#i'm at the point where i don't really know what a niche fact is in terms of like. the things i say.

[abyssalzones]

can you tell us about your interpretation of the better world universe!!!! especially curious how stan/mystery trio works into it

hell yesssss I definitely can. ABW is maybe my favorite niche gf thing and probably the only "AU" I care about but that may be due to the fact that it's an AU that exists in the canon and we know so little about it. so it has an established foundation that you're left to fill in the details with yourself... it's like a poke bowl to me. you can put anything in there

and since I felt like it here's a bonus pic of them living their best lives pestering ford

[explanation-y stuff under ze cut because I got very longwinded]

as for specifics of how I see everything working out, there's a few key points that establish why things happened differently from canon, the most important being:

Stan agrees to hide journal #3 somewhere

Ford reunites with fiddleford and they begin working together again

both of these are already confirmed in canon, the first being the most obvious "schism" between timelines. literally everything in ABW is the way it is because stan made a different decision. kind of crazy in terms of its implications: I feel like that moment in the basement is a really good example of how stan gets so few opportunities to shape her own life (while ford is in the picture...) because of her role as the 'black sheep' twin. it's not exactly a premeditated decision to push ford into the portal, it's her acting on feelings that have been bubbling unaddressed under the surface for 10-something years at that point, and only then does she have any sort of power over the "narrative" of both her life and the story itself, something that from her pov has been ford's story. and in the canon timeline, she says no.

so like, what the hell made her say yes in ABW's timeline? this question kind of haunts me because I feel like it has to be entirely dependent on what the inside of stan's head looked like at the time. it's possible something influenced her, but overall I think it's more interesting if ford did and said all the exact same things up until this point and it really was entirely dependent on stan's decision internally.

so stan says yes, goes on a big trip to the other side of the world somehow, and buries journal 3 somewhere probably never to be found again. yay! but, uh, going on a trip like ford was suggesting would... take weeks. that would leave ford alone again. and not to have my established thoughts informed by new material or anything but bill did give him 72 hours.

so, next order of business: how in the fuck would ford convince fiddleford to rejoin him??? I'm unsure between journal 3 and tbob's information how ford may have tried to reach out to him but it seems like fiddleford was pretty adamant about staying away from that guy, out of guilt or fear of bill/the portal or both. I don't think logically it would just be a matter of ford calling him enough times or finding out where he lives- and I think that's kind of getting away from the point of why ABW is the way it is too. if stan is suddenly making decisions that are influencing ford's life, I think it would be similarly interesting if fiddleford also possessed some unique autonomy in this scenario.

aka I think ford got fucked up badly (possibly involving losing an eye) and fiddleford found him half-dead while trying to burn his house down. [mabel voice] romance!

to clarify: I don't think fiddleford is obligated to take care of ford. a major part of him leaving the project was finally making the decision to leave a situation that was hurting him, that he'd been staying in entirely because he still cared about ford and felt on some level he could still help him (which gets broken with "I don't need you!") and I think that's a very reasonable decision on his part. but I also do have to think about all the times ford has been "the hero" in situations where fiddleford ends up hurt and helpless because of something traumatizing. I think it'd be fascinating to see that reversed and have fiddleford actively making the difficult, messy decision to take care of that guy even when they're on miserable terms. and so begins like a solid week of these two desperately trying to look out for eachother in a nightmare scenario where one of them probably needs to go to a hospital + keeps getting possessed off and on and the other is going through the worst addiction/withdrawal cycle of his life irt the memory gun. yay! (part of the reason this even works To Me also is heavily informed by the lack of secrets: if fiddleford is actively dressing that guy's wounds he can't really keep it all to himself anymore. crushingly intimate perhaps...)

stan gets back eventually. such is the context of this pic

from there it's a nebulous grab-bag of things I think could happen up to the foundation of the institute.

how do all three of these incredibly fucked up individuals get along? well they don't but then they do.

how do they get bill out of ford's head without performing amateur brain surgery? idk. my best guess is a fiddleford and stan bonding trip into ford's mindscape that potentially helps answer the first question. possibly utilizing the memory gun. shrugs.

what's up with that one picture you drew of parallel fidds holding the memory gun up to ford's head? well. okay that one might or might not be something that actually happened but the idea was just that ford is coping badly with a few specific things and I liked the idea of fiddleford "holding onto" something for him to remember and work through later when he's ready to deal with it, it's an interesting reversal of how he's normally more of a memory sink.

from the point in canon about them stabilizing the portal so that bill can't use it to get into their dimension anymore onward, I think it just becomes a matter of them living the lives they could've always had in canon without realizing it. hence "a better world." some cool tidbits I like to think about:

stan gets to transition much earlier (late 1990's perhaps?) and probably starts going by "lee" instead

she's also the institute's CMO and is mostly in it for going on business trips abroad with ford. and the money. obviously.

the institute probably also legitimately changes the world on a sociopolitical scale outside of just interdimensional travel since their research renders them uniquely untouchable and all three of them are trans (I'm cartoon logic-ing a little bit here just let me have this one)

ford is the eccentric bill nye esque face of the company, fiddleford is the backbone. that isn't to say ford doesn't do anything as I think he'd always moreso be in it for the science than the fame (though it is nice to be more than comfortable financially) but it's an open secret fiddleford keeps tabs on literally everything, he's still very security-oriented.

the northwest family now has a more prominent ongoing rivalry with the pines family that could be very funny to think about. they've taken all the LOGGING JOBS with their damn SCIENCE

part of the reason I thought ford should lose an eye is because I think having him wear an eyepatch would be a neat way to parallel stan's "role" as mr. mystery visually! stan wears an eyepatch for no legitimate reason to keep up appearances as a schlocky tourist trap host, but it also alludes to her being more than she seems under the surface. ford's eyepatch does sort of have a legitimate reason to exist, but he also could just wear his glass eye and it would probably be less "conspicuous." he chooses the eyepatch instead because it's part of his image as Stanford Pines, Founder of Oddology, and because it keeps him safe. there's also a little residual scarring there from damage to his eyelid/tarsal plate which could easily represent him hiding the more "damaged" aspects of himself under his successes. ouch.

I'm unsure if ford and stan would ever feel comfortable getting back in touch with their parents. I know a lot of people go that route with fan material but I don't think they should have to. I think they're much happier now having healed the rift between them on their own and getting to live successful lives for themselves, rather than to prove something to their father.

that being said I do think fiddleford gets in touch with emma-may and his son again and they end up on better terms with time and a Lot of effort. tate's family is now composed of his father, mother, "uncle" ford (in the ye olde gay closeted sense of referring to your dad's partner as an uncle), and auntie lee, and I like to think they go out on trips to the lake together often :]

also ford and fiddleford tie the knot unofficially (in the eyes of the government anyway) in 1990. owed to stan somehow getting "ordained" as a rabbi. don't ask me how.

the pines twins start visiting the institute from a younger age than they do irt visiting stan in the show-- but they're only permitted to come along on heavily-supervised interdimensional excursions once they turn 12. cue antics!

anyway, hopefully this extremely longwinded and loosely structured mess helped answer your question. I like ABW sooo so so much you guys

[tossawary]

This is a very niche fic idea that I have no solid intention of actually writing, but... "Naruto" has more than a few self-insert fics and some of them are transmigrations into canon characters. Some of them are about OCs who do not want to be a ninja and are desperately trying to get out of it. There's usually some deliciously frustrating tragedy and horror about the brutal and inescapable military system of Konoha.

So, I thought that it would be kind of interesting to do an OC-insert into Sasuke, probably ultimately more comedic than angsty, as the OC tries to fail out of having to become a ninja, but then has to struggle against the fact that a civilian Sasuke would probably be expected to start a new Uchiha clan ASAP. (They probably have to concede to at least becoming a genin for the benefits of legal adulthood of some kind at 12 years old, even if it means being a part of the damn military.)

But even if the OC would personally love to be a parent someday, they cannot condone participating in what's essentially a breeding program for a new generation of Sharingan-wielding super-soldiers. Children who are probably going to be chewed up and spat out by Konoha someday too.

I think it would be neat to have a character treat the Sharingan like a genetic disorder that they don't want a child to suffer. I think it would have been interesting if canon Sasuke had also wrestled with the idea of letting the Sharingan die out. Fuck it, he'll adopt if he wants to be a dad someday. I also think it would be funny to have an OC-insert whose goal is to get a secret vasectomy (body autonomy!) without the leadership of Konoha finding out.

Sasuke, as soon as Sakura becomes a medical nin: "I need you to do me a huge secret favor and NOT be weird about it."

