#by 'going back around' i don't mean 'participating actively in fandom again' i've just been rewatching

[coffee-bat]

been going back around resident evil again and fuck i'm STILL pissed about how they wronged my boy :(

[spaceorphan18]

Hi, so I've been pretty removed from the glee fandom for some time - you're actually the only glee blog i still follow. So I wanted to ask, what's going on in fandom that makes you want to remove yourself?

Hi Nonny!

I'm so glad you're still here!

I think that a combination of things last week just kind of hit hard -- and it was on top of some real life things that were going on. Tumblr, Glee, this blog are a source of fun and relaxation. And when it descends into drama I just want to back out and not be here. And it's frustrating because this is what I want to do in my free time -- for the fun of it.

First there was the spamming of the episode tournament. In general, people are entitled to their own opinions, but it's kind of got me down that zero episodes in season 4-6 people are championing for. So it's hard enough to watch that -- but then people cheating for really no reason because those episodes were already winning -- just feels like... I don't know. Not fun.

I'm letting it continue, and will keep it going, but my enthusiasm for active participation has waned. It's weird when the shipping tournament had less drama around it.

Then there's the revival of Klaine vs Brittana, which is just so stupid. Ship what you want to ship. And even more, people can like both ships. One isn't actually better than the other. And while I think most Brittana people are fine - there's been a rise in things like --- people saying if you don't like Brittana you hate women? Are lesphobic? (despite Brittany being bi but whatever). Telling people to kill themselves if they don't prefer Brittana? Like -- what is going on? Why do people think that's okay?

Plus, the ramping up of Blaine hate is out of control. It's always been there - but good lord people are going out of their way to hate Blaine. It's too much. It used to be more balanced where you could find as much good as bad. But I'm seeing less Blaine fans (and Kurt fans) in general, which is a bummer.

This new group of watchers just don't connect to Klaine/Kurt/Blaine like the old crew did. And that's fine - people connect to what they connect to. But there's so few people left, it's just a bummer.

And I mean, there are some great people still around. I do appreciate the fic writers and the poll givers and the gif makers. They're good people. But I do miss more discourse around the show. I don't see a whole lot of chatter or discussion or commentary like I used to.

But also, tumblr is smaller and reaches less people. I'm sure there are a ton of people on TikTok. But I have no desire to go there. Not only am I old, but a lot of the TikTok takes I've come across have given me rage so I should probably not.

Sometimes, I'm like -- have you guys even watched the show? And then I get Nonny messages that state people have only watched the first three seasons. Why? Why only like half a show? I don't get it.

And that's fine.

Plus, the unfortunate mess of Kevin and Jenna's podcast. I think at some point, I'd like to listen to it to hear what they have to say, and hear the interviews (which I've always enjoyed). I just tire of fandom either grilling them for not understanding or using them as a piece of validation. They're two people just talking about their experiences. why do we need to make a war out of everything?

That all said (and it was nice to get out), I don't hate it here. I'm not really going anywhere -- I'm not one to skim on out because other people want me to not be here. Sometimes I just need a break.

And I've been thinking about ways to do fun things again -- I've been thinking about maybe doing an episode appreciate thing, where I talk about the good in every episode.

Idk. I suppose we'll see, but that's where I'm at.

[seahdalune]

template under read more + musings

TF2: so. TF2 huh. got into it last year. i kinda lost interest because of a tf2 discord server that i ended up leaving in bad terms + no content updates + i didn't do jackshit in the fandom. i made my robot oc blog but unfortunately that one died along with my fixation! oops.

Papa Louie: the ultimate killer of my tf2 fixation. the increasing amount of "Papa Louie lore is CRAZY!" videos in my recommended feed and the eventual release of Freezeria Deluxe drawing in streamers, and then Jerma, was what finally got me to crack and give the games a go. i don't regret it, because i finally joined a fandom that i actively (? the fandom's kiiiiinda dead aha;;) participate it, after like 2 years of wandering around! it kinda faltered around July~August, but after downloading Flashpoint, it came back double the force.

