#even if I don't really interact with dr or its fandom at all these days

[nihonium-art]

Cringetober Day 18 : Old Art Redraw

I decided to redraw an old Tenkaede fanart from around 2 years ago! I still have a lot to learn, but I was actually decently surprised about how much I improved, despite feeling kinda stuck lately!

Part of me decided to redraw it as the old post sometimes still gets notifications, which makes me think the tenkaede girlies are starving / hj

HERE'S THE ORIGINAL! Yes, I forgot tenko's heart lock chocker. I can't be bothered to edit it.

[artificialqueens]

I think the fandom is overloaded. Drag Race used to be something to look forward too, but with all its spin-offs it has become this continuous cycle. We don’t get ‘to know’ these queens anymore because there will be a new batch next month. Ships don’t really take-off anymore. It’s sad but I don’t think it’s AQ fault or anything.

I miss the good old days of daily queues, my dash analyzing every interaction between their OTP. I hope one day Ru will go back to maybe 2-4 seasons a year, all stars, US, Europe and Asia or something. And mix all the girls from their respective continents. Whereas All Stars will be all over the world. But that’s false hope probably.

Anyways, rant over. AQ, I miss you.

Hi baby. 😘 I definitely feel your pain. And I agree, somewhat. There's a LOT more DR content these days, which means that people are moving from franchise to franchise quickly and not necessarily getting "invested" in characters and ships the way they used to.

Although, there is still a decent amount of writing going on. It's just that most of it, as far as I can tell, is on AO3 instead of Tumblr. And even the authors who post on AQ are mostly posting on AO3 too - myself included. (I'm 100% part of the "problem," if there is a problem, so this isn't me complaining or blaming anyone, it just happens to be that AO3 is a more elegant place to post fic than Tumblr.)

The downside is most people who send comments are also doing it on AO3, directly to the author. And of course, there's nothing WRONG with this whatsoever either. But a side-effect is that instead of sending a comment/ask here, where it's public, and might get someone else excited about a story or spark more interaction with and amongst writers, the comments stay on AO3, where the lack of community means that people don't really see other comments. Which means that people are, overall, interacting less with fic. In the "old days," there used to be TONS of asks and comments, and people would regularly interact with them and those comments would not only inspire writers to produce more, but often give people ideas that they might not have had otherwise.

In my mind, ideally, this blog would serve as a recommendation blog for the whole fandom, whether those fics were here, on AO3, or elsewhere.

If anyone ever wants to write in to gush about a story they love - especially an ongoing fic, which could inspire the author and give them the boost they need to keep going - they totally should!!

(But that's just MY two cents!)

[preciouslittletoonette]

I... have been very irritated lately by the sudden discourse or debate (depends on how amicable these sort of discussions ended) over the Ink Demon design in both Batim and Batdr.

Now on a usual day, I'd say "They're both great and everyone's entitled to their own opinion" but today is not such a day. What triggered this you may be thinking?

The whole notion of one demon being scarier than the other.

That..... hmmmm.... that got me.

So I have decided... to do a thing. I would like to say beforehand I really do like the Ink Demon the character. Both Batim and Batdr (Even if I'm more biased to DR). But all this talk of who is better is really irritating. And it repeats over and over and in such a medium-small, relaxed fandom on its way to sleep mode rn: that's something akin to a broken record.

And I hate being told the same things over and over and over again.

So I'm gonna, perhaps quite harshly but at best, just criticise and at very worst completely trash both the BATIM and BATDR Ink Demon's designs and mechanics because as much as I love this character and his flaws, I'm two bad takes of "one is scarier than the other" away from just never interacting with anyone in the Fandom again.

If you haven't caught the vibe already, I don't take anyone seriously who says one Ink Demon is scarier than the other.

Are you seriously trying to convince me that Batim's Ink Demon is scary? BATIM? The guy whose head looks like a crescent-shaped stress ball smacked onto a malnourished human body? The guy who can get stuck to a crate during a chase? BATIM? Ink Bendy?? Gtfoh

BATDR Ink Demon ain't very scary either. Grotesque, maybe, certainly more than stress ball. But the gross does not scare me very much

Almost like horror is pretty subjective and its not worth fighting over what's scarier

BATDR: The hunchback ain't it chief. Why couldn't we see him in full size, back straight in places where his height wouldn't be restricted. Your posture sucks babe.

BATIM: The legs. The fucking legssss. Need I say more

BATDR's thighs are stick thin and honestly no way will his lower body be able to support his gigantic upper body. I'm not willing to "cartoon logic" reason him out of this.

