#i can only guess it's because people are so fucking judgmental in this fandom

[three--rings]

okay so i’m gonna talk about the build thing. 

I’m not going to get into the whole thing and what I think tho.  Like, I have a lot of thoughts.  But the thing is that I don’t KNOW anything.  I don’t know these people.  I can’t speak to them in any way. 

We have literally ZERO facts.  There is not a single fact that we, the public, have received that has any evidence behind it.  We have a bunch of one-sided claims and... some messages?  And some faked photo “evidence” from pinterest.

We don’t have any basis for making a judgement on anything solid whatsoever.  The only people who can do that are first of all police and legal proceedings, which I very much doubt are going to actually come to pass, and if they did would take absolutely forever to shuffle out.

And secondly BOC as an employer.  Which is where we can expect some kind of eventual decision, whatever it may be.

But what has truly upset me since this broke, besides just the natural grief of the situation, is the fandom response.  It’s been truly horrendous. 

The reaction which I expect from a fandom to this kind of news is shock, upset, grief, confusion, bargaining, etc.  And support of each other as we wait for the full fallout.

Instead I’ve seen celebration, I-told-you-so’s, endless attacks on people who refuse to immediately renounce their support of build, or who are at all measured or hesitant in their response.  Calls to reject not only the actor but the ship, the fandom, the production company.  Comparisons to other actors to highlight how their fave could never.  Finger pointing in every possible direction.

In other words, the fandom eating itself alive.  And is it maybe a small minority of people being toxic and most people being silent?  Yeah, it always is.  But it’s so fucking painful to me and to the fandom as a whole. 

Callout culture has reached a point where when anything happens the only performatively pure action to take is to immediately and loudly cut yourself off publicly from anyone at all likely to be tainted in accusation.  Which is exactly why people with bad motives can use accusations to inflict harm on people they want to hurt. 

I’ve seen over and over people being angry and upset that things aren’t moving faster with this situation, that there hasn’t been more statements and official shit done and like, it’s been less than two days?  On a weekend?  Do you really want the official procedures of ANY employer to work so fast that someone is fired within hours of anyone saying something bad about them, because that’s what people are literally calling for. 

I know it sounds like I’m taking one side here, but honestly I’m not.  No I don’t want the accusations to be true, because NO ONE should want them to be true.  But I can’t speak to their truth at all, because I have no basis to do so.  Except that what has been produced so far has been show NOT to be true (the photographs).  But there’s plenty of toxicity to go around in this situation.

What I want is for the actual truth to be known and acted on appropriately.  That doesn’t need to involve dragging facts out onto twitter or into the public eye, either.  The fandom isn’t judge and jury.  Victims shouldn’t be paraded through the virtual town square to be ripped apart. 

People are mourning right now.  What I’m mourning is the loss of a fandom that wasn’t as divisive and at each other’s throats as my last two.  Where I could just go to enjoy stuff without constant infighting.  Well, guess that’s fucking over. 

People are reliving their own abuse.  I know I am. 

STOP ATTACKING FELLOW FANS.  STOP ATTACKING PEOPLE MOURNING.

How individual fans respond to this isn’t any of your fucking business.  People are allowed to wait to see what happens before making judgments.  People are allowed time and space to process.  Shut the fuck up already.

[riverstixxelf]

I love the SPN fandom but honestly it’s so stressful sometimes 😭

For example earlier today I googled “Misha Collins girlfriend” because I heard a rumor that he has a girlfriend, I couldn’t find much besides stuff talking about Vicky so I scrolled down and saw a tumblr post saying something about Misha being attracted to men (which I don’t necessarily disagree with, but I don’t want to tell another person what they are) and women so I clicked on it and it was a huge post (like, a couple paragraphs) talking about some strange things. I don’t remember exactly but at one point the user brought up the “fact” that Misha makes jokes about women and sex?? As in making jokes at the expense of women… and I was like… are we talking about the same Misha here? He DOES make jokes about sex but I don’t recall him ever making jokes at the expense of women. Only thing I can think of is that one story about one of his earlier acting jobs and he didn’t know the “no tongue rule” but that was mostly at the expense of himself. Then I scrolled and found another post that was pretty disturbing…

Someone had screenshotted a regular instagram caption that Jensen posted just talking about how he just got done traveling, he wanted to take a nap, something like that—nothing sexual about the post at all or anything that would suggest that—and someone captioned it with something talking about him and Misha rubbing their [babymakers] together??? I audibly laughed out loud because wtf 😭😭

I don’t want to shame Jenmish shippers (I say Jenmish because Cockles is just a… very interesting name), even though I think it’s the slightest bit strange to be shipping real people… but again I never want to put anyone down for anything because I myself have said some stuff about Jensen and Misha that might suggest something between them.

Another thing is just the amount of hate for various cast members. Mostly the hate I see is for Jared and Misha; J2 fans who hate Misha, Jenmish fans who hate Jared, etc. There’s a lot of love in this fandom but ohmygOD there’s so much hate too. I guess that’s true for any fandom, but it’s so tiring sometimes.

Also, in this fandom, you’ll get hounded for any opinion you have. If you don’t like destiel, you’re homophobic. If you do like destiel, you’re also homophobic for some reason because queer bating or whatever… for the record i’d like to state that I am a proud destiel shipper just fyi. But I see so many people take it to the extreme, make little things into big things or something along those lines. Same thing with cockles shippers I was talking about earlier. I feel like I have a pretty neutral viewpoint on stuff regarding destiel; I see most things how they are, and I make my assumptions based on CANON things. I don’t say “Dean and Cas are definitely fucking”, I say “Dean and Cas love eachother but they cant express it, because Cas wasn’t even sure what love was and Dean’s highest ideal of love is family, which is why he says Cas is like a brother to him”. Now, if you don’t agree with me, guess what… that’s okay! If you don’t think destiel exists, that’s a valid point, and i’m not gonna dox you just because you have a different opinion than me. Because that’s just it, it’s an OPINION.

I could get into Sam haters and Dean haters and stuff… but I’m tired. Actually, you know what, screw it. I WILL GET INTO IT!!!

I’ve had a few experiences with Dean haters especially, and most of the time they just ADORE Sam and thinks he’s done nothing wrong. Let me clarify that I don’t hate Sam- like- at all. Then again, Dean haters who happen to be Sam stans have warped my view on Sam a little, but I won’t let that get in my way of honest judgment.

Sam. has. done. bad. stuff. DEAN. has. done. bad. stuff. Please don’t compare their trauma, they both have their own issues, one isn’t better than the other.

I might be biased because I relate to Dean so much (like a crazy amount it’s not even funny…), but for the millionth time in a row I DO NOT HATE SAM. I saw someone saying how Dean was the cause of almost every single world-ending event that happened in SPN… like honey no. Another person replied to their comment listing all of the world-ending events… and guess what… Sam was the cause of most of them!! Does that make him a hate-worthy character? No!!

I don’t know what point i’m trying to make here. I just think there’s so much in-fighting within the SPN fandom and as much as I love being in the fandom sometimes you just gotta have a break from all the drama. If you made it this far… go outside or something don’t pay attention to me i’m chronically online.

[maul-of-shame]

Okay so spicy rant because I keep seeing stuff over here and in fandoms and I need to say something 💀

You know what REALLY grinds my gears? People who take it upon themselves to discourage writers, whether they're experienced authors or roleplayers just trying to have some fun. What is it with these self-appointed gatekeepers who think it's their sacred duty to trash anyone else's creative efforts? It's like they've got nothing better to do than sit on their high horses, casting judgment on everything they see, never lifting their pinkies to do anything.

First off: these so-called "critics" who love to bash writing prompts. "This again?" "This prompt is so cliché" Oh, excuse me for daring to use a prompt that’s been around the block a few dang times. Newsflash: originality isn't about finding a prompt no one's ever heard of. It's about what you do with it. If a writer finds inspiration in something that sparks their creativity, who are you to sneer at it? Just because you think it's been "overused" doesn't mean it can't produce something unique and worthwhile.

Guess what, genius? Every single story, from the dawn of storytelling, builds on something that came before. There are no new ideas, only new ways of telling them. If someone wants to write yet another vampire romance or a dystopian saga, let them! The coffeeshop AU with the bartender falling in love with the client? Let's go! The tensed enemies to lovers finally getting on with it? Awesome!! The magic is in the execution, not the premise.

But no, these critics have to swoop in with their unsolicited opinions, acting like they're the arbiters of taste. "Oh, that’s so cliché" "Really? Another story about a lost princess? Who cares?" Listen Linda, if you don’t like it, don’t fucking read it. It’s that simple. You don’t have to ruin someone else’s enthusiasm just because it doesn’t match your narrow definition of what’s acceptable. No-freaking-one is forcing you to read it.

These detractors love to throw around the word "cringe" like it’s some ultimate verdict. Well, what’s truly cringe-worthy is your need to belittle others to feel superior. It’s pathetic. There’s nothing cool or insightful about discouraging someone from pursuing their passion. If anything, it shows a profound lack of empathy, imagination, kindness and just basic decency on your part.

And let's not forget the classic line: "You should be writing something more serious." Oh, should I now? And who made you the judge of what's serious or worthwhile? Writing isn't a one-size-fits-all endeavor, never has been. Some people write for fun, some for catharsis, some to explore their own minds, some to fix the ending of a series, and some to entertain. Every piece of writing has value to the person who wrote it, and often to many others as well.

I just have 6 words to say. Get off your damn high horse. If you can’t offer constructive criticism or, heaven forbid, encouragement, maybe it’s time to keep your opinions to yourself. Writers don’t need your negativity. They need support, constructive feedback, and the freedom to explore their creativity without the fear of being mocked or belittled. If you don't like the prompts, the characters, cool that's your stuff and taste. Doesn't mean you have to be mean about it. You can scroll, block, filter and so on.

In the end, the joke's on you. While you're busy being a critic without a cause, those writers you're so eager to dismiss are actually creating something. They’re putting themselves out there, taking risks, and growing in ways you’ll never understand. And they're brave for doing so. Can't say the same about you. So who’s really cringing now?

[sharpth1ng]

which of the founding fathers would Billy and Stu each fuck?

Which of you founding father's would YOU fuck?

I was never in the Hamilton fandom, sorry! There won't be any colonizer fucking on this blog, not even a Hatsune Miku binder could save them.

I'm sorry if this response feels mean or judgmental, I truly doubt you meant any harm by it and I'm not in any way judging you. Culturally, we treat the founding fathers and other famous colonizers like neutral or positive figures, and I think its easy to ignore/forget the rest of that history if it doesn't personally and directly affect you. But the reality is they didn't found/find shit. There were already people with complex cultures and histories living in the Americas, and aside from that most of them owned enslaved people or benefited financially from the slave trade.

I'm not American but my family is still suffering the effects of colonization in my country, partly because they were still living in a colony until the late 1940's. I will never be a fluent in our language, and only now as an adult I'm learning cultural practices I should have learned as a child because the older people in my family were punished for practising those things. The violence and oppression my family and people like us have suffered as a result of this history isn't something I can put aside for a light-hearted ask.

And again, I don't want you to feel guilty for asking, this isn't at all a call-out post. I don't think you're a bad person for making this kind of joke. It's just that this stuff is personal to me in a way that I can't look past because every day I walk past statues of people who paid others to scalp my ancestors. I don't expect you to have known any of this so truly, don't feel bad, don't feel guilty. But I guess I'm just setting a boundary for this space and what I am willing/not willing to joke about and make light of.

I hope all of this makes sense. Honestly I'm nervous that posting this will be alienating to people and I don't want that. I especially don't want folks to feel nervous about offending me or to feel that they need to tip-toe around me, I don't expect people to be able to predict and perfectly avoid this stuff. There have been many times I've said things without realizing the implications it had for others, and I'm sure I will again. If I ever do that here I sincerely hope y'all will feel comfortable reaching out to me and setting that boundary as well.

[skaruresonic]

"Shadow isn't always an aggro douchebag, look at all these times where he was slightly chill for three seconds in a row! Sure there are just as many if not more examples of Shadow being a raging knob, but I personally do not like those instances and therefore I am going to say they were bad writing and ignore them in favor of the reading of his character that personally appeals to me more!"

What is it about Shadow that makes people be trippin so much? lol

How hard is it for people to just wrap their heads around the idea that Shadows chemistry is different with everybody? He has a MUTUAL competitive relationship with Sonic BECAUSE they have just as much in common as they have differences. Rouge is probably the most trustworthy person in Shadows life currently but it's more like they're co-workers than friends. Amy seems to be able to tug on his heartstrings and get him to do whatever she wants with her earnest personality even while he acts all tsundere about it. Ect.

The way Shadow is isn't mutually exclusive, but folks seem to want to just disregard interactions they don't like because they're different from interactions he has at other times under different circumstances. If your view of Shadow requires trimming fat and going "yeah well that time he was being 'OOC' so I just ignore it" then maybe your view of Shadow isn't accurate.

>>me @ me: the damage is done. you've said your piece. do not drop the Even Spicier Take(tm)

>>me: instructions unclear, failed step one

Tbh, I didn't want to say this because quite frankly, I didn't know how to word it in a way that wouldn't come across as though I was passing judgment since that's not my intention. But… ever since Shadow dropped that "go help your teammates" line in Sonic Forces Overclocked, this general notion has percolated in the back of my mind...

...Well. I think this idea of Shadow as modern fandom conceives him is... made up. And that's the lightest way I can put it.

Over time, I've come to suspect that fandom's constructed this mental image of Shadow as a noble protector archetype, soft-spoken and who always strives to fulfill his duty, and they've become quite attached to it to the point of rejecting other aspects of his character… like the pettiness and the bullheadedness.

It's possible the reason for the backlash against Sega's current portrayal is because the image doesn't match reality. His canonical pettiness chafes against the grain of who he "should" be. I'm not sure how well I'm explaining myself, but I hope the sentiment is received in the spirit in which it's intended.

That's not to say the archetype or the better parts of his personality are necessarily wrong in every circumstance (mandatory disclaimer that I am speaking in generalities and am not personally knocking your fic), but rather, insisting that noble side is all he is and lumping the less palatable traits under that umbrella paints an incomplete picture of his character. Although nobility and pragmatism do inform important parts of his character, they aren't his only traits.

It's like if people took umbrage with Sonic saying "I have no master except the wind that blows free." What, precisely, is there to take umbrage with? If part of the character's personality rubs you the wrong way, that doesn't necessarily have to indicate OOCness, especially when the character is supposed to be an anti-hero.

I have no legit idea what folks even mean by "Vegeta!Shadow" anymore because, for one thing, never watched DBZ, and for another, he gets slapped with the label regardless of his behavior. I can't isolate the offending variable because there doesn't seem to be one, aside from "Sega sucks." Forces!Shadow is relatively chill but still Vegeta!Shadow because Reasons. Flynn fucks up issue 19 so therefore his portrayal is evidence that Sega wants Vegeta!Shadow, because that's how logic works I guess. Shadow goes on vtube and his rivalry with Sonic gets acknowledged? Vegeta!Shadow. Like, is there no sense of scale or degree with which people apply the label? These are three different portrayals. I don't understand.

Obviously I don't want to be all "you must have a high IQ to understand Shadu Le Hedgehog(tm)" because that's very not much the message I want to convey. Lol and lmao I would be so far up my own ass if I did.

But it is interesting how discussing him specifically results in particular problems of communication. The issues with discussing Shadow appear to be that A.) folks tend to think your personal opinions and gripes are indicative of those of all Shadow fans AKA the SA2 fan problem, and B.) you're always going to miss some nuance that someone else is going to point out, and sometimes you have to decide to take the L for the sake of conserving energy.

I've written about his character at length, sometimes embarrassingly so (he rotates in my brain like a TV dinner. hehe Shadow go brrrr). And I think anyone who follows me at this point knows my attitude on Shadow is always changing in subtle ways, because there are as many ways of looking at him as there are facets of his character.

On the other hand… I get that people flanderize him, and his multiplicity can be difficult to capture in the limited space a post can permit. But also, there are times where I'm tired and can't English(tm) and I just don't feel like including footnotes every time I'm like "hehe Shadow's kind of an asshole <3," you know what I mean? It should go without saying that Shadow's character allows enough berth that "hehe Shadow's kind of an asshole <3" does not inherently preclude those moments where he's not-an-asshole. Or less-of-an-asshole. Whichever. You know what I mean.

Despite being frustrated with fanon, I'm not trying to pass indictment and say This Is How Shadow Ought To Be Characterized Forever. Rather, I'm just expressing frustration at how fandom continuously refuses to accept the most baseline traits, like (checks notes) "annoyed by Sonic sometimes."

Like it or not, he does have some rough edges. It wouldn't be fair to sand down the bad boy side of Sonic, and indeed some subsects of fandom complain about its erasure. So why is it okay to do to Shadow?

[monstersinthecosmos]

character asks: Bianca - When was the last time you felt exploited? 🥲

(character asks - HARD MODE!)

I know you're baiting me for drama but it's like 11pm and I've had a couple drinks and I have no self control so I'll probably accommodate you but I recently noticed a lot of proselytizing and groupthink on Twitter from the anti-Marius/anti-book camp and more than one of these folks happen to have my fics in their AO3 bookmarks, and will DM me to tell me how much they like my writing, and will DM me asking for writing advice, and have told me in private they don't like AMC or that they think the conservatives in fandom are full of shit, and yet they will not add me or interact with me in public, will not comment on my fics, are happy to consume things I create when it's the ship they like but turn around and say that I'm a bad person/predator/unsafe when I've been nothing but kind to them. It's just a really gross feeling and tbh it's really turned me off from writing DM fic and I'm not sure what the future of me & DM fic is gonna be because the idea of these types of fans consuming my work makes me feel fucking ill. I hope if any of you see this post and have ever jerked off to my fics before that I've killed your hardon and you can never get off to my writing again, it's not for you LOL. Please don't jerk off to my writing, you are violating me and don't have my consent. 🤣

It reminds me also of like, I used to be friends with this conservative (we became friends as teens before their political views took shape lol) and like, they used to slut shame me all the time just for being sex positive, but then would text me asking for sex advice. I kept it a secret from them when I became a sex worker, and when I finally told them they disowned me and told our mutual friends that they were disgusted by me, but then they made an OnlyFans a few years later lol. It's okay when THEY do it, I guess.

Anyway I don't appreciate people taking advantage of me being kind and non-judgmental only to judge me right back, and I don't appreciate my fics being consumed by people who turn around and tell Twitter that I belong on a list, (sidenote but why the fuck are you okay with my DM fics where I make it very clear that Armand is a predator if you're this fucking sensitive LOL), I don't appreciate people who stan mainstream media about shit worse than my fics because it's okay when Rich White Guy makes it but not okay when regular person writes fics about it, and I super fucking don't appreciate people who want my advice as their slutty friend when they turn around and slut shame/kink shame once I've given them what they want!

but fuck me I guess because I try to be very nice to people and it's my general policy to approach everyone with good faith!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My bad. lmao. I've worked so so hard to be kind to people and like be a person that I would want to be and treat people the way I want to be treated and you have no idea the amount of patience and reflection it takes to keep these people & my hurt feelings from turning me into a fucking douchebag. I'm really trying to stay good lol.

[silvysartfulness]

1, 2, 12, 16 and 22 for the ask game! No particular fandom, up to you.

the character everyone gets wrong

Gonna say a toss-up between Xiao Xingchen and Xue Yang here.Guess it depends on whether you mean in fic or just in The Discourse in general?

I see so so many bad takes on Xue Yang, especially people utterly glossing over his trauma, and... I'm happy for you guys, I guess, who've apparently never known trauma and what it does to a person? It's not a matter of Xue Yang deciding to be a murderous asshole because he broke a finger once. It's that his entire personality and the way his mind works were brutally shaped by severe abuse and trauma at a very young age. You don't have to like him or at all condone his actions, but have a little compassion, for fuck's sake.

As for Xiao Xingchen... I don't know which rubs me the wrong way the most, the "lol XXC can't do math" crowd claiming he's outright stupid, or the "lol XXC was raised by hippies" who utterly disregard his whole cultural context. Personally not at all a fan of mean (dom) Xiao Xingchen either, I just can't see it work with his canon personality, but to each their own, I guess. I won't read it, though.

2. a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom

Hmmm. That's actually a tough one, because I hc Xue Yang (And Xiao Xingchen for that matter) as rather fluid switches without particular preference as long as things are sexy and feel good.

I guess you could argue that Xue Yang would be wary about who he'd let top him because of his rough and precarious childhood and how badly the world's hurt him, but then, the boy also has a self-destructive high-risk-behaviour streak a mile wide, so.

I guess the closest I can get is that I don't think Song Lan enjoys the idea of bottoming, partly because of his more ingrained ideas of masculinity and femininity and the power roles he feels are inherent in topping/bottoming, but more importantly because he already struggles with physical touch, and the idea of being held down, touched and "trapped" in any way during sex is a bit scary. Not to say he wouldn't come around to it, but it'd take a lot more mulling over - and gentle experimentation. 😏

I already answered 12, so moving on to 16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

Oh man, is this my cue to mutter about mean dom Xiao Xingchen again? Like, I get the appeal of exploring characters far outside their canon constraints, I really do, and if mean dom Xiao Xingchen tickles your metaphorical pickle, by all means, have fun! I just personal really dislike it. (I am super grateful to all writers out there who have started tagging for it, though! It makes it easier to avoid - and find, for those who are into it. Everyone wins!)

As for pairings, I just don't like SangCheng or XiCheng, they both feel very pair-the-spares to me, and are just... Mm. Not for me. Honestly, funnily enough, SongXiao goes here, too, 95% of the time. I pretty much only like these two as part of SXX - I don't know if it is because of many SongXiao shippers' way of treating Xue Yang like dirt, or just because the two characters on their own don't interest me much, but yeah. On the whole, I won't read fic for just SongXiao unless recommended by people I trust, and I'll only like/reblog art if it's very pretty and doesn't imply dead Xue Yang.

I also really don't like most modern au BDSM fic? So much of it reads like a wholesome manual - and I'm sure for people in that scene, it's really hot! It just doesn't do anything at all for me, except give me secondhand embarrassment. If sex is going to be a bit painful and having undertones of dominance and submission, i want it to be very, very real, borderline dangerous and not done for play or politely negotiated beforehand. Gimme the hot mess or nothing.

(Mandatory disclaimer that these are just my personal squicks and mehs, not passing any judgment on anyone who does like them! My Kink Is Not Your Kink And That's Okay, and ship and let ship. ✌)

I already answered 22, too, but... Hm. I'm sure I can think of more if I try...

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

I think Xue Yang's and a-Qing's relationship is a lot more complicated than a lot of people seem to want to think! Especially for those who've only watched CQL, where a lot of the Yi City arc was either cut or angled to make it into more of a psychological thriller - but they were a family! All three of them, and in the text there is such clear evidence that they all really cared about each other! Even Xue Yang.

A-Qing stole his candy without fear, asked him "why were you like that when you were little??" when he told the first half of the story of his childhood trauma. When she claimed to have been bullied to the point of crying, he protectively told her how to defend herself and made her apple bunnies to cheer her up. Even after Xiao Xingchen's death (and he must have known by then that she was the one who sold him out) one of the things he did while cleaning the house was to make her bed, waiting for her to come back home.

Not least of all, Wang Haoxuan said in his in-character farewell note that Xue Yang would have protected a-Qing as long as their happy 'dream' in Yi City lasted.

They ended horribly, yes, causing each others' deaths, but there was a time where they cared deeply about each other and looked out for each other, and that still matters.

[ciaossu-imagines]

Hope that it’s alright that I’m asking about the whole list. If it’s too much, just pick your preferred ones. An you do day 20, prompt 7 (fanfiction questions)?

Of course it’s alright! I’ve done prompts much longer than the 20 questions here and honestly, I feel so flattered that you’re interested in me enough to ask! Thank you so much for sending this in, giving me the opportunity to talk about this, and I hope you’ll find some interesting little tidbits here, my gorgeous anon 😊

1.    When did you start writing?

Wayyyy, way too long ago to remember an exact age, honestly. I’ve been writing in some form for as long as I remember. I remember writing little scenes about Dragon Ball Z after watching episodes in a Hilroy scribbler that thankfully never saw the light of day. I remember writing Dream Street fanfiction to horribly date myself. I’ve been writing in some form from at least eight years old, and I remember going into early middle school trading hand-written, on looseleaf in binders, Harry Potter fanfiction with a friend. I remember writing on Quizilla first though for major fanfiction platforms, also around middle school I think, so I think my first internet fanfiction would have been around 2003-ish?? So I’ve been writing fanfiction here on the internet for at least 20 years, which makes me feel super fucking old, my lovelies.

2.    How many different fandoms have you written for?

Easily over a hundred. I write for a solid 37 fandoms on here currently and there’s been several that I used to write for but don’t anymore, not to mention fandoms that I wrote for way back and stopped writing for before ever coming onto Tumblr.

3.    If applicable, do you think your writing has improved a lot or a little since you first started writing?

Oh, I can absolutely guarantee you that my writing has improved leaps and bounds from little eight-year-old me scribbling on paper. Even from the original Polycanons blog here on Tumblr to today, I feel I am always improving my writing skills in some way or another. I honestly think that’s all I can continue hoping and praying for, that despite having a set style as a writer now, that I keep consistently improving on this or that as a writer. Right now, my biggest struggle still remains dialogue, but I’m actively working on improving that wherever I can.

4.    What was the first fic you wrote?

As mentioned above, I remember scribbling out little Dragon Ball Z fanfiction. The first smut I ever wrote was Vegeta smut, haha. I can’t remember the details of any of them clearly, but I think that was one of the first fics.

5.    What is your favourite fic you have written?

Oh, this one is impossible for me to answer. Not only do I have admitted issues with labelling anything as a favourite, but I’ve admitted that although some people have guessed prior names I’ve written under, I refuse to publicly acknowledge my past usernames I’ve used to write. It’s not because I’m ashamed so much of what I’ve written, though I do think that they are not the greatest fics and that I’ve improved in my skills as a writer since writing them, but more that, like every kid coming into fandom, I had to learn how to deal with fandom in general and that, at one point, I was a complete and utter douchecanoe who was judgmental of others and let getting mildly major in one of my fandoms get to my head. I regret my former actions so much and really am ashamed of the person I used to be in fandom, and since I’ve learned and matured into a much better person, I want to distance myself from that person I was. There are some who will know once I post an upcoming fic within the next couple of months, because it’s a rewrite of an old fic I’ve always wanted to rewrite and because it fits a prompt, I get to, but I won’t publicly acknowledge that so…a lot of my old fics can’t get discussed haha. I will say that, of the ones I can acknowledge here on tumblr, there was a fic I wrote for a Halloween exchange event that I loved writing and still imagine scenarios within that universe! It can be found here!

6.    Which character of yours has been your favourite to write?

I think I’ve kind of answered this a couple of times. Rather than favourites, I have characters I find easy to write. KHR overall is a fandom I find easiest to write about, with Gokudera, Enma and Yamamoto really being super easy for me to write within the fandom itself. For K, HOMRA is easiest for me to write about. In Nanbaka, Rock, Samon, Qi, Seitarou and Hajime are the easiest for me to write. In Iruma-kun, Balam and Jazz are the easiest for me to write. For Bungou Stray Dogs, Steinbeck, Kunikida, and Chuuya are the easiest for me to write about. In Servamp, Tsurugi, Sakuya, and Misono are easiest for me to write. In Eyeshield 21, Hiruma, the Kongo twins, Sakuraba and Riku are the easiest for me to write. In Saiyuki, the Sanzo-Ikkou are the easiest for me to write. In Ronin Warriors, Kento and Cye are easiest for me to write. In Kekkaishi, the Night Troops are easiest for me to write. In GetBackers, Ginji and Emishi are easiest for me to write. In Black Cat, it’s Sven. In Karneval, Yogi is the easiest for me to write. In Gangsta., Marco, Yang, Delico, and Alex are the easiest for me to write. In Bleach, it’s the Eleventh Division and Hisagi. In Naruto, it’s the Akatsuki. For Deadman Wonderland, it’s Senji and Minatsuki. In Ouran, it’s Haruhi and Tamaki. In Durarara, it’s Shizuo and Izaya. In Yu Yu Hakusho, it’s Kuwabara, Kurama, and Botan. In Gintama, it’s Gin, Hijikata, Kondo, and Okita. In Mystic Messenger, it’s V and Saeran. In Ikemen Revolution, it’s Kyle, Oliver, Harr, and Sirius. In Blush Blush, it’s Nimh and Cole. In Date Warp, it’s Linds. In Hatoful Boyfriend, it’s nobody really – I get to write about it so rarely that it’s equally hard and easy for all the characters. For The Outsiders, it’s Dally and Darry. For Class of the Titans, it’s Neil, Odie, and Herry. For Ultimate Spider-Man, it’s Danny, Luke, Sam, Flash, and Ben. For Gravity Falls, it’s Stan. For The Mighty Ducks, it’s Portman, Fulton, and Adam. For The Covenant, it’s Tyler. For Jungle Fury, it’s Dom, Fran, and Casey. For Ninja Storm, it’s Cam. For Mystic Force, it’s Chip. For Holes, it’s Zigzag and Twitch.

7.    Which character of yours do you most identify with (if any)?

Again, sticking just with the fandoms I deal with on here. For KHR, it’s Skull, Enma, and Gokudera. For K Project, it’s Bandou and Eric. For Nanbaka, it’s Jyugo. For Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun! it’s Iruma and Elizabetta. For Bungou Stray Dogs, it’s Kunikida, Steinbeck, Poe, Atsushi, and Chuuya. For Servamp, it’s Sakuya and Misono. For Saiyuki, it’s Gojyo. For Eyeshield 21, it’s Ishimaru, Unsui, and Yukimitsu. For Ronin Warriors, it’s Cye. For Kekkaishi, it’s Masamori. For GetBackers, it’s Natsumi. For Black Cat, it’s Eve. For Karneval, it’s Gareki. For Gangsta., it’s Delico. For Bleach, it’s Kira and Orihime. For Naruto, it's Naruto, Gaara, and Rock Lee. For Deadman Wonderland, it’s Ganta. For Ouran, it’s Haruhi. For Durarara, it’s Kadota. For Yu Yu Hakusho, it’s Kuwabara. For Gintama, it’s Shinpachi and Yamazaki. For Mystic Messenger, it’s V and the twins. For Ikemen Revolution, it’s Kyle and Zero. For Blush Blush, it’s Anon. For Date Warp, it’s Rafael. For Hatoful Boyfriend…probably Ryouta? For The Outsiders, Johnny and Ponyboy. For Class of the Titans, Odie. For Ultimate Spider-Man, Ben and Amadeus. For Gravity Falls, Dipper. For The Mighty Ducks, Adam, Fulton, and Goldburg. For The Covenant, Tyler. For Jungle Fury, Casey. For Ninja Storm, Cam. For Mystic Force, Chip and Madison. For Holes, Stanley and Zero.

8.    Which character of yours do you find the hardest to write?

Again, sticking just with the fandoms I deal with on here. For KHR, it’s Mukuro, Reborn, and Shitt P!. For K Project, it’s Nagare. For Nanbaka, it’s Jyugo, Liang, and Upa. For Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun! it’s Asmodeus and Opera. For Bungou Stray Dogs, it’s Dazai and Fyodor. For Servamp, it’s Lawless and Mikuni. For Saiyuki, it’s Lirin and Nii. For Eyeshield 21, it’s Kid and Akaba. For Ronin Warriors, it’s Rowen and Sage. For Kekkaishi, it’s Yoshimori. For GetBackers, it’s Ban and Kazuki. For Black Cat, it’s Train. For Karneval, it’s Gareki. For Gangsta., it’s Worick. For Bleach, it’s Hitsugaya. For Naruto, it's Sasuke. For Deadman Wonderland, it’s Shiro. For Ouran, it’s Kyoya and Mori. For Durarara, it’s Celty and Shinra. For Yu Yu Hakusho, it’s Hiei and Yusuke (in a relationship anyway). For Gintama, it’s Kamui. For Mystic Messenger, it’s Zen. For Ikemen Revolution, it’s Ray. For Blush Blush, it’s Stirling. For Date Warp, it’s Nathaniel. For Hatoful Boyfriend, Shuu. For The Outsiders, Sodapop and Steve. For Class of the Titans, Theresa and Jay. For Ultimate Spider-Man, Peter. For Gravity Falls, Ford. For The Mighty Ducks, Charlie. For The Covenant, Chase. For Jungle Fury, Theo. For Ninja Storm, Shane. For Mystic Force, Vida. For Holes, the Warden.

9. If any, what music/artists do you like to listen to while writing?

Ohh, I think I’ve mentioned this a couple of times on the blog, but I actually do up little playlists for most of my writing. If it’s a fic, the playlist tends to be longer and more personalized to the story itself. But I make them even for headcanon writing, since I pick five at a time I’m feeling, so I make up little hour-long playlists with songs that might be inspirational for the headcanons or speak to the theming of the headcanons.

10. Do you ever put any of your own traits or personality into any of your characters? Which?

Yes. There are parts of me that I add to some characters – mental processes, traits, viewpoints, quirks, habits. I see the potential for these characters to strongly do or think these ways and it makes sense for them. But it’s not just me that I do this with. I’m really good at reading people, figuring them out, because at one point survival for me really did rely on me being able to read people’s moods and anticipate their behaviours. And I honestly love learning about people because people are fascinating. So, all of that combined with my storied life means I’ve gotten to deeply know a wide variety of people and I’ll often write little bits and pieces of those people into characters where again, these parts of them I’m writing into the character make so much sense and feel authentic to the canon character themselves.

11. If you could take one character from your fic and put it with another character in another one of your fics, who would you want to see together?

Okay, but thank you for giving me the chance to write this. I am such a huge fan of crossovers. It’s so frigging fun to take characters from different media and stick them together and I think a lot about various crossovers, along with writing little scenes and headcanons of crossovers that never get seen because, really, there’s not requests for them and they’re not big enough to post as fics. But it’s fun to take wildly different characters and figure out who would get along, who would hate each other, what romances or relationships might come about, who would be those on and off type friends where you’re never sure if they like each other that day or hate each other that day, who are truly neutral towards each other and just don’t really notice each other, how they’d talk and interact with all these different people. Of course, high school and boarding schools make great crossover opportunities. KHR is actually really great to set crossovers in as well, just because a Mafia Family is a great way to add a different group of characters from a whole other media and that gives me the added fun of figuring out flame types for the characters. But I will admit to one of my hugest guilty pleasures…I’m such a hardcore Big Brother fan and that’s my favourite crossovers to imagine. I take whatever character I’m really feeling at the moment for each of my fandoms and I throw them all in as contestants in the Big Brother house. It’s fun to figure out not only who would get evicted first and who would win, but also who plays the best social game, who the comp beasts are, who forms alliances with who and how seriously do they take those alliances, who has the best blowups, who becomes a fan favourite and all those kind of things.

12. Which do you prefer writing most, description, dialogue, or actions?

Easily description, then actions, then dialogue. I’ve always been upfront that I’m never sure of my dialogue, that it’s hard for me to write conversations that feel authentic and natural and fit with the tone of the character’s voice and are worded like they would word things.

13. If you could base one of your fics in a different location than where it is currently, where would you like it to be?

Okay, but if I had my way, every fic and every fandom and every character would be visiting Disney World. Everyone goes to Disney World (props to the Varia for being the quickest to get evicted and banned from all Disney parks forever). Or they’d be in a supernatural land where magic and different creatures exist. Or they’d be in a great big old Victorian mansion, with a blizzard outside, warm crackling fires and Christmas just a night away. Those are normally my three go to’s.

14. Which of your fics would you like to see turned into a movie the most?

Honestly, though you guys haven’t seen the actual story come out yet, it’s The Ever Young. I’ve been planning and playing with it for years, and while I normally have a really hard time visualizing things (most things come in words and sounds, not images), it’s actually one where I can almost see the scenes and the story as an actual episodic anime. There’s arcs, seasons, suspense, great action scenes, romance and hatred, and NO FANSERVICE.

15. Which of your characters do you think you would be the most friendly with?

Now, this one is an interesting question because it’s not who I like the most, which characters I favour and would want to have like me, but the characters I genuinely think would enjoy spending time with me. It took me a bit to think about but the answer I’ve come up, for each fandom, is below:

For Katekyo Hitman Reborn – Yamamoto, Skull, Enma, Tsuna, Chrome, Levi A Than, Lussuria, Spanner, Shoichi, Kusakabe, Basil, Lanchia

For K – Bandou, Shouhei, Fujishima, Dewa, Munakata, Shiro

For Nanbaka – Nico, Momoko, Seitarou, Qi, Kiji

For Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun! – Iruma, Jazz, Lied, Elizabetta, Balam, Caim, Goemon

For Bungou Stray Dogs – Kunikida, Kenji, Tanizaki, Higuchi, SakuOda, Ango

For Servamp – Kuro, Misono

For Saiyuki – Gojyo, Hakkai, Yaone, Lirin

For Eyeshield 21 – Musashi, Mamori, Unsui

For Ronin Warriors – Cye, Mia, Rowen

For Kekkaishi – Masamori, Shu, Yukimasa, Tokine

For GetBackers – Ginji, Emishi, Natsumi

For Black Cat – Eve, Rinslet, Jenos, Kyoko

For Karneval – Nai, Yogi, Iva, Akari

For Gangsta. – Delico, Yang, Nina, Dr. Theo, Alex, Galahad

For Bleach – Kira, Momo, Hisagi, Rangiku, Orihime, Uryu

For Naruto – Sakura, Naruto, Hinata, Tenten, Rock Lee

For Deadman Wonderland – Shiro, Ganta, Karako

For Ouran – Honey, Haruhi, Mori, Nekosawa

For Durarara – Anri, Erika, Walker

For Yu Yu Hakusho – Keiko, Yukina

For Gintama – Shinpachi, Kyuubei, Zenzou, Madao, Kondo, Katsura

For Mystic Messenger – Jaehee, Yoosung

For Ikemen Revolution – Kyle, Blanc, Sirius, Luka

For Blush Blush – Nimh, Anon, William

For Date Warp – Linds, Rafael, Janet

For Hatoful Boyfriend – Ryouta

For The Outsiders – Ponyboy, Johnny, Darry

For Class of the Titans – Neil, Herry, Odie, Atlanta

For Ultimate Spider-Man – Ava, Luke, Harry, Flash

For Gravity Falls – Mabel, Stan, Soos

For The Mighty Ducks – Fulton, Averman, Goldburg, Connie

For The Covenant – Tyler, Pogue, Sarah

For Jungle Fury – Fran, Casey

For Ninja Storm – Dustin, Cam

For Mystic Force – Vida, Chip

For Holes – Stanley, Zero

16. Are there any ideas you are currently playing around with that you would like to write sooner or later?

Oh, there’s always a million ideas in my head. I don’t often have chances to write the ideas around, because I’m normally busy with something, so they just float around and never get used. I really do want to explore the pasts of a lot of my favourite characters, I’ve said for years I’ll get around to doing a next Gen full fic for KHR and a full fic werewolf pack AU for K, I have some original story ideas floating around (some paranormal erotica stuff)…like, there’s probably at least 50 different ideas for things I want to write floating around but it’s finding the time and mental energy to do so.

17. Favourite fic that is not written by you?

Impossible. Simply IMPOSSIBLE question. I have been extremely blessed to have found a fandom in KHR that has so many extremely talented or thought-provoking writers in it. In K, there are so many talented people coming up with interesting fics or just really amazing and interesting ideas. The same goes for the majority of my other fandoms (though there are some where I’m pretty sure I’m the only one writing in that fandom) and I admit to having really lucked out in finding fandoms where the pure creativity, passion, and talent the fandom has is astounding.

18. Have you ever written a personal experience into your fic?

Absolutely I have. Comfort fics or even writing traumatic experiences that you identify with into a fic can be incredibly therapeutic. I find it really helps me, in a lot of cases, to process my feelings around experiences when I get to write them out. Or some situations I’ve been in have been so weird and wonderful that they just can’t not be used to make a fic better or more interesting!

19. Who has been your favourite face claim to use?

Most of the icons I use are of characters I write about on the blog! My current icon is an anime version of me I commissioned. During my roleplaying days though, either Lenalee or Ami from Sailor Moon was one I used a lot.

20. Lastly, take your favourite character from any of your fics and tell us 3 things you like about him/her and 3 things you dislike?

Again, I don’t really have any favourites. I’ve been writing a lot of headcanon posts recently to build up a solid queue on the blog after the event’s end, so I’ll just go with the last character I wrote about for all the last three fandoms I wrote for!

Reborn from Katekyo Hitman Reborn – He has style, he’s always true to himself, he genuinely cares about his students…however, he can be overly harsh, he can be hypocritical, and he’s egotistical at times.

Munakata from K Project – he is very true to himself, he’s confident, he always tries his best…however, he’s too inflexible at times, his social skills suck, and he can’t read a room

Mikuni from Servamp – He’s so intelligent, he’s funny, he truly loves his brother…however, he can’t trust people, he’s flighty, and he likes to play with people’s heads

[grissomesque]

Interestingly enough, I feel the complete opposite about Tom and B’Elanna’s relationship re: he does enough right most of the time that it’s noticeable when he doesn’t. I feel like he’s such a a shitty partner to her that it stands out way more when he is actually nice to her lol. Lineage and Drive make me cringe to watch because of how bad is he at showing empathy towards her. And I like him as a character! I just think he’s better person when he’s 1000 ft away from B’Elanna.

Also re: the wife guy stuff, I definitely think that particular piece of fandom revisionism started from people reading too much fanfic and forgetting what the actual source material is like. Plus, people have a tendency to just call any male character who’s married a wife guy

I guess what I mean is that when he's good with B'Elannna, it aligns with what we know of him as a character overall and with all of his other relationships. So the bad stands out in that context, if that makes sense.

For example, he's so protective of Janeway (Time and Again, Dreadnought, Deadlock, I'm even gonna say Worst Case Scenario because we all trust Tuvok's judgment here 😆) and we periodically see hints of that with B'Elanna, so I can look at that and go, okay, there he is. (Or I can look at it and go: HE BELONGS WITH JANEWAY! 😁) Then he does some rude shit to B'Elanna while B'Elanna is acting wildly OOC herself, and at that point I just tune it out, because it's a disservice to both of them.

I mean: she gets on his case about the holodeck, but she rock climbs and sky dives or whatever on the holodeck? He tinkers with old cars and she's an engineer? How is it possible that they have so little in common? Well, it's not, we're even told that they always wanted to design a shuttle together, and it's just bad writers making Some Dumb Point about Poor Vulnerable B'Elanna. They both deserve better.

I can't even watch Lineage. I hate both of them in that episode. And if my spouse tried to genetically modify my child behind my back I would fucking lose my shit. I know we're supposed to be sympathetic to B'Elanna in this one, and I'm not unsympathetic to her feelings and her experiences, but her actions, hoooooooooo boy it's a nope for me. And even the way it all resolves still feels super unhealthy to me.

The best part of Drive is the J/P of it all. Like! Not to get on my soapbox but Janeway is so into it, Tom is so into it, B'Elanna is so not into it, why not just call it a no fault breakup and find better partners!! B'Elanna is so right:

TORRES: There's a Klingon phrase my grandmother used to use. Mok'tah. It means bad match. That's what Tom and I are. I just hate that it's taken me three years to realise it. NEELIX: If you're really such a mok'tah, it must have been an awful three years.

Yes! It! Has!!

Listen, the best argument I can make is actually a bit of my own fic, if you'll forgive me. In Renaissance Man, the Doctor takes on B'Elanna's appearance, calls Tom lieutenant to his face, and Tom's like, want some chicken? Give me a break. No one is that clueless. So I wrote (and, uh, spoilers, I guess):

They’ve known each other for seven years. They’ve been together for almost five, and married for half of that time. So he knows, immediately, that something is wrong. He knows that something is wrong because when he calls to her across the empty corridor she stops dead in her tracks, anxiety clouding her eyes. Not her eyes; the Doctor’s. The Doctor, who doesn’t know why the name Kathryn would come out of Tom Paris’ mouth. But Tom doesn’t understand any of this yet. He only knows that she shouldn’t be looking at him like that, not if everything is fine. “What’s happened?” he asks, striding over to her. “I’m fine, Lieutenant,” she snaps. “I’m extremely busy.” His blood runs cold.

Because I am a bit single-minded about J/P, it wasn't until after I posted it that I realized how much that also speaks to P/T. Like, that's how it should've played out for them, realistically. But they once again sacrificed Tom's characterization for a bit.

Anyway. A thousand times yes to fanon wife-guy revisionism.

[hopeymchope]

There's an answer to your question, hopeymchope, but it's not a very pleasant answer: in pop culture fandoms, people do not make moral judgments based on convictions, like you do. They make judgments based on "agendas and personal tastes", so the goal of fandom morality is to "push their tastes on others". Example: Yaoi shippers hate traditional romance, so they "rewrite morality so cruelty is good, and kindness is bad", so they can force male characters into relationships with their tormentors.

Note: This is in response to this post.

I guess I'll start with replying to the contents herein before I talk about how they relate to the previous post.

Firstly, I don't know that I agree with your assessment that people are forcing their tastes onto others. I mean, we can all associate with only like-minded people easily enough on the Internet. Why would you start up a "ship war" when you can just hang out with people who love the same ships that you do? Sure, there are still some hardcore shippers who go around picking fights — I still get anti-Naegiri anger sent my way sporadically — but that's clearly the minority.

Although, as nice as that option for self-isolating is for fandom spaces, it's also a big part of what's driving America rapidly towards its collapse these days. The fact that nobody learns from being exposed to anybody else's viewpoints. Everyone lives in an echo chamber now. Taking that self-isolation from fandom and extending it into political and moral spaces has made people increasingly extreme.

But I digress. The idea that people are making their moral judgments on fictional characters based on their personal tastes? That part definitely rings true. I believe that if a character is aesthetically pleasing to someone, they have a much higher chance of trying to embrace them regardless of who they really are as a character. The same thing goes for relationship tastes. If you're hardcore into yaoi, you're going to see potential for it in places others might not. Or you might embrace relationships that seem downright unlikely to others.

But ultimately, do I think all this stuff is the secret reason why people ship characters who hate each other? Mmm... I don't know that it is. I mean, it's probably PART of it — one of the biggest contingent of shippers in fandom has always been slash fans, and they'll try to hunt for their sauce wherever they can find it. But I feel there's a deeper issue at the root: There's long been this school of thought that there's a thin line between love and hate — the same mindset that says "that boy is bullying that girl because he secretly likes her." Personally? I don't understand that OR think it's even ok to buy into that. It feels very outdated to me and feeds into extremely unhealthy relationships. But it's obviously there for all these people who see characters that openly disdain each other as secretly harboring desire for each other. It's maybe the most common ship trope in fandom! Which WORRIES me!

For example: What's the most popular ship for BNHA/My Hero Academia on AO3? Why, it's BakuDeku! Y'know, the ship between an obvious abuser and his victim?!?! Bakugo literally tried to goad Deku into fucking killing himself, has unresolved rage issues that he can't turn off, and now people think he's hot and they should hook up. That is UNSETTLING.

Please, y'all: Do NOT go through life being attracted to people with anger issues or ESPECIALLY not to people who treat you like crap. I am begging you.

[machinavellian]

hi :)

i just wanted to pop into your ask box to say thank you for writing interstate! (as well as precedence!). interstate is, to this day, my favorite fic, and also, it is the fic that inspired me to start writing fanfiction. i've read it like a million times- i have a pdf on my computer and an epub on my phone so i can highlight my favorite parts. (i swear i'm not crazy, just autistic lol). i could go on and on about how your writing is perfect. the characterization, the plot, the prose itself. i generally hate happy endings in fics but you managed to write one that i love. i'll never stop thinking about how you wrote the sex scene in one sentence. to be able to get across the whole essence in one simple sentence takes so much talent i could never. and the way you did the pov switch without switching povs (where norman is imagining what ethan is doing) was brilliant! (i am awful about accidentally switching povs)

i wish i could explain myself better, but i'm not as good with words as you are.

anyway, since i'm here i also have a question, and i hope it's not too vague or stupid etc. but how do you do it?? (i guess what i mean is, what books/other media inspires your writing? do you have a writing routine or a secret tip? or is it just natural talent?)

sorry for being a weirdo but your fic is my roman empire so to speak

thanks again for writing and publishing (especially in our tiny little fandom!!)

pardon how late this is, i'm not at all good at tumblr lmao. but ahhh, thank you, you're very kind! it's so great to hear that something i wrote meant so much to someone else, and it's SO great to hear that it got someone else writing their own fic! no judgment whatsoever about the hoarding of copies, my autism is the cause of many mysterious choices i make in life 😌

it's a little embarrassing in a way because i most definitely don't consider myself a creator of great literature or anything, i just work hard on my fics and take the process of writing them seriously (maybe too seriously)... but i'm going to try to answer your question/request for tips as sincerely as i can!

read. like for real, read other people's writing! i actually don't do this nearly as much as i would like to anymore and i can tell my writing is a little rustier for it. when i read other people's writing, i sometimes feel like i'm filling up an invisible "tank" that holds my ability to do words good. :') as a personal example, i have a short story anthology by vladimir nabokov that i've been slowly whittling my way through for a million years -- i loved his prose the first time i read it in middle or high school and i think it has been a big influence on my desire to look for unexpected turns of phrase and vocabulary words i didn't know before. sometimes i like to keep a list of new vocab words i encounter as i read to look up later, but usually i end up getting distracted and looking them up as i go. 😩 though this is easier than ever if you're reading digitally, i suppose! i think learning to identify the things you like in writing is really important. for me, that has a lot to do with not only finding the exact words i want to describe something, but also their cadence/musicality in a sentence. i remember very little about the poetry terms i learned in school, but i think learning about the anatomy of poems can be a really useful tool when it comes to prose also! or if nothing else, it can be fun to try experimenting with shuffling around the order of words or substituting one synonym for another to see how it changes the overall sound and feel of a sentence.

write! then tweak/rewrite. i actually hate the advice "you gotta just write" lmao... pisses me off every time because i know it's true 😭 i can dick around writing notes/meta as long as i like (and i do), but there's truly no other way to make progress like just fucking writing SOMETHING down even if you hate it and think it's bad. i used to get academic papers done in college and grad school by quickly and sloppily blasting down the basic gist of my main points like a 10 year old and then going back and revising it to sound like an adult. it's a little different with fiction because i'm writing something i already actually want to write, but it can still help to jot down the bare bones of a scene even if i don't even use it in the end. writing out dialogue can help a lot in my experience. i do feel pretty strongly that revisions are nearly always necessary -- i don't always get my fics beta'd by another person, but at minimum i have to put it down and re-read it for myself to make sure everything is flowing the way i want it to. betas really are helpful, though, because a LOT of times i'll think something makes perfect sense in my head only to find out my friend has no idea what i'm on about lmao. this can also help with things like switching povs, like you mentioned! there's nothing wrong with having a pov switch happen in your fic, mind you! it's just that ideally it's happening because you wanted it to happen instead of like, uh-oh, i need to convey some information about norman that ethan doesn't have a way of knowing. it's funny you mention the fap/fantasy scene because i think that's literally what happened when i was writing it, like... i think i was like "hmm, i want to emphasize that ethan is most definitely Into norman and this thing that's growing between them, but i've stuck with norman's pov this entire time and i don't want to put one solitary scene of ethan pov in there, if i can help it... but hey, norman's a profiler! visualizing what people do when they're alone is his whole thing!" so that was the perfect excuse to frame it that way in the end. ✨

canon review for characterization. this has less to do with the mechanics of writing, but honestly, if i had to choose, i'd much rather read a fic that totally nails the characterization than one that's perfect on a technical level. y'know that meme that's like "he would NOT fucking say that"? i do everything i can to avoid eliciting that response lfkdslf. iirc while i was writing interstate i basically always had an LP of heavy rain playing so i could observe the way the characters react in different situations, listen to their speech patterns and the types of words/language they use, and just kind of... idk, absorb the general vibe a little bit, i guess? i know i just mentioned you have to write Actual Story and not just notes to make progress, but i do also tend to have a LOT of notes about like... "okay so norman actually really likes this guy, but the reason he's holding back his feelings is because he's given so much of himself to his work and he's so used to looking at people in the abstract that he struggles to connect with them, leading him over time to decide that he can't or isn't good enough to be what ethan deserves, and what could ethan maybe say or do to help challenge that so they can move forward?" etc etc.... at the risk of being Very Autistic, i find i do a lot of if/then calculations when it comes to plotting character beats. 😅 "if these two particular lonely dudes start to form a connection one night at a bar, what then?"

have a thesis. this feels kind of ridiculously pretentious when i write it out, but it honestly really helps me a lot with staying focused: it's basically me answering wtf my point is. why do i think this fic needs to be written in the first place? it's the thing i want to accomplish, the idea i want to share with people who read it. even if i don't have a solid statement to make, there's always SOME kind of central question i'm trying to answer -- a lot of times, that question is as simple as "man, you know, i really wanna see these two bone. what has to happen for that to be possible?" for precedence i think it was basically just "hey wouldn't it be fucked up if...?" and for interstate it expanded to "hey i think these two deserve a happy ending and they deserve to share it together. what does that look like?"

so i dunno, hopefully all that is at least slightly useful and not just self-indulgent rambling, but thank you for giving me the ability to self-indulgently ramble if nothing else 😭

but above all, please do not doubt your own ability! writing is hard and sometimes sucks but it's also a lot of fun and there's not a right way to tell the story you want to tell, it just matters that you tell it. so... DO 💪

[thedum1]

You definitely have issues with women. You come off as racist and misogynistic. Having issues with tagging. You need to grow up. The internet isn’t a safe space. If you don’t like things, just ignore it. However, you seem like those older people who desperately trying to act young. You aren’t.

Plus, women and Female readers will always remain. You speak about hate, but you seem to spew a lot of hate too. Also, there are lots of other races of women too, they didn’t have the best representation. It’s good seeing more diverse female representation, but you seem to have issues with that too. That’s very racist of you.

Ooh the Same Anon. Fine you want me to admit things? I will. I'll even list it them off for you this time, because you're special.

I am American Indigenous with some Caucasian and Hispanic, I'm fully aware POC reader's need more representation, have been since 2010 DeviantArt days. How do I come off as racist anyways??

I am AFAB. For most of my life, until June 1st 2021 actually, I went by strictly she/her. That's obviously no longer the case. I'm fine with any of the "main 3" pronouns, she/her, he/him and they/them. I Strongly prefer they/them though.

Yes, I have a problem with she/her and she/they reader fics but ONLY when it goes untagged or is in the male and gender neutral reader tags.

I'm no longer reading "x reader" for me. It's mostly so I can imagine my MCs and OCs in different scenarios. In my favorite fandoms I just happen to have male and masculine presenting OCs.

I do have full awareness of female and feminine presenting readers being around. I don't care that they exist and probably read the same shit I do. I'm complaining about the writers who, as I've stated before and you can't seem to pick up on, don't use the actual tags or misuse the tags.

The internet is not a safe space, but if I go into a somewhat safe space such as the "x gn!reader" tag and see she/her in the story I'm allowed to be upset. Because that isn't gender neutral.

The internet isn't a safe space but I'm allowed to create a little safe corner of bullshit nonsense for those who want a safe space. I just want that for myself and others without fear of it being invaded.

And yes, I act young, I watch cartoons (my favorites are Blue's Clues and Miraculous Ladybug BTW) and like soft plushies and wanna play with dolls and get overly excited for small things. That's not bad. Life is shitty and the world is burning. If I find a small amount of comfort in something like acting a little childish so be it. I'm not hurting anyone. And guess what, judgmental anon, I'm not the only one.

Really, Judgmental Judy, the only one who's hurting anyone right now is you. You're making light of my valid issues and trying to put words in my mouth, so to speak, and how I cope with just existing.

The sheer audacity you have to come to my blog, my safe place on this horse shit of a wannabe social media site/app, and judge me for having problems with the lack and misuse of tags then to claim I'm misogynistic and racist and judging me for my harmless way of coping. Where the fuck do you get off?

This is the internet and I'm fucking pissed the very few safe places I have on it are being filled with the very things I've blacklisted.

Get the fuck off my blog and block me, coward.

-if anyone else wants to reblogs this shit and air out their grievances be my guest-

[scottstiles]

my hot take is FUCK prev tags. FUCK IT. i absoluteLY HATE having to wade through a bazillion tags saying fukinfidgjkf PREV befor i can see what the PREV you were godtdam PREVING ABOUT

[jesswritesthat]

Suna Rintarō: Dirt

Fandom: Haikyuu!! — [ Masterlist ]

Summary: fluff

• Suna knows all the gossip, but no one knows his - so naturally they ask his closest friend. It’s a golden opportunity - unless there’s more to it.

Warnings: mature language

>>>>—————————>

Gossip and rumours were a natural part of high school. You knew that, everyone knew that, so you're never surprised to hear the hushed whispers buzzing around like flies.

Out of everyone in the school though, Suna was your favourite person to gossip with and you believed it to be mutual. It helped that you'd been friends for a while prior, so the Middle Blocker had no trouble casually dropping hot information like it was nothing.

Usually he'd sit relaxed, attention preoccupied by his phone in hand and a deadpan look on his face, telling you that Kimari was going to break up with Mina during lunch break today because she'd cheated on him in his most bored tone. His entire aura contradicting the earth-shattering discovery.

You only asked how his Math class went...

From these frequent arrows of bewilderment he'd occasionally fire, you could tell that Suna Rintarō had the dirt on everybody.

Suna didn't care much for it in honesty, people would naturally disclose details to him either because he seemed unbothered or they thought he'd give insightful advice - which he boredly did, but that's not the point.

Only certain things were mentioned since he respected others’ privacy and there was a steadfast trust between you hence you could discuss things together. Your expressions were his favoured moments - dropping social bombs on you when you were eating or drinking purely to see you cough up an astounded "What the fuck Rin?!".

What could he say? He enjoyed frustrating you and you’d learnt that little annoying quirk of his from all the times you’d spent in his company.

So Suna Rintarō has dirt on everyone, but who had the dirt on Suna?

You of course.

The Blocker was a beautiful mystery and kept to himself, so it wasn’t strange for others to be curious about him and you were the prime target for questioning.

"Hey, is everything alright with Suna-san? He's usually with you..." The query perplexed you slightly, not thinking any of your classmates were overly observant but you’d stand corrected.

"Yeah he's practicing a lot more for the Interhigh Tournament, Inarizaki want to be Hyōgo representatives so he’s likely in the gymnasium."

You weren't an idiot, nor Suna either, which meant you could tell when your classmates went fishing - except, he had a nasty habit of enjoying exploiting opportunities.

"They're probably going to ask again, so tell them whatever you want." Suna shrugged once you’d mentioned the latest attempt at people finding out about him.

"To clarify, you want me to lie for your amusement."

"No, it’s lying for the greater good. We're setting an example that gossiping is wrong." There was an air of wit to his voice when he’d corrected you, matching your expectant gaze with a mischievous glint in his own. Unreadable as ever.

"Suna Rintarō, do you really expect me to believe that?" You’d tutted, playfully nudging his shoulder as he issued you a quick soft look before morphing to that of resignation.

"Worth a shot."

It was silent for a second, Suna scrolling through his social media as you considered your options, a devious lilt to your tone that almost made Rintarō second guess his judgment if it were anyone else.

"...so I can say anything?"

"Yeah. I won't care."

———

Thus it began, an interesting social experiment that would likely yield zero valuable results aside from being controversially entertaining.

"I wonder what Suna is doing for the future... do you know?" A brunette loudly wondered next to you, subtly searching for an answer to his thoughts.

"You know what, I do?” A smug grin danced on your lips, thoughtfully humming in feigned thought. “Rintarō wants to drop out of high school, move to Tokyo and open up a sushi shop called Sunas' Tuna."

"He... he what?"

"I know, unbelievable right?" A quiet laugh escaped you, shrugging in response once your Sensei started teaching.

——

"Do you know if Suna is single or not?" Came the wistful inquisition of one of your female classmates who’d always admired him during his Volleyball games.

"He is, but maybe he and Atsumu have got a thing going on, I dunno."

"Oh-oh... if any, I thought it'd be Osamu but..."

Maybe you could mention the record he currently held with the sock sliding across the court too?

———

"The Miya one? Seriously?" Rinatrō leaned into your space once meeting you after his practice that evening, bemusement underlying his hushed callout.

"You said anything~"

He withdrew once hearing your sing song tone, that satisfied grin of yours earning you a roll of his eyes and lifeless muttering.

"You could've at least picked Osamu…"

"Wait- so you're not mad about the bromance part, you're upset because I said Atsumu!"

"I'm 'upset' that you picked the more annoying twin." Suna clarified indifferently, immersing himself in the scenery again.

"Atsumus’ fangirls will surely take a hit, so I did you a favour Sunarin - he's going to be complaining that Osamu is getting more attention than him."

"When you put it like that, I suppose I accept it."

The most amusing part for you was undoubtedly when the gossip come back around, classmates relaying information to you like a prized agency secret unbeknownst to them that’d you’d actually started it.

Deep down you figured people wouldn’t believe half, and you were glad to see them straight up conversing with Suna themselves - but one particular rumour caught you drastically off-guard on a bright Monday afternoon.

"Haven't you heard? Suna won't date anyone else because he's into you." Her words left your throat constricting and mind racing a mile a minute for possible explanations, the only prominent thought being:

You hadn't started this one.

Sunas’ Tuna? Yeah that was you.

'Atsuna' ship? Guilty.

Holds the current Inarizaki VBC sock slide record? That one was actually true.

But this? You had no part in.

Instinctively your deductive gaze quickly flicked to your smirking friend on the other side of the classroom, searching for his help but firstly determining whether he’d overheard - apparently not.

You settled on the curious girl once more, a slight unease contorting your posture, too preoccupied with what Suna would think of this one. He’d said he didn’t care, but you didn’t want to be associated with this considering you found him attractive already - you’d have to apologise and assure him it did not originate from your lips.

“There’s no way, I mean who did you even hear that from?”

“Someone from Class 2.” The girl cheerily replied, sneaking a glance at the aforementioned player whilst you briskly amended what you could.

“Right, well it’s not true. Suna doesn’t - we aren’t - he’s my - nevermind.”

Cautiously you slipped into the seat in front of the Middle Blocker once finishing the conversation. Suna slumped and relaxed in his chair, sparing a raised brow at your suspicious behaviour once you’d turned around to lean on his desk.

"Rin, have you heard what people are saying?"

"Gotta admit, didn't think you'd bring up my court sock slide record." He’d sat up now, phone away and leaning forward to narrow the distance due to your subdued whispering of this ‘private’ matter he’d presumed.

"No smartass! The one about you and me!"

Suna gave a low snigger with your reply, his calculating gaze sending shivers down your spine alongside that alluring calm voice of his.

"Oh? That I like you? So you finally heard that huh."

"Yes but I didn't start that one, I swear. I'm not trying to mess up our friendship.” How you’d attempted to justify yourself was sweet but completely unnecessary, only adding to his initial amusement once overhearing your conversation mere moments ago.

"I know you didn't start it.” Suna confidently assured, pausing with his tone lowering an octave. “Because I did."

A deadly glare was directed toward him, Suna completely unfazed whilst you analysed his possible intentions with a mild accusatory tone.

“You did? Why would you do that Rin?”

"Someone asked the other day and I told them the truth, figured seeing your reaction to it would be worth it though - and it was." There was a smirk playing on his lips, only widening the more frustrated you got.

"Wait - you did this for a goddamn reaction?"

"No, I did it because I want you to be mine. The cute reactions of yours were just a bonus." Aggravatingly cool was what he was, effortlessly slinking from his seat when he’d noted your slight movement resembling a predator toward prey - you’d get him for this he’s certain. But he loved that.

"Are you kidding me?! Suna I'm going to destroy your phone - I hate you! Come back here—"

“So you like me too?”

“Yes but I still hate you!”

“Whatever you say, I’ll just make it up to you~”

———

BONUS:

The twins shared equally quizzical glances when Suna sprinted past them - which was uncharacteristic in itself, the only reason he’d move so fast was—

“Rin!!!”

Ah, there it is, you cursed after him with a brief wave sent to the Miyas who split to let you past them.

“Yeah yeah, I’ll pick you up at 7 then babe?”

“Don’t call me babe Rin!”

They’d guessed the context upon hearing the two of you exchanging sarcastic comments as you went - Atsumu placing a dramatic hand over his heart.

"Can't believe he broke ma heart like that, thought we had somethin' special accordin' to the gossip."

"Nah, yer too annoying' for even Suna to want. Glad our friends are happy though." Came the familiar teasing of Osamu, instantly igniting the sparks of a debate.

"Shut yer trap 'Samu! Ya weren't even mentioned in the rumours!"

"Good???"

"Gah! Can't believe I lost fans' attention over this crap!"

“Yet yer pleased for ‘em, aren’t ya ‘Sumu?” Osamu smugly read his brother, the faux blonde begrudgingly admitting his more sentimental views.

“…Yeah, but I can’t make Suna jealous anymore.”

<——————————<<<<

[ Masterlist ]

[buffysummers]

i respect not liking spuffy but i think it's a little disingenuous to imply that spuffy fans like it because they don't see the show for what it really is (unlike you, i guess?). sure, some spuffies are like that—just like how some bangels are like that—but mostly it's people who do in fact see this part of the show for what it really is, and they find what they see compelling (just like bangels! or just like fans of other interestingly fucked up shit in media!). again you don't have to like it or like the fandom but projecting that dislike onto people who do doesn't make it true that they're dumb or blind. or worse, turning it into a morality judgment. liking fucked up shit might pose interesting questions about why certain people find certain themes compelling but it doesn't make them, as people, fucked up and it's dangerous and honestly kind of awful to conflate those things irl. [sorry for the length—just wanted to give my 2¢. as a counterpoint to myself it's possible i've just had better experiences in spuffy fandom than you have.]

The reason why I say that some Spuffies don't "see the show for what it really is" is because they're literally romanticizing abuse? And idk, you'd think that people wouldn't do that? I want to see the best in people? If they truly saw the show for what it is, how do they think that Spike showing up to blow Buffy's head off in 5.07, but then deciding not to, is very romantic? Or the fact that he emotionally abuses Buffy in 6.13 on the balcony and ignores her when she says "don’t" to him, is sexy? Like... that's what I mean when I say I see the show for what it really is. They’re ignoring context for these scenes entirely and glamorizing it. When the abuse is so?? Blatant?? 

As for Bangels, I have never seen a Bangel romanticize anything remotely as fucked up as any of the scenes I listed, and I COULD have listed many more scenes. You don't see Bangels romanticizing the fact that Angelus was obsessed with Buffy and stalked her, when the truth is, Angelus DID love Buffy, in his own sick and twisted way, the only way he could love someone while being soulless, which the same can be applied to Spike. And yet they push the narrative that "Spike loved Buffy while he was soulless, but Angel never did." When that’s simply not true, we just don’t romanticize or hype up these scenes because we have an entire relationship outside of Angelus/Buffy worth supporting.

If they aren’t blind, what else is their excuse? Like why would you romanticize situations like this? I’ve spoken before about how SOME Spuffies admit that the relationship is abusive, but they still love it because we ALL love trash sometimes that we know we shouldn’t. And they don’t defend the abuse.

I’m sorry, but it IS a morality judgment? Spuffies bend over backwards to make Bangel seem problematic because they feel shitty about liking what they like. In the end, Angel is nothing but respectful to Buffy, he respects her sexual boundaries, and Buffy is the one to initiate having sex with him. The power is in her hands, she has control, she has a say. But that is an entirely different and much longer discussion.

You probably have different experiences in the Spuffy fandom because you are more than likely a Spuffy who is aware of how toxic and abusive the ship is. But I’m not a Spuffy, and Spuffies have been known to harass, insert Spike/Spuffy in ALL fandom spaces, and attack people that don’t support their ship. I also NEVER said that people that LIKE Spuffy are fucked up. Just that... it’s a bit puzzling and concerning that they find these things worth supporting.

If you read my anti Spuffy in season seven meta, you would have read the part where I basically address the “morality” aspect, and how it is OK to like fucked up media if you see value in it, AS LONG as you don’t defend it or excuse it. Because what happens between Buffy and Spike could easily happen to anyone. It’s abuse, it’s predatory, it’s deeply unsettling and it’s triggering.

[maxwell-grant]

Any thoughts on Darkman, the Liam Neeson movie? I heard it was originally going to be a Shadow movie.

I love Darkman very much, but I've realized recently that this love comes with some pretty bittersweet feelings at the story behind it.

Michael Uslan: I was going to produce a Shadow feature film with Sam Raimi, but Sam got consumed by back-to-back movies and we ran out of time. We were headed in a good, period piece direction and managed to do so without relying on yet another bout with Shiwan Khan. I later had another major director passionate to do The Shadow, but a person at the company wanted to do a modern day TV series instead, which ultimately did not go... - comment saved from a post in The Shadow Knows Facebook group

For those of you who only now got into The Shadow or don't remember, for much of the early 00s, when The Shadow basically had no current projects and Conde Nast was taking down webpages and fan content left and right, the only things that kept this "fandom" alive were occasional fanfics (many of which are gone now), and the dim light in the horizon that was the rumors that Sam Raimi was finally going to make his Shadow film. Dig back on The Wayback Machine for Shadow web page and you're gonna see this as consistently the only thing they had to look forward to in regards to the character. These rumors floated around for over a decade, at one point Tarantino was even supposed to direct it, but he confirmed in 2013 that it wasn't going to happen. At least, not with him at the helm.

The project has been dead for a while now, and Conde Nast seems to be shuffling around plans for the character, and I deleted my Facebook months ago so I haven't kept up with any news, although it seems the James Patterson novel wasn't received too well, so I'm not sure what other plans they have in the pipeline.

Back in the 1970s, after the release of Richard Donner's Superman and in line with The Shadow's pop culture resurgence, thanks to the paperback reprints and the 70s DC run, there were plans to make a Shadow feature film, and there were quite a handful of scripts being tossed around for the following years (Will Murray states most of them were horrible), several names attached to the project at one point or another. The plans died down a bit following Gibson's death and only really picked up again after the 90s, and of course we all know that the 1994 movie came out with spectacularly bad timing. From what I recall, it seems Sam Raimi wanted to make his Shadow film in the 80s, was unable to secure the rights, and then just made his own version, which would go on to be his first major motion picture.

Even after making Darkman, Sam Raimi still wanted to make The Shadow. I guess that's ultimately the bittersweet part for me. I imagine the current state of Shadow media would be significantly better if Sam Raimi, who was a fan of the character and the pulp version (and even knows of The Shadow's connection to Houdini and stage magic), got to make his Shadow film, years before Blood & Judgment, years before Burton's Batman made it impossible for a Shadow film not to be compared to it, in a time period where it wouldn't have had to compete with The Lion King and The Mask for box office. And second, I have been drawing up my plans for Shadow projects for, what, 5 years now? And I have just barely got my foot off the door as a filmmaker. Sam Raimi had a decade-long career as a cult filmmaker before he got turned down, and decades later, after becoming a household name in charge of Marvel's biggest icon, the project still fell through. It doesn't exactly get my hopes up, y'know.

I love Darkman, it's the best Shadow film that doesn't technically star the real Shadow, and it works pretty well on it's own regardless of that association, but I do get pretty sad looking at it from the outside, because I just can't help but think on what it could have been.

In some aspects I do think the film benefits from not being about The Shadow proper, because it means Raimi got the freedom to do whatever the hell he wanted. The character of Darkman already existed separately from Sam Raimi's plans for a Shadow film, already carrying off the Phantom / Universal Monster influence, and what Raimi did was basically combine the two ideas together.

He took the basic iconography of The Shadow, a terrifying urban crimefighter in coat and slouch hat, and add in other Shadow traits like his mastery of disguise, his disfigurement, and that wonderful scene where he's invisibly running circles around a panicky triggerman while laughing maniacally, a moment which definitely feels like Raimi taking a second to indulge himself to do what you can call The Classic Shadow Scene with a character he's, for the most part, succesfully convinced us (and Conde Nast's lawyers, most importantly) isn't supposed to be The Shadow.

But then he filters these through his own influences and style to make him a new character, so instead of a mysterious mastermind with lots of resources and a enigmatic background, instead he's a disfigured and psychotic scientist with a vengeance against those who made him that way. He's like Night Raven, in the sense that he's built off traits that The Shadow has, but develops them differently to the point he stands on his own as a character. It's The Shadow combined with The Phantom of the Opera, filtered through a 1930s Universal Horror lens, played for greater tragedy and a dash of Evil Dead 2 wackyness.

He hides away in trashed up ruins and bickers with a cat, he has fits of rage that make him endanger innocents, he has a doomed love affair, and sometimes he gets so batshit he gives us hilarious moments like "TAKE THE FUCKING ELEPHANT" and "SEE THE DANCING FREAK! PAY - FIVE - BUCKS! TO SEE THE DANCING FREAK!". Moments that really show why he was such a good fit for Spider-Man despite the liberties he took with the source material.

I think the big thing that helps to make Darkman works as a property in it's own right is also that, ultimately, these influences are ultimately at the forefront of it, and the core of it works on it's own. Darkman is a believable, engaging character in his own right, one who tells a story that would be more at odds with The Shadow proper. 

In some aspects, Darkman tries to be The Shadow, he is forced to become The Shadow by literally picking the clothes off a dumpster after he escapes the hospital, and it's a miserable, wretched existence, in a way rather befitting his status as a legally safe knock-off. He is a creature of nightmare who lost his face and takes on a dozen others to fight crime by turning terror against them, except he is still just a man in the end, and no man was ever supposed to live like this.

Raimi was also inspired by the Universal horror films of the 1930s and 1940s because "they made me fear the hideous nature of the hero and at the same time drew me to him. I went back to that idea of the man who is noble and turns into a monster".

He originally wrote a 30-page short story, titled "The Darkman", and then developed into a 40-page treatment. At this point, according to Raimi, "it became the story of a man who had lost his face and had to take on other faces, a man who battled criminals using this power"

A non-superpowered man who, here, is a hideous thing who fights crime. As he became that hideous thing, it became more like The Phantom of the Opera, the creature who wants the girl but who was too much of a beast to have her

I decided to explore a man's soul. In the beginning, a sympathetic, sincere man. In the middle, a vengeful man committing heinous acts against his enemies. And in the end, a man full of self-hatred for what he's become, who must drift off into the night, into a world apart from everyone he knows and all the things he loves.

For the role, Raimi was looking for someone who could suggest "a monster with the soul of a man"

It's the fact that Darkman is ultimately played for vulnerability and tragedy that really sets him apart. While I wouldn't go far enough to say The Shadow is a man with the soul of a monster, still, the difference in presentation is still there when it comes to these two. The Shadow is The Other, Darkman is You. Darkman is the victim of extraordinary circumstance that affects his life, The Shadow is the extraordinary circumstance that affects the lives of others. People react to The Shadow, Darkman reacts to people (and rather poorly).

One is the man who takes off his skin (or yours, staring back at you) to reveal the weird creature of the night ready to prowl and pounce and cackle at those who think they hold power over it's domain, and the other is the monster who falls apart bit by bit until you are left staring at the broken man within who has no choice but to be something he was never supposed to be.

The Shadow is The Master of Darkness. Darkman weaponizes the dark, but in the end, he's still just a man, lost within it. Not everyone can be The Shadow, and you would most likely turn into Darkman if you tried.