed desire to say All The Correct™ Things Right Now.

It's a lot and yeah, I'm not easily able to separate my own biased nostalgia from the objective changes that have occurred. Did more people really understand tl;dr better back in the day, or are my memories just highlighting the good times and the way things were structured meant I just never came across others' drama? Are writers and actors getting involved in fandom really the downfall we sometimes paint it to be, or was it inevitable given that so many of us grew up and got involved in these industries precisely because they sparked our passions? I can remember the days when we were begging for a better site than FFN, when the legality of fanworks was a legitimate threat, when celebrities publicly made fun of fans, going so far as to paint them as dangerously obsessed. We imagined a world where we could enjoy our hobby safely and without ridicule... and now we can! For however many problems have popped up alongside the change in fan culture, I do try to step back on occasion and go, "Look at how much better other things are too. You're not getting cease and desist letters in the mail. No one can erase all your hard work overnight. The actor you respect is celebrating you, not laughing at you on SNL." Objectively speaking, fandom may indeed have gotten more toxic and I definitely will never stop pushing the old courtesies in the hope that things will get better, but if any of that is a result of fandom going mainstream enough to secure these benefits... then fuck, I'll take the tradeoff. Especially because at the end of the day, tools remain in place to cultivate our own community. Yeah, it's frustrating when it feels like there's nothing but drama going on and getting anon hate always sucks, but provided there are filters and a block button, we can personally tackle toxicity in ways we couldn't personally fix a lot of the shit fandom was dealing with in the past.

[ghostinthelibrarywrites]

for the latest writer ask meme, could you do 1, 11 and 30 ?

11. Which of your fics would you keep the basic plot of but rewrite completely?

I don't know if I would rewrite any of them completely, but especially with my earlier stuff, I would probably tweak a bunch of things. In particular, if I were writing Where There's a Witcher now, I would go with my original plan to make Pavetta Jaskier's next-door neighbor instead of Calanthe. Ciri would also still be Geralt's child surprise, which was also my original plan. I can't remember why I changed my mind on those two plot points, but I wish I hadn't. Yennefer would be a bigger character from the beginning, rather than just showing up whenever someone needed healing or a portal.

11. Three tropes that are fine but overrated.

I'm actually not going to answer this one, because just because something isn't my cup of tea, that doesn't mean it's overrated. Some of my least favorite tropes are hugely popular in this fandom, so they obviously make a lot of people happy and I try not to yuck other people's yums.

30. Describe a fic that almost happened, but then it didn't.

Oh god, there are too many to count. My Google Drive is a graveyard. I think my most recent discontinued WIP is the Bombard AU of a soldier (who carried a mighty sword) where Jaskier comes to Kaer Morhen to marry Geralt, who is deeply in love with Eskel and therefore very unhappy about the arranged marriage. But instead of meeting Eskel first, Jaskier meets Lambert on his way up the mountain, Lambert saves him from some assassins, since that's my favorite kind of meet-cute, and they strike up a friendship which would have become more if I'd gotten that far.

Yet another writing ask

[lispectore]

-I'm sorry I just need to rant a bit...I lurk around 404blr because I havent made a sideblog and have no plans to tbh but I do want to put my thoughts out there

-Quackity and George deserve criticism for this stream. It wasn't done with any malicious intent, and they have the right to react and joke about fanfic, especially since its written about THEM. Jfc if I ever read self insert about myself I would cringe to kingdom come.

-What was not cool was exposing the work of some kid to an audience of 150k+ viewers, whos comment sections are probably going to be bombarded with comments now. I've seen so many creators do this react to fanfic thing and it always ends the same way....and with how toxic this community has become I hate to imagine what the poor writer is going to find

-That being said, peoples criticisms about the stereotypes prevalent in these fics are also so valid. Quackity was right to call it out, it was written about HIM. It was disrespectful and it was racist. He noticed it, and called it out accordingly. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. People shouldn't be getting mad at him for that.