Scott Pilgrim: got the books for my birthday. read them. the graphic novels haunted me for a while because it was so.... different! from what i've read up to that point. i buried it into my subconciousness but the show dug it up again. i'm not thaaaat into it though. it's a background thought thing.

Good Omens: season 2 babyyyyyy, i wasn't as into it as i was in like.... 2021? i mean, back then i read like, a shitton of GO fanfics. i think that fandom is still my most bookmarked fandom within my fic folder. season 2 was great! heartbreaking even. but as i said, i already blew my steam back in like, 2021. i didn't really have Good Omens people to talk with anyways, not that i'm confident enough to find any.

Madness Combat: was around for the 2021 boom, but my fixation came back because of the Makeship plushie thing, fight meh ok. i wonder a little if they were worth it over the Papa Louie plushie when my fixation didn't last as long (it kiiiinda does sting i had to give him up? it would be nice to own official Papa Louie merch ;;) but whateves. they're in my arms. they're very cuddly. i'm getting off-point, anyways i love these freaks, love the action in the animations, i wanna play the game but at the same time i'm not sure how well i'm gonna be able to handle the guns and the killing. eh, i'll manage, i'll live. i guess i kinda stopped being fixated because like i said, nobody to talk to since i'm a little wary about the fandom... uh, i'm sure there are a lot of nice people, but i've had peeks at what arguments people have been having and that made me decide to just lurk.

AVA/AVM: my friend was watching it and they got into it, so i got curious and i looked into it as well. they're cute little ibbly babbles, those sticks. big fan of the Animator vs Animation series especially because awoo.... it advances so much in style in each episode. V and VI especially blow shit out of the water. love it. love it. didn't really bother to get into the fandom though. i didn't see a place to sit down, so i just walked through the merchant hall and moved on. i stare at the wares every now and then though.

HLVRAI: watched it recently. it's nice. not.... really enjoyable enough for me to be a full-blown fan, but whateves. i kinda don't know why that happened to be the thing that all my mutuals were obsessed with throughout 2021 but the only reason i didn't get into it either was because i didn't finish Hal-Life 1 and i wanted to get into the game blind due to hearing that it was "the best game ever that influenced the gaming industry forever". i wonder, that if i wasn't such a wuss, would i have watched HLVRAI earlier and enjoyed it more? we'll have to see with HL2VRAI. i haven't finished HL2 either btw... sigh.

[linalibertine]

So I've been on this dumb website for almost 11 years now.

I wasn't actively re-/blogging the whole time but I was always checking my dash. Meaning, I pretty much got the whole damn experience of this chaotic corner on the internet. The big fandoms back then clashing and colliding and creating big waves of embarrassing memes and whatnot. (I was into Homestuck and let's say it all went a bit overboard.) I participated in tumblr prom. I was there when the mishapocalypse went down. Back then it was normal to know a fair amount of blog urls and their names and what content they post. You had small friend groups interacting with each other and would start skype calls after school and accepted severe sleep deprivation because of timezones. It felt like there was something new happening on here each day and of course most of it is awkward to look at today but it was a great deal of fun. Then, a few years ago, all that fuss started to fade and it got really quiet around here. Many of my favourite blogs went inactive and some friends switched to bigger social media sites. It was a slow process but soon your dash got smaller, the new entries over night got less and less. The traffic around my corner of tumblr got so little, there were no more asks sent, barely up to 20 new entries on my dash over night and most of the blogs I followed and used to love!! fell asleep or just vanished. No more group interactions, no more skype calls. Just a distant memory of the good times back then. During that time I checked my dash maybe once a week. It felt pretty lonely on here. But suddenly, something started to come alive. New memes popped up and I didn't even understand what it was all about at first. (I don't use any other social website beside tumblr so I didn't get the news) Twitter migrants. I watched from a safe distance what was happening and it was the first time I actually had some reading to do! Now we got the reddit migrants as well and holy fuck, I would've have never imagined this much traffic on this website ever again. Of course it'll never be the same like it used to be. That chapter is closed. But I can't tell you how happy I am to see so many new thoughts and impressions on here again. Tumblr has gotten it's flair of a chaotic scrapbook back again.

