#but i really dislike the idea of being a character apologist

[devine-fem]

why don't you like jayjon? Genuinely asking btw and I'm neutral btw I don't really ship superheroes kids, so yeah

Alright, firstly I have always come across damijon shippers that ship them as kids because their purest connection peaked when they were young so you kind of permanently keep Jon and Damian as kid in your head because of what DC did to them.

We ship them in a ‘wholesome crush on your best friend, twisting inside you over time that you snub out till you reach your adulthood and have the maturity to deal with it’ type of way. The beauty of Damijon is not the fact that it’s Bat x Super. I honestly don’t care for this dynamic ergo not shipping superbat and not liking Timkon at all. The beauty of Damijon is that they could become something with a friendship to back it up, then continue to push each other’s characters forward while being in a relationship if the writer cared enough. It’s a plus that they care for each other so much and have the personalities to really balance each other out.

I enjoy ships like Daminika, Dami x Colin and other Jon ships as well. I just only post damijon and talk about them. It’s only Jonj*y I have issues with. It’s not about ‘getting in the way of my ship’ nothing can ever get in the way of me enjoying damijon and fandom is just gonna have to deal with that. We all come here for enjoyment because we should supposedly enjoy DC for DC and find community in that, enjoy our ideas and takes on it and one person is not going to perceive or enjoy something the same way but we are so damn MEAN to each other. Damijon gets a lot of heat, mostly because twitter damijon stans are annoying and horrible and damijon antis are just as bad.

So the problem I have with Jonj*y is just deep rooted.

Firstly, I hate the way it came about. The last thing Jon’s character needed was to be in a relationship period but then for it to be a queer relationship used as a tool to garner sales? There’s nothing in the world I dislike more than queer baiting. The last thing we needed from DC was to pull something like this and as a queer person it just really gets under my skin - as it should anyone, to be honest.

Even regardless of that Jonj*y is the relationship equivalent of stale bread. They have no chemistry, Jay has no character besides catoring to Jon’s sexuality, and even if they were to explore him there’s no point because objectively they’ve tarnished Jon Kent way too much to be wasting comic ink on Jay.

I don’t like aged up Jon Kent as a whole, it’s not like I want him to stay a kid forever - obviously not. The fun of a comic book character is their growth! Jon over time should have never been able to get to the age he is now when other comic book characters struggle to get near that age in decades. I MEAN HE’S NEARLY OLDER THAN KON RIGHT NOW. Bendis did what he did to Jon because he ain’t even like him.

There are real serious issues with Jon Kent’s age up than him getting with Damian. I know how to seperate my ship/fanon from canon. I can go on and on about the problems with it without mentioning Damian once.

I had to put “JonJ*y apologist DNI” in my bio because the stans kept coming to my page and spewing BS 24/7 so I thought it was my absolute right to make sure they knew this page was not for them.

If you enjoy the ship at all then you will not like me because I have almost every single active Jonj*y poster blocked because I have fought with them at least once because they wanted to be stupid and spew nonsense on Jon Kent when you can tell they haven’t read a damn comic besides SSOKE and it really shows.

If you enjoy it, just block me. It’s only a matter of time before we fight anyway, so don’t waste your breath because the whole time you could be trying to open your mouth, you could open a comic book instead, how about that?

Thanks for the asks though, LOL.

P.2

[sleepyconfusedpotato]

Helloooo sleepy! What are we going to do after MW franchise (finally ends)? Let's be honest, fanfiction writers can write better stories than the actual devs and it pains me to say this but it is true to a great degree. It's like they just threw these characters at us and said "Yeah now make out of them as you will" smh

Hmmmm considering the fact that the MW game is most definitely going to continue with Modern Warfare IV in the future, I don't think it's going to end soon, but when it does, do not fret. It's a fandom. As long as the source material exists, people will not stop writing about it. Look at the OG!Modern Warfare that finished by the year 2011. Before MW 2019 came out, i see lots and LOTS of people still making fanfics 7 years after the game finished. Be it a spinoff, be it a fix-it fic, be it an AU or combined with other fandoms. The ideas will never stop, so don't worry too much about it! ᕙ⁠(⁠ ⁠ ⁠•⁠ ⁠‿⁠ ⁠•⁠ ⁠ ⁠)⁠ᕗ

Yes, some fanfic writers can write really good and even can formulate better stories than the devs it's mindboggling. (Then again, the devs are rushed and gotta meet their unrealistic deadlines by the higher ups. I do think that they can absolutely create better stories than this. They just don't have enough time) 😫

However though, I must disagree with you on the devs 'throwing the characters at us and said "yeah now make out of them as you will".' Because whether or not we think the stories in the game is good or bad, they are the source material, and we must respect it to some degree. Why? Because the result of people willingly ignore them is some of the most unhinged and disturbing stuff that i've ever seen.

What do I mean by that? What I mean is, when someone replaces Gaz with König in 141 for no reason at all/because Gaz is "boring" (which is abhorrent, btw), or when someone just plainly write Alejandro or Ghost being extremely abusive, or when someone unironically is a literal Makarov apologist -- Sure, you can write about anything and everything you want, it is our freedom as a writer, but when you're willingly and consciously so obtuse/ignorant about the source material, you're just making up another story at this point, damn.

Yea yea yea I know CoD is a military propaganda but who doesn't know that at this point - It means that we gotta be critical, careful, most of all wise of the things we create, not an excuse to just treat this characters like ragdolls that you can just switch out or put in, or just extremely ignore the story however you like it.

The fact that there's some aspect in the stories that I don't like doesn't mean I can disrespect the source material. I can dislike what the devs did with the characters, but I also still gotta stay loyal to the story. Doesn't mean I can't write AU's or fix-its, it just means I don't attack the writers/the actors in an attempt to change the goddamn canon, jeez 😭

Got on a little rant there, but yeah that's what I thought about 🥳 Don't forget to be happy!

[doubledyke]

gonna stick these two together since they're both for eddy

1. my first impression of him: as a kid i'm sure i thought he was a real jerk. but like i did for edd i'll go based off of my impression when i was first in the fandom years back. i remember feeling some type of way about eddy, especially in the later seasons. i was way more annoyed and troubled by the unnecessarily asshole-ish stuff he did. now i just find it all hilarious and feel sorry for him. these days i'm an eddy apologist through and through. there's not a negative trait in him that i can't come up with an excuse for and/or find the humor in. oh i also remember liking him mostly bc he was cute with edd and i love edd. but over time....

2. when i truly started to like him: my opinion of him became more nuanced until it turned into what it is now which is that of a full blown stan. when i became jaded by the dedicated edd fandom it probably allowed room for eddy to infect my already vulnerable brain.

4. how many people i ship him with: really only edd. any time i think of him with someone else it's basically as a joke/for the novelty. i genuinely can't think of someone else i'd seriously ship him with.

6. my least favorite ship with him: i can't say there are any that i think about enough to dislike. i'm pretty unwavering in my opinion that he's like a 5.5 on the kinsey scale, so putting him in straight ships doesn't do much for me, other than maybe provide an opportunity to explore another aspect of his character.

7. a quote from him that i remember: "my brother was a whiz at chewin' ice cubes." no idea what that's supposed to mean but it's absurdly funny.

8.my favorite outfit of his: my favorite is the yellow hoodie but of course i have to include others

9. my least favorite outfit of his: these greasy suit jackets and ties are hilariously awful. this must be how his dad dresses.

10. describe the character in one sentence: it's so obvious but "a little childhood trauma builds character."

11. the first thing i think about when i think of eddy: slurs. and this image

12. sexuality hc: gaaaaaaaaaaaay

18. what do i think he was like as a (younger) kid: i think little eddy was very curious and even more sponge-like than most kids. gullible, as anyone is at that age. very sensitive and sincere until he was programmed into seeing those things as flaws and weaknesses by the toxically masculine figures in his life.

25. when did he act the most out of character: i always think about the xmas special. it makes me wonder what would've happened if he hadn't immediately been tempted by santa's giant sack.

26. when do i think he was being most himself: i guess at the conclusion of bps?? if i recall, it was you @gettingfrilly who said he feels the most out of character AND most himself at the end of bps and i agree. eddy's not the apologizing type so it's more meaningful when he says he's sorry and comes off as uncanny. the fact that he knew the other shoe was gonna drop at some point is so sad lol. letting down the facade obviously reveals his true self and simultaneously seems ooc cuz his character is largely a front.

