#fandoms and discourses in general scare me so

[statementlou]

https://www.tumblr.com/louisupdates/754934426217152513/goodbye-faith-in-the-future-world-tour-272024?source=share

did he or did he not lose fans then?

I will answer this because this anon actually brings a concrete question to the table rather than just "hurhur but you're a larrie??" (tell me you can't actually refute any of our points…). Anyway this post shows the decrease in Louis instagram followers between the screenshots taken directly after the release of Faith in the Future in Nov '22, when he changed his bio to promote that album and the tour tickets, and now, when he changed it again to mention the current release. But I'm putting that response under a cut because I'm tired of the actual POINT of all this nonsense getting lost in a sea of made up things people insist are important:

There is no rational argument you can make to say that Louis has less fans now than he did 2, 4, or 6 years ago. You don't need a spreadsheet of details you need to USE YOUR EYES! He has gone from filling theaters to filling arenas and stadiums. His second album made a higher chart position than his first album. His festival has doubled in size EVERY year of its existence. And for that matter: his insta post engagement numbers remain about the same (despite the fact that older posts should have way MORE likes due to having been there longer, even aside from follower counts.) SO WHO FUCKING CARES ABOUT HIS INSTA FOLLOWER NUMBER???? Serious question: what does the word "fans" mean if these things aren't what matters? ALL of this quibbling about what he should do to make things better and people can't even see that THINGS AREN'T BAD.

Anyway to address the specific question- (con't......)

NO- HE DID NOT LOSE FANS. HE LOST SOME INSTA FOLLOWERS. THESE ARE NOT THE SAME THING. As I said above, literally what does it mean to lose fans if that number change coincides with him having higher sales, more audience members, and higher engagement than ever before? Whatever he lost ISN'T FANS. I wouldn't be surprised if a significant factor was something like a bot purge, but also yes: I'm sure a lot of casuals followed him around the time of his big album release and later unfollowed him. That's extremely normal because that's how casual engagement works, and why the definition of fan really matters. Louis and his team understand this and have referenced it repeatedly, talking about how lucky he is to have *us* specifically, to have the kind of dedicated fanbase he has, to have the KIND of fans he does who will allow him to do what HE wants. @dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram named the issue of depth vs breadth with regard to fans a long time ago, and pointed out why having DEPTH is so much more important. It's like this- artists who are on top 40 radio have more numbers on things like insta follows, and for a time on sales and tickets. But those aren't FANS- they're people with a casual interest. And as soon as that person isn't being forced in their ears 10x a day, those people lose interest and stop supporting them, stop buying stuff and unfollow, and those artists end up doing the 'opener on the jingle ball' circuit rather than their own tours. One Direction as a whole, and Louis maybe most of all or near to at this point, have something MUCH MORE VALUABLE than that- DEPTH FANS. Louis has fans who will support him even if he takes years to release music, or stops parading around with a pretend girlfriend to stay in the headlines at least once a month, or completely changes his image and genre, and that is UNHEARD OF. It's ASTONISHING and worth SO MUCH MORE. And they get that! THAT is why he always bragging about us, why industry people he works with are always so agog about us, why he will do anything for US- not for randos. He is also growing his breadth- and it's OBVIOUSLY WORKING whatever his follower counts are, but that is always going to be secondary to doing things for THE FANDOM because that is his sustainable business model. That is what keeps him onstage and reaching number one. And not coincidentally, the things they do are also working to grow that- much more valuable- commodity. So the fact that that's exactly what these chuckleheads complain about- that he does things that are just fandom facing or serving rather than everything being aimed at recruiting casual fans- does nothing but betray how completely they, unlike Louis and his team, misunderstand the actual drivers of his (actual, existing, happening) success. Luckily for Louis, he and his team rely on their own data harvesting (they do a LOT of it) and growth metrics (they're off the charts) rather than the smug assumptions of random (mostly quite new to this) fans and the few bitter people leading the complaining about everything Louis does.

[gameofthronedd]

It really, genuinely, confuses me how Daemyra shippers think that the showrunners are going to "ruin it". I can understand if these fans haven't read Fire & Blood. But when it comes to those who have... did we read the same book? And, heck, even just based on the show (and pre-existing knowledge of the world GRRM made) I think it's relatively easy to ascertain that they're not going to have a beautiful relationship with a happy ending?

Brief F&B spoilers below.

The idea that the showrunners are going to "ruin" this relationship is strange to me, due to the fact that it was never a fairytale relationship to start with, this is part of the world of ASOIAF and because of what happens in F&B.

The start of their relationship on screen isn't... the ideal start, right? Daemon is her uncle and quite a bit older. He's also shown to be careless & reckless about her safety; he leaves her half-naked and her exposed in a brothel without any to look after her. Then he allows Viserys to believe he had had sex with Rhaenyra. Daemon may love Rhaenyra but he is not caring. Which brings me to my next point... just because he loves her, does not mean that his "love" isn't toxic or harmful.

It's difficult to deny that Daemon loves her. I think most would agree he does. BUT loving someone doesn't always mean that it's healthy. Hence the examples up above and the instance of Daemon choking Rhaenyra. I think Daemon is a good example of someone who has a "charming" or "charismatic" personality, one that can make you forget the violence and darkness he possesses. So, yes, he loves her - but he is also Daemon, and that love isn't always healthy or good.

Like I said, this isn't a fairytale. It's ASOIAF.