Weird, funny, artistic, supporting. So I guess I'll have to thank every social media refugee on here for bringing back life to this hellsite. I've got nowhere else to go. So I'm relieved we don't have to end like myspace.

[godtier]

hi I'm alive just busy bc holidays!

some minor blog updates for those who care:

I'm trying, generally speaking, to pivot more towards original posts again instead of using this as a reblog repository.

this blog is very old (going on 14 years!) and I used to be pretty active in my fandoms on here before the porn ban. when I came back, I lost a little over 50% of my followers due to my inactivity, with a good portion of the rest being dead blogs at this juncture. my blog was never "big" in any fandom I participated in, but I do miss the interaction with people.

I didn't really know how to get back in the swing of "normal posting," so I fell into using this blog as a repository because that was easier. there isn't anything wrong with that, ofc, but that was never the point of this blog. I have side blogs for that purpose that I'll probably revive soon instead.

that doesn't mean I won't reblog random things ever again on here, but I'll probably taper them down to more tailored things. stuff like fandom related posts or art refs/inspo rather than straight up memes 24/7. tho don't be surprised if a few slip through anyway. I'm not made of stone! 😭

this blog has, and always will be, focused around my interests. I don't post anything remotely political and intend to keep it that way. I will also say, I'm not very big about discussing my real life details in general; I am extremely private online and at most there might be vague hints at what I do for a living, but I keep my online persona segregated from real life as much as possible. that's more an FYI than anything else, just so any followers know what not to expect when I get back into "normal posting!"

so what's "normal posting" mean for me, then?

mostly discussion, theory crafting, or meta posts revolving around my fandoms, mostly Capcom titles, so I hope y'all can enjoy those as they come. I may also post the occasional informative post, mostly dealing with proper op sec for the web, among other things, as that's an interest of mine. if that ain't what you're here for, no worries. o7

but regarding planned post content, I'm working on a huge set of meta posts (yes, plural) analyzing vava/vile from megaman x, so any megaman followers, keep ur eyes peeled for that.

I've also been meaning to finish some drawings too so I'll hopefully be posting smth sometime soon. if you're more interested in my art, you can follow my art blog @deadawake!

lastly, been trying to finish fanfics that I've had languishing in my files. again, mostly megaman related, but I do have an RE fic rotting away in there somewhere. maybe I'll post that, too.

that's it! I guess you can think of this as a "new year's resolution" post! we'll see how successful I am 🤞

I hope y'all have a safe and happy holiday season! o/ see you soon!

[purrincess-chat]

Newbie author, here! Do you have any tips for me? I end up piling too many wips and find that I can't step away from one wip before finishing it. Am literally obsessed with writing a story until I get it done. Do you think I should spread my schedule and include other works (longer wips) even though there's a big chance I might focus on it too much or begin to neglect the other work? I don't want to be that one author who abandons a work. 😭😭😭

That's so exciting! Welcome to the writing community. I am probably the best and also the worst person to come to for this lol. The best because I have a lot of experience with multiple WIPs, and also the worst because I have a lot of experience with multiple WIPs. Here's what I do.

Now, I want to preface this by saying that this is just my system that works for me. Part of writing is discovering what methods work for you and developing your own process along the way, which unfortunately just takes trial and error. I recommend looking into several options to find what fits you best. That being said, I currently have 6-7 active WIPs, meaning I have posted at least one chapter of them, that I intend to finish (and several others I have abandoned indefinitely, which I'll talk about later). I also have 2 big projects in the planning stages as well as a handful of other small projects that I want to do eventually. Plus, I'm participating in the ML Big Bang again this year, so I'm working on a decently small project for that. (Like less than 20k) So, I do know a thing or two about having tons of projects open, and I'm not going to lie and say I handle all of them well all the time, but I've been getting better at managing my projects. Here's some tips that I've picked up over the past few years.