28. the most unnecessary thing he ever did: lbr most of the shit he did in the show was unnecessary. it's hard to pick the worst of all, but i'll go with the swamp prank. i know it's in his blood, but damn dog. edd was already on the brink of collapse by that point, so pretending to die a horrific death for the second time in one already awful day wasn't his brightest idea. but eddy is nihilistic as hell, especially during the final stretch of the series and into the movie so it comes as no real surprise.

[theprodigypenguin]

At this moment the dragon hating agenda comes around like clockwork. This isn't even the first time THIS YEAR that I have to constantly see people shitting on him for not being omnipotent

Oh dude, anon, I have to actively stay away from the Dragon tags on Tumblr cuz it's ALL people just shitting on him. Or it's posts not even pertinent to him, like stop tagging him this has nothing to do with him.

One time I saw a post where someone was arguing that the only reason Dragon approved of Luffy being a pirate is because it was useful to the Revolutionary cause. ?????? HOW? "He's using Luffy as a tool" MUHFUCKER, HOW?

I genuinely have no idea why people hate him so much. There are characters with less screentime than him who are more popular. There are genuinely EVIL characters who are more popular.

"He abandoned Luffy" MY GUY? IS THAT YOUR ONLY REASON? Show me an itemized list of canon events that justify disliking him TO THIS DEGREE it's ridiculous.

Cuz the more I learn about him, the more I fucking love him, and I was already on the Dragon Fan Band Wagon. I'm actually driving the bitch at this point.

No but on god I don't understand the hate, and I could vent for pages about how stupid it is. Like this is a fictional story, he doesn't exist, but the way some people HATE him is a bit much. Like you're really gonna spend your precious time bitching about a guy who sacrificed everything to help people while in the same breath get hot over characters who have committed actual war crimes and physically wounded or fucked Luffy up? Okay 👍

My header is "Monkey D Dragon Apologist" for a very good reason 🫰

[britcision]

So I’m thinking about this again and I think a lot of the dislike for Vivienne comes from missing the metatextual layers of her character

Obviously she’s always a bitch and I love that for her, 10/10 step on me energy and if she was lighter she’d have been Lady Dimitrescu a few years early

But there are two different layers of subtext that I can see in her character that at the very least have made it really hard for people to explain why they don’t like her

Long and involved discussion below the cut, pack a lunch

Let’s start with the most common complaints:

1) she’s mean. Y’all love that in plenty of other characters though, so there’s something different about Vivienne that makes her being mean so much more offensive

(I wonder what it could be.)

She’s even mean in an overly polite, very delicate way with lots of honeyed compliments and stark disagreements

2) she’s a cop apologist who thinks the circle system works

Ignoring for the moment that people seem to have far less animosity for Cullen, who Literally Is A Cop and believes all the same things

(I wonder why.)

This is where the metatextual layers come in though, so bear with me:

Vivienne’s view point, that the circles are essentially good and while Kirkwall clearly wasn’t and needed to be destroyed, that was the exception instead of the rule, is the dominant viewpoint in the game

Even hanging out with the mage rebellion at Redcliffe, the greatest concentration of mages who should be pissed about the circle, every single minor mage NPC is against the rebellion

They’d rather be in the circles, but left because otherwise they’d be alone and murdered

There MUST be a number of mages who’ve experienced the worst of the circles; enough of them voted to rebel to carry these outliers like a tide

You never fucking talk to them

Not one

Fiona, the leader who started the vote to rebel, has nice things to say about templars if you speak to her, and still wants to reform the circles. She’s just realised it won’t work from within, and accidentally almost sold the mages into indentured servitude (if you picked the mage route)

This isn’t a subtle thread, it’s glaringly obvious if you pay even a little attention. Even mages who started as apostates tell you the templars are not all bad, and “it’s complicated”

Now, I haven’t played DA2 or seen a full play through, so this part is pure speculation, but.

The biggest complaint I see about DA2 is that you can’t help Anders blow up the chantry.

You have to be shocked by it, despite giving him the dynamite, and everything about how DAI refers to it tries to push that he was an extremist and hurt the mages more than helping them

(Also mysteriously every circle Cullen is at tends to fail soon after, despite him being extremely pro templars. Very interesting, completely unrelated)

And I think that’s why you’re surrounded on all sides by “not all templars” in DAI

I think someone at the top level was fundamentally confused by the reaction to DA2, because I think someone at that level thinks the moral quandary of the game is “who’s right, the mages or the templars”, and they think it’s a 50-50

That’s why you can pick either side with equal weighting

They think there is not a right or wrong answer to this question

We shall be calling this the Supervisor level, since I’ve no idea who or where they are, but they’re definitely near the top rung because holy fuck DAI is beating us to death with “well free mages are bad actually and some templars are lovely people”

I think that the Supervisor level think Vivienne is right

This is a game that has gone to great lengths to portray racial equality (and emphasise species inequality as a metaphor that it clearly understands is bad), that worked hard to make incredible, gorgeously under-toned and perfectly lit dark skin options

All of the default heads for all of the playable races come with two gorgeous POC options that are hot out of the box

Vivienne herself is a character they’ve given the world to; she’s beautiful, powerful, independent, strong willed, beginning in by far the best position of any of the companions

Her first scene is her stepping in to effortlessly undercut an encounter with a pissy noble that you as the PC were not given a win condition for

She is the most influential mage in the game, Fiona is undercut by Alexis before even appearing, the Tevinter magisters are all suspect because who knows who is Venatori, Dorian is a pariah and a rogue, Solas is an isolated apostate

Vivienne is in the running to be the next fucking Divine if she joins the party

The people who approved each level of plot for this game gave this beautiful Black woman the world at her feet, persuasive dialog options, and the most widely supported opinion in the world of the game

(She’s not wrong that right after Kirkwall’s explosion is a bad time for a rebellion and makes it look like mages support murder; she just fundamentally does not understand that there would NEVER be a right time or how badly the other mages were being mistreated

She’s isolated on a glowing cloud of privilege, yet never mentions her childhood or early days at the circles )

Dorian will happily tell you that the Tevinter circles pretty much are what Vivienne thinks the Orlais circles should be; well established schools of learning and study where mages are protected and given room to grow

(He also admits disappointment that their templars are toothless and don’t actually investigate who’s doing the human sacrifices unless they’re poor or not well connected)

So our first meta textual layer shows that to the Supervisors, Vivienne is right. It should not be almost impossible to get high approval with her, because players should not all be on the side of mages

They specifically use mages to push “free mages are dangerous” because it’s harder to argue against

They’re prepared for people to go that route anyway, that route exists, but they expected it to be a pretty much even split, and for grey areas like “the circles are bad, but mages still need to be watched because demons will possess them” to be a strong part of the mage route

Even if you ally with the mages freely, you can tell every single ally in every single conversation that you lied, they aren’t free, you’re going to keep them in line

And this brings us to meta textual layer 2:

Someone (or a group) in the writing staff understands the actual dilemma of the game perfectly:

The templars are wrong, the circles are an oppressive system that cannot be fixed from within, and you are only barely able to advocate for them to be treated as people, against constant and heavy resistance

This shines through in ways that could almost be seen as coincidence, which is why I think the power balance is set up this way

Sera says it best when asked where she stands on the mage and templar war:

In the middle, because you only hear about mages when one gets possessed and blows people up, and you only hear about templars when they decide to steal a bunch of maybe-mages

On the surface, this sounds like a pretty flat 50-50, both sides are bad so why take a side

But when you actually look at the words…

You hear about mages when their bodies are taken without control and they are forced to do terrible things

You hear about templars when they decide of their own free will that they want to kidnap random people and make sure no one ever looks for them

Only the templars have agency in these examples

There’s also the simple fact that the main baddies in the first part of the game are rebel mages and rogue templars

Rebel mages are fighting for their freedom, notably split off from the main body of the rebellion, who have run for their lives and are hiding

Rogue templars just decided to stay behind when their powerful and influential leaders decided to pull out and stop protecting people, and none of the “good” templars tried to stop them

You are deadass not permitted to bring this up when you first go to Val Royeaux and the templars fully withdraw to their keep

It wouldn’t fucking go anywhere because ✨plot reasons✨ but the fact that there isn’t even an option to say “by the way come pick up your trash” feels telling

Nothing is stopping all these good templars, that we are constantly being told exist and have mage partners and all that, from trying to do something about the rogues who are murdering just anyone they come across

There is no system to stop the bad templars, or abuses in the circles, because the system is not set up to protect mages

It is set up to contain them, and keep them from causing trouble. Whether you do that by keeping them happy and compliant or beaten and locked in solitary isolation does not matter to the system

But guess which one is easier, cheaper, and inevitable without any kinds of checks to make sure that the good templars are the ones in charge?