You cannot tell me that between DCLT and the first cycle of Henry's newborn hell that the Ink Demon is still limping from the injury Buddy gave him. What happened to invulnerability

Ways to incapacitate/kill the Ink Demon (Guarenteed to work): Go for the Legs Apparently (on both of them).

Look: getting chased by a monster is scary and slightly distressing in certain situations, but if the monster constantly gets stuck/glitched in the stairwell and amongst the crate and debris while you're trying to run away from him, he loses intimidation and a lot of it.

Also does not help if a good amount of his chases are scripted. Also does not help if his story presence is next to nothing in the most lore heaviest chapters.

Speaking of glitch: The glitch of the Ink Demon being able to get you in the vent. Makes my eye twitch.

"But Precious these are game glitches that's not fai-" I know

Honestly the nature of being chased by the Ink Demon on both games is relatively the same. It all ends with you hiding from him. Why does it matter that he chases you vs appears in front of you after a certain amount of time. You're still experiencing the same anxiety of trying to find a place to hide before he can kill you.

BATDR's claw length is annoyingly long. Honestly a lot of his body proportions are annoying. If he insists on walking on his hind legs holding his hands like a Jurassic Park Velociraptor, he best prepare to fall flat on his face. His balance must be so off holy fuck.

I still find BATIM's zombie walk wack, I'm not sorry.

BATIM's design just isn't all that visually interesting imo, this I am sorry for.

BATDR's design is interesting but it's both too little and too much. I'd list what I like but this is meant to be a negative post. I'll keep my positives in different post perhaps. I think Dark Revival's would benefit from some cartooniness but not as much as BATIM's ugly stress ball head.

This felt good to get out.

[greyeyedmonster-18]

Hey Dr. Grey. Do you have any tips for coping with anxiety in fandom spaces please? I would really value your advice.

oh, hello, anon.

i am...going to respond to this but i am first going to say its felt like the past few days my asks have gotten a bit nosy in regards to my...personal boundaries with fandom/who i talk to in fandom/why i do, why i don't etc etc etc etc. and that is fine, but will respond in a way that maybe is perceived to be more on the rude side. i am likely to be way more personable in DM's and asks i can respond privately to. this admittedly feels like its fishing for information and i'm not sure why? but, we shall respond.

--i don't know what...part of the fandom is bringing you anxiety, sweet anon, and i am sorry it is. fandom should be fun. i repeat, fandom should be fun. but sometimes it just straight up isn't, and im sorry. i'm...going to address this generically? because i honestly need more information about...the anxiety source to provide any sort of tips.

i am also going to be disclaimer this as: i'm generally not a person who gives to fucks what other people think of me. like if someone wants to talk? okay, have a nice day, so glad i gave you something to talk about. and i care....very little what a group of internet strangers, who are just here to read about gay wizards, think about me based on what i post. but here are...some tips that i use for having a better...online experience?

uhm...first tip is curate your experience. if there are people here causing you stress and anxiety (it might be people you follow, people who don't follow but see on your dash, certain ships, certain groups? idk) filtering and blocking. im very liberal with the block button, and i have no qualms about it. if someone is stressing you out/making you anxious and you're not sure why-- block them. if someone cares that i have blocked them, i have never gotten feedback about it so uh...i think people can move on, ya know?

*the rest is below the cut to avoid dash spam

second, "people aren't thinking about you the way that you're thinking about you"-- so here's the deal. im not going to sit here and be like "yah fandoms don't talk shit about other people in the fandom!" because that would be a lie.

we absolutely do. in our own separate little discord servers, but the thing is its usually about fandoms that don't...interact. example: i talk shit about the Pro-Snape fandom all the time! I don't get them! Ship and Let Ship but also what the fuck was hot snape summer. (and im not going into their asks and their pages, and being like WHAT THE FUCK), i am just ???? in my own little crew. and they're probably over in their crew being like "have you seen Grey's page, they don't even write snape ever." and its HORRIFYNG to them, but like....whatever? I don't care what they think.

but, people aren't thinking about you and your works and your blog the way that you're thinking about it. another wolfstar writer or page is someone we cheer on. we're all too wrapped up in our own unfinished WIP'S and silly little headcanons and lives to be concerned with what someone else is doing. if someone is shitting on my wolfstar or moonchaser or whatever in their own private little servers, good for them. again, so glad i gave them something to bond over! i'm building community through hate and i love that! but i love my wolfstar. and my 11 friends do too (or if they hate it, they're not telling me to my face, which is alright by me). that's all i can care about.