Outlines.

I know, I have been singing their praises a lot lately, and some writers like them, some don't, but seriously, if you're juggling multiple projects, outlines. When you have multiple WIPs, especially for the same fandom or similar concepts, outlines will save you from getting stories mixed up and forgetting things. Even if your outline is just a doc that you dump everything you have in your brain about the story in one block paragraph, do that. Don't rely on your memory of what you want to happen because you will forget. Write it down somewhere, so you have it to come back to when you're more ready to tackle it.

If you're like me and have more ideas than you know what to do with, I usually will dump everything about an idea that I have somewhere be it in a tumblr post or a word doc or a deranged series of rambly messages to my beta. Once I have it written down and out of my head, I can usually assess whether or not it's something I want to actively work on right now. Sometimes we get really excited about a concept because it's really fresh in our mind, and we want to see where it goes. Just writing down a detailed summary or even outlining can be enough to get over that initial impulse to start something new. This can help reduce taking on more wips than you can handle at once and potentially abandoning the one you're trying to work on. If you have an idea written down, you can always come back to it later when you've cleared up some more time and space for it.

Try to set a schedule.

I admit, I'm not the best at adhering to a schedule, but it can be helpful to make them. And you can make schedules for various different things like, I want to post this story on this day every week or every month, or I want to work on this idea around this time every day or on a specific day. Schedules can be very helpful at keeping multiple projects organized.

Work on a few at a time.

As it stands right now, even though I have a lot of open projects, I'm not actively working on all of them all the time. I tend to pick 2-3 of them to focus on at a time, and even then, that doesn't mean I'm actually writing all of them at the same time. Right now, I am actively writing my BB story (already outlined), my Ladrien enemies AU (already outlined), and I just finished writing KEWK, which is a WIP I've had open for several years that I finally got bothered enough with how long it's been open to finish. I'm also actively outlining My Dearest Buttercup (trying to figure out where the hell I want to take it), as well as a project I haven't announced yet.

Typically, I have one or two stories in the active writing stage, and one (maybe two) in the outlining stage. Outlining helps because it keeps the impulse at bay just enough because it tricks my brain into thinking I'm working on it (I mean, technically you ARE working on it, just not actively drafting). It's also helpful when you actually do get to the point of writing it because you've already made a bunch of executive decisions that could have slowed down your drafting process. Overall, it makes things run smoother.

I try to balance project lengths as well. I try not to take on two big projects at a time, or if I do, I only work on those two, no tiny projects. If I've got one big project open, I may work on a few small projects (one-shots, drabbles) or one medium sized project (like a shorter multi-chapter) along side it. The longer the project, the longer it's going to take you to finish it, so if you have two big projects open, it's going to take you longer to clear those from your plate and allow for time for other projects.

That's why I try to keep smaller projects in rotation while working on bigger things, so I can work through ideas faster and eliminate more things. I tend to have a lot of small ideas that pile up, so it helps ease some guilt to be able to clear those out. If I clear out a bunch of tiny projects, I might add in a bigger project if the first one is nearing completion. It's a delicate balancing act that I've only recently started getting better at. And again, not to sound like a broke record, outlining can help you determine which stories to rotate because you can kind of guestimate how big/long a project is going to be, so you can determine whether you want to take on a big project or focus on a smaller one.

Abandoning stories isn't the end of the world.

I know you expressed fear of abandoning stories, but sometimes it just... happens. I mentioned that I have numerous projects that I've put off indefinitely. Some of them I may go back to eventually, others I may just leave be. Sometimes you move past an idea or a concept or you lose interest in a particular story. It happens, and it's not the end of the world. Sure, some readers might be disappointed if they liked a story, but if your heart isn't in it, then you're not going to be satisfied with it (and usually your readers will be able to tell). Most of the time, my readers are very understanding if I say I don't intend to finish a story (though, it depends on the story, but I've never actively abandoned any extremely popular stories of mine).