-I feel like this was just a last minute, stupid idea they never should've gone through with. Both Quackity and George HAVE respect for writers( as evidenced by stuff they've said in the past). Neither of them made fun of the writing, it was more about the weird romancey stuff. But this stream was not it, they should've known better. And I say this as someone who LOVES their content, they're my comfort streamers and I enjoy them so much.

-People have the right to get mad about this. Especially fanfic writers who are always treated trivially both inside and outside fandom. I went on twitter for a bit (HORRIBLE idea, I know), and its such a mess. Its full of people ragging on writers and calling them snowflakes. This is exactly why this stream was a bad idea, quackity has done streams like this in the past but now with a bigger and slighty different audience, you see how much this sucks.

-Anyway to end this, 'Q and G are allowed to poke fun at public works written about them' , 'People are allowed to get mad at the rampant racism towards minorities in fanworks' and 'Q and G should have not have done this on stream and should be criticized for it' are statements that can and should coexist!!!!! Why is this so hard for people to grasp. Discourse about this has been blown WAY out of proportion, to be expected from twitter but my god. They made a mistake, you don't have to defend your faves all the time. Please. Especially not if you're going to defend them by attacking fanartists and creators and literal CHILDREN.

-P.s -Fic writers you guys are so cool. Thank you for your work, you are so appreciated and im sorry if this has made you feel like your work is not valid. IT IS. It has gotten me through many tough times and I respect you guys so, so much. Y'all are carrying fandom on your backs <3

-P.p.s- im sorry about this it got SO long

you said everything that i wanted about this topic, anony. i agree 100% with everything that you said!

[killian-whump]

1) Hi! Love your blog! Just recently learnt about the whump community after thinking there was something seriously wrong with me since I was little. Only thing is, I've only ever really liked specific women characters in peril for some reason but I don't like it too violent and I'm much more drawn to emotional whump. I had no idea that whump was a term just for man whump. Do you know of any spaces that specifically cater to this? Especially emotional lady whump?

2) Also are there any alternative terms for lady whump? Idk why but that word or that term makes me feel like a monster all over again. That’s probably just me though because certain random words trigger me. Sorry to bombard you with so many questions.

Hi there Nonny!

For starters, welcome to the world of whump! There is absolutely nothing wrong with you and you’re amongst friends here

Honestly, “lady whump” may be the best term for you, community-wise. There are other terms for it (”Damsels in Distress” or “DiD”, “women in peril”) and plenty of sources for content - but outside of the whump/lady whump community, those places and sources are mostly full of men appreciating the content in a sexual fashion - which, at best, might be at odds with how a lot of whumpers appreciate the content, and at worst can create an unfriendly environment for ladies.

That said, if anyone out there IS a man enjoying lady whump in a sexual fashion, you gents might really enjoy those communities, so you might want to seek them out and give them a try :)

As for lady whump itself… Despite my strong feelings on it remaining separate from the term “whump” itself, I’m actually a big fan of it, and an even bigger fan of people having a safe, welcoming environment to enjoy it in. But while the trope of damsels in distress is as old as time itself, and those communities of men appreciating it are nearly as old, lady whump is a relatively new fandom segment, so it’s still growing and adapting. The best way to grow the community is to engage with it. Start a blog, create some content, support fellow lady whumpers. That’s really all that happened in the whump community that kept it going so long… and that eventually led to the current popularity it has now :)

As for the term “lady whump” itself… You know, I was starting to wonder about that, myself, and I’m glad you mentioned it. I was honestly perplexed by the negativity some lady whumpers seem to have towards the term, when it only serves to make it easier for whumpers to avoid the content (if need be) and for lady whumpers to FIND the content they want and also each other. It got me wondering if maybe there’s something about the term itself that feels distasteful to you guys. And if so, that’s something you guys should discuss and maybe come up with another term that DOES feel good to you. I think part of the problem with the term might be that it’s a little more “in your face”. “Whump” is kind of a… ‘wink wink nudge nudge’ kind of term. You either know what it is or… you send Asks to whump blogs asking what it is. And, believe me, we whump bloggers get a LOT of those asks, haha. “Lady whump” is a lot more… obvious? Instead of the “haha, my fellow whumpers know what i mean” action of tagging a post with “#whump” tagging things as “#lady whump” might come off more like “HI I LIKE TO SEE WOMEN BEING ABUSED” which does seem like it would just be asking for trouble, you know?