In this layer, Vivienne is laughably uninformed about… well, everything that goes on not under her nose

She’s so sure she’s the last First Enchanter left because she lives outside her circle, has the perspective of what common people believe, understands the political timing in the way the other mages

(Who are surely all just as comfortable and well off in their towers as Vivienne herself, who lives in a palace and visits the circle when she wants to)

can’t possibly grasp. Her whole first recruited dialogue is a list of increasingly passionate “why couldn’t they just sit tight and bear it until a better time came”

If you push all the way down she becomes more and more emotional each time, from her cool façade of “I know best, they’re being foolish” all the way to “they made it look like mages support murder”

It’s beautiful animation, incredibly complex and nuanced, and easy to miss if you write her off as a cop apologist and don’t drill down

I seriously doubt she even knows what restrictions were imposed by any of the circles, possibly including her own, cuz they sure as shit did not apply to her

Her party dialogue with Cole is actually another really good example of her just… not knowing what to do when the information she was given is wrong

She starts full of certainty, confident she knows more about demons than Cole or Solas (he asks why she’s scared of him but Solas isn’t, it’s adorable)

She accuses Cole of wanting to be more than friends with Solas, asking if he wants to possess Solas and keep him forever and stay out of the Fade with utter conviction

Cole understandably gets upset and tells her that he fully can’t go back to the Fade, and sometimes wishes he could

The motivation she’s ascribed to him deadass does not work, has been easily disproven in two sentences, and the conversation ends

Vivienne never replies, because this information doesn’t fit her worldview and she therefore doesn’t know what to do with it but write it off as a lie

Because on this level, which we will call the Writer level because it is most visible in the script, Vivienne is so much more than a cop apologist

Vivienne is the perfect demonstration of how an oppressive system cannot be changed from within, and what happens to those who try

Vivienne does not approve of abusive circles; she’ll tell you right off Kirkwall needed to be shut down

She just assumes that her circle experience is the more common one. That most of the circles are as lenient as hers, letting people live off campus if they have the right friends

Hearing her talk about the circles is actually a lot like hearing Dorian talk about the Tevinter circles (and yet he also doesn’t receive half as much hate.

How mysterious.)

Vivienne really thinks that the circles are all nice, comfortable institutions of learning and protection, and the mages who rebelled are brats who want to put their comfort over lives

She thinks circles like Kirkwall are outliers that need fixing, though preferably not by explosion

If Vivienne becomes Divine, Orlais circles go back to what they were, because she does not see the problems, does not listen to common people, and is comfortable under the status quo

It’s a fascinating combination of arrogance and misplaced modesty; Vivienne is special, incredible, the best for a reason. But she also thinks anyone else could have done as well, if they only applied themselves

That any other mage, in any other circle, could and would have her sphere of comfort and protection if they only tried

The system needs mages like Vivienne, powerful, cunning, persuasive mages, because they are its greatest weapon

She’s given a position of relative power and influence specifically to stop her from changing the system to what she believes it should be, by making her believe it has already been done

She defends the system from outside change because if it works for her, it must work for everyone, and they’re just being petulant, and she is isolated from anyone who could show her she’s wrong

She’s surrounded by the upper echelon of templars, who either have the appearance of being good, kind, noble protectors, or may actually be in her own position;

Being cosseted to keep them from making changes

It doesn’t actually matter if every single circle has fallen to the depths of depravity, abusing every mage inside it in obvious physical ways

What matters is that every single one of them can, and would the second one of the bad templars that everyone agrees are there, bad, and should be dealt with, got into power

There is nothing to stop any circle from becoming Kirkwall or worse, and that is why the system needs to be burned down from the ground up

They are jails, and the templars see themselves as jailers over people who never did anything wrong

If you wonder how that goes IRL, check out the Stanford Prison Experiment, then remind yourself that in the eyes of the templars being born a mage is a crime

And if you go wandering around and talk to everyone you can… there’s a Tranquil woman in Skyhold, your new creature researcher, Helisma Derington

(and HOLY SHIT the Tranquil will be a story for another fucking time, for now let’s leave it at “mages are uncomfortable around them and encouraged to see them as less than people for a reason”)

And Helisma will tell you she was made Tranquil not because of her magic, but because she was willful. That the time before she was made Tranquil was emotionally trying, but she doesn’t remember why

And ooooooh do I ever want her to have a talk with Vivienne, because holy fucking hell there but for the grace of God and all that, this lady cannot be a coincidence

And the Tranquil can’t lie

On this level, it’s actually much more important that Vivienne is a Black woman, and an intelligent, independent, powerful, canny Black woman at that

Because it shows that the system can and does work on anyone

There’s no identity that magically makes you aware of the inner workings of oppression, and you can’t opt out by being clever

Vivienne being so intelligent, so independent, so strong willed, is what makes her so very desirable to the system; she will be so much better at defending it once she is on the inside

Because oppressive systems that can be changed from within don’t last a decade. No matter how much you think so, you’re never the first to decide to change it

That’s why the system is built specifically to channel clever, capable, strong willed people into one of two paths: Vivienne’s, or Helisma’s

First the certainty that just kicking the system down and starting over would be so much worse. It’s dangerous, scary, and unfamiliar

Then the lure. Surely a Good Person at the top could fix all the problems. You can be the Good Person, make all of the changes, the system worked for you so it must have the potential to work for anyone if you can just fix those little problems

The isolation, being kept away or not seeing the people for whom it doesn’t work, never has, never will

Turning you against those who want to tear the system down, because clearly it’s personal. They don’t believe in you, they don’t think you can do it. You just have to show them, prove you’re right, if they’d just sit down and behave you could fix it all.

But do you need to? It’s already worked for you. It works under your nose, where you can see it

It’s nice, comfortable to be a mage in your circle, and you can’t be everywhere. The templars can keep their own people in line, they have the seekers for that

It’s too much money, too much work to look into every circle every day, week, year to make sure that no one is abusing the system, because the system itself is good

And frankly, that is a good chunk of why I enjoy Vivienne so much

She’s so utterly convinced she knows best, and the other mages just don’t understand, but she’s the one who really has no idea what’s going on

She’s so smart, classy and sassy, funny, and we will never hit a single point of agreement because she’s deadass just wrong

And there is just the smallest chance that if you keep her out of the system long enough, if you could introduce her to the right people and experiences in the Inquisition, she’d see how the system was using her

(And oh BOY would that ever be something)

And if she doesn’t? She has the same beliefs as more than half your companions. Wants the same things and speaks the same way as 90% of the minor NPCs in the game

(Seriously they are SO heavy handed with the “both sides” rhetoric that has to be intentional too)

Most of your allies disapprove of allying with the mages, though only your companions get the immediate little flash on screen

(You don’t get Viv’s Greatly Disapproves until the next time you talk to her, so you could probably technically avoid it and never speak to her again)

Cullen, Josephine, and Leliana are all quick to tell you you shouldn’t have done it, and should have talked to them before making a decision (I think there’ll be some disapproval if you freely ally with the templars too, but Cullen sure as hell approves of that one)

Tl;dr: the Supervisors think Vivienne is right about mages.

The Writers are using her to show how oppressive systems are designed to prevent people from changing them from the inside.