third, i love a good boundary. i really and truly do. and i know there is a pressure on tumblr and in the fandom communities to be like WARM AND INVITING AND CHATTING WITH EVERYBODY AND GETTING TO KNOW EVERYBODY all the time, but like...that's fake. you don't have to do it, if you don't want to! have two friends, have 8000 friends, whatever you want. if the people and the pressure and the NOISE is whats bringing you anxiety....tone it down.

you don't have to talk to everyone. you don't have to update every week. you don't have to respond to all your comments. you don't have to write a novel in the authors notes. you literally don't have to do anything you don't want to do. it is your space. you make your home however you want to make it. fandom is supposed to be fun.

make it fun again anon.

(also, i will reiterate that if you DM me, I will not bite. and can respond to this more appropriately.)

[zannolin]

How do you deal with posting with a fandom that people hates so much? I love dsmp fan content but everytime I go online there's just so many people hating it... It makes me insecure about making the things I want to make

it's not fun lol. honestly i spent the last two years managing to forget that the dsmp was so hated because the fandom itself was just so big and full of drama on its own that i could kind of forget about dealing with other ones. lately as i have worked my way out of the fandom but still have things to post and have tried to venture into new spaces (and been blocked by a few people for the association...sigh) i've been forced to remember and deal with that shitty anxiety all over again.

there's not really a lot you can do about other people hating something you don't, especially not in this day and age when people are even less inclined to listen or just be willing to like and let like. you kind of just have to ignore it. like. it fucking sucks especially when you want to interact with other fandoms and people will hit you with dnis. even when you're like me (anti-dr*am, doesn't watch streamers anymore, was only ever interested writing about characters not rpf) people are gonna judge you for it and you kind of just. have to live with it. i have to tell myself that people are allowed to block and move on and if they can't handle the fact that i had a block men phase we probably couldn't be friends anyway. i don't have the energy to relocate to a new account and i don't really think i should have to anyway, especially when i became the writer i am today by writing like 40+ block men rp fics.

basically i am just as miserable as you but i keep posting because even despite no longer actively being in this fandom i have stories i want to finish telling and if i let people stop me from telling them then i will regret it forever probably.

[blue-rphub]

♨✿✂✉?

i <3 the salt || accepting

♨: Have you ever made a public call out post?

uhhhHHH i may have done wayyy back in the day but i cannot remember for the life of me if i did or not. if i ever had any bad experiences with people i just stopped interacting with them bcuz back then i was extremely non-confrontational. now i just kinda tell people to not be a cunt and point at my rules if they break any of them. if they carry on its bye bye

i don't tend to interact with them these days except for a like/reply to show acknowledgement (not that ive seen one for like. years.) but i do think they are important if someone is showing signs of predatory behaviour in the RPC

✿: What do you think about public call out posts?

heyyy this is related to. the other question

like i said i do believe they are of importance. sometimes i do think some of them are just like personal drama that has escalated / stuff that couldve been resolved with like a "hey knock that shit off" but again i havent seen one for a long time & don't even know if its common practice here to make one if someone is actually causing problems so? yeah usually fine and important, but be professional about it

✂: A fandom that you feel isn't open and accepting?

i feel like a lot of anime fandoms have shitty fandoms especially idk if its just me. like i dabbled in writing Danganronpa for a while and man the whole time i felt like i was genuinely walking on eggshells over absolutely nothing. i still do like DR (yes i know its not a great series & has issues i was a media student i do have critical thinking skills) but thats one fandom i'd be hesitant to try again

✉: A fandom that you feel is open and accepting?

sawnic....s on...sonic..... sonic the hegd

i can't overstate it enough but i love this fandom. yes the games and writing has been hit or miss at times & some fans really can never be pleased, but as far as the RPC goes this place is great and i love all of u

[shdwtouch]

🔥

Send me a “ 🔥 “ for an unpopular opinion. || accepting !

okay. this is one of those things that, surface level, I am okay with. but the more I think about it ? the more ???? I get lmao and that thing is DNIs

like. fandoms, age range, etc ? that all makes sense to me. I feel like those are fair boundaries we experience in our every day life. but then its like. DNI if you follow / interact with xyz. and I'm just ???? (AS A NOTE: set and communicate your boundaries, please ! this is incredibly valid and not what I'm frustrated with. make no mistake, your boundaries SHOULD be respected, no matter what. I just have a lot of mixed feelings about DNIs that involve specific individuals.)