Perhaps it’s not so much that “lady whump” should be considered “whump” - but that “lady whump” needs a much cooler and less potentially problematic name…

Anyway, thank you for the Ask, Nonny!

[babieken]

i don’t know if it’s just me but i’ve always hated how far kpop fans (or just fans in general actually) take their speculations. like i understand being curious and wanting to know but to bombard someone to the point where they have to come out and disprove/deny your speculations before they become serious rumours is ridiculous to me.

i know we live in a world where respecting other people and their boundaries (especially public figures) is a rare thing but it’s never sat right to me that people do that. this whole shownu thing with the pilates instructor picture just brought these feelings out. it’s not fair to the celebrity, it’s not fair to the other person and it’s not fair to other fans who are being respectful.

people with forever overgeneralise and that kind of behaviour is just not what you want your fandom to be known for. i don’t expect much from fandom groups honestly, especially in kpop because the way the korean music system works essentially leads fans to this delusion that they own or are entitled to their faces and their faves’ lives because the industry treats them as nothing but assets and money making machines.

soo while i wholeheartedly blames fans who took it too far for their inappropriateness - i would be remiss to not also blame that system for essentially encouraging it. especially because the industry thrives off the parasocial relationships artists form with their audiences; they feed into this idea artists owe their fans all this info about their personal private lives.

i had the tiniest sliver of hope that monbebes would handle any dating speculations with class but clearly people will forever struggle to engage with a level of decorum and appropriateness.

oh i wholeheartedly agree with everything u said except for the last part where u thought mbb would handle dating rumors better KKSDHFKSDH i think mbb is a pretty delulu fandom but bc the majority are slightly older than some other groups it manifests differently and maybe a bit more discreetly.

It’s not even just KMBBs’ fault (who need-i-remind-you were the ones (obv not all of them) who harrassed the boys when they were in the US bc they were jealous of USmbbs getting to see them live and not them) either. I woke up to this thing when the news had... not died down but the things weren’t as chaotic anymore after the denial statement/comment but the way people on the bird app are still talking about it and making it the subject of their every tweet is just going to add fuel to the fire that is the ‘trends’.

there are so many aspects of this hellsite I absolutely hate but the fact that it doesn't have the capacity for anything the 'blow up' makes it perfect for fandom interaction. my entire reaction to the picture (regardless of the dating rumors) which is essentially a new shownu sighting to me would've been (and actually was) "ooh they look kinda cozy~" and then continued to yell about the fact that we have new footage of him and how huge and handsome he is! I don't really care how many women he hangs out with and who he bangs! but on twitter people have this uncontrollable URGE to make a huge deal out of everything and the way the bird app is structured will just make it worse and bigger.

and this is really sad because next time when someone takes a picture with him they might be reluctant to post cuz they’re afraid of starting a worldwar on twitter. the more these stuff blow up and make noise the more isolated idols will be forced to become. it’s so sad that this industry is pushing idols to hide all their social interactions just so they won’t lose delulu fans spending daddy’s bills on them.

[kihyunspanda]

ARMY PSA

Hello, fellow ARMY!

In light of recent events I feel like it’s time to address a few things.

We as ARMY have a bad reputation in the KPop community. People with bad attitudes and people who attack other groups, fandoms, and even members of BTS. This is unacceptable.

We should not have people say that they refuse to listen to or stan BTS because of ARMY.

Here are some Do’s and Don'ts for proper fandom behavior. Because whether we like it or not we DO represent our boys.

(I will be covering 5 areas and if anyone has anything to add, please do.)