It can make you feel really guilty, and it can make you feel like you've failed for giving up on something. But truthfully, writers do it all the time. Inspiration is lost. You realize that maybe a story just isn't working right now. I think for me, I tend to focus on how I've grown as a result of writing that work. Sometimes calling it quits can be a sign that you've grown enough to recognize that what you're working on just isn't for you anymore. Writing is a journey, and sometimes it's better to tread a new path. The act of writing is a labor of love, and if you don't love what you're writing, then you don't have to keep doing it. Allow yourself that kindness, and writing becomes a lot less stressful.

For you, I'd recommend trying the outlining method. If you've got another idea while you're working on something, spit it onto a page in some way, then decide what you want to do with it. Having multiple projects going on isn't a bad thing, and sometimes it's necessary. For my projects, I don't always work on the stories I'm actively drafting all the time. Sometimes I focus more on one than the other. Sometimes I bounce back and forth between them. Just depends.

Hopefully you found any of this helpful. If you have any more questions, feel free to send them!

[rhyme-thinks-stuff]

It's 1 AM and I miss my old fandoms. I miss the hyperfixation feels.

This post got kinda long so I'm putting the rambling below the cut here

I'm surrounded by DSMP on tumblr, and I still like the characters and story. I see a lot of cool fanart and headcanons and stuff on my dash, it's really cool! I like seeing it! I like watching people love it. I like drawing stuff for it occasionally when prompted. Especially c!Ranboo, their character design is very fun to draw!

Like how I finished Tears of the Kingdom. It took up a large part of my brain for a month or two, I made art and thought so much about characters and their relationships and I started a rare pair tag and I even wrote an entire first draft of a short fanfiction for that rare pair, and then I finished it.

But I don't really think about DSMP it when I'm not looking directly at it. My object permanence isn't great. I mean I'm still kinda in the fandom? I'm very much surrounded by it. But I'm mostly just a quiet observer of it and not an active participant. I think it's cool but I don't feel all that passionate about it, especially compared to how I felt around the time I first discovered it.

And I enjoyed the ending. But it flipped a switch in my brain, and I quickly just. Stopped thinking about it the same way.

And I was frustrated, because I wanted to finish the second draft of that fanfiction, maybe get it edited enough to post it. But my brain had apparently decided that I was done with that fandom well before I was ready to be

I tried getting back into Genshin Impact and I got mostly caught up with the story. I explored new regions for weeks. I thought about my old favorite ship and worked on the fanfiction I'd put down months ago. but then I just stopped thinking about it. And maybe that was partly because school just started, but I think the interest was fading anyways

I was then focused on my ocs and their original story for a couple months, but I haven't thought about them much recently. Again probably because of school

School takes up too much of my time. I wish I had the space for something I love to take up space in my brain. I miss the feeling of loving something so much that i can't stop thinking about it, I miss being excited over characters, I miss shipping

Although I've felt all those things while attending school before. So maybe I'm just in a phase. Maybe I'll fall in love with something again soon. Maybe I need to make myself draw more

I have been wanting to read the remaining 2/3s of Homestuck. Maybe if I remember I can be crazy about that for a while

But it's so frustrating. That my fandoms tend to only last a few months, or come and go in phases. I wish I could stick with something for longer, and more consistently. I'm so tired of my interests waxing and waning. I guess the variety is kinda nice. But it doesn't give me much ability to build much of anything.