I keep rewriting my thoughts cuz I know this is going to be... a controversial topic. and I think the issue arises when it becomes a "me or them" situation. its an ultimatum, you can either interact with me OR them, not both. and I'm just... I guess I don't understand the thought process for people ? like ? I'm not that person, and most likely I only know / follow them in passing, so... why am I a problem ? why am I the point of contention in your dislike of another individual, you know ?

I have folks blocked. I even blacklist their URLs. but, in general I don't think I would judge someone based on their association with another person. I mean, depending on what that other person did. (lets use tr*mp as an example. I would v much judge someone who supports him.) like. there are plenty of people on this site that I do not like. but unless someone is blatantly on me, talking about those people, interacting with them in a way that makes me feel unsafe... I'm not going to avoid them just cuz they are associating with people I don't like ? just blindly being like me or them doesn't make sense to me at all. you are actually assuming the character of people based on who they choose to interact with !

and its also like. there are receipts. usually, if someone is in a DNI its cuz they've had a callout written on them. at that point, you take what you are given / know and make the best judgement you can. but in the case of "DNI if you interact with random joe blog #45" and then you don't say why its like... ? what is the problem here ?

also like. please. do not say you are willing to discuss / disclose why someone is in your DNI unless you are actually of a mental state to do so. the amount of times I've gone to folks like hey I noticed you added this person to your DNI and that folks can ask you about it ? and asked genuine questions, only to have them be upset talking about it or even upset with me for asking questions like... please. take care of yourself. you don't need to explain yourself to anyone, but similarly you need to be prepared for people to be like ???? in that case. if you offer explanations then I will ask until I am satisfied, and maybe that isn't a good way to approach it... but you also just can't expect people to take you at your word, even with receipts. there are two sides to every story, and in my experience... most personal DNIs, I'm sorry, but they're all based on petty drama, misunderstandings, etc.

I'm losing steam so I feel like I'm not making very clear points, I apologize. at the end of the day, I'm just ??? at DNIs. I will respect yours, but I will also be like ??????? and want explanations if you're willing to supply. I hope that what I've written isn't complete nonsense lmao but like I said. tl;dr I'm just ???? at DNIs

ALSO I JUST WANT TO ADD: I am so, so, so open to hearing folks thoughts (as long as they are politely presented uwu), especially those who employ DNIs including specific people ! like, why do you employ them ? what is your thought process ? I am genuinely curious to what your experience is ! and I think it would help me sort out the mixed feelings I have, cuz (again, two sides to every story) I only have my perspective, which doesn't have the need to use DNIs. like, I imagine for some folks it really is a matter of escaping abusers, stalkers, etc and seeing those names can be triggering. so yeah, I'm open to hearing your perspective !

and again, reiterating. set and communicate your boundaries, and put your foot down when they are crossed. that is not what I am criticizing, and I do my utmost to respect the DNIs of those I follow <3 even if your boundaries don't make sense to me they are still valid and deserve to be respected !! that is not up for debate.

[riddlerosehearts]

🐍 oh my god i had no clue there was a way around the character limit, thanks tumblr for being inconsistent across platforms 💀

Nico was my fave when reading the original series as well! Though I did end up latching onto Leo more when HoO came out, I still always have a soft spot for Nico.

Funny you say that about Jamil, I just saw some super awful takes abt him recently (again) that just made me feel like people are reading a completely different story, though part of that can be blamed on how the EN translation changed some stuff that kind of completely change the context of his situation.. honestly, given what you wrote abt Annabeth I think Jamil would also fit in Athena cabin - he's smart, capable, cunning and a strategist, plus he already has the gray eyes. He'd likely be the head of the cabin too.

I agree! Lots of people have pointed out there's a lack of Leo & Nico interaction in canon despite their similarities and I think that's such a shame, while I don't ship it romantically I really wish there could've been a friendship between them. I wish there was more emphasis on platonic relationships in general in HoO, so many things could've been explored further but we didn't get to :(

Nico being allergic to cats despite liking them is actually so adorable, I'm totally accepting that headcanon now. He tries to hold Grim then starts sneezing uncontrollably.

Me too! I'm usually reluctant to share my thoughts in case anyone reads it and thinks "there's no way you actually think that/that's stupid", but I'm really glad I can share with you and chat about ideas because it's so nice hearing what someone else thinks. Along with that I have made PJO OCs that I have been faaar too shy about showing people, but I they're precious to me and maybe I will post them one day...