Sakura, also still currently a teenager: "You're asking me to CASTRATE YOU, AT HOME, IN SECRET, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO NOT BE WEIRD ABOUT THIS?!"

(And there's the whole fucking issue of the "Naruto" universe having cloning, so, no, a vasectomy isn't a solid guarantee of getting out of this. But it might buy Sasuke a few years to figure out how to avoid the mad science route too if anyone tries to force marriage on him at any point.)

Even throwing aside the issue of children, even in an AU where the OC-Insert is cool with having bio children, I think it would be really funny to have a Transmigrator Sasuke announcing outright in the first Team 7 meeting that his dream is to retire super early and become a shinobi tradwife to a super strong ninja.

Kakashi: "...What?"

Sasuke, possibly talking out of his ass to troll his team and because he's already spitefully exhausted: "I said what I said. I'm the only Uchiha left to pass on my clan's techniques, so my dream is to be a stay-at-home ninja, supported by a super strong spouse who can protect my family."

I think this would break Naruto and Sakura's brains. ("Marry Hokage Naruto" is not the worst plan that a transmigrator could come up with, probably.) I think that this would be a super funny start to a Team 7 OT3 in which Naruto and Sakura become rivals for the position of Sasuke's shinobi sugar daddy/mommy. (Naruto doesn't consciously realize that he's competing for Sasuke's hand in marriage at first, but he gets it after a few years or so.)

Kakashi is... So Tired. Obito, are you seeing this shit??? What the fuck.

I know some OC-insert / SI-insert into Sasuke fics exist, I just think the funniest plot direction for a transmigrator in this situation would be to completely bail on both the "take revenge on Itachi" and "rebuild the Uchiha clan" dreams in the least macho ways available.

Also, what WOULD Itachi think of Sasuke abruptly deciding to give up on revenge and to become a house husband instead?

[yesimwriting]

I love ur felix fics sm!! ur one of my fave writers on here<<333 and no I don’t think itd b crazy to write for Nate!! I’d love to see how u would write him!! (Maybe grumpy x sunshine hehe)

hi!! this is such a nice ask :)) i'm so happy you like my felix fics

omg i love ur train of thought for a nate fic!! i've been thinking about that kind of dynamic for them, but in a really niche way

anyways let's have some thoughts on nate jacobs and sunshine/kind of sheltered reader!!

----

thinking about the moment in which you find out nate jacobs is your assigned partner for a project that's worth 35% of your final grade. if this was happening to you a year ago, maybe even two or three months ago, you might have been nervous for an entirely different reason.

but you're not that version of yourself anymore. you go out to parties now; you wear shirts to school that your mom buys for you the same way she used to buy you impulse barbies, with a wink as the cashier scans them, making you promise that you won't show dad what you got at the store; you're friends with maddy and cassie...you're on your way to best friends with maddy and cassie.

so you can't dismiss the gossip and the stares nate gets in the halls as a standard part of high school, not the way you used to. you can't just see him across the hall at his locker and mentally acknowledge that you get why girls talk about him the way they do. you can't just get paired up with him for an extremely long assignment and think oh, at least he's cute.

every story maddy's ever mentioned during sleepovers, everything she's teared up about after one too many drinks hits you at full force when your teacher reads your name and then his off of her list.

would she see this as a betrayal? it's not like you picked him and asking for a new partner is out of the question, a fact your teacher made clear at the beginning of the year. but maddy's loyal...fiercely loyal, and she expects that kind of commitment to be symbiotic.

you don't move, can't move until jules leans towards you, so close her hair spills onto your desk. "no fucking way." she whispers it in a way that'd make you laugh if this was about someone else.

you're silent, eyes finally pulling away from a brightly colored poster explaining the roles of each branch of the US government. you turn your head enough to look at where nate sits, the back of the room with a few other football players.

he's already looking at you. and when nate realizes you're finally staring back, he has the audacity to let the corner of his mouth pull into a smug sort of smile you're sure another version of you would have considered swoon worthy.

you're all instructed to use the last few minutes of class time to talk to your new partners, to make some kind of preliminary plan. nate's standing up and you're still recovering from the whiplash.

helplessly, you look over at jules who's clearly trying to get to the other side of the room before nate can get to you. she mouths a "sorry" that feels genuine, and points at the girl she's supposed to work with in a way that feels like over kill. you roll your eyes, picking up your pen and pressing the pad of thumb against its side to have something to do.

nate's in front of you before you know it. he's so tall it's a little intimidating when he's right there, especially with you still sitting. "you're everywhere now." a reference to the fact that you were both at the same party last weekend. you can still hear maddy's slurred i can't believe he's fucking here, before she dragged you out to the house's patio.

he's probably seen you more places. you're around maddy pretty regularly these days and from what you've heard, you wouldn't put stalking above him. he's probably a stalker in the way guys from the news are stalkers, calm and untouchable until they feel like the girl they're watching is moving on. then they snap and some news anchor reports that there were warning signs for months beforehand.

you're partially aware of your potential exaggerations, but you can't bring yourself to care. you've never really interacted with nate, but you want to hate him as more than the monster you hear about when maddy feels like ranting. you want to viscerally hate him. it's such an instinctual tug that you can't pretend it's all about morality. you're craving innate repulsion the way an elementary school girl wants the other half of a magnetic necklace with the word "best" etched into cheap metal. it's kind of pathetic, but then again...

"not last year, or last semester--"

he's baiting you and you're completely aware and you still can't help yourself. "what? it's illegal to make new friends now?"

your tone surprises you more than the fact that you interrupted him. you've never been overly shy, but you've also never been much of a fighter on your own behalf. maybe this is like the parties and barbie-style-bought-shirts, just another facet of the improved you.

nate seems surprised too, only he wears it like there's something funny about it. "no, you've always been friendly."

he says it like there's a joke in there that'd make the football players a few rows back laugh. it digs at you more than it should. he gets under your skin in a way that bugs. maybe that means genuine hatred is on its way.

you look up at him, eyes as unimpressed as you can manage. "so," the word is definite, intentional. "the project..." you're glad for the excuse to turn your attention back to your notebook, "i don't know if you want to work out a time to--"

"i'm leaving in like five minutes." you're about to point out that class doesn't end for another when he explains, "football game." ugh. another thing you can decide to be annoyed about. your homework schedule is now going to revolve around high school football. "can i get your number?" the idea of existing in nate jacobs's phone feels so wrong you can't immediately reply. he picks up on your hesitation, because he tacks on the one phrase that could get you to do anything, "35% of our grade."

you nod once, expression as blank as you can manage as you write out your phone number on the corner of a page. You tear off the bottom corner and hand it to him. "don't save my number."

it's so rude, your jaw almost drops, "what?"

"you're going to see maddy before the project's over, right?"

the implication immediately makes your stomach knot. you're not--you can't not tell maddy. she won't like it, but she can't hold a random partnering against you. and--and it's worse if you don't tell her, because then it's like you're sneaking around with nate. and it's--it's all for school.

"i'm not going to lie to her for you." it's so ridiculous, you can't even hold eye contact. his silence adds a second loop to the knot in your stomach. "why would i lie?" your own genuineness sickens you, you're backtracking immediately. "and--and it's just a dumb school thing, so she probably won't care that much."

"and you're sure she's going to believe that?"

"yes," the word is firm because it has to be. "because that's what it is."

"she gets paranoid."

no, no--he's doing this to get into your head and cause problems. "if she's paranoid it's because you're crazy."

"fine." he shoves the scrap of paper into his pocket. "save my number, don't save my number. tell maddy, don't tell maddy."

you sigh. "why do you care?" they're broken up...even if maddy takes it the wrong way, the fall out will be a you problem.

"she's going to think i fucked you to hurt her." you hate this--the situation, the conversation, the fact that you can't completely dismiss his train of thought. "who's known maddy longer?"

you're about to try again, to defend your friendship with maddy and call him crazy again when the static of the intercom speakers interrupts you. all football players are being called out of class to leave for an away game. nate gives you one last look before turning towards the door.

when jules slips back into her seat and asks if you're okay with everything, you nod and attempt a joke about catching fuck boy germs, but it doesn't come out the way you want it to. she still laughs, so you do too, but that's not as natural as it should be, either.

----

lmk if you like this concept/want more of it!! i had fun writing this :))

[evelmiina]

I'm going to be asking a lot of artists I follow this question, but how did you develop your style? It SEEMS like most people find their style and stick with it forever, just making improvements and iterations. I tend to work in a lot of different styles because I enjoy doing that, though I know there are things I gravitate towards as well. But I wonder what your journey was and how you got feedback and improved while staying true to what you enjoyed?