[mortifyingideal]

i was tagged in this by the wonderful @fremulon (thanks cherry!) and accidentally deleted the whole thing twice so now i'm mostly just posting it out of spite and without a read more due to said spite. SUCK IT TUMBLR.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 10 published out loud and 1 published anonymously

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

226419

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

okay so this is really only my most recent life. i have been around a lot. a lot. i was there, gandalf, during the superwholock years (and an active participant) so over the course of my life it's like

Harry Potter, Teen Titans, Sherlock, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Inception, Daredevil, The Avengers, The Musketeers, Wells & Wong Mysteries, Twin Peaks, Homestuck, Red vs Blue

but in this lifetime i'm just writing for Good Omens (and have written for DuckTales and Cruella)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

1 — Loosely Ballroom (surprising absolutely nobody)

2 — Look Not Too Deep

3 — ergo propter hoc (okay this one is kind of a surprise actually but i'm very happy about it i love this fic)

4 — café au vin

5 — an institute you can't disparage

5. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

i do! i try to respond to every comment i get on the day of/the day after i get it. i've met a lot of good friends this way, and i also just like taking the time to respond to people who've taken the time to respond to something i made. makes me feel good (plus i want everyone to like me)

the only downside is it can get a bit overwhelming at times? particularly with LB, which gets a shitload of comments per chapter and can take me up to two full days to read through them all and answer, and if i'm having a bad brain time i just cannot face doing it. so if you've ever left a comment and i've not responded, i promise It's not because i don't appreciate it. my brain machine just was going brmmmmmmmmm.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

i was going to say NONE BECAUSE I DON'T WRITE ANGST but i guess if i had to decide it would be the RVB fic that's on my ao3 right now, which has an angstily hopeful ending.

7. Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

hahahaha

CRAZY LIKE A FOX

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

not as far as i'm aware! i have had several uhhhhhhh overly familiar meant-to-be-jovial comments on/about the above crossover from people i don't really know very well that have told me i'm a terrible person or i've committed crimes while i'm out here like, cool this is art i made and put in the world for fun and believe in and i don't really... know you? but those comments were meant in good faith imo so i don't really think it counts as hate

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

the last time i tried to write smut, crowley got stabbed, so the kind that sends people to the hospital i guess?

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not to my knowledge. good luck formatting all the images and italics, anyone who might try.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

again, not to my knowledge!

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

infamously. it's the only reason anyone might have read this far. also attempting to collaborate on an as-of-yet-unfinished-project with @indieninja92 who is a creative genius with their finger in many, many pies. speaking of, have you visited hauntedswords.com recently?

13. What’s your all time favorite ship?

errrrrr i mean probably aziraphale/crowley, not to seem obvious. they've been with me since i was like 10 years old, they haven't gone anywhere, they will probably be bothering me until the day i die.

14. What’s a WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I WILL FINISH ALL OF MY WIPs. okay no that's not true, i have the start of an inception fic that is a GO AU that i honestly think would have been fucking slammin' but the time for that has passed now.

15. What are your writing strengths?

a very definite sense of character voice, attention to detail in terms of enriching the world i'm writing in, dialogue dialogue dialogue, smash cuts (are they even called smash cuts in writing? WHATEVER THEY ARE I CAN DO THEM)

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

you are my collaborator. you send me back part of a chapter and tell me i have a sentence that is a bit too lengthy and doesn't work, and i need to edit it. i send it back to you. the sentence is now an entire paragraph and a half, with three jokes, a metaphor and a new line of dialogue embedded in it, changing the overall tone of the chapter. this is known as The Mort Special.

i also get very in my own head about not really being a good writer, or not being as good as the people (or person specifically i suppose) that i'm working with. i'm working on this! i'm not working on The Mort Special, though, that's always writing gold.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

this is a really weird and specific question, who hurt you OP? errrr i guess much like any quirk of writing, it's fine when used sparingly and with a deft hand.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

fuck me, probably Harry Potter? neopets roleplaying boards were a gateway drug.

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

this is the part where i pretend i'm going to say something other than Loosely Ballroom. i don't think i'll ever make something else in my life that's made me feel the way making that has. it's been—to delve into reality TV speak (and paraphrase crowley from a future chapter)—a real emotional rollercoaster.

plus it's just fuckin' funny isn't it.

tagging @phoenix-soar, @thyra279, @heycaricari, @stillseekwill and @katnoggin (and anyone else who might want to!)