Honestly, one of the healthier relationships I can recall of ASOIAF is the one between Cat and Ned. But even that relationship has its issues. They didn't love each other at first. Cat was upset about Jon. And it's not a happy ending. Most other relationships I can remember in ASOIAF have some degree of tragedy or toxicity. F&B is more of the same, and Daemyra is no exception.

In F&B, there's obviously the situation of Daemon & Rhaenyra being seperated for most of the war. Then, Daemon spends most of his time with Nettles, possibly (or likely) pursuing a relationship with her - which leads to R becoming paranoid and wanting Nettles dead. We all know what happens to both Daemon and Rhaenyra.

So honestly I don't know how this relationship can be "ruined" when it's one that implodes on its own. There's no reasonable way to avoid it being "ruined" without messing up the story and the characters.

Obviously, it's not every Daemyra shipper thinking this way. But I have seen it floating around and I have to do a double-take every single time I see someone pre-emptively get mad with the showrunners for "messing up" Daemyra in the future?? I have a few bones to pick with Daemyra & its shippers but by far the weirdest take I've seen is the idea that the showrunners are going to mess it up lmao. They don't need to do anything, really, except follow the general plot of F&B 🤫

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for interacting with a very proship fandom?

🐰 for search purposes

So I got MUCH invested in a VERY problematic media some of you may have heard of. And despite it being generally concidered a bad art piece that promotes illegal problematic and disgusting actions, I found a lot of value in this piece and a hella lot of different meanings that do not read the characters as others do. Read as: others romanticise what's happening, I, on the other hand, don't.

I wish to express my feelings towards this piece of media and subjects it explores here, on tumblr, through fanart and posts with opinions on certain parts of the plot. Damn, I even happened to have a blorbo here!

But I am very scared that it will ruin my online presence forever. I don't want to be concidered proship, nor am I really one, and I'm scared of both proshipper and anti-proshipper backlash.

Before that I have never interacted with those communities and all this discourse was somewhere far, far away. My tumblr blog is not that big or popular but it's OLD, and I cherish it and fear it will be attacked or hatemailed.

So will people around concider me an asshole?

What are these acronyms?

[roblogging]

i've spent a lot of the past 24 hours talking to various trans people in the fandom that reposted or dmed me about this video and i'm gonna yap here under the cut about it.

(i'm not a spokesperson for trans people obviously, and i don't mean to lead these discussions. i know i've had a lot of them recently but yeah it's been rough, i just thought this was interesting to share and can hopefully share a lil of how people are feeling.)

i've always assumed that the hate that i've received on my account was because of me? i post videos talking about discourses, i'm open about ships i like that are generally hated, etc etc, i've just assumed it was a me thing.

but then when people are mad about those things, it more often than not comes to slurs. it's come to people debating my identity, questioning how much of a man i am when i wear makeup, posting me on reddit pages, throwing the words tranny and "she-man" around farrr too much, and i thought "isn't it heartbreaking that this is their first thought?"

so it gradually became less about me as an individual, and instead my identity. and just that these people are mean.

and i made that video from the perspective of someone who's already upset. who's had a lot of stuff like this happen and is Sad about it.

but i've spoken to 47 trans people that reached out to me themselves about this, and have so many more requests to get through, and not one has said that they feel safe and comfortable in this space. not a single one.

so i thought i'd share some of the things that were said (with permission and anonymously) because i think it's quite interesting to see what the issues are:

the MOST mentions goes toooo: the discourse about male characters - namely sirius - wearing makeup and the way gender norms become the forefront of this - makes them feel as though people dislike "unconventional trans people" as one person put it.

alongside this, the hate for trans characters - namely regulus - and how people get very mad about it "reinforcing heterosexuality" - do not feel recognised as the gender they are, feel as though people are viewing trans people as "fake men or women" - quote.

discourses surrounding height, hair, 'gender presentations' etc - brought up by a lot of people and they recognised that this is coming from a good place (not reinforcing heterosexuality) but feel as though the amount of focus put on it is disproportionate to the presence of it. copy and pasted quote: "I'm a 5 foot 2 trans man and feel like less of a man because of it"

profitting jkr: (obviously, because that's what the video was about) i want to add that nearly everyone said that they understand the desire to, and were receptive of the fact you don't know what goes on behind the scenes re: donating elsewhere etc, but said that they've felt less safe since the surge of posts about the reboot.

guilt. which makes me glad that i posted about that here a few days ago because i felt alone in this. a lot of the people i spoke to feel guilty for being here, and feel as though they can't claim that this fandom is inclusive anymore.

comment sections: brought up by a handful of people who said that not enough people delete horrible comments on posts - one said "even if they argue against them it just feels worse than deleting it", another said "obvs i can't ask people to delete them on their own account but it does suck that they dont think to" - every person that brought up comment sections said that they tend not to look at them now which makes them feel like an outsider in the fandom.

cosplays: brought up by four people and feels relevant to above points about "gender presentation" - said that unless you're cosplaying sirius, they nearly always have to delete comments saying something along the lines of "xyz wouldn't wear makeup". all of them said that they just feel nice in it and never meant it in a bad way.

scared to be loud: scared to post, especially with face. a few acknowledged that they are scared to do so anyway, but worry about it in this space as well. bolded this one because it makes me so sad, but having been put on reddit pages for saying pete was their friend, i get it.

and the final point, a copy and pasted line: "i dont want to be represented when it suits them and i don't want to be a box they tick when adding diversity to a fic and then cry in comments. i dont want performative support"

ALSO ADDING HERE:

nearly everyone (bar 7 people) that reached out to me acknowledged that this is a minority, and not the majority. they were very clear that it isn't their whole experience, but is an issue regardless. a lot of focus was put on curating your own space and finding people who do support you, but algorithms don't always make that possible, and it's difficult seeing it happen even if they don't interact.