Hi, thank you for asking. Sorry I cannot answer shortly it is kinda big subject

My style is just tons of little and big things that add up at some point in a way that simply makes sense to me. It is kind of like a personal sandbox or garden I've built and I can see what I can do there, what to add or remove and what to improve on. In my personal work I rarely ask outsiders for feedback but I am lucky to have partner and friends who I trust give me well constructed comments. Less on the style side and more like "that arm is wonky, here's how to fix it". I've never really had problem of being too swayed or persuaded by someone else's opinion on style or visuals and in fact I used to be a bit bad at taking criticism. I'm really thankful to having received kindness and patience even when I'd get sulky and dramatic. I really started to improve faster when I started to respect fundamental drawing skills, and it didn't take anything away from "me" or "my style". On the contrary. It's not always enjoyable to do art. With any work there are parts that are just processes and execution and after the kind of honeymoon period of simply loving creating, or being energized by new project fades, it becomes more about being able to appreciate parts of it and accepting sometimes it's not very fun I think an artist can have multiple "aha" style moments in their life, where they feel like everything clicks and they want to stay in that sandbox for some time. Internet makes it seem like in order to be good/successful artist one has to be a brand and only do this one thing, but it's not the full picture. I follow many artists who seem content in making just one specific niche, but I don't know what other artistic pursuits they have outside internet. I don't know if that style is their heart and soul, or just something that pays the bills. I post variety of things and I'm aware some have much wider appeal and some feel more interesting only to myself. I still try to pursue what feels most honest to myself and it is sometimes scary not knowing where it goes, feeling like I should stay safe and only focus on the successful thing. But I want to incorporate new things and see what comes out.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Honebon Debut: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

The year is 1992, and Nintendo is making a hit sequel to the video game Super Mario Land for the Nintendo Game Boy. The previous two games in the Super Mario series, Super Mario Land and Super Mario World were both massive hits, and if you know anything about video games, it's obvious why: both had Skeletal Fish Enemies!

If Super Mario Land 2 was to have a chance of succeeding at all, they'd have to include a Skeletal Fish Enemy. But they couldn't just bring back Honen or Fish Bone, no. It was the '90s! We needed a hip, new skeletal fish for Cool Teens!

And so, Honebon was born! Isn't the miracle of childbirth amazing? Unfortunately, Honebon was born a skeleton, which is always a bad sign, because as it turns out, Honebon was dead on arrival...

Now don't get me wrong, Honebon has a few distinct traits to separate it from its Skeletal Siblings. Its attack pattern is unique, since it moves in a zigzag shape instead of a straight line, and according to Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten, while Fish Bone is the type to hold a grudge, Honebon has an amiable disposition! So if you're ever looking to befriend a skeletal fish, let that be your guide!

I also think Honebon's name is really funny. It's a portmanteau of hone, the Japanese word for "bone," and the English word "bone". And despite the fact its name doubles down on this being a skeleton, all the official material seems to describe it as a Cheep Cheep's gh-gh-gh-ghost!

But even with all of that, it's clear that Honebon's story as a Mario enemy ended as soon as it began. Honebon was competing for a niche that had already been filled multiple times over. It's a real Spike Eel situation over here! Clearly, Mario games didn't need any more skeletal fish enemies...

Name: Jean de Fillet Debut: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

But just because they didn't need another, that doesn't mean they didn't want another! I mean, come on! None of the previous skeletal fish had names that were dated pop culture references, so clearly there was an untapped market there!

You think there wouldn't be much ground to cover with another skeletal fish enemy... and you would be right! There is not all that much unique about Jean de Fillet. Much like Fish Bone and Honebon, it is described as a skeletal Cheep Cheep, despite none of the three really having Cheep Cheep anatomy at all, and much like Honen, its attack pattern involves jumping up to attack Yoshi. They can swim through lava I guess, but I'm not really convinced the other skeletal fish can't do that.

You see what happened? They ran the well dry, and all the fish that were living in the well for some reason died. Nintendo was just left with a bunch of fish skeletons, and all they could do at that point was put them in Yoshi's Island! Sad! Many such cases.

But due to Yoshi's Island going on to become a whole series of its own, Jean de Fillet would have a little more staying power than Honen or Honebon. Which is to say it appeared in Yoshi's New Island, where it even gets a boss variant named Furious Fred de Fillet!

Now it's kind of debatable whether or not Yoshi's Island is mainline, but if you include it, that's four mainline entries in a row that each introduced a completely new skeletal fish enemy! Super Mario Land and Super Mario World both did it, and so would their sequels.

Did this madness ever end?!

Name: Bonefin Debut: Super Mario Galaxy

Not before they could sneak in just one more skeletal fish enemy! It had been over a decade since Jean de Fillet, and in that time it had become the future! That meant their next skeletal fish had to be made of metal. Everything is chrome in the future! (Reference to "Bob")

And since they had a whole new dimension to play with, we were no longer starved of unique attack patterns! Bonefins lock onto Mario, and charge in that direction until they either hit him or hit a wall and explode. (Reference to "Bob")

Bonefins solely appear in the Bonefin Galaxy. They serve as mooks to Kingfin, a giant Bonefin that appears to be actually made of bone! This boss fight is kinda all that exists in Bonefin Galaxy, but at least they got a whole galaxy to themselves, right?

This would mark the end of an era however, as when Super Mario Galaxy 2 rolled around, there was no new skeletal fish enemy to be seen. In fact, Bonefin would only cameo as a skeleton, which is obviously and very intentionally meant to represent the fact that regular new skeletal fish enemies are a thing of the past, a product of a bygone age...

Since then, the series has standardized Fish Bone as their skeletal fish of choice, as they made their grand return in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and have been a series staple ever since. In the process, however, they gained Bonefin's homing attack, letting them do a little more than be Cheep Cheeps for ghost houses and castles!

Is the lack of new skeletal fish enemies another disappointing example of Mario Homogenization? Or did they make the right call, picking a skeletal fish and sticking to it? I dunno. I am completely neutral towards this development.

[zombie-bait]

Omg i just realized I have something tiny to add to the whole James Somerton debacle. I'm currently watching the hbombguy vid (as you do when procrastinating assignments) and I remembered something that stood out to me in James' old videos.

So I used to be a fan of his stuff. I am also a fan of Hannibal and IWTV. He made a video covering both so naturally I was very hyped. It was called 'The Gay Appeal of Toxic Love.' The vid itself was fine (I don't remember having any super strong opinions of it besides being excited to hear ppl mention Interview cuz I had recently become obsessed) but one thing did stand out to me. In the IWTV section he mentions Nicki and, naturally, his death:

"After becoming a vampire, Nicky becomes nearly catatonic, and eventually slips away from Lestat entirely. And after centuries of dealing with depression and severe mental illness, Nicky kills himself."

(sourced from this transcript: https://github.com/TerraJRiley/James_Somerton_Transcripts/blob/main/Transcripts/The%20Gay%20Appeal%20of%20Toxic%20Love.txt)

To anyone who's read TVL, I don't think I need to explain that Nicki had not, in fact, been around for centuries. "Nicki had lived to be 30" has been rattling around in my head since I first read it.

And like, obviously I don't expect every youtube essayist to read several long-ish novels to have a full grasp of the series' deep lore, especially when the focus was largely on IWTV and Loustat rather than the entire Vampire Chronicles. Still, it makes you wonder a bit about the quality of the research being done here. You can find the proper info in like, 5 seconds by just going on the fan wiki so I'm not sure what his sources were. And that's the issue at hand, isn't it?

At the time I felt a tiny bit smug recognizing the error but in light of everything that's been revealed, it's kind of telling. I'm not saying this part was plagiarized (I haven't found anything but others on reddit have found issues with different sections of the same video) but rereading the transcript it comes off as someone who clearly doesn't know much about Interview.... It feels like he's reading through a loose summary of plot points rather than analyzing a piece of media that actually means anything to him. It's very much Interview for people who don't know Interview which, one could argue is fair. Especially beyond book one, VC is a niche series and a lot of elements that are important to certain characters or plot lines cannot be summarized quickly for an audience unfamiliar with it. A good writer, who's done a lot of research about the specific topic they have chosen to make a video on, would be able to balance this. There is a LOT to analyze about queerness in VC and its a shame to see one of the more popular queer media channels half-assing it just to churn out videos heavily made up of other people's work. In retrospect he had several videos like that, where he would discuss things like manga/manhua communities while clearly having little knowledge on the nuance of those subjects. He was an outsider who presented himself with a strange amount of authority.