[tuiyla]

I’m more in the Glee Fandom but also I’m very curious because I watched ATLA as a child - why do people hate Aang so much? He seems like a sweetheart. Is he like the Finn Hudson of ATLA, who the writers tried so hard to seem like a good person but accidentally made him entitled, hypocritical, possessive, and an awful boyfriend?

We've gotta keep this lowkey Anon lol, just between us cause I'm just gonna go ahead and say some things that I'm sure would piss certain peeps off.

Full disclaimer, while I do think I've pretty much seen it all in regards to the Avatar fandom at large I haven't been actively participating in the fandom for about two years now. So the talking points that I've seen might not be the ones people are bringing up now. Then again, in my many years I've rarely seen takes that weren't just recycled ideas from years back, so there's that. But yeah, based on what I've seen:

God no he isn't the Finn haha. There is a weird portion of the fandom that thinks he's secretly manipulative or whatever but how do you even take those people seriously. Finn I feel is, while by no means a unique case, certainly his own category in the dissonance of how the writers saw him and how he actually comes across. ATLA's writing is way too good to let something like that happen. But I suppose Aang hate can come from a similar place on the fandom in the sense that people simply don't see him as a good protagonist, or as deserving of being one anyway.

And you know I'll just say it, a lot of Aang hate comes from avid Zutara shippers. You know, Zuko and Katara? If anyone comes at me for saying this I'll know they weren't there for the ship wars because everyone knows how infamously intense that was. People were bashing Aang on the one side and Zuko on the other. And what for? Two mediocre ships. Lmao I really give zero fucks now. So anyway, I've only ever seen outright Aang hate from people who dislike the Kataang ship and they usually also happen to want Katara with Zuko.

Aang hate can say anything from simply calling him immature and undeserving - you know, a 12-year-old child - to saying he's actively manipulative, or whiny for not wanting to kill a man (??), or some people even, like, actually believe he's just an all-around jerk. Once again for emphasis, we're talking about a 12-year-old pacifist with the weight of the world on his shoulders who still manages to be the very soul of his group and the whole show.

The popular bashing talking point is also that he feels too much like the creators wanted him to be the perfect hero who gets the girl and "forces" her into a relationship. Again, bonkers crazy shit to say about a 12 year-old with a crush. And then there's the Legend of Korra stuff, because adult Aang is given more flaws and specifically as a father in the sequel series so I guess people look at that complicated and nuanced family dynamic and go "ah yes, bad guy very bad". ~Problematic~, you could say.

The last "reason" I can think of is that, in a cast full of very complex and generally well-liked characters, Aang has always felt flat to some. Like he's the weakest link in his team, you know? Which I don't agree with all that much nor do I think that should mean he's not a good protagonist but whatever. Zuko has always been the single most popular ch and some people don't know how deuteragonists work and therefore want the whole show to center around him, and are bitter about Aang. Nevermind that the show is called Avatar and he's the Avatar.

At the end of the day though, I don't really know Anon. He's definitely not the Finn, and I've rarely if ever seen heavy anti-Aang sentiments outside of the shipping discourse so I'm inclined to believe it mostly has to do with that. I'd be curious as to where you get people hating Aang from but I'll be honest, I don't need those vibes in my life anyway. Unlike with Finn, or any Glee characters really, I frankly don't think there's a good enough reason to straight-up hate on Aang. He is a sweetheart and actually a really, really great character (who people don't deserve by the looks of it). Seems childish of people to spew hate tbh and I would hope it's kids doing it. I know that sounds kinda dismissive but hey, going all out here right. At least with kids you can hope they'll grow and mature out of it.

All of this isn't to say ATLA doesn't have any issues with its writing or Aang's characterization, or the Kataang pair, nor is this an attack of any subset of the fandom. Believe it or not I'm not trying to come for the Zutarians' necks with this, I'm just trying to explain to you the stuff that I have seen over the years. But I'm fine not being in the Avatar fandom as such if Aang/any kind of hate really is happening. I'd assume that's mostly twitter and tiktok but who knows, tumblr isn't immune to awful discourse at all.