which is,,, yeah. that's the crux of it really. most of the time it's fine and it's lovely and things like this don't happen, but they still do, and how do you feel like you can engage when you don't know what side it will get on?

which,,, sucks. because there's not really anything anyone can do then. it's just screaming into a void and hoping that you don't end up on the wrong sides.

but anyway, i thought it was interesting. especially the comment sections and the headcanon discourse - which truly, i see less of on tumblr anyway but for all of the above reasons, don't fancy discussing this on tiktok right now which is the epicentre of it.

but yeah. food for thought perchance, and some very good discussions !! thank you to anyone that messaged me and allowed me to write this, you're not screaming into a void with me 🫶🏻

[whoishotteranimepolls]

This might count as Defend your Blurbo. If not, would you please use this as a Defend your Blurbo post

Attention, One Piece Fandom, I know there are a lot of you. I'm debating on whether or not to start One Piece, but there's one thing that has kept me from giving the show a chance for years, and that is Nami and Robin. They are drawn without internal organs.

So I'm scared I have been burned by anime before, especially Shonen, where they will have female characters with really cool character designs they hyped up as being some of the strongest characters but need to be saved every other Arc, or they're actually really cool and then get killed off quickly or I have the most basic generic backstory and their only personality trait is simp. Or, for some reason, in the universe, all the female characters just so happen to all choose to be healers. It's like that isn't just a coincidence and somewhat sexist. Or they're just weak in general.

So One Piece fandom, are the female characters actually well-developed and unique characters even though they happen to be drawn like that? So this is less a defense of Nami and Robin and just a defense of the female characters in general. But I know Nami and Robin are the main two, so you are welcome to use other examples of female characters I have not heard of from the show. I'm curious to see what everyone comes up with, but I'm still a little scared again. Shonan doesn't have an excellent track record with female characters. The only Shonen I think that truly did a fantastic job with its female characters has been Black Clover.

I am not worried about spoilers if they help make your point, and with how long your show is, by the time I get to that particular part, I probably would have forgotten about it. That is, if I do decide to start One Piece, and if I start, do you recommend reading the manga or watching the anime? Which is better?

Defend Your Blurbo #11

Please remember this post is about curiosity and genuine fandom discourse. Be kind with your answers because this is not a debate essay, this is a discussion between fans.

Here's a photo of Nami and Nico Robin for those of you who are not familiar with the characters

I don't think anyone will argue with the anon about One Piece female characters being drawn like they don't have internal organs. It's even worse with other characters like Boa Hancock and progressively worsens post time skip.

However, Oda may not be able to draw female characters, but he can write them. I'll let the One Piece fandom explain that part remember they said they don't mind spoilers, but I would still prefer if you would put a spoiler warning for everyone else who may be worried about spoilers.

So One Piece Fandom Defend your Blurbos

[gabrielsbubblegumbitch]

Why do you think ppl in fandom have a stronger reaction to rape than murder and cannibalism? Honestly I find it really annoying how they act like they're less horrible crimes than rape. part of me feels like the reason of ppl's disdain for valentino is because he's abusing a fan favourite character like Angel...idk if angel was just another nobody ppl wouldn't cared that much but I could be wrong.

Well the topic of rape generates a stronger emotional response because for at least half of the population it's a very real threat so watching it in the series hits too close to home. I don't think many people are notoriously afraid of cannibals but so many people are forced to constantly think about the threat of potential sexual assault. Everytime I meet a new man I have this thing crawling under my skin, anxious expectation for something bad happen to me, especially when he's charming, popular and handsome; I know I'm not alone in this. Watching those fears depicted on screen is way scarier than seeing Hannibal Lecter making Wellington out of some poor fucker. After all Angel could be me if I'm not "careful enough". So I think that's perfectly fine for people to hate Val or feel uncomfortable watching him and don't have same feelings towards Alastor or Adam. I just don't like when someone uses some global morality as an argument in this discourse because it just a matter of emotional reaction to faction.

Dunno despite my rather healthy relationship with fiction for me it's Adam and Lute that make me uncomfortable. I can interact with these characters only in the realm of memes because for the last 6 months I've been daily seeing what word genocide really means so I don't really wish to dive into minds of people commiting one. That's what scares me. At the same time I don't think that Adam stans support genocide or that I have any moral superiority over them.

[the-ninjago-historian]

Hello Everyone

How are you all? Good I hope! :)

You may have noticed I've been posting less. This is because of a few different things came up that have been getting in the way. However, just to be clear, I'm not leaving. Never in a million years. Things might have to change a bit though. So, let me answer the question

What Happened?

The first thing that happened was the release of Dragons Rising Season 2. I wasn't expecting so much discourse to spawn from it. And as a person who uses this space as a way to escape negativity in the real world, that was upsetting for me. And I didn't want to be involved in any of it. So I decided to take a break for awhile. That started a chain reaction of me not being as timely with my release of leaks, news, fun facts and general posting. In addition, I also ended up shortly afterwards getting a huge case of burnout.

Thankfully, both the discourse and the burnout has died down a bit. (Although admittedly, I'm still scared to go anywhere near the Ninjago tag.😅) But to my surprise, something else came up. One of my other side blogs started taking off. I wasn't expecting it too. I had planned to keep it small since I was already working on many things here. But one thing lead to another, and now I'm frantically juggling two blogs that both need attention.

Hopefully I can get this all sorted out. I have a few idea that should work. Now, finally I can answer

What Happens Next?