This was content created with the sole intention of propping up queer stories and history, yet it's built off stolen work from queer authors and doesn't actually care that much about exploring the communities it features. Vids like the IWTV one weren't really fact checked because it's only people like me who would might give a shit or even notice anything is off in the first place. There's a bit of a similar vibe in some of his other vids where he undermines the experiences of queer women because he clearly has not taken the time to learn about the nuances of representing queer women in media. These are things that irritated me when I first started to notice them but I put those concerns in the back of my mind because I cared about the topics he was covering and was excited to see these discussions becoming more mainstream.

The revelations of this evening have been disappointing to say the least.

(also for the record I know he made other more recent vids about IWTV but I haven't seen those and even if his account was still up I don't think I would lol

BUT

I did look at the transcript for his 'Vampires and the Gays Who Love Them' video (found from the same link I included above) and this quote about the IWTV AMC show is sending me: "Daniel has never grappled with the complexities of being gay"

Shoutout to straight, uncomplicated icon Daniel Molloy. Devil's Minion was a mass hallucination, spread the word)

[deconstructthesoup]

Thoughts on a Hatchetfield/Fantasy High crossover

So, I know the odds are good that I'm sending this into a very niche void, but I also know that these fandoms overlap, so... yeah. Basically, this is a world where the Bad Kids (and I guess pretty much every character in the world of Spyre, but the Bad Kids are who we're focusing on) are seemingly normal humans living in Hatchetfield, with all the weirdness and danger it entails.

Let's get into it.

Fabian: He's a rich kid living in Pinebrook, the star quarterback of the Nighthawks, and is one of the most popular kids in school due to being rich, good at sports, and surprisingly nice---and he's dating Ragh, though that's something that's a bit on the down-low due to them worrying they'll get kicked off the team and Ragh not being quite ready to come out. Honestly, Fabian really shouldn't be tied up into the spookiness, if you take him at face value... except for the fact that both of his parents are very much tied into it. Haleriel's family has been in Hatchetfield since the beginning, and while they're not tied with the Church of the Starry Children or the Hatchetmen, they do have some serious occult connections. And Bill... well, as far as everyone knows, he's an Irish fencer who got into the big leagues, retired, and took up pirate LARPing in his spare time. All of that is true, except for the fact that he is, in fact, an actual seventeenth-century pirate who got on Tinky's bad side and wound up in 2000s Hatchetfield. Fabian doesn't know about this yet, but he will.

Gorgug: The result of a secret relationship between two Abstinence Camp junior counselors, Gorgug was originally raised in secret in Witchwood Forest until he was three, when he was found and promptly put up for adoption. By then, he was already unusually large, strong, and angry for his age, but he still found a loving home with the proprietors of Thistlespring Mechanics. Gorgug thankfully never got to the monstrous level of Lil' Gerry, and he can pass for a normal kid if you ignore his height... however, he has been homeschooled for a good portion of his life due to constantly having manic outbursts that took years to learn how to keep under control. When he finally goes to Hatchetfield High, Fabian and Ragh take him under their wing---if only because they took one look at him and realized that he'd be perfect for the Nighthawks---and Gorgug definitely begins to shine due to having friends. Still, though... you can never really get rid of how Witchwood Forest changes you.

Riz: Now, he is very much aware of all the crazy, scary, and inexplicable things that go around in Hatchetfield, to the point of becoming a paranormal investigator---YouTube channel and all. His mom isn't really sure what to make of this, but she's a cop, she's busy, and it mostly keeps Riz out of trouble. As far as he knows, his dad worked for the military, and he assumes that he died in combat (in reality, though, Pok was a PIEP agent who got killed by Blinky). Riz has a part of his paranormal investigator business that's open to him taking on cases for others, but people don't tend to take him up on the offer, and he's usually investigating strange happenings by himself. That is, until...

Fig: Unlike in canon, Fig has always known that Gilear was her stepdad, not her real dad, but she still considers him her dad---mostly because that for a good deal of her life, she grew up thinking that her real dad was a deadbeat who left her. After Gilear and Sandra Lynn get divorced, however, Fig decides to finally start looking into her biological dad... and she discovers that he didn't skip town as she initially believed, but he went missing shortly before she was born. The case went cold, and all that's known is that he was attempting to stop the Honey Festival---specifically, the pageant---before he disappeared. Fig, who's recently developed an interest in the occult, realizes that there's something sinister going on there, and she hires Riz to help her find out the truth. (Vague spoilers: Gorthalax---or, well, Gordon T. Ax---is alive, but he's been trapped by Nibbly as punishment for successfully interfering and saving the Honey Queen)

Kristen: She's essentially the Grace Chastity of this universe, just without the crazy---church girl, teacher's pet, yet actually a nice person who doesn't really realize just how messed up her parents' beliefs are. Though she doesn't know the details about the Black & White, her parents are part of a group that are descended from the original Hatchetmen, and they've taught her that anybody who has The Gift is inherently evil. Of course, Kristen has always had the power to magically heal others, and she's kept this hidden from her parents her whole life---which becomes harder as her powers start getting stronger. And then she starts having a sexuality crisis and a crisis of faith, triggered when she befriends the niece of Hatchetfield High's new guidance counselor. So, yeah, Kristen's not having a good time.

Adaine: Her family recently moved to Hatchetfield from London, supposedly because her dad's job changed. In reality, her parents are devout followers of Wiggly and the other LiB, and they know that Hatchetfield is the focal point of their power (and no, Alewyn doesn't know about this, but she does know more about the spooky stuff than she's letting on). For her part, Adaine has psychic powers similar to Hannah, right down to having Webby as an imaginary friend, but she keeps this secret from her parents... mostly due to the time when she was little and told them about Webby, and the reaction was pretty negative. On top of her powers, she's also struggling with her anxiety disorder, her gifted kid complex, and the general stress of going to a new school in a new country... so, it helps when she gets adopted by Kristen and Fig at the same time, and Webby immediately takes a liking to them both. Through Fig, she meets Riz, and then she meets Fabian at one of her parents' awful functions, and he introduces her and everyone else to Gorgug... and the Bad Kids can begin.

I've got a lot more ideas about this---mostly involving Ayda, Arthur Aguefort, the O'Shaughnesseys, and some fleeting concepts about The Seven---but that's for another post, so... yeah.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for arguing with someone over ships?

🧀⛵ so i can find this later

Yes, this is ship discourse AITA #294729472 you can scroll away, english isn't my first language, my apologies.

So I (16M (But 13-14 at the time)) am in a very niche fandom. As in, we didn't have any new content for the past 5 years and media is old af (2013), very few fans, most of us know each other already.

I used to have these mutuals Cheese (Not their real name) (around my age i think?? I can't remember) and Breadstick (Not his real name) (18M).

We all had our little ships, ok? I like the little (dumbass golden retriever boy) x (badass traumatized man) ship, Cheese liked the little (badass traumatized man) x (literally the same thing but evil and abusive) and Breadstick liked both ships.

I met Breadstick before meeting Cheese so we were already friends before i met Cheese. I thought "Cool, another person likes this little niche thing i'm hyperfixated on!" So we became mutuals.

I didn't anticipate that we would argue about ships, but oh well. So, i'm a very chill person regarding ships, literally any, although i do have NOTPs, i'm not really toxic about my hatred, i just go "Ah, not my thing" and scroll away not without blocking the person, but really nothing personal and no hard feelings, i can perfectly be friends with someone who loves my notp.

In fact, that was the case with Cheese. They shipped my NOTP, like A LOT. But I was okay with it, i mean these are just characters and all we're doing is being silly. I didn't take this THAT seriously. However, when I seemed to talk about my ship, Cheese seemed uncomfortable in some way.

When I was talking about my fankid (call me cringe idc) of my OTP, Cheese got very confused and asked who was i talking about. Breadstick came in and introduced my fankid to them, since he knew about it before. Cheese just started being rude, literally saying swear words (Not against them but, the context didn't really call for it? No one was being mean or mad), saying, and i quote as best as i can, "I don't know what the fuck made you think i knew who the hell [Fankid] was".

I got very mad about it, so i privately dm'ed Breadstick about Cheese's attitude. We began trash talking about them, which, i admit was a very trashy thing to do and definitely asshole material™.

Reason why may i be the asshole: over time, Breadstick just started complaining a lot about Cheese, and I could honestly agree, it came to the point of us disliking them to some degree but not telling them and not breaking the mutual, that could be considered two faced behavior.

This was partly influenced because of another incident. So Cheese and Breadstick where rambling about an OT3 (3 person ship) they had in common, basically sharing ideas and stuff. I thought it would be fun and went "Hey, I have an OT3 too, maybe i should post about it too". So I went and posted about it, but Cheese felt very uncomfortable with that, since basically my OT3 was exactly like Cheese's OT3 but one character is different, "basically".