You don’t have to like her, but she doesn’t have to be right all the time about everything to be an interesting character

[ruthlesslistener]

People dislike Dirk? You're telling the same fandom that popularised the phrase "vriska did nothing wrong" dislikes Dirk? You know sometimes Im kinda glad that I read the comic a year after it concluded and a year before I became active on Tumblr because the fandom in it's heyday seems to span the weirdest talking points

anon the first two sentances was enough to tell me that you weren't on tumblr around 2016 and sooner. 2013 had everyone characterizing him as a brony weeb boy with the usual braindead borderline homophobic ship content of the time, but when I was really into Homestuck, claiming that Dirk was abusive, manipulative, and a narcissist was the common meta and widely-accepted fanon. Additionally, Dirk and Vriska being read as fucking character parallels was a common talking point as well, made popular by an asshole named swamp-wizard who was famous for being 'anti mogai' and basically scum of the fucking earth. People writing him as he actually was in-canon was a rare occurrance. Pretty much all of their 'proof' of him being manipulative and arrogant and him 'forcing' Jake into a relationship came from Hal's logs pre-entry into the session, and pointing this out would have you told that him and Hal were the same, even though Dirk himself fucking hated Hal. Being a Dirk apologist (aka anyone who actually knew his character) was seen as a major red flag and liking/kinning him made people think that you were some sort of condescending, self-important asshole. There was a guy called optimisticDuelist who wrote big meta posts on dirk and jake and dirkjake in general who was slowly working on setting things right, but then the epilogues dropped and everything went to hell.

I seem to be cursed with falling in love with complex characters that are horrifically butchered in fanon, but in Dirk's case, it's probably the worst example because a.) Dirk is hilariously sensitive and sweet in the webcomic, if you looked past how he THOUGHT he saw himself, and b.) The asshole writers on the epilogue team basically made fanon Dirk canon, both to specifically upset people and because they too believed him and Vriska were character parallels (fucking HOW). Which was such a kick in the goddamn nuts to someone like me, who was both a character analyser and a man who shared a lot of Dirk's insecurities/paranoia, struggles with his sexuality, and particular brand of depressive disorder. I don't know how/if the fandom changed, but when the postcanon shit dropped, the monster they made Dirk into basically became the smug 'I told you so' of the fandom. I left because it was legitimately deeply harmful to my mental health. And that's not even TOUCHING how bad people butchered Jake.

(Apparently optimisticDuelist was also on the epilogue/post-canon team and was trying to fight to make Dirk and Jake better, but got literally harassed into silence and kicked off under claims that as a man, him pushing for more nuance was him 'threatning people (women) in the workplace' or some other shit like that. So that gives you an idea of the type of people working on the post-canon content.)

[thaliasthunder]

opinions on tsats, not in order

these are some things i liked and disliked about the book, and it has spoilers (naturally?), so beware

not gonna say i absolutely adored the way R&M managed solangelo's relationship but didnt completely despise it either

i wouldnt say Will was out of character bc... he didnt have much of a character to be out from before tsats? i just didnt really love that "i gotta fix nico" thing rick gave to him, but that got settled by the end so i really wont complain much about it

i also wouldnt compare solangelo to percabeth neither to praise or criticize it bc it's not like i think percabeth's dynamic is flawless and perfect either 🤷🏻‍♀️

percy's "oh nico, i'm sorry" PERSEUS SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU'RE 5 YEARS LATE 😭

the "invisible string" and "[worlds/planets] orbiting each other" theme/trope they gave to solangelo made me emotional, and i accept it as canon. *plays invisible string by ts and satellite by hs*

my goodness what a relieve it was to me to finally read nico CRYING. good for him

i expected will's plague power to be more, hum, intense? either way i still think will having plague powers at all is a victory

dont know what i feel w will canonically having trouble w nico being a murderer bc thats actually one of the things i love about him 😭? i feel like if he ever discovers nico killed that bryce dude he'll pass out or something. boy ur bf is a son of hades, his legacy is death, what did u expect from him?

"nico blushed" "nico gave a sly smile" "nico's mischevious smile" wow i need to sit down for a moment and just *weeps*

nico trying to talk his way out of trouble, sneaky lil shit <3

canon silly nico in mid dangerous situations is back !!! <3333

i dont feel completely comfortable w the idea of nico's coming out being that public by making a whole speech to the entire camp but thats probably just me projecting my trauma and anxiety, idk. either way i think a more intimate coming out would've feel more personal, but still i understand that R&M wanted to give him an all-free-off-chains life in camp making it known by everyone in an only kick

"i got the message loud and clear: don't say that. don't feel that. don't even think that" IT BURNED ME INSIDE. i loved it

the ounces of nico still acting like a 10 year old child? like when he called nemesis cool? he warms my heart

i think gorgyra's my favorite character

some of the bitchy comments nico held back were funny. i know they didnt symbolize anything good in their relationship but they were funny. "no. you couldnt", "no one's asking you to"? i officially proclaim myself a bitchy!nico apologist

either way i still can acknowledge nico was a lil bit harsh to will having the literal worst time of his life in the underworld like 😭, bro he's literally a child of the SUN having a trip in HELL, give him a break 😭

the part where nico drop to his knees in front of nyx's home? poetic cinema

the screaming at trees in the woods moment felt really intimate and heartwarming for me. i approve

i did not like their on screen first kiss to be so casual and simple, i was expecting more emotion and angst; and god i definitely disliked that their first real kiss was literally right after nico discovered jason DIED. a person has enough volatile feelings to deal with when a loved one dies for new romantic stuff to happen. nico was in a vulnerable state and deserved time to mourn. instead of that being their first kiss i would've been fine to show will supporting nico in that traumatic event? i would've also deepen their relationship

"'i love you' and the fell" that was poetic and girl? it'll ROCK in fanarts i'll be waiting for them

the whole speech of "it was the son of apollo falling for a son of hades. it was this"? okay wow, beware shakespeare, they went strong in this

nico preparing a picnic for will?? another peek of my boy being a canon ROMANTIC. he makes me physically ill

i liked that they didnt try to write around or romantize the way some male gods actually behaved in the myths? like persephone recognizing hades kidnapped her and letting Will (and the reader) clear that he should never permit anyone forcing him into anything, bc i remember i disliked the way poseidon was painted as the best guy in pjo w medusa's part just for being the protagonist's father (and yeah that was a children's book but well so is tsats and they finally got that right)

since hoo i've got a soft spot for nico finding comfort in the darkness of the underworld, so reading nico seeing his father's realm as his home again gave me a cozy feeling every single time <3

it was nice to see persephone seeing nico in a good light. i always thought the concept of those two getting along well had so much potential and tbh i hope they explore it more in the future

nico having persephone's garden as his favorite place in the underworld??? i crave FANARTS

it kinda infuriated me nico reproaching will for making amphitemis go away bc it was the first baddass moment will got in the entire book in my eyes and nico deciding to go like WhY diD u dO thAt? cOulD'vE hElpEd hIm. baby? shut the fuck up

I WON

"enough of your bisexual chaos" really cant decide if i loved or hated this right now

tbh i hoped amphitemis to have a more important role

i actually like the idea of nico having a bunch of little demons following him around, it's a funny image. but personally i wont see them as "his children" unless its for comedic resources. i see them more as his pets, yep, his demonic pets 👍🏼

they're canonically the most physical affective couple and they make me wanna throw up in my mouth. good for them

WHERE WAS AKHLYSSSS

nico's new villain scar is baddass <3

at the end bob just came out of the picture... that easily? after all the hell they went thru?

do u ever get those maternal/paternal kick ins when u read ur fav character in pain? i dont mean all the time but in like rare occassions. like a sudden need to protect them? well yeah nico saying "you left me alone and defenceless!" and starting crying made it for me. i wanted to run and CRADLE HIM

MALCOLM PACE MY QUEER SON OF ATHENA I LOVE YOU. btw yall were excited about jake mason and i admit i dont remember who that is,,, i feel guilty so please explain

PIPER MY LOVE GIRL HOW I MISSED YOU

to summarize, i dont think the book's perfect, but i did enjoy and liked it

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

one thing that does make me a little nervous sometimes about writing up pericles meta is that like.... quite a lot of it goes in-depth about the extent of how incredibly vile and cruel the things are that he does to other characters, and his reasons for doing them. that's Important, and i do my best not to try to cushion it, despite discussing how it plays into his trauma and the shit hand he was dealt and vice versa. if anything the juxtaposition of those things is the point of all this meta for me, and it gets to the heart of so, so much that resonates with me about sdmi. erasing that would be a disservice to him and basically every other character in the show that i'm invested in.