Well, first and foremost, my projects. I should be very clear, none of the them are being shelved! Production will continue as usual, albeit a bit slower. In fact, the first episode of Ninjago: Rough Riders is almost ready for release! It just needs some finishing up and proof reading. And Ninjago: Into The Deep is coming too. However updates for these projects will no longer have a set release date and content will be released for them whenever I feel it is finished. This is merely for the sake of my own mental health and a way to keep myself from being burnout too quickly.

Other smaller projects such as the ROTTMNT x Ninjago AU, the NeverRealm Analysis Video, and various articles I had planned will have to be put on the back burner. Still coming. But later. News, trivia, and leaks may also come a bit slower. But I'll try my best to stay on top of that at least.

And that's it! Thank you to anyone reading! And I hope that I continue to provide the Ninjago fandom with plenty of fun and enjoyment for many years!

Have a wonderful day/night!💖💖💖

Sincerely, Ink Dragon

Inky✒️🐉

[hypocrisy-incarnate]

Ranking the General Quality of Fanart: Podcast Edition

The Magnus Archives: 12/10, i absolutely love seeing people's interpretations of the characters, especially the avatars. Always gorgeous, special shoutout to the copious amount of religious imagery (can't have a podcast about fear gods and not have godly imagery amiright). always a treat.

Malevolent: 10000000/10, I've genuinely never seen bad malevolent fanart. it's like yall get possessed by one of the KIY's worshippers and just make the most ethereal art I've ever seen. i especially love the pieces that really take into account the era that this is all happening and really try to embrace the 1930s in their artstyle and in their character designs. absolutely phenomenal.

Welcome to Night Vale: 11/10, only downfall is that there isn't enough of it. I've never seen a fandom so openly embrace differing designs for a character with a nondescript appearance-- i've seen so little (current) discourse over varying cecil designs, it's so peaceful. I love how the spooky and unique vibe brought by the podcast is somehow always replicated/found in the art as well-- and the characters are so, so fun to see drawn out. Lab coats are by far one of the best articles of clothing ever.

Red Valley: 11/10, once again NOT ENOUGH FANART!!!! You guys make gordon and warren come to life i swear, the amount of pure friendship i can feel emanating from yall's art is so wholesome and it never fails to make me smile. it doesn't matter what your design is, bryony is always somehow just slightly 'uncanny valley'-ish and i adore the separate interpretations of her!!! always makes me want to relisten to the entire thing all over again.

The Magnus Protocol: 12/10 just like her father, i love the differing designs for everyone (why settle on just one design for sam or alice or gwen??? i want em all!!) and it's soooo creepy but can also be rly funny a lot of times!! props for having funny characters i guess haha. i love how mysterious and ominous a lot of it is too-- really embodies that 'we don't know what's going on here and we're sort of scared to find out' vibe that the podcast brings. super cool, i love it!!!

[voxofthevoid]

I have not tagged top/bottom for anything since 2018, and I won't be doing it again. The intent is to actively drive away people who need top/bottom, regardless of the dynamic, tagged. <- Can I ask what you mean by this? (different, curious anon)

Y'know, I had a feeling soon after replying to that anon that someone would ask about this 😂

Short version:

Hypocrisy and unreasonable expectations about tagging top/bottom caused me to stop the whole practice. I started using "Choose Not to Warn" and stopped taking tag suggestions for similar reasons. What you see is what you get, and I'm entirely content with people who want more specific tags or warnings giving my fics a pass.

Long version:

When I started writing and posting porn (Hannibal fandom circa 2014), I tagged top/bottom roles because most of my favorite authors did, and I figured that's the common practice. I also wrote switching then, less because of genuine interest and more because the dominant discourse was that it's the "right" way to write gay sex. I was personally inexperienced at the time and uncertain about my own sexuality; I was more scared about writing sex "wrong" than anything else.

From 2014 to 2018, I was in three major fandoms, one after the other: Hannibal, Attack on Titan, and Yuri on Ice. All three had raging top/bottom discourse, but if you've seen this shit, you know that there's no variety in it—if you've seen one of them, you've seen them all (though the YoI top/bottom discourse came with a generous helping of racism too). You had two loud camps:

Those insisting the bigger, older, meaner, stronger, and/or more dominant (personality wise) person should top; nothing else makes sense.

Same-sex couples, especially men, had to switch. Anything else is heteronormative and fetishizing.

Both stances are, of course, fucking bullshit. People fuck in whatever ways they want, and neither appearance nor personality determines whether you're a top or bottom (or anything on the BDSM end either).

But the discourse hasn't gone anywhere. You still get people trying to justify the sexual dynamics they prefer with one or the other of these arguments, and while #1 is typically used by diehard stans of the predominant dynamic, you also often get the opposite crowd trying to "prove" that X is actually a bottom because [insert reasons that almost always come down to bottom=more feminine].

On top of this, there's another prevalent trend. The predominant dynamic (top Gojou in the case of goyuu) is considered the "natural" option. It's the default. If you click on an explicit goyuu fic, that's what should be there. Anything else—be it switching or top Yuuji—needs a "warning" because heaven forbid anything other than the norm be written without neon keep-away signs slapped on it.

As my tone and all the scare quotes may indicate, I have no patience—but do have an abundance of rage—for any of this shit. I reached my boiling point toward the end of my YoI days, which was also incidentally when I started to fuck and my own tastes (IRL and fictional) solidified.