Leo just using latest shows as bg noise would fit so well and be so funny lol, he'll know a few things here and there about whatever's going on but be completely wrong about some things that die-hard fans get mad at and give him a long lecture about the series that he barely retains because he didn't expect it. And Leo having fire hair can be uh, just a terrible accident where he lit his own hair on fire, for my "i just want to see it one time" convenience.

Now for a fun question, how do you think Leo & Nico would wear the NRC uniforms or dorm uniforms? Like how Idia never wears the blazer, Jamil wears a hoodie etc - how would they prefer to dress?

tumblr is such an inconsistent, buggy mess it's ridiculous sometimes. recently i discovered that i had blocked someone whose url i recognized but who i didn't ever remember blocking and don't know why i would've, so i unblocked them immediately but i was just like?? how did that even happen?? could've been a mistake on my part but i also wouldn't be surprised if it was a glitch 😭

i latched on so hard to nico as a kid because i was an edgy emo kid who really related to him ADKJGHDK. so of course as an edgy emo bisexual teenager i started loving him even more when house of hades came out. but like i said before, leo is easily my favorite of all the new characters from HoO! i have some criticisms of HoO as a whole but i like leo so much that i used to want to be a hephaestus kid mainly so he'd be my brother (and before that, i wanted to be a hades kid for reasons that are probably pretty obvious LOL).

oof, yeah, i do play twst EN and... okay, i was going to go off on a whole tangent here about jamil and kalim and how the localization watered down their entire fascinatingly tragic dynamic but it got so long that i realized it could practically be its own post. so i removed it and expanded it into its own post. it's here if you'd like to read it, but tl;dr is i agree with you completely lol. jamil is one of the most misunderstood and mischaracterized boys in the fandom and i think the changes EN made definitely have something to do with that, which frustrates me immensely because outside of certain choices made with both scarabia and pomefiore i tend to really enjoy the localization. the way they translate idia's dialogue is comedic gold.

anyway, though, i was also thinking athena might make sense for him! and i know i previously said riddle could be head counselor of the athena cabin, but i can totally see it for jamil too. although, i wonder, how would it affect things if kalim was also present at CHB? would jamil still need to keep his head down, make sure not to outdo him at anything, and reject any sort of position of authority so kalim wouldn't look bad? would he give the head counselor position to someone else (not kalim, i don't think they'd be in the same cabin) if it was offered to him? which reminds me, another idea i had is that i think it could be interesting if jamil was the son of a minor god while kalim was the son of an olympian, possibly giving jamil even more reason to resent him. or it could even be the other way around (say kalim's parent is a minor god and jamil's is an olympian, so jamil is more powerful than kalim but has to act like he isn't) too.

personally i do think romantic leo/nico is cute and it's a ship that i have a lot of nostalgia for since i read a ton of fics for it way back in the day lol, but i'm not shipping them in this twst AU! i'm a multishipper who loves nico and will together too and i really just wish leo and nico had gotten to be friends in canon. i strongly agree with you that HoO should've focused more on platonic relationships, and i actually basically said all of this recently in a post here!

okay, it would actually be hilarious if nico was still allergic to grim despite grim's constant insistence that he isn't a cat. and nico being like, well, i'm allergic to cats and i don't think it's the ghosts that are making me sneeze, sooo. and now i'm also thinking about nico coming at grim like idia in his labwear groovy askjdghd.

i feel like in general i'm so bad at explaining my ideas and i get worried about not making any sense lol! but at some point in the last few years i just sort of started saying fuck it, if i have something that i really wanna post on my blog i'll go ahead and post it and if someone thinks it's stupid then they don't have to follow me. i bet your PJO OCs are great, and you shouldn't be afraid to share them!

HMMM oh man, i'm nowhere near as creative as i wish i was when it comes to fashion because i'm bad at visualizing how things go together lol. but my first thought is that nico canonically insists on wearing his worn out old aviator jacket everywhere up until it literally gets torn to shreds. and then in TOA he buys a black leather bomber jacket and starts wearing that everywhere instead. so i think he'd insist on wearing his bomber jacket over his school uniform like idia does with his hoodie! he'd wear a black shirt instead of a white one, like vil does, and i could see him wearing the vest but i don't think he'd bother with the tie, blazer, or gloves. he'd also wear black converse and maybe he could add some more of his Emo Kid flair by wearing a cool studded belt or attaching chains to his pants or something, i think that'd be fun.

for leo, i would love to hear if you have a different idea than what i say because i'm not as sure about how i think he dresses! but i get the vibe that his main consideration is comfort and how well he'll be able to work in something, like he doesn't necessarily dress badly but he's very casual and doesn't wanna put a ton of time or thought into his clothing. so i could see him maybe wearing the gloves and blazer, but not bothering to put on the vest or tie or button his shirt up at the top, and just grabbing a pair of work boots for shoes.

