#i will not get into a shipwar over this

[violetasteracademic]

I know this has been said a million times in a million ways, but I humbly request an audience to September Virgo out for a hot minute and share my dissertation on why the "Three Brothers and Three Sisters is *lazy writing*" take is by far the WORST.

If you found me through my Lucien Vanserra's Hero's Journey breakdown (I'll link that at the end) then you already know I am an absolute nerd about book structure. I do not beef with the other ships and genuinely love and am interested in every character in these shipwars. But I get a little hot when I see this take!

The reason being is that 3 and 3 is not "lazy writing." Lazy writing is:

⚫ Conveniently de-escalating all current stakes and conflicts established in the service of a romantic pairing.

⚫ Poorly pacing a book because now we have to explain why a character was thinking about offering another character 1 ticket to ride his face, but now he quickly wants someone else instead that many people offline don't even know about. Structure wise- (we are talking three act structure here, again I have broken that down in the link I'll post below) this means that by the end of Act One, the act in which the lead of our story has been presented with all of the information and their story has been laid out, they are now crossing into Act Two with clarity and set up, (side note-the first act is typically resolved within the first 20% of the book (or less!) we must resolve an existing romance with one character that has not even gotten its opportunity to be told in depth (i.e. Feyre and Tamlin). And reasonably introduce a new romance. As well as the introduction of new plotlines to accommodate the new romance. It's just... it's a plot and pacing nightmare. I'm getting the sweats even thinking about it.

⚫ Ignoring years worth of details and foreshadowing in an act of fan service because the fandom decided they don't like your character, even if you, as the author, very much do.

⚫ Introducing a brand new plot in the middle of a smorgasbord of unresolved plotlines so a newly introduced side character who has already had a complete arc in service of another main character can now become the next main character, leapfrogging over the remaining main characters who have been around since book one with active storylines in development.

Three and three is not "lazy writing." Three is simply a motif. A motif is an artistic/literary device. Three sisters. Three brothers. Three mountains. Three stars on the night court insignia, ect.

Writing is: Structure. Line level prose. Obstacles. Stakes. Character arcs.

I will absolutely allow the criticism that it is cheesy or corny. That is an opinion, and you are totally allowed to have it. We can respectfully disagree on that and it's no skin off my back.

However, Elriel (as well as Vassien) have the elements that *good* writing is comprised of. Characters with steadily increasing arcs. Obstacles at every turn. Incredibly high stakes. And in my opinion (though of course everyone is allowed their own opinion on this!) some downright BREATHTAKING one liners and line level prose in their interactions from ACOMAF all the way to the bonus chapter.

Please, I beg of you, understand that just because you do not like something does not make it lazy or poorly executed. Art is subjective, and when we use our taste to make objective assertions about things we don't prefer, art suffers.

For more on book structure and the possibilities of Lucien and Vassa's absolutely beautiful potential, hop on over here:

Thank you for your time 😂

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for taking part in testing a stranger a few years ago?

Sounds worse than it is but I just want to ask. Long story bear with me. Fake names, all of us were 19-21 when it happened.

I'm in a very close friend group where we all share multiple fandoms, went through all kinds of discourse hell and fandom drama together for years. We're closeknit and we only get closer with time. One of the pillars of this group is Pearl who I deeply admire. Pearl is popular because she has good meta analysis and she's a vocal progressive just like everyone else in the group. All of us are popular to some degree but she's the most eloquent among us.

A few years ago we were hosting a group chat session to discuss a new show, Pearl was the host and she posted the invite for anyone to join. A new account named Ruby who was following some members of our group for a while, joined the chat along with a some other unknown people and a few mutuals. The chat had about 20 people, don't remember the exact number. So it was Pearl, her friends including me, some mutuals, some new people- all from Sauce fandom.

We were really happy to see so many Sauce fans like the new show. We were having fun until Pearl brought up shipwar from Sauce fandom for the sake of a mutual who was out of the loop. It was a mayo/ketchup vs ketchup/mustard drama and we were fans of mayo/ketchup. We were all shitting on the delulu ketchup/mustard shippers when Ruby said she was one of them. Pearl immediately showed her shitty takes from mustard fans, screenshots of anon hate Pearl got and some other things I can't remember. She asked for Ruby's opinion on those.

I admit Pearl was a little bit condescending, but at that time I was too busy agreeing with her and laughing about mustard/ketchup shippers' idiocy. I was giving more examples to support Pearl in case Ruby decided to counter. Ruby on the other hand laughed and said she also thought those anons were obnoxious and said she was only a casual fan. Pearl said she was relieved because these days you can't trust mustard/ketchup shippers to be normal. We went back to the original topic.

That was over, but I kept an eye on Ruby and I remember she unfollowed Pearl after a few days. I brought it up later a couple times when new members of our group became mutuals with Ruby. And one of them was outright making fun of her for being a little simpleton but we grew up and had other things to talk about.

Then I saw Ruby left Sauce fandom for Fruits fandom where she became a little more popular for meta discussions. She's still friends with a couple people from my group who are casual fans of Fruits. She sometimes shows up on my dash for general fiction takes I agree with. All good. But yesterday I saw her talking to her friends about something friendship and virtue signalling related, she said it was weird how many times she's been "tested" by fellow fans including people who she knew for years, and she thought maybe it was because she came off as dumb and oblivious. She implied She never needed to test anyone.

Now I don't know about other times Ruby was tested but I remembered the story from above when I was one of the strangers testing her and I'm wondering if it was a bad thing to do? I can see why she thought it was maybe rude. But it is true that many shippers happen to have dumb takes and I'd rather not waste my time, rival shipper or not. It's not even a big deal.

So Was I the asshole?

PS thank you for reading the full story and sorry I will not say the real names of Sauce fandom or its ships, none of us go there anymore.

What are these acronyms?

[chalkrevelations]

There are things I say to my partner in the privacy of our living room when I’m blowing off steam that I would never in my life say to friends or other family members or bosses or work colleagues or fellow community members. I do this not because I’m two-faced but because I’m human. I get frustrated, but I’m also a grownup who realizes that my frustrations and fears in that moment are not the entirety of who I am. I have a right to express them, but I do not have the right to inflict them on the people who would be hurt by them. That’s why those conversations happen in private, in a safe space of trust, where my relationship allows me to show my partner parts of me that aren’t perfect and allows my partner to show me that I don’t have to be perfect in order to deserve to be cared about. I get support through my petty moments until I can be a better person.

This latest attack on Build is a horrifying violation of privacy and trust that leaves me feeling literally nauseated. I once again reiterate that I don’t trust third-hand amateur fan translation to be accurate and contextual, particularly given the provenance of the material, but Build himself is apparently distressed enough by at least some part of the material to make a public apology. So, that being out there, I will say: This was a private matter that should have stayed private, out of respect for everyone involved. Whatever was actually said is nobody’s business except Build’s and now, unfortunately, any named individuals who this was inflicted on and who may have been hurt by it. Which, rest assured, was the intention - to hurt not only Build with this, but also, particularly, Apo and Bible, both of whom Poi has shown her dislike of and ill-will toward in the past. I suspect some people also don’t know how abuse works, and it shows, given that what was purportedly said is a reflection of Poi’s own views back at her.

Whatever the context, I see that purity cancel culture still insists on freezing people in amber in their worst moments - without recognition of any capacity for change or growth - as long as it provides ammunition for a smug, gleeful Particicution. You’re stuck on some unkind things Build supposedly said more than a year ago? Let me tell you what I’ll remember for the rest of my life: The small, broken sound of Build’s voice just a few months ago as he tried to protect Bible and Bible’s career from a sociopath, in a telephone call that he felt he needed to secretly record as evidence of how he was being manipulated and abused.

Meanwhile, I see that swathes of KP fandom continue to be complicit in Poi’s campaign of public and dehumanizing abuse of him, which now includes not only borderline revenge porn, but separating him from his friends and isolating him. This is what abuse looks like. It’s happening in front of your eyes. Do you even care? Do you actually, legitimately care about abuse, or is it just a tool for you to use to win petty shipwars and make yourself feel righteous? Because here it is. Take a good look. This is a textbook play. And if you’re participating in reposting those screenshots of private conversations and mocking Build’s relationships and spreading vituperative language about him and acting like he deserves to have his life and career destroyed, you’re enabling an abuser. You are aiding and abetting her, as the very scenario she threatened him with - in order to maintain access to him, to keep him under control and compliant - continues to get spun out. YOU are a bully and a hypocrite and an abuser, helping to prove that the most dangerous time for an abuse victim is when they leave.

But I guess some victims do have to be perfect, huh?

.

(ETA: 7/18/23, 1520 - This post is being linked on Twitter by @cherryluminary with my permission. I'm not over there, but I increasingly feel like it's important to name what's happened, and continues to happen, to Build online as what it is - abuse. Similar to to my last post that breached containment, I'm going to ask people to remember that the behavior of Build's fans reflects on him - however fair that may or may not be - and should remain above reproach. I understand being angry - I'm angry, and at more people than I've discussed publicly, at this point. But if I find out you've been descending anywhere near the level of the ugly little sociopath in my inbox who openly admitted they want Build to kill himself, I'll block you.)

[a-court-of-moonlight-and-ire]

Made it to chapter 16 today which means Feyre and I have both had our first impressions of Rhysand's Inner Circle and ohhhhhhh boy

Its hard to pinpoint why exactly, but theres something so discomforting about watching them interact. I think the main thing is that for all their "casual-ness", theres still clearly a rigid hierarchy between them and they all seem to 'know their place' so to speak, its not at all like Lucien and Tamlin's relationship in the first book which genuinely felt like a friendship that was unburdened by their status or positions. Like, theres this one moment where Mor and Amren are like kinda bickering with each other i guess, and Feyre remarks that Mor is probably super powerful if she dares talk back against Amren (in an incredibly minor matter Im pretty sure but I already forgor ngl) and because this is the book where Feyre's perspective starts being Objectively Correct all the time, I guess that's true, I guess the only reason someone would dare voice their opinion on something to this friend group is if they were physically more powerful because otherwise you just level a fucking mountain during an argument

Anyway, Im gonna switch topics for a short moment but I promise this diversion is relavant to the point above. So, sometimes when I go into the anti-tags on here looking for criticisms or complaints of the books, I instead find anti-ship posts that are mainly just about trash-talking some ship, mostly ones relating to that whole Elucien/Elriel/Gwynriel shipwar, which I already have thoughts on but I'll save those for later. In any case, one day I stumbled upon this pretty long anti-elriel post about how the gifts Elain gives Azriel on winter solstice arent actually cute and it describes how she gave him like, herbs that help with headaches "because his friends are always giving him headaches" apparently. And then that post went on a whole rant about how insensitive that was of her and that she doesnt actually understand Azriel's dynamic with his close friends, but honestly, judging from this chapter Elain was absolutely spot on

And I usually wouldn't say this because yknow, its only one chapter and we're probably gonna get the nuances of their relationship later, but this is a book written by Sarah J Maas, her characters and their relationships are rarely particularly deep and, more importantly, her writing is incredibly unsubtle. If Azriel was in any way fond of his friends shenaningans I wouldve noticed it, because Feyre wouldve noticed it like 15 times during that whole dinner. But she didnt.

Its especially bad for Cassian and Azriel because it feels like Cassian thinks they have this great rapport but Azriel just genuinely kinda dislikes him. Not to mention that whole fucking mess with Azriel and Mor and Cassian and Mor having sex so she wouldnt get married off or whatever, good god how is every conversation between them not insanely awkward

Even beyond that, idk man, theyre all just so insufferable. I dont understand how Amren, ancient eldritch being trapped in a fae body that she is, can stand to be around them, I wouldve left them 5 centuries ago if I was her. I guess the explanation is that she finds the government position interesting but its like, youre SECOND to the most boring and annoying man on the planet only kinda ruling over a court that you dont even actually care about from everything Ive heard. Again, if I was in Amren's position I would not be hanging out in an APARTMENT in a boring ass city at the behest of a quartett of stupid bozos, I wouldve weaseled my way into being the personal advisor of Beron or some shit so I could watch the Vanserra Family Drama unfold live

There was one good thing about this discomforting dinner though, and that was how inexplicably gay Cassian was for Rhysand. He was really out there, looking at him with such love, calling him pretty twice in like two minutes being all "I knew I wanted a piece of him the moment I first saw him, the high lord's pretty son" like okay. I know what you are

[glitchadeli]

PSA: Shipping & Fandom Culture.

I've been pretty quiet for the most part but this topic has been eating at me for a long while now so I wanna speak on the matter. I'm WELL aware that being in a fandom / fandom culture is toxic and has it's issues. Basically every fandom has it's problems, which is expected because like.. there's so many kinds of people on this earth. We're all bound to have our own thoughts, feelings and opinions. Everyone has a right to want to share those kinds of things, but you know what's really unnecessary? Shitting on a ship so much, saying that you want a certain character to DIE, and overall just being a petty person about it. It's one thing to not like a ship, but going around and doing that is so not necessary. I've seen it in so many fandoms it's insane. I'm well aware GumRob is not everyone's cup of tea. I know very well that Pokeshipping is shit on because of Serena. I've seen the fights in the Paw Patrol fandom over the "Skase" ship. I've seen so many Oc x Canon artists get ridiculed for ever 'daring to put their oc with someone in the canon'. I've seen.. a lot. Been on the internet a long time. Just let people enjoy their ships. (so long as it's not a harmful one, which let me be clear, GumRob is NOT a harmful ship.) For example; I've outwardly said I don't like JulRob (not calling it the other name.) but here's the thing. When I see JulRob art, I don't start commenting how 'bad' it is or shit on the artists' art of it. None of that. I simply scroll and move on with my life. Why should I make someone feel bad for their ship if it makes them happy? Why is it so necessary for you to feel the need to shit on that when you don't need to. I don't understand. I will NEVER tell someone that I dislike/hate their ship if it makes them happy. Hell, if an artist I follow posts a ship I don't like, but the art is still good? I'll tell them their art is good. You CAN compliment something without agreeing with it. Lmao, it's not hard. And also, it's not "fake" to do that. You can be nice to someone and their art even if you don't like the ship itself. I've seen cute Penball art and complimented it, even if Penball isn't my main ship. I'm not being 'fake'. It's not hard to be nice. It's really not. If you're an adult and you go around doing that? Grow up. Hell, block the tags if you need to. Stop being so miserable that you feel the need to spread your misery elsewhere. Go look in a mirror and grow the fuck up. 'scuse my French but I just.. I don't understand. (I mean, I get it, it's the internet, it's inevitable.) Which yeah, that's another thing, I'm well aware that the internet has always been like this. Fandoms are always like this. Ship wars are so common it's not even funny. I can't think of 1 fandom that doesn't have at least 1 shipwar, if not multiple. I know that me complaining about this really isn't going to change anything, but I hope the message at least gets across. Let people be happy, how fucking hard is that? It's not, so grow up. TDLR; Stop shitting on people's ships that aren't harmful and let people be happy :) It's not that hard.

[nikethestatue]

i'm a little bit worried about sjm obsession with azriel because i didn't see her like that with rhys. He's everywhere and got more background that even nesta who is the main character of ACOSF. Also it seems like even HOFAS is very nesta/azriel centric and it makes me wonder if she's gonna give az and gwyn a book just because of her weird obsession with everything nesta related. Like it seems she's forgotten about elain/feyre and now her books evolve around nesta and azriel and nothing for elain

She is definitely obsessed with Azriel, but I think that's because he has a big role to play in the next book. i think that like Rhys, he is going to be paramount in being a major player in the next book (and not just seed supplier). Now, Nesta's ACOTAR storyline is over. The crossover is slightly different--she was utilised for her powers and because of the Trove Objects.

Azriel's story is just starting. If you think about it, up until...well, the crossover, we knew very little about Azriel. He SEEMED to have been present in ACOSF, but his role was pretty episodic and we don't know a whole lot about him at all, by the end of ACOSF. Actually, kind of like Elain. We know there are powers she needs to dust off, but she's been just as mysterious as Azriel.

Which brings me to the last point--yeah, the next book will heavily feature Azriel, but Gwyn? Why? What indication have we had that it would feature Gwyn? Especially as the LI? Literally none. Taking the shipwar out of the equation, and pretending like it didn't exist, what, in ACOSF, indicated that the book would be Gwyn's????????????????

Literally, NOTHING.

Zero. Zilch. Bupkas. Nada.

Did ANYONE in the world (well, except like 2 people) closed ACOSF and proclaimed loudly, well, next book is Gwyn's!

No.

Do you really think that someone will close the book on HOFAS and proclaim, well, next book is Gwyn's! No.

Like why is the world would the next book be Gwyn's?????

Why in the world would SJM leave Azriel, the last remaining single batboy, someone that she clearly very much likes and not have him end up with an Archeron sister???? Like 'you get an Archeron! You get an Archeron! You get an Archeron! And you...well, you get Gwyn!'

LOL. No.

[mlobsters]

saw a post yesterday (3 months ago now) that was like finale reactions from not-wincest shippers saying wincest won - but wincest shippers said it wasn't even wincest. which brings me around to my pondering how there's this divide of the ship into wincest / weirdcest / gencest which I'm still not totally sure the difference between the last two. but like, if I'm talking about wincest, I'm not talking about them with fucking required? it's just the dudes in a not-strictly-familial-platonic relationship. which to me, canonically, even in the most literal reading they've got a queerplatonic situation, so that qualifies

i think what i'm boggling over is that (sometimes?) the ship isn't the ship (the key is the key, man) it's like, ship+what they're doing with their dicks.

which led me to reading fanlore's gen and slash and smarm etc articles -> looked for a gencest article, reading the gen sam & dean one and the sam/dean one which is understandably packed with the related shipwar-ish stuff and i'm reminded i just. shouldn't read what anyone has to say about ships and this show. I feel like I'm rarely on the same page as anyone else, which is impressive in a fandom this large. i still don't really understand how the lines between them get drawn. but after all that i read, it sounds like people aren't really in agreement out there on the internet either.

so, this has been in my drafts since december and another post/reply got me to open it back up, someone saying if you want to tag the non-sexual situation it's gencest or weirdcest, not wincest. but I think now my personal understanding/interpretation is that those are just a subset of wincest, not standalone. I think another component of why it gets under my skin too is the inherent devaluation of queerplatonic relationships. a definition borne of the aromatic and asexual communities

and who's to say it isn't romantic? if the lines and beats are romantic, does it stop being so because they're brothers? would we have the same splitting up of the ship if they weren't related? (can guess what my answer would be)

ANYWAY. this was supposed to be how one ship has been split in a way I haven't seen before and find really weird. I can see how say, on tumblr, it's nice to have a tag that's just the qpr relationship, but not to the exclusion of the main ship.

I thought on AO3 it would be more clear cut, but of the 282 tagged with "Gencest | Emotionally Incestuous but Non-Sexual Dean Winchester and Sam Winchester" only 118 are tagged with Dean/Sam. and in the 79 works tagged "Weirdcest | Dean Winchester and Sam Winchester Appear Incestuous to Others Due to Lack of Boundaries", 40 are Dean/Sam.

and while I like the expansion of the tag name to include a definition, what even is emotionally incestuous :p and if there's incest in your definition, how does that not fall under the ship rubric

but being that there's 34,387 works tagged with Dean/Sam, and while there's more things tagged with gencest pre-2020, the majority is 2019+. and weirdcest is nearly exclusively 2021+. so, large consumer of fic that I am, I am sure things that would fall under those labels weren't tagged as such in the main tag.

going back to fanlore, the article about qprs:

Queerplatonic relationship tags are canonized in freeform tags on AO3, but uses in relationship tags are synned to the / tag.[4]

and the reference is:

Cisco Ramon/Caitlin Snow (Queerplatonic) has been made a synonym of Cisco Ramon/Caitlin Snow. Works and bookmarks tagged with Cisco Ramon/Caitlin Snow (Queerplatonic) will show up in Cisco Ramon/Caitlin Snow's filter.

which honestly made me laugh. that's a very specific situation!

but I think a lot of this, for me, circles back to what is a ship even, and why doesn't love for each other above all else+life partners qualify

and yet, look at me the hypocrite, because I tag stuff with "sam and dean" that are the canonical qpr things, but I wouldn't tag wincest because I know a lot of people would have it filtered. whereas anything remotely shippy in xfiles canon, I tag with msr. *facepalm*

and the advice/explanation I've received about tagging other people's posts, canon gifs, what have you; as wincest - that you might be putting their personal squick right in their notifications. so, don't do that! and I've internalized those rules.

and I guess there's plenty of people that watch the show and think they're just regular brothers ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

spn fandom is a minefield even with my skirting at the edges of it.

I don't know what anything means anymore

[unlikelysaintdelele]

i find it very interesting that the elriel tag is full of nothing but excitement, filled with photos and analysis of multiple paragraphs, because of SJM's most recent interview.

meanwhile, the gw*nriels are either getting upset about the shipwar drama, defending their ship, or just freaking out over the same paragraph over and over again in connection to the damn bonus chapter. because elriel almost kiss... but don't... and the next woman az interacts with is gwyn. just so everyone understands what i'm talking about, this is the paragraph:

I saw one person mention the paragraph on agency, which pleases me because of variety and because they pointed out how important it is in every couple that the characters have a choice.

anyways, hofas is out, meaning acotar5 is be next!! can't wait.

[acourtofthought]

WHY is Azriel, canonically, the most problematic out of the four people involved in the shipwar yet he gets the least hate? Everyone keeps eating his ass and asking for seconds and I can’t understand it. He doesn’t need a personality upgrade, he needs a personality, period.

I refuse to accept any criticism of Gwyn and Elain. Both of them have been recently traumatized and they’re trying to get better without bothering anyone. All the hate I see for them is from the mouths of obnoxious shippers. Sentences that start with “Azriel deserves” are not acceptable unless they end with “a punch to the throat”.

"Sentences that start with “Azriel deserves” are not acceptable unless they end with “a punch to the throat”."

😂😂😂😂

It is strange, isn't it?

E/riels hate Lucien. They claim he's aggressive and pushy and makes Elain uncomfortable (first off, he's neither aggressive nor pushy and second, while Elain is uncomfortable we don't know exactly why that is. It's likely that it's not Lucien himself that makes her uncomfortable but the thoughts Lucien's presence causes her to have that make her uncomfortable).

But somehow it gets ignored that Azriel actually makes Mor uncomfortable which is confirmed in Mor's POV as well as when she explains to Feyre why she acts the way she does. Somehow it gets ignored that every time Azriel has an opening to communicate his feelings about something important we get "Azriel said nothing" or "Azriel left the rest unsaid." He's the one who disrespects Rhys and Feyre's orders half the time while still choosing to hide Feyre's pregnancy concern and the swords Nesta made even though he felt Nesta should be told (so basically he does what he wants when it's not the right thing but won't fight for something when it is). In SF, he's the one who is in love with one female, got fixated on another only because she represents what he wants most (mating bond), all while showing admiration for a third, deciding to give Gwyn a gift he originally got for Elain while being jealous of Helion asking after Mor. 🤦

To me he's no prize. He's fine, he'll be better after his book but I'm not quite sure where the appeal lies with Az and really both Elain and Gwyn deserve a better love story.

He's sometimes funny but no funnier than any of the others. He sometimes says something insightful, but no more insightful than we've seen from any of the others. He's brave but no less brave then the others who are a combination of brave and prudent while Az leans towards reckless.

Maybe because he's the "prettiest" of the brothers and is "kinky" in bed? Maybe because he's what in real life would be the "broody bad boy" that girls hope they can tame and be the one to bring out the soft and gentle side of him? Maybe because we don't actually know Az all that much and some are filling in the blanks with what they'd like to see?

A lot were up in arms over his POV saying it was out of character but....what if that IS Az's character? What if his default mode is rage and self loathing and fixation? SJM has said on a few occasions that Az scares her so I imagine when she writes his story, she'll be writing with that in her mind.

But it is weird how E/riels will trash talk both Gwyn and Lucien, some Gwynriels and even Elucien's will tear apart Elain yet Az is the most unscathed of all even though there is nothing "better" about him.

It's fine to like Az despite his flaws but shouldn't the courtesy of looking past ones flaws also be extended to the others? Lucien, Gwyn and Elain have never purposely set out to hurt anyone. They make mistakes but they're trying to learn from them. They're no more selfish than anyone else. So what exactly makes their "crimes" so unforgiveable while Az reigns supreme despite his? It's not that anyone has to love a character but it would at least be nice if it wasn't a pot calling the kettle black scenario.

[olderthannetfic]

The tired m/m vs f/f debate sounds exactly like shipwar wank to me. What if I enjoy gen instead? Am i also tasked to bring f/f numbers up too? It feels like 'if you enjoy any type of shipping, you should also consider shipping xyz instead' is the actual argument here. I'm sorry it's not as plentiful as you'd want it to but I think you're better off finding people who actually *ship* it but don't necessarily write it, so you can have more people to bounce ideas off of at least.

Like my irl friends are all into het shipping and reader-inserts so I can't talk to them about slash, but when I go online they complain to me about the lack of blorbo x reader on ao3 (while I am absolutely thriving in my corner of fandom lol). After the complaint is them telling me about the new media they're following now, so diverting those cravings somewhere else is also a viable option.

I wish my blorbo had a million billion fics about them, but the recent adaptation attracted an anti infestation and it discourages me from interacting with anyone that claims to like it despite its problematic elements, so I just keep my ideas to myself and try to make it better in my own time. Who says they're not writing fic in their head? Maybe try to cultivate a space where they won't get attacked over every little slight? Making a fandom anon ask blog sounds good as well, wallflowers like me love sending asks :)

--

[eisforeidolon]

Okay, today is the kind of day where I really can't just scroll past something like this nonsense without comment [X]. To paraphrase: D/C fans totes loved Jared and really wanted to support Walker but just couldn't because the finale was such a betrayal :( :( :(. We're not hateful for the sake of being bitter, it's just so sad we had to turn on Jared because [implied batshit crazy]! FFS.

First, as if we don't remember how many fucking times hellers attacked Jared over utter bullshit long before the finale. Not only have they always been hateful little shits, they've always lied through their teeth about it. Some post from three years ago doing the same old same old, "Oh we're totally the GOOD side of fandom who never hate anybody, lookit our halos!" song and dance doesn't mean jack shit.

Second, what the fuck do they think being bitter means? "The tv show I was watching refused to cater to me personally by throwing away the core premise and genre of the show, which is totally unfaiiiiir - despite common sense and me being told repeatedly they wouldn't ever do so. Therefore I'm going to quote unquote punish the network and the stars by not watching any of their other shows! So there!" Like ... what? It's absurdly bitter - not to mention childish. Which doesn't even get into the giant black hole of logic that is blaming the actors for the writing which was done by the, y'know, writers.

But let's pretend for a moment it's not inherently bitter (as well as fucking ridiculous) to be butthurt a tv show didn't end in bad OOC fanfic out of nowhere and to blame the actors for it. They still prove it's nothing more than sour grapes bitter shipwar bullshit by ONLY singling out Jared and Walker. If they were really actually trying to avoid supporting the CW and ALL those involved in the finale rightfully disappointing their delusional asses? Misha conspired a year in advance to queerbait them with Castiel's death scene, pitched only as one-sided and with him knowing Castiel wouldn't be in the final two episodes. Jensen knew the ending was centering on the brothers as early as Jared did when they talked with the writers and played just at least as much of a part in adding little touches to make the finale as brother-centric as it was, including removing dialogue mentions of Castiel. Jensen also nodded along with Jared's Denvercon answer about how Castiel's death speech wasn't inherently romantic and added his own concurring opinion. And yet somehow, just by pure coincidence, really, I'm sure! It's only Walker and Jared they decided to boycott - while most of them wandered around proclaiming how happy they were to tune in to TW and GK on the supposedly oh-so-evil CW. But they totes love Jared, really! 🙄 They just can't help personally blaming just him for the finale because if there is a reboot he isn't half their shitty ship there was, like, totally an Easter egg mentioning going to Texas or whatever! Yeah! The finale is totally Walker propaganda!!! So they just couldn't watch only that CW show, though they really really wanted to! 😢

This transparent bullshit was at least funnier when it had hypnotiddies in it.

[varuunsith]

everytime i see shipwars in star wars i get reminded of two things

1) it's just like console wars. (usually) 20+ people arguing passionately on the internet over something that at the end of the day changes absolutely nothing for them and everyone else included, except squashing the joy out of something meant to be joyful;

2) that there was quite a fervorous shipwar during the OT involving leia/han and leia/luke, and we all know how that turned out hilarious don't we lol

[dtrizz94-blog]

I speaking out….

As a Starwars Fan, CloneWars Rebels fan and also loyal Sabezra/Ezrabine Shipper..

I tried to be more respectful…but I just need this to get off my chest .

I am sick and tired of shipwars, & pressing peoples buttons against Sabezra/Ezrabine…

For the past 9 years that I’ve been around from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Tumblr. I seen a bunch of anti Sabezra /Ezrabine shippers been hating on Ezrabine/Sabezra throughout 9 years with passion.

They make it the same old claim call “siblings,”Friendzone” friendships gay, lesbian,, over and over blah blah blah … there’s a lot of people that they don’t want to see Sabezra/Ezrabine… throughout 4 seasons of Rebels I saw the comments from social media, making their claims when they shipped about.

even after rebels Season 4 I saw those anti-Ezrabine shippers were so celebrated on those comments against Sabezra/Ezrabine ship.

those people who ship Sabine to someone else to brush Ezra off.

Sabine & Kestu Rebels Season 2

Sabine & Wedge Season 3

And Now Shinn & Sabine in Ahsoka..

I don’t understand why in the fuck, they hate it Sabezra/Ezrabine so much, especially they hate it on Ezra bridger. They always come out here to have the nerve for that.

I remember the early 2 seasons of rebels they been making fun of Ezra & Ezrabine/Sabezra shippers.

Sabine treated Ezra, like a nobody for being a jerk to ignoring him. And people viewing Ezra Bridger like a loser? Which is unfair that she treated him the wrong way. But more disgusting act why in the world that Lando flirted a 16-year-old Sabine wren in Rebels Season 1? In my opinion, Lando is a pervert. Lando look like a 30 year old in rebel season 1. Which is not funny for Ezra bridger that he been treated like shit…

In Season 3 I still never get over the fact that Sabine hugged Kanan instead of Ezra, which is a total insulted

Why, in the world that Sabine never gave Ezra Bridger the credit that he’s ever done for her throughout Rebels… my personal take that Ezra Bridger was overlooked and unappreciated.

Ezra did everything for Sabine Throughout Rebels

1.Ezra Gave the Tie Fighter for Sabine to Spray painted 2. Ezra tries to help Sabine training, Sabersticks in rebels season3 (trials of the darksaber.)3 and lastly, Ezra save Sabine 7 times through missions in 3 seasons even though in Ahsoka series, saving Sabine twice in one mission,,. Including rescuing Sabine‘s father. From Rebels Season 4 to Ahsoka Series Sabine has develop her feelings for Ezra , through 10 years of the timeline.. and on the other hand, but in episode 6 why the the directors including Dave Filoni, did not show the real emotion of Sabine & Ezra’s reunion? They act like they see eachother for days and that is a red flag.🚩

I guess it’s time they need to wake up and open their eyes and face the reality. The writers and directors got it all wrong and that is also criticizing the show.

And let’s be real Sabine wren has never seen Ezra Bridger in 10 MF years! And never showed the realistic emotion? I find that out why in the writers are making Sabine like a hypocrite and act like never have feelings for Ezra.

She’s been hiding her feelings through a decade..

Ezra Bridger has grown mature strong good looking man also high value.. Sabine has made a big mistake to reject, ghosting him and pushing him away. And he is not the same so-called “ annoying kid “ and he’s not that person anymore.Then Sabine turned herself around and she felt that she cared quite. Honestly she fail in love with him.

I don’t want to hear with this so-called cliché for me. That is an excuse for people, saying that.

As for Dave Flioni? He been playing mind games throughout 9 years, and he kept ducking over that.

People gonna say “He make them siblings “

My question is, Don’t you knowthat Dave Filoni wrote those signs, hints, and teases throughout rebels & Ahsoka Series, with these 2 characters of Sabine & Ezra?

as far as I’m concerned, if Sabine do care about Ezra why is she didn’t say Ezra’s face? she been waited too long and for me personally, I’m tired of waiting.

and right now I’m a say it is very clear

i’m tired of people who make a fun of of the ship through 9 years and right now it was hypocritical by anitEzrabine Shippers

at the end of day, all you haters won’t be celebrating … because you’re afraid to see Sabezra/Ezrabine become Canon “

MIC Drop 🎤

[nostalgia-tblr]

not to Discourse, but about Sylvie snapping at Mobius:

She was right. She could have said it nicer (well, someone else could have - i adore Sylvie but i wouldn't really say she's consistently 'nice' and there are very obvious reasons for that in her backstory) but it's true, Mobius has been bizarrely chill about so many things this season, to the point where it does seem odd, actually. I think it's easily missed (maybe?) partly because fandom has decided long ago that Mobius is some sort of therapist/social worker who is always calm and so emotionally insightful and his role in fanfic is to be supportive at the more obviously fucked-up characters. But like. He's also fucked up. He's already said that he's avoiding finding out about his old life in case it was good, so it's not like "Mobius won't let himself think about the sad things" is a new idea, is it?

I don't think Sylvie gets why he's like this (or she wouldn't have been so angry, for a start) but those two have spent very little time together (I think we the audience sometimes forget how little) and I know shipwars are inevitable and eternal but the show really does kind of break down into Loki-with-Mobius and Loki-with-Sylvie almost like two parallel worlds that interact less than might be expected. So why does Loki not "stand up for Mobius" there? Well there's the fact that it's true and that Loki was (unlike Sylvie) there when Mobius said he's scared of uncovering his old life so is more likely to connect the dots. And the element of "oh no my faves are fighting! i cannot take sides or at least one of them will hate me! i shall just stand here awkwardly and say nothing!"

I assume Loki and Mobius will talk this stuff over at some point, but in this episode there's not time for any of the several conversations that need to happen (and presumably this is a deliberate writing choice to drag things out a bit keep the tension up) and idk about anyone else but I would find it a bit weird if Sylvie had instead been unusually gentle (for her) and softly asked Mobius if he's feeling okay or does he want to have a chat about anything? Perhaps over a nice cup of tea and some chocolate biscuits? Nah, she's tense, of course she's going to snap. Ideally she wouldn't have done that but *gestures vaguely* what about any of this situation they're all in would you describe as "ideal"?

Maybe she'll apologise in one of the remaining episodes. But if she does he'll say that her observation was right, if not delivered in a way he'd have preferred.

tl;dr - Mobius is fucked up too and Sylvie (who has just in as many words says she thinks being soft makes you weak) is not diplomatic at the best of times, let alone while the multiverse is in the process of collapsing/exploding/whatever-the-fuck-it's-doing.

[nikethestatue]

Hi! I was off socials for a few days and some things have happened in the fandom, it seems? Something about doxxing and then people deactivating accounts? I don’t know if you know what happened; I’m just curious what I missed and you’re the only account I trust with fandom news.

Where would you like to start?

When Fairyloot released a new TOG series of books with illustrations and people lost their money and descended upon the artists screaming and being belligerent over the wrong color of a stag and the castle?

Now a bunch of artists basically said bye bye to drawing anything for SJM's fandom. Big names too Morgana/Salome, Aileen, etc.

Or when of the most vitriolic Gwynriels decided to get involved with a completely humorous little post and promised to doxx that person? And publish all of their personal info. And when she got called out by many a person, she turned around and began crying how SHE was being doxxed and how everything was 'a joke'?

Or that people are leaving and deactivating their accounts because they are freakin tired of waiting for the next book and of SJM and the shipwar?

Or that we have a new account that just publishes garbage and everyone's hateful shit, pretending to be 'fair' while spreading more and more negativity?

That's just the last 6 days.

[userlaylivia]

i go to this site, one of if the only message board around I have posted at almost 15 years but one of my friends thinks tumblr isn't a community or that there's too much hate and I do agree there is a lot of hate on here but unlike twitter you can filter tags and avoid it and turn off anon and I understand her pov because message boards are a better place to discuss things and etc but tumblr is a community imo!! I've met so many incredible people here and people I love with my whole heart and friends who mean absolutely everything to me and yes there's negativity and shipwars and hate but I still love it here and if I never posted here or came back two years ago after beating cancer I wouldn't of met all these amazing people and I don't regret it <3

tagging some mutuals who I adore and who made these last two years incredible:

@miriammaisel, @tabithatate, @forbescaroline, @helloinej, @madscline, @fresleys, @stonerbughead, @simon-eriksson, @barchiefangirl, @terrilynn88, @faithinthefuturedeluxe, @userspeaknowtv, @emmanelson, @misty-quigley, @katherineebishop, @laylakeating, @alexihawleys, @timlucys, @hopekirby, @landonmikaelson, @archiesbetty, @bakerolivia, @annacoleman, @bellamysgriffin, @salvatoreselena, @lizzie-saltzman, @jeremyallens, @fiitzsiimmons, @maygrant, @maitreyi-ramakrishnan, @usermotown, @claytonsdani, @maliagf, @userjackietaylor, @tudorgirl, @kiddstellas, @santinacedes, @maya-matlin, @tylerkennedys, @candicepatton, @hizziee, @ninzen, @elena-gilbert, @pleasantfanartist, @bisexualalienss, @infp-obsessing-over-everything, @sansalicents, @joey-potters, @the-maidofmischief

sorry if I forgot anyone ily all so much these are just the ones I talk to most or admire the most and I forget so many people and with the new text post I don't wanna anyone to get cut off lmao ily all of my mutuals so much!!