They said "You have your thing, let US have ours". Felt bad and honestly, maybe i shouldn't have intruded their ot3 rambling. I didn't expect such negative reaction out of them.

In other occasions they complained about me posting a little too much about my ship, even though they did the same thing with theirs. And they also had a mutual that said "If you ship [this character] you suck and i fucking hate you. [character] is too abusive to be shipped with anyone and you can't just make an AU, that would just change him as a character completely" which, dear god, that language wasn't needed, right?. And despite that crazy person saying that, Cheese agreed with their take, despite literally shipping the character in question with another one. And abusively too, which like you do you, lord knows i do that too, but agreeing with a take like that while doing exactly what it is complaining about is weird. On the other side, that person wasn't my mutual, so it's unrealistic of me to expect Cheese to control their mutuals over me, Cheese can mutual whoever they want, but i can still be weirded out right?

That is without including them telling other people to kill themselves over shipping, so it was clear that Cheese took this shipping thing seriously while me and Breadstick to some degree didn't. Honestly another reason why i might be an asshole, clearly they felt their otp was personal and me not liking it + ignoring it caused a bad environment, mala mía, but what else could i have done?

So, clearly Cheese is kind of an asshole to some degree. But i think what makes ME an asshole too is when I trash talked behind their back and cut them off way later than i should've. And also, i guess i shoved my ship down their throat taking by how mad they were about it? I didn't do it intentionally though and i could definitely say they did the same thing too when 80% of the fandom and character tags was them posting about their ship. Again, small niche fandom for old unpopular media, we are keeping it alive ourselves.

What are these acronyms?

[max1461]

Here's my other problem with tumblr discourse: even when I make the context/intended interpretation of a post really explicit, people ignore this context and respond to it in like... for lack of a more charitable term, a discoursebrained way.

So a while ago I made a post about some ethical intuition I had, and at the top I put a huge disclaimer which said something to the effect of "this is just an expression of my feelings, it's not meant to be a philosophically airtight position, please don't take it as such", followed by a readmore and then the actual post. Why did I do that? Because I figured that if I didn't, people would nitpick it in various technical ways that missed the basic point. Lo and behold several people still did that, and when I replied basically restating the disclaimer, one of them said "oh I didn't even see that. Well I think if you post a half-baked thought online I retain the right to nitpick it".

I guess that's true. My blog is public. But the point is that I want to use my blog for certain things and not others, right, that's what I'm attempting to do. And people seem actively resistant to my attempts to guide the discussion on my blog in certain directions, which makes blogging less enjoyable. Of course some people will always do that, that fact doesn't bother me, but it feels like the irrelevant/point-missing discourse so often overshadows the meaningful discourse that I start to feel less of a desire to put in the effort.

Like, the point of issuing that disclaimer was to say, as explicitly as I could manage, "I am trying to have a discussion about feelings and intuitions here, I am aware there might be ways these intuitions are not fully consistent, but that is not the discussion I'm trying to have". But even so explicit an attempt to specify a conversation topic does not work; the discourse machine demands a certain kind of engagement and that is the engagement every post will get no matter what.

I don't want to put the person who missed my disclaimer on blast: it's honestly an error that anyone could make and on its own it's no big deal. If said person is reading this: you didn't do anything wrong and I am not mad at you, to be 100% clear.

It's not a one-off mistake that bothers me, it's the fact that this is how discussions on here so often go that putting in the effort to discuss things productively often feels wasted.

Another example of this that... if you go through my #society tag, you will see a lot of uncertainly in my phrasing. You will see me say a lot of "it seems like we should..." and "we should find some mechanism to..." and so on and so forth. Why? Because, as I've mentioned before, I've gotten a lot out of political discourse on here. When it's good, I actually find it quite good. But it's good when it has a constructive or collaborative tone, when I am bouncing ideas or thoughts back and forth with someone. Generally I am trying to invite this kind of discourse.

Sometimes, again, I say it really explicitly. I don't have them off the top of my head, but I know there are quite a lot of #society posts where I've said something quite straightforwardly to the effect of "here are some niche social/political issues I've been contemplating, does anyone have any ideas for how to respond to them". Obviously there's a spectrum in how explicit I am about this, but even when I'm really clear, most of the responses I get are still "discoursebrained", in the sense that they seem antagonistic and generally more interested in saying "X guys are cool and Y guys are lame" than in productively engaging with a set of ideas.

Even if you disagree with my claims or my premises, there is a way to state that which adds to a conversation instead of shutting down a line of inquiry. I am always trying to invite this type of mutually-productive discussion, and I so rarely achieve it.

Over the years my methods have changed. I come from a background of like, forums for specific nerd interests. Those places are plenty contentious, full of plenty of drama and disagreement. But ultimately, I always still felt that productive discussion was valued above destructive discussion; that because we were all united in a common goal of [doing our nerdy hobby], a comment where you build on someone's idea to say something useful to others or to introduce a new insight was generally valued above one where you just said "you're wrong for such and such reasons, hah!" or even "you're right for such and such reasons".

Coming from this background, I assumed this would also be the case on tumblr, and that I would not have to put in any extra effort to invite this sort of discourse. Alas, this was not true; even long and thought-out replies from respected discoursers often just amount to "here are the guys I agree with and here are the guys I disagree with, for such and such reasons". This is lame and boring and not appealing to me.

So over the years I've tried to be more and more explicit about what types of discussion I am trying to have, I've tried to tee up the sort of interactions I want as much as possible, but it hasn't really worked.

The problem is not strictly the quality or measuredness of the responses or their tone or anything like that. These are the things most people focus on when they critique the discourse, but I think they miss the point. The problem is that most responses don't seem to be intended to advance a mutually-productive discussion, they don't build on the base of what they are responding to, they just make various assertions and statements of allegiance in the vicinity of the material they are responding to and call it a day.

Maybe this is too harsh. I'm sure I do this too. And it's not always bad. Sometimes I use someone else's post openly as a jumping off point to elaborate my own ideas (although I try to be careful about this, and also make it somewhat clear that I am doing it), and this can be productive. I do actually want to hear people's ideas. It's not any single instance of these things I'm complaining about, it's just that discoursey responses seem to drown out all other types of discussion, even when you are really clear about what type of discussion you are trying to have.

So that's my complaint.

[astrolavas]

what tracks do you think Hunter took in hexside?

i'm 100% certainnnnn he was multitrack, like i know for a FACT.

i do wonder whether he took all tracks or if he omitted some, though. he's got sm curiosity in himself and he loves to learn things. he may not be able to do magic like most witches but he's so good with general magical knowledge and he knows so much theory, has memorized lots of info abt the most niche magic things, and he loves research and so he manages to find his own unique ways to exist in a magic society powerless. feel like he'd definitely be open to taking all tracks. AND these... 1-2 years in hexside that he got were the first time he could truly experience school, so it's also possible that he'd try to get as much of that knowledge and experience as he could in that limited time.

i feel like if he were NOT to take any track, it'd be oracle, since it's tied to things like seeing the future and fate/destiny/spirits, and that's something hunter would not really want to play with much, considering how much he cares abt things like choosing your own future, and also considering the whole…. grimwalker/caleb business so gah... but we also don't KNOW anything abt oracle magic so kxjsjks who knows! it might be something different completely.

then for some tracks, i feel he could just not care that much, possibly not enough to take them, if they were not rly anything related to what he's into, like construction... (but still possibly enough to at least try them)

i feel like a track that he'd especially want to take would be beastkeeping, since it's probably somewhat tied to creating palismen and also just relates to animals (which he loves) and it's a track related to eberwolf and even camila; i feel like he'd enjoy it.

then there are also other tracks that are related to his loved ones, like the abomination track (feel like he'd defo want to impress darius with that one, and learn as much as he can) and plant and illusion tracks; which are not really his "thing" BUT something his friends love. i feel like he'd at least try it. tbh the plant track would also tie in with his palisman-making future well, since those ARE made of wood, so he likely has to know how to take care of palistrom trees too somewhat, at least the basics just in case. illusions wouldn't have this much of a practical use but could still be interesting and intriguing to learn so... maybe? temporary at the very least.

i like to think that he'd be taught some instrument by raine in his free time as well so bard track courses could definitely fit in his graphic too. not sure how long they'd keep up, considering you need your own magic to do bard magic, but i feel like even without that he'd learn some theory at least, and just play an instrument normally, OR maybe there'd a way to let him participate fully (through the instruments' magic or sth???)… either way, a possibility also, even if temporary!

then there's also potions; and i feel like he wouldn't necessarily be particularly interested IN potion-related stuff, at least not to the point where it'd be his "thing", but it's still sth interesting to learn and, depending on how many proper accommodations for his lack of magic he'd get in other tracks, it's also a course he can fully engage in, AND he did wear that potions track so it might've even been a partial hint for that. he'd be good at potions i think.