[greywindys]

I don't.. Think there was a fandom outside of Humanz (like what we see now.) The reason I say this is because Tumblr really wasn't that big of a platform when Plastic Beach came out. (I was using Tumblr at the time) and well, I knew like 3 other Gorillaz fans. I would say the Gorillaz had a pretty small fandom up until the social media boom. (I've been a fan since 2001 and I'd love to go back to the time when I thought I was the only fan yelling into the void about how cool this cartoon band was

I have no idea of specific numbers but my impression from the clicking around I did when I was a new fan was that the community was concentrated on the forums on the band’s official website in the early 2000′s. From what I gathered, threads moved pretty fast there, and even faster when a band member “logged on.” Fans also seemed to branch off to create their own angel fire websites, but none of these sites offered any way to discuss back and forth. Usually they were just like, picture galleries or links to videos/interviews/quotes etc. (I have a bunch of these sites saved because they’re a total time warp + fun to look at haha).

For phase 2-3, the community seemed to be pretty active on Livejournal and the entries during that period received a lot of comments and interaction (reading people freaking over Noodle “dying” was so…wild). There are sources that I even use today from the gorillaz_news. I’m not sure of what the membership was at its peak but as of today, the community still has 728 members despite its dead status.

So…I think a substantial, maybe not huge, community was out there but yeah, not as we know it today (though today’s community also isn’t that big relatively speaking). You can correct me if I’m wrong though!

I’d argue that Tumblr is a crappy platform for fandom because it kinda just shoves us all together and it’s just like…not convenient for discussion (constantly reblogging is so messy looking and can get difficult to read when you’ve reblogged like 5+ times) which is like, instrumental in building connections/friendships etc. Tumblr makes it a lot more difficult for fans who don’t write, make graphics, draw etc. to find their footing whereas in the era of forums this was SO much easier. Overall it’s a lot more..fractured now. You have a certain kind of fan on Tumblr, a certain type of fan on Reddit, discord (which is a bit more “exclusive” since you usually have to be invited or told about it)…then there’s Instagram and Amino, both of which also host their own subcultures which I have NO idea about but seem even less discussion friendly than Tumblr.

But tl;dr and tangent aside, my own personal theory is that what’s affected the fandom, and fandoms in general, most these days is the lack of individual communities via forums and LJ communities which made it easier for like-minded fans to find each other. As a result there are many people from different backgrounds who disagree on things trying to coexist in the same tags and as you said “yelling into the void” until someone agrees with them or argues with them (which, if you aren’t a content creator is sort of what you’re pushed to do to build up any followers/friends etc.). While some of this is good - i.e. social justice, education about power and privilege, I can also see why this might be intimidating for someone new to the fandom or to internet culture in general.

[realasunicorns]

"Give me a character and I will answer:"

@callmehername asked me about Tony Stark/Iron man.

(My answers to other characters are here)

Why I like them

Well, as an engineer how could I not love a genius technitian? 😍😍😍

And speaking of MCU's Tony Stark, I think it was a great choice to choose someone older for the role. Originally he was very young, but these days anyone knows that to achieve such level of knowledge would require huge amounts of study and practice, and thus, it would be achieved later in life (in case it was possible at all haha), so at least he doesn't look 22 as if he just finished uni! I think it adds credibility to the character.

He has the attitude of the gryffiest gryffi to ever gryffi and I have to admit that I love him for it (or at least I do once he comes back down to earth in the first movie and stops selling weapons for his own profit).

His character evolution is just ARGH❤️💛

He goes from completely deluded to awakening, step by step and it's a complete delight to see. He has a mission now. He's seen the weapons, the warfield for what it is. He wants to do good or at least bwtter with what he has. And better. And better every time. He He's determined to make it and he will push himself to the very limit for it. He makes mistakes, yes,as big has he makes his successes, but he keeps learning from them. Technology or life, he can't stop learning about them, making himself see things he never thought he would, understand things in a way he never thought he could. He's the epithome of improvement.

In other words, he's not perfect at all and that gives the character a lot of depth: he has many layers.

And he has a cool AI (I mean Jarvis. I love Jarvis so much tbh.).

Oh, and his fiancee. I like his fiancee very much too. No (yes), but the reason I brought this up is to say that he's all fluff inside and bless him.