.....and at the same time it's always really sucked how often i see people talk about how one-note pure evil he is, how it's impossible to write him as a complex or sympathetic character without making him totally OOC, how people who genuinely like him are [insert apologist here], how you're not allowed to enjoy exploring the awful dynamics he gets into with people, how they want him to be gruesomely murdered by the protags and think it'd be funny and satisfying and the show would be better for it, and just generally talk about How Much They Straightforwardly Hate Him Because He Does Bad Things. not everyone does this, thankfully, but enough of them have over the years that i just don't really want to see it anymore.

i know i joke all the time about how 'i love him and he makes me sad but i am going to peel him like a banana,' and i'm not going to try to tell other people they can't dislike him or anything, especially since i know a lot of the stuff he does is going to be really fucking triggering for some people. i do my best to just curate and block, mute, or scroll past if i need to. but he's genuinely one of my favorite characters ever and he means a lot to me--especially since i can relate hard to a lot of the sympathetic themes behind his being a piece of shit--and when i write my meta posts about him, i do it to share what i love about his character, and maybe get some people to appreciate him in a new light. and the idea of actively adding to the torches and pitchforks instead is..... kind of depressing to me and i really hope that's not how it turns out.

basically i guess this is me asking preemptively, before i start writing up posts Really Getting Into His Awful Shit at Great Length and in Great Detail, that folks please be mindful with 'i hate this fucking bird' comments on posts i make. i do hope people enjoy reading what i have to say about him, and get something out of it, but.... yeah. he sucks real bad but please be nice.

[call-me-apple]

Let’s see what about 17, 13, and 24 :)

13. Since we rarely saw c!Dream's own pov, who was your main pov character/s?

I started out watching Wilbur's videos, then switched to Techno's VODs. And it's Technoblade's story I followed closest, though I also obviously dabbled in Tommy's because a lot of major events were from his POV.

17. What are some of your favourite c!Dream fics?

Here.

24. When/how did you become a c!Dream apologist?

I got really interested in c!Dream's character sometime after the Disc War Finale and went back to look at L'Manburg to see how c!Dream being the villain started. That's where BlueBell found me and a lot of my early c!Dream takes were a result of me just kinda throwing ideas at her and her throwing ideas back. She introduced me to Staged Finale when it was still just a theory too, which was the major thing that differentiated my personal interpretation from that of most c!Dream apologists and c!Dream neutrals/dislikers.

I think the main reason I gravitated towards c!Dream apologists in the end though was that the other side was just really obnoxious, especially about c!Technoblade lol. I didn't agree with a lot of c!Dream apologist takes about their own guy, but I found their approach to the story much more interesting, they tended not to trash on any of my faves, and I didn't understand the ire they were faced with at all. And they had some damn good angst. How could I refuse?

[que-de-metal]

Sending you the ball back (seishin)

When I started shipping it if I did:

Day one — well day one of me playing DDC. Since I had a few years (late middle school + high school) where I wasn't following Touhou canon anymore and it came out during those times, I found out about them when I caught up to all the canon I missed circa 2015. But I had managed to not get a single thing about them spoiled somehow so the experience was the same.

My thoughts:

I love them so so much but you all know that. But specifically out of all the Touhou ships I feel like this is the one that's the most "contained?" Like they actually have a complete story arc that starts with DDC, then ISC, and "ends" with their conversation in Grimoire of Usami. If I wanted to explain most TH ships to someone who isn't in the fandom, I would have to pull out a diagram and hundreds of small details and worldbuilding bits to get it to make sense, but for these two there's a cohesive "trilogy" that contains a whole love story with onscreen character arcs and a satisfying "epilogue". Because of that I feel like this is a very special ship, it really stands out from the other pairings in that regard…

Things done in fanworks that annoy me:

I think people think I'm joking when I say I'm an unironic Seija apologist, but I genuinely dislike the framing of Shinmyoumaru as a helpless victim. I do think there's no real victim, that they mutually used each other awkwardly, but if it HAS to be a contest of who has it worse… What Seija did to Shin was: invent a bunch of overinflated bullshit to push Shin over the edge of joining a cause that she already half-agreed with without the lies. What Shin did to Seija was: weaponize her weakness to throw her under the bus as the main perpetrator AND not back down from that narrative EVEN AFTER a DEAD OR ALIVE MANHUNT was called on Seija. I feel like out of these two betrayals there is one that is way harder to forgive and it's not Seija's! They're both brilliant manipulators in totally different ways and it's one of the reasons they fit so well in the first place aaaaahhhhhhhhhh. I prefer fanworks that are more morally gray but if I'm to be compeltely honest I also want to see a more villainous Shin to compensate for all the fanworks that smooth her edges so much!

Things I look for in fanworks:

One of the big charm points of this ship for me is the Bonnie & Clyde dynamic, the partner in criming, so I can't get enough of fanworks of them working well together and being in sync. I like fanart where they look kind of cool, serious and competent, I find it very romantic in a way.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

Because of DDC being such a self-contained complete story like I said earlier there's not a lot of material of them interacting with the rest of the world… I love love love Sei/Shin/Reimu and Sei/Shin/Marisa because it has interesting power dynamics but it needs to be a throuple because as soon as you take Seija or Shinmyoumaru out I'm not interested.

Thought I like the idea of Shin going for other women during their time apart. Because I have a loving jealousy tropes too much problem. And I'm interested in Seija having to face insecurities. In that regard I'm into the Shin/Tenshi dynamic in AoCF. Because I think a Tenshi VS Seija rivalry could get very ugly (positive). But once again this is still with a SeiShin lens…

My prefered future/ending for them:

I want them to have big dramatic adventures. I do think they can change some of the unfair things in Gensokyo if they get over themselves first. It's also the kind of ship where I appreciate a tragic ending and a tragic death but I haven't found the fanwork that would hit this the right way for me yet :3

What is their favorite activity together:

Planning adventures. I picture Shin as the kind of person who can spend hours talking about projects, travels, shady businesses, things she wants to try someday. And she enjoys doing SOME of these things but coming up with the ideas counts as part of the fun. And paradoxically to the fact that her whole thing is playing with negatives, I feel like Seija would be a good Yes Man for those situations because the way she always twists and criticizes everything could be pretty stimulating to bounce ideas off. I'm getting frustrated because there's no english equivalent to "faire des plans sur la comète" and "refaire le monde" but I can totally see them spending a night on a high peak in Gensokyo, pointing to locations they want to travel the next day and bantering all night while mapping out the whole itinerary, then waking up in the morning and going the opposite direction of where they had planned.

A fic I’d like to write about them/A sentence from one already in my WIPs: 

(not a prose line cause this fic is in its rough 1st draft state a but a scene placeholder that I like) "Seija goes to sleep holding one of Shin's robes next to her head to make sure she dreams of her."

ship and characters asks 💌

[themsource]

Hi! I'm new to fandom and I am going around asking different creators if they have any advice for me if that's okay

First off congrats, that's really awesome that you've discovered a passion for something enough to engage in the fandom space! ❤ I hope you have a wonderful experience in whatever fandom you're joining ^^ (If it's UT—YAY! XD lol)

Anywho, sure I can give some. But uh, it'll be derived from what I've experienced and won't be pretty. There's nothing guaranteeing you'll experience it at all as I have but still it has some stuff I wish I'd been told before getting heavily involved and learning stuff the hard way.

Placing it below a cut so people can easily avoid reading if they wish.

Be careful who you interact with. (People that frequently bad mouth others—make callout posts with no hard evidence.) And don't take someone's word on a person's character as truth.

You could become a victim of callout posts/drama no matter if you've spoken to the person or not. If it's someone you've been talking to a while or have only been kind to in interactions. Unfortunately people can be quick to jump on anything that has the slightest possibility of being taken negatively and spin it that way even if there's no ill intent or maliciousness behind it. Or they can paint you as negative just because.

You will face labels such as "Problematic" or "Toxic" to name a few, and once you get associated with those you'll see that a large portion of a fandom can and will blacklist you over it for their own mental safety, and/or to avoid potential drama you carry with you by probable association (such as "my idol creator hates you so I will too so they don't dislike me." or "I heard from someone that you think people that like this shipxship are stupid, and I like that ship so no bueno." Etc.)