i feel like, with the whole system reform and belos' fall and luz's influence, they definitely added like a wild/ancient magic history course too, even if glyphs didn't work anymore, since that'd cover an important part of erased/forgotten history that was important to remember, and hunter would LOVE that. he's very passionate and already knows sm abt that specific magic knowledge so he'd runnn for it if that was a track available as well. THIS is his favorite thing to study and learn about.

i like to think that he got some specific accommodations that made classes possible for him with his lack of magic, and so he got to learn and do things in his own way, and with that he defo decided to truly learn ALL of it (or at least, all that was interesting to him) (a choice he probably slightly regretted some random night where he had like 10 unfinished assignments to do kxjsjsjk) and just, just….. he got to attend hexsideeee and learn magic, learn "wild" magic, experience school and meet with his friends everyday and everything and GAHHHGHHH. IT MAKES ME SO !!!!

but yeah, like. he couldn't use glyphs for classes anymore but there still HAD to be a way. palisman magic maybe (i feel like he definitely waited a while til he made waffles though so maybe he could use owlbert or even stringbean sometimes in that case, similarly to flyer derby)? or those training wands, or even some other techniques that'd help him with his courses. especially with bump being the prinicipal and eda slowly stepping into the teaching career, they DEFINITELY wanted to figure sth out for hunter specifically. and definitely did!

(sth sth both bump and eda being good teachers who truly care abt the well-being of their students and the right approach to acquiring knowledge….. i know these old ppl were doing a LOT of digging and thinking and planning to give hunter the best options for his education)

anyway- YEAH! multitrack hexside hunter...... so real. him being able to learn everything he's passionate about, being able to experiment and discover and find out what he likes, now that he's free to do so. cuz even if he decides something isn't for him after some time, he still has the FREEDOM to determine that himself. the freedom to try everything, the freedom to decide for himself. yeah... yeah.

[anonzentimes]

abt your previous ask!! i agree that komahina gets hate sometimes in 2024 but also remember that kmhn is debatably the most popular ship of the FRANCHISE lmao?? imo to take the “kmhn is toxic” argument to so much heart is a nothing burger… search hinata’s or komaeda’s character tag and its like 99% kmhn art. i genuinely dont think its an issue of homophobia or stupidity or anything i think it just comes down to hinata being a Player Surrogate and komaeda being the antag thats constantly in your face and mocking you. people think the ship is toxic because their player experience w komaeda is toxic that’s it 😭 the malice you’re seeking isn’t there. no hate to you or the OG asker ofc but this is a very niche problem in current year to be so haunted by… kmhn isn’t going anywhere trust me

Anon with all due respect, one part of it it is people who have had a bad experience with komaeda or don't understand him, one part of it is people being homophobic, and the biggest part that's more common in this day and age is undermining Komahina due to shipping wars. Just because it's not a major thing there are still people who exist who think and say things against it. There are still people who misunderstand it or deny it for any of those reasons. I feel like you're denying the fact that these are collective issues that happen that result in the same conclusion that's misunderstanding the text. The text is something I care about dearly and I was asked about it. Komahina isn't going anywhere just as the people who perceive fiction differently aren't going anywhere. Whether or not you see these instances as a major issue that hinders the entirety of being able to enjoy the ship itself easily or not these people who misunderstand it do exist as long as the text does. That's just the nature of quite literally Everything SUBJECTIVE. As long as people exist who can interpret it in a way that misunderstands the text, have beliefs against the core aspects of the concept, and have interpretations that impact their views due to preferences there will be instances where it's frustrating for people like me. You can say it's a nothing issue all you want but that doesn't mean it will ever stop happening just as people like me won't ever stop loving it. You're coming into MY HOUSE and MOCKINGLY claiming that it really isn't such a big deal when this whole blog is about my special interests, of course I'm passionate about these instances that are frustrating. Not only that but I was ASKED about it, ASKED. I'm allowed to complain about people who frustrate me when they misunderstand or deny the text that I love regardless if it makes it physically impossible to enjoy it.

Just because I can enjoy my apples doesn't mean I can't complain about the people who are hating on my fruits, even if they can't force my fruit to rot I can still feel frustrated at them for not getting it like I do, denying it's existence, or simply hating on it. You're coming into my garden where the other gardeners are having a shared emotion of frustration. Like, that maybe a silly example but does that get the point across enough for you? You're coming into the territory of people who care and probably see it more because it's such a big thing in our lives. Like, Yeah, I know they can't make my fruit rot, that doesn't mean I can't express discontent over those who don't get it, misunderstand, or most of all are outwardly hating on what I love. By your definition of Niche this is literally the corner of that niche, we are the ones who still see it sometimes because that's how invested we are. Again, it's subjective, we're allowed to express disagreement and discontent with what those people say. And again, this is about one of my SPECIAL INTERESTS, Literal definition that makes it hard for me to comprehend how people see something that is so special to me in such a different and even negative way is hard for me to comprehend sometimes. I'll express that emotion caused by that, and proven by it being an ask I'm not alone in, as much as I want. I'm not harming anybody when I express my emotions between people who agree.

You say you have no malice and I'm sure you may have not intended it that way but you came up to the people who care and said in a mocking tone, "it's not that big of a deal why even care, the only thing that happens in 2024 is people misunderstanding them due to their writing roles," Like, seriously? How rude of you Honestly. And the cherry on top that's the worst of all, in the process you display that you misunderstand their characters. Nagito is just an annoying mocking antagonist to you? Are you SERIOUS? Hajime is half of a player surrogate but you're making the wrong conclusion about it, he's meant to be relatable but he isn't a complete self insert. We're meant to be able to put ourselves in his shoes and understand his relatable experiences, he's not a complete player surrogate though? You're saying people say it's toxic because, "We are Hinata and Komaeda is the mocking annoyance to us," WHAT??????? Before you try to say something like this again go understand their characters better by, perhaps, quite literally READING MY ANALYTICAL POSTS??? I'm certain they'd be helpful because you clearly need them, I'm not writing an entire essay right here and now just so You can understand them I make them for myself and answer questions I want to. If you have questions that you can word in a more respectful tone I can help you understand that way too.

I would have tried to make my words a little kinder but the way you come up to MY Blog with your false claims, misunderstandings, and disrespectful tone pisses me off. You went anonymous not because you might be a bit embarrassed about your interests like most of the questions I get, no, you went anonymous because you didn't want yourself to be known because you Know you were being Blunt with your Disrespectful tone. You have the luxury of the fact you said this anonymous, and I have the luxury of being as blunt and uncaring about your feelings with my response as I want. Kindly, once again, do more research on these characters and develop more media literacy before sending me something in such an inconsiderate tone again.

[broodwolf221]

my message to new/returning fans

as da4 approaches and the fandom changes, gaining both new and returning users, i want to state very clearly:

share your thoughts! it doesn't have to be "original" to be valuable! no more than it needs to conform to current fanon! you don't need to read everyone else's theories in order to state your own

I'm familiar with that pressure and how much it can dampen the urge to share, to actually engage with the broader fandom. even though i was there at the start of dai's fandom, i fell out of it for years and came back recently, and there was a definite undercurrent of pressure to a) conform to the theories already stated, especially by big name fans, and b) to only ever post a truly original theory

the former inherently limits fandom and treats it more like an academic field that one needs to be familiar with before stating anything; the latter is fundamentally ridiculous, since we're all engaging with the same source material and have the ability to perceive foreshadowing and explore what it means. the first person to perceive and write about a bit of foreshadowing has no more fundamental "right" to that perspective than the hundredth

it can also be hard to wade through the tags of a fandom that's been out for a decade+, especially if you like a character or ship that gets a lot of hate. that's exhausting and no one is obligated to do that research

you're not too late to the fandom to have theories, to post meta, or to express your feelings. those of us currently in the fandom would do well to remember that new people will be joining us and they likely won't even know the bloggers who have already posted meta, so seeing someone ask if xyz has ever been considered should be treated as a valid question. seeing someone say they've never seen ppl talking about xyz should be viewed as an invitation to (gently!) point to some people who have talked about it. "oh, if you're into this idea, you might like [username's] meta"

i think it's valuable to draw attention to the fact that a long-established fandom has been getting new blood throughout the whole time it's been here, and will be getting considerably more new blood soon, and that it might be worth adapting to that early. because regardless of any established fan's preferences, we are going to be getting new fans unfamiliar with established theories/fanon. and no one should be beholden to fanon anyway

but all this is to also say - new fandom members? i see you. I'm here for you. if you want to know what's been said, you can ask me and i will direct you as best i can; if you want to come up with stuff on your own, i support that. i will never come onto your posts to "disprove" your theory or to claim it's unoriginal

also, know that when you see vent posts where people are feeling annoyed about fans or complaining about them, they are almost certainly talking about fans who are engaging in discourse, are argumentative, or are otherwise being kinda shitty. i know - from personal experience! - how easy it is to take a vague vent post personally, especially when the kind of behavior they're actually annoyed by isn't clarified, but it's unlikely to be directed at fans who are engaging with curiosity and excitement. being new to a fandom is intimidating and as someone who's trying to be respectful, it can be so easy to internalize messages from people's venting, but fr, it's rarely about new fans and their conclusions. that said, if those posts bother you… unfollow! or block! blocking is not a mean or cruel action

find your niche, curate your experience, and you will definitely find people who support you. I've really enjoyed my time here and met many people i care about and respect, but it was a bit of an uphill struggle early on and i know a message like this from an established voice in fandom would have helped ease my own concerns coming into this space