My porn fics are all rated explicit, and 99% of the time, there's a tag for anal sex. There's also a marked absence of top/bottom tags to go with these. Readers can do the mental math and choose whether or not to click in. If their assumptions make asses out of them, that's not my problem—except when they try to make it so.

[cardboardheartss]

omg since leaks are going around about huh yunjin possibly being on jhope's special album are the rumors true and if so what was the behind for this collaboration?

like how do they both feel about this exchange because personally im SUPER stoked

J-Hope x Yunjin Collaboration?

⚠️DISCLAIMER! TAROT CARDS ARE NOT 100% ACCURATE! TAKE EVERYTHING WITH A GRAIN OF SALT! IF MY INTERPRETATIONS ARE INCORRECT FEEL FREE TO CORRECT ME!⚠️

⚠️ this reading was so difficult to read on… the energies were really blocked and guarded. yunjin did not want to respond and I literally had to ask soooo many times for her thoughts… hopefully the song will be loved because all these cards and energies are something else…🤷🏽‍♀️⚠️

Will they collab : The Emperor

Yes

Yunjins thoughts : The Hierophant rx, World, 5oC, 10oC rx, 2oS rx & AoC rx

Well…Yunjin firstly Yunjin is happy about the collaboration. She believes it will boost her career and popularity internationally. She thinks the sound feels brand new and fresh, and is a completely different sound that she’s not used to. She believes that new horizons are coming soon but she could also be quite scared and worried about the publics opininon on the song.

She believes this song would lead to fan wars and disharmony amongst the fandoms, and just overall disapprovement from fans. Yunjin will try to block out the negativity and probably avoid her phone, just to avoid seeing all the comments. Yunjin will feel really emotionally overwhelmed and really upset to be honest.

J-Hopes thoughts : 7oP, KNoS rx, QoP, AoS rx, 9oW rx

Well J-Hope on the other hand will feel quite confident about this. He thinks that the song is really good and that him and yunjins hard work really paid off. J-Hope could also think that the song will lead to spiteful and unnecessary arguments on social media, and just everything will be a mess to be honest.

Apart from this for now, he really did want Yunjin to be in the song, he thinks she’s really talented who’s really career oriented and is also well established! (he seems to be a fan of LSFM to be honest lol)

Once again, J-Hope thinks there will be a ton of judgements towards the song. He could probably feel really powerless to be honest, and if the reaction to the songs ends up turning out negatively, I don’t think there will be collabs anymore…☹️

Publics thoughts : AoW, PoP, 8oC rx, 9oW rx, 5oS, 8oS and Wheel of Fortune rx

Well… on the positive note. People like you anon, are all looking forward to fhe collab and are literally just over the moon lol! Everyone feels really confident about this! The public believes that the song will be a success and a good listen.

But unfortunately… the public who are fans of the two idols will not share their honest opinions on the song and not share their thoughts. They’ll think the song is not good enough?! They could thinks it’s a flop or the disliked song on the album?

On the other hand… people who really like the song will have to be HIGHLY defensive, they will be fighting tooth and nail to prove to people that the song is actually good.

As per usual! There will be fan wars for DAYSSS! People attacking each other for hours, bullying, disagreements, arguments. And to be honest, this all stems from jealousy and selfishness.

I believe Yunjin and J-Hope and probably the whole company and groups are the 8oS, they will feel really insecure. A lot of worry, anxiety and just feeling trapped overall.

They could be terrified of having to speak up about because they are aware of the mess it could create.

Unfortunately the WoF rx shows to prove that this will be quite unlucky toward the general public and artists themselves. This whole discourse will probably never be forgotten to be honest, because the fan wars that are going to happen…😬

And I really hope that won’t happen because yea… it’s not a good thing for one (Yunjin) to experience for collaborating with one of the idols who inspired her to be who she is today.

[tessarionbestgirl]

"Aegon is injured and Aemond may or may not have something to do with the fact". This is what Aemond's actor said regarding ep 5. Therefore, we don't know for sure what Aemond wanted or didn't want to do at Rook's Rest so we are again in for a guessing game. And this is one of my problems with the show. They think they are being oh so mysterious and whatnot with this kind of "storytelling" but the truth is that it's just extremely frustrating. The characters have very little screentime (aemond has less than 3 minutes per episode ffs), a lot of important events are just skipped and what little we see is unclear and ambiguous so I have to guess or create headcanons. Like, sorry, but I'm not interested in this. Idk, this show and everything related to it just leaves me annoyed, confused or even angry. What's your experience regarding this?

I understand the annoyance and frustration over this aspect of the show because big part of my dislike for Fire & Blood comes from exactly that same reason. Is a fake story book that I don't even know if half of it is true or not with countless inconsistencies regarding war events and ambiguities about characters motivations.

And a adaptation can only be to a extension better or worse than the source material. So Ryan and his team, have in hands a complicated situation. I know he says to the public that he approached the material as being green propaganda. But he is lying, a lot of things he does with TB to me are prove of that. A lot of pr for House of the dragon is all about what they want you to believe for now what their intentions are. So if we take a lot of what they say in face value we are being lied to. So any HC you and I could created base on that is just end feeling like a betrayal and pointless.

But the final product speaks for it self more than the actors or Ryan or Sarah. Because they did lay ground for the conclusion of the story to be " in war there is truly never a winner" and one of the core of the story from George idea is to end with you questioning who was the right side or the dance.

They say for exemple the it was recorded dubious if Daemon or Aemond actions are intentional or not. But we also see they feeling guilty over it. S1 had a big discussion on the fandom over Daemon taking Rhaenyra to the brothel was intentionally done to tarnish her honor or not, and this season we see him feeling guilty over it, same with B&C same with Aemond and Luke's situation.

Whatever, if this is intention to adapt the the questionable reality of book or make people speculate who is justified or not. That end up just add to a theme on the show,in witch, is about how the intentions don't matter and will not matter in the end. Viserys all him wanted was have a peaceful family life but as Alicent said "he intentions died with him" and that goes for all characters.

Aemond always felt he deserved the crown more than Aegon, maybe he wanted to hurt his brother but he is willing to pay the price of killing his own brother and become the monster that history eventually will paint him to be? That is what they are trying to say with Heleana asking him that and Alicent growing fear of what her son is becoming.

So I will say that my problem with this subject is way less annoying in the show than in the book and while in part I find fun to speculate over those dubious thing they do, I also feel uncertaint over what they will do with those characters, this season I am very scared of the possible out come for Alicent as character. And I certainly despite the fandom discourse that is generated by the "open in the air" scenes. I think that is the factor that frustrating me the most. Because there was a time where was fun to engage on public conversations about media. But HOtD fandom is so toxic and lack any media literacy that even end up affecting how I sometimes interact with the fandom and watch the show.

And that is a big irony of it all because I sure despite Ryan intensions and how he will end the show. The fandom will not change their mind of who is the true winner/justified and what the story is about.

[zenkindoflove]

Surprise self-rec time! Pick 3 of your favorite things you’ve written and share them here, then put this in the inbox (anonymously or not) of your fellow writers to spread the positivity and help celebrate already written fics

(Added side quest from @achaotichuman, tell me what inspired your fics, why you love them so much etc etc, tell me EVERYTHING)

I can only choose three?!? *cries* Okay, I'll try lol.

...And Again Into the Light (Elucien)- This is a fic I cowrote with @crazy-ache. After our joint writing adventure where we wrote Dear Lucien, Dear Elain, we wanted to write together again. I suggested we write a horror romance story because I thought it would be a fun co-writing genre because we could leave each other with both spooky and sexy cliffhangers for the other to pick up. And that is exactly what we did. When we write together, we start with a basic idea and structure and we really "yes, and..." the rest of the process. I really like writing horror. It's one of my favorite genres and this was an opportunity for both me and Ariana to play around in that sandbox. And I think we did a DAMN good job at it. I think it's a pretty unique piece too, which is kind of a theme we've had in the projects that we've co-written. We both were really inspired by the idea of Elain and Lucien being trapped in a haunted house together, and what we ended up creating was a interesting exploration of the mating bond (because duh, it's them) on top of all the haunts and scares that were going on.

Kneel Before Me (Elucien) - I wanted to include this one because it was the first fic that came to mind when I read this question. I love this fic because both the inspo and the premise is kind of unhinged for me. This fic was entirely driven by fandom ship war wank. At the time, the new ship war topic of discourse was whether or not Azriel really could defeat Lucien in a blood duel, and the takes were driving me nuts. So, Kneel Before Me was me channeling my rage into art. The premise is Azriel and Lucien spar on the HoW's roof top and Azriel eggs him on into a real fight that tests the theory of who would actually win in blood duel like circumstances, followed by some hot Elucien smut where I might have went a little crazy writing an excessive paragraph long description of Lucien's dick because all of the bat boy obsessions, wing span jokes, and just generally people forgetting Lucien's existence and that he's HOT. And hey, look. I know when I'm cooking and I fucking COOKED with this fic. Even though I did tag it anti-Azriel because I wanted to be upfront that the fic doesn't depict him in a positive light, I've had a lot of Azriel fans read it and confirm for me that they don't actually think it's anti-Azriel at all and they like the twist I incorporated that made it all make sense and feel in character. Because even if I'm being a little cracky, I can't help but want things to make sense for the characters as they are.

Summer Heat (Elucien + Erixius) - This fic is my big multichapter fic that is now turning into a series with the sequel I'll write once I'm done with Pull Me in Deeper. The inspiration was really simple. One of my falling asleep day dreams included Elucien having some fun and awkward flirty moments in awkward and making out on the beach and I was like, "okay I keep thinking about this so I should write it." It definitely is an example of my first outline way underestimated the story it became. I didn't even initially have a plan to have a significant Eric x OC side story but once I created Alexius it really just became an animal of its own. This story I think is some of my best work in that it really spans the spectrum of my skills - comedy, romance, smut, angst, and generally a decent plot. It's the first time I made an OC. I did some new world building. And from experimenting with those the story blew up into something way bigger. I anticipate Golden Visions, the sequel, to be an even longer story which sort of gives you a perspective on how much I was inspired by both of those processes. At its core, I really wanted Summer Heat to be a romantic comedy. And I think it still has that essence but I'm not sure it can really be called that anymore with some of the angst and fantasy world building I built into it changed things. I also tried to write a slow burn for Elucien (and very much not a slow burn for Erixius) which I think I was successful at by my definition of a slow burn lol.

Thank you so much for this ask!!! This was so fun! I could write little paragraphs like this about all of my fics 🤣.

[rogerzsteven]

Off My Chest

I don't know if you know (at this point I'd be surprised if you don't), but I've been living hell for the past 4 days.

Two big earthquakes hit ten cities of Turkey on 6th of Feb, 4.17 am (one city being the city I live in and one being my hometown + where my relatives and family friends live), and the aftermath is devastating to say the least.

I am hurt, I am tired, I am mentally exhausted, I am upset, I am scared and sad and always on edge in case something happens.

Some of my relatives lost their homes, some of my aquaintances, family members, friends lost their lives, and there are thousands, thousands of people still stuck under the rubble, either dead or waiting for someone to find them under the rubble.

If, they are able to be found.

My hometown is dust. The places I've spent my childhood no longer exist. Everything is wrecked.

The supplies aren't enough, the weather is freezing and help is too slow.

Death toll is more than 16,000 and rising, and at this point I can't help but to think I was just at the right place at the right time and it was luck.

When I first started reblogging those donation posts about Turkey, I had high expectations of the possible traction in general, but mainly of the fandom I'm currently in. I thought this fandom was in unity when I used to see blogs, many blogs reblogging the posts of the ones in rough condition asking for help, whether it's individual or for a good cause. Because that's what fandom means, right? A community to support and lift each other up on good and bad days. To show that we are there for each other even if it's through the screen.

I was wrong.

I was not expecting the immense lack of support from the fandom that is supposed to be big, helpful and full of 'activists'.

Not only have I barely seen donation/support posts appearing on my dash from people I follow or my mutuals, but the ones I've seen are reblogged from me by the same handful of people over and over again.

Don't get me wrong, no one is obligated to reblog or show support, life goes on and people move on, but isn't it hypocritical when the same blogs who are very much outspoken and active and even accuse others of staying disinterested when it comes to fandom discourse or situations that have direct impact on them in one way are now completely silent and act like nothing is happening when it comes to something like this?

My people are DYING. And you care about— what, polls? Fandom speculations?

Good for you.

Is it too much to reblog a few times so others can see it? Would your blog's aesthetic get ruined?

Or do you just not give a shit and only show your performative side when it gets you likes and followers?

I see all of you, and I will not forget this.

I don't think I will post donation posts as frequently as I did before from now on because I want to feel some sense of normalcy on tumblr but before I go, since there is a handful of mutuals/ online friends who kept reblogging my posts, I would like to thank them individually from the bottom of my heart.

@monsterrae1 @swiftiediaz @buddierights @prettyboybuckley : You guys. The support you guys have shown from day one. Every day. I love you. You pure souls.

@kananjarus : You. YOU. I have no words. I want to cry just thinking about what you've done. No words are enough.

@copyninjakura : You are a good hearted person. I love you. Thank you for your constant check ins and reblogs.

@rxdscarf : Not once you've let me down. 5+ years of friendship and I am so grateful. I am lucky.

@skyhighrollins911 : You've always been there to see how I am and how things are. Thank you, I love you so much.

@stagefoureds : Sabahın köründe beni telefonla aradın ya, sen muhteşem bir detaysın.

@bievanbuckley : The Greek to my Turk, ben seni sevdiğimi dünyalara bildirdim.

@ricoka : You're not in the fandom, but thank you my girl.

@spotsandsocks & @the-likesofus : Thank you for being concerned about me.

@buddiefication : We've been following each other for what— days? You don't even know me, and yet you kept reblogging each post from day one. I am so thankful. Thank you, friend.

@alyxmastershipper : Again, from day one, you kept reblogging each support post. THANK YOU.

@jobairdxx @swiftiebuckleys @mandzuking17 @thebestbooksaround @allysghostinthemachine @scifiromance7 @daughterofbuddie @maybeicanbesaved @colonoscopys @verylazyanimal : Thank you for reblogging many times.

[gabrielsbubblegumbitch]

I just wanted to say that I am really envious of the way you write the Vees. As someone who struggles with making characters woobiefying and with characterization in general, I appreciate how you can write these characters perfectly that the show didn’t have time to portray. I didn’t have a specific request, but now I was wondering if you could give me some advice on how to analyze and write a character, even if you have a personal bias towards them?

Awww thank you so much ❤️ I don't have like any degree in literature or anything that would give me credibility in giving writing advice, usually I just go with the flow. But I'll do my best!

Imo the most fundamental thing is the way you think about characters. In fandom spaces, we very often see them as "people we like" - hence all the discourses like in Valentino's case "if you like him it means you are a bad person". I think that woobification is influenced by this cognitive dissonance caused by liking characters that should be unlikeable. For me the way out of it was giving up "characters as people" mindset and changing it for "characters as tools". Bacause that's what they are - tools you use to build your narrative. When I say I love Valentino I don't mean I would shake his hand - I mean he's my favourite toy I can do multiple things with. And it's his flaws that make him so much fun. Because outside of the comedy genre, narrative cannot exist without conflict. The more flaws a character has, the more conflict it causes. That's why villains are such a powerful driving force for stories (here are some great essays about it: 1, 2). Put any character in the room with Val and you have an interesting bit not only because of the usual character differences that could happen between eg. Vaggie and Husk but also because stakes suddenly become high. What will he do? Will he hurt them? We saw what he's capable of. Will he be nice? Man, that's even worse because it means he has his own motive to be nice. What might it be? That's what keeps the audience engaged with your writing. Extra points if you give him some human weaknesses or conflicting desires. When it comes to characterization, nuance is the key. That's why I love VoxVal so much - two characters that are absolutely awful but they are fiercely in love. How could Valentino be capable of simply caring about someone but himself? What kind of human is buried underneath all this evil? So much to unpack here. Nothing I'd like to experience but everything I'd like to see from a safe distance. Consider: would you even like the Vees so much in the beginning if they were just other guests at the hotel? In the show, neither of them has a single redeemable quality. And yet, here we are.

When it comes to writing characteristics it's also important to watch characters from different perspectives - that helps with giving them nuance. Let's take Vox. People seem to like and respect him, he's obviously an influential figure (he has a lot of social power). But from Alastor's perspective, he's just a pathetic little attention-seeking looser (he has a fragile ego and lowe self-esteem). Yet his assistant seemed to be scared shitless while talking to him (he had done things that made people from his closer look aware that he's dangerous). Angel knows he watches his abuse and hangs out with Valentino (at best he's indifferent to other's suffering, at worst he enjoys it). Carmilla doesn't respect him but they are on terms good enough, Vox wants to do business with her (he's a competent business partner). For the rest of Vees he's smart enough to listen to him but at the same time he's their cringefail naurospicy bestie. Add all of those perspectives together and you have yourself a multidimensional character that can interact with other elements of the narrative in vastly different ways. Also, from that point you can build up, asking yourself other questions "What would they think/do/say?".

Also, the last thing: every character needs a clear goal that influences all their decision. Choose it and always keep it in mind. Bonus points: a character has two main goals that are contradictory. When I write Vox he has two goal: power and adoration. He always has to choose which one is more important to him because while he has measures to achieve great power, some things that he would want to do are socially undesirable. In Valentino's case: hedonistic pleasure and immediate gratification vs love for Vox that demands sacrifices and compromises.

So anyway I hope that will be helpful to you <3 And don't be too hard on yourself when it comes to writing, not everything must be Game of Thrones. Especially in fandom spaces, sometimes we all want to indulge in some simple fluff or crack.

[cwilb]

⬆️ i don't really have a dni outside of this however with that being said i am a minor so heavily nsfw blogs also dni (if you post suggestive stuff thats fine as long as its tagged) and poppytwt/proshippers/anything like that will be blocked. in general i block any1 who makes me feel uncomfy and i get scared off easily so eerm yea‼️‼️

pronoun.cc

header and pfp

boundaries (please read)

HIYA!! im tumblr user cwilb, fka as featherduo and strawbeeduo! (large selection of names to pick from on my pronoun.cc listed above if u want more options!)

im a dsmp and (occasionally) a bursona blogger, insane about cpumpkinduo and anything related to minecraft. i love contradicting labels and xenogenders 🔥🔥

stuff about my blog:

heavily dsmp focused (mainly cquackity) outside of bursonas and personal posts (i love to yap about anything and everything!!)

romantic cbeeduo, calliumduo, and queer platonic/romantic coded cquackcicle are posted about on here so if any of those make you uncomfortable for any reason here is your warning to block/ignore me /gen

i tag any stuff that needs a trigger/content warning as "cw [thing]" and/or "cw [thing] mention]", my suggestive tag is just 'suggestive' i dont reblog or post nsfw (for obvious reasons) but if a joke is funny im reblogging it even if it happens to be kinda freaky LOL. if im unsure how to tag something itll be tagged as "ask to tag". once again feel free to ask me to tag anything! :]

⬆️ also any discourse-y posts are tagged with "discourse" + if necessary cws for mentions of people if they really suck (ex; cw wilbur mention,)

i try and put alt IDs but a lot of the time im unsure how to word them + i am disabled so i dont always have the spoons to, however you can always ask me to add any!

my previous blog was @preyduo (moved to here since it got too much attention for my comfort LOL) and before that it was sootisite which i deactivated :b

stuff about me:

I <3 MY BEST FRIENDS!!! /p they r literally my family for realsies go follow my brother

i am an aromantic acespec xenogender bi lesboy (i love contradicting labels and collecting xenogenders!!)

i am physically disabled and neurodivergent (many diagnosises that id prefer not to get into but i am an amnesiac and have elhers danlos)

ive been in the mcyt fandom since i was a little guy (og mcyt save me.. save me og mcyt /silly /ref)

i use tone indicators somewhat heavily (they are very helpful for me but you dont need to use them when messaging me as long as ur niceys if i need to ask what tone ur using /gen

dsmp is my spinterest!! (fave characters are cquackity, cniki, cschlatt, ghostbur, cranboo and ctommy)

some of the games i like include minecraft, slime rancher, tunnel town, animal jam, club penguin, roblox, and the sims 4! for shows i mainly just watch the same stuff over and over like gravity falls, mlp, and south park ^_^

tagging system:

all of the main tags i use can be found under my blogs featured tags (my blog -> magnifying glass icon -> boom done), all are self explanatory

[tigerdrop]

Hii... Ummm with the hl...2...vrai (spaced so it doesn't show up in search) announcement I wanted to thank you because when the original series came out your fics helped me come to terms with a lot of things, and so did the way you were treated for them, for which I'm so, so incredibly sorry. I know it's been years but it's still fucked up regardless that you were harrassed so bad over some porn.

It kinda opened my eyes to how toxic fandoms can really be. Not that I was totally ignorant, but I had only ever been in really big fandoms before, so when I was into something this... niche? (I don't know if that's the right word LOL) it felt like any small amount of drama and discourse was massive.

It also made me realise that the people I called friends weren't really good people. The amount of harrassment and hatred they spread over some smutty fanfiction was horrific and honestly made me kind of scared of them. If they'd known I was consuming it they would have made google docs callout posts LMAO, but I was too scared to leave them because I didn't have any other friends at the time. I'm doing a lot better now with friends who are little freaks like meee :)

You had a big impact on how I view online communities and fanart/fanfiction, and I thank you for that. My general experience on webbed sites has been a lot more enjoyable.

I hope you're doing okay, and have a good rest of your year! 💜

i think the previous anon i got might be happier with their life if they also stopped caring about what total strangers might think about them. im glad ur hanging out with normal people now. happy to be of service o7