Why I don’t

As much as I love him, there are so many things I don't like about him, I warn you.

If I had met him before I would have wanted to strangle the guy. Not just for Tony "the guy", but his company. As someone who does not want any military, defense, weaponary, etc., his creations are the devil. Notice I said are and not were, because he still makes weapons even if he's not selling them the same way.

The logic behind "I don't sell these weapons bc god knows what the military would do with them, but hey I'm gonna keep building some to use them myself ignoring every law bc I'm a filthy rich motherfucker and I do what I want, try to come and stop me if you can haha"? There is so much wrong with this I could write an essay 😅 But I don't give much relevance to these things when it comes to superhero stuff tbh, so I can deal. But yeah, horribly wrong if taken seriously.

What else? Well, on a personal level: communication, baby. You need some serious help with that. Relationships, connecting with your feelings and all that stuff. So much room for improvement there, mate (not that I don't feel you tho).

He also needs to work out some sort of limit for his addiction aka his work/creations/mission. It's not just in very unhealthy levels (mentally and physically) for himself, but also for those around him when he loses himself to it.

And I know I'm forgetting stuff, but this seems to be enough, I'll stop here haha

Favorite episode (scene if movie)

Oh, well. That's hard.

original GIF source*

Favorite season/movie

Gonna go with Civil War just bc #PAIN.

Favorite line

EVEN HARDER JFC ok so...

"Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is but I wanna try it."

Favorite outfit

🤔 I don't think I have one from him!

OTP

EHM

WELL

OBVIOUSLY

❤️😭

original GIF source*

BROTP

So many?! Dr. Banner tbh haha I love them as a duo but then also with Cap bc yes and the there is also his kiddo Peter to whom he's kinda like a dad but it's a cool dad and he isn't really his dad so it could also be kinda like a big bro thing? idk someone hELLLLLLP

Head Canon

He's kinda submissive (in bed)? 🙈 He had a kink for a bit of a fem dom.

original GIF source*

And maybe also being babied... aaaaaand ok, I better stop here xD

Unpopular opinion

Idk which is the popular opinion or not bc I don't interact in that fandom... I can't think of anything "unpopular" to say about him, but maybe a general opinion I have that I don't think is said often enough.

I feel like if a character does some good, their bad actions get completely overlooked or excused in some way as if in "he saved many, who cares if he had previously hurt just as many?" Not talking about weapons now.

Just a reminder that if someone is being mean is not funny. If they are mocking someone with a disability is not ok. If the person is being paid by them it's still shit behaviour. If someone does any of these, they're assholes. Period.

One doesn't need to be an asshole full-time, it's ok. One can still be an asshole tho, part-time. But that shouldn't mean one doesn't get called out. Saving the world does not mean Tony Stark shouldn't be called on his bullshit. Just that.

A wish

That he and Pepper would figure things out in a healthy way so we could get Pepperony forever, yay

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

I would only ask that they don't mess up with the character in general, its coherence.

5 words to best describe them

Genius. Impulsive. Show-off. Ambitious. Obsessive.

My nickname for them

He's "another of those gryffis" 🙈

And this is it!

Unicorn Kisses!🦄

–

*Excuse the not-so-great cites of GIF sources BLAME THE TUMBLR APP, I’ll change them once I have a computer… some day.

[thewoesofyaoi]

I have a question about if I'm beating problematic or not: I'm a 16 yo trans mlm, and I lobe yoi with all my heart, and I love otabek and Yurio v much and I love their dynamic and their friendship (and I see myself a lot in the two) and I have this au I live where they are friends for a few years and they start saying once they're in their 20s and is it wrong? I don't ship them as they are but I'd love to see them grow to be a couple (of best friends)

Like. Ok. Here’s the thing. Most of the time when adults ship ot/ayuri, even when they “ship it aged up,” it’s questionable from the get-go because you have to consider why they looked at a 15yo character and decided they wanted to get invested in his dating life. Given that you’re roughly the age of those characters, I don’t think that’s really an issue, but I would still advise you to be extremely, extremely careful. The vast majority of content created for that pairing is created by adults who have no business engaging with teenage characters that way, let along actual teenagers in fandom spaces. And to be honest, pretty much all the content created by minors is still done in spaces shared with adults, and under the influence of those questionable adults. It’s dangerous. Adults shouldn’t be trying to engage with teenage sexuality or teenagers’ romantic lives, either fictional or real, and even if you don’t interact with them directly and talk about your own life, you’re still in a position where they can be manipulative and behave inappropriately towards you and then deny responsibility because it’s “just fiction.”