[retrobr]

for the post regarding natm headcanons—

ive always loved thinking about the different ways that holidays would be celebrated by the exhibits, especially since there would be an absolutely insane amount of them all throughout the year

like there’d have to be a bunch of back to back celebrations in december just to accommodate everyone around the winter solstice/christmas

and exhibits constantly approaching larry about organizing parties for super niche religions/practices and he just has to go along with it

there’d be hella conflict too bc holidays like halloween/samhain might be regarded as evil and demonic by the more puritan exhibits who would try to put a stop to it at first

(but i think the whole concept of dressing up in costume would be enough to win most of the exhibits over—they’d have a blast with trading clothes with one another, and larry wouldn’t have the heart to tell them that that’s not technically how it’s supposed to work)

and honestly every holiday would be chaos considering the fact that a handful of the exhibits are at a point in time where most mainstream holidays hadn’t even been created yet

and then there’d be stuff like weddings and birthdays, all with conflicting cultures and practices, that somehow clash well in ways they shouldn’t

i’ll stop here before this gets too long lol

but i think the idea as a whole is really cool to think about !! :)

Wow dude- it's quite a long but interesting headcanon!! I too think that the exhibits could celebrate their holidays, which are related to their religion and customs, as well as modern holidays that didn't yet exist at their respective times

For example, Theodore Roosevelt or Jed could give Larry the idea of celebrating Christmas (as far as I know Larry is Jewish, so in fact he doesn't celebrate the European holidays; please correct me if I'm wrong). I like to imagine how beautifully the museum could be decorated for this holiday and how the rest of the exhibits, who don't know about this holiday or simply don't celebrate it, just look at it all with their mouths open lmao

And on Halloween Larry could take the exhibits outside, because they already look like they're wearing holiday costumes and just have fun with them idk :D

I think what I like the most is the idea of celebrating birthdays!! Like, it's quite a funny thing for me: "Happy birthday, Oct, today you're turning 2000+ years old" or something like that XD

Or, as you mentioned, celebrating weddings!! I think there can be two scenarios: either the wedding is held alternately according to the traditions of both sides, which may take two days to celebrate, or it all gets mixed up and it turns out to be some kind of wild wedding that the world hasn't seen yet-

Anyways, this is a pretty interesting topic to discuss, but my brain isn't working so well right now and I can't think of any more examples yet...

Thanks for your ask!!

[writingforfishes]

i absolutely get that your hiccup stuff is kink and for arousal and stuff BUT i am so obsessed with learning about that part mark mentioned in the third fic where mark recounted that awful bout of hiccups otto got that made him want to take him to the hospital. i’m not even asking for a fic my whump appreciating ass just needs to know how that whole situation went down i need to know how absolutely FREAKED OUT mark was haha

Ooh. This is actually a good opportunity for me to flesh out that experience a little. I've thought about writing a little fic about it, but this ask gives me space to brainstorm.

CW: Fast hiccups, painful hiccups, long hiccups, and emotionally constipated cis men from the 20-teens.

I don't really know what precipitated this epic hiccup case of Otto's while Mark was living with him. It might have just been a random event, or it might've been instigated by dietary choice. That part might not be important.

I think it all started, though, when Otto got the hiccups from coffee that morning. They were a little stronger than normal, but Otto didn't really pay it much mind. He wasn't as aware of his hiccup patterns until Atticus revealed their kink to him.

Mark is on his way to hang out with friends from work, or something. Maybe a work meeting on his day off. Detectives have those, right? I dunno.

Mark probably acknowledges Otto's hiccups in a bro-y joke-y sort of way.

Mark: Gotta lay off that coffee, dude!

Mark maybe pats Otto's chest affectionately as Otto laughs.

Otto: I can h'mk!mk! stop an-anytime!

I think it's kind of common for coffee to replace alcohol as a safer vice. I can see that being sort of a private joke that Otto is a coffee-holic in lieu of alcohol.

Mark is gone for a couple hours or so and when he comes back Otto still has them, just as strong as they were that morning.

Mark: Oof. Got them again?

Otto: Still hu'up! Still have them, ac-hilp!-actually. Huck'm!

Mark: Jeez, man. You okay? That's-shit-that's at least two and a half hours now.

Otto: They're k-kinda hulp!hukkah!hmp!-oof! Kinda starting to hlmp!-uh, hurt a little.

Mark probably asks him what he's tried to get rid of them. Otto never really had a reason to try to get rid of them as either he'd been too drunk to care, or they didn't bother him as much before and he just waited them out.

Mark just sits there and watches his friend wince through volleys of hiccups that are obviously painful at this point.

Otto: Ugh. I'm f-fine. Hu'ulk! They'll stop hulp! stop eventually. Hu'ulk!

Another hour passes though, and they have not stopped. In fact, they seemed to have dug their heels harder into Otto's diaphragm. He can't focus on his work and his chest and back have started to hurt.

Otto has eaten, but it hasn't helped, and his throat has also started hurting. He probably doesn't share all of this with Mark but it's obvious Otto is not having a good time.

Mark maybe tries to distract him with conversation or watching something on tv, but it's obvious that even that is being shadowed by Otto rubbing his chest and half-hearted chuckles and smiles. It's when Otto doesn't babble that you know something is wrong, and he'll have gone a bit quiet and less prone to spout random knowledge or correct Mark's inaccuracy when relating to history or some niche topic Otto happens to know all about.

Mark even sets himself up to be corrected a couple of times. Otto not taking the bait and just nodding along with the conversation are red flags to Mark that this is more than just an annoying bout of hiccups.

I imagine perhaps that Otto has gotten some air trapped somewhere in his body and every hiccup is sort of pressing that air in an unpleasant way. He may have tried belching but can't actually get anything out because a hiccup interrupts the attempts. So, at this point perhaps Otto is not only sore from hiccuping but also in pain from a pocket of air that he can't get rid of.

It's most likely at this point that Mark get concerned enough to actually start wanting to go hard on curing Otto's hiccups. And Otto, being more and more exhausted and in pain from his hiccups, probably goes along with it. So, they go through the litany of drinking water in various ways before Mark suggests holding his breath.

I'm not sure if Otto has experienced his body's paradoxical reaction to holding breath to cure hiccups before. If he had, perhaps he didn't recall it. Or perhaps this was the first time he'd cared to hold his breath. Or maybe he did as a kid and found out his hiccups' reaction to it and subconsciously never tried it again.

Regardless, Otto holds his breath out of desperation. Like, he holds it really hard, too. All the way in. And, at first, as he's holding his breath, the hiccups do stop. But then after a few seconds he feels painful thump in his chest as they fight against the pressure of his expanded lungs.

He can't help but let it out and Mark does freak out as Otto is hit over and over again by the fastest hiccups Mark has ever seen anyone have.

Mark puts a hand on his shoulder as Otto holds a fist over his mouth and closes his eyes trying to ride out the attack.

Mark: Shit! Are you okay?

Otto: hmk!hmk!hmk!huck'm!hmlk!huck!huck!hu'uck! Y-ye-ah. D-d-am-mit! hulk!hulk!hlmp!huck'ah!huck'uh!hup!hup!

Mark: Dude, this isn't normal. Maybe we need to go to the emergency room. God, man. Are you breathing okay?

Otto shakes his head in negation at going to the emergency room and waves his hands. Then realizes his mistake and tries to talk again.

Otto: L-lem-me hup!hup!hnk! l-hup!-lie nk! d-do-hup!-dow-hmk!-n f-hmk!-or a huk'm!-li-tt-le b-mk!-it. I-'m o-hmp!-kay.