1. Do’s and Don'ts for the Treatment of Bangtan Sonyeondan:

DO have a bias. (If you can’t choose, that’s okay too)

DON’T mistreat or attack other members who are not your bias.

They are a group. If you support one, you should support them all.

DO follow them on social media.

DON’T follow them around a city they’re visiting or around their home.

Stalking is NOT okay. Give them their privacy.

DO take pictures of them. In approved areas only.

DON’T break the rules that BigHit has put in place for taking pictures.

This applies to other rules as well. Those rules are in place for their protection and privacy as human beings.

DO go see them in concert in your country, state, area, etc. if you can.

DON’T purposely book a flight (or other transportation) you know they’re going to be on.

If you happen to be on the same transportation as them: Be respectful! Don’t bother them. Don’t take photos of them without their permission. If you happen to sit next to them or catch their eye: wave, smile, send finger hearts, etc. Show your love but treat them with the love and care they deserve as humans and our idols. If THEY offer to take a picture with you, then feel free. But they shouldn’t be living in fear of us, and Jin shouldn’t have to tell us to leave them alone. Common sense, people. Put yourself in their shoes.

DO watch their solo VLives.

DON’T ask for other members.

This is so important. They don’t HAVE to do them. They WANT to. Because they love us as much as we love them. If it’s not your bias and you don’t want to watch it… then don’t watch it. Simple. Asking for other members is so mean. Hobi should not feel like he has to pass on the phone to another member because he feels unwanted. Not only is it damaging to us Hobi stans, it hurts all of Bangtan. Especially Hobi. Or any of them. There are plenty of posts about this. So, I’ll leave it here.

2. Do’s and Don'ts for the Treatment of Other ARMY:

DO fangirl/fanboy with other ARMY about your favorite member(s).

DON’T attack other ARMY for their choice of favorite member(s).

Everybody has their own tastes.

DO support each other and make friends.

DON’T attack each other because of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.

Treat people the way you would want to be treated. Plain and simple. I won’t go any further into this subject, but this is soooo important and applies to everything on this list and everyone in your life. Hate only breeds hate. Let’s fight the hate with love and acceptance.

DO enjoy fanart, fan fictions, and any other fan-made things that are to your preference.

DON’T attack others for the things they enjoy, even if you don’t like it.

If you don’t like it and can’t look past it, just unfollow or walk away. No need to create drama. You have every right to voice your opinion, be angry and say whatever you want, but I urge you to treat others with respect and tolerance. Wouldn’t you want to be treated the same way? Every person has feelings. Also. Please don’t kink shame.

DO share fanart, fan fiction, fan-made stuff from the blogs, accounts you like.

DON’T, for the love of J-Hope, steal other people’s work and post it as your own.

If you want to repost on another site they are not on, want to translate ff into another language, etc. ASK THE CREATOR FOR PERMISSION. Each creator has their own rules and expectations from you as a reposter. (Is that even a word? It is now.) As a general rule, you need to link the original work to the original creator and their original post. There are plenty of posts about this, so I won’t say anything else on this subject.

DO thank and praise the creators for their work and for sharing it with the rest of us.

DON’T harass creators for updates or new content.

Creators work hard and are doing it on their own time for us to enjoy. Most have some form of FAQs posted for you to see. Search them out before you bombard them with questions they have already answered.

DO have fun at concerts, fan meets, fansigns, etc.

DON’T cause problems by pushing, shoving, hitting, yelling at other concert goers.

We are there to connect with each other over our love for the boys. By all means, make friends. But treat the people around you with the respect you would expect. Also. We are guests at venues. Please pick up after yourselves and treat staff with respect. They’re just doing their jobs.

3. Do’s and Don'ts for the Treatment of Other Idols/Groups/Bands/Artists (both Korean and non-Korean):

DO be happy for other artists’ wins.

DON’T attack them for winning over BTS.

It’s statistically improbable that they will win everything.

DO be respectful.

DON’T send hate or threaten them.

No need to be a jerk for no reason. We call that “petty”.

DO be supportive of collabs with other artists.

DON’T accuse other artists of using a collab to gain more fame.

The example of Wale and Namjoon is perfect. The behavior of some ARMY toward Wale is SHAMEFUL. Not only is it damaging to our reputation as fans, it damages the reputation of Namjoon. That is beyond horrible. They want to collaborate because they like the other’s music and respect them as an artist. Getting in the way of Namjoon making a connection with fellow artists is damaging to his career. Do you really want to be responsible for ruining an amazing opportunity for him?

4. Do’s and Don'ts for the Treatment of Other Fandoms:

DO be happy for other fandoms and their successes.

DON’T start fan wars by attacking their groups.

Again: petty

DO defend the boys from serious attacks by reporting users.

DON’T feed the trolls.

Engaging in arguments only makes the problem bigger. They want you to fight back. They’re trying to get a reaction out of you. Don’t let them have it. Also… Don’t be the person to start fan wars. If you see other ARMY behaving badly, please calmly and politely remind them who they represent.

DO take threats seriously.

DON’T try to handle it yourself.

Report. Report. Report.

5. Do’s and Don'ts for Social Media:

DO comment or reply to our boys’ posts. Show your love.

DON’T be inappropriate with your comments or replies!

Let’s all have some decorum, please. Refrain from being perverted towards them. And for the love of Hobi, DO NOT CALL THEM “DADDY” TO THEIR FACES. Online or in person. So not a good look.

DO share your fanart, poems, love letters, etc. with the boys.

DON’T share things that would make them uncomfortable.

Let’s keep it PG.

DO participate in Selca Day if you want.

DON’T be inappropriate.

Again: PG

DO respect their privacy.

DON’T share their location if you see them out somewhere.

Don’t make things difficult for them. Give them space. If you snap a few pictures because you saw them out and about at a museum or whatever… please wait to share it. Like 24 hours minimum.

Let’s just all behave with decorum and let’s show the KPop community that we are a positive force to be reckoned with. Let’s make the boys proud of us.

And this applies to more than just ARMY. This is a basic guideline for all fandoms and for life in general.

Maybe I should have just titled this: How To Be A Decent Human Being.

Thank you for sticking it out until the end. Please share and feel free to add anything I missed!

[ohkinney]

Wow, I'm surprised at the amount of hate so many characters in QaF receive, except for Brian of course. To be fair though, I don't like all of them, and some I dislike more than others. However, I eventually found my peace, realized that it's an ensemble show and started to appreciate each and every single character. This is not to say that I no longer have my dislikes, but I don't hate anybody. Seriously, if one's bound to hate everybody on the show, then why the fuck watch it anyway?

Yeah, I mean we’re luckier in this fandom because you don’t see that much negativity compared to fandoms that are much bigger. But people do go a bit too far when they’re “expressing their opinon” on characters or ships. No one is telling you that you have to like Melanie or you have to ship Brian and Justin but they act like they’re being forced to haha. If you don’t like something, you don’t like it. 

I’m always interested to hear about other people’s opinions and understanding why they feel that way and it’s nice to have those conversations when one person isn’t anonymous and shouting at you lmaooo. @ridiculouslyromantic and I were just talking about this too. We both share quite different opinions about certain characters and ships but surprise, we respect each other’s opinions and can have non-aggressive conversations about that stuff. 

I also don’t understand why if you hate that much about a show, people feel the need to just go on and on about it, completely trashing it. Obviously you can post whatever you want on your blog but I’m specifically talking about those anons who seem to bombard my inbox and a lot of of my friends’ inboxes. There are lots of things I dislike about qaf and if you wanna have a conversation about it then we can talk. I don’t really care if you hate everything I ship or hate every character I love, as long as you’re nice about it! 

I try to be as positive I can because I think we’ve all seen a lot of negativity on tumblr, especially lately, and I don’t know about you but it can be really draining and upsetting. It’s much nicer to get anons stating how they feel about something then asking me what I think than anons telling me I shouldn’t like certain things because *insert long list of things*.