If you want to think about yurio dating characters around his own age, that’s your prerogative, but I would advise you to be extremely cautious when it comes to engaging with strangers online about it. Avoid interacting with adults in that context as much as possible, and be wary about who’s influencing the other minors you may interact with. I would also say that, even though you may think an 18yo isn’t that much older than you, as you’ll realize in a few years 15/16 and 18 are still very far apart in terms of maturity and development. An 18yo is a young adult, but still an adult. A 15/16yo is no longer really “their age,” and for reasons discussed at length on this blog, they don’t really have any business being romantically involved with someone younger than them. It isn’t healthy. Try to bear that in mind even though you feel like you’re “aging them up”— in canon, they are still 15 and 18, and it shows in their relationship dynamic, that otabek is more mature than yurio and clearly (rightfully) sees him as a kid.

So, I guess, tl;dr— it isn’t “problematic” per se so much as it is extremely risky. You’re putting yourself in a position where, in spite of your most stringent efforts, adults are still capable of manipulating you and encouraging you to participate in dangerous and inappropriate interactions. And on top of it, while your thought process of “aging up” the characters shows that you clearly do realize this is an issue, you’re ultimately not really going to be able to truly escape the age gap, since that’s the only form their relationship exists in in canon. Again, this doesn’t make you a bad person, but it does put you at risk of internalizing harmful ideas and interacting with creeps.

I also really like yoi and find it #relatable, so I understand your wanting to hold on to it and its characters. But my advice is, stick to the healthy pairings between adults, at least as far as what spaces you participate in and what content you consume online goes. If you want content involving characters your own age exploring their sexuality, consider looking for content that was actually created to be that, rather than projecting onto characters that ultimately have very little on-screen interaction and whose “dynamic” in fanworks is largely fanon created by adults, for adults. At the end of the day, keeping yourself safe is the most important thing.

[silenceandpatiencepining]

I don't understand self-reblogging or how it works, but maybe because I'm primarily in different fandoms where it's customary to reblog your content (art and fanfic usually) at different hours so people from different time zones can catch it and I'm relatively new to online swiftdom.

Sporadic reblogging of your own content bc of time zones or over an extended period of time is pretty common like you mentioned and is usually pretty harmless bc you’re just trying to get visibility to your followers, just as you said—when I talk about chronic self-reblogging, I’m talking about something different

unfortunately a lot of people in the Taylor Swift tumblr community are known to spam reblog by self-reblogging chronically, sometimes hundreds of times in one go, for the sole purpose of getting noticed by Taylor when they think she is online. some of these bloggers continue to self-reblog to the point where very few of the notes on their post are from other bloggers. and some of those account are doing this even though Taylor already follows their blog.

I’m pretty new to the TS tumblr community too so I just started following bunches of blogs that had content that I was interested in hoping that I would find my favorites in the process after interacting with them, but I kept running into the issue where I’d end up following accounts that would spam reblog in surges when Taylor was potentially online.

I’d check my feed and SO MUCH of the content would get burried under the same couple of posts that a handful of accounts were spam reblogging. I unfollowed every one that I noticed was clogging my feed but it was so frustrating that when I’d get online, I was spending all this time unfollowing accounts and then refreshing my feed hoping to clear it up, only to keep encountering the problem again bc its soooo prevalent in this community. I was lucky to find better accounts that didn’t do it but the past week in particular, there’s been more conversation about how chronic self-reblogging is ruining this community and I realized it wasn’t just a problem I was having.

Anyway, the past couple days tons of accounts are speaking up about the problems that come with spam self-reblogging in this community in particular and I decided to say something too—namely that it was so ridiculous that so many people’s online experiences were being corrupted in the same way that mine was, and that I would be reporting that kind of behavior (hundreds of consecutive self-reblogs to get noticed) as spam. My blog is small. I have 150ish followers. But a couple bigger blogs rebloged the post where I explained that I was gonna report and ended up getting all these mean anon asks.

TL;DR in the Taylor Swift tumblr community there are pockets of accounts that will reblog their own content incessantly just to get attention from Taylor and it’s ruining how a lot of people experience things. self-reblogging in lots of other communities on tumblr doesn’t always cause problems bc people are more responsible about how they do it, and it’s driven more by positive content sharing.

I really really appreciate you asking this in a kind way—I’ve gotten several aggressive anon asks the last day or so, which makes it difficult to have productive and fair conversations