Things I've said that people have called me "problematic" to my face for over the years:

"It's entitled and selfish for a following/fan base to get upset because the creator wants to explore a new genre the fanbase isn't comfortable with or used to, especially when they've labeled and warned so it can be avoided. Those aren't real fans or supporters."

"I ship Frans."

"The content you make doesn't matter when it comes to fiction. It's not real and neither are the characters. It's dumb if someone judges you over it."

"I don't believe hearsay without proof." (Twitter drama for example about someone)

"Denying where an idea comes from just so you can feel valid and good about yourself is wrong, especially if you're wrong in what you thought you knew and just don't want to admit it."

"I just wanted to be a Hufflepuff."

"I love pinapple on pizza."

"He said, she said, is a political debate. Because all it is is throwing words and accusations around without any evidence to back it."

"Chara is evil."

"Fluff is nice but sometimes you just need really dark unhinged stuff to balance it out otherwise it'll get bland."

"You can like content and not like the creator. And vice versa. I will always separate the art from the artist."

"I don't believe in the term 'problematic' when it comes to fiction."

"Toriel was just as much in the wrong as Asgore was."

There's probably more but these are the ones I was made aware of.

Other labels that have been pushed on me because of what was said above that fall under "problematic": P*do, Weirdo, Freak, R*p Apologist, Transp*be, and Exclusionist just to name a few.

Though none of those labels remotely align with my personal views and stances. It won't matter to a lot of people though if you've been "warned" for with those labels used. This world currently is very "Guilty until proven innocent" instead of "Innocent until proven guilty." Which means it'll be very hard or impossible to change someone's mind especially if they were "warned" by a friend.

You'll also find a lot of people will isolate and detach from you if you disagree on something such as how you view a certain creator or their work, so a lot of the time people will keep their mouth shut just to fit in or to not experience rejection, or will go so far as to say things they don't mean to appear as if agreeing. This is called an "echo chamber" and if you don't fit it, you'll likely get booted. Be prepared for people to maybe DM saying they agree with you, but ultimately not speaking up for fear of backlash for themselves. If someone does speak up? Cool! That's an awesome person and you are lucky to have found them.

So am I problematic given the examples above? To some maybe, others no, some definitely yes, and everyone has the risk of being viewed that way too. Thankfully just like most things in this world though, online you'll find not everyone will share the same viewpoint or opinion. You will undoubtably find at least one person that won't care how others label you.

I have a really small, really closed, friend group. There are six people I know for sure are lifelong friends that I've made through fandom. They took the time to get to know me, listened to my views even if they disagreed and did so amicably (as I've done too), and if there was an issue always talked to me about it. Six may not seem like much but you'll find a smaller number of people who truly understand you vs a crowd that you have to say the "right thing" or make the "right content" for is so much more fulfilling.

The golden rule is something I try to live by: "Treat others the way you want to be treated."

And the best way to determine that is through interaction. If they reciprocate the golden rule that is a positive indicator that they might be safe to interact and eventually open up to. It's best to decide for yourself what a person's character is like and if they're safe rather than having others decide for you by word of mouth, including the very person themselves because you'll find a lot of people in fandom tend to have terrible self confidence.

Unless there's hard proof like an admittance or gloat that someone can provide, then oh boy—the block button is a friend.

Personally, I've learned it's best to just post your stuff, give someone a like or reblog here and there, and answer any legit asks if they're received to try avoiding unnecessary conflict. But that's just me.

Don't get involved in "picking sides". (You're with us or against us nonsense)

This is a quick way to get you avoided and blacklisted because you'll either disturb someone's echo chamber or you'll be seen as a drama mama when people are here for content and fun, not the latest issue or gossip going on.

The world isn't black and white, and that includes the issues and viewpoints in it. It's shades of grey. By viewing it as black and white you leave no room for nuance, and people that use the "with us or against us" arguments so vocally expect 100% percent compliance or none. You're not allowed to agree on one thing pertaining to a topic but disagree on another thing on the same topic because then "you're adding to the problem".

Now this isn't to scare you into thinking that you can't trust someone you want to be friends with by opening up to them with your opinions. No, please do, that's how friendships are made, but if you feel like there is the slightest risk they'll drop you like a sack of potatoes then you probably shouldn't. It's 50/50 gamble sometimes. And if they do well they weren't your friend to begin with and you're better off without them. Bizarrely some in the "with us" camp believe having you around with a viewpoint they can't stand will somehow influence them in a way they don't want. Which is honestly just ridiculous to me because that eliminates the principle of free thought and will.

So I advise just enjoying the content you see and making it yourself if that's what you want to do. Don't turn yourself into an advertisement board for free harassment from those who actively want to pick a fight and make you look like a bad person somehow on top of it. Some get joy out of just destroying people.

Ignore the trolls

Every fandom has trolls. People who like to give shit and bully just for fun (for them) aka harassment. This can include "kys" messages or other negative things in your inbox from anons, comments on your post bashing a ship though it was clearly marked so it could be avoided, etc. These come in all ages and demographics, from minors and yes even from grown ass adults in their 40s and up. Sadly trolls can't be avoided no matter how popular you are or how wholesome the stuff you engage with is. You could be a mute virgin nun and still be attacked for something.

The only thing you can do is ignore them. If they get bad, really bad like do doxing (the exposure of your real identity), report them. They've been around since even before the invention of the internet and will be around even after.

Don't take being blocked or muted personally.

Some just block or mute to avoid content they don't like, and with how algorithms work on certain websites just you liking something without reblogging or sharing can make it show up on their feed, especially if you share mutuals or are gaining traction in a tag or whatever. This doesn't mean they dislike you personally.

And if you find someone does block or mute you over a comment you made recently or what have you, still don't get hung up over it. Chances are you probably wouldn't have a very productive conversation in the first place. Unless it's a case of misunderstanding since online text boxes can be too limited to get your meaning across, then I rec either reaching out a quick message via an alt to clear it if you truly care enough about the person.

But don't ever try to not be yourself just to please someone. If after talking they still want nothing to do with you based on differences in views, drop it. It'd just stress you out in the long run to linger over it.

And if you make an honest mistake, sometimes people will hold that against you, but it's best to just let that go too, because not everyone will hold that against you, and given time a few will get over it and even see where you were coming from after the anger dies down. Mistakes happen and they will happen. You can't hold that against yourself. Tagging can be confusing, the wrong word could be used when describing something, etc.

Just stay calm, take a deep breath, and compose yourself before you react. It's a mistake, not the end of the world. Let people block that need to block, don't take it personally because odds are they're hurt just like you are, apologize where you can, and just try to do better.

In the great words of The All-American Rejects, move along.

Don't do DNIs if you can help it (Do Not Interact lists)

I don't recommend having DNIs, I see it as a bar to what could otherwise be a good friendship so long as you simply tell them your boundaries.

DNIs can be taken as a red flag by some that if you see anyone that fits the labels you choose for your list that you automatically see them as a bad person, regardless of nuances or discussion, and that you'll likely target them for harassment if you come across them in a mutual's post or share a space for a community event. Obviously this is for the mundane labels, I've seen people list "Apple Lovers" (yes the fruit), and Vegetarians, to name a few.

I'm not saying that people who use DNIs will harass, just that I've seen it happen and have been targeted over it too as have others.

Seriously harassment can and will happen from anywhere, it's the internet, better prepared than not though.

But if you really feel you need one to feel safe. Please make sure you research the true meanings and definitions behind the labels you select. Otherwise people will stare out of confusion, or block you over more misunderstandings.

Have fun

Create and curate, for you.

Make the type of stuff you want to make or engage with without fear of judgement. Be shameless in what you enjoy because that's the only true way you'll enjoy being in a fandom. People will judge you anyways, no matter what, so don't get hung up on it.

Out of my friends there's some that absolutely loathe some of the content and ships I enjoy, so they don't follow my socials to avoid that content, but they still encourage me to be happy and to keep "doing me" with what I write or draw, because they know my character isn't reflected in my consumption. And the right people will see that with you, and encourage you if you're honest and happy with yourself even if they may disagree with it or not.

This is the most important bit of advice I want to give. Given the other stuff I know it may seem overwhelming but trust me it really is worth it in the end once you find a rhythm, and pretty soon after enough time you'll find yourself roiling your eyes over the other stuff when you've reached a place of comfort and contentment. Because once you have that none of the other stuff matters. Ultimately that's what every decent person strives for in a fandom. It may be easy or it may be difficult to reach but it's possible.

No one can hurt you when you're having fun and you're happy with yourself. Words will roll off like water on plastic after a point and trolls/bullies will largely disappear if they realize their name calling and words can't hurt you or sow doubt.

You also won't feel as lonely if you don't receive interaction on something once in a while because you'll still feel the joy from having made it. That's another thing, don't join a fandom just for attention and validation from others. That's the number one way to find disappointment and to end up dropping from a fandom in the end other than simply losing your hyper fixation after a while.

With that I wish you luck! Sorry if this was long winded ^^ and please don't take this as a be all end all guide, this is all just personal opinion and interpretation meant to help. (I also am terrible at discussing my thoughts cohesively and accurately so I apologize if anything is confusing.)

I hope you live your best fandom life, I'm rooting for you. ❤

[devine-fem]

Uhm, if you’re going to read a long post of me ranting about Jon Kent then read this one.

if I hadn’t gotten so attached to Jon and his potential then I genuinely understand why people genuinely dislike him. As someone who likes Jon, I just think about how much untapped potential he has and I’ve gotten attached to that. To be fair, I’m starting to get where anti-Jon Kent people are coming from.

he had excellent potential with Damian as his friend during Super Sons but Super Sons had just started and honestly in their universe Jon and Damian AT THE TIME had not known each other for an entire 365 days I don’t think. a lot of Damian and Jon chemistry can be missed and go right over your head if you don’t look closely enough, super sons was more of a setup, it was a layout, and it established something but what it was establishing never truly came to fruition, it was cut short by his age up and then in Robin 2021, Damian separated himself from everyone including Jon and was able to stand on his own two feet. It felt like he did need to detached from Jon because as he is NOW he can’t be anything to Damian and as a die hard Super Sons fan I’m starting to wonder why they’re STILL friends as of right now, Jon is almost grown now and he spent years away from Damian, why does he even still care? Shouldn’t he be trying to move away from Damian and do his own thing as well? Or is he just perpetually stuck with Damian because that was when his character peaked and the writers are aware of that.

I don’t know if he’s ever going to be able to seperate from Damian fully… Damian was almost his entire character to be fair because he never really, really got to be anyone else BUT ‘Damian’s best friend’ and why does JON deserve to be Superman with the stories under his belt? He doesn’t deserve it. I don’t understand why the writers thought that was a good idea, he’s not the Superman anyone really wants and frankly he’s not ready to be Superman for a very long time. The only idea that can support him being Superman is the obnoxious ‘Blood son gets the mantle!’ that DC shoves down your throat and that’s just vapid.

Now his solo comics are filled with toneless, baseless and mind numbing story with no personality and a little queerbaiting on the side… no wonder people don’t like him, I’m starting to really understand that.

As long as Jon is aged up, he also waves away a lot of Damian’s friends out of existence because they had associations to Jon and Jon is no longer those ages so it’s likely these characters will never show again. If you were a fan of those characters that fit under this umbrella then I can’t blame you for not liking the guy… Now characters you loved cease to exist because of some random kid who was dumb enough to take a space trip one day. What’s there to like about Jon Kent anymore? He’s not even really recognizable to fans when he is the way that he is right now.

He’s only really likeable if you only read SSOKE and if you mindlessly cling to any queer representation you see regardless of quality. If you actually did grow an attachment to Jon Kent throughout the years when he was created in Thomas Wayne’s batcave then you’ll have to juggle the weird and alien experience of hating and loving a character as if they are two different characters entirely.

So yeah, I’m starting to get Jon antis. Half of liking Jon Kent is making up story for him and the other half is being an apologist for bs being sold in comic stores as of right now. If you hate the guy I envy you, this is not for the weak - this is not for the weak AT ALL.

[bookofmirth]

i’ve been so conflicted on this and so many accounts are so immersed in the ship wars that i’ve been too intimidated to express my opinion, but you seem really sweet and not confrontational like them so i’d love to hear your thoughts! since literally acosf i’ve gone back and forth between elriel or elucien and i’ve decided that i like lucien more. like a LOT more. his character is so fun and i’ve enjoyed a lot more elucien content than i have elriel content. however, i also consider myself an elain fan (not the kind that says elucien “isn’t respecting elain’s choice”, but the kind that defends her against arguments saying she’s useless/doesn’t deserve either man). my dilemma is that i love the elucien ship but lots of people in that fanbase… i’ve seen support, like, or reblog nasty takes on elain that either ship elucien bc they love lucien but hate elain??? or they ship elucien out of convenience of gwynriel and support discourse that puts elain down to raise gwyn up. tbh i could care less what happens with gwyn or az, but i’m finding it difficult to view the eluciens I’VE seen online (i know this isn’t all and might not even be most but it’s just the ones i’ve seen) as a positive community when it’s full of so much elain hate :/ maybe if you could point out some elain safe blogs or offer your opinion on this?

Hello! ngl, I read your ask and just had to pause for a minute because I just... never see it. I never see eluciens who dislike Elain. I know that Elain hate exists, especially on other platforms, but... The idea that elucien fans don't like Elain is absolutely mind-boggling to me. I wouldn't ship something if I disliked a character in the pairing/ot3, which is why I am not super big into gwynriel. I do consider myself a default gwynriel, so I totally get what you mean about gwynriels potentially being default eluciens. But people who are genuinely into elucien don't dislike Elain. I personally wouldn't waste my time 🤣

Here are some people who talk positively about Elain and like elucien. It's mainly people who have been in the fandom for a long time, but I am sure that I missed some people! So please, if you feel that you fit into this group of people, please jump in!

@feysandfeels @moononastring @aelin-godkiller @separatist-apologist @elains @cascadingmoon @feyre-cursebreaker @lidiacervos @spell-cleavers @ruhncervos @highqueenmorrigan @ladyofcaraverre @highladydawn @xnightwolfx @ahkhnn @bowdawn @sabrinasam @gimme-mor @oneiraletheia @cassianandfenrysaremyboyos @ladyelain @amandapearls

Also, please note that liking Elain's character to me means acknowledging and exploring her faults, which she has! None of these people - nor myself - are out here kissing her ass all day long. We just appreciate her character for what she is and her potential, within and outside of ships.

fwiw I chatted with several people on this list just now and they don't see it either. The eluciens disliking Elain thing. Maybe people have some different ideas about what liking a character means, but?? The idea that we don't like Elain is super annoying and a typical way for people to try to shame us or make us feel guilty about not shipping what they ship.

[figureone]

Yk i used to really disagree with your theory about the mindflayer, mostly because it's a trope i really dislike, but now I'm seeing all those completely insane theories/analysis about henry never having murdered anyone, Henry having clones and I'm like ????? Suddenly the mindflayer influencing Henry is a great idea in comparation, at least it makes some damn sense, i mean, people can theorize whatever they like, i know it's supposed to be fun, but acting like it's 100% canon and everyone else is stupid for not noticing it is annoying, they used to mock Henry apologists and now Henry is a saint and he has an evil brother/clone or whatever that is the actual murderer, they now claim to love Henry but for some reason ignore everything Jamie has ever said about his character unless they can twist it to fit their narrative

Anyway, i really like how you talk about Henry, and how you write him in your rp blog, do you have a degree in psychology or something? Because you write really well

Its been a ride hasn't. I mean they explicitly made posts mocking and dragging me personally for my posts only to turn around and start saying some of the exact stuff I said that they mocked me for, ONLY instead of actually being logical and normal about why they think xyz they started coming out with these absolutely batshit insane and outlandish theories of why Henrys cool actually while simultaneously maintaining this horrific shit about how hes a pedo and rapist. Like I dont get it?? What?? I mean, I think I blocked everyone in the tags (save for my followers LOL) about the time they started saying Henry's actual crime is rape and it was VIRGINA (Who is also a pedophile and a rapist, and Henry's rapist specifically -shudders-) who ACTUALLY committed all the murders and also something about "Peter Ballard" being Henry's gay lover or whatever, I don't know, I refused to read most of the posts and after blocking I haven't seen any for ages. Like I def missed the clone stuff and surely A LOT of other out of touch shit, lucky me. But EXACTLY! You're right. This is meant to be fun and I like(d) reading different peoples takes and thoughts, even if I don't or didn't necessarily agree. HELL I love making crazy AUs and playing with concepts that aren't even canon and just having silly fun like that but like. They had the audacity to be mocking me and other Henry fans for being Henry fans, then turning around and coming out with all that and then suddenly calling themselves Henry fans. What in the fuck? Never seen a lack of self awareness quite like it before. The self-absorbed, holier than thou tone and way they imposed this on "stupid Henry Creel apologists" like me only to get to where they are now with the shit they post is just ??? They're really like "I can excuse pedophilia and rape, but I draw the line at murder in self defense." Also I love how that watchman anon was a whole thing, bc ofc they had be going on about how Dr Manhattan was in his 30s and having some relationship with a 16 yr old or some crap and that this is relevant to Henry which is literally not and then Jamie came out and confirmed thats all bullshit like I hate to say I told em so but. Then I've seen folks making posts about shipping Henry/Vecna and Will and at first I thought they were joking / mocking but now I'm sure they're serious. I even had like an ACTUAL blog for shipping Will/Vecna follow me the other day (which I promptly blocked like that was low key traumatic for sec there, like the edits made me feel unwell give how UNDERAGE Will clearly is and looks as a young boy / teen vs Henry/Jamie's pics who def looks like a grown ass fucking man in his 30s ... Ugh.)

And this all isn't actually surprising to me bc a lot of assholes I've encountered in fandoms like this usually have all these secret "taboo" turn-ons (like pedophilia and non-con) and have secret accounts on sites like ao3 and twitter and flist and whatever to produce content surrounding that sort of stuff while acting like the head purity police in public on tumblr. Which is why I think some folks come out here talking so much nonsense surrounding those things, like its secret psychological fetish mining because suddenly people are agreeing like "oh yeah this character could be / is a pedo / a rapist / haha vecna has a crush on will / vecna raped will / this is all so obvious!!" etc, like its all just... So far out of touch with the source so canons def not where its coming from or why they're obsessed with those takes and that kind of stuff, and when ppl rb it and spread it, it validates them in a sort of roundabout or even direct way. And given the first ever post like that I saw from that group about Henry/Vecna as gay (and a rapist/pedo) was spoken about in a weirdly self indulgent, hurt/comfort, wump/wumpee, fanficcy type of way including Mike having to like, win Will with his pure gay love vs Vecna's evil gay lust. Took me back to 2009, I thought they were gonna sign off with some shit like "YAOIZ FOREVER!!! SO SMEXY!!! xDDDD :3 owo" Really makes you wonder. ANYWAY, big ol ramble aside, THANK YOU! Maybe I can turn you into a mindflayer theory truther 😉 sjfkhfjkd. Also thanks so much about the writing, thats been the highlight of my day ;_; TBH I don't have any professional skill at all. I taught myself to read and write (I mean that literally as the autistic kid everyone not subtly gave up on.) so I'm kinda blown away by that as a compliment. 😭 I think it maybe just comes down to the fact that I have personal experience with child abuse / abuse / mental illness / trauma / neurodivergence and also a big love of the horror genre and those things are mostly where I write from so they probably work well for Henry/Vecna's POV, but IDK. Tysm. ❤️❤️

[stranger-rants]

hey,

people are allowed to still not like a fictional character whether or not you think they’ve been redeemed. as black viewer, who actually really likes dacre, it’s completely okay if other black viewers to not like billy just because he sacrificed himself.

don’t know why billy apologists have a problem with people not wanting to feel sympathetic towards a racist. yes he’s a victim, but he can still be a persecutor, which he was. it’s nuanced and people are allow to not like, i repeat, a fictional character. racists aren’t owed forgiveness.

I don’t know who you think you’re preaching to, because I have never once said no one is allowed to dislike him. In fact, I’ve said the opposite multiple times including in posts discussing the racism in the show. Everyone is welcome to their own likes and dislikes and I fully understand why the things Billy has canonically said or done can be too much for people to endure. You see, I do not have a problem with people not having sympathy for racism. It is a systemic issue that generates a lot of trauma for a lot of people. It’s not my place to tell people how to feel about that. I just don’t believe prejudices can’t be unlearned or that a teenager should die for it.

I do have a problem with people ignoring abuse as a systemic problem. That involves people repeating really harmful ideas about how “bad survivors” like Billy should be handled, which includes a very pro-revenge, pro-punishment mindset that does more to perpetuate harm than it does to make up for any harm a person like him did. That is what the self proclaimed “antis” are obsessed with, and not only are they obsessed with repeating very harmful things like Billy, as a survivor, is too far gone to be redeemed, but they are obsessed with making sure that absolutely no one empathizes with Billy as a survivor. Not as a racist. As a survivor.

That is where the problem lies, because yes he is a fictional character. That does not mean that the people who like his character or relate to him in some way are automatically bigots. By contrast, liking the “right” characters doesn’t automatically make someone anti-racist. It is completely unfair to disregard the experiences of survivors and marginalized people who do relate to Billy by dedicating an entire space in this fandom to posting blatant lies and triggering content about Billy and fans of Billy because “antis” are hell-bent on making sure that every single person dislikes him because to them there’s no valid reason to care about Billy’s character.

There’s a huge difference between that and the utter insanity that has taken place the past few years in this fandom. Disliking a character and being mature about it by either blocking content of the character or having critical discussions of them is very different from making threats towards the actors, spamming tags and making screenshots of fanworks to mock people who like the character, joking about the abuse he endured saying he deserved it, lying about a victim of child abuse by treating him like an adult and exaggerating the harm they did as a result of their trauma, and creating a fanon version of Billy who loves cops and SA’s his sister to feel justified in hating him.

That’s not anti-racism, and that is not just “disliking” a character. If I see bullshit like that, especially since “antis” can’t seem to figure out that if you use his full name your posts will show up if you simply search his name, I am going to say something. He may be fictional, but I am not fictional nor are all the other people who grew up abused like him and developed maladaptive coping mechanisms to survive that labeled us “bad survivors.” When fans say he could not be redeemed, we hear that as survivors. When people say he deserved to be abused, tortured, and killed, we hear that as survivors.

So you think what you want. By all means. But it is nuanced which means that how people express their dislike matters.

[tobi-smp]

The fact that you almost beat the number 1 c!Techno apologist on this site for the blorbo survey is so fucking hilarious

context: [Link]

it’s even funnier to me because I had no idea the survey was happening, which means I didn’t self promote or even participate in the vote myself, so that was completely organic.

that said, I think that’s the nature of a really polarizing character like techno. the general consensus is going to be split between someone that fully buys into what we’re presented with in the source material (who loves it uncomplicatedly, which is a perfectly fine relationship to have with it) and someone who lays out exactly what’s wrong with it and how it could be fixed. but what matters above anything else is Passion and Direction.

there’s a lot of characters that I’m passionate about and there’s a lot of characters that I’d say that I have a pretty good understanding of. but techno is the character that I have the strongest Vision for. and it’s Because of this combination of being someone who genuinely loves the cc and is deeply invested in the potential of the character who ultimately wasn’t and isn’t happy with the direction that it went in. because it isn’t that I Dislike his character or just that I want his character to Be Better, it’s that I want to see the potential that I was drawn to in the first place realized.

it’s what’s compelled me to rotate this character in my head for two years straight, it’s why I’ve spent so long breaking everything that c!techno has ever done and has ever been and ever could be down and laying it out to examine it, it’s why I’ve written like a dozen essays about how I’d fix everything from specific events to the entirety of techno’s arc as a character and role in the narrative of the series.

I don’t just Understand his character, I know what I’d Do with his character, which is a big difference when it comes to the concept behind the survey.

for instance, while I certainly have a lot to Say about c!tommy, I don’t have one big “This is where I think his character Should go” idea rolling around in my brain. I’d like a spot on the Committee of inniters, but I wouldn’t be the best choice for being In Charge Of his character. I don’t have a solid enough vision for it. (I might, however, be a good choice for c!tubbo or c!wilbur specifically in the context of season four, because I’ve had a Lot of rework ideas rolling around in my head that I just haven’t posted yet).