Otto is getting a little out of breath but soon the hiccups give him breaks to breathe, only lasting as fast as they were for a few seconds at a time.

Otto goes upstairs to lie down but Mark promises he's gonna check on him. Otto gives Mark's shoulder a squeeze in thanks and goes up and tries to relax.

I imagine it takes another hour or so for the hiccups to finally calm down and eventually end after Otto is able to completely relax. He's probably able to get that air out of his system as well with a good belch and perhaps that was what was causing the irritation the entire time. I dunno.

Maybe Mark comes up with a soft knock on the door.

Mark: You okay?

Otto: Yeah. Man, I'm so tired though.

Mark: Why don't you take a nap. I'll order us some dinner in a little bit.

Otto: Hey...you okay?

Mark: Yeah-yeah. You just scared the crap out of me with those hiccups. You sure you're good?

Otto: I'm good. Sore and tired, but good.

Mark: Okay. Good. Just...you know...don't die on me, okay?

Otto: Not in my agenda, kid.

As much as someone who's ten years older than another person can refer to them as a kid.

Mark: Okay. Cause you're kind of important.

Otto: Careful. You might actually show that you care for me.

Mark: I do. Dude, you didn't have to do any of this shit for me that you've done. You let me in your house and have dealt with everything I'm going through and I was not an easy person to deal with. I'm at least that self-aware. I do care about you. I hope you get that. Like, that I'm not just using you, Otto. I don't want it to seem like that.

Otto: It doesn't. But hearing you say that is kind of nice. So, thanks.

Mark: Yeah, sure.

Otto: ...okay. So, when I wake up from this nap are you going to still be this emotionally vulnerable because we seriously need to talk about you doing the dishes more often...

Mark: I hate you.

Otto: Got it. Hey, thanks for checking in on me, though.

Mark: You got it.

Soo, liiike, something like that maybe?

[creature-wizard]

Even as a believer in loa(I've practiced it for a while now). I appreciate your post so much. I was shocked at first because it's such a niche topic that only followers really know about? So I was shocked to see your post expecting it to be sarcastic in the beginning. I personally think Law of Assumption Tumblr is a whole different breed? I mean I didn't know of the void at all until I came on here. Most traditional believers of neville don't even know what the void is? It's like entering different worlds when encountering loa believers anywhere else like youtube/reddit. Versus tumblr. I sort of feel like tumblr is a different beast though? Cause they seem to mostly focus on the void, which I'm not even sure if this is something Neville talked about? I've only heard traditional followers mention SATS. Like I said the void seems to be a tumblr thing? I was shocked that people on here were claiming they've manifested billions of dollars, looking like ariana grande, living in a totally different home(???), someone's brother has wings(???). I really don't know? If these are neville's teachings or not. But I think one of the main reasons your post blew up so much is because the attitude in this community specifically. I've never met such righteous people in my life. I'm guessing a lot of those people who like me really questioned these people because they never showed proof but for some reason you're dumb or lazy? I've probably seen more posts of people criticizing everyone who weren't able to wake up in their mansion as if they're dumb or annoying them? Instead of helping them. Like "OMG SIS IT'S SO EASY TO ENTER THE VOID!? STOP BEING DUMMMMMB IT'S LITERALLY THE EASIEST THING EVERRRRR." Why am I dumb because I find it hard to believe something that seems impossible? Why are you leaving the community or calling it toxic because people are questioning things that seem impossible? I got really caught up in trying to get into the void. And I'm not even sure if loa tumblr is following neville's teaching's cause if anything it seems to fall more into shifting? Anytime I look up loa tumblr it's 85% about shifting or the void? Also I'm pretty sure most of these people are children so you're better off not even trying to argue with them. Lmfao.

I think another reason it might have blown up is because somebody (it wasn't me) blazed it, lol.

I agree that most of these people are probably teenagers, which is kinda why I post so much - not to argue with the ones who won't budge on it, but to reach the ones who are still on the fence, or questioning, and save them from a bunch of trauma from the types of people you described.

I don't think Goddard used the term "void state," but he did describe a practice that sounds similar to it. But yeah, the posts you're talking about are absolutely ridiculous and that kind of rhetoric is going to be horrible for a lot of people, because if we're defining "void state" as a really deep state where you experience full detachment from your body and full ego death, that's just not a state that everyone can reach for some reason. (I know this because I'm one of them! And I know for absolute fact that my problem was not some kind of blockage, self-doubt, or trying too hard!)

As to what Goddard said you could or couldn't do, he never explicitly said that you could manifest fantastical results like wings, but he did say that you could manifest anything, and nothing was impossible. I'm pretty sure Goddard was at that point talking to the kind of people who just wouldn't think very far outside of the box. But you give that kind of rhetoric to a bunch of people exposed to a lot of fiction and to modern celebrity culture, and of course you're going to get a lot of people who want something a little more... exciting, shall we say.

And yeah, the whole self-righteous know-it-all attitude so prevalent in this community is a thing that really stood out to me. The way these people talk down and insult people is just yikes. Like, I know from experience that if I tried to take people who act like this seriously, it would be an absolute disaster for my mental health. (This kinda shit does not play well with scrupulosity OCD.) Angry anons will be like, "you're just angry because you failed!" but like, mmmmm no, I just recognize a potential scrupulosity OCD trigger when I see one, lol.

For anyone reading this: If you are leaving or questioning the Law of Assumption and need help, please see this post.

[fantasyfantasygames]

Amazons

Amazons, Warrior Women Games, 2006

As one would expect, you play Amazons in this game - women from out of Greek myth.* You're warriors, hunters, scouts, sailors, and sages. There's only one supernatural power involved (which I'll get into later), so no witches or demigods or anything.

Your characters are defined by a fairly standard set of attributes and skills - Strength, Agility, Wisdom, Spear, Archery, Stealth, etc. All of them are done with a pyramidal cost scheme. As a result, it's easy to build a group where your characters overlap too much. It costs the same number of points to buy a 10-point skill (rolling 1d10x10) as it does to buy two skills at 8 and 6 (1d10x8 and 1d10x6), and the 8 and 6 are generally high enough to hit the typical target numbers. I think what I'm trying to say is that the game could really use a better approach to handling character archetypes, both for flavor purposes and for niche protection.

As mentioned, the game uses multiplication, which you'll either be fine with or will really bother you. Since it's dice-times-stat instead of dice-times-dice, the probability distribution is fairly flat, and you don't have weird statistics stuff going on. You do get margin-of-success effects from rolling higher, but you don't actually have to do two-digit subtraction. Instead, you get one "rank" of success for every point by which the tens place in your result is higher than the tens in your opponent's result. You roll a 25 and they have a 48? They have a rank-2 success. Same if you roll a 28 and they have a 40. Ranks get you damage, but also duration and effectiveness for other types of roll. It's a little weird at low values - a 12 and an 18 get you a tie even though one is 50% higher than the other - but it works well for higher values.

The particularly cool part of the game is that you play in two time periods simultaneously: ancient Greece and modern-day Athens. Your characters went "through" the Oracle at Delphi (is that how that works??) and are experiencing parallel events. When they run into a businessman in the modern day, they meet a merchant in ancient Greece. A Spartan warrior might become a rich but violent criminal. They see both things happening at once, and the GM is encouraged to mix the two in their descriptions. Philosophers arguing in the shadow of concrete and steel. Ocean liners passing by sailing vessels. It's an interesting conceit, and it gives you some cool ways to solve problems in one time by approaching them i the other.

Typical antagonists are "cruel people in positions of power" - slavers, price-gouging traders, sadistic princes, petty senators, etc. Several examples are statted up, along with their entourages. There isn't much discussion of what the backlash is going to be from your characters going after those people and their well-trained bodyguards. Like a lot of this game, the surface level is presented and any implications are left to the GM and their table.

As we leave this review, it may be interesting to know that Warrior Women Games was two cis men in their twenties. The game is written with respect, but without personal experience. There's no major misogyny here, no particular fetishization or anti-feminist rhetoric involved. There's also no real punch to the fact that you're actually playing women. On the one hand - awesome! The game treats your women characters just like it would treat men characters. Straight-up equality. On the other hand, there's a missed opportunity to dig into how your ancient women experience the modern world. There's no discussion of what has changed and what has not since the (admittedly fictional*) time of the Amazons. I think a game written by someone able to delve into that experience more might be more compelling. But I'll at least give it credit for not having fallen into a number of traps that plague other men-written-women-centric games. You're not going to cringe reading this.

*Edit to add, March 2024: Maybe the Amazons are not as fictional as I thought! https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/mar/24/truth-behind-the-myths-amazon-warrior-women-of-greek-legend-may-